Moving Day by Augusta Li

This story is rated 4 flames. Stories have frequent love scenes that are explicit and described using graphic and direct language.

*This story takes place soon after the events in Tree Fingers and before the events in Onikoroshi.

THE old house had felt empty since Luke died two years before. Today, though, stacks of cardboard boxes cluttered the halls and covered almost every inch of the hardwood floor. Graham picked up a box labeled “Office” and started up the stairs. He went to the end of the hall, into a sunny little room where Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads played softly. Alan stood arranging his books on the built-in shelf. The slender, pale young man turned and smiled when he heard Graham set his package down.

“Do you think you’ll have enough room in here?” Graham asked. This had been his mother’s sewing room once; the delicate lace curtains she’d brought from England still covered the windows.

Alan nodded. “This is perfect. It’s twice the work space I had in my old apartment.” He’d already set up his desk and computer in the corner overlooking the back yard.

“No sense in it standing empty any longer,” Graham said as he took a box cutter from his pocket and knelt down. “We’re making good time. We should have you all moved in before supper.”

Alan chuckled. “I hope you don’t end up regretting this,” he teased. “You know what a slob I am.”

“Yes, I know. Just keep the clutter confined to this room and we’ll be fine.”

“And you just keep your mess in the studio,” Alan joked back.

Graham sliced through the brown tape and opened the box. He removed some balled-up newspaper and reached inside. He lifted a glass jar, but when he saw the tiny bones inside he let it fall with a gasp. As he rooted through the rest of the contents, Graham found more disturbing things: a sandwich bag of black feathers, some spotted newts suspended in gray jelly, a ball of tangled hair, and what looked like blackened fingernail clippings. He could only imagine what the rest of the shampoo bottles, soup cans, candy tins and battered envelopes contained. Shuddering, he stood up and walked back to the hall. While he’d promised to accept Alan as a magician, these things disturbed him and he wasn’t sure he wanted them in his home. It had bothered Graham enough when his partner simply studied and wrote about the occult, but a week and a half ago, Alan had put his knowledge into practice and almost gotten himself killed. Graham had insisted Alan move in to his house after they’d worked to protect the property with a powerful spell. Only then would Alan be safe from the dangerous order of wizards he’d offended.

But as Graham paced past the bathroom, he couldn’t deny how much the idea of Alan conjuring by candlelight in his Mum’s old sewing room troubled him. What if he summoned up something he couldn’t control?

Graham stopped in front of a small stand and rested his palm against the cool, smooth wood. He looked down at the smudged, sepia portrait of his parents, the antique silver candlesticks and the hand-blown glass vase. His fingers moved to trace the brass frame of a picture of Luke and himself on holiday at the shore. He looked for a long time at their back-lit likenesses smiling up from the water. When he saw Alan’s black hair in the mirror above the stand, he guiltily set the picture face-down.

“What’s up?” Alan asked, rubbing Graham’s shoulder. “Everything okay?”

Before Graham could answer, Alan slid the upside-down picture from under his hand. He looked at it, and then at Graham.

“I’m sorry,” Graham said. “I’ll pack it up, along with the rest of them. I should have gotten rid of them before you started moving in. I’ll put up some of the ink drawings I made of you in their place.”

“Not the naked ones, I hope,” Alan said, a wicked grin twisting his thin, shapely lips. He took another meaningful look at the picture before putting it back in its place. “Keep them out. You loved him, and there’s nothing wrong with you remembering or missing him.”

“It won’t make you uncomfortable?”

Alan reached up and stroked Graham’s unruly, dirty-blond hair. He let his hand trail slowly down Graham’s neck before coming to rest on his shoulder. He took a step toward Graham, his dark eyes looking at Graham intently. He kissed Graham softly on the forehead before saying, “Not at all.”

“Thank you.” The words felt inadequate to express the gratitude Graham felt toward Alan for his understanding and unwavering support. Living together would mean compromise, Graham realized. The least he could do would be to return Alan’s acceptance. “What do you say we finish getting that study set up?”

Alan nodded, and they went back to work. Within an hour they’d finished arranging Alan’s office and stood back to admire their efforts. Alan’s research sat in neat piles on the desk and the shelves, though Graham knew it wouldn’t be long before they’d be scattered over the floor or tacked haphazardly to the cork board they’d mounted on the wall. He smiled though; it felt right. “I’m glad to have you here,” he told Alan, reaching for his hand. It wasn’t something he thought he’d ever say to another man after he’d boxed up Luke’s things, but he meant it.

“I’m glad to be here,” Alan said, squeezing Graham’s knuckles. “This is such a beautiful old house.” He grinned and shook his head. “If somebody had told me six months ago that I’d be moving in with a man, I’d have told them they were crazy. I didn’t see myself settling down for years.”

Graham pulled him closer so that their chests brushed together. He wound his arms around Alan’s lithe waist and nuzzled his nose into the hair above Alan’s ear. “I never saw myself with anybody again,” he admitted, closing his eyes and breathing in Alan’s scent. “Until I found you. I’m so happy I did.”

“Me too.” Alan’s hand moved up Graham’s spine and closed around a lock of his hair. He guided Graham’s head back and found Graham’s lips with his own. They kissed slowly at first, their mouths opening and tongues meeting leisurely.

Graham insinuated his tongue past Alan’s teeth to taste Alan’s palate. Alan’s head lolled back and his lips parted in invitation. Graham accepted, his tongue pushing against and twisting around Alan’s as it pressed toward Alan’s throat. Alan’s face warmed against Graham’s cheeks. His hands slid beneath Graham’s striped polo shirt. Fingertips skimmed up and down the long muscles of Graham’s back before wriggling beneath the waistband of his khaki pants to grip and knead his ass. Blood rushed to Graham’s cock, and he ground it against Alan. Alan’s body responded in kind, and Graham took hold of his hipbones and smashed their erections together. Alan’s nails scraped against Graham’s cheeks.

Pulling away with a wet pop, Alan kissed and suckled his way down Graham’s neck and then back up. When he reached Graham’s ear, he gave the lobe a playful nip before breathing, “How about we christen this place properly?”

Graham looked at Alan’s handsome face, flushed with arousal and glowing with perspiration as he considered his words. His cock leaked, moistening a round patch at the front of his shorts. He could see Alan’s hard little nipples through the thin fabric of his tee shirt, could see Alan’s tempting erection straining against his black jeans. He reached down and pressed the heel of his hand against the ample package, his fingers curling beneath Alan’s balls.

“Gods, Graham,” Alan moaned, circling his hips and driving his hard cock against Graham’s palm. “Is that a yes?”

“Oh, that’s a yes, love,” Graham said, stepping back to pull his shirt over his head.

“Your accent gets stronger when you get turned on,” Alan said as he bent to untie his canvas sneakers. “It’s the sexiest fucking thing ever.”

Graham took off the rest of his clothes as he watched Alan quickly strip. In no time Alan’s garments lay scattered about the room. Seeing them gave Graham unexpected satisfaction. He’d be seeing Alan’s things strewn about from now on; Alan lived with him now. Graham’s gaze wandered from the discarded clothing to his partner’s naked body. The late-day sun shining through the leaves dappled Alan’s ivory skin with patches of golden light. He sparkled with sweat and his darkened, swollen cock bounced with his pulse.

Graham kissed across Alan’s collarbones and down the center of his chest and flat belly. He dropped down on his knees and wrapped his fingers around the base of Alan’s shaft, lapping at the first milky droplets of come escaping his slit. Alan’s testicles huddled close to his body as Graham’s tongue circled his spongy tip. His fingers closed in Graham’s hair as he pushed forward an inch, testing. Graham opened his mouth to accommodate Alan, his hand moving to massage Alan’s sac as he licked the underside of his penis. Alan panted and groaned. Graham’s opposite hand moved up the back of Alan’s thigh to cup his ass and urge him forward. He opened his throat and took Alan’s delectable cock all the way in, his upper lip brushing against the top of Alan’s sparse, black hair.

“Oh gods, Graham stop,” Alan said, his breath ragged. He tried to step back, but Graham clung tightly to his ass and his balls. “Graham, please!”

“Ugh-ugh,” Graham said, shaking his head a little. He was enjoying himself far too much to relinquish the treat in his mouth.

“Come on,” Alan pleaded. “Can’t we, can’t we at least compromise?”

Graham reluctantly let Alan’s cock slide over his tongue and out of his mouth. He mopped his lips with the back of his hand.

“Good.” Alan knelt, facing Graham, kissing him and sucking his own taste off of Graham’s tongue. He took hold of Graham’s waist and guided him to his side. Then he shifted, bringing his shiny, wet cock to Graham’s face and dropping his head between Graham’s legs. His hot and eager mouth quickly enveloped Graham’s erection, and he sucked hard on the head. Graham felt a spurt of semen drawn out of him, and Alan purred with pleasure.

After a little adjustment, Graham and Alan found a comfortable position and began to move against each other. The tip of Graham’s nose bounced against Alan’s balls as he drove into Alan’s throat. Alan’s tongue rubbed savage circles over the sensitive groove on the underside of Graham’s cock head. Graham’s hands explored Alan’s silky-smooth ass and legs while Alan fondled Graham’s nipple. Graham felt his muscles clenching and he gripped the back of Alan’s knee as he shot his seed into Alan’s mouth and down his throat. Alan slurped and suckled Graham’s softening dick, not letting a drop of his semen go to waste. A few minutes later Alan rewarded Graham with his own shower of hot come. It splattered against the roof of Graham’s mouth and trickled out between his lips. His tongue sought out the remains of the intoxicating flavor as Alan slowly pulled away.

They lay face to face, catching their breath, kissing lazily, and grinning and giggling like virgins. “You’re wonderful,” Graham told Alan. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Alan said, rolling to his back and looking at the ceiling with drooping eyes. His stomach growled loudly, and he draped his hand over his belly button. “I guess I worked up an appetite,” he said, grinning at Graham.

“I’m hungry too,” Graham said. “Shall we call out for pizza?”

“Don’t you want to finish putting away my things first?” Alan wondered.

“Nah,” Graham said, holding the hand on Alan’s belly. “It can wait. We have the rest of our lives.”

The End

Augusta Li is the author of several short stories, novellas, novels, and yaoi manga scripts, created either on her own or with her partner in crime, Eon de Beaumont. Gus and Eon are also artists and are currently hard at work on many manga and prose projects. They would love nothing more than to see the yaoi/BL genre flourish in the West. Video games, manga and anime have been huge influences on Gus’s work. Xbox Live calls Gus away from work far more often than it should. Visit Gus at www.yaoimagic.com, or keep an eye out at anime conventions and Goth clubs around the East Coast.

Backlist:

Onikoroshi, Phaze
Neskaya, Dreamspinner Press
Tree Fingers, Phaze
To Light My Way, Tease Publishing LLC
Beholding the Moon, Phaze
Coal to Diamonds, Tease
Lemon Kisses: A Yaoi Anthology, Phaze
Lockdown, Phaze
Juicy, Melty, Fun to Share, Phaze
Twelfth Night, Phaze

Links:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Blog
DeviantArt

Filed Under: Free Reads

Tagged: free reads, romance