Chapter 17

We went to Arthur's apartment. He wanted to clean up, wash the paint off his face, and change clothes. I sat in the living room and lit a cigarette. As I glanced around the room, I noticed that more things had disappeared. Other than the furniture, and a stack of video tapes next to the TV with "Murray Franklin" and various guests' names written on the labels, there wasn't much left.

"I've been clearing out Penny's stuff," Arthur said. "I had to do it a little at a time. There was a lot. Do you want some coffee?"

"Not right now. Come and sit down."

He sat, his knee bumping mine.

"Are you all right?"

"I will be." His knees bounced. He pressed his hands on them to stop it.

"Did I make things worse?"

"No. I just worried you wouldn't stop, and you'd get locked up again."

"Those guys are only bruised a bit. Like what they did to you." I heard the beginnings of a growl in my voice and swallowed it. "Forget about them. It's just you and me now." I pulled the wallet in its paper bag out of my pocket and placed it in his hands. "I hope you like it."

His expression changed immediately, and his lips stretched into a smile. "I still can't believe you bought me a present. I didn't get you anything."

"You don't have to. Open it."

He took out the wallet and ran his fingertips over the soft leather, then opened it and inspected the inside. "It's beautiful," he said. "This is the best present I've ever had."

I grinned. "I'm sure it's not. But I'm glad you like it."

"No, it is. It's exactly what I would choose for myself. I need one, too. You're so thoughtful, Travis." He picked up his old wallet from the table and began to move the items in it to the new wallet. He had a few bills, some coins, a transport card, a social services card, and a photo of Penny. He tore the photo into little pieces and dropped them into the ashtray. "Thank you."

I leaned over to kiss him, but he stood up and took my hand instead. He pulled me up and led me out of the room—into his bedroom.

My pulse quickened, and my dick twitched in my pants. Then I paused as it occurred to me he might be intending to do something because he felt he ought to, or that he owed me because I gave him a gift. I had some idea how his mind worked over certain things, but there were many layers in his head, and I wanted to make sure.

"Arthur." I caught his hands and stopped him unfastening his belt.

"You don't want to?"

"I want to make sure you want to. Don't do anything you don't want just because you feel you should. I gave you the wallet because I thought you'd like it, and I wanted to get you a present. I don't expect anything."

He smiled. "I know that. But we haven't done anything all week because I was too miserable. I was better this morning, and you were, um, asleep." He took a step closer and pressed his lips to my ear to whisper. "Shall I tell you how frustrated I've been all day? Until I got on the train, anyway."

"Damn." I slid my arms around him. "You know how to get me worked up."

"Let's lie down together." He pulled free and unfastened his pants. When he let them fall to the floor, I caught a glimpse of the bulge in his underwear, partly hidden by the front of his shirt. I followed his lead and took off my shoes and jeans. My erection tented my briefs obscenely, and I adjusted it so it rested upright against my belly. Arthur sat down and took off his socks—I did the same. Then he crawled into the middle of the bed, leaving his shirt on and fastened. I left mine on, too, and lay down with him.

Arthur didn't wait for me to kiss him. He slid closer to me and pressed his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and melted into the kiss. His tongue was in my mouth, lips crushing mine, and my arousal ramped up. If he wanted to instigate everything, it was fine with me. I'd never had it this way, but I wasn't complaining.

Something nudged my erection, and as Arthur broke the kiss to nibble my neck instead, I glanced down. I don't know what I expected to see bumping against my dick, but it wasn't the back of his hand, inside his underwear, as he stroked himself. I sucked in a breath. "You want me to do that for you?"

"Not right now. You don't mind, do you?"

"Mind? Christ, Arthur. That is the hottest fucking thing I've seen."

He chuckled and pressed his lips to my throat. Then he rolled onto his back, his hand still down his underwear, cupping himself. "Can you put your arms around me?"

I slid my arm under his neck, moved closer to his side, and rested my other arm across his chest. I kissed his ear, and nuzzled my face against his hair, but I kept my gaze down, watching. His hand began to move again, gently fondling himself. I couldn't really see anything. The glistening tip of his erection peeked out of the top of his underwear now and again, but mostly his hand was in the way. He didn't grip his shaft and jerk off, but idly stroked and squeezed, occasionally dipping his hand lower to caress his balls.

My erection strained against the waistband of my underwear, a wet patch forming around the head. I couldn't remember ever being so turned on in my life. Arthur, so shy and damaged and innocent, was masturbating next to me, and sending me to impossible levels of arousal. I pressed myself closer to him, letting him feel my hard-on against his thigh and in the process, getting a little friction. I could quite easily come just from that.

Arthur had his lower lip between his teeth, his eyes closed. Soft little grunts of pleasure issued from him as he pleasured himself, not increasing the pace, but clearly pushing himself towards orgasm. I groaned with frustration and excitement, desperate to touch myself too, but not letting myself. I concentrated only on him.

"Travis," he whispered, then. "I need to come so bad."

"Fuck," I breathed. I tightened my arms around him, and stared, panting along with him.

"I need more than this." Suddenly, he pushed his underwear down to his thighs, exposing himself. He wrapped a hand around his erection and jerked it quickly, while squeezing and tugging at his sac with the other. I took in every little detail—his glistening tip, swollen and red, his thick pale shaft, and neatly trimmed dark pubic hair. I groaned, and Arthur shot his load through his fist and onto his shirt. He stilled, then, and after a moment, quickly tucked himself back into his underwear and wiped his hand on the bed covers.

"You okay?" I murmured. My erection throbbed in frustration, but I ignored it, hoping he wouldn't freak out.

"I, um, shit!" He giggled and his already flushed face reddened more. "I can't believe I did that."

"You enjoyed it, though, right? I certainly did."

"Yeah, I just, um, I got carried away."

"That's okay. You can get carried away as much as you want when it's just you and me."

"I guess." He turned in my arms and met my eyes. He was okay, and I heaved a sigh of relief. I was desperate for some relief, but I didn't want to grab myself or rub up against him in case I spoiled things for him. I lay there, aching with frustration, wondering what to do next. Then Arthur's hand brushed over my damp underwear and cupped my erection. "How frustrated are you, from one to ten?"

I grinned. "Twelve. You're a tease, you know that?"

"No, I'm not. If I was a tease, I'd get up now and put my pants on, and tell you I need you to go." He slid his finger into the top of my underwear and ran it over the crown of my dick. I sucked in a breath. "I've been thinking about doing this. I want to see you come. Is that okay?"

"Jesus, fuck," I muttered. "You can do whatever you want, Arthur."

"Close your eyes, then."

I closed them and rolled onto my back again. Arthur moved around beside me and I realised he was sitting up. Then he hooked his thumbs into the sides of my briefs and pulled them down to mid-thigh. My dick bounced against my stomach. I pulled my shirt up a little out of the way. Then I waited for Arthur's touch, almost holding my breath, but forced to let out little gasps every so often. My erection twitched and jumped, and my thighs quivered. An interminable length of time seemed to go by, and with every passing second, my frustration increased.

Arthur chuckled. Then he rested a hand on my stomach and lightly stroked. I groaned and squirmed. I wouldn't have been surprised if I shot my load without him doing anything more than that, I was so on the edge.

He trailed his fingertips over my hip and down my thigh, then back up the inside of my leg until he reached my balls. My sac was drawn up tight, and when he cupped it and gently squeezed, I moaned and shuddered. "Please," I whispered, unable to help myself.

Arthur released me, then ran one finger along the side of my dick to the tip, and back down. "You're so hard." He placed a finger and his thumb either side of my shaft and stroked lightly upwards again. "I love doing this. It's not enough, is it?"

"I don't know about that. I'm so fucking close," I panted.

"Tell me you want me, Travis."

"Jesus." I licked my lips. "I want you so much, Arthur. So fucking much. You're all I want."

He wrapped his hand around me, just tight enough, and pumped me a few times, slow and firm. Fire licked up my spine, and I came hard, shooting up to the middle of my chest. Arthur loosened his grip and stroked me through it, rubbing his thumb over my slit until I had to push his hand off. I opened my eyes and he was sitting cross-legged beside me, smiling shyly.

"Was that okay?"

"It was more than okay, Arthur. You're amazing." I pulled my underwear back into place and sat up. My shirt was a mess and I took it off. I had a T-shirt on underneath.

"So are you." He leaned close and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "You make me feel normal."