Another Believer Read online

  “It wouldn’t be that big a deal. Honestly, nobody cares.” Personally, Jonah thought it sounded like an excellent idea, but he cut David some slack. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if David had a nervous breakdown. When David opened his mouth to protest, Jonah preempted him. “But I see your point. If you get your magazine and read, I promise I’ll leave you alone. At least until the steward comes back with news about the room.”

  Sitting up straighter, David adjusted his clothing, and Jonah pretended not to notice when he tugged on his shorts to give himself more room. He reached for his magazine and began thumbing through it, paying loving attention to diagrams and illustrations like most guys would a porn mag.

  After going for his own reading material stashed in the duffel below his seat, Jonah paused a moment to admire: the thick, black silk of David’s hair that he longed to get his hands in again; the smooth curve of David’s ear that tempted his teeth; the slight arch of David’s neck that suggested a head and mouth bent to other activities.

  David must have sensed Jonah’s attention, because he looked up from his magazine. “What?”

  Jonah had promised, though.

  Sort of.

  “Nothing. Just thinking.”

  ***

  Maybe it was the post-orgasm lassitude finally catching up with him, but David found himself having a hard time keeping his eyes open. Over the summer vacation he’d gotten used to staying up late, tinkering with his robots and playing World of Warcraft online with his buddies, but today he’d had to be up early to catch the train. So it could have been that, too.

  Regardless, neither the article on brushless motors nor a write-up on the hosts of his favorite geek-TV show testing a new robot system could hold his attention. Instead, David’s thoughts kept wandering to endless replays of Jonah’s mouth on his dick, thoughts of how very much he’d like to have that happen again—repeatedly and at great length— and wondering what universal laws of nature would have to be turned on their heads to make that happen in any known reality.

  Surrendering to the inevitable, David braced his elbows on the seat’s armrests, folded his hands together and used them to prop up his chin as he closed his eyes and daydreamed. He’d be naked, of course. On a table, or countertop, maybe. Near a window, because the sun would be shining through onto Jonah’s hair, picking out the hundred different shades of reddish-brown. David wanted to kiss him so bad.

  He couldn’t, though, ‘cause Jonah’s mouth was full of David’s cock. Since it was a dream, Jonah’s lips were stretched wide, because in real life David just wasn’t that big. It was a pretty awesome great dream, though. Jonah’s hands were on David’s ass, holding him in place, moving him just so.

  Vaguely aware somewhere in the back of his mind that he was turning himself on, David knew he was getting hard again, probably. Next to him Jonah shifted. Their shoulders rubbed and David soaked up the heat from Jonah’s arm; dragged a slow, prolonged breath into his lungs, inhaling the erotic scents of Jonah’s skin and hair and letting them roll around inside him.

  “—really?” Jonah’s hushed voice beside him startled David, jerking him back to wakefulness. “That sounds great. Let me just double-check here. David?”

  Jonah touched David’s hand. Opening his eyes, David rubbed his neck and tried to haul himself back from dreamland and somehow project alertness. “Hmm?”

  “They had a last-minute cancellation on one of the compartments. I say we go for it. You could stretch out and get some real sleep. What do you say? Want to do it?”

  “Um… how much?”

  Jonah named a number and David tried not to react. Something must have showed on his face because Jonah immediately leaped in to rescue the plan. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll put it on a card and you can pay me back later. It’s no big deal.”

  Running the numbers in his head, David did some rough calculations of how long it would take him to pay Jonah back. To squeeze just fifty bucks a month out of his budget would mean even more ramen noodles and tuna fish than he normally ate. And he’d been trying to cut back, because the trans-fats were off the charts in that stuff. The sodium content alone—

  “David, forget it, let me take care of it. I’ll just—”

  “No, you won’t. If I’m going to do it, we’re going halves or I’m not doing it at all.”

  “Okay, okay. We’ll figure out the details later, then. Cool.” Turning back to the attendant, Jonah thanked the man and got directions to the room. The attendant took the credit card Jonah pulled from his wallet and left with it, while David caught himself checking out the quality of the leather goods. Jonah must be doing okay on money to be able to charge the cost of the room without taking even a minute to figure out where the money to eventually pay for it was going to come from. “So… I guess just grab our stuff and head down there, huh?”

  “I guess.” David shoved his magazine inside his backpack and zipped it closed while, next to him, Jonah was tucking his papers back inside the envelope he’d pulled them from. The duffel Jonah eventually put everything in had obviously seen a lot of use, but on closer inspection, David spotted the workmanship of the leather straps and the dull gleam of real brass buckles.

  Crap.

  Not only was Jonah tall and good-looking, he obviously had money, too.

  Life was so not fair.

  Standing back, Jonah let David lead the way, but dropped an arm around David’s shoulders as soon as the corridor widened and they could walk two abreast. Jonah’s skin was warm, that arm heavy against David’s neck, and when David glanced up, he was struck again by the utter perfection of Jonah’s features. The straight, almost aristocratic nose; the artlessly tousled mop of hair; the full lips, with just a hint of chapping—the kind that probably came from sailing the family yacht.

  How much more out of his league could he be? Exactly none. Jonah looked like he could have stepped off the pages of a Ralph Lauren ad.

  Just then Jonah looked down and caught David’s gaze. He smiled and David wanted to smile back, but couldn’t. If he let himself believe for even a minute that this was real, he was sunk. This was an anomaly. Some statistically improbable occurrence that shouldn’t ever have happened—like conjoined twins or math savants. Jonah was going to come to his senses any minute now, and the less David invested, the easier that was going to be to take when Jonah walked away.

  Jonah let go of him long enough for the two of them to take the circular stairway down to the lower level, but as soon as they were heading down the hall again, Jonah rested a hand on David’s shoulder. The train rattled over a bumpy section of rail and David widened his stance for better stability, but Jonah didn’t seem too need to make any adjustments at all—probably the yacht thing again. Every time their gazes met, Jonah just flashed him that carefree smile, as though hooking up on board a train as it made its way up the coast was an everyday thing.

  The room turned out to be even smaller than David had imagined. Just a twin-sized bed, a little table and a chair, all upholstered in the same nearly indestructible synthetic material favored by most forms of public conveyance. David tried not to think about the causes of the various stains he couldn’t help but notice, only to have the whole pot-and-kettle analogy hit him right between the eyes.

  “Not exactly The Fairmont, but it beats the alternative, huh?” Jonah tossed his bag on the little bed before lacing his fingers together and stretching his arms overhead. Not only was he so tall his arms almost touched the ceiling, but his shirt rode up, revealing a choice few inches of tanned, flat belly.

  David wanted to lick him.

  Too soon, though, Jonah lowered his arms and began rotating his shoulders in alternating directions and reality set in. They were alone in this little room on a moving train for one reason, and that reason wasn’t fascinating conversation. Whatever Jonah had in mind must be pretty athletic, though, if he had to loosen up for it like it was the NCAA playoffs.

  “Yeah. I guess.”
>
  “You guess?” Jonah’s gaze sharpened. Caught in mid-stretch, he froze for an instant. Then, with slow and deliberate motions, Jonah sat down on the single bed, locking his elbows and bracing himself as he leaned back on his hands. “So what’s the deal, then? You don’t really want to be here? I pushed too hard and now you’re having second thoughts?”

  “No, I…” Fingering the strap of his backpack as it hung from his shoulder, David had no idea what to do. Open his mouth and let Jonah see what a social incompetent he was? Or stand here, silent, and let Jonah think the worst? Letting his gaze flick over Jonah, David wondered desperately what the best thing to do was.

  “What?” Jonah looked up at him with the most beautiful green eyes David had ever had the privilege of gazing into. When would he ever have a chance like this again? Did he want to be an old man, like Uncle Hiro? A quiet, careful man, who’d spent his life doing research in a lab—too cautious to ever get out and have an actual life? The silence spun out, broken only by the rhythmic clanking of the metal on metal beneath them.

  No.

  He didn’t want that.

  What he wanted was right in front of him.

  So what if he couldn’t have it forever? So what if he was only borrowing perfection? At least he could say he’d experienced it. He’d be able to look back later and have something to measure the rest of his life by. “No, I want to be here. I want this.”

  Letting his pack slide off his shoulder, David let it fall the rest of the way. He moved the two steps it took to reach Jonah and touched a finger to the chapped but still soft lips that were now curving up into a smile.

  Jonah sat up and put his hands on David’s waist, grinning. “Cool. Because I really like you and it would suck if you didn’t like me back.”

  “Oh, yeah. As if.” Dismissing the possibility, David slipped a hand into Jonah’s hair, letting it slide between his fingers—cool and silky on top, but warm underneath. “Has anyone turned you down, ever?”

  David put a knee on the bed first, then another hand on Jonah’s shoulder and brought the other knee up, until he was nearly sitting on Jonah’s lap.

  “Believe it or not, they—whoa!” Just then the train that had been clacking rhythmically along beneath them lurched sharply, toppling Jonah backward and David on top of him. Jonah’s head hit the corner of the window with a sickening thud and he slumped sideways at an awkward angle.

  Looking on in horror, David froze. Jonah’s face twisted in pain as he moved his hand from David’s body and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, shit.” Unbelievably, he began to laugh. “That really hurts.”

  “Ow, jeez, are you all right? Here, let me feel.” David helped Jonah to untwist his body and lay flat on the bed. Slipping his hand beneath Jonah’s head, he immediately ran up against Jonah’s. Pushing it out of the way, he gently explored Jonah’s scalp. “Huh. Not much. Oh, wait. Here’s a little bump.”

  “Ouch! Easy there, all right?”

  “Sorry.” David eased his hand out from underneath Jonah’s head. “I’m sorry, that was all my fault.”

  Large, green eyes with thick, auburn lashes looked up at him quizzically. “How was that your fault?”

  “Because… because it was.” He stroked Jonah’s forehead, brushing the hair back with his fingers, marveling at its soft waves. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You know, if you wanted to make me feel better. Sort of take my mind off the pain, as it were…” Jonah drew his legs up and David slid forward, his ass coming to rest atop Jonah’s crotch. As Jonah’s voice trailed off, one eyebrow rose suggestively. Something else was rising, too.

  “I’d do that. For you.”

  “Yeah?” His hands on David’s hips, Jonah’s long fingers dug into David’s ass, even as he undulated his body so that David could feel the dick hardening there.

  “Oh, yeah.” David’s voice came out as a husky whisper, sounding totally foreign to his own ears. And why shouldn’t it? Everything about this day was alien to him. The hot, built guy… wanting him? Unreal.

  David got so lost in the heat in Jonah’s eyes that forgot he was supposed to be doing anything. And not just anything, but something kind of specific.

  “I’m ready to feel better now.” Jonah flexed his hips, and a wonderfully hard thickness beneath his shorts ground up into the crack of David’s ass, and David lost it. The last semblance of coherent thought went up like so much vapor—just floated up on the air, getting thinner and thinner until there was nothing left of it.

  Gorgeous, green eyes got a heavy-lidded look to them and that seductive mouth opened a fraction, as if in expectation. Desire. For him. For David. Ohmygod. David leaned forward, onto his forearms, and practically attacked Jonah’s mouth. They were kissing, drawing on each other, David’s tongue trying awkwardly to get inside Jonah’s mouth.

  He hadn’t had much practice, didn’t really know what he was doing, but Jonah made it easy. Made him feel like a natural. Like all he’d ever really needed was the right guy and suddenly he was competent. Attractive. Sexy, even.

  David rubbed his chest against Jonah’s, nipples tiny and hard, easily distinguished beneath the thin fabric of Jonah’s t-shirt. Groaning at the feel of that hot, hard chest beneath him, David rubbed his thumb over one nipple, thrilled that he’d apparently done this to Jonah. Jonah groaned back and angled his head, trying for more of David’s mouth.

  The conductor’s disembodied voice came over the P.A., announcing… David couldn’t tell what. Jonah’s mouth. God! “—arriving at—” A few words sunk in, but not much. “—in ten minutes. In ten minutes, arriving at—”

  “What did he say?” Lifting his head, David met Jonah’s gaze. “Could you hear that?”

  “Not a word. Ask me if I care.”

  ***

  “Hurry. Come on! We’re going to miss it. I cannot miss this train.” David’s brown eyes were wide with anxiety, his eyebrows likewise raised in alarm. Already Jonah had developed a weird obsession, memorizing the nuances of David’s eyebrows.

  Like now.

  So high they nearly disappeared under the shock of shiny black hair that he kept shoving out of his way, in stark contrast to when he was relaxed. When Jonah had had David’s dick in his mouth, they’d been practically horizontal. Jonah couldn’t wait to see where they’d be when he was balls-deep in David’s ass.

  Jonah shrugged. “Dude, you’re the one who insisted on getting off the train here for snacks. Besides, we’re fine. We’ve got five more minutes until departure and we’re practically there. What’s so special about these things, anyway?” Indicating the foam box he held in the crook of his arm, Jonah raised it up a bit and took an appreciative whiff. “They smell good, sure. But I’m guessing they’re something special if you’re willing to risk being left at the station. Hey, wait up.”

  Catching at David’s arm, Jonah caught David’s hand and held on. David’s gaze flitted down to where his hand now lay, captured by Jonah’s, then back up to Jonah’s face. David looked slightly uncomfortable, but he’d just have to get used to it. If they were going to be a couple—and Jonah was surer of that with every minute that passed—David would just have to get used to it.

  “They’re not for me, they’re for my lab partner. Salteñas are Bolivian and so is Guillermo—I guess they remind him of home. Anyway, these are his favorite, and I promised I’d stop and pick some up for him, but I… I got kind of distracted.”

  A little glow lit up inside Jonah at David’s confession and he was momentarily silent. It startled him, in fact, just how moved he was. “No, that’s okay. I mean, I like trying new things and it beats train food.”

  “Thanks for understanding.”

  “Not a problem.”

  They covered the last few yards of sidewalk and made their way through the station and back to the train. The next several minutes were taken up with threading their way through the scattered groups of people and getting back to their room. ‘Roomette.’ Goofy name. But Jon
ah didn’t care if it gave him time alone with David.

  He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he was completely gone over this guy. He’d been hot for a guy on first sight before. Plenty of times, in fact. But he couldn’t remember ever being so totally into someone this fast. Ever.

  David was smart and cute and funny. Even David’s prickly façade was adorable, and if that wasn’t a measure of how infatuated he was, Jonah didn’t know what was.

  “Do you want to try one?” David set a box, identical to the one Jonah carried, on the little table that stood next to the room’s only chair.

  “They smell great. What’s in them, again?” Jonah shrugged and sat on the bed as David removed the box from its plastic carry bag and opened the lid. The pungent aroma of meat and something baked quickly filled the little room.

  “Uh, meat? I dunno. Chicken, I think. And some beef. A few vegetables. I think there’s even some hard-boiled egg in there. They’re pretty good. Here.” David handed one to Jonah and took another for himself. “It might still be hot inside, so be careful.”

  Jonah grasped the warm meat pie carefully and took an experimental bite. Juice squirted out as soon as his teeth punctured the crust, dripping through his fingers and onto the floor.

  “I should have warned you. They’re kind of messy. Supposedly a real Bolivian can eat one without spilling a drop. The rest of us just look like buffoons.” Laughing, David finished his off in a few economical bites, cramming the last of his into his mouth and smiling happily at Jonah as he chewed and swallowed.

  “So explain to me again how this fits into your whole macrobiotic, healthy eater, trans-fat-Nazi persona again?” Smiling a little to take the sting out of it, Jonah took a couple more bites, and pretty soon he was finishing off his first salteña.

  “I’m not that bad.” David was laughing, but it had a self-conscious ring to it and Jonah could swear his ears were tinged with red