Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 11:47:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kai <wai808@yahoo.ca>
Subject: Phone Call REVISION : chapter 3
The Phone Call
By: Kai (wai808@yahoo.ca)
Disclaimer: This story includes graphic scenes of sexual nature between two
consenting adult males. Do not read if you are under the age of majority
or if reading such material is unlawful in your residing
province/state/country.
Author's Notes: This story was originally posted up in 2002, November.
Revisions have been made to make this story more grammar friendly.
The characters and the circumstances they are in are purely works of
fiction. Any resemblances to real life situations are purely coincidental.
No part of this story may be published or reproduced in any way without the
author's written permission. You may email him at <wai808@yahoo.ca>. The
author has had to deal with plagiarism in the past and does not tolerate
it.
Copyright 2002 Kai
Revised 2005 Kai
THE PHONE CALL
Alton's POV
"Hey Alt, sorry I'm late." I looked up from the stack of papers I was
grading and smiled at my tardy friend. Mark grinned and plopped down into
the seat across from me. Then he flagged down a waitress to order the
coffee and cherry pie special.
"So what's the story this time?" Mark always managed to give a new and
creative excuse every time he was late.
"Damn kid rolled his ankle. He had mistaken himself for Michael Jordan
again, and he landed badly. Of course, yours truly gets to stick around
while the paramedics wheeled him away." Mark was the man in charge of the
varsity basketball team at the college that we both worked at. He rolled
his eyes and groaned. "Sucks too, the kid's one of the best forwards I
have this year. This is going to take him out of play for the rest of the
season... and we're so close to the qualifiers too." Mark let out a loud
sigh of disgust before focusing his attention on me. "Whatcha doin'?"
"It's my Intro to Neuro course. A small essay on the disorder of their
choice." I picked up the current paper I was looking over and waved it at
him. "Sciatica, want a look?" Mark scrunched up his face at me and pushed
it away.
"No way dude, keep your geeky stuff away from me." I grinned at him. It
still amazed me, how despite our differences, we still managed to be good
friends. I had a PhD. in Physiology and taught Neurology, Pathology, and
basically anything that ended with an "ology." Mark looked after our
basketball team, but was also a senior authority on the Athletic
Department. Where I liked to sit in on lectures of the latest update in
medical findings, Mark preferred to sit down in arenas to watch whatever
game that just happened to be in progress. I wore khakis and he wore sweat
pants, I was the nerd and he was the jock.
But as it was, we've been as close as friends could be for the last 5 years
now. Despite how busy our schedules were, we still always met at the small
cafe across from campus every Friday at 4pm.
"Buddy, put that crap away and let the weekend begin." He picked up my
backpack off the ground and began to cram the papers into it.
"Hey," I protested and grabbed the essays back from him. "Be careful with
that! How am I supposed to explain to my students why their papers are all
torn and folded up?" Mark shrugged carelessly and offered me an apologetic
grin. I rolled my eyes at him and proceeded to stack the papers into a
plastic file. It was always hard to stay irritated at the man for long
when he pulled that face. "So, what are you and Dianne planning on doing
this weekend?" I asked. Dianne was Mark's wife and the older sister I
never had.
Mark groaned again. "The in-laws are coming over tomorrow night. She had
done nothing but clean like a crazy maid since the beginning of this week.
If I so much as lean against a pillow she squawks at me for flattening it."
He snatched a french fry off of my plate and looked around the busy cafe
rather impatiently. "What the hell happened to my pie?" Then he turned his
attention back to me and asked what my plans were.
I shrugged. "Nothing much really. Maybe I'll just finish grading these
papers." Mark stared at me in disbelief.
"What? That's for Sunday night! What about that guy you're seeing? What's
his face again?" Mark stared off hard into the crevice of his head, trying
to remember my boyfriend's name. I widened my eyes at him and looked
around to see if anyone had heard him. I wasn't completely out of the
closet yet as I was still trying to come to terms with it. In fact, Mark
seemed to have accepted my attraction to men far better than I was.
"Must you be so loud?" I complained.
"Oh, right," Mark gulped guiltily and looked around as well. "Sorry
buddy." All was safe and he even noticed that the waitress was making her
way towards them, the pie and coffee in her hands.
We stayed quiet until said food was placed onto the table and the waitress
was out of hearing range. "His name is Alan," I said.
Mark snapped his fingers. "That's it! Alan... Alan the Accountant."
Eagerly he dug into his pie, his fork piercing the bright red orbs of the
fruit.
I cringed at the tag. "Why must you say it like that?"
Mark looked up at me, confused. "Like what? He's an accountant right? His
name's Alan right? What's the problem?" The coach pointed his fork at me,
"But you know what? Hate to say this to you Alt, but the guy kind of plays
up to the stereotype too well. I mean, look at him... suit and tie, not a
hair out of place, kind of dull..."
"But that describes me too," I protested.
"No it doesn't," Mark insisted. "First of all, you haven't worn a suit in
awhile now." He paused and looked over at my khakis and golf shirt.
"Second, your hair will never stay in place even if your life depended on
it. It's as if it's permanently stuck on 'messy-mode'."
"It gets windy out here," I muttered. I caught my reflection on the cafe
window. Winter months allowed it to be dark enough by now to let the panel
of glass to double as a mirror. It's true; my hair looked like it didn't
know the meaning of 'comb'.
Mark pushed his now-empty plate away from him. "And Alt, trust me when I
say this... I do not make a habit of hanging out with dull people. Sure,
you read too much, by my standards, and watch the most boring documents on
TV, but you're fun to hang out with when you're not doing that stuff."
"Alright, you've made your point." I grimaced at him. "But these papers
aren't going to mark themselves you know."
"That's what Sunday evenings are for," he repeated.
I sighed. "I don't even know if he's free tonight. Maybe we'll go for a
coffee or something."
"How long have you two been seeing each other now?"
I frowned. "Um, almost about a year now I think."
"And the best you can think of doing is coffee?"
"Mark, it may not seem exciting to you but we enjoy each other's company.
We don't need the atmosphere of the movie theatres or local bars."
"Oh for crying aloud Alton, you're only 36 and you're acting like you're
63!"
I sniffed. "I'm only 35." Mark rolled his eyes at me.
"Whatever. Tell me," the other man leaned in close, "when was the last
time you two had wild, unadulterated sex? You know... letting down all
your scruples and restraints?"
I blushed and moved in my seat uncomfortably. "Well, er..." I hesitated.
Mark was probably my closest friend and I trusted him enough to not judge
me. And it was rather pointless to even think that I could hide anything
from him anyway as the man had a talent for prying out kept secrets.
"We... Alan and I, we haven't really..." I looked down at my cup of
coffee, which was now held secured with my white-knuckled hands.
I sneaked a peek up at Mark to gauge his reaction and saw the other man
staring at me with wide eyes and a slacked jaw. "It's just something that
we never explored or felt the need to," I rambled on. Oh, but who was I
kidding? Inwardly I sighed and recalled all those nights when Alan would
sit close to me on the couch, our hearts beating slightly faster as a
result of a heated discussion. We would forget where we were and he would
lean in close as I would lean in close. But never would our lips touch, as
we would remember where we are and regain all composure once more.
Those nights I would go to bed, alone and frustrated, wishing that just
once the calm and collective poise of my significant other would crumple
and break, and ravish me thoroughly. I would dream that he would throw me
onto the bed and take me to new levels of ecstasy that I have never
experienced before. "We thrive on each other's intellectual stimulus," I
finished lamely when I realized that Mark was still staring at me in
disbelief. "Look, it's not something I can just force upon him. And
besides, I don't think he's that interested in it," I whispered. "I really
like him Mark, and I don't want to screw things up because I get horny once
in awhile."
"But you're all for it, right?" Mark asked. His friend was no longer
showing signs of shock and was now concerned.
I let out a whoosh of breath. "Of course I'm all for it! The last few
months I've been starting to feel like a cat in heat. All I can think
about is sex. But I just don't know how to go about bringing up a subject
like that in front of Alan. He's too... proper."
"I have an idea. Why not try phone sex first before the real thing?"
I looked at him incredulously. "I'm not going to waste money on a 900
number to get my rocks off."
Mark sighed rudely and looked up heavenward. "I KNOW you have a PhD but I
swear to God you can be so dense sometimes Alton. You call Alan and flirt
over the phone," he said slowly as if talking to a mere child.
"Oh God no!" I panicked. "I can't. I'll be too embarrassed."
"Trust me, buddy. It's not as bad as it seems because you can't see the
other person. Dianne and I do it all the time when the team's playing out
of town. And believe me, it can get pretty intense."
"Geez Mark, I really did NOT need to know that about you two," I groaned.
Mark picked up a sugar packet and threw it at my forehead, hard. "Grow up
already. Will you just give it a try? If all goes as planned then you two
will be going at it like bunnies in no time soon."
"And if it fails?"
Mark shrugged. "I don't know, make up some lame excuse, like you were
drunk and hopefully he'll buy it."
I sighed again. I suppose there was little to lose. And it did sound a
lot more exciting than grading midterm papers.
~~~~~
Tick tick tick...
Tap tap tap...
I alternated my pen tapping with the ticking of the desk clock'. It read
close to midnight. Earlier in the evening I had tried to call Alan at home
but to no avail. His cellular had also transferred me over to his
voicemail. Disappointed, I had left him a short message and here I was
still waiting for him to return my call.
All too soon I found myself on the last page of the last paper I had to
mark. Finally, I gave up and decided that it was time for bed. When I
stood to stretch, my back muscles protested and I groaned softly. I
remembered what Mark had said earlier about me acting like a 63-year old
and I frowned at the thought.
Slowly, I made my way towards the bathroom, stripping my clothes off on the
way and leaving a trail behind. I studied myself in the mirror while I
waited for the water to warm up. Turning my head so that I could see my
left profile, then my right, I came to the conclusion that I made a rather
plain sight. None of my features were spectacular enough to jump out.
Brown hair, brown eyes, plain, but not unattractive I suppose, I mean we
are supposed to be our own worse critic right?
I looked lower down at my naked body and grinned; I had to admit that I
liked what I saw. Complaining at first, I had sacrificed an hour of sleep
each day, five times a week, to meet Mark at the campus pool. All those
early mornings I was forced to swim endless laps, trying not to be outdone
by the coach. But after a few months when I had started to see a
difference in the way my body looked, the complaints had ceased...er, well,
became less frequent anyhow. And there I stood, nude in front of the
mirror: muscles long and lean, shoulders broad, waist trim and stomach
flat.
My chest was fairly smooth, and save for the thin trail that led towards my
groin, my torso was basically free of hair. There was also a large part of
my right calf that was sparse due to an accident which involved scalding
hot water when I was a teen... not that my legs were particularly hairy to
begin with. When the steam wafting from the shower caught my eye, I gave
myself one last scrutiny in the mirror, and quickly stepped into the warm
water.
~~~~~
For the umpteenth time I turned over and glanced at my alarm clock. The
red numbers read 2:14am. A sudden case of insomnia must have set in and
for the life of me I could not fall asleep. There weren't enough sheep in
the world to even make me yawn.
My eyes traveled to the left of the clock where my phone sat. Clucking my
tongue to the roof of my mouth for a bit, I finally sat myself up and
reached for it. Quickly, I dialed the number to Alan's home phone before I
could change my mind. The ring seemed extremely loud in the quiet dark. I
could feel my heartbeat faster, and then nearly stilled when the other end
picked up.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
"Hello?" I mumbled sleepily. Glancing over to the clock I saw that it was
a quarter after two. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, silently cursing the
late caller.
"Hey, it's Alton." The voice on the other end sounded nervous. And since I
didn't know an Alton, I was about to say 'wrong number' when the caller on
the other end mumbled something I couldn't quite make out.
"I'm sorry? What was that?"
The voice came out in a very quiet whisper. "I'm horny." Curiosity got the
best of me and I decided to play along. My phone number was unlisted and
what are the chances of a male dialing me up by chance to have some late
night fun? It was probably one of the guys at the fire hall. Apparently
there weren't enough fires in the city to keep them busy at this time of
night.
"Oookay," I replied noncommittally.
"Um, I'm lying in bed, all alone," the quiet voice continued. "I was
thinking about you and imagining myself lying next to you, wrapped in your
arms." Hmm... This was getting to be interesting. My libido certainly
thought so. The voice was gaining confidence now, sounding low and husky.
"I'm wearing nothing, just the soft warm quilt next to my naked skin...
but I wish it was your own warm body that's next to mine instead. Are you
naked as well?"
"I am now," I whispered. I reached down under the blanket and stripped off
my boxers. Might as well get into the part. The receiver banged against
my chin for a bit and when I settled it back against my ear, I heard low
laughter on the other end. It was quite sexy actually.
"Sorry," I murmured. "Now, where were we?" That set off the low sexy sound
all over again. Whoever the other guy was, he was good. I wondered how
Sam managed to pull this one off, probably had a fresh rookie on his hands.
"I want you to hold me and lean into me, pressing me into the soft, soft
bed with your solid, hard body. You seek my mouth and I surrender to you.
And when you touch my body...ahh..." The inside of my mouth went dry at
the sound of that light gasp. My breathing seemed to also have picked up
and I was hanging on to every word that was said through the line.
"I hang on to you, never wanting to let you go. My arms are around your
neck, my fingers through you hair..." Oh sweet lord, invisible hands weaved
around me. Placing my own hand over that unseen force, I follow its trail
as it made its way down my body. I wrapped my hand over my very hard
erection and imagined it to be the hand of the other man. There was a low
moan emitted from somewhere and eventually I came to the realization that
it was from me.
"Your body covers mine completely and I succumb to you. I've been kissing
your neck, your shoulder, anything I can get a taste of but now I'm hungry
for your mouth again, and I yearn to have your tongue within me again. But
my God, you taste so good..." I heard myself groan into the mouthpiece
again at those tempting words. By now I'm a concentrated mass of raging
hormones desperate for release. Rocking my hips against my hand, I vowed
to uncover the identity of the man responsible for this phone call and fuck
the hell out of him, not stopping until he is rendered useless for the
following few days.
"With one move, you claim my body and make us one... oh God..." The voice
drifted off into a low moan.
"Wait for me sweetheart," I growled. I was so fast approaching the climax,
my head was whirling and I was beginning to pant for breath.
"Hurry," came a gasp.
"Now," I panted. "Oh God, oh God..." I erupted all over my chest, some on
my face and probably on my pillow too. Faintly, I heard a similar
proclamation on the other end of the receiver. I waited for my breath to
return to normal before trying to speak. "That was incredible," I
breathed.
"Did you really like it? You don't mind?" The nervousness was creeping
back into the voice and wavered slightly from a loss of confidence.
"Like it? Geez, I loved it!"
There was a breath of relief. "For some reason I thought that you weren't
into this kind of thing and I thought that you might think I'm crazy or
something. Wow, I'm so glad I tried this after all..."
"Trust me, me too."
"Um, so this is something maybe we can think about pursuing in the future?"
It was a hesitant request.
"Oh, hell yes." Note to self... thank Sam.
"Great. Well... I guess it's getting late. Maybe you can call me
tomorrow afternoon?"
"Sounds good," I looked around for a pen and pad, but soon stopped.
"Goodnight, Alan."
Alan?? "G'night... Alton," I managed to whisper. When I heard a soft
click, I slowly hit the "off" button and lay in bed, contemplating.
~~~~~
Wow... I still couldn't get over it. In my entire 29 years of existence I
have never been called Alan. My birth certificate has, and always will,
read Nathan McCrae as my given name. Nathan... not Alan. But then again,
I've never taken, and thoroughly enjoyed for that matter, something that
was meant for another man. And damn, did I ever enjoy it.
I wondered what this Alton looked like. He seemed shy, probably a quiet
pretty boy. Oh well, I guess I'll never know now. I glanced over at the
clock... 3:02am. 'Better get sleeping again, don't want ol' Captain Sam
wondering why I'm looking like the walking dead tomorrow.'
~~~~~
~Beep beep beep~... I reach my hand out from the blankets and blindly
flung it around, searching for that damned snooze button. Was it 7 o'
clock already? I laid in bed for a while and opened my eyes. It actually
looked sunny today. And I don't feel too tired as a matter of fact.
Hmm...
Oh... last night, I remember now. I wondered if the events last night had
anything to do with my rather restful sleep. Either way, I'm not going to
complain.
~~~~~
"McCrae! Snap out of it!" I looked up into the face of a very frustrated
Captain.
"What?"
"Did you even hear a word I said? You look like you've been off in Never
Never Land ever since you got here with that goofy grin on your face.
Wait..." Sam leered at me, "You finally got laid didn't you?"
I leaned back in my chair and grinned at him. "Suuure, you can say that."
Picking up my cup of coffee to take a gulp, I continued to peer at him over
the rim. The older man had a look of confusion on his face. Then sitting
up again, I leaned in and asked, "Sam, do you know anyone by the name of
Alton?"
The Captain's face brightened up, "Is that the name now?"
"Apparently."
A frown appeared on the older man's face. "Why do I get the feeling that
you don't seem to know this person either?"
I shrugged and then looked around to make sure no one was within hearing
distant. Still, I kept my voice low. "I received a phone call late last
night. At first I was convinced that it was one of your little pranks
again, but it was too good... too convincing, so I then wondered if it was
maybe one of the other guys here doing it. I mean, nobody else would have
access to my phone number except here at the hall."
Sam frowned at me in seriousness. "Son," he began, "if you feel that
someone in this station is harassing you, you damn well better let me know.
I don't tolerate that sort of behaviour in my department and those under my
wing should not as well."
"No no no... Don't worry about it Sam. I'm absolutely sure that it's from
no one in this station. I think that it's just a simple case of a
misdialed phone call."
The Captain appeared to calm down somewhat. "Alright," he said grudgingly.
"So now what then? Did you manage to let the other guy in on your
revelation? That he had the wrong number?"
"No... It wasn't until he hung up did I come to that realization."
"Damn, so I guess you weren't able to sneak out his phone number eh?"
"Nah, but I did get his number on my caller ID."
"So, are you going to call him or what?"
I grinned at my superior. "No Sam, I don't think so. The guy thought he
was talking to his boyfriend."
"The hell?... couldn't the guy recognise the wrong voice when he heard it?
The relationship must not be too old, maybe you still have a chance."
"Well, he did wake me up and my voice was croaking. After that we were
mostly just whispering and moaning and stuff." I chuckled, "And boy, did we
moan... but no, I don't think I would want to pursue anything anyway. He
was way too good over the phone, God knows he must have done it before.
But then again..." I remembered the shyness and nervousness that was in the
voice. I must have zoned out for a bit, but when I looked up again, I saw
that the older man was still staring expectedly at me. "What?" I asked.
"You were going to say something?" I was about to open my mouth to close
this topic when Kevin came up to us.
"Let's go guys, we got ourselves another kitty stuck up a tree."
>>>>> Alton's POV
I had no more than knocked once on the door when it flew open and a
six-year old jumped me. "Uncle Alton!" I picked the little blond boy up
and perched him on my hip.
"Jesus kid, what's your mom feeding you? You're starting to get to big for
me to lift." I looked up into the house and saw the boy's father walking
towards me at a much slower pace. "Mark, you're starting to show your
age."
My friend snorted at me and looked at his son in disbelief. "The little
brat doesn't realize that 6'o clock is not a decent Saturday wake up call.
Cartoons aren't even on yet!" Despite the complaint, he reached out to
ruffle the boy's hair.
I looked over to the young lad and grinned at his look of innocence; blue
eyes large and wide like his father's. "Is that true Mike? Why did you
wake your father up so early this morning?"
"I wanted to get my cereal before I watched TV. I woke Mom up first but
she told me that Dad would get it for me."
"Well, there you have it Mark."
He shook his head at me, "First my kid, and then my wife. I have one word,
'conspiracy'. Now I have to drive Dianne out grocery shopping for
tonight's dinner. Thanks for babysitting the kiddo for me by the way."
"No problem. Mike and I are going to have fun at the library today, aren't
we kid?"
A look of horror crossed over the boy's features. "No way Uncle Alton!
That's so boring! You have to be kidding me!" Mike started to squirm along
with his whine and I had to put him down back on the floor. Then he held
on to my hand and started to jump up and down.
"Michael!" Mark had his arms crossed in front of him and he frowned down at
his son in disapproval. Son, in question, quietened down immediately, but
moved to hide behind me, using me as a shield from his father's glare.
"Aw, it was my fault. I forget how old I am and how kids these days don't
like the library, right Mikey?" I turned around and picked the boy up
again. He solemnly nodded and then hid his face in my neck. "I know, how
about we go to the playground." The nod became much more enthusiastic and
he was able to make eye contact with me again.
"Just remember to hold back on the ice cream if he starts acting like that
again, Alton." Mark smiled at his son.
Mike opened his eyes real wide at us and then quickly turned his attention
to me. "Ice cream? I promise to be real good, really Uncle Alton."
"We'll see. Let's bounce then kiddo. Do you think you're able to use your
own stubby legs or do you need me to carry you to the playground?"
The boy scrambled down my body to quickly get back on to the floor. "I can
walk Uncle Alton," he said exasperatedly. "I don't want the other kids to
think I'm a big baby!" But he continued to hold me by the hand and started
to tug me out the door. "Let's go already before Mom and Dad wants to kiss
and hug me goodbye!" I grinned back at my friend, who was shaking his head
in disbelief for the nth time that day, and followed my young charge out
into the world.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
It was always the same with these calls. A small group of people would
gather and watch, wondering what all the excitement was about. The crowd
would always get bigger of course. A large fire engine plus a group of
people equaled something really interesting going on right? There were only
three of us sent out on this call. And the three of us stood by the
really, really large tree, heads up and looking. Coming from somewhere at
the very top was a soft, but audible, mew. We weren't able to make out the
source of that sound but we knew that is was up there.
"So who feels like playing Tarzan today?" Kevin asked. "And may I remind
you guys that I DID drive us here, and will be driving us back."
Shawn and I exchanged looks.
"If it was a dog I'd do it. But you know I'm allergic to cats."
I let out a snort of disbelief. "Why the hell did you come then?"
Shawn grinned sheepishly at me. "It's a beautiful day out and I didn't
want to be stuck inside waiting for a real call like all the other guys
were."
I scowled and shoved my helmet at him. "Take my jacket too," I muttered.
I stood closer to the tree, as did my comrades. "Sure is a tall one," I
mused. I noticed that the first branch was just a few inches out of my
reach. "Someone give me a lift."
The strong hoist that the other two gave me lifted me to about chest level
with the large branch and I easily lifted myself up onto it. Looking up, I
suddenly realized that I still had a long way to go before reaching the
top. I heard the mewing get more insistent. "Alright fur ball, I'm
coming, I'm coming."
~~~~~
"Ah hah! I see you now!" A tiny body of fur sat crouched amongst the
leaves. Small, yellow eyes blinked at me. The mews were sounding pretty
pathetic by this point. Slowly, I reached out towards it and let it get
use to my hand. The kitten eventually moved toward me and started to lick
a finger. I took this opportunity to grab it by the collar. "Ah,
hellfire..." I cursed as the small animal started to hiss and struggle away
from my hold. Tiny, but sharp, claws protracted and wildly reached to try
and scratch at my hand. "I've got the cat," I yelled down.
"Send it down!" Still cursing, I reached for the small mesh bag that was
attached to me. It was connected to a rope that looped through the
carabiner, which hung from my belt. The rope reached the ground and acted
like a pulley.
Trying to be as careful as I can, I dropped the kitten into the bag and
tightened the drawstring. The cat still tried to claw through the material
at me so I held it loosely by the rope. "Incoming package!" The bag slowly
descended as the guys below fed the rope through the carabiner. I stood,
relaxing; my job at this point was to manoeuvre the rope so that the small
package didn't bang against any obstacles.
It was a few minutes before the kitten was finally in the arms of its
grateful owner. The crowd had cheered and was almost dispersed by the time
I had reached ground level again. I stretched and wiped at the sweat on my
brow. "This is going to hurt tomorrow," I groaned.
"Uncle Alton look, it's a fire truck!" My heart skipped a beat at the sound
of the name... Alton? What were the chances of meeting an Alton? It
wasn't exactly a common name. I turned around and saw a young boy dragging
his chaperone by the hand. He was pointing exciting at the large red
vehicle. Shawn, who was quietly rolling the rope back up by the truck,
smiled at the boy.
"Do you want to sit behind the wheel?" he asked.
The child turned large, baleful eyes at his adult and jumped eagerly up and
down. "Can I sit behind the wheel? Please Uncle Alton? Can I? Pleeease?" I
had to hand it to the kid; he was persistent.
"Alright, but Mike, don't touch anything!" The words were barely out of the
man's mouth when the kid scampered off to follow Shawn to the driver's
side. He stood there, head shaking in defeat. I approached him and
grinned.
"Energetic one isn't he?" I commented.
He looked up at me and I was rewarded with a small smile. "You don't know
the half of it. I don't think I can keep up with him any longer." He
returned his gaze back to the young boy and the smile widened. I pretended
to watch as well, but had trained the corner of my eye to study the other
man.
He looked to be about my age and was maybe a couple inches shorter than my
own height of 6'3". A tad on the skinny side perhaps. His brown hair
looked windblown, or perhaps bed tousled? I gulped as I felt myself
reacting below the belt at that thought. 'Thank God for the bunker pants,'
I thought wryly to myself. My focus would not linger from the hair; it
looked so soft. I felt the sudden need to run my fingers through it. I
had to shake my head clear. 'Get a hold of yourself, McCrae.'
When I looked up again, soft brown eyes stared back at me expectantly. I
realised that I was asked a question. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said my name's Alton." The man looked amused. "That kid is my friend's
son, Mike." I returned my gaze back to the child that was now wearing my
helmet.
"Nathan McCrae at your service." I took the hand that was offered, before I
remembered how dirty and grimy my own was. "Oh crap, sorry about that
man."
Alton wiped his hand against his cargo shorts. I continued down the length
of the long legs and noticed that they were nicely muscled. He laughed
lightly; the sound of it struck a chord of familiarity in me. Was that my
Alton? The one who so sweetly seduced my imagination last night? But what
were the chances?
"Don't worry about it. I've been dealing with Mike's ice cream for most of
the afternoon already."
"Kids will be kids I guess," I commented. He nodded and smiled. His skin
glowed golden from the rays of sunlight. Oh, what the hell, got to take
the chance and find out. "Alton eh? That name sounds familiar." He looked
at me with his brown eyes, full of interest. "Say, do you know a guy name
Alan?"
His eyes widened. "Alan Laurier?"
"Yeah, that's it," I improvised. "Do you know him?"
"Yes. We're... pretty close friends. How do you know him?"
"Oh," Oh damn... think fast McCrae, think fast. "He's also a friend of
mine."
Alton looked at me, disbelieving. "Really? You don't look like any of his
typical friends."
'Well, he's actually a friend of my brother's. It's been awhile since the
two of them have seen each other, since my brother's moved away to New
York." I grinned at him, hoping he would buy my story. It must have worked
because he rewarded me with another smile. I could grow use to being on
the receiving end of that.
"The three of us will have to get together some day then; go for coffee or
something."
"That'd be great. How is Alan these days anyway? I haven't spoken to him
in a long time myself." Let's see what we can dig up about this other
man... not that I was trying to find any dirt or anything.
"He's been well." A small frown appeared on Alton's face. "Actually, he
was supposed to call me today, but he never did." I felt a twitch on my
guilty conscience. "But then again, I haven't been home much today."
I shrugged nonchalantly. "It probably just slipped his mind," I offered.
"Yeah, it is getting closer to the tax deadline. I imagine that it's good
to be an accountant at this time of year." Ah, so Alan is an accountant.
"Listen, why don't I leave you with my numph..." Alton swayed and lost his
balance as he was tackled from the side. I instinctively reached out to
steady him and caught him in my arms. Wow, he felt good, and damn did he
smell even better. My lips brushed against his ear and my nose was buried
for that split second into his hair. It felt so right in that instant, but
almost immediately, his entire body stiffened and he pushed away from me.
His face was pink and he had a look of embarrassment on his face.
"I'm sorry," he apologised. Then he turned to stare sternly at his young
company. "Michael, what did I say about jumping on me like that?"
"That your back is getting too old for that," he said solemnly. I grinned
as the colour on Alton's face deepened. The boy suddenly noticed me, and
moved to hide behind Alton's leg. He shyly peered out at me.
Alton sighed, exasperated with the situation. "Nathan, this little
troublemaker here is Mike. Mike say hello to Nathan."
I squatted down to about eye level with the child and offered him my hand.
"Hello Mike, pleased to meet you." The boy looked up at the adult he hid
behind to make sure it was okay to speak to a stranger. When Alton nodded
his okay, Mike reached up for his hand, for reassurance, before slowly
coming out and taking my own.
"Hello," he shyly responded. "Are you a fire-fighter?"
"I am." I grinned at him. He returned it unabashedly and let go of Alton's
hand, now full of confidence.
"Really? That's so cool! Is it fun? I wanna be a fire fighter when I grow
up. I wanna wear a fire-fighter's hat and drive the fire truck all the
time... and slide down the pole when the alarm goes off... and spray
water all over the fire... and..." I had to laugh at the enthusiasm this
kid had.
"Mike, don't ask so many questions," Alton admonished. "He's a friend of
Alan."
The child blinked at me. "You know Uncle Alton's boyfriend?" I heard
something that resembled a choke and saw that Alton had that lovely shade
of red on his face again.
I raised an eyebrow up. "Boyfriend?"
"He...he's just a friend," he insisted. I could see him swallowing
nervously. "Listen," he began, "Nathan... it was nice meeting you, but I
should be getting Mike back to his parents now. See you around." He tugged
at the young boy and turned to walk away. I sighed, wondering if I would
ever get to see that face again. Then I saw that the guys were ready to
leave now and I hopped into the passenger side, having earned myself
shotgun since I did most of the work today. I whistled random tunes on the
ride back to the station. At least now I was able to put a face to the
sexy voice and then realised that my dreams were now about to get more
interesting.
>>>>> Alton's POV 3
"Uncle Alton, what's wrong? Did I say something bad?" Mike looked at me
worriedly. "I'm sorry if I said something to hurt you, please don't cry."
He reached over and hugged me around the waist. I didn't even realize that
there was a tear streaking down the side of my face.
"Aw, Mikey, don't worry about your old Uncle. I'll be fine. I'm just a
little embarrassed, that's all."
"But why?" He looked up at me, confused. Fondly, I stroked his hair, my
fingers running through the fine blond strands.
"Mike, not everyone knows that I have a boyfriend. Some people believe
that it's wrong for a man to have a boyfriend, or for a woman to have a
girlfriend for that matter."
The young boy frowned. "Well those people suck. Do you think Nathan's one
of those people?"
I thought back to the good-looking fireman we had left behind. If I could
only use one word to describe that man, it would be 'strong'. Not only
physically, but there was a confident and secure aura that emitted from
him. "I don't know kiddo, but I sure hope not."
"Yeah, me too. I like him. I think you should trade Alan in for him,
Uncle Alton." I looked down at Mike in surprise.
"Why would you say a thing like that?"
The boy shrugged. "I dunno. He seems cool, way cooler than Alan. And he
talks to me too. Alan never talks to me... he just stares at me like he's
not sure what to do." I considered this for a bit. Now that I thought
about it, I never once remember Alan talking or acting comfortably around
Mike, or any kids for that matter. I stared down at the young boy, amazed
by his level of awareness of his surroundings. I'll have to stop
underestimating Mike from now on.
"Okay, smarty-pants, let's go see if your parents are home yet."
~~~~~
The red light on my answering machine blinked insistently. I pressed the
'play' button in hopes that there would be a message from Alan.
"Hello Alton. It's Alan... sorry I wasn't able to call you sooner; I've
been loaded with work. I'm actually calling you now to let you know that
I'm going to be out of town for the next few days. I received an emergency
call from a client and have to go help him prepare for an audit. I'll call
you again as soon as I get home. Talk to you later dear."
~~~~~
There was a knock on the door and I looked up from the lecture notes that I
was preparing.
"Alt, buddy what's the emergency? I must have received three messages from
you on my voicemail. Are you having a mental breakdown?" Mark grinned as
he closed the door to my office and fell ungracefully into the chair that
faced me.
"I think I might have fucked it up with Alan," I told him. The coach
paused for a minute while he studied my face. I've seen it this morning
and knew that he wouldn't miss the dark circles under my eyes, nor the red
blood vessels in them. It was all thanks to the insomnia I'd been
suffering from for the last couple of nights.
"What happened? Are you alright?" he quietly asked.
"I don't know," I whispered. "I tried that phone thing like you suggested.
It was...I mean...it went fine. He said he liked it."
"So what went wrong?"
"I don't know. That's what doesn't make sense. The next day he leaves a
message on my answering machine and he doesn't even act like anything
happened. He just said that he'll be out of town for the next few days and
that's it. Not a word about anything else. It's like he's avoiding the
subject or something."
Mark contemplated over this information. "Buddy, he probably just needs to
think this through. I wouldn't worry too much over it. Don't start
jumping to conclusions just yet; wait until he's back in town so that you
two can talk it over in person. You know what...why don't you come over
for dinner tonight?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose and smiled tiredly. "Thanks Mark, I just
needed to get this off my chest. I needed someone to listen to me, and
I'll think about tonight."
Mark stood up and moved over to clap me on the shoulder. "Count on me
anytime, Alton. Now I better go before the boys do something stupid...like
set the gym on fire."
I frowned. "Mark, where do you come up with these ideas? You can't
seriously believe that they could set the gym on fire do you?"
The coach raised his eyebrows at me. "You know Alt, these lads surprise me
sometimes." He quietly closed the door after him and left me pondering in
silence. When I looked up at the clock on the wall, I saw that I had just
over an hour left before my next class and I hurried to finish the notes in
front of me.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
"McCrae! Office...Now!" I looked up from the poker game I was engaged in
with 3 other guys and they 'ooh'd' and 'uh oh'd' in mock sympathy.
Flipping them the bird in a joking manner, I threw my cards down onto the
small table and made my way to the Captain's office. Ah hell, I had a bad
hand anyway.
"Cap'n, what is it?" I sat myself down on the foldout chair and faced the
older man across from me.
"You've been wearing that goofy grin ever since you've returned from that
kitten rescue. Then yesterday you insisted on making the crew dinner even
though it wasn't your turn."
"Yeah so? I don't see anything wrong with that," I defended myself.
"Don't you ever wonder why everybody always insisted on ordering take out
when it's your turn to cook? You're not particularly good at it Nathan. In
fact, I'll be honest and say that you down right suck at cooking."
I tried to look hurt. "Sam, I know I'm no culinary chef but must your
words be so harsh?"
The Captain rolled his eyes at me. "You hum random tunes... you're
screwing up the guys' laundry... you're singing loudly in the shower, out
of tune... you broke six, count 'em six plates when doing the dishes...
and God please don't ever try to make coffee again."
"What are you trying to say Sam?"
"You're driving everyone crazy! Stop trying to be so helpful!"
I let out a breath of frustration. "I don't get it, you guys are always
whining about how I don't pitch in around here and when I do you guys
complain some more."
"We love you here Nathan. You're a damn good fireman, but we just never
realised until now how awful you are at housekeeping. Let's admit it, some
guys have it and some guys don't. Now why don't you let me know what's
going on with this sudden urge in domestic behaviour."
I smiled. A sweet face with soft brown eyes and wild hair popped up in my
head. It was turned slightly downwards with the eyes shyly peering up at
me through half closed eyelids, the lips shaped into a small smile.
"Helloooo..." I jerked back into reality and blinked at Sam. The older man
shook his head in quiet resignation. "Whatever. Anyway, it's your turn to
perform the monthly inspection at the college. Try not to screw this up,
got it?"
~~~~~
I looked down my checklist and scratched a fingernail along my eyebrow.
There was one fire alarm that needed new batteries, and another that
required rewiring. One fire extinguisher was missing and there were a few
overheads that had power cords with more duct-tape on it than the roll it
came off of. So far I had found nothing that was serious.
Unconsciously, I must have known that it would be a bad idea to stand
around at the corner of where two hallways intersect, but another
extinguisher caught my eye and I squatted down to inspect it. I hadn't
been there for a few seconds when someone collided and fell over me. The
air was knocked out of me as a body bounced off me. I heard heavy books
drop to the ground and saw paper flutter all over the place, but it was the
low groan that got my attention.
I sprung to my feet to help the man that sat on the floor, his back facing
me. "Hey man, I'm so sorry, are you alright?"
"Yeah," he grunted. "Just feeling somewhat bruised. But I'll be fine." He
looked up at me and I stopped in place. The look of surprise on his face
must have mirrored mine. "Nathan?" he asked.
"Alton right?" I reached over to lend him a helping hand. He took it and
got up, looking somewhat flustered. Then his face fell as he looked around
to see his paperwork all over the floor around him.
"Oh no, I have a class in less than five minutes." He got down on his knees
and started to gather up the sheets. Immediately I kneeled down next to
him to help out. I saw books that were lying open on the floor and when I
picked them up, I noticed that the spine of one of them had torn from the
binding. I glanced guiltily at the man to my right, who was now busy
trying to sort some sense of order to his notes. Damn, the book looked
expensive too.
"Um, Alton," I began hesitantly. "Uh..." I decided that it was best to
just show him the book. I wish I hadn't.
"Ah damn, I just bought that book. Do you know how long I had to wait to
get that copy of Netter in?"
"Look man, I feel really, really bad. Let me make it up to you. I'll buy
you another copy." I gathered up the other texts to make sure that they had
not undergone some sort of damage as well. Satisfied to see that they
hadn't, I handed them over to their rightful owner, praying that I wouldn't
drop them in the process.
Alton took them and tucked them under the pile of paper he was holding.
"No, don't worry about it. A book's a book right?"
"Hey, at least let me buy you a coffee or something...anything, please?" I
offered him my most charming smile. He looked taken back, as if not sure
how to deal with me. 'A nudge, McCrae, that's all he needs... just a
nudge...' I grabbed my clipboard and started to make like I had to leave.
"How about I just meet you here when you're done? When does your class
end?"
"Um... in about an hour and ten," he reluctantly answered.
I grinned at him even more. "Perfect, I should be done by then. See you
in a bit!" I quickly turned around and disappeared behind that blasted
corner. Yes! I gave myself a mental pat on the shoulder and whistled away,
in a rather cheerful mood, for the rest of the inspection.
>>>>> Alton's POV
I blinked, still standing stupidly there in the now empty hall. What the
hell had just happened there? What were the chances of running into that
fireman again? And damn if he didn't look good. The black hair was
perfectly styled into a spiky look, golden skin free of grime and dirt, and
his muscular physique was so much more imposing indoor than out in the
open.
"Dr. Knox?" I started at the voice and saw one of my students staring at
me with concern on her face. "You alright? It's been ten minutes since
class was supposed to start. We were just wondering if there's going to be
a lecture today."
"Oh yes, sorry. I'm coming." I walked alongside the young woman towards my
classroom and apologised to the class when I entered. I put the run-in
behind me, and promptly began my lecture on the difference between lower
and upper motor neurons.
When I finally noticed that the classroom was starting to get restless, I
looked over at my watch and saw that it was about five minutes to the end
of class. I knew that there was really no point in going on, so I gave
them their assignments and dismissed them. It was then that I remembered
that I had to meet up with Nathan. My heart skipped a beat at the thought
and I quickly packed up my stuff, hoping to be out of there before the
fireman returned. I was just about out the door when it suddenly opened.
I moved off to one side, thinking that I was letting a student back in,
when Nathan's head peered through from the other side.
The handsome face brightened up when he saw me and the rest of his perfect
body appeared. "I was wondering which classroom you were in. I was done
early and I saw a whole slew of kids walk on out from here so I took the
chance to investigate. So you teach, eh? What course is this?"
"Introduction to Neurology," I answered. He looked at me expectantly.
"What?" I finally asked. It was unnerving to be standing in such close
approximation to the other man, especially in the empty room.
He grinned at me again. "Nothing. You ready to go?"
"Look," I started to smile at him. He grinned wider. "You really don't
have to do this. It was an accident, and it was partly my fault for being
in such a rush and not looking where I was going and..."
"Hey, you're babbling. Are you nervous?" He took a step closer to me and
to my dismay, I found myself instinctively taking a small step back. When
I saw that I was hugging my books, I forced my arms back down and stood to
face Nathan. He was still grinning at me.
"Let's go then," I said evenly. He stood to the side and held the door
open for me. There was just enough room between him and the doorframe for
me to go through, but not without brushing against his body. I quickly did
so, trying not to think about the hard muscle that I was in brief contact
with, and continued down the hall without bothering to look to see if he
was following me. The rapid footsteps behind me told me that he was and
when I finally glanced over to my left, I saw that the man was now walking
silently beside me.
"I was thinking," he started to say, "that I haven't eaten yet. How about
we make this a dinner thing instead?" He looked over to me, his grey eyes
large and hopeful.
I was about to decline the whole thing altogether when my stomach chose
that moment to growl. Come to think of it, it's been almost six hours
since I'd last eaten. I could probably use some food in me right about
now. Maybe dinner wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"That's fine," I said. "Just let me grab my bag and we can go."
>>>>> Nathan's POV
I couldn't believe my ears. Did he just agree to have dinner with me? I
happily walked with him back to his office where he started to stuff his
bag with his books and papers. Casually I leaned against the open door,
watching him as he moved around the small room. He was dressed in jeans
that were slightly worn and a navy golf shirt, tucked in. He grabbed a
North Face shell off the back of a chair and strapped his backpack on. I
smiled to myself.
"What?" he asked. He was staring at me. Uh oh, caught red-handed.
"Nothing. You look you can be a student here you know."
He rolled his eyes at me and walked past through the door. I took the
opportunity to inhale in the scent of his aftershave again. "Sure, if you
say so. Let's get going, I didn't realise how hungry I was. There's a
small cafe just across from campus actually. Interested?" he asked.
"Sure. I'll try anything once."
~~~~~
"So, did you ever get a call from Alan that day?"
Alton choked at bit on the sandwich he was eating. "How did you know he
was supposed to call?"
"Because you told me yourself that very day." I watched amused as he
blushed. He was so easy to fluster.
"Oh, well, yes he did call. Well, I mean he left a message for me. He's
been out of town lately. He should actually be home any day now. And...
What?"
"You're so cute when you babble on like that." I couldn't stop myself from
saying it. But I wish I had when he froze in horror.
"What did you say?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Pretend that didn't just happen."
It was an awkward start in conversation, but we soon realised that as long
as we stuck to topics of general interest, it was easy to talk to each
other. Eventually, we even discovered that we had a lot of things in
common with each other. We didn't even notice that the cafe had started to
empty out and it was near closing time.
"Oh, I didn't realise how late it was," he said. By this point we were
just nursing half-filled cups of cold coffee. "I guess we better be going
now."
"Yeah. Well, I'm just parked out front. I'll drive you to your car."
"That's alright. I don't drive anyway; I take transit. Thanks for the
offer though."
"Oh hell no." I took him by the arm and started to drag him towards my
vehicle. "I'm not about to let you take the bus at this time of night.
It's friggin' cold and dark now." Alton yanked his arm out from my hold and
glared at me in disbelief.
"What? Are you for real? I'm a grown man and I've been taking the bus by
myself for as long as I can remember."
I held my hands up in the air in mock surrender. "Look, Alton. I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to sound so pushy. But may I please drive you home? Humour
me okay?"
The look on his face began to soften. "Well, it'll be a free ride home I
guess. Which way now?"
I led him towards my dirty Cherokee. Yeesh, how long had it been since
I've washed that thing? I went to unlock his door first and opened it for
him. He looked at me questionably. "The automatic locks aren't working,"
I fibbed.
I drove for a while as we sat in silence. Every so often Alton would speak
up and give me the odd instruction to his place. Finally, I pulled over to
the side of an old, small house. "Well," he spoke up again, "Thanks for
the ride Nathan. We'll have to get together again when Alan gets back in
town."
I followed him out of the car and walked over to his side. "I'll walk you
to the door." He stared at me like I'd gone and grown a third eye.
"Please?" He shook his head in resignation and walked off, leaving me to
follow him.
"I rent the basement. Student loans are a bitch to pay off." I chuckled at
his comment. Then I noticed that it was unusually dark.
"Don't you have a doorway light around here?" I asked.
"Yes, but it burned out and I don't have a ladder to change it. I'm
usually home before it gets too dark to see anything anyway." I could hear
him fumbling with his keys, trying to find the keyhole in the pitch black.
"Why didn't you get your landlord take care of that?" I demanded. "This is
a safety hazard, you can trip and fall or something."
"I've told him many times, but he never gets around to fixing it." I heard
a soft curse along with a clang from the keys he dropped to the ground. We
both kneeled down to feel around for them. I found them the same instant
Alton did. My hand was on top of his and he jerked it out of the way. I
swallowed hard and picked them up, silently handing them over to him.
"Thanks," he whispered. He turned around and, as if by magic, he was
suddenly able to find the keyhole and had the door opened and lights on
within seconds.
He turned around, probably to wish me a goodnight, but I had stealthily
sneaked my way pass him and into his living room. I took a look around and
saw that it was furnished with comfortable looking sofas, an old coffee
table, bookcases packed with books, and there were picture frames scattered
here and there. It had a nice lived-in look to it and it felt cozy.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked. He dropped his backpack to
the floor and stood with his arms crossed. I gave him a serene look and
sat myself onto one of his sofas.
"Yeah, a coffee sounds great." I watched as he fumed in place before
finally stalking off into another room. It was probably a kitchen since I
heard the water tap turned on and noise, which sounded like a coffee
machine being handled. I hopped myself back up to my feet and walked into
the kitchen, trying to see if there was anything I could help with. He
must not have heard me come in, as he remained standing there with his
profile to me, idly watching the coffee drip from the urn.
My breath caught in my throat; in that dreamlike state he looked so
beautiful. I imagined that his eyes were soft like the way they currently
were because he was thinking about me, and his hair mussed like that
because I had thoroughly messed it up while in bed... I was literally
standing right behind him by the time he even realised that I was there.
He turned around and his whole body stiffened.
"Geez, Nathan. Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry," I apologized, but I didn't move from where I stood, which was only
about a couple feet away. I took a small step forward and saw that he took
a small step backwards. This continued until he was backed right up
against the kitchen counter.
"Nathan," he stammered. His brown eyes were open wide like a deer caught
in the headlights, and he nervously licked his upper lip. I focused in on
the pink flesh, wondering what it would feel like on my naked skin.
"Nathan," he tried again, "W...what are you d...doing?"
"I'm not sure," I whispered. I moved in closer and we were now only inches
away from each other. My hands somehow had found their way to the counter,
one on either side of Alton and effectively trapping him there.
"Nathan, please," he softly pleaded, "Don't do this, think about it for a
minute."
I blinked and looked down on his lips. "I just want to know..." I leaned
in and touched his lips with mine. It was a very light kiss, but once I'd
had a taste of it, I couldn't help but move in and deepen it. I moved my
arms from the counter and wrapped them around his waist, pressing his body
closer to mine. The body in my arms softened and I heard a quiet moan. I
knew that I didn't make that noise, so there was only one other person it
could have came from. Pulling back and breaking the kiss, I looked down at
Alton's face and saw his eyes were now glazed with lust.
The sight was one to die for and I couldn't help but dive back in for a
repeat of the kiss.
>>>>> Alton's POV 4
"Oh Alton, I've been dying to do that all night." I vaguely managed to make
out what Nathan was saying and felt my heart soar. My body continued to
melt into his and voluntarily pressed itself closer into the hard body it
was against, every cell in it reaching out for the other man. I heard
myself moan again and my arms eventually wrapped themselves around the
strong neck.
I let the tongue that entered my mouth roam freely, and shyly I touched my
tongue back to it. It was very receptive to my touch as it reached out for
me. Soon, I was giving back as much as I was receiving and found myself
engaged in a very delightful tongue wrestle. The arms around me began to
sweep down the length of my back before they stopped to rest at the top of
my ass. Gripping me there firmly, I was pushed most insistently into
Nathan's groin so that there was absolutely no mistaking that the other man
was very aroused indeed. The evident bulge felt hard and heated against my
stomach.
I sought for a much-needed breath when the lips on mine left to venture
along my jaw, chin and throat. "You taste like heaven," he whispered.
"Just like I imagined you would." I sighed in content and enjoyed the wave
of euphoria that flowed through me. I had never felt so good; it was never
like this with Alan...
I stiffened at the thought. Alan! I started to panic. Oh no, what am I
doing? My arms reached out to push Nathan away, but it proved to be quite
difficult...it was like pushing at a brick wall. The kissing never ceased
and the constant stimulation on my skin made it very hard to keep my focus
on Alan. "Nathan..." my voice was low and husky. "Nathan... stop for a
minute..."
Finally, he heard what I was trying to say and pulled back for a moment,
looking down at me with hungry grey eyes. I noticed that he never once
slackened his hold on me. Oh shit, what was I trying to say again? Think
Alton, think...
"It's Alan," I managed to lamely blurt out. The lust in his eyes died out
and replaced with... what was that? There was anger, envy, regret?? In the
end he let go of me, somewhat reluctantly, and took a step back.
"I'm sorry, Alton. I don't know what came over me." He shoved his hands
into the back pockets of his jeans, which drew my attention to the visibly
large swell that was in the front. I quickly drew my line of vision away
but it was too late, he caught me staring. Nathan cocked his head to one
side and grinned at me. "That's what you do to me. Are you sure you want
to stop?"
My throat was dry and I found that I had to swallow a couple times before I
was able to find my voice. "Y...yes. I'm sure. I try not to make it a
habit of throwing myself at any man when my boyfriend just happens to be
out of town." I straightened myself and stared at him, trying to void all
emotion in my facial expression. It must have worked because I saw him
stiffen his own stance.
"What makes you think that Alan's not doing the same thing himself?"
My jaw fell; of all the things I expected him to say that was not it. "Get
out," I told him.
A look of regret fell upon his face and he took a tentative step towards
me. "Look Alton..." I forcibly pushed him away and took the opportunity
to escape from his hold. As quickly as I could I walked away from him and
was almost out of the kitchen when a pair of strong hands grabbed me around
the waist and pulled me tight against his equally strong body. Soft lips
and a warm breath caressed my ears. I struggled to get loose, but the grip
held me in place. "Do you deny you feel anything when I touch you like
this?" One hand remained holding me secure around the waist while the
other hand traveled towards my chest, slowly caressing up my flat stomach.
"Nothing," I replied evenly. My heart was beating hard and fast and I was
hoping that he wouldn't be able to detect it. I tried to struggle again,
still not willing to give up. A low laugh filled my ear at my futile
attempts and eventually I tired out once more. He was a patient man; I'll
give him that much.
"How about like this?" The wandering hand tried a different route and
headed south. It paused below my navel where my pubic bone was, just short
of the root of my semi-erect penis. That is, the hand was still, but the
fingers continued to massage through the material of my pants.
I began to softly pant. "No," I meekly answered.
A tongue reached to lick my earlobe, and the hand finally moved further
down to encase my genitalia. A series of strokes and pulls had me in a
raging erection in no time. "Now?" he demanded. "Don't bother lying, your
body tells me otherwise." I whimpered quietly. "Tell me," he demanded
again. "Do you like this? Can Alan make you respond this well to his
touch?"
I shook my head, humiliated by my body's betrayal. How could I be so
easily affected by the other man's touch? "Please, Nathan," I implored.
"Don't do this to me. He hasn't okay? He's never made me feel like this
before... he's never even bother to touch me okay? Are you happy now? He
won't touch me! Now please let me go..."
The hands abruptly let me go and I fled to the opposite wall, scraping
myself along it until I was curled up into a ball on the floor. I pressed
my head into the cool wall and I forced myself to keep from crying. I
couldn't believe I just admitted that. "Just go," I whispered.
My eyes were closed, but I knew he was still standing there, probably
staring down at me in disgust. After what seem like forever, I finally
heard his footsteps as he made his way out. The knob turned and the hinge
creaked when the door was opened. I finally opened my eyes when I heard no
further movement. I looked up from where I sat and saw his grey eyes
staring down at me. There was anger in them. Was he angry with me?
"He doesn't deserve you," he told me simply. And he was out the door,
closing it quietly behind him before I had the chance to ask what he meant
by that cryptic statement.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
Cursing to myself, I slammed on the gas pedal and sped away from Alton's
house. 'Oh crap, what did I just do back there?' I've never felt so low
before in my life. The guy had begged... begged for God's sakes... for
me to let him go. But did I? NO. I don't know what came over me; it was
like all my senses of logic are out on vacation whenever I came near him.
He must emit some sort of pheromone that makes one think of nothing else
but him. It's intoxicating and damn near frustrating.
The odometre rolled up with every kilometre that I put between Alton and
me. And with every kilometre the need to go back got stronger. I
shouldn't have left him there curled up on the kitchen floor like that.
But I doubted if he wanted me close to him anyway. I wouldn't be surprised
if the guy decided to press charges against me.
I let out a breath of frustration. Staring out into the dark night as the
blur of lights skimmed past me, I thought about what Alton had said. I was
angry. Why would a man as smart as Alton stay with someone who didn't
appreciate what he had in front of him? He deserved better, someone who
would treasure him and the ground he walked on. Someone like... me. I let
a smile slip out. I'd come to a decision... I was going to let Alan have
a run for his money and do everything I could until I made Alton mine.
~~~~~
"What the hell are you doing here?" I winced inwardly at the
not-so-pleasant greeting.
"I came to apologise," I said. Cautiously I stood by the door of Alton's
office, warily eyeing the other man in case he decided to throw something
at me. Not that I wouldn't deserve it.
"I already got your message from admin," he informed me bluntly. I must be
a sadist or something; he looked beautiful when he's displeased as hell.
His brown eyes glowered at me and his hair was messed up like the way it
normally was. God, I wanted to badly run my fingers through the soft
strands.
"So you DID get my message. Why haven't you called then? I was at the
station all day waiting for your call. I wasn't sure if you got it or not
so I decided to drop by and tell you myself." I gave him my most charming
smile, but he was having none of it. Oh well, I tried.
"If I accept your apology will you just go away?" He reached over to grab
a large textbook off the top of his desk. I crossed my fingers, hoping
that he wasn't going to throw it at me.
"Well, I don't want you to say it if you don't mean it," I told him. He
shrugged at me and started to leaf through the book. Breathing out a sigh
of relief, I decided to further test my luck. "How about coffee?"
He threw me a glare. "How about not? Can't you see that I'm busy?"
I studied him for a minute. I could see that my staring was making him
nervous as his body was beginning to tense up. "I'm sorry," I finally said
and quietly left the room.
~~~~~
"Are you stalking me?" he demanded. I held up my hands in mock surrender
before shoving the bouquet of roses in front of him. Alton took a step
back and stared at them in shock. His eyes became large and wide, the
annoyance in them dissipating.
I was still standing outside on his doorstep. Coast wasn't clear yet,
still hadn't breached the perimetres. "Does this mean you're not going to
slam the door in my face?" I offered him my most hopeful smile. He seemed
hesitant to take the flowers from me. "The thorns are cut, trust me."
Alton took them, but not before throwing me a glare.
>>>>> Alton's POV
I wondered how often he used that puppy-eye look. It's lethal. I looked
at the dark red roses and then back at him. "You didn't have to buy
these," I told him.
He shrugged carelessly and waved a hand in the air. "I wanted to. And
besides, even boys need flowers every so often." I was secretly touched by
the thoughtfulness. I'd never received flowers from anyone before. Nathan
continued to stand there, giving me his innocent look. Well, it was cold,
and I was letting the heat out...
"You might as well come in." I took a step back to let him in. His face
lit up like a 100-watt light bulb. He took a seat on one of the sofas and
I made sure to sit down on the other one. We sat there for a few minutes
in an awkward silence. I had been watching TV earlier and the Simpsons was
on now. It was an episode I'd already seen but I pretended to look
interested in it.
"We need to talk," Nathan abruptly interrupted.
"Okay." I turned the TV off and fixed him an even stare. "Why don't you
start first? Why don't you start by telling me what the hell is going on
here."
"Alton," he began, "I want you to know that I am really, really sorry about
what I did last night. I had no right to question what was going on
between you and Alan, and I had absolutely no business in coming on to you
like that. I want you to know that I really respect you as a person, and I
hope that you will find it in your heart to believe me and accept my
apology."
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't expecting him to be so frank. Staring
into his eyes, I could see that he was sincere about what he had said and
meant every word of his apology. I smiled at him. "Nathan, I appreciate
what you say. I can't forget what you did, but I'm sure I can put it
behind me."
"Hey, I'll take that. I'm in no position to be choosy. How about we just
start all over?" I stared at him, puzzled. Grinning, he offered me his
hand. "I'm Nathan McCrae, pleased to meet you. And your name is...?"
"Alton Knox." I took his hand, feeling somewhat silly.
"Well Alton, I hope that this is the beginning of a long lasting
friendship."
I smiled. "Yeah, me too."
~~~~~ 5
"So you still haven't heard from Alan yet eh?" Mark asked. I shook my
head, wondering what in the world Alan could've been up to. How busy did
one have to be that they're unable to make one simple phone call?
"I don't know Mark, I'm starting to get worry. What if something happened
to him?" It was another Friday afternoon and we were seated in our usual
seats in the ol' cafe once more.
"Nah," he said. "He's a grown man, Alt. He knows how to take care of
himself. Now, how about you come over for dinner tonight? Dianne's making
her lasagna, and Mike's been bugging me to bring you over all week."
"Not tonight, Mark. I'd love to though, but I promised Nathan that I'd go
with him to the Firemen's Auction this evening. For moral support."
Mark grinned at me. "Nathan eh? You've been seeing him a bit lately these
last few days. And this guy just up and appeared out of nowhere. What's
the story buddy?"
"No story, he just happens to be a friend of Alan's. I ran into him last
week when I was babysitting Mike for you."
"That doesn't make sense. How does a guy like Alan end up with a friend
like Nathan? I thought he only had stockbrokers, accountants, and
politicians for friends."
"He's actually the younger brother of one of those stockbrokers,
accountants or politicians," Alton muttered wryly.
"Huh," Mark smirked and raised an eyebrow at me. "He cute?"
I felt the blood start to rise to my face. "He's not classically handsome
like Alan is, but he's pretty good looking... if you like the rugged,
outdoors kind of look."
"And do we like the rugged, outdoors kind of look?" Mark teased.
"I'm happy with Alan," I insisted.
"I never said you weren't. But maybe you would be happier with Nathan?"
"I don't think so Mark. Nathan and I are just friends. Nothing more," I
firmly told him. Mark threw me a Cheshire smile and said nothing more.
Sometimes he could be so infuriating.
~~~~~
I heard a car pull up so I quickly grabbed my coat and keys and went for
the door. By the time I had the door opened, Nathan was already standing
on the other side with one hand raised, ready to knock. "You move fast," I
told him.
He shrugged. "Long legs take less time to get from point A to point B." I
couldn't help but let my gaze wander over his long limbs and started to
blush once I realised what I was doing. I took a step back and studied him
as a whole.
"Hey, you look awesome," I exclaimed. He did. He was wearing a simple
black suit with a short mandarin collar, and underneath that was a crisp
white shirt. The hair was worn slick back and I could smell the faint
scent of his aftershave from where I stood.
"Got to look good for the ladies," he grinned. I noticed that he had a
hand behind hidden behind his back and when he brought it around he held a
single red rose in his hand.
"Nice touch," I commented.
He held it up to me and shook his head slightly. "It's for you actually."
"You're amazing," I laughed. "You're going to spoil me, you know that?"
His eyes held mine and he suddenly looked serious. "Someone has to," he
said. I blinked and when I looked at him again, he was back to his
carefree self. "So... ready to go?" he asked. Unsure of what had just
transpired back there, I nodded and followed him to his car.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
I snuck a glance at the man sitting to my right. It was hard to focus on
driving with Alton sitting next to me. Wow, he looked good, and he didn't
even know it! He was wearing a dark grey suit with a dark blue shirt and
matching tie. I could see that he had tried to fix his hair somewhat with
gel, but only succeeded in spiking it. But hell, whom am I kidding? He
could be shaved bald wearing nothing but a paper bag and I'd still think he
was beautiful. Wait a second, Alton wearing nothing but a paper bag? Now
that was a sight I'd love to see.
"What are you smiling about?"
Busted.
"Oh, just some lame joke that one of the guys at the station said today," I
quickly improvised. "Something about finding himself a sugar momma."
"Is that what you'd want?" he asked jokingly.
"Of course not. I thought you knew by now which team I play for," I gave
him a wink. In the dark I couldn't see him blush, but I knew him well
enough by now to know that he was turning pink as we spoke. "Relax Dr.
Knox, tonight we're going to have some fun."
~~~~~
I don't know which I enjoyed more, hearing the bets on me raise steadily,
or me putting on a show for Alton. Well, and for the ladies too of course.
I strutted my stuff to the best of my ability up and down the makeshift
catwalk. With every step, pause, and wink I did the crowds got wilder.
And in the midst of it sat Alton, looking all embarrassed and shy as the
women that surrounded him started to pay him unwanted attention.
Sam was the emcee for the night and all of us single firemen were required
to give up one night of our lives to raise money for charity. It was a
shame that the audience consisted entirely of women... well, I was the
only one to think so anyway.
After putting in my contribution of raising almost five grand, my record
high to date, I went looking for Alton. Taking a quick glance around the
room, I couldn't find him and went into the washroom. He was standing by a
sink, washing his face with water.
"Having fun?" I asked. He jumped, slightly startled.
"Holy Jesus, it's crazy out there! And you do this every year?" he asked
incredulously.
"A room full of estrogens can do frightening things to even the most timid
woman."
He grinned at me. "You did pretty well out there. Who's the lucky
winner?"
"A nice girl, her name's Karen. I think she said she was a nurse. She's
pretty cute... But what about you? You had quite the collection of fans
going on out there."
He blushed. "Yah, I had a few offers. Some were disappointed that I
wasn't part of the auction."
"I bet. Well, are you ready to go?" It was almost comical the way he was
nodding eagerly.
"Hell yeah, let's break out of this hen's nest already." He lead the way
out of the washroom, with me following close behind, and made a prompt
beeline for the exit. He was oblivious to the appreciative stares he
received from the crowd, and steered away from the women's advances. I
merely grinned and shrugged at the trail of disappointed suitors the
professor left behind.
~~~~~
We laughed and joked on the ride home. It was mostly at my expense, what
my game plan was at seducing the poor girl who won me. By the time I had
pulled over to where his place was, I had already described the restaurant
I would take her to, and the entertainment that would follow.
"...And we would go back to her place afterwards, perhaps for a cup of
coffee and biscuits, or maybe we'll have carried on a conversation so
intense we would have to finish it inside. But eventually, all things must
come to an end and we say goodnight. Perhaps we'll keep in touch, perhaps
we won't and the night shall always be a memory we'll both keep."
Alton was staring at me in rapt attention. His eyes shone in the
moonlight, and his hair and smooth skin were softly highlighted by the same
source. His lips were slightly open, and I had to force myself to keep my
gaze from settling on them. "Will there be a goodnight kiss?" he asked.
Despite my efforts, my gaze broke down to those full lips before refocusing
back on those brown eyes. "There's always a goodnight kiss," I whispered.
'Ah hell, screw this platonic-close-friends-cover up... What would one
kiss hurt?' And I was so very close to leaning in for that sweet taste,
had it not been for a sudden bright glare from my review mirror.
Annoyed, I turned around and saw that another car had parked up right
behind me. "For crying aloud," I muttered. "Is that your landlord?"
Alton peered over and squinted into the light. "No, I don't think so.
They have a driveway around the back, and they don't normally get visitors
at this time of night." The blasted headlights finally turned off and we
saw that it was a white BMW that was parked behind us. "Oh my God, it's
Alan," he happily exclaimed. His hand fumbled around in search for the
door handle. He had the door opened and was ready to jump out before he
stopped to glance over at me. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.
Trying to keep my disappointment from being too apparent, I shook my head
and gestured for him to go. "Nah, I'll let you two catch up. It's been a
while for you guys. Another time maybe."
Alton stared at me, slightly puzzled. "Okay Nathan." He stepped out of the
car and was on the sidewalk, peering in at me. "If I don't see you before
then, have a great time on your date with the nurse."
"Thanks, will do." I pasted a smile on my face, hoping that it looked
sincere.
"Goodnight Nathan."
"G'night, Alton." With a small smile, he closed the door and turned around
to face the occupant that was getting out of the German car. In my
rear-view mirror, I could see that the driver was giving my SUV the
look-over before turning his attention to the man who just left it. With
my heart deflating, I watched as Alton hurried into the arms of the other
man. Having seen enough, I pulled away from the curb and sped off away
from the scene.
I cursed to myself. Alton would eventually find out that Alan didn't know
who I was and realise that I had been deceiving him. 'Will tonight have
been the last time that I would ever get to see him?' And if not, would
the next time that I see him have me looking into his eyes filled with
hatred and distrust instead of the warmth I'd grown accustomed to? 'Hell,
what did I get myself into? I'll be lucky if all I come out of this with is
a broken heart.'
>>>>> Alton's POV
"Alan!" I exclaimed. He broke his gaze away from the Cherokee and smiled
at me. As usual, he looked flawlessly groomed. Alan was dressed
impeccably in a dark blue suit, every strand of his perfectly styled blond
hair was in place, his white teeth straight and even, and he was looking
all around very pleased with himself.
"Alton, look at you, you look wonderful." He reached out to me and embraced
me in a quick hug, before letting me go so that he could take a step back
to study me. "You haven't worn a suit in a while, what's the occasion? Did
you know I was going to come back tonight? Is that it?" he teased.
"No, that's not it at all. I didn't know when you were going to come home,
but that's because I haven't heard from you in almost a week! Where the
hell have you been?" I knew I sounded angry, but the matter of fact
was... I was angry.
"Oh Alton, please don't get upset. I've had a very grueling week and would
much rather sit and relax than stand here in the cold arguing with you." He
looked at me for a minute. "Well, since we're both dressed presentably,
how about we go to the Westin for a late drink?" He wasn't really expecting
an answer from me because he had already started walking towards his car
and opened up the passenger side door for me. When he turned around to see
that I had not moved from where I stood, he gave me a frustrated look.
"Alton, I haven't even gone home yet. The first place I went to is here to
see you."
I turned to stare at the faint light that was the Cherokee before walking
over to the BMW. As I sat there, waiting for Alan to walk around to the
driver side, I went through the last few minutes in my head. Nathan had
looked like he was going to kiss me. And the way he talked about the
date... it was as if I could picture that it was me he was going to wine
and dine.
"Who was that in the jeep?" Alan asked as he started the car up and pulled
away from the curb.
"Actually, you know him," I said. "His name's Nathan McCrae. He's
supposed to be the brother of one of your friends."
"McCrae? I don't remember anyone by that name. What does he do?"
A slight feeling of unease began to settle in my stomach. "He's a
fire-fighter."
The handsome blond mused over the new information. "No, I don't know
anyone who has anything to do with the fire department." Alan turned to
frown at me. "What have you guys been doing together?"
I felt my body turn cold as I thought about all the time that we'd spent
together. I had trusted him almost unconditionally under the assumption
that he knew Alan. He even kissed me that first night; God knows what else
he was capable of doing.
"Nothing, just the occasional coffee and dinner," I finally managed to say
evenly. "We were at the annual firemen's auction tonight actually. He was
just dropping me home when you arrived."
"Oh really? So you've been behaving yourself then while I was gone."
"Of course. What did you think I would've done?" I was getting annoyed
with Alan's suspicious tone. "God knows I can't even manage to get my own
boyfriend in bed with me, how could I possibly go out and try it with a
complete stranger?" I gasped as the car suddenly swerved over to the side.
After throwing the car into neutral, Alan turned in his seat to face me, an
expression of shock marring his handsome face.
"Good heavens Alton, what's gotten over you?"
I sat in silence, horrified at my outburst. I was stiff and not moving,
staring at the other man, panic setting in. "Oh my God," I whispered. I
covered my mouth with my hand, wishing that I could just vanish into thin
air. "I didn't mean a word of it," I insisted.
Alan was looking at me strangely by now. "I've never seen you like this
before. I mean, in the moonlight Alton." He reached over and to my
surprise, he gently stroked a finger across my face and over my lips. "So
soft," he whispered, almost to himself.
"Alan?" I asked softly.
"You're very beautiful Alton," he said. "Sometimes I'm intimidated by
you."
I looked at him; this time it was my turn to look shocked. "I intimidate
you?"
"Of course you do. You're brilliant, beautiful, and extremely witty. I
love the conversations we have together and the way your eyes light up when
we talk about something you're passionate about. But I'm quite content
with just that, and I thought you were too. But I see that I was wrong.
Alton, I have no interest whatsoever in pursuing a physical relationship
with you."
"Really?" I blinked at him, not quite sure what to think, and started to
feel just a little bit ill. "You sure as hell fooled me," I bitterly
retorted.
"Alton, I'm sorry if I led you on. I thought we were under a mutual
decision that this was strictly an intellectual relationship."
"No kidding. If you felt this way then why the hell did you give me hope
that there could be a physical aspect between the two of us?" I angrily
demanded.
Alan stared at me like I should be strapped into a white suit. "What are
you talking about? When did I do that?"
"Don't act like you don't know. That phone conversation that we had."
"What phone conversation?"
"The...the one I made that night before you left... last Friday. I called
you late at night remember?"
His blue eyes turned to confusion. "You never called me last Friday,
Alton. I received your messages that night, but I never returned your
calls because I was already on the plane by then. I hadn't been able to
reach you until the next day but you were out so I left a message on your
answering machine. Didn't you get it?"
Now I was filled with a sudden feeling of dread. If it wasn't Alan that I
spoken with that night, then who? Had I engaged in phone sex with a
complete stranger after all? This meant that some pervert had climaxed at
my expense. I wondered for how many days the guy was able to get a laugh
out of it. He probably even shared it with all his buddies.
"Alton?" Alan was staring at me with concern. "Are you okay? You've gone
dreadfully pale."
I blinked my eyes furiously and tried to breathe deeply. "I'm not feeling
very good right now. I think you better drive me home." My voice sounded
dry and sickly. Alan nodded and hurriedly cranked his wheel to pull a
U-turn. I opened the window a crack and let the cool night's air brush
across my face. We sat in silence for the remainder of the ride.
By the time Alan had pulled over, I was quickly out the door and on my
hands and knees, taking in deep breaths of air. I heard Alan scramble to
my side. He seemed to hesitate somewhat, like he was unsure of what to do.
Finally, he placed a hand on my neck and massaged. I thought about another
time when it was another hand that gave me a massage.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah." I took a deep breath of fresh air. "I'll be fine." I shrugged away
from his hand and stood up to face him. "Listen, you're probably tired
now. Why don't we just call it a night so you can go and get some rest?
Maybe we'll talk more tomorrow when we're both refreshed."
Alan took a minute to consider and then nodded. This was followed by a
brief moment of silence as we stood there, wondering what the other was
thinking. Finally, he leaned over and, to my surprise, gave me a quick
peck on the cheek. As he turned around to get back into his car and drive
off, I stood there by myself in the dark contemplating that kiss. It was
the sort of kiss that I would give to Dianne or my Mother. Actually, it
was rather insulting. I can do very well without pity kisses.
>>>>> Nathan's POV 6
"Hey Nathan, isn't that your college friend?" Kevin called out to me.
I threw my sponge into a bucket of foamy suds and squinted my eyes against
the sunlight. It was truck washing day and despite the cool weather, I had
worked up enough body heat to be able to only wear just a T-shirt by this
point.
Crossing the adjacent intersection, approaching us was a very
un-amused looking Alton.
Uh oh...
'Oh yeah,' I thought dejectedly, 'he definitely knows that I have no ties
to Alan whatsoever. Hopefully, I'll come out of this with only minor cuts
and bruises.' And despite the wrath that I knew was about to explode out
of the other man, I couldn't help but think how incredible he looked. He
was only wearing old jeans and an equally old looking blue hoody with the
yellow letters UCFV emblazed on it, but damn he wore them well. It wasn't
windy today, but as usual, his hair said otherwise.
I jumped down from the top of an engine and started to meet him
halfway, which would be just on the edge of the driveway. We stood facing
each other.
"Nathan," he said. His tone was bland.
"Alton," I greeted him. I was starting to fill with a feeling of
unease.
"Guess what I found out last night?" he asked. His tone remained
emotionless.
"Um... smoking is bad for you?" I tried.
He blinked once, then again. "Alan told me that he has never heard of
you before." I tried to look shocked, but I knew that the attempt was in
vain. He narrowed his gaze at me. "Why did you make up that lie?"
I looked back over my shoulder to make sure that the other guys were
still busy with washing the large vehicles. "Listen Alton, I know you're
mad with me..."
"Try pissed as hell," he interrupted in a low even voice.
Taking a small gulp, I continued. "Pissed," I corrected, "at me but I
can't go into the details of it right now. Meet with me tonight and I
promise, absolutely promise, that I'll explain everything to you."
He glared at me some more as he thought it over. I could see the side
of his jaw clenching and unclenching. "Fine," he said. "No more bullshit,
Nathan. The truth and nothing else."
"Scout's honour." I made a cross over my heart and held the pledge
with the other. "I'll be at your place around eight. Is that okay?" He
gave me a curt nod before turning around, back into the direction of where
he came from. Slowly I walked backwards, letting myself watch the
retreating figure until it turned around a corner.
"Nathan, what the hell was that all about?" Shawn yelled.
I shrugged and fished around the bucket for my sponge. "Word of
advice, never try to pull one over the good Doctor. It will blow up in
your face." Clucking my tongue to the roof of my mouth, I climbed back
onto the top of the truck and pondered about how I was going to make it up
to Alton as I scrubbed the dirt off the metal.
~~~~~
Standing outside the door, I glanced at the bouquet of orchids I was
holding and wondered how much longer this was going to work. Taking a look
at my watch, I saw that it was finally 8 o'clock. I'd been standing out
here for the last five minutes, trying to postpone the tongue-lashing for
as long as I could. Sighing in defeat, I finally mustered up the courage
to knock on the door. I could feel my heart beating heavily as seconds
ticked by.
Hmm. It seemed like it had been an eternity but I knew that only a
minute had lapsed. Now I was confused. The door was still closed. So I
knocked again, but this time more firmly. I heard a thud come from inside
and then quickly followed by the sound of someone fumbling with the
doorknob.
The door flew open and a very disheveled looking Alton stood on the
other side.
"Nathan," he said breathlessly. I stared at him. He looked good,
wearing just a grey tee and navy shorts. He rubbed his eyes and pinched
the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, I must have fallen asleep. How long were
you standing out here for?"
My heart skipped a beat as I wondered if he knew how long I really was
standing in front of his door. "Oh, just a minute or two," I smiled.
"Come in." Alton took a step back to let me through. I wordlessly
handed him the bouquet as I passed by and watched for his reaction out of
the corner of my eye. He stared at the light pink flowers in confusion as
he closed the door.
I waited... holding my breath in...
His eyes slowly narrowed...
DAMN.
"Are you trying to aggravate my allergies Nathan?" he demanded.
DAMMIT.
I vigorously shook my head in denial and held up my hands in mock
surrender. "I'm just trying to make things up to you, Alton."
He put the flowers down onto the coffee table and crossed his arms in
front of his chest, giving me an even glare. "You can start by explaining
a few things to me."
"Such as?" I stalled.
"Such as who you are exactly."
"Nathan McCrae, firefighter," I honestly replied.
"And you are associated with Alan Laurier how?" he raised an eyebrow
at me.
"Well, er... that is... I'm not."
"Bastard," he swore. "You lied to me. I trusted you... let you into
my hous..." he stopped abruptly and brought a hand up to his lips and
stared at me, anger dissipated as a look of horror slowly dawned upon his
face. "Oh God," he whispered, "I let you... you... and me..."
"No no no. No Alton, you have to let me finish explaining myself," I
firmly told him. I took a step towards him, but to my dismay he jerked
away. Sighing, I kept to where I was standing and ran a hand through my
hair in frustration. "Alright, I admit that I don't know anyone named
Alan. But everything else I've told you were true. I've never meant to
hurt you in any way Alton. You have to believe me. Please."
He stared at me warily. His brown eyes were narrowed again. "Look,
if you want me to leave, I'll understand," I quietly told him. I could see
that he was conflicted. We stood there apprehending the other in silence.
"Alton?" I gently prompted him.
He sighed and glanced over to the sofa. "Have a seat," he said.
I let out a long breath of relief. Funny, I didn't even realise that
I was holding it in until now.
>>>>> Alton's POV
'Oh man, what did I get myself into now?' I found myself pacing, my
thoughts were of the man that was now sitting in my living room. His
eyes... I could feel his eyes on me, studying me thinking about him. Me,
thinking about him studying me thinking about... what the hell? I stopped
in my tracks and gave myself a mental shake.
Think now, he claimed that he knew Alan. He kept up pretence and who
knew how long he intended on keeping up with that lie. But on the other
hand, he did seem sincerely sorry about what he did.
But was he truly sorry about lying to me or just sorry for getting
caught? Damn, why did I have to be so pessimistic sometimes? I gave Nathan
another wary glance and quickly looked away when he gave me a hopeful
smile. Damn and damn again... why did he have to look so cute and
pitiful?
I focused my attention on the coffee table and a splash of pink caught
my eye. The bouquet of orchids was still lying there neglected. I thought
back to all the other occasions when the other man surprised me with
flowers. I could definitely say that I'd never been treated to that
before. I couldn't recall when the last time Alan was so sweet or
thoughtful. 'After being together for over ten months he still didn't know
how I liked my coffee', I bitterly thought. Not even a phone call on my
birthday. I looked over again at Nathan and scowled at him before glancing
away once more. A guy like Nathan would probably be the type to call at
midnight so that he would be the very first to wish me a happy birthday.
No, for whatever reasons behind his lies, the man was too sweet to
have any hurtful or malicious motive. Then a thought came to mind...
"If you don't know Alan, then how did you know his name?" I suddenly
asked him. He looked at me in surprise, then his face became flushed as a
guilty expression slowly became evident.
"I'd rather not say," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him, not in
amusement either.
"You don't really have a choice here. You promised me that you would
explain everything to me."
"Oh, I did, didn't I?"
"Quit stalling McCrae," I snapped. I stood in front of him with my
arms crossed in an attempt to appear intimidating, or at the very least
somewhat imposing.
Nathan grimaced at me and moved one hand in a circular pattern in the
air like he was trying to gain some momentum before he began to speak.
"How should I put this..." he slowly began.
"Try short and sweet, and preferably sometime by the end of this
year," I said impatiently.
"Alright, calm down Alton." The man had the audacity to appear
annoyed with me. "Just remember that it was you who assumed that I was
Alan."
I blinked at him. What kind of obscured remark was that? "What do
you mean I assumed that you were Alan? I've never set eyes on you before
in my life until just over a week ago."
"No, not when we first met. When you called me the night before that
day."
>>>>> Nathan's POV
"When I called you? I never cal..." He stopped mid-sentence and I
could almost pinpoint the exact moment when realisation dawned on him about
what I was talking about. His eyes widened in horror and his mouth
dropped. He began to make attempts to swallow and speak but no sound came
out.
"Alton?" I nervously asked. I stood up and moved towards him. He
caught my movement and took a step backwards.
"No! Stay back!" I froze where I stood and promptly sat myself back
onto the sofa. I watched as he began to pace again. Finally, he stopped
and stared at me intently. He began to imitate me, one hand beginning to
wave wildly in the air as he considered his words. "So... are you
implying what I think you're implying?"
"If you mean if we had phone sex then yes." Ah well, there was no
point in beating around the bush.
"I see." He ran his hands through his hair and concentrated his focus
onto a particular point on the wall behind me. After awhile, I turned
around to look, almost believing that there was indeed something
interesting back there. Upon seeing nothing but white paint, I turned my
attention back to the other man and snapped my fingers at him.
"Alton!" He shook his head to clear it and looked at me blankly.
After a few seconds of silence and empty staring, I sighed in frustration
and waved my hand in front of his face in another attempt to gain his
attention.
He blinked once... he blinked twice.
"Sorry," he mumbled. Ah... more pacing here, more hair ruffling
there. Finally, he stopped and the hand waving began again. 'This is
starting to get old,' I was thinking. "Why?" he finally spat out.
"Why what?"
He fixed his brown eyes on me, his stare intense. "Why did you let me
continue with..." The hand gestures became more agitated and a slight pink
flush started to develop on Alton's face. "Didn't you ever begin to think
that the call was out of the ordinary and that maybe you should hang up?
Or do you normally get obscene phone calls at late hours of the night?"
I carelessly shrugged as I considered my answer. "Sure, I should have
hung up on you, or demanded to know what kind of sick loser needed to get
his rocks off by making crude prank calls. Actually, I originally did
think that it was one of the guys back at the station playing a trick on
me, but to tell the truth I didn't hang up because I was turned on."
Alton looked at me with a shocked expression on his face. "You were
turned on?"
"Hell yeah I was turned on." I stood up suddenly and before he could
react I walked over to where he was standing and grabbed him firmly by the
shoulders. Fear flickered across his eyes and I felt his entire body
stiffen under my touch. I quietly cursed and slackened my grip on him
somewhat, but never let go. "Alton," I whispered, "Do you understand that
YOU turn me on?" Before he had a chance to say anything, I pulled him to
my body and kissed him hard. He gasped, which opened up an opportunity for
me to slip my tongue through his lips in search of his own.
Unresponsive and stiff at first, the body held within my embrace
finally yielded to its needs and holding Alton was like what it should feel
like... absolutely perfect.
>>>>> Alton's POV
I started to wrap my arms around the back of Nathan's neck, giving as
much as I was taking from that wonderful kiss.
'C'mon Knox, what on earth are you doing?' Somewhere from the inside
my head my subconscious was screaming out at me. 'This man deceived you
remember? Hello?? Lying to you, ring any bells?' Hands roamed down to my
ass and pushed my pelvis into an equally hard one. The action emitted a
moan out of me and a satisfied grunt from Nathan.
'Think Alton, think! You remember Alan don't you? Tall, blond,
good-looking man? AKA your boyfriend? Significant other? Lover of ten
months?' Nathan suddenly lifted me up and I helped him out by wrapping my
legs around his waist, never once breaking away from the kiss. He steered
us over towards the sofa and carefully dropped us into it; my back on the
cushions and him comfortably between my legs.
'People can't be lovers if they don't make love,' I argued back to my
sense of logic.
'Well, yeah you've got a point there,' it receded. Then it was
nothing... nothing but the pure pleasure that I was experiencing right
then with thoughts of only Nathan in my head. Finally, I won over logic
and I gleefully enjoyed my prize, moaning loudly into that amazingly
skilled mouth as the handsome fire fighter ground his erect cock against
mine.
That is, I was until the phone suddenly decided to ring.
I groaned in annoyance when Nathan broke the kiss and stared down at
me, desire in his eyes. We were both breathing hard and panting for
breath. The phone was on the third ring when I finally answered it.
"Alton? Is that you? Are you alright?"
"Alan..." I breathlessly answered. "I'm just a little out of breath,
just came in through the doors when you called." Guiltily, I stared up at
Nathan, whose eyes narrowed when he found out whom I was speaking to on the
other line.
"Alt, I feel horrible about what happened last night," Alan continued
over the phone. "I was hoping that I could come over tonight and make sure
that you're alright."
"I'm perfectly alright," I assured him. "There's no need for you to
come over tonight." As I said this I noticed that the hand that was
resting on my hip had possessively firmed its hold.
"Please," Alan insisted. "I think that there are some things that we
really need to talk about." Sighing inwardly, I had to agree with him on
that.
"You're right," I admitted.
"Very good. I'm just about to leave the office now. I should be over
in about half an hour. Does that suit you?"
"Yes, that's fine. I'll see you then." I hung the phone up and gave
a quick glance over to Nathan. He didn't look too amused.
"What do you mean you'll see him? Is he coming over?" he angrily
demanded. I realised then that I was in a rather vulnerable position. My
legs were still spread out with him between them, and I decided to sit up
properly before Nathan became further agitated.
He didn't put up a fight as I started to withdraw my limbs from around
him, but he did look rather disappointed, and helped by sitting back on the
other end of the sofa.
"Yes, he'll be here in about half an hour," I responded. "There's
some stuff that he and I need to work out."
"I see," he said. He stood up and straightened out his clothes. "I
guess I should be going now then." I nodded and stood up also as I began
to straighten myself out, physically as well as mentally. I could feel the
air of distance radiating from him and I respected his boundary by staying
away, when inside I was dying to hold him in a tight embrace and never let
him walk out that door.
I followed him towards the door in question and held it open for him.
He was just on the other side of it when he stopped and turned my way, an
awkward smile on his face and a sadden look in his eyes. "Alton," he
quietly began, "I just want you to know that I am sincerely sorry that I
had ever deceived you into thinking that I knew Alan, and for letting you
continuing that phone call when it was obviously meant for someone else.
But never for a minute believe that I regret what has transgressed between
us. Everything else that I've told you is true. And although we've only
known each other for a short period of time, I also want you to know that I
have fallen in love with you."
I didn't know what to say in response and watched in shocked silence
as he walked away from me and continued to be silent as he got into his
jeep. He gave me one last look before finally driving away. Once the
vehicle was out of sight, I stepped back into the room and closed the door,
laying my forehead against the cool wood. "I love you too," I whispered,
too late, into the empty room.
~~~~~ 7
The next time I opened the door, there was Alan standing there smiling
sheepishly at me. I returned the smile and quietly regarded him. He was
as he always was, every blond strand of hair in place, perfect skin lightly
tanned, not even a wrinkle on the expensive tailored suit that he wore.
Any other time this sight would have made my heart flutter and head light,
but not tonight as my heart now yearned for the attentions of another man.
I stood to the side and allowed him in. He lightly pressed a kiss on my
cheek as he passed by. As he seated himself, he focused his attention on
the orchids that were still lying on the table. "What are these?" he
asked.
"Oh those, just something a friend brought by to cheer me up with." I
seated myself onto the other end of the sofa and stared at the pink
flowers, wondering where Nathan had taken off.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
I blinked. I didn't expect to hear such a ridiculous question and
annoyingly turned to look at Alan. But instead of making some sarcastic
remark, I instantly softened my expression when I saw the concern and
sincerity on his face. "There was a bit of tossing and turning involved,
and not the good kind," I lightly joked.
The blond lightened up at my change in mood and grinned. Then we both
simultaneously broke out into a fit of giggles like young schoolboys,
eventually with small tears in our eyes. When we finally calmed down
enough to hold a proper conversation, Alan turned to me with a more sober
expression on his face and asked, "Would you mind telling me what happened
here in the last several days while I was away?"
So I told him my story. It was cinematography to watch his fleeting
emotions as I talked. Disbelief and awe for the time when I tried to have
phone sex with him, disapproval and perhaps a little anger upon finding out
how Nathan had deceived me, empathy and caring when I finally broke into
tears as I told him that I had fallen in love with the fireman. Alan took
me in his arms and calmly held me, brushing my hair with his fingers and
soothingly rubbing my back with his other hand.
When I had finally reduced myself down to the odd sniffling, I pulled back
and smiled gratefully at him. Gently, he reached out and brushed a
lingering tear off my cheek with his thumb. "Oh Alton," he sighed with a
wistful note, "If only things had turned out differently between us. I
will always treasure the times we've had together and will always love
you." At my look of shock, he put a finger to my lips before I could say
anything. He continued, "Of course, it's not the same kind of love I would
share with a soul mate, but rather the sort that I share with family and
those who are closest to my heart."
He pulled me back to him in another embrace and I let him. Quietly, we sat
like that for a moment, our arms together with his chin upon my head to
which I laid on his shoulder. "What are you going to do about him?" Alan
quietly asked.
"Nathan? I have no idea. I think he's pissed at me. He was here when you
called earlier." Alan pulled away from me and stared, his handsome face
etched with worry.
"He was? Why on earth didn't you tell me then? Tell me to take a hike or
something? I could have waited."
"No, I needed to make sure that our relationship had come to a close before
I could begin a new one. I didn't want to jump head in if I was still
wondering what could've been between you and I."
Alan shook his head in awe at me. "Alt, you're amazing, you know that
right? I hope this Nathan is worthy of someone as incredible as you."
I blushed at the compliment that I wasn't used to receiving. "Well, er...
thank you, Alan."
"I hope he knows what a lucky man he is." Then a slight frown marred the
perfect face, "And if he doesn't realise what a wonderful man he has in
front of him then he never deserved such happiness to begin with."
"Alan, I love you too." He grinned at me, his teeth white and even.
"Well, I better be going now and let you find him. I need to get ready for
another trip out of town anyway." He got up and started to brush his
clothes into some order.
"Oh no, I got tear stains all over your jacket!" I bit my lip guiltily as
he studied the damage.
He waved his hand at me, looking at me like I was being silly. "Alt, it's
nothing a trip to the dry-cleaners won't fix." Then he bent over and
kissed me lightly on the cheek again before heading to the door. "No need
to walk me out. I will give you a call after I get back and I want a full
report on how things will be with you, yes?"
I grinned at him again and nodded my affirmation. Pleased, he closed the
door behind him and I was left alone by myself again.
>>>>> Nathan's POV
"McCrae! Office! NOW!!" The sound of a slamming door shortly followed
the demanding order and a silent blanket of tension filled the station.
Nobody made eye contact with me as I stood up from the clock radio that I
was currently trying to fix, since it was me that broke it initially in a
temper fit.
I opened the door and quietly closed it behind me, waiting for more orders
from my currently irate Captain.
"Sit down, McCrae." I went for the seat and did as told. The older man
glared down at me and began to pace. "You've been acting like a caged
animal these last few days, always moody and snapping at anyone who comes
near you. You're quick to irritate, you're withdrawn from the others, and
things are being broken left and right."
"It's just a few plates, the clock and a hole in the wall, Sir." I grimaced
as my right hand still throbbed painfully underneath the bandages.
"Shut the fuck up, I'm not done speaking to you yet!" The pacing stopped
as the other man focused a more intense glare at me. Once he was satisfied
that he would be hearing no more lip out of me, he continued on with his
tirade. "As fire-fighters we are dealing with life and death situations.
When we are inside that inferno and face to face with the beast we need to
be able to depend and trust each other in order to survive. I don't want
my men out there if they are unsure of each other." He stopped in front of
his desk, placed both his hands on top of the table's surface, and leaned
towards me to build up the intimidation factor. "Now, do you want to tell
me why half my men act like they're walking on eggshells around you?"
I clenched my jaw for a bit as I considered my response.
"No."
"Do I need to put you on a week's leave of absence?"
"Sir, you know that threats don't work on me."
The Captain suddenly looked tired and straightened his back. "Nathan, give
me a break here, as one friend to another."
I sighed. I knew that what I had to say would never leave these four
walls. I valued Sam's trust and respected his word. "I'm in love with a
married man."
His eyes widened and he looked at me in shock. "Is this about that Alton
guy?"
"Yeah." I rubbed my hands over my face and through my hair. "It's been
almost a week since I last saw him. I royally fucked things up and lost
any chance there was between us. He's probably laughing about me right now
with his lover," I bitterly spat. But even as I said those words I knew
deep down that Alton would never do something so hurtful as that.
Sam remained quiet and waited for me to finish. His face was blank, no
judgement, no scorn, and most of all no pity.
"I told him that I loved him while he was waiting for his boyfriend to come
over. Of course, that was after he found out that I had been deceiving him
about who I really was and admitting that it was me he had phone sex with.
Oh God Sam, what was I thinking? Who tells someone that they love him when
they were going to be seeing their lover within that same hour? What was I
expecting? That maybe he would say that he loved me back? Fuck, this thing
called love bites the big one."
"Nathan, you don't know how it is yet. Give him some time to sort things
through. It's only been a week. Hell, he may just be as confused as you
for all we know, and if he isn't then it was never meant to be and you'll
just have to find a way to deal with it." Sam said it like he saw it,
without the sugar coating. I shrugged at him, wishing that it were really
as simple as that. "Son," Sam began, "You're really no good to me tonight,
why don't you just go home and call it a day? I'll see you here bright and
early tomorrow as it is." I nodded and knew that the dismissal wasn't
really a choice.
On my way out of the station I ran into Shawn.
"Hey man, everything okay?" he asked. He was concerned but still made sure
to keep his distance, his eyes somewhat wary as he regarded me.
"Yeah, everything's good. I'm just going to go home and take it easy for
the night. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Cool," he nodded at me and let me go. When I was almost out the door, he
called me again. I turned back to him to see what he wanted. He trotted
over to where I was standing and he gave me a concerned look. "Dude, you
sure everything's okay?" I nodded. "Alright, but are YOU feeling right
lately?"
Giving him a wry smile, I shrugged. "Well, I haven't been in the best of
moods lately. It's just something I have to work out."
He nodded again, looking at me thoughtfully. Then he did something that I
would not have expected in a million years. Eyes wide in shock, I stared
at him speechless.
Frowning and somewhat blushing, Shawn became defensive. "What?"
"Dude, did you just hug me?" Albeit it was an awkward and clumsy one.
"So?" I continued to stare at him in silence, waiting for a more mature
answer out of him. "Well," he began uneasily, the squirming starting to
set in, "you looked like you really needed one." He crossed his arms in
front of his chest and almost puffed himself up, a cocky gleam reappearing
in his eyes, "And besides, I'm secure enough in my manhood to be giving
another guy a hug."
"True enough," I agreed. Then with a smile and a parting wave, I left the
station and got into my jeep. Sitting in it in silence, I stared around my
surroundings inside the vehicle and noticed that it had become rather messy
in the last few days. An empty Pepsi bottle and a take-out coffee
container sat in the cup-holders, a scrunched up McDonald's bag in the
backseat, right alongside its KFC's counterpart. On the passenger floor
sat more empty pop cans and water bottles. Sheesh, I really had let myself
go. And as I started up the ignition, I knew that I was heading home to a
larger version of this mess back at my apartment.
I promised myself that I was going to clean it up on my next day off, but
then again it's not like I had anyone to impress at the moment. At a red
light, I just happened to stop beside a playground. I looked over and
watched as parents pushed their children on the swings, made sure they
didn't fall off the seesaws, and overlooked the castle making. Then I did
a double take when I recognised one of the adults helping a little boy
across the jungle bars. It was the crazy hair that caught my eye actually.
I watched in somewhat of a daze as Alton smiled and laughed with Mike as
the young boy kicked his legs in the air, swinging the short limbs to and
fro. Alton was wearing khakis and a light sweater in a deep green colour,
with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows so that Mike wouldn't accidentally
scuff them with dirt. God he looked good. I started to envision myself in
that little scene, right alongside Alton with my arms around his waist and
him holding the blond boy in his arms, the three of us laughing. Or
perhaps a boy of our own? One that we could adopt?
The sudden blare of a car horn violently pulled me back into reality. When
I looked up I saw that the light had turned green and the car that was in
front of me before was now several metres ahead. Quickly, I pushed on the
gas pedal, hoping to speed out of there before the loud noise brought
Alton's attention towards me. 'Snap out of it, McCrae!' I scolded myself.
'He's involved with another man and you're thinking about having a family
with him? How fucked up is that?'
The rest of the drive home was no picnic either as images of Alton in the
arms another man, the faceless character presumably Alan according to my
subconscious, kept taunting me. I never knew my imagination could be so
creative. Various flashes of Alton haunted me... him with his head thrown
back and body arched in ecstasy, him spreading his legs out willingly for
another, him with his face in an expression of rapture as hands that were
not my own began to caress his body. It was killing me; I was a man with a
desperately severe case of love sickness.
It surprised me how I was able to get myself home in one piece. Actually,
once I opened the door to my place and had a good look inside, I almost
wished that I wasn't there. The mess was incredible... but I was past the
point of caring. I decided to head straight to bed and sleep this whole
night away. And as I made my way through the piles of newspaper and dirty
dishes, I began to strip myself naked and added the discarded articles of
clothing to the ground along with the rest of the old laundry.
I slid in between the blanket and sheets and dropped my head to the pillow.
Then trying with all my might, I willed myself to sleep, but it proved to
be quite impossible. My tired body was willing, but my mind was racing a
mile a minute. Without the distractions of driving now, I was able to
conjure up sounds and sensations to add to the erotic images of Alton in my
head. I developed an instant erection, which was driving me nuts. It
appeared that sleep was not forecasted for anywhere in the near future, so
with a sigh of frustration, I pulled myself out of bed and went into the
bathroom in hopes that a quick wank in the shower would be the answer.
>>>>> Alton's POV
Curiously I had looked up towards the direction of where I heard the car
horn and my heart started to race when I saw a familiar dusty looking grey
Cherokee pulling through the intersection. I was willing to bet that it
was Nathan's. Had he seen me in the playground? Was he in turmoil like I
was? The need to see him, to be touched by him, was overwhelming. But I
was too afraid that I had waited too long to try and contact him again, and
feared that he no longer was interested or cared.
"Uncle Alt? Were you listening to me?" the six year old demanded. I
snapped my attention back towards the young blond in my arms, who I was
helping back down to the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mikey. I was thinking of something else for a minute there.
What did you say?" I politely asked. I had to bite the inside of my cheek
as the boy rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, as if wondering what he
was going to do with me.
"I was saying," he began to speak slowly as if I was a child younger than
he, "that maybe we should go visit the fire hall and see if Nathan is
working today."
My heart skipped a beat and a breath got caught in my throat. "Why?" I
managed to choke out.
"I like him. He'll let me put on his fireman's hat again and I want to sit
in the trucks."
"Mike, I'm sure the firemen have more important things to do than cater to
a little boy. And besides, I don't think that Nathan is working."
The six year old began to pout and whine. "Why not? You don't know if he's
there or not. Please please pleeease Uncle Alton? I really want to go see
the fire trucks. And 'sides, I don't have anything to say tomorrow in show
and tell!"
Now it was my turn at rolling my eyes. I can't believe what a sucker I am
for this kid. I'm fairly confident he knows that he's got me wrapped
around his finger pretty well. "Alright alright. We'll go but don't whine
if it turns out that Nathan's not there okay? Absolutely no more fussing
for the rest of the day, understood?"
"Yes!" the boy exclaimed and pulled on my hand towards the direction of the
location in mind. "I promise that I'll be good all day!"
By the time we made our way to the fire hall, it was nearly impossible to
calm Mike down. He was jumping excitedly like a Mexican jumping bean.
There were a couple of firemen milling around the outside of the station
and I recognised one of the guys that helped save that kitten that fateful
day when I had first laid eyes on Nathan.
"Excuse me," I asked, firming my hold on Mike's hand in an effort to calm
him some more, "Can you tell me if Nathan's on duty tonight?"
The man grinned at me in recognition. "Hey, you're that professor friend
of Nathan's. Alton right? Sorry man, he left here about half an hour ago,
you just missed him. My name's Shawn by the way." I took the hand he
offered and he noticed Mike who had suddenly gone quiet and started to
sulk. "Little dude, why the long face?" he asked the six year old.
Mike shrugged in a lost boy kind of manner. "I was hoping that Nathan was
here so that I could wear his hat and sit in the trucks."
"What makes you say that you can't? I'm just as nice as Nathan is. Tell
you what, why don't you hop onto my back?" Shawn squatted down and turned
his back towards Mike. Magically the pouting disappeared and was replaced
by joyful glee. Mike dropped my hand like yesterday's news and, without
any hesitation at all, climbed onto the large fireman in a piggyback ride.
Shawn straightened up and started to bounce their way towards the large
fire engines, stopping momentarily by the racks that held their uniform.
He grabbed a helmet off the top shelf and handed it behind him to Mike. It
took two small hands to get a grasp of the object and once placed on his
head, you weren't able to see the upper half of Mike's facial expression.
There was more giggling as the ride continued towards the trucks. Once
Mike was deposited behind a wheel and made sure that he was able to
entertain himself, Shawn walked over to where I stood and smiled. "So,
you're the one responsible for Nathan's lousy mood lately." This took me
aback and I stared at him in shock, not quite sure of what to say or do.
He grinned at me and shook his head. "No no, I don't mean to alarm you
like that. It's just kinda cool seeing someone like Nathan get worked up
over another person. He's usually so mellow and rarely anything fazes him.
He's acting like a boy who's not getting what he wants. You must be some
guy to have such an effect on him."
I blushed, still unsure of what to say. The other man was starting to look
at me with some sort of awe and it was beginning to make me feel uneasy.
Thankfully, Mike took that moment to demand my attention.
"Uncle Alton! Are you watching me?" We both turned towards the boy that
was frantically turning the wheel from one side to the other. We went to
stand by him and watched him in amusement.
"Can you even see over the wheel Mikey?" I asked.
"Of course I can Uncle Alt! Now watch me drive to the scene of the fire."
After spending a few more minutes indulging the young one, I turned to
Shawn and asked, "I don't suppose it's possible for me to get a hold of
Nathan's phone number?"
He thought for a minute and then shrugged. "Sure, why not. Maybe you can
talk him back to his normal self." He went inside the building and after a
couple minutes came back to hand me a scrap of paper with a phone number
scrawled onto it.
"Thank you," I said.
He waved at it, "Don't worry about it man. Just work your magic on him
again alright?" I blushed some more when he threw a wink my way.
"Hey Mikey," I jerked my head back at him, signaling that it was time for
us to go.
"Aww, do we have to go now?" he pouted. But he still obediently let go of
the wheel and turned towards me with his arms out. I reached in and pulled
him out, helping him to the ground.
"Sorry buddy," Shawn said to him, taking the helmet off. "There's always
next time, feel free to drop by again." Mike smiled at him, consoled by
the invitation. They waved at each other before Mike started to pull on my
hand towards the direction of his house.
"Wait till the kids at school hear about what I got to do today, Uncle Alt.
Boy they're going to be so jealous of me. Yesterday Trevor brought in a
toy truck to school, one that he got for his birthday, but I got to sit in
a real truck. And not even a regular truck but a fire truck! Next time we
should take pictures, okay Uncle Alt?" he stared up at me, a serious look
on his face. I grinned at him and nodded in agreement.
Dianne met us at the door and smiled as Mike ran up to her, who started to
spill everything about what he did in one excited babble. She wasn't able
to get much of a word into the conversation. Instead, she nodded and made
sounds of interest when necessary.
"Thanks for looking after Mikey again," she finally said to me when Mike
ran into the house to call his friends from school. She leaned over to
give me a kiss on the cheek. "Would you stay for dinner?"
"No, not tonight but thanks. I have some stuff I need to mark and look
over. Tell Mark I'll see him bright and early on Monday." I turned to
leave and quietly began to walk the eight blocks home. I contemplated
about what I was going to say to Nathan and how I was going to let him know
how I felt about him. An idea suddenly came to mind and I hurried the rest
of the way home, knowing that I had a lot of things to do first before I
was able to execute the plan.
>>>>> Nathan's POV 8
It was an amazing dream. I had Alton, warm and naked in my arms. His
expressive eyes focused on nothing except on me. Our limbs were entangled,
my leg between his and his between mine. His skin was smooth and the
sounds that came out of his mouth with every kiss I planted on him were
addictive. Every moan and sigh that he made was for me and me only. If I
could spend the rest of my life in eternal sleep with a dream like that one
then I would never wake up again.
That is, I would have to remember to unplug the phone next time.
Immensely irritated and grumpy, I answered the phone. "What?" I mumbled
rudely into the handset. Upon hearing silence on the other side, I got
more annoyed. "Hello? Answer me you idiot!" I glanced at the clock and saw
that it was just pass 2 o' clock in the morning. Damn, it took forever to
fall asleep too. I was just about to slam the phone back onto its cradle
when I heard a hesitant sound on the other line.
"Nathan?"
"For crying aloud, yes! Hurry it up will ya?" I closed my eyelids, still
heavy with sleep.
"It's...it's Alton." My eyes snapped open and I sat up in attention. My
heart was pounding and I pinched myself just in case I was still dreaming.
"Um... Nathan? Are you still there?"
"Oh, uh... yeah." I cleared my throat, not sure of what else to say.
"I'm sorry I woke you up, but... but I've missed you."
Inside I was seeing fireworks and doing a mental jig. "Oh?" Hell, I
impressed myself when my voice didn't crack.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about those nights when we used to just lie
there together in front of the TV., and then I would just plop my feet onto
your lap. And then you would roll your eyes at me but start to give me a
foot massage without complaining." I stayed quiet and decided to see where
he was going with this. We both knew that none of this had ever happened,
well... not outside the realms of fantasy from the inside of my head
anyway.
"Then I was thinking about that time when we went out for coffee and I
decided that I wasn't hungry enough to order any food, but ended up eating
half of your pie. And when you took me to the amusement park and you
insisted that we go up on the ferris wheel. You knew that I was afraid of
heights but I went on anyway because you wouldn't stop begging." I still
hadn't said anything up to this point, I was too busy imagining these
events and it was so easy to picture them happening. I was grinning like a
fool over things that had never happened; yet it all seemed so real. I
guess the silence from my end began to unnerve Alton because he started to
sound really unsure of himself. 'Say something before he loses his nerve
and changes his mind!' my unconscious screamed out at me.
"I knew that once I had you on the ride you would be so scared that you
wouldn't let go of me," I chuckled. I heard a sigh of relief on the other
end and I continued, "It was an excuse for me to hold you close."
"It worked," he admitted. "But then you made it up to me by winning me a
stuffed animal." I could remember that non-existent day so easily in my
head. "Nathan?" It was a soft whisper.
"Yes?"
"I love you." The voice was still soft but it came out loud and clear to
me.
"What did you say?" I demanded. I still wanted to make sure and I pinched
myself again, hard.
"I said I love you."
"What about Alan?" I held my breath, hoping to hear what I wanted to hear.
"He's done with. He came over to talk that day to make sure that I was
okay with it. And I was because it was you that I wanted, and I have
wanted you ever since that day I walked into you. I just never realised it
until that last time you came over. You said you loved me then, and I
wanted to say it back to you too, but didn't know I wanted to until you had
already left." The voice started to waver and became unsure again. "I
mean, I hope you still feel the same way, but if it's too late, if you
don't anymore, I mean... I understand..."
"Alton, listen to me. I love you dammit. Fuck, don't move, I'm coming
over right now." I didn't wait to hear his response. I threw the phone on
the ground and pulled on some old jeans and a T-shirt. My first instinct
was to get my ass over to Alton's place ASAP. I slammed the door closed,
not even bothering to lock it, and jumped into the jeep. Pulling out of
the driveway, I proceeded to drive at near break-necking speeds to the
other side of town.
>>>>> Alton's POV
"Nathan? Hello?" I heard a loud clack from the other line, followed by a
series of rustling and finally a loud door slam. I replaced the handset
back to the phone base. My heart was beating fast; he was on his way over.
I was as nervous as a teenager on his first date. From where I was seated
on the bed, I looked around the room to make sure that it was clean. On
the small dresser top were a few small candles. I went over to light them
and they gave the small room a warm glow. I had taken a shower hours ago,
and now wore a tank top and old sweat pants. It took me awhile to work up
the nerve to call Nathan, and I had almost wimped out when he finally did
answer the phone.
I was debating whether to change into something a little more presentable
when I heard an insistent banging at the door. Looking at the clock I
noticed that only a little over five minutes had elapsed since I hung up.
I hurried over to open the door and as soon as I did strong arms lifted me
off of the floor and the door was slammed shut with a kick of Nathan's
foot. He swung me around so that I was now trapped between him and the
wooden panel and took me in a deep, breathtakingly passionate kiss. I
swooned and sighed, my knees went weak and would have fallen to the ground
if it weren't for the tight embrace that he held me in. My lips felt
bruised and I was light headed with giddiness when Nathan finally pulled
away from me. His eyes were glazed with desire and I caught my breath. I
had forgotten how good-looking he was.
"Say it again," he demanded. I looked at him, confused for a second before
the answer dawned on me.
"I love you," I tenderly told him. A grin nearly split his face in half
and he took me into another kiss.
"Oh God, if feels so good to hear you say that," he gasped. "I love you
too, you know that right?" he frowned down at me.
"Of course I do," I smiled at him. Then in one swift movement, he bent
over to pick me up, one hand behind my back the other around the back of my
knees. I wrapped my arms around his neck for support and reached over to
lick him lightly on the neck. He clenched his jaw slightly.
"Sweetheart, keep that up and I'm going to have to take you right here on
the living room floor. Now which door to the bedroom?"
"The one on the right." He walked through the door and gently deposited me
onto the bed. I looked up at him, expecting him to join me but when he
didn't, I started to sit up. But he gently pushed me back down. I looked
up at him, confused.
"I just want to look at you," he breathed into my ear. I closed my eyes as
the whisper tickled my skin. I could feel him begin to take my top off. I
lifted my arms up above my head to help him out. I gasped as he started to
kiss his way down my torso, over my neck, over my chest, over my stomach.
His hands gently brush down along my flank and I could feel goose bumps
developing. I shivered. "Are you cold?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"No," I could hear that my voice was shaking slightly. "I'm just a bit
nervous that's all. It's been awhile."
"I'll go nice and slow, and we won't do anything you're not ready for.
Just let me know if you need me to stop." I nodded and sighed as he
continued to kiss my upper body again. Without warning, his warm mouth
closed over my left nipple and I arched my back, crying out as feelings of
pleasure coursed through me. I had a raging hard on by this point and I'm
positive that my sweat pants were doing nothing to conceal that fact.
Nathan moved his hand to either side of my hips and, with a firm tug on the
pants, he began to pull them down. Once they were discarded, I heard
silence and there was no movement. Confused, I opened my eyes and looked
up at him, watching him staring down at my body very intently. I was
starting to feel rather self-conscious of myself and had to resist the
strong urge to cover myself up with a sheet. "Nathan?"
He turned his focus on me, desire and love evident in those grey eyes.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered. I could feel my whole body blushing
and I looked away, too embarrassed to make further eye contact. A finger
hooked under my chin and turned me back to face him. He leaned in close,
and I knew he was going to kiss me...
>>>>> Nathan's POV
I took a minute to get used to the idea that this was all for me. Alton
was lying naked on the bed, a serene expression on his face, smooth skin
golden from the candlelight. Naked, he was vulnerable and trusting of me.
It was such a beautiful sight to behold.
He was nicely toned; his muscles long and lean. His chest was smooth and
had a light trail of hair below his navel. I followed it to the bush
between his legs, which surrounded his throbbing cock. I leaned in to
brush my lips along the hard shaft. A soft gasp comes out of Alton, which
got more distressed when I slipped my tongue out to lick lightly around the
corona. I took my time studying that part of his anatomy, savouring every
micron of it with my tongue, not leaving any part of it uncovered. He
squirmed delightfully at my ministrations and I finally decided to put the
poor man out of his misery by engulfing the entirety of him in my mouth.
His back arched up off the bed, his legs openly spread out to either side
of me, and I could feel the bed sheets move underneath us from him grabbing
at them with his hands. I only hoped that the landlord upstairs didn't
hear the loud moans coming out of my new lover's mouth. I swallowed him to
the hilt and lapped at the precum that flowed out. His head turned from
one side to the other, his teeth biting his lower lip in a poor attempt to
remain silent. I could tell that he was trying his hardest to keep control
of himself. I released him from my mouth and I moved my body up over his
so that my face was directly over his. "Alton," I began, "let yourself go
for me. Don't be afraid to go wild."
His eyes open up and large brown irises stare into mine. "Please Nathan,
please make love to me." His voice was filled with need.
I chuckled at him. Who would have thought that my shy professor would turn
out to be such a wanton in bed? I stood back up and shucked my own clothes
off without much fanfare. I was close to ravishing him again when he held
his hand up and motioned for me to stop. I froze in place and after a few
moments of confusion, it dawned on me that his eyes were moving up and down
my body. When he focused in on my erection, I raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Do you see anything you like?"
He guiltily averted his eyes to mine and even in the dark light I could see
him blush. "Your body... it's beautiful too," he said softly.
"Not beautiful," I denied. "Just old and ragged."
"Hey," he protested. "You're only 29, I'm six years older than you." Then
he stopped and a look of horror started to appear on his face. "Oh dear
God, I'm six years older than you!"
I leaned over to lay my body on top of his. With one knee, I gently nudged
his legs apart so that I could settle comfortably in between them. He
unconsciously opened them up to me while he was still contemplating on the
age gap. I caressed his body, over his ass and down his legs. "Does it
really matter when we get to be as old as we are? And besides, you look
much younger than you really are and your skin is still as smooth as a
baby's bott..."
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," he warned, throwing me an icy glare.
I sighed, wondering how I was going to be able to placate him. An idea
came to mind; I leaned my hips close to his and rubbed our erections
together. Oh geez that felt good. And apparently it did the trick as
Alton lowered his eyelids, fluttering them as he let out a soft moan. I
could get very used to hearing those sounds coming from him.
"Alt, I don't want to hurt you. Do you have anything that we can use
to...?" He nodded his head towards the direction of his nightstand.
Keeping the rhythm steady between our organs, I leaned over and opened up
the small drawer, blindly searching for something that felt like a tube.
No small feat might I add, especially when my darling lover decided to
start scrapping his fingers across my back.
Popping the lid open with one hand, I squeezed a small dollop of the
lubricant to my other hand and moved down to smear it lightly along Alton's
ass crack. He let out a gasp as my finger brush across the tight entrance.
I moved slowly up and down the crevice, applying more and more pressure
over the hole with each consecutive stroke. Eventually I started to just
circle around it, feeling the puckered texture of his rectum. Alton was
panting heavily now from the attention he was receiving. When I had
finally slipped the tip of my finger into him, he let out another small
cry. I smothered him in kisses while my free hand moved up to twist his
nipple. I was trying my darnest to overload him with sensations.
His legs started to stretch out further and wrapped themselves around my
waist, his scraping was becoming more frantic across my back and shoulders,
and I finally had to cover his mouth with my own to stifle his cries. He
stiffened slightly when I added a second finger into his rectum, but soon
the muscles around it loosened and relaxed once he grew accustomed to it.
The third finger went in with even less effort. "Are you ready?" I asked.
"Oh yessss," he hissed. "Please Nathan..."
"Let me know if it hurts too much," I warned him. I positioned myself at
his entrance and slowly pushed the head of my penis through. He bit his
lip and his facial expression showed pain when I had breached him.
"Alton?" I softly whispered. I dropped kisses onto his face.
"I'll be fine. We just have to go slow, it's been a long while." He gave
me a wavering smile. I kept myself still, giving him all the time he
needed to adjust. With his legs around me, I felt a gentle pull towards
him, a subtle hint that he was ready for more. Slowly, I pushed in another
inch, me panting from exertion, him panting from pain.
I began a gentle rocking with what I already had in him. It must have been
painful for him at first as I saw that he kept his breath in, never
exhaling. When he finally let out a long sigh and his body began to relax,
I knew that the pleasure was finally starting to set in. I kept up the
rocking, and with each stroke back in I slowly started to add more and more
of cock into him. Until finally, I was buried down to the hilt.
"Dear God," I groaned. "Damn Alton, you feel so good. I can stay here
forever and die a happy man." The muscles around me clenched tightly to my
dick; his internal body heat an inferno around my hard organ.
"I don't think I would object to you staying inside of me too strongly," he
gasped.
I began to make love to him now that he was able to enjoy it. I used long
and slow strokes; our eyes stared into each other's, sharing our inner
feelings with one another. I knew he was getting close, as was I. He just
overwhelmed me; he's amazing.
"I want to be on top," he whispered to me. Breathing hard, I held on tight
to him and rolled the both of us around so that I was lying with my back
against the bed; him straddling me and never breaking the bond between us.
I looked up at him looking down at me. There was adoration and love in
those eyes. His hair stood up away from his face, his perfect body
illuminated by the candlelight. He began to move on his own accord, his
hands at my hips in a silent signal for me to keep still.
Torturous as it was, I kept immobile when what I really wanted to do was
thrust up into him, meeting him with every one of his own downward strokes.
Mercifully, he started to speed up, his head thrown back and body arched,
as he lost himself to the pleasure he was generating. "Nathan..." he
panted.
Unable to stay still any longer, I sat up and held him tight to me, taking
him in a deep brutal kiss as I pulled his hips towards mine, helping to
drive myself deeper into him. He moaned into my mouth as I took control
again. His arms were around me and they began to scratch once more, giving
him a source of outlet for his release.
"Take me," he whimpered. "I need it... please... love you so much..."
How could I refuse him? I quickened my pace, the stroking between us
almost becoming brutal, and finally he cried out. I didn't have any
available hands to cover up his mouth in an attempt to muffle his screams,
but otherwise I would. My head was swelling up with pride that I was able
to make this creature react so wildly. But at the same time, I was half
afraid that the people upstairs might call the police in fear that someone
was being hurt down here.
His fingers dug into me one last time, quite deeply. I even had to let out
a small cry of pain. His body stiffened and the legs around me tightened a
microsecond before his entire body started to convulse. His ass started to
clamp down on my dick, milking me for all I was worth. A chain reaction
began; not being able to hold off any longer I came violently deep into my
lover's bowels, filling his insides with my fluid. His own dick went off,
spewing hot white liquid all over between our bodies.
I continued to pump into him, extending his orgasm as well as my own. But
finally exhaustion won out and I collapsed back onto the bed, pulling him
down with me. We took our time to catch our breaths. When I felt movement
above me, I looked up to see that Alton was propped up on his elbows,
looking down at me. His eyes were glowing and he had a large grin on his
face.
"Yes?" I asked in amusement.
"That was fun."
I grinned up at him. "I'm glad you think so. I had fun too."
"Can we do it again?" He clenched himself around me to add to his point.
I let out a small gasp, in awe of the sudden surge of energy that came over
the other man. But to my surprise, I felt myself hardening inside of him
again.
"I'm not really in the mood right now though. You tired me out," I teased.
But with me growing rapidly harder deep within his body we both knew that I
was lying.
"What if I can get you in the mood?" he asked playfully. I shrugged as he
sat up and started to grind his body against mine. He was now slick from
the previous workout and I moved easily within him. I gasped at the
sensations, but he was moving so painstakingly slow.
"Sweetheart," I gritted my teeth, "you're killing me."
"I want to take my time. I want it nice and slow," he purred.
I grabbed a hold of him and flipped us around again. I took his left leg
and hook it over my shoulder, his right one still wrapped around my waist.
His breath caught as I sunk myself into him as deep as I could. Widening
his eyes, he looked at me to see what my next move would be.
"You want it nice and slow? Then nice and slow is what you shall get." I
gave him what he wanted. A kiss that was soft and lingering; my cock
inside of him moved in long strokes, steady and evenly. We took our time
this time around, making love and just savouring each other's presence.
Even our orgasms were calmer; Alton's cries were not half as loud as they
were before.
"Alton?" Gently I stroked and caressed his face and neck with my fingers.
He moved his face to catch one of my fingers with his mouth. He slowly
started to suck on it, keeping his eyes closed. A breath caught in my
throat as I watched this little act of eroticism. His lips were warm and
moist around my knuckle as his tongue started to play and tickle my
fingertip. When he eventually let go of my finger, I was in a somewhat
mild case of comatose. He cocked his head to one side and stared up at me
in amusement, a small smile playing on those devilish lips.
"Shower," I managed to croak. His smile became wider and he let me help
him towards the bathroom. I set him on top of the counter by the sink
before I reached into the bath to turn the shower on. I turned when I hear
a gasp of horror from behind me. I spun around, concern on my face.
"Alton? What's wrong?" I rushed over to him to comfort him.
"Turn around for me." His eyes were wide with shock and I did as he asked.
When I felt gentle fingers upon my back, tracing the sore tracks, it dawned
on me that my back must have been criss-crossed with angry red marks. "Do
they hurt?" he asked.
"Not much, they'll be a little sore once they get wet I'm sure." I turned
around to face him again, and took him in my arms, placing small kisses on
his lips. One of his legs moved to encircle itself around my waist, the
other one rubbed up and down the back of my thighs.
"I'm sorry," he murmured as he entangled his fingers into my hair.
"Nothing to be sorry for," I whispered. "You've marked me, I'm yours
forever."
He smiled into my kiss. "Yes, mine forever... yours forever."
>>>>> EPILOGUE
Alton's POV
It was just past eight o' clock in the evening but the sun was still
shining bright and strong. It was the final day of summer classes and I
had just finished my last evening lecture for the semester. Unfortunately,
at this time of day the buses didn't run as often as they would during peak
hours. I sat on the bench, patiently waiting, staring off into the
distance.
I heard a vehicle drive by but the engine didn't sound large enough for it
to belong to a bus so I didn't give it any notice. I heard it stop close
by though, and I looked over when I heard someone call my name.
"Dr. Knox!" I looked at the man sitting behind the wheel. "Do you need a
ride?" he asked.
I shook my head at him. "No, I'll be fine. Thanks anyway though."
"Oh c'mon Prof, it's the last day of school. I'm in no rush to go home."
I smiled and shrugged. "Sure, why not? I need to be home soon anyway.
I'm expecting a phone call and I was running later than I had anticipated."
I climbed in and grinned at the driver. He started heading in the
direction of my house without having being told which way to go.
"Oh? An important phone call?" He glanced over at me, an innocent smile
on his face.
"Well, not really. Just a friend that was supposed to call me today,
that's all."
"Just a friend?" he gave me a slight frown.
I shrugged again. "Yeah, I had actually expected him to call me earlier
this morning, but I guess he got too busy at work. We were supposed to be
celebrating something today, but I think he forgot."
"Really? What's that?"
"It's my birthday today," I told him sadly.
He frowned some more. "Rather thoughtless friends you have there, Prof."
He pulled over to the sidewalk beside the house I lived in. I had finally
moved out to a place of my own and paid a mortgage rather than rent. He
turned the ignition off and looked over at me. "Are you going to be okay?"
he asked concerned.
"I'll be fine." I got out of the vehicle and thanked him for the ride as I
closed the door.
"Hey Prof." I turned around to see that the man had gotten out of the jeep
and started to walk towards me. A bouquet of roses was pulled from behind
his back and he leaned over to give me a gentle kiss on the lips. "Happy
birthday, darling."
"You remembered," I exclaimed happily. I took the roses from him and
pulled Nathan into a tight embrace.
"There was a call that came in at the hall early this morning. I wasn't
even fully awake myself yet and I didn't get a chance to call you. By the
time we were done you were already in class. I'm sorry," he apologised,
his grey eyes looking down at me with love in them.
I grinned and gave him a hard kiss, pulling him inside the house we both
lived in. There was no point in giving our neighbours a show on our front
lawn, as I'm sure that they were tired of watching the happy couple make
out once more in public.
I pulled him towards the bedroom, not before carefully putting the roses on
top of the dresser, and pushed him onto the bed. Then to the best of my
ability, I showed him just how much I forgave him, and just how much I
loved him.
>>>>> END
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to hear any
comments or feedback you may have for this story.
<wai808@yahoo.ca>