Sex in the Sky

Moodily I stared out the train window. The day before Christmas Eve. On the platform of the Boston station, couples reunited, kissing and hugging. Mothers cried and clung to fresh boys in uniform as they headed off to basic training. The war had changed things; the place was somber and not decorated much for Christmas this year. The mood was grim and filled with dread, instead of Christmas cheer and joy. Sure. People tried; they tried to look happy and hopeful for the sake of the kids that hung around their knees, not understanding. They carried presents. But their eyes told the truth: they all knew some of these boys wouldn’t be coming back from Germany or wherever they were headed, and they all hoped it would be someone else. Not them, not theirs.

Just turned 18, I might’ve been going with them. Some of my classmates had already come up in the draft. The government would let them graduate, but that was only five months away. Everyone prayed the war would be over by then.

Out the train window I watched a lot of my classmates from Brighton Academy get off the train and go in a big, laughing group to meet their parents. They shrugged off their mothers’ hugs and then disappeared. Most of us lived in Boston. The dorms shut down over Christmas holiday, except for a skeleton staff and a few scholarship students who were too poor to travel home.

I should’ve been getting off the train with everyone else. This was my stop.

I hate Christmas.

*********

My first class compartment was empty except for a fat old man who kept smoking. His cigars - how did he get cigars during this war? - put off an odor that made me first dizzy, then nauseous. Coughing and wheezing, I gasped air as I went to the club car. My lungs ached and rattled as I coughed.

The club car was crowded and smoky, noisy with soldiers laughing too loud in their forced high spirits, but I managed to find a seat in the corner by the window. Outside, the sky was looking more and more threatening. It was probably going to snow again. Old snow crusted the landscape chugging by out the window as the train moved out of Boston. I leaned my forehead on the cool window. The train wheels thudded on the track in a soothing rhythm that soon had my eyes drooping.

“Anybody sitting here?”

There was music in the voice. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was but I raised my eyes. Russell Stuivers. Star quarterback of Brighton Academy. Glorious, Apollo in the flesh. Wide shoulders and narrow, graceful hips. Dark hair, blue eyes, a rugged but boyish face, and a smile that sent a sudden, undeniable shiver down my spine, finally lodging somewhere in my groin. He had that affect on me. Perhaps he did on everyone. He was an athlete and therefore a denizen of another world from the one I lived in. From afar I watched him and his ilk with half envy and half lust. To both be them and to be had by them. To be taught, to be possessed.

“Uh, uh.” I stumbled and stammered a second before I managed to motion him to sit down. We were in an English class together last year and he at least recognized me as a familiar face. I remembered his smooth voice as he read Shakespeare, stumbling a bit over the unfamiliar words. I remembered how his reading gave me chills. I remembered how his voice intruded, a few nights, in my dreams.

“Everybody else got off the train in Boston, where are you going on to, Gerald?” Russell grinned as he glided into the seat next to me. My breath caught. He knows me!

“Uh,” I stuttered again before coming up with a coherent answer. “My grandmother’s in Chicago.”

“Hey, that sounds nice,” he said sincerely. It wasn’t nice at all, actually, but all I did was listen enraptured as he went on. “I’m getting off in Gary. I haven’t been home since summer. I couldn’t afford the ticket over Thanksgiving but I’ve been saving my money. I can’t wait for some of my mom’s cooking!” Russell grinned at me. “What about you, excited to see your family?”

“I didn’t know you even knew my name,” I suddenly blurted without thinking. As soon as the words left my mouth I felt stupid. What a pathetic thing to say.

“Sure I do,” Russell said with his dazzling smile. “The smartest guy in school, how could I not know you?”

“Not the smartest,” I mumbled, my face turning red as I sank into the seat. At this moment nobody would’ve taken me for anything near smart. But I just couldn’t believe he’d sat down next to me and was talking to me like we were great friends. We’d never exchanged a word before; but for someone like him, so easy and social, any familiar face would do for such a long trip I supposed.

“Smart enough. I’m starved!” Suddenly he reached in his pocket and drew out a paper-wrapped bundle. It was a sandwich from the dining hall. He worked there, actually. Russell was on a football scholarship. A charity student. But the funny thing was, in our school where only the richest got in, nobody even cared that he was poor. Even while he was clearing tables in the dining hall he was laughing and joking with his group of friends, like he was sitting there with them and not cleaning up their dirty dishes. He didn’t shrink into the background and fade to invisible like the other scholarship boys. He saw no shame in it, so no one else did either. The other boys competed to be Russell’s friend. It wasn’t just his athletic ability; I saw now it was the open warmth of his personality, expansive enough even to include a skinny, glasses-wearing, sickly thing like me.

“Let’s go to the dining car.” Suddenly I stood up.

“I can’t… I’ll just eat this. That’s why I brought it.” He grinned and I understood.

“You need something hot. Come on, I’ll buy yours. Please.”

“I can’t let you do that.” The smile dimmed and I felt like the sun had gone behind the clouds, darkening my world. I’d do anything to get its warmth back.

“I want to,” I insisted. I smiled. “After all if not for you we’d be dead last in the division again.”

After a moment of consideration the grin was back full force. Football was something he understood; and I imagined that more than once, the rich alums had taken him out to nice restaurants to discuss the team and its plans. The players were treated like movie stars. I didn’t know a thing about football and didn’t really care, until this minute, because I could tell that Russell liked having an appreciative audience for his stories and knowledge of the game. He let me buy him dinner without any more fuss.

Outside the window it was starting to snow pretty hard. The little candles on the tables of the dining car flickered against the blackness of the cold windows. Over a couple of watered-down drinks back in the club car, Russell told me about his family. His dad was a barber and his mom was working in a defense plant. He told me about his four sisters and his wonderful parents, about how even though every dollar was stretched three ways, their house was always full of music and laughter. I loved watching him smile when he talked about the little house they lived in, about his dog he couldn’t wait to see, and the piano his mother played every night.

And Christmas. He described it so that I could really see it. Even with the rationing his mother managed to have a goose and home made pies. There wasn’t money for presents, but they always took baskets to the poor, and on Christmas Eve the whole family went together to midnight services at church. His smile was radiant as he described it, and in my mind I couldn’t help picturing my grandmother’s vast, cold house, devoid of Christmas cheer except for the kitchen, where the housekeeper sang holiday carols while she worked. Presents from my parents – hammered silver cuff links sent up from Mexico, or a gold-plated office set that came from New York in lieu of a post card.

“And my mom,” Russell was saying, “She’s just terrified I’m going to be called up. I want to go - I’d join up - but it would just kill my mom. Maybe after school’s over…”

This reminder of the draft and the war made us both run out of steam.

“What about you?” he asked with a weak smile. “You going to join up after graduation?”

“I’m 4-f.”

His big blue eyes got even wider. “4-f? Really? Why?” he asked in a hushed voice, glancing around to make sure no one had heard. 4-f. Unfit for service by reason of mental of physical defect. Too fat, too crippled, maybe even queer. 4-f was a label of shame.

I knocked on my breastbone. “My heart. Some kind of defect I’ve had since I was born. It’s a hole. Also, there’s something with my lungs, where I can’t get enough oxygen.”

“Really?” He stared at me, his eyes darting down to take me in. I could see it making sense to him now: my weakness, my puny size, my frail body. My defect, made plain for the world to see. There was no question I wasn’t fit to fight. So instead of the derision and the whispered rumors, I got pity. “Is it… I mean, are you going to…?” The question petered out as he couldn’t bring himself to ask point blank if I was dying.

“I’m not supposed to know this.” I laughed bitterly, a sound that made my own skin scrawl. “The doctors always take my parents into another room. But I can hear them. I could die any time. They didn’t even expect me to live this long.”

His mouth opened slightly as he kept staring, transforming me in his mind from someone just puny and frail like a runt puppy to someone who was possibly fatally ill. I hated his pity but at the same time I reveled in it. It fed the abundance I already cherished for myself.

“That’s why I can’t play sports or do anything too strenuous. If my heart beats too fast, it could be dangerous. The doctors don’t know what could happen, so I have to stay inside… stay quiet… not get too excited. Too much excitement could kill me. So my parents shipped me off to Brighton Academy so I’ll be safe from anything exciting.”

“But surely they just want what’s best for you,” Russell offered. His kindness would have made me happy, a runt puppy wiggling its tail for its master, but now all my anger and bitterness was beginning to spill out, and once it started, I was afraid it may not stop.

“Sure they do. They have social responsibilities, they have events to go to, their friends expect them in Florida every year for Christmas. So they ship me off to Grandmother’s instead. Every Christmas, every summer. Summer is the height of the social season and they can’t just let everyone down. I can’t travel, I can’t go to parties or horse races or charity balls. They want what’s best for me, so they send me away. That’s what they’ve always done.”

“Your own parents?” Russell looked shocked. I saw his eyes going over me. I saw what was in them.

“I’m nothing but an embarrassment to them. They don’t say it, but I know they think it. Beautiful people like them don’t have sickly runts like me. They have beautiful children who play football in college and marry rich.”

Angrily I got up. I was going back to my first class compartment and leaving him here in this dingy lounge with his wrapped-up sandwich. I started to walk away until I heard him speak.

“Jerry.”

Nobody called me Jerry. Nobody had ever called me Jerry. I stopped. My anger melted away as I turned around and saw his eyes, confused as I walked away. I smiled. Maybe I was just being a fool, but I saw something in those eyes. Maybe it was his voice, coming from my dreams of months ago. But I wanted to believe he saw me as something other than a poor little rich kid, an object of pity. I wanted to believe he saw me as a friend.

“You know… it’s gonna be awful uncomfortable sleeping in coach. Why don’t you come to my compartment? There’s only one other person in there and there’s lots of extra room. If a conductor comes I’ll tell him I invited you.”

At the next stop, the other occupant of my compartment got off. Russell and I relaxed into the cushions on opposite sides, facing each other. I found it hard to look him straight in the eye, but I also couldn’t look anywhere else. I didn’t want to look anywhere else. No one else came into the compartment at the stop and so I was completely alone with Russell. It was impossible to be nervous around him; he was too open, too friendly. I warmed to him reluctantly even as I wanted to hang on to my self -pity. I listened and listened as he told me his dreams. He loved playing football; it had opened up a whole new world for him by bringing him to Brighton Academy. But what he really loved… his real passion… was singing. The admission embarrassed him but I found myself thrilled. I found myself aching to buy him a music teacher and a practice room and anything else in the world. To lavish him with everything he deserved.

“Why aren’t you in the choir? Brighton has one of the best music programs -”

“I could never do that.” He blushed deeper. And he was probably right. In addition to the time taken away from football, the music teachers and students would never accept a football player - a charity student! - into their exclusive club. The social structure at Brighton was iron clad over generations and not even someone as glorious as Russell could fight that.

As we talked through the evening and late into the night, the storm outside increased in intensity. The snow was so thick there was nothing but a white mass, and ice crusted on the windows as the temperature dropped. The wind howled loudly enough to be heard over the thudding of the wheels on the tracks.

Midnight. I looked at my watch and grinned. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“Merry Christmas.” Nodding thoughtfully, he stared at me a minute before he spoke. “Get off the train in Gary with me, Jerry. Spend Christmas with us. Have a real family Christmas, even if it’s not your own family.”

His words made me tremble. He was such a beautiful person, inside and out. In my world - kids in clothes much too costly for wartime, left in snowy boarding schools up East while our parents wintered in Coral Gables - such people didn’t exist. We were all too busy being ironic.

In an all boys school it was inevitable. There was always going to be an undercurrent, a pull of confused longing, that mixture of admiration and unattainable desire. But I’d never known anyone like Russell before. What would it be like? Mother, smiling and carving a goose; sisters exchanging handmade gifts while Dad smoked his pipe and beamed? The cover of the Saturday Evening Post made real, made real, with me in it, sitting at the table with everyone else waiting for a slice of goose, smiling a huge smile. But then I remembered, I wasn’t like them. Even something as simple as that picture was out of my reach.

“I can’t,” I answered softly. “I’d love to, Russell. I would. I just… you know, my… my heart, I have to be careful…”

He dipped his head in understanding. At that moment, the train pulled up on a small stop. Our eyes met across the compartment with worry in them as we felt the train slide on the tracks, the brakes not finding purchase against the snow and ice. There was a frightening moment until the train finally stopped. Bustling outside in the corridor; a long wait. Finally a conductor put his head in. Told us the train couldn’t go in this storm and wasn’t moving until the tracks were cleared. Sometime tomorrow at the earliest. And we couldn’t stay on the train because the electrics had to be shut down.

“Shit.” Russell cursed. His eyes went around as he wondered what to do. I stood.

“Come on. If we want to find a room somewhere, we have to hurry before all the other passengers get to them first.”

“But I can’t, Jerry, I don’t have money for a room, I’ll just sleep on a bench at the station,” Russell protested even as I started getting our luggage together. He’d brought his one suitcase into the compartment with him, just so no one would bother it. I ignored him and since I had his bag, he had no choice but to follow me, protesting vehemently the whole way.

Despite our speed in disembarking, all the station hotel had left was a room with a single bed. Russell ordered me to take it, he’d sleep at the station, but I wouldn’t hear of it. We could share. There was no way he was sleeping on a cold bench in the train station while I slept in a comfortable, warm bed.

“I hope my mom’s not too worried,” Russell said as we carried our bags upstairs. He insisted on taking the heavy ones without trying to be too obvious that he was doing it out of consideration for my condition. I really was feeling a bit weak, I needed to rest. “She expects me home by noon.”

“Can you phone her?”

“No phone,” he admitted, turning on lamp in the room. It really was tiny - barely enough room to turn around. Nowhere to sit but the bed. But it was clean, and relatively warm. Better than the train station.

“What about a telegram?”

Russell laughed, dropping our brags on the floor. “Than she really would be worried! Where I come from telegrams only bring one kind of news. Bad. She’ll figure out what happened.”

To call the bed comfortable was a stretch. It felt hard when I sat down on the edge, suddenly short of breath. Russell looked worried as he sat down next to me, asking me if I was okay. I nodded impatiently, brushing off his concern, but he insisted that I lie down.

People had been fussing over me my entire life. I hated it. But I was content to lie there as Russell slipped my shoes off and told me in a gentle but commanding voice to be still and rest. I watched him from the bed as he hung our coats on the back of the door and put the shoes neatly to the side. I could watch him all night, or for the rest of my life. He was so manly, so… purposeful.

Yawning, Russell flipped off the light. The room was dark, but not so dark I couldn’t see him in the dim light that came through the thin and battered curtains at the window. I lay perfectly still as he unbuttoned his shirt and neatly hung it on the doorknob. His undershirt was bright white. I saw his arms - strong, pale - and his shoulders. I watched as he unfastened his belt and slipped off his pants, folding them properly even in the dark. I could just see his underwear, his legs, his dark socks.

Under the covers I was hard and erect. Inside my clothes, which I still wore, I felt blazing hot and damp with sweat. In the dark he looked like an image from my dreams. The darkness and the silver light bleached him of all color, only shadow, and I gasped for air as he pulled the blanket up to slide into the narrow bed next to me.

My sudden breath made him jump. “I thought you were sleeping,” he observed softly.

“No…” I stammered. “Not yet. I… I’m just gonna go…”

I climbed out of bed over him. So grateful for still wearing my clothes, which hid my erect cock from his eyes. Breathing too hard, I edged out the door to the toilet down the hall. I couldn’t let Russell see me like this. I couldn’t let him know what thoughts were in my head. I’m not queer, just….

I didn’t turn the light on. I closed my eyes, I unfastened my pants and pushed them down to my knees, I wrapped my hands around my thick and sturdy length. I stroked. It was wrong to think of him - so masculine, so pure - but I did. I thought of him as I stroked my rigid cock until the pleasure coiled inside me like a tight spring and then shot out, drenching my hand with its thick essence.

As my knees went weak and the pleasure ebbed away, I forced myself to calm. Breathing too hard, heart racing. I couldn’t pass out or die right here - cock in hand, pants around my knees, in the station hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania. The image made me giggle, a high-pitched squeak that didn’t sound like me. I washed my face and hands. Relief. Now I could lie down next to Russell, so gloriously fresh in his underwear, and sleep.

His eyes seemed closed when I re-entered the room and glanced at him. Slowly I took off my own clothes, draping them over the upright suitcase. He was asleep. It was good he was asleep. I could lie next to him in the night until the sun came up and stole my desires from me.

The four men swam and played in the water, nudity not an issue between them. Once their mock fights began to become more intimate, they wordlessly separated into couples, finding secluded niches to lie together. Vance encouraged Auly to touch him and they brought each other pleasure, stroking hard hot flesh till their seed found release. Auly’s musical giggles echoed in the air as Vance growled playfully licking his young lover clean. A basic lunch of bread and cheese followed then, as predicted by Donny, two exhausted young men curled against their partners and slept.

“You said there was more,” Vance prompted, stroking his beautiful boy’s dark damp curls.

“Not about Auly so much,” Donny said. “But you have to understand why I need to know Auly’s going to be looked after by you.”

“I swear I will, Donny,” Vance said gazing openly into Donny’s eyes. He saw the appraising look and was pleased that Donny seemed to like what he saw.

“Auly has but a few friends in town. There’s me and Eli, Sam the blacksmith and his four sons, Miriam the schoolteacher and Doc Evan. Doc Evan’s partner is a friend too, but he’s been forced to live in the City and only sees the Doc on rare visits now. When he does come, the Doc always meets the train.”

“Brad again?” growled Vance and his gut clenched at the nod.

“David was accosted by Brad and his friends, but Sam was there to help him. Doc Evan made sure David got out of town after that. He loved David too much to take the chance Brad would hurt him.”

“I’m thinking I would like some time alone with Brad,” Vance snarled. “Was Eli not taking a risk riding here yesterday?”

“Two of Sam’s sons rode with him to the homestead and accompanied me when Eli was due home. But Sam and Miriam are getting wedded and when they do they’re moving to the City. Sam’s daughter and husband are already there. They have a small two bed-roomed house. It’ll be a squeeze as Kate is pregnant and Sam is taking the youngest of his boys, but they’ll move with them. Eli and me are moving too. I’m pretty good at metal work and Eli with woodwork. Sam, the boys and us are buying a business in the City; one that has metalwork and carpentry. The shop has an attic space where tools and supplies are stored, but we can live there as well.” Donny sighed as he stroked Eli’s hair as Vance did Auly’s. “Hugh wanted us to take Auly. If Auly came with us, Doc Evan said he’d move in with Hugh and Sonja. Although he’s respected as a medical man by most in town, he’s uncomfortable with Brad and if there’s no-one there to call on as friends…” Donny let the sentence go unfinished. He didn’t have to spell it out.

“But where would Auly live?” Vance asked wanting to fully understand.

“We thought we could partition off the attic to storage and sleeping spaces. We could divide the sleeping spaces with blankets. Auly would sleep with Eli and me. We wouldn’t have him sleep alone. But if he now has you, then at least we don’t have to worry about him. Once the business is established, we’ll be able to rent rooms away from the workshop.” Donny smiled confidently. “It’ll work out, Vance,” he said. “The important thing for us is that we had our prayers answered. This will be a great Christmas, even if it will be the last we all spend together. You’re the answer to our prayers, Vance. Auly will finally have the love and companionship he deserves and he’ll be away from Brad.”

“It’s not the first time I have heard myself described as the answer to a prayer,” Vance said wonderingly.

“You’re Hugh and Sonja’s as well as those of us who love Auly,” Donny smiled. “Although they will be sad to lose Auly, like Doc Evan and David, they want Auly where he will be loved and safe.”

“Perhaps there is a way to prevent that,” said Vance quietly. “Perhaps there’s a way I can truly be the answer to your prayers and deserve the accolade. But I would need to go to town to send a telegraph.”

“I will meet you, Vance, if you can be in town by 11.00.”

Despite Hugh, Sonja and Vance’s reservations, Auly insisted on accompanying Vance to town. He wanted the opportunity to see his friends for what could be one of the last times. Vance swore to protect his young love and despite his fears regarding Brad finally agreed to have Auly ride with him. As agreed, Donny met them, but was unable to stay having already taken time off work the previous day. Donny had told Auly’s friends of the young man’s intention to visit and Auly was delighted to find everyone was looking forward to seeing him.

After sending his telegram, Vance walked Auly to Miriam’s house. From there it was the intention to go to Doc Evan and then to the Smithy. Vance swelled with pride at the reception Auly received and the effusive thanks for him as Auly’s partner from the attractive blond woman. Miriam accompanied them as they set out towards the home of Doc Evan. However, as they crossed behind the backs of some homes, Brad and a friend appeared ahead of them and as they turned to look behind, there were a couple of others to cut off their retreat.

“Nice to see you again, Pretty Auly,” Brad taunted. “I always knew you’d come back so we could finish what we started.”

“You will keep your unclean hands off Auly,” Vance’s voice was authoritative, but only elicited laughter from the young bully.

“You think you’re man enough to protect them both?” Brad asked. “If you leave now with Miriam, neither of you will be hurt. All I want is Pretty Auly. You hear me, Auly? You come to me and Miriam and your…friend won’t be hurt.”

“Vance,” Auly said brokenly. “I can’t see you and Miriam hurt. I won’t. Take her while you can. Brad will be satisfied with me.”

“Auly, I’m not leaving you,” Vance said. “I love you. Do you have any idea of what pain you would suffer at Brad’s hands? Do you think I could live with myself knowing I’d let you sacrifice yourself to him and his base desires? I would die first, Auly.”

“I have no intention of running,” Miriam said decisively. “Do you think Brad would get away with hurting me, Auly?” she asked. “You’re forgetting about Sam. Brad is playing on the knowledge you would do anything to protect your friends. Well, I’ll do anything to protect you.” She picked up a stout piece of wood and stood protectively in front of Auly. “If you touch me, Brad, Sam will show you his expertise in gelding.”

Brad frowned. He had expected Miriam to be afraid and the blond stranger to be more protective of the woman, not of the beautiful man he stood alongside unmoving like a sentinel.

“You’re not alone, Auly,” Vance said grimly. “Any danger you face, it will be with me at your side from now on.”

“Oh, Vance,” Auly breathed. “I love you and I don’t want you hurt.”

“I love you, Angel and I will never stand aside to allow you to be hurt.”

The three friends moved to stand with their backs together as Brad and his men advanced slowly. “Be brave, Auly,” Vance murmured flexing his muscles and hoping that all the residual weakness from his injury was now gone.

“If you touch any of my friends, Brad, no power on this earth, much less your good for nothing uncle, will stop me unmanning you and hanging them as a trophy over my Smithy door.”

The voice was booming and had Brad whirling round in shock. Behind him stood Sam the blacksmith with three of his sons, all armed with tools from the Smithy.

“And if Sam doesn’t then I will,” came a more cultured accent and turning Vance saw a tall, white-haired man with Eli and Donny at his side.

As with all bullies when odds were against them, Brad backed down. He and his friends left, Brad shooting venomous glances at Vance and Auly’s protectors and lascivious ones at Auly. Vance could only give a silent prayer of thanks for Auly’s friends having protected his beautiful boy once again as they had done in the past.

“We got a shout from Ben that he’d seen Brad and his friends talking about finding Auly as he was in town. We thought we’d best find you first,” said Sam embracing Auly till the slender young man squeaked. Sam was about the same height as Vance with lighter short blond hair and green eyes. His work in the Smithy had given him powerful arms and a barrel chest that tapered to a slim waist. There was also powerful musculature in the Smith’s thighs making the man a force not to be reckoned with, for which Vance was again grateful.

“Thank you,” he said extending his hand. It was taken in a strong grip and the Smith smiled benevolently at him.

“So you’re Vance,” he boomed. “Eli and Donny came singing your praises. Looks to me like they were right in their appraisal.” His arm had gone around Miriam.

“While everyone is here,” Vance said, his arm protectively encircling Auly. “I have asked my sister to come here in five days’ time. When she does, I am hopeful she will bring some good news for us all. It will be close to Christmas and I realise it is asking much of you all at short notice, but I would really like you all to come to Auly’s home.” He turned to look at Doc Evan. “I would like for David to be present, if he is able.”

“I will see if I can negotiate time for him,” the older man said nodding as though happy with what he saw in Vance’s eyes.

Vance was pleased that all of Auly’s friends had managed to come. Sam and Miriam sat with Sam’s four sons, Eli and Donny sat together as did Doc Evan and David. Vance smiled as he looked at the medical man and his partner. Doc Evan’s white hair aged him somewhat prematurely, he was around Hugh and Sonja’s age, but appeared older. David was a slight young man, a few years older than Auly. He had short, straight blond hair and intelligent blue eyes. Karl, the Baum’s handyman was present and had brought his fiancée Olivia. After closeting himself away with them privately for several minutes, Vance proudly introduced his sister Liz and her husband William. Once the introductions were completed, Hugh and Sonja ensured everyone enjoyed the shared meal.

As the last of the plates were cleared away, Vance stood to make an announcement.

“More than once during my stay here I have been called the answer to a prayer. I would like everyone to know that as far as I am concerned, it is my prayer that has been answered and those of my sister.” Vance smiled as he gently pulled Auly to stand at his side. “I once told your father that if I could I would ask for your hand, Auly,” Vance said. “I don’t need the words of a minister or a piece of paper to commit me to what I already feel for you in my heart and soul. All I need is to hear from you that you would be as willing to bind yourself to me as I am to you in the presence of our families and friends.”

Vance dropped to one knee, taking Auly’s hand in his. “Will you so bind yourself?” he asked huskily.

For a second or two, there was perfect silence as Auly’s eyes widened as he understood Vance’s words, then the house filled with cries of joy at Auly’s response:

“Yes, Vance. Yes, yes, yes.”

With a shout of his own joy, Vance flowed to his feet, lifting his slender love into his arms and swinging the young man around as tears of joy spilt unheeded down the sculptured cheeks. Setting Auly down, Vance reached into his pocket and withdrew two wedding rings. The room again went silent as they watched the two men.

“This was my father’s ring, Auly,” Vance said placing the bigger ring in Auly’s outstretched palm. He extended his left hand towards his lover. “I would wear it as the symbol of my commitment to you.”

Auly’s hand shook as he reached to slide the ring home onto Vance’s finger.

“This was my mother’s ring,” he said of the smaller slipping it onto Auly’s finger, delighted to find it was a perfect fit. “Forever, Auly,” he said drawing the younger man towards him.

“Forever,” Auly vowed as he looked joyously at his adorned finger.

Vance then turned to address the people who meant so much to Auly.

“Donny has told me about the changes and moves many people here are about to make. I hope my sister and I can help in that respect.” Vance stood by Sonja and Hugh, Doc Evan and David. “I have a three bed-roomed town house that I would like for you share. I would not expect my parents-in-law to pay rent,” he smiled at Hugh and Sonja. He turned to Doc Evan and David. “I think you will find I am a very reasonable landlord. A colleague of mine is looking for a partner in his medical practice,” he added. “And I would be pleased to recommend you.” He left the two shocked couples to mull over his words. He turned to Sam and Miriam. “My sister has a similar property she would be pleased for you to have, Sam.”

“It is close to where I live and I would love to have a friend close by,” Miriam added smiling at the stunned family.

“Finally, on a whim I had bought a large property that was being run as a guest house just before I set out on my recent adventure. It needs attention, but is structurally sound. It would easily bed six. Given it needs work I could hardly expect those living in it to renovate it and pay me for the privilege.” He looked meaningfully at Donny and Eli. Donny looked stunned, but Eli’s smile rivalled that of Auly. “However, I did think that Liz and I could perhaps have a fifteen percent interest in the metal and carpentry business that I know will be a great success.” He turned to lock gazes with Sam, who was smiling gently and nodding slowly as Miriam clutched excitedly at his arm. “I realise I have rather shocked you all, but I hope you will accept my offers. It would mean so much to Auly to have his friends and family close to him.” He winked at Auly and patted the pert rear.

Auly instantly went into action, Vance’s amazing offer only temporarily robbing the young man of his normal exuberance. Auly’s pleas and pleading gaze were an irresistible force as Vance had predicted. He moved from person to person, hugging kissing and expressing his joy. No-one could find a reason to refuse Vance and Liz’s generosity and, as it allowed them to remain together safely, no-one was of a mind to try.

“I won’t lose my family,” Auly beamed at the group. His smile became incandescent as he faced Vance. “You are truly the answer to my prayers,” he whispered to his ‘husband’.

“As you are mine, Angel,” Vance whispered back as he pulled his love in for a kiss.

Once the celebrations ended, three tired but happy couples retired to their beds as other guests returned to town. Vance finished folding his clothes and turned to Auly. He gasped at the image before him. Auly lay naked, his legs spread open and his arms extended in invitation.

“Tonight is my wedding night, Vance,” Auly said, his voice low and husky. “I would have you consummate our marriage. Make love with me, Vance. I would have you inside me this night.”

“Auly,” Vance groaned. He had been making love to Auly every night with hands and mouth and the younger man was diligent in his learning how to reciprocate. However, the thought of entering the virgin channel had Vance’s manhood standing rigidly to attention and silently screaming its approval. “Are you certain, Angel?” Vance asked as he lay next to the captivating vision.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything, Vance,” Auly said, then blushed. “Except of my love for you,” he added smiling. He moaned softly as Vance mated their mouths in a deep kiss. Breaking apart, Vance reached to where he had placed a jar of salve he had hoped to be able to use before he and Auly left the homestead. He opened the jar, allowing the younger man to examine the contents.

“To help ease the way, Angel,” Vance smiled.

Auly nodded. Vance had explained the mechanics and Auly now wanted to experience the reality.

“Vance, when we…when you…I have to see you,” Auly said breathlessly.

“Angel,” Vance said slowly. “It may hurt more…”

“Please, Vance,” Auly begged, tears shimmering in his eyes.

“Then that is what you will have,” Vance conceded, unable to resist the tone or the tears. “Just promise me that if it becomes too much for you at any time you will tell me.”

“I promise,” Auly said smiling.

Vance directed Auly to lie on his left side and to draw up his right leg towards his chest. Auly felt exposed and vulnerable as the colder air played around his most intimate opening.

“Relax, love,” Vance crooned into his ear. “It’s just me.” Vance allowed his finger to trace around Auly’s entrance, becoming acquainted with the tightly furled rosette. He began to suck slowly at Auly’s shoulder as he eased his finger into Auly’s virgin channel. He thrilled at the moan the action elicited from the smaller man and then began to move the single digit in…out…in…out. Auly’s channel clasped tightly around his finger and Vance groaned at the thought of that tightness caressing more intimate flesh. Vance worked his left arm under Auly’s trim waist to be able to gently fondle Auly’s soft sac as he inserted a second finger. This time he moved his finger to work in the salve and then scissored his fingers to stretch the slender young man. Vance could hear Auly’s panting as was pleased the young man was enjoying the new sensations.

Auly groaned as a third finger crowded into his tiny passage. The burning and fullness were becoming uncomfortable. However, even as this registered in the young man’s brain, Vance’s knowing fingers found a spot within Auly’s body that had him crying aloud his pleasure and pushing back on Vance’s fingers.

“More please, Vance,” Auly moaned as Vance’s hand slid to encircle his flesh, pumping it to full arousal. Auly pushed back onto Vance’s fingers and pushed forward into the tunnel of Vance’s hand. “Please, Vance,” Auly panted.

Vance knew there was little more he could do to prepare his lover. He directed Auly onto his back, placing a pillow under slender hips. The sight of the stretched and glistening portal had Vance growling impatiently to bury himself in the enticing body.

“Are you ready, Angel,” Vance asked as he draped long slim limbs over his shoulders and lined his slave-slicked flesh at Auly’s entrance.

“Love me, Vance,” Auly pleaded.

“Always, Auly,” Vance promised.

He pressed forward and met resistance. “Breathe and relax,” Auly he encouraged. “I’ll never be inside if remain so tense.” He heard and felt Auly take a deep breath in and as his lover did, Vance pressed forward again. This time the head of his sex breached the guardian muscle. Vance saw the tear slide down Auly’s face and knew that the pressure would be painful for his young love. “Breathe and relax, Auly,” he ground out. The tightness of Auly’s channel around his own flesh was such as to be painful to the experienced man. Slowly the tightness eased as Auly obeyed Vance’s commands and inch by inch, Vance’s flesh possessed Auly’s till he was buried fully. He could feel his sac rubbing erotically against Auly’s.

“Let me show you Heaven, Angel,” Vance husked. His arousal was surrounded by tight velvet walls that pulsed around him as Auly and he moved.

Auly smiled as the discomfort from the burning and fullness slowly dissipated leaving a delicious tingle. Vance’s long thick flesh rubbed insistently against the jewel in Auly’s depths adding another layer of pleasure for the slender man. Tendrils of pleasure began to radiate from Auly’s groin and Auly’s thrashed and writhed with the building heat. Auly mewled his pleasure as Vance’s thrusts became harder and faster and he cried aloud as a knowledgeable hand encircled his own hard flesh to stroke it in time with the pounding into his body. Auly knew he was in Heaven. He raced towards his release, his hips pushing up to meet Vance’s thrusts. Lights danced before Auly’s eyes, the sweet pleasure almost unbearable as his body thrummed on the edge of release. As his climax seared his body Auly screamed Vance’s name, uncaring of who might hear. His seed shot over Vance’s hands and adorned their joined bodies. He felt his channel contract around Vance’s hardness and Vance’s thrusts becoming erratic.