#hammerhound

He swallowed the chocolate, keeping his eyes closed as he felt the heat of it slide down into his stomach. Jayce touched his lip to the rim of the mug again, right where Vander's thumb had wiped away a spilled drop before handing it over to Jayce. He finally opened his eyes again.

Vander wasn't where he'd been just a few seconds ago, leaning in the doorway of his crowded living room, holding his own mug and watching fondly while Vi and Caitlyn and Powder and Ekko squabbled over the card game they were playing.

Jayce glanced around the room. The sisters and their partners were still playing their game. Benzo had slumped a little further down in the corner of the couch and was starting to snore. Viktor was on the other end of the couch, deeply absorbed in a book, oblivious to the rest of the room. No sign of Vander.

Jayce quashed his disappointment and stood up. "I'm getting a refill," he said. "Anyone else?"

Caitlyn held up her mug imperiously; Jayce took it with a fond smile, and then Powder's. Vi and Ekko both had half their drinks left; Viktor's hadn't even been touched yet -- probably forgotten.

Jayce carried his mug and Caitlyn's into the kitchen, where the massive pot of hot chocolate sat on the stove, keeping warm, and lifted the ladle. He'd just finished filling two of them when the hair on the back of his neck raised, an instant before long, heavy arms bracketed him against the counter. "You've been staring at me," Vander rumbled next to Jayce's ear.

Vander towered over him, his bulk cutting Jayce off from the rest of the world. Perhaps it was meant to be intimidating.

That wasn't what the thrill deep in Jayce's stomach meant, though.

"Yeah," Jayce admitted. "Should I stop?" He didn't turn around, but he did lean back into Vander, a little.

"Are you using me to try to make your partner jealous?"

Jayce laughed softly. "We're not like that." A lot of people made that assumption; Jayce didn't mind, because it kept them from pestering Viktor. There weren't words to describe how he and Viktor felt about each other -- but whatever they were, it was neither romantic or sexual. "Viktor doesn't do..." Jayce groped for his words, which had scattered and flown like startled birds at the press of Vander's warmth. "...bodies," he finished lamely.

Vander leaned closer, pressing Jayce against the counter now instead of just boxing him in. The bulge Jayce could feel against his hip was...

Uh...

A few more words had flown away, it seemed.

Vander's breath was tickling Jayce's ear and neck. That was why he shivered, and that was the story he was going to stick to.

"So he wouldn't mind sleeping alone tonight?" Vander purred.

"No," Jayce said. "Not at all." Space was limited, so they hadn't complained about sharing, but it wasn't their preferred arrangement. "Not tonight or for the rest of our trip, really."

Vander's silent laughter vibrated against Jayce's back. "Let's see how you handle tonight before we make any other plans, puppy."

Jayce twisted around -- Vander leaned in for a second so that Jayce would know that it was only happening because Vander allowed it -- and lifted his chin to meet Vander's heavy gaze. "I can handle it," he said, with more bravado and desire than true confidence, but gods, how he wanted to try.

Vander's gaze dipped to Jayce's mouth for a long few seconds, then flicked back up. His eyes were dark with lust; his mouth twisted with amusement. "We'll see." He rolled his hips against Jayce's once, which was damned near enough to make Jayce fully hard all on its own. Then Vander stepped back, his expression relaxing back into something affable and easygoing. "Don't forget your chocolate," he said lightly as he turned to go.