Damian stoked the fire up and sat to detangle the net whilst their fish cooked, some roots nestled in the glowing embers. Working a bit mindlessly, trying to make sure he didn’t rip the ropes, cursing a bit. His eyes darted to Gabe sometimes, sitting silently, cleaning the toothbrushes, the cans they’d found. A small dread in him, not knowing whether he was enough for Gabe at all.
They ate later, night settling, those unknown noises and howls filling the night. Ghost shadows between the trees. Gabe’s eyes went to those dark spots between the trees, eating the light of their fire. His mind on those dead people buried under the sand, a small shiver down his spine.
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
Damian shot him a puzzled look, swallowing what he had in his mouth. “Fuck no.”
“I’m not sure what to think of it… I mean, I had friends who believed that they existed, we even did a session with that stupid board… and it moved…”
Damian’s lips curled up. “Sure thing. One of your asshole friends moved it. That thing is fake, just like people who see ghosts and shit. They don’t exist. You’re dead, you’re gone. End of.”
“You don’t believe in the afterlife? Paradise? Hell?”
Damian drank a sip. “Fucking bullshit.” Flashing a grin at Gabe. “But you do, right?”
Gabe shrugged. “I guess… I mean, you can’t just disappear, right? You can’t. There must be something.”
Damian watched him, that small stress on his face, that small fear, his eyes on the darkness creeping closer, sounds in the jungle. He rose and pulled Gabe up. “Come. You’re tired. Don’t ruminate on this bullshit.”
Gabe looked at him. “I wish I could get my mind off it.”
Damian smiled, smoothing his palm on his cheek. “I might have a way to take your mind off it...”
“Oh…”
“Oh, indeed.”
Chapter 12
Gabewokeinthemiddle of the night, the wind howling between the trees, rumbling in the sky.A storm, again…He turned towards Damian, lying on his side, his right arm under his head. Breathing through parted lips, and Gabe just watched him, marveling how Damian had morphed in his mind into someone different from the man he’d known on that plane, as if he had broken out of a chrysalis, spreading his dark wings, enveloping him. That darkness still there, on his brows, in his eyes, at the edge of his lips, his smile. The world curling on them in their isolation, that solitude, magnifying feelings he knew well, and yet, they seemed new, unknown. He reached out, overwhelmed a bit, his tears choking his throat, and stroked Damian’s hair back gently, just a slight touch, but he stirred, turning on his back, his voice thick with sleep.
“You’re not asleep?”
The sky lighting up white, roaring. “No…”
Damian reached out, his eyes closed, and grabbed Gabe’s arm gently. “Come here…” Letting him curl up, close, his head on his chest. He held him tight, lazy strokes of his left fingers in Gabe’s hair. “Thinking of your ghosts?”
“No… of us.”
Damian opened his eyes and tipped Gabe’s chin up to look at him. “Us?” A tiny, amused light in his eyes.
“Yeah… do we even make sense?”
Damian laughed softly, the scent of rain filling the air as it started to pour. “Nothing makes sense… fuck, not even being here… so? Who cares?” He sighed, turning to Gabe. “Ok, this came out wrong. I care… for the first fucking time ever, ok? About you…” He ran his fingers over Gabe’s lips, watching them part. His finger lingered for a split second near that firm flesh and Gabe sucked it into his mouth, that tongue sliding on his skin, sending a shock down Damian’s spine. “Fuck…” Gabe grabbed his hand, not letting him pull out, not leaving his eyes. Teasing. Until Damian reached for him, pulling him close. “Little fuck… you should be sleeping…”
Gabe pulled off, licking his finger, smiling. “I have better plans…”
“Tsk…” Damian pushed him onto his back. “You will so regret waking me… I also have plans for you now…”
“What plans?” Breathing hard.
A split second of hesitation, but then Damian leant down to kiss him, his hand roaming Gabe’s body, feeling him reach up to his back, so he raised his head. “Hands down. And don’t move them.”
“What?” His eyes a bit wide, but he obeyed, watching Damian go back to kissing his neck, his collarbones, his chest. Heaving, his eyes a bit wide as Damian traced his mouth down his body, that trail like fire in that cool air.Surely not…
Damian’s mind raced a bit, not having a real clue about what he would do when he reached Gabe’s cock. Glancing up at him, meeting his eyes, feeling his chest and abs heave, causing that pleasure intoxicating, almost making him dizzy. He closed his eyes, and his lips brushed that arching velvet skin.Fuck. Thrilled a bit, curious, he brushed his lips down it, all the way, rubbing against Gabe’s inner thigh, hearing his voice, soft.
“Oh, God…”
