“Are you guys psychotic?” Kinzer asked.

A woman, her wrists and ankles bound in rope, duct tape around her mouth, slept curled between a bed and a nightstand. Her skin was even whiter than Kinzer’s. Her cheeks sunk to a narrow jawbone, in extreme contrast to her swollen, round belly. A ponytail of thin, dirty-blonde hair fell across her chest.

“You kidnapped a pregnant woman?”

“We did what we had to do,” Treycore said.

They stood in a bedroom that wasn’t much bigger than the backroom at Dick Dongs.

After Treycore and Dedrus’s shift, they'd driven Kinzer and Kid back to their place. Treycore now wore a short-sleeve button-up. The sleeves were so tight that, as his muscles flexed, the seams tore ever so slightly.

Dedrus was in a polo and khakis, far more conservative, as if he was trying to hide the good body he had.

Kinzer knelt by the woman, gazing at her belly.

To think, this child could end all the pain…all the hurt…all the torture that the Almighty has used to oppress this world.

“Janka told us about her,” Dedrus said. “I guess, before…”

“He knew where the Antichrist was?” Kinzer asked. “And he never said anything to me?”

“He told me he didn’t want you to have to handle that burden. He would rather you not know than be implicated by the Almighty.”

If only he’d known.

“Why is she tied up?” he asked. “Does she know what’s going on?”

“You think we were gonna tell her,” Treycore said, “that she was having the devil’s kid?”

Kinzer glanced at several dirty bowls, spoons, and bottles of water that were scattered at the woman’s feet.

“Do either of you do dishes?”

“We both work,” Dedrus said defensively.

“At night! You can’t leave her like this.”

Kinzer assumed her horrible treatment stemmed from Treycore and Dedrus’s inability to see mortals as equals.

Kinzer grabbed the edge of the duct tape around her mouth and pulled.

RIP went the tape as it exfoliated her lips.

“Fuck!” she moaned, stirring to consciousness. “What did I tell you about the tape? Who the fuck are you?”

Eyes that seemed too large for her tiny, frail face locked in a bitter stare. She pursed her lips and cocked an eyebrow.

Her irritation made sense. Kinzer didn’t imagine there were many who wouldn’t have been equally enraged had they found themselves in her situation.

“It’s okay,” Kinzer said. “I’ll explain!”

“If you bunch of faggots want to rape me or get BJs, let’s just do it and get it over with.”

“No, no. It’s not like that.”

“I don’t have time for this shit. I’m gonna have a baby. Or can’t you tell? And you know, it wouldn’t kill me to have a cigarette. Anyone got a beer?”

Her words scrambled Kinzer’s thoughts. He tossed a glare over his shoulder. “Dedrus,” he whispered. “Where did you find her?”

“Well…”

“She did tricks,” Treycore explained, “over at Cheshire Bridge.”

“Oh.” Kinzer’s eyes returned to the woman. “Um…I’m not going to let you smoke or drink while you’re carrying the Leader’s baby.”

“What? Who? You know who the father is?”

“Yes. That’s actually what I want to tell you. Now, I’m gonna untie you and explain—”

“Don’t fucking untie her!” Treycore exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Dedrus said. “Don’t do that. She’s a biter.”

“Just let me handle this. I think you guys have done a shitty enough job with this as it is.”

He fiddled with the ropes around her wrists, loosening them with care.

The foul look on the woman’s face softened.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Maggie.”

“Maggie, you’re carrying a very important baby.”

As he finished untying the rope, he set it beside him and worked on her ankles.

“Are you a religious person?”

She hesitated but shook her head.

“Good. That’ll make this easier.”

He started his tale of God and Satan, just as he had told it to Kid. He explained the war between Heaven and Hell, allowing her thoughts to reel through the mind-fuck that accompanied the reversal of thousands of years of the Almighty’s religious propaganda.

Kid stood in the doorframe, glancing around uncomfortably.

Kinzer was fairly certain that Kid thought he was insane. He knew he shouldn't have told him as much as he had, but after all that had happened, he didn’t feel like there were any immortals he could trust, and it was nice to have someone to talk to. However, considering Kid’s clear disbelief, he couldn’t figure out why he was still hanging around.

“For a long time,” he said, still attempting to soothe her concern, “the Almighty has planned to have a child—a ruthless, sinister, malicious monster that will bring plague and death to the world, wiping it into oblivion. This child is referred to as the Christ. The Council has restrictions against him creating a Christ. It would be like China deciding to use a nuke. Through our team’s infiltration into the Raze, we learned that God is already in the process of bringing a Christ into the world. The Leader, as we call him, knowing this, has launched his own Antichrist, a child that will take on the Christ. This child will bring peace and love to your world.”

Maggie’s eyes were wide. “Which one am I having?”

“The Antichrist.”

She stared at him blankly.

“That’s the good one,” Dedrus said.

“So…I’m having the devil’s baby. But the devil’s good? And you guys are demons?”

“We prefer the term fallen,” Kinzer corrected.

“Okay. You are fallens, and you’re going to protect my baby so that it can save the world? Am I hearing this right?”

Kinzer sighed, relieved. It was wonderful that she’d been able to absorb all that so fast.

“See?” he said, turning to Dedrus and Treycore. “It doesn’t hurt to communicate with mortals.”

“Um—” Treycore muttered.

Something hit the back of Kinzer’s head. His face smacked into the floor. Ceramic shards scattered across the carpet around him.

It was the lamp from the nightstand. Evidently, when Kinzer’d turned to his higherling friends, Maggie had made haste with finding a weapon.

In a flash, she was at the window, unfastening the lock.

“Oh, fuck!” Dedrus hopped over the bed.

Treycore ran around and wrapped his arms just above her belly.

“Let go of me, you crazy fucks!” she shouted. “Help! Rape! Rape!” She scratched at his arms. Exposing her teeth, she bit into his hand.

“Fucking bitch!” he shouted.

Dedrus struggled to restrain her.

A few bite and scratch marks later, they had her stabilized on the bed.

“Please don’t kill me!” she wailed. “God, save me from these crazies!”

“Guys,” Kid said. “Why don’t you show her something?”

Kinzer, Treycore, and Dedrus exchanged uncertain looks.

Treycore threw him a condescending glare. “What?”

“She’s scared ’cause she thinks you guys are insane. Don’t any of you have wings or something you can show her, so she’ll believe?”

Treycore’s glare transformed from condescending to curious. He undid the buttons on his shirt, pulled it off, and tossed it aside.

The dip in his back ran down to a peek at his ass crack.

“Finally!” Maggie exclaimed. “Just rape me and get it over with! Fuck, it’s not rape with those abs. Jesus!”

Treycore closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Feathers shot out from between his shoulder blades and expanded until they filled just over half the room.

“No fucking way!” Kid exclaimed.

Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “Shit. What am I on?”

***

“Anything?” Treycore asked Dedrus. He held his cell to his ear. He leaned against a doorframe, his blond hair in a swirled pattern created by Maggie’s frenzy. His shirt, only buttoned halfway, exposed the grooves down his chest. As he looked at Kinzer with disdain, his wince intensified.

You’re such an asshole, Kinzer thought.

Kinzer hated that wince, which made Treycore appear as if he was disapproving of everything his gaze beheld. Did Treycore make this face because he found himself constantly disapproving of creations lower than himself? Or, had the Almighty crafted the expression to compliment his beautiful features?

Before the Fall, Treycore had been one of the Almighty’s most prized creations. He’d been free to delight in whatever he desired. After the Fall, he’d sided with the Leader. Still, Kinzer couldn’t help but despise the span of time when Treycore had basked in the fruits of Kinzer and other inferior immortals’ labor.

“No,” Dedrus replied, his cell also against his ear. With his free hand, he pushed a brown lock of hair out of his eyes, curling it behind his ear. He knelt between a couch and a coffee table. He weeded a plate and bag of Oreos from between the couch cushions and added them to a pile of TV dinner trays and magazines on a side table.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said, his eyes scanning the room for more debris.

Dedrus’s panic about his and Treycore’s wreck of a place reminded Kinzer of how adorable he could be. He’d always been messy and wildly ashamed of it. During the war, he’d dig through piles of hoarded garbage, searching for his shit. His cot had always been covered with so much crap that it looked like he was trying to make a nest. It was a habit that, even after all this time, Dedrus hadn’t been able to overcome. He was clearly ashamed of that, but Kinzer found the hoarding—coupled with Dedrus’s embarrassment about it—charming. It was part of what Kinzer had fallen in love with.

Kid stood before a wooden rail to the stairwell that led to the second floor, where Maggie’s room was. His gaze flashed to Treycore.

Kinzer figured Kid was smitten. Treycore’s physique was impressive, even to immortals. He could only imagine how it affected a mortal.

“This is bullshit.” Treycore shoved his cell in his pocket. “Where the fuck is everyone?”

Dedrus ducked beneath the coffee table. He rose, his hands filled with white cracker bags. He set them on the table.

“Dedrus, seriously? Are you gonna keep cleaning, or are we gonna figure out what the fuck we’re gonna do?”

“Voicemail,” he said. “Maybe someone already warned them.” He pressed his thumb against his phone screen and set it beside the cracker bags.

They’d been attempting to reach their contacts, Donna and Krimson, for the past half an hour. Anxiety rushed through Kinzer. Something was up.

“Yeah. They’d warn them and not us?” Treycore said. “Doubtful.”

“We need to get her out of here,” Kinzer said. “If the Raze is on to the Leader’s Allies, they could come here.”

“No way.” Dedrus, still kneeling, picked up wrappers and Styrofoam coffee cups off the floor and added them to his collection on the table. “All our work is tied to another location. We don’t use this house for any transactions. Not with the Council. Not with the Leader’s Allies. There’s no way they can find us.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, we’re sure.” Treycore stepped toward Kinzer, broadening his shoulders like he was trying to intimidate Kinzer. “You think we’re morons?”

“Not both of you,” Kinzer said.

Treycore’s face flashed red. A ripping sound filled the air as his biceps flexed against his sleeves. He balled his fists and marched at Kinzer.

Dedrus leapt up from the floor and wedged between them, as he’d done back at Dick Dongs. “Are we seriously gonna do this all night? Treycore, Janka’s dead. Give him a break.”

Those words pained Kinzer. They made him want to tear into Treycore, not because of anything Treycore had done, but because he wanted to beat the shit out of something—anything.

“Whatever,” Treycore said. “We’re done with this shit. I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Good,” Kinzer said. “Let the grown-ups handle the planning.”

“Kinzer,” Dedrus hissed.

Treycore shoved Dedrus’s shoulder to the side as he headed across the room. He slipped by Kid and started up the stairwell.

“Will you get Kid settled?” Dedrus asked.

Treycore stopped halfway up the stairs. He rolled his eyes and turned his wince to Kid.

“What am I? A babysitter?”

Dedrus didn’t respond. He just eyed him until Treycore finally said, “Get your ass up here, smelly.”

Kinzer thought it was harsh to call a mortal smelly. It was true, but it wasn’t their fault that the Almighty had been so sloppy with their creation.

Kid turned to Kinzer, his eyes filled with concern, as if he was psychically saying, “This guy’s not gonna kill me, right?” Kinzer tossed his head to the side, indicating that he should follow Treycore.

Treycore was an ass, but he wasn’t going to hurt him.

Kid’s jeans flashed behind the wooden rail posts as he made his way up the stairs.

***

“Again, sorry about the mess,” Dedrus repeated.

A lamp from a nearby desk illuminated a bookshelf before him.

Stacks of books covered rows of shelves that lined every wall. Crinkled wads of wide-ruled paper surrounded the base of a desk covered with a mix of potato chip bags, Hershey's wrappers, files, and books.

Had Dedrus known he was going to have immortal company, he would have tidied up—especially if he’d known it’d be Kinzer.

“It’s fine.” Kinzer stared off, apparently not noticing the mess. The cleft in his chin and the divot in his nose hid in shadows created by the lamplight.

A wave of Dedrus’s dark bangs obscured his view. He tossed his head back, jerking the clump behind his ear. Standing on his toes, he pulled a book toward him. The bookshelf swung open, revealing a secret compartment.

Dry, glistening tissue that had grown over the cut on Kinzer’s lip expanded with a smile. “Glad you’re still putting that brilliant mind to use.”

Dedrus blushed. No one appreciated his handiwork anymore. No one ever saw it. During the golden days of Heaven, his inventions had been adored. His craftsmanship had been praised by the most ingenious of his higherling peers. They’d held ceremonies in his honor, praising him for his innovation. Those days were so long ago that memories of them seemed more distant than the blurred images of a nearly forgotten dream.

Not his memories of Kinzer, though.

Those were vivid. Being an engineer for the Almighty, Dedrus was a member of an elite higherling class. Kinzer had been a laborer, a builder. He pieced together, with millions of other builders, the magnificent visions that the elite conjured up to satisfy their vain tastes.

Had the realms divided based on loyalty rather than hierarchy, Dedrus would have fallen as well, for he had actively worked against the oppressive institution that exclusively served the Almighty’s most beautiful of creations, leaving those perceived as less remarkable at the bottom of the order. Though an insignificant creation to the Almighty, Kinzer wasn’t unremarkable. Not to Dedrus. When the war came and he and Dedrus had joined the Leader’s fight, they worked together, defending the Leader during the Siege of Hell and fighting the Morarkes when they turned against their creator.

Kinzer wasn’t a leader. Just a soldier. A hardworking, passionate soldier. Dedrus had fallen in love with his passion, not just for the rights of all higherlings, but for life—a better life than the Almighty had ever promised his lowliest of creations. Kinzer and Dedrus shared a tent. They’d lain in cots as Kinzer read the Leader’s philosophies on equality to Dedrus. They’d spent nights discussing the troubles of Heaven and the promises of Hell. Kinzer wasn’t a great philosopher. His arguments were weak, emotion-based, and devoid of logic, but they were passionate. It was that passion Dedrus had fallen in love with—the same passion that stirred the fire in those sparkling brown eyes.

“I can’t have you walking around without any protection.” Dedrus pulled the bookshelf open like a door, revealing racks stocked with swords, daggers, and knives. He reached in, pulled out a sword, and handed it to Kinzer. “Recognize it?”

Kinzer smirked, his eyes on the hilt—on an emblem of a dove in flight. It was Dedrus’s emblem. “You took out a lot of Morarkes with this guy.”

“We did.”

The Morarkes had been designed to defend Hell and attack Heaven. When they turned against the fallen, the immortals formed a task force known as Feint to destroy the beasts. Morarkes, having been created with an incredibly narrow focus that forced them to isolate their assaults to higherlings, were incapable of multi-tasking. Their attention fixated on their victim higherlings until their mission was accomplished. Members of Feint used this weakness against the monster. Working in teams of two, one immortal drew the attacking creature’s attention. The other attacked its weakest point. Dedrus’s swordplay was vastly superior to Kinzer’s, so Kinzer always acted as the distraction while Dedrus acted as the attacker.

With Kinzer’s assistance, Dedrus had slain hundreds of the menaces.

“I’m not gonna take this,” Kinzer said. “It’s yours.”

“You pissed off the Raze. You need a sword.”

Kinzer had to have an immortal weapon, one created from the minerals of heavenly realms. The weapons of Earth were insignificant against immortals.

“Not gonna do me much good,” Kinzer said, “now that I don’t even have my strength. Or my gift.”

His gaze drifted across the blade. He sighed.

Dedrus knew he was reminiscing about more than the loss of his strength or gift. He was reminiscing about the war. About his days with Janka. As supportive as he wanted to be, he couldn’t stifle the spark of jealousy that stirred within him. He hated himself for feeling it. Janka had been a good friend. They’d worked together on the Almighty’s heavenly empire at the dawn of creation, combining the skill of Dedrus’s engineering with the craft of Janka’s architecture. They’d built a kingdom worthy of the Almighty’s precious creations.

As much love and reverence as Dedrus had for Janka, he had never been able to shake the sting that surged in his chest, reminding him that Kinzer could never be his. His resentment stemmed from his initial courting of Kinzer, interrupted when Janka became a captain with Feint.

At the time, an affair between Janka and Kinzer seemed impossible. Despite Janka’s siding with the Leader, he had never been one to care for the plight of the lower class. He’d only ever expressed disgust for them. However, a change of heart left him caring, not only for the lower class, but mortals as well. It was a dark day when a fellow soldier whispered rumors of Janka and Kinzer’s relationship to Dedrus. The sting he’d felt became a surge of rage that overwhelmed him. He’d been livid. He’d had to isolate himself for days as he abused desks, chairs, and even books, leaving them ripped and tear-stained. What could someone as compassionate as Kinzer see have ever seen in the vain whims of Janka? Dedrus spent many nights in fits of anger, consumed by jealousy. What was he to do now that he’d found the one creature in the uncountable span of time that was the only one he could ever love?

“I appreciate it.” Kinzer gripped the shaft of the sword. “So how have you and Treycore been holding up in this mortal rat hole?”

“What? You don’t love the place?”

Kinzer smiled. “Not exactly the flash of your castle in Heaven.”

Dedrus had been spoiled with one of the greatest castles in the Almighty’s kingdom. He and Treycore had once lived the most luxurious of lives, basking in the great pleasures of the elite. Now, they opted to live in squalor among the mortals in their work as liaisons.

“It’s easy for Treycore. Attention is attention, and most creations have always been beneath him, so he adores it regardless of where it’s from.”

“And you?”

“Hard to choose where I’d rather live out my lonely existence.”

Stop being pathetic. Dedrus chastised himself. He was just trying to get Kinzer to pity him.

Kinzer’s gaze shifted around the room, as Dedrus recalled him doing when he’d attempted to convey his affections for him long ago.

“But this place is so wonderful,” Dedrus said, in an effort to lift Kinzer’s discomfort, “sometimes I forget I’m not in Heaven.”

Kinzer chuckled. His eyes lit up.

There’s that gleam, Dedrus thought. Stop thinking like that!

This wasn’t the time to be swooning over Kinzer. There were serious matters to tend to, and most importantly, Kinzer needed time to mourn the loss of his Janka…the immortal that had ripped Dedrus’s love right out from under him.

“I’d kill myself if I had to be around Treycore every day,” Kinzer said.

“He isn’t the easiest immortal to live with.” Dedrus gestured, presenting the room to Kinzer. “As you can see, I’m not either.”

“I guess when you’ve spent eons with servants waiting on you hand and foot, it’s hard to adjust to cleaning up after yourselves. How is his verse these days?”

“Time hasn’t improved his talent, but that’s what happens when the Almighty prioritizes aesthetics over intellect.”

“Well, I gotta hand it to him. He’s given up a lot. Of all the elite that have joined the cause, he had the most privilege.”

“When you’re on a pole in a thong, feeding the shallowest of mortal impulses, it’s easy to forget you ever had privilege.”

“Not such a big fall for an immortal like me. But Janka probably felt the same way.”

There was that name again. Dedrus hated himself for cringing at it. He’d loved Janka. He considered him a brother—a brother he loathed for taking the only thing in all the Almighty’s realms that made eternal life worth it.

“You never should have both been sent into the Raze,” Dedrus said.

“I insisted.” Kinzer gazed off.

He was clearly thinking about all that had happened. He needed to talk about it. Get it off his chest.

“Here,” Dedrus said. “Come on. Let’s sit down.”

He passed Kinzer, heading into the adjoining room.

Frozen dinner trays, water bottles, and unopened bills covered the table by the couch.

This is so embarrassing. At least it’s better than before.

He approached the couch and motioned for Kinzer to sit.

Kinzer did. Dedrus made himself comfortable in the corner, relaxing his triceps on the arm of the couch and angling his legs over the side. His distance from Kinzer was calculated. Though he wanted to wrap his arm around him, to hold him close and ask him to tell him everything, he knew that wouldn’t be appropriate. Even worse, he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to take things further—to a place that would take advantage of Kinzer in his moment of weakness.

“You want to talk about it?” Dedrus wanted to be there for his friend in whatever way he could, but he questioned his motives. Did he want to help out of the goodness of his heart? Did he secretly want Kinzer to notice his kindness and come to appreciate him as he’d come to appreciate Janka? Surely, both elements were present within his intentions, but he hated himself for the part that selfishly wanted to use this opportunity to get closer to Kinzer—to pick up where Janka had interrupted.

Kinzer leaned back on the couch, his fingers massaging the edges of the sword. He stared forward, as if he was looking through the wall on the other side of the room. His eyes no longer reflected the gleam that usually enchanted Dedrus.

“Veylo’s mad with power,” Kinzer said.

Dedrus shook his head. “He was always that way. His mind is too close to the Almighty’s—in a way that breeds corruption. He can create powerful, mystical technology. He can give life to inventions that no other immortal could conceive of. That power breeds arrogance. When I worked with Janka, Veylo trivialized our work. He saw us as limited, narrow-minded. Whereas we would work to use the tools that surrounded us, Veylo worked to create new tools that took creation to another level. I’m not saying he’s not a genius. He is. Veylo could do more with the elements of the heavenly realms than any other creation I’ve ever known. But that power…there’s something dark within it. Something twisted. It lacks ethics. Morality.”

“That’s him in a nutshell.”

“The only reason Veylo ever fell was because he thought he’d have more power in Hell. Fortunately, the Leader was too smart to give him any. The Leader knows he’d use it to usurp him. I remember how upset Veylo was when he wasn’t allowed in the weapons division. I think Veylo wanted to work on the Antichrist Project. What great mind didn’t? Kamin, Erisar, Vegir…there was something alluring about the idea of working against the creator. But even those immortals knew that creation without hesitance would bring about annihilation. Hesitance has never been Veylo’s strength. I take it you don’t know what he was working on?”

“Whatever it was, it was big. Veylo said it would have the power to end all the realms. Sounded like the next Morarke. I just don’t get how someone can work to create something so destructive and be proud of it, especially after all we went through during the war.”

“You’re sure he wasn’t talking about the Christ?”

“I’m sure. Janka said it was more powerful than that.”

“More powerful?” Dedrus knew Veylo was irrational, but it seemed absurd of him to believe that Veylo could challenge the greatest minds the Almighty had ever created—the ones responsible for developing the Christ.

Kinzer nodded. “It’s like he’s trying to outdo the Almighty.”

“That sounds like Veylo. Mad with irrational, wild, impatient ambition. You have any idea how close he is to finishing it?”

“Close. Very close. I didn’t have a lot of pull with the Raze. I just supplied them with bogus intel from the Leader about our underground operations. Veylo never let me in on his secrets. He’d tell Janka things here and there, but kept him at arm’s length, so I’m sure that he was never going to tell me shit. Janka was in charge of properties. Veylo needed a lot of space, a lot of land for whatever he was working on. He also helped set up a lot of operations that worked to transport materials between realms.”

“You think he’s transporting heavenly minerals to Earth?”

“Definitely.”

“Why didn’t we just take that to the Council? Veylo would have been executed immediately.”

“The Leader wanted us to find out what Veylo was working on. If we exposed him too early, someone else could have just picked up where he left off, and we’d never have a chance to stop them.”

“What do you think it is?”

“No clue. Janka was having a hard time figuring it out. I think Veylo tried to confuse him about it. He went on all these wild goose chases. Initially, he thought the Almighty had charged Veylo with the Christ.”

“No. No way,” Dedrus said. “The Almighty wanted him back in Heaven, but He’d be insane to give him that much power.”

“Later, Janka suspected that Veylo was trying to rework the Morarkes. Evidently, some of the materials he was transporting were Morarke corpses.”

“And?”

“Another dead end. Veylo was dismantling them entirely. Janka never figured out what he was up to. Janka would think he was onto something one day, and the next, he’d reach a dead end. He’d tell me about them, though. That’s what surprised me when you guys mentioned that he’d told you about the Antichrist. Janka told me all the pieces he was working on with Veylo, but never anything about that.”

“He probably just wanted to make sure Veylo wouldn’t be able to torture it out of you.”

“You’re right. If he’d said anything to me about it, and they’d…done what they did, I would’ve told. I’m not proud of that. But when it came down to it, Janka’s life mattered more to me than all of creation. I would’ve told. Janka knew that.”

That was what Dedrus loved. That passion. It wasn’t intelligent. It wasn’t reasonable. It was what it was, and it was beautiful.

“What about the guy who outed you?” Dedrus asked. “You have any idea who it is?”

“I don't, but when I find him, I swear to our fucking Leader, I'll—” Choking on his words, Kinzer rested the sword on his lap and pressed his hands against his now-trembling face.

Dedrus scooted across the couch, wrapped his arm around him, as he’d wanted to do all along.

You’re horrible, he chastised himself. You know why you’re doing this. Don’t.

Another part of him wanted to be there for Kinzer. He wanted to ease his pain, to provide him with some relief from the horror he'd experienced at the hands of the Raze.

Kinzer threw his arms around Dedrus, squeezing tight. His body quivered.

Dedrus wanted to feel Kinzer’s lips on his, to taste his delicious immortal flavor. He wanted to feel Kinzer’s cock inside him, filling him, as he had on so many of the nights they’d spent together.

It isn’t right.

Kinzer pulled away, freeing Dedrus of his guilt. He sniffled and wiped the back of his hand across his nose.

“Sorry,” Kinzer said. “It's just…”

“Don’t. You have every right to be upset.”

Upset. That’s a trivial word for what he’s been through, you idiot.

Dedrus scanned Kinzer’s body, admiring his massive biceps, his brown eyes, and his black waves of hair. Even with the wounds and tears that still tainted his face, he was beautiful. Dedrus wanted to press him back against the cushions, rip off his clothes, and provide him with the ease he deserved. But no! He was just wanting it for himself, and he was pretending that it was to serve Kinzer’s pain.

“I loved him so much.” The words cracked through Kinzer’s lips. His cheeks and forehead shivered. Tears filled his eyes. “I know we had so much time, but it wasn’t enough.”

The sting in Dedrus’s chest intensified. His cheeks flashed red as anger washed over him—anger that he loathed because it made him feel like a terrible, selfish creature.

He set his hand on Kinzer’s back, his palm stroking softly across the blue fabric of his polo. He wanted to say, “You’ll find love again.” He couldn’t, because he knew he’d really be saying, “Please find love in me.” He thought of saying, “Everything will be alright.” No. He couldn’t make that kind of promise. “It’ll take time,” felt appropriate, and yet, as an immortal, Dedrus never perceived time as a generous gift as much as a twisted, agonizing punishment.

“I wish I could think of something right to say about this,” Dedrus said, “but I can’t. I know how much you loved him, and I know how much he loved you, and I can’t imagine how hard this is going to be for you. But I’m here. As your friend. I don’t know if that means much, but I know the feeling of having something so perfect and wonderful torn away from you.”

Kinzer’s gaze met his. His eyes were sad.

Does he know what I’m talking about?

“Tell me you’ve found someone,” Kinzer said.

“Of course,” he lied. “I’m just being overdramatic.”

“I figured as much. Considering where you work, I'm sure you get a lot of offers.”

It was true, but not the way Kinzer was suggesting. There were nights when Treycore dragged some pathetic mortal back to ease Dedrus’s pain. Those nights were the loneliest. Though he could bring himself to climax, it was an empty relief that just stirred the cruel memories of those moments filled with so much more.

Dedrus hugged him again. “Let’s get to bed,” he said. “You need some sleep.”

Kinzer nodded.

“We have plenty to sort through tomorrow. You can have my room. I’ll just sleep here.”

Dedrus released him.

Kinzer picked the sword up off his lap and stood. He reached his hand out. “Come on. It won’t be the first time we’ve shared a bed.”

The upward curl of his lip let Dedrus know that Kinzer was more than interested.

Dedrus’s dick swelled. “I don’t think I can.” He wanted Kinzer so bad, and if he put himself in that position, he was sure he wouldn’t be able to resist making a move—especially if Kinzer initiated something.

“I'd rather not disrespect you like that,” Dedrus said.

Kinzer’s hand fell, bouncing against his jeans. His head drooped.

“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dedrus smiled. “‘Night, Kinzer.”

Kinzer knelt, offering a light peck on Dedrus’s lips.

Don’t tease me with a taste!

“Up the stairs, first room on the right.”

Kinzer walked up the stairs, headed down the hall, and slipped into Dedrus’s bedroom.

Dedrus had hoped that Kinzer’s exit would provide some relief.

It didn't.

He ached for him. His thoughts dwelled on Kinzer’s lips tickling his nipples, his gaze appreciating his body, his tongue delighting in his body’s grooves. He wanted to run upstairs and throw his arms around him, to hold him for the night, and tell him that no matter what happened, he’d be there for him. He wanted more than that, but he wouldn’t press his friend. He wouldn’t dare cross that line…even if Kinzer insisted.

Spreading his limbs across the couch, he rested his head on a lace pillow at the end and rolled so he was facing the cushions.

He closed his eyes.

A few moments passed before something pressed against his ass.

He flipped over and hopped to his feet, ready for a fight.

Kinzer stood before him, holding his hands out, as if showing a cop that he was unarmed. “Whoa, cowboy. Chill the fuck out.”

“Sorry.” Every hair on Dedrus’s immortal body stood on end. “You freaked the shit out of me. Did you need something? Another cover? Pillows?”

Kinzer wiggled his thumb behind the waistband in Dedrus’s khakis.

“Yeah. I need something.” He pulled their pelvises together.

His hot breath rushed across Dedrus’s lips, settling in the bristles across his cheeks. The warmth combined with a rush of blood that surged to his face made him feel like his cheeks were about to catch on fire.

Kinzer pressed his lips against Dedrus’s.

Amidst the creases in Kinzer’s lips, Dedrus felt the smooth, subtle dip where Kinzer’s cut was healing.

He trailed his palm over the rough fabric of Kinzer’s polo. As he reached the smooth flesh of his neck, curly black hairs pricked his fingertips.

Kinzer opened his mouth wide. Dedrus eagerly reciprocated, tilting his head and allowing their lips to seal together. A swirling sensation gathered at the base of his spine and rushed to the crown of his skull.

Guilt nagged at his thoughts. He couldn’t do this. Kinzer didn’t really want him. He was just vulnerable and ached for a physical distraction from his grief. It would be wrong to take advantage while he was still recovering from Janka’s death.

Kinzer’s tongue flicked his.

He wanted Kinzer so bad, but not like that. Pressing his hand against the dip between the bulbous, jagged pecs before him, he broke their sealed kiss.

“What?” Kinzer rested his hands on Dedrus’s hips.

“This wouldn’t be right. I don’t want to disrespect you.”

“I know. But I want you to.”

Kinzer wrapped both arms around Dedrus. Spinning them around, he pushed Dedrus back against a painting that hung on the wall.

Kinzer’s eyes glistened with that gleam—the one that was so familiar to Dedrus.

Dedrus couldn’t control himself. His lips returned to their passionate embrace. His fingers found their way under Kinzer’s shirt, feeling about fervently, savoring the dips in his torso.

The wooden frame of the painting dug into Dedrus’s back, scraping along the wall before dislodging from a nail and breaking free of its frame as it hit the floor.

Kinzer gripped the hem of Dedrus’s shirt. Dedrus threw his arms over his head, allowing his friend to pull it off and toss it behind him. Kinzer’s fingers went right for Dedrus’s khakis, unbuttoning and unzipping at lightning speed before they were at his ankles. Dedrus kicked off his shoes, letting them roll across the wood-paneled floor. He stepped out of his pants. Kinzer tossed them beside his shirt.

“Ooo. Lookie, lookie,” Kinzer teased.

Dedrus glanced down at the white bikini briefs he wore. Deep arches in his torso dipped down either side of his hips, disappearing under a waistband. He blushed. “Shut up. I didn’t think anyone was going to be looking.”

Dedrus tucked his thumbs into the waistband and slid them down his thighs. Kinzer grabbed his wrists.

“No, no,” Kinzer said, sliding them back up. “I like them.” He knelt so he was eye level with a monster bulge in the briefs.

Dedrus giggled like a schoolboy, but being that he’d been alive since before Earth’s creation, he wasn’t fooling either of them. This was fun, frisky—like the good old days. Dedrus couldn’t enjoy the moment without immediately remembering that this encounter was finite. Unlike the old days, when he knew he could return to his lover at any time, he had to soak up every drop of goodness from this experience.

Kinzer pulled the front of Dedrus’s briefs down. His cock and sack sprang forward as if they were reaching out to attack.

“Been a long time since I’ve seen this guy,” Kinzer said.

Been a long time since I’ve gotten any.

It hadn’t been that long. He and Treycore fooled around on and off, whenever they needed to de-stress. But Treycore was so big that Dedrus never let him go inside him. He’d fucked a few mortals that he’d met at the bar or that Treycore brought back to the house, but he’d never let them penetrate him. After all, most mortals’ cocks couldn’t even reach an immortal’s prostate. For a long time, Dedrus had desperately wanted someone who could just slide into his ass and fuck the shit out of him. He knew that Kinzer would do just that. Kinzer knew how rough he liked it. Kinzer knew exactly how much teasing and pain he required.

Kinzer tucked the waistband behind Dedrus’s balls. It pushed his sack forward as if presenting his nuts to Kinzer.

Stop it! Stop this!

He couldn’t. The promise of this intimate encounter with someone he cared so much about was too much for him to fight. He didn’t want Kinzer like this. He wanted Kinzer to love him…to want to be with him. However, he was willing to take whatever Kinzer was willing to give.

Kinzer’s tongue swept up the middle of his scrotum, stirring about, massaging between his balls.

The cool air conditioning rushed through Dedrus’s curly, brown pubes, freezing Kinzer’s saliva. His balls shrank. His sack wrinkled.

The cool air amplified the intensity of the heat of Kinzer’s breath, making his length swell even more.

Kinzer’s tongue tickled the base of his shaft, barely licking, just teasing. He wrapped his hand around his friend’s girth and squeezed, his lips rushing just barely halfway down the head of Dedrus’s cock.

“Please!” Dedrus enjoyed the excitement. He wasn’t even as aroused by Kinzer’s actions as he was by the anticipation of what was to come.

Kinzer slid his lips back, freeing them from Dedrus’s flesh. He gripped Dedrus’s hips, twisted him around, and pushed him forward.

Dedrus spread his arms out. His hands pressed into the wall like he was about to do a pushup.

Kinzer slid the briefs down Dedrus’s thighs, exposing two tight, c-shaped cheeks. He removed them, adding them to the abandoned clothes behind him. He massaged Dedrus’s ass-flesh, his thumbs sliding through the crack between them, pulling them apart.

Kinzer’s hands were so warm, so smooth.

Dedrus wanted Kinzer’s pelvis to use his cheeks like a hacky sack.

Dedrus shifted his pelvis so his ass pushed closer to Kinzer’s face, inviting him to savor it in whatever way he desired.

Thoughts of Janka itched at Dedrus’s conscience, but a twisted part of him didn’t care. He wished that Janka could see him now—to feel that same pain he’d felt when he’d lost his chance with Kinzer. It was a terrible thought. He scolded himself for having it, but it didn’t make it any less true.

With his tongue, just as he had done with the base of Dedrus’s cock, Kinzer tickled his way around Dedrus’s hole. Dedrus wrapped his fingers around his dick and jerked back and forth. Kinzer released one of his cheeks and snatched his wrist.

“No!” he ordered.

Dedrus glanced over his shoulder. Had he done something wrong?

“I want you to get off without touching yourself.”

Excitement stirred in Dedrus. He’d forgotten how playful Kinzer could be. As Kinzer released his wrist, Dedrus placed the hand back on the wall. Kinzer’s thumbs pulled Dedrus’s cheeks back apart. He pressed his lips against his hole. He kissed softly at first. Like he was warming it up. His tongue stroked up and down and whirled about in a frenzy.

An intense rush of energy, like hands caressing up his back to his neck, swept through Dedrus.

Kinzer’s lips retreated. He kneaded his thumbs against either side of Dedrus’s hole. He was slow, deliberate.

Why is he teasing me?

“I want you in me so bad,” Dedrus said.

With both hands, Kinzer pressed his index and middle fingers together and pushed them into Dedrus’s hole. Leaning so that his face was millimeters from Dedrus’s crack, he spit a thick, juicy web of saliva inside and massaged it against the walls of his ass.

Dedrus contracted the inside of his hole, as if he was thirsty and this was the only way he could hydrate.

Kinzer’s fingers pulled out.

A clinking sound hit Dedrus’s ears as Kinzer unfastened his belt and slid his pants down to the white socks that covered his feet.

A stiff, vein-covered erection poked forward.

Kinzer sprang to his feet and stuck the hard-on between Dedrus’s cheeks.

With one hand, he gripped Dedrus’s waist. With the other, he stuck the head of his dick against his saliva-lube and forced his way into Dedrus’s hole.

Stinging. Burning.

It felt as if someone was jamming a knife inside him.

It was painful, but erotic. The more it hurt, the harder he became.

Unlike humans, who Dedrus found tended to favor pleasure, immortals found greater satisfaction in the dance between ectascy and pain…in exploring the complexity of their creaturehood through blissful—yet at times—excrutiating sex.

White feathers ripped from the flesh between Dedrus’s shoulder blades, stretching out, just as Treycore’s had done earlier. He lifted his leg off the ground, struggling to position himself so Kinzer would have an easier time assaulting him.

It was like a butcher knife reaching for his intestines.

If Kinzer hurt this bad, he couldn’t even imagine how painful it would have been to have Treycore in there.

Kinzer’s arms crossed as he pulled his polo over his head and tossed it with Dedrus’s clothes. He wrapped his arms around Dedrus, beneath the inner edges of his wings. Trailing his fingers around Dedrus’s torso, he caressed them across his abs.

His nose tucked behind Dedrus’s ear as his lips offered soft kisses against his neck.

He thrust back and forth, seemingly without regard.

“Fuck!” Dedrus cried, his feathers shaking feverishly.

It was so painful, and yet, he wanted more. Kinzer sure did know how to fuck him.

“Fuck me, Kinzer,” he pleaded. “Harder!”

He didn’t know if his body could actually handle harder, but he needed it.

He lifted his leg higher and twisted it around Kinzer’s hip, resting it on his farthest ass cheek—a position he credited to his current occupation. He’d hoped that it would impress Kinzer. Make him want him more.

Kinzer pulled his shaft out and thrust back in.

It was deep. So deep that it forced Dedrus into convulsions. His rigid back muscles tensed. His wings fluttered.

Kinzer pushed in and out. With each thrust he offered, Dedrus eagerly pushed back, encouraging Kinzer to destroy his hole.

Kinzer flicked his finger over Dedrus’s erect nipple and pinched it with his thumb. He tugged at it and pressed down, as if it was a button.

Fuck! Yes!

Dedrus unleashed another cry of pain, as he had when Kinzer had first forced that big dick in him.

“Hurt me!” Dedrus exclaimed. “Please, hurt me!”

Kinzer released Dedrus’s nipple and grabbed his hips, continuing to pound him. As his pelvis smacked into Dedrus’s ass-cheeks, a sound, like someone being slapped repeatedly, filled the room.

Dedrus could feel Kinzer’s cock hardening, elongating even more. As it reached Dedrus’s prostate, a wave of tickles rippled through his brain. He rolled his head back as what felt like jolts of pleasure rushed across his face. All the while, his ass felt like it was going to split in two.

Kinzer moaned. His pelvis thrust so hard, so fast, the slapping started to sound more like punching.

For Dedrus, it was as if he’d pressed a button that had released painkillers in his spine. It was so relaxing, so delicious. He wanted so much more.

“I’m gonna come,” Kinzer said.

“No!” Dedrus cried. He crawled up the wall, but he couldn’t lift high enough to get Kinzer’s cock out of his hole. “Please don’t!”

As much as he wanted Kinzer to come inside him and for Kinzer to make him come, he wanted to savor this delicious experience. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted to fuck Kinzer for hours. He wanted it to last all night. It wasn’t fair for it to be this short when he wanted an eternity of this wonderful immortal.

“I can’t stop it!”

Dedrus flapped his wings, flying high enough that he was able to dislodge Kinzer.

His ass throbbed. Tremors overtook his legs. He collapsed to the floor and lay beside the fallen, painting.

“No, I need it,” Kinzer said. He reached down, grabbed Dedrus by his hair, yanked him to his feet, and slammed his face into the wall.

Dedrus’s foot scraped across a jagged edge of the painting’s broken frame. It tore through his sock, slicing into his skin. It hurt like fuck, but it was nothing compared to the sensation of Kinzer forcing himself back in.

“Oh, fuck! No!”

But all he could think was, Yes! More! Hurt me!

Still, he couldn’t let Kinzer come. If he did, that was the end.

He tried to turn to his side, but Kinzer wrapped his arm around the base of his wing, holding him in place.

“Ah!” Dedrus shouted.

Kinzer’s insistence on being inside him was even more arousing. Pre-come gushed from the head of Dedrus’s cock like a spider shooting its web.

“Stop, you’re gonna make me come, too!”

This isn’t right. It shouldn’t feel this good. I hate myself.

Despite his guilt, he was greedy, determined to steal as much time with Kinzer as he could.

He wrapped his arm around Kinzer’s leg and yanked on it as hard as he could.

Kinzer tumbled backward. He released Dedrus’s wing and grabbed him by the waist.

He landed on his ass. He’d carried Dedrus with him so that Dedrus was sitting in his lap, Kinzer's cock still inside him.

Dedrus continued his desperate struggle, but Kinzer grabbed his hips and clung on as if it was his most important mission.

Dedrus reared back and punched over his shoulder, hitting Kinzer on his cleft chin.

Kinzer rocked forward and wrapped his arm around Dedrus’s neck, pulling him so that his back was flush against his chest.

“You like that? Huh?” Kinzer teased.

Dedrus screamed out. This position enabled Kinzer to get so much deeper, to cause him so much more pain and simultaneously press that intoxicating button deep within him so much harder.

Dedrus glanced down. Through the slits in his wavy bangs, he saw his pre-come pouring in strings from his swollen cock, pooling into his belly button. His balls burned, as if all they wanted to do was empty their load. It was nearly unbearable. He imagined this was what Kinzer was going through, too. But he wasn’t going to give up. Besides, this tug-of-war was partly responsible for how aroused he was.

Dedrus grabbed at the arm around his neck, fighting, struggling to get free. He lifted his ass into the air, trying to get Kinzer’s cock out enough so he’d be free, but Kinzer was so big that he would’ve had to get his hips higher than physically possible for that to happen.

Between Dedrus’s attempt at freeing his hole and Kinzer’s insistence on penetrating it as deep as he could, Dedrus’s ass was like a basketball, bouncing up and down in fury and excitement.

Dedrus twisted his pelvis, managing to pull over half of Kinzer’s cock out of him.

Kinzer grabbed Dedrus’s firm love handles to pull him back on.

It was too late. Dedrus rolled just enough that head of Kinzer’s cock fell out, bouncing on his own abs.

Kinzer rolled with him until Dedrus’s stomach was flush against the wood floor panels, which chilled his flesh.

Kinzer reached for Dedrus’s wrists.

“No!” Dedrus cried. He thrust his elbow back, smacking Kinzer in the face. He crawled out from under his attacker. As he managed to achieve his freedom, he darted to the doorway to the study.

Kinzer started after him but stumbled over his jeans, which were still at his ankles. He knelt down to remove them.

Dedrus tucked his wings back as he stepped into the study. He started to turn when a blow from behind knocked him forward, forcing him on top of the desk amidst the stray papers and files.

He hardly had time to react as an arm reached under his armpit and flipped him on his back so his wings lay stretched out beneath him, flapping amongst the stacks of papers, some of which were slicing into his back.

Kinzer propped Dedrus’s legs up until Dedrus’s hole was lined up with his erection. He drove it right back in.

It stuck cattycorner, tearing into the wall of Dedrus’s ass, sending a sting rushing through him. As Kinzer’s dick tore across his flesh, it pierced into the depths of Dedrus.

It smashed into Dedrus’s prostate. A thousand swirling vortexes of relief spiraled across Dedrus’s chest. It was a sensation he could’ve only hoped for, and here it was, delighting him beyond anything he’d believed possible.

No, no! I shouldn’t be enjoying this!

Kinzer wiped his hand across Dedrus’s abdomen, collecting some of the pre-come that was still stuck in his belly button. He pulled his fingers to his mouth and licked it off.

“Oh, that’s good.”

Dedrus could hardly hear him. He was too busy savoring Kinzer’s cock while feeling it against the walls of his ass. Feeling it tear and rip. Feeling it throb. He wanted it to hurt more. He wanted the pain to be so intense that it made him forget about Janka and his selfishness altogether. But it only aroused him even more, amplifying his awareness of his sins.

Kinzer leaned forward, gaining leverage and making broad strides as his dick’s head nearly left Dedrus’s hole, but then swiftly reentered, striking its farthest distance and sending Dedrus into a fit of spasms as his body was ravaged with hypersensitivity.

As Dedrus returned to his senses, he remembered the battle that he was having with Kinzer. He had to keep Kinzer from coming—from ending this experience. Pressing his shoulder blades against the desk, he bounced up, his fists clenched, and punched Kinzer in the cheek.

Unfazed, Kinzer snatched Dedrus by his wrist, and as the other fist came at him, he snatched it, too.

Dedrus wasn’t about to give up that easily. He wiggled, struggling against Kinzer’s hold.

He yanked his pelvis back, his ass sliding across the papers, escaping from Kinzer’s cock. As he freed himself, he jerked to the side and rolled off the desk. Kinzer lost his grip and dropped him.

SMACK!

Dedrus hit the floor. He scrambled to his knees.

Kinzer pounced on him from behind, forcing him back onto the floor. He grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the carpet.

Dedrus tried to use his elbows to fight, but his wings obscured his attack.

“Godfuckingdammit!” Dedrus cried.

He had wrestled with Kinzer while fucking in the past, but he’d never lost this badly.

He swayed his hips violently side to side, hoping to make it a challenge for Kinzer to get back inside him. His dick burned against the carpet bristles.

Kinzer’s erect cock stabbed against his cheeks a few times, missing its target.

The failed attempts delighted Dedrus. He giggled with excitement. He felt victorious. It really did feel as if he’d taken a time machine back to the best years of his life.

“You fucking asshole!” Kinzer exclaimed.

Dedrus continued to sway, but as he reached one side, Kinzer’s dick rushed in.

Dedrus reared his head back. It was the most painful and the most delightful sensation he’d ever experienced. His head tossed back and forth as he writhed in the delicious sensation that poured through his back, as if his nerves had been shot full of morphine—everywhere except his ass. Pre-come projected out of his cock, onto the carpet.

It was too much for him to handle. He caressed his hard cock against the floor, forcing it against the red bristles. His cock needed relief. It needed to come.

“Harder, harder!” he begged. “Please, harder!”

Kinzer released Dedrus’s wrists and pressed his hands against the back of his wings, arching his back, pushing his abs forward, as he thrust with all his might in and out of Dedrus’s ass.

Dedrus knew he should be quiet, considering how many people were probably sleeping, but he couldn’t. He screamed.

Dedrus struggled against his cock’s desperate attempt at climaxing. He moved his ass in circles, another move that he’d acquired through his profession.

It must’ve been more than Kinzer could handle, because Dedrus felt him swell. He loved knowing that Kinzer was filling his hole, his come spewing deep inside him. A quick thrust as Kinzer’s dick slipped across his own come sent him even deeper inside Dedrus than he’d been before.

Dedrus’s cock was like a gun. A runny, translucent pre-come preceded a flurry of thick, white rockets that soared through the air and scattered across the red floor.

Dedrus’s legs quaked. His back trembled.

Oh, I fucking needed that. Chills followed the thought as an awareness stirred within him. Why did I do that?

He’d reveled in the idea of the deceased Janka watching him fuck his lover. He’d injured himself by revitalizing the sensuality that had solidified his love for Kinzer so long ago.

He’d made a huge mistake. A mistake that, given the opportunity, he’d make again.

***

Kid stood by the door.

The small room reminded Kid of some of the fucking rooms at Jerry’s, except it was far less empty. On the far end, by a window, a comforter and pillows were piled together in the middle of a twin bed. Across from the bed was a desk with an old computer and printer. Mounds of paper surrounded it. Books and CDs scattered across the floor.

Books? Treycore didn’t seem like the kind of guy that read much.

“My only rule is,” Treycore said, “don’t fucking hog the covers.” He unbuttoned his shirt.

Kid eyed the twin bed. “Um,” Kid began, “maybe I should just sleep on the couch downstairs.”

“You saying you’re a cover hog?”

“What? No. I just don’t want—”

“Then don’t be stupid. No reason to sleep on the couch. We’re all adults. We can share a fucking bed, right? What? You worried I’m queer?”

Kid shook his head. Although, he’d hoped.

Treycore undid the last button on his shirt and slipped it off. It took a bit of effort, considering how tight the shirt was against his flesh.

Kid’s eyes fixated on the curves at the edges of his abs, the sculpting just under his plump chest. Treycore had tiny, perky nipples. Kid’s mouth salivated as he imagined licking, titillating them.

Treycore tossed Kid a suspicious glare.

Kid’s eyes raced around. Had he been caught?

“You gonna get ready for bed?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kid said. He walked over to the bed, sat, and untied his shoes.

“You younger mortals smell worse than the old ones,” Treycore said, unzipping his jeans. He pulled them down with his underwear, revealing his massive cock.

It was even bigger than Kid had realized at the bar. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. It seemed too big for any human to take.

Treycore’s ass muscles shifted about as he walked by a door, then opened it, revealing a closet, the bottom piled with clothes. He threw the jeans and underwear on top of the others and forced the door shut.

Kid slid his jeans and shirt off. He slipped under the covers, trying to keep Treycore from seeing his rock-hard erection.

Treycore opened another side door and stepped into a bathroom.

“You need to wash off?” he called out.

Kid heard a creak, followed by the sound of running water.

“No. I’m good.”

What he really wanted to say was, “Yes, and will you fuck the shit out of me while we’re in there?”

“Suit yourself.”

Kid could hear the water slapping against Treycore’s skin. He wished he could have been in there, tasting that enormous cock, trying to see how far he could get it inside him. He might not have been able to get it in far, but he figured he could surprise Treycore with how much he could take. Even if he couldn’t take it, he would do whatever he needed to so Treycore could get off. He would lick and suck until his gums bled. He would let Treycore slap him around, spit on him, abuse him. It was a small price to pay for the pleasure he would experience just by feeling that body against his.

A part of him was just glad that he was going to get to be so close to Treycore’s hot body. He just hoped that he wouldn’t try to hump this gorgeous creature in his sleep. That would be embarrassing.

Kid fixed the pillows and the covers around him. When he’d positioned everything just right, he rested his head on the pillow. It felt so much better than the cots at Jerry’s.

A few minutes passed before Treycore stepped out of the bathroom. He shifted his hands side to side as he rubbed a towel across his back, leaving his nude muscles on display. Kid couldn’t help but look.

Treycore ran the towel through his hair and tossed it in the bathroom.

Making his way back to the bed, he switched off the light and scooted under the covers, leaving just a few inches between him and Kid.

A streetlamp shone through the window, covering the room in an orange glow.

Treycore closed his eyes and rolled his head back. A bulge in the covers moved up and down.

Waves of heat rushed through Kid. His own cock couldn’t get much harder.

“You mind?” Treycore asked.

“No.”

Treycore’s eyes shifted to Kid’s concealed cock.

“You wanna get off, too?”

“Um…yeah.”

Was Treycore serious? Had he heard him right?

Treycore pulled the covers down, revealing his rigid muscles, tense, swelling as he massaged his impressively massive dick.

Kid slid his boxers down and wrapped his fingers around the shaft of his penis.

“That’s a pretty good size,” Treycore said. “For a mortal, that is.”

“Thanks,” Kid said, not sure whether Treycore was offering an insult or a compliment.

Treycore licked his fingers, dipped his hand down, and rubbed the liquid over his thick flesh.

“Sorry,” he said, “I don’t have any lube. Here.”

He licked his fingers again and wiped them across the head of Kid’s dick. Kid’s shaft tightened as it grew even bigger. A ripple, like an electric shock, rushed from the head of his dick to the back of his pelvis.

Is this really happening? He hoped it was.

Treycore went back to stroking his own girth, rubbing his thumb over its head, massaging the base of his shaft with his pinky. He closed his eyes and tossed his head back. Even his thick, veiny neck muscles aroused Kid.

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Treycore moaned.

Kid just wanted to sit on his cock. He wanted to feel Treycore’s arms around him, his fingers kneading his flesh, his thumbs torturing his nipples. He wanted Treycore to roll over, trap him beneath him, force his hot breath across his face and curse into his ear.

Unfortunately, Treycore just lay beside him, jerking himself off.

Kid scooted ever-so-slightly closer, attempting to feel Treycore’s body heat. Just a little. That was all he needed. He hoped he wouldn’t notice the movement, but Treycore’s eyes squinted open. He looked to Kid, his blue eyes sparkling, his damp, curling, blond bangs falling over his eyebrows.

“You mind giving me a little help?”

Kid’s thoughts scrambled. Did he just ask that? Or was that in his head?

He stared into those blue eyes, waiting to see if something would happen to prove he wasn’t serious.

Nothing.

Kid couldn’t restrain himself anymore. His mouth dropped onto Treycore’s chest, engulfing his pec.

“Oh, fuck yeah!”

Kid’s tongue swirled around his tit. His hand slid across Treycore’s abs. They felt as hard and solid as he’d imagined they would. He let his fingers delight in every crevice, every sinew. His mind whirled with excitement.

“Ah! Oh!”

A huge load, like whipped cream spraying through the air, spilled across Treycore’s abs and chest.

Several drops landed on Kid’s abs. They were warm, and they were Treycore’s. He continued rubbing his own cock, feeling himself nearing climax.

Treycore smirked. He rolled on his side and positioned his lips beside Kid’s ear. “Thanks for the help,” he whispered.

As his hot breath hit Kid’s earlobe, Kid exploded, shooting like a geyser in an arc that landed in the outlines of his abs.

“Oh, fuck. Fuck, yeah!”

Treycore hopped up, grabbed the bathroom towel, and wiped himself off. He threw it to Kid, who did the same. After returning the towel to the bathroom, he hopped back in bed, turning away from Kid without another word.

What just happened?