This chapter's narration is a bit different than previous chapters. It switches between Steve and Mike. Don't worry, though -- that's not the way all of the chapters are going to be. Just this one. Maybe another if I like the way this one's received.

Steve.

"You're sure about this?" I asked, looking at Susan with a crooked eyebrow.

"Of course. He'll love it." She stopped for a second. "Well, I don't know if I can guarantee that or anything, but I know I enjoy it. In moderation, of course."

"I dunno. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that he'd be into." I shook my head. "For that matter, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that you'd be into, either."

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises." She looked around, making sure there was nobody near us, then leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "and I'm full of chocolatey goodness, too."

It was just stupid enough to make me burst out laughing. I scared some of the pigeons away, which wasn't an entirely bad thing. We just sat and talked some more before I had to go pick Mike up from work. I left, but she stayed at the park to watch the basketball boys play some more. I can't say I was averting my eyes from a few of the cute ones, myself.

It had been almost two weeks since Mike's first day at the office, and he'd apparently settled into a routine of sorts. I'd drive him to work, then I'd meet him for lunch, which we usually had at his house. Then I'd drop him off, only to pick him up again four hours later. I still hadn't found myself a job, but to be honest, I wasn't really looking.

I was bored out of my mind, of course, but I was still clinging to my freedom for some reason. I made up all kinds of excuses, telling myself that I didn't really need a job just yet. It was a load of crap and I knew it, but I just wouldn't start looking.

Anyway, I picked Mike up, and he was late, as usual. I sat across from him and we chatted while he finished a few things up. Then he yelled into Larry's office that he was leaving, signed his "time sheet," and we left. The office didn't really have a set way of dealing with his hours, so he'd created one. I thought it was cute, at any rate.

As soon as we were in my car, Mike leaned over and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked, smiling.

"Just 'cause you're you. Well, that, and it's Friday." He grinned and held up an envelope. "First paycheck. Gotta love it."

"You're paid weekly? I thought he said it was bi-weekly."

"Nope. Well, actually, he gave me a choice. And so, being the sucker for immediate gratification that I am, I picked weekly."

I nodded. "So I guess I'm stopping by the bank and then you're taking me out to dinner, eh?"

Mike smiled at me. "Yep. And can you guess where we're going, too?"

"Hmm, let's see now, this is a special occasion kind of thing, so it's probably not Taco Bell. I'm gonna have to say Satuma." I smiled again. I loved the way he could make me do that.

"Ding!" he said. "We have a winner."

"So what's the prize?" I asked, knowing there was a naughty response in the works.

"Two days and two nights of unbridled passion in glorious My Bedroom!" Mike said in his best game-show announce voice. "That's right, we'll send you and a guest on a fully paid vacation to get some in My Bedroom! There, you'll be treated to all the luxuries, such as a tongue massage from your fabulous new boyfriend! But wait, there's more! In order to facilitate this wonderful vacation package, we're also giving you a two-days worth supply of sexual lubricant! Great for all your anal sex needs."

I was laughing so hard it was a struggle to keep the car under control. "You're too much, you know that?"

"Why thank you." Mike ripped open the envelope and looked at it. "Now come on, the drive-through window closes in half an hour and I need to feed my poor, starving bank account."

"So how much is your first paycheck worth? Hmm?" I tried to look at the piece of paper in his hands, but he wouldn't let me see.

"Well, you have to take into account that they paid me overtime for all the web work I've been doing at home..." he trailed off, looking at me. "Plus there's a bonus in there, too."

"A bonus? What for? Not quitting after two days?" I asked. "Now tell me how much you made or I'll beat you down and find out myself."

"It's 1032 and some change," he said, quietly. I could tell he was trying not to rub my nose in it, despite how proud he was.

"That's quite a bit of money." I said, grinning. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous, but I was happy for him. "You'd better be buying me lots of expensive gifts with that."

Mike grinned and chuckled a bit. "We'll go out shopping tomorrow, 'kay? Besides, I need to get some new clothes for the office. Disturbingly enough, I don't have enough business casual stuff."

"Next thing I know, you'll be wearing a suit and carrying a cell phone." I looked over at him. "You're not going to get a cell phone, are you?"

"Well, umm, yeah. Funny thing. See, as it turns out, I already have one."

"When did this happen?"

He blushed a little. "I got it from work. They were worried they'd have some sort of catastrophe and I'd be on lunch or something, so they gave me one. Everyone in the office has one, actually. I'm thinking of trading mine in. They got it off some crappy plan, the service sucks, the reception sucks, and the phone's a bit on the big side."

I shook my head. "I'm dating someone with a cell phone. I feel dirty."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up. The bank's the next right," he said, pointing. I always missed his (well, our) bank.

"Get me a deposit slip, babe," he said, grabbing a pen from my glove box. He signed the back of the check and I wrote in the information on the slip. "Umm, put in 400, we'll go shopping with the rest tomorrow."

"Heh, damn, that's a big chunk of money. Planning on buying a baseball team or something?"

"Hey, a new wardrobe costs money. Besides, you know that I always splurge the hell out of my first paycheck."

I did as he asked and we were off on our way to dinner. It was, of course, delicious. Turned out that one of our friends from highschool was working as a waiter there. He brought me some sake. It was pretty good, actually. I made Mike try it. He, of course, insisted that I didn't drive home. I gave in and let him drive. I knew how hard he was to convince on things like that, and really, I kinda admired it.

When we got home, the buzz had started to wear off. It was almost 8:30, but we headed straight for bed anyway. Not that we had any intentions of sleeping or anything.

Almost as soon as we entered the room, we had stripped each other and were lying on the bed making out. I was on top of him, he was lying on his back. I decided to try what Susan had suggested earlier.

"Mike, babe, close your eyes," I said.

"Huh? Why?"

I sighed. "Just do it."

"Alright, I guess," he said, closing his eyes. I got up off the bed and he opened them, looking at me.

"What are you doing?"

"No peeking. Close your eyes or I'll go sleep on the couch."

He closed his eyes again.

I grabbed a few ties from his closet. He only owned two suits, but he had like twenty ties. All his relatives thought they would make really good presents one year.

I got back on the bed and tied one of them around his head, using it as a blindfold.

"What're you doing?" He asked again, this time sounding amused.

"I'm just trying something a little different. Just go with it, I think you'll like it."

I started a slow, gentle massage, moving from his neck to his right arm. When I reached his wrist, I lifted it up over his head and started to tie it to the headboard with one of the ties.

"Now what're you doing?" He asked, sounding a little panicked. "Are you...?"

"Sssh..." I said, placing a finger on his lips. "Just let me do this."

He lay still while I finished tying his arm up, but he was shaking a little. When I reached for his other arm, he jerked it away and ripped off the blindfold.

"Get off me," he said, trying to push me off. "Just get off."

"Mike, don't worry, just let me do this," I said, suddenly reconsidering the idea. When I moved forward to untie his arm, he suddenly looked really frightened.

"Get the fuck off!" he almost yelled, trying to push me off. When I didn't move, he punched me in the face. Hard. It really hurt; he drew blood. He went to punch me again, but I grabbed his arm, which, in retrospect, really wasn't a good idea. He managed to push me off of him and kicked me in the chest. I screamed and rolled over in pain, falling off the bed. It felt like he had just broken every single one of my ribs. I curled myself up into a little ball while he untied himself, hastily got dressed, and ran out.

Mike.

I couldn't believe what had just happened. What had just happened? My mind was still reeling; I was still shaking. I had grabbed Steve's car keys and just driven off, trying to get as far away from him as I could. I don't know how, but I finally wound up in front of George's apartment building.

"Yeah?" he came when I hit the buzzer.

"It's Mike. Can I come up?"

"Sure," he said, then the door buzzed open.

"What's with you? Shouldn't you be doing naughty things with your boyfriend right about now?" he asked when I came into his apartment.

"No, actually. Umm, can I, ya know, crash here tonight?" I asked, suddenly feeling a little awkward.

"Yeah, of course. What happened? You only stay here when there's been some kind of epic disaster." George sat down next to me on his couch. "So what is it this time? Psycho killer? All the oceans get 20 degrees warmer? Fight with the ball and chain?"

"That last one. I think I would have preferred the first one, though," I said, not smiling. "But I really don't want to talk about it. I know it's early and all, but do you think I could just crash right now? I'm fucking beat."

"Yeah, sure, you can use my room. I'll stay out here on the couch."

I shook my head. "No, you don't have to do that."

"Yes I do. You want quiet sleepy time, I want quality television time. It works out."

"It's a good thing for me that you never have a date," I said. "I mean, if you ever did... I shudder to think."

"Hey, guess what, bite me!" George said, grinning at me. "You head off to bed, we'll talk in the morning if you want."

I stripped down to my underwear and got into bed. I figured I'd be up for a long time, pondering over what had just happened. I was asleep in less than ten minutes.

When I woke up, it was around four in the morning. I moved to stretch and get back to sleep, but then I noticed there was someone else in the bed with me. My immediate thought was that it was Steve, but I shoved that aside. I looked over my shoulder and saw George lying there, almost touching me. A quick glance under the covers told me that he was naked, too.

I scooted over to the far side of the bed, trying to give him his space. I didn't even wake up when he went off for his morning run.

Around 7:00 or so, I stumbled into the bathroom and grabbed a shower. I used the toothbrush Steve and I had used that night when we first stayed at George's. When I went back into the bedroom, George was sitting on the bed, waiting for me.

"Oh, hi," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I practically ran to where I had dropped my sweater on the floor and put it on, followed quickly by my pants. "I thought you were at work."

"Nope, I'm off today." He patted the bed next to him and I sat down. "Wanna tell me what happened last night?"

"Not really," I said.

A few moments passed. "Steve called last night. He didn't tell me what happened, but he asked me to tell you he's sorry."

I snorted. "He's sorry? I'm the one who punched him in the face. I'm the one who kicked him in his bruised ribs. He's sorry?"

"He sounded a little wincey, but I don't think it was that bad."

"Not helping here, George."

"Sorry."

I gave it a few more minutes thought. "I should go back soon. I need to apologize."

"Maybe it'd help if you told me what happened," he said. "I mean, it'd certainly help my curiosity."

"Well, long story short, he got a little tipsy at the restaurant, he decided to try a few new things in bed, I didn't like those things, so I beat the crap out of him."

"I'm sure we're skipping a few parts there."

I sighed. "He tried tying my hands to the bed, I got all panickey, and I punched him. Then he grabbed me, so I kicked him in the ribs. Well, kneed him, I guess."

"Ow," he said, wincing a little himself. "Why do you think he was... you know..."

"I dunno," I said, looking down at the floor. "Maybe he thought he was with someone who wasn't so emotionally fragile that they can stand to try a few new things every now and then."

"... or maybe he didn't realize that you would react like that." George put his arm around my shoulders. "I know that he wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Not intentionally, and really, I don't think he could live with himself if he did it unintentionally, either. He loves you. A lot. And if you want my opinion, he's a very lucky guy to have you."

I smiled and looked up at George. "Heh, lookit you, knowing all the requisite supportive girlfriend things to say."

"Yeah, well, let's just say I've had practice." George patted the back of my head. "I think you have a boyfriend to go patch things up with."

I rested my head on his shoulder. "What if he doesn't want to see me? I mean, I kicked him in the ribs that were very recently almost broken. I think that I really hurt him."

"Know what would hurt him more? If the guy he loves didn't come home and apologize. Well, that, and you still have his car. You really should get one of your own, ya know."

"Dammit, there's another thing I need to save up for." I tilted my head back and closed my eyes for a second before I stood up. "Thanks a lot, George. But I really am gonna have to do something about a hunky, single cop sitting at home alone on a Friday night."

"Sorry, Mikey, not interested. Besides, from what I've seen, I couldn't possibly satisfy you as well as the man you've got now."

I swear, my face must have turned at least 8 different shades of red.

Steve.

What the fuck possessed me to do that? I knew about all of his trust issues. I knew about his control-freak nature. But still, I had to go and try it. What kind of a sick, twisted pervert am I? Did I really think that he'd like it?

I cried myself to sleep that night. I know, I know, it sounds a little on the pathetic side, but hell, I had hurt the one person who really meant anything to me. Plus the whole ribs thing.

Mike's dad checked me out when I finally got the strength to limp out to the living room. He pronounced me well enough, but I was to avoid being kicked for a few weeks. He asked what happened, but I wouldn't tell him. Honestly, I was ashamed of how I had acted.

Mike had pretty much asked me to stop. But no, I had to go on and do it anyway. I should have known that this would happen. He probably hated me. I'd have to move out and he'd never talk to me again. How could I have been so stupid?

I was staring at the TV, vaguely watching cartoons when he came in. He just stood there, looking at me for a second. I prepared myself for it. He was going to tell me to get my stuff and leave. He hated me.

Instead, he came over and sat next to me. He wrapped an arm around me and put his head on my shoulder, where he whispered, "I'm sorry."

I turned and looked into his eyes. He was sad, but... sorry?

"Why? I'm the one who fucked everything up."

"And I'm the one who beat the crap out of you." He closed his eyes. "Our first fight and I wind up kicking you down onto the floor. Am I a great boyfriend or what?"

"I deserved it. I shouldn't have..."

"No, I guess you shouldn't. But still, there are other ways to handle things than hitting you." Mike sighed. "I know you'd never hurt me. I KNOW it. It's just that... I dunno. I've got so many issues I need to get over. I was hurt a lot, back then, and I've got so many defenses that even I don't know about them all."

"It's okay. I'll live, though you probably set the healing process back a few weeks." I looked at him again, hopefully. "And I'll ask you before I try something new next time."

"Damn right you will." He smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "I've already had one, but you need a shower. Want me to join you?"

"That'd be... nice, actually." I kissed him again. "Plus we've still got that whole weekend of passion planned."

"Okay then, we'll get you showered, grab some breakfast, shop for a few hours, get some lunch, then come home and fuck like rabbits. Sounds good?"

I laughed. "Sounds incredibly good."

Mike led me into the bathroom and took a look at my face underneath the bright light.

"Wow. Did I do that?" he asked, tracing his finger around my lip. It was bruised, but it would be okay in a day or two.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"I'm so sorry." He looked like he was about to cry.

"Don't worry about it," I said, pulling him closer to me. "I can still kiss just fine. Besides, I like having a guy with a good left hook."

That cheered him up, so he went to work undressing me. I let him. It was really nice, having him pay so much attention to me. I enjoyed it. When he pulled my shirt over my head, he gasped.

"Oh fuck, I did that, too, didn't I?" Mike stepped backwards, pressing himself against the wall. He was staring at the large black-and-blue mark I had across my chest. "Oh fuck."

I stepped towards him again, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Mike, babe, calm down. It's not nearly as bad as it looks, and it doesn't even really hurt anymore." Okay, so I was lying a little, but it was better than it had been the night before. "It's fine, really."

"No, no it's not fine," he said, trying to pull away from me. I wouldn't let him. "It's a horrible, nasty thing that I did. I've got to... fuck, I don't know."

I wrapped my arms around him. "You've got to what? You're not going to leave. Look, I did something stupid, so then you did something stupid. We're even. Do I have to kick you in the chest before you'll just let me forgive you?"

"No," he said, leaning forward and putting his arms around me. "It's just that, well, it looks really bad. You can say what you want, but I know it's got to hurt. And now whenever I look at you shirtless, which I plan to do a lot, since I like it so much, I'll have to see what I did."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing. I'll be reminded of what I did, too. You were just fighting back out of instinct, I actually thought out what I was going to do." I pulled off of him and stood in front of the sink, still facing him. "I just hope you can forgive me for that."

"There's nothing to forgive. You tried something new, it went badly, and we're not going to do it again. Well, unless you want to do it again. Why did you want to do it in the first place?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Susan was talking about it before I picked you up, and I figured you might like to try it. I mean, you're so in control all the time, I thought you would like not being like that for a little while."

"Steve, babe, I'm perfectly happy with each and every one of my neurotic control issues. Besides, you don't need to resort to things like that to keep me interested. I'll still want a piece of you even when we're roommates at the nursing home."

"We're both assholes. How about we both just forgive each other. It'll make us feel better."

Mike grinned, then came over to me and hugged me again. "I forgive you, ya big asshole."

"I forgive you, too, but I'd never stoop so low as to call you an asshole," I said, feigning hurt.

"You're pushing it, Steve."

It was a very nice shower.

Mike.

I was still feeling intense guilt whenever I looked at him, but he forgave me, and I decided that I'd have to live with it. From what he told me, he felt guilty, too, and he was dealing with it. So could I.

We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. As much as I love greasy food, breakfast was really the only time I ever ate there. What's disturbing, though, is that I really only like orange juice when it comes from McDonald's. I know it's the same stuff I have at home, but it just feels different. Fascinating, no?

After breakfast, we headed off to do some shopping. I figured that I could pick up a few things locally, and we'd hit the mall in Greenwood after that. It was the first time I'd ever actually done any kind of heavy shopping with Steve, and it was... interesting. Susan and I would go shopping all the time, and I went with Rachel a lot, too. With Steve, it was less "oh, wow, this would be so cute on you," then putting it back five minutes later and more "could this not possibly clash with anything else I'm buying today? Okay, I'm buying it."

When we were finished with the requisite Wal-Mart trip (I might be willing to pay $40 for a sweater, but I'm not going to pay $10 for a pair of socks), we headed off to Greenwood. I picked up a very nice leather jacket (it was getting to be Fall, after all). Steve and I were looking around in one of the electronics shops and I picked up some stuff for my room. Nothing too big, really. I got a new alarm clock to replace the one from the 80s I was using then.

Then it got to be lunch time, so we headed for the food-court. While the combined smells of cheese-steak, cinnamon buns, fried chicken, and chocolate wasn't that appealing, we were both too lazy to leave and go to actual restaurant.

"Oh, hey, I've gotta head to the bathroom. I'll be back in a sec," I said, getting up from the table. Steve just waved me off, engrossed in his burger. So sad that I thought it was cute.

Instead of the bathroom, though, I walked across the entire mall to get to the jewelry store. I looked around in the cases until I found just what I wanted. I talked to the guy behind the desk and gave him the inscription I wanted, then headed back to the food court.

"Geez, you took forever. Ya know, if I wanted to spend the day waiting in the mall for someone to get out of the bathroom, I could just date a girl." Steve grinned at me, finishing off his fries.

"Yeah, but you seem to have this aversion to boobies." I crooked my eyebrow. "Unless, of course, you've been slipping estrogen into my food. You sick pervert! You want me to grow big Fabio man boobies!"

"Whatever. You're so scrawny you couldn't grow boobies even if you tried." He shook his head. "And this is a very odd discussion we're having here."

I looked down at my food. "Well, seeing as how you're done and my food seems to have congealed into a waxy substance that I don't even wanna touch, shall we get on with our reckless spending?"

He agreed, we cleaned up, and we were off on our way again. I didn't have that much left to buy, actually. Somehow we managed to get into Sunglass Hut and I bought us both a new pair of sunglasses. Then we headed into another clothing store and he practically made me buy a pair or two of silk boxers. I picked some out for him, too.

Finally, we both decided that we had had enough. I'd been on two trips to drop stuff off in the car since we got there, and my arms were practically full again. It was around time for me to pick up my present from the jeweler's, anyway.

"Hey, babe, do me a quick favor? I wanna drop this stuff off at the car, can you do that for me? I wanna head to the music store and pick something up real quick."

"Yeah, sure," Steve said, taking the bags from me. "Damn, I can't believe we bought so much stuff."

"I know it. It was lots more fun than it would have been with Susan, too." He cringed a little when I said that. "Eh? What's the matter with Susan? Sure, she might dress a little slutty sometimes, but she has good color sense."

"No, it's just that she kinda gave me the idea for what I did last night. I dunno, it was weird bringing her up. I'm gonna have to kill her later on."

"Ah, I see. Well, she's a little bondage queen, I guess," I said, smiling. I really had forgiven him for that, and honestly, I hadn't even thought about it since we started shopping. "Relax, it's no big deal. We've been over this."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'll go drop this stuff off and be waiting. Don't take too long in there, huh?"

I smiled at him and watched him walk off toward the exit. I did stop by the music store and pick something up, but then I doubled back to the jeweler's and picked up what I had bought earlier. I slipped the bag into the music store's bag and headed off to the car.

We listened to the CD I bought on the way home. It was Hooverphonic, New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular, for those who care. We talked, too, but nothing too terribly interesting. His entire trunk was filled to the brim with our new stuff. I know it might sound a little shallow, but it made me feel REALLY good to be able to buy him gifts like that. I enjoyed our day out.

When we got home, we unloaded the car and I had to try everything on again. It's another part of my obsessive-compulsive nature, but I always have to do that whenever I buy new clothes. Steve sat in the bedroom with me, giving me compliments when things looked especially good and folding up the clothes I took off. I'm not sure why he did that, since I was just going to wash them later to get the new clothes smell out of them, but I let him.

When I had finally tried everything on (that took a while), we set up all of the other new stuff I bought.

"Ya know what? My room is missing something, I think. I dunno. I think I'd like to put a mirror up over there. And I could move my stereo there, I guess. That'd free up the top of the dresser for some of your stuff." I sat down on the bed next to Steve, still looking around the room for what I could change. "I want my room to be totally comfortable for you, ya know."

"Not more shopping, please!" Steve grabbed me around the waist and pulled me down on the bed. "You can play interior designer tomorrow, I'm all shopped out right now."

"Alright, alright," I said, smiling and leaning forward for a kiss. "That'll just give me more time to plan things out."

"You do know I'm gonna have to go along to stop you from any horrible mistakes, right?"

"Whatever," I said, snorting. "We both know I'm the artistic one."

"I thought you said you wanted your room to have a Steve comfort rating of negative ten degrees."

I shook my head. "No more L.L. Bean catalog for you. And yeah, I do. My offer's still open to make it our room, ya know."

He kissed me again. "I really do appreciate it, but no. We have the entire rest of our lives to have 'our room.' This is going to just be yours. Well, at least until you move out and your parents make it into a den. I saw your mom browsing on the Internet, looking at furniture and desks and stuff."

"I hope she plans to repaint, too," I said, smiling. "I don't think light pink is a good color for a den, no."

"Why did you leave it light pink? Were you trying to send a message to your parents or something? And those creepy rabbits on the border at the top? I'm sorry, but I've had nightmares about them..."

"Dad said that if I wanted the room repainted, I had to do it myself. I said screw it. I can live with a pink room." I snuggled up a little closer, careful not to put too much pressure on his chest. "I guess I just kinda got used to it."

We lay in bed for a little while longer. I know we both wanted to do something more, but we eventually just fell asleep. It was nice to be able to feel that comfortable with someone. No, it was nice to be able to feel that comfortable with Steve.

Steve.

I woke up and noticed that Mike had moved. He was sitting at the head of the bed, just looking at me. I rolled over and smiled at him.

"Hey, babe. What time is it?"

"About 6." He bent down and kissed me. "I've got something I want to give you."

"Cool, more presents," I said, sitting up. "C'mon, c'mon, let's have it."

"I wanted to get you something that would remind you how I feel about you. It's really not much or anything, but I liked it, and I thought it'd look good on you." He grabbed a bag from on top of his dresser and sat down beside me. "I hope you like it."

Mike handed me a jewelry box. Inside was a silver chain with a small pendant attached. "Wow, Mikey, I love it. This is really sweet of you. I mean... thank you."

"Look at the inscription," he said, turning the pendant around so I could see the back. It said "M&S Forever."

"That's..." I trailed off, just smiling and shaking my head. "Thank you, Mikey." I leaned forward and kissed him.

"I was going to put your name first, but, well, that'd just be icky."

I pulled him close to me and kissed him, wrapping my arms as tightly around him as I could. It felt really good, being that close to him. I loved the way he smelled. It was just... nice.

"Make love to me, Steve," he whispered. "I wanna feel you inside me."

"Mmm, that sounds good." I stood up and put the chain around my neck. "How's it look?"

"It looks great, now go get that lube!"

I grabbed the tube from his sock drawer and practically jumped back onto the bed. I'm not sure how we kept from kissing long enough to get our shirts off over our heads, but we did, and our pants soon followed. Mike lay on his back with his legs slightly raised and I got down between them. His cock looked a little bit too appetizing, so I dove in.

"Damn, that's good," he said, sighing as I started licking the base. "Oh fuck you're so damn good at that."

I smiled inwardly and moved down a little further. My tongue snaked its way around his balls and I sucked one into my mouth. I got an appreciative grunt for that and moved to the other one. Mike loved it when I licked his balls. I was partial to it, myself, though.

"C'mon, babe, get me ready." He raised his legs a little more, exposing his asshole. "Can't wait..."

I squeezed out a bit of the lube onto my finger and applied it to his tight little asshole. I slowly pushed my index finger in, relishing the way his muscles clenched around it. When he relaxed, I slipped in another finger. I worked my way inside him until I found that one spot. It was really easy, now that I had so much practice with it. Being able to give him so much pleasure just with my fingers was an amazing feeling.

"You ready?" I asked. He nodded. I took another lick at the head of his cock, now rock-hard and dripping. I liked the taste so much that I took the head into my mouth and just ran my tongue in circles until he rewarded me with another few drops of his pre-cum. I took his cock about halfway down my throat, then pulled off and got myself lubed up and positioned.

The head of my dick was lined up with his asshole and he was practically scooting down on the bed to get me into him. Of course, since I'm a mean tease, I only just pushed the very tip of my dick into him. I could feel him trying to suck me in deeper, but I held my ground. The look on his face was complete torture. He wanted to feel me inside him, and here I was, being a big tease about it.

"Push it in, babe. C'mon, all the way in." I slid another inch or so into him. "Oooh, yeah, that's it. More. Yeah, more."

I leaned down and kissed him, sliding about halfway in. Mike groaned. Well, really, it was more of a whimper, but he was ecstatic about it. He grabbed me around the middle and pulled me down closer. I kept myself from sliding in any more, but we had our chests pressed together. His hands wandered down to my ass, but he didn't pull me forward like I thought he would. Instead, he lowered his hands down to where we were joined and rubbed his fingers all over my cock and his asshole. Then, he moved them back behind me and slid a finger into my ass. It was an awkward position and he didn't get very far in, but it felt good.

"Do you want the rest of it? Are you ready to take my cock all the way down to my balls? Do you wanna feel yours pressed into my pubes?" I grinned down at him. His face had moved from torture to bliss. "Just ask for it. Just tell me how much you want to feel my hard cock sliding completely into you. Say the word and you'll have every last inch of me inside you."

"Uhh, yeah, I want it. Come on, Steve, let me feel all of that big, thick cock in me. Then I want you to fuck me until we both cum. Ah, shit, look at the way I'm dripping just thinking about you shooting a huge load of cum up my ass. Look at all that pre-cum, getting smeared all over my stomach." He pushed me up a little, which actually shoved a bit more of my dick into him. "Look at that, babe."

"Fuck that's sexy," I whispered. "Look at the way all the hair on your stomach is stuck to the skin. I can't wait to get down there and clean you up with my tongue." I looked down at myself. "Oh, look at that. You got pre-cum all over me, too. I hope you're planning to do something about that."

"I dunno, babe. I can't really think straight with your cock just waiting to fuck me."

I smiled at him and shoved the rest of myself in. He grunted, then laid his head back on the pillow. His eyes were shut and he was smiling contentedly. He had pulled his fingers out of my ass and was just enjoying the ride now. I planned to give him the best one possible.

After leaving my cock fully inside him for a few minutes, giving him what he wanted, I started to pull out again. The way he gripped at me told me that he didn't want to let me out. I only went about halfway, then thrust myself back in, making him groan. I worked it so I would hit his prostate every third stroke or so. He was continually whimpering or moaning, letting me know just how much he loved what I was doing.

It felt good to me, but I realized that I was doing everything to make Mike feel good. Every movement I was making was designed to enhance his pleasure. What's more is that I did not want him to cum. I wanted his pleasure to be heightened, and by not letting him cum, I was making everything feel better for him. Was this the difference between making love and just fucking?

I'm not sure how, but I instinctively knew when he was close to cumming, and I slowed myself down to let him recover. I did the same thing for myself, but not nearly as often. My hands roamed across his chest and stomach, just touching him. I reached down and stroked his cock every now and then, too, but not very often. That wasn't where his pleasure was centered. He was just loving the feeling of having me inside him.

I'm not sure how long we lasted. I know it was at least an hour. There were a few close calls where one of us almost came, but I stopped it. By the end, Mike was practically begging me to make him cum. I knew that I couldn't hold myself off much longer, so I started really pounding my cock into his ass. His moans got louder, and without warning, he shot the biggest load I had ever seen all over the both of us. It came out with so much force that he actually hit me in the face with it.

"Oh fuck yeah, that feels so good, Steve! Come on, I want you to cum inside me. Fill me up with all your thick, hot cum..."

I lifted his legs up a little more and started pumping him with short, fast strokes. By the fourth one, I was shooting inside him.

I collapsed on top of Mike, almost panting. I could feel his cum covering both of us. I started to pull out of him, but he reached down and pulled me closer, keeping me inside him.

"Just stay like that a little longer. Please."

How could I say no to that? I kissed him, softly at first, but still with a huge amount of passion. It felt so good, cuddling up to him. Everything in that moment was just right.

Know what inspired me to write this chapter? Someone gave me constructive feedback on Chapter 11. Guess how you can convince me to get Chapter 13 written faster.

This is the first chapter after the one-year anniversary of the story. I had no idea it had already been a year. And here I am, just now finishing up Chapter 12. Yeah, yeah, I'm a slow-ass little punk. Shut up. Like I said earlier, I work faster when I have people telling me what they think. Oh, and I also want to give a quick thanks to Andy, the most prettiest proofreader ever.