Chapter 4-2
808 Words
Adam pillowed his head on his arm. He had gotten himself together, though, and had helped, after he’d seen how calmly Lyncoln faced the situation. And although he wouldn’t admit it, he’d found satisfaction in racing through the little grocery store with a shopping cart brimming with supplies that could very well save their lives. Hadn’t Lyncoln been impressed Adam had thought of toilet paper? He wasn’t so sure what Lyncoln would think of some other items he’d stuffed in the voluminous pockets of his overcoat. The situation might not warrant them, but if it turned out the occasion arose, it paid to have them available.
He bolted upright when he realized the sound he’d been drowsing to was the radio suddenly gone to white noise. “Lyncoln?” His voice came out a hoarse whisper, and he swallowed, but before he could try again, Lyncoln was at his side.
“What’s wrong?”
“The radio.”
Lyncoln became still, and then he shivered. “Maybe the radio tower went down?”
“Maybe.” But Adam didn’t want to say that wouldn’t affect the communications satellites that circled the globe. “Would you…I’m sorry to ask this, but would you sleep with me here?”
“No.” Lyncoln pushed away from the bunk and walked away, and Adam felt his heart sink.
“I…I didn’t mean…” How were they going to survive this if he’d f****d things up?
Lyncoln didn’t respond. He had gone back into the storage room. Apparently he couldn’t even bear to be in the same space as Adam, and Adam buried his face in his pillow.
“We’ll be more comfortable on these.”
“What?” Adam’s heart lurched when he realized Lyncoln had returned.
“Take the mattresses off our bunks. I’ll lay out these sleeping bags on top of them. We can zip them together and make a more comfortable bed.”
“I thought…” He couldn’t bring himself to confess what he’d thought. He dragged the mattress off his bunk, then pushed the bunk up against the wall before he crossed to Lyncoln’s bed and did the same. He watched as Lyncoln unrolled the sleeping bags and zipped them together.
“What’s wrong, Adam?”
And he found himself admitting, “When you said no, I thought I’d ruined everything.”
Lyncoln sat back on his heels. “You didn’t. These bunks are just too narrow for two, and I didn’t want one of us to wind up on the floor.” He smiled at Adam. “Which side of the bed do you prefer?”
“The right?”
“All righty, then, I’ll get in first.”
As Lyncoln crawled into their makeshift bed, Adam couldn’t take his gaze from the firm globes of his ass as the muscles shifted under the blue and green plaid boxers. He felt his mouth go dry at the shadow of those heavy balls hanging between Lyncoln’s legs, and his fingers twitched to stroke them. Instead, Adam climbed in after him.
Lyncoln was right; this was more comfortable. Or maybe it was having a companion with whom to share the dark of this endless night.
Adam lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling of the shelter, but he just couldn’t fall asleep. He was hard and twitchy. All he wanted was to nestle up to Lyncoln.
Lyncoln turned over to face him. The emergency lights gave enough illumination that Adam could see his eyes gleaming. All the same, he started when he felt Lyncoln’s warm fingertips caress his cheek.
“Come here.” Lyncoln stretched out his left arm.
For a second, Adam didn’t move. He should protest he didn’t need the comfort. But then he found himself shifting over until he was flush against his companion, because the thing was he did need the comfort.
“Thank you, Lyncoln,” he whispered as he pillowed his head on Lyncoln’s shoulder.
“You’re welcome,” Lyncoln replied, and Adam was willing to swear Lyncoln had nuzzled his hair.
Adam didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky as to share a bed with someone as hot and nice as Lyncoln Ryland, but he wasn’t going to do anything to blow it.
Blow it. Might there come a time, if it turned out it really was just the two of them, that Lyncoln might let Adam blow him?
No, he had to stop thinking like that. The best thing to do would be to start making plans for their future instead. They’d wait three weeks before going topside, as Lyncoln had said, and seeing what the damage was. If things were really bad, they could stay here in the mall. Adam knew that Thursday was truck day for most of the stores here, so down the road there would still be supplies for them. And as Lyncoln had told him, they could grow a garden.
Adam just hoped it was a good thing he’d brought his car into the mall. If…when…it came time to evacuate, at least they’d have transportation. His BMW didn’t have a full tank of gas—the mad dash from the capital had used up half a tank—but he was sure if they were able to find a gas station that hadn’t run out, Lyncoln would know how to get the gas out, or even siphon gas from abandoned cars.
He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. And then they could…
But before Adam could think what else they could do, he was sound asleep.
- Writer
