Page 14 of Into Hell: Prelude (Holding Cell: Return to the Island)

W hen Donald learned about the barbecue at the Base, he was excited to go.

It had been a while since he’d last seen the new friends he’d made on the island.

They kept in touch over social media, chatting and sharing pics, and there had been a few phone calls as well.

But they hadn’t gotten together in person since returning from the island—mostly, for Donald, John had been the reason.

His boyfriend hadn’t wanted to socialize since coming home from that nightmare place.

He hardly left the house, but for an occasional trip to the mansion with Cochise.

Donald enjoyed those rare excursions because they gave him the chance to visit with Cal, Jacob, and Eric.

Donald was a social creature, and the confinement was taking its toll.

But he couldn’t— wouldn’t— push John to engage in situations that made him feel ill at ease.

And Donald didn’t feel right about socializing without John, even though John insisted it was okay for him to do so.

“What do you think?” Donald sat on the sofa beside John, who was playing one of the Monster Hunter DLCs they’d just recently bought.

John seemed to enjoy the Monster Hunter game more than most for the open-world aspect.

Donald suspected it was cathartic for John as well, and possibly therapeutic on some level, as it allowed John to fight “monsters” and win.

“About what?” John didn’t take his eyes off the game as he skillfully worked the controller.

“The barbecue,” Donald said. “At the Base. It could be fun seeing the other guys again.”

“You talk to them all the time online,” John mumbled with an absent tone.

“Yeah, it’d kind of be cool to hang out with them, in person, though. Don’t ya think?”

John shrugged as his avatar dodged the charge of Diablos, a large, powerful Wyvern with massive horns, rolled, spun, and slashed the beast in the hindquarters with his huge sword—which only seemed to piss off the monster rather than harm it.

Sighing, Donald sank against the back of the sofa and rubbed his hand up John’s back.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “We don’t have to go.

” He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around John’s waist and nuzzled his ear.

“We can stay home and have the house all to ourselves. That doesn’t happen very often. ”

John paused the game and set the controller aside. “You can go,” he whispered, looking at Donald. “It’s okay. You don’t have to…”

“What?” Donald stared at him as a pained look came over John’s face.

“You don’t have to put your life on hold for me just because I’m…” He looked down. “… fucked up. You can go hang with your friends whenever you want.”

“ Our friends,” Donald corrected. “Not just mine. And you’re not fucked up. ” He hugged the other boy closer and kissed his head. “What happened to you was horrifying. Healing is a process, a long one. No one—not our family or our friends—expect you to just be okay and get over it.”

John swallowed and stared at his hands. “Everyone else did,” he whispered. “Do you know how weak that makes me feel?”

“What’re you talking about?” Donald frowned. “No one just got over it. And even so, the same things didn’t happen to us. We were scared shitless out there, but it wasn’t the same as…” His throat tightened at the horrifying memories. “… what you went through.”

John didn’t reply, just picked at his pant leg, a light flush to his neck and face as he struggled with his emotions.

“Hey.” Donald cupped his head, drawing John into a deeper hug. “You’re not weak. This… thing … didn’t beat you. You’re still here, you’re still fighting. Weak people don’t fight so hard.”

John turned his face into Donald’s neck, his breath catching. “What if I can’t win?” he whispered with a tremor. “Sometimes… Sometimes it feels like too much… and I just want to stop fighting and let it… take me.”

“No.” Donald hugged him harder. “That is never going to happen. Never.”

“Goddamn right it isn’t.”

Both boys jumped when the Egyptian appeared in the doorway of the living room, his imposing frame dwarfing the archway.

A few long strides brought him to the sofa.

Rather than reprimanding John for his words, the man lifted the boy to his feet and hugged him—an occurrence that was happening more often these days with Cochise and his children.

Jax knew what was coming even before he saw the look in Manny’s eyes. When Jax volunteered for the first island mission, Manny didn’t like it at all. He liked it even less this time.

“I owe it to them,” Jax explained. “They saved us, Manny. You, me, and Jesus. How can I not volunteer to go with them now? They’re trying to save more children, like they did in the prison.

Kids out there who’re being hurt and abused.

” He cupped Manny’s face and touched his head to his brow.

“The way John Boy and those other men hurt you. They need our help.”

Manny hung his head and melted into Jax’s strong arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in broken English. “I-I know they need help and… and I want you to help them.” He wrapped his arms tightly around Jax, trembling. “I’m just… I’m scared… if something happens to you…”

Jax kissed his hair. “I’m coming home, baby,” he murmured.

“I promise, I’ll come back. Nothing could keep me away from you.

” He tilted Manny’s face up. “Look, if I could survive the prison, I can survive this.” He winked.

“Piece of cake.” Jax hoped he came off more confident than he felt.

They were walking into a dangerous situation, and he knew it; he certainly didn’t underestimate the risks.

Only a fool would do so. But he didn’t want Manny worrying over him any more than necessary.

“Will you make love to me before you leave?” Manny asked with a soft, hopeful heat in his dark eyes.

“A few times.” Jax smiled and kissed him with warm passion.

When they had first arrived at the mansion from Texas, Jax had held off going “all the way” with Manny, though they did other, quite satisfying things to each other.

Jax had been concerned that after the abuse Manny suffered in prison, it might panic him once they started making love.

So, they took it slowly, letting things evolve naturally as their relationship deepened.

The first time they made love was something Jax would never forget.

The “explosion” of love—emotionally and spiritually—was as mind-blowing as the physical experience.

Since then, their lovemaking was always intense, emotional, and frequent.

“Now?” The almost innocent hopefulness on his face was more than Jax could resist. The boy had him wrapped tightly around his little finger, and a simple look here, a smile there, would get him exactly what he wanted. Jax was okay with that.

Chuckling deep in his chest, Jax kissed him with stronger intention. “As you wish, always. ”

Manny grinned when Jax lifted him and dropped him on the bed, crawling over the top of him. They kissed again as Jax stripped the boy naked and took liberties with parts of his body that begged for attention.

Manny moaned and whimpered, grabbing Jax’s short blond hair, arching his hips as the older man sucked him into his throat, over and again, until the young man writhed on top of the bed in exquisite ecstasy.

“ Uh… uh… uuhhh!” Manny gasped out the stuttered syllables as his body locked and his fists squeezed tight, straining the roots of Jax’s hair.

He bucked his hips and squirted cum down Jax’s throat, trembling and panting, thrusting urgently into his lover’s mouth until the orgasm released him.

With a hard shudder, Manny wilted against the tangled blankets.

“Mm.” Jax pulled off his member slowly, drawing out the final vestiges of his seed, then licked his lips and grinned. “Delicious.” He crawled over the top of Manny and kissed his mouth. The boy sucked his tongue, savoring his own flavor in Jax’s mouth.

“Now me,” Manny panted softly through their kiss.

Jax wasn’t about to object; he was barely holding on. Whenever Manny came in his mouth, it nearly ignited his own orgasm. He sat back on his heels, still half dressed, shirtless but wearing his jeans. His crotch bulged, straining the seams of the denim.

Repositioning, Manny opened his pants as Jax shoved them down over his hips, his urgent knuckles gouging his own flesh, causing it to flush beneath the pressure.

His rigid cock sprang free, the flesh engorged with swollen purplish veins webbing up from the root to the plump tip, already oozing milky juices.

Manny bent down to his elbows, his delicate hands curling around the thick, pulsing stem, and licked Jax’s cock from the hard root that ran beneath his heavy balls, up to the crown, the tip of his perfect tongue bumping over the rope of muscle straining the skin of his dick.

Jax shuddered, a violent shiver racing down his spine and detonating through his tailbone, causing a pleasant tingle in his asshole.

His inner anal muscles contracted—once, twice, three times—as Manny licked him again, and again.

The boy moaned, lathering his cock with warm, wet saliva.

He slipped a hand between Jax’s thighs and rolled his balls between his fingers, then squeezed and tugged the sack away from his body.

“Holy fuck…” Jax jerked and sucked in a sharp breath; the boy had learned very quickly what made Jax’s toes curl.

The erotic effect heightened when Manny poked his perfect little ass in the air at the same time he swallowed Jax’s cock.

“Ooohhh, holy hell…” Jax whimpered, then nearly doubled over as his engorged shaft slid down Manny’s throat, so tight, hot, and slick—a slippery flesh cave that felt like fucking heaven on earth.

The boy continued to play with his balls while he stroked his dick with the other hand, following his mouth up and down the hard, veiny root.

Manny hollowed his cheeks as he sucked greedily on Jax’s cock, his head bobbing in the man’s lap.

A steady stream of breathy curses rolled off Jax’s tongue as he tangled his fists in the boy’s long, soft strands and pumped his hips.

He couldn’t pull his heated eyes from the glorious vision of Manny’s sweet, delicate ass lightly bobbing in time with his mouth, his petite cheeks spread wide and inviting.

“ Shit…” Jax gulped and reached forward, sliding his eager hands along the boy’s smooth, warm back and down to his ass.

His strong fingers sank into his velvety flesh, kneading the tender mounds.

Manny moaned along his cock, and the vibration sent another jolt through Jax’s system.

The boy arched his ass into Jax’s palms, rolling his hips, asking for more.

Jax bent lower and kissed the boy’s back, warm and tacky with sweat, then ran a finger between his splayed cheeks.

He found his puckered entrance and rimmed it a few times, almost massaging.

Manny moaned again and sucked his dick harder.

Another string of quiet curses left Jax’s lips. He sucked his finger, then penetrated Manny’s hole, a knuckle at a time. The tightness and heat engulfed his digit, squeezing, pulling as the boy’s anal muscles clenched and flexed.

“ Fuck…” Jax shuddered and cupped one hand on the back of Manny’s head while he finger-fucked him with a single digit, then two, then three. Jax spread his knees wider, rocking his cock into his young lover’s eager mouth while he pleasured the boy from behind.

A full-body explosion of sensation overwhelmed Jax. His balls clenched, pulling up tight against his body as the root of his cock swelled in Manny’s mouth.

“ Oh fuck…” Jax panted, shoving his fingers deeper into the boy’s pumping ass. His other hand gripped Manny’s head almost forcefully, but not quite. “ Fuck, baby… I’m gonna cum… I’m gonna cum…”

Manny whimpered louder, head bobbing faster, tongue and mouth pulling harder on his engorged stem. The boy thrust his ass against Jax’s pistoning fingers. Tremors coursed through Manny’s body, and his muscles tensed, his whimpers growing louder.

“ Uh!” Jax grunted and shoved one hand beneath the boy.

He grabbed his stiff cock and jerked it urgently while fingering his ass.

Jax fought his orgasm, holding back with all his might until Manny gasped on his dick and shot his load onto the bed.

Cum filled Jax’s hand on a backstroke, and he continued to pump the boy inside and out.

As soon as Manny came, Jax let go and burst inside Manny’s mouth, shooting a glob of cum down his throat, then another, and another.

Jax shuddered and grunted as Manny sucked him dry.

When Manny finally pulled off him with a wet pop of his cock head slipping from his mouth, the boy raised up, eyes glassy, face and neck deeply flushed, and pressed his body against Jax.

He panted hard as he kissed Jax on the mouth, the scent of his own cum on the boy’s breath, the flavor strong on his tongue.

Jax pulled him hard against his sweaty, hot body, his fingers still buried in his tight, heated ass. Manny whimpered into his mouth and stroked up and down on his fingers. He wanted— needed— to be fucked. Jax had hardly gone down. He was ready and able to oblige.