Janus

Scott opened his eyes with a sigh. He squatted down beside Michael and examined the damp bed of the fire pit. He took Michael's stick away from him and used it to push the charred lumps of wood together. Michael watched in silence as the young man paced about the yard gathering materials. He carefully ripped some receipts from his wallet into thin strips that curled like bark. Around this heart he built the kindling up and before long there was a well considered tower. All the while Michael watched his face and his quick hands wondering what he was thinking. Finally Scott rested back on his heels looking at his creation. It was a well constructed. "I don't have a match," he commented flatly.

Michael nudged him and Scott finally turned to him. Michael dug into his pocket and pulled out the remaining condoms and the third match. The condoms dropped to the ground unnoticed as he offered the match to Scott. Scott's hand enfolded his briefly as if to see if his touch was welcome and their eyes met. Scott turned back to the kindling; he hesitated, "I don't know if this will start."

"It looks good to me, should start."

The hesitation vanished. Scott struck the match and confidently applied it to his tiny pyramid of paper and twigs. The kindling flared up but a light breeze threatened it. Scott shifted his hand to protect it. It died back further and he breathed cautiously on the embers until it caught. As Michael knew it would, by a progression the fire's well planned beginning fed outward to the slender logs, each success building on its predecessor. Scott sat down close to Michael as the fire gained momentum.

"That was your first time wasn't it?" Scott asked.

"Yes," First blow job or first time with a man, Michael was not sure what Scott meant, but the answer would be the same.

"You're very attractive." It came out ambiguously. Perhaps Scott was offering an excuse for his actions; perhaps he was simply informing Michael of something the eighteen-year old had not been sufficiently aware of. Michael might have analyzed the look Scott gave him and noticed its kinship to the affection some of his friends offered; Trevor almost angry that he quit football in grade nine or young Riley's eagerness to stay beside him by the backyard fire. All Michael saw was the hunger in Scott's face that ignited the familiar furnace of his passion. Michael was not even conscious of the safety through the door at his back. He simply sensed the call of the wilderness before him and waited for the handsome young man to lead him into its depths. Scott swept the tangle of Michael's bangs off his forehead. He studied Michael for a reaction. Michael simply cocked his head and waited. "Auburn," Scott observed. "Red?" Michael rolled his eyes at the cliché nickname. Scott smiled slightly at his response. "Michael, Mike, Mickey, Mikey," the names rolled out quickly.

"Ashley calls me Mikey when she wants something. Mike I guess, sometimes its Little Keith," Michael shrugged.

"Keith?"

"My dad's name, just a high school thing, Ashley was Keith so I had to be Little Keith." Michael dismissed the nickname.

"Michael," Scott decided and his voice turned the two syllables into a benediction. Scott shifted to his knees, eyes watching always for the moment Michael would begin his flight. He reached for Michael's shirt and slowly pulled it off. They faced each other as Scott ran his hands over Michael's shoulders, hard chest and soft belly. At his touch, Michael's stomach tensed and the young muscles defined themselves for a moment. "Stand up Michael," Scott urged.

Michael stood before him as Scott slowly opened Michael's shorts and pulled down. He paused when the white band reached the root of Michael's cock so that he might appreciate the heavy thatch of hair covering the teen's abdomen. It matched Michael's dark eyebrows and when he encouraged the eighteen-year old to lift one arm, it matched that as well. Tremors moved up and down Michael in barely perceptible waves that Scott still felt through his finger tips. Scott finally pulled shorts and briefs down to Michael's ankles and helped him step free. The tremors intensified as Scott began to run his fingers over the rest of Michael's body. "Okay, I've wanted to do this ever since I saw you trailing in behind your sister looking like a kid let loose in a game store." Scott bit his lower lip. It calmed Michael considerably. He touched Scott's hair and then reached down to pluck at the young man's shirt. Scott stood and pulled the shirt over his head.

Michael's hands were exploring Scott's trunk before he had extricated his head from the yellow t-shirt. Scott had a dusting of blond chest hair and a hair was aggressively migrating north from the regions hidden by his pants. Michael looked at his own growth struggling to reach his navel. A trail of pioneers had finally reached their goal. "Hair," Michael commented redundantly. Scott peered down sharing the moment.

Michael looked up into Scott's face and the young man kissed him on the lips. Michael pulled back surprised. They froze, eyes locked. The caution returned to Scott's face. Michael touched Scott's cheek and ran his fingers over the stubble on the young man's chin. He leaned in for a second kiss. It was a revelation to Michael. The lips were soft as Kara's and as aggressive as Lauren's but the similarities ended there. Michael had to lift his head to reach Scott's mouth and there was the unfamiliar rasp of bristle against his skin. Michael was engulfed in a greater strength than his own. Scott pressed him close and there were no soft breasts meeting his smooth chest, no nipples teasing his flesh, only Scott's hard chest against his and always he seemed to be reaching up.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked with a hoarse rasp.

"Yes," Michael nodded.

Scott pulled back and ripped his pants down. He was already hard and his cock bounced as he hopped from one foot to the other freeing himself. He allowed Michael a few minutes to explore, encouraging him to stroke the long cock and feel the weight of his balls. He stroked Michael's shoulders and then his flanks. Finally he turned Michael around and pressed him close, one hand cupping his crotch and the other wrapped across his chest. Michael felt Scott's breath on his cheek and the extended cock nestled between the sheathed muscles of his tense buttocks. Michael saw the path ahead and he did not turn away. He was in Scott's hands.

Scott coaxed him down onto the old sleeping bag. His weight pressed Michael down into the worn fabric as he whispered in his ear. A hand reached between Michael's thighs and stroked deep into his cleft. With a word, Michael knew that he could stop this. Scott fumbled with the condoms Michael had dropped and ripped one free. He knelt between Michael's knees. Michael twisted around to watch him as he rolled the lubricated condom down his shaft. Despite his determination to see it through, the apprehension showed on Michael's face. Scott's cock stretched to his navel and seemed massive against his fingers. Scott caught his look and smiled reassuringly. "It will be okay, don't worry. It will be ..." then he lunged forward and ground his lips fiercely against Michael's mouth. So Michael continued on into the unknown. "Ready?"

"Yes," Michael whispered back. Scott pressed his lips against Michael's neck and before he could ask if it would hurt or clench his muscles in fright he felt the pressure on his sphincter. The lubricated head pushed through a moment before Michael's body decided it should repel the invader. He gasped and tensed instantly.

"Sorry"

"It's okay," Michael replied tightly. It burned and his brain announced pain. Despite Scott's weight pressing down though a single point, Michael pushed his hips up shifting his knees as if he might crawl away from Scott. The young man slid a hand around his slender waist and inched deeper into his body. Michael grunted in response to each push. With each grunt Scott blurted an apology and Michael replied the same reassurance, "its okay."

It was a singular experience for Michael. The penetration slowly filling him, Scott's hard body pressing against his back as he spoke reassurances and praise, the single hand holding him firmly, Michael surrendered to it all. Scott had begun to sweat. It lubricated their flesh and brought a heady aroma Michael would carry away as a reminder of the moment. Michael found he could shift his attention away from the dislocations deep in his bowels and the drag on his protesting muscles to other things. He became aware of the pendulous weight of his own scrotum as it brushed against the soft fabric of the sleeping bag; Scott's reassuring hand holding him close, Scott's panting and a moment when he kissed a trickle of tear his face. Some part of Michael whispered, show me more.

Then Scott was pressed against Michael, his lap moulded tightly to his ass. "Oh God you're so beautiful Michael." Scott's hand stroked Michael's torso kneading his tense muscles like he might stroke the long shaft buried in his depths. It was as if his body had become an extension of Scott. "I could have kissed you by the lake." Michael experimented with the shaft willing his shocked muscles to respond. He tensed and squeezed Scott's bulk in imitation of the undulations Lauren's vagina had worked on his own cock hours before. "Here, lie down Michael. Just relax baby." Michael eased forward on his knees and down onto the ground. Scott held him tight the entire way. "That's better," Scott kissed his cheek and when Michael turned his head, he kissed the side of his mouth. Scott pulled Michael's right leg up so his cheeks would part. "You did so good baby, the best." Michael wanted to ask how many boys Scott had taken and then he did not care. "Okay now."

It started as small movements applying pressure, a small give and take. The tugs recalled the pain till gradually it lost itself in the indescribable massage. Scott lay half on him supported on one arm. The other worked the small of his back, an exposed cheek and tense shoulders. Eventually the strokes lengthened and Scott's cock became a piston driving into him. Michael's muscles abandoned themselves to spasms and he was awash in the sensations of capture and release. He learned to moan and he found himself whispering Scott's name.

Scott stopped abruptly poise at the apex with only a nickel's worth caught in Michael's anus. Michael wondered if Scott had orgasmed, but then he pulled out. "Here," Scott said, "Turn over on your back." He helped Michael to shift around and then before his muscles could forget their new shape Scott stabbed back into him. Michael lay beneath him momentarily bemused by the return to fullness. Scott lifted his shoulders effortlessly and settled him onto his lap. "Is that okay?"

Michael couldn't speak; he nodded his head and bit his lip. Scott kissed him on the lips and then peppered his face with more kisses. "Lie back." Michael allowed Scott to help him down. Scott slipped out a little but as Michael lay arched before him he pulled his hips closer. Scott's cock pressed against Michael's prostate and with each subsequent motion Michael felt increasing shocks. They rested a moment simply enjoying the connection, "How's that?" Scott ran his hands over Michael's thighs and belly. He traced the probable course of his cock buried somewhere below.

"It's good Scott." You're beautiful, Scott had said and Michael wanted to be that for the young man who wanted him so much, "Unbelievable."

"You're okay?"

"I'm okay," Michael purred a little, lulled by the soft movement of Scott's hands. Scott grasped Michael's cock and a hand circled his scrotum applying a gentle tension to his balls. He masturbated the eighteen-year old expertly as his cock stimulated the teen's prostate. Michael's cock was sensitive after the long night. He gasped and swore as Scott worked him back to a full erection. It was unexpected and Michael winced as he endured the added abrasion. Scott stopped.

"Sorry, are you all right?"

"It'll, it'll be okay." Scott spied the third condom and snatched it up. He ripped it open and rolled it backward over Michael's engorged member. The latex glided through Scott's fist. Michael's cock swelled and his balls fought against the circle of Scott's fingers. Michael stretched his hands out toward Scott clawing at his knees and he bucked on Scott's cock. He couldn't keep silent so he began crying out softly, "Scott," he gasped as his body rippled.

"You're a God damned work of art Michael, Jesus you're so beautiful. Your cock is unbelievable." Michael wished it was all true. Scott knew his instrument. He stripped the condom off Michael's flaming cock and jacked it hard. The young man's sphincter started its spasms as the orgasm hit him. The ropes of cum splattered his smooth chest as he cried out the ecstasy of it all. Michael's legs were wrapped around Scott's hips. He squeezed tight riding the crest of the wave. Scott did not relent until long after the last shudder of cum had dribbled free and Michaels' exhausted cock lay soft in his cum-soaked palm.

It had been a long night for both of them. Scott needed his own release. He hooked Michael's limp legs with his arms and carried them up to the teen's chest. His anus curled up to meet the full length of Scott's anxious member. As Scott rose and fell onto the teen Michael's head flopped back and forth. They were drenched in sweat and oblivious to the world around them. Finally it was Scott's turn to cry. The condom contained the flood as at the last Scott drove his cock home. Scott shuddered like an Aspen tree and then collapsed onto Michael.

*** Sunrise 4:56 AM ***

Scott rolled off Michael and onto his back. He rested for a while content; after a time he sat up and looked at the teen beside him. Michael lay where he had left him; legs still parted perhaps inviting Scott's return. Michael had closed his eyes. Occasionally his belly clenched as if it was still engaged in sex. There was a mess of drying cum across Michael's chest and belly. Scott eyed the dying fire and rose to fetch some wood. He pulled the used condom off his cock as he did so and tossed it on the flames. After he added some wood, he cast about for something to clean himself off. He settled on Michael's briefs.

He cleaned his crotch and turned to Michael's chest. At his first dab, Michael opened his eyes. Scott cleaned him off. He turned to Michael's ravaged anus. "Just hang on for a second," he told Michael gently. He swiped the young man's swollen back side carefully, "Looks good man; nothing to worry about." Michael was still lost in the wonder of the sexual experience. He felt the looseness and the beginning of discomfort; not quite pain. He felt rearranged. His life felt rearranged. Scott tossed the soiled briefs into the fire and smiled at Michael. Michael's silence might have made Scott uncomfortable. He covered the silence with a laugh. "You were wonderful, that was really great." Scott turned away and found his clothes. He paused to look at Michael with concern and then quickly pulled his clothes on.

Michael was unsettled by Scott's words. They echoed Lauren's words and recalled his sense of abandonment. He finally sat up wincing at the unpleasant pressure. He wrapped his arms tightly around his knees and stared at the fire. He needed to make sense of his night. Had it been everything he hoped for when he agreed to come with Ashley and Acton, or had he allowed himself to be drawn into some awful mistake? Michael was not sure. He realized he was looking for a different sort of reaction from Scott.

"Are you okay?" Michael did not really register the young man's concern. "I thought you were okay with this. It was good wasn't it?" Scott sat down beside Michael.

"Just a weekend fuck for you I'm sure." Michael snapped. He was uncertain of Scott now that it was over. He was, he realized, just the kid here. Michael's experience put him at a disadvantage. How was he to know what these things meant?

"No," Scott spit back. "Michael," the softness of his tone drew Michael's eyes. Scott looked down briefly before allowing their eyes to reconnect. "It wasn't like that; was it?" Scott read the uncertainty in the teen's eyes and he pressed forward. "Why Mike? Why does it have to be like that? Why can't I be totally blown away by you? Why can't I drive away tomorrow on a fucking high because I met you and you aren't sorry? Why can't I hope you change your mind and come to Medicine Hat?"

Michael shook his head and looked back to the rekindled fire. He did not know what to think. He should be tired. He was tired. Michael noticed his pants and slipped them on. He collapsed back onto the sleeping bag and curled away from the rising sun. He thought about Lauren and he played Scott's words over in his mind. Before he drifted away, he stretched a foot out to where Scott had been sitting. Scott's hand ran along his calf. Michael finally slept.

*** 8:37 AM ***

Michael woke with a start. He realized Scott was spooned against him under a blanket. Scott's arm held him close. He lay in that position enjoying the weight of the young man's arm. When he was ready, he carefully slipped free of the embrace. Scott frowned slightly in his sleep and rolled on his back with a small snore. Michael crossed his legs and stared at Scott while the sun rose higher in the sky. He eventually leaned over Scott and experimented with a light kiss on the young man's parted lips.

Michael picked his way toward the edge of the valley. He stopped short of the tangled humps of Wild Rose that marked the descent to the ravine below. The sun was at his back now and a clean light hit the western shore of the lake. The near waters were still lost in early morning shadow, a lingering reminder of his midsummer night's dream. Michael dropped down. He thought about August; St. Andrew's College in St. George, weekends driving home to Vimy, sharing rides with Lauren or some other Vimy student wending their way home to the familiar streets. A fresh breeze teased his hair bringing with it the light perfume of Roses mingled with the musk of Wolf Willow. Michael closed his eyes. He could travel the path to St George in his head tolling off the familiar landmarks, counting down the minutes. Michael tried to imagine the snaking trail of the South Saskatchewan River as it cut deep into the prairie on its way from sprawling Medicine Hat to the lake. He could hear his parent's careful reservations in his head. Michael did not know Medicine Hat. It was a big change for a small town boy. The future dubious. His mom and dad were so concerned he would be lost there without family.

Michael's phone vibrated twice in his pocket. He dug it out and flipped it open, Miss you already. It had been an enchanted night, perhaps not just a midsummer night's dream after all. Michael smiled and rapidly thumbed out his brief response, "me too." He lay back. The rough grass stabbed at his back until he had settled against it. Life surrounded Michael and he felt the light breeze touch his face, move over his chest and kiss his belly like soft lips. His body embraced the morning light.