Chasing Terence

Amira Press
Charlotte, NC 28227
www.amirapress.com

ISBN: 978-1-937394-90-5

No  part  of  this  e-book  may  be
reproduced  or  shared  by  any  electronic
or  mechanical  means,  including  but  not
limited  to  printing,  file  sharing,  and  e-
mail,  without  prior  written  permission
from Amira Press.

Chapter One

The hot Arizona sun caused Martin

Tanner’s sweat to trickle down his back
as  he  gazed  at  the  medium-sized  house
with a blue roof. The door hung open on
its  hinges,  and  Martin’s  identical  twin
brother,  Eli,  stood  on  the  threshold,  a
huge  smile  on  his  face.  Eli  looked
exactly  like  Martin,  except  his  blond
hair  was  now  cut  short,  and  he  didn’t
have a scar on his nose like Martin did.

Eli stepped out of the house, running a

hand through his sweat-soaked hair, and
grinned at Martin.

A second man came out of the house

who was a little taller and a lot thinner
without Eli’s muscle definition. The

man’s name was Dr. Aiden Brady, Eli’s
life  partner  and  a  psychologist.  Aiden
had ear-length brown hair, warm brown
eyes,  square  glasses,  and  a  long,  lean
body. He had been in Sophisticated Men
magazine,  featured  as  the  sexiest
scientist  of  the  year,  and  with  his
charming face, it was easy to see why.

As Eli turned his head and Aiden

nuzzled  his  nose  and  then  kissed  him
deeply,  Martin  got  a  flash  of  jealousy,
but  not  because  three  years  ago  he  had
lusted  after  Aiden.  It  was  because  the
two  of  them  were  deliriously  happy
together,  and  it  showed  in  the  way  Eli
and  Aiden  looked  so  lovingly  at  each
other even though they had been together
for so long.

“Okay, you two,” Martin said.

“Where do you want me to put these
boxes?”

Aiden stepped away from Eli and

walked over to him. Eli followed
behind.

“Sorry,” Eli said. “This will just be

the first time we’re living together.
Buying a house is a new experience.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Martin forced a smile

on his face. “I know. I’m sorry.”

While Aiden walked to the passenger-

side door and pulled out his pet rabbit,
Dakota’s, nighttime kennel, Eli squeezed
his arm.

“Hey, you okay?” Eli asked. “Is it

weird, asking you to help us move? You
never appeared to mind before that

Aiden and I were together. You even
helped get us together to begin with.”

“It’s not the fact it’s you and Aiden,”

he  said.  “It’s  more  that  I  can’t  help  but
be  envious  of  you  two. You  have  a  life
partner  that  loves  you,  and  now  you’re
moving  into  a  house  together.  You’ve
been together for three and a half years.
I’m thirty-two, and I haven’t had anyone
like  that.  I’m  just  envious  of  your
relationship.  Guess  I’m  an  asshole
brother, huh?”

Eli shook his head and squeezed his

shoulder. “No, you’re not. I’ll tell you
what. Maybe you just need to look some
more. Why don’t I go with you to a bar
and be your wingman?”

“Do you think Aiden would mind?”

Martin asked.

“Would I mind what?” Aiden asked,

winding around the car.

“Me being Eli’s wingman at a club

tomorrow night,” Eli said.

“I mind.” Aiden crossed his arms. “I

mind a whole lot.”

With a frown, Eli gave Aiden a scowl

that made him cringe.

“Or . . . I could go with you both,”

Aiden said. “How about that?”

“Okay,” Eli said. “Should we meet at

Aiden’s

office

after

he’s

done

tomorrow?  Maybe  we  can  catch  dinner
first.  It  would  be  stupid  to  drive  thirty
minutes  back  home  for  dinner  when
we’re in the city already.”

Martin frowned. I’m not sure how

well  this  is  going  to  work  out.  If  Eli
tries  to  help  me,  I  could  be  in  real
trouble.  He  has  the  relationship
abilities  of  a  five-year-old.  Still,  Eli
was  right  about  one  thing.  If  he  wanted
someone  in  his  life,  he  was  going  to
have to start looking. He didn’t have the
right  to  say  a  thing  about  his  lack  of
relationship if he didn’t try.

* * * *

The next day, Martin walked into

Aiden’s  office,  which  was  now  located
south  of  Arizona  State  University  since
he had finished his study on twins. Now
he  worked  as  a  psychologist  for  family
problems on Cherry Wood Drive.

Martin parked his car outside the

small  building,  got  out,  and  felt  the
scorching  sun  sear  his  skin.  He  gazed
into  the  sun  for  a  moment,  felt  a  trickle
of  sweat  go  down  his  face,  and  then  he
shook  his  head  and  continued  forward.
When  he  opened  the  door  of  Aiden’s
office,  he  was  hit  by  a  blast  of  cold  air
that  made  him  stop  and  take  a  deep
breath.  When  he  went  inside,  Trinity,
Aiden’s  plump,  middle-aged  assistant,
waved and grinned at him.

With a smile, he walked over to her.

“How are you doing, T?”

“Oh, you know,” Trinity said, “just

checking the magazines to see if there is
any questionable content. But enough
about me. Aiden tells me you’re going to
a hot bar tonight.”

Grimacing, Martin shook his head. He

knew Aiden wasn’t the type of man to go
blabbing his weekend plans all over the
place.

Somehow,

Trinity

knew

everything  about  everyone  without
having  to  be  told.  If  he  didn’t  know
better,  he  could  have  sworn  she  was
psychic.

“I don’t know if a bar is the right

place to look for what I want,” Martin
said honestly.

Trinity nodded with a knowing grin.

“Yeah, I go to bars a lot too. Of course,
they are the perfect place for what I
want. Fun all night and none of the
trouble in the morning.”

Martin chuckled. “I suppose there is

some truth to that.”

Though he wanted the trouble. Even

the way Eli had the power to glare at
Aiden and get whatever he wanted was
appealing.

“Well, if you do want to go out with

someone, I could set you up.” Trinity
frowned at her hands. “Though I don’t
know if now would be the right time.”

He raised an eyebrow. It was unlike

Trinity to be so close-lipped.

“Who is it?” Martin asked.
“My cousin, Terence, is coming to

live  in  Phoenix  for  the  first  time,  and  I
could set you up with him,” Trinity said.
“He’s  an  attractive  guy.  He’s  around
your  age—thirty-five,  I  think.  He’s  an
architect.  He pays his bills on time, and
is  funny  without  being  a  dick,  and  he’s

smart. I heard from my friend Alice he’s
hung like a horse, but I try not to think
about that.”

It sounded too good to be true. Plus,

he didn’t like the way Trinity had
hesitated to bring up Terence’s name.

“Okay, what’s the matter with him?”

Martin asked. “There is always a but  in
situations like this that people don’t say.
He’s really smart, but he’s an egotistical
asshole.  He’s  sweet, but  shows  up  at
your  house  and  peers  into  your  window
when  you  don’t  answer  the  phone.
What’s this guy’s but?”

She grimaced. “He does have a but.”
“I knew it.” Martin sighed. “What is

it? Does he light fires to houses? Does
he always make the other man pay for

the check, even though you’re supposed
to split it?”

“I think I’m starting to get the picture

why you’re still single,” she said,
snorting. “Maybe you should stick with
just playing the horizontal limbo.”

Heat filled his face. Maybe she was

right. Maybe he was a bit too picky. The
only man he had met who fit his type to a
T was Aiden, and he wasn’t going there.
Maybe it had to do with the fact his only
serious  boyfriend  had  been  an  asshole
who  had  ditched  him  to  study  abroad,
and  Martin  had  vowed  never  to  lower
his standards again after that.

“Okay, I’ll tell you Terence’s but,”

Trinity said, tearing him from his
thoughts. “Terence is bi, but he hasn’t

been  with  a  man  in  eight  years.  He  just
barely  got  divorced  from  his  wife,
Crystal.  He’s  coming  to  Phoenix  to
recover from it.”

“Oh

man.”

Martin

frowned.

“Emotional baggage overload.”

“I suppose.” She shrugged. “Crystal

cheated on him, but he didn’t appear
overly worked up about it. Of course,
that’s coming from my sister. It’s hard to
dig up dirt on someone when they’re all
the way in Rhode Island.”

“Uh-huh.”
“So do you want me to set you up, or

not?”

They were interrupted by Aiden

walking out of his office with his hands
in his pockets. As usual, he wore a pair

of black slacks and a blue shirt with gray
tie.

“Is that what you’re going to wear to a

bar?” Trinity asked.

“Yeah,” Aiden said, looking down.

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“That’s not what you wear to a bar,”

Trinity said. “You need a tight pair of
pants that show off your ass, and a T-
shirt that says hello to your abs.”

Frowning, Aiden glanced down at

himself.  For  a  man  who’d  graduated
with  a  doctorate  degree,  he  appeared
very confused by the fact he was dressed
all wrong for a club. As Aiden examined
himself,  the  front  door  opened,  and  Eli
came inside. Eli walked over and kissed
Aiden  on  the  lips  as  if  they  hadn’t  seen

each other in a year. Between Aiden and
his business attire and Eli and his hungry
mouth, Martin had a feeling he had the
worst wingmen ever.

“I think I’ll take that date,” Martin

said to Trinity.

“Good idea,” Trinity said. “The only

thing you’re going to get with those two
around is a headache.”

Chapter Two

When Martin drove to Trinity’s house,

he  felt  nervous  and  excited  at  the  same
ti me. Don’t  expect  too  much  of  this
date.  Terence just barely got divorced,
and he’s been with a woman for years.
He’s  likely  not  going  to  want  much  to
do  with  you  romance-wise.  Still,  he
couldn’t  help  but  feel  excited.  It  had
been  too  long  since  he’d  been  on  an
actual date.

After Trinity’s house came into view,

his  thoughts  about  the  date  were  driven
from  his  mind.  It  was  a  small  two-
bedroom  place  in  the  middle  of  the
suburbs  of  Phoenix,  made  from  stucco,
with a chain-link fence around it to keep

people out and her massive dog in.

Martin parked his car behind a silver

truck on the side of the road and climbed
out. The front door of Trinity’s house
opened, and a massive mixed-breed dog
with pricked ears and short dark-brown
hair came barreling outside the house.

“Hey, Bailey,” Martin said, walking

toward the fence.

Bailey wagged his tail and sat down,

and  Martin  opened  the  chain-link  fence
just  as  Trinity  came  out  the  front  door
with  a  shockingly  good-looking  man
behind  her.  The  man  had  dark  auburn
hair,  a  thin  build,  and  bright  blue  eyes.
He  wore  a  suit  and  black  shoes,  and
when  he  smiled  nervously  at  Martin,
Martin saw dimples on his cheeks. Upon

seeing the smile, Martin felt his heart
speed up.

Good Lord, I thought Aiden was

attractive. This guy makes him look like
a  hobo.  He  gulped  and  walked  up  to
Trinity.  This  man  had  the  sort  of
attractiveness  that  immediately  made
Martin feel intimidated.

“Hey, Martin,” Trinity said. “Traffic

okay?”

“The traffic was fine,” Martin said,

unable to tear his eyes away from the
gorgeous Terence.

“Good. Well, Martin, this is Terence.

Terence, this is Martin. He’ll be your
tour guide this evening along with . . .
well . . .” Trinity winked at Terence.

Ignoring her, Terence extended his

hand. “Hi, I’m Terence. Nice to meet
you.”

“Martin,” he grunted, grateful his

voice didn’t come out in a pubescent
squeak.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it, then,”

Trinity said. “Have fun, and be careful. I
won’t wait up.”

Then Trinity sent them a sneaky smile

and disappeared in her house before
Martin could blink.

Now it was just him and Terence in

the front yard. Bailey sat beside him and
started to lick his hand, and he dragged
his eyes away from Terence and petted
Bailey, if only to ease the tension.

“This is awkward,” Terence said.
Martin frowned. “Yeah, it kind of is. I

haven’t really done the blind date thing
before. I usually get my own dates. Not
that I’ve had many lately.”

“What a pair we make, then,” Terence

said. “I haven’t had a date in years. Not
that my wife hasn’t.”

Okay, now it’s really awkward. Why

did  he  bring  that  up?  But  when  he
looked  at  Terence,  Martin  realized  he
wasn’t  frowning  or  upset  about  things
like  he  thought.  There  was  a  spark  of
humor  in  Terence’s  eyes,  and  Martin
realized he was kidding.

“I’m sorry,” Terence said, because

Martin  didn’t  laugh.  “Trinity  said  you
might  feel  awkward  that  I  just  got
divorced,  so  I  thought  I’d  liven  the
mood.”

“Right,” Martin said, smiling.
Once again, silence fell.
“Tell you what,” Terence said. “Let’s

go out to dinner.”

“Great,” Martin said. “What did you

have in mind? Chinese, Mexican?”

“I’m new to Phoenix,” Terence said.

“Wherever you think will be good will
be just fine.”

A romantic restaurant that was family

run  came  to  mind.  Yes,  the  place  was
small  and  had  a  tendency  to  be
overcrowded  because  of  the  good  food,
but  he  didn’t  think  he  would  mind
waiting with Terence.

* * * *

Terence and Martin sat in the

restaurant, eating. Martin took a big bite
of his steak, and rich, salty flavor filled
his  mouth.  Terence,  who  took  a  bit
longer  unwrapping  his  utensil  bundle,
looked  down  at  the  bread  and  the  heap
of  linguini  smothered  in  garlic  herb
sauce  with  an  eager  smile  on  his  face.
With a grin, he picked up his fork, spun
it  around  in  his  noodles,  and  took  a  big
bite.

A shocked looked crossed his face as

he said, “Mmmmm. God, this is good.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Martin asked.
“It is,” Terence said, putting down

His fork as his eyes glowed brightly.
“Delicious. But nothing beats the food I
had in France.”

“France?” Martin asked, filled with

envy. “You went to France?”

Nodding, Terence grinned at him. “I

love the buildings and the museums. You
ever been?”

“I’ve

always

wanted

live

somewhere in Europe, actually,” Martin
said. “I bet it would be amazing to
photograph.”

“Why don’t you?” Terence asked.

“You  could. You’re  a  photographer  and
own  your  own  business. You  could  sell
postcards. Or you could do weddings or
whatever  you  wanted.  Everybody  needs
pictures, and Trinity showed me some of
yours. You’re amazing.”

There was a reason why he never left

the state of Arizona. His family, despite
their dysfunctions, meant a lot to him. He

wasn’t sure he could handle living apart
from  them  halfway  across  the  world.
That meant no family holiday meals and
no  weekly  barbecues.  Plus,  his  dad  had
a  baby  on  the  way,  and  while  he  knew
his  dad  would  bring  the  baby  to  visit
Arizona, he wouldn’t do that if he lived
in Spain or France.

“Martin?” Terence raised an eyebrow

and then took another bite.

“My family,” Martin said. “I love

them. I have a twin brother, too. Since
you don’t have a twin, you wouldn’t
know this, but we’re really connected in
strange ways. I can’t even describe how
close we are.”

“Mmm,” Terence said. “I never had

that problem. My family has never been

close. We all moved away from each
other as fast as we could.”

“Was it hard for you to move away

from your ex-wife?” he said before
realizing he had made a mistake.

“Nah, that was the easiest move of

all,” Terence said. “We fought for a long
time. She worshipped money, and I
didn’t have any.”

“I thought you were an architect,”

Martin said, surprised.

“I am,” Terence said. “It took me a bit

longer  than  most  to  get  out  of  school,
though. I have quite a few student loans.
One hundred thousand dollars’ worth, to
be  exact.  She  wanted  to  get  a  boat.  I
wanted  to  pay  everything  off.  That  was
the  fight  that  started  everything.  Next

thing I know, we’re splitting things fifty-
fifty—she gets the inside of the house,
and I get the outside of it.”

Martin snorted. “If you two had such

differences, why did you get married to
begin with?”

“I married her when I was in college.

I  thought  we  were  in  love,  but  after  we
were  actually  married,  I  realized  it  was
lust instead,” he said. “I think it was the
same  problem  with  her.  We  were  just
being  stubborn,  sticking  it  out  for  so
long.”

“Oh, right,” Martin said. “And . . .”
No, don’t bring up his feelings on

other men now. This is the first date, if
this even is a date at all. Maybe
Terence thinks we’re just friends. He

frowned and stared out the window and
into the street.

“You okay?” Terence asked.
“I’m fine.” Martin smiled at him. “I

was just looking at the bar across the
street. I can see into the window, and it
looks like they’re having a band play.”

“We should go,” Terence said. “It’s

been ages since I’ve seen a band.”

“They could be shitty.”
“Yeah, well, get drunk enough and any

band will sound like the Rolling
Stones,” Terence said. “You with me, or
what?”

A grin crossed Martin’s face. There

was

something

wonderful

about

Terence. His heart pounded faster, and
he nodded.

* * * *

That night, Martin and Terence sat in

a  cab  on  the  way  home  from  the  bar.
Both of them swayed as the cab moved,
and Martin’s sides felt sore from all the
laughing  he  had  done  with  Terence.  He
smirked  and  laid  his  head  back.
Tomorrow, it sure is going to be a pain
in  the  ass  getting  my  car  at  the
restaurant,  but  I  suppose  that’s  what  I
get for drinking too much.

As the car drew closer to Trinity’s

house, Terence put his hand on Martin’s
leg  and  slowly  trailed  it  up  his  thigh.
Martin,  shocked,  swiveled  in  his  seat
and  saw  that  Terence  looked  straight
ahead,  smirking.  This  was  the  first
physical  contact  he  had  had  all  night

with Terence, and it definitely wasn’t in
the “just friends” area. As Terence drew
his hand up to Martin’s fly and paused,
he felt his cock swell and gulped.

Martin turned toward Terence, and

Terence  looked  back  at  him.  A  grin
crossed  Terence’s  face,  and  Martin
grinned back. The alcohol had made him
giddy,  and  he  thought, What  the  hell?
Who cares if I’m getting a hard-on just
because  Terence is touching my thigh?
He  leaned  against  Terence,  and  their
thighs  brushed,  causing  heat  and  sparks
to  flow  through  him.  Suddenly,  it  didn’t
matter that the taxi driver looked at them
through  the  rearview  mirror.  It  didn’t
matter  this  was  the  first  date  and  he
really  should  have  tried  to  show  some

form of self-control. All Martin wanted
was Terence’s hand in his pants and his
mouth crushing his.

With his heart pounding harder and

his breathing increasing, Martin dropped
his  eyes  to  Terence’s  mouth  and  licked
his  own  lips.  Terence  got  the  signal,
unbuckled his seat belt, and didn’t wait a
second  more  to  answer  his  silent  cry.
Terence’s  lips  crashed  over  his  own,
hungrily.  Martin  could  taste  beer  on
Terence’s  lips  and  felt  his  tongue  push
into  his  mouth  roughly.  The  strength  of
Terence’s body drove Martin against the
door, causing the handle to drive into the
small  of  his  back  and  the  seat  belt  to
lock  around  him,  though  he  didn’t  care.
Terence groaned in want against his lips,

and Martin could feel his hard cock push
against his thigh.

As Terence overcame him, his tongue

massaging  Martin’s  own  and  his  breath
coming in short, desperate gasps, Martin
ran  his  hands  down  Terence’s  muscles
and  had  an  urge  to  remove  Terence’s
shirt  and  let  it  be  skin  on  skin,
horizontal,  forever.  He  didn’t  give  a
damn if he was top or bottom, as long as
they  were  intertwined.  In  desperation,
Martin  curled  his  hand  into  Terence’s
hair  and  gripped,  and  with  his  other
hand,  he  pushed  at  the  bottom  of
Terence’s shirt.

Finally, Terence had the sense to pull

away. Martin remembered they were in
a taxi and that they had an audience. He

also  remembered  it  really  was  a  first
blind  date  and  he  shouldn’t  have
behaved  like  a  straight  pubescent
teenager  trying  to  touch  his  first  set  of
breasts. Never before, not even with his
first boyfriend, had he acted this way or
felt  this  sense  of  urgency,  even  while
drunk.  It made whatever feelings he had
for Aiden feel paltry.

When Terence gazed down at him,

eyes  shocked  and  wanting,  Martin
realized  Terence  felt  this  desperate
hunger  too.  When  Martin  dropped  his
eyes,  he  saw  that  Terence  had  made  a
tent  in  his  pants  he  tried  to  conceal  by
putting  his  hand  over  it.  While  Martin
liked  the  intensity,  he  was  scared  of  it
too.  If  he  felt  this  strong  about  Terence

now, how would he feel about him later?
The idea of feeling any more passion for
Terence was daunting. That would give
him too much power over him, more
power than he liked.

Terence cut through his thoughts,

smiling shyly and showing off his
attractive

dimples. Oh God, those

dimples. Martin could have come after
just seeing them. How could any one
man be so gorgeous?

“Martin,” Terence said, “I know I’m

staying  with  Trinity  until  I  get  my  own
house or apartment, so I can’t invite you
over  today  without  feeling  awkward
about it, but  I think  I can get some good
tickets  for  this  Tuesday  to  see  the
Phoenix  Suns.  Do  you  .  .  .  Do  you  like

basketball?”

At that moment, Martin realized

Terence had asked him a lot more than
“Do you like basketball?”

Terence was asking him what he

thought  about  the  kiss,  what  he  thought
a b o ut them.  He  had  to  choose  now
whether he allowed himself to give in to
these  powerful  emotions  and  possibly
get run over by them later, or give them
up  now  before  they  had  the  potential  to
crush the heart.

What the hell, he only lived once.
“I love basketball,” Martin said.
Terence smiled so brightly at that

moment, it had the potential to blind him.

Chapter Three

On Monday night, Martin felt both

excited  and  nervous.  Unlike  with  most
men, he didn’t know what to expect from
Terence  with  the  strong  emotions  that
coursed  through  him  just  upon  locking
eyes.  Even  now,  after  just  one  date,  it
felt like so much had changed. As Martin
sat  at  Eli’s  dinner  table  eating  steak,  he
didn’t  feel  annoyed  at  Eli  and Aiden  as
they  held  hands  and  cast  each  other
affectionate looks across the table.

A relationship like that was now a

possibility  for  him.  Was  that  what  they
felt  for  one  another,  the  intenseness  he
felt  for  Terence?  No  wonder Aiden  had
chosen  Eli  over  him  if  he  had  felt  so

strongly  for  Eli  upon  the  first  meeting.
As  Martin  watched  them,  Eli  finally
turned  away  from Aiden  and  glanced  at
him in concern.

“You okay?” Eli asked. “You aren’t

cracking up on me, are you? Don’t throw
the dinnerware if you do. We just bought
it.”

Once again, Eli sent Aiden an

affectionate look. Heaven help him if he
destroyed their first “together” set. They
were like a newly married couple. That
thought made him crack a grin he could
have never managed before.

“I think I might be cracking up,”

Martin said, “but in a good way. How
did you feel when you two first met each
other?”

Eli and Aiden exchanged glances

again, but this time their looks were of
confusion.

“Well, I was drawn to Eli, though I

didn’t have any idea why,” Aiden said.
“You two both appeared physically the
same, but I just wanted Eli. But why are
you asking this? You know how it went.”

“I think I may be going through the

same thing.” Martin frowned at his food.
“I think I might be going crazy.”

“Okay,” Eli said. “I don’t know

what’s  going  on,  but  I  am  going  to  give
you  the  same  advice  you  gave  me  back
then,  and  I  hope  it  helps.  Man  up  and
grow some balls.”

Martin looked up and cracked a grin.

“That helps in a really weird way.

Thanks, Eli. You’re such a good
brother.”

With a confused look on his face,

Aiden glanced from Eli to him and then
back again. Man, it must suck to be an
only child.

* * * *

Martin manned up and grew some

balls.  There  was  no  use  being  nervous
about  what  he  couldn’t  control.  He  had
even  managed  to  distract  himself  from
the  date  until  fifty  minutes  till,  when  he
had to get ready. Now, as he stood at the
stadium  and  fished  his  way  through  the
crowd,  he  felt  his  heart  thud  with
nervousness and yet more excitement.

“Hey, Martin,” said a loud voice.

Terence’s. “Over here.”

Whipping around, Martin looked

through  the  crowd  in  the  filled  parking
lot  and  spotted  Terence  lingering  by  his
car. When their eyes met, Martin felt that
same  feeling  of  hot  attraction,  and  his
mouth  went  dry.  All  it  took  was  one
flash  of  those  gorgeous  dimples,  and  he
was gone. Good Lord, it wasn’t fair.

Martin waded his way to Terence,

and  Terence  smiled  at  him  and  stepped
in  closer.  The  smell  of  Terence’s
cologne,  something  musky  and  spicy,
filled  his  nostrils,  and  he  inhaled  and
enjoyed  the  wondrous  smell.  Before  he
had  time  to  say  anything  more,  Terence
wrapped  his  arm  around  Martin’s  back
and  forced  their  bodies  together  so  that

way they were hip to hip, chest to chest.

Martin’s breath escaped him as he

gazed up into Terence’s gorgeous,
dimpled face. It was like peering straight
at Adonis.

“I know we have only gone out once,

but I haven’t been able to stop thinking
about you,” Terence said.

“Me either,” Martin said.
Then a wave of that same attraction

hit,  and  he  stepped  in,  put  his  leg
between  Terence’s,  and  pushed  him
against the side of the car with an umph.
He  heard  people  gasp,  but  didn’t  care.
Instead,  he  pushed  his  tongue  into
Terence’s  mouth,  traced  his  muscular
pecs,  and  felt  his  cock  grow  hot  as
Terence  dropped  his  hand  and  cupped

his ass cheek with his hand and then
gave it a hard squeeze. A moment later,
they broke apart, once again breathless.

“Best hello I’ve ever gotten,” Terence

said, grinning at him and still holding his
ass.

“Just wait until you see my good-

byes.” Martin winked.

* * * *

That night, Terence and Martin sat on

the trunk of Terence’s car in a vacant
parking lot near the stadium. The stars
were out and shining bright, and nobody
was around but the two of them.

“Let me guess,” Martin said. “This is

how you scored with your ex-wife. If
you wanted to get me into bed, you

didn’t have to do the romantic stargazing
thing. All you had to do was just ask.”

Terence silently took Martin’s hand

and pulled it into his lap, massaging the
top of his skin. Finally, he responded, “I
am  not  trying  to  try  to  impress  you  to
fuck  you.  I  just  thought,  as  a
photographer,  you  would  appreciate  the
view. I haven’t been able to sleep much
here  in  Phoenix.  I  have  a  lot  to  worry
about,  what  with  all  the  changes  going
on in my life. I drove here and saw how
calm and beautiful it was. Want to know
what  I  thought  the  first  time  I  came
here?”

“What?” Martin gazed at him with

burning curiosity.

Terence smiled. “I thought, I bet

Martin would love this. You’re a
photographer. I know you have to see the
world as a work of art. I think that’s
amazing. Am I wrong?”

This was the first time somebody

understood.  To  him,  everything  really
was a work of art. Every moment was a
possibility  to  freeze  it  and  capture  its
perfection.  Just  like  this.  Terence’s
words made him feel like a royal ass for
believing  it  was  a  ploy  to  get  him  into
bed.

“You’re right,” Martin said. “I’m

sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Terence said,

smiling at him.

The look of Terence, so calm and

understanding, had his heart pounding

hard.

“God, how could anyone cheat on

somebody like you?” Martin asked
before he could stop himself.

A slow smile crossed Terence’s face,

and he lay back and gazed upward.

“It really wasn’t Crystal’s fault,”

Terence said. “I cheated first with my
mind. I may have never physically
touched

anyone

else

during

our

marriage, but the honest-to-God truth is,
I  knew  something  else  better  was  out
there. If you’re married to someone who
is supposed to be your always, that isn’t
right.  You  know  what  I  felt  when  she
cheated  and  I  knew  I  would  have  an
excuse to leave her?”

“What?” Martin asked.

“I felt relieved,” Terence said. “I

should have been the brave one and
ended it before it got that far, but I had to
let her do the dirty work and be the bad
guy. The truth was, our marriage was
over for at least five years. We just were
both stubborn, and she finally gave in.”

“I see,” Martin said, stunned by

Terence’s honesty.

Terence rolled on his side and gazed

at Martin. “Do I disgust you?” he asked.
“I don’t know why I’m blurting all this
out. I’ve never told it to anyone.”

“No,” Martin said. “I’ve thought

things about my brother I . . .”

Patiently, Terence looked at him, and

Martin was stunned by Terence’s ability
to be so calm and understanding. He felt

like he could have poured out every last
fucked-up thought he had ever had and
Terence would just give him another one
of his dimpled smiles. God, he loved
those dimples.

Martin shifted until they were face to

face, nose to nose.

“I love my brother, but sometimes I

loathe  him  and  wish  the  ground  would
suck him up,” Martin said. “Three years
ago,  I  was  interested  in  his  lifetime
partner that he’s with.  I helped them get
together,  but  I  still  felt  so  angry.  Now,
they’re  perfect  together.  They  act  like
every  second  they  don’t  spend  touching
one another is a moment wasted.”

A sad look crossed Terence’s face.

“And you hate him because you wish you

were with his lover?”

“No.” Martin frowned. “Only at first,

until  I  saw  how  perfect  they  were
together.  Now  I’m  angry  he  has  it  all
worked  out.  I  am  a  selfish  dick  too.  I
was  always  the  one  who  had  long-term
relationships  and  admitted  to  being
attracted  to  men,  while  he  slept  with
every  female  in  sight  and  then  just
stumbled  upon  the  person  he  was
supposed  to  end  up  with  and  everything
worked out, even when he ran away.”

“I can understand why that would be

frustrating for you,” Terence said.

“Of course, things were different last

night,” Martin said nervously, unsure if
he wanted to share this information.

“How so?” Terence propped himself

up on his elbow.

“For the first time, I didn’t feel

jealous of how perfect they were.”
Martin propped himself up on his elbow
too. “Instead I felt hopeful. Hopeful that
maybe I had found somebody I could be
like that with.”

Instead of running for the hills like

Martin expected Terence might, crinkles
appeared  at  the  sides  of  his  eyes  as  he
gave  Martin  yet  another  gorgeous
dimpled  grin.  Sparks  flew,  and  Martin
felt  even  more  hope.  Judging  by
Terence’s  smile,  he  felt  the  heat  and
magic between them too. He had to have.
It was impossible to ignore, like a raging
fire or a churning ocean.

“What changed?” Terence asked,

though he probably knew because he
cupped Martin’s cheek and caressed it
with his thumb.

“You showed up,” Martin said. “Does

the fact I am that attracted to you after
one date scare you?”

“It’s two dates now,” Terence said

teasingly.

Chuckling, Martin nodded. “So it is.”
Suddenly, Terence became sober

again. “But I’m glad to hear you say that,
because . . . I feel more strongly about
you than I ever have about anyone. Even
my ex-wife, who I married at the drop of
the hat. If you didn’t feel so attracted to
me, then I would be scared.”

Both of them smiled at each other, and

Terence leaned forward and kissed his

lips, hard.  Martin drank in the wideness
of  Terence’s  mouth  and  the  feel  of  his
stubble  on  his  chin.  It  felt  so  good  he
shuddered.  Without  waiting  for  an
invitation,  Terence  plunged  his  tongue
into  Martin’s  mouth  and  soothed  his
tongue  with  his  own.  Martin  groaned
against  Terence’s  lips,  unbelieving  of
how good it felt to have his tongue in his
mouth.

Martin inched closer and moved so

they  lay  so  close  their  erect  cocks
brushed  one  another.  Gently,  Terence
pushed him so he was on his back on the
trunk  and  then  pushed  his  knee  between
his  legs  and  leaned  over  him  so  he  was
partially  on  top  of  him.  Once  again,
Terence  covered  Martin’s  mouth  with

his, and Martin plunged in with his
tongue as he reached underneath his shirt
and raked Martin’s chest with his nails.
It felt so good that Martin squirmed.

Terence broke free and then kissed his

way  to  Martin’s  ear,  taking  the  lobe
between  his  teeth  and  teasing  it.  As
Martin  tilted  his  head  to  give  Terence
more  room,  Terence  kissed  his  way
down  his  jawline  and  then  down  his
neck,  where  he  nibbled  and  bit  at  the
skin  there.  Martin’s  fingers  curled  in
Terence’s hair as chills of pleasure went
down his spine.

After a few minutes of sucking and

kissing, Terence pulled off him and
removed Martin’s shirt and tossed it to
the ground. Martin realized he wanted to

see more of  Terence too and unbuttoned
the  front  of  his  shirt.  When  Martin
pushed  past  Terence’s  shirt,  he  saw  a
pale,  freckled  chest  with  a  dusting  of
bright red hair. Martin looked at the hair
on  Terence’s head and then down at the
fine downy hair on his chest.

“I was really redheaded as a child,”

Terence said. “My hair changed and got
darker,  but  the  hair  on  my  chest  stayed
bright  red.  Guess  it’s  like  those  people
with  beards  that  are  red  who  have
brunette hair. Is it a turnoff?”

“Nothing about you could turn me

off,” Martin said honestly. At that
moment, red chest hair was in the same
caliber as washboard abs.

With a grin, Martin burrowed his face

into  Terence’s  chest  hair  and  began  to
kiss  his  way  down.  His  skin  smelled
amazing.  Martin  knew  it  wasn’t  a
cologne  or  body  wash.  It  was  just
Terence.  Martin  could  have  bathed  in
Terence’s  scent  and  only  wished  he
could replicate it.

Martin kissed his way down to

Terence’s pants and then tugged at the
fly. Before he could get it open, Terence
grabbed his hand and stopped him.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s move

to inside the car,” he said. “On the off
chance somebody does come, I don’t
want them to see us on the hood.”

“Yeah,” Martin said, heat filling his

face. He had been so lost in the intensity
he had even forgotten they were outside.

At that moment, he could have made
love to Terence in a garbage can.

After sliding off of the car, Terence

walked  to  the  door  of  the  back  door  of
the  car  and  opened  it.  He  got  in  and  sat
down.  Martin  followed  after  him  and
peered inside. There wasn’t much room.

“Come here.” With his index finger,

Terence beckoned Martin inside with a
waggle.

“Where?” Martin looked around.
“Right here.” Patting his lap, Terence

grinned.

Once again, Martin was seduced by

those dimples. He climbed on top of
Terence and straddled him.

Terence slammed the car door shut,

and starless darkness overwhelmed him.

All  misgivings  went  away.  Why  had  he
worried  about  the  lack  of  room?  Now,
he  and  Terence  had  to  be  as  close
together  as  possible,  and  that  was  just
what he wanted them to be.

Martin bent his head and kissed

Terence,  their  bare  chests  brushing,
shoved  his  tongue  into  Terence’s  mouth
and  wiggled  his  hips  so  their  cocks
brushed  against  one  another.  Terence
groaned  against  his  lips  and  then
fumbled  with  Martin’s  fly.  Knowing
there was no way he’d be able to get his
pants  off  in  the  position  he  was  in,
Martin slid off of Terence and pulled his
pants  and  underwear  off  in  the  seat
beside him and tossed them on the floor.
Martin’s  cock  sprung  full  mast,  his

clean-shaven balls the size of fists
supporting a long, full shaft.

Terence stared at him, and Martin felt

self-conscious. He’s been with a woman
for  so  many  years.  My  body  isn’t  soft
like  a  woman’s  would  be.  Maybe  he’s
going  to  back  out.  If  he  did,  Martin
wouldn’t blame him.

“You’ve got an amazing body,”

Terence said, sounding so awed Martin
knew he meant it.

“Thanks,” Martin said.
Pivoting, Terence got on his knees on

top  of  the  seat  and  then  bent  down
sideways  over  Martin’s  cock.  Martin
was  so  shocked  he  gasped  as  Terence
lapped  at  his  tip  hungrily.  Terence
pulled  away  and  turned  his  head  so  he

could partially look at him.

“This is my favorite body part,

though,” Terence said.

Then Terence turned his head forward

again and moved his head over Martin’s
cock,  devouring  him  all  the  way  to  his
balls. Martin groaned, shut his eyes, and
threw  his  head  back  as  pleasure  filled
his  body  as  he  felt  Terence’s  wet,  hot
tongue lick the underside of his swollen
cock. As  Terence  did  this,  he  massaged
the  base  of  his  shaft  with  his  hands.
Martin  tangled  his  hand  in  Terence’s
hair  as  Terence  bobbed  over  him  again
and  again,  filling  his  balls  with  spasms
of pleasure.

Too soon, he felt as if he were going

to come. Never before had he wanted to

blow  so  fast.  It  was  probably  Terence,
who had the sucking power of a vacuum.
Martin  draped  his  hand  over  his  sweat-
drenched  face  and  shuddered.  Just
before  Martin  came,  Terence  pulled  off
of  him  and  then  began  to  kiss  his  balls
and thighs, though the only place  Martin
wanted him was over his cock again.

Terence pulled away from him and

then unzipped his own fly and pulled his
pants  down  his  legs.  He  then  did  the
same  with  his  boxer  shorts  and  threw
them to the floor. It was Martin’s turn to
examine  Terence.  Like  him,  Terence
kept  his  balls  trimmed,  but  there  was
enough  downy  hair  left  to  reveal  that,
unlike his chest hair, the hair on his balls
was the color of that on his head. Unlike

his thin body, Terence’s shaft was
abnormally fat.

Reaching out, Martin took Terence’s

shaft  in  his  hand  and  let  out  a  sigh  of
pleasure as he felt the hot, veiny skin.  It
felt  so  good  against  his  hand.  Martin
tightened his hold on it and then began to
move  his  hand  up  and  down  over  the
shaft  as  Terence  squirmed  and  groaned
in his seat. A grin crossed Martin’s face
as he continued to pump Terence’s cock
in pleasure.

“That feels so good,” Terence said,

shuddering.

Martin pumped at Terence’s hard

shaft  until  Terence  pushed  him  away.
When  Martin  pulled  his  hand  away,
damp  from  pre-come,  Terence  panted,

and a dribble of sweat ran down his
face.

“After how we were all over each

other on our last date, I brought
lubricant, just in case,” Terence said. “I
hope that’s okay.”

Nodding, Martin shuddered. “I’m glad

you did. I didn’t dare to hope.”

Bending down, Terence grabbed his

jeans on the floor and fumbled around in
his pocket. He pulled out a bottle of
lubricant.

“Squat in front of me,” he demanded.
Guess that means I’m the bottom. But

Martin  didn’t  care.  He  didn’t  even  care
Terence demanded it of him.  In fact, the
way  Terence  knew  what  he  wanted
made  Martin  get  even  more  turned  on.

Terence obviously was a strong man
who knew exactly how he wanted his
partners, and that had always been a trait
Martin loved.

Martin got up and grabbed the

headrest  of  the  seat  in  front  of  him  and
bent  so  his  ass  was  in  Terence’s  face.
He  felt  Terence’s  hand  pull  apart  his
cheeks,  and  then  Terence  traced  the
outside  of  his  hole. It’s  been  a  while
since

I’ve

bottomed.

His

hole

immediately tensed in response to the
touch.

“You all right?” Terence asked.

“Your muscles got tight. Do you want to
stop? Or did you want to be the one to
do it?”

“I’m okay,” Martin said.

“Maybe sit down,” Terence said.
Before Martin could ask where,

Terence spread his legs, and Martin was
pulled  onto  the  small  space  of  seat
between  them,  with  Terence’s  cock’s
head pressing into the small of his back.
Before  Martin  could  ask  what  he  was
doing,  he  felt  Terence  kiss  his  neck  and
then  his  ears.  Terence  continued  to
soothe  his  face  with  his  mouth  until  he
felt completely relaxed.

When Terence’s hand wandered

toward  his  ass  cheek,  Martin  balanced
on  his  legs  in  a  low  squat,  and  Terence
slipped his lubricant-covered finger into
his hole. He felt his muscles tighten, but
as  Terence  moved  his  finger  in  and  out
of  him,  he  also  used  his  other  hand  to

soothe  his  back  and  scratch  him  from
shoulder  down  to  lower  back.  Martin
shut  his  eyes  and  laid  his  head  on  the
headrest  as  Terence  stretched  him  out,
bit by bit.

“Here,” Terence said, standing up and

then pressing his cock’s head against
Martin’s hole. In the cramped space of
the car, it felt like the world consisted of
just him and Terence. Even the windows
had begun to fog.

Terence pressed his cock’s head

against Martin’s hole, and Martin’s body
ached as it stretched.

Immediately, Terence pulled back and

then pushed his lubricant-covered finger
into Martin’s hole again, all the while
kissing his neck, shoulders, and ear,

soothing him and making him groan.

When Terence pushed his cock

against  his  hole  again,  Martin  stuck  out
his  ass  and  waited.  Terence’s  cock
plunged  in  part  of  the  way,  but  once
again,  it  made  Martin  uncomfortable,
and he grunted.

Terence pulled out at once and began

to kiss his shoulders as he moved his
finger in and out, preparing him for
entrance.

Finally, Terence pushed his cock

against Martin’s hole again, and his cock
slid  in  past  the  ring  of  muscle  and  then
all  the  way  inside  him.  Martin  groaned
as  pleasure  filled  him,  and  he  had  to
grab on to the headrest in front of him for
support.  He  felt  the  car  move  from  side

to side as he did this.

“Sit down with me,”

Terence

whispered in his ear.

Terence sat, and Martin eased himself

down,  spread  his  ass  cheeks  using  his
hands,  and  then  steered  himself  over
Terence’s cock. He felt Terrence’s cock
press against his hole again, and then, as
he  sat,  it  slid  inside  of  him,  deeper  and
deeper.  Once  Martin  was  all  the  way
down,  he  shuddered  and  arched  his
back.  He  began  to  lose  focus  on  reality
again,  but  he  did  notice  when  Terence
grabbed his cock and then began to move
underneath him.

Shuddering, Martin began to go up

and down over Terence’s cock, the hot
friction making him groan with every

movement.  Terence  pulled  at  Martin’s
cock  to  his  rhythm.  Soon  Martin  moved
faster  and  faster,  desperate  to  have  as
much heat inside of him as possible.

Eventually, Martin stopped moving up

and  down  over  Terence’s  cock  and  sat
down again and began to swivel his hips
instead.  Terence  groaned  and  wrapped
his  hands  around  his  hips,  holding  him
down  hard.  Martin  shivered,  feeling
anticipation  build  in  his  balls  as  he  got
closer and closer to coming.

Just as Martin was about to come,

Terence  pushed  him  upward.  Shocked,
Martin  grabbed  on  to  the  headrest  in
front  of  him  for  support.  Terence  stood
up  behind  him,  pressed  his  cock  into
Martin’s  hole  again,  and  then  wrapped

his hand around Martin’s waist and
grabbed his cock once more.

Terence, grunting, began to give fast,

shallow, desperate thrusts as he breathed
into Martin’s ear.

“You’re

amazing,”

Terence

whispered. “So amazing.”

Martin was in the midst of so much

pleasure he couldn’t even come up with
an intelligent reply.

A second before Martin came,

Terence said, “I’m so glad I met you,
Martin.”

Whether it was the words or

Terence’s  cock  driving  into  his  ass,
Martin  felt  an  explosion  occur,  and  his
cock shot off come and doused the back
of  Terence’s  seat.  Terence  was  a  few

seconds  behind  him  and  pulled  out  just
before  he  came  into  Martin.  Instead,
Terence  shot  come  all  over  Martin’s
lower back.

Martin leaned his head against the

headrest in front of him and said, “God.
Oh God.”

Terence sat down in the seat, panting,

and  then  pulled  Martin  onto  his  lap.
Once  Martin  was  there,  he  swiveled
sideways  so  he  could  look  into
Terence’s  face.  In  Terence’s  eyes,
Martin could see the same adoration that
Aiden  and  Eli  always  held  for  each
other.

“You are so amazing,” Terence

repeated.

“So are you.” Martin pressed his hand

to Terence’s cheek.

The two of them shared a hot, tongue-

filled kiss and then nuzzled one another.
Martin  felt  like  he  had  enough  of  an
adrenaline  rush  to  last  him  a  week.  The
moment  was  broken  when  Terence
chuckled.

Martin opened his eyes. “What’s so

funny?”

“We steamed up all the windows.”

Terence nuzzled him again. “We must be
a pretty hot couple.”

Turning, Martin looked around the car

and saw that every window was covered
in a cloak of white.

He grinned and then leaned his head

against Terence’s shoulder, comfortable
with the idea of remaining there all

Chapter Four

Martin sat in front of the television at

his  weekly  get-together  with  Eli  and
Aiden,  beaming.  Eli  was  getting  some
beers  and  raiding  the  refrigerator  for
salsa,  and  Aiden  sat  next  to  Martin,
watching  a  basketball  game  while
appearing  as  though  he  would  rather
have  been  enduring  an  enema.  At
Aiden’s side, Dakota, his rabbit, sat next
to  Scooter,  Eli’s  fat  cat.  It  was  truly  a
family affair.

An allergy commercial played, and

Aiden turned and glanced at Martin.
“You look happy,” he said.

“I am happy,” Martin said.
“I’m glad. You deserve it.”

When Aiden gave him a crooked

smile  that  once  would  have  made  his
heart pound, he didn’t even feel a small
dose  of  attraction.  Sure,  Aiden  would
always  be  gorgeous  with  his  chiseled
features, but it was different now. Martin
realized  all  he  wanted  was  Terence.
Maybe  the  four  of  them  could  double-
date sometime.

“When are you seeing him again?”

Aiden asked, pulling him from his
thoughts.

“Tomorrow night because Trinity is

out  of  town  for  the  weekend.  He  wants
me  to  come  with  him  to  look  at
apartments,”  Martin  said.  “It’s  hard  to
imagine  we  only  just  met  three  weeks
ago.  It’s  too  easy  to  be  with  him.  Like

we’ve known each other for ages.”

Eli padded into the room, holding

beers and a jar of cheese dip and a
second jar of salsa.

“What are you two talking about?” Eli

asked,  but  Martin  noted  his  gaze  was
mostly  on  him.  Martin  took  it  to  mean
“You  are  looking  a  little  too  cozy  with
my lover, you asshole.”

“Here,” Martin said, scooting so Eli

could sit between him and Aiden.

Relief crossed Eli’s face, and he sat

down  and  put  the  dips  on  the  table  next
to the chips. Eli lifted his arm and pulled
Aiden  underneath  it,  and  suddenly,
Aiden  didn’t  appear  as  though  watching
a sports game was so bad.

* * * *

The next night, Martin arrived at

Trinity’s  house  with  a  bottle  of  scotch
and  a  grin.  When  he  knocked  on  the
door,  there  was  the  sound  of  loud
barking  and  then  Terence  said,  “All
right. All  right.  Cool  it,  girl.”  The  door
opened,  and  Terence  gazed  at  him  from
inside.  He  was  not  smiling,  which
caused Martin to pause.

“Hey,” Martin said.
“Hey.” Terence’s voice had a

worried edge to it.

“Is everything all right?” Martin

asked. “You look, well, almost unhappy
to see me.”

“I could never be unhappy to see

you,” Terence said, and then he stepped

out onto the stoop and pulled him into an
embrace.

When Terence tilted his mouth and

covered  Martin’s own,  Terence pressed
them  together  so  hard  it  hurt,  as  if  he
hoped  to  make  them  stick  if  he  pushed
hard enough. Ouch. What is he trying to
do,  suffocate  me?  Martin  shoved  at
Terence’s

shoulder,

and

Terence

released him. Martin rubbed his jaw and
then raised an eyebrow at Terence.

“Too much?” Terence asked guiltily.

“I just wanted to show I really am happy
to see you.”

“I’m a fan of passionate kisses as

much as the next guy,” Martin said, “but
that felt like you wanted to cement our
jaws together. Tell me what’s wrong.

There is obviously something up.”

Terence sighed. “I hoped to do this

over dinner, but, well, you better come
in.”

Stepping to the side, Terence allowed

him through the door. Bailey sat beside
him panting, his tail wagging in
excitement. For once, Martin didn’t even
bother to greet him.

With his heart pounding, Martin

walked  down  the  hallway,  feeling  sick.
Was  Terence  going  to  break  up  with
him? Had he done something wrong? He
wished Terence would have just put him
out  of  his  misery  at  the  threshold  of  the
door.  Then  again,  Terence  had  kissed
him  hello,  so  that  had  to  have  meant
something,  right?  As  Martin’s  thoughts

did cartwheels in his head, Terence
grabbed his arm and steered him toward
the living room.

“In here,” Terence said, pulling him

farther down the hallway and then to the
right.

They entered Trinity’s living room,

which  had  a  fat  red  couch  covered  in
dog  hair,  and  a  wooden  table  with  a
small television in front of it. There was
a  bookcase,  but  it  held  books  that  were
dusty and untouched, as if they were just
for  show.  Martin  padded  over  to  the
couch,  ignoring  the  dog  hair,  and  sat
down.  Terence  sat  next  to  him  and
grabbed his hand, holding it.

“Martin, I’ve got some bad news,”

Terence said.

Oh God, he really is ending it. I

thought we were amazing together. I
don’t understand why.

“Okay,” Martin said, feeling as if

Terence had punched him in the heart,
even though he had yet to say what was
wrong.

“I thought I would be working here in

Phoenix, but I’m being transferred
someplace else instead,” Terence said.

There was silence. He’s leaving?

Martin  didn’t  know  whether  this  was
worse  or  better  than  them  breaking  up.
He  didn’t  know  whether  this  was  it  for
them, either.

“Where?” Martin grunted.
“Denmark,” Terence said. “They want

me to design a building for the U.S.

government. It’s a big deal. I . . . didn’t
expect this to happen, Martin.”

This was familiar. He had endured

this  once  before,  when  his  boyfriend  of
two  years  had  left  him  to  study
mechanical  engineering  in  Chicago.
Chicago  had  actually  been  Boston,  and
mechanical  engineering  had  actually
been another guy named Craig.

“I see.” Martin glanced down at his

sweaty hands. “Is this it for us?”

Terence squeezed his hand. “I know

this is sudden, Martin. I know we’ve
only been together for three weeks, but .
. .”

“But?” Martin raised an eyebrow.
“Come with me,” Terence said. “My

company will give us an apartment in

Denmark.  You  can  be  a  photographer
there. I know it is asking a lot for you to
uproot  yourself,  especially  for  someone
you’ve  only  just  met,  but  I  want  you  to
come  with  me.  I  just  plain  want  you,
Martin.”

Silence filled the room as Martin

continued to stare at his hands in shock.
Go?  With  Terence?  He  thought  of  Eli,
the brother who was as a part of him as
his  own  skin.  He  thought  of  his  mom,
who  he  went  to  have  lunch  with  every
Sunday.  He  had  a  steady  list  of  clients
here,  a  house,  and  his  pets,  Jasper  and
Go-Go.  His  entire  life  had  been  built
around this place.

But that meant he was going to lose

Terence, didn’t it? That meant he was

going to lose the only man who had ever
managed  to  stir  his  heart  so  much  so
quickly.  The  idea  made  him  want  to
smash  a  plate  against  a  wall.  It  didn’t
feel fair that the universe had given him
a taste of someone he cared for so much
and  then  yanked  him  away. Son  of  a
bitch. He bit his bottom lip.

“I can’t go, Terence,” Martin said. “I

am so sorry, but I have too much here.”

“If you can’t go and I can’t stay, what

are we going to do?” Terence asked
quietly. Martin could hear the sadness in
his voice and knew Terence hated this as
much as he did. That did little to comfort
him when he felt his heart fill with
searing pain, though.

“I guess this will be it for us,” Martin

said,  his  heart  thundering.  He  couldn’t
believe  he  was  the  one  saying  it,  when
his  heart  screamed  it  wanted  the
opposite. “We can’t be together.”

“No,” Terence said. “I’m not going to

accept that. We can try long-distance.
Let’s just not end it like this.”

“You know long-distance doesn’t

work,” Martin said, his mind filling with
memories. “We’d just end up falling out,
and it would hurt more because we drew
it out.”

“Hurt more than this?” Terence asked.

“I was married for eight years, but  I am
sicker  about  this  after  three  weeks  of
dating than  I was about my divorce.  We
can  be  something  important,  Martin.
Don’t  give  it  up  just  because  of

something so stupid.”

“You cannot ask me to give up

everything for you,” Martin said, leaping
to his feet and shaking. “You can’t.”

“It wouldn’t have to be everything,”

Terence said. “You can keep everything
and put it on hold. We can come back. I
just don’t want to lose you.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking

of  me,”  Martin  said,  his  voice  filling
with  anger.  “You  said  you  never  had  a
family  that  cared  you  left.  Well,  I  do.  I
have  a  twin  brother  who  I  love,  a  mom
who  needs  me,  and  good  friends  that
care.  I  wouldn’t  be  the  same  without
them around. I wouldn’t.”

Instead of fighting back, Terence

stared at him silently.

“Aren’t you going to say something?”

Martin asked.

“It looks like you’ve already made up

your mind,” Terence said. “There is
nothing for me to say.”

Both of them stared at each other for a

moment,  and  then  Martin  turned  and
headed for the door.  When he got to his
car, he was shaking. What did I just do?
This  could  have  been  my  only  chance
for real love.

Chapter Five

Martin sat in his living room on his

sofa  and  stared  at  the  wall.  When  was
Terence  going  to  leave  Phoenix?
Someday soon? He guessed so. The idea
of  Terence  leaving  made  him  feel  like
punching  a  hole  through  his  wall,  but
what good would that do?  He’d have to
call Eli over to fix it, and then Eli would
badger him about what was going on and
tell  him  to  man  up.  He  wasn’t  in  the
mood.

As Martin stared at the wall, he felt

his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled
it out and then pressed it to his ear.

“Hello?” Martin asked dully.
“Martin?” Aiden asked, sounding

surprised. “You all right?”

No, I’m not all right. I’m not all

right  at  all.  But  he  didn’t  want  to  say
that.  Aiden  had  a  bad  habit  of  telling
every  insignificant  detail  of  his  life  to
Eli, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to
face Eli yet. He imagined he would say,
“You  knew  the  guy  three  weeks.  Get  a
grip  on  yourself  and  stop  acting  like  a
teenager in high school.”

“I’m fine, man,” Martin said. “Just got

a cold. That’s all.”

“Okay, I can hear your sadness in your

voice now. Seriously, what’s going on?”
Aiden asked. Maybe Aiden knew him
too well.

Aiden did that horrible thing where he

didn’t say a word, and Martin almost

blurted out the whole story right then and
there.  That  was  the  thing  about  Aiden.
Not  only  was  he  direct  and  always  cut
right  through  to  the  heart  of  the  matter,
but  he  also  actually  listened.  Most
people  would  ask  a  question  without
really  wanting  to  know  the  answer  or
taking  the  time  to  listen.  That  was  not
Aiden.  It  was  the  reason  why  he  was  a
fantastic  psychologist  but  a  pain  in  the
ass to have as a friend.

“I’m really fine,” Martin repeated.
“All right,” Aiden said. “But if you

need to talk, I’m here.”

In the background, Martin heard loud

banging sounds and then heard his
brother say, “Aiden, I’m back. I got your
favorite movie . . . Oh. Sorry. Phone.”

In that moment, Martin felt another

spark of envy.

“Sorry,” Aiden said. “You want to

speak to your brother?”

“No, that’s okay,” he said quickly. Eli

would likely pick up he was having a
problem, too, and badger him to
oblivion. “Why did you call me again?”

“Oh. Right.” Aiden paused. “I forgot.

I can’t talk to you now.”

“What?” Martin paused. “Why not?

You called me, didn’t you?”

“It’s about a certain event on February

second. I need advice,” Aiden said.
“You understand?”

February second was his and his

brother’s birthday. He had forgotten
about it after everything with Terence

going on.

“Okay, Aiden,” Martin said. “Call me

later, when Eli isn’t around.”

“Will do,” Aiden said. “And Martin,

remember that I’m your friend, okay?”

“I know you are, Aiden,” Martin said.

“Thanks.”

* * * *

The next day, Martin didn’t have any

events to take photographs of, so he
spent the day at home, rotting his brain in
front of the television. He had watched
more horror movies that day than he had
the

entire

year,

but

even

the

overdramatic

blood

splattering

screen couldn’t distract him from
thinking about Terence. As yet another

brunette  heroine  was  chased  down  the
street,  Martin’s  phone  rang,  and  he  dug
around  in  his  pocket  and  checked  it.  It
was Terence. He was tempted to answer
it, but wasn’t sure what to say if he did.

I’m a coward. He put his phone back

in  his  pocket. I’ll  call  him  back  later,
when  I’m ready to hear him talk about
his  trip.  The  idea  made  him  grit  his
teeth.

But now he couldn’t even watch the

television.  His eyes glazed over, and he
felt as if Terence had handed him a one-
way  ticket  to  Bad  Memory  Land.  He
kicked  himself  for  not  answering  his
phone,  but  when  he  picked  it  up  again
and  stared  at  the  screen,  he  couldn’t
summon  the  courage  to  call  Terence

Chapter Six

The sound of knocking roused Martin

from  his  evening  stupor  as  he  chopped
vegetables  for  his  stir-fry.  He  walked
over  to  the  door  and  opened  it,  and  he
was unpleasantly surprised to see Aiden
and  Eli  standing  outside.  He  blinked  in
shock.

“Aiden? Eli?” Martin was half

tempted  to  shut  the  door  on  them,  but
stopped  himself  because  of  the  ear
searing  he  would  get  later  for  it.  “What
are you guys doing here?”

Though Aiden lingered on the stoop,

Eli  did  the  brotherly  thing  and  pushed
his  way  inside  without  permission.
Griping,  Martin  opened  the  door  farther

to allow Aiden inside. Aiden grimaced
and entered the house.

“What are you doing here?” Martin

repeated.

“Cheering you up,” Eli said. “We’re

going out to dinner.”

“I don’t need to be cheered up,”

Martin said. “I’m all right.”

“No, you’re not,” Eli said. “Aiden

told  me  you  were  upset  when  he  called
you  yesterday.  You’re  going  to  come
with us, get drunk until you can’t piss in
a  straight  line,  and  then  tell  us  what’s
wrong. Do you understand me?”

Maybe Martin had been wrong.

Maybe he needed Eli after all. Getting
drunk until he couldn’t stand up straight
sounded like a good plan at the moment.

“Okay,” Martin said. “You’re on.”
Aiden glanced from Martin to Eli. “I

don’t think this is the healthiest way to
resolve a—”

Eli shot him a dirty look, and Aiden

grew silent.

* * * *

That night, Martin, Eli, and Aiden sat

at  the  bar,  and  Eli  was  on  his  seventh
beer,  but  Martin  had  hardly  touched  his
second. Aiden watched  Eli with narrow
eyes,  but  didn’t  say  anything.  Already,
Eli had begun to sway from side to side,
as  if  he  was  in  a  car  repeatedly  going
over bumps.

“I love these things,” Eli said, holding

up the bar coaster. “They’re just so

flat.”

Aiden rolled his eyes and turned

toward Martin, ignoring Eli.

“Sorry,” Martin said. “Guess you got

the wrong twin drunk. Think you’ll get
lucky tonight with him being so
intoxicated?”

Grimacing, Aiden glanced at Eli, who

still stared at the coaster as if it was a
new invention.

“I’m not sure I want to get lucky,”

Aiden said. “One more beer and he’ll go
from goofy to vomiting. Remember our
anniversary party last year? He hurled
all over the floor. I don’t want him to do
a repeat performance on me.”

“That was pretty bad.” Martin cringed

and reached for the bowl of bar peanuts

in front of him. “I didn’t realize puke
could be pink. What the hell did he eat?”

“It’s still a mystery.” Aiden shrugged.
Both of them were silent. The sound

of loud laughter filled the bar, but it was
not enough to drown out his thoughts.
Aiden’s eyes flickered toward Martin.

“About Terence,” Aiden finally said.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but
maybe you should have said yes to going
with him to Denmark. I know at dinner
you said it was too soon when you told
us about it, but still . . .”

Aiden’s words were like a punch to

his  stomach,  but  yes,  that  was  Aiden—
direct  and  honest,  but  sometimes  too
much  so.  Plus,  he  felt  hurt.  He  had
always  thought  Aiden  liked  him.  They

hung out enough, with and without Eli.

“Aiden,” Martin said, “you want me

to leave?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aiden said.

“You know I love you. You’re like my
brother now. But you remind me a bit of
myself before I settled down with Eli.”

“I do?” Martin raised an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Aiden said. “When I met Eli,

everything

changed,

remember?

happened fast for me too, but I knew we
were meant to be together. I know
Terence is asking you to give up a lot,
but maybe it’s worth it.”

During that moment, he felt as if his

world  stilled.  Was  Aiden  right?  Martin
spent  so  much  time  analyzing  how
perfect  they  were  together  now,  he  had

forgotten how hard it had been for them
to get together in the first place.

“Do you really think so?” Martin

groaned.

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t,”

Aiden  said.  “Plus,  Terence  didn’t  say
anything  about  permanently  living  in
Denmark,  did  he?  You  can  even  keep
your house here because you won’t have
to  worry  about  an  apartment  over  there.
You  can  still  be  a  photographer.  Plus,
you can bring your animals with you.”

Leave it to Aiden to bring everything

into  perspective.  Underneath  his  logic,
leaving with Terence didn’t feel as crazy
anymore. Sure, it was still a little crazy.
He  had  only  known  Terence  for  three
weeks,  but  still  .  .  .  His  heart  pounded

harder  as  he  had  flashes  of  what  their
life  could  be  like  together—the  shared
meals,  the  hot  lovemaking,  the  laughter.
But what if it didn’t go like that?

He imagined his parents fighting and

cringed. He had seen so much of that.

“What if . . .” Martin sighed. “What if

I go and it doesn’t work out?”

“Nothing comes with a guarantee,”

Aiden said, “but look at Eli and me. We
were a pretty unlikely couple, weren’t
we? And we’re still going strong,
right?”

Martin tilted his head to the right and

saw  that,  somehow,  Eli  was  still
distracted by that damn coaster. Yes, Eli
and  Aiden  appeared  to  be  mismatched.
Logical,  direct  Aiden  and  hotheaded,

overly passionate Eli. But they worked
out their problems, no matter what they
were.

“Do you think it’s too late?” Martin

asked.

“Not if it’s right,” Aiden said.
As Martin sat there, he felt as if rays

of light illuminated his brain, and all the
depression from the last couple of days
cleared. Did he want to do this? Yes,
yes, he did. And he would.

“I could kiss you right now, Aiden,”

Martin said.

For the first time, Eli tore himself

away from his beloved coaster and
staggered over to Martin with his fist
raised.

“Are you making a pass at my man?”

Eli asked, weaving. “Brother or not, I’ll
put you in your place.”

Martin shook his head, hopped off his

stool, and grabbed his coat, unthreatened
by  his  brother’s  wobbling  fists  of  fury.
Eli  took  a  wild  swing,  missed
completely, and nearly clocked Aiden on
the  head.  With  a  sigh,  Aiden  grabbed
Eli’s arms and restrained him.

“You got this?” Martin asked, looking

wearily at Eli, who scowled at him. “I
am going to go talk to Terence.”

“Yes, I do,” Aiden said, holding fast

on to Eli. “He’s been drunk plenty of
times over the years.”

“Let me go. I have to fight for your

honor,” Eli bellowed. “Let me go right
now, or I’ll . . . I’ll . . .”

Both of them waited to see what Eli

would  do.  Unfortunately,  with  a  noisy
wretch,  Eli  threw  up  down  the  front  of
Aiden’s  shirt.  As  Aiden  swore  and
leaped  off  the  stool,  Martin  made  an
escape,  thinking, Is  that  really  what  I
want?

But even with a zillion vomits, he

realized the answer was yes.

* * * *

Martin sped to Trinity’s house and

pulled  to  the  side  of  the  road.  After  he
put his car in park and clambered out, he
wound  around  and  walked  toward  the
front door. Martin knocked with a series
of  loud  thuds  and  then  paused.  There
was  the  sound  of  Bailey  barking,  and

then  Trinity  appeared  at  the  front
window and opened the door. When she
opened  it,  her  eyes  widened,  and  she
stared  at  Martin  with  a  shocked
expression on her face.

“Martin,” Trinity said, “it’s you. What

are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see Terence.” Though

Martin knew it was rude, he pushed past
Trinity and entered the hallway.
“Terence? Terence? I need to talk to
you. Please.”

Grabbing his arm, Trinity managed to

wrangle his attention again.

“Where’s

Terence?”

Martin

demanded.

“He doesn’t live here anymore,

Martin,” Trinity said. “I’m surprised you

didn’t  know.  He  said  he’s  been  calling
you  and  calling  you  to  tell  you  what’s
going  on.  I  thought  you  would  have
called him back by now.”

He swayed guiltily and Trinity caught

on at once. Her lips puckered. “You’ve
been ignoring his phone calls, haven’t
you?”

“He’s

really

not

living

here

anymore?”

“Nope. Like I said, he’s gone. Moved

on.”

Martin’s stomach sunk, and his heart

ached. A giant epiphany, for what? To
be left out in the hallway with nothing.
He should have answered his phone. He
should have been less of a coward.

Would Terence still want him now

he’d  messed  things  up  so  badly?  Would
he  still  answer  his  phone?  Turning,
Martin  staggered  for  his  car  with  his
shoulders slumped and his heart aching.

He was halfway to his car when

Trinity called, “Martin. Wait a minute.”

He turned his head and glanced at her.

A sneaky smile was on her face.

“When I said Terence was gone, I just

meant from my house,” Trinity said.
“He’s renting a condo a few miles south
of here.”

What? Confusion filled him. His heart

pounded harder.

“H-he’s supposed to be in Denmark,”

Martin stuttered.

“Yeah, well, he liked you more than

his job,” Trinity said. “He said he

couldn’t leave Phoenix, and the company
he  worked  for  said  that  was  where  they
needed  him,  so  if  he  didn’t  go  to
Denmark,  he  might  as  well  just  start
looking  for  another  job.  So  he  quit.
Luckily, he had enough put aside to rent
his  own  place  while  he  looks.  A  shitty
place, but still . . .”

Shock, horror, and happiness filled

him.  He  couldn’t  believe  Terence  had
given  up  his  job  for  him  and  was
horrified  he  had  caused  him  to  lose  his
job and hadn’t even had the balls to call
him back. Yet he was happy because this
meant  Terence  cared  about  him  just  as
much  as  he  did  him.  Then  he  was  angry
because Trinity had waited so damn long
to give him this information.

“Trinity, why didn’t you tell me the

moment I opened the door?” Martin
asked. “You knew why I was there.”

“Yeah, I know,” Trinity said. “But I

thought I’d let you hang for a minute,
since you turned my cousin into a
depressed slob.”

“Trinity . . .” Martin ran a hand

through his hair and let out a deep sigh.

“Well, you want his address or not?”

she asked. “If you’re going to apologize
to Terence, at least have the decency to
do it in person.”

Eagerly,

Martin

nodded

and

approached  the  house  again.  The  only
problem  was,  he  wasn’t  sure  what  he
was  going  to  say  to  Terence  once  he
found him.

Chapter Seven

Martin parked by Terence’s condo

and  let  out  a  deep,  shaky  breath.  The
condo  was  small  and  red  brick  with  a
bad paint job and pale shutters. A brick
walkway trailed upward toward a white
door.  In  front  of  the  door,  there  was  a
stained  welcome  mat.  Martin  cringed.
Terence  may  have  had  some  money  on
the  side,  but  not  much.  Guess  he  was
willing  to  suffer  if  it  meant  having  his
own place.

That made him feel even more guilty.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say
to Terence when he got inside. He
wished the pharmacy had a more exotic
array of pills, such as man-up-and-grow-

some-balls  tablets  or  maybe  just-shut-
up-you-dumb-prick-and-go-get-your-
man enzymes. Last time he had gone to a
pharmacy,  Martin  hadn’t  seen  any  in
stock,  so  he  was  going  to  have  to  live
with himself just the way he was.

Martin opened the car door and

stepped  out  onto  the  street.  He  locked
his  car  twice,  just  to  make  sure.  He
didn’t  want  to  take  any  chances  on  a
street like this. With his sweaty hands in
his  pockets,  Martin  walked  up  to  the
front  door  and  knocked.  There  was  the
sound  of  movement  on  the  other  side  of
the door, and the hall light flicked on. He
felt  so  nervous  he  wanted  to  whip
around  and  go  running  in  the  opposite
direction.

But then the door opened. Too late.
“Martin,” Terence said, his eyes

widening  when  he  opened  the  door.  “I
was trying to call you. I left you a couple
of  messages,  but  you  didn’t  pick  up  the
phone.  I  was  worried  about  you.  If  you
hadn’t  answered  by  tomorrow,  I  was
going  to  come  by  your  place,  whether
you liked it or not.”

There

were

bags

underneath

Terence’s eyes, and his face appeared
pale. Martin realized Terence truly had
been worried about him.

“I was a jackass,” Martin said. “I saw

you had called, but I didn’t want to
check the messages or answer because I
was worried about what you would
say.”

“What is so horrible I would say?”

Terence asked. “I care about you. That
wouldn’t change no matter where I live.”

“I just thought you wanted to talk

about  your  trip  and  how  excited  you
were,  and  even  though  we’ve  been
dating  a  short  time,  I  would  have
realized  how  much  .  .  .  how  much  I
would miss you,” Martin said.

Terence watched him with wide eyes.

“Do you . . . Do you want to come in? I
think this is the type of conversation we
should be having without the risk you
might get shot. Plus, the house is a little
better on the inside than the out.”

Nodding,

Martin

stepped

into

Terence’s condo and saw he had yet to
get any furniture. In the living room with

ivy wallpaper and a wooden floor, there
were a couple of boxes, but not much
else.

“I didn’t bring much with me from my

old house,” Terence admitted. “Money
included.”

“Maybe you should have stayed with

Trinity,” Martin said. “I haven’t been
sleeping much because of you lately, but
I think that’s going to continue now I
know where you are living. You should .
. .”

You should come stay with me. But he

couldn’t bring himself to finish the
sentence. Not yet, anyway.

“To be honest, I think I would rather

get shot than spend another night with
Trinity,” Terence said. “I love her to

death, but she has the energy of a twenty-
one-year-old, and I don’t. There are only
so many times I can watch shows about
party houses without getting a migraine,
too.”

Nodding,

Martin

turned

toward

Terence, unsure of where to go so they
could finish their talk. I wonder if we’ll
have to sit on boxes. He cringed. This
was it. Somehow, he would get Terence
to leave this place, whether it was via an
apartment in Denmark or his own house.

Terence led Martin down the hallway

and into a dining room that connected
with a small kitchen that still smelled of
cigarettes, though Terence didn’t smoke.
Thankfully, there was a plastic table and
some chairs set up, so he didn’t have to

worry  about  sitting  on  the  floor.  Martin
sat  down,  and  Terence  sat  across  from
him  and  gave  him  his  seductive  but  shy
smile once again, which caused Martin’s
heart to thunder in his chest. Once again,
Terence was on his game.

“So I take it you finally checked your

messages,” Terence asked.

“No,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“When you wouldn’t pick up after the

third time, I told you what was going on
and  gave  you  this  address,”  Terence
said.  “I  figured  you  would  listen
eventually  .  .  .  or  at  least,  I  hoped  you
would. To be honest, I started to wonder
whether I gave up my job for nothing.”

Reaching across the table, Martin laid

his hand on top of Terence’s intertwined
ones.

“I didn’t check my messages yet,” he

said. “A friend talked sense into me, and
I realized I would rather give up my life
here  and  go  with  you  to  Denmark  than
lose  you.  I  knocked  on  Trinity’s  door
and  barged  into  her  house,  looking  for
you.”

Terence’s mouth fell open. “Are you

serious? You actually decided to give up
everything  to  go  with  me?  I  realized
after  you  left  what  a  selfish  person  I’d
been,  asking  so  much  of  you  so  soon.  It
was  one  of  the  reasons  I  decided  to
stay.”

“Yes,” Martin said, “I was fully

prepared to go with you. But you

actually gave up your dream job for me.
I can’t believe that.”

A lopsided grin crossed Terence’s

face. “Real romantic, huh?”

“More like real stupid,” Martin said,

winking at him. “I’m not worth that kind
of trouble.”

“You are worth all the trouble in the

world,” Terence said quietly, the joking
smile leaving his face.

Terence removed his hand from

underneath  Martin’s  and  then  placed  it
on  top  instead.  Using  his  thumb,  he
gently  stroked  Martin’s  golden  skin.
Martin  shivered  at  his  touch.  He  had
actually  forgotten  how  good  it  felt  to
have  Terence  touch  him,  even  if  it  was
just his hand.

As the two of them gazed at each

other,  Martin  felt  his  heart  heal.  He
couldn’t believe Terence would give up
his job for him, and at the same time, he
couldn’t  believe  how  much  he  was
willing  to  give  up  in  turn.  Maybe  things
had happened fast between them, but that
didn’t make the intensity any less real.

“Can you still get your job back,

Terence?” Martin asked quietly.

“What?” Terence asked. “Why?”
“I think you should go,” Martin said,

“but this time, I’ll go with you.”

The smile that crossed Terence’s face

was so big Martin felt blinded.

* * * *

That night, Martin unlocked his front

door  while  Terence  gently  ran  his  hand
down  the  back  of  his  neck.  The  simple
touch felt as erotic to him as a thousand
hair-raising,  tongue-filled  kisses  from
other lovers. After he got the door open,
he stumbled inside, and Terence stepped
in after him.

“That’s better,” Terence said.
“I won’t have to worry about a rat

crawling on my face while I’m sleeping
now,” Martin said.

The two of them looked at each other

again,  and  Terence  slammed  the  door
shut  behind  him,  seized  Martin  by  his
collar,  and  his  lips  crashed  against  his.
Martin  exhaled  a  sigh  and  opened  his
mouth  to  accept  Terence’s  tongue,  and
the  two  of  them  roughly  explored  one

another’s mouths as Martin’s hand
dropped low to fondle Terence’s hard,
muscular ass cheek.

Terence pushed Martin around and

pinned him against the wall by the door
so fast, he gasped.

“I missed you so much,” Terence

whispered.

With a hungry expression, Terence

pressed his mouth against Martin’s
again, hard and passionate.

When Martin put his tongue into

Terence’s  mouth,  Terence  nipped  the
end  of  it,  and  he  winced  as  pain  filled
the tip. The pain subsided to a dull ache
as  Terence  soothed  Martin’s  aching
tongue  with  his  own,  and  Martin  soon
shuddered and relaxed against him.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Martin said when

Terence broke away. “My bedroom . . .”

Nodding, Terence stepped away, and

Martin  grabbed  his  hand  and  led  him  to
the  stairs.  Martin  went  up  the  stairs,
turned  right,  and  entered  his  bedroom.
The  walls  had  been  done  by  Eli  and
were  a  dark,  stormy  gray.  There  was  a
queen-size  bed  with  a  canopy,  and  a
bookshelf to the right of it.

Martin pulled Terence over to the bed

and then pushed his shoulder, signaling
he wanted him underneath him.

Terence understood at once and

flopped backward onto the bed. With an
eager grin, Martin followed after him
and lay on top of him, wedging his knee
in between Terence’s legs. He could

feel  Terence’s  hard  cock  brush  against
his  thigh  and  shivered  in  want  as  his
balls  ached.  With  a  groan,  Martin
covered Terence’s lips with his own and
then  pushed  his  tongue  inside  of
Terence’s mouth.

Terence allowed him access at once

and  shuddered  beneath  him  before
wrapping  his  arms  around  Martin’s
small  hips  and  gripping  both  of  his  ass
cheeks with wide, hot palms.

As Martin kissed Terence, his heart

beat  faster  as  the  smell  of  Terence’s
sweet  breath  filled  his  lungs.  Either
Terence had been drinking wine earlier,
or he just had the sweetest natural breath
in  existence.  Martin  hungrily  plunged
deeper  into  Terence’s  mouth,  loving  his

smell and flavor. The two of them finally
broke apart, and Martin stared down into
Terence’s grinning face.

Before Martin could blink, Terence

had  him  pinned  beneath  him  on  the  bed
again. He seized the buttons on Martin’s
shirt and began to quickly open them one
by  one.  Once  his  shirt  was  open,
Terence  didn’t  waste  time  and  leaned
forward  and  nipped  the  top  of  Martin’s
right  nipple  as  he  finished  pulling
Martin’s  shirt  off.  Martin  gasped  at  the
pain,

but

enjoyed

the

tingling

aftersensation.

He also enjoyed Terence’s rough

hands  running  down  his  abs,  and  he
shuddered  at  the  touch.  One  thing
Terence  had  was  power.  He  enjoyed

how aggressive Terence was in bed,
with or without his teeth.

Martin wiggled out of his shirt and

moved to throw it aside, but instead,
Terence grabbed his wrist and stole the
shirt from him.

“Why do you want my shirt?” Martin

asked, raising an eyebrow.

Instead of responding, Terence moved

Martin’s  hands  above  his  head  and
pushed  his  wrists  together.  He  used  the
shirt to bind his wrists. Martin looked at
Terence  with  his  eyebrows  raised,
knowing  full  well  he  could  have  been
out  of  the  loose  shirt  within  seconds  if
he really wanted to be.

“I’ve always wanted to try it,”

Terence said sheepishly.

“Well, hell, if you’ve always wanted

to try it,” Martin said, “I guess it’s
okay.”

“Yeah?” Terence’s grin broadened.
“Yeah.”
“Then keep your hands up, and don’t

move. Keep your eyes shut, too.”

That should be easy. All the sex,

none  of  the  work.  Martin  shut  his  eyes
and  enjoyed  the  sensations  as  Terence
kissed  his  jawline  and  then  wandered
down  to  his  neck,  where  he  spent  some
time  nibbling  at  the  flesh  to  the  right  of
his Adam’s apple.  With a groan,  Martin
squirmed  in  response  to  his  kisses,  but
he kept his hands above his head and his
eyes shut, if only for his own pleasure.

Terence began to kiss his way

between  Martin’s  collarbones  and  then
trailed downward between his pecs. The
lower  Terence  got,  the  more  Martin’s
cock  and  balls  ached,  and  the  more  he
wanted  to  unzip  his  fly  and  hurry
Terence along. When Terence kissed his
way  to  Martin’s  pelvis,  right  where  his
pants  met  his  stomach,  he  did  not  unzip
Martin’s pants like he expected. Instead,
he  kissed  his  way  down  over  the  fabric
and  hovered  over  his  fly.  As  Terence
breathed  on  his  fly,  making  Martin
squirm and groan with want, he began to
rub  Martin’s  cock  just  enough  to  get  his
attention,  but  not  enough  to  relieve  any
of  the  pressure.  Martin  groaned,  lifted
his head, and opened his eyes.

The two of them locked eyes, and

Terence  smirked. He  knows  just  what
he’s  doing.   Martin  moved  to  free
himself  by  pulling  his  arms  apart,  but
Terence pointed at him and said, “Stop.”

Martin frowned and lowered his arms

and then shut his eyes, thinking, This is
going to be a hell of a lot harder than I
thought.

Once Martin’s arms were down,

Terence  continued  with  his  teasing,
gently  rubbing  the  top  of  his  jeans  with
the  tips  of  his  fingers.  Martin  groaned
again, and felt Terence’s hot breath over
his  fly.  He  thought  Terence  had  just
kissed  his  cock,  but  he  couldn’t  be  sure
because  he  couldn’t  see  it  and  could
hardly feel it over his pants.

Finally, Terence unzipped his fly and

tugged Martin’s pants down his legs and
off of him.

He’s going to get to the point at last.

Though Martin expected Terence to pull
down  his  underwear  too,  he  didn’t.
Instead,  Terence began the same teasing
over  Martin’s  cock,  except  this  time  he
did  it  while  he  was  just  in  his
underwear.

First, Terence leaned downward and

breathed over his cock, and the heat
made Martin shudder.

After he was done breathing over his

cock,  Terence  once  again  began  that
tantalizingly  slow  and  gentle  caress.
Terence  moved  his  hand  over  the  tip  of
his  shaft,  running  a  ring  over  his  head,
and  then  he  moved  his  hand  down  and

ran  his  fingertips  over  his  soft  balls.  In
an  attempt  to  increase  the  pressure  of
Terence’s  hand,  Martin  raised  his  hips,
but  Terence  just  raised  his  hand  along
with him and gently touched him.

“Will you get to it?” Martin asked, the

light touches just enough to make him
squirm. “You are driving me crazy.”

Terence just chuckled and returned to

gently running a ring around the head of
his cock.

Finally, Terence once again grabbed

the top band of his underwear and pulled
them  down.  When  the  air  hit  Martin’s
cock  and  it  sprung  free,  he  shuddered
and  opened  his  eyes  again.  This  time,
Terence was not looking at him. Instead,
he  stared  at  his  cock  with  an  excited

expression.  The  look  on  his  face  was
almost  as  arousing  as  his  touches.
Before he could get busted with his eyes
open again,  Martin tilted his head to the
right  and  hurriedly  shut  his  eyes  before
releasing a shaky but eager sigh.

Terence

reached

forward

and

wrapped his hand around Martin’s cock,
and Martin arched his back, eager for
hard pressure he expected would not
come. He was correct.

Instead

doing

what

Martin

desperately  wanted,  Terence  began  to
gently tickle the skin at the bottom of his
shaft  up  and  down,  causing  his  skin  to
form  goose  bumps.  Once  Terence  had
done  this  five  times,  he  began  to  gently
trace  Martin’s head in a circular pattern

yet again, teasing his sensitive tip and
driving him insane. As he did this, he
used his other hand and tickled his balls,
using only the gentle tips of his fingers.

Martin groaned again. “You fucker,”

he muttered. “Stop it.”

Terence laughed and then kissed the

top  of  Martin’s  cock,  as  if  it  was
precious.  Martin  hoped  Terence  would
take  his  cock  in  his  mouth,  but  instead,
he  grabbed  him  at  his  shaft  and  gently
ran his tongue up and down at the bottom
of  Martin’s  dick.  After  that,  he  did  the
same  thing  to  his  cock’s  head  and
whirled  his  tongue  around  the  sensitive
tip, causing Martin to shudder.

With a groan, Terence shifted

Martin’s cock and then licked just the

top  from  tip  to  base.  Once  he  had
finished, he backed away from  Martin’s
shaft  and  then  began  to  kiss  his  thighs
and  balls,  everywhere  but  his  throbbing
and desperate cock.

“Do you have any lube?” Terence

asked.

Finally, is he going to finish this?

Martin nodded.

“The dresser to the right,” he said.

“It’s the top drawer, the one with all my
shirts. I think it’s underneath the stack to
the very left.”

Terence climbed off of the bed, and

Martin  opened  his  eyes  again.  Terence
opened  his  top  drawer  and  dug  around
inside.  A  moment  later,  he  pulled  out  a
large  jar  of  lubricant  and  a  stack  of

porno that caused heat to fill his cheeks.

“Porn?” Terence asked, raising his

eyebrow.

“Like you don’t have any.” Martin

pouted.

Chuckling, Terence placed the porn

back in the drawer. His smirk was not
nearly as annoying as it might have been
normally. Terence could have made him
horny if he was on fire.

“I thought I said to keep your eyes

closed,” Terence said. “If you enjoy this,
we’re going to have to invest in a
blindfold to keep you from peeking.”

Martin hastily shut his eyes, and

Terence hovered over his face and then
gave him a soft kiss on the lips. After
that, Terence kissed him again, this time

harder.  He  shoved  his  tongue  inside
Martin’s  mouth,  and  Martin  groaned
against  him,  squirming.  When  Terence
pulled  away,  the  bed  moved,  and  he
heard  a  soft  whoosh  and  assumed
Terence  had  taken  off  his  shirt.  A
moment  later,  Terence  was  pressed
against  him  again,  and  this  time  they
were chest to chest.

As Terence held him close and kissed

him,  his  hand  went  lower  and  lower
until  he  fondled  Martin’s  shaft  and  ran
his  hand  over  the  head.  Martin
shuddered in pleasure and let out a sigh.
Terence broke away from his mouth and
once  again  kissed  down  his  neck,  his
chest, and then, finally, his pelvis.

Once he reached his cock, Terence

dipped  down  low  and  then  licked  his
thighs  and  balls.  Once  Martin’s  inner
thighs  and  balls  were  damp,  Terence
uncapped the lubricant, pushed  Martin’s
ass cheek aside with his opposing hand,
and then began to finger Martin’s hole.

Once again, Martin squirmed as

Terence  fondled  him.  He  teasingly
looped  Martin’s  hole  with  his  fingertip
again and again. Finally, Terence pushed
further  into  his  hole  and  dived  inside,
making  Martin squirm. As he moved his
finger around inside, he kissed the top of
Martin’s  cock  and  then  moved  his  hand
roughly  up  and  down  the  base  of
Martin’s  shaft,  making  pleasure  fill  his
balls.

At first, Terence continued to be

gentle, but then his breath increased and
he  began  to  pound  into  Martin  harder
and  harder.  Finally,  Terence  pounded
into  him  so  hard  it  caused  his  ass  and
shaft to ache with pleasure. This was the
pressure  Martin  had  wanted  all  along.
No, this was the pressure he had needed.
He felt like he was in heaven right now.

Terence

stopped

pumping

and

thrusting into him with his soaked finger
and then pulled Martin’s legs onto his
shoulders. Opening an eye so he could
see,

Martin

squirmed

and

got

comfortable.

Terence began to move forward and

placed  his  cock’s  head  against  Martin’s
asshole.  When  Terence  pushed  his  hips
forward,  Martin  felt  burning,  and

Terence  pulled  out.  Terence  once  again
roughly began to pound into Martin’s ass
with  his  finger  as  pleasure  filled
Martin’s  balls. A  deep  longing  to  touch
himself  to  Terence’s  rhythm  filled  him,
but he fought it down. He had to maintain
his  self-control  and  follow  Terence’s
orders.  There  was  something  erotic
about  that.  Terence’s  orders.  Like  he
completely belonged to  Terence.  Martin
could live with that.

“Almost,” Terence moaned as he

continued to work Martin’s asshole.

Finally, Terence stopped thrusting

into him with his finger, moved his hips
forward, and once again pushed his cock
against Martin’s hole. Martin felt the
stretched feeling again, but it was not

overly  painful.  He  felt  Terence’s  cock
slip  past  the  ring  of  muscle  and  inside,
and  once  again  felt  full  of  Terence.  It
wasn’t  until  Terence  shifted  his  weight,
though,  that  Martin  felt  pleasure  spasm
through  his  body  and  knew  Terence  had
reached his prostate.

With a groan, Terence grabbed

Martin’s  cock  and  began  to  pull  at  it  so
roughly it ached as he pounded into him.
Martin  wanted  to  move  his  hands  so  he
could  grab  the  bed,  but  he  obediently
kept  them  above  his  head  and  kept  his
eyes  shut.  It  was  like  he  could  feel
everything  more  intensely,  and  the
noises . . .

When Martin wasn’t focusing on sight,

he could make out every breath that

Terence  dragged  in.  He  also  enjoyed
listening  to  the  bed  creak  and  groan
underneath  them,  loud, whump,  whump,
whump. The pressure on his cock and in
his  ass  made  him  tingle,  and  he  let  out
cries  that  matched  the  bed’s  as  well  as
Terence’s.  To  accompany  his  cries,
Terence  thrust  into  him  harder  and
harder,  chasing  the  breath  from  him.
Every  time  Terence  pushed  into  him,  it
caused his ass to ache with pleasure.

As Terence used his free hand to

massage his thigh, he said, “Open your
eyes.”

After Martin did, he felt his orgasm

build. After  all,  how  could  he  not  come
when  he  stared  into  Terence’s  broad
grin  and  gorgeous  dimples?  He  also

could see his own cock bob in Terence’s
grip and watch Terence’s lean hips
thrust in and out of him, making a schlip,
schlip sound. The smell of sweat and
sex filled the air.

Martin cried out, threw back his head,

and came. This time, Terence came right
along  with  him,  pulling  out  and  coming
all over  Martin’s lower abs.  When both
of them had finished, Terence flopped to
his  side  and  lay  on  his  back,  panting.
Martin  pulled  his  hands  out  of  his  shirt
and lowered them to his side, moving his
fingers to reestablish the blood flow.

“God, that was amazing,” Terence

said.

“If I wasn’t going to Denmark before,

I would have after that,” Martin joked,

knowing that his happiness had nothing
to do with great sex, though it had been
amazing.

Terence rolled onto his side, seized

Martin’s  hand,  and  then  put  his  palm
against  his  chest.  “I  am  so  glad  you’re
going  with  me,”  he  said.  “No  place
would be home without you there.”

Martin smiled and felt like he could

have looked at Terence’s gorgeous grin
all night.

Epilogue

The apartment in Denmark was

medium sized and already filled with
beige furniture.

Martin let his suitcase drop from his

hand  and  walked  over  to  the  wide
window  in  the  bedroom.  He  gazed  out
and  looked  upon  the  city  streets  filled
with

people.

The

streets

were

cobblestone and lined with small, fat
cottages. A grin crossed Martin’s face as
he looked outside, and he almost jumped
when Terence grabbed his arm and held
out his camera.

“My camera?” Martin raised an

eyebrow.

“It’s an important moment.” Terence

nodded toward the landscape out the
window. “You should capture it.”

“It is important,” Martin said.
But instead of taking a picture of

Denmark’s  horizon,  he  stepped  toward
Terence, pulled him to his side, and held
the  camera  aloft.  He  snapped  a  picture
and brought the camera to him and turned
it around.  The picture was crooked, and
their  suitcases  were  strewn  about  in  the
background,  but  Martin  didn’t  care.  It
was  day  one  of  the  rest  of  their  lives,
and  he  wanted  the  picture  to  be  there,
hopefully  as  a  lasting  testament  of
forever.

The End

About the Author

Penelope Rivers is an erotic novelist

of M/M romance novels and short
stories. A hopeless dreamer, she spends
her day thinking about all things fantasy,
romantic and not. It is her view that
when

you

start

choking

the

occasionally dry bread of life, you need
something sinfully delicious to chase it
down with. Currently, she lives in Utah
with an abnormal amount of pets.

Document Outline