CHAPTER FIVE

Rick wheeled the Fiero up the gravel driveway to the chalet while the late 
afternoon breezes sent hundreds of crimson and golden leaves tumbling to the 
ground.  The sun shone brilliantly on the chalet windows and one could see for 
miles around through the bare trees.  Mike was entranced.

After Rick parked the car, he turned and reached back into the compartment 
behind their seats to fetch his leather jacket.  He grabbed Mike's coat as well.  
As he stretched his muscular biceps in Mike's face, he smiled at Mike and 
winked.

Mike grinned in return and then opened his door.  The two of them climbed out of 
the Fiero, slammed the doors shut behind them and strolled up to the front 
veranda.

"Darn," Rick uttered as he turned and headed back to his car.  "I forgot my gym 
bag."

"I'll get it for you," Mike exclaimed as he dashed ahead of Rick and ran back to 
the car.  He opened the trunk, which was in the front of the car, retrieved 
Rick's bag and slammed the hood.  He ran back to Rick and slung the bag over his 
shoulder proudly.

"Thanks, Mike," Rick said cheerfully as he reached out to take his bag from 
Mike.

"It's okay!  I'll carry it up!"

The two of them returned to the veranda and Mike followed Rick eagerly up the 
steps.  There were about a dozen long steps and Mike was drooling over Rick's 
sexy glutes as they flexed and bulged at eye level, with each step up.

Rick pulled out his keys, opened up the door and stood aside to let Mike enter 
first.

"Thank you, Sir," Mike jested as he walked inside, placed Rick's bag on the 
floor and gazed around the chalet.  He had only seen it at night, and only for a 
brief few minutes.  There was sunshine everywhere and the autumn pastels filled 
the scenic windows in every room.  It was a very warm and positive feeling 
place.

"Could you put my bag in my bedroom, Mike?" Rick asked quietly.  "I'll hang your 
coat up for you."

"Sure," Mike replied as he strolled down the hall and into Rick's bedroom.  That 
humungous bed amazed him.  It was half the size of his room back at the boarding 
house.  He placed Rick's bag on the floor beside the closet, looked around and 
then returned down the hall to Rick.

Rick had gone into the kitchen.  He placed two wine glasses on the counter and 
was retrieving a bottle from the refrigerator when Mike walked in.

"Let's go and sit in the dining room," he said to Mike as he grasped the two 
glasses and pulled a bottle opener out of a drawer.  He turned around and smiled 
at Mike and headed out into the dining room.  Mike followed closely behind.

Rick placed the items on the beautiful teak table and pulled out a chair for 
himself.

"Have a seat, Mike," he instructed as he sat down in the chair, took a deep 
breath and stretched his magnificent arms outward and upward and sighed.

"U-u-u-u-u-h," he groaned with relief as Mike pulled up another chair across the 
table and watched him flexing and straining his glorious body.

"This is really a beautiful place, Rick," Mike stated as he turned his eyes and 
let them roam around the dining room and living room.  "I'm envious!"

"Why?" Rick replied sounding perplexed.

"Well, you're so successful and, well, look at you.  You look like a million 
bucks!  And look at me!  All I've got is a ROOM that's not much bigger than your 
friggin' bed.  And that stupid job of mine ..."

"But you said you liked your job, Mike?  What happened?"

"Oh! Nothing!" Mike said calmly, regretting he'd mentioned work.  He needed to 
change the subject.

"You know, Mike, you've got to remember that you're still young.  You're just 
getting started!"

"And you're OLD?" Mike chided as Rick sat up to the table and grabbed the wine 
and the bottle opener.

"No!  I'm NOT old, Mike," Rick continued as he twisted the cork and gently 
released it from the bottle.  Mike stared at his thick sinewy forearms and 
imagined them tugging at 270 pounds of iron.

"POP!"

Mike laughed as Rick grinned and poured each a glass of the cool white dry wine.

"But I've worked really hard to get here," Rick went on.  "And why do you think 
I have worked so hard, Mike?"

"Well, I guess ..." Mike said uneasily as Rick raised his glass up for a toast.

"So I can enjoy moments like this!"

With that, the two of them clinked their wine glasses, took a sip of the fine 
wine and placed their glasses back on the table.  Rick quickly took another sip 
and wiped his moustache with the back of his hand.

"Ahhhhhh! That tastes great!"

"Yeah, it's really quite good," Mike responded.  "I'm not exactly a connoisseur, 
but I would say this is a fine selection."  Rick rolled his eyes back in his 
head and chuckled.

As Mike took another small sip of his wine, Rick reached up and started rubbing 
the back of his neck.  He screwed up his face apprearing to be in some pain.

"Mike, could you rub my neck a bit for me," he asked almost pleadingly.

"SURE!" Mike agreed eagerly as he jumped to his feet and carried his wine glass 
around the table and plunked it down beside Rick's.  "Does it hurt very much?"

"No, no," Rick explained.  "I'm just a bit stiff.  It's been a long week!"

Mike stood behind Rick and carefully slipped both his hands under Rick's collar 
and rested them on his magnificent trapezius muscles, which swept up to his neck 
from around his boulder like shoulders.  Mike had never seen anyone with 
trapezius muscles before, let alone feel them.  He started rubbing his thumbs 
and fingers into Rick's warm hard muscles and realized that he wasn't actually 
working on Rick's neck.

"This isn't your neck, Rick?.  What do you call these muscles?"

"Those are my trapezius muscles, Mike," Rick answered informatively.  "Keep it 
up!  Feels good!"

Mike kneaded and worked the muscles, pressing more firmly as he tested Rick's 
reaction.  Rick moved his neck and head about in a circular motion and his 
entire torso moved slightly from side to side as Mike continued.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!  That feels absolutely wonderful Mike!  Please don't stop!"

"Well I only work seven and a half hour shifts, you know," Mike announced 
jokingly.

"I haven't hired you yet," Rick replied trying to be serious.  "This is only an 
audition!"

Mike squeezed Rick's muscles as hard as he could to reprimand him for teasing.

"OUCH!"

"That'll teach you," Mike laughed as he leaned over Rick's shoulder and grinned 
in his face.  "Now what were these muscles called again?  ZAPETOIDS?"

Rick broke into laughter as Mike reached deeper under his shirt and worked more 
muscle into his hands and squeezed gently and firmly.

"You're really good at this, Mike!  Where'd you learn how to do it?"

"I guess it just comes naturally.  Actually, I've never done it before.  It's 
not very difficult."

"Could you do me a favour, Mike?"

"Sure!  What?"

"Could you bring me the cordless phone from my bedroom, please?"

"What is this," Mike complained sarcastically.  "Who was your servant last 
year?"

"Please?  I'm just so relaxed.  I don't want to get up."

"Okay," Mike replied forgivingly.  "Don't move!"  He left the table and walked 
down the hall into the bedroom.  He saw the cordless phone by the bed, picked it 
up and headed back out to the dining room.  When he arrived back at the table he 
was delighted to see Rick removing his shirt.  He pulled it up over his 
shoulders and slipped his mammoth arms through the sleeves and tossed the shirt 
on the back of another chair.  He raised his hands up, brushed his thick 
beautiful hair back gently and smiled contently as Mike placed the phone on the 
table.

"Here!  Let me hang that up for you, Rick," Mike exclaimed as he motioned to 
Rick to hand him his shirt.  Rick nodded appreciatively at Mike as he handed him 
the shirt.  Mike marched back into the bedroom and hung Rick's shirt on a hanger 
in the closet.

"That's such a beautiful shirt," he said as he came around the corner back into 
the dining room.  "Now, it's your turn to do me a favour!"

"What's that?" Rick responded as he gave Mike a puzzled look.  "What can I do 
for you?"

"Uh," he started, before taking his glass and downing another sip of wine.  
"Could you please flex your biceps!  They're so incredible!  PLEEEEEASE!"

Mike suddenly became embarrassed.  He started to blush as Rick just stared at 
him without blinking an eye.  Maybe he had been just a little too bold.  He 
started to get nervous.

Rick reached out, picked up his glass and slowly took another sip without saying 
a word.  He gently placed the glass back on the table, fidgeted with his 
moustache a bit and continued to stare at Mike.  Suddenly he removed his hand 
from his mouth to reveal a huge beautiful grin.  While still sitting in his 
chair, he sat up straight, gazed down at his magnificent powerful arms and 
raised them both out in front of him.  Then he tilted his body slightly toward 
Mike so that one arm was higher than the other.  Still grinning, he looked back 
up at Mike and clenched his fists.  He started slowly pumping each arm 
alternately and looked down to observe his biceps bulging and his veins getting 
bigger.  He took one final deep breath, raised his torso up slightly and struck 
the most magnificent double biceps pose one could imagine.

Mike wanted to jump on Rick and lay his hands all over his powerful body.  He 
was almost delirious with desire as Rick examined his arms and looked back into 
Mike's eyes, smiling almost defiantly.

"C-can I feel your biceps, Rick?  Let me see how hard they are?"

"Sure," Rick replied calmly while still smiling at Mike and holding his pose.

Mike moved closer and raised both hands up to one of Rick's upper arms.  He 
couldn't believe how big they were.  He placed his hands around as much of 
Rick's massive powerful arm as he could and squeezed firmly.

"Wow," he gasped with disbelief as Rick pumped his arm for him.  Mike could feel 
the biceps moving and flexing.  "They're as hard as rock!"

Suddenly Rick let out a ferocious growl and pretended to attack Mike.

"G-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R!" he snarled and snapped at Mike like a vicious dog.

Mike immediately jumped away from Rick, frightened out of his skin.  Rick sat 
there giggling as he stroked his biceps proudly.  He smiled up at Mike and then 
reached for the phone.

"I want to make this call now," he said becoming more serious.  "Tell me, Mike!  
When did you say your birthday was?"

Still recovering from Rick scaring him, Mike looked at him with a bewildered 
look on his face.  "Birthday?" he thought.

"It's, uh, let me think! Next Sunday! Yeah, next Sunday."

Rick nodded at Mike and then started dialing a number on the phone.  Mike 
returned to his side and continued massaging his beautiful zapetoids, or 
trapezius was it?  Rick sat up tall and shifted his torso back and forth and 
stretched his neck as he listened into the receiver waiting for an answer to the 
ringing.  Mike lowered his hands down to Rick's big shoulders and started 
working them, gently but deeply and firmly.

"Hey, Joe," Rick finally exclaimed as someone answered at the other end.  "How's 
she going?"

Mike decided that Rick's shoulders were too big for one hand each, so he moved 
to Rick's side and planted both of his hands on one deltoid mass.

"Good stuff!  Hey Joe, I want to book some wings for next Sunday.  Any problem?"

Mike couldn't believe his ears.  He stopped kneading Rick's shoulder for a 
second as he wondered if this was really happening to him.  Was this gorgeous 
muscle hunk really going to taking him flying in a jet, for his birthday?  This 
had to be a dream.

"Okay then!  Two o'clock next Sunday!  Thanks Joe!"  Rick then flicked the 
switch on the cordless phone, laid it back on the table and looked back up at 
Mike, his eyes beaming with pleasure.

"Rick, that's wonderful!  I don't believe it!  You're such a fantastic guy!  
Thank you!"

"My pleasure, Mike!  You're a pretty fantastic guy yourself, especially when 
you're massaging my shoulders."

Mike laughed and continued, earnestly kneading Rick's deltoid muscles.  They 
were hard and supple and must have been able to carry a lot of weight.  Mike 
wanted to reach further down Rick's arm and grab those biceps in his two hands 
and grasp them and squeeze them, but he daren't.  He had no idea how Rick would 
react to such a move.

Rick sighed again with pleasure as Mike worked on his shoulders and moved his 
hands back to his trapezius.  He placed both hands higher up onto Rick's neck 
and pressed firmly as he worked his fingers into the hunk's beautiful skin.

"Ohhhh, Mike!  You're hands are so nice and cool!  It feels so good!" Rick 
praised.  "This is fabulous!  I feel like putty!  I'm so relaxed!"

Mike felt so proud of himself.  He kept working, meticulously searching out each 
ligament, each muscle, each tendon.  He was really enjoying this.

All of a sudden Rick shook his head back and forth like he was shaking water out 
of his hair.  He jumped up from his chair and turned around to Mike with a 
frenzied look in his eye.

"Enough of this!  I want the whole works!  Let's go to the bedroom!"

Mike was astonished as he watched Rick disappear around the corner with the 
phone, leaving him standing there bewildered.  "The whole works?" he wondered.  
He timidly followed after Rick down the hallway and into his bedroom.  Rick 
stood by the side of his bed and started tugging at his sexy cut off blue jeans.  
The bottoms weren't hemmed, leaving them frayed all the way around, subtly 
framing his huge powerful bronzed thighs.  He pulled them down his legs, lifted 
his feet up out of them and tossed them on the chair by the dresser.  Mike 
couldn't believe his eyes.  Rick was wearing the tiniest bikini posing trunks 
imaginable.  They looked like white satin.  What a sexy hunk!

"You know, Rick, I don't have my licence!" Mike said jokingly as he walked up to 
Rick and reached back up to his shoulders, gleefully picking up where he'd left 
off.  "This could be big time!" he thought to himself with excitement.

"I'll give you your licence when you're finished," Rick proclaimed as he leaped 
onto his bed and sprawled out face down.  Mike wanted to pounce.  He wanted to 
jump on Rick and feel him all over.  He wanted to kiss every rock hard muscle in 
his body.

Rick grabbed a pillow and shoved it under his face.  He shifted his ass about 
and looked up at Mike through the corner of his eye.

"Do my back, Mike!  PLEEEEEEASE!"

Mike sat down on the bed beside Rick, still not believing what was happening.  
Rick's back was amazingly wide and muscular.  He didn't quite know where to 
start.

"Uh, where do I start, Rick?"

The lats, Mike!  The lats!"

"What the hell are LATS?"

"Latissimus Dorsi, silly!  Everyone knows that!  They're the wings!"

"Wings?" Mike questioned with amazement as he slapped Rick on the back of the 
head for having called him silly.

"Down here," Rick said as he reached under his chest and poked a couple of 
fingers out around the muscles that sweeped up the side of his torso up to his 
arm pit.  They formed the V-shape in his broad magnificent back.

Still sitting on the edge of the bed, Mike placed his hands onto Rick's left 
Latissimus Dorsi and began his magic.

"No, no!  You need to work both sides at the same time, Mike," Rick instructed 
as he shifted his legs and his torso and his glorious glutes closer to the 
centre of the bed.  "Get on top of me!"

Mike felt foolish.  Here he was, fully dressed and Rick was sprawled out on the 
bed almost completely naked.  He leaned over, untied his shoes and shoved them 
under the bed.  He obediently climbed up on the bed, straddled Rick's 
magnificent body and kneeled down with a leg on either side of his sexy ass.  He 
couldn't believe he was doing this.

"You have to really get a hold of them and slowly pull them back and forth," 
Rick explained.

Mike reached down, placed his hands deep into Rick's arm pits and grasped his 
thick 'wings'.  They were magnificent!  He tugged gently and Rick's entire back 
contracted.

"Hey, ever neat," Mike exclaimed like a little kid.

"Yeah," Rick mumbled into the pillow.  "It feels even neater than it looks!"

Mike kneaded Rick's lats and massaged each muscle carefully.  Then he tugged at 
them again.

"That's the way, Mike!  Perfect!"

Mike was so horny by now that he wanted to fuck Rick.  His whole body tingled 
with the idea of sticking his penis into Mike's glutes and wrapping his arms all 
around his powerful body ...

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"Oh shit," Rick retorted and suddenly flipped himself over under Mike.  "It's 
the base!  I know because they're the only ones who have this phone number, so 
far."

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"Are you going to answer it?" Mike asked almost panick stricken, as he gocked at 
Rick's massive powerful chest muscles.

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"No! Just leave it!  I'll wait and see what message they leave he said as he 
placed his gorgeous arms behind the back of his neck.  Mike climbed off him and 
sat on the edge of the bed.

CLICK! CLICK!

"Hello Lieutenant!  This is Colonel Collins!  I know you're there!  Report to 
the base immediately!  PRONTO!"

CLICK! CLICK!

"FUCK!" Rick swore as he stood up, marched over to the phone and rewound the 
tape.  "I need to go right now, Mike.  I'm sorry.  I'm really sorry."

"That's okay, Rick.  I mean, orders are orders!"

"Yeah, well, I never even got to make dinner for you."

"Don't worry about it, Rick," Mike said reassuringly as he went over and patted 
him on the shoulder.  "I'm sure if it's an emergency it's more important than 
dinner."

"Thanks, Mike.  I'm glad you understand!  I'll make up for this!"

"RICK," Mike exclaimed.  "You don't need to make up for anything.  There'll be 
another time, I hope!"

"OF COURSE THERE'LL BE!" Mike retorted as he went to the closet and grabbed the 
shirt that Mike had hung up for him and pulled it over his head and down over 
his, oh so exciting, body.  He then produced a pair of gray flannel pants, held 
them up and slipped his legs into them.

"I owe you a dinner," Rick continued as he tugged the pants up around his waist.  
"No ifs, ands or buts!"

"You don't owe me ANYTHING," Mike argued as he watched Rick zip up his pants and 
tuck in the beautiful white polo shirt.  He sighed softly as he gazed at Rick's 
glutes which were round and firm under the gray flannel.  This dream was turning 
into a real roller coaster ride.  But he was glad he was on it.

"I'll drop you off at your place right away."

"Okay, Rick!  We'd better get going I guess."

"Take down my phone number," Rick directed as he nodded towards the phone, while 
slipping on his boots.  "And you'd better get your shoes on quick because I'm 
outta here!"

"Yes, SIR!" Mike replied while scribbling out Rick's phone number and tucking it 
in his pocket.  This was a prized possession.  He then retrieved his shoes from 
under the bed, slipped them onto his feet and tied them up.

The two of them hurried out the front door and Rick locked up.  They skipped 
down the stairs, ran over to the Fiero and quickly climbed in.  Rick turned the 
key, revved up the engine and off they sped into the dusk.

When they arrived at Mike's place, Rick pulled up and put the car in park.

"Again, Mike!  I'm going to make up for this!"

Mike had been wondering about what the problem was at the base.  On the way back 
in the car he started to get worried about Rick.  Who knows what was happening.  
Maybe he had to go to Somalia, or Iraq or something.

"Rick?  You take care, okay," Mike said wistfully as he reached down and 
squeezed Rick's knee to show his support as a friend.  "I'm sort of worried!"

"Don't worry, Mike.  It's probably just another stupid drill!"

Rick glanced at Mike in one eye.  Then he looked in his other eye.  He looked 
down at the stick shift and reached out to pull it out of park.  He glanced back 
at Mike again, at both eyes, back and forth.

"Thanks," he said softly and grinned.  He then put the car into first gear and 
Mike opened his door, climbed out quickly and closed the door firmly behind him.  
He bent over and looked through the window at Rick and waved.  Rick smiled and 
waved back.  Mike felt like blowing him a kiss.

The Fiero roared off down the dimly lit street, sending hundreds of fallen 
leaves flying up into the air.  Mike watched as the rear lights faded slowly 
into the darkness.  He saw the red break lights come on for an instant as Rick 
stopped at a stop sign three blocks away.  The car turned the corner and 
disappeared.

CHAPTER SIX

The next morning brought another warm sunny autumn day.  Mike laid awake in bed 
as he day-dreamed about Rick and wondered what he was doing.  What was the 
emergency all about that he got called to the base for?  Was he at home now, or 
off to some foreign country on a flying mission?  If he was at home, would he 
call him?  Mike had his phone number, but he didn't think he could muster the 
courage to use it.

The night before had been very lonely for Mike.  He turned on his radio and sat 
up until at least three o'clock thinking about nothing else but Rick.  He was so 
handsome and was really fun to be with.  He kept thinking about massaging his 
shoulders and feeling his biceps and laughing and joking.  Mike was in love!  He 
was hopelessly and devastatingly in love!  With the most beautiful man he had 
ever met!

Still, Mike was unsure of everything that had happened since that night at the 
bowling alley.  Why was Rick so friendly with him?  Mike knew he was new in 
town, and hadn't really had much time to make friends.  And he certainly didn't 
seem to be too interested in women.  But there was no way, Mike was positive, 
that Rick could be gay.  He was just too macho.  Mike was terrified of losing 
control of his feelings in front of him, fearing that Rick might hate queers or 
something.  He was so powerful, he could really hurt Mike if he was angered by 
Mike making a pass at him.  Mike turned to jelly around him and was totally 
weakened just by the sight of the sexy masculine hunk.

As he languished in bed, feeling nothing but passion for Rick and wishing he'd 
call, Mike squirmed and ached for the man's rock hard body to be wrapped around 
him, and for his beautiful eyes to be gazing into his, and his sexy lips to be 
...

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

Mike leaped out of bed and dashed toward the phone.  It must be Rick!  It HAD to 
be Rick!  His heart started pounding and he started to tremble.

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

Mike let it ring again while he took a couple of deep breaths to regain his 
composure.  He was so excited.

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"Hello?" Mike answered softly with anticipation in his voice.  Who else could 
possibly be calling him?

"Hello, Mike!" a woman's voice greeted him.  "How are you this morning?"

Mike cringed with revulsion.  It was his supervisor from work.

"Hi, Mrs. Thomas," he replied timidly while trying to hide his disappointment.  
Why the hell was she calling him today?  "It's a nice bright morning, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Mrs. Thomas responded cheerily.  "I'm sorry to bother you, Mike, 
but I have to ask you if you'll come in to work today."

"Oh?" Mike said with bewilderment.

"The Mayor has called an emergency meeting of the Budget Committee and wants to 
see the Estimates tomorrow morning at nine o'clock!"

"But I thought they were all done?" Mike asked with confusion in his voice.  "I 
finished all Mr. Norton's corrections last week!"

"Well, Mr. Norton needs a lot of major changes made to the document and he needs 
them this afternoon.  You'll get double time, of course!"

"DOUBLE TIME?" Mike exclaimed with a change of heart.  "You mean I'll get, uh, 
twelve dollars an hour?"

"Yes, my dear!  But it probably won't take you any more than three or four 
hours."

Still, Mike thought to himself, he could always use the extra cash.  Maybe he 
could buy something special for Rick.

"Sure, Mrs. Thomas!  I'll try to be there by noon!  Is that okay!"

"That would be wonderful, Mike," Mrs. Thomas replied.  "Thank you so much for 
helping out!"

Mike hung up the phone and started preparing himself.  He gobbled down some 
cereal, had a coffee and shaved and was dressed by eleven o'clock.  It would 
take him about forty-five minutes to walk.  It was such a beautiful day that he 
figured he would enjoy just getting out, instead of laying around his room 
pining for Rick.  He could think of nothing better to do, however, than dreaming 
about Rick!

When he finally got himself put together, Mike grabbed his coat in case it was 
still chilly, locked the door behind him and headed out the front door of the 
rooming house.  He watched pensively as the golden and crimson leaves swirled 
around with the breeze.  It made him think of Rick's chalet, and Rick's Fiero, 
and Rick's leather jacket, and ...

BEEP! BEEP!

Mike turned around, startled by the horn of the car whizzing up the street.

BEEP! BEEP!  The driver honked louder.

IT WAS RICK!  Mike felt a wondrous joy fill his body as he watched the cherry 
red sports car speeding toward him.  He waved and Rick honked again.

BEEP! BEEP!

Rick pulled up to the curb and pushed the passenger door open as Mike skipped 
over to the car merrily.  He was so happy that he had dropped by to see him.

"Hop in, Mike," Rick instructed as he shifted into park and left the car 
running.  "How are you?"

"Fine, Rick," Mike answered enthusiastically as he climbed into the Fiero and 
shut the door behind him.

Mike's eyes must have popped out of his head as he surveyed Rick's handsome sexy 
face and his beautiful physique.  He was wearing the cutoffs again and had his 
leather jacket on, but with NO SHIRT underneath.  Rick breathed deep and sat up 
straight behind the wheel as Mike surveyed his marble pectorals framed in black 
leather.

"Come on out to my place," Rick suggested eagerly.  "You can spend the day, 
okay?"

"Ahhhh, shit!" Mike swore with displeasure.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Rick asked, bewildered by the reaction.

"Oh, I'm going to work, if you can believe it!"

"Damn," Rick cursed, echoing Mike's displeasure.  "We could have had a ball!  
It's such a beautiful day!"

"Yeah, I know!  But there's some urgent work to be done for the Mayor and it has 
to be ready tomorrow morning for nine o'clock."

"Gee, that's too bad," Rick replied solemnly as he lowered his head and frowned.  
"I was really hoping you'd come out!  I might not see you until next weekend."

Mike turned and stared out the side window with a blank look on his face.  He 
suddenly felt as though he was losing Rick, that this would be it.  Things just 
couldn't carry on this way.  Nothing ever worked out.

"I know!  What a piss off," Mike swore again.  "Well, anyways," he continued, 
trying to change the mood.  "What the hell happened last night, anyway?"

"I'll tell you right away.  Do you want me to drive you to the office?"

"Okay! That would be great!  Thanks!"

Rick put the car in forward, pulled away from the curb and cruised slowly down 
the street.  He wanted to spend as much time with Mike as he could.

"So, why did you have to go to the base?" Mike asked inquisitively as Rick's 
leather creaked and sent tingles up his spine.

"Would you believe it was for a party?"

"A PARTY?" Mike squawked.  "We were already HAVING a party!"

"Yeah, I know!"

"So what was this party for, might I ask?"

"For ME!" Rick replied proudly.

"For YOU?"

"Open up the glove compartment," Rick told Mike as he pointed towards it with 
his eyes.

Mike opened up the glove compartment.  It was completely empty except for an 
envelope.  He plucked it out, closed the compartment door and looked at Mike 
with puzzlement.

"Go ahead! Open it!" Rick said with a big grin on his face.

Mike looked inside and pulled out a letter and opened it up.

"Why don't you stop the car for a minute?"

"Okay! Good idea!"

Rick pulled over to the side of the street and parked the car.  He shifted his 
powerful legs closer to Mike, propped an arm up on the back of Mike's seat and 
watched eagerly as Mike started to read.

"Read it out loud, okay?"

"Okay, Rick," Mike said obligingly as he gazed down at Rick's beautiful bronzed 
chest.  "Boy, you're demanding," he added, poking fun at him.

"Just read it," Rick said impatiently, anxious for Mike to know the contents ...

Dear Lieutenant Harris,

On behalf of the United States Air Force I would like to congratulate you on 
your promotion to the level of Lieutenant Colonel.

Upon receipt of this letter you will assume the duties of Director General of 
Training for the United States Air Force Base, Parkwood, Vermont ...

"Gee, Rick!" Mike said happily as he glanced at him smiling.  "Congratulations!  
That's really great!" he added supportively as he reached out to shake Rick's 
hand.

Rick sat back properly in his seat and grabbed Mike's hand and engulfed it with 
his thick powerful fingers.  Mike squirmed as Rick squeezed firmly and grinned 
at him, his eyes twinkling like a little kid's.

"Thanks, Mike!  I knew you'd be impressed!"

Mike glanced back at the letter and read the opening paragraphs over again.  He 
felt really proud of Rick.  And it made him feel really good that Rick wanted to 
share this with him.  He continued to read as Rick put the car back into first 
gear and started cruising slowly down the street again ...

Your salary upon appointment will be in the range of $87,000 to $103,000, 
effective April 1, 1994.  Please report to Staff Sergeant Allen for further 
information ...

"Holy Shit!" Mike cried out in disbelief.  "Eighty seven fucking thousand 
dollars?  WOW!"

"Yeah! That's right," Rick replied hesitantly and took the letter from Mike, 
folded it up and placed it back in the envelope with one hand.

"And it said effective April 1st.  That's half a year ago!" Mike exclaimed in 
awe.  "How much do you make now?"

"MIKE!" Rick said disdainfully.  "If you really must know, I'm making seventy-
two right now.  It's a big raise for me."

"That's for sure!  And you're going to get about six thousand in back pay.  I 
can't believe it!"

"Well, so what?" Rick retorted.  "Let's not talk about money, alright?" he added 
as he pulled up to a stop sign.

Mike just gazed ahead pondering how rich Rick must be.  He would be making close 
to two thousand dollars a week.  Mike made about two hundred and fifty a week.  
And Rick was raking in hundreds of dollars a night with his training, and he 
owned his own gym, and he must be fucking rich.

"Mike," Rick said scornfully as he took off from the stop sign.  "Stop thinking 
about how much money I make.  I know you!  That's exactly what you're doing!  
Now forget it, okay?"

"But, Rick, it makes me feel like a nobody beside you!"

"STOP it, right now!  You're just hurting yourself.  There are far more 
important things in life than money!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mike answered with his head lowered in shame.  
"And you know what?" he added as he looked up smiling again at Rick.

"What?" Rick asked as they approached City Hall.

"One of those things is being friends with you!"

"That's the spirit, Mike," Rick said as he reached down and patted Mike's knee 
in recognition of his declaration.  He then drove up to the entrance to the 
office building and parked the Fiero.

"I guess you won't have much time to go bowling this week," Mike said, curious 
about what Rick's schedule was this week.

"HA! Bowling?  I've barely got time for my OWN balls, let alone BOWLING balls!  
I wish I could, but I'm afraid it will be a long time before I play with the 
league again.  Maybe you and I can go out together some night, though."

"Well," Mike said with a hint of sadness in his voice.  "I guess I won't see you 
all week."

"Don't forget, you can drop over and visit me at the gym anytime!"

"Yeah!  But you know how I feel about that.  Besides, you'll be busy all the 
time."

"That doesn't matter.  You could always come over for a workout."

"Get serious!"

"You'd look good with twelve inch arms, you know!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Mike yelled and hauled off and punched Rick on his deltoids.  
"Ouch!" he added as he shook his hand in pain.  Rick keeled over, roaring with 
laughter.

"Don't forget next Sunday afternoon!"

"I won't, Rick!  I'm really excited about that!  Can't wait!"

"See you soon," Rick said cheefully as Mike climbed out of the Fiero and shut 
the door behind him.  He waved at Rick as he revved up the engine and sped out 
onto the street.  Mike walked slowly over to the front steps and went up to the 
office.

On the way home, Rick thought that maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Mike 
wasn't coming back with him.  He really liked Mike, and was disappointed that he 
had to work.  But he had an incredible week ahead of him, what with his new job 
at the base and all the new trainees at the gym, plus the gym itself.  He 
decided to take care of things around the house.

When he walked into the chalet, he noticed that the wine glasses and cork were 
still sitting on the dining room table.  He was a terrible housekeeper.  He went 
over to pick them up and suddenly thought of Mike sitting there, grinning up at 
him.  He imagined teasing him and laughing at him when he got mad.  Mike was a 
pretty decent guy, he thought as he cleared the table and took the glasses into 
the kitchen.

That night he sat in his study and worked on all his finances.  He had cheques 
coming out of his ears and they were all just thrown on the desk.  He didn't 
even have time to go to the bank.

By the time Tuesday evening rolled around, Rick was already feeling irritable on 
his way to the gym.  But he was determined that he would be successful with all 
his endeavours.  It just took getting used to.  This was really his first week 
on this hectic schedule.  After a week or two he would be on top of things.  It 
always worked that way for him.

Meanwhile, back at the bowling alley, Mike was getting fed up with the 'girls'.

"I guess the Lieutenant just decided to take the money and run," proclaimed 
Claire.  "Too bad for him!"

"You mean too bad for you," Mike criticized as Claire and Sheila looked at him 
in shock.

"And just what do you mean by that, BOSS?" Claire exclaimed with disgust.

"Oh, let's just play," Mike said impatiently.  You're up!"

Mike couldn't stand the way Claire and Sheila were talking about Rick.  Rick was 
right!  Mike could see why he didn't want to be around them.

Being at the bowling alley made Mike think about all the things that had 
happened in the past week.  It was sort of like an anniversary.  And he did 
lousy at bowling, again.  He just couldn't stop thinking about Rick, and 
imagined him teaching at the gym.

That was precisely what Rick was doing.  He was scheduling three clients, every 
night.  And he was starting to enjoy it.  It was simply a matter of attitude he 
had decided.

That night, after his last trainee, Rick decided to test out the new tanning bed 
that had been delivered that morning.  He was excited about it, convinced that 
it would lure in new members.  He had Jim clean out the big storage room at the 
back and the delivery men put it in there.  As Rick sprawled his magnificent 
physique out inside the bed, Jim suddenly came rushing in to see how it was 
going.

"How's it working, Lieutenant Colonel?" he asked inquisitively.

"Just great, so far, Jim!" Rick replied nonchalantly as he stretched his arms 
out and scratched his balls.  "Call me Rick, please?" he added impatiently.  
"You don't need to be so official with me."

"Yes, sir! I mean, Rick!  Right on!"

"Could you do me a favour, like a good man?"

"You bet!  What is it?" Jim replied eagerly as he gazed in awe at the powerful 
bodybuilder who was soaking in the rays.

"There's a small bottle of tanning oil in my gym bag in the office.  It's a 
special brand that I've ordered a supply of.  Could you fetch it for me?"

"On the double, Rick!" Jim blurted out as he turned and darted out the door.  He 
would do anything for Rick.  He was his idol!

As Jim searched through Rick's gym bag, with the excitement of a little kid, he 
stumbled across a little box with strange markings on it.  He took it out and 
started reading the label ...

"Gly-so-cide  Me-ta-ster-ol," he carefully read out loud to himself.  "Contains 
Equine Hormone," he read on with amazement as he began to understand what it was 
he was holding.  He turned the box around to see "STALLION" marked in big print, 
and "Manufactured in Bulgaria".

Jim was dumbfounded!  He couldn't believe his eyes.  "Rick is on steroids?" he 
thought to himself.  This couldn't be!

Finally Jim retrieved the bottle of oil Rick had asked him to get, zipped up the 
gym bag and wandered out of the office forlornly.  His idol was a cheater!

When Jim returned to the back room and saw Rick relaxing in the brightly lit 
tanning bed, he quivered with disgust at the illusion before him.  He had 
thought Rick was the most fabulous man in the world.  But this steroid thing 
destroyed his image of him.  He was a phony!

"Thanks, Jim," Rick greeted as Jim approached the tanning bed and handed him the 
bottle of oil.  "This is really expensive stuff, you know!"

"I'll bet!" Jim said almost indignantly as Rick screwed opened the top, poured a 
few drops into the palm of his hand and started massaging it into his strong 
sexy legs.

"Uh, R-Rick!  You're on steroids, aren't you?" Jim asked with disdain.

Rick suddenly stopped massaging, obviously disconcerted about Jim's question.

"No! Who told you that?" Rick replied and started working the oil into his 
panoramic pecs.

"I found it in your bag!"

"Oh, that!" Rick laughed innocently.  "I never used that stuff!  Some guy gave 
it me when I told him I was entering the Mr. Vermont.  He said I should give it 
a try!"

"You're entering the MR. VERMONT?" Jim piped up.  "Are you REALLY?"

"Sure am, Jim," Rick continued.  "And I've never used any steroids, for your 
information.  Like I said, this guy just gave it to me and said I should try it 
for the contest!"

"I believe you, Rick!  I'm really glad!  Gee, Mr. Vermont!  WOW!"

"Yeah! I thought it would be good for business if I took the title.  What do you 
think?"

"Oh, definitely!" Jim answered with admiration, forgetting about the steroids.  
"You'll wipe them all off the stage!"

"You think so?"  Rick said as he examined his biceps while rubbing oil into 
them.

"You're damn right!"

Rick handed the bottle back to Jim, stretched his oiled up body under the rays, 
laid his head back and closed his eyes.  Jim left Rick alone in the tanning bed 
and took the oil back to the office.  He placed it back in Rick's gym bag, 
completely forgetting the steroids.  "Mr. Vermont!" he thought to himself with 
admiration for Rick.

Saturday arrived and Rick was super busy.  He'd booked ten trainees for the day.  
That made a thousand bucks, on top of their memberships.  He had made that much 
in one game of bowling he thought to himself.  But working with his clients was 
much more rewarding than a game of bowling.  He was on top of things now!  His 
persistence and determination had paid off.

When he left the gym at the end of the day, Rick thought of popping in to see 
Mike.  But it was already late and he was tired.  So he just drove by Mike's 
rooming house and looked up at the windows, wondering which one was Mike's.  He 
was looking forward to taking him flying the next afternoon.  It was Mike's 
birthday, too!  It would be fun!  He would treat him like a king!

Rick cruised slowly home, imagining Mike's excited face as they flew over the 
mountains and lakes and how he would panic when he tilted the wings and did some 
flip overs.  He chuckled to himself as he tried to picture Mike's startled face.

After getting home and grabbing a piece of cold pizza from the refrigerator, 
Rick walked into the bedroom and noticed that there was a message on his 
answering machine.

"Shit!" he cursed out loud to himself.  "Not again!"

He went over to the machine and rewound it to listen to the message.

CLICK! CLICK!

"Hi Rick!  It's me, Mike!  Just thought I'd phone and say I'm looking forward to 
tomorrow.  See you then!"

It was late so Rick didn't call back.  Everything would work out just as 
planned.  He stripped off his clothes, jumped into his glorious bed and reached 
up and turned off the lamp.  He laid there thinking about Mike.  He was looking 
forward to tomorrow, too.

CHAPTER SEVEN

As they approached the Air Force base, Mike began to feel shivers going up and 
down his spine. It was a fabulous crisp sunny day.  There were about twenty 
bombers parked around the hangar and airmen were wandering everywhere.  As Rick 
drove into the officers' parking zone a jet roared overhead with a deafening 
noise.

"How can you stand all that noise," Mike asked while Rick zipped into a parking 
space and turned the engine off.

"This is like home to me, Mike," he replied affectionately.  "I love this 
place!"

Mike unbuckled his seat belt and waited nervously for Rick to get out of the 
car.  He was almost scared.  He had actually never been up in an airplane 
before.  He didn't know what he would feel like flying in a jet bomber.

"Wait here a second," Rick said as he unbuckled and climbed out of the car.

Mike watched the beautiful hunk stroll around to the front of the car and lift 
up the hood of the trunk.  When he slammed the hood back down he was holding a 
big parcel under his arm.  As Rick returned to his seat and climbed back in, 
Mike stared at the parcel with a puzzled look on his face.  Rick turned to him 
and winked.

"Happy Birthday, Mike!"

Mike was shocked as he took the parcel from Rick, who was grinning with 
satisfaction at the look of astonishment on Mike's face.

"Wh-what's this all about?"

"Open it!  Hurry up!" Rick insisted anxiously.

"But, but,"

"OPEN IT!"

Mike looked at the big box with wonderment.  It wasn't wrapped with fancy paper, 
but there was a cord tied around it, and an envelope.  Mike removed the envelope 
and opened it up.  He pulled out a card and turned to look at Rick.  Rick was 
still grinning with delight.

"Best Wishes, to Mike," Rick had written inside.  "Happy Twenty Third!"

Mike wanted to grab Rick and hug him and kiss him.  He was so sweet!  The two of 
them giggled as Mike started to tug at the cord.

"Just rip it off!" Rick said impatiently.

"Okay! Okay!  Gees!  You'd think it was YOUR birthday, too!" Mike teased as he 
ripped the cord away from the box.  He put the cord on the dash board and slowly 
opened up the box.  He started to peak under the lid, but then glanced up to see 
the anticipation in Rick's eyes.  He was just like a kid!"

"I have to wait," Mike announced without looking inside.  "I'm not ready!"

"GOD DAMN YOU! OPEN THE FUCKING BOX!" Rick yelled.

Mike laughed and then started to open the lid again.  He almost died when he saw 
what was inside.  As he reached into the box he smiled at Rick.  Now he REALLY 
wanted to kiss him.  As Rick watched with almost uncontrollable excitement, Mike 
pulled out a beautiful black leather bomber jacket.  It was identical to Rick's.  
Mike was flabergasted!  He just couldn't believe that this gorgeous man was 
happening to him.

"Rick?  This is so wonderful!  What can I say!"

"You don't need to say anything," Rick said proudly.  "Just put it on!"

The two of them jumped out of the Fiero and Rick darted around the front of the 
car to help Mike with his new jacket.  Mike handed him the jacket, removed his 
own rag and tossed it on the hood of the car.  Rick stood beside him, holding 
the sleeves up for him to slip his arms inside.

"I sure hope it fits," Rick muttered with concern.  "We can always exchange it 
though."

Mike looked into Rick's warm handsome eyes as he approached him, turned his back 
to him and slipped his arms into the sleeves.  Rick flipped up the collar and 
tugged the jacket at the bottom of the back.

"Turn around now," Rick ordered as he stepped a few feet back to get a better 
look.  Mike slipped his hands into his pants pockets and slowly turned toward 
Rick.  He swished from side to side, pretending to model the jacket!

Rick let out a whistle as Mike stepped beside the car and sat on the edge of the 
front hood.

"WUNDERBARS!" Rick exclaimed.  "Now you're ready to fly!"  He then walked up to 
Mike, placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.  "Let's get going!"

"Rick?" Mike beckoned softly.

"What is it, Mike?"

"I, I don't know what to say!  I don't think anyone has ever given me such a 
nice gift!  Thank you so very much!"

"Well, if you want, I can take it back," Rick chuckled.

"COME ON! Let's get going, Lieutenant Colonel!"

The two of them, hands in pockets, strolled over to the hangar.  Mike felt that 
he belonged somehow.  The leather jacket made him feel like part of the club or 
something.  He felt more confident.

Rick led Mike into the huge hangar and showed him some of the jets.  Mike walked 
around with his jaw hanging open at the sight of the incredible 'birds'.  He 
followed Rick to the back of the building where there was a small windowed 
office.  The two of them stepped inside and greeted the soldier on duty.

"Hi Joe!  How are you today?"

"Good, Sir!  You booked an Eagle for two o'clock, right?"

"That's right, Joe!  I'm taking my buddy here up for a show.  How's the flying 
today?"

"Excellent!" replied Joe as he glanced at Mike and noticed that he was wearing 
the same jacket as Rick.  He turned around, unlocked a small cabinet and opened 
it up.  It was full of sets of keys.  There must have been over a hundred of 
them.  He reached up, checked the identification of one set and tossed them over 
to Rick.  Rick quickly removed one hand from his pocket and caught the keys high 
in the air.  They jingled as he caught them.

"Thanks Joe!  We'll be back within the hour!"

The two left the office and Mike followed Rick past several of the bombers.  He 
stared longingly at him from behind as they made there way to the far side of 
the hangar, near the huge doors.

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"What's an Eagle?"

"An F-15!  Top of the line!"

"How do you know which one to take?"

"I know all of these birds like they were my own," Rick answered with 
conviction.  "Here we are!"

Mike stood beside Rick and gazed up in awe at the magnificent F-15.  He still 
thought he was dreaming all of this as he watched Rick wheel over some air 
stairs and instruct Mike to climb up inside behind him.  When they reached the 
top of the stairs Rick's godly glutes were right in Mike's face.  Mike wanted to 
reach up and squeeze them.

Rick unlatched the door and slid it to the side, like the door to a van.  He 
climbed inside and carefully clambered over to the seat on the other side.  Mike 
gazed inside from out on the stair.  The gorgeous Lieutenant Colonel was 
fidgeting with the instrument panel.

"Hop in, buddy," Rick said as he turned and smiled at Mike.  "Flight 724 about 
to take off!"

Mike quickly hopped in with Rick and sank his ass into the passenger seat.  It 
was like a space ship!  And Rick was Captain Kirk from Star Trek.

"Buckle up, Mike," Rick ordered as he shifted his buttocks and shrugged his 
shoulders to loosen up his jacket.  The cockpit was full of the scent of freshly 
tanned leather.  And Mike was totally delighted with his own creaking.  He 
lowered his head and took a big whiff of his jacket.

"Glad you like it so much," Rick chuckled as he watched Mike sniffing his new 
coat.  "I never thought you'd get off on it THAT much!"

Mike turned and slapped him on the arm with the back of his hand.

"Hey! Watch it!  I'm the pilot you know!  You'd better be nice to me!"

"Oh, I will," Mike exclaimed as he leaned over and started sniffing at Rick's 
jacket.

"STOP IT!  You're crazy!" Rick scolded, but managed a big grin for Mike.

Rick turned the keys, adjusted his seat a bit and pressed a button on the panel.  
Suddenly the engine started up and Mike felt shivers up his spine again.  The 
motor sounded so powerful.  It made the Fiero sound like a coffee grinder.

Out of the hangar and onto the tarmac Rick ferried the Eagle.  Mike gazed around 
at all the planes and the airmen working about.  A couple of them waved up to 
Rick.  He must have had a lot of friends out here, being an instructor and all.

As they approached the runway Mike started to get butterflies in his stomach.  
He could feel his body tensing up.  They were still only 'ferrying' at this 
point.

"Rick?  I'm getting scared!"

"Now don't pull THAT on me," Rick scorned.  "We'll be back down on terra firma 
before you know what even happened."  He then picked up a hand radio from the 
instrument panel and flicked a switch.

"Seven twenty four requesting permission to take off!"

"Permission granted, Sir!"

"Log time fourteen hundred hours and seven minutes and twenty seven seconds!"

"Ditto!"

Rick replaced the hand radio and turned to Mike who looked frozen in his seat.  
He held the control column firmly and pressed another button.  The Eagle started 
moving faster.  Mike gasped as Rick manoeuvered the bird out onto the runway.

"Ready, partner?" Rick asked as he leaned over and brushed back his hair while 
looking into a little mirror.  "Don't breathe too much, okay!  I don't like hot 
air in the cock pit!"

"You turkey!" Mike cried as he struck Rick again with the back of his hand.  
"I'm going to have to discipline you when we come back down to Earth!"

"Oh yeah?" Rick retorted, exhibiting a mischievious grin.  "That sounds like 
fun!"

The two of them broke into laughter as Rick steered the Eagle down the runway 
and picked up speed.  Mike felt totally at Rick's mercy.  And he loved every 
second of it.

Faster, faster, down the runway.  The engine hissed as Rick checked some meters 
on the panel.  With his hands wrapped around the handles of the control column, 
he pulled slowly back and the nose of the Eagle lifted up.  Mike was in awe.  It 
was the most exhilarating sensation he had ever experienced.

"Ohhhhhh! WOW!"

"Feels good, eh?"

"This is incredible, Rick!"

Rick continued to slowly pull the control column towards him as Mike glanced 
down at his powerful hands.

"How high are you going to take me?" Mike asked with excitement.

"Oh, I guess we could cruise at about thirty five thousand.  How does that sound 
to you?"

"Well, whatever you say," Mike replied trying to act nonchalantly.  "And how 
fast will it take us to get that high, Sir?"

"Let's see now," Rick muttered as he looked at his watch.  "About two minutes 
and fifteen seconds!"

"Holy Shit!" Mike cried out with disbelief.  He knew that being with Rick was 
like being in heaven, but he never thought he would get that close to the real 
thing, so fast.

At that moment, Rick put his hand up to the control panel again, flicked a few 
switches and they were suddenly thrust into Warp Seven.  Mike felt his body 
being pushed back against the seat.  He could hardly move for a moment, he was 
so overwhelmed.  Up, up and away!  Into the vast blue sky!

Mike suddenly noticed that right in front of him there was another control 
column.  He wondered why there would be one on the passenger side.

"Rick?"

"Yes, Corporal," Rick teased.

"Why is there another steering wheel, on my side?"

"It's for YOU!  You're gonna fly this baby!"

"MEEEEE?"

"Sure! Why not?"

"Well, I ..."

"The first thing you have to learn is that it's not a steering wheel.  It's a 
control column."

"Steering wheel!  Control column!  Who cares?  I ain't flying this thing!"

"It's child's play, Mike.  You pull it back to make the nose go up and push it 
back down to make the nose go down.  See!"  He pushed the control column 
downward to make the nose suddenly start to dive.  Mike freaked!

"RICK!  STOP IT!  PUT THAT FRIGGIN' NOSE BACK UP!  RIGHT NOW!"

"YES, SIR!" Rick yelled back and started laughing.  "And you turn the handles 
from side to side if you want to flap your wings.  Like this!"

All of a sudden the jet tilted to Mike's side, the wings almost perpendicular to 
the ground very very far below.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mike hollered as he grabbed Rick's arm in terror.  "STOP IT! 
STOP IT!"

Rick was laughing so hard he was almost crying.  What a scream this was!  He 
levelled the wings off and looked curiously out the window.

"There's Canada over there," he said as he raised a hand and pointed out his 
window.  Let's go over and take a look."  He turned the handle of the control 
column slightly to his left and the Eagle veered off toward Canada.

"Okay, Mike!  Put your hands on the handles.

"I don't believe this," Mike uttered as he carefully placed his hands on the 
handles with deep misgiving.  "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Well, it's your birthday!  And I'm gonna make sure you never forget this one!  
Okay!  When I tell you, just hold on firmly and we'll take it from there."  He 
reached down and flicked another switch as Mike grasped the handles like his 
life depended on it.  Rick then sat up, took his hands away from his controls 
and crossed his arms.

"Okay, Mike! FLY!"

Mike's hands were frozen.  His entire body was frozen.  His brains were frozen!  
He was terrified!

"Okay now," Rick continued.  "Ever so slightly, and ever so slowly, turn to the 
left."

Mike obeyed with the fear of the Lord in his heart.  He turned the controls a 
little bit too much and a little bit too quickly and the left wing tilted 
downward.

"WHO-O-O-O-O-A-A-A !!" Mike yelled as he released his left hand from the handle 
and grabbed Rick's arm.  "H-E-L-P !!"

Rick grabbed Mike's hand and calmly placed it back on the control handle.

"We're going to Canada, Mike.  Not Mexico!  Just relax.  Take a deep breath."

Mike did as Rick instructed.  Only he took THREE deep breaths.

"Now try the nose!  We want to go up, okay.  Not down!"

"Okay," Mike said frantically as he closed his eyes for a quick second and took 
another deep breath.  He then pulled the control column towards him and the nose 
of the Eagle went straight skyward.  Mike freaked and Rick laughed as he put his 
two big hands over top of Mike's and gently pushed forward.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Rick asked as he reached down, flicked the same 
switch and took control of the bird again.  "You know, the first time it's 
always overwhelming!  Once you get to know the feel of the plane, though, it's 
not hard at all."

Mike just glared at Rick who was trying hard not to grin.  He leaned back over 
to the little mirror, brushed his hair again and shifted his legs.  Mike raised 
his arm up to his forehead to wipe the sweat away.

"There's the St. Lawrence River down there to your right," Rick announced while 
tilting the Eagle's wings to let Mike see better.

"Oh! It's so pretty!" Mike replied sarcastically as he grabbed the edge of his 
seat with both hands and held on for dear life.  He thought he was going to fall 
through the window.

"I guess we should head back now," Rick declared as he kept the wings tilted and 
did full circle.  Mike literally laid there as Canada passed under him.  He'd 
never seen anything like it.

As Rick steadied the wings and headed back to Vermont skies, the two of them 
chatted about flying and Rick told Mike all about his experiences.  He'd been in 
the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein.  Was even decorated for it.  Mike felt 
honoured to be sitting beside him.

Not too far from Parkwood, Rick picked up the hand radio again and called in for 
permission to land.

"All clear!" was the reply.

Rick slowly and firmly pushed the control column away from him and the nose 
gently pointed downward and they commenced the descent.  Rick had such complete 
control over the jet.  Mike began to feel less nervous as he watched Rick's 
powerful hands flick switches and push buttons on the instrument panel.

"You're really in control of this thing, aren't you Rick?"

"Have to be, Mike!  Or you'd be swatting me left and right!"

Mike slapped Rick's arm and laughed while watching him fidgeting with his 
moustache.

"What are you thinking about, Rick?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, every time you fiddle with your moustache, I'm sure you're thinking about 
something."

"Oh, I was just debating whether to ask you if you wanted to try parachuting!"

"I'll parachute you, if you don't watch it!"

Rick chuckled as he started circling the base.  Mike gazed at him as he studied 
the runway and brought the Eagle down.  He levelled the wings with the utmost of 
precision as the bird soared over the trees and approached the landing strip.  
Rick nudged the nose gently down and touched on the tarmac with the greatest of 
ease, not even a bump.  It was as smooth as gravy!

Mike sat up and looked around the base as Rick ferried the Eagle back to the 
hangar.  He parked it outside, turned the engine off and relaxed in his seat.

"So, partner!  How'd you like that?"

"Rick! It was unreal!  I almost don't believe it happened!"

"It happened alright," Rick confirmed as he grinned and reached up and mussed 
Mike's hair.  "And it'll happen again, too!"

"You mean it, Rick?  I'd really like that!  It's the most exciting thing I've 
ever done!"

"Well, our time's up!  We'd better get a move on!"

An employee brought the air stairs over to the Eagle and positioned it at Mike's 
door.  Rick climbed out of his seat and opened the door for Mike.  Mike climbed 
out of the cockpit and stepped out on the stair.  Rick was right behind him!

"RICK! My legs are like jelly!"

"That's what you call being grounded," Rick laughed.  "You'll get your 'earth' 
legs back in a minute."

Mike descended the stairs carefully and Rick followed down behind.  When Mike 
reached the bottom, he jokingly kneeled to the ground, bent over and kissed it, 
like the Pope does.  Rick stood over him roaring with laughter.

They walked back into the hangar and into the office to return the keys.  Joe 
greeted them as they approached his desk and stood up to take the keys from 
Rick.  He looked over at Mike and smiled.

"First time, eh?" he chuckled.

"It sure was," Mike exclaimed.  "How can you tell?"

"Oh, it's not hard," Joe replied as he turned and placed the keys back in the 
cabinet.  "We can always tell the greenhorns after they've come down from flying 
with Lieutenant Colonel Harris."

Rick smiled as he unzipped his jacket, reached down and grabbed a pen and signed 
the register that Joe had placed in front of him.  He gave an informal salute to 
Joe, nodded at Mike to come along and they headed back out to the parking lot.

"Rick?" Mike said timidly as he came to a stop and looked up into Rick's 
charming chestnut eyes.

"Yeah?" Rick asked as he stopped and gazed fondly back at Mike.

"Thanks!  Thanks a lot!  For everything!"

"You're welcome, partner," replied Rick as he reached out and put his arm around 
Mike's shoulders.  As the two of them walked through the parking lot up to the 
Fiero, Rick pulled Mike closer to him and placed his arm more firmly around his 
shoulders.  He whispered in Mike's ear and Mike swatted him.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Mike was so surprised when he and Rick arrived at the car in the parking lot at 
the base.  Rick stood beside the driver's seat, removed his jacket and placed it 
neatly in the compartment behind the seats. He stretched his fabulous arms and 
then tucked in his pants.  As Mike opened his door to get in, Rick reached into 
his pants pocket, pulled out his keys and tossed them over the top of the Fiero 
to Mike.

"You wanna drive, partner," he asked Mike with a serious look on his face.

"Do I wanna DRIVE?" Mike exclaimed with excitement.  "You'll let me?"

"Well, sure," Rick answered.  "If you can fly an F-15, you can drive my Fiero!"

Rick then walked around the front of the car, climbed into the passenger seat in 
front of Mike and slammed the door behind him.  Mike stood, astonished, looking 
down into the car at Rick.  He then marched quickly around to the driver's seat 
and hopped in.  Rick stared at him with a big grin.

"WOW!" Mike cried as he inserted the keys into the ignition and turned them.  He 
could feel the power of the engine as he strapped on his seat belt.  Rick pulled 
down his viser and brushed his hair back while looking in the mirror.

"You're coming for dinner, Mike!"

"Yes, Sir!" Mike replied happily as he backed out of the parking spot, switched 
into reverse and slowly headed for the exit.  He was overjoyed!  What a day this 
had been, and it wasn't anywhere near over.  He glanced at Rick, who was 
massaging the back of his neck with his hand.  Mike couldn't stop thinking about 
Rick walking through the parking lot with his arm around him.  He felt so good 
with Rick.  Rick was adorable!

Mike drove very carefully.  He respected Rick so much.  He had been so wonderful 
to him!  Mike soaked in the sensations of the powerful car as he cruised along 
the highway towards Rick's place.  Rick was so relaxed that he had closed his 
eyes and wasn't even paying attention.

"Rick?" Mike said in a low voice, not wanting to wake him if he had fallen 
asleep.

"Yeah, Mike?" Rick mumbled as he opened his eyes and stretched again.

"I'm sorry, Rick!  I didn't mean to wake you."

"No problem, Mike! Hey! You're a pretty good driver.  You almost put me to 
sleep!"

"Rick, I just wanted to say thank you again.  You've been so wonderful to me 
today.  I want you to know that it makes me feel really good!"

"That's the way I want you to feel, Mike!  It's your special day, right?"

"Right!"

Mike continued on down the highway towards Rick's chalet.  The two of them 
didn't talk much.  It was just really relaxing and laid back, a scenic country 
drive.  When they arrived at the chalet, Rick perked up as Mike zipped up the 
driveway and parked the car exactly the way Rick would have.

"You're hired," Rick announced as Mike shut off the engine, pulled the keys out 
of the ignition and handed them back to Rick.  "I'm looking for a driver, you 
know!"

"Get outta here," Mike answered with feigned scorn.  "You're such a joker!  When 
do I start?"

"You just did," Rick teased as he reached for his jacket, climbed out of the car 
and slammed his door.  Mike got out of the car and ran to catch up to Rick.  
They climbed up the stairs to the veranda.  Rick opened the door and the two 
stepped inside.

Mike had not removed his jacket yet because he was eager to look at himself in 
the mirror with it on.  As Rick shut the door behind him, Mike gazed at his 
gigantic powerful back.  He wanted to wrap his arms around him.  He was such a 
marvellous guy!

"Can I go in your bedroom and check out my new jacket in the mirror?" Mike asked 
timidly as Rick turned to the closet and hung up his own jacket.

"Well, of course," Rick responded.  "Come on! Let's go!" he added as he grabbed 
Mike's elbows and pointed him in the direction of the bedroom.

Mike darted off down the hallway as Rick wandered along behind.  When Mike 
entered the room he headed straight for the mirror.

"HEY! Is it ever FANTASTIC!" Mike announced with satisfaction as he modeled his 
jacket in the mirror.  "And it's just like yours, too," he added as Rick stood 
beside Mike and looked into the mirror with him.  "I don't fill it out QUITE as 
much as you, but it looks GREAT!"

Rick smiled with pleasure and then walked over to his answering machine to see 
if there were any messages.  There were none and he looked back at Mike with his 
eyes rolled back.

"Whew! No calls!  Touch wood!" he said as he reached down and knocked twice on 
the top of the dresser.

Mike turned away from the mirror and surveyed the 'Master' bedroom.  The last 
time he was in here they were on the bed together.  He was hoping that they 
could carry on where they'd left off.  Rick looked like he needed another 
massage.

Then Mike noticed a dumbell in the corner, lying on the floor by the closet.  He 
walked over to examine it.

"You keep equipment here too?" he said as he leaned over to pick it up.

"Oh, I like to have a couple of bells around to pump up!"

Mike tugged at the dumbell and couldn't lift it at all.  It felt like it was 
pulling at him.

"Geez!  It's as heavy as lead!"

Rick laughed out loud as he leaned against the doorway watching Mike trying to 
lift the dumbell.  Mike, still with his coat on, got down on his knees and tried 
to roll the dumbell out of the corner.  It still wouldn't budge.  He looked back 
up at Rick who stood against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"Rick! I can't even ROLL this thing on the FLOOR!  How much does it fucking 
weigh?"

"Fifty pounds," Rick replied with a smirk on his face trying to sound bewildered 
at such an inconsequential question.  "Why?" he added as he grinned innocently.

"You use fifty pound dumbells to PUMP UP?"

"Sure!  You got a problem?" Rick answered teasingly.

"No! I guess not!" Mike admitted as he stood up and tried to push the dumbell 
with his foot.  It still wouldn't budge.

"Don't you think it was time you hung up your jacket," Rick declared as he 
lowered his arms and walked over to Mike to help him remove it.  "You can't wear 
it all day!"

"I guess you're right," Mike said as he stood up, turned his back to Rick and 
let him remove the sexy leather jacket.  He turned back around to Rick and gave 
him a gentle punch on the shoulder.  "Thanks again, Rick!"

The two left the bedroom and started back down the hallway.  Rick turned on the 
kitchen light as he walked by with Mike's jacket over his shoulder.  Mike looked 
in and noticed that there were dishes all over the counter.

"Look at all the friggin' dishes," he exclaimed as Rick hung his jacket up in 
the foyer closet.  "Don't you EVER do the dishes?"

"I know! I know!" Rick blushed sheepishly as he joined Mike in the kitchen.  
"I'm totally embarrassed!"

"Well, let me do them for you!  I'll have this place cleaned up in no time!"  
With that Mike retrieved the dish soap from under the counter, turned on the 
water and started rinsing the dishes under the tap.  Rick gazed on with 
amazement.

"I'm gonna make a quick call," Rick said as he turned away and walked out of the 
kitchen.  "I'll just be a few minutes," he proclaimed as he disappeared down the 
hallway to his bedroom.

Mike turned his attention to Rick's dishes.  In no time he had washed one load, 
piled it up on the dish rack and had started washing the second final load.  He 
carefully placed the first load into appropriate spots in the cupboards as he 
dried each item.  By the time he had the second load drying on the rack, he 
began wondering what was taking Rick so long.  He drained the sink and gave it a 
light scrub and started towel drying the second load.

All of a sudden, Rick appeared in the door way, with nothing on but a very 
skimpy pair of posing trunks.  They were really sexy!  Mike felt shivers go up 
his spine.  He stood and gocked at Rick while he slowly dried a plate.

Rick had the dumbell in his hand.  He strode gracefully across the kitchen as 
Mike watched dumbfounded.  Rick walked up to the fridge beside the counter where 
Mike was drying dishes and leaned up against it, casually holding the fifty 
pound dumbell at his side, in front of Mike.  He glanced down at it, massaged 
his biceps for a second with his other hand and positioned his elbow at his side 
for support.  He very slowly raised the dumbell up to his chin, looked quickly 
at Mike and then stared at his upper arm as it expanded while he gently and 
carefully lowered the dumbell all the way down to his knee.

Mike felt a tingling sensation climb up his spine as he tried to put the plate 
in the cupboard without taking his eyes off Rick.  Rick slowly raised the 
dumbell again as Mike grabbed another dish from the rack.

"I hope I'm putting everything in the right p-p-place," Mike stuttered while his 
eyes were popping out of his head.

"Doesn't matter," Rick replied matter of factly while he lowered the bell a 
second time, looked up at Mike and smiled.  He started his third curl.

Mike was speechless!  He didn't know what to say, or if he should just shut up 
and watch.

Three ...

"How many t-t-times a day do you go up in the Eagle?" Mike asked, trying to keep 
a conversation going.

Four ...

"Oh, I guess about eight times a day!"

Five ...

Every time Rick lowered the bell down to his knee, Mike couldn't help but gock 
at Rick's basket as the bell descended below it.  His posing trunks were a 
creamy white colour, with a very tiny waist band that snugly crowned his 
glorious muscular glutes.  Mike kept drying plates with the towel as Rick 
pumped.

Six ...

Seven ...

Eight ...

Rick continued, without saying a word, as Mike continued drying.  Mike managed 
to gaze at Rick intently as he fumbled with the towel and put things away.  
After TWELVE repetitions with the fifty pound dumbell, Rick tossed it into his 
other hand, shifted his powerful physique against the fridge and tugged at the 
straps to his posing trunks with his free hand.  His basket bulged and jerked as 
he started his first curl with the other arm.

One ...

Two ...

Three ...

Without saying a word, Mike placed the last dish in the cupboard, wiped his 
hands and flipped the dish rack into the sink to drain, all the time keeping his 
eyes glued to Rick.

Four ...

Five ...

Mike hung up the towel, crossed his arms and leaned against the counter and 
continued watching with amazement.

Six ...

Seven ...

Eight ...

To think that Mike couldn't even roll the weight on the floor.  And here was 
Rick, with absolutely no hint of exertion, curling the thing with complete 
control and with the greatest of ease.

Nine ...

Ten ...

Eleven ...

Mike gocked at Rick's muscular physique as he completed a twelfth curl, turned 
and leaned on the fridge with the other arm.  He reached down and gently placed 
the dumbell on the floor in a corner behind the fridge.

As Rick's back was turned, Mike noticed how wonderfully the straps of Rick's 
trunks caressed his rock hard muscular glutes.  They fit so snugly, and every 
time Rick made the slightest movement, his glutes flexed and shifted from side 
to side, pushing the straps upward.

Rick stood away from the fridge and started to flex his biceps.  He struck a 
magnificent pose, shifted his legs and bounced his basket from one thigh to the 
other.

"Those are really c-c-classy posing trunks," Mike said nervously, almost 
gasping.

"You like them?"

"They're really sexy!" Mike replied with admiration.  "I, I mean classy," he 
added feeling almost too bold.

"They are sexy, aren't they?"  Mike responded as he took a step forward, grasped 
the straps with both hands and pulled them up.  "I thought I'd wear these in the 
contest,"  he continued while tugging at the material.  His cock and balls 
protruded through the satin-like material like a cannon.

"Contest?" Mike responded as he gazed at Rick's basket in awe and leaned up 
against the fridge.

"Didn't I tell you?" Rick said as he took another step closer to Mike who stood 
against the fridge with his hands in his pockets.

"No!" Mike answered as Rick stepped right up to him and flexed one of his marble 
pectorals.  "Wh-wh-what contest?"

Rick moved in closer to Mike and raised his arms over him and placed his hands 
on the corners of the fridge.  Mike freaked!

"I decided to enter the Mr. Vermont!" Rick replied as he removed one hand, 
reached down and fondled his bullish cock.

"MR. V-V-VERMONT?"  Mike exclaimed, in awe of the magnificent man who was 
hovering over him.  "MR. VERMONT?"

Rick stepped right up to Mike, removed his other hand from the top of the fridge 
and gently pulled both of Mike's hands out of his pockets.  He placed them 
behind Mike's back, secured them firmly in his grip and shoved his powerful body 
up againt Mike.

"Yeah," he answered nonchalantly.

Rick pinned Mike against the fridge and looked deep into his eyes.  Mike gazed 
back passionately.  He was trembling!  He was terrified!

"Mr. Vermont," Rick finished confidently as he looked down at Mike's lips, 
slightly shifted his muscular physique and plunged his lips into Mike's.  Mike 
wriggled his body, trying to free himself.  He knew he was helpless, but he 
wanted to feel Rick overpowering him.  He closed his eyes as Rick's tender kiss 
sent tingles all the way to the tip of his hardening cock.

"Oh, Rick!" Mike gasped as Rick gently withdrew his gorgeous juicy lips.

Rick simply grinned and planted his lips on Mike's again.  Mike squirmed as Rick 
held him captive against the fridge.  Then Rick set his hands free, wrapped his 
powerful arms around Mike's torso and squeezed.  Mike lowered his hands down 
around Rick's glorious glutes and slipped his fingers under the straps.  Rick's 
buns were like boulders!

"I'm crazy about you, Mike," Rick said softly as he released his lips and 
glanced back and forth into Mike's eyes.  Mike felt a wonderful warmth as he 
raised his hands up Rick's muscular back and rested them on his barn door 
shoulders.  He gazed intently into Rick's eyes and started thinking about how 
beautiful he was, inside AND out.  He was the man of his dreams!

Suddenly a tear tumbled from Mike's eye and he reached up to wipe it away.  Rick 
was startled, straightened up and placed his huge thick hairy hands on Mike's 
shoulders.

"Wh-what's the matter, Mike?"

"Oh, sniff, nothing," Mike replied wistfully as another tear rolled down his 
cheek.  This time Rick wiped it away with the back of his own hairy hand.

"Aw, Mike!  What is it?"

Mike started sobbing uncontrollably as he looked up into Rick's beautiful eyes.

"I, I," he tried to blurt out, but couldn't muster the words.

Rick placed his hands around Mike's face and gently kissed him again.

"Tell me, Mike!  I love you!"

"Rick! I lost my god damned job," Mike cried, ashamed of himself.  "What the 
fuck am I gonna do?"

"Hey, hey," Rick whispered softly as he brushed Mike's hair with one hand, 
trying to comfort him.  "Everything'll be okay, don't worry!"

"Don't worry, he says," Mike sobbed as he squirmed out of Rick's embrace.  "I 
can't even afford to stay in that stupid room of mine.  Don't worry he says!"

"Hey now," Rick said firmly as he pulled Mike back into his arms.  "You're gonna 
move in here with me!"

Mike suddenly stopped sobbing and looked back up into Rick's eyes with longing.  
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Move in, with YOU?"

"Tomorrow!  I'll take the day off and we'll go and get your things!"

"I don't believe it, Rick," Mike said with frustration in his voice.  "You 
really mean it?"

Rick wrapped his arms tight around Mike's shoulders and settled his lovely lips 
on Mike's.  Mike placed his hands on Rick's hips and slowly moved them upward 
and planted them under Rick's armpits, grasping his "wings".  Rick squeezed his 
magnificent biceps close against his torso and trapped Mike's hands while 
plunging his tongue inside Mike's mouth.

As they embraced, Rick lowered one arm and placed it around Mike's legs.  With 
the other arm around Mike's back, he picked Mike up and carried him down the 
hall into the bedroom.  He layed him out on the bed and stood over him grinning.

DING-A-LING-A-LING!

"You get undressed while I answer the phone," Rick ordered as he walked over to 
the phone.

Mike sat up on the bed and started removing his shirt as Rick answered the 
phone.

"Hello!"

Mike hoped it wasn't the base calling again.  He stood up, unzipped his pants 
and placed them neatly on the chair by the bed, watching Rick with anticipation.

"No!  Not tomorrow!" Rick spoke emphatically into the telephone as Mike removed 
his socks and pulled his underwear down over his feet.

"Wednesday's good!  See you at five o'clock," Rick continued as he looked Mike 
over with a mischievous smile on his face.  When he hung up the phone, Mike 
pulled the sheets back and crawled eagerly inside, leaving them open on one side 
for Rick to climb in.

"Who was that?"

"Just a new trainee! He wanted to start tomorrow!" Rick said unconcerned.  "By 
the way, all my trainees have my number now, in case they want to change times 
or cancel!"

"Okay, I'll remember that Rick!"

Rick strolled confidently over to the bed and gazed down at Mike.  He tugged at 
his posing trunks and peeled them off.  His cock and balls bounced about freely 
as he lifted his leg up to step out of the trunks.  Mike watched his bounteous 
basket with desire while squirming under the sheets.  Rick pulled the sheets 
back, crawled in beside Mike and laid on his back.  Mike pulled the sheets up 
over him and moved up close to him.

"Howdy, partner," Rick joked as he wrapped one of his huge powerful arms around 
Mike.

Mike snuggled up, shoving one arm under Rick's arm pit and up around his massive 
back.  He reached across Rick's vast pectorals with the other hand, grabbed 
firmly onto the Latissimus Dorsi on the far side and squeezed tightly.  He 
wrapped both of his legs around one of Rick's granite thighs and sighed.

"Howdy, Mr. Vermont," Mike replied affectionately as he stretched his neck and 
planted his lips on one of Rick's nipples.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!  That tickles!" Rick squealed.

They held on to each other tightly and played together under the sheets.  Rick 
reached up and turned the lamp off.  Mike lowered a hand gently over Rick's 
washboard abdominals and reached down around Rick's glutes and squeezed firmly.  
Rick grasped Mike's chin, pulled himself closer to him and kissed him 
passionately.  The country night was quiet outside the chalet.