The small bricks of the fireplace are layered horizontally, red hues are set in an earthy tone that beacons you inside and makes you feel comfortable. We've been working on it for a few hours every day since Noah came to my house. Today is day three, and the job's almost done.

He borrowed some old work pants of mine and a ratty tank top that is too big on him. He looks absolutely delicious in it. I opted for only my old work jeans, no shirt. And now he keeps giving me heated looks, purposely letting his eyes travel over the expanse of my bare skin. I continue adjusting the mantel of the fireplace and grin. "I feel like a fine piece of meat being ogled in the butcher shop."

Noah smirks, "I'm sorry, you're just... so..."

"You don't have to flatter me anymore, you know."

"You really have no idea how completely hot you are, do you?"

"I have muscles because my job is very physical. At work, my height and muscles come in handy but I never actually thought about my looks much." And I was unsure about it since Noah appeared in my life. It's true that my self-confidence went down the drain as the years passed by.

Instead of saying anything Noah takes a few steps, reaching out his hand. It roams down my body shamelessly. "Fuck, those are some nice abs," he murmurs distractedly as he kneels down and bends to lick across my stomach slowly.

I laugh until I feel that hot, wet tongue on my skin, and it turns into a weak moan. "Glad you like it," I say shakily. "But I'm all sweaty and sticky."

"That's sort of a plus for some reason," Noah says softly as he lifts his head to look up at me with wide green eyes.

"Oh yeah?"

"I guess I like a real man."

I can't hide the intensity any longer, I drop what I'm doing and thread my fingers through his short hair to stop him. Instead of stopping him, I tighten my grip, slowly bringing his head against my growing erection and his eyes sparkle mischievously.

"Fuck," he sighs. "I like that too, like when you manhandle me. When you use me for your pleasure."

I don't remember ever being this turned on by someone's words. Or having this much stamina. I'm already hard. I breathe, eyes fluttering shut, as he runs his hand over my chest. Even through my pants, I can feel the heat of his breath as he drags his nose against the head of my cock. A trickle of precum leaks from my slit, making the inside of my jeans sticky and wet. He never breaks eye contact as he flicks his tongue out, teasing the substantial bulge in my pants.

"Fuck. Need your mouth on me now," I murmur, tugging his hair and thrusting my hips.

A coy smile lights up his face as he's darting his tongue out again to track the outline of my cock, turning the denim dark with his saliva. I chuckle, deep and rough as lust crawls up my throat and threatens to choke me. With my free hand, I reach down and undo my jeans, letting my dick spring free.

"Of course, you're going commando," he whispers before pressing his tongue flat against my cock.

He puts his everything into the wet kisses he places on my balls, up my dick, until the kiss to the head turns into a firm suction. He peers up at me, and it makes my knees weak. I swear I could come from that sight alone.

"Look at you sucking cock so well." He moans, palming himself over his briefs. "Does sucking me off make you hard?" I ask. He nods as I feel his tongue dipping into my slit and suckling on my tip like it's his favorite flavor.

"You look so perfect down there on your knees for me, baby, but I think I wanna see you gag on me a little more. Can you take me deeper?"

He nods again, and I bring my other hand up to the back of his head, manoeuvring him and thrusting myself farther into his mouth. Just as I knew he would he relaxes, finally letting me in deeper, until he almost takes me to the hilt.

After that, I know I won't last long. I fuck his throat for a few delicious moments, until I see his eyes water and silva dripping down his chin. I come on a silent scream, tremors overtaking my body. I keep eye contact, my lips parted and trembling while I watch my cum filling Noah's mouth spurt after spurt.

"More," he begs after he pulls off my length. "Give me all of it. I want all of your cum inside me." He grabs the base of my shaft, rests the head on his bottom lip, and pumps as if he wants to squeeze all the juices straight into his tongue. Another spurt lands on his lip and he chases it greedily, like it's his last meal.

He sticks his tongue out to show me it's all gone. Christ. I roughly drag him forward to seal our lips together and he yields to me immediately, his hands landing on my biceps as we kiss. Our tongues are sliding against each other, playful nips stinging and driving me wild at the same time.

Utter bliss resonates through me as I walk him backwards and shove him up against the nearest wall, I slide my hand into his underwear, and wrap my fingers around the hot flesh. His dick is almost painfully hard as I spread his precum over his pretty, pink crown.

As I work the top half of his dick, Noah's eyes shut. "Oh my g-god, yes. I'm already so close."

"Look at me," I order him, then drop to my knees and swallow him. He looks like the best wet dream, with his cheeks flushed, messy hair, skin covered in a sheen of sweat, and wild eyes pinned on me.

"Put a finger in me, please. I need something in my ass," he yanks his pants lower over his ass with his free hand, then spreads his legs as far as he can with them now hovering around his knees.

I watch his fluttering lashes as I pull his cheeks apart. He gasps as cool air hits his perfect hole, and his length jerks in my throat, making me gag. I push the tip of my finger against his tight entrance, forcing myself inside him. On fire now, and with that sense of ownership over him, I suck, increasing the pressure around him. And when my digit goes all the way to the knuckle, he bites his lip.

"Fuck fuck fuck I'm..." The rush of hot cum explodes from his shaft, and his guttural moan echoes across the room.

"That's it, give it to me," I say greedily after I swallow some of it. I lick my lips, chasing more of his flavor, as I slip my finger out of his hole and come up to his face. He moans as I slam my lips down on his and fuck the rest of his cum into his mouth with my tongue until he swallows that too. He can't stop panting heavily as I casually put his spent dick back into his briefs and adjust the pants.

"We'll never finish the fireplace if you continue distracting us like this," I sound pissed off. I really am not.

"You seem so bothered by that," he says, chuckling. The rich, harmful-to-my-heart chuckle that makes me think of more days like this and an infinity of blow jobs and kisses and smiles. It is tragic, really, because with every hour, with every fucking minute that passes, my craving for this man grows without limits.

"I am. How are we going to have sex in front of the fire if we don't finish the fireplace?" My tone is serious but I know he knows that I'm teasing.

"Sex in front of the fire, huh? I never knew you were such a romantic."

"Not romantic. These are just some typical everyday Alaskan things that I'm using to my advantage."

His head tips back and he laughs.

"I'd like that idea by the way," he says too quickly, and I raise an eyebrow in question. "I'd like us to go on a date. Or to have a date night here. I know it's stupid, because I mean, we're locked in and are spending all this time together anyway. And I know you said you don't date. But maybe you can make an exception. For me."

His cheeks flush a deeper shade of red. Fuck, I love that. I am obsessed with every little thing that he does. From the way he blushes when he's nervous to his sharp mouth when he's pissed off, everything about him does it for me, and I want him to be obsessed with me too. I want him to be as ruined for me as I am for him.

I trace my nose along his neck, inhaling his sweet scent mixed with salty sweat, then I tip his head back, and my teeth scrape over his Adam's apple. "You already are my every exception, Noah."

A sweet gasp leaves his mouth when I finally pull away from his embrace.

"Now go make us some sandwiches, while I finish the fireplace," I turn him around by his shoulders and he chuckles, resisting when I give him a slight push," ...no, you'll stay in that part of the house because I can't have you distracting me anymore."

"Fine," he fakes annoyance, "but you also gotta stop touching me, you know?"

I only seem to realize as he says it, that I'm still holding him. I can't seem to stop. So I shamelessly continue, because I can, because he's right here–I'm smoothing my palms over his flanks and cup his pectorals lovingly. I grope and squeeze his pecs as if milking them, my cock still somewhat half hard and hanging out of my open jeans and is settled at the crease of his ass.

"There, I stopped," I say after I finally move away and tap one of his cheeks lightly. "And no more touching until our date tonight." I saunter off, zipping myself, feeling his eyes on me as I go with a satisfied smirk.

But as I continue my work, I remember that we are safe to return to our jobs as of tomorrow. We got the confirmation that the roads are now safe and the construction site open for business. I try to shake the emotion off, unable to process it yet.

After I finish up with the fireplace I go outside with the intent to get more firewood. But I only get one step out the door when I see it in the far distance. The aurora borealis. The northern lights. It's barely visible from here but I know a perfect spot. Noah mentioning a date gives me an idea–I want to do something nice for the last evening of our unplanned staycation.

"Wanna see something cool?" I ask Noah when I come back. He is sitting and reading in this epitome of domesticity that we created. Strangely we are somehow battling the urge to lunge at each other like rabid animals since this morning's antics.

"Always."

"But just so you know, you'll need to get dressed in a few layers, we're going out to the lake."

After he bundles himself up in my thick winter jacket and fleece I can't help but grin at how cute he is like this. As soon as we are on the trail behind my house that goes through the forest we take one slow step at a time. The snow comes up to our calves or above our knees at times, we have to lift our feet to make some progress. My ears and eyes are freezing but after a few minutes of hard exercise our muscles get used to it and the body starts feeling less cold.

"So about those bears?"

I laugh. "They should be all hibernating now. I may have exaggerated it a little bit."

"I knew it!" He punches my shoulder but it makes him stumble in the thick snow. I pull him up and I keep my arm around him, kiss his cold cheek, while I adjust his thermal hat. On impulse, I grab his hand and we continue walking like that. This road leads right to the lakefront where the view is unimpeded. Although there are other houses around this coast, you can't see them from this spot and it seems we are pretty much alone in the world. Just a few more steps and we will be out of the woods and away from the trees that are blocking our view.

"Not far now."

He seems content with the walk and taking in his surroundings. "The wind's died down."

"Yeah, the sky's really clear."

He smiles then like he might have some clue what I am going to show him.

"Almost there."

And then we're on the shore of a frozen lake, with a perfect stillness of winter all around us except for the magical lights of the sky above us.

"Oh my god Dylan, it's beautiful," he stares at the wonder of green lights dancing and shimmering across the sky, with tints of red at the edges. His eyes are wide, his mouth falls open, and he slowly turns to me. His face is illuminated green, his grin breathtaking.

I smile. "I knew you'd love it."

He starts to walk down toward the clearing, slow on the ice surface of the lake, but he never stops looking upward. The horizon is awash in the most amazing array of shimmering lights.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" He asks with a laugh. "Does this happen often here?"

"At least three times every winter. They're visible in the north more often than here. The conditions have to be just right for us to see it."

"Wow. How?"

"When electrically charged particles from solar winds enter the earth's atmosphere and interact with gases in the atmosphere," I respond and find myself smiling at him, at his excitement, his absolute wonder. He leans his back against my front, my arms tight around him.

"Oh my God," he whispers. "I've never seen anything like it. Never thought I'd ever..." His words trail off as his grin widens. I don't know which is more spectacular, the sky or the look on his face. He watches the night sky put on the show of a lifetime. He shakes his head in utter disbelief, but he never stops looking.

"I wish I could paint this."

"Well, you can. I can give you some art supplies from my mother."

"Seriously? You have that?

"There's lots of stuff from my mother's gallery that my dad kept in his shed. Some of it we gave to charity, but her tools and equipment are still with us."

"I'd like to, yeah. It feels like I'm getting some sort of inspiration to draw. I've been doodling everywhere in your house where ever I found some paper."

"I noticed", I say. "That's cool. I'd like to see you find some hobby, it can get depressing around here during winter."

"Do you get tired of the extreme cold here?" He asks.

"The cold definitely wears on me, but I think the short days bother me more. Going without much sunlight is harsh, especially for someone who spends lots of time outside. But then summer comes around and we get so much sunshine that I soon forget about the darkness."

"That must be so weird. When you have to go to sleep and it's still sunny."

"Oh, for sure. But imagine having a good day, right? You're having a few beers by the lake, you had a nice barbecue with some good friends. Or a lover," I whisper that word close to his ear just to make him shiver, "...and there's a sunset above the horizon, and you just think how you never want this perfect day to end." We are now both looking into the distance, imagining this exact place but without all the snow and darkness. "And it doesn't end. You just stay outside because the sun is still in the distance, it's weak but it's bright, and then you maybe decide to go on a boat, do a bit of fishing, or whatever you like, just enjoy the lull of the waves. Watch the midnight sun. Realize how rare it is and how lucky you are to experience something magical like that."

"Midnight sun?"

"That's how we call it."

"I think I'd like to see that."

And what would I give to be the one to show it to you. Because he's already the sun that brightens up my dark heart, my everlasting winter.

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