AS HE put the receiver into its cradle, Duncan took a deep breath and realized he had an entire weekend with Barkley in front of him. He’d faxed over the article to his former boss, Thomas, and was now officially free and clear of The Communiqué. He would never have to deal with that pompous, self-righteous prick ever again. He’d already said his goodbyes to most of his colleagues that occupied the other cubicles; they’d left more than an hour ago, but Duncan was still there getting caught up. Once I’ve been at this particular job for a while like the rest of them, Duncan thought to himself as he double-checked that he had everything in his messenger bag, I’ll eventually be able to leave early on Fridays as well.
Finding that thought comforting, he smiled as he headed to the elevator. Another fifteen minutes or so and he’d be in Barkley’s apartment with an ice-cold beer in one hand, and if he played his cards right, he’d have a soapy loofa sponge in the other and would be running it up and down a very wet Barkley.
He heard the opening bars of Beethoven’s Sixth and reached for his phone. His previous ringtone had been just a simple old-fashioned ringing telephone, but ever since he’d met Barkley he’d been keen to try new things. He was listening to different music and even eating different foods. He flipped it open and saw Barkley’s name.
“Duncan’s escorts,” Duncan said, barely able to keep a straight face. “If you’re in a pinch, we’ll give a lot more than an inch.” Duncan delighted in the laughter he heard over the phone.
“That’s funny,” Barkley sighed, but Duncan could tell he was smiling. “Listen, I completely forgot about your outfit for tomorrow night. It’ll be black-tie. Do you have a tuxedo?”
“Of course,” Duncan said. He waited for a beat. “I’ll just get Armando, you know him, the pilot I keep at the summer house, to fly in and deliver it to me.”
“A simple no would have sufficed.”
Duncan closed his eyes when he heard the laughter over the other end of the phone. The bell rang and he exited the elevator. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Duncan pushed his back into the gargantuan glass door and stepped out into the evening breeze. “No way I can get away with just a suit?”
“None whatsoever,” Barkley said almost immediately. “It’s okay. We’ll see what we can do with one of mine. I think we can make it work.”
“Fair enough,” Duncan said as he found himself at the top of the steps that led to the subway. “I’m heading into the subway, so I might lose you.”
“Okay,” Barkley said. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“You bet,” Duncan answered and looked at the screen one last time before shutting his phone.
Duncan had never really thought of himself as someone who would settle for this kind of life, a life of getting home to the same someone every night, of walking dogs in the evening and having the highlight of his week being a rousing discussion on whether or not Barkley should become completely vegan.
All Duncan had ever thought about while he was growing up with his alcoholic mother was adventure. He remembered hearing about astronauts and cowboys and marines and pirates; he’d wanted to be all of those things. When he’d earned enough money from delivering papers in the wee hours of each morning, he’d run to the store and buy comic books, and every once in a while, Mr. Turner would give him some old paperback books about sailing the high seas or swashbuckling adventures complete with damsels in distress.
He smiled to himself as he remembered Mr. Turner, the owner of the bookstore just down at the end of the street where Duncan had lived with his mother in a dilapidated two-bedroom bungalow. Duncan had never known his father and had been taking care of himself for as long as he could remember. If there’d ever been someone even close to being a father to Duncan, it was Mr. Turner. The elderly gentleman had never said anything when Duncan would turn out to be a few cents short of the real price; he would just wink and hold a finger up to his lips. Our secret, he would whisper.
Eventually, Duncan started letting his imagination run wild and he would write his own stories. He would use the lined workbooks he should have been using for math or science. Duncan was like a sponge, soaking up any and all information he could find that would fuel his stories. It didn’t matter what the subject was, Duncan would find inspiration anywhere. Writing these stories was his salvation.
The familiar yellow and tan subway tiles began to flash by the windows of the train car and Duncan knew he was home. Home, he thought. He wondered what that said about him that he’d begun to think of Barkley’s condo as home. In all the years that he’d been writing those stories of the brave and heroic men risking life and limb for adventure, he’d never once imagined that his very own story would end with a gorgeous man who had seen more of the world than he had, nor with a condo full of animals. Life certainly had a way of throwing you curve balls when you least expected it.
Duncan took the steps two at a time and was at the intersection of Yonge and Davisville in a matter of seconds. He waited for the line of cars to thin and watched the lights, anxious to get home and see how long it would take him and Barkley to end up naked and panting on the king-size bed.
One week, Duncan thought to himself as he crossed the street and made a last-minute decision to head over to the flower shop on the corner. He had no idea what was appropriate for a one-week anniversary, but he would just get a bunch of different ones. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, telling the young woman to keep the change as he scooped up the flowers and headed for the corner. He chastised himself momentarily that he’d not had the foresight to think of a more special gift, but then he rationalized that it wasn’t an important anniversary or anything. Doesn’t matter anyway, Duncan thought as he took out his keys and let himself into the lobby, we’ll laugh about it just as much tonight as we will on our fiftieth anniversary.
Duncan smiled and nodded to James and rolled his eyes as he waited for the elevator. When the hell did you become such a romantic? Fifty years with the same man? Duncan shook his head when he realized that he would be eighty-two on that particular anniversary. Still, he wasn’t as freaked out by the idea, not as much as he’d been only a couple of years ago. After the past couple of years of starving and having to take all of Thomas’s crap, Duncan wasn’t surprised to find that his priorities had shifted. “How many nights did you lie awake wishing for someone to believe in you? To give you a second chance?” Duncan said out loud as he looked at the flowers, remembering the promise he’d made to the ceiling of his rundown studio apartment. “And what did you promise to whoever would do that for you?”
He practically ran down the hallway and rang the bell, holding the flowers behind his back. He heard Mozart bark once and that familiar baritone voice telling Tinkerbell to calm down and get away from the door. And then, Duncan saw that face.
“HI. FORGET your key?” Barkley looked at the big grin on Duncan’s handsome face and wondered what sort of trick he might be playing. “Did he accept the article?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Duncan said and bent slightly at the waist. Barkley was suddenly staring at a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “Happy one-week anniversary.”
“What?” Barkley took the flowers as Tinkerbell made her escape into the hallway, Duncan in hot pursuit. “You mean of our meeting for the first time?”
“Sure,” Duncan shrugged as he caught Tinkerbell around the tummy and lifted her to his chest. “I know, what a mean daddy you have. Making you stay inside the apartment all the time.” Duncan made his way back to the apartment door and leaned in for a kiss. Barkley stood to the side, revealing Zeus and Neptune waiting patiently. “He’s such a meanie. I know what we’ll do: I’ll write a letter to the Toronto Humane Society and you can affix your paw in testament to the abominable conditions. You’ll be an overnight celebrity.”
“You didn’t have to do this,” Barkley said as he closed the door behind himself. “But that’s very sweet of you. Thank you, Duncan.” Barkley approached and leaned in for another kiss.
“You’re welcome, Barkley.” Duncan kissed Barkley one more time and then nuzzled Tinkerbell’s neck before letting her down in the hallway. He crouched to pet his dogs for a moment.
“I didn’t get you anything,” Barkley said as he walked toward the kitchen. “I feel horrible now.”
Duncan started laughing and pulled the messenger bag over his head, tossing it on the floor beside the umbrella stand. He toed off his shoes and followed Barkley into the kitchen. “You are the only person I can think of who would think that giving me food, getting me an interview, and looking after my dogs all day long is nothing.” Duncan pushed himself against Barkley’s back and wrapped his arms around the trim waist. “I do have one other surprise for you, though.”
“Oh,” Barkley said as he placed the flowers in a vase, turning his head to look behind him. “Does it involve less or more clothing than I’ve got on right now?”
“Definitely less,” Duncan said as he spun Barkley around to face him. “You might say that if I get my way, there won’t be any clothes on your incredible body until you have to put on that tuxedo tomorrow night.”
“Really?” Barkley wrapped his arms around Duncan’s neck and stole a quick kiss. “I wonder what John and Lori will say to that.”
Duncan let his forehead come to rest on Barkley’s broad shoulder. “Fuck,” he muttered to himself. Barkley laughed. “I’m sorry, baby,” Duncan said as he brought his head back up. “My bad. I completely forgot about tomorrow morning.” Duncan extricated himself and stood back a few inches. “Okay, so change of plans. You and me up early tomorrow morning, we get the animals settled in their new home and then we’re back here doing things that will freak out Tinkerbell and the pups.”
“It’s a good thing I know you’re kidding about Tinkerbell and the pups,” Barkley said as he turned back to arranging his flowers and pouring some water into the vase. “But,” he said as he turned around to face Duncan before setting the vase on the kitchen table. “I’m with you on all the rest of it.”
“Now,” Duncan said as he took Barkley by the hands and brought their bodies together. “What would you say to spending some time soaking in a nice, hot bath?”
Barkley laughed and brought his arms up to wrap around Duncan’s neck. “That is, quite possibly, the stupidest question in the history of the world.” Barkley brought their lips together for a brief moment and then pulled back slightly. “I’ll make sure everyone has new water and snacks while you get the bath going.” He leaned in for another kiss, but Duncan had somehow managed to get free and was already halfway to the bathroom before Barkley even realized his arms were empty.
“SO, DO I need etiquette lessons or something?” Duncan leaned back in the bath and reached down to the floor for his beer. He took a swig of the cold liquid and closed his eyes at how good it felt. The problem of the tuxedo was now solved. Duncan would have never guessed he and Barkley were almost the same size. He was a little taller than Barkley, but if he pulled the pants down a little past his waist, no one would ever know it wasn’t his tuxedo.
“Etiquette lessons? For what?”
“For the benefit tomorrow night,” Duncan explained. “That’s not my usual social circle, so is there anything I need to know about how to behave around the super-rich?”
Barkley leaned forward with the loofa and trailed it slowly down Duncan’s chest. He moved himself toward his lover, his legs finding a place behind Duncan’s back. Their erections touched as Barkley took the beer bottle out of Duncan’s hand, placing it on the tiled floor. “Why would you think you have to behave any differently?”
“Well, you know,” Duncan said, shrugging his shoulders as he brought his torso forward so that his hands could caress Barkley’s smooth skin. “I don’t want to do anything that might embarrass you or….” He shrugged again. “You know, whatever.”
“I appreciate the thoughtfulness, but you don’t have to be anybody but yourself.”
“I know, but—”
Barkley smiled and kissed Duncan softly. He threw the loofa behind his body and brought both of his hands to rest on his lover’s pecs, moving them south ever so slowly. He looked into Duncan’s blue eyes, continuing to kiss and skim over lips and cheeks and neck. “Would you shut up while I’m trying to seduce you?”
Duncan closed his eyes when he felt Barkley grasp him. Barkley had both of their erections lined up and wrapped within his two hands, his movements over the sensitive flesh as maddeningly slow as the movement of his lips over Duncan’s. “Sorry,” Duncan said as he placed one hand over Barkley’s, brushing his thumb over each cock’s head again and again. “Do you want to take the edge off, or should we get dried off so I can make love to you in bed?” Duncan felt the increased pressure of Barkley’s hands around their cocks and figured that was his answer. “Jesus, Barkley,” Duncan sighed as he ran his hands over Barkley’s, then up and down the solid arms. “You are so beautiful.”
Barkley brought his lips to Duncan’s right ear and took the earlobe between his teeth. He sucked it into his mouth for a moment while he let go of his own cock and held Duncan’s in his hand, his thumb pressing and stroking the frenulum. “So are you, baby.” Barkley moved back slightly and cupped Duncan’s balls with his other hand. “I love that you’re uncut,” Barkley said as Duncan closed his eyes. “Love that your huge mushroom head is so sensitive when I do this.” On the downward stroke, Barkley could feel the foreskin recede to expose the head of Duncan’s sizeable cock. He brought his hand up from Duncan’s sac and used it to hold the base of the rock-hard cock, while with the other, he formed a ring between his thumb and index finger, moving it up and down the head of Duncan’s cock.
“Fuck, Barkley,” Duncan hissed, his eyes still closed.
“Look at me, Duncan.”
Duncan opened his eyes and saw those half-lidded amber eyes boring holes into his soul. He let his hands find their way to rest behind Barkley’s neck.
“You’re absolutely perfect the way you are.”
Duncan exerted slight pressure against Barkley’s neck and brought their mouths together. Duncan felt the need and desire rise inside of himself like a palpable thing. He crushed his lips against Barkley’s, his tongue demanding entrance almost immediately. Barkley obliged and Duncan heard small moans coming from somewhere deep inside. His entire body was on fire, his senses overloaded. His tongue flicked and licked, poked and prodded, while his hands caressed every inch he could reach. “Close,” he whispered into Barkley’s mouth. “Jesus,” Duncan sighed as he felt his hips involuntarily push up to meet Barkley’s hand.
“Me too,” Barkley said, and Duncan wondered how he could be close. Neither of them had Barkley’s cock in his hand. “Those eyes, your lips, the feel of your gorgeous cock…. They’re enough to make me…”
Duncan moved one hand down and began to stroke Barkley’s impressive cock. “Love your belly and your mouth. Think about these lips all day long. And I think about your face when you’re turned on, just like now.”
“I’m ready,” Barkley announced as he let his head fall back, eyes closed. “I’m ready, I’m ready.”
Duncan continued to thrust his hips up, the pace of Barkley’s movements speeding up with him. “Fucking hell, Barkley, I’m gonna come.”
Duncan was the first to come, his hands on top of his lover’s. Barkley followed only a few seconds later, both men breathing heavily, their foreheads resting against each other. Duncan brought both of his hands up and let them rest on the squared-off jaw, tilting Barkley’s head up so that he could kiss lips and cheeks and ears.
“You’re amazing, Barkley,” Duncan said as his breathing slowed. “Amazing, amazing, fucking amazing.”
Barkley just smiled and pulled him closer, his arms caressing the strong back while his head rested on a well-muscled shoulder. “I wish I’d met you years ago,” he said, his voice a mere whisper against Duncan’s skin.
Duncan wondered if they would have been attracted to each other years ago. There’s no doubt that Duncan would have found Barkley impressive as a physical specimen, but he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t have had the emotional maturity to see Barkley as kind and giving instead of weak or fragile. After having survived the last couple of years, Duncan knew that what he’d found in Barkley was unimaginable strength and conviction, but back before his fall from the top, Duncan was almost certain he would have interpreted the same qualities as indecision or vulnerability.
He was perceptive enough to realize that there was something deeper happening within Barkley’s psyche, and he wasn’t convinced it was that he’d simply become tired of singing or fame or both. Duncan could tell that this 180-degree change from world-famous, million-dollar fee artist to unemployed animal advocate had been brought on by some sort of watershed moment in Barkley’s life. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was whether or not Barkley knew it. If he did know it, would he ever see it for what it was: a reason to change his life and not just throw it away.
Duncan squeezed Barkley and kissed the side of his neck. “Okay, sleepyhead, time to get to bed so we can get out to John and Lori’s bright and early.” He released Barkley and stood up, reaching for the handheld showerhead. He waited for Barkley to stand up as well before rinsing him off and then turning the spray on himself.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Barkley said as he stepped onto the bath mat and reached for a towel. “It’s a really magical place.”
“Can’t wait,” Duncan said as he raised his arms and let Barkley dry him off. “From what you’ve told me about the place, I may end up tagging along quite often.” Duncan heard his own words and panicked. Did that just sound like me making myself part of his future? “I mean, if you want me to.” Duncan took the towel from Barkley, not making any eye contact, suddenly aware of a feeling of loss for something he wasn’t sure he ever had. It’s only been a week. He began to dry off Barkley’s hair.
“Of course I want you to come, as often as you’d like.” Duncan finished drying Barkley’s hair and put his hands on his shoulders to spin him around so he could dry off the wide back. But Barkley didn’t budge, not even an inch. “Why would I not want you to come?”
Fuck, Duncan cursed to himself. “I’ve already taken so much from you, and I mean, I was hoping that this is the start of something. I mean, I know it is for me, but I just wasn’t sure if you…. I mean, you didn’t have to do any of that stuff for me… and I’m so very grateful that you did, but… well… I did sort of throw myself at you, and—”
“Duncan?”
He stopped rambling and looked up into Barkley’s eyes. He saw the smile on the handsome face and wondered why Barkley seemed so amused all of a sudden. “Sorry,” he said and let his eyes dart to the door and back to those hypnotic amber eyes.
“I did those things because you’re a man of integrity and conviction, something that I’ve found to be lacking in certain other members of your profession. I did those things because I thought you’d more than paid the price, and you hadn’t even done anything wrong.” Barkley stepped closer and reached down to take hold of Duncan’s hands. “If this ends with the two of us just being friends, I’m certainly not going to be stupid enough to turn that down. God knows, I don’t have a lot of friends, but believe me when I tell you that I’ve been growing more and more attracted to you with each passing second.”
“Yeah?”
Barkley laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. “I can’t believe this is the same man who came into my apartment and kissed me—like I’ve never been kissed before, by the way—just because I called in a favor to get him an interview.”
“Nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me, Barkley,” Duncan said as he squeezed his lover’s hands.
“Sad, isn’t it?” Barkley was shaking his head. “I make a twenty-second phone call to get you a ten-minute interview and it’s so… rare that….” Barkley looked at Duncan and smiled. “My parents and I did things like that for each other all the time. It’s what I grew up with. Something people should be doing more often.”
Duncan noticed the slight sadness that clouded over Barkley’s expression and wondered if he’d wanted to say more. Duncan chose to leave it alone, for now.
“Amen,” Duncan said before taking the towel and hanging it on the rod. “Okay, then, now that I can call you my boyfriend, I would like to go to bed and do some serious spooning.” He ran his fingers through Barkley’s hair, pushing it away from the handsome face, and kissed him softly, just once more.
They made their way to the king-size bed, finding Tinkerbell waiting just outside the bathroom door. Barkley called to her as they entered the bedroom, and as she’d done every night since Duncan began spending the night, she ran into the bedroom and hopped up onto the bed, kneading and finally settling herself onto the pillow that she liked to share with Barkley.
Duncan pulled himself close to Barkley’s back, aligning his body perfectly with his lover’s, kissing and grazing across the smooth, silky flesh of Barkley’s neck and shoulders. “Barkley?”
“Hmm?”
Duncan let his hand stroke the defined chest and the flat belly. I don’t think you’ll ever truly understand what you did for me that day. But I do. And for that, I will love you forever. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words; he wanted to, but it wasn’t the right time or place. “You are an incredibly amazing man.”
“Thank you, Duncan.” Barkley rested his hand on top of Duncan’s. “You’re very special to me too.”
Duncan closed his eyes, stealing one more kiss from his lover’s skin. I don’t know how or when, but I will be there to help you when you need it the most. Whether we’re just friends or whether we’re old and still sleeping in the same bed, I’ll do anything I can not to disappoint you.