Troubled Waters

by Jerry Cole

  “Yes, are you English?” Ness asked.

  “No, American.” He found himself tongue-tied. He fumbled for words, and took off and put back on his glasses. “I really liked your performance. You are very talented.”

  Ness smiled. “You are very kind.”

  Darren laughed. “No, not kind—truthful. Have you recorded? Do you have discs available for purchase?”

  “So, you’re a fan?”

  Darren shook his head. “I’m afraid I just discovered you this evening. I’m here to sail the Aegean for a couple of months and have been stranded in Athens for a while. I just stumbled upon the concert. And, unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear all of it.”

  Ness seemed to be studying him. Then he asked, “How long are you in Athens?”

  “Don’t know. My sailboat is lost,” Darren said, laughing.

  “Can’t help you with that. But welcome to Greece where everything is slower, louder, more unpredictable, and more beautiful.”

  Darren nodded. “I know this is probably impossible, but would you like to go for a drink?”

  “Why impossible?” Ness asked.

  “Well, your success. You must have dozens of people demanding your attention twenty-four-seven.”

  “I don’t understand that last.”

  “Sorry… shorthand. It means twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Meaning, you are always in demand.”

  “I am. But tonight I tell them to all go bye-bye. I need less, not more.”

  “Would I be an intrusion?” Darren asked.

  “No, not you.”

  Ness gave Darren the most charming smile. Darren practically melted. Could it be? Could this absolute Adonis be interested in him? Unlikely. But he’d offered Ness a drink and he’d accepted.

  “Anywhere, in particular, you’d like to go?” Darren asked.

  Ness seemed taken aback. “Go?”

  “For a drink.”

  “Ah, yes. No, I am not Athenian. I don’t know where to suggest.”

  “My B&B is not far. I remember there was nice taverna across the street. How does that sound?”

  Ness said, “One moment. I must get my guitar. I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  ***

  Philippe had already gone, but Ness needed a moment alone in the trailer. What had just happened? Was this exquisite man interested in him? He took several deep breaths. Everything was happening so fast. First, just last night, he’d had sex with a man for the first time and discovered that he was, indeed, gay. Then, he’d had this remarkable concert that he knew would change the course of his life forever. And now… this… the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen seemed to be coming on to him.

  He sat down and put his head in his hands. He vigorously rubbed his face and then sat up straight. Were things going too fast? Should he slow down? Was he really ready to explore this new gay side of himself? He had no real experience of these things—apart from last night—and he felt overwhelmed. Did he have any idea about what he really wanted? And yet… here was this adorable man. Sweet. Intelligent. Sympathetic. All the qualities he valued.

  “Okay, Ness,” he said aloud, “fate seems to be piling all of this on top of you at once. Are you going to go for it or shy away?”

  He stood up. Picked up his jacket and guitar and then walked out of the trailer.

  “Okay,” he said to the waiting stranger, “I am Ness.”

  “And I am Darren. Are you ready for that drink?”

  ***

  At the taverna, the two men shared their stories. Ness was intrigued by Darren’s water initiative. And Darren said he was anxious to hear more about Ness’ music and his budding career.

  When Ness learned Darren had a son, it set him back. Then Darren was probably not gay, he guessed.

  “So, you are married?” he asked.

  After shaking his head, he responded. “Divorced. Some years ago I discovered I was attracted more to men than to women, and my understanding wife and I separated. But we still jointly care for our son.”

  That gave Ness pause. So, Darren was gay. He was happy to know for sure. But it was also confusing. It seemed gay life could be a lot more complicated than he first imagined. “And your family knows about this?”

  “Oh yes. In fact, my mother is constantly trying to fix me up with guys. She fears I might be lonely.”

  “And are you?”

  Darren seemed to study Ness briefly. “Not lonely. I have my family, but I would like to have a partner to share my life with as well. And what about you? Do you have anyone?”

  Okay, here it was, Ness thought. Was he going to commit? “I have my family too. Especially my sister Kori, as I explained. But it’s been difficult with my career. I have so little time to socialize. And it will only get more complicated now.”

  Darren leaned in. “But Ness, what I’m asking is… are you gay?”

  Boing! The sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. “Only just.” Now Ness was visibly nervous.

  “What the fuck does that mean?” Darren leaned back in his chair, laughing.

  Ness smiled. “It means that only last night I had my first sex with a man.”

  “Oh, well that’s interesting. And did you like it?”

  His smile grew bigger. “It was heaven.”

  “I am sincerely glad to hear that,” Darren said, with his own big grin. “Then I suppose a fuck’s not out of the question?”

  Ness was shocked by Darren’s brashness, but he figured from what he knew about Darren so far, he was joking around—trying to lighten up the tenseness of the situation.

  Darren took Ness’ hand in his. “Did I shock you? Sorry. I guess I’m nervous and sometimes I say things that are inappropriate. Forgive me.”

  “I understand. And to answer your question… it is not out of the question. What exactly did you have in mind?”

  “Well, my room is just across the street. If you want we could go there.”

  Ness felt shy. “But I’m not very experienced. I’m not sure I could please you.”

  “Why don’t we start with me pleasing you, and then we can go from there. I have a feeling you’re a quick study. And, after all, I am a teacher. My major is English literature, but I have a minor in personal sexual gratification. And I usually get all A’s.

  Ness liked Darren more all the time.

  “But there might be a problem,” Ness said.

  “And that would be?”

  “Most hotels won’t allow their guests to bring someone back to their room at night. Prostitution, and all that.”

  “Don’t worry. I have persuasive American dollars that I believe can take care of that.”

  Ness tilted his head to the side. He was uncertain about this, and it made him nervous again. “The police can be very aggressive. What if the hotel decided to report us? It would ruin my career before it even got started if this became public.”

  “I understand your concern. Then what would you suggest?” Darren asked. “If, indeed, you want to go through with this.”

  Ness thought about it. “I am staying with a friend, but it’s not nearby. He mentioned he was going to spend the night at his girlfriend’s. I think we might be able to go there, if that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Darren asked. “If you’re too nervous, we could just let it go.”

  Ness smiled. “No. That is not an option.” He gave Darren his gorgeous big smile.”

  “Okay then, let’s find a taxi.”

  ***

  Ness was right—the apartment was not nearby. In fact, it was way out on the outskirts in an industrial area, far from any tourist haunts.

  Ness insisted on paying for the taxi, as his qualms had caused the inconvenience. He led Darren up the nondescript stairway to the third floor.

  “Let me just check that my friend is gone,” Ness said. He unlocked the door and went in alone. Darren began to wonder if this had been such a good idea, b
ut then Ness opened the door, grinning. “It’s fine. Please, come in.”

  Darren followed. Ness seemed nervous. He stood in the entry hall and Darren could see that he was shaking.

  “Are you okay?” Darren asked as he took hold of Ness’ shoulders.

  “I should offer you something to drink, but I don’t know where anything is,” Ness said, laughing.

  Darren pulled Ness to him in a hug. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t come here for a drink, and I suspect, neither did you.”

  Ness released from the hug and stood looking at Darren. He took a deep breath. “No, I guess not.”

  “You know what? You look really tense. Why don’t you let me give you a massage? You need to relax and I can help you do that.”

  “That sounds really nice.”

  Ness took Darren’s hand and led him to a bedroom. This was a flat in a working class section of Athens. The cinderblock walls were undecorated. There was a bed, a dresser, a small table by the bed with a lamp and two chairs. Ness took a quick look at Darren and he seemed to be embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry, not a very pretty place. I’m sure you are used to much better, no?”

  “Sh-h-h, just get undressed and lay face down on the bed. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Ness pulled back the sheet and spread. He undressed with his back to Darren and stretched out face down grabbing a pillow and burying his face in it.

  Darren undressed and got on the bed and straddled Ness and began to skillfully massage his shoulders and back. But it was no secret that his cock was fully erect. This was going to require all his will power not to plow eagerly into Ness’ ass. He’d not been involved with many near virgins since he’d been one himself, and he decided he needed to take it slowly and ease Ness into sex. But he also realized the anticipation was also delightful. Taking his time drew out the pleasure of the entire experience.

  Ness moaned as Darren worked down his spine to the beginning of his ass. After working the back and shoulders for a time, Darren scooted further down Ness’ legs and began to knead his glutes.

  Ness reached down and adjusted his cock, as he was now erect too. He raised his ass in response to Darren’s kneading.

  But Darren knew the value of delaying sexual pleasure, and he began working the back of Ness’ thighs and calves. He then picked up Ness’ right foot and massaged that, ending with working the toes. Then Darren couldn’t help himself and he began sucking each toe, forcing his tongue between each one. Ness squirmed and moaned even louder.

  “Oh my God, Darren, that is so good.”

  “You like that, huh?”

  “Please don’t stop. No one has ever done that to me before.”

  “Get used to it, kid. I like to make my man happy.”

  Darren turned his attention to Ness’ other leg and foot. Again Ness squirmed and began biting the pillow.

  After thoroughly working Ness’ back Darren leaned in and whispered, “Turn over.”

  Ness slowly turned onto his back, but he put his hand over his cock. Darren nearly gasped. What a beauty. Uncut, thick, and at least seven-and-a-half to eight inches long. Darren straddled Ness again, their dicks nearly touching. Darren leaned over and began massaging Ness’ chest, and upper shoulders. He worked his arms and hands and ended by creating gentle circles around Ness’ firm, ripped abdomen.

  Darren leaned over and lightly grazed the bottom of Ness’ cock with his tongue. His cock jumped and Ness cried out, but Darren was not yet done with the massage.

  He worked his hands along the front of Ness’ pelvis, but not touching his dick, and then began kneading the top of his thighs, digging deep. Ness cried out.

  “Sorry, was that too rough?”

  “A little.”

  “I’ll be careful.”

  Darren finished the massage and sat looking at Ness sprawled out before him. Never had he seen such a handsome and sexy man. Everything about him screamed sex and now Darren was ready. And he believed Ness was ready too.

  He leaned forward and took Ness’ cock fully into his mouth. He circled the head with his tongue and slipped it under the foreskin and worked the head. Ness was wide eyed, his mouth open as if to scream but it was a silent scream. He started panting.

  Darren withdrew his mouth from the cock.

  “You like that?”

  “Oh man, you have no idea.”

  “Oh yes, I do. I’m a man too. I know.”

  “I can’t wait to do that for you,” Ness said.

  “You can, but I’m not finished yet.”

  Ness tossed his head back hard onto the pillow, waiting for more.

  Darren scooted up higher and kissed Ness gently on the lips. Ness responded by opening his mouth, inviting Darren to enter with his tongue. Darren complied and they kissed deeply. Ness couldn’t help himself, and he threw his arms around Darren and pulled him tightly to him. Then as they kissed Ness reached up and grabbed ahold of Darren’s hair, breaking from the kiss and saying, “I love your beautiful hair. It looks like the dried grasses in the field above our house.”

  Darren took a breath after the intense kissing and looked deeply into Ness’ dark eyes. “And you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen. You are my Greek god. Which one would it be?”

  “Dionysus? Apollo? Mikey Mouse?” Ness teased.

  Darren laughed and said, “No, I know. Not a god but a myth. Narcissus, the man so beautiful he distained all who loved him. I hope that is not the case with you.”

  “That seems unlikely. Can it be? Could it be that I already love you? I am not wise about love.”

  Darren nodded. “Time will tell about that. We are in the first flush of discovery. Let the fruit ripen, and then we’ll see how sweet it is.”

  And with that, Darren scooted back and rested his ass on the top of Ness’ cock. He began working himself down until it rested against his hole.

  “Do you have any lube? I want that beautiful cock inside me.”

  “Oh… I’ve never done that before.”

  “Then let me teach you.”

  “But I don’t know about lube. This is not my place. And I’ve never needed it before, so I don’t have any. Remember, I am new to all this.”

  “Then let’s wait. Hopefully, there will be another time.”

  Then Darren reached down and pulled Ness up to a sitting position. He held him tightly and they began kissing again. And as they kissed they both became rock hard again.

  “Now, it’s my turn,” Ness said, after breaking from the intense kiss. He directed Darren onto his back and then scooted down until he was over Darren’s cock. Now it was his turn and he took Darren fully into his mouth. He gagged at first, as he was not used to this, but soon he was able to relax his throat and Darren slipped deeper into him.

  Darren began to moan as Ness slowly worked his dick. Ness was a fast learner and he was getting the hang of how to fully satisfy with his mouth. Slowly Ness increased the speed and the torque. Darren arched his back pushing deeper into Ness and found that his balls were beginning to contract and he knew he was about to cum.

  “Stop. Stop,” he cried out.

  Ness pulled away. “What? Did I hurt you?”

  “No. Not that. It’s just I’m so close, and I want us to cum together.”

  “No,” Ness said. “I want to experience you fully without being distracted by cumming myself.”

  “Okay,” Darren sighed, falling back against the pillow.

  Then Ness went back to Darren’s cock and began working it again. Darren had come back from the brink and Ness slowly, slowly brought him back again but didn’t let him spill himself just yet. He was indeed a fast learner; he would suck until Darren was just about to explode, then he would back off. Again and again, he did that. But when he saw that Darren was in an absolute frenzy he accelerated his mouth until Darren arched ounce again and cried out till it seemed all of Athens could hear him. He shouted as he gushed load after load into Ness’ willing mouth.

  “Oh,
God. Oh God,” Darren shouted, twisting until he was completely empty. Then he fell back upon the bed, totally spent, and he turned his head to the side, his body relaxed and his eyes closed.

  Ness leaned over and kissed Darren’s chest and then his lips, and then his eyes.

  It was all Darren could do to open his eyes. He looked up at this beautiful man and the vision of him danced before him. Was this a real man? Was this a sprite? Was this a visiting Greek god?

  Ness dismounted and lay down next to Darren. He put his arm over Darren’s chest and he turned onto his side so he was spooning Darren’s back. He kissed the back of Darren’s neck and his shoulder and soon Darren was asleep, as Ness watched over him and began to dream of the days they might spend together.

  Chapter Six

  Thornton loved to keep his board waiting. Although he would demand they be punctual, he rarely was—but on purpose. The more riled up they were, the more he could control them. That seemed to be a paradox, but he found it was so. They’d come to expect his unpredictability and thus were not surprised by any of his actions. He observed they were more easily directed to accept his conclusions, just to get the meeting over with.

  Slapping his crop on the table, Thornton held his head high and glowered over the table, looking at and nodding to each board member.

  “Where’s the heart? Where’s the soul? Where are the results?”

  The board members looked down at the table.

  “I ask for such a simple thing. All I want is for each of you to find a suitable candidate for the Water Unlimited board. How hard can that be? Come on, people. If we want to control this non-profit for our ultimate profit, we need to control their board. And it can’t be just any Tom, Dick, or Harry. We’ve got to get us some sharks.” He smiled sweetly. “But benign sharks. They have to have some environmental credentials. We can’t be scaring the Water Unlimited darlings away. It has to be a stealth operation, and we need it to be done now. The board is in the process of forming, as we speak. I need more than half of the board in our hands. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Thornton,” many members spoke out.

  “Good, then get your asses in gear.”

  ***

  Ness was already up and preparing coffee when Darren awoke. He checked his watch. It was a little after eight. He couldn’t remember what time they’d fallen asleep, but it must have been late. At least he’d gotten a little sleep, and he was sure his sleep rhythms were all fucked up by his travel. It was probably going to take a while before he adjusted to Greek time.