The Cove

AUTHOR’S NOTE

“The Cove” is a sequel to “Rowan’s Journey to Manhood”, but I’m doing my best to make it accessible and enjoyable even to first-time readers who know nothing about Rowan or the Cove. However, I’m more than confident that if those first-timers like this story, they will rush to read Rowan’s Journey, not to miss all the drama, love, sex and… life described in that first story.

Synopsys

Gerry feels uneasy at the Cove, because he doesn’t really feel ‘one of them’. His heterosexual inclinations and his inhibitions make it hard for him having sex with Rowan, despite the sheer love he feels for him. Kale is gloomy and distant, and Beau finds a sweet way to make him reveal his inner struggle. [⏳: 21’]

Additional downloads (PDF)

~ Cast of Characters: the “Who’s Who” of the Cove!
~ Floor Plan of the Cove
~ Book 01: Chapters 1-1 (PDF with bookmarks)

≈ CHAPTER 1 – A ROUGH START FOR GERRY ≈

 

~ A Daddy and his boy ~

“Rowan I told you: I don’t really fit in here! This… ‘Cove’ full of refined men is not my place! Stop it!”

Gerry seemed fuming, while angrily trying to get dressed, and Rowan forced himself to shut his mouth and sit on the side of their ample king-size bed. His mouth may have been silent, but his mind and heart were racing, swept by many conflicting emotions.

He followed Gerry with his eyes, watching him moving around the room collecting his clothes scattered on the floor. «We didn’t take much care of our clothes, yesterday night…», the guy thought, inwardly smiling at the heart-warming memory of his night of passionate love with his man, one of the very few he had with him so far.

«He may be in his sixties, but he’s steaming hot!» – Rowan thought, admiring the broad shoulders and the massive muscular torso, honed in years of manual labor in a warehouse – «…and damn he knows how to use his dick!”

But it was not the man’s sexual prowess that made Rowan’s heart beat so fast: he deeply loved him, and was deeply loved back, in a way that neither of them so far could really understand. Gerry had been married, and once had a son the same age as Rowan, but his son died in a tragic accident [1], leaving an immense void in Gerry’s heart. Rowan could partly fill that void, when he accepted to become Gerry’s boy; and while he sometimes felt like a substitute to Gerry’s lost son, he could bring again a smile on his man’s handsome face, and this was the best reward for him.

Rowan, in a way, let Gerry be again the father that he couldn’t be… with an added twist, because of course Gerry had never touched his late son the way he touched Rowan. «If only he did that more often…!» – Rowan sighed inwardly, looking with greedy eyes the half-naked Gerry trying to collect his clothes scattered on the floor.

Gerry, too, had filled a void in Rowan’s shattered life, a life marked by the death of his father Caleb, and then the hideous sexual abuse he had to suffer from his stepfather. For years Rowan had been living on the streets, running away from his nightmares and his demons, but then, at the Cove, helped by the wonderful men living there, he could rebuild his inner balance and could finally open again his heart to another man, becoming Gerry’s boy.

«His boy…» – Rowan though, stifling a smile at the thought that he, having just turned thirty, was anything but a boy, and still there was no doubt that he was Gerry’s boy, and would’ve forever been. And he just couldn’t stand the nervous, angry expression that was now clouding Gerry’s masculine features, because he, as usual, had talked too much.

“Daddy…” – Rowan murmured, standing up and looking with a contrite expression at Gerry – “…I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have talked you like that…”

He moved closer to his man, who was still bare-chested, and placed his head on his bulging hairy pecs, linking his arms around his waist and inhaling his familiar and comforting scent. “And I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way, my boy…” – Gerry replied, wrapping his muscular arms around Rowan’s head and shoulders.

Gerry pulled up Rowan’s chin and looked deep into his almost black eyes, those twin black lakes that never ceased to amaze him, as they were a window over his boy’s soul. They didn’t need to say anything, there was no need to apologize or protest their love: they both knew it, just looking into each other’s eyes.

The man lowered his mouth and brushed lightly his lips over Rowan’s, and the guy responded sticking out the tip of his tongue and briefly licking Gerry’s lower lip. There was a moment’s hesitation from Gerry, and then he closed his eyes and ground his mouth over Rowan’s, in a churning kiss that took their breath away.

 

~ Making peace ~

When they separated, Rowan felt his lips on fire, a fire that he spread over his man’s thick neck, his bearded cheeks, his prominent chin, and then down to the massive pecs, where his lips, now coupled by his sneaking tongue, played with the dense body hair, dark brown with some grey streaks, to then concentrate on the wide, meaty nipples.

“Geez… No, kid… aaahh…” – Gerry murmured with his baritone, masculine voice – “No time to play, kid, I… nnngghhh… I have to go to work…”

“You won’t be late…” – Rowan replied, speaking into the deep hairy cleft between the pecs and lowering his hands to the jeans that Gerry had buttoned up minutes before. Feverish fingers unbuckled the belt and lowered the zip. With a sharp tug, Rowan knelt down and lowered the man’s pants to his ankles; the boots prevented him to remove them completely, but he didn’t care. He stared at the white briefs in front of him, raised his hands to the firm mounds of Gerry’s buttocks and dove his face into the stiffening bulge, kissing and probing with his tongue the thick meat trapped into the thin fabric.

Gerry instinctively lowered his hands to the guy’s head, but didn’t touch him; instead, he clenched his fists and moved his arms up and away, as if he didn’t know what to do with them. His boy was always so passionate, so sweet, everything was so natural to him, but Gerry still felt uncomfortable whenever it came to man-sex. He was a ladies’ man, always been, and he still was, despite his decision to take Rowan as his boy.

He gasped when he felt his briefs pulled down and his manly meat, fully erect, sprang up to meet his boy’s lips. “Kid… I… Oh, fuuuuck!” – he uttered, when Rowan’s lips tightened around his shaft, and a warm, wet tongue began a sensual dance over his sensitive cock head. Gerry linked his fingers over his head, closed his eyes and was caught into the erotic hurricane that was raging around his stiff member.

Gerry wanted desperately to give all of himself to his loving boy, he dearly wanted to, but a part of him still resisted, the stupid part of him who’d been taught that boys only go with girls, and he felt angry with himself. But his resistance wavered when he felt Rowan’s tight throat pressing harder and harder over his mushroom head, and totally crumbled when his cock suddenly plopped inside the boy’s depths.

“Aww…. Fuck!” – he growled, finally lowering his hands to Rowan’s head and pulling his face all the way to his pubes – “Ooohh... kid, you’re… Fuck!”. The rigid tool started moving back and forth into the guy’s mouth, plunging at each thrust his tight throat muscles. Gerry knew that his boy could take that treatment in stride, and gave free rein to his mounting lust, shoving hard his meat in and out the boy’s mouth.

The lips pursing tight on his shaft, the guy’s hands taking handfuls of his muscular ass and his expert throat gripping his helmet were already giving exquisite sensations to Gerry, but it was when he looked down, and his eyes dove into Rowan’s twin black lakes, that he knew he was lost: there was such an intense love, such an eager desire to drink his Daddy’s juice, as if it was the finest nectar in the world, that Gerry couldn’t hold back any more: “Here it comes, kid… nnngghh… I love you… I… AAAAGHHH!!”

Gerry froze, never averting his gaze from Rowan’s eyes, and his cock exploded in a massive orgasm, pouring torrents of hot cream down the guy’s throat. For a moment, the thick cock pulsating into Rowan’s mouth was the only thing moving in the room, and then suddenly the guy’s head set back in motion, to forcefully milk the big cock to the last drop. “Fuuuck! Ah!” – Gerry screamed, overwhelmed by the additional stimulation, and he couldn’t help but raise his head, shut his eyes and stiffen in a muted scream of pleasure.

Slowly the massive orgasm trailed off, and he exhaled a rugged sigh, looking down to his boy, still kneeling in front of him with a loving smile. Gerry didn’t miss that Rowan hadn’t sought pleasure for himself, he was still fully clothed, and loved him even more for his selfless devotion… and hated himself for not being able to be like him, to give himself to his boy without reserves. He moved to put his cock back into his underwear, but Rowan stopped him and took a neatly folded handkerchief from his back pocket.

“I know, I know…” – Gerry sighed, smiling – “The first obligation of a gentleman to his manhood is to keep it clean and dry.  You always tell me. But I’m as stubborn as a mule! You should’ve chosen wiser your Daddy…”

Rowan didn’t reply, he only smiled tenderly while standing up. He leaned over to kiss his man, and for a split second Gerry faltered, unwilling to taste his own semen still lingering into Rowan’s mouth. But again the guy’s loving eyes broke into his resistance and he gave a passionate kiss to his boy, sealing once more their unique, special relationship forged by years of grief and denial.

“The shirt you weren’t finding is right behind you, Daddy…” – Rowan said, like a mum helping his kid finding his lost left shoe. Gerry smiled, quickly got dressed and ran to work, leaving Rowan alone, in the basement that was their room, their love shack, their home.

 

~ Two affectionate buddies ~

“Aaahh…. What a stud!” – breathed a dreaming voice coming from the door leading upstairs.

“Brennan!” – Rowan exclaimed, turning to the young Scottish guy standing in the doorframe – “How long have you been watching us?”

“Less than I would’ve liked, unfortunately” – the guy replied, with an urchin grin – “But enough to see that sexy bear of yours stiffening in an excruciating climax and pumping all his man juice into your mouth…”

“A gentleman should never peek into a bedroom, you should have made your presence known” – Rowan replied, with a tense tone and using the flourish, old-fashion language he occasionally relapsed to when he was nervous or embarrassed – “You being a trained personal valet, born and raised in Applecross House, one of the most respected country houses in the Scottish Highlands, I would’ve expected a more appropriate behaviour from you…”

Brennan’s smile faded and his childish features were lit up by a sudden fiery blush. He stared at Rowan for a moment, admiring his tall, lean figure, his pearly skin that contrasted so much with his raven-black long hair flowing down to his shoulders, his somewhat elegant poise that the casual clothes couldn’t hide, and he felt intimidated and overawed, like the first time he first talked to him, in that very basement, almost a year before.

“I’m… I’m sorry, sir” – he murmured, lowering his gaze and suddenly addressing the older guy as ‘sir’. He assumed a more formal stance, but he couldn’t hide the deep emotions agitating him – “I sincerely apologize, it won’t ever happen again, I… I would never want to displease you, sir…”

Rowan listened to the heartfelt, elaborate apology and realized he had over-reacted. His mouth distended in an affectionate smile: “Sorry, buddy, I’m nervous, and I came to you like a tiger…” – he said, in a much more relaxed tone and language.

“A very polite tiger, though, sir” – Brennan said with a timid smile – “I like when you talk that way, it makes me feel comfortable, it reminds me of Applecross House. I can’t say my life was happy, there, but it was my home, and sometimes I miss it”. He looked up at the older guy and suddenly rushed to nest into his arms: “You’re not angry with me, Rowan, are you?” – he said, switching back to the first name, that he always used with his friend.

“No, Brennan, I’m not angry. Sometimes I just forget that this is the Cove… Here, everyone has such an easy attitude toward sex, and apparently you got used to it much quicker than me. But you know about my past, you know the… bad things that my stepfather did to me for years. The men and the boys of the Cove… including you, my lovely Brennan… have helped me defeating my demons [2], but something will never change, some scars won’t ever fade completely”.

He held the boy at arm’s length and flashed a knowing smile: “Anyway, you’re absolutely right about Gerry: aaahh… what a stud!”

They giggled, and Brennan reached to Rowan’s face, placing a tender kiss on his lips: “I’m so happy you came back to the Cove” – he said, with a sincere smile – “When you went away to go live with Gerry, I thought we had lost you, the entire house seemed like… switched off”.

“Oh, wait!” – Brennan hastened to add, suddenly all business – “I was almost forgetting why I have come here in the first place! Beau would like to have a word with you, he asks you to go upstairs to his room… at your convenience”.

“…Which means, if I remember well what you and Kale told me about your Applecross House…” – Rowan laughed – “…that I should go to him immediately!”

“Why would anyone ever want to waste a single minute, if that god-like blond stud calls for him?” – the guy replied with an adoring expression.

Rowan was moved by Brennan’s sincere passion: “Beau could never find himself a more loving boy! And you’re right, I’m not going to waste a minute more!”

 

~ Climbing up to the Olympus ~

He excused himself and began his long ascent to the attic. The Cove was a big three-storey wooden house towering on a solitary Ocean beach; Rowan, with a visible spring in his step, climbed from the basement to the first floor, crossed the desert living room and took the main staircase to the third floor, to then climb the narrow spiral stairs to the attic [3]. Every time he went up to visit Beau, he felt like he was climbing up to the Olympus to meet Zeus himself… or better, Adonis!

“Entrez!” – a melodious voice announced in French when he knocked on the door; Rowan entered the spacious attic, flooded by the bright mid-morning sunlight, and stood for a moment in the doorframe, admiring the handsome boss of the Cove. Brennan was right, he truly was a god-like blond stud, tall and muscular, but with refined features, deep blue eyes and an elegant attitude coming from his European descent and education.

“Good morning, sir!” – Rowan said with a wide smile – “Brennan told me to come”.

Beau elegantly gestured toward a small dining table set up for breakfast, inviting Rowan to take a seat: “S’il vous plait…” – he said, knowing that Rowan loved it when he spoke French. Rowan took a seat and tried to reply in French “Merci!”, but he pronounced it more like “Mercy!” and the outcome was hilarious, so they both started giggling, while sitting down around the dining table.

Beau served some coffee and then became more serious: “Say, how is Gerry doing? It’s been a month since he settled here at the Cove with you, but we rarely see him, he never has lunch or dinner with us, and I was wondering… I was hoping he doesn’t feel uncomfortable here. We all love him, you are his boy and this alone is enough for us to see him as a full member of the Cove”.

“It’s hard for him, sir…” – Rowan replied, looking down at his cup of coffee without drinking – “Please, don’t be offended, he doesn’t mean to be disrespectful to you all! But he says that he still doesn’t feel to fit in the Cove, that he’s not one of us, and that he came here only out of love for me, because I wouldn’t be happy living far from the Cove. You see, sir, Gerry sees himself as a straight man, and he actually is, he’s always been his whole life, though I know he’s… adaptable, in a way, or he wouldn’t have been my father’s lover, in their youthful years [4], and he wouldn’t have taken me as his boy”.

Rowan lowered his voice and a light blush appeared on his face: “Every now and then he even… makes love to me, or lets me pleasure him, though I sense he’s always a bit uneasy with that. That’s why he says he doesn’t feel one of us, but he has nothing against you, sir, nor against the other men of the Cove! Please sir, believe me! I’m sure he deeply respects you all! Well… except, maybe…”

Rowan’s voice shyly trailed off, and Beau gently pressed him: “Except…?”

“Except Barry, sir. Well, I’m not sure he would like me to tell you, but I trust you sir… You see, the day before Gerry and I moved here, Barry went to Gerry’s apartment and… well… fucked him… and you know how forceful Barry can be… and how massive is that club of his!” – Rowan concluded, with a timid grin [5].

“So, I guess those two now despise each other” – Beau said after a brief silence. “Er… Maybe ‘despise’ is not the right term, sir” – Rowan revealed – “I feel a lot of conflicting emotions, from Gerry. Not only for Barry, but for the other men, too. But believe me, sir, he’s doing his best! Please, don’t think ill of him, he’s a good-hearted man, he only…”

“Rowan, you don’t have to convince me, I know well how big is Gerry’s heart. I mean, look at you! You love him so much! And I don’t want you to feel between the devil and the deep see, because we all at the Cove love and respect Gerry, and I’m sure that soon he’ll feel more at ease, living here. He just needs some time to get accustomed to this situation, so new for him. Give him time and everything will be fine.”

Beau averted his gaze and looked at the distant Ocean, and repeated with a faraway look, almost talking to himself: “Yes, give him time and everything will be fine”.

 

~ Clouds over the Cove ~

Rowan sensed the sudden change of mood in Beau and remained silent for a moment, looking at him. And then said, shifting as usual from the ‘sir’ to the first name: “You too, Beau, should give him time, and everything will be fine”.

“What you mean?” – Beau replied, suddenly snapping out of his tangled thoughts – “Who should I give time to?”

“Kale” – Rowan said, looking straight at the blond boss.

“How you know?”

“Beau, there’s only one person in the Cove… and in your life who can move you so deeply, and that’s Kale. You love him as much as I love Gerry, if not more, and I know that he loves you more than his own life. So, I’m more than sure that whatever has come between you, soon everything will be fine.”

“I dearly hope so, Rowan, but the truth is that I don’t even know what’s happening. I only know that lately he’s never come up here, never asked me to make love. When we meet, he talks to me as a friend, a dear friend but nothing more. I miss him, Rowan, I miss him so much!”

“Say, when was the last time you went down to him and asked him to make love?” – Rowan asked, and Beau turned pale: “Well… I… It’s always him who takes the initiative, so I… I… Mon Dieu, how stupid can I be?”

He placed a hand over the guy’s hand and said with a passion tinged with shame: “Thank you so much, Rowan! Oh, people are blinded by my tongue-twisting name, consider me a refined nobleman, but deep inside I’m a caveman, good only to hurt the people I most love…”

“No, Beau, you’re anything but a caveman” – Rowan said in an affectionate tone, like he was talking to his older brother, rather than the wealthy, noble boss of the Cove – “You only have some scars deep in your heart, just like me… and probably Kale, too”.

“I know, now, what I have to do” – Beau said with a sincere smile. He rose from the chair and Rowan took his cue: “I’d better go downstairs, sir. Gerry will soon come back home and he may need me”.

He glanced with affection at Beau and quickly went away, leaving Beau with a renewed hope in his heart.

 

~ Love and sorrow ~

It was late in the night, but Kale still couldn’t sleep. His body was there, at the Cove, but his mind was far away, in Hawaii, his homeland. A lot of thoughts crowded his mind, memories of his childhood in Maui, the University years in Honolulu, then his first job as a school counselor in Florida, where he met a beautiful girl and married her, but their marriage foundered few years later. And then Kale, like in a dream, remembered his trip to France, where he hoped to regain his inner balance; but there, in that distant country so far from home and his former life, he fell madly in love with Beau, who made him face his true nature and changed forever the course of his life [6].

The house was silent, and Kale was more than sure that no one had knocked to his door, but in the dim light filtering from the window he saw the door opening, and a familiar shape appeared in the doorframe. “Beau!” – he exclaimed under his breath, and moved his hand to switch on the light.

“Please, no” – Beau said, closing the door and moving closer to the bed; he stood still for a moment, admiring with loving eyes Kale’s Hawaiian features, his exotic slanted eyes and his chiseled surfer physique. Kale felt his heart pace up when he realized that Beau was naked, and his wide eyes scanned his lover’s toned body bathed in the dim moonlight, the narrow hips and the long limp cock dangling between his legs. When Beau, slowly, without a word, climbed into his bed, Kale exhaled a ragged sigh.

“Don’t throw me out of your bed, Kale” – Beau said with a restrained passion in his voice – “Whatever is happening to you… to us… I still need you. Don’t keep me out of your heart. Please. I love you, man, and I miss you so much!”

“I could never keep you out of my heart, Beau…” – the tanned guy replied, placing a hand behind his neck and gently pulling him to his face – “…nor other parts of my body. Make love to me, Beau, and let me know I’m still your man, show me how fool I’ve been, neglecting you for so long…”

Their mouths clang to each other, and their tongues embraced each other, while their hands feverishly searched, caressed and pinched every inch of their skin. They rolled on the bed, feeling their pent-up passion rage, enflaming their bodies and their manhood. Two stiff cock ground on each other, like two old friends meeting again after a long time.

In the dim light, Beau felt two strong hands taking possession of his pecs, greedy fingers digging hard into his flesh, hungrily, almost forcefully, and he hissed when those sinewy fingers clamped on his nipples, sending jolts after jolts of exquisite pain and pleasure through his body.

“I need you, too, Beau…” – Kale breathed, and there was a tension, an urgency in his voice that set Beau on fire – “Own me, fill me, take what I was foolish enough to deny you for so long!”

Kale rolled on his back and raised his legs, and Beau’s hard rod effortlessly found its way home. They both held their breath when the thick member was welcomed into Kale’s velvety insides and started crawling its way into the familiar, and yet exciting depths of the Hawaiian's body. Kale’s heels pressed hard on Beau’s ass, asking for more, begging to be filled to the brim by his mighty cock and by his unwavering love.

“I’m so sorry, Beau…” – Kale whispered with ragged breath, but his lover silenced him: “No, shhh… Je t’aime”. The long cock made exquisite love with the tender ass, in slow strokes that reached deeper and deeper at every thrust, while their eyes made love with identical passion.

How many times they’d made love, since that first time, in France, years before! And yet, every time it was like discovering a new world, making a long journey to unknown lands; the steady pumping of Beau’s dick was like the regular rattling of a train along the rails, or the comfortable rolling of a ship crossing the Ocean.

There was a mute restlessness into Kale’s eyes, when he looked at his lover and whispered: “More… Give more… Fuck me harder!”

Beau paced up his thrusts, and drove his weapon deeper and deeper into the tender flesh, while their skin glistened with sweat. “Ah! Yes… Yes!” – Kale said aloud, overcome by the manly ardor of his lover – “Fill me, man! Give me it all!”

The pounding became frantic, and Beau was clearly on the verge of exploding. He recoiled and stood on his knees, his hand curled around his lover’s cock and started wanking it fast, rejoicing the loud moans of pleasure that his strong hand and his powerful cock were pulling out of Kale’s mouth.

Beau was bravely, desperately trying to hold back a climax that was about to explode any second, but stepped up even more his onslaught over his lover’s twisting body, breaking open his inner portals and crashing into his deepest depths: “Cum for me, man… I need you to cum for me… Nnngghh! Aaaahh… Oui! Oui! AAAARGGHH!”

Beau’s body convulsed and his cock started pulsating and throbbing inside Kale’s fiery depths, and his pleasure heightened even more when he finally felt his lover’s anal rings rhythmically clench and relax around his cock, and saw Kale shooting thick streams of semen all over his own heaving chest.

Rolling his head from side to side, lost in a sexual delirium, Kale caught Beau’s gaze, his deep, loving gaze watching down on him, and his eyes brimmed with tears, won by the tenderness, the manliness, the beauty of the man to whom, long before, he’d donated his heart.

The orgasms slowly subsided, but Beau kept moving his cock in and out for a little while, enjoying the excruciating sensations radiating from his now sensitive manhood, and rejoicing the small gasps of identical pleasure that Kale uttered every time the mushroom head brushed against his now exhausted prostate.

Kale was totally spent, and that cock still stimulating his tender depths and that hand still slowly brushing over his now oversensitive glans were sending unpleasant shivers down his spine, but he submissively offered his shivering body to his lover: “AGH! Torture me… Punish me… NNGH! I’m yours, Beau, do to me whatever you want, whatever! AH!”

“Whatever?” – Beau replied, with a loving tone that sent warm waves throughout Kale’s body and mind; his pistoning cock stopped, along with his hand. He leaned down and looked straight into those slanted eyes that spoke of a distant, exotic land, and his lips lightly touched Kale’s: “So I guess I can do this, too, if I want…” – and his warm tongue invaded his lover’s mouth, exploring every inch of it as if it was a mysterious cave full of priceless treasures.

 

~ Afterglow ~

“So, will you tell me what’s going on?” – Beau gently asked after a short while, shifting his weight on the mattress, but keeping himself propped on his elbow, so as not to avert his gaze from Kale’s eyes.

A cloud seemed to darken the Hawaiians handsome features, and after a brief silence he said: “My sister called from Maui, last week. My father… My father is dying”.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Kale!” – Beau hastened to say, ready to comfort his buddy, but he shut his mouth, when he didn’t see into Kale’s eyes the sorrow he expected to see. There was a sort of defiance, instead, a painful pride that silently asked for an answer, but could not find it.

“I… I haven’t talked much to him, lately…” – the Hawaiian then said, slowly, as if he was carefully choosing the words – “I’m from a small village, in the most rural area of Maui island. Our heritage, out traditions are very important to us, and for me, too, it’s bred in my bones…”

“But you see” – he continued, with a sigh – “for my father honour and traditions are about the only important things a man should care for, in his life. He never forgave me for splitting with my wife, and I rarely called him or heard from him since my trip… or should I say my escape to France. And then we stopped talking altogether when I told him I had moved to California… with you”.

Beau looked away, suddenly feeling guilty and thinking that somewhat he was part of the problem between Kale and his father. But it lasted only a second, because he then understood why Kale had decided not to talk with him about what was oppressing his heart.

Memories of his own strict father flashed in his mind… The time when his father called him, still a kid, ‘gille-tòine’, ‘bottom-boy’, only because he had peeked at the hunky handyman showering; and then when the hatred man caught him, now a teen, in bed with his innocent friend Jordan making sweet love, and called them ‘perverts’, and then dished at Jordan such a terrible, humiliating and painful punishment that the poor guy took his life that very same night [7].

The sudden pain painted on Beau’s face could not be overlooked by Kale, who knew well Beau’s story. He knew how Beau was so shattered by his father’s vile crime that, at seventeen, he ran away from home and went to France, and never talked again to his father, not once. He didn’t even come back to his funeral, and it took him twenty years to set foot again in the house where Jordan had lived and had died.

“Beau… Beau, look at me…” – Kale murmured with the most caring, loving tone – “This is a totally different situation. My father ‘just’ rejected me as his son, and yes, the last time we talked he yelled at me ‘better dead than homo’, but he didn’t kill anyone…”

“And yet…” – Beau replied, with restrained voice – “…I’m in no position to tell you to go visit your father, though a part of me truly thinks it’s the right thing to do. I won’t tell you, Kale, I just can’t. And now I understand why you didn’t talk to me about it…”

“No, Beau, you know that I…”

Beau placed a finger across Kale’s lips: “No need to be sorry, you’re an extremely sensible and smart guy, and you know that I’m the last person who can give you advice about your father. But I want you to know one thing…” – he continued, gazing deep into his lover’s eyes – “Whatever decision you make, I’m with you, totally, unreservedly. Whether you want to go or stay, whether you want to take this step alone or with me, it doesn’t matter, because I will always be at your side”.

Kale had wet eyes and sniffed. “I’m lost without you, Beau…” – he murmured with broken voice; he pulled his wonderful, god-like lover down onto him, held him in a breathtaking hug and finally let his tears find their way out.

 

~ Family breakfast ~

Early in the morning, Kale woke up and turned to watch Beau, still fast asleep, and felt happy. Well, not completely happy, as his problem, his dilemma still had not found any solution; but knowing that Beau would’ve never let him down, would’ve never judged him whatever his decision might be, was for his restless mind like pouring oil on troubled water.

Propping himself on an elbow, Kale thought that seeing Beau in his bed was unusual; he tried to remember the last time it happened, and was surprised not to be able to tell. Sure enough, they’d made love in the Jacuzzi, and on the massage table of the little in-house spa; and on the sofa of the dining room, and in several showers (Kale loved making love under the hot pouring water!). Oh, and in the Butler’s room, too, that back then they still called ‘the privée’ [8], and once (Kale smiled embarrassed) even on the kitchen counters! But most of the times they made love in Beau’s bed, sometimes alone, sometimes involving Beau’s boy, the shy but irrepressible Brennan.

“He came here, he came looking for me…” – Kale thought, feeling a mix of elation and guilt, happy to feel loved so much, and sorry for having neglected Beau for so long.

He silently got off the bed, put on some clothes and went downstairs to have some breakfast. At the Cove everyone had different work hours, in the morning, so they had long opted for a buffet breakfast: it was easier for Rick, the young chef, to prepare it, and it was faster for the men to grab something before going to work.

As soon as he stepped in the dining room, still empty, Rick peeked out of the kitchen and said: “Sir, the eggs will be ready in a minute; there’s fresh orange juice on the table and some hot sausages. I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to come down this early…”

“Hendrick, I don’t know how you can deal with us, a horde of men and boys coming and going all the time…” – the counselor said, guessing the hard work Rick did every day, always wearing a serene smile – “You’re a gem!”

“And you… look like you had a very special night, tonight, sir!” – Rick replied from the kitchen, talking louder to be heard through the swinging doors. Kale took a glass of orange juice and moved to the kitchen, to make the conversation easier: “Well… yes, I confess! It was a special night… and Beau is a special lover! But you too, Rick, seem walking on a cloud: did your gorgeous airman Stewart do his magic with you, tonight?”

Rick blushed a little, still juggling pans and pots like a pro, and glanced back at Kale: “Yes, sir, that too… But I’m very happy also because this weekend Stewart and I will go fishing!”

“Stewart? Fishing? Well, there’s always a first time, I guess!” – Kale giggled, and Rick insisted: “It’s true, sir! It was Barry’s idea, he’s coming with us!”

“Mmmhh… Things get interesting, now…” – the counselor mused with a knowing tone – “Barry, Stewart and you, alone at a remote lake… Are you planning to catch, well, something big?” – the Hawaiian joked, clearly referring to Barry’s oversize manhood. “Who knows?” – Rick laughed, and was about to throw at Kale one of his witty comments, but he was interrupted by Rowan coming in the kitchen.

“Good morning, sir! Hi Hendrick!” – he said joyfully – “Don’t mind me, I’m just rustling some food for Gerry”.

Kale turned to Rowan with an affectionate expression: “Please tell him that I would love to see him having breakfast upstairs… when he feels to. No pressure or anything, just tell him that when he wants, it will be a great pleasure for me to have breakfast with him!”

“I’ll relate the message, thank you, Kale” – Rowan replied, while he finished loading a tray with a breakfast for two.

“Thinking better…” – Kale suddenly said – “Rowan, would you mind having breakfast upstairs, today? You know, if the mountain will not come to Muhammad…”. Rowan stopped in his tracks, flashed to Kale a knowing smile and handed him the tray: “You will find the mountain downstairs, sir, getting dressed for work”.

 

Kale giggled and headed downstairs, planning to have a talk with Gerry about the Cove, Rowan, Beau and the other wonderful men living there, hoping to make Gerry feel more comfortable with them. But climbing down the stairs, his expression became much more serious, and he knew he was going to talk about a totally different subject.

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