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  That left Peter either sleeping on the floor or crowded onto the front of the couch, head at Flix’s feet the way he’d seen Flix and Marcus do the night they’d had a couch to sleep on. Head at Flix’s feet won. If anyone asked, he’d pretend he was tweaked to have to be this close to a plastic boy, but the truth was, he missed human contact.

  Sitting between Momma and Dad in the living room, watching baseball on the holovision, Dad’s shoulder brushing his, Momma’s hand in his hair. Kissing Delia in front of her locker after school and holding her hand as he walked her home. Even just play-wrestling with Braden when he’d spend the night.

  What were Braden and Delia doing now? Probably kissing each other. Peter almost hoped they were. They probably thought he was dead, and he couldn’t blame them. Bet they’d been popular when he disappeared, had kids flocking to them, wanting to hear about their tragic friend. Someone should get something good out of it.

  Peter rolled his head on his neck and groaned. His back was so stiff. His legs had felt like he’d ridden a bike from one side of the dome and back over and over by the time they’d gotten to this pooptank of a town. His knees weren’t wobbly anymore, but geez, his muscles ached. He straightened his legs, pointed his toes, and stretched as hard as he could.

  Flix hummed and threw an arm and leg over Peter. The arm wrapped around Peter’s shins, and the leg snaked from his hips to his chin. Flix made a smacking noise with his lips, like he was chewing in his sleep, and settled down.

  Now this was too much. Peter didn’t want to raise a fuss, but he was well aware of where his back and Flix’s front lined up, and he didn’t want to give Flix any icky ideas, even if he was asleep. He picked up Flix’s foot by the toes and started to peel his way out.

  “Let him rest.”

  Peter gasped and jumped and whacked Flix in the face with his heel. All Flix did in return was grip Peter’s legs tighter and maybe wipe his nose on Peter’s ankle.

  Peter looked toward the noise and could just make out the grown-up lady’s bright red hair. Lil — was that her name? “You startled me.”

  Her smile was bright in the dark room. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

  It bothered Peter that all these brown people had big words, but this lady was too nice to get mad about. “It’s okay.”

  She sat on the floor so her face was in front of his, not too close, just enough so Peter could have touched her if he’d wanted to. He looked down her body but couldn’t see anything in the dark, which was good, because peeking at a mom-type woman’s breasts was not a nice thing to do.

  “Will you be able to sleep? Navi has some things that can help, if you need them.” She brushed her hand through his hair.

  He must’ve seemed weak at dinner, crying and snotting. “I’ll be all right.”

  She nodded. “Your traveling companions, the twins, Joe says they worked with him for the last couple of years, after I left. Devin, too, though not so long. The journey’s been hard on them. I haven’t seen Joe so thin since he was very young.”

  That was more information than any of them had given Peter. Marcus had told him a bit, but it was mainly about where they worked, not about them personally. “I only came a day or so before we ran away.”

  “What was your life like, before you came down here?”

  Peter told her. He talked about school and how sometimes he and Braden would sneak into the movies or the pool. He told her about Mrs. Dogbreath and Principal Duncan and how excited he’d been to not be a freshman anymore. She settled in and rested her elbows on the sofa in front of him and listened.

  Her eyes got big when he told her about the trip he took from Columbus to San Francisco to volunteer after the Great Flood. “I didn’t know there had been a flood. I was born near the San Francisco Bay, in San Jose.”

  “Why in the world did you come down here?” Peter said it too loud, and Flix and Marcus both fidgeted. At least it made Flix turn over and get his arms and legs off Peter.

  She smiled big. “I didn’t choose it. My mom died when Sadie was born, and my dad brought us down here so his mother, my abuela, could help him raise us. I cried the whole first year. I missed my mom and San Jose.” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “Is it gone now? We’d always been afraid something bad was coming. Kids said there’d be an earthquake so big it’d shove the whole bay right into our laps.”

  There’d been no earthquake, just terrible rains. Momma and Dad had kept him from seeing the worst of it. He’d helped fill care packages in a big warehouse a couple hours away while his dad had tried to help with rescues. But he’d heard the stories. “I guess it’s probably a good thing you weren’t there.” He hesitated. “Lil? Is that... Can I call you...”

  “Lil’s fine, sweetie.”

  “Lil, what happened to you that made you become a...” Now that the words were out, Peter couldn’t say the last one, the ugly one. It seemed so at odds with this nice woman.

  “Men killed my father when I was fifteen, too, Peter. I had nightmares for a long time. But I had two little sisters, and I had to take care of them, you know? However I could. No one does those things for fun.” She petted him the way he used to pet Delia’s puppy, hand over his hair and down his back. “Let’s get some rest.”

  He watched her until she disappeared into the dark. Then he turned over and wrapped his arms around Flix’s legs and pulled him close.

  EIGHT

  Joe stretched and groaned, his overworked muscles both protesting and thrilling to the movement. He settled back against the mattress and Devin’s solid warmth. Dim gray light filtered through a small curtained window. Last night, he and Devin had fallen into bed, Aria’s bed, safe and real and private, and drifted off to sleep almost immediately. Whatever fraught situation they’d wandered into here in Purcell hadn’t come up. Now, though, vague worries interrupted Joe’s sleep.

  Dry, rough lips brushed Joe’s bare shoulder, and Devin mumbled, his voice low and groggy, “Why aren’t you holding me?” His arm cinched tighter around Joe’s stomach, and he rocked his hips against Joe’s ass.

  Joe chuckled and patted Devin’s hand. He did normally do the holding. “Because you’re clutching me to your belly, papi. Go back to sleep.”

  The house was quiet. Hopefully, Peter and the twins were resting well. Marcus had stayed on the one couch, and Peter and Flix had crammed onto the other, one of their heads at either end. At least they were slight of build. It had to be an improvement over sleeping on the ground.

  “You think Marcus is really gonna be okay?” Devin asked.

  “I trust Navarro.”

  “But you don’t like him.”

  Joe didn’t want to talk about Navarro. “I like him fine. And he likes me fine, too.”

  “Doesn’t act like it.”

  “Come on, papi. How many chances are we going to have to sleep late, in a bed?” Joe wriggled back into Devin and lodged his shoulder under Devin’s hulking one. He loved that feeling, the way Devin’s size surrounded and swallowed him.

  “You slept with his what, wife? Girlfriend? Not cool, Joe.”

  So much for not talking about Navarro. “Lil and I were partners for about a year after Navarro left Flights of Fantasy. A couple of times, we got carried away after the clients left. She always told Navarro right away. He was never mad, at her or at me. He understood how it is when you’re acting something out and it starts to feel real. You’re not jealous?”

  Devin’s snort ruffled Joe’s hair. “Of course not. That was years ago, right? I want to figure out why there’s enough tension between you and him that we could hook you up to the house and have electricity.”

  “I took over Navarro’s spot as the A+ runner. He wasn’t happy, and we’re both accustomed to being in charge.”

  “He hates you.”

  “No. Not exactly. Maybe.” Probably. Joe shrugged. He really didn’t know. “Navarro’s a complicated guy.”

  “Dead sexy.”

  Jo
e elbowed Devin in the ribs. “Glad you think so. Maybe I’m the one who should be jealous. Can we please shut up and sleep now?”

  “What were you two talking about when you had your heads together at the dinner table? The wall? That creepy-ass guy?”

  This time when Joe groaned it wasn’t from aching muscles. He shifted around in Devin’s arms so they faced each other and flung his leg over Devin’s legs. The soft, hairless skin tickled Joe’s inner thigh. Someday the hair would grow back, and that might feel even better than this. He smoothed his hand from Devin’s elbow, up under his t-shirt to his shoulder. “Not the wall. We didn’t make it that far, and after that Sanders guy showed up, I got sidetracked. We were talking about those Sons of America. Navarro’s worried us being here will provoke them.”

  “Sanders has a grudge against white people, for sure, but so what? It’s not like we haven’t dealt with that kind of shit before.”

  “We haven’t dealt with it from someone who’s armed. Navarro says these guys have delusions of leading an insurrection against America, taking over land on the other side of the border. They say they belong there as much as any white man.”

  “Well, they do.”

  Joe smiled at how much Devin had changed since they’d first met. He trailed his hand from Devin’s shoulder to his chest and traced a line down Devin’s sternum, then across each strong, tight pec. “They do. We do. But as long as we’re here, I want us to be careful not to cross those men.”

  “They probably know how to cross the border.”

  Joe had considered that, too. The food and supplies the Sons of America procured for the town had to come from somewhere. Getting the information from Navarro or Lil sounded way better than asking for help from the Sons. Better to keep their heads down, stay out of the way, not get involved. “What do you think it’s like on the other side?”

  Devin flopped over on his back. The tiny bed trembled, and he nudged Joe to scoot over. Instead, Joe climbed on top of Devin and straddled his hips. As the blankets slipped down Joe’s back, his skin erupted in goosebumps in the cool morning air. He hoped the nights didn’t get much chillier than what they’d already dealt with, so much cooler than Austin, though their usual pattern of walking at night tended to keep them warm enough in the cool air.

  “You don’t know?” Devin folded and unfolded the waistband of Joe’s underwear.

  “I know about the biodomes, or at least, I know what my dad thought they’d be like. I know the little bit Peter’s told us. Obviously, not everyplace has a biodome, so your guess is as good as mine. I figure whatever’s on the other side of the wall, climate change has affected it the same as here, but I bet the people have access to water and plenty of food.”

  Devin hummed.

  Under a tight shirt, his abdominal muscles clenched with the noise, and Joe traced the ridges with his fingertips.

  “That’d be nice.” Devin’s eyes had gone heavy, and his hands moved from Joe’s waistband to his thighs, rubbing, coaxing them farther apart. “Maybe there are whole towns, kind of like this, but with real houses and friendly people. We could have jobs and friends and live in a house of our own. Make a family.”

  Joe hid his frown. Whatever the north was like, he and Devin wouldn’t be welcomed as romantic partners. New America denied citizenship to gay men. That had been true when the nation formed, and Peter’s attitudes suggested nothing had changed. Whether or not Joe and Devin were gay didn’t matter. They had sex with each other. Joe doubted any other determining factors were considered. Devin knew this, too. They’d talked about it before. But they could pretend. And Joe didn’t want to think about it, not the north or Navarro or the Sons of America, not any of it, while Devin’s hands kept moving and his dick plumped under Joe’s ass. Joe was having enough trouble just following the train of the conversation.

  He wiggled on Devin’s lap. “I don’t know how to break it to you, but we can’t make babies.”

  “Smartass. I’m replacing you with a woman.”

  Joe bent and lightly kissed Devin’s faintly sweaty neck before whispering, “By all means, but I don’t think you’d like that nearly as much.”

  Devin embraced him, preventing him from moving away. “I wouldn’t. But I meant what I said. I want a family. With you.”

  Huh. Devin was serious. New goosebumps rose on Joe’s skin, and the worries he’d been holding back slipped away. “I’d like that, too.”

  Devin’s eyelids fluttered. “I mean, I don’t like the things you did back in Austin. I sure as hell hate this thing.” He thumbed the scarred V on Joe’s elbow. “But I made mistakes, too. The bottom line is, I trust you. I want you.”

  Heat flooded Joe’s chest. Words escaped him, so he brushed his fingers over Devin’s jaw, his cheekbones. He skimmed soft kisses over Devin’s eyelids, then dragged his lips to Devin’s mouth. He kept his kisses delicate and slow. Sex during their travels had been rushed, frantic. Joe wanted this to last. When Devin cupped the back of his head and forced their kiss deeper, Joe allowed it for a moment before pulling back and sitting up.

  Devin pawed at Joe’s shoulders. “God damn it. Get back here.”

  “Patience, papi.”

  “Fuck patience.”

  Joe chuckled and slipped his hands under Devin’s shirt. He explored the ridges of Devin’s stomach and ribs. Smooth, soft skin. Hard, powerful muscles. So beautiful. Joe lifted the hem of the shirt and tugged it off, exposing Devin’s thick chest. How unalike they were. Joe was vain enough to know he had a nicely muscled body, even if it was pretty thin now, but Devin? The art museum at the University of Texas had displayed sculptures of the Greek gods. They paled in comparison to Devin.

  Joe leaned in and latched onto a pale pink nipple. He sucked hard, drawing it to a stiff peak. He bit, just enough for Devin to feel it, then let go and licked away the sting. He kept at it, licking and sucking and biting, until Devin arched and pushed his head away. Joe attacked the other nipple.

  “Holy shit.” Devin groaned and shoved his hands beneath Joe’s underwear. “Wanna fuck you.” His big hands kneaded Joe’s ass. He dug deep, pushed against Joe’s opening, and Joe laid his head on Devin’s chest and whimpered.

  And, oh, Joe wanted it, wanted him. “Strip,” he said. He lifted his hips so Devin could slide off his boxers.

  Devin wriggled and shimmied, then his hands were back at Joe’s ass, gripping and twisting, trying to rid Joe of his underwear, too.

  Joe hopped off the bed and dropped his briefs, toeing the stubborn things off his calves when they got stuck. He hustled over to where he’d folded his jeans over a chair and withdrew the lube he’d pocketed from the younger boys’ stash. He went back to the foot of the bed and gripped Devin’s ankles. “Spread your legs so I can suck you.”

  Devin moaned, then stretched until his feet reached the corners of the bed. “It’s amazing how I can hate you being a bossy ass any other time, but when you do it when we’re in bed, God, it fucks me up.”

  Joe climbed between Devin’s legs. He stroked him from ankle to thigh and took a moment to appreciate the man spread out below him. In the daytime, Devin’s pale gold skin shimmered. Bathed in the moonlight, it glowed, lustrous and hot. Light played off the curves and planes, the shallow rise and fall of his chest and stomach so vulnerable it practically broke Joe. He bent and kissed the crease of Devin’s thigh, where the skin would be thin and tender.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He kissed along the other side, then lifted his eyes to watch Devin’s face. “Tell me, is there something you’d like me to do while I’m down here?”

  Devin gripped his penis and batted it against Joe’s cheek. “Please.”

  “I love when you ask me so nicely.” Joe shifted a little, pushed Devin’s hand away, and sucked hard enough to draw a little bead of liquid into his mouth.

  Devin’s hips jolted, and he moaned. His hand fell heavy on the back of Joe’s head, not pushing, just threading fingers through Joe’s hair. “Fuck, Joe.”
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br />   “I haven’t even started yet.” Joe dropped back down and took Devin deeper. He loved oral sex. Receiving it, of course, but giving it? So powerful. Man or woman, didn’t matter. Using his tongue to map a person’s secret places, to give them pleasure, brought out every dominant instinct he possessed. He didn’t need to be the one doing the penetrating, but he needed to be the one in charge. When it was Devin, though, someone who held his heart? Power and arousal weren’t the only feelings coursing through Joe’s veins.

  He dipped his head lower and licked at Devin’s sack before pulling one of the balls into his mouth. He rolled it around on his tongue and sucked gently.

  Devin arched off the bed and let out a loud stream of curses.

  Joe let go more quickly than he’d planned and slapped a hand over Devin’s mouth. “Hey. You’ve got to be quiet, papi. We have a house full of people.”

  Devin’s eyes widened, and he nodded. When Joe removed his hand, Devin said, “You’ve never done that before. Holy shit.”

  Joe couldn’t help chuckling. “Feels good, doesn’t it? You think I’ve shown you everything there is to do in the few times we’ve been together?” He pecked Devin’s lips and headed south. He worked slowly, content to show Devin all the ways he could make him feel good, prod him closer to the edge.

  Devin’s hand dropped to the back of Joe’s head again, but this time it held him down, forced him deeper as Devin’s hips snapped up.

  The plan had been for this to be a warm-up before the main event, but the way Devin’s legs shook, the quick thrust-thrust of his hips as he gorged himself on Joe’s mouth, made Joe want to finish this way. He pawed at himself and gasped for breath when Devin pulled back before plunging in again.

  Devin’s hips lost their rhythm, and he shouted. The quick pulse of his release surged over Joe’s tongue and down his throat.

  Joe moaned around him and used his lips and tongue to coax everything out. When the pulsing stopped and the lap of his tongue had Devin pushing him away instead of pulling him closer, Joe let go and sat up. His throat ached, but it was the good kind of pain.