Diego never wanted to protect anyone or anything more than he wanted to protect Alan when he offered to keep Alan safe. It felt like forces of both envy and hatred were closing in on both of them. The violence wasn’t real, at least so far, like it was in Veracruz, but the acrid aroma of threats hung in the air like the residue from a smoking gun.

“Diego, I’ve got dinner to make,” insisted Alan as he pulled back from their ardent kiss.

Diego touched Alan’s cheek and said, “I think we both can wait.” He poked a finger at the fabric of Alan’s dress shirt and asked, “Is this a favorite?”

Alan held his arm out staring at the sleeve and shook his head no. Diego saw uncertainty in Alan’s eyes as he attempted to figure out why Diego asked the question.

Diego gripped both sides of the shirt and tore it open sending buttons spinning across the kitchen floor. He stared at the bare flesh revealed. It made him hungry for more.

“Upstairs at least?” asked Alan.

“You don’t want to take me on the kitchen table?”

“The bed…please…” grunted Alan before Diego smothered the words with another kiss.

“A race,” insisted Diego, and he turned toward the living room before sprinting to the base of the staircase. Alan followed behind with his shirt hanging open and Boomer bounding at his heels.

At the top of the staircase, Diego saw four closed doors. He asked, “Which one do I choose.”

“First one on the right.”

Diego opened the door and quickly glanced around the room. It was five times as interesting as Alan’s office. He didn’t have time to examine the antique furniture or perused the personal memorabilia before he heard Alan ordering, “You have to stay outside for now. I know I always let you in, but it’s outside for now.”

Alan closed the door leaving Boomer outside. They were suddenly alone. It was the first time Diego was entirely alone with Alan since their unexpected reunion. Previously, they were always within easy speaking distance of other people or in the presence of a dog. Diego reached out for Alan’s arm and tugged him forward until they both landed in the middle of the queen-sized bed.

Alan lay flat on his back staring up into Diego’s eyes. He said, “I don’t know if this was in the plan. I called you for dinner…”

Diego clamped a hand across Alan’s mouth silencing the comment. He said, “You didn’t call me expecting only dinner, correct?”

Flaring his nostrils as he inhaled, Alan nodded yes.

“Then this is what’s going to happen. Stop me along the way to let me know if I’ve got anything wrong. It’s a deal?”

Alan lay on the bed with the sides of his shirt pushed open just enough to reveal two firm nipples and a fit, slim belly. Diego remembered the light wispy hair circling the nipples and the thin dark trail leading south. His mouth began to water. He pulled his hand back to listen to the response.

“Deal,” whispered Alan.

“I’m going to suck that fine dick of yours, and then I’m going to help you push it into my ass. I planned on spending the night, and I’ll make breakfast in the morning. Do I have it right?”

Alan nodded, and he failed to put up any resistance as Diego pushed his arms up over his head and kissed him hard. The weight of Diego’s body held him pinned down while their pelvic bones pressed together. Both were hard and the cocks, still covered by the cotton fabric of their pants, nestled side by side.

Alan’s eyes remained fixed on Diego’s face as he was slowly stripped naked. When he tried to help Diego undress, Alan’s arms were pushed overhead again, and Diego said, “No.” Alan shivered from the emotional impact of Diego’s dominant behavior.

Alan lay naked on the bed helpless to touch and watched as the multi-colored art that danced across Diego’s torso came into view. He swallowed hard, and his breathing quickened when Diego’s thick cock sprang free of its confinement.

Diego’s cock was not going inside him, but Alan wanted to reach out and touch it. He slowly pulled an arm down all the while staring into Diego’s dark, smoldering eyes. Diego didn’t stop him as his long thin fingers reached for the cock. When Alan gripped it tight, Diego rolled his head back and let out a feral growl.

The cock was thick and heavy as Alan slowly stroked, his fingers slipping over the protruding veins. The shaft grew slippery with Diego’s precum.

“Condoms and lube in the side table,” whispered Alan.

Diego shook his head. “I taste it first. I don’t put anything in my body that doesn’t taste good.”

Alan sighed heavily when Diego pulled his cock free of the grip as he slid down the bed between Alan’s legs. He didn’t have long to mourn the contact before Diego’s lips parted and sucked the head of Alan’s cock into his mouth.

The prickly stubble on Diego’s chin brushed against Alan’s sensitive balls while he issued another feral growl. Alan dug his fingertips into the sheets of the bed and arched his hips upward.

Almost everything was the same. Diego remembered the landscape of Alan’s body like it was a map of the streets of his home city. The reactions were the same as those that haunted his memory for the last seven years. Alan’s bones were more substantial, and his shoulders were slightly broader, but Diego would still know him with his eyes closed and his ears plugged. No one else smelled or tasted like Alan.

Alan’s breathing grew ragged as Diego rolled the condom slowly over Alan’s cock and slathered it with lube. Alan’s eyes fixed on Diego when he reached behind and shoved his fingers up inside to lube himself in preparation.

The syllables of the name “Di-e-go” were drawn out impossibly long when Alan shouted them as he sensed his cock pushing inside past the tight ring. Diego straddled Alan’s hips and slowly lowered himself letting gravity do its work as he rubbed his hands up over his chest and rolled his head back grunting when the cock head, at last, slipped inside.

Diego began to stroke his cock with both hands staring down into Alan’s handsome face while riding up and down. He moaned, “It’s not taking long, gringo, cum with me, too. Show me it wasn’t really seven years. Today is just the day after the first time. It’s the same fuck. It’s the same bodies..”

Alan mumbled, “I don’t usually cum just from…oh fuck…I’m so damn close Diego…faster…ride…”

Diego grinned and rode up and down faster and faster stroking his cock to the same rhythm. He was close, and he wasn’t holding out much longer. Alan’s body arched exposing his throat. Diego growled.

Diego’s ropey white cum erupted like a fountain over Alan’s chest. When the first drops hit his pecs, Alan opened his eyes. It only took a second of vision before Alan erupted, too, with his cock deep inside Diego.

“Ride it through!” shouted Alan giving Diego his first order of the evening. Diego followed the request continuing to ride Alan’s cock until Alan’s rigid body relaxed against the sheets.

Diego rolled to the side, and they both lay flat on their backs trying to catch their breath. “You still fuck like a gringo. I love it, Alan.”

Alan didn’t answer, but he rolled to the side embracing Diego. Both of their bodies were slick and glistened with sweat. The scent of sex hung thick in the air. Alan whispered the single word, “Kiss.”

He got his wish, and they kissed tenderly while Alan tangled his fingers into Diego’s wavy black hair. “Weeks of frustration,” grunted Diego. “Thank you.”

“We might be sorry somewhere down the road, but I don’t care. I’m tired of living in my head, Diego. I want to follow my heart.”

Diego gently thumped Alan’s chest. “There is emotion in there.”

“There always has been. I’m listening to it now.”

Diego laid his head on Alan’s chest. “Yes, I hear it loud and clear. My man Alan has a pounding heart.”

“Your man?” asked Alan.

“I don’t fuck with strangers,” huffed Diego.

“Texas?” asked Alan.

“You were destiny. Didn’t you know that, too? You were no ordinary stranger.”

Alan bit his lip and said, “I honestly thought I would never see you again, but as soon as you walked into my office, I knew my resistance would eventually fail.”

Diego placed a hand flat on Alan’s chest and said, “My grandmother told me I would know him because he would save me. She said, ‘Diego, you will know when he takes you away from something awful and leads you toward the rising sun. It will feel like morning in your soul.’”

“She said that?”

“She did. My abuela was a poet.”

“You really thought you would see me again?”

“Well…” The corners of Diego’s mouth curled into a wicked smile. “If I didn’t, at least I wouldn’t forget that I had the best-damned gringo sex ever.”

Alan said, “You know what, Diego? You’re horrible and dangerous, but I think I’m falling for you.”

“Be careful, Alan. It’s a long slide down, and it’s nearly impossible to get out once you let go.”