In the Silks (3 page)

Ryan smiled, bit his lip, and released one of his hands from Henry’s neck. Then he leaned to the side of the chair and pulled the recline lever, causing Henry’s feet to jolt upward. “Push back on the chair,” Ryan said.

Henry did as he was told and laid them as flat as possible in a recliner, with a push of his back.

“Better?” Ryan asked. Henry didn’t get the impression that he actually was looking for a verbal response. He snaked his arm back around Henry’s neck and leaned in for another kiss, this time not waiting for Henry to initiate the contact. Henry grabbed onto Ryan’s hips and lifted his head to reciprocate the kiss.

When Ryan’s tongue dipped into his mouth, Henry clamped down hard on Ryan’s hips in an attempt to control himself, eliciting a groan from Ryan. He kept a grip on one of Ryan’s sides and began to run his other hand up and down his back. After several strokes, the need to feel his skin was too much to resist, and Henry slid his hand up the back of Ryan’s shirt. He caressed the back of Ryan’s neck, then trailed his fingers along his spine all the way back down to the waistband of his jeans. Ryan moaned, grinding against him.

The contact made everything become more frantic. Henry dipped one hand into the back of Ryan’s pants and ran his palm over one of Ryan’s ass cheeks. So smooth. Desperate for more skin-to-skin contact, he jammed his other hand into the back of Ryan’s jeans and squeezed. In the foreground of his mind, Henry was chanting;
I can’t believe you’re doing this, I can’t believe you’re doing this.

Ryan gasped, still grinding against him, and broke the kiss to reach down and pull Henry’s shirt up to his neck. Then he dipped his head and took one of Henry’s nipples into his mouth.

“
Ahhh
…” Henry sucked in a sharp breath.

“You like that?” Ryan smiled and moved his attention to the other nipple, not giving Henry a chance to respond.

Truth be told, Henry couldn’t have responded if he’d wanted to. Thank God for the music. He hoped it was drowning out the noises he was making.

Suddenly, Ryan bit down on his nipple, and the sensation went straight to his dick.

“
Fuck
.” Henry jerked forward in the chair. Ryan had to grasp Henry’s shoulders to keep from falling back from the motion. Henry wiggled in the chair, holding onto Ryan, while trying to adjust himself. He wasn’t sure what he hoped to accomplish, but he was sure that he was going to come out of his skin at any moment. Either that or come in his pants. After he settled Ryan back down onto his lap, the heavy petting continued.

Henry moved both hands to Ryan’s face, rubbing circles over his soft, smooth cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. Then he began to inch his hands toward Ryan’s hair, aching to rake his fingers through it.

“Hey, Ryan, we’re gonna-” A strange voice intruded on their moment, and Henry froze. “Oh, shit. Sorry, man. Damn. My bad.”

Rather than throw Ryan off his lap in panic, Henry just turned his head away to avoid eye contact. Then he closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

“Shit, Frankie. Knock!” Ryan made no attempt to climb out of Henry’s lap as he scolded the intruder.

“Sorry, man, I really am. Ummm, listen where gonna order some grub. Do you and your, ahhh, friend want in?”

“I think we’re good. Thanks. Shut the door.”

“Yeah, a’right. Sorry again.” With that, Frankie left the room.

Ryan leaned his forehead against Henry’s and let out a sigh. “Sorry about that. That’s just my roommate, Frankie. He has no boundaries.”

Speaking of boundaries.

Henry was breaking the ones that he had set for himself, and he knew the time had come for him to leave. He nodded and rubbed his hands up Ryan’s thighs one last time. “Listen, I think I should go.”

Ryan frowned. “Seriously? Because of Frankie?” There was disappointment in his voice.

“Yeah, I mean no, no. It’s just this wasn’t a good idea. I let things get out of hand.” Henry started to move forward on the chair, using his heels to push the bottom back into place.

Ryan had no choice but to get up. He sat down on the edge of the bed and watched in silence as Henry got up to leave.

Henry righted his clothes, cleared his throat, and without making eye contact with Ryan again, walked to the door. “Bye,” he muttered. “Sorry.” He swiftly left the apartment, thankful that he didn’t run into anyone on his way out the door.

Henry walked home in the frigid temperature, but he was okay with it because he needed to cool down. Calm his reeling mind.

No sleep for me tonight.

But he’d make it through. He’d simply wake up the next day and go on with life as if he’d never met Ryan Mallory. Chalk it up to one last crazy college shenanigan. After what he almost did, he figured one sleepless night was a small price to pay. Better than the regret he would’ve had to endure if he’d done all of the things that he wanted to do with Ryan tonight.

~~~~~

Ryan gripped the door knob on either side and leaned his forehead against the middle.

Damn it, that went to shit quick.

He closed his eyes and rocked slowly back and forth for a moment before closing the door. He went back to the recliner and sat down, tucking his legs under himself. He began to rock, replaying the past few hours in his head.

When Matt had asked Ryan to go with him to that party, he never expected to leave with a guy, especially one that gorgeous with his thick, curly auburn hair and dark eyes. He was clean shaven, but Ryan thought that he would look amazing with some scruff. He looked like a young Paul Newman, he was beautiful.

Once Matt had found his girl, Ryan had made a hasty retreat to the back porch. As cold as he was, he would much rather have stayed back there than with a bunch of people that he really didn’t know. When Henry appeared on the porch and decided to stay Ryan’s heart skipped a beat. It took every ounce of willpower that he possessed to play it cool. He thought he had done a good job. With the sexy stranger, his gaydar had been going off like one of those sonars on a submarine, around and around beeping the closer something got. Henry hadn’t flirted with him, but he looked at Ryan a certain way. He also looked a bit nervous, like he wanted to get up and run but for some reason he didn’t.

When they went down to the backyard to piss, Ryan’s intentions had only been that. However…what could he say? He was a horny, high guy standing next to a hot man. He tried to be subtle when he leaned forward under the guise of zipping up, to get a sneak peek. If the guy was pissed, and straight, that would have surely set him off. Ryan knew he had been caught too, but once Henry didn’t react, he was sure it was all good.

Ryan’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“So now you want to knock?” he said out loud.

The door creaked open and Frankie poked his head in.

“Man, I am so fucking sorry,” Frankie said sounding very sincere.

“It’s fine. Well it’s not, but whatever.” Ryan continued rocking in the chair while Frankie came and sat at the edge of the bed.

“So who was that? I didn’t know you were talking to anyone.”

“I wasn’t. I met him at that party Matt dragged me too and then ditched me to bone that chick in the bathroom,” Ryan said with a shake of his head.

“I feel bad I scared him off. I mean it’s not like I saw anything. Why did he freak like that?”

“I don’t think it was you Frankie. I think he was looking for an excuse to go,” Ryan sighed.

Inviting him back to the apartment was a bold move, but he was bold, always had been. Why not? Life is too short.

After eating, he was feeling more than a bit bold. The song had been a great segue into the making out. His instincts told him that Henry was not going to initiate. He was painfully shy, compared to Ryan. He wasn’t sure if the guy was straight and curious, bi or gay. Something in his gut told him it was not straight and curious. So he went for it and was rewarded for his efforts nicely. Henry had a few moments where he was a bit bold himself but it was as if he would catch himself and retreat. Ryan had to adjust himself at the memory. It was over far too soon, cock-blocked by his unsuspecting roommate. He couldn’t say how far it would have gone, but sexy Henry had left him with some amazing jack off material.

“So you don’t hate me?” Frankie asked with a hopeful smile.

“Nah, but you owe me now,” Ryan pointed a finger at him.

“You got it bro, whatever you need.” Frankie got up to leave.

“Mmmm hmmm,” Ryan nodded as Frankie left the room.

He got up to get his cigarettes, his not so post-coital smoke still had to happen because now his body was thrumming with need and frustration and he was alone. After lighting up and grabbing the beer bottle that had been Henry’s until Ryan pulled it out of his hands, he sat back down. Ryan pondered tracking him down but dismissed the idea fairly quickly. If he was that skittish already, he could only imagine what the dude would be like if Ryan went looking for him. He liked the guy, but he wasn’t desperate enough to stalk him. Pretty soon they would both be moving on to bigger things. It would have been nice though. Ryan sighed and laid his head back on the recliner, flicking his ashes into the opening of the bottle. When he finished that butt, he fully intended to rub one out in the shower with images of Henry playing in his mind.

Chapter 2

~Six years later~

D
AMN IT. Henry looked at the time on his phone as he rushed to his Harley. Why did Friday afternoon appointments always go this way? Now he was running late and Jackie had called twice
and
sent a text. This was what was to be expected as a juvenile probation officer. You’re dealing with kids who have major problems; things are not cut and dried. Sometimes you have to go looking for a kid who is not where they’re supposed to be. But he didn’t want to think about that now, he just needed to get home and get ready before Jackie blew a gasket.

After racing home, Henry grabbed a two minute shower and put on his favorite gray chinos and navy blue dress shirt. Then he was off to pick up Jackie, texting her that he left five minutes ago. He was actually not even out the door yet, but he could blame traffic. Thank God the early March weather was agreeable or else he would have had to have Jackie pick him up. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the bike or having to wear the helmet. If she deemed it to be too cold, there was no way he would have been able to use the traffic excuse and there would have been that much more bitching to endure.

When Henry arrived at Jackie’s, he could see the frustration clear on her face. He didn’t bother to plead his case; he just handed her the spare helmet and waited for her to climb on behind him. They didn’t speak much until after they had been seated and ordered drinks and dinner. Jackie made it clear that because of Henry, they were now in a rush. Her exact words were; “Now we’ll have to order dinner fast and practically inhale it; just to make the show on time.”

“Henry, stop checking the game score. It’s so rude,” Jackie said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sorry.” Henry tucked his phone back in his pocket. “So how was your day?”

“It was horrible. I had inventory to do and paperwork that was backed up. Then this group of punks comes into the store, so nothing got done!”

“What happened? Were they causing problems?”

“Well yeah, I mean they weren’t in there to buy anything, if you know what I mean. Oh and then one of them had the nerve to ask for an application. I said that we weren’t hiring. It was bad enough that I had to follow the little hoodlums around the store and waste my time.”

Henry furrowed his brow and rubbed his scruff thoughtfully he had zoned out for a minute while Jackie spoke, that happened more often than not. His beard really was growing in, he thought. He was waiting for her to comment on that as well. She hated it, he rather liked it, but even if he didn’t, he would keep it just because.
How sad was that?

That he would keep the beard out of spite, shouldn’t that tell him something?  Henry was plucked from his ponderings by a swift kick to his shin. “Ow, damn it! Was that really necessary?” He winced and leaned under the table to rub his assaulted leg. Then he looked sheepishly around the room, embarrassed at the thought that someone might have noticed. “Are we resorting to domestic abuse now?”

“It’s not domestic unless we’re at home, dear.” Jackie smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “Were you even listening to a word I said?”

Henry had in fact been able to absorb her words while simultaneously drifting off into his own thoughts. This was a practiced skill, one he was quite proud of.

“I was, in fact, listening. Jackie, did you consider the possibility that they were just customers?”

Jackie scoffed.

“They were probably harmless kids, window shopping after school. And why would you scoff at one of them applying for a job? Are you truly not hiring or did you not want his application?”

“Henry, get real. She did not want a job. Her buddies had her try to distract me so that they could shoplift. They thought I was dumb enough to fall for that.”

“But did they do anything that made you believe they were going to try anything wrong?”

“Henry, I’m surprised you’re defending them. You’re a juvenile probation officer; you know what they are like.”

“What do you mean by
‘they’
Jackie? You know what, never mind.” Henry waved a hand in front of his face and picked up his beer that had just arrived. He drained half the glass before coming up for air. Jackie watched him with a disgusted look. Henry excused himself to the restroom; he just wanted to check the Bruins score. A breather from Jackie couldn’t hurt either, despite the fact that they had only been together for about an hour.

This was getting old.

After a less than enjoyable dinner, they were off to the show.

Henry already wanted the night to be over. He wasn’t looking forward to this show. This just wasn’t his thing but Jackie whined that she had gotten really great tickets from a friend working at the theater. Once they had paid the small fortune for parking and bought a program that was equally matched in price, they found their seats. They were amazing seats, second row center. Henry took the opportunity to check the score again while Jackie was in the bathroom. The Bruins were ahead, that was something to smile about.

The show began and Henry thought it was interesting. He hadn’t looked at the program, so he had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. But the show seemed to consist of a mix of circus like acts and street performances. Some of them reminded him of the ones that could be seen on a regular basis at Faneuil Hall. The show kept him entertained, but he still tried to sneak a few peeks at the score without success.

As soon as intermission came, Henry checked the score to see that the Bruins had lost. This entire night had been a loss so why should that not surprise him. When the show started again, the lights faded.  A song started that sounded familiar.

Henry leaned toward Jackie, “I know this song, what is it?”

“I don’t know. Now shush!”

Henry rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He was running through song titles in his mind trying to place it when the performers appeared.

They descended from the ceiling, spiraling slowly. They were wearing white flowing pants that rippled and waved in the air, and nothing else. Dangling from blue silk.

Henry focused in on one of the performers. Something was stirring in the back of his mind. Something familiar but he wasn’t sure what, not
déjà vu
.

The performer displayed impressive strength, holding a perfect split in mid-air, toes pointed. He was tangled up in swaths of silk suspended from the ceiling. The fabric that he was not wrapped in flowed freely around him, reminded Henry of a billow of smoke. As he descended toward the floor, he shifted his legs to his sides and spread them-wide.

He rolled effortlessly onto his back until his forehead appeared to touch the floor. Then the length of silk was hoisting him into the air again, gradually peeling his body and finally his forehead off the floor in a motion that was so fluid it seemed to defy the laws of physics.

When he was only a few feet off the ground, he bent his legs and curled into a fetal position, rolled completely over and just as fast his feet were backing down to the ground. One arm shot out of the silk so fast that if Henry blinked, he would have missed it. His body was sinewy and beautiful, his moves appeared effortless. Graceful.

He extended his arm to his side, spun himself, right arm gripping the silk for support and balance. With every spin he was taken farther away from the floor. Arm still extended; legs still bent to the side as if swimming. Each spin coiled the silk around his waist. He folded his body up tight and flipped one time so fast Henry thought he was falling. He extended his limbs again and was only being held up by the silk wrapped around his body, spinning slowly. His body stretched out on display, the performer lifted his leg up to his torso and pulled it behind his head, spiraling over and over. Henry watched in fascination.

This one performer… something, there was something about him, something familiar? Henry nudged Jackie with his elbow and asked for the program. She hesitated for a moment before handing it over with a confused, and somewhat agitated, look on her face. Henry hunched over in his seat while pulling the phone out of his pocket and putting it on flashlight mode. This got a few scoffs from people seated around him. Not fazed, he flipped through the pages looking for names. It took him a minute to find, but there it was. Henry tightened his grip on the paper and then shoved the phone back in his pocket, leaning back in his seat gripping the expensive program until it was crumpled in his fist.

Henry rubbed a hand across his chest as he felt it tighten. The program had not only given him the name of the song,
October by Evanescence
, but it had also given the name of the performer that had captured his attention: Ryan Mallory.

It wasn’t
déjà vu
.

It was him reliving countless dreams and fantasies. It was then that the memories rushed to the forefront. The man,
‘I’m an aerial contortionist’
. The blue silk reminded him of the recliner in the corner of Ryan’s room. Henry looked back up at the man sensually dangling in the air, his body flexed. The hot lights glaring down on him making him glisten with sweat from his efforts and constant motion. Henry watched him grip the silk. Those hands had gripped Henry’s neck. The legs now entwined in silk had once been wrapped around Henry’s thighs.

Henry noticed that his hair was a bit longer now. He recalled how desperately he had wanted to stroke that hair, grip it. To hold Ryan to him for as long as possible, that long ago night in college. Henry studied Ryan’s body in awe; the curve of his back, the swell of his perfectly rounded ass, the one that Henry had clung to like a lifeline for that all too brief moment in time. The way his toes curled when he was using his thighs to hold himself in place. His body, lithe and inviting. He was spectacular. Henry shifted in his seat smoothing the crumpled program over his lap, hoping to use it to conceal his reaction to seeing Ryan Mallory again. The same move he had made that night, sitting in Ryan’s recliner. He thought back to the last time he had seen Ryan. Not that fateful night but rather a few months later at graduation.

Henry had been standing with his family taking pictures and talking to classmates. Several yards away, the crowd opened up enough for him to see Ryan, he assumed with his family. He was taking a picture with a young woman. Ryan was standing behind her with an arm wrapped around her shoulder and kissing her cheek. Henry felt a twinge of jealousy which he now thought was ridiculous. He had no idea who the girl was, and he had only been with Ryan that one time. And technically they weren’t together. They hadn’t done much but the effect of what they had done wasn’t lost on Henry still.

Back then at graduation he didn’t have the courage to approach him or at least let his presence be known. Compunction won out as it had that night in Ryan’s apartment. As it had facing Tommy after…

Henry shook the memory off. That was enough to bring him back to his senses. This was a phenomenal coincidence, seeing Ryan. It meant nothing, and when the show was over, he would leave and life would go on.

~~~~~

Henry entered his apartment alone and with a sigh of relief. He had been home all of sixty seconds when his text alert went off. Taking the phone from his pocket he was not surprised to see it was from Jackie. She was a bit put out when Henry told her in no uncertain terms that he was not staying at her place, and he wasn’t up for company.

Jackie: Where are you??

Henry: Home right where I said I was going

Jackie: I feel like you’re not telling the truth

Henry: How do you figure?

Jackie: Why can’t I come over there?

Henry put the phone down on the kitchen counter. He pulled the wrinkled program out from his jacket. Placing it next to the phone, he went to the fridge for a beer. Henry tossed his keys on the table and toed off his shoes. He was staring down at the program when his phone went off again.

Jackie: HELLOOOO!! I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.

Henry: What am I doing?

Jackie: We would be together right now if you weren’t with someone else.

Henry: U r being ridiculous and I am going to ice my SHIN goodnight.

Henry shut the phone off and dropped it back on the counter top.

He knew she would overreact. More often than not, he would give in to her just because it was easier. But tonight he had put his foot down, she had annoyed him more than usual tonight and he needed to be alone. She didn’t accept it well, but Henry firmly believed that she was predisposed to disagree.

Finishing the beer in three long pulls, he cracked open another and went to find his laptop. He wanted to know as much about the show as possible. Once he was online, he searched the show schedule first. Tonight had been the second in a three show stop. There was only one show left for the Boston engagement, and then it moved on to New Jersey.

Ryan Mallory.

It had been six years. That one night, they almost… Henry pressed the heel of his hand against his left eye. The memories of Ryan and that night in college were playing in his mind. Henry thought about it more often than he wanted to admit to himself. That night and that man were also frequently what played in his mind while he masturbated. The only difference being that he would imagine them finishing where they had left off that night instead of him getting up to run away. Not that he regretted the decision; it was the right one. But he could still fantasize and he did…often. He would stay. He would pick Ryan up giving him no choice but to wrap his legs around Henry’s waist to avoid falling. Henry would walk over to the bed and sit down with Ryan in his lap. Then lie back so that Ryan was on top of him, covering him. Looking down at him, smiling with that sexy crooked smile of his. Henry unconsciously rubbed his suddenly throbbing groin against the counter top. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, grabbed a credit card and bought one ticket to the final show.