There was no possible way for Noah to feel more proud of Luke. His chest puffed with it. His heart swelled with it.
"It's a story that we hear over and over again," Luke began, speaking from the podium to the hundreds of businessmen, politicians and charities who had turned up to the Luke Snyder Foundation Annual Dinner. "A kid is forced from his home and all of a sudden finds himself without resources, without support and having to create a whole new life for himself from scratch."
Usually the dinner was held in Chicago. But considering the events that had lead to the Foundation's latest project, Luke had orchestrated a quick re-organisation so that the dinner could take place in Los Angeles.
Noah sat up front at one of the many round dinner tables in the room that night. Beside him was Luke's empty seat, while on his right sat Lucinda.
They were joined at their table by six of Lucinda's most influential business contacts. The hotel conference room was filled to bursting with people ready and willing to take out their wallets for a good cause.
"He looks like he was born to be up there, doesn't he?" Lucinda asked, leaning forward to whisper loudly into Noah's ear and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"He sure does." Noah replied with a warm smile.
As Luke spoke, the auctioneer stood to one side, patiently waiting for his turn to take over and begin the fund raising proceedings.
"Good evening everybody. For those who don't know me, my name is Luke Snyder and this is your Foundation." He waited for the round of applause to die down before continuing. "You are the people we rely on to keep the many amazing projects we invest in running to their full capacity."
Another smaller round of applause gave Luke a moment to drink a sip of water from the glass on the podium; a sure sign to Noah that Luke wasn't as relaxed up there as he appeared to be.
But even nervous Luke looked amazing. His new shorter style, slightly darker at the scalp until becoming gradually blonder toward the tips of his curls, suited him for this occasion; made him more the man and less the boy.
Like all the men at the event, Luke wore a suit (his dark blue) and tie, carrying the look off like a pro; despite the fact Noah knew how much he hated that kind of attire.
A relaxed pair of jeans and t-shirt (preferably striped)… that was Noah's Luke Snyder. Noah softly smiled to himself.
"I started this foundation about three years ago with the help of my husband, Noah." He smiled so lovingly down at Noah that Noah forgot to breathe. "The foundation focuses on a wide range of issues but it plays particular role in the gay community. I had some difficulty coming out as a gay teenager, as did Noah, as do most gay teenagers out there. I felt the need to create an organisation to especially help these teens. Teens like Josh."
Noah watched as Luke ducked his head to the floor, gathering his emotions. Noah's own heart throbbed painfully and as if sensing his sudden sadness, Lucinda reached for his hand on the table and gave it a light squeeze.
"The Josh Carmody Centre will be a place where all children in need, gay or straight, can find love, acceptance, support, free schooling and medical care. It will be a place with a totally open door policy that will keep at least some of these kids off the street and hopefully away from the very real danger of drugs and prostitution. It's a place were, I hope, we can help deal with the emotional conflicts that these kids are faced with every day."
Noah's eyes fell on the enlarged headshot of a smiling Josh, which had been neatly placed at the foot of the podium...
He wasn't sure of her reasons; perhaps guilt, perhaps because she harboured some sense of gratitude for what they had done for her son; but Marion Carmody had sent them an envelope containing various photographs of Josh.
The photographs were accompanied by just a folded sheet of paper with a handwritten scrawl that read, "Thought you might like to have these."
Noah sniffed back another wave of feeling and turned his attention back to Luke; who had since set about telling his audience Josh's story.
Luke's words were heavy with emotion and sadness, but also with an acceptance and a determination that Josh's death would not be in vain.
Luke's tone was laced in the love he had for the boy. Noah's eyes filled with tears as Luke's voice cracked while he spoke. He marvelled once more at Luke's ability to share his emotions so openly with people… even strangers.
It was how Luke was able to gather people to his causes; get them on side. It was a true gift and partly what made the foundation such a success.
"Thank you for coming." Luke finished up, "I'm astounded every year by the support we receive and I'll leave you in the competent hands of our auctioneer, Mr Judd over here. I'll say just two words before I go… dig deep!"
The audience laughed, standing up and erupting in a thunderous applause which Luke shyly acknowledged before jumping off the stage and right into Noah's waiting arms.
"God, I love you!" Noah shouted above the noise. He leaned in and demurely kissed Luke's cheek, only too aware of the number of eyes on them in that moment.
He began to pull back, but Luke would have none of it. He drew Noah close and kissed him long and deep; directly on the lips; in front of the whole room.
Noah could feel the blush creeping up from below his collar but he smiled into the kiss; amused my Luke's sheer audacity.
"What?" Luke teased, cupping Noah's neck and rubbing his thumbs over the hot redness in Noah's cheeks, "Are you embarrassed to kiss me in front of all these nice people?"
Noah pursed his lips as he smiled. He leaned in closer, arms embracing Luke's entire torso and bringing their bodies flush together, "I'm only ever proud to kiss you!"
Noah released one arm so that he could hook a slender finger under Luke's chin, tilting his face upward and descending his grinning lips into a dazzling kiss, absolutely drenched in as much love as he could muster.
"Wow!" Luke breathed as their lips parted, clinging to Noah like he would never let go; swaying slightly.
By now the auctioneer had started proceedings and most of the guests, bar those at their table, had turned their attention back to the stage.
Completely drunk on his pride for the man in his arms Noah decided to do something totally… not Noah. He hugged Luke to him and whispered in his ear, "I'm going to the bathroom…"
Luke nodded with a soft smile; briefly tousled Noah's hair and turned to shake hands and receive praise from Lucinda and her friends.
Out of sight, Noah waited five minutes and then sent one of the waiters to tell Luke he had a phone call.
He watched as Luke excused himself from the table and then, like a cat waiting to pounce on a passing mouse, waited until Luke made his way toward the reception desk. Noah darted out in a flash, quickly pulling the shocked Luke into the nearby cloakroom by the hem of his suit jacket.
"Hey!" Luke exclaimed, "What the…!"
But as he fell forward against Noah's chest and Noah leaned past him to lock the door behind them, Luke released a groan and what should have been, "hell?" came out instead as a sultry, "hell-o?"
"You messed up my hair!" Noah sternly accused, lifting one eyebrow in expectation of an apology.
"Oh yeah?" Luke asked, a cheeky smirk sweeping his lips, "Whatcha gonna do about it?"
Noah quickly flipped Luke around so that he could press him hard into the wall. Luke emitted a surprised and breathy squeak and then drew in a deep gulp as Noah's lips hovered within inches of his.
Luke started to move in for a kiss but Noah's hands flew up to grip the sides of Luke's head, holding him back, teasing him with the promise of it.
Allowing his lower lip to just graze against Luke's as he spoke, Noah lowered his voice, in the why he knew Luke liked, and said, "I'm gonna make you beg for mercy."
Noah almost lost it right there in his pants at the look of intense pleasure that ghosted across Luke's hazel eyes.
"Here?" Luke asked.
"Right. Here." Noah replied.
Luke licked his lips and lifted his brow, "What if somebody comes wanting their coat?"
"Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Luke tried to say something in response but Noah expected that and dove in for a kiss, tongues fighting for control, teeth grazing over bottom lips.
As he kissed, Noah made short work of Luke's belt, button and zip and was already sliding the pants and underwear down past Luke's knees, leaving the wetness of Luke's mouth to follow his trousers to a kneeling position on the floor.
"No-ah!" Luke moaned in pleasure, throwing his head back and gripping Noah's shoulder as Noah latched himself onto Luke's growing erection, sucking hard.
"God Noah! Ah!" Luke moaned again, falling back against the wall, as Noah's talented fingers massaged from beneath.
Moving his hands to cup Luke's buttocks Noah drew back, looking up at Luke, "Better keep it down, Luke. The reception is just past that door."
Noah had to suppress a laugh at the 'are you out of your mind' kind of look Luke gave him.
"How the hell do you expect me to keep it quiet while you're doing…" Luke looked down the swollen object of Noah's attentions, "… that?"
"I don't know." Noah smirked, "Bite down on something?"
A very sharp tingle of expectation jolted through Noah at the look of mischievous intent that suddenly coloured Luke's face.
That look usually meant Luke had come up with an idea. A VERY good idea.
Wriggling out from Noah's arms, Luke promptly laid himself down on the carpeted floor between the two rails of coats.
"Come here!" he demanded.
Smiling Noah crawled over the top of him coming down for a kiss that was blocked by Luke placing a forefinger on Noah's lips.
"The. Other. Way." Luke's eyes sparkled with purpose.
Frowning, it took Noah a moment to comprehend Luke's instruction. But when he realised what Luke was planning he gulped, eyes widening.
"That certainly is one way of keeping your mouth shut…" Noah mused.
Luke grinned.
"Pretty dirty idea you've got there, Snyder…"
"Says the guy initiating sex in a cloakroom!" Luke countered.
Luke pushed at the laughing Noah, encouraging him to swap around, straddling Luke so they were top and tailed.
With an eyeful of Luke in all his glory, Noah quickly became once again distracted, immediately taking all of him in his mouth, finding that in this position he could use gravity as a tool to bring his mouth down in full force.
"Wait…urgh… wait!" Luke kept panting during groans "Let me…get…ah… shit… first…"
Noah paused until he felt the flush of cool air as Luke finally managed to fumble Noah's trousers down from such an awkward angle.
Luke's hands came up, hooking around Noah's waste and gripping flat on his back. Luke used Noah's body to pull himself up until he found Noah's hardness with his own mouth.
The sudden and intense feeling down under forced a loud moan from Noah which he quickly silenced by once again engulfing Luke's length between his lips.
The two of them worked in unison, using a combination of licking, giggling, moaning, wriggling and gyrating, to quickly bring each other to climax; their final moans quieted by a mouthful of each other.
...
"Rafiki yangu?"
"Hmph." Noah moaned, clinging to sleep and his memory; where he was just settling down into Luke's arms, laying his ear flat against the hollow of Luke's shoulder blade.
"Rafiki yangu? You must wake!"
He'd been so deep in sleep Noah hadn't noticed the van had come to a stop.
"What?"
"We cannot cross…"
Noah blinked his eyes open, squinting against the sharp rays of sun bouncing off the vehicle's window pain.
"Can't cross?" he asked.
His friend frowned, shaking his head seriously, "Last week was lots of rain, the bridge has been washed away, rafiki yangu."
Noah looked around and realised that he and Kigongo were alone in the van. Peering past his new found friend and through the front windscreen of the van he saw the problem for himself. He squeezed out of the seat and bent to step through the van's sliding side door.
The rest of the van's passengers were once again entertaining each other under any spot of shade they could find; some sharing food or drink. It seemed that these types of delays were part of the norm.
Noah walked to the front of the van to survey the deep ravine before him. At the moment there was only a trickle of water flowing over smooth rocks far below, but it was clear from the debris along the edges that at some point the water had overflowed. And it was this flooding that had washed the bridge away, making the road impassable.
"What does this mean for getting there?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"There is another way."
Noah sighed in relief but tension rose again when he turned to see the expression on his friend's face.
"What?" Noah asked. "What is it?"
"I am sorry rafiki yangu. It will mean at least a day extra. Maybe more… depends on the road…"
Noah's heart plummeted. "No." He shook his head. "No! I can't. Okay? I can't wait that long!"
Kigongo shook his head in sympathy. "It is the only way."
Noah turned to survey the damaged bridge once more; eyes following the road in the distance as it disappeared around a sharp bend. His palms came up to cup his burning and sweaty forehead.
"URG!" he exclaimed in frustration and his scream echoed back to them from deep within the ravine.
Closing his eyes he tried not to panic.
"Vumilia rafiki. Vumilia." He felt Kigongo's hand pat his back but he gained no comfort from it.
"I can't wait that long." He whispered, already knowing he didn't have a choice.