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Alex stared at it. “Is that…?”

Timi resisted ducking his head. “I ordered it for…practice.”

Then, he twisted the cap and spurted its contents into his palm. He upturned their positions till he lay on top. He raised himself up and wrapped his hand around their hardness. It didn't completely go round, but it was enough for Alex to let out a hiss at the slimy coolness.

Timi began to stroke, slowly at first, but he picked up speed when the pleasure began building.

With their mouths free, there was no stopping the sounds.

Wrecked moans escaped the windows and probably down to Edet's horrified ears.

But Timi couldn't give a rat's ass. Holding any sound in was expecting him to smile while being skinned alive.

His body was too small to contain the overwhelming sensation of having their dicks rubbed together.

Squelchy sounds followed every tug, beautifully obscene and so arousing, it was only a matter of seconds.

The tingling started from his curled toes; his insides wound so tightly. As his world began toppling, Alex gripped his shoulders, his mouth opened to a silent scream, face twisted in a painfully divine grimace.

“Jesus, fuck,” Timi whimpered, so sure he'd never seen anything more stunning. “Look at you. Fuck.”

Alex opened his eyes. They were dark and fathomless, drawing Timi further into this pit he realised he would never escape.

Then, Alex's mouth moved. “I love you,” it said.

And Timi's world went still, followed by the dam shattering so intensely, a loud, wretched cry tore out of him.

A pleasure he'd never imagined was possible dragged out his essence in thick spurts.

Alex's hand replaced his slackened one and resumed stroking.

Fast and furious, elongating his orgasm.

After a few strokes, Alex jerked on a cry, then reared up to capture Timi's lips, sending the rest of the breathy wails down his throat, as his warm spurts continuously hit Timi's stomach.

Timi couldn't tell how long they stayed slumped against each other, trembling and mouthing at each other's skin.

The world around him was white and formless, Alex being the only concrete thing he could feel.

And as if he could tell how unmoored he felt, Alex tightened his arms around him, plastering lube and cum against their sweaty skin.

They stayed locked in each other's arms till their explosive breathing eased into something less life-threatening, then Timi rolled to his back, wincing as a blast of cool air hit his frontage.

“So, I think we can agree we're never going to be just friends, yeah?” he said, when he could find words.

A breathless chuckle rumbled out of Alex. “No, I don't think so.”

Timi turned to his side to meet Alex's eyes. “Let's be what we have to be to each other, for as long as we can be.”

Alex's smile faded. “Let's. ”

“And just so you know, I've also entertained murdering a nameless, faceless doctor who drinks.”

Alex's eyes crinkled at the corners. “Ah. We'll have to try curbing our inner Clifford.”

Warm tenderness flooded Timi's heart. But as he was too cowardly to return the words Alex had said to him that had flipped his world upside down, he whispered the literal truth of his heart. “All I see is you, Alex.”

Alex didn't hesitate. “And all I see is you, Timi.”

Alex's reaction to Lillian's proposition didn't go as Timi expected.

He wasn't necessarily eager to be dragged into the murky waters of a dysfunctional elite family, but he wasn't blind to the benefits of Lillian's involvement.

Agu wasn't a forgiving person, and he believed in visiting the sins of fathers on sons who contributed.

However, Alex was having none of it, and Timi was getting exasperated.

Two days later, as they lay in his bed after a long day of shooting and baking, he opened the file containing a long list of warehouses storing Agu's contrabands.

“You can submit these things anonymously,” he reasoned. “No one would know it's from me.”

Alex clicked on his email tab and pointed at a section of the message Timi received that morning. “She wants it public. With reporters in attendance.”

“She prefers not wants . I have the final say.”

“Still not wise,” Alex said.

Timi opened the tab containing scanned international passports. “Look at this. A whole lot of people unaccounted for. Allegedly trafficked. Sold to prostitution. Some dead already. I thought you of all people would understand—”

Alex slammed the computer shut. “The source of the info is what I don't trust.”

“Why?”

Alex got up and headed for the bathroom. “Just trust me on this, okay?”

“How can I when you won't give me anything?” Timi called after him.

And so it went for the next couple of days, and with Alex staying at Timi's, the argument usually took up a huge chunk of their very brief alone time. When Timi brought it up again one night while they took a late-night swim, Alex eventually burst out.

“She approached me too.”

When Timi remained quiet, Alex turned around from the slab he'd smacked, and Timi watched as his eyes widened. “You knew?”

“I only suspected.” He swam to the shallow end and sat on a step. “Why didn't you say something?”

Alex's shoulders fell. “Because she's the reason I got into a fight with Agu's men.”

Now, that was shocking. “How so?”

Alex swam towards him, then stood with his back against the coping. Water dripping down his chest in silvery streams. “When you refused to make contact, I guess she decided to up her threats.”

Realisation dawned. “She knows who you are. Your family.”

“Yeah. But she had already played that card before I began working for you and I didn't budge.”

“She also wanted you to expose Agu?”

“She wanted me to steal something from him. A SanDisk hidden in Oku's golden head.

Timi frowned, bewildered. “She's Agu's wife. The closest to him. She can bring him down if she wants to. Why keep trying to recruit people to do that?”

“There's an old story rotated amongst the guards,” said Alex. “Her father had once locked her up in her asylum, and her marriage to Agu was her way out. Her safety net but also her prison. Agu is the chosen heir, and if anything happens, her first son takes over. He’s a minor, so she can have control. But for Agu to go, it can’t be traced to her, or she loses everything. ”

“So, we're dealing with a mad woman here?”

“Who knows what's true?”

Timi bit his lower lip. She'd looked perfectly alright when they spoke, her words coherent and precise. Could she truly be insane?

“So, she threatened to expose you, and you fought her guards?” he asked.

“Not me.” Alex met his gaze. “You.”

“My past?”

“No. Something else. She thought if she threatened you, I would give in.”

Timi's heart stuttered. “Why would she think that?”

Alex dropped his eyes. “After you called me drunk that night, I may have, uh, called Agu whose summons I refused to acknowledge. I’d already found out who Rukky was, so, I…

kinda threatened to destroy him. Maybe she heard me, because I received a message hours later.

She’d gotten the SanDisk but if she released its contents, you were also going down. I’d fucked up and needed to fix it.”

The water drifting around his legs suddenly felt too cold. “I was never part of Agu's businesses.”

“I know. But the pictures didn’t look like it. You've met with Agu and his associates in some questionable places, and Agu had taken lots of pictures.”

“Shit.”

“I weighed the situation. She obviously could do nothing with the information she had.

So, the chance of you getting in trouble was slim.

And if I decided to do as she said, what guarantee was there that you'll be safe?

She didn't like my decision, I tried to leave, the very men I trained tried to hold me back, and I was having none of that.”

“Fuck.”

“This isn't your fight, nor mine. Yes, I will be happy to see Agu suffer, as Oyin could easily have been his victim too. But if any of this must get out, then you should be far away from it. Those pictures don’t show you committing any crime, but you know how the police are.

They probably haven't summoned you because there's no proof of the current accusations.

Doesn't mean they aren't itching for one slip-up so they can come running.”

Timi felt sick to the stomach. “But if we don't do as she says… ”

Alex waddled closer and gripped his hands. “Hey. She can't defy Agu directly, and without context, the pictures are harmless. You can't be punished for doing nothing.”

Timi let his forehead fall on Alex's shoulder. “So, our safe bet now is Agu.” He chuckled sourly. “What an irony.”

Alex stroked his hair. “Yes. And maybe, Lillian just handed us our get-away card.”

After a long silence, Timi asked. “What did I say to you that night?”

Alex's strokes paused. “You're not ready to hear it.”

Timi raised his head. “How do you know?”

“You've told me in so many ways.”

“Alex, is there something you're hiding from me?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “And I will tell you when you're ready to listen.”

Timi pursed his lips. “Would it harm anyone if revealed now?”

“It might.” Alex cradled his jaw. “Do you trust me?”

Their gazes held, and when Timi answered, his conviction was as solid as his blossoming obsession for the man before him.

“Totally.”