Trapped. It was how Marcello Carreras had felt. The same job for fifteen years but as much as he loved it, as with many things in life, stay too long in the same position and the routine can become insufferable. He was an English teacher to the younger students at a boys’ school but suddenly, over a decade since his first day on the job, he had begun to feel like his head was going to explode. He could do the job blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back but that had been the problem. It was like taking a piss; no need for a man to think about what he was doing, he just did it, automatically and routinely. There seemed to be no challenge anymore. He had come to a conclusion he needed a new chapter to his story.

 

Marcello sat at his desk at the front of a new classroom, appearing to stare out the window at a view he could not see. School was over for the day, for the week in fact, leaving the building empty and allowing silence to become alive. Everyone had gone home. Daylight had vanished and so the view was non-existent as well. Darkness consumed the outside world and the bright lights of the classroom transformed the windows into mirrors against the night.

 

Marcello stared at his own reflection, the reflection of a thirty-five-year-old man. Though his eyes were intense and thoughtful while considering the main thing that was bothering him, which was something that was always bothering him these days, still his reflected image displayed the face of a very handsome man. The shape, the cut, indeed the very structure of his face, confirmed he was not an indigenous or a generational native of America. His mixed European bloodline spoke to that fact. He had been adorned with an amazing genetic package, following the union of his stunning, Italian mother and his incredibly handsome, Spanish father.

 

Marcello was masculine but beyond handsome. Jet-black hair rolled in perfect small waves and always fell naturally into place with style. He had piercing, deep blue eyes that could touch a soul with a single glance. They were beautiful eyes set above prominent cheekbones and a strong jaw line. His lips were burgundy red. They were full lips with soft curves and defined edges, making it hard not to stare at them when talking to him. They called out in a silent language of sensuality.

 

Marcello had been slim in his youth but with age his body had filled out into a thickset build. Now, years later, he was solidly built with a sprinter’s body and his musculature was firm and defined. He looked after himself with a good diet and he worked out and exercised his body, not at a gym but from home. He was healthy, fit and intelligent and he really was quite a specimen of man.

 

As a young boy, Marcello’s nature had always been free-spirited. He was a determined individual and his confidence and certainty to follow the whispers of his soul, continued to evolve and lead him into adulthood.

 

The final years of his adolescence were influential but he had no idea that certain dreams would seed the growth of his future. Later, though still before he had completed school, he knew unquestionably there were three things that would determine the path of his life. Those things were another country, another language and finally, a hidden piece of the man he was to become. He felt they were all somehow connected and believed freedom was the key to the life he wanted to build.

 

At seventeen he decided his future was a tapestry he was yet to unroll. The most important part of its picture, he believed was concerned with something he had known since he was six years of age. He could not truly understand what it meant or even what it would entail when he was so young, however, with every year that followed, his knowledge and his feelings of his nature and his needs, crystallized into certainty.

 

It was not until the last four years of school that his life’s direction began to make its presence known. When he finally realized and made the decision, he unknowingly placed himself on a path that would change his life forever.

 

From an elective subject at school, he had been given a taste of the English language. Something about the strange language got to him. He studied it beyond what was required at school and when his standard education was complete, he took it even further. Following years of an almost passionate obsession, not only could he speak the language fluently but also, he had become a completely capable proponent of its teaching.

 

At twenty-three he packed up and left Italy, heading for the United States like so many often did. Teachers were needed in America like everywhere else and in less than a year after arriving, he achieved a rushed residency status and was working in the school where he was now.

 

Phoenix, his city of choice, had been nothing like his native land of Italy. However, he did not remain in Phoenix because he took the first available job opportunity. Subsequently, he soon found himself located in Mesa, Arizona. He loved how extreme it was and he loved the hot desert and the arid surrounds; traits, which seemed to even be expressed in many of the male natives of the state.

 

Marcello considered those raw and rustic men as conducive to his internal desires. As a consequence, throughout his twenties, his voracious appetite for well packed cowboys and for down and dirty truckers but particularly for men with bodies as strong as oxen, saw his nightly and weekend forays into sweat soaked bars, tension relieving truck stops or secret hideaways in the desert, which writhed with lust and naked desire, growing steadily into what could have been likened to a form of gourmandism. He simply could not get enough.

 

Entering into his thirties, a new maturity was accompanied by a circumspect discretion and so his life, his career and a conservative society, induced a need to be cautious and thoughtful of what was important. Soon he realized that though hot sex with a bull in a hat was exceptional, five minutes or an hour of gratuitous pleasure, could not be allowed to overshadow his need for a secure existence, a good career and the achievement of a stable home and social environment. Subsequently, Marcello toned down his actions and escapades.

 

Of course he still wanted the hot lust of hungry men, however, he loved teaching and he did not want to be discovered in precarious positions outside of school. After all, a single and active gay man teaching boys could be blown out of proportion, by narrow and bigoted minds. He certainly did not want to risk damaging or destroying his life, all for the sake of snack dining on thick slabs of country beef.

 

With far less frequency and much greater caution, Marcello still went on hunting excursions occasionally but each time, the act was less wild and open and kept private and behind closed doors. It may not have been as exciting but looking like a well-bred mustang, as he did, little effort was required on his part, to woo a heavy work horse into a couple of hours of man-on-man hard contact. In addition, at a deeper level of his being, he was beginning to notice a need within, calling for something more stable and committed.

 

Now in his mid-thirties, something had become an issue to him. He still wanted to teach the wonders of the language, however, he had known that he needed to extend himself beyond the basics, which he had taken so much pleasure in conveying to the young. After weeks of thought and consideration, he discussed his situation and his feelings with the school’s principal.

 

Timely and coincidently, if there is such a thing, the man teaching the classes of senior students had taken long service leave. Not wanting to lose Marcello to another school, the principal had reassigned him to take over those classes and this particular day had been the end of his first week. Marcello was now thinking that a new chapter had indeed begun.

 

As he was staring at the reflective window, none of his history had been the concern of his mind. Like many men throughout the world, over the years Marcello had experienced obsessions and lust for the unreachable, the untouchable and the unobtainable. For some time he had known he had a crush on a younger man, a secret fixation really, which in very recent times had begun to preoccupy his thoughts. For several years the obsession had been willfully contained within his mind, as nothing more than a fantasy but suddenly, as the younger man seemed to become more attractive with every passing day, the fantasy was growing like a monster and taking on a life of its own.

 

Marcello believed and rightly so, the younger man was a no-go zone. Regardless, knowledge and fact could at times hold little sway over emotions and desires. Marcello knew he would not make a move and could not make a move. In his mind he labeled the subject as taboo and put a red warning sticker over it but still those feelings continued to grow. He thought it was wasted energy and a waste of time and focus, which was so obviously fruitless.

 

Marcello sighed and tried to push the thoughts away. It was a wasted dismissal because on this final day of the week, something unexpected had happened. Sitting at the desk where he was seated at that moment, just after lunch his students were meant to be completing an assignment. He had been reading silently as they worked but suddenly, Marcello felt the feeling eyes were watching him. He lifted his head and looked to the door but there was no one there. He scanned the class and suddenly his eyes were locked to a student’s eyes looking back. It was the student that Marcello was obsessed with. It was not a stare-down. It was a soft, silent gaze that unnerved Marcello to the core.

 

“Head down and back to work” should have been Marcello’s response but instead Marcello stared back. He felt his heart rate rise and then with guilt, he returned his focus to his book. He could not concentrate on the words but they were his solace from his thoughts that impaired his reasoning and so he continued to look at a blur of text until the end of period bell sounded.

 

“Marc?”

 

The voice that Marcello heard was easy yet deeply penetrating, as it floated from the doorway on the other side of the room. Looking away from the reflective windows and turning, Marcello, who everyone called Marc, saw Dakota, the night security guard standing there and looking at him curiously.

 

Marc swiveled around in his chair and smiled. He liked Dakota and he always had. He did not know him in a personal manner but from what he had gleaned here and there over time, Dakota seemed like he was a really nice man. Marc often thought there was something very special about him. He was not just hot and handsome with a fantastic body, he also touched the new side of Marcello and gave him the impression he would be an ideal partner. This random perspective fed the growing desires of Marcello’s heart.

 

Dakota had mentioned in passing one day, how he would love to meet someone and settle down. There had even been times when they had chatted briefly, Marc had thought if Dakota were gay, he would be the type of man he would go after in a permanent way.

 

Dakota was a man with beautiful hair. It was so dark brown it appeared almost black but had a red hue. It was thick but fine with a heavy shine. He also had the darkest, velvet-like, brown eyes. He was Native American and he was stunning in his sultry yet masculine appearance. He was heavily muscled and built and those things made him very attractive to Marc. In fact, Marc often fantasized about encounters with Dakota and he often wished Dakota were gay and that he would show more interest in him.

 

Dakota had been at the door for longer than Marc had known. He had been staring at Marc while filled with desire. Sexual hunger tightened his pants with a hardness that it seemed no other man could incite like Marc. He wanted him so badly but as always, Dakota’s reserved and shy nature obstructed his ability to speak plainly and say what he wanted to say. Additionally, Dakota did not even know if Marc were straight or gay. All he knew was he was crazy about Marc.

 

“Hey Dakota. How are you?”

 

“Good Marc, good. And you?”

 

“I’m good.”

 

“The way you were staring out the window, you looked like a man with something weighing heavily on his mind. Anything I can help with?”

 

“No, Dakota. I’m okay.”

 

“Well, I’m here if you need me,” Dakota said.

 

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Marc replied, though he was surprised by the more personable nature of the offer, from someone who was little more than an acquaintance.

 

“So what are you doing sitting here alone when everyone else has gone home?”

 

“Just thinking about what’s happened.”

 

“Right, of course. How was the first week with the big boys?”

 

“It went well for the most part. Actually I really enjoyed it. It’s so different with young men who can think and question and talk back securely.”

 

“I guess it would be but tell me, you said for the most part, so what part wasn’t enjoyable?”

 

“It’s nothing really. Well, nothing worth mentioning,” Marc said, knowing his problem was not something he could discuss with someone who was not a close friend.

 

“Well as long as you’re okay, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were thinking about and I’ll get back to saving the world,” Dakota said, revealing a semblance of insecurity about the worthiness of his job, in a subtle yet self-deprecating way.

 

Marc laughed, not really paying attention to the subtext and Dakota moved away from the door and disappeared from sight. Marc swung on his chair and about twenty-seconds later, he heard Dakota call from down the corridor, “Have a good weekend, Marc. I’ll see you next week.”

 

“Yeah, you too, Dakota,” Marc called back while thinking the long pause was a little odd.

 

Marc shook his head while smiling and briefly thought how he had always been curious about the man Dakota was. He also thought that he would love to see the big body that was hidden beneath the tight fitting uniform. After all, Marc was crazy about big-bodied men and at six-foot-one and around one ninety, Dakota was physically Marc’s type.

 

Looking at his watch, he decided it was getting late and that he really should get home. He stood up, picked up his bag and then left the classroom. He headed out into the heat of the night to his car. Parked in the farthest of the staff’s parking spots, Marc was almost shrouded in darkness when he reached his vehicle.

 

“Marc,” a voice whispered from the shadows.

 

“Shit,” Marc rasped and jumped as he turned, his back slamming into his car door.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

“Dominic? What are you doing here?”

 

“I had to see you and I’ve been waiting for you to leave.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You’re in my head.”

 

“What? What are you talking about?”

 

“It’s been four-years, Marc.”

 

“Four-years since what?”

 

“Since the first time I noticed you looking at me.”

 

Marc was absolutely stunned. The words revealed Dominic knew he often watched him. Marc wanted to admit the truth but he was a teacher and Dominic was a student. Marc heard the silent order in his head, telling him denial was his only reprieve.

 

“Dominic, if I’m correct in what I think you’re suggesting, you need to know you’re mistaken,” he lied.

 

“No, Marc, I’m not,” Dominic said confidently, despite being completely uncertain.

 

Dominic’s statement was simply a matter of not wanting to accept the alternative. He had been looking at Marc for almost as long as Marc had been looking at him.

 

“I’ve seen the way you look at me and as I’ve grown, I’ve also grown to like it,” he added.

 

“No. Dominic, you’re wrong and you shouldn’t be doing this.”

 

“I can’t stop thinking about you, Marc.”

 

“Dominic…”

 

“I’m so glad you got the new position at the school. Congratulations.”

 

“Thank you, Dominic.”

 

“I love it when you say my name. Please call me Dom.”

 

“No, I won’t and you should be referring to me as Mister Carreras or Sir.”

 

“Why were you staring out the window for the last hour?”

 

“What?

 

“I told you, Marc, I’ve been waiting for you but I was also watching you. You looked like you felt things were pointless, like you couldn’t have what you wanted. It made me feel sad because I don’t like seeing someone so beautiful looking the way you did.”

 

“Dominic, please stop it. You can’t talk to me like that,” Marc said, an erection beginning to form in his pants.

 

“I was imagining that you were thinking that you couldn’t have me but Marc, you can.”

 

Marc was staring at the eighteen-year-old football jock. Dominic was standing only three feet away from him and all he was wearing was his gym shorts and sneakers. The exceptional shoulders, arms, chest and abdominal muscles seemed to capture what little illumination, which shone from the closest light in the car park. It made his dark-tanned skin almost glimmer. It would not have mattered if the night had been even darker. Marc had memorized Dominic’s face, his body and every feature, following years of watching him play on the football team or jogging half naked around the track. Marc knew Dominic’s body almost like he knew his own.

 

Not only was Dominic an extremely handsome, young man but also, his body was magnificent. A silent yet thunderous applause rang out in Marc’s mind and lightening bolts shot through his groin, every time he had seen Dominic in a state of semi-undress. In Marc’s sexually imaginative mind, he fantasized that Dominic would be the perfect storm.

 

Dominic had grown into a delicious, young man; his body huge and covered in smooth and tanned muscles, as well as a bulge in his pants no matter what he was wearing. Glancing down, Marc saw the small gym shorts revealed a thick, long and hard erection wrapped in pale grey. He now knew it was there on his behalf.

 

Marc had watched Dominic grow up in almost every way. He taught him when he was younger but now that the desired change to teach senior English had occurred, he was teaching Dominic again.

 

“Marc, when you taught me a few years ago, I received the best grade in English that I’ve ever had. Since then, my grades have slumped but this week, I suddenly felt an interest in the subject again. I know that by the end of this year and my time at school, I’m going to get a good grade again. I may be set with a football scholarship to college but it will be nice to show my parents that I’m not just a dumb jock.”

 

“Dominic, you’re not a dumb jock and what you’re talking about is part of my job. I’m glad I can help you see art in the subject and give you an interest you’ve obviously been lacking but…”

 

“Please Marc,” Dominic interrupted, “don’t say what you’re going to say. Let me say this instead. Remember what you were teaching us on Wednesday?”

 

“Shakespeare, Hamlet,” Marc replied.

 

“Yes. Well Marc, I have this to say and I want to say it directly to you. ‘What a piece of work is man? How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty; in form and movement how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension, how like a god’,” he quoted.

 

Marc stared in disbelief. Power, beauty, masculinity and lust were all standing in front of him and they had just intelligently associated and quoted Shakespeare to him. The young man he secretly desired had just handed him free reign. Marc felt like his legs were going to give out beneath him.

 

Dominic was terrified. During the time he had been watching Marc through the window, he had thought about how he wanted to face Marc and let him know how he felt. He had decided directness and assertiveness was the best approach. Now however, what he was about to do could hold serious consequences. He took a deep breath, swallowed hard and took a step forward. As one hand pressed onto Marc’s sizable chest, his other hand cupped and squeezed Marc’s crotch.

 

Marc gasped but it was not negative or in shock. It was an airy rasp of sexual desire and overwhelming need, as heat and want filled every cell of his body. Ironically, Marc’s body was frozen like an ice statue. All he wanted to do was to pull the magnificent specimen of firm, young flesh against him. He wanted in those moments to kiss his lips and caress his hands all over Dominic’s extraordinary body, however, he did not move.

 

Dakota stopped as he walked along a hallway in the midst of his rounds. He looked out the window into the car park and he saw Marc standing beside his car. Dakota’s expression changed when he saw another man in front of him. Dakota focused his eyes when he realized the other man was one of the students. He moved closer to the pane of glass and looked harder. He recognized the student was Dominic Castle, the school’s star jock. Dakota felt a sense of presumed threat when his mind registered that the hot, young jock was barely clothed.

 

Moments later, as Dakota watched Dominic reach out, his hands touching Marc’s body, Dakota felt like he was watching his lover being molested in front of his eyes. A stray thought told him to wake up to himself but he was consumed with envy and he could not control his feelings. He began to walk with a purpose.

 

Regardless of Dominic’s desirable actions, Marc called on what little reserves of responsible reasoning he had left. Though he did not push either hand away, he strengthened his voice to an authoritarian tone and said; “Dominic, I think that’s enough and I think you should go home.”

 

As Dakota walked out of the school and moved toward Marc’s position he called out loudly, “Marc! Is everything okay?”

 

Dakota felt unjustified jealousy regarding Dominic’s sexual advance toward the man he fantasized about constantly. Dakota’s sexual and emotional life existed in a vicarious reality and Dominic was trespassing on an idyllic dream. As he walked, he knew the danger involved in a teacher/student liaison and so he used that thought as an excuse to justify his choice to halt the encounter.

 

Dominic sighed with defeat. His hands moved away and he began to walk in the opposite direction slowly. Trying to create an inconspicuous façade, he eased into a jog like a man involved in his nightly exercise. As his distance from Marc extended, Dominic began to wonder if Marc’s denial were true. He thought that even though he had decided to be assertive by confronting Marc, still Marc had shown him no interest or responsiveness to his words and actions.

 

“If only I had a little more time with him,” Dominic thought, as he felt disappointment and emotion tighten his chest.

 

Marc exhaled like he had been saved from the clutches of evil and like he had been given a second chance. Adjusting the hardness of his crotch, he then turned to face Dakota, as his silhouette became a clear figure moving closer to him.

 

“Yeah Dakota, I’m fine and everything is okay.”

 

“Good. I saw someone approach you in the darkness from the window and we both know what this world can be like. I thought that just in case you were in trouble, I should come out and help,” he said, a heavy guilt in the back of his mind.

 

“It’s good to know you’re there and looking out for me; it makes me feel safe,” Marc said, hoping Dakota would not question the identity of the man that had been there moments before.

 

Dakota lifted his hand and rested it on Marc’s shoulder warmly. He stepped closer so he could look Marc directly in the eyes and said, “You need to be cautious, Marc. Always pay attention to what is happening around you. You never know when a simple lack of awareness or good judgment could ruin your day. Sometimes it’s good to understand what is right in front of you.”

 

Marc looked at Dakota. It was hard to be sure in the darkness but his eyes seemed filled with such intensity. Marc felt what he could only describe as a spark shoot through his body from the harmless touch. He then felt Dakota squeeze his shoulder. Dakota gazed deeply at him and then he turned and began to walk back toward the school.

 

“Thanks, Dakota.”

 

“Always.”

 

As Dakota walked away he was silently cursing himself. He was thinking he had missed yet another opportunity. The school’s star jock, a teenager, had more courage then he did and it made him angry he was so introverted. In that moment now lost, he had wanted to do more than touch Marc. He knew what he said to Marc was double-edged and could be taken two ways but he also knew from Marc’s reaction that he had not caught on. In addition, he did not even stop to think that perhaps on this evening, he had witnessed the answer to his long held curiosity regarding Marc’s sexuality.

 

“Fuck,” Dakota whispered, thinking his fear and shyness were a disease and if he did not overcome them, he would be alone forever.

 

Marc continued to stare at Dakota as he walked away. The look on Marc’s face was relieved in a way but still his mind courted curiosity and silent questions. He had a feeling as if something more had just happened but he did not know what it was. He shook it off, thought about Dominic and then shook that recollection off as well.

 

Marc got into his car and drove away immediately. He lived only five minutes drive from the school but as he drove, his mind was in turmoil. He had almost surrendered to Dominic’s seduction and even now, after the fact, he still wished he had. The young man had dominated and controlled his mind, his heart and his body.

 

In that moment as he drove, Marc thought it had only been his strength of will, his responsible nature and a last stand grasp at his intellect, which had stopped him from dropping his bag and pulling Dominic against him. Despite the ironic exasperation, he was heartened that he had controlled his desires; otherwise Dakota would have caught him in the act with jailbait. Not in regard to Dominic’s age but in regard to sex with a student.

 

“Who are you trying to fool? You didn’t stop what was happening; Dakota did,” he admitted.

 

Marc had wanted Dominic in a way that was beyond belief. He thought that maybe it was all of the factors combined. The night and the darkness, the intense heat, the youthful sexuality and desire in its prime and of course, the danger within the secretive aloneness while not being allowed to act. Finally, there was the fact that he had watched and wanted a beautiful boy who had transformed into a powerful and delicious, young man. However, whatever the case, Marc had been ready to give in and to risk it all.

 

Shaking his head like it would clear his thoughts, Marc thought about Dakota. His remark had been a warning but it did not seem like he was saying what he was saying. There seemed to be more to it. Marc had also noticed the spark he felt when Dakota’s hand touched him. It was not only Dakota’s touch that beckoned curiosity; there was something in the light squeeze that seemed almost tender. Dakota’s voice had also been touching amidst its tone of warning and then there was that parting word of, “Always.”

 

Marc considered that something about the interaction was pointed or suggestive but he was not sure. It was vague and even somehow ethereal. He dismissed it all as another of his fantasies about Dakota and with his basic belief that the man was straight, any other alternative faded into nothingness.

 

Marc pulled into his driveway and turned off his car. He took a long breath and released a sigh of relief, as if arriving at home somehow disposed of the troubles of life and made him safe. He got out of the car and went inside. The house was stuffy and stifling. Without switching on a light he walked directly to his bedroom. He turned on that light, placed his bag on the floor against the wall, slid the window opened completely and then stripped off all of his clothes.

 

Marc walked back to the bare and open window and stared out at the garden beside his house. No one could see him and he was completely secure in his nakedness. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he drew the warm air into his lungs and also the scent of evening Jasmine into his nose. He then let his gaze drift upwards, his mind lost amidst a billion stars.

 

It had been a sweltering day and the heat was still hanging around, as if it were waiting for a late night desert to cool things down. He walked into the bathroom and stepped beneath the showerhead to rinse away the day’s grime.

 

As Marc stood beneath the refreshing yet lukewarm water, he slid his hands and the soap all over his naked body. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, thinking he still looked good while hoping it was the reason for Dominic’s actions. His body was hard and taut and his coastal, Mediterranean skin, continued to lap up a dark tan from a desert sun. Maturity had brought chest hair as well but it was not thick or woolly. It was straight, short strands that all pointed down, laying flat against his skin. It felt good though and even he thought so, as he ran his fingers through it. He traced his index finger around the full curves of his large chest but all that did was make him remember Dominic’s chest.

 

Dominic had a chest that was bigger than his but he was young and smooth all over. As Marc pictured Dominic’s chest, as well as his huge and astonishing body, Marc’s uncircumcised sex grew thick and hard. His free hand moved to the growing erection and amidst the soapy lather, he stroked it firmly and whispered a soft sigh into the hollow nature of the cooler, tiled room. Once again Marc’s responsible side kicked in.

 

“You can’t do this. If you’re going to maintain control over that beautiful, young man, you’re going to need to stop entertaining these fantasies as well. Think of something or someone else but you need to detach yourself from thoughts and feelings about Dominic,” he thought.

 

Marc sighed. He turned around and turned off the hot water. The cold water was abrupt and a little shocking to his system but his erection deflated, his mind escaped the prison of Dominic and he forced himself to rinse away the soap, with the less than comfortable water.

 

Turning off the cold water, he reached for the single, white towel, which hung like a lonely entity on the bathroom rack. Every time he looked at it, he thought there should be another towel beside it. He did not wipe his body dry; with automatic movements of subconscious actions, he wrapped the towel around his hips and locked it into place. He knew the hot night would dry his skin in no time. With droplets of water against his brown and hard body, he cleaned his teeth and then walked directly to his bedroom.

 

Marc sat in the chair at his desk and turned on his computer to check his emails. As usual, several new emails filled his spam folder. He smiled and shook his head. He wondered about people who had nothing better to do then spend their days sending spam to strangers. He did not open any of it, he never did, he just clicked select all and then clicked delete. It certainly did not interfere with or waste his time. There were a couple of emails but he knew from looking at the subject titles, they were not personal or important and so he logged out and turned off the computer.

 

Out of routine alone, Marc thought he should eat but he knew his appetite had been lost in the school’s car park. He stood up and pulled the towel from around his body and draped it over the chair. He flicked on the bedside lamp and then turned off the overhead light. Interlocking his fingers and extending his muscular arms, he stretched them high above his head and bent his body, stretching from side to side.

 

“You’re so beautiful.”

 

Marc jumped in shock for the second time that night. As he swung around to face his open window, he saw Dominic, his arms leaning on the windowsill with his chin resting on his forearm. His eyes were gazing at Marc with both desire and adoration. Dominic’s brown face was stunning while soft in expression and these attributes were gilding the adoration that ensnared him. Marc guessed he had been standing there for some time.

 

Dominic had arrived as Marc was sitting down at his desk. He had stared at him from behind while questioning the validity of his thoughts and feelings and also his hopes and desires. He wondered if he were imagining things and hoped desperately that he was not. He wanted to believe that Marc had been watching him for years and that he was attracted to him as well. He did not want to consider that he had been wrong, which Marc had suggested at the school.

 

Dominic also felt confused, particularly because when he touched Marc, he thought he had felt a partial erection. He wondered about the identity of the person that Marc could have been thinking about to create the condition.

 

The thought that he was the cause of the growth of Marc’s erection did not even enter Dominic’s mind. He may have just turned eighteen but he was still a virgin, as well as ignorant of knowledge that came with time and experience.

 

An interesting moment occurred for Marc. He suddenly considered he was naked and that he should cover up. He knew the towel was less than a foot away from his reach but in spite of his natural instincts, of etiquette and also of the rules surrounding teachers and students; for a moment before he spoke, he simply stood naked with an ego-driven need for the appreciation, which Dominic’s eyes were feeding him. In that moment of unconscious decision, which was sexually fuelled, Marc unknowingly opened the door in his mind, for the contradictory thoughts and reactions that would follow.

 

“Dominic, how did you know where I lived?”

 

“I followed you one day when you didn’t have your car and you walked home from school.”

 

Despite knowing exactly why Dominic was there, Marc asked, “Why did you come here?”

 

Dominic had made his decision that day that no matter what the outcome, he was going to push through his fear and do and say whatever he had to, to find out the truth and hopefully get what he wanted. He believed unquestioningly that he was in love with Marc and that he wanted to be with him forever.

 

“We were interrupted,” Dominic answered.

 

“There was nothing to interrupt,” Marc said firmly.

 

Dominic let his gaze drop down to Marc’s manhood, watching as it thickened, lengthened and the foreskin drew back. Marc watched him looking at his growing erection and it quickened Marc’s arousal.

 

“I can help with that,” Dominic said, as his gaze moved hungrily over Marc’s body, before returning to his face.

 

Marc’s mind was pleading for the young man to leave. Unfortunately, the human mind exists within duality and therefore his mind was also begging that the young man would stay. It was why he still had not reached for the towel. Confusion filled Marc’s eyes, however, the word that came from his mouth was curt in its implication that the young man should leave. In fear of his possible actions Marc said, “Dominic!”

 

“It’s okay. It will be alright,” Dominic said, shattering Marc’s weak attempt at compliance to the social morality.

 

Dominic began to climb through the window, drawing on every ounce of his strength, to overcome his fear.

 

“No. Stop, Dominic, get out. You need to leave,” Marc said, knowing he wanted him to stay.

 

Dominic slid inside and stood right in front of the window, staring at Marc on the other side of the room. He took a breath for courage, slipped his feet out of his sneakers and then pushed his gym shorts until they slid down to his ankles. An extraordinary column of hard and thick, circumcised flesh, paid homage to Marc with a commanding presence. Dominic stared at Marc, taking in the entire portrait of a stunning, older man while fully aware of Marc’s sex rising into a hard, vertical stance.

 

“Dominic, you have to leave,” Marc said weakly.

 

Dominic’s inexperience and his youthful apprehension prevented his mind from processing what was actually happening. He was locked in his own mind, swimming in lustful thoughts and he was also scared and feeling insecure. The naked male body and the growing erection should have given him all the relief and answers he needed, however, all he was seeing was a dream he feared would end. He wanted this and believed he could do it but the thought that he was wrong and of Marc turning him away, shadowed the obvious signs being presented to him. In addition, even with both of them together, alone and naked, Marc was still saying no. Again Dominic wondered if he was mistaken.

 

From an innocent and naïve place he said, “Come over here and touch me. If you touch me just once and if you still walk away, I promise I’ll leave. If you don’t, I’m coming over there to you and nothing will make me leave.”

 

Marc could not believe what he had just heard. He knew he had to get him out of his room and out of his house but Dominic was so incredibly desirable. The large, naked body was calling to Marc. Marc felt like an invisible force was pulling him toward the young man. He resisted, knowing what society expected him to do but in that moment, Marc realized the true extent of his obsession and attraction to the younger man, who was so obviously vulnerable and yet, standing naked in defiance of a cost.

 

Marc knew if he were to succumb and if he approached and touched any part of Dominic’s body, it would be all over and his control would be lost. He knew he wanted Dominic in his arms but he also knew he wanted to feel the hardness and the firm slide of his erection. It was an impressive erection, just like the young man it was attached to. Marc knew a single touch, no matter where he touched, would not be enough.

 

Dominic had questioned his bravado after the fact. In his mind it had been a last ditch effort to discover if Marc liked him, as well. The moment his words left his mouth, he was filled with doubt. He began to think Marc would walk over with ease, touch his arm or something and then turn away. Dominic thought he had been a fool and was suddenly worried he would have to leave. He had pinned all of his hopes on wishes and dreams and also on a yearning that Marc liked him and hopefully wanted him. He thought in that doubtful moment, if he could see the evening star, he would wish on it.

 

Hesitation. Dominic looked at Marc and he could not believe his luck. He was just standing there and staring at him, not moving at all. Dominic’s doubt could not have faded any faster and suddenly the conspicuous became evident. He looked down at the implacable erection and he realized. He then looked at the intense rising and falling of Marc’s chest and he realized further. He looked up and saw the hunger in Marc’s eyes and the truth became clear. Marc really was attracted to him. Dominic decided instantly that Marc’s time to respond had expired. Slowly, seductively, he moved across the carpet toward his desire.

 

Marc was silent as he watched Dominic coming toward him. Like a delicious ice cream, Dominic was sex on a stick just waiting to be licked. It was too late and there was nothing he could do, nothing he wanted to do. He was desperate for Dominic to traverse the distance and Marc’s erection was throbbing, stretching, almost painfully from his desire for the teenaged jock.

 

“I’ve wanted you for so long, Marc. It seems like I’ve been waiting for this moment for my entire life.”

 

Dominic’s arm lifted with his hand extended. His fingers coming closer and closer, an eternity of history unfolding as Marc waited, begging for the touch. At the exact moment that the tips of his fingers grazed the skin of Marc’s naked chest, Dominic said, “Waiting for this touch.”

 

“Uh,” Marc gasped.

 

The sound was like a breeze as it puffed from between Marc’s lips, barely audible and yet so filled with sexual desire. Not even a split second following that sound, which contained a multitude of silent words and feelings, Dominic was against Marc.

 

Lip-to-lip and chest-to-chest, skin caressed in a merging of wanton need while two moans, synchronous and descriptive, flowed in unison with the tongues inside of Marc’s mouth.

 

Dominic made Marc weak with desire. He had seduced him during the day with longing gazes, earlier with yore words and now with a naked physical presence of strength and power. Marc had fallen into his arms and in that moment and for however long it lasted, Marc now belonged to Dominic.

 

For someone of his age, Dominic was so incredibly strong. Marc could feel all of his strength and power pressing, pushing and squeezing against his naked body. The large and smooth muscles glided firmly and occasionally forcefully over him. All Marc could think was he did not want Dominic to ever let him go.

 

Dominic kissed Marc harder, deeper and with a tongue that tasted of mint. His arms held him tighter and his fingers seemed to be digging into his skin and muscle. Marc felt one of Dominic’s hands slide down and then hold him firmly at the small of his back. He then felt him push his heavy erection into his gut, which gouged at the flesh with each roll of his hips.

 

It had only just begun but Dominic already knew he was no longer a virgin. He felt confidence, he felt certainty of what was to follow and he knew as he felt Marc submit, he was in complete control of his dream.

 

Marc was moaning as he was being governed by Dominic’s masculinity. The heat of his body, the hardness of his erection and the desire discovered in his kiss and his embrace, was simply, positively destructive. Marc’s body weakened even more from Dominic’s touch.

 

From that moment, there was no teacher and student and there was no man and teenager, now there was only Prometheus cast down to earth to love mortal men. Dominic’s uniqueness was a validation of Marc’s worthiness and Marc knew he required Dominic’s mastery over him. Marc could not deny that ascendancy and he knew that there in his room on this night, he would worship Dominic with all he had to give.

 

“Dominic,” Marc said singularly, his tone overwhelmed when the young man broke their kiss.

 

Dominic knew from the tone of his spoken name, it had been an agreement, a confirmation and a submission. He bent down and lifted Marc’s legs and body into his arms. He turned on the spot until he was facing the bed and then with a single step he was placing his trophy on the sheet-covered mattress. With one knee still on the bed, he leaned forward and he slid his fingers from the side of Marc’s face, down his neck, over his chest and then down his body. He briefly ran two fingers over his scrotum and up along Marc’s erection but then he stopped touching him and he climbed on the bed and knelt between Marc’s legs.

 

“I didn’t think you would let me,” Dominic said, as he looked down into Marc’s eyes.

 

“I shouldn’t,” Marc replied.

 

“I don’t believe that.”

 

“Neither do I but it is the way of our world and the times in which we live,” Marc said.

 

“Is that why you never said anything, never approached me?”

 

“Believe me, Dominic, for so long I wanted to. There was nothing I wanted more but I couldn’t.”

 

“I understand but I know you’ve just given yourself to me. I can feel it and so here tonight, you’re mine and I’m going to take you. I think I have loved you for the last four-years. You have been my secret, Marc. Having you naked and in my arms, feeling my cock this hard against you, I just want to be inside of you like nothing I have ever wanted in my life.”

 

“Dom.”

 

Dominic looked into Marc’s eyes. He was shocked when he heard the name he had required earlier but then the shock made way for the softest smile.

 

“I’m yours, Dom,” Marc elaborated, as he gazed with passion into Dominic’s eyes.

 

Even though Dominic was so young, emerging from those soft yet needful eyes was a man. He suddenly looked like a different person. A new maturity added to his handsomeness and as Dominic touched him, Marc sighed, once again revealing his need for the work of art above him.

 

“You really are so beautiful,” Dominic said.

 

“There are condoms and lubricant in that drawer,” Marc said and with that simple statement, the deal was done and he knew there was no turning back.

 

Dominic smiled again and he lowered his body down until Marc disappeared beneath him. Their lips pressed, their tongues entwined and an even more extraordinary passion built between them.

 

Even though Marc was embracing the encounter completely, still the dual nature of his human mind allowed him variant thoughts. He believed he had no idea where this would lead. Perhaps it was just another paragraph in his life’s story but still he wondered if like his job, he had begun a new chapter.

 

The idea of something more with Dominic was exciting. A soft smile crossed Marc’s face, as Dominic kissed his neck. Marc also thought that this could be the biggest mistake of his life but in that moment, he decided he needed desperately to find out. He wanted this young man so badly and it truly seemed that Dominic wanted him with equal measure. Dominic had said he loved him and Marc was certain that he could easily love Dominic, too.

 

Unexpectedly, Marc thought of Dakota, the one man he always looked at differently. Marc’s ever-constant desire and his deeply embedded need for a genuine partner, initiated questioning, which niggled at the doubts of what he could really expect from Dominic. He thought that as a consequence of their age difference, he should be considering Dominic as little more than random and temporary.

 

A swift thought suggested that someone like Dakota was what he needed but he knew Dakota had never given him a signal or a sign. Marc had never received any reason to assume anything where Dakota was concerned and he truly believed there was no chance.