by Vicki Tharp
“I had this kinky girlfriend who loved to peg me with a strap on.” All that talk about anal sex, clinical as it was, turned Elijah the fuck on. Reaching down, he started stroking himself.
Alex’s eyes followed Elijah’s hand for a stroke or two then brought his focus up to Elijah’s face. “How was it?”
“Hot as hell.”
“Jesus Christ.” Alex’s eyes went dark, his nostrils flared, and he went in for another kiss, his tongue tasting, devouring.
Alex broke the kiss long enough for them to catch their breath. Elijah’s heart kicked at his sternum, full, high kicks—an audition for A Chorus Line, as the flood of blood whooshed past his eardrums.
Elijah could see the need for more in Alex’s eyes, feel it in the way Alex’s hand kneaded the flesh at Elijah’s hip. Alex just required a nudge and Elijah was certain Alex would jump in head first. “Tell me what you want.”
Alex swallowed hard, his eyes locking on Elijah’s when he said, “I want your ass.”
Alex stood at the sliding door, glancing up at the trees illuminated by Elijah’s porch light while he waited for Elijah to return. He thought he’d seen movement, but the wind had picked up, and the branches were swaying and—
“What the f—” Alex jumped back from the sliding door, as adrenaline dumped into his already ramped up system.
“What’s wrong?” Elijah called out from his bedroom.
A fucking cat. Alex’s hand went to his chest as if that could slow his racing heart. “A black cat jumped onto the patio from the tree. I didn’t know you had a cat.”
Elijah returned with lube and condoms. While they had both been tested twice through Black Stallion, the time between testing had been narrow so they’d opted to be cautious and go with condoms.
“Neighbor’s cat. He likes my patio chairs.”
As if proving the point, the cat jumped up on one of the chairs, curled up, and closed its golden eyes. Alex’s heart settled, and after one last look around, he shut off the patio light and turned toward Elijah.
Elijah set the lube on the scratched and dented wood coffee table and handed him the condom.
“You sure you’re good with this?” Alex asked, trying not to sound too eager when all he wanted was to get his hands on that tight, round ass.
Elijah took the condom back, ripped the packet open with his teeth and slipped it over the tip of Alex’s dick. Elijah’s eyes narrowed, but there was no anger behind it. “You’re not scroting out on me are you, number twenty-three?”
The only time Alex had worn that number was on his one and only day in the majors. Alex grinned. “You’ve done your homework.”
Excruciatingly slowly, Elijah rolled the condom down. “I’ve always been the studious type.”
“Teacher’s pet, I’ll bet.” Alex backed Elijah up until Elijah’s thighs hit the rolled armrest of the black leather couch and he had nowhere else to go.
“Except when I’m naughty.”
Alex placed a hand on Elijah’s hip, encouraging him to turn around. “Bend over.” His words came out gruff, strangled—part need, part nerves.
He wasn’t so much nervous about where he wanted to put his dick. It was more than that. To Alex, this wasn’t a casual hookup, which made the stakes so much higher. For the first time in a long time, he really cared that he was good, that he would please Elijah. Despite all of Alex’s questions about his sexuality, about himself, he knew for sure that he wanted to see Elijah again.
Elijah gave him one last searing kiss, one that made his heart light, his balls heavy, and his balls tight, then bent over the armrest of the couch. Alex stepped up behind him, lodging the length of himself in the crack of Elijah’s ass. He ran his hands down Elijah’s torso, from those broad shoulders, past the cut ribs and narrow waist to the two most perfect ass cheeks he’d ever laid eyes on. And, considering Alex’s profession, he considered himself well versed in naked male ass.
Alex skimmed a reverent hand over the muscled curve of Elijah’s cheek. “Fuuck... that ass—”
Alex didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before Elijah glanced at him over his shoulder, a smile on his face and devilment in his eyes. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
Alex chuckled, giving one globe a light smack as he sunk to his knees. The cheap tile was hard on his knees, but he hardly noticed as he sat back on his legs and parted Elijah’s cheeks. He nipped at the thick muscle, leaving tiny teeth marks that drew a grunt of approval out of Elijah.
Then Alex dove in, drawing his tongue up Elijah’s taint to the star of muscle. Elijah hissed in a breath, the leather of the couch squeaking beneath Elijah’s grip. Alex stayed there for a time, licking and tasting, his own cock granite hard as Elijah ground his ass against Alex’s face.
Then he stood, and reached for the lube, spreading some on his fingers and a healthy dose on his aching cock. Elijah glanced over, his face flushed, his eyes hooded and needy. “Hurry the hell up.”
Alex groaned, leaning over and pressing a kiss along Elijah’s spine. Goosebumps erupted, pebbling Elijah’s skin. “I like you when you’re grumpy, bossy, and horny.”
Gripping Elijah’s hip, Alex lubed up Elijah’s hole, the muscle tightening at his touch. Slowly, Alex worked one finger in and out, Elijah moving with and against the pressure, and Elijah collapsed over the armrest and rested his forehead on the cushion between his forearms.
Alex eased in a second finger and eventually a third, the tight muscle contracting then giving as Elijah breathed and relaxed. Jesus, that was sexy. “You were quick to take my fingers.”
Elijah thrust back, fucking himself on Alex’s digits. “After my girlfriend, I became a big fan of dildos and butt plugs when I jack off.”
Alex’s cock jerked. If Elijah kept talking like that, Alex was going to cum before he’d had a chance to put his dick in.
Leaning over, Alex nipped and kissed Elijah’s shoulder. Alex scissored his fingers and Elijah sucked in a deep breath and let it out on a low groan that had pre-cum filling the tip of Alex’s condom.
He wanted—needed—to bury himself between those cheeks.
“You ready?” Alex asked.
Elijah rose, bracing his hands on the seat cushion. “Shut up and fuck me already.”
Alex wasn’t one to keep an impatient man waiting, especially one with as fine an ass as Elijah had. And to be honest, Alex couldn’t wait any longer himself.
He parted Elijah’s cheeks, those glorious globes flexing and contracting in Alex’s hands. Then he laid the head of his cock at Elijah’s hole and pressed in.
“Holy hell,” Elijah breathed out, his head dropping between his arms, a thin layer of sweat breaking out across his skin.
“Want me to stop?”
“Don’t you dare.”
Alex pulled out a fraction, then started a shallow thrust. Damn Elijah was tight. Inch by inch, Alex watched as Elijah’s greedy hole swallowed him down until he was balls deep.
No woman had ever been able to take all of him. Having that tight squeeze at his base had Alex’s balls drawing up tight and the tingle starting at the base of his spine.
Alex clenched his jaw and stilled. He wasn’t going to last.
Before he could start sliding out, Elijah said, “Give me a minute.”
Elijah blew out a couple of deep breaths, the grip on his dick loosened a fraction. Alex ran his hands up and down Elijah’s sides, across the expanse of shoulder blades, then let his fingers bump down Elijah’s backbone, past the line where his tan gave way to pale skin.
“Go,” Elijah said. “Slow.”
Alex pulled most of the way out, reached for the lube and added more to be on the safe side. Then it was another long, slow dive back in.
Elijah reached a hand back to Alex’s hip, encouraging him to move faster, harder. Each thrust ended with a grunt from Alex and a groan from Elijah, Alex’s balls slapping against Elijah’s. As their rhythm picked up, Elijah reached down and took himself in his hand
, his stroke speed mimicking Alex’s thrusts.
“Harder,” Elijah said, as his grunts grew thicker, his pants more breathless.
Alex drove harder, the sensations building, as his lungs billowed and his heart tripped and stumbled, trying like hell to keep up.
“Harder, scrote.”
Alex barked a laugh, upping his tempo, the couch scooting with each powerful thrust. Then the sensations, the grip, the slide, the sounds, the scents, were too much, and Alex had no hope of holding out any longer.
His thrusts went erratic, and the first pulses of his release hit. “I’m coming.” The words came out on the heels of harsh pants.
Elijah jacked off faster, which only made Alex come harder. Alex stiffened above Elijah, his hands gripping Elijah’s hips as he held Elijah’s deliciously sweaty ass tight against him as he came and came.
With his lungs burning, his quads screaming, Alex slumped against Elijah, arms hugging Elijah to his chest as Elijah went still. “Fuuuck.”
As Elijah came, his ass tightened rhythmically around Alex’s cock, milking the last drops, and a sated moan came out of him. Alex released Elijah, and straightened, not wanting to pull out even as he started to go soft. He ran his hands all over Elijah’s body, enjoying the feel of the tight ball of muscle capping Elijah’s shoulder and the way Elijah’s arms quivered and his legs shook from exertion and pleasure.
Slowly, Alex pulled out and gave Elijah a hand up. Sweat beaded on Elijah’s forehead and dripped down the valley between his pecs. Elijah put his arms around Alex’s neck, and they clung together as their breathing and heart rate returned to normal. “That was...” Elijah started.
“Fucking amazing.”
Elijah kissed his way across Alex’s collarbone and up his neck to the corner of Alex’s jaw. In his ear, Elijah said, “I love your cock.”
Elijah woke to a warm body curled around his, Alex’s arm draped across his hip, and Alex’s morning wood snuggled nicely into the crack of Elijah’s ass. Elijah could get used to waking up like this, his own balls heavy and his hard-on aching for release.
Rolling onto his back, Elijah found Alex already awake, staring down at him. “Morning.”
“Actually,” Alex said, “it’s almost noon.”
“Noon?” Elijah bolted upright. He had class and—
Alex pushed him back into the pillow. “You’ve already missed your class, and I’ve missed my PT.” Then Alex leaned in, nuzzled the sensitive skin along Elijah’s neck. “Might as well stay in bed and enjoy what’s left of the day.”
Elijah laughed, but it came out tight and rueful.
“What’s so funny?” Alex shifted, throwing a leg over Elijah’s as he ran his hands across Elijah’s lower abdomen.
“A part of me thought I’d wake up and you’d be gone. That what we’d shared and done last night would have freaked you the fuck out. I hadn’t anticipated waking up with you in my bed, wanting to do it all over again.”
“I don’t have a car,” Alex deadpanned, but he couldn’t hold a straight face for long. “Even if my car were here, I hadn’t planned on going anywhere until I had to.”
“Why?”
Alex’s hand stalled on Elijah’s abdomen, and the smile slipped from his face. “Because I like being with you. Because I enjoy touching you and kissing you and fucking you.”
Alex nipped on Elijah’s earlobe and caressed Elijah’s hip, and all Elijah wanted to do was sink into their mutual pleasure. In Elijah’s ear, Alex said, “I want to stick around and see where this can go. And I’m not just talking about the sex.”
Elijah wanted to believe him, he really did, but he wasn’t convinced Alex had thought through what a relationship with him would mean, personally, socially, professionally.
As quickly as Elijah was developing feelings for Alex, if Alex jumped, Elijah wanted him to do it equipped with a parachute, safety gear, and both eyes wide open. He didn’t want to be the one held responsible if Alex fell and went splat.
“I’m not hiding who I am. I’m not going back into the closet for you or anybody.”
“I’m not asking you to do that.” Alex slid his hand down, reaching for Elijah’s cock.
Elijah placed a staying hand on Alex’s and eased away. If Elijah allowed Alex to put his hands on him, they both knew the talking would be over. But this was serious. It wasn’t something they could gloss over.
“But you have, implicitly if not outright. The whole taking my truck and going to my place instead of yours. You wouldn’t have to do that if you weren’t trying to hide me or us.”
Alex rolled off his side of the bed and stood. The ticking of the blood vessel at Alex’s temple and the hard line of Alex’s mouth told Elijah he’d struck a nerve.
“I’m not. It’s... With my career, it’s... complicated.”
“Tell me about it.” Elijah climbed out of bed and headed for the toilet. He had no trouble peeing because his morning wood had evaporated.
When he flushed and turned around, Alex stood behind him in all his naked glory, his arms spanning the doorway. Elijah could have muscled his way through, but for some reason, he didn’t.
“It’s nobody’s business who I sleep with,” Alex said, “but that doesn’t keep people from trying to make it their business. In this day and age, it shouldn’t be an issue to be out and playing ball professionally, but it is. Statistically speaking, there must be scores of closeted players in the sport. But I get it. When being out can ruin your career, everything you’ve worked so hard for... I get it. Even if it doesn’t make it right.”
Elijah stuck out his chin, almost daring Alex. “Someone’s got to be the first.”
Alex’s gaze dropped, then came back up, his expression almost apologetic. After blowing out a breath, he said, “Honestly? I don’t know if I’m that guy.”
A tightness constricted Elijah’s chest. Alex’s words shouldn’t have hurt as much as they did.
You’re falling for him.
Elijah wanted to laugh but couldn’t find the humor.
As much as Elijah wanted a chance to see where a relationship with Alex would go, those words... those words told him a relationship couldn’t, and wouldn’t, go anywhere.
Elijah cleared his throat. “Fair enough.”
He brushed past Alex as a knock came at his door. Elijah reached for a towel and wrapped it around his waist. “You should get dressed. I’ll take you to your car.”
Alex stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. The knock came again, more insistent as Alex came up behind Elijah and wrapped his arms around Elijah’s shoulders from behind, the pounding of Alex’s heart thrummed against his spine.
Alex ducked his head and said, “I’m asking for a little time to sort this out. Can you give that to me?”
Elijah didn’t respond. Giving Alex more time. More time to worm his way under Elijah’s skin and into his heart and his life was a bad, bad idea. Better to cut Alex loose now and avoid the hurt than risk the inescapable devastation later.
Too late. That tightness in your throat. That stinging in your chest. That heavy way your stomach is sitting in your abdomen. That’s pain.
And when Alex said, “Please,” in Elijah’s ear, with that rough and raw emotion, and the tender kiss pressed against Elijah’s warm flesh, Elijah knew the pain, the hurt, was only beginning.
Elijah swallowed hard, knowing he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. “Okay.”
With a peck to Elijah’s neck, Alex said, “You won’t regret this.”
The pounding made Elijah’s front door shudder in its frame. If Elijah didn’t know any better, he’d think S.W.A.T was at his door with a battering ram.
“Elijah!” came Demetri’s voice through the door. “Open the damn door.”
Alex followed Elijah out of the bedroom and headed for the clothes they’d discarded in a pile by the sliding glass door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Elijah threw the locks on the door and opened it a crack.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Demetri said as he stormed down the hallway. He came up short by the kitchen at the sight of a naked Alex slipping into his sliding shorts. “Well, that explains it.”
“Explains what?” Alex picked up his pants and turned them right side out.
“You might want to get away from the glass door,” Demetri said as he disappeared into the bedroom.
“What’s going on?”
Elijah could only shrug. Demetri returned from the bedroom with Elijah’s comforter and draped it over the top of the blinds, cutting out the natural light.
Elijah flipped a switch for the overhead light. “What the hell is going on? Why are you here?”
The polite side of Demetri had him reaching across the coffee table and introducing himself to Alex.
Elijah put his hands on his hips. This wasn’t a time for niceties. “Demetri?”
Demetri made a face as if it pained him to have to say what he’d come to say. “Niko wants to talk to the both of you. He’s been trying to get hold of you guys ever since the video dropped.”
12
“W—what video?”
Alex almost couldn’t spit the words out as he finished getting dressed. Something whirred in his ears. Blood? Or the sound of what was left of his career swirling down the toilet?
Not only had he fucked Elijah, but in doing so had he done something to completely fuck his career as well?
Elijah grabbed his laptop off the end table and opened it on the kitchen bar. Alex and Demetri gathered around. When the computer booted up, Elijah turned it toward Demetri who typed in the website for one of the nationally syndicated tabloids.
Alex wrapped his arms around his head, almost afraid to look, but more afraid not to.
Maybe he and Elijah had been filmed coming and going from the sports complex. He’d been so psyched and turned on by the idea of finally getting with Elijah that they might have kissed and held hands and generally been all over each other as they’d stumbled to Elijah’s truck in their rush to get back to the apartment. Which definitely would have been more difficult to explain away than doing gay porn for cash.