Better Friends and Lovers

Chapter 14

Author's note: From time to time song lyrics appear in this fiction. The lyrics are not mine, and henceforth the authors' names will appear following the lyrics, as well as the composer's name if different, as opposed to my prior practice of providing a link to that information and the full song lyrics. Please note that no money is being made from the use of these songs in this fiction. Where a word is changed to indicate the character is not singing the song as written, such fact is indicated by brackets around the word in question. We now return you to the story in progress.

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(Setting: Kinnetic Office; early May; POV/Cynthia)

The outer office swung open but it wasn't our erstwhile music director arriving with the soundtrack for the new Rizzuteri Jewelers' commercial, welcome as the visitor was, so I couldn't help frowning.

"Thanks a lot, Cyn, what did I ever do to you?" Danny grinned and bent down to give me a kiss despite his less than warm welcome. He looked like a million bucks, as usual, in a dark, loose cut sports coat over a pair of black jeans and open necked, white shirt with wide cuffs. He was looking even better than usual but I couldn't figure it out. He stood there grinning as I gave him the once over. Tight jeans, check. Nice sports coat, looked like Dolce and Gabbana. Check. Gorgeous white shirt with wide cuffs and emerald cuff links. Wide cuffs, that was it.

"Your cast is off! Congratulations!" I came around my desk to give him a hug, still keeping my eyes peeled for our missing musician, "Isn't this sooner than expected?"

"Sooner for you maybe, seemed like forever to me. My arm looks all shriveled and will have to have therapy, so long sleeves for now, but forget that, what's up with the peeking around me. I may not look a hundred percent but I thought I looked pretty good today. I'm not used to having pretty woman look over my shoulder when I make an entrance, love." He raised an eyebrow and indicated the closed conference room door, behind which the murmur of voices could be heard.

"Another crisis at Advertising Central? And if so, what's Brian's wonder woman doing out here at the front desk instead of in there, guarding his back?" Danny had picked up on the workings of the company pretty quickly; probably aided by his experience as a model, which entailed a certain amount of time in and around advertising agencies. In recent years, he did mainly runway work, however, keeping his modeling down to a few weeks a year. High return for little effort, he told me, plus a nice wardrobe.

"We're supposed to be showing a client some demos of commercials for their new jewelry line, but our musical director, Bill, who is very good at what he does, when sober, seems to be having a day when he hasn't quite made it all twelve steps of the way into work. Brian's stalling while I try to reach him. I sent the receptionist to his place to try waking him in case he just overslept, and the intern to his favorite pub in case he's having an early lunch, but so far no one's checked back in. Brian will hit the roof if this presentation falls apart."

Danny looked over at the door.

"Any idea what the music calls for and how he presents it?" He had a gleam in his eye.

"Bill programs it into the computer and then plays it from the laptop in the conference room. This concept used modern music, he just had to arrange it to fit the action, which is done, but there's always last minute adjustments needed as ideas are tried and tweaked during the presentation to suit what the client wants." I looked at him hopefully. He bit his bottom lip.

"I guess it would be too much to hope you could open his program up from the computer on your desk and show me what ..."

I was a step ahead of him and even as he was starting to ask, I was pulling him over. I showed him the music planned for the commercial, all laid out in Bill's database. Danny eyed it for a few moments, then looked up at me, smiling.

"No problem. It's a Finale style program with some special features. I'm guessing he has a keyboard set-up for making changes somewhere. I would suppose that's ..."

"Already in there. Do you think you can do it?"

"Duh." Danny rolled his eyes at me. "Boring music though. What are you selling? Costume jewelry?" He smirked at me.

"Very funny. This is a potentially big client. Gianetta Rizzuteri will be the final decision maker, but she's allowing her son and nephew to present rival companies, and then she'll decide between them. She's the company C.E.O., having inherited a significant share from her husband several years ago, and surprising the industry when she chose to step into his shoes and run the business end of the country for her father-in-law, the artistic genius behind the company. Right now they are really breaking into this country as a top end jewelry designer and need an advertising company. We are lucky they are considering a Pittsburgh firm, but apparently the son read about Brian in researching companies. So, we are the son's choice, while Brian's old company, Vanguard, is the nephew's, apparently solely for the reason that the nephew likes to be contrary. You can imagine how much the big guy wants this, aside from the money. We think we've got it won it, initially, but we could still lose it, as Vance has some contacts with the nephew and his father. It's all very political. Any way you look at it, this screw-up is major."

"Well, we can save the screw-up of the guy not showing up, I'm just not sure the music works. But mine is not to reason why, if they want to use pop music to sell expensive jewelry, I guess I'll go with it. You handle getting me into the room and I'll handle the music."

"You're a lifesaver. Thanks. Oh, real quick. The mother, as I said, is Gianetta, her son, Giancarlo, is the young, good looking, but sweet, one. He's gay, I'm pretty sure, with a crush on Brian, which may be another reason why we're his choice, other than that we're the best, of course. His competition for running the company after Mom steps down, is the nephew, Vittorio, the son of Gianetta's late husband's brother, Dominic. They're also trying to force Gianetta out, although he isn't on good terms with the old man. The grandfather is still alive, back home in Italy. He's the one designing most of this gorgeous stuff, with Giancarlo working under him, but learning the business end from his mother. Carlos and his Dad are always making bids for control of the company, even though it rightly should go to Giancarlo, since his father was the head of the company, but there's tons of politics going on. Hence, this selection of the American advertising company is an important assignment for the young men." This run down took all of sixty seconds, and was done while Danny reviewed the programs for the two commercials from start to finish.

"Got it," he said, with a nod. "Good thing I dressed up, hoping Brian would take me someplace nice to celebrate the cast coming off." He gave me that irrepressible grin again. "Relax, Cyn, it'll be fine." Easy for him to say, he had ways to placate an angry Brian that wouldn't work for me. I crossed my fingers that I was making the right choice and we moved forward.

With a quick knock, which I didn't wait for Brian to acknowledge, I entered the conference room, Danny close on my heels. I could see Brian's relief at my entrance turn to surprise when he saw Danny instead of Bill. The surprise turned just as quickly to his usual mask as I started to speak.

"I'm so sorry for the delay, Signora Rizzuteri, but our music director, was delayed unavoidably and only just arrived, please let me introduce you to Daniel O'Keefe."

Before I could get any further with my introduction, Danny was bending over Gianetta Rizzuteri's hand and speaking to her in what sounded like fluent Italian. From the looks on the faces of the three clients, whatever he was saying was quickly reconciling them to having waited almost an hour for the main presentation to begin. Ted looked at me from his position out of their line of vision and raised his brows in inquiry. I could only grin back at him and shrug. Brian caught my eye and from the narrowed look in his, I could tell that he wasn't comfortable with the situation, so I made my way over to him as quickly as I could, leaving Danny to work his charm on the clients for a few more moments.

"What the hell are you two doing, Preston? Where's Caldicott?" he hissed quietly, for my ears only.

"Face down in a gutter, for all I know, boss," I replied through my teeth, smile intact. "Danny showed up, checked out the program and says the music sucks but he can run it. You have any different plan, other than Ted singing O' Sole Mia, that is?"

"We did that twenty minutes ago, they weren't impressed," Ted chimed in, sotto voice. "However, Danny's being fluent in Italian is a good start. I say let's take advantage of the warm fuzzy feeling he has going here, Brian, and run with it." Brian looked over, gauged the situation, and made his decision, nodding his agreement with my emergency solution. Catching his lover's eye, he caused Danny to bring the pleasantries to a speedy close, reclaimed the clients' attention and launched into the pitch.

"Rizzuteri Jewelers has always been on the edge in defining style, yet also has stood for classic, timeless design, two elements that are difficult to meld in today's world. Yet, year after year, Rizzuteri does it. This year's line focuses on a new market, the man's high end jewelry line, and here at Kinnetic, we designed a multi-media marketing plan that targets the main buyers of such a line, successful, professional women, with their own money buying for the men in their lives, and, tapping into the large, affluent gay market, wealthy men buying for the special men in their lives. . Roll ‘Rizzuteri Jewelers, Take One,' Cynthia."

With that, I started the first video, with a nod to Danny, who keyed up the correct soundtrack on his computer and synced it to the action. I noticed that young Giancarlo was torn between admiring Brian as he leaned back against the credenza, gorgeous in his fitted, gray Armani suit, immediately to the young Italian's right, and eyeing Danny, as he stood at a computer screen connected to an electronic keyboard over to the young man's left, casually leaning forward so that his ass was attractively on display in the snug black jeans, the sport coat now resting on the back of his chair, the white shirt emphasizing the breadth of his broad shoulders and muscular chest. Danny had his hair pulled back and the clean lines of his profile were visible in strong relief in the dark room, highlighted by the glow of his computer screen. Brian's classic profile was in shadow, but there was just enough light in the room form the screen in front to see the full, pouting lips beneath the aquiline nose, the impossibly long lashes showing even in the darkened room. The large flat-screen in front of Giancarlo, on which the commercial was being shown, was not holding his attention anywhere near as much as the two handsome men on either side of him. It would have been funny to watch him moving his gaze fro side to side, clearly comparing, if I weren't guilty of the same thing. It really was difficult to choose between them, they were both beautiful men.

Vittorio, on the other hand, was sitting with his arms folded, watching his Aunt scrutinize the commercial. He had no interest in the commercial, but in whether she liked it. I thought we did a nice job with it, personally, and was glad to see that Gianetta appeared engrossed. It showed a man not interested in his wife's efforts at a romantic evening at home slowly get seduced through her persistence. In the final screen, after she finally gets him to pay her some attention, she gives him a box with a ring in it. The black screen at the end of the commercial had the slogan, "Rizzuteri Jewelers: For the Ruggedly Romantic Man," as a pop ballad played in the background.

Danny snorted.

Everyone's head snapped to the left in the darkened room. I swear I could hear my own heartbeat. Like in that Poe story, "The Telltale Heart." Brian was going to kill me for bringing Danny into this client meeting and bury my heart under the conference room table. Forevermore, its pounding would be heard at staff meetings and during presentations and....

"Daniel, you do not like the commercial?" Gianetta's soft, accented voice cut across the darkened room like one of her diamonds. The dark, pony-tailed head lifted up from where it was studying the screen in front of him.

"No, Gianetta, the commercial is fine. To tell the truth, I wasn't really paying that much attention to the details of it, as I trust Brian to know his job. I'm just not sure I like the musical choice," Danny told her absent-mindedly, with a quick glance and a smile as he continued to focus on his screen. Never mind, Danny's heart would be the one buried under the table. Looking at Brian, I was afraid he would jump across the table and throttle him right there. His mask had slipped and he was in full glare as he looked over at Danny. Vittorio looked at Brian and then back at Danny.

"But didn't you choose the music, Mr. O'Keefe?" Vittorio asked, in a deceptively pleasant voice. Giancarlo flushed. Poor kid, you could tell that he wanted Kinnetic to do well; we were his choice, after all. But beyond that, he didn't like his family being mean. He was too sweet for this business.

Brian started to answer, but Danny interrupted, with a brief apologetic look at the boss, as he turned to answer Vittorio. I hoped Danny was able to survive Brian's wrath when this was over; I liked him with his head intact. Right now, that head kept glancing back down at his terminal while his fingers flew over the keyboard. As he answered Vittorio, he gave him another of his glancing smiles, this time encompassing all three clients in his look, lingering slightly on Giancarlo, and letting his look warm a bit, before turning back to whatever he was doing.

"Well, I did go over the choices a couple of time, and please, call me Danny, but I'm beginning to think I can do a lot better for you, now that I've met your lovely Aunt, and cousin, and yourself of course, and I have more of a sense of the familia element, the tradition, and yet, what is it, yes, the fun, all of which is also part of the Rizzuteri tradition. Brian's commercial caught that, especially the fun, and yet, I fear the musical choice didn't." Danny was typing madly the whole time he was talking. Clever Danny, much of what he said was right from the Rizzuteri website, he must have googled them while he was sitting there. He also managed to avoid lying to them, by saying he went over the choices, not that they were his. Of course, that may have been his ego talking, and his reluctance to claim the song selections as his own, as opposed to a reluctance to the lying itself.

"Well, that's too bad, Danny, better luck next time, as we have another meeting today with another company, maybe they'll get it right the first time," Vittorio said snidely, rising to his feet.

"Vanguard? I doubt it. And I'm all done, so please, sit, you haven't seen the other commercial yet anyway, so this isn't adding anything to your time. Brian, please, indulge me," Danny said firmly, finally daring to meet the boss's eyes, which he did with a confident smile in his own. Brian looked back at him, his face inscrutable.

Gianetta said something in Italian to Vittorio that made him slump back into his seat sulkily but which made Danny and Giancarlo grin at each other. Danny nodded to me, and then said cheerfully to Brian, who'd remained quiet this entire time, "ready when you are, boss." At the title, Brian rolled his eyes, but not until after turning away from the clients. He managed to say in his usual firm voice, acting as though this all were par for the course, "okay then, Rizzuteri Jewelers, Take II."

This time, the commercial showed two men, with slightly different action, although a similar theme. Instead of a romantic pop tune, a jazzy piano number played in the background. Then, a man's vocal's cut in,

I won't dance. Don't ask me.

I won't dance. Don't ask me.

I won't dance, [Mister], with you.

My heart won't let my feet do things they should do.

....

But oh, what you do to me.

I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore.

I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor.

But this feeling isn't purely mental.

For heaven rest us

I'm not asbestos.

And that's why...

I won't dance. Why should I?

I won't dance. How could I?

I won't dance, merci beaucoup....

I know that music leads the way to romance.

And if I hold you in my arms... I won't dance.

("I Won't Dance" by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein, II, Otto, Harbach, and Jimmy McHugh)

I realized that it was Danny, singing along with the music, in a strong baritone. Daphne had told me he had a gorgeous voice, but I hadn't heard him before. He programed in his keyboard playing while talking, but sang "live" with the action. Since the commercials were designed to work without dialogue, relying on the actors to convey the mood through their actions, the words to the song fit the concept perfectly, as the couple on the screen flirted silently with each other until the younger one finally got the older one to move into his arms. At that point, they danced briefly, and ended the spot in a clinch. Then there was the same fade out to the black screen and the scrolled words.

"But that is charming! You have a wonderful voice, Daniel, and I love the interaction on this one, Brian, I would like to see something as sweet with the man and the woman. Perhaps even the same, although maybe we need a new tag line. What is that song from? Is it a new musical, perhaps?"

"If so, it'll cost a fortune to use," Vittorio growled.

"It's from the musical, ‘Roberta,' from the 1930s; am I right?" Giancarlo spoke up, shyly.

Danny smiled at him, encouragingly. "Very good, 1935, to be exact. And the composer?"

"Jerome Kern, one of my favorite American composers. And actually, although I'm not sure, Brian, Ted, you would know better, if that music is in the public domain, we will save quite a bit on the commercial's production costs, won't we?"

"Well, yes, but the biggest savings will be in the costs of running it, as you would pay a royalty on the new music each time the commercials ran, and if this is in fact in the public domain, as it should be, then yes, you save quite a bit," Ted told him.

"Yet you achieve a modern sound, especially with all of the American standard songbooks being very hot right now. K.D. Lang, Rod Stewart, everyone's doing them, ever since Linda Ronstadt recorded them several years ago and had a smash hit album. Kern isn't as overdone as most, so he's a fantastic choice," Brian was thinking out loud as he often did as he became enthusiastic over the idea. He'd come a long way from the man who got upset when Justin upstaged him by suggesting that orange was the "new blue." He no longer worried mainly about himself looking good. Maybe it was the difference between owning a company and being just another executive trying to stand out in the crowd, although, to be honest, Brian never had trouble standing out. In any event, my heart, and Danny's, just might be safe from being buried under the table after all.

"I would like to make one other small change. I agree with Gianetta that this needs a different tag line. " Brian reached over to the laptop screen kept handy for his use on the table and changed one word on the final screen. It now read, "Rizzuteri Jewelers: For the Reluctantly Romantic Man."

Gianetta clapped her hands.

"Perfect! Brian, I very much love this commercial. Take II, as you call it. I think we will be taking two, two of these commercials! Now, is there any way we can get your Daniel to sing for our commercials, maybe even play one of the men? I don't suppose he's ever acted or danced, has he? I have to believe he's sung professionally." She smiled at him.

"Actually, I have, but hire me and you'll be losing all that money we just saved you with the change in music; I'm very expensive," Danny claimed, with a return smile. I wasn't sure he was joking.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Brian interceded. "Perhaps over lunch we can convince him to work for scale. Do you have time before your next appointment, Gianetta?"

I promised to have lunch with Mr. Vance, Aunt Gia," Vittorio protested.

"And you should keep your promise, Vito, but I made no such promise. Therefore, Gian and I are free to accept Brian's kind invitation. We'll meet you at Mr. Vance's agency at three o'clock, as planned." Gianetta smiled tightly at her nephew. Giancarlo looked relieved at his mother's decision.

The darkly handsome young man flushed as his aunt very smoothly put him in his place in front of a room full of what he considered to be disgusting queers. This particular scion of the Rizzuteri dynasty had tried hitting on me during one of their previous visits to the office. When I'd turned him down, he'd had some pretty nasty things to say about women who preferred the company of gay men. Quite frankly, I'd choose the company of a gay man over a guy like him any day and I told him so, right after I removed my knee from his groin. I didn't tell Brian. I figured I had handled it, and why make Brian feel like he should turn away the whole family as clients just because of one bad apple. Besides, it looked like the bad apple wasn't getting his way after all.

Gianneta Rizzuteri asked for a few minutes alone to confer before Vittorio left for lunch. She probably wanted to lay down the law to her nephew before his lunch meeting with Vance. Brian closed the door behind us and then turned to look at Danny and me. He pointed to his office wordlessly, leaving Ted to watch for the clients' emergence from the conference room.

"What the hell game did you two think you were playing at?" Once we reached his office, Brian lit into us, speaking quietly but angrily, glaring equally at Danny and me.

"I thought I was playing the ‘save your lovely ass game,' what about you, Cyn?" Danny replied, his voice even quieter, but very deep, quite a few notes deeper than his usual speaking voice. "And if you don't say thank you very much, Danny and Cynthia, for saving my lovely ass, within the next ten seconds, this is one musician who is out of here." The green eyes were flashing now.

"You had no clue what the product was, what the commercial looked like, what ... thank you very much, Danny and Cynthia, for saving my lovely ass." Brian managed to get the requested phrase out, within the deadline, before pulling Danny in for a searing kiss.

"You just made it," the temporary, (although hopefully soon to be permanent), Kinnetic musical director told the CEO of Kinnetic, once he caught his breath. "And where is Cynthia's kiss?" He smirked at me, noting that I was still watching the show. I confess, it was hot watching Brian manhandle Danny. He'd managed to untuck Danny's shirt and slip a hand inside that crisp white material, so that now several inches of taut, tan stomach were revealed. Danny really had the best abs. I flushed as my gaze drifted lower and I realized that Danny was now sporting an erection that his black jeans did nothing to hide. Thanks to that inadvertent glimpse, I'll no longer be thinking Danny's abs are his most impressive feature. Damn. Brian noticed where I was looking and now was smirking at me. Double damn. I'll never hear the end of this.

"Oh, I don't think Cynthia needs any more stimulation right now. So, where do you want to go for lunch? We can celebrate the two of you saving my face and you recovering your arm. Yes, in all the excitement, I did notice, it's nice to feel you wrap two arms around me again. So where?"

"Anywhere I want?" Danny asked, a gleam in his eye. Brian laughed.

"Where we can get food. We'll celebrate again later, alone, but right now we have clients to feed."

"I don't always think just about sex, Brian." We both very pointedly glanced down at his jeans, and he actually blushed. Quite adorably, in fact. "Well, I'm human, and you're in looser clothes than I am, cut me some slack. I really don't care where we eat, wherever you want, but I'm not really dressed for the same type of place the rest of you are, are you sure you want me to come with you? Aren't you going to some four star place? Isn't that what your old buddy at the other agency has planned?"

Brian's smile widened.

"That's exactly what Gardner Vance will do, and if I know Gianetta, she may well let herself be talked into dinner with him to keep the peace with Vittorio. So, we don't want to do four star, and have a lunch be compared to a dinner. Plus, God knows Pittsburgh can't compare with the best European restaurants, which is what she's used to, anyway. What I do have to offer is a handsome, Italian speaking young man, which to two nice, homesick people like Gianetta and Giancarlo, is a major plus, to be able to speak to someone in their own tongue."

"If you're even thinking of pimping me out, Brian Kinney ...," Danny began, leaning his head against the taller man's shoulder.

"Not for a second, kiddo, relax, I think Giancarlo is happy enough to enjoy admiring both of us from afar. But what I'm thinking is, why go for upscale dining, and get upstaged, when we can get some really good, down home, pub style food, with great local atmosphere..."

"Please tell me he isn't going to suggest the Liberty Diner," Danny pleaded, looking at me with his dimpled grin.

"Ugh, I want to close the deal, not kill the clients," Brian assured him. "Think Danny, good food, good beer, and good atmosphere, where you won't be underdressed. And maybe even some eye candy for Gianetta to help close the deal."

Danny and I looked at each other, perplexed. Brian laughed.

"I'll give you a clue, tell Cynthia, where did you learn to speak Italian so well?"

"From Julie, Matt's wife, they spoke it around me all the time when I was little, so I learned it practically as soon as I learned Gaelic," Danny answered; you could see the understanding finally dawning. "Oh my God, you aren't going to pimp me out, you're going to pimp out my oldest brother!" He laughed, looking at Brian with impish delight while I looked at him with admiration.

"That's perfect, Brian! You know what Vance is going to do, of course? He'll take her to a stuffy old place, just like Danny expected us to go to."

"Right, a place with excellent food, service and wine, as far as Pittsburgh can provide any of those things," Brian smirked. He continued:

"But I can see his service and wine and raise it one eligible, fifty-one year old, single, straight male, who just happens to speak fluent Italian. Can Vance provide that with his meal? I think not. And it isn't like I'm pimping the man out; I'm simply bringing some clients to his pub and showing Gianetta an authentic Irish pub experience, which happens to be Danny's and my background, much better than giving her second rate Italian gourmet. If Matt decides to spend a little time at our table, so much the better."

So Matt O'Keefe spoke Italian and was available? He might be fifty-one but he looked like he was forty-one. I bet he fucked like he was thirty-one. There was that muscular athleticism to the man that was so sexy. It was hard to believe he'd had that heart attack a year or so ago. He looked so good out there on the soccer field, coaching the other guys in his little shorts. Why hadn't I thought of going after him myself? I liked older men. He was always so serious whenever we met at one of the games, but he had Danny's sweet smile. This bore thinking about, once the client lunch was over. He was practically as good looking as Danny, just older. And Italian sounded so sexy.

Gianetta Rizzuteri was only about forty-one herself, although I think the woman tried her best to look older. She would probably look younger if it weren't for the severe hair style and tailored suits, she favored. She was a beautiful woman, nonetheless. She was very young when she married into the Rizzuteri family. She had Giancarlo very young, and was widowed when her husband, a much older man, died in a race car accident several years ago. Now she had to battle her brother-in-law and her nephew to preserve her son's inheritance. And the thing was, it was Giancarlo who had inherited the old man's artistry with jewelry, according to Brian. In my opinion, Giancarlo really did deserve to inherit. His mother was the one who has been running the business end for years and he'll be the one to take over the design end when his grandfather finally dies. All the other two did was take from the company's profits, if Brian's informants were correct, and they usually were.

"You're evil, but I like it," Danny told him. "Let me call and find out which pub Matt's working at today. But I won't warn him. If I did, he'd run for the hills you know."

"Or worse, he send Mama Rose after me," Brian laughed.

"Are you kidding, she's the last one he'd tell. She's been after him to start dating someone. She doesn't want him to be alone anymore. She would tie him down and offer him up on a platter to a nice woman like Gianetta. I can hear her now, ‘but Mattie, you liked an Italian girl before, why not another one, yes?'" They both laughed.

As I was heading out to see if the Rizzuteris were ready, I heard Danny add, "So boss, wait until you see what scale is for me. I'm not sure you can afford me."

"Take it out in trade," Brian told him.

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(Setting: Brian's Loft; Later that day; POV/Brian)

Lunch couldn't have gone better. I'd been floored today when Danny came sauntering into the conference room behind Cynthia, but he handled everything beautifully. The change to the Kern music was inspired. I hadn't been thrilled with the music all along but didn't know what else to use. At my suggestion, Bill had tried some Cole Porter numbers, and a few other standards, but he'd insisted on going with the pop tune and I'd let him talk me into it. Trust Danny to pull a song from a 1935 musical out of his ass that perfectly fit the mood we were going for. I would love to hire him full-time, but I was concerned about appearances. Justin had worked at Kinnetic as the art director for a time, and it had caused some tension with the other staff members. Not because he wasn't talented enough, he clearly was, but because he was known to be my lover and the others feared special treatment. They tiptoed around him. Cynthia warned me about it. I feared it appearing as though Kinney simply put whoever he was sleeping with in a position of authority in his company. If that perception got around I would have trouble attracting the best talent. I pushed those concerns aside, however, as right now, my main concern was to get the new acting music director into my bed as quickly as possible.

Danny was stretched out on my sofa, reaching a hand out to take the beer I'd gotten from the refrigerator for him. He'd kicked off his boots and pulled his hair loose. I straddled his hips and started undoing his shirt buttons. I'd already pulled the shirt free from the waist of his jeans. He'd shed his sport coat on the way in. I unbuttoned his cuffs, carefully setting his cufflinks down, then pressed a kiss to the inside of each wrist as it was revealed. I admired the cufflinks, which matched the color of his eyes. He was so into jewelry; I would have to see about getting Giancarlo to design something for him, a necklace, maybe. I didn't usually like jewelry on men but Danny looked good in it.

I ran my fingers through his hair before going back to the shirt buttons. He sighed deeply, and stretched out even more deeply on the sofa, wriggling his hips down. He smiled, a slow lazy smile as I worked my way down the row of buttons. He tipped his head back to take a swig of his beer, exposing the long column of his neck, so I leaned in lick it, then tracing down around his clavicles, and the hollow at the base of his throat with my tongue. He was slightly salty with sweat, the day having warmed up considerably. He tasted so fucking good.

"Were you able to get a babysitter for tonight?" I asked him, as I moved to nuzzle my favorite spot just behind his ear, pushing his hair out of my way so I could get to it. I continued to run my hand through his hair because I knew he enjoyed it so much. Hell, I loved it. I ran my other hand along his stomach, relishing the feel of his abs, rubbing my thumb along his waistband. I could feel him growing hard beneath my groin.

"Hmm, was I supposed to get a babysitter for tonight?" He tried to keep his voice steady, casual. It was a game we played, seeing how long we could pretend to be unaffected by the other's ministrations, dueling for control. Tonight, he was playing stoic. He tried to set his beer down but leaning up brought him closer to me and I caught his lips in a kiss that had him falling back against the pillows with a moan. I caught the beer to save the floor from a spill and set it down on the coffee table before pressing my full length down against him.

"Can you stay tonight?" I whispered finally, after a several minutes of intense kissing, coupled with grinding my crotch against his. My shirt was lying next to his on the floor. Several times he'd tried to move on to taking off my pants but I'd taken hold of his hands and firmly removed them. This was my show and I was intent on taking him slowly. I felt him smile against my mouth as he got the message, and beyond rubbing his hard on against me, he'd acquiesced, content to respond but ceding all decision making to me.

"Yes. Bree is with mama and Mary Pat is taking her to school in the morning, so I'm all yours all night. Well, mainly, all yours. I'm supposed to meet Ben at Babylon at some point tonight to announce auditions for the show, but other than that, I'm free. Have you any idea what we can do with all that time?"

He ground his hips against mine again, and rubbed our chests together, nipples grazing nipples as he bent forward enough to suck my bottom lip into his mouth. Okay, maybe he hadn't ceded all control. I found that I enjoyed playing this game more each time. The longer we were together, the more Danny shed his boyish infatuation with me that had allowed me to dominate merely by virtue of our past together. It was a challenge now to stay on top with him. Literally. Part of me looked forward to the day he turned the tables, but it wasn't going to be today. Maybe. I bit down on his lip, causing him to gasp. Taking advantage of the moment, I flicked the button on his jeans and slid down the zipper, freeing his erection into my hand. Such a nice erection it was too, nine and a half, thick, full inches.

"And to think we called you ‘little Danny' all those years. What were we thinking?" I made tsking noises before sliding my mouth all around his taut torso, taking short licks, slowly circling the dark nipples with my tongue just as I circled the tip of his cock with my thumb, rubbing the precum all around it. He was lying back down on the sofa now, hands pressing down into the leather, lashes dark against his cheeks as his breath came in short gasps.

"Like that?" He nodded, eyes still closed. "Show me your green eyes, Danny, I want to watch you watch me as I take you in my mouth, let me see that you like it," I whispered as I moved lower, tonguing his navel as though I were rimming him. His eyes opened then, and I could tell he was thinking about my tongue plunging into his ass the same way.

"All in good time, green eyes, all in good time," I promised.

"Let me touch you," he begged huskily, hands reaching for my belt. I shook my head, grinning wickedly. I wanted him to beg and I needed to keep my head. He could drive me crazy fairly quickly and I wanted this to last. Oddly, the more I was with him, the more he excited me, as opposed to my getting bored with him.

"I told you that you deserved some payment for your services today. Now, I'm sure Ted will work out some form of cash remuneration, once the paperwork is taken care of, but I like to handle bonuses for special performances, personally. And your fine work today definitely deserves a personal bonus, wouldn't you agree?" I moved down lower and urged his hips up enough so I could slide his jeans down over his ass and pull them the rest of the way off.

"Do I have to pay 10% of this bonus over to my agent?" he asked, catching his lower lip in his teeth as I circled my tongue around the edge of his cock. The joking stopped when I sucked in the sensitive skin underneath, lathing the folds as I used my hands to massage his balls and ass cheeks.

"God, Brian, keep doing that, that's, oh my God, yes," he bucked closer, one hand clutching at my hair as the other stroked his own chest.

"That's it, keep telling me what you like," I encouraged him, as I softly probed his slit, enjoying the shudder that went through his body. He moaned my name. I was so into giving him pleasure that he took me completely by surprise when, suddenly, I felt strong arms pulling me up, and I was rolled onto my back. One hand held both of my arms captive above my head as the other yanked my slacks down. Green eyes gleamed down at me.

"What I'd like is your naked body underneath me. You're much too overdressed for this activity," he purred. I grinned, up at him, then his talented tongue traced the same path down my body that mine had down his. I helped by kicking my slacks the rest of the way off. He still couldn't put his full weight on his right arm, so he tried resting his shoulder against the back of the sofa as he held my arms with his left. I couldn't help smirking as I caught his eye; he could suck and lick me until he drove us both insane but he wouldn't be able to take it to the next level since he didn't have a free hand to reach the condoms and lube. He groaned as the realization hit him.

"Problem?" I asked sweetly, before bending up to capture a nipple in my teeth. He sucked in his breath appreciatively, then he bent his head down, hair brushing along my own sensitive nipples, and sucked on my ear. He started whispering, in his deep, resonant voice.

"Not at all. First, I'm going to rim you until you beg me for more. Then you'll be happy to help out by reaching over for the condom and putting it on me. Then I'll enter you so nice and slow that my rimming alone will have provided all the lube you'll need, and I'll fuck you so slowly, pressing into you inch by inch, so you feel every pulsing, throbbing beat, with your legs tight around my waist, that it'll be you bucking up to pull my nine and a half inch cock deeper that signals when I'm to start fucking you harder and faster ."

I swallowed. There is just something about that voice of his. You're half fucked already once he starts talking to you in that special tone, and it's that much more potent when he's using it and he's got that incredible body of his naked and pressed against you. The body and the voice are definitely more than one man should have in his arsenal. Unless that man is me.

"You could try that," I heard my voice daring him. He chuckled, low and warm. Hot, actually.

Before I knew it, we'd progressed through every one of the described steps and I found myself reaching for my ever present supply of condoms on the side table in a lust induced daze, ripping the familiar foil wrapped packet with my teeth and rolling it onto his hard dick with embarrassingly urgent haste. He shifted my leg that was closest to the back of the sofa up onto his shoulder, green eyes intent on mine as I wrapped my other leg around his waist and he pushed into me. Fuck, I forgot how it burned. He started out just as he promised, inching in so achingly slowly, I could hardly bear it. He leaned down to kiss me, and like the fuck, it was a slow, exploring kiss, his tongue moving into my mouth as his cock moved into my ass. I felt myself relaxing into the warmth of that kiss, and I reached up to caress his face, brushing back the long hair that had fallen forward as he murmured to me in Gaelic. He lifted up for a second and his beauty almost took my breath away. He looked like a Celtic warrior of old, long black hair falling across his chest and shoulders, as he leaned over me, left arm braced to take his weight, chest and arm muscles bulging as he flexed with his exertions. I clenched my ass muscles, just to hear him moan.

"Stop posing there all pretty and start fucking my brains out before I change my mind," I gasped, in an effort to regain some semblance of control. He tossed back his hair and laughed, joyful laughter that made me grin back at him. Then he started moving, using those incredible leg muscles just as I'd fantasized him doing in a hundred masturbatory dreams since our first time together.

"Such an obedient boy," was my last coherent thought for quite a while.

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