by J. M. Snyder
Suddenly a frazzled blonde appeared at their table, wearing an apron that read DELI across the front, a tray of water glasses in one hand. “Hey guys,” she said, giving them a quick smile as she set the glasses down before them. “Sorry I’m a little late. Ready to order?”
Dr. Veej snapped shut the case holding the cock ring and pocketed it. With something akin to relief, Matt glanced down at the menu before him. There was something seductive about the doctor that had nothing to do with his exotic appeal. Was the man hitting on him? Matt couldn’t tell. Or was Vic’s paranoia infecting Matt now as well?
Vic stared across the table at the doctor, as if the man were nothing more than a squirming bug to be pinned down and squished. “I’ll have the twelve inch Italian,” he muttered, barely contained anger trilling through his voice. “Heated.”
Matt snickered. He felt more than saw Vic’s gaze flicker his way. Nudging his lover, Matt teased, “I have your hot Italian right here.”
That brought a shadow of a smile to Vic’s face. ::You’re more than enough to fill me up.::
::Keep talking like that, big boy,:: Matt told his lover, ::and we’ll put that cock ring to good use before we even get home.::
Vic didn’t reply, but his silence told Matt all he needed to know about his reluctance to believe Dr. Veej.
* * * *
As they waited for their sandwiches, Vic stared down the doctor, who couldn’t meet his gaze, so concentrated on Matt instead. Matt shifted in the booth, uncomfortable. The more the man smiled, the less he liked it. His first impression of a helpful research analyst wore off quickly, replaced with a feeling that the doctor only told him what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to. Was that growing suspicion Vic’s influence? Matt wasn’t sure.
In quick, clinical terms, Dr. Veej explained how the ring should be worn—around the penis and scrotum, with the transistor turned behind the sac and pressed up close against the body. It was safe to wear around the clock, though it would make him “bulge” a little below the belt. With a smirk, Matt joked, “More than usual?”
“It pushes everything up.” The doctor’s smarmy grin made Matt suspect the guy was picturing him naked, nothing on but that damn cock ring of his, genitals bulging obscenely. “You only see it when you’re dressed. It’s not much, but someone used to looking might notice.”
“Will it fit?” was Matt’s next question. The ring looked so…so tiny.
Dr. Veej brought the box out again and opened it. The ring looked a little on the small side. “You might need to stretch it some,” he admitted. He glanced up at Matt and had the audacity to wink. “My offer of fitting it still stands.”
Matt turned to Vic—had he seen that wink, too? Or had Matt imagined it?
His answer was in his lover’s flushed face, the dark color rising in his cheeks, the thin white line slashed across his mouth where his lips were pressed so tightly together, they almost vanished in his face. Leaning across the table, Vic lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “Another comment like that, and I’ll stretch that goddamn ring around your neck. You think I’m playing?”
Quickly, the doctor stuttered, “No—”
“I don’t know what your game is here,” Vic continued. “I don’t know what the hell you hope to gain by this, doctor, and I don’t know what the fuck you’re trying to hide behind that stupid nursery rhyme you’ve got circling your head, but you listen to me. You listen good. If you’re out to hurt Matty in any way, for any reason, I’ll kill you. With or without any super powers, simple as that.”
The doctor’s eyes widened until the irises were completely surrounded by white. Matt thought if he leaned forward just a little, they’d roll right out onto the table. One corner of the doctor’s mouth twitched, and for the first time since they’d met, there was no ingratiating grin, no false laugh, no pretense. His face was slack with fear.
Vic sat back in the booth, and Matt’s hand eased a little higher up his thigh. “Good. We understand each other.” With a glance at the cock ring on the table before them, he added, “So you’re saying this ring of yours is completely safe then?”
With a nod, the doctor murmured, “Yes.” As if startled out of his stupor by the sound of his own voice, he said it again, louder this time. “Yes. Mr. Braunson, Matt, I’m a man of science. I created this ring because I could. I have no reason other than that.”
Vic grunted. “Why don’t I believe you?”
Before the doctor could answer, the waitress was back, three balanced plates in her arms. “All right, boys,” she said, setting the largest sandwich in front of Vic. Spying the cock ring in its box, she perked up. “Is that one of those jelly bracelets? I had them when I was like eight. Funny how everything old becomes hip again, ain’t it? Who had the roast beef?”
* * * *
They ate in a strained silence, and at the end of the meal, Dr. Veej seemed unable to part with the cock ring he had so willingly offered. Outside the deli, he fiddled with the box and told them again how it should be worn. “Make sure it’s right up against the body. It may be uncomfortable or tight at first, but you should grow used to it soon enough. If there’s any chaffing or soreness, use lots of lotion and don’t be afraid to take it off now and then. Just remember, removing it will bring back the powers, the very next time you ejaculate. The ring only kills the sperm as they’re drawn up into the penis prior to orgasm. The sperm still in the testes are still viable.” He started to hand over the box, then thought better of it and added, “You’ll want to lubricate it, I think. Work it down over your penis, then stretch it a bit to insert one testicle at a time. Sort of like—”
“We’ll figure it out,” Vic growled. He stuck out his hand for the box, and would probably have plucked it from the doctor’s fingers if the man hadn’t turned to give it to Matt. With an angry sigh, Vic asked, “Are we about done here?”
Dr. Veej patted down his jacket until he found a business card, which he also gave to Matt. “Please, call me any time. I want to know how it works out for you, all right? Call me.”
Matt took the box and the card. His mind couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he held the solution to his little problem in the palm of his hand. How different would his life have been if he had this thing sooner? How many offers of intimacy had he turned away because he’d been afraid of the abilities he’d give his partner? Where would he be now, who would he be with, if he didn’t have those damn powers to worry about?
It didn’t matter. He was here, now, with a man who loved him more completely than any other probably could. With Vic. Even if he could’ve had the ring years ago, he wouldn’t want to be living any other life than this one, with this man.
His throat closed with emotion, and Matt wrapped an arm around Vic’s waist to bury his face in his lover’s coat. Without saying a word, Vic draped his arm around Matt’s shoulders, hugging him close. Suddenly Matt’s eyes felt red and raw, and he rubbed them on Vic’s sleeve before he could look at Dr. Veej again. “Thank you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I can’t tell you…”
His voice cracked and his chin trembled. Taking a deep breath, he turned away and blinked back tears of gratitude. From the corner of his vision, he saw the doctor take a step toward him, hand outstretched, but a grunt from Vic froze him in place before he could touch Matt. Wiping at his nose with the back of his hand, Matt said again, “Thanks.”
“Call me,” the doctor told him. “I want to hear about your results.”
Keeping his arm around Matt, Vic led the way to their car. As he unlocked the passenger side door for Matt, he murmured in a gruff voice, “You all right?”
Matt sniffled. “Fine.” When Vic frowned at him, Matt gave him a forced smile, then hugged him close, pressing his lips to his lover’s. “I’m just a little overwhelmed at the moment, that’s all. I’ll be okay.”
Vic’s reply was another kiss, this one lingering, with a hint of tongue. He leaned Matt back against the side of the car, the box caught betwee
n them as their bodies meshed together.
With a grin, Matt stole a third kiss, and a fourth. “You know we’re out in public,” he whispered. “People are watching.”
Well, no, they were alone in the parking lot—the only one watching them was Dr. Veej, who stood at his car several parking spots away from theirs and stared as if he’d never seen someone being kissed before. As Vic stepped back to let his lover drop into the passenger seat, Matt asked, “What do you think? Turned on or grossed out?”
Vic glanced over his shoulder at the doctor. The moment their eyes met, Dr. Veej turned and fumbled with his key in a hurry to get safely inside his vehicle. “He was hitting on you the whole time,” Vic grumbled. At Matt’s laugh, he said, “I’m serious. He stared at you like some lovesick schoolboy.”
“Well,” Matt pointed out, “every time he looked at you, he got the evil eye. You could’ve been nicer.”
Now Vic laughed. “Hell no.”
With a glance to ensure Matt was in the car, he slammed the door shut and started around to the driver’s side. At the front of the car he stopped, turned again, and looked over at Dr. Veej as if to catch him watching, but the doctor had driven off, his parking spot empty. Vic tapped the hood as he skirted it. Leaning across the front seat, Matt unlocked the door a moment before Vic pulled up on the handle. He didn’t sit back immediately as his lover eased behind the wheel, and stole another kiss before Vic started the car. Softly, Matt said, “Thanks for doing this for me.”
“They’re your powers,” Vic reminded him. When he turned the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life. “If you want to get rid of them, that’s fine with me. I love you either way.”
Matt sensed a reluctance in his lover that he wanted to ferret out and address before they went any farther. “But?”
Settling into the driver’s seat, Vic put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. He shrugged as Matt sat back in his seat. “But I don’t trust that man.”
“That’s not the only thing bothering you.” Matt clicked his seat belt home, then grabbed the wheel with one hand to steady it. “Buckle up, big boy.”
Vic did as instructed, letting Matt steer for a moment or two. When they were both strapped in, Matt relinquished the wheel and asked again, “But?”
“Matty—”
::Don’t make me come in here and find it,:: Matt teased, speaking directly into his lover’s mind.
A wan smile crossed Vic’s face. ::But if we use that ring, we lose this.::
The intimate connection that linked their minds together. The ability to feel what the other did, to savor each other’s mental touch without physical contact. The hours spent in silent communication, thoughts more powerful than words could ever be passing between them, enriching their life together, deepening their love. This, which Matt had taken for granted for the past five years, this.
An ache like heartbreak opened up in him, and in a small voice, he sighed, “Oh, Vic.”
His lover’s gruff voice turned gravely with emotion he tried to rein in. “I know it’s for the best,” he said, blinking quickly as he concentrated on the traffic merging onto the interstate. “I know it’s what you want, Matty, and if that’s the case, then I want it, too. But I’m gonna miss you inside me.”
Matt pouted out the window beside him. He hadn’t thought of that—the psychic link between them seemed so…so natural, in a way. It was always there, a constant in his life, and he never equated it with the other powers of Vic’s that came and went. Fuck.
Then it hit him, a solution so simple, he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before. “We don’t have to use the ring all the time,” he said, turning a bright smile to Vic. “You have that book I gave you, the one you wrote all those powers down in. All we have to do is find the one that gives you telepathic powers, take off the cock ring, and get busy. That should do the trick.”
“Matt,” Vic sighed. There was a pained look on his face when he glanced at his lover before turning back to the road. “There isn’t just one position that causes this, and you know it. It’s like the strength—it’s constant.”
“So we pick a position that doesn’t wreak too much havoc,” Matt conceded. “Something mild, you know? Something you can live with—”
Vic pointed out, “I’ve been living with all of them for years now. Isn’t that why you want to use the ring in the first place?”
“We’ll just try it out at first, then.” Matt crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared out at the skeletal trees streaking past them along the interstate. Silently, he asked his lover, ::Why are you making this so damn difficult?::
::The same reason you want these powers gone,:: Vic told him. ::I want to keep you safe. You’re so eager for this to work—::
Aloud, Matt muttered, “It will.”
For a moment, an unease stretched between them, a tenseness that threatened to shatter into angry words and hurt feelings. Matt felt it brewing in him, a need to lash out, a need to be right. This ring would work, it would remove the powers that put Vic in constant danger, and somehow, Matt would find a way to keep the telepathy they shared. There had to be a way.
Then a large hand covered his knee and gave it a loving squeeze. Matt slipped his fingers beneath his lover’s hand, curling them into Vic’s warm palm. “We’ll figure something out,” Matt assured him.
* * * *
Sunday evening, Matt decided it was time to test out the cock ring. While Vic undressed in the bedroom, getting ready to call it a night, Matt stripped down in the bathroom as he brushed his teeth. His clothes were kicked into a pile in the corner behind the door, and the hand not holding his toothbrush toyed with the box that still held the cock ring. He opened the box and fingered the ring, which looked ridiculously small to him. Picking it up, he stretched it between his first two fingers, feeling little give to the black polymer. The transistor looked insubstantial, barely the size of the nail on his forefinger. If this piece of plastic did anything more than prolong his erection during sex, he’d be surprised.
Spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste, Matt rinsed, then splashed water on his face. He rubbed his damp hands through his tousled curls and shook his head to dry off. In his mind, Vic’s presence yawned. ::Some time tonight, Matty.::
::Coming,:: Matt replied.
He heard Vic chuckle in the bedroom. ::Not by yourself, I hope.::
::Ha ha.:: Matt smirked at his reflection in the mirror. ::I meant I’ll be right there.::
He reached to turn off the spigot, then changed his mind and held the cock ring beneath the flow from the tap. Water—lube of choice for the man in a hurry. After a moment or two, he turned off the water and stretched the ring between his fingers again. It felt a tad bit looser. At his crotch, his dick gave a little spasm in anticipation, and practically jumped into Matt’s hand when he took hold of it. With his other hand, he tried to pull open the cock ring wide enough to encircle his balls.
No dice. He didn’t have huge nuts, but the ring was too small to go around them. Remembering the doctor’s orders, Matt rolled the ring down over the head of his cock, then tried to pull it open wide enough to slip over his balls. After a bit of finagling, he managed to get the tight band around one testicle. But his fingers were slick with water and he couldn’t seem to get his thumb under the ring to stretch it over the next testicle. When he tried, the ring bit into his soft flesh and caught in the hair at his groin. “Fuck,” he muttered. He needed two hands to do this.
So he released his cock, which swung into place above his balls, obscuring them. The ring pinched sensitive skin, and sweat beaded on Matt’s forehead to drip into his eyes. With a rough shove, he pushed the hair from his face, his groin screaming in pain, one half of his balls caught in the ring and his cock squeezed in the tight band.
This wouldn’t work.
Yanking open the bathroom door, Matt stumbled down the short hall to their bedroom. Vic sat on the edge of the bed, his back to Matt, as he rubbed a
moisturizer onto his freshly shaved scalp. Stepping up to the opposite side of the bed, Matt pouted at the expanse of his lover’s naked back. “Vic,” he said simply. “Help.”
Vic turned, a slow grin easing across his face. “Tight fit, eh?” he asked.
“That’s not funny.” Matt pouted harder. “It hurts. Fix it.”
Vic patted the bed behind him. “Lie down.”
Matt did as instructed, turning to lie on his back across the foot of the bed. He took slow breaths, and frowned at Vic as his lover lay down beside him. “If it’s this hard to get on,” he admitted, “the doctor’s probably right about leaving it on all the time. I mean, shit. This sucks.”
With deft fingers, Vic plucked the ring off Matt’s cock and balls. “You’re doing it wrong,” he said. “You have to wet it down—”
“I stuck it in the sink,” Matt admitted.
“Doesn’t count.” As Matt watched, Vic popped the ring in his mouth. Around it, he said, “You have to stretch it out a bit, make it limber.”
Matt grinned. “So what, you chew on it?”
One of his lover’s hands drifted to his hard cock. The fingers strummed along Matt’s length, drawing it up away from his body, teasing it erect. Matt watched Vic’s cheek as his lover’s tongue worked the cock ring over. A warm fizzle began to grow in his groin—like a living flower, it sent vines down into his legs and stomach, tendrils of desire that worked through his muscles, relaxing him. It left seeds of lust in his blood, which blossomed into sprays of blooms whenever Vic’s short nails brushed over the tip of his dick. Beneath his lover’s ministrations, Matt’s cock thickened and grew. When Vic moved his hand to twirl through the fluff of hair across Matt’s lower belly, Matt pushed his wrist toward the shaft beginning to stand up from his crotch. “More please.”
But Vic continued to tickle over the skin that fluttered around Matt’s navel. “In a minute,” he promised.
Moving closer, Vic rested his cheek high up on Matt’s inner thigh and licked out his tongue to taste Matt’s scrotum. He kissed the soft sac, again and again, before opening his mouth to take it in. Matt gasped and arched against the bed as the wet warmth of his lover’s mouth cradled his balls. A firm, tender tongue traced the contours of his testes, suckling on one, then the other. Pushing himself up on his elbows, Matt dropped his head back and let out a guttural moan. “Yesss,” he sighed. “God, yes.”