C.U.B.E.

≈ Ch. 23: UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER ≈

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Who’s Who in this chapter

Aldritch ‘Triple-A’ Archer reveals important information that gives to Kareem a faint hope. May it be for the good news, or because there’s something special in the night, Kareem decides to bring Lance to a very special place… where he does something that neither of them thought possible.

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~ A useful… backdoor ~

“Let’s talk business” – Aldritch A. Archer said to Kareem after his brief exchange of messages with his assistant using the ancient Morse Code – “but let’s move to the living room, shall we? The lit fireplace makes that room so beautiful!”

“Yeah, this place would be a real flophouse, if it wasn’t for that fireplace…” – Kareem commented sarcastic. He was about to add something nasty about the house having a damn solarium, but he shut his mouth: Triple-A was not his friend, nor he would’ve ever been, but he could be a powerful ally in his fight against O’Rourke.

They moved to the living room and Kareem sat heavily on a sofa; there was a second large sofa and several armchairs, but Archer sat next to Kareem, uncomfortably close to him. Their legs touched, and Kareem’s innate heterosexuality forced him to scoot a bit over the sofa to put a safe distance between him and Archer. Kareem looked up at the man and sneered at the smug grin he was wearing on his face: “So what’s with that excited smile? Does something make you happy?”

Archer nodded with eagerness: “My backdoor is still open and usable anytime.”

“What??” – Kareem exclaimed, outraged and pissed off – “No, man, don’t even think that I can fuck you again! And besides it was meant to be a fuckin’ punishment! Had I known that you would’ve enjoyed it so much, I’d beaten you to pulp, instead!”

Aldritch looked at Kareem as if he’d spoken in an alien language, and then burst into a booming laughter: “Ha ha ha!!! I was not talking about that backdoor! But thinking about it, you really left my hole loosened and sore. I admit that in the end I even enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a walk in the park: you have a fuckin’ baseball bat between your legs, you know that?”

“I… uhm… thanks, I guess?” – Kareem replied, always shy when a man complimented his body or his manly endowment – “But what backdoor were you talking about, then?”

“Before being CEO of the company, I was chief engineer, I worked directly to the coding of the A.I., and sometimes an engineer needs to bypass the normal access procedures. For perfectly legal purposes, of course…”

“Of course…” – Kareem replied, without being able to restrain a half smile, because Aldritch, in a totally different situation, might even be a funny guy.

“So, I created a secret access door that I, and only I, could use at will to read the A.I. data. And… er… to write data, too, if needed. The former CEO has been wondering for five years now when his heart is going to stop, as the A.I. estimated for him a 98% chance of heart failure in no more than a couple months. The company had no choice but let him retire and nominate a new CEO… me.”

“Did you… add false data about your predecessor’s health status to the A.I. knowledge base??” – Kareem exclaimed – “I didn’t know it was even possible!”

“How do you think the A.I. was suddenly convinced that you suffered for a severe deficiency in your libido, and decided to ‘fix’ it adding a powerful stimulant to your daily medication? O’Rourke asked me and I made him a favor. Everything’s a tit-for-tat in my world, I couldn’t say no to O’Rourke.”

Kareem shot a deadly glance at Aldritch: tit or tat, it was him the culprit of his relentless, painful horniness.

“Anyway”– Aldritch went on, ignoring Kareem’s stare – “the good news is that my backdoor to the A.I. is still working and I can access it anytime; my assistant just confirmed it. The bad news, on the other hand, is that O’Rourke still has powerful guardian angels, first of all the Chief or the Police Corps and the Ministry of Moral Wellness. He’ll be a tough nut to crack. But my backdoor can be a mighty nutcracker, if used properly. A byte too many, and the system violation would become obvious.”

“I understand it’s not your first round at this specific rodeo, is it?”

“No, it’s not. I know my stuff” – Aldritch said with irritating confidence – “But I can’t access the A.I. using the Morse code, I need a computer, and I can’t use mine, for obvious reasons.”

“You can’t use any computer, actually” – Kareem corrected – “because no outbound connection is possible from here.”

“Who talked about an outbound connection? Every government facility has a local access to the A.I., including the Cube. I could connect to it right now… if I were stupid, because my attempt would be recorded by the main communication system and the cops would come and get me in no time. This is the real problem, and frankly I don’t know how to solve it. But I’ll come up with a solution, eventually. I always do.”

Kareem’s heart leapt in his chest, thinking at the “computer that doesn’t exist” located in the forgotten underground passage, the one he once used to send a message to his friend at the P.R. firm. But Kareem kept his lips sealed, as he didn’t know if he could really trust Aldritch. Instead, he just said vaguely: “Say… would an old computer based on a thirty-year-old operating system and an IPv4 communication system be suitable for your needs?”

“IPv4??” – Aldritch exclaimed, surprised – “Fuck, talk about ancient technology… But yes, I can establish a connection to the A.I. using the old IPv4 protocol, but we need to know the exact IP address of the local access to the A.I.. What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing that I can tell you at the moment. There are other people involved and… let me be frank… you can be deadlier than a cobra, when someone stands in your way.”

“I do not deny it, and you’re smarter than I thought” – Aldritch conceded, and was about to add something, but he was interrupted by a soft, almost childish voice coming from the main entrance: “Oh! We’re sorry, sir, we didn’t know you had a guest…!”

Kareem turned his head to look, and there were two boys, not older than sixteen years, standing in the doorway. They were unmistakably identical twins, both blond, slim and with rosy hairless cheeks. They wore identical short tunics that barely covered their hips.

“Oh… Hello!” – Kareem saluted them – “Do you come from the Silk&Lace, by chance? It’s on the 2nd Floor, there are many boys like you living there…”

“Oh, no, sir! We can’t move from the 4th Floor, it’s forbidden! We can only come here to… work.”

“The 4th Floor? Why? You don’t seem to have… ehm… physical flaws.”

“My brother is mute, sir. And when he was destined to the 4th Floor, I… I couldn’t leave him, so I asked to be assigned there, too.”

“My heart is bleeding” – Archer said with a bored tone – “Don’t mind them, Kareem, they’re just my servants, they’ve been assigned to me when I arrived here. Rick… Dick… or whatever your names are, I don’t need you tonight, go back where you belong and see you tomorrow.”

“Yes sir…” – the boy hastily murmured, taking his brother by hand and rushing away.

“What are you looking at?” – Aldritch said, turning to Kareem, who was fuming – “Yeah, I’m a heartless bastard, and they’re freaks. One of them is, anyway. And I don’t blame you for not trusting me, as I can really be ‘deadlier than a cobra’, as you said. But keep this in mind, Kareem: you are the key that will eventually unlock my door to freedom. Unlike me, you are truly innocent, you shouldn’t stay here.”

“Innocent?” – Kareem bellowed, pissed off by Archer’s attitude and his irritating choices of words – “Being gay is not a crime! As much as it’s not a crime having “severe physical flaws”, as your beloved A.I. says. Your servants? Those lovely boys don’t deserve your reproach, nor your condescendence! You don’t even know their names, for fuck’s sake! The Cubes are an abomination created by sick homophobic and intolerant people! And closeted homophobic homosexuals like you are the worst of them all! The whole idea of the Cubes is a delirium of intolerance! Starting with the name, C.U.B.E., ‘Collective for the Uranian Behavior Eradication’! Do you really think people can ‘eradicate’… love?”

“Wow, look at you, so passionate…” – Aldritch commented with a knowing grin – “You seem to have found your place, here… I believed you were straight…!”

“Actually, you seem to have found your place, here! After all, you’re gay, right? You believe you deserve to be locked here! We’re so brainwashed, nowadays, that we think it’s only fair that gay people are ‘eradicated’ and locked up in the Cubes! But as you said, I’m smarter than you think, and you should smarten up, too. Being gay is not something people should be ashamed of, or be punished for. And being straight doesn’t mean being hateful, bigoted and intolerant… like I was until I came here. This place can put you in front of an unmerciful mirror and believe me, when it happens you will spit in the face staring back at you. The Cube can break you or help you become a better man, the choice it’s up to you, so take my advice, Triple-A: choose wisely.”

It didn’t happen frequently to Archer to be at a loss for words, but for a long moment he was speechless, deeply hit by Kareem’s passionate speech. “Well, there’s not much to improve in me” – he then tried to joke, standing up, but his smile was short-lived – “but I’ll gaze in that mirror, Kareem, and I won’t look away, no matter what I see. It’s a promise. Please come visit me anytime you feel to. The elevator code for the 5th Floor changes every day, but I will send to your home computer an app to know the current code.”

Kareem stood up and shook hands with Aldritch, looking straight into his eyes. And those ice-cold eyes looked back at him, sending shivers down his spine.

 

~ And thence we came forth… ~

Walking back to the elevator, Kareem looked around with marveled eyes at the beauty of the 5th Floor. It was small, just a ring of blocks around the elevators, and there was a large strip of grass running all around the outer perimeter. Unfortunately, the surrounding wall was solid, but all the streets and the surrounding grass were overhung by a tall glass ceiling, and Kareem found himself again looking up at the stars.

He shook his head, thoughtful, and slowly went back home. It was late in the night, and he entered his apartment walking on tiptoes, unwilling to wake up Lance. But the curtain to Lance’s room immediately opened, and Lance came out, still fully dressed.

“I thought you were sleeping, by now. It’s late…” – Kareem said with a smile, and Lance smiled back at him: “How on earth could I sleep, knowing that you were on the 5th Floor, talking to… whom?”

“You won’t believe it. It was Triple-A. He’s here, O’Rourke arrested him a few days ago, soon after the post on the social network we’ve read. I couldn’t believe to my eyes, that bastard was in front of me, wearing an annoying confident grin… and I hit him. And then I fucked him, harder than I could. I wanted to hurt him, making him feel what I had to endure… but he actually enjoyed it! Damn, that man is… unnerving! If I could I’d kill him… and I was actually about to do it. I strangled him, and in that moment I truly desired to kill him!”

“But you didn’t…” – Lance gasped, deeply frowning – “Your conscience stopped you from going all the way… right?”

“My conscience didn’t dare to say anything, as I was too angry to listen to it. It was not my conscience that stopped me. It was knowing that you would’ve never forgiven me” – Kareem admitted, shyly lowering his eyes, surprised to feel his own heart thump so hard into his chest – “And besides, we need him, Lance. He’s still very powerful, and can communicate with his assistant, outside, though only briefly and with great difficulty.”

“Holy fuck!” – Lance exclaimed, excited – “And what news did he get from outside?”

“Good and bad. O’Rourke is still under the protection of some top dogs, but Aldritch is planning to pass some false info to the A.I. to make the ground crumble under his feet. But he needs a computer to do that; I didn’t tell him anything, but… do you think it’s safe to let him use the computer in the underground room?”

Lance thought hard about it, but eventually he just asked back: “Do you trust him?”

“I hate him, and he’s dangerous. But he said something I think it’s true: the doors of the Cube will open for him only after they opened for me. I’m the key to his freedom, he said, and it makes sense.”

They stood in silence for a while, looking at each other. There was a sort of tension in the air, as the news related by Triple-A were both thrilling and scaring. There were so many things to think about, so many important decisions to make, so many question marks in their future…

“I can’t stay put” – Kareem then said, rising from the couch, with a special glare in his eyes – “The walls of this apartment are suffocating me. Will you join me for a walk? I’d like to show you a very special place… But it’s a surprise” – he added, taking a bandana from a drawer, under Lance’s puzzled eyes.

They went to the elevator, entered the last shaft and Kareem blinded Lance with the bandana; Lance squirmed a bit, uneasy, but instantly calmed down when he felt Kareem’s warm hand on his face.

After a quick ride, the elevator doors opened at the 5th floor and Kareem cautiously guided Lance along the short 2nd street until they arrived at the large strip of grass surrounding the floor. “Let’s lay down” – Kareem said, helping Lance to sit down; and when Lance reclined on the ground he smelled the unmistakable scent of the grass. Almost incredulous, he blindly pressed his palms on the ground and gasped: “Is it… real grass? Where are we? At the Zen Garden?”

“Look for yourself…” – Kareem replied with a warm, sweet tone, while taking off the bandana from Lance’s eyes.

“My God…! Oh my God…!” – Lance suddenly gasped, the moment he opened his eyes and could see a bright moon and countless stars illuminating the night sky – “I… I didn’t think…”, he began, but soon his voice broke and tears welled from his eyes – “I didn’t think I would’ve ever seen the sky again…”

Kareem held tight Lance’s hand and said in a distant, thoughtful tone: “…and thence we came forth to see again the stars.”

“It sounds so beautiful, what’s that?”

“It’s a quote from Dante’s Inferno, the very last verse.” – Kareem explained softly – “After crossing the entire Hell, at long last, Dante and Virgil climb out of the underworld and are thrilled by the sense of freedom that the wondrous starry sky inspires them. I don’t dare to hope… but I dream to be able to feel the same, sooner or later.”

Kareem was expecting from Lance a comment about Dante’s intense verse, but he only heard a muffled sob. “What’s wrong, buddy?” – he gently asked, and Lance wiped his tears: “Nothing… I just realized that if our plans work, you’ll leave the Cube… and I will lose you.”

“My sweet Lance…” – Kareem murmured, turning on his side to look at him – “I’m not giving up on you, ever. If ever I can escape the Cube, you’ll come with me… or we both stay here.”

“This is the sweetest stupid idea I’ve ever heard. I won’t let you. When the time comes, go away and don’t turn back, I will--”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, because Kareem lovingly pounced on him, shutting his mouth with a long, passionate kiss. The moon, from above, watched the two lovers’ souls merging into one and smiled.

Kareem’s hand started undoing Lance’s button, slowly, tenderly, while their tongues still danced their sweet dance; and then Lance did the same to Kareem, until their naked bodies glistened in the pale moonlight.

Their lips parted, and Lance bore his eyes into Kareem’s, waiting for him to take the lead. But Kareem didn’t move, and stared back at Lance with a thoughtful expression. “Tell me what’s on your mind…” – Lance murmured, and Kareem briefly shook his head: “I’m tired of fighting, Lance. Since I arrived here, I had to fight like a tiger against O’Rourke, against the cops, against the men who wanted to take me by force, and above all… against myself. Tomorrow I’ll start fighting again, but tonight I feel the need to surrender. Unconditionally and totally.”

“I… I don’t understand…” – Lance murmured, a bit worried, but his eyes opened wide when Kareem wore a shy smile and raised his legs, offering his beautiful, muscular, hairy ass to his lover. “I need to surrender to you, my sweet Lance, come what may. Make love to me, teach me how a man loves another man…”

It took Lance a few moments to recover from the shock. The sight of Kareem, holding his legs up and apart to offer him his most sacred portal was taking his breath away.

Kareem misunderstood Lance’s hesitation and whispered: “You… You said you can give as much as you get, right? Earlier, at the Stud Stable, you said…”

“I know what I said” – Lance replied, finding again his confidence – “And I know very well what to do…”

 

~ The sweetest surrender ~

Lance shifted down on the grass and placed his hands on Kareem’s splayed buttocks, taking a good lustful look at the plump balls, the muscular buns and the hairy puckered hole that twitched in anticipation. He slowly leaned over the odorous hole and cautiously darted his tongue around the sensitive skin. Kareem reacted like he was getting an electric shock, as feeling Lance’s caring tongue on his anus, and the whole idea that Lance was licking him right there, was making his head spin.

Lance didn’t lie: he really knew what to do; his tongue sensually circled the tender areola, making it wet with saliva, and then dove straight into the hole, gently forcing open the clenched ring. The scent coming from Kareem’s depths was strong, but Lance expected it, as few straight men, if any, douche themselves; but the intoxicating aroma spurred Lance to go even deeper and munch on Kareem’s hole with great passion. Kareem moaned loud and pulled on his legs more, to better offer his ass to Lance’s exquisite ministrations.

After a short while, the tongue was replaced by a single wet finger, and Kareem stiffened, unable to chase away the sudden memories that flooded his mind: the merciless throne splitting him open, the humiliating gang-rape by a group of professional hookers, the desperate resignation he felt when he was about to let a coworker fuck him…

“This is me” – Lance simply said, easily guessing Kareem’s fears – “I love you, and I would never hurt you. Trust me.”

“But… I didn’t plan… I mean… If you use just some spit it may hurt… right?”

Lance flashed a warm smile, admiring Kareem for his obvious effort of recalling to his straight mind the few notions about gay sex he’d learned. And his smile morphed into an urchin grin, while he extended a hand to his pants to take a small tube of lube: “My very first lover taught me to never leave home without being clean and without bringing some lube. It was some good advice, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed…” – Kareem murmured, relieved to know that Lance had some lube, but uneasy about his need to be ready for sex whenever he left home. He didn’t have time to elaborate on this last negative thought, anyway, because a well-lubed finger slowly forced open his tight anal ring and started caressing his insides with sensuality. Lance felt the clenched hole quiver, trying to relax, but Kareem’s tension was still strong.

“I know by heart each and every inch of your skin, my fingers have explored every part of your body… except this. Let me caress you here, too. Trust me, welcome me inside you…”

Kareem visibly relaxed, enjoying more and more the exquisite massage, and didn’t stiffen, nor he protested when a second slick finger joined the first. He trusted Lance, and Lance was true to his word: not the slightest pain or discomfort came from his caring fingers, only a sense of complete intimacy that rarely he’s experienced with anyone, woman or man.

“You’re ready” – Lance said after a long fingering; he added more lube, and poured some more on his own stiff dick, massaging it slowly while looking straight at Kareem, who nodded nervously. “I’ve never… offered myself to anyone this way” – Kareem murmured, not to break the quiet of the 5th Floor – “I know I’m not a virgin anymore, I can’t possibly be, after all I had to endure. But I feel like I’m about to cross a bridge that I won’t be able to walk back.”

“We can stop, if you want” – Lance replied, but Kareem shook his head: “I want to cross that bridge… if you’re with me.”

Lance pressed his glans on Kareem’s tight hole, and Kareem reclined his head, closing his eyes, clearly putting an effort to relax, to accept Lance inside him, and ultimately… to cross that one-way bridge. Lance… the loving, supportive, forgiving Lance… the smart, brave, caring Lance… Kareem let the sweet love he felt for Lance spread from his heart to his entire body and mind… and his most guarded portal opened up to welcome inside that wonderful man who’d given him so much, and was now giving him… this.

Feeling Lance’s hot rod crawl its way inside him was almost an otherworldly experience for Kareem, who faintly shook his head, unable to believe that giving himself to another man could be so warm, intimate, delightful. Inch after inch, the manly meat explored Kareem’s recesses, then recoiled, only to come back over and over, caressing and titillating Kareem’s tender linings in the most exquisite way.

Kareem could clearly feel the flange of Lance’s helmet sensually brushing over his prostate, and couldn’t restrain a low, guttural growl. What was this man doing to him? How could man-sex possibly be so sensual, so satisfying, so thrilling? His overexcited mind found the strength to ask the question Kareem most feared: was Lance making him feel less of a man?

“No…” – Kareem answered to himself, and Lance instantly stopped, thinking that he was doing something wrong. But Kareem urged him: “Make love to me Lance, I’m ready, I want more… Let your passion explode and fill me to the brim…”

Lance leaned over Kareem with a smile and kissed him: “You gave me all of you, now take all of me…”

The slow, careful thrusts paced up to a confident, steady rhythm, and Kareem inhaled sharply and exhaled loudly: “Yesss… My goodness, it’s wonderful…!”

“And it can be even better…” – Lance said with coarse voice, sensually brushing his hand over Kareem’s hairy chest in search of his nipple. “Oh, fuck… I’m so sensitive there… Oooohh…!”

Lance was a professional, and used all the tricks in his bag to bring Kareem to ecstasy, but without pushing him too hard. He battered Kareem’s prostate with skillful thrusts of his cock, pinched his nipples and scraped his sculpted abs with his nails; he brushed his fingers on Kareem’s lips, played with his chest hair and caressed his exposed throat. And then, at long last, Lance curled his fingers around Kareem’s rigid shaft and started massaging his throbbing manhood with slow, sensual strokes, making Kareem stiffen for the excruciating pleasure.

“This is the sweetest surrender…” – Kareem blurred, won by the tenderness and the sensuality of Lance’s skillful love-making – “I couldn’t imagine… I couldn’t think possible…”

Lance, without stopping his hips, wore a loving smile: “When it comes to love, only who truly surrenders wins. I know well.”

Kareem’s eyes rolled back, and Lance wished he had four hands, to touch every inch of Kareem’s sexy body at once. He felt on fire, and while his cock pumped with powerful thrusts in and out of Kareem’s slick hole, his fingers sneaked, tickled, stroked and caressed all of Kareem’s most sensitive spots, making him delirious.

“I… I can’t hold back…” – Kareem exclaimed with urgency, and Lance sensually moaned: “Make me drown in your manliness… Give me your very essence, and I’ll give you mine… Ooohh… Nnngghh…!!!”

They both hit the climax and the floodgates opened. Powerful shots of man cream rocketed from Kareem’s swollen cock and flew high in the air, to then splat on his hairy chest, his groin and the grass around them. And all the while, Lance’s manhood pulsated madly inside Kareem, bathing his depths with the elixir of his love. Still cumming, Lance leaned over Kareem and gave him a hungry, churning kiss that Kareem reciprocated with equal passion.

 

There, in the middle of that special night, under the breathtaking starry sky of the 5th Floor, Kareem had crossed the bridge, there was no way back, now… and he had no desire to ever go back.

Ever again.

-~~~≈≈≈ooOoo≈≈≈~~~-

In the next chapter: The kind straight cop Sean McLaughlin, in order to help his friend Kareem dispel his doubts about his own sexuality, plans to share again his wife with him, using the bio-chip linking device; but evil Captain O’Rourke makes things go horribly wrong, and Lance makes a huge sacrifice to help Kareem.