Page 23 of Spread Your Wings

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The afternoon dragged while Sammy waited.

He changed his clothes three times. Jean shorts and a T-shirt.

Board shorts and a nice button-down. Finally, he settled on khaki pants and a tight polo.

The blue polo defined his pecs while still hanging loosely at his waist. He still didn’t have furniture in his living room, so he sat at the oak dining table he’d purchased on clearance.

The spindle-backed chairs weren’t comfortable.

They were the only seats in the apartment, besides his bed.

He hoped he and Mustafa would move to the bedroom sooner, rather than later.

While he waited, though, he grew more and more anxious.

What if he doesn’t want me?

What if he met someone at college? Someone like him, from Bosnia, here to avoid persecution?

What if he still believes Gavin?

What if he never shows?

He wondered when his stomach growled, just after eight o’clock.

He almost wished it was his weekend to work, so he had something, anything, to occupy his time.

He didn’t even have a television set in the apartment.

He had music, though. Instead of tuning into the radio, he pressed play and filled his apartment with the sounds of Queen.

He tried to read a novel. He was on his third read-through of the same chapter when he heard a knock at the door.

Mustafa had stopped somewhere to shower and change clothes. Instead of being slicked back, his hair was now gelled up into spikes. He wore jeans and a blue cotton T-shirt. The material was soft under Sammy’s fingertips. He wrapped his arms around Mustafa and dragged him into the apartment.

Mustafa’s lips crushed Sammy’s as they backed up against the apartment door, closing it with their weight. Sammy had enough presence of mind to flick the deadbolt before he lost himself in their kiss. His body moved against Mustafa’s involuntarily, seeking flesh beneath his clothes.

“Missed you,” Mustafa huffed in his ear as they parted to remove shirts.

Sammy sighed as Mustafa caressed his chest. “Missed you too.”

“When I saw that guy at your place, I couldn’t take it. I wanted to pound his face into the door.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Sammy said. “He’s not worth losing you to jail.”

“I would be deported. No jail.”

Sammy hooked his fingers into Mustafa’s belt loops and held him close. “He’s definitely not worth being deported.”

They kissed again, Sammy trailed his hands over Mustafa’s soft skin. He kneaded the hard muscles of Mustafa’s shoulders, and Mustafa moaned into his mouth.

“No furniture?” Mustafa asked when he came up for air.

“Bedroom.”

Mustafa chuckled. “You make all your visitors sit on your bed?”

“You’re my only visitor, and the only one who matters.”

Mustafa grabbed him then, picking him up off the floor. Sammy held himself in place with his legs around Mustafa’s waist and let Mustafa carry him into his bedroom.

They finished getting undressed before climbing into Sammy’s bed. Mustafa’s skin pimpled from contact with the cool sheets.

“See?” He chuckled. “I need you to keep me warm.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Sammy said. “I don’t want you to go anywhere, either.”

“Well, as long as I don’t murder your ex, I will stay out of trouble. I signed up for citizenship classes, too.”

“I don’t mean stay in the US. I mean stay here, with me, in this apartment. Help me pick out furniture. Keep me company at night when it’s too hot to sleep.”

Mustafa brushed his lips over Sammy’s. “What are you saying?”

“Live with me. Sleep with me. Love me like I love you.”

“I do love you,” Mustafa said, rolling Sammy onto his back and straddling his legs.

He pressed Sammy into the mattress as he possessed his mouth.

Mustafa kissed him so thoroughly, he thought the conversation was over.

Then, he said, “I love you enough to be more than a burden. I needed to find a job, register for school, and prove I could be a productive member of society before I felt worthy of you.”

“You didn’t need to do all that for me.”

Mustafa rested his forehead against Sammy’s. “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me.”

“Does that mean you’ll stay?”

“As long as you’ll have me.”

“Forever,” Sammy promised.

Mustafa kissed him, and the world went dark as he closed his eyes and surrendered to sensation. He lifted his knees and wrapped his lower legs around Mustafa’s waist. “Fuck me.” He sang the chorus to the Queen song bearing his name.

“Only if you promise.”

“Promise?” Sammy reopened his eyes. Mustafa’s disapproving squint held no clues.

“Promise not to sing that song.”

Sammy laughed. “But it’s so?—”

“Campy. The word you are looking for is campy.”

“Where did you learn that?” Sammy asked, leaning up on his elbows so he could plant quick kisses on Mustafa’s neck between each word.

“The woman at your office today. I thought she was anti-Muslim until one of my coworkers explained. It means theatrical, over the top. She was more anti-Queen. All Queen songs are ‘campy.’”

Sammy couldn’t argue with that, so he kissed Mustafa soundly on the mouth. “I promise I won’t sing that song. Please, fuck me.”

“Condoms?”

Sammy pointed to the bookshelf next to the bed. He’d placed them on the nearest shelf, in plain sight, hoping for this moment. “Only until July fifteenth. Then, we can get tested again, and ditch the condoms if we’re both negative.”

Sammy sighed. Mustafa eased his knees to his chest and, using the lube next to the box of condoms, stretched and readied his hole. Sammy dropped his head to the pillow and lost himself as the burn gave way to pleasure.

“Please,” Sammy begged, his balls already tight with the need to come.

Mustafa grinned as he rolled the condom onto his cock. “You’re wrong about one thing.”

“Yeah?”

“I won’t fuck you. I’ll make love to you.” Mustafa resumed his position above Sammy. “ Volim te . I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Sammy said as Mustafa brushed the tip of his cock against Sammy’s entrance. “So much.”

Mustafa filled him. He slowly sank inside until his balls slapped Sammy’s behind. Sammy had never really cared for the position, but now he couldn’t get enough. He stared into Mustafa’s darkened pupils as they moved together toward ecstasy.

“Harder,” Sammy said, canting his hips so Mustafa’s cock nailed his prostate with each thrust. Mustafa quickened his pace.

Sammy relaxed into the mattress, losing his mind as Mustafa pounded into him.

Pleasure built in his balls like electricity during a storm.

He arched his back as Mustafa sank into him.

His orgasm raced through him like a storm.

Lightning flashed behind his eyelids. Cum spurted across his stomach and chest. Mustafa groaned as he surveyed their bodies and the display of ecstasy all over Sammy’s body.

Mustafa muttered in Bosnian as he came. Sammy didn’t need to understand the words to know Mustafa wanted him, loved him. His body shook with his release, and he collapsed on top of Sammy, gulping air.

“Love you,” Sammy whispered as he kissed Mustafa’s temple.

“ Volim te ,” Mustafa answered. He grabbed the condom and pulled out, but Sammy held him when he tried to move away.

“Stay, for a little while.”

“I’ll stay forever, if you’ll have me.”

Sammy wrapped his arms around Mustafa’s wide shoulders and hugged him tight. “I’m sorry I ever made you doubt that.”

Mustafa kissed his temple. “I’m sorry I believed that jerk in your old apartment.” He snorted. “I also doubted myself.”

“And now?”

“I have a plan, at least.”

“I believe in you.”

Sammy let Mustafa go so they could get cleaned up and ready for bed.

“I should have just listened to Freddie,” Mustafa said as Sammy turned out the light.

Sammy climbed into bed with him, content to cuddle with his back to Mustafa’s front, one arm draped over his chest. “How so?”

“‘Being natural and genuine is what wins.’” Mustafa chuckled. “I thought you would only love me when I had a big hot-shot job like you do.”

“Nah. All you have to be is yourself,” Sammy said, snuggling closer. He brought Mustafa’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. They fell asleep like that, wrapped in each other’s love.