So many clubs in New York City. So many places to explore, you can't fit them all into a single night. One after another, the doormen happily lift up the velvet ropes, smiling because they know a celebrity is passing through those doors. But in the city of many contrasts that was Manhattan, Darren Hayes wasn't a celebrity at all, he was just himself, and that was just the way he liked it. And all the clubs were pretty much the same after a while. Still, the dance floor was the one place you could escape, that you no longer had to be yourself, that you could be anyone you wanted to be, if only until your favorite song mixed into another. Right now, React's "Let's Go All the Way" was merging into Madonna's "Frozen" and Darren made his way on the floor, his stage that he could share with all the writhing boys and girls.

The bright yet subtle lights of the club were flickering off and on, off and on. Shadowy features of one another. Darren suddenly found himself standing all alone at the centre of the dance floor with another figure. A man. Sensing something, Darren slowly turned and found his eyes locked with the other, wanting from him, apprehensive about the whole situation of it all.

It was so fast, almost too fast and yet not fast enough. Eyes locking, the other man suddenly slides his arms around Darren's muscular form. Heat centered in their bodies, absorbed through their clothes, melding through contact. Strange lips are covering his, and a tongue ever so subtly slips its way in. A natural reaction to the pounding beat and dramatic music. Surrender to me…

Darren gasped in panic at the turn of the situation. Never had something so unexpected, so different happen to him. A masculine kiss, it was wanting, needing, longing... the desire was all there to see and relish, like fruit on a platter. Thoughts were chaos in his head, alarm bells were registering, but he couldn't help but feel that familiar tingle rush down his spine and that hot current down his groin.

No more control; it was now all in the hands of this mysterious stranger touching him, caressing him, promising him later delights, all in his movements, no words. No words were needed until they were necessary.

"I'm yours," Darren whispered, somehow audible through the loud music. In response, the stranger flashed a very demon-like smile.

"I know."

Crazy...absolutely insane were the only thoughts running through his mind as the other man pulled him closer for yet another delicious kiss. Hot, rough hands running over his tight black body shirt, how so unfeminine it was, making it such a divine new experience... but ah, it was far too late now, he had reached, as they say, "the point of no return". Nothing would be held back now, and nothing would be pure any longer.

Finally coming up for air, Darren looked into this man's eyes. He had done this before, yes, but now he saw the danger blazing, the lust catching. Fingertips touching, the first contact of skin on skin.

"Let me take you home," whispered the stranger, teeth gently grazing Darren's ear, fresh shivers flowing like shockwaves.

How could he resist such a damned temptation? Every sensory cell in his body was screaming, screaming for release, screaming for the sin, screaming for the expected torment that lay ahead. He wanted it, not his mind, not his heart, but he did and that was all that mattered. It didn't make much sense really; then again, what was making any sense at the moment?

"Anything you say..." he whispered back to the dark haired stranger as he felt fingers gently, lovingly, caress his face. "Anything you want."

"I want you."

The stranger took Darren's hand in his, leading the way out of the club. Like a strange sense of magic, a cab immediately materialized driving down the narrow side street. People everywhere, everywhere, but they were as if extras in a movie, the stars paying no attention to them. The door was opened for the two to climb in, Darren falling into his arms as the cab began its journey through the darkness, the lights of New York only giving slight illumination. Darren paid no mind to that; the stranger was kissing him again, this time longer, deeper, tasting the sweat of the prize he had captured.

"What's your name?" the stranger asked between breath-stealing kisses.

"Darren."

"I'm going to make love to you tonight, Darren." The stranger's scent was intoxicating. Delirium swept through his every being as the hot tongue made its way deeper and deeper.

"Mmmm... " Darren softly moaned as the other man pressed his quivering form against his.

"Darren... " He purred like a predator, ready for the kill. "Such a sweet look of innocence you like to portray to the public, don't you?" Moist whispers touching his neck, sending a fresh torrent of shivers down his spine again. The other man touched his closed eyelids, reveling the feel of his perfectly thick lashes.

Darren shuddered beneath the touch of these lips on his flesh, his erection straining against the fly of his black leather pants. Nothing, nothing could prepare him for what would happen in this stranger's bed, nothing could prepare him for sinking into that black hole of intensity.

The taxi stopped in front of a twelve story building on 93rd Street. The stranger threw the driver a $20 bill, insisting the driver keep the change. No response, or maybe Darren just didn't hear one. It didn't matter. The stranger again took Darren by the hand, leading him into the building, to an apartment on the second floor, inside.

The bed was large, and covered with dark blue sheets. They fell upon it, tearing away any trace of decorum. The stranger offered Darren his fingers, which Darren eagerly one by one slid into his willing mouth.

Who are you? Darren thought, before realizing he didn't care, that pleasure was all that mattered, that all that mattered was this moment in time.

It all seemed surreal, like it was just a fragment of his psyche playing games with him. So untouched it seemed to be. So unconnected with reality. He still couldn't get out of his mind how this stranger had put his magic over him. He could feel slight droplets of sweat against his shirt and his breathing came faster. The feel of this man's fingers in his mouth could have been likened to the sensation of drowning... you're just one step away from beautiful death itself. It was heavenly and too luscious for words. Never before had anyone made him feel like this. So high. Such rawness in this man's touch and movements. Every stroke rekindled that fire between his legs, resulting in yet more moaning

"Exquisite," the stranger whispered, once again replacing his fingers with his lips. One more soul-tearing kiss. One more step into submission.

This man doesn't know who I am, Darren thought, and I don't know who he is.

"Are you nervous, Darren?" The stranger whispered into his mouth.

"No," Darren answered truthfully. In reaction, the stranger grabbed at Darren's black t-shirt, literally ripping it in half to remove it, exposing Darren's hairy, muscled chest.

"Maybe you should be. I could do anything I want to you. And I know you'll let me."

He's right. He shouldn't be right, but he's right. As if he had heard Darren's private thoughts, the stranger placed his hand on Darren's crotch, not touching, just placing, causing Darren to jerk back and cry out.

"Turn over, Darren."

Darren did as he was told. The man reached around, unbuttoning and unzipping Darren's leather jeans, somehow removing the tight material with one yank, leaving only a form-fitting pair of black boxer-briefs.

Darren could only whimper as he felt hot silky fingers caress his inner thighs, which were now burning under every touch. The man leaned down and planted hot wet kisses on his heaving back, already covered with a thin layer of sweat.

"You already taste too delicious," he breathed into his ear, as he started licking his back up and down the singer's shuddering form. Ohgod…ohgod….Darren's thoughts were all in a blur. His pulse quickened as more of the painful torture was inflicted upon him. This guy sure knows how to use his tongue... His last thought was cut short as yelping, he felt unexpected pressure being applied to his ever hardening manhood through the soft fabric of his boxers.

"Ohhhhhhh..." he moaned softly into the pillow, relishing the hard touch. Reality didn't seem to connect with him at this very moment. Nothing seemed real. Every movement, every contact resulted his body responding with a passion he never knew he had... something new, something different, it was so delicious, it almost hurt.

"What do you want from me, sweet Darren?" The man's voice was caressing his cheek, slicing through the very fibres of his body. He moaned as the felt the overheated moist body weight on top of him. "Tell me, what do you want?"

What do I want? Chaos and confusion ran through Darren's mind and body. Was he even really here? What do I need?

"I want you." he whispered simply, his breathing accelerating by the second as complicated nerve cells signaled desire through his heaving body. "I want you to be inside of me."

"Do you, Darren?" the stranger taunted him, observing Darren's vehement trembling. Deep kisses only added to his plight; the man reaching lower between Darren's legs to caress his opening. "This is mine, along with every other part of your body.," he said, his index finger tracing the puckered hole. "But first, I want you to prepare me."

Darren could only nod; there were no words that could be spoken that could express the collapse of his conscious being. Noone to rescue him from this beautiful madness, not that he would accept it if it were indeed offered.

Only now did Darren hear the music in the background; once again, it was Madonna, the haunting sounds of her Ray of Light disc. Something in the haunting beat was filling Darren with...hunger? Passion?

Beyond the music, there was the quiet metallic sound of a zipper taken down. Then the stranger pointing to his engorged sex and commanding Darren, "Suck."

And Darren, eager to satiate his new lover, breathed in the scent of male musk and allowed the cock down his throat.

Ohhhh... the new sensations were literally killing him. Tasting, licking, probing... deeper and deeper the beautiful stranger's ripened fruit thrust down his throat. Darren was now lying on his back as the other man spread his legs wide apart over his chest, offering his gift, his movements rough and frustrated as tension built up between them.

Darren's muffled a low moan. Ohgod, this is too much. His own organ was very much alive in its own sense, the blood rushing down his body and into that pulsating need. Release, oh yes, that was what he desperately craved right now, divine, divine release.

"Do I taste delicious to you now, Darren?" The man's hiss was mingled with gasps and groans. "Do you like me in your mouth like this?"

The sweat between them was intoxicating and slick to feel. Darren stifled a loud cry as he felt hot fingers unexpectedly stroke his own hardening cock roughly.

He slipped the other man's manhood out of his moist lips and panted for air. "Ohhhhh... oh god help me... fuck..." he whimpered as he clutched at the sheets, his body so damn ready, he could feel the trembles already starting to take over. Short ragged breaths were depriving him of oxygen. Sweet and intense shivers of pleasure were screaming. He threw his head back, still moaning, and the man took this opportunity to lean forward and lick his wet neck and chest, making a conscious effort to nibble gently at the erect nipples. "Oh! oh! oh!...!" Darren was tossing across the bed like a man possessed, the other man still sitting on top of him, kissing him up and down along with the rhythm of his pumping. "Don't stop.... oh god, don't stop..."

The man suddenly ceased his movements and slapped him lightly across the face. A wicked gleam glinted in his eye.

"Don't you dare order me like that." he hissed harshly. "I own you and you damn well know that, pretty boy. You got that?"

Darren's breathing accelerated. He should be telling this man that he was noone's property, that he shouldn't be slapped around, that he was not a man who tolerated too much bullshit from anyone, but somehow it would all ring hollow, because Darren knew this man was speaking the truth. "Yes, I'm sorry," he said weakly.

"Keep sucking me as I prepare you," the stranger coldly responded. It was only then that Darren realized his new lover was fully clothed, save for his exposed cock, against his completely naked one.

Now, please take me now, Darren thought but didn't say, for he was terrified he would be slapped again, but even more terrified this dream of pure insanity would end, that this man wouldn't allow him to experience the orgasm he was craving. As if pleading, Darren took the sex as deep as he could, not giving a damn if he choked. Pinned down, helpless, Darren continued to work on giving the man oral satisfaction.

The fingers were starting to work him again, only this time they traveled past his groin to his tight bottom, reaching between his legs and the index finger slowly wriggling into his rear opening. It found that first ring, so tight, too tight, there was barely room as it squeezed the man's finger.

Suddenly, the man withdrew his cock from Darren's mouth. "That's enough, wouldn't want you to enjoy it too much." Darren held back his protest, but what punishment could he give me that I wouldn't want?

"You lay right there," the stranger commanded, as if he could read Darren's mind. "I'm going to get a couple things. Lay right there, keep your legs spread wide. Yes, that's a good pretty boy." He kissed Darren quickly on the lips. "I'm everything you want and need, don't you ever forget that."

Out of the corner of his eye, Darren saw the man rummage through his drawer, cursing when he found it empty. He's going to rape me, but how can I be raped when I long for this so badly? Do with me what you will…

Trying to steady his breathing. Trying to relate to reality and the situation he was so dangerously drowning in right now. Trying to sort out in his jumbled mind the forbidden pleasures he was about to be receiving.

The man suddenly stopped still and locked his hypnotizing gaze into his. The hairs at the back of the singer's neck literally stood on end. One look... and he could put me in a trance.

"Stay right here." The whispered syllables from the other side of the room caressed his flushed face like silky fingers. Darren couldn't help but shudder involuntarily. But the eyes said it all. The other man's intense gaze seemed to hiss: You would do anything I wanted you to do. And you and I both know that.

The man left the room, shutting the door. Silence descended. Now he was left all alone, alone with his screaming thoughts about lust, love and lunacy. That line came from somewhere, a vague lyric to song or something, where, it didn't matter, but that was exactly what he was feeling right now. Lust... oh yes, the physical, soul-wrenching need for release, let the exquisite pleasure just take me over...

He lay there on the bed, his legs spread wide apart as his Master ordered him to. He could feel his pulse throbbing in his already overheated veins, and the little shivers of excitement were slowly sending him senseless over the edge.

His wanting. His needing. His desire.

He wanted him. It was as simple as that.

Tentatively, he felt blood coursing downwards to the southern hemisphere at the thought of masculine scent touching him, caressing him, stroking him. He moaned softly and resisted the urge to touch himself there. No, not this way. No, he would wait for the man instead.

Hunger turning into starvation, simple longing turned into pure obsession, aching becoming absolute distress. I want you, but I don't know if I need you. A line from one of his songs, of course, now directed to real life, to this moment. Yes, I do need you. I need you like I've never needed anyone ever before…or ever again.

Darren thrashed on the bed, lost in his thoughts, not noticing the man re-enter the room. The stranger broke into a slight smile, a smirk really, as he noticed his victim shimmering on the satin sheets.

"Darren," he said, a trace of menace in his voice. "Are you ready for me, sweet Darren?" Darren noticed he was holding objects, not being quite able to make them out in the darkness.

"I'm ready for you," Darren trembled. Why am I not scared? Is it because I know I've fallen for you? Fallen for someone who knows what I want and need, even if I don't.

"Yes, you are," the man responded. "You're ready for me because I told you to be." His right hand reached out to Darren's left nipple, pinching it. Darren bit his lip, refusing to show this man any pain. "Beautiful. Much too beautiful. Tell me, Darren, have you ever been with a man before?"

"Yes," Darren whispered.

"But you've never had your anal cherry taken."

"No," Darren replied. He hadn't, truly he hadn't. But Darren had told this man that he wanted him inside, wanted to be a virgin again, just so it could be seized like this.

The stranger fell atop Darren, their lips once again crushing together. "Beautiful, sweet Darren." A half-whisper, a half-snarl. "Are you really like this, or is this just an act you use to seduce men like me?" The stranger's mouth found Darren's tongue, softly sucking on it instead of waiting for an answer; Darren didn't want to reply anyway, just fall into deeper into the bottomless pit of emotion he was currently feeling. Gradually letting go, the stranger said, "Yes, you're ready. Lift your hips up." Darren did as he was told, lifting his hips and buttocks as high as he could. The man slid a pillow underneath. "Good, very good. Keep those legs apart. Oh, what a tight ass you have, Darren." As Darren's eyes adjusted to the light, he could see what the stranger was holding: a bottle of lubricant and a condom.

Darren felt warm, sticky liquid being applied to his opening. His breathing quickened, willing it to return to normal, to no avail.

The man separated Darren's cheeks to construct enough leeway for the head of his penis to enter. Darren braced himself for the soreness, gasping as his muscle ring clamped onto the sex.

"Relax," said the man. "Don't fight it."

Darren didn't want to, but this hurt, damnit. Big time. And yet, there was pleasure lying within the pain, like a flower within the closed bud.

"Wrap your legs around my waist. I want this to be so good for you," the stranger said, surprisingly tender. Quivering from the combination, Darren raised his legs and slid them on the man's back.

"Please fuck me.." Darren said, surprising himself with the tone and urgency in his words.

"Hang on, sweet baby." The man--my lover--pushed himself in deeper, as deep as he possibly could, causing Darren to wail with a mixture of physical hurt and delight, the latter soon overtaking the former. Still, Darren tossed his head from side to side, not knowing what to feel or how he should feel.

"Kiss me, pretty one. Let it go." And Darren lifted himself up into the man's arms, letting their lips crush together, their tongues twist, his lover's cock start its steady rhythm. One more time, the man's fingers wrapped around Darren's own manhood, grabbing him, pumping him toward the climax his mind was screaming for. Darren let out another cry, almost a scream. I need to come. Please let me come. It was a mental chant: Please let me come. Please let me come. The stranger fucking him harder, his cock entering--no, ramming--him so fast and hard and deep, Darren wondered if he would be torn in two.

"Please let me come." Not a thought anymore, a physical pleading. Upon hearing it, the man slapped Darren again, this time enough to sting. Darren panted on pure reflex. Anything for you, Master.

Why am I thinking this? Then, almost instantly: Because I'm in love, that's why. Use me. Abuse me. I want you.

"I told you not to order me," snapped the man. "But I know you're excited; I'll let it go this time."

"Thank you," Darren whimpered between breaths. He felt his lover's cock slam him in reply; Darren closed his eyes, holding onto the man as if he were a lifeline. Steam heat seemed to escape from his pores as he drowned in sweet orgasm. Darren screamed, clutching onto his lover for dear life, drowning, going down for the third time, not being able to grab onto a lifeline and not caring. Hot liquid, white both in literal and figurative senses bursting all over his partner's fingers.

Still, the luscious violation continued over the moans and pleas of both men. "Sweet Darren," the stranger said in a rough snarl, exploding inside his lovely vision, the shudders between the two grabbing them like a lightning bolt. Kisses exchanged sealed the fate; the man's climax inside was an aftershock for Darren. Never had he found such decadent pleasure laced with such raw hunger.

The other man let go and pushed him roughly down so Darren was beneath him once again. It was a gesture of power and dominance - about who was the Master and who was the servant.

"Tainted innocence," he slightly hissed as he bent over the singer's trembling form. Darren shut his eyes as he felt the last of his quivers shake through this body. Oh god, what an experience that was. Never had he had such a torrent of release hit him so passionately, so strong. He felt like his entire body was torn in two, yet the boundary of pleasure and pain was blurred. He shuddered slightly.

A hot slap met his face. He snapped open his eyes and drowned into those dark bottomless ones above him.

"You are mine, beautiful boy," the man murmured as he stroked his high cheekbones. "I own you now and you know that. You belong to me."

I'm not a piece of property... Darren struggled to comprehend his thoughts, but they wouldn't obey him. The man's weight on top of him pressed him further and he felt his nipples being teased. I do not belong to anyone...

But his subconscious knew better. Deep inside him, a gnawing obsession was taking shape, as the man covered his flushed face and neck with wet, hot kisses. I am yours. I am under your command. Whatever you want me to do - anything - I will do it. Because I am powerless and helpless under your touch.

Moist and sticky he felt right now, flesh against hot flesh, the fire between them was burning skin. Sweet love juices on him and as the man slid his fingers into Darren's mouth to taste, he wasn't sure whether it was his own cum or the man's. It didn't matter anyway - both were one, and Master and servant would always be at one.

The man leaned down, and like a puppy, started to lick around his hardened nipples with ferocious speed, teasing and biting. Darren stifled a moan, but he could not help it - his body was responding once again. Ah those familiar tingles rushed down every pore of his skin - everything was in working action once again.

"This-," the man whispered as he nibbled his right nipple. Darren could only groan in reply and turned this way and that. "-is mine and so is this-" and with that he turned his attention to the other nipple. Darren grabbed onto the bedsheets with one hand and the other he clawed at the man's back, his breathing hard and sweat oozing out of every pore once again. Jesus Christ, how much more can my body stand the threshold of-of- of this pleasure I am receiving?

"And this," the man said, running his fingers against the hard warmth of Darren's manhood, "especially this, is mine. You're learning, Darren. I knew you were ready for this from the moment I saw you."

Darren cried out from the arousal. His last orgasm seemed to be from ages ago, and he wanted to come again, badly. But he knew it wasn't a priority, and it wasn't up to him. I will please you. I must please you.

"Darren, beautiful Darren," the man said, continuing his oral loving down Darren's chest. "I want you to suck me again, you are so good at it." The stranger rose upon his knees, taking Darren by the hand, then grabbed him by the shoulder to lead him back between his open legs. "Please me."

Darren once more took the other man's sex in his mouth, not knowing if he preferred a gentle or rough touch, so he performed as he knew how. His lover responded by burying his hands in Darren's hair, moaning, again forcing Darren to deep throat him. Completely under his spell, concentrating only on pleasing him, Darren licked and sucked in a frenetic pace, lightly fondling his balls, anything to please his dominant lover.

"So beautiful you are with my cock in your mouth. Keep sucking me. You are so good." Darren smiled to himself, so that the stranger wouldn't see. "Yes, keep sucking my cock, pretty boy, and bring your body over to me." On automatic reflex now, Darren did as he was told, twisting his body without dropping the penis out of his mouth, so that the man could do whatever he saw fit.

Licking up and down the hard cock with almost feline quality, Darren relished the feel of the rippled muscle inside his hungry mouth. The other man gave out short gasps as he ran his fingers through the singer's tousled wet hair.

"Suck me dry, beautiful one," the voice above his head caressed his flustered cheeks. "You know you have to."

Darren slid the tip of his tongue down the slit and the man pulled his hair and cried out in needing. Hot sticky thrusts. Silky to taste, too much to handle all at once.

He felt the man's strong hands unexpectedly reach down to touch him. Ah, the incredible heat rising was torture. Pumping his cock in rhythm to his own teasing thrusts, it was like shocks of tingly pleasure, dissolving into the very being of him.

Let me be the one who makes you scream. Inside his equally overheated mind, chemicals were running riot in his brain. But ohhhh, how delicious he was floating high above on the wave, near to the edge as the man was. Sweat, sweat and more sweat. A fine sheen over their bodies, soaking the sheets beneath them. He licked the sweat around the man's engorged manhood, hot, luscious and glistening it was.

"That's right, darling," panting now, the man's face was slighty blurred by the inevitable rupture slowly starting to show. Darren couldn't even reply as the man was so deep inside him. He felt the first trembles however and his own body screamed silently for release as the deft caresses sent more shudders through every pore of his slick body.

Without meaning to, a loud audible groan issued from his lips. Immediately the punishment came. A loud slap on the back echoed the room.

As the sting pulsated through his circulation from the contact, a zap of red seemed to pass over his vision. Master. Punish me. Discipline me. I am under you and you know damn fucking well how I take sinful delight in your sweet lessons.

"You are not to do that unless I give you permission, is that clear?" The voice was deliriously clear and commanding. Darren could only nod feebly with the large rod still in his mouth, the shrieks he desperately needed - or wanted to release but was not allowed to as his body involuntary buckled under the man's hard touch. He was throbbing now, blood was rushing through his veins as sensations started to take over him.

"Almost too pure to be broken." In the pleasure, it was everything. Give it all... don't care anymore about anything or anyone except this...

"But now I possess you. I hold you. My sweet exquisite slave, you will do anything for me, will you not?"

He didn't have to answer because the Master knew it already.

The man was throwing his dark head back, rivers of succulent sweat running down his tensed neck and chest. How Darren wanted to move his lips up and lick clean his neck, how he wanted to be on his lips when the final tide took him...

And how he himself was closing in. Colours, fragrances, sights and sounds - all these were slowly amplified by the rush that was ever so gently ebbing towards him.

"You are not to come until I do, do you understand?" Darren did, and clearly, but he also knew that his lover, his Master was moving closer to the breaking point by the second. No matter. The stranger's cock was tickling his taste buds, the man's hand resuming his jerking Darren's own aching sex. This is it; I can say goodbye to the remainder of my free will, my life outside this man's arms…

But it was quickly getting to where such things were trivial. "Keep your mouth and eyes open, my lovely slave. Here it comes." And the next thing Darren felt and tasted was the hot liquid once more coming forth from his lover's manhood; white goo all over his face, cheeks, and mouth. Darren drank whatever he could, brushing with his fingers and licking off what he could not.

The man's fingers were still working Darren's cock. He drew Darren to him, licking his essence off Darren's right cheek. "So beautiful you are with my cum on your angel face." He picked up the tube of lubricant from where it was tossed on the floor, squeezing slightly from the top for a drop on his fingers. "I want you to play with yourself while I finger-fuck you, and you're going to come when I say so."

Dizzy from the man's burst, Darren said, "Yes, Master," without any thought to the contrary. His right hand reached down between his legs, spreading them apart slightly, touching and pressing against the heated flesh. It felt so good, every layer stripped away, so what he was feeling was so raw and unashamed to be sharing this intimacy with someone who could control (no, is controlling, Darren thought) every last desire he would ever have.

The man's fingers were pressing against the prostate, leading the beat for Darren's own caresses, his left hand gently fondling his sacs to stay to the rhythm of his own beats, his Master's fingers. Lips back together, forced into a kiss, his mouth forced open and ravished by his lover's tongue. Pure shocking heat began to stir within Darren's loins, rapidly spreading throughout his body, causing him to shake involuntarily and mentally beg to be freed from this torment that was holding his body back from what he wanted so badly.

"Are you ready to come, sweet Darren?" the man said, taunting him, knowing he was on the brink and desperately trying to hold back, trying to take out his frustration in a despondent moan.

"Yes, Master, if you'll let me," Darren trembled, attempting not to sound too eager.

"Then come. Come now." As if on cue, every muscle in Darren's body tensed up, then gave way at the same time as climax washed over his being, his soul and his emotional need merging with his physical need, shuddering over his lover's fingers as well as his own. Spent, he fell into the man's arms, shaking from the aftershocks and his own necessity finally satiated.

The man withdrew from Darren's opening, slithering his own arms around Darren's still trembling form. "My beautiful slave," he said gently, kissing Darren's wet forehead.

Outside, the sun had risen, welcoming another bright morning to Manhattan. Daylight had lightened up the darkness of the room, allowing Darren and this no-longer stranger to really look at each other for the first time.

Darren snuggled into his lover's shoulder. I'm falling in love. I am in love. This is happening way too fast. Suddenly, he raised his head, looking into the man's eyes, raising his nerve to ask the question he should have asked hours ago back on that dance floor. "What is your name?" he asked hesitantly.

The man broke into a smile. "My name," he laughed. "Do names really matter? They're just markers to set us apart from one another. But if you must know, my name is Brandon."

"Brandon," Darren repeated.

"Yes. But you're never going to call me that, my lovely one, because I am your Master and you will treat me as such." Brandon held Darren in closer and tighter, as if to emphasize his words.

"You are my Master." And he is. And I would do anything for him.

"Sleep, my precious Darren," Brandon said, running his fingers through Darren's dark hair. "You've been through so much tonight. Now I want you to sleep in my arms, and when you wake up, we'll talk about your training."

The Madonna disc ended, leaving the room silent, and Darren with his thoughts. My training? A momentary flash of panic went through Darren's mind, then faded just as fast. Anything he wants, I'll do, he thought as sleep overtook him. Falling into unconsciousness. Falling in love--a dark, dangerous love that Darren knew wasn't good for him, but still, he was in love and right now that was all he wanted.