'Mr. Mortensen! Welcome back!' the receptionist gushed as I entered the salon. Even my rattier-than-normal jeans and t-shirt didn't dim her unctuous smile. I'd definitely risen in her esteem over the past several months since she realized I was a VIP - at least in the eyes of her boss. I think I preferred her original disdain - at least it was honest.

She peered at her computer screen in confusion. 'Er… did you have an appointment?'

'Not today,' I admitted, anticipating her unconscious frown. I had a standing 'appointment' with Orlando every Friday afternoon, but I'd been filming on location for almost three months. I'd just gotten back into town for a brief break, and there was no way I could wait until Friday to see him. Now, however, I felt a twinge of uncertainty. As much as I'd been tempted, I'd never even called Orlando while I was away. He'd given me no indication that he wanted anything more than the casual relationship we currently enjoyed. Was I being presumptuous to expect him to disrupt his schedule just to see me?

'I just wondered if Orlando had a free moment?' I faltered.

Her manicured fingers flew over the keyboard. 'You're in luck … he's between clients,' she determined. 'Make yourself comfortable - I'll let him know you're here.'

I wandered over to the luxurious waiting area, noticing with interest that I was no longer the salon's only male customer. A young man of perhaps thirty nodded to me in greeting. His frosted, spiked blond hair and rakish grin looked vaguely familiar - I wondered idly if he was another actor, or perhaps a musician. Before I could puzzle through where I might have seen him before, the doors to the inner spa flew open and my dark-haired Adonis flew across the lobby to catch my hands in his. A dazzling smile bloomed across his face and danced in his bottomless eyes. I couldn't help but smile back at him, squeezing his hands in return. He was dressed all in black today, the silky fabric of his shirt and slacks clinging to his willowy frame. I'm not sure how long we stood there, just grinning at each other, until the sycophantic tones of the receptionist greeting another client broke us out of our spell.

'Come on back,' the spa's owner beckoned, leading me through the cut-glass doors of the salon into a large private treatment room. As soon as the door closed behind us he was in my arms, attacking my mouth with his lips and tongue, molding his body against mine. 'God, I missed you,' he moaned, nipping at my lips with his teeth. 'How long can you stay?'

I did my share of reacquainting myself with Orlando's mouth before I pulled away enough to answer him. 'A few days,' I murmured, giving into the temptation to thread my fingers through his silky curls as I kissed my way down his graceful neck. 'Sorry I couldn't wait until Friday - I just had to see you,' I admitted, forcing myself to pause and wait for his reaction.

'I'm glad you didn't wait,' he purred, running his palm caressingly down my face. He frowned as he noticed the cuts on my cheek and the side of my chin. 'What have you been doing to yourself?' he demanded, pressing a gentle kiss over each scratch. 'One sexy scar on this handsome face is enough, love,' he told me teasingly. 'How about a facial to make them all better?'

I shook my head at him repressively. There were many things I'd dreamed of Orlando doing to me over the past months, but smearing my face with herbal goop wasn't one of them. 'I might take you up on that manicure, though,' I offered in exchange, holding out my scratched and scabbed hands. 'Those fight scenes were hell on my knuckles.'

Orlando ran his fingers tenderly over my hands, tracing the bruised nail beds, the broken, abraded knuckles, the chunk of nail missing from my thumb. I wasn't usually so accident prone, but these months of filming had been especially draining, and my concentration had slipped at times. As it always did from the first time I met him, the touch of Orlando's fingers on my hands brought my cock to rigid attention. Raising my hands to his face, my dark-haired angel soothed each injury with his lips and tongue. The feel of his mouth on my battered skin stirred my insides to Jello and my cock to rock hardness. When a salty drop stung the torn flesh, my heart lurched. The though of Orlando crying over my clumsiness was unbearable.

'Don't, baby,' I pleaded, lifting his head and wiping the moisture from his impossibly long lashes with my thumbs. 'A few nicks and dings aren't going to kill me.'

'If you won't take care of yourself, I'll have to do it for you,' he scolded thickly, pressing a final kiss into my palms. 'I have some very special treatments in mind for you.'

He picked up the telephone hanging next to the door, his sparkling eyes never leaving mine. 'Margaret, clear my schedule for the rest of the afternoon,' he instructed, smiling at me beguilingly. 'See who else is free to take my clients, or reschedule them. Offer them a free facial for the inconvenience.'

'You don't have to do that,' I protested. 'I just wanted to see you.'

'I don't want to touch anyone else when I can be with you,' he insisted, locking the door to ensure we wouldn't be disturbed. The seed of unacknowledged jealousy which had sprouted on seeing another man in the lobby, withered immediately at the honesty of Orlando's admission. 'Besides, if just one of them starts booking facials as a result, it will more than pay for itself.'

I chuckled at my beautiful lover's business sense, until the feel of his palms slipping underneath my shirt drove all other thoughts from my mind. 'Why don't you get out of these and get comfortable?' he suggested, handing me one of the spa's signature silk robes, in the deep blue I'd learned he offered only to me.

'Do you keep one of these in every room?' I asked, amused that he had one immediately at hand.

'Only the ones I think I might want to shag you in - so, yeah, that would be all of them,' he laughed in reply. 'Give me just a minute to get a few things ready.'

I quickly shed my clothes as Orlando stepped through a connecting door, returning a few moments later. Holding the robe open for me to step into, he wrapped his arms around me with the silky fabric, nuzzling the spot he'd discovered beneath my ear that always made me shiver. 'Missed this so much,' he murmured, tying the belt and smoothing his hands lower across my stomach.

'Me too,' I admitted, turning to pull him against me. He was already as hard as I was, and our mouths fed from each other hungrily as I pressed my hands against his tight ass, rubbing us together. 'Orlando,' I groaned, wanting nothing more than to sheathe myself inside him immediately.

'Manicure,' my angel insisted, pulling back with a final nip of his teeth. 'I promise, you'll enjoy it.'

My cock was throbbing in protest as I sank into the seat Orlando indicated. It stubbornly ignored my attempts to convince it of the benefits of anticipation.

Orlando filled the shallow basin with warm water and his favorite citrusy aromatic oil. Tracing my scarred knuckles gently with his fingers, he slid my hands into the water. 'We'll let them soak for a few minutes first to soften the skin,' he explained, 'then I'll clean up your cuticles, shape the nails, and give you an exfoliating massage.' He arranged his implements beside him on the table between us. 'And then I have a little surprise for you.'

You'd think after this many months I'd have gotten used to his touch. But every brush of his palms against mine, every stroke of his fingers sent a thrill of excitement through my nerves, just as strong as the first time he touched me. I watched him in growing stimulation as he concentrated on caring for my scarred and calloused hands. Each time he unconsciously gnawed at his lower lip, or wet it quickly with his tongue, my cock stirred in response. At least now I no longer had to make any attempt to hide my arousal. By the time Orlando had finished trimming and filing, and began to gently massage lotion into each hand, my erection had escaped the confines of the robe to stand proudly, if damply, before me.

Orlando leered appreciatively across the tabletop at the obvious impact of his caressing touch. 'Is little Viggo feeling jealous?' he teased.

I'd never had a pet name for my genitals before, but Orlando could wrap a pink ribbon around it and call it Mary Sue if it made him happy. 'I think it objects to being called "little",' I replied, as it stood up even straighter under his gaze.

'Well, we'll take care of that in just a minute,' my lover promised. 'But I have a special treat for you first.' Rising, he circled the table and spun my chair to face a small, square appliance that looked like a deep fryer. 'Dip your hands in here,' he instructed, lifting the lid to reveal a steaming, clear liquid.

'What is it?' I asked, eying it suspiciously.

'Hot paraffin wax,' he replied coaxingly. 'It's great for healing and moisturizing.'

'Won't it hurt?' I hesitated.

'It's not a sodding bikini wax, Vig! It'll feel wonderful,' he promised. 'Have I ever disappointed you yet?' I had to admit that going along with Orlando's sometimes exotic suggestions had always proved most rewarding for us both. I eased my hands tentatively into the steaming liquid, feeling as Orlando promised a warm glow as the slippery substance coated my skin.

'Dip them a few more times,' Orlando directed, watching until I had coated them both to his satisfaction. He knelt between my legs to slip a cloth mitten over each hand in turn.

'How long do these have to stay on?' I asked, resenting anything that prevented me from touching my lover.

'Long enough to let me do this,' he replied, pushing open the robe and sinking his mouth over the length of my erection. 'Oh, fuck, Orlando,' I moaned, arching with pleasure as his tongue swept around my shaft. Three months of dreams could never compare to the reality of Orlando's hot mouth engulfing me. He slid slowly up and down my throbbing cock, teasing the ridge of skin around my head with each stroke. The sight of his dusky curls bouncing between my legs and the insistent suction of his lips quickly stole what little control I had. With a guttural groan, I shot my load into his hungry mouth. As soon as I stopped shuddering, he crawled up onto my lap, capturing my mouth to share the saltiness of my release.

'Damn, I needed that,' I groaned, resting my forehead against his. 'Now take this stuff off me so I can touch you, baby.'

Orlando stripped the mitts from my hands and peeled away the now-cooled layers of wax. He smoothed a final coating of moisturizer into each arm, but stood up when I reached to encircle him.

As I rose to follow him, my cocoa-eyed beauty caught my hands in his and led me forward into the adjoining room, where a wide, sheet-draped table beckoned. 'That's more like it,' I growled eagerly, trying to maneuver him against the side of the bed. Orlando sidestepped my grasp and pushed me to sit on the padded surface instead.

'You're still too tense,' he murmured. 'I want to give you a massage first.'

'What about you?' I pouted, reaching forward to cup the bulge that strained against his slacks.

'Trust me, this will be worth waiting for,' he promised, sliding the robe off my shoulders and pressing me to lie with my back against the cool sheets. Stepping away for a moment, he dimmed the lights and flicked on some soothing, Celtic-sounding background music. He unbuttoned his shirtsleeves and began to roll up the cuffs, but I eyed him pleadingly. 'Take it off,' I urged, and after a moment Orlando complied, revealing his smooth chest to my appreciative gaze.

'Now lie there and behave yourself,' he commanded, pouring a handful of aromatically scented oil into his palm. Rubbing his hands together, he brought them down on my shoulders and began to massage the muscles firmly but soothingly. After a few moments, I let my eyes drift shut and gave myself over to the bliss of his hands. Suddenly, I felt something firm and warm settle into the hollow of my collarbone. Opening my eyes, I saw Orlando draw a smooth, flat stone over my skin before settling it into the matching spot on my other side.

'These are warm river stones,' he explained. 'I'll place them in all your chakra spots - the focal points of your body's energies - to soothe and strengthen you.'

Orlando's talented hands stroked and soothed me from head to toe. He drew each warm stone slowly over the planes of my muscles before placing them - down my chest, in the center of my belly, between each finger and toe. The stones held me as immobile as any bonds might, preventing me from reaching for my lover, as I was increasingly tempted to do when he worked his tantalizing way up my legs. By the time he had settled stones in the hollows of my hipbones, my cock was once again hard and leaking against my abdomen. I moaned as Orlando skirted it with his oil-slick palms, straining in frustration when he lifted his hands at last.

'Orlando,' I pleaded, but my dark angel shook his head inexorably. 'Not yet, love,' he admonished me with a smile. Removing the larger stones from my torso but leaving the smaller ones between my fingers and toes, he urged me to roll over onto my stomach. The finely-spun cotton of the sheets rubbed stimulatingly against my stiffened cock as I settled uneasily against the cushions. I turned my head at the sound of rustling behind me, to see Orlando stripping off his slacks before kneeling to straddle my hips. I pushed up against him, only to have him swat me down reprovingly. 'I said behave yourself,' he scolded, reaching for another handful of oil.

If anything, Orlando paid even more attention to my back and shoulders, massaging them firmly before placing stones against each shoulder-blade, inside my elbows and knees, down my spine and across the small of my back. Each languid stroke, rather than relaxing me, was beginning to arouse me unbearably. I hitched my hips against the bed sheets, moaning softly at the friction against my aching cock. When Orlando's strokes reached the top of my thighs and began kneading my buttocks, I could no longer restrain the groan his touch wrenched from my lips.

'Please, baby,' I begged him, thrusting up into his touch. 'Need you now, please…'

Orlando moved to kneel between my legs and lowered his head to kiss me hungrily. 'Do you trust me?' he broke off to whisper sensuously into my ear.

'Yes,' I hissed in response, knowing it was the truth. Following Orlando's lead in our lovemaking had resulted in some mind-blowing experiences for us both. Until now, my dark-haired beauty had always preferred to be taken, but I had high hopes that this might be the day he was ready to change that. I arched against him, pressing myself against his own rigid arousal. 'Anything you want, baby, always…'

Claiming one more passionate kiss, Orlando knelt up again and began to stroke his hands tantalizingly over my backside. Spreading the cheeks gently, he trailed alluring fingers up and down the cleft between them until I was undulating beneath him. An oiled fingertip circled my entrance enticingly, pressing teasingly against it as I clenched and released involuntarily. I gasped with pleasure as the tip entered me at last, only to slide away immediately, then repeat the motion again and again, until I was wild with the need for more. Suddenly, something warm and hard and wider than Orlando's fingertip slipped within me. It felt like he had slid one of his hot stones inside me. It felt fucking incredible.

'What the fuck?' I gasped, straining to lift my head and see what Orlando was doing. He raised his hands to show me a strand of smooth, marble beads, each about an inch around, threaded and knotted onto a silky cord. 'These are love beads', he told me, his dark eyes smoldering with desire. He slowly slipped another stone into my channel until it clicked against the first. 'Can you take all of them for me, lover?' he crooned seductively.

I moaned inarticulately as Orlando slid another oiled bead past my trembling entrance. The motion pressed the first stone deep enough to brush against the bundle of nerves within me. I cried out in pleasure at the exquisite sensation. Orlando continued to slide the stones slowly inside me, the rhythmic stretch and release of my opening, the growing feeling of fullness, the erratic press of the beads against my prostate building my arousal to levels I'd never felt before. Each time I was sure I couldn't take any more, Orlando pressed another stone inside me. He held my hips firmly to keep me from thrusting my cock against the slick-smooth sheets. 'Not yet, love, you're doing so well,' he praised me, 'just a few more, you can take them all…'

As he slipped the last bead past my straining muscle, Orlando bent forward to lap soothingly over my overstretched entrance with his wet tongue. I bucked back insistently against his mouth, crying out deliriously as he thrust his tongue inside me, stirring the beads into motion against my pleasure center. I rocked my hips wantonly, seeking relief. The sheets beneath me were so wet I'd have sworn I'd already come, but that my balls were still rock-hard and aching. 'Fuck, baby, please, no more, oh god, please…' I babbled, writhing wildly.

Orlando clenched his teeth around the end of the silken cord and slowly pulled the last bead back out. I groaned as he thrust his tongue inside me again, alternating between removing the stones and stirring the remaining beads within me until I was trembling uncontrollably. The sense of emptiness as he slid out the final bead was so strong that I physically ached. As I gasped to find the breath to speak, I recognized at last the feeling that had haunted my last three months. Emptiness. I was empty without Orlando in my life.

Dropping the cord of beads to the floor, Orlando slid up my body to kiss me passionately. 'Can I make love to you, Viggo?' he whispered against my lips.

'Love…me…' I gasped, panting with need. Stones flew heedlessly as Orlando flipped me onto my back. I pulled my knees up to my chest, reaching out to clutch for him. Orlando pulled me forward onto his thighs and slid deep inside me with one smooth stroke. I pushed my heels into his back, urging him deeper as I rocked against him wildly. Leaning forward to thrust his tongue down my throat, Orlando grasped my hips and pumped fiercely. I was so sensitized that I came almost immediately, painting both our chests with the force of my release. Orlando threw his head back and shouted my name as he convulsed against me in ecstasy.

We both collapsed back against the massage table in exhaustion, totally spent. Our breathing slowly quieted as our hearts settled back into stable rhythms. Orlando nuzzled his cheek against my chest like a kitten begging to be petted. 'I wish you didn't have to leave again so soon,' he whispered sadly.

'Come back with me,' I offered impulsively, before I could censor myself. 'Let that hot-shot assistant you hired take over here for a while.'

'Elijah is ready for more responsibility,' he mused. 'It would give him a chance to show what he can do…' He lifted his head and eyed me consideringly. 'So I'd be there as what - your personal masseuse?'

'If that's what makes you comfortable,' I said. 'But as soon as they see us together, it'll be obvious to everyone that I'm in love with you.'

I may spend the rest of my life trying to rekindle the light that shone from Orlando's eyes at that moment. He cradled my head in his hands and kissed me deeply, lingeringly. 'I've loved you since our first time together,' he admitted shyly. 'I didn't know what a famous actor like you would see in me.'

'I'm not a famous actor, Orlando,' I protested. 'I'm just a guy doing a job, like anybody else. A guy who happens to love you very much. If you come with me, you'll get to see how un-glamorous acting really is. But it will be a lot easier for me to take if I have you by my side.'

'At least I can make sure you take better care of yourself,' he sighed. 'And who knows? Maybe some casting agent will discover me, and I can be the next Brad Pitt! We can make blockbuster movies together!'

We both laughed at our innocent daydreams. When you're in love, anything seems possible.

Read Story #3 in the Salon Series Wax Off