Lonely Hearts Club

Tab 1

Author's Note:

So, before you invest a lot of time here, there is some sex in this story, but it's not the focus. I write erotica because I post on this site, but, really, I just write people. Some characters don't click with nitty gritty sex scenes in my brain. I decided to write what felt right for these guys instead of writing subpar scenes just for erotica's sake.

All that to say - if you liked Tommy and Amantius, and you want to see how their story ends, welcome! Hope you enjoy it! If you're looking for a lot of steamy scenes, maybe skip this one.

Amantius

I went back the next night.

Tommy opened his front door and dragged me inside to wrap his arms around me.

"You really came back," he whispered into my hair. "I kicked myself all day for letting you go. I thought you would come to your senses and disappear forever."

"I... I probably should have disappeared," I answered regretfully.

"Don't," he said. He raised a hand to gently stroke my cheek. "Please don't. You can read my mind, right? You know I'm already too far gone to let you go."

"I can't read your mind. I can investigate your feelings," I answered.

"Is that different?" he laughed. I let him move us to his couch where he scooped me up into his lap. Any hesitation melted out of me when he settled me back in his arms with a contented sigh. I wiggled as close as I could and lay my head on his shoulder.

"It's different," I said quietly. "And I'm trying not to even do that to you. It's a little hard. Your emotions are, um, bright."

"I don't care as long as you keep coming back," he murmured. I shivered at the goosebumps his soft breath raised on my neck. "You can tell me all my deepest insecurities every time if I can hold you after."

"That sounds unhealthy," I giggled. "Maybe we can just get to know each other the normal way?"

"Hmmm, ok," he pretended to groan in annoyance. "Tell me about yourself while I try to distract you."

"Distract me with what?" I asked.

Tommy grinned at me and slid his hands slowly down my back. He leaned in to kiss me, but he broke it off before I could properly appreciate the press of his soft lips. I whined at him, but he just chuckled.

"So, how was your day?" he asked me.

I blinked at him dumbly. I'd spent so long without any physical touch, it was like being drunk. All the thoughts in my head were of Tommy's hard body pressed to mine and the layers of clothes separating us.

"Um, I nudged the cutest new couple together," I answered slowly. "And I inspired one of my older charges to buy her wife her favorite flowers."

"What do you like better? New love or old love?" he asked, but his hands were moving again to slip under my shirt and grip possessively at my stomach. I shuddered and closed my eyes to try to get some of my brain back into my head. Tommy laughed softly and pressed his lips to the sensitive skin below my ear, "Ahh, don't do that. Let me see your pretty eyes."

"T-tommy," I stammered. He kissed down my neck, still chuckling quietly at my breathless response.

"Yes, baby?" he purred against my skin.

"Please?" I gasped, but I didn't know what I was asking him for.

"Anything you want," he promised me. "For as long as you'll have me."

I tugged on his sweater, desperate to feel his skin on mine. Tommy obliged me, yanking his own shirt off with a vengeance and leaving his hair an adorable, rumpled mess. He helped me out of mine much more carefully and returned his lips to my skin. Without the collar of my sweater to stop him, he leaned me back enough to kiss down my sternum. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he swiped his tongue over one nipple.

Tommy paused in his attention to check in with me. I dragged him back to me with shaking hands.

"Please?" I whimpered.

Tommy chuckled and stood up with me in his arms the same way he had the night before. I knew, logically, that I was smaller than him. I was smaller than most men I encountered. It still made my head spin when he lifted me up like nothing to carry back to his bed. I heard myself whine when he put me down and crawled over me to keep up his gentle exploration of my skin.

"Did you know that you taste like candy?" he said with his voice full of amusement.

"I... I taste like candy...?" I gasped out as he very gently raked his teeth over my chest to lightly nip at my nipple again.

"Yeah," he said. "Like you're dusted with sugar."

"Oh," I panted, trying to focus as he moved down to kiss my trembling stomach. "Is that bad?"

"There is absolutely nothing bad about you," he said firmly. "Nothing at all. You're perfect."

I was going to say something, but Tommy flicked his dark eyes up at me with a mischievous smirk and dragged his tongue down my aching erection. I gasped and gripped the sheets, hoping that I wouldn't embarrass myself again.

"Relax, baby," Tommy chuckled. "Just relax."

"I can't, I..." I whined.

"Shhh, it's ok," he purred. "I want to make you feel good. Just enjoy it."

I whimpered at the warm, wet pressure of Tommy slowly taking me in his mouth. It was unlike anything I felt before. He groaned happily, sinking lower with his pretty eyes locked on mine. I couldn't keep from moaning as he eased back and started to suck me in earnest. My hands floated down on their own accord to thread my fingers gently in his hair. Tommy purred in approval.

"Tommy," I gasped. "I'm going to-"

That was all I got out before that orgasm took me. I twisted my fingers in Tommy's hair, holding him still as I unloaded in his mouth. His amused brown eyes never left mine as he swallowed around me. He chuckled again and moved up to claim my lips while I was still too dumb to do anything but cling to him and pant.

"God, I love how responsive you are," he sighed in contentment.

"I love you," I answered before I thought about it. Tommy just grinned at me.

"That is the first time someone said that to me first," he giggled.

"Sorry," I said. I could feel the heat of embarrassment in my face.

"No, don't apologize for that," Tommy murmured. "Never apologize for loving me, Amantius. I already told you that I move fast. Maybe you're the man who won't be afraid of that."

I swallowed my nerves and met his dancing, happy gaze.

"I love you," I whispered shakily. Tommy caught me in a fierce kiss. He left me panting when he pulled back to look me in the eyes again.

"I love you," he answered. "Stay with me?"

There was still that feeling that I was doing the wrong thing. I wasn't meant to be loved. That feeling wasn't loud enough to drown out the effervescent giddiness I felt from Tommy. I giggled at the tickly feeling of his love in my mind.

"I'll stay as long as you'll have me," I promised.

...

Tommy

Amantius stepped into my life like the missing piece I'd always been looking for. He happily agreed to move in with me. There was a pleasant, unexpected mundanity to our life together. Like any average couple, we had our jobs and our responsibilities. Unlike any average person, my dear, sweet cupid delighted in the daily grind of human life. I loved teaching him the parts of life he'd seen but never experienced. Cooking together, shopping, even cleaning our home all were met with his happy smile.

A few months into that dream, I got a text from an old college friend asking me to meet her for lunch.

"You should come with me," I told Amantius. "Sarah is awesome. You'll love her."

Amantius bit his lip and winced.

"How are you going to explain who I am?" he said warily.

"You're my boyfriend," I said, confused. "Is that hard to explain? Sarah has met some of my exes. She'll be delighted that you're so nice."

"But, um," he looked away for a moment while he thought. "I'm not human."

"That doesn't change who you are to me, though?" I pointed out. "I don't understand, baby. What has you worried here?"

"If this lasts more than a few years, if you want me to stay around that long, someone is going to notice that I don't age," he said awkwardly. "I don't mean to pressure you on that. Um, I'm not asking for a commitment right now. But we need to think about that before you introduce me to people in your life."

"Amantius, I want you to stay forever," I assured him. "Don't ever doubt that. I'll marry you right now if you don't believe me."

He relaxed into his charming, room-lifting giggle at my reassurance.

"How would we get married?" he laughed. "I don't really exist like that."

"The same way people always get married," I told him earnestly. "I give you a ring, promise you my heart, and call you my husband. We'll just skip the legal part."

Amantius blinked at me in surprise. His cute, shy smile and a little blush of color in his cheeks nudged my heart into a lilting gallop.

"Oh, I

love

the way you blush," I purred. "I think I need to go shopping for something very special."

"Tommy, I love you so much," he said and reached for me.

I immediately wrapped him in my arms. I treasured those words from him. For as quickly as he said it, I'd never heard anyone put so much feeling in that phrase. Love

meant

something to my dear cupid, and I thanked every ounce of coincidence, luck, and whatever blessings I might have earned that put him in my life.

"I love you," I told him. "And I don't care if you raise questions twenty years from now when I'm wrinkled and you're as beautiful as ever. I'm proud of you. I want to share as much of my life as I can."

He turned those deep, soulful eyes up to me, dragged me down, and kissed me with his sweet eagerness on full display. I chuckled and met his attention head-on.

...

Amantius

Tommy convinced me to travel beyond the bounds of my territory for the first time and see more of the world. The first excursion he chose was a road trip with the goal of showing me the ocean for the first time.

"Amantius, baby, wake up," he said softly as he stroked my hair. I was deeply asleep curled up in the passenger seat of his sleek black car. I sighed and leaned into his hand, hungry as ever for his touch. Tommy chuckled and gently tickled me. "It's worth opening your eyes for, I promise."

I blinked my eyes open to see his beautiful face backlit with a glorious sunrise streaming in through the front window.

"Gorgeous," I whispered. He grinned at me.

"Not me," he said fondly. "Look outside." I sat up enough to see over the dashboard.

My breath was gone. Tommy had parked us at a scenic overlook that perfectly framed the unspeakable beauty of the Atlantic at sunrise. Smoldering pinks and reds burned the horizon, casting the vast waters with a rosy glow. The surf rippled in its unceasing race to shore and back out to the depths beyond, all painted in the fire of the rising sun. I gasped in a lungful of air and reached for Tommy's hands.

"Oh, it's so beautiful," I whispered, like my voice might spook the sun back below the waterline.

"Almost four hundred years old and you've really never seen the ocean," he chuckled.

"I'm not supposed to care about the ocean. I shouldn't be amazed by it," I pointed out vaguely, but I was too busy tracking a group of diving gulls as they cut across the scene before me to really pay attention to how sad that fact made Tommy.

"You deserve to see wonders," he said softly.

I clutched his hand to my chest and turned my dazed smile on him. Tommy chuckled at my starstruck look, gently kissed my cheek, and urged me out of the car. I didn't expect the wind to smell so different there, clean and cold and damp from its trip over miles and miles of uninterrupted ocean. I gasped out a delighted laugh.

We picked our way down a set of sandy wooden stairs to the expanse of deserted beach below.

"Shoes off, cupid," Tommy giggled as he kicked his own off at the bottom step. I followed his lead to sink my toes in the soft sand. Tommy linked our hands and walked us down to wade up to our ankles in the cold water. I shivered as the waves washed over my feet, but I couldn't stop grinning.

"Amazing," I sighed. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Anything, baby," he murmured. "Anything you want. Anything to see that smile."

Tommy reached into his pocket with his mischievous smirk growing on his face. I cocked my head curiously. The emotions emanating from him were nervous excitement on top of the deep, unflinching love he always held for me.

"You knew this was coming, right?" he chuckled at my curiosity and held out one hand to offer me a narrow golden band. "Will you marry me?"

I shouldn't have been so speechless. Realistically, I had witnessed hundreds upon hundreds of proposals. Of all people, I really should have been able to construct a more graceful response than a delighted gasp.

Tommy grinned at me and took my hand to slip the ring on my finger. I held my hand up in front of my face, blinking at that perfect halo of gold like I'd found one of the seven wonders on my finger.

"Amantius? Baby?" Tommy shook me gently to get my brain back into my head. "I need an answer."

"Yes!" I laughed and jumped up into his arms. Tommy let me wrap my legs around him, easily lifting me with the gentle, foamy waves splashing around his ankles. We waded back up the beach to sit in the sand with our limbs entangled, watching the sunrise turn into a glorious, blazing day.

...

Tommy

Amantius stayed with me just like he promised. Through years, through moves, through the ups and downs of my human life, he was at my side. My cupid stayed as beautiful as the day I met him, but I was definitely getting older. The graying hair at my temples crept in slowly. I was staring at the sudden bloom of icy white framing my face in the bathroom mirror one morning when Amantius wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his face to my back.

"What's that sad look for, love?" he asked me in that sweet, soft voice. I sighed and turned around to move his arms up to my shoulders and drag him close with my hands on his hips.

"I'm getting old," I told him.

"That is what happens when time passes," he chuckled. His delicate fingers brushed over those gray hairs and he gave me a fond smile. "You look so handsome with the gray. I like it."

"You're not getting any older," I pointed out.

"I am," he said. "Just much slower."

"What will you do when I'm too old for you?" I asked him. I tried to make it sound like a joke, but there was no hiding a worry from Amantius. He cupped my rough cheek in his hand and cocked his head to one side, those impossible gray eyes looking into mine and seeing much deeper than my irises.

"You won't ever be too old for me, Tommy. I'll be beside you until the end," he promised softly. "I'll be there to introduce you to your harbinger. I'll make sure that you have nothing to fear on your way to your next life."

"What's after this?" I asked him shakily. It was a question I had never worked up the nerve to ask before. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But the harbingers are kind and the light they bring is beautiful. People with good souls get the most amazing, warm light. It's so peaceful. Whatever is next for you will be wonderful."

"Then I just have to wait a few hundred years for you to join me," I tried to sound as certain as he sounded, but it wasn't coming out like that. The years ahead of me were starting to feel distressingly short.

"There's nothing after this for me," he said apologetically. "Cupids don't have souls. There's no light for us. We just fade away."

My stomach dropped. My lungs refused to inflate enough for me to answer his casually horrific statement. He didn't even seem that upset about it. The gentle resignation in his voice was an apology to me more than any kind of concern for himself. Amantius squinted at me and bit his lip.

"I can help you find another human," he started slowly. "So you'll have someone in the next life. You've given me more years than you ever had to, love. I can find you someone who can really live every phase of life with you."

"No!" I gasped and pulled him tighter to me. "You can have all my years, Amantius. I only want you."

"Then... why are you so sad?" he asked.

For as much as he understood about humans, for all that he could read my feelings like a book, Amantius didn't always have the context he needed to understand

why

I might be sad.

"I don't want whatever comes next without you," I explained. My chest felt tight just thinking about it. "An eternity without you? The rest of forever knowing that you just faded away to nothing? I live in something like paradise and you're just gone? That's torture. That's my hell."

"Oh," he deflated a little and looked away from me. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong," I reminded him. I pulled him close to bury my face in his soft curls. He smelled like he always did, clean and lightly floral, like wildflowers in the spring. He let me just hold him for so long. That was the nice thing about his different perception of time, he never got bored or impatient.

"You mentioned a harbinger," I said. "Is that the grim reaper?"

"That's not what they call themselves," he said with a note of amusement. "But yes, same idea."

"Are harbingers really skeletons in robes?" I asked curiously.

"No, the one I'll introduce you to is, um, well," Amantius paused as he thought about what he wanted to say. I amused myself by playing with his springy curls. I had the vague idea that I needed to memorize every part of him in however many years I might be lucky enough to have left with him.

"Cynon is beautiful, but in a way that isn't human," he finally concluded.

"Hmm, inhumanly beautiful like you are?" I asked him, still playing with his hair and trailing my fingers over his perfect, pale skin.

"No, beautiful like the sky," he said slowly. "Vastly unknowable, more mystery than answer, but undeniably lovely."

"That... that actually sounds pretty scary," I pointed out.

"Hm, maybe a little," he admitted. "But they exist to make the transition kinder. That's my point. Your time will run out before mine, but I'll be there to help you. You won't have to leave this world alone."

"But I'll have to live in the next one alone," I concluded. I could taste the acid in my throat as my stomach lurched mutinously at that thought.

"I don't know. Maybe there's something like me on that side, too," he suggested with a sad little laugh. "You can find another forbidden fruit to pick."

"Fuck, Amantius," I couldn't stop the whimper in my voice even as I tried to sound strong. "Do you really think I could ever replace you?"

"Love isn't ever replaced," he told me. "It stays exactly where it always was. It only gets new facets as your life goes on. I believe you'll love me to eternity if that's what is on the other side of the light. I also believe you could love someone else just as much once I'm gone. Both of those things can be true."

"Is that what you'll do? Find people to love until you fade away?" I asked roughly. I wasn't like him. Love wasn't an inherently infinite resource to me. The idea

hurt

. Thinking about him moving on to the next guy felt so dismissive of what we had.

"No," he said softly. He leaned back to look up into my eyes as he spoke. "I wasn't made like you. This was never supposed to be a possibility. We caught lightning in a bottle when we found each other. I'll treasure this brief moment for the rarity it is, but I'll never try to repeat it. I can't love anyone else the way I love you."

I couldn't respond to that over the way it both warmed and broke my heart.

...

Amantius

Tommy grew older but our love never waned. The embers we felt the day we met became a roaring, eternal flame that forged our hearts into one.