Blackmail

by John Charles

  “Good, let’s get this charade started. I’m anxious to see that bastard try to get out of this,” said Nicholle as she stood. “Remember, you two should check in with Hal or me every morning. A text is fine. Don’t forget.” Nicholle walked to the door. “I have things to do, so I’ll see you on Monday Hal,” and she walked out.

  Everyone started to leave the room when Ferris said, “Hal, please stay behind. I have a few questions for you.”

  Hal sat down and waited for everyone to leave. “What’s on your mind, my friend?”

  An hour later Hal walked to the door. You never cease to amaze me Ferris. Maybe that is why people love working here. Golf on Wednesday?”

  “Sure thing Hal wouldn’t miss it. Maybe I’ll get the chance to win back some of the money I’ve lost to you over the years.”

  “Don’t count on it. See you Wednesday,” he said as he left the office.

  As was expected, many of the Valentech research teams were busy working, even on a Saturday morning. Jay’s team was busy compiling a tremendous quantity of clinical reports that arrived late on Friday. Karl, at his workstation, was guiding cover sheets from those reports into the scanner to index them to the correct person, a tedious yet necessary task.

  He didn’t see Ferris approach until he was standing right next to him. “Oh, excuse me sir. I didn’t see you come into the lab,” said Karl as he turned to his boss. Why is he here? Damn, I wonder what he wants with me on a Saturday. “Is there something I can do for you this morning Mr. Valente?” he said with a cautious voice.

  “Actually there is Karl. Jay is not available right now and I was wondering if you could give me an update on how the compilation process is working out,” said Ferris in his normal friendly tone of voice.

  “Jay should be back in a few minutes. He just went to drop his son off at his sister’s house. Wouldn’t you prefer to get that from him?”

  “Karl, this is your baby. Jay says you have pulled off a small miracle creating this system. So, as much as Jay can answer my questions, I’d rather speak to the guy who put it together.”

  “Okay sir, and thanks for the compliment. I love this stuff and just thought it through, from a different prospective. What did you want to know?”

  You sure did young man. Now I have to pull you into our trap. Damn, this Waverley stuff really sucks. “Let’s take this to my office. I’ll leave word for Jay that you are with me,” said Ferris as he guided Karl out of the lab. “Do you want to stop at the lunchroom for coffee on the way?”

  “Actually let me get my water bottle before we go. I drink too much coffee as it is,” said Karl as he went back to his workstation to retrieve his water.

  Ferris listened as Karl talked about his ideas for a system that would automatically scan the field reports and index them to the appropriate project. His enthusiasm was contagious. “I know I can do this if you give me some help from engineering. It was easy for Jay’s project, but it might take more time for the other projects. That would also mean I’d have to have access to the other managers to determine their needs,” said Karl with innocent excitement.

  “Let me think this over, Karl. Jay says this is making a difference, but I’m not sure it would work for all the others. Every one of the Valentech projects is vastly different with rare exceptions. That’s why we didn’t automate them in the past,” said Ferris.

  “I understand that, sir. I don’t mean to assume that I have the answers, it’s just that I love doing this stuff,” said Karl.

  Ferris stood and walked Karl to the door. “Thank you for giving me the update. It was definitely interesting to see how you think, young man.”

  Karl walked back to Jay’s lab with a smile on his face. Wow, if this could only work out. I’d love working here.

  *****

  “You know this is going to make a huge dent in our together time. If I have to run my project and create a sound alternative to the real thing, I’m going to be spending quite a few extra hours here. Are you sure you can handle that?” asked Damien as he and Bennett walked to his lab.

  “I told Hal I would help and I will. Do you think it will take you more than a few days?”

  “I’m guessing it will take few weeks to get that obsolete project resurrected and rewritten. I can’t stop my primary program for this, so yeah, it will take time.”

  “Well, maybe this will give us some time to really consider how we feel about each other. If we still want to move forward after all this is over, then we will be on a better footing,” said Bennett with a slightly shaking voice.

  Damien saw and heard the anxiety in his friend. Knowing how much Bennett wanted this to work out between them, he pulled Bennett into a hug and said, “I know what this means to you. When we first started fooling around we both agreed it was just for the fun, but now it seems to be so much more. I told you why I was not ready for a relationship, but now I think I might be. So let’s take this one day at a time. All this Waverley shit will be over before we know it.” He leaned forward and planted a firm kiss on Bennett right there in the hall next to his lab door.

  Bennett was both shocked and pleased at the same time. He hugged Damien and returned the kiss with all the affection his body could muster, then pulled back and looked around. “As much as I loved that, I doubt it would be a good thing for anyone to see us kissing in the hall. And for the sake of this mission, we have to keep our attraction to each other in check.”

  Damien smiled and said, “I think you look great when you get all flustered. I should do that to you more often.” Before Bennett had a chance to answer, Damien walked into his lab, leaving his friend standing in the hall.

  This sucks, but I agreed so I’m going to make it work. Bennett made his way to the gym to burn off some of the stress from the morning. When his body ached as much as he could stand, he showered and went to his lonely apartment. It’s hard to believe this is happening. I can’t imagine what Karl is going through. Damn, I hope this works out.

  Damien worked all weekend on the rewrite. He knew how to make it look good, but wanted it to be so convincing that Waverley’s research people would have no doubts. He felt exhausted by Sunday night and fell into a sound sleep as soon as he hit the bed. Monday morning proved too difficult to make it to the gym so he stayed in bed for the extra hour.

  Chapter 11

  Maintaining his routine, Bennett worked out Monday morning and was not surprised to see Karl getting the new member tour when he walked into the gym. “Hey Karl, you finally decided to take the plunge?” he asked as Karl and the trainer approached the free weight area.

  “I figured why not, with the discounted membership it was a no brainer. I’ll see you after we finish with the tour and I get a short workout,” he said as the trainer took him to the cardio section.

  Karl usually wore loose, baggy clothes that hid his build and gave him a nondescript appearance. When Bennett was nearly finished with his shower, Karl walked in. As with many gyms, the shower area was a large room with showerheads on the outside walls and a multi-head tower in the middle of the space. Although it did nothing for privacy, that arrangement allowed for maximum use of the small space.

  Bennett turned as Karl approached the showerhead on the opposite wall. “Wow, the clothes you wear do nothing to show off your body. I’m impressed.”

  Karl blushed at Bennett’s comments. “Thanks. I try to stay in shape, but don’t flaunt it,” said Karl as he began to wash. “If I had a body like yours, I might show it off a bit more.”

  “I’ve been working out since I was 14 years old. My dad was military and insisted that we developed our body as well as our brains. I guess it became routine for me,” replied Bennett as he looked at the man in front of him. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. You have a great body, Karl”

  Standing about 5 foot 7 inches tall, Karl was petite when compared to Bennett or Damien. His short blond hair and emerald green eyes accentuated his chiseled face. Where Damien had the broad shoulders th
at narrowed to the perfect V definition of a bodybuilder, Karl had the defined, solid muscle of a swimmer with an extremely small waist. Some would say he looked cute rather than built. His legs were muscular showing that he knew how to balance his workouts. Everything about Karl showed precision. As he looked down Karl’s body, Bennett let out a gasp. “Wow, one part of you certainly isn’t small. I bet that would hurt,” he said quickly turning to hide his own embarrassment.

  “No one’s complained yet,” replied Karl enjoying the banter between them.

  They finished showering in silence. When Bennett finished dressing, he sought out Karl and said, “I’m here every morning. Feel free to join me if you enjoy working out with a partner.”

  “I haven’t worked out with a partner in a while, I’d like that. See you at the office.”

  Bennett smiled and left the gym. Damn, he is hot. I hope I can keep from embarrassing myself again.

  So began the routine. Karl joined Bennett for morning workouts. When time permitted, Damien made it three. The first time Damien joined the twosome, Karl felt unsure of his place, but Damien and Bennett made it feel right.

  Andrea found Ferris chatting with several people in the lunchroom. She always admired the ease with which he carried on conversations with just about anyone on virtually any topic. He was smart, friendly, and had the business sense that many industry leaders lacked. Today, he chatted with two other research managers about using Karl’s automated system for indexing their test results. The tone of the conversation showed their interest mixed with skepticism. Andrea was intrigued.

  As the scientists finished their breaks, she and Ferris sat at the corner table. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were really interested in Karl’s proposal,” she said to Ferris. “He’s got a good idea, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes, he does. Our engineering people tried something like that a couple of years ago with very limited success. Karl amped it up and it works. He’s a smart kid, Andrea.

  “Too bad Waverley got to him before we did.

  “It’s not over yet, Andrea,” said Ferris as he got up to leave.

  I wonder what he meant by that. What’s he got working in his brilliant brain this time?

  Ferris met with Karl and some other research teams to determine if the idea of automating the results portion of their programs made sense. Most felt it was worth a try, but were skeptical.

  The following Friday afternoon, Bennett sent a text to Damien. I’m climbing the walls. Can we spend this weekend together, PLEASE??

  Though Damien laughed when he saw the text, his body responded with lust that he’d forgotten he had within himself. Wow, what’s this about? Am I really falling for him or do I just need to get laid? He texted, your one sentence has me harder than I’ve been in recent memory. What are you doing to me Bennett?

  So I take that as a yes. I’ll be over at 6 tonight unless you are working late again.

  I did plan on a late night, but I’m tired, horny, and need a break. Yeah, 6 sounds good to me, too.

  As soon as Damien opened the door, Bennett was all over him. Two weeks without any intimate moments drove him crazy. “I need to have you in my arms all night. I’ve missed this so much and it’s only been two weeks,” said Bennett.

  Damien answered with a passionate kiss that lasted for several moments. When they parted for air, he said, “I’ve missed you, too. At least I’ve had something to keep me so busy that thinking about us was forced to the back seat.”

  Bennett brought enough food to feed an army, thinking they were not leaving Damien’s condo all weekend. He went to the balcony with two steaks and started the BBQ. Damien held Bennett close as the grill heated. “So you missed me?”

  “Yeah, I really missed you. Working out with you, at the gym, the other day made me crazy. Seeing you and Karl in the showers really did me in. I wanted to jump your bones right there and have you on the shower floor. From the look in Karl’s eyes, I’d say he felt the same way.”

  “Karl is really hot. I wonder what it would be like with him,” said Damien as he jumped away laughing. “I bet he knows how to use that thing between his legs, too,” he said as he ran into his condo to get away from Bennett.

  “You want to find out? I’m sure Karl would love to plow your ass and show you how it feels,” said Bennett as he tackled his friend.

  Damien allowed him to think he had the advantage as Bennett held him down. Then in one swift movement, he rolled and pinned Bennett beneath him. He held Bennett’s arms in a vise grip above his head; his body pressed Bennett’s legs to the floor so he couldn’t move. Damien slowly inched his face closer and started kissing, first Bennett’s forehead, each of his eyes, his nose, his ears, his throat, his chin. He stayed clear of his lips till Bennett was squirming so hard, holding him became difficult. He lowered to Bennett’s lips and gently brushed them with his tongue, lightly kissed them, then ravished them fully.

  Releasing his grip, Damien rolled to his back and stared at the ceiling. “This is crazy,” he whispered and closed his eyes.

  Bennett took Damien’s hand in his and stayed quiet. He knew what was going on in Damien’s head and knew the only answers were patience and silence. Damien had to get past his inner demons and allow the feelings he had for Bennett to take over.

  After fifteen minutes of shared silence, Damien whispered, “I want you in me.”

  Bennett rolled to his side keeping Damien’s hand in his; placed his right hand on his friend’s chest and said, “You’ve not done that in quite some time. Are you sure?”

  Without opening his eyes, Damien answered, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. If I’m going to get passed the doubts, I want it to be with you.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t mean physically either. What if you can’t handle it, I’d be really upset if I was the cause.”

  Damien turned his head, looked into Bennett’s eyes and said, “You won’t hurt me.”

  Totally uncertain of himself and this new situation, Bennett lay his head on the carpet, staying focused on Damien’s eyes, “only if you are absolutely sure.”

  “I’m sure and I know you won’t hurt me so stop worrying, Okay?”

  Damien pulled Bennett’s hand to his lips and kissed each finger. “I have to move on. Michael really hurt me and I’ve been holding on to that for way too long. I feel so comfortable with you and I know you’re in love with me,” he said looking into Bennett’s eyes. “It’s more than words. I can tell by the way you talk to me, the way you hold me, the way you make love to me and the way you smell when we are near each other.”

  “The way I smell?”

  “Yeah, you know, people who are in love send off pheromones to signal to the other partner that they are ready for them. And boy you send them off big time,” said Damien as he continued to kiss the fingers he held.

  “I do think I am falling for you. It’s gone from lust, to sex and now to something I’ve never felt for anyone before.”

  “I know and I don’t understand why you’d fall in love with me. I’m a mess. I don’t show affection like you do. I’m afraid of falling in love with anyone, and freak out when I think about it. You’d be better off with someone else.”

  Bennett pulled from Damien’s grip and sat up. “Why do you keep doing that? You put yourself down all the time when we’re together. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to push me away,” he said agrily.

  “I’m not trying to push you away. I’m trying to make you understand that I am damaged goods and you could do better.”

  “What if I said I don’t want better? What if I said I want you, damaged or not. What if I said you are not damaged, you’re just scared? What if I said I would work with you to help you get past Michael and what he did to you?”

  “Then I’d say you were either nuts or didn’t realize what you were asking for.”

  Bennett stood and held his hand out for Damien. At first, Damien just looked up at his frie
nd, and then linked his hand with Bennett’s allowing his friend to pull him from the floor. No words spoken, the two walked to the bedroom. Bennett put his finger to Damien’s lips “Just relax and enjoy. If for any reason you want me to stop, just say the word and I will.”

  Damien nodded his understanding as Bennett started to unbutton his shirt. Damien’s nervousness diminished with each button. Bennett brushed Damien’s lips with his as he removed the shirt from his friend. He allowed Damien’s shirt to slide from his shoulders and hang from his pants. Moving down he nibbled Damien’s chin, then his neck kissing and nibbling every part of Damien’s hot muscular body.

  Damien shivered in anticipation yet feared what might happen. His vow to remain free from a relationship had slipped away during the past months. Now the man he loved was taking him as only one man did before in his life. Bennett was not Michael, but to Damien the fear was as if he was.

  By the time Bennett reached Damien’s abs, Damien was visibly shaking. Bennett looked up and smiled at his friend, then gently pushed Damien to the bed. Never had the removal of anyone’s pants been so erotic. By the time Damien was naked, every nerve in his body was on fire. His head turned from side to side, moans escaped his lips and his hands gripped the sheets.

  When Bennett took his cock into his mouth, Damien jolted driving his hips into Bennett’s face. He had never experienced such pleasure, even during the numerous times he and Bennett enjoyed sex. No one showed him such care and love before.