Desire Ch. 01

Hi... This is my first story on here. I hope you like it. Please vote and post comments. I'd really like constructive critiques.

~~~~~~

"Daddy's home. Daddy's home!"

Luke looked up from cleaning the spilled juice on the coffee table, his pale blue gaze riveted on the front door. Eoin was at the door, excitedly jumping up and down with all the energy of any three-year-old. Luke's lips crooked up into a small smile as he finished cleaning the juice. Jules sure was taking his sweet time getting inside. Maybe he should go see what was taking so long.

The front door opened just as he stood up, and Luke saw Jules, laden with plastic bags. "Hey, Eoin, I know you want to greet your daddy, but why don't you go get him a soda from the fridge?"

"But I wanna see Daddy!" Eoin's little face scrunched up in a scowl, no doubt trying to imitate his father.

"Come on, Bud, please? We can play outside tomorrow." Luke tacked on the incentive with a grin, knowing full well that the three-year-old would take the bait.

"Okay! Daddy, what kind you want? Mount Do or Coke?"

Jules threw a grateful smile to Luke, and then turned back to his son. "I'll take a Mountain Dew, please."

"Okay! Comin up!" Eoin shot out of the living room like a rocket, racing into the kitchen.

Luke quickly went to his best friend and grabbed a few bags. "I was wondering why you were so late," he said, grinning. "What'd you do, rob the whole store?"

Jules snorted and headed to his bedroom. Luke followed, dropping his bags on the bed next to the ones Jules had. "I had to finish my Christmas shopping for my son. It is the first week of December. Now I just have to get a few things for my mom, my brother, and of course, you."

"You don't need to get me anything, Jules. You know that."

"Right. I know Christmas is your favorite time of the year. I also remember the pain you could never quite hide when we were kids and your parents forgot about the holiday."

"But we're adults now. I'm too old for gifts."

Jules's lips quirked up in that crooked grin that made Luke's heart race. Damn, he was gorgeous. Jules was six feet four inches tall. He had real muscles, the kind you get from actually working, not a gym. He had naturally light golden skin, dark brown hair down to the backs of his knees and vibrant green eyes. Today he wore faded jeans with grease and oil stains that molded quite nicely to his ass, a black T-shirt tight enough to be a second skin, and tan, scuffed work boots he should have been thrown away last year. At least his shirt looked clean.

Jules grabbed the hem of his shirt and, in one fluid move that never failed to make Luke jealous, pulled it up over his head. The move stretched his six-pack, his biceps bulging just a little. Luke felt his gaze following just behind the shirt, pale blue gaze taking in every inch of bared skin. When he finally looked up, his eyes met Jules's vibrant green gaze. The air seemed to thin, making it hard to breathe. Jules opened his mouth to say something, but then Eoin appeared in the room with the can of Mountain Dew, dispelling the electric atmosphere.

"Here, Daddy! I reached it all by myself on the shelf! Can we go to the pawk now? Can I see what's in the bag?" Eoin launched himself up onto the bed and started to reach inside one of the bags.

"No!" Luke and Jules said simultaneously. Luke swooped the little boy up into his arms, making him giggle. "No, you may not see the contents of the bags. They are not for little eyes."

"But I wanna see." Eoin gave Luke big green eyes and a sad face. He had to hand it to the kid: he really knew how to get Luke and his daddy to relent. However...

"No, son, you may not see. They are your Christmas presents, and if you see them now, I'll have to take them all right back to the store before they close." At Eoin's horrified expression, Jules chuckled. He came close and ruffled his son's hair. "I bet if you ask real nice, Luke will stay over longer. Maybe even for dinner."

Eoin turned to look back at Luke, who still held the little boy, and, in a very sugar-coated voice asked, "Will you, Luke? I want you to stay for dinneh. Pleeeeaase?"

Luke gave Eoin a very serious expression, as if he were thinking about it. "Hmm, I don't know... I should go home and feed my cats... Maybe some other time?"

Giggling, Eoin said, "But Luke, you don' have cats."

Feigning shock, he said, "I don't?"

"Nope. No cats."

"Well, then I must except your very generous offer to stay for dinner. After all, who wants to go home to a cold and lonely apartment?"

"Yay! Daddy, he said he'll stay!"

Smiling, Jules said, "So I heard. Why don't you go occupy Luke for a few minutes while I take a shower?"

"'Kay!"

"Piggy back ride?" Luke suggested.

"Yeah!"

"Alright. Let's see if we can talk your daddy into putting you on my back." Jules grabbed Eoin and, once Luke turned around, placed him on his back. "Thanks, Dad."

"Thanks, Dad!"

Luke galloped out into the short hall, into the living room, through the kitchen, and through the dining room, ending up back in the hall, Eoin squealing and giggling behind him. After making the circle a second time, Luke calmly walked into the living room and let Eoin drop onto the couch.

"Again, again!"

"No, not again. You'll break my poor back if we do it again."

"Can I go play then?"

"Sure. Go ahead to your room and play."

"'Kay!"

Luke shook his head, smiling. Kids hogged all the energy. When he was sure Eoin was in his room playing, he went back to Jules's room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He went to the bed, gathered up all the bags, and went to the closet. Standing up on his toes, Luke was able to place all the bags onto the top shelf in the closet. Next, he bent down to collect all the dirty clothes, depositing them into the hamper. Honestly, was it really so hard for Jules to keep his room devoid of dirty clothes? Oh, well. He was done in here, so he could leave.

His eyes swept the room one last time for any clothes he might have missed. Nothing. He was turning around to leave when Jules strode through the door to the in-suite bathroom, completely naked except for the long hair. His eyes immediately followed Jules's 'happy trail' to the piece of meat between his legs. He tried looking away, but couldn't. It was a good thing Jules wasn't paying attention to where Luke's eyes were.

"Where's Eoin?"

"Hmmm?" Luke jerked his gaze up to meet Jules's.

"Oh, he's in his room playing."

"I see you cleaned up my dirty clothes. Again. And put away the gifts. Thank you."

"No problem. I'm just, uh.." His voice trailed off when Jules, still naked, bent over to reach inside a drawer, his ass in the air. Luke's hands itched like hell to grab his hips and yank him down onto his throbbing dick. He realized he had taken a step closer. Jules straightened, a pair of pajama bottoms in one hand, and turned around to face Luke.

"I'm going to check on Eoin." Luke turned and fled.

~~~

Later that night, Luke was cleaning up after dinner while Jules gave Eoin a bath. Jules smiled as his son babbled on about his day, clearly happy about getting to spend time with Luke again. The kid seemed enamored by him. He could see why. Luke was the kindest, gentlest man he'd ever met. He was six feet tall with short black hair, a square chin, and a nose that was slightly too large. His mouth, almost always curved up in a smile, was just the right size for his face. And his eyes... Luke's eyes were the darkest shade of blue they could be without looking black. They were actually kind of mesmerizing if you stared into them...

"Daddy, that's big people shampoo," Eoin said, bringing Jules out of his reverie.

"Hm?" He looked down and saw that he was holding the Men's 3-in-1. "Sorry, kiddo. Daddy's mind was wandering. Lay down and get your hair wet."

Jules grinned when his son closed his eyes, took a big breath of air, held his nose, and lay down, letting the water rush over his face. He set down the adult shampoo and grabbed the Burt's Bees Baby Bee Tear Free Shampoo & Wash. He poured some into the palm of his hand just as Eoin emerged from the water. By now Eoin new the drill. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes and Jules lathered the shampoo into the boy's short dark brown hair.

"Daddy, can Luke stay the night with us? Please?" Chuckling softly, Jules said, "Don't you ever get tired of asking the same question night after night?"

A pause, then, "No. I want Luke to stay the night with us. Please, Daddy? Please?"

Sighing in defeat, Jules said, "If I say okay, you have to go to bed at your normal bedtime, in your own bed, without arguing. Got it?"

"Yeah! I pwomise!"

"Good, now close your eyes and mouth so I can rinse your hair."

Jules finished bathing his son, then wrapped him in a towel and rubbed him down. When he thought Eoin was dry enough, he sent him to his room to get his pajamas on. He let the water out of the tub, put the bath-time toys up, and hung the towel up to dry. After stalling as long as he could, he sighed and went to the kitchen. He really hoped Luke didn't have to be anywhere tomorrow. Though it was unlikely, it wasn't impossible.

Luke was standing at the double sink, his back to him, washing the last of the pans. The dishwasher was running, which meant it was full with the rest of the dishes. The man was damned proficient. Maybe he should hire Luke on as a maid? At the thought, an image of Luke in nothing but a maid's costume appeared in his mind. One of those short dresses that barely covers a woman's ass. Well, in this case, a man's ass. Wait. What the hell was he thinking!? I'm straight, damned it! Why the hell am I picturing my best friend in hardly nothing?

Jules must have made some kind of noise, because Luke turned around, his usual smile on his face. "Hey. Eoin's in bed already?"

"No. He should be getting dressed."

"Ah. Well then, make yourself useful and wash the table."

"Okay." Jules went to the sink, grabbed the washcloth and went to the table and started wiping it down. "Eoin asks me every night if you can stay over. I finally cracked and said yes. So... If you're not busy tomorrow..."

Grinning, Luke said, "Jules Callahan, are you trying to ask me to stay the night?"

Flushing, Jules said, "That's not-I mean-Damned it, Luke! Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm not a fag like you!"

Luke's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. Finally, he shut his mouth without saying anything and turned back to the sink. He quickly washed the last pan, rinsed it, and put it in the dish drain. Jules sighed, knowing he had gone too far. He knew he'd hurt his best friend. He'd seen the hurt in Luke's eyes.

"Look, Luke, I'm-"

"All dwessed, Daddy! Did you ask Luke yet?" Eoin asked as he flew into the kitchen. Jules saw Luke's shoulders rise and fall as he took a deep breath. Luke's arm went up, and Jules hoped like hell he wasn't wiping away tears. Then Luke turned and knelt down to Eoin's level, his ever-present smile in place.

"Your daddy said you want me to spend the night. I'll accept just this once, but I have somewhere to be real early in the morning, so I might not be here when you wake up, okay?"

"Aw, but I want-"

"We can't always get everything we want, Bud. If we did, then life wouldn't be fun anymore. If I stay the night tonight, will you promise to stop asking your dad every night?"

Eoin nodded. "I pwomise."

"Good. Now how about we roast some marshmallows until your bedtime?"

"Yeah!"

"I believe I saw some in the pantry, low enough for you to reach. Will you please go get them?"

"'Kay!" Eoin left the kitchen.

"Luke, I'm-"

"Stop, Jules," Luke said quietly. "I'll stay the night for Eoin, but come morning, I think it's best if we didn't see each other for a while. You should have your mom or your brother watch Eoin if you need to go somewhere."

"Luke? I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. I was a jerk-"

"You're sorry? You were a jerk? How many times in the last ten years have you caught me crying because some 'jerk' -your word- called me names? How many times have you stood up for me when all the other kids picked on me, calling me things like 'fag' and 'homo'? And now you're one of them!"

Jules's heart lurched. He had to fix this. He knew a simple 'I'm sorry' wasn't going to cut it. Not this time. In a moment of scared insecurity, he really had become the bad guy, and there was no excuse for that.

Fifteen minutes later, Eoin sat in front of the fireplace, holding the fire poker, a marshmallow on the pointed tip. Eoin put the tip into the fire, watching it roast. Luke was right next to him, showing him how to do it and laughing at Eoin's innocent joy at the simple activity. When the first marshmallow was properly roasted, Eoin turned around to show Jules, his grin lighting up the room more than the fire. Jules had to admit that Luke was good with the kid. Gentle and patient. Eoin obviously adored the man.

And so do I...

The thought startled him. Did he? Did he adore Luke? Come to think of it, he probably did. He always asks Luke to babysit before his family. He never minds it when Luke cleans his room. Or the rest of his house. In fact, Luke was just like a wife, and a lot of the time, Jules treated him as such, without the physical part, obviously.

But why not the physical part, too?

Why indeed. Jules paused, mentally shook his head, and examined the last few thoughts. Why not the physical parts, too? Well, because he wasn't gay. Was he? He didn't think so. He didn't get hard thinking of other men. His heart never raced when Luke was around, and he never fantasized about Luke sexually.

"Daddy, aren't you going woast mawshmellows, too?" Eoin asked, breaking into Jules's musings.

"Yeah, I think I will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~