An Island in the Stars

by Susan Laine

  But Marcus moved up to kiss Sam’s shivering stomach, his palms hot over Sam’s cool skin, his fingers digging into soft flesh. Marcus licked around Sam’s bellybutton and sucked up a few marks on his trembling belly.

  Sam couldn’t take it anymore. He knew now they weren’t going to do anal today. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to give Marcus the next best thing.

  He grabbed Marcus by the arms, took a firm hold, and flipped them around once more. Straddling Marcus’s hips, Sam almost made both of them fall off the bed.

  “Whoa. Easy there, chipmunk.” Marcus chuckled, hands on Sam’s waist, eyes dancing with mirth.

  “Shut up.” Sam hoped his growly words would stop the infuriating guy from making fun of him while he was trying to be assertive and shit.

  When Sam smeared his fingers with lube from a half-used tube and then wiggled his hand under his butt and fisted Marcus’s cock, Marcus finally did shut up—briefly—until he arched his back, threw his head back, and groaned. Sam pumped his dick a few times for emphasis to show Marcus he could play too.

  “Mm-mmm, Sam, I love your fucking hands on me,” Marcus murmured, his face melting into a stunning portrait of ecstasy. Sam tried not to get a big head. His little head sure was getting bigger.

  “We ain’t stopping now,” Sam muttered back, restless for some physical contact and sexual intimacy. The kind he’d hoped for wasn’t on the table today, but that didn’t mean all was lost.

  He sat astride Marcus, just below his balls so that Marcus’s hard cock protruded between Sam’s legs. Sam fumbled to stroke along his lover’s smoldering, swelling member from root to tip, taking his time. But he had a different plan, and he was about to execute it. He wasn’t 100 percent sure of his plan’s success, but he prayed some coordination, a touch of lube, and an ample amount of rutting heat were enough.

  Sam’s legs trembled as he let go of Marcus’s dick, slid forward until he had Marcus’s cock nestled between his asscheeks, and started to rock back and forth.

  Marcus’s eyes flew open and widened in shock. Then his parted lips went as slack as the rest of his expression, and his hooded gaze glimmered with dark lust. “Mmm, yeah….”

  Sam prayed his weight wouldn’t put too much pressure on Marcus’s cock as it lay on his lower abdomen, hot and wet, trapped between Sam’s quivering buttocks and against his perineum as he rode his lover’s body like a cowboy on a horse. It was the ride of a lifetime.

  Marcus gripped Sam’s hips hard enough to bruise, partially controlling Sam’s pace, his gaze so intense Sam all but burned under that enormous heat. Sam placed his hands on Marcus’s chest, over his pecs, for leverage and increased his speed. Marcus moaned hoarsely, but his eyes never left Sam’s. They stared at each other, unable to look away, sharing a bond of dark desire that forced them to move on instinct, primal and demanding.

  The bed creaked, and the headboard banged against the wall. That was new for them. Sam swallowed hard, his mouth drier than a desert, his body burning with a fervor he’d never before known. The sensations and emotions within and without mixed, and he was lost on a sea of passion.

  “Oh God, Marcus, please….”

  Marcus actually growled then, a possessive grimace giving him the appearance of an animal. A predator like the razor beast. “Mine. Mine. Mine.”

  Sam gasped. Marcus had never behaved in such a way. But he understood.

  “Yes. Yes. I’m yours. Yours forever.”

  “Touch yourself, bae,” Marcus grunted. “Wanna see you do it. Do it, Sam.”

  The command shouldn’t have turned Sam on, but it did. It pushed buttons inside him he hadn’t known he had. He gripped his own dick and started a fierce stroke, jerking himself off to the beat of his heart. All he could hear was the drumming of his pulse, the gush of blood in his ears. And all he could see was Marcus; he was blind to the rest of a world that might as well not have existed at all.

  Sam’s nails dug into Marcus’s chest, and Marcus’s did the same to Sam’s hips. They couldn’t stop moving. They were no longer in control. Their coupling was primitive, two bodies in heat, locked together to rut until they’d reach climax. It was a mad dash toward a frenzied peak and a headlong dive into the depths of pleasure.

  Marcus stiffened and held his breath. Warm wetness coated Sam’s ass; he could almost taste it. His hand flew on his dick. Marcus’s low snarl shoved him over the edge of delight. Sam cried out and came, spurting ropes of come over Marcus, showering him with creamy, sticky droplets like a Pollock painting. He continued to jack off until he’d wrung himself dry.

  With a sigh, he collapsed over Marcus, who took him in his arms, cradling him and whispering sweet nothings in his ear. Sam shook like a leaf, clasping his lover as though he were a lifeline to a drowning man.

  “Love you….” It didn’t matter who spoke.

  They stayed that way for a while. Finally Sam released his death grip on Marcus, slid off him, and rested on the bed, floating in the soft mellowness of afterglow and love made manifest.

  Once Sam’s breathing had slowed and he could hear again, he grew aware of Marcus beside him, still panting like an overheated dog. He’d expected the jock to have better recovery skills. Then again, they had really exerted themselves this time.

  Sam stared up at the ceiling, his mind a million miles away. Or more to the point, a gazillion light years away on an alien moon where it was hot and humid all the time, where storms were frequent, and where he’d learned who he was.

  He frowned. He’d just experienced bliss, but his mind remained restless. Even a climax couldn’t wipe his memory of their shared adventures. What did that mean in the long run? For him, for Marcus, or for them as a couple? Had Sam evolved into an adrenaline junkie? Seemed unlikely considering his serene temperament.

  Yet in both his dreams and his waking thoughts, he continued to return to that faraway alien world. In his mind’s eye, he watched the heavenly display of a green, ringed gas giant and constellations he knew nothing about but longed to become familiar with. Every night and each time his attention wandered, those same stars, planets, and moons came to him—unbidden but not unwelcome.

  Sam wanted to ask Marcus if he thought about that place too. But he was afraid to hear the answer. What if Marcus just wanted to put the past behind them, focus on them in the here and now, and look forward to a future without weird portals and mysterious planets? Perhaps Sam was alone in his inability to let go.

  His attention veered back to his bedroom when he heard a tiny rustling noise from his backpack. Or behind it to be precise.

  Sam cursed inwardly. It had to be the neighbor’s damn cat again. It had an annoying habit of sneaking into other people’s houses through open windows. Sam must have thrown the critter out four times already this past week.

  He sat up and reached for his backpack, shifting it aside, expecting to find a lousy little ball of fur crammed inside his slipper again.

  Instead he came face-to-face with a smiling creature the size of a mouse. Like a small piece of wood, it appeared to be covered in bark and mushrooms and moss, with petite pink paws and a lightly furred tail winding upward like a corkscrew. Big, round, amber-hued eyes blinked up at him, innocent and adorable.

  “Oh… my…. God….” Sam’s whisper roused Marcus to peek over his shoulder. They both gasped in shock at the sight. How could that little thing have been hiding in his room all this time? Seemed impossible, but the evidence was irrefutable. “It’s a… a barkzie.” Sam glanced up at Marcus, serious and solemn. “We must take it back home.”

  Chapter 16

  “WE ARE doing the right thing, aren’t we?” Sam asked.

  Marcus heard the tremor in his voice. “Second thoughts? I wouldn’t have believed that possible. You’d never doubt the need to help someone out. Or in this case, a helpless little alien that needs us to get back home.”

  Sam shook his head, frowning, working with the straps of his backpack, his motions nervous and fidgety. Clearly
the straps were fine. “All we have to do basically is to open the portal and send the barkzie through.”

  “Yeah?”

  Sam worried his lower lip, avoiding eye contact. Then he shrugged and slumped, as if he’d decided to not speak after all. “Nothing.”

  Marcus gripped Sam’s jaw and gently raised his face till their gazes locked. “Talk to me, bae. Don’t make me spank you. We’ll just get distracted, then.”

  Sam’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he smiled. “Yeah. Definitely.”

  “So… what’s bugging you?”

  “Well… I’ve been thinking.”

  “I’d be shocked if you ever stopped.”

  “Shut up.” But Sam brushed a kiss on Marcus’s lips, so he wasn’t really angry. “That tiny animal being in our charge just confirmed everything that’s been on my mind lately.”

  Marcus snorted. “Let me guess. The island?”

  Sam’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped. “You too?”

  “Uh-huh. Not an easy thing to forget. Although, to be fair, I haven’t tried extra hard. I mean, why should I? I have a lot to thank that place for. You, for one.”

  Sam blushed, making Marcus want to kiss him and not stop. “Love you too. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Hands down.”

  “So apparently we’ve both been thinking about what happened to us.” Marcus studied Sam carefully. They might not have developed a couple’s weird love telepathy yet, but he figured he knew what was going on. “You’re feeling as restless as I am, or am I wrong?”

  Sam let out a relieved sigh. “No, you’re right. I keep thinking about everything we saw and did… and what else is out there.”

  “Me too.” Marcus looked around Sam’s bedroom, which had become so familiar to him in the past week and a half. Although their parents had kept anxious eyes on them since their recent misadventure, they had relative privacy in Sam’s room in the afternoons. They had used it to discuss returning the barkzie to the island, among other things, though Sam had seemed reluctant to do it immediately.

  Marcus thought he had finally figured out why.

  For the past two, three days, Sam had concentrated on his things, gathering supplies in his backpack. At first Marcus had assumed he feared getting trapped on the other side of the portal again. But now Marcus realized Sam was making preparations for a trip.

  A planned journey to another planet.

  “You want to go back to that exomoon, or—”

  “A part of me did want to find out what happened to the lizzies. But no, I don’t. I want to see someplace new.” Sam shuddered, looking forlorn. “But… I won’t go anywhere without you. I can’t.”

  Marcus embraced Sam, wrapping his arms around his beautiful boy. “Funny, but I was thinking the exact same thing. Guess we’re on the same wavelength already.”

  Sam hugged him back, his breath warm and his cheeks moist against Marcus’s neck. “You mean that? You wanna come with me?”

  “Since we came back, I thought being with you was enough to make me happy. And it’s been great.”

  “But?” Sam pulled off, but he was smiling, his tone encouraging.

  “For a few days, coming out with you was awesome, and I didn’t feel the need to seek thrills. But when that faded—’cause no one cares these days about one more gay couple—I realized something was missing. I mean, that island was hell at times, and I’m glad we’re out of there.”

  “But?” Sam asked again, his smile widening, his eyes beaming.

  “That place taught us a lot about each other and ourselves.”

  Sam nodded firmly. “Yes. I learned to view the world from your perspective, through your eyes, and stop being afraid all the time of what might happen or what might never happen. You taught me courage and how to stand up for myself and what I want. And that place showed me I can manage in a crisis much better than I ever imagined.”

  Marcus rubbed Sam’s nose with his own. “Yeah, it sure did. We were screwed, but we worked together like a well-oiled machine, made the best of a bad situation, and lived to tell the tale. That’s saying something.”

  Sam chuckled. “What, you want a medal?”

  Marcus snorted. “Anyway, you taught me that sometimes having second thoughts and reservations isn’t fear but common sense. That at times it’s better to think before you leap.”

  “Looks like even though we nearly died there, we’re insane enough to go right back for more.” Sam laughed, but he sounded a bit unsure again.

  “I’m ready to jump in the deep end… but only if you are too. Like you, I don’t want to do this alone. What the heck would I do out there on my own? I’d die within an hour.”

  Sam slapped Marcus on the arm, the sting sudden but gone quickly. “That’s bullshit. You’d do great.” Then he fisted Marcus’s shirt, bunching and wrinkling it. “Let’s go together… or not at all.”

  A hushed chirp sounded from the windowsill where Sam’s mom had placed a potted plant to brighten the room. Marcus glanced toward the bright red flower he didn’t recognize. On the dirt beside the stem stood the barkzie, smiling at them, its amber eyes mesmerizing and kind.

  Both boys returned the gesture, though they had no idea if the barkzie even knew what a smile was.

  “YOU KNOW, we have to thank this little critter for serving as a catalyst for us to decide what we really want out of life.” Marcus chuckled at his own comment because, admittedly, a significant part of it was experiencing the glories of gay sex with his dream bae.

  Sam smirked at him, continuing to stuff things into his backpack. “I saw what you did there. Dirty dawg. But yeah, you’re right. About all of it.” He winked suggestively at Marcus.

  As usual, Marcus felt a buzz in his chest, under his rib cage where his heart was. A similar hum of contentment seemed to come from his dick, which loved Sam a lot too.

  It was Friday. School was over for the day. Sam and Marcus had told Simon and their parents they were seeing a movie and afterward going up to the cabin again for the weekend. Predictably, their families argued against the plan. Marcus made a relevant counterargument about getting back on a horse after it threw you off, or one might never ride again. They lived in the shadow of the mountains every day of their lives, so they couldn’t fear them. After what seemed like an endless tug-of-war, their parents finally acceded, probably more worn down by Sam’s relentless nagging than seeing the error of their ways.

  They’d written delayed emails to their parents and Simon in case of emergency, such as if their trip lasted longer than the span of a weekend. Finally they were good to go. They’d get additional healthy snacks and water bottles at the store, pretend to go to the movies, and then sneak out and head to the woods and the hatch that opened to the portal chamber and… who knew where else?

  “Got everything you need?” Marcus asked, surveying the piles of things Sam had been busy all week gathering. Sam was an organizer, so he’d made a comprehensive list (naturally) and then assembled enough supplies to last a family of five over a week.

  Sam checked and rechecked his list, frowning as he did so, and slowly nodded. “We have enough provisions to sustain us on a longer trip, the jumper cables you modified in shop class—”

  Marcus grinned, proud of himself. He’d not realized just how important it was to know and understand how things worked until they’d needed that information on an alien world. Now he had taken to studying electrical engineering to ensure he got the gist of things. He wasn’t about to be caught with his pants down again.

  “—and the portable rechargeable battery to jumpstart the portal in case it doesn’t work wherever it is we go. And we have solar-powered cell phone chargers if we need to take pictures or video or if we need another distraction. We also have matches, lighters and lighter fluid, a tent and sleeping bags, multipurpose tools, pocket knives, leather gloves, a small lantern, two flashlights, nylon rope, canteens—”

  “We can get a few extra bottles from the store,” Marcus cut in
, examining all the gear they’d be carrying. The load wouldn’t be light but these were the bare essentials. “Plus, like, snack bars and granola bars, dried vegetables and fruit, beef jerky, ramen noodles—”

  “Yes, yes, food we got.” Sam frowned, clearly vexed. Marcus smiled. His boy was in full tactical mode and didn’t abide interruptions. “As for clothing, we’ll be wearing long pants and long-sleeved undershirts, so we won’t need to carry those. We’ve got socks, underwear, makeshift raincoats, sunglasses, sunscreen, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shaving cream, straight razors—”

  “God, bae, please tell me you’ve got toilet paper in there.”

  Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. “Duh. Biodegradable too. Last but not least, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointments, bandages, gauze, scissors, tweezers, pens, paper, whistles, pins, a sewing kit—”

  “You know how to sew?” Marcus was more than mildly impressed, and he expressed his awe with a low whistle.

  Sam blushed and ducked his head bashfully. “I learned. Okay, fine. I watched a couple YouTube videos, okay? How hard can it be?” He huffed out a breath while pouting cutely. Marcus wanted to kiss those perfect lips and suck on them for, like, a month. “What else? Oh yes, painkillers, a first aid guide, latex gloves, hydrocortisone, antihistamines, an epipen—”

  “Where’d you get that?”

  “I’m allergic to mold.” Sam gave him an odd look. “I was under the impression Simon told you all about me and then some. He didn’t tell you that?”

  Marcus shrugged. “Nope. Must’ve missed it. Good to know, though.” Then he puzzled over their experiences. “That island temple was really old and in ruins. There had to be mold. How come that didn’t affect you?”

  Sam opened his mouth, but nothing came out immediately. Then he shrugged. “Don’t know. Alien mold not like Earth mold?”

  “You asking me or telling me?”