“Fuck!” I thought this course was meant to be easy. That was what I had been told.
I remembered my boss’s very words, “Don’t worry, Mark, it is only a week. It will be easy… and don’t forget that at the end of the course, you will have gained a qualification.”
That was two months ago… Since then, everything in my life has fallen apart, except my job. That had become the pillar of my existence.
I swore again to myself, knowing that everything I did, now, rotated around work and that, too, would crumble if I failed this course.
There I was, sitting, looking out of my hotel window and across the city’s night landscape. The rain splattering across the glass reflected my mood.
“Why is my life so shit?” I muttered as I thought about my now ex-girlfriend, Suzy.
Why did she dump me, to go out with my best friend? It was a question I had asked myself a thousand times before, but there were no proper answers, just feelings.
However, there was one thing I was sure of as I touched my crutch, my cock already semi-hard, and that was I was horny, having not had sex for months. It was also part of the reason I felt so irritable. Sex had been on tap with Suzy. I missed her… Well, maybe it was more that I missed the sex.
With a sigh, I looked at my hotel bed and thought; I have a wank later.
My eyes returned to staring out of the window; the rain was beginning to ease. It had been raining ever since I got here, and I needed to get out. Get some fresh air; despite the growing pile of coursework, I had to still do.
I sighed again and scanned the horizon. There was a white building with lights on all four sides. It looked like a pub. My mouth felt suddenly dry, I needed a drink and some socialisation. So, it was a simple decision as I grabbed my coat and my coursework and then headed for the well-lit oasis.
The pub was called, ‘The Queens Head.’
As I went to the bar, though still early, it felt lively for a Tuesday evening. After ordering some food and getting a pint, I retired to a quiet corner table. It was seated for two. I intended to read my coursework notes and catch up on what I should have already done.
It was sometime later, with my meal eaten and work all but finished, that an older man asked, “Do you mind if I join you? There are not many chairs or tables left.”
I looked around and was surprised to see just how crowded the pub was now. There was a real buzz building in the place.
“Be my guest,” I answered, though I was still a little unsure.
“Do you want a drink?” my new acquaintance asked, seeing my pint glass was almost empty.
I contemplated leaving. However, I was never one to turn down a free drink, and there was something else going through my head. I was lonely, having been here since Sunday, a hundred miles north from where I and my friends lived.
“I am Richard,” he said with a wry smile, as he returned with a pint and stuck out his hand.
“Mark,” I replied as I shook it. I noticed his wedding ring.
“You on the Metrology course at the university?” he asked as he glanced at the cover of my course notes. “Tough course,” he then added, making it clear that he knew about the measuring course that I was on.
His comment had me explaining about the course, then my job, and for some reason, the split with Suzy. I needed to get my feelings out, and Richard was a good listener. He even sympathised, telling me he had gone through something similar when he was younger. However, he didn’t elaborate. Instead, he went to the bar and purchased two more pints, even though I had offered.
It was only when he returned that the conversation changed, and it took a turn I hadn’t expected.
“How old are you, Mark?” he asked. His eyes were measuring me, just like the lasers did in the machines on my university course.
“Twenty,” I replied, “And you?” I asked without thinking.
Richard didn’t answer. Instead, he threw me another question. “I know you are from out of town, but do you know what type of pub this is?”
I looked around, unsure, but nothing twigged other than it was lively for a Tuesday night. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and that is what I told him.
“I explain,” he said and moved a little closer. His hand rested on my leg. I didn’t move; I just stared at it, paralysed.
“Look again,” he whispered.
I did.
“This is a gay pub, Mark. Regulars like me call it ‘The Queens’. It is an inside joke on the pub's name.”
As I listened to what Richard was saying as my eyes scanned the room. However, my mind and my senses never left the feel of his hand’s touch… I knew my cock was stirring.
I surveyed the pub's clientele. I had clarity and a surge of nervous energy went through my body as I took in my surroundings with the new knowledge.
There were many more men in the pub than women, and with the new insight, it was obvious that some of them were indeed male couples. Though I did not know any homosexual men back home, it was like turning a switch, and now I could see these men were gay.
The women, too, seemed to be mainly talking to each other. A few openly had their arms around one another, like they were best friends, but now I realised they were likely to be lesbian couples.
I now understood, yet I was unsure, especially when Richard moved his hand higher and his fingers brushed my cock over my jeans.
“I've never had another man touch me,” I truthfully replied, not knowing what to say or do.
However, I was young and horny. The idea of letting another man jerk, or even suck me off was not out of the question, as I had the closeted thought in the past.
“Let me explain about my marriage while my hand rests there.”
His soft words were therapeutic, almost reassuring. I found myself unconsciously relaxing, even with his hand remaining high on my thigh. It was now clear what he wanted from me, but I was still assessing whether I was interested or not.
“You could say we have an unusual marriage. You see, Emma and I have what is called a marriage of convenience…”
“A what?” I questioned, slightly cutting him off. I had never heard of the term.
“A marriage of convenience… Let me enlighten you…”
Richard explained how he had married young, but then got divorced when it became clear that he was gay. He went on to describe his first encounter with another man. Even without any explicit sex details, I felt my cock harden as I listened to his story.
The older man’s hand continued to rest on my upper thigh, its presence the elephant in the room, as I needed to decide if I wanted this to go any further.
“By my mid-twenties, I owned and was running a small company that designed and built industrial metrology equipment. You might have heard of my business…”
He warmly smiled when he told me the company’s name. It was extremely well-known, and only today I had been using their measuring machines. No wonder he knew about my university course, I thought.
“I didn’t want to hide his sexuality,” he remarked. “But in the business which I am in, it became clear it was far easier if I did. That is when I met Emma. She was in a similar position, and we came to a mutual arrangement and married…”
As the older man told me his story, I took in his looks, though still very conscious of his hand as his fingers once again started brushing my semi-hard cock.
Richard was probably in his fifties. His short grey hair had receded, and a large bald area covered the crown. Like myself, I liked the fact that he was clean-shaven, but there the similarities stopped. He was rugged and had brown eyes. They were warm and friendly; though I had the feeling they could see what I was thinking. He was smartly dressed, a few grey hairs peeking out of his open shirt. He was also large, not fat, but a little on the heavy side for his six-foot-plus frame.
In comparison, my body was lean, and other than my head and penis, there was not a hair on it. As for my height, five-foot-eight; I always wished that I was taller.
Once again, I glanced at Richard’s hand. It was now resting on the bulge between my legs, and we both knew I was currently carrying an erection.
“Do you want to come up to my room? We can take this a little further.”
“Your room?” I questioned, my mind spinning.
“Yes, I always stay here when I am in the city. I am here all week.”
I thought back to Suzy and those last haunting words she said to me as we split up… “You sure you’re not gay, Mark?”
“Of course, I am not,” I had replied at the time, but I wasn’t sure. The truth was that since then her comment had eaten into me and I had thought many times about sex with other guys, though I had never acted on it… until now!
“Yes,” I whispered, my throat suddenly dry. This was a chance to experiment discreetly, maybe to prove Suzy wrong.
With a last gulp of my beer, I discretely followed Richard up the pub's rear stairs.
Am I doing this? I questioned, still slightly unsure; though with every step, I knew the likely answer to my question.
The room was small, a double bed taking up most of it, but it did have an ensuite, so I took the opportunity to use the toilet. It was time I needed to clear my head and make certain it was not just my cock that wanted sex with another man.
But, it didn’t take two shakes to realise that it wasn’t.
When I returned, Richard was sitting on the bed, already nude, apart from his dark underwear. His naked appearance confirmed that he had a hairy chest and that he was slightly overweight. But it wasn’t either of those things that caught my eye. What did was the impressive bulge in his underpants.
Though still a little hesitant, I smiled.
It was all the encouragement Richard needed. He stood and approached me, not a word spoken. I thought he was going to kiss me, but I wasn’t ready for that. It was too soon… and too personal.
So, I turned my head, and he gave me a knowing smile. He was experienced; it was obvious I was not the first young man that he had seduced.
He eased me back against the bedroom wall and nudged my neck with his mouth, nibbling it, while his fingers undone, my jeans fly and then the button.
I gasped. My senses heightened and on edge as his fingers slid below my boxer’s waistband and brushed my cock… I gulped and my body tensed.
