Flying Home - J. M. Griffin

The thing was Blair hated to fly coach. Now that he'd sold his first novel, he hoped he'd never have to again, but he'd booked this flight back in the poverty days, and since first class was packed, he hadn't been able to upgrade.  So here he was, sitting in the middle seat no less, sandwiched between a big jock and a rather pretty but ample woman in her forties.  It was going to be long flight.

The woman turned her sweet face toward him only moments after he'd settled in.  "You're Blair Sandburg, aren't you?" She barely waited for his nod before she continued, "I just finished Once in a Blue Moon.  Needless to say, I loved it.  You did a great job making Jon and Tyler's story sexy and sweet without being saccharine."

"Thanks," Blair said quietly. 'Blue Moon' was his first novel and it had only been out in the book stores for a few weeks. And though the book had gotten a starred review in Publishers Weekly, it was nice to hear there were real people out in the world reading and enjoying it.

The woman gave a saucy grin, "My question is this, are you going to get them back together again?  You sure left things open for a second novel."

Blair grinned back, "Probably, I'm not sure Ty could function without Jon in his life, anyway."

His fellow traveler smiled and nodded before turning away to get settled for the impending flight.  They did the usual 'if my arm goes back, yours can go forward, and maybe, just maybe, we can find a way to ride comfortably for four hours in such close quarters.'  The big guy in the aisle seat was a different matter entirely.

He was tall and well built, and the arm pressed against Blair's was firm with muscle.  Even after the flight had taken off, the guy continued to have a tough time getting comfortable, and Blair saw the man bare his teeth more than once as he shifted in the seat.  Finally, he gave up and just folded his arms across his broad chest with a somewhat sullen sigh.

Blair took pity on him.  "Hey, listen, if we put the arm of the chair up, you'll have a little more room.  You look really uncomfortable."

The man shifted in his seat, looking at Blair with light blue eyes that were almost topaz in color.  Blair laughed to himself at how sappy that would read in one of his novels.  People would say "no way," but it was true, this guy's eyes were an astonishingly clear blue. However, it was the look in them that intrigued Blair the most, a hint of speculation in the man's cool gaze.

"That will put us in awfully close contact," the jock pointed out with a slightly feral grin.

Blair rose to the challenge.  "I don't mind if you don't," he said cheekily.

So they twisted about and put the chair arm into the up position.  Blair reclined his seat a bit, which meant they were no longer shoulder to shoulder, but they were definitely thigh to thigh.

After a few minutes, the big guy relaxed a little more and unfolded his arms, which made his right arm press against the front of Blair's shoulder.  He'd had spent whole nights in bed with people and had less contact; but the guy smelled good, and looked good, and hey, Blair was no prude.

Closing his eyes, Blair decided to try to get a little sleep.  He'd spent a grueling two weeks talking up his book on radio shows and in book stores.  Plus, he had two interviews scheduled in Seattle for tomorrow, before he headed home to Cascade for one more round on local talk shows.  It wasn't likely he'd get much chance to just sit and rest once he was back down on the ground, and he'd learned to sleep almost anywhere, anytime, when he was back in grad school.  He just hoped he didn't snore.

He dreamed, as he often did, about the characters in his book. Jon was on the edge of sleep, going over his day in his mind, pressed close against Ty's warm body.  He was always cold and Tyler was always a raging furnace.  Ty's natural scent filled his nostrils as he breathed deeply.  His lover never wore aftershave, but always smelled faintly of the Ivory soap he used.  Jon loved that about his big brawny partner, that he was tough as nails when it came to their work as private investigators, but a big softy when it came to the homey, romantic stuff.  Tyler could brawl with the best of them, but he loved to cuddle and didn't consider a bubble bath the least bit unmanly.

Blair woke with a jerk, and it took a moment for him to realize exactly where he was.  The plane dipped and his stomach plunged, and he heard the pilot's voice come on with an apology about the turbulence.  It was then he realized he had his head pressed against his taller seat mate's shoulder, and his left hand was limp and relaxed on the big guy's thigh.

Drawing his arm in, he sat up straight as quickly as possible, but he could feel the jock laughing silently, their bodies were still pressed that closely.

Blair turned to find the man looking at him, his blue eyes gleaming with amusement.  "It's okay," he said.  "I fell asleep, too.  It's not like we have scads of room here.  My name's Jim, by the way.  I figure two people who sleep together should know each other's name," he added with a grin.

Blair couldn't help himself, he grinned back.  Anyway, a man who smelled of Ivory soap just  couldn't be a bad guy.  "I'm Blair Sandburg."

"I know," Jim told him.  "I heard you introduce yourself to the young lady on your right.  But I knew before that.  I saw you on Conan O'Brian last night.  And I...I read your book."

Now Blair truly was surprised.  This was not the type of guy he expected to be reading a book which had the San Francisco Chronicle raving, his romance scenes, whether between men and women or men and men, are always touching.

"You read Once in a Blue Moon?  he all but squeaked.

Jim grinned, flashing those pearly whites in a fantastically sexy jaw.  "Hey, I'm a P.I., I have to read everything with a private investigator as the main character."

"So you read Sue Grafton, too?' Blair asked with a laugh.

Jim did not lose his grin.  "Well, no, but if you recommend her, I might."

That cracked Blair up, and he had to fight to laugh softly.  He was suddenly hyper aware of Jim's warm leg pressed from him to hip to knee against his own, and he used the end of his laughter to cover up a movement that did nothing to separate his body from the other man's.

"So you live in Seattle?"  Jim asked when Blair had grown still again.

"No, Cascade, it's just easier to say Seattle on the shows," Blair admitted.

"And keep a little of yourself hidden?"  It wasn't really a question, but Blair answered it as such.

"To keep a small part of my life for myself," he said.  "My mom's a writer, too.  No matter how much she moves about, or how far she travels, there is always a groupy on her doorstep come morning."

"Who's your mom?"

"Naomi Sands.  Even the use of a pen name doesn't help. Everywhere she goes, people recognize her and bombard her with questions and requests."

"Yeah, but she writes esoteric self-help books.  It's not like she doesn't seek the limelight."

"Whoa, you know who she is?  You've read her books?" Blair asked in amazement.

Jim shook his head.  "Nah, but like you said, everyone in America knows who Naomi Sands is.  You don't have to read her books for that.  Besides, she doesn't write 'sweet guilty thrills that leave you longing for more.'"

Now Blair was utterly astonished, "You read the reviews for my book...and memorized them?"

Jim blushed slightly, "No, not intentionally, anyway.  But I have something close to a photographic memory."

"I'll say you do," Blair commented.

The flight attendant was at their row asking for drink orders, so the conversation ended with that.  After he'd finished his ginger ale, Blair closed his eyes and dozed some more.  The flight was still bumpy, so he didn't sleep deeply enough to dream.  When he woke, he found he was once again entangled with Jim, the sexy private eye with a sense of humor who had, amazingly enough, read his book.

This time he kept his eyes closed for a few minutes more, willing away the erection which had sprung up along with the lustful thoughts of Jim.  Thank goodness he still had his drink tray down.

The plane landed shortly after that.  Jim, eager to unfold his long frame, stood up the moment the okay signal was given and was carried down the aisle as soon as people started moving.  Blair ended up having to wait a while before he could get up out of his seat.  Thankfully, the woman next to him didn't seem to be in any hurry.

Finally, they were able to take their turn gathering carry-ons from the overhead compartment.  As they walked down the jetway together, the woman gave Blair a decidedly appraising look. 

"You know, he'll probably be in the men's room after such a long flight.  If you wanted to talk to him again, that is." she added.

Blair looked at the woman sharply, but he did not say, "who are you talking about."  Instead he nodded his head and said, "I hope so."

"Perhaps that is what you'll title your next novel," the woman commented.

"What's that?" Blair asked, not having a clue what she was hinting about this time.

"Oh, something like Flying Home.  It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?  Oh, look, there's the men's room.  I hope to see you on Jay Leno some night.  Good bye and keep up the good work."

Before Blair could say anything more than a quick thank you, she had vanished in the crowded terminal.  So he zeroed in on the men's room and headed that way.

*****

"Okay, let me get this straight."  Jay Leno said to his long haired, neo hippy guest author.  "Wait, wait, maybe straight is the wrong word to use here."  Show host and guest laughed together.  "You're bi.  You openly admit you've had both men and women as lovers, but now you're with a man, who really is a P.I., but you met him after you finished your first book?"

"That's right."  Blair Sandburg shot a bright grin directly toward the camera, and the female camera operator behind it was quick to close focus on his boyishly handsome face with it's bright blue eyes and luscious mouth.  Men and women alike were reading this guy's novels.  It was important to give the televison audience at home what they wanted.

"So, you're turning down marriage proposals right and left from all the men and women who've sent them."

"Absolutely," Blair agreed.  "But you know, I really appreciate the ardor of my readers.  Those folks are great.  They're the ones that made 'Blue Moon' and my new book, Flying Home such a success."

"I understand you met your partner on an airplane.  Does this mean you two are part of the Mile High Club?" Leno shot at his guest, then gave a delighted laugh when the man blushed.

The audience roared.

"No, no," Blair stammered.  "I didn't say that."  The audience just laughed harder and he blushed deeper.  Several women on the front row began to fan themselves.

"Okay," Leno said, wresting back control of his audience.  "Seriously now, Jon and Ty aren't just carbon copies of you and your guy?"

"Oh no," Blair said quickly.  "I met Jim years after I first wrote about Tyler Payne."

"Ooooo," the talk show host teased, "a name.  The mystery man has a name.  You know my ratings are going to just shoot up with that little pearl being dropped."

Blair sighed, "Jim's really nothing like Ty.  And I'm nothing like Jon.  He's a veteran cop, after all.  I'm a writer with an anthropology degree."

"Okay," Leno turned to face the camera.  "With that juicy little nugget of information, we are going to pause for commercial.  When I come back, I'll be introducing the man who will play Jon Barringer in the up and coming movie..."

*****

"Sheesh, I am so sorry about that," Blair muttered into the broad bare chest of the man he was lying snugged up against.

"S'okay with me, Chief," his lover murmured into his hair.  "It's not like I'm the one with the privacy issues."

"I just don't want to be hounded by my fans like my mom...."

"Shhh," Jim cut him off mid-sentence.  "Don't worry, you won't be.  You live with a private investigator.  Who better to protect you?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right.  I just wish I hadn't said your name aloud."  Blair gave a little sigh, and Jim tightened his arms around him.  He kissed the top of Blair's head and then shifted down so he could nibble at the silver hoops dangling from Blair's ear.

"They say wearing two hoop earrings in one ear is all the rage in San Francisco these days," Jim breathed into his ear.

"Mmmmm," Blair replied, turning his face to lick down the edge of Jim's jawline.

"Mmmm, don't stop," Jim's whisper was sultry as hell and twice as hot.

Blair shifted to straddle Jim and continued his way licking down his lover's magnificently muscled, hairless chest.

Jim arched as Blair's much hairier chest rubbed against him.  "Yeah, like that."

He stroked Blair's back, then slid his hands down to cup Blair's inviting ass cheeks, dipping his fingers into the valley between them. 

Their cocks had sprung up erect between their bodies, and they shifted to accommodate.  Jim rubbed himself against Blair's thigh, loving the friction of hair against his cock.

Blair stopped his licking and nipping to reach for the lube that was never far.  Jim brought his fingers forward to be slathered with the stuff, then he slid them back to Blair's butt as Blair drizzled lube in his own hand and then anointed Jim's cock as well as his own.

Jim dipped his finger into Blair, loving the feel of grasping welcome.  He moved first one finger and then two, in and out, watching as Blair undulated above him, his hair wild around his lust filled face.  That in itself was almost enough to make Jim come.  Almost, but not quite.  So he urged Blair forward just a bit, gripping Blair's thighs as his lover centered over his cock and then sat down, oh so slowly, until Jim was buried to his balls in Blair's sweet flesh.

They moved together then, smoothly, with no hint of turbulence until right at the end, when they both lost their rhythm in mad pushing and grunting and thrusting until...there...there...yes, they were flying up, flying free together...and, of course, flying home in each other's arms.

The end.

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Author’s Acknowledgments: With love and thanks to my beloved beta, ED, and apologies to E. Lynn Harris for stealing his reviews. Thanks to Patt for the cover.