Brian Kinney racked his brains, of which he knew he had plenty. He just wasn't that good at buying sentimental gifts. But this time was important. In less than two weeks it would be five years since his best gal pal, Lindsay, gave him a son. Well actually it was the other way around. He gave her a son, since he hadn't originally intended being a part of the boy's life. Ah well, the best laid plans. It turned out that he had some deep seated paternal instincts he hadn't counted on, and he was really quite fond of his boy, Gus. Hell, the truth was he loved his son. He wanted to thank Lindsay for having the boy by getting both of them something special on his fifth birthday.

Finally he lucked out and an idea for the perfect gift fell into his lap. Well, so to speak, it did. It all started when Lindsay all but blackmailed him into going to the art show at the GLBT center. It was a charity event that she co-chaired with her long time partner, Mel. She knew just how to wheedle a donation out of Brian as long as she could convince him to attend. Brian hadn't wanted to go at all... after all, it was Leather night at Babylon... but she had somehow convinced him it would be good for his business.

There had been a lot of really good artistic displays presented, but one man's work stood out from the others. His name was Justin Taylor. The artist had been pointed out to Brian by Lindsay when he remarked on how good the work was by the young man. Brian locked eyes on the sexy young thing and felt his crotch tightening. The brochure said that Taylor was twenty two but he looked like a teenager, at least from a distance. As Brian got closer he could see that the young man had a much more mature look to him than one could see from further away. He also had a truly spectacular bubble butt and a smile to light up the whole room. He was also in possession of the most wonderful laugh. The closer Brian got to the kid, the more uncomfortable his crotch got.

By the time Brian was standing behind the beautiful looking blond, he was forced to use his program to cover the growing stiffy in his jeans. He tapped the young man on the shoulder and interrupted his conversation with the funny looking dude with the scrap of hair on his chin. The artist, Justin, turned around while still speaking to his dark haired companion. As his eyes locked onto Brian's face, the words in his mouth died out completely. He stood there with his mouth wide open and as if in a daze. It was only when Brian spoke that the spell seemed to break.

"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, ahh, Mr. Taylor...correct?"

Justin nodded,still speechless.

"I've been checking out your work and my good friend, Lindsay Peterson, tells me that you will take on commissioned pieces to help with school expenses and such. Is that true?"

The sound of a job offer shook Justin's tongue free.

"Ah yes, Mr. ....."

"Mr. Kinney. Brian Kinney."

"Yes, Mr. Kinney. I often take on requests for specific pieces, mostly portraits. Were you wanting your portrait painted."

Justin's voice revealed a touch of eagerness in the question.

"No...no, not at all, Mr. Taylor. I have a son who is about to have his fifth birthday and I'd like to have his portrait done for his mother. He's really a very well behaved kid and I don't think he'd give you much trouble. I'd be willing to pay a thousand bucks for the job."

Justin's eyes widened. He was far from an established artist yet and a thousand was far more than the two to three hundred that he would get on a good day. Besides the added bonus of getting a chance to see this magnificent creature in front of him again, the deal was all but sealed at that very moment without any more questions. Of course, if Mr. Kinney had a son there was always the chance he was straight, although one could never tell nowadays. Justin smiled broadly and answered the man quickly before he had the chance to change his mind.

"You have a deal, Mr. Kinney. That is, of course, if your son is comfortable with me. When would you like to get started?"

"Right away, and call me Brian. Gus' birthday is in less than two weeks. Do you think you could handle that?"

Justin agreed it would be no problem.

"Oh, by the way, Gus' mom is Lindsay, and I think you know her so please don't let it slip that you are working on the portrait," Brian warned.

Justin smiled even wider. He did indeed know Lindsay and knew she was a lesbian. That didn't necessarily mean Kinney was gay, but it certainly meant he could be. For some reason he really, really wanted to see Brian Kinney again. They parted ways after Brian got the address to Justin's studio/apartment and they agreed on a time to meet. Brian couldn't help noticing that the blond quickly dismissed the young man he had been talking to, and it didn't sit well with the guy at all. He stormed off in a huff when the artist turned to a really cute curly headed girl who had approached him and thrown her arms around him, planting a kiss on his cheek. Brian felt a brief pang of jealousy.... totally out of character, and surprising as hell to him.... and wondered for a moment what it would feel like to have a real kiss with those luscious full lips on his own.

Ah well, he thought, at least he had solved his problem of what to give to his Sonnyboy and Lindsay for the boy's birthday. He could hardly wait for the next day. Now all he had to do was get Mel and Linds to agree to give up Gus for the day and many days after.

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It had been ten days since Brian first brought Gus to Justin's apartment... ten long agonizing days. They were now on a first name basis, but Brian had not been able to read the kid. There were times when he was absolutely sure Justin was more than attracted to him and times when he wasn't so sure, which was a feeling totally foreign to the man that everyone called the 'Stud of Liberty Avenue'. Brian had used some of his best seductive glances at Justin, but the kid hadn't bitten yet. The frustration was beginning to get to Brian.

One thing was certain... Gus adored Justin. His son was always easy going with folks, even new ones, but he took to Justin as if he had know him since the day he was born. It was just one more thing that made Justin attractive to Brian. The two men had lots of conversations during the modeling sessions that Gus sat for and during the long breaks they took to give the poor child a chance to relax and have fun. What shocked Brian was how easily he chatted with the younger man, telling him things he hadn't brought up with anybody else in the world outside of his closest and oldest friend, Michael. It was fairly obvious that Justin was pretty open with their talks too, although he never seemed to mention any lovers or boyfriends. One would think the kid was celibate. That thought might explain why he never succumbed to Brian's considerable charms, or at least it was comforting to think so.

The portrait was almost complete with no more than a day or two of work to go. Brian no longer needed to bring Gus for a sitting, which was a relief. He wasn't really sure how he had managed to convince his son not to share the secret of what they had been doing for the last week and a half, but he didn't want to press his luck. They didn't have an appointment today. Justin had said he would put on the finishing touches by himself and Brian could pick it up in two days, the same day as the party for Gus. Brian felt a sense of sadness that he might not see Justin anymore after that. He finally decided he just had to go one more time before the painting was finished... just to check out the last touches, he told himself.

Brian climbed the stairs... there were seven floors altogether... to reach the top floor where Justin lived and worked. He was in tip top physical condition, but the stairs were steep and he had lived through a restless night. For some reason he hadn't been able to sleep very well. He kept having weird dreams of a blond standing under a brightly lit street lamp and then disappearing into the misty night air like a ghost from the past. It had been disturbing, to say the least.

Brian was only one floor from the top when a short dark figure came barreling around the corner of the upper staircase. The man nearly knocked Brian over, but he only muttered a quick, 'scuse me', and hurried on down the stairs. His tone had been quite angry and Brian decided not to bother to ask what was up. It then dawned on Brian that the guy was the same one Justin had been speaking to at the art show. He frowned and hurried on up to Justin's place.

Brian knocked quietly, causing the door to swing open on its own. He stepped in carefully and heard clattering nearby. He followed the sound and found Justin throwing paint cups and brushes into the sink with no concern as to the noise he was making or how they'd land. He was quite obviously pissed off about something. Brian made his presence known by clearing his throat. Justin swung around, talking angrily.

"I told you to get out and stop bothering me, Ethan. Don't you unders......."

Justin stopped dead when he realized it was Brian standing in front of him. The relief flashed across his face immediately.

"Oh man, you have no idea how glad I am to see you," he told Brian, running without thinking to hug the tall man. "My fucking ex just doesn't seem to get the message", he muttered against Brian's chest.

Brian loved the feel of Justin against him, maybe more than he should. He was not in any hurry to let go. He wrapped his arms around the smaller figure and held tight. Without planning to, Justin melted into the embrace. Their bodies warmed to each other and then, with no coyness at all, Justin pulled back just enough to raise his face to Brian's and stand on tip toes to reach the brunet's lips. Justin kissed timidly at first, as if this was his first time, but when he felt Brian's eager response he began kissing more fervently. The kiss deepened. Justin pried Brian's willing lips and teeth apart so that his tongue could taste the thing he had been secretly fantasizing about for days now. Brian's mouth was clean and sweet tasting from the fruit and cream cheese bagel he had eaten just before coming. Justin wanted more.

Brian could feel Justin's eagerness right through his tight jeans. He was certain that Justin could also feel his desire through his slacks. The men continued kissing, but soon their hands felt the need to get busy too. Justin ran his hands through Brian's soft wavy hair while Brian teased Justin's golden locks. Their hands began slipping downward until they were cupping each other's firm ass cheeks. Both men liked what they were feeling a lot. It didn't take long before they were frustrated feeling the material on the palms of their hands. Brian broke their kiss first. He looked straight at Justin.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Never more sure of anything in my life," was all Justin said.

Brian brought his hands to Justin's crotch and quickly undid the snap and unzipped the jeans. He pulled the material down from Justin's hips and the blond quickly removed the pants from his legs. Justin then did the same for Brian. The men literally tore off their shirts and stood with nothing but their jockeys on their bodies. They maneuvered over to the neat little bed in the corner and sank down onto it as one unit with Justin on the bottom. Brian hovered over Justin's body for a moment as he looked at what he had been wishing for since first meeting the young artist. His desire only increased a thousandfold with the position he now found himself in. He had no doubts about Justin's desires anymore. The raw longing in Justin's fevered face, along with the way he ran his hands along Brian's supporting arms, told Brian what he needed to know. Brian sat back on his haunches and made quick work of removing Justin's jockey's. He stepped to the end of the bed just long enough to remove his own too. He quickly retook his position over Justin's thighs, sitting again on his knees. Both men were already fully erect and ready for action. The preliminaries were over for this event. Brian leaned in for another sizzling kiss, causing sparks of passion to ignite in Justin for the second time.

"Condom?" Brian asked, as he pulled back from the kiss.

"Yes," was all Justin said as he turned to the tiny table stand next to his bed.

He opened the little drawer in the table and fished around with shaky fingers until he felt the familiar box that he had kept there. It hadn't even been opened. He handed it to Brian who tore the wrapper off and quickly removed a single packet from the box. He brought the packet to his mouth and ripped it open with his strong white teeth. Brian sat back up and quickly sheathed his more than ready cock. He began playing with Justin's equally impressive hard on while leaning down for some more tongue and lip play along Justin's upper body. Soon he was using his fingers to relax Justin's hole while still playing with the beautiful blond's cock. By this time, Justin was a whimpering mass of desperate need.

"Fuck me Brian...please! Oh please fuck me! I'm tired of waiting for you! I want you now!!!!"

Brian had no intention of denying the young man. He could tell that Justin was more than ready for the taking. He quickly positioned himself where he needed to be and threw the pale, silky haired young man's legs up so that the invasion would be even less uncomfortable. In seconds, Brian was firmly embedded in Justin's butt and the two began riding the wave of ecstasy their connection created. Brian wanted it to last as long as humanly possible so he stopped each time they were about to fall over the precipice. Once their bodies calmed, Brian began the ride again. This lasted for ages as the minutes ticked away. Finally, Justin couldn't take any more. The pleasure was becoming almost too much to bear. Brian took pity and worked at a fevered pitch to throw both men over the edge. They tumbled to earth, bodies shaking and sweat pouring from their overheated skin. Brian fell to the side of Justin and they settled down together.

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Brian showed up the day of Gus' birthday party with both painting and painter in hand. Lindsay, who had not been able to get ahold of Brian for almost two days, was relieved to see him and fell in love with the painting immediately. Gus danced all over the place and proudly bragged to his Moms about the good job he had done in keeping the painting a secret. It didn't take a genius to see that Gus loved both his portrait and the artist who drew it. It also was obvious to one and all, including Brian's long time circle of friends, that the father was also fond of both painting and painter. None of the friends had seen Brian for the last two days either. He owned his own advertising agency and had simply called his personal secretary and told Cynthia that he wouldn't be in for a couple of days and to tell his number one assistant, Ted, to take over any meetings scheduled for the next couple of days.

Gossip ran rampant during the party as Brian spent every moment with Justin Taylor by his side. Not one of the curious folks at the party knew about the two days that Brian spent in the artist's tiny cramped apartment while he explored the gorgeous blond in every way possible, and shared more of himself than he ever had before in all his life. They learned about each other's likes, dislikes, pasts, present lives, and future dreams. They explored every square inch of each other's bodies and lost count of how many times they made love. By the time Justin agreed to attend Gus' party with Brian, the men were well on their way to something special, something new, something scary between them. Only time would tell whether the destination would be worth the journey, but both men knew they had taken their first step by going to the party as a couple. Before leaving the party that evening, Brian knelt down and gave his son a huge hug and kiss.

"Thanks Sonnyboy," Brian whispered in his son's ear before walking away with Justin by his side.

The End