Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. The Most Beautiful Creature I Ever Knew By Adrian Mailenna Obligatory Disclaimer: This text contains sexually explicit material, and a little drug use. Readers not inclined to such things, or under the age of legal consumption of such material should find something else to read. I never thought of myself as gay. I still don't. But every morning, I wake beside my beloved, his bittersweet aftertaste still in my mouth, and his warm, soft flesh nestled warmly against mine. He's a special case, unique in all the world to me. It started when he moved into my apartment, a refugee from the noise and crowds of the dorms. He was tall, with a shy, beautiful smile and expressive, bright-blue eyes that could sparkle from across the room. I remember his eyes. There was this amazing hunger in them, an insatiable hunger for life. He took peyote and Delerium CDs, dozens of books and even more lovers, washing his sheets more often than most people washed their clothes. "It's only money" actually meant something to him; it was a mantra, a motto, a way of life; he never made much, but he spent it like water. Life was for living, and money was only a way to live it, as always, to the fullest. And he never burned out. At least, he never showed it. They say that the peyote opens your eyes and your heart, that it shows you the truth behind the world. I don't know what he saw in that vision, the one that brought him to me, his cheeks wet with tears, to empty his soul to me, and I don't really care to know. But I held him there, safe, listening through the mescaline dream as he pressed against me and touched his soul to mine. Somewhere in that comforting, I realized that he was, inside and out, the most beautiful creature that I had ever known. I told him that, and he looked up, smiled, and kissed me. The world whirled around me, and, in that transcendental haze of thought, I could see all that I had ever loved in his blossoming personality. Kisses grew into warm, gentle exploration, and soon he had stripped me naked, murring as I followed suit, letting my fingertips trace his soft, sleek body, where golden tan gave way to gentle, creamy white. He was a wonderous lover, skilled with his tongue and even more delightful as he squirmed beneath me, pressing hard against my hips. I even gave myself to him that night, watching the world explode into a pure white of orgasmic bliss as he came to me. The morning light shone on us, still curled in my bed, his cock still nestled in the crease of my rear. It hurt to move my legs, and, as I turned to look at his sleeping face, I thought that I should feel betrayed, or disgusted, or violated, somehow. I tried to rouse the feeling. It could not come. The peyote had long worn away, but still I saw that wonderous beauty within him. I've never forgotten it. -- Copyright 2004 Adrian Mailenna. Personal use encouraged. All other rights reserved. ftp://ftp.asstr.org/pub/Authors/adrian_mailenna