Single Player (21 page)

Silas narrowed his eyes and turned back to the screen. He managed to win the next game, then the next.

In the pause between games, Matthew set his controller down and gave Silas a devilish grin. “So, are you a betting man, Silas?”

Silas had a sense of where this was going. “Not usually,” he said truthfully, “but I could be persuaded. What do you have in mind? Strip gaming?”

Matthew frowned. “You figured that out too fast. I was going to flirt my way into asking.”

Silas smiled. “You're not that hard to read, Matthew. Even for me.” On impulse, he reached out and tugged at the collar of Matthew's T-shirt. “You don't have to lose a bunch of games to get naked in front of me, you know. You can just take off your clothes.”

Matthew smirked, raising one eyebrow. “Oh yeah? That's how you want to be?”

“Yeah, that's how I want to be.” Silas leaned over and kissed a surprised Matthew on the lips. He was feeling loose and flirtatious and successful, even though his success was due to something as silly as gaming, but he wanted to ride that good feeling as far as it would go. Right now, it was going directly toward sex, and he was fine with that, too.

Matthew kissed back, openmouthed and filthy, and they almost didn't get back to gaming because Silas was about to pull him down onto the couch and ask for more. But Matthew eventually broke the kiss, sooner than Silas was ready, and dragged his tongue over his upper lip in a way that lit up all the nerve endings down Silas's body. “Get ready to lose, pretty boy,” Matthew said, his voice low and dangerous.

Silas did, in fact, lose the first game, and his shirt in the process. The next game he won, and Matthew took his shirt off as well, slowly pulling it up and over his head, then tossed it aside. Silas was pretty sure he didn't need to play any more rounds of this game, and wanted to get into the bedroom right now.

“You know, this is a pretty brutal game to use as foreplay.” Silas looked over at Matthew. “Isn't there a game with flowers or unicorns or something?”

“I'm sure there is, but the brutality is supposed to trigger our caveman impulses.” He started a new game. “Come on. I want to see those pants come off, next.”

They were evenly matched on
Mortal Kombat,
which meant a steady progress of clothing loss for both of them. Finally, they were both down to their underwear, and Silas was feeling giddy with the combination of gaming and sexual tension. It was like being buzzed.

“Okay, last game.” Matthew looked over at him. “You ready?”

Silas nodded, making his face into a serious expression. “I've put my game face on.”

Matthew just grinned in reply. “Yeah, I see that. Come on, Game Face.”

Silas lost, his character pummeled into nothing by Matthew's character in what he still thought was the least sexy foreplay game ever, but that all dissolved when Matthew tossed the controller aside and turned to face him with a devious look. Knowing what he expected, Silas hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his boxers, but Matthew held up a hand.

“Nuh-uh. Stand up. In front of me.” Matthew tapped the floor in front of him with one bare foot.

Silas got up and moved in front of Matthew, feeling ridiculous as he did so, the blush creeping up his entire body. Matthew didn't look at him with disdain, though, eyeing him like he was the most delicious thing he'd ever seen. Matthew beckoned Silas a bit closer, then put his hands on Silas's hips and began to slide his boxers down.

Silas hadn't been fully hard before, but the touch of Matthew's hands on his body got him there in no time, his erection rising almost embarrassingly fast.

“There we go.” Matthew was face-to-face with Silas's cock. He leaned forward and sucked Silas's tip into his mouth with a warm wetness that made Silas's legs buckle. He had to support himself with a hand on Matthew's shoulder.

“Oh my god,” Silas breathed. Matthew sucked hard, and Silas's hips jerked forward, pressing into the warmth. Matthew pulled off with a chuckle.

“Game over.” He got to his feet, using the remote to turn off the television without looking at it, and led Silas into the bedroom.

When Matthew toppled him
to the bed, Silas went willingly, scooting to the center for more room. Unlike last time, with long, luxurious play that he couldn't have sped up even if he tried—and he definitely tried—this time, they were already naked, with Matthew having stripped his boxers off on the way to the bedroom.

Matthew stretched out on top of Silas, rubbing their cocks together, and looked down at this partner with a smirk. “So I was thinking,” he said. Silas's heart was already pounding faster than he was sure was healthy, and the mischievous tone in Matthew's voice made it pump harder. Without further preamble, Matthew grabbed each of Silas's wrists and pinned him down to the bed.

Silas gasped, the sensation making him rock-hard, his body convulsing in a series of tremors. Matthew held him down like that, letting him revel in the full experience, and just that minor yielding of control was heady. He had never played like this before. He'd had a few lovers in the past, but sex was always normal, straightforward, nothing out of the ordinary. On the contrary, every experience with Matthew was shaping up to be different from the previous one.

“I was thinking you'd like this.” Matthew grinned, the grin of someone completely satisfied with himself. “And I seem to be right.”

Silas thought about denying it, but his body was clearly sending a different message, so to do so would only be for play. “Maybe.” He felt comfortable saying at least that, but with his cock rubbing up against Matthew's, that maybe was a pretty definitive yes.

Matthew released his wrists to sit up, and Silas was sorry to lose the contact. That was, until Matthew reached into the nightstand and pulled out some rope. Honest-to-goodness, actual rope, and this had suddenly escalated a lot more than Silas had expected. He sat up.

“Whoa! That's fast.” He pulled his arms in. “I've never done that before.”

Matthew looked at the rope, then back at Silas. “I know. I thought you might like it.”

Silas looked down at the rope, which was lying limp across the bed, and reached out to touch it. It was soft. “You have rope in your nightstand.” What other freaky things was Matthew into?

“I bought it after last time.” Matthew flicked the end of the rope back and forth, running his fingers over it. “And looked up how to use it. I've been tying knots all week, thinking of this. Of you.”

Silas stared longingly at the rope, Matthew's words igniting a longing he hadn't even known was there. Was he brave enough to try something like this? Did he trust Matthew? Well, yes, of course he trusted Matthew. This was less about trusting Matthew and more about his willingness to be vulnerable. If he did this, he was going to have to give up control in the most obvious ways, but also in the more subtle ways. The subtle losses of control frightened him.

“Hey,” Matthew said gently, putting his hand on Silas's. His face was pure tenderness, the lust and mischief gone. “I don't want to pressure you into anything. I picked up the rope because I thought you'd like it, but I'm totally fine if it's too much. We don't have to do any of this.” When he smiled, a bit of the wickedness returned. “I want a piece of you no matter what.”

Silas smiled in return, relaxing. He didn't have to go through with this. The rope would be there, and if he wanted to try it in the future, he could. There was no pressure today.

Of course, that didn't mean he didn't want to go through with it. The thought was intense, and right now, he wanted intense.

“Tie me up,” he said at last. “I want to try it.”

Matthew raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“Yes, I'm sure.” Silas nodded. He let out a long breath. “I'm nervous, but I'm sure.”

“Fuck, that's hot.” Matthew dove in and pinned him back down on the bed, kissing him with an open mouth, and Silas's wilting erection twitched back to life. “You're gonna love this,” he said against Silas's mouth. “But you can stop me anytime. Okay?”

Silas nodded, his throat tight.

Then Matthew got to work.

Silas watched as Matthew pulled one of his arms to the headboard and fastened it there, making some kind of twist that wrapped around his wrist without being too tight. The rope was snug, but he thought if he really tried and was okay with some rope burn, he could probably get out of it. Once that wrist was secure, Matthew moved over to the other wrist and bound it in place as well. Then Matthew scooted down to straddle Silas's legs and admire his work.

“How's that feel?” he asked. He traced one hand over Silas's belly, just light enough to tickle, and Silas reflexively pulled on his wrists. They didn't move. The feeling of being trapped like this was intense, more intense than he'd expected. He let a moan slip out.

“I'll take that as an answer.” Matthew set the rest of the rope aside, along with the scissors he'd used to trim it, and slid down Silas's body until his mouth was right over Silas's cock. Then he bent his head and swallowed him down.

Oh
fuck.
The expletive came right to Silas's mind, but he was wordless, the wet, hot pull of Matthew's mouth all he could think or feel. He tugged on his bonds, but they weren't moving, and maybe he couldn't get out of them even if he tried really hard, and that thought was dizzying. He was completely overwhelmed. Matthew was straddling his legs, keeping them in place, so he couldn't do much but squirm. He had a bit of thrusting room, though, and his hips jerked up of their own accord until Matthew put a firm hand on each of Silas's hips to hold him in place. So caught, he couldn't move, couldn't think, all his attention focused on his aching cock that was being expertly sucked to orgasm without any way for him to control it.

“Oh . . . oh . . .” He breathed out little moans. The helplessness was not something he consciously thought he'd enjoy. But tied down like this, his body being driven to the edge without any effort on his part, he couldn't think of anything better. And just like that, it was going to be over, because he couldn't hold back much more. “Matthew, I'm . . . I'm going to come . . .”

The sensation stopped, and Silas took a moment to open his eyes and catch his breath. Matthew had lifted his mouth away and was now licking his lips, staring down at him with lust in his eyes.

“You are an evil man,” Silas said, prompting Matthew to laugh.

“I am?” Matthew bent down to suck the tip of his dick again, gentle enough to keep him close to the edge but not enough to bring him over.

“God, yessssssssss, you are.” Silas closed his eyes, feeling helpless and turned on and totally lost. “Oh please, don't stop.”

“Tell me how much you like this.” Matthew's voice was quiet, murmured into skin, and Silas felt Matthew's hot breath ghost over his hip before his teeth dug into that same spot with a harsh bite. Silas yelped, twisting away, but the contact made his arousal more acute rather than abating. His vision was blurry when he opened his eyes, and the fight had gone out of him. He wanted to come so badly it hurt.

He lifted his head up to look Matthew in the eyes, feeling desperate. “I like this, yes, I love this, please, please don't stop. Please make me come.”

Matthew smiled, poised over Silas's cock. “Oh, now how can I turn down a beautiful plea like that?”

When he felt the warm, wet suction of Matthew's mouth again, Silas let his head flop back against the pillow. He was still close, his body tingling. Matthew sucked harder, holding Silas down in his viselike grip again as he was brought steadily to the edge. Silas felt his whole body trembling, caught fast, the pleasure building up to an impossible peak, and then he was coming. He shook and quivered but couldn't thrust, his hips still held down, Matthew sucking him hard through the orgasm with an intensity bordering on pain. It was blissful, overwhelming, uncontrolled, and it went on forever before he collapsed down in a shivering, boneless heap.

Immediately, Matthew was loosening his wrist ties. Silas's hands had gone a bit cold from lack of circulation, and he let his limbs flop to the bed. He could feel himself smiling a stupid smile, blissed out, and he watched Matthew with an unfocused gaze. “You all right there?” Matthew asked, rubbing Silas's hands. “You still with me?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Silas nodded. He was regaining his energy by the moment, but his body felt lax and spent. Matthew moved into his field of view, still obviously erect, and Silas suddenly felt like the worst sex partner in the world for leaving him hanging like that. “You're not done,” he said, stupidly, because it was obvious Matthew wasn't done.

Matthew waved a hand in dismissal. “I'll get mine soon. Look at you. You're a mess.” He laughed. “You need something to drink? Looks like that orgasm shook all your brains out.”

Silas laughed as well, a lazy chuckle. “Sure. I'll take a drink. I can get it, though.” He managed to sit up, his head swimming as he did so, and he pressed a palm to his forehead. “Oh. Maybe not.”

“No, stay there. I got you.” Matthew got up and went into the kitchen, still naked. Silas watched his ass as he went. A minute later, he came back with a glass of water. “Drink this.”

Silas obediently drank, then set the glass aside. Matthew stretched out on the bed beside him, just waiting, not asking for anything else. “Why are you doing this?” Silas asked, lying down next to him.

“Doing what?”

“Being so nice to me.”

“That's what people do for each other.” Matthew looked confused. “Especially people who are seeing each other. What, have you only dated assholes?”

“No, I've been with some nice guys. But they generally didn't stick around long.” Silas remembered how his work schedule kept coming up in arguments, first with Jim back in college, then with Gary shortly thereafter. None of them had respected how important his job was to his life, to his sense of meaning. He had a sense that even though Matthew had different priorities, they had begun to understand each other more.

Silas leaned over to kiss Matthew. For this, he could lose himself, put work aside, make the entire experience about pleasure. That was what Matthew was trying to teach him, right? He could do that. He pushed Matthew over onto his back and slid down his body, kissing along the way, before taking his cock in his mouth.

“Oh fuck.” Matthew's voice was breathy. “Yeah, just like that.”

Silas liked doing this. There was an element of curiosity in finding out what a partner liked, fact-finding and experimenting, aspects of the act that appealed to his analytical side. And then there were the purely physical aspects, the taste and smell and weight, that were just as arousing. He used his hand around the base of Matthew's cock and listened to the noises he was making, the wonderful caught-up noises.

When he knew Matthew was close, though, he lifted his head.

“You fucking little tease.” Matthew was grinning, his eyes still closed. “Turnabout is fair play I guess, huh?”

“Mm-hmm.” Silas switched to his hands for a little while, enjoying how he could watch Matthew's face like this. Matthew's mouth had fallen open in pleasure, body tight with the tension of being on the edge. When Matthew was close again, Silas stopped for a moment, then took him back into his mouth and sucked. This time, when Matthew's body tightened beneath his hands, beginning to arch, he sucked harder and brought him all the way to climax.

When he had finished, Matthew relaxed, spent. “Fuck. Me.” He started laughing. “You've got a hell of a mouth on you, Silas.”

“I try.” Silas drank the rest of his water, his mouth dry. Matthew lay slack for a little while, his body limp.

Matthew let out a giant yawn, then sat up. “Damn, I'm exhausted all of a sudden. If I don't get up, I'm going to fall asleep right here.” He got to his feet unsteadily. “I'm going to set Zuul up for the night, take her out of her chair. There's an extra toothbrush in the cabinet, unopened. Help yourself.”

Sharing a bed with a partner was quite strange. Silas hadn't shared a bed in years, and in that time, he had forgotten about the oddities of feeling another body next to him. He could have taken the couch, and Matthew offered to give him the whole bed, but they were apparently in some sort of relationship and sleeping separately seemed weird. Now, though, despite the novelty of sharing a bed, he was glad he had, because it was soothing to have Matthew there beside him. Matthew had conked out immediately upon getting into bed, leaving Silas awake, but he was used to being awake at night. Insomnia didn't just disappear. Even so, the deep, even breathing of his partner soothed him. Matthew rolled over in his sleep, facing Silas, and reached an arm around him, bringing him closer. Silas went willingly. This was cuddling, no question about it. He'd never seen himself as a cuddler. With Matthew, though, he wanted to lie here and be held. He couldn't remember having felt so relaxed before. He closed his eyes and exhaled, letting his mind drift.