*****

Benny shook his head as soon as his entered Pike's apartment, letting his hair fly out so it could settle in a more natural state. Fucking hair gel, fucking *outfit*....

Fucking people. It would be good to get the taste and feel of them off his body. Going to see Pike right after spending the day with his clan only made a good thing even better, gave this visit a kick of the forbidden.

Even if Pike had been a girl, Ben's parents wouldn't have approved of what they'd call "a match." The damned family gathering had only underscored to them that they were poor relations compared to the rest, and they wanted him to marry up for them.

All the people who'd complimented him on his smile hadn't known that he'd been lost in fantasies of marrying some rich bitch and staying with her for a decent amount of time before murdering her and running off with the money and Pike. He'd spoil Pike rotten, and they would live the playboy lifestyle.

Not that Pike would approve of the scheme. He wore his morals like a straitjacket.

Someday, when his father pissed him off enough, Benny would tell his dad about Pike. The heart attack would be incredible to see; hell, he would be able to watch the blood vessels in Dad's head burst! He'd carefully put out one tidbit at a time. No money. Trailer trash. Male. Benny really didn't know whether it would be Pike's gender or status as white trash that would hurt worse. Whichever, he'd save the worst for that last killing blow.

It would be fun to tell Dad about the way Pike could shoot the O right off a Michelob bottle at 50 feet because he'd been trained at it since the age of five.

God, could he possibly want Pike any more?

Pike turned around on the ratty couch to look at him. "I wanted to see your hair."

"Isn't the rest of the drag enough?"

Pike's smile raised Benny's temperature. "I like seeing you dressed up. It's kinky."

"There are some sacrifices I won't make even for you."

Benny untied and kicked off the dress shoes. The soles made him slide around in ways Docs and combat boots never did. He hated that. He started to loosen the suffocating tie.

"Benny!"

Benny looked into the face of disappointment. Well, disappointment and total lust. Pike *really* got off on the dress- up.

Benny smiled back, letting the insolence shine out, and refastened his tie. "You like?"

"I want you to be *my* Young Republican."

"And you could be my dirty secret, the hustler I picked up in the alley behind the convention."

Benny couldn't believe how turned on the sight of Pike's bare feet alone was making him. Not that the rest of the picture wasn't inspiring. Pike *did* look like hustler-around-the-house. His old T-shirt had holes in random places and was missing its sleeves. Ancient blue jeans, whitened at the crotch from wear, with holes in the knees, clung to his legs.

As for the bare feet.... Maybe it was the way it took so much effort to get Pike naked for anything other than sex; even then he never stayed uncovered by at least a sheet or Benny for long. He'd once said something about how living in a small trailer with three bullying brothers, a homicidal father, and his druggie mother with her pusher and posse of stoned friends wandering around ended any urge to stay nude at home. Hell, he'd been afraid in the shower.

Benny shook it off; Pike had an eyebrow raised in an "I'm still *here*" way that made Ben want to kiss him senseless or smack him. Ben stomped that last thought until it died. He would never hurt Pike. Just because his family and the thought of Pike's family made him homicidal didn't mean he had to bring it home.

Home. Yeah, at same point this ratty apartment had become home. And Pike his real family?

//Can't decide whether the thought of incest is a bad thing or not.

//Hunh. I'm about to burst the zipper on these fucking pants. Guess it's not.//

Pike had apparently decided that Benny was going to stand there thinking all night, because he had turned back to watch TV. Benny heard the fruity narrator voice and snorted. "You're watching educational TV?"

"Yep, and it's not even the Discovery Channel. I'm ignoring pirated cable to watch something on my local public service station."

"That's just wrong!"

"Isn't it just?"

"That's more interesting than me?"

"Well, you were just standing there, and I really enjoy stuff about mummies."

Benny sat on the top of the couch and slid down until he sat right behind Pike. In a process too fast for most people to notice, Pike twitched, then remembered it was Benny and calmed himself. Showing more patience than he'd ever thought he had, Benny had slowly pushed at Pike's boundaries and limits. Once, he couldn't have done this at all. Having someone close behind him made Pike freeze, run, or fight, just like a wild animal sensing a predator.

In a rare moment of confession Pike had revealed that his Dad wouldn't beat him as badly if he stood there and "took his punishment like a man." Running or fighting only put off beatings for a little while.

Benny had dreams of tracking down Pike's father and making him take his punishment like a man.

But Pike had gotten comfortable with having Benny back there, and Benny took it as a great success. Just him, though; other people still gave Pike the twitches. Ben didn't know if he wanted other people to be able to do this....

Benny set Pike on his lap, right on top of his hard-on. Pike twitched then relaxed, even leaning back a little. Another successful push. He loosely put his arms around Pike, giving his friend the option of breaking free.

Ben decided to enjoy the feel of now uncomfortably tight pants. "I like the nature documentaries," he said in Pike's ear. "The charged waiting, all that energy building up into a final spring, wondering if it'll end in a--"

"Climax?" Pike asked, his low voice sounding breathier than usual.

"Yeah." Benny started to rock under Pike. "Why are the people onscreen using toothbrushes on the treasure?" He loved making Pike talk. Pike could talk more without revealing anything personal than anyone Ben knew. He was working on developing that for himself, but he just couldn't get it down.

"Uhn? They're being careful; they don't want to destroy anything. The early archaeologists were more like grave robbers. Some of them used explosives to get into tombs."

"*Explosives* explosives? Big boom stuff? For real?"

"Yeah."

"That's stupid."

"They were impatient and greedy."

"Two things I wouldn't know anything about."

Pike grinned. "But you're a cute impatient and greedy." When he stretched luxuriously, the sight and feel of him made Benny's hips buck a little harder than originally intended. Pike seemed to like it, though; at least his breathy moan suggested as much. "As dark secrets go, liking educational documentaries isn't as interesting as a hustler from an alley, but it's mine."

In another life, Pike would have been a sure shot for college and a cushy job. He actually *liked* learning and all that shit. With his brains and the right background, he would have made something of himself for sure. In this life, he had no future, too busy supporting himself to pay attention to schooling, too scared of people looking into his paperwork and finding out about his family. "What could the college and government do to you?" Ben would ask, and Pike would answer, "They could tell my family where I am, and I would have to run and start all over again...." It was fucking tragic, a total waste. Pike deserved better.

But... would a Pike on the fast track ever bother with Ben? Benny didn't think so.

But this Pike was his, and he would enjoy him to the fullest. He started to thrust up a bit against that wonderful small, tight ass as he unzipped Pike's fly. Surprise, surprise. "Going commando?"

"I knew you'd drop by."

"I love a man with a plan." As he stroked Pike's hard cock with one hand, with the other he pressed the seam of the crotch of his friend's jeans against the perineum and into the crack of his ass. "Tell me more about Egypt."

Pike moaned and flexed against him. He always sounded so surprised that the touches felt so good.... His slender fingers clawed the air trying to find something to clench on before they found Benny's shirt. They quickly pulled it loose.

"Ohhhh.... The ancient Egyptians thought the brain was... useless. Thinking came from the heart. They used to... mmmm... extract the brain through the corpse's nostrils."

The image penetrated even through Benny's haze of lust. What a thought. His imagination filled in the gaps as he put together a whole list of people he'd like to connect to that one. He thrust and stroked harder.

"Keep... talking to me, Pike."

"I knew you'd like that one, so I gave you... a moment to appreciate it."

Benny grinned. "I love you."

"I know."

As Benny made Pike ride him hard, he thought his pants were going to split. Meanwhile, Pike moaned about cartouches and scarab beetles, gold and kohl, ankhs and hieroglyphs, papyri and dynasties as he writhed. He could have a future in phone sex if he wanted it. Straining, eyes shut, moist lips gleaming, exotic words flying from his mouth, backward-looking mind finally in the now, he was beautiful beyond anything else Benny had ever known. //And I make him this way. Only me.//

They were both trembling as they moved together, and Benny heard his shirt tear under clenched fingers. The scent of Pike's sweat struck something deep in Benny's brain. He wanted to bury himself inside Pike, thrusting sweet and sure, connected, a part of his lover. He wanted Pike to do the same to him. It almost hurt how much he wanted when he knew he couldn't have....

"Ben... your pants...."

"Fuck the pants," he snarled. He was pushing, but pushing carefully. Pike might not be able to deal with this without layers of clothing making it safe. Not yet.

Pike screamed and shot, moving like whiplash. His backstroke hit Ben's tortured cock in exactly the way it needed. Benny almost blacked out in the moment of release. Boneless, they shuddered and tried to get their breath back.

Pike rolled a little and turned to face him, still in his lap. "Maybe you should go see your family more often," he mumbled as he fingered the silky tie around Ben's neck.

"Don't need them." Benny devoured Pike's mouth. "I have you."

"Yeah."

"You like?"

"What's not to like? God, I can't believe what you do to me."

Success. "Good. But I have to get out of this outfit." The pants were now completely uncomfortable.

Pike pulled on the tie. "When you change, can you keep this on for a bit?"

"Sure. I want to encourage your kinks."

"Somebody should," Pike said as he nipped at Benny's ear.

Benny thought of the archaeologists with the toothbrushes and understood. He could be patient.

The prize was more than worth it.

***THE END***