Page 12 of Lace

It was a bracelet of simple black leather, fastened with a series of tiny buckles and embellished with two small, jewelled initials—an ‘L’ and a ‘C’.

“Levi…” It wasn’t girly, but it was still fancy beyond what most guys would wear. It went perfectly with the Caleb’s outfit.

“Do you?—?”

“Like it?” Caleb grinned and lifted it from its nest. “I love it, Lev. Help me?” He draped the bracelet over his wrist and moved to within Levi’s reach.

Thick fingers gentle and patient, Levi buckled each fastener until the bracelet circled Caleb’s wrist like a promise.

“It’s not my birthday or anything…” Caleb looked up at last and met Levi’s gaze.

“It’s just to show I appreciate you.” Levi said, wrapping his fingers over Caleb’s new acquisition. “Everything about you. Now—ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Caleb smiled. “Definitely.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

Dancing always got Caleb high. Just the rhythm and the beat rising up through the soles of his boots was enough to get him revved. He didn’t need to drink. Levi’s hands circling hiswaist—spinning him through the crowd and catching him again when he came sashaying back—got him hot, way more than the exertion and the sweat warranted. The music spun through his soul, and Levi tethered him with strings on his heart.

He was in heaven.

If heaven had flashing lights and a driving bass and Levi.

“You ready to go home, yet?” Levi called through the music to him sometime well after midnight had come and gone.

His husky voice cut through the hazy euphoria and zinged straight to Caleb’s dick. He spun inside the circle of Levi’s big hands around his waist, his kilt flaring out around him.

“Nope!” He draped his arms over Levi’s shoulders and hung on. “We haven’t slow danced yet.”

Levi grinned indulgently and rested his arms over Caleb’s waist. “Slow dance it is, then,” he replied, guiding him to a more sedate pace that didn’t match the music even remotely.

Caleb didn’t care. Floating over the dance floor in Levi’s arms at any pace was always good enough for him. Nothing else mattered.

Until the music faded and for a stretched-out pause the dance floor stilled with it, allowing a harsh voice to carry over the milling and the waiting.

“Nice skirt.” Someone snickered. “Pansy-ass freak.”

Levi’s arms tightened around Caleb. Those expressive blue eyes went dark and menacing.

“Ignore it, Lev, please.” Caleb begged. This time, he was the one wanting to pretend the crap couldn’t touch them. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the heat between their bodies, Levi’s hard chest against his, and the rhythm of their breathing. “Just ignore?—”

“Who let the chick in?” Another derisive snort followed the question and somewhere further off someone added support to the insult.

Caleb found himself being spun, Levi turning them in place and putting himself between Caleb and the man who had spoken. Not surprisingly, Larry smirked at them from behind a drunken mask of bravado, fists clenched and body poised for a fight.

“Lev, please…” Caleb released his hold on his lover’s hand and wrapped both of his around Levi’s bulging biceps. “Don’t.” He didn’t want this tonight. For once, he just didn’t want this shit.

Before either of them could do more, a hard shove sent Levi crashing into Caleb, causing Caleb to stumble over someone else’s foot, and fall on his ass. The music had picked up and already people were turning away, back to the beat and the heady intoxication of dance. A boot stomped down on Caleb’s hand and he swore, yanking free even as something hard thunked into the back of his head. He turned, only to receive the same treatment, a knee belonging to some mindless dancer, directly in his face, the hard knob crunching into his cheekbone.

A hand appeared from the mass above to help him up and he grabbed it, hauling his weight against the stranger’s until he had his feet under him.

“Thanks.”

“You okay?” The stranger was, if anything, even more flamboyant than Caleb, with a shock of long, greenish bangs brushed forward and low over eyes made falsely bright blue with coloured contacts. He wore plaid pants fairly glued onto his legs and a fur-collared top that made a full show of tight abs.

Caleb pulled his hand back and only just refrained from wiping it on his shirt. “Yeah. Thanks.” He turned his attention back to Levi, ignoring the hurt in the stranger’s fallen expression.

That distraction was enough for their tormentor, who grinned at Caleb’s misfortune and took a swing at Levi, landinga heavy blow to the side of his head and sending him sprawling next.

---