Astounding! (18 page)

Carter’s throat went dry and his heart sped. “Uh….”

“I think if we try, we can both fit into the shower.”

That was a lot better than e-mail anyway.

After quickly shedding his clothing, Carter followed John into the bathroom. It was a standard-issue tub/shower, but the curtain rod was curved, giving a little extra space. If they squished, they could probably both fit.

Carter didn’t mind squishing. He leered happily at John’s magnificent ass when John leaned over to start the water. John looked back over his shoulder, caught Carter ogling, and smiled widely.

Aside from a shower big enough for two, an advantage of a motel over an RV was endless hot water. And unlike the camp showers, here they had privacy.

John must have been in a bossy mood, because once in the tub, he manhandled Carter to face away from him and toward the spray of water. Carter had to shut his eyes. Which was just as well anyway, because his senses almost overloaded when John used a washcloth and his hand to wet Carter’s skin. Sometimes John leaned in close to nuzzle Carter’s neck or lick his shoulder, and when he did, his half-hard cock brushed pleasantly against Carter’s ass. Carter clenched his hands and tried not to moan too loudly.

The soaping process felt even better, especially when John reached around to soap Carter’s front. He tweaked Carter’s nipples, scratched lightly at his pecs, and twirled his chest hair. By the time he found Carter’s dick, Carter was achingly hard. He couldn’t stop himself from bucking into the warm, slippery grip around his shaft, but John only chuckled and cradled Carter’s balls in his palm instead.

Soap made a terrible lube, but Carter would have chanced it anyway. He stuck his ass backward shamelessly, hoping John would take the hint. John must have known what he was trying for but didn’t give it to him. He seemed to prefer teasing instead.

Oh, teasing was nice.

Until very recently, Carter had never fully realized how wonderful skin was. The way even a slight brush against it could make his whole body tingle. The way a soft touch
here
could make him tighten
there
. The way every bit of it could feel so good. Now, however, he appreciated his skin fully, even the parts of it he rarely gave much thought to, like his lower back or his inner thighs or—oh
God
—that place right below his ear, where John was flicking the tip of his tongue.

“John,” Carter groaned. He squirmed around and pressed himself so firmly against John that they nearly joined into one gasping, squirming, slippery organism. They clutched each other’s asses and ground their cocks together, and Carter leaned his forehead into John’s shoulder and inhaled the scent of mint and fir.

He almost climaxed just like that. Which would have been fine. But John pulled away slightly, dragging a protesting whine from Carter’s throat. “Don’t!”

John grinned evilly and dropped to his knees.

Carter looked down, which was a mistake. John in front of him, kneeling, with rivulets of water streaming down his chest and little droplets caught in his pale eyelashes, his cock jutting red-tipped and proud, his pink lips slightly puffy from sucking on Carter’s neck…. “Oh,
fuck
!”

And then John slid his mouth over Carter’s cock.

Carter tried to hold it together. He dug his fingers into John’s shoulders to support himself. He closed his eyes again. He bit his bottom lip and desperately tried to think about section 12.20 of the
Chicago Manual of Style
, which had to do with elided operations and relations. But none of those things worked very well, and he quickly found himself on the edge of a climax.

“J-John,” he rasped. “Gonna… c-c-come.”

But John didn’t stop—didn’t even slow down. In fact, he teased one of his fingers behind Carter’s balls and then into the crack of Carter’s ass. Carter didn’t have the willpower to make him stop. Hell, he couldn’t even resist the urge to continue plunging into John’s warm mouth. But Carter wanted more—he wanted John in him. Needed it, maybe. But he couldn’t control his mouth well enough to say the words.

And John didn’t ask Carter to let him in. He couldn’t ask—his mouth was full. And he’d always asked before, even though he knew Carter wanted nothing more than to dance and fly with him. Maybe it was some kind of alien etiquette. But even though John didn’t ask this time, Carter felt John’s essence fill him, flood him.

But the damnedest thing happened. They didn’t fly. Instead, a split second after John flowed into Carter, Carter flowed into John. He could still feel himself, wet and trembling, his cock encased in exquisite friction and his asshole deliciously invaded by one soapy finger. But at the same time, he felt his knees on the slick surface of the tub, his cock hard and untouched, his finger tightly gripped by strong muscles, his jaw stretched. He tasted salty precome at the same time as a hint of coppery blood from his poor, abused lip. He was inserting and being inserted into, he was a human male in his midthirties and an incorporeal entity older than the United States. He was a being who’d never had a loving family and who wanted one far more than he’d ever realized. And God, he didn’t want to leave… to be left… to….

The orgasm took them both together, exploding in their bodies and souls like a sublime atomic bomb.

They collapsed to the bottom of the tub in a nerveless, wet tangle of limbs.

They were both too stunned to move for several minutes, and when they finally got their bodies in motion, extricating themselves was painful. Carter turned off the water, then stepped out of the tub. John followed. He wordlessly handed Carter a towel before taking one for himself. They dried off quickly, summarily.

Back in the main room, they each pulled on clean underwear, pants, and a shirt. They stood looking at each other. John was pale, wide-eyed. He looked as stunned as Carter felt. But John was the first one to speak. In the ghost of a voice, he asked, “How did you do that, Carter?”

“I…. Do what?” Carter knew what John was talking about, but he wasn’t ready to face the implications of John’s question.

“You… you
blended
us.”

Carter shook his head. Hard. “No. I didn’t do—I can’t. It was you.”

“No. It wasn’t. I wanted to have very… very human sex with you this time. Because I thought later we’d…. But I didn’t try to enter you this time. I didn’t.” He looked as if he might cry.

Still, Carter was frightened into defensiveness. “Well, it wasn’t me. I can’t do anything like that. Regular, less evolved
Homo sapiens
here, remember? It had to be you.”

John rubbed his face hard. “M-maybe it’s good that I’m going…. I’m sorry, Carter. I made a mistake. I just wanted you so badly! I still do.” His lips wobbled a bit. “I’m so sorry.”

Carter’s heart melted. He embraced John. “Don’t. It was…. Jesus, my time with you is always amazing, but that was….” He laughed harshly. “I don’t even have any words for it. Wasn’t it good for you too?”

Carter felt John’s sigh. “I’ve never felt anything like that. Not with humans. Not with my own kind. I think if I didn’t have a body to hold me together, I might have just…. You know how the universe is exploding? Still expanding from the big bang? That would have happened to me.”

“Then why angst over it?”

“What if I’ve done something permanent to you? What if I’ve changed you?”

“You
have
changed me.” Carter kissed John’s cheek. “I’m not the same drunken asshole I was a few weeks ago. You’ve energized me. Look. Even though the magazine’s dead, and even though I know I’ll lose you soon, I wouldn’t trade a minute of our time together for anything. I will live the rest of my life grateful and astonished that I was granted time with you. Not another person on this whole goddamn planet is as lucky.”

It was a speech. He didn’t like making speeches, and he wasn’t usually much for spilling his guts. But after whatever he and John had shared in the bathroom, he felt unusually open. Not in a raw, vulnerable way, as with an open wound. But… like unclenching a muscle he hadn’t even realized was cramped. Like opening the drapes and letting in sunshine.

John didn’t say anything in response, but he hugged Carter back, very tightly, and rested his head on Carter’s shoulder.

C
ARTER
AND
John were still embracing when someone knocked on
the shared door to the adjoining suite. They parted reluctantly, trailing fingers over shoulders and arms. John unlocked and opened the door.

“So you’re not dead after all!” Keith said accusingly. Then he took in their wet hair and smirked. “Just very, very clean.”

“Did you get the RV settled?” John asked, ignoring the
innuendo.

“Sort of. They towed it, but the shop was about to close. They won’t even look at it until the morning, and if it’s a major issue, who knows. Getting parts could take days.”

Freddy came to stand near the doorway too. “The rental people said if it’s going to take more than three business days, we can choose whether to wait or fly home. But we’re not allowed to give up for three days.”

“I’m sorry I broke it,” said John.

Everyone moved to comfort him at once. “It probably wasn’t you,” Keith said. “And even if it was, it wasn’t your fault and it’s not the end of the world. We’ll make do.”

Carter made an impulsive offer. “You guys could rent a car and head to San Francisco if you like. John and I can babysit the RV here.” He didn’t think John would mind, and Carter didn’t especially care where he was as long as John was there too.

But Freddy shook his head. “We’re not in any hurry to get anywhere. San Francisco will still be there in a few days. Besides, I’m at a really good part in my book, and I bet I can get more writing done here.”

“But what about Keith?” Carter asked.

“I will explore the delights of the Central Valley,” Keith replied. “Or, you know, catch up on
American Horror Story
, now that I can stream video again. Do you guys want to go to the city?”

Carter and John exchanged a quick look. Carter shrugged and John shook his head slightly. “We’d rather stay with you,” John said, reminding Carter that his wasn’t the only human company John might miss when he left.

“Good!” Keith exclaimed enthusiastically. “’Cause anyplace has to be interesting if there’s an alien there, right?”

Carter was inclined to agree.

A
FTER
CONSULTING
with the desk clerks and considering their dining options, the four friends crossed the street and tromped through a parking lot to get to Chili’s. Not exactly exotic, but the margaritas made Keith happy, and John had apparently never sampled the joys of chain Tex-Mex. The restaurant was crowded and noisy, full of families with little kids. When Keith looked wistfully at a cute little girl in a blue dress who was earnestly coloring on her children’s menu, Freddy noticed and made his thoughtful face.
Maybe there’s hope for Keith soon
, Carter thought with a smile.

They ordered onion rings and buffalo wings, and as the appetizers arrived, Carter’s stomach growled. He was starving but hadn’t realized it until just then. John laughed and rubbed Carter’s belly. “I guess I forgot to feed you.”

“
I
guess you two worked up an appetite,” Keith said with a grin. Then he drew his brows together. “What do you eat, John? When you’re not human, I mean?”

“We don’t…. We absorb ambient energy and consume it. It’s not nearly as interesting as this.” He popped a spicy boneless wing into his mouth.

“Does it take a lot of energy to keep you going?”

“It depends. We can convert energy to matter, you know. That’s how I made this body.” He glanced down at himself. “But that takes a lot of fuel.”

While Keith nodded thoughtfully, Freddy looked an awful lot like he wished he was taking notes. He even scribbled absently with his fingertip on the table. He looked up sharply. “If you don’t mind me asking, I’ve been wondering about something. How did you come to be marooned here? I mean, couldn’t you just… shed your body and float your way home?”

Involuntarily, Carter shuddered. He couldn’t help but picture John’s body lying lifeless on the ground while the rest of him zoomed away into the stratosphere.

Perhaps sensing Carter’s thoughts, John squeezed his hand. “When I leave, I’ll convert my body back to energy,” he explained. “I don’t want to leave an unexplained corpse behind. And I can’t fly solo outside the atmosphere. There are particles that could harm me. Solar rays, magnetic fields… I wouldn’t survive long, not by myself. But if several of us travel together, we’re strong enough to form a sort of protective barrier.”

“That’s how you got here?” asked Freddy.

John nodded. “It’s a very fast method of travel—faster than light. But I prefer the RV.” He gave Carter’s hand another squeeze.

Soon their main courses arrived, and they lost themselves in the same sort of pleasant chatter they’d fallen into over the past week. John relaxed as the conversation turned away from his extraterrestrial origins. He laughed at Keith’s stories and joined Freddy in gently teasing Carter. The mild banter made Carter feel warm and happy. Nobody but these men knew him well enough to make fun of him.

A dinner for four at Chili’s in some nowhere town wasn’t most people’s idea of heaven. But if Carter could have, he’d have bottled the evening and saved it forever. He didn’t even wince too much when Freddy paid for everything. It didn’t matter, Carter realized. Freddy
liked
being able to treat his friends to a meal. He didn’t
spend his money very extravagantly. He had a very nice house and nice cars, and he and Keith traveled a lot, but they could have afforded much more. What Freddy truly wanted to do was buy things for the people he cared about—because he could, and because he wanted to bring them a little joy. And who could complain about
that?