It was almost fully dark by the time they arrived at the park. Not that it mattered to them, or to the walkers and runners who were taking advantage of nice night. They made it to the top of the hill, which was really a large flat mound, about ten feet tall that took up one full corner of the park. It had two gravel paths meandering across it, with lights every few yards. There were a few benches between the lights, vacant except for one where a homeless man was stretched out, asleep, with his head on his backpack.
“I know him,” Rob said under his breath. “Or more I recognize him from downtown. You won’t roust him, will you?” he asked Darren with a worried frown.
“Nope. Not my territory, and besides, he’s not bothering anyone.” He slid his arm around Rob’s waist. “I always hated doing that, as you should know by now.”
“Yeah, I do.” Rob looked sadly at the guy as they walked by him. “Someday…”
“Things will be different and anyone who needs shelter and help will be able to get it, God willing.”
When Rob nodded but didn’t reply, Darren hugged him gently. “It will happen, in time.” He waited until they were well past the man before suggesting they sit on one of the benches. “The moon should be coming up soon, which is why we’re here.”
They found one, and once they were seated, Darren put his arm around Rob, holding him close. “It’s a beautiful night.”
“It is,” Rob agreed. “Why are we the only ones up here enjoying it?”
“Because tomorrow’s a workday for everyone but us?”
“Probably.” Rob waggled a finger at him. “Including you.”
Darren grinned. “Nope. I don’t work days.”
“Smartass,” Rob muttered. He leaned against Darren’s shoulder, looking up at the sky. “Lots of stars, and there…” He pointed to the east where the moon was coming up over the trees. “She’s beautiful.”
“She?” Darren said.
“Diana, or Artemis, the goddess of hunting and wildlife, and the moon goddess. At least that’s what I was told by a guy I knew while I was in the service.” He shrugged. “I guess I became a bit of a pagan because when things got shitty I’d look to her for help. Not that I got any, but just believing I might helped calm me down sometimes.” He turned to Darren, brushing his fingers over his jaw. “Now I have you.”
“You do,” Darren replied. “I’m not so sure how good I am as a calming influence, but…”
“You do very well. It’s one of the reasons—” Rob leaned in to kiss him. “One of the reasons why I love you.”
Darren’s heart stuttered. “You do?”
“Of course. How could I not?” Rob replied. “I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same.”
“But I do,” Darren smiled softly. “I suppose I haven’t said the words because I was afraid you wouldn’t feel the same.”
“Which is why we’ve been dancing around…things.”
Darren nodded. “Things meaning making love?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe we should rectify that.”
Rob wrapped his arms around Darren, gazing into his eyes. “Maybe we should.”
They kissed, deeply, then Darren pulled away, saying with a grin, “Race you home.”
They didn’t race, but there was a definite spring to their steps as they headed back to the house.
As soon as they got there, they started upstairs, only to be stopped by Smokey who made it quite clear he wanted attention—and fresh food. They gave him both, finally making it to Darren’s bedroom fifteen minutes later.
“The things we do for the cat,” Darren said as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
“The things I do for you.” Rob winked as he took over, stripping off Darren’s shirt, then his own. “Sit and I’ll get rid of your shoes and socks.”
Darren did, chuckling at the way he’d put it. With that taken care of, Rob stripped naked while Darren watched, his gaze instantly going to Rob’s impressive cock when it was revealed, his pulse racing in anticipation. He reached out to touch it, only to have Rob step back and say with a wicked grin, “I showed you mine, now you show me yours.”
“I swear, we’re reverting to kids tonight,” Darren replied, shaking his head in amusement as he stood and removed his jeans and briefs. “Drippy ice cream cones and…Don’t even go there.”
Rob laughed, stroking the tip of one finger over Darren’s leaking slit. Then he sobered as he looked at Darren. “Is it weird to feel so…so silly and happy that we’re going to be making love soon?”
“Of course not. Why would it be? Loving someone is supposed to make you, to make us happy. Didn’t you know that?”
Rob stared down at the floor. “Not from personal experience. For me, sex has always been a way to get some physical relief more than anything else. I’ve never been with a man I honestly cared for.” He sighed. “Not a good thing to admit, is it?”
“Perhaps not, on some level, but at least you’re being honest with me. I know, because you’ve told me, it’s been a long time even for that.” Darren pulled him into a tight embrace, kissing him gently. “Now you have a chance to find out what it means to make love with all its ramifications.”
He eased Rob onto his back on the bed, then knelt over him, lightly stroking a fingertip over each nipple. When Rob gasped, Darren did it again. “Now I know two of your sensitive spots. What about…” He nipped one of Rob’s earlobes and Rob sucked in a breath. “Or this?” Easing back, he ran his fingertips lightly over the insides of Rob’s thighs.
“Damn, Darren,” Rob whispered.
“You didn’t know? No one ever took the time to do more than screw you?”
Rob shook his head.
“Unbelievable.” Darren paused his teasing foreplay for a moment to get a condom from the nightstand, sheathing Rob. “I’m sure someone’s done this to you,” he said before slowly licking up the length of Rob’s cock to the head. He sucked, drawing the head into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the base.
Rob’s reply was a low moan of need. Darren decided he was just as glad Rob hadn’t admitted there might have been other men who had given him blowjobs. Not on the streets. Rob had already told him that hadn’t happened, but before he’d ended up homeless. He continued to tease and torment Rob until he knew it was time to stop if he didn’t want him to come then and there.
He sat back on his heels, smiling at the man he loved, then leaned forward, putting his hands on either side of Rob’s head, and kissed him. He gave a yelp of surprise when, while they kissed, Rob put his hands on his hips and rolled them over so that Darren was now on his back with Rob sprawled over him.
“You got me all hot and bothered. Now it’s my turn,” Rob said with a wicked grin. He found a condom in the nightstand drawer and rolled it over Darren’s throbbing cock before kissing him again. Then he began a slow, torturous, teasing exploration of his body with tongue and lips until he reached Darren’s cock, taking it into his mouth.
“If you don’t stop…” Darren managed to say a few moments later between low, needy groans.
Rob did. After planting one more kiss on Darren’s lips, he got onto his hands and knees. Darren generously lubed his fingers and cock then paused.
“I know it’s been a long time since you’ve done this.”
Rob looked over his shoulder at him. “Too long, but I still remember it can hurt, at first. I can handle it, honest.”
“I know you can,” Darren replied softly as he pushed one finger through Rob’s entrance. He probed, finding his lover’s sweet spot, and touched it, eliciting a deep moan, followed by more as he stroked—and a brief gasp of pain when he inserted another finger to gently stretch him.
Darren withdrew his fingers, pressing the head of his cock to Rob’s entrance. As he eased it in, he rubbed Rob’s back, murmuring, “Relax.”
“Trying…” Rob told him, his knuckles whitening as he twisted the sheet in his hands.
It seemed to take forever before Darren’s co
ck was fully engulfed in Rob’s channel. When it was, he didn’t move other than to continue rubbing Rob’s back.
“Massage, later,” Rob said with a trace of laughter. “Right now I want you to fuck me into next week.”
“Since it’s only Monday,” Darren replied as he pulled almost out and drove in again.
“It’ll be a…long…” Rob moaned deeply, and this time Darren knew it wasn’t from pain.
Reaching under Rob, Darren wrapped his hand around his cock, pumping it in time to his own rapidly increasing thrusts. It wasn’t long before he felt Rob tighten around him. Then, with a shout, his lover came. Darren followed moments later, the strength of his orgasm washing over him with such force he could barely breathe as he collapsed on Rob. They ended up in a tangled heap on the bed, lying there until their heartbeats returned to normal.
When they had, Darren pulled out, slid off Rob, and then pulled him into a tight embrace. “I think we accomplished what we set out to do,” he said.
“And then some. I didn’t know sex with someone you love could be so fantastic. I mean…it was so much more than just…sex. Damn, I sound naïve, don’t I?”
“Not at all. It takes being with someone special for it to be, well, what it was tonight.”
“Proof we’re in a true relationship with everything it entails. Something I never thought I’d find after all these years.”
Darren smiled, kissing him deeply—a kiss Rob returned as given, with love. “I don’t think either of us thought we would,” Darren said when the kiss ended. He leaned on one elbow, looking at Rob. “We were two lonely, stubborn men who fought what we were feeling until it was walk away or give in. Thank God we gave in.”
Rob chuckled. “Walking away wasn’t an option for a while there on my part, which helped. So here we are, and I’m not complaining one little bit.”
“Neither am I,” Darren replied. “However…”
“Umm?”
“Let’s get rid of these—” he removed the condoms, tying them off, “—take a shower, and get something to eat. I’m sweaty and hungry.”
Laughing, Rob agreed he was too. They did both, taking time when Smokey demanded it to play with him before returning to bed to make love again.
* * * *
Jesse and Leah’s wedding went off without a hitch. When it was over, all the guests joined the couple at the reception, which was being held in the ballroom of a nearby hotel.
Because he knew next to no one there, Rob stayed close to Darren, or sat at their table while Darren circulated, which allowed him to watch everyone without having to join in. That’s where he was when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Mind if I join you?” Malcom asked.
“Not at all. Have a seat.”
Malcom did, saying, “You look as out of things as I feel. The only people I know are you, Darren, and the happy couple.”
Rob nodded. “I’ve met Darren’s ex and her husband, and Leah’s folks. Other than that…Damn, Malcom, they’re all Jesse and Leah’s friends and half my age.”
“I know the feeling.” Malcom set his glass of wine down on the table, looking at Rob’s water. “Not drinking?”
“Nope. Not my thing.” He smiled wryly. “Another reason I feel like an outsider.”
“You’re not,” Jesse said, slipping into the chair on the other side of Rob. “You’re part of our family, now. So are you, Malcom, since you’re Rob’s brother.”
“I know that here,” Rob replied, tapping his forehead. “It’s still hard to accept in here.” He put his hand to his chest. “The last family I had, well, you know what happened.”
“I do,” Jesse told him. “It’s not going to happen with us. We like you, a lot as a matter of fact. You’re good for my dad which means everything to me. I was beginning to wonder if he’d ever find someone.” He glanced at Malcom and grinned. “Something you’re well aware of.”
“No kidding.”
“We’re good for each other,” Darren said from behind them. When Rob turned to look up at him, Darren kissed him without hesitation. “I was going to ask if you wanted to dance, but you seem to be busy right now.”
“Never too busy when it comes to you,” Rob replied, standing. He hesitated momentarily when he saw that all the couples on the dance floor were male-female. Then he muttered, “The hell with it,” and walked resolutely toward them.
“Exactly,” Darren said, putting his arms around Rob when they got there. “These are mostly Jesse and Leah’s friends, so I doubt they’ll have any problems with two men dancing together. The older ones? Well, as you said, the hell with it.”
Relaxing into Darren’s arms, Rob finally had time to assimilate what Jesse has said. I never thought it would happen to me; that I’d find people who cared, but I have. I’ve got a true family, now, starting with Darren. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too. I always will,” Darren replied. “Never doubt it. We belong together, although it took us long enough to realize it.”
“We were stubborn, but you knew that.” Rob smiled, and then grinned. “How soon before we can safely leave?”
“Not until they cut the cake, but once they have…” Darren waggled his eyebrows.
The cake did get cut, amid cheers from everyone present. Then Rob and Darren said their goodbyes to the happy couple, congratulating them again, and headed home.
The evening ended exactly as they wanted it to, in bed, where they proved—twice—how much they loved each other.
And so their lives moved on. Jesse and Leah had their first child a year later. A boy they named Darren Robin Cameron.
“You’ve always been Robin to us,” Leah explained when Rob asked why Robin, not Robert. “With luck, he’ll grow up to be just like you—and Darren of course.”
Rob laughed. “A homeless cop?”
“Jeez, Rob,” Jesse has replied. “No. A good man who understands that no matter how different people are, they are all human when it comes down to it.”
“I can live with that,” Rob said.
“We all can,” Darren agreed wholeheartedly. Then he glanced at Malcom. “Now, all we have to do is find the perfect woman for you.”
“No matchmaking,” Malcom grumbled. “Look how it turned out when Jesse tried.”
“Not quite the way I expected,” Jesse replied. “But I’m not complaining. Dad ended up with the man who is perfect for him, in spite of my meddling.”
“Indeed I did.” Darren hugged Rob. “In all the ways that count, I did.”
THE END
ABOUT EDWARD KENDRICK
Born and bred in Cleveland, I earned a degree in technical theater, later switched to costuming, and headed to NYC. Finally seeing the futility of trying to become rich and famous in the Big Apple, I joined VISTA—Volunteers in Service to America—ending up in Chicago for three years. Then it was on to Denver where I put down roots and worked as a costume designer until I retired in 2007.
I began writing a few years ago after joining an online fanfic group. Two friends and I then started a group for writers, where they could post any story they wished no matter the genre or content. Since then, for the last five years, I’ve been writing for publication—my first book came out in February of 2011. Most, but not all, of my work is M/M, either mildly erotic or purely ‘romantic.’ More often than not it involves a mystery or action/adventure, and is sometimes paranormal to boot.
For more information, visit edwardkendrick.blogspot.com.
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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Lonesome Men Page 12