I was getting a bit concerned about the whereabouts of my partner. The rest of the team and I had been searching this underground facility for the last hour and we hadn't found a hint of him. But somehow, I knew he was still here. Megalomaniacs have a need to gloat in front of their opponents. And James and I had definitely been a thorn in Heildigger's side for the last month.

Opening the last door in the corridor I was searching, I found my partner. He was suspended in mid-air and shackled to a James-sized wheel in what had to be a rather uncomfortable position. His eyes lit up when he saw me and through the gag in his mouth he tried to say something. Smiling, I waved at him and then backed out into the hall, closing the door behind me.

Finally. I finally had him where I wanted him.

Now to get rid of the others so I could have a little ... talk ... with my dear partner. I convinced them that I'd found evidence that Agent West had gone on ahead to the next link in the chain of bases that Heildigger had set up. Agents Hill and Grove just nodded and said they would guard the entrance until the Army got here. I smiled and agreed, mentioning that I'd found a laboratory and wanted to check it out.

With them out of the way, I headed back down to the room where James was waiting. I found the key in the outside lock and took the precaution of using it on the inside of the door. Taking a quick walk around the room, I noticed all the little implements of torture that I was expecting. Heildigger was nothing if not predictable. Finding the device that held James suspended, I lowered him almost to floor level.

"Well, well, James, this is a pretty pickle you've got yourself into. Not content with leaving me behind, you didn't even leave me a note explaining where you were going." I walked slowly around to the front of the wheel and tested the wood of each of the four spokes that held him in a x-form. "Solid construction and nice iron shackles, Heildigger is a real craftsman. But then you knew that before you so impetuously raced off to save the world, all ... by ... yourself."

"It's been a year since the President assigned us together and you still haven't figured out what a team is." I shook my head and brought up a high stool so our eyes were at a level. His beautiful blue eyes were perplexed and he had that little frown between his eyes that always made me want to kiss him stupid.

"You and I have needed this little talk for some time and since you're a captive audience, I guess it's now." I reached out and ran a single finger over his cheek, across his chin and up the other side. "You have the most beautiful skin, James. It's like fine ivory stretched across such a distinct bone structure. I noticed that Heildigger stripped you of your shirt before he whipped you. Did you enjoy it, James? Did it make you hard? Is it pain that you're looking for when you get yourself into these impossible situations?"

He tried to say something but the gag was still in the way. But the way his nipples were hardening told me that I was on the right track.

"I've watched you for almost a year, my dear James. We've slowly but surely created a very successful partnership. We've succeeded in every mission and survived intact each time. But I have noticed that at some point in each and every job, you get yourself captured and tortured. There's obviously something in our relationship that you find lacking."

My hands reached up to run lightly down his arms and over his shoulders before sinking to his chest and those pert little nipples. He shuddered under my hands and his eyes closed to slits.

"Are you a virgin with men, James? Have you ever fucked one ... or been fucked?"

He went very still and I saw fear in his eyes.

"Ah, never been fucked, that explains so much, James. I've done both of course. My bohemian past as an actor led me down many paths. Sometimes women just aren't enough, are they? They're too soft, too yielding. But another man ... ah, there we have someone who can give and also take."

My hands were circling his nipples in ever-smaller rotations until I could pluck the small peaks with the tips of my fingers. His eyes were back to slits while he tried not to react to my touch.

"You're so stoic, James. Cold and hard and concentrated on the job and the job alone. Your women never last more than one or two fucks before you're off to find the next chance to get yourself hurt. That's incredibly frustrating for someone who cares for you the way I do. I work best with a partner, someone I can trust at my back. Someone that wants to work with me."

My hands finally slid lower, over the rippling stomach muscles to the waist of his very tight pants.

"And we definitely need to have a talk about your wardrobe. If you wear your pants any tighter, you're going to do yourself a mischief. It's very bad for your circulation not to mention how very nicely it displays your groin. It's rather like posting a sign that says -- sex on two legs, come and get it. Not quite the proper message to be sending to the enemies of our country, do you think?"

I trailed languid fingers over his crotch and down between his legs, which were nicely spread and shackled, to the bottom two spokes. Leaning forward just a bit, I slid my hand up the back seam of those tight pants while pulling him forward just enough so I could take a nipple in my mouth. It tasted salty and I lapped delicately at it before biting it gently.

"There, that's better. I wondered what you would taste like. Good honest sweat can be such a turn-on, don't you think? Now, about these pants and your predilection towards exhibitionism. When we're alone, I have to admit that I love them. They show off this fabulous ass that you persist in keeping barely covered."

Both hands were between his legs now and while one cupped his hardening sex, the other was pressing the seam over his crevice. I took a moment to taste the other nipple and found it just as delightful as the first.

"Very nice, indeed. You are a treat for all my senses, James. You have a quick mind and a dry wit that I rarely find in a man of such beauty. So, it's not just your body that I desire. I want all of you, sweet James. I want your cock in my mouth every day. You're not up to taking mine, of course. I'm rather large and you're still so innocent."

I unbuttoned his pants slowly, enjoying the unveiling of the groin I coveted.

"No underwear, James, how very wanton of you. Let's just see what kind of prize I've been waiting for. Ah, very nice, indeed, such a lovely length and an adequate thickness. Your women have had nothing to complain about over the years, have they? What a pretty shade of plum, just here at the head. Uncut, James? Someone was saving money when you were born. Let's just push it back and see what we have. Oh, such a tasty morsel and all for me."

I slid my hands up and down the silken shaft and looked up into his tormented face. Poor boy, he really didn't know what to do, be angry or grateful.

"Yes, indeed, watch him lift towards me as if he's ready for my mouth. Has one of your women ever done that? Used her mouth on your cock? No, how very sad for you, James. You've been missing out on such a treat. I'll have to remedy that lack in your education."

And I was sliding him into my mouth, fluttering my tongue against his crown while my hands played with the hanging sac that enclosed his balls. They were small but perfectly shaped, much like the rest of his body. Size isn't everything although it doesn't hurt occasionally.

He was groaning above me, his whole body trembling with the need not to respond to me. But his groin betrayed him and soon, I had him thrusting into my mouth while my hands played below. He jerked hard when I slid a wet finger between his cheeks but a light rake of my teeth against his tender flesh reminded him who was in charge. Dipping inside of him with a finger was a pale reflection of what I wanted to do.

Hot and tight, just as I expected. No one had been in this virgin territory and I was determined to make him want me back inside so I settled in to make him come as hard as he'd ever come before. I'd slipped to my knees in front of him so I had better access and his shaking was setting the wheel into moving in little arcs that rather added to our lovemaking.

If this was going to be my only chance at loving him, I was going to make sure that he remembered me. As much as I wanted inside of him, I wouldn't hurt him. I hadn't been joking when I said he couldn't handle my size. The only man who had loved it and me had been killed outside of Vicksburg. I would always mourn his loss.

But James was here now and the precum was my only warning that he'd been tortured long enough. Relaxing my throat muscles, I took him all the way in and swallowed. His scream was only partially muffled by the gag and he shot his seed deep inside my throat in a series of spasms that sent him straight into unconsciousness.

I let him go reluctantly and sighed. Interlude over. Now it was up to my partner to decide where we went from here. I moved behind him and undid the shackles around his ankles with the key on the key ring. Then with one arm around his waist, I undid his wrists and held him up when he would have fallen to the floor. Swinging him up into my arms, I carried him to the cot at one side of the room. Laying him down, I buttoned him up and spread his shirt over his chest.

No sense in letting him catch a chill on this interesting mission. I tucked the key ring into his lax hand and let myself out, leaving the door wide open. At the top of the stairs, I straightened my clothing and went out to take our fellow agents back to head quarters. It was up to James now.

***************************
James, part two
***************************

I woke up with a start and sat upright on the cot. Where? Oh yes, the dungeon and ... for a long moment, I couldn't finish that thought. But there was the wheel with the iron shackles and the stool where my partner ...

...Where Artemis Gordon, my partner, had taken my sex into his mouth and given me more pleasure than I'd ever known in my life. I looked down at my shirt as if I'd never seen it before. Then I shivered and started to put it on. He must have laid it there at the same time he took me off the wheel. Standing up gave me a twinge and I tried to erase the picture of his mouth around me.

My hands went to my front and I gently touched the shape of my sex, more replete than it had ever been. When I tucked in my shirt at the back, I froze when I remembered that his finger had been there. Inside of me. All the way inside of me. What had that flash of warmth been while he was there? What did he know about my body that I didn't?

Venturing out into the corridor, I slowly made my way up and out of the base into the light of day. The whinny from inside the shed told me that he'd left me my horse. What was it he'd said? 'I work best with a partner, someone I can trust at my back.' At least I could trust him when it came to work.

I saddled Charger and made my mind stop thinking of anything but each step of the process. Swinging up onto his back, I put on my hat from the pummel and nudged the black horse out of the shed and back towards Washington. But the trip gave me time to think and I tried to understand what the hell had just happened. One moment I'm being whipped and the next, my partner is taunting me about my wardrobe.

Well, not just about my wardrobe. Is it my fault that the enemies of our country like to brag while they're trying to make believe that they're stronger than I am? It doesn't happen every time, it didn't happen ...? I ran my mind over the last few missions and came up short. I really had gotten caught every time and Art -, my partner had rescued me each time. Had I gotten that lax or was I really looking for ...

I was not looking for a male lover. 'Are you a virgin with men, James?' I shivered hard and jerked on the reins, almost distracting Charger. Patting his neck, I calmed him and rode on. How could he have known about Gerald? My fellow officer in the Union Army who'd died in a senseless battle in a senseless war. Somehow, he'd known that he was going to die and he'd begged me to make love with him.

So, yes, I had fucked another man but never been ... I could feel that finger sliding in and I shivered again. 'Ah, never been fucked, that explains so much, James.' 'You're so stoic, James.' He always used my full name, never shortened it to Jim, the way Gerald had. I'd never known that Gerald had loved me until he begged me to make love to him. And we'd both firmly expected the next day to be bad.

And it had been just as bad as we'd known it would be. Bloody, exhausting and brutal ... and deadly for Gerald. I hadn't been back to his grave in years and I was going to take the time soon. He didn't deserve to be forgotten like so many of our veterans had been. I could feel the depression that thinking about the War always brought me but I straightened up and pushed it aside.

There was something more to think about. What did I do about my partner? Could we go back to just doing the job? Could I go back to the railroad car we called home and trust him to stay out of my bed? To not ... damn, I couldn't even think the word let alone say it.

"Fuck, Charger, that's what he said. He asked me if I'd ever been fucked."

He whinnied back at me as if he understood the words. Oh great, now I was talking to my horse. But there was no one else around and I really needed to say the words. "He told me that I wore my pants too tight and I was sending improper messages to our enemies. But then he ... he licked me, Charger."

I touched my chest lightly and felt a throb go all the way to my groin. Snatching my hand away from my chest, I gulped. Why didn't I know that my nipples were so sensitive? Or were they only sensitive to ... his touch?

'Oh, such a tasty morsel and all for me.'

I stopped dead in the road and looked around for the stream I could hear nearby. I needed a cold drink. Swinging down from Charger, I led him off the road towards the gentle gurgle of water. It wasn't far from the road and I let him drink first before I looped the reins around a tree branch and threw my hat to the ground, followed by my body at the stream's edge.

Scooping up a handful of water, I looked at my reflection in the water. Ripples distorted my face a little until I didn't know what I looked like anymore. Who was this person who'd just let his partner ... I hesitated because I didn't know what to call it. It wasn't sex because that was what you did with women and making love was only something you did with your wife.

What had it been with Gerald?

I sat back on the grassy bank and looked at the stream while I pulled out the memories I'd tucked away. The swift urgency as we undressed, the whispers in the dark of our tent, hard fingers that gloved my shaft to iron before guiding me into the soft hole that gave way against my push. The heat of him and the low cry that made me think I'd hurt him until he pushed back and told me to move. It hadn't taken long before he'd tightened around me with a gasp and I came hard inside of him. We'd cleaned ourselves up and he'd touched my face gently the next morning before we'd left the tent.

The next time I saw him, he was a pale corpse laid in a long line of other bodies ready for burial. I hadn't let another person into my heart since. Was that what my partner saw? Someone cold and unable to feel the emotions of love?

'That's incredibly frustrating for someone who cares for you the way I do.'

Could he really care for me?

"Could I care for him? Want him ... that way? That's an incredibly frightening thought, Charger. He said he wanted all of me. I've never given it all before. Everyone leaves eventually and they hurt you when they go. I don't know if I could give up control like that." I ran a shaky hand through my hair. "If I hadn't been shackled, I'd have never let him ... do that."

I closed my eyes and relived each touch to see why I had responded to him. He'd touched me everywhere and there had been so much emotion behind each burning finger. I'd been chilled before he came but once he'd begun to caress me, I'd grown warm so very quickly. That had never happened before with any other partner. I frowned and thought back.

Surely there was something I could compare it to. It had been frightening but with an air of ... comfort even though I'd been helpless to move or say no. Was that it, had I needed to be restrained before I could let myself feel pleasure? Words thundered from a pulpit in my father's parish came back to me.

Sodom and Gomorrah. Wicked women and evil men doing things not sanctioned by the Church. Damned to everlasting Hell for the sin of sex with loose women. Perversions unnamed but still warned against. All right thinking people would condemn sex with another man.

But I had rejected all of his teachings when I'd gone away to school and West Point had shown me the brotherhood of men. Was a ... a sexual relationship with my partner who I trusted to protect me, even rescue me when I needed it, like that brotherhood? Someone to guard my back while I guarded his, was that possible?

I had to see him. Talk to him and try to understand why now, why after a year of being working partners, he'd suddenly decided to seduce me. Because that was what it had been, a seduction. He hadn't taken care of himself, that I knew of. All his attention had been on me ... on my pleasure.

Leaping to my feet, I threw on my hat and led Charger back to the road, swinging into the saddle. He'd be at the train. And it was my turn to have my say. To ask him those questions and see what he said. How he said it was important, too. He was an excellent actor but I didn't think he was acting when he said that I didn't know what a team was. And when he'd asked me about the pain, I had wanted to say no, I didn't want it.

But was that the truth? I thought so because his attentions had been extremely gentle, almost tender and I'd released into his mouth without restraint. I'd never passed out from sex before and that intrigued me. The torture was an occupational hazard that I'd come to terms with long ago.

Could there be a correlation between my wardrobe and the torture? When they were beating me or whatever they did, was it all a sexual game that simply never got to the sex? Until Artemis came along and gave me a fitting end to the torture. Was that really me? Was I addicted to pain the way some of my fellow veterans had grown addicted to the morphine that kept the pain away?

The traffic on the road was picking up and I put my thoughts aside until the railroad tracks came in sight. Another hour and I'd be there, at our home on rails. We'd have a conversation this time not the dialog that had gone before. And just maybe if the answers were right, I could let my guard down long enough to see what happened if we both wanted it.

Maybe it was time to give up some of the shell I'd grown so thick against the pain of caring. Artemis knew more of love than I did and maybe I could let him teach me something new, something I'd been missing all my life.

Love was such a frightening concept.

But maybe it was time.

*************************
Artemis, part three
*************************

I poured a glass of wine and held it up to the light coming through the windows. Another team had been sent on after Heildigger. I'd asked for a brief leave of absence for James and me. Whatever happened from my impetuous actions, we'd both need time to regroup. I'd grown addicted to my partner and now that I knew what he tasted like, it would be next to impossible to go back the to way we'd been.

The rich burgundy slid down my throat like a benediction. I'd always enjoyed the finer things of life but my appetites had gotten me in trouble before and I should have thought about that before giving into my desires. Poor James was probably talking to himself all the way back here. I'd give him another half-hour before taking the carriage back to the abandoned base.

For the first time, I wondered if he'd go right to headquarters to request a new partner and not even come back here to talk. Taking another sip, I planned what to pack if I needed to leave suddenly. The miniature of James was already in my inside pocket so the rest was just clothing and things that could be easily replaced.

Perhaps I needed to return to the stage where men loving men were taken in stride. These military types could be so hidebound. All the rules and regulations for every step of the way, except for the President's love of cutting corners, were so very stultifying.

The door opened and James stepped inside, the sun behind him setting his hair to flame. His half-shy, half-defiant gaze arrowed straight to my heart. Poor man was shaking in his boots but coming on in anyway. He was such a love but somebody had shaken his confidence in himself. Family or friend, it was usually one or the other.

"Come in, James and shut the door. You look like you could use a drink."

"Yes, I think I could." He perched on the edge of the sofa and I filled another glass and handed it over to him, making sure that my fingers didn't touch his. No sense in spooking him further.

"Take your time, James. Think about what you want to say and for heaven's sake, relax. I'm not going to bite you." I sipped at my wine, my eyes never leaving his. "Unless you want me to."

He blushed and drank half the glass off. "I never felt anything like that before. Why? You've rescued me at least twice within the last half-year. Why did you, um, decide to ... to touch me now?"

"Why, indeed? Something just snapped inside of me. I've watched this self-destructive streak you have grow into a rather dangerous behavior pattern. Maybe I wanted to get your attention so we'd have this talk?"

He turned the glass around and around in his hands while looking into the depths of the red wine. "I'm not consciously getting into dangerous situations. That wouldn't be good for the Secret Service or our country."

"But is it good for you, James? Is there something so lacking in your life that you have to pit yourself against villains who you know will beat you? Is the loss of control so terrible to you that it takes violence to free you? Have you never experienced the gentler emotions?" I was sitting forward now, the few feet separating us a physical ache in my body.

He stammered his no before finishing the wine and jumping to his feet to pace back and forth. "I ... I was raised to believe that sex was immoral unless within the sanctity of the marriage bed. And then, only if we were trying to create ... children. During the war, I lost a good ... friend who asked me to make love with him."

I was on my feet as well and I stood in his way so that he had to run into me when next he turned. The look of anguish on his face was so acute that I wanted only to hold him and take away the pain. "I know how that feels, James. I lost my lover and best friend after Vicksburg but I will always be thankful for the days we had together."

He turned into my arms and I pulled him into a hug. He was stiff as a board for a long moment but then he relaxed against my shoulder. It was only now that I realized how much taller I was than he. When he's moving, you don't see anything but his grace and athleticism. His hair smelled of the pomade that he used and I breathed him in like the fine bouquet he was.

"I never knew what might have been. I was ... afraid of what I was feeling."

"Because it was wrong according to your father's religion?" I stroked the soft skin at the back of his neck and felt him unconsciously lean into the caress.

"Yes." He nodded against my shoulder. "And it felt scary to be so out of control. I never felt that way again until today."

"My sweet James, you have no idea how very scary it is to love someone and have to pretend you don't. I've watched you with your women and known that none of them could give you what I could." My lips touched the tip of his ear and he shuddered all the way down to his toes.

"Why?" He whispered and pulled back far enough to look into my eyes.

"Because you're a very special man with a keen mind and a heart that's been trampled on for too long. I fell in lust with you the day we met and slowly, over the last few months, I fell so deeply in love that it was a physical pain not to tell you." I traced his eyebrow gently and cupped his cheek in my palm. "And we are friends."

His lips parted to say, I don't know what, but the time for talking was over and I leaned in to kiss him. Gently, tenderly but so thoroughly that he would never be able to forget it. I tried to keep it light, I really did. But the shock of tasting him was all encompassing and I slanted our mouths so I could sweep my tongue inside and plunge deep to scour his sweetness.

A hint of wine, some spices left from our lunch perhaps and underlying them all was the warm, sweet tang of unfiltered James. My hands held his head still so I could forage deeper, stroking his tongue with mine to learn exactly what he liked. His hands were on my wrists but not to stop me.

Maybe to hold himself up? I know I felt as if the earth was moving beneath my feet and all I'd done was kiss him. I feasted on him for long moments until we had to break apart to breathe. His eyes slowly opened, portraying the shock of our kiss but he didn't look like he was going to say anything cruel.

"Let me love you, James. Let me cherish you the way you should have been cherished your whole life. I promise you'll enjoy it."

He was trembling uncontrollably and I swept him back into a reassuring hug while stroking soothing circles onto his back. Too much, too fast for the poor man, I decided and tried to think of a way to calm him. He mumbled something I couldn't quite catch and when I raised his chin to look into his eyes, he blushed beet red before clearing his throat.

"Yes. I want you to ..." he couldn't finish the sentence.

"Make love to you? Tenderly lay you down in my bed and show you things about your body that you never knew? Kiss you from the tips of your ears down to your toes?" I wove my net with soft words and he watched me with fascinated curiosity. "You taste so very good when you come. Shall I touch you again and take that beautiful cock back into my mouth? Would you let me pleasure you again?"

His shocked whisper was all I could have asked for. "Yes. Please make ... make love to me."

"Thank God, I don't know what I would have said if you'd wanted to break up the partnership and leave me." I kissed him hard just because I could and when he swayed against me I could have cheered at the hardness I found against my hip. "Come to bed, James. Let me love you."

He followed me as if an invisible chain held us together. His eyes were so wide and dilated that only a faint rim of blue showed around the black iris. His hands were trembling as I walked backwards down the hall that led to my part of the rail car. He'd never been in my bedroom and I smiled at him when I opened the door. I hadn't thought his eyes could get any wider but they did when they saw my bed.

I like my comforts and dislike a too small bed so the custom built mattress stood on a platform with drawers in the base for my extra clothes and supplies and four columns at the corners that stretched to the ceiling. It took up most of the room except for the bedside table on one side and an armoire on the other. My time in this room was usually spent dressing or sleeping, rarely anything else.

Hugging him close, I shut the door behind us and began unbuttoning his shirt. His hands came up to cover mine but when I looked into his eyes, all I saw was wonder at my touch. Oh, it was hard to keep control and not just rip his clothing off and toss him on the bed. But that would be too much, too soon so I took a good hold on my libido and kept on slowly undressing him.

He sat on the edge of the bed while I knelt to remove his boots and pants. When I looked up, there he was on the red velvet bed spread. His ivory skin gleaming and his sex hardening at my gaze, he blushed at my heated look and moved backwards over the bed until there was some space between us.

Smiling tenderly, I began to undress, each layer exposing more of me to his curious gaze. I've kept in shape with constant workouts but I'd never be as graceful or athletic as James was. My build is more prone to bulk and hairiness than his slim shape. I saw his eyes take in my hirsute chest and his hand lift as if to touch. That bode well for what he would soon be seeing.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I removed my boots and slid my pants down to the floor. Normally, I would hang them up immediately but the song in my blood was too insistent for me to take care of something so trivial. When I stood to walk around the bed, I was pretty sure that he hadn't seen very many naked men because his breath caught when he saw me.

The astonished look on his face lasted right up until I slid next to him and took him in my arms. If that look was any indication, our time in this bed was going to be very good indeed. Thank goodness, no one was expecting us to surface for a week. I didn't intend to let him out of this bed any time sooner.

I was going to make him mine. Forever.

************************
James, part four
************************

I was shaking when he slid in next to me and gathered me into his warm embrace. He had hair on his chest, thick black hair that curled everywhere but most importantly it arrowed down to his groin where his ... sex lay. He was right when he said I wouldn't be able to handle him. I'd seen a few naked men before in the course of military training at West Point. We had a group bathhouse and I'd seen other men's sexes before but not like his.

He looked huge, twice as long as mine and much thicker.

His hands were gentle while he petted me. "It's all right, James. I promised you no pain and I meant it. In time, you won't find him quite so fearsome but for now, I think I promised you a repeat of our earlier lovemaking. Just relax and let me make you feel wonderful."

I closed my eyes while he kissed me and felt as if I was drowning in the sweet taste of his mouth. No woman had ever tasted this good and I opened to him at once, desiring his warmth. His hands touched me intimately and the heat of his hands branded my skin with his mark. If I survived this, I knew that I would belong to him and him only.

"Sweet James, you are ambrosia of the gods." His husky murmur made my pulse race. His tongue was sliding down my throat and when he paused at the hollow there, I felt heat blossom inside me. "So responsive, James, I love how you arch against me. And now for more sweetness."

I still wasn't prepared for the shock when he suckled at my nipple. No one had ever touched me there save for him and I felt myself move restlessly under his questing tongue. It wasn't enough and I took a shuddering breath that turned into a moan when he bit down firmly but gently. It felt like a lightning bolt through my body and I thrashed my head back and forth on the pillow.

Then he moved to the other nipple and the lightning was back. He suckled for a long time while one hand lay on my stomach to keep me flat and I tried not to move. Then his mouth was moving further down and I held my breath while he rubbed his cheek against my sex and I felt as if I would come right then. But his fingers were holding me tight and the urge went away.

"You really are beautiful here, James. You have such a lovely cock and balls for me to play with. But I want more, my love, so I'm going to need a little help." He leaned up and over me to reach for a jar on the bedside table. While he was moving, he settled between my legs and my thighs twitched at the unfamiliar stimulation of hair. Not to mention, that ... giant organ of his brushing against mine.

"Not yet, James. He's not for you just yet." He kissed me hard and I finally gave into the urge to touch him, hold him.

That pleased him and I felt his smile against my lips before he thrust his tongue inside my mouth again. The rhythm mirrored his fingers back on my nipples and I moaned into the heat that was consuming me. Then I heard the jar being opened and the scent of balsam filled the room.

"Shift up a bit for me, James." His voice was husky and his hands guided a pillow under my hips. I felt dreadfully exposed to his gaze when he pulled away from me. "Now, I'm going to use some cream to relax you a bit. If there's the slightest pain, I want you to tell me. Discomfort there might be but not pain. All right?"

I nodded since I didn't understand but when a cool, slick finger slid behind my balls and up into my hole, I tensed.

"Sh-h-h, love, let me in so I can love you." His mouth descended on my cock and I promptly forgot the finger at the other sensations bombarding me. The rough edge of his tongue rasped against my tender skin and I shivered while trying to raise my hips.

"That's it, James. Show me how much you like it." His voice hypnotized me and his burning gaze held mine while the finger inside of me retreated only to return as two.

The fullness was uncomfortable but that soon disappeared when he went back to sucking. Then he touched something inside of me and that odd heat bloomed thorough out my whole body. I moaned and it felt so odd to feel his chuckle around my cock. The fingers were loosening me with a scissors motion that felt distinctly good although odd.

I was moving beneath him and every sensation multiplied until I could feel myself begin to waver at the edges. "Artemis! I think I will come soon."

He slid back up my cock and let it go just long enough to laugh out loud. "Good, I think I've become addicted to your taste and it's been hours since I tasted you."

Then he dove back down and did that odd thing with his fingers again and my hips snapped up while I came and came and came. I must have blacked out again because when I opened my eyes, he was spooned up behind me, his fingers delicately stroking my nipples to hard nubs.

"Ah, good, you're back with me. Now, I need you to clamp your legs together for me, James."

I wondered why but obeyed immediately, only to find his cock nudging between my legs beneath my balls. It felt as huge as it looked and I gulped at the thought of that monster trying to fit inside of me, the way I had fit inside of Gerald.

"Not yet, love. I won't lie to you. I want inside of you, my sweet James but only when you're ready. For the moment, this will do quite nicely." He kissed the back of my neck and thrust against me over and over, the juncture of my legs providing the friction that he needed to climax.

And when he came, I put down a hand to touch him and got some of the white sticky liquid on my fingers. Bringing them up to my lips, I tasted him and wondered if I tasted as good to him as he did to me. Turning in his arms, I held him close and initiated a kiss for the first time.

He was warm and gentle with me when I hesitantly slid my tongue inside his mouth. Our tongues mated with each other and soon I had to break away to breathe. His eyes glowed into mine and he leaned forward to place tiny kisses across my cheek and up to my nose then down the other side.

I'd never felt so cherished but I didn't know how to tell him that.

"Just tell me, James. I don't expect compliments, the simple truth will do. Did you enjoy it enough to want to keep making love?" He looked a bit unsure as if he truly believed that I would throw our actions back into his face.

"I liked it. I have never felt like that before. It is ... it is hard for me to let another have so much control over me." I gulped and gripped his shoulders with trembling hands. "But with you, I think I can trust you not to ... to hurt me."

"Never, James, I would never hurt you." He held me tenderly. "It is no sin to let another love you, sweet James. It truly is all right to let another tend to your needs. You will not lose your manhood by loving me and letting me love you. You are one of the most masculine men I have ever met and I promise to respect your expertise when we are working."

I blinked rapidly to dispel the unmanly tears that threatened to overcome me. "I sometimes have trouble in relying on another but I truly do not want the pain of being tortured. It is simply something that happens occasionally."

"Oh love, very few men truly desire pain but sometimes it helps them to be put in a position where they are helpless to dictate the outcome." Artemis kissed me again gently while his hands smoothed long strokes down my back. "What did you really think about my loving you while you were shackled?"

I could feel my skin turn red and I buried my head into the hollow of his shoulder. "I was shocked at first. I couldn't believe that you were touching me so ... so intimately. But it felt so good and your mouth was so hot. I'd never felt anything like it before. It felt as if you were reading my mind, touching me exactly where I needed to be touched and fulfilling desires that I didn't even know I had."

He rocked me back and forth tenderly. "It's all so new for you but I promise that the pleasure will soon drown out the harsh words from your father. Of course, we will not be able to show our feelings among others. But I've never been much of an exhibitionist the way you are."

I raised my head to protest but his smile told me he was teasing me the way he so often did. I've been told that I have no sense of humor but I think it more a case of the situation being so serious that humor would be out of place. But Artemis used his wit to diffuse tense situations and I'd seen it work again and again.

"You really think that I'm ... I'm flaunting myself?"

"James, your pants are a blatant invitation to assume the horizontal position." He chuckled. "My first instinct when I see you in the morning is to sweep you up in my arms and peel them off of you before fucking your brains out."

I blushed hard again and he went back to scattering kisses down my throat to my chest. My breathing hastened when I thought of the searing pleasure that came from his touching my nipples. Suddenly, I wanted to know if it would so affect him and I hesitantly touched the thick curls that almost hid his brown peaks.

His breathing caught and I was emboldened to gently pinch the swiftly hardening nub. His eyes glowed and with a flex of muscles, he brought me up to rest upon him and rubbed his hands down my back. I paused but his nod sent me back to my exploration and I touched the soft black curls so different from my own almost hairless chest. His clothing cloaked the broad expanse of muscles now revealed to me.

I stroked them gently and watched them get bigger. Hesitantly, I leaned down to kiss each one before daring to taste them. He tasted a little bit like salt and I remembered what he'd said about good honest sweat. My fingers combed through the dark curls and they coiled around me with a soft caress. I'd never felt anything like it before and when I wiggled just a little to see how they would feel against my chest, Artemis caught his breath.

His eyes were glowing again and his caress swept down my back to the curve of my buttocks, grasping each cheek in one of his broad hands. When he pressed down just a bit, our groins matched and I felt my sex begin to stir against his. His fingers trailed down my crease and I felt a tingle shoot through my body as they brushed against my secret entrance.

"My sweet James, you are so very brave. Are you ready for another lesson?"

I nodded with a slight frisson of fear but somehow he knew and he drew me down for one of his achingly sweet kisses. I lost myself in the tender caress and didn't even notice when his organ awoke completely and slid up through my legs to nestle between my cheeks. My own sex grew hard between our stomachs and when he shifted us to our sides, it jerked against his.

When he ended the kiss, he drew just far enough away to reach down to stroke my rising sex. "You're truly a work of art, my James. Every part of you is exquisitely sized to fit me. I think that the Creator made us for each other."

I blushed which made him kiss me again. It seems that reaction will always bring me one of his delicious kisses. But if he keeps complimenting me, he must expect me to blush frequently. My father said compliments were sinful, along with many other words and actions. But Artemis says that he will chase my father's words away and replace the pain with pleasure.

I think I want that more than anything.

***********************
Artemis, part five
***********************

I turned him onto his back for our next session. I shouldn't have been surprised that he was able to bring me up again so quickly. Just watching him breathe had been known to bring my cock to life. He was such a delight that I was looking forward to our next bout with anticipation.

Straddling his slender hips, I went back to teasing those pert nipples that gave him so much pleasure. He wiggled beneath me, our cocks dancing together between our stomachs. When his hand came down hesitantly to touch mine, I almost bit him too hard. I had dreamed of this and to actually feel each finger brush against my hardening flesh was a serious thrill. We were both going to enjoy what came next.

"James, could you hand me the cream?" I sat back on his thighs and watched him eye my cock like he might a rattlesnake. That would change in time but for now, I had something else in mind for our third lesson. When he handed me the jar, I took a generous portion and began to coat his cock with the slippery cream.

"Artemis, what are you doing?" He looked rather bewildered, poor darling.

"I'm getting you ready to mount me, James. I've been looking forward to this for many months and I'm finally going to get you inside of me. I enjoyed sucking your cock down my throat but now I want him deep within my body. He's going to slide right inside my guardian muscle and go in search of that gland that made you feel so good."

My words seemed to hypnotize him and the wide eyed innocent look made me lean forward to kiss him at the same time I grasped his slippery cock and guided him home. I hadn't taken another man inside of me since our partnership but I enjoy the sensation too much to completely go without. I had a variety of objects that I regularly used to pleasure myself but this was James.

My own sweet love was now inside of me and that made all the difference.

I tore my lips from his and angled back so that I was flush to his hips. He looked shell shocked, poor innocent and I wondered at the friend that he'd lost. Had they really only made love once? How very sad for James but how very nice for me. The burn was gone now and I squeezed my muscles around his solid shape and watched him shiver all the way down to his toes.

"Are you all right, Artemis? I'm not hurting you?" He swallowed hard and I felt his hands tentatively slide up my thighs to gently touch my neglected cock.

"You could never hurt me, James. I love the feel of you inside of me."

"What ... what should I do?" He looked so unsure that my heart melted further.

"What would you like to do, James? Perhaps touch me while I move a little?"

He nodded and his eyes dropped to my cock, which was pointed straight at him. First, a single finger stroked the flared head then his whole hand slid down the shaft before returning to the crown.

"He looks like that cobra that came out of the basket two months ago. I can barely reach around him." His curiosity was endearing and his touch felt so very good that I was hard pressed to concentrate on his pleasure. "He's so soft, like velvet."

"Go ahead and fist him, James. He's tougher than he looks. You can put both hands around him like this." I showed him with my hands how to make a tunnel around my slightly leaking flesh and move up and down.

Once he caught on, I began to carefully rock back and forth, squeezing the flesh inside of me with every other movement. He looked as if he could hardly remember to keep petting me while his cock was being tormented so delightfully. Then I drew off him a bit before dropping back down and he moaned.

I could definitely get used to hearing that lovely sound. So, I did it again and again until his head was thrashing on the pillow and his hands were squeezing me with all his strength. This was going to be over much too soon but I didn't care, because we were going to be doing it again and again and again.

So I angled him so I got the delicious prostate pounding that I needed and let my body shiver into release. His lips made a silent 'o' of pleasure when my muscles squeezed his climax from him. My cock shot thick ropes of semen onto his chest and face. When I let myself fall forward onto my forearms, his arms were there to catch me.

"Oh, Artemis." His whisper told me all I needed to know.

"I love you, James. Thank you for giving me the gift of your body." I kissed him gently and licked my seed from his face with broad laps like my old cat did when grooming herself.

"I never felt anything like that before, not even with Gerald." A tear leaked from one tightly closed eye and I kissed it away. "Thank you. Is the next lesson going to be how to take you inside ... of me?"

"What a lovely thought, James, but alas, no. Your next lesson is how to take a bath with another. We need to relax and clean ourselves so I can make dinner while you take care of the horses." I decided that he needed some space to think about what we'd just done. Coercion would never be a part of our bed play.

"A bath?" His eyes opened and he looked at me wide-eyed.

"Yes, I expect your education to have been sorely neglected when it comes to bathing. We'll need lots of hot water, some bath oil and a special soap for our skin. Ah," I felt him slip from me with a sense of loss. "I miss him already. Perhaps later you'll let him back inside?"

He blushed beet-red again. "I expect he will always want to be inside of you."

"Does he have a name, James?" When he shook his head, I smiled and rolled to the side. "I believe I'll call him Jim. That way, when we're not alone, I'll be able to speak of him without anyone knowing."

"Artemis!" His shocked look made me laugh and I pulled him closer.

"Yes, James, you will learn all kinds of fun goings on while you learn about how men love men." I stood and pulled him up as well. He was a good six inches shorter than I am without his boots and I have to admit I liked being the larger one.

"You are outrageous." He looked like he couldn't decide whether to smile or frown and I found his indecision extremely sexy.

"Virginal James, I am all of that and more. Making love should be fun and not at all the pious posturing that the Fundamentalists decree it. Come and let me show you." I tugged him after me and led him to the small room between our rooms.

I'd made sure that when we were outfitting this room, they installed the gas water heater that I'd grown to love in New York. I'd lit the pilot light that morning, knowing that I'd want a hot bath rather than the tepid sponge bath that usually contented me. James helped me dump in the tall canister of cold water that set ready in the corner then I released the valve under the heater to let the hot water mix with the cold.

Blowing out the pilot, I closed the gas valve so we didn't asphyxiate ourselves and reached out for the bath oil that I had mixed for me in New York. I poured in two capfuls while James watched me with that little frown between his eyes. Then I noticed that his nostrils flared while the scent of heather filled the room.

"Do you use it often, Artemis? I've smelled it before." He watched me open the soapbox that held the violet bar of soap with the same smell.

"Yes, a dear friend in New York makes it for me especially, both the oil and the soap. My skin tends to dry out and chap very easily so I use it at least once a week." I entered the tub and sat down with a sigh, stretching my legs out toward the drain. "You are going to join me, James?"

"There won't be much room." He perched on the side of the tub and I tugged him in the rest of the way.

"There will be if you sit just ... so." I positioned him with his back to my front so I had all of him to play with. "See, sweet James, there's plenty of room. Now relax and let me wash you from head to toe. I love your skin. It feels like satin beneath my fingers. Are they too rough?"

"No," he said breathlessly with a little moan as I licked behind his ear.

"So responsive to my every touch, it is a delight to feel you against me. I used to lie here in my bath and pretend that you were here with me. I'd wonder what your skin would feel like beneath my fingers." I slid soapy hands down his arms and back up over his chest where his nipples peaked in anticipation of my touch. "Then I would pretend it was your hands on me while I reached for that beautiful cock and stroked it over and over."

Suiting my actions to my words, I gloved his slender flesh with lathered fingers and felt him clench against me. My cock rose between his cheeks and poked against those perfect balls. Soon, I told him silently, he's not ready yet.

"Then I would wash my legs and wonder what yours would look like against mine. Somehow I knew that your pale ivory skin would look beautiful against my olive flesh. Look at the contrast between my hands and your pearl-white shaft." I fondled his cock and felt him move with me. He didn't seem to notice that we were impossibly hardening yet again. This hadn't happened to me in years.

But this was my James and my body knew it.

I slid one of my hands between his legs to soap his balls and he moaned while his head moved on my shoulder. So I dropped my voice to a whisper and rimmed his ear while one finger breached his guardian muscle. His legs were splayed either side of mine and I used them to open him wider for me.

"You are beautiful every where, sweet James and I promise to show you how wonderful your body can feel. Pleasure will be yours every hour of the day and night. Even when we're not together, you'll know that soon we will be. You'll remember how it feels to pierce my body with your cock and make me come."

I had two fingers inside of him and he finally relaxed enough to let me reach deep to stimulate his gland. I bit his earlobe and squeezed his cock at the same moment and he thrust up while I worked on loosening his nether muscles.

"Or you might remember how it feels to thrust inside my mouth while I swallow around you. Then, no matter where you are, you will remember that you belong to me so the beautiful women who proposition you will have to look elsewhere. I'm very possessive, James and I think you are too. There will be no other in my heart or body because you are there."

"Yes, Artemis, yours." He was beautifully flushed, his skin gleaming in the subdued gas light. "Only yours."

"Thank you, love. I have something to give you and I promise it won't hurt but it will teach you something about your body." I slipped my fingers out of him and he clenched around them as if to keep them there. A good sign for me and I told my cock to be patient. James would soon be his.

*****************
James, part six
*****************

I'd never felt such pleasure before. Artemis' words made love to me and I wished with all my heart to love him in return. I could envision no woman who could make me feel the way I was feeling now. He fired my body and blood the way no one ever had and I wanted to know how to make him feel this way.

"Anything, Artemis, anything you want."

"Sweet James," he crooned my name so softly that I knew it was branded into my soul. "Lean forward, sweetheart and kneel away from me. I have a present for you." His hands moved my hips forward and I gripped the edge of the tub with shaking hands.

I couldn't help but look over my shoulder since I'd felt him lengthen and grow beneath my cheeks and his member still rather frightened me. But he was reaching for a mesh bag that hung by the tub and pulling out an odd shaped object of some kind of rubber. I'd seen the bag there since we moved aboard the train but never looked inside.

His eyes gleamed in the gaslight and he smiled at me. "Now for one of my favorite fantasies, James. Stay right there while I indulge myself."

He moved closer, spreading my legs to either side of his and stretching me with his hands. For a long moment, he stroked my buttocks with his callused fingers until he was stroking between my cheeks. I couldn't help but shiver and lean forward to pillow my head on my hands. I didn't think I could watch him and not come immediately.

"Oh love, how very small you look here, like a rosebud that has never flowered. And yet, my fingers have been inside here, two on this first day of our lovemaking. That's very good, you know. You're the best student of love I've ever known and every lesson brings you closer to me. I love that."

Then a new sensation assaulted my senses and I tried to figure out what it was only to freeze in amazement. It wasn't his fingers but his tongue, there in that hidden place that I'd always thought was dirty. But it felt so good.

"I know what you're thinking, James. But it's not in the least dirty, my innocent one. Properly washed it gives great pleasure for many nerves meet right here. Later, I'll show you how to clean yourself inside as well and I think you'll enjoy that."

"Are you sure, Artemis?" I felt very ignorant at this lack of knowledge.

"Very sure, love. Now hush while I pleasure you and get you ready for your surprise." He went back to licking me while one of his hands pulled languidly on my shaft.

I'd never come three times in one day in my life but Artemis' magic fingers knew more about my body than I did. When his fingers came back to my entrance, they were oiled and slid deep without any pain at all. It didn't seem possible that in such a short space of time I would be able to take so much when I'd never before taken any.

But this was my partner, Artemis, who loved me and wanted to pleasure me.

"So beautiful, sweet James, you're a natural lover. Now, take a deep breath for me and push out against my touch." His fingers moved out and I did as he asked, only to feel something larger move in and slide deep.

I clenched around it but it didn't give at all. Looking over my shoulder, I saw the flared base of the odd object he'd removed from the bag. His hands soothed the ripples from my lower back.

"Does it hurt or is it merely uncomfortable? Tell me truly."

I thought about it. When I moved, it moved with me and while part of my muscles wanted to push it out as I might the waste in my body, part of me wanted to please Artemis and accept this gift. No matter how strange it was.

"It is a bit uncomfortable but nothing I can't handle."

"Good, I want you to wear it while we're doing our chores and then I'll remove it from you. It is the plug that I used to wear when I craved your touch but didn't have you." He stroked me and pressed it in just a little more and heat bloomed inside of me.

"Oh, what was that?" I wiggled and flexed around it, trying to get that feeling back again.

He obligingly pressed it back in and rolled my balls between his fingers. I shuddered and almost came but he pinched the base of my shaft and the urge went slowly just a little bit away.

"Remember the gland I told you about? It's called the prostate gland and every man has one. When stimulated, it gives great pleasure. That's why men fuck each other, my dear James, because it feels so very, very good. Now, we need to finish our bath before the water gets cold. I'm getting hungry."

And with that, he began to wash me all over, down to my toes while I moved awkwardly to return the favor. The plug inside of me kept my shaft quite hard but he cheerfully forbade me my release. "Not now, James. After dinner, we shall have an early night and I will take care of your little problem. Restraint is good for the soul."

I'm afraid I pouted and he kissed my lips with a chuckle while pressing in the plug and massaging me into full hardness. But then he was pulling me upright and I had to find a new balance because of the plug. He helped me from the tub and pulled the bath plug, releasing the water down the drain. Then he tenderly dried me from front to back while I dried him as well.

Then he led me back to my bed chamber and picked out the pants he wanted me to wear, helping me to dress and laughing at my moan when I sat down on the edge of my bed to draw on my boots. For a moment I'd forgotten the plug but this time I drove it further inside of me all by myself and I shivered at the sensation.

Artemis smiled up at me and put my boots on for me since I didn't know if I could bend that far forward. His hands caressed my shaft one last time before he buttoned me up and I barely kept back my moan.

"Such a delicious torment isn't it, James? This is how I felt every time you strutted in front of me, teasing me with these tight pants," he stood up and drew me with him. "Taunting me with this beautiful ass and tempting me to do this."

And he kissed me while his hands cupped my buttocks and pulled me hard against his matching hardness. I shivered from head to toe as if I had the chills while my hands tried to get him closer to me. He was still naked and I loved the feel of his skin under my hands.

"Now, go tend to the horses and come back inside. While we are inside, James, I forbid either of us to wear any clothing. Only if we are to go out will I allow you to dress. Do you understand?" His eyes gleamed down at me.

"Yes," my voice would go no higher than a whisper. I'd never heard of such a thing but I was learning.

"My good, sweet James." He rewarded me with another kiss, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth to entwine with mine.

I moaned again and slowly opened my eyes when I lost his warmth. "Chores, James. Tend to the outside tasks then come back in and lock the door. Pull down all the shades in all the windows and set the table in the outer room. Then come back in here and undress for me."

I nodded and reached for a shirt only to have him take it from me.

"Pants and boots are all you get, James. I want to imagine you outside with nothing to clothe your nipples but fresh air. The wind will blow a little and your little buds will tighten and harden, the way they do when I suck on them. When you bend to remove Charger's girth, the plug will shift inside of you, massaging you into an even harder state." His hands ghosted over my chest like the wind he'd spoken of.

"When you come in, you'll be deliciously erect and hungry for my lips and tongue. Then I will feed you protein for strength before I take your cock deep inside of me. Mouth or ass?" He chuckled and led me out of my bedroom door. "You can tell me later which you want the most. Now go quickly before poor Charger thinks you're going to leave him saddled for the night."

I stepped into the outer room in a daze. Each step felt strange while I tried to walk normally but the hardness at my groin and behind made me feel off balance. I'd often gone without a shirt when doing evening chores but now I was aware of my body as never before.

Charger was indeed champing at the bit and I led him to his stall in the forward car. Removing his gear did indeed massage all of my hidden parts and I touched myself gingerly, knowing that I didn't dare take care of myself because Artemis wanted me.

Artemis wanted me, loved me.

I stopped dead and thought about that. This morning I had awakened alone but tonight I would sleep with a lover. What a terrifying thought ... and yet, he said he loved me. He wanted to take care of me and make me feel good. He already had in so many ways. Mouth or ass? What a terrible decision to have to make.

I smiled at Charger and finished pouring the oats into his feeding trough. Lady, Artemis' horse, nickered at me and I fed her as well, stroking her long white neck soothingly.

"Lady, your master is going to take me back to bed tonight and teach me something new about making love." I confided in her. I touched myself gently and felt my shaft twitch. "He's decided to call my ... sex - Jim. I wonder what he calls his."

Smiling, I shut and locked their door before walking around to the back door of our railroad car. The three steps worked the plug inside of me so that I practically fell inside and locked the door behind me. Getting myself under control, I rolled all the blinds down and finally toed off my boots so I could remove my too constrictive pants.

Sighing with relief, I put up the leaves of the table and set it with the china that Artemis had brought with him into our partnership. I wanted everything to look nice for him and I wanted him to know how much I appreciated him. Could it be love? By the time we left this car, I'd know for sure.

**********************
End Understandings