Outing [2]

WARNING! Sex scene. Slash (M/M). References to hardcore.

———-

::OUTING::

Chapter 2

Present Time

Vin’s POV

“Come on, big guy.” Gabe leans over my chest, planting a kiss right at my heart level. “It’s time to get moving.”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” I waggle my brows and, with lightening speed, I flip him over, capturing his mouth.

Gabe kisses me back and then shakes his head, as though it only now struck him that he should be fighting my advances.

“No way, Vin, we’re late as it is,” he whines but doesn’t sound convincing in the least even though he’s trying to get from underneath me, though badly.

Gabe knows as well as I do that he won’t stand a chance if I sweet-talk him to get in his pants, if he was wearing any, that is. He never could.

“We won’t be late, I promise,” I kiss that spot behind his ear; he loves it when I do this. “We can fool around a little. Come on. It’ll be fun.”

“I heard that song before,” Gabe protests, weakly, and his body language betrays his words when he spread his legs further apart.

I don’t even think twice and, slipping my hand between his legs, I took advantage of my position, reaching for his ‘on’ button, right behind his balls. Yeah, I know all his buttons, just like Gabe knows mine.

“Oh, God…” he groans softly when I find it. “You have to shave and I still have to shower…” he adds breathlessly as his arms snake around my waist, stroking my back and urging me closer.

Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses…”Cool, we can shower together.” I bury my face in his neck, nipping gently. Gabe shudders. “I’ll wash your back and you can wash mine,” I whisper, lightly biting his earlobe as my fingers keep massaging the tight ring of muscles.

“God, what got into you?” As he gasps, his eyes roll back into his head, little moans passing through his lips.

Now I’m the one shuddering involuntarily at the sounds Gabe makes. “Like you don’t know,” I sigh loudly, making a big show and pretending to be disappointed. The knowing grin spread on his lips tells me that he does know. Yeah, of course you do, buster.

Last night was a rarity for us. In our normal choice of lovemaking, Gabe bottoms. He likes it that way and so do I. But, from time to time, we get the urge to switch. The result is usually spectacular which we both agree must be, in part, because it doesn’t happen very often.

I know this doesn’t make sense. If it feels so great why don’t we do it more often? I don’t have an answer to that question and I can’t explain either; it just works that way for us.

One of the most interesting side effects of our role reversal however is the effect that it has on my libido. For two or three days afterwards I’m sort of insatiable and horny as hell. Of course Gabe complains, but I don’t pay any attention to him. Mostly because he can’t keep the shit-eating grin off his face while he’s bitching.

“You promised that it wouldn’t happen this time.”

“I lied,” I grin, pressing my hips down, our cocks touching, rubbing. “Sue me,” I gasp, the friction momentarily taking my breath away.

Gabe chuckles, breathlessly. “I would…if we had any money left after we were done repairing the pipes…Oh, God…” His hips are moving more urgently now as we slid together, our breath getting harsher by seconds.

“Suck me, Gabe,” I groan almost painfully; I know I won’t last at all, not this time. Too damn horny. Fuck!

“Turn around,” he grunts hoarsely and I shudder, my mouth already watering in anticipation. Shit yeah! Sixty nine has always been my favourite number.

Obliging in one second, just like I do every time Gabe orders me to do exactly what I want to do, I take his hard cock in one long practiced move as I feel his mouth engulfing mine with equal determination. We are two men on a mission.

Gabe starts humming and the vibration sends me to the edge. Shit! I knew I wouldn’t last but this is just ridiculous. I’m a grown man and not a teenager. For fuck’s sake! How is that I’m done in seconds? This is fucking unfair and a shame too.

“Gabe,” I growl, jerking above him and, going still for a second, my vision blurs, turning grey at the edges. “Fuck, Gabe!!” I squish my eyes shut and thrust down my hips. That’s it, I’m done.

Bright sparkles blind me and I open my mouth, a soundless shout seems to be torn out of my chest as I go rigid above his body. Damn him!

I feel myself softening inside Gabe’s mouth as I fight to catch my breath. Damn! That was fast. Intense and so good, but damn fast.

“You cheated,” I groan, still gasping for air as Gabe keeps sucking me, gentler, cleaning me.

“That I did, didn’t I?” His playful tone of voice makes me smirk. Yeah, you little bastard, you do this to me a lot.

“Wonder if you know what they say about payback.” I cup his balls, squeezing them softly.

In response, Gabe laughs softly. “Enlighten me,” he whispers seductively as his hands caress my ass, drawing circles.

“You asked for it, baby,” I warn him as I brushed my morning beard against his shaft.

“Oh, yeah…that I did too,” he arches up his hips. “Now, get to work down there, big guy…show me what you got for me.”

I grin, holding his hips down. I have some tricks up my sleeve and, since I already came, I’m not in a hurry, so now it’s my turn to play as much as I can. If Gabe thinks that I’m going to retaliate by making him cum fast, he’s in for a huge surprise, ‘cause that’s not what I have in mind, exactly. Quite the opposite, he’s gonna end up begging me and then some.

For many years I thought that coming and making your bed partner come were the goals to achieve while having sex, but with Gabe it’s a whole different matter altogether. It isn’t just doing it, but watching him coming, seeing what I’m doing to him, knowing that I am the one giving Gabe such a pleasure…That’s the ultimate experience of my life. Some sort of epiphany that I’m looking forward to go through time and again. I guess that making love to the person you truly love has to do a lot with it.

“Oh, God…” Gabe gasps, gripping my hips, his toes curling. I know he’s close, so I slow down a bit, focusing my attention on his balls as I keep jerking him off with long, measured strokes.

He’s not too talkative. Gabe doesn’t scream nor make a show of coming; in fact he doesn’t even talk while making love at all, which I like just fine, I have to add. I never really like vocal people and didn’t realize until I made love with Gabe for the first time.

Sometimes, he sighs heavily or moans softly, other times he groans or gasps, but I never heard him saying things like ‘fuck me’ nor shout my name while coming.

I remember that when my life hit rock bottom and I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep going, Val and I got very drunk and start slurring shit about this and that. Our alcohol induced state made us end up sharing ‘classified’ Intel about our better halves. It was back then when Val and I both realized that Gabe and Sara acted in a similar way in bed, probably because of their pasts, since being a porno actor and a call girl they both had been pretending for years. We concluded that it wasn’t until they felt free to be themselves that they stopped putting on a performance between the sheets.

“Please…Vin…”

Gabe’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I finally take pity on him. His breath is coming in short pants, his toes curled down, the knuckles white, and he’s writhing under my ministrations. Okay, baby, you got it.

Deep throating is something I’m really good at and Gabe is not that big, not compared with me, anyway. Taking him even deeper with the next stroke and holding him there, I growl. His balls tighten and his cock swells in my mouth, and then the first blast hits the back of my tongue, and I hum, more satisfied than I thought possible.

“Vin!” Gabe gasps, thrashing and then his body goes rigid and I feel the muscles in his chest and belly twitching as he empties himself within my mouth. I suck him clean, releasing his cock and move up, pulling him to me.

His eyes are glassy; he’s still in that state of pure bliss, wrapped in a wave of pleasure, unable to even think about moving or talking, let alone aware of his surroundings. But eventually, he’ll end up coming back and I know he likes to be held.

Making himself comfortable in my arms, he sighs softly and I nuzzle his neck, taking a deep breath. Gabe smells of sweat and sex and that strong aroma that drives me crazy each time he’s around.

“How can it be, Gabe?” I lazily caress his hip, drawing invisible circles. “This keeps getting better and better.”

Gabe laughs quietly and snuggles in closer. “Don’t have a clue, but ain’t it wonderful?”

Hell yeah! I grin, kissing him deeply, tasting him and myself. “I knew you couldn’t hold out.” I say smugly when we come apart.

“Think you’re so irresistible do you?” He looks up at me, a playful smile tugging up the corner of his mouth.

“You still have doubts?” I waggle my eyebrows, rolling him over, so he’s once more underneath me.

“I may need some convincing,” he purrs seductively.

“Do you?”

“Hm—mm…” he grins, nuzzling my nose.

I know there are a lot of people out there, straight and gay that insist that the sex is at the beginning of a relationship. I don’t agree with them. I’ve had my share of beginnings and so has Gabe, but for both of us, the intimacy of a mature relationship is the ultimate satisfaction. And to think that we didn’t even know that we were missing this…

————–

Past Time

Vin’s POV

I pinned Karim beneath me as my legs held him still. One of my hands sneaked up, roughly wrapping both his wrists while the other slid down, caressing Karim’s face and throat, tracing an invisible line down his sternum. My hands were possessive on his skin, the pads of my fingers digging almost painfully and I felt Karim tensing underneath me, struggling a bit.

I knew I was being far more aggressive than usual and wasn’t sure what had triggered such a behavior. Oh, scratch that! I knew, but didn’t want to admit it, not right then and there. I guess that Karim wasn’t sure either and, maybe he didn’t like because he drew in a breath to protest. However, I silenced him, lightly touching his lips with my fingers. A warning.

Karim wasn’t getting any and opened his mouth to protest again, but I kissed him, hard, effectively silencing anything he was about to say.

Pressing my body down against his, I gave in to the fantasy that Gabriel was the one beneath me and devoured Karim’s mouth the way I had been envisioning myself doing to Gabriel for the last two days, since we both left Gordon’s party, shortly after Gabriel did.

I had been thinking non-stop about the boy since then. It hadn’t been the first time that someone had turned me down, and I guessed it wouldn’t be the last either, but the way Gabriel had looked at me had stirred something within my core. Something I had never felt until the second our gazes met.

Back then and once more I hadn’t been sure what it had been but, for the first time in months, I had felt not only challenged but also more alive that I had felt in a long time.

Releasing Karim at last, long enough to remove his remaining clothes and mine, I pinched one of his nipples, sucking hard enough to cause Karim to hiss in pain and pleasure. At that exact moment, the animalistic urge to take my young lover hard and fast increased and I shifted my weight, wrapping his legs around my waist, pinning Karim beneath me once more.

Usually, I spent a lot more time on the preliminaries. Not that night though. Recalling my little back and forth with Gabriel had unleashed some dark need within me, awakening a sudden hunger I needed to satiate. A couple of lines of coke and some shots of tequila had done the rest and I found myself not only unable to stop, but unwilling to do so.

I was inside Karim almost before he realized what I was doing and his cry of astonishment was real, very real. I was being rougher than usual too, I knew, but I also knew that Karim could take it. He had always had this weird fantasy about being ‘raped in a good way’, whatever that meant, ‘cause to me a rape is a rape. It can’t be done in a good way. But if Karim wanted to enjoy that fantasy, who was I to judge him? Needless to say that I wasn’t going to hurt him at all, but I could play a role just fine. So, my mouth covered Karim’s once more, silencing him as I kept thrusting into him over and over.

In response, Karim cupped my ass cheeks, pushing upward, meeting my thrust and matching my need. Yeah, he liked it a bit rough and, that night, that was what I needed, exactly. A hard, fast fuck.

My eyes squeezed shut and I swear I did everything I could to focus on the man beneath me. Karim. His face, his voice, his eyes…the taste of his lips, the touch of his hands on my skin, his fingers tracing my spine down…but instead, I found myself craving for an explosive release that seemed to keep slipping from the tip of my fingers. The more I tried the further my climax seemed to be, forcing me to teeter over the edge anxiously, painfully even.

Karim was about to reach his orgasm and clenched his inner muscles. The motion caused me to groan when another face abruptly superimposed itself over his.

Gabriel’s.

Gabriel’s face, his voice, his eyes…Gabriel’s jeans, loosely hanging around his narrow waist; the soft curve of his ass cheeks clearly visible underneath the rough material…Gabriel’s hands clenching into fists, gripping the edge of the counter…Gabriel’s gaze clear and devoid of maliciousness…exposed…vulnerable…scared and yet defiant…vibrant…alive…

It took all my will to banish Gabriel’s visage, and still I was unable to summon Karim’s back in its place. I didn’t even dare to open his eyes, fearing and yet wishing Gabriel was the one underneath me, moaning and groaning in pleasure, instead of Karim.

It was a hard, agonized ride to my release that I only achieved when I relented, giving up, and let Gabriel’s face appear to me once more, embracing the sudden warmth and peace that brought to my heart and soul.

“Gabriel…”

Too late I realized that I had whispered his name under my breath as I reached my orgasm, jerking spasmodically above Karim’s body. It was only when I looked down at his face, that I saw Karim’s astonishment at my slip.

I watched him opening his mouth to protest but at that very second I changed the angle of penetration, thrusting faster and deeper. Then, in a second of lucidity, I grabbed Karim’s cock and stroked it in the rhythm of my thrust. The new angle caused my cock to tap against his prostate.

Karim gasped and, throwing back his head, he screamed with his release. I could feel his sudden anger increased, washing us both as his body unwillingly writhed and convulsed with the force of his orgasm. His face contorted, but wasn’t in a good way, I could tell by the way his eyes smoldered with unveiled rage.

“What the fuck was that?” He hissed, breathlessly, still shuddering in the aftermath of his climax.

That was me fucking your brains out, boy. “Didn’t you like it?” I playfully slapped his butt, ignoring his question.

I didn’t have an answer, and even if I had had one, I didn’t feel in the mood to explain myself. Couldn’t do it, anyway.

“I’d say you did, a lot actually.” A huge smug smile spread on my lips as I gestured to his belly and stomach covered with drops of his semen.

“You were fucking me and not making love to me.” Karim sat on the bed, glaring at me openly.

Well, fuck me! I snorted. “Making love? What’s that shit, Karim? Are you a chick now or what?” Throwing the condom in the basket I reached for a cigarette, lighting it up.

I knew what was coming and any other time I would have thought that I deserved it, but that wasn’t the occasion. Sarcasm is something I resorted to a lot back in those days, so I stuck to it.

“Making love…” I took a deep puff, blowing the smoke and shaking my head in disbelief.

Yeah, I was an asshole too. But what were you expecting for me to do? To confess that I had gotten off while pretending I was with another guy instead of with him? Don’t fucking think so.

Of course, as expected, Karim glared nastily at me. “You weren’t even fucking me, Vin!” As he threw that shit my way, he knelt on the bed, his accusing eyes piercing me.

“Huh?” I blinked, playing dumbass for all I was worth and kept smoking. There was no way I was going down that road. Not when I was even more confused than Karim was.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to admit shit, Karim did what he always did; he pressed me. “Who’s Gabriel?” he demanded to know, his eyes smoldering with disgust, as though the mere name was a poisoned word.

Fuck! I went still for a fraction of a second and then. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” I shrugged my shoulders, handing Karim a small wet towel. Better if I kept my own fantasies to myself.

Karim narrowed his eyes and snatched the towel from my hand. “You said ‘Gabriel’ right before you came. I want to know who that loser is.” Karim cleaned himself, never averting his infuriated gaze from my stoical one.

Believe me, boy, you don’t want to know, I retorted silently as I flickered the ashes of my cigarette. “I didn’t say shit.” I did my best so my voice sounded nonchalant and swung my legs, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’re imagining things; maybe you should stop doing coke, Karim. It does funny things to your brain, you know?” Getting to my feet, I put my cigarette out and padded to the bathroom, cursing myself silently.

I couldn’t believe what had happened. My brain hadn’t even registered such an occurrence. And why the hell had I said Gabriel’s name, anyway? It had never happened before to me, ever.

Karim clamped his jaw hard and jumped out of the bed, following me inside the bathroom. “I’m not imagining things!”

Right then, I knew that Karim wasn’t going to let that shit go so easily. He would keep fucking around with that, probably for hours, if not days. But that night I wasn’t in the mood for one of Karim’s tantrums and I sure as hell wasn’t going to talk about Gabriel with him.

“Whatever.” I replied without interest and stepped into the huge shower stall.

I was more than done with the matter, but Karim’s next words confirmed me that he wasn’t.

“Do not agree with me as if I’m some nutcase, Vin!” Karim snapped, anger plainly noticed in his voice. “I’m not a nobody, Damnit!”

At that shit, I rolled my eyes and stood under the stream of hot water.

In seconds, Karim rushed to enumerate his merits. The exclusive colleges where he had studied; the two masters’ degrees he had in economics; the influential people he knew; the things he had done; the countries he had visited; the several languages he spoke; the ancient, royal dynasty from where his family name came…

I simply shut his voice out as I kept showering. I had heard all that crap so many times that I already knew them by heart. It hadn’t impressed me before and it sure as hell wouldn’t do it now.

So what if Karim had received a privileged education? It wasn’t as if he was making great use of it, anyway. At the end he was just loafing around, wasting his father’s money. Besides, good manners and class hadn’t been subjects that Karim had been taught. Each time he was in the same room with any of my friends, he showed time and again what a pompous, little son of a bitch he could be.

I was sure that Karim thought that his shit didn’t stink, and I guessed that his superiority complex only hid a deep lack of self-esteem and a huge ego, even bigger than my own, and that was a lot of ego to deal with, let me tell you. I realized then and there that Karim was just a conceited, spoiled brat that would never change, not really.

“…so don’t you dare treat me as if I’m a little piece of shit, you hear me?”

“You done?” I slid open the door of the shower, grabbing a towel. I was tired and wanted nothing more than to crash.

Karim blinked, realizing that I didn’t give a damn about anything he had said. “If you don’t change your attitude, you’re gonna find yourself sleeping alone, Vin.” Karim warned me, as though that would get me to change the way I was.

I snorted. “Nothing would make me happier right now.” I tiredly replied and with that I headed back to the bedroom.

A past midnight snack sounded like a plan all of sudden, followed by a couple of sleeping pills. With a bit of luck I would be cradled in Morpheus’s arms within an hour.

“You’re not gonna find someone as special as me!” Karim’s bit out, following me once more.

To me, his words sounded like a dare and I came to a halt, meeting his eyes over my shoulder. “Listen here, Karim,” I grinned maliciously, “I’m a rich celebrity, bisexual and without prejudices. You sure I’m gonna have a problem finding someone as special as you?”

“To fuck? I have no doubt, but to keep you company? No way.” Karim retorted, glaring at me.

“Who told you I need someone to keep me company, boy?” I chuckled as I grabbed a pair of cotton pants, stepping into them. “I already have Roman to do that job.”

The little bastard laughed at that and then went on. “You’re getting old, Vin, and you’re not anywhere in the shape the way you used to be, you know?” His lips spread in a nasty smile and I felt the venom in his voice. Surprisingly, his words pissed me off more than I was ready to admit. “And you sure as hell aren’t at your best, neither professionally nor personally.”

As in slow motion I turned fully, facing him. Enough was enough. “As far as it concerns you I’m at my best. I can still fuck your skinny ass like nobody’s business, boy.” I calmly replied, even though my blood was boiling within my veins. “And my career is none of your concern.” I turned around, heading to the kitchen, leaving a very pissed off Karim behind.

“I’m leaving you!” He spat out, angry and frustrated because he didn’t get what he wanted. Too bad that the sign of his tears didn’t affect me the way it did at the beginning of our relationship.

At that point I had already learnt that with Karim, his tears were nothing more than crocodile tears, a performance put on display to blackmail me emotionally. I was not going to let him manipulate me anymore.

“Make sure the door doesn’t hit your ass on the way out!” I retorted, entering the kitchen.

I had lost count of how many times Karim had threatened me with leaving before; he never did and wouldn’t. Karim liked too much to be Vin Diesel’s boyfriend, bragging about it, even if only my closest circle of friends knew about our relationship.

—————

Gabriel’s POV

My body hurt and when I exited the small shower stall I winced. I could barely move without having a muscle in my frame yelling in pain.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

Max’s concerned voice sounded softly and I forced a smile, even though I was far from feeling okay. “Yeah.”

I had always hated hardcore, but I got paid three times more for just one scene than what I would get paid for a whole normal gay porno movie. I had told myself that, at the end, everything was reduced to a matter of money, but it wasn’t just that; it was also a matter of dignity. I had brought that on myself, so how could I complain? Besides, there wouldn’t be permanent damages, just sore muscles for a couple of days, and that, I could deal with.

“I think I got myself a bit carried away.” The voice of Jamal, more than 200 hundred pounds of ebony muscles whose nickname was ‘Stallion’ sounded at our backs and Max and I turned at once.

“You hurt him, Jamal, you freaking huge fucker.” Max muttered disgustedly, watching me wincing in pain as I patted myself dry.

Jamal had gotten his nickname, ‘Stallion’, because of his penis size. He was almost as huge as a horse.

“Chill out, Maximilian. I was doing my job.” Jamal smirked when I bent forward to grab my jeans and he saw the bruises that had started to form on my hips and lower back; bruises that he had put there. ‘Stallion’ was also infamous because he deliberately let himself get carried away while working.

“Your job, my ass!” Max seethed, grabbing the rest of my clothes from the floor so I didn’t have to bend forward again to pick them up. “This was a fucking movie, Jamal, you should hold back a bit, you know? We’re supposed to be pretending and not hurting a partner for real.”

“I’m a professional!” Jamal raised his voice, facing Max.

In seconds, Max moved, standing in front of Jamal; he was in no way intimidated by the bigger man’s size. Even though Max wasn’t as huge as Jamal’s was, he was not skinny either.

“You’re not a professional, fucker! You’re just a bastard who likes to hurt others. It’s not the first time you did it!”

I sighed, but knew that Max was right. He himself had been fucked by ‘Stallion’ on a couple of occasions; he knew it hurt no matter how much lube was used. Besides, we all knew that deep down, Jamal was a sadist.

“It’s okay, Max, I’m okay.” I reached out, squeezing Max’s forearm; I didn’t want them getting in a fight. Not over me, anyway. This was just business.

“No, it’s not okay!” Max snapped, gritting his teeth.

“Max…” I begged, tugging at his arm. “The scene is over and we’re done. That’s all that matters.”

“See?” Jamal grinned at my words. “Gabriel doesn’t bear me a grudge, right boy?” A dirty gaze sparkled in his eyes as his lips spread in an evil grin.

It was then when I saw the real deal behind the mask he used to put on display for others. Right then, I knew that not only had Jamal endlessly enjoyed his scene with me, but that he was looking for a repeat, only thing without a small audience around that would have stopped him if he got too enthusiastic while ‘performing’.

I swallowed my sudden nausea back down my throat and finished dressing. The sooner I was out of there the better. Then I tugged hard on Max’s arm; I wanted nothing more than to get paid and leave. However, walking was harder than I thought it would be, but I managed to reach Carter’s office to get my money.

Carter Stevens, also known as ‘Leather Daddy’. Tall, pushing fifty and yet somehow in shape. Icy blue eyes and perfect white teeth that were framed by an almost permanent warm smile; a smile as fake as his hair graft and that hid his true nature. A sadistic perv. It was because of scum like Carter that the line between porno and snuff was blurry.

“You did good, Gabriel. I’ll phone you in a couple of days to shoot again.” Carter handed me a wad of bills. “Max.” He handed Max his and returned his attention to his papers.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Max counting silently and I mimicked him. After a moment Max was done and ready to leave, but I wasn’t nearly done.

“Where’s the rest, Carter?” I inquired causing Max to frown.

“What are you taking about? We agreed $2000 a session.” Carter blinked, playing dumb.

If there’s something I hate above anything else is that people insult my intelligence, and that was what Carter was doing, exactly.

“The fuck we did, Carter!” I found myself replying, getting mad in seconds. It was my money and I wanted it. I had earned every penny and then some. “The fisting scene was separate. We agreed on another $1500.” My body hurt all over and I was not going to let that fucker tricked me

“It seems to me that you didn’t understand what I said, boy.” Carter dismissed me, pretending he wasn’t getting it.

This business was full of opportunists like Carter, fuckers that took advantage of the beginners just because of their inexperience. But I wasn’t a beginner and I was not going to let this bastard fuck me over. I had had enough.

“I understood pretty well, Carter. I want my money!”

“Pay him what you agreed, Carter.” Max intervened, his voice calm, devoid of any emotion.

“Who are you now, his agent?” Carter snapped, getting to his feet.

“Pay him what you agreed or I’ll make sure you’re out of the business.” Max’s conversational tone of voice sent shivers up my spine.

In seconds and in front of me, the sweet, handsome stud that was Max and that I had grown fond of in a matter of days after I met him morphed, and in his place, there was a cold, dangerous man who I swore would be able to kill Carter without working a sweat or blinking an eye.

I had heard stories about Maximiliam; at the end porno business was not that big. Almost everybody knew somebody who knew somebody. That was how you got called to shoot a movie half the time, by word of mouth.

I knew that Max was from Brooklyn because he himself told me, but people also said that he was linked with the Italian mob. Something about one of his uncles being the one ruling the roost with the transport labor union along the east coast.

Maybe it was true, maybe it was bullshit, but watching him, staring at Carter’s eyes and the way that ‘Leather Daddy’ shuddered involuntarily, made me consider that piece of information under a whole new light. Being homosexual, I guessed that Max had been forced into exile, but certainly the apple doesn’t fall from the tree.

It was not a secret that Carter used to make to-order porno movies involving minors. It was an easy way to get a lot of money. Illegal but also surprisingly easy. There were a hell of a lot of minors living badly on the streets that would do anything to have something warm to fill their empty stomachs after days of searching the garbage cans, or just in exchange for a dry place to spend a couple of nights out of the streets and its many dangers. I knew it first hand; I had been one of these minors too.

However, something told me that Max wasn’t going there, that his threat was about a whole different deal.

Carter’s eyes smouldered with fury but, pulling the drawer of his desk open, he picked up a new wad of bills and threw it onto his desk.

“There. Now get the fuck out of here and don’t come back, either of you.” Carter seethed, pointing a stiff finger to our faces.

“Fuck you!” I pocketed the wad, but not before I made sure that all my money was there.

“Come on, sweetheart; we’re more than done here.” Max was all his sweet self in seconds and steered me out of Carter’s office, but I saw how he glared hard at Carter before closing the door at his back.

“Thank you.” I whispered once we both were in the street.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” Max smiled cheerfully, stroking my cheek. “I like how you handled ‘Leather Daddy.”

I smiled but it was tight. If it wasn’t because of Max, I suspected that Carter wouldn’t have given me my money, maybe even would have called Stallion. I had learnt the hard way that being naïve I would only take shit from people.

“What the hell are you doing shooting hardcore, anyway?” Max wanted to know as we made our way to where he had parked his car. “You could make money posing or modeling or something, you know?”

Yeah, sure, I snorted. I had already tried that and I had been rejected. Besides, it wasn’t nearly as well paid as shooting porno was, and modeling agencies fucked their models in other ways. Everybody is out there for a slice, you know?

“I need the money to pay for my art classes. The school is more than expensive and once I’m in, I want to dedicate all my time to learn and to paint.” I explained, getting in the car.

“You aren’t thinking about going to the club tonight, are you?” Max glanced at me, watching how I carefully sat, as in slow motion, hissing in pain all the way.

“I have no other choice, Max,” I sighed heavily. “If I don’t show up, they’ll fire me.”

“But you almost can’t move, Gabriel,” Max tried to reason with me. “How the hell are you going to dance?”

His real concerned touched me, deeply, but I had no other choice. I couldn’t afford to lose my job at the nightclub.

“And what other thing can I do, Max? You know that the management of the club is paying for my insurance.”

Max let out a heavy sigh. It was the same old shit. Whatever money came, it was gone to pay the many expenses that ended up strangling almost everybody. I wasn’t an exception and the unexpected crap that I didn’t get a chance to plan for, like a blocked pipe or a new lock, was what got me each and every time.

The ride back to my place was done in silence. There was nothing else to say.

“I still think you should get in bed instead of going to work tonight.” Max insisted before I got out of the car.

I knew he was right, but…”I’m fine, Max, really. Besides, it’s nothing that an icepack can’t cure.” I joked, trying to cheer Max up, but it was a sick joke that deep down neither of us found funny.

“Yeah, well, ice cubes are probably the only thing you’re gonna be able to get up your tight, pretty ass for a couple of days, anyway,” Max snickered, but his eyes still showed that deep concern. “Get Fred to give you a shot, at least that way you’ll be able to dance without looking like a drunken moose.”

“I’ll do so,” I grinned and, giving Max a peck, I turned around and slowly made my way to my tiny apartment.