Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:41:08 -0800 (PST)
From: justinr_88@yahoo.com
Subject: Love is All that Matters - part 26

An Apology and A Festive Greeting from the Author: I
apologize most profusely for the months-long drought. Real
life took up far more time than I'd anticipated. Thank you
for all the responses I got; I had been getting a little
discouraged, but now I'm back on track. One of my new year's
resolutions is to complete this story, and try to publish a
new chapter on a fortnightly basis. I hope you'll all be
able to rejoin the journey of our beloved characters as they
search for love. The Yuletide season is upon us, so here's
wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

[All the usual disclaimers apply. All rights reserved to the
author.]

A Brief Recap: Harrison set Reid up with a coworker, Phil.
The two of them were just starting to get better acquainted
with each other, when Phil revealed some knowledge that
stunned Reid: he knew that Reid's father was the billionaire
retail mogul, Walter Scott.



                  LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
                       ~ Chapter 26 ~


From the Narrative of Reid Scott:

For a few seconds I just stared at Phil in shock. Neither of
us spoke. Then I sat up suddenly. Phil was flung backwards,
off my chest and against the armrest.

"What the fuck are you playing at?" I yelled at him. "How
could you know that?"

He looked at me with a scared expression, rubbing his elbow
where he'd struck it against the armrest. Underneath my
anger I felt the stirring of guilt. I brushed it aside; I
wasn't supposed to feel guilty.

"I - I didn't know whether I should tell you," he stammered.
"But I didn't want it to come out later, and jeopardize what
we're trying to -"

I cut him off and repeated my question in a dangerously
quiet tone. "How do you know about my family?"

"I - I didn't actually know, I just made a guess. When I
first saw you in the cafe ... the first time I got a good
look at you ... I mean I saw you when you were surfing but I
couldn't make your face out clearly -" He saw the impatience
written on my face and hurried on with his explanation.

"I saw the resemblance at once. That's why I couldn't stop
staring at you. When I saw you, the first thing that went
through my mind was, `This guy and Carl Scott could almost
be brothers'. And then when you said your surname was Scott,
I realized that was the truth ... you WERE brothers."

Confusion rapidly replaced my anger. "But ... how do you
know Carl?"

"From work. Scottmart is one of our firm's main clients. It
always has been, since ot was founded here in this town. But
you knew that, right? I mean, you are the CEO's son?" It
wasn't so much a question as a request for confirmation of a
fact he already knew to be true.

I replied, almost absent-mindedly, "I never paid much
attention to the family business. The retail industry just
didn't interest me. It was one of the reasons Dad hated me."

There was still an element of fear on Phil's features - the
brutality with which I'd lashed out at the mention of my
family had both shocked and frightened him. But now
understanding slowly dawned on him, and he reached out to
touch my hand before thinking the better of it. His soulful
eyes, however, still shone with sympathy. "That's awful," he
said softly. "Your father couldn't possibly hate you just
because -"

I interrupted him before he could go on. The last person I
wanted to hear about was my dad. "Does Harrison know all
this? Because he knows about my family and Scottmart."

Phil said hastily, "No, no. I don't think he knows. He's
only been working at F&A for a month now and we haven't had
any dealings with Scottmart in that time. It's quite
possible he doesn't know about the connection."

I nodded. Harrison would never have kept something like this
from me if he'd known. There was something else that I
wanted to know, although I wasn't sure I'd like the answer.

"Tell me about Carl," I said. "Has he ... has he ever
mentioned me?"

I noted the look of intense discomfort that crossed Phil's
face and my apprehension increased. "Um, well ... he did say
once, that he had an older brother, but that he -" Phil
paused, unsure whether he should go on.

I was now quite certain I wouldn't like what he had to say,
but I prodded nonetheless. "What did he say?"

Phil sighed before admitting, "He said his elder brother
abandoned his family when he was still in high school."


"He said I abandoned him?" I couldn't believe what I was
hearing. "That wasn't what happened at all. Our father did
something that practically FORCED me to leave. Doesn't he
know that?"

Phil hesitated. "He ... he seemed to believe what he was
saying."

I snorted in disgust. "Of course he would. He always
believed whatever Dad told him."

There was an awkward silence.

Then Phil said, "Reid ... I'm sorry. I didn't know what else
to do. I had the awful feeling that, sooner or later, you
would find out, and then you would hate me." He paused. "Do
you? Do you hate me?"

I looked at his face, those liquid brown eyes, and I could
see the longing. My anger was abating. There was no way I
could remain angry at him. The way he'd stumbled over his
words, his voice still keeping that sexy accent but filled
with sympathy, were melting my heart. The rational part of
my mind told me he hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't a
crime to not tell me immediately that he knew my brother. At
least he'd confessed before we got into any serious sex.

I leaned forward and I saw him flinch. He must have been
afraid that I was going to yell at him - or worse. The
momentary apprehension changed to delighted surprise when I
instead took his arm, the one he'd struck, and kissed it
lightly. I felt him shiver.

I gazed deeply into his eyes. "You don't need to apologize.
I should be the one apologizing for reacting violently to
your honesty."

He opened his mouth, but I stopped him by placing a finger
on his lips.

"No, don't say anything. I know you're going to be nice, and
say that I don't need to apologize either, but I do. I was
hotheaded. I didn't think about what your intentions were in
revealing this information; all I thought about was how
you'd brought up something I would rather forget."

Phil said quietly, "I didn't know the story behind any of
it. I still don't. But I knew it couldn't be good. That's
why . that's why I hesitated. We were starting off so well
and I was afraid, afraid that I would ruin it. I always do.
And I have this time too, haven't I? You don't want anything
to do with me now." He looked at me, searching my face for
answers.


I shook my head. "No. If you hadn't told me, and I'd found
out myself later, I would've been furious. With Josh - you
know we used to be together, right, before Harrison?"

Phil nodded.

"At first, I was angry with Josh. I felt that he hadn't been
honest with me. But of course he had. He'd told me from the
beginning that he was in love with Harrison. If I'd listened
to him and not allowed myself to foolishly fall in love, I
wouldn't have been hurt later on."

Phil hesitated. "Do you still love him? Josh, I mean?"

I thought about it carefully. Yes, a part of me would always
love Josh. But another part of me could never forget that
last night we'd spent together, that night when he'd been so
depressed over Harrison returning, only to leave again. And
I had been responsible for Harrison's mixed signals, even if
he hadn't known it then.

I had so desperately wanted to seal my relationship with
Josh, wanted it to be cast in stone the way I hadn't been
bothered to do while the possibility of Harrison's return
had been so remote. And so I offered him the only thing I
knew, the one thing I was certain Harrison never would.

I still remember the surprise in his eyes when I slipped the
condom onto his cock. In the twelve months that we'd been
together I'd only let him fuck me twice, and those two times
were only because he'd begged to have a feel of what it was
like to be on top. But that night I was willing to pull out
all the stops if it helped me to keep Josh. I never
anticipated the change that would come over my kind, gentle
Josh. All the frustration and anguish over Harrison's
apparent rejection came to a boil. He thrust into me
violently, like a man possessed, oblivious to his
surroundings and to me. For someone who'd never liked to be
on the receiving end of anal sex to begin with, it was an
experience that should have put me off it for good.

Yet even as he brutally fucked me I blinked back tears of
pain and kissed him tenderly. I understood that he wasn't
quite aware of how he was hurting me - his eyes had that
glazed, unfocused look of someone who was totally out of it
- but I told myself it would be all worth it if this would
make him realize that the guy he truly loved was me. It was
a wild hope that was brought crashing down just moments
later as Josh climaxed, shooting his load deep within me,
while screaming the name of his true love. It just wasn't
mine.

He didn't remember that detail when he apologized to me
afterward. He was so genuinely sorry, so appalled at his own
lack of concern for how he might have hurt me with his rough
sex, that I couldn't refuse granting him my forgiveness. But
there was no denying that something between us had changed
that night. I would still love him forever, but not in the
same idealistic, all-encompassing way I had before.

"I don't know if I'll ever be completely over Josh," I spoke
at last, choosing to be honest. Phil deserved that much, for
having come clean with me. "But I realize that he and I ...
we just weren't meant to be. Josh loves Harrison more than
anything. And I can only hope, for his sake, that Harrison
loves him just as much."

Phil surprised me by saying, "Of course he does. You don't
know how Harrison is at work. Every other sentence that
isn't about work is about his boyfriend: Josh this and Josh
that. He told me that he never thought it possible for
someone to love another person as much as Josh loves him. He
feels like he can't give back the same amount of love that
Josh showers on him. But I know better."

I had to agree. "I think you're right. Harrison has shown
himself to be capable of great love." I looked
apologetically at Phil. "I'm sorry for suspecting that the
two of you were ... you know ..."

He laughed. "I told you, it's just a bit of fun we like to
have. I won't deny making a pass at him on the first day.
But he came straight to the point, telling me he already had
a boyfriend. And I respect that."

I smiled at him. "I believe you." I eyed him carefully
before sidling across the couch towards him. Looping my arm
around his shoulders, I drew him closer to me. He stiffened
with pleasure at the intimacy of the contact, before
accepting the gesture by leaning his head against my
shoulder. His dark brown hair felt soft and unusually cool
against my warm, smooth skin.

"I really like you," I told him in a voice barely above a
whisper.

Just as gently he replied, "I know," which normally I
would've thought to be highly presumptuous of him, since I
liked very few people, and especially not so soon after
meeting them. But when he said it, I just felt that he
really got me, understood me like very few others had. And
of course when he added, "I like you too - a lot", he just
completely melted my heart.

"I guess this means we'll be seeing a lot more of each
other."

He raised his eyebrows and waved a hand down his naked body.
"I don't think there's a lot more than this to see."

I found myself blushing. "Alright, let me rephrase that.
We'll probably see each other a lot more often," I amended,
emphasizing the last word.

He smiled, letting his hand wander down my back, fingertips
lightly playing on my spine. "Very likely. And I think we'll
be getting to know each other a lot more intimately."

I had this silly grin plastered on my face; it was so hard
not to smile at him, he was just so ridiculously cute. Then
it struck me just how involved I was letting myself become.
And how unprepared I was for a serious relationship.

I laughed nervously. "Now hold your horses ... You almost
make it sound like we're going to get serious or something."

Phil stopped playing with my back and stared at me. "I
thought - based on what you said - that you wanted us to
start dating."

I avoided his gaze as I replied, "Dating? I ... don't think
that'd be such a good idea."

"And why not?"

"Look, Phil, you don't want to be dating me. I've never been
in a proper relationship before - unless you count me and
Josh, and see how that turned out. I'll screw everything
up."

"Trust me, I wrote the book when it comes to screwing up
relationships. You won't believe the number I've been in,
that haven't had a happy ending."

I looked doubtfully at him. "You're right - I don't believe
you. Who could ever have the heart to turn you down?"

Phil snorted. "A surprisingly large number of men! I've been
in seven serious relationships -seven! - all of which,
obviously, haven't worked out. From what you've told me,
you've only been in one failed relationship. My track record
is by far more worrying than yours, and you don't see me
giving up."

"You're certainly, uh, optimistic," I said, for want of a
better word.

This seemed to amuse Phil. "So you admit I'm a bigger screw-
up?"

"No!" I hastily amended. "That's not what I meant at all.
What I meant to say was - was ... I don't know what to say,"
I confessed.

"Good. Then you've run out of excuses."

"They weren't excuses," I protested indignantly. "I'm just
trying to prepare you for the disappointment that is,
believe me, inevitable."

Phil sighed and wrapped his arms around my neck. It was both
a touching and calming gesture. "I know right now it seems
like Josh is the one true love you'll never get over, but
I've been there myself, not too long ago. I thought my ex-
boyfriend David was The One. We even picked out the
furniture for this place together. And I was so convinced
what we had was the real thing that I was going to ask him
to move in with me. But he beat me to the punch with the
admission that he wasn't 100% certain of his sexuality, and
that he might have feelings for someone else: a woman who
worked in his office."

I winced. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Don't be. Things like that happen for a
reason. I didn't want Dave to stay with me out of
obligation, when his heart wasn't in it. And I didn't want
to be with someone who couldn't truly love me. It wouldn't
have been fair to either of us."

"I - I guess not," I said hesitantly. The parallel to my own
relationship with Josh didn't escape me.

"Reid, all I'm asking for is a chance. A chance to mend your
broken heart, and show you that Josh isn't the only guy out
there. I can't promise to live up to him, but I'll try my
darnedest to. Although," - he looked down, with a very
serious expression, at his smooth chest - "I don't think I
can quite manage the chest hair."

I couldn't help it; I laughed. "When you put it like that
... how can I say no? At least if I screw this up, at least
we'll screw up together."

He grinned. "Screw AND screw up together," he corrected.

"Oh, definitely," I assured him. "The first has to come
before the second."

"Maybe the second never has to," he said softly.

Looking into his beautiful brown eyes, I fervently hoped so
too. "For my part I can truthfully say that I've never been
even remotely attracted to a woman."

He laughed. "That's very comforting to know. Neither have I
- well, bar that one time I had a crush on my teacher in
elementary school - but that was it. For my part, I can
assure you that I've always been monogamous in my
relationships and, in those instances where cheating was the
reason for a breakup, it wasn't me doing the cheating."

"I, uh ..." I hesitated as I recalled my first couple of
months with Josh, when I'd slept with other guys. It had
been with his permission, of course, but that didn't change
the fact I'd hardly been `monogamous'. And add to that my
colorful sexual history in the run-up to meeting him. I took
a deep breath and steeled my resolve.

"You've been nothing but honest with me, Phil, so you
deserve the truth. Full disclosure, right?" I gave a nervous
chuckle but I could feel Phil's eyes on me.

"When I left home after coming out, I was ... so lost, and I
did a lot of things I probably shouldn't have. Like,
sleeping with a lot of men." I waited for the impact of my
words to sink in.

There was no obvious reaction from Phil. "Okay ..."

He was way too nonchalant about it. "You're not getting it.
When I said a lot, I MEAN a lot. There were even times when
I couldn't even remember their names afterward!"

"Now, now. There's no need to boast about your sexual
prowess."

"I wasn't -!" Then I caught the grin on his face. "Oh ...
you're joking," I said weakly.

"It doesn't matter to me if you've slept in the past with
hundreds of men -"

"Okay, `hundreds' is taking it a bit too far!"

He grinned. "Alright, I take it back. There's only one thing
I need to know and that's that your heart is in the right
place. Can you tell me that?"

"I - I did fool around with other guys after moving in with
Josh. But only because he said it was okay with him, that I
didn't need to be monogamous. Then I noticed I was the only
one in the relationship who was sleeping around and I -
stupidly - thought it must be because he loved me. That was
the realization that made me face the truth: having sex with
those other guys was meaningless when I could be making love
to the man of my life. And I stopped sleeping around and
focused on just him - not that he noticed," I added, unable
to prevent myself from feeling bitter about it.

Phil squeezed my shoulder. "Reid, as wonderful as you are, I
don't think you could've competed with his first love.
There's just something unique about that sort of crush. It's
just that, for most people, that's all it ever is. Josh was
very lucky that his feelings were reciprocated, after all
those years, by Harrison."

"Did you really mean that?"

"Did I mean what?"

"The part about me ... being wonderful."

"Absolutely. You have the three S's."

"I have three asses?"

"S's," he enunciated clearly. "Sexy, sensitive, sweet -"

"I am NOT sweet!" I protested hotly.

Laughing, he said, "If you say so."

I stared into his eyes. "You promise you won't regret this?"

He shook his head. "Never. And you have to promise me that,
you're not going to harbor these feelings of inadequacy,
just because of one failed relationship. You have everything
going for you - don't waste it."

"Yeah, I know, you said I was sexy." I grinned.

"Very sexy." He pressed his lips against mine, his eyes
never leaving mine. We explored each other's mouths with our
tongues as I wrapped my arms around his body. The intimate
contact between our naked bodies meant our cocks brushed
against each other, and it didn't take much for them to grow
hard again.

"Make love to me," Phil gasped as we came up for air. He
pressed the tube of lubricant into my hand.

I looked at it for a few seconds, and then I handed it back
to him with the words, "I want you to do it." It surprised
me as it did him.

"You ... want ME to fuck you? I thought we agreed -"

"I want you on top for our first time together, Phil. I know
you'll be gentle - different. Please."

"If it means that much to you ..."

"It does."

There was a pause. "Okay, um, you'll be more comfortable on
your back." I started to position myself as instructed when
he stopped me. "No, actually, hold on. Don't move. There's
something I need to finish first."

He got off the couch and knelt on the floor between my legs.
I'd already been rimmed by him once before that night, so I
knew he was good. But that second time he was nothing short
of amazing.

He began with light strokes, his tongue flitting across my
hole like a feather. Then he moved up my crack, to the
sensitive perineum under my balls. His tongue darted out to
give them a couple of licks. I moaned uncontrollably,
running my hands down his back. My fingers found the crevice
between his buttcheeks and, as they brushed against his
hole, I felt him shiver with anticipation.

His tongue was back at my asshole, this time circling around
the puckered ring. When I least expected it, he plunged his
tongue into my hole. I nearly lost it right then. I couldn't
reach his hole with my own tongue, but my fingers could. I
pressed a single finger against his sphincter, and it sunk
in with a little resistance. I could feel him tense, his
anal muscles squeezing tightly around my finger, while he
tongued my hole with renewed passion.

"Do you want me to keep going?"

He bobbed his head up and down without taking his face from
my ass. I took it for a yes. The tube of lubricant lay on
the table; I squeezed some onto a finger of my free hand and
reached down to reach his ass. His moan was muffled as I
slipped the second finger into his ass. I wasn't in the most
comfortable position but it didn't even register as I was
rimmed to the brink of orgasm for the second time that
night. The entire length of his tongue must have been up my
ass when I climaxed, shooting three jets of cum onto my
chest.

He staggered to his feet panting. The finger-fucking I'd
been giving him while he rimmed me had worked its magic; his
cock stuck out at right angles to his body and gleamed an
angry red. He gasped, "I - need - to -"

He didn't need to complete the sentence. His need to get off
was blatant. I stretched out on my back as he clumsily drew
a fresh condom along his pole. I applied the lube that was
still on my finger to my hole - not that it needed much,
because it was slick with his saliva.

As he positioned himself over me, he asked, "Are you ready?"

"Never been more so in my life," I assured him.

He smiled, and I felt the head of his cock press against my
sphincter. I half-closed my eyes, convinced this was going
to be painful and wondering why on earth I'd asked for this.

Sensing my apprehension, he bent down over me and whispered,
"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." Very gently he
pushed forward, slowly sinking his six-inch cock into my
ass. "I'm all the way in."

I opened my eyes in surprise. Sure enough, his cock was
buried to the hilt. "That wasn't particularly painful!"

"You sound surprised. I promised I wouldn't hurt you."

"And you were right." I craned my neck to give him a peck on
the lips.

There was a mischievous glint in his eye. "Now do you want
something in your mouth when I start fucking your ass
properly?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Um, unless your cock is capable of
being in two orifices at once, I don't see how that's
possible. I would welcome it if it were, though."

He playfully thwacked me on the shoulder. "You have such a
filthy mind. I didn't mean my cock. What I meant was -" He
bent down and kissed me deeply instead of completing his
sentence.

My mind was so befuddled by all the new and strange
sensations that it barely registered the mild twinges of
pain as Phil withdrew, before plunging back in. And even it
had, I was too elated to notice because I was, for the first
time in my life, making love with a man who felt the same
way about me.


                     To be continued ...


Let me know what you think of this newest chapter by
emailing me at justinr_88@yahoo.com. All feedback is greatly
appreciated. Happy holidays!