Chapter 3

Tanner undressed,then sat on the bed.He held Sandy between his long legs and nuzzledagainst his chest.Sandy let him unbutton his shirt,and felt his belly quiver in response.Besides Gil and the doctors,no one had seen him this way.

He kept his eyes on Tanner’s face.With a whisper of fabric,the shirt slipped off.He was waiting for revulsion but it didn’t show;he was waiting for the pity but Tanner’s face showed only a glow of desire.The scars—thick and lumpy—covered Sandy’s misshapen right hand and ran like a woman’s evening glove up nearly to his armpit.A few keloids spidered over his right shoulder and clavicle.Tanner’s hands glided over the dead tissue.“Can you feel that?”

“Just that it’s pressure.It’s not like real skin anymore.”

Tanner pushed Sandy back.“I wanna see you,all of you.Show me.”