Shivers

by Remmy Duchene

  “I’m sorry. This is a straight club, remember? How should I have known?”

  “He was hot though—and he bought me a drink and was going to ask me to dance until he saw you. Couldn’t you have waited a few more minutes?”

  “Yo, sorry, bro. Like I said, I didn’t think you would pick someone up here. I’ll go somewhere else while you find him and talk to him, okay?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “Well, obviously it does matter, because you have this look in your eyes. I know it’s been a while…”

  “Kofi…” Carter shook his head.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Carter sighed. Perhaps it was the fact he hadn’t been laid in so long he was sure his body was overheating on him. The good-looking man who had bought him a drink had done something wonderful to his whole being, and that irritated Carter. It all boiled down to one thing—it wasn’t really Kofi’s fault. Then again, he was so damned rusty when it came to men and their ways that he probably would have fucked it up before he could blink. Still, he looked back to where he had been standing with Ciro and couldn’t help feeling a bit of loss at the thought Ciro was so beautiful and interested. He shook his head and shrugged.

  “It’s all right.” Carter sighed and shook his head. “It wasn’t like we were going to get married or anything. What’s up?”

  “Just wanted to see if you wanted to get outta here,” Kofi said. He didn’t look convinced with Carter’s surrender.

  “You wanna leave? I didn’t even see you dance with that many girls.” Carter glanced around, hoping to see Ciro again but the lighting in the club wasn’t conducive for a search mission. In fact, the flashing lights were beginning to give him a migraine.

  “Not feeling it tonight,” Kofi replied. “Seriously, you want to leave? If you want to stay, I can catch a cab home.”

  “No. No… Might as well go home.”

  For most of the ride home, neither man spoke. After a while, it seemed Kofi couldn’t take the silence anymore. “I really am sorry, you know? I wasn’t trying to break up your flirtation or anything. Damn, am I that out of practice that I can’t tell when two people are flirting?”

  “I said it’s all right, Kofi. Just let it go. You’re putting too much thought into this.”

  “Then why are you still so sullen?”

  “I’m not sullen,” Carter replied. He checked the mirrors before switching lanes. “I’m just sad. For the first time in almost three years, a man was interested in me and I could actually show some interest back, then I look away for a second and he’s gone. I just feel as though I don’t have it anymore, you know?”

  “Wait, you think you’re not desirable? Is that what this is about?”

  “Like I said, it’s not that big of a deal. I don’t even know if it makes sense in my own damn head. Forget about it.”

  “No. I’m not going to forget about it. How can you think you’re not desirable?”

  Carter said nothing. He really didn’t feel that comfortable yet having these kinds of conversations with his brother. A part of him still knew a little bit of Kofi wasn’t copacetic with the whole homosexual deal, so he bit his lip and turned left onto Kofi’s street.

  “Dude, this is a really awkward conversation to have with my brother.”

  “Carter.”

  “Leave it alone, Kofi. Please.”

  “Fine…but we’re picking this up later.”

  Carter didn’t doubt they would. Kofi was always the one to push the issue when it came to conflicts between them—though rare. He was not looking forward to part two of that conversation. They stopped in front of Kofi’s house but Carter didn’t feel like going inside. He just wanted to go home. He just wanted to be alone.

  Shifting the car in park, he relaxed in the seat, hands by his sides and stared over at his brother who looked straight ahead.

  “Can I ask you something?” Kofi questioned.

  “Sure.”

  Kofi nodded, turning his attention to Carter. The look on his face told Carter something was wrong.

  “How—how did you know you were gay?”

  Carter tilted his head. “Kofi…”

  “It’s just a question.”

  Carter licked his lips and thought about the question for a bit. Then he just shrugged. “I don’t know. I supposed I always knew. When I looked at women, I appreciated their shape and the softness of their skin. I thought they were—are—beautiful. But when I looked at a man I saw sexy and yearned to be touched… It’s not easy to explain.”

  “Oh.”

  “Why?”

  “Nothing,” Kofi replied and pushed from the car.

  “Kofi.” Carter stepped from the vehicle and rested his hand on the roof. “Now this is a conversation we’ll be picking up later.”

  Kofi merely lifted a hand in the air but didn’t stop to answer. He hunched his back like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Carter wasn’t sure why. He knew Kofi wasn’t gay—there was no way he could be. When Carter came out, Kofi didn’t take it well. Maybe it was because Kofi had always been into women, beautiful, educated, legs-for-days kind of women so he expected Carter to be as well. Whatever the reason, Carter knew Kofi wasn’t at all pleased.

  After his brother had closed the front door, Carter fell into the front seat again and headed to his place. The moment he was through the door, he stripped off his dress shirt. He placed it over the back of a chair—something that would cause his mother to cringe if she ever saw it—then undid his belt. He pulled it from the loops of his pants, hurled it to the chair and trailed a hand over his now tightening nipples. Each time he thought of the stranger, his body reacted in ways he’d never felt before.

  “This is nuts,” he muttered.

  They’d only spoke for a minute. Still, Carter could remember how hard the man’s chest was under his hand. The moment he’d touched Ciro, his pecs had twitched beautifully against Carter’s hand. He couldn’t believe the way he’d reached in, pressing into this man he hadn’t known more than a few seconds. But there was something so right about it, especially when he’d felt Ciro’s heart race against his fingers.

  Ciro had smelled of sandalwood and leather and just the memory of those aromas sent images of being bound and helpless beneath Ciro’s mouth, tongue and fingers flying through his mind. The scary part was those images did not make him flinch or feel ashamed. Instead, they sent his body into overdrive. His nipples tightened further with every brush of the air against them. He pulled them between his thumbs and forefinger, squeezing then pinching. Releasing them, he took a breath and flicked the tight, tender buds with his nails.

  “Oh, damn.” He sighed.

  A groan left his lips when the wind passed over his aroused flesh, leaving him weak in the knees. Somehow, Carter’s brain told his feet to move and they obeyed, carrying him up the stairs to his bedroom where he switched on the radio. Love songs floating from the speakers caused him to frown deeply. He wanted something to take his mind off the bulge in his pants and the hammering of his heart. But no such luck, because Kofi had touched his damned presets again. Sighing, he allowed Shawn Desman to continue singing the song Shiver.

  Meanwhile, everything about Ciro filled his thoughts, from his black hair and mysterious silver-gray eyes, to his large shoulders, which Carter wanted to brace his legs on while taking Ciro deep within his body. Everything about Ciro gave off an aura of raw sexuality. It was hard to find a man like that, and Carter couldn’t believe his crummy luck. He stared down at his bed. Suddenly he wasn’t tired and didn’t want to crawl between those sheets alone again. It was either go to bed or drive himself crazy thinking about some stranger he’d never see again.

  Lying back in his bed, he trailed a hand over his hard nipples, across his chest then down his abs. When he circled his cock with his fingers, he arched his back, moaning, and stroking ever so slightly. He licked his lips, squeezing harder, tugging and twisting his wrist. The curtains blew inward, send
ing a slight gust of wind into the room. He wanted to stop, to get dressed and ignore the burning sensation in his body, but he couldn’t. The sensations flowing through him were too beautiful. He’d gone without the touch of a man, even his own caress, for too long.

  He imagined Ciro over him, touching and tasting him. He was using his full lips to drive Carter mad, and Carter welcomed it. It was good to feel something carnal again, great to know he hadn’t forgotten what it was like to allow his body access to pleasure. All Carter could do was release his cock and give over to the sweet feeling of delicious pleasure threatening to drown him.

  The wind picked up slightly, howling like a song through his room, flowing over his skin like a lover, caressing him softly. It left a hint of goosebumps over his flesh, making him shiver slightly. There was nothing better than the remnants of a tremble flowing slowly down Carter’s spine, through his veins, all the way down to the very tips of his toes.

  “Oh, damn…”

  Carter glanced at his dick. It was twitching and growing. He’d never experienced anything like it. His cock danced before his gaze, daring him to do something. Writhing, he slipped back down and the urge to yell tore through him. He bit against his fist, trying to stifle the feeling. Instead, it only grew stronger. The fire was so intense that without touching himself, his dick erupted, sending spurts of white liquid flying through the air. A number of shouts, foreign to his ears, ripped from his throat repeatedly. Carter’s toes curled his eyes rolled back in his head and every part of his being trembled with the force of his beautiful undoing. The warmth of his climax reached his chest and abs. As his body burned sweetly from the drops of cum, Carter could hear Ciro’s voice, low and husky, carried to him on the wind.

  “That’s a good boy…”

  Carter lay staring at the ceiling, chest heaving. Having an orgasm while thinking of a man he’d only met for a few seconds was new to him. He didn’t feel guilty about it—only confused. It made no sense. Why would he do that? Maybe he was thinking about Ciro too much—putting too much thought into it. The simple explanation was that he hadn’t had sex in years and his body was finally telling him to go fuck himself.

  Yes, that had to be it. There was no other possible reason for the way he’d just reacted and what he’d done.

  He wanted to clean up, but his limbs were too weak to move. It would have to wait.

  Chapter Five

  Ciro burst into his house and pushed out of his jacket. His chest burned from breathing rapidly, and he crashed into a table. A blue vase older than time itself smashed onto the ground, but Ciro didn’t care. His body was on fire and nothing he did would stop it. He pressed his back against the wall as someone tried holding onto him. He pushed them away and staggered into the kitchen. His body shimmered out of view a few times before slamming painfully into the counter. That kept him in the room, at least for the moment.

  “Ciro,” Sisqo hollered. “Are you all right? Were you attacked?”

  “No—water…”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Moments later, a cool glass was shoved into Ciro’s hand and he downed the contents before handing it back. “More.”

  After his third glass of water, Ciro braced his back to the counter and forced himself to stand in this time and space. His body kept shimmering in and out of existence.

  “Ciro, focus. You can’t keep phasing out like this. It’s going to drain you,” Sisqo called, smacking Ciro hard across the face. “Come on. Look at me—look…at…me.”

  He pressed his eyes closed and tried to regain control of his body. Soon, he was breathing somewhat regularly again. “I did something…all I had to do was walk away, but I could not. Now, I have crossed that line.”

  “What did you do?” Sisqo questioned. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  “He was just so damn sexy and I wanted him so desperately. I never felt anything like that before—such raw, pure need.”

  “You mated with a human? Cee, you’ve done that for years—decades. What’s so different about this one? What did you do?”

  Lifting his eyes to look at his friend, Ciro groaned and shook his head. The truth was that the moment he’d sensed Carter Olabasu, he should have run the other way. He should have downed his drink and left the ground that Carter was on, but he just hadn’t been able to leave. His scent, the thought of his beautiful dark skin, those large, kissable lips and the wide, manly shoulders, left Ciro feeling like a teenager again. “I can’t…”

  “No, you’re not going to start this conversation and then stop part way. What did you do?”

  Ciro walked off with Sisqo calling after him, but he didn’t stop until he made it to his bedroom. He locked the door behind him and flopped back on the bed. As he stared at the ceiling, the room spun slightly around him. Gripping the sheets, he closed his eyes and waited.

  This too shall pass.

  This has to pass.

  Shit, what have I done?

  Yet, he wondered about Carter. He couldn’t seem to stop his mind from going there. What would he say if Ciro told him who he truly was? Would Carter run away or would he try to make things work between them? The sex would be tremendous. Ciro knew that for sure. Just one whiff of him and all Ciro wanted was to rip Carter’s clothes off, bend Carter over that bar and drive into him hard from behind. That primal feeling was something Aphrodite had warned him about many years ago.

  “Love? What is that?” Ciro had asked her.

  She’d shrugged while brushing her long, dark hair. “It is something we all should feel at some point in our lives. It is beauty and happiness and light.”

  “When do you know you’re in love?”

  “When you feel wild with the person—almost primal. Then you’ll know.”

  Ciro had shaken his head. “That makes no sense.”

  “It will,” Aphrodite had said, kissing his cheek then skipping from the room.

  Ciro frowned, wondering why that memory was so hard on him. He would love to be Carter’s man, to feel the way his body throbbed and pulsed while they had sex. But it wasn’t all about sex, it couldn’t be. There had to be more to all of it.

  As the night gave way to early morning, Ciro still hadn’t gotten any sleep. His eyes burned terribly. All he wanted to do was roll over and go back to dreamland, but he couldn’t even get that. The moment he closed his eyes again, something rippled inside his head and he frowned. His brother Ares was calling for him. There was an urgency in the summons that made Ciro groan. After pushing his frame off the bed, he grabbed his coat then climbed out of the window and disappeared.

  When he reappeared, he was on Olympus. Ciro strode into the room, with his jacket blowing about his ankles, and looked around. The regulars were there but he sought one in particular. During his quest, he stopped to have a conversation with Hades. The two were surprisingly close, since Hades didn’t particularly like anyone.

  “Have you seen Ares?” Ciro asked.

  “He is around here somewhere. I saw him when I entered, speaking with Poseidon.”

  “Poseidon is here? He rarely ever leaves the ocean.”

  Hades shrugged, a strange reaction for the God of the Underworld. “I do not know. I guess it is a family affair.”

  Ciro hugged him again and continued his search for his brother. He finally located the God of War in deep conversation with a woman he didn’t recognize.

  “Ares,” he greeted. “You rang?”

  The muscular man with flowing black hair and dangerous eyes whirled around and a smile broke across his face. Even though Hera was not pleased with Ciro’s existence, Ares and Hades always welcomed Ciro with open arms. Ciro waved and Ares excused himself from his conversation and walked over to Ciro.

  Ares patted Ciro on the shoulder then bowed his head slightly to meet Ciro’s eyes. “I meant to speak with you about this before,” Ares began, “but nothing here ever goes as planned. Then add the wars the people of this world seem to be bring against each other and that
leaves Adrestia and I super busy.”

  “It is okay. What’s wrong?”

  “I heard about your fight with Gala. I am sorry you had to kill him.”

  “So am I. He used to be a good Shiver. Then something happened and suddenly I did not recognize him anymore. It is uncertain what transpired.”

  “It had to be the power. The humans have a saying, ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’.”

  Ciro eyed his brother with a raised eyebrow. “I see. Anyway, he posed an unnecessary risk to Terra. Mother was beginning to get warnings from Gaia. How did things get so out of control? When did things get so out of control?”

  “I know not, brother. Perhaps it was while we were sleeping.”

  “Another human saying?”

  Ares smirked. “Something like that.”

  “I could not allow him to continue his needless destruction.” Ciro rubbed his eyes. “Damn, I have not gotten a wink of sleep.”

  “Well, in that case, I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but this has to be said. You and I need to have a discussion.”

  A small smile cracked Ciro’s lips. “Whenever you say that line, I know something is very wrong. What is the matter?”

  Ares turned toward the large gates leading to the Celestial Gardens dedicated to the fates. Ciro followed and once they were outside in the beautiful surrounds, Ares turned and spoke. “It is about Aerios.”

  A lump suddenly formed in Ciro’s throat. Whenever that name cropped up, it was always preceded by danger, doom that had been slowly simmering over the past four hundred years. From time to time, Aerios would pop up, cause some natural disaster then vanish before anyone could get close to him. Deep down, Ciro knew Aerios was baiting him, testing his resolve while showing Ciro how smart he was. It was a humbling thing to know someone was going to do something horrible yet he didn’t know when or how to stop it.

  Ciro swallowed and nodded numbly, waiting for the horror to be unveiled.