Warnings for references to sex and violence.
Exquisite Brutality
Dr. Ivo Steadman, 41, lecturer in Paleontology at the University of Warwickshire, was a study in exquisite brutality. Aloof and controlled, he occupied his every waking hour in academic pursuits. Having no apparent social life, he was a logical candidate to represent his department on every committee, at every conference, and he readily accepted those assignments with the same polite indifference he gave his lectures, greeted his colleagues, and ordered his dinner. An enigma, those acquainted with him had long since given up trying to figure him out. He was closed shut, locked up in a complex pattern that would have drowned Houdini.
Which, of course, is what Tim loved about him. The fact that before they had exchanged a single word, Ivo had kissed him - transmitting more of his true self in that simple act than in a lifetime of words. Tim understood him, knew that beneath that inscrutable facade was a live wire seeking a conduit.
Never were two beings more perfectly coupled. Tim had been a living dead man, passionless, polite. Under Ivo's skilful touch he exuded sexuality from every pore. No one else could arouse him, satisfy him as Ivo did. None could tap into his core, fill the void that dwelled deep inside as Ivo's mere presence did. None could leave him spent, relaxed, at peace with his troubled world as he was with Ivo.
Ivo would throw him down, use and abuse him with complete disregard for Tim's comfort or needs. And when the boy lay broken on the bed, Ivo would scoop him up and make love to him in the most tender and considerate manner. Some mornings he hauled him rudely from bed and kicked him out, saying company was expected. Others he would bring him a tray of coffee and pastries and play with his hair until it was time to eat again.
Sometimes Ivo would take him on one of his road trips and they would talk in an animated and exhilarated way. Sometimes Ivo would finish fucking him and leave the apartment without a word.
Rape and romance, sex and intimacy - it was wildly exciting never to know where one stood. Ivo required him to think, to work for the relationship, something he had never had to do. The others came to him groveling. Ivo left him begging.
He tried ever ingenious means to provoke the man, drawing him out, testing him. When Ivo struck him, he rejoiced - he had gained some footing in the game. When Ivo wept, he withdrew - terrified. To have the only thing in his world he could not control succumb was more than he could bear.
Tim Cornish, 22, undergraduate student in Creative Writing, was a wreck. The man he loved now loved him back.