Love Everlasting

Philip goes to Louisiana hoping to recuperate from the devastating loss of an important case and ultimately his job. He checks in to an ante-bellum mansion for some R&R and is quickly swept into an erotic dream of a past life and a great and enduring love. During a violent storm Philip must choose between the present moment and the past as his great love reaches out to him from beyond the end of time.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Love Everlasting Copyright © 2011 Derek Adams ISBN: 978-1-55487-988-5 Cover art by Martine Jardin All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Published by eXtasy Books Look for us online at: www.eXtasybooks.com

Love Everlasting By Derek Adams

TO KRJ – Happy Halloween

“M

y God, Chamberlain. What the hell was that all about? What were you thinking?” “Sir, I…” “I don’t want to hear any excuses, Chamberlain. I left this up to you, man. I trusted you.” “Mr. Henderson, I can’t explain it. I did the research. I bird-dogged every witness, every piece of evidence. There is no way in hell that I could have missed that addendum to the contract. I’m willing to swear it just wasn’t there.” “Well, it was there, Chamberlain. Just ask the opposing counsel. Just ask the judge. For that matter, ask Ken Sexton.” “Ken?” Suddenly my gut felt hollow. Ken Sexton was a colleague. He and I had been vying for a partnership in the law firm for over five years. I knew he was driven, but it would never have occurred to me that he would go so far as to withhold evidence to undermine my position. “What has Ken got to do with this?” “He came to me just a few minutes ago. Right after the judge made her decision.” “If he knew something, why didn’t he come to me?” “He told me that he did talk to you, but you 1

Derek Adams weren’t interested in hearing him out. He said you told him to mind his own business.” “Why would I do that, Mr. Henderson? What did I stand to gain?” “I don’t have any more time to discuss this, Chamberlain. As far as I’m concerned, the matter is closed.” “But…” “It’s closed.” Mr. Henderson turned on his heel and stalked out of the courthouse. I walked around downtown for a couple of hours after my confrontation with Mr. Henderson. I was physically and mentally exhausted, on the verge of collapse. I couldn’t sleep. I was losing weight. My concentration was totally shot. Consolidated Mining vs. Winfield had dragged through the courts for months and when it finally came to judgment earlier today, I had lost on a technicality. The verdict devastated me because Mr. Henderson, the firm’s founder, had made it crystal clear at the outset that my future with the firm depended on a favorable outcome. He had hinted that they might ask me to become a junior partner if the case went our way. Based on his demeanor after we left the courtroom earlier this morning, I was convinced my chances of advancement were now null and void. When I returned to the office, Ken Sexton was the first person I ran into as I stepped off the 2

Love Everlasting elevator. “Why, Ken?” “Why what?” A supercilious smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. I felt like punching him. “Why did you fuck me over, that’s what.” “Hey, man, I just did what you or anybody else in my position would have done. I want that promotion and you’re the only thing standing in my way.” Oh well, at least the bastard was upfront about it. “How the hell did you even know about that document my case crashed on?” “You were careless.” “Careless? What was I careless about?” “Very simple, pal. One night we were both working late. You went down the hall with a pile of old documents from the archives and I just happened to notice that you dropped a couple of pieces of paper. All I did was pick them up.” “You must have known the significance of that information. How could you hold it back?” “Like I said—I’m ambitious. I want that partnership. Julie’s pregnant. That’ll be number three. I need the money and I need the security. Sorry, old buddy, but all’s fair when it comes to providing for my family. You’d have done the same if you were in my place.” “Actually, Ken, I wouldn’t.” “Well then, pal, you won’t be getting that corner 3

Derek Adams office either.” With that, Ken turned on his heel and walked away. It took all my self-restraint not to throw the heaviest thing I could lay hands on at his stinking head. After a few days of getting the cold-shoulder treatment from Henderson and the other partners, I tendered my resignation. I figured a clean break was simpler and healthier than a long, slow slide into limbo. After I had cleaned out my desk, I felt better, but I was still jumpy and strung-out. I definitely needed a vacation before I started to search for another position. The only trouble was I didn’t have a clue as to where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted total peace and quiet, but wasn’t sure how to find it. I almost threw the information away without reading it. It arrived in the mail, tucked in the middle of a stack of bills and Visa card applications. The whole stack was on its way to the recycling bin when I saw the postmark. Destrehan, Louisiana didn’t exactly ring any bells, but I did recall that one branch of my father’s family was from some little town not far from New Orleans. I picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. “Hey, Mom. How are you?” “I’m fine, sweetheart.” “Listen, Mom, I was just sitting here, going 4

Love Everlasting through my mail, when I came across something from a place called Cypress Grove. It’s apparently an old plantation near Destrehan, Louisiana that’s been converted into a guesthouse. Dad’s people were from around there, weren’t they?” “Phil, what are you doing going through your mail in the middle of the day? Why aren’t you at the office solving crimes?” “Mom, I’m a corporate lawyer, not a detective.” She had always had a fuzzy concept of my profession. “Phil darling, you know what I mean. Shouldn’t you be doing something about corporations then?” “I’m taking some time off,” I offered vaguely. I wasn’t quite up to telling her that I was currently unemployed. “I was hoping to find out what you know about Destrehan.” “Where?” She could be maddeningly vague at times. “Mom, please, just tell me what you know about Destrehan, Louisiana. I thought Dad had family there.” “I’m no expert on your father’s relations.” She somehow managed to load thirty years’ worth of marital baggage onto the word father. Mom was very good. “Of course, you could always just ask him. Oh, silly me, I forgot. He moved to California with that blonde bimbo with the fake bosoms who might just be barely half his age and now he has an 5

Derek Adams unlisted number. What was her name? Taffy? Candy? Treacle?” Mom’s voice rose in pitch and volume as she warmed to her topic. “You’re not in contact with that man, are you, dear?” “No, Mom, I haven’t talked to him.” I had not, in fact, talked to him. I had taken Mom’s side during the extremely bitter divorce proceedings and my relationship with my father was currently nonexistent. “I just don’t think I could cope if my children turned against me.” This conversation was veering rapidly toward very rocky ground. “Mom, I just wondered if you could recall anything about a place called Destrehan. I seem to remember hearing the name connected to some episode in our family history when I was younger.” “I do not specialize in old family tales, dear.” This coming from the woman who could recite the intimate history of every neighbor who lived within spitting distance of her was truly maddening. “I’m not looking for a genealogy chart, Mom. I just asked a simple question.” “Are you taking a tone with me, young man?” “Of course not, Mom. It’s just that I was thinking of going there for a few days.” “Surely not, dear. Louisiana is hot and bugridden at this time of year. If we ever had any relations in that part of the world, I’m sure they’ve all either died or moved away. I was talking to your 6

Love Everlasting sister Lila just yesterday and she said…” I racked my brain while she chattered on about my sister, but couldn’t make any headway regarding the Louisiana connection—if, in fact, there was one. After I hung up the phone, I looked at the contents of the envelope again. It wasn’t exactly a brochure, more like a personal letter with a very elegant ink drawing of a beautiful old antebellum house above the letterhead. The text read like an invitation to a country home. Of course, given what places like this charged, they could well afford to sit down and crank out something a few cuts above the standard brochure. I was assured that I would experience perfect peace and idle away my days in languid bliss. It sounded exactly like what I needed so I picked up the phone and made a reservation. The agency that managed the property was a little short on details, but Lucinda assured me in a honeyed drawl that all the offerings in their portfolio were strictly first class. The next morning I took a taxi to the airport and caught a flight to New Orleans. By the time the plane landed, my stress levels had already dropped appreciably. I picked up my luggage and ducked into the men’s room at the airport to freshen up after the flight. I hardly recognized myself. It was the first time in almost six 7

Derek Adams months that I hadn’t been encased in a three-piece suit. The stranger dressed in casual slacks and a pale green silk t-shirt who stared back at me from the mirror as I washed my hands hadn’t even shaved. I was pale and I had lost some of the hardwon definition I’d been working out for years to achieve, but a quick assessment of my reflection assured me that all wasn’t lost. I still had decent muscle tone, my belly was flat and my ass still did a fine job filling the seat of my pants. I flexed and winked at my reflection. The man who’d been standing next to me suddenly moved three sinks to the south. I grabbed my bag and walked jauntily out of the bathroom, viewing my resurgent vanity as a good sign. I hadn’t even reached my destination and already I felt renewed. The second I stepped out of the airport, keys to the rental car in hand, I started to sweat. The heat here was a physical presence, but it seemed a relatively benign one. Besides, it would force me to remain lazy and lethargic—it definitely wasn’t a climate that lent itself to thoughts of jogging or heavy exercise. Believe me, I seriously looked forward to total relaxation and indolence for a few days. If I got bored, then maybe I’d drive back to New Orleans for a little fun and frolic in the Quarter. “You have a safe trip now, sir.” The young man who checked my papers before I 8

Love Everlasting drove out of the rental car lot was easy on the eye. His short-sleeved shirt bared a nice expanse of muscled arm. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I had a feeling he had been checking out more than the rental agreement. I took the papers from him, smiled, then drove out toward the freeway. One thing was for certain—the loss of my job had pumped new life into my libido. I was horny as hell. Of course, I hadn’t had sex with anyone except myself for months. It was just one of many things that definitely had to change in my life—the sooner the better. By the time I turned my rented BMW off the narrow two-lane road and drove through the elaborate wrought iron gates of Cypress Grove, it was mid-afternoon. I marveled at the beauty of the scene that unfolded as I drove along. Huge live oaks draped with lacy curtains of Spanish moss lined the graveled drive. Jasmine grew pale and waxy beneath the trees, scenting the air with its heavy perfume. Emerald lawns, perfectly clipped, rolled away on both sides as far as the eye could see. When the house came into view, I stopped the car and stared in amazement. It was perfect—an antebellum mansion of extraordinary grace and beauty that rose out of the shadowed landscape like a pristine Greek temple. Tall white columns stood ghostly sentinel at intervals around the structure 9

Derek Adams and French doors opened from all the rooms onto the wide, shaded veranda. I put the car back into gear and continued up the long, tree-lined drive to the front door. I rounded a clump of shrubberies beside the drive and instantly hit my brakes so hard the car skidded sideways. The seatbelt jerked me back when my nose was about half an inch from the steering wheel. I got shakily out of the car and looked to the right, then the left. Not a sound beyond the chirping of birds and the whirring of insects. Not a sign of anything, human or animal. I walked all around the car and fearfully checked the underbrush and the shallow ditches that ran alongside the drive. Nothing. But there had been something. I had seen a man—tall, dressed in gray, a wide-brimmed hat pulled low, shading his eyes. He hadn’t been wearing a suit—more like a uniform, but not one I recognized. Granted I had seen him for only an instant before my foot hit the brakes, but I had seen him. I was sure of it. I got back in the car and started the engine. After carefully checking the drive for as far ahead as I could see, I put the car in gear and drove slowly and cautiously up to the house. As the car rolled forward, I continued to sweep the area on either side. The dappled sun that poured down through the trees illuminated ferns and other understory 10

Love Everlasting plants, but revealed nothing human. Maybe I had only imagined the figure in the drive. Maybe I needed sleep. And maybe the events of the past week had taken a bigger toll than I had imagined. Whatever the case, I arrived at the house without further incident. No one rushed out to greet me, but considering I hadn’t been able to tell them exactly when I’d arrive, I wasn’t surprised. I walked slowly up the broad, shallow steps, crossed the wide porch and knocked on the big double door. There was no response. I tried the knob. The door was unlocked, so I ventured into the cool, shaded hallway, which appeared nearly dark to my sun-dazzled eyes. The only feature that clearly emerged from the gloom was a wide, spiral staircase that rose gracefully to the second floor. “Hello. Anybody here?” Still no response. I walked further in and the door closed behind me with a dull thud. “May I help you?” The voice came from behind me, almost in my ear. “Christ!” I dropped my suitcase and spun around. My heart pounded against my ribs. My nerves were obviously still more frayed than I cared to admit. “I did not intend to startle you. Are you all right?” “I…I’m perfectly fine.” I surveyed the man who 11

Derek Adams stood in the shadows by the front door. Maybe I’d expected to see a southern belle in a hoop skirt glide out onto the veranda to greet me upon my arrival— I don’t know. All I know for certain is that the man in front of me was definitely not the welcoming committee I’d anticipated. He was tall and slender, his compactly muscled body honed to perfect pitch by hard labor, or so it appeared to me, to judge by his mud-clotted knee boots and his filthy clothes. His dark, curly, unkempt hair almost brushed his broad shoulders. His eyes flashed a tawny gold beneath the shadow cast by his jutting brows. His sensual, ruddy lips contrasted startlingly with teeth that gleamed in the shadowed gloom like pearls. His hands hung limp at his sides, but I could see the corded muscles of his forearms and the thick veins that bound them, wrist to elbow. I had no idea how he’d managed to get right behind me without opening any doors, yet there he stood in a puddle of dirty water that pooled around his feet. “Welcome to Cypress Grove.” The man’s honeyed baritone was sweet and lilting in its southern cadences. “You’re Ambrose.” He breathed a whole world of intimate meaning into the name. “Pardon?” “Ambrose.” The repetition of the word sent a pleasurable shiver up my spine. “It is your name.” 12

Love Everlasting “No.” His smile faltered. “I mean…well, I mean yes. Ambrose is my middle name, but I don’t use it. No one outside of my family even knows that name. I don’t know…” I spluttered to a stop when he held up his hand. “You must have mentioned it when you responded to my letter.” “Your letter?” He nodded. “But I didn’t exactly respond to the letter. I contacted an agency where I got driving instructions to this place.” “It is your name.” He wasn’t about to go off message. I was suddenly too tired to argue. Besides, it wasn’t such a bad name. A bit old-fashioned, but so what? “Yes.” When I acquiesced, his smile became dazzling. “I’m Philip Ambrose Chamberlain, to be a hundred percent accurate. I’m expected then?” “Oh, yes, everything has been prepared for you. I am Etienne.” He made a courtly bow which was oddly at variance with his ramshackle appearance, but which quite charmed me nonetheless. “It’s very nice to meet you, Etienne. Look, I’m tired out by my long drive and this incredible heat. Do you think you could show me to my room so I can rest up a bit?” He gestured toward his boots and cocked his head quizzically to one side. “You see?” He 13

Derek Adams shrugged his broad shoulders. “Oh, sure, I guess I can find my own way.” “It is the room at the end of the hall, Ambrose. It is just as it has always been.” “What?” I picked up my suitcase and turned back to Etienne. He was gone. A shiver flashed along my spine as I stared at the corner where he had stood. He had slipped away as quietly as he had come in, leaving me alone in the wide hall with only a small puddle of water to indicate that he had really been there. I must admit that I was a little unnerved as I climbed the broad stairs to the second floor. I entered the designated room and closed the door. After I stripped out of my sticky travelling clothes, I sprawled out across the huge four-poster bed. Etienne was definitely a hunk, I thought to myself as I ran my hands up and down over my sweat-slicked torso. He had an unnerving way of appearing and disappearing, but I definitely hoped he’d pop up again soon. Hell, at this point I’d even take him all muddy and wet. Cypress Grove was the perfect retreat. A slight breeze ruffled the gauzy curtains draped across the windows, then swirled lazily across to me, warm and soothing against my bare skin. I needed to shower, but first I closed my eyes—just for a moment.

14

Love Everlasting ―Good evening, Ambrose.‖ The silver-haired gentleman who greeted me at the door wore his dress uniform. The insignia on his sleeve marked him a Captain in the St. Charles Parish Cavalry. He shook my hand warmly. ―Good evening, Captain Fontaine. I hope I’m not late, sir.‖ ―Not at all, son.‖ He lowered his voice conspiratorially. ―Although there have been a number of inquiries from various young ladies as to your whereabouts.‖ ―I would have been here sooner, sir, but there are supply wagons strung out along the main road all the way from Destrehan to here.‖ ―Our boys are getting better at outrunning the Yankee blockade, although I don’t know how much good it will do, in the end.‖ ―But, sir, I had thought that…‖ Captain Fontaine raised his hand to silence me. ―Not tonight, Ambrose. We don’t want to spoil the evening for the ladies. Or for ourselves, if it comes to that.‖ ―No, sir. I would not wish to do that.‖ I looked beyond my host’s shoulder and into the dining room. The table had been removed from the large room and the carpet rolled back to reveal wide cypress boards that gleamed in the light from dozens of candles. A group of five musicians tuned their instruments in the far corner. Young men in uniform and young ladies decked out in their finest gowns stood chatting in small groups as they 15

Derek Adams waited for the music to begin. ―I expect you want to visit with my scamp of a son for a few minutes before you boys both throw yourselves to the mercies of the ladies?‖ A glint of good humor had returned to Captain Fontaine’s eyes. ―Yes, sir, I would like that very much. I found this when I travelled through New Orleans. I want to share it with him.‖ I pulled a bottle of whisky—real whisky, not the moonshine colored with walnut shells that passed for whisky these days—from a pocket in my uniform. Captain Fontaine whistled appreciatively. ―Of course you are welcome to a drink, sir.‖ ―No, son, you boys will appreciate it much more than I could. It would only serve to make an old man sleepy, but it will bring life and color to your faces. Etienne stepped out a few minutes ago. He didn’t say where he was going.‖ ―I think I know, sir. Thank you.‖ I tucked the liquor back in my pocket and hurried across the lawn, down to the river. I saw him silhouetted in the moonlight, leaning against one of the pilings of the dock that jutted into the slow-moving current, a cheroot in his right hand. I stopped and stood, content just to look at him, to listen to the faint exhalation of his breath, to smell the sweet smoke that curled like a silver halo around his head. He was tall and strong and noble, but my heart ached because I knew how fragile his strength really was. I had seen hundreds like him mowed down like summer grass. ―Ambrose.‖ ―Etienne, how did you know I was here? I swear I was 16

Love Everlasting going to sneak up and scare the bejesus out of you.‖ ―I always know when you’re here, Ambrose. My heart beats faster and I find it difficult to breathe.‖ He stretched a hand behind, but remained facing the river. I stepped forward and grasped his hand. He pulled it around and pressed it against his chest. I pressed my body against his and rested my chin on his shoulder. ―I have a surprise for you, sir,‖ I said a few minutes later. ―As pleasant as this is, I can’t say that I’m surprised.‖ He reached back and cupped my rapidly stiffening cock. ―Not that, Etienne.‖ I gasped, thrilled as always by his touch. ―This.‖ I pulled the bottle from my pocket and held it up for him. ―My God, man, is this real?‖ ―Taste it and tell me.‖ ―You first.‖ ―But I brought it for you.‖ ―I know that, but if your lips touch it first, even swamp water would taste sweet to me.‖ ―You are a shameless flatterer.‖ ―Yes, I am.‖ He chuckled softly. ―You taste it first.‖ I drank, then passed the bottle on to him. ―Ambrosia,‖ he sighed. ―True food of the gods.‖ We passed the bottle back and forth in silence as we watched the moonlight play on the eddying currents in the river. Fireflies glimmered in the trees on the opposite shore like tiny jewels. The liquor warmed my blood and made my amorous thoughts even more intense. I slipped my fingers through the buttons of Etienne’s uniform 17

Derek Adams tunic and touched the skin of his hard, flat belly. He pushed back against me and ground his buttocks against my crotch. I breathed in the scent of him and brushed my lips against his cheek. They came away wet. ―You’re crying.‖ ―I’m not crying. It’s the damned smoke.‖ He tossed the cheroot into the river. It arced sparks like a comet tail, then hissed as it hit the muddy water. ―Hell, Ambrose, I was shedding a tear.‖ ―For what, Etienne?‖ ―For all of this.‖ He swung his arm in a wide arc that seemed to encompass our entire world. ―For my parents and my sister. For us.‖ ―Nothing is going to happen to us.‖ My grip became fierce. ―I will not allow it.‖ ―Everything is going to change. You know that. We can’t win this. We shouldn’t win this if it means perpetuating the whole rotten system. It will all change.‖ ―My love will never change. I don’t give a damn about any of the rest of it.‖ I turned him to face me. Our bodies pressed together, belly to belly, cock to cock. ―You know I love you.‖ ―And I love you, Ambrose. I love you so much it hurts me sometimes. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to tear us apart.‖ ―Nothing will tear us apart.‖ I pressed my hand to his heart, his hand to mine. ―We will always be together, Etienne. I will love you until the end of time.‖ ―Only that long, Ambrose.‖ He smiled at me and my world was light. 18

Love Everlasting ―Longer, then, Etienne. I will love you until beyond the end of time.‖ ―That will do nicely, sir.‖ His lips brushed mine. I could feel his manhood pressed hard against my own. The kiss intensified as my tongue thrust against his tongue. My breath was his breath, my heart and soul and life were his and his alone. ―The music,‖ he whispered when we finally came up for air. ―We should go.‖ ―Wait.‖ The musicians had begun to play, a sweet tune that floated through the windows of the big house and down across the broad lawn. ―Dance with me, Etienne.‖ ―With you?‖ ―I’ll be in that damned room all night, dancing with everyone, except you, watching you dance with everyone, except me. I want to dance with you, Etienne. Please.‖ ―Of course I’ll dance with you, Ambrose.‖ One of his arms slipped around my waist as his fingers twined with mine. We swayed and shuffled our feet, both of us fighting to lead until I gave in to him. I pressed my cheek to his cheek, my chest to his chest. Our heartbeats were synchronous, almost as though we were one entity, not two. I looked into his eyes and knew that I would never be happier than I was at that moment. After much too short a time the tune ended and we ambled, arm in arm, back to the big white house, back to the young men and women, back to the world and back to the endless futility of the war.

19

Derek Adams The heavy curtains parted slowly and he stood there before me, naked, head held high. During the months we had been apart, I had forgotten somehow how beautiful he was. His skin, pale in the moonlight, was smooth and cool as marble. A thin line of dark, silky hairs split him in half, running from the hollow of his throat down into the dense cloud of his pubes. His nipples stood out thick and hard from the squared planes of his broad chest. His muscled back was reflected in the pier mirror mounted between the two pairs of French doors at the foot of the bed, wide shoulders tapering to a narrow waist. A dense dark growth furred his long, well-formed legs, stopping abruptly at the point where the globes of his delectable ass began to swell out of the columns of his strong thighs. His asscheeks were pale, dimpled, without flaw. The flames of my lust rose in my belly as he stepped across the bare cypress floor to the bedside. He stopped, hands held out, offering himself to me. I closed my fingers gently around the shaft of his rapidly stiffening cock and pulled him toward me. ―Ambrose,‖ he whispered as he climbed into the bed on top of me. He straddled my chest, the hair on his legs tickling along my sides as he settled against me. The head of his big cock brushed against my lips. My tongue flickered lizard-like from between my teeth, barely grazing the hooded knob. He sighed softly and his prick twitched violently for a few moments before settling heavily against my lips once again. I took the silky foreskin gently between my teeth and tugged it forward and away from the swollen, shiny 20

Love Everlasting glans hidden inside. I slipped my tongue between the sheath of skin and the sweet fruit it covered as I probed and dug in the tight, hot space. I heard his gasped intake of breath and felt his thighs tense against my sides as he thrust forward and forced his way into my mouth. When I dug my tongue into his gaping piss slit to search for the first sweet drop of his honey, he squeezed his cock from base to tip and drizzled sticky juice onto my greedy lips. I licked them, then raised my head slightly, urging him to probe my mouth. He leaned forward, braced his hands against the ornately carved headboard of the bed and tilted his pelvis so he could more easily slide his stiff manhood deep into my throat. I grabbed his balls and pulled them back against his asshole. I pressed my palm hard against them. He looked down at me, eyes heavy-lidded, and watched my tongue as it flicked lazily at his swollen cockhead. I pulled teasingly at the thin line of hair that bisected his perfect torso. I rubbed the ball of my thumb against the thick brown points of his tits and his muscles flexed. He bucked his hips and jammed himself deep into my throat. I bit down and raked my teeth along the shaft of his cock, then traced the pulsing veins that coursed along his throbbing length with the tip of my tongue. I could have been content to lie there and suck him till his thick, creamy life gushed down my hungry throat, but Etienne would not have it so. He moved back, knelt between my legs and scissored them apart roughly. He bent his shaggy head and lapped at my sweaty crack. I clenched my fists when he nipped at my asshole. He 21

Derek Adams tugged the short hairs around the puckered flesh till I groaned with pleasure and my prick snapped up tight against my flat gut. ―It is good?‖ His voice was soft, his breath warm on my balls. Etienne rubbed his spit around the spasming ring of my sphincter, then pushed his long forefinger tentatively into me. ―It is very good.‖ I pulled his head down to my chest. ―I want you.‖ He pressed his long thick prick against my bunghole, then thrust forward with all his strength and jammed deep into me. His long tongue snaked between my teeth, abruptly cutting off my cry of ecstasy. He sealed his lips against mine, then blew his breath into my lungs. A wave of raw passion flowed through me that washed away all conscious thought. I became his minion, at his mercy with no will of my own. I wrapped my legs around his narrow waist and opened my body to his frenzied thrusts. I was overwhelmed with the sheer animal power of the man as his pelvis ground hard against my aching butt. His cum-heavy balls slapped against my tailbone, his hands clamped hard against my shoulders, his fat cockhead pounded my prostate. The intensity of it took my breath and pushed me closer and closer to the point of no return. He rocked back on his haunches and pulled me up with him, all the while driving his hard prick in and out of my yielding body. He fixed me with his glittering eyes, willing my obedience. Unable to speak, I nodded. He smiled at me, his teeth gleaming. I felt his breath, hot 22

Love Everlasting against my neck, a moment of sharp pain, then a bliss that transcended anything I’d ever known. My skin began to tingle as our bodies pressed tight together. I felt his heart pound against my chest, strong and steady. The pulse became a roaring tide, deafening me, engulfing me. ―Yes, Ambrose, yes.‖ He moaned softly, his lips against my ear. We were one now, our union perfect. Our hearts pounded, his cock in my body, his strong arms wrapped around me as his powerful thrusts carried both of us beyond desire. ―Etienne.‖ He raised his head and looked at me, his lips scarlet, his face and chest flushed, rosy, warm. Scarlet ribbons fluttered down my shoulder across my chest. My head was heavy, my eyelids drooped. My world had contracted to the point where there was nothing except his cock, pistoning in my guts. When he dipped his head down between my legs and took me into his mouth, I was finished. The touch of his lips brought the jism boiling up from deep in my balls. The first jet of my cream gushed into his mouth and brought his own pumping to a climax. He stiffened and threw back his head, calling my name as his hot spunk spouted into me and filled me full of his hot, sticky life. ―Oh, Ambrose,‖ he cried, ―I’m coming. Hold me, Ambrose. Until forever, Ambrose. Oh…‖ “…Ambrose. Are you there? Wake up.” I swam slowly back to consciousness. I willed my eyes to focus on the dusk-shadowed room around me. I must have fallen asleep almost as soon as I 23

Derek Adams laid my head on the down-filled pillows. “I’m here,” I called out groggily. “I fell asleep. Just give me a minute or two to wake up.” I lifted my head and pulled myself slowly up against the massive headboard of the bed. When I looked down and saw my cock curved up against my belly, resting in the pungent white puddle, I had to laugh. What a dream that had been! Put a man on the brink of exhaustion in a strange bed, in a strange place, stir in a hot handyman or whatever the hell Etienne was and stand back! I hadn’t had a wet dream in ages, but there was the evidence, strung out like liquid ropes against my chest and belly, mingled with the sweat that sheened my body. Evidently, Etienne had gotten under my skin even more than I had realized. It must have been his rough-and-tumble look as he stood there all muddy and wet from his work. That, coupled with the warm intimacy of his eyes and his deep, resonant voice. That, and some… “Your dinner will be ready soon, Ambrose. I didn’t want you to miss the appointed hour.” “Thanks, Etienne,” I called out. “Don’t worry, I promise not to miss dinner.” “Your bath is ready, Ambrose.” “My bath?” I sat up in bed and looked around. There was an antique tin bathtub in front of the fireplace. It had most definitely not been there when I first entered the room. I got up and walked around 24

Love Everlasting the tub. It was full of water. Warm water. The candles on the mantel burned brightly, dispelling the gathering gloom. I rushed to the door of the room, locked. Then I remembered that the French doors to the wide porch that ran around the second floor of the house all stood wide open. So he had come into my room while I slept and brought the tub. But how could I have failed to hear him? I was generally a light sleeper. Besides, he obviously had to make multiple trips to fill the damned thing with water. Where the hell was the bathroom? I scanned the area, but the only door led directly into the hall. A quick reconnaissance failed to turn up a single bathroom on the upper floor. I returned to my bedroom and noticed for the first time a folding screen in the corner. “Not possible,” I muttered to myself as I pulled it aside. A chair with a wicker seat stood in the corner. I examined it cautiously. I saw the hinges and lifted the seat. A white porcelain basin gleamed in the fading light. I was definitely going to have a serious conversation with the woman who had booked me into this place when I got back to New Orleans. I walked back to the tin tub. Hell, I had crusted jizz on my belly and I reeked of sweat from my journey. I stepped into the water. The temperature was perfect. I settled in and watched the shadows lengthen on the lawn.

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Derek Adams I started down the stairs just as the grandfather’s clock on the landing chimed eight. There was a faint light coming from the dining room, but the rest of the house was cloaked in impenetrable gloom. The long mahogany table was elaborately set for one. I appeared to be Cypress Grove’s only guest. Covered dishes were set out on a heavy sideboard between two of the French doors that opened at regular intervals around the room. Beyond the veranda, the lawns stretched out, flat and pale in the moonlight. There were three bottles of wine ranged beside the single place set for dinner. All were heavily encrusted with dust and cobwebs. Bad marks for housekeeping, I thought wryly as I reached for the nearest of the bottles. I wiped the neck carefully, then poured some into the first glass that came to hand. It was rich and full, blood-colored, the bouquet so heady and complex that it must have been developing for a very long time. I filled my glass and drank it down in two long swallows. It warmed my throat and tingled in my belly like a subtle fire. I started to get up to fill my plate, but decided instead to have another glass of the wine. It, too, went down easily. I began to feel the effects of the alcohol. The humid night air in combination with the heat generated by the wine made my skin burn beneath my clothes. As I poured a third glass, a 26

Love Everlasting blood-red gush of wine sloshed over the rim of the heavy crystal goblet and trailed across the white linen. When I reached for my napkin to soak up the mess, a jagged streak of lightning flashed white in the distance. In that instant of illumination, when the night turned to livid day, I saw him. At least I thought I saw him. It was Etienne, of course—the man who had already invaded my dream to such startling effect earlier in the evening—although what he was doing naked on the lawn I couldn’t quite imagine. I walked out onto the verandah and stared out into the darkness. I saw nothing. I returned to my seat and started to sop up the wine, an effort that ended in disaster. I accidentally clipped the bottle with my elbow and tipped it over. It eluded me as it rolled unchecked along the center of the long table, spreading a dark stain like a swollen river on a flood plain. I jumped up out of my chair, then suddenly realized that I was dizzy. As I struggled to regain my balance, the lightning flashed again. He was there! I was certain that I had seen him this time. A sudden gust of wind caused the curtains to billow like white sails and extinguished the candles on the table. The rumble of thunder obscured my cry of alarm. I shook myself. God, I was coming unhinged! The wine, my steamy dream, the sight of Etienne naked on the lawn, all combined to fill me 27

Derek Adams with a tingling sense of urgency which I could neither define nor ignore. When I crossed unsteadily to the French doors, the curtains sprang to life again, wrapping me in their silken folds. Panicked, I thrust out my arms and tried to push them aside. In pulling free of the draperies, I wrenched the heavy brass rod which held them away from the wall. It crashed noisily against the mahogany sideboard and sent a tray of decanters to a sudden and violent end. I stumbled out onto the broad veranda. As my eyes struggled to adjust to the velvet gloom of the warm Louisiana night, the lightning flashed again, closer now, and again I saw him. He looked directly at me, hands outstretched, his big prick curved mightily up against his washboard gut. His balls dangled heavily, swaying back and forth between his thighs as he moved toward me. “Ambrose,” he called, his voice uncertain, supplicating. “Come with me, Ambrose. It’s so lonely here. Please come.” “Etienne?” I was unsure of what was happening, only aware of the weirdness and sensuality of it all. For one fleeting moment, I hesitated. His dark eyes flashed, skewered me, took away any thought of flight. I was so horny I could hardly breathe. I had been ever since I woke up from my nap. My wet dream had only served to make me more ravenous 28

Love Everlasting for sex, for the touch of Etienne’s hands against my skin. I tore at my clothes as I stumbled across the grass, kicking off my shoes, almost falling as I fought my way free of my trousers. I tore my shirt open and threw it aside as I reached the place where he stood and waited for me. I stood before him, trembling and naked. His touch was like electricity on my skin. He stroked slowly down my neck, over my broad chest, pinching my nipples hard between his fingers, drawing me closer, till our cocks crossed like two silk-sheathed swords. His long cock rubbed up against my belly and left a thin trail of glistening slime in its wake. Our bodies pressed together from belly to knee, my flesh hot, fevered, his cool and soothing to the touch. I clasped his narrow waist as we continued to grind against each other, prick mashed against prick, pubic bushes—black and golden—tangled inextricably together. Finally, he released his grip on my tits, only to lower his head to my chest and continue his ecstatic torture of the tender flesh with his teeth. His big hands grasped my butt and forced the muscular cheeks wide apart. He probed my crack with his long, thick fingers. I clasped my hands around the strong column of his neck, lifted my legs and wrapped them around his waist. The lightning flashed again, then the heavens opened. The warm rain poured over us in torrents, 29

Derek Adams totally obscuring the big house behind us from view. It plastered our hair flat against our skulls and cooled my fevered body. Etienne pressed his lips to mine, his long tongue tickling against the roof of my mouth. I bit down gently and savored the taste and texture of him. He probed my ass hole, his strong fingers slipping deep into the yielding channel. “Fuck me, Etienne,” I moaned. “I want your cock in me. I want to feel the heat of your cum pumping into my body again. Fuck me.” He turned then and carried me across the manicured lawn, into the deeper gloom beneath the moss-hung oaks. I clung to him, his muscle-knotted torso shifting against me as he walked quickly and surely over the uneven ground. Then he stopped and knelt, still holding me in his strong embrace. The lightning flashed around us and revealed his chiseled features. His eyes flickered with golden fire. “I’ve waited for you, Ambrose. I’ve waited for you.” His honeyed baritone was thick with lust. “Oh, yes,” I replied, held in thrall by his incredible sensuality. “I want you, Etienne. Now!” He pushed me back, not onto the ground, but onto something else, something hard, flat and smooth to the touch. He knelt between my outstretched legs and lifted them till the crook of my knees rested on his broad shoulders. Then he fell forward and 30

Love Everlasting impaled me. His cock filled me, stretching my guts to the sweet point of pain. In that instant, we really became one body, one flesh, melded together into one perfect and complete being. His balls slapped wetly against my back as the rain continued to fall in torrents over us. It streamed in rivulets across his shoulders and down his wide chest where it channeled between the swell of his pecs, along the thin line of hair bisecting his torso, then down to his crotch. From there it flowed between my legs and into my pubes, plastering them flat around the base of my swollen, bouncing prick. As the lightning flashed feverishly and the thunder rumbled and crashed in a steady crescendo, Etienne reamed my throbbing hole, pounding me to ecstasy. Then he lowered his head and pressed his mouth against the swell of my chest. There was a pricking sensation, then the heat gushed out of me. My heart began to slow, pumping now in rhythm with his pistoning prick. I felt my limbs grow heavy, my fingers go numb till I could no longer feel the strong arms I struggled to grasp. I watched the top of his sleek head and his broad, rain-slicked shoulders as they began to fade to silence. “Etienne!” I groaned, my lips barely moving. He raised his head, his gaze unfocused like a man drunk on too much wine. He saw me, shook 31

Derek Adams himself, pulled me up against him. I watched his finger slash across the heavy curve of his right pec, just above the nipple. A tiny mouth gaped in the perfect skin and spouted warm, dark wine. He pressed my mouth tight against it and I felt the heat begin to flow back into my body like pale fire. “Suck,” he groaned. “Suck me, Ambrose. I’ve waited for you. I’ve waited. Suck, my love. Suck.” I began to tremble as my strength returned, heat coursing through my veins, my cock harder and more sensitive than it had ever been before this moment. Etienne fucked like a man possessed. As my orgasm approached, the muscles in my groin tensed. My cock hovered above my belly, straining and flexing as jism got ready to explode across my rain-washed torso. I heard a faint groan from deep in Etienne’s chest as his prickhead swelled perceptibly against my aching prostate. Just as Etienne pushed me beyond the precipice and I gave myself over to the first intense rushes of orgasm, a burst of lightning directly overhead brought the whole scene into sharp focus. A marble monument rose behind Etienne, eerie in the blinding flash of light. The words engraved in the silvered marble remained etched on my eyelids, even after the aching intensity of my feelings had rolled my eyes back into my skull. Erected To The Sacred Memory 32

Love Everlasting Of Etienne Henri Fontaine 1837-1865 By His Beloved Ambrose. I Will Wait Alone For You, My Love, Until Beyond The End Of Time “I’m coming!” My body spasmed with intense pleasure. My cock flexed and a blast of jism jetted out of me, shot up over my head and splattered on the slab of marble that loomed above us. I no longer knew whether I was in this world or the next—and I no longer cared. We were together now. That was all that mattered. Etienne cried out his ecstasy along with me. I gripped his biceps and held on fiercely as his hot life flooded back into my body. A final spasm shook me and I sank into the void. “Ambrose?” I fought my way back to consciousness. “Ambrose!” “Yes, my love?” I opened my eyes. He was so beautiful. “I waited, Ambrose. I waited for you.” “Yes, my love.” His teeth were pearls. “We’re together now, Ambrose.” “Yes, my love.” His skin was translucent, alabaster. “Forever, Ambrose. Until beyond the end of time.” 33

Derek Adams “Yes, my love.” “Forever.” “Yes.”

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About the Author Derek Adams is the author of a popular series of detective novels featuring the intrepid Miles Diamond, as well as over a hundred short stories which, he insists, are ongoing chapters in his autobiography. Mr. Adams currently lives in Seattle.