Chapter 1

The lady of the house, attractive, tall, and nicely put together, was practically beaming as she opened the door. “Benjamin, thank you so much for finding time for me in your busy schedule.”

“Oh, it’s no bother, Mrs. Brothers. You know I’m always happy to do what I can.”

“Nevertheless dear, it’s good of you to come on such short notice. I know it’s not my usual day, but as you know, Mr. Brothers and I are leaving for London for several weeks stay, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing you before we left. Please come in.”

Seventeen-year-old Benny followed the elegant forty-something woman through the skylighted foyer, up the grand, sweeping staircase and down a broad, thickly carpeted hallway toward the master bedroom. The familiar suite looked like something out of a movie. There was a large elevated area along one wall, in the middle of which stood a massive bed complete with a blood-red velvet-draped canopy. As the handsome teenager hung his jacket on the back of a richly upholstered chair and pulled his sweatshirt over his head, Dianna Brothers stepped out of her fashionable mules and let her sheer blue peignoir slide from her shoulders and drop to the floor. Then, unable to contain her excitement for another second, she leapt onto the bed and crawled unceremoniously to the middle, flopping onto her back in a most unladylike fashion. A big smile split her pretty face, and her aristocratic heart was already pounding in anticipation as she spread her legs wide and held out her arms to receive the boy’s supremely satisfying attentions.

Benny, as always, lived up to her expectations. And then some!

An hour later, they repeated their standard ritual: Mrs. Brothers asking if she could offer him a little something for his time and trouble, Benny politely refusing, and she smiling as she tucked a hundred-dollar bill into the back pocket of his jeans in spite of his protestations. It would be added to the other tokens of gratitude that had been pressed upon him over the past three and a half years.

This would be the last time they’d ever enjoy each other’s bodies.

Benjamin (Benny) Edward Selkirk is an anomaly. In the opinion of just about everyone who has ever known him, he’s the perfect child. Well actually, now that he’s seventeen and soon to graduate from high school, it’s not accurate to call him a child any more. The reason he’s held in such high regard is that he is, and always has been, possessed of a most unusual quality. It seems that from the moment you meet him, you’re almost instantly infatuated, and want nothing more than to take him into your arms and immerse yourself in his captivating aura.

Much of his appeal is that he’s so uncommonly selfless. He finds it difficult to say “No” to any reasonable request. If it weren’t for his superior intellect and sound common sense, he might be quite easily and cruelly taken advantage of. Cynics may deny the existence of altruism, but Benny is a person who feels an irresistible compulsion to make the lives of those around him better, more pleasant and fulfilled in whatever small way he can. You might even say it’s his mission in life. The boy is imminently and infectiously lovable.

It’s nothing he does consciously, mind you; there’s no pretense on his part. He doesn’t openly flirt or act in any way fawning or ingratiating. To the contrary, his affect is one of kindness and humility, almost to a fault. The effect he has on people seems to be the result of some innate quality that somehow ensnares one’s affections like a mega-dose of pheromones. Women in particular are instantly attracted to him, and feel at the most primitive level a need to be close to him in the worst (or best) way, but even men who have never shown any homosexual inclinations find it difficult to keep their hands off him.

Benny has always been this way. When he was a baby in diapers, there were arguments over who would get to hold him. It’s probably a very good thing he’s an only child, because any siblings would have been relegated to second best status and would have most certainly felt neglected.

He hardly ever fussed and cried as an infant. In fact, he was so mild in temperament, so consistently contented, that when his mother described his behavior to her pediatrician, it was recommended that Benny be evaluated for some possible mental or developmental aberration. An intense series of examinations showed only that the child was, by all appearances, strong, healthy, very bright, psychologically sound and physically normal in every way.

Well, in almost every way; two exceptions being that, psychologically, he didn’t seem to have the usual childish bent for being demanding and irritable, and physically, at birth, his penis was nearly an inch and a half long. That never failed to evoke stares from anyone who saw him naked for the first time. His mother was a little concerned about that peculiarity, but his father was immensely proud, even though from all appearances, those genes didn’t derive from his side of the family.

The confluence of genetic material that became Benjamin Selkirk was rare on many levels.

But little Benny’s unusually pleasant qualities weren’t without some negative consequences. More than once as a toddler, he got bonked on his noggin with a toy by playmates feeling resentful because their mamas were fawning over Benny instead of them. He took it in stride, though. Of course, he’d cry for a bit until it stopped hurting, but then he’d forget the whole thing and go back to playing with his assailant as if nothing had happened. Naturally, grown-ups would rush to sweep him up into their arms to comfort him while glaring at the aggressor as if he or she were the spawn of the devil.

In the looks department, he probably wouldn’t have won any beautiful baby contests. Not that he was homely or anything; he wasn’t at all, but he didn’t have those striking, cherubic good looks like the little darlings one sees in baby and parenting magazines. (Isn’t it interesting how so many of them grow up looking like toads?) No, when you first looked a Benny, you’d probably think “cute kid” and leave it at that. But once you’d interacted with him in any way, you were hooked.

You’d probably think a kid with so much going for him would have grown up being spoiled rotten to the core, wouldn’t you? But he didn’t. No doubt he got more than his fair share of attention, but to this day he remains mild-mannered, friendly and quietly unassuming. If you were to venture a guess as to what the future held for Benny, his talent for instantly gaining one’s trust and love would suggest he might go far in the world of politics, except for one quality that is totally antithetical to politicians and politics; there is nothing disingenuous about Benny. He always says exactly what’s on his mind or he says nothing at all. If he lies, it is the silent lie, withholding comment for the sole purpose of sparing someone’s feelings.

While he’s never been a calculating person, he is quick to see the lay of the land. For instance, all through school, from kindergarten on, he understood it was best not to raise his hand too often or flaunt his considerably above average intelligence. His teachers were already strongly inclined to show favoritism toward him, making him an easy target for the ‘teacher’s pet’ epithet. While he was and is generally liked, even admired by his classmates, children are children after all and inclined to act out their frustrations and jealousies in childish ways. Benny’s self-imposed restraint has always served him well.