The following is a complete work of fiction.

Disclaimer:

The following story may contain erotic situations between consenting adults. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now.

Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.

The characters of this story are the exclusive property of their original authors, publishers and production companies. No assumption of copyright has been made in this work.

Important -

If you enjoyed this chapter, you can find more of my art and writing at http://mybistories.livejournal.com.

If you would like to be updated of new stories and chapter releases, please join my yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/artistic_biguys_library/

Please feel free to send any feedback or comments through the writing journal or you can send it directly to artisticbiguy[at]aol.com. Please just remember to add something in the subject line so I know it's not Spam. Enjoy!

X Universe - Book 3

I Promise Forever - Chapter 6

We landed silently on the small island we had spotted from the boat tour that afternoon. It was our last night of our honeymoon. Tomorrow we'd be on our way to England. Though a part of me wanted to stay isolated with Jeff, making love forever, the larger part of me was getting restless. I knew we'd be making love forever, I was anxious to see what else the rest of our lives had to offer.

Jeff looked about. "You sure we can't be seen?"

I laughed. "Unless they are using night vision binoculars the answer is 'no', Jeff." For a boy built like a Greek God, who would put himself on display at a moment's notice, Jeff was unusually squeamish about being naked or intimate out of doors. In my opinion, who cared if someone might see us; they'd just get a good show.

I spread the towels out on the beach and found myself wrapped in a pair of strong arms as I stood up. "You have the strangest impulses." He kissed the words into my neck as his hands slid down to pull my shirt out of my pants.

"You don't seem to be complaining." I turned around as he got my shirt off and nuzzled his neck. "From what I can tell, you're getting off on the idea of a moonlit fuck as much as I am." I felt Jeff hardening, extending down his pant leg, and pulsing against me, as we kissed.

"You get me hot no matter where we are." Damn that made me tremble as he chewed at my ear. He always knew the right things to say, the sexy bastard.

Clothes were gone and I was on my back by the time I realized that I wasn't keeping track of everything. I wanted this to be both a surprise and a thrill for my sex god of a husband. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled from our kiss. "Put your shield up."

Jeff looked at me, puzzled, but I felt his aura extend outward, becoming a bubble of isolation around us. I was trembling. It was like he was touching me everywhere at once. I stirred the energy, only a little, but he moaned and dropped his lips to my neck. "Damn..."

He held the bubble as he slid into me. Gods, I was in heaven. It was like he was everywhere at once, on me, around me, in me. Gasping, I rocked with him and chewed at his lips. "Don't stop... keep it up, no matter what... ohh..."

Could I do this? I was the most powerful mutant alive, damn it, I could do this if I wanted. But the sensations were building so quickly that I was having a hard time focusing on anything but what we were doing to each other. I pushed, my power rising around us, and hoped that when we finally made it to nirvana that I wouldn't slip.

The sensation of floating was a lot more than a metaphor as Jeff fucked me. Gods my man could fuck. I was building too quickly. The additional sensations of his aura and my own extended power were driving me to the edge too fast. I wanted him to go with me. I split my attention again, adding a third element to my already overloaded brain. It took a moment, but Jeff shuddered, his rhythm faltering as my aura slipped past his ring.

"Dan?" His voice was tight and surprised.

"Fuck me." Gods I was desperate for him to keep going.

He pulled back and slid in slowly. As he did, my energetic mirror of his monster mimicked his movements. He groaned. It took him several slower, delicious descents into me before he realized he was effectively fucking himself. That unhinged him and his pace escalated until we were both crying out and plunging over the brink.

Jeff was holding me, gasping and whimpering as I realized the falling sensation was real. I'd slipped. Holding onto him tight, I thrust my will outward, slowing our descent. Jeff was still groaning into my neck as we came to a stop.

"Oh fuck. That was incredible." He moaned it into my ear as he kissed my neck.

I chuckled. "Now you know what it feels like for me."

Another groan, and then he began to laugh softly. "I'm a damn good fuck."

Pulling his face to mine, I grinned, but my eyes were sincere. "Yes, you are."

"God, I love you." He kissed me again, slow and soft. That was how I liked it best. All the hot passion in the world didn't convey the love that I felt for him like long, slow, soft kisses. Our feelings were about so much more than sex.

Of course, all good things do come to an end. The moment ended when Jeff tried to shift, and his knees sank into the towels. "What the...?"

I chuckled as he sat back, his arms flailing a bit because he didn't have anything to brace against. "Surprise."

Jeff looked about, realizing that the darkness around us was more complete than it had been onshore. "Where are we?"

Sitting up, I rolled him onto his back and straddled his hips. He was used to being weightless at this point in our relationship, I'd done it to him many times, but he still didn't have the mastery of movement that I had. "About a mile up... well, under a mile now, we lost altitude during the orgasms."

He laughed. "Only you would do something like this."

I shook my head, happy as a pig in shit. "No, George did it before us, but now you have something to brag about which he'll never match."

Jeff grinned. "What's that? He already has his 'mile high club' card."

"Yeah," I grinned back, leaning in to get close to his lips, "but he can't do it without a plane."

Mom was waving at us from the crowd that lined the terminal exit for the International Concourse. I suppose she thought that because she wasn't tall, like Dad, that we'd miss her. I'd picked out her energy signature out long before we were able to see her. We, of course, were fairly hard to miss. As a six foot tall dark Adonis and an even taller flame haired broomstick, we stood out in a crowd.

"Hey, Mom." Jeff scooped her up in a warm hug as we got around the ropes. This time he let me push the luggage cart. I knew he wanted to get to his mom.

Mom laughed at me as he set her down, and she gave me a hug. "You couldn't have had that good of a time."

I raised an eyebrow at her, knowing she was amused and I wanted to know why. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you are more freckled than ever. That means you actually spent time outside of the room." I blushed. Your parents weren't supposed to make comments on your sex life so openly, were they?

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Mom!"

Norma laughed. "How did I raise such a couple of prudes?"

I snorted. "I think you used up the sexually-adventurous gene on George."

Jeff shot me a frown. "Says you! I got the monogamy gene, not the 'any ass will do' gene."

Norma put up her hand. "Ok, enough. As long as you two are happy, then I'm happy, Dad's happy, Janet's happy and even George is happy, if a bit mystified by it all."

I hugged Mom again, kissing her on the cheek. "Yeah, we're happy."

We followed Mom to the escalators and I eyed them dubiously. "Elevators?"

Rolling her eyes, Mom shook her head. "Leave it to the British to skip that. You have to unload your carts up here, and either walk or ride down the stairs or escalators with your baggage to get to the trains."

"That's nuts." Jeff started unloading, transforming himself into a beast of burden.

"Jeff?"

He eyed me. "Yeah?"

"You're advertising again."

Grumbling, he set down a few of the bags. "That means we'll have to make a couple trips."

"Welcome to the real world, babe." I grabbed a couple bags.

"Why don't you two go get your rail passes first? We ordered them online, but you have to show the ticket agent your passports. I'll stay with the bags."

We trotted off to the rail pass booths and got our passes; unlimited travel for a month. Those must have cost a fortune. Jeff grinned at me as I looked at the passes. "Don't go there, Dan."

"They're spending too much."

"It's their money."

I sighed and followed him back to the bags. I was never going to be able to repay them for it all. "Mom, we didn't need flexi-passes."

Norma dismissed the thought with a wave. "You will be moving into a new place, getting established, and will find you'll need to travel more often than you're used to. I hate the idea of you driving in this country. These people are insane on the roads. Rail, Underground, Bus... those are your best options."

I groaned. I'd set Ty to the task of finding us affordable apartments in or around Oxford. By my best calculation, we'd have to get a one bedroom flat. Everything else was a bloody fortune. We were used to sharing a single room anyway.

It would be best to find a place in town because we'd be walking, riding bikes or using public transport. I didn't mind that so much, especially since I'd never learned to drive. But when you're used to flying to class, all the other modes of transportation were equally as boring. Well, save for teleportation, I'd probably never figure it out, but it was the coolest.

We arrived in London and made it into our hotel without any fuss. We'd only be staying the weekend, and then we'd transfer to a hotel in Oxford until we could find a place to live. Dad was getting off the phone was we got in.

"How are my boys?" He crossed the room and gave us each a hug. Jack was so cool. "How was the island?"

We both grinned. "Great."

"Beautiful."

"Romantic."

Jeff groaned a bit over-dramatically and added, "And those all man pool orgies were exhausting."

Jack flinched, and then realized he was being had. "You brat." He cupped Jeff's cheek and laughed. "Don't ever scare me like that. George is hard enough to deal with."

Jeff laughed and pulled me to him. "Don't worry, Dad. No one will be getting near my man but me."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at Norma. "Were we ever this young?"

Norma smiled. "Of course not. We were born old."

Jack nodded. "I thought as much."

Jeff and I sighed in unison as we watched the porter take the last bags into our room. We'd have brought in the luggage ourselves, but Mom insisted that the porters needed the tips. He came back in from our room, having deposited everything neatly near the dresser, bid us a lovely afternoon, and left.

"You kids might want to get washed and changed. We've got tickets for the theater tonight."

I shot Jeff a plaintive look, but he ignored me. "Cool, what time?"

"Seven. We should leave by six."

"Okay."

I didn't want to think about the money; dinner out, plays, and who knew what else. I was beginning to feel like the sow's ear amongst silk purses.

"Dan, what do you think of this?" Norma looked at me, fingering a green jacket so dark it was nearly black.

"It's nice." It was, honestly, but my discomfort had been growing with each successive store we had ventured into. Why did I need new clothes?

"You are no help at all." She was grinning, so I knew she wasn't upset. Apparently, the only person who was upset or uncomfortable with all this was me. She turned to the salesman. "Would you have this in my son's size?"

Her son; she said it so easily. Each time I heard it I felt I was going to cry. I hadn't been anyone's son since I was eleven. Mom and I were together until dinner. What was it about being a Watkin that meant together time was spent shopping? Jeff and Jack had gone off to get Jeff a laptop after we'd had lunch. My computer had come with a European power supply as well as the standard one for the USA.

The salesman looked at me for a moment, and then went to the racks of suit coats. "He is a lean one, madam. We will most likely need to have the sleeves tailored."

He found a jacket in my size without taking any measurements. I was impressed. The lines were tugged and smoothed, and he made a few marks with his chalk. "You appear to be between regular and tall in your size. This is a tall and can be altered to fit perfectly. Are you to your full height yet?"

"Uhm, well, I don't know." How the hell would I know if I was going to get any taller? I'd been growing like a weed since sixteen and though my growth had slowed, I doubted I was done yet. It was unnerving to think I would be looking 'down' into Jeff's eyes for the rest of my life. He was still larger than life to me.

"He probably has another good inch left in him. He's our late blooming weed." Mom stroked my cheek when she said it. "If the tailor can leave enough material to let the sleeves back out, that would be good."

"Of course, madam." The jacket was removed and I found myself trying on two more, plus five sets of pants. Why did I need so many suits? One was more than enough.

"Mom, why are we getting me suits? I've got my blue one from school."

She laughed. "Of course, dear, but I suppose you haven't checked to see if the sleeves or pants fit. Not to mention, your shoulders are a bit broader than they used to be."

It had felt a bit snug and short at graduation. I hated the idea of throwing out clothes that were nearly new. "Maybe we should wait 'til I've finished growing?"

"Let me fuss, Dan. In a few more years I won't be able to; you will have become too old and independent to put up with it. A mother enjoys this sort of thing." She was placing ties against the jackets, trying to make good matches. I had to admit Mom was much better at clothes and colors than I was. Gay myths not withstanding, I really had no sense of fashion.

"The alternations will be done in a couple days. The tailor isn't in on Sundays." The salesman was sincere in his apologies, but Mom just handed him a card with an address on it.

"We will be in Oxford next week. Could you have them delivered?"

He looked at the card and nodded. "Of course. Do you have a number where we can call to confirm delivery?"

Norma frowned. "I knew we forgot something." She shrugged again. The action was like watching water roll off a duck's back. "We'll swing back by after we get the boys' their cells and give you the numbers."

I stared at Mom as we left the store. "Cell phones?"

"We thought of getting you ones back in the states, but it will be better to get ones here that work on the European networks." She waved away my concerned look. "Parent's privilege, Dan, you had better just get used to it."

"I'm not going to have space for all this stuff. Tyler sent me info on affordable apartments for students. Closet space is not a primary feature." I grinned. "Not to mention, my husband is a clothes horse. I'll be lucky to get enough space to hang those suits."

Norma laughed. "Jeff always has been as bad about clothes as Janet is about shoes. I swear that girl needs a walk in closet with specialty shelving just for her shoes."

I grinned at her, but said nothing. That didn't save me.

"Don't look at me that way, young man. For your information, I have less than half the number of shoes my daughter does and I'm over twice her age." We continued down the street, and she stopped to look at some jewelry in the window. She sighed. "Not to mention, jewelry is a much better investment. It never goes out of style."

I followed her in and stood around trying not to look bored as she fed her own particular addiction. Jack had his electronics. George had men. Janet had shoes. Jeff was a clothes horse. Norma was a jewelry store in her own right. Not that she ever wore more than a few pieces at any one time, but other than her wedding band and engagement ring, I'd seldom seen her wear the same piece two days in a row.

I could never be that way. Stuff wasn't important. I didn't need it.

Oxford was a beautiful town, and the train ride from London wasn't that bad. Even with Monday morning rush hour, the actual transit from station to station was only about an hour. Hell, commuting from the suburbs into any major city in the US would take that long.

The cab we took from the train station pulled up in front of a row of town homes in a quiet, older street in Oxford. Why weren't we staying at a regular hotel? I looked about, a bit confused, and frowned as we got out. "Bed and Breakfast?"

"Nope." Jack came over and held out a couple key rings with several keys on each. "Welcome to your starter house."

I couldn't even speak. I'd open my mouth, but nothing would come out. A house? How the hell could we afford a house?

"Dad, renting a house is nuts."

Jack laughed. "For four years or more? Yeah, that'd be insane. We knew you and Dan were planning on going further than a Bachelor's, so we bought the place."

"Holy shit, our own place?"

I was trembling, and my voice was hardly above a whisper. "I don't want it."

Jeff looked at me like I was an alien. "Huh?"

Gods, was I crying? Credit cards, honeymoons, rail passes, cells, clothes, computers, a house, where would it stop? I didn't want it. I didn't want any of it. I just wanted Jeff; that was all. I could make my own way. I didn't want to be beholden to anyone else. "I don't want it."

Jack looked shocked. Norma looked concerned. Jeff simply looked at me like I was speaking Swahili.

"I don't want the credit cards, the money, or the house. Grams left me my education fund. I'm eighteen. I want to make my own way."

"Give me a break, Dan. This money thing is so stupid! It's just money." Jeff's blood pressure was rising. Too bad, mine was already up there.

"What is it that's so bad about not wanting to live off of other people's money? What's wrong with wanting to stand on my own, make my own way, succeed or fail on my own merits?" I was waving my hand emphatically while sputtering out the words. "I'm not some pampered rich kid, Jeff. I'm just an Irish country boy."

Oh, those were the wrong things to say. Jeff's temper erupted. "What, I'm a fucking spoiled rich kid, is that it?"

"Yeah, you are. You've had it easy all your life, Jeff. Perfect parents, perfect looks, perfect siblings, perfect everything. Perfect 'til you met me! How are we going to live that way? I'm not perfect. I can't live up to that standard!"

"I'm not PERFECT." He was balling his fists and clenching his teeth to keep from really going off.

Why was I doing this? Why was it all making me feel so unworthy and inferior? I spat at him, "You are to ME!" Turning on my heel I stalked off ready to explode. I wasn't thinking straight for a good hour. I just wandered; no, it was more intense than that, I was just short of running. My emotions finally burned themselves out somewhere near the university campus. I sank down on a bench and wondered what the fuck I was going to do. I just wasn't sure any longer who or what I was angry at.

Norma settled down on the bench about five minutes after I had. I suppose I had felt her at the back of my head the entire time I was stalking around being angry. Gods I felt like an idiot. I couldn't look at her.

"I'm sorry." Why was I so scared? The damn tears were starting again.

Norma lifted my face and cupped my cheeks. "It's okay to be scared, baby."

My resistance broke. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled my head to her shoulder as I cried. I was so fucking scared. None of it was mine. I could have woken up any day and it could all be gone. No one met the love of his life at sixteen, was accepted as gay, adopted, married and lived happily ever after. This was real life. I was a gay, mutant, witch. Fairytale endings never happened to guys like me.

"I don't want it to go away," I whimpered into Norma's shoulder, trying to get a grip.

She just ran her fingers through my hair and sighed. "I know, baby, I know."

"I get so scared that I'm still lying on the bed in the infirmary and that all this is in my head. I'm so scared I'll wake up and I won't have Jeff, or you, or Dad, or any of it." Gods, I was pathetic.

She just smiled at me as I pulled back, her eyes a little moist. "I don't know what to tell you, Dan. I'm as real as I can be, so is Jack and Jeff. You're my son, even if I didn't bring you into the world or raise you. You're not going to scare us away, or lose us if we have an argument or a problem. You're stuck with us."

I smiled, wiping my miserably puffy eyes. "I love you."

Kissing me briefly on the forehead, Norma stood up and put out her hand. "Come on. I think there are a couple of men back at that house you don't want who need to hear that too."

I didn't want to face Jack or Jeff. "What the hell am I going to do, Mom?"

Norma grinned. "You'll probably be embarrassed, guilty and feel bad about yourself. You'll probably try to keep a stiff upper lip and say something to save face when all you really want to do is hug and say you're scared and sorry."

I laughed. It was weak, but it was a laugh. "Okay, so what should I do?"

"Tell them you're scared, that you love them and you're sorry for letting this eat at you instead of talking with us about it."

Taking her hand, I squeezed it. "Thanks for coming after me."

She laughed. "Well someone had to." Squeezing back, she pulled me into a slow walk back towards the street the house was on. "Jack had his hands full with Jeff, so a division of labor was in order."

"Was Jeff really mad?"

Norma rolled her eyes. "You did hit more than one of his buttons you know."

I nodded. "I'm doomed."

"No, but I can't promise he won't lash out when we get back. Just know what ever happens, he loves you and this is just a momentary thing."

I sighed, and resigned myself to what ever fate had in store.

We'd been quieter than normal, but the sex had been just as intense as always. We may have had our first house, but it had no furniture. We'd be in the hotel for the week, or at least until we could agree upon furniture and get it delivered. Mom and Dad had left us to reconcile our differences for the night. I was exhausted more than from the physical and energetic releases.

Jeff sighed, stroking my hair as I cuddled against him. "I don't like fighting."

I nodded into his chest. He'd ripped me up one side and down the other when I'd gotten back to the house. It'd hurt, but not as much as the tears in his voice as he pulled me to him and begged me not to walk away again. I think the pain I caused him hurt me the worst.

"I'm sorry."

He kissed my hair and sighed again. "I hope explosions and fights aren't going to be how we get past things. We had a fight because we wouldn't talk to each other about how we felt as roommates. We had a fight about your recovery and intimacy. We had a fight over not talking about our relationship expectations. We had a fight because we're scared and won't talk about it." Lifting my chin, Jeff rubbed his nose against my forehead. "We've got to stop this not talking shit."

I sighed. "You mean I have to stop this not talking shit."

"No, you stubborn, redheaded, Irish, idiot... we need to stop it. I have my times of not telling you things also. Most of the issues are at least half my fault."

I grinned. I wasn't feeling up for another deep discussion. I was still feeling raw and needy from this morning. "Are not."

Jeff frowned. "Yes they are."

"Nope." Ok, maybe this was childish.

"Dan, I make mistakes too."

"No you don't."

"Dan!"

"Uh uh." I bit his nose.

He laughed.

"Bastard."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."