Before the Darkness (Refuge Inc.) (5 page)

pre-come mixed, providing lubricant as their

cocks glided alongside one another's and

ground into the other's lower abdomen.

He explored Adam's body with his hands,

squeezing and gripping his solid shoulders, his

irm ass. Adam's smooth, hard body gave him all

that he needed; distraction, comfort and

pleasure all at the same time. He couldn't ask for

more at the moment. The muscles in his pelvis

clenched and his balls drew up toward his body

as an intense orgasm threatened to tear through

him.

"I'm close," Elliot warned in a breathy

whisper.

"Me too." Their lips still grazed one

another's as they spoke and the sultry bass in

Adam's voice nearly sent Elliot over the edge. He

missed the sound of another's voice, especially

the deep rumble of a man in pleasure.
So that's

what being alive felt like.

To quickly relieve the tension, Elliot

reached between their hot, sweaty bodies to

grasp both of their cocks in a irm grip. He

began a rhythmic tug and pull with his hand,

watching the pained-pleasured look sweep

across Adam's handsome face.

Adam winced, biting down on his bottom

lip. He groaned and his body shuddered just as

Elliot felt the irst shot of warm semen escape

Adam's cock and trickle down over his hand and

wrist. Elliot continued to pump his ist, collecting

the semen as extra lubricant. In no time, he

came too, breathing heavily and crying out in

absolute pleasure and relief. The room spun,

this time from the shock to his senses instead of

a quake.

It took a couple minutes to whine down.

But inally Adam stood, immediately pulled up

his underwear and put his hand out to Elliot. He

allowed Adam to assist him to stand. He stood,

balancing, positioning most of his weight on his

uninjured leg and pulled his boxers up over his

hips. Their torsos were wet and sticky with a

mixture of semen and sweat. Elliot used some

leftover gauze to clean himself the best he could

and passed some to Adam to do the same.

"Thanks."

Adam focused his emerald eyes on him

as he continued to wipe at his chest. "For what?"

"For putting up with me." He stared back,

unsure of Adam's feelings toward him. "I don't

mean to act like a whiny little bitch or

something, but…well, I'm fucking scared, you

know?" When Adam smiled warmly a heavy

weight lifted from Elliot's heart.

"I was on the verge of giving up before I

met you." Adam moved closer, bringing their

bodies millimeters from each other. "I should be

thanking
you
."

Elliot went for it. He threw all his

inhibitions aside and pulled Adam to him by his

waist. He pressed his lips to Adam's blushed red

lips. Adam held Elliot's elbows in his hands and

kissed him back, even sliding his tongue

between Elliot's bruised lips.

Elliot broke the kiss. He kept his eyes

closed and lowered his forehead to Adam's

shoulder. "I'm really scared."

"I know. I'm scared too." Adam's gentle

voice was soothing. "But there's no room for

huddling in a corner and giving up. It's not over

yet."

He looked up into Adam's eyes, reading

his expression. "I know. You're right."

Adam looked stern, serious. "You have to

stop thinking about what we don't have and

start thinking about how to keep going. We gotta

prepare for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow isn't coming." Elliot felt the

heat of anger on his temple.

Adam placed his hands on Elliot's

shoulders. "Then we gotta live for today."

Elliot nodded. "You're right." He cleared

his throat, straightened his shoulders and

forced a smile. "You're right. I can't believe I'm

letting this asteroid get to me like this."

"You hear what you just said? It's normal

to be scared after what we lived through. The

way to push through it is by not letting your fear

take over. Now, let's go wash off in the water

out back." He wrapped an arm around Elliot's

naked waist and helped him around the mess in

the room to the hall. They carefully made their

way around the fallen beam and to the back exit.

When he opened the door, Elliot

expected to see the refreshing jet of water

spraying into the air and into the street. Instead,

a sinkhole as big as an average backyard pool

marked where the water had once jetted from

the crack in the side of the street. The water,

even the hydrant was gone, possibly sucked

down

into

the

dark

abyss.

Elliot

stared

wide-eyed

from

the

doorway. "Shit, what happened?"

Adam moved forward, cautiously inching

closer to the wide, gaping hole. "Maybe the

earthquake did it somehow." He moved closer,

looking down into it.

"What's in there?" Elliot called from the

doorway, his grip tightened on the doorframe in

anticipation.

"A … muddy hole."

Suddenly, a ball of ire streaked through

the sky, catching Elliot's attention back to the

east. The ireball swept across the frightening

scene of blackened clouds that resembled death

in its misty form. Against the fast approaching

darkness, the ireball appeared rather small and

a tail of ire followed it like a serpent from Hell

announcing its presence.

"Look." Elliot pointed to it as it arched in

the distance toward the dark horizon.

Adam looked up just in time to see it

disappear behind the rim of the horizon. "Jesus."

He huffed, shaking his head.

Back west the sun slowly set behind big

purple mountains illuminating the western sky

in iery orange and red hues. The dark cloud

back east moved so fast, Elliot knew it would

cover them in a matter of hours.

Adam made his way back from the

sinkhole. "I'm glad we used the water when we

did. You okay?"

Elliot nodded even though he could

barely breathe. Adam's face was lushed and his

eyes somber, but Elliot pretended not to see it.

Adam's eyes told him things he didn't want to

know.

And just when Elliot thought his troubles

were nearly over, he heard a vicious growl and

a bark. Adam jolted and turned just as the

injured pit bull came out of nowhere and leapt

toward him. Adam stumbled and fell back onto

the gravel with a thud and the dog slowly limped

toward him, showing off his bloody canine teeth.

Elliot froze but he knew had to do

something other than stand there. The instinct

to protect himself by closing the of ice door—

ensuring a barrier between him and the vicious

dog—crossed his mind, but then the image of

the unfortunate blonde haired girl popped in,

replacing it. She wasn't able to ight off what had

killed her but Elliot had the ability to ight off

what threatened Adam's life. He couldn't let his

fear control him. Courage rushed him like a mad

bull in the form of adrenaline and he sped

toward the bleeding dog. What was his next

move? He wasn't sure, but was relieved when

the dog whimpered and turned away, looking

back as he slowly retreated.

"Get!" Elliot yelled and kicked a pile of

gravel in the dog's direction.

The injured canine tucked its wounded

leg up near its belly as it disappeared behind an

enormous pile of rubble.

"Are you hurt?" Elliot grabbed Adam's

hand in a firm grip and helped him to his feet.

"Just a little scratched up. That's all." He

dusted off his ass and his bruised shoulder.

Elliot limped back to the door. "Let's get

in before it comes back."

They went back into the room where

they had just been intimate, kissing and writhing

against each other. Adam sat in the same corner

behind the overturned dentist chair, and he

stared blankly, solemnly at the dirty loor before

him. "I'm a liar."

"Huh?" Elliot sat beside him, placing a

gentle hand on Adam's knee. "What did you lie

about?"

"Everything." Adam ran both hands

through his hair and huffed. "I'm not the hero

you think I am. I worked as a dancer at a

nightclub. I was working the night before they

decided to share the excellent news about the

asteroid." He scoffed at his sarcasm. "My job was

to take off my clothes and dance for horny

women. Jena—well, my iancée made me take a

irst aide class with her when she went for a

medical assistant job. That's why I knew how to

take care of your leg."

Elliot dipped his eyebrows. "So you're

not a cop?"

Adam slowly shook his head, a guilty

expression in his eyes. "I impersonated one. I

wore a police costume as part of my act. Velcro

pants, Aviators and all."

That explained Adam's it, waxed body.

Elliot looked down at the same spot on the loor

that Adam stared at, feeling gullible. "Why'd you

lie?"

"You ever wanted to be somebody else?

Meeting you was my chance to reinvent myself.

Be the man I always wanted to be." Adam inally

looked up at Elliot. "Who wants to introduce

themselves as a stripper?"

"Look, Adam, I don't care." Elliot

shrugged. "I don't care if you're a cop or just

impersonate one on a stage. Does it matter? It

doesn't change anything. But—"

Adam turned, meeting Elliot's gaze. "But?"

"You're gay, right?" Elliot dipped his

eyebrows, secretly hoping that Adam had lied

about being engaged or maybe even been

unhappy in love and yearned for male

companionship. "I mean, you mentioned your

iancée and told me that you were happy, but…

never mind. It doesn't matter." Elliot scoffed.

"It's not like what we did meant anything. It was

spontaneous and we were scared. Hell, the

inevitable happened, right? Stuff like this make

people do all sorts of things they normally

wouldn't do, huh?"

Was the uncomfortable pitter-patter in

his chest and the huge lump in his throat an

effect of the jealousy he harbored because of

Adam's presumed devotion to his iancée? He

didn't know Adam at all. Hell, half of what he

knew had been a lie. Yet, he felt a connection

that he wanted—no, needed—to hold on to. Yes,

already an emotional link between them had

been established, Elliot was sure of it.

Adam nodded. "You weren't the irst guy

I've messed around with. Back in high school,

me and a Drama kid used to fuck around a little.

I've never told anybody—not my iancée, my

friends, nobody. You're the only other person

who knows."

"So you never came out?"

"It's not like that. I fell in love with my

fiancée and never had a second thought about it.

Whatever thoughts I had about men didn't faze

me. But when you kissed me…" A crimson hue

tinted his cheeks. "That kiss brought back a lot

of feelings I thought were left back in high

school. Your eyes, they…they kind of sucked me

in."

Elliot grinned, the lump in his throat

dissolved. "Your confession made up for any lie

you could have told. Knowing the truth

somehow makes hiding out at the dentist not so

bad."

"That's not all I lied about." Adam

sheepishly looked away as he spoke. "We're

probably not gonna make it through this."

"No, you're just scared like me." Elliot

squeezed Adam's knee. "Be scared. It's okay. An

asteroid hit. It's okay to panic."

"No, listen." Adam removed Elliot's hand

from his knee and turned to face him. "I know

why there are so many crazy earthquakes. That

ireball we saw in the sky. That's probably not

the only one."

Elliot's eyes narrowed. "What are you

saying?"

"I saw one of the stories on the news

before it hit. Pieces of the asteroid and loose

pieces of earth go into the atmosphere and get