Gaian Madness

Chapter 1

It all began as a game that his best friend, James, had introduced him to, a foolish and seemingly pointless game that somehow started to extend into his reality. Marcus was baffled as to how that silly game had managed to hook him and was now leading him down a path of destruction, leading him straight unto his own damnation. That was, if things played out in reality as they had shamelessly played out in his mind.

He could be ashamed of his dirty mindedness later, once his curiosity was satisfied and his body calmed. But for now, he had to keep his wandering mind in check as he traveled two hundred miles in the opposite direction of his family and a man that gave him the best s*x he could have ever ask for. It was because he was too intrigued to resist what was willing being offered to him and too aroused beyond words to say no.

Marcus mentally slapped himself as he maneuvered the narrow, icy roads that led to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. He should be nestled neatly between James’s legs before a roaring fire, lapping hot chocolate from the hovel of his best friend’s belly button. But, no. He wasn’t. Instead he was on his way to meet a complete stranger in one of the coldest areas in the United States.

Marcus had no idea how things had rolled so out of control. 

How had he wound up like…this?

Four months ago, James signed Marcus up on Gaia, that silly internet game that connected geeks who hid behind little animated characters called avatars to avoid the real world.  James had an addiction to the site long before Marcus joined and his childish enthusiasm was contagious. It was less than a week later that he stumbled upon a cute little avatar by the name of Sever Sword. The avi had a mass of black hair with a bright red bow and large black kitty ears, holding a sucker up to his mouth. At the time, Sever Sword had been one among many talking in a large group and Marcus felt an innate urge to reach out and stroke what looked to be velvety soft fur. It was then that the student understood James’s obsession with this site. The conversations were stimulating, drawing one in, and the guys were hot and willing. Marcus cautiously approached the group and managed to work his way into the conversation, but before he had been able to hook the cute little Sever Sword, he was stolen by another.

Disappointed, Marcus signed off of the site and snuck into James’s apartment where he gently took the laptop from his friend’s hands, sat it aside, and distracted James until the next morning.

Two days later Marcus found himself signing back into Gaia only to find that he had a friend request on his profile page. It was a friend request from none other than Sever Sword. Marcus accepted the request and not two minutes later got a private message for the same person.

‘I’m glad that you accepted me as your friend…I don’t know if you remember me, but we met the other night and I was hoping to get a more intimate understanding of you. If you want to talk I will be online all night, playing Truth or Dare in region…’  

He included the number of the area Marcus would be able to find him. It was the same guy that had caught his attention days earlier. It seemed that he had caught his attention after all. Marcus smiled and followed the directory to the area where he could find the cute little avatar who sat in a circle of six, playing a game of Truth or Dare. Marcus joined in.

“I dare you to kiss Prurient Incubus.” Gay_Love, a member of the group, snickered to Sever Sword, motioning to Marcus’s avatar. Marcus remembered how his heart had fluttered when the cute little avatar with the large red bow and kitty ears with the suggestive sucker leaned in to kiss his own avatar.

Marcus smiled when he realized that what he thought was going to be an innocent game of Truth or Dare was actually going to be cybering, computer s*x. James would strangle him if he ever found out that Marcus was taking part in this perversion…if…Marcus would never tell though. To say the least, the game got out of control faster than Marcus’s s*x life had and Gay_Love left the two to their own devices.

“Do you like doing that?” Marcus asked, short of breath after the last of Sever Sword’s words left the screen. Those words were sexy as hell and had his entire body alert, if only the wonderful things he spoke of he were actually doing. “Giving blowjobs, I mean? It seems like you enjoy it.”

The cute little avatar laughed as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “I suppose I would if I ever had the nerve to approach a guy I liked and did it, but as it is, I’m still a virgin.”  He giggled. “In all aspects.”

Marcus felt he mouth go dry as he read the words, his hands itching to move from the keyboard to the zip of his pants so that he could do the unimaginable. “I like virgins.” He said honestly, shamelessly, his brain suddenly going dead at the thought of a virgin pushing past his barriers, taking him in the clumsy manner that they usually did. He hated them as much as he loved them. “And I honestly think that I’m starting to like you.”

There was a silence that hung in the air between them before Sever Sword came back with. “If you were to knock on my door right now, I’d let you take my virginity.” He said. “I want to give it to someone like you.”

Yes, that was all that needed to be said for Marcus to truly yearn for the person on the other side of the screen. Marcus sighed. “How do you know that when you don’t even know me yet? I could be a child molester for all you know and you want to give me your virginity.” It was a joke, obviously, but the truth. And a reminder for both of them that things on the screen were rarely real or what one would want in life.

“But I want to get to know you better, in more than a s****l way, and, honestly,” Marcus held his breath as he read the last sentence. “You may feel like one if you were ever to be with me. I just turned eighteen.”

Marcus paled at the confession, but the teen had been true to his word, he wanted to get to know Marcus on a better level, so they talked for a few more hours. The elder male found out that Sever Sword was in fact a teen named Michael who had lived in Florida for the past few months after moving to the United States from Ireland when he graduated from high school. Marcus shared similar information about himself, the fact that he was twenty-one and in his junior year of med school, answering any question the teen had with honest answers. His age didn’t seem to bother Michael either, though, nor the distance that separated Florida from California, it excited him, and in turn, Marcus was excited.

Now, months later, Marcus was driving to the ski lodge in Aspen to meet the teen in person whom he had met online. He felt a bit uneasy though, what if this were nothing but a trap? What if the one called Sever Sword was nothing but a ruse and the person he was going to meet was a mass murderer? What if Michael was younger then what he was saying and this was all a set up to catch a predator? The mere thought of him being arrested and being sent to jail made Marcus pull his car to the side of the road. Marcus was considering turn the car around and heading back to Colorado Springs when his phone started ringing from the passenger seat.

“Hello?” Marcus asked, holding the phone in a tight fist with his eyes darting right and left, waiting for a break in the traffic to pull back out.

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice asked happily. “Marcus?”

Marcus pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear and glanced at the phone in his hand.  He didn’t recognize the voice nor the number. “Yes, and who would this be?”

There was a delighted pang of laughter from the other end of the line. “Marcus, it me!  Michael!” Marcus felt his mood lift as the other man spoke, a voice that sounded of pure, untainted innocence with only the slightest hint of Irish lull to his vowels. His c**k twitched. Well, if this whole situation was a set up, at least there was an attractive sounding guy on the other end of the line. “How are you?” 

“Just fine.” Marcus found himself replying shyly when, in the back of his mind he knew that he should hang up the phone and drive his ass back home where Jams would be waiting for him with open arms, ready to please him. “And yourself?”

Damn! That plan was a total flop!

There was a rustle from the other end, almost like he shifting of clothing as the teen shrugged. “Eh, I’m good, but I’d be better if you were here, though.” The boy hesitated as if he had suddenly grown shy. Marcus found himself smiling in spite of himself. “That’s why I called you, I was trying to find out if you were still coming to meet me.”

Hell no! I’m driving my ass back home as I speak and getting as far away from this place as I possibly can. “Of course I’m coming! I’m just a few minutes away from the lodge.” It seemed like his hormones were once more ruling his brain.

“Great! I’m in the main lodge at the top of the hill.”  Suddenly, his bashfulness vanished. “You’ll notice me immediately, I’ll be the one wearing a kitty ear hoodie with a bright red bow. Just like my avi online!”

It seemed like the bashful that had once fazed Michael was now seeping into Marcus because he felt his cheeks heaten. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Marcus said with a smile and hung up the phone. He had already pulled out into traffic and was once more driving towards the lodge before the terrible truth struck. “s**t!” he cursed, palming his steering wheel in anger. He’d done it again, he had allowed his hormones to override his senses, as if he were back in high school himself. What an i***t he was, a smart man never would have come here in the first place, a smart man would have blocked Michael as soon as he discovered he was an eager virgin fresh from school, but it didn’t seem as if he were as smart as he had once hoped to be.

Well, it was too late to turn around now.

Marcus followed the narrow, icy road up the mountain along with the rest of the traffic.  There were turnoffs along the way that led to individual cabins nestled in the trees, concealed by  umbrella pines, hidden and isolated. Marcus smiled when the memory of his trip here with James came to the forefront of his mind. They had rented a cabin here the Christmas break of their senior year, both of their families had had to travel out of the state for some reason or another, leaving the two of them to their own devices. It had been a bliss filled weekend were they merely enjoyed one another’s company. There had been no sleeping, hardly any eating, and a whole lot of s*x whenever and wherever they may happen to fall while in the throes of passion, had it been in the snow by the generator in the back of the cabin or in the Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. It had been one amazing weekend. 

Perhaps he could get James up here again…

The four lane road suddenly began to taper and narrowed into two lanes, one to and one from, and followed the path up the hill a quarter of a mile that led directly to the ski lodge. Marcus had expected the place to be crowded due to the Christmas holiday, but things here were absolutely ridiculous! The entire parking lot was full and cars were spilling over onto the snow covered lawn, the paths and walkways that connected the different buildings spread out from the main lodge like the gigantic legs of a mammoth spider were crowded with people. Marcus circled the area along with other drivers and found that if he wanted to park, it would have to either be on the side of the road or tuck his car among the trees by the independent cabin. In the end, Marcus parked in one of the private drives that were not occupied by vehicles that was a ten minutes’ walk from where the sweet boy was awaiting him. He only hoped that he didn’t get towed before this meeting had ended…if he weren’t arrested, of course.

With the thought caressing the inner walls of his mind, Marcus grabbed his bag from the backseat, a change of clothes that he had been conditioned to bring along ‘just in case’, then he locked the car before pocketing his keys and cell and began the quarter of a mile trek back up the hill to the lodge.

Fifteen minutes later Marcus was dragging his frost bitten ass through the revolving doors into the main lobby.

It was colder outside then Marcus had initially thought. The wind had ripped through his thigh length wool coat and heavy sweater he wore, the denim jeans had done nothing to protect his legs from the elements, and his feet and hands were frozen. He was pissed when he caught a glance of his hair in his reflection on the windows and found his usually neatly groomed hair brown hair was wind-whipped. His face was flushed from the cold and he pulled his scarf tighter around his neck to gain some ounce of warmth. It was warm inside, yes, but his body temperature had dropped so low on the trek here that he stood there among the hotel guests shivering and hugging himself for warmth. 

Marcus blew warm breath into his cupped hands as his eyes roamed over the people who stood around chatting with one another, snuggled in heavy coats and dripping with furs. The parking lot had nothing in the crowding in the rustic lobby. He felt out of place here, but he found himself being pressed further inside and away from the door, getting lost among luggage and guests before finally maneuvering to the large hearth at the west side of the lodge. Marcus held his hands up to the blaze, smiling in appreciation of the warmth as his body slowly began to thaw. He had only been standing there a moment when he allowed his eyes to roam around the lobby, taking in the people and the décor of the building, the high energy that bounded off of the paned glass walls that over looked the town below. It was beautiful scenery, but what caught his attention most was not the view from the window. What caught his attention was the delicious ass hiked up in the air over the pool table just across the room.

If Marcus was cold before, he wasn’t anymore. His body warmed instantly and his mouth began to salivate. It had to be male because he had no attraction whatsoever to females and only one man had ever made him as hot as he felt at that moment. Only one man he knew had an ass like that perched upon such lusciously long legs and James wasn’t here, but that same attraction he felt for his best friend was present in that moment. Marcus turned his body fully to watch the ass as one leg came up and a shot was made in the top left pocket, the firm backside shifted under the tight denim and the back erected, a tall boy emerging from the shapely backside to move the other side of the pool table. The first thing that came into view was a softly featured baby face, thin and bronzed, a full lower lip pierced in the right hand corner, shaped brows with a rod and balls in the far left…the black hoodie pulled up over his head with kitty ears and a large red bow.

Marcus felt his jaw drop. This was Michael?! Damn, he was so screwed!

The college student shook his head to clear his mind of the images where that cute little ass was perched in the air before him in open invitation, or slowly sliding onto his c**k with a gasp of surprise and need. Marcus growled and edged closer to the pool table to observe unnoticed before he lowered himself into a chair and only managed to fall down completely. He leaned on the heel of his hand and kept his eyes locked on the teen as he won the pool game. He was playing against two other men who watched him with the eyes of predators stalking prey as leapt happily into the air.

Marcus had to avert his gaze when the teen looked in his direction in vain attempt to remain unseen.

A minute passed while Marcus held his breath before. “You’ve been stripping me with your eyes since you noticed me here,” a singsong voice laughed from his right. It seemed that the teen was as observant as Marcus himself was. “Please tell me that you’re Marcus.” Came a rush of pleading words.

Marcus felt laughter bubble in his throat as he finally turned his head to acknowledge the teen and his gaze instantly locked with deep sea foam green. “Yes, you were correct, I am Marcus.” He said with a smile. “I was merely enjoying the view you voluntarily gave.” He knew that he now had the teen’s full attention as he pulled himself out of the chair, bringing the edges of his coat closed to hide the front of his pants so that his arousal wasn’t seen, the teen’s eyes following his every move. He stood to his full height. “I take it that you’re Michael.”

The teen was quite tall for his age, the top of his chin even with Marcus’s nose, a thin creature with a snug black hoodie hanging from his narrow shoulders with black cat ears, the hugging jeans that left nothing to the imagination. “You are correct.” Michael giggled, propping the pool stick on the floor to sway his hips into the brace, pushing the sleeves of his hoodie up to expose his tanned forearms and several bracelets on each wrist, rings on his black painted fingers. “What took you so long? I had to start a game of pool up to keep those perverts off of me.” He said, jutting his thumb at the two men who were standing by the pool table watching them both intently. Michael scowled at the men. “Perverts!” he hissed under his breath so only Marcus could hear.

Marcus felt anger boil deep inside of him as one of the men blew a kiss to Michael who hissed and flipped the man off. “I had to hike up the hill.” He said, smiling as Michael crowded closer when one of the men approached. “What, do you want me to protect you?”

“Yes, please.” Michael said in a rushed release of breath, dropping the pool stick and pressing himself to the older man’s side, under his arm where he wound his arms around Marcus’ narrow waist and buried his face into the collar of his coat. “I trust you.”

The man that was approaching stopped dead when Michael plastered himself to Marcus and turned on his heel to rejoin his friends at the pool table, starting a new game with a frown.  Marcus felt the wind rush from his lungs when the heated flesh of the other body ignited a fire in his blood stream. He had to bite down on his lower lip in a vain attempt to ignore the electric charge that shot down his spine. It felt nice to be held the way Michael was holding him, in a completely nonsexual way that was absolutely erotic in all senses of the word. Marcus involuntarily wound his arm around the teen’s shoulders and allowed himself the comfort and electric charge before the words Michael had registered. “You trust me?” he asked under his breath, the words no more than a sigh as he shifted and put some distance between them. This way Marcus was able to think straight. “I strongly suggest otherwise, kid. You don’t even know me, I could eat you alive.” Marcus lazily gave Michael the once over, admiring what he saw with a stoic expression. “You’re nothing but a tease dressed like that, why should I offer assistance to someone who flaunts themselves like you do?”

Marcus knew that he sounded like an ass but this was his way of giving Michael an out…

Michael scowled and jerked the hood off of his hair with a huff, a mass of sun bleached brown hair falling free to hang in angles around his slim, flawless face. God, he looked luscious! “For your information, I only wore this outfit so that I’d stand out and get your attention, so that you’d recognize me.” He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting his hips so that he was once more touching Marcus. “How did you know that I didn’t dress like this to tease you?”

His words struck a chord that sparked his desire even more. Yeah, this kid was a tease all right. “If you want to tease me, you’ll have to lose a few more layers of clothes first,” Marcus smiled and turned as if he were going to leave, than stopped and glanced at Michael over his shoulder. “Then you’d have to get a few years older.”

“If that’s what it takes to loosen you up a bit,” Michael laughed, and Marcus heard the rustle of material. Marcus stood stricken as the teen tossed his sweatshirt in his direction, the thin material draping over his head and shoulders. Marcus fisted the thin cotton and the strong scent of the warm sun and clean ocean breeze filled his senses and made him dizzy. “I can lose as many layers as you want, but I can’t speed up my aging process. Besides,” Michael leaned in so that his warm breath brushed across Marcus’s cheek. “Isn’t it more fun if I’m younger and inexperienced?” Still, Marcus refused to turn, terrified for himself that if he turned he would like what he saw. “ Marcus, if you don’t turn around and talk to me, my shirt and jeans will be next.”

Marcus smirked, tempted to remain as he was to see if Michael would carry out his threat, but was compelled to turn. He couldn’t risk arising any attention from the others in the lodge, not in this already indecent situation. Marcus swiveled on his heel only to see Michael tugging at the collar of his black t-shirt when their eyes locked. “You do know that what you’re about to do is considered indecent exposures, right?”

“If stripping is the only thing I can do to keep your attention directed on me, then so be it.” Marcus stared in awe as Michael ripped his shirt over his head. He smiled like a villain when the older man’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “And I can see that it’s working, so…do you like what you see?”

Perhaps if Marcus had have trusted his reaction he would have looked below the teen’s necklaced neck, he may have liked it more than the wanted to, but as it was, he kept his eyes locked to those seductively pouty pierced lips. “Put your clothes back on.” Marcus said between ground teeth, backing Michael into a corner by the hearth so that his nude torso would not draw any more unneeded attention. “You’re drawing to much attention to a situation I’m not entirely comfortable with yet.” Their eyes locked and Marcus almost growled at the temptation to kiss the man before him. The s****l tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. “This is indecent.”

Michael’s arched pierced brow. “Indecent situation?” He questioned. “What’s so indecent about two guy friends meeting during Christmas break? You must expect something indecent to happen.” Marcus felt his hot cheeks flush and Michael smiled. “But if you want indecent, I’ll show you indecent.” The older man was caught off guard when the teen snaked his arms into his coat to pull their bodies closer before roughly claiming his lips.

That electric charge that Marcus had felt earlier was nothing compared to the shock of their lips locked, their bodies pressed flush, of Michael’s tongue running over the seam of his lips begging for entrance. Marcus’ mind told him to jerk away, separate from this guy, condone him for his action’s and return to James, a man who was his in every sense of the word and knew him inside and out, but his body betrayed him and stood unmoved, wanting what the teen willingly volunteered. Dammit! He felt too good, Marcus opened his mouth for the other’s skilled intrusion. A battle of the muscles quickly ensued, tongue stroking tongue, mouths sucking greedily, teeth nipping, the slurping noises that neither male attempted to conceal in their need to taste and feel out the other, an unwinning war of dominance. Jesus, this guy tasted good, a mixture of vanilla and chocolate that was addictive and had Marcus moaning and pushing deeper to taste more. Now, all too quickly for his own tastes, Marcus noticed how that electric charge he once felt was now a hailstorm of ardent desire he would lose control to. A desire he would not be able to hide with their bodies pressed together.

But he couldn’t stop.

The more of the boy he tasted, the more that he wanted. To touch, to taste, to feel completely, but Marcus resisted the urge somehow by planting his hands on the wall on either side of Michael’s head. His mind was hazy from the taste on his tongue, his head was swimming from desire, his adrenaline pumping from being watched by so many pairs of eyes. But above all else, he was drunk on Michael’s presence. He couldn’t touch him, as much as he wanted to, but he had to stop. Marcus had to stop before he lost his bearings altogether.

“Knock it off!” Marcus panted as he tore his mouth away, turning his head to the side and pressing his forehead to the wall. He attempted to catch his breath while wiping absently at the wetness on his mouth with the back of his hand. “Stop the passes and put your shirt back on.”

Michael let out an aggravated huff and blew his bangs out of his eyes, resting his butt against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, now, you’re not as much fun as I thought you’d be in the flesh. I’m starting to think that I prefer you whoring with me over the net.” Marcus ground his teeth, of course Michael preferred him when they were online. They were free to do whatever, play however, but in the real world, morals kept Marcus from doing what he wanted in that moment. “You worry too much, Marcus.” Michael said with a sultry smile, suddenly reaching out to bury his fingers in Marcus’s long auburn locks.

Marcus felt a purr roll over his lips at the near intimate contact and he couldn’t resist turning his head and locking a sea form green gaze. It was in that instant that Marcus knew that this kid was going to destroy his resolve and that if he kept tempting Marcus, he was going to take the bait…quite literally.

He refused to risk that though and pushed away from Michael to separate them completely. There was too much at rick and not enough to gain. This entire trip had been a mistake, he was old enough to keep fantasy and reality separated and yet he’d bit for this teen.  What kind of fool had he been to come here, honestly, what had he expected?

Marcus allowed his arms to fall down to his sides and gave a weak, wary smile. “This was a mistake, I knew better than coming here. I never should have come.” Marcus allowed himself the slightest contact when he caressed the baby soft cheeks and ran the pad of his thumb over the lush, full lower lip. He smiled when he noticed that they were swollen from kissing. “I’ll see you on Gaia.”

This time when Marcus turned around and walked away, he didn’t look back.

Ice flowed through Marcus’s blood stream, his entire body went cold and he was still in the warm lobby, so cold that when he stepped outside, the bitterness of the mountain air didn’t even touch him. He felt like he was losing something important the further he got away from Michael, even though it was something that he never should have had. Marcus just couldn’t shake the feeling that he should turn around and pull the teen into his arms, take what was willingly offered, damn the consequences.

“Marcus!” he heard his name carried on the icy wind and steeled himself against turning.  He knew that he had to get away from this kid, so he ignored him and kept walking until he heard hurried footsteps closing in behind him, the huff of breath, and a hand catching his arm just above his elbow. “Marcus, please don’t leave like that, I’m sorry.” Marcus sighed. Michael was bent double with his hands braced on his knees as he drew ragged breaths onto his lungs. When he lifted his head, his eyes sought Marcus’s and latched. “I’m so sorry that I made you uncomfortable.” The teen erected his back and met Marcus head on. “ I’ve wanted to meet you for so long, I built you up in my mind and I couldn’t help what I did when we finally met. I mean, all of those things we talked about over the net made me…want you.” The last words were whispered before he rushed forward again. “I promise that I’ll behave myself, just, don’t leave like this. Do something with me before you peg this trip as a mistake. I’ll keep my clothes on this time…scouts honor.” Michael held his hand up, making the sign of a Boy Scout and Marcus couldn’t help but laugh.

This boy was absolutely adorable. Marcus admired his youth for a moment as he pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear, staring at the teen with the rosy cheeks and labored breath.  He noticed that Michael had replaced his clothes. “And what do you suggest we do?” Marcus asked, the cold finally getting to him and making him shiver. 

Michael pushed a hand back through his hair. His eyes roamed over the desolate landscape as his arms fell down by his sides. “I dunno, we’re at a frickin’ ski lodge.” Michael gestured at their snowy surroundings. “ I’m sure that we’ll find something.”

Marcus smiled, shook his head. This was a losing battle, fighting against this boy with the sea foam green eyes. He had crumbled just as surely as he would have with James. Not many people were able to get their way with him but he already seemed to be wrapped around Michael’s finger. “I’m sure we will.” Marcus let out a relieved sigh and turned his eyes to the sky. It was getting dark, the sky darkening and turning to the most vibrant of purples, oranges, and pinks, creating a kaleidoscope of colors as the sun sank down over the horizon. It was beautiful, cold, but beautiful. He didn’t remember ever seeing a sunset this beautiful and wished that he were seeing it with James. Yes, he’d have to get James to come back up here so that they could experience this sight together, than they could screw like dogs in the snow. That image alone made Marcus hot, hard, and in dire need of attention. He just wasn’t expecting it to come in the form of a snowball to the back of his head. “Hey!”

The elder man spun on his heel cupping the back of his head. His hand was covered in snow from the snowball Michael had chucked at him and the teen himself was once more doubled over, once more short of breath, but this time he was panting from his laughter. It was loud and carried on the chilled breeze like a siren’s lullaby, drawing him nearer and luring him in the take the bait. “I just couldn’t help myself!” Michael laughed, pointing at Marcus with one hand cupped over his mouth. “But the look on your face is priceless!”

“Priceless, huh?” he smirked, kneeling down to scoop up two handfuls of snow and compress it between his hands, using Michael’s distraction to his advantage. “Let’s see your expression.” Marcus threw the snowball and made a direct hit to the teen chest. It startled Michael and fell back to his butt in the snow. “Your face wasn’t half bad either.” The elder laughed, staring at the pouting boy.

Michael looked adorable sitting in the soft snow, small snowflakes falling to land in delicate patterns on his shoulders and in his soft brown hair. He seemed so out of place with his sun kissed skin, black make up and painted nails, like a runaway forgotten on the streets. He made Marcus want to gather him in his arms and offer protection, carry him away and give him a home with all the love any guy could ever ask for. And once Marcus had Michael fed and bathed, warm and rested, he would tuck the little runaway into his bed and feed from his body like a ravenous animal desperate for food. Michael would be that food.

“You’re a jerk, Marcus!” Michael hissed as he shuffled to push himself out of the snow.  In the process, he balled snow in his hands and returned the fire, hitting Marcus in the shoulder with the snowball. “Why don’t you be a man and face me head on?”

Marcus laughed as he ran away from Michael who kept a steady flow of snow balls on his tail, more making contact than misses. “Head on?” the elder joked as he ran, stopping for a split second to make a hasty snowball to throw at Michael, hitting him in the back just in time for the teen to guard his head. “You’re not even eye level, looking at you is like looking at an Umpa Loompa.” It was nice to throw the remarks out considering he had heard them himself for most of his life. “You can’t even keep up!”

Michael growled from behind him. “That was uncalled for, Marcus!” he hissed, lodging a particularly large mass of snow at Marcus that fell apart half way through its course. Michael managed to hit Marcus with a few random clumps of snow. “I’m still growing!” Marcus skidded to a halt when Michael took a moment to catch his breath.

“Wow, you can’t even keep up with those short legs, you had to work twice as hard to get that far.” Marcus jeered playfully. “How’s the view from down there?”

Michael had had just about enough of this guy that he could take. He wasn’t used to being poked fun of when he was usually the one picking on others. Even if Marcus was joking, it still wasn’t any fun. Now the older man stood about ten feet away, arms crossed over his chest with a particularly smug smile curling those plump lips. Michael wanted to wipe the floor with that pretty face. “Why don’t you tell me?” Michael hissed, taking a flying leap at the other man, catching Marcus unawares and throwing him to the ground. “Don’t play with fire if you can’t take the heat, old man!” the teen seethed, wrestling with the older man in the thick snow. Marcus put up little resistance, but that may have been for the best because the expression that crept over Marcus’s face was truly priceless.

Marcus rolled to the ground with the boy on top of him, fighting to get an upper hand and Marcus amusing him by thinking he had it…until he bucked his hips up to throw Michael off balance and force him back into the snow. “Things seem to be better when heated up, my pet.”  Marcus gracefully rose to his feet, brushing the snow off of him as he turned his gaze to the lodge. It looked warm in there…especially now that he was wet from playing in the snow with Michael. He was ready to head inside to thaw once more. “Are you coming?” he asked, turning his eyes to the boy who lay comfortably in the snow with his arms braced behind him.

Michael pouted, sticking his tongue out at the older man as he struggled to stand in the deep snow, only managing to sink deeper. “Arg! Help me!” The teen pounded the snow with his fists before reaching out for Marcus to pull him up. “Please, Marcus!”

He was right. Adorable. Marcus c****d his head to the side and took in the sight of his runaway trapped in a snowy prison. “I thought that I was a jerk?” the elder man smirked, taking leisurely steps towards the boy. He knelt down and pushed the snow closer to Michael. “I should bury you alive, maybe that will keep you in line.” Marcus gathered handfuls of snow to dump it on the teen’s legs.

“Go ahead, bury me, freeze me.” Michael said with a smile, lying back in the snow.  “But, just know that once I get out, I’ll be ten times as bad as I was when I was first buried.”

Marcus felt his eyes widen. The thought of Michael acting ten times worse than he was now, of what the teen would be capable of once he wasn’t leashed…excited Marcus. He shook his head. “We can’t have that.” The elder mumbled, retracting his actions and pushing snow away from Michael’s legs instead of on top of him. 

“What, does the thought of a guy younger and smaller than you taking you down hurt your pride, Marcus?” the teen smirked, rubbing the backs of his arms to chase away the chill.

“It frightens me.” Marcus said with no emotion whatsoever, head lowered as he gave up the attempt to dig up Michael’s legs for drawing patterns in the snow with his finger. “As well as the thought of a teen with your tastes being uninhibited.” Marcus lifted his head and leveled Michael’s gaze as he pushed a fallen strand of hair out of his eyes. Michael was staring at him as if Marcus had lost his mind. “If you were any worse than you were a bit ago in the lobby, we’d both be in major s**t right now.”

Michael arched a brow, smirking as the cold began to tinge his soft cheeks with pink. “What do you mean, Marcus?”

The elder growled under his breath. Michael was wearing on his patience. Not in a bad way, but in a way that made Marcus want to eat the teen alive. It wouldn’t be any trouble at all the get exactly what he wanted from Michael, but he wasn’t such a weak man to prey on a younger, inexperienced teen just coming into his sexuality openly the way that Michael was. At least, he hoped that he wasn’t…

“You’re smarter than you’re playing, Michael.” Marcus replied, slowly rising to his feet and brushing the snow off of his pants. His hands and legs were numb, he couldn’t feel his feet and fingers at all. “You might want to get out of the snow now, something might freeze and fall off.” Marcus laughed at the speed with which Michael scrambled to his feet. “We should head in, it’s getting darker and colder out here.”

Michael pouted. “I can’t feel my butt…” he commented, slipping his hands into the back pockets of his jeans to fondle his backside through the material. Marcus grew hard at the sight, wondering just how amazing Michael would feel cupped in his hands. Damn, if he had it his way, he’d sure as hell make Michael feel it. “So, where do you want to go?”

“The only place to go is the lobby.” Marcus said, shaking his head to swipe the thoughts of Michael doing wickedly delicious things from his mind.

Michael shook his head. “It’s too crowded there, I was hoping to talk to you for a while longer.” The teen swiveled on his heel to face Marcus, lower his head to draw his full lower lip into his mouth. He hesitated, nervous. “We could always go back to my room,” Michael said in a barely auditable whisper. When Marcus said nothing, he rushed on, looking anywhere but in Marcus’s direction. “I mean, it’s quiet there, we can talk and get warm in private.”

Marcus didn’t know what he should say or do, so he remained rooted in the ankle deep snow with his eyes locked on the fumbling teen. It was cute, he seemed so nervous and flustered, making it quiet obvious that this was as new to him as it was to Marcus. “You don’t know how to behave…” Marcus commented with a hidden smile.

The teen’s head popped up, his pale green eyes locking to those of Marcus’s in the dimming light. “No, I promise that I’ll keep my clothes on!” Michael rushed, edging closer to Marcus with hesitant steps. “I just don’t want you to leave here with the wrong ideas. I do want to talk to you and get to know you better.” Michael sighed and tugged at Marcus’s sleeve with white hands. “Who knows if we’ll ever get to talk in person again…”

There was something absolutely irresistible about this boy and Marcus just couldn’t put his finger on it. Perhaps it was the ironic twist of him being perverse while still being a virgin, a quality that Marcus appreciated. It might have been his taunting smile or the suggestive sway of his hips when he moved…or the fact that Marcus wanted this boy almost as much as he wanted James every day. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Michael, he didn’t trust himself.

“Please?” Michael urged.

Marcus sighed, his eyes leisurely going between the delicate hand on his sleeve to the boy himself, shivering with the snowy terrain as his backdrop. His large sea foam eyes were alive with excitement, large and unbelievably alluring, that mouth as tempting as ever. Marcus should have been immune to boys like this, he usually was, but Michael was on a different playing field than any of the others had been on. Again, Marcus was unable to resist. “And you promise to behave?” Marcus asked, half hoping that Michael refused to make a promise like that while the other half of him, the sane half, wanted him to agree and keep his distance.  

“I promise to keep my clothes on!” the teen piped up immediately, his warm smile radiating brighter than the snow as he clung to Marcus’s arm, the contact warm and welcomed.

Marcus sighed, pulling Michael closer to his body for the heat to warm his skin even more than it already was. A promise to keep his clothes on wasn’t very reassuring…but if Michael kept to himself, then, perhaps, Marcus would be able to as well. “I guess I can stay and talk to you for a while more…” Marcus sighed, lifting his eyes to the sky, it was twilight now and driving down the mountain at this time of night would be dangerous. Whether he liked it or not, Marcus was stuck here until morning. He glanced down at Michael and saw the excitement radiating off of him. “Lead the way, my pet.”

“C’mon!” Michael laughed, his excitement suddenly bursting free from him like a firecracker, the feeling flowing out of him like rushing waves. He took hold of Marcus’s sleeve and took off at a run back towards the building they had first met in. Marcus was sluggish and reluctantly ran at the teen’s heels. “Hurry up, old man, pick up your feet before we freeze to death out here!” Michael laced their fingers together when Marcus seemed to slow down before finally stopping in the middle of the path, jerking Michael’s arm where he squealed from the shock. “What is it?”

Marcus didn’t know what it was, but the sway of Michael’s hips as he ran in front of him and the bounce of his sun bleached brown hair, the feel of his warm fingers wrapped around his cold ones was an enticement that Marcus was not strong enough to ignore. In one fell swoop, before Marcus could even comprehend an argument inside his head, he jerked Michael to him with the hand that was locked to his own and pulled the teen flush to his body. With his free hand, he reached up and cupped the flushed cheek, caressing the full lower lip with the pad of his thumb. “I shouldn’t do this because you are barely legal for me to touch…”

Michael refused to back down now that he had Marcus in the precise place that he wanted him. He wanted to kiss the older man, hold him close and get a feel of what those sultry eyes promised. Never had he felt so attracted to somebody as he did to this total stranger, he had felt the attraction that first night that they had spoken together on Gaia, that feeling of want and hot desire had grow into a fierce fire over the months of interaction. Michael hadn’t been joking when he told Marcus that he was the type of man he wanted to take his virginity. Not only did he want Marcus to take it, he wanted Marcus to eat him alive with his desire and feed on his body until there was nothing left. His body betrayed his desires, it had from the first moment he had spotted Marcus in the lobby, he had grown hard, as hard as when they toyed with each other online, that was how he knew it had been Marcus. No other person could do that to him.

“It should be more fun with me being younger.” Michael whispered as the snow once more began to fall. He held tightly to the fingers wrapped around his own while his free hand tangled in long auburn locks, soft as silk and just as luxurious. He pressed forward, tempting Marcus with his lips before gently nuzzling into the elder man’s cheek, wanting more than anything to kiss him, but not wanting to push his luck and scare this man out of being close to him again like when they were in the lobby. Those deep blue eyes were full of knowledge and lust, the promise of experience, a body that seemed to be built for giving pleasure and taking it just as skillfully. Michael wanted a taste of what so many other men had had a taste of. “I want so badly to kiss you, Marcus, but…”

Marcus shook his head. “I have only ever kissed one other person because I feel that the act is too intimate to share with just anyone.” With the words came a look of disappointment across Michael’s face. Those pale green eyes glistening with sadness and loss. He sighed, thinking back to when they were in the lodge. Before today James was the only person to ever share a kiss with him. But Marcus had a need to want to share something special with Michael as he had before. “But I think I’ll break the rules and make an acceptation for you, Michael.”

Once more, Marcus followed instinct and pressed his lips to the teen’s, the soft lips under his own giving and opening with the lap of his tongue to the seam. Once inside, he got a taste of something truly amazing, a mixture of innocence and purity with the slightest traces of lemon and vanilla. Their tongues touched and stroked one another, dueling for dominance until Marcus pressed his muscle to the very back of Michael’s throat to choke the boy on his taste. Michael moaned and sank his long nails into the nape of Marcus’s neck, pulling him nearer. It was addictive, Marcus sighed and pulled Michael even closer to him, one arm around his waist while the other cupped the back of the teen’s head to ensure that he was unable to get away from him until he thoroughly had his fill. Marcus had to appreciate this boy’s skill, returning the kiss with just as much fever, if not more, than Marcus was exhibiting. It seemed like a short eternity in Heaven that Marcus lavished Michael with attention from his tongue, exchanging their tastes with one another. Exchanging the air from one pair of lungs to another. Marcus was truly shocked when Michael began to retreat from the kiss only to bite and pull on his lower lip when they separated.

“I wish I could have lasted longer, but I needed air.” Michael panted with a slight blush coloring his wind flushed cheeks. His body that was cold just before they started kissing was now hot to the touch, the heat from one body seeping into the other, the arousal mutual. “I can’t seem to drag enough air into my body, I feel light headed.”

Marcus laughed, running his tongue over his lower lip, waiting, anticipating another kiss.  He held himself back, though, leashing the desire that coursed through him while holding the teen boy gently in his arms. The boy seemed to have gone limp, a mass of heated skin and hair.  “Was this your first kiss?” Marcus laughed, wanting to be this boy’s first everything. His first kiss, his first partner. He thought it strange for himself to think this, but Marcus suddenly felt possessive of Michael. After Marcus had tasted Michael and branded his touch onto the inside of his mind, making it where no one could live up to him, he would send Michael back from where he came. “Michael?”

Warmth was seeping through is body and going straight to the front of his jeans. His nails dug into the shoulder of the thick coat Marcus wore and into the supple skin at the older man’s neck. “I’ve played games of Truth or Dare where I had to kiss a class mate, but nothing like that before.” Michael replied, his eyes hazed over and focused on nothing in particular until the owner of the arms holding him laughed. Michael shook his head, his labored breath slowly stabilizing as he locked gazes with Marcus. “Would it be too much to ask for another kiss?”  Michael asked, one arm winding around Marcus’s neck while his free hand cupped Marcus’ warm cheek. He didn’t give the older man time to answer before he pulled Marcus back down to his lips.

Once more, their lips locked, mouths sucking hard while their tongues stroked at one another. Marcus c****d his head to the side in order to purge deeper into Michael’s mouth, kissing the boy like the world were reaching an end.

“You don’t kiss like this was your first time.” Marcus said with a smile, his fingers lacing through Michael’s sun kissed hair, feeling the silken strands against his skin. Slowly, almost sadly, Marcus loosened his hold on Michael’s body. They couldn’t do much more here in the open without raising suspicion.

“I’m a fast learner when taught by a good teacher.” Michael said with a slight blush touching his cheeks. The boy pulled away from Marcus and turned his eyes up to the sky to avoid the heated gaze of his new companion. Even when they weren’t touching each other or even looking at one another, the desire that pulsed between them was staggering. “Marcus, if you don’t plan on having s*x with me tonight, please tell me now so that I don’t get my hopes up any more than they already are.” He sighed. “Because I don’t think I can control myself anymore.”  Now, Michael met Marcus’s eyes levelly. “I’m sorry, Marcus, but I want you more now than ever before, more than I have ever wanted anything and if you don’t reject me now, I won’t stop until I get what I want.”

Marcus shook his head and pushed a strand of stray hand behind his ear, smiling. “My, my, you are a selfish child aren’t you, only worried about yourself.” He let out a sigh of surrender. “Don’t worry, I’ve already broken my own rules, why not give us what we both want?” Michael remained silent. “I never had any intension of turning you down after I kissed you. I’m going to take you tonight.”