WARNING: This story is about an affair between a boy and a man. Do not read the contents if it will offend you. If accessing this story causes you to break local laws (village, town, city, county, province, state, or country, etc.), please leave now.

 

Any characters portrayed in this story are fictional and not representative of anyone living or dead.

 

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The well-dressed boy.

 

By John T. S. Teller.

 

Part 9.

 

For a few months I'd been depressed about the situation with me and Joel, and I was even more depressed on the April morning that I knew Aiden was due to be released from jail. Joel's grandfather, Bill, had said that Aiden was an unstable man that day when we were talking at the Manor Hotel, so how would he react to the situation now his precious home had been sold and his precious possessions placed in storage? In the early afternoon, I found out. Brendan came bursting into my office and burst out excitedly, "For God's sake, Frank... switch on the TV to BBC 24 Hour News!" He didn't wait for me to do it: instead, he switched it on himself and switched to the station. Then we both stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

I watched in horror the on-the-scene commentator saying, "At the moment we are hearing from the police that they are looking for a man in his late thirties, driving a blue Vauxhall Astra, which was stolen from a Supermarket in Fordingbridge yesterday. It's believed he is Aiden Griffiths, the husband of the lady who was murdered about an hour ago, and the two elderly people who were murdered earlier this morning were her parents. It's also suspected he has his small daughter with him who he took out of school this morning. Neighbours who we've spoken to, say that he was recently released from prison after serving a six months sentence for a drink driving offence. The police have put out a warning that he is armed and dangerous and should not be approached." The commentator then gave out the licence number of the car, and he did a voice-over while the coverage changed to an overhead one from a helicopter. "We believe they have two children aged eight and thirteen, and that the eldest was removed from school and is in police protection while the search goes on."

 

At that point, I turned away from the TV and slumped onto my desk with my head in my hands. My emotions were all over the place... mostly relief that Joel was unharmed and being protected, and then I remembered what Bill had said that day at Manor house: There's just something about him that makes me shudder, and it isn't just because he thinks he owns everything including his family. I reckon he's got a psychotic streak in him. Sometimes when he looks at you, it's like looking at a different person, and the sooner Denise is rid of him, the better for the kids. Bill had been right, but he'd grossly underestimated just how psychotic he was.

 

Brendan came to me and put both hands on my shoulders. "I'm going to ring Harry. Oh, my God, I hope he's OK!"

 

I almost fainted when he said that. Of course... Harry was in danger! That fucking lunatic could have been headed towards him right then! I yelled to Brendan, "Use my phone! Quick! If he's at home, tell him to lock all his doors or get the fuck away from there right away! Do it!"

 

I sat with my mouth wide open watching Brendan. Then I could tell from the conversation that he was safe. Brendan was relaying everything to me. He was in Buckinghamshire, with Rosemarie, at an antique fair. Thank Christ for that! But he wasn't aware of what was going on. I slumped back into my previous position, only half-hearing the situation now I knew Harry and Joel were safe. When Brendan ended the conversation with Harry, he phoned Geraldine at home, and spent another ten minutes calming his wife down. Then he phoned the police, explained who he was, and asked if he could speak to the police who were dealing with the situation. They gave him a number to ring, and he rang it. I heard him explaining everything, including where Harry lived, and suggested Aiden might go there next. Then he asked if Joel was really safe and in care. When he put the phone down after giving them all his phone numbers in case they needed to contact him, he said, "You heard all that Frank?"

 

I nodded. "Where have they put Joel?"

 

"He's at the police station under armed guard. He's safe there."

 

Again I felt relieved. "Thank Christ for that! Fucking Hell, Brendan, I didn't expect this! He wasn't due out until today."

 

Brendan slumped into the chair opposite. "Me neither. They must have let him out a day early for some reason. The stupid bastards!  I'll order us some coffee."

 

 

**********

 

Neither of us moved from the office. We just sat there watching the news, switching channels to try and not miss anything. Then there was a Newsflash. The police were examining a car found on a side-road not far from Fordingbridge. The correspondent said there were two bodies in the car and that they suspected they were the bodies of Aiden Griffiths and his daughter. I was mortified. Why kill little Wendy? The poor baby! The only `crime' she'd committed was that she belonged to him. Belonged to him. Oh, my God! That's why. He knew he could never own Denise entirely because she had her family around her, and he didn't have a cat in hell's chance of owning Joel. So they were expendable. But little Wendy was truly his, and the only way he could protect his most prized possession was to take her with him. Nobody would ever be able to take her away from him then. The mad bastard!

 

**********

 

The following morning we were all at Harry's small house: all, being Harry; Rosemarie; Me; Brendan and his wife Geraldine; and Joel. Joel was there because Harry and Rosemarie were his only living close relatives. Also with us was a lady from Social Services and two female police officers. Outside was a police guard and a posse of newsmedia. On police advice, the TV was kept switched off and the curtains drawn. It was awkward... very awkward. I'd been grilled who I was, and it was established that I was a long-time family friend and business partner of the uncle's father. I sat alone, not by choice, but by design. Despite the awful situation, I was in possession of my faculties. Joel was the last to arrive, accompanied by the police and the Social Services lady. When they came into the small lounge, when Joel saw me, he rushed into my arms and cried his heart out. I would have liked it to be different, but there was no stopping him. I'd been thinking all night about what would happen, and the last thing I wanted was for anybody to suspect there was more to me and Joel than being acquaintances. But he put paid to that when he came to me first. Then I managed to get him on the sofa with Harry and Rosemarie. That was better: uncle and aunt with their nephew, all snuggled together and looking proper family, and I sort of melted into the background.

 

Discussions, discussions, discussions. They went on all day. A doctor and a nurse called and brought sedatives and advice leaflets about bereavement and counselling and God knows what other stuff. They were all doing their best, but I knew the best could only be achieved when they had all gone. Harry and Rosemarie signed forms. Joel was to stay with them for now. Very probably, they said, it would be permanent if Harry and Rosemarie wanted that. Of course, Harry and Rosemarie were insistent that it was what they wanted. They wouldn't have it any other way. They were family. But so were Brendan and Geraldine, and they insisted they would help. We'll work it out, they said. I was the odd one out. I could offer nothing. But I knew I could offer everything. And so did Joel, who hardly ever took his eyes off me. When officialdom cleared off, only then was I able to give Joel some of the affection he needed from me, but even that had to be without inference of anything deeper. There was a policeman stood guard outside the place to keep away the marauding press, and inside was Geraldine, who knew absolutely nothing about me and Joel. We managed a few kisses and special hugs, but that was it before Brendan and Geraldine and I went to the hotel we'd booked. We stayed two days and then left. It was horrible. I didn't want to leave Joel, and he didn't want me to go. But the eyes of the world were upon us, and everything had to be hunky-dory and above board.

 

**********

 

Thousands lined the route when Denise and Wendy and Bill and Sheila were taken to the church, and then to the crematorium. Joel was a complete wreck, but it wasn't me that comforted him. He was in the arms of his uncle and aunt, as it should have been. That was on my orders. Apart from the fact that I'd been Denise's employer, I was Mr Nobody in this tangled web of horror. And when the funerals were done and dusted, and we'd had our currant bread and cups of tea, once again I departed to keep a safe distance between us. It was, because the press were damned good at their job and not a hint of impropriety could possibly be leaked, how it had to be for the time being. But there was one thing I could do... and did. I bought two cell-phones in my name, and gave one to Joel. Each had one number on them: Joel had my number, and I had his. And that's how, apart from emails, we kept in touch.

 

********** ********** ********** **********

 

It was mid-June. Harry phoned me and said he wanted to talk to me. I asked him what it was about, and all he would say was, "All our futures."

 

**********

 

We sat at a table in the sun, outside the New Forest Hotel, where I'd booked a room for the night. I'd suggested I stay with them, but Harry said the odd newspaper hack still kept an eye on their home. Joel was at school and Rosemarie was busying herself antiquing or whatever they called messing about in the old crap they bought and sold. Harry looked the proper oddity he had become; wearing khaki shorts, a blue silk shirt, and a white straw hat. But my boy was still beautiful. While we sat at the table eating our lunch, his sparkling blue eyes often settled on mine, and held. That made me smile, and I returned the stare. Then he would resume eating with a grin on his face. The meal was over and we were supping two cold pints of London Pride when he said, "You're very patient, Old Man."

 

I grinned at him. "I've long since learned to be patient where Harry George Washington is concerned. You'll get to it when you're ready."

 

Harry laughed. "I've been talking to Joel."

 

"And... ?"

 

"And he wants to live with you."

 

"But... ?"

 

"But he can't do it here with Social Services having him under their wing."

 

I picked up my ale glass and took a sip, and then placed it gently on the table. "Where?"

 

"Because it might not come off, I didn't tell Joel what I was thinking, but I thought about the house in Zakynthos."

 

I took a deep breath, and asked, "Do you want a cigar?"

 

Harry nodded. I took two Havanas from my clip, and handed him one. It was rare for Harry to smoke, but like me, he enjoyed an after dinner one occasionally. After I'd guillotined mine, I handed him the contraption to prepare his. I'd taught him well. He clipped the cap and rolled the cigar gently in his fingers, testing the texture of it. He nodded at me as a sign that he thought it was a fine one. I lit mine with a wooden cedar match, and then handed him the box. He lit his, took a deep drag, rolled the smoke around in his mouth, blew it out, stared at me, and said, "Me and Rose want to go with you as well."

 

"All of us living in the house?"

 

"No. I want my own place down in the town, and a boat to make a living. I don't want to sponge off you."

 

I laughed. "You want me to buy you a house and a boat and you don't want to sponge off me?! What happened to the, I can manage without your bloody money, Frank? When did that go out of the window?"

 

Harry's face was serious when he replied, "When I decided that the man I love and his new boyfriend need to be happy again. You know it's never going to happen here, Frank. Joel is sick at heart about the situation, and he's slowly crumbling away. I'm worried that one day when he's really depressed, he might do something stupid." Harry stared right into me for a while, and then continued, "And I can see the toll it's taking on you. So, it will be a new beginning, away from all this shit around here. A time of healing. I'm sick of it as well. This might sound cruel, but I don't want to look after Joel any more. You know I would sacrifice everything to keep him safe, and if you refuse, I'll look after him until he wants to fly the nest... if he lasts that long. But I think it's stupid that you two are being kept apart and we're living in circumstances that we don't want to be in when there's an answer to everything at your fingertips. For crying out loud, you've worked your balls off all your life, and now you've got the chance to reap the rewards of it." Harry took another drag of his cigar, and continued, "I don't think you know how much he loves you. I'll be brutally honest and tell you that when I was first trying to get you two together, I hoped it would work out, but I didn't give it more than a 50/50 chance. Do you remember when you used to go Japan to see your manufacturer, during our early days?" He didn't wait for me to answer, and continued, "I hated it. Even though we spoke on the phone, I missed you so much that I used to cry myself to sleep every night. Mum and dad used to hate it as well, and dad used to say that he'd be glad when you got back because I was such a grumpy fucker. It's daft, isn't it, that a boy can love a man so much? And it wasn't about just the sex stuff. In fact it probably wasn't about the sex stuff. I fucking loved you so much that you were pretty much my whole reason for existing. When I was at school I was thinking about you all day, and I just couldn't wait to be with you and you holding me. Did you miss me that much?"

 

I couldn't look at him when I nodded, and said almost in a whisper, "Yes. You were my everything, and until Joel came on the scene, you still were." Then I did look at him, and added, "But even though Joel has arrived on the scene, it hasn't affected the way I feel about you. And if I'm brutally honest, I would give up what Joel and I have rather than spoil things between us. I never, ever want to lose you."

 

Harry nodded. "I know exactly how you feel, so don't feel guilty about it. Now back to Joel. I don't know what it is, Frank, but some men possess an aura about them... a magnetism that boys like me and Joel recognise immediately. You've got it, Frank, and I don't think you'll ever lose it. Joel loves you as much as I did at his age, and I reckon he'll love you as much as I do when he gets to my age. Lightening does strike twice sometimes, Frank, so aren't you the lucky one, unless you decide to throw your happiness away for a few cars."

 

I tipped up my ale glass, drained the dregs from it, and asked, "Do you want another one?"

 

He shook his head. "One's enough for me. I don't drink and drive over the limit. It can spoil things. You have another if you want to. I'll have a non-alcohol beer with you."

 

I smiled at him. "You've grown up Harry."

 

Harry smiled back at me. "I wish I was twelve again."

 

I looked into his eyes. "And I wish I was thirty odd again."

 

He nodded. "It was good. You were good for me, Frank. You were exactly what I needed, and I know a boy who needs you now exactly as I did. He needs that special man in his life who can be both his father figure and also his lover. He needs that very special kind of support that only people like you can give to boys like us. Joel's been to Hell and back, and he's battered and bruised and has internal injuries that only you can heal. He needs you, Frank, even more than I needed you."

 

I was deeply moved by Harry's words and sincerity, and I put a hand out to him. He looked right into my eyes and took hold of it. I squeezed his hand, and said, "Let's order those beers and we'll talk about what we're going to do. I'd already been thinking Zakynthos for the school holidays"

 

********** ********** **********

 

Late July and Joel and I sat in the back of the open topped VW Golf that we'd hired. We were all laughing at Harry's efforts not to take us over the edge of the rough track that led to my house overlooking Argassi, and Rosemarie was holding onto her straw hat to stop it being blown away. Harry manoeuvred the final bend, and then accelerated up the short, smooth stretch of drive that led to the side of the house, and then screeched to a halt, sending clouds of yellow dust into the air. The mad bugger then grabbed his white straw hat, stood on his seat, jumped over the door to land on his feet, threw his arms up in the air, and yelled at the top of his voice, "Paradise Regained!"

 

By the side of me, Joel was giggling like a lunatic. Then he suddenly climbed through onto Harry's seat, and repeated exactly what Harry had done, but the cry of his cambiata voice was, "Paradise, here we come!"

 

Rosemarie and I were laughing fit to burst at the two of them. Then Harry put his arm around Joel's shoulder, and said, "Come on, I'll show you around."

 

**********

 

Harry knew this place as well as I did. We'd only been together for a year when he persuaded me to buy the place. He was on one of his stayovers, and we were in bed having a rest after we'd been making love for a couple of hours, and I happened to casually mention that I might buy a holiday home somewhere. The moment I said it, he said, "Zakynthos!"  I asked him why that place. He grinned at me, and said, "We went on holiday there once, and there was this really good looking bloke that I fancied. I might meet him again."

 

We went to Zakynthos during the half-term holiday, and looked around the island. Harry was insistent that we look at some houses, and he even got an estate agent to take us to a few places to look at them. In those days when we were away, he called me Uncle Frank. When we got to this place at Argassi on a really hot day, we went into it, and the air conditioning was so good that if we kept the doors closed, it was like a fresh English day back home. It was wonderful after the drenching heat outside. Then we explored the place. It had three en-suite bedrooms, all with baths and showers, and a wonderful lounge that looked out over the long curve of Argassi town below us. It also had a good sized swimming pool, and all the furniture came with the price of the house. I fell in love with it right away, but Harry sort of turned his nose up at it. That surprised me, and I said, "Don't you like it, Harry?"

 

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's OK I suppose, Uncle Frank, but mum and dad said they preferred a place near the beach."

 

I knew he was lying, because Brendan and Geraldine had nothing to do with it. Then I realised that my boy had a brain in his head. He was playing the hard-headed customer for me. The lady estate agent was with us, and I asked, "Is the price negotiable enough to persuade me to make an offer?"

 

She struck immediately. "Yes. Try twenty percent off the asking price, and I think they'll accept fifteen percent less."

 

I shrugged my shoulders. "We'll have another look round, and then you can show us the last place you've got for us. Is that one nearer the beach?"

 

She nodded. "Yes, but if I'm honest, this is far better value unless you're thinking of renting the place when you're not here. The only reason this hasn't sold is because it's not as commercially viable as a place nearer the town and beaches. But it's only a ten minute drive to the town. You need to rent a car if you stay at this place."

 

We did have a look at the other place, and again Harry put on his act. This time he pretended to be enthusiastic, but when we were on our own, he said, "This place is horrible. I don't want this! I want the other one."

 

It began with me making an offer of twenty five percent less than the asking price for the place on the top of the hill that Harry had named `Paradise', and I ended up paying eighteen percent less.

 

And that's why Harry jumped out of the car and yelled, `Paradise Regained!' We hadn't been here together for five years: when he was nineteen and I was thirty-nine, and it had been the most difficult time we ever spent together.

 

**********

 

We'd been at Paradise for just one week of the two we'd planned, and things had gone pretty normally for us: sex and love and fun. But Harry was at the stage where, sexually, he was less attractive to me. I was a hebephile: a lover of boys just reaching and going through puberty. If it had been anyone else except Harry, I would have stopped having sex with him about two years earlier. I still loved him, but my love had changed from one of sexual desire, to wanting to be his mentor through whatever else he chose to be in life.

 

Harry was never a stupid boy. He knew my moods inside out, and he sensed that something was wrong with the way I made love to him, and because I never kept it a secret that I was a lover of boys, he knew the end was nigh. We had a blazing row: the only one we ever had in our relationship, and he stormed off in the car in the middle of the night. So, apart from trecking down the long, winding road to Argassi to search for him, there was little I could do to bring him back. He didn't come back that night, and not the following night either. I tried getting him on his mobile phone, but he'd switched it off. I was so distraught that I phoned Brendan and told him everything except the reason why we'd fallen out. His advice was simple: He'll be back, Frank. Just hang on in there.

 

I did, and early in the morning after the second night he was away, I heard the car coming up the steep drive. I lay in bed wondering what was going to happen. The last thing I wanted was another blazing row. I didn't get one. Harry came into the bedroom, stripped naked, and got into bed with me. I hugged him really tightly, and he cried and cried. Then, and it was the perverse part of what had happened, I made love to him exactly how he liked it, buried deep in his tunnel of love while he spent ages in orgasmic glory... and I enjoyed it as much as I'd ever done.

 

That day was one of new discoveries for both of us. I discovered that I loved Harry so much, that what I thought was my limit of sexual need, was not the limit where he was concerned. No other young man could have taken me past my age of attraction. But Harry did, and he knew I was genuinely enjoying him. The gaping rift healed, and it gave both of us time to make the break from sexual love to a shared, spiritual love. Harry would have continued with the sexual side of what we were, but he knew I couldn't.

 

So he accepted it, went off and did his own thing, found himself a woman, and made sure that I knew that he still loved me.  

 

**********

 

Harry's cry of `Paradise Regained' was not for him: it was for me. His chosen successor was about to embark on what had been, for us, the most beautiful times we spent together, and I knew that his uttering was the most unselfish thing he'd ever done. We couldn't bring back the past, but he knew we could do a remake of Harry and I, and I loved my beautiful boy even more for that.

 

We spent an hour doing things around the place, and then Harry said he and Rosemarie were off to the apartment they'd rented in town. Joel looked at him, not sure that he meant what he'd said. What Joel didn't know was that Harry and Rosemarie and I had arranged everything without him being in the know, and neither was he privileged to know of Harry's plans for us that had been sown at the New Forest Hotel. It was all top secret, and I was the one who was going to ask Joel if he wanted to move away from England and live here with me while Harry and Rosemarie set up a business in Argassi. But Joel was more than delighted when, after he'd asked if Harry and Rosemarie weren't staying with us, Harry said, "No. You two have got lots to talk about, and me and Rose have got lots of sexy things to do away from you pair." Then he laughed out loud, and said when he looked at me, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and we'll see you in a couple of days." Then they drove away down the dusty track.

 

We watched them go, and when the sound of them disappeared completely, Joel turned to me, and said, "Are we really all alone? Am I really staying with just you?"

 

I looked into his eyes, and nodded. "It seems that way, unless you want me to phone Harry and tell him to come back and pick you up."

 

Joel's face twisted with emotion, and I could see the tears coming, so I went to him and opened my arms. He fell into me and began to sob. The presence of the police and press and constant visitors meant that I never got to really comfort Joel in his time of need, but now it was time for some making up... for both of us.

 

**********

 

The bedroom was cool now the air-conditioning was beginning to take effect, but the reason that Joel was shaking wasn't because of the temperature in the room, it was because he knew I was going to give him that which he had desired for so long, and which had been denied to him by circumstances. It was almost nine months to the day since we made love at Manor Hotel, at Harry's wedding, but now the patience I had asked of him was to be rewarded.

 

Although his features remained relatively unchanged from the young-boyish looks he had when we first met, he'd grown a couple of inches since then, and his voice had changed slightly, too. It had become more husky, and that excited me. He'd become even more sexually desirable to me.

 

I drew the blinds and went to him, holding his hands by the fingertips, looking at him. He was smiling. I smiled back at him, and then drew him into my arms. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around my neck. I looked down into his eyes. He stared up into mine. Slowly, I lowered my head. He looked at my lips, and I saw his part slightly. And then we kissed with such passion that it left us reeling with emotion; sobbing as we tried desperately to soothe the savage hurt that we'd buried for so long.

 

I'd daydreamed about this moment, planning everything, including taking off his clothes and making soft, gentle love to him. But my daydreams had been fantasy. Reality was not soft and gentle, it was hard and brutal. We literally tore our own and each other's clothes off until we were naked, and then Joel was on the bed beneath me as I ravaged his small body with passionate kisses. And his dick was only in my hot, succulent mouth for fifteen seconds before he ejaculated into my throat with a loud squeal of ecstasy as I lay between his spread legs, and I was so worked up that as the now copious amounts of his semen spurted into my eager mouth, I ejaculated onto the bedsheets and shuddered throughout my entire orgasm, completely lost in the overwhelming passions of the fabulous moment with the boy I now loved completely. But Joel wasn't finished! He continued almost immediately, this time with his hands behind my head, his pubic bone grinding into my face, his entire lower abdomen rotating and thrusting at me, and in a very short while, he squealed and ejaculated again, and his remaining, hot semen spurted into my mouth.

 

**********

 

Joel was open-mouthed, eyes half-closed, arms stretched out each side of him and breathing heavily when I went up to him. I pulled him to me, worked an arm under him, and drew him close. He folded into me easily, his left leg coming over me as he did. I clasped his soft buttock and pressed it down on me, pulled his head under my chin, wrapped an arm round him, and held him very tightly. I could feel the warmth of his hot breath on my chest, and I'm sure he could feel mine as I kissed his beautiful, auburn hair. And wrapped together in our love, we both fell instantly asleep.

 

To be continued...

 

You can find my other stories on Nifty here. If you wish to comment on this or any of my other stories, just drop me a line to john.thestoryteller@gmail.com Genuine comments will be appreciated. All flames will be extinguished in the trash bin.