"Hey, if you guys got company, I should go," Jake said.

Orlando tightened his arms around the other man. "What have you got against cuddling?"

Jake smiled. "With you? Nada. You must be the world's champion cuddler, but …"

"Is it a big but?"

Jake chuckled. "Is it possible to be serious with you?"

"I bloody well hope not," Orlando said firmly, running his fingers lightly across Jake's pecs.

Jake shivered, his eyes closing halfway. "Are you going to tell me what's going on here?"

"You're too smart, Jakey. I say that to Viggo all the time. When you're too smart, you don't get as many nice surprises, 'cause you've got everything figured out."

"You're very wise," Jake answered.

Jake didn't see Orlando's pleased _expression, but he could feel the glow of Orlando's affection like a banked fireplace. The thought drifted through his mind that Orlando's arms wouldn't be a bad place to spend the rest of his life. If only he didn't long for someone more … Jake's head came up at the warm rumble of a baritone voice down the hall.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"Jake …" Orlando let Jake up so he could meet his eyes. "I've been bad. Viggo already scolded me, but you deserve your chance to be outraged, too. I know that matchmaking is a dangerous thing, meddling with people's hearts as Vig calls it, but I really felt this was right. I hope you won't hate me forever, but I know the perfect man for you."

Jake's mouth fell open. "You've got to be kidding."

"I'm sorry," Orlando bit his lip.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Am I supposed to be able to stay mad at that face?"

Orlando gave him the wistful eyes again.

"Easy, Killer," Jake said. "I'm just a kid, remember? Who is this guy?"

"The best man in the world right after Viggo," Orlando said promptly.

"High praise indeed. What makes him perfect for me?"

"Well, he's … he's just perfect. So why wouldn't he be perfect for you?"

Jake frowned. "Your logic is flawless and yet …"

Orlando reached out and tousled Jake's crisp hair. "When you say things like that, you remind me so much of Viggo. He loves to tease me. Look, I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but when it comes to the heart, I'm Alfred Einstein."

"Albert," Jake said automatically.

Orlando cocked an eyebrow, tilting his head quizzically.

"Oops," Jake said. "I really have to learn to let that stuff go."

Orlando lifted his hands palm-up and made seesawing motions. "On this side is you being right. On this side is my feelings being hurt. Ask yourself how important it is. You know, being right can be as much of an addiction as drugs, coffee, or sex."

"Surely not sex," Jake said in an exaggerated tone of shock.

"Which brings me neatly back to what's going on here," Orlando said, sliding his legs over the side of the bed.

He reached for his shirt and Jake snatched it up to hand to him. Orlando gave Jake one of his sweetest smiles as he slipped into the silk garment. Jake smiled back automatically, already a little in love with this impossibly beautiful and unaffected man. Orlando lifted Jake's chin on his fingers and looked into his eyes.

"You're so ready," Orlando said almost reverently. "I just don't want to see you go down the same road I did. When I met Viggo, I was hardly innocent. By the time I left Canterbury, I'd shagged every available female in the county."

"I don't doubt it," Jake said. "You're like catnip to women."

"Catnip. I like that. Where was I? Oh yeah … When I met Viggo, I knew. I absolutely knew, one hundred per cent, no doubt about it that he was The One. I knew it; you understand? But I also wanted this big Hollywood career, so I got a sharp agent and did what she told me. I told myself that I was putting away childish things when I said goodbye to Viggo. It was time to be a man. So I got a sharp girlfriend and …"

"Hang on," Jake said. "Sharp girlfriend? Who are you talking about? I only ever saw pictures of you with Kate Bosworth."

"Well yeah. My agent said I needed a blonde starlet on my arm, so we picked Kate. Anyway, I had this amazing A-list career, but I was miserable, so miserable I couldn't make anyone around me happy. It got bad. I slept with anyone on set that would go to bed with me."

"Don't imagine you had many refusals."

"One or two, but the point is, someone stepped in and talked sense to me. And to Viggo, who had just about had a bellyful of me by this time. Sean reminded us how much we loved each other, and of course, he was right."

"Sean?"

"Sean Bean."

"You're fixing me up with Sean Bean?"

"I'd like you to meet him."

"This is weird."

"As weird as having a threesome with us?"

"Okay, you got me there, but give me a break. I'm barely twenty-five with the normal sex drive of a guy my age. After watching the two of you, I could've banged the fireplace. I was going to go and pull it in the car when Viggo called me back. Man, that voice of his. Is there any way to resist it?"

"If there is, I haven't found it. Jake, I know you're not me, but in a way you are, you know? Sean could be your Viggo, if you just give him a chance."

"What did you tell him about me?"

"Nothing. He doesn't know you're here yet. He thinks he's here for fun and games."

"So Sean is the special friend?"

"Yeah," Orlando said, and the one syllable spoke volumes.

Jake picked at the sheet that covered his lower half. "You've … slept with him?"

"And Viggo," Orlando said. "Me and Viggo are a team. We always work together."

Jake nodded. "How many guys have you invited to … play?"

"Two."

"Including me?"

"Including you."

"I don't know what to say. Would you think I was weird if I told this all feels, um, holy to me? Or maybe sacred is the word I'm looking for."

"Of course you're not weird," Orlando stroked Jake's cheek. "That's exactly how you should feel about making love. This is one of the greatest gifts humans can give one another and they squander their bodies so cheaply. I was like that, but Sean made me see that I wasn't worthless, that, in fact, to some people, I was rather precious."

"No comment."

"Will you meet him?"

"What does that entail? No pun intended."

"Whatever you want it to. Do you still want to know what it feels like to bottom?"

Jake's tongue flicked over his lips. "Yeah, I do. The scenes I did with Heath stirred something, and I've got to know if … if what I feel is real, or it's just a little bit of Jack hanging on."

"If you can't have your first choice," Orlando said. "You couldn't ask for a better partner than Sean, except …"

"Except Viggo," Jake finished for him. "Okay, I'm obviously feeling a little daffy this evening. Let's meet Sean."

The Series continues with Beautitude: Confirmation