“I can not believe zhis…” Michael idly cast his gaze behind him where Gabriel was holding the sides of his head with his flat bony fingers and moaning softly with his petite German accent. “Zhis has not heppening…”

“You mean this isn’t happening?” Michael corrected the phrase of shock, chewing casually on his cigarette. He could not have looked more inured to the plight of the man just behind him if he tried. “Present tense.”

“Fuck you!” Gabriel shouted in reply, the first time he’d sworn in the three weeks they’d known each other. Or at least it was the first time he’d sworn in a language Michael could understand. “Zhis is Your fault!”

Michael had never dreamed of seeing Gabriel Sieggerkrönt this unbound. In the time he’d known him, however short the three weeks had been, Gabriel always seemed the epitome of the collected German. He was a musician with all the precision and none of the drama. He was not as cold or unfriendly as most of the people in his sector but he laughed with distain more often than he smiled with encouragement. But now… Gabriel was angry. A startlingly appealing sight.

“And why exactly is this my fault?” Michael lit the cigarette, watching the reflection of the fair haired man in the window of a closed store as the German stormed back and forth. “You didn’t tell me your sector refused to allow its citizens to get back in after dark. I thought we could catch the next train in.”

“Vell… ve can not!” Gabriel growled. “Und if you hedn’t insisted on getting zhose stuped sigarettes, ve vouldn’t heve zhis problem.”

“I don’t see how it’s a problem, Siggy,” Michael turned to casually regard him, using the name because he knew Gabriel hated it. “We hop the bus to my place. That’s all. You stay in the guest room and tomorrow we go back to Berlinton.”

“It is not zhat simple!” Gabriel resisted eyes flashing his rage. “I vill need to heve a reason vhy I vas absent… zhere vill be un investigation into my life. I vill be placed under vatch und additional security vill go vith me everyvhere. I’m already a secund cless citizen. Now thanks to you, I’ll be a secund cless citizen undar suspicion.”

“What’s a second class citizen?” Michael turned to face him, holding out the cigarette. “My sector don’t have those.”

Gabriel shrugged, and turned away crossing his arms. “Zhen it doesn’t really matter to you, does it?”

“Well, sure it does,” Michael comes nearer, noticing the way the topic made Gabriel bristle from exploding with his anger to imploding with fury. “What’s it mean?”

Gabriel glanced away ignoring him and turning his eyes to the lights in the distance of the sky. “Secund cless citizens heve more… I mean, different laws zhan first cless citizens. Ve must identify ourselfes… zhere are some places ve are not allowed to go, jobs ve can’t have…”

“Sounds like you’re on parole, Gabriel?” Michael was amused by the concept and puffed out a wave of smoke with his laugh. “What did you do to get into so much trouble? Are you a thief?”

“No,” Gabriel turned insulted. “Not only creminals are secund cless…”

“So criminals are second class citizens,” Michael laughed and pushed him farther, delighted by the new animation he saw in Gabriel. “What did you do? Steal a candy bar? Steal a car?”

“I am not a thief,” Gabriel resisted the notion, trying to intimidate the American by raising his voice and failing. “Now stop…”

“Did you rob a bank? Shoot at someone?” Michael chuckled, more. “Hold a hostage at…”

“I’m a homosexual,” Gabriel spat the word and glared hard at him. “Zhat is vhy I am secund cless citizen. I am not a creminal! I’m a goot law abiding citizen…”

Gabriel turned away again, miserable. “Or at least I vas until you showed up.”

The cigarette slumped in Michael’s slack jaw. “Your gay?”

Gabriel glancing coldly over his slight shoulder, his steel blue eyes absorbing most of his expression of rage and distain. “Ja. Vhat difference does make to you?”

Michael smirked and put out the cigarette, rubbing it against his jeans. “Well… none really. I just would never have thought that you…”

He quickened his step catching up to Gabriel who was trying to walk away. “You like other men?”

“Zhis is vhat homosexual means, does it not?” Gabriel hid his face from the other man, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.

“Well, yeah,” Michael glanced up and down Gabriel’s slim body as if seeing him for the first time. “I didn’t know the German sector allowed that kind of thing.”

“Of course, zhey allow it,” Gabriel snapped back. “They can’t stop zheir citizens from feeling… certun dezires. Zhey expect zheir citizens to be honest about zhem. To vear zheir markur and show everyvone zhat zhey are secund cless citizen und respect zhe rights of men who… are not secund cless citizens…”

“Is that what that blue button thing means?” Michael pointed to the man’s lapel. “That you’re gay?”

“Is distinction zhat I am a secund cless citizen. Zhat is all it tells,” Gabriel muttered to himself, irritated by his own confession. “I should heve told you I vas not Cathlic… or zhat I vas a drug addict. Zhen you vouldn’t heve so many pointless questions.”

Michael kept his sharp pace. “So just because you’re gay, your sector prevents you from holding certain jobs and says you can’t go certain places?”

“I can not hold a job zhat requires me to be alone around small chilren or young men und I am not permitted to enter bars that do not allow secund cless citizens.” Gabriel admitted. “But zhese laws epply to anyvone who is a secund cless citizen. Not just homosexuals.”

“So what’s a rule for just gay men?” Michael wondered.

Gabriel cast his eyes down uncomfortably. “I can not attend certain public gyms where I might be… voyeuristic to first cless citizen men. If I vork in retail for clothings I heve to fill out special certifications in order to help men in dressing rooms.”

Michael nodded, and continued to watch the man walking besides him. After a moment of silence, Gabriel noticed his gaze. He was less angry than before, more nervous. “Vhy are you lookink at me like zhis?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” Michael took his eyes away and smiled to himself. “I just had no idea you were gay.”

Gabriel hesitated in their quick walk, drawing back a bit with a barely hidden fear. “Is zhat problem for you?”

“Huh?” Michael glanced around and stopped when he realized that Gabriel had ceased walking.

“Is zhat a problem for you?” Gabriel repeated. “You’re not goink to atteck me, are you?”

Michael laughed, not bothering to hide his amusement at the idea. “Gabriel… oh shit, you are funny.”

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably when Michael moved closer, close enough to whisper in his ear. “Pretty damn sexy too.”

After the remark registered, Gabriel looked more worried than before, drawing a bit back and staring at Michael for a long moment. “Your sector… you do not distinguish between first and second class citizens?”

Michael shook his head. “No. In NY we’re all equal.”

“Zhat doesn’t… anzar my question,” Gabriel said glancing down to Michael’s shoes and staring at them, blushing, trying to hold down a faint smile, looking embarrassed and ashamed and yet desperate to know something.

“Sure it does,” Michael grinned. “In a very straightforward way.”

“I vas not beink straightforvard… Damned Americans…” Gabriel muttered. “No sense of subtly…”

“See, here I thought I was being subtle,” Michael laughed.

Gabriel laughed, his short baffled laugh. “If zhat’s beink subtle, I’d like to see vhat you not beink subtle is.”

Michael grinned, glanced over Gabriel’s body again and then with absolute confidence, threw his arm about the slight man’s waist, pulled his body close crashing them together, and then kissed him firmly on his mouth. Gabriel tried to resist instantly, fighting the sensation by pushing away, lightly punching his hands into Michael’s shoulder, staggering his feet back, yet he was unable to break free from Michael’s powerful form and he was unable to resist the power of his kiss. The young German’s body tensed, but he stopped trying to shake free. His fists relaxed until his hands lay coiled with awkward intimacy over Michael’s shoulder, and his knees began to weaken, unable to support him, let alone carry him away.

Michael released the man after a long sweet moment had passed. He was not expecting it when Gabriel suddenly recovered himself and stoutly punched Michael in the chest, pushing him away. “Vhat are you crezy? Vhy do you do zhat?”

“Because I like you,” Michael replied. “I really do think you’re sexy.”

“Ve’re in public! In the open! Anyvone could heve seen us! Ve could be arrested und…” Gabriel suddenly stopped short in his ranting. “Are people allowed to kiss in public in zhis sector?”

Michael nodded, smirking.

“Even…” Gabriel didn’t seem to believe him, and his eyes shifting about as he stepped closer, whispering surreptitiously. “Even… two men?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t think anyone is awake to see and even if they were they probably wouldn’t give a damn.”

“But right out here?” Gabriel remarked amazed. “In public… a child or somevone vho vould be offended… or…”

Michael noticed that Gabriel had been inching his way closer and once again he dared to place his hand around that small bony body and pull Gabriel close to his form. “If anyone is offended that’s their problem… all we’re doing is kissing...”

Gabriel shivered with the forbidden sensation, when Michael’s lips again pressed down over his. He gasped into the other man’s mouth when he felt Michael’s hands slide down his back and into his trousers. Michael broke the kiss to smile. “At least for now.”

“Zhis is wrong…”Gabriel stepped away. “Too complicated… too insane…”

Michael did not chase after the German, not giving up on him yet. He noticed the bus nearing. It was not the one they had been waiting for. But perhaps it was better. “Hey Siggy, have you ever been to a gay bar?”

“Secund cless citizens are not allowed to drink in public… in my sector,” Gabriel admitted. “There’s a lot of parties vhere a lot of liquor is given out, but no actual bars exist for gay men.”

Michael nodded towards the bus. “It’s only ten o’clock. I think we ought to go introduce you to a gay bar.”

Inside the dark brilliance of the club, the music thudded and swirled. The lights flashed and the bodies moved, swelling and dancing, a joyous unsmiling mass, moving and thrusting as one. Everything so short. Everything so confused in a blissfully maddening way. And amid the flourish of smell, the whirl of sound, the melody of action, Gabriel Sieggerkrönt was terrified.

“Zhis is a bed place,” Gabriel shivered, dangerously excited by the male bodies that surrounded him.

“Bed place?” Michael peered at him over his glass of beer.

“Bed… zhat is not goot. Zhe opposite of goot.” Gabriel scowled. “Not sleeping bed. Morlly bed.”

“This place is not bad,” Michael took a drink.

Gabriel shivered, unable to take his eyes from the mirror in front of him, watching the men moving behind him. “Ve should go.”

“We just got here,” Michael replied, pushing Gabriel’s beer closer. “Drink up?”

“No,” Gabriel replied. “Zhis is… public. I can not drink in…”

Michael leaned closer his dark brown eyes swallowing the entire place and plunging Gabriel’s heart into silence. He was smiling sarcastically, “Does this look like the German sector?”

Gabriel swallowed and looked around the room, overwhelmed again by the men bumping against each other, mockeries of the sexual act that they would surely enjoy later, the sexual act that he might enjoy later – that thought coursed through his body like fire. The dance floor glittered with men he was not familiar with moving like one orgasmic mass, or else a massive orgy. “No. No, it definitely looks nozhing like zhe German sector.”

“Then drink up,” Michael put the mug into his hand. “If you can handle it.”

“Pleaze,” Gabriel chuckled, pretending to be calmer than he was. “I’fe been drinkink since I vas four years old.”

Michael hesitated in drinking his own beverage as Gabriel downed half the alcohol in one solid gulp. “Since you were four?”

Gabriel nodded. “Mein Großvater or I mean… vat is father of my father?”

“Grandfather,” Michael smirked.

“Ja, him,” Gabriel nodded. “ My Granvater geve me a… how do you call it a child’s cup with zhe plaztic lid?”

“A sippy cup?” Michael laughed. “Unreal.”

“Ja, a sippy cup. He fill zhis vith bier and geve it to me vid lid, so I vouldn’t vaste the bier, “Gabriel nodded, sipping at the mug and then said as if realizing it could be a source of shame. “But only on special occasions. Vhen do the New York sector citizens begin to drink?”

“Legally? Twenty one,” Michael replied, with a small level of chagrin.

“Twenty one?” Gabriel rolled his eyes up to make certain he was translating correctly. “Vait. You mean, vhen you are tventy one years old. Like ten and zhen ten more?”

Michael chuckled as the German gestured with his fingers and then the New Yorker held up one more finger. “And one more… at least legally.”

“Und you?” Gabriel laughed. “You abided by zhis law, of course?”

“To an extent…” Michael shrugged.

“Zhen trust me,” Gabriel chuckled and finished his own drink. “I can hendle it.”

Michael shrugged and sipped at his own beer. “This isn’t watered down, Gabe. Careful.”

“Gehen Sie weg. Germans do not vater down zhier bier,” Gabriel protested, not aware that he was switching languages.

Michael set down his mug and nodded to the floor. “Come dance with me.”

Gabriel instantly sobered again. “No.”

“Why not?” Michael smirked. “Don’t Germans dance?”

“Zhat is not denzing,” Gabriel pointed, condescendingly over his shoulder. “Zhat is…heving sex vhile standing.”

Michael leaned closer, allowing his hands to glide over Gabriel’s chest almost without making the effort to touch him. Gabriel shivered when the New Yorker whispered in his ear. “Come dance with me, Gabriel.”

Gabriel accidentally allowed himself to be pulled off the bar stool and towards the boiling dance floor. “Zhis is a very bed place…”

Having never been to a place quite like this, Gabriel was not certain what to do when he stood on the dance floor with Michael. Not that there was anyone to notice the fact that Gabriel was not dancing. Everyone seemed lost either inside of themselves or inside the eyes of their partner.

Michael noticed his awkwardness immediately and laughed at him. “Just relax, Gabe. Do what everyone around you is doing; you’re good at that.”

“My name is Gabriel. Not Ziggy. Not Gabe,” The German muttered harshly and then sighed. “I am sorry. I am just… a little uncomfortable…”

Michael nodded, “I understand. You’re worried about getting home, first time in a strange place. Just try to relax. Enjoy yourself. Move your body.”

He demonstrated with an especially slippery sway of his upper body. Gabriel caught himself smiling at the snake-like movement and then laughing as Michael continued to dance purposefully bad. He eventually held up a hand and caught Michael by his shoulder. “Okay, now you are beink too silly.”

“Then you better show me how to dance,” Michael replied.

Very shyly, Gabriel began to mimic the men around him, starting slow with just the swaying of his hips and the counterbalancing sways of his arms. There was no moment of perceptible change but soon Gabriel was no longer trying to follow the other men, but moving to the pulse within him.

Michael could tell that the alcohol had gotten to his partner’s head. The German was not drunk, not yet, and he was far from giddy, not even any more talkative than usual. But there was something different, more approachable about the man suddenly. His eyes wandered more, his face was less like stone, and as the music swelled through him, his body grew slacker. Michael noticed the sparkle of alcohol in the man’s icy blue eyes, the expression that was almost trusting. It made him bold.

Michael set his hands on the other man’s hips as they swayed together, pulling their bodies closer to collision. Gabriel was dangerously compliant, his body a puppet in Michael’s capable hands. Michael took advantage and continued to gradually draw him closer and closer, further and further in the sudden motion of the hedonistic dance. Their bodies were rubbing close now, until Michael’s hands were locked tightly around Gabriel’s waist and his fingers sank lower. Gabriel gasped with surprise when the other man’s hands settled firmly below his lower back and Michael urged his strong thigh in between Gabriel’s knees. The German melted under the intimate contact, his head swimming as Michael continued to rock their bodies together, urging Gabriel’s legs farther apart.

The music continued to swell between them, closing the distances that both men had kept, until Gabriel quietly laid his head on the other man’s shoulder to stop the spinning that his lust had begun. They could get no closer and he gasped, breathless. “Michael, ve must stop.”

Michael only laughed at the idea, pressing his leg a little harder into the slight man. “Must we?”

“I guess not,” Gabriel acknowledged, sighing into the man’s shoulder.

Gabriel sighed allowing the man to grind his thick body between his thighs. He simply closed his eyes, pretending that he wasn’t part of the situation, just a nameless, faceless body enjoying the hedonism of the moment. He existed only for the sensual sensation thrusting against his pelvis; the luxury of that public closeness was arousing in a way completely foreign to him. He opened his eyes only when Michael shifted away in the dance pulling away to instruct Gabriel in a new step.

For a moment, the young man’s sanity returned and he was aware that he should not be letting someone hold his hips the way Michael was, or rock his body back and forth the way Michael was, or assault his lips the way Michael was. The kiss was more erotic than anything; even in this den of grinding bodies, the kiss was too public. It completed the wantonness of their lascivious act. It dazed him with arousal.

He was only vaguely aware when Michael rolled his body around so that the German’s narrow back was pressed against his broad front. The New Yorker’s hands dipped dangerously low and pressed their lower bodies as close as they could be with the layers of jean and linen between them. Gabriel titled his head back until he felt the comfort of Michael’s shoulder and he shivered when he felt the man’s mouth lightly brush across his skin. He wasn’t even aware that Michael had danced them into a corner until he was pressing up into a pillar.

Gabriel was startled by the realization that they had actually crossed the floor and he hadn’t been aware. He glanced back towards Michael, wanting to beg for him to stop, to continue, to share a bit his sense of control. He ended up speechless, forgetting how to speak any language. Michael answered his unspoken request by kissing him fully on the mouth, a teasing kiss unlike anything Gabriel had ever experienced. The young man lost himself again and slipped back into the sumptuousness of this forbidden encounter.

The sensations grew at an alarming rate, overpowering Gabriel. He was only vaguely aware of the hardness of the pillar in front of him, of the warmth of Michael’s lips on his neck, the other man’s pelvis grinding into his, of his own hands sliding up and down the smooth pillar in rhythm with the movements of the music and the pulsing lights. His hands slide lower until they were no longer near his head but near his thighs, pressing tightly between his legs, his forearms resting against the pillar. He was only thinking of the rising pleasure in his groins than in a moment would not be able to be controlled. He tried desperately to find any word that would signal his oncoming rush to his lover… dancing partner… business partner… Michael. He was overwhelmed by the place, by the music, the bodies, the sex clinging to the air and exploding around him as he burst in silent and shattering orgasm.

The sensation whipped through him and pulled him into a brief moment of complete euphoria that he only acknowledged with a tiny whimper. He wanted to reach into his trousers and bring himself to softness but he was suddenly too keenly aware of the people around him to remember his pleasure.

Gabriel held the pillar with shock and fear when he realized what had just happened and prayed that no one else noticed. He looked around instantly back to himself and filled with shame and fear. No one was looking, no one seemed to notice and Michael, somehow unaware of the sweeping bliss he’d inspired, was still kissing his neck and whispering into his shoulder words that Gabriel didn’t understand.

Eventually he remembered the foreign association of the foreign words. “Still upset that you missed your train, Gabriel?”

Gabriel shivered suddenly more aware than ever of the danger that the foreigner represented. The entire world around him was a dangerous prison and he’d been lead into it blindly by the disarming smile of the man holding him with startling intimacy. He felt uneasy and physically ill and he was surprised at how easily Michael released him when he pushed away. The ease of the New Yorker’s retreat made him feel even sicker; if Michael had refused to release him then it would be easier to say that Michael was responsible for the danger that Gabriel was sliding into. He was fully aware that this game was going to lead him into Michael’s bed and he was frightened by how much he was enjoying the tantalizing play in between. He managed to turn and face the man once more before he said weakly, resignedly. “Zhis is enough. I want to go to your home now…”

Michael realized at once that he’d taken everything to fast. He was worried about the weakness in the man’s flushed face and the quiet in his quick breath. “Gabriel, are you okay?”

Gabriel may not have heard his question. He may have mistranslated the question. He repeated, stronger, with more of his familiar chill. “I said I want to go now.”

“Okay,” Michael nodded, guiding the man back through the crowds of people. “I’ll hail a cab.”

Inside the cab everything was silent. The trip to Michael’s apartment would cost more with the taxi but they didn’t have to wait for the bus or walk the extra block of so. Gabriel said nothing staring out the window and Michael didn’t press him, groaning into his hands, knowing that he’d pushed the man far enough for one night.

He would apologize in the morning. Tell him that he hadn’t meant to insult him, only that he had liked him before he knew he was gay and after he found out… It didn’t matter. Gabriel probably didn’t care. He’d wake up and leave the guest room regally and command something for breakfast or else simply demand to be returned to his sector, like a prince taken hostage by coarse pirates, now rising above the vulgarity they’d subjected him too, and hanging them when their ransom was won. And Michael would bring him home, of course, the first chance he got. The last thing he wanted was to offend Gabriel any more.

It wouldn’t change their work, of course. Gabriel would return to his cold shell and everything would be the same as it ever was. It was the silence of now that Michael couldn’t stand. At length, he looked over to the reticent man and cleared his throat. “Listen, Gabriel. I didn’t mean to… uh, upset you tonight. I just…”

“Don’t vorry about it,” Gabriel darted his eyes to the review mirror watching the driver, suspicious of him.

Michael shifted a little nearer, his hand dangerously near to Gabriel’s hand. “Well, I am worried…”

Gabriel turned to him and glared with such animosity that Michael drew back like a dog that had been struck.

The New Yorker did not dare speak to him, not certain what he had done wrong but certain that it was something big. He did not get the courage to speak again until the taxi stopped and Gabriel headed up the walk, towards the wrong apartment building. “Um… Gabriel, it’s across the street.”

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at the New Yorker and then to the building across the street. “Zhat is a very tall building. I did not tink you could afford such a place.”

“I can afford about half of the eight floor,” Michael grinned.

“Oh, I see,” Gabriel exhaled unimpressed and regarded the taxi driver that had not yet driven away. “Zhis is most inconvenient. It is too bed zhat I missed zhe train back into my own sector.”

Michael nodded. “I meant to apologize about that...” Michael grabbed the back of his neck as the car pulled away.

Gabriel glanced over to him. “You already did, in zhe taxi.”

“I actually meant… in the cab I meant the club,” Michael replied with a lame shrug.

Gabriel half-smiled, the expression stunned Michael with its warmth and unexpectedness. “You don’t heve to apologize for zhat.”

He was crossing the street before Michael could demand an explanation for the subtle change. That did not stop him from trying to make sense of him. “Wait, a second.”

He fell into step besides the quick stepping German. “You aren’t mad at me for taking you to that club?”

Gabriel turned on his heel, walking a pace backwards. He glanced about him and then shook his head. “No. I heve a goot time. I just heve too much to drink too soon. But now I am bettur.”

“You wouldn’t talk to me the whole way in the cab.” Michael reminded.

Gabriel hesitated before the clear glass door of the apartment building. “Zhe driver…”

Michael tilted his head when Gabriel’s tone seemed to change again as the doorman opened the glass panel for Gabriel. He sounded almost like a man interrupting himself. “Vas a very good driver. I disagree.”

“I didn’t say he was a bad driver,” Michael replied, nodding to the doorman. “Hey, Joe. He’s with me.”

“Michael, are you in for the night?” The door man wondered. “Awfully early for you.”

“I thought I’d let you go to bed early, mom,” Michael chuckled, then nudged Gabriel. “Go ahead, Siggy. The elevators are over there.”

Gabriel spoke in a very low whisper. “You must be a very influential citizen… he didn’t even check for my I.D.”

“He doesn’t have too,” Michael replied. “Now what’s your problem with the cab driver.”

The German shrugged. “He could hear our conversation. I did not think it vas vise to speak too much to you.”

Michael stopped short, the explanation of Gabriel’s behavior around a third party suddenly very clear. “Christ, you’re crazy. This is New York, you paranoid bastard! No one is spying on us to make sure that we aren’t talking about something we shouldn’t be.”

Gabriel flushed a little redder, entering the elevator. “Oh… sorry. It must be hebit…”

“That’s a fuckin weird habit.” Michael muttered as he pressed the button to his floor blandly.

Gabriel stood at perfect attention for a moment, and then leaned closer to whisper. “Do zhey listen in elevators here?”

“No,” Michael replied, stoutly. “That’s illegal.”

“Oh,” Gabriel said a little louder, but didn’t bother to use the new freedom until they reached the fifth floor. “It is illegal to listen?”

“Citizens have the right to privacy,” Michael nodded. “No one’s watching either.”

“So... it is being recorded but not monitored?” Gabriel tried again to understand.

“Nothing is recording us. No one else will ever hear or see that elevator trip,” The door opened and Michael stepped out of the tiny room and into a hall not much bigger that held the space between his side of the eight floor and his nearest neighbors.

Gabriel stood in the elevator stunned by the notion. “Zhat is an interesting idea…”

“Fundamental right here,” Michael smiled, as he unlocked the door to his room. He glanced back and noticed the slight trace of fear pass through Gabriel’s blue eyes. He smiled reassuringly. “I promise you’re safe though.”

Gabriel said nothing gliding past him into the spacious flat. He nodded approvingly at the room and waited for Michael to close the door. “So, no cameras in here either?”

“No cameras anywhere,” Michael replied, tossing his keys into the ashtray on the counter next to the door. He began to walk away from the door and towards the kitchen. He planned on playing host about to offer Gabriel food, drink, a tour, and clean sheets. He was caught off guard when Gabriel thwarted his attempt to leave the doorway by stepping into him and suddenly fiercely kissing him.

Like everything else about the slight man’s conscious actions, his kiss was intense. There was no hesitation in his movements, just a sudden nearly over powering lust. Michael found more passion in that sudden kiss than some of his less memorable lovers had to offer for an entire night. He felt dexterous hands playing over his chest and felt his coat being pushed from his shoulders. He did some pushing of his own and severed their contact before he could lose all sense of continuity to the sudden sweltering heat. “Whoa… uh, Gabriel. I wasn’t expecting…”

“I’d heve to be an idiot to belief zhat,” Gabriel’s eyes were dangerously seductive when he pulled his body closer again holding Michael’s coat lapels. He seemed irritated but that was merely an afterthought. “You heve been toying vid me all night. I know vhat you vant. And I am as willing as you.”

Michael nodded, placing his hands on the man’s hips. “Well, that’s good to know. I was just caught off guard… kind of forceful there.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I von’t be… forceful again,” Gabriel replied, allowing his body to simply slide against Michael’s when the New Yorker’s hands settled around his waist. “I’ll do vhatever you like… just as long as I can heve your body inside me.”

“I never realized just how sexy your accent was…” Michael exhaled audibly and licked his lips, glancing down at the slender body being served to him. “Sounds like you’ve been thinking about this…”

“Unfortunately,” Gabriel replied, casting his eyes down with more shame than he intended to reveal.

Michael chuckled, not agreeing the statement. He kissed Gabriel lightly. “So you don’t want anything to eat or drink?”

Gabriel stroked his hands over the other man’s chest. “No.”

Michael swallowed the word, amazed. “Just show you the way to the bedroom?”

“Ja,” Gabriel nodded. “Zhat could vork.”

Gabriel shivered when Michael slipped away from him and nodded his head towards the hallway. There was something deliciously sinful about the way Michael took his hand and lead him away. It reminded him of playing games as a child when someone always grabbed his hand and tugged him along. Something innocent and playful in the gesture that lead him into Michael’s bedroom. There was very little that was innocent in the kiss that Michael gave him when they reached that room.

When he pulled away from the kiss, Michael groaned a deep throaty sound that meant only one thing in any language and Gabriel detached from him again with a slim smile. The German licked his lips a moment and glanced down to his shirt, unbuttoning as quickly as he could, his sole aim to get out of his clothes.

“W…wait a minute,” Michael chuckled and reached out an arm to stop him.

Gabriel looked up at him amazed, “ I vas…”

“I know,” Michael smiled. “Let me help.”

He leaned closer wrapping his arms around the narrow waist and pulling the stiff shirt out of the beige pants. “Or at least take it off sexily.”

“Huh?” Gabriel was not really asking for a response, when Michael’s lips came down on his neck, nibbling lightly as he finished unbuttoning the shirt. He momentarily forgot English again and muttered. “Wie kannten Sie meine Schwäche?”

“Huh?” Michael drew away from the kiss, running his hands between Gabriel’s skin and the unbuttoned shirt. Gabriel gasped lightly near his ear surprised by the intimate touch, but said nothing to respond to the question.

Michael quickly forgot about the other man’s lapse of English gliding his hands up his smooth back, running his fingers in the dip where his backbone arched and shivered with Gabriel’s unconscious squirming. Michael continued to reach up until he was cupping Gabriel’s shoulders and then he slipped his hands down the man’s arm, caressing every inch of skin as he slipped the shirt slowly away. He lightly dropped the white shirt onto the bench next to the door. Gabriel turned to stare at it as if he were surprised that it was gone. Michael dipped his hands back onto the softness of Gabriel’s skin kissing his neck again. It was a sensual gesture and smooth as the linen that Michael’s fingers were pulling away from Gabriel’s back.

The German man raised his hand, hesitant, but daring enough to lay his hands on Michael’s shoulders. He looked down and watched as Michael unbuttoned his trousers and slipped them down. His hands emptied unexpectedly as Michael slipped down to his knees before him. Gabriel gasped from his protest, but could form no words until Michael lightly licked at the front of his damp underwear. “Michael, vait…”

Michael looked up at him, darting his tongue out and tracing the outline of Gabriel’s thigh. “For what?”

Gabriel had no answer, though his eyes cast about for one. He stopped searching when Michael dipped his mouth around the head of his erection through his underwear. He groaned lightly at the gentle lapping sensation and had no reply with Michael murmured into his groin. “Tastes like you’re ready for this.”

“Oh, your obscene…” Gabriel sighed, dropped his head back and feeling his legs giving out. He wavered but caught himself on Michael’s broad shoulders. He hoped his partner wouldn’t notice.

He had no such luck. “You okay?”

“Ja,” Gabriel nodded. “Just a little veak on my knees.”

Michael looked up at him amused and loving and pressed one more kiss to his lover’s aching groin. He pulled down the creamy smoothness of the German’s panties and brushed his hands over Gabriel’s naked legs. “God, you have a good body.”

“Thanks,” Gabriel murmured, breathing easier when Michael stood again.

He began to lift his hands back to Michael’s shoulders comfortable hiding his body against Michael’s clothed form but Michael gently pushed him back towards the bed. He didn’t argue with his lover’s intentions, sinking gracefully into the sheets Michael pulled aside for him and tucking his body in between the cotton with a strangely mechanical action. He kept holding onto Michael, expecting him to fall down with him. Michael only chuckled and ran a hand across Gabriel’s body, reaching down to pull the German’s socks away.

Michael was again startled by Gabriel’s complacency. The man lay where he’d been placed, shifting only slightly into a more comfortable, or perhaps more provocative pose. He watched Michael expectantly, as if waiting for his next cue to come. Michael was more than baffled by his strange lover, considering the passion in the club, the silence in the cab, the intensity in the doorway and then this patient waiting. He shook his head. “You’re a strange man, Gabriel.”

The other chuckled and smiled. “It is funny, because I vas thinkink zhe same zhing about you… only in German.”

Michael laughed with the slender man in his bed and then dropped to his knees again. Gabriel stiffened alarmed. “Vhat are you doing…”

“Finishing what I started,” Michael smirked, leaning his mouth back down to Gabriel’s groin. He tapped his tongue over the edge of his swelled member, tickling the hard ridges that had formed. “I like the taste.”

Michael was fascinated by Gabriel’s reaction. As Michael traced his tongue up and down the man’s ruddy length, Gabriel was trying desperately to keep from gasping and crying out. He was holding his breath and making the most painful faces Michael had ever seen. The New Yorker laughed at him and lightly kissed the head of his lover’s swelling body. “I did mention that there are no cameras and such in here, right?”

He found the crevice on Gabriel’s groin where his erection was laying against his stomach and licked a deep track from root to tip along that line, rubbing half his tongue on the man’s abdomen and earning a breathy gasp. “You don’t have to hold it all back.”

“Michael, you must stop,” Gabriel put his hands down on the man’s shoulders to hold him still before he could return to his pleasuring exploration.

“Why?” Michael smirked and took just the head of his lover’s swelling erection into his mouth. He sucked for a moment until Gabriel was moaning again in supplication. “Got a secret your not telling me?”

Gabriel shook his head. “I feel like I’m… you’re still dressed and… I’m about to…”

Michael felt his own body stir as he pieced together Gabriel’s hesitations. “So let go, man. Like I told you early, relax. Just go with what feel good.”

“I am not used to zhat,” Gabriel sighed again when Michael’s hot mouth enveloped him. That complete sensation of pleasure was something unfamiliar to him and when Michael drew his entire member deep into his throat and sucked deeply, he lost any control he had. The orgasm swirled through him again and flooded into his lover’s throat and he was instantly taken in with his embarrassment for erupting so prematurely. “Sorry… I meant to…”

The aftershocks of his own orgasm rocked through him with a new wave of pleasure when Michael crawled up his body and kissed him. He rubbed his powerful clothed body over Gabriel’s vulnerable nakedness and shared the taste of skin and come with his lover. He drew away from the kiss mesmerized by the dazedly aroused expression on his young lover’s face. “It’s okay, Gabriel. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

He ran his hands over Gabriel’s thin chest, rubbing his muscles and toying mildly with the man’s strikingly red nipples. Gabriel moaned deeper in his throat as if assured and aroused by something more familiar and Michael gently lowered his mouth to kiss his lover’s bony chest and ribs. He was suddenly reminded of Gabriel’s lame hands when the man hesitantly lifted one of his finger to the rub against his lovers thighs. Michael pulled slightly away, and regarded the man who seemed barely able to breath. “Gabriel, you have had sex before right?”

“Oh definitely. I…” Gabriel titled his head and then laughed, partly offended by the notion, but mostly amused. He was a tongue trip away from a further description but he stopped because Michael had arched his body away and was running his hand around the rim of his jeans. Gabriel watched, amazed, not certain if the New Yorker was inviting him to touch, or simply adjusting his jeans. When he began to slowly strip his shirt away, Gabriel felt his mouth grow dry and forgot what he was talking about. “Oh… that is vhat you meant… sexily…”

There was a sensual snake-like grace to the way Michael undressed himself. He pulled the dark shirt over his head swiftly and cast it to a side in the same gesture and Gabriel was vaguely reminded of some pictures of men that he had once found accidentally on the internet. Michael slowed a little then, displaying his broad mannish body without hesitation. He looked something like a god kneeling over Gabriel’s body that way, with his naked chest rising out of his tight jeans and the dark covering of hair crisp and neat curling over his thick body.

Gabriel’s adam’s apple caught in his throat and he tucked his fingers under his thighs to prevent himself from touching the man, as Michael slid out of the bed and out of his jeans. Gabriel could only stare as he shrugged out of his jeans and pushed them to the floor. He was helpless to move his eyes from the other man’s thick and uncut body as Michael took his own member into his hand and idly began to masturbate. “Mein Gott, sind Sie schön…”

Michael chuckled and put on knee on the bed, sagging forward to kiss Gabriel again. “If you’re gonna keep making fun of me in German, I’m gonna make you sleep on the sofa.”

“I am not makink fun of you,” Gabriel lifted his hands in an innocent protesting way. It was only because Michael’s body was close that his fingers ended up touching the man hovering above him. His hands glued to his large chest immediately. “I vas… saying how beautiful you were… like in the stachues. Only…”

He shivered and ran his hands over the dark collection of hair running from the man’s collarbone to groin. “More… just more. I like this…”

Michael ran his own fingers trippingly across Gabriel’s smooth chest. “What? Chest hair?”

“Ja,” Gabriel nodded. “I do not see many men with this much… or such strong bodies. So dark…”

His hands shifted back farther cupping the other man’s ribs as if impressed with their size. His eyes drifted lower to the large erection swinging near his parted thighs. He licked his lips and daringly shifted his knees so that his legs were on either side of Michael’s heavy thighs. He hoped his invitation was not too forceful and brought his gaze immediately to Michael’s deep brown eyes to gage his response.

Michael smiled down at him and kissed his lips lightly. “I really need to loosen you up.”

“No, you don’t,” Gabriel protested. “I’m ready now, if you are.”

The New Yorker laughed into the slim man’s neck, pulling Gabriel closer and shaking both of their bodies with the short sharpness of his laughter. “That’s not what I meant, Siggy. But as long as your on the subject, I plan on taking this slow. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Okay…” Gabriel looked up at him beginning to catch his breath again, but still fascinated by the other man’s body pressed so hard against him. He wondered almost detachedly, if Michael would let him explore his body the way he wanted to; if it was more acceptable for him to ask here than it was at home. When he felt Michael’s hand slide down his back and dip in between his legs, he shivered with anticipation and lifted his legs wider. “I’ve looked forward to this…”

He realized that he was speaking to softly for Michael to hear but he didn’t bother to repeat himself when he didn’t receive the intrusion he was looking forward too, instead feeling something wet and warm and tiny pressing into his body. “Vhat is…”

“Sorry,” Michael drew one hand away, leaving the other to remain gently massaging and spreading Gabriel’s body. He held up a small bottle of oil that he kept stored on the headboard. “I guess I should have warned you first.”

“Vat is that?” Gabriel shifted slightly, lifting his hands to take the bottle.

Michael shifted his hand farther away and chuckled tipping the oil over onto Gabriel’s bare chest. “Nothing too sinister.”

Gabriel gulped lightly when Michael slipped his hand into the oil and massages it into his skin. He moaned and rolled his head back under the tender touch. “Zhis feels good.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Michael smirked and leaned closer to kiss him again, distracting him with the kiss while he rubbed the oil over his hands. He dipped his hands down to Gabriel’s thighs and chuckled when the German startled in his arms and jumped into him. He kissed his neck, easing him by stroking his cool slippery hands over Gabriel’s tense thighs. “Relax.”

“I can not,” Gabriel resisted, urging his body closer. “Not until you are inside of me. Please, Michael. I heve vaited all night for zhis. Ever since… you first kissed me, I guess…”

Michael continued to nibble lightly at the man’s cheek and ear, delighting in the tiny shivers of tension he felt breaking through Gabriel. He enjoyed the trembling strains of the man’s body but he wanted to sooth it away. He dipped one well-oiled finger into the man’s body and was pleased by the instant acceptance he received.

When Gabriel groaned this time it was without trepidation, a soft growling need close to his ear and wanting. The man cooed as Michael continued to stretch his body, preparing him and rubbing his lower back with his free hand, still impressed by the stress shivering through his lover’s slender body. “You are the most tense man I have ever touched.”

“Sorry,” He gasped, quietly as if he expected punishment to come after his remark.

Michael only kissed him deeper, sliding another finger along the man’s thin crease. He drank from Gabriel’s lips, feeling his sighs and soft moans when he dipped his second finger into the man’s body.

Gabriel gripped at his knees suddenly and lifted his body higher. “Please, Michael. Stop teasing me.”

The New Yorker looked down at his lover’s needing expression. He felt that everything was moving too suddenly, but maybe for the German this was uncomfortably slow. He considered the fact that these men weren’t even allowed to touch in public and he’d been touching Gabriel ever since they’d been at the bus station.

It was the pout in the man’s lips though, that pushed Michael past his minor hesitation. Gabriel had been biting his lips so hard, there the marks were visible in his dark red lips. Michael pushed his two fingers deeper, reaching over Gabriel’s head with his free hand to retrieve a condom he had hidden there.

Gabriel watched him slip the plastic barrier around his swelled body and almost wished that Michael didn’t care enough to use protection. He lifted his hips higher, anticipating a sudden entrance that would quench the desire flaming into him. Instead Michael was slow to take his fingers away and ever slower to dip his thick head into his body. The deliberate taunting drove Gabriel to insanity. He wanted to grab the man and force him inside of him, but he didn’t dare move. Not with a man so much more powerful than he lurking over him; Michael could have done anything he wanted, no matter how sick and violent, and there would be no one nearby to come to Gabriel’s aid. He exhaled heavily when at long last, Michael’s body penetrated him deep and slow.

It was Michael’s turn to hold his breath sinking into a tightness unlike anything he’d ever felt. Gabriel was so tense, so unprepared. They both loved it. Gabriel pushed him farther, rocking his hips higher and whispering things in his high voiced desperate language...a kind of need that Michael had never heard from a German speaker.

His own groaned rippled through the body of them; their bodies we so close. When he was deep inside his lover, he felt like he was breathing for both of them, for Gabriel’s body moved with his. He tried to lean back realizing that he was crushing the smaller man, but Gabriel wrapped himself tighter, his legs and arms slowly slipping to cover his lover’s back. Gabriel urged his own hips back and forth in a slight circle, barely able to move but able to make his desire known. Michael accepted the first signs of attention Gabriel had really given him all night and was surprised at how deeply aroused he was when Gabriel flicked his voice out with his last hesitation. “Go on, Michael. Fuck me.”

“You sexy little bastard,” Michael was not certain where the groan came from but he did what he was asked.

Gabriel reeled from the heat that Michael began to build up to. There was such a deep passion in him, so deep that it swelled to the surface of his body and actions with the slightest suggestion. Gabriel was overwhelmed by the sensation. Michael didn’t simply unleash his lust the way Gabriel was used to; he released it slowly over time, allowing it steep and bubble into such a warm passion that it was all enveloping. Gabriel could only clutch at his lover and sigh into Michael’s rolling body and affectionate kisses. He couldn’t remember ever being kissed that tenderly by a man buried that deep with in his body. It was a delightfully sensual cycle and Gabriel was almost unhappy when Michael broke it by groaning headily into his shoulder. Still he curled his arm higher on Michael’s back, pressing his head into his shoulder and not permitting him to lift his head to kiss him again. The German could only breathe in more and more arousal and ride out the storm that was Michael Averill.

Michael was surprised when Gabriel began to writhe more frantically beneath him. He arched his back into the young man and thrust harder into him. Gabriel was coming again and he seemed terrified to realize it. Michael hid his amusement reaching down between them to begin to masturbate his lover. He muttered desirously coiling into the man’s body as he felt the German shuddering into another release. Gabriel fell back this time, allowing the orgasm to flood over him and take over his senses. The man looked angelic arching back and groaning as he finally allowed his body to release its fears.

The very image of Gabriel’s ecstatic liberation arouse Michael into his own orgasm. He pounded a little harder than he meant to, and flooded out of his body, feeling the pleasure echoed through ever area of his body as he sank deeper into Gabriel. He kept rocking slowly inside of him and running his coarse fingers up and down his lover’s length, until Gabriel was completely spent. He shifted away from the pale man shivering in his bed and dropped down next to him taking in a deep breath and letting it slide out again.

When he found his breath he looked over to his sated lover and wrapped an arm around him. Gabriel tensed again as he was pulled to his side and into the bulk of his lover, but he did not resist. His body was still quivering from the shock of his experience; he looked completely stunned by the sensations he felt. Michael kissed his shoulder lightly. “You’re trembling.”

“I am,” He admitted, but was not able to say anything else.

Michael chuckled at his breathless awe. “Sure you weren’t a virgin?”

Gabriel shook his head. “The man who checks my visitors in and out says I’m the most promiscuous man on the street… I must take a new lover every month or so… I was never unhappy with it… but now. But this… I’m startled by it. I think I would do anything for you, Michael. Let you do anything to me that you wanted…”

Michael ran his hand down the young man’s back, glad he had pleased him so, glad that the man was able to curl into him beginning to relax, even if it was just enough to lay his hand hesitantly over his lover’s chest. He would find a way to convince Gabriel there was no harm in feeling this pleasure. He would think of some way to show him how to enjoy his body.

He was not really expecting it when Gabriel sighed into his neck. “You heve no idea, how scared I am right now...”