Restless Heart by EvenStar

The shadows cast themselves sinisterly across the pale, moonlit bedroom, the air rippled with cold, penetrating silence, as the stars pushed an eerie twinkle through the curtains.

Another night alone, as he lay in the bed, silver moonbeams playing on the ceiling, the occasional car driving by outside the window and throwing interesting glows of artificial light onto the walls.

He lay awake, eyes mysteriously unblinking, as the aching silence droned its solitary, heavy way into his brain. The somewhat annoying tick of the clock beside his bed crept its way into the silence, dulling it, numbing it, and lulling his mind into sound-induced hypnotism. He didn't think to look, glance at the time, there was no point. Every minute seemed like an hour, at least these days.
His arm sprawled out over the empty pillow next to him, clawing for somebody who wasn't there, and who never would be.

At last he closed his eyes, willing for sleep to overcome him. Making the attempt to be lost in blissful dreams.

When his eyes snapped open, from a sudden and pounding noise.
He jolted awake, the shock of the angry sound meeting him as the banging continued in his ears. It took a couple of moments for him to register the identification of the sound. The door, the front door.

The exhaustion of almost a night of insomnia crept lightly yet definitely over his body. But when he tried to close his eyes and simply ignore the sound, the constant banging of his front door, he lacked the ability to drift back into sleep.

Letting out a deep, suffering breath, in moments he'd eased himself off the bed. He walked past the mirror, his reflection in tight white boxers making its way to the door. He fumbled in the semi-darkness, for his T-shirt which he had discarded carelessly on the floor hours ago, pulling it over his head to maintain at least some decency.

His eyes were cloudy with sleep, he blinked them, clearing his vision. His hand rested lightly on the doorknob, twisted it, as he stepped out into the hallway, his demeanour much like a zombie, calculated yet jerky movements. The frantic knocking on his front door continued, as he made his way down the stairs, his feet creaking on every other step.

The lights were off and the downstairs of his home was cold, dark and with the same silence that hung on the air upstairs. His bare feet slapped against the shiny wood of the floor as he reached the hallway, and instinctively pulled the keys from a hook on the wall. Struggling to find the right one in his tired state, he tried a few times before shoving the correct choice in the lock and twisting it until it clicked. Tossing the keys to one side, he undid the various security elements and catches before gripping the handle and swinging the door open.

Beyond it, the tall figure stood in the rain, the teeming courses of grey water making fierce contact with his golden hair.

Darren squinted into the darkness that lay outside - since when had it been raining? But his eyes only went so far past the bright-eyed vision that stood before him.

The cold accessed his limbs, and he trembled inwardly, the thundering power of the rain boring into him, and the effortlessly steel hard gaze that he received from his visitor heightening his vulnerability.

Automatically he stepped back, subconsciously inviting him in, knowing already that he would take up his silent offer, and step inside the house, allowing Darren to close the rain-drenched door behind him.

His wet shoes touched the floor, leaving abundant raindrops, slippery and silver, glistening on the beech.

As Darren watched in awe, he shrugged off his jacket, dropping the soaked denim garment to the floor and kicking off his damp shoes.

The drops of rain water hung in his hair like liquid crystals. The white cotton shirt clung wetly to his slender chest, hugging every curve and subtle groove of his torso.

Darren looked up the figure, taking in every inch of his appearance, drinking in his features thirstily like a flow of desire. He didn't know why he was here; or why it was now raining outside, or why Daniel wasn't speaking - the only sound that throbbed in his ears was the wild beating of his heart, the erratic spiral of his pulse as it sped to an unnatural pace. Fuelled by the thousand memories he'd trained himself to try and forget.

Daniel reached out and touched him. Slid his thin musician's fingers smoothly up Darren's arm, catching lightly in the fronds of hair that leapt up at his caress, standing to attention amid a sea of goosebumps.

Darren's heart throbbed a screaming beat, an unruly rhythm, spurred by the delicious cold of Daniel's hand as it slithered upwards travelling towards Darren's taut bicep.

Darren's eyes met Daniel's - his soft sapphire blue staring into the flickering blue-green that belonged to his once-lover.

The thumping blood rush that raced around his veins yelled with a desperation for Daniel to take him, but the lust was encapsulated in a burning flame of hurt and pain that wouldn't go away. Darren's eyes on Daniel's lips, remembering their exquisite touch and the feel of quenching that indescribable need for each other. But the memory never came alone - it was tainted with the knowledge of harsh words he'd spoken with those lips, angry, stabbing words, words that stung at Darren's heart.

He closed his eyes, eyelids a dark screen shielding him from the thoughts of the past that hung in Daniel's eyes.

The name, Daniel, resounded in Darren's head. The name he had cried many hundreds of times in passion, the name he had cursed in fits of rage. The name that held a sacred place in his heart forever. He opened his mouth, to speak the name.

When he felt the unmistakable softness of Daniel's fingertip, grazing ever so lightly over his plump bottom lip. The firm silk of Daniel's gentle touch silenced Darren's intentions to speak.

He was mesmerised, transfixed, as Daniel shook his head softly. Words were never spoken more subtly, the twisted path of a lover's rambling was never walked so silently yet clearly. His eyes fired, emerald aquamarine, the colour of a sea, a bright ocean on a summer's day. The Mediterranean swam in tropical depths before Darren's eyes. The lips he had longed to kiss for an age, were now curled in a definite smile of wanting. Daniel's gaze burned into him, searing his soul like a deep, fiery inferno.

Darren went numb; his senses barely registered to feel as Daniel's strong hands slipped deftly down his sides and snaked their way around his waist. Fingertips crept in a deadly, teasing fashion up his ribcage, they tickled a secretive dance over his heaving chest.

The heat of Daniel's breath graced Darren's shivering skin, his respiration a sweet tuneless melody that reminded Darren of happier times.

Daniel's lips parted; the taste of him met Darren's tongue as he pressed his lips to his, the fierce arousal locked in the kiss only disguised by the featherlight softness of the gesture.

Immediately Darren stiffened, mentally and physically. The spiritual connection he had so long craved for, the old passion that had lurked beneath the surface of their now broken relationship. How long since he had felt these lips, those hands? Daniel's tongue melded with his in an erotic tango, a dense and writhing proof of love. Deep shifts of heady remembrance tapped their way into Darren's brain as the tears welled in his eyes, overcome with emotion at the touch of his lover. He felt an undeniable weakness as Daniel drew up the soft cotton fabric of his shirt, it fell to the floor as his hands explored Darren's now bare chest. His eyes glistened in a knowing, expecting anticipation of his reactions, as his fingertips crawled back up his chest, nails grazing the sensitive buds of his nipples, delighting in the obvious pleasure it caused to Darren.

Darren shut his eyes tight, inspired by the sensuous touches to stand back and let go. Daniel had already taken a firm grip on his waistband, shimmying the thin material down Darren's hips as Darren leaned back against the wall, momentarily listening to the rain hammering down outside. He glanced out at the window, at the raving slicks of silver pouring down the window pane. Then his attention was divided, as he noted Daniel's sudden presence below him, kneeling at his feet, hands crawling and shifting slowly and erotically up his trembling legs.

Darren squeezed his eyes tighter shut as Daniel's nimble fingers caressed his waiting hardness. He heard his lover shuffle closer on his knees, before his lips opened, and his tongue gently circled his erect manhood, making Darren moan excitedly in response. Darren opened his eyes to glance down at Daniel, as he drew him in, inch by inch, awakening his wild desire, fully concentrated on pleasing him, as his moist tongue went to work on his flesh.

Darren rolled his head back; overtaken by the sensations spreading rapidly through him. His hand caught in Daniel's blond hair, entangling the locks tightly and fiercely in his grip, forcing him closer, harder. Daniel's lips encased him, teasing him, worshipping him, driving his body insane and sending him careening to the very brink. Darren's sweat-drizzled body twinkled in the moonlight as Daniel's final kisses pushed him wildly over the edge, uncontrollable spasms of white-hot pleasure seeping their way into his veins, his limbs shuddering from Daniel's erotic onslaught, the power rendering him weak as he slouched, shaking, sliding down the wall and to the floor, face to face with his lover.

Daniel merely smiled; the pleasure on his face evident, only gained from giving that small physical torture to the one he loved. Darren had a chance to smile back, his eyes glistening much in the same way as Daniel's did, fired deeply by the contentment that enveloped his entire being. He leaned in, smile holding excessive gratitude, as he braced himself for another kiss, his breathing slowing down and matching Daniel's, taking them to a heightened level of intimacy as their lips grew close, and their hearts' rhythm danced to the soft beat of the music in the background...

The music?

The strains of a poppy synth-tune hummed their way into Darren's ears as the music faded out and the radio DJ name-checked the title of the song, the artist, and then went on to wish Darren a good morning. The familiar buzz of the radio alarm clock as the airwaves swept in, awoke Darren from the confines of sleep as his eyes flickered and he rolled over in the empty bed. The strong, forceful rays of a San Francisco sun beat their way in mercilessly through the thin curtains and caused him to squint against their attack. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and slamming his hand lightly onto the clock radio to shut it off.