Love and Human Remains

Title: Sweet Dreams 

Author/pseudonym: Tinnean 

Fandom: Love and Human Remains 

Pairing: David McMillan/Kane 

Rating: NC-17 

Disclaimer: They belong to Brad Fraser. I’m just borrowing them, honest! However, Guy and Mike are mine, as well as some minor characters: Angelina, Nino, and the **extremely** minor Harold!! 

Status: new/complete 

Date: 3/00 

Series/Sequel: This is the second part of the Poor Little Rich Boy series. 

Summary: David and Kane plan to live together, but as with all brand new relationships, there are issues that need to be ironed out. 

Warnings: m/m, language, AU, death of a minor character 

Sweet Dreams

Part 1

David was having the most amazing dream. Eager fingers were tackling his belt and zipper. His trousers were eased over his hips, and with his briefs, dragged down his legs. Warm lips scattered kisses like soft summer rain on the skin of his lower abdomen. 

A groan escaped him and he reached with restless hands to find the mouth that tantalized him by approaching the fount of his desire and then darting away again, leaving him unfulfilled. 

A feather-light sensation teased his skin, and his fingers wrapped in the hair that spilled onto his thighs, pulling that taunting mouth to his hard, yearning flesh. Willing lips engulfed his quivering arousal, teeth lightly scoring his erection, which became harder with each lick and suck and nip of that wicked mouth. For an endless time he hung suspended on the razor's edge of passion. Then he felt himself starting the long tumble down. 

"Kane!" he cried out. 

The mouth drew back from his trembling body and he moaned in distress. 

A voice asked softly, "Are you thinking of me?" 

"Yes! Kane!" 

"Then come, David! Come for me! Let me swallow your passion!" 

And the mouth returned to its ministrations, driving his need to maddening heights. 

All at once David felt an inquisitive finger seeking entrance to his body, pushing at the opening, exploring his heat, and he erupted in a frenzy of completion. Lips and teeth and tongue continued pleasuring him long after his flesh had relaxed to quiescence, and his breath ceased shuddering in and out. 

Lazily opening his eyes, he watched as Kane kissed his way up his body, winding his arms around his neck and nestling his head against David's chest. 

David encircled his young lover, cuddling him close. "Is this how you plan to wake me up everyday?" he asked. 

Kane leaned back and met David's eyes, bright with laughter, then deliberately licked his lips.  "I love you so much, David. Whatever you want, take: I give myself to you willingly, all of me: my mouth, my cock, my ass. Whatever you want," he repeated, "however you want to use them!" 

This sounded suspiciously like 'for as long as we both shall live' and worried David. Kane was so much younger than he. What would he do it Kane found someone he loved better? 

"Baby...." 

Kane interrupted him with a fierce, hot kiss, licking and biting at David's mouth. "No! I'm yours and will be forever! When you leave me, I'll go on, but I'll never take another lover for the rest of my life!" 

David felt something relax within him. "'When'? What you mean,  'when', white boy? If you're mine, then I'm yours as well, and I’ll *never* let you leave me!" 

He found Kane's lips and caressed them until they opened, then plunged into his mouth, teasing his young lover's tongue with his own. Driving Kane's own passion savagely, David's hand stroked down his body, and began fondling his arousal, which had not been assuaged when he had brought his lover such satisfaction. 

"I want to fuck you Kane!" he whispered hotly into his ear. "I want to slide into you and watch your face as I take you as high as you can go, and then take you higher still. I want to spill myself inside you! Oh God! I'd make you pregnant if I could!" 

All the while he had been talking, he had been preparing their bodies, rolling a condom on himself and lubricating Kane's sweet opening. Pushing Kane's legs back against his chest, he separated his buttocks and positioned himself for entry. Kane was panting with excitement, fine tremors rippling through his body. 

"Fuck me, David! Fuck me hard and fast! I'm so empty and I need you to fill me up!" 

Sliding easily into his young lover's body, David angled himself to give maximum contact to Kane's own rampant erection. Deep, intense strokes let him pleasure Kane as fully as he desired. He fought his incipient climax down, intent on bringing the younger man to such a level of excitation that he would never consider taking another lover. 

Kane's whimpers became moans. He tried to push himself harder against the flesh intruding into his body, but David held him still for the loving assault he inflicted on him. "Do you like how I ride you, baby?" he whispered in his ear. "Do you like how I feel inside you? Just think about me coming deep in that sweet ass of yours!" 

David's mouth crushed Kane's, swallowing the cry that signaled his lover's climax His own body was drawn into an explosion that left him trembling and sweating in the younger man's embrace. 

"I'll never leave you! *Never*!" 

But never, they found, has a nasty habit of showing up when it was least expected. 

####

Part 2 

David pressed soft, butterfly kisses to Kane's cheek and jaw as he eased himself out of his lover's body, now relaxed in a boneless sprawl. One last kiss, and he rolled over to remove the condom and set himself and his young lover to rights. 

Kane started out of the light doze he had fallen into when he heard his lover swear. 

"Shit a goddamn!" 

"What is it, honey man?" he asked lazily, not even bothering to sit up. 

"The goddamned condom! It fucking broke!" David was beside himself. Although he had been promiscuous to a fault, he had done his best to avoid sex acts that would put him at risk. He, as he had told his roommate Candy, took it in the face. Not only was he secure with that act, but he enjoyed it and was less likely to develop something nasty from it. 

Kane sat up abruptly, suddenly wide-awake. "What?" 

David felt awful. "I'm sorry, baby. The condom broke!" 

"It broke?" his young lover repeated. A deep flush mounted his cheeks. "You mean, you actually came inside me?" 

"Oh, baby, I swear it won't happen again! Next time I'll use two condoms. Or three! Just trust me to keep you safe!" 

A low growl came from Kane's lips. He had grown impossibly hot and hard in a matter of seconds. The thought of David pouring himself into his body was so exciting, he felt as if another orgasm was imminent. Kane hurled himself at a stunned David, covering his face with wild, frenzied kisses. 

Before David could catch his breath and act on his lover's rising passion, a quiet knock sounded on the door. Scarcely giving them time to duck beneath the comforter, Benita poked her head around the door. "Are you decent, gentlemen?" Droll eyes watched as Kane huddled under the covers. "Sorry to disturb you, but you have a phone call, David." She left the door ajar but gave them the privacy to cover up if they chose. 

David scrambled into his trousers, not bothering with his briefs, and hurried into the other room. Benita was looking worried. 

"It's Candy," she whispered. "I would have tried to put her off, but she sounded desperate." 

David gave her a conflicted look. "I told her last night that I would be moving out soon. She didn't take it too badly." 

A wry smile twisted Benita's mouth. "Men never think women take things too badly!"  she remarked. 

David looked distracted, then turned to pick up the phone. "What is it Candy?" he asked shortly. 

"David, there's a message on the machine for you. From Sal," she added significantly. 

"Who?" he asked stupidly. 

"You remember Sal, don't you?" she replied snidely. "Your last lover?" 

David felt as if his insides had turned to water, and he sat down heavily. "I remember," he said numbly. "What does he want?" 

"I think you'd better come home and listen to this in person. And David, don't bring Kane with you.  I don't think you want him to hear this." 

David's grip on the receiver left his knuckles white. Benita touched his hand gently, then removed the phone and hung it up. She embraced David, seeking to offer what comfort she could. Whatever his roommate had to tell him, Benita knew it would not be good. 

Kane stood in the doorway of Benita's spare bedroom, watching the two friends. Although he still was not quite comfortable with the dominatrix, he had no fear that she would try to take David away from him. Unlike Candy, who had actually had a physical relationship with his lover. And he had heard enough to know that Candy was somehow involved. 

"David," he said quietly, bringing to their attention that he was in the room. "What's wrong?" 

With an effort, David pulled himself together. "Nothing's wrong, baby. Candy’s having some problems with the super. I'll just run over there and get him sorted out. He's always had a letch for her, and he's putting the moves on her again." He was babbling; always keep your lies simple. 

Brushing past the younger man, he went back into the bedroom and gathered up his clothes. "I'll just catch a quick shower and see what I can do. I'll be back before you even know I'm gone." He disappeared into the bathroom. 

"'Before you're gone'?" Kane repeated. "You're not taking me with you?" 

"Uhhh, no Kane, not this time. It might get ugly," he didn't want to think how ugly it might get. Why in the world would Sal get in touch with him now? They had broken up months ago. 

Kane cast a concerned look at Benita, but she just shrugged. She wasn't certain at this point what the problem was. But she knew that if David proceeded to shut his lover out, as it seemed he was inclined to do, he would have more trouble on his hands than whatever Candy was waiting to tell him. 

David came out of the bathroom, combing back his wet hair. "I'll be back as soon as I can, baby." He tried to embrace him, but his lover stepped sulkily out of his way. Raising his hand toward him helplessly, David searched for words to reassure the younger man, but could get nothing past the dryness in his mouth. 

Placing a swift kiss at the corner of his mouth, David cast Benita a worried glance and hurried out of her apartment. 

Kane fisted his mouth, trying to stifle a sob. "I'm a bad person, aren't I?" he demanded. "He needs me to be strong for him, but I let him go to face that woman without even letting him know that I'll still be here when he gets back!" 

"Will you be here, Kane?" she asked quietly, knowing the answer, but wanting him to voice it aloud. 

"Yes, I'll be here!" he cried. "Where else would I be? He's mine and I love him!" 

Benita held him and rocked him as he sobbed out his despair in her arms. 

"Then we'll wait for his return together. Come on, " she lead him to the breakfast nook. "You never did get anything to eat." 

Wiping his nose, he gave her a rueful smile. "Ummm, as a matter of fact..."

####

Part 3

David hurried to the apartment he shared with the woman who had once been his lover. His emotions splintered, he could not seem to settle on a single thought. Whenever he tried to consider why Sal would get in touch with him after all this time, his thoughts would shy away, bouncing back to the young man he had left at Benita's. The nagging possibility that Kane might not be there when he got back had him sweating in terror. 

So he was not in the best of moods by the time he got home. Too impatient to wait for the elevator, he bounded up the stairs, pausing on the landing where Kane had made such sweet love to his mouth. Again the very real likelihood that he had pushed away too hard when he should have been holding on with both hands, haunted him. 

Slamming the door shut behind him, he shouted, "Candy, get your ass over here and tell me what the fuck was so important that you had to track me down at Benita's?" 

Candy came out of the kitchen, wrapped in the white terry cloth bathrobe that was her comfort food, her blue blanket, her wooby. Her face was ashen and she looked devastated. Her bare feet padded noiselessly over the hardwood floor. For a long moment she stood before David, searching his eyes. Then her arms went around him to embrace him fiercely. 

"David, don't be angry with me. It really is very serious. I didn't call you to cause problems. Well, not consciously," she admitted. Taking his hand, she led him to the answering machine and pressed the play button. 

Sal's voice filled the room. "I know you probably won't answer this call...I've been having trouble with my sinuses...I have the virus." 

David staggered back, desperately seeking a chair before he collapsed. "I have the virus! I have the virus!" The phrase reverberated around in his brain, shutting out the rest of Sal's message. 

A green tinge colored his skin. "I've been exposed?" 

Candy went to hold him again. "David, I'm so sorry!" 

Turning eyes that were blind in their distress, he whispered, "I've exposed Kane! Oh my God, I've as good as signed his death warrant!" 

*CRACK* Candy's hand slapped him so hard his head rocked back. 

"You stupid fool! You stupid, fucking bastard! Did you hear the rest of what Sal said? It's just the virus, not the disease, not yet! And what you two did was low-risk! You did not hurt Kane!" 

David watched her with misery in his eyes as she stormed back and forth in front of him. 

"Do you understand what I'm telling you, David? I'd break you and Kane up in a New York City minute, if I thought I could, but I won't allow you to destroy the best thing that's happened to you in all the time I've known you!" 

"You don't understand," David said, his lips numb with shock. "The condom I was using broke! I've placed someone I love in very real danger!" 

"David, when was the last time you had sex the normal way?" 

"Huh? You mean with you?" 

"No, damn it! I mean with another guy!" 

"You know I take...took it in the face." 

"David, are you deliberately being difficult? Are you going to make me spell it out for you?" She huffed in aggravation. "Okay, fine! When was the last time you took it up the ass? There, I've said it! Are you happy now?" 

Reluctantly, David smiled. "Not in a long time, before the other night. Not in almost ten years." 

"All right, you've been going for regular check-ups, I know you don't hate yourself enough not to. If you're that worried, get a blood test. And make Kane get one too!" 

"He doesn't need one, "David countered defensively. "He had never been with a guy before." 

"Yeah, that's what he told you," she couldn't resist cattily. "I'm sorry, David, I'll try to be happy for you, but to see you actually settling with someone else is killing me. What I meant was that this way you'll know you're both clean, that you haven't passed anything on to him. 

"Now promise me you'll talk to Sal. And get the hell out of here! I have to get dressed for work!" 

Candy kissed his cheek softly and gave him a push toward the door. If she couldn't have David, she would just have to find someone else. 

That guy down at the deli, near work, perhaps? The one with the hot eyes and lush mouth? The one who, if she was kissing him with her eyes closed, could maybe pass for David? 

####

Part 4

Kane was lifting a cup of coffee to his lips when David burst into Benita's apartment. Tormented eyes met Kane's and the younger man gripped the cup so tightly his fingers spasmed. This is not good, he told himself. 

Benita stood behind Kane, her hands on his shoulders. The colors of David's aura had taken on a muddy shade, and she was deeply worried about him. 

David slumped into the chair next to Kane's and scrubbed his unshaven face with hands that trembled. His mouth firmed, trying to keep a stiff upper lip. 

"It's Sal," he told them. "I used to....see him occasionally. He left a message on my machine. He's been having sinus trouble lately, so he saw a doctor.” Against his will, his eyes welled up and a single tear escaped to roll down his cheek. 

Mesmerized, Kane followed its path and reached out a shaking finger to catch it. His heart beat painfully in his chest, and he found it almost impossible to breathe. "David?" he whispered. 

"He's got the virus! I...I've got to go for the blood test. And Kane, baby, I'm so sorry, you're going to need one too!" 

Kane was out of his seat like a shot, kneeling at David's feet, his arms strong around him. "We're going together, David! Don't you dare give me any grief over this! You belong to me as much as I belong to you, and I will not let you push me away!” 

Convulsively, David hugged his young lover. "Benita warned me about this! She said that someone I loved would be in danger because of me!" 

Kane looked at Benita, accusation written in his glare, and Benita's face flushed with anger. "You're twisting my words, David!" she retorted. "I didn't say it was because of you, you hardheaded cynic! The danger I saw, the danger I still see is not related to your health, so don't you dare try to use it to back out of your relationship with Kane!" 

David shook his head. "I'm no good for him. I'm damaged! I wind up hurting everyone I love! He'll be better off without me!" 

"You bastard!" Kane spat. "You just don't want me anymore, admit it! Do you think I don't know there's something wrong with me? My own parents couldn't love me! I don't know what made me think you would!" He leaned his head against David's chest and began to cry silently. "I don't know why I thought you could," he repeated brokenly. 

"I'd like to seriously hurt your parents, Kane. There is nothing wrong with you. The problem is...was with them. They were given the opportunity to love the sweetest kid in the world, and they blew it They were so busy with their own meaningless pursuits that they didn't realize the prize they had in their possession!" 

Dawning wonder filled David at his own words. He, too, had been given this gift. And apparently Kane loved him enough to stay with him through the stress of testing for the deadly virus. Was he that much of a self-destructive jerk that he would toss a love like that away? 

He thought back to all the conversations he had had with Kane, and try as he might, although he knew he had insinuated it, alluded to it, danced around it, he could only remember telling the younger man that he loved him once. And as much as Kane might want to believe it was true, he was not foolish enough to accept words spoken after a passionate interlude as anything but the usual mouthings of a satisfied male, never meant to be taken at face value. David took a deep breath and held it for a moment, preparing to take the plunge. 

"Kane? Baby," he tipped his chin up and kissed his lover's lush mouth, "I love you. Before God, and this woman, I love you. I've asked you before, but this time I want you to answer me before a witness: Will you live with me, love me, grow old with me?" 

Kane's chocolate brown eyes glowed with the intensity of his feelings. "You really do love me, David?" At the older man's nod, Kane went into his arms, his hands stroking his back until they reached his buttocks and cupped them in palms so hot David could feel them through his trousers. 

"Kane," he responded, "I really love you. Don't leave me in suspense!" 

And Kane sighed happily. "Then, yes, David, yes. I will live with you forever, and love you twice as long!"

#### 

Part 5

Benita had seen David and Kane off earlier and was now shopping for dinner. They planned to return to her apartment after seeing the doctor to get their blood drawn and then stopping at Kane’s so he could change. 

She was getting the edgy feeling that predicted disaster. Not sure where the distress was coming from, or who was the focal point, she purchased what she would need for a simple stir-fry meal. Hoping that once she was busy with its preparation she would be distracted, she hurried home. 

Once there, however, she found her level of anxiety rising even more and could not settle on the least complicated of tasks. Pacing restlessly through her rooms, the feeling that there was something she had to do grew more and more powerful. 

Although this was not a common manifestation of her abilities, it had happened enough for her to know that if she tried to fight it, or ignore it, her ‘sight’ would be burnt for weeks afterward. But if she surrendered to it, the end results tended to be worth the bother. 

Snatching up her shoulder bag, she headed out the door, with no clue as to where the pull might lead her. Her steps were directed to the vicinity of the cluster of exclusive shops that were a couple of blocks away, past a tiny art gallery, past a rare bookstore, past a lingerie boutique and a men’s shop… 

Ah, not past the men’s shop! She reversed her steps and opened the door, whose tinkling bells heralded her entrance. The salesclerk gave her a friendly smile, letting her know he was ready to assist whenever she had made her decisions. 

Confused as to why the ‘pull’ had taken her to this shop, she looked helplessly around for a long moment, then suddenly began making deliberate choices: shirts, slacks, jeans, socks. Her hands hovered over briefs, then withdrew: no, they would not be needed. 

Bringing her selections to the counter, she handed the clerk her credit card and waited while he neatly folded the clothes. “Choke a bird or kill a tree?” he inquired politely, startling a laugh from her for the first time since she had interrupted David and Kane earlier that morning. 

“Tough choice. How about we choke a bird this time?” referring to a plastic bag rather than a paper one for the clothes. 

What a nice guy, she thought as she turned to leave the shop. Most people judged her by the gauzy skirts and multi-colored headscarves she wore in public, dismissing her as a mental lightweight. And he had serious problems on his mind; she could tell by the color of his aura. 

Pausing at the door, she turned and smiled back at him. “You know what your decision must be. Don’t worry over it: it is the correct one!” 

He wouldn’t believe her, of course, but he would learn soon enough that he was doing the right thing. 

The high-stressed feeling was leaving her now, and she returned home at a leisurely pace, finally able to enjoy the crisp fall bite in the air. Thanksgiving was on the horizon; perhaps David and Kane would be willing to spend it with her. 

And perhaps…her newest client?

####

Part 6 

She was slicing celery when her intercom buzzed. "Yes?" she sang. 

"Benita, it's David." There was desperation in his voice. " Let us in!" 

Slamming her hand on the panel, she raced toward her door, flinging it open and waiting impatiently for the pair to make the trip up from the lobby. A small eternity later, the elevator deposited them on her floor and they staggered out into the hallway. 

David was supporting Kane, who could barely set one foot in front of the other. His eyes were swollen shut, the black and blue bruising around them standing out in base relief. Tears streamed down his face, his grief all the more poignant for being silent. 

"David?" 

A shake of his head was his only response. "Help me get him into bed!" 

Propping her shoulder under Kane's other arm, she helped maneuver him into the spare bedroom. Pulling off his jogging shoes, she watched as David tenderly dried his face and brushed his hair back from his forehead. 

Benita brought over the comforter and tucked it around Kane, then said, "I'll make some hot tea, shall I?" 

She wasn't sure if David heard her, but it was something for her to do until they were in any shape to tell her what had happened. Pausing at the door she glanced back, and saw David sitting on the bed, hunched over his young lover, his shoulders shaking as he fought to subdue his own sobs. 

When the water was hot enough, she filled three mugs, into two of which she then spooned generous amounts of honey. Her hand hesitated over the bottle of whiskey, but she decided to hold off on that unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Hurrying back to the spare room, she set the mugs down on a night table and aided David in getting Kane into a sitting position. The younger man seemed more composed now, but Benita was still worried about him.  While David kept his arm around his young lover Benita held the mug to his lips, taking care not to let him burn himself.           

Slowly his color returned to normal and he was able to hold the mug himself. Finishing with a noisy slurp, he smiled sheepishly at her. 

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I don't know why I fell apart like that. It's not as if I expect him to love me, or anything like that." A solitary tear clung to his lashes. "You'd think I'd know better after all these years. What did Mr. Scott say? 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me'. Oh, shame on me!" And he turned in David's embrace and sobbed out his despair in the older man's arm. 

"Kane," David spoke softly. "Baby, I'm here for you. Benita is here. We'll be your family now. And you know there will be someone who loves you as long as I'm alive!" 

Kane's tears finally tapered off and his breathing smoothed out as an exhausted sleep claimed him. David's hand lingered in Kane's hair and he leaned over and kissed his lips softly. "I love you baby," he repeated. 

Making sure he was snugly tucked in, David stood staring down at him, feeling as if his heart had been savaged by some predator. When he finally raised his eyes to Benita's, devastation looked out at her. Leaving the soft glow of a lamp to light the room so that should Kane awake it would not be to darkness, David followed Benita out of the room. 

"David!" she hissed at him. "What happened?" 

He took her wrist and let the images pour through to her. She jerked back, but he refused to release her. Frustration, rage and inundating grief flooded her. "Oh, no!" she moaned. "NO!" 

David dropped her hand and turned away. "I'm sorry, Nita. I just couldn't hold it all anymore! That bastard! That goddamned fucking bastard! If he wasn't my infant's parent, I swear I'd take a hit out on him!" 

Benita put her arms around David and rocked him, weeping herself. "Oh, David! Oh, David! How could he do that to his own son?" 

They held each other and mourned for a young man whose father was so uncaring that he would destroy all his only child's possessions, down to the tiniest memento of a childhood too quickly outgrown. 

A man who would bury his child's mother without informing the child. 

A man who would announce to a cold, unforgiving world that this child was a faggot. 

And no longer his child.

####

Part 7 

Benita mopped at her eyes and blew her nose, then passed the box of tissues to David, who did the same. 

"I'm sorry, Nita. I didn't mean to dump all of that onto you, but I'd be no good to my infant at all if I carried it all inside." His voice was grim. "I'd go find that bastard and rip off his head and..." 

She touched his sleeve in understanding. "Go stay with him. I'll finish dinner; he's going to need something when he wakes up. Oh, and David, there are some clothes for him on the dresser in there." 

He looked at her in amazement. "Benita, you're a wonder! You had a feeling?" 

She nodded. "But David, I didn't get him shorts." 

And David couldn't prevent the bubble of laughter that emerged. "Nita, he doesn't wear 'em!" 

Benita stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek lightly. "You try to pretend to be so tough and cynical, but you're a good man, David McMillan. And I think your 'infant' will be your salvation!" 

He looked after her as she went back to the kitchen, a tiny smile still on his face. Then he returned to the bedroom to watch over his young lover. 

David closed the door. He settled himself on the bed and gathered Kane against him. The younger man's arm went around his lover's neck, knowing his honey man even in his sleep. The fingers of his other hand loosened the buttons of David's shirt, and drowsy lips followed the trail those fingers blazed. 

"You're awake aren't you?" David asked. 

"Mmmm, almost. I'm sorry I fell apart like that. You'd think I'd know better after all this time: he doesn't love me; he has no use for me. If he could erase me from his life I think he would. Why do I let it bother me?" 

"Because, my sweet infant, you're a nice person. You can't believe that someone who should have devoted his life to taking care of you would have cut you off at the knees." 

Privately, David felt it was more than that. He had seen the way Kane's father had been studying him when all he had worn was a short robe that hinted of the delights hidden beneath it. The older man had suddenly discovered his son was a sexual being, and if David hadn't gotten Kane out of the house when he did, he had a strong feeling Kane’s father would have done serious physical damage to him. And David would have wound up taking him to the hospital for much more than a broken nose. 

The thought that he had come so close to losing Kane left him shuddering. 

"Are you cold, David?" Kane asked, feeling the shiver. "Let me warm you up, honey man." Wide awake now, Kane turned in David's arms and ran his parted lips over the tendon in his lover's throat, letting his tongue lap at the pulse beating strongly there. 

David set Kane away from him and stood up. "Hold that thought," he told him. Going to the door, he opened it a crack and called out to Benita, "We're going to be a little late for dinner!" 

"Mmmhmm," she answered, her mind on other things. "Have fun!" 

David turned back to see Kane watching him avidly, his tongue peeking between his lips. He had done that once before, when he was showing off to David how good he was at video games. Kane had no clue how that sight had turned David on to the point that if his friend Bernie hadn't shown up to cop a score, he would have lured Kane to the men's room and given him a demonstration of what happened when little boys played with fire. 

Shrugging out of his shirt, he threw himself on the bed, pulling Kane down flat by his ankle. Spreading the younger man's legs, David crawled forward, his gaze fastened on Kane's mouth. His hands paused at his lover's belt, undoing it and carefully parting the zipper, then drawing the slacks down over his narrow hips. 

Kane's arousal sprang free and he found himself desperate for air as David let his lips caress the rigid length, then probe the tip with his tongue. David repeated his actions, driving Kane wild. When his mouth finally enveloped Kane's erection, the younger man sighed in relief, until he discovered that the torment was only beginning.  

Over and over David let him feel his teeth, then scraped the hard flesh with his nails before soothing it with long swipes of his tongue. "David!" The word came out as a strangled gasp. "I'm going to come!" 

"Then come, baby. Don't be afraid to fall; I'm here to catch you!" 

And Kane's hips began jerking uncontrollably as he poured himself into his lover's mouth. 

He sank back onto the pillows, almost comatose, content to just drift in a twilight world. Then he felt his legs spread and pushed back as David made his way up his body. At some point he had sheathed himself in a condom and now he readied Kane's body for the ravishment he had planned. 

The finger he gently inserted into Kane brought his attention back to that part of his body. He moaned softly as it mimicked the lovemaking that was soon to come, and he proffered himself up willingly to his lover's expert handling. 

Biting his lips in an effort to contain his sighs of ecstasy, Kane started when he felt David's tongue lick over them and then insinuate itself into his mouth, inviting him to suck on it. 

Kane was so distracted by this that he didn't realize that David's fingers were parting his buttocks, preparing the way for a fuller invasion until his lover was already lodged deep inside him. 

David's lower body drove rhythmically into Kane's, the friction causing a delicious sensation, that of being exposed and protected at the same time, and at the mercy of the l magnificent male who was his lover. Helpless beneath the pounding of David's body into his, he also felt powerful. The moans and sighs David uttered were a litany of the pleasure he was receiving from his young lover's body. 

Harder and harder David thrust into him. 

Faster and faster he rode the younger man. 

The spiral of sensation coiled tighter, and tighter still until the only possible recourse was to unravel. With a hoarse cry, David felt himself come undone as he poured himself into Kane. 

Overwhelmed by such an intense orgasm, David's mouth opened over the spot where Kane's neck and shoulder joined and he bit down. 

Kane also had been about to fling himself off the mountaintop when he felt David's teeth sink into his flesh. Stunned by the wave of lust that overtook him at such an act, he whimpered and offered himself as a sacrifice to the man he loved. 

Sated, on the brink of slumber, David remained as he was, imbedded in Kane, his long body covering that of his young lover. Licking idly at the flesh beneath his mouth, the coppery taste of blood brought him out of his doze. Although the bite marks were noticeable, the wound itself was tiny, not much more than a scratch. But David felt like a monster. 

"Oh, Kane!" he groaned. "I've hurt you! I'm so sorry baby!" 

Kane stretched out his body, rubbing against his lover like a well-satisfied cat. "David," he said indolently, "bite me!"

####

Part 8

Like the young of any species, Kane slipped easily into sleep. David, still buried deep in his young lover's body, levered himself up and watched ruefully as Kane's lips parted, his broken nose forcing him to breathe through his mouth. 

For just a moment David permitted himself the luxury of lying full length upon his lover, placing a soft kiss beside the lush lips. "I love you, baby," he whispered, then withdrew from Kane and rose to his feet. Making his way to the adjacent bath, he disposed of the condom and soaked a washcloth with warm water, then wrung it out. 

Going back to the bed, he found that Kane had rolled onto his stomach. Gently parting his buttocks, David tenderly cared for the area he had so recently plundered. The firm young flanks called to him, and helpless to resist, David pressed fevered kisses to the taut flesh. 

“Mmmm!” Kane hummed, enjoying, even in his sleep, his lover's touch, and he angled himself to invite more. Powerless to deny the urge, David's teeth nipped sharply at the morsel before him. 

Before he was tempted to mount his lover again, David left the bed and hastily pulled on his trousers. After making sure that Kane was securely covered and would catch no chill, he joined Benita in the kitchen, where she was serving herself the vegetable stir-fry. 

"Kane's asleep again," David told her. 

“I put a plate for him in the microwave. Why don't you eat? I know you have something on your mind; do you want to talk about it now or wait until Kane wakes up?" 

David forked a bite of the tasty dish into his mouth. "It's going to take some time before we find a place to our liking. I have to go home for more clothes. I'd take Kane with me, but he's uncomfortable with Candy. And since his father is such an out-of-control son of a bitch, that leaves Kane with no place to stay." 

"Would you like him to stay here, David? It wouldn't be a bother to me, and if he works your shift, then he'll be out when my clients come over, so that won't cause a problem with them." 

"You really wouldn't mind, Nita?" 

She shook her head, amused that David would hesitate to ask for this, when he had asked her to do much harder things in the past. 

"No, it's fine with me. We can let Kane know when he wakes up." 

"You can let Kane know what?" the young man asked, in much the same position as that morning's confrontation, although this time dressed only in David’s shirt. 

Casually, David rose and retrieved his lover's plate. "Sit down and eat this, " he ordered. "Between the workout I've been giving you and the emotional upheaval in your life, you're going to fade away to nothing." 

A dull flush crept up Kane's cheeks and he cast a nervous glance at the psychic. 

"Nita knows everything that goes on here, Kane, she's my friend. There's no need to act coy in front of her." 

Kane's mouth dropped open. "Everything?" he squeaked. 

Benita put her arm around him and rubbed his shoulder. "No, *not* everything, Kane," she lied. She gave David a chiding look.  “Stop teasing him, David and tell him what you have in mind.” 

David sat Kane down in the chair next to his and pointedly handed him a fork. He refused to discuss anything until Kane had eaten a good potion of his dinner. When he was satisfied that the younger man would continue his meal without being coerced, David began outlining his plan. 

"I want you to stay here in Benita's apartment until we can find a place of our own. I'm going back home for just a little while to get more clothes. Nita bought some things for you," he remarked, having forgotten to tell Kane. "There shouldn't be a problem with anything fitting you. And make sure you let me know how much I owe you, Nita." 

Kane had never liked being talked over. It was too reminiscent of how his parents had treated him. So now his disposition was distinctly surly. "Why can't I go with you? And what do you mean, 'how much *you* owe her'? I can pay for my own clothes! You're not my sugar daddy!" 

David approached his young lover, his demeanor threatening. Thrusting his mouth close to Kane's ear he hissed softly, so Benita wouldn't hear, "Don't make me have to discipline you, little boy! You'll stay here because I ask you to. I just need to pack another bag; I'll be back before you can even miss me. 

"And we both know I'm not your sugar daddy!" 

Kane was trembling with a mixture of tension and desire. "No David." 

"So just what am I?" he demanded. 

Forgetting Benita was watching them with interest, Kane went into David's arms and nuzzled his neck. "You're my honey man!"

####

Part 9

David's nostrils flared as he rubbed his cheek against Kane's hair. His fingers encircled the younger man's wrist and he dragged him back to the bedroom. 

Fearing he really had angered his lover, Kane rolled panicked eyes toward Benita and was surprised to find her smiling wistfully at them. It's OK, she mouthed and she shooed him after David. The door slammed shut and a thud reverberated through the room as a body came heavily into contact with the wall. 

***** 

David had Kane pressed back against the wall, leaning fully against his body. "Oh, God! I can smell me on you!" He breathed in the scent that was driving him wild. He licked at the younger man's mouth, then fitted his lips to Kane's. His tongue swept past the barrier of lips and teeth and tangled with his lover's tongue, pushing for deeper intimacy. 

Finally, breathless, David rested his forehead against Kane's, laughing weakly. "You're making me insatiable!" 

Kane nibbled on David's throat. "Am I David? Really?" And he sighed happily. "Just don't think you can control me with sex, honey man!" 

David tugged affectionately on Kane's long brown hair. "So you're okay now with me going to get some things from home?" 

Reluctantly, Kane nodded. He really wasn't okay with the idea of David returning to the apartment he shared with his former lover, but he didn't want to expose his jealousy to the older man. 

"Do you wear a nose stocking, baby?" David removed the shirt that Kane wore and began putting it on himself. 

"Huh?" 

“Do you wear a nose stocking?" 

Confused, Kane shook his head. 

And David smiled. "You need a bath. When I get back," he promised, and he stole a brief kiss. 

**** 

Discreetly, Benita turned away from her spare room and began clearing off the table. A tiny sound whispered past her lips, not quite a moan. She had never had a relationship like that. She had never had a relationship, period, full stop. The abuse she had suffered at the hands of her father had led to a distrust of men that no one had yet been able to overcome. 

David was an exception. But then, she viewed David first as a friend, and second, as a *gay* friend. He was no threat to her emotional well-being. 

Unlike her newest client, who was beginning to make her generally uneasy. She found herself fantasizing about him, thinking of him at odd times during the day. Thinking of making love, something she *never* did. With him. With a moue of disgust, she pushed him from her mind and, pulling out her ledgers, prepared to pay some bills. 

She looked up with a smile as David came into the room. "Will you be long, David?" 

He shook his head. "I shouldn't be more that a couple of hours." 

Kane was standing close behind him, half-dressed. "That long?" As if realizing how desolate that sounded, he immediately backed off. "No, that's fine. You go ahead. Give Candy my best. She's a nice girl," he said in an aside to Benita. 

David shook his head in amusement and walked out the door. Kane stared forlornly after him. 

Benita went to him and put her arms around him to give him a fierce hug. "It will be all right, Kane. I have a feeling!" Sensing her words were making no impact, she took his hand and led him to the kitchen. "How does a hot fudge sundae grab you?" 

The pair worked at building a sundae that was an ice cream lover’s delight. Butter pecan crunch ice cream, chocolate sauce, chopped pecans, strawberries and mounds of whipped cream, topped by a cherry. It was so large that the two of them could share it. 

For a time silence reigned as they dug into the decadent dessert. Kane kept shooting surreptitious glances at the clock, fidgeting more and more. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he threw down his spoon and got to his feet. 

"It's been too long! It's been way too long! I'm going after him!" Hurrying back into the bedroom, he threw on the rest of his clothes and grabbed up his denim jacket. "I have to go get him, Benita!" 

She nodded her understanding, but he was already out the door. "Forty-five minutes," she murmured to herself, smiling sadly. "He held out for three quarters of an hour!"

####

Part 10

Kane no longer had the sporty black Porsche to zip around town in: his father had malevolently had the servants confiscate the keys. He had no recollection of the trip to Benita's apartment, but he had been aware of David's comforting presence the whole time. 

And it was just one more reason why he needed to rescue David in his turn. 

Having gone to David's apartment once before, when they were still dancing tentatively around their relationship, Kane was familiar with route there. Before he realized it, he was climbing the stairs to the lobby. 

It was only then that he acknowledged that he was not sure how David would react to the younger man's disobedience to his request to wait at Benita's. Kane's insides clenched as he considered the punishment David might see fit to meet out to him. He remembered the restrained power in David's hand when he had spanked him. 

Suppose he decided to spank him again? Kane's mouth went dry and he began to grow hard. To buy himself some additional time in order to concoct a plausible reason for showing up at David's door, Kane waited for the elevator. 

His mind a blank, he removed his finger from the button that held the door open and pushed the one marked '3'. The elevator slowly made it's way to David's floor while Kane's thoughts wrestled with one excuse after another, only to discard them all. 

The doors slid open. He stepped out, bumping into Candy and startling them both. Then, over her shoulder, Candy called, "David, it's the paperboy!" and waited to see what would happen. 

David came to the door, clad in snug briefs and a tee shirt, obviously interrupted in the act of getting dressed. He took in Kane's hurt look, and Candy's gleeful malice. Then he grabbed his lover's wrist and hauled him into the apartment. He slammed the door, leaving Candy deprived of the entertainment she had hoped for. 

"What are you doing here, Kane?" he demanded, stalking back into his bedroom to finish dressing. He carefully kept his back to Kane, not wanting his young lover to see how his body was reacting to the sight of him in that denim jacket, with his hair loose around his face. 

Slowly, Kane's dragging footsteps took him into the bedroom. "Are you very angry with me, David?" he asked in a small voice. 

"Angry? I'm fucking furious! What were you thinking of?" To prevent himself from throwing the younger man down on the bed and taking him with force, David resumed placing clothes in a suitcase he had borrowed from Candy. "Well?" he barked. 

Kane gulped. "I'm sorry, David. I just couldn't wait any longer. I'm not stupid, you know. I know Candy still loves you. And I know you still have feelings for her!" 

"So you think, what? That I'll go from fucking you to fucking her?" 

Kane winced at the savagery in those words. He edged closer to his lover and risked placing a hand on his arm. "David?" 

"Kane, if you value your safety, you won't touch me now!" 

Devastated, Kane began backing away, tears filling his chocolate brown eyes and slowly spilling over. He had done it again. Somehow, he had turned love into hate, or at best indifference. "What's wrong with me?" He didn't realize he had spoken aloud. 

David laughed shortly. "I never met anyone who was born after 1965 who wasn't incomplete! It has something to do with microwaves, I think. Kane...." He finally turned to face the younger man, but he was alone. 

Kane was gone.

####

Part 11

David bolted out of the bedroom, intent on finding his young lover and bringing him back. Fortunately, since he still had just his underwear on, he didn't have far to go. 

Having concluded that David, glad to see him gone, would not be coming after him, Kane stood listlessly waiting for the elevator. A hard hand gripped his shoulder and spun him around. 

"Don't you dare walk out on me when we're having an argument!" David hissed, and crowded the younger man back into his apartment. "I swear to God, Kane, you have no more notion of how to go on than a kitten! What am I going to do with you?" 

Kane's heart was in his eyes. "I don't know, David. What *are* you going to do with me?" 

Swearing, David took the shoulders of the denim jacket and pulled them backward, imprisoning Kane's arms. Forcing Kane's chin up, he held it in a brutal grip, bringing their mouths together so forcefully that the younger man moaned. 

Peeling the jacket off, David began methodically stripping his lover, herding him back into the bathroom. He reached into the shower stall, to twist the faucet viciously, loosing a torrent of water. Shoving Kane under the spray, he stepped in after him, disregarding the underwear he still had on, which became plastered to his aroused body. 

David pushed Kane up against the wall. He soaped him up thoroughly, then ripped his briefs in a desperate attempt to get free. In the throes of ravening desire, he was insensate to everything but the need to get inside his young lover. Covering himself with soap, he parted Kane's buttocks and began pushing his way in. 

Reaching around Kane's waist, David closed his fist around the younger man's erection, stroking it in a frenzy of passion, while his hips pounded against Kane's bottom. 

Kane trembled uncontrollably as David's handling drove him closer and closer to a mind-boggling climax. His breath shuddered from between lips parted in a bid to draw in more oxygen to his starved lungs. 

David's powerful thrusts moved Kane forward and he had to brace his arms against the wall of the shower. Then David leaned over him and sank his teeth into the soft skin at the side of his throat. With a wild moan, Kane began coming in David's hands. The feel of his lover pouring himself over him sent David over the edge, but not before he pulled out of Kane, spilling himself on the taut buttocks he loved so well. 

Kane turned in David's arms and embraced him, and the two propped each other up as the water cascaded over them, rinsing them clean. 

Turning his face up to the spray, David let it wash away the tears that formed with the thought of how close he had come to losing his lover. Again. 

Would he never learn? 

He shut the water then struggled to remove what was left of his underwear, with Kane virtuously helping him. They dried each other off, sometimes using the towels, sometimes sipping kisses. David toweled Kane's long, thick hair, then dropped the towel and ran his fingertips against his scalp. Kane was almost purring. 

Naked, they padded through the hall to David's bedroom, to find, to their surprise, that Candy had returned. 

And she was not alone.

####

Part 12

The two couples stood staring at each other for a split second. Then David moved to shield Kane from hostile eyes. As an actor, he was comfortable in his skin, but his young lover was still too new to the realities of gay life. That thought had him frowning; he did not want Kane to accept a casual, promiscuous lifestyle as an option. Kane was *his* lover, and he would share him with no one! 

Kane was so mortified to be caught without his trousers, especially by David's former lover, that he blushed to the roots of his hair. Grateful that David had placed himself between him and the other couple, he peeked around to watch what was going on. 

"I thought you were out for the evening, Candy," David said irritably. 

"I thought you would be gone by now, David!" she snapped back. 

"'Gone by now'?" the other man questioned. "Who are these...people, Candace?" 

Two pairs of eyes fastened on Candy, then found each other. "Candace?" they mouthed. 

Candy wasn't happy. She had run into this guy, someone she knew casually from work, up at a local night spot and hoped that by bringing him home he would scratch the itch that had been bothering her since she was observed the hotter than hot kisses David had plundered Kane's mouth with. 

It seemed that her choice wasn't one of the best. Not only did he appear to be a snob, but he was a homophobe as well. What a jerk! And wasn't that just about par for the course with her? Disgusted with her date, with her roommate and his lover, with herself and with life in general, she curled her lip at the only clothed male in the room. 

"I think you'd better go. It appears we need to have a family conference, and you're not part of this family!" Candy could be formidable when she chose, and he fell back before her determined stance. 

“You realize of course that I will tell everyone at work about this!" 

"Where have you been, Harold? They already know about my living arrangements. And no one, except you, it seems, cares that my roommate is gay!" 

Her former date drew himself up to his full, if average height and snorted condescendingly. "I don't need to go out with someone who lives with fags!" he sneered, then beat an ignominious retreat as David advanced on him menacingly, and the door slammed shut behind him. 

David sighed. "Kane, go get dressed. Candy, go make some coffee or get us a beer ...or something. We have to get this sorted out!" 

Kane sidled into David's bedroom and scrambled into whatever clothes he could find, since David had scattered his all over the apartment. David came in as he was cuffing the longer legs of a pair of the older man's pants. When he straightened from doing this, David swore and went to take him in his arms; Kane's face was paper white. 

"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry you had to hear that. I'd protect you from that kind of bullshit if I could, but you know yourself how cold this world can be." Rubbing his young lover's back, he rocked him slowly, trying to bring him some comfort. 

"I know, David. What bothered me is that he doesn't even know me, and he's ready to condemn me! He's so much like my father!" Kane leaned his head against David's chest and shuddered. "I'll be okay. Just...don't leave me. I can be strong with you, but without you, I'd have nothing to live for." 

David shuddered as the portent of Kane's words sank in. "Don't talk like that; don't you *ever* talk like that! If I ever hear you saying something so stupid ever again, I'll beat you until you don't grow anymore! I love you, and I'm here with you. And I have no intention of ever going away! 

“Now give me your mouth!" 

Kane sighed, and licked his lips before pressing soft butterfly kisses on David in obedience to his lover's order. Then, with a quiet groan, he brought his hand to the side of David’s face.  Kane's kisses grew heated and wild as he sought to absorb David into his very being. "I love you, David! I love you so much!" 

David wound the younger man's long brown hair in his fingers and tugged it gently back, forcing their eyes to meet. "But do you trust me, Kane? Somehow, I don't think so!" 

Kane shook his head in denial, but David smiled sadly. "Then why did you rush over here when I asked you to wait for me at Benita's?" 

"I trust you, David, I *do*! It's Candy I don't trust! She still wants you!" 

"And you don't think I'm strong enough to just say no to her?" David released the younger man and went to a dresser that still contained clothes he hadn't had time to pack. Dressing quickly, he stepped into a pair of loafers and gestured for Kane to precede him to the kitchen, where Candy awaited them with cold beers. 

David twisted off the cap of one and handed it to Kane. Then he did the same to his own and took a long swallow, the muscles in his throat rippling as he drank. Two pairs of fascinated eyes watched, but it was into Kane's chocolate brown eyes that David looked, unsmiling, his heart there for all to see. 

Candy choked as her beer went down the wrong way. That look was the absolute, final straw! Enough, she silently ordered herself. Tomorrow she would start looking for a new roommate, she would wish David well, and she would try not to call Kane the paperboy any more than she could help. 

If she could not have David as a lover, then she would keep him as a friend. 

And she would stop trying to find him in every man she dated.

####

Part 13 

David ran impatient fingers through his hair. He was tired of being torn between his old lover and his new. Putting down the half-finished beer with a snap, he headed back to his bedroom. 

"I'll be staying at Benita's until Kane and I can find a place of our own." 

David didn't see the look of pain that crossed Candy's face, but Kane did. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, prepared to be shrugged off. To his surprise, she went into his arms and hugged him. Pulling his ear down to her mouth, she said softly, "He's yours now. But if you ever hurt him, if you cause him even *one* moment of pain, I will track you down, cut off your balls and shove them down your throat!" 

Returning her embrace, he smiled in relief. "It's a deal Candy. And I want you to know you'll always be welcomed in our home. Just..." 

He paused and she looked at him inquiringly. 

"Just, please stop calling me the paperboy!" 

David returned to the kitchen in time to see Candy ruffle Kane’s long hair. "What, you're friends now?" 

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but we've agreed to tolerate each other." Taking a deep breath, Candy continued. "I'm sorry about what happened before, David. I really thought you'd be gone or I never would have brought that jerk back here!" 

"You keep selling yourself short, Candy. You deserve better than someone like that. Come see Benita, let her read you." 

"Yeah sure, like you've let her read you? No thanks, I'll muddle along and see what unfolds."  She saw that he carried the suitcase. "When will you be back for the rest of your stuff?" 

"I've got enough for a few days. We'll be apartment hunting, but I'll see you before the end of the week, okay?" 

"Sure, David, that will be fine. And if I hear of anything, I'll be sure to let you know. Umm, Kane, I only have a plastic bag you can put your stuff in. Although I can't figure out how your clothes wound up all over the place!" 

A wry grin kicked up the corner of David's mouth. "No, I'm sure you have a very good idea of how that came about! Get the bag, all right? Kane, go pick up your clothes!" Shaking his head in mock despair, David said to Candy in an aside, "He's very young!" 

"Cradle robber!" she mocked him, and placed a platonic kiss at the corner of his mouth. "Go away. I want to get some sleep. Some of us have work in the morning!" 

She watched as the two of them left her apartment. Before the elevator door slid shut to hide them from view, she saw David drop his bag and pull Kane into his arms. 

Sighing, she unconsciously echoed David's thought of less than a week ago: she needed to get laid. 

No, she realized suddenly, not *laid*: she needed more than having a simple biological need met. She needed to be love made to!

####

Part 14

David backed Kane up in the elevator until he had him flush against the wall. Slanting his mouth across his young lover's, the relief he felt manifested itself in voracious, open-mouthed kisses as his lower body caressed the arousal he could feel through their clothes. 

"Oh, baby, I have got to get a grip! I've made love to you more times in the last three days than I've made in years!" 

Nuzzling the skin under David's ear, Kane said softly, "Have you heard me complaining, honey man? If you wanted, I'd drop trou for you right here and now!" 

"Naughty monkey! Let's get home before I corrupt you any further!" Dragging him out of the elevator and into the night, he hailed a cab and they returned to Benita's apartment. 

**** 

Benita let them in. The scowl she wore took David aback. Normally of a serene disposition, she purposely detached herself from situations that might ruffle that composure. He had not seen her like this since they had first met, around the same time The Beavertons was going off the air. 

The street hooker and the tarnished actor had serendipitously found each other. Trying to deny his homosexuality, it had been the first time he had attempted to make love to a woman, and it had been a disastrous failure. But the compassion Benita had enveloped him with had soothed his aching soul, and she had become his first real friend. 

It was David who discovered her hidden talent for reciting urban legends while wielding a velvet cat-o-nine-tails or an elegant lady's riding crop, and dressed in wicked black leather. He had advanced her the money to get set up in this apartment and helped her find the clientele she preferred. 

She hadn’t revealed her ability to read auras for a year or so after that, fearing he would either mock her or have her committed. That he whole-heartedly believed her had cemented their relationship, forming them into the family they both desperately wanted but had been denied 

"Nita, what's wrong?" David held her protectively. A jerk of his head signaled Kane to enter and look around. The younger man was only too happy to be of assistance in anyway he could, and strode through the rooms. 

Benita shivered in David's arms. "What am I going to do, David?  He wants to sleep with me!" 

Kane reentered the living room, shoving ahead of him a man David had never seen at Benita's before. Approximately David's age, or perhaps a few years older, the casual clothes he wore fairly shouted 'wealth', and his bearing shouted 'very old wealth'! 

"You bastard!" David hissed. "You know the rules! Benita sleeps with *no one*! How dare you pressure her! Kane, throw his ass out of here!" 

Benita's client dug in his heels. "Wait a minute! I *never* said I wanted to sleep with her!" 

"What?" David began to look sheepish. He couldn't believe he would overreact to a situation like this. He had helped Benita out often enough to be able to hide his real feelings about her clients' choices of personal pleasure, even going so far as to dress up as the cowboy hero and allowing his boots to be licked. 

Wait a minute. Benita wasn't in her dominatrix role. She wasn't even dressed in black! "You have exactly two minutes to explain yourself, and then I kick you from here to next Sunday!" David snarled at him. 

Growing up in a wealthy family, the client was supremely confident in his ability to take care of himself. "I don't want to have sex with Benita," he explained. "I don't want to screw her, shag her or fuck her. I don't need her to tell me scary stories or whip me. 

"What I said was, I want to make love with her!"

####

Part 15                                      

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. 

"Perhaps introductions are in order," Benita's client suggested. “I'm Guy de Villiere." He gave it the French pronunciation. "I know you're David McMillan. Benita keeps your picture in her bedroom." 

"How did you know that?" two voices demanded of him. 

His lips curled into a mocking smile, although it was himself he mocked. "It's rather pathetic, don't you think? when a man is so smitten that he takes every opportunity offered to delve into the background of the object of his affections?" 

Benita gasped and turned in David's embrace, hiding the flush that burned in her cheeks. "David?" There were tears in her voice as she whispered, "He knows I was a whore!" 

"Kane!" 

The younger man snapped to attention, ready to assist in any manner his lover saw fit. 

"Take Benita into her bedroom. I'm going to damage this bastard's pretty face and then hurl him out on his ass!" 

"Why?" de Villiere asked curiously. "Because I was in her bedroom while she was in the bath?" 

"What exactly did you find out about Benita?" David asked cautiously. 

The other man ticked them off his fingers one by one. "She owns a black cat. She favors dangling earrings. She doesn't read much, although she has an extensive collection of urban legends. And you're her dearest friend." 

"What else?" 

The blue eyes became hooded. "What else is there to know?" 

Kane stepped close to align himself with David and Benita. "I know you," he said. "You're a de Villiere. They're worth even more than my father! You have the resources to dig into anyone's past!" 

"This is true," de Villiere said. "However, if I used that money to hurt someone I was interested in, I'd be a sad excuse for a human being, now wouldn't I? Benita means too much to me. I won't treat her in that manner! And just who might you be, little boy?" 

David looped his free arm around his young lover. "This is Kane..." 

It was a repeat of other times, other introductions. Fatalistically, Kane waited for the rest of it: '...my busboy.' 

Instead, he heard, "He’s mine! 

“And no one calls him little boy but me!" 

~End Part A~

On to Part B