The view outside their small beach house was as spectacular as their living quarters was sparse. They were so close to the ocean they could practically feel the spray. The light inspired David to paint almost constantly. The colors in the ocean and the sky were continually changing into the most unbelievable shades and he worked frantically to capture it all, as if no one else had seen these particular colors before or set them down, but perhaps no one else had seen them in quite the same way or brought them to life through eyes that saw their full beauty. Or perhaps it was just that he was in love and everything looked differently to him now.

The mornings were one of his favorite times to paint. He had set up a work space in the corner of the little house they rented and would work until it was time to eat the midday meal. The nearby village was small, but supplied all the fresh food they needed. The hot afternoons they spent together, lazing about or making love.

The seagulls cried out angrily and David looked up to see what had disturbed them. A shinning, dark figure came into view through the large, open window that faced the ocean. David squinted his eyes against the sun sparkling on the water and off the white sand. But he didn't need to see the figure clearly to know who it was. Antonio had been swimming. The long hours he spent outside had darkened his skin and it glowed. David grinned happily and sat down at his table to clean his brushes as he watched Antonio approach.

Antonio sensed David's eyes on him and he raised his head. David could see the white flash of his teeth and Antonio raised his hand and then began to run easily through the sand to the house. As soon as he walked through the door he shed his trunks and walked naked into the small area that served them as a kitchen. He came back, munching on a piece of fruit, and leaned lazily against the door frame. "It's another beautiful day," he said.

David automatically picked up his sketchbook and in a few simple strokes he captured Antonio. He looked at it satisfied and then noticed Antonio grinning at him. "Another picture of me? Don't you ever get tired of sketching the same subject over and over?"

David dropped the sketchbook and raised his arms over his head, stretching like a cat. He sighed and shook his head as he answered, "No, never do." He grinned lecherously at Antonio. "Come here."

Antonio shook his head and brushed his wet hair from his face, "I need to take a shower."

"No you don't. Come here." David said and opened his arms wide.

Antonio grinned happily at him and moved forward to straddle his legs, sitting in David's lap he wrapped his arms around the broad shoulders. David licked at the scar just beneath Antonio's left collar bone. "You taste like the sun and the ocean," he said.

"You mean I taste like salt and sweat," Antonio laughed. He reached over and picked up the sketchbook, studying it closely. "You put the scar in, again." He quirked an eyebrow at David and said in mock dismay, "Don't you think that mars the perfection?"

David buried his hands in Antonio's hair and pulled his head back gently to give his lips full access to his throat. He spoke between kisses, "I like that scar. It reminds me of how close. How close I came to loosing you. And I never want to forget. How much you mean to me."

Antonio closed his eyes and wrapped his arms tighter about David's shoulders. "We were lucky."

David stopped and Antonio's eyes opened, they looked at each other, remembering. Antonio had nearly bled to death and then there had been the long stay in the hospital and the grueling nightmare afterwards, dealing with Jonathan's death. Antonio had just been released from the hospital when James Edward Addison had died one night in his sleep. Antonio was glad he could be with David at the funeral. Cecile Addison had retreated into her own world. David just wanted to forget it all. He rested his forehead against Antonio's warm chest and sighed. He raised his face to Antonio and they kissed. It was a healing kiss. There were few words left for them that they hadn't already said and between them now there was little need for words.

Antonio cupped David's face between his hands and this time the kiss was a deep one. David tightened his arms around him, pulling him closer. Antonio's body was so warm and strong. There was no part of it his lips hadn't touched and loved. Sometimes it was almost too much, the love he felt and then he would look at the sleeping face beside his on the pillow and realize it could never be enough.

Antonio clung to him tighter, pressing against him until they were in danger of toppling over backwards. David didn't have to look at Antonio's face to know what he would find there. There was a passion in Antonio that he loved; it made him feel alive like nothing else. He wrapped his arms tightly around the smaller man and heaved them both out of the chair and then they were on the floor. He pinned Antonio's wrists down and covered his mouth, opening it wide. He could feel Antonio's body straining, trying to reach him and he adjusted his hold so that he only needed one hand to hold the wrists. The other he moved inside Antonio's body. He swallowed Antonio's moans as he shoved the finger deeper. Antonio's legs tried to wrap themselves around his hips, but they fell back and then David released his hold on the straining wrists. Their eyes locked on each other as Antonio moved his hands to release David's cock and then he rolled onto his stomach, holding his own hard cock from pressing against the floor. David pulled him to his knees and when he entered him Antonio cried out. He sobbed, his long hair hanging over his face, and David knew it wasn't just from pain. He held the slender hips steady and pumped into the smooth, hard body that had opened to him so fully. He spread Antonio's thighs wider with his knee and closed his eyes, letting his head fall back he caught his rhythm and worked himself deeply into the tight heat that was clenching so wonderfully around him. There was nothing else but this, the sound of the ocean's waves breaking outside and the rhythmic slap of their flesh together. His heart began to beat faster and he grunted, forcing the strokes in deeper, his own hips clenching with the effort and then Antonio collapsed under him. The friction of the hard floor against his swollen cock brought his body into orgasm and David felt it. The intense pulling on his own cock and then the release, the heavenly release of filling Antonio. He jerked, trying to reach the heart of him and then he collapsed too.

Antonio opened his eyes and it was some moments before he realized where he was and he smiled. He could feel David's heavy body on his and he didn't mind in the least. He reached back and tried to press him closer and David's long arms came around him, holding him tight and rolling them onto their side to ease the pressure on Antonio's cock. David moved Antonio's hair away from his face and pressed his lips against his cheek. There were no words after all that needed to be said.