by Jet Mykles
“Whoa.” Rabin froze well beyond the knifepoint, hands up, palms out. “No, fruit’s fine.”
Seeing his reaction to the knife, Izzy grimaced mildly, rolled his eyes, and went back to his chopping.
Rather than give in to his instinct to go to Izzy’s side and snag something from the bowl, Rabin went to the table to wait. Being right next to Izzy just yet might not be a good idea. There were a few moments of awkward silence while Izzy chopped and Rabin stared at the table, unsure what to say. This was that same after-sex moment that he had with girls. Where it was important to point out that what they did was fun, but it didn’t mean they were a couple. Could he handle it the same way with a guy?
Izzy broke the silence. “So what time does Zane come in Monday?”
Startled by the subject, Rabin decided that was safe enough. “Late morning, probably. He’s staying in Cleveland Sunday night. It’s only five or six hours from there.”
“He’s got both your stuff in one truck?”
“There’s not much. His bed, a couch, and some chairs. Our TV. He might salvage his dresser and a couple of tables. That’s about it except for dishes and stuff. Not even sure he didn’t toss all that crap.”
“What about your stuff?” Izzy set the bowl of sliced fruit on the table and sat on the edge of one bench, catty-corner to Rabin. “From your bedroom?”
Rabin plucked a slice of peach from the top. “I didn’t have much of anything. I’ve got the stuff with me that really matters. The furniture wouldn’t survive the move. I told him to toss it all. I’m going to shop for a bed tomorrow.”
“Everything you have is in those three suitcases upstairs?”
“And the guitar case, yeah. Everything I care about. I sent some stuff to my dad to keep for me, but that’s about it. We never made enough to buy a hell of a lot.” He laughed at Izzy’s half-appalled look. “What? I’ve never had a ton of stuff like you do.”
“I don’t have a ton of stuff. Okay, yeah, I do. There’s even more at home. At my parents’.” He bit into an apple wedge, frowning at Rabin. “Why couldn’t you afford to buy stuff? What about the royalties from ‘Simplicity’? That was, like, a huge hit.”
Rabin tossed a few grapes into his mouth. “We’ve probably seen all the money we’re going to get from ‘Simplicity,’ and that’s almost spent.”
“But that’s a relatively new song. It just came out year before last.”
“That’s a lifetime in rock ’n’ roll. We got a pretty good advance off the album, but that’s it.”
Both elbows on the table, Izzy held a section of orange before him, dissecting it slowly. “I don’t understand. What about royalties?”
“We might not ever see any.” Rabin tried not to watch the orange juice dribbling down Izzy’s wrists.
Or the juice on his lips as he licked them.
“What?”
“It’s tricky.” Rabin leaned forward on one forearm, picking at the fruit in the bowl with his other hand. “See, the record company signed us, gave us some money to do an album and live and such. We did that and released ‘Simplicity.’ That did really well. Our next single, ‘Don’t Believe,’ tanked. Even so, they took a chance on us and put us on tour opening for Jade Cruiz. We finished the tour, and it didn’t do well enough for them to extend it beyond the Southwest. We released the last single, ‘Ginger Lee,’ right after that, and it did worse than ‘Don’t Believe.’ So they decided to option out of a second album—even though we’d already started writing—and released us from our contract.”
“But didn’t you get paid for the tour?”
He peeked up, glad to see Izzy had finished the orange, distressed when Izzy poked a finger in his mouth to suck it clean. “No. All that was covered by an advance too.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Yep, but pretty typical. But it lasted Zane and me until now.”
“That’s something, I guess.” Izzy plucked up a strawberry and held it to his lips. “And now?”
Rabin looked away before the strawberry passed Izzy’s teeth. “We’re both okay for a few months. But we’re going to need real jobs or another album advance soon.”
Izzy grimaced. “Why the hell would you want to get involved in a crazy business like that?”
Rabin laughed. “I wouldn’t do it without the music. And the performing. There’s nothing like it.”
“So, this thing with Brent…? He’s not a record company.”
“No. He’s agreed to help us finish recording our master tracks. If we’ve got the tracks for a whole album ready to go, a record company is more likely to sign us.”
“Why?”
“Because we’ve done most of the work. They get to listen to a finished product and decide they like it. Brent’s name on it as producer makes the deal sweeter.” At least, that was the plan. He sent up a quick prayer to the gods of music that it would work.
Izzy shook his head, sucking the pad of his thumb. “I guess all that makes sense to you.”
“Kinda.”
Izzy pushed to his feet. “Want some juice?”
Juice? Not after eating half a bowl of fruit. “Nah. Water?”
“Sure.” Izzy waited until he’d opened the refrigerator before asking his next question. “Is your friend Zane as crazy as you? About music?”
“Pretty much. It’s all we’ve ever wanted.”
“Does he write the lyrics?”
“Most of ’em. I’ve written some.”
Glass on the counter, Izzy poured. “Does he play an instrument?”
“A little rhythm guitar, a little piano, but he really likes to be the front man.”
Izzy considered that while putting the juice bottle away. “What about the rest of the band?” He stuck a second glass into the door of the refrigerator for water. “What happened to them?”
Realizing he was watching Izzy too closely, Rabin scooped up the grapes that were at the bottom of the bowl and finished them off. “After the record company let us go, we decided it was a good idea to go our separate ways.” That was a nice way to put it. Markus and Sam had left with bad blood between all of them, most of it laying blame for their failures.
“But you and Zane stayed together.”
“We’ve been friends a long time, and we started the Knights. It’ll take more than that to break us apart.”
Izzy set the glass of water in front of Rabin, then resumed his seat with his juice. “So. What would your friend say to what we just did upstairs?”
Rabin froze, the glass at the level of his lips. He stared at Izzy over the rim for a few seconds before lowering the glass. “Truth? He’d freak.”
Izzy swallowed calmly and set his own glass down. They might have been discussing the weather for all the emotion he showed. “Homophobic?”
“Not so much. He’s okay with gay men as long as they don’t get too close.”
“Will he be okay working with Brent?”
“He says he will.” Rabin wouldn’t dwell on his own misgivings about that. What would be would be. As far as he could tell, the fact that Brent was in a successful rock band outweighed the fact of his sexual orientation, in Zane’s eyes. Besides, Zane had been a fan before Hell had joined the band, long before Brent came out publicly. Back in the days before the members of Heaven Sent had all settled down with other men.
Izzy sipped his juice. “But he’d freak because you’re his best friend.”
“Pretty much.” Rabin cast his glance aside so he wasn’t looking at the sweet oval of Izzy’s face or how those mussed black curls caressed his pale shoulders and teased the sharp line of his collarbone. Such soft skin.
“He’d wonder how often you’d been checking him out or fantasizing about fucking him.”
Startled, Rabin laughed. “Like that’d happen. But yeah.”
Izzy smiled with him. “All the more reason to keep what we did a secret. Don’t you think?”
Rabin just looked at him. Had Izzy just given him what he’d been wo
rking up to ask for?
“From Zane and from Brent and Hell.” Izzy picked up his juice. “I don’t think anyone needs to know about it.”
Rabin found himself nodding. “That’s…probably a good idea.”
“I mean, I hate to keep something from Brent, but it’s probably best. Given the reason I’m here…”
Oh man, Rabin hadn’t even thought of that. The broken relationship that had brought him here was because of secrets. “About that…”
Izzy shook his head. “It’s nothing. Totally different. I thought I loved Greggory. We’re just having fun.” He grinned at Rabin. “Besides, you’re not even gay.”
Rabin had to laugh. “That might be debatable after what just happened.”
With confidence, Izzy shook his head. “Sex doesn’t make you gay. Gay is a way of life, an acceptance of who you are and what you like. What we just did was fabulous—amazing, stupendous—but it was just sex.” He spread his palm on the table and stared into Rabin’s eyes. “And we should keep it that way.” He shrugged, relaxing a little. “Besides, you didn’t do anything with me that you couldn’t do with a girl.”
A strange lump thudded at the base of Rabin’s throat. Izzy was saying all the right things. He agreed wholeheartedly. So why…? “Except for jerking you off,” he said with a try at a smile.
Izzy laughed. “Okay, there’s that. But you’ve done that with yourself.”
“True.”
“So, good, we’re agreed. There’s no reason to involve anyone else. And good reason for your friend not to know.”
He was right, but Rabin had to wonder at Izzy’s conviction. Such a strange mix of confidence now when he’d been trembling when he’d first approached Rabin. Was there more behind it, or should he just take it all at face value?
Izzy shrugged. “It makes sense. Besides, you need to concentrate on your music, not on the trouble telling anyone would cause. It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”
Rabin decided to give Izzy the benefit of the doubt and believe he meant what he said. Rabin had given similar speeches to women in the past. Maybe it was just easier with a guy. Or at least this guy. “My thoughts exactly.”
Izzy nodded, standing. “So…” He left his glass on the table and took the step that brought him to Rabin’s side. His open palm smoothed over the curve of Rabin’s shoulder, then down to the center of his chest, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “While we’re having fun…”
Eyes straight ahead as Izzy stepped behind him, Rabin curled his fingers around Izzy’s slim wrist. “Yeah?”
Behind him now, Izzy leaned in to brush lips along the back of his neck. “Up for another go?”
He should just say no. Once could be an experiment. Twice? But Izzy’s lips on his skin sent a sizzle down his spine to his balls and woke his cock up. The fingers of the hand he held curled in to scrape the skin right above Rabin’s left nipple, and he didn’t know the moan was coming until it bled from his throat.
“Come upstairs, and let me suck your cock.”
What man in his right mind could turn that down? He let himself be pulled from the chair and led upstairs. Izzy held his hand and didn’t look back all the way up the stairs and down the hall. He gave Rabin one brief glance when he reached their opposite open doors, then turned right into his room.
His room was far more lived in than Rabin’s. Izzy had actually filled the dressers—and some of the floor—with his clothing and personal items. Tons of personal items. The top of one of the dressers was covered with more hair products and cosmetics than Rabin had ever owned, interspersed with a few odd and colorful toys. A line of stuffed animals occupied the top of the taller dresser. He kicked aside a wayward pair of jeans as he led Rabin to the unmade bed. The darkness was banished when he switched on the lamp mounted beside the bed.
Smiling, he turned in to Rabin, bumping chests as he lifted his arms over Rabin’s shoulders. Their lips met in a slow, wet kiss as Rabin’s hands slid around to span Izzy’s back. Izzy melted into him nicely, tall enough that Rabin didn’t have to crane his neck too far to reach his lips but short enough that Rabin could fold him close. The ridge of Izzy’s erection pressed Rabin’s thigh, and he lowered his hand to cup one side of Izzy’s ass so he could grind it harder.
“Mmmm,” Izzy pulled away just enough to murmur against his lips. “You’re a quick learner.”
Rabin smiled. “You make it easy.”
One of Izzy’s brows rose. “Oh?”
Rabin squeezed his ass, watching Izzy’s eyelid’s flutter a little. “Not hard to tell what you like.”
“Mmmm. That’s because I like it all.”
Izzy folded his arms between them to get leverage to push Rabin back. With nowhere else to go, Rabin tumbled into the tangled mess of sheets and bedspread on the mattress. Which was exactly where Izzy wanted him, it turned out, because he reached for the waistband of Rabin’s shorts and made quick work of pulling them down and off. He lingered over his drawstring pants, letting his gaze roam slowly over Rabin’s naked body. Rabin lay quietly, hoping Izzy liked what he saw. Rabin thought he was on the skinny side, but he did jog and sometimes lift weights to stay fit. Maybe his stomach could have been more toned, but at least it was flat. The hair over his chest was nothing to speak of and quite a bit darker than the hair on his head. Even the curls at the base of his cock were rather sparse. Izzy didn’t seem to mind, grinning big when he finally let his pants fall to the floor.
“Oh.” He held up one finger that, to Rabin, was an insane parody of the cock that stood straight up from his crotch. “Lube’s in the other room.”
Rabin chuckled and stared at the ceiling. The quiet of the house descended on him with Izzy gone, and the light scent of another man surrounded him, infused in the bedding around him. What are you doing? Yes, he’d wanted to get laid tonight, but they’d already done that. Now? This was because he liked it and wanted to do it again. Did he buy Izzy’s conclusion that this was just sex and he wasn’t gay? He certainly couldn’t imagine only seeing guys for the rest of his life. This was great, but no women? No way. Right?
Izzy was back, cock bobbing as he hurried. “Oh good, you’re still here.”
Rabin glanced at the lube and the single condom packet that landed on the blue sheet beside him. “Where would I go?”
“I don’t know.” Izzy giggled. “I’m being silly.” He flapped his hands, shooing Rabin up the bed. “Sit up against the headboard.”
Obediently Rabin scooted back, then farther, arranging himself with Izzy’s help until he lay half spread-eagled in the center of the bed with the backs of his shoulders pressed against the headboard, propped up by two thick, firm pillows.
“Mmmm.” Izzy knelt between his legs, sliding warm hands and moist lips over his chest. Rabin closed his eyes and let it happen, enjoying the way Izzy lingered around his nipple before he sucked it in and took a bite, shuddering when Izzy nipped at the dip of skin just under his rib cage. He gave in to the temptation to thread his fingers through the soft curls of Izzy’s hair as that head slipped lower to tongue his navel. If he wanted, he could pretend Izzy was a girl. Even with his eyes open, there wasn’t much difference at this angle. But it wasn’t possible. Izzy was Izzy and definitely male, even pretty as he was. And nothing about his being male made Rabin enjoy the attention any less, especially not when hot breath, then wet tongue, found the head of his cock.
“Fuck.”
He had to close his eyes to appreciate Izzy’s skill. No doubt Izzy enjoyed his task as his lips slid down Rabin’s shaft until the tip hit the back of his throat. After some moments of smooth up and down, Izzy shifted to a slightly new position, and still taking it slow, Rabin found out exactly how deep his cock could go down that throat.
“Ah man.”
Too fucking good. Warm, wet, strong muscles closing in on him. Time shifted, and little panting moans drifted from him as he watched Izzy pull up until just his lips were around the tip. Dark eyes peeped up at him from
underneath a fall of darker hair.
“Shit.”
Chuckling, Izzy closed a fist around Rabin’s cock, then lovingly worked with his teeth and tongue. Rabin normally didn’t like teeth at all, but he was too mesmerized to care. Besides, Izzy knew exactly what he was doing, just enough threat of teeth to make the sucking and licking that much sweeter.
“Fuck.” Rabin sank his fingers into the mattress, knowing his control was ebbing. “Not gonna last.”
With one last pop and squeeze, Izzy released him. Rabin’s head whirled at the loss of sensation, and he watched through a haze as Izzy ripped open the condom packet and rolled it onto him.
He started to move, to shift, but Izzy pushed up to his knees and put a hand to Rabin’s chest to stop him. “Don’t move.”
Dazed, he watched Izzy scramble until he faced the footboard. Rabin was confused at first but caught on quick when Izzy edged back until his ass was in Rabin’s lap. He reached back and found Rabin’s cock, lifting it so the shaft slid between the cheeks of his ass.
“Lube?” Rabin managed to mutter.
“Don’t need it.”
Izzy rolled his hips to let the lube on the condom wet him—and he seemed to enjoy it. After only a minute, he carefully shifted to guide Rabin’s cock to where he needed to be. Rabin stayed very still as Izzy pushed slowly back, fascinated by Izzy’s hole stretching to swallow his dick all the way in. Izzy tossed his head back with a low sigh. His hair fell down his back, nearly brushing the top curves of his ass as he arched. Rabin took hold of his waist, steadying him as he lifted himself up with just the strength of his thighs. The tight muscle clutching Rabin’s cock pulled and stretched as Izzy rose and sank in smooth, slow glides. Now and then, Izzy would sway his hips side to side, just to give a little different feel, a slightly different angle.
Mind-blowing as it was, it was too slow. Rabin lost patience. He sat up, wrapping his arms around Izzy’s chest to gather him close. Surprised at first, Izzy quickly adjusted and worked with Rabin to shift them both so that Rabin’s back was braced against the headboard. Izzy continued to work his hips, but now Rabin could nuzzle his neck, could feel the soft tickle of curls over his shoulder. “Faster,” he muttered, using his hold to help encourage Izzy.
