Copyright © 2005
By Lee Mariner
This is a gay fantasy, and it will contain homosexual acts that
some readers may find offensive. If you are not of legal age in your
locality, or if this type of material offends you, please leave.
This story is copyrighted by the author, and may not be copied, reproduced or
posted on any web site without the specific written consent of the author. All Rights are reserved.
All stories that I have written can be found by using:
http://library.gaycafe.com/nifty/prolific.html#leemariner
Readers wishing to be notified of postings to this and/or other stories may
contact me at:
mariner23502@hotmail.com
§
Chapter #2
I'm not out of shape by a long shot, and I am not a smoker, but I was breathing
pretty hard by the time I reached the doorway to my stateroom.
"Damn," I cursed to myself as I fumbled in my pocket for the magnetic
key card. "That is still one hell of a walk from the elevator."
Retrieving the key card, I was just about to slide it though the slot when I
was surprised by a soft feminine voice behind me. "Mr. Ward?"
"Yes," I answered jumping slightly and looking over my shoulder at
the pretty young lady who had walked up silently behind me.
"I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't mean to startle you," she said
apologetically, extending a white plastic shopping bag as she spoke. "Your
purchase."
"Already!" I exclaimed, fumbling with the bag and almost dropping it
and my key card.
"Yes, Sir," she replied politely. "May I help you with the
door?"
"No thanks, I think, I can manage even though I do seem to be all thumbs
at the moments," I responded, panicking at the thought that Petrik might
be inside the stateroom, and wondering what all the commotion was about.
"Yes, Sir, have a pleasant evening," she answered with a faint grin,
turning and leaving as silently as she had come.
I waited for a moment or two as she left before opening the door and
entering. The beds had not been converted to a queen size as Petrik had
said he would do, and a feeling of disappointment settled over me.
"I guess he was busy and forgot about it," I thought as I extracted
the bottle of JD from the plastic shopping bag.
There was still ice in the thermos bucket; and, after fixing myself a drink, I
sat on the edge of the bed closest to me, and removed my shoes before taking my
clothes off. After hanging my things in the closet, I started to reach
for my robe and then decided against it thinking, "Hell, the briefs are
good enough since there is no one to hide anything from."
After checking the various switches to see what they controlled, I settled on
two small wall sconces that left the room in a soft light. "They
think of everything when they build these ships," I thought, taking a sip
of my drink. "My own bedroom lighting is not this romantic."
For a moment a feeling of melancholy swept over me as I remembered earlier
trips with Geoff after we first met. "Jesus, I take a cruise trying
to get that mess behind me, and here I am thinking about Geoff and mooning over
a young man who probably has other things to do more important than worrying
about me and my fucking bed." I exclaimed out loud to no one in
particular, trying to shake the melancholic state I felt myself slipping into.
Wearing only briefs, I stepped out on the balcony into the darkness feeling the
warm breeze created by the ship plowing south through the dark
"Those were the days," I thought. Now I'm free and single with
no Geoff to be concerned about. I no longer have to worry about whom he
is going to fuck next or whom I might catch him in bed with, and I don't need
to make excuses to linger in my office rather than going home. I had made
a fool of myself during the four years we were together. I had not accepted
that he was not ready to settle with one person and make a life. He
had been great in bed; but, little by little, those times when we made love
became less frequent with longer and longer intervals between them. His
excuses of being exhausted from a bad day at the hospital or having to get up
early for work always rang hollow, and I let them slip by rather than making an
issue of the fact that we were growing further apart with each passing day.
The inevitable ensuing arguments were painful, ending with him throwing
phony tantrums and stomping out, leaving me alone to suffer in anguish at the
fear of losing him even though I knew he would be meeting someone.
Sometimes he would be gone two or three days before coming back; and then we
would cry together, make up, and make love after expressing a love for each
other that was no longer there. It went on like that for over a year
until I came home early one day and found him in bed with a man whom I had
thought was my best friend. That was the straw that broke the
camel's back; and, in a rage, I threw them and their clothes out into the
snow. Several of our friends had tried to arrange a reconciliation to no
avail; and I remained celibate, foolishly swearing off sex and lovers.
Geoff had been my first and only lover, and my remaining in the apartment we
had shared together didn't help. After a few months of my turning down
invitations, the invitations stopped. It wasn't until my firm offered me
a new position out of
One or two of the people I worked with invited me out for dinner, and at first
I hesitated before finally taking the big step of accepting an invitation for
drinks and dinner. Charlene, one of the paralegals in the office, had
invited me to her home several times before I finally relented and
accepted. She was a few years older than I and married with twelve and
fourteen year old daughters. Her husband was an attractive, intelligent
man who worked in stocks and bonds. The dinner was excellent, and I was
enjoying myself for the first time in months until I realized that I was
subconsciously attracted to her husband and was comparing him to Geoff.
The deeply suppressed feelings of needing to be with someone washed over me,
and I wasn't sure whether he had caught my covert glances; but every now and
then he would smile, looking at me as he took a drag from his cigarette with
one ankle over his knee and his hand resting over the noticeable bulge in his
crotch. I was probably wrong, but a cold fear washed over me at the
thought that Charlene may have suspected why I kept to myself and had
innocently mentioned it to her husband during a conversation. I quickly
averted my eyes, attempting to suppress the tingling feeling in my groin and hoping
the evening would end.
§
That embarrassing experience returned me to the shell that I had
built around myself. Charlene made one or two attempts at getting
together again for dinner, but I managed to make satisfactory explanations to
excuse myself. I had gotten pretty adept at making excuses, and they were
becoming easier to make as I deferred invitations. The big problem was
not satisfying the yearning and desires to be with another man, and
masturbation was becoming less and less satisfying.
After bungling, and almost losing, two easily winnable real estate zoning
cases, I realized that I had to get away and shake the ghosts of the past.
The unsolicited travel brochure that was in my mail one afternoon offered an
excellent opportunity to do what needed to be done; and, after two or
three calls, I contracted for a seven day Caribbean cruise to the Virgin
Islands with stops in St.Thomas, St. Croix and St. John.
I had never been on a civilian cruise, and I was not sure what it would be
like. Several of my co-workers had said that I would meet lots of people and
that, with all of the different activities that were offered, it would be more
fun than a barrel of monkeys. They also said that the only thing I had to
be careful of was losing all of my money in the casino.
"Well, I've managed to meet a young man who has shaken the cobwebs loose
and rekindled the fire in my loins, and I avoided the casino, so why am I
in my stateroom alone?" I said aloud, draining the last of the now
lukewarm drink.
"You aren't alone, Mr. Ward," a quiet voice said from behind me.
Glancing quickly to my right, I recognized the reflection of Petrik in the
opaque panel of the stateroom door with linens in his arms.
"Christ, Petrik," I exclaimed loudly, almost dropping my glass as I
spun around. "You scared the crap
out of
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you; but I didn't know you had
returned from dinner, and I used my pass key," he said smiling broadly,
his green eyes twinkling.
"I should be the one apologizing for shouting at you, not you to me,"
I replied breathing in deeply and trying to regain my composure.
"You did say you were going to change the beds; but, when I saw they
hadn't been, I thought you had probably gotten busy and had forgotten about
it. I was having a drink before retiring; and, since it was so warm, I
was standing outside and apparently thinking out loud."
"We all do that at times," he said, dropping the linens on one of the
beds, and stepping out on the balcony. "I often go up to the jogging
track at night after I'm off duty if I feel a little lonely or want to get
away and be by myself. No one is taking their exercise that late; and its
peaceful, just right for relaxing and thinking."
"Do you do that often, Petrik?" I said softly, painfully aware of the
sudden swelling in the pouch of my briefs.
"Usually I go when it has been a bad day and I am feeling depressed from
listening to too many demanding passengers or when I want to get away from the
noise in the crew's quarters," he said chuckling, and smiling softly as he
rested one arm on the railing and leaned sideways facing me as he continued.
"Mostly, I think about home, my mother and friends. Sometimes I talk aloud
as if I was talking with one of them, but I don't expect someone to be behind
me the way I was behind you, and overhearing what I'm saying. "
His eyes had changed to an almost translucent turquoise, and his face shone a
soft bronze from the reflected light of the wall sconces. I felt the urge
to reach out and take him in my arms; but, breathing in deeply, I reluctantly
suppressed the feelings building inside of me as I asked, "What about your
father, don't you think about him?"
"No, not like I used to, I lost him in the war with the Serbs. He died in
"I'm sorry, Petrik. I didn't mean to bring up sad memories," I
said, feeling ashamed at prying.
"That's okay; it does not bother me like it did," he said inhaling
deeply, and asking as he exhaled. "Do you mind if I ask what you meant
when you said you had met a young man who had shaken the cobwebs loose?"
"Oh, Jesus, you heard me say that?" I asked feeling the blood rushing
to my head. "Christ, I shouldn't have been thinking out loud."
"Why not?" he asked, moving a little closer. "You were relaxing
and not thinking about anyone overhearing you. I think we all do that at times
without realizing that we do. I should have said something when I came in
and saw you on the balcony. I really shouldn't have surprised you when I
said what I did, except it just sort of came out; and, from the way you spoke,
you sounded so lonely and upset that I couldn't help saying it."
"You caught me at a bad moment," I said, gazing almost impudently,
searchingly into his eyes. "I was thinking back over a particularly
bad time in my life, and I was expecting too much for this evening even though
I didn't really have a good reason to."
"Expecting too much?" he asked, returning my gaze.
I could see, no, feel the beat of his heart from the way his chest was rapidly
expanding as he breathed. For a brief moment, I glanced down; and, seeing
the swelling in his crotch, I brazenly plunged ahead and whispered, "I was
expecting, no, to be truthful that's not right. I was hoping you would be
here changing the beds."
"That's why I delayed until I was off duty. I was hoping you would
be here, and I could stay awhile with you if you felt the same way I do about
you," he breathed softly as he melted into my arms, his arms sliding
around my chest and pulling us closely together. Any existing inhibitions faded as his full
succulent lips opened slightly, revealing the tip of his tongue moving over the
soft inner flesh of his lips.
A feeling unlike any that I had felt in a long time swept over me as our lips
met, tongues merging, twisting and searching. I could feel the power in
his thick muscled arms around me; the pounding of his heart through his tunic
and the touch of his steel hard cock pressing against mine sent waves of desire
rushing through me.
All thoughts of Geoff disappeared in the instant we kissed, and my body
trembled with the excitement of being in Petrik's arms. His lips were
soft, and his tongue was probing, and I felt a tenderness radiating from deep
within his hard muscled body. I almost swooned from the rapture of being
with him when he suddenly slid his hand between us and grasped my aching cock.
"Jesus, Petrik," I gasped groaning as I pulled my lips from his.
"Do that, and my cock is going to explode."
"Mine too," he said, leaning his head back and arching his back, his
hard cock pressing against mine. Breathing deeply, he looked into my eyes
letting me see the jade green of his eyes flashing with feeling and excitement.
"Maybe I should fix the bed first?"
"That might be a good idea," I replied holding on to him as if I were
afraid he was only an apparition, created out of frustration, and would
disappear. We stood silently for a moment gazing into each other's eyes, the
heat of lust and desire blazing fiercely; and I whispered softly,
teasingly, "As horny as I am, any bed would be all right."
"Horny?" he asked questioningly as he released his arms from around
my chest and started to unbutton his tunic.
"Here, let me do that," I said, breathing in deeply and feeling the
heat of my emotions subsiding a little as I brushed his fingers aside and
started to unbutton his tunic with trembling fingers. "You've never heard
anyone say 'horny'? It means feeling hot for someone and wanting them or being
really ready to make love, and wanting to feel the soft touch of his hot body
and his hard cock pressing against yours."
"No," he replied breathing heavily, his eyes sparkling as he shucked
his tunic and tossed it on one of the balcony chairs. "I haven't
heard that; but, if that is what it means, that is the way I feel."
Christ, Petrik, you're awesome," I said almost gasping as I looked at the
magnificent definition of his pectoral muscles, the breadth of his smooth
unblemished chest, the thickness of his biceps, his lightly hair-covered
forearms and his almost obscenely small waist with the tantalizingly golden
trail of silky hair extending down from his bellybutton in the valley between thick
ripped abdominal muscles and disappearing into the waistband of his trousers.
"No more than you," he said running his eyes up and down my almost
naked body before gathering me in his arms again holding me tightly as he
spoke. "I was hoping we could explore each other together, but you
cheated me out of that pleasure by undressing before I was here,"
"I wasn't expecting you, Petrik, remember?" I said gently.
"That was my fault, not yours," he said grinning, and breathing in
deeply before asking, "Would you mind calling me 'Peter' when we are alone
instead of 'Petrik'? All of my close friends call me by that name, and I
like it. It sounds more intimate and less cold than 'Petrik this', or
'Petrik that'. 'Petrik' means 'Peter' in English, but I guess you knew
that."
"I assumed that by the phonetic association of the two names, but I'll
call you 'Peter' if you will call me 'Caine' instead of 'Mr. Ward'," I
said, gazing at the warmth in his eyes while I ran my fingers up and down the
nape of his neck.
"Caine," he mused for a moment as if savoring the name. "I like
that, and I like the softness of the hair on your chest. Is it all as
soft?" he asked as he twirled his fingers in the thicker portion that
covered the sternum between the breast muscles.
"That is for you to find out," I said grinning and brushing his
lips with mine.
"I hope it is; some of my comrades at home have such dark wiry hair all
over their bodies that it almost looks like thick wire," he said as we
released each other, and went inside.
§
After locking the outside door in the open position, I slid the
screen door shut. Peter moved the linens, that he had brought, to the
couch and quickly stripped the old linens from the twin beds. It was
fascinating watching his muscles rippling like steel cables under the smooth
bronzed flesh of his broad back, his biceps bulging as he moved the beds closer
together and latched them into place.
"It looks like you have done that often," I said as he straightened
up, and breathed in deeply, the thick smooth muscles of his chest tightening as
his chest expanded.
"I have," he said, grinning as he moved to the couch and retrieved
what looked like a quilted bed mat. Shaking it out, I saw it was a fitted
mat unlike the ones that lay loosely under the sheets.
"Would you like to help me with this?" he asked as he billowed the
mat over the joined beds. "This is the difficult part."
"Not at all," I answered stepping forward from the doorway and
catching the edge of the mat before it settled down on the bed. Following his
lead, I snapped the corners in place; and the narrow separation, created by
joining the beds, disappeared.
"Now the sheets, pillows, and a light cotton blanket, and we are
finished," he said as he shook the sheets out and spread them over the
bed.
It took only a few seconds for the bed to be changed from two small twins into
a comfortable queen.
"You did that very well," he said, grinning as he tucked a pillow
under his chin and slipped the pillowcase on.
"I've made a few beds," I replied, catching the pillow, and dropping
it at the headboard as he slipped the other pillow into its case.
"I can see that," he said, grinning, his eyes twinkling.
"Maybe you should apply for a job as a crewmen."
"And work on the same ship as you?" I asked, moving around the bed
and slipping my arms around him.
"That might be fun, and we could both sit on the jogging track at
night," he answered, placing his lips on mine in a long lingering
kiss.
His lips were sweet and delicious, but a sudden urgency in my bladder
interrupted the pleasure of being in his arms with his lips on mine, and I
leaned my head back. "Sorry, Peter, nature calls," I whispered
huskily, pulling out of the circle of his arms.
Dropping my briefs around my ankles, I leaned over the toilet just in
time. A golden stream cascaded into the dark blue chemical water; and,
for a moment, I felt an adolescent pang of embarrassment thinking he could hear
it. It seemed like ages before the thick stream slowly dwindled to a trickle
as the pressure on my bladder faded. As I milked the last few drops, my
cock swelled slightly; and I kicked the briefs from around my ankles.
Breathing in deeply, I swished Listerine in my mouth while I searched in my
toilet bag for a long unused tube of KY lubricant. Spitting the
mouthwash into the sink, I dampened one of the many face towels; and, grabbing
a large fluffy bath towel, I palmed the lubricant and flicked the light switch
throwing the bathroom into darkness.
The golden light of the wall sconces was more than enough to see by, but I
wasn't prepared for what I saw when I moved from the bathroom into what had
become the bedroom. I had already seen the mesmerizing beauty of
Peter's upper body, but the vision of absolute loveliness waiting for me struck
me speechless.
He was lying in bed propped up by the pillows with one arm behind his head, and
the sheet pulled up to his waist. His other hand rested on his stomach; and his
legs were spread slightly, revealing the thick outline of his cock. His
thick hair absorbed the soft light, gleaming a reddish almost strawberry
blond. The deep jade green of his eyes, and the stark white sheets
intensified the golden bronze of his magnificently muscled torso and ripped
abdominal muscles. A feeling of intense desire swept over me; but, for
several moments, I stood immobilized as I gazed at how radiantly gorgeous he
was.
"My, God," I thought gazing at Petrik lying serenely against the
pillows, the beat of my heart quickening as I gulped air into my lungs,
"Apollo in all of his glory was never as stunningly handsome."
Several seconds past while I stood immobile, my stiff cock hidden by the thick
folds of the towels draped over my forearm.
"Do you think we might need those?" he asked glancing at the towels,
his eyes shining as he flashed a brilliant smile.
"I...I didn't know," I stammered, my eyes glued to the elongated
bulge hidden beneath the sheet.
"We won't know if you continue standing there like a Grecian statue,"
he said softly, teasingly running the tip of his tongue over his soft succulent
lips as he threw the sheet back.
His thick hooded cock was supported by full testicles resting between his legs,
its thick base surrounded by a forest of glistening, golden hair. His
heavy testicles hid the soft under flesh of the perineum that separated them
from his anus. Broad heavily muscled thighs and calves were covered
by a golden down of silky fine hair.
"Jesus, Peter," I croaked as I slid into bed, dropping the towels and
lubricant to the floor. "I've never seen anyone as gorgeous as you."
"You've said that already," he whispered, turning to face me and
gathering my trembling body into his arms, my cock pressing against the hard
muscle of his thigh. "Don't you think that you are as attractive and
that I have the same feelings as you?" he said, gently moving his finger
in circles through the soft silky hair around the hardening nipples of my
breast muscles.
"Oh, God, I hope so; it's been so long since anyone has touched me,"
I whimpered, trembling from the gossamer touch of his fingers moving lightly
through the silky dark hair covering my chest.
Peter's hands floated over the muscles of my back and down my arms like the
wings of a butterfly; and, with each touch of his fingers, every nerve in my
love-starved body tingled with excitement. The touch of his lips brushing
over mine, the tip of his tongue invading the recesses of my ear, and his hands
gently kneading and searching for the sensitive tender areas sent deliciously
warm sensuous waves washed over me, filling me with a desire and passion that I
had forgotten I could feel.
Moaning softly, I started to put my arms around him when he said, softly, as he
pushed gently against my chest, "Easy, Caine, easy. Lie back and let
me enjoy the pleasures that were hidden when I first saw you this
morning. I've waited all day for this time to be with you."
"I've waited longer than that, Peter," I said, succumbing to the
gentle pressure of his hand, my voice quivering with emotion.
"Then we both will enjoy this first time," he replied, lowering
his lips, kissing and sucking on each hard nipple, the tip of his tongue
creating waves of delicious bolts of energy surging into the depths of my
testicles.
"Oh, God, Peter," I groaned running my fingers through his thick
golden hair and holding his head as his teeth nipped at each granite-hard
nipple.
Raising his head from my chest, he looked into my eyes briefly; and I saw the
fires of desire burning in the dark green depths of his eyes. Smiling
impishly, he lowered his head again, lightly kissing my breasts; and the touch
of his lips sent delicious pangs of erotic pain radiating throughout my
body. His hands gently caressed the most sensitive areas of my ribs and
loins as he covered me in kisses slowly moving downward to where my drooling
cock throbbed in anticipation. The fires of desire burned fiercely in my
groin; and, when he wafted his hot breath over my cock, I thrust my hips
upwards groaning, "Take it, Peter; take it, please."
"Not just yet," he said softly, gently pressing my pelvis down as he
sat up and looked down at me, his voice resonating with emotion.
"I don't know if I can wait much longer," I whimpered reaching up and
running my hands over his heaving chest.
"Just a moment longer," he said quietly, breathing in deeply, his
eyes caressing me as he moved one hand up and down over my chest and stomach,
tangling his fingers in the thick silky hair surrounding the base of my
throbbing cock. Lowering his lips to mine, he gently kissed them and
whispered, "Just a moment longer and we will enjoy each other together,
tasting the nectar that yearns to be released."
Twisting around, he stretched his magnificent body out beside mine.
Creamy white pearls of pre-seminal fluid oozed from the urethral opening of the
hooded, blood-engorged crown of his smooth unveined cock. Moving closer,
I inhaled the musky masculine odor emanating from his groin as I licked the
precursor to the aphrodisiac that I had been craving for so long. His
hips moved gently pushing his cock against my lips, and I responded to the
feeling of his tongue licking and cleaning the crown of my cock. Pushing
gently, we both opened our lips; and I felt his cock sliding deep into my
throat as mine slipped into the hot depths of his throat.
As if we were one, we both moved one leg closer and rested our heads on the
soft inner side of each other's thighs. Waves of rapture flowed over me
from the feeling of my cock buried deep in Peter's throat, and a deep moan of
ecstatic pleasure welled up from within my chest. I felt Peter shudder
gently, and I knew he enjoyed the sonorous vibrations of my moaning washing
over his cock. He started a slow piston movement driving his cock deep
with each gentle thrust, my hips responded matching his movements, and my
aching cock seemed to sink deeper into his throat with each quickening thrust.
It was as if we were going through an erotic transmutation as we sank deeper
into the euphoric haze of matchless masculine love. There was a feeling
that we had evolved from two sweating bodies into one, and that feeling seemed
to surround us as the pace of our love making increased. We raced to
reach the maximum pinnacle of pleasure, that moment when all of our inner
desires would be satisfied in a cataclysmic eruption the would spew forth in
one glorious moment as our life fluids churned, rushing to be drained from the
hot overflowing crucibles deep within our loins.
That moment came in a crescendo of groans as the muscles of our bodies
tightened, cocks swelling and hardening from a force we no longer controlled.
It was an ecstatically satisfying millisecond when our cocks strained before
erupting with a volcanic force that sent thick rivers of sperm rushing downward
through gripping throat muscles into waiting receptacles that ached to be
filled.
I felt the steel muscles of his arms and mine holding each other tightly as our
cocks throbbed with each heart beat, jerking and gushing as we greedily sucked
the elixir of life from slowly wilting cocks. With tight lips stripping
the dribbling remnants of sperm from slowly softening cocks, we fell back
momentarily separating as each other's cock slipped from the warm wet recesses
of our mouths, both of us moaning and gasping trying to fill the lungs within
our heaving chests.
No words were necessary as we lay quietly; both of us, for the moment, sated
enjoying the feelings of rapture that slowly drained away to be replaced by a
lingering soft after-glow of pleasure.
§
I don't know how long we lay in an inverted position; but, when
Peter swung around pulling the sheet over us, I reached for him. Sliding my
arms around his chest, I hugged him closely, and our lips met in a gentle
emotional kiss that expressed our feelings far better than any words could
have. The loneliness that I had felt was gone, and I felt alive again
invigorated by the strength of his arms around me and the tenderness of his
kiss.
"Peter," I said as our lips parted and we laid our heads on the
pillows. "You will never know how much making love to you meant to
"It makes me happy knowing you enjoyed it, Caine; but, it meant as much to
me," he said, turning his head and looking into my eyes. "You
said it had been such a long time for you, and it has been a long time for me
as well."
"It has." I said, turning to face him and resting on my elbow.
"I would think you would have men clamoring to be with you. I know
that I was, but the thought of sex with you frightened me at first."
"Why would you be frightened, Caine? I was trying to show you how I felt
and what I wanted ever since you came on board."
"No, I said that wrong. What I meant was that I wanted you, but I
was frightened that you would be offended if I made an unwanted gesture or
comment and that you would reject me. I don't believe I could have stood
it if you had, Peter."
"Who would..." he started to say stopping when I placed a finger over
his lips.
"I think I know what you were going to say, but let me
explain," I said, breathing in deeply. "It's like I told you
earlier, it has been several months since the last time I was in bed with
another man. The last person I was with was my lover, and we had a very
nasty break up. He was nothing like you, but I loved him, and we lived
together for several years. He had a lot of affairs with other men during
that time; but, when I caught him and someone I thought was my best friend in
bed together, we broke up. I haven't been able to bring myself to trust
anyone since; and, after that, I drew within myself, and stopped going
out. I was hurt once, and I didn't want that to happen again."
He lay quietly, looking up at me as he slowly moved his hand over my hip and
thigh. His eyes glowed with compassion, and when I touched his cheek, he
grasped my hand and kissed each finger. He said, "I don't
understand why anyone would want to hurt someone they loved, especially someone
as gentle and loving as you are. I can feel the caring sensitivity and
compassion in the way we made love. Such a betrayal of love may happen in
my country, but I know of no one who would have treated anyone they loved so
badly."
"You have never had a lover, have you, Peter," I asked softly.
"No, I don't believe so, at least not such as you describe," he
answered after thinking for a moment. "I had a friend with whom I
was very close. His name was Josif, and we grew up together.
We went to school together and played together; we did all of those things that
young boys do in secret. We learned the mysterious changes in our bodies,
and we learned the pleasures of those changes together. It was a long
time before we realized that we had feelings for each other, other than the
feelings that friends have for each other. Josif was much like you in his
features, soft full lips with dark hair and eyes. His body was firm and
beautifully built. He was exciting and fun to be with. The first
time we made love was as if a new world opened up, and we knew we loved each
other. I miss him greatly," he said softly, his voice trailing off
and his eyes gazing through the screen door into the darkness.
"Don't you see him anymore, Peter?"
"No, I lost Josif in the war," he whispered, turning to look at
me. "The Serbs took him captive in
There was a look of pain deep within the soft green of his eyes, and I leaned
down and kissed his forehead, whispering, and "I am so sorry, Peter.
You make me feel so ashamed for telling you of my troubles."
"Don't feel that way, Caine. Josif and I had wonderful times
together. Those memories will always be with me, and tonight we have been
good for each other," he said as he pulled me close, resting my head on
his chest. Stroking my hair, he said, "I haven't spoken with anyone
about it until you told me about the pain you have suffered. It is good
to talk about it, and you have made me feel better for listening and making
love to me. Not as he would have but by the way you did and by the way we
gave ourselves to each other."
"You listened to me, and it has made me feel better," I said as I
slipped my arm around his waist. "I only wish we had more than just
a few days to learn more about each other."
"We can learn much in seven days, Caine and, we will fill the evenings and
mornings with love," he whispered drowsily, softly kissing my hair.
"I want to know more about you."
§
"And I want to know more about you, Peter." I whispered
listening to the steady strong beat of his heart and his slow even breathing as
he fell asleep with his arms around me.
A feeling of bliss surrounded me as I lay in his powerful arms, his warm body
pressed to mine. Memories of when Geoff and I had lain holding each other
that first time floated in the recesses of my mind, and my heart was filled
with a feeling that was much the same then as I was feeling for Peter. I didn't
want to lose that feeling again; but a little voice inside of me whispered,
"hope does not always spring eternal, and he lives a half a world away in
The hiss of the water and the soft warm breeze floating though the open door
filled the room as I drifted off.
§