Warning: the following story contains graphic descriptions of sex between consenting adult males. If you are underage or do not wish to read such materials, or if reading this sort of material is illegal in your jurisdiction, then read no further. If you have any feedback, or if you would like to receive links to some of my other stories, feel free to drop me a line at niftystoryteller@yahoo.com.
The next day was a killer. Cap'n roused us before the sun had even shown itself. His plan was to reach our destination before noon, unload Will and Sam and me and all of our gear, and then turn around with enough daylight remaining that he could cover a fair stretch of water before dropping anchor for the night. It probably wouldn't have worked if Rory and Sean hadn't started competing with Sam and me, to see who could work hardest, but that male instinct kept us moving fast enough to complete the job in record time. And so at two o'clock sharp we waved goodbye to the skipper and his crew as they steamed away. Rory and Sean looked like they would have preferred to stay with us, but at least they could look forward to returning to resupply our base in three weeks, midway through the expedition. Turning around to face the piles of crates that were strewn around, I wished that they were staying for at least the rest of the day. In our haste to unload we had piled everything up on the beach in the little comma-shaped estuary where we had landed, and we still needed to lug our gear up to the higher ground where we would establish our base camp. The dig site itself was a quarter mile into the jungle, reachable only by hiking up a clear stream that ran through the dense jungle canopy.
The tropical heat and humidity soon had us soaked with sweat. One by one we shed our shirts as we wrangled a mountain of crates up to our temporary homesite. I think that we were all eager to be done with the job, and we just powered through it. Soon the outlines of our little encampment began to take shape. While Sam unpacked the crates of living supplies and tools, Will and I erected four room-size tents. Sam and I would share one, Will would have his own, and the other two were for work supplies and storage for all of the samples we hoped to unearth.
The sun was getting low in the sky by the time we finished stowing everything, and we were too exhausted to do anything more than open a couple of cans for dinner. Before preparing our meal, though, we jumped into the natural pool formed by the lazy curve of the stream just below our campsite. The water was only about four feet deep, but it was cool and refreshing, and it soothed aching muscles. With the addition of a little soap, it even washed away the grime and sweat. Sam and I lingered a bit after Will pulled himself out and walked, dripping wet and clad only in sandals, back up to his tent, where he put on some clothes and began to prepare some food.
"I might regret coming on this trip if every day is like today," Sam observed wryly.
"I think that Will mentioned something about hard work when he signed us up. But I see what you mean. Just remember, though. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." I wrapped my arms around him from behind and pulled his smooth body toward mine. I couldn't resist tousling his wavy brown hair as I rested my chin on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here."
Sam turned his head and planted his lips on mine. "Me too. Now let's go check out what's on the menu."
Canned beef stew had never tasted so good, especially washed down by our few precious cans of cold Fosters. There was no reason to save it; the ice would soon be melted and, with it, any ability to keep beer properly cold. Will had lit a small campfire for atmosphere, and, after the dinner dishes were done, he and I relaxed there in our collapsible camp chairs. Sam had stumbled off to take a leak and had apparently decided to go straight to bed. My aching muscles probably would have benefited from getting horizontal, but I could feel inertia setting in, so I stayed put and enjoyed the flickering flames.
"So how did you find this spot?" I asked.
He looked up at the starry sky. "You mean why did I decide to dig here? Yeah, it is a little off the beaten track, even in my business." He took a long drink from the sweating can he was nursing. "A couple of years ago, my partner and I were working on a different island, excavating a Stone Age site. We had found some amazingly preserved skeletons, and tools like we had never seen before. They really were much more refined and advanced than what we expected for their time, which was around 3000 years ago. And then right at the end of our dig, I found something really strange. Another skeleton, buried with a polished slab of magnetite. And that was covered with some remarkable carvings. It just didn't make any sense. There didn't seem to be any way that these people could have had the tools to work stone like that. We really couldn't figure out what it could be, or what it was doing there, especially since there's not a single source of magnetite in the region. It wasn't until later, the next year, looking at some photographs I had taken, that I realized that embedded in the carvings was a map of an island. And after comparing it to every map of the archipelago I could find, this island was the closest match."
"Where's the other site?"
"That's one of the strange things. It's more than a thousand miles away."
"Wow. How'd those people know about this place?"
"Exactly. How could they have? And that's not the only strange thing. When I had the skeleton radiocarbon dated, it turned out that it wasn't 3000 years old. It was 15,000 years old. Not only was it in the wrong place, it was in the wrong time."
Will sat in silence for a moment. "So Doug and I were going to figure out what was going on together, or at least I thought we were. But then things changed."
"Did something happen to him?"
Will bit his lip and shook his head. "I guess he finally just showed his true colors. He'd been working behind my back with our contact in the Ministry of Culture to get himself named sole investigator of the other site. They gave him exclusive access to all of the artifacts, and exclusive rights to use them in publications. I was frozen out. I guess that becoming famous by himself was more important than working with me."
"But what about this place?"
"Doug was pretty sure that the skeleton and the carved stone were dead ends. They didn't fit into his theory of Stone Age civilizations, so there was no point in pursuing them. He even accused me of planting them. We had already parted company by the time I figured out that we had in fact found a map. Even though he still had the stone, I had kept the photographs. Of course, I wasn't sure there was any point in pursuing it. Finding anything here seemed to be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, because I really didn't have any sense of where to start looking once I got here." Will took a final gulp of beer and crushed the can in his hand. "But sometimes you just need to know whom to ask. I have an old friend who is an expert on this region, and its folk tales. When I mentioned this island she knew exactly where I was talking about. We visited last summer, and after talking with the locals it seemed that this was probably the place to start. Apparently they've been finding bones and spear tips here for years. It makes sense; there is a pretty good outcropping of obsidian right by the dig site. So here we are."
We sat in silence for a few moments before I asked the obvious question.
"Were you and Doug just research partners?"
Will looked up at the sky. I could see the firelight reflecting off of his glistening eyes, and his masculine features were tempered by an expression of vulnerability and loss.
"No, I thought that we were more. I thought we were life partners. We'd been together since grad school, and it seemed that we were making it work, even long distance, since we were at different universities. But I guess he wasn't the man I thought he was."
"Is he the guy who is in that picture in your office?"
Will nodded.
"Why do you keep a picture of him around, if he screwed you like that?"
"So I don't forget," Will said softly. "So I don't trust anyone like that."
We sat there silently for a few minutes, illuminated by the dying fire and the waning moon that had risen higher in the sky. Will was hurting. He was hurting in the way that is possible only when you give another person the ability, the permission, to hurt you. When you trust him, even though he might not love you and care for you forever. It is a hurt that can never completely heal. The scar tissue is always there, stiffening and hardening around your heart and soul, hurting when it stretches and tears the next time you fall in love. But you know that you need to take the chance again. And so you do.
I reached out and placed my hand on top of Will's, which was resting on his bare knee. He turned his face to mine and smiled weakly.
"Don't worry, you won't need to take care of the professor the whole trip."
I nodded in reply, and then instinctively leaned over to kiss him. At first it was just a peck of friendship and support, but then his lips parted and his hand gripped mine, and it became something more. I could taste the beer on his breath as we kissed very softly. It was gentle, despite our respective stubble from two days without a razor. But it was also a little strange. Despite the age difference, despite the difference in our respective positions, I felt like I was in taking care of Will. It wasn't because of weakness on his part, far from it. He was nothing if not strong. He just needed for someone to show him some compassion.
It felt right to stand up, take him by the hand, and lead him back to his tent. Once inside, I unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off of his shoulders, exposing his broad, hairy chest. He pulled my T-shirt up over my head, and I leaned in to resume our kissing while I ran my hands down his strong back and up over his arms. Gripping his biceps, I pulled him in to me, so that our chests could touch. He rocked from side to side, grazing my hard nipples with his fur, causing electric pinpricks of sensation. God, it was boner inducing. We kissed hungrily for a few moments, lips locking and tongues dancing, until I sensed that we were both ready for more.
Still taking the lead, I reached down and unbuttoned my shorts. They dropped to the ground, exposing my naked body. Sinking to my knees, I pulled down Will's shorts, revealing that he too had forgone underwear after our earlier dip in the water. His long, meaty dick bounced into view, and I leaned in and grazed its leaking tip with my lips. I breathed deeply of the smell of sex and became a little light-headed.
Wrapping my lips around his plum-shaped glans, I snaked my tongue out to stimulate the underside of his head and shaft. He groaned appreciatively and reached down to run his fingers through my hair. As I began to inhale inch after inch of his hard cock, he bent his knees slightly, dropping his crotch down a few inches and improving my angle of attack. Even so, I had to fight my gag reflex as my nose came to rest in his thick triangle of pubic hair. Rocking back and forth, I worked my way up and down his length, occasionally allowing him to pop out of my mouth so that he could bounce against my flushed cheeks. Meanwhile, with one hand I braced myself by gripping the back of his thigh, while with the other I gently tugged at his beautiful balls.
I guessed that he was getting perilously close to cumming when he reached down to move me off of him. I really couldn't argue with his judgment; there was no point in needlessly rushing things. Still on my knees, I leaned back, allowing my hard cock to jut up at a forty-five degree angle. Will dropped down on all fours in front of me and went to work. He started by gently nipping and sucking his way up and down the bottom of my shaft, teasing me, slowly building up the level of my excitement. Before long I was leaking a steady stream of slick precum, which mixed with his saliva to provide copious lubrication. He gripped the base of my cock between his index and middle finger, which he then used to stroke up and down the shaft while nursing on my pulsing head. Every hair on my body was standing on end.
As Will worked on me, I reached down and pulled his asscheeks apart, giving my index finger access to his hole. He did not resist as I gently probed at the puckered flesh. If anything he sucked me harder, and he couldn't stifle a groan when I lubed him up with my saliva and slipped inside up to my second knuckle. Exploring around a bit, I easily found his prostate, which I began to massage. He responded by beginning to jerk himself with one hand while continuing to frig my tool with the other hand. Watching him writhe in pleasure in front of me, I was seized by a desire to share his experience in the closest way possible. Reaching back with my free hand, I poked through my own clenching ring and began to give myself the same pleasure I was giving him. It was awesome to work, to play, in tandem with him, with this strong and powerful man. He was what I hoped to become.
In that moment, as my cock swelled to its maximum dimension, as my balls tightened up, as his ass gripped my finger like a vise, as our vital male juices welled up in both of us and erupted simultaneously, in that moment I felt a deep connection to him. It continued after the powerful explosion of orgasm, after we reared up and fell together into each other's arms, mouth on mouth, cock on cock. It continued as I sucked the sticky residue from his persistent erection and his calloused fingers. It continued as we lay together, my body folded around his, wedged in his backside. It continued as he gripped my hand wordlessly. It continued as he fell asleep, and I gathered my things and went to my tent, to the tent that I shared with Sam.