An Italian Boy in Camford

Sandro's Third Year

[This is the final instalment of this story and takes Sandro up to the time of his graduation. Hopefully there will be a sequel sometime in which we take the lives of Sandro and Dom further. Thank you for reading this very long story. I hope to publish it eventually as a novel on Amazon.]

Literary Note:

Pietro Aretino (1492-1556)

Italian poet and satirist wrote his sixteen ribald

Sonetti Lussuriosi

(Lust Sonnets) to accompany Giulio Romano's exquisitely beautiful but utterly pornographic series of drawings engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi under the title

I Modi

. They appeared in England under the title

Aretino's Postures

and are referred to in Rochester's play below.

John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester (1647-1680)

wrote a series of scurrilous verses about people of the Restoration era, and a stage play said to be the most obscene ever written called

Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery

in which Bolloximian, King of Sodom, fed up of Cuntigratia, his queen, bans heterosexual intercourse throughout his realm, and commands his male subjects only to have sex with one another. This results in a big increase in business from the female inhabitants of Sodom for the wares of Virtuoso, court supplier of dildos.

Chapter Fifty-eight: Dom's second Martinmas term

Sandro was now beginning his final year and the academic pressure and workload began to increase. Dom found his study interests moving towards more technological aspects of computers, both hardware and storage technology. Both boys found that increased study pressures left them with less leisure time than ever. However, the non-campus structure of the university meant plenty of exercise between classes, moving from one building to another, often by bike, although the squash games got fewer.

They did not publicly come out as an item, but it became rapidly apparent to all their friends in college that they were repeatedly doing things together, like eating dinner and sitting together in chapel, and so their relationship soon became obvious. If anyone asked them, they would affirm that they were an item. They were approached by two other gay couples, Andy and Ken and Jim and Alec, and sometimes four of them or six of them would go out together. Andy and Ken were both Boni's students, as was Jim, but Alec came from Buckingham College.

Sandro went to the Careers Service and signed on for recruiting interviews for graduate traineeships in civil engineering.

About the middle of the Martinmas term, both boys were invited to a party by Pragakorn, the Thai girl whom Sandro had met in his first year. Undergraduate parties in college were strictly controlled by the Dean. Because they were noisy, they were only allowed on Saturday nights, and all guests had to leave by midnight. The Dean himself with a porter patrolled the college for half an hour round midnight, and made sure that all non-residents were off the premises. Dom said, "I bet we have only been invited to even up the numbers of men and women!" College parties were characterized by an excess of alcohol, and this was the reason for the stringent control, to prevent drunken damage to persons and property.

At lunchtime on the Saturday, Dom told Sandro that he was not going to finish his weekly assignment unless he worked all evening, so Sandro went to the party alone. In spite of what Dom had said, there were in fact far more women than men at the party, perhaps thirty, to twenty men. The guests were spread between two duplex rooms and there were nice oriental snacks as well as lots of wine and beer.

Chapter Fifty-nine: Introducing Jennifer

I did not feel very chatty, but was prevented from feeling bored by a long conversation with a rather pretty girl, who said to me, "So Sandro! It seems that your boyfriend has let you off the leash for the evening!"

"I'm not on a leash!" I said, "I don't see Dom between 9 am and 6 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am to noon on Saturday. We don't live in one another's pockets. But he is busy tonight trying to finish an assignment. What is your connection with Pragakorn?"

"I have the next door room, so she needed my room for the party. I'm a first year, reading engineering. My name is Jennifer Littleboy. I know that you're a third-year engineering student. Why did Pragakorn invite you? She doesn't usually invite gays to parties."

"I went out with her for a bit in our first year, before I realized that I really preferred men. It was a mutually unsatisfactory arrangement, and I'm sure that she was glad when we ended it."

"Personally, I like gay men. I feel comfortable in their company, because I don't feel threatened or tempted. I've got the ideal qualifications to be a fag-hag!"

"And which fags are you hag to at the moment? I probably know some of them."

"None actually, but I wouldn't mind getting to know you!"

"OK, then after the party, please will you come and have coffee with me? Dom may or may not be there. I'd like him to get to know you, so that you could maybe keep an eye on him after I've left next year. I'm not frightened about him getting involved with other men, or women either for that matter, but I am frightened of him getting lonely, or retreating into a geekish world of computers."

So when the music got louder, the behaviour wilder and the smell of hash stronger, the two of us left the party and walked across the quad to the staircase where our room was located. I got busy making coffee in an Italian home coffee machine. Dom had apparently gone to the college library, where it was quieter. "How do you like your coffee?" I asked.

"Caffè latte, please," replied Jennifer. While I was busying myself with the milk, Dom came in. I went across and kissed him.

"Hi, Dom, this is Jennifer. Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes, please! So, Jennifer, what are you reading?"

"Engineering, I'm in the first year, so you won't have seen me at dinner. How about you?"

"I'm in my second year, doing computer studies, or geekology as some folk in college call it. Are you into walking? Would you like to come for a walk with Sandro and me round the college waterways on Sunday afternoon?" I was surprised to hear this spontaneous invitation from Dom, and a bit uneasy. I wondered if he fancied her.

"That would be nice, if the two of you can tear yourselves away from fucking for an hour or two!"

"Actually, we often go walking on a Sunday afternoon. We only go to bed if it's cold and wet!" replied Dom much less crudely.

"So, lovemaking is a wet day activity then?"

"I prefer not to answer that question!" said Dom primly. "Our personal relations are not open to discussion. If you don't mind me saying so (or even if you do), your questions are very unladylike."

"They are meant to be. I was telling Sandro that I want to be a fag-hag to the two of you: a sympathetic shoulder for you to cry on!"

"Why us, and not say, Andy and Ken? We are both rather crude buggers, and we will not moderate our conversation if you want to socialize with us."

"That doesn't worry me in the slightest. Be as crude as you want. I don't care. You can both fart like troopers if you need to. It won't upset or embarrass me! Remember I want to be an engineer, an uncouth male profession! I've got to get used to men's crude habits. Besides, I have two brothers, and they are not particularly polite to me. By the way, I've seen the two of you at the Rialto, snogging in the back row! Also, I'm in the Chapel Choir, and I've seen you in Chapel as well!"

"As we're speaking frankly, what about YOUR love life? Is there any particular man or woman who is the object of your passion?"

"Not at the moment."

"In that case, it looks as if your offer is simply because you have nothing better to do!"

"The freshmen engineers are a boring lot, and slow at doing their sums. Not one of them is the least bit attractive, either to men or to women! I want some intelligent company!"

"Thanks for the compliment!" said Dom, "It will be nice for us to go out with you. Sandro and I spend too much time in each other's company." In saying this of course, he had just contradicted what I had said to Jennifer earlier in the evening. Again I had an uneasy feeling about this girl, and just hoped that she was not going to bring trouble.

I said to Jennifer, "If you want to go out with us, we need to know your tastes. You mentioned the Rialto, do you go there often?"

"Every couple of weeks."

"Do you like classical music? You're in the chapel Choir. We often go to concerts and recitals."

"That's fine by me."

"Do you expect to sit with us at Sunday dinner in Hall?"

"Not necessarily. The choir usually sits together."

"You mentioned being a shoulder to cry on. What guarantee do we have that if we confided something to you that you wouldn't spread it all over college?"

"Of course I wouldn't. I would be as silent as the grave!"

"We'll just have to wait until we get to know one another then. Would you be interested in joining us when we go out as foursome with Ken and Andy or Jim and Alec?"

"Not all together, no." she replied.

Sunday afternoon was dry and sunny, but there was a cold wind. Even with us well wrapped up in scarves and gloves, it was cold for November. On a few of the stiller stretches of water, there were thin unthawed patches of ice. In the end, shivering somewhat in the cold wind, we entered a tea-shop and ordered tea and toasted teacakes. There were few other customers. Jennifer had rosy cheeks from the wind and looked very attractive, but was irritatingly cheerful. Neither Dom nor I found women unattractive, it's just that some men are even more attractive. By the time we left the cafe, it was getting dark and we hurriedly made our way back to college to get a few jobs done before chapel and dinner. Jennifer did not sit with us during dinner, we sat with my fellow final year engineers. By now of course, they had finally realized the relationship between Dom and me, and we got teased from time to time, but it was all friendly and unmalicious.

During the weeks that followed, we took Jennifer with us whenever we went to the Rialto or to a pub and she was happy to pay for her own ticket when we went to concerts together. We felt a bit sorry for her. She was the only woman from Boni's doing first year engineering, and the male students were not very nice to her. She gave as good as she got with table repartee, but she said that the choir members were much better company, because they were more gentlemanly. On the whole, we enjoyed her company. She was quite happy for Dom and me to sit together at the Rialto or at a concert, she did not insist on sitting between us. If she had, I think that we would have told her to get lost!

Chapter Sixty: A gay gathering

Early in August, Tom and Luke received an invitation to Arturo's villa to meet the two gays who had been involved in the incident at Arturo's party in July. Tom was particularly happy that day, because he had just received the results of his piano exam, and he had passed with distinction.

Instead of the staid dinner party to which they had become accustomed, the evening this time took the form of a pool party for six. The food and drink were set out on a trestle table adjacent to the pool and guests could help themselves. There were tables and chairs set out beside the pool, and they could spend as little or as much time in the water as they wished. Only Arturo stayed out of the water. "I'm too fat and lazy for swimming," he said, "but I know that most of you enjoy it." This was not in fact the case. Arturo was playing the modest host. Like nearly all gay men, he was conscious of his appearance and the need to keep fit. The rest of the party swam vigorously or splashed about lazily, as they felt inclined. A few threw a ball around and splashed to fetch it if it was not caught.

The man from the university Academic Office who had hit the tenor Lavini was called Giovanni, and his boyfriend was called Angelo. Angelo was exactly as you might expect from his name, a sweet, blond-haired young man, ravishingly attractive and his beauty was liable to embarrass even straight men by giving them an involuntary hard-on! No wonder Lavini had made a pass at him. The two men were both about thirty, and when clothed were beautifully dressed. They were all, including Bastian, wearing skimpy, brightly coloured Italian swimwear, which just about covered the arse and left little about the packet in front to the imagination.

Arturo did a good job in keeping up an animated conversation, which prevented them from dwelling too long on thoughts about the possibilities hidden in the front of their swimming cozzies! He had suddenly realized what a sexually explosive situation he had created by putting together a bunch of fit, randy gay males in states of near nudity. Unless he wanted the evening to end in a mass orgy and lasting regrets, he would have to handle the situation with utmost care. Further thought reminded him that no less than three of his guests, Tom, Giovanni and Bastian, were somewhat jealous by nature and might react violently. That could precipitate an even worse scenario involving fighting!

Accordingly, he announced that at 9 pm they would adjourn to the house, dressed, in order to drink coffee and listen to a short recital by Tom and Luca. After that, drinks would be served indoors. No-one could gainsay what the host decreed. So just before nine they all got dried and dressed. Needless to say Arturo had to keep a conversation going in the communal changing room, where nearly every man was in a state of full or partial erection! Some indeed had to struggle to disentangle their damp swimming trunks from their woodies. To some extent the resulting laughter defused the unspoken sexual tension.

In the house, Tom played Arturo's grand piano to accompany Luke, who sang

Non piu andrai, Dear pretty youth

and

Per questa bella mano

. Then it was Giovanni's turn. He was a tenor and sang a few of the less demanding tenor arias by Verdi and Rossini to Tom's accompaniment. After the singing, drinks were served and the guests started to talk. It turned out that Angelo was the only non-professionally educated guest. He was a male fashion model, propelled by his good looks from a poor rural family to a well-paid model's job. After a few years of selling himself to the highest bidder, he had met Giovanni and fallen in love. In spite however of his extremely appealing good looks, it was clear that money was an important factor in his lifestyle, and Tom wondered whether a public sector employee like Giovanni would ever be able to survive a long-term relationship with such a man, without becoming totally impoverished!

Arturo in the meantime breathed a sigh of relief. In contrast to Shakespeare's assertion that music has aphrodisiac effects, in this case the music served to break the androgen-laden tension and cool off the sexual ardour! However to be absolutely certain that trouble would not break out later, he arranged for two separate taxis to take the two gay couples back to their homes.

Chapter Sixty-one: Sandro and Dom at Paradise Place

As soon as term ended and I had passed my Christmas Progress Test, I accompanied Dom to Paradise Place. This time Dom had arranged for us to share a room. We hoped to get me accepted as one of the family. I was much more apprehensive about my reception than on my previous visit, but I was warmly received without any hesitation by Lady Batley and Dom's brothers. However, the Earl was more hesitant. The day after their arrival, Dom told me that his father wanted to talk to me alone. "He said that I shouldn't be present!" he said. So with great apprehension, I entered the Professor/Earl's study.

"Sit down, Sandro and tell me about yourself and your family," he said. I told Lord Batley about my maternal grandparents, that my grandfather had been CEO of Moorside County Council before his retirement, and that my grandmother was Dutch. I told him about my mother and her liaison with a dishonourable Italian lover, and about my brother's adoption. I told him that my father Massimo was a successful businessman in Verona. I explained that Luke and his two adoptive cofathers were all gay, so that like the Ovenden family, there was homosexuality in the family.

"I am very grateful to you, Sandro, for not having a secretive relationship with Dom. Homosexuality no longer obliges men to indulge in furtive back-alley activities (in all senses of the word!), and men who know themselves and their partners to be ready for a permanent relationship are to be respected. They have chosen a much more difficult life-path than heterosexuals. You and Dominic could have carried on an affair for a couple of years without being obliged to tell anyone. I am glad that you have openly chosen my son to be yours, I just want to warn you that you must not let him down. Any failure of self-confidence on his part at this stage of his life could have permanent disastrous consequences."

"Sir, I want your son for life, for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. I am not after your family money, I do not want to bring the noble name of your family into disrepute. I just want to spend the rest of my life with Dom, living quietly and working for a living. The succession to your title is guaranteed with two other sons."

"As long as they too don't turn out to be gay!" said Lord Batley with a smile. "Alessandro, do your best to make my son happy!"

"I will, sir, I promise you that," I said. It was clear that I had made a good impression on Lord Batley.

When I went back to Dom, who was anxiously waiting for me in the hall, I dragged him off to our bedroom and locked the door. "I told your father that I want to be yours for life, and he thanked me for not engaging in a secretive affair. He warned me to stay faithful and not upset your performance in Camford. In actual fact, from all that my gay relatives have told me, regular sex will IMPROVE your academic performance. And I want you NOW!" I began to tear his clothes off, beginning with his footwear, pulled his jeans down and took his cock into my mouth.

"Slow down, Sandro! At least let me take my shirt off!" he said. With both hands pressing on his buttocks, I pushed his belly tightly against my face, as I tried to swallow his cock. He enthusiastically began to fuck my mouth, the scent of Storing pour homme getting more pronounced as it mixed with his sweat. Yes, he was now a regular user of the famous Belgian male perfume that for many years gays in our family had made their trademark.

"You man-eating monster!" he whispered, "You ball-licking, arse-kissing, nipple-nibbling slut! My slender, agile, cuddlesome faggot! My sweet, delightful cock-sucker. How long before I can explore your hole? I desperately want to fuck that hot hole of yours. I'm dying to bugger you silly! When are we going to take the plunge and pop the cherry?" He quickened his pace and with a muffled grunt shot his spunk into my welcoming mouth.

"The answer to your question," I replied after I had swallowed his juice, "is one Saturday and Sunday next term. For cherry popping we need quiet and privacy for a whole day. I don't want to do it in college. Uncle Jon is going to spend a weekend in Heemstede with Uncle David in the middle of February when David has a season at the Amsterdam Musiektheater. We can skip any Saturday morning lectures and have about 30 hours to ourselves in Fountain Street to fuck ourselves silly. I'll arrange for a high quality home-delivered meal for the Saturday and we'll get some drinks in and a couple of porn DVDs, in case we have erection problems. Although, as I told you before, I've done rimming and giving head, the chocolate boulevard is a route that I've never experienced."