Chapter 3

Perhaps it was weariness over the afternoon-long trip to Dallas coupled with the spring showers that had made the narrow ribbon of pavement slick, or it could be anticipation over the next day's tour of the amusement park and then a visit to a widely known community theater-whatever the cause it was past midnight and both Dan and Phil remained awake in the motel room.

D,an could hear Little One's breathing, smooth yet occasionally breaking rhythm as the boy tossed restlessly. The rain continued to patter against the window near the twin beds and the music from the FM radio Dan had brought complimented the quiet, peaceful atmosphere.

Dan threw back his sheet, sat up, lighted a cigarette and for a moment sat on the edge of his bed, quietly smoking and staring across the narrow gorge to where Phil sprawled, the covers tumbled as he had tossed and turned.

"Dan?"

The voice was but a whisper. "Can't sleep either?"

"I don't know what it is. I feel awake, yet I'm still tired and I should be sleepy."

Dan sat down on the edge of Little One's bed.

"I know. It's anticipation, I guess. You'll have something great to see tomorrow, I promise, and I've not even been to the park. The theater should be something to explore, too. It's brand new and is supposed to be quite different."

"But why can't I sleep tonight?" It was more a drowsy comment than a question. Phil tossed again, the sheet falling away from his long, slender legs as he rolled over on his stomach, batted the pillow into a ball and pulled it under his head.

Without reply, Dan leaned forward, his hands reaching down and out. As they encircled one of Phil's sinewy legs and gently began to massage, the startled Phil glanced around for a moment, then relaxed and fell back.

Methodically, with practiced and gentle hands, Dan kneaded Phil's limbs, moving down to relieve the tenseness in his calves, then back up, sometimes squeezing almost roughly, at others barely moving over the down-covered legs.

Dan reached to the night table and pulled a small bottle of alcohol from his overnight bag-protection from occasional aches in a trick knee-and opened the bottle.

Little One gasped momentarily as the cool liquid splashed on his legs, but .quickly relaxed. Dan's breathing became heavier as he felt the tender flesh yielding under his fingers and a deep yearning began to manifest itself, although still tempered by uncertainty. Should he continue? dare he make the move he had dreamed of? could he endure the all too possible rejection?

Little One sprawled in a human X beside Dan, yielding completely to the gentle massage. His breathing was soft and more relaxed. The lad's T-shirt was rumpled and pulled away from his brief shorts, revealing a bit of the pale flesh of his back.

Dan could continue no longer kneading only Phil's lower limbs. His heart pounding and his fingers still gentle although shaking slightly, Dan reached upward beneath the shirt and stroked Little One's back, then edging up to the shoulders.

The only response was a soft gasp as the first chilling touch of Dan's fingers spread across the boy's back. Dan carefully worked the shirt up to Phil's shoulders, then finally started to pull it over Little One's head.

Phil silently helped remove the garment, then fell back on the pillow.

Dan breathed a sigh of relief and, his heart still pounding, reached down to the back which was now entirely at this pleasure. The rain continued to patter against the window, the music waltzed pleasantly on as he quietly soothed the lad's tired muscles.

Questions pounded through Dan's head as he silently worked at his labor of love, caressing the yielding flesh of the lad for whom he had come to hold so much affection.

Dare he continue? How far would Phil allow him to go before the realization of Dan's goal dawned on him? Then rejection? Or would he receive the act as a true sign of Dan's love, and give himself to Dan in turn.

As if in answer, Little One moved slightly, apparently to put beneath the kneading fingers a certain area of his side, and it gave Dan his chance. Gently but firmly his hands rolled Little One over on his back.

Dan looked intently into Phil's face, but the lad's eyes remained all but closed and he had a gentle smile on his face. His arms were flung out and he completely relaxed, surrendering himself to the caressing tenderness.

Even in the dim light Dan could see that his massaging of Little One's upper thighs, with occasional brushes over his shorts, was causing a definite reaction even though the youth's face remained composed, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly ajar.

Dan's heart pounded wildly. Dare he go all the way? Would Phil awaken, reject his efforts angrily, perhaps even later expose him to the unsuspecting and trusting parents?

Or did Phil also want affection? Did he share the closeness that Dan felt. Perhaps Phil didn't fully realize or understand his feelings, but it was obvious he was old enough to enjoy such urges.

Dan feared such a move might shatter all that had been built up between the two. Inexperience and fear go hand and hand, and Dan doubted that Little One had ever experienced love other than paternal. Despite Larry Donovan's chatter, Phil didn't seem the type the gossiper hinted.

Once more Dan gazed lovingly at Philip, over the lithe body, the gently heaving stomach with but a hint of dark down rising in an inverted V from beneath the shorts, the tousle-haired head that had so pleasantly snuggled against Dan's shoulder when the lad fell asleep during the long drive.

One hand had been massaging Phil's thigh. Gently, stealthily it moved upward, silently coming to rest poised lightly over the one bit of flesh hidden from his enraptured gaze.

Dan held his breath, fearing and almost expecting a sudden, angered reaction. A moment passed, seemingly an hour. There was no outburst. Another minute passed, Still no protest.

Then, delightfully, he felt a gentle stirring beneath his hand. Phil wanted him as he wanted the boy, Dan realized. Or at least he had similar urges and was not afraid to experiment.

OhGod, Dan silently prayed, let it be desire, not just passing curiosity, and let it be satisfying and beautiful for him. A tear welled up in his eyes. Then he gently leaned over and his lips brushed against Little One's.

Slowly Dan reached down and removed the last barrier, then his lips moved down over Little One's chest. As his lips and tongue caressed the boy's crimson rosette, Dan felt Little One's hands touch his head, then caress him and slowly pull his head up.

Again their lips touched, and Dan felt Phil's tongue issue a tentative invitation to explore. His arms slipped around the boy and held him close. His hands slipped down and gently moved over the boy's back, and then down to cup his firm young buns.

Phil threw himself against Dan, and Dan could feel the boy's cock, now swollen and stiff, prodding his groin. Dan's lips slipped from the boy's, and he nuzzled Phil's ear, delighted that the action sent a new thrill through the boy's responsive body.

Soon he again slipped down, his lips brushing over the neck, the chest and finally reaching the center of interest, the throbbing eight-inch rod with his heavy ball sack hanging below.

Dan's fingers caressed the downy sack as he kissed the tip of the cock and watched it jump for joy. Then slowly he guided the heavy, throbbing cock down his throat and began to make love to it. Phil thrust his dick upward and at the same time gripped Dan's head to force it down fully on the heavy boy fuck weapon.

As he sucked the kid's beautiful cock, Dan's hand continued to massage the boy's balls and to explore between the youth's legs. Phil obligingly spread his legs apart so that the fingers could slip down and tantalize the warm anal darkness.

Then, at last, the fingers touched the opening to his tight, unexplored tunnel of desire and caressed the sensitive folds of skin that was his asshole.

Phil moaned with desire and thrust his cock upward again, burying it deep within Dan's pleasuring throat.

Dan continued to massage the opening to the boy's virginal ass as he wrapped his tongue around the cock and frantically sucked it to bring forth the boy's hot creamy juices.

Little One was gasping at the doubleedged attack on his sensitive sexual core, and with a keening moan slammed his cock deep and shot the first blast of his boyfuck juices. Dan continued to such his delicious cock rapidly, and at the same time gently drove his finger past the entrance of the asshole and toward the supersensitive prostate gland. As he did, Phil gasped and fired another volley of hot sticky boy cum deep into Dan's eager cock-squeezing throat. And then another shot of cum until at last his heavy nuts were drained.

Dan continued to explore the tight shit tunnel with one finger as he sucked on the boy's cock, which now began to soften slightly. Phil continued to run his long fingers through Dan's hair and caress his ears and even down to feel his lips as they wrapped themselves around his cock.

When the cock had softened completely and Dan lay with his head on the boy's soft, flat stomach, Phil slowly sat up and slipped around on the bed so that his lips were inches away from Dan's still rigid cock. Then he leaned forward and took the cock he was fondling into his mouth.

Phil gagged once or twice as he sucked on it and then tried to guide it deep into his throat, and he refused to quit until it was buried deep in his throat and he was caressing the full nine inches with his tongue.

Dan lay back and moaned with delight, at the same time the one finger continuing to massage deep within Phil's tunnel of love and the other hand caressing the boy's tousled hair and downy cheek.

Phil broke away and moved up until his lips touched Dan's, then crushed against them as his tongue snaked deep into the older man's mouth and made love to the tongue he found there.

Although he had to stretch to reach, Dan's finger remained buried in Phil's tight asshole, sending shivers through the boy's body as it tantalized his prostate.

They rolled together on the bed until Phil was on his back and Dan sprawled over his body.

Dan got to his knees and, after spreading hand cream over his throbbing cock, slowly lifted the boy's legs until they rested on his shoulders. Then he leaned over and kissed Phil and at the same time guided his cock toward the winking boyfuck hole where his finger had been exploring and greasing with more of the cream.

Phil flinched momentarily as the tip of the heavy cock touched the opening of his ass, then he gripped Dan's head and crushed his lips with his own as his enormous cockhead slipped painfully into the virginal shit opening.

Dan slowly pushed his prick deeper, pausing now and again as he felt Little One flinch with pain. Their lips continued to press together.

At last he felt the downy hairs around the boy's ass brushing against his pubic patch and knew his cock was buried completely inside the child's asshole.

His hands caressed Little One's thighs and then up to hold the boy's head as he kissed deeply. Phil responded fully, and even tightened his anal muscles around the throbbing cock.

Dan began slowly to witlidraw his cock, then surge it forward again, and each time Phil moaned or became even more passionate with his kisses.

Hie anal muscles gripped his cock tightly and Dan could feel them contracting to provide an even firmer grip on his throbbing boyfuck rod.

He stepped up the pace of his fucking and when there was no protest he began long-dicking the kid, slamming his cock in deep and even corkscrewing slightly.

Soon Dan could feel his own love juices began to rise, and with now frantic thrusting motions he buried his cock fully into the tight, moist boyfuck tunnel and, with a gasp, his cum exploded. His boyfuck cream splashed forth deep within Phil's spasming asshole and the boy responded by gripping him close and sucking his tongue deep within his mouth.

When he had spent himself completely, Dan gently rolled over on his side, pulling Little One with him. His cock was still buried, and their lips still glued in warm embrace, although their passion was subsiding.

At last his cock slid from the cum-filled shit tunnel, and Dan lead Phil to the bathroom where they showered together. Again they kissed and caressed and fondled.

After toweling each other dry, they returned to the rumpled bed. Dan rested on his back, with Little One cradled in his arm, the tousle of damp hair close to his cheek.

Phil soon slept, but Dan still could not, although he felt completely relaxed and at peace. The joy of the preceding moments, as each had expressed most intimately his affection, still buoyed him.

The radio was still offering quiet classics as Dan gradually awakened. Little One remained, nestled against him, his head burrowed against his shoulder and one arm carelessly flung over Dan's chest.

Dan smiled gently at the sleeping boy, then cautiously reached out for a cigarette from the pack on the night stand. As Dan moved, Phil roused slightly, but dozed off again.

For several minutes Dan lay quietly smoking and listening to the radio and thinking of the moments of love they had experienced just a few hours before. Sadness washed over him as he thought of the future. This idyll could but be of short duration, for soon he must return to New York. He would be busy through the summer with the play. At best he had only another week, and with Little One's myriad activities it was doubtful that much time would be available for them to spend alone together.

If only Little One were a bit older, not tied to family and school; then he could come to New York, Dan mused. If his interest in theater was not just a mere boyhood imagine, New York would be heaven for the boy. Of course, there was one possibility, summer was fast approaching.

As if he knew someone were thinking of him, Phil opened his eyes and looked up at Dan.

"Hi," he whispered.

Dan smiled at the youthful face. "Hi, yourself. Sleep well?"

Little One nodded, then stretched luxuriously. "Don't usually when I'm away from home, but it was wonderful."

Dan reached for another cigarette and offered one to Phil. The lad grinned as he refused.

"You're gonna corrupt me yet, mixing me drinks like you do, sucking my cock and fucking my ass, offering me cigarettes and--"

His voice trailed off and for a moment there was only the soft strains of a Sibelius symphony from the radio.

Having smoked but half the cigarette, Dan ground it out and then pulled the coverlet up over the two of them. Idly his hand held the top of the sheet, his fingers relaxing as they dropped close to Little One's own slender hand.

Phil slowly reached over and took Dan's hand in his. He toyed with the ring on one finger, then noticed the design and held it up so he could better see the frowning theatrical mask in the center.

"That the way you feel this morning?" he asked. "Um?"

"Sad-or is that the way the ring's made?"

Dan smiled. The ring was frowning, but' that certainly was not the way he felt.

"It can smile. The face swivels and it should be smiling this morning. Very definitely."

Phil slipped the ring from Dan's finger, toyed with the faces which were cast back to back on a rotating bit of silver, then with the smile looking out, slipped the ring back. He suddenly chuckled. "I now pronounce you man and-"

"Man?"

They both laughed, but Dan could see that Little One also was blushing. Dan lay almost without breathing as the silence returned and Phil continued to hold his hand. He waited for Phil to say something, anything that would indicate his feeling about the moments of ecstasy he had experienced. Could it have been a moment made possible only because his young friend was half drugged by sleepiness after the long trip?

"Last night was, I--? " Little One stammered as he sought the right words. His voice was barely audible, his whisper blending into the lush string music.

"You really don't have to talk about it if it embarrasses you," Dan replied, clutching the hand that held his own.

"It's not that. I-I just don't know how to begin."

"like Alice in Wonderland, why not start at the beginning?"

"It all seems almost like a dream. I don't even know if I remember what was real and what really was a dream."

"I'm glad you said dream. You could have found it to be a nightmare."

Little One looked up. "It did happen. Your cock, it wasn't just my imagination."

Dan shook his head and smiled reassuringly. "It was no dream."

"I'm glad."

Phil's voice was soft, but the comment was made with no hesitancy. At the same time he squeezed Dan's hand gently.

Again there was silence, as Little One continued to lie in the crook of Dan's arm, holding the hand and toying with the ring.

"It was my first time," he said at last.

"I thought so. I wasn't even certain if . . . some of your comments last Sunday made me wonder, but it could have been just talk. If you had protested at all I was going to stop at once, and hope you would forgive me."

"I'm glad you didn't," Phil said, snuggling closer. "It all seemed . . . so perfect and natural. I had never even kissed anyone. Oh, of course mom and grandmother and that sort of thing, but that doesn't really count."

"It counts, but it's a different kind of-of affection."

There was a pause, and then Little One looked up at Dan again. "What would you have done if-if I'd protested? If I hadn't wanted you to go ahead?"

"Stopped immediately," Dan's answer was quick and sure. "like I said, and I would have apologized for offending and hoped you would be forgiving."

He pulled Little One's hand to his lips and softly kissed it. "You see, I was quite content to be plain, simple friends. In fact, I would have been angry forever if anything I did offended you.

"I don't think it'll go to your head if I say this-you're far beyond your age in many ways. I value your friendship too much to ever do anything that might upset you. Naturally I'm glad you didn't protest. And, of course, we've barely scratched the surface of what friendship our relationship could be."

Phil was quiet for a moment as well.

"It seems too strange, so different, and still so natural. I-I never thought of going to bed with . . . of such a relationship with a man."

Dan smiled. Little One was skirting the more sexual approach to the subject completely.

"Man has loved man for as long as history records," he said. "You've heard the term 'platonic love,' haven't you? Ever wonder about how it originated? With Plato, one of the greatest Greek philosophers. I could quote scads of poetry he wrote of love for another man. Dozens of others through the ages also have written similar lines.

"Of course, in its truest sense, platonic love is love without sex, although it's generally conceded that Plato also experienced sexual love with other men. I think that if there is true love, there is desire to please one another and sex naturally is a way of pleasure. It's up to the individuals involved to make it more than just sex."

Dan looked down at Little One once more, squeezed the hand tight and chuckled. "But enough talk for this early in the morning."

"Somehow I never thought of us as . . . it just seemed the thing to do last night."

"Love, or friendship-call it what you may-often isn't something you really think about. It just develops, sometimes rapidly, sometimes more gradually. True friendship is made up of many things-similar interests, a desire just to be together, willingness to do things for the other without thought of something in return.

"We haven't known each other very long, according to the calendar at least, but I think you'll agree that we have many similar interests, that we like to be together, that even without thinking we've done things for each other." Isn't that true friendship?

"And last night. It was another way of expressing this friendship, this love for another in a most personal, mutually satisfying way. You said it was your first sexual experience. I am happy-perhaps selfishly so-that I was the first. Sex can be a beautiful expression of friendship, or it can be sordid and dirty. You're old enough, I think, to decide for yourself what last night was."

"It was all.. . so new to me."

Dan smiled. "Sex can take many forms. I won't give you the five-dollar clinical lecture, but I'm sure you've read those plain wrapper books or had locker room bull sessions. Sex can be mere relief of physical desires, or it can be a joyous, intimate way of expressing friendship . . . love. It's entirely what the individual makes of it."

Determinedly Phil grasped Dan's hand tight and silently raised it to his lips.

"For last night," he whispered as he kissed the smiling mask. "For our friendship-our love." He then kissed the back of Dan's hand.

Their hands slipped under the coverlet and Dan's slowly, carefully encircled Little One's waist, pulling the nude youth close. When their lips met it was no longer an act of hesitant tutor and unknowing pupil. The kiss was of love, no passion, and from it by tacit understanding passion was not forthcoming.

Instead, Little One snuggled down beside Dan, his lips barely inches away from Dan's, his lithe body gently nestled close under the cover. For long moments they were content to be in each other's arms, occasionally exchanging a caress or an understanding glance, but no more.

They were caught in the spell of the dimly lighted room, the moody music, but most of all by their newly discovered love.

"What are we going to do?" Little One finally said, somewhat matter-of-factly, his tone breaking the spell. "When?" Dan said, looking down at Phil, not quite comprehending.

"I mean, you'll be going back to New York, I'll be stuck-"

Dan's feelings were mixed with sadness over the thought of separation, yet buoyed by the realization that Little One cared enough to be concerned and to voice this feeling.

"I've already been confronted with that problem," Dan said. "I woke up thinking there should be some solution. There must!"

"When do you have to leave?" A wistful tone crept into Phil's voice, and Dan had to smile, the expression was so poignantly made.

"As soon as possible, unfortunately. Actually I was supposed to be back this weekend, but I put it off."

He kissed Phil on the cheek. "Because of this trip. They'll just have to cry a bit longer for me in New York."

Little One grinned.

"I'll absolutely have to be there by the end of this week, though," Dan said and sighed. "There's still so much to be done on the play, and of course I want it to go right. Much as I'd love to stay right here for a couple of weeks, I don't think I can explain away opening night flaws by inserting a notice in the program to the effect that 'certain faults may be attributed to an invigorating lost weekend the author spent with a divine young man.' Somehow even in New York I don't think that would go over so big, especially with the prim and proper critics."

"When is the show to open?" Phil said.

"We begin work on it in June, and it's scheduled to open around Labor Day, if all goes well. It's gonna be a long hot summer with little time to get away from New York even for a weekend. I'm dreading that. Summer Festival hoopla or not, the city's no honeymoon in July and August-especially if I have no bride."

He hugged Little One, who grinned.

"Would there be time for a-a bride?" Phil whispered, gazing up at Dan with an intensely pleading look. "Perhaps I could-"

"Come to New York? That would be wonderful. Of course there would be time for you, and you'd have a perfect opportunity to watch a Broadway show put together."

He paused, a sudden frown clouding his face.

"But what about your summer plans here? What'll they do at the Little Theater, for instance?"

"They'll do without me," Phil said. "They'd have to find someone next year when I go to college anyway. And like you say, not everybody gets a chance to be backstage when a New York show's rehearsed."

Dan smiled at the determination and speed in which Phil changed an entire summer's plans in a moment, but another pang of anxiety gripped him. Phil's parents also would have to approve such a trip. A weekend jaunt was one thing, but an entire summer in New ""York-that would be another matter. .

"What about your parents?" Dan said, deciding the problem should not be postponed.

"I think they'll say okay, as long as they know I'll be with you. They like you a lot, I can tell. If they didn't I wouldn't have been able to come along on this weekend. They're strict on that sort of thing."

He squeezed Dan's hand and again impishly pecked him on the cheek.

"Of course, they don't know about anything like this going on." He looked up, suddenly serious. "Can we tell anyone? Or should this be our little secret?"

Dan clutched Little One's hand tight, even though he smiled.

"I think it best we don't-at least right now. And certainly not to your parents. I know they wouldn't understand."

Little One nodded, then grinned again. "It makes it all the more fun. I love secrets."

"Little devil."

Again they joined in quiet laughter. Then Dan glanced at his watch and whistled softly.

"It's time, my Little One, that we starting humping if we're to see the park, and I think under the circumstances we better. How could you explain the fact we didn't have time to see it for all the fun we had in bed?"