The Prince

Paradise -- Chapters 4 and 5

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Paradise Chapter 4 "Save a Horse..."

The next morning, Tyler woke up before everyone else. He lay on the couch peacefully and took a deep breath as he realized that he was at home. The air smelled differently, even inside the house. He threw the sheet that had covered him the night before across the back of the sofa and sat up. He looked around the living room, having completely forgotten about all that had transpired until he saw a picture taken a long time before, when he was ten, Kevin was 12, and Ricky was 7. It was with that picture that he saw anew everything that had happened the night before.

He grabbed his phone off the coffee table with the intention of texting his younger brother, but he decided against it. Setting the phone back on the table, he quietly walked upstairs to the bathroom that was shared by the three rooms that he and his brothers had occupied growing up. After washing his face, he walked into his bedroom to find JD sleeping on the bed that he'd slept on for years. He looked so peaceful and so graceful as his princely figure was covered by sheets on which was blazoned the emblem of Superman.

He smiled as he turned to the floor and opened the suitcase that he'd brought, as quietly as he could. He pulled out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of socks. He stealthily slipped the shorts he'd worn the night before from his body and lay them beside the suitcase. Naked in his room, he began pulling the jeans up his legs.

JD turned over and stirred at just the moment in which he saw Tyler's ass in all its glory, covered by a light sprinkling of hair as dark as that on his arm.

"Morning," JD whispered, hoping that the walls weren't think enough to wake anyone else in the house.

"Hey baby," Tyler said.

"Are you going riding already?"

"I was gonna go down to the barn for a little while, but I wasn't gonna ride till you got up," Tyler said as he turned around and buttoned the worn Wrangler jeans.

"I'm up," JD said as he sat up on the bed, keeping his crotch covered modestly. Even though he'd whipped it out in the truck on the ride up, he didn't feel that that time was appropriate, assuming that Tyler's mind was still reeling from the events of the night before.

Tyler smiled. "You weren't awake until I came in here," Tyler said as he pulled the t-shirt over his body.

"Maybe not," JD smiled, "but I'm awake now." Tyler grabbed the socks and sat beside JD on the bed as JD yawned widely. "What time is it anyway?"

"Just before six," Tyler answered.

"It's my regular time to get up anyway," he said again.

He watched with both intrigue and enthusiasm as Tyler pulled the white cotton socks over his feet. He then took the pair of brown leather boots and pulled them up onto his feet.

"So are you gonna get dressed or just make me jealous by riding naked?" Tyler grinned at JD.

"Yeah...sorry. It takes me a minute to wake up sometimes."

"So did you sleep well," Tyler asked as JD reached out and grabbed his suitcase, sliding it across the floor so as to preserve the modesty of the moment.

"I did," JD answered. "The bed smelled like you."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A very good thing," JD said as he pulled a pair of boxers from the suitcase and struggled to pull them over his body and keep the sheet in its place at the same time.

"Dude. Just stand up," Tyler instructed. "If you want, I'll cover my eyes."

JD smiled, threw the sheets off himself and stood there, in all his glory as Tyler tried not to stare at any and/or all of JD's goodies. He couldn't help but notice them though; they seemed to be suddenly animate and calling out to him. He adjusted himself and then reached into the suitcase to pull out a pair of jeans.

"You'd rather see me taking them off, wouldn't you?" JD joked with him.

"Those are kinda tight, aren't they?" Tyler responded as he stood from the bed. JD reached down for a t-shirt as Tyler took two steps toward him. Lifting himself back up, he looked deep into Tyler's brown eyes. Tyler gazed into the crystals that were the gates to JD's soul.

Tyler smiled and put his hand on JD's crotch. "Taking the first steps are we?"

"Nope," Tyler said. "I just think that a guy in tight jeans should show off his...um...assets a little bit," he continued as he rubbed along the length of the engorging shaft.

"I see," JD said, a smile on his face as he continued to look at Tyler.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard are you right now?"

"About an eight."

"OK," Tyler responded as he removed his hand from JD's crotch and stepped back. Shaking his head, JD pulled the t-shirt over his body and quickly looked for a pair of socks. Finding some, he sat on the edge of the bed and repeated the motions that he'd watched Tyler perform a few minutes later. It was obvious from the shape of his boots that he'd never worn them out, except to country bars and such over the years that he'd had them. Tyler asked if he wanted another pair so that he wouldn't mess them up, but JD refused, saying it was about time that they got some real use.

With a smile on both of their faces despite the thoughts raging through their minds about the night before, they walked out of the bedroom and downstairs.

"Morning," Tyler said to his father as he stood there, in shorts and a t-shirt, anxiously waiting on the coffee pot to brew enough for a single cup that he could steal during the brewing process.

"Hey, y'all," he said, quite unenthusiastically.

"You're up late," Tyler noticed.

"Yeah. I guess I drank too much last night and just slept in," he announced as he pulled the decanter from the pot and poured himself a cup, black. "I just got to hurry up and get awake so that I can go feed the horses. Then I got to go down and feed and water the chickens."

"Mr. Hall?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't mean to volunteer Tyler for anything, but we can get that for you."

"Yeah, Dad," Tyler agreed, "that way, you can go wake Mom up and she won't turn you down cause you smell like chicken shit."

"You have a point, son," Bob smiled.

"Are y'all talking about Mom and Dad fucking?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Tyler answered.

"Are y'all going for a ride?" he asked.

"Yeah," JD answered.

"Mind if I come with you? It's really sad when you get woken up by your parents doing it," Kevin noted.

"Sure," Tyler said after looking at JD, who motioned with his eyes that he was fine with it.

"OK..." he said as he turned and walked back upstairs.

"Hey Kev," Tyler called out before he was too far up the stairs. "We're gonna go down to the barn and feed the horses."

"K. I'll meet you down there," he said as he turned back around and continued walking up the stairs.

"We'll see you later, Dad," Tyler said.

"OK. Y'all have fun," Bob said as he leaned against the counter sipping his black coffee.

Tyler and JD went out the front of the house. The view popped out to JD beneath the early morning light. It was cool for a summer morning, much cooler, he assumed than it was in Paradise at that exact moment. Looking out over the rolling hills of that part of the world, he could see the caps of mountains, but the areas between them were covered with fog. The sky was grey, signaling that there was an impending chance of rain that morning. He took a deep breath of the clean air of the country.

Together, the two walked down the paved drive to the barn. They walked in and it was like spectators coming to see a royal parade. The five horses in the stalls came to see Tyler as he walked in. He spoke to each of them for a couple of minutes before moving onto the next. He spoke to his father's horse, an Arabian named Tico, and then to his mother's horse, another Arabian named Spirit. Kevin's horse was named Pooter; Ricky's horse was named Jewel. Then he came to perhaps the most spirited horse in the place, a Quarter horse named Prince. He motioned for JD to come over to the 5th stall as he stood there with the solid brown beast.

"This is Prince," Tyler said proudly as he presented his horse. It was almost as if he were a proud parent presenting his child to someone new. "Prince...this is JD." Prince lifted his head as Tyler rubbed his muscle.

"He's a beautiful animal," JD noted.

"Shh... He doesn't know he's an animal," Tyler said with the same proud smile on his face. "Listen. I know I told you that yesterday that you could ride Prince, but would you mind if I took back the offer."

"Not at all," JD answered.

"So let's get you guys fed!" Tyler said as he gently patted Prince's muzzle and walked away from the stall.

"So what do we have to do?"

"All you have to do is stand there and look hot," Tyler said.

"NO..."

"OK," Tyler smiled. "Grab the bowls and bring them over there," he instructed.

It was almost as if JD were excited about doing work that most people would have considered menial and beneath them. With the five large bowls in his hand, he walked over to where Tyler had opened two drawers.

"OK. What now?" JD asked.

"OK. Spirit and Tico get two scoops of the oats each."

"OK..." JD said as he took the metal scoop from the drawer filled with rolled oats and put two scoops in each of the bowls. He watched as Tyler put two scoops of a barley and corn mixture that the other three enjoyed. The guys put the bowls back with the appropriate horses.

Tyler walked back over to Prince's stall, opening the door and quickly shutting it back so that Prince could continue eating. JD stood close by, petting the horse's muzzle as he ate. From a box that was built into the back of the stall, Tyler pulled a brush and began brushing his mane.

"Y'all aren't fucking are you?" Kevin asked as he entered, wearing boots similar to Tyler's.

"Do you hear me screaming JD's name?" Tyler asked in response.

"Dude. You're louder than Mom, so I'm sure that I would have heard it from the house, I suppose."

"So you're a screamer?" JD asked.

"If it's good," Tyler responded.

Kevin walked over to the stall where Pooter stood waiting on his arrival. The powerful appaloosa swung its tail back and forth, as it was happy to see the man to whom he'd belonged for so long.

"So have you ever ridden before?" Kevin asked Tyler.

"I haven't in a very long time," JD answered.

"You should ride Pooter, then," he said.

"Thanks, man," JD said.

"He'd be easier to ride than any of the others, except maybe for Prince, who I assume Tyler will be mounting shortly."

"Yeah," Tyler said as JD smiled. He'd always heard that the way a man treated his animals was an indication of how he would treat his partner. To watch the care that Tyler took with the horse seemed to assure JD that Tyler would treat him well.

"So Ty?"

"Yeah," Tyler said to Kevin.

"What saddle should JD use?"

"Dad's, probably," Tyler answered. "Mom's would be too small; Ricky's is probably falling apart."

"Probably so," Kevin agreed.

A little while later, Kevin saddled up Tico and left to travel further down the road to the large chicken coops that were toward the end of the paved part of the drive. Tyler put his saddle on Prince as JD watched intently. As it came time to put the saddle onto Pooter's back, JD insisted on doing it himself, hoping that he could remember how Tyler had done it. He put the blanket across the horse's back and then lifted the leather saddle and placed it just on top of the blanket. Tyler was impressed as JD did everything with the precision of a natural. The only thing that Tyler had to correct in that part of the process was that JD hadn't tightened the belt well enough around the horse's belly.

They walked the horses outside before even attempting to mount the animals. Tyler climbed up without a problem, but he quickly noticed that JD was quite possibly about to hurt himself. With a smile, he climbed down and walked over to him.

"First thing," he said to JD, "take the reins and the main in your left hand. Put your right hand on the horn."

"OK..." JD complied.

"Put your left foot in the stirrup," Tyler said as he put his right hand on JD's ass.

"You just wanted to touch my butt."

"That's most certainly a perk," Tyler added. "Now...stand really close to the horse." Tyler gently pushed him close to the beast. "And in one swoop, you're gonna push on your left food and pull yourself up by the horn. Don't pull on the mane too much. OK?"

"Cool," JD said as he tried it once and didn't quite make it. "What am I doing wrong?"

"You gotta swing your right leg around as you lift," Tyler said.

"OK," Tyler said as JD successfully climbed atop Pooter's back.

"Hell yeah," JD said as Tyler walked over and quickly got up on top of Prince again. "And if I remember right," he started, trying to impress Tyler, "you gently squeeze the belly to go, you pull back to stop. Right?"

"OK, Smart man. What happens if you pull too far out?" Tyler asked.

"You don't get the girl pregnant!" JD joked. Tyler laughed out loud. The sound of his laughter echoed in the walls that the thick trees surrounding the third pasture created. "Seriously, you back up."

"You're so fucking cute."

"Not as cute as you, though."

"This is true," Tyler said. "So pull left to turn left; pull right to turn right."

"Got it," JD said as he started to slowly walk Prince toward the trail. JD followed on Pooter. For a couple hundred yards, they walked along the paved path through the woods.

Just before they left that area to enter the fourth pasture, Tyler had JD stop his horse. "Everything OK?" JD asked.

"Yeah," Tyler said as he closed his eyes. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Exactly," Tyler whispered with a smile.

JD turned to face the front of the horse once more. Following Tyler's example, he closed his eyes to take in all the non visual senses. He noticed a gentle breeze running high through the trees, and the sound of a stream in the distance. There were some birds chirping, and some flowers that were giving off a very fragrant aroma. This was an experience of a lifetime for him, one that he was enjoying more than anything.

"Thank you," JD commented after a moment.

"What for?"

"For inviting me to come up with you," JD responded.

"So you know how last Sunday, you told me about your family?"

"Yeah."

"I've got something I should tell you," Tyler said as they started walking again.

"What's that?" JD smiled.

"I've never done this with a guy before."

"Gone riding?"

"Yeah," he commented. "There was one guy that I would have liked to bring riding, but Prince didn't like him."

"Really?" JD asked.

"Yeah," Tyler said. "And if Prince don't like you," he continued as he patted the horses neck, "that's usually a good sign." JD smiled. "He likes you, though."

"Yeah?" JD said.

"Not as much as I do, but yeah..." Tyler answered. He looked at JD to find that he was smiling as widely as him.

"Chickens are all fed," Kevin said as he rode up to where they were gently walking the horses.

"Awesome. Thanks," Tyler said.

"So where are we going, oh trail master?" Kevin asked.

"Wherever Prince takes us, I guess," Tyler answered.

"OK. Well let me turn around so that we can be off," Kevin commented as he turned his horse around.

The three of them gently walked their horses down to the fourth and final pasture. It was where the chicken coops were. Oddly, though, the place didn't smell that much chickens as JD was expecting.

In the field, though, they turned off the paved trail onto the clear, right side of the pasture, and into the woods the three of them traveled. It was obvious that it hadn't rained in a while as, beyond the green pasture, the trail was dusty and dry. The trail was much narrower than the paved drive had been, so there were several points when a straight line, a caravan of sorts, was needed. Tyler always pulled into the front, as he had traversed those winding wood-laden trails since he was ten. JD was in the middle; Kevin followed behind them.

"Shit. I just remembered why I named that horse Pooter," Kevin recalled after a rather smelly surprise wafted from the horses ass. JD laughed; Tyler smiled, but kept his eyes firmly on the trail. They continued riding in silence for a little while.

"This is fun," JD commented, breaking the silence after a half hour or so.

"It really is," Kevin said.

"Uh huh," Tyler rounded out the comment.

"Do you know what time it is, Ty?" Kevin asked.

"Nope," he responded simply as he kept his eyes on the trail. "I would imagine that it's around 8:30 or so, though."

"Ooh. I should head back to the house," Kevin said.

"Why?" Tyler asked.

"I've got to go get ready and then go to Ronnie's house," Kevin explained. "We're going to her Mom's for lunch."

"Y'all are going to the rodeo tonight, though, right?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah...and then I'm going to take Ronnie home...and do unmentionable things with her," Kevin smiled.

"You're such a perv, Kev."

"You are, too," Kevin fired back at his brother.

"JD doesn't mind, though, do you?" Tyler responded to Kevin and added JD into the conversation.

"Not in the least," JD said as they came to a clearing much smaller than the others on the property. Tyler and Kevin laughed.

The clearing was more circular in shape than the others that JD had seen, but it was walled all around by tall hardwoods. The only thing that broke up the grassy knoll was a very small stream that had carved out its route down the mountain over decades, if not centuries. There were little flowers there as well; Prince reached his long neck down to eat some of them before walking covetously toward the stream for a bit of fresh-running water.

Kevin stayed atop his horse as JD marveled at the beautiful of everything around. With a smile and a nod from Tyler that told him silently to get lost, Kevin bid them adieu and escaped back into the woods. Tyler climbed down off the horse and tied Prince's reins around a small tree against the bank of the stream. After a moment, JD followed his example, climbing down off the horse that he'd ridden in on and tying the beast to another small tree.

Tyler undid his saddle and picked it off the horse. "Could you grab the blanket?" he asked JD, who ran over to him and grabbed the peace of cloth that was beneath where the saddle had been.

"Should I take that one off Pooter?" he asked.

"Nah. I just wanted the blanket more than anything," Tyler said as he motioned for JD to take the blanket to a place in the middle of the small clearing. JD spread it out, creating a place for them to sit and enjoy themselves on a Saturday morning that had turned quite balmy. When the blanket was laid out perfectly, Tyler set the saddle down in one corner, off the grass and away from the ground and dirt below it. The guys sat down; with Tyler quickly lying on his back to look up at the sky. JD followed his example, loosing himself in that point-of-view for a few minutes. "So are you having a good time?" he asked JD as he put his hands behind his head. JD continued to lay there with his hands across his chest.

"Tyler. Words can't really describe how much fun I'm having."

"I know it's not the beach the scantily clad men running around everywhere..." Tyler started.

"It's with you, though, which is worth more than that image," JD explained as Tyler smiled widely.

"I'm sorry again about last night," Tyler mentioned.

"You've apologized 26 times, Tyler. It wasn't your fault, though. I've encountered people like that before..."

"That's now how he is, though," Tyler said. "At least that's not how I remember him." He thought about it for a second. "He used to be the first person that wanted to meet the guys I dated. Maybe he's mad because I went off to school and didn't stay around here to just work and hang out like he does."

"You can't control his thoughts, though, baby," JD explained.

"I know," Tyler admitted, "but it would been better if he had just talked to me and told me what was going on in his mind. I mean, I talked to the boy last week, and he was fine. Hell, I talked to him yesterday morning, and he seemed OK. We didn't talk but for a second, but he seemed OK."

JD turned over onto his right side, propped his head on his crooked right arm, and looked at Tyler, "Look at me Ty." Tyler turned his head still resting in the palm of his hand. "Unless you consider that Lindsay and I might as well have been twins," JD started, "I know nothing about sibling rivalry or even how to act around siblings, but I do know that you love your brother. If you and he have had a relationship in the past that's anything like yours and Kevin's, he will come around."

"Yeah..."

"And if I did do something to offend him in any way, I promise you that I didn't mean to."

"You didn't, that's just the thing. If you had, I would have told you in a second, cause that's how I am. I have little tact when it comes to telling somebody off that has offended somebody I care about," Tyler explained.

"I know, and that's one of the many, many things that's so very sexy about you," JD said.

"Thank you," Tyler said with a smile. "I'm so not sexy, though, Tyler."

"Well...you crank my tractor," JD smiled. Tyler smiled as he turned his head and gazed anew at the sky. "Isn't that what y'all say up here?" he asked.

"I'm sure that some do," Tyler answered. He took his left hand from behind his head and reached over, running his hand through JD's black hair. "So I'm not gonna talk about Ricky any more."

"If you need to..." JD offered.

"Thanks, JD," Tyler started, "but I've already spent too much time talking about him. I'll figure everything out when I figure it out. There's no sense in worrying about it right now."

"I'm here for you, though, if you do."

"That's very sweet, and one of those things about you that I find so incredibly sexy," Tyler confessed.

"JD..."

"Don't you dare say it!" JD said as he took his left hand and placed it on Tyler's stomach. "You are gorgeous. You are smart; you are funny; you have a smart ass; you can ride a horse; you love your family and friends without condition; you are the epitomy of what people should be. You are so kind to people you don't even know...like me..."

"So since we're talking about how sexy I am," Tyler interrupted him, turning to look at JD. "I am fat."

"No you're not."

"I could stand to go to the gym."

"Only if you wanted to..."

"I could join your gym," Tyler said.

"I wouldn't get any work done when you were there," JD explained.

"How much do y'all charge for personal training?"

"If you came when it wasn't busy, I would just work you out for free."

"Work me out?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. I would watch as you changed in the locker room," JD started. "Then I would take you out for cardio and have you fun on the treadmill for a bit to get your heart rate up."

"Then what?"

"I would take you to the weights and have you use those muscles of yours seductively."

"You'd have me doing squats all the time, wouldn't you?"

"That would be a key part of your workout plan, yes," JD answered.

"Then what?"

"Then, you and I would shower in my office."

"You have a shower in your office?"

"Yeah," JD answered. "If you haven't guessed, I'm obsessed about being clean."

"I've noticed. You fart, and you have to take a shower."

"Pretty much," JD smiled at Tyler's joke.

"But you have a shower in your office?"

"Yeah," JD said again. "I have four or five regular trainees at any given point, so I take a shower after every single one of them."

"Do you do the whole washing twice thing?"

"Oddly enough, I only do that at home."

"Oh...OK," Tyler commented.

"Yeah. Showering in your office might be fun," Tyler said. "You could wash my back, I could blow you."

JD smiled. "Or, we could blow each other."

"Or I could be a bitch and just make sit there and watch as I showered."

"That's kinda sexy, actually."

"Oh! So you're a watcher?"

"Not necessarily," JD responded as he began running his hand along the outside of Tyler's shirt. A moment later, he reached beneath the shirt's lower hem and allowed his hand to come in contact with Tyler's skin. He passed his hand through the hair that grew there. After a moment of touching his soft skin and body hair, JD found Tyler's right nipple. Around it he wrapped his thump and forefinger. He squeezed it a little bit; he twisted a little bit; he gently pulled on it a little bit.

For Tyler, JD's actions resulted in a low, barely audible moan escaping from his mouth. The whole moment was like an earthquake of feelings and emotions, and the epicenter was around where JD was working his large, masculine hand was working the tactile magic.

"That feels so good," Tyler commented as JD's hand opened completely and took Tyler's right pectoral muscle into his hand.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... If you don't stop," Tyler went on, "you're gonna start something, though."

"What if that's my intention?" JD asked.

"Interesting..."

"What?"

"I've never done it out here," Tyler said. "Thought about it...many times, though." Tyler turned to look at JD. He thought he wanted to see the lust and physical aspects of passion, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw something that seemed deeper than that. It was something that JD saw in Tyler's eyes as well. "I have a feeling that you're gonna be too good for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Tyler answered. "I just have this feeling that I'm gonna get more out of this than I will be able to give you."

"You know I'm a Pisces, right?"

"Yeah," Tyler answered.

"Well. I'm the kind of person that likes to make sure that my man is taken care of. And Tyler, despite what you say, you deserve a man that is going to do just that for you. You deserve a guy that is going to think that the sun rises and sets by your whim."

"That would be nice," Tyler said.

JD sat up on his ass and crossed his legs. "You deserve a man that's gonna stimulate you in every way."

"You kinda stimulate me like that," Tyler said.

"I'm also starting to think that the sun rises and sets on your whim," Tyler confessed.

"Joseph David..." Tyler started as looked at him. Rather than saying anything, though, he just reached up his arms and grabbed JD's t-shirt, tugging a bit at it until JD `fell' into him. Their faces were just an inch away from each other. They could feel the other's breath as they looked deeply into the other's eyes.

Almost simultaneously, their eyes began to close. Tyler, still with a trip on JD's shirt, used his grip to pulled himself up just a little bit as their lips connected for the first time. They both recalled a scene in Star Trek: Insurrection when Captain Picard learns how to stop time to save Anij. It was as everything around them slowed and there was, in that moment, only them. Sensations that neither of them had ever experienced were coursing their spirits and bodies.

"Wow," Tyler said as they broke and their eyes opened once more.

"Yeah," JD said.

"Wow..." Tyler repeated. JD smiled.

"I seem to make you say that a lot," JD said.

"It's cause you're so...fucking...amazing."

"You're kinda amazing yourself."

"How do I know you're not just wolf-shitting me?" Tyler asked with a smile.

"Just take your hand and feel my crotch," JD instructed.

"HOLY FUCK!" Tyler said as he moved his hand along the shaft. "And you want to put that where in my body?"

JD grinned. "It won't hurt..."

"Yeah right," Tyler smiled.

"...much," JD finished his sentence.

The pair laughed.

Just then, there was a sound coming from the trail. "I'm so glad y'all aren't naked yet," Bob said as he rode into the place on Tico.

"Dad!" Tyler said as JD moved from atop Tyler and Tyler jumped off the ground. Bob just sat atop the horse grinning.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," he said.

"No worries, Mr. Hall," JD said as he stood there, hoping that Tyler's dad wouldn't notice the raging hard that were obviously visible through the fabric of his tight pants.

"So what's up, Dad?" Tyler asked as he picked up his saddle and JD grabbed the blanket and folded it to place between Prince's back and the leather saddle.

"Your Mom sent me down to tell y'all that breakfast was ready. I told her that y'all were probably out here doing it, but she told me to come down anyway," Bob said.

"OK," Tyler said he fixed the saddle back.

The two climbed onto the horses and followed Bob from the clearing. To give them a little bit of the privacy that he'd taken away, Bob went a bit ahead of them.

"I'm sorry," Tyler said quietly to JD as they rode side by side at one point on the trail.

"Dude," JD said as he reached over with his left hand and took Tyler's, "It's OK, for real. Maybe this is just a sign that we shouldn't be giving it up so early."

"Maybe so," Tyler said. "I really wanted to, though."

"Me too!" JD confessed. "I was just about ready to give you the most amazing blow job you've ever had, too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be looking forward to it, too," Tyler proclaimed.

After getting cleaned up and having a light breakfast, Tyler and JD went to Palisades Park just outside town. JD had been there before, with Paul, and he found it to be one of the most beautiful places ever. When they returned home, they got ready once more and headed into Oneonta for the rodeo at the Agri-Business Center. There, they met Kevin and Ronnie, who had gone to Birmingham that afternoon to get a few things.

They talked and watched the rodeo as it all went on. The guys riding the broncos and bulls were ass masculine and all, quite obviously, great at what they did. They put on a show and flirted with being trampled by wild animals all at the same time. It was both interesting and sexy to watch at the same time. They left laughing and enjoying themselves; more so than Ronnie and Kevin, Tyler and JD were both beyond horny.

They drove back to Tyler's parents' house, arriving there at just after eleven. They walked in tired, and together they ascended the stairs to Tyler's bedroom. They pulled off their pants and both climbed into the bed together. Each wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, they snuggled into each other. Tyler relished lying beside JD's muscles; JD enjoyed that he could, as he slept, rest his hands in the fur that lined the chest of the man for whom he was falling quickly.

--*

As they slept peacefully in Tyler's bedroom, work was being done by those at the Palace of Talxiara, the building in which the entire royal family had lived until it was captured by Republican forces during the final days of the Morovian Civil War of the 1960s. Since that time, though, the President had lived with his family. Like King David XII, Guil Santiago's office was on the first story of the circular shaped palace that around which everything else in Talxiara had been built centuries before.

Normally, on Sundays, people would be up and moving around, but it would be as they got themselves ready for the required attendance at Sunday religious services. That Sunday, though, the church had granted special dispensation to those who worked at the palace so that the place would be ready for the arrival of US President George W. Bush, a man who openly admired and applauded the efforts of Guil Santiago. It was that support that resulted in the commission of 10,000 Morovian troops to the war effort in Iraq.

Now, the opinion of the US President wasn't the opinion held by most people around the world. Morovians of all shapes, sizes, and colors, reviled him, for the most part. Those living inside the homeland were careful not to express their opinions around the wrong people. It was OK, as Morovians fortunate enough to not have to live under Guil's powerfully tyrannical yoke were more than vocal in opposition to everything the man did.

With that being said, though, there were only a handful of people that knew the real man, the man that was behind the conservative rhetoric and loudly shouted words. One such person was his only child, Zhola de Santiago Perex. Her entire life, she had seen the way he was in public. She saw the way he pandered to people's ignorance and insecurities. She'd heard him preach about liberals and homosexuals, and how they would be the end of Morovian society. He also spoke about what a horrible person the Orphan princess' was, referring to Maxima. When it became common, public knowledge that JD was gay, Guil spoke to the people about the bastard faggot claiming to be a Prince of Morovia'.

But she knew the other side of this multi-faceted man. To her, he was `Papa', he was the man that had raised her, giving her anything and everything that her heart desired. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and when her mother died a few years before, many of her responsibilities fell onto Zhola's shoulders as the de facto First Lady of Morovia. Her Papa was the kind of man who, in return for his generosity, expected perfection. Whether it be perfection in school or perfection in her responsibilities to the role in which she found herself after her mother's death.

In her personal life, though, she wasn't as lucky as some of the people around her. She had never married; she had no children. Her life had been spent focused on her education and career. It also wasn't a secret that she would be the one who would succeed when the unthinkable happened and he did slip from this world into the next.

That morning, she walked around the palace to make sure that everything was perfectly set for the arrival for the President and First Lady of the United States, who were staying with them for the duration of their final five-day official visit. She first inspected the lobby, which was being vacuumed by five ladies before walking into the large Hall of the People, a place where portraits of every single previous monarch hung before the President moved in and had them all burned in the palace between the palace and the Cathedral at Talxiara. The only portrait that hung there in those days was one of the President of Morovia.

As the day passed, she inspected every single aspect of W's first day in Morovia. At five o'clock, she returned to the Presidential apartment to find her father sitting on an antique sofa talking to one of his confidants and the confidant's wife.

"Zhola!" Guil said as he enjoyed a cigar and a glass of Morovian brandy with the guests.

"Hello, Papa," she said as she walked over to kiss his forehead. "You shouldn't smoke those. It's going to kill you one day, Papa."

"You know that you're the only person that can say that and not get put in prison, right?" Mr. Chamboro said to her as she sat next to her father.

"Yes," she said as she cuddled up to the man who raised her.

"Zhola," Mrs. Chamboro started as the men talked. "Everything looks so beautiful downstairs."

"Thank you. I will pass that on to all the people that made it all possible," she said.

"So what is Chef serving at the dinner tomorrow?"

"We're starting with an array of tapas," she started. "There will definitely be pan de axo and ovasi, along with taranes and tarale."

"So he's going traditional for it?"

"Yes ma'am," she answered.

"The pasta course?" Mrs. Chamboro went on.

"Pasta terrasco is what he told me he was planning on. Then for the meat course, he's doing a steak with a Murcia sauce."

"Lovely. Is he using American beef for it?"

"Yes."

"Grand!" Mrs. Chamboro responded. "I'll not ask you about dessert lest I not be surprised."

"It will be delectable, I assure you," Zhola told her as they talked.

Just after six, the Chamboros left the palace, leaving Zhola and Guil there alone so that they could enjoy dinner as they did most days, together. Halfway through the light evening meal, though, Guil began coughing uncontrollably.

"Papa," she said. He signaled that the fit would soon pass and that he would be alright. He took a sip of water, but it didn't stop. "Papa!" she said as she walked over and patted his back in an effort to knock the cough out of him.

"Doctor..." he managed to say between coughs. She yelled for the guards to summon the President's personal physician.

She returned to him as she managed to help him stand. She lay him down on the sofa and helped him to slowly slip water between coughs. Just before the doctor arrived, he stopped coughing, but his breathing was labored.

"Are you alright, Papa?" she asked him as he lay there.

"Help...me...sit..." he said in very short breaths. She complied, helping him sit up on the sofa. "The doctor...will...explain...everything," he told her.

"You are scaring me, Papa," she said.

"Oh, my angel, I haven't ever intended to do that," he said as he caught his breath a little better.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Zhola, my dear," he started, "I can't tell you. It's not that I don't know the words, but I can't say them to you."

"OK..."

"Before he arrives, there are some things that I need you to get for me."

"What?" she asked.

"In my office, there is a safe built into the floor beneath the desk," he started. "In it are some things that you need to see, some things that I found among your mother's belongings after she died. There are also some letters that I've written that you need to deliver, personally."

"To whom?" she asked.

"You will know soon enough, my sweet."

A few minutes passed as he told her the combination to get into the safe. When the doctor arrived, though, the conversation stopped. He looked at the President and then at Zhola. Zhola had a single tear running down her right cheek. The doctor, the same man who had delivered her, according to her parents, so many years before, was an intensely familiar person to all of them.

"Mr. President," he said as he set his bag onto the coffee table and opened it up. He took out a stethoscope and first listened to sounds all in his chest.

"Zhola," the President said to his daughter.

"Go to the office and gather those things," he instructed.

She stood from the sofa. "Yes sir," she said as she walked out of the room, unable to look her father in the eyes in that moment.

"Doctor..." Guil started, "I can't tell her. I need you to do it for me."

"No talking, please," the doctor said to him. "I will speak to her as soon as I'm finished examining you, though, sir." Guil nodded as he contemplated what he was sure was about to be a rather emotional evening for all concerned. So many truths were about to come out that he didn't know how they were going to turn out.

Zhola walked into his office quietly as an evening receptionist was sitting just outsdie to man any phone calls that might, but probably wouldn't come into the office.

"Good evening, ma'am," she said as Zhola entered the room. Zhola would have usually stopped to talk to her, but she was on a mission and just returned the gesture with a smile.

As she walked in, the smell of cigars immediately hit her in the face. It was a pungent odor that she would probably remember for the rest of her life. Despite the rank scent, though, she walked to where her father had told her the safe was and quickly opened it. Inside was a large wooden box that she pulled out. She didn't open it right then, though the thought fleetingly crossed her mind.

As she returned to the apartment, the doctor was sitting on the sofa by himself. "Your father is getting ready for bed," he told her.

She set the box down on the sofa across from him and took a seat. "So what is he not telling me?"

"Zhola...when we did his annual checkup last year, we found a rather substantial growth in his right lung," he explained.

"A growth? What kind of growth?" she asked, afraid of the answer that she knew was coming.

"He has cancer," the doctor said as Zhola started crying.

At that moment, Guil walked into the parlor in which they sat. Seeing his daughter crying was a horrible sight. He was still able to move around, but it wasn't as it had once been. She just assumed it was because he was an old man, in his mid 80s.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him.

"Because I didn't want you to worry," he answered as the doctor sat there.

"Should I step out?"

"No," Zhola and Guil answered at the same time.

"I might have questions," Zhola answered. "Papa...I could have helped you. Are you going to try treatment of any kind?"

"Zhola," he answered, "I am an old man."

"Ma'am," the doctor chimed in. "The threat of the treatment killing him is greater than just letting the cancer run its course."

"But it could have worked," she told the doctor and her father.

"Zhola. I wanted as much time with my precious little girl as I could get."

Zhola smiled. "I just thought of something, Papa."

"What's that?"

"I just told you earlier that those damned cigars were going to kill you," she said as she stood to look at him. "I didn't realize that they actually are!" she started balling again as he reached up his arms to hug her.

"Please don't cry," he begged.

"What do we do?" she asked him and the doctor.

"I can come by every day if you'd like," the doctor offered. "Are you pain medicines still working, sir?" he asked the President.

"I've had to increase the dosage over the last few weeks."

"And you didn't call me?" the doctor chastised him.

"I figured it would go away."

"How many are you taking?"

"At least three a day," he answered.

"Mr. President! That could kill you before the cancer does!" the doctor advised. "I will bring something else by to you tomorrow that should work better."

"I appreciate it," he told the doctor.

"I do, too," Zhola said.

"Alright. I will go for now," the doctor said as he grabbed his black leather bag. "Mr. President. You should sleep, especially if tomorrow is going to be a big day for you."

"I will sleep later," he said.

"You haven't learned already that he's not going to do something just because you said to?" Zhola asked him.

"I forget who I am talking to," the doctor joked.

After he left, Zhola fixed them both a tall glass of water. She sat on one couch as the President sat on the other. He took a labored deep breath as she placed the box on the table between them. He stared at it for a moment before telling her to remove the lid. When she did, there were two letters sitting in the top.

"Those are the letters that must be hand delivered," he said as she looked at the addressees. "You must do it yourself, but you must wait until after I am gone."

"What do they say?" she asked.

"You will know shortly," he said as she set them to the side.

She pulled another old, tattered envelope from the box and opened it. The yellow passports signified that they belonged to someone who was eligible for dimplomatic immunity. She opened it to see pictures of King David XII and Queen Caterina, his consort.

"She was beautiful," Zhola mentioned.

"She was. When they were married, every man in the army put a picture of her in their wallet. A few of my old army buddies still carry them. It was their way of hoping that one day, they would meet a woman as beautiful as her."

"Maxima looks like him," she noted. "As does her son..."

"Joseph David," he answered.

"Yes," she said as she put them back in the envelope and set them with the letters. She next picked up a picture of the Queen holding a baby. The King was standing behind them smiling.

"That would be," he explained as he looked at the picture, "the youngest of their princesses."

"Princess Lidia?"

"No..."

"Then who?"

"Zhola," the President started, "after the capture of the palace, the King and Queen were placed in a cell in the cellar of the palace while they were put on trial. One night, they knew that their end was close, so they did what young couples in love did...and they made love. Two weeks later, just days before they were supposed to be executed, the Queen asked to see a doctor. We took down our doctor to see her; he examined her, and determined that she was pregnant."

"So there is a third princess?" Zhola asked.

"I'm getting to that," the president said as he held up one finger and put a smile on his face. "Well, to execute the Queen would also mean execution of the innocent that was inside her. The King pleaded to me that they be allowed to live to see the child once before their execution, so I agreed."

"And this is the child?"

"Yes," he answered. "A lovely princess."

"So what happened to her?"

"Well," he started. It grew harder and harder to finish the story for him, as it meant shattering the image that his daughter had of him. "We promised the Queen that we would make arrangements for her transport to America, where her sister had taken the other princesses. We permitted the departure of one last ship from Talxiara Harbor, and arranged for the princess to be transported to America."

"Why haven't I ever heard of her, then?" Zhola asked.

"Because I couldn't send her away," he explained. "On the day she was to leave, I was giving her a bottle."

"You were feeding a baby?" she joked.

"Yes!" he said with a smile. "The baby looked up at me, though. I took the bottle from her mouth," he said as the images appeared in his mind. They were still as fresh as the day they had actually occurred. "She looked up at me and smiled. Her smile was so precious," he said as he tried to fight back tears. Zhola had never seen her father so emphatically emotional as he told her a story. She was almost 50 years old, and he had always been a powerful strength in her life.

"Papa. Who is she?" He looked away from her, in the general direction of his bedroom door.

"So your mother and I decided that she must stay in Morovia, that we couldn't bear to send her away, to be raised by foreigners who would no doubt make us out to be villains as the Princess Maxima has said we are." He looked toward his hands, which he was twiddling in his lap. "On the day before her execution, the Queen named the child. She said that this child was a precious jewel."

"Papa..." Zhola said, recalling the Morovian translation for that word.

"Zhola...I am so sorry that I have lied to you for so long about who you really were," he said as he cried. She could see in his eyes all the remorse and regret, even as she felt in herself a feeling of self-consciousness and anger began boiling up inside her very being.

"Why now?" she asked as tears began rolling down her own eyes.

"Because I did not want to go to my death...with such a heinous crime on my conscious," he said. "I am trying to make things as right as I can."

"Who all knows?" she asked.

"Me...you..." he said. "The Chamoros. Everyone else who knew is dead now."

"I can't believe it," she said as she looked away from him.

"Zhola. I am begging your forgiveness," he clasped his hands together.

"I can't give it to you...not right now," she told him honestly, still unable to look at him for all the anger that was beginning to boil inside her. "You have let me go almost five decades without telling me of this. You and mother hid this from me and still let me speak so lowly of these women, their children. Their innocent children have been the wrath of my angry words and thoughts, and all the time, you knew that they were of the same blood as me. How could you do that?" she begged to know as she finally looked him in the eye.

"At the time, I thought it was best. I know that I am not perfect, but I...I was selfish. You were a precious angel, and I fell in love with you the very moment you looked at me and smiled. Those brown eyes were like seas of beauty, elegance, and grace," he explained.

"Mr. President," one of the guards said as he knocked and then opened the door. "Mr. Chamboro is here and requesting to speak with you."

"Please show him in," the President responded as Mr. Chamboro again joined them.

The man looked at his best friend and then at his goddaughter. Zhola couldn't look at him either. He then noticed the box and that Zhola was holding `the picture'. "Guil. Is this why you asked me to come over?"

"Yes," Guil answered as he sat on the sofa next to Zhola.

"I suppose you're going to tell me that you all did the right thing," Zhola assumed.

"At the time," Mr. Chamboro said to her, "we all felt that it was the right thing to do. Your father..."

"He is not my father," she asserted as she stared a whole into Guil's eyes. She stood from the sofa on which she sat and walked out of the Presidential suite.

The guards noticed her eyes watering and the rage in her eyes. "Do you need an escort, ma'am?" one of the masked.

"Fuck off," she said as she walked down the wide hallway toward the staircase that would take her downstairs so that she could go to into the landscaped courtyard below. In the center was a large fountain that ran all night and day during the summer. The sound of the flowing water had always calmed her greatly, and if anything, she needed to keep her cool in those moments. She sat on one of the benches just outside. In each corner of the courtyard there was a guard standing sentry. "Go inside," she said loud enough for all of them to hear. They complied with her instructions. She looked up in the sky, to the stars that were beginning to emerge in the darkening sky. They flickered even more in her tear ridden eyes.

Inside the palace, Guil and his best friend were enjoying a glass of brandy. "Did I do the right thing?" Guil asked him as he contemplated all that had happened that evening.

"Back then, I would have said yes, unequivocally," the old man told him.

"But now?"

Mr. Chamoro thought for a moment. "I still think that you did the right thing, Guil. The baby needed parents who would love and care for her."

"Could she not have gotten that in America?" Guil asked.

"I don't know," Mr. Chamoro said. "But Guil, you and Tália did an amazing job raising her. She is confident, smart, and compassionate. She knows the value of a day's work. Those things will help her be a wonderful leader of this country."

"I hope you're right."

"I know that I am right," he told his best friend.

A couple of hours passed, and Guil was forced by the ravages of time to climb into the bed. Mr. Chamoro stayed until Zhola returned to the chamber at around eleven.

"Zhola..." he said with a smile on his face.

"Mr. Chamoro..." she said as she looked toward the door to her father's chamber and then at him again.

"He went to bed," Mr. Chamoro explained.

"So you know the story of everything in this box?"

"Yes," Mr. Chamoro answered honestly. "Zhola. I am sorry that it all happened."

"Mr. Chamoro, I do believe that, other than this little fact about me, you have never lied to me. You have always told me what you felt was the best for me."

"Yes..."

"And you have always respected my opinion."

"Yes."

"Then I ask you to respect it when I say that I do not want to hear any more apologies regarding this matter. And tomorrow, when the President and First Lady arrive, I expect you to be present at their initial reception. Officially, you will be there as President of the Council of Ministers, but your primary responsibility will be to make sure that I don't say anything that will embarrass him."

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"Now. I've got to get some sleep, but I will see you in the morning," she said. "Good night, Mr. Chamboro," she said as she curtly left the room for her suite, a suite that adjoined the President's that she had moved into when her mother passed. She looked at him, almost viciously as she shut the huge double doors. He packed everything back into the box and replaced the cover. As he walked out, he opened the door, turning the light off as he exited.

The next day, the President and First Lady arrived. The following day, the two Presidents held a joint conference in which Guil announced that he would, in two weeks time, hand the Presidency of the nation over to his successor. He didn't specify who would succeed him, but everyone, including Zhola, knew who he would name. The news spread quickly through Morovian communities the world over. There was a sense of skeptical optimism on the minds of everyone.

=-=-=

Paradise Chapter 5 "Climax, Part I"

The week after they returned from Oneonta was hectic. Tyler went to class and tried his best to concentrate, even though his mind was torn with thoughts of Ricky and thoughts of JD. They were distinct sets of thoughts. Thoughts of JD made him happy; thoughts of Ricky made him worry.

JD went to back to work that next Monday only to find that, over the weekend, two of his employees had just quit their jobs. JD wasn't happy, but he also wasn't surprised. The two people that left had been friends with the two guys he'd fired, but it still put JD in a stressful position. He was left with only three trainers to deal with so many regular clients that had already paid for training sessions. It ended up that he would be there to open the gym in the morning, at six, and he wouldn't leave until after it closed, at eight in the evening. He tried to take over as many training sessions as he could and still keep up with his other responsibilities.

As the week came to an end, all the stress and all the hours spent working began to weigh on JD. When the pair talked on Friday, at around lunch, it was obvious that JD shouldn't be at work, but rather at home enjoying the peace and comfort of his bed. It was shortly after that, as he sat in class, that Tyler hatched a plan to ensure that, if nothing else, JD can go to work the next morning free from a little bit of the stress that he's allowed himself to endure over those few days.

As he leaves class, he mentally prepares a list of things that will be required over the course of that evening. Of course, he wants to fix him dinner. He wants to pamper him for a few hours, give him the star treatment...that sort of thing. So he goes to the grocery store to get some things; he runs into a couple of other stores getting supplies for the night that he's got planned. He even calls Lindsay when he's in the last store and explains everything on his mind to her. She thinks it's sweet and cool; she curses him for being gay. It was all a joke, though, as she really was happy that the two of them had met. They were good for each other, it seemed, and they both seemed to deserve all that the other was able to offer. Excitedly, she told Tyler that she would meet him over at JD's house to let him in with her key and help him get everything set up for the surprise.

It took a couple of hours to arrange everything, but when it was all finished, Tyler looked back and admired everything. Lindsay wished him the best of luck and hoped that everything would turn out just right. With that, she hugged him and left him there to put all the final touches on what promised to be a nice evening.

At the gym, JD was sitting in his office, looking over papers. With all the stress that had compounded up on itself, he started to get more and more stressed. All of those damned papers were beginning to look the same. He had employees that were driving him insane. He almost contemplated calling his dad and quitting himself. He even justified the moment by citing that he had enough money in savings to live to the end of

the year without worrying about anything but the one class that he had to take during the fall semester to complete his degree. That class was Morovian Culture and History, and there was absolutely no way, given who he was, that he would permit himself to fail it. He pulled his chair to the desk and rested his head on his elbows for a moment. He wanted it all to be over; he wanted a day off; he wanted to see Tyler; he wanted to enjoy a little bit of peace before getting up the next morning and doing it all again.

After rubbing his eyes and dealing with a couple of employees, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Tyler's number. Little did he know that Tyler was sitting in his apartment preparing things. When he heard the phone, though, Tyler took a moment from what he was doing and answered the call.

"I was just thinking about you," he told JD as the smile on his face went over the line to where JD was sitting, as if it were as audible as his voice itself.

"I hope it was good," JD responded. Tyler could tell from the depth of his voice that JD was beyond stressed, that a million things were going on around him from which he needed refuge.

"It was the best," Tyler said as he tried to do what little he could to brighten JD's day a little bit.

"I'm glad. So what are you doing?"

"I'm cooking a little bit, enjoying some classical music," Tyler responded.

"What are you cooking?" JD asked.

"I'm making spaghetti with a special chicken artichoke and fresh tomato sauce," Tyler said.

"Are you serious?" JD smiled. Tyler grinned himself. JD had mentioned in passing in a conversation that he loved the sauce that was traditional to his mother's homeland's southern province of Mursiya.

"Very," Tyler said. "I was thinking that you've had a rough week, and that you might like to come home to a hot bath, a freshly cooked dinner, and a guy that might just put out if you play your cards right," he said to JD.

"Your serious," JD noted as he heard Tyler's words.

"I'm very serious, Joseph David Thomas Leandro."

"You so make my full name sound so sexy," JD answered as he scooted back from the desk a little bit and leaned back.

"It's a very sexy name. Why...last night...I screamed it out as I was..." Tyler started, a wicked grin coming over his face, "...nevermind."

"You know. I still haven't..." JD said.

"What? Damn...I feel like a self-gratifying slut!" Tyler joked as JD let out a much needed, hearty laugh.

"I've just been too tired!" JD proclaimed as he continued to smile.

"So what time should I expect you to get home?" Tyler asked.

"Wait. You're at the condo?" JD asked.

"Yes sir," Tyler said as he took a quick taste of the sauce. "By the way, the sauce is perfectly seasoned and tastes wonderful."

"Damnit! I wish I didn't have to work to eight," JD said.

"Just look at it as I'm gonna be here, patiently awaiting your arrival," Tyler said.

"Naked?"

"Maybe," Tyler responded to a question that he knew JD had only posed jokingly. "Will you do me a favor, though?"

"What's that?" JD asked.

"Will you call me when you leave the gym?" Tyler asked.

"Oh yeah. I can do that!" JD proclaimed. "Do I need to bring anything home with me when I come?"

"Nope. I've got it all taken care of," Tyler said. "And I'm serious Joseph David..."

"Yes sir," JD said.

Just then, Sara, his assistant manager, came to the doorway of the office. She noted the way that a simple conversation with someone had taken him from frowning and grouchy to the same happy and bubbly person that she'd always known him to be.

"Hey, Ty..." JD said. "I need to let you go. Sara just walked up and looks like she needs to talk to me about something."

"Alright. And don't forget to call when you leave."

"Yes sir," JD said. "Bye..."

"Bye..." Tyler said as they both hung up their phones.

"So...as that this mystery Tyler you've been talking about?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered. "He is, quite possibly, the sweetest man that I have ever met."

"Does he have a brother?"

"Two, but one's attached and one's...not my biggest fan," he told her. "So what's up?" he changed the topic.

"I was going to ask you for a favor," she said as she walked in and closed the door. "You know I'm going home for the fourth."

"Yeah..."

"I was wondering if there were any way I could use the fact that we need some extra help to get a few more hours for some extra cash."

"I don't see why not. There shouldn't be any problem with that. In fact," he started. "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"Actually, no. My boyfriend cancelled our date. Why? Do you want me to close?" she asked.

"Would you mind? Tyler's at my place...fixing us dinner and stuff."

"He does sound like a sweetheart. Y'all've been together, what, like two weeks or something?"

"It seems like a lot longer than that, but yeah," JD answered as he thought about their first meeting and their first date. He remembered how Tyler had shared his spot with JD. He recalled how conscious Tyler seemed to be of the fact that Ricky didn't offer him the warmest reception upon his first meeting with the family. He'd made an impression on Lindsay, which wasn't an easy thing to do, and he'd wooed his parents from the very moment that they met. He knew about JD's heritage, but he didn't scoff or make a big deal out of it, which was one thing that most impressed him about Tyler and his very being.

After talking with Sara a bit more, he decided that it was time to go home to `his man'. Throughout his whole conversation, he thought about what he could do to surprise Tyler a little bit. As he drove down Grand Avenue, he passed a small shopping center

close to the main branch of the gym. In it was a gourmet spirits shop that stocked all the hard to find alcohol. They had brands of liquor that most places didn't stock, and even with Alabama laws restricting the sale of Morovian wines and spirits, this place managed to get a license and sell wines produced in all five provinces of Morovia. Next to that store was a little flower shop that always had the nicest, prettiest, most fragrant, most vibrant flowers. After purchasing a bottle of Mursiyan wine to go along with the Mursiyan pasta, he walked over to the florist only to find that they had received a shipment of sapphire daisys, a flower native to the region of the evening. They looked like daisys, but rather than being white, their petals held a very faint blue hue. Most people couldn't see it unless they were looking right for it.

Walking out, he called Tyler and told him that he was leaving the gym. It was a little lie, but it was a white one to cover the surprise that he'd arranged for Tyler. Tyler immediately set things into motion, closing the shade across the patio doors and windows so that no light was coming into the apartment from the outside. He ran into the bathroom and began drawing the water so that JD could instantly immerse himself in the hot water of the jetted tub that he'd only used a couple of times since moving into the place. With the tub full and the jets running, he began lighting candles that had been strategically placed around the bathroom to create a perfectly relaxing ambiance. He turned on a CD that was in a small stereo so that Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" was playing in the room. By the time he returned to the kitchen to check on dinner, JD was walking into the front door. Tyler turned to smile at him as he held his hands behind his back.

"What have you done, Joseph David Thomas Leandro?" Tyler asked as JD pulled around a bottle of wine and showed it to Tyler.

"I figured it would go nice with dinner," JD explained as Tyler smiled as he read the bottle that showed it to be a product of Mursiya. "And I know that it's gonna seem cliché, but I also got some flowers."

"They are beautiful," Tyler explained as he took a single whiff of their fragrant aroma.

"Sapphire daisies, right?"

"Correct!" JD said with a smile.

"So are you ready for the first part of the evening's surprise?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Go into your room," Tyler instructed as he gently set the win and flowers onto the counter. He and JD went into his room for a second. "Strip."

"Damn. Am I getting an after work blowjob or something?" JD asked.

"Not right now," Tyler grinned wickedly. "I knew you've had it rough, so the first part of your surprise," Tyler started as he opened the door to the bathroom, "is a relaxing soak in the tub."

JD walked into the room as fragrantly the red candles burned and softly the music played. "Wow..." he said as he looked around the room to find that the only light was coming from those very candles. Their flickering, shimmering light reflected in the window and off the moving water in the tub. JD began to feel relaxed from practically the moment he walked in. As he took in all the smells and sounds, JD stood there with his eyes closed for a moment.

"OK. So I've got to get everything else ready," Tyler explained as he walked up behind JD and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Just get naked, step into the tub, and enjoy yourself. I'll come and get you when everything is ready."

"This is awesome," JD said as Tyler put his chin onto JD's shoulder. "This is so amazing."

"I hope that it helps you relax," Tyler said as he turned his head and kissed JD's neck.

"I'm sure that it will, babe," JD smiled.

"I'll see you in a little while, then. Would you like a drink or something?"

"That would be nice," JD said.

"What should I fix?"

"A rum and coke?" JD inquired.

"I can do that," Tyler said with a smile as he walked out of the room. JD looked around the room as the brilliance of the candles seemed to draw all his attention. As he removed his shirt, JD took a moment to admire the fragrance the candle was giving off. It was sweet, relaxing, fragrant. It wasn't the most masculine of fragrances, but it wasn't overly feminine either. It was a nice mix of yin and yang. He threw his t-shirt into the hamper and began to remove his shorts and jockstrap with one swoop.

It was at that precise moment that Tyler walked back into the room. He was holding the glass that contained the beverage, but it was almost as if he'd forgotten why he was there. JD's ass had so hypnotized him with its beauty and perfection that he couldn't see straight. Knowing that Tyler was standing there watching, JD let his shorts fall and then raised his arms up to stretch. He stretched his legs so that every muscle from his head to his toe, from that angle, looked as though it was being strained and stretched. Tyler closed his eyes and imagined. He thought of JD, of all the naughty things that he could do to him if the time were right. Or was it that the time was right, right then, in that moment?

"I'm so glad you're not a model or anything."

"Why is that?" JD asked as he stretched again.

"Because... I'm afraid that you would end up as the `Down Boy' on ohbitchpleez.com or something."

"I wonder what the headline might be?" JD pondered aloud.

"Boyfriend promises to kill anyone who looks at his man?" Tyler asked.

"Jealousy! I would have never expected it from you," JD said as he turned around and looked directly into Tyler's eyes.

"I'm not a jealous person, for real, but I do think that I am incredibly lucky to have a man as wonderful, as smart, as sweet, and as hot as you in my life," Tyler answered. "And with that being said, do I not deserve to be...proud...of you, or having you around, of being one of the fortunate ones who gets a few minutes of your time."

"You better stop, or you're going to give me a big head," JD warned.

"Joseph David Thomas Leandro..."

"Full name again," JD smiled. "I must be doing something either really right or really wrong."

"I was going to say that I can't give a much bigger head than the one you've got," Tyler grinned as he wrapped his hand around JD's thick penis. As he squeezed, caressed, and gently tugged on it, it became more and more full. The more attention it got, the fatter it got. JD liked the way the gentleness of Tyler's hand excited senses deep within him that had, for weeks, been dormant. It wasn't that he hadn't taken care of things on his own since he broke up with Paul, but it had been so very long since he felt all the sensations that were coursing through his body...in that exact moment. He felt passion and compassion, strength and weakness, solitude and companionship. If this guy had ended up being a rebound, JD would have enjoyed the evening but felt guilty the next day for wasting both of their times. If they hadn't been disturbed in Oneonta, this moment in which they found themselves might not have happened. In the privacy and comfort of a place where they both wanted to be, it was obvious that that evening would be theirs for the taking, to do with what their hearts, their minds, and their desires wanted them to experience.

Tyler, on the other hand, was similarly feeling a myriad of emotions. Still on his mind was his brother, Ricky. He feared that he might, one day soon, have to choose between family and the love that this man was, quite probably subconsciously, throwing out at him by the truckloads. JD was a wonderful man, a man of many faces, each of which greatly intrigued him. JD's body was going to be temporarily fulfilling one fetish, while his mind was satisfying another. In this god of a man, though, his complexity seemed endless. He was a jock muscle head, but he was smarter than most people that Tyler knew. Most guys who looked like him were, as is said in the south, dumber than a box or rocks. JD spoke not only English, but also Morovian as a native language; through his knowledge of Morovian, he could speak and understand Castilian. He'd made a comment once that he didn't want to stop there, though. He wanted to learn other languages and experience other cultures. And only a certain type of guy can pull off a tattoo as intricate as the one that people saw when they looked as his muscular, bare chest.

He liked JD because, unlike most super hot' guys, JD wasn't concerned about the way a guy looked as much as how he acted. Sure, he didn't want a guy that take basic care of himself, but he wouldn't turn away a larger-than-average gay guy' if the chemistry was right. Tyler recalled a picture that Lindsay had shown him earlier of JD and David after they had been dating for a few months. David wasn't the kind of guy that he'd expected JD to be with. He had a little portly. Lindsay explained that JD valued actions more than what was on the outside. In him, he knew that JD wasn't lying when he said that Tyler was hot. He knew JD liked his hairy chest and his furry ass.

"What are you thinking about?" JD asked as he continued looking deep into Tyler's eyes.

"The same thing you're thinking about," Tyler responded.

"You're thinking about your hot ass!" JD winked.

"I'm just thinking about you in general."

"Like what?" JD asked as he put his hands behind his head and flexed so many sets of muscles. Tyler was still groping his hand.

"Right now, I'm thinking about how the water is going to be cold if you don't get into it now. And also, if you don't get into the tub, I can't leave to go check on dinner. I'd really hate for you to have to eat burnt shut tonight," Tyler said.

"Will you do me one favor before you go, though?" JD asked as he lowered his hands and put them onto Tyler's shoulders. He allowed them to rest there, to relax themselves on Tyler.

"What's that?" Tyler said as he took both his hands from their previous locations and wrapped them around JD's naked waist.

"What would it take to convince you to kiss me one time before you break me of the opportunity to be with you, even if for a few m..." JD started as Tyler smiled and reached his lips over to where JD's were.

The kiss was gently arousing. It started off with just lips, and then tongues met. Tyler used the position of his hands to pull them closer together; JD placed his hands on the back of Tyler's head as he gently played with his brown hair.

"Does that satisfy you?" Tyler said as he pulled away only to find that JD's eyes were still closed as he savored the moment.

"No," JD started as Tyler reached in and kissed him again.

"Remind me to tell you about something I did this morning...after you've gotten out of the tub," Tyler announced to JD as they reluctantly separated from one another. Tyler turned and walked out of the room before JD turned to climb into the tub where the water was still warm and the jets were still blazing. In this tub, there was a place for the occupant to rest his or her head as the feeling of water rushing all around him or her washed away all the tension and excitement of the day. It was a relaxing time, and the only thought on JD's mind was that he needed to use that more often.

Tyler returned to the kitchen to find the sauce simmering normally. It was at that time that JD set out the pasta pot and began cooking up the linguine that he'd chosen atop which the sauce would be served. He quickly went into the living room and set up everything on the coffee table. He found a silver candle stick and a long red candle in the closet of one of JD's spare bedrooms. He carefully placed silverware next to white charger plates. He fixed each of them a glass of water in nice stemware and set two glasses, empty for the wine that he knew from research on Morovian cuisine was served at room temperature.

After a short time, JD pulled himself from the tub. Hid body was dripping; his hair wasn't washed, but he felt better than he had in a long time. It turned out that just taking a few minutes to stop certainly did wonders for helping him clear the mind of all worry and excitement. He walked into his room where he pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt.

He sneaked quietly through the living room and into the doorway of the kitchen. "So what are your plans for the rest of the evening?" JD asked. It didn't surprise Tyler one bit that he was standing there, as he'd felt a presence of someone there with him.

"Dinner. Maybe a movie, if you're up for it," Tyler said as he drained the pasta's boiling water into the sink. "After that is all up to you," Tyler said.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," Tyler stated with a smile.

"So...what you say if I asked you to stay over tonight with me?"

"I would so accept," Tyler admitted quickly.

"And if I asked you to cuddle with me," JD walked over to him as he put the pot back atop the stove to remove any excess water from the doughy Italian goodness.

"I think that could be arranged," Tyler said with a smile.

"And what I told you that I am so incredibly horny after that bath?" JD asked.

"If you wanna fuck, JD, that's all you gotta say," Tyler admitted. "I might try my hardest to be a dom-sub bottom, but I must say that I am very, very fond of you, and would probably put out faster than a teenage girl would for one or more of the Jonas Brothers." JD laughed hysterically. "So go pour us some wine and pick out a movie," he told JD as he pulled two plates matching the chargers from the cabinet in which JD stored them.

"So I have a movie that I haven't watched in a while that I would like to see," JD started, "but if you're not into it, I would completely understand."

"What is it?" Tyler asked.

"Star Trek: Insurrection," JD answered.

"You're into Star Trek?" Tyler asked, surprised that it had never come up in conversations between them before that point.

"Next Generation and Voyager. I didn't really get into the other series or movies that much," JD responded.

"The things...that I could do to Tuvok on the Delta Flyer," Tyler said as if it were nothing.

"And if I were going to be into women, I would so want a girl like Seven of Nine!" JD said as he walked out of the room.

"Hell yeah! Borg nanoprobes will cute what ails ya!" Tyler said as he put the pasta neatly onto the plate.

"Damn right!" JD said as he found the movie and put it into the DVD player. As he hit the button to start the movie, Tyler came into the room with two plates filled with pasta. As they both sat, he set JD's plate atop the charger before placing his own at the place where'd chosen to enjoy the evening meal.

"This smells so wonderful," JD said as he opened the bottle of wine. "So there is a tradition in Morovia. When a couple has their first meal together at home, each person has to take a swig directly from the bottle of wine that's opened. You should get the first drink," he said to Tyler.

"You outrank me in so many ways," Tyler responded, "so you take the first one."

"Rank? I don't outrank you."

"Yes you do. And let me tell you why!" Tyler said as JD shook his head. "You are gorgeous."

"So are you?"

"You're smart."

"You, too," JD acted as though he were unimpressed.

"You have the body of a god," Tyler said, thinking that he'd stumped JD.

"You sir," JD said, quite matter of factly, "are an angel, sent by God, to bless my life with happiness abound." Tyler smiled. "So what's next?"

"You are royalty," Tyler said.

"While I might be royalty," JD started, "you are so my prince charming. That weighs more than being the son of a princess."

Tyler put his left hand and rubbed JD's face. "I am so falling for you, JD."

"I can tell," JD said with a smile. "I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel the same way. I mean, the night we met, I was in such a shitty mood, but then you came around."

"You're such a good guy, JD. I guess I'm still worried that I'm gonna fuck something up and piss you off...or something...and you're not gonna want me around anymore."

"Tyler. Can I ask you a serious question?"

"Of course," Tyler answered without hesitation.

"Did someone in your past hurt you so bad that it left all your confidence shattered?"

Tyler looked toward the plate, picking up the fork and stirring the pasta a little bit. The question was a valid one, but he didn't know how to answer it. He didn't know if he should answer it...yet. For a while, since he was a freshman, he'd lacked something that he'd always felt. `College gays are assholes' was his mantra for a while, and if it weren't for Jen, he would have no confidence at all. She was to him what Jiminy Cricket was to Pinocchio.

"Did I strike a bad chord?" JD asked, genuinely concerned that he had hurt or upset this man that had previously only existed in his dreams.

"No. You ask a very good question. I just don't know how to answer it," Tyler confessed. "I've dated a few guys. I've `been in love' a few times, but I always end up getting hurt." He looked at JD for a moment and then back at the plate. "The last guy I dated swore that he would never hurt me, but losing him seemed to hurt the worst. I guess it's because I let my feelings bottle up."

"Tyler," JD said as he moved the table out of the way so that he could turn and look at this glorious creature next to him. "I can't promise you that I won't hurt you. I can't promise that I won't upset you. I can't promise that I won't yell and scream and cuss and be a bastard." He reached up and turned Tyler so that the two were looking at each other again. "However, I can assure you that I would never do any of those things intentionally. Can I ask you to make a promise?"

"If I can," Tyler responded.

"If I ever do any of those things to you, will you promise that you will tell me. Don't let things bottle up. If I say or do something that offends or upsets you, will you please just look at me, and tell me that I'm being an ass or something?"

"JD..."

"If anything, it will help you rebuild your confidence."

"JD..." Tyler attempted to interject.

"Please?"

"Will you let me speak?" Tyler smiled.

"Oh...sorry," JD grinned.

"The fact that you trusted me with the information that you've trusted me with was a real big boost to my confidence. I appreciate you being real with me," Tyler said. "That shows that you trust me, and by winning your trust really helped raise my...ego..." Tyler thought.

"Your ego?" JD asked, seeming to know that it was a codeword for something.

"That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!" Tyler commented as JD leaned over and gently kissed him on the lips. "What does that raise?" JD asked as he slipped away from Tyler.

"Other things," Tyler said as he leaned over and into a second kiss with JD.

"Why don't we turn our phones off so that nobody disturbs us for a little while?" JD suggested as he grabbed his phone from the table beside the couch and quickly powered it down.

"That's a plan," Tyler said as he reluctantly stood and ran to the counter in the kitchen where he'd left his phone. He turned it off and returned to find that JD was standing there, in the floor of the living room. He'd turned off the TV and was waiting for Tyler to return. "So where were we?" he asked as returned to JD and wrapped his arms around this man's waist.

They started kissing again, but it wasn't the simple sweet kisses that they were giving to one another a few minutes before. These kisses were a complimentary example of the power that each bore over and beside the other. JD kissed like he worked out, with gusto and flare. Tyler's kisses were a testament to the simple power that encompassed his very persona. Between them, both of their personalities were matched by the other's.

Their kissing continued, but it separated at one point so that Tyler could removed the short that keeping him from admiring the sculpted body that JD possessed. He threw it onto the floor as they started kissing again. Not wanting to stop kissing him again, though, JD put his hands at the neck of Tyler's t-shirt. With little effort on his part, he ripped through the elastic band and the cotton weaving until the shirt just fell from Tyler's body.

Feeling all the energy in the world wrapping around him, JD bent down. He stopped kissing Tyler's lips, but he continued to his neck and around his collar bone. With his eyes closed and this man's lips exploring his body, Tyler felt like he was floating. What he didn't realize, though, is that JD, with his athletic prowess, had actually moved away from his lips so that he could lift Tyler from the ground. When he did realize it, he smiled as he wrapped his legs around JD's waist.

JD walked them into his bedroom. It was common knowledge that the two of them had passed a point of no return. That night would be the night that their physical worlds meshed together with their emotional worlds. It was time for them to enjoy the other carnally and emotionally.

Gently, he set Tyler onto the bed. As he climbed on himself, the two began kissing anew. JD allowed his hand to freely explore Tyler's body as Tyler, with the very tip of his fingers, became acquainted with every single muscular crevasse and ridge. For him, it was like climbing the sexiest mountain to its summit, descending, and then doing it all again.

With a single hand, JD undid Tyler's plaid shorts. He gently pulled down the zipper and felt placed his hands between the heavy cotton shorts and the breezy cotton boxers that separated his flesh from that which made Tyler a man. As he massaged the growing member, Tyler pulled himself out of the kiss for a moment and took a breath. He deeply inhaled as JD moved his lips to Tyler's nipple. As he exhaled, the air passed Tyler's vocal vibrating vocal cords. The moan was a sign that JD was doing something right as he gently clamped onto Tyler's nipple with his full, red lips.

Whereas they'd been lying on their side, JD turned Tyler so that he was lying on his back. As he kissed and licked Tyler's midsection, he reached into the open flap of Tyler's boxers and pulled out the average sized penis that was almost fully erect already. Until he reached it with his lips, JD squeezed and slowly stroked it.

When he did make it down there, he visually admired it for a second. It wasn't long or fat, but it had a perfect head. It had a little bit of an upward curve, and the base was covered in rich brown hair, hair that on every other part of Tyler's body drove this man to the brink of sexual insanity.

He closed his eyes and slowly moved toward it with his lips. When they came in contact, Tyler moaned audibly. Against JD's lips, he felt so smooth. Against his lips, he could taste the masculinity that oozed from his pores. Tyler smelled clean, but it was obvious that he hadn't showered since the morning. The aroma was breathtakingly wonderful, and all that was going on excited JD's senses. Being a Pisces, exciting JD's senses was the quickly way to get him as hard as he needed to be to get everything going.

Tyler was in heaven as JD worked his oral magic and inflicted his oral power on Tyler. His eyes were closed, but they rolled back in his head. His toes curled under the intense sensations that were encompassing his body. He played with his nipples with one hand while running the other along JD's back. In those moments, it could be said that he was like the beach, and JD was like the ocean, bringing to him new and exciting temptations and sensations.

As JD stopped, fearing that the end of their moment might be near, he slowly pulled off Tyler. His lips continued to touch the skin of his organ until the very last possible second. He sat back for a second and watched as Tyler breathed deeply, heavily, an energy that did his heart good.

"You wanna know how much I like you?" JD asked Tyler as they sat there for a moment.

"How much?" Tyler asked, opening his eyes.

"I don't suck dick," JD answered with a wide grin across his face.

"You do it surprisingly well, then," Tyler mentioned as his rubbed JD's left thigh.

"Thank you," JD said. He stood from the bed just long enough to remove Tyler's clothes completely.

Tyler was almost nervous for a split second until JD smiled at him. The man before JD was so enticing and sexy that he could hardly believe in that moment that he was there. As he watched Tyler just lying there peacefully, he slipped himself from the shorts that he was wearing.

"So you were freeballing?" Tyler asked.

"I sort of had a feeling that underwear would just get in the way," JD responded as he climbed onto the bed and lay next to Tyler, who was still lying on his back. Lying on his left side, with his head propped on his crooked arm, JD took Tyler again with his right hand. He explored it with his fingers and thumb, much as Tyler had explored his muscles a moment before. With his right hand, Tyler took JD's monstrously large penis and continued the inspection.

"Feel good?" Tyler asked.

"Very," JD said. "More than that, though, it feels almost right."

Tyler smiled. "My sentiments exactly. Promise me that you won't hurt me with this thing, by the way."

"If it does hurt, then I will be more than happy to stop. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Tyler," JD commented, repositioning his head to look into Tyler's eyes. Tyler lifted his leg at the knees and smiled at him. "Then do what you're gonna do, Joseph David Thomas Leandro."

"Yes sir," JD responded as they kissed on the lips.

JD stood from the bed and walked into his bathroom, grabbing a bottle of lube and a couple of condoms. He set the condoms on the table beside the bed and popped open the lube, allowing a little bit to flow onto the tips of the fingers of his right hand. He wiped the lube along Tyler's asshole, massaging the muscle so that it wouldn't be so hard to get in. With great caution, he inserted one finger, slowing preparing Tyler. Tyler began to relax more and more as JD inserted a second finger into him, to expand and relax his sphincter. With a third finger, Tyler flinched a little bit.

"You OK?" JD asked as he started to slowly pull out, fearing that he'd cause Tyler pain.

"God no. It's just that one of your fingers is bigger than the last guy I had," Tyler said as he reached over and grabbed one of the condoms. He opened it with his teeth and pulled it from the metallic foil sheath. "Come here," Tyler said as JD removed himself and stood next to him.

Tyler took the uncircumcised penis and put it into his mouth. It didn't go very far, but JD enjoyed the attention that Tyler's tongue was paying to the sensitive place between his head and foreskin, making him twitch with pleasure. By the time he pulled away, JD was hard as a rock. The weighty instrument of pleasure was standing directly in front of him, a testament to Tyler's own oral abilities. He pulled the condom over his penis and rolled it back toward the base. JD stroked himself a couple of times as Tyler inspected his penis and balls, more for his own pleasure than anything.

When Tyler smiled like a good bottom should, JD walked back to where he'd been a moment before, grabbing the lube and making sure that both surfaces had enough coating to keep either of them from hurting...too much.

JD lifted Tyler's legs and placed them on his shoulder as he aimed himself toward the goal. While JD's penis was like a torpedo, Tyler's ass was like the target that it must hit. Just before JD pushed inside him, Tyler closed his eyes and took a couple of deep, relaxing breaths. The moment he passed the ring, Tyler could feel and distinguish between the physical pain and physical elation that were streaming through his body like electrical impulses.

Before either of them knew it, JD was completely inside Tyler. He slowly began to pull out as Tyler began once more to be the vocally active partner that he'd always been.

"Oh yeah," Tyler started, "that feels so good."

"You're so tight," JD said to him.

"You like it?" Tyler asked as JD began pumping slowly and rhythmically.

"Oh yeah," JD said as he leaned down and began kissing Tyler.

While they kissed, JD picked up speed. It wasn't long before he had to lift him self off Tyler's lips so that he could pound and pound away. Rhythmic pounding was soon replaced by rough pounding. It was the kind of pounding that shakes the bed and walls. At one point, JD's immediately neighbors banged on the walls. The sex coming from JD's bedroom was so loud that they couldn't help but hear as JD and Tyler enjoyed the physical connection.

An hour after it all started, both guys were sweaty and pleasantly aching for the release that was coming.

"Oh..." Tyler started yelling. "Oh...oh...JD!" he said as he grabbed the back of his knees and pulled his legs closer to his chest.

JD responded by putting his hands on the bed beside Tyler and pushing into him as if he were doing a push-up. It was at that point that JD began hitting the sweet spot, that spot that would send JD over the edge into a place where he would have no choice to but to enjoy every single muscle in body twitch simultaneously.

"Oh God! I'm close!" JD declared as a bead of sweat dropped from his forehead onto Tyler's chest.

"Oh yeah," Tyler explained. "I'm about there...too."

A moment later, JD began to feel Tyler's ass clamping down on him. It was like a vice. His face became a little red as pressure began to build inside him.

"FUCK!" Tyler yelled as he gave up and allowed his orgasm to release itself from his body.

"Can I keep going? I'm really close," JD said as Tyler began to relax.

"Please do," Tyler answered as he smiled up at the man that was destroying him, in the good way, of course.

"Shit!" JD expressed as he stopped pounding and began slamming himself inside Tyler. In a second, JD stopped and slammed himself in one last time. As if he were Klingon warrior announcing that another warrior was on his way to Stovokor, JD raised his face toward the heavens and let out this long, low, seemingly painful and powerful groan just as he fired his orgasm from deep within him into the condom that he was wearing.

"Did you enjoy it?" Tyler asked as he reached up and ran his hands through JD's hair.

"Yeah," JD smiled widely. "You?"

"Fuck. Of course I enjoyed it," Tyler said. "I might not be able to walk right ever again, but I enjoyed it!"

The two laughed at one another. "You know what sounds really good right now?"

"What's that?"

"A shower and then some pasta," JD said as he climbed off Tyler and the bed.

Tyler started laughing. "You know what I just remembered?"

"What?" JD asked as Tyler stood off the bed.

"That we so never ate the food that I fixed. You were too busy telling me what a great guy I am and all," Tyler said as they walked into the bathroom. After a quick shower, they went into the living room for dinner and the movie. Rather than pouring the wine into the glasses, though, they just alternated who would take sips directly from the bottle. They watched their movie and then went straight to bed. Tyler climbed in and instinctively went to the left side of the bed; JD went to the right. Both guys lay on their left side, but JD had the distinction of being able to wrap his arm across Tyler. Tyler didn't mind, though, because being in those arms meant that no harm would befall him. Both of them dreamed sweetly until the morning came. It was early when JD slipped out of the bed, trying not to disrupt Tyler's peaceful slumber. He quickly dressed himself in clothes appropriate for his work and walked from the bedroom into the living room. He found a couple of things and then began leaving Tyler a note.

"Dearest," he quietly spoke as he wrote. His penmanship was shit, but it was, after all, the thought that truly counted. "I hope that you slept wonderfully. I'm sorry that I couldn't look into those beautiful brown eyes as you woke, but I had to get to work. I will be home around one, after I finish some paperwork. If you're still here, I will cheer, but if you're not, then know that I can't wait until the next time I see you. Here's the key to my apartment. Keep it, if you want," he said as he signed his name, leaving the note and a spare key with Tyler's cell phone. As he walked out the door, he smiled as he realized that for the first time in his life, what he was feeling was real.

--*

At around the same time that JD was getting home from work, Bob and Tammy found themselves in front of the TV. Bill was sitting on one end; Tammy was lying across the sofa, with her head resting in his lap. They were watching a foreign film that made sense to neither of them but was still intriguing just because of the images and lighting. As they sat there quietly, each of them thought about their children. It wasn't like they just sat around worrying about their boys, but both of their thoughts seemed to wander to those products of their love, both emotional and physical.

Kevin was growing into the person they'd always known him to be. He'd stopped sleeping with any girl that would let him between her legs and actually found one woman with whom he could settle and be happy. While he did enjoy a beer every now and again, he'd gotten back into going to the gym and had regained a little bit of the body that he had in high school and the first two years that he attended of college. That evening, Kevin and Ronnie had gone to Birmingham to celebrate the nuptials of two very dear friends of Ronnie's. Their names were Stephen and Luis, and while they weren't getting married...legally...it was still important to them to have all their friends and family there to celebrate as they made the commitment to each other.

Ricky...was a different story. As they thought about how well Kevin and Tyler were doing in their own lives, thoughts of Ricky made their stomachs turn with worry. He came home on Tuesday, but he hadn't talked to either of them, really. His answers to their questions were simple and to the point; he never told them when he was coming or going. Both of them felt that, since they'd been lenient with Kevin and Tyler after they turned 18 that it wasn't fair to pick apart any of Tyler's plans. On Wednesday, after he got home from work, several friends came over to the house to hang out.

The girl's name was Kara. She was the one that he'd been coming and going with for the previous few weeks. She was polite to them, but one could easily surmise from her countenance and attitude that she respected them so very little. They didn't know why at first, but it was because Ricky had told them about how they'd allowed JD and Tyler over at the house...together. Kara's father was a minister at a local, independent church that preached the evils and sins of being homosexual. The other two friends that were there were Kara's brother, Chad, and Chad's best friend, Liam. It was obvious, despite Bob and Tammy's disdain, that the four of them had a lot in common.

That Friday, Ricky had gone to work early in the morning. He got home at around six and got to the house within just a few minutes. As he parents sat on the sofa eating dinner and watching a movie, Ricky ran in the back door, packed some things and walked back downstairs to leave the house.

"You need anything?" Bob asked as Ricky walked into the living room to tell them that he wouldn't be home.

"No," Ricky said with a smart-ass tone before he turned and walked out of the house.

Tammy and Bob both shook it off, though, as him excerpting his independence. Tyler and Kevin had both been through similar phases as they were growing up. They were both confident that it would pass quickly. As he left, Kara was pulling into the drive. Ricky climbed into her car and the two were quickly off, heading down the drive and then on 231 toward I-59.

"So are you excited?" she asked.

"I am," Ricky said, with a smile as he looked toward the girl that he found himself attracted to on so many levels.

The two of them drove down the interstate until they came to the second of three exits that would guide them into Trussville, Alabama. At the intersection, they could see so many restaurants, a gym, and gas stations of every single type. They turned right and went up the hill a little way, toward the shopping area that had brought so much money into what locals called Trussvegas'. The first shopping center that they came to was one in which Kmart anchored one end. As they pulled in, it wasn't difficult to find where Chad and Liam were parked. The pair had acquired' a black SUV and packed it full of supplies that they would need for the evening.

In just a moment, they pulled out of the parking lot and climbed back onto I-59, moving toward the downtown area. As they drove down the interstate, Chad and Liam, who were sitting on the passenger side of the car as Kara drove and Ricky sat behind her, complained about the people in every single car. They dropped the N' bomb more than once, referred to every brown-skinned person using a four-letter epithet that began with an S'. Fag' this and fag' that were also used a few times as they talked about people innocently driving their cars down the road.

Having googled where they would be going that evening, Kara pulled off the interstate and went up to First Avenue, North, just beside where the adult bookstores were located. They drove the rest of the way through the East Lake neighborhood, passing through to the Woodlawn neighborhood.

"There it is! And they're celebrating a wedding!" Kara said.

"Aww...fags getting married!" Chad said as the names Stephen and Luis ran across the marquee in front of the church. Everyone laughed heartily.

Inside the church, the minister was ending the ceremony by presenting the couple to the congregation. The two kissed as the audience's applause echoed and rumbled through the church. The sound of their cheering was so loud that they didn't hear the gunshots being fired outside. It wasn't until the large, stained-glass window in the front of the church shattered and pieces of glass fell to the ground that they knew something was amiss.

Most of the pieces were small, but there was one large piece that seemed to slowly fall to the ground. Kevin, with his heart racing from the moment, reached over and pulled Ronnie and her niece to the ground. Ronnie's family had known Stephen for decades, and so every living member of their family was there. Ronnie's sister-in-law, in fact, was one of Stephen's supporters while her brother was an usher. As the large piece hit the ground, it shattered into a million pieces, most of which went flying into the congregation as it was assembled.

In just a second, after all the glass had settled, people began to look around and make sure that everyone else was OK. Kevin stood first and helped Ronnie and Ashley to their feet.

"You OK, babe?" he asked Ronnie.

"Yeah," she answered as she made sure that there were no visible lacerations. "Ashley?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Ashley responded as Tina came up and hugged her tightly. "Where's Mike?" she asked.

"We don't know," Kevin answered.

"Watch Ashley," she said as she ran off, toward the back of the church. Just as she was about to walk outside the church, Mike was coming back in. The two hugged as Mike looked angry.

After a few minutes, the police arrived. As was the norm in Birmingham when dealing with gay people, they took statements but said that little could be done without, at least, a positive identification of the vehicle that had carried the shooters.

By eleven, they were all leaving the church. By twelve-thirty, they were arriving back at Tammy and Bob's house. Shaken, they weren't in any mood to meet Ricky's friends as they all hung out by the barbecue joking and laughing about the most random of things. As they walked in, Tammy was walking into the living room. One look at them, and her maternal instincts went into full force. "What happened?" she asked as she took Ronnie into an embrace.

"Somebody shot into the church," Kevin answered.

"Somebody shot...into a church?" Bob exclaimed from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Kevin answered. Kevin, unnerved by the whole event, fell into his father's embrace and let himself go. Like a baby, he cried as Bob held onto him, letting him know that nothing was going to happen to him while he could help it.

Outside, they could all hear the sounds of Ricky's friend's leaving for the evening. Ricky himself stood outside and yelled something as they all climbed into Kara's car and drove off. He walked inside to find his parents holding on to his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a moment that made them all think that old Ricky was back.

"Someone fired guns into the church where the wedding they were going to was," Bob answered.

"Oh," Tyler said. "Was anyone hurt?" he asked, his question having two sides of which the family could only hear one.

"Other than emotionally," Kevin started, "no."

"That's good," Tyler said as he grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and walked off, up the stairs to the bedroom in which he'd always lived. He had no idea that, inside the place where they'd been earlier that evening was his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

"Let me make y'all some tea," she said.

"Do y'all mind if Ronnie stays over tonight?" Kevin asked.

"I don't want to be by myself," she answered.

"That's no problem," Tammy answered and Bob concurred.

"I still just don't understand why anyone would do that," Ronnie commented as she sat at the table where she'd shared so many meals with Kevin's family.