C.U.B.E.

≈ Ch. 28: AWAY FROM EVERYTHING ≈

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Who’s Who in this chapter

Kareem and Lance enjoy the amenities of the Nebula Palace… and then enjoy each other under the artificial sun of the Virtual Beach. Alastair (the ‘imperfect’ technician in charge of the communication system) intercepts a couple phone calls made by O’Rourke that reveal how close his downfall is.

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~ Outrageous and indecent ~

Lance felt in heaven, half-immersed in the warm water of the heated pool of the Nebula Palace. The residual pleasure of the sweet love-making with Kareem mixed with the new pleasure of feeling his strong arms around him and his vast hairy chest under his cheek.

“I hate to be the party crusher” – Kareem said softly – “but I haven’t eaten anything since last night, and the meals they serve in prison are anything but filling. I’m starving. Should we go home and have breakfast?”

“Going home is the last thing I was thinking of” – Lance replied, raising his head to look at his lover – “I have planned an amazing morning for us! Let’s get out of the water, there are some clean towels over there, let’s dry off. Why going home, if we can have a five-star breakfast here at the Nebula Palace? And after breakfast, we’ll go to the nearby Virtual Beach, and relax under the sun!”

“The beach? I don’t have a bathing suit…” – Kareem objected, while toweling off, but Lance smiled: “I’ve thought of everything! Your swimsuit is waiting for you in that changing booth, over there.”

Kareem entered the changing booth and Lance quickly put on his own speedo, restraining an urchin grin and waiting for Kareem’s loud protests…

“What? Are you kidding me??” – Kareem bellowed after a few moments – “I can’t go around wearing… this! It’s outrageous! Indecent!”

Lance turned to the changing booth to watch Kareem coming out wearing a sort of bright yellow bikini brief, whose thin waistband crossed on the crotch and went around the cock and balls, leaving in full view the thick pubic bush and brazenly putting on great display Kareem’s substantial bulge. The overall look was breathtaking and so erotic that Lance gasped, adjusting his own stiffening cock into the speedo.

“Indecent, you say? You’re a vision of over-the-top manliness!” – Lance replied, knowing well that he was pushing Kareem’s limits, making him wear that particular piece of swimwear. Kareem was not impressed by the compliment: “This is way too much, Lance, I refuse to wear this… scandalous tiny scrap of fabric!”

Lance moved closer to Kareem and looked straight into his eyes: “Do you remember when we first went to Monsieur D’Antin’s atelier? Back then, I asked you if you were going to hide or be proud of being the man you are. Now you’re given the chance to step up: you can decide to either go unnoticed, wearing a boring ordinary swimsuit, or make everybody swoon and drool, feeling in awe for your superior masculinity. Men are competitive by nature, and outside their weapons are money, success, power. Here at the Cube, no one gives a damn how much money you have or how much power you hold: here, your only weapon is your sexual allure, your confidence and your body.”

“But it’s… horrible!” – Kareem exclaimed – “What if someone was not born with a beautiful face or graceful features?”

“You’re totally right, and I’m not saying I like it, but it’s a fact. Think of the guys up on the 4th floor: they truly run the Cube, nothing would be possible without them, and yet they’re shunned and called ‘freaks’, just because they’re not handsome, nor confident. But you, Kareem, you have it all: charm, charisma and a body to die for! And you also have a secret weapon: your aura of straight stud. I’m asking you to embrace a new perception of your body, I want you to feel sexy and alluring, and flaunt your incredible sex-appeal, accepting that other men may feel a sexual attraction to you. Enjoy it, even!”

“I… I don’t want to have sex with other men! Why should I fire up their libido?”

“Isn’t what most women do, outside?” – Lance pointed out – “They act seductively, but they don’t have sex with all the men who fall for them. Few men, here at the Cube, can be on par with you, with regards to handsomeness and sex-appeal, so, why not being proud of what you are?”

“Uhm… Well…” – Kareem replied, uncertain, tickled by the idea of being regarded as one of the sexiest men of the Cube – “Swoon and drool, you say? I can’t believe it, I know I’m good-looking, but I’m not that sexy…”

“Let’s make a test, then!” – Lance exclaimed, with a wide smile, taking Kareem by his hand and pulling him out of the pool area, toward the stairs.

 

~ The leader of the pack ~

They quickly climbed up to the first floor and reached the door to the dining room. “Wait outside for one minute, but peek through the crack of the door” – Lance instructed – “Let me say hi to my friends, and then come in.”

“Uhm… OK” – Kareem replied, a bit puzzled. Lance went in and Kareem saw two guys warmly welcome him. “Lance! What a nice surprise!” – a young waiter exclaimed, immediately echoed by a taller man in his early fifties, probably the maître, who said in a harsh German accent: “Look who’s there! Mein Gott! Didn’t your mother warn you against going around almost naked like that? Bad things may happen to brazen boys like you…”

Kareem, peeking through the door, looked at the man attentively; he was tall, handsome, with blond buzz-cut hair, square clean-shaven jaws and sharp features, and his pale-blue eyes were looking at Lance with an almost predatory glare. Moments before, he seemed quite intimate with the young waiter, but now his attention was completely focused on Lance. His dominant attitude clearly revealed his habit to be the leader of the pack, the alpha-male everyone had to bow to.

Kareem felt the blood boil into his veins, but didn’t move, as Lance seemed to know how to keep the self-assured stud at bay: “Hey, Heinz! Always chasing new preys, uh? Doesn’t this beautiful boy of yours satisfy your every needs?”. Lance flashed a seductive grin to Heinz, who moved a step forward with a lustful grin, but stopped in his tracks, annoyed, when Lance turned to the boy, totally focusing his attention on him, and hugged him happily.

The moment they parted, Kareem opened wide the door and went in; he was still pissed off by the lascivious and predatory glance Heinz had given to Lance, his Lance, so he walked into the room with great stride, looking straight at the maître, totally oblivious of being almost naked.

“Good gracious…” – the young waiter murmured looking at Kareem with wide eyes; the boy’s lustful tone and his mouth sagging wide open made Heinz’s jealousy flare, and the man instantly walked toward Kareem with an icy glare in his eyes. Kareem and Heinz stood still in the middle of the room for many long moments, eyes into eyes, in what immediately appeared to be a silent tug of war, a trial of strength between two equally dominant males, both willing to make the other submit.

Neither Lance nor the boy dared to even breathe, looking at the two powerful men standing like two bronze statues in the middle of the room. It was Kareem who, in the end, broke the oppressive silence, saying in a commanding tone: “I’ve come to have breakfast”. Heinz’s gaze wavered, unwilling to give up, but his effort was short-lived: “Ja, mein Herr. This way, please” – he said, stepping back and walking Kareem to his table.

Lance took a sigh of relief, because for a moment he actually believed that a brawl could break out between the two men. Kareem looked still tense and upset, but Lance immediately soothed the tension placing a hand on Kareem’s and murmuring: “You’ve been wonderful. Just wonderful. Thank you for caring for me so much.”

Kareem smiled tenderly and was about to reply, but the young waiter came closer, asking with adoring eyes: “What would you like for breakfast, sir?”

Lance ordered just one poached egg and a grapefruit juice, and Kareem said in a tentative tone: “I understand the kitchen is practically closed, but I’m hungry like a wolf. May I have a full English breakfast, with sausages, beans and all?”

“You can have anything you want, sir…” – the waiter breathed with a dreaming tone, moving a bit closer and scanning Kareem’s almost naked body with lustful eyes – “Whatever, sir…”

“Troy!” – the maître barked, looking at his boy from afar – “The chef is waiting for the order! Schnell!”

“I’ll settle with the English breakfast, Troy” – Kareem chuckled – “But thank you for the kind offer. I think that both you and I already have more than we can possibly desire, don’t you think so?”. Kareem said the last words placing a hand over Lance’s, who wore a trembling smile, visibly moved. Troy smiled and nodded: “One English breakfast, one poached egg and one grapefruit juice. Thank you, sirs”.

 

~ Virtual Beach ~

The breakfast was very silent, only few words were exchanged between Kareem and Lance, but the loving glances they shot to each other spoke volumes. Troy never came back from the kitchen, probably forbidden to do so by the jealous maître, who personally served the food. When the dishes were empty, Lance stood up and took Kareem by hand, happily dragging him out of the dining room and to the main hall; there, Lance took a beach towel from a stack near the entrance and said, excited: “Come! I can’t wait to relax on the beach!”

They walked the short distance separating the Nebula Palace from the Virtual Beach, hand in hand. Kareem thought back at the wonderful amenities of the Nebula Palace they'd just enjoyed, and a sudden thought hit him: "Say, Lance... Are you sure you're not paying anything for our stay at the hotel? Because in case, I want to share the bill."

Lance stifled a chuckle and shot at Kareem an urchin glance. "No, you don't want to share the bill..." – he replied after a pause, and it took Kareem a few moments to fully understand what Lance's statement implied. "Oh... Oh! You... You and the manager... Fuck, no, I can't accept..."

"Kareem, trust me, there's nothing 'unacceptable' here. He's a client, in the past I've accepted money from him. This time, he granted us the hotel services for free, so I... granted him mine. But I stuck to the golden rule of the Silk & Lace: the client cums, the boy doesn't. I... I wanted to save myself for you, in a way."

Kareem flashed an uncertain smile, moved by Lance's tenderness. While talking they had gotten in front of the beach, and joyfully rushed to lay their feet on the soft warm ‘sand’ of the beach. It wasn’t really sand, it was a sort of synthetic material, smooth and soft, that covered a vast expanse as wide as the entire 2nd floor; there were many sunbeds and colorful umbrellas scattered on the beach; in the distance, both the side and the front walls displayed a totally believable simulation of a calm sea and a sunny sky with a few white clouds. Many beach bars, small restaurants and shadowy privée separated the sand from the seafront promenade, 5th Street.

After months living in closed spaces, walking along an orthogonal grid of narrow Avenues and Streets, the sudden sight of such an ample space, where the eye could look in every direction, made Kareem feel almost dizzy: “It’s… so beautiful! I remember we had lunch in one of these beach bars, once, but standing in the open, with my feet on the sand, it’s… just incredible!”

“I know you would’ve loved it” – Lance replied, laying the beach towel on the sand, under an open umbrella – “Come, let’s relax and enjoy the sun! You can suntan, here, too! This special light contains a small amount of UV rays, not dangerous for the skin. You don’t mind sharing the same towel do you?”

“Mind it? Love the idea!” – Kareem exclaimed happily, laying on the large towel next to Lance. He linked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, smiling for the pleasure, and sighed contented. Lance looked at him, at his wide hairy chest slowly moving up and down, at his powerful biceps, and the incredibly enticing bulge blatantly put on display by the brazen yellow bikini and thought he was so incredibly happy to be there, on that beautiful beach, with the man he loved with every ounce of his heart.

“I have to apologize” – Lance said after long minutes of meaningful silence – “for what happened in the dining hall. I just wanted to make you see how people’s behavior could be different, when talking to me and talking to you. Troy was priceless, he was about to cream his pants, just looking at you! Only his professional training stopped him from groping you shamelessly! Ha ha ha! But Heinz… I’m sorry, I should’ve refrained from flirting with him that way. I didn’t want to upset you.”

Kareem smiled shyly, turning his head, and replied: “I’ve never been jealous in my life, I swear. But when Heinz looked at you that way… I screamed in my mind ‘Hands off! He’s mine!’ And I thank you for that, because I understood how much I love you, Lance. I know, it’s somewhat old-fashioned, fighting for your woman… or your man, in this case, but this is me.”

“And I love you the way you are. I felt… important, the center of the world, the center of your world, and I loved you even more.”

Kareem smiled contented and closed again his eyes, enjoying the warm fake sun on his face, the gentle artificial breeze on his skin and the hundred percent real relax he could finally bask into, after months of tension, fights, sexual harassment and undeserved punishments. All those bad memories seemed so distant now!

“You look totally relaxed…” – Lance murmured, placing a hand on Kareem’s wide chest – “I don’t think I have ever seen you so contented and mellow…”

“…And drained” – Kareem chuckled, opening his eyes and giving at Lance an impish glance – “After that wonderful massage, at the hotel, and the sweet love we’ve made into the pool, I finally feel in peace. But… you’re not.” – Kareem added, noticing Lance’s straining bulge into his speedo, and spotting an unspoken fiery desire into his eyes.

“It’s your fault!” – Lance chuckled – “No, it’s actually my fault! I wanted you to make everyone drool, looking at you, and now it’s me the one drooling! You’re sexy as hell…”

“Stop talking about me” – Kareem said seductively, rolling around until his body pressed against Lance’s – “Let’s talk about you, for a change… About this incredibly handsome face of yours, for instance…”

Kareem gently brushed a finger along Lance’s jaw line, and then moved it to Lance’s eyebrows: “Or these beautiful, shining blue eyes… Or this chiseled chest, so smooth and defined…”

Lance almost held his breath, seeing Kareem lower his face to his chest and feeling his bearded lips pressing on the hairless skin. “Let’s talk about these little sexy nipples, that stiffen at the lightest touch…”

Kareem flicked his tongue on Lance’s nipple, making him groan for the sudden surge of pleasure, and quickly started pinching Lance’s other nipple with his fingers, rejoicing the sight of Lance squirming under him. “But there’s more… Look at this navel…” – Kareem went on, covering Lance’s lower torso with tender kisses – “and this belly button… I love this perfect belly button…”. Kareem’s tongue intruded into the smooth small hole, and Lance uttered a choked squeal, while his manhood furiously wiggled and twitched inside his speedo.

“But the best things in life are hidden to the view…” – Kareem breathed, sensually brushing his lips and his bearded face on Lance’s abs, toward the bulge restrained into his speedo – “They must be searched for… discovered…and when you find them… they’re yours forever!”

With his last words, Kareem opened wide his mouth and engulfed as much as he could of Lance’s twitching bulge, blowing hot breath through the thin fabric and making him go wild: “Oooohh… You’ve never… Gawd, don’t stop…!”

Kareem munched, licked and kissed the straining fabric of the speedo until he reckoned that Lance couldn’t bear that torture a moment longer; then, still pressing his face on the front pouch, he grabbed the waistband and pulled the swimsuit down, setting Lance’s cock free. Immediately Lance’s balls were assaulted by Kareem’s passionate lips, while his cock was throbbing like a live animal against Kareem’s cheek. Kareem inhaled sharply, smelling the perfumed aroma emanating from Lance’s crotch, a mix of light sweat and spiced shower gel, and sucked both Lance’s balls into his mouth, bathing them with saliva and tickling the wrinkled skin with the tip of his tongue.

“My goodness…” – Lance said, breathless – “Who taught you how to make a man go crazy like this…?”

“You…” – Kareem simply replied, closing his mouth around Lance’s engorged cock head and sucking it with all his passion. Kareem was anything but an expert cock-sucker, but Lance didn’t notice, lost as he was in the wildest wet dream he could dream: being kissed, worshipped and (incredibly!) sucked by Kareem, the dominant Kareem, the alpha-stud who could fuck any man… or woman.

“NNNNGGHH!!” – Lance moaned loud, when his turgid helmet hit the back of Kareem’s throat; and still Kareem didn’t stop pushing his head down. “You… You don’t have to… Gawd!!” – Lance almost screamed, when Kareem, choking a bit, relaxed his own throat muscles enough to take Lance’s length to the last inch.

Lance instinctively grabbed Kareem’s hair with both hands, but he restrained himself, unwilling to push Kareem too far; and when Kareem, short of air, abruptly recoiled, Lance immediately released him, breathing heavily. They locked eyes for a long moment, while Kareem slowly stroked Lance’s wet cock, and then Kareem’s smiled: “It is not I the man who makes everyone drool and swoon, Lance. It’s you. I can make some cock throb, but you make throb people’s hearts. Mine for sure…”

Still locking eyes with Lance, Kareem opened again his lips and took again Lance’s cock into his mouth, inch by inch, making Lance moan helplessly. Up and down, up and down, Kareem’s mouth was tireless in making love to Lance’s cock, slowing down and pacing up, lapping the hard shaft, licking the sensitive corona, feasting on Lance’s swollen balls.

There was such a passion in Kareem’s act of love, such a great attention to every detail of Lance’s manhood, such a sincere desire to please him that Lance felt his heart explode. But it wasn’t his heart that was actually exploding: with a gurgle, Kareem started sucking frantically, syphoning Lance’s man juice and swallowing it like it was a sweet nectar. His manly hands gently squeezed Lance’s balls, as if he wanted more, while his head didn’t stop bobbing up and down, making Lance delirious with pleasure.

“Fuck… Oh, fuck…” – Lance kept repeating like a mantra, while his entire body and even his soul seemed to liquefy and rush through his throbbing cock into Kareem’s loving mouth, to become part of him forever.

Slowly, Lance came down for his orgasmic high, and stood still on his back, lying on the sweat-soaked towel, with his eyes closed. His ear buzzed lightly and for a moment he thought he’d just dreamed it all. But no, the manly hand lovingly placed on his belly and the hairy chest lightly tickling his thighs were not a dream…

Loud cheers and whistles coming from nearby startled Lance, who raised his head and saw a group of men looking at them, smiling and clapping their hands: “This is how it’s done!” “You two are fuckin’ hot!”, they bellowed, and for the first time in his life Lance blushed.

“Ha ha ha!” – Kareem laughed heartily – “As a wise friend once told me, be proud of your hot body and your sex-appeal, Lance! Those guys are not cheering for my barely acceptable performance, you know…”

“I… I don’t really think it can get any better than that…” – Lance murmured, still dizzy for the explosive orgasm, and Kareem laughed out loud again: “Never say never! Ha ha ha!”

 

~ Juicy secrets ~

Kareem and Lance spent the rest of the morning lying lazily on the beach, then had a light lunch at one of the beach bars, and relaxed again on the beach towel, until the light started tingeing with orange.

“It’s the sunset already?” – Kareem asked, surprised, looking at a big digital clock placed on the roof of a nearby venue – “It’s only 6 PM! I heard people complaining that daytime had become shorter than usual, lately, but I didn’t really notice, until now.”

“Blame me for that…” – Lance confessed with an impish grin; and when Kareem shot at him an inquiring glance, Lance explained: “Do you remember that tall blond man who greeted me while exiting the Stud Stable, after Perry’s and Mateo’s ‘number’? His name is Bryniar Larsson, he’s the engineer in charge of the lighting system, on the 4th floor. I convinced him to cut short a couple hours of daylight from the 1st and 2nd floors to gather enough energy to finally give to the 4th floor a proper dawn, daylight and sunset, instead of that never-changing creepy twilight.”

“Oh… uhm… And you and this Bryniar… I mean…”

“Stop it!” – Lance laughed, giving a light shove to Kareem – “I’m telling you that I helped them make something revolutionary, and the only thing in your mind is whether Bryniar fucked me or not?”

“I’m sorry, Lance… I shouldn’t have asked… But… did he…?”

Lance became serious and looked at Kareem with loving eyes, taking his face into his hands: “Kareem, you’re the only man I love. I love you more than I can possibly say. There’s no room in my heart for other men. But in the past I had sex with many men, and I still do it, occasionally. But today was special, today made me look at us with different eyes. If you ask me to stop seeing other men, I will. No regrets.”

Kareem frowned for a long moment, and then wore a faint smile, shaking his head: “You love me despite my being old-fashioned, stubborn and uptight; you love me the way I am. And I love you the way you are. I know it’s not just sex what you do with some other men, you bring joy into their life, like you brought it into mine. If your heart beats only for me, that’s all I need to know.”

“Then, I had sex with Bryniar…” – Lance said, cautious, but Kareem’s loving smile didn’t fade: “And you brought a sparkle of light into his life.”

“Well, I brought a sparkle of light into the entire 4th floor, actually! Wait… I mean literally: dawn, daylight, sunset…”

“Ha ha ha!” – Kareem laughed, holding Lance into a tight hug – “I love it when you blush!”

Their laughter was interrupted by Lance’s phone buzzing; the display lit up showing a brief message from an anonymous sender: “4β9 !!!”

“It must be from Alastair!” – Lance exclaimed – “4β9 is the address of the communication center, on the 4th floor!”

Kareem chuckled: “This man is in charge of the entire communication system and can’t write a message longer than six characters…”

“Silly! Look, he used three exclamation marks: it must be something important! Let’s go back to the hotel to get dressed, I can’t wait to know what news he has to share!”

In less than fifteen minutes, Lance and Kareem stepped out of the elevator at the 4th floor. The ceiling and the surrounding walls were still faintly glowing for the last traces of a fiery sunset, quickly giving way to the night that the 4th floor had been immersed in for years.

“You should’ve seen the first dawn” – Lance said, noticing Kareem’s surprised glance – “It was… mystical.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about that?”

Lance frowned, remembering that terrible morning, when he tried to tell Kareem what he’d done on the 4th floor, but Kareem attacked him, said horrible things and shoved him to the floor. “You were busy…” – Lance just said, unwilling to bring back bad memories – “Here we are, Beta-9, the communication center.”

They went in and Alastair greeted them with a wide smile: “Come in! I’ve intercepted a couple phone calls made by our esteemed Captain and believe me, you want to listen to them! Wear these earphones…”

Lance and Kareem put the earphones on their head and Alastair clicked a button. An unknown voice boomed in their ears:

“You have guts to call me, after what you’ve done! You’re a lucky bastard, Captain, because in order to save my wife’s honor I had to cover up the scandal, so your lewd affair with my wife remains a secret between the three of us, but I swear that if you ever show your pig’s face here, I’ll make you regret to have been born!”

“Anthony” – O’Rourke replied with urgency – “I swear I didn’t do anything w…”

“Save your lies for your bitches! And don’t you dare to call me by name! Better: don’t you dare to call me at all! Fuck off!”

“He’s the Ministry of Moral Wellness!” – Lance exclaimed when the recording ended – “Triple-A added to the A.I. false information about a fling between O’Rourke and the Ministry’s wife!”

“After the inspection sent by the Corps headquarter” – Kareem chuckled – “he probably tried to get support from his high-level friend, but he got shot down flat…”

“And there’s more…” – Alastair said, clicking again the button on the console.

“Chief Bellwood, you can’t really believe that I…” – O’Rourke’s voice said, immediately interrupted by the Chief of the Police Corps: “I believe what I see, O’Rourke! And I saw your personal seal on those secret dossiers containing… unfathomable filth! I already covered up too many of your deviant stunts. I trusted you when you said you needed an innocent ‘persuasion device’, and I approved the purchase; but when Inspector Morgan told me what really your ‘throne’ can do to a man I felt my guts churning! And that crazy scientist of yours, Dr. Kampfer, who reprogrammed the inmates’ bio-chips to subject them to unspeakable sexual tortures! You’re sick, Captain! Your lurid feasts with your fuck buddies Wilde and Reeves are nothing, compared to the sexual tortures you enjoy inflicting to the Cube’s guests. And even to your subordinate, officer McLaughlin!”

“I think we know too many of each other’s secrets, Chief Bellwood” – O’Rourke threatened, but it only made Bellwood’s anger explode: “What? Secrets you say? You fuckin’ killed a cop!! Yeah, the trial has not been held, yet, but I don’t need no trial, I’m the fuckin’ Chief of the Police Corps for a reason! Want some advice, O’Rourke? Call as many friends as you can, and pray that some of them don’t hang up as soon as they hear your voice. Because that’s what I’ll do if you call again on my personal line!”

The line went dead again, and Kareem whistled: “O’Rourke’s a goner. At this point, not even the President of the Great Worldwide Union can save him, I think.”

“This is what actually scares me” – Alastair said gravely – “Nothing’s more dangerous than a wounded animal. He may be doomed, but he’s still here, and he’ll search for scapegoats to vent his rage onto.”

“Only a charge of murder could stop him” – Lance commented – “but trials take too a long time to be set up…”

Kareem shot a meaningful glance around and said in a conspiratorial tone: “Unless Triple-A can speed things along…”

-~~~≈≈≈ooOoo≈≈≈~~~-

In the next chapter: Kareem asks for help to Triple-A, but has to pay a price to get it. The day after, an official communication from Chief Bellwood in person causes havoc at the Police Station.