THE  HAPPY  WANDERER - V

PYRAMIDS, TEMPLES, and TOMBS

© 2008

BY:  GERRY YOUNG

WITH MUCH APPRECIATED ASSISTANCE BY:

TICKIE

CHAPTER  TWELVE

The 'man-in-white' smiled as the three exited the elevator and the hammered-brass door closed.

Ted, however, recognized the stranger immediately, even though not a single white hair on his head could be seen.  Ted recognized his pale, pale blue eyes and his almost translucent skin.  He rushed into the man's outspread arms.  "Y'AN!" he yelled as the man's arms closed round Ted's back, a hand against the back of his head, guiding it to Y'An's cheek.  Ted responded with a surprisingly passionate kiss to Y'An's neck.

Seeing Ted's reaction, Gerry wondered, 'Huh?  What?  Y'An?  How…?  Who…?  Why…?'  With each succeeding question, his eyes grew larger, his brow became more furrowed, and an anger-or perhaps jealousy or fear-rose from somewhere deep within his soul.  Then, with slight trembling, he reached a hand out to Ted's shoulder, as if to yank him back. 

But Y'An released the embrace and stepped away.  He greeted them with the time-honored Salaam by touching his heart, and then his bowed forehead;  then he 'waved' the heart-and-soul of the greeting to his guests, in much the same way as Westerners kiss their fingertips, hold that hand out to a departing loved one, and 'blow' the kiss to the other person.

"Come in.  Come in, please, Y'An greeted them.  "It is good to see you again, my brothers … my friends."  He looked about at the three others.

Gerry looked at him askance and, placing himself between Ted and Y'An, quickly ushered Ted to the far side of the opulent room, avoiding the broken circle of overstuffed pillows in the center of the floor.

They turned, only to see Muti kneeling, kissing Y'An's sandaled feet.

"Rise … slave," Y'An commanded with a devilish smile.

Quickly, Muti arose and flew into Y'An's open arms with an embrace that indicated more than a mere physical intimacy between them.  They kissed each other in the accepted Middle Eastern custom of first one cheek and then the other.

Speaking softly, so as not to be overheard, Gerry asked, "What's going on, Ted?  Did you know about this?"

Their words came quickly.

"About what?" Ted replied, also just above a whisper.

"About meeting Y'An here."

"No, I had no idea he'd be here.

"You sure?"

"You doubt what I'm saying?"

"The hug you gave him was more than a casual handshake!"

"So what if it was?  I like him, I was glad to see him, and…" he paused but for a brief moment, "… I remember that, on the plane, we agreed that he gave us BOTH a hardon.  Don't you remember, babe?  We even talked about wanting to have a three-way with him."

"I don't remember that part of any discussion," Gerry said aloud.

Pulling apart only a little from their quiet but strained conversation, Gerry noted that Muti's eyes were still closed, the expression on his face—one of bliss.  Then he saw the two men kissing with open mouths and probing tongues like two long-lost lovers. 

For Gerry, it was an uncomfortable moment of relative silence as the two men kissed.  He shuffled from one foot to the other, wondering what to do, whether to stay or not.  He looked here and there at the wonders around the room.  Ted, however, seemed completely oblivious to Gerry's turmoil.

An enormous black granite statue of the falcon-headed god, Horus, was ensconced in an alcove at one side of the room, a brazier in front of it with wisps of incense rising from the glowing coals of the shallow caldron atop.

Opposite, in another alcove, was an equally enormous statue, also of black granite, of the jackal-headed god, Anubis.  An identical brazier was before it, along with more wispy smoke, which, together with the other incense burner, gave the entire suite a subtle hint of warm vanilla mixed with frankincense—very relaxing and, in combination, somewhat sexually stimulating … supposedly.  Purposefully.

Four statues stood in the corners of the room.  Each was attired in nothing but brown leather sandals and a black-and-gold-striped kilt, similar to those which the ancients wore.  In his right hand, each held vertically a six-to-seven-foot long spear.  

It wasn't until Gerry saw one of the 'statues' blink his eyes, that he realized they were neither wood nor stone sculptures at all, but rather, living, breathing 'sculptured' hunks of masculinity—all dark-skinned, nearly black.  'Probably guards,' he thought to himself, astonished that they could hold their statue-like pose for so long.  Then his eyes were drawn elsewhere as he heard the faint strains of the Evening Call to Prayer wafting up from the several mosques below. 

In front of the numerous open sliding glass doors, ultra-sheer, panels of red-and-black-striped fabric billowed with the cool early-evening breeze, suggesting only an emotional sense of privacy.  'Mother Nile' was clearly visible for as far as the eye could see to the north as well as to the south.  Across the Divine Water of Life, the three Great Pyramids and Sphinx could be seen with the Sahara Desert stretching to the distant horizon.  The vista was awe-inspiring with the contrast of the barren desert sands encroaching upon the luscious verdant landscaping of the numerous hotels, country clubs, and estates nearer El Nil, The Nile.

Ra [often called 'Re'], the Sun god, had just descended on his nightly passage into the Underworld far beyond the hills and mountains to the west, but tendrils of red and orange and yellow and gold, flamed across the sky pointing in the direction of his eternal journey once again.

Little diamonds of living fire joined the evening's electrical lights illuminating the cityscape far below the penthouse suite.

Y'An and Muti separated.

"Attend to Ted while I have a word with Gerry," Y'An told Muti.

"Yes, Master," Muti replied, bowing once more before moving away.

"Gerrr-ry!" Y'An called in his seductive, melodic, but at the same time, commanding voice, breaking the uneasy tranquility that Gerry had suddenly felt. "Come here," Y'An said, wriggling his index finger in the universally accepted mode of summoning someone.

A slight hesitation, glancing at Ted and then back to Y'An, and then Gerry found himself slowly moving toward the mysterious man-in-white, so different from first seeing him at LAX and during the flights to JFK and Cairo.  The closer he approached to Y'An, the more intoxicated he felt.  Gerry's groin tingled as in lust and desire.  'Is he George du Maurier's Svengali come again or …?' he wondered.  'Oh, what the fuck?  I want him,  I need him, and I love him, but … I … I hate him at the same time.  Damn!'  He tried to turn away but couldn't.

As Y'An wrapped a white-and-gold-sleeved arm around his shoulders, Gerry unconsciously took in a deep breath;  his eyes closed for longer than a normal blink.  All stress momentarily fled his body.  His concern and worry disappeared instantly;  he was under Y'An's influence once more, just as he had been during the flights.  And there that intoxicating, mesmerizing, sensuous scent was, once more-a mixture of cock-arousing musk and frankincense.

"Let's talk privately for a few moments, shall we?" Y'An asked as he guided … silently persuaded … Gerry through an open doorway to the rooftop garden patio.

"Well … uhhh…" Gerry struggled to find an excuse but could not.

With both of them standing at the guardrail facing the darkening evening sky, Y'An gently began to rub … massage … Gerry's tense muscles at the back of his neck, using only the fingers and thumb of one hand.

After a few quiet, calming moments, he asked, "Do you steal, Gerry?"

"No, Y'An."

"Do you lie?"

As if under a mysterious Middle Eastern spell, Gerry turned his eyes away from Y'An and stared blindly to the west.  "Not if I can avoid it," he replied.  It was almost as if he were suddenly hypnotized … mesmerized … spellbound and helpless to do anything other than answer the man's questions in all honesty.  Internally, he was stammering, stuttering, shaking, uneasy;  outwardly, he was as calm as a peacock.

"Have you ever dishonored the gods?" Y'An continued.

A few throbbing beats of his heart (and, yes, his constrained and bound-up cock and balls) later, he solemnly answered, "If there are more than the one universal God, which I believe we ALL worship, but use names according to our own particular cultures, then I would have to answer, 'No', Y'An.  As you Muslims say, 'There is no God but Allah', we Christians say, 'There is no God but the Father', and the Hebrews say, 'There is no God but the nameless One.  All religions have their own name for the One.  So, no, Y'An, I have never dishonored the gods … with a little 'g'."

'Where did THAT come from?' Y'An asked himself.  'This boy has done some SERIOUS reading, or else he has learned to think for himself.  I'll have to be careful with this one,' he reasoned before speaking again.

"Do you refrain from these vices out of respect for the moral virtues?"

"Yes, Y'An."

"Do you eat oysters?

"When I have them," Gerry answered, slowly nodding his head, still facing out into the unseen distance.  Unconsciously, he licked his lips.

"Do you eat snails?

"No, Y'An."

"Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral, and the eating of snails to be immoral?"

"No.  Of course not, Y'An."

"It's all a matter of taste, isn't it?

"Yes, I suppose it is, Y'An."

"And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals, is it?"

"Yes, it could be argued so … Master."

The word came so easily from his lips.  Gerry did not flinch from it nor try to correct himself.  Perhaps he had heard Muti use the word so often, Gerry had unknowingly accepted it as just another of Y'An's names.  However, Y'An seemed not to have noticed at all.  A very slight, satisfied smile did cross his lips, though.

"That will do for now, Gerry," he said, removing his hand from Gerry's neck.  "My taste includes … both snails and oysters," he said, moving away.  "Now, we must not keep Ted and Muti waiting.  Shall we go inside?"

[* See Author's Footnote at bottom of chapter]

With a perplexed frown, Gerry turned, gazing at Y'An.

"It's all right, Gerry.  I didn't expect you to understand … yet, but you will, before the night has flown from the face of Ra."

Gerry shook his head trying to clear his thoughts as he followed Y'An into the penthouse.

*****

"Come.  Come.  Let us indulge ourselves in a little refreshment," Y'An urged, stretching his arms out indicating the broken circle of overstuffed pillows in the center of the floor.

"Muti … you there."  He indicated the spot opposite himself.

"After you, Master," he replied shly bowing his head.

"No, no, my dear.  Sit.  Sit.  And Muti … remember this, please … no formality tonight."

"Yes, Mas…"

"Yan held up his hand.  "What did I just say?"  If he had been wearing glasses, he would have been looking over the top of the frames at the surprised Muti.  "And you may call me 'Y'An' tonight, as well.

Muti's mouth gaped wide-this was not the agreed-upon agenda or decorum—everything was playing out as had  been planned, but this … this was the exception.

"Yes … Y'An," Muti VERY softly replied as he reclined on the pillows opposite the ones behind which Y'An stood.

"And Ted … if you will … here on my left—I want to be able to touch you during our … shall we say … 'little repast'?  Nothing  heavy, mind you.  Only … little delicacies that will nourish as well as stimulate our physical and … uhhh …  OTHER … bodies."

Not yet having reclined, he was smiling like an English Cheshire Cat, apparently enjoying himself in the skilled capacity of a headwaiter or maitre d' of a fine restaurant, or even as the Senior Flight Attendant, in which position Gerry and Ted had seen him during their flight across the U.S. of A.

"Now, Gerry, you…"

Gerry had assumed a position to the right of the pillows on which Y'An … supposedly … would be using, when he unceremoniously interrupted his host.  He had … 'returned' … to himself.

With fists on his hips and a scowl on his face, he demanded, "Y'An … what the fuck is going on here?  First, we see you as our Senior Flight Attendant … after a scary chance-meeting in the LAX men's room; then, you just HAPPEN to be taking our same flight here to Cairo.  Upon arriving, you're whisked away … like ROYALTY or some diplomat … in a stretch limousine; we don't see you for four days; Muti suddenly appears out of nowhere and thrusts himself in the role of our personal attendant, caretaker and, as he said … our 'protector' … at his MASTER'S orders;  he refuses to tell us WHO his MASTER is;  and now, we find ourselves in what I suppose is the most luxurious and expensive penthouse in the entire hotel as your guest.  What gives?  I want some answers." 

He had been talking a mile-a-minute, having voiced the preceding in a single breath.  Having finished, Gerry folded his arms across his chest, inhaled deeply, and just stood there, staring at Y'An, waiting for an answer, using all his energy NOT to be swayed BACK under Y'An's influence.

The room was deadly silent, except for a few city noises rising from below.  All eyes were upon him.

Without expression, Y'An obviously considered what to say or do.  After a long moment, he looked at Ted and Muti, smiled, and clapped his hands twice.  Strains of exotic, wailing, and warbling Middle Eastern music from some unseen location filled the penthouse as four strong, athletic, gorgeous studs entered, carrying trays of succulent whores' ovaries and other palate-pleasing delectables—yellow-skinned, all—not from jaundice but from some Oriental heritage.

Completely nude (except for their own black leather cock-rings and ball-stretchers, with what was apparently black-star-sapphire cabochon snaps), and completely hairless (except for three-quarter-inch long black, thick eyelashes)—not only were they stunning, they, each, could be the main entrée itself.  They were delicious-looking—good enough to eat.

Gerry, standing near Y'An, and Ted, who was reclining on the pillows at the right of Muti, were shocked at the beauties as they moved inside the circle and placed the trays in front of the four men-in-white.  No modesty was indicated by their nakedness;  it seemed natural for them to be so attired ... or rather ... UNattired.

Front or rear, the two Americans could only ascertain two differences between the four lads who knelt at their appointed places. Essam, in front of Ted's place, and Rafiq, the one in front of Muti's place, were both slim and lithe.  Irfan, the one in front of where Gerry would be reclining, and Kalil, the one in front of Y'An's place, were both strong and radiated muscular vigour.  And all four young men seemed to be sporting slick, shiny nine-inch javelines, ready, willing, and able to be man-handled at a moment's notice.  Otherwise, they looked identical;  clothed, anyone would have taken them to be quadruplets.

But there was another difference between the four young gods.  Essam's maleness curved slightly to his umbilicus, Rafiq's curved slightly down, resting at pulsing attention on his up-tight and baby-smooth ball-sacks (but then they all four had up-tight and lickable, suckable ball-sacks).  Irfan curved a little to the right, while Kalil, on the other hand, curved ever-so-slightly to the left.  Years before, all four had been circumcised—their scars now being almost non-existant.

Noting Gerry's distractions, Y'An finally spoke as he moved toward his suspicious, inquisitive guest, and embraced him fully, not trying at all to hide his own pleasure in their body-to-body contact, albeit with only two layers of sheer Egyptian cotton between them.

Ohhhhh, that scent again!  Gerry's genitals lurched to life once more, though not to its full tumescence … YET … constrained by his black-leather-and-ruby-decorated cock-ring and ball-spreader, but enough so that Y'An was pleasantly aware of the rising condition he felt stabbing his own upper thigh and groin through the garments.

Gerry's hips retreated from the sensual contact and his right hand dropped to cover his own embarrassed excitement.

"No, no, Gerry," Y'An admonished, pulling his hand away from his groin.  "No, my brother, don't be asham..."

Jerking his head and sight away from the naked foursome, Gerry blurted with uncertainty and anger, "And what's with that?  You're always calling us your 'friends' and 'brothers'.  Well … Ted's not your brother.  I'm not your brother.  And I seriously doubt that even Muti is your brother.  Come on, Ted," he looked at his lover;   "I'm leaving.  Let's get out of this hell-hole." 

He moved toward the elevator, but looked back to see if Ted were following.

"No, Ger;  I'm staying.  You do what you want."

Gerry was taken aback—he hadn't expected that type of reaction from the one he loved more than life itself.

Y'An smiled to himself and then moved behind Gerry and once again embraced him with his arms of steel, holding him steady against his attempts to move away.  He rested his chin on Gerry's right shoulder and, in a calm, cool, collected voice, spoke softly.

"Oh, my lovely, lovely, Gerry.  Are we not all 'brothers' come from the one universal God that you spoke of earlier?  'Brothers' who can love and enjoy each other for always and in all ways?"

After a silent moment, Gerry seemed to relax a little more;  he leaned back against Y'An's warm chest and felt the rhythmic beating of Y'An's heart;  he replied, "You've thrown the ball back to me, haven't you, Y'An?  It's in my court now, and I have to run with it wherever I will, don't I?"

"Yes, my friend, my ... my 'brother'.  The final decision to join us or turn your back to us, is yours, and yours alone." 

Deliberately, he eased his hips and protruding excitement against Gerry's warm backside.  Then, relaxing his restrictive embrace of Gerry's chest, Y'An's fingers teased Gerry's hardening nipples beneath the thin cotton of the galabeyah.  Gerry's head fell back, in trust, against Y'An's left shoulder and he succumbed to his host—as had been planned.

Those fingertips spidered their way around Gerry's pecs and then continued back and forth across his chest and abs and even upon the clothed pubes atop the base of his ringed cock.

Gerry squirmed and moaned.  His eyes had closed-out the others in the room.  And he faintly uttered Y'An's name.  His protruding "tent" was obvious to all.

Irfan was still kneeling at "Gerry's" place;  Y'An silently nodded to him.  He crawled forward and began kissing Gerry's feet.  As Y'An continued to 'spider-walk' his fingertips to Gerry's hips, Gerry's galabeyah began slowly to rise, inch by inch.

As more of Gerry's legs became exposed, Irfan's lips and tongue—snake-like—slithered up the feet, the ankles, the calves, shins, and inner thighs.

"WHOA!  WHOA!  WHOA!" Gerry exclaimed, straightening up and moving away from the two men.  "What's going on here?"

"For right now," Y'An began explaining, "it's not what going ON, but what's coming OFF."  He simply nodded to Muti and Ted.  Muti instantly understood the silent gesture and whispered something to Ted.

Then, Y'An spoke to the four nude 'servers' in a high-pitched, sing-song, Oriental-type language that neither Gerry nor Ted had heard. 

As Essam, Rafiq, Kalil, and Irfan stood from their kneeling positions, they began to assist in the removal of Ted's, Muti's, Y'An's, and Gerry's galabeyahs.

"The boys understand not a phrase of English, but have become accustomed to the SOUND of a few, select words when I address them."  Y'An, looking none too happy, had been glancing back and forth between Ted and Gerry while speaking.

Gerry gruffly pushed Irfan away, causing him to fall backwards upon the marble floor with what sounded to be a skull-splitting CRRRAAAAACK!  Thank God, no blood pooled from under the poor lad's head.

The four stone-like 'guardians' in the four corners of the room rushed to action, surrounding Gerry with their spears pointing at him.  Y'An motioned for each to move back a few feet.

Gerry's testosterone rushed to the fore.  He grabbed the neckline of his galabeyah and yanked so hard, it split.  Then he continued to rip the garment down the full length of the front.  Once that was done, he flung it from his body and threw it at one of the 'guards' who caught it with the point of his spear and tossed it behind himself.

"NOW, WHAT?"  Gerry screamed, directing the question to Y'An.  " YA WANNA FUCK ME?  WELL, GO AHEAD!  FUCK THE LIVIN' SHIT OUTTA ME!  FUCK ME ALL TO HELL 'CAUSE YOU'VE STOLEN THE ONLY THING I HAD TO LIVE FOR," he said, turning around, bending over, and spreading the cheeks of his ass.  It was then that he saw that everyone—except for the guards—was naked.  "AND AFTER YOU'RE FINISHED, EVERYBODY ELSE CAN GET A PIECE, TOO, EVEN THE 'GUARDS' …" he continued his rampage and then added, "… but without their six-foot spears!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, GERRY, HONEY?" Ted screamed back across to him.  "WHAT DO YOU THINK Y'AN HAS STOLEN FROM YOU?  TELL ME!"  Ted had rushed around, pulled Gerry upright, held him at arms length, and, looking straight into his eyes, demanded an answer.

"You," Gerry answered.

"Me?  What do you mean?"

"That … that … that wizard … or whatever he is … has put us under some kind of spell and stole you away from me."

"Stole me away from you?" Ted asked.  "That's stupid!"

"So now I'm stupid, huh?"  Before Ted could answer, Gerry blundered on.  "I guess that's why you're taken with him.  He's smart—oh, yeah, he's smart … VERY smart—and he's obviously very wealthy.  He gets everything he wants—including you!—and he never gives a straight answer to anything."

"Gerrrrry…" Ted whined, squeezing him tight.

"Let me say what I've got to, Ted;  I'm not finished yet." 

Ted nodded. 

"Before I found you, I felt that I was at the end of my rope.  I'd been kicked out of the Navy because I was gay.  My family had disowned me after that and for the same reason.  I had been gang-raped for the same reason.  I moved 'cross country and fell in love with a fellow surgical technician, who, with friends of his at the hospital arranged an evening where I'd be introduced to group sex.  I just couldn't handle it, so, I quit my job and moved to Palm Springs where I met you and fell in love with you.

"We had everything going for us, Ted, and I thought we'd last forever.  But now that … HE … has come into our lives…" he glared at Y'An and then looked back at Ted, "… I feel that he's stolen you from me."

"Nooooo…" Ted pleaded.  By now, they both were crying.

"Gerry…" Y'An interjected.

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not being up-front from the very beginning."

"What do you mean?  From the beginning of what?" Gerry asked.

"Please, hear me out," Y'An offered, then added, "but let's get dressed first.  This dinner and evening is finished, I think.  Muti … get something from the closet for Gerry."  Then in that strange, high-pitched, unknown language, he told the guards to leave the room, and he told the four 'servers' to assist himself in dressing, and immediately thereafter to leave the room.

As it was ordered, so it was done.  Soon, there remained only the four:  Y'An, Muti, Gerry, and Ted.

Y'An began.  "Let's be civil about this, and, please … do not interrupt me.  Let me say what I have to say, and then you can leave.

Ted opened his mouth to say something, but Y'An held up a hand, thereby silencing him.

"Ted …" Y'An directed his statement, "I've known about you and have followed your life for the past five years."

Ted looked absolutely flabbergasted at hearing this, and was abruptly silenced by the raising again of Y'An's hand.

"Gerry … I've known about you and have also followed YOUR life for the past two-and-a-half-years."

Well, if Ted was 'flabbergasted', then Gerry must have been totally stupefied!

And while this was going on, what was Muti doing?  Muti was nervously twiddling his thumbs wearing a very sad smile on his face.  Evidently, he already knew all the details of the proposed 'surprise' that Y'An had had in store for the two lovers.

Y'An went on before either of the two Americans could speak.  "I had planned to bring you both into my world—my world of Yevistan.  I wanted to give you both the entire world.  I wanted to take you places you've never dreamed of.  I wanted to teach you things you could never imagine otherwise.  I wanted…"

By now, tears were even beginning to flow from the corners of Y'An's eyes.  But he wiped them away and continued.  "I guess I wanted to be—FOR YOU—a male version of that wonderful, wonderful American movie character, 'Auntie Mame'.  But now, that won't happen."  Again he raised his hands to silence them.

"Some minor changes have been made in your itinerary.  Enjoy them.  And Muti would like to stay with you until you leave Egypt.  Allow him that, please."  He turned his back to them, and while taking his leave, said only four words:  "Good-bye, Gerry.  Good-bye, Ted," and he was gone.

"Come on, now," Muti finally said.  "Cheer up.  There's a lot to see and learn about Egypt.  Let's go down to the thirteenth floor and get ready for tomorrow's flight to Luxor."

<><><> 

[*AUTHOR'S FOOTNOTE:  The rooftop patio dialogue (above the asterisk in the story) between Gerry and Y'An is an adaptation of that between Antoninus (Tony Curtis) and Marcus Licinius Crassus (Sir Laurence Olivier) in the bathing scene in the 1960 Kubrick masterpiece, 'Spartacus', with all it's other on-line credits.]

Comments welcome, please drop the author a note: 

Posted: 12/19/08