2002

Paradise, Nevada

Caesars  Palace

2002 Adult Entertainment Expo

-1-

“GRANDAD!,” 4-year-old Eloise Washington shouts, skipping across the  hardwood floor to greet Jean Dory at the penthouse door.

“Bells! My, my, my what a surprise! What are you doing here, pretty girl ?,” Jean exclaims, dropping his luggage and catching her as she launches herself into his arms.

Minnow Dory pushes her way into the Caesars Palace penthouse behind her older brother and takes inventory of the space with her hands on her hips.

“Hmmm, not as shitty as I thought it would be,” Minnow observes, clicking across the room in 4 inch snake print pumps. “I mean it’s absolutely peanuts compared to the MBC penthouse right, Ellie ?”

“Yes, it’s absolute peanuts,” Eloise nods because she agreed with everything her great-aunt said.

“Well, I would have l-o-o-o-o-o-ved to stay at MBC,” Jean says pointedly. “But I found their customer service severely lacking.”

“I was not telling a Grammy Award winning band  they had to leave their penthouse because my big brother asked for it at the last minute,” Minnow responds just as pointedly.

“You could have told them I was bringing porn stars,” Jean counters, gesturing to the beleaguered, exhausted performers staggering into the suite behind him.

Minnow sticks out her tongue at him, a gesture Eloise promptly copies--causing the siblings to burst into laughter.

Haley smiles as he trails into the penthouse. He’d always found it funny how Minnow and Jean (and sometimes even Luce) were reduced to bickering children when they got together.

“Haley, come look at my puzzle. You have to help me,” Eloise tells him, pulling him into the penthouse’s formal dining room where Sara Grace was typing one handed on a laptop with Eloise’s sister, 2-year-old Mai, sleeping in her lap.

Eloise proudly shows Haley her half finished Lisa Frank puzzle and makes him sit down to help her finish it. She’d taken a liking to him since he often snuck off to play with her and her sister when Jean invited him to holiday events. He appreciated that he got invited  but he always felt  like he was ruining the mood at the adult table when someone had to explain one of their inside jokes to him. 

“What on Earth are these little troublemakers doing here ?,” Jean asks, landing a kiss on sleeping Mai’s forehead. “Am I going to have to have a conversation with that son of yours, Ms. Grace? Charlotte is not supposed to be on mommy duty this weekend.”

“The nanny got sick,” Sara explains not looking up from the computer. “Rias asked me to watch them while he and Charlotte are at the doctor. He is going to come back for them. No one is spoiling your fun.”

“These little demons could never spoil my fun,” Jean quips and then pouts. “I only wish I could take them on the floor and show them off  but their mother is such a prude. Don't know who snuck in in the middle of the night to raise that girl.”

Haley hadn’t been back to the AEX Expo since the year he left Maxwell but he'd decided to make a comeback. Virtue was up for several awards and the company was covering the rooms. Haley was not giving up a chance sleep in some place other than his shitty studio apartment.

Once he helps complete Eloise’s puzzle to her satisfaction, Jean shows him to his room in the 5 bedroom penthouse. He hadn't asked for a room in the penthouse--he would have been happy sharing a regular room like most of the other performers--but he also wasn't going to say no. The room  was a decent size with a full bar, two double beds, a Jacuzzi tub and a surreal bathroom that was literally the size of his entire studio.

Haley was exhausted from helping set up of the Virtue booth and wanted to nap but he promised himself he’d do some studying to make up for the two classes he was skipping to be here.

He gets one page into his workbook and decides s it only makes sense to pick out an outfit to wear tonight before studying. He wanted to show off his new tattoo-- the words VIRTUE, in clean upper case sans serif font,  around his upper bicep  like a bracelet. The other bicep said HARMONY. The tattoos were the result of half a glass of wine and peer pressure after a long club night.

He pulls on a white tank top and is changing into a thong so he can slip into a pair of latex bootcut pants when the door to the his room opens.

“Oh shit--sorry,” Luce says, stepping out with an elbow over his eyes.

“No, no, no, it’s okay! Come back,” Haley laughs, quickly pulling his pants on. “Hi. Check it out, can you believe this room ? What does yours look like ?”

“Jean…said this was my room,” Luce sighs and then makes an annoyed sound “Of course he makes you share a room. This is bullshit. You deserve your own room. He should switch with you--”

“No, it’s okay. I don't mind sharing,” Haley says moving his clothing pile off the second bed.

“I smoke--”

“I’ve noticed. I really don’t mind…Unless you mind ?”

“I don’t mind.”

 

***

 -2-

Haley catches his first glimpse of Kenneth Maxwell  at the AEX Technical Awards. Maxwell was holding court at Vibrance Entertainment’s table with his new girlfriend, a brunette twenty something, hanging on his arm. She seemed confident and Haley wondered how he treated her.

Maxwell was popular industry gossip and Haley heard through the grapevine that Maxwell beat the sexual assault charges. Harmony fired him anyway but he’d somehow landed a management position at Vibrance—a multi-million dollar porn company that was making a name for itself in by selling celebrity sex tapes.

Haley knew there was a risk they'd run into each other. His restraining order against Maxwell expired last year but seeing him doesn’t unsettle Haley as much as he thought it would. He’s walking in a group with Virtue staff, the Dorys and the Graces. He felt safe.

The AEX Technical Awards were an uneventful award, held out of obligation the night before the more popular AEX Awards that went to entertainers. The audience is mostly executives, academics and nonprofit directors but that hadn't stopped Jean from showing off in his Elvis-inspired green velvet bell bottom suit with Virtue embroidered across the back.

The award show is tedious and Jean keeps the Virtue tables supplied with drinks from the cash bar. Haley spends most of the two hours appreciating how Luce filled out his navy suit. Sara, who normally wore cargo shorts and tank tops,  had dressed up in a black sheath dress, and a movie quality auburn bob wig.

Towards the end, when all the awards had been given out, the AEX Chairman comes out with an elegant trophy, a oversized Swavorksi crystal wrapped in sterling silver threads.

“Every few years we present our highest honor to a deserving person or organization,” the Chairman begins. “The AEX Visionary Award recognizes a member of our community who makes an indelible impact on the industry and challenges us all to move forward. I hope you will all join me in a round of applause as we present the AEX Visionary Award and $20,000 prize to Mr. Jean Dory  of Virtue Studios for their pioneering work in  e-commerce and extraordinary leadership in virtual entertainment.”

The tepid ballroom suddenly explodes in applause as Jean stands. Despite only being officially in the industry a few years Jean was well known and loved. He nods appreciatively and then reaches out to pull Luce and Sara up to the stage with him.  

He takes the award and hands it to Luce and then puts his arms around both of the Graces as he approaches the podium.

“Virtue is very much deserving of this honor but it does not belong to me, loves,” Jean grins. “This is Luce Grace and Sara Grace, I had a vision and these two built it from nothing. Their work is the future of this industry and if you want to be apart of the future…hire them. I know you all must be thinking; ‘that Jean Dory is a shitty businessman for giving out his best weapons’ and maybe I am. But these are my friends…my family. We did it, baby. We went legit.”

Jean hugs the Graces and poses for pictures before walking  off the stage to a raucous standing ovation. Sara and Luce smile in spite of themselves as they come back to the table of wildly cheering and drunk Virtue staff.

Luce catches Haley’s eye as he takes his seat next to him and gives  barest hint of a smile. Haley leans over and kisses Luce square on the lips. It was an odd impulse that felt natural in the moment. It was a simple chaste kiss. A peck on the lips if not less. It didn’t have to mean anything. He spares a glance back at  Luce to see him smile sheepishly and looks elsewhere.

With the award show officially over, their table is ambushed by potential clients for Luce and Sara.

“I'd love to sell online.What is the name of your company--,” a bookish looking woman who made vibrators asks, taking out a notebook.

“Uh, we’re still trying to figure all that out--” Luce starts

“Fallwater,” Charlotte steps in. “Give me your info and I’ll be sure to call you when they have openings.”

When the woman leaves Luce turns to Charlotte.  

“Fallwater ?,” he asks.

“What  ? You need a name and it sounds cool.” she shrugs. “This is what you've been talking about doing for years. Starting your own thing. You want the business, right ?”

The other Virtue performers were making plans to hit a buffet and do a strip club crawl but Haley declines to join. Luce had promised him they’d go gambling after the awards show and he’d been practicing blackjack all week. While they network,  Haley wanders to the bar for an overpriced Coke. That's when he senses it.

He turns over his left shoulder to see Maxwell barreling toward him. Haley's vision  narrows and  everything seems to slow except for Maxwell, who is moving too fast for Haley to understand what is about to happen.

He makes a sound a second too late as Maxwell’s fist connects with his face. The sudden rush of pain knocks the equilibrium out of him and he drops to the floor ungracefully. Maxwell’s wingtip jams into his side. He lifts his foot towards Haley’s head but before he can kick him again  Maxwell  is dragged violently backwards by a group of  men.  

“--UNGRATEFUL COCKSUCKING CUNT SON OF A BITCH!,” Maxwell spits drunkenly at him as he flails wildly against the men holding him back.

More shouts erupt from the other side of the ballroom. Haley cowers and turns to see a terrified looking Charlotte somehow single handedly holding Luce back. Jean squeezes through the shouting crowd, helps Haley up and shepherds him back towards the Virtue table.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Luce shouts at the snarling Maxwell.

“You. You don’t get to kiss him and you don’t talk to me--"

“That was a fucking suckerpunch. You want to do this do it with someone your own size,” Luce shouts back. “Don't forget, I still have a bullet for you, motherfucker--”

“NO.” Jean says firmly, standing in front of Luce and taking his face in his hands. “Don’t you dare give them a show, little brother. Take Haley upstairs before security comes.”

Luce shrugs out of Charlotte’s hold and puts a protective arm around Haley, easily pushing them through the gawking crowd and to the elevator. They ride back up to the penthouse in silence.

“I’m okay, Luce--”

“Let me see,” Luce says when they get off the elevator and step into the penthouse, standing head to chest.

“I--”

“Let me see,” Luce repeats firmly.

Haley starts to protest again but decides to obey, tipping his chin upward. As Luce's  studied  his face, Haley absently rubs the firm muscles in Luce’s arms. Luce’s body was tense and his breathe was ragged. He was still poised for a fight. Always a fighter. Always for him.

His eyes lock on Luce’s i gaze, the bright hue of his pupils intensified by the dark ring around the iris. The stillness in the room pushes Haley to close the space between them. He rises on to his toes and presses his lips on to Luce’s. He steps back in time to see the color in Luce’s eyes darken before he is snatched forward by his wrist and Luce’s mouth covers his in a hungry kiss.

Luce’s thick arm locks around his back, crushing their bodies together as the kiss deepens. Haley steps to the side and Luce follows, guiding them haphazardly away from the penthouse living room and back to their room. The short journey was awkward with their height difference and when they finally reach the room Luce carries him to the bed and lies down beside him where they can experience each other on the same level.

Their kiss is no longer innocent, it quickly builds into something rougher and more pleasurable as Luce nips at his neck and their clothed bodies writhe together.  Haley's hands greedily savor every inch of the tempting muscles he'd admired from afar for so long. Luce sits up to remove his suit jacket and Haley pulls back to lock eyes with him and feels a deep pull, something magnetic inside him that was pushing him to Luce Grace.

Was this what people meant when they said chemistry ?

“Do you…want to ?,” Haley breathes

Luce’s eyes move rapidly, scanning his face and taking him in. Haley felt the same sense of wonder and lust realizing what was finally about to happen.

But there was something quieter behind Luce’s stare.

“I’ve never…,” Luce starts, fiddling with his tie. “I haven’t done it…um...”

“With a boy ?,” Haley finishes.

“With anyone. Not really.”

“Oh,” Haley says. He knew Luce hadn’t been dating anyone but he put so much effort into his body and walked around with raw sexual energy radiating off him. “So…do you want to ?”

He nods eagerly.

Haley smiles softly in return. “You know I have HIV--”

“Yeah…I can go buy some condoms--”

“Did you forget where you are ? Wait here,” Haley teases.

He turns to scoot off the bed but Luce drags him back and kisses him once more before letting him go again.

“You like doing that don’t you ?”

“I do.”

Arrogant man, Haley thinks. He hopes the smile plastered on his face doesn't make him look as stupid as he felt. Shaking his head he picks up the pile of fanciful gift bags he’d collected from the VIP gift table the day before.

“Let’s see,” Haley sings sifting through the items. “We have American flag condoms, poker chip condoms, coconut  flavored condoms, rainbow condoms, Jenna Jameson condoms--”

His absurd list foreplay is cut off by Luce’s persistent mouth on his again.

“Hint taken,” Haley grins, unbuttoning his own dress shirt.

 -3-

His mind could barely compute what he was seeing as Luce stands to take off the rest of his suit, throwing the bespoke pieces to the ground with zero regard. He'd caught glimpses of Luce’s  body over the years but as he removed his shirt Haley realizes he’d never seen his bare arms. Despite the hellish Vegas heat, Luce was always in long sleeves and now Haley saw why.

He had a single tattoo on each arm that went from bicep to forearm—the word Freedom scrawled on the right,  Liberation on the left. The artwork was messy. The words in a thick, crooked looping cursive and the dark color faded and discolored  at some places.

The bad tattoos were  curious but Haley's eyes quickly cut away from them to his broad chest, covered in a sprinkle of fine hair and dark nipples standing at attention. When Luce walks toward the bed the muscles in his toned thighs and ass flex. His outsized erection was at full attention, the head pressed to the defined ridges in his abdomen and bobbing lewdly with each step forward. Haley could feel his own size insecurities creeping in but shuts them out so they don't ruin the moment.

“Hmmm…crazy thought but….have you ever thought of doing porn ?,” Haley suggests, coyly putting the corner of the rainbow condom wrapper in his teeth.

Luce laughs as he lies back on the bed.

“I’m…not  brave like that,” Luce admits quietly.

“It’s a  crime you look like that and nobody ever gets to see it--”

“You could see it.”

“Oh…um, okay.”

He had nothing cute or smart to say to that. Instead he fingers himself as Luce silently try on several condoms before he can find one that fits and doesn't seem too cheap.

“Should I do that ?,” Luce asks, staring at Haley's fingers..

“I mean...if you want.”

Luce gently pushes Haley’s fingers away from his body and replaces them with his own. Haley melts into the touch, giving Luce silent adjustments before grabbing his own growing erection.

“Okay,” Haley breathes. “Now. I need you now.”

Luce eagerly crawls on top of him, staring down at him like he were one of the buffets they were currently missing out on. Haley opens his legs and presses his knees back.

“Go slow ?”

Luce nods and assaults him with more kisses, each lingering touch of his lips bringing their bodies closer together.

“Fuck,” Haley hisses, stroking Luce’s face as he struggles to hide his own discomfort. “Ah-”

“Am I hurting you ?”

“Mmm. No--you’re--I just need,--”

“I’m too big ? Fuck, we can stop--”

“No--”

“Should I put more lube on--”

Haley nods but smiles to keep the mood light. His body shakes with anticipation and fear of disappointment but he wanted this.

“It still feels good--”

“Does it ?,”

“Mmhm,” Haley moans.

“You feel fucking amazing. You're so damn hot. I love looking at my cock inside you, ” Luce says as if he knew he had a praise kink. He’d said it in a rare moment of honesty in an interview with a niche porn magazine. He wondered if Luce had somehow tracked the interview down. 

The sharpness of the pain ebbs when they are finally chest to chest. Haley's nearly folded in half and Luce’s elbows cradle his head as he rocks their entwined bodies back and forth, the gold chain around Luce's neck lightly slapping his face with each thrust. He jolts when Luce captures both of his wrists in one hand and holds them above his head. Luce's teeth graze his neck and an immediate need pulses through Haley’s body. He makes sounds he’s never made outside of when he was faking an orgasm and ejaculates on to his stomach.

His body clenches sporadically around Luce and his pace become frenetic, the force of his heavy body thrusting forward pinning Haley to the bed in a delightful vice. He finishes with a low growl into his ear and a long kiss.

“Fuck,” Luce sighs against his mouth. His hips still rubbing against Haley's body. “Why the fuck haven’t we been doing this the whole time ?”

 

 

--- 

-4- 

“Ahh! Holy shit, you scared me!” Haley screams in shock the next morning when he rounds the corner in the massive bathroom and finds Luce shirtless, brushing his teeth at the vanity sink. He'd been up for an hour and hadn't heard Luce get up.“Why are you up so early ?”

Haley had never really been concerned about the list of non-sexual things that turned him on but he’d never thought he’d add watching a man brush his teeth to the list.

Luce stares appreciatively at Haley’s outfit—a cropped tight white tank top with the words Virtue screen printed in gold glitter  and t rhinestone studded denim shorts with black combat boots.

“Your hair looks different,” Luce squints.

“Maverick let me borrow one of his flat irons,” he says, digging through his Ziploc bag of cosmetics and taking out  a concealer stick . He puts one foot on the toilet seat as he opens the makeup.

“What are you doing ?,”

“Magic,” Haley quips, blotting the concealer on the  skin of his right ass cheek that showed when he bent down.

“I think your birthmark is cute.” He'd spent considerable time running his teeth along it last night.

“It’s not a birthmark…I used to have Maxwell’s initials there. My first removal session was painful and sucked so this is as far as I got.”

“Tell me about it.” Luce says, rubbing lotion on his tattooed arms.

“Do I get the story behind those ?”

Luce shrugs and walks over to takeover the concealer stick from him.

“High school shit,” he says rubbing in Haley's concealer. “I was a weird kid with a lack of social skills. I understood math more than people. Jean and Ma didn’t warn me not to tell kids I was bisexual so  that was hell. I got bullied--”

“What the hell did these kids look like if they thought they could bully you ?”

 “I was scrawny and depressed,” he says. “Then sophomore year Ma married Twyla's dad, Lachlan. He was a cool stepdad,  let me work out with him and his friends at the gym. I finally had a growth spurt. Junior year kids suddenly wanted to talk to me. The school even let me walk on the football team. I got the ink at a homecoming party. I thought it was cool and would make look tough but it aged like shit.”

“I think you’re just staring at my ass now,” Haley teases, spraying hair spray over the concealer.

Luce shrugs and stays where he is on his knees.

“I could stay down here... I haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Haley's entire body clenches in the best possible way.

“Unfortunately, I’m supposed to be at the Virtue booth in 25 minutes and we skipped dinner so I need to get actual food,” Haley pouts, stepping away to put in his earrings and navel piercing. “You should go back to bed. After all you won a big award yesterday.”

“Everyone  knows we slept together last night,” Luce sighs. “I won’t let you deal with whatever crap is on the other side of the door on your own.”

“How would they even know ?,”

“Charlotte came in last night when you were sleeping,” Luce says quietly.  “When she saw you in my bed she got spooked and left.”

“Charlotte isn’t gossip-y,” Haley reminds him. “She’s like Fort Knox.”

Haley dabs a small amount of cologne behind his ear and opens the bedroom door with Luce following behind.

Haley leads the way down the short hall to the kitchen area. The dining room and kitchen  is crowded with hungover Virtue performers---dressed in screen printed tanks similar to Haley’s--some were getting their makeup done and others were eating from the cereal bar. Nobody in the room gives them a second glance as they enter.

Haley is about to turn to Luce to whisper I told you so when Jean Dory stands from his position in the kitchen and starts a  slow clap, Minnow and Alan follow him just before everyone else in the room joins in---except for Charlotte who innocently mouths “I didn’t say anything.”

Rias was staying home with the girls and Haley is relieved to see Luce’s mother is nowhere to be seen as well. Having Luce’s family witness this would be even more awkward.

Luce rolls his eyes as Jean walks towards them with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Yes ?,” Jean says clasping his hands and putting them to his mouth.

Haley didn’t want to embarrass Luce and  considers a way to tell Jean to mind his own business that will not lose him his job but Luce takes his hand and squeezes it.

“Yes,” Luce answers and looks down at him for confirmation. “Yes ?,”

Haley nods.

Jean spins in the direction of Minnow and slaps his hand down in front of her.

“Pay up, baby sister!,” Jean cackles.

“Excuse me ?,” Minnow frowns.

“Valentine’s Day 1991. You invited me to that god awful apartment you had in LA to hang out with your new roommate and at the end of the weekend I told you he and Luce were going to be trouble. I said I bet you $50 and you said ‘in Luce's wildest dreams’.”

“That shouldn’t count,” Alan jumps to her defense. “I mean, you’ve been practically master minding this for years--,”

“No.” Luce cuts in. “Jean masterminded nothing--”

“So ungrateful,” Jean huffs and looks around at the assembled crowd. “Who can I set up next ?”

---

A/N

♡ Next post is double chapters ! ♡

- I have also learned it is Caesars Palace not Caesar's Palace

- CranberriVodka, I know this isn't kink you asked for in the last comment section but I hope it's something...I probably made it way dirtier than I had to 😳

- The Lucley "wrist grab" kiss is some what based on the kiss from New Girl