DISCLAIMER: QAF and its characters are the sole property of Cowlip Productions and Showtime; no copyright infringement is intended.

Tugging with my teeth to pull my ice-encrusted gloves off my hands, it took me three tries before my nearly frostbitten fingers could punch in the code to enter my apartment building. My Jeep, although four-wheel drive, had been no match for the patch of ice I had encountered on McDermott Street a few blocks away; normally I could navigate the hilly incline without any problems at all when it came to inclement weather. To my aggravation, however, the Jeep had merely spun and sputtered halfway up the hill and I'd been forced to back down and park it at the bottom by the curb; hopefully the temperature would warm up enough by tomorrow to turn the sleet into more of a cold rain so I could go retrieve it, but for the time being I had been forced to traverse the rest of the way home on foot.

I found myself shivering violently from the effects of having to walk the two blocks to my loft as I heard the welcome sound of the buzzer and hurriedly entered the foyer; once inside I quickly shut the door behind me to ward off the howling wind and paused to temporarily savor the inviting warmth. Sighing as I hugged my coat closer to my body to conserve my body heat, I walked over to engage the elevator, not willing to contemplate whether my frozen feet could handle walking up the stairs or not.

As I emerged on the top floor, I was feeling somewhat warmer and was able to lift the gate up with relative ease. Grateful to at last be home and out of the horrid, frigid weather, I pulled on the loft door to swing it open, listening instinctively for the sounds of my partner puttering around somewhere inside like he usually did at this time of day.

Normally when Justin was home in the evening, I would know immediately if he was here just by listening for him. Either the television or CD player would be playing while he banged pots and pans around and prepared his latest cooking experiment for me, or he would be humming softly to himself as he worked on his latest painting over by the window. Tonight, however, I was greeted with an odd, almost eerie silence. "Justin?" I called out softly as I placed my briefcase down on the table near the door, concerned that perhaps my partner had been caught in the same ice storm that I had experienced and worried that he hadn't been able to get home. I had called his cell a few hours ago and offered to come and pick him up from school, but he had told me that PIFA was releasing their students early due to the inclement weather and he would hitch a ride home with one of the other students instead.

"Justin, are you here?"

"Hmmm?" was the distracted-sounding reply from near the couch as I silently sighed in relief. It wasn't the most intelligible of greetings, but at least I knew Justin was safely home.

I shrugged out of my wool coat, draping it over the desk chair as I tugged on my tie to loosen it, unable to bear the constricting noose around my neck any longer. I glanced over at the kitchen, noticing it was tidy and barren of any cooking utensils or cut-up vegetables; apparently Justin hadn't had time to start dinner yet. Opening the refrigerator to retrieve a beer, I closed the door and walked over toward the living room area, spying my partner sitting with his back to me in one of my dining room chairs, hunched over a card table that I kept stored way; normally the only time I had it out was when I needed some extra room to work on an advertising campaign. I frowned as I softly approached my lover, wondering what had enthralled him so much that I wasn't greeted with a body full of warm, blond energy upon my arrival, not that I would ever admit that I always looked forward to that; that would sound way too lesbionic.

"Are you downloading porn again, Sunshine?" I scolded him from several feet away, but I received no response. I sniffed the air; I couldn't smell any weed, so it couldn't be that. What the hell, then?

Brow furrowed in curiosity as to what was so fascinating that Justin hadn't even looked up from what he was doing to acknowledge me, I silently crept closer until I could look over his shoulder to see what was so captivating. "Oh, my God," I deadpanned as I realized what Justin was doing. "I don't believe it."

I leaned down to slide my arms around his neck and then on to his chest to nuzzle his cheek with my lips briefly in greeting as I looked at what he had spread out on top of the card table.

"What?" he whispered innocently as he turned his head to accept a kiss from me before he returned to what he was doing. I shook my head in astonishment; just when I thought I pretty much knew everything about this man, he surprised me.

I snorted in disbelief. "My partner is a closet jigsaw puzzle geek? Where did you pick up THAT filthy habit?" I noticed that most of the puzzle was already completed, even though I knew there had been no puzzle out earlier when I had left. I twisted my head so I could read the side of the box upside down, and my brows shot up. "500 pieces? Are you out of your blond mind?" I picked up the top of the puzzle box and smirked. "A puzzle of a giant, double-decker hamburger; now why am I not surprised?"

Justin shrugged. "Well, we got let early because of the snow, and I was out of blue and red paint so I couldn't finish my project, and you weren't home yet, so I got one of the puzzles my mom lent me out of the closet and decided to try putting it together. It's very addictive."

I began to nibble on his earlobe and then licked a stripe down the side of his neck, smiling as I felt the old, familiar desire stir in my bones as I smelled Justin's unique combination of after-shave, cologne, and shampoo. "Well, I know something else that's addictive," I told him as he giggled slightly at the cheesy line. "And I just wound up having to park my Jeep two blocks away and walk here because of the ice, and I'm still fucking freezing. So why don't you put your widdle puzzle away and come and feed MY addiction?" I asked in my most seductive tone of voice.

I stood up to reach down and pull on Justin's arms to drag him to a standing position, but I was met with unexpected resistance as he pulled away from me and remained seated.

"Brian, come on!" I heard him cajole. "I'm almost done now. Just a few pieces left. How about you make some nice, hot coffee and by the time you're done drinking it, I'll be all done with the rest of my puzzle, and then I'll be glad to warm you up properly."

I stood there, agape, with my mouth hanging partly open. Justin was turning me down to work on a fucking jigsaw puzzle? Then I saw the beginnings of an evil grin on his face, and I immediately knew I was being played. I grunted. "I'll tell you what; how about we have a contest instead?"

Justin frowned as he lifted his gaze to stare up into my face. "What kind of contest?"

"Well, you don't know much about my childhood, do you?"

He shook his head. "No. So?"

Well, it just so happens that when I was in grade school, I was a wiz at putting together jigsaw puzzles."

He eyed me skeptically, one eyebrow raised warily. "Oh, really."

I nodded.

"Well, you don't seem like the jigsaw puzzle type," Justin stated flatly. "But I didn't think you would be a chemistry nerd in high school, either."

I bristled in mock insult. "I already explained that to you; it was so I could..."

"Yeah, I know," Justin interrupted me with an amused smile. "So you could hone your bomb-making skills - at least until Michael helped you come to your senses." He shook his head. "Never mind that. Just what exactly do you have in mind?"

"I'll bet you that I can finish another jigsaw puzzle faster than you can finish the rest of yours."

Justin laughed at me, just like I thought he would as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, this I have to see. You're talking about one of the puzzles in your bedroom closet, right?"

I smiled. "Yeah, that's right. So do we have a bet?"

"And just what are the conditions of this bet, Mr. Puzzle Genius?"

"If I lose, it's your lucky night; if YOU lose, you put that monstrosity away and I fuck your brains out with whatever device I choose and for as long as I choose."

I could see the thought wheels turning in Justin's head; I didn't often bottom for my lover, so I knew how much of a turn-on that idea would be. If anything would lure him to take on my bet, it would definitely be that. Of course, I also knew there was no way that I was going to lose, either; I was much too horny at the moment to let that happen. And I figured either way Justin woud realize he was winning - either he would have ME or I would have HIM.

He eyed me carefully, though, with narrowed eyes as I arched an eyebrow back at him in challenge. "Well?" I asked impatiently. "Just how good of a puzzler are you, Sunshine? Afraid that I'd be better at it than you?"

He snorted. "No way! Okay, Mr. Hot Shot, you're on. I'll even wait until you bring your puzzle out and start on it before I pick up where I left off."

"No need for gallantry," I deadpanned as I loosened up my tie a little more and tugged it off to throw it over on the couch nearby. "Go right ahead," I told him congenially as I waved my hand at him in dismissal. "I'll catch up."

He peered over at me skeptically as I smiled back at him and walked up the three steps to the bedroom to swing the closet door open. I disregarded the stack of 500-piece puzzles on the top shelf where Justin had procured his current puzzle from and found what I was looking for right where I had left it - in the rear left corner. Grinning, I picked up the puzzle and, placing it behind my back, I trotted down the steps and over to my partner's side.

Justin craned his neck to try and see what I was carrying behind me as he eyed me suspiciously. "Which one did you choose?" he asked curiously as he held up a piece of what appeared to be part of a dill pickle slice in his left hand.

"Oh, it's one of my favorites," I told him mysteriously with an evil smile. "I've worked this one dozens of times."

He placed the puzzle piece down now, sensing deception at play as he asked me, "Brian, what do you have behind your back? It better not be that extra-large dildo, because you haven't won yet."

"Oh, it's not," I assured him as I grinned broadly and whipped the puzzle around with a flourish to open up the top and spill the puzzle pieces onto the nearby coffee table; it was a puzzle of Clifford, the Big Red Dog.

"No fucking way!" Justin roared in protest as he recognized it immediately and I laughed. It took me all of sixty seconds to put the 24, jumbo-sized pieces of Gus's favorite puzzle together as Justin walked over and glared at me.

"You asshole!"

I shrugged. "You just told me to pick any puzzle out of the closet; this just happened to be the one that I chose."

Justin shook his head at me. "You cheated! I can't believe you, Brian!"

"I did not!" I countered. "It was in the closet, just like the other puzzles! I can't help it if you happened to choose a harder one than mine." I leered at him. "Now speaking of harder, I believe you owe me, Sunshine. Now go get undressed, lubed up, and spread that tight little ass out on the bed; I have a toy to go pick out - only this time it won't be one of Sonny Boy's." I leaned in to try and steal another kiss to start me off, but he shrugged it off as he pushed against my chest with the palms of his hands.

"Oh, no, you don't!" he growled at me. "I'm not paying up; you won by nefarious methods." His eyes were twinkling mischievously now, however, indicating he wasn't nearly as riled up as he let on. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my own puzzle to finish." He smirked at me as he turned around and deliberately swished his ass in my face as he walked back over toward his card table.

Feeling my cock twitching in appreciation as well as neglect, I hurriedly followed him over just in time to grab him from behind and spin him around before he had a chance to sit back down.

"Hey!" he protested as I quickly swept my arm across the vinyl surface of the card table and puzzle pieces went flying everywhere. A few seconds later, his startled, blue eyes were blinking up at me from the hard surface, his back pressed to the table as I peered triumphantly down at him and held him in place with my hands on his shoulders. "See? That didn't take too long to finish; all done!" I told him, using the same tone of voice and the same words Gus always uses after HE finishes a puzzle and proudly raises his hands up in the air like he had just scored a touchdown. Smirking, I roughly pulled his shoes off and tugged his loose-fitting pants and underwear down to discard them as I did the same to mine; he offered little to no protest now as I grabbed his legs and thrust them up onto my shoulders as Justin rolled his eyes at me.

A few minutes later, I collapsed on top of him; both of us sweat-slicked and sticky from his come. As I brushed some plastered hair back from Justin's face, he smiled up at me from the card table lazily like a sated cat. "I never really liked that particular puzzle anyway," he told me as I chuckled.

"Well, Clifford's always been one of MY favorites," I told him as I helped him up. "Let's go take a shower and then find something to eat," I suggested as I pulled him up from the table and held his warm, pliant body in my arms; I was feeling quite comfortable now, the cold outside a distant memory as we kissed.

"Okay," he easily agreed as we began to walk, naked, toward the master bathroom, puzzle pieces lying helter-skelter all over the floor now. "But I think I'll just stick to crossword puzzles from now on."

A/N: Thank you to Boriqua522 for being my beta.:)

I'm working on the next part of "Tame the Wild Stallion" right now and should have it posted shortly. This was just a brief piece that I had started earlier and wanted to finish first Hope you enjoyed it; thanks for reading.:) And Happy New Year to all my readers! You're the best!:)