The Epicene Effect
By Jerry Leckie

Chapter Three
    At eight o'clock the next morning the boys and all their worldly possessions were riding east in a white van bearing the mark of the church. Joseph was driving and hadn't said anything about the nature of their journey. Not that he needed to, at present, because Tom and Toby had never been out of the city. Consequently, their noses were plastered to the windows, observing the passing landscape with big eyes. However, Tom stole glances at Toby periodically, remembering the parting words of Father Benton.

    As the boys left his study the day before, the priest held Tom back for a moment and whispered, "You said you loved him unconditionally. Remember that. Protect each other at all costs. If you need me, give me a call, any hour, day or night."

     By eleven o'clock, the van entered the outskirts of a small town. Joseph parked in front of a modest looking restaurant and opened the engine compartment. After removing a small part, he pressed a control and the engine refused to start. At their incredulous expressions, he declared, "We are broken down, as you can see. Now, each of you make up a back pack with your toilet articles and one change of clothing. While I secure the services of a towing company, go into that restaurant and eat lunch. In precisely forty-five minutes, leave the restaurant by the side door. Walk up to the next street and another van--a blue one--will be waiting for you. The driver's name is Daniel. Get in and he will continue your journey."

    "But, but what about you?" Tom began.

     Joseph granted a rare smile. "While I am scouting this small town for a tow truck, you will be out of my sight and will have disappeared, don't you see? Now go, or you will use up your time for a much needed meal. God go with you."

     After an uninspired but filling lunch, they stepped up to the appointed street corner just as a blue van--without church markings--arrived. The window opened, revealing a cute youthful face. "Hi guys. I'm Dan. Get in." With no real alternative at hand, they complied. Dan headed out of town, then turned west on a main highway. He tossed an envelope over his shoulder. "Here's your new identification. You're now Joel and Ray. There's some contact lenses in there, too, to change the color of your eyes. The authorities are gonna be looking for two guys with gray eyes.  There's another change of clothes for you in the back. Wear the caps to cover your light hair."

     "Dan, can you tell us anything about what's going on or where we're going?" Toby asked.

     "Don't really know where you're going to wind up. Right now, I'm just carrying you West." He chuckled. "I'm just one of the middle men, here to help make you disappear, but rest assured, you will be in good hands all the way."

    "But, what about our belongings we just left behind?"

    "Don't worry about them. You won't need 'em anymore." Otherwise, he was a talkative sort who seemed to know all about them, but revealed nothing about himself. To compensate, he talked about the scenery, the weather and the towns they passed through, until he discovered that he had put them to sleep. He harrumphed to himself and drove on - silently.

    Two hundred miles later, Dan deposited them at the door of a small hotel in another small town. "Check in, guys, for the night and don't leave the hotel. Sleep well. Have breakfast early tomorrow and be ready to leave at eight. A driver named Vic will pick you up in a green van."

    That night, after another unremarkable meal, they returned to their room and stripped for their nightly ablutions. Washing each other in the bath had become one of their favorite pastimes. As they languished in the shower, Tom slowly stroked every inch of Toby's body. In response, the boy leaned back against the tile, eyes closed, mouth slack, sucking in quick breaths when his lover's fingers touched a particularly sensitive spot.

    Tom raked his tongue across Toby's lips and remarked, "Do you realize you're loosing your body hair?"

    Without opening his eyes, Toby responded, "Probably because I quit taking the hormone injections. Um, yeah. Stroke there again. I only have to shave every few days now, too. Ah, yeah. Do that again."

    Tom encircled Toby's penis with a thumb and forefinger. "With less pubic hair, your penis is easier to get to," he crooned with a wicked smile.

    Rising to the tease, Toby captured Tom's ear with his lips and whispered, "Anything for my lover."

    Later, they lay in each other's arms sharing lazy kisses and caresses. "You're inspiring me," Toby volunteered quietly.

    "To what?" Tom breathed into his ear.

    "To do something really great with these erections of ours," he responded, snaking his tongue between Tom's lips. "We seem to have worked ourselves up into a state."

    "Give it your best shot Love. I haven't ejaculated all day."

    "Me neither. This could be very enjoyable, and take a long, long time," Toby responded in a husky voice.

    Much later, after several rounds of love making, they lay awake in the dark. Toby's head rested on his lover's shoulder. Tom's arm encircled him protectively. "Wonder how much further we have to go?" Toby asked quietly.

    "Don't have a clue Baby, and I don't have one about what we're going to find when we get there," Tom ventured and kissed him on the forehead. "I trust Father Benton. And, as long as I can spend the rest of my life holding you, and loving you and making love to you, I don't care where we go, as long as we don't have to see the inside of another Church of the Holy Conception."

    Toby smiled up at him. "Amen and well-said Love of My Life. I'm content then to go anywhere with you." They kissed to seal the bargain.
§ § §

     And so their journey progressed. They were handed off two more times in as many days, each to another van and driver. Civilization thinned as they rode along. They passed miles of fields where automated farming machinery toiled. The van sped on unimpeded except to slow enough to move safely around automated machines repairing the highway. They stopped only long enough to relieve themselves and to replace fuel cells in the van.
   
    Gradually, the fertile fields disappeared and the road began to climb into a range of mountains. Abandoned towns appeared occasionally where weeds choked the streets. They questioned this and were told that since all new births took place in propagation centers in the cities, rural life was literally dying out.
   
    At the end of the third day, darkness found them in a tiny town, a grubby crossroads, half abandoned, in the foothills of the mountains. The van stopped in front of a small inn. The driver turned and handed them two laser pistols.
   
    "Why do we need these?" Toby asked, shrinking back from the offered items.
   
    The driver pressed the pistols into their hands. "Like I said, civilization is dying out here, so times are dangerous. This part of the country is becoming lawless. After you check in, don't leave the inn. Carry these when you leave the room. They are set to penetrate an inch of steel. And always wear your caps and contact lenses. The authorities won't be looking for you out here, but folk legends are spreading in these parts that people with gray eyes and light hair are somehow different and to be feared. So keep a low profile."
   
    Toby had been particularly affectionate that day and required constant physical contact with Tom. Inside the hotel room, after their evening meal, he hugged himself to Tom, burying his face under his lover's chin. "Tom, undress me and take me to bed. Make love to me for a long time. Please," he cooed in a low seductive voice.
   
    Tom had been excited by the contact with Toby and needed no further invitation. He slowly undressed his lover, kissing each portion of Toby's skin as it was revealed, making the boy writhe with each touch of his lips. At last, when Tom could finally look at his totally nude beauty, he picked the object of his desire up and laid him on the bed. Toby immediately held out his arms and begged Tom to join him. Tom threw off his clothes and slid onto the bed.
   
    Toby was needful and crawled into Tom's arms whimpering, "Hold me Love. Please don't let go. Make love to me slowly tonight."
   
    Tom kissed him briefly, then studied his handsome face, trying to understand this uncharacteristic behavior. Normally, Toby took the lead in their love making as quickly and confidently as did he. But, his thoughts were interrupted, as Toby responded wantonly, capturing his mouth for a deep, long kiss while one of his hands roamed over Tom's body and the other stroked his penis.
   
    Tom smoothed his hair and kissed his eyes. He licked Toby's sweet lips and planted another kiss. He continued to leave small kisses in a trail leading from Toby's mouth, to the soft tissue of his throat, to the muscular plains of his chest, down to his nipples, nursing there gently until they were erect and swollen.

    "Um, yes Love! Make love to me! My body is on fire tonight!"

    Tom's tongue found that wonder of nature, Toby's navel, and cleaned it, sending the boy into a fit of expletives. His fingers knotted in Tom's hair. "Yes!
Yes!" Toby said frantically. "Lower. Kiss lower," motivating Tom to move his ministrations to a point just above Toby's pubic hair.

    "There! Stroke me there Love!" He was shaking with desire.

    Tom opened his eyes and looked at the place he was kissing. "Toby! There's a red mark, a line, about three inches long just above your pubic hair! Did you burn yourself?"

    With a quivering voice, "I don't remember burning myself. It feels so good when you touch me there. Do it again!"

    "What's happening Toby? You're behaving strangely, and now this. Are you all right?" The thoughts running through his mind unmanned him.

    "I'm fine Love. I feel great. Please make love to me."

    "Not until I find out what's going on." He left Toby curled into a ball on the bed to find his mobile phone. Breathing heavily, he savagely punched numbers on the key pad and waited for the connection to the satellite. Father Benton answered almost immediately.

    "Father, something's happening to Toby," Tom shouted. "I'm scared. A red mark has appeared just above his pubic hair and he's behaving as if he's delirious," Tom said in one breath. And, as an afterthought, "And, he's lost most of his body hair." He took a deep breath, tears filling his eyes. "You said I should call you if I needed you. Well, I don't know how to handle this."

    "When did Toby begin to change?"

    "He's been acting a little strange all day, but the red mark just appeared tonight."

    "Now, listen carefully. Take a deep breath and calm down. Are you with me?"

    Tom gulped air, the gasped, "Yes Father."

    "Good. Now, believe what I say. Toby is perfectly all right. Nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong. You must go to him, and comfort him. And, above all, you must trust him. Do exactly what he says. Do you understand me Tom?"

    "Yes sir," Tom responded in a contrite voice.

    In the kindest voice Tom had ever heard, Benton said, "Son, you were perfectly right to call me. I know you were frightened. I would have been in your place. Now, go to your beloved and pour out all the love you have in your soul to him."

    "I will Father."

    "Good. Call me in the morning." Benton broke the connection.

    Tom quickly moved back to the bed and looked down at the huddled form there. He crawled in and touched Toby tentatively. "I'm so sorry I left you Sweetheart. I was scared, but I'm okay now."

    Toby uncurled himself and smiled up at Tom. "That's okay, My Love. I'm all right. In fact, I've never felt so good. Just make love to me Tom."

    "I will Sweetheart, but please tell me what you want. I'm kinda at a loss here as to what's going on."

    Toby pulled him down for a long kiss, then murmured instructions and their ardor rekindled, more powerful than before. As Tom stroked the red mark, Toby writhed and began a running account of his feelings.

    "Oh God, it's so good. Yes Baby, yes! It feels wonderful. I've never felt anything this good." He unconsciously reached out and began to stroke Tom's penis.

    As Tom kissed and stroked the place that gave his lover so much pleasure, he noticed with slight alarm that Toby's testicle sack had drawn up into his body and his penis had done the same. But, these thoughts were diverted when the red mark on Toby's abdomen began to recede slowly. As it did so the flesh began to open. The breath stuck in Tom's throat and he began to panic once more.

    Toby quickly pulled him into another kiss, then cupped his face with his hands. "Tom, look at me." They stared intently, eyes inches apart. "Look at me Tom." Toby sucked Tom's soul into those colorless eyes. "I love you so much. It's you I want to mate with me. Touch me there." Tom's fingers caressed the slit in Toby's body. "Yesss, Love. More. Yes." He slowly spread his legs, their eyes still locked in the stare. Toby said, "Tom climb on top of me." As he did so, Toby guided Tom's penis into the slit, and both boys sighed with pleasure. Toby clenched his abdominal muscles around the hard shaft.

    "Oh Love, it feels so wonderful. You're mating with me. Deeper Love, deeper. All the way." Toby placed his hands on Tom's buttocks, urging him on until Tom's penis was completely engulfed.

    "Ahhhhhh," Tom breathed, closing his eyes to savor the exquisite feeling. Tom began to tremble, both with desire and trepidation.

    "It's okay Love. You're doing fine. Everything's okay. Relax. Rest your body on mine." Tom collapsed, relaxing completely, and Toby placed his arms around him. "Oh Love, now we are truly one," Toby whispered into his ear. "Now, it begins," he soothed, stroking Tom's back.

    With those words, something began to tickle the tip of Tom's penis, causing him to inhale sharply. The tickling became a tingling, slowly making its way up his urethra. Both boys tensed. Tom's penis swelled and hardened as blood rushed into it.

    "Ahhhhhh," they exclaimed at the same time. Toby's arms tightened about his lover.

    "We're both feeling the same thing, the pleasure," Toby gasped. Tom couldn't speak he was so caught up in the sensations coursing through his body.

    Suddenly, the tingling reached Tom's prostate, and what felt like orgasms delivered on the tips of lightening bolts hit them as Toby began to draw the semen out in a steady stream.

    They cried aloud; their muscles clenched; they held on to one another convulsively; tears flowed; breaths stuck in their throats; sweat poured - for long minutes. Then, the tingling slowly receded and the sensations stopped. Toby relaxed his abdominal muscles, and the boys collapsed into a spent heap, gasping.

    When their breathing returned to something resembling normal, Tom raised up and they stared at each other in wonder, mouths agape. Toby whispered, "Love, it is not finished yet. You must remove yourself from me."

    It was only then that Tom realized that his penis was still buried in Toby. He carefully extracted himself, staring in wonder at the place of their coupling. He reached out to touch it and Toby gently stilled his hand.

    "Please don't touch it until it is finished." They watched with astonishment as the flesh closed itself, leaving something faintly resembling a scar.

    Tom lay down and took Toby into his arms. Their emotions were running high; the air fairly crackled with them. Something was needed to break the tension.

    Tom sniffed and puckered his nose. The air was redolent with the scent of the sex storm. A snicker escaped his throat and escalated into a full belly laugh. "Man, this place smells like sex education class on intercourse day." Toby joined in the laughter. "The sheets are clammy with sweat and we smell like yaks in heat." He looked over at the second bed in the room. "Are you as whipped as I am?" Toby nodded. "Then, showers can wait until morning. Let's move over there."

    They climbed into the other bed and were asleep instantly. Questions and speculations about what had happened this night could wait.