The Hot Floor (17 page)

“Don’t you get worried about being beaten up?” I asked as we walked back towards the car. “I mean, with being so, er, flamboyant in public.”

Evan gave a sigh. “I worry for Rai’s sake, when I’m not there to protect him.”

“Oh, please, sweetie, I can look out for myself.”

“You haven’t always.”

Rai looked away, and from the dark look on Evan’s face, I figured something bad must have gone down at some point. “What happened?” I ventured, almost tripping over a hummock of grass.

“Are you going to tell him, pet, or should I?”

Rai glared at both of us.

Chapter Thirteen

“It was a long time ago,” Rai began, his words dragging their heels. “Ancient hist—”

“Just three years ago,” Evan interrupted. “Not long after we met. It was before we’d agreed to be exclusive. Rai went out clubbing in Bristol, picked up some bloke, and on their way back to the train station, they got beaten up by a bunch of homophobic bastards.”

“There were four of them,” Rai said. “Poor Chad lost his front teeth. I scraped through with a broken nose and a fractured wrist.”

“Bullshit, Rai!” Evan stopped abruptly, forcing me and Rai to do the same. His expression was livid. “You spent a week in intensive care, pissing blood. If the pigs had done their jobs properly and found out who those cunts were, I’d have hunted them down and castrated them all with a blunt knife.”

“We should probably be grateful they didn’t, then. I wouldn’t want to be visiting you in prison, babe. And anyway, I healed, didn’t I?” Rai frowned and stepped closer to the tower of righteous fury that was Evan. He even dared to reach out and caress Evan’s cheek. “I’m still here, sweetheart, and I’m not about to let the haters win. We’re stronger than that. We shouldn’t have to pretend to be something we’re not, just to make them feel more comfortable.”

“No, we shouldn’t, but…” Evan shook his head, and I could see the pain of his dilemma written across his face. “I just want you to be more careful.”

“I don’t go out clubbing anymore, and Bath’s a pretty safe place.”

Evan sighed heavily. “I just wish I could be around you more. Josh, will you help me look out for him?”

“Of course.” I’d never been more sure of anything in my life. I’d felt the same violent rage pounding through my system as Evan described what those arseholes had done to Rai. I hadn’t been in a fight since the school playground, but the adrenaline rush had my hands itching to form fists and beat the shit out of Rai’s attackers. “There’s no way anyone’s going to lay a finger on him if I’m around.”

“Ooh, all this testosterone is making me giddy.” Rai mock-swooned, and we both reached out to catch him. He looked up at us both and smiled, the sunshine reflecting off his lenses not quite disguising his sad eyes. “Looks like I have two keepers now.” The smile turned more genuine. “How’s about you big, strong men take me home, and we’ll see just who found the best piece of tat? I predict you’ll be eating cock by sundown, Evan Truman.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, love.” Evan raised his bag with a grin. Whatever was in there, it was huge.

It seemed like the tension had dissipated, and I followed them back, trying hard not to get too used to this feeling of belonging.

Tradition dictated we wait until the customary spicy meat feast pizza had arrived and then unveil the finds so they could be discussed and pondered while eating. By the end of the meal, there was always a clear winner, apparently.

I sat myself down in the leather chair for the grand unveiling, and then Rai surprised me by dropping himself onto my lap and wrapping his arms around my neck.

“I just cave in and let Evan win if we can’t decide,” Rai whispered, but loud enough so that Evan must have been able to hear. “I mean, you know what a gorgeous piece of meat he’s packing. How’s a red-blooded boy meant to resist?”

I glanced over at Evan, who was sprawled on the sofa like a lion at rest, all powerful energy in repose. The fact he’d gone commando in worn old Levis didn’t do much to disguise the outline of his cock, which was currently lying in wait down his left leg. My mouth watered. I panned up to the expanse of skin on show under each arm, where he’d cut the sleeves off his old T-shirt. He lay with his hands behind his head, exposing his tufts of underarm hair. I was strangely drawn to his armpits. I wondered what it would feel like to rut there, into the sweat slickened and hairy channel formed when he lowered his arms.

“What’s going through your head right now?” Rai asked me, his voice all seductive. “Looks like something fun.”

“Er, nothing much.” I probably looked like a boiled lobster right then, what with the blush coupled with having spent the morning under the roasting July sun.

“Oh, come on, you’re among friends. You can share.”

“I really can’t.”

“Why not?” Evan was sitting forward now, paying attention.

“It’s embarrassing.” That at least was true.

“Josh, you turn red at the slightest provocation,” Rai lectured me from my lap, looking more than a little like the owl we’d bought earlier, what with those glasses and his air of scholarly wisdom. “Just because something embarrasses you doesn’t mean you should feel ashamed of it. Not unless you enjoy a bit of extra spice, anyway.”

An extra wave of heat rolled through me as I remembered my reaction to the arse ointment humiliation earlier on.

“Come on. You can tell us.” Rai leant his cool forehead against mine. “We promise we won’t laugh or judge you.”

“I was…” Could I really do this? Yes, of course I could. They’d called me their fucktoy, and I’d loved it. This couldn’t be any more embarrassing. “I-I was thinking about rubbing one off in Evan’s armpit.”

“Yeah, that’s great fun, that is. He’s got such sexy pits.”

My head shot up. “You’ve done it?”

“Several times. And between his feet and his thighs.”

“His feet?” I looked at Evan, and he nodded, looking like the cat that got the whole bloody dairy. What a mental image! I shifted against the clammy leather, trying to make room for my growing cock.

“Isn’t that all a bit, er, toppy for you?”

Rai shrugged. “Frotting seems different to me. Less performance expectations, maybe. I dunno. It’s not like I’ve never topped before, anyway. I’ve even done Ev before, but we both agreed afterwards that we worked better the other way around.”

“It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it,” Evan clarified, “but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it, and he had this grim expression as he was pounding away. Didn’t even manage to come inside me. I’d rather see him happy as Larry and spurting all over the place while he’s being shafted.”

I nodded slowly. “I’d like to see that.”

“What, me being shafted by Evan or by you?”

“Both,” I mumbled. “Sorry. I’m not very good at talking about sex.”

“You’re just not used to it. It gets easier. Trust me, you’ll get used to it spending more time with Rai. It’s his favourite topic of conversation.”

Rai threw a well-aimed cushion at Evan’s head. “Is not. It’s just you tune out when I talk about my other favourite things. Not like Josh here. We managed to have a civilised conversation about third-world debt and international finance earlier.”

“You poor sod,” Evan directed at me.

“Actually, it was mainly Rai talking,” I said. “But I really enjoyed listening,” I added, hoping I hadn’t offended Rai. He was smirking at me, so I figured I was in the clear.

The doorbell saved me from any further embarrassment, and while Evan headed down to pay for the pizza, Rai grabbed us some ice-cold lagers from the fridge. I made myself useful by clearing Evan’s pile of bike magazines off the coffee table, only to discover the one at the bottom of the pile was a porno. It looked old and well-loved, judging by the way some of the pages stuck together. I slumped on the beanbag and flicked through the pages. Some of it was way beyond my comfort zone—like the lad in the old bathtub being pissed on by a bunch of blokes in leather—but one picture made me pause.

A naked twink was on his knees, his legs spread wide and a thick metal ring around his erect cock and balls. His arms were held behind him, and I could see that his wrists were bound to his ankles with leather cuffs joined by chains. A burly man in leather chaps with a huge cock was standing over him, and judging by the come running down the twink’s chin, chaps-man had either just come or was next in line. The bondage in itself wasn’t the shocking thing, though. What really surprised me was the expression on the twink’s face. He didn’t look humiliated or frightened. He was smiling ecstatically, an expression of serene bliss in his eyes.

Chills of terrified fascination rippled down my spine and clutched me around the balls.

“Oh yeah, he’s cute,” Rai said, and I jumped a mile, snapping the magazine shut. “Hey, no need to get twitchy. It’s fine to look. Just because you’re turned on by the image, doesn’t mean you have to try it out.”

“I want to, though.” It slipped out without conscious thought. I screwed my eyes shut as shame blossomed inside me, twining through my insides like a vine. I couldn’t believe I’d just admitted to wanting
that
.

“I’m happy to get trussed up like that and blow you, if it turns you on. It certainly would me.” Rai straddled me, knocking the magazine to the floor. I looked up into his eyes and implored him to understand me without me having to spell it out, word after excruciating word.

Maybe he really did have mind-reading skills, because I saw the understanding dawn on Rai’s face. “Oh, okay, sweetie. I see how it is.” He kissed me gently on the lips. “If you want to try that someday, I promise we’ll keep you safe. You can trust us, you know? And for the record”—his grin turned mischievous—“I reckon you’d look sinfully hot in bondage.”

I just stared at him, wondering how I’d got so lucky, and he kissed me again, so tenderly it was unbearable. I had to deepen it, put all my fear and longing into my lips and tongue and grasping hands. Evan walked in to find us snogging each other’s faces off on the beanbag.

“Now that’s a sight I could do with coming home to every day,” he said as we came up for air. “No need to stop. We can always have the pizza cold later on.”

“It’s better hot, though. This will keep, right, Josh?” Rai swung off my lap as he spoke, and went to flop on the floor against the sofa.

“Yes, of course.” I hid my flustered state by taking a swig of beer and then tried to toe the S&M magazine under the table. I didn’t manage it in time, though, judging by the way Evan gave Rai a searching glance. They were talking without me again, but for some reason I didn’t feel as jealous as usual. Maybe it was because Rai and I had shared our own silent communication moments earlier. Besides, it would definitely be easier if I left it to Rai to explain what we’d just discussed to Evan. Preferably without me even being there.

“So, then, before we dig in, we have to share what we bought.”

“You’re gonna love our find, Evan-cocksucker-Truman,” Rai crowed. “Bow down before the winners and open that big mouth of yours!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Nakamura.” Evan hefted the mysterious bag up onto his lap. “Go on, then, you first, since you’re feeling so cocky.”

Rai unrolled the owl wall hanging with an expression of triumph. “Isn’t she a beauty? I thought she could replace the green-faced girl over the mantelpiece.”

Evan chuckled and shook his head. “I should have known it would be another owl. What is it with you and owls? I’m surrounded by the bloody things. There’s more of them than the spider plants.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Rai said, standing and swivelling around to take in all his menagerie. Owlery? I made a mental note to Google the collective noun for owls later. “You’re all precious snowflakes, my lovelies.”

“I suppose I should be glad he doesn’t want poodles, right?” Evan said to me, stroking his beard. “I mean, seeing as how I can’t deny the little shit whatever he wants.”

Rai cocked his hip. “That’s right, baby. You just count your lucky stars I’m not a high-maintenance diva.”

“That’s debatable,” Evan said, but they were both smiling, so I let myself relax. “Okay, you want to see what I picked up, then? Because I’ve got to tell you, it’ll eat your little birdie for breakfast.”

“Tough talk, baby. I hope you can back it up with the goods.”

Evan pulled the box out of the bag slowly, but the minute I saw the first corner, I drew in a sharp breath.

Mouse Trap!

The game I’d always wanted to own as a kid but which my dad had said was too expensive and frivolous. I’d been fascinated by the concept of building the apparatus and then turning the crank, setting in motion the cartoon-style sequence of events that ended up trapping a plastic mouse under a cage. How could that be frivolous? It was physics in action. And here it was, my childhood dream come true. I stared with my jaw hanging open.

“Judging by the look on Josh’s face, I think we have a winner,” Evan said.

“Damn. It’s going to be such a hardship, sucking your fat dick. Josh looks like he’s getting warmed up already.”

I shut my mouth and looked at the two of them, slouched on either side of the coffee table. I couldn’t help my gaze drifting down to Evan’s crotch.