Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 11:02:29 EDT From: VicHowel@aol.com Subject: The Learning Season - chapter 5 The Learning Season - by Dave MacMillan I decided to give you a treat this time around - you've got 2 chapters instead of one. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the story that much more. I'll have my webpage up inside of the month. You'll be able to find the latest on my anthologies (4 are in print now with 3 more coming) and links to where to buy them, the complete novels that I'm serialising on Nifty, as well as a couple of collections of my short erotica. In addition, you'll also have a chance to buy my 3 gay-themed mainstream novels. And I'm like a born-again Christian about weight loss. I'm a born-again slim (and healthy) gay man (altho I still have almost 50 lbs to lose before I'm really there). Of course, I'll be offering the same weight loss programme that has finally got me healthy. Finally, like any writer, I like feedback - it helps me to write. Please write me at vichowel@aol.com. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Chapter Five Sunlight streaming through the large bay window had already warmed the kitchen when Vic Marshall entered it to make coffee. He was wide awake, and there was a spring to his step that had not been there for more years than he would care to remember if he had been conscious of his new outlook. Rich had awakened him at the crack of dawn by stroking his cock until he couldn't ignore the sensations it was causing any longer. He'd been hard when he'd opened his eyes and tried to focus them on the man kneeling over him. "Feel like starting off the day with a good fuck?" the eighteen year old asked him cheerfully as he struggled to focus his eyes on him. Before he'd been able to formulate any sort of answer, Rich was licking the head of his cock and sending small tremors throughout his body. Vic groaned but grew harder and, without further preamble, Rich moved to straddle him. In position, he quickly reached between his own legs and grasped Vic's cock, his eyes fixed on Vic's face beneath him. Holding it against his asslips, he lowered himself onto it. Fully awake before even his first cup of coffee, Vic Marshall stared up into the face smiling back at him as Rich Dailey effortlessly began to ride him. Rich had come before they'd hardly got started, but his cock stayed hard and he continued to ride the cock inside him. When Vic finally exploded, he was right there with him, coating the man's chest with a new layer of his jizz. "Where did you learn all this shit, virgin ass?" Vic demanded as Rich dropped back onto the bed beside him. "Your videos," he hung his head. "I used to watch them now and then after you and Dave had gone to bed - virgin ass?" He grinned sheepishly. "I don't think I can lay claim to that name ever again." "I don't think so either - Jesus!" Vic snorted. "Aren't you ever satisfied?" "I'm beginning to wonder the same thing--only, I sort of think you've got a lot to do with it." "How's that?" he asked as he rolled his legs off the bed and stood up when they touched the floor. "I get horny as all hell just seeing you." Rich's face reddened at the admission. "Now the dam's broken and I know I like it." "Being as you're sated for the moment, why don't you get cleaned up while I make us something to eat," he suggested as he stood in his closet. "Do I need to take you to work this morning?" he asked as he slipped his robe on and turned back to Rich as he tied its belt around himself. The boy nodded glumly. "Yeah, I guess it's back to the old grind for me - at least, until tonight when I get off." He grinned at the man standing before him. "Then, I'm going to have another two whole nights and a whole day of you in this bed." "Ouch! Let me get breakfast before I start feeling weak at the thought of it." Vic'd scurried out of the room and headed down the stairs to the kitchen. * * * He could hear the shower running upstairs in the quiet of the early morning and smiled at the image of that naked body being pelted by jets of water in the shower. In his fantasies, Vic'd only projected Rich as enjoying the sex between them and being available whenever he himself wanted it. After a quick fuck, he'd just disappear off with Dave - until the next time. He'd gotten the man all right; it'd even turned out he did ever more enjoy the sex. Rich Dailey wasn't going to be just another fantasy, though. He wanted his sex when he wanted it. He didn't just disappear either. He was a flesh and blood man. A man whom Vic liked and enjoyed and who professed to be in love with him. He wasn't likely to go away any time soon. He was more likely to stay, and to move into and share Vic Marshall's life. The realization of that did not frighten the man as he prepared omelettes for them. But it didn't exactly elate him either. The man showering upstairs was a child he'd known for a long time. Only, now, he knew he was going to have to learn an entirely new relationship with him, accepting him as a man in his own right. It was going to be some-thing completely different from the old one they'd had. That redefining was going to be a while in happening, and he knew it would have its share of bumps and twists. Vic felt trepidation at the prospect of what was in store for him. He'd never be able to see the Dailey boy as just another kid again. He was a man who happened to be blessed with the body of Michelangelo's teenaged David - and he had to learn to treat the eighteen year old as such. He'd promised. He'd committed himself to him for as long as the younger man wanted him. In spite of his doubts, he found himself hoping that would be a long, long time. He saw far greater obstacles that would have to be overcome than just how he came to see Rich Dailey, however. His son, of course, with his insipid homophobia, was going to be in for a shock when he got back from his mother's. As Vic saw it, though, Dave was only a minor player in this drama. He would soon leave for university and he was an adult as Rich was. He had the same right to make choices about himself as his friend had. And the same responsibilities. If Rich could become his lover, moving in with him and sharing his life with him, then Dave didn't have to stay around if he didn't like the new circumstances. He was no longer bound to Vic by law or even custom as he had been before his last birthday. No, Dave was not going to be a major problem unless Rich or he, himself, permitted his son to be. Rich's mother loomed as a much larger obstacle in the man's mind as he folded the second omelette and placed it in the warmer with the first. Ruby Dailey was going to be their major problem. Rich was her son; she had reared him from the beginning and had produced a beautiful boy, one who would be a good man. He was sure it was the way she'd think too. She had also trusted him with her child, and he'd ended up corrupting him. He was also sure she'd see it that way. He'd feel the same if the situation was somehow reversed. Even though Rich was an adult now - even though he could live and die for his country and even vote - he was still Ruby's little boy. Ruby could make a potentially beautiful relationship turn into something dirty and sordid. Vic Marshall knew he couldn't allow that to happen. Not just for his own sake - but for Rich's as well. He heard the man as he took the stairs two at a time. He wondered if Ruby even knew where her son had spent the night. He found himself wishing he knew more about Rich's mother and family. They sat at the breakfast table and Vic watched with amusement as Rich wolfed his way through half his omelet. It was only then that Rich turned his violet eyes on him and reached out to take his hand while swallowing the food in his mouth. "What about your mother?" Vic asked quietly. Rich's face fell and he looked down at his plate. "What about her?" he asked, his throat suddenly tight. Vic felt the grip on his hand loosening and squeezed the boy's hand reassuringly. "She can make this a pretty nasty affair." "Let her - she doesn't mean a damned thing to me any more." Vic shook his head slowly. "You say that now - and I don't know what happened between the two of you yesterday to make you say that - but, Rich, she can destroy anything you and I try to build." "She can't!" He shook his head violently in disbelief. "She's got more pull with you - even if it's only negative - than I'll ever have. She can make you unhappy - if she decides to." "She threw me out." He hadn't meant to say anything - nothing that would open up that wound again - the words had just blurted out. He knew their presence opened up a whole line of discussion he wasn't ready for. He looked over at Vic in sick surprise. The older man sucked air between his teeth. "Why don't you tell me about it?" "You don't want to hear it." "I've got to, Rich. If it relates to you, I need to know - that is, if you're serious about us." Rich looked down at his plate again, accepting Vic's assessment, and sighed. "She's been drinking for more than a month now; and her boss is pretty fed up with it this time." He covered his face with his hands. "She - uh - she keeps picking up these guys in bars. They leave her after a while and she goes on a binge." "How long has this been going on?" Vic asked quietly, trying to assimilate this aspect of the boy he'd known more than eight years. "Ever since I can remember." "Doesn't she know she ought to be careful?" "She is - usually. She's only messed up once - uh-" His eyes widened in surprise. "Maybe twice - even though we've never talked about that other one." Vic's brow knitted. "What kind of mess ups?" "My sister." Rich blushed. "And, maybe, me too." His face showed the kaleidoscope of emotions the realization was forcing him into. Vic's mind seemed to stop functioning for long moments; he just stared at the younger man holding his hand. Then, feverishly, it started back up, trying to sort out this new information. "Are you suggesting you two are illegitimate?" "My sister is. I - uh - sort of guess I am too." He hung his head in shame at the admission. Vic snorted then. "Well, guy, I'm glad Ruby Dailey messed up at least once." He looked up into the violet eyes trying to understand. Vic laughed. "If she hadn't, you wouldn't be around. And-" He paused, garnering the man's attention. "Then, I wouldn't be confronted with the problem of going from liking the boy who's my son's buddy to loving a young man who's beautiful and intelligent - and a rutting pig in bed." They both laughed - Rich's tension which had been there since the conversation began melting away. "I love you, Vic Marshall," he mumbled and grasped the man's hand tight. "Yeah, well, I'd better love you too now that I've got you living with me." "And sleeping with you." "I'm beginning to think you don't sleep - you're too damned horny to sleep!" They both laughed again. "Eat your breakfast before it gets totally cold," Vic told him finally and watched in silence as he cleaned his plate, eating slowly now and with the manners he'd learn-ed at Vic's table rather than his mother's. "Do you think your mother'll let me help?" Vic asked later as he started the car. He'd backed up along the driveway and pulled into the street before Rich answered. "She might," he said thoughtfully. "She likes you - maybe, respects you is closer to the truth." "What can I do for her?" "I don't know, Vic. I can't imagine where her head's at right now." "I guess I'll just walk in blind then." "You're going over there?" He stared at the other man in disbelief. He'd never considered the possibility of this man involving himself, not with Ruby. "She deserves to know where you are - I'd want to know if it were David." He grinned. "I'll just play it by ear, I guess." * * * The Jaguar pulled up beside the curb and Rich opened the door to get out. "Do you like working here?" Vic asked as his eyes took in the bay side of the automobile customizing shop. Rich shrugged. "It's a job." The older man grinned suddenly. "Where's this hunk who got you so hot you finally started dreaming about my bed?" Rich glanced over at him in surprise. "That one over there - the guy with the dirty blond hair." "The one with muscles on his muscles?" "Yeah - his name's Ron." "I don't see where I look much like him." Rich Dailey grinned then, carefree and happy again with this man who was now his lover and who also was taking over responsibility for his mother and sister. "You don't - it's just that you both are sort of nice to be around." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Well-" Vic drew it out, building whatever suspense he could. "Just don't get as close to him as you have to me." Rich squeezed his hand quickly and got out of the car. "Don't worry about that ever happening, Vic - I'm all yours." He watched as the car pulled away before turning toward the time clock at the back of the building. He smiled at a couple of the men he worked with as he passed them and punched his card in. "Who was that, big Rich?" He turned at the sound of the voice and was looking into the round face of the only person in the company who'd made a major effort to befriend him and the only one he was afraid of. "Who's that, Ron?" he forced himself to ask. "The guy in the white Jaguar who just left you off?" There was the hint of a knowing smirk on the other man's face that grated on Rich. "Nosey, aren't we?" "Just curious, I guess." The man smiled good-naturedly. "I wouldn't want you getting your ass into any trouble." "He's a friend's father - and a good friend himself." "Yeah? Well-" The blond man looked disheartened. Rich's answer hadn't been the one he'd expected and, at the same time, it meant the slim, good looking boy he'd been trying to score had money and the escape it offered. "I just didn't know you were in with the rich set is all." He started to turn away and thought better of it. "By the way, when are you coming over for that beer?" he asked, keeping his voice noncommittal. "I don't know, Ron - sometime. But, right now, there's a whole lot going on in my life and I feel like I'm always busy just putting out the brush fires." "Yeah, well - just let me know. How're you getting home this afternoon?" "I hadn't thought about it." He scratched his head. "I guess I'll ask Vic to pick me up." "I've got a car." Rich looked directly at the man then. "I can give you a ride." Rich was pretty sure what Ron wanted. People didn't push a guy to have beers with them or let them drive him home unless they wanted something from him. Rich was sure it was his ass that Ron wanted. The man smiled. "Let me know, okay?" "I don't want to be any trouble," he answered, knowing full well that, if Vic hadn't been there for him yesterday, he'd be accepting this man's offer now. "It sure wouldn't be any trouble." Rich was sure the man glanced down at the front of his jeans. "None at all." "Maybe - I'll see what's coming down. I'll let you know-" He began to edge away from the time clock and the other man. He knew he'd left things hanging, but he had to get the man off his case somehow. Now he had Vic, he was even more afraid of what this man could do to him than he had been before. Because there was something about Ron that drew him even now he had Vic, something almost feral - and totally sexual - that had nothing to do with trust and love. "Sure, big Rich - let me know. See you later." Chapter Six Ruby Dailey'd been on a three-week binge when she opened the door of the flat and peered out at the man standing in the sun-lighted hallway, trying to focus on him and remember who he was. "I'm Vic Marshall, David's father," he offered, keeping his surprise at her appearance from his voice. "Oh, yeah," she tried to smile. "I remember you." She ran her fingers through dirty, stringy hair in a vain attempt to shape it. "How's little Davey?" "Well-" Vic forced himself to smile. "He's not so little any more - he's off to Harvard in the autumn." He realized immediately that he'd said the wrong thing by bringing up the university. "Look, could I step inside - I'd like to speak with you about Richard." The woman appeared uncertain for a moment but shrugged and stepped back, opening the door for him. She made an attempt at wiping the coffee table with her sleeve but there had been too many drinks spilled on it for her to be successful. The worn carpet was littered with beer cans and discarded clothes. The smell of stale beer mixed with cheap Scotch hung in the air of the room. She waved him toward the one chair in the room and collapsed wearily onto the couch. Vic remained standing. "Mrs. Dailey-" "It's Ruby - call me Ruby." "Ruby, I thought you might like to know about your son." "He - I just needed a little piece of change - and he got all huffy about loaning it to me." Her chin quivered as if she was going to start crying. "Kids can sometimes be like that - but the reason I came over was to let you know he's staying at my house." "With his little buddy, Davey?" she asked. Vic glanced at her quickly. Her expression was too blank for her to have meant anything by her choice of words. "Yes," he answered slowly, giving form to the lie. "He's safe and being well taken care of." "That's good to hear." "Only - well ..." He glanced around the room. "I'm concerned about you - your daughter too. I'll be glad to help in any way I can." "I can manage to pull through - I always have," she told him, seeming to preen as the idea of success began to grow in her. "This time, though, you don't seem to be in good shape," Vic answered back and saw the woman's pride wilt as quickly as it'd grown within her. "Is there somebody - family - I can call?" The woman's face showed sudden fright at the suggestion. "No!" Ruby answered quickly. "There ain't nobody south of Boston - and I sure as shit ain't calling them assholes." "Okay, I can understand that," he offered placatingly. "But how about a friend here in this area?" "Ain't got none," she mumbled, tears forming in her eyes. "I'll get by - I always do, Mr. Marshall. So, maybe, you ought to stop worrying about us." "I know you do a pretty good job, Ruby - all I have to do is look at your son to know you do a very good job." The woman relaxed, finding comfort in his words. He decided to plunge in then. All she could do was kick him out. "But you're pretty well stymied right now. And you've got a little girl who needs to be cared for while you work your way out of the trap you're in." "Lordy, don't I know it," she wailed and Vic watched the dam burst inside her, her face a kaleidoscope of her emotions and thoughts. Vic found he was leading her easily. In less than a half-hour, Ruby had agreed to enter a detox program in Arlington and an ambulance was on its way for her. Before the woman was helped from the apartment complex, he had her daughter packing to come visit her brother. He was relieved by how easily things had worked out. They couldn't have gone better if he'd planned them. Vic drove the girl to the customizing shop and used her presence to get the Rich's boss to give him the rest of the day off. He didn't know anything about the little girl and felt he needed her brother to keep Christine calm while he was putting their mother's affairs in order. Rich and shot Vic a quizzical look when he arrived at the office and opened his mouth to say something. "I got you off for the rest of the day," Vic told the lanky teen-ager quickly. "Why?" Rich glanced from Vic to his boss and back again. "Your sister needs you a lot more than your boss does at this moment." He smiled quickly at the man who'd just agreed to give Rich Dailey the rest of the day off. "Christie?" he gasped. "What's wrong with her?" "She's just a little confused and upset - nothing we can't handle once we're in the car." There was warning in his voice and Rich caught it. He went quickly to punch out and trotted out to the Jaguar as Vic was leaving the office. "Mommy got sick, Richie," the girl told him as he got into the car, taking her hand in hers. "The ambulance came and got her." Her face was lighted up with a smile now that she had her brother with her. "Sick?" He glanced back at Vic approaching them. "What's the matter with Mom?" he asked out the window, still holding his sister's hand. "In the car, old man," Vic cautioned and walked around the car. He got behind the wheel and turned the car on before he faced the others. "I got your mother to agree to go into detox, Rich. The hospital she's in has a four-week program for alcoholics." "Alcoholics?" "Hey, kids - how about something to eat. You wouldn't be hungry, would you, Christie?" The girl accepted the situation easily now she had her big brother with her, not that she hadn't gone along with her mother being taken away and riding out to the customizing shop with Vic. She was still a child though, and Vic Marshall felt much more comfortable now Rich was with her to keep things going smoothly. Christie put her fist under her chin and seriously considered the man's offer. She smiled back at him after a couple of seconds. "I guess I am a little bit, Uncle Vic. How about you, Richie?" She was gazing at her big brother, and Vic could see that she adored him. Watching the two Dailey children across the table of the fast food restaurant, he suddenly realized what he was doing. He'd taken on the responsibility for an eighteen-year old who might or might not be responsible on his own. And he'd also taken on an eight-year old girl --as well as, in something less than a month, their mother. His very quiet and ordered life had just been thrown out the window and he wasn't at all sure of what he was getting in return. The enormity of what he'd committed staggered him. Taking in Rich and giving vent to his long-held fantasies about the youth had led him to this point inexorably. Yet, he didn't see what he could have done differently. Rich Dailey needed him, his help. And he had also been ready for what Vic had to offer. That led the man to Ruby Dailey and her hospitalization - which had led to taking the girl under his wing. Vic found Christine Dailey cute as well as endearing. And he ruefully admitted to himself that it would only be a matter of a few days before he was as committed to her as he had been to her older brother when he'd met him. "All right, you two, Rich and I have to do some serious talking." "What about, Uncle Vic?" the girl asked quickly, ignoring the implied exclusion of her. "About you, dear girl." "What about me?" She turned enormously large and quizzical eyes on him and held him with them. He grinned. "About how we're going to cut you up and serve you at the state dinner I'm having tomorrow night for this tribe of visiting cannibals." She looked startled and glanced quickly at her brother, ready to jump up and run. She saw the amusement dancing in Rich's violet eyes and knew then that Vic Marshall was kidding her. She grinned back at him. "All right, I'll be quiet, Uncle Vic." "That'll be very good of you. Now, I'm suggesting we leave you off at the house - so you can get settled and, perhaps, watch some telly - while your brother and I do what we must to -well - close the books on the past." "Is this a nice house we're going to, Richie?" she asked with sudden solemnity. He laughed. "Christie, you're going to love it - it's got a yard and woods, lots of rooms - it's a very nice house." "Well-" She glanced from her brother to the man she'd only met that morning when he'd come to her friend's to pick her up. "I guess it's okay if you boys leave me there - but only for a little while." Rich watched from the door as his sister began to unpack her suitcase in the spare bedroom of Vic's house. He'd brought the box of her toys in from the car and placed it at the foot of the bed. He smiled at her when she glanced back at him over her shoulder. Vic had moved right in and taken over, doing things Rich had never thought of, that he'd never known were even possible. All he had to do was walk into the older man's life and turn his ass up for him to take. "Rich-" He turned and saw the man at the foot of the stairs motioning him to himself. He pulled himself away from his sister and joined the older man. "We ought to put everything in your house in storage. Let them start over fresh when Ruby is ready to stand on her own two feet again." Rich nodded, accepting the man's decision unquestioningly. "Okay," Vic continued, "that means a storage unit and a truck to tote the stuff - do you want me to hire people to load it up and cart it?" Rich started to nod his acquiescence again. Since Christie's birth, he had avoided the kids in school and their barbs. Everyone except David Marshall. Vic's son was somewhere in the south for the summer, however - with his mother. Other than Dave, he didn't know anyone who could or would help. Except Ron from work. For a moment more, he considered the other man - and wondered if he could keep his pants up while he was around him. "There may be one guy," he answered finally. He didn't want Vic helping him pack up his mother's - his family's - past. Something inside him resisted that, demanding he do it himself - that he be responsible. "Why don't I find out if he'll help me move before you go and hire people?" He knew Vic was ready to help him. The man, however, had done too much already for him - and his family. Besides, he wanted to keep the flat in Bellhaven and the past it represented, private. Not secret, just private. He decided he'd take his chances with Ron's interest in him to keep it that way. Vic nodded and smiled. "Okay. Then, give him a ring and see if he's available, kiddo - I'll make sure Christine knows her way around the house." Rich had the distinct feeling Vic Marshall was proud of his desire to take responsibility for closing the door to his - and his family's - past. It was almost as if he'd made the right decision in foregoing Vic's help. He picked up the telephone and called Ron. It was late as they sat on the sofa in the living room sipping at their drinks. Christie had already gone to bed and was asleep. Vic glanced over at Rich and took one of his hands in his. "How are we going to do this, luv?" he asked. "Do what?" "Be lovers - with your sister in the next bedroom?" He glanced upward, indicating the bedrooms above them. Rich stared at the man, his surprise apparent in his face. "We go to bed - just like we did last night. Is there something wrong with that-" He grinned even as he started to blush. "especially if I don't carry on like I was last night?" "No, of course not. Not if you handle it right with her - if both of us do." "We just can't be too mushy out here when she's around." Rich unbuttoned the other man's shirt and leaned over to run his ton-gue over the man's closest nipple. "And talking about being mushy-" Vic rose and stood before the younger man. "May I kiss you?" he asked formally. "Only if you're going to fuck me good afterward." He grinned and said: "You're a demanding little bastard." "And horny too." Grinning, he reached up and took Vic's hands. "Lift me," he demanded and smiled when the older man pulled him to his feet. "Why don't I take you upstairs to my parlor - there's a very big bed there." Vic snorted and, then, kissed him. Later, when he was holding an especially hot, hard, and spongy portion of the man's anatomy in his left hand and the nape of the man's neck in his other hand, Rich held out a hand to stop him from kissing him. "What about Mom's job?" he asked. "She doesn't have one - not any more." "Who's going to pay for the hospital then?" "The state - or me, if they can get me to." He frowned. "What about the apartment then?" "She was already two months behind in the rent," Vic sighed and released the man beneath him. "I think it might be better all the way around if she started all over again once she's put her life together again." "But how? Vic, there isn't any money there. There never was - we always lived hand to mouth." The older man smiled slightly. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, everybody's been taken care of - except me." He bent forward and caught a nipple between his teeth. His right hand found the part of the boy that had been so hard and spongy only moments earlier. He smiled happily when he found that it was still in that condition - waiting for him. Chapter Seven Tears rimmed his eyes as Rich drove the hired truck into the car park of the small, failing strip mall on Bellhaven across from the apartment buildings he'd known as home until two days earlier. Home. It hadn't been much; he known that for a long time - since he'd been going over Vic's with Dave. Still, though, it hadn't all been bad either. Bellhaven was probably a better place than most for a kid to grow up. And Ruby Dailey hadn't always been out of her mind on cheap booze and useless men. He'd gotten through eighteen years without any real scars he knew about. People left each other alone, minding their own business. He smiled through the tears wetting his eyes. It had been pretty good. It wouldn't have, if he hadn't known the Marshalls while he was growing up. There weren't any of the guys he'd known in Bellhaven who spent a week every summer on Cape Cod. Or had a man like Vic Marshall filing down life's rough edges while they were growing up. Or knew how much better life could be with enough money. He pulled the hem of his tee-shirt up to wipe his eyes as he pulled his thoughts back from the apartments and the life he'd had there. That was the past - the good times and the bad. He was a man now and had to start thinking like one. For one thing, he needed to stop getting all wimpy when he remembered growing up. He sure as hell wasn't going to start acting girlish like those two men at the restaurant - even if he had turned out queer. He wasn't locking his life away; he was just moving the junk his family'd collected in the course of that life. For another thing, he was going to be strong and not let Ron take over his life and run it. It was his life and it was pretty tightly tied to Vic Marshall. He sure as hell didn't need the man from the customizing shop playing with his head until he was confused enough to drop his pants and spread his legs. Even if he didn't love Vic Marshall, he couldn't let anything happen that would destroy their relationship together. He bit his lip as he turned into the park. "Maybe I should've just let Vic take care of the whole thing," he mumbled to himself, forgetting his decision to be strong. "Goddamn, why do I have to be so stubborn?" He spied the other man at the far end of the car park and shivered. "Oh, shit!" he yelped. "I'm in for it now." He slowed the truck to a crawl and wished once again he'd let Vic come with him - like the older man had offered to do. His palms were sweaty and he found it hard to keep a grip on the wheel as he drove it the last few yards to where Ron was sitting on the hood of a car so old he didn't recognize it. He forced his fear of the other man from his thoughts. He didn't need anybody's sexual energy but Vic Marshall's. He didn't want it. He told himself resolutely that there would be no way in hell that he'd ever endanger his relationship with Vic for a roll in the hay with this or any other man. But, as he climbed out of the cab, he couldn't resist the pique of curiosity about what it would be like with Ron. Just once. Just to find out if his own sexual appetite came from Vic Marshall - or if it were there with any good looking man who let it be known he was interested in him. He found his eyes drawn to the front of the other man's cut-offs and was able to pull them away only with difficulty. "You're moving out of this dump?" the blond youth greeted him, pointing toward the buildings across the street. At first, all Rich could see were the full, pouty lips as they formed into a smile that threatened to dazzle him. He could imagine what those lips and the teeth behind them could do to him. "Yeah-" For the first time in eight years he felt shame. "I must be fucking crazy doing this," Ron groaned. "On my one day off too." "I'll pay you," he responded quickly. "I sure as hell expect you to, big Rich. Shit! We might as well go ahead and get started." "Yeah - I've got boxes and everything we'll need in the back of the lorry." "Let's get this show on the road then," Ron said and rubbed the inside of his hands across the front of his shorts and started for the hired lorry. Rich pulled up beside the curb in front of the building where he had lived and stopped. "Your boy must be rich as all shit to hire you a sixteen footer," the other man observed lazily. "I don't know; he's a writer and puts out some kind of national newsletter." He climbed down out of the cab and started for the door of the ground-floor flat with Ron following closely behind him. Entering the living room, he cringed at the litter that greeted them. Ron whistled his surprise. "Hey!" he grunted, feeling shame flooding over him again. "It wasn't all that bad." He found himself wanting this man's approval and didn't understand why. "Hey, man, I'm not turning up my nose. Shit! I live the other side of Route One in a dump just as bad." "So you know?" Rich stared at him dubiously. The blond man snorted. "Shit! I'm twenty years old and ran away from home in the West Virginia coal country four years ago. Now, I live with an old man who doesn't know how to face a day without a case of beer." "Yeah, I can imagine - sounds like my Mom." "Only, this old man ain't my Dad." Rich stopped short and decided to ignore the implications in the other man's statement. He could feel Ron getting to him - his proximity and their being alone together. His own curiosity. He didn't need anything else drawing him even closer to the man. There was more than enough sexual energy already between them as it was. "Maybe, we ought to get started," he suggested, glancing at the kitchen entrance, and decided to start there. He took a step toward the room as Ron stuck out a hand to stop him. "Uh - maybe we ought to discuss this thing first, big Rich?" Ron's eyes were on his as he turned to face him. "I said I'd pay you." He found he couldn't face the other man and he was shivering at the touch of his hand on his arm. "Will fifty be enough?" "Actually, I had something else in mind." Rich stiffened. He accepted absolutely now that he should have permitted Vic to pay men to move the Daileys out. His pride had stood in the way of good judgement. But then he hadn't expected Ron to be so blatant. Or been prepared for his own betrayal either. He was hard and he wanted to make it with this man. Again, he felt shame sweep over him. "What do you want, Ron?" he forced himself to ask. The other man grinned. "I sure could use a piece of that cute ass of yours." Rich stared at him, his eyes wide. "Shit! I-" He stared down at his hands, his face burning brightly. "Come on, Rich. You can't fib to an old fibber, okay? I been getting boyass since I was fourteen - I know when a guy's that way." "You're saying I'm queer," he moaned and wished he could show some of the anger he knew he should be showing. But he was queer and he wanted the man. "Yep!" Ron grinned and placed his hand on Rich's neck. "Whether you admit it or not, you got sugar in your tank - and I sure do like the looks of your booty, son." "Christ!" He slammed his fist into the door jamb. "God, why can't we just be friends?" he moaned and wished that was all he wanted right now. Ron laughed. "We can, good buddy - and, right now, I'm going to give you what you want in a couple of different ways, and you're going to give me what I want - what else are friends for?" He grinned as Rich's eyes came up to meet his. "Ron-" Tears of frustration welled in his eyes. "Well?" "Goddamn it! Okay. Vic Marshall's my lover - and I really do love him," Rich admitted and hoped somehow his admission would be enough to make the other man back off. He already knew he didn't have enough will power to stop what was going to happen himself. "He's even taking care of my mother and sister for me." "And you feel a real debt to him for that?" Ron asked, his hand still on Rich's neck but unmoving. "I - yes - sure, I do. But I love him too. Christ! I don't want anybody else." He glanced down at the front of the other man's cut-offs and gasped at the size of the bulge that had grown there. "I've got rubbers, baby - the deal's going down like this." He stroked Rich's hair slowly and smiled. "I get one roll in the hay now, one when we finish up here and, then, one more when we've finished unloading at your storage bin." Rich stared at the other man in disbelief. "You're fucking crazy!" he managed to growl even as he accepted he was going to finally have the man who'd made him accept himself. Ron's smile. It held him as the man's hand descended down his neck onto his bare shoulder and moved to his nearest nipple. "I can call Vic right now and he'll pay for men to come in here and move this shit." Even as he spoke the words, he remembered the satisfied look on the older man's face when he'd refused his help. Fingers encircled his nipple and were gently beginning to tweak it. "Go ahead," Ron offered huskily. "If you want the man to have to do everything for you, you ought to call him - and, next time you take a shit, you can ask him to wipe you ass too." The man's other hand came from nowhere and began to unbutton Rich's shorts. "Don't." His voice was a weak protest and he knew it. It wasn't even a real protest and Ron didn't treat it as such. The first hand dropped down to join the one working the front of his pants. Rich felt himself responding just as the hands slipped beneath his briefs. One found his cock while the other one moved over his hip onto his asscheek. He moaned. What he wanted was more than a hand just kneading his ass. What he'd come to call the itch in his ass flared hungrily. "Take mine, big Rich," the other man's voice whispered against his ear. He couldn't remember Ron's voice being so low and husky, or so near. Obediently, he reached across the inches separating them and found the exposed erection waiting for him. "Rich," the voice next to his ear called to him, pulling his attention to it. "You know you want it. Let's go find your bed, baby - you lead us there." His hand still cupped around the man's cock, Rich led him through the living room to his old bedroom. At the doorway, he turned to the blond, his resistance momentarily stiffening. "Please, Ron-" He knew he was begging. He wanted the man's cock inside him and he knew taking one more step, entering the room before them, would mean there was no stopping it from happening. And he knew he shouldn't. He'd given himself to Vic. Ron smiled and kissed him, taking him into his arms. He melted against him immediately, surrendering to the man who held him, wanting him like he'd wanted him since the first day he'd met him. Nothing else seemed real. "Let's get on the bed, honey," Ron told him and led him into the room. He followed him slowly, unthinkingly, but enjoying his visual feast of the naked man waiting for him beside the bed. He was on the bed facing the other man and didn't remember walking across the room. Ron's fingertips moved along his legs, barely touching them, tickling the hair on them, raising his sexual need to new heights. He opened his eyes and saw as the other man open a foil packet and lift a condom from it. He watched with increasing anticipation as it slipped over the head of Ron's cock and began to unroll slowly down along its thick shaft. "Ron?" Rich managed, but the man grinned down at him as he raised his legs onto his chest, pushing his knees onto his shoulders. "Please - oh, shit! Hurry up and just give it to me." He didn't understand his wanting the other man. It was crazy - yet, somehow, it didn't matter. He just needed the other man fucking him. And nothing else mattered. He was going to get the man he'd been dreaming of the past two-weeks. Ron bent over him. His face swam closer to Rich's until their lips touched. Rich surrendered to the tongue that moved past his lips and possessed him. At his lovechute, he could feel the man's cock mindlessly searching along his crack too possess him there as well. It found the entry into him then and pushed steadily against his inner ring. Instinctively, he grasped his own cock and began to stroke it as he capitulated to the cock as marched triumphantly into him. * * * As the sun sank into the trees beyond the chain-link fence of the storage facility Rich lay in the dusty bed of the emptied lorry, his body smeared with cum, dust, and sweat. His ass tingled from the workout Ron had just given it. And he was sated. He gazed up in the near darkness at the other man. "You've got one hot ass there, big Rich," Ron offered with a chuckle as he pulled on his briefs. "I'm glad you liked it," he mumbled, enjoying the satisfaction still possessed him. "I guess we'd better get back over to Bellhaven and let me get my ass home." "Home!" Rich yelped and sat up, suddenly seeing Vic staring at him and knowing his betrayal. "Yeah, I guess you'll go home, get cleaned up, kiss your little sister goodnight, and give the old man a little." Ron began to pull on his cut-offs, fumbling with them in the dark. "See you tomorrow at work?" "Work?" "Come on, get your clothes on, man." the blond yelped as his hand touched Rich's hip and found he was still naked. "I-" Rich sobbed and tears began to roll down his cheeks. He hadn't even been faithful for two days. All he could see was his little sister asking him why Uncle Vic didn't want them any more. Ron squatted beside him. "What's the matter, honey?" "Vic's going to know. He's going to throw us out!" he wailed. "No, he won't - he can't, Rich, honey." The man put his arms around him and hugged him to him. "A shower gets rid of the dirt and sweat - and the cum you've got all over you." "What about the cum up my ass, Ron? What about that?" "I used rubbers every time. You ain't got nothing up your ass, baby - and your little love muscle'll be back tight as ever in another hour or so. Your old man'll never know unless you tell him - believe me." "But you'll spread it all over work that I'm gay." "Why? If I did that, everybody'll know how I know." He snickered. "Besides, you ought to have guessed from what I've said that I like dick too - almost as much as I like booty." "You do?" Rich stared back at him in surprise. "Sure, I do, honey." "Then, why did you want to fuck me?" he groaned, trying to understand the other man. Ron laughed. "I sort of like being the fucker more than the fuckee. But - shit - I get off either way." He was silent for a moment. "Tell you what - next time we get it on together, I'll let you fuck me." "If I get through this, there's not going to be a next time!" "If that's what you want." Ron shrugged carelessly. "I'm going to be your friend if you'll let me and - well - if you ever want to add a little spice in your life, I'll be happy to be that too." They drove back to the other man's car in silence. As Ron was getting out of the lorry, Rich grabbed his arm. "You really won't tell anybody?" "My lips are sealed, honey - don't worry." He laughed as he slammed the door behind himself. Rich drove slowly home to Vic Marshall and Christie - hoping he could pull off what he was already seeing as the lie of the century. He was sure of only one thing - he wanted Vic more than he'd ever imagined wanting anybody.