Brian prefaced his tale of woe with a quick kiss to Justin's luscious lips, just to soften him up a bit for what he knew was going to be unwelcome news. He then sat back and began.

 "Do you remember me telling you about my newest client, old man Murphy from Chicago?"

"Isn't he the one who heard about you from one of your most satisfied customers...well if you don't count me, of course." Justin remarked with tongue firmly planted in cheek. (Yep, living with Brian for so long was definitely rubbing off on him!} I remember you telling me that he's a bit eccentric; very hands on and picky as hell, if I'm not mistaken".

"That's the one, but he's a bigger pain in my ass than I expected." Brian grumbled. "He came over from Chicago to bounce some ideas off me and now he wants to fine tune them before he gives his okay to anything. I have no problem with that. Shit, I like a client who doesn't settle for any old crap thrown at him. But he waits till 2 weeks before Christmas to want to work on the campaign."

Justin jumped in quickly, "That shouldn't be a problem for a brilliant ad man like you. We both know you could whip out the perfect ad with both hands tied behind your back. Come to think of it, there are a lot of things you can do well in that state." He grinned, trying to lighten the mood since Brian wouldn't stop scowling.

"Excuse me. Do you have time to let me finish?" Brian snapped. Justin's mouth slammed shut, grin fading rapidly. This was definitely NOT the time to play around. "As I was saying," Brian continued, "the problem is that he wants me to come back with him to Chicago so that I can get a better "feel" for what I'll be selling. Oh, and did I mention that he has one phobia in life. He has a fear of flying!"

Justin, being the bright young man he was, instantly added two and two together. This was obviously not going to be a quick plane trip up and back. On top of that, Justin had made a commitment to work on an art piece for one of his favorite buyers who was planning it for a Christmas gift for her husband. That would effectively end his chances of joining Brian. And who was going to help him get ready for the holidays? They had been so busy with their respective work loads that they had put off shopping or even making plans for where to go and who to visit, if anyone. And just how were the two men going to get to Chicago since flying was obviously out of the question? And how long was this going to take? He hadn't spent Christmas away from Brian in a number of years now and he really wasn't in the mood to start now. Just as he was beginning to work himself up into an unhappy lather, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Brian clearing his throat.

"Earth to Justin. Would you like to know what he expects me to do?" Brian inquired.

"I think it would help to know." Justin replied, with just a tiny hint of sarcasm creeping into his tone.

"He wants to take the train...and before you ask, no I don't have a definite idea how long I'd be gone. Murphy's already made reservations. He just presumed I'd want the account so bad that I'd go along with any request, the fucker! The train leaves at 3:45 tomorrow afternoon and is scheduled to get in at 9:45 the next morning, but everyone knows that Amtrak is notorious for running late. Hell, it could be midnight the next day before we arrived. And before you say it, I suggested I fly in to meet his train but he wants to discuss possibilities with me while we travel." Brian's scowl grew even darker. "And yes, I know we still had a ton of things to get done for the holidays, and I'm a shit for expecting you to get them done with no help from me, and you're going to miss me and I'm going to miss you even more. Did I cover everything that's churning in that beautiful head of yours?"

Justin wanted to make some smart aleck snappy comeback, but poor Brian looked so unhappy Justin just didn't have the heart for it. He moved away from the cozy easy chair he had been sitting in and moved over to join Brian on the sofa. He leaned into Brian and laid his head on his shoulder. Instinctively Brian's arm came up and encircled Justin. Without a word, Justin turned his face up and, using his free arm, pulled Brian's face down to meet his. Gently he touched his soft lips to Brian's mouth. The brunet's lips relaxed against his and, like a flower warmed by the sun, they opened up welcoming Justin's tongue inside. For several pleasurable moments the two men played tongue tag, each wrestling for full possession of the other.

Justin's hands began playing a familiar rhythm along Brian's chest with his hands. His lover's skin was like silk to Justin, but with steel beneath the surface. The combination of hard and soft was intoxicating to the young man and he reluctantly broke the kiss so that he could slide down to maneuver himself between Brian's slender long legs.

He reached up and once again placed his hands on the belt at the slender waist as he had tried to do earlier. This time there was no halting moves to stop his progress. His fingers deftly undid the belt and unzipped the fly. He didn't have to wonder if he was having an affect on this man because it was quite obvious even before the zipper slid down. Brian's pants bulged with the evidence of the heat his lover created in him. Justin reached in and pulled the rock hard penis from its tight confines. For the millionth time he thought of how he had never seen anything more beautiful or enticing than Brian's cock when he was most aroused.

With practiced skill, Justin's head lowered slowly and his tongue flicked out to take a small taste of what was to come. Brian shuddered involuntarily and a small moan escaped his throat. Slowly, Justin encircled the head of Brian's manhood with his tongue until it was good and wet and then suddenly moved forward and down, engulfing every glorious inch of the man to the hilt. Brian's hips jerked forward and an animalistic growl burst forth. The sound raced up and down Justin's body driving him to begin bobbing up and down the cock like an out of control seesaw.

The earlier angry tension in Brian's body had fled and was now being replaced by a whole new tension...far more to his liking. He threw his head back, placed both hands deep into the blond's silky hair, and gave in to the overwhelming feeling that was growing stronger and deeper with each bob of Justin's head. Suddenly Brian could feel his balls tightening up and he knew he couldn't hold back much longer.

Justin had more than enough experience with this man to be fully aware of what Brian was feeling. He stopped at the tip of Brian's cock for a moment, took a deep breath, and then rapidly lunged back down to rest on the base. His tongue played a haunting melody against the member as he felt the balls tighten against his chin. Just as quickly, the room filled with the sound of Brian's moans and Justin felt the familiar spurts of salty-sweet liquid as it flowed over his tongue and down his welcoming throat.

It took Brian several minutes to begin coming down from the unbelievable high that Justin always gave him. As his vision began clearing and his senses started to return, he looked down at the self-satisfied smile of the glorious creature in front of him. For the umpteenth time he thought of how lucky he was that Justin had refused to give up on him when he had been too foolish to admit that he didn't really want to live without him in his life. "That was..."

"Hot", Justin interrupted.

"You could say that!" Brian laughed. "But you do know that we still have to talk about this fucking trip tomorrow, right?"

"Bri, you go take a shower, slip into something comfortable and come to the table. We'll thrash it out over dinner. We'll work it out. We always do. We're partners. Remember?"

Brian rose with slightly shaky legs, pulled Justin up, planted a deep meaningful kiss firmly on his lips, and turned toward the bathroom. "Be back in two shakes." he called over his shoulder, shaking his booty for emphasis.

Justin turned to the kitchen but looked over at Brian's retreating back. God, how he loved this man. They'd work something out. It didn't matter what difficulties came up between them. Everything, good or bad, was worth it as long as Brian was in his life. He set about getting dinner on the table. Tonight's meal was going to be interesting...no doubt about it.

To be continued........