He didn’t sleep for long, though. His growling stomach roused him, and he looked up at me with wide, shining eyes. “Blackthorne,” he murmured.

“Beloved prince,” I whispered, smiling and kissing the top of his head.

“Did I fall asleep?” he asked drowsily.

“You did, my love. You were smiling so sweetly in your sleep, too.”

He blushed, then sat up a little. “Oh my gosh, I’m Sorry Blackthorne, I didn’t mean to do that! I was going to–”

He was reaching down to my pants, but I took his wrist before he could touch me. “Don’t worry about a thing, Little Moon,” I assured him. “I don’t need you to reciprocate.”

“Re– what?”

“Today is all for you,” I explained. “I don’t expect you to do for me what I did for you.”

“But…”

His stomach growled again.

“No, Little Moon. It’s time for lunch.”

“Blackthorne, I really want to!”

“You’re a treasure,” I said with a chuckle, “but not right now. My erection went down, anyway.”

“Does it hurt, though?” He was genuinely worried about me.

“Not at all, my love. I was nowhere near the point where I needed to finish.”

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I replied. “I wanted to do that for you, and it had just the effect I wanted it to.”

“Blackthorne…”

“Don’t be so sad, Little Moon. I want your birthday to be wonderful.”

“Making you cum, too, would be wonderful,” he whispered.

I grinned at him. “Is that so?”

He nodded eagerly.

“If that is what you want, how can I deny you? But you’ll have to wait until tonight.”

“But the party is tonight!”

“Yes, and after we have dinner at your aunt’s house and spend time with your family, we’ll go back to my place.”

He grinned widely. “I better not get too full at dinner, then.”

“Oh, you get to stuff yourself on spaghetti and cake,” I told him.

“But–”

“I almost want to keep you wondering why,” I told him as I got up from the blanket and started giving Justin his clothes. “You’re cute when you’re trying to figure out the surprise.”

“But it’s my birthday!” he insisted playfully.

“So it is, Little Moon.” I got my shirt back on and stepped over to my car. “And that’s why I’ll tell you what I want.”

I got into my car, grabbed the basket of food, and brought it back to the blanket. Justin was now dressed and watching me eagerly. He got into the basket before I had a chance to completely sit down.

“I’m so hungry!” he said as he took out his sandwich and fruit bowl.

“I’m sure you are,” I said. I found a spoon and fork so that he could eat his berries, offered him some chips, and then got started on eating.

“So,” Justin said after he’d wolfed down half his food, “what are we going to do later?”

“Well… once we leave here, we can go to my place until it’s time to go to your aunt’s, maybe watch a movie.”

“No, after that!”

“Well, we get to see your dad…” I went on, pretending to be thinking hard on the matter.

“Afterwards!”

“I’m giving you my present.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

I chuckled again. “When we go back to my place?”

He nodded eagerly.

“You’ll probably be exhausted by then,” I noted. “You’ll fall right to sleep.”

Justin scooted over next to me. “No I won’t. You’ll have to help me use up all my energy.”

“Well, I should be able to find a way to do that,” I replied as I put an arm around him.

“Yes! First, take off all my clothes.”

“Again?”

He nodded excitedly. “And then I’ll get all of yours off.”

“Oh, well if that’s your plan, you’ll need a way to keep me warm.”

“Well, I’m going to keep part of you warm with my mouth.”

“And what about the rest of me?”

He took another bite of sandwich and gave me a doe-eyed look. “I want to hear your ideas.”

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, then looked down at him. “Hmmm… I think I know what I want.”

“Tell me!” he commanded excitedly.

I wrapped my arms around Justin and pulled him into my lap, then laid kisses all over his cheeks and temple. Eventually, I whispered into his ear, “I want you to make love to me.”

Justin looked up at me, wide-eyed and red-cheeked.

“I do so love that sense of wonder in your eyes,” I murmured, kissing him again.

“Y-you… you want to…”

I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking. Justin knew that I normally kept quiet about my sexual activities; I didn’t talk about whom I’d just been with or what we’d done, instead keeping it between me and my partner. He didn’t know why– not beyond the concept that I was reserved and respectful. The fact was, I rarely sought out sex, especially after my grandfather told me the truth about what he was. Instead, I spent time practicing methods of self-control, including meditation, tantric studies, tai chi, and so on. Keeping to myself unless I felt in control was safer for the person I was with, so training my body to be satisfied with what it got was imperative.

“Yes, my love,” I said, my voice low and husky. “I want my prince’s body to demonstrate his love.”

“Blackthorne…” His voice trembled. “I’m going to get hard just thinking about having you inside me.”

“Oh, Little Moon,” I whispered, caressing his cheek, “I won’t do that just yet. As I said, you’ll be the one making love to me.”

“I–” Justin turned even redder.

“Now you understand.” I leaned in to kiss his lips softly. “You don’t have to, but please don’t decline simply because you think I need release. Nothing would give me more pleasure tonight than to know that my body gives you ecstasy. You being inside me will make me cum, Little Moon. I promise you that.”

Justin breathed harder. He tried to speak, but kept tripping over his own words.

“Don’t worry, my love,” I assured him, “I will guide you. You can take your time.”

His eyes widened a little more. “I know what to do! I’ve done it plenty of times before. It’s just– it’s…”

“It’s me this time?” I finished for him.

He gave a jerky nod.

“I promise to take good care of you,” I whispered, and kissed him again.

That kiss lasted longer than I’d expected; Justin wrapped his arms around my neck and kept me close for long, sensual minutes. Our tongues melted together, our limbs entwined, and it felt as though Justin would have taken me right there if he could. I did get him focused back on his lunch, though, and after we finished eating, we relaxed on the hill together until he decided that we should go back to my place to watch another vampire movie.

———-

We arrived at Justin’s aunt’s house a little after five that evening. Judging by the cars out front, Ms. Anderson was already there, and Justin’s uncle was already home from work. I parked by the curb, as usual, right behind another car, which we didn’t recognize.

“Heh, it’s a rental car,” I pointed out. “Did your dad say whether he’s driving himself or renting something? Or could that be someone else?”

“He didn’t say how he’s coming,” Justin admitted. “He just promised to be here.”

I gave him a hopeful smile. “Let’s go in and find out, okay?”

He nodded. I could tell he was excited and nervous all at once. He hopped out of the car and nearly ran up to the door all on his own, but stopped himself half-way there and ran back to grab my hand. Once we were at the front door, he found it locked, so he rang the doorbell

as well as knocking. After a few moments, Ms. Anderson opened the door.

“Justin! Hi, sweetie!” She embraced him tightly, then ushered him inside. “Everyone has been so excited for you to get here.”

Then she turned to me. “Emory, thank you so much for driving him all over the city,” she said, giving me a hug. “Have you boys had a nice day together?”

“It’s been great, mom!” Justin declared.

I nodded in agreement. “He’s been all smiles the entire day.”

“Is Dad here?” Justin rushed out before his mother could say anything else. “Is that his rental car?”

Ms. Anderson gave him a look that made me wonder whether she was debating between admonishing him or laughing at how excited he was. Thankfully, she stayed focused on keeping his eighteenth birthday happy.

“He’s in the dining room,” she told him.

Justin dashed off to the next room. I heard him calling out before Ms. Anderson and I had any chance to follow him.

“Dad! Dad, you’re here!”

When I entered the dining room, I saw Justin clinging to his father, and his father embracing him in return. Although they got to talk on the phone sometimes, it had been– if I remembered correctly– about ten months since they’d last seen each other in person. Raymond had been late in visiting Justin for his seventeenth birthday, and hadn’t been able to stay for long. He’d tried to visit a few months ago, closer to Thanksgiving, but had spent the holiday with another of his kids, and Christmas had greeted him with car troubles. I was actually relieved at the thought that he’d rented a car to get to Cody.

“Emory, wow, look how tall you’ve gotten!” Raymond called, opening his arms to pull me into the hug, too.

Justin had been with Killian the last time Raymond had come around, and I hadn’t been able to stop by to greet him. I think it had been at least two years since he’d seen me, and he was right that’ I’d grown a lot in that time. I was an inch or two taller than him, whereas Justin was a little shorter than him.

“Woah, look at those muscles!” He said as he squeezed my arm. “You’ve been working out!”

“More like working,” I said. “Electronics can get pretty heavy.”

“You’re a hard worker already, huh? And you’re still doing yoga? Or was it kung fu?”

“A little yoga,” I admitted with a laugh; it was a handy way to stay limber. “And tai chi.”

“That’s right,” he said. “The slow one. Well, let’s not stand around jabbering when you could be eating. I hope you boys are hungry!”

Raymond ushered us over to some seats, and Justin only took his chair when his father promised to sit next to him. The dinner table was set with plenty of plates and cups and napkins there were two big bowls of salad, various salad dressings. and a buffet-type crock pot setup containing spaghetti with marinara sauce, fettuccine with Alfredo sauce, plenty of meatballs, and slices of grilled chicken. And lest I forget, there was a platter piled high with warm garlic bread, and two different varieties of Parmesan cheese.

“All right, I already got the little kids their salads,” Raymond said as he got another plate from the stack. “What kind do you want, Justin?”

Raymond didn’t sit down until everyone else had their salads and was eating happily. He seemed different from how I remembered him; he used to be somewhat oblivious to the needs of those around him, and to some, that came off as selfish. It wasn’t exactly that he didn’t care, but unless others made their needs known and were direct about it, he’d continue blissfully doing his own thing. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ applied to him– not maliciously, but certainly often enough that it annoyed other people, especially Justin’s mother, who sat at the other end of the table with her sister.

As dinner went on, the diners split off into smaller conversations, and Justin got to tell his dad about how things had been going lately. He wanted to show him his central line and talk about his plans for school, but remembered that his aunt didn’t want him bringing up those topics around his younger cousins. There was plenty else to talk about, though– even while Justin devoured his second plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Once everyone had eaten, Raymond help clear the dishes. He wouldn’t let anyone help until Justin’s aunt insisted that her children be allowed to follow their normal procedure of taking their own dishes to the kitchen. Justin’s cake was brought out once the table was a little cleaner; they hadn’t been able to get anything fancy or customized, but he didn’t seem to mind having marble cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and a rainbow of little plastic balloons. He laughed when he blew out the candles only to have them re-ignite on their own, no matter how many times he blew them out. His cousins all thought the trick candles were hilarious, and were a little disappointed when they were dropped into water in order to truly put them out.

Justin loved every single present his family gave him. His aunt, uncles and cousins ad gotten together to get him a remote-controlled dragon that walked and roared. He almost didn’t want to stop playing with it, but he was glad he did, because his mother had given him the special-edition Type O Negative album he’d been wanting, plus the graphic novel version of “The Crow.”

When it came time for him to open my present, I took out my phone, and he gave me a narrow-eyed look. “No filming!”

I gave him an innocent look as I unlocked the screen. “I’m not filming you.”

“Then put that away,” he said.

“I will,” I assured him. “I just have to make a call first.”

“Right now?!” Justin looked completely baffled that I would do something like that.

I pressed a few buttons on my screen and told him, “Let’s see how fast you can get that paper off.”

I hit ‘call’ on my screen, and as I listen to the line ringing, Justin looked down at the box in his hands. “Is that… ‘Toccata and Fugue’? But–” he looked up at me. “Where is that coming from?”

I pointed to the gift. Coming from it was the muffled sound of organs playing one of his favorite classical songs. “You should get that open, Little Moon.”

“But–”

He still hadn’t figured it out, and was completely confused as to how his gift was playing music right then.

“Hurry and open it,” his father urged.

Justin tore of the wrapping paper in a flurry. The music stopped for only a second, and restarted as soon as I pressed the button on my phone again. He nearly dropped the box trying to turn it around so he could read the label.

“M– Motorola?!” He looked up at me. “Blackthorne you didn’t–”

“He did,” his mother said. “Go on, Justin; take a look.”

Justin took the lid off the box and set it aside, then stared down at the device playing “Toccata and Fugue” as it glowed from inside its case. I had to tap my phone yet again to get the music to replay, as he was too surprised by what I’d given him to act right away. Finally, he lifted out the phone, opened the cover on the case, and accepted the call.

“Blackthorne…” he whispered in awe.

“Happy birthday,” I said, then hung up the call.

He stared at the screen, which had a small picture of me at the top of his call record. “You… This…”

“He’s speechless!” his father laughed.

“He’s put all of our numbers into your contacts list,” his mother added.

Justin looked over at me. “You got me a phone… and you got it all set up for me? And everyone kept it secret?”

I nodded. “Whenever you weren’t with me, and I wasn’t at work,” I went on, not mentioning that I also had to find time in between visits with my grandfather, “I was downloading apps and loading contacts and setting pref–”

My arms were suddenly full of Justin. He clung to me, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheeks.

“Blackthorne, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the coolest thing you’ve ever done for me– Well, besides just being here.”

I was thrilled that he liked it. Every now and then, I’d worried that he’d try to turn down the gift, saying that it was too expensive or that he needed to earn it himself. But he was thrilled, and seeing him happy made it all worth it.

Justin and I looked through his phone while Raymond passed out cake. I showed him all his contacts– not that there were many, but they were all important; I’d even programmed in his dad’s number. The case I’d gotten him opened like a book, and it had a scene with a mountain-top castle and bats flying in front of the moon, all framed by roses with thorny stems. I’d put on a screen protector and a charm with little pewter moons dangling from it. All he had left to do was set up his security features.

Once Justin’s cousins were done eating cake, they ran out to play in the backyard, and their mother went into the kitchen to start on dishes. Justin’s uncle excused himself to go upstairs and do some reading, leaving us alone with. Ms. Anderson and Raymond.

“I did bring you a gift,” Justin’s father said, sliding a rectangular box his way. It was about the size of a shoe box, but it sounded metallic underneath the wrapping. “It doesn’t look like much, but you’ll understand when you open it.”

Justin nodded and carefully unwrapped the box to reveal a hinged metal case. It had a thin handle at the top and a latch with a key-hole on the front. He looked up at his father.

“It’s a lock box,” Raymond said, reaching into the breast pocket of his polo shirt. “It’s not empty, I promise.”

Justin accepted the keys from his father and stared at them, then at his father. With a little more urging, he slid the key into the lock and turned it, then slowly lifted the lid. He gasped and nearly slammed the lid shut when he saw what was inside.

“Dad–”

“Raymond!” Ms. Anderson snapped when she got a better look at the contents. She lowered her voice before going on. “Where in the world did you get this kind of money?!”

“I told you, I’ve been working,” he replied.

She glowered at him. “Raymond Corbyn, for the past eighteen years, getting any money from you has been like pulling teeth! You’ve never been on time with child support, and you’ve always fallen short on the amount you send. Justin and the eight other kids you made because you couldn’t–“

“Three,” Raymond interrupted.

“What?!”

“I have three living children besides Justin,” he corrected her. “Two that I owe child support for, because the other one was adopted. And I’m going to get caught up with their payments, but Justin’s the oldest, so I’m giving this to him to get him a head-start on life.”

That didn’t satisfy Ms. Anderson. “As much as I’d love to just let him accept this, Raymond, we don’t want dirty money in our lives.” She looked ready to close the lid and shove it back at him, but Justin had his hands in the box, looking through the envelops stuffed with money.

“Mom, Dad, can you two please not fight on my birthday?” Justin begged them.

“I just have a little more to say, Justin, and then I’m done. Lisa, I finally got a good job. I’ve even been working overtime, and as you can see, it pays really well. This money is completely legitimate. I can show you pay stubs, but a lot of it is tips.”

Ms. Anderson shook her head, not willing to be subdued so easily. “What have you been doing? What’s your job?”

“I’m an assistant host,” he replied, pulling out his wallet and searching for something.

“What the he–”

Raymond put a business card in her hands, then gave Justin and me one each as well. “I go to fancy clubs and lounges and help keep the guests happy,” he explained. “Mr. Rosenthal says it’s part manager, part wing-man. My personality is great for it. I get to talk to people, butter them up, and ultimately they spend more money.”

I read the black business card he’d given me. It had his name and job title in elegant script written on it, along with contact information. On the other side was his company’s name. “You’re working for Midnight Rose Entertainment?” I asked in surprise.

Ms. Anderson looked to me and blinked. “You’ve heard of them?”

I nodded. “Midnight Rose is a high-end company. They own clubs and lounges all over North America, but they’re all upper-class. Nothing… ummm… unsavory.”

“Unsavory? Okay Emory, I see what you mean. They’re all really classy.” Then she looked to Raymond. “How did you manage to get a job like that?”

“I just happened to strike up a conversation with Mr. Rosenthal one evening at a part-time gig. We got to talking, and he insisted that I start working for him right away.”

“That’s so cool, Dad!” Justin said, jumping up to give him a hug. “Congratulations!”

Raymond looked surprised at first, then quickly returned the embrace. Then he grasped Justin’s shoulders and met his eyes. “I know this doesn’t make up for things,” he said, his tone serious. “I’m sorry I wasn’t better over the years. I’m keeping records, and I know how much I still owe you and your mom. I’ll keep working hard, and keep sending you some, okay?”

Justin nodded and hugged him again. “Thanks, Dad.”

“I have a box for you, too,” Raymond told Ms. Anderson. “I’ll get it out of my suitcase before I head back to the motel.”

Ms. Anderson shook her head. “It was all supposed to be for Justin’s care.”

“You can give it to him if you want,” he said. “I just figured you might want to pay off some debts you might have accrued while raising him. It’s my fault you couldn’t always pay for things, so I thought I should help you fix up your credit.”

“What about yours?” she seethed, still distrusting of him.

“My credit? It’s in tatters, but I’m not in a hurry to fix it. Getting caught up on child support is my main goal. I barely even need a place to stay, because work pays for my travel expenses and most of my meals are covered. But enough about that for now. I brought vanilla bean ice cream and root beer. Who wants a float?”