Not Another Boy Band

by Z. Allora

  Daiki did so and then sat back, pressing close to Sage even though there was plenty of room.

  Chapter 7

  AFTER SEVERAL attempts, Daiki finally pushed his apartment key into the lock. Over the course of the taxi ride, he’d sobered, but now nervousness threatened to get the best of him. He let Sage in.

  “Nice place.”

  Sage stepped inside and moved over to the bookshelves filled with Daiki’s stories. Stories he’d love to act out with Sage.

  “It’s small, but it works as a studio and living space.”

  “Bigger than my apartment was in LA.” Sage glanced around the former living room turned manga studio at the monitors, keyboards, art equipment, and chairs scattered among the horseshoe-shaped desk area. “How many assistants do you have?”

  “Currently four, but I’m interviewing for a fifth.” Especially in light of recent developments, Daiki needed to get on that.

  Sage pointed toward the wall of manga again. “Are these all yours?”

  Pride at his accomplishments wound through Daiki. “Yeah.”

  “Wow. Floor-to-ceiling manga. May I have a look?”

  Daiki flicked on the light near the bookcases.

  Sage studied the shelves. He traced a finger over them as he muttered some of the titles out loud.

  What the heck was Daiki doing inviting Sage back to his place? He really was taking channeling one of his characters a bit too far. Daiki’s longing to be like some of his creations was more about his wanting to be that hidden part of himself. He wanted it to be seen and heard… by Sage.

  It wasn’t right that a man of twenty-seven was kissing his own hand to see what lips would feel like on skin. Practicing french kissing by moving his tongue around his own mouth so he’d have a better understanding of what his characters were feeling seemed wrong… especially when there was a gorgeous man standing in his studio who seemed ready, willing, and able.

  Sage pulled out one of the volumes that was quite graphic. As he skimmed the pages, a slow grin transformed him into pure temptation. He turned toward Daiki. “This is incredibly hot.”

  He pointed to a place in the story where the character’s bad decision would affect the rest of the manga. Everything had built to this point, and now the wrong move would—

  Maybe Daiki had always been too careful and tentative. Akihiro’s words echoed through him. “Some of the best stories are based on disasters.” Daiki knew full well if he were to act on his feelings….

  Think less and act more.

  But how could he have the skill to not only fuck Sage up against a wall but have him begging for more? This wasn’t a storyboard he had any experience drawing.

  He shouldn’t do this—he should think this out—he should…. But Sage was staring at him, clear-eyed and with an inviting lift of one eyebrow.

  The part of Daiki’s brain that manifested into his characters took over and promised he could live out his desire.

  Daiki spun Sage around, protected his head with his hand, and then slammed him against the bookcase.

  Sage’s “Oomph” turned into a soft moan.

  They were the same height, chest-to-chest so their bodies lined up—toe to toe, knee to knee, erection to erection, mouth to mouth.

  Daiki could almost taste the sweet cocktails on Sage’s breath. He stared into Sage’s warm eyes, which issued a delicious dare wrapped in an invitation.

  Sage hooked his fingers into Daiki’s belt loops and tugged him closer.

  Daiki arched for more and then wrapped a leg around Sage’s thigh, which made his erection slide over Sage’s bulge.

  This was it. Did he back away, or did Daiki act on every instinct that told him he should go for it?

  He cupped Sage’s handsome face in his hands and found there a longing that had always been echoing through him as well. He traced a thumb over Sage’s plump lips.

  Sage licked over Daiki’s thumb, erasing the lingering doubts of shouldn’t and bad idea.

  Daiki’s mouth crashed onto Sage’s. Lips parted and tongues collided in a wet, messy meeting. It was like nothing he had ever imagined.

  Excitement threatened to overwhelm him as joy surged in him. He wrapped his arms around Sage for stability and ran his hands up Sage’s back. Sage’s muscles and contours were firm.

  Sage pulled away and moaned as he unbuttoned Daiki’s shirt. Sliding a gentle hand underneath the T-shirt, he continued to study Daiki until his gaze felt like a physical touch.

  What did Daiki do now? He unwrapped his leg, but Sage held him snug against his arousal. Sage traced his hands over Daiki’s body, his torso. His lips glided along Daiki’s neck, sending spirals of need through Daiki.

  Daiki pressed his lips together, but bits of aroused need escaped in gasps. Heat built between them. He needed to get Sage closer but didn’t know what to do. “Please,” he begged, not really sure what he pleaded for other than more.

  Sage trailed his hands farther under Daiki’s shirt and caressed the bare skin of his stomach, then skimmed down, tracing the waistband of Daiki’s jeans.

  It was like Daiki’s carefully ordered colored pencils spilled out of their place all at once.

  Sage didn’t unbutton Daiki’s jeans, but his fingers teased up along Daiki’s ribs and circled Daiki’s nipples.

  Daiki hadn’t realized how sensitive they were. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the sensations of want and need roaring to the surface. Of course he’d drawn men having their nipples played with, but—

  “Oh!” Rocking into Sage, Daiki cried out when Sage pinched each tip as Daiki thrust his erection against Sage’s.

  “Look at me,” Sage demanded in a husky voice.

  Complying was easy. Daiki simply opened his eyes, but now he was trapped in Sage’s gaze once more. He swallowed past the impossible desire to stay right there, disconnected from everything and everyone except for Sage. Desiring to wrap himself around the man and not let go overpowered reason.

  Reality slipped away to the edges where it no longer mattered, allowing him to do what he wanted.

  Grabbing on to Sage tighter, he fused their mouths together as he walked backward toward his bedroom, pulling Sage along. His lips clung to Sage’s even as he knocked into a chair and then bumped into the doorframe. Finally, he maneuvered them into his bedroom. When the back of his knees hit the bed, he spun them so the bed was behind Sage.

  Sage drew his mouth away. “Should we—”

  Daiki kissed his “Yes, we definitely should” into Sage’s lips and with his trembling fingers managed to open Sage’s jeans. The material was tight, so Daiki went to his knees to tug them down, taking the black jockstrap to Sage’s ankles as well.

  Looking up at Sage, Daiki took a mind picture. Sage stood there flushed, with his shirt on, naked from the waist down. His erection jutted out from a neatly trimmed dark patch of hair. A clean fresh scent along with something Daiki could only describe as male made him ache.

  No censorship rules hid Sage’s shaft, so Daiki appreciated everything. The length of him, the veins that lined his shaft, and the small teardrop that escaped from the head were not erased as they were censored out in BL drawings. He refocused and stared up at Sage.

  “Can I?”

  Sage blinked and then gave him a jerky nod.

  Daiki wrapped a hand around Sage’s cut shaft. He was hard, but much warmer than he’d expected. How many times had he erased the droplet seeping from the end of an aroused shaft? He couldn’t resist, so he ran a finger over the tip.

  Sage groaned.

  He had caused that. Daiki repeated the motion.

  “Mm.” Sage shifted but let Daiki do as he pleased.

  Daiki saw the circumcision scar and dragged his wet finger across the bundle of nerves, making Sage gasp and give him a smile.

  “My last test of a few weeks ago came back with no issues. I’m on PrEP. So if you want to blow me, I’m not going to say no.”

  “PrEP?” Right, they needed to have a d
iscussion.

  “HIV preventive.” Sage supplied reality.

  He’d seen the billboards. Daiki took a deep breath and released the air over Sage’s shaft.

  Sage gave him a low-pitched groan that fed something deep inside Daiki. “Oh, you are a tease.”

  “Is that what I am?” Daiki asked seriously, but the look on Sage’s face suggested his honest question fell on the erotic side without meaning to again.

  Maybe being himself didn’t prevent Daiki from starring in his own BL fantasy. Plenty of uke virgins sucked semes… or maybe uke sucking uke didn’t matter as long as he got Sage in his mouth.

  Daiki stroked Sage slowly.

  Excitement warred with worry, which competed with affection and outright fear of rejection. He’d drawn these scenes thousands of times, but he’d never experienced the depth of emotion accompanying being on his knees for another man and wanting to be allowed to please him.

  He longed for the connection taking Sage into his mouth promised. He had written more than one oral-sex scene ending in heartbreak plots—he might even be drawing himself into one right now, but that didn’t stop him. Lust paled in comparison to the emotional and spiritual need to join with Sage… even if it was only temporary.

  Daiki had never done this, but Sage was about to be the recipient of years of research. Time to put theories to a practical test.

  “You don’t have—fuck!”

  Smiling, Daiki got a charge of power that soothed his ego when Sage reacted to his mouth. Following instinct, Daiki did exactly what he wanted. He licked Sage’s hardness and bobbed his mouth up and down.

  “Daiki, you look perfect with my cock in your mouth.” Sage wrapped a hand around the part that wasn’t in Daiki’s mouth and stroked himself.

  “Mm.” Grateful for Sage’s help, his words heating every part of Daiki, he still couldn’t look at Sage. How embarrassing that he enjoyed having him in his mouth so much. He shifted on his knees, but that only served to tease him, not give him more room in his jeans.

  Daiki redoubled his efforts. As he bobbed his mouth over Sage, his lips kept landing on Sage’s stroking fist. He lost himself in a world of giving and want.

  “I’m close… been a while.” Sage’s words sounded like they hurt coming out of his mouth.

  Excitement tripped through Daiki. He sucked to the best of his ability, needing to make Sage come.

  Stopping his fist, Sage asked, “Where?”

  Daiki’s mouth was full, so he pointed to his lips and kept sucking.

  “Fuck yes!” Sage started stroking himself again, and with the other hand, he held the back of Daiki’s head.

  The sexiness of that move almost made Daiki come. He moaned around Sage’s cock. Warm, salty liquid—cum—filled Daiki’s mouth.

  Moaning, Daiki swallowed. Some leaked out of the corners of his mouth and ran down his chin. He sucked steadily until Sage stopped coming. Then Daiki slowed and licked him clean.

  He swiped a hand over his chin and licked his lips.

  Sage groaned and collapsed on the bed.

  What now? Daiki wondered. Should he—

  Sage tugged on Daiki’s hand. “Come here.”

  Daiki didn’t resist. He crawled up the bed, but he couldn’t quite meet Sage’s gaze.

  How should Daiki act? Finally he’d done exactly what he wanted, but now what? He tried to think of what one of his bolder characters would do, but his imagination abandoned him, leaving him vulnerable and shy. His cock ached, throbbing for relief, but embarrassment tackled him, and he was baffled as to what he should do.

  Sage ran his fingers through Daiki’s hair. “That was incredible. Can I?”

  “What?” Daiki’s voice squeaked, mortifying him.

  In a quick move, Sage swung his leg over Daiki and kneeled above him, Sage’s body straddling his. Sage sneaked a hand down and rubbed the bulge in Daiki’s jeans.

  “Ah,” he moaned and thrust toward the attention.

  “I don’t want to embarrass you, but in terms of your history?” Sage’s raked his fingers through Daiki’s hair again, making him feel attended to.

  He didn’t know what to say.

  Continuing, Sage said, “Are you on PrEP? If not, I want to use a condom even for oral.”

  A condom? Oh…. Somehow Daiki admitted, “I’ve never been with anyone.”

  Something flashed through Sage’s eyes that Daiki would have identified as possessiveness and elation if he’d drawn one of his characters that way. “If you want to stop or want me to do something else, tell me.”

  Then Sage didn’t do anything more. He waited. What was he waiting for?

  Oh. Daiki gave him a nod of consent, but that didn’t seem to be enough, so he added, “Yes. I will.”

  Sage shrugged out of his shirt, and when he leaned to toss it, he displayed breathtakingly beautiful angel wings decorating his back.

  “Can I see?” He was harder than he’d ever been, but the artistic beauty of Sage’s tattoo demanded satisfaction first.

  Giving him a shy smile, Sage turned.

  “Did it hurt?”

  “Yeah, like fire spreading over my back.” He looked over his shoulder at Daiki. “You can touch if you want.”

  Daiki caressed the warm skin of Sage’s back. “The colors are so vivid. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple—it’s the rainbow.”

  “Angel wings in Pride colors.”

  “They’re gorgeous.” Tattoos were rare in Japan due to the stigma connecting them to the yakuza, but he’d happily skip public onsens—hot springs—if he could just…. Daiki sat up and ran his tongue across one wing and then the other.

  “Tasting the rainbow?” Sage laughed and turned around.

  Getting the full meaning, Daiki muttered, “It’s your visibility. Makes it clear this angel is on the rainbow.”

  “Mm.” Sage was in a flurry of undressing activity.

  Within a minute, Daiki’s shirt and T-shirt were off, and his pants and underwear followed. Sage undressed him with so much confidence, it mortified and yet excited Daiki. But being with someone who knew what they were doing was a turn-on.

  Daiki’s erection, freed from its confines, waved proudly, and the wet tip had started to emerge from his foreskin.

  Everything felt so…. He closed his eyes. He’d never been aroused and nude in front of anyone.

  Sage pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Remember to tell me if you don’t like something or want to stop.”

  Daiki’s “Okay” morphed into a groan as Sage wrapped his hand around him and stroked, sending shivers of lust through him.

  “If you like that, let’s see if you appreciate my mouth.” Sage slid his body down Daiki, setting him on fire, until his mouth finally hovered over Daiki’s erection, his warm breath caressing the head of Daiki’s penis.

  Daiki opened his eyes, but the vision of Sage licking Daiki’s tip appeared through a starry filter.

  Wet heat, along with the visual, cranked everything up to maximum.

  Then Sage used his tongue to push back Daiki’s foreskin.

  “Oh.” A whimper escaped Daiki, but he forced his eyes to stay open so he could witness the first time someone….

  Sage cupped one hand around Daiki’s scrotum and wrapped the other around Daiki’s shaft. Staring into his eyes, Sage put his mouth over Daiki.

  Hot. Wet.

  Sage sucked him into his mouth and all the way down to his hand. So deep.

  Daiki’s eyes crossed as he breathed out, “Sage.”

  Suction.

  Too much.

  Too good.

  No teasing. Sage gave Daiki everything he needed at the right speed. Fast.

  Everything in Daiki had been coiled tight… forever. He tried to hold on to the elation, excitement, and pleasure, but the sensations were too much.

  So close he barely breathed.

  Sage sucked him in deeper and began to drag his lips up and down.

  Shock waves hit Daiki. Pleasure rus
hed out from his core and echoed through him in satisfying surges.

  Smiling around his full mouth, Sage bobbed his head as he swallowed everything he’d sucked out.

  As the last bits of rapture tripped through Daiki, his entire body settled into a blissful contentment. He’d found paradise.

  Once Sage finished licking him clean, he slid back up next to Daiki. He studied him for a moment and then pressed their mouths together. The sweet tenderness made Daiki ache for things only his characters ever got. The incredible ecstasy paled in comparison to the affection that now threatened to enlarge Daiki’s heart permanently.

  “How was that?” Sage wiped a thumb across his lips and grinned.

  Daiki closed his eyes and hoped in the dim lighting Sage couldn’t see how exposed Daiki felt. He whispered, “Very enjoyable.”

  Sage frowned for a moment and then nodded. “Was there anything I can do differently next time?”

  “Next time?” Daiki squeaked. There would be a next time? He didn’t think—

  “I mean… you know, if we ever find ourselves….” Sage looked uncertain for the first time since they’d gotten into the bedroom as he backpedaled.

  Daiki needed to cut out the crypticness. “That was better than anything I could have drawn. You have to forgive me. I simply don’t know how to act… in this situation.”

  “Oh. Makes sense. Yeah, look, we can just be normal… yeah?” Sage sounded very Californian right then, even though he spoke in perfect Japanese.

  Maybe Daiki wasn’t the only one out of his depth. Afraid to ask, but needing to know, Daiki asked, “So what happens next?”

  “Usually I leave.”

  Blunt and to the point. Daiki searched for a reason for Sage to want to stay. “Oh, um—”

  “But I don’t really want to unless you want to be alone and, I don’t know, process or something.” Sage gave him a little self-conscious shrug.

  Daiki’s heart filled with happiness. “No. Would you like some snacks?”

  “Love some. I didn’t have dinner. I wasn’t sure… you know.” Sage’s confession made Daiki happy—he wasn’t the only one too nervous to eat.

  Sage flicked on the light next to the bed and stared across the gray room. Everything was shades of gray—bedding, curtains, walls—except for the picture across from the bed.