C.U.B.E.

≈ Ch. 2: A NEW FRIEND ≈

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Who’s Who in this chapter

Kareem (a fiercely straight middle-eastern man in his thirties) has been unjustly imprisoned in the C.U.B.E. and sexually tortured by the evil Sex Police, the security corps that rule the place; he’s then been brought unconscious to his new apartment and unceremoniously thrown on his bed, stark naked.

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~ Lance ~

Kareem groaned, as his entire body ached. Especially his ass. The mattress he was lying on was very comfortable, though, and for a moment he indulged in the soothing torpor that the bed inspired. But his mind was abruptly flooded by the memory of all the recent experiences he was forced to live, the arrest, the C.U.B.E., the Sex Police, the torture on the ‘throne’, and he suddenly felt fully awake.

He opened his eyes and saw a young blond man staring back at him. Out of pure instinct, Kareem hurriedly scrambled on the bed, moving backward, until he felt the wall pressing on his back. “Don’t touch me!!” – he yelled, trying to put on the most menacing face he was capable of, but his body betrayed him, he started trembling and his voice broke when he repeated: “Don’t touch me… Please…”

Kareem feverishly tried to cover his nudity with the bedsheet, but realized that he was lying on a bare mattress; so he tried, at least, to protect his sore manhood with his hands. The young man looked at Kareem with a sympathetic, concerned expression: “You have nothing to fear, you’re safe, Kareem. I’m Lance, your roommate. The guards left you here and went away, though… one of them, McLaughlin, seemed unusually concerned about your safety, and urged me to watch over you. And here I am” – he concluded with a friendly smile – “watching over you. With great pleasure, I must add.”

Kareem gave a more accurate look at his roommate; he was tall, blond, with a slim but chiseled physique, a charming smile and very handsome and masculine features. And he was young, very young, no more than twenty years old; according to the concierge, Lance should’ve been an ‘experienced guest’, but he looked too young to have any experience in anything.

“Are… Are you gay?” – Kareem cautiously asked, and immediately regretted to have been so stupid. Lance chuckled and replied: “Except for the Sex Police, everybody here at the Cube is gay, including you, I can easily guess…”

“You guessed wrong! I’m not… …gay” – Kareem protested, and the pause he put before the last word told to Lance how hard was for Kareem to even pronounce it. Most of the guests of the Cube were openly gay, but some others found hard to accept their sexual inclinations, at first. And some, among which apparently was Kareem, were so scared by their innate preference for men that hid their true nature behind a blind denial, or even a homophobic attitude.

“OK, Kareem, I believe you” – Lance said in a conciliatory tone – “I only hope you have no problem with me being gay, because I really hope we can be friends”. Lance moved toward Kareem with friendly intentions, but Kareem’s eyes widened again with fear: “Don’t come any closer!”

Lance stopped in his tracks and knelt on the floor, to better look into Kareem’s eyes. There was a deep pain in his voice when he said: “Fuck, they messed with you really bad… I’m sorry man, dealing with the Sex Police is always hard, but they must’ve treated you like shit. What did they do to you? You don’t have flogging marks or visible bruises. Well…” – he added, briefly glancing to Kareem’s cock, that was still swollen and reddened – “… except for your cock. Did they force you… into something? You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t feel to.”

“We’re going to share this apartment for a long time” – Kareem sighed, disconsolate – “and I guess that no secret can be kept for long, no matter how humiliating and shameful it is. They brought me to a sort of interrogation room, and there was a weird metal chair…”

“Did they use the ‘throne’ on you?!” – Lance gasped, horrified – “It’s… oh, fuck, man, it’s horrible, inhuman, no matter how serious are your crimes! Thank goodness I don’t have a first-hand experience of the ‘throne’, but I know well what it can do to a man… But wait, what did you do to deserve such a terrible punishment?”

“Me? Nothing!” – Kareem exclaimed – “I was brought here this morning! And that Captain O’Rourke came to take me when I still was at the reception desk!”

Lance frowned and seemed to think hard about what Kareem had just revealed. “This is… unprecedented. It never happened that a new guest was tied to the ‘throne’ on his arrival, nor that O’Rourke goes taking him in person. Something’s going on here. Let me ask around, I have many connections.”

“You have?” – Kareem asked, skeptic, and soon corrected himself: “No, sorry, I mean… you look very young. How long have you been here?”

“Almost five years. I was brought here on my sixteenth birthday, the minimum age to be sent to the Cube. You just came from the outer world, you know how puritan and homophobic people has become: they couldn’t tolerate my openly gay behavior. So, yes, I’m young, I’ll be twenty-one in few months, but I’m… well… I’m good among the people, so to speak.”

 

~ The Cube’s basics ~

Lance noticed that Kareem was shivering, and opened a drawer, then another, then the closet, but they were completely empty. “Where are your bedsheets, the pillow and the blanket? And where are your clothes?”

“The policemen ripped my clothes away when they… tied me to the throne. As for the bedsheets, don’t ask me. Maybe they forgot to bring them…?”

“Everything, here, is controlled by the A.I., and the A.I. makes no mistakes. If your stuff isn’t here, someone must’ve issued a specific order to prevent the delivery. And this is another very strange thing that happens to you. You seem very unlucky… but I don’t believe in misfortune: something’s going on here. Wait a moment…”

Lance moved to his own room and came back with a load of things, clean bedsheets, blankets, a new toothbrush, a set of towels, and put everything in the closet. “Lance, no, this is your stuff…” – Kareem weakly protested, but Lance turned around and flashed a warm, comforting smile: “I can do without it until you buy your own. Don’t worry about it. But I’m afraid that providing you with some clothes won’t be as simple as that: you have a much more muscular frame than me, and it will be hard to find in my closet something that fits you.”

Again, he moved to his room and came back with some clothes: “Now, don’t be pissed off or shocked…” – he warned, handing a piece of underwear to Kareem – “but this is the only thing I own that’s elastic enough to fit around your hips and hold your… er… your junk.”

Kareem stared with wide eyes at the skimpy purple thong Lance was giving him. Apart from a wide pouch on the front, practically there was no more fabric. Lance hastened to add: “Don’t worry, I’m giving you some stretch shorts to cover them: no one will see what you’re wearing underneath. And soon you’ll buy some new clothes. Come on, don’t make that face, it’s just a piece of underwear!”

Kareem got off the bed, groaning for the dull pain coming from his muscles, and put on the thong. Embarrassing as it was for Kareem, Lance couldn’t tear his gaze off the big bulge filling and stretching the pouch and the muscular legs and buttocks in full view. Kareem was about to get angry at Lance, but suddenly softened: “You’ve been so good and generous to me… It’s only fair I let you give a good look, if you so like it.”

“You’re… sexy as hell!” – Lance whispered, eating Kareem with his eyes – “Fuck, what a hunk of a man…”

“Not much of a man, actually. I was.” – Kareem replied sullenly, frowning – “Give me those shorts and the t-shirt, please”. Lance wanted to ask what he meant saying he ‘was’ a man, but shut his mouth and handed the clothes to Kareem.

When he got dressed, Kareem looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head, disconsolate: the stretch shorts were very tight and revealing, and the t-shirt was two sizes too small and clang to his torso like a second skin. Any gay man would’ve drooled over Kareem, but he didn’t appreciate his own overall look, not in the least, and grunted, annoyed and tense.

“You have many things to buy” – Lance said, rousing him from his grumpiness – “Let’s check your balance.”

“My… balance? I have no money, no credit cards, nothing!”

“Your credit cards would be useless, here. The ‘C’ of C.U.B.E. stands for ‘Collective’: this is indeed a collective, a closed commune that has its own economics and its own currency, the ‘Studs’… – yeah, the creators of the C.U.B.E.s had a weird sense of humor – …whose value is identical to the Credits you used so far outside, but there is no way to exchange Credits and Studs. Now give me your phone, let’s check your balance.”

“My… phone?” – Kareem asked, puzzled – “Am I supposed to have one?”

“Oh, gosh, the phone, too… I don’t know what is your original sin, man, but those bastards really picked on you. OK, we’ll think about it later, let’s check the balance on the computer.”

They moved to the living room, that was actually more of a kitchenette, with a fire range and a sink in a corner, a round dining table and a two-seat sofa; Lance sat at the table and opened a laptop: “Every apartment has one” – he explained – “and it’s connected to the internet, too. But don’t get excited: you can’t reach the outer world, read news or talk to anyone but the other guests. It’s useful, though, as there are many online services, including a library where you can learn how the Cube works and the rules you must abide to. Now… your balance… Kareem Bashir, Apt. Delta-18… Here! Wait, what??”

They both stared at the screen, where a big “§ 0.00” had appeared. “Zero studs?” – Lance commented, shocked – “Fuck, man, this is insane… You’re supposed to receive a weekly contribution, until you find a job. But you can’t find a job minutes after arriving here! What should you do, sell your ass for money?”

Lance saw Kareem’s fists tighten and hurriedly added: “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean it…”

Kareem shot an intense glance at Lance, frowned, and then replied, serious: “But probably they mean it. Think about it. They took even my clothes away, didn’t give me the minimum support, nor the bare essential to live. I don’t know why is that, but I really think that they want me to sell my body, to turn myself into a man-whore, without dignity nor self-respect. After all, less desperate men and women than me had no choice than resort to prostitution for a living…”

Lance seriously pondered Kareem’s words, and then flashed a conspiratorial grin: “Whatever they have in mind, they made a mistake: they assigned me as your roommate… and I have studs enough to support both of us for months. No, Kareem, don’t shake your head: I’m going to help you, and you won’t say a single word about it. When you have a job, clothes and personal stuff, including a phone, you can repay me.”

Kareem lowered his gaze, overwhelmed by the relief and the gratitude. For the first time since he was forcefully brought there, he felt he was not alone anymore, he wasn’t in jeopardy anymore: out of the nightmare he was living, a kind man had come out to help him and give him hope, and that man had the handsome features and the charming smile of a young guy named Lance. It took Kareem a while until he found the voice to utter a heartfelt: “Thanks, Lance. I won’t forget it. Ever”. He placed his hand on Lance’s, holding it tight; and Lance smiled, aware that that first physical contact, after what Kareem had been through, meant a lot.

A soft buzz came from the main entrance, and Lance gasped, suddenly embarrassed: “Oh… er… I have to… meet someone, now” – he said, standing up – “and these apartments don’t allow much privacy, as the rules forbid to have doors…”

Kareem looked around, and realized that all the ‘doors’, including the main entrance, were actually arches closed by curtains. He shot a puzzled glance at Lance, who replied, gravely: “The Sex Police doesn’t like to have their path blocked, if they come for whatever reason. But if you’re concerned about the other guest, don’t worry: no one would ever dare to enter an apartment without being invited in. But now excuse me, I have to meet my… er… friend.”

 

~ Genderless love ~

Lance moved to the main door, opened the curtain and looked at the guest with adoring eyes: “Adam… Come, bring your beautiful face and your killer body inside! Why do you always make me wait so long…!”. Adam was a man in his mid-forties, with a fit physique and sharp manly features; he walked in with a smug grin and a confident swag and his gaze became sharper, when he saw Kareem sitting at the laptop. “I see you’re not alone…” – he said in a low voice to Lance – “You know I don’t like sloppy seconds.”

“He’s my new roommate, don’t worry” – Lance replied, with a seductive grin – “I’m clean and tight, just the way you like. And you know I only have eyes for you…”

“I’m sure you say the same to everyone, but I love the way you lie to me…”

The man headed to Lance’s room without hesitation, as he apparently knew the house very well, and Lance disappeared with him behind the curtain. Kareem focused on the screen, trying not to overhear what Lance and Adam said inside their room, but it was obvious that there was a great complicity between them. «He must be Lance’s lover» – Kareem thought, trying to repress a shiver of reproach – «That Adam is a bit old for him, he must be at least twenty years older than Lance. Anyway, it’s none of my business…»

Kareem raised his gaze, pondering whether he should move to his own room, and noticed that the curtain was partly open, and he couldn’t resist taking a peek. Adam was lying on the bed, naked, and Lance was straddling him, looking down at his lover with adoring eyes. His hands gently explored Adam’s chiseled chest, worshipping the manly body, exploring its recesses and titillating its sensitive spots. “You’re all a guy could dream of…” – Lance said in a soft voice, and Adam replied seductively: “Stop dreaming, then. I’m here, in the flesh… Now, give me what I’ve been craving for since last time…”

They both were hard, and Adam rose from the bed, made Lance lie down and moved over him, without ever breaking their intense eye contact. Lance bent his legs at the hips and offered his hairless puckered hole to Adam, who quickly took some lube and greased his own cock, as long as Lance’s ass. They didn’t say single word, they seemed to reveal their desire to each other through their eyes, and their throbbing erections.

Adam pressed the tip of his cock over Lance’s hole without using his hands, as if his stiff rod knew by heart its way home. When he started pushing, Lance held his breath, feeling the engorged glans effortlessly open wide his anal ring. Kareem kept saying to himself to go away, to stop peeking at them, but he was rooted on the spot.

Lance gripped Adam’s biceps with his fingers, looking straight at his eyes, while the long cock penetrated him very slowly, but without ever stopping. The more inches disappeared into the fiery furnace, the deeper Lance’s fingers dove into Adam’s biceps, while his breath became ragged. With one last gentle thrust, Adam pushed his member into Lance to the hilt, and pressed hard his hips on the marble buttocks. Lance inhaled sharply, tilted his head back and uttered a raucous: “Thank you…!”

Kareem felt his heart thump madly into his chest, looking at the intense love scene, and that ragged “Thank you” made hidden strings resonate deep inside him. In his life, Kareem had made sweet love to many women, including his fiancée, but never once they uttered such a sensual, heartfelt “Thank you” when Kareem penetrated them. He envied Adam. What he and Lance were doing was unnatural and pervert, something any real man should despise and blame, according to his strict middle-eastern education; but Kareem could recognize love, when he saw it, and couldn’t help but realize that love was always sweet and pure, no matter the gender of the lovers.

He was roused from his tangled thoughts by the heavy breaths coming from Lance’s room. Adam was now fucking Lance with great passion, making Lance squirm and moan for the pleasure. They were still keeping their eyes locked, and didn’t need to talk to tell each other that they both were reaching the peak of their pleasure.

“Please…” – Lance pleaded, and Adam replied with a caring smile: “Do it… Cum for me…”

Under Kareem’s rapt gaze, Lance inhaled and held his breath, shuddered and let his untouched cock erupt countless shots of white cream that flooded his own hairless chest and dripped on the side. Kareem couldn’t believe that Adam’s fuck could give to Lance a pleasure intense enough to make him cum without even stroking his own cock!

And that “Please…”, that single, extremely erotic word used to ask permission to cum! Never once a woman had put in Kareem’s hands her pleasure like Lance had done with Adam, it was mind-blowing, and Kareem suddenly realized, much to his own shame, that he was painfully hard, in his tight underwear.

“Yeah… Here it comes, boy… NNNGGHH!!” – Adam grunted, all his muscles stiffening in the throes of the pleasure, while unloading his thick man juice deep into Lance’s most hidden recesses.

When done, Adam leaned over Lance and their mouth locked in a long, passionate kiss. A kiss between men, but Kareem almost didn’t notice this almost irrelevant bit. The intensity of their love-making had wiped off all of Kareem’s instinctive objections regarding the sex of the lovers.

Kareem saw Adam recoil, take a deep breath and extend a hand to his own phone. “The usual rate?” – he asked, and Lance replied seductively: “With you, I’d do it for free…”

Adam chuckled, tapping on the phone, and said: “Ahh… I love the way you lie to me. Come, raise your head…”. He placed the phone on Lance’s nape, where the bio-chip was located, and a small beep confirmed the transaction.

Kareem’s mouth sagged open, while an irrepressible fury broke into his mind. Adam wasn’t Lance’s lover! He was a client! How blind he could be, believing that two men could make such sweet love! He turned around, furious with himself and with Lance, and strode to his room. Not having a door to slam, he vented his repressed rage throwing a punch to the wall; and then, ignoring the searing pain coming from his knuckles, he threw himself on the bed.

It was too much for Kareem to bear. Since that morning, when he was handcuffed and brought to the Cube, he’d tried hard to keep his sanity, to use his brain, to put an effort in accepting and adapting to his new life, but it was too much all at once.

“Kareem…” – Lance’s cautious voice came from the doorway – “I’m sorry… I didn’t want you to see… to know…”

“To know that you’re a man-whore?” – Kareem sneered, without turning around to look at Lance – “I don’t want anything from you, you can take back your bedsheets, your towels and everything! I’ll be fine! Yeah, I’ll… I’ll be fine…!”

Kareem’s voice cracked, and Lance went to him, lay on the bed and hugged him tight from behind. “Don’t touch me!” – Kareem growled, but he didn’t wriggle out of Lance’s arms – “I hate you, I despise what you do! Leave me alone, I’m… I’m perfectly fine!”

“No, you’re not, Kareem” – Lance said in a warm, sympathetic tone – “You can’t possibly be fine. No man could, in your shoes. Please forgive me, I should’ve told Adam not to come.”

Kareem uttered a choked sob, hearing Lance asking for forgiveness, and felt like shit: “I’m sorry, Lance… I told you horrible things…! I feel torn apart, you do something that is inacceptable for my culture and my education, and I should shun and blame you… but I can’t, you’re such a nice and caring person… And besides, who am I to blame you, when I’m not a man anymore myself?”

“Why you keep saying that?” – Lance said, holding Kareem tighter. “You know it” – Kareem replied – “You know how O’Rourke has forcefully taken away my virginity, how he stripped my manliness from me! If my father was alive, he would die on the spot for the shame!”

Kareem choked another sob, but he couldn’t restrain anymore the anguish overflowing from his heart, and the dam broke. Tears of shame and pain welled from his eyes and streaked his face, while irrepressible sobs made him shudder.

Lance held him as tight as he could, placed his cheek on Kareem’s back and murmured: “Let it all out, buddy… I’m here with you… Let it all out…”

-~~~≈≈≈ooOoo≈≈≈~~~-

In the next chapter: Lance tells some more about the Cube. Kareem meets again officer McLaughlin, who reveals some worrying information. Seeing Kareem on the verge of a breakdown, Lance brings him to meet Doc Stevens, a very unconventional shrink.