In Flesh and Stone

by Hal Bodner

  “Welcome to the party, stranger,” Corey quipped. “We were just passing the time while we waited for you.”

  In a daze, Alex stepped forward, one hand reaching without conscious volition. He ached to run his fingers across the man’s chest, to feel the silkiness of it, to bury his face there and inhale what he already knew would be a feral scent redolent with dry heat and muted musk. The newcomer smiled, revealing painfully white teeth with incisors just a little too long and sharp to be quite human. His eyes were the virgin green of newly unfurled palm leaves, and as Alex drew closer, he saw slit pupils surrounded by an aura of glowing amber.

  Perhaps Corey had been distracted from the oddly feline eyes by the man’s hair. Billowing down past his shoulders, it was a veritable mane, the strands plump and glistening with vibrant health, in shades of earthy brunette from copper-blond through fawn, past umber tinged with rust and blending into a dark well-oiled mahogany. Alex had a brief mental flash of the man reclining on the bed, his hair spread out in a halo around him in an erotic contrast between the lush browns and the stark whiteness of the sheets. But he knew this man – this otherworldly creature – could never be so passive as to merely lie back.

  No, in the young man’s carriage, in the sharp intelligence of his handsome face, in the way he gazed at Alex with regal confidence, it was clear that though he demanded and was accustomed to worship, Leo would receive the loving attention of his supplicants whilst standing firmly on his feet so he could look down on those who lavished their adoration upon him with kingly approval.

  With a sparse movement of his hand indicating the floor in front of him, a motion of command used to being obeyed, Leo acknowledged his readiness to accept Alex as one of his own. The sublime arrogance of the man was palpable and something Alex normally would have bristled at, but a sense of indulgent kindness accompanied it. Do what I wish, Leo seemed to say silently, and I will shield you and protect you from all harm.

  Alex found himself on his knees, not knowing how he’d gotten there, humbled and servile in the face of Leo’s majesty, gazing up at him with adoration. Though standing Alex would have been topped him by at least six inches, looking up at Leo, he fancied the Lion was taller and that the top of his head was surrounded by a golden corona of light. He barely registered Corey’s hands plucking at the buttons of his shirt, so transfixed was he by the vision in front of him, and realized he had been stripped to the waist only when he felt the cooler air in the room soothing his sweaty back and chest, seeming to wash away the grit of the city and to ease the fatigue in his shoulders and back from lugging the heavy bags of groceries upstairs.

  He shuffled forward, halting at Corey’s murmured, “Wait,” and knelt while his friend unhooked his belt, unzipped his fly and rolled his trousers down to gather at his bent knees. His shoes and socks were already gone; he hadn’t noticed them being taken off. Corey moved behind him and tugged at the cuffs sharply. Alex had to put out his hands palm down on the marble floor to keep pitching face down upon it. His trousers were removed swiftly and Alex felt suddenly vulnerable, kneeling before the raw and primal power of this beautiful, hairy man. Some overwhelming impulse, some inner psychic voice told him not to rise, but to remain where he was. Overcome by a desire to please him, Alex knew how to make Leo happy. Without hesitation, he lowered himself to the floor and remained there, completely naked and stretched full length in prostration at the feet of his kingly visitor.

  Leo sighed, contented, his delight at Alex’s worship obvious. Inching forward, only scant inches intervened before Alex’s forehead made contact with the Lion’s feet, slim and shapely, the tops graced with scattered strands of that marvelous silken hair, the nails darker than normal but perfectly formed. Hesitant, Alex’s tongue crept out. He licked one toe tentatively and was rewarded with a grunt of approval from Leo and the heady taste of good rich earth, recently turned, now slowly baking and drying beneath an equatorial sun.

  His tongue washed between the toes of one foot, then the other, creeping upwards to dally at the soft down covering the Lion’s calves and thighs. Up his mouth moved, ever up, until he found his face buried in the tufts of hair covering Leo’s balls – a mane that matched the one on his head. Alex took one ping-pong ball-sized testicle into his mouth, rolling his tongue around it as if it were a giant grape to be savored, encasing it in the moist warmth of his saliva. Opening his jaw wider, he amazed himself that he was able to encompass both balls. At the same time, his hands sought the creature’s firm-muscled ass to steady himself so he could take the testicles even deeper into his mouth. Alex allowed his fingertips to trace the rosebud of Leo’s hole and was rewarded with a delicious shudder as Leo spread his legs slightly wider and put both hands on Alex’s shoulders to steady himself.

  Now Alex’s fingers were slick with the sweat trickling down the lion-man’s back and moistening the round, perfect globes of his butt. Mischievously, Alex applied pressure with one index finger, seeking to probe the hole, but he winced when Leo dug his fingernails into Alex’s shoulders to express his disapproval. Clearly, the king was not to be fucked – even with a finger – and Alex resigned himself to the limitations, delightful though they might be, of a purely oral exploration.

  His mouth opened to allow the huge balls to dangle free for an instant before grasping them in his hands and kneading gently. At the same time, he drew his tongue from the underside of the base of the penis’s shaft, slowly up the length to the tip. When he reached the hole at the end, he nipped lightly – not to cause pain but to tantalize – while at the same time massaging Leo’s testicles harder while tugging them a bit. The moan he elicited sounded suspiciously like a soft growl.

  Leo’s dick oozed not a drop of pre-cum, but Alex’s own made up for the lack. He could feel the moist, hot juices seeping from the end. When he moved and his dick brushed against his thigh, his leg was sticky with it. He could feel the pressure building in his testicles like a river backing up behind a dam, roiling and churning, aching for the floodgates to be opened. He thought about using one hand to grab his own dick, to stroke it roughly, to pull himself until a stream of cum shot from the end. But when he made a movement to do so, Leo’s fingers tightened once again, this time hard enough to make Alex wince. Obviously, a majestic pleasure would be gratified before the needs of mere mortals.

  Alex increased his attentions, taking the entire dick into his mouth and bobbing his head back and forth – down slow to the root of Leo’s cock, where the pubic hairs tickled Alex’s nose, then swiftly back along the column’s length until only his lips met around the very tip. Over and over he repeated the motion, adding all the variations he had ever learned from other lovers. The Lion’s grunts of pleasure became more pronounced, and his hips thrust forward to meet each of Alex’s onslaughts on his dick. Alex would have sworn he could literally feel the jism building in the Lion’s balls, preparing to explode forth down Alex’s throat or spatter his face with its searing heat while filling his nostrils with its earthy, mushroom-like smell.

  Leo pumped and the growls deep in his chest grew until he was practically roaring in pleasure. But aside from a liberal coating of Alex’s saliva, his dick remained dry. Though Alex’s enthusiasm was not flagged in the least, his jaw was sore and his neck muscles were starting to stiffen. He sought to pull back, to rest for a brief moment, but Leo’s hands, now clutching at the back of Alex’s head, urged him on, forced him not to stop.

  All the while, the urge to shoot was becoming more maddening with every second. Desperately, Alex clenched the muscles of his butt and groin. Perhaps if the contractions could shake his own dick, causing it to slap against his thigh fast enough, he could achieve release. But unless he could supply his cock with some kind of actual friction, Alex knew he was doomed to suffer.

  Just when the pressure in his balls was becoming unbearable, Alex sensed a familiar presence slip between Leo’s legs from the rear. Glancing down as best he could given his position, he saw Corey lying on his back, wearing
the widest grin Alex had ever seen. Before he could figure out what was going on, Corey reached up and grabbed Alex’s cheeks, at the same time burying his face in the sensitive area between his asshole and the base of his cock. An instant later, Alex shuddered as Corey’s tongue began to lap at the very bottom of his balls. The sensation was so torturous, and Corey’s actions so deliciously sadistic, Alex gasped, momentarily forgetting the dick in his mouth.

  At that precise instant, Leo’s body surged forward, toppling Alex over backwards, his dick plunging so far down Alex’s throat that he feared he would suffocate. Simultaneously, Corey twisted around and, without preamble, swallowed Alex’s dick to the root, grabbing his balls and squeezing them as if they were a tube of toothpaste and he needed to eject the last bit of paste.

  The lion atop him, his best friend below him, the sensation grew past the point where it was possible for him to stand it any longer. A hot, lurid bubble formed in his gut and swelled, sending shafts of shivering electricity past the clenched muscles of his stomach, across his heaving chest, up the back of his throat as if he had swallowed a current that was seeking to find the dick in his mouth. At the same time, the heat spread from his balls to the end of his dick in a white hot stream of pleasure.

  Moaning and begging as best he could through a mouthful of cock, pleading for the two of them to take pity on him, Alex exploded. Streaky ribbons of scalding sperm shot from the end of his dick, arcing several feet in the air. He imagined he could literally hear the hiss of cooling jism when it splattered against the cold marble of the floor. Simultaneously, with a mighty roar, Leo shot his own load, pumping what seemed like quarts of thick cum down Alex’s throat. Faster and faster, the beast rocked his hips. Alex swallowed desperately, trying to keep up. But the King of the Jungle’s orgasm showed no sign of stopping. Worse, even though Corey knew Alex was the type to only cum once without a rest between orgasms, the russet-haired young man started in on Alex’s dick in earnest.

  Alex cried. He screamed. He begged. Every nerve in his body felt as if it were firing in rapid overload. His fingers clutched at Leo’s hips, seeking to move him away, but the Lion’s skin was sweat-slicked and too slippery to get a decent hold and Alex resorted to pushing frantically at his stomach. But Leo’s stomach muscles were like the armor plates of a tank and Alex’s attempts were futile. He squirmed, trying to slide away from Corey’s mouth, but his friend was merciless, licking and nibbling at his dick, massaging his balls to drive out the last, minuscule dregs of cum. Alex’s heels drummed at the floor in protest. His shoulders slapped against the marble, each contact propelling drops of his sweat in all directions.

  Then miraculously, time seemed to slow. The sensations grew no less – they increased, in fact – but Alex suddenly found himself in sync. His frantic gyrations to get away eased, the motions smoothing out, synchronizing with the thrusts of the cock down his throat and the slide of Corey’s mouth up and down his dick. In amazement, he felt the gathering in his groin again. This time, it was no mere sluice gate opening. This time, it was like flood waters after they had burst their banks, flowing in a huge deluge down the riverbed, slowly and inexorably with a deceptive smoothness and false tranquility until they smashed against an obstruction in their way.

  And smash they did, obliterating the last vestiges of Alex’s control. In the instant before he shot his second load – when it had not yet happened but would have needed a miracle to stop – Alex found his mouth empty, the massive cock withdrawn to be replaced with the moist, tender Saharan heat of the Lion’s lips. The taste of his strangely rough-surfaced tongue, musky and feline, smelling of overheated air and arid breezes, was enough to drive Alex past the brink.

  His orgasm was tremendous; it was like he had not already cum once. This time he shot not in ribbons, but in great gouts. Dollops of hot, steaming sperm propelled themselves through the air like missiles. God, it hurt! His balls ached like they’d been trapped in a vise, and his stomach muscles tightened to painful levels. The torrent of sperm rushing through his dick felt wide enough to rupture it, to shred it like a blunderbuss exploding in the hands of some Saturday-morning cartoon character. On and on it went for what seemed like hours until finally, sore and physically drained, he closed his eyes, and for several moments he lost consciousness.

  When he came to, he could hear Corey ushering their guest out the door. There was the brief rustle of cloth against naked flesh and the door closed with a soft thump. A moment later, Corey squatted next to Alex’s shoulder. Without turning his head, the exhausted artist could see Corey’s shaven balls dangling between his legs. His friend’s dick was softening, but still plump and partially tumescent.

  “Do I bring you great presents, or what?” Corey grinned.

  “Where...?” Alex had to pause to swallow and clear his parched throat. “Where did you find him?”

  “Where?” Corey seemed puzzled by the question. “Um...at the bar? Or, maybe...No. Walking down the street?” He frowned, struggling to remember, and then dismissed the question with an airy wave of his hand. “What does it matter?” He leaned forward and planted an affectionate kiss on Alex’s still moist brow. “If there are any more out there as hot as that one, I’d drag ’em in from out of garbage cans if I had to!”

  “Did you get his name?” Alex croaked. There was no doubt of the man’s identity and Alex was concerned. This was the first time – aside from his Virgo fantasy at the hospital – that one of the Zodiac Men had come into his life from outside the apartment. The interludes seemed to be getting more and more real. He feared he could no longer relegate them to the realms of his subconscious. If not for Corey’s participation, he would be worried about his sanity.

  “Name?” his friend scoffed. “Who needs names with a body like that? Come on.” He reached out to clasp Alex’s forearm to haul him to his feet. “You could use a wash, and...” His eyes glinted mischievously. “Some company in the shower.”

  Alex groaned painfully as he allowed Corey to help him to his feet, wondering where his old roommate could possibly summon the strength to even suggest playing in the shower. After his antics of a few minutes ago, Alex doubted he could even stand under the water without having to lean against the side of the stall to hold himself up.

  Corey observed his exhaustion and took mild pity on him. “No worries. I’ll just scrub your back. You don’t look like you could do anything anyway. We’ll save the lather and rinse of more interesting parts of your body for after you recover.”

  Leaning heavily on Corey’s shoulder as they made their way to the bathroom, Alex reflected that, again, during the entirety of their intimacy, he had not heard Leo speak a word. Standing under the spray with Corey lavishly soaping him from head to toe, he found himself wondering why.

  CHAPTER 6

  The silver-haired nurse was on duty again, plumping pillows in an ineffective effort to make her charge more comfortable, when Alex arrived at the I.C.U.

  “Any change?” he asked half-heartedly and not expecting an answer different from the one he’d gotten on his last few visits.

  The nurse just smiled, encouraging and sympathetic, and busied herself refilling the water pitcher and straightening the tray table. “I got you some sodas,” she told him kindly once she’d finished her duties and was paused in the doorway ready to leave. “Orange, right? I remember you brought some with you a few times. I guessed that’s your favorite.”

  “Can’t stand the taste,” Alex replied without thinking. “Too sweet. They were...they are Tony’s favorite though, so...”

  She placed one reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I understand, sweetie. You two just sit here and have a nice long chat. The doctor will be making rounds in a little while. We can always hope he’ll have good news for you.”

  After she’d left, he sat for a while silently, his thoughts whirling around inside his head, colliding with each other and only confusing him more. When Tony’s motionlessness had grown too intense, when the almost imperceptible
hiss of the respirator became so annoying it made him want to smash it, when the muted sounds of nurses and relatives passing in the hallway seemed to grow to a dull roar, Alex blurted out, “I think I’m going crazy.”

  Tony did not, of course, respond. Alex sat for a few minutes patiently, as if waiting for Tony to consider his statement, gather his thoughts and answer him with just the right words to show him how silly the statement really was. As the minutes dragged on, Alex began to fidget, feeling guilty and not knowing why, until finally he was compelled to speak again.

  “The first one, Virgo, was just a daydream. I know that. I just wanted...I wanted...” A sob caught in his throat. “I wanted us to be together again so badly. When the merman came to me, I thought it was just a hallucination from the paint fumes. But then, after Aries, I found a pair of my briefs on the floor. I remember having them torn off me and I know I couldn’t have done it myself. But...” He shrugged. “Maybe it was adrenaline. Like those women who lift cars off their babies. Maybe I’m even more upset about...” He waved his hand to indicate the length of Tony’s still form. “...about this than I realized. So, I thought, adrenaline’s the answer. But yesterday, Corey brought this guy home. For a three-way.”

  The guilt overwhelmed him again.