About Toy Box: Beads

by Lee Benoit, S. Blaise, and Syd McGinley
42 pages / 15000 words
ISBN-13: 978-1-60370-691-9
ISBN-10: 1-60370-630-691-7
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc

Beads as a sex toy? Absolutely. They can be hotter than hot, and the three stories in this toy box prove it. First, Paulo and Preston are back in Lee Benoit's Adaptation. Paulo worries that Preston is no longer interested in topping him. He goes to Preston's best friend Tasim for advice, but can Tasim help Paulo figure out what's wrong or are Paulo and Preston on their way out?

In An Innocent Misunderstanding by S. Blaise, relative innocent Stephen lets himself into his boyfriend Ray's apartment one afternoon to find a string of rubber beads with a note reading "I'm sure you can find something to do with this." Stephen figures the beads are some sort of decoration, so when Ray comes home, they're both in for a bit of a surprise!

Finally, Syd McGinley brings us Ain't Misbehavin'. Rinnie and Tommy are living with Dr. Fell's mentor, Dr. Pol Rønne. When Tommy takes too long getting ready to go home after a drag show, he and Rinnie have to put on a show of their own for Pol using Tommy's mardi gras beads in a most unusual way.

Sample

An Innocent Misunderstanding
by S. Blaise

Stephen let himself into his boyfriend’s apartment, humming to alleviate the silence permeating the place. Ray was still at work, but he’d given Stephen a key, something Stephen was still incredibly pleased about. He could go over after his classes were finished and hang out until Ray got home. Then they’d have dinner and watch TV in the evening -- or not. Stephen smiled, blushing, when he thought about what they’d do instead, the times he’d stay the night.

He’d been a little uncertain about the relationship at first. Other friends he’d made had warned him about Ray’s ‘reputation’ and he’d been a barely out of the closet virgin when they’d met, so he’d been sure Ray would get bored of him quickly. But they’d been going out for nearly three months and things seemed to be going well. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been interested in sex or dating before, he’d just never had the time. He’d worked hard for most of his life, at school to make sure he did well enough to get into a good college and at a part time job to help his mother financially. Even though he was away from home now, at university thanks to a scholarship, he kept on working hard and sent money back whenever he could.

He dropped his bag on the floor next to his shoes and went to get a drink from the kitchen, smiling at the picture stuck to the fridge. Him and Ray, on their first weekend trip away together. He’d just brushed his strawberry blond hair back from his face, which had a huge lightbulb grin on it. His cheeks were ruddy from the cold, looking more so against his cream sweatshirt and light jacket. Ray’s raven hair, pale mahogany skin, and darker clothes were a direct contrast, but they both had brown eyes. His faced the camera, sparkling; Ray’s were looking warmly at him. There was a gentle smile on his boyfriend’s lips. The canopy of leaves stretching above them provided a vibrancy of hues ranging from golden yellows to luscious reds, the Fall colors showing off to their fullest.

Stephen’s gaze fell on something lying on the polished granite counter with a note next to it. It was a little strange looking; he picked it up. It was made of plastic, not very big, colored a gentle aqua tone that got paler towards the end of it. It was made up of six round spheres of graduating sizes, the biggest a little larger than a shooter marble, the smallest about twice the size of a ball bearing. They were connected with short pieces of thin, plastic tubing, with a ring coming out of the largest one. He wondered what it was for, and why Ray had it in his kitchen. Some sort of decoration perhaps? It looked like it could be one of those household fripperies girls and interior designers seemed to like, which looked nice, but ultimately served no purpose. Like those dried twigs spray-painted gold and put in vases. His mom had always been watching those design shows and reading various magazines, trying to get ideas to make their small apartment look more chic. He remembered the note and picked it up, hoping it held some clue. He rolled his eyes as he tried to decipher Ray’s hurried scrawl.

Hey Ste, I’m sure you can find something to do with this, if you use your imagination a little. I’ll be home soon after you read this to find out. See you soon. Ray.

Stephen grinned. Oh, so that was it! He’d been right, it was some sort of decoration and Ray didn’t know where to put it; he needed Stephen’s help. He wondered, briefly, what Ray was doing with this sort of thing. It didn’t seem like something he would buy himself. Maybe he’d gotten it as a present from one of his female friends or something. Stephen would have to make a point to ask Ray later, but for now he had to find a good place for the thing before Ray arrived. It had the ring at the top, so obviously it was for hanging up or attaching to something, but it looked a little small to put on the wall by itself. He started to walk around, looking critically at the apartment.

It was a fairly simple apartment, mostly open plan and tastefully decorated. Doors led to the bedroom, the bathroom and a hall closet, with the kitchen, living room and dining room being defined by the furniture placed in the various spaces rather than by walls and a door. A small windowed nook held a desk with a computer on it and a combination printer/fax/scanner/copier underneath. The walls were mostly bare, with a few large panoramas of landscapes and cityscapes hanging on them. There were few personal pictures, apart from the one of them on the fridge, but he knew Ray had his reasons for that. The living room furniture was comfortable: squashy armchairs and a sofa, upholstered in a velvety material in a burnished dark steel shade. On the back of the sofa was a fluffy cream throw, which was echoed in the color of the dining room seat covers. He’d noticed Ray seemed to like silver and grey tones; the aqua of the decoration would work well with the other items in the main living area, if Stephen could figure out where to put it.

He ruled out the glass coffee and dining tables straight away; this didn’t seem like something to put on a table. He tried placing it horizontally under a picture, which didn’t look too bad, but he thought it might be strange having it under just one of the pictures and not any others. It might have worked hanging up in the window, but he’d need one of the little suction cup things for that and he didn’t think Ray had any in the apartment. He didn’t have time to go buy one, either. There was a round clock on the wall near the desk, its rim painted silver. He tried hanging it under that. That looked pretty good. He’d keep trying other spots, but that was a definite maybe.

He glanced at the door to Ray’s bedroom. It was becoming just as familiar to him as his own room in the dorms and was definitely more comfortable, but he still wasn’t certain about going in there when its occupant wasn’t home. He didn’t want Ray to think he was invading the guy’s privacy or anything. Although he was pretty sure Ray wouldn’t mind finding him in the bedroom, especially if he was in bed, naked. He blushed, biting his lip at the idea. But he couldn’t be thinking things like that, not yet anyway. He glanced at the clock. He didn’t have long; he wanted to get the thing in place before Ray got home, as a surprise for him. Ah-ha! He’d another idea of where it could go.