Chapter Eight

Thomas hadn’t gotten to appreciate his first sunset on their new planet, what with being half convinced that the man he was in love with had been gobbled up by alien beasties. He was determined to relish his second and, to that end, now lay back on the grass with his head resting in his arms, a cup of not-coffee at his side and no inclination to move for the next hour. The Prayer was parked nearby, silhouetted in the grass like a huge cow. No one had decided what their next move was yet. Which was fine. Thomas was down with just staying put for a while. It was nice here.

“You busy?” came a gruff voice.

“Yeah, I am. I’m so busy that if you say one word to me I might die of exertion,” said Thomas, keeping his gaze fixed on the sky, which was fading into lavender.

Zachery’s fat, stupid head got in the way of Thomas’s view.

“Wanted to apologize,” the engineer said. “For earlier, I mean. I was a jackass.”

Thomas shrugged. “It’s not me you were a jackass to. Go apologize to Rick.”

“I already did. We’re cool.”

“Really?” said Thomas, taken aback.

Scratching the back of his head, Zachery said, “Yeah. He wanted a hug, of all things.”

Without waiting for an invitation, he flopped down on the grass beside Thomas, mimicking his pose. The sky went from lavender to mauve before Thomas said, “I know it’s the way you are, but you’re too rough with him, man.”

“You coddle him too much,” Zachery retorted. “He’s tougher than you give him credit for. Hell of a lot tougher than I was at that age.”

“And me. I was a fucking wimp.”

“Not much’s changed then.”

Vengefully, Thomas pulled up a handful of grass and threw it at Zachery’s face. “What’re you here for, again?”

“I told you. To apologize.”

“Right, fine, apology accepted. Was that it?” asked Thomas, rolling onto his stomach.

“No.” Zachery was deliberately avoiding his gaze. “I wanted to ask if…”

“If?” Thomas prompted.

Zachery rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m fucking this up. See, I like you. You’re dorky and kind of dumb, but I like you. And I liked being with you, the last time. Even if the captain and Rick hadn’t been there, I’d have liked it. I want…I want all three of you, for me. But I also want you and me to do our own thing now and then. I’d like to…shit, Thomas, I’d like to get to know you better, all right? Do stuff together, eat together. And fuck, obviously. I think that would be cool. I think we’d be good together.”

“If you can put up with me,” he added, while Thomas mulled it over.

“You want to be boyfriends,” Thomas concluded.

Zachery grimaced. “Ugh, don’t say that word. I’m not a teenybopper asking you to the goddamn prom. Let’s say ‘lovers,’ okay?”

“You know, Rick asked me the same thing.”

“What’d you say to him?”

“That I’m not boyfriend material.”

Zachery barked a laugh. “Come the fuck on. You? You’d be the best boyfriend in the history of the universe. You do birdwatching. You cuddle and make polite conversation. I’ll bet my life you hold hands in public. What’s the real reason? Is it ’cause he’s younger? I told you; you need to give him more credit. He’s not a delicate flower. And I already fucked his ass, if that helps.”

“Talking about my ass behind my back? Man, you two suck.”

They both looked up guiltily as Rick’s shadow fell over them. He was tapping his foot like a put-out housewife who’d caught her husband dipping his dick in her homemade apple pie.

“Get lost, shrimp,” said Zachery, lazily twining an arm around Thomas. “I seduced you yesterday, now it’s this hot bitch’s turn.”

Smirking, Rick dropped down and straddled Thomas’s lap, while Zachery drew Thomas back into his. “Oh? Is that so? Because what I remember is you begging for a shot at my adorable ass. Thomas, you know this sad loser couldn’t wait until we got back to the ship? Had to do it up against a tree, like a dog who needs his nuts chopped.”

Leaning over Thomas’s shoulder, Rick exchanged a messy tongue-fuck with the aforementioned sad loser. Thomas felt Zachery’s cock swelling against the curve of his ass.

“You realize we’re outside, right?” Thomas said, putting both hands on Rick’s hips and grinding their dicks together. “Anyone could see.”

“Did that sound like a complaint to you, Rick?” asked Zachery.

“Nope,” said Rick, unzipping Thomas’s suit and peeling it off his shoulders. “Sounds as though he kinda likes the idea.”

After tugging off his own suit, Zachery lay down in the grass, taking both of them down with him so that Thomas lay back on top of him and Rick straddled Thomas’s waist. Working out what they had in mind, Thomas grinned and stole a kiss from Rick. Low and husky, he said, “Zach tells me he already had your ass to himself earlier. That right, cutie?”

Bashfully, Rick nodded. Thomas kissed him again. “Then I guess I’m going to have to show him up, aren’t I? Get undressed.”

Zachery, meanwhile, was pawing Thomas’s ass, dragging his big fingers down his crack. No lube, only spit. Thomas could handle it. Zachery was brisk, but he wasn’t brutal, and he took his time stretching Thomas open before pushing in.

“Oh, hell,” Thomas moaned, seeing stars behind his closed eyelids.

Zachery laughed, the smug motherfucker. “You tell me you’ve had anyone bigger than me in you, and I’ll call you a goddamn liar, twerp.”

“Quit wriggling, Meléndez,” Rick said. “Zach, can you hold his cock still for me?”

The feeling of Rick sinking down onto him while Zachery thrust up was every bit as awesome as Thomas might have hoped. He got a thrill out of the contrast between their bodies, Rick’s narrow hips and Zachery’s broad, hairy chest, and the way both of them were as intent on pleasing each other as they were on pleasing him. Zachery reached around to jerk Rick off while he bounced up and down on Thomas’s cock, and Rick kept leaning over Thomas’s shoulder to swap messy kisses. They worked out a rhythm, and Thomas let them use him however they wanted.

I could do this with them forever, he thought. I really could.

He came first, staring up at the sky—dark blue, a few wisps of cloud, countless stars in the background. He didn’t know who came second, but within a minute, all three of them had stopped moving, forming a disorderly heap of sweaty bodies on the grass.

“Hey, you guys?” Thomas said when his brain could be bothered with formulating speech. “You wanna be my boyfriends?”

“Guess so,” said Zachery.

“Don’t see why not,” said Rick, and Thomas felt him smile against his heart.