RENAGADES & OUTLAWS

By Pink Panther


Everybody just disclaimed again, yeah?

Thanks to all the guys who have written to me recently; the feedback I’ve received has been very gratifying. We have now reached one of the turning points in the story, so read on and enjoy. More feedback is always welcome, of course, so please send your comments to archimedes294@hushmail.com and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

For those of you interested in the music that Renegade play, you can find videos of all the songs referred to on YouTube. I can send specific links on request.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN


Christmas went by much as it always did. Ryan received some very welcome presents, but an electric guitar was not among them. He was only slightly disappointed. Both Mark and his mum had promised he’d get one; he’d have to be patient a while longer. In any case, with his grammar school entrance exam coming up in a few weeks, to be quickly followed by grade five guitar, he had plenty to keep him busy.

And this year the main event would not be Christmas but New Year’s Eve. That would be a night to remember; everything about it seemed exciting. He’d never even visited Mark’s flat, much less stayed there. And as for going to the gig, that was the ultimate, his first opportunity to set foot in an exclusively adult world that he’d never previously been allowed to enter. None of his school friends would be doing anything to compare with it.

Mark collected Ryan and Josh from Rachel’s house just before four o’clock. After saying their goodbyes, and listening to solemn admonitions to behave themselves, the boys stashed their small overnight bags into the back of the Mercedes and they were on their way. By the time they reached the city centre it was already dark, adding to their sense of anticipation. Mark turned the car off the ring road, heading towards the city’s financial district, a further left turn taking them into the underground car-park of his apartment building. Having parked in his designated space, he allowed the boys to retrieve their bags and led the way to the lift.

On reaching the fourth floor, they stepped out onto a bright, well-appointed landing that gave the building an air of opulence and sophistication. Mark opened the door to his apartment, following the boys inside. Ryan looked round is wonderment. The hardwood floors, the concealed lighting, the plain white walls decorated with abstract art; everything about the place spelt out the word ‘cool’.

“Wow! This place is wicked!” he commented.

Josh was impressed too; he was used to living a beautiful big house, but when compared to Mark’s flat, even that looked suburban and ordinary. Mark directed them into the guest room, where they deposited their bags. They stepped back out into the entrance hall.

“This is the holy of holies,” Mark said quietly, indicating the room directly opposite theirs, “my room, in other words.”

Ryan peered inside. It looked even cooler than the rest of the flat.

“I’ve got my own wet room through there,” Mark went on, “So you two can sort the main bathroom out between you. Just try not to make too much of a mess, yeah?”

They nodded their understanding.

“What’s in there?” Ryan enquired, pointing towards a door that sat between their room and the lounge room.

Mark unlocked the door and let them in.

“This is it,” he said, “study, computer room, practice room, whatever. It has its own security system simply because of all the stuff I’ve got in here.”

The boys were dumbstruck; although small, the room had everything; a large computer workstation with two state-of-the-art computers and various other gadgets, a large, comfortable looking chair, and shelves packed with books, files and dvd’s. On the floor below the shelves were three guitar cases, a small holdall, and an amplifier bearing the name ‘Marshall’. They strolled back into the large lounge room. The boys flopped down on the black leather sofa, facing the large flat-screen television. Mark sat on the adjacent armchair.

“I can walk into the office from here,” he said quietly. “It takes less than five minutes. By car, the rehearsal studios we use are five minutes away, the Crown & Anchor’s about ten and the shopping centre roughly the same. It works for me.”

“You must earn a fortune to be able to afford a place like this!” Ryan said.

“Well, I was very lucky, of course,” Mark said gently. “We got a very good price when we sold your grandma’s house. I was able to buy this place with a much smaller mortgage than I’d have needed otherwise. And being an actuary isn’t the world’s most glamorous profession, but it does pay very well.”

“Better than being the deputy manager of jobcentre?” Ryan asked pointedly.

“Quite a bit better,” Mark agreed. “Well, I’m going to get some dinner ready. Steak and chips okay?”

The boys nodded enthusiastically.

“The remotes for the telly and that are on the table,” he continued. “I’m sure you can sort yourselves out something to watch. It’ll be about half an hour.”

He disappeared into the kitchen. Ryan loaded a dvd into the player. They sat back to watch.

“Tonight, after we get back,” Josh whispered, “will we be able to . . . , you know?”

“Yeah, course!” Ryan said grinning. “We can’t sleep in the same room and not do anything!”

“Wicked!” Josh breathed, his eyes sparkling.


0 o 0 o 0 o 0


They arrived at the Crown and Anchor at five to eight. The boys helped to unload the car. Mark gave them a guitar each to carry then picked up the holdall.

“Can you manage this as well?” he asked Ryan. “It’s not heavy.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ryan agreed.

Mark took out his amplifier and the suit-bag containing his stage clothes, locked the car and led the way up to the concert room. The other members of the band were already busy setting up.

“Here he is,” one of them commented. “Last as usual!”

Mark grinned; he was last to arrive, but he’d be set up well before some of the others. A tall, slim boy was sitting on the far side of the room, close to the stage.

“That’s Damian, Shaun’s son” he said quietly to Ryan and Josh. “Shaun’s our vocalist. Damian’s thirteen or fourteen; I’m not quite sure.”

They strolled across to him.

“Hi Damian” Mark said brightly. “This is my nephew Ryan and his friend Josh.”

“Hi!” Damian said smiling.

“You go to Newton Valley,” Josh announced. “I’ve seen you around school.”

Damian grinned and nodded.

“I didn’t know you lived round there,” Mark queried.

“We don’t,” Damian explained. “We live about five miles away. When I didn’t get into grammar school I got offered a place there because of my music.”

“Oh, I see,” Mark said. “Well these guys are muzos too, so you should have plenty in common.” He passed Damian a five pound note. “The bar staff know you, so If they want anything to drink will you get it for them please? If it comes to any more than that I’ll settle up with you afterwards.”

He strolled off to begin setting up. Josh and Ryan sat down at the table with Damian.

“So have you just started at the High School?” Damian asked.

“Yeah,” Josh told him.

“I’m still in juniors,” Ryan explained.

“Coming to the High School next year?” Damian queried.

“I’ll be going to the grammar school if I pass the exam,” Ryan said.

“He’ll pass,” Josh added, grinning.

“I’d better,” Ryan commented. “Mum won’t be very happy if I don’t.”

“So what d’you play?” Josh enquired.

“My main instrument’s cello,” Damian said. “I started on violin, but switched to cello a few years ago when everyone saw how big I was getting. When I started at the High School I took up bass guitar as well.”

“So d’you play in a band?” Josh asked.

“Myself and a couple of friends, Zac and Greg, are just getting one together,” Damian told them. Greg plays drums; Zac sings and writes the songs. He plays a bit of guitar and a bit of keyboards, but he wouldn’t call himself a guitarist or a keyboard player. So what about you guys?”

“I play guitar,” Ryan said quietly.

“That figures!” Damian responded, smiling. “Mark’s a superb player.”

“Yeah, well I have a teacher for the classical stuff,” Ryan said, “but Mark’s been teaching me how to play jazz. I’ve never heard him play with a band though; this is the first gig I’ve been allowed to go to.”

“You’ll find it very loud,” Damian said, grinning. “I know I did the first time. They run everything through the PA. They’ve got five kilowatts out front and two kilowatts of foldback. That’s a lot in a room this size. Great sound though.”

Ryan looked towards the stage. The PA system the crew were setting up looked huge. This was definitely going to be loud.

“So what about you?” Damian asked, nodding at Josh.

“Piano,” Josh said, smiling.

“Any good?” Damian asked.

“I just did grade seven,” Josh said.

“Wow! You are good!” Damian said, grinning. “Would you be interested in joining this band we’re starting? We could do with a good keyboard player.”

“Yeah, but I’ve only got my piano at home,” Josh said, screwing his face up.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Damian said, smiling. “When we rehearse at school there are keyboards and amplifiers there that you can use. At weekends we’ll play at Zac’s house; he’s got a keyboard and an amp. He won’t mind you using them.”

“I’ll have to ask my mum but I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Josh said. “Is Zac the kid with the ring through his bottom lip?”

“Yeah, that’s him!” Damian confirmed.

“He’s supposed to be a bit of a rebel, isn’t he?” Josh queried.

“Oh, that’s what he likes people to think,” Damian said, grinning. “He’s not really. He’s very intelligent; you should see the books he’s read. And he writes amazing songs for someone our age. His mum and dad have their own television production company; they’re absolutely loaded. They live in The Old Farmhouse on Broad Oaks Lane. There’s what used to be a small barn next to the main house. Zac’s got his own gaff in there; soundproofed rehearsal room downstairs, then in what used to be the loft he’s got a big bedroom and his own bathroom. Cool or what? I’d love to have my own place like that!”

“Sounds wicked!” Ryan said, grinning.

Ryan and Josh glanced towards the stage. Everything was set up and they were starting the sound check. It was going to be loud; there was no question about it. Having checked all the individual instruments, the band breezed casually through a couple of verses of a song before stopping abruptly in the middle.

“Thanks guys; sounds great!” Shaun called to the sound engineer who was sitting at the large mixing desk at the back of the room.

The rest of the band indicated their agreement, put down their instruments and trooped off the stage. Mark strolled across to the boys.

“You guys okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Ryan responded.

“I’m off downstairs with the rest of the guys,” Mark said, “chill out a little before we start. See you later, okay?”

“Yeah, no problem,” Ryan said. “What time are you going on?”

“Around twenty past ten,” Mark said. “It’s five past nine now, so you’ll have to be patient for a while.”

“That’s cool,” Ryan confirmed.

Mark disappeared out of the concert room. The three boys wandered across to the mixing desk.

“Fuck!” Ryan breathed. “Looks like something out of the NASA Space Centre!”

“Yeah, pretty impressive,” Damian agreed.

They strolled over to the stage. Two guitars were on stands in front of Mark’s amplifier. Ryan had never actually seen them before.

“He plays the Gibson most of the time,” Damian said quietly. “He uses the Ibanez occasionally, but mainly he keeps it as a spare, in case he breaks a string or anything.”

Ryan looked at them longingly; they were beautiful, especially the Gibson. He’d have his own guitar soon, but he knew it wouldn’t be anything like these. He’d seen the guitars in the small music shop in the village; that was the sort of thing he’d get. Even they cost nearly two hundred pounds.

“That’s what I want,” Damian said, pointing to the bass guitar on its stand on the other side of the stage. “It’s an Overwater five-string; wonderful instrument. Paul’s excellent; he says he’s not, but he is.”

“So what have you got?” Ryan asked.

“Westone four-string,” Damian said. “We bought it second-hand. It’s okay, nice sound, decent action; doesn’t compare with the Overwater though.”

They sat down again. The audience was starting to drift in.

“The best thing about sitting here is we can stand on the bench and see over the top of everybody,” Damian told them. “It’s going to be packed tonight.”

They chatted on about this and that. The room was filling up; by quarter past ten it was pretty much full to capacity. Suddenly the door opposite them swung open. Five members of the band entered, stepping up onto the stage.

“They always start with an instrumental,” Damian said. “Then dad comes on.”

Mark strapped on his Gibson guitar and checked with his band mates; they were ready to play. He signalled to the engineer; the background music fell silent. The boys climbed onto the bench, leaning back against the side wall. Mark led the way into the opening tune. Ryan recognised it immediately: the Weather Report classic ‘Birdland’. The boys were spellbound, hanging onto every note. It was very loud, but it wasn’t noisy, the sound rich and powerful. After several choruses, the band brought the tune to a crisp conclusion. The crowd applauded rapturously.

“Wow! They are wicked!” Josh breathed.

Ryan nodded his agreement, his eyes sparkling; they were even better than he’d expected. There had been one slight disappointment though; he was desperate to hear Mark play, but apart from a brief flourish from the saxophone, there had been no solos.

“This is where the real show starts,” Damian told him.

Mark stepped up to his microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the Renegade himself, Mr. Shaun Reeves!”

The far side door swung open. Shaun strode into the room, bounding up onto the stage. He grabbed his microphone stand, pulling it towards him.

Everybody workin’

Workin’ pretty hard

Everybody singing

Singing from the heart

Let me give you my opinion

It doesn’t mean a thing

If you haven’t got

The ability to swing

Ryan could hardly believe how aggressive the music was. He’d known it would be good, but somehow he’d expected it to be quite restrained. Instead, the music had a rawness to it, a hard edge, Shaun’s growling, snarling vocals simply the icing on the cake. They were rocking! The vocals gave way to a searing guitar solo, Mark’s inventiveness and technical proficiency coming to the fore, every note ringing out. Ryan was ecstatic, the warm, incisive sound stinging his ears. This was it, his destiny; one day he’d make a guitar sound like that. Over the next forty minutes one great song followed another, with more stunning solos from Mark, saxophonist Keith and keyboard player Craig. Another song finished.

“Thank you!” Shaun rasped. “We’re going to take a short break; we’ll see you all again in about half an hour.”

They stepped off the stage and retreated to the band room. The boys sat down.

“Wow!” Josh gasped. “They were amazing! I’m going to be deaf tomorrow!”

“You’ll be fine,” Damian assured him.

“Fuck!” Ryan said emphatically. “They were somethin’ else; fuckin’ unbelievable! Mark was wicked! I’ve heard loads of guitarists on record, but it’s nothin’ like hearing it live; the sound was incredible!”

“I told you he was good,” Damian reminded him. “And it’ll get even wilder in the second set.”

At quarter to twelve the band returned. As the clock struck midnight they played ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Around the room, people linked hands and joined in enthusiastically. The show resumed. Damian was right, Ryan noted; it was even wilder than the first set had been. Almost before they knew it, it was one o’clock.

“We’ve got time for one more,” Shaun growled, “but before that will you please show your appreciation for Ian Southall on drums, Paul Grainger on bass, Craig Fairhurst on keyboards, Mark Connolly on guitar and Keith Brookham on saxophone!”

The crowd went wild, applauding uproariously as each name was announced.

“Let’s Get Stoned!” someone called out, a request for the old Ray Charles song.

“Sorry, what d’you want?” Shaun responded.

“Let’s Get Stoned!” came the response, the original caller augmented by several others.

“What was that?” Shaun teased, expertly playing the crowd. “I can’t hear you!”

“Let’s Get Stoned!” almost everyone roared back at him.

Ian counted them in and they were off. There was no doubt as to why the crowd had requested it. Although Shaun had been superb on every song, on this one his plaintive, soulful vocal was his best performance of the night.

After a quite breathtaking solo from Keith and some vocal pyrotechnics from Shaun, it was over. The crowd erupted, applauding, stamping their feet and shouting for more.

“You want more?” Shaun demanded.

“More! More! More!” the audience responded.

Shaun looked over towards the bar. The barman put his thumb up. They kicked into James Taylor’s ‘Your Smiling Face’, putting in another barnstorming performance before finally leaving the stage.

As the crowd began to leave the boys resumed their seats, watching the stage crew break down the PA system. After about ten minutes Mark appeared, dressed once more in his ordinary clothes.

“Enjoy it?” he asked.

“Yeah, man!” Ryan enthused. “It was fantastic! There was no way I expected it to be as good as that!”

“Yeah, it was wicked!” Josh agreed.

“Great!” Mark responded, smiling. “I’m just going to get my gear together and we’ll be off. It’s time we were in bed; I’m knackered!”

Twenty minutes later they were back in Mark’s flat.

“Want a drink before we hit the sack?” he asked.

“Tea please,” Ryan said.”

“And for me too, please,” Josh added.

The slumped around the lounge room drinking hot, milky tea.

“So it was worth coming then?” Mark teased.

“Yeah, man!” Ryan said. “That last tune, where you and Keith kept swapping solos; that was wicked! I’m going to practise even harder now!”

“Yeah, that’s a great tune to play on and Keith’s superb at trading fours, really makes me play. And the other guys do a fantastic job; you can’t forget them.”

“I liked the way you did ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, Josh offered. “I’ve never heard it played like that.”

“Thanks,” Mark said warmly. “That’s the most difficult thing we play by quite some margin. We adapted the arrangement from a Diane Reeves album. It took lots of work to get it right, so I’m very pleased you enjoyed it.”

They finished their drinks.

“Okay, time for bed,” Mark said. “I’m going to leave you guys to it; I’m gone.”

They headed into their respective rooms. Ryan and Josh stripped down to their underwear then took turns to use the bathroom. Finally they were ready.

“Come on then,” Ryan whispered, running his hand over the front of Josh’s briefs.

“Already?” Josh queried.

“Yeah!” Ryan confirmed. “Mark’s got his own bathroom, yeah? We’ll be fine as long as we keep it quiet.”

Across in the master bedroom, Mark pottered around, giving himself more time to unwind. It had been a great night, one of the best gigs they’d ever done. The crowd had been bang up for it and they’d risen to the occasion. In his opinion, they’d never played better. Finally he began to undress. He was down to his boxer briefs when he noticed that he didn’t have his wristwatch. He’d taken it off when he’d gone into the kitchen; it was still there. Although it wasn’t important, he always slept with it on; he’d have to go and get it.

He stepped out into the hall. A light was shining through the fanlight above the guest room door. He listened for a moment; there was complete silence. The boys must have gone to sleep with the light on, he concluded. Very quietly, he opened the door, intending to turn it off. His eyes widened. Josh and Ryan were lying naked on bed nearest the door where they were performing a sixty nine. He swallowed hard. He’d known for weeks that Josh was having sex with Tommy, but he hadn’t expected Ryan to be involved; there’d been not the slightest hint of it in the boy’s behaviour.

Lying facing the door, Ryan saw it open. He stopped, almost in panic, but after little more than a second, it closed again. He gave a sigh of relief. For the moment, the danger had passed, and from the way that Josh had kept right on sucking his penis, it seemed that he hadn’t noticed a thing. Ryan shrugged and got back to his task; right then there seemed to be no reason not to.


0 o 0 o 0 o 0


Ryan shook himself awake. It was already light. He checked the time; it was quarter past nine. He looked across to the other bed. There were no signs of life. He got up and made his way to the bathroom for a piss. He was worried. Mark had chosen not to confront them about what they’d been doing the previous night, but he’d almost certainly want to deal with it before he took them home. He didn’t dare think what the outcome might be.

He plodded back to the bedroom. Josh was stirring.

“Are you awake?” Ryan asked.

“Mmmm!” Josh responded, still sounding sleepy. He sat up suddenly. “I’m bursting for a pee!” he announced.

He got out of bed and trotted off, leaving Ryan to crawl back into bed. A couple of minutes later he was back.

“Get in with me,” Ryan said. “I need to talk to you.”

“What about Mark?” Josh questioned.

“It won’t matter, just get in,” Ryan insisted.

Josh pulled a face and got in.

“It’s about last night,” Ryan said. “Mark came in while we were . . . , you know. He must have seen what we were doing.”

“You mean he came in to perv on us,” Josh said accusingly.

“I don’t think so,” Ryan said. “He opened the door, had a look in and closed it again. You were facing the other way; you wouldn’t have seen him.”

“So why did he come in?” Josh demanded.

“Dunno,” Ryan admitted, “but if he’d wanted to perv on us he’d have stayed longer than that, wouldn’t he?”

“I still reckon he’s gay,” Josh asserted.

“How d’you work that out?” Ryan asked.

“Well, think about last night,” Josh said. “Keith the sax player was on his own cause he’s got two young kids and his wife was at home looking after them. The other four guys all had wives or girlfriends with them. Where was Mark’s?”

“So, he hasn’t got a girlfriend at the moment,” Ryan countered. “That doesn’t make him gay.”

“So have you ever known him have a girlfriend?” Josh asked insistently.

“No,” Ryan conceded, “but . . .”

“But nothing,” Josh said, cutting him off. “And he’s definitely been checking us out in the changing room, especially Ashley. I’m not blind and I’m not stupid; I’ve seen him. And when Tommy and the others turned up, he checked them out too; I watched him doing it.”

Ryan was caught on the back foot; he wasn’t used to Josh arguing with him like that.

“I’m just worried he’ll tell mum what we were doing,” he responded. “If he does, we’re toast.”

“D’you think he will?” Josh questioned.

“Dunno,” Ryan said. “I hope not.”

He yawned and stretched, tipping himself out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Josh enquired.

“Going to talk to him,” Ryan said. “Might as well get it over with.”

He stepped across the landing, quietly opening the door to Mark’s room. The man seemed to be still asleep. Deciding that he couldn’t just stand there waiting, Ryan crawled in next to him.

A few minutes later, Mark turned over. He was vaguely aware of not being alone. He opened an eye.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’ve come to see you,” Ryan said.

“Well, you’ll have to wait for a moment,” Mark told him. “I need a pee before I do anything else.”

He staggered out of bed, heading into his wet room. The task completed, he splashed some water onto his face and returned to his bed.

“So what’s this all about?” he asked, already pretty sure he knew the answer.

“Last night,” Ryan said quietly. “You came into our room.”

“Correct,” Mark confirmed.

“Why?” Ryan asked.

“I’d left my watch in the kitchen. I just popped out to get it. I noticed the light on in your room. It’s weird; that room has a fanlight over the door; it’s the only room in the flat that has one. So I came in intending to turn the light off.”

“Ooops!” Ryan said, grinning. “I never noticed that. So are you going to tell mum, you know, what we were doing?”

“No, of course not,” Mark said reassuringly. “I don’t think anyone would benefit from that, do you? You just need to be a bit more careful about when and where.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Ryan said, feeling mightily relieved. They lay there in silence for several seconds. “Mark,” Ryan continued. “Josh reckons you’re gay. Are you?”

Mark paused for the briefest of moments. Sooner or later Ryan was going to find out the truth. He wasn’t going to lose the boy’s respect by being caught out in a lie.

“Yes, I am actually,” Mark said evenly. “I don’t advertise the fact, but yes.”

Ryan was stunned. Josh had been right; he’d never thought it was possible. So what about the other thing Josh had said.

“Josh says you check us out at the pool while we’re getting changed,” he said, as casually as he could manage.

Mark took a deep breath. There was no point in denying it; horny little Josh had clocked exactly what he’d been up to.

“Guilty as charged, I’m afraid,” he said with an air of resignation.

“But you’ve never tried doing anything with me,” Ryan queried, snuggling up closer. “You could have done.”

“You’re family,” Mark explained, “off limits; if it was ever discovered, I’d be in the deepest shit possible. In any case, you’ve never given me the slightest indication that you’d be interested. I certainly wouldn’t want to push you into do anything you didn’t feel ready for.”

Ryan lay silent for several seconds. He was as hard as a rock. Mark was his hero, the coolest adult on the whole planet, even more so after the way he’d played the previous night. Having sex with him had never been on the radar; he’d never even thought about it. But it was there now, bright and clear.

“But suppose I wanted to do something?” he ventured.

“I’m still not sure it would be a good idea,” Mark said gently.

“Please,” Ryan said, looking right into his eyes. “I’ll never, grass you up, ever.”

He ran his hand over the front of Mark’s boxers; he was hard too. Ryan opened the fly button, reaching inside to extract the man’s penis. He ran his fingers over it. Mark was caught, his brain was telling him that he ought to stop it right there, the touch of Ryan’s fingers on his cock dictating otherwise.

Ryan pulled back the covers, scooting down the bed to examine Mark’s penis at close quarters. At six and a half inches it seemed big but certainly not enormous. Though quite thick around the base, it tapered down to a fairly small head. Ryan swiped his tongue over it. It tasted okay, pretty much the same as Josh’s.

“Ryan, you don’t have to . . .” Mark began.

He was too late; Ryan’s mouth had already closed over his penis, the boy pushing steadily down until he had taken well over half of it. Mark was in ecstasy, the sensations too wonderful to describe. But there was more to it than that. This wasn’t a boy who was there because he was being paid. This was Ryan, the boy he cared for and respected more than anyone in the whole world, who was in bed with him sucking his cock simply because that was what he wanted. Instinctively, he stroked Ryan’s hair, his orgasm approaching rapidly.

“Ryan!” he groaned. “I’m gonna cum!”

He felt sure that the boy would pull away. He was wrong; Ryan stayed right with it, sucking and swallowing until he’d taken every drop that the man had to give. Mark sank back onto the bed, scarcely able to believe what had just happened. Moments later, Ryan let him go and snuggled up next to him, smiling and licking his lips.

“That was fantastic,” Mark breathed, “absolutely wonderful; you’re even more special than I thought you were.” He paused for a few seconds. “Time to return the favour,” he continued, easing Ryan’s boxer shorts over his hips.

Ryan kicked them off.

“Beautiful cock!” Mark cooed. “I knew you would have; I’ve just never seen it hard before.”

He slid a few feet down the bed, taking the pillow with him.

“Kneel over the top of me,” he instructed.

Ryan got the idea instantly, placing his knees either side of Mark’s chest.

“Come on babe,” Mark urged. “You know what I want.”

Ryan lowered himself into position, guiding his penis into Mark’s waiting mouth. Without another thought he began to fuck, Mark’s lips and tongue working wonders on him. All too soon his breathing began to shorten.

“Nnng! Nnng! Uhhhhhhh!!” he moaned, his cock jamming itself repeatedly against the roof of Mark’s mouth.

Very carefully, he eased himself away, flopping down on the bed, a completely spent force. Mark snuggled up next to him.

“That was wonderful,” he whispered. “I can hardly wait till you can cum; that really will be the icing on the cake!”

Ryan grinned but didn’t reply. There was nothing much to say; he’d had sex with Mark and it had been the most fantastic experience possible.

“So how long have you and Josh been doing stuff together?” Mark asked eventually.

“Since the summer holiday,” Ryan said. “It was his idea!”

Mark nodded sagely; that sounded right.

“So before he met Tommy then?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed. “And he did stuff with this Italian kid he met while he was on holiday.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Mark said. “I wish I’d had the chance to do that when I was your age. So how did Josh and Tommy get together? That seems a very odd pairing.”

Ryan related the story.

“He’s really into it, isn’t he?” Mark commented.

“Yeah,” Ryan said in a conspiratorial whisper. “He likes it up the bum too.”

“Really?” Mark queried. “So d’you do that to him?”

“Sometimes,” Ryan said nonchalantly. “Mainly we just suck each other off.”

“So does Tommy fuck him?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ryan said. “I’m not sure if he’s done it with Gary, but I think he probably has.”

“Well, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting to be doing this morning,” Mark said, smiling, “but I’m certainly not complaining. I’ve never welcomed the new year like that before!” He checked his watch. “Anyway, it’s time we made a move; I promised your mum I’d have you home for half past eleven.

“Yeah, we’re going out to lunch with Jack’s parents. It’s going to be boring.”

“You want you’re mum to be happy, don’t you?” Mark asked pointedly.

“Yeah, course!” Ryan confirmed.

“Then just make the best of it,” Mark instructed. “It might not be as bad as you think.”

“Yeah, okay!” Ryan responded, grinning.

“Right, out of bed!” Mark ordered. “I’m just going to have a quick shower then I’ll get breakfast going. Bacon and sausage okay?”

“Yeah cool!” Ryan agreed, getting out of bed. “And thanks!”

He pulled on his boxers and headed back to the guest room.

“You’ve been a long time,” Josh commented sleepily. “Are we getting up now?”

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed. “Mark’s cooking breakfast as soon as he’s had a shower. We’ll have to go straight afterwards cause mum wants me home for half eleven. And he didn’t come in to perv on us. He’d left his watch in the kitchen; he came out to get it. Well, we’d left the light on.”

“So?” Josh demanded.

“Look up there,” Ryan said, “the window over the door.”

“Ahh!” Josh said. “Didn’t think about that.”

“You were right about the other stuff though,” Ryan conceded.

“Told you!” Josh said. “So he’s not saying anything to your mum then?”

“Nah, he’s cool about it.”

“So what took you so long?”

“Well, we chatted for a bit,” Ryan said smugly. “Then I sucked him off.”

“You mean he got you to suck him off in return for not saying anything to your mum?” Josh suggested.

“No way, man!” Ryan shot back. “I told you; he’s cool. He never pushed it at all; I sucked him off cause I wanted to.”

“Wow!” Josh said grinning. “I never thought you’d do that. Did he cum?”

“Yeah, loads of it!” Ryan told him.

“You swallowed it?” Josh queried, his eyes widening.

Ryan grinned and nodded. “Then he sucked me,” he added. “Well actually he got me to fuck his mouth, you know, kneeling right over him. It was wicked!” He smelt his left armpit. “I’m having a shower,” he announced. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, sure,” Josh responded, dragging himself out of bed.

It wasn’t fair; he reflected. He’d been the one who’s realised that Mark was gay, but it had been Ryan who’d had sex with him. He followed Ryan to the bathroom feeling more than a little envious, wondering when he might get his chance.