🚨Mature Readers 18+ ONLY 🚨
Previously: CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH. 3 | CH. 4 | CH. 5 | CH. 6 | CH. 7 | CH. 8
CHAPTER NINE
In the shadowed hours following the chaos of the Beta Games, the locker room apartment harbored a quiet that felt almost sacred. The air was heavy with the lingering steam of a recent shower, mingling with the masculine cologne. Ethan emerged from the bathroom, a threadbare towel draped low on his hips, the damp fabric clinging to the contours of his body. His skin bore the marks of the day’s brutal contest—faint lavender bruises blooming along his ribs, crimson lines etched from the harness that had bound him in the arena. Yet, there was a spark in his blue eyes, a restless energy fueled by his crowning as champion, a title hard-won and bittersweet.
Across the cramped space, Cade perched on the edge of his narrow mattress, his broad shoulders hunched, hands clenched between his knees. A man wrestling with unseen demons. His gaze was fixed on the floor, avoiding the sight of Ethan’s marked flesh.
“Hey, you good?” Ethan’s voice was tinged with concern as he dropped onto his own bunk opposite Cade, droplets of water still glistening on his shoulders reflecting tiny prisms of light. “You’ve been off since the Games ended.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired,” Cade mumbled, his dark eyes refusing to meet Ethan’s probing stare.
“Bullshit.” Ethan leaned forward, elbows on knees, voice sharpening. “You can’t even look at me. What’s eating at you?”
Cade’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking beneath the stubble as he rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture of unease. “I just...I don’t know, man. Seeing them all over you like that, it fucked with me. I didn’t expect it to hit so hard.”
A smirk ghosted across Ethan’s lips, though it lacked its usual edge. “You’re jealous?”
“It’s not just that,” Cade snapped, head jerking up, eyes raw with a pain that stripped away his usual guarded demeanor. “It’s...I hated not being able to do anything. They own us here, Ethan. Every damn piece of us. I stood there watching Coach and the rest use you like some fucking prize, and I couldn’t even move. I was powerless.”
The smirk vanished from Ethan’s face, replaced by a softness that Cade hadn’t realized he needed. He slid off his bunk with a muted thud of bare feet and settled beside Cade, their thighs brushing in a quiet assertion of presence. “I got through that shit today because I knew I’d come back here. To you.”
Cade exhaled, a shaky breath that seemed to carry the weight of the day. His gaze drifted to Ethan’s bare chest, lingering on the marks left by the Games. “I don’t know how you handle it,” he admitted, voice low.
“I’m here with you now. That’s what I need.” He placed a hand on Cade’s knee, the gesture small but weighted.
Cade’s eyes remained turbulent, wrestling with unease that churned beneath the surface.
For some time, they sat in that charged silence, dim artificial light casting long shadows across the room.
Eventually, Cade shifted, lying back on his bed to stare at the ceiling, as if answers might be scrawled there.
Ethan mirrored him, reclining beside, their shoulders grazing.
“You know, out there today, I kept thinking of you,” Ethan began, his voice softened to a near whisper, as though the confession might shatter if spoken too loudly. “Just wanted to get back here, to this.”
Cade turned his head, his profile half-cloaked in shadow, eyes searching Ethan’s face. “Yeah? I thought I was losing my damn mind, wanting more than just...what we do.”
“If you’re losing your mind, I’m right there with you.”
“I want you, Ethan. Not as some beta bullshit. As my...”
Ethan’s breath caught, a quiet hitch that belied the storm within. “Your what?”
“I don’t know. Boyfriend sounds weird but…right? I just want to try and see what dating you would be like. Like two normal dudes without a bunch of internalized homophobia and bullshit to deal with thrust into a bunch of gay orgies. Just two guys, who might like each other more than teammates or buddies or whatever.”
Ethan rolled onto his side, facing Cade fully, the mattress creaking under the shift. “Call it whatever you want. I’m down bad for you, Cade. But I want you to be with me not just because Coach says so. Not just because you’re horny and Lila isn’t putting out. But because you really want it.”
“I do. Fuck, I mean it,” Cade rasped. He reached out, his calloused hand cupping Ethan’s jaw, thumb brushing over the rough stubble of his cheek with a tenderness that felt foreign in their world of raw edges.
They stilled for a heartbeat, gazes locked in a silent pact, before Cade drew him closer. The kiss was not the desperate clash of those in their past, it was a soft, delicate press of lips weighted with unspoken promises.
Ethan’s hand fisted in Cade’s shirt, tugging him nearer, their bodies aligning as the kiss deepened, tongues meeting in a dance of desire, yet tempered by a rare patience.
When they parted, breathless, their foreheads pressed together, the air between them simmering with revelation.
“I’ve wanted this for a while now,” Cade confessed, hand sliding down to Ethan’s bare waist, fingers digging into the damp skin with a possessive edge. “Just us. No one else calling the shots.”
“Same,” Ethan murmured, his own hand slipping beneath the hem of Cade’s shirt, exploring the hard, familiar plane of his stomach. “Let’s make it so. Tonight. Just you and me.”
The tension morphed into an urgency underscored by a newfound tenderness. They shed their clothing with unhurried intent, each piece falling to the floor with a soft rustle, accompanied only by the uneven rhythm of their breaths. Cade revealed the lean, sculpted muscle forged by relentless training, his perfect tan skin dusted with black hair that made him feel like a man, and a swollen impeccably sized cock. Ethan let the towel slip from his hips, baring himself entirely, his arousal already evident in the half-hard state of his dick, stirred by the electric closeness.
They reclined again, facing one another on the narrow twin bed, hands wandering with purpose, mapping territories of skin like they needed to write it down later.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” Cade said, his voice a low growl as he traced the bruises marring Ethan’s chest, his touch firm yet gentle, a contradiction of strength and care. “I hate that they marked you.”
Ethan’s lips curved into a crooked grin, a flicker of pride in his eyes. “I wear it like a badge. I earned every one. Now shut up and touch me like you mean it.”
Cade needed no further urging. His hand glided down Ethan’s side, over the sharp jut of his hip, until he wrapped his fingers around Ethan’s hardening cock, stroking with light pressure. Ethan groaned, a raw sound that reverberated in the quiet room, his hips bucking into the grip, seeking more.
His own hand reached out, shoving down Cade’s boxers to free his erection, stroking and matching the rhythm Cade set. Their cocks were both now slick with precum as their hands moved in sync.
They watched one another, eyes alight with a mutual, consuming fire.
Cade used his free hand to tease Ethan’s left nipple.
“Fuck, that’s good,” Ethan breathed, his free hand clutching Cade’s nape, pulling him into another kiss, the other lowering to fondle Cade’s fuzzy, heavy balls.
Their bodies pressed tighter, skin hot and slick with perspiration, legs entwining as they ground against each other, cocks rubbing with an exquisite friction between their taut stomachs.
“I want to be inside of you,” Cade muttered against Ethan’s mouth, his voice thick with desire, almost a plea. “I want to feel your sublimely tight ass wrapped around my dick–sliding down all the way to the base. Do you like the sound of that?”
“Yeah. Hell yeah,” Ethan replied, nodding with fervent urgency. “Grab the lube.”
Cade walked away for a mere moment, rummaging through the bathroom until he retrieved the bottle. He returned swiftly, coating his fingers with the slick substance as Ethan shifted onto his back, knees raising to his ears, hands reaching down and opening himself without a trace of shame or hesitation.
Cade let out a deep exhale as he took in the glorious sight, and smiled.
Never had he felt so damn lucky.
“Don’t just stand there,” Ethan said with a wicked glint in his eyes, “get over here and fuck me like that first day in the locker room.”
“No,” Cade walked over, and settled between his legs, pausing to simply look at Ethan’s beautiful flushed pale skin, the messy tufts of ginger hair surrounding his throbbing cock, the rapid rise and fall of his chest, the unguarded trust in his half-lidded blue eyes. The sight struck Cade like a physical blow to his heart. “I’m going to fuck you so much better than that first day.”
“Oh, true, you can fuck me harder now. I can take it,” Ethan winked up at him.
“You’re sure?” Cade asked, even as a slick finger traced the tight ring of muscle, applying the lightest pressure.
“Stop asking stupid questions and fuck me,” Ethan shot back, a warmth in his tone that belied the words.
Cade let out a low, rough chuckle and eased one finger inside, moving with care, watching Ethan’s face for any sign of discomfort.
There was none, only a sharp intake of breath, followed by a subtle moan.
Cade added a second finger, curling them until Ethan’s hips jerked upward, a drawn-out cry escaping his lips, raw and unrestrained.
“Shit, right there,” Ethan panted, one hand fisting the thin sheets beneath him, the other grasping Cade’s forearm, urging him closer.
Cade leaned down, capturing Ethan’s mouth in a searing kiss as he continued to stretch him, fingers scissoring with practiced intent, ensuring he was ready.
When Ethan was nearly writhing, curses spilling from him in a litany of need, Cade withdrew, slicked his own cock with a trembling hand, and positioned himself.
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