Romano turned the key of his car, and cursed again as the engine failed to start.

"Dammit to hell," he swore, thumping the wheel in frustration. Of all the times for his engine to cut out, it had to be now, in this disreputable neighborhood. He had traveled out of his way to find a pet store that was reputed to have received a new shipment of dog food. Not just any dog food, mind you. This particular variety was the canine equivalent of caviar, very rare and very expensive. He had intended buying it as a Christmas treat for Gretel, and had been fortunate enough to obtain the last bag of it. Of course he'd had to barge in front of a little old lady in order to get it, but what the hell. She probably wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway. Heck, he'd probably done her a favor, he thought self-righteously.

Pulling out his cell phone, he tried to dial a repair service, but the snowstorm must have been affecting coverage, and he wasn'table to get through.

Looking around through the falling snow, he made out the sign for a bar, not too far ahead of him. "Well, at least it should be warm in there, and there's bound to be a payphone," thought Romano, as he climbed out of the car.



Romano rubbed his hands to warm them as he entered the building. Striding up to the bar, he said to the man behind it. "You. Do you have a payphone here?" he asked brusquely.

Sal looked up from the glass he was polishing. "Yes, we do have a payphone here," he replied. Replacing the glass on the shelf, he picked up another one.

"Well then, where is it?" asked Romano, impatiently.

"Down the hall, past the toilets," said Sal, indicating the direction.

Romano turned and walked away, without so much as a 'thank you'.

"Some people have no manners," said Sal, dryly. "Eh Dave?"

"You said it," said Dave Malucci, sitting up a little straighter on his bar stool. Romano had walked right past him without giving him a second glance. "I know that guy. That was him being polite."

Dave considered finishing his drink and leaving before Romano got back from the phone. He didn't really like the idea of being seen by him in this particular bar. Romano was just the type of guy to give him a hard time about it. Oh to hell with it, he thought to himself. He wasn't ashamed to be there. Besides, he couldn't wait to see the look on Romano's face when he realized exactly what type of a bar he had walked in to.



Romano returned to the bar in an even worse temper than when he had left it. The breakdown service that he usually used had told him that all their mechanics were busy, and it would be several hours before they could get anyone out to him. "Bunch of incompetents," he muttered under his breath, as he sat down on a stool.

"Get me a brandy," he ordered Sal. "I need something to warm me up."

"You know brandy's not recommended for cold weather, opens up the pore's," said Dave.

Romano swiveled round on the stool. "I'll thank you to mind your own business," he said, angrily, before taking a closer look. "Malatucci?" he said.

"Malucci," corrected Dave, without anger. "Just trying to be helpful. So, what happened you? You look a little lost."

"I am not lost," snapped Romano. "My car broke down and I can't get a mechanic to come to this godforsaken place." He took a drink from the glass that Sal had left in front of him. "Ugh, call this brandy. I wouldn't clean my toilet with this stuff."

Dave hid a smile. "You'll be lucky to get anyone in this weather, especially on Christmas Eve. Maybe you should get a taxi or something."

"And leave my car in this place overnight? I don't think so."

"Well, this place shuts early tonight, you know for the holidays. So you'd better hope the breakdown service gets to you. Still, there are worse places to be stuck."

Romano looked around the bar as he raised the glass to his lips. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the clientele. There was something strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His eyes widened as he saw two men sitting against the wall kissing. Another quick look around confirmed his suspicions. "What the hell's going on here?" he asked, "This place is full of qu-." His words were cut off by the remainder of Dave's drink landing in his lap. "Malucci," he yelled, "What the hell was that for?"

"Gee, I'm sorry, Dr Romano," said Dave. He grabbed a bar towel from Sal and started to dry Romano off.

Romano angrily waved him away. "Clumsy idiot. I hope you're not this careless in the ER."

Dave leaned in close to Romano and said softly, "In case you haven't noticed, this is a 'gay' bar, and the people here don't like to hear the 'Q' word. Now, if you want to get involved in a bar brawl that's your business, but I don't want to spend Christmas Eve, being patched up in the ER. Okay?"

Romano glared at him. "Fine," he snapped, grabbing the towel from Dave, and making a futile effort to dry himself. He looked around at the couples, several of whom were kissing each other. The sight was at the same time, both repelling, and strangely exciting. Dave noticed the slight movement in Romano's pants and grinned to himself.

A thought struck Romano. "So what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were a skirt chaser, not a shirt lifter."

Dave tried to hide his annoyance. "I go where the mood takes me," he said. "And right now it's taking me home." He started putting on his coat.

"Yeah, well I'm not staying here," said Romano, knocking back his drink and throwing a bill on the bar. "I'll wait in my car."

Dave groaned to himself, knowing he was going to regret what he was about to do. "You can't do that. It's freezing outside. Look, I'll take a look at it for you; maybe I can do something to fix it. If not, well, you can come back to my place and wait there for the breakdown service."

Romano looked at him through narrowed eyes. "You fix cars?"

"I also cook," said Dave, sarcastically. The line was lost on Romano. Dave rolled his eyes. "Well?"

"Fine," snapped Romano, "Just don't make it worse than it already is." He headed for the door.

Sal raised an eyebrow at Dave. "If I'd known you were that hard up, I'd have invited you back to my place."

"Ha, ha, very funny Sal." Dave shrugged, "Guess I'm just a sucker for a sob story. I mean I couldn't let the guy freeze to death."

Sal looked over to where Romano was waiting impatiently by the door. "You sure about that?"

"Malatucci, are you coming?" called Romano.

Dave rolled his eyes. "No, it's just the way I'm standing," he muttered. Sal snorted. "See you around Sal," said Dave, as he headed for the door. "Keep your hair on," he muttered, as he came up to the door.

"What was that?" asked Romano, suspiciously.

"Nothing," said Dave, "And it's Malucci, or just Dave will do."

"What, not 'Dr Dave'?" asked Romano, sarcastically.

Dave pushed past him and went outside into the snow.



After retrieving his bike, Dave followed Romano to where he had left the car.

"Hey, mind the paint," snapped Romano, as Dave propped his bike against the car.

"Look, do you want me to help or not," said Dave, trying to control his temper. He popped the hood of the car and took a look.

Two minutes later, he replaced the hood. "Well?" asked Romano, "Can you fix it?"

Dave shook his head. "You're gonna have to bring it to a garage. I can't fix it."

Romano cursed and swore. Dave was impressed; even he'd never heard some of the words Romano was using.

"Listen, I hate to interrupt, but it's getting kinda cold out here. You'd better come back to my place. I've got a neighbor who owns a tow truck. If I ask him, he might be able to get you home when he finishes work."

Romano considered the offer. Loath though he was to admit it; Malucci was right. "Fine," he said, finally. "I just need to get something from the trunk."

"Well hurry up," said Dave, "This snow's getting heavier."

Romano quickly unlocked the trunk, and retrieved the bag with Gretel's dog food in it. Slamming it shut, he walked back to Dave, and they set off.



Fifteen minutes later, they were back at Dave's apartment.

Dave brushed snow off his coat, as he walked in the door. "Man, that is no weather to be out in," he said.

Romano's teeth were chattering from the cold. "What about your neighbor, the one with the tow truck?" he asked.

"Give me a minute," said Dave, rolling his eyes. He went into the kitchen and switched on the kettle, picking up the phone while he waited for it to boil.



"Well?" said Romano, when Dave walked back in. He had spent the last few minutes looking around Dave's living room. It hadn't taken long.

"I phoned Ed. He's on a job right now, but he should be here in a few hours. Here, get this into you," said Dave, handing Romano a glass.

Romano looked at it.

"It's only hot whisky," said Dave, impatiently. "You need something to warm you up."

Romano tasted it gingerly. "It's not bad," he said grudgingly.

"I'm just gonna have a quick shower. I'll be back in five," said Dave. "Here's the remote for the TV, see if there's anything good on."

Romano sat on the couch flicking absently through the channels. He wasn't surprised to see that there were a few porn stations included. He was surprised to find a surgery channel on the screen. He was sitting there engrossed in a quadruple bypass when Dave returned.

"Anything good on?" asked Dave, as he toweled dry his hair.

"Just a...," said Romano, his voice trailing off as he looked at Dave. Dave's was wearing just a towel wrapped around his waist. His body glistened with droplets of water from his shower. "Just a bypass operation," he managed to say, shivering slightly.

Dave noticed this. "You warm enough?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Romano, still shivering.

"Shit," said Dave, realizing. "You better take your clothes off."

"What?" yelped Romano. "No way," he said, indignantly. "I don't know what the other guys you bring home from that place do, but I'm not interested.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Your clothes are damp from the snow," he said patiently. "They're drawing the heat from your body. If you don't get out of them soon, your core temperature will drop."

"Oh," said Romano, relieved, but with a little twinge of disappointment. Not that he would have accepted Malucci propositioning him, oh no, but it would have been nice to be asked.

"Tell you what," said Dave, "There's plenty of hot water. You take a shower and I'll fire your clothes in the dryer. They'll be done by the time Ed gets here. Okay?"

"Okay," said Romano.



continued

Romano stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel. He was feeling a lot warmer than he had been a few minutes ago. Wrapping the towel around himself, he headed back to the living room.

Dave had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants by the time Romano came back. He looked up and bit back a gasp of admiration. He would have never thought that beneath that bullet head there was such an amazing body. Hell, it was almost as good as his.

"Uh, your clothes should be dry in another twenty minutes or so," said Dave.

"Good," said Romano, with a curt nod. He was uncomfortably aware of Dave's admiring gaze. He was also aware of the t-shirt straining over Dave's muscles. I am not interested, he told himself, while aware that certain parts of his body were contradicting him.

"You want another whisky, or some beer?" asked Dave, as he headed for the kitchen.

"Whisky," ordered Romano, as he stood in front of the radiator.

Dave returned with a generous measure. Romano looked at it suspiciously. "You're trying to get me drunk so you can seduce me, aren't you?"

"Like hell I am," said Dave indignantly. "Look, just because I occasionally have sex with men, doesn't mean I want to screw every guy in sight. I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man, no the last human on the planet."

"Hah, might have known you wouldn't have the balls to do it," said Romano, with a sneer. A part of him was saying that sitting in a guy's apartment, wearing only a towel was not the time to be hurling insults. Another part of him was saying, oh yeah, what a body.

"I'll show you who has the balls," said Dave. Taking Romano's drink, he took a mouthful and put the glass down.

"Wait a ...," said Romano. The rest of his protest was cut off by Dave's mouth as he grabbed him by the arms and kissed him. The whisky flowed into Romano's mouth nearly choking him. Dave's tongue probed relentlessly round the inside of his mouth. When Dave finally pulled away, Romano was gasping for breath.

Shit, thought Dave. I'm gonna get fired for this for sure.

Romano stood there breathing heavily. His towel fell away to reveal a semi-erect cock. "Now look what you've done," he said.

"You want me to do something with that?" asked Dave.

Romano hesitated only briefly before nodding.

"Okay, but this is my show, and you have to do what I tell you, right?" said Dave.

Romano nodded again. I'm drunk, he told himself. I wouldn't be doing this if I was sober, so I must be drunk. The thought cheered him. If he was drunk then it didn't matter who he had sex with.

"Okay, lie down on the floor," said Dave, spreading a towel on the carpet. Romano obeyed. Dave switched off the lights, leaving only the glow from the electric fire for illumination. Romano watched as Dave stripped off, bathed in an eerie orange glow. Retrieving a pack of condoms from his jacket, Dave knelt beside Romano's supine form.

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want to, so stop me if you can't handle it," warned Dave.

"Just do it," said Romano, impatiently.

Dave shrugged, and then carefully and deliberately caressed Romano's cock. Romano bit back a gasp of pleasure. When his cock was at it's fullest, Dave quickly unrolled a condom over it, and reached for the lubricant.

"Last chance to back out," said Dave, as he knelt on top of Romano. "Going," he raised himself up on his knees and positioned Romano's cock. "Going," he lowered himself until the tip was just touching his ass. "Gone," he whispered as he lowered himself slowly onto it. Romano moaned in surprise at the sensations he was feeling. He grabbed at Dave's hips in an effort to stop him rising.

"Oh God," he moaned, as Dave lifted slightly off him. "Come back."

Dave removed Romano's hands from his hips, and used them as balance as he raised himself again. Dave rode him to a shuddering climax and then collapsed limply on his chest.

They lay there for a while, both breathing heavily, before Romano spoke. "That was...incredible," he gasped.

"Glad you liked it," said Dave, rolling off him. "Now, how'd you like to return the favor?"

"Meaning?" asked Romano, looking at him skeptically.

"Meaning, you've had my ass, now I want yours." Dave saw the look of apprehension on Romano's face. "You don't have to," he said quickly, "Just think of it as an early Christmas present."

"Yours or mine?"

"Both if we're lucky."

"Okay," said Romano, quickly. "What do I do?"

"Lie there and think of England," said Dave, grabbing a cushion from the couch and placing it under Romano so that his ass was raised.

Kneeling behind him, Dave gently ran his hands over Romano's firm buttocks. Romano moaned with delight as he felt the gentle caresses.

"You have the hands of a surgeon," he gasped.

"And do I have the lips of a surgeon?" asked Dave, grinning as he blew gently into Romano's ass. He suppressed a laugh at the thought that he was now literally, kissing the bosses ass.

Reaching for the lubricant, he applied it liberally, guessing that this could be difficult, being as it were, unexplored territory. Smoothing the condom over his cock, which was standing to attention, he placed it gently at the entrance. "Ready or not, here I come," he muttered under his breath, as he slid it in.

Romano gasped at the sudden intrusion. "You okay?" asked Dave, ready to stop if requested.

Romano nodded, unable to speak. "Okay then," said Dave, as he eased in a bit further. Reaching under Romano's torso, he started gently caressing the older mans nipples.

"Oh yes," moaned Romano. The momentary distraction allowed Dave to slip in another few inches. "More," groaned Romano, "Don't stop."

"What's my name," whispered Dave, in Romano's ear.

"What?"

"You're always forgetting my name," said Dave, as he pulled out a few inches. "I want to hear you call me by my real name."

"Malatucci," spat Romano, unwilling to let Dave get the upper hand.

"Oooh, wrong answer," said Dave, tweaking Romano's nipple, as he thrust in a bit further.

Romano tried to restrain himself, but Dave's insistent teasing and the sensations he was feeling were making his head spin. "Malucci," he gasped.

"I didn't here you," said Dave, as he continued to thrust in and out.

"MALUCCI, MALUCCI," shouted Romano, as he climaxed.

"And don't you forget it," gasped Dave, as he too came. He lay there breathless for a few moments, before rolling off to one side. The enormity of what he had just done was only now beginning to hit him. Oh my God, he thought to himself. I've just screwed the boss. I'm dead.

Romano too was realizing just what had happened. Dear God, of all the people he could have had sex with; it had to be someone on staff.

The phone ringing jarred them both out of their stupor.

Dave grabbed it quickly, and talked for a few minutes, before replacing the receiver.

"That was Ed," he said, avoiding eye contact with Romano. "He'll be out front in ten minutes. Should have you home in no time."

"Good," said Romano, tersely.

"I'll get your clothes," said Dave.

They dressed in silence, avoiding looking at each other.

Romano retrieved Gretel's dog food and stood by the door. Dave unbolted it.

"This never happened, okay?" said Romano to Dave.

"Fine by me," replied Dave, slightly relieved.

"Good," said Romano, as Dave opened the door. Suddenly he pulled Dave down to his level and gave him a long lingering kiss. "Merry Christmas," he said, as he hurriedly left the apartment without a backward glance.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas," said Dave.



THE END