by Marco May
He rushed toward me and wrapped his arms around me to bring me a stronger familiarity that caused my heart to melt just the way it always had from his embrace. His arms might have aged like the rest of him, but they felt exactly like they had when they’d last wrapped around me. We didn’t even care that people all around could see us in such an intimate way. I was out as a gay man, and I suspected he might have been, too. The hug was beautiful, and I didn’t want to let go.
Gary faced me while still holding me closely, his worn face showing a similar smile to the one I’d never forgotten. “I’ve missed you all these years.” His voice was a bit deeper with age, but I still recognized every sound of his words. “I’ve been coming here almost every day for the past few years after finally moving into an apartment nearby. I was always hoping to run into you, and it paid off to keep that hope. I remembered you telling me about this place, so I never gave up looking for you. I didn’t know where you moved to, so it was tough.”
That was it. I lost all control of my emotions and burst into the heaviest of tears.
“I know, Santiago, I know. I’m so sorry for everything, for leaving you with that goodbye letter instead of supporting you the way I should’ve.” Gary gripped me a little tighter for a heartfelt squeeze that was just as romantic as when we’d been much younger. “As I mentioned in the letter, I was terrified that I was the cause of your serious pain, and I regretted leaving your side all these years.”
Wow, the letter. I’d almost forgotten. I still had it somewhere safe at home. “Oh, Gary…you’re really here.”
“I am. I’m here.” He sighed. “Happy birthday, by the way.”
I sniffled but didn’t bother wiping away my tears, and I gazed into his familiar eyes that still seduced me with the love he seemed to have still felt. “You remembered.”
“Of course. You’re fifty-five now, and you’re still my favorite author, Mr. Santiago Lucas Fernandez. I followed your writing career all these years and read every single thing you published. Congratulations on your recent book, by the way. I loved it. It was beautiful.”
I was deeply touched by the fact that he’d been a true fan that whole time. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. So, where have you been all these years?”
Gary sighed but never let go of the lock he had on me the entire private reunion, his gaze burning into mine. “Well, let’s see…married to a woman shortly after I left you. Had many kids right away and now grandkids. Outed against my will. Divorced right after that. Disowned by everyone. Fired from a career I loved. Serious accident”—he gently tapped his prosthetic leg and gave an ironic smile—”Broke and in debt. Bad arthritis pain”—he lightly wiggled his hands and gave another ironic smile—”On disability. Undesirable. Alone. And the list goes on.”
My heart sunk, and I realized how rough he’d lived while I’d had it made. It was interesting how life had turned out for the both of us. He’d been wealthy and aimless, while I’d done okay to get by, and the tables had unexpectedly turned. “Wow. That’s…that’s quite the experiences you had. Sorry to hear about all that, Gary.”
He shrugged. “It’s not your fault. It happens. I’ll be fine. I’d like to think of it as an adventure.” That sounded very familiar, like when we’d first met.
“Well, I can relate to the outed part,” I said. “Except it was my choice and not against my will. I can relate to having kids, too, as I have a wonderful daughter who’s nineteen. And I can especially relate to the lonely part, so that makes two of us now.”
We chuckled for the first time in so long, and it lightened the mood a bit.
I gave Gary a little smile and rested my forehead against his. “I was actually married, too, to a very good man for twenty years. But he passed five years ago. Cancer.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Santiago,” Gary whispered, a deep frown spanning his face. He planted a sympathetic kiss on my lips, more like a peck. It was the first kiss we’d shared since our relationship had ended.
I gave him a warm smile, feeling good from the unexpected kiss. “I’m better now, and even better that you and I found each other. And you’re wrong about one thing. You’re still desirable in my eyes. In fact, I never got over you, Gary.”
“And I never got over you…my good sub.” His lips formed into more of a smirk that brought even more memories, the triumphant smile that had told me he’d won me, and it was enough to make me get hard.
I let out a relaxed breath. “You know, I never did have another Dominant.”
“Maybe that’s because there can only be one in your life.”
“That’s true. You’ve owned me the entire time even when we weren’t together anymore. And you still own me now.”
Gary gave me a touched smile, and he kissed me more deeply, but with no tongue. His emotions, his words, his affection, everything was clear to me. He wanted me back like I wanted him back. We wanted each other back, even if we started off a little slowly as our second chance and not rushed into anything like when we’d been too young to know any better. It might have been infatuation then, which I’d eventually accepted while in therapy, but it wasn’t anymore. It was different at that moment, and I couldn’t explain it.
When Gary stopped, he locked eyes with mine and firmly held onto our gaze. “I’m never walking away again. I made that mistake once. I won’t do it a second time.”
“Well, I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere either.” I wanted more of his kisses, more of him, so I kissed him with more passion until our tongues finally met, making me melt all over again while sexually desiring him at the same time.
I didn’t want to think about anything negative anymore. I’d already forgiven Gary for letting it end between us over my sudden mental breakdown that had driven me to attempt suicide, which had been the last time I’d seen him until now. We were grown, much more grown, and maybe a little wiser. Maybe our intense relationship had been rushed, and maybe we hadn’t been as ready as we’d hoped. We’d moved on in some ways while clinging onto each other from a great distance. Because of that, it was clear that something had never changed, something significant that had just restored hope for us all over again. Maybe it hadn’t been actual love at first, but it was at that moment. It was something like a second chance, like we were meant to be together, after all, but at the right time.
It was something like fate.
THE END
ABOUT MARCO MAY
Marco May has been a passionate writer since he was a teenager. Inspired by his past homoerotic drawings, he started writing erotica secretly not long after he’d started writing overall. He took a long hiatus to focus on his non-erotic works. He tried getting back into writing erotica, but wasn’t inspired anymore. It wasn’t until 2017 when he wrote his first picfic, Touchlessly Touched, that drove him to continue writing erotica to a more dedicated level.
He started with Wattpad as a testing ground and did great there. He managed to write his biggest hit with The Hookups of Hickeyhook Hall, along with his second-biggest hit, Tamely Told. His third Wattpad release, an anthology of picfics titled Passionately Pictured, also did well. The stats of these works were what led him to believe he has a chance in the publishing world. He still writes non-erotic fiction, but he doesn’t mix them under the same pen name.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!
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