Together

Chapter 18

Discovery


Brian watched Justin sleep. Justin’s lashes were dark against his pale cheek, his eyes moving under the lids, in the middle of a dream. His full lips were closed, his mouth beautiful. In the pale moonlight, his skin was glorious, tight pored, smooth, perfect. His cheekbones and jaw, though delicate, were masculine as well. His short hair gleamed pale gold, moist and darker where only a few minutes ago Justin’s head had been resting against his shoulder. His ear was tight to his head, the contour begging to be licked.

Justin was gorgeous.

Brandon was very handsome, Todd attractive. There were a lot of beautiful men out there, but to Brian, none of them compared to Justin. He was fully aware that his view on the matter was influenced by his feelings, and did not expect everyone to share his opinion. He just knew that at one point, Justin had suddenly become the standard all others were compared with and found lacking.

If he were to lean down and put his lips on Justin’s, Justin’s mouth would feel firm and elastic, responsive. If he were to lick the tempting shell of his ear, a smile would appear on those lips before Justin’s lovely blue eyes opened on a sleepy, warm, loving look. But Brian didn’t want to wake him. Justin needed his rest. He needed much more sleep than Brian, though he often stayed up as late as Brian did. Yesterday morning, the 4:15 alarm had been difficult for him, and even their usual 5:15 one, some mornings, looked like torture.

He was so young. Twenty-three years old. So close to a teenager yet, his body still changing. He still ate as if he was growing and Brian actually thought he had in the past six months, at least a half an inch. Because lately he ate more like Brian, with hardly any fat, he looked thinner than he had. Not in an unhealthy way, but his percentage of body fat had definitely dropped, his muscle definition now more pronounced.

Bound to the bed last night, the nipple clamps in place, begging Brian to stop teasing him and fuck him already, he had looked… incredible. Brian was not particularly into bounds. They were a fun variation in his otherwise already incredibly varied sex life with Justin.

But the picture of Justin’s body arched in pleasure, the light gleaming on the clamps, on his sweat, on the white teeth visible through the parted lips, on his gorgeous face in the throws of his orgasm was one that would never fade from Brian's mind. Just like he had that night long ago, after seeing him dance at Essengy, Brian wished he had some of Justin’s talent so he could draw him.

It was 4:30. The alarm would go off in 45 minutes and Brian fully intended to slowly and lovingly fuck his sleepy Justin right afterward.

He was completely awake, ready for the day. He was hoping to get some more relevant information out of the Tuscan rep today. He had already decided to take advantage of Brandon, Justin and Todd’s discovery to get Plexus out from under Tuscan’s hold without any negative impact on their reputation, but he also wanted some answers about Allerfree. Something was off there, and he needed to understand what.

Surely, long lasting skin discoloration, even in one in two hundred patients would be enough for Tuscan to get sued. No one wanted to go around looking like a leper. So why would they try to hide that fact, and why would they pursue the merchandising of the drug? It made no sense. Who would it hurt aside from themselves and the patients? Was it some kind of an insurance fraud? Did drug companies insure themselves against the discovery of nasty side effects subsequent to the drug’s release?

Even if they did, the damage to the company’s reputation would be hard to recover from. And if they were not planning to market the drug, what did they have to gain by advertising it? Were they planning on manipulating their stock prices, having it rise after they announced and advertised the drug and, crash after declaring their intention of not releasing it after all due to new unsatisfactory information coming out of the drug trials?

Doing it that way, they would come out smelling like roses, a drug company that cared more about people than profit. But surely the Securities Exchange Commission would look at the short sales and purchases of futures incredibly closely after something like that, and any irregularities would be noticed and legally pursued. So if they were not after the money, what did they have to gain?

Brian felt he was missing a piece of the puzzle and it really bothered him. He wanted to understand Tuscan’s reasoning before that damned dinner, to feel in full control of the situation. His dislike for the man and everything he represented was profound. He wanted to stop him from hurting Plexus, but truthfully, he also wanted to humiliate the man. That was dangerous. He would have to make sure before saying anything to keep his priorities in order.

It was 5:14. He turned off the alarm and looked at Justin again. Knowing he was about to make love to him had an immediate and rather impressive effect on his cock. The sheet was tented over Justin’s penis by his morning erection. He looked so delectable; Brian did not know where to start, or what he wanted. He put on a condom and lubed it generously because at some point he would slip between the muscular cheeks and push inside Justin. That was certain.

The appeal of Justin’s erection was too great. He removed the sheet as gently as he could, and looked at it. God, he loved that cock. Just staring at it provoked the nicest reactions in his own body. His cock started leaking precome, his asshole twitched remembering that magnificent cockhead popping through its muscular rings the other night by the front door, and his mouth watered at the memory of Justin’s delicious taste.

He bent down and took it in his mouth and down his throat, burying his nose in Justin’s soft pubic hair. It smelled mostly of Decleor, from their post coital shower last night, but already some of Justin’s own scent had returned and it was marvelous. Brian started bobbing his head, just getting Justin’s cock in and out. At the first stream of precome, he stopped, sucked it out and played with the slit with the tip of his tongue.

Justin purred happily. Brian continued blowing him, not to make him come, but to wake him up in the nicest possible way. When Justin’s hips started moving and Justin’s purr turned to a more rhythmic moan, he knew to stop. He moved up Justin’s body, to find him smiling, his eyes still closed.

“Wake up, Justin.”

“But I’m having the best dream. I’m dreaming you just sucked me and are about to slip into my ass. I don’t want to wake up…”

Brian chuckled and aligned himself with Justin’s entrance, as Justin brought his knees up, pulling them far apart.

“Fuck me,” he said, smiling broader.

Brian pushed in, slowly but inexorably and Justin bit his lip. He opened his eyes slowly and meeting Brian’s, smiled his sunshine smile. “I love your cock opening me like this. I love it. You’re so relentless, taking what belongs to you. It’s so fucking good.”

Brian’s heart beat harder. .Taking what belongs to you. Fuck. He wanted that to be true more than anything in the world. “Does it belong to me Justin? Am I the only one allowed to do this?” He started moving, pulling back just a little and then slamming back in.

“You were my first top, Brian. And no one else will ever do this again but you. No one has ever eaten my ass but you. It is yours, yours exclusively, forever…”

Brian almost came at Justin’s words. He knew the only other man who had had this privilege, and only for one night: Brandon. And though Brandon could not forget it, though he loved Justin hopelessly, he never would have that privilege again. Justin’s magnificent ass was his.

Brian closed his eyes and savored the sensations inside it. Smooth silky velvet, tight, tight around him, his. Only his. Forever. He opened his eyes, meeting Justin’s, full of pleasure and love. “Swear it, Justin,” he growled. “Swear to me that this is mine alone, forever.”

“Yours. Yours alone, forever,” said Justin, whose skin was taking on a rosy glow. “I swear it, Brian. This is yours. I am yours.”

Without warning, Brian came, hard, deep inside Justin’s body. His heart was beating so hard it threatened to come out of his chest. God have mercy but he loved that man, with every ounce of his being. “Oh, Justin.” It had been a crazy thing to ask of him, but yet how quickly and freely had the promise been given. He kept pumping into Justin, knowing that this orgasm was only his first, wanting to pleasure him more than anything in the world.

Justin used his abs to come up and pull Brian down on top of him, wrapping his strong legs around Brian’s back, and bringing their lips together. Brian kissed him passionately, longingly. Longing for everything about Justin to be his and only his, longing for a time when there would be nothing between his cock and Justin’s tight walls, longing for a day when Justin might wear his ring.

“Brian, Brian, Brian…” Justin’s body trembled, and Brian smiled at him encouragingly.

“Yes, Justin, yes, come, let it go.” Justin was looking in his eyes when he keened in pleasure and hot come spurted between their sweaty bodies.

“Oh Justin, I love you, I love you…” and Brian climaxed again, still looking into Justin’s blue eyes, promising in his heart, ‘This is yours, Justin, only yours, forever, I swear it.’

Brian rested his forehead on Justin’s as he gently pulled out of him.

“Have I mentioned how much I love waking up these days?” asked Justin.

Brian laughed. “That’s not what you were saying yesterday…”

“Yesterday’s alarm clock was a lot less pleasant. I like today’s a lot better.”

They headed into the shower, where Justin playfully started rubbing their soapy bodies together.

Brian kissed him on the nose. They rinsed off and got out. They actually had time for breakfast.

“I was thinking,“ said Justin. “If the FDA trials are over and the doctor who conducted them is gone far away, who is doing the follow up on the patients? Who discovered the rash’s relationship with the drug and observed its resolution after the treatment with Allerfree was stopped? Was it only one doctor, or did people just go to their own physicians at first?”

Brian looked at him, pensive. He looked up the FDA procedure on the net. From what he read, he concluded that the Phase III trials had been completed with no side effects in sight. Phase IV started when the drug went to market. It looked like Phase III could involve thousands of people, and for an allergy drug, force the researcher to follow allergy season all over the world. However, each individual subject was only followed for about six months, and then told to report problems immediately to the research team if they occurred.

It was not uncommon for people who had received benefits from the drugs to continued being provided with them after the trial was over and until the drug was marketed. Some drugs were even marketed as Phase III was still pending. That was not the case with Allerfree. As far as Brian knew, all studies were over when the side effect appeared. It must have occurred on people who had requested to continue on the drug until it was available on the market.

He needed a list of these people. He needed to know who was following them now that the original doctor for the study was gone. He needed more info on their condition. He needed to talk to someone who understood these things.

He opened a new page showing a list of the doctors at the Columbia med school, and looked at a couple of biographies. He copied the list into a document. Then he went to the Gay Who’s Who site and searched for homosexual doctors in the New York area. He copied that list into a document too. Comparing documents, he ended up with seven names. He looked up their bios in the Columbia faculty listing. Two had private clinics on Tuesdays. One was a dermatologist, the other an oncologist. He wrote down the name and number of the dermatologist.

In the cab, he discussed with Justin his plan to talk this over with a more knowledgeable person. Justin approved but wasn’t sure if a doctor would take the time to discuss something like that with a stranger in between patients. Brian suddenly felt a rash coming on… Justin laughed.

“Let me know how it goes,” he said, shaking his head, leaving the cab two blocks from Plexus.

At eight, Brian called the number to make an emergency appointment. The doctor did not take new patients, and did not see emergencies. Brian needed to see this man.

“Can’t you make an exception?” he asked the receptionist.

“Not without Dr. Campbell's specific authorization, sir.”

“Well, could I speak with Dr. Campbell then?”

“He is with a patient, sir.” Shit. He’d have to lie through his teeth.

“Could you give him a message while I hold?”

“I really don’t think that will help, sir.”

“It’s a short message.” Brian was thinking fast. He’d have to take a shot in the dark. The bio listed Campbell’s age as thirty-six, so this might work. Throwing caution to the wind he said, “Tell him… ‘Last weekend, back room, ugly rash there’. That’s it.”

“Pardon?” The receptionist must think he was a head case.

“Last weekend, back room, ugly rash there. You might want to be discreet,” added Brian, feeling bad for the Doc.

“… Fine. I’ll be right back.” She had probably figured this would be the fastest way to get rid of him. Brian was treated to some violin music. For some unknown reason, he absolutely hated violin music.

The receptionist came back on. “Dr. Campbell will see you at twelve,” she said, sounding nonplussed.

Brian smirked. “Great.”

The receptionist gave him all the relevant information and Brian hung up. Poor Dr. Campbell.

Brian worked hard all morning. At 10:30, he finally received some information from the Tuscan rep that had some relevance to what he’d been asking all along. It was a more thorough description of the “skin discoloration”. Apparently, it was permanent, caused by a total loss of pigmentation in the area. That sounded like something really serious.

Why would the drug be put on the market? There had been two stage three studies, with a total of six thousand patients worldwide. Four thousand had continued to take the drug after the trials. The skin discoloration persisted in 70% of the people who got the rash. There were 14 people right now who went around with completely pigmentless chest, abdominal and buttocks areas. If something like that happened to him, he would kill himself. Well. Not anymore. The old Brian would have killed himself. The new Brian would be loved no matter what, and survive, but would sue them for every penny they were worth…

He put down the file and looked at what Julie had sent him for Parchment. It was wonderful and funny. It was a description a ‘typical’ Parchment shopper, showing the picture of two of them with their purchases on the counter next to the cash register, each occupying a vertical half of a full page.

“She has blue hair. She likes to wear vintage clothing and sensible shoes. She likes pretty cards, and pretty stationery. She has lots of girlfriends and likes to throw them parties. We are her one stop stationery store.”

One half showed a picture of a grandmotherly woman, who put just a little too much blue in her rinse to make her hair look white. She wore a very old fashioned dress and a see-through raincoat, and well, grandma shoes. She was buying sweet flowery cards and pastel frilly paper, and a silver-ink pen. She had picked up a special order of printed invitations to a tea party and she was smiling as she checked them out.

The other half showed a teenaged girl with a wild blue Mohawk, wearing the same clothes as the old lady, though the dress had been shortened carelessly with scissors, paired with a wide black leather studded belt and showed black pantyhose artistically run. She wore Doc Martens. She was buying humorous cards, and black paper with Gel pens. She had picked up a special order of printed invitations to a rave party and was smiling as she checked them out.

Well, one could always hope. Maybe this year good ol’ Sally would relent, and take their advice. This was very good, and nothing like a Hallmark commercial. He sighed.

Well, it was time for him to go see his dermatologist. He grabbed all the information he had about Allerfree and went to catch a cab. He called Justin from the taxi.

“Justin Taylor.”

“Hey. Is this your new phone?”

“Yes. It got here at 7:30. It looks very cool, and is now fully charged.”

“And now you have my number. Do you want the loft’s number?”

“Yes please.” Brian gave it to him.

“Put my work number in there as well, OK?”

“I will. I’m glad I was able to keep my number. Where are you? I hear traffic.”

“I’m on my way to my doctor’s appointment to get that nasty rash looked at.”

Justin laughed. “You are so bad.”

“I’ll let you know what the treatment entails,” said Brian. “It’s in a hard to reach place, you know. I may require your help…”

“I just bet. Probably will involve some rubbing and massaging.”

“I’m sure it will.”

“…Fuck. Now I have to work my last half hour with a hard on.”

“Sorry,” said Brian with a smirk.

“No, you're not,” answered Justin, a smile in his voice.

“No, I’m not,” agreed Brian. “Later.”

“Later.”

When Brian arrived at the Dermatology waiting room, the receptionist waved him right in. He was surprised, having expected to have to fill out some forms.

He walked into a small examination room where a man was filling out a chart. The man looked up and smiled. He was moderately attractive, friendly looking. Brown hair, brown eyes, guy next-door type. Brian would not have given him a second look.

“There you are, Mr. Kinney.” He got up, and took off his white coat, but then stopped. “Just to be sure, no rash, right?”

Brian was confused, but had obviously been found out so he smiled as well. “No rash.”

“Good. It’s my lunch hour, and I’m starving. You don’t mind if we talk while we eat, do you?”

“Not at all.”

“I’m Steven by the way,” Campbell said, in the elevator, extending his hand.

“Brian. Nice to meet you.”

As they were walking to the cafeteria, Steven explained, “My receptionist told me this guy on the phone was very insistent. He needed to be seen today and she gave me your message. It cracked me up. I’ve been happily partnered for three years and did not see a back room for at least a year before that, so I knew you were full of shit, but I give you points for creativity and risk taking. I figured you needed to meet me for some reason. So you got me. What can I do you for?”

“I’m in advertising. Through circumstances out of my control I have been given a campaign for a drug company. Tuscan Drugs.”

“Aha, I assume you can’t tell him you’re gay and get it over with?”

“Not quite. He could do some serious damage to my firm’s reputation. I’ve found a way around it and will be dumping him when I have dinner at his house so I can do it privately. It involves other people and I don’t want them getting hurt. So it’s all good. “But I have some questions about the drug, and I needed to talk to someone familiar with research and FDA approval. I also wanted someone gay, who would understand on a gut level what Tuscan is.”

“You mean a dangerous homophobic prick with a deep wallet?”

“Exactly.” God, the food looked awful. Brian grabbed a Granny smith and a bottle of Evian. The doc took three different flavors of yogurt and a roll. They went to the checkout line. “The drug is called Allerfree, and after the Phase III trials, showed no side effects whatsoever. They received FDA approval. Since then, one side effect has shown up in .005% of patients.”

“After the trials, and before Phase IV?”

“Right. It’s a rash, on the chest, stomach and ass. It goes away when the patients stop the drug, but in seventy percent of cases it leaves the area completely without pigment.”

They sat at a small table, and Brian got out the paperwork. Steven reviewed everything rapidly, like someone who knows exactly what he is looking at and understands all the graphs and jargon at first glance.

“Why in the world do they have you work on a campaign for this? This drug cannot possibly go on the market. What the fuck’s going on here?”

“Exactly. That’s what I thought, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t completely off base.”

“Do you have the FDA report?”

“I send for it, but it takes a while, I guess.”

“Do you have a laptop with you? I can see it online. I have an access code.”

Brian got out his laptop, opened it, authorized use and passed it to the doc. It took him a few minutes to get on the hospital WIFI, go to the site, and find the right study without it’s specific URL, but he managed. Once again, he perused the entire thing like someone to whom it all made sense.

“Shit,” he said.

“What?”

“The guy who headed the trials, Mario Marquez. He’s in Trinidad or something now.”

“El Salvador.”

“Right. Tuscan must have had their own team deal with the appearance of the side effect. It was not reported to the FDA.”

“An overlook?”

“No. Even without Marquez available, it should have been reported, added to the file and the approval withdrawn. Something is really stinky here.”

“I tried to figure out why they would go to the trouble of advertising a drug that cannot be sold,” said Brian and he told Steven all the thoughts he had had that morning early and that had led nowhere.

“There has to be something you did not think of… something Tuscan would do because of who he is. Fuck. I don’t know and I have to get back to work. I’m going to think about it. Can I talk to my partner about this? He is an oncologist, here at Columbia.”

Brian chuckled. “He was my second choice, but I figured you might be more willing to help because of the nature of the side effect.”

“I can see that. Give me your number. I’ll call you if I think of something. When is your dinner with that prick?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“That doesn’t give us much time.”

“No, but neither do I necessarily need to understand what he is up to by then. Though it would be an added bonus, I’m sure.”

Brian gave him his business card, with his office and cell phone on it. Steven gave him his, adding another number.

“That’s my cell, in case you ever need to talk about some medical stuff. Or in case you do get a nasty rash from a backroom encounter.”

Brian smiled. “I don’t do that anymore either. I have a partner as well.”

“Forgive me for saying that, but you don’t look the domestic type.”

“Neither does he. We agreed to a pretty open sex life but I find I just… am not interested anymore.”

“Does he know that?”

“No. I want him to be free to choose, with no pressure. We’ll be talking about it soon, but until then, I want him to do as he pleases. He’s young. He may not be ready to give it all up yet. And that would be ok.”

Steven grinned knowingly. “No it wouldn’t.”

Brian smiled. “It would hurt like a bitch,” he admitted.

“Scott and I had a similar situation. It was easy for me to give it up, I was never that popular. But he’s hot. Like you, I let him decide. I was never as happy as the day he told me he wanted to wait the three months, get tested, and start going bareback.” He called the elevator.

“Thanks for your help, Steven. I really appreciate it.” They shook hands, and Brian headed to the exit.

At 5:30, Justin called to say he intended to paint late and then go to Essengy, so Brian went to Gillian’s to play pool and for a visit to the orgy room. He was in the middle of a game when he had to excuse himself because his phone was ringing.

“Kinney.”

“We think we figured it out. Oh, it’s Steven, by the way.”

“Yeah,” Brian chuckled. “I guessed.”

Steven chuckled as well. “Can we get together for a beer or something?”

“Sure. Where are you?”

“We’re in Soho. You?”

“Right now I’m in Chelsea, but I live in Tribeca. Come to my place in a half hour. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“OK. What’s your address?”

Brian gave it to him, apologized to his pool opponent and headed home. He made it at ten and Justin was already there, greeting him with a sunshine smile, typing on his computer. Brian worked hard not to show how pleased he was by that development. He wrapped Justin in his arms from behind and kissed the sensitive spot behind his ear. Justin shivered and turned to catch his lips. Kissing Justin. One of the best things in life.

Justin had turned on his stool and into his arms, and the kiss was just getting to be one of those when the door buzzer went off.

“Shit,” said Brian. “I forgot. My dermatologist and his partner are here for drinks. They think they figured out what Tuscan is doing.”

Justin smiled and ran his hand over Brian’s hard on. “And here I was, just about to get on my knees and suck you as if my life depended on it. Or maybe have you fuck my mouth. Oh, well.”

Brian walked to the intercom, his dick throbbing, laughing. “I’ll get you for this, Sunshine.”

Justin put away his computer and went to the kitchen to get ready to serve some drinks, laughing as well. “Promises, promises,” he said.

Introductions were made, drinks served, and they all moved to the living room. Scott was pretty hot, with blond hair and green eyes and seemed just as friendly as Steven. They sat on the couch. Justin, as usual, sat on the armrest of Brian’s chair.

“I’m sorry, Justin,” Scott said, “but I have to ask, or it’s going to bug me all evening. How old are you?”

Justin was wearing his cargoes and the red sweatshirt he had that was a bit too small and faded. Brian looked at him critically. In the soft light of the living room, he honestly looked… God. 16? 17?

Justin smiled, letting Scott know it was all right to ask. “I’m 23. You?” He said the last with a cheeky grin, and they all laughed.

“I totally deserve that, “admitted Scott. “I’m thirty-seven.”

“Wow,” said Justin, smirking. “Less than three years to the big four-O, eh?”

Scott really laughed. “So young, and yet so evil,” he remarked.

“Well,” said Steven, “now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about Tuscan.”

“The FDA is one of the most trusted governmental agencies. People really believe in its role, and have great faith in what it does,” said Scott. “Truthfully, the agency works very hard to be deserving of that trust. They are very serious, and pretty inflexible.”

“One thing that the trust of the American people has allowed the agency to do is to break it’s own rules when it deems it to be in the interest of patients,” said Steven. “Scott thought about that, because so many cancer drugs are actually experimental and not yet approved by the FDA. Yet, they are used and marketed under its very vigilant eye.”

“Another class of drugs that has benefited from the agency’s leniency has been the retrovirals and other drugs used in the HIV controlling cocktails,” said Scott.

“If there was some kind of a manufactured scandal that would show the FDA in a bad light, no matter how undeserved and how phony, to keep people’s faith, the agency may have to tighten up ship. Especially if it were pushed to do so.”

Scott took over again. “What we are thinking is this: Allerfree was unconditionally approved by the FDA after studies done by an independent party. Tuscan could advertise, publicize its new drug and the day before the launch, announce it voluntarily stopped its release, having found a dangerous side effects undiscovered by the FDA’s faulty system. Tuscan could milk the appearance of lack of follow up between Phase III and IV, though that’s total bullshit, and force the FDA to take some kind of measure in response to give the appearance that they are fixing the problem.

“Tuscan could manipulate the situation to push the FDA to put an end to its allowance of exceptional use of certain drugs before their full approval. Especially, ‘dangerous’ drugs that could cause an ‘already horribly dangerous virus’ to mutate, possibly from a virus needing fluid exchange to, let’s say, an airborne virus.”

Steven added, “Now we know this is bullshit. We also know that thanks to increased public education, people’s paranoia about HIV and homosexuals has decreased tremendously, compared to what it was in the late eighties. But it wouldn’t take much to reignite that fire. Under pressure, the FDA might have to stop the use of not yet fully approved drugs in the HIV cocktails, depriving thousands of gay men of the drugs that are keeping them healthy.”

Scott concluded, “We’re not saying it would work. We’re just saying it might be what Tuscan is thinking of trying. When the side effects of the drug appeared, it must have been a huge blow. He might have found some consolation in orchestrating something like that.”

It was all completely hypothetical, but somehow it rang true to Brian. As they said, it could very well not work the way Tuscan intended, but to him, it would be worth a try. It would be nice to stop him.

“Considering you’re a doctor at Columbia where the trials took place and that you deal with the FDA, how comfortable would you feel reporting the side effect discovered after Phase III to the FDA?”

Steven looked at Scott, and there was apparently a lot of silent communication between them. “I can do it tomorrow,” said Steven, “But I would need a copy of all the paperwork you have. But I am sure you are doing something you are not supposed to by showing me these papers. Don’t you have some kind of confidentiality agreement?”

“Shit. We do. I need to talk to my partners, and convince them it’s worth it. I’ll messenger you a copy of the papers as soon as I have their approval.”

“I have a thought,” said Justin. “Brian, you know how pissed Paul is about this, behind his stoic façade. I think he should talk to the press, tomorrow. Maybe around dinnertime. Tell them how, in the process of working on the campaign, he became suspicious that Tuscan had been hiding a horrible side effect from the FDA and that, after confirming his suspicions with a member of the Columbia faculty and though he is risking the firm getting sued, he has to speak up and tell of Tuscan’s disregard for the safety of patients.”

Brian, Scott and Steven looked at him, speechless.

Finally Scott said, “Yep, so, so young, and yet so completely evil.” They all laughed.

“It would be completely pointless for Tuscan to sue us after that,” said Brian.

“It might completely destroy Tuscan pharmaceuticals. A lot of people would lose their jobs,” remarked Justin.

“No,” Scott said. They have a lot of good over the counter stuff. The company will crash on the financial market and be bought out for a song by one of the big ones. The employees will just change employers. But Tuscan will be ruined, reputation-wise as well as financially. No more deep pockets to back up his homophobic agenda. I love it.”

“Me too,” said Steven.

“His boys all have trust funds. They will be OK. I’m not sure about his wife though,” Brian pointed out.

“I don’t know anything about the woman, but she has stood by him with a smile when he has said the vilest things about homosexuals, when he has financed lobbies against AIDS education and AIDS research. She stood by her man in richer now she can do so in poorer as far as I’m concerned,” said Steven.

“I care about Ben and Hunter more than I do about her,” said Justin. “She is a grown woman. She can take care of herself.”

It was midnight by the time Steven and Scott left. They were really very nice. They had admired the loft and decided they were in the wrong profession. Brian already liked them, but when they went on about how amazing the two abstract paintings on the wall were and how they would love to know who the artist was because they would love to see more of his stuff, he decided they were really great guys. He told them about the artist’s upcoming expo and offered to send them an invitation. They were thrilled.

Once he was alone with Justin again, he asked him why he hadn’t claimed the paintings as his own.

“I’m really glad they like them, but I don’t know them well enough to talk about these paintings with them. I really hate people looking at my work in front of me when they know it’s mine. I’d much rather hear their honest opinion. If they come to the expo, they’ll find out soon enough.”

Justin was done washing, drying and putting away the glasses. He turned off the light in the kitchen and in the living room. He yawned hugely.

“You’re not getting enough sleep, Justin,” said Brian.

“I know. I can’t believe the alarm is going off in five hours. And I was having this fantasy all afternoon about how I was going to ride your cock tonight.” Brian’s cock signaled it thought that was a fantastic idea.

They went to the bathroom together, flossing, peeing and brushing like millions of other couples except, thought Brian smirking, that they looked better than most doing it.

“Wha...?” said Justin, his mouth full of toothpaste.

“We look hot,” said Brian, hugging him and watching their reflection.

Justin spat his toothpaste in the sink and grinned. “You are so weird.”

“Why don’t you sleep in tomorrow. It’s Wednesday. You only have class at three on Wednesdays.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m signing the paychecks. Last pay period, you had nine hours of overtime, all on Wednesdays, because you’ve worked until 2:00 0r 2:30. So you must start at three, which means you don’t have to get to Plexus until 9:30.”

“But I like riding in with you.”

“Would you rather ride a cab with me in the morning, or ride my cock right now?”

Justin grinned at Brian’s reflection. “I’ll set the alarm on my phone for 8:45,” he said, going to the bedroom to do just that.

Brian smiled at himself in the mirror. “Lucky bastard,” he said to himself. “You are about to fuck Justin.” He took his clothes off and went into the bedroom.

Justin was lying on his stomach, naked, programming his new phone. “I hadn’t even set the time yet,” he said.

“Take your time,” said Brian and he lay between Justin’s legs, spreading them apart. Justin’s ass was so perfect. He spread the cheeks a little and licked Justin’s crack, from as far down as he could reach to Justin’s tail bone and back again. He loved the way Justin arched his back with a contented sigh.

“This new phone is soooo complex. It might take me a while,” he said. Never mind that the phone was now sitting on the integrated shelf next to him and that he was resting comfortably with his cheek on his pillow.

Brian smiled and licked again, this time stopping at Justin’s anus, circling the folds with a very wet tongue.

“Hummm…” said Justin, appreciatively

Brian pointed his tongue and stabbed it in as far as he could go and started pushing it in and pulling it out, savoring Justin’s sweetness. He loved this. Fuck, if Justin didn’t need his sleep, he could have done this half the night. He was loving Justin’s scent, his taste, his sounds of pleasure. He started pushing some spit in, just so he could suck it back out and salivated at the thought.

But then, suddenly, not quite aware of how it had happened, he was on his knees, covering his own cock with spit and refusing to think, he pushed his cock inside Justin, raw. The sensitive head felt Justin’s folds open up and stretch like a flower around his push, all the way along the soft, warm sphincter, until he passed the second ring of muscle, tight and hot, and he was in, and it was the most amazing feeling he had ever known, the silky velvet he loved even softer, warmer, tighter.

He stayed there, unmoving, savoring the sensations. Justin raised his head and looked into his eyes, and this slight motion massaged Brian’s cock in sleekness and suction. Brian pulled out, slowly, the blue eyes questioning. What could he say? It was the third time he’d entered Justin without protection, but the first time he’d done so deliberately. It was dangerous and stupid, indulgent and selfish. And he wanted nothing more than to do it again.

He lay down next to Justin, reached for a condom packet and for the lube and unrolled the condom on. He put a lot of lube on, still under Justin’s scrutiny. He realized Justin was trying to figure out if the raw penetration had been accidental, like the last time at Gillian’s, or intentional, and having no idea how to react to the second.

Brian had gotten a call from the small clinic a block west from his office. Like it had in December and in January, his February HIV test had returned negative. Of course the one that really counted was next month’s, but… That was no excuse. He would not do that again, especially never again without Justin’s express consent. God, it had been so incredibly wrong.

Justin straddled his body and slowly, slowly, pushed himself down on Brian’s cock. It felt wonderful. Once he was fully seated, Justin started moving in slow sensuous motions, his hands on Brian’s rib cage. It was so hot to watch him fuck himself.

Justin came to lie on top of Brian, his face in Brian’s neck, whispering. “Putting a condom on after feeling it raw is like a painting changing to monochrome, or a colored picture going to black and white. Let’s be more careful and not… forget again, OK? It is much too hard to give up.” Brian shivered.

Justin sat back up again and smiled at him, a loving, joyful, sexy smile that put a close on what had just happened. “Would you like me to show you what I was thinking about all day?” he asked, playfully.

“Oh, yeah,” said Brian, feeling his cock harden even more.

Justin held the condom as he came off Brian’s cock, and turned around, sitting back down on it with his ass towards Brian. He pulled Brian’s knees up, and used them to lean on as he started to move up and down. Fuck. The view was incredible. Because he was straddling Brian, Justin’s cheeks were spread apart, and his pink rim, stretched around Brian’s big dick was in full view. As he pumped Brian’s dick into his ass, Brian could see himself slide in and slide out. Behind his own dick, he could see Justin’s heavy balls swinging with the motions, until Justin’s hand came to play with them.

“Justin, Justin, tell me what you’re doing to your cock, please!”

“My arm is resting on your leg, not moving. My hand is in a tight fist around my cock. Every time I come up on yours, it pushes mine into my fist, until the head pops out. When I push myself down, so I can feel your great big cock deep into my heat, my cock goes back down into my fist, and I make it nice and tight to squeeze the head the way you know I like. And I’m going to keep doing it, fucking myself on you faster and harder, until I come all over your thigh.”

“Fuck,” said Brian. Helping his abs with his arms, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, but he still couldn’t see. However, he was able to reach his arm around Justin and wrap his hand around Justin’s. Justin removed his hand all together evidently preferring to be in Brian’s care. Brian held himself up, resting on his left arm, feeling Justin’s cock move through his hand and Justin, using Brian’s knees to stabilize himself, started fucking himself on Brian’s cock faster and faster.

The position was awkward and somewhat unsatisfactory, as Brian was a very visual person and sitting up as he was, he could no longer see his cock going into Justin and could see neither Justin’s cock, nor his face. It still felt heavenly, and he loved Justin’s cock in his hand and Justin was obviously getting off on being able to fuck himself deep and fast on Brian’s hard cock, and enjoyed the hand job he was getting very much. His moans and pants told Brian he was getting close and Brian tightened his fist, and moved as much as he could in counterbalance to Justin to fuck him even harder.

That did it. With a “Yes, fuck, Brian,” and guttural cry, Justin came all over Brian’s hand. Brian gave him a minute to reach the end of his orgasm, then bodily grabbed him and laid him on his back on top of the bed. Justin had that soft look he got after a good orgasm, and knowing Brian had not come, he spread his knees for him.

Brian added a little lube, not wanting to hurt Justin, and slid back in through his relaxed sphincter. With a smile, Justin tightened around him and Brian started fucking him hard and fast, chasing his own orgasm. He was aware of Justin watching him lovingly and when he was there, he looked into his lover’s face. Justin smiled and said, “Come deep inside, Brian, as deep as you can get.”

Brian pushed in, far in, and let loose. He came in long pulses he was hoping Justin could feel, watching Justin’s smiling mouth. Would he ever get to do this and know the feeling of his come flowing freely inside Justin? Would he ever get to eat Justin’s ass after they’d fucked and get to suck his own seed back out, flavored by Justin’s sweetness?

He pulled out gently, took off the condom and tied it. Brian curled around Justin who was sleeping already, soft, warm and pliable. Brian turned off the light and joined him in slumber.

*****

He woke up in the exact position he had gone to sleep in. After breathing in the sleepy Justin scent, with a bit of spunk and sweat thrown in (he wished he could bottle that smell) he gently untangled himself from him and shut off his alarm seven minutes before it was due to go off. He gently put the duvet on top of Justin. Spooning as they did, they kept each other plenty warm and the duvet usually slept on the floor.

He moved quietly into the bathroom, closed the sliding door behind him and took a quick shower. He carefully opened his closet, taking the first suit, the first shirt and the first tie he put his hands on, not wanting to turn on the light. He grabbed the loafers and belt on the farthest left, because they were black and would go with everything. He left the bedroom and got dressed after closing the sliding partition.

He still hated to leave without saying goodbye, so he went to find a piece of paper in his desk, and a marker. He wrote, “Call me right now” on it, took his shoes off again and sneaked back into their bedroom to put the note right on top of Justin’s phone. He left quietly, and called LaShaun for his quadruple espresso, and for a ‘Why bother?’ (what he liked to call Cynthia’s choice beverage of decaf, nonfat, sugar-free vanilla latte) from the elevator. It took him only a minute to flag down a cab and he was off, hoping the three hours of extra sleep would do Justin good.

He doubted very much Justin would go to bed before he came home tonight. He would want to hear about the dinner. He mentally shook himself. Justin was old enough to take care of himself. He didn’t need Brian to worry about his lack of sleep and exercise, for heaven sakes. One really had to be careful. Being so in love with someone could really lead to ridiculous behaviors. Brian grinned. He wondered if Justin had to fight similar urges, or if it was different when your lover was twelve years your senior, instead of twelve years your junior.

He had left messages last night for Emily, Betsy, Dianne and Cynthia, asking them to coordinate the partner’s schedules to allow for a meeting as early as possible in the day. He arrived before Cynthia (amazing how much less time it took to get ready for work when you did not fuck once or twice before leaving the house…), and left her useless drink on her blotter.

In his office, he took out his laptop, grabbed the Parchment file and went to work. He was meeting with Sally at 10:00 and would convince her to use their ad, or die trying. He could not stomach another repeat of the previous year's ads. If she resisted again, he was passing her down to a junior exec. She certainly didn’t need the most creative team if she was not going to let them be creative.

He had only been rehearsing his argument for fifteen minutes when Cynthia came in.

“Boss, the partners will be in your office at 8:30. You’ll have thirty minutes. That’s the best we could do.”

“It’s fantastic, and exactly what I needed. Could you organize and make four copies of the Tuscan Pharmaceutical papers in this folder, and prepare one for courier to this guy?” He handed her Steven’s card.

“You found a way to get rid of the account, didn’t you?”

“We are getting rid of the account, of Tuscan, and of his influence in Washington all at once, if it all works out.”

She grinned. “That will teach Alan to stick you with an account you don’t want…”

Brian chuckled. “One can always hope.”

Brian put away Parchment, and prepared for meeting with his partners with the same intensity. He had a lot to sell them. If he could do this, he could definitely sell Sally the blue haired ladies.

Scott and Steven’s idea about Tuscan hoping to force the FDA to take unapproved HIV drugs off the market felt right to him, but would probably seem farfetched to his partners. He would have to give them a choice of hypotheses of why Tuscan was doing what he was doing. They were no doubt going to ask why Tuscan had even bothered to scratch the original campaign, based on the FDA trials showing no side effects at all.

The only logical explanation was that Tuscan had quietly but heavily financially compensated the 14 or so patients concerned, with some kind of non disclosure clause attached to keep them quiet, and that once they went after the FDA, the monetary reparation would come out. If they had been very generous, and Brian thought they probably had been very generous indeed, it would make them look caring enough to try to make up for the poor patients’ plight.

He would concentrate on the indubitable facts. He made a list:

The drug could absolutely not be put on the market.
The FDA had, against the rules, not been immediately told of the side effect.
Tuscan was involving Plexus by making them design a useless campaign, associating their good name with a scandal, which would reflect on the firm justly or not.

None of the reasons he could think of for Tuscan Pharmaceutical’s behavior were good, in any way: Insurance fraud? Stock price manipulation? FDA scandal?

Then he listed the steps he wanted to take to get rid of the problem.

During tonight’s dinner, announce his sexual orientation to Tuscan and speak about his acquaintance with his sons using Tuscan’s own bigotry and his hypocrisy to force him to agree to release Plexus without blame.
Have Steven disclose the side effect to the FDA.
Have Paul make an announcement regarding the illegal shenanigans of their client to protect themselves from a lawsuit for breach of confidentiality.

The partners might agree to the first, but shy away from the second part of the plan. They might just want to step back and let the chips fall where they may. In that case, Brian was ready to provide Steven with the file anyway, risking Plexus getting sued and losing his position in the company. Some things just mattered too much to be left alone.

If they agreed with the second part of the plan, they were bound to point out to him that his dinner conversation with Tuscan was now unnecessary. That Paul could make his announcement as soon as Steven was done filing the information about the side effects with the FDA and the entire dinner could be forgotten about. And that was absolutely true. He would try to explain to them his desire to meet the man face to face and force him to give in to a queer. They might neither understand nor agree. And if they did not, he would bow down gracefully. His own personal satisfaction was not the important thing, here.

When they came in, it was obvious Alan had already shared his misgivings about Tuscan. They looked pretty serious. Brian gave them the facts, and his different hypotheses as to the reason behind Tuscan's behavior.

“Can’t be insurance fraud,” said Paul. “There is no such insurance. People trust the FDA, and pharmaceutical companies are allowed huge profits for the risks they take.”

“Can’t be stock manipulation,” said Marcus. “The investigation after something like that would be very thorough. They would get nailed for sure.”

“So it has to be something to do with the FDA,” said Alan. “Brian, I’m sure you have a theory. Give.”

“If they make the FDA look lax, the agency will have to tighten up to keep the public’s trust,” he said.

“Well, they could not make it any more difficult to get a drug approved, that’s for sure,” said Paul. “I’ve worked with Tuscan for two years. The crap they have to go through just for over the counter meds is unbelievable. They would have to tighten up somewhere else.”

“They have been allowing the use of some experimental drugs before they meet full approval,” mentioned Brian, hoping they would reach the same conclusion Scott had without his help.”

“That’s true,” said Marcus. “Dianne’s niece was on one for her leukemia. Didn’t make it, poor tyke. But the drug worked. It was just too late. She was too weak and the side effects were brutal. I understand they tweaked it now, and the results are better.”

“Why would Tuscan want to stop the use of experimental cancer drugs?” asked Alan.

They were all quiet for a moment, and Brian rolled in his lips unconsciously.

“Fuck,” said Paul. “Of course. Tuscan doesn’t want to stop experimental cancer drugs. We forget what the prick is: One of the biggest homophobes around, and proud of it. ‘AIDS is God’s punishment for the homosexuals’ evil choice to be homosexuals.’” He quoted disgustedly. “‘We should let nature run its course and free us from the scourge of homosexuality’, and so on.

“Most the drugs in the HIV cocktail are experimental. The cocktail keeps tens of thousands of gay men healthy. Die, queer, die. That’s what he is after, the son of a bitch. That’s what he wants…”

It had sounded scary coming from Scott, but because they were gay, Brian thought that though it sounded right to him there had been the possibility it might have been a little bit paranoid. Hearing it from someone like Paul, who was happily married and had no close bonds with anyone homosexual was downright horrifying.

“Good Heavens!” said Marcus, looking honestly appalled. “I think you may be right! Where do people like him come off passing judgment on others that belong only to God? Though I hope and pray that he would fail, we cannot in good conscience let him proceed with this plan. I recognize we may be completely off the track here, and that his intentions might be wildly different than what you describe, Paul, but somehow this feels accurate. We need to get rid of him as a client, but we also need to stop him.”

Alan had been pretty quiet until now. He’d been thinking. “We need to get this information to the FDA. If we do it anonymously, they have no reason to believe us, plus by the time they look into an anonymous tip, it might be too late. We have to contact the doctor at Columbia who ran the trials, and make him aware of this. Of course, then, Tuscan’ll sue us for breach of confidentiality, and say they were confirming the data or such bullshit to explain the delay. Brian?”

“The original doctor is in the jungles of El Salvador. A friend of mine, who does research at Columbia and is familiar with the FDA will file the info with them as soon as you guys allow me to officially show them to him.” He took a breath. “As far as getting sued… I was thinking a good offense is the best defense. Paul could make an announcement that during his routine research for the product he was writing a campaign for, and after some unexplained withholding of major information by the company, he has come to the conclusion that they are trying to hide a dangerous irreversible side effect of the drug from the FDA, putting profit ahead of patient welfare, and that Plexus, though it might well cost us a lawsuit, is determined to do what is right for the public.”

“You, Brian Kinney, are seriously Machiavellian,” said Alan, shaking his head. “They could not sue us after an announcement like that and it makes us look like the good guys. But why Paul? Why not you?”

“Yes,” asked Paul. “Believe me, I am all for doing it myself. After all, I had to put up with this bastard a lot longer than you, and now it seems that it wasn’t just their rep being forgetful that got me fired, but a deliberate choice on their part to withhold some information. One stupid guy didn’t screw me. I was fucked by the CEO. But why not you?”

“Because you will do it while I am having dinner with the bastard,” said Brian, grim.

“If we do this, you will have no need to break bread with that despicable man,” said Marcus.

“True,” said Alan. “But I’m with Brian on this. He called back to confirm they would be thrilled to have Heather and I join the dinner party. I want to see that SOB’s face when we tell him what we are doing, and I am sure that before that, Brian will have a few choice words with him about his homosexual life choice”

“It gets better, or worse, depending on how you look at it. Tuscan has four sons, including one set of twins in med school. He has known for seven years now that his twins are gay. He has kept them in line with threats of completely severing ties between them and their family, and throwing them out penniless. They knew, as teenagers, that if they talked about it to their mom, they would never see her or their brothers again. He is very controlling and has always kept all of them under his thumb.

“They were waiting for their med school graduation to tell him what he could do with their trust funds, and announce their sexual orientation in the most public and the most humiliating way to him possible. They only wished their mom knew about them, so she would not hear it for the fist time when they made a scene.”

“Can you out them without financial repercussions to them?”

“Yes, I believe I can. I’ve learned enough about their past to make it seem that I did not hear it from them.”

“So you know them pretty well?”

“Never talked to either. My information came from my investigative team: Justin, his friend Todd, and Brandon Bloomquist. Apparently, as a trio, they are pretty irresistible…”

Alan smiled. “I bet.”

To be continued...

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