Sunday evening, Danny pulled up to Steve’s building at 7. He parked a block away, on the off-chance someone might recognize his car and wonder why it spent so much time at Steve’s. ‘Always being on your guard’, he thought. To be with Steve, it’s worth it.

Steve answered the door with his sleeves rolled up, a spatula in his hand. “Come in and make yourself at home. This will just be a few more minutes,” he said, hurrying back into the kitchen.

Danny removed his jacket and tie, and strolled into the kitchen, where Steve was turning pieces of fish in a skillet. “Mm, it smells good. Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.

“I think it’s all under control here,” Steve said, testing the fish. “This is done.” He deftly slid a filet each onto two plates. “Sautéed snapper with apricot-ginger salsa,” he said, topping the fish with the apricot mixture, garnishing it with thin strips of red bell pepper, and putting the plates on the table, already set with cutlery and bowls containing rice and green salad.

“Wow, Steve, this is really good!” Danny exclaimed, eating.

“When I realized I wasn’t going to be getting married and having a wife to cook for me, I decided I had better learn how to cook for myself,” Steve explained. “Not that I often find the time these days.”

After dinner they washed the dishes standing at the sink together. Danny was acutely aware of Steve’s nearness and the memory of what had happened the last time they stood together at this sink, but as they finished Steve merely said, “Shall we take our coffee into the living room?”

He poured two cups from the percolator, adding milk to Danny’s.

“Thanks, Steve.” Danny seated himself on the sofa, where he was joined by Steve.

Danny sipped his coffee, feeling absurdly nervous. He took a sidelong glance at Steve, who was looking as relaxed as Steve ever did, leaning back on the sofa with one arm along the back behind Danny’s shoulders and his feet up on the coffee table, looking back at him with the little smile that Danny found irresistible. I wish I had the nerve to just turn and kiss him, he thought.

“Steve....” Danny began tentatively, turning to him.

As though this were a signal he had been waiting for, Steve abruptly swung his feet off the table, set his cup down, and took Danny’s half-empty cup from his unresisting fingers. He rested his hands lightly on Danny’s shoulders and looked down into his eyes. “Danny?” he asked softly, with a half-smile.

“Yes,” Danny said, swallowing hard. Yes, Steve, to whatever it is you want to do. And this time, please don’t stop.

Steve leaned forward to kiss him. Although he had looked relaxed, Danny could feel the tension in his arms, the pent-up passion as his hot mouth pressed against Danny’s, his tongue probing, caressing. He felt Steve unbuttoning his shirt, then sliding his hands underneath, his strong fingers surprisingly delicate. As he brushed them over one taut nipple Danny groaned, his body jerking involuntarily.

Steve made an answering sound in his throat, lifting his mouth from Danny’s and laying him back on the couch so he could kiss his way down Danny’s throat, then lower, his tongue replacing his fingers, teasing Danny’s nipples.

“Steve!” Danny moaned. He reached forward to fumble with the buttons of Steve’s shirt, wanting to feel Steve’s skin against his own.

“Here, let me,” Steve said, his voice unsteady. He quickly undid the buttons and tossed his shirt aside, then leaned forward to reclaim Danny’s mouth, lying half on top of him on the narrow sofa.

Danny ran his hands over Steve’s strong back, then slid them around to his chest. It should seem weird to touch a man this way, to feel the hair curling under my fingers, the hard muscles, but oh, God, it feels good. Danny could feel his erection straining uncomfortably at his tight pants.

As though responding to his thoughts, Steve slid one hand down over Danny’s taut abdomen to the bulge in his pants. He raised his head for a moment to look questioningly at Danny.

“Yes, Steve, please!” Danny moaned, moving his hips under Steve’s hand.

Steve unfastened Danny’s pants and pulled the zipper down, then slid his hand inside Danny’s briefs to close over him.

“Ah!” Danny cried, struggling for control as Steve stroked his rock-hard shaft. Steve looking down at me with those midnight blue eyes as he does that...I don’t know how long I can take this. Why is it so different when it’s him?

“Danny, wait,” Steve said hoarsely, sitting up and withdrawing his hand.

“Steve! Please, I don’t want to stop this time,” Danny begged, sitting up and fixing Steve with a direct gaze as he took his hand and guided it back to his crotch. I don’t care about my pride, or anything else. I need him now.

“God, Danny, when you look at me like that, while...” Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to stop, either. But I’m not about to make love on a sofa when there’s a perfectly good king-sized bed in the next room. Come on.” He took Danny’s hand and led him to the bedroom.

They stood beside the bed in the warm glow of lamplight. Danny unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and took it off, then slipped off his pants. He felt suddenly shy about going further. What will he think? How do I...compare? I’ve never had to consider that with a lover before. A lover...I don’t know if I’ve ever really had a lover before, not someone I felt like this about. Danny looked uncertainly at Steve, and found Steve giving him a frankly admiring look up and down.

“Danny, you look like a recruiting poster for ‘The All-American’,” Steve said, his voice husky. “I’ve wanted you for so long....” He put his hands on Danny’s shoulders, and bent to kiss him, then stepped back and looked down at Danny’s black bikini briefs, barely containing his erection. “I lost my nerve that day I took you home,” he said ruefully.

Danny took a deep breath, then slipped off his briefs, his thick cock springing free. He looked up at Steve.

“Mm,” Steve said with an appreciative smile, “I guess you are blond everywhere.”

Danny blushed. “OK, Steve,” he said. “I showed you mine, now....”

Steve was wearing the pants to the blue suit that Danny liked him best in. He unfastened them and took them off, revealing lean, muscular legs thickly sprinkled with dark hair, and his own black briefs, slightly more modest than Danny’s. Steve raised his eyebrows, then slid them off.

Danny couldn’t help a startled intake of breath. His own cock was thick and far from short, but Steve’s was....The only word for it is ‘magnificent’, Danny thought.

Steve was watching him, looking slightly worried about his reaction. “Danny...if you don’t want to....”

“God, Steve, these past few months I’ve kept having dreams about you, but even in my dreams you never looked this good,” Danny said, putting his arms around Steve’s neck and kissing him.

“Danny....” Steve groaned, pulling Danny against him. They stood, naked, their bodies pressed together. Steve slid one hand down to Danny’s firm buttocks, caressing, squeezing, as Danny’s hands roamed over his back. Steve closed his hand over Danny’s cock, eliciting a moan from Danny.

“Steve...please....” Wanted him so much...the feel of his body against mine, his hand...I can’t take much more of this....

Steve leaned over to pull back the bed covers. They climbed in, still kissing, touching. Steve leaned over to take a small tube from the nightstand drawer. He poured some lubricant into his hand, slicking it over his own cock and then Danny’s.

“Ah!” Danny gasped. He stroked Steve’s shaft in rhythm with Steve’s hand on his own, their mouths joined, Danny with his free hand caressing Steve’s chest, sliding upward to bury his fingers in Steve’s dark hair. The idea that after fantasizing for so long he was free to touch Steve wherever he wanted was driving him wild. Steve slid his other hand down over Danny’s hard abdomen, enjoying the contrast of hard muscle and crisp hair, then lower, as they moved together in a building rhythm, to stroke Danny’s testicles. The sensation pushed Danny over the brink. “Steve! Ah!” he groaned as he came, spurting thick, hot liquid over Steve’s hand and both their stomachs.

The feeling was too much for Steve. “God, Danny!” he cried as he, too, spent himself onto their entwined bodies.

They lay together, breathing in gasps. Steve held Danny tightly in his arms, kissing him tenderly.

“Steve...mmm....” Danny said, smiling sleepily and arranging himself comfortably against Steve’s body.

Steve woke a little later and fetched a wet washcloth for them to clean up a bit. Afterward, Danny lay against Steve with his head on his shoulder as though it were the most natural place in the world for him to be. I guess it is, at that. I’ve gotten used to having him by my side all day...all night is even better, was Steve’s last conscious thought.