Daniel was in the kitchen stirring a pan of pasta sauce. The air was laden with garlic fumes and a bottle of red wine stood open. For a critic, he was actually a good chef, Luc had been surprised to find out, but he rarely cooked for them. "We need a break. I want you to go back to Paris. Don't come back until my mother leaves." His voice was firm, remote, that icy tone he used when Luc had been really bad.

Luc put his gifts on the kitchen table. "No Danny..." he began, his heart sinking, his guts clenching in misery.

"Get out."

"Look, what I said this morning..." He put both hands on Daniel's shoulders.

Daniel turned fiercely. With his wooden spoon he flicked a small quantity of molten pasta sauce onto Luc's bare arm.

"Ah merde!" Luc cried, rushing for the sink and the blessed relief of cold water. "What in the name of God are you trying to do to me, psycho?"

Daniel regarded him coolly. "Out."

"You're crazy," Luc complained. "I'm sorry, you know I am. Anything you want me to do to make it up to you, just say it. Anything. I can keep your double life a secret. I can behave in front of your mother, you'll see. Let her come. We'll have separate bedrooms. I won't put my hands on you once until she's gone. I swear."

Daniel stared at him. "Really?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes really."

Daniel shook his head. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. You're going to be my slightly eccentric friend from Paris are you? How exactly are you going to keep your hands off me?"

"I don't know," Luc muttered, examining his arm. "How hard can it be?" The words would come back to haunt him. Even now his dick was half-hard at Daniel's mere proximity. This man had made him walk around with a permanent erection for the past six months.

"Fine," Daniel snapped abruptly. "Move your stuff into the spare room now. I don't want to see you for the rest of the night."

Luc dried his arm. He glanced at Daniel once before he slunk out of the kitchen like a guilty cat. Okay, it was true. Daniel did have him by the balls after all.

Chapter Two

The battle lines were drawn. Daniel's bedroom was off limits. His delectable body was encased behind ice, his rosebud lips frozen frigid. Daniel was good at this. It was hardly the first time he had withdrawn sexual favours to teach Luc a lesson. This time it seemed doubly hard--literally--and Luc was in a frenzy of need by Saturday. Already he had jerked off in the shower that morning thinking of his wonderful Daniel beneath him and it had barely sated the edge of his desire. He made his way into the kitchen in his robe with hair still wet.

Daniel stood unpacking bags of shopping on the work surface and threw him a cool look as Luc greeted him. "I'm going to pick my mother up from the station in a few minutes. I want you to vacuum while I'm gone."

"I don't mind being your sex slave. I mind being your servant," Luc growled.

Daniel turned to face him, expression livid. "Because I ask you to do so much?"

"Get a fucking cleaner. I'm not it."

"You live here too! It's like being with a teenager."

Luc gave a rude yawn. He always knew exactly what to do to rile Daniel, but this time he wasn't expecting his lover's reaction. Daniel hurled a cantaloupe melon against the far wall where it broke open with a dull thud, juice and orangey flesh staining the paintwork.

"Sometimes I really hate you," he cried as Luc stared at the mess. "I don't know why you get off on treating me this way."

Luc stalked forward. "No," Daniel protested as Luc's arms wrapped around his waist firmly. "Aren't you listening to me? You think you can shut me up every time by fucking me. I'm done with you!"

Luc lifted Daniel and dropped him, squirming, onto the edge of the table, pushing a bag of groceries onto the floor. "I decide when we're done," he told his lover. He simmered with a cold anger which threatened to drive him into territory he wasn't all that interested in exploring. Namely, he wanted to spank Daniel and spank him hard. He'd love to see red finger marks on those pale, perfect cheeks. He'd love to see Daniel cry with the astonishment of finally getting what he deserved.

Daniel struggled fiercely as Luc pushed his knees apart and stood between them. His chest heaved, his fists clenched against Luc's shoulders. "Let me go. I have to..."

"I don't care what you have to do. I don't care about your mother. I don't care about your pathetic in-the-closet life or your laughable attempts to justify yourself to me. I don't care about your temper tantrums and your always trying to start a fight. I only care that right now you've made me so mad that I want to spank your arse until you cry. And I never thought it would come to that."

Daniel paled. The anger drained from his face, and he hung his head, suddenly defeated. "Do it if you want. God knows, I've asked for it at times."

Contrite Daniel usually made Luc tender, even though it was a rare event. He was suddenly calm, all those finer feelings for Daniel flooding back. The ones which would never fade.

He lifted Daniel's chin gently and looked down into the violet eyes which were a little too shiny for his liking. Luc shook his head. "Don't," he whispered, brushing his nose against his lover's. "It's okay."

Daniel buried his face against Luc's chest, arms around his waist. "I love you," he said, voice muffled.

"I know you do." Luc stroked the dark head.

"I know you can't understand why I don't come out, but I'm so afraid."

This was candid honesty indeed for the first time. It made Luc melt that little bit more. Daniel knew how to turn him to putty. He needed only to show a little bit of softness and Luc became the fierce protector. Sometimes Luc asked himself who was playing who.

"I can understand, Danny. Only don't put up these walls around yourself. You lock yourself away from me when I only want to be close to you."

Daniel lifted his head. "You do the same. I never know where you are or who you're sleeping with. You take great pleasure in letting me think the worst."

A guilty lump appeared in Luc's throat. His hands cupped Daniel's face. "I've never been unfaithful to you. As God is my witness." He didn't count almost receiving a blowjob the other day as infidelity.

Daniel scanned his eyes a moment, evidently trying to read the truth from them. Luc was a lot of things, but he wasn't a liar. If he had been unfaithful, how difficult would it be to stand here now and say this with Daniel's beautiful eyes fixed on his and reading his soul? Daniel's fingertips touched his lips. Luc pursed up and kissed them. Daniel pulled his head forward and kissed him.

Ah, the fight was worth it. Luc was triumphant, his base self overtaking all other concerns. He was going to get laid before the witch arrived and imprisoned her son in a castle of chastity surrounded by fire-breathing dragons and barbed wire.