Zeph's Awakening

ZEPH’S AWAKENING by Serena Yates “I don’t think I can make it.” Zeph’s heart beat a mile a minute as he stood with his back to the locker. Eric and Austin had him boxed in, their broad, hulking bodies not letting much light through, never mind giving him enough space to escape. They were pushing much too close to him for comfort, and all he wanted to do was run as fast and as far as possible. “Come on, it’ll be fun.” Eric leered at him. “There’ll be beer, and cigarettes, and girls…” Like he was interested in any of those. Why were they suddenly bothering him? He’d thought they didn’t even know he existed for all the attention he’d received so far. Not liking alcohol or smoking was bad, and he couldn’t very well say he didn’t like girls. Not that way, at least. Knowing how homophobic the two jocks were, he was better off dead before admitting he was gay. “Yeah, even you’ll probably be able to get laid. Some of them will do anything when you get them drunk enough.” Austin elbowed him in the side and winked. “You know what I mean?” “Yeah.” His knees were weak. Why were the two biggest assholes in his class suddenly taking such an interest in him? They hadn’t wanted him along for any of their trips to the lake all senior year and now that it was almost over, with only a few weeks between him and freedom from the daily torture some called an education, they suddenly wanted him to come with them on Saturday? Something was wrong with this picture. “So, you’ll meet us at Suzy’s Diner tomorrow lunchtime, right?” Eric took a step back. “Sure.” What was he going to say? He’d have to make up a good excuse for not turning up. But he had some time until Monday, so he’d be fine. There wasn’t anything they could really do after the weekend, and with not much time to go

until prom, it looked as if he’d be able to survive this after all. “Don’t be late!” Austin slapped him on the shoulder and Zeph’s knees almost buckled. A sharp pain shot from his shoulder up his neck and he grimaced, trying to make it look like a smile. They weren’t going to see a hint of weakness, not if he could help it. They walked away, not looking back. Zeph breathed a sigh of relief, collected the rest of the books he’d need for the next two days and made his way to his bicycle. He may have been smaller than the other boys, and he looked closer to sixteen than eighteen, with his slight build, but he worked hard at staying fit. Taking the bicycle home across the hills was great exercise. A good half hour later he walked into the house, closing the front door behind him with a sigh. Thankfully his mother was working tonight so he had the house to himself. He really liked her, and she’d done a great job providing for him after his dad left fifteen years ago, but he needed some space. Her overprotective mothering drove him crazy. It was time he left for college, even though he had no idea how he was going to do that. None of his applications for a scholarship had been successful, and without them, he’d end up somewhere in town, working his ass off as a waiter or stocking shelves at one of the supermarkets. He might be able to wrangle a position as a car mechanic, if he was lucky. Being good with cars, having repaired his mom’s old rust bucket more times than he cared to remember, wasn’t likely to get him a job, though. He pushed a frozen pizza into the oven, set the timer and went for a shower. It was the only time he had to himself, and he enjoyed letting his guard down as soon as the steam filled the bathroom and he took off his clothes. He was half hard from anticipation by the time he made it under the hot spray and had difficulty keeping his hands off his straining cock. Zeph stood under the flow of warm water, bent his head and let the stream massage his neck, then flow down his back, between his ass cheeks and down his legs. How he adored the warmth! After a few minutes he started soaping

himself up and when the rest of his body was done, he turned his attention to his cock and balls. He didn’t really want to admit it to himself, but what he really wanted was another man’s hands on his body. His skin practically ached for a loving touch, a careful stroke of a finger up his stiff shaft, before a hot fist enclosed him and gave him something to thrust his aching cock into. Doing it himself like this made him feel good, but he’d bet it would be a lot better if someone else did it for him. Closing his eyes, he imagined the tall, blond stranger he’d seen in his dreams coming up behind him and enclosing him in his strong arms. He leaned back into the man’s embrace, letting his head fall against his shoulder and turning his head up for a kiss. The man bent down and kissed him with a smile. Zeph imagined kisses like that would feel even better than normal kisses. Not that he had any idea what any of them really felt like. He was too scared to approach another boy or man, and there was no way he’d ever let a girl close enough for kissing. So, all he had left was dreams. But, boy, they were the hottest dreams ever. The blond stranger kissed him until they were both short of breath, all the while sliding his big hands all over Zeph’s body before he enclosed Zeph’s straining cock in his big fist and started jacking him off. Zeph knew it was his own hand doing all of that, but it felt better imaging it was his dream lover. His breath came faster as he thrust faster and faster, adding a little twist each time he reached the tip of his cock to drive his arousal even higher. Finally, just as his dream lover nibbled his ear lobe, he lost control and came, painting the tiles white with his release. He leaned heavily on the hand that supported him and watched his juices wash down the drain. With a sigh, he rinsed off before getting out of the shower. He may have been physically sated, but emotionally he was more drained than before. Being alone like this, craving a lover’s touch with the intensity he did, knowing it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, if ever, was no fun at all. ****

When the doorbell rang just after one p.m., Zeph had already done half his homework. Getting up early helped, and since his mother was still asleep he was able to sit at the kitchen table in the morning sun. It was his favorite spot in the house. “Who can that be?” He got up and walked to the front door, peeking through the spy hole to make sure it was safe to open it. “Shit!” “We know you’re in here, so open up.” Eric banged on the door with his fist. What was he doing here? God, had they come to pick him up because he hadn’t made it to the rendezvous point? Austin was probably still in the car he’d seen in the driveway. He might come to support Eric any time now. The door was too flimsy to withstand both of the hulks. If they decided they were coming in, they’d be able to make it happen, no doubt about it. “Come on, let me in, or I’ll break down the door.” Eric pounded on the door some more. “You know you’ll enjoy it once you’re out there, so don’t hold back.” Jesus, if all that banging didn’t stop soon they’d wake his mother. She’d tell him to go anyway, she always said he should spend more time with friends. He snorted. ‘More time’ was a good a-one. ‘Any time’ would be more accurate. He wasn’t about to let the asshole see his mother tell him what to do. “You must have heard me by now.” Eric sounded impatient. “Sure, let me just get my things from upstairs.” He must have yelled loudly enough because the banging stopped. He grabbed his school stuff, raced upstairs and dumped it onto his desk. He tore his backpack from his cupboard and started stuffing extra clothing, his swimsuit, some toiletries and the paperback thriller he was reading in there. Wallet, keys and his cell were in his pants pockets, so all he needed was a

sweater in case it got cold and he was all set. Oh, sleeping bag might be a good idea. He grabbed that under his other arm, ran downstairs and wrote his mother a quick note to explain where he was. Sticking it to the fridge with one of the magnets, he took one last look around to check if he’d forgotten anything. Probably. He shrugged and walked to the back door. He’d deal with that if and when it happened. He closed and locked the back door behind him and walked around the house, He hadn’t wanted to run the risk of the two idiots coming inside the house when he opened the front door. He just didn’t trust them. “Hey, where did you suddenly come from?” Austin stuck his head out of the car and blinked. “Huh?” Eric turned around and stared at him as if he was a ghost. “Hi guys.” Best to play it cool. “Why weren’t you at Suzy’s Diner, like we agreed?” Eric’s eyes narrowed. “Sorry, I forgot the time. I was working some math problems and—“ “Please, no details.” Eric took a step back and lifted his hands. “Let’s just get to the lake. We’re late already and the others will be waiting. So will the beer.” He nodded, got in the back seat and leaned his head against the headrest. Shit, this was not going to be a fun weekend at all. **** The party was even more mind-numbingly boring than he’d imagined. Everyone was chugging back the beer or any of the other types of alcohol that were readily available. Most people had paired off and were kissing and groping each other in plain sight. Not that anyone else was watching, being too busy getting into the pants or under the skirt of her or his partner.

Zeph had seen enough to damage him for life. He finally sneaked out of the cabin on the beach the group had appropriated, grabbed his stuff from the car and hiked up the cliffs, staying parallel to the lake below him until he found a quiet spot. It probably had a nice view in the morning, but it was too dark now to see much. He crawled into his sleeping bag, put his head onto his backpack and closed his eyes. At least he might get some sleep like this. Next thing he knew, hard hands grabbed him and pulled him from the warmth of his dreams. He blinked his eyes open to see he was faced with five guys, two of them Eric and Austin the others looked vaguely familiar from seeing them in school, but he didn’t know their names. “What are you doing?” He struggled, trying to escape their brutal hold, but he was punched in his stomach which pushed the air from his lungs. Nobody said a word as they undressed him, tearing his T-shirt and jeans in the process. They even took off his underwear and he shrank back into himself as much as possible. It was no use. Once he was naked, they grabbed him by the arms and ankles and walked him to the edge of the cliffs. The sun was just about to come up, the air was freezing cold on his naked skin and the water didn’t exactly look inviting. It was too far below him for one thing, a good twenty feet, and the grey surface looked really, really cold in the first light of pre-sunrise morning. They started swinging him back and forth and he realized what they had planned. He hated the cold with a vengeance and this was going to be the worst shock he’d ever had. He stopped struggling so they wouldn’t drop or throw him by mistake. He pressed his lips together to stop himself from begging. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction, especially since he doubted anything he said would make them stop. “You got anything to say for yourself, shrimp?” Austin stood by, watching as his friends scared the shit out of Zeph with each back and forth movement. “Maybe this will teach you not to embarrass the rest of us by getting good grades all the time. And for standing us up yesterday, after we made such an

effort to include you.” “Yeah, you should really be grateful, not try to sneak away from all the fun.” Eric looked really angry. “We promised the girls they could have you, being a virgin and all, and you ran away.” “Unacceptable.” Austin nodded as if to confirm the validity of his statement to himself. Oh, God, they’d wanted him to make out with some girl? Maybe more than one by the sound of it? Being thrown into freezing water suddenly seemed to be the lesser of two evils. Not that he’d let on. “You really blew it for us, so we’ll teach you a lesson.” Austin nodded again. “Let him go.” With a last wide swing, they let go of him and he flew toward the water. He curled himself into a ball so he’d offer the surface less resistance, took a deep breath so he’d have enough air, closed his eyes and prayed. Seconds later he hit the water. Pain shot through him, radiating out from his side as he sank under the surface. The cold was worse than anything he could have imagined. It numbed the pain form the impact, but it also felt as if it was trying to shut down his brain. He fought it, though, realizing he had to unfold himself, offering more naked skin to the cold, so he could swim back to the surface. Moments later his survival instincts kicked in and he moved his arms and legs in strong, coordinated strokes to get himself back up so he could breathe again. When he broke the surface and took his first breath, he could have cried with relief. He opened his eyes, wiping water from them and faced the cliffs. He wasn’t going to get out of the lake here. Far above he heard laughter, but it died down quickly. Hopefully the idiots would leave. He’d rather face having to hitchhike home once he’d found his clothes again than having to deal with their ridicule. He could only hope they’d leave his stuff where it was so he stood a

chance of finding it. Zeph started swimming toward the area with the flat beach, close to the cabin. It wasn’t that far, but his back and side still hurt, and the water was quickly drawing all the warmth from his body. His teeth were chattering by the time the flatter beach came into sight and he realized he’d have to get out of the water and make his way back up those cliffs naked. Hopefully everyone had left late last night and the five idiots who’d thrown him in had had enough and were on their way home. He needed to dry himself off, get into his clothes and get warm. Keeping his eyes on the beach as he approached, much too slowly for his own comfort, he realized it wasn’t as deserted as he’d hoped. Someone stood on the shore and peered in his direction. Shit! The closer he came the more slowly he moved. The figure on the beach was a man. He looked tall, was broad-shouldered and blond. Wearing a warm sweater over washed out jeans, he looked exactly like the handsome stranger from Zeph’s many jack-off fantasies. Was this a dream? Was he still asleep and had dreamed this up so he’d be less lonely? He didn’t think he’d be able to come up with this kind of mind-numbing cold and exactly what that felt like, so it was unlikely. There was no way he could pinch himself now, either, so all he could do was keep swimming until the water was shallow enough so he could rest before deciding if it was safe enough to go on land. **** Charles couldn’t believe his eyes. He’d come to the lake’s shore for a quiet morning walk, only to find someone swimming in the freezing water. Talk about dedication! But something wasn’t right. He squinted, trying to see better. The swimmer seemed to be a boy, and he was slowing down. As if he was

struggling. Maybe he needed help? Ready to take off his heavier clothes to jump in and assist, he took another step closer to the water. The boy stopped moving, but he seemed able to stand because moments later he rose and the water receded to mid stomach. He grabbed his upper arm with his right hand as if to pull himself together and stood there, shivering. Why didn’t he come out of the water? He was absolutely gorgeous. Jet black hair, cut short but falling into his face in wet bangs, his lips were full and a deep red despite the cold. His skin seemed almost golden in the light of the slowly rising sun. He had a strong upper body and the cutest shy look. He couldn’t be a day over sixteen, though, so Charles bit his cheek to make his beginning arousal go down. The boy needed his help, not an old man of almost thirty lusting after him. “Do you need help?” Charles wasn’t willing to let him freeze to death while he stood only a few feet away. “No.” “You look like you’re freezing.” Duh, talk about stating the obvious. “I’m a b-bit c-c-c-cold.” “Please come out of the water before you freeze to death. I’ve got a blanket in my car, if you need it.” He hadn’t seen any clothes lying around, so where was the boy’s stuff? “Are they gone?” The boy looked fearful and didn’t move any closer. “Who? I didn’t see anybody since I arrived here ten minutes ago.” What the hell was going on?

“D-doesn’t m-m-matter.” The boy shivered more violently and coughed. “Will you please come out of the water?” He could try to find out who ‘they’ were a little later, but it looked as if ‘they’ were part of this boy’s problem. “I-I d-d-don’t know.” The boy looked at the beach to his left and right then his eyes rested on Charles’s sweater. “You can’t stay in the water, you’ll freeze to death, boy.” He was going to have to go in after all. “I’m not a boy!” He stood up straight, a slight flush coloring his cheeks. Was he angry? “You look like a boy.” He chuckled when the red flush deepened. “I’m eighteen, so I’m not a boy and you can’t tell me what to do.” He looked stubborn and miserable at the same time. ‘Not a boy’ was all he’d really registered. His cock was doing the happy dance. Not that there’d be any action anytime soon, the young man needed to come out of the water first then get warm “Okay, I admit that I can’t tell you what to do.” He took a deep breath, trying for calm and collected. “But you’ve got to admit that staying in the water isn’t very clever.” “No.” “You won’t admit it?” His eyebrows rose. “No, I agreed with you. It isn’t very clever.” The mutinous look hadn’t vanished though. “Okay, now that we agree, maybe you can move? I’d like to warm you up.” Shit,

that didn’t sound right. “You would?” The boy took another few steps forward, never once looking away from Charles. When the water reached no higher than mid thigh, rivulets of it came off his body, glinting in the morning sunlight. The young man was still holding onto his own left arm, his other hand dangled between his legs. He looked up from under his bangs and that tantalizing mixed look of mutinous, shy and downright adorable was back. Charles let his gaze roam across all that naked skin. Holy shit! That was all there was, a ton of naked skin. The young man didn’t seem to be wearing any clothes. No wonder he was shy about leaving the water. Charles tore off his sweater, he still had a T-shirt underneath which would be enough for a while, and held it out to the guy. He was at least eight inches taller than the other man’s five-foot-seven frame, so the sweater should cover the family jewels. While he regretted losing sight of what he hadn’t even been able to fully appreciate yet, if it got the young man to finally leave the freezing water, it had to be a good thing. The grateful smile at the sight of the offered sweater was enough to confirm that he’d done the right thing. The young man slipped into it and quickly walked the last few steps out of the water so the bottom of the sweater wouldn’t get wetter than necessary. It did indeed reach to mid-thigh, and Charles decided the guy looked good in his stuff. “Come here.” He opened his arms. The guy needed more than a sweater between him and the cool morning air. “I-you-are you sure?” “Of course. I never make an offer or say anything I don’t mean.” He couldn’t wait to hold the other man in his arms, and the way the guy had ogled him,

carefully but unmistakably, he hoped the attraction might be mutual. The young man slowly came closer. Charles pulled him in the rest of the way. He felt like a block of ice, pressed into his arms, but he loved the feeling of the guy’s body against his. The young man sighed, sank against him and closed his eyes. They couldn’t stay here for very long, he needed to get the guy to the car, then home so he could get some hot liquids down his throat, put him into a warm bath and make sure he was okay. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream?” The young man looked up at him, eyes pleading. “It feels pretty real to me.” He grinned. “Of course, if I were a dream, I would say that, too.” “You would.” The smile lit up his whole face. “What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you ‘my savior’, can I? Even though it’s very true.” “I don’t know about savior either. I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time.” He squeezed the young man more tightly, making him crawl closer for more body heat. “My name is Charles Nanton, and I have a cabin farther back in the forest.” “I like that name. Mine’s Zeph Rabelo, and I live in Aspen City, a few miles from here.” Zeph crawled closer again, his arms around Charles’s middle tightening further. “You’re so warm.” “Come on then, we need to get you into the car, at least. Where is your stuff? Maybe we can get that before I drive you home?” It was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to offer. “I don’t want to go home.” Zeph shuddered. “I don’t want the dream to end.”

**** Zeph couldn’t believe his luck. Not only had the most gorgeous man rescued him from the water and given him a nice, warm sweater to wear so that at least the worst of the shivering had stopped now, but he’d helped him retrieve his stuff and wasn’t going to force him to go home. Yet. After he’d explained what had happened, Charles had agreed he needed a break. Maybe he was stupid to follow a complete stranger home, but there was something about the man that just made him look trustworthy. He wanted some time with Charles so he could maybe experience at least some of what he’d been dreaming and fantasizing about. If Charles was willing, but nothing the other man had done or said so far indicated he wouldn’t be. Some of the heated glances that had come his way had helped drive up his body temperature a lot faster than it would have recovered on its own. Once back at the other man’s car, Charles had given him a blanket to wrap himself up in, which added to the warmth. He’d gotten into the sleek, new Lexus and was whisked up the road, reaching the man’s log cabin less than ten minutes later. Before he could even move, Charles was at his door, opened it and pulled him into his arms. “Hey, I can walk.” He put his arms around Charles’s neck though, even if it was just for stability. He didn’t want to fall. “And I can carry you.” Charles winked, set him down on a chair on the porch and unlocked the door. “It’s easier to keep you wrapped inside the blanket and warm this way.” “Okay.” Who was he to argue with logic? As long as it suited him, he’d go with it. He barely had time to take in the open plan living room and kitchen arrangement as well as one room to the right before Charles started walking up to the stairs, past two bedrooms, and into the third. It was decorated in blues, but he didn’t have time to take in details because Charles walked straight through to the bathroom. Depositing him on the counter, he turned to run him

a bath, pulled a fluffy towel from a cupboard and briefly went downstairs to retrieve Zeph’s backpack. Not that he wanted to wear his own clothes when he could have Charles’s, but how was he going to explain that without seeming crazy? Charles left the room to let him slip into the bath. The water felt as if it was boiling against his skin, but Charles had assured him it was lukewarm. He quickly got used to it and let himself float on fantasies of what they’d do once he was out of the bath. Charles returned a few minutes later with a mug of chicken broth, which Zeph gladly accepted. “Thank you.” He looked at Charles. The man had blond hair and was as tall as his dream man, but the twinkling brown eyes and the ruggedly handsome face with the five o’clock shadow and the dimple in the chin were more detail than he’d ever perceived. “You are welcome.” Charles put a hand on his shoulder. He grabbed hold of it to keep it there. “Please stay?” “Sure.” Charles pulled up a stool and sat next to him as he relaxed, returned to feeling warm and asked as well as answered a few questions. He wanted that hand back on him. When he felt warm enough he asked for the towel and Charles turned around while he dried his upper body then wrapped the towel around his middle before approaching Charles. He put his hands on the other man’s shoulders and started kneading. Charles turned around with a startled gasp and he took the opportunity to step closer to the man and move his hands to his cheeks so he could pull him down for a kiss. The touch of lips on lips was as short as it was electrifying. He reeled from the impact. Every nerve echoed the feeling. It felt as if he was fully awake

for the first time in his life. Awake and alive. “Are you sure?” Charles looked down at him with a worried frown. “Absolutely. I‘ve been waiting for you for a long time.” He knew it sounded ridiculous, but he needed to be honest. Charles had to know what he felt for him. “You have?” Charles smiled back and raised a hand to stroke through Zeph’s half-dry hair. “If that is so, we better make the most of it, don’t we?” Zeph’s nodding may have been a bit too fast and too emphatic, but he could not get himself to care much. He wanted more of Charles’s kisses, more touching, more everything. “Let’s make ourselves comfortable for this.” Charles took his hand and led him to the big queen-size bed next door. The cover had already been pulled back. He ‘lost’ his towel before he went in and Charles undressed, keeping only his boxers on before he followed and pulled him close. Lying chest to chest and groin to groin made Zeph embarrassingly hard in seconds. He pushed closer and tangled their legs. Charles smiled and bent down for a kiss. This time, their lips remained together longer, and when Charles licked his lower lip, he opened up to let the other man in. His whole body hummed by the time he pulled back because he was running out of air. But he dove right back in, loving the feeling of hot lips on his. Charles’s hands started roaming his back then his ass and he thought he might die of the pleasure. Never breaking off the kiss, Charles fumbled his boxers off then slid one hand between them, and enclosed both their hard cocks into his fist. Thrusting wildly, drugged by Charles’s kisses and so awake he was ready to burst, literally, Zeph chased his orgasm like he’d never done before. When he

finally came, waves of pleasure traveled through his body, making him scream with the ecstasy. Charles was right behind him, and he grunted as he flooded their stomachs with more cum. When they’d both caught their breaths, Charles took some tissues for the nightstand cleaned them up and pulled Zeph into his arms. “God, that was good.” He nuzzled into Charles’s neck. “When can we do that again?” “Give me a few minutes.” Charles pulled him closer, already more than half hard against his hip. “But there are other things I want to try with you.” “There are?” He looked up. “Many?” “A huge number.” Charles grinned. “It may take us a long time to try all of them.” “I like that. We should take our time.” Zeph smiled and cuddled in more closely. “We can take forever, as far as I’m concerned.” Charles winked. “Yes, please.” Zeph nodded so hard he thought his head might fall off. “That might be long enough.” He didn’t think even forever would be enough time, but he didn’t want to sound discouraging. They’d just have to give it their best shot. THE END Author bio: I’m a night owl who starts writing when everyone else in my time zone is asleep. I’ve loved reading all my life and spent most of my childhood with my nose buried in a book. Although I always wanted to be a writer, financial independence came first. Twenty-some years and a successful business career later I took some online writing classes and never looked back.

Living and working in seven countries has taught me that there's more than one way to get things done. It has instilled tremendous respect for the many different cultures, beliefs, attitudes and preferences that exist on our planet. I like exploring those differences in my stories, most of which happen to be romances. My characters have a tendency to want to do their own thing, so I often have to rein them back in. The one thing we all agree on is the desire for a happy ending. I currently live in the United Kingdom, sharing my house with a vast collection of books. I like reading, traveling, spending time with my nieces and listening to classical music. I have a passion for science and learning new languages.