Another Believer Read online

  At that moment, the memory of strong fingers grasping his chin and guiding his head a particular direction made an encore appearance. David wrapped his arms around himself and leaned against the side of the railway car, giving himself permission to pretend for just a few moments that it was someone else holding him.

  ***

  Leaning back in his seat, Jonah crossed his arms and tucked his hands under his armpits. Eyes closed, he could trouble-shoot what had gone wrong with his plan, while inserting the occasional fantasy to keep his spirits up. He tried to step back and give his actions an objective assessment.

  Breakfast.

  Okay, things had seemed to be going well at that point. They’d been talking, getting to know each other a little bit and figuring out their differences. There was that whole unhealthy obsession with natural foods thing to be worked out, but it was nothing major in Jonah’s mind. Admittedly, he didn’t have a ton of data to go on yet, but everything he’d found out about David so far had been pretty great.

  Smart. Cute. Gay. Part Asian. Jeez, did it get any better than that?

  Good oral technique never hurt. Jonah’s evil, horny guy side asserted itself, but he quashed it. Sure, that was important, but he wouldn’t let himself think negatively. This was going to happen and he wasn’t about to sabotage his efforts with a lot of unproductive thinking.

  Jonah stifled his inner critique and aimed squarely for the positive side with a fantasy of him and David.

  In his fantasy, the two of them were alone in a room together, facing one another, standing less than an arm’s length apart.

  Jonah reached across and lifted David’s shirt. Raising his arms cooperatively, David shimmied out of the shirt when Jonah moved to tug it over his head. David’s arms alighted on Jonah’s forearms, his thumbs rubbing appreciatively over Jonah’s skin.

  A shiver slithered up the real Jonah’s spine.

  He was turning himself on, but it felt so good to think about, he couldn’t find it in himself to stop.

  So next, he’d unsnap the front of David’s shorts, giving himself a little room to work. Then, he’d slip his hands inside and run them along David’s flanks. He’d squeeze a little bit, then reach around to grasp David’s butt firmly in both hands. Letting the shorts fall magically away, he’d drop to his knees and take David’s pretty, flushed cock in his mouth, rolling his tongue appreciatively over its contours, slurping down all of that juicy, salty goodness and… God!

  Jonah forced himself back to reality. He’d have to stop torturing himself before he came in his shorts. Seriously.

  Maybe you could get David to help you out with that, if you ask nicely.

  About to chide himself for the crassness of his thoughts, Jonah came to the sudden realization that his two sides were in perfect agreement: they both wanted David.

  “Um, ‘scuse me.”

  Jonah’s eyes sprang open at his first awareness that David was back. Looking all business, nothing in David’s face suggested that he would ever have said anything remotely like the explicit remarks he’d made to Jonah earlier. Unable to pinpoint what it was exactly about David that drew him so inexorably, Jonah contented himself with admiring the perfectly proportioned face and compact body, even as he moved his feet to allow David to get back to his seat.

  “How was the walk?”

  “Good.” David sat and immediately busied himself by digging through his bag, eventually retrieving a magazine on … robots?

  So. Okay. Cool. He could hang with that. “Good magazine?’

  David looked up and Jonah got the impression that interruptions weren’t something that David normally had much patience for. A cutting remark seemed perched on David’s lips, ready to fall, but the response when it came was relatively mild. “Yeah.”

  “Which article did you buy it for?”

  David’s look was skeptical. “Brushless motors.”

  If David wanted to play reluctant interview, Jonah could go all day, asking question after inane follow-up question. Right now he was interested in establishing boundaries. Testing limits. He’d push a little and see how long it took David to push back. “Yeah? And how was it?”

  “I haven’t read it yet, but I’m interested in the increased efficiency aspect. I’ve got an application in mind for my senior project.”

  “Cool. What’s the project—or can you say? It’s not a secret, is it?”

  Openly suspicious now, David narrowed his gaze. “You can’t possibly be interested in this stuff, so why all the pretend fascination?”

  “Why can’t I be interested?”

  “Because you can’t. Brushless motors?” David’s eyebrow went up again. Jonah just smiled and waited, wondering if David had any idea how cute it was. “Got a jones for static armature?”

  “Not usually,” Jonah admitted. “But under the right circumstances, I could be persuaded.”

  “Really.” David folded his arms across his chest again, a dubious purse of his lips adding just the right amount of ‘you are so full of shit’ skepticism to his expression.

  “Oh, absolutely. As it happens.” Jonah nodded. “Everybody knows that mechanical commutators are old school. BLDCs are the wave of the future. It’s all over but the shouting.”

  If he hadn’t been watching for it, the infinitesimal jaw-drop would have blown right by him, but Jonah had been waiting for it; been expecting it, in fact. The hard part turned out to be keeping a straight face.

  “You—” Gradually, by degrees, David’s face relaxed into a grin that turned into an outright laugh. “You totally set me up. You dick.”

  “Nah, I can’t take credit. You set yourself up.”

  David was openly laughing now and that only cemented things for Jonah. David flipped every one of his switches, in fact he couldn’t remember wanting anyone this much in a long time. But he couldn’t be with a guy who couldn’t laugh at himself.

  “You… Now who’s not what he seems to be?”

  It was all Jonah could do not to bat his lashes and flirt like crazy, but he had the feeling that David needed slow courting. There wasn’t time for that, though. This train ride wasn’t going to last forever and, even if they ended up in the same city, that wasn’t necessarily the same thing as the same destination. Jonah needed to get something going now.

  “Nah, I’m pretty simple, really. What you see is what you get.”

  David’s gaze flickered and Jonah could swear that was a spark of interest he’d just seen flash through David’s eyes, but he only shook his head. “Nothing’s that simple.”

  “Sometimes it really is.” As carefully as he could calibrate it, Jonah let the smallest little bit of desire into his tone as he made deliberate eye-contact with David. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he allowed his fingers to stray over the armrest and brush the inside of David’s wrist. “Want to take a walk?”

  “A walk?”

  “Yeah. Wanna go see what kind of trouble we can get into?”

  Just that quickly the cautious David was back—the skeptical guy who didn’t seem to have the word trust in his vocabulary. “What kind of trouble?”

  “Come on, it’ll be fun.” Refusing to even consider defeat, Jonah stood and backed out of his seat, out into the aisle. “Show me what you found when you took your tour.”

  “It’s a train. It’s really not all that exciting. Shocking, I know, but true.” David’s reluctance apparently didn’t extend to his body, because his legs were already moving, pushing him to his feet.

  “Let’s go anyway.” Excitement bubbled up in Jonah’s veins as David placed his magazine face down on his seat and stood.

  “Where do you want to start?”

  Anywhere would do. Just to be doing anything with David was a start, but somewhere they could be alone would be even better. “I suppose Baggage is out of the question?” Jonah suggested. “Or what about an observation deck? It’d be cool to hang out on the back of the train, like in old movies. You know?” />
  “Old movies? Are you high? The liability would be huge. I’m surprised they even have windows. I mean, we could get sunburned. Sorry to stomp all over your romantic daydreams, darling, but the sleeper cars are probably more doable.”

  Darling? Jonah bit his cheek to keep from grinning. “Man, you’re not gonna give me even a shred of hope to hold onto, are you?”

  “Reality bites.” David smirked and Jonah allowed himself a smile. So cute, that little hint of intellectual arrogance that was never far from the surface with David.

  “Okay, what about the sleeper cars, then? What’s down there?”

  David’s gaze strayed toward the rear of the train, his body swaying as the train rounded a turn and lurched mildly. “I guess we can see if anyone tries to stop us. We won’t have the right ticket if they ask, but what’s the worst they can do? Tell us to go back?”

  “Exactly. Don’t you want to know what they look like?”

  “They’re pretty small. They don’t even have in-room toilets and the shower is down the hall.” David led the way and Jonah followed happily.

  “So you’ve seen them?”

  David waited for him at the door to the next car, sliding it aside for them to pass through, confident in his movements. “Sure. You can go a lot of places just by acting like you belong there.”

  “I’m shocked. You enter unauthorized areas frequently? You must. You sound pretty comfortable about it.”

  “What? It’s not exactly Area 51, you know.” David’s slightly exasperated tone was endearing and Jonah decided it was just one more sign of his growing infatuation. “If they were all that worried they’d have it locked. Or maybe that’s just me.”

  “Good point.” They were winding their way toward the back, with only a few cars left before the end of the train, by Jonah’s estimation. Instead of comfortable seats, two to a side, the aisle bisected the car with compartments to either side. “Hey, David, hold up.”

  “What?”

  “Here’s the shower.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Obviously uninterested, David was already half way down the length of the railcar.

  “Hang on, I want to look.” Opening the door, Jonah stepped inside, surprised at how roomy it was. A bench across the corner, even. Poking his head back out into the hall, Jonah beckoned. “Hey, check it out.”

  “Sheltered life, much? It’s a shower, Simpson. Try to wrap your head around the concept.”

  “Get over here, smartass. I want to show you something.”

  All but rolling his eyes at Jonah’s stupidity, David stepped into the little room. “Okay, dazzle me.”

  “Lucky for you I work well under pressure.”

  “Should I even try to guess at what that means?” David just shot him a doubtful look.

  Stepping close, Jonah trailed a hand down David’s arm. “Lot of pressure for a first kiss.”

  David’s eyes widened, but didn’t back away when Jonah lowered his head. After that first initial shock, though, they closed sweetly and David let Jonah brush his mouth over David’s.

  Oh, yeah.

  So soft, David’s lips parted slightly when Jonah turned it into a real kiss, helping himself to his first taste of David. The train swayed as they rounded another slow turn, pressing David’s body against his, and Jonah reached out for support, searching for one of the stall’s metal safety bars.

  Groaning at the feel of David’s mouth under his and the tantalizing little brushes of David’s body against his, Jonah wanted to grab David and hold on—crush their bodies together harder, so he could get some real friction going. Afraid of freaking David out, though, he held onto the bar with one hand and let the other hold onto David’s waist.

  Since David hadn’t pushed him away, Jonah couldn’t resist going in for another kiss. When David finally began to kiss him back, Jonah groaned a little and pulled back. “I like the way you taste.”

  Slowly opening his eyes, there was still a hint of suspicion in David’s eyes when he looked up. “Are you for real?”

  “Want to touch me and make sure?” Jonah smiled at the picture David made—half suspicious, half dreamy-eyed wonder—and touched David’s deliciously kissable mouth. “I really do like you. What about you? What do you think?”

  “That you’re way too good-looking to be hitting on me. That this doesn’t make sense.”

  David’s hands had settled at Jonah’s waist, though, fingers curled into Jonah’s sides, and Jonah could already imagine what they would feel like gripping him as they fucked.

  “Makes perfect sense to me.”

  ***

  This wasn’t real.

  Things like this didn’t happen to him.

  Guys who looked like Jonah didn’t give him the time of day. They were usually straight, and if they did talk to him, it was because they wanted help with their trig homework. Sometimes they just came right out and asked for the answers to the test.

  If they were gay and cute, then they wanted someone every bit as beautiful as they were; it was a truism that had stood the test of time, been proven and re-proven. Guys as hot as Jonah Simpson could have anyone they wanted, and just like his car keys wouldn’t suddenly fall up if he dropped them, tall-and-drop-dead gorgeous didn’t single him out for an urgent make-out session.

  It just didn’t happen.

  “I really like you.” Jonah was touching David’s mouth now, running a finger along David’s bottom lip and even letting it slip inside for a moment. David was too stupefied to do much except react, so when Jonah’s finger got near his teeth he wasn’t thinking, he just opened his mouth and sucked it inside. Jonah groaned a little, his gaze dropping to watch his finger disappear into David’s mouth, only to pull it out again. “God, you’re sexy. Smart. Funny. Oh, shit, I—”

  Taking David’s head in his hands, Jonah was kissing him now. Really kissing him, not the lip-brushing thing they’d been doing a minute ago. Jonah’s mouth pressed urgently on his and David’s cheek was damp from his own saliva because Jonah’s finger had been in his mouth. And now Jonah was kissing him like it really mattered and all David could do was kiss back.

  How could he not?

  Jonah was gorgeous and he felt incredible beneath David’s hands. David knew he was being stupid, that this couldn’t last beyond this one train ride, but he couldn’t help himself. Jonah was hot and amazing-looking and felt better in his hands than anyone David had ever been this close to. He was even making sexy little noises in the back of his throat now, kind of moaning and catching his breath, and David was lost.

  Standing on his toes, he looped his arms around Jonah’s neck and hung on. Pressed his body up against Jonah’s and kissed the man back. Jonah’s tongue was in his mouth and—Jonah’s tongue was in his mouth!—and Jonah’s erection was pressing into David’s stomach.

  Why couldn’t he be tall, damnit?! He hated being short. Hated always being the last one picked for sports and the one always shoved to the front when it came time for group pictures.

  If he was tall, and maybe less of a dweeb, he might know what to do with someone like Jonah. When Jonah grabbed David’s ass and hauled him up to rub their dicks together, David had no idea what he was supposed to do; could only wrap his legs around Jonah’s waist and squeeze. Tilting his head to get a better angle, David opened his mouth to Jonah’s tongue, like his body wanted to open to Jonah’s dick.

  Pressed together, chest to chest, there was no room for David to rock against Jonah, but he wanted to desperately. Jonah’s mouth was hot and sleek, his tongue slipping in and out to rub alongside David’s. Jonah’s chest was hard and, in fact, there didn’t seem to be an ounce of fat anywhere on Jonah.

  “So gorgeous. So perfect. So hot.” Jonah had pulled back, despite David’s best effort to keep their mouths connected. Eyes slipping closed again, Jonah began dropping teasing little kisses along David’s nose and brow and cheek.

  If Jonah was not quite right in the head, David wasn’t going to say anythin
g, as long as Jonah kept those hands on him and kept kissing him. He was determined that nothing along the lines of, “How long since you took your meds?” would slip out of his mouth. He just kept running his fingers through the soft tangle of hair at Jonah’s nape, stroking his fingers down Jonah’s neck and along the top of Jonah’s spine.

  Until Jonah set him down, anyway, then a little whimper of disappointment slipped out. There was something expectant in Jonah’s movements as he reached a hand behind David and pushed the door closed. When a little metallic click told David that Jonah had locked the door, it was a measure of David’s distraction that it took him a second to put two and two together.

  David had never had anything remotely like this happen to him and he had no idea how to respond. Jonah couldn’t possibly be serious. Could he? “So I guess you really like this place, huh?”

  Jonah’s laugh came easily, like nothing ever threw him. “You’re funny. I like that in a guy.”

  “You’re easy to please.” Now that Jonah wasn’t touching him, David wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. He knew what he’d like to do with them, but Jonah was just watching him with that look that David couldn’t quite name, and the doubts continued to build.

  “Not really.” Jonah reached for David’s shirt. “May I?”

  “Help yourself, but it’ll never fit.”

  “That’s all right—I have my reasons.” Tugging David’s shirt over his head, Jonah reached behind David and tossed it, on the bench, probably. But no way was David turning away to look.

  “Like what?” Hideously embarrassed, David gritted his teeth and wondered helplessly what he had that Jonah could possibly want to look at. He was no athlete. He didn’t even work out.

  “Oh, sweet.” Gaze fixed on David’s chest as though David’s remark hadn’t registered, Jonah sucked in his breath. Smiling, Jonah brushed David’s nipples with his thumbs.

  Like they were wired straight to his dick, David gasped and got harder. There was no disguising his hard-on, and David knew to the second when Jonah shifted that gaze from David’s nipples to his aching dick.