Tangled : Part One

I dedicate this to my very good friend John.
Thank you for your unending encouragement and praise and for allowing me to use your Life Learning Words of Wisdom in the final chapter.
I am deeply indebted to you.

*** ONE : GREEN EYED bear.

What can I tell you about Lee. Nothing? Everything. I will tell you that when I first met him I disliked him intensely. Dislike turned to fascination, fascination to obsession and after that; well I'll get to that.

The first time that I saw Lee, he had a profound effect on my composure. Danny and I were at our favorite night spot, Pen Island in the East end. Pen Island is a rather nice club with a wonderful atmosphere and my friends and I discovered that it was the perfect place to meet for a bit of light-hearted fun. The owner Jim Oliver, has a wildly wicked sense of humor, hence the play on words when he named the club. Danny is my best friend and business partner. We had a romantic relationship a few years ago but found that we got on better as friends and partners so we called it quits and went into business together. We own and run an art gallery in the Village.

Me? I am twenty-nine, about five-ten with hazel eyes and light brown wavy hair which reaches my shoulder blades. I usually wear it tied back in a pony tail or under a bandanna but I occasionally like to let it hang loose. I have been told that I'm good looking but I tend not to believe everything that people tell me. I have a fairly well built physic, my legs being my best feature. Danny, who is the same age as me, has a slimmer build. He is about my height with a pale complexion but with very dark hair and brilliant violet eyes, a striking combination.

With his startling good looks he could have been a movie star. He does do the odd modeling job to make a bit of extra money.

On this particular Friday night, we were in our usual four-seat booth along with Darren and Clive, a couple we had known for years.

Unlike many of the guys in the club, we had no intention of looking for the odd pick up. That was not our style. We just wanted to have an evening of fun and laughter. The bar was full of the regular Friday night crowd - the Queens, the Bears and everything else in between.
Our conversation revolved around the attributes of the men in the club, which was our normal Friday night routine. That's when I saw him. The crowd thinned a little and I saw him sitting on a stool at the bar. I'd never seen him in Pen Island before so I found myself a little intrigued. I nudged Darren and asked him who the guy was. Darren turned and had a good look at him and then he leaned towards us, a wary look in his eye.

"That guy is bad news. His name's Lee I think, but don't even try talking to him."
"Why not?" I asked.
"He doesn't like gays."
"Then what the hell is he doing in a gay club?" Danny asked, puzzled.
"That's the irony of it; he’s . . wait for it . . he's gay!" Darren replied.

I took another long look at Lee. He was about thirty, thirty-one and tall, at least three or four inches taller than me and incredibly good looking. In fact he was probably the most striking man I'd ever seen. His dark honey-blond hair was longish and brushed in a casual, wind-blown style. Piercing dark eyes glared out from under his arched brows, the color difficult to determine as he concentrated his attention on the drink in front of him. His nose was straight and narrow and led one's eye down to fairly full lips which were curled into a contemptuous sneer. His jaw line was strong and his chin sported a deep dimple. He was wearing a sleeveless denim jerkin over a fashionably torn white T-shirt.

His body was very well defined under the T-shirt, his nipples pushed at the fabric and dark blond chest hair showed in the cleverly placed rips. His tanned muscular arms, dusted with gold hair, leaned on the bar, his strong hands wrapped around his beer can. His blue jeans showed off the generous bulge of his crotch and outlined his long, lean, muscular legs. A flash of tanned, hairy thigh showed through a strategic rip in the jeans. black worn cowboy boots finished off his outfit. On the whole he was an incredibly stunning man. He exuded an air of carefully studied casualness and with his good looks he was a sure magnet for every guy in that bar, but for some odd reason no-one approached him.

Without realizing it I was staring. My eyes traveled up his body to his face taking in every detail. I had to agree with my first impression, he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. My heart fluttered and I felt a deep stirring in my groin which surprised me because I had never felt anything like that at the first glimpse of any man. Suddenly he looked up across the room and straight into my eyes. My breath stopped in my throat as his brilliant eyes bored into mine. His irises were bright emerald green, a color that I had never seen in anyone's eyes before. They were mesmerizing. I tried to look away but couldn't.

His piercing eyes held me down, nailed me to my seat and burned into the back of my skull. I felt as if all my secrets were laid out for him to see. I felt invaded and stripped naked, that no part of me was safe from those brilliant probing eyes. He held my stare for so long that I thought he would never release me. I began to feel a little uncomfortable and I tried to look away again but I was pinned to my seat like a moth to a pin-board. Then his lips curled into a knowing smile and with a shake of his shaggy hair he dismissed me and turned his attention back to his drink. I looked down at my shaking hands on the table, my breath rasped in my throat, the noise in the club became an unbearable racket in my head. Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead. Danny looked at me, concern on his face.

"Hey David, what's wrong? Are you okay? You've gone very white."
I looked up at him stricken.
"I . . . um . . . I just need some air."

I jumped up and bolted for the exit. As I passed the bar I risked a glance at Lee. He was watching my progress from under his brows, his eyes glowing like green flame, a small smug smile on his lips. I quickly looked away and picked up my pace. By the time I reached the door I was running. I tore out of the club, ran around the corner and propped myself against the wall. I felt light headed and hot and my breath was coming in great gasps. I tore my bandanna off my head and mopped my sweaty brow. Once I had my shaking hands and my erratic breathing under some sort of control I started to analyze my crazy reaction.

One look from him, that's all it had taken, one incredibly, penetrating look to break me down, tear me open and send me scampering out like a virgin schoolboy.
Okay; let's look at this logically.

Question: Why did I have such a wild, incomprehensible reaction to that one look?
Answer: I don't know.

Question: What was it about him that now stirred my fascination to such a high intensity?
Answer: I don't know.

Question: Why did he hold my gaze for so long, did I remind him of someone?
Answer: I don't know.

Question: Can I go back in there, face those startling green eyes again and risk being torn open once more?
Answer: I don't know.

That was a lot of "I don't knows".
I was too shaken to think this out properly so I decided on a Scarlet O'Hara, "I'll think about it tomorrow. After all tomorrow is another day."
"Davey? Davey, are you okay?"
It was Danny, sweet caring Danny, worried about me.

"I'm fine. I just needed some air. It's so hot and steamy in there." I made a pretense of fanning my face with my bandanna.
"Really?” Danny replied giving me an odd look. “I hadn't noticed."
"Let's go back in." I said, not wanting him to know how shaken up I really was.
"Okay. Sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine." I reassured him.

With that we went back into the club.

We pushed through the crowd to make our way back to our booth. I kept my eyes on the floor, not wanting to risk looking into those mesmerizing eyes again when suddenly I bumped into someone.
"Oh I am so sorry!" I said and looked up; straight into those blazing, brilliant green eyes.

Lee held my gaze yet again for way too long. Up close he was beyond striking, he was breath-taking.

"Hmph!" He grunted as his eyes undressed me. Again I tried to break his gaze but his eyes held me down. He stepped back slightly, broke eye contact and looked me up and down like I'd crawled out from under a stone.
“Hmph!” He grunted again and pushed past me and went back to his seat at the bar. I got a hint of his scent as he brushed by me. A spicy cologne mixed with an underlying feral, manly scent. It made my head swim and I felt a deep seated arousal that I had never felt before.

Danny dragged me back to the booth and I flopped down into the seat, a little dizzy from the contact.
"Wow, that guy's not very friendly, is he?" Danny remarked.
"What?" I asked dazedly.

"You'll never guess what he just did?" Darren said excitedly.
"What?" I asked again, trying to focus.
"What he did after you took off like a scalded cat." Darren quipped barely able to hide his excitement.

I looked up at him uncomprehendingly.
"What?"
"Mr. Denim there watched your every move when you tore out of here." Darren replied.
"What?" I said again.

"Stop saying 'what' like that, you sound weird and it's getting boring." quipped Clive.
"Shut it Clive. The man's obviously upset about something, give him a break. You're not helping." Darren snapped.
"Sorry!" Clive apologized.
"Darren what the hell happened?" I asked, a little peeved.

"Okay. After Danny went out after you, Mr. Denim saunters over and plops himself down right there where you're sitting. He asks who you two guys are and I say to him, "The long haired guy is Davey and the guy with him is Danny," and he just says "Okay thanks," and then he wanders off. No explanations, nothing. That's when you walked into him. That's it. Weird, huh?"

I stared at Darren.
"Why?" I asked.
"Oh God!" Clive sighed, "Now he's starting in on the whys."
"Clive will you quit it." Darren snapped.
"Okay sorry!" Clive said tartly.
"Darren get on with it." I urged.
Darren shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea why he did it, and I don't know what he wanted neither."
"Weird!" Danny remarked softly.
"I must say he's incredibly cute though. Fantastic eyes." Darren quipped.

Conversation resumed without much contribution from me. My head was spinning from the crazy thoughts that were buzzing around in it. I took a sneaky look at Lee again but he had gone. We left a little while later. At home I discovered a large wet patch of pre-come in my shorts. Weird. Sort of sexy, but just a little bit weird.

His green eyes haunted me through the week. I could not put his face out of my mind. Never in my life had anyone had such a deep seated effect on me. It scared me a little. By the time the weekend came around again I had decided that the best course was to try and avoid any further contact with him.

That Friday Danny suggested Pen Island again but I begged out. I didn't want to take the slightest risk of running into Lee once more because of the effect he might have on me.

*** TWO : GROPE IN THE DARK.

Two weeks went by before I saw him again. Danny dragged me down to Pen Island on the Saturday evening. As I walked in, I scanned the club for Lee and much to my relief I did not see him. I relaxed and joined in with the banter between the guys. We were just settling down to another evening of fun and laughter when Lee walked in and sat down at the bar. He ordered a drink and sat there nursing it the rest of the evening, glancing in our direction occasionally. I watched him through my hanging hair. Thank God I had left it loose for a change, so I was able to cast quick sideways glances through it in his direction. He seemed to be mainly interested in what was happening around the bar.

After a while I stopped looking at him and I tried desperately to pretend that he wasn't there, but I kept having the feeling that I was being watched. This was confirmed a little later when Clive leaned across the table and said, "Someone's snaking you David."

He nodded in Lee's direction and smirked. I risked a glance in his direction. My eyes met his very briefly but he quickly looked away. I was a little surprised at this small turn of events. I had expected to be nailed to my seat once again by those amazingly penetrating eyes.
Later as we were leaving, by pure coincidence Lee was just ahead of us. I couldn’t help but notice that he had a really cute butt. As he pushed his way through the crowd, I saw his wallet slip out of his back pocket and drop to the floor. I picked it up and turned to Darren when we were outside. The leather of the wallet was warm from contact with his body, and I thrilled to think that I was holding something that had been pressed up against his tight butt.

"Denim dude dropped this. Don't you want to take it to him?" I asked, pushing the image of Lee’s butt to the back of my mind.
He shook his head. "No way, I'm not going to be talking to that tight-ass. You go."
"Darren, don't be such an idiot, just take it to him okay." I said.

"Nope." He said adamantly. "He's been eyeballing you all night so you go already."
He pushed me in Lee's direction. I shrugged and gave chase, his wallet clutched in my hand. I caught up to him half a block down the street.
"Excuse me!" I called.

He stopped and turned as I ran up to him breathlessly and then without warning, he grabbed me and shoved me up against the wall. His forearm went across my chest and pinned me down. The breath flew out of my lungs with a whoosh. His green eyes bored into mine and nailed my head to the wall.

"Well if it isn't the pretty little rent-boy. What do you want?" He hissed.

I gasped and tried to speak but I couldn't, partly because of my surprise at the turn of events and partly because his arm across my chest was pressing down on my lungs and I couldn't draw breath.
"Oh yeah." He growled. "I know exactly what all you pretty boys want."

"You don't understand." I gasped at last, finding it a little difficult to breathe. "I was . . !”
"Don't!" He rumbled and he put his free hand over my mouth.

I couldn't help but take in the scent of him again, his spicy cologne mixed with the pure male, animal smell of him. It made my head spin crazily and I immediately became highly aroused despite the situation.
"Let's have a good look at you." He said. "Do I get to check out the goods before I buy?" I tried to move again but I was pinned down helplessly. He smiled.

"Yeah, I guess I do. Just like buying a melon at the grocer. Or maybe a nice ham.” He laughed sourly. “You are just a piece of meat for sale after all."
I struggled, to no avail. He took a half step back, keeping me pressed against the wall with one arm while his other hand was still over my mouth. He looked me up and down and ripped my clothes off with those amazing eyes.

"Looks okay, really tasty." He smiled. "Let's check out the goods, shall we." He took his hand off my mouth, reached down and grabbed my crotch. I jumped with the shock of his hot hand on my balls. At the same time he clamped his mouth over mine, forced my lips open with his tongue and kissed me roughly. His lips were hot and moist and his tongue invaded my mouth while his hand unrelentingly groped every part of my groin. After a while he pulled away. I was too shocked to move, first at his actions and second, at my unbelievable response. To my horror I felt an erection growing in my pants.

"Hmm, also not so bad. You taste a little like . . cherries. Nice thick cock you’ve got there!" He quipped as he continued to roughly fondle my genitals through my jeans.
"Seems you're also ready and willing.” He remarked at the feel of my erection. “But I'm not buying tonight, so tough luck rent-boy."

Anger overtook my shock. I pulled back my arms and shoved him off me as hard as I could. He stumbled back, a look of surprise on his face.
"You bastard. Take your goddamn hands off me, I am not a hustler." I yelled as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "I was returning this." I threw his wallet on the ground. "You dropped it back at the club."

I stormed off and after a few steps I turned and yelled back at him, "What the hell is your problem?” I took a deep breath. “And where do you get off thinking that you're so goddamn wonderful that you think everyone is just lining up, waiting to be fucked by you.”
He bent and picked up his wallet and straightened. He glared at me and I thought that he was going to come back at me, but he didn't.
“And I'm not little!!” I yelled at him lamely. His eyebrows shot up and a small smile curled his lips. Then he gave me the finger, walked around the corner and was gone.

I leaned against the wall to gather my wits and to catch my breath. I thought about the absurdity of the incident and I suddenly burst out laughing. Partly from shock and partly from my ridiculous parting shot, ‘I'm not little!’
I stood propped up against the wall and giggled until the tears were running down my face.

After a moment, when I had gained some semblance of control I dragged myself home, humiliated and bruised. That night in bed sleep eluded me. My thoughts bounced around my skull with one question popping up constantly. What gave him the idea that I was a rent-boy and what was it about me that he seemed to despise so much? The second question which tried to push its way to the forefront of my mind was: why did I have such an unbelievably sexual response to him? I hadn’t failed to notice a rather large wet patch in my shorts yet again. This question I suppressed immediately. I really didn't want to even try and answer it. It was just a little too disturbing.

I made it my business to avoid Pen Island from then on.

To be continued.....