Winter Traditions, Chapter 5: Christmas Day
#7 of Coming Out (Jay Dee and Cerberus)
Christmas Day
I woke up early again, just like my usual routine, even on Christmas Day and well before dawn. I had not slept well on my brother's futon, and my back was aching just a little. I guessed that this would happen, and it helped me decide to very quickly to get up. I took care of my morning routine as quickly as I could, then sat down and talked with Mom for a few minutes. Our family always had a rule that we could not open our presents until after we got back from church. I had no problems with that, as I was genuinely sure that I would not be getting any presents at all. I knew I had to go with my family to church, even though I had long been out of the habit. Cerberus had expressed a desire to come with us, and I would confirm that in just a moment. I had a slight skip in my step that my Mom noticed, as she had guessed what I was planning. I'd made sure the spare room was clear, and then I went into wake up Cerberus.
"Merry Christmas," I whispered into his ear, as I sat down on the bed and put my arm around him.
He reached up and grabbed my arm, pulling me even closer to him. My heart started to beat faster when I settled myself down next to him. I wrapped my wing around him and we lay there, but I didn't want to leave.
"Merry Christmas Jay," he finally whispered back as he moved my claw down to his crotch. Even through the blankets I could feel his arousal, and I could feel my own beginning. "You're the best Christmas present I've ever had. I love you."
"I love you too sweetie," I told him. "Do you still want to come to church with us?"
"Of course I do love," he replied as he opened his eyes. "If you have to go, then I want to go with you."
"Okay then," I told him. "Then it is time to get up my love."
I leaned forward and once again, we kissed with all the passion that only a forced separation could bring out. We both would have gladly lingered there forever, but all too soon we had to breathe and broke the kiss. I got up and made sure that the bathroom was still unoccupied. Cerberus headed in while I double checked to make sure that everything was under the Christmas tree that was supposed to be. Soon enough, everyone was ready to go, and we headed off to church.
I suppose that going to church as a gay male with my boyfriend should have been an unnerving experience, especially as I had gotten out of the habit. I must admit to having a slight twinge of not belonging as I entered, I got over it quickly though. The trappings of faith did not interest me; religion was a personal and individual experience between a person and God. All this outward appearances was in the end meaningless. My God surely did not view the love Cerberus and I shared as a sin. I actually liked the church that we went to on Christmas: It was a smaller congregation, only about sixty per cent dragon, and the priest had not forgotten that he was providing a service rather than being a lecturer to a bunch of unwilling students.
There was no adventure through the Mass, I sat next to Cerberus at the end of the pew and we inconspicuously held paws through most of the service. We hugged briefly and in a friendly manner after the Lord's Prayer, an action that no one took notice of. Heading back to my Grandfather's house, we volunteered to pick up the newspaper for him and got a few sodas for ourselves (as we were the only non-coffee drinkers). By the time we got back, Mom was finishing up making eggs with the leftover sausage from last night. Breakfast came first, and we all sat down for breakfast before opening presents. With that done, we gathered in the living room for the family giving celebration.
I sat on the floor in front of the love seat, so I was closest to the tree. Deax sat on the floor in front of the couch, which Dad and Cerberus shared. Mom was in the recliner while Grandpa was in the other chair across the room from me. I began distributing the presents. My brother had the most of course, mainly ornaments and such from my parents. He got a DVD from me of my favorite internet series, and a couple of game themed T-shirts from myself and Cerberus. Grandpa got a couple of books, and Mom and Dad exchanged gifts: A necklace for her, and a book for him. My brother, who was not the best at getting gifts, had actually come through. He got a book of Sudoku puzzles for Mom, a shirt for Dad, and a shirt for me. I was actually quite impressed. Deax wasn't usually very good about getting gifts, and I put it down to Krixi's influence. Even Cerberus wasn't left out, as my parents gave him a book about one of the Renaissance artists. That said artist was now thought to be gay by the historical community went by with barely a snicker from me.
After that, the little group broke up quickly: Grandpa went to watch TV, Dad went to go work on the crossword puzzle, and Deax disappeared. Mom sat in the recliner, reading on her Kindle, and Cerberus was flipping through his new book. He looked up as he realized I was watching him.
"You know," I said teasingly. "There seems to be another box back here, with your name on it."
He looked at me with surprise in his blue eyes, and I grinned as I pulled out the box in question- a rather large heavy box. It did indeed have Cerberus' name on it. His confused and happy smile fell when he recognized the paw-writing.
"Jay," he'd chided. "I thought that we weren't going to give presents here. I didn't bring anything for you!"
"It's okay," I soothed. "It says it's for you, but it's really for both of us."
I could tell he was still a little annoyed with me, but he went to work on the wrapping paper anyway. He stopped as soon as the box was exposed, and looked up at me. He was knelt over the box, his eyes locked on me, a mixture of confusion and love in his eyes that was almost to the point of tears. I was leaning back against the loveseat, and I felt that familiar rush of both pride and shame run through me as I saw the tears forming in his eyes. I was glad I had made him happy, but I hated to see him cry. Between us was the box holding a queen sized air mattress.
"You didn't think I would let you sleep alone for four days, did you?" I asked, or at least I started to ask, because it came out: "You didn't think I wou...uhmmmm..." as Cerberus launched himself over the mattress and our muzzles locked together.
Even now, I look back and can say that this was the greatest kiss of my life. I've had longer kisses, more urgent kisses, kisses with females, and kisses with (God help me) other males (which is a story for another time), but this one still tops them all. The events that followed may have attached more sentiment to it, but something in my brain marked it as special right from the start and I can remember every little detail about it. I remember the warm tickle of his fur against my scales, the warmth of his muzzles against mine, the wetness of his saliva, and the rough feel of his tongue. I remember the faint tastes and smells lingering on his lips: The eggs, the meaty taste of the sausage, the cheese, the faint peppery tang and spice of hot sauce and over it all the distinct taste and smells that had no other description than his name, the smell of my lover. It was the most perfect kiss of my life.
I don't know how long it lasted, but it wasn't long enough. All too soon, he was pulling away from me. I opened my eyes to find him staring at me, tears beginning to distort the perfect blue in his eyes. I didn't know what to say, and felt the salty sting of tears in my own eyes. Mom looked studiously down at her Kindle, trying very hard not to watch. She was smiling though, and I could see that while she was seeing us, she was also seeing into the past and thinking of my father. For my part, I just smiled at Cerberus, letting the moment linger and I didn't say anything. Cerberus finally just climbed over the box and cuddled next to me, he put his head in my shoulder and sobbed gently. I just held him.
That was the moment that I first wondered how long it had been since he had had a proper Christmas...probably not since his parents had died. I held him tighter as that realization dawned on me. In that moment, I could not even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for him, and I suddenly I understood why he acted the way he did. How long had it been since he had, had a proper Christmas? Maybe as long as six years, which was something I couldn't even begin to imagine. So I just held as he sobbed, letting the moment last as long as it could.
Eventually we sat next to each other and discussed the book that Mom had gotten for him. That discussion took most of the morning. Soon enough, it was time to head back to my Uncle's house for Christmas dinner. Cerberus and I had returned first last night, so we would be the last to leave tonight. While the others prepared to leave, Cerberus insisted that we make sure that the air mattress functioned properly. I agreed, even though I did not understand the reason since I had bought the same mattress that my parents were using downstairs, I'd laid the mattress out when I heard the cars leaving.
I had begun filling the mattress when I first became aware of the change in Cerberus' behavior. He was being extremely affectionate, almost throwing himself on me. He was clinging to my back and licking my ear, his tail was beating a steady rhythm on my hip, and he kept making these growling and yipping noises that I had never heard from him before. The whole display proved to be very stimulating though, and I found myself willing the pump to work faster. Cerberus' scent was filling my nostrils, arousing me even more- but then, suddenly, he was gone. His weight was gone from my back, his scent was dissipating quickly. 'He must have had to use the restroom,' I rather densely thought to myself at the time. I returned my attention to the inflating mattress, watching it expand and thinking of all it represented to me. Oddly enough, sex was not one of them...sure I thought about it briefly, but mostly I was just looking forward to spending the night holding Cerberus again. The mattress finished inflating just as I heard the light tread of a paw behind me.
"There we go," I said. "All set up, we may have to put a little more air in it when we get back, but the hard part is finished." In retrospect, that might have been the most ironic comment of all time...if I hadn't immediately offered an even more ironic one. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," was all I heard in reply...The next instant, he was across the room with his arms around my neck and his muzzle locked on mine. I was taken by surprise, but I recovered quickly enough to put my own arms in the small of his back and pull him closer. As the kiss continued, I slid my claws down to his hips and lifted him off his paws. His own paws began sliding over my neck, back, and chest as we broke that kiss and started another the instant we could breathe again. For the first time, I sensed the urgency in the proceedings, something was different. I did not, and still do not, know what tipped me off to this: some subtle change in Cerberus' scent, or the way he was touching me, or just some sixth sense that I had...but I knew that this was unlike any of our sexual experiences before.
"So," I finally managed to ask when I realized what was going on. "What would my doggie like to do today?"
"I want my dwaggy to mate me," he whispered, as if relaying some great secret while his paws continued exploring my chest. It was a declaration that I took seriously- Cerberus had only called me a 'dwaggy' a handful of times before, and all of them were in the middle of 'playing' where he did not care about seeming childish. My claws, which had happily been exploring the fur just above his tail, stopped moving.
I will also admit that Cerberus' sexual vocabulary was (and still is) much larger than my own. But in this case, I had little doubt about what he was asking. It did not stop me from being dense, however. "What?"
"I want you to mate me," he repeated as he began licking my snout. Meanwhile, his paws were drifting down my stomach and towards my crotch. I was trying to prepare myself for the giggling that would follow when those warm, velvety paws reached their destination and liked what they found; but a thousand things ran through my head, a thousand things to say, a thousand questions, and a thousand excuses. To be honest, I had not even thought about this situation in a long time- had not considered what it meant, what implications it would have for our relationship, hadn't look for it or even missed it. Sex had not crossed my mind in a long time, but of all the things that came into my head, only one reached my muzzle.
"We don't have to do this," I told him quietly as I rubbed his back. It was a funny thing to say in that moment- who ever heard of a male turning down sex? I was suddenly nervous, almost as if I was facing this possibility for the first time all over again. Of course, from a certain point of view I was- I had never had sex with another male before. He was having none of it.
"It's Christmas," he purred and unfastened my pants. "I know the only thing you want is me, and here I am. Now, why don't you un-wrap me?" He began to lick my muzzle and neck, which sent shudders of pleasure through me- so bad in fact, that it was a challenge to undo Cerberus' pants' buttons- especially the one in back as his bulging sheath was pressing against my own bulging crotch. I managed to undo it and let his pants fall to the ground before removing his shirt. We had practiced this routine enough by now that our muzzles barely parted as we lifted each other's shirts over our heads. My pants followed next, and we stood in our boxers for another moment before Cerberus pushed me gently onto the bed.
"What do I do?" I asked, sounding as naïve as I had the first time we had explored our feelings for each other. He knelt down and kissed me before standing again.
"You just lie there and look pretty," he told me in a teasing tone. He slid his boxers to the floor and stood for a moment to let me take him in. He was perfect, just as he was all those months ago- except now his ears were up in excitement. The grey fur of his back and mask contrasted nicely with the white of his belly, especially where it crept around onto his perfect abs. His bushy tail was swishing rapidly behind him, and his blue eyes twinkled in excitement. I noticed all this only peripherally, as my full attention (as it had been all those months ago) was focused on his sheath. It was plump, full, pushed away from his torso, and ready to allow his shaft to emerge. All it would take was a touch to allow that to happen, I knew that from long experience- but I was nervous, probably more nervous than I had been my first time. I swallowed, trying to fight the nerves threatening to overwhelm me at that moment. Cerberus must have noticed, because at this point, he bent down and kissed me again- sliding my boxers off as he did so. I was on the razor edge of full arousal as well, and the feel of his fur on my bare scales was all the encouragement I'd needed.
"Relax Jay," he'd whispered. His ran his paw down my chest and stomach, and ended by caressing my member and my sac; I shuddered again at that. "Just relax Jay, I will take care of everything. You just lie there and enjoy yourself."
With that, he'd stood up again, stepped over to his pants and retrieved a small bottle. I watched as Cerberus put on a show. He'd turned away from me; his tail swished back and forth as he bent down to show me his wonderful ass. With a practiced ease he flipped the lid open on the bottle and poured some of the contents onto his paw, then he'd brought his paw around to his tail hole which he rubbed down and then, teasingly, he inserted first one, and then a second finger. I'd gasped as he moaned slightly when he slowly rotated those fingers in a circle. I clenched my legs against the shudder that ran through me, but it did nothing to slow my arousal. I had closed my eyes, and when I'd opened them again he was leaning over me with a loving look in his perfect blue eyes. The nervous dragon I saw reflected in those eyes did little to comfort me, however; but the moment passed quickly as our muzzles met again. Any doubts that Cerberus had done this before faded quickly, replaced by the feeling of being glad that he was in charge; without breaking the kiss, he down and began to stroke my member, his touch cooling the warmth of my arousal as his paw spread the lube over it. His other paw touched my neck behind my ear and then slid down my neck, shoulder, and finally on to my chest. I shuddered badly as he stroked me, the pleasure of his touch surged through me. At that moment, I started panting already, even before Cerberus knelt on me, his knees right next my hips. He kept one paw on my cock and kissed me again, his weight off of my body.
"Okay Jay," he soothed. "Relax and let me lead. If you feel anything you don't like, say something right away okay?"
I nodded as I didn't trust myself to speak at that point. I was soaked in sweat already from a case of nerves. He gave me a reassurance lick, and then gently lowered himself onto my shaft. The 'pop' as I entered him was almost audible and I gasped as I slid into the warm confines of my lover. I remember that I took hold of his hips to not dig my claws into the mattress in ecstasy. I had managed to open my eyes to see Cerberus in a similar state- his eyes closed, his ears up, his tongue out, and a look of utter contentment on his muzzle. The air was thick with the smell of our mutual arousal, and that pressed us onward. Cerberus slowly knelt down, then rose back up, then knelt again, taking more of me into him each time he repeated the movement. My nerves had slowly begun to fade- I had done this before, but there was something different about this- the feeling was more intense than any of my previous times. Perhaps, Cerberus as a male, was just more in tune with how to the please another male. Perhaps I was just more in love with him than I had been with any of the others.
At the moment that thought crossed my mind, Cerberus began to ride me in earnest, working his hips up and down on me at a somewhat faster pace. As he went up, he would squeeze his tail hole ever so gently, and act that sent even more shudders through me. At some point, I pulled a claw off his hip and began to stroke his shaft in time with his movements- an act I had no memory of performing. It was an act of instinct I guess, an automatic desire on my part to make sure that my mate was pleased as well. How long we managed to keep this up, I have no memory- the moments of the warm comforting embrace of him around me, the panting and moaning, the feel of his warm shaft in my claw, all stretched and blurred into one magical moment. We had quickly gotten each other's rhythm, and before too long I was moving my hips in time with his rump and my claw was keeping up as well.
As I felt myself getting near to climax, I was seized by a sudden desire to have Cerberus in my muzzle- not a new desire by any means, but very odd given the circumstances we were in. In a feat I had never managed before, and have never matched since, I folded myself up and got the tip of his shaft in my muzzle for a few heartbeats. Cerberus gasped at that, and I got a few good licks in before the complete ecstasy of climax hit me. I fell away from him and he squeezed himself against me, an action that extended my climax. His own climax a moment later forced him to release his grasp, and I emptied myself inside him as his own seed covered my torso- even managing to splash on my muzzle. I had just begun to happily lick my snout clean when he collapsed on top of me. We lay there, giggling and happily cuddling for a long time.
"Jay," Cerberus sighed contentedly. "That was incredible. I didn't know you could do that."
"I didn't know either," I replied. "Oh, doggie- that was... the best, ever."
Cerberus licked my face. "Yes, yes it was my dwaggy. Oh Jay, I love you so much."
"I love you too doggie," I'd told him with a kiss. "I love you forever."
With that exchange, we fell asleep in each other's arms. Until I was awakened by my phone ringing, with Mom's ring tone. My first thought was Oh shit, we're in trouble! This proved to be a valid concern, as her tone and words confirmed.
"Where the hell are you two?"
"What?" I replied groggily. "I'm showing Cerberus some of my old hang-outs..."
"For over an hour and a half?" she'd interrupted. "I don't think so."
"Um..."
"Jay... You're out of breath and you sound like I just woke you up," she'd gone on; her tone suggested that she knew exactly why. She sighed deeply. "Just open a window up there, okay?"
"Yeah," I replied, my ears burning in embarrassment. I had already opened one to get rid of the new plastic smell from the mattress. Cerberus had heard at least my half of the conversation, and his ears had folded down in embarrassment, his sweat matted fur adding to the picture. "We'll be right over."
"If you two show up here smelling like sex, I am going to throw you both out in the street. Call when you get here."
"Are we in trouble?" Cerberus asked when I'd hung up the phone. He was clearly still very embarrassed.
"A lot less then we could be," I'd answered. "We have to get moving though and grab a shower." As I spoke, I'd gotten my paws underneath us and lifted us both upright. Cerberus, who was by that point used to this, kept his arms wrapped around my neck and wrapped his legs around my hips as I held him under his tail and carried him down to the bathroom, both of us giggling all the way.
We showered together, kissing often, but we kept touching to a minimum to keep our scents to ourselves as much as possible. We dried off, using a scented drying powder on Cerberus' fur and quickly got dressed. We wore the outfits we had bought in the mall: my black shirt and black pants, and Cerberus in his dark green shirt with khaki pants. We quickly checked each other for signs or smells of our activity and then got into the car, which I drove to my Uncle's house as fast as I dared. A light snow had begun to fall, lending a magical air to everything. We pulled into Uncle Sev's driveway a short time later, and Cerberus handled the dreaded duty of calling my Mom. That turned out to be unnecessary, as the front door had opened and she had emerged as Cerberus was dialing. We stood there on the front porch wearing embarrassed grins while she inspected us up and down and gave us the occasional sniff. We seemed to have passed her inspection, because she stopped in front of us and shook her head.
"I want you both to know," she said in a tone that brooked no questioning. "That I would be giving the same treatment to Deax if he did the same thing. Got it?"
We both nodded, and she hugged us both before she led us inside. The story she told seemed to have been the one about us going to my favorite childhood places, and everyone but Dad seemed to be buying it. He just shook his head and went back to his drink. I needed a drink myself at that point, and got a whiskey sour from Uncle Sev who was in the mood to make mixed drinks.
In truth, the rest of the day passed as a blur for me after what had already happened and there is really little else to tell. Dinner was a ham, sliced thin for sandwiches, with a variety of sides including a broccoli salad that was my favorite. Gifts were exchanged again, and most of the family wandered into the TV room to watch a movie that they had very little interest in seeing. Cerberus had brought his tablet, and amused some of the family by doing quick sketches. I sat in the corner of the living room and jotted down some quick story notes. The gathering broke up around eight in the evening. Deax headed off to spend the night at a friend's place, and the rest of us went back to my grandfather's. Grandpa and my parents went to bed rather quickly while Cerberus and I stayed up for while playing video games and chatting. Eventually, Cerberus put his head on my shoulder and began to doze, which confirmed or me that it was time for bed. I finished the game I was in and shut down Deax's Xbox. With that done, I collected my doggie and carried him across the hall to our room. He woke up just long enough to strip to his boxers and climb into the bed on his own. I closed the window before I stripped as well and joined him under the covers. After I had settled, Cerberus gave me a lick on the snout.
"Merry Christmas Jay," he whispered. "That was the best Christmas ever."
"Merry Christmas Cerbi," I replied. "It was the greatest day of my life."
It wasn't a lie, lying there in the bed with him in my arms; I could not remember a better day in my life. I gladly would have stayed there forever, but eventually we both fell asleep ending the greatest day ever...little did I know just how badly my world would be shaken the next day.
(Special thanks again to Ruth of Pern, who edited this while ill once again. He's the best.)