" He gave me a glance, a memory of his smile playing over his muzzle." He gave me a glance, a memory of his smile playing over his muzzle. "Ever talk to a fourteen year old about sex?" "Sure," I said. "My own kids." "Your kids are different, Ken. You're very interested in sex and love and the like; you call this Ring an expression of that love. Rudin's parents assumed he'd pick it up somewhere and that he wouldn't get himself into trouble. Well, he was definitely on his way to getting into trouble. He even asked me, once, if I had had sex with someone younger than sixteen. I told him no, of course; at that point, I hadn't." "You took that as a hint," I said, somewhat accusatively. "And asked for another hint," he replied calmly. "I asked him if he was interested in having sex with me." He was silent. I waited. "And?" "And he became tongue-tied." Aaden grinned. "I've seen you there. Couldn't say yes, couldn't say no. Couldn't quite figure out what to say. I wanted to get rid of him. So I said, 'Look, you're going to answer one way or the other when you make your decision. So tell me what your decision is going to be.' "He said 'Yeah. I want to have sex.'" "With you," I said, smiling. "Yes," Aaden nodded. "With me. He led me to the barn and we were rather... mundane." He smiled. "He was pretty, in a boyish sort of way. All we did was try a little oral sex. Not much. After I solved his parent's problem, he asked me if it was okay for me to hang around with him. He liked what I gave him, and I didn't mind giving it." "What happened to him?" "What happens to them all," Aaden said with a shrug. |