Cage Match (10 page)

words. Who knew Jabez had a sense of humor? It had been buried under slabs of gruff

alienation since he‟d met him.

The little chink in his armor inspired Andreas to playfulness. “Did you like that?”

He lowered his voice to a seductive purr. “You like fucking my mouth hard?”

Jabez‟s tongue darted over his lips, and his jaw tightened, but not in his usual

angry way. He was aroused by the words and the lascivious delivery.

“You can fuck me other places. We‟ve got all night,” Andreas murmured.

Jabez reached for him, pulling him hard against his body and laying claim to his

mouth once more. God, the man could kiss. First, he rubbed his lips lightly against

Andreas‟s, as if simply enjoying the soft contact, and then he plucked at them with little

nibbles. Andreas opened his mouth and accepted his softly probing tongue and the

deeper invasion that followed—mouth fucking of a different sort.

While Jabez plundered his mouth, he clung to those big shoulders, enjoying the

ripple of muscles beneath his palms. Lost in the kiss, he was barely aware of the man

walking them both out of the bathroom and across the bedroom to Andreas‟s bed. He

didn‟t notice until the backs of his legs hit the mattress and he fell onto the soft

comforter.

Jabez tumbled with him, the weight of his body crushing, although he supported

some of it on his hands and knees. Andreas loved the feeling of that hot, heavy weight

pressing him to the bed. He dipped his head and licked Jabez‟s chest, wanting to go

even lower and suck one of those tight little nipples into his mouth.

As if hearing his thought, the other man moved up and offered his pectorals for

Andreas‟s further inspection. Andreas‟s mouth roamed across the broad surface before

latching onto the flat disc of a nipple. Jabez hissed at the sudden nip Andreas gave him,

followed by a gentle lap of his tongue. He played with one nipple, then the other, while

Jabez squirmed against his mouth. Sensitive nipples. Good to know.

By now, Andreas felt as if his cock would explode if he didn‟t get relief soon.

Again reading his mind, Jabez suddenly rolled to the side and pulled Andreas on top of

him. Raising his knees, Jabez cradled Andreas‟s body between them. Jabez‟s cock had

grown hard again, and he wrapped his hand around both their dicks, stroking them.

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Andreas hissed at the heated friction of skin on skin and the erotic view of their

cockheads emerging from Jabez‟s big fist. He pumped for a few minutes before letting

go.

“You got lube?” His voice was as gruff as a bear‟s growl.

“Yeah.” Andreas clambered off him and got lubricant from the nightstand drawer

before moving back into place between the other man‟s hairy legs.

Jabez took the tube, squirted a dollop on his fingers, and massaged Andreas‟s

cock, base to tip. He dragged his fingernails lightly up the length, making him whimper

with need.

“You want me to come on your stomach, keep doing that,” Andreas warned.

“No. I want you to come inside me, right now.” He tilted his pelvis up, offering

his entrance.

Andreas caught his breath at the erotic sight. He took the lube from him and

prepped his fingers, then traced the path behind Jabez‟s sac to his puckered hole. He

eased one finger inside, then two, stretching and widening the opening. Jabez grunted

in pleasure, and the sound drove Andreas wild. He couldn‟t wait any longer.

He guided the tip of his cock to the other man‟s hole and eased inside in slow

increments. Heat surrounded him, and after the initial resistance of the tight ring of

muscle, he slid deeper and deeper.

Jabez gave another sexy grunt. He tilted his hips more and thrust against Andreas,

drawing him farther inside. Andreas braced his hands against the backsides of Jabez‟s

thighs and pressed against them as he found his rhythm, driving in and out. He

groaned and he closed his eyes, giving in to the amazing sensation of being swallowed

in the other man‟s body.

He pumped faster as his need grew stronger. Their bodies slapped together, and

quiet grunts and groans mingled in an erotic melody. Andreas‟s tension mounted

higher and higher before ecstasy suddenly burst through him. He cried out and jerked

against Jabez. Bliss flowed in him like sweet, sticky honey while heat surrounded and

melted him.

When the last shudder faded, he drew a shaky breath and opened his eyes. He

drew his cock out of Jabez and let the other man‟s legs slide down to the mattress, and

then he laid full length on top of his hot, damp body.

For a moment, Jabez kept his arms by his sides before tentatively slipping them

around Andreas and holding him. Long moments passed as they lay fused together like

two halves of a broken plate that had come together again.

At last Jabez pushed Andreas off him and rose from the bed.

“You‟re going?” Andreas watched his back and the tight muscles of his ass

undulate as he walked across the room.

Jabez looked over his shoulder. “You want me to stay?”

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“What do you want?” Once more Andreas gave the choice to him. “I‟d like it, but

it‟s completely up to you.”

Jabez looked at the door, then back at the bed, his forehead furrowed. “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why would you want me to stay? You wanna fuck some more?”

Andreas smiled. “That‟s always a possibility if you stay long enough, but no. It‟s

so we can talk and…cuddle.” He felt like an idiot saying the word. Jabez was the least

cuddly person he‟d ever met.

“Cuddle?” His frown changed into a smile of sorts. Whether it was one of ironic

disdain or genuine pleasure, Andreas wasn‟t sure. “I guess so.”

He walked back to the bed, and Andreas couldn‟t help checking out his limp cock,

still impressive in its size.

Jabez lay on the bed beside him, his body as stiff as a virgin on her wedding night.

Andreas scooted up beside him and laid an arm over his torso. Jabez‟s skin felt hot

enough to burn his arm.

“Cuddle,” Andreas repeated, as if introducing a new word to a foreigner. “And

then we talk. I tell you something about me, and you share something about you.”

Jabez gave him a wary look as if he were a wild animal that had been cajoled into

a trap.

Andreas leaned up on one elbow so he could look into the other man‟s face. He

smiled to put him at ease. “It doesn‟t have to be your deepest, darkest secret, just a little

something about you. For instance, I like sailing, gardening, art, sunrises, and speed.

You‟ll have to take a ride in my jet-glider. It‟s a rush. And I‟m starting to learn that I like

fighting, even though right now my body feels like one big bruise.”

Jabez looked back at him but remained silent.

“This is where you tell me what you like,” Andreas prompted.

He shrugged.

“That‟s okay. You don‟t have to talk if you don‟t want to. We can just lie here.

Want to watch something?”

“Yeah.” The word was almost a sigh of relief. The guy really didn‟t like to talk

about himself.

Andreas turned on the media-viewer, and a mosaic of colorful images splashed

across the screen. “What do you want to see?” He scrolled through the choices, waiting

for Jabez to make a selection.

“That.”

He stopped on a program about gorillas, once nearly extinct, now reclaiming the

African jungles in the postplague world. Jabez viewed the animals with rapt attention,

and Andreas watched him with equal interest. He was a mystery, a puzzle to be

decoded, and Andreas loved puzzles. Knowing more about his background would

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help, but he must draw out the information with the care of a bomb technician

dismantling an explosive device.

“They‟re beautiful animals, aren‟t they?”

“Yes.”

“It‟s interesting how we humans imagine we‟re so much more evolved, but if you

look at their way of life, it‟s almost more civilized than ours.” As if to contradict his

words, the next image on-screen was of a pair of male gorillas battling over territory.

“They fight just like us. Every kind of animal fights,” Jabez said.

“Did you do a lot of fighting before you started at the Palace?”

“When I had to. Helps to be a big guy when you‟re living in B-town, but it‟s even

more important to run with a gang. Safety in numbers.”

“Did you?”

“When I was younger. I grew up with a pack of kids who didn‟t have parents.”

“Including your sister.”

“If she was my sister. I don‟t know. She disappeared when I was little.”

“And the other kids you lived with took care of you after that.”

“Sure.” Jabez‟s tone was so dismissive, Andreas understood there‟d been very

little “caring” involved. He imagined Jabez eating scraps left over after the bigger

children had taken their portions. His heart ached at the idea of a child alone and

unprotected on the streets of Brick Town. The slum existed like a pustule no one would

lance in the midst of the prosperous, thriving metropolis of New Englandia. Brick Town

was the crumbling remnant of the old city of Boston around which the modern city had

been built after the plague.

Not wanting Jabez to feel like he was prying for information, Andreas fell silent

and turned his attention to the feuding gorilla tribes for a while. But he wanted Jabez to

know he cared, that his past suffering meant something to him.

“At the board meeting the other day, I suggested setting up more outreach and

business incentive programs in Brick Town. I know there‟s a lot the rest of us should be

doing to help out the people who live there.”

Jabez glanced at him, eyes glittering in the light of the viewing screen. “If I had

enough money to get out of B-town, I‟d never look back. Why would somebody like

you care what happens to a bunch of criminals?”

“Maybe there wouldn‟t be so much crime if there were more opportunity for jobs,

small businesses, and factories. I think it‟s the responsibility of those who are doing well

to help those less fortunate.”

Jabez gave a small scornful snort and looked back at the viewer. “Better to burn

the whole place and everyone in it.”

Andreas was shocked. How could someone who‟d lived through hell damn those

who continued to survive there? But he wasn‟t about to argue. For the first time, Jabez

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was sharing a strong opinion, and whether he really meant what he said or not, he was

freely expressing his hatred of the cesspool where he‟d spent his entire life. Andreas

prized that honesty.

“Well,” he said after a moment. “It was good you had friends you could count on.

Sometimes I wonder about mine.”
Shallow. They’re all shallow and self-involved
. But he

wouldn‟t say that aloud.

“You should,” Jabez said without glancing away from the program.

Andreas stared at him, shocked by the abrupt comment. “I should what? What do

you mean?”

“Your friend Timon who came here the other day. I‟d watch him.”

“Timon was here? When?”

“When you was in the city.”

“What did he say to you?” Andreas could imagine the rudeness. He sat up to face

Jabez. “Tell me. Did he do something or say something he shouldn‟t have?”

The man shrugged. He looked like he wished he hadn‟t mentioned it.

“He hit on you, didn‟t he? That‟s so Timon. I‟m sorry. I apologize for him.”

“Don‟t matter. He‟s your friend. I‟m nobody. He can say what he likes to me.”

Jabez gazed at the gorillas another moment, then looked at Andreas at last. “But I don‟t

trust him.”

A moment of silence followed before the big man shrugged and glanced away

again. “I got no right to say that. Sorry.”

Andreas should‟ve been angry. Jabez was bad-mouthing one of his oldest and best

friends. Yet he knew all too well how sleazy, rather than charming, Timon could act. It

was no wonder Jabez thought the worst of him, and Andreas was actually very touched

that Jabez seemed worried on his behalf. A warm glow spread through him.

“I‟ll keep that in mind. Thanks for your concern.” He smiled so Jabez would know

he wasn‟t being sarcastic, and then he changed the subject. “I don‟t know about you,

but I don‟t want to have dinner in the dining room. I‟ll go down to the kitchen and

bring us back something to eat. We can have a little picnic right here.”

Andreas rose from the bed and put on his robe. “Relax. Enjoy the show. I‟ll be

right back.”

Down in the kitchen, he apologized to Mrs. Gamble for the extra trouble and

asked if she could postpone the dinner she‟d begun to prepare.

“A tray of leftovers would be fine, if you don‟t mind.”

She scowled at the disruption to her meal preparations but put together a heavily

laden tray of bread, cold meat, cheese, cut vegetables, fruit, and slices of strawberry