The Lifeguard

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go somewhere else.

Copyright c 2001 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.

Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed electronically or in any other manner without the express, written consent of the author.

This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.

THE LIFEGUARD

Chapter 46

I awoke facing Eric, a smile on my face. "Mornin' hot stuff," he said, grinning. "Have fun last night?"

"Ohhhh yeah," I drawled, moving over to hold him. Remembering that we had roommates, I looked over my shoulder. The bed hadn't been slept in.

"Another day of fun and frolic," he said. "Tonight it's your turn."

"I thought I had quite a few 'turns' last night," I said, snuggling into him. "I got to suck the dick I love, got to make love to the hottest man around, and got the blowjob of the decade. What's left?"

"We'll switch tonight, give you a chance to get off on the action."

"This's what I want," I told him, taking his morning woody in my hand.

"Me too," he said, doing the same thing to me. "It's not that I'm the least bit interested in actually doing anything with any of those guys, but watching it all happen was rather stimulating! I want you to experience it. Remember how it turned me on?"

"Look," I said, "I'm still smiling!"

The boys came dragging in, singly and in pairs. They were amazingly chipper after a night that I assumed had been non-stop sex.

I suggested that we hop in the van and take a look at Palm Springs, but there were no takers. They all wanted to resume their "activities". Eric wasn't much interested either.

"I'd like to just sit around today, maybe do a little reading," he said. "We go back to work in a couple of days and I want to relax as much as I can. That OK with you?"

"Sure is, let's take advantage while we can."

The boys were taking advantage of the situation too, but their objective wasn't rest, that's for sure! They were in man-sex heaven.

I didn't worry about them. My only concern was that they were sticking to their rule of NO unsafe sex outside their "family" circle. It wasn't my place to remind them, however.

We spent the day in the sun again. This being "winter" we could stand a lot more, and with rotation, we were turning really dark on all sides.

We talked about the year almost over, what we'd accomplished and what we wished we'd done. My main regret was that we hadn't done more traveling.

"How can we be running around when there's so much to do?" Eric asked. "Neither of us could have accomplished what we did if we weren't THERE to do it."

"True," I agreed, "but a whole lot has changed in the way I'm doing things these days. Bill used to handle everything, giving me an update once a month, or letting me know if a crisis developed. Now I'm in the middle of everything."

"Don't you like that?"

"Yes and no. I enjoy the excitement of being involved, but I kind of miss the freedom. Don't forget, Metalco isn't the only thing we've got going on.

"It's all your fault," I kidded, "before you came into my life, I was just a hermit watching the world go by. I love the excitement, particularly because you're involved with me in everything, but I'm wondering if we've both taken on too much."

"I don't think so," Eric answered thoughtfully. "We've done a lot of delegating, but we're still pretty involved in the day-to-day operations of the new businesses we've gotten into. Maybe we should back off and leave our 'delegatees' alone and set up a more formal reporting procedure."

"You're probably right," I agreed. "Why don't we take a look at them, company by company, and cut the 'apron strings'."

"Lundborg Rush is already doing fine. Warren has a lot of initiative and only comes to me with major things he thinks I should know about. Maybe a short monthly meeting with both of us would be a good idea, but he could still come to either of us anytime if he thought it necessary."

"I think that'd work well for both of us," I told him.

"Lovebird is about the same. Hal's confidence is building and he just jumps in and does what needs to be done. Meeting with him once a month would be good for him too. At times, I believe that he thinks we're neglecting him. Actually, that's a compliment, but he doesn't see it that way."

"I guess things are getting pretty routine for him," I said, "but I don't have any idea what's going on with Basic Metals and the Copper mine. Of course, if John makes another find, we'll be in the middle of it."

"I don't know much about the Copper either," Eric said. "I'm confident that Hal's on top of things, but, you're right, we both need to know what's going on."

"The Railroad is definitely running itself," I said, "and we go to the quarterly Board meetings. That's enough for me. By the way, are you spending a lot of time on the Bullet Train?"

"Not yet. George has made contact with Washington and they're interested, but the application process is just getting started. If there's any lobbying to be done, I'd prefer that George and his own people did it, I'm not very good at kissing asses.

"At the moment, Development is split into two areas. Tina's completely in charge of selling off the property we don't want and is doing a helluva job. She's also working with Annie and Dean on new development. That's Annie's bailiwick, and things are happening. A monthly meeting with all three of them might not be a bad idea either. That's about it."

"How about the Foundation?" I asked.

"George has a timetable. He plans to be 'Spreading the word' soon after school starts next fall. I'm going to be spending quite a little time with him in January, but I think he'll take it from there."

"Don't forget, we're opening a restaurant in New York," I told him. "Once they're up and going and get all the bugs worked out, I don't think there'll be much to do, but in the meantime, we may need do do a little hand-holding."

"That covers everything that I'm directly involved in," Eric said. "What about Metalco?"

"Bill ran it single-handed for years. We've grown a lot, but everything's falling into place there too. The hotels are a routine matter now, and Jeff has grabbed the reins at Milton. That'll change as Milton is integrated into Metalco, with Jeff taking some of the load off of Bill. Actually, I think Bill is grooming Jeff to be his successor. Unless something drastic happens, I don't have to get involved at all."

Eric started laughing. "You know, when you lay it out like we just did, it looks like we only have to show up one day a month!"

"In theory," I laughed. "Reality is usually a little different. We can shoot for that, but I promise you it won't turn out that way.

"One thing I would like to plan on is you and me going on our REAL honeymoon this Spring, two or three weeks in Egypt, and I think it'd be kind of nice to do it over our anniversary."

His eyes lit up. "Can I help you plan it?" he asked enthusiastically.

"You betcha," I told him.

Knowing that this would be their last night to play, the boys weren't interested in checking out any bars after dinner. We dropped them at the hotel, told them to be ready to go at 9:00 the next morning, then took off by ourselves. We went to a piano bar that Eric had found in the "Guide".

It was dark and romantic with good music. "Let's not stay too late," Eric said, his eyes twinkling. "All that sun today made me horny as hell."

"Me too, tiger, better watch out!"

"You know," he said seriously, "I think my sex drive is stronger now than it's ever been in my life. Aren't we supposed to peak out at around 18?"

"That's what the books say," I told him, "but I don't believe it. In fact, I think mine's speeded up the last couple of years. I can't imagine why!" I chuckled as I ran my hand up his thigh.

We sipped our drinks and watched the people. I could tell that Eric was getting antsy, and ignored him as long as I could. "Ready?" I asked.

"See for yourself," he giggled, putting my hand on his lap.

We changed into our loose suits and wandered toward the hot tub, window shopping along the way. "Activity" around the hot tub was even more frenzied than the night before. Surprisingly, again, not a "cousin" was in sight.

The only vacant seat was a bench almost on top of the action. We sat and watched the spectacle for a few minutes. Eric stood and shucked his shorts, then got on his knees and pulled mine off. When he moved in, he licked my dick from bottom to top, sending shivers through me. Then, he concentrated on the spot under the head, licking it gently and occasionally taking a trip around my corona with his tongue. How in hell was I supposed to pay attention to anything else when he was doing THAT?

He had to hold my dick still because every time he made a swipe with his tongue, it twitched. "Like that?" he asked, looking up at me, grinning.

My moan was his answer. He changed his attack, just licking the shaft, giving me enough relief to take a look around. Lots of combinations, but the one that caught my eye was an extremely handsome, dark haired guy on all fours right in front of us. An older guy with an incredibly long cock was behind him, deep dicking him slowly. The look of complete rapture on the young guy's face was what caught my interest.

I watched him until Eric changed back to the licking routine, bringing me up to the edge pretty fast. When he sensed my closeness, he swallowed me whole and cranked up the blender. I went flying.

Eric was pumping out precum in a steady stream, leaving a trail all the way back to the room.

"Ready for round two?" he asked.

"I didn't think I would be," I told him, "but hell yes!"

On the ride home, we didn't use the sofa, joining the guys for conversation. They compared notes on their experiences, which would've sounded unbelievable under any other circumstances. In this case, I believed them.

"You all played safe, I assume," Eric asked.

"Sure did," Tim piped up. "Must've drunk a quart of cum, but no bareback riding." The rest giggled and nodded.

"Isn't tonight New Year's Eve?" Alan asked.

"Sure is," Eric said. "We're having a little party tonight." All ears perked up.

"It'll be a little different from the party you guys've been on for the last two days," he continued, chuckling. "We're having a few of our friends over, some're couples, some're single. You'll be able to tell. This'll be just fun, not an opportunity for you horny bastards to see how many holes you can poke. Unfortunately, this is the real world."

"I'm kind of glad to be getting back to reality," Don, who was sitting next to me, said. "It was an experience I'll never forget, but I don't think I'd want to repeat it. I also don't know how we can ever thank you guys for showing us such a wonderful time."

"We had fun too," I told him.

Spence was the first to arrive. After Eric introduced him, he stood quietly and took a hard look at the six beautiful boys. "I'll take that one, and that one, and that one..." he said as he went down the line until he'd pointed to all six.

"Hey, I like this guy already," Dirk said, walking over to put his arm around Spence's shoulder. "He knows what he wants and goes right after it!"

After that, guys arrived in waves, most of them stopping to give me a hug and kiss on the way in. Lifeguards were in abundance, but I was really surprised to see Brian and Billy come in.

"I've forgiven him," Eric whispered in my ear. "Besides, he's kind of decorative."

The bars were busy and the DJ fired up the sound system on the deck. The party was underway.

I chatted with a lot of the guys. Everyone was still raving about our Christmas party. Nobody could believe that Al had actually put on a concert for us and wanted to know how we'd managed it.

Ron and Jason wanted to know what had happened in Palm Springs. All I could tell them was what I'd heard, that the boys had fucked their brains out for two days straight.

"Those guys are unbelievable," I said in awe. "I've never seen anybody with that much energy, six of them, too, with perpetually hard dicks!"

The night flew by. I didn't see too much of Eric. He was, as usual, on the dance floor. He found me just before midnight and pulled me aside. "At midnight, they're going to play something slow and YOU ARE GOING TO DANCE WITH ME," he announced.

"We've never danced together, and I want to hold you in my arms," he continued.

"This oughta be good," I laughed. "Who's gonna lead?"

"You lead, I think I can follow," he grinned. "Let's go!"

We got to the deck just as "Auld lang syne" started. I took him in my arms for a New Years kiss that almost took my breath away. We broke and just stared into each others eyes. "I love you," he said softly and gave me another kiss.

We started dancing. Amazingly, it worked! Nothing fancy, mind you, but we were able to navigate around the deck pretty well. "We should do this more often," I told him. "You feel so wonderful in my arms." Eric squeeezed me tighter.

The song ended, followed by a much faster one. We walked off the floor arm in arm. "We've gotta do that again tonight," he said. "That was utterly fantastic."

We stood, my arms around him in front of me and watched the gyrations. Dan wandered up. "I thought you were kidding me," he said.

"About what?" I asked.

"Six cousins..." he said shaking his head, "all gorgeous, all gay."

"It runs in the family," Eric giggled.

"Gay or gorgeous?" I teased.

"Both!" Dan said emphatically.

Eric turned to give me a kiss then returned to the dancing.

"Have fun in Palm Springs?" Dan asked.

"We did, watching," I laughed. "The boys were at it hot and heavy every minute we were there. I don't know how they do it."

"Youth! It's disgusting!" he laughed.

"Find yourself a young one like I did, they'll get you going," I advised him.

"I'm working on it," he laughed. "I don't think anybody'll ever find another Eric, though. On top of being the best looking man I've ever laid eyes on, he's the nicest and, by far, the smartest."

While we were talking I noticed that Spence and Dirk were dancing together. Watching them, it was more like they were "together" in their own little world.

One of the lifeguards came up and drug Dan off to the dance floor. I winked at him and wandered back into the house.

Eric and I got to dance again before the night was over. Not just one song but three slow ones in a row. It didn't register until we were getting into bed that this had been the first time in my life that I'd ever danced with another man.

I awoke at my usual time and slipped out of bed without waking Eric. In the kitchen with coffee and the morning paper, I was surprised when Dirk came in. He sat down at the table with me and Rene brought him a cup of coffee. I got the impression that he wanted to talk about something.

After "good mornings" were out of the way, he asked what was planned for the day.

"Nothing, as far as I know," I told him. "Everybody'll probably watch the bowl games, other than that..."

"Would you mind if I took off for the day?"

"Hell no, got something planned?" I asked

"Yeah," he said, blushing bright red. "I was hoping to spend the day with Spence."

"Fine with me," I told him and waited. He seemed like he had more to say, and this bashful behavior was quite a bit different from the self-assured cocksman that was the usual Dirk.

"I really like him," he said tentatively.

"You're a fast worker," I chuckled.

"It's not like that at all," he said defensively. "I really LIKE the guy, he's nice, sweet, and a lot more than just another piece of meat."

"Spence is a very special young man," I agreed.

"He asked me to spend the day with him and I jumped at the chance," Dirk continued. "Hoped you wouldn't mind 'cause I really want to get to know him better."

"Go for it," I told him. "Bring him home for dinner tonight if you want, Spence's almost a member of the family anyway."

I heard the doorbell ring and Jacques ushered Spence in. He was literally bouncing, a big grin on his face. "Hiya gorgeous," he said to Dirk then jumped on my lap and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Will I need a jacket?" Dirk asked.

"Good idea," Spence said. Dirk left to get one.

"I think I'm in love," Spence told me. "Dirk is so neat!"

"Take it slow," I cautioned him.

"Oh, we will," he promised.

They were gone and I went back to the paper.

As expected, the troops spent the day in front of the big-screen TV in the family room. Dirk was missed, and everyone wanted to know where he was. "He had a date," I told them. No details.

Eric wanted details. "He's spending the day with Spence," I told him.

"If he takes advantage of Spence..."

"If anybody has to watch out, I think it's Dirk. Spence looked like the one who wanted to get into somebody's pants," I laughed. "I really don't think there's anything to worry about, I believe the 'L' word describes the situation."

Eric brightened. "They might be good for each other."

"Do you remember what we were doing a year ago today?" I asked, changing the subject.

Eric thought a minute, smiled then frowned. "We were in New York," he said. "That's when we ran into that fucker with the 'eyes', wasn't it? Alan Sloan?"

"That guy still gives me the creeps. I wonder who the hell he really is."

"We'll probably never know," he said. "What are the chances of ever running into him again?"

Before they left the next morning, each of the cousins thanked us for the wonderful time they'd had. Dirk wanted to know all about Spence, but I told him that whatever Spence wanted him to know, he'd tell him himself, just to rest assured that Spence was a fine upstanding citizen and not to worry.

Eric and I were able to enjoy the quiet - until the kids all got home. The holidays were officially over and I think we all were happy about that. Except for Hans, who was leaving the next evening, we were faced with a work day. I suggested that Annie take the day off, but she wanted Hans to spend the day with her and see what she "did".

Getting back into the routine after more than 2 weeks off required an effort on everyone's part. I had a hard time, myself. Bill, mug of coffee in hand, wandered in. It was more of a social than business chat, discussing our activities over the holidays.

"We closed the books before Christmas," he told me. "Should have the statements in a day or two."

"How do they look?" I asked, knowing he'd peeked at preliminary printouts.

"No surprises. We closed Hydra too, they'll all be ready."

I told him about the idea Eric and I had about monthly meetings, and asked his opinion of the idea.

"I think it'd be a damned good idea. Not only would you stay up-to-date, but it'd force a little much-needed discipline on all the rest of us. If we had to report on EVERYTHING once a month, we wouldn't be able to let things slide. When do you want to start?"

"How about the end of this month?" I suggested. "No long presentations, just an informal get-together to go over what's going on."

"What brought this on, if I might ask?"

"First of all, we want more freedom to travel, and since we've got so many things going, we're both losing track of what's going on."

"So I hear," he laughed. "What's this about a restaurant in New York?"

"That's something Eric and I are doing on our own, no company connection. Chef Maurice quit the hotel chain he was working for, so we're setting him up," I explained.

"Sounds like fun!"

"I hope so. I hope it doesn't turn into a headache."

"One thing I want you to understand," I continued. "These monthly meetings don't mean that I don't want us to continue the get-togethers every few days like we've been doing for years."

"Oh, I understand that," Bill said smiling.

Eric had talked to everyone else, and they unanimously approved of the idea of monthly meetings. All four members of the "family" would sit in on every one, requiring 3 or 4 days a month, but Annie pointed out that that would actually be less time than we were currently spending.

Rich and Tina would be getting married in a few months, and I began thinking about a wedding present for them. I told Eric about my ideas, he fully agreed and had an addition of his own. We decided to tell them now so everybody could go to work on it.

When the four of us got together, I asked Rick and Tina what plans they'd made about "Living Arrangements" after their wedding.

"We haven't gotten that far," Rick admitted.

"I want to talk about my wedding present to you guys," I said. "I want to buy your first home for you."

"We couldn't accept that!" Rick said, asserting his pride.

Tina didn't say a word.

Eric jumped in. "Let me tell you a little about this 'pride and independence thing'," he lectured. "I've been through that whole thing with Dave." Then he told him the whole story about his own independence and fear of "control", how he'd dealt with it and how he felt now.

Rick was NOT convinced.

"Here is what I'd like to do," I told them. "You could either pick out an existing home somewhere, or you could design it yourself and build it. You are, afterall, an Architect! Get your heads together and design your dream home, and we'll build it."

"I don't know..." Rick said.

"You don't have to decide right now," I told him. "Just think about it. You could make an old man very happy."

"Old man? Yeah, right!" Rick said then busted out laughing. "OK, we'll think it over."

"I have a present for you too," Eric said, "but I'll wait until you reach a decision on the house before I tell you about it."

Eric was focused on the Foundation. George had quietly assembled his staff and, according to Eric, had a good handle on the money they were managing.

They were now concentrating on developing the "Information" program that would be presented at schools. Ingrid, Eric's Mother, was helping them assemble a panel of experts in the field who would develop content. Nationally known Doctors and AIDS experts were eagerly joining the effort.

The idea was to present true facts on disease transmission and prevention in a way that was effective, but at the same time, acceptable to School Officials and the communities themselves. This was a real tightrope walk. The subject itself was controversial, with many communities refusing to recognize that AIDS existed, and many Religious Groups fighting against anything that even resembled "sex education".

Eric felt this could best be accomplished if presented in an entertaining and even humorous way. This is where Al could help, bringing entertainment Pros on board to script the presentation.

George and Eric identified the areas of responsibility, then went to work finding people to take care of them.

Every night Eric would tell me about the day's progress. His goal was to have all the different facets of the Education Campaign underway by the end of January. The way he and George were moving ahead gave him confidence that he'd get the job done.

I truly believed that Eric had taken the art of delegation to a new level. He had the uncanny ability to pick the right person for the job, gave that person detailed instructions on what he expected, then turned him loose to get the job done.

Eric sat in when Bill and Jeff brought in the 4th quarter statements for Metalco. They were highly detailed with individual statements prepared by product and by production facility.

Our Balance Sheet was stronger than ever. The payments Hydra had made had allowed Metalco to pay off their borrowings to finance us, and the cash kitty was growing.

After they left, Eric and I studied the Hydra and Lundborg Rush statements. We'd get the Railroad statements at the next Board meeting in a couple of weeks.

Hydra Development, as expected, was still a drain, but that was more than offset by Lovebird and Properties, both of which were doing phenominally well.

Lundborg Rush was performing at 150% of our most optomistic projections and was capable of financing most of the upcoming expansion internally, and certainly had a strong enough financial statement to borrow whatever they needed.

Eric invited me to attend the "symposium" of all the AIDS experts. The objective was to find a way to get our "prevention" message across in a way that would be palatable to everyone. Ingrid, Eric's mother, chaired the meeting.

Eric explained the method he intended to use to "get the message out", personal appearances by real Lifeguards making a carefully scripted presentation - plus handouts and other follow-ups.

Ingrid, not one to pussyfoot around, summed it up. "We need to remind these kids that if they're going to engage in sex, they have to do it safely. We all know that the gay kids are most at risk, but we can't focus on that. Also, scaring the hell out of them isn't going to work, either."

From there, it became a round-table discussion. Ideas started flying around. A former Surgeon General had, in my opinion, some excellent ideas. "Working for the Government," he said, "everything I did had to be evaluated for political implications, which literally killed half the good ideas we had. This effort is free from those constraints. Looking at the whole country, we have extremely liberal areas, extremely conservative communities, and some that are everywhere in between. It might be a good idea to tailor our presentation to community attitude, one for the liberal, one for the conservatives and maybe one somewhere in the middle."

I sat through two hours of this brainstorming, strictly as a spectator, having nothing to add. After that, I begged off. Eric and Ingrid's enthusiasm would keep the ball rolling.

They spent two solid days working, but reached a consensus on how and what should be presented.

Responsibility, Love and Caring, and Safety were the points to be stressed. There were also lots of suggestions on how to present these points in an interesting, sometimes humorous way.

Eric summarized their conclusions and was ready to talk to Al.

For several days, the two of them conferred by phone, then Eric announced that WE were going to Hollywood, more specifically, Beverly Hills, to confer with composers, script writers and choreographers. It took a lot of talking, but I finally weaseled my way out of going with him.

He decided to drive, so he'd have "wheels" when he got there. When he said that he was going to take his Rolls, I teased him about "Going Hollywood". "Gotta fit in," was his laughing reply.

He was gone for three long days. I missed him every minute even though we talked several times a day. When he walked in, he was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his excitement. I didn't care, all I wanted was my arms around him and my lips on his.

"I've just been to fantasyland," he said when we broke for air, "and I don't mean the one at Disneyland either!"

"Well, tell me all about it," I said when we were snuggled on the couch.

"I can't believe all the doors that Al opened for me. Hell, on my own, I'd never have stood a chance of even meeting those guys, and now, they're all going to be working on the project!

"I didn't even think about music, but Al insisted that we have original music for the presentations, and set me up with Tony. Tony's a composer who ONLY has two Oscars for original movie soundtracks! He's going to do a 'Theme' for the beginning and ending of our presentations and if any more music would be appropriate, he'll do that too! And guess what? He's doing it for minimum scale, not the millions he'd normally get!"

He stopped long enough to take a sip of the drink Jacques had set in front of him.

"Then there's Sidney," he continued. "He's the screenwriter with a whole mantle full of Oscars. He's wants to take the stuff from Mom's group and turn it into a 'performance' that'll really have an impact. He wants to do other things too, but I'll tell you about that later."

"Alexei is the choreographer. The performances aren't going to be 'Musicals' but he's going to plan all the movements of the Lifeguards while they're making the presentation. That's about it."

"Looks like you accomplished a LOT in a couple of days," I told him, holding him a little tighter.

"That was business, here's the fun part," he began. "Every one of them thought I should 'be in pictures'," he chuckled. "Sidney was downright insistent! He's working on a blockbuster and thinks I should have the male lead, even offered to take me right over to the Studio for a screen test. He begged and cajoled, telling me how much money I could make, how I'd become famous, and could have anybody I wanted.

"The only way I could get him to talk about the 'Project' was to sit him down and explain the situation. I told him that I already had all the money I would ever need, in fact, that I could probably buy the whole goddam studio myself if I wanted to. Then I told him that we spent a great deal of money protecting our privacy and preventing our becoming famous. Last, I told him that I was already 'married' and wasn't interested in anybody else. He finally got the picture, but didn't give up."

"All this without a romp on the casting couch?" I teased.

"Oh that was offered too, even a choice of Hollywood Starlets or studs, whichever was my preference. Tempting, but I was a good boy," he giggled.

"Are you tempted?" I asked, seriously.

"At what?" he asked.

"Becoming a movie star," I said. "You could do it, you know."

"Never in a million years," he said seriously, then grinned. "I have to admit that when I was a teenager, the thought crossed my mind," he giggled. "All the glamor, the money, all that, but there's no way I'd trade what I have now for that bullshit."

"I don't want you to ever feel unfulfilled," I told him.

"Being with you, particularly during those 'special moments' is fulfillment enough for me," he leered.

"Did you have time for any fun?" I asked.

"Al and Rick took me out 'clubbing' both nights. Not gay clubs, but the ones that are the current rage with the Hollywood crowd. Fun, but too much 'drugging' for me."

"Ready for a little 'fulfillment'?" I asked when we got to bed.

"Thought you'd never ask. It's been real lonely the past couple of nights," he whined, humping my leg and taking me in his hand. "Can I just play with you for a while?"

"If I can play with you too."

The covers were swept off and we got into a side-by-side 69 position, dicks in front of faces but far enough away so that they could be handled comfortably.

With feather-light touches I explored the magnificent dick in front of me. Eric copied my movements, sending chills of pleasure throughout my body. Exploring him, tracing from the tip to the base with my fingers was an unbelievably sensual experience - for me! I marveled at the softness of his skin and the hardness underneath, throbbing with life. It was so beautiful.

We didn't often have this close-up opportunity to appreciate each other, and I took full advantage. Just touching and feeling him was turning me on bigtime.

When he started dribbling precum, he raised up. "Better back off a little," he suggested. "I'm real close."

While we were resting and talking, I suggested that we do that again, but with lube. He readily agreed and reached for lube and cum towels.

Before putting on the lube, I couldn't resist licking off his precum. It was too delicious to waste.

We didn't stroke with closed hands, only using our fingertips until we were both close again. After a breather, I asked him to turn onto his back so I could get "serious". He was ready!

With both fists, I stroked him lightly, bringing him to the edge repeatedly, then over. He stiffened and convulsed several times before he started shooting. What a deluge! It seemed like he never would stop shooting but finally subsided and was followed by a series of aftershocks. We held in a tight embrace until he was breathing again normally.

Then, he repeated the whole process on me.

We made a quick trip to San Francisco for the Railroad Board Meeting. It was short and to the point. Financial performance during the past quarter was quickly dealt with; Advertising on our boxcars was still under investigation; Progress on the bullet train was good, but it would take a long time before we could start building; then, George threw in a surprise.

"I want to thank Eric for the most generous offer he's made to us," he said. "I doubt that many of you know that he found the old dilapidated 'Presidential Car' in one of our yards. He is personally paying to have it completely restored, and once that's complete, has offered to let us display it at our terminals around the country so that everyone can get a look at that bygone era. The interest that will be generated will most definitely reflect favorably on the Catalina, Long Beach and Pacific Railroad. Thank you, Eric."

"Don't forget," Eric laughed, "after that, you're going to pull that car, with us in it, all over the system - Free!"

Our first "Monthly Meeting" was with Warren of Lundborg Rush. The first item on the agenda was the Music CD and DVD contract. Since this was the first time that either Annie or Tina had gotten involved with LR, they had a lot of probing questions.

A ten year contract had been signed, one that was very favorable to us, initially covering production for the domestic market. It allowed us to "grow into" the volume that they required, and gave us the option of also taking over production for their other markets around the world.

According to Warren, they wanted us as badly as we wanted them. In just over a year, we had built the reputation of being the premiere producer of digital products in the U.S. if not the world.

A site had been found for the new facility. Rick, Tina's fiance, was doing all the design work, and a huge order for additional equipment had been placed with Koenigsburg GmBh., Hans' Company in Germany.

Hell, this was fast becoming a "family" affair.

The meeting on Hydra Properties lasted less than an hour. Tina reported that sales volume was ahead of schedule and that property sold, so far, had averaged 96.7% of appraisal, while our goal had been only 75%.

We moved right on to Development. Dean reported that the engineering work on the Silicon Valley Project was nearing completion, and that we would be making permit applications to the Cities and Counties involved within a few months.

He expected quick approval. There was a housing crunch in the area, and housing, at all price levels, was desperately needed.

Lovebird was next. The gold mine was pumping out ore on a regular basis, and transport of concentrate was continuing without major incident.

Basic Metals' Copper refinery was under construction, and the task of removing overburden was underway. Actual mining operations were expected to get started before the end of the year.

John Bussey had moved his exploration team to Southern Arizona, and would be moving again to Colorado in May when the snow melted.

The following day was Metalco. Bill had asked that we set aside a whole day because he had a lot to talk about.

Rush Properties was first on the agenda. He introduced Sheila Coombes who had taken over from Annie when Annie had moved to Hydra.

Sheila was an all business, serious, no-nonsense, type of person, bordering on officious. She was new, and I hadn't met her before.

Annie asked her a couple of questions which she obviously didn't have the answers for. She hemmed and hawed, then changed the subject. Annie looked at me with arched eyebrows.

I felt that she was "talking down" to all of us, and when I asked her a question and she told me that "You don't need to know about that," I fired her on the spot.

"Ms. Coombes," I told her. "I don't believe your services will be required around here any longer."

"Why not?" she snapped.

"Two reasons," I told her. "You've been around here long enough that you should be able to answer our questions, and second, I don't like your attitude."

"I do things MY way," she said, leaving no room for discussion.

"Not around here. If you're not a team player, we don't want you."

"You're an arrogant son-of-a-bitch!" she said.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," I said, hoping she'd go quietly. That wasn't to be, and she wanted a pissing contest.

"I'm not leaving without a fight," she announced, plopping down in a chair facing me. "You have to give me notice, and I'm going to sue you for everything you've got. This is out and out discrimination. I'm a woman, something you queer bastards can't handle, not to mention the fact that I'm black. I'll get you for this!"

Annie took over from there. "That type of language will not be tolerated," Annie told her, breathing fire. "Security is on the way to escort you back to your office to pick up your personal things, then out of the building."

"What if I refuse to leave?" she taunted.

"You'll be arrested," Annie told her.

Bob showed up with a couple of big, burly uniformed guards. "This lady will be taken to her office to collect her personal things," Annie told him. "Please see that it's only personal things that she takes. She no longer works for Rush Properties."

Bob nodded and motioned to his men to remove her. When they put their hands on her shoulders, she started screaming. They didn't waste any time, lifting her up and gently pushing her toward the door.

Realizing she was outnumbered, she settled down and let them lead her out.

Bill sat there shaking his head. "I wonder what brought that on?"

"Forget it," I said. "She's gone, case closed."

"I do have a lot to talk to you guys about," Bill said. "We may have some serious problems."

To be continued.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer - good or not so good. Send me a message at orrinrush@yahoo.com