by Unknown
Finally the little keys were undone. The metal hand came apart in four pieces, each attached to the ones next to them by thin strips of steel or other alloy. Liam slipped it off of Alex's hand, his real hand, like a glove, so carefully. He'd meant to hurl it viciously aside, but all he could do was drop it. "Oh." The word came out strangled as Liam touched Alex's fingers, lightly, as if they'd break.
Alex sighed. He flexed his fingers in Liam's grasp and whined.
"Oh, Alex," Liam whispered. He knew by now that the whine meant Alex wanted more. He couldn't help but give it to him. Liam stroked Alex's hand reverently, wiped away the thin sheen of sweat over the skin. The nails were bare, unpainted, but they were the same size and shape as Liam's, the same he remembered.
Liam held Alex's hand in both of his and bent his head, overcome; all he could do was kiss Alex's knuckles, then each of his fingertips in turn. Alex made a soft, longing sound and Liam turned the hand over to press a kiss to the center of Alex's palm. "They can't take this away from us," Liam whispered, looking up into Alex's liquid-hazel eyes. "Not ever."
He turned his attention back to the remaining claws and, one by one, Liam turned each of the small keys at the base of every set: the feet first, where he cradled the toes, touched each one, kissed at Alex's insteps and at the bone of his ankles. He revealed Alex's other hand, which trembled now with anticipation. Liam lavished kisses on that palm, too, brushing his lips all the way down the longest crease in it, the one that ran from the space between his thumb and index finger to the delicate skin of his wrist.
"Ah, ah, Liam," Alex cried out softly when Liam laid an open-mouthed kiss over the pale blue veins in his arm. Liam pressed his cheek to it just to feel the pulse there, thrumming like the wings of a hummingbird.
"Alex. Alex." Liam's voice was hoarse again. Alex was alive, beautiful, vital, his long fingers cradling Liam's face. They stroked the scruff Liam had grown there, the sideburns and the slight stubble Liam hadn't had the time to shave.
He surged in to cover Alex's mouth with his, hungry, kissing through Alex's lips when they parted for him. Alex's body vibrated with his moan. He grasped at the locks of hair that had come loose from Liam's braid as Liam crawled over him, pushing him back to the pillow.
Alex gasped, arched into the weight of Liam's body. He felt so fragile under Liam, so slim and helpless even though Liam knew Alex had been honed like a blade, crafted to kill. Liam banished the thought and lowered himself to rest between Alex's thighs as they spread for him, tightening around his hips when Liam suckled tenderly at Alex's tongue.
They shared heated kisses in their nest of old sheets and older photos. Liam had to pause, rear up, and kneel to strip off his belt and its weapons; he put them on the floor next to Alex's discarded claws and shuddered, sinking his fingers into Alex's dreadlocks. Alex had followed him upright and cupped him through his jeans, and now Alex let out a breathless mewl, rubbing his face to the bulge in the fabric.
"Oh, fuck, Alex." Liam couldn't close his eyes, staring slack-jawed down at his twin.
Alex shifted onto his stomach, his bare feet draping beyond the edge of the mattress. He leveled a shy glance up at Liam through his eyelashes and licked at the denim, one long swipe of his tongue. Liam sank back to rest on his heels and stroked Alex's hair fervently.
He eased down on his back at the other end of the bed when Alex urged him with a hand. Alex slunk between his legs and put his uncovered fingers to use, popping the button through its hole in Liam's jeans, taking the zipper between thumb and index fingertip and sliding it down, agonizingly slowly. Liam tongued hard at his left lip ring, and let out a low groan that reverberated through them both as Alex nuzzled the front of his boxers.
Alex worked Liam's cock out through the slit in his plain black underwear, circled his fingers around the base of it. He cupped Liam's balls through the cloth that still covered them then gave Liam a look that might have been coy. And he lapped at the head of Liam's erection, swirling his tongue, rubbing his lips against it until they were coated in precome, streaks of translucent white on his flushed mouth.
Liam cried out and stroked the hair away from Alex's face, felt the pulse in Alex's temple when he rested his thumb there. "Alex," Liam whispered, feeling feverish. "Alex, you're so good, so good."
He gazed down at Alex's lips as they curved to fit the shape of him, moaned loud when Alex's cheeks hollowed to suck him devotedly. Drool and precome leaked from the corner of Alex's mouth as he took Liam down deep in his throat, his muscles convulsing around Liam's cock as he swallowed a handful of times in rapid succession. Liam felt Alex whimpering around him, a high, needy sound. He tugged lightly at Alex's hair, not knowing what Alex wanted but needing to give it to him.
Alex pulled off Liam's cock with a damp pop. With a whine, he scrambled up to seat himself over Liam's length, clutching at Liam's shirt as he rubbed himself against it.
"All right, yeah, here." Liam was as eager as Alex, reaching around to find the zipper on his cat suit. It was cleverly disguised, tucked into the fabric, but Liam got a grip on it and pulled it down Alex's back, opening up his clothing. Underneath it, Alex wore a tank top and little black briefs, tented in the front with the rosy tip of his cock showing above them; as soon as the cat suit's latex parted, Alex pulled his limbs free and kicked it off with an impatient growl.
His nipples were hard under the tank top. Liam reached up to play with the peaks of them, mesmerized, tugging at one gently as he remembered how Alex had loved to have them teased until they were sore.
"Uh, ah!" Alex keened and rutted himself back against Liam's cock, letting it fit into his cleft through the briefs. Flustered, his cheeks flushed a dark pink, Alex made an abortive move to pull at his own underwear. He didn't seem able to focus for long enough to do it with Liam rubbing his nipples.
"Shh, let me," Liam husked. He gave Alex's left nipple one last tweak that made Alex tremble, and then he hooked his fingers into the tops of the briefs. Alex arched to let him pull them down, his hard cock grinding needily on Liam's belly where his shirt had ridden up.
"Liam," Alex mewled, and Liam would have understood that one no matter how long they'd been apart.
"I know." Liam rasped as he gripped the cheeks of Alex's rear, spreading them to rub a fingertip over Alex's hole. "But—shit, nothing slippery, no lube, nothing." He'd had no need for it since Alex had been taken. Once or twice he'd jerked himself off and felt so empty and hollow that he hadn't done it again. He didn't have any hand lotion, nothing nonessential even here.
Alex made a desperate, broken sound and pushed back, taking Liam's cock along his crease.
"We can't," Liam groaned. "Alex, can't hurt you."
The cry of anguish Alex loosed wrenched at Liam's heart. Liam knew just how Alex felt, knew the need to be joined in that most intimate of ways had almost overridden any common sense. "Liam," Alex cried, as if that would make it possible. "Liam, Liam."
"Alex," said Liam hoarsely. "Just… oh god, just take it slow."
Alex released an elated moan. He braced himself on Liam's chest with one hand and reached back with the other to rub Liam's cock along his bared crease. Liam held Alex's hips tight to steady him. They groaned in tandem as the head of Liam's length pushed at the clenched little muscles of Alex's hole. Liam kept himself perfectly still, staring up as Alex's eyes fluttered shut.
For long minutes, Alex tried to take Liam's cock until he finally hissed with frustration. "Ah, Liam!"
Panting, Liam smoothed one hand down Alex's back. "Just let me, Alex, just let me."
Shaking with his need, Alex sprawled back on the pillow when Liam laid him down. They'd always liked this position best, Liam thought, so it might work. He crushed his lips to Alex in a fierce kiss that Alex craned up to meet with nipping teeth and greedy tongue.
Liam stroked Alex's hip, hiked up his thigh. Alex pushed eagerly up to meet his cock again as Liam guided it to Alex's hole. First Liam swept a fingertip over that little entranc
e, and again, his dick still held steadily against it. He eased his finger inside, teasing at the muscles until Alex tried to squirm down to take more.
"All right," Liam whispered. "All right—"
Alex keened at the loss when Liam let the digit slip out of him. "Shh, stay still for me." At last Liam pushed Alex's thigh gently out wider, and he started the agonizing press inside.
He'd never thought that working into Alex could be painful. So many times Liam swallowed hard, biting back a cry as the velvet walls squeezed down around him, chafing. More than that, though, he could feel Alex's heartbeat from the inside, as though it was pulsing through his own veins. It hurt, the excruciatingly sweet pleasure, the proof of Alex's existence that Liam had cried for so many times on his own. Alex gave him little whimpers in reply, his nails raking Liam's back under his shirt, but every time Liam thought he would have to give up and pull out, Alex would cant his hips up and let him slip a little further inside.
The sky had begun to lighten by the time Liam held himself, trembling, fully seated inside of Alex for the first time in so long. "I can't." Liam's lips were pressed hard against Alex's, not kissing but rubbing along them every so often. "I can't move, Alex."
Under him, Alex clenched and sighed. He threaded his fingers through the loose strands of hair around Liam's face again, and he started to hum a sweet melody.
"Oh, god," Liam breathed into Alex's mouth. They'd written the song together, back when they'd dreamed of becoming famous instead of going on to college for music, instead of transforming into a Dog and his Slayer. "Oh, god." He had no more tears left to cry, but Alex shed them for him as he hummed the soft tune of their song, glistening trails down his cheeks that Liam kissed away.
In time to the song's rhythm, Liam started to rock inside Alex, little revolutions of his hips. He couldn't move any more than that, but Alex stiffened and a note rose higher than it was supposed to as Liam's cock kissed that place in him.
Liam picked up the tune then, crooning huskily. Alex's sweet voice joined him, and now Liam did cry for the hundredth time as he whispered the last line of the song. "You are everything I am, my blood, my breath, my body, and my soul."
When Alex came, it was with a soft moan of Liam's name. Liam returned a groan of Alex's name and his hips shuddered even as Alex spilled sticky streaks between them, and Liam worked his hips in slow circles. He came deep inside Alex, with his face pressed into the scent at the crook of Alex's neck. For the first time in four years he felt safe. He felt loved.
*~*~*
Liam never wanted to leave their warm haven of covers, spooned against Alex in the gray dawn light that seeped in through the window. But he knew they had to move during the day, before any other Dogs hunted them down. While they'd fallen asleep, he'd crafted wild ideas of running to their mother's house, taking her, and leaving everything behind, leaving the country.
Everything Liam needed was here, breathing evenly in his arms.
Now as he woke from their brief nap, though, he knew they would face endless complications if they even tried. Liam didn't have his passport or Alex's, or even the driver's license he'd used to chauffeur Alex to school and back as soon as they'd turned sixteen. They had both dropped off the map for four years. No airport in the country would let them fly, and certainly not on a foreign airline.
Liam scrunched his face, deep in thought. He was distracted when Alex stirred and made a sleepy, "Mm."
The nape of Alex's neck lay tantalizing in front of him, the dreadlocks carded to the side so neither of them would lie on them in their sleep. Liam kissed the vertebrae there, the first, the second, nosing Alex's collar up to reach the third, then between Alex's shoulder blades, where his black tank top dipped to reveal a swath of skin. Alex laughed softly at that one and squirmed back against him.
"Alex," Liam whispered, though he hated to say it. "Alex, we have to go." He never did stay long at the apartment. That was the only reason the Dogs hadn't found him there yet.
Before, Alex had been a reluctant riser, coaxed most readily into wakefulness with lazy morning sex and coffee. Now, Alex immediately rolled onto his stomach, yawned, and stretched his arms forward. Liam couldn't avoid another mental comparison to Tucker and the Retriever's waking routine, but it didn't bother him as much. Alex was his Alex, no matter the quirky mannerisms he'd acquired.
"Come here, you." Liam hooked an arm around Alex and drew him down for a swift kiss. Alex made a happy sound, responding to it with a delicate touch of his teeth around one of Liam's piercings.
Too soon, Liam had to pull back with a sigh that Alex echoed. Keeping himself safe had been important enough; keeping Alex safe was as essential to Liam as breathing. He urged himself immediately out of bed when he saw Alex shiver in a breeze from the broken window. "Clothes," said Liam. "I have to have something…"
He rooted through the file cabinet while Alex cuddled up with the sheets, perched on the edge of the bed. Liam found the jacket he wore when the weather grew too cold to be tolerated in his vest and cutoff sleeves. Pants presented more of a problem. Liam didn't wear his jeans as loose as he once had, but he'd filled out, while Alex had remained slender and sleek, all whipcord muscle.
Finally Alex solved the problem by plucking his cat suit from the floor. He slipped it on so that Liam could zip it carefully up his back. Liam tucked him into the baggy coat then, pulling it together in the front and fastening each of the buttons. "There," Liam murmured while Alex flashed him a pleased smile. "Probably smells like me, too, huh?"
"Mm," Alex agreed, burying his nose in the collar. He looked so young and small in the oversize jacket, as if he hadn't aged since they'd turned eighteen.
Liam had an extra pair of socks and boots for Alex's bare feet. In that, at least, they hadn't changed. But Alex refused them. He touched the claws they'd discarded a few hours before and looked up at Liam. "What? No," said Liam. "No, you're never going into those fucking things again."
"Liam," Alex sighed. He sat on the bed and started to pull them on himself.
"Alex, no!" Liam snapped, and Alex froze, eyes wide.
Liam took a second to compose himself. That look on Alex's face had been like a slap, bringing him back to sanity. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you in those," Liam said gruffly. He reached out, trailed his fingers through Alex's hair and over his cheek. "If you think it's for the best, we'll do it."
Even he could understand why Alex might want the claws, apart from familiarity. They could, and probably would, be in danger out there, and Liam shouldn't be the one capable of wielding a weapon. Alex didn't have experience with anything but the claws. That decided Liam in the end. He would be there to protect Alex, but leaving Alex defenseless would never be a good idea.
He helped Alex to fasten the metal to his feet, where it fitted as perfectly as a glove. Liam kissed Alex's hands one more time, blinking back tears before he buckled the claws over those beloved fingers.
After that, Liam filled his gun with new rounds and stocked up with all the cash from his filing cabinet. They would need to eat before they found a new place to lie low for a while, or set traps for any other Dogs that came after them.
"Ready?" Liam asked Alex, pausing at the apartment door.
Alex bobbed his head in affirmation.
Liam checked the hallway before pulling the door all the way open. During the day the apartments were mostly clear. Many of the tenants used them as a place to sleep, as Liam did, rather than a place to live. For a second, Liam hesitated again, even though the hall was empty. He still had the earbud in the pocket of his vest, but he wasn't sure when they would be back at the apartment, if ever. The photos were still sitting in the envelope, where he'd tucked them carefully before he'd curled up against Alex and fallen asleep.
He shook his head and stepped out, beckoning for Alex to follow. He had Alex; he didn't need those memories to remind him why he went on living.
The side stairwell they'd used the night before was devoid of any
loiterers by the upstairs entrance. Liam led the way into it, grateful for once that it was carpeted—a vile shade of brown and green, colors no doubt mixed with other fluids and stains. But it ensured that even Alex's feet were noiseless was they walked.
On the second floor landing, Liam stopped short. Alex loosed a growl that he cut off when Liam put a hand on his arm.
A petite woman with skin the color of caramel and frightened brown eyes had halted there when she'd seen them. She carried a baby who stared curiously at Liam and Alex and a child clinging to the back of her skirts. He moved quickly to stand in front of Alex. "It's all right…" Liam searched his memory, but he didn't know any of his neighbors' names. "This is my brother, Alex. We're just going out."
"We're just going out," he repeated when she remained frozen in place.
She nodded and hustled past them, pulling the child with her. The little girl stayed silent, but she looked back at Liam and Alex from the steps above with saucer-round eyes.
Liam blew out a breath of relief. "Right."
He led Alex out of the apartment building with no further incidents. Liam knew all the back routes through the city, and Alex followed him obediently through winding alleys and abandoned streets. This neighborhood had been stricken the worst of any by factory pollution, and though it had been cleaned up to a degree, few people had moved back except the ones who couldn't afford to live anywhere else.
Behind the convenience store where Liam had planned to purchase their breakfast, he wavered, turning to look Alex over. He couldn't take a Dog inside, even if that Dog happened to be his twin. "Stay here," Liam told him, running his hands over Alex's arms as if he'd never be able to touch him again. "Behind the dumpster and keep quiet. I'm sorry."
Liam hurried inside. He was a regular here, something like friends with the Indian couple and their daughter who usually worked the register. Today he didn't have time to exchange pleasantries with her. He handed over a fifty in exchange for some shrink-wrapped muffins and pies and a handful of chicken jerky and told her to keep the change, then ducked back out to rejoin Alex.
