Before the Darkness (Refuge Inc.) (9 page)

by studying Adam as he leaned his head back

and exposed his long neck, his jaw tightened and

relaxed repeatedly. He imagined licking and

nibbling the tight muscle on the side of Adam's

neck, tasting the saltiness of his sweat. He

remembered the image of him standing nearly

naked under the jet from the broken water main

while water fell over his muscled body, and the

sun rays bounced off of his tanned skin.

Watching him now—legs stretched out on the

ground in front of him and crossed at the

ankles, hands resting on his lap, the great cock

that hid beneath his jeans— made him excited.

He could feel his heart race and his own cock

swell from the imagery.

Then Adam opened his eyes, lifted his

head and met his gaze with a questioning stare.

"You watching me?" His eyes narrowed and his

cheeks reddened just as they did earlier when

Elliot had mentioned his sexy chest.

Elliot smirked. "I'm actually doing more

than that."

Adam looked lattered for a split second,

a glint of appreciation in his eye, and then he

looked away. No problem. Elliot knew exactly

how to get his attention back, and he needed his

attention. If Adam wasn't up for a little reality

vacation to a place of bliss he just might panic.

He had to be stronger than that. No, he
was

stronger than that.

He crawled over and sat next to Adam

who seemed a little shocked at irst. Was he not

expecting him to be so forward, so needy?

Surely Adam knew what he was thinking.

They stared into each other's eyes. Elliot

missed the stunning green in Adam's already. He

would probably never see that unique color in

his eyes again especially in the poor, dim light of

the camp ire. Another reason to be thankful for

the sunshine when they had it.

Adam's demeanor was a mixture of

anticipation and trepidation, as if he wanted

Elliot to make a move but was unsure about it at

the same time. His eyes said
touch me
, but his

body language said
too close
. Elliot didn't want

to do anything drastic. He didn't want to give

Adam a reason to be unsure about him.

However, he couldn't stop his gaze from

traveling to Adam's lips. God, what he would

give to have those lips on his lips, on his body,

on his cock. When he looked back up into his

eyes Adam was looking at his lips too, probably

thinking the same thing.

Elliot's cock ached. It throbbed with the

beat of his heart, rapid, steady and with full

force. He moved his lips closer toward Adam's

and stopped just millimeters away, unbuttoned

and unzipped his cargo shorts and slipped his

hand inside to grip his own hard cock. He licked

his lips slowly, watching the mesmerized look on

Adam's face. "I can suck you," Elliot whispered.

Adam inhaled sharply at those words. He

liked it. Elliot liked the thought too. He took

Adam's hand and stuffed it in his shorts to

replace his own. A sigh escaped Elliot's lips and

he closed his eyes when Adam palmed his cock

and began a pleasurable game of tug and pull.

The pleasure intensi ied as the seconds

progressed. Elliot's toes curled and he brought

his lips to Adam's. Their kiss was tender, all lips

but rapidly evolving. Their tongues eagerly

licked one another's, gliding, tasting. He moaned

when Adam's thumb brushed the head of his

cock, slathering pre-come liberally on and

around the tip. Adam's moan followed,

mimicking Elliot's cry of pleasure.

"I wanna suck you." Elliot reached for the

bulge in Adam's jeans and massaged the

hardness against Adam's irm thigh. "I wanna

suck you off and taste every last bit of it on my

tongue."

"Yes," Adam hissed, kissing him harder,

deeper. His hand twisted around Elliot's cock,

milking pent up pleasure from his aching body.

"Oh, fuck. Don't stop." He felt the warmth

of the copious lubricant ooze out of his rigid

cock, maintaining an easy glide. Elliot was about

to come any minute. "You're so perfect. So

fucking perfect."

"Sshh." Adam kissed him, probably to

quiet him. But he couldn't think of one reason

Adam would want to keep him quiet. He didn't

want to think. All that was on his mind was his

impending orgasm.

"Don't stop. I'm close," Elliot breathed as

Adam's hand moved faster, tug and pull, tug and

pull. Elliot grunted, feeling his eyelashes lutter

as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. "Ooh,

God." Before Elliot could sti le his cry of

pleasure he was coming. Rope after rope of

warm semen pulsed from his stiff cock and

drizzled down over Adam's knuckles. He panted

rapidly and took a minute to fully catch his

breath and center himself in a world that

seemed to spin forever. Once the ireworks

cleared his bleary vision, he fumbled with the

button on Adam's jeans. "Now I can taste you."

He popped the button and peeled back the jean

laps. "And I can suck you
all
night." He grinned

flirtatiously and dipped his head to Adam's lap, a

great way to escape a disastrous reality.

Adam grabbed his shoulders, stopping

him. "You don't have to do that."

"I want to." Elliot caught a glimpse of that

unsure look in his eyes. "Trust me, I wanted to

do this to you all day." He brushed a soft kiss

across Adam's lips and whispered, "Since I laid

eyes on you."

Adam shook his head. "I just…I can't let

you do that." He turned his gaze away, staring

blankly at the darkness in the distance over

Elliot's shoulder.

"You don't want to get off?" By the way

Adam isted Elliot's cock earlier he would've

never guessed. He seemed to enjoy it more than

Elliot, jacking him like he was going to orgasm

from it himself. Now why would Adam torture

himself by denying a generous offer, a perfect

chance to get something good out of the

demolished existence they were suddenly

forced to live in?

"This isn't me." Adam shook his head. "I

can't keep doing these things."

Elliot tried to hide his scowl as he

buttoned and zipped his shorts. "This isn't you?

What are you trying to say?"

Adam shrugged, rubbing dirt in his palms

to remove the stickiness from his hands. "I don't

do this—these things." His voice rose faintly.

"Not anymore. Not since Jena."

"Jena's gone." Elliot glared, refusing to

hide his anger and frustration. "She left you,

remember? Plus, you said no one was alive so

who cares what you do—"

"Oh, come on, Elliot." Adam buttoned his

jeans. "Use your head for once."

Elliot's mouth dropped opened. Stunned,

he wondered how Adam could talk to him like a

cheap, dimwitted whore, especially after their

intimacy. But mostly, what caused his shock was

the sudden familiar feeling of betrayal. "So you

do think there are other survivors. You asshole."

"I'm an asshole? It igures." Adam slid

over a foot, making room between them.

Elliot chose to ignore the gesture or at

least not bring attention to it. "You told me there

were no more lies, but here you are lying about

other survivors."

"I don't know if there are other people

out here or not, but if we're alive anything's

possible." Adam's defensive tone and angry eyes

mirrored Elliot's.

"So you think your iancée is still alive?"

Elliot heard his voice rising but allowed it. It felt

good, therapeutic, and necessary. "You're

planning to see her again, to get back with her

and forget that she left you behind when you

needed her most?"

Adam's handsome facial features twisted

into a menacing glare. "What's it to you? You're

not my wife. You're not my iancée. You're not

my boyfriend. You're nothing to me. Hell, we

haven't even fucked."

Elliot's chest illed with painful heat.

"Damn near."

"Never."

That word hit him like a pile of stones to

the gut, but he refused to react to the sting. "So

why did you tell me everybody's probably

dead?"

"Because I wanted you to stop whining

and face reality. Grow a backbone, damn it."

"What the hell's gotten into you?" Elliot

wished he could put a inger on Adam's sudden

resentment. "You damn near fuck me in that

dental of ice, you give me these lirty looks, you

jack me off and now you don't even want to sit

by me? We're supposed to look out for each

other, make some damn progress, but all we're

doing is going backwards."

Adam ran both hands through his hair,

anxiously. "You're trying to turn me into

something I'm not."

"What, gay?" Elliot shook his head, a

detached smile on his face. "You said yourself

that you and some kid used to fuck around in

high school. Or was that a lie too?"

"I'm not that kid anymore."

"No, you're not. But I know exactly who

you are. You're a lying prick who's in denial."

Adam laughed quietly, hanging his head

down between his bent knees. "Lying? Denial?

I'm not the one parading around like

everything's okay. Like all of a sudden I'm

strong, con ident and fearless but still won't

grow the balls to look east."

"Fuck you." Elliot sneered, taking his

comment to the gut. "Who's the big, tough,

manly man who's too pussy to admit his iancée

doesn't love him and he loves dick?"

Adam's snapped his head toward him.

"You don't know Jena or me."

"I know you well enough." Elliot felt a

tickle on his cheek and quickly swiped away the

tear with his hand. He'd be damned if he would

cry, especially in front of Adam.

Adam slowly nodded, staring at the

dimming ire. "So now we know where we

stand."

He wasn't sure what that meant but to

hear those words and the nonchalant way Adam

said them worried him. He didn't want to be a

dick, but he was hurt. Adam cut him deeper in

ten minutes than his exes had in years. His

insides felt hollow, gutted from Adam's blasé

attitude. But before he could let it sink in and

linger, a gust of wind blew by, kicking up dirt

and dust and making their ire roar. Elliot stood

when Titan did, watching him whimper and bark

at nothing in particular.

"Now that we know where we stand," he

said sarcastically, "maybe now is a good time to

keep moving."

Adam stood, got his pack and swung it

over his shoulder to loosely hang. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'm gonna be." He made

sure his lack of enthusiasm came through in his

words. "What's the plan?"

Adam looked back at him and shrugged.

"Gonna visit Food Plus, stock up on some

supplies, and then look for other people." His

gaze dropped and a lash of what looked like

sadness swept across his face. "Look, Elliot. I'm

sorry."

"Save it." Elliot stopped his words with a

dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't need your

apology."

"I didn't mean to be so harsh." He kicked

dirt over the dying embers of their campfire.

"If you didn't mean to then you shouldn't

have." Elliot started walking toward the

direction of Food Plus. "Come on, Titan." The

dog stood motionless, panting. "Titan?" He

whistled and Titan trotted to him, following.

"You're gonna have to learn your new name."

Elliot patted his head and continued walking,

hearing that familiar sound of heavy footsteps

follow closely behind.

5: Search for Refuge

The building was nearly a pile of bricks

when they arrived, no signs of life or electricity.

The once lighted and erect Food Plus sign now

lay on the ground surrounded in slivers of glass.

Only the large F and P were still intact. One

corner of the grocery store was still standing,