THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB Christian Written by Lady Poetess egiggles at moose-mail.com /~bbp Please do not reproduce on any website without permission. This story has no resemblance to anyone dead or alive. ONE From the National Enquirer: "Bad boy Christian Bale, 37, was in trouble as usual. Recently sacked from his high-profile editorial post after a publicized scandal involving him trying to prevent the publication of children's author Ewan McGregor's book, he also had his wife of six years, Trudy, filing for divorce on the grounds of his adultery. Bale did not contest the divorce and agreed to an astonishingly large financial settlement. "If you wonder whether he had lost his mind to do so, you wouldn't be alone. Whereas once his profligate lifestyle was mere rumors, he now flaunted them openly. His outrageously bisexual lifestyle might not last for long, however. The Bale family matriarch, whom everyone knows rule the rest of her clan with an iron grip, was reportedly not amused, and should she try to rein in Christian's lifestyle, fireworks will definitely flare. "Rumor has it, she had already dispatched some insignificant Bale relative to send Christian his grandmother's ultimatum." James Phillip LeGros never knew the extent of Belle Bale's perverse sense of humor until he saw Christian Bale. Not as in seeing a photo in the ancestral house mantelpiece, but in real life. Christian Bale, a distant cousin of James', was everything James wasn't. The salt of the seafront was overpowering to a landlubber like James. He felt out of place in his office white shirt and trousers where everyone else was wearing casual and very little else. With nothing but his briefcase to ward off the nauseating stench of sea and fish, he staggered towards the crowd of people gathered to welcome back the yachters that just ended a recent race. James missed the silly race, arriving just a few minutes ago. He hoped he was in time to catch Christian Bale, his mother's cousin's. oh what the fuck, his very distant cousin. "Excuse me, excuse me." he said, gently pushing the crowd of disgustingly ecstatic and beautiful people aside. Just then, someone whistled and cried "Woo-hoo, Christian! Great fucking job!" and James turned to look at the yacht still far away from the wharf but still within observation distance. His mouth fell open involuntarily as he saw for the first time in real life the man known among the family as the fucked-up blacker than black sheep. The Bales were beautiful people, thanks to genetics and all the cosmetic surgery their millions can buy. Hence it was no surprise to see Christian Bale handsome as sin, with his regal, aristocratic sculpted face and intimidating height. But unlike the monotonous perfection of his family members, Christian's beauty was also more raw and harsher. The harsh angular nose had been broken, marring the smooth beauty of the man, and the too harsh planes of his face accentuated this. Christian was a handsome man, but his beauty was also that of a harsh, unpolished type, giving him simultaneously an air of undeniable charisma and power as well as beauty. It was easy to see why he was always the center of attention in a crowd. On his yacht, Christian was wearing nothing but a shockingly brief pair of black bikini trunks that dipped low on the front, drawing the eyes to the snug, prominent bulge of the crotch. When Christian turned, James' eyes feasted on high, tight rounded buttocks barely concealed by the black Lycra that stretched over those cheeks like a layer of paint. Even as James' blood started to hum with instinctive desire at the sight of the gorgeous perfection before him, he felt for the first time uncertainty at his presence here. What was he doing? All his life he had been an insignificant member of the Bale clan, by virtue of Belle adopting him after his parents were killed in an accident when he was sixteen. While Belle had paid for his education and all, most of the Bales made it clear that James was an outsider, an interloper who got "in" only by default of Belle's charity. Somehow James had never met Christian face to face even after all these years, but now, looking at Christian, he had no doubt that Christian would be like the other Bales: continuously sneering and smirking condescendingly at his outsider status. And Belle expected James to make Christian listen to him? Impossible! And worse, there were a pair of gorgeous blond almost identical twins, one male one female, lingering on board of Christian's yacht. Judging by the way they touched and flirted with him as he worked the yacht, they weren't probably there to keep him riveted in conversation. James feel torn: he wanted to stand here and watch the way Christian's well-formed muscles bulged as he worked on the deck, and he also wanted to flee, twenty-three years of having his self-esteem and ego crushed by the Bales' arrogance too much a hurdle for him to handle without a large stiff drink. He had to get out of here. What was LeGros doing here? Christian Bale walked into the local gay bar two hours later, wondering. He couldn't take his mind off LeGros the entire day - what the fuck was the man doing here? He absently unbuttoned his shirt in the heat and surveyed the crowd. He didn't know why he wanted to see LeGros. The man was a distant cousin who was related only by some marriage to some aunt of Christian, known as that `LeGros kid' by the adults and `Gross LeGros' by James LeGros' peers. Christian hadn't met James, but his brothers and sisters had, and they all made fun of the scrawny kid's stutter, weirdly shaped sneer, and shyness. Well, this grown- up LeGros had filled up, slender and yet well built, but there was still a hint of awkwardness in those well-formed shoulders and posture. And those lips still looked. well, thick and ugly. Yet it was a type of ugly Christian found fascinating. In fact, James was simultaneously an unattractive yet mesmerizing man. A fascinating conundrum. Christian felt the man's eyes on him when he was on the yacht. He wanted to know if he looked good in James' eyes. He found the man sitting at the corner, looking most miserable as the latter drown a mug of beer. Christian felt a smile blooming on his lips as he walked towards James. Up close, the man was even more compelling, with his broody eyes and those lips that seemed to defy one not to kiss them. And Christian always was good for dares. "Hello, James. I recognize you from the family pictures. What are you doing here?" he said, gracefully sliding into the seat beside James. James jumped in his seat, looking most startled, and the mug in his hand wobbled dangerously. Christian reached out and touched James' hand, steadying it. The contact burned Christian's touch, causing his blood to heat and hum in every vein of his body from his feverish brain to his hard cock. "Hi," Christian said, masking the unsteadiness in his voice by sheer control alone. "You don't look happy at all to see me." Christian watched, bemused, as James took a long, deep drink. "And you shouldn't be," James finally said. "I have some news from your grandmother." Uh oh. That sanctimonious, hypocritical old bitch never gave Christian good news before, and he doubted she would start now. The bastard was baiting him. Christian was deliberately toying with him, James thought miserably, no doubt knowing how irresistibly sexy he found that man. Chris sat with his back against the wall, watching James, always with that smug grin in place, as if he knew James was trying his best not to stare at the man's erect, dark wine-red nipples or the hard, sculpted washboard stomach. And Christian's jeans clung to the man's narrow hips, clinging almost indecently low to expose the top of his white briefs. And that bastard's left leg, deceptively lazily spread, had eased between James' legs. A gesture that probably meant nothing, but in James' feverishly lustful mind, it was an unfair imagery of Christian moving between his legs, ready to. Beer sloshed onto his hands, the coldness of the liquid on his skin doing unfortunately little to quash his lust. He was nervous, not because he was popping hard for this man. That, he knew, had no chance of happening - impossible that a man like Christian "Fuck, don't call me Chris, asshole!" Bale would want Gross LeGros. He was nervous because he was awaiting Christian's response to Belle's demands. Please, let Christian say no. Then James could go back to his normal, unexciting life with the account books. "Okay," Christian said. "I'll go see Belle." With that, James' nerves snapped. Christian had just agreed to travel back to the Bale estate with James. A second with Christian was unbearable. He would kill himself after an hour of frustrated lusting after this man. "With one condition," Christian said. "What's the matter, LeGros? You look most bitter. You want me to go visit our dear grandmother, don't we?" "What's the condition?" James said through gritted teeth. Christian was definitely mocking him, just like every other Bale. "We travel by land. In my jeep." "But why not plane?" James couldn't help asking like a lost child. "Because I want to use the jeep. I have time to kill." Christian shrugged, a lazy yet elegant gesture that only caused his unbuttoned shirt to fall back his shoulders. "And I know you will do anything for Belle. You're her pathetic lapdog. She asks, and you jump through hoops." James made to stand up. He couldn't take this mockery. He didn't have to. "Hey, I'm just teasing," Christian said smoothly. "But it's true, or else you wouldn't come all the way here just to get me back." James muttered a curse and started to walk away. "James." He ignored the man's name. He was his own man now, and he didn't have to take shit from the Bales. His loyalty was to Belle alone. but not at the expense of his own pride, or what little of it. Christian caught him by surprise. He didn't even know the man had walked after him, and only when Christian's hands gripped his shoulders, roughly turned him around, and then slammed him back across the wall hard did James knew. He made to protest, but his curses died on his tongue when Christian's hand went around his throat not-too-gently while another still bit into his shoulder, both hands pinning him hard with his back against the wall. "Everything okay?" someone called towards them. "Yeah," Christian said, his voice icy steel underneath his pleasant tone. To James' dismay, the bar clients resumed their business, ignoring he and Christian. Apparently, everyone knew whom not to mess with in this area. James tried to pry the fingers around his neck loose, but he froze when Christian, his lips merely an inch away from James', said in a low, hard voice, "Don't walk away from me like that ever again, you fucking get me?" "Get off," James answered back. "You're nuts. I'm washing my hands off you - get the fuck off me!" "Ever had a wild one-night stand, LeGros?" Christian asked, ignoring the other man. "Fuck you." "How about it?" Christian asked pleasantly, as if they were discussing a dinner date. "You and me, hot unbridled sex. You want me, don't you?" He lifted his knee and playfully grazed the hard bulge in James' crotch. "And I want you. Bad. Come on, LeGros. We'll fuck, and I'll be good to you. I'll be nice. You'll like me when I'm nice." The tip of his tongue snaked out and licked James' lower lip slow, tracing the curve of the rich, succulent flesh. "Get off me," James said again, this time his voice holding a distinctive plea for mercy. "No," Christian answered. "You can't force me." "I don't have to." Christian smiled knowingly. "I know your cock is hard, and your ass is probably clenching hard now, wanting to be filled with hot, stiff cock. And I can feel your nipples hard too against my chest." James' sound, a muffled whimper, was one of weak protest and frustration as he tried to push Christian off. A man with conscience would have called this off, but Christian had no conscience. He wanted James, and what he wanted, he took, abused, and discarded. Hence, he moved off James, his body lamenting the loss of contact, but he kept an iron grip around James' right wrist. "Come on, James, just one fuck - how could it hurt? And I'll stop this. I won't be forcing you anymore. Just one fuck." James wanted to flee, Christian could see that, and that thought only excited him more. But the man was caught like every other fly in Christian's web. When Christian gently tugged him towards the men's room, James followed meekly, silent. Just the way Christian liked his toys. TWO James didn't know whether he was in heaven or hell. If he were saner, he would be amazed that Christian would dare choose this very open men's room for. this! But all rational thoughts fled when Christian roughly turned him around. James found himself facing the wall with a mirror and a sink. As Christian continued pushing him against the wall, James instinctively lifted his right leg so that his knee rested inside the bowl of the sink. And Christian's arms at his hips pushed him up, until he found himself balanced precariously with one knee in the sink (and that trousers leg becoming wet) and a - what's that? - a bucket, maybe, upended so that James could climb on it. And then Christian was pulling down James' trousers, barely down to the middle of his thighs, just enough to - "Ah!" James bit down his scream as Christian's cock forged its way into his anus. Christian was too thick, stretching Mark wide open in splitting pain, and the man was relentless in his cruel forging upwards. The muscles of James' stomach clenched as he arched in pain, his buttocks instinctively clenching hard on that thick, unyielding shaft up his ass. "So tight, so fucking hot tight," Christian said as his hips gave another plunge forth, and another, and then he was in so deep that James felt sparks of pleasure singing his every senses, emanating from his violently bruised prostate. James looked in the mirror, and saw Christian's face, eyes closed and his mouth hanging open in an expression of ecstasy. Awed that he was the one who caused Christian to be so helpless, he couldn't look away. His senses supplied what he couldn't see - the feel of Christian's pubic hair brushing against his butt cheeks with each thrust, and the way the man's balls slap against the back of James' - Christian was fucking James so deep, he wanted to close his eyes to savor it all, the sensations of agony/unbearable ecstasy convulsing in waves over him - and the harsh, ragged breathings of theirs, melding in one guttural symphony of pleasure. He couldn't see, but he could feel. He could feel the thick veins of Christian's shaft abrading his anal walls, and he could even feel the thick, blunt crown of Christian's cock pulling James' pucker inside out with each withdrawal of that cock. Each thrust deep caused James to cry out as his prostate received the bang of his life. Then Christian was coming. Oh yes - the thick, heated seminal fluids - gushing in powerful ejaculations up James' badly burning orifice. James clenched his buttocks, drawing a pained groan from Christian as he adamantly milked that man hard, draining him of every drop James could wring from the man's overheated testicles. Christian fell onto James, his sweat-drenched forehead causing a fast spreading damp patch on James' shirt. They lay there, breathing heavily. And it was Christian who got his breath back first, only to waste it in choked laughter as he moved off James. "I told you it'll be hot and wild," he said. James stared into the mirror, at Christian who looked back, an unabashedly crooked grin on the man's face as he fastened his trousers. He didn't know what to feel - tumultuous feelings in his chest that he couldn't put a name to warred and confused him. "Come on," Christian said, tossing a roll of toilet paper at James. "Clean up." "Wanna come back to my yacht with me?" Christian asked the moment they walked out the bar. James was about to ask the other man where they should meet the next day for their trip to New York. This question caught him by surprise, however. He turned and looked at Christian who was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at James in an inscrutable look. In the light streaming from the bar inside, partially shielded by the door that Christian held half-closed behind him, the man's face was in shadows. "No. You have company in the yacht," James reminded him. "Oh yeah." Christian sounded irritated at being reminded of those twins. It seemed that he had forgotten their presence. That amused James for no reason other than perversity on his part. "I'll send them away," Christian said, again catching James by surprise. "They're not fun anymore." "Oh, really?" "Yeah. I find you fun now." Christian took a step down the stairs, and James couldn't fight his instinct to take a step back in response. "I'll just send them back to their father." Christian was now walking to stand before James. Much taller than James, he towered over the man like a powerful, imposing figure. James could still feel the scent of their recent coupling that clung like the sweetest of ambrosia to their skin and clothes. And from the soft sounds of Christian's deep inhalations, James was aware that not only the other man was aware of the scent, he was reveling in it, purposely intoxicating himself with the fragrance of still drying semen on still feverish skin. Christian's hand roughly moving to grab James' chest to pull the man close was the absolute proof of the man's carnal abandon - unlike James who was still edgy about having fucked so abandoned in an episode so meaningless, Christian enjoyed it, fuck that man. Those fingers now dug and massaged into James' pectorals as Christian continued his talk in a hypnotically soothing tenor. "Run away with me, James." "W-what?" "Don't go back to Belle. Join me - I'll sail us to my private island and I will make you happy. Really happy." "You're crazy," James answered shakily, but the suggestion was too tempting to even contemplate. Alone, he and Christian, in their private Eden where they could fuck all they want, where and when they wished. it was too tempting an idea, and coming from a Bale, fatal to even contemplate. "No." "Come on," Christian could make two simple innocuous words the most seductive lures James had ever heard. "You and me, naked all the time, fucking and sucking and tasting each other. I'll pour warm honey all over your naked skin and I will lick every inch of your skin." "Please don't," James pleaded as Christian pushed him back. towards a darkened alley. "Chris, have mercy." "Christian, damn it, call me Christian!" But the momentary, even comical PO expression on the man's face soon smoothened off into the usual charming, seductive fa‡ade. The brief lull in the spell of seduction, however, gave James the strength to try to break free from Christian's hold. Big mistake - it only angered Christian, judging from the guttural curse the man made before pushing James against the wall. It was a dark alley, so near the street, but it might as well be another world in its darkness and seeming detachment from the rest of the environment. "You and me," Christian whispered in a voice both a furious oath and a seductive plea. "In the dark, LeGros, you, me. You can do whatever you want with me, and I am at your service, how and where you want me. I can be your top, or I will play your bitch, LeGros. Think about it. Let Belle hang out and wait. Have me instead." So tempting. to just walk away from Belle and his obligations to her. To, for once, just let go and enjoy what he was being offered. Such as now, where Christian had pushed James' hands under his shirt and up so that James could touch Christian's nipples. Even as James' fingers on their own accord pinched those elongated, erect nipples, he tried to avoid Christian's descending kiss, but there was no escape. They kissed. Another encore, or maybe a more heated one, he didn't know. James only knew that he was drowning, drowning, drowning in the taste of Christian. The spell only broke when he felt Christian pulling down James' pants, and then Christian's hairy, tight ass ring was sheathing on James' cock. James' knees staggered, and it was the wall behind him and Christian's tight clamp on his cock that kept him standing. James reached down and lifted Christian's knee, the same leg that Christian lifted to place his sole against the wall to allow himself better lever to go down on James' cock. James thrust, his hips hard buckling lifting his buttock off the wall, and Christian responded with his downward plunge of his body, his groin making a circular gyration motion that only caused James' cock to penetrate deeper. And this way, they fucked, lost in an orgy of kisses and gyrations of their colliding groins, until ecstasy washed all their coherent senses asunder. "Say yes," Christian whispered unsteadily in the aftermath of their passion. "I'll toss the irritating twins out, and I'll take you to my island. Say yes, LeGros." He shouldn't. Christian Bale, like all the other Bales, would use him and then toss him aside when he amused them no longer. James, however, had lost his mind ever since he saw Christian. The choice was obvious: he couldn't say no. "Okay," he answered. "Okay, damn you." And then he pulled Christian down for another kiss. THREE James couldn't even run away like normal people would, Christian mused as he leaned back against the jeep and watched James walk out of his motel room with his bag of clothes in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Christian would bet that the man was probably renegotiating and extending his leave with his accounting agency, and no doubt James would call Belle and sheepishly leave an apologetic message too. Christian killed any doubts he had over tossing aside the not-too- pleased Helgor twins for James. James amused him better than those two tiresome twins, and from last night, James would be as good a fuck as those twins. Sleeping with James would be no difficulty if the prize was a postponement in seeing Belle. He knew what that old bitch would say: she would lecture him and threaten to disinherit him. Disinheritance was one threat that wouldn't work with Christian. So he was fired, big fucking deal. He had his own money, too much of it, made from his wise investments in successful ventures and shrewd dealings in the stock exchange. Sure, losing the Bale fortune would be a blow to his lifestyle, but he would live without it just fine. He just didn't want to see Belle. He'd rather screw James. Not liking all these disturbingly emotional thoughts that kept plaguing him ever since his kept boy JP ran off with a loser bastard months ago, he clung to lust for James like a drowning man to a buoy. When he got confused or bogged down with melancholy, he tended to hurt himself or people around him, and he didn't like that. "Ready to go?" he asked James in his brightest voice. He really was looking forward to this trip. "Can we stop at a drug store? I need some seasickness pills just in case," James asked. Christian grinned, charmed inexplicably by that request. He wondered too how James did it, this look of his - well-groomed, perfectly pressed clothes despite being still quite early in the day, and that hair only slightly disheveled enough to give the otherwise groomed and polished James a rugged air. Christian knew for a fact that James had only at most two hours' sleep last night when he slipped back into his motel just before dawn. How did this prick accountant do it, looking this good in the morning? "Sure," Christian said, taking James' bag and tossing it to the back of his jeep. "If you get seasick I'll take care of you," he added. "I'll boil hot water and wipe your mouth with warm cloth." "Whatever." James looked at Christian pointedly, and Christian fought the urge to cross his arms and looked back sullenly like a child under a schoolteacher's gaze. James, if given the chance, would nag like a bitter housewife. That Christian realized soon enough. Usually he would stay clear of such people, for they just wouldn't shut up outside the fucking, but with James, he was. charmed. How bloody strange. "Aren't you going to get dressed?" James asked. How rude. Christian looked down at himself. He was wearing only a pair of rower shorts and an unbuttoned Aloha shirt. "What? You get distracted at my chest?" he asked, deliberately scratching his right nipple. "Get used to it. When we get on the boat, these shorts will be gone too. You'll be seeing all of me, all the time." The thought was already causing his half-mast cock to harden. "I meant what I said last night, James. I'm yours. Anytime, anywhere." He rubbed his hard cock in his shorts deliberately to make his point. James swallowed, but oh yes, he wanted it. Bad. He was just scared. Christian understood, really. A lifetime living under Belle's tyranny would make anyone a timid mouse afraid to enjoy life. He'd teach James to have fun, he promised himself. "Lighten up," he told James as he opened the door of the jeep for James. "Fucking me wouldn't be that bad." James surprised him then with an impulsive kiss, a too brief one, on the lips. "No," the man said. "Not bad at all." "We will have fun," Christian said with high spirits as he jumped into his seat. Oh yes, they would. "Wait until you see my island. You know about it? I'll tell you about it anyway. Here we go!" The jeep roared down the street. FOUR Far from having wild, hot, non-stop fuck-tastic copulation, James LeGros, first class loser, spent most of the first day at sea throwing up into a bucket. He lay back on the bed, hungry from having thrown up whatever little he tried to eat each time and too weak to even move, feeling as if the whole world had conspired to stop him from having wild sex with Christian. It was late evening, judging from the amount of light coming in from the tiny windows (James didn't know the correct terminology to use on those slits), when Christian walked into their room. True to his word, he had ditched his shirt and shorts. And even in his condition, James couldn't help but to perk up at the sight of Christian's glorious nude form and his first actual glimpse of the low, pendulous balls of that man and the impressively large even when flaccid shaft lying quiescent. Even if his weakened body couldn't muster the state of arousal needed, his mind could still appreciate the memory of that cock ramming up his ass, or the way those large hands held his thighs when they fucked that night. "How are you feeling?" Christian asked in a voice surprisingly gentle. He did make a grimace though at the stench in the room. So much for Mr Sensitivity. "I take it you wish you had kept the twins onboard?" James asked. "And I think I'm going to die." "You won't die. And no, the twins I don't miss. They're good in bed, but they tend to act like ten-year olds when they are not being fucked." Christian picked up the bucket and nodded at James. "Stay here," he said unnecessarily. "I'll go empty this." When Christian came back, James tried to sit up to look at him but couldn't. "Who are those twins anyway?" he asked. "I wish I can meet people like them. I could use some hot twin sex in my life." "They're the kids of someone I know. Their father asked me to take them on a wholesome fishing trip." Christian winked. "Both are technically virgins when they came onboard. None longer." "Jesus, I thought they looked young. Shame on you." Christian gently pushed James aside as he lay beside the man. "I don't have any scruples, LeGros. I spent too long hiding this part of me, but no longer. I am no longer responsible for anyone but myself." "Nice." "I spent ten years trapped in a marriage I didn't want. Why? To please Belle. Sure, I screwed around, but I always kept it quiet. But I've had enough. I'm not going to live like that anymore." Christian turned to James. "LeGros, why are you looking at the ceiling like that?" "Nothing." "Liar." "Nothing. It's just that I find it odd that you are telling me things like this. Personal things." "Oh, okay." Now James turned to look at Christian. "You sound disappointed. You expect me to be any different from those others who shared your bed?" "Well, you're the responsible doggy type," Christian said. "I don't know - somehow I just started talking things I never tell people when I'm with you. You're dangerous. You hungry?" "I don't dare to take a bite." "Well, I insist. I want you alive when we get to the island." Christian playfully reached down and cupped his balls. "You're gonna have to make up to me what I'm doing without today and tomorrow." "Just make sure you don't cook your cock by accident," James muttered sulkily. "Hey, didn't I tell you? I am an old pro at doing things naked. When I can handle the washing machine without wearing any clothes - no wait, I think handling the cheese grater will be the ultimate - I can do anything." Christian got up the bed and pulled at James' hand. "Stand up, LeGros, and follow me up on deck. Come on, get some fresh air. I'll cook us something while you try and get some sea legs." "Okay," James said, wobbling slightly on his feet. "What will you be cooking?" "Something nice." Christian caught James when the yacht shook and the man staggered. "I - shit!" James threw up all over Christian. "Sorry," he said. "So sorry, I - " "Hey, that's okay," Christian said. "Relax. I'll just take a dip in the sea and everything will be okay. Can you walk?" James nodded. "How soon will we get on land?" "As fast as I can," Christian said wryly. "So hang on in there, LeGros." Christian made chicken soup. Can material, of course, but nonetheless, James found the hot broth delicious and most appetizing in his state. Something about a naked man feeding broth patiently to him from a spoon did wonders for his appetite. "Aren't you eating?" James asked when he finally finished the last spoonful. He sat back, content and his stomach pleasantly filled with warmth. "I can try to feed you back." His voice trailed when he saw that Christian was sporting a huge erection. The man must had had it for a while, since the tip was already coated with a sheen layer of lubricant, a drop even now oozing like a pearl from the slit. "You licking and sucking at the spoon," Christian said huskily. "Damn, I hate you. I am hard and you are seasick and weak." "Sorry," James muttered. He tried, his hormones went flaring briefly, but he just couldn't muster a hard-on. "Oh, stop apologizing," Christian said. He took his own bowl of soup and then studied James. "You know what, I have an idea. Take off your clothes." "What?" "Take off your clothes. You are going to be as naked as me for the rest of this trip." "I - " "You're not even going to fight me on that, are you?" Christian asked. "No. I'm just asking if you can give me hand here." Christian grinned, and without much ceremony, grabbed James' shirt by the collar and ripped. Ignoring James' indignant protest - "That's my favorite shirt!" - he reached for James pants. Sure enough, the man wasn't even half-hard, though there was no denying James' flushed face. That man wanted Christian. That was enough to satisfy Christian. He took the bowl of soup and tested its warmth with his finger. Just right. And he then poured the soup all over James' naked groin. "Oh," James couldn't help saying as he felt the warm, thick creamy broth poured down his cock, and inside his thighs like extra smooth layer of the richest of sultry lubrication. He rubbed his thighs together. "This feels good." Christian parted the man's thighs, and sitting cross-legged between James' spread wide legs, he began to eat dinner. James thought the feel of Christian's tongue slowly licking every inch of his skin would drive him mad. But when Christian nibbled at the pieces of meat trapped by James' pubic bush, or when Christian started lapping and sucking at James' asshole, the man spitting back the creamy broth into James' anal passage before sucking it back into his mouth, James thought he had gone mad. Surely no one could survive this pleasure? Oh, oh, oh. and his own quiescent cock managed to get to half-mast. Not bad. But James wasn't weak enough to open his mouth when Christian rubbed his cock at the man's lips. And when Christian shoved his cock down James' throat, James sucked and nibbled and licked until he was rewarded with the ultimate dessert - and there was so much of Christian's hot molten seed that James couldn't swallow fast enough. Christian licked at James' chin, and then he was kissing James, letting James share Christian's own semen between them both, even as he gently lowered the back of the easy chair James was sitting on. "What are you going to do?" James asked laughingly when they broke off the kiss. "The chair isn't big enough for the both of us." Christian licked at a stray creamy trail from the left edge of James' lips before answering, "Think you can sit on my cock and ride me? I'll hold you to make sure you don't fall." "I can do that," James said. And he could. FIVE Gull Island wasn't an island that Christian bought for himself. There was no fucking way he could be that rich in one lifetime. It was an island always held by the Bales since the 16th century, through some convoluted but legal bindings that allowed it to remain in Bale hands after all these years. Christian liked to think of it as his, because he was the main person who made Gull Island profitable. In truth, he wasn't the sole owner - his ownership was in the form of his shares in the hotel on Gull. But it was his idea that made Gull the tourist mecca it was today, and he never let his cousins who now ran the place forget that. And since he was also the largest shareholder, and this island would fall under his name after Belle died, he also had a part of the island made his own private sanctuary, where no one would be allowed in but he. He had never brought anyone here until James, not even his ex-wife when they were married. Technically, there was that French artist he brought to Gull Island last year, but they spent their time at the public areas of Gull Island. James LeGros would be the first person to step foot in Christian's private world. Christian didn't know why. He didn't even know why he suggested that James come along with him that day. He had what he wanted then, a quick fuck, and he could had walked away. But instead, here he was, letting James into a piece of his life that he fought hard to kept private and his and only his. But he wasn't a man to ruminate over emotions. What was done was done, and they were here. Christian carried James in his arms the way he carried a bride through the threshold, laughing as he stepped onto the pier and placed James down. James had refused to let the silent personal staff of Christian, who had waited for them after Christian called them earlier, to see him naked, and Christian had reluctantly let James pull on a pair of shorts and T-shirt. He didn't care for clothes himself, completely naked now except for socks and shoes. He stretched, letting the evening air ran cool over his nude form. Unlike James, he had no reservations about his nudity, and if the staff liked what they saw, well, good for them, because Christian didn't give what they thought about him a flying fuck. He didn't care that he was sporting an erection, aroused that he was even by his proximity to James or that his pubic region was still two shades flushed red than the rest of his body on the account of the buggering he had just given James before they left the yacht. James would say that was typical Christian Bale - self- absorbed, not caring what people thought, and typical sex fiend. As he walked behind James, he absently let his cock brush against James' thigh, and he grinned when James pressed back. The man was loosening up by the minute. He was glad he brought James here, Christian decided. The man was great to talk to, and he was a pretty good lay too. No regrets - he would have the time of his life as always. "Don't you ever put on clothes?" James asked, looking up from his reading in the sun the next day. But he ruined his disapproving effect by reaching up and taking a lick at Christian's balls with his tongue. Christian laughed as James pulled him down to bury his nose under James' balls, that tongue now snaking into the folds that guarded Christian's asshole until Christian shuddered with pleasure. "I hate clothes," Christian managed to say as he played with James' hair. "I don't wear them unless I absolutely have to." James resurfaced for breath and shook his head at Christian. "I worry for you, Christian. I really do." "Hey, don't be. I'm a big boy now. And you, LeGros, are too serious." "I'm a pessimist." "I know. And I understand." James looked at Christian curiously. "Really?" "Yeah." Christian moved off James and sat down beside the man. He reached out to trace his fingers along James' arm. "I'm a pessimist. I try not to be. Or think." "I guess you can. You're a Bale, after all," James said wryly. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Speaking as a professional Bale hanger-on," James said, "I can say you Bales always do what you want, damn what people say. It comes with the money and power, I guess." "You're a Bale by infusion," Christian pointed out. "Your mother married a Bale. Or someone." "Not really. I'm just a kid Belle took pity on." "Fuck Belle," Christian said. "She took you in. Fine. I don't see why you spend the rest of your life jumping around at her order." "I owe her my life. That's something, an obligation." Christian made a rude sound. "But she brought you to me," he conceded. "That's something." James cast him an odd look. "That statement sounds ominous." "Don't read too much into it," Christian said. Did he sound too forced? "If I knew there is such a fuckable morsel back in the house, I'd have visited more often for the holidays. What would Belle say if she discovers us fucking each other's brains out?" "She knows I'm gay." "Really?" "I think." James chuckled. "I never did say. But she knows everything." "Yes, she knows everything, that old bitch," Christian said. "Do you hate her that much?" "Hate? No. I don't care about her to feel a strong emotion like hate." Christian looked at the sky - beautiful blue. Maybe they should take a swim later. "I married because of her pressuring me. I did a lot of things when I was younger to please her. I tried so hard to hide my weaknesses. I always am weak this way, LeGros. I love sex too much. I can never get enough of it. And I was always so ashamed back then that she would find out my sins. So I married. Tried to have kids, but after she miscarried, I stopped trying and just screwed her for fun. I screwed around on her too, and I didn't care if she found out. I am a bad son of a bitch. I'm actually glad she left me." "Consider myself warned not to get too attached to you. Don't be so proud of your SOB tag, Christian. You're not alone among the Bales." "Do you hate us that much?" Christian asked, echoing James' earlier question. "Sometimes," James admitted. "I spent my teenage years being bossed around, beaten, bullied, and taunted `Gross LeGros' by everyone." "And Belle allowed this?" "She hated weak people, and I never told her. I tried to fight back, but hey, when I'm living on charity, how much can I do?" "A martyr and a pessimist. You're pathetic," Christian said mockingly. "I know. I'm 39 now and I still can't outgrow all these fucking childhood trauma. You know, if I could, I'd stop jumping and obeying Belle. But I still feel this obligation inside to cater to her. She's old. She was my mother in every way that counted." James shrugged. "Anyway, it's not so bad. I have my own life now, and apart from Belle's occasional demands, my life is Bale-free." "Good for you." Christian closed his eyes. Somehow hearing how James wasn't fond of the Bales left this dampening aftereffect on his enthusiasm for the rest of the day. "You like me, right?" he couldn't help asking, however. "You're okay for the good times," James admitted. And Christian decided maybe things weren't that unsalvageable after all. James decided that he was living a dream. A haze of intoxicating pleasures that threatened to cause his senses to overload. It wasn't just sex - Christian was a master in creating an illusion that James and he were living in some private Eden of their own. Contrary to his expectations, Christian's private holiday home turned out not to be a giant mansion but a small waterfront house with only one bedroom, one room converted into a gym/music/TV room (they had cable TV here), a toilet-cum-bathroom, and a store room. And each morning Christian would wake James up with a gentle kiss where they would then more often than not made love in the shower before spending a few hours at the gym. And Christian would cook. He told James that the provisions all came from the hotel at the other side of the island, with the staff there stocking up this place after he sent word a few weeks in advance of his arrival. A decent cook was what Christian turned out to be, as long as he didn't try anything more sophisticated than eggs and any fried/burnt meat. Thank God for canned food. James was starting to love these non-sexual moments, which disturbed him. Common sense dictated that he wasn't supposed to enjoy anything other than the sex. But when Christian placed his arms around James and stopped at that, his chin on James' shoulder, as they watched Queer As Folk (James loved it, Christian loathed it - and they couldn't agree on it at all), James felt this inner quiet inside him that was simultaneously a calm as well as a turbulent fear. Or the way they just sat there (Christian conceding to wearing shorts this time) on the beach after a hard evening's jog, their breathing seeming to be in one actual synchrony. Or the way James would wake up in the middle of the night to see Christian studying him, a pained/gentle look on his face - all of this scared him. He didn't want to care for Christian anymore. no, wait, he didn't want to care at all. Period. To care for a Bale was the surest way to heartbreak. Hadn't he learned all these years? The night was cool, and perfect for sleeping off the lethargy of a good fuck session. James couldn't sleep a wink, his thoughts a jumble of confusion. What was he doing here? It had been - two weeks, he guessed, for he had almost lost track of time here. "Go to sleep," Christian muttered, one hand sleepily reaching over to James. "How do you know I'm awake?" James asked absently. "I know," Christian said, opening one eye. "I can't hear you snore. I don't know how or why, but I can't sleep when you're awake. So tell me - what's bothering you?" "Nothing," James said. "I'm just thinking of tomorrow," he said. It was the truth, partially. "Well, don't try to worry too much." Christian yawned. "Look, I'm tired. Sleep, please." "Okay," James said, sighing softly as he snuggled up to Christian. He wondered how Christian did it, this blithe uncaring of the future or whatever come what may, and he wished he could do it as well as Christian. Yet, he couldn't. He couldn't help feeling that this was an uneasy idyll, a peaceful one, but nonetheless, he was sure somehow, the other shoe would drop soon, and life would go back the way it was. Trouble was, he wasn't sure if he wanted his old life back. "I wasn't going to show you, but I decided to anyway." Christian, sounding uncharacteristically furious, caused James to look up from his reading the morning newspapers. "Here," Christian said, throwing down a magazine. "What's this?" James asked absently, flicking the pages of a gay adult magazine. He froze when he saw the center spread. "I can only imagine how they must have rushed them through publication," Christian said, sitting down beside James. "I have no idea how they got those pictures." Pictures of he and Christian that night in the gay bar - James bit back a hysterical laugh. Here they were, in all explicit glory, the fucking photographer actually managing to get the precise angle perfectly. There was no mistaking that there was penetration involved. "I know guys in my place that buy this magazine," James said, his voice hollow even to his own ears. "I must go back, tell them - " "No, you can't go," Christian blurted. "Yes I can," James snapped, his voice hardened thanks to the panic he was feeling. This was what he would get for screwing around with a Bale, he thought, panicked. He would lose his job. He would. he should know better, he realized. What else could come out of this but disaster? "I can get fired for this!" "Why? Because you have sex? That's ridiculous!" "No, because I had sex with you," James shakily answered. "What will Belle say if she finds out? Oh God," he moaned, dropping the magazine. "I see. So it's me you're ashamed about," Christian managed to say. "Okay. You sure you want to risk seasickness again?" James groaned and placed his head in his hands. "I'm overreacting." "Yes, you are," Christian said. "And you have insulted me too." "It's not you, Christian, it's your reputation. Belle will be mad at me. And I told my boss I was attending to an `ill' Belle. What will he say when he sees this?" James made a vague, angry gesture at the magazine. "I'm doomed." "I'll hire you," Christian offered. "Don't fucking joke around." "I'm serious," Christian said, causing James to look at him. "Look, I'm a bastard. You have no reason to believe me. But I'd like to have a chance at getting this right, you know? And I never wanted to do things right until now. With you." "When did this bright idea strike?" James didn't know what else to say. "I don't know. Probably a while now. But when you said that you wanted to leave, I wanted to blow up my yacht. I love my yacht, but I'd blow it up just so that I can say there's no way you can leave and you'll have to be stuck with me a little longer." "You just want the sex." "I can get sex anywhere and anytime." "True. You arrogant prick, but true," James conceded. "But I'm not sure - " Christian got onto one knee, he really did. "I'm not asking for anything more than a chance for me to, you know, see, date, and maybe fuck you after we leave this place. I won't say I won't hurt you, but I'll try not to. Come on, you know me better than anyone already, LeGros. Please? James hesitated. This was too risky, and he would be hurt. "We'll take it slow," he said. "As slow as we can be," he amended. "Maybe we should stop having sex and try dating for a while." "I want sex!" Christian interjected. "You can't stop me from trying to seduce you anyway." "True," James conceded. Christian took James' hands in his in a rare moment of vulnerability. "I swear I will try to make myself worth your time, LeGros." Touched, James clasped tight. "And I'll try just as well," he said. Christian got onto his feet and bent over for a kiss. SIX Christian pushed open the ornate doors leading to his grandmother's personal chambers. "Belle, you old bitch!" he yelled. "I'm here. Come and get me!" "Rude as ever," Belle, eighty-four but who was counting, said, looking up from her reading. She put aside her book - actually, it was the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly carefully hidden between the pages of the family Bible. She wanted people to remember her as a dignified lady when she died. "Come on and sit down, you son of a bitch." "Okay, I'm here. Shoot." "What's this about you suing some seedy adult gay magazine?" Belle asked. "They took pictures of me and someone having sex and I want them to pay for it." "It's not the first time. If I'm not mistaken, eight months ago the same thing happened when they took pictures of you and that Italian model and you told me you liked the `exposure'," Belle said. She snorted. "Well, this time it's different. It's personal, and private between me and LeGros. It's not just sex anymore, ma'am." Christian saw Belle's face and cursed. "Damn it, old bitch, you wanted this to happen! You set me up!" "LeGros doesn't know anything, so don't take it out on him," Belle warned the man, not even bothering to deny the accusation. "I always thought LeGros was a sensible man, and he needed someone to loosen him up. And I still have it, don't I? I knew." Belle chuckled. "So sit down and tell me how it is between you both." "I'm not telling you anything." "He still making you dance through hoops?" "Not that it's your business, but he is finally thinking of moving in with me," Christian said, unable to disguise the triumph in his voice. "After two months. You're losing your touch." "And I refused to be baited by you any longer." "Still you came here anyway," Belle said. "You want something. What is it?" Christian hesitated. Still, he was desperate. "I want to know how to be responsible, Belle. LeGros likes people with steady jobs and steady nature, and I want to be the type of man he won't wake up one day and decide he's making a mistake with." Belle studied her grandson shrewdly. She wasn't fond of Christian, but she had to admit, he was the most interesting of the Bales. "Well, I'm going to retire from the board," she said, deliberately ignoring Christian's muttered `about time'. "And about that hotel on Gull Island." Christian's mouth fell open. "You're giving it to me?" "No. I'm old but I'm not senile!" Belle snapped. "I'm just suggesting that if I nominate you to replace me on the board, you can make that man of yours proud by being responsible. An alien concept for you, I know, but I know you're a good and fast learner." "I hate you." Christian smiled. "Thanks. I won't let you down." "I won't be here any longer, and I don't care, to be honest. You should care what LeGros think, if he's that important to you." "He is," Christian said mulishly. "Good. Now thank me for setting you both up." Christian snorted and walked out of the room. But he hesitated at the doorway, nonetheless. And Belle smiled to herself when he forced out a reluctant `Thanks' before storming out of the room. One down, she decided. Two more to go. Now, about that stubborn granddaughter of hers, Milicent...