Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:51:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Christos Kastellanos <christoskastellanos@yahoo.com>
Subject: Love's Promise/ chapter 4/ beginnings

Love's Promise

By

Christos Kastellanos

Previously in chapter three:

Michael sat up in bed and he shook fearfully as he awoke from a horrible
nightmare. Sean was in trouble, in his dream someone was trying to kill him
and Michael was helpless to stop it.

He bolted from the bed and hurried from the room, down the stairs and when
he ran into the living room, he grabbed the phone and dialed 911 and within
seconds, the operator asked him what his emergency was.

"Connect me with the Shelburne Falls police station," he insisted and she
connected him.

"Sergeant Frank Johnson," the officer said.

Michael related what he had called about to the man and the man assured him
that everything was fine.

"Could you just go check please...I have this sixth sense about stuff like
this," Michael insisted.

"One minute then," Frank reluctantly said, set the phone down and walked
away from the desk.

Seconds felt like hours as Michael waited and then he heard all kinds of
yelling coming from somewhere beyond the room that the phone was in.

"Hello!" he screamed into the phone, but no one answered his call.

He knew that something was wrong; he could hear Frank yelling for someone
to call for an ambulance.

"Michael...what is going on," Jason asked as he rushed into the room.

"Something has happened to Sean," he said with a rush of panic in his
voice.

"How do you know this...I never heard the phone ring," Jason said
insistently.

"I had a nightmare and decided to call the station. I can hear police in
the background screaming for an ambulance.

He was still listening when the phone went dead.

"Nooooo," Michael yelled and punched 911 again.

He asked to be reconnected to the police but all he got was a busy signal.

"I'm heading over to the station, Jason," Michael said, running back
upstairs to throw on some clothes.

"I'll go with you," Jason insisted, following Michael up the stairs.

Dressed and in the car, Jason raced along the streets as fast as he dared
to go. He turned onto the main road and could see the flashing lights of
the ambulance and also those of the coroner's vehicle as they waited
outside the police station.

Palmer, who was out of uniform, came walking out, followed by a stretcher
baring a sheet covered body and also Aaron, the coroner. Jason's car came
to a screeching halt and he and Michael bolted from it. But as they tried
to get closer, the more that other officers restrained them.

"He's my husband...I have a right to see him," Michael screamed out as he
pushed against the burly officer that was holding him back.

Palmer turned his head to look at Michael and then disappeared into his
cruiser after Sean was placed in the coroner's car.

"Nooooo...oh my dear God no...not when I just found him," Michael cried out
as he collapsed and fell to the ground in despair.

Jason knelt beside him and together they watched as the three vehicles
drove away.

Chapter Four

Jason helped Michael to his feet and together they walked back to Jason's
car. Michael was distraught over Sean and insisted on going to the
morgue. When they arrived at the morgue, they were pleasantly greeted by a
receptionist at the front door.

"May I help you gentlemen," she said sincerely, her voice quietly reverent
as if in respect for the dead.

"I've come to identify my husband, Sean Connolly," Michael said, fighting
back his tears.

She looked over the recent names of those that had arrived and found no
sign of a Sean Connolly.

"Are you sure that is the right name, because I have no such name listed
here," she said.

"I ought to know my own husband's name," he shouted, frustrated by the
woman. "He would have been brought in only within the last few minutes,"
Michael informed her.

"Oh... would you please have a seat and I'll call into the... I'll call for
someone to come out," she said, smiling warmly at them.

Jason took Michael over to a chair and they waited for what felt like
hours, for someone to come out and talk to them. He had been there himself
not hours ago, wishing to see Carl one last time. He shook as he waited
beside Michael, the smell of death permeated the air and even the fake
scent of roses could not cover up the smell of death.

When someone did come out, it was Palmer, the police chief, and he had
Aaron with him.

"How can I help you," Aaron asked, already knowing how he could.

"I want to see Sean's body, and I want to know how he died," Michael said
insistently, standing and staring down at the two men.

Aaron gave a brief, concerned look at Palmer and then turned his attention
back to Michael.

"At the moment his body is not yet ready to view, and as for his cause of
death, well I will be able to answer that once I have finished my autopsy
of the body," Aaron confirmed.

"I don't give a fuck how he looks...I demand to see him now," he said
loudly, his hands fisted on his hips.

"The doctor said that he's not ready for viewing so you will just have to
abide by his word and come back later," Palmer now said, intervening for
Aaron.

"I have heard of families identifying their loved ones before any autopsy
has been performed," Jason said insistently back to both Palmer and
Aaron. "I know my rights and I demand to see him...NOW," he said but inches
from the sheriff's face

Aaron pulled Palmer aside and together they whispered amongst
themselves. With Palmer nodding in agreement, they rejoined Michael and
Jason.

"Give me some time to prepare him for viewing and then the sheriff will
bring you in," Aaron said reluctantly and walked off, leaving Palmer there
with them.

"Why all the secrecy Palmer," Jason asked.

Jason and Palmer knew each other well; they had gone to school
together. Palmer had always been a man of the law, tattling on his
classmates if the broke a single infraction of the school rules.

"I want to know how Sean died also," Michael said adamantly, his face but a
breath from Palmer's as he leaned into the man.

"I don't take threats very well so I recommend that you sit down and wait
until we are called to go view the body."

"That was not a threat sheriff, and you will know when I am threatening
you," Michael said just as coldly as Palmer had.

"I think we all need to calm down and take a step back," Jason said,
pulling Michael back and easing him down into the chair.

They sat quietly, neither of them talking or looking to one another. It was
well over an hour later that the phone rang on the receptionist's desk.

"Sheriff, you can bring the two gentlemen downstairs," she said quietly and
flashing a sympathetic smile to them.

Even though the air was on the colder side once they descended the stairs,
Michael shivered profusely as he approached the room that was marked for
viewing. They stepped into the room and all that the room had was a sofa
and chairs that face a drape covered window.

Palmer picked up the phone beside the window and after listening a moment,
he hung up.

"If' you'll step over here to the window, please," he said to Michael and
Jason.

When they were close to the window, Palmer took in a deep breath, and
pulled on the cord, causing the drapes to part. Michael gasped when he saw
Sean laying there, a sheet pulled up to his chin.

His eyes were closed and his face pale as he laid there with Michael and
Jason viewing him. Michael could not hold back his tears and turned away
and into Jason's arms. Palmer pulled again on the cord and as the drapes
closed, Jason gasped and turned back to Palmer.

"Come on sweetie, let me take you home," Jason said soothingly leading
Michael from the room.

As he passed Palmer, Jason gave him a knowing look. Palmer locked eyes with
him and neither man said a word.

"Why Jason...why did God have to take him away so soon from me," he asked
after Jason sat him in the car.

"I don't know what to tell you Michael, but he had to have had his
reasons," he added, closing the door behind him.

Jason got into the car and was driving off when he noticed an ambulance
parked where the coroner's hearse should have been parked and he looked
over at Michael, wondering if he had seen it too...he had.

"I bet the ambulance driver would know how Sean died," Michael said,
causing Jason to make a fast u-turn and park.

He parked his car just past the ambulance and watched as a body was brought
out and placed in the waiting ambulance. Both men sat silently watching as
Palmer and Aaron left the building also, right behind the body.

"I don't like this one fucking bit," Jason said suspiciously.

"What do you mean, Jason," Michael asked, looking at him, then the two men
that were talking by the ambulance and then back to Jason.

"Nothing...I just don't like this," Jason said and then threw his car into
drive, leaving the parking spot quietly.

"Where are we going," Michael asked with alarm in his voice.

"No where yet, but just wait a minute," Jason said and pulled over to the
side of the road when the ambulance, with its lights flashing and its siren
blaring, when hurriedly by them.

"Why are we following the ambulance, Jason," Michael wanted to know.

"Because I have a sneaking suspicion that Sean's so called remains are in
it and that he's far from dead," Jason said, shooting a large smile over in
Michael's direction.

"What... but how...why?" he asked, shocked by Jason's revelation.

"I don't know all that, but what I do know, is that I saw Sean's eyes move
beneath his eyelids just as Palmer was closing the drapes, Michael," Jason
said looking over at Michael whose mouth hung open in shock. "That's right,
they moved and no dead man moves his eyes," he added, patting Michael's leg
warmly.

"Then why the charade of pretending that he is dead?" he wanted to know.

"That Michael is something that you and I are going to find out," he said
as he pulled his car over, to let Palmer's cruiser pass by.

As Palmer rode by, his eyes locked with Jason's, and Jason could see the
shock in them as they held momentarily.

"Oh he's alive alright, did you see how alarmed Palmer looked," Jason asked
Michael.

"This is just too much to believe...to hope for," Michael said, shaking his
head in disbelief.

Jason stepped on the gas and just as he drove around the blind corner,
Palmer was pulled over to the side of the road, watching, waiting for Jason
to drive by. Both Jason and Michael saw him sitting there and looked
suspiciously at each other when Palmer pulled out behind them, lights
flashing and driving right on their tails. Jason knew that Palmer wanted
him to pull over, so he saw a safe spot ahead and did so.

"Why did you pull me over, Palmer," Jason asked once Palmer walked up to
the side of his car.

"Don't you know that it's against the law to follow an emergency vehicle,"
Palmer said looking across Jason and at Michael.

"It's kind of hard not to follow when it's right in front of you. Besides,
I pulled over and let him pass, just as the law requires. So now I will ask
you, what are you and Aaron hiding, because I know that Sean is not dead?"

Palmer looked long and hard for quite some time before he gave him an
answer.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, you both saw Mr. Connolly's
body at the morgue," Palmer said, hoping that it was enough.

"We did, and I also saw his eyes move beneath his lids. Now we both know
that a dead man doesn't move his eyes. So again Palmer, this is your old
friend Jay, tell me just what you are hiding."

Palmer stood up straight and looked around him before lowering back to the
window.

"Follow me to Baystate Medical Center," was all that he said and then
walked away.

"Oh my God Jason, Sean is alive I just know it," an excited Michael said.

"Lets' not go getting too excited, because I know Palmer really well, and
he never does things without a good reason."

The drive was long as they followed Palmer to the hospital. When they
pulled into the parking lot, Palmer motioned to them as to where to
park. He stood there waiting silently for Jason and Michael to walk over.

"I'm taking you into a private office where I am going to talk to you," he
said and Michael began to protest, but Jason knew how Palmer worked, it was
his time and his way, so Jason simply grabbed Michael by the arm, shaking
his head at him when Michael looked at him.

"Now tell me again what makes you think that Mr. Connolly is alive, when
you both saw his body not an hour ago?"

"Like I told you earlier, Palmer, I saw his eyes move beneath his lids, now
tell us the truth," Jason demanded, leaning across the desk, closer to
Palmer.

"What I am about to tell you is for your ears only," he said, looking from
Jason, to Michael, and then finally back to Jason. "Yes, he is alive and I
am..."

"I want to see him please...oh God I need to see him," Michael said jumping
up and interrupting Palmer.

"You will see him, but first there is much to discuss before I take you
into see him," Palmer said, leaning back against the chair with his arms
crossed behind his head as he studied the two men that sat across from him.

Reluctantly, Michael retook his seat and waited for Palmer to talk.

"Before you tell us about him, how did he supposedly die?" Michael asked.

"Hung in his cell," Palmer said and both Jason and Michael gasped.

"Hung...but how, because he may have found it disheartening to be locked up
like a common criminal, but he wouldn't have taken his own life," Jason
said adamantly.

"Both Aaron and I feel that someone tried to murder him and that is why we
have continued this charade of him being dead. Although he has not regained
consciousness yet, Aaron feels that he will. They are running tests on him
and once they are done, I will take you in to see him."

"How long did he hang, Palmer," Jason needed to know.

"I'm not sure, but he was still kicking when Adam Brown made his rounds of
the cell. It was Adam's quick thinking that saved his life. Aaron of course
examined him and it was he that found the bruises around his wrists."

"Bruises?" Michael questioned.

"Yes bruises, for it appears that his wrists were bound and his mouth
gagged when he was hung up to die. Aaron also thinks that whoever tried to
kill him, may have actually killed Carl and that other man that was found
after the fire in the ruins of the wine cellar."

"Then he isn't guilty of killing Derek and Carl, is that what you're
saying," Michael asked and Palmer slowly shook his head.

"I think the real killer may have gotten into the holding area between
rounds and strung him up, escaping before the next rounds were made."

"What evidence supports that, Palmer," Jason asked.

"When I went to where we have our equipment that watches the cells are
stored, I found the cameras disabled that monitored that particular area,"
Palmer admitted.

"Then we are back to where we started, wondering just who the killer is,"
Michael said, standing and waiting. "May I please now see my husband," he
asked politely.

"Yes Michael, I'll take you to him as soon as his tests are finished. But
remember, he's dead for all intensive purposes."

"I understand that sir, but what now, where does Sean go from here?"

"Why you are going to bury him and Jason is going to write up his obituary
for the paper," Palmer said with a smile. "I know that this must be hard
for you Jay, what with Carl's death, but it's necessary if we are to catch
the killer."

"Bury him...you can't..." he paused, "oh now I see, I will have a closed
casket and act as if he were dead," Michael said and again Palmer nodded.

"Now if you would follow me, I see that Sean has just returned to his
room," Palmer said, leading them from the room and down the long corridor
to where Sean was being kept. "He is here under the name of John Beecham, a
name that once belonged to my grandfather," he added.

***

Back at Jason's house, a lone figure walked up the stairs toward the
bedrooms with a small box in his hands. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt
and black jeans.

He paused momentarily before Jason's door, before he moved across the hall
to the room that Michael was sleeping in. He listened for a moment, slowly
opened the door and stepped in, leaving the door open. He hurried to the
bed, pulled back the covers and dumped the contents of the box onto the
sheet before remaking the bed.

Smiling sadistically, he hurried from the room, closing the door behind
him.

"Sean's gone and just two left to go," he said and then laughed with a
haunting laugh, which would have chilled the soul as he stole from the
house and into the nearby woods. "I will remove all that you love Jason
before I end your life too," he said smugly as he moved quietly about.

He was careful to step where the snow had melted, making sure as to leave
no tracks behind him.

***

Michael stood beside the bed and looked down into Sean's peaceful face. He
brushed a lock of hair from Sean's forehead, leaned down and softly placed
a kiss to his lips.

"Wake up darling, Sean it's me, Michael," Michael whispered close to Sean's
ear.

He stayed bent over Sean and waited, but he did not wake up.

"He's had quite a traumatic experience kid, give him some time for his
brain to react to what he's endured," Palmer said, placing his hand on
Michael's shoulder.

"Just five minutes sir, that is all that I want with whoever did this to
him and the others," Michael said, looking coldly into Palmer's eyes. "No
more and no less, just five minutes is all that I ask," he added before
turning back to look down at Sean.

Palmer didn't answer, he turned to Jason and the man simply shrugged his
shoulders, giving Palmer the same look that Palmer had given Michael,
earlier. Palmer nodded toward the door to Jason and together they stepped
outside, giving Michael some time alone with Sean.

"Are you sure that we can out the killer this way?" Jason asked once they
had exited the room.

"I know now that Connolly didn't kill your Carl or the other young man,"
Palmer said, running his fingers through his hair. "Someone somehow is
getting in and out of the houses without being noticed," he added, looking
to Jason for help.

Jason looked at him for a long moment, blinked and turned his eyes away.

"What aren't you telling me, Jay," Palmer asked.

"It could be something, but then again, it could be nothing," Jason said,
reaching into his jean's front right pocket and pulling something out.

He held out his hand out, knuckles up, and deposited a jewel into Palmer's
hand. He took a long look at the gem, looked up at Jason and then back at
the gem.

"What is this...other than a diamond, I don't understand what you are
trying to tell me," Palmer said as he took a closer look at the stone.

"I found this in the upstairs hallway, just before you would step into the
servant's staircase, where Carl's body was found," he confided. "I looked
through all of Carl's jewelry and he's not missing a diamond. Besides, he
never liked stones of that size and value. Carl was a gentle and simple
man, with simple tastes," Jason said warmly. "Tomorrow I am burying the man
that loved me beyond reason, without strings attached to his love. He gave
himself to me unconditionally and totally. I owe it to him to find his
killer," he said, taking back the stone.

"And you think that he'll show up at Carl's funeral?" Palmer asked and
Jason nodded.

"If not his, for sure to Sean's," he said.

"Can I make a suggestion, buddy? Would you mind having Sean's empty casket
in the next room," he asked Jason.

"Not at all, because I know in my heart that Sean would have never done
this to Carl, they just loved and respected each other to much."

"Then let me go make a few calls and I'll come back as soon as I finish,"
Palmer said and walked off.

"Anything Michael," Jason asked after stepping back into the room.

Michael turned; his eyes were misty and red from crying. Jason held out his
arms and Michael rushed into them, each man clinging to the other for
comfort and support.

"Mmmmmm," a weak Sean moaned.

"Oh baby boy...you're back," Michael cried out, turning and falling to his
knees beside the bed.

"Mmmmmm," he moaned again and touched his throat.

"Don't try to talk; your larynx was bruised by the rope so it'll be a while
before you can speak. You're at Baystate Medical Center, honey. Someone
tried to hang you in your cell, but the guard doing his rounds found you
and saved your life," Michael said and went on to tell him about Palmer's
plan and his own funeral.

Sean looked to Jason with sorrow and sadness in his eyes, his eyes telling
Jason what his voice could not.

"Yes sweetie, our Carl is gone but I promise you, he didn't die in vain
because I will catch the bastard that is doing this to us," he promised.

"I want him to go home Jason," he said looking back at Jason.

"He..." Jason began but stopped when the door opened and Palmer stepped
into the room, noticing that Sean was now awake.

"Has he told you who did this to him," Palmer asked, gazing down at Sean.

"No, he can't talk, only moan and groan," Jason said.

Palmer pushed the button beside the bed, and almost immediately, a doctor
and nurse came rushing into the room.

"He's awake, doctor, but he unable to talk," Palmer informed him as he
examined Sean's eyes with a small light.

"With an injury such as his was it's quite understandable that his voice is
gone. With time and healing, his voice will come back," he assured them.

Sean made a writing sign toward the men, asking in sign language for a pen
and paper. The doctor took out his prescription pad and pen, handing it to
Sean. Sean scribbled quickly on the pad and handed it to Palmer.

"Is this the name of the man that did this to you," he asked and Sean
nodded.

Jason grabbed the slip of paper from Palmer's hand and once his eyes read
the name, he sank down in the chair.

"He'll be there tomorrow, I can almost guarantee it Palmer," Jason said and
Michael looked perplexedly Jason.

"Who will... who is this man," he wanted to know.

"Someone that must have a great deal of hatred for me," Jason said. "So
much so, that he's killing everyone that means anything to me. And I
thought all this time that it was Robert that killed Derek. I should have
known better, I really should have."

"But Jay...who is this man and what is he to you?" Michael asked.

"Someone that loved me and wanted me when all that I ever wanted was Carl,"
he said. "He vowed that day that I turned down his proposal that he would
get even with me for his humiliation. I just never imagined that murder
would be how he did it...I just never knew he could hate me so much."

"Mmmmm," Sean moaned again, shaking his head as his eyes locked with those
of Jason.

"Forgive me honey...forgive me for not seeing and letting you take the
blame," Jason said and then lowered his head to the bed, crying hard while
Sean gently stoked his head.

"Then we have some plans to make, because I am sure that he'll not show his
face before tomorrow," Palmer said. "Anyone with that much hate and
vengeance in his heart will definitely want to see how his vengeance is
affecting you."

***

Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Michael sat down on
the edge of the bed, a drink in his hand as he tried to remove his boots
while holding the drink.

"Damn...dammit all to hell," Michael said, jumping up and looking at the
liquid from his spelt drink as it settled into the bed.

"What's wrong," Jason asked, hurrying into the room.

Michael looked at the handsome man that stood there in his boxers, the hole
to his shorts gaping wide open. He could see the beginning of his cock and
it excited him. He had had just enough liquor to make his inhibitions drop
and his eyes stayed glued to Jason's loin.

"Michael...it's the liquor and not the desire for me," Jason said, lifting
Michael's head by the chin and looking him in the eyes. "Now what's wrong,"
he asked.

"I spilled my drink on the bed and now it's a mess," he slurred.

"I'll just grab another set of sheets and we'll have it done up in no
time. While I go and get the sheets, why don't you strip off those wet
ones," he suggested.

Michael nodded and set about removing the blankets first. He had just
pulled back the top sheet when he saw all the brown recluse spiders
crawling about. He may have been a big, muscular man, but he screamed like
a woman when he saw the spiders.

Jason came running in and he froze when he saw all the spiders crawling
about on the bed.

"That is not an usual occurrence for the brown recluse," Jason said,
leaving the room and returning with a large can of bug spray.

He saturated the bed and stood back, watching as the spiders died from the
spray.

"Why are there so many? My God there has to be a hundred or more
congregated on the bed," Michael said as a shiver ran down his spine.

"Someone put them there and intended for you to be bitten by them. If you
had crawled into bed with that many of them, you would have been dead by
morning."

Michael fainted and before he hit the floor, Jason caught him. "Hmmm, and
you call yourself a Marine," Jason mused as he lowered him to the floor
gently.

He pulled out his cell and dialed Palmer's number. He waited impatiently
for him to pick up and when he did, he simply asked him to come over. Ten
minutes later Palmer arrived and Jason met him at the front door. By then
Michael had come to and was sitting in Jason's room, waiting for them to
come upstairs.

"What was so dang important that you couldn't... oh my sweet Jesus, would
you look at all those spiders," he said as he stepped into the room and saw
all the dead spiders on the white sheet. "I don't understand, how did you
get so many in one place," he asked looking at Jason.

"I didn't, but I think the killer did and he intended for Michael to be his
next victim."

"That many of them would have surely done the trick," Palmer said looking
at the spiders and then back at Michael who was standing in the doorway.

"Then what do we do about it, because he's going to expect Michael to be
dead or in the least dying by morning," Jason asked.

"Nothing, I mean nothing at the moment that is," Palmer said looking from
one to the other. "I want you to give me a call in the morning around six
and I'll have Aaron and his team come by with the hearse," he added.

"The hearse as in that vehicle that carries away dead people," Michael
asked, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

"One and the same big guy," Palmer told him. "I want the killer to think
that he succeeded in killing Michael. I will have Aaron's team carry
Michael out as if he were dead, place him in the hearse and transport him
back to the morgue. I want it all to look authentic, so make sure that you
keep him out of sight, got it big boy," he said turning to Michael.

Michael nodded.

"Looks like we are bunking together kid," Jason said with a firm but
soothing sound to his voice.

"Well just don't go getting any ideas," Michael said, turning and heading
back to Jason's bedroom.

"Don't you have a guest room that he could stay in," Palmer asked, and then
it hit him how Jason was dressed, or rather not dressed.

His eyes drifted over Jason's rock hard body and down to his plaid boxers
with the gaping hole in the front. He coughed suddenly when he saw how
endowed Jason was.

Of course Jason wasn't blind to how Palmer was looking at him. As kids,
Palmer had often wondered what Jason would be like in bed, having seen him
naked in the gym showers.

"What's wrong Palmer, haven't you ever seen a man in his boxers before?" he
snapped, causing Palmer to start and look quickly up at Jason.

"Huh...what did... sure Jay... it's that...never mind, I gotta get my ass
out of here," he stammered, his eyes still gawking at the hole.

"You know, Palmer, I could put you up for the night and that way feel
protected by your presence." Jason suggested, giving Palmer a very pleading
smile.

"Huh... I didn't bring anything to sleep in...I wasn't planning on
staying," he further stammered. "I guess I could stay...it would be safer
if'n I did," he added.

Jason turned to look into his bedroom, and he found Michael sprawled across
the bed.

"I guess we'll just have to bunk together in the guest room," Jason said,
leading Palmer down the hall to the last bedroom. "I'm sorry that it's not
a king size like Carl and I had, but a double is still big enough for us to
sleep comfortably in. Left or right," Jason asked, motioning toward the
bed.

"Definitely the right side," Palmer said and Jason climbed in on the left.

Palmer removed his shirt, his shoes and socks, but when he stood to remove
his jeans, he paused and turned to Jason.

"I wasn't expecting to stay when you called me so I just threw on my jeans
without my shorts," he nervously stated, pleading with his eyes toward
Jason.

"So what's the problem, it's not like we haven't ever seen each other naked
before, Palmer," Jason said, before he reached under the blanket and a
moment later tossed his boxers over to a chair. "There now, we'll both be
naked," he said, turning onto his back with his arms crossed over his
chest.

Palmer looked down at the blanket that covered Jason, and he could see the
large bulge that his manhood made. Again he swallowed the lump and pushed
his jeans down, stepping from them and kicking them aside. He was no jock
or muscle head like some guys were, but he had a very decent body, lean but
hard, and the slightest hint of a six-pack on his abs.

Palmer was tall, but not as tall as Jason. His short auburn hair and green
eyes had always told of his Irish heritage. His facial features were
classic, long straight nose, square jaw and lips that were full, pink and
sensuous. He hurried into bed and Jason looked at him once he had himself
settled.

"Are you gonna close the light or do you want me to?"

"Huh...what was...?"

"Never mind," Jason said, rolled over and reached across Palmer in a way
that placed his chest atop Palmer's, their skin touching in the softest of
touches.

Jason switched off the light and the brightness of a full moon, illuminated
the room as if he had a soft light on. As he moved to go back to his own
side, he paused when he felt Palmer's arm come to rest on his back. Jason
looked down at Palmer, who was gazing deeply into Jason's eyes, and Jason
felt Palmer's hand move to the nape of his neck and pull him down to his
lips.

Their lips met softly, tenderly as if a breath could slip between them at
first. Jason lifted his head back, looked hard at Palmer and then leaned in
and kissed Palmer long and deep. Jason brushed Palmer's lips with his
tongue, causing him to open and take Jason's tongue into his mouth. Their
tongues dueling intensely as their kiss lengthened and deepened, until
Jason suddenly pulled away.

"I'm sorry Jay...I was wrong to do that when you are burying Carl
tomorrow," Palmer said, his voice thick and husky as he continued to look
into Jason's eyes.

"I should have pulled away sooner, but I didn't. I loved Carl, and I loved
him more than life, but..." he went quiet and pulled away. "Goodnight
Palmer," he whispered, turning his back to the man and silently crying.

Palmer could feel Jason's sobs and he turned to face him, turning Jason to
face him and pulling him into his arms.

"Cry my dear, sweet friend," Palmer whispered to him, holding Jason tightly
to him as the man sobbed.

Jason cried for the better part of an hour, stopping long enough to share a
story about Carl and then crying again. After a long while, he had cried
himself out, still lying in Palmer's arms and touched by how sensitive
Palmer had been to his needs.

"I'm sorry for crying all over you and getting your chest all wet," Jason
said, feeling Palmer's damp chest hair on his cheek.

"I am sure that a few tears are not going to harm me, Jay," he said
thickly, brushing his fingers through Jason's hair.

Jason turned his head and looked up at Palmer, and he smiled when he saw
how the moonlight caused Palmer's eyes to glow. He brushed his cheeks
softly with his knuckles, causing a soft sigh to emit from Palmer.

"Don't please...I'm not sure if I can control these feelings that I am
having for you, Jay," Palmer whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder,
his heart would give away what he was feeling.

"He was a good man, Jay, and if you rather we don't do this, I do
understand. But I want you to know that when you are ready, I'll be here
waiting for you," Palmer said and then they kissed again, long and deep,
and then snuggled together and fell asleep. Jason knew that it was wrong to
have these feelings so soon, but what he felt and what he saw now in
Palmer's eyes erased all logic from him. He lifted up and then lowered his
mouth to Palmer's, kissing him heatedly as he moved atop him.

"Are you sure Jay...really sure," Palmer asked, Jason nodded and then
kissed him again, as Palmer wrapped his arms around Jason's neck.

"I have loved you from afar for over twenty five years Jay, but I respected
your relationship with Carl," Palmer confessed.

"I know, there were many times that I could feel your love for me through
how you looked at me or how your body spoke when you were near me. I too
respected my relationship with Carl. I cannot say that I love, for it's too
soon for such feelings. I don't know why I am even doing this, while Carl
lays downtown awaiting... burial, other than for Carl not having wanted me
to stay alone."

To be continued...

Sorry that there wasn't any sex for you readers that look for it, but I
needed to write it this way. I hope I haven't lost you readers and I
promise that the next chapter is better. Chris

Replies can be made to christoskastellanos@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Christos