Chapter 19

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Chapter 19: Touch Me Satisfy Me

Cliff and I spent our Sunday lazing around his apartment, in and out of bed. Even after we got up, showered, dressed and ate breakfast, we didn't feel like going out and sharing each other with a bunch of people. The day was overcast anyway, and so not nearly as enticing as Cliff's comfortable sofa, perfectly situated in front of his television. I sat on the sofa sideways, leaning my back against the arm, with Cliff sitting between my legs and reclining against my chest. My arms were wrapped around him, the fingers of our hands intertwined. We watched old movies on one of the encore channels, not really caring much what they were, being far more interested in just spending time lounging together. Periodically I would lean over to nuzzle at his neck or flick my tongue in his ear and he'd turn his head for a sweet, brief kiss. We could have pushed it further. I was plenty hot for him and guessed he felt the same way, but after our marathon sessions Friday, Saturday and that morning, Sunday afternoon felt like an appropriate time for rest.

I left right after dinner, needing to get home to read for my Monday classes.

"Next time bring your books, too," Cliff suggested as we stood in his hallway, hugging good bye. "Then you won't have to leave so early."

"You think that's a good idea?" I asked. "I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"As if you could," he scoffed. "I love having you here with me. I'll miss you when you're gone. My bed felt awfully empty without you last week, and it will feel even more so after this weekend. I'll be counting the days until Friday."

I tried to hide my frown, but he saw it.

"Or am I being presumptuous? You might already have other plans."

"I do, actually, for Saturday," I confessed. I felt him stiffen in my arms.

"It's during the day," I hastened to add, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "I'm scheduled for a volunteer shift at Mount Rainier. You could come with me if you'd like," I offered, though I doubted he'd be interested.

"Sure," he replied without hesitation. "What will we be doing?"

"Nothing too strenuous," I said, "I'm on Emergency Roadside Assistance duty this weekend. It basically means I get to patrol the parking lot at Longmire and help out visitors if needed, offer directions, answer questions, that type of thing." As I spoke, I was getting excited at the prospect of Cliff joining me on the mountain. "But I have to get up really early so I can be there by 9:00. So what do you think? Still interested, Sunshine?"

"Sure," he smiled and kissed me. "I can't wait to see the future ranger Cullen in action."

I grinned self-consciously. Cliff's reaction to my announcement that I wanted to work for the National Park Service had been similar to Rosalie's.

"So now that we'll be together Saturday, is there any reason why you can't spend next weekend here with me?"

"No reason whatsoever," I conceded. "And I will bring my books. But we'll still see each other during the week, right? Like we did last week?"

"Of course," Cliff confirmed. "You couldn't possibly expect me to be in the same city, on the same campus as you, and not see you for five long days, could you?"

"I don't know," I teased, "once upon a time you seemed to have no trouble waiting three whole weeks."

He placed a finger over my lips. "And this is the last time you're allowed to bring that up. No need to rub my face in my foolishness."

"All right, Sunshine," I agreed. "I won't mention it again. I'll call you tonight when I'm done with my reading."

I lowered my head to his to give him a goodbye kiss, but he reached up to grab my head and pulled me into a hot, passionate lip lock.

"Sabotage," I panted after we broke apart. "You're trying to make me fail my classes by enticing me to stay here instead of doing my reading."

"I'd never do that," he protested. "I just wanted to give you something to remember until we see each other again."

I wore a big smile the whole way home and up to the apartment. Rosalie was just washing up the few dishes from the girls' dinner when I walked in.

"Well," she commented, "you certainly look happy. Did you have a nice weekend?"

"I did indeed, Rose, thanks," I replied breezily. Just thinking about being with Cliff made me feel happy and lighthearted.

"Seth said he saw you at Mad Mar," Maggie contributed from the sofa. "He said you called Cliff your boyfriend and talked about a relationship. He made it sound pretty serious."

"For such a little guy, Seth sure has a big mouth," my smile was replaced with a frown.

"But is he right, little bro? Are you getting serious?" Rosalie took over the questioning. "Seth said something about Cliff teaching you to cook, but you haven't been over there two weekends in a row swapping recipes, have you?"

I sighed. Trying to keep my relationship with Cliff low key and private with Seth and Rosalie around was like swimming against a tsunami. I knew I'd never get any peace until I told them everything there was to tell. Even that probably wouldn't be enough to satisfy their curiosity. I didn't really want to go into everything with the girls, and then have to repeat myself again with Emmett and Seth. Nor did I particularly want to call for a gay squadron summit, so everyone could get the story at once. I stood in the entryway like an idiot, filled with indecision.

"Maybe we could just go out to dinner? It would give us a chance to meet him and the two of you could decide as you go how much you're comfortable sharing?" Maggie suggested, obviously seeing my distress.

"But the dinner would have to include all of us, Freckles, or else Cliff and Edward would have to do two dinners to satisfy us as well as Emmett and Seth. And I get this feeling that Edward isn't too eager to subject Cliff to all of us at once."

"Okay," Maggie responded. "So no dinner. But Edward, you've been spending an awful lot of time with this boy and it's not like you've ever done that with anyone else before. It's kind of natural for us to be curious."

I ran my hand through my hair. "I know, Mags. I'm not trying to hide anything, honest. I just, I don't know." I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts. "Have you ever had something happen that you thought was too good to be true and you were afraid that if you talked about it too much it might turn out not to be real?" I knew I sounded pretty crazy, but it was how I felt.

"Oh, come on, Edward," Rosalie said as she walked over to me and put her arm around me. "Cliff is not going to disappear if you talk about him."

"No, I know that," I stammered. "Look, he makes me feel comfortable. He trusts me and I trust him. I've never done this kind of thing before, not the right way, and I don't want to mess it up."

"Okay, okay," Maggie said. "Let's let him be for now, Rosie. We'll just have to be patient a little longer."

"Ha!" Rosalie left my side and walked to join Maggie on the sofa. "I'm perfectly willing to wait. But good luck with the pipsqueak."

"Thanks, girls," I was grateful for the reprieve. "I'm gonna go read for my class tomorrow."

"Beware of Seth, Edward," Rosalie yelled as I closed my bedroom door behind me. "He's on the prowl and he won't take no for an answer."

I rolled my eyes and threw myself on the bed. Rosalie was right. Seth wouldn't let me get away with vague answers. He'd keep pushing and pushing until he knew every single detail. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, opened it, and dialed Cliff.

"Hey," he answered right away, "This is a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to hear from you until later. Did you have less reading than you thought?"

"No, I just got ambushed at the door by Maggie and Rose and barely got away," I complained. "And they were the easy ones. God help me if I run into Seth."

"Aw, you poor thing. Maybe you should come back and hide out at my place for a while, or longer."

"You know, Sunshine, as tempting as that sounds, it would only be a temporary solution. Sooner or later they'd track me down and then there'd be hell to pay. Just be happy that I got us out of a dinner with all of them."

The silence on the other end was a bit longer than I would have expected.

"I mean, I did the right thing, didn't I? Dinner with the four of them plus, likely as not, Christopher, would be brutal. I didn't think you'd want to go through that."

"I appreciate that, Edward. And I understand why you think I might be uncomfortable in that situation, given how I behaved with you when we first met, but I would also like to get to know your sisters and your friends. They're important to you and they obviously care about you. That's why they're so interested. I would like to meet them to show them I feel the same way. And if the easiest way to do that is a big dinner, well, I'm fine with that. It might be kind of fun."

"Really? You wouldn't mind?"

He laughed.

"You make me sound like J.D. Salinger. I'm not the most social guy, I admit, but I've been known to interact with people on occasion. Especially for something as important as this. Besides, you'll be there with me, won't you? You're not just going to throw me into the lions' den and take off, right?"

It was my turn to laugh. "That analogy is probably more apt than you realize, but of course I'll be there with you."

"Well, with my gladiator by my side, I'm not gonna sweat a few lions."

We decided that the sooner we could arrange dinner the better, with Friday being optimal for us. With our morning volunteer shift at the park, we'd have a ready-made excuse to leave early, if need be. Cliff didn't care where we ate, so we decided to let the others pick a venue, assuming they were all free to come.

I secretly hoped they'd all be busy, so we'd get credit for trying without having to actually go through with the dinner, but of course, that would have been too lucky. Everyone turned out to either be available or able to change their plans, and Seth determined that Benihana was the perfect restaurant. I was nervous, but Cliff's willingness to place himself under the microscope for my benefit made me feel good, too. I took it as a sign that he really did care about me, since I couldn't imagine anyone volunteering for an interrogation with Seth Clearwater without such motivation. I wasn't even surprised anymore how much his feelings for me mattered to me, and how strongly I was beginning to feel about him. I figured it was better not to think about it all too much and not to over analyze it, but instead just to go with the flow.

The temptation to call and text Cliff constantly was pretty overwhelming, so I was very glad that my classes were actually getting more intense and the labs more complicated, forcing me to concentrate on something other than my new boyfriend. Most of the time. There were still moments between classes when I would find myself remembering something that happened over the weekend, most of the time something that forced me to adjust my shoulder book bag from the back to the front. It was frustrating, but exhilarating at the same time.

As before, we met for lunch Tuesday and for coffee Thursday afternoon. We talked every night before going to sleep except Monday, when I came in late from my night out with the park boys. I stayed out later than normal because Roger noticed that something was different about me and kept me talking after everyone else drifted off. When we were finally alone I told him about Cliff. We knocked fists and I could see he was happy for me, though he said Yvonne would be disappointed that she hadn't been the one to find Cliff for me.

"You're just lucky she's so busy with Ren, otherwise she would have your head for not telling her you were ready to start dating." Roger referred to their baby boy, who had been born that January. They named him Rainier, after the mountain where they first met, but called him Ren.

"Ha," I laughed, "I didn't know I was ready myself. It just kind of happened. I guess we were both at the right place at the right time."

"Well, as soon as I tell her she's gonna want you boys over for dinner so she can meet him. You know that's how she is."

I rolled my eyes. "She's gonna have to get in line behind my sisters, Seth & Emmett," I told him. "We're having dinner with the whole group Friday."

Roger whistled. "The whole group? Are you sure you want to do that?" Roger and Yvonne had been over to my place a few times, so they knew everyone. Maggie and Yvonne especially bonded, not just over their concerns about me, but also over their mutual pregnancies. The two of them were already arranging play dates for their kids, even though Maggie's bun was still a long way off from being fully baked. "Does Cliff know what he's getting himself into?"

"He's actually known Seth longer than I have," I explained, "And he seems less concerned than I am. Just thinking about that dinner gives me a headache."

"Well, if Cliff doesn't seem concerned despite knowing Seth, maybe you don't need to worry so much. I mean, it's not like the two of you are being thrown to the wolves - these are your friends and family."

I snorted, but didn't comment further. My posse meant well, but they were so overprotective. I still couldn't get over what Seth had said to Cliff, though Cliff himself took it pretty well. I shook my head at Roger and finished the last of my beer.

"It's just one dinner, right?" I asked rhetorically. "Somehow we'll survive."

Roger just patted me on the back as we slipped off our stools and left the bar.

Friday I got home in the early afternoon after my last lab for the day was done. I packed for the weekend, showered, and tried to figure out what to wear to dinner. I wanted to wear something a little nicer than jeans and was leaning towards my khakis, but this posed a minor problem. I had grown used to going commando prior to my dates with Cliff, but that wasn't such a good idea with thin cotton pants. Even if being with everyone kept me from getting hard, I wasn't so small that my unsupported status would go unnoticed, especially given the sharp-eyed nature of Seth and Rosalie. With a sigh, I opened the dresser drawer that held my underwear, reaching for a pair of my boxer briefs. A flash of red in the back of the drawer caught my eye. For Christmas, in addition to regular gifts, Maggie and Rosalie got me a gag gift of a few pairs of boxer briefs that I thought were too ridiculous for words. I told them I would never wear them, but they insisted that one day I would change my mind. And now, as I looked at the red fabric, I was actually considering exactly that.

I pulled out the pair of red and white cotton boxer briefs that first caught my eye. They were football themed, apparently in honor of me having played in high school, with player numbers and little footballs printed in red on each hip of the white cotton square cut tiny briefs, while the protruding front red pouch was decorated like a football with white laces. A few weeks ago I would have never considered even taking these out of the drawer, but now I wondered how Cliff would react if I actually wore these tonight. Convinced that if he had to peel underwear off me he would prefer these to plain white briefs, I shook my head in disbelief even as I slipped on the briefs and adjusted my cock and balls so they filled out the football shaped pouch. I checked myself out in the mirror and I had to admit that I looked pretty good. Suddenly feeling just a little more confident, I pulled on my dress socks, khakis and a casual, long sleeved, cotton shirt with mustard, taupe and dark gray narrow pinstripes.

Done dressing, I went back to the underwear drawer and pulled out a pair of black boxer briefs with a solid black pouch in the front and solid and mesh black horizontal stripes everywhere else. When I pulled these out of the gift bag I thought I had accidentally received a gift intended for Seth, the mesh stripes seeming right up his alley, but one look at Rosalie's barely contained smirk told me that the name on the bag had been right.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" I exclaimed, rather ungraciously.

"Oh, come on, Edward, sooner or later you're going to want to make an impression on a guy and trust me, those will come in handy. They'll help to overshadow your sparkling personality!"

"Rosalie!" Maggie chastised as I scowled.

"I just hope you didn't spend too much on this dust rag, though it's hardly even good for that," I grumbled.

"You don't have to wear them now," Maggie pointed out. "Just put them in your drawer and see what happens. It's not like they take up much space."

Because she had a point about the space, and because I couldn't bring myself to throw away a part of the first Christmas gift from my sister, I shoved all three different pairs of boxer briefs to the back of the drawer and promptly forgot all about them. But after having been with Cliff, I couldn't help but imagine how excited I would be to see him wearing something similar, and I hoped he would feel the same way. I folded the tiny black piece of fabric and shoved it into my overnight bag to wear the following day. I knew Cliff was already looking forward to seeing me in my National Park Service Volunteer uniform, and I hoped the tiny black briefs would be the icing on top of the cake at the end of the day when time came to take the uniform off.

I checked my bag one last time to make sure I had everything I would need for the entire weekend, including my books, so I could stay with Cliff longer and do my reading there. Then I pulled out my phone and texted Cliff to see if he was back home from class yet. He replied almost immediately that he was just about to jump into the shower, and that I could come over whenever I was ready. I grabbed my bag and yelled to Maggie that I would see her later at the restaurant as I practically ran out the door, hoping to make it to Cliff's place before he had a chance to get dressed. I made it in record time, a fact he commented on as he answered his door wearing only a towel, his voice filled with pleased surprise.

"I just couldn't wait to see you, Sunshine," I said, my own voice thick with lust at the sight of his body, noting the bulge between his legs that was growing before my eyes. I slammed the door behind me and threw my bag down into a corner while advancing against him. I backed him up into the wall, one of my hands tangling in his still wet hair while the other gripped his pec, my thumb flicking against his hardening nipple. His lips welcomed mine and parted with a deep groan to allow my tongue to explore the depths of his mouth. For a few minutes we didn't speak, the apartment filled only with the sounds of our heavy breathing and passionate groans, licks and slurps. I felt the football pouch of my new boxer briefs fill, and hoped the sewn in laces would hold as the fabric stretched to what must have been its maximum capacity. Cliff's rock hard cock was digging into my thigh, turning me on more than I would have thought possible.

"I'm ravenous," I finally said as I broke away from his lips, "and I can't possibly be expected to wait until dinner when here you are, looking good enough to eat."

I dropped to my knees in front of him, tearing off the towel in the process to reveal his erection. I licked my lips in anticipation, and then pressed wet kisses against his stomach and down his dark blond happy trail, until I could swipe my tongue down along the base of his hardness and then up along his cum tube and around his head. I gripped the base with one hand as I took the head of his cock into my mouth and began gently sucking and licking. He moaned, grabbing my head with both of his hands and applying light pressure to encourage me to take him in deeper.

"God, you are so good at that, Eddie," he encouraged, "I love how you suck me."

I hummed in appreciation of the compliment, but didn't break my rhythm. I started bobbing my head, pulling his cock deeper and deeper until finally his entire length was firmly ensconced in my mouth and throat. I held him there, slowly moving my tongue against his shaft, until I needed to take a breath. I pulled off just enough to take in a new supply of oxygen through my nose, before plunging down again, this time digging my hands into his ass to pull him into me as I was going down.

"Fuck!" he grunted. Again I held, and then pulled off enough to give myself a chance to breathe. I alternated between sucking him deeply and tonguing his frenulum, loving how the noises he was making were signaling his increasing excitement. On any other evening I might have tried to prolong this, but knowing we had to meet everyone for dinner and that he still had to get ready, my goal was simply to get him off and drink his cum. I continued to devour him, my saliva mixing with his precum as I swallowed around him.

"Eddie! Baby," he moaned, leaning heavily against the wall and gripping my head tightly. I felt his knees buckling against my chest and I wrapped my arms around his thighs to give him more stability, while I continued to suck relentlessly. I felt his hot, throbbing cock stiffen further in my mouth, and I prepared for the surge of his creamy elixir. Moments later his cum tube began to spasm and I slowed down my suction, greedily ingesting the jizz flooding my mouth. I loved the way he tasted, but I loved even more knowing that what I did gave him enough pleasure to actually make him weak. I kept sucking his head gently, even as he stopped spurting and the remnants of cum were just drooling from his slit. He relaxed his grip on my head and his fingers tugged lightly at my hair, indicating I could pull off. I looked up at him, his head still in my mouth, and very slowly and deliberately pulled his still hard cock all the way in, until I could place my version of an Eskimo kiss with my nose against his pelvis. I watched a shudder ripple through him, his abdominals contracting for a moment before relaxing again, his lids hooding his eyes almost against his will as he pressed his head back against the wall and moved it back and forth. Satisfied that the ejaculate I felt running down my throat was the final bit of his offering, I pulled off him, washing my tongue over his slit one last time to catch any last drops.

He moved his hands to my shoulders for support, grinning into my upturned smiling face. "Holy shit," he said softly, "I need to sit down for a minute."

I relaxed my hold on his thighs and he slid down to the floor beside me. I spread my legs apart and grasped his shoulders, twisting him so that he was sitting between my thighs, his back pressed up against my chest.

"That was a lovely surprise," he said, turning his head back to look at me. "Thank you," He leaned back for a kiss and I moved my head forward to slide my lips against his.

"It was lovely indeed," I commented, my right hand moving down to grasp his deflating cock as I encircled his chest with my left. "And thank you."

"I didn't do anything," he chuckled. "Though I certainly want to now," he finished suggestively, slipping his right hand between us to cup my erection.

"Not now," I replied, "There's not enough time. But that's OK. It will give me something to look forward to. And the thank you isn't necessarily for just now. It's for teaching me that I can get as much pleasure, if not more, from pleasing someone else."

"Someone else?" he chuckled again and his right eyebrow shot up. "Just how many people have you been pleasing?"

"Only you," I said, laughing as I kissed his luscious lips again. "Thank you for teaching me I can get pleasure out of pleasing you."

"That's better," he exhaled in mock relief, completely relaxing against my chest. "For a second there I thought I had some competition."

"No competition," I assured. "No one out there is brave enough to face my guardian dragons."

He turned back against me, his eyes wide with faux alarm. "Is that what I'll be doing tonight? Um, I just remembered, I really have to check the expiration dates on everything in the fridge. That's very important, you know. Matter of life and death."

I laughed, loving his sense of humor. "There's no getting out of this one, Sir Clifton. And we'd better get you into some armor. We don't want you to be late for the field of battle."

He started to get up, but I pulled him to me and held him close for a second before finally letting go. "Thank you for agreeing to do this tonight," I whispered in his ear. He pushed back and turned around, both of us now kneeling, facing each other. He took my face in his hands and looked deeply into his eyes. "For you, I gladly become a dragon slayer," he said seriously and leaned forward to kiss me softly. I was overwhelmed with emotions I didn't want to think about too closely or try to identify, so instead I just focused on the happiness I felt being near him and knowing that he would be by my side tonight.

Cliff got up, picking up his towel as he went, but not bothering to cover himself with it as he walked back into his bedroom.

"Nice ass," I called after him, enjoying the view. He paused in the door to his room and looked back over his shoulder.

"I know," he said with a wink, before disappearing inside.

A half hour later we were on our way to the restaurant. Cliff looked great in navy Dockers and a turquoise and lilac, argyle, thin cotton, V-neck sweater, layered over a turquoise tee shirt. I was amazed that he could pull off the loud color combination with seemingly no effort at all, the turquoise in the clothes reflecting from his eyes, making them appear bluer than ever. We held hands and he watched me as I drove, while I snuck glances at him as often as traffic allowed. The fact that he was completely at ease coupled with the self-confidence and satisfaction I derived from our earlier activities, resulted in a sense of calm I hadn't expected to feel. Suddenly I wasn't looking at the dinner as a trial of Cliff and our relationship. Instead, I considered it an opportunity to show off my hot boyfriend. I was pleased and proud that a guy as sweet and hot as Cliff would not only want to spend time with me, but would willingly subject himself to the close scrutiny of my friends. I certainly wasn't sure if I'd be brave enough to do the same for him, and if I did, if I would pass muster. I had no such worries about Cliff. I just knew he would win everyone over the same way he did me.

We parked at the garage and walked into the restaurant. Seth had made the reservation, so we gave the host his name and were led to a table where everyone else had already been seated. There were two seats left for us in the center of the table. Before we settled in, we first walked over to Maggie and Rose, who were sitting on one side of the "U" shaped table. I gave them each a hello kiss on the cheek, while Cliff actually kissed their hands and expressed his pleasure at seeing them again. With anyone else the hand kissing might have come off cheesy or smarmy, but Cliff pulled it off like a perfect gentleman.

We next walked over to the other side of the "U", each of us giving Seth a kiss. I also had a kiss for Emmett, who sat next to Seth, and Christopher, who sat at the bottom of the "U" next to the two empty seats. Cliff shook hands with Emmett and Christopher.

"Edward, you sit next to Maggie, so Cliff can be in the center," Seth directed. Cliff and I glanced at each other and exchanged a small smile, but followed his directions. The waitress came up to take our drink orders, both of us electing tea over anything alcoholic.

"Not even some Sake, Edward?" Seth asked with a raised brow.

"I'm driving, Seth," I pointed out. "Besides, we have an early morning tomorrow - I have to be at the park by 9:00 for my shift, and Cliff's going with me."

"You are?" Maggie asked, surprised. "How nice. Do you volunteer at the mountain as well, Cliff?"

"No," Cliff turned to her and smiled. "But I wanted to see Edward in action in his uniform."

I watched Seth roll his eyes as Rosalie's laugh rang from the other side.

"I probably like uniforms more than the next guy," Seth opined, "but the national Park Service uniforms sure could use a new design. I mean all that brown, gray and olive green, it's so drab."

Rose laughed harder. "I'm sure the National Park Service has better things to think about than making their uniforms appealing to you, pipsqueak."

"I dropped off your comment in the suggestion box, Seth. I'm sure it's being discussed in Washington as we speak," I smirked and looked over at Rosalie as I spoke. She flipped her long curls over her shoulder and sent me a wink. The three of us loved playing this game, the two of them even more than me.

"Well if it isn't, it should be," Seth said imperially, crossing his arms in front of his chest and nodding in a gesture that was oddly reminiscent of Native American Indian war chiefs in old Hollywood westerns. "You agree with me, don't you, Cliff? Clearly you have an appreciation of color and an excellent fashion sense, if a bit conservative."

I marveled at Seth's definition of conservative, which in my book would never include turquoise and lilac on a man, but at the same time I beamed with pleasure at the compliment he had just paid my boyfriend.

"See, I told you you looked hot," I leaned over and whispered in his ear. He acknowledged me by grabbing and squeezing my hand.

"I haven't actually seen the uniform yet," he replied to Seth, "But whatever it is, I'm sure Edward looks great in it."

Out of a corner of my eye I caught a happy look exchanged between Rosalie and Maggie. Christopher leaned closer to Cliff and whispered, but being on the other side of Cliff I could clearly hear his "Keep it up, buddy, you're doing great. Once you pass the interview, you'll be off the hot seat and things will get a lot better. I know, I've been through it too."

I looked over at Christopher, grateful for his show of support. I'd always liked Emmett's new boyfriend, but this just cemented my favorable opinion. Looking at him, a slightly shorter and less muscular version of Emmett with warm, light brown eyes, a sexy smile, and a buzz cut so short it almost made his head look shaved, it was hard to imagine he had any major shortcomings. But I could see where, between Christopher's good looks and his good nature, Emmett, of all people, would be willing to overlook a lack of a sizable endowment.

"So what are you doing at the park tomorrow?" Maggie asked, undoubtedly trying to steer the conversation away from uniforms, or any clothing, before Seth started extolling the virtues of leather and mesh.

"I'm on roadside assistance duty. Directing traffic, answering questions, advising about road closures, that kind of thing."

"And what will you be doing, Cliff?" Rose followed up.

"Tagging along and trying not to get in the way," he smiled in her direction. "I've only ever been to Mount Rainier once before, when my brother and I were still in junior high and our parents decided to vacation in Seattle. I remember liking it, but not much else. So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I know how much Edward enjoys the mountain."

"Worships it, you mean," Seth said with a roll of his eyes. "He's like Moses, for crying out loud. Every time he comes home from one of his volunteer shifts I expect him to be carrying stone tablets."

Everyone burst out laughing. The timing was good, as the chef for our table as well as the waitress with our drinks arrived almost simultaneously. We all placed our orders and the cooking presentation began. I knew Seth chose the restaurant in part because he enjoyed the theatrics, but I didn't mind, as the chef's show distracted my smallest friend and took the pressure off Cliff. We didn't stop talking altogether, but with Seth having fun watching the flying shrimp and onion volcano, the conversation felt a lot more natural. In time, however, all the food was cooked and distributed and, after turning off the grill and cleaning up, our chef bowed and left the table. We started eating and for a minute everything was quiet, but I should have known it was the calm before the storm.

"So, boys," Seth mused as he used his chopsticks to pick up one of the sea scallops off his plate. "You two have certainly gotten very cozy in a short amount of time. It's only been, what, two or three weeks, right? And already you're spending every weekend together. Are you sure you're ready for that, Cliff?"

I stiffened, my forkful of steak and rice suspended in mid-air. Seth knew Cliff's history. He had no right asking him something like that. I was about to jump in and tell him so when I felt Cliff's hand on my thigh, squeezing lightly, but enough to make me pause.

"Yes, Seth, I think I am," he answered, his hand never leaving my thigh. "I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't believe that. Edward shared his history with me and it seems we've both lost someone who had been very important to us, and it took us both a while to move on. We talked about it all, and decided that we were both ready to try this. And I can only speak for me, but even though it's only been a few weeks, I already know I made the right decision," he looked to me as he finished speaking, smiling with both his lips and eyes. Seeing that he found Seth's question amusing, rather than insulting, I allowed myself to relax.

"And it doesn't bother you that our Edward is not the most experienced top? If I recall correctly, you are a bottom, right?" Seth continued his offensive as I nearly choked on the steak that I made the mistake of trying to swallow before Seth started talking.

"Seth!"

"Sweetie,"

Maggie and Emmett objected simultaneously on my behalf.

"What?" Seth was offended. "Edward hasn't had much experience and he needs an understanding bottom."

"Which perhaps would have been a great reason for you to offer to teach him yourself," Rose spoke in an icy tone. "So you wouldn't have to ask questions like this at the dinner table and embarrass the hell out of the rest of us."

Seth used his shrimp-laden chop-sticks to wave her off.

"I'm sorry the subject matter embarrasses you, though I don't see why. Done right, sex is a natural and beautiful thing, not something to be embarrassed about. And your comment just shows how little you know me, Ms. Bunyan. I said Edward needs an understanding bottom. I'm in the evaluation business. I leave the instruction to others."

"Oh, Dear Lord," Christopher groaned and placed his hand over his eyes. Maggie just stared at Seth with disbelief. I managed to swallow my steak without choking, but for once could not think of anything to say.

"I happen to agree with Seth," all five of us other than Seth turned to Cliff in shock. "Sex is a natural and beautiful thing, though maybe not a totally appropriate subject for mixed company," he tilted his head in Maggie and Rosalie's direction apologetically. "Still, since it has been brought up, I'll admit once upon a time it was a subject that embarrassed me as well, but then I had a very understanding instructor and he changed all that. So once again I agree with Seth, an appropriate partner is invaluable. As for Edward and me," he turned to Seth again, "without being indelicate and getting into details, I believe we found that we are rather compatible."

I was amazed at how he could keep so cool under pressure and respond so diplomatically to such brazen questioning. I was also angry with myself, because while I expected this evening to be difficult, even I could not have predicted Seth would be quite this bold, and I hated that being with me subjected Cliff to this type of assault.

"Cliff, I'm so sorry," I turned and spoke only to him. "We can go right now if you want to."

"Wait, are you apologizing for me, Edward?" I heard Seth's voice in the background.

"There is only one rude and annoying pipsqueak at this table tonight," Rose threw in.

"Oh, right," Seth sounded genuinely offended. "Like I asked him anything that you weren't all wondering about, but were just too gutless to ask yourselves."

"There's no need for us to leave," Cliff responded directly to me. "I'm fine. I've known Seth for a long time and I knew what to expect. And I'm sure he's right. He is only asking the questions that everyone else here wants to know the answers to." He turned towards the rest of the table and continued. "Edward told me about what happened with Jasper, so I understand why you are all concerned about him. I also understand why Seth, who knows some of my history, is particularly concerned. I'm sure on paper, given both of our histories, the two of us getting together looks like a really bad idea. But in real life it's been working, and working well. And I want that to continue, which is why I'm here."

I opened my mouth to protest, and to assure him that he didn't have to do this, didn't have to put up with the whims of my friends and sisters in order to be with me, but he looked at me with a clear request to let him finish, so I closed my mouth again and sat back.

"I know when Jasper left Edward was all alone, and that you all are the reason why he's still here, and that you're the only family whose opinion he cares about. And I think I know Edward well enough to guess that he'd continue to see me even if all of you disapproved and tried to talk him out of it. But I really hope not to be a cause of that kind of friction between you, because whether he'd ever admit it or not, your disapproval would hurt him. So I'm here, ready to answer all your reasonable questions, in the hopes that I can earn your approval. You can ask me anything and I swear I won't get offended, though I reserve the right not to answer," the last comment was directed at Seth.

Everyone around the table, myself included, sat in stunned silence. Finally, it was Christopher who spoke first.

"I feel like I should break out into applause, or something," he said, placing a hand on Cliff's shoulder. "That was some speech. I know it doesn't really count for anything, but you've got my vote."

"Thank you, Christopher," Cliff and I spoke at the same time. Cliff, who had been facing Christopher while speaking to him, turned back to me and we both burst out laughing, with everyone else joining us.

"We just want Edward to be happy," Emmett said. "And I've never seen him quite this happy, so you have my vote too."

"He's more fragile than he seems," Seth added, speaking to Cliff, "and so are you, so be careful with each other." His nod was as close to approval as we were going to get.

"You've got guts, and I like that," Rosalie threw in. "Just know that you'll have us to contend with if you hurt him."

Cliff nodded in her direction, indicating his understanding.

"Welcome to the group, Cliff," Maggie summarized. "Now, let's eat before the food gets cold."

We all laughed again. I released Cliff's hand and we all went back to eating.

"So," Rosalie said a few minutes later, "Where are you from?"

"Spokane," Cliff answered. "Well, actually the Spokane suburbs. My brother and I were born in Connecticut, that's where my mom's from, but then when we were three, my parents..."

Between bites, Cliff told everyone his story. I listen with rapt attention, since many parts of the story were new to me as well. I was equally interested in answers to questions Cliff asked my friends, learning things about them I never knew. At some point I realized that the evening had turned from an interview of Cliff, to Cliff interviewing everyone else. Even Seth fell under Cliff's spell, which perhaps was not too surprising, because his love of talking about himself was second only to his love of placing others on the spot. I watched Cliff with no small amount of admiration and realized he was even more fantastic than I knew!

"Excuse me for a moment," Cliff said pleasantly as our dinner plates were being cleared away. He got up and headed in the direction of the bathrooms. I didn't exactly watch him, but in my peripheral vision I registered that he stopped to talk for a moment with our waitress. Thinking nothing of it, I turned back to the group.

"So, he's pretty great, right?" I asked, mostly rhetorically.

"He's really nice, Edward," Maggie offered. "And it's pretty obvious he's crazy about you."

"As crazy as you are about him," Emmett observed. "You two are really great together."

"Thanks, Em," I smiled in his direction. His approval meant a lot.

"He's a good guy," Christopher declared. "Maybe the four of us could hang out sometime?"

"That's a great idea, Kip!" Emmett echoed, taking Christopher's hand and leaning over to kiss him. "Maybe we can go hiking or something. Does Cliff like to do that?"

I shrugged. "He seems willing to try anything, even if he hasn't done it before. I'll find out."

I caught Seth's unhappy expression. He wasn't a big hiking fan. The one time Emmett and I talked him into going on a hike with us, he complained nearly the entire time. It was one reason I put up in the living room the picture we had another tourist take of the three of us hiking. Seth absolutely hated having solid proof that he'd ever engaged in the activity, which, of course, amused me to no end. If the four of us were going to go hiking, Seth definitely would not be joining us, and I saw that this was not to his liking.

"Or we could all go dancing," he suggested. Christopher and I frowned. Neither of us particularly enjoyed the club scene, especially with Seth, who always had to be the center of attention.

"We could do that too someday, Sweetie," Emmett replied neutrally, though I knew he shared my sentiments.

"The four of us could do something too," Maggie offered. "Though probably not hiking," she said, rubbing her growing bump.

"That sounds good, Mags. We'll figure something out."

We kept talking as the desserts arrived and then, finally, Cliff returned.

"So," he said before he sat down, leaning over to speak directly into my ear. "Did I pass the test?"

I turned and planted my lips on his, surprising both him and myself with a sweet kiss. "With flying colors," I whispered against his mouth before we broke apart. Cliff smiled and sat down as I turned back to the rest of the table. All of them were smiling as well.

After we finished dessert, Cliff and I decided to go, citing the need to get up early the next morning. I reached for my wallet to take out money to cover our portion of the tab. "It's already taken care of," Cliff announced. "Thank you all for a great evening. I really enjoyed getting to know you. Dinner's on me."

Everyone protested, including me.

"No, really, please," Cliff said firmly. "It's my pleasure. I swear I won't do this every time we're all out together, but just this once, please indulge me."

Since Cliff had already paid, there was little anyone could do, so we let him get away with it. We said our goodbyes and left to get the car. I managed to restrain myself until we were in the garage, but as soon as we reached the car and before Cliff even had a chance to open the passenger door, I grabbed him into a hard, passionate kiss.

"Whoa, what was that?" he asked after we broke apart.

"That is how I feel about what you just did in there. You were brilliant, amazing! You managed to tame the dragons without spilling any blood. You are the dragon whisperer!"

Cliff laughed. "Dragon whisperer. I like that. Especially if it makes you do what you just did," he smiled and slid his hands down to my butt, pulling me closer to him. "Now come on, Princess, we need to go home so I can collect my reward for taming your guardian beasts."

"Hmm, what reward? And who are you calling Princess?"

"Oh, I'll make sure there's a reward, even if I have to have my evil way with you to get it. But for the second part, you're right. Nothing says a knight in shining armor can't be rescuing a handsome prince. So come on, my sweet prince, let's go home."

Back in his bedroom, Cliff made short work of removing my shirt, shoes and socks. I waited with nervous anticipation for him to open the fly on my pants, suddenly unsure if the boxer briefs were as sexy as I first thought, or if he'd just burst out laughing. I had no doubt he could still get me hard, but if he laughed at me his job would probably be more difficult. I cursed myself for indulging a stupid whim as he popped open the button and slid down the zipper, finally parting the flaps to catch his first glimpse of the filled, red, football shaped pouch.

"Oh, wow," he whispered and immediately pressed his face into my crotch and wrapped his lips around the middle of my shaft, with the fabric still between us. I felt his tongue press against me, gliding along one of the sewn-in laces. "Thank God I didn't know you had these on when we were at the restaurant, or the patrons might have gotten a second show they didn't bargain for. Did you get these just for me?" he asked, looking up at me with clear appreciation.

I was thrilled with his response, growing even harder as a result, and wished more than anything I could answer in the affirmative, but I shook my head. I couldn't lie. "Christmas gift from the girls,” I explained. "But this is the first time I wore them. Do you really like them?" I asked timidly, even though his reaction left little doubt. "You don't think they're too ga..." I stopped myself as soon as I realized what I was saying, but my meaning was all too clear. Fortunately, Cliff just laughed.

"Too gay? No, Baby, I don't think they're too gay. If anything, they're not gay enough. But one shopping trip and we can fix that! And in the meantime, these are fine!" he nuzzled my erection through the fabric again as he pulled down my pants. "Do you remember how Wenn discovered I was gay? I've always had a thing for football players."

"Did I tell you I used to play in high school?" I asked as I stepped out of my pants.

"NO!" he looked up at me with wide eyes. "I bet you were the quarterback, right?" He ran his hands over my ass and squeezed. I nodded.

"Oh," he said as he got up, kissing his way up my stomach and chest until he reached my mouth. "This just gets better and better," he spoke against my lips before kissing me hard and shoving his tongue into my mouth. A few moments later he grabbed my shoulders, twisting my body and pushing me onto the bed. He immediately dropped to his knees and pressed his face against the boxers again, rubbing his nose and cheek on my cotton-clad hard on.

"It's such a shame to take these off," he murmured, "but I really want what's underneath. I've been waiting for that all week." He tugged at the sides of the briefs and I lifted my hips so that he could pull them down and off. I sighed, lay back and closed my eyes as he proceeded to use his talented mouth to take me right over the edge of ecstasy. Afterwards I was so relaxed I could barely open my eyes, remind him of the time we needed to wake up, and crawl under the covers, before I was sound asleep.

I woke up to the sound of a buzzing alarm clock. For once Cliff was not lying on top of me, but was curled around me instead. He stirred at the same time as I did, both of us groaning a little at the early hour. I turned in his arms and pushed the hair out of his still sleepy eyes. He leaned towards me in an attempt to kiss me, but I pulled back, causing him to frown.

"Sorry," I said, covering my mouth with my hand, "but I don't think you want to do that. I didn't brush last night."

He rolled his eyes and pulled down my hand. "I tamed five dragons last night. I think I can handle a little halitosis." He kissed me, but allowed me to keep my lips together. I pulled back and hugged him, figuring it was safe to speak now that we were ear to ear.

"I know this is really early. Are you sure you want to come with me, Sunshine? You don't have to. I can just come back here when I'm done."

His arms tightened around me momentarily before he let go. "I wouldn't miss this for anything. I am so looking forward to seeing you in action."

"I'm not a cop, you know. Not even a security guard. I'm just going to be giving tourists directions. It really won't be that exciting."

"You just do what you do and let me be the judge of how exciting it is. And tell you what, I'll bring some reading so I have something to do if I get bored, all right? Now, let's shower."

We took care of our morning toilet and then Cliff sent me to change in the bedroom while he took his clothes into the bathroom. "You know normally I'd love to watch," he said, "but I want to get the full impact of that uniform."

Ordinarily I would have protested, but thinking of the little scrap of black fabric that I was going to put on underneath my uniform pants kept me quiet. I wanted these boxer briefs to be a surprise for later.

By the time I came out of the bedroom Cliff had our coffee brewing and was assembling the English muffin, fried egg, ham and cheese sandwiches. He looked up when I walked into the kitchen, his eyes raking me up and down appreciatively.

"Oh yeah!" he enthused, "that's exactly how I thought you would look. So hot, Eddie!" he walked up to me and ran his hands down my arms, pausing to trace the parks volunteer patch on my right arm, and around my torso to my back. "I can't wait to watch you work all day, and then to peel all of this off you tonight!" he said, squeezing my ass and pulling me into him. Since we didn't have time to do anything in the shower, both of us started to get hard as he rubbed his pelvis against mine.

"Now that's something I'm really looking forward to," I admitted.

We ate breakfast and took a couple of travel mugs filled with coffee on the road with us. Cliff had a backpack with some books and lunches he had prepared for us in advance.

"You know you're spoiling me?" I asked after we were in the car and on our way. He shrugged.

"I enjoy doing it. It's nice to have someone to spoil again, and I know you appreciate it."

"I really do, Sunshine," I assured him, grabbing his hand and keeping one eye on the road as I leaned in for a quick kiss.

On the way to the park I told him that not everyone I volunteered with knew that I was gay, and asked if it was okay if we skipped the public displays of affection while I was working. I watched him carefully as he answered, knowing that I was prepared to come out to everyone today if I saw any sign of resentment or severe disappointment, but he merely nodded in understanding.

"It won't be easy," he said, "but I think I'll manage to keep my hands off you for a few hours. It'll make tonight that much hotter!"

I laughed, certain that he could do it if he wanted to, but not really sure about myself. When I was around him, sometimes the urge to grab and kiss him was most irresistible.

We made it to Longmont 15 minutes ahead of the start of my shift, giving me time to talk with Bob, the ranger in charge, to get clear on my assignment. For most of the day I would be helping out right at Longmont, but I would also relieve another volunteer for a couple of hours at Christine Falls. I was excited about that, because the falls were very picturesque and a spot I wanted to take Cliff to anyway. That would be far more interesting for him that spending all day at Longmont. I told Bob that a friend of mine came with me and would hang around, but would not interfere with my work. Bob seemed to think that Cliff wanted to learn more about volunteering, and he was all in favor of encouraging more people to donate their time to the park. I didn't disillusion him, especially since I, too, kind of hoped Cliff would join me on the mountain again.

As I predicted, the day didn't really offer any excitement, though it was fun having Cliff beside me. When I was merely giving tourists directions or informing them of road closures, he hung back and let me do my work, but when someone stopped to ask questions about the park, and I switched to my lecturer mode, he stayed close, listening to all my answers and stories as attentively as the people who'd asked the questions. At times when tourist traffic slowed, we'd find places to sit and talk, careful to maintain a friendly distance, which was even harder for me than I imagined it would be.

In the afternoon we drove up to Christine Falls. Technically there was no ranger station there, but since the falls were so popular and parking so limited, volunteers were sometimes stationed there to help with traffic flow. Thankfully, this early in the season traffic wasn't as much of a problem, so rather than planting myself at the lookout, I was able to take Cliff to look at the falls. Since I was working, a fact heralded to everyone by my National Park Service Volunteer Fleece and cap, I was asked and answered numerous questions about the falls. I gladly shared facts about Christine Louise Van Trump, the falls' namesake and daughter of one of the two men who first ascended to the summit of Mount Rainier in 1870, who, despite suffering from a neurological disorder, ascended with her father to 10,000 feet at the age of nine. Though she never achieved her dream of reaching the top of the mountain, her courage was appropriately commemorated in the name of this gorgeous waterfall. I also answered questions about the height of both sections of the falls, and the changes in the shape of the upper falls caused by a 2001 glacial debris flow, which allowed me to transition into a lecture on global warming and the critical need for conservation and reduction in our abuse of natural resources, one of my favorite soapbox subjects.

Cliff and I ate a late lunch slightly off trail at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Van Trump creek. He had prepared sunflower butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit, which required no refrigeration. His thoughtfulness and attention to detail continued to astound me, and when we were done I really could not help myself, I had to lean over and capture his lips with mine. He responded, but pulled back almost immediately.

"Eddie, are you sure?" he asked, the remainder of the question unspoken.

"Absolutely sure," I answered without hesitation. "There's no one here from the park," I informed, "and right now I wouldn't care if there was. They'll all find out eventually," I sighed, thinking back to my conversation with Roger.

"And you don't think they'll accept you after you come out?" he asked softly. I shrugged.

"I know some will, but probably not all, and it will change the dynamics. For months now I've been thinking about coming out, even before I met you," I told him softly. "My friend Roger knows and he's cool with it, but he suggested that while I shouldn't hide, I also may not want to force the issue unless there was a reason to. Until I met you, there was no reason. Now things are different. I want to tell the guys I'm dating. I want to introduce them to my boyfriend," I smiled in his direction. "But I'm not sure how well that will go over with some of them, and I don't want you to have to go through any more unpleasantness on my account. So I guess I'll tell the guys Monday night and see what happens. After that, I'll introduce you to the ones who would like to meet you. At the very least it'll be Roger and Yvonne. They were already excited to hear about you."

"Oh yeah?" he sounded pleased. "You talked about me with your straight friends too?"

"Well, only Roger so far," I clarified.

"Still, you told someone. That's. . ." he seemed to be searching for the right word, "very flattering," he finally said with a smile. "But I hope you know I wouldn't expect you to do this for me, not if it will mess up your work here. I can tell how much you love this and how important it is for you. And whether or not the people here know about your private life doesn't really impact me."

"But it already has, today. I didn't want for us to have to think about not hugging, or holding hands if we wanted to. I didn't want you to ask me if I was sure when I kissed you. If my being gay messes up this gig, so be it. I can always keep coming back as a tourist and volunteer somewhere else in other ways. I've spent my entire life afraid to be who I really was, to even consider that I might be someone other than what my father wanted me to be, and it cost me a lot. If I'm going to pay a price, I'd rather do it for being who I am."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him up, picking up our trash bag with the other. Keeping his hand in mine, I pulled him along to the middle of the stone bridge over the creek bed in front of the falls. Not really caring who was around to see, I pulled him close and kissed him. I heard a disgusted "Oh," and looked over to see a couple marching their children off the bridge, but I ignored them and went back to kiss Cliff again.

"Aw, how romantic," said a young woman, clearly a half of a heterosexual couple on an equally romantic stroll with her significant other.

"Thanks," I turned to her with a smile. "Is this your first time to Mount Rainier? Do you have any questions?" I slipped back into my volunteer mode.

"No, that's OK," she said. "We're just here to enjoy the view."

"Hey," Cliff said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Would you mind taking a photo of us?"

"No, not at all," she said, letting go of the guy she was with and reaching for Cliff's phone. He put his arm around me and we both smiled as she took the picture and handed the phone back. We looked at it, both liking the image of us with the upper Christine falls in the background. Cliff thanked her, and we moved off the bridge, so others could take advantage of the photo opportunity.

We went back down so I could finish the rest of my shift at Longmont. A couple of hours later I was driving back home. On the way we stopped at a diner to eat a quick meal, neither one of us particularly wanting to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when we got home. Cliff watched with a big grin as our waitress fawned over my uniform and went out of her way to assure us that we would be getting the park ranger discount. I explained that I wasn't a ranger, pointing to my volunteer patches, but she insisted that working in the park for free made me even more deserving of the discount. I stopped arguing when I saw that my efforts would be futile, and graciously accepted the offer.

"I feel like I'm out with a celebrity," Cliff teased, "and I kind of like it. Can I get your autograph, Mr. Cullen?"

"Only if I can sign it on your chest with my cum," I told him in a low voice, leaning in to make sure I would not be overheard.

"Now that sounds exciting," Cliff said with a smile. "Should we get the food to go?"

We ate at the diner, but fairly quickly, and then continued to speed home. We started kissing in the elevator on the way up to his apartment, and didn't really stop until we absolutely had to so he could dig out his key and unlock the door. Once inside we shrugged out of our outerwear, leaving jackets and shoes scattered haphazardly on the floor in the hallway as we groped our way across each other's bodies all the way into the bedroom. We fell onto Cliff's bed and he immediately pushed me onto my back and straddled me. I lay back as he pulled my uniform shirt out of my pants and finished undoing the buttons on the sleeves and the front. He parted my shirt so my torso was completely exposed and sat back to admire his efforts, his fingers lightly grazing over my skin.

"Damn, you are so hot in that uniform it should be illegal," he commented appreciatively. "But you're even hotter halfway out of it. And I know you'll be hotter yet when it's lying in a heap on the floor."

"We can certainly find out," I said as I raised my upper body to one elbow and then the next, so he could pull off the shirt, one sleeve at a time. I remained on my elbows, watching as he unbuckled my belt, pulled it out of the loops and discarded it next to the bed. I held my breath as he unbuttoned and unzipped my pants, opening the flaps.

"Oh shit," he looked up at me with an expression very similar to the one he wore the previous night. "More Christmas presents from the girls?"

I nodded.

"God bless them! Jesus, Eddie, I don't even know what to say." He shifted off me to the side and started tugging on my pants to better see the briefs. Laughing, I lifted my hips to make his job easier. He yanked off my pants and socks, then rolled me over onto my stomach, and straddled the backs of my legs. Unable to see anything but the pillows, I felt his lips on my ass, kissing, licking and gently biting my cheeks through the sheer striped fabric.

"Forget Mount Rainier," he declared. "This is a much better vista, by far."

I looked over my right shoulder, seeing his head lowered over me again, his left hand massaging my left cheek. I felt his slick tongue slide along the top of my right thigh and then slip beneath the elastic at the bottom of the briefs to travel along the juncture of my thigh and ass. I wouldn't have thought that would be an erogenous zone, but his tongue right there made me harder than I was before, and I couldn't stop my hips from grinding into the mattress. He slipped the fingers of his left hand under the bottom elastic on the left side and followed a similar path as his tongue had just traced on the other side. I lowered my head again and closed my eyes, letting myself concentrate on his touch and groaning appreciatively. I felt him shift again and he was rolling me onto my back, almost immediately descending to nuzzle at the solid fabric pouch, filled to bursting with my swollen cock and balls. I moaned at the contact, which felt great, but was frustratingly limited by the fabric between his lips and my dick. He breathed against the briefs, the warmth of his breath spreading along the fibers of the fabric until I felt like I was on fire. Then he moved up and took the top elastic between his teeth, tugging it downwards to release me from the confines of the hindering pouch. He lowered the elastic enough to hook it beneath my balls, and proceeded to use his tongue to cover every inch of my scrotum. Only then did he pull one of the orbs into his mouth and gently massaged it with his tongue and mouth, as he used the fingertips of his right hand to softly caress the other, switching after a while to give both sides equal attention.

While I loved the attention to my balls, my rock hard cock was throbbing in discontent at being ignored. I writhed beneath Cliff, breathing hard through my nose and biting my lip to try to win the battle of wills and prevent myself from begging for him to suck me, but eventually I could wait no longer.

"Please, Sunshine, suck my dick," I pleaded.

He looked up at me, obviously pleased. "Sure, Eddie. Whatever you want. All you had to do was ask."

Smiling, he moved up and his mouth engulfed my head and at least half of my shaft. He moved his lips down until the remainder of my shaft was immersed in his mouth and throat and held me there, his tongue just barely moving against my cum tube at the base of my cock. He moved his head up to take a breath through his nose, then descended again, repeating this pattern several times before he finally relented and started bobbing up and down on my cock in a smooth, steady rhythm. I was experiencing something beyond pleasure, something for which there were no words. I felt everything tensing inside me and knew I was getting close to my orgasm.

Cliff knew it too, and pulled his mouth off me before I could get there. Missing his lips on me and surprised at the total act of action on his part, I lifted my head and looked down on him. He was breathing heavily, looking up at me with glazed eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked with concern.

"I don't know what to do," he moaned.

"What do you mean, Sunshine?" he was scaring me.

"I want to suck you and drink your cum so badly right now," he started to explain.

"Okay, that sounds pretty good," I was confused, not understanding the problem.

"But I also really need to feel your cock inside me, filling me up. And I can't have both."

"Ah," I finally got it and furrowed my brow. "I love it when you suck me off," I admitted, "But I would really like to make love to you, to make us both feel good at the same time."

"So what do we do?" Cliff looked genuinely pained at having to make a decision.

I pushed myself to sit up and reached for him, waiting until he was kneeling next to me before kissing him deeply, our tongues tangling with one another first inside his mouth, then mine. I ran my hands over his back, resentful over the shirt that prevented skin to skin contact.

"Well, first," I said as we broke apart, "We get rid of this stuff," I continued as I tugged his shirt over his head, Cliff lifting his arms to help. I reached down to unbutton and unzip his jeans, and then pushed him onto his back to make it easier for me to pull them off. Once his jeans and socks joined his shirt on the floor, and I tugged off my own briefs, I leaned over and took his hardness into my mouth, determined to bring him to the same state he brought me.

"Ugh, Eddie," he groaned. I looked up as I continued to suck and wished I had a camera. He looked so fucking sexy. Still kneeling, with his ass resting on his heels, he leaned back with one arm behind him, braced against the mattress. His head was thrown back, exposing a long, smooth neck and an Adam's apple so perfect I wished for two sets of lips, so I could suck it and his cock at the same time. With his head cocked to the side I could see past his strong, angular and beautifully cleft chin to his closed eyes, covered with long-lashed lids, and his lightly parted pink lips. He was lust personified, and the knowledge that I was making him look that way sent more blood rushing to my already turgid dick.

I sucked him in deeper and harder, and felt the fingers of his free hand tangle in my hair.

"Huh, uh," his groans drove me to a faster pace. I moved my hand to his balls and rolled them carefully between my fingers as I drew his cock into the vacuum of my mouth. I felt his fingers tightening and pulling at my head just as I felt his sac growing taut against the base of his shaft. "Eddie, stop," he implored. "You'll make me come."

Realizing the truth behind the warning, and definitely not wanting him to orgasm yet, I slowly drew my lips off his hardness, sucking up all the precum and flicking my tongue against his slit as I pulled off completely, relishing the shudder that went through his body.

"Oh, my God," he exclaimed as his supporting arm buckled and he fell sideways onto the mattress. He straightened his legs and lay on his back, looking straight up at the ceiling, his breathing ragged. I was breathing hard myself, sitting back up and watching him, as turned on as I ever was. After a few moments, when his breathing calmed somewhat, he lifted his head to look at me. "Come up here and kiss me?" he asked.

I immediately complied, stretching out by his side, but he shook his head. "No, get on top of me, please," he said, spreading his arms and legs in welcome. I shifted over him carefully, my arms fitted on either side of his torso, forearms flat on the mattress to support my body from the elbows up. My legs were between his, with our cocks pressed against one another. I lowered my head and took his mouth in a hard, passionate kiss, then let my lips blaze a wet trail down his chin to his neck, to finally suck on that sexy Adam's apple, before moving back up to his lips. I felt his arms and legs surround me, pulling me closer, my overheated skin pressed down against his. I lifted my head to look into his icy blue eyes.

"I want you so much," I confessed.

"Take me," he responded simply, but made no effort to move. I stayed in place as well, unsure of what to do.

"Do you want to get on top?" I finally asked when it became clear he was waiting for me to make the first move.

He shook his head. "You're my top. I want you to stay on top. Make love to me, Eddie, just like this."

I frowned. I wanted to give him what he needed, but I had no idea how to do what he was asking. I'd always hated the missionary position with women, but at least I understood the mechanics. I had no idea how it would even work with a guy. My dick was long, but it wasn't that long. And then another thought occurred to me.

"What about a towel? And the oil?" There was no way I was going to do anything without properly preparing him first and making sure that we were both well lubricated. If I knew nothing else about making love to a man, I at least learned that much.

"I have everything ready in the top drawer," Cliff indicated the nightstand to his right with his chin.

"But," I still wasn't sure I could do this. It was too much responsibility. I had no idea what to do. What if I hurt him in some way?

With all the thoughts and uncertainly floating around my head, I could feel myself growing soft. I was mortified. I closed my eyes and buried my head in his neck. As close as we were, there was no way to hide this from Cliff. On top of everything else, now I couldn't even perform. I wanted to beat my head against the headboard in frustration. Jesus! Was there no way to just switch off my brain?

"Eddie?" his voice was gentle, caring. I twisted my head away from him, pressing my chin into his shoulder. "Eddie, look at me." This was less a request than a demand. I had no choice but to turn back to look at him.

"Whatever it is you're thinking, stop!" he commanded. He brought his hands to my face, looking deep into my eyes. "First of all, no matter what happens, I'm here to stay. I will never run away, because I know I have nothing to fear from you," his stare was intense, willing me to believe him. "Second, I know what I'm doing. I trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me intentionally, and I'll walk you through this so you won't be able to hurt me accidentally. All right? We'll make love and it will be fantastic. By the time we're done, we'll both see stars," he rubbed his thumb over my right cheek, while his other hand swept reassuringly over my back as he spoke. "You'll be inside me," his voice grew lower and huskier, "your hard, thick, long cock will fill me up and you'll be wrapped completely in my heat, and you'll thrust in and out, making us both feel so good," he began to roll his hips beneath mine and I felt my body respond automatically, both to the movement and the pictures he painted with his words. "You'll start moving faster and I'll be..." I lowered my head and interrupted him with a deep kiss.

"Thank you, Sunshine," I said. "You're doing a fantastic job. But I don't want to hear what is going to happen. I want to experience it."

I kissed him again, sucking in first his bottom lip, and then his tongue, into my waiting mouth. He wrapped his arms around me again, holding me tightly against him, and did the same with his legs. He started bucking his hips into me, once more causing our erections to rub against one another. I groaned, marveling how in a space of a few moments I could go from being completely overheated, to being nearly done, to being on fire all over again. As our lips, tongues and bodies slid against one another, I became keenly aware that sooner rather than later, I needed to be inside him.

I tried to reach over to the nightstand to open the drawer without breaking our kiss, but my arm wasn't quite long enough. I lifted my head and looked at Cliff desperately.

"It's okay," he assured. "I'm not going anywhere."

I shifted to my left and reached again, this time able to grasp the handle and pull the drawer out. I felt the terry cloth immediately, yanking it out and over to the bed. I returned my hand to the drawer, fumbling around until I found the bottle of baby oil. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled it out, looking over at Cliff triumphantly. I saw him try to fight it, but in moments he broke out into a big grin.

"You look like you just found the holy grail" he commented.

"Better, Sunshine," I opined. "Much better and much more important."

I let the bottle fall onto the mattress for the time being, while I returned my lips to his and resumed our passionate kisses. After a while I left his mouth and kissed my way down his chin, sliding the tip of my tongue along his cleft before moving lower to his neck. I stopped only long enough to give his Adam's apple the attention it deserved, before continuing down to his hard left nipple, and then the right. His body roiled and undulated beneath me like a turbulent ocean, and his sighs and moans filled the room, sounding sweeter than any concert, as my lips continued the tour of his chest and abdomen, his belly button and then his dark blond happy trail, leading me right to his magnificent dick: hot, throbbing, and so hard it was suspended in midair above his stomach, dripping precum and begging to be sucked. I stuck out my tongue and lapped up the pool of precum on his stomach beneath his head. I looked up to see him watching me, and I ran my tongue over my lips.

"So good," I assured. "I want more!"

I stuck out my tongue again and traced it along his cum tube from base to head, stopping there and teasing his frenulum with the most subtle movements of just the tip of my tongue.

"Please," his hoarse moan was all I needed to stop teasing and take him into my mouth.

Starting with just his head, I sucked slowly but rhythmically. With my left hand I reached to the baby oil, flipping up the cap with my thumb. As my lips continued their worship, I brought the bottle of oil underneath my chest, and squeezed a good amount into the palm of my right hand. I closed the lid and set the bottle aside again. I moved my cupped hand to the crack of his ass. Guessing my intentions, Cliff bent and pulled up his legs, spreading himself open. Continuing to suck his cock, I let some of the oil drip down my fingers onto his hole, using the fingers of my free hand to gently rub it in. I put my hands together to slick them up with the rest of the oil, and then moved the fingers of my right hand down to slowly circle the puckered rim of his opening.

"Yeah," he encouraged, "get me ready for you. I need you inside me, Eddie."

I replaced my lips on his cock with my left hand, so I could lift my head to better see what I was doing. I continued to stroke him as I slowly pushed a single finger inside his hole, and watched him buck up in response to pull me in deeper. "Oh!" he exclaimed as I found his prostate and gently massaged it before withdrawing my finger and thrusting it back in.

I continued to prepare him, adding another finger, and then another, encountering no resistance, just visual and audible encouragement. The sight of his body twisting wantonly in response to my strokes and penetration made me hard as a rock. When he brought his hand down to still my hand on his cock and whispered "I'm getting too close," I knew it was time to take the next step.

I took my hand off him and sat back, reaching for the oil again and pouring a little on my cock, then stroking myself to ensure even distribution. Cliff reached for the towel and used his well-developed abs to lift his ass and lower back off the mattress, quickly spreading the towel beneath him. I helped even out the creases, making sure he'd be laying on a flat, comfortable surface. I looked at him uncertainly.

"What's next?" I asked.

Cliff hooked his arms under his knees, spreading his legs out even wider and bringing them higher. He didn't need to say anything. I could now clearly see where I needed to be. I moved forward on my knees and leaned over him, positioning the head of my cock at his entrance.

"Ready?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Extremely," he replied.

Holding my dick in position with my left hand, I supported myself on my right as I leaned over further and pressed against him. I felt his muscle resist for a moment, and then give way as the head of my cock slipped inside. "Hoh," I exclaimed as the sudden tight embrace and closed my eyes. This felt like nothing else in the world!

I moved my left hand to the mattress for more support and allowed gravity to pull me deeper into him. Slowly I sank into the warm tunnel, feeling his body welcome me every inch of the way, until my balls hit his ass and I was completely sheathed within him. I watched him the whole time, looking for any sign of pain or even discomfort, but all I saw was a beautiful boy laying with his eyes closed, his lips parted, taking in breaths that were at first rapid and shallow, but started to deepen and slow before my eyes. Suddenly his eyes popped open and he was looking straight at me, nodding his head in silent encouragement. I began to move, lifting my hips to withdraw, and then lowering them to fill him again. I moved with almost agonizing slowness, wanting to feel every sensation and to stretch this out for as long as I possibly could.

Cliff watched, his eyes darting from my face down to the juncture between us and back up again. "You feel so good inside me, Eddie. Your cock feels so right in my ass."

"I know, Sunshine," I agreed breathlessly. "It's amazing to feel you all around me."

I continued my slow thrusts for as long as I could, until neither one of us could stand it and he begged me to go faster. I increased the tempo, leaning over him and lowering my mouth to join our lips as well. Our kisses grew more passionate as I plunged into him faster and deeper, our tongues keeping pace with my cock. Suddenly I felt him release his knee and put his right hand between us to grasp his cock and start stroking. He moved his head to the side, breaking our kiss.

"Oh my God, Eddie. Oh, my God. I'm so close, Baby."

My arms were beginning to shake as I felt myself get closer and closer to my own peak. I dropped down to my left elbow and reached for his cock, replacing his right hand with mine and stroking him in time with my thrusts.

"I can't wait, Eddie. Oh God, I'm gonna come," he wailed.

"Come for me, Sunshine. I'm close too, but don't wait, just come," I encouraged, plunging faster still, though not nearly as smoothly now.

"Oh, oh!" his increasingly louder moans preceded his orgasm. I must have been closer than I realized, because suddenly, before he even started, I felt my dick expand and pulse and I was coming, my jizz spilling forth deep inside his ass.

"Fuck!" I screamed out as I continued thrusting, depositing load after load of my cum inside him. And then I felt his cock spasm in my hand and he was shooting his creamy ejaculate over his stomach and chest, groaning even louder in his ultimate bliss. His head thrown back, eyes closed, with the most exquisite expression on his face, I simply had no choice. I leaned forward and captured his mouth, sucking on his tongue, tasting him, wanting even more than he was able to give. I slowed both my thrusts and strokes, and then stopped completely. Exhausted and spent, I collapsed on top of him, feeling his cum between us. I moved my head to the side, pressing my lips against his neck.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaimed, still breathing hard.

"I know," he agreed, and I loved the dreamy quality in his voice. "That was fantastic!" he turned his face to look at me. "You were fantastic!" he said, pressing his lips to mine softly. "Did I lie or did you see stars? I know I did! That orgasm took me right into the stratosphere," he gushed, and I had to laugh.

"Yeah, Sunshine, I saw stars too. I went right over the moon."

"Edward?" he suddenly sounded serious.

"Yes, Cliff?" I responded equally seriously, with some trepidation.

"You don't need to doubt yourself anymore. You're an excellent lover, a great top. There's more for you to learn, other positions to try, but you don't have to second guess or worry. You're a really great guy and I want you just the way you are, the way you've been with me so far. Just trust me and be yourself! Okay?"

He was so earnest and so hopeful, and I realized it was time for me to trust him and myself, at least the me that I was when I was with him. Though I'd only been with him a short time, I felt like I knew him well. I knew the way his body responded. I knew how to make him feel good. And I sure as hell knew he could do the same to me. It was time to stop looking back on the mistakes I made in the past, and concentrate on the here and now.

"Okay, Sunshine," I told him, my mind made up. "I do trust you, and if you have this much faith in me, then I have to believe in myself as well. But you still need to train me, coach, and I'll need a lot of practice."

"Oh yes," he nodded seriously. "You will definitely need a lot of practice. And don't worry; I will not let you slack off. In fact, I plan on training you real hard!"