THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Justin

Written by Lady Poetess
egiggles at moose-mail.com
http://www.asstr.org/~bbp

Please do not reproduce on any website without permission. This
story has no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.

ONE

Justin Bruening had a hard time explaining how he missed his own
twenty-third birthday to his friends, one of whom was right now on
his mobile pointing out how they had male strippers all ready and
the man of the moment was a no-show. He paced the lounge as he
tried to explain that he forgot all about his birthday.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he tried to say. "I hope you guys have a great
time with the strippers without me?"

"Are you crazy?" Wesley Cotton growled. "I'm involved with Bryce.
You think I'm a jerk to disrespect my man like that?"

"Okay," Justin conceded. He tried to recall who would be at the
party that night. He was struck with a realization. "Wesley, so
the strippers are sent back just like that?"

"We have to pay for their services regardless," Wesley told him.
"I told the others strippers were a bad idea. It's tacky."

"You used to date exclusively strippers," Justin couldn't help
reminding him. "They're easy, undemanding, and they know the deal,
remember?"

Wesley cursed. Justin sighed softly, realizing with clarity that
he was the last single men among his friends. Maybe he should be
grateful - a few years ago when he was a silly eighteen year old,
he might be. Now, at twenty-three, he was genuinely thinking of
settling down. His father, a widower who was reliving his Italian
casanova youth with a tenacity that embarrassed Justin, would tell
Justin that twenty-three was too soon to settle down. But sowing
his wild oats had long lost its appeal. The responsible kid in his
family, Justin had never found the appeal of indiscriminate short-
term affairs. There was a time when he tried to deny his sexuality
by screwing every female he could get his hands on, but thanks to
a kind counselor in high school, he learned to accept his real
self and came out when he turned seventeen. His father had, after
a few years, finally relinquish a little of his prejudices and
accepted Justin as he was. Now, at peace with himself, Justin was
seriously considering a long-term relationship.

The man he was thinking of settling down with, however, had made
sure early on that their relationship was supposed to be nothing
more than one of physical convenience.

He watched as the tall and mesmerizing hunk crossed the hotel
lobby towards him. It was hard to believe that someone that looked
and built like Gabriel Soto would care for a middle-class
Pittsburgh kid like Justin, but Gabriel had been sleeping with
Justin for almost a year now. They met when Justin, working for an
employment agency as a head-hunter, was hired by McNair and
Partners to find them an experienced person for a vacant upper
management position. Gabriel was the son and heir of the
accounting firm - and some said the true CEO as the elder Soto
preferred to play golf and leave business to his very capable only
son nowadays - and Justin, in a fit of impulsiveness, accepted
Gabriel's invitation to dinner. They had been together ever since
whenever Gabriel was in town.

"Sorry I'm late," Gabriel said in his smooth baritone as he bent
down to kiss the shorter man on the lips briefly. "I was stuck in
a meeting I can't get out of early."

"I'm just glad you're here," Justin told him honestly. "I missed
you," he deliberately said. He missed Gabriel, of course, but he
knew Gabriel had always set an emotional wall between them. This
would be the first time Justin ever told Gabriel that he missed
Gabriel and contrary to their agreement that they could see - and
sleep with - anybody else when the other was not in town, Justin
had never done so. Gabriel had confessed after they had made love
on Gabriel's twenty-seventh birthday night last March that he had
never done so either. That was when Justin began to seriously
considering asking Gabriel to take their open relationship to a
more intimate level.

"I have to go, Wesley," he said into the phone. "Gabriel's here."

"So that's why you missed last night," Wesley crowed. "You're
pathetic, you know that? Dumping your friends just because your
rich boyfriend is in town."

Ouch, that hurt. "I'm hanging up, Wesley," Justin said with a
chuckle, and did just that, cutting off Wesley's indignant
response.

Gabriel was smiling. "Your friend?"

"Yeah. My friends had plans for my birthday last night, and I
forgot all about it," Justin told him.

"Oh dear," Gabriel said as he took Justin's hand in his and led
them both to the elevator. "If I have known, I wouldn't have kept
you... so occupied... last night."

Gabriel's odd gallantry and his careful English always charmed
Justin. As a non-natural English speaker, Gabriel had confessed
learning English first from watching old movies starring Judy
Garland and Cary Grant. Gabriel was a rabid Judy Garland fan. He
also didn't cuss and he always opened doors and pulled up the
chair for his guests. And despite Justin's strong protests,
Gabriel didn't believe in going Dutch. He paid for everything.
Sometimes Justin thought of Gabriel as the last true gentleman in
town. Other times he was feeling very guilty of letting Gabriel
pay for everything. Maybe when they were more firmly married,
Gabriel would let Justin pay and contribute his share to the
relationship.

"You flew back just for my birthday," Justin murmured. "How can I
remember the stripper party my friends threw me when you're
offering me champagne and romantic dinner in the best restaurant
in town?"

"Strippers?" Gabriel cast Justin a bemused look. "Now I'm glad you
missed the party. Maybe I can make it up to you by giving you a
special performance tonight in my hotel suite?"

"Really?" Justin asked as the elevator doors closed, allowing them
a few seconds of privacy from the world outside. He ran his palms
across Gabriel's cream-colored shirt, savoring the feel of
Gabriel's muscular chest under the fabric.

"Well, I was a very rebellious kid. I ran away when I was sixteen
to join a stripper entourage," Gabriel said. At Justin's shocked
look, he grinned and explained, "I looked old for my age."

That Justin could believe. Gabriel had a charismatic air of
maturity that made him look more handsome that he was and more
older as well. When Justin had first met Gabriel, he assumed that
the latter was in his graceful mid-thirties. Instead, Gabriel
finally turned twenty-seven last March. "I can't believe you were
a stripper," Justin said with a chuckle.

"It lasted for only three days before my father dragged me back."
Gabriel chuckled at the memory. "It wasn't long enough for me to
be corrupted totally, but I learned the moves and I think I still
remember how to put on a good show."

The elevator doors opened at the car park level where Gabriel had
parked his Mercedes Benz. "Shall we?" Gabriel asked Justin. As
usual, as with each of his frequent trips to New York, he would
reserve a table for them at the most elegant and celebrated
restaurants in town. Justin and Gabriel would have a quiet dinner
punctuated by lively stories of Gabriel's business trip anecdotes.
Justin would laugh, try his best to be just as witty and lively as
the erudite Gabriel while feeling distinctly outclassed, and felt
that he was the luckiest man in the world to have this man in his
life, even if it was only for a little while.



TWO

Gabriel was gasping for breath when Justin finally rolled off him
later that night. Their nude bodies were covered with a sheen of
sweat that only increased the erotic sensation of fevered skin
against skin. Gabriel kissed Justin then, and Justin kissed him
back, letting their tongues mate and dance in their erotic mating
even as Justin covered Gabriel's body with him. He was too short
to kiss and fuck Gabriel at the same time, but Gabriel had no
problems lifting his lower body and crossing his legs on Justin's
shoulder to allow the man's cock to reach home. And Justin's cock,
hardened once more by the sinful pleasures of their kiss, plunged
deep, causing the semen Justin had just poured into Gabriel a few
moments ago to overflow and spill in trails of creamy droplets
along Gabriel's thighs and to emesh Justin's pubic hair and the
fur lining Gabriel's well-fucked pucker.

Justin loved this aspect of Gabriel. The man looked like a typical
straight-acting dominant top, but in the bedroom, Gabriel was
actually an energetic bottom that took every inch Justin had to
give and demanded even more. Justin often felt virile and powerful
whenever he was with Gabriel, secretly relishing the knowledge
that this charismatic and effluent handsome man couldn't get
enough of Justin's big, fat meat. Now Gabriel had turned them over
so that he can ride Justin hard. Justin reached up and pinched
Gabriel's large dark nipples as Gabriel threw his head back and
scream out an uncharacteristically guttural cry of pleasure.
Justin grinned and thrust higher, sending his cock deeper until
his cock crown pierced the innermost depths of Gabriel that sent
the man into more convulsions of pleasure. Gabriel, murmuring in
Puerto Rican mixed with English that Justin was the biggest he had
ever had and Justin was now fucking him so deep that he had never
experienced pleasure this acute because no one had reached this
deep inside him before, rode him hard in maddened frenzy, the
muscles of his thighs and stomach tightening as sweat poured down
his body. And then he was coming, his own seed shooting in
powerful hot spurts across Justin's face, neck, and chest as
Justin fucked him into a climax so hard that Gabriel thought he
was going mad. And then, as Gabriel lay on the bed, almost
swooning from his harsh climax, Justin kissed him and gently
fucked him a few more minutes before he came in a more subdued and
quiet manner than Gabriel.

Justin lost track of how long they lay on the sheets in silence,
Gabriel's hands gently caressing Justin's short hair. Maybe now
was the time he brought up their relationship to Gabriel, he
thought. It was now or never. But, as he tried to speak, he
realized that he couldn't. All he had to do was to look at the
disaparate lives he and Gabriel led. Gabriel was rich and cultured
while Justin was just a middle-class guy trying to finish college
and juggle his job at the same time. Would Gabriel laugh at his
face? And who was he to Gabriel? An amusing fuck? A kept man?
Justin wanted respect and friendship in a relationship.

"I guess you like my stripper act, huh?" Gabriel asked weakly.

Justin had to laugh at that. "I won't mind having you at my
birthday party every year."

"I'll make sure I stick around then."

Justin stopped breathing for a moment. "You will?" he asked,
willing this to be real.

"Yeah. It won't be that hard. I am flying more often to New York.
I'm thinking of getting a place here. You can live there instead
of that dump of yours. You prefer a house or a penthouse
apartment?"

Justin had to look away so that his disappointment - bitter,
bitter disappointment as he was hoping so hard - and his heart
wouldn't show on his face. "What's the use of me moving in when
you won't be there?" he asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabriel asked. "Justin?" he asked
again in a more insistent voice when there was no answer
forthcoming.

"I'm hoping that... maybe you and I can move in together?" Justin
offered timidly. "Like starting a serious relationship instead of
this convenient fuck-buddy affair of ours?"

Gabriel looked surprised, and to his credit, he didn't sneer or
laugh. "But what's wrong with our relationship?" he asked in
genuine surprise. "A serious relationship, as you put it, is not a
good idea. Look at how many relationships out there fail. If we
live together, we will dislike each other. Maybe the novelty will
fade and we will start cheating on each other. Isn't it better to
keep a distance between us? We are happy together, aren't we?"

"I used to think I am," Justin said bleakly. "What we are doing,
Gabriel, is no different from all those meaningless fucks I used
to have when I was a kid. I want some meaning in my life."

"You're only twenty-three. Why do you want to settle down so
soon?"

Justin glared at Gabriel. "Now you sound just like my father."

"Your father is a wise man."

Justin threw the pillow at Gabriel with a playfulness he didn't
really feel. "Maybe you can think about us?" he asked Gabriel.
"You don't have to give me an answer now. Maybe on your next
trip?"

Gabriel sighed quietly. "I don't think I'll be giving you a
different answer today, next month, or next year." Seeing Justin's
disappointed expression, he tried to reach out to the man and was
rebuffed. "Justin, we have a great thing here. We don't fight, we
have fun together. What happens if we live together? We'll fight.
We'll hate each other."

"Why would you think that we'll end up hating each other?" Justin
asked. He jumped out of the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to be alone, okay? I need to think."

"About what?" Gabriel asked.

Justin was very annoyed with Gabriel now. That man wasn't
deliberately trying to be obtuse, was he? "I am willing to commit
myself to our relationship, Gabriel. But you just want us to
remain fuck buddies. It makes me feel less than good about us at
this moment."

"Justin," Gabriel said quietly. "I really like you. There is no
other man in my life since I met you. This is not me thinking that
you're not good enough."

"Then what is it?" Justin asked.

"I..." Gabriel made an exasperated sound. "I just don't want to
get into a relationship with you and lose all we had, okay? I've
seen how people made each other cry in relationships. My father
loves my mother, but he's never faithful to her and she tries so
hard not to show that she's hurting. My sister divorced her
husband because he beat her. I know, we're not these people, but
how... Justin, you're the best thing that ever happened to me." As
soon as the words left his mouth, Gabriel look stunned that he had
actually spoken them aloud. "I really like you," he reiterated. "I
can't bear losing you, and I may lose you if we take the risk you
are asking me of."

And watching Gabriel, Justin felt his heart, slowly breaking,
softened slightly. Gabriel was looking at him, confusion in those
beautiful dark brown eyes, and he knew what he had to do even as
he realized, with joy, that Gabriel meant it - he really cared for
Justin. Now, all Justin had to do was to convince Gabriel that
they were really good for each other. He didn't know how, but he'd
think of a way.

"I know it's not the answer you wanted," Gabriel told him as they
snuggled in bed while waiting for sleep. "I'm sorry, Justin."

"Don't need to be sorry," Justin told him. "Everything will be
okay."

Gabriel searched Justin's face, and something in Justin's
expression must have reassured him, because he only smiled and
held Justin close until sleep claimed them both.




THREE

The next day, Justin switched off his mobile and sat down for
lunch with his friends.

"Tough day?" Nathan Marlow asked as he cut into his chicken pie.
He was a literary agent. Nate and Justin were archenemies in high
school, with Justin because the head jock and Nate the head geek
and both always were at odds. Only when they met later when both
relocated to New York did they realize that they could be friends
as well as enemies. "Can't be worse than mine. Two of my authors
lost their contract with Penguin Putnam. I hate these publisher
mergers. They end up dropping genuinely talented authors for
authors that write bestselling rubbish."

"That's because rubbish sells and quality doesn't," Justin told
him. "I have a really good day, Nate, sorry. I managed to sell
three firms some fresh graduates and that's at least six grand
into my pockets."

"Bitch."

"Shrew," Justin answered good-naturedly. "I need your advice,
Nate."

"I figured that when you unexpectedly paged me for lunch amidst
your hectic schedule," Nate responded. He winced when Justin
ordered salad (no dressing) and grilled chicken breast plus a
bottle of Evian water. "Don't you eat like the rest of us normal
people?"

Justin patted his muscular chest. "I'll outlive you. You wait and
see."

"I'm surprised you called me," Nate said once more. "I hear your
boyfriend's in town. Everyone knows Justin Giovanico's time is
exclusively devoted to the fabulous Gabriel Soto when the great
Soto is in town. Is there trouble brewing in paradise, dear?"

"Oh, nothing. He doesn't believe in marriages. I want to take our
relationship to that level," Justin said.

"Jesus," Nate exclaimed. "You were a fucking slut in high school.
And that wasn't that long ago. How the hell did you become this
staid and proper in just a few years?"

"I saw my father cry when my mother passed away," Justin said. "I
remember clearly how I stood in the corner and watched my proud
and strong father weep and beg God to bring her back to him."

"Are we talking about your father who is now chasing the skirts of
that old board Myrna?" Nate asked.

"Well, I'm glad he's moved on with life, but he still loves my
mother," Justin said. "He wears a locket with her photo in it."

Nate finished the last of his pie and watched as Justin's order
arrived. "And you want to have something with Gabriel that is as
strong as what your parents had?"

"Won't you?" Justin asked.

"I don't know," Nate confessed. "I've had my heart broken so many
times, I wonder sometimes whether it will be easier to just have
uncomplicated affairs with people I can break off with when I get
bored with them."

"You sound just like Gabriel," Justin said in satisfaction. "I
know I can count on you. So how do you think I can make him see
that we are great together? Any ideas?"

"Why me?" Nate just wondered aloud.

"You know everything in school," Justin answered.

"Don't remind me. I hated school. I knew everything, and I can't
stand myself because of that," Nate muttered. "Look, I really am
not the best person to ask about relationships. I may think like
Gabriel, as you said, but I certainly don't know how to change
him. Or me."

"I don't like school that much either," Justin confessed.

"Why did you give up wrestling?" Nate asked. "You were the champ.
Everybody seemed to love you. It was disgusting."

"Let's just say I was disenchanted with a lot of things after I
grew up, and wrestling and the politics involved were some of
these things," Justin said. "When I get my degree, I'm going to
become a real headhunter, not just one that begs for assignments
and lives on commission. I'll be the most sought after talent and
recruitment agent in the town." Justin paused. "Do you think it's
my job that makes Gabriel unable to see me as anything more than a
fuck buddy?"

At that moment, Nate's cellphone rang. Nate gave Justin an
apologetic glance as he answered it, and he made a mock groan as
he heard who was on the line. "It's for you," he said, passing the
phone to Justin.

"Where were you?" Gabriel asked without preemptions. "I called you
six times. My messages on your cellphone are not answered. I don't
like people playing games with me, Justin. If this is because of
last night - "

"I'm in an important meeting with some clients, Gabriel."

"I called you at twelve. I wanted us to go lunch together. Do you
prefer Nate's company instead?"

"How did you know I'm with Nate?" Justin asked.

"I called everybody you know. Then I called Nate, and voila, he's
with you."

"Good. I hate to think that you are spying on me. And Gabriel,
Nate and I have some important things to discuss," Justin told
him. "My entire life doesn't revolve waiting for you." He
regretted those words the moment they came out from his mouth, but
he realized then how much he had kept his frustrations inside him.
He had been waiting for Gabriel during the entire relationship -
it was always romance on Gabriel's terms, and Justin realized now
that he had slowly become more and more dissatisfied with how
their relationship was turning out.

Gabriel's sharp intake of breath told Justin that the man was
shocked to hear those words. "Justin, I'm sorry," the man said. He
was probably genuinely apologetic, but Gabriel wasn't a man that
could carry off meek well. "I was so scared that you have second
thoughts about us after last night, I panicked when I couldn't get
you on the phone."

Justin found Gabriel's panic sweet in a perverse way. "Gabriel,"
he told the man in a gentler tone, "if I want to leave you, you'll
be the first to know. I don't play games, you know that."

Nathan coughed, embarrassed to be listening to Justin like this.

Justin scowled at him. "I'll see you this evening, Gabriel."

"I'll have to stay back late in the office," Gabriel said with a
sigh of regret. "But I'll try and get back back as early as
possible to see you."

"Okay," Justin said. "Goodbye, Gabriel."

"Justin, I - goodbye."

Justin passed the phone back to Nate, who just shook his head.
"You two are disgusting," Nate said. "But I think I have the
perfect solution for you."

"I'm all ears, Nate."

"You've been giving more than you should. If he wants a fuck buddy
relationship, you give him one. Stop trying so hard to be the
perfect husband. When he realizes what getting a fuck buddy really
means, he'll have to decide whether to take the plunge. What I'm
saying, Justin, is that right now you are not giving him any
reasons to take the plunge. Why should he? Sex on demand, a good
friend he can take for granted at other times, sounds like a great
life to me."

"So I'll - what? Stop sleeping with him?"

"Don't look so horrified by the idea. No, go sleep with him.
You'll be an idiot not to keep sleeping with Gabriel. He's fucking
hot. Too bad I prefer young and impressionable men I can
manipulate and ditch easily. I suggest you withdraw a little.
Don't always go running when he beckons. Let him know that a real
relationship with you will be better."

"Don't give the milk for free if I want him to buy the cow, is
it?"

Nate winced at the image that mangled saying evoked. "Yeah. That,
or you can always rely on the childish 'let's make him jealous'
routine."

"No jealous routines," Justin said. "I want him to want me without
having to resort to kissing someone else. The idea makes me sick."

"So where should I start?" Justin wondered aloud. "It's hard for
me to act cold around him. It's sneaky and it's also..."

"Just try it, dear. Let's look at it this way: you asked him and
he's already said no."

"Yes, he said no," Justin said sadly. "Maybe you're right. It's
probably easier to just screw around."

"Just let me know if a happy ending comes out of this," Nate told
him. "Maybe I'm wrong and you're the one in the right."

Justin shrugged. "I think I'm right."

"I hope you are."




FOUR

"I don't like how you are trying to force me into committing to
you," Gabriel whispered as he stood behind Justin in the mirror
and adjusted the man's bow tie. "You look surprised. You should
know, Justin, you are a very transparent man. I can see when you
want me, and I can see that you are deliberately holding back on
me these last few days. I don't like it. I am miserable, Justin,
and I think you are too."

Justin turned around to help Gabriel button up his shirt. He
paused at the sight of the cheap trinket necklace Gabriel wore
around his neck. Justin bought Gabriel that necklace when they
vacationed in Mauai a few months back. He noticed that Gabriel had
added a fastener to one point in the necklace where it had
obviously broke. "This necklace - it doesn't go with your tux,"
Justin said.

Gabriel snorted. "Don't change the subject. And don't try to be
stupid. You know I'm not taking the necklace off. It's what I have
of you when I'm away from you. Now, please tell me you will stop
messing with my mind."

"You wanted us to be fuck buddies, so I'm being one," Justin said.

"We are more than fuck buddies," Gabriel pointed out. "I miss you
when I am away. I find any excuse to come back here every other
week so that I can be with you. I even flew down in January when
you were stricken with chicken pox so that I can take care of you.
What more do you want, Justin? You want me to live with you all
day long? I can't. I travel all over the place. What difference
will it make? It's just fucking semantics. You want to marry you?
Fine. I'll marry you. And then I'll take off to France and come
back the week after. Nothing will change, Justin. Why can't you
see that? Why do you want to make it so complicated for us both?"

Justin just buried his face onto Gabriel's chest. "I'm sorry for
trying to play you into marrying me," he said. "Forgive me? I
won't do it again."

Gabriel didn't misunderstand the apology. He nodded, embracing
Justin tight, and Justin knew the man was also tired of playing
games. Maybe Gabriel was right: what they had was good enough and
Justin should try to be content with it. Still, the acceptance of
this concept also felt like a rejection from Gabriel, and it stung
Justin no matter how he tried to console himself that he still had
Gabriel in his life where it counted. Just being in Gabriel's
embrace now, he felt as if he had been searching his whole life
for Gabriel - romantic and gallant Gabriel who understood him like
no one else and whom Justin wanted to spend the rest of his life
with - and knowing as he did that Gabriel cared for him, he tried
to tell himself that it was enough. It was selfish, perhaps, to
ask for everything and the moon.

"Let's just call Richard and tell him we can't make it to his
party," Justin suggested. "I want to spend the rest of the night
in bed with you." He began unbuttoning Gabriel's shirt.

"Great idea," Gabriel said as he struggled with his mobile. He
mumbled in a barely coherent manner to Richard when the man
answered, especially when Justin was now on his knees and having
unfastened Gabriel's trousers, now sucking on Gabriel's cock
hungrily. Gabriel placed his hands on the table behind him for
support as Justin skilfully caressed Gabriel's fat cock head with
his tongue and lips. Not being a man who would be content at being
the receiving end alone, he gradually eased them both on the floor
so that he could reciprocrate Justin's cocksucking with his own.
It was a slow and relaxed race to see who could finish off the
other first.



"Really? You're a raging alpha male in the bedroom until you met
me?" Justin asked, laughing, as they walked down the quiet street
back to Gabriel's hotel. He paused to discard the vegetarian
sandwich wrapper he'd purchased from the twenty-hour convenience
store into the trash bin.

"You don't believe me?" Gabriel asked. "I was a stereotypical
South American lover before you. I had a man in every city. Then I
met you for the first time, and I turned into a timid kitten."

"I can't believe that," Justin said, easily slipping his arm
around Gabriel's waist. "You're as timid as a lion. They call you
the Great Soto. You make more money than almost everyone else and
you are as smart as a whip when it comes to business."

"Well, believe it. I've never even let anyone top me until you."

Justin turned to look at Gabriel in surprise. "You're fucking me."

"I guess I must have natural talent when it comes to being a
bottom." Gabriel grinned cockily. "I haven't told you? You are
different than the other men that have come and go in my life. You
make me feel so much lust inside." He rubbed Justin's chest with
his hand to make his point. "But it's different, because one look
at your body and I feel as if... how do you say it? I melt inside?
There's this part of me that want to be conquered by you. And when
we went to bed for the first time, it came naturally that I needed
to feel you taking me. And you're amazing. If I knew this is what
it means to be taken by a man, I'd have done it more often."

Justin finally stopped laughing and kissed Gabriel sweetly on the
lips. "I'm glad I fucked you good enough for you to want more."

"You're really good," Gabriel corrected him. "I understand you
were quite the tomcat in your youth."

"No longer, Gabriel. That lifestyle doesn't come close to
comparing to being in a fulfilling relationship. I believed it
before, but now, I know for sure." He smiled wistfully at Gabriel.
"You make me know this for sure."

Gabriel only touched Justin's lips with his fingers. "You're
making it very hard for me to remember why I am so adamant against
us formalizing our relationship."

"Yeah? One day I'll get you to say yes," Justin said. "One day,
you'll learn why we are meant together." He looked at the hotel
entrance. "Let's have a bubble bath."

"Your libido is commendable. I thought I wore you out earlier."

"I'm insulted you think so little of my stamina," Justin teased.
"Come on, Gabriel. You're leaving soon. Let's make the best of
time we have left."

Their bubble bath, to none's surprise, ended up being a wet and
slippery affair as Gabriel ended up riding Justin's cock, both
laughing as they playfully lather each other's bodies with bubbly
foam. They moved to the bathroom floor, until Justin complained
that the tiles were hurting his knee. The bed was the next natural
destination, with Justin carrying the much taller and heavier
Gabriel with the strength he honed from his weight lifting regimes
while fucking him, his cock embedding itself deeper into Gabriel
with each step he took in carrying Gabriel to the bed. They ended
up cuddling among the sheets as they sat on the balcony and
watched the sky, chuckling and murmuring sweet nothings and just
enjoying each other's company. They fell asleep in each other's
arms as the sun rose to warm their bodies.



"You're insufferable. You're not even showing up at your best
client's parties now." Richard Roxburgh paused as the waiter
arrived at their table. He ordered steak (half-done, please),
extra fries, and seafood salad with extra thousand island
dressing. He winced when Gabriel ordered just plain salad (no
dressing) and a glass of plain water. "You need to eat real food."

"I'm sorry I missed the party, but I have some personal issues I
need to sort out with my boyfriend."

"Oh, is that what you call it nowadays?" Richard asked, smiling
that mischievous way he perfected to an art. "I understand
perfectly the urge to drop everything and fuck like rabbits, but
what I don't get it is why you would miss the opportunity to meet
and wheedle the great fat bastard Johnson that you're trying to
get on board as your investor. That's a business faux pas, my
friend."

"I have more important issues to attend to," Gabriel said. "Justin
wants a commitment. I think it's resolved now."

"Let me guess - you gave him a grand tale about how things are
perfect as they are, and how you shouldn't complicate matters
further when everything is fine and dandy as it is." Richard
chuckled at Gabriel's expression. "Hey, I know that line. I used
it myself when I was younger. It worked pretty well too. So now
you're done with Justin?"

"Of course not!" Gabriel sputtered. "What is it with you Americans
and your cussing and lack of respect for one's privacy?"

"I'm an Australian, Gabriel," Richard said, "so I can't answer
regarding your generalization about Americans. As for the other,
well, I'm a mellowed, married man now. It amuses me to watch the
soap opera of my acquaintances. It's like vicarious
schadenfraude."

Gabriel watched as his salad arrived. He stabbed at a lettuce with
his fork lifelessly. "I don't understand it. Justin wants me to
commit. But what's wrong with what we have now? We have good
times, and he knows I'm not going away anytime soon."

Richard shrugged. "It's the thought behind the gesture, I guess.
I'll get pissed too if you just hop into my bed when you feel like
it and then expect me to be happy with it. I'll bet my money on
Justin feeling that without your commitment, he has no idea
whether you will stick around when times are tough."

"I did stick around," Gabriel protested, and then stopped when he
realized that he had stuck around, but only for the good times. He
dropped his knife and fork and studied his salad as he tried to
sort out his increasingly confused thoughts. "Are you saying that
Justin doesn't trust me to stick around?" he asked finally.

"You're a businessman, Gabriel. Will you get into a deal without a
signed contract?" Richard just asked as he dug into his steak. "I
proposed to my man as soon as I could because I wanted him to know
that I'm dead serious about him and me. I'm also bloody terrified,
if you must know, that I will lose him to someone else if I don't
let him know just how much he means to me."

"But... what happens when we start fighting and hating each
other?" Gabriel asked.

"Hey, me and my man fight sometimes. I'm told it's normal by some
of the talk shows I have the misfortune to watch. It's up to you
and Justin to deal with the hard times when they crop up. You
don't expect a relationship to be all sweet and sunny, do you?"

"Maybe I'm just scared of losing him," Gabriel said. "I don't want
him to know that there may be aspects of me that he will dislike."

"I can't stand Biehn's obsession with neatness. He hates my
singing in the shower. We argue all the time over our personal
tastes in decor. Don't forget, you're talking about me and my
simple and unsophisticated tastes versus a fashion designing drama
queen's. I have to do my share of the housework when the cleaners
take their day off, and he makes me wash the dishes, a task which
I hate. He says I am too spendthrift with my money, and I think
he's a miserable skinflint. And after we fight, we have great
angry fuck sessions where we just tear into each other in some
therapeutic orgasmic rush. Oh dear, you're blushing. Is that too
much information? My gist is, however, it is really hard to
actually sustain a relationship without getting into fights. It's
part of the way things are," Richard told him. "It's up to us
brave courageous alpha males to make sure that what we have with
our significant others is strong enough to weather the storms."

"Marriage has turned you into Martha Stewart," Gabriel commented.
"I don't know whether I like it or not."

"Hey, go easy with the Martha Stewart insults," Richard told him.
"I despise her show. She has hideous tastes in household decor."



"Justin, okay, I'll do it," Gabriel said, "I'll do what you want."

Justin turned in Gabriel's embrace so that he could look at the
man. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll marry you," Gabriel clarified. "I've been thinking about
this since you asked me about it, and yeah, I'll do it."

"May I ask why?" Justin asked. "I don't want you to do anything
just because you feel compelled to."

"I've been thinking," Gabriel told him as he held Justin in his
arms tight. "It's time I stop being selfish because you deserve
everything I have to give you. But you'll have to be patient with
me. I may have some habits you may hate, and I'll try and make
sure we have a great time together, but you'll have to help me out
here, Justin."

Justin kissed him on the lips. "Don't worry. We'll both help each
other."

Gabriel gave him a crooked grin. "I'll have to leave soon, but
when I come back, we'll go househunting. You still haven't told me
you prefer a house or a penthouse suite."

"I don't mind. Anything will do, as long as you're with me,"
Justin said.

"That means you will marry me, Justin?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, I will," Justin told me. He chuckled.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"I knew you will come to your senses," Justin told him with a
grin.

"Impertinent man. Now you believe you have me curled around your
finger, don't you?" Gabriel made a mock growl and playfully
tickled the other man.

"Stop it!" Justin said between laughter. Finally he managed to pin
Gabriel down onto the bed. "Gabriel, I love you," he said, serious
now, as he gazed into the other man's eyes. "I hope you're not
mad."

"No, I'm not mad," Gabriel told him. "I think we've both fallen in
love a long time ago. I'm just a little bit slower in realizing
it." He reached out and playfully caressed the other man's nipples
with his hands even as he lifted his lower body to playfully nudge
at Justin's rapidly filling cock with his anal pucker. "I just
want you to promise me one thing."

"Anything," Justin said in between his nibbling and suckling of
Gabriel's luscious nipples.

"Just don't tell anyone I'm putty in your hands. They will laugh
when they realize that I'm a softie inside. I have a fearsome
reputation to maintain."

Justin laughed with Gabriel, and their laughter soon faded into
pleasant murmurs as they kissed, Justin slowly but steadily
pushing his cock deep up into Gabriel's tight asshole, sealing
their new life together by reaffirming their feelings for each
other in the best way possible.



Three years later, Richard Roxburgh attended Gabriel's anniversary
party and asked the man whether there were any regrets. Gabriel
told Richard that Justin kept leaving the toothpaste cap off. And
the man had a fear of flying - which they both learned only on
their disastrous honeymoon trip where Justin threw up all over
Gabriel - which posed problems as Gabriel always traveled on
business and he wished Justin could come with him on at least some
of those trips. Yes, they fought sometimes, but no, there were no
regrets, Gabriel told Richard. He wouldn't trade his life with
anyone else's in the world.
