by Blake, Leta
Leith hadn’t had to deal with this yet. Almost everyone he’d seen since leaving the hospital already knew about his injury.
“We were all worried about you,” the man went on. “Most of us testified as witnesses, even though they had it on video.”
Leith nodded and plastered a friendly smile on his face. “I’m sorry, but the injury damaged my memory. I’m afraid I don’t remember you.” He paused and looked around at everyone gathering. “Or any of you. Sorry.”
The glances exchanged around the room were full of meaning both obvious, such as pity, and less obvious. Leith cleared this throat. “I wanted to have a look at the club. I was thinking of training again.”
“I’m Marvin,” the man said, sticking out his hand. “I’ll show you around.”
“Jerry,” another guy said, and Leith shook his hand too.
The men filed around him, shaking hands if they had their gloves off, or gently punching him on the shoulder if they didn’t. Marvin walked him around, explaining the club dues and indicating the showers and the water cooler.
Leith stopped by the bulletin board next to the changing room. There was a news article tacked up, and his heart skipped a beat as he peered at the photo. It was him in the practice ring. His boxing gloves framed Zach’s face, and he was kissing him. His eyes were drawn to the headline: Can Brooklyn’s Gay Boxer Beat the Odds?
“Zach,” Leith said, touching the photo and smiling a little. They looked so happy, and his heart ached at the expression of joy and pride on Zach’s face. He wanted to see that expression directed at him, not at the old version of him smiling in the photo. He gritted his teeth a little, working to gain control over the jealousy he felt.
“We put that up after you got hurt. We…all of us…wanted to remember better times for you,” Marvin said, standing with his hands on his hips. He shook his head. “That was a real surprise to some of us at first, you know. You and another guy. But you were so defiant about it and obviously in love. I was impressed with you even then. You’re still together?”
Leith nodded, staring at the photo until all he saw were black and white dots, pixels swimming in his eyes.
“He’s a good guy. He came by after the accident once to get your stuff. He was really torn up.” Marvin sighed, nodding at the photo. “I’m still sorry about what happened after that article came out.”
Leith stared at him, the hair on his arms standing up. “What happened after?”
Marvin blinked. “You don’t know?
“Know what?”
“You should ask your boyfriend,” Marvin said, his face creasing as he backed away. “Listen, I need to get back to training. But we’d love to have you back. See you later?”
“Yeah, sure,” Leith said, turning back to the newspaper article and photo. The smiles in the photo were so pure. Would Zach ever look at him like that?
He knew there was no answer—at least not yet. But what had happened when the article was published? His stomach clenched thinking of the possibilities. Leith took the article down and folded it carefully into to his pocket. At least that was one question he could get to the bottom of.
Marian sat forward on her chair at the dining table and looked at the newspaper article with a tender expression. “I always loved how you would just kiss him there in front of everyone. It was so romantic.” She sighed. “It was so sweet.”
“What happened, though?” Leith asked, not wanting to hear about the wonderful former Leith who had said romantic things to his boyfriend and kissed him in the boxing ring. His need to know about himself battled with his frustration and jealousy in ways he couldn’t understand. “Something bad happened because of that article, didn’t it?”
“Oh. That,” Marian said, frowning. “You’d better talk to Zach about it.”
Leith took the article and studied the photo again. “He doesn’t talk about before my injury. He says he wants to move on.” Leith admitted, “I think it hurts him to remember.”
“Well, yeah. Of course it does. He was devastated; absolutely torn to pieces afterward. He was like a zombie. I’d never seen him cry until then. And when you didn’t remember him? He was inconsolable. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Marian paused. “Really, you should talk to Zach.”
Leith sighed and dropped the article on the table between them. “I can’t. It hurts him and I don’t want to do that.”
Marian nodded. “I understand. He’s been through a lot.” She touched the newspaper clipping with her fingertip. “You really want to know?”
“Yes,” Leith said. “It’s my life, Marian.”
“Okay. After you came out, there were some pretty big problems. Some guys at the boxing club weren’t too keen on having a queer working out there. You weren’t going to be frightened away, so a few of them—one was your friend Marvin’s younger brother—decided the best way to scare you off was to get at you through Zach.”
“They harassed him?”
“More than that. They waited in the alley outside Blue Flight one night for Zach to bring the trash out. He used to insist on doing it himself. At the time he was trying to quit smoking. He’d gotten down to one a day, and he’d save it as a reward and smoke it out by the garbage dumpsters.”
“He smoked?”
“Yeah. You hated it.”
“Is that why he quit?”
“One of the reasons I’m sure, but anyway, it was part of his plan to quit. If he was only allowed to smoke one and it had to be out in the alley by the dumpster, he figured it’d be easier to make the final break. I think you know where I’m going with this story, Leith.”
“They hurt him?”
“They did, but the cops broke it up fast. Miyoko called them when she heard the commotion, and luckily there was a squad car just around the corner. Even luckier, you’d taught Zach how to defend himself, though he was really outnumbered.”
“How bad was it?”
“Cracked ribs, black eye, and busted lip. It wasn’t too bad.”
Squeezing his hands into fists, Leith trembled. “Not too bad? Jesus.”
“You were pretty scary. I was glad they arrested the guys because if they’d been free? Who knows what might’ve happened.”
“Did they go to jail?”
“Community service and kicked out of the boxing club. Fucking courts. Fucking world.”
Leith’s jaw creaked as he clenched down.
“Don’t even think about it, buddy. It was a long time ago now and Zach isn’t interested in revenge.”
“Yeah, sure. I know. Thank you.” He imagined how good it would feel for his fist to connect with the attackers’ flesh and crunch their bones.
Keys jangled and the front door opened. “Hello?” Zach called.
Marian squeezed Leith’s arm and grabbed her purse. “I was just heading out.” She breezed by Zach and closed the door behind her.
Zach hovered in the little front hallway. “Did I interrupt something?”
It had taken only a few minutes to relate the story, but Leith now couldn’t imagine not knowing it. Somehow it made Zach more precious to him, and he wanted to touch him and kiss him, to wipe away the forgotten past held in Marian’s words. But he hesitated. He had a feeling Zach wouldn’t be glad Leith knew this particular truth—or how he’d discovered it.
He took a deep breath. “I went to the boxing club today.”
Zach said nothing for a moment, but his mouth tightened as he pressed his lips together. “Oh? So you’re definitely going to box again?”
“I think so.”
Zach’s jaw clenched and he strode to the kitchen, grabbed a cloth, and began to wipe the counter with quick strokes. “It’s your choice, but your brain is already injured, and another incident could lead to you being nothing but mush,” Zach gritted out, his face flushed.
“Zach…” Leith went to stand by the fridge. “I understand how you’re feeling.”
Zach blew out some air and said nothing, continuing to scrub invisib
le stains.
“Marian told me about what happened after that article in the paper came out. It made me sick just to imagine it. I can’t even think about something happening to you.”
At the counter Zach froze, his back to Leith.
Leith approached Zach slowly, wrapping his arms around him from behind and sighing when Zach melted against him. He kissed the side of Zach’s neck. “I’m sorry that happened. I hate that I had anything to do with it.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Leith, you beat yourself up for enough at the time. Please don’t do it again. I’m fine.” He put his hand over Leith’s on his chest. “I’m fine,” he repeated.
Squeezing him tightly, Leith breathed in Zach’s sweet-spicy scent. “Okay,” he whispered. He sucked on the soft skin behind Zach’s ear.
“So you went to the club.”
“Yes. It…it felt good to be there. I’m just talking about a little training for now. It’ll be good for me. Help with my aggression.”
Zach was weak in Leith’s arms. He shook his head. “I know you, Leith. It’ll start with a little training, but you’ll want more.”
Leith turned Zach and kissed him softly before resting their foreheads together. He whispered, “I might, and if I do, I’ll need your support. My fancy footwork isn’t so fancy anymore, and my reflexes are slow. I doubt I could compete again anyway.”
Zach sighed, his eyes big and intense. His hand came up to touch Leith’s face. “You can do anything you set your mind to, and no matter what, I’ll be there by your side.” Zach eyes flashed then, and he banged gently against Leith’s chest with his fists. “But you have to start out slow, and no pushing it beyond what the doctors say is okay, and you have to promise me that—”
Leith kissed him. “I promise,” he murmured. “I promise.” He ran his hands over Zach’s ass. “Do you have to get back downstairs?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you inside me. I want…I want it all.” Leith couldn’t stop touching Zach. Couldn’t stop kissing him.
With a groan, Zach tugged Leith toward their room.
In their bed, Leith gasped at the intense stretch and burn as Zach pushed the thick head of his cock into Leith’s ass. Chills broke out over his body as he pressed down, his legs shaking on Zach’s shoulders and sweat sliding down his forehead. Zach’s fingers had felt big, but his cock felt huge, and Leith took shallow breaths, trying to ride out the pain.
Zach stroked a hand down Leith’s thigh and whispered, “There now. A little more. Breathe. You’re doing great. Leith, you feel so good.”
Leith whimpered as Zach slid in deeper. It was intense, and it hurt, and yet it was somehow good. Leith’s ass gripped and released Zach’s cock in fluttering, involuntary spasms with every inch that Zach pushed in. Leith felt a flush rising up his body. His nipples tingled and he felt a strong urge to pinch them.
The sensations were overwhelming, and when Zach cocked his hips and thrust a little, Leith’s entire body clenched and released with shock and pleasure, and he made a noise he’d never heard himself make before.
His own hands running over his chest and touching his nipples seemed to help ground him, and he held onto them as Zach pushed in with small, crazy-making thrusts. Leith squeezed his nipples when he felt the scratch of Zach’s pubic hair against his ass and Zach’s hard, thick length deep inside him.
The burn in his ass was offset by the look on Zach’s face—pupils blown, and an expression of tender control. Incredible. Leith felt safe there with Zach’s cock in his ass, somehow taken care of in a way he’d never known, and he relaxed, feeling Zach slide in the tiniest bit deeper.
“That’s it, Leith,” Zach whispered. “Just like that.”
Leith squeezed his nipples again as Zach began to move, and he rolled his hips to meet Zach’s thrusts. He froze as he was captured in insane pleasure, his mouth dropping open and a desperate sound coming from his throat. He knew he must have felt that breathtaking pleasure before, but he couldn’t remember ever feeling anything like it. Hee whimpered, wanting to feel it again. Zach’s smile was soft and a little amused, but he thrust harder, and Leith shuddered as Zach hit against his prostate again.
“Do you like that?” Zach asked.
Leith could see by his expression that Zach knew he did, so he didn’t answer, his eyes closing on Zach’s next thrust. He might have left his body it was so good. He was lost in a rhythm of intense pleasure that left him shaking and nonverbal, grunts and moans coming endlessly from his open mouth.
He could barely catch his breath between the small, shivery, beautiful waves of intense bliss that consumed his entire body, like small orgasms that he was riding. It went on and on for what felt like hours, but at the same time only minutes, and he was utterly lost in it.
Zach’s voice reached him from miles away with sweet words of affection. Leith wanted to show Zach the same amount of glorious ecstasy he was experiencing, but the feelings were just too much, and he clenched his nipples, seeking some grounding. But it only brought another small orgasmic wave, and he felt it rising, cresting, drawing out larger and larger, and he couldn’t breathe. He was aching and wanting, and his cock felt so hard that it almost hurt.
He reached for it with one hand, and Zach met him there, pushing his hand away and taking Leith’s cock in fast jerks that matched the rhythm of his hips. Leith didn’t know if he could handle it. He was coming apart, and yet it was too good to want it to stop.
If he could speak he would have begged, but nothing came out of his mouth but wordless whimpers and grunts, and he realized he was lifting his hips to meet Zach, begging with his body. He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, trying not to explode with pleasure.
Then it happened without warning, He felt it first in his ass, and then his stomach, and then it rolled through his entire body, He jerked and shot a load of come so hard he felt the heat of it hit his own face, and he was swallowed in an orgasm like he’d never experienced before. Consuming and almost endless it held him in its grip.
As Zach lay on his chest, gasping and shuddering through his own orgasm, Leith ebbed out of the immense pleasure slowly, still whimpering. He wrapped Zach in his arms. Nothing compared to this. Not thousands of suns, a monsoon-swollen river, or even the unobservable universe.
It felt amazing to spar again.
He hadn’t regained the strength he’d had before his injury, but while his reflexes were slower, his punches were still solid enough, and when he connected one to Marvin’s chin, he leapt into the air. Leith wished Zach was there to see it.
Marvin rubbed his glove over his jaw. “You haven’t lost it all, my friend. Good one. I think I need a break.”
Leith grinned and used his teeth to rip off his glove after spitting out his mouth guard. “Thanks. It’s awesome to be in the ring again. It’s been a long time.”
Marvin clapped Leith’s shoulder with his taped hand. “You’ve still got it in you. You’ll make a comeback yet.”
Leith chuckled and shook his head, but he was hopeful as he headed for the showers. He stripped down and turned on the water, dunking his head under the stream and feeling the soothing coolness rush over him before the hot kicked in.
He remembered the day before with Zach. His ass still felt tender, and he’d been aware of it even when he was boxing. Being fucked had been amazing. He didn’t even know how to process how much he’d liked it. It made him smile, and it made him break out in chills. It made him feel incredibly loved.
Thinking about the difference between how he felt when he was doing it to Zach and how he’d felt when Zach was doing it to him, he couldn’t decide which emotion was sweeter. He loved feeling like he was protecting Zach, taking care of him, and he loved the sensation of Zach’s ass around his cock. But he loved the way it felt to be fucked, which surprised and aroused him. He loved feeling safe enough to let Zach take care of him that way.
Leith realized that his d
ick was reacting to his thoughts, and he looked around, hoping that no one had noticed. He turned the water to cold, dousing his lust. Marian had told him how hard won his acceptance had been here, and he didn’t want anyone to imagine he was getting turned on in the showers by any of them.
He toweled off quickly, eager to get back to Blue Flight to tell Zach how he’d done. He closed his eyes and imagined the smile Zach had given the old Leith in the photo in the paper. He hoped Zach looked something like that when he told him about the blow he’d landed on Marvin.
Zach did smile when Leith told him, and while it might not have been as blinding with pride, it was still a good smile. Leith sat at the bar, happy and content to watch Zach work. He chatted with Vanessa for a while, but then things got busy. He thought about helping, but instead enjoyed watching Zach rush around, totally in control of the situation.
A couple of guys came in holding hands, and Leith smiled. He hoped they were as in love as he was with Zach. When they sat next to him, Leith’s contentedness fled almost immediately.
The younger one nodded toward Zach. “He’s pretty hot.”
Leith opened his mouth to say that Zach was also pretty taken.
But the other man said, “That one? Oh yeah, he’s hot all right. And a hungry, eager little bitch.”
Shaking, Leith clenched his fists. He heard a low growl starting in his throat.
“You’ve had him?” the smaller one seemed impressed.
“I sure did.”
“When was this? And why wasn’t I invited?”
“Eh, not too long ago. Last month or whenever it was you were away. It was good. I’d be up for it again, but maybe you want a shot at him? Or we could have him together. He seems like the type for that. You should hear the noises he makes. Begs for it—”
Leith didn’t remember grabbing the guy and throwing him to the ground. He didn’t remember punching him, or yelling, but he found himself being dragged away, Zach’s hands clutching at him and his voice breaking through the fury.
“Leith! Leith, stop! Stop!”
There was some blood, but not as much as Leith wanted there to be. The guy on the floor looked terrified, his eyes wide and his mouth open with red dribbling from the side. Leith yanked at Zach’s grip to leap on the man again, but Zach held on.