The Great Wall

by Z. Allora

  “Yeah, sure.” Just imagining the television show made his heart race. He sat on the love seat to give Li and Indigo the whole sofa.

  Indigo arched his eyebrow knowingly and pranced over to the couch but said nothing. Did the bastard guess all of Styx’s private thoughts? When Indigo laid his head onto Li’s lap, Styx sighed. He longed for the freedom to be affectionate with Jin.

  Styx tried not to squirm, but the damned show opened with a bedroom scene. The lead character cheated again on his would-be boyfriend with some random hookup—at least that’s how Li explained the situation.

  Indigo sat and paused the DVD. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.” Styx’s glance took them in, all cozy and snuggling. “I mean, is that how it is in America? Men get together with anyone?”

  Indigo shrugged.

  Li denied it. “No, I told you. It’s not like that with everyone.”

  Indigo snorted and got a slap to the head for his trouble. “Ouch! Don’t get kinky in front of the k-i-d.”

  Both Styx and Li stared in bafflement. Why was the jackass spelling?

  Indigo shook his head. “Forget it. Dumb joke.”

  Styx pointed to the TV. “But he found this guy on the computer, and he came over, and now….”

  The disc had been paused midfuck. One of the main characters was behind a man on his knees, both frozen in an expression of mixed pleasure and pain.

  “That’s just how it is.” Indigo covered his head as if to defeat a swat that might be coming his way.

  Li turned to stare at Indigo for two beats before shoving away. “That’s not how everyone is. It isn’t how it’s supposed to be… at least to me it’s not.” His words carried surprising anger. “Don’t listen to him, Styx. Not all guys need that.”

  “But you guys do?” Though Styx hadn’t seen them bring home any random people, he occasionally heard them arguing about someone else they’d hooked up with.

  Li shook his head but remained silent.

  Indigo tilted his head to study Li as if perplexed. He addressed Styx, but his gaze stayed on his boyfriend. “You got to keep things fresh. I mean, my dad, he changes guys like he changes his clothing collection. Every season, a new guy.”

  “If you were with one person, you would get bored?” Styx asked, not being able to imagine he’d ever grow tired of Jin.

  Li stood and stomped into the kitchen before Indigo answered.

  Styx watched him go. He yelled after him, “Didn’t mean to piss you off, Li. Sorry.”

  “No problem. It’s not you.” Li returned with a peeled orange. “You want some, Styx?”

  “Thanks.” Styx accepted a section, but Li didn’t offer any to Indigo.

  Indigo folded his arms and pouted as Li unpaused the television.

  Styx divided his attention between the hot scenes on-screen and the amusing interaction between the couple on the sofa. Indigo did everything to get back into Li’s good graces. He rubbed his neck, massaged his feet, and when he still got no response, he started sucking Li’s fingers.

  Li reacted by pulling his hand away.

  Indigo’s eyes sparkled in triumph at getting a reaction and grabbed the other hand. His lips slid over Li’s skin, leaving a visible trail of moisture. Indigo pressed a kiss on each fingertip before sucking the digit into his mouth. His cheeks hollowed.

  Styx wondered how it would feel if Jin sucked his fingers. Would he like it? Would Jin? He couldn’t focus on TV when Indigo licked from Li’s palm to his fingertips. Indigo nipped Li’s wrist at what must have been a sensitive point, because Li’s head hit the back of the couch with a sigh of pleasure.

  Indigo built on his victory by sucking each finger into his mouth as if he were sucking something else. He put on quite a show. Li’s breathing quickened, and he surrendered to his lover’s persistence.

  Finally, the theme music played over the ending credits. Li’s eyes blinked open, catching Styx watching them.

  “Sorry, Styx.” Li pulled his hand away and wrapped his fingers around Indigo’s hair. “Come on, you.”

  Styx’s mouth dropped opened in surprise as he watched Li drag Indigo into their bedroom by the hair.

  Indigo’s muffled moan of “Yes, please” sounded through their closed door. Based on experience, they would only get louder, so Styx shut off the television and crossed the apartment to his room to prepare for bed.

  He must’ve fallen asleep after his shower because he awoke to the sound of the door clicking shut. The clock showed it was two hours after Jin should’ve been home. Though he had no right to his jealousy, Styx couldn’t contain it.

  “Who were you with?”

  Jin was clearly taken back by the question. “I was at work. I needed to stay late to take a last-minute client.”

  “A VIP client?” Styx didn’t keep the anger from his voice.

  “Yeah.” Jin started undressing as if it were no big deal. “What did you do tonight?”

  “Did you fuck someone?” The question erupted out of the insecurity and jealousy Styx had tried to continually bury. But the words were out of his mouth before he was fully aware of what he was asking.

  “No. Did you?” Jin laughed.

  “I can’t. You made sure,” Styx bitched even as his anger dissipated.

  Jin strutted to the bed. “Is that why you’re upset?”

  His hand settled over the blanket above where Styx’s cock was locked away.

  “No.” Styx exhaled hard and turned away from Jin, unable to lie to his face.

  “Tonight was my last night. I told the big boss if I supervised interaction with the late VIP, I was done.”

  “You’re done working there? You quit?” Happiness was gathering.

  Jin nodded. “It was an important client; the boss had no choice but to agree. I thought you’d rather for me to be late and quit than to be on time.”

  Styx tossed down the blanket and jumped out of bed. He held Jin in his arms. It was done. No more. Jin quit for him. “Thank you.”

  “Anything for you, Styx.” Jin hooked his fingers into Styx’s sleep pants. “Shall I?”

  Styx groaned and shoved his hips forward. His anxious cock throbbed within the plastic rings that prevented it from pleasure. Jin grinned at the impatience as he slipped the necklace off before pushing Styx backward on the bed. Agile fingers slid the rings off Styx’s expanding shaft and from around his ball sac. He sighed at the freedom as his dick sprang to full erection.

  Jin sat next to him. “Did you watch the show?”

  Styx chuckled at how well Jin knew him. “Yeah.”

  “Hot?”

  No use fibbing to Jin. He’d catch Styx if he tried. “Yeah.”

  “Stroke off for me.” Jin didn’t have to ask twice, especially once he opened his own pants to join in.

  Only breathing and soft moans interrupted the silence. Their shared intimacy grew more natural each time they were together.

  They stroked their cocks quickly, and when they reached the edge, Jin put a hand on Styx’s.

  “Wait.”

  “What?” Styx growled. His body shook with the need to finish.

  Jin batted Styx’s hand away. “Let me.”

  Without hesitation, Styx reached for Jin’s shaft to stroke him. They synchronized their movements. It was like jerking himself off with someone else’s fist.

  With a silent cry, Styx arched off the bed and fucked his orgasm out into Jin’s perfectly timed fist. After a series of soft grunts, Jin’s cum bathed Styx’s fist.

  “Mm.” Jin smiled and kissed Styx on the mouth. He removed his T-shirt before Styx responded and wiped the cream off Styx’s chest and belly. Jin replaced the rings with efficiency born of practice.

  Enough time had passed. Styx should say something. “I won’t do that again. I promised you.”

  “I know you won’t, but I like keeping you under lock and key. It stopped being about protecting you a while ago.”

  Styx’s mind spun in different directions, b
ut the one thing that came out on top was he wanted to be under Jin’s lock and key.

  Jin asked, “Okay?”

  This was Styx’s chance. It was time to say he wanted to remain free. Instead, he nodded agreement.

  Jin attached the lock and clicked it in place.

  He tossed his shirt near their hamper and changed into his yoga pants. He climbed into bed beside Styx and kissed his cheek. “I’ve never fucked anyone else, nor do I have any plans to do so.”

  Relief raced through Styx as Jin’s words sank in. “Li got mad at Indigo.”

  “Are you a san-ba now?” Jin bumped into him.

  A san-ba was the number thirty-eight, which translated into Women’s Day, March 8, implying a gathering of women who spread rumors.

  “My sister would kick your butt for using san-ba. I’m not gossiping. Just telling you about my evening.” Styx laughed.

  “What did they fight about?”

  “I guess Li doesn’t like the fact Indigo would get bored if they don’t have sex with other people.”

  “Would you?” The clipped question hung between them. The inquiry bypassed whether the two of them would have sex. It assumed sex, or more sex, and questioned whether Styx would get bored in a relationship between only them.

  Styx ignored the warning bells in his head. “Never.” It must have been the right answer.

  Jin cuddled into him. “Me either.” After his whispered confession, he fell asleep.

  Styx stayed awake for a long time, worrying about things he had no control over.

  Chapter 9

  THE OWNER of the Biergarten begged the band to do one shift before the national holiday. The previous band had left without notice when they heard he’d replaced them.

  Though Li, Indi, Styx, and Jin practiced together for endless hours, none of them felt ready to perform in front of an audience together when the time came. Li pointed it out as an opportunity to get the lay of the land without much of an audience. Many of the expats would go on vacation for the time off.

  The German restaurant on the lake was a decent size for Suzhou. It had a reputation for being clean and reasonably priced, and the food was okay. People came for the beer selection, not the music.

  When the band arrived, Indigo examined the restaurant critically and made a face. “What’s with the ill-conceived mural of hanging flower boxes near the ceiling to give a three-dimensional atmosphere to the flat, two-story houses decorating the walls? Oh, is this the owner’s interpretation of a beer garden in Germany?”

  “You’ve been there, haven’t you?” Li asked.

  Indigo appeared thoroughly disgusted. “Yeah, Dad took me there the summer before I met you. Is the owner actually German?”

  Styx rolled his eyes and blocked out Indigo’s criticisms. The decor looked fine to him. The aroma of something delicious being baked wafted to where he stood.

  “Hey, at least the waiters don’t have to wear getups like the waitresses.” Jin pointed as a slight Chinese girl giggled past them in some kind of German dress.

  “Good point.” Indigo ran a hand down his white, pressed shirt and black pants. “It’s a little too dressy to play music in, but at least it’s not lederhosen.” He leered at Li. “But I would totally be sexy in one of those dirndl… the dresses.”

  Li rolled his eyes and turned toward the kitchen. “Come on. We’ve got work to do.”

  The cook assured the four of them that because it was a Tuesday night, their first shift would be relatively quiet except for two tables of couples and a large party celebrating a birthday.

  It didn’t take long for Styx to figure out waiting a table was much more complicated than it appeared. A few minutes later, he decided being a waiter was hell. The trays laden with plates of unrecognizable foreign food surprised him with their weight, and the rude customers got on his nerves. He never liked the practice of his father snapping his fingers for waitstaff’s attention, but now he hated it. He was tempted to explain servers weren’t dogs.

  He kept reminding himself this was a means to an end. If serving rude customers allowed him to stay in Suzhou, he’d swallow a little pride.

  Though Styx hated to admit it, he was impressed as hell by Indigo’s table-waiting skills. The American might grumble to Li about the work, but he took people’s orders with a smile and charmed them into things they’d had no intention of ordering.

  Jin smiled at Indigo when he passed him in the kitchen. “You’re really skilled at this.”

  Indigo shrugged. “Oh, go figure. A gay boy from LA able to wait tables… news at eleven.” He rolled his eyes, grabbed a huge tray, and left the kitchen.

  “Huh?”

  Perplexed, Jin and Styx turned toward Li for an interpretation, but he was laughing his ass off.

  Styx asked, “Was that a joke?”

  “Yeah. You see—” Li never got a chance to finish.

  Their new boss, a huge German transplant named Sebastian Stadler, strode in. “How’s everyone doing?”

  “Fine, Mr. Stadler.” Li’s smile projected confidence none of them but Indigo actually had. It struck Styx at times like this that Li was the eldest. There was a quiet maturity in his interactions with others.

  “Call me Sebastian. Okay, well there’ve been no complaints.” Sebastian’s tight smile implied he waited for someone to admit some wrongdoing. When no one volunteered anything, he asked, “Do you guys have a name for your band yet?”

  Indigo glided through the swinging doors and answered Sebastian as he gathered the next order onto his tray. “Not yet. And no, we don’t have a singer yet either.” The way he said it sounded like a mere formality that didn’t affect the band’s success. “But when we come back from National Day, on the original start date, we should be all set.”

  The boss nodded his blond head, clearly displeased at being reminded he owed them one. “Good. Good.” Sebastian cleared his throat and grimaced. “Hey, I want to apologize for not being able to open the restaurant earlier for you to set up your equipment.”

  It was amusing how unpleasant the owner found apologizing to them.

  Indigo gave him a friendly slap on the back. “No worries. Be sure you don’t hold it against us if things don’t go perfectly tonight.”

  Damn! The guy was skilled in manipulation. He took the apology and got some leniency if the performance wasn’t smooth. Indigo sailed back out the door but not before handing Styx and Li their orders.

  Styx didn’t even want to imagine playing in front of a real audience before they were ready. He and Jin had played in the music store, drawing small crowds, but no one had gone to see them or anything.

  The harsh criticism he’d given the other band added to his nervousness. Maybe it wasn’t easy.

  Impatiently, the band stood waiting an absurdly long time in the kitchen for the bartender to dim the stage, which would allow them to set up their equipment. Perhaps someone should remind the guy, as he was more concerned with pouring the giggling girls drinks than being a lighting guy for the band. Granted, it might be understandable since tending the bar was his actual job.

  “Should I dim the lights myself?” Indigo sighed.

  Li stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a shake of his head. Heat seemed to pass between them before Indigo brushed a kiss across Li’s hand.

  Styx stepped away from the twosome and ambled over to Jin, who stood fiddling with his guitar strings before glancing at him to say, “I feel very sick.” He stopped tapping his drumsticks and frowned, then twirled the sticks between his fingers.

  Jin held his stomach and made the same face he did when he had drunk three cups of rice wine on a dare from the older kids at their school when he was twelve. Styx had held him upright as Jin lost the contents of his stomach, and afterward, cleaned him up. He easily lied to Jin’s mother, telling her about the flu bug going around the school saving Jin from getting into trouble.

  Indigo must have overheard. Before Styx opened his mouth to reassure Jin, Indigo smoo
thly sauntered over and asked, “Do you have a horrible sinking feeling of impending doom?”

  Jin frowned as he clutched his stomach.

  This was helpful?

  Indigo ran a hand through his carefully styled hair. “Just think of that horrible sensation you have as excitement.”

  “Excitement?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.” Indigo’s face brightened with a mischievous grin. “And remember what a huge cock you have.”

  Jin gasped and glanced around to see if anyone else overheard.

  His reaction seemed to make Indigo chuckle before he added, “Remember you’re bigger than anyone else in the audience. It’s huge.” His hands spread apart as if he measured Jin’s size.

  Styx’s irrational jealousy kicked in and demanded to know how he was privy to the size of Jin’s cock. Jin certainly wasn’t going to share it with anyone… except for him. He had all but said as much.

  Blinking and shaking his head, Jin didn’t say anything but stared at Indigo.

  “By going out on the stage, you’re going to share massiveness… with everyone.” Indigo’s voice dropped down to a sexy purr. “Everyone….” His hands moved farther apart, making the distance between them an impossible and silly exaggeration.

  Styx stepped over to him. “What is wrong with you?”

  Indigo batted his eyelashes. “What?” He gestured with his head of perfectly styled hair, indicating Styx should watch Jin. “Our boy here is well endowed. He’ll go on stage and burn it up.”

  Jin laughed to himself, probably at the thought Indigo implanted in his head. Indigo’s eyebrow arched, and he patted Styx’s chest and told him, “Let it go, Mr. Tough Guy.”

  Styx sighed and slapped his sticks against his thighs. The tips of the drumsticks stung but brought his anger down. He wiped his hands off again on his pants. He hoped his sticks stayed in his hands.

  All he needed to do was remember Jin wouldn’t be working at the spa anymore. Styx’s heart filled with joy because Jin left his job to make him happy, which made it even better.

  The stage finally darkened, allowing them to set up. But the asshole behind the bar had carelessly made the lighting too dim. It was hard to see their equipment, but they did their best in the shadows, casting light from their cell phones to find cords and plugs.