"Hey, this is a zany place," I called out as I walked through the gate into his back yard a few minutes later.

The plantings around the lawn were jungly, banana trees, Birds of Paradise, huge leafed vines creeping over broken marble pillars and pieces of statuary, and large brilliant Hibiscus blossoms.

"Welcome to my back yard." Nathan grinned. "Have a seat. I made a big pitcher of lemonade. I'll bring it right out."

"Let me help."

"Nope. This is my shindig, so sit down and enjoy it."

I chose a chaise lounge to lay back in. I realized as I relaxed that I was still feeling exhausted. I closed my eyes and dozed off. A moment later, I heard the tinkle of ice in a glass and then liquid being poured over it. I opened my eyes just as Nathan set a little metal table next to me and set the glass on it.

"Lemonade, ice cold, and freshly made just for you."

"My favorite refreshment."

"Somehow I innately knew that," he said with a droll voice.

Nathan went back inside and returned with a large tray laden with the salmon, asparagus and salad. He placed the salmon on the grill, set his timer and then rolled the asparagus spears in virgin olive oil, placed them in a mesh tray and put it on the edge of the coals.

He returned to the kitchen to get the table settings and placed them on the table. He brought out a hurricane lamp, lit it and put it in the center. I sat there watching and dozed off again. The timer dinged, waking me up. I opened my eyes and watched as he turned the salmon and moved the asparagus a little closer to the heat.

He shook the vinaigrette, poured it over the salad, tossed it, and divided it onto two plates. He then took a block of imported Parmesan and shaved several slices onto the top of each salad. He uncorked the wine and set it in the middle of the table. He moved with a manly grace... sure of himself.

I closed my eyes and pretended sleep when I saw that he was ready to serve. He walked over to me and leaned down supporting himself on the chair arms. He kissed me on the forehead.

"Hey, Puddin' Head, dinner's ready."

He turned back to the grill. I frowned, but didn't open my eyes. Puddin' Head had been another pet name Ted had called me. It was painful to be called that again. 'Oh, well, get used to it, Jim. Don't think; just go with the flow,' I said to myself. I stretched and yawned. Wandering over to the grill, I watched Nathan serve up the fish and vegetable. I took the plate he handed me and went to the table.

"Either place is fine," he said. I chose a chair and he sat down opposite me and encouraged me to, "Dig in."

We ate in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Mmm. I haven't eaten this meal in three years. I never bother to fire up the grill just for myself. This is so delicious," I said.

Suddenly a memory surfaced; I lay my fork down and grimaced at the pain it caused. My eyes teared.

"What's wrong? Are you all right, Jim?" Nathan's voice was full of concern.

"I just remembered. The last dinner I had with Ted was Salmon and Asparagus, the night before he was killed."

Tears ran down my face. Nathan leaned forward and wiped them from my cheeks with his napkin, then said, "Look at it this way, Jim. This is now the first meal of a new relationship."

I smiled and dabbed at my eyes with my napkin. "I'm okay. It's just a painful memory." I picked up my wine glass and held it toward Nathan. "May this new one be long and loving."

"It will be, Jim, it will be." He clinked his glass against mine.

At that moment Saturn leaped upon the wall. Nathan saw her and exclaimed, "What a beautiful black cat. Is she yours?"

I turned and looked at her. "Yeah. That's Saturn. Didn't you see her earlier in my yard? She was Ted's baby. I swear she still misses him."

"Oh, so that's who you were talking to. No, no I didn't see her."

"She teleports, you know. She was there on the plinth watching me. The next moment she was somewhere else. Come on down, Satty. Would you like a piece of salmon?"

Saturn let out a little chirrup and leaped to the ground. I cut a bite of salmon and held it out to her. She ignored it and walked over to Nathan and smelled him. She sniffed for a couple of minutes, checking the scent of his ankles and calves. She stretched up, standing on her hind legs and sniffed his arm. She sat down and gazed up at him for a moment, and then leaped onto his lap, butted her head against his chin and purred loudly.

I sat back and watched this; her behavior was amazing. I didn't verbalize it, but the only person I had ever seen her be that affectionate with was Ted. Despite all the documents and photos, that Nathan had shown me, there were just too many coincidences. It was beginning to make me very uncomfortable.

Nathan was grinning like a fool. "I've never had a cat. I didn't know they're such affectionate creatures."

"They're not. Usually, they're not."

He caressed her back with both hands. "You are such a beautiful creature, Satty." He then cut a piece of salmon and pushed it to the edge of his plate. Saturn watched and then put her paws on the edge of the table and delicately consumed the salmon. I watched, wondering whether I was envious of the attention Nathan was giving that damned cat or vice versa.

I finished off my dinner and faked a yawn. I needed to get away and think. Nathan looked at me, his face filled with concern.

"I suspect you haven't fully recovered yet. Why don't you turn in? I'll come over in the morning and check on you."

"I feel so lethargic." That wasn't a lie. However, I was feeling uncomfortable with all the coincidental things that just kept happening.

"Too much sun; when you're not used to it, it does that to you."

"I'm a native Southern Californian, for Christ's sake."

"Yeah, but you obviously don't get out in the sun much. You're very fair skinned and with those blue eyes you're much more susceptible to the sun's affect. Go on, turn in."

His pedantry was irritating; it was so much like Ted.... always mothering me.

"Let me help you clean up before I go."

"No, I will do it. Besides you're the guest."

"Well, next time I'm family. It will be my turn."

"Agreed, now go to bed."

I yawned for real and stretched. "I'll have coffee ready in the morning," I said and headed for my bed.

I wasn't going to let him know that I still wasn't sure if he was really Ted or not. Monday morning I was going to do some sleuthing downtown at the state records building.

I slid between the sheets. They felt so nice and cool against my naked skin. I lay on my back and closed my eyes, thinking that sleep would come easily. It didn't. The image of Saturn rubbing her face against Nathan's chin kept haunting me. Why would the cat do that? She had only ever done that to Ted. She ignored everyone else, and only paid attention to me when she was hungry. My imagination started working.

There were just too many coincidences to ignore, especially Nathan's words and expressions. It was all too much like Ted. Maybe he was Ted. Maybe the whole accident thing was just a scam. The body had been burned beyond identification. Whose ashes did I have if they weren't Ted's?

Maybe he was after the money. Shit! This was Ted I was thinking about doing this. Ted was too moral to do that kind of thing.

But if it was a scam and Nathan really was Ted, then who died in the accident? And if it was a scam, did he expect me to turn the money over to him? And if the scam was discovered, would I go to jail, too? If he was really Ted, did he think I was going to just fall right back into a relationship with him after the three years of mourning and misery I had been through? I found myself getting angry. How the hell could Ted do this to me? He loved me. Or had that been part of the scam, too?

I turned on the bedside light, sat up and dropped my feet to the floor. My thoughts were making me crazy. I walked to the window and pulled the gauze curtain aside, gazing out into the night. The outlook was over Nathan's yard. Movement caught my eye. I looked down and watched him cleaning the grill. His sure, swift movements were so like Ted's. Watching him made my body ache with desire.

I thought about Ted naked. I envisioned his beautiful body, how the chest hair made a T with the line running down his belly to his cock and balls and his wonderful bubble butt. I imagined the sinewy muscles in his strong legs wrapped around my waist as I plowed his furrow, his heaving pecs as he strove to meet each thrust. I could see in my mind the little grimaces of pain mixed with the intense pleasure of being fucked. I could hear the whimpers and grunts he made and how they crescendoed as he got nearer to climaxing.

I began rubbing my cock as I watched Nathan move about the yard. I had to get him into my bed soon, or burst with desire. Nathan looked up at me. He stopped and waved, then disappeared from sight. I waited to see him again. I heard a noise downstairs and attributed it to the cat snooping. I continued to watch for Nathan's reappearance. I heard a stair step squeak. Someone was coming up the stairs. I turned to grab my jeans when he suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, I thought you could use some help with that." He motioned with his chin toward my turgid cock. He grinned lasciviously.

"How did you get in? I checked all the doors before coming up."

I tried to cover myself, as he advanced on me.

"Oh, the previous owners gave me a set of keys, in case there was a need. I think there is a need right now, don't you."

His voice was seductive. He approached closer. I backed away from him. I recalled distinctly being told that there were only two sets of keys that were handed to Ted and me. Ted's had perished with him. Or had they?

"Why are you backing away from me? I know you want me as badly as I want you," he said in a low sexy voice.

I felt the bed against the back of my knees. 'Oh, shit.' I thought. 'What now?'

"We need to talk," I said.

"In the morning."

He had his hand on the back of my head as he kissed my neck just under the ear. His other hand was spread on my buttocks pulling my pelvis against his own.

"Now," I insisted.

"No. Relax and enjoy this. I'm going to take you to Nirvana."

He licked from the base of my neck out to my shoulder. I felt myself surrendering. Tomorrow would be soon enough to face him with my suspicions. His tongue was circling my right nipple; he moved over and did the same to my left nipple. Yes.... in the morning would be fine.

Hey, wait a minute. Nirvana? That was Ted's word. Oh, fuck. I didn't care at the moment. I hadn't felt this good in sooo long. His tongue was licking at my armpit. Without thinking I raised my arm and laid my head back enjoying the exquisite sensations. He dropped to his knees as he pushed me back onto the bed. He laid his face into my crotch. I pushed up against him. He ran his hands up and down my torso as he laved my balls. He moved up to the base of my shaft and chewed lightly, and then whipped it with his tongue as he moved up to the head, running his tongue around it. I was holding my breath waiting for him to plunge down my cock like he always did. But he didn't.

He sat back smiling. I frowned. Why had he stopped? I raised my head and looked at him. He stood up and started unbuttoning his shirt. I slid up the bed to watch. I could hardly wait to gaze upon that beautiful cock.

He was taking his time teasing, as he slowly slipped his shirt off exposing his magnificent hairy chest and smooth abdomen. He tweaked his tits; I sucked in air. He was more glorious than I remembered; the stomach muscles were more defined.

He unbuttoned the top of his Levi's. I held my breath. He took the two ends of the waistband of his 501s and pulled, popping the metal buttons out of the holes in the fly, exposing his generous thatch of rich reddish-blonde pubic hair.

I could see the base of that rampant rod that tented the right leg of his jeans. I waited eagerly to see the rest of it.

He turned his back to me and started to slowly shimmy his pants down, exposing his marvelous globular buns. I blew air out my pursed lips. He pushed the jeans down to his feet and stepped out of them. He stood with his back to me, his hand on his hips. I ran my eyes down his muscular back. I was more than eager to see that glorious cock again.

But then he suddenly whirled and dived onto the bed next to me, not giving me a chance to see what I had so eagerly anticipated. He molded his body to mine, and I pulled his hairy chest against me. I sought his mouth. We kissed, our tongues battling for dominance in each other's mouth.

I pushed him onto his back, and crawled on top of him, then sat up and studied his body. It was as thrilling as I remembered. I could feel his hard cock pulsing under me. I caressed his chest memorizing it again, the feel of the contours, the texture of the hair covering it, and the pert nipples that stood at attention when they were touched. I trailed my fingers across his collarbones, remembering all the hollows and curves. He lay still, watching me explore.

His cock throbbed against my rectum and I clinched my cheeks which made him buck up against me. At that moment I knew I had to have him in me. "Fuck me. Please fuck me," I begged.

"Oh, God, Jim, I want to," he groaned.

I stretched over to the bedside table, opened the drawer and grabbed the tube of KY and thrust it into his hand. I lay on his broad chest nuzzling his neck as he did his three finger thing. I was so hot that when he rubbed across my prostate I thought I was going to come.

"Are you ready, Babe?" he asked.

"Stick it in me. What are you waiting for?"

"I-I don't want to hurt you."

It almost threw me out of the mood. Why was he still pretending? Why was he hesitating? He knew I could take him. "You won't hurt me. Just do it," I growled.

"I'll hold it in place and you back onto it."

God, how many times had we done it this way? As I scooted down, his cock was pressing against my entrance. I pushed back against it as he pushed up. It slid in and I spasmed. He froze and waited for me to relax. Once I did, it felt so wonderful. I had missed this feeling so much, even more than the feeling of fucking him. I sat up and forced his cock all the way in, letting out a huge groan of pleasure as I ground against him.

He grabbed my hips holding me a couple of inches off of his pelvis and started pounding up into my butt.

"Let's roll over so you can really give it to me," I suggested.

Without hesitating he pulled me tight against his chest and flipped us. I wrapped my legs around him and urged him into action. He resisted though and slowly withdrew until only the head of his cock was in me, then slowly he pushed back in. He kept up this slow fuck until I was nearly senseless, and right on the edge. Sensing this, he started fucking with fast short jabs, continually hitting my prostate. Without any warning I started shooting.

He went into orgasm almost at the same time, thrusting hard against me with each shot. And then he collapsed on top of me. I was totally exhausted. Once he got his breathing back to normal he rolled over pulling me with him. His deflated cock popped out. I could feel a bit of his cum trickling toward my balls and I clinched my hole tight to hold it in. He lay on his back with one of his arms around me holding me against him. I snuggled my face into his chest and fell asleep.

A couple of hours later I awoke. Our previous lovemaking had been the first for me since Ted's 'death'. I'd convinced myself that I was giving into Ted... that I was fulfilling my desire for Ted one last time. I started mentally preparing myself to leave in the morning and never look back, never see Ted again....leave the damned cat with his proper caretaker, sell the house and simply try to forget this whole fiasco.

I became aware of how we were lying. His arm was wrapped around my head holding my face in his arm pit. My arm was draped over his chest and my leg lay over his legs. I felt so at home. I was where I'd yearned to be for three long years. I ran my hand down his body and combed my fingers through his luxurious pubic hair and then curled them around his half hard cock memorizing the feel of it...something to remember on cold lonely nights. He groaned, so I started to jack him to hardness.

But wait. Something was wrong. I ran my curled hand up his phallus. It was too smooth. My fingers weren't rubbing over his cockhead. I sat up and threw the cover back to look at his cock.

Holy Mother of God! He was uncut. He had a foreskin. He wasn't Ted. Oh, God, that meant only one thing....he really was Nathan. I had just slept with Nathan. I stared at the beautiful sleeping man as I mulled this over. I thought about all the things I'd imagined over the time since I'd met him--- all the doubts and all the wondering. I started chuckling and then I right out laughed. God, the relief knowing the man lying next to me had been telling the truth all this time. That meant that Ted was really gone....then the pain hit me...the loss...the grief. My laughing turned hysterical, and I couldn't stop. It woke Nathan and he immediately asked what was wrong. Why was I bawling?

I collapsed onto his chest, and tried to regain control enough to tell him. Nathan held me tightly. Caressing my back, he repeated his question. And then I got the hiccups, which made it sound even more like I was bawling.

"What's wrong, Babe? Talk to me. Tell me what has you so upset."

"I'm not---hic---up---set. I'm happy."

"I don't understand, Jim. You're bawling your head off and you're happy?"

I nodded against his chest. "Yes---hic-- I'm happy, but I'm---hic--not bawling. I'm laughing."

He rubbed my back some more. "Will you tell me why you're so hysterically happy?"

"Ted is really dead."

"You're laughing because Ted is dead?"

I finally calmed down and stopped. Sitting up, I explained, "No. I've never been totally convinced---hic---that you weren't Ted. But now I know you aren't. Ted was circumcised. You still have your---hic---foreskin."

Nathan chuckled. "If I had known that was all it was going to take to convince you. I would have dropped my pants when I first met you."

We both chuckled. He pulled me down and embraced me. I hugged him back.

"I love you, Jim."

"Damn, I love you, too, Nathan."

We eventually relaxed enough to fall back asleep after I had again been penetrated by that wonderful 'uncut' cock.