Ben might attempt to break his hold on his needs, but Vance could handle it. Ben could tease as much as he wanted. It was back—his control. He held the lead. The reins on his need were in his power. He wouldn"t lose them again. No one would be hurt.

  He felt his lips edge up at the corners. Take all the time you want, Murphy. For the first time in six months, Vance started to feel human again.

  Ben stifled the sound of his hunger. The scent of Vance"s arousal, the heat of his cock, the reaction of his body to his touch had Ben"s own erection straining for release.

  The need to explode hovered tantalizingly close, even as he buried his nose in the curls Diablo Blanco Club: Under Control

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  at the base of Vance"s shaft and inhaled the unique blend of his scent and the sweat slicking his skin.

  Man or woman, Ben knew the right spots to stroke, caress, and tease to heighten the need and draw out arousal to a painful necessity. In his time at the Diablo Blanco Club, he"d learned valuable lessons in various forms of stimulation. He"d even experimented with a few, wanting to know the different types of pleasure to be gained from the multitude of toys made available to Club members. The sting of the lash, for him, held less appeal than a judiciously placed flick of the tongue. The heat of candle wax could never compare to the pressure of fingers flexing against straining muscles.

  Ben smoothed his hands over the bunched muscles of Vance"s thighs, humming softly in appreciation at the clench and release of the flesh beneath his touch, as well as the rasp of body hair against his palms. When his fingers smoothed over the gouges and dips left by shrapnel, Ben shifted his lips to explore the scars.

  Above him, Vance grew still. His body tensed and then relaxed into Ben"s touch.

  Ben chuckled, nipping at the flesh beneath him. “Bored, V?” he teased.

  “Bored, my ass,” Vance challenged as he shifted lazily beneath Ben"s caress. “Not if you get your mouth back to where it can do the most good.”

  “Your ass is just what I was wondering about.” Ben laughed. Rising, he let his body slide against Vance"s, enjoying the heat of flesh pressed to flesh, the rub of one cock against another, before settling a hot, hard kiss on Vance"s lips and stepping back.

  Chains rattled as Vance grumbled curses in languages Ben barely recognized. This only made him laugh louder. “Turn around, Vance. Let me get a better look at your fine ass.”

  The slow way Vance eased around to face the leather-covered wall had Ben chuckling beneath his breath. When he"d had his mouth wrapped around Vance"s cock, he"d felt the shift in the way his friend held himself. The confidence and self-possession Vance had been lacking when Ben had first voiced his challenge were back, and the thought made Ben"s cock throb harder. Taking his own time, he moved to retrieve a 40

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  condom and the lube from the nightstand. After the better part of a decade wondering what the clasp of Vance"s ass would feel like, Ben had every intention of discovering how close to his imaginings the sensation was.

  As he drew closer, Ben didn"t fight the grimace that twisted his lips. The sight of the thin pinkish white scars crisscrossing Vance"s shoulders and down his spine pissed him off. Dropping the prophylactic and the tube to the floor, he smoothed his hands over each of the marks before pressing his lips to them. Beneath his touch, Vance tensed, hissing out a single breath. Then he fell silent for the rest of Ben"s exploration.

  The play of sinew and densely packed muscle over bone had Ben"s passion leaking from the tip of his cock. Easing to his knees, Ben moved lower down Vance"s spine until his hands bracketed his friend"s hips and the raised welts from his whipping heated his lips. Moving his hands inward, Ben smiled against Vance"s firm ass cheek before giving in to the urge to nip at the reddened flesh. The curse Vance uttered turned into a groan as Ben eased the mounds apart and teased the dark pucker of his ass with the flick of his tongue.

  “How long?” Ben queried, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

  “Since I"ve taken it up the ass?” Vance croaked.

  “Mmmm.” Ben let the motion of his tongue and the scratch of his evening beard against the inside of Vance"s cheeks identify his response as a yes.

  A gulp of air and a moan preceded Vance"s curt, “two years.”

  Scooting back to don the condom and pop the cap on the lubricant, Ben asked,

  “How do you like it? Fast or slow?”

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  Chapter Four

  “I don"t give a fuck.” Despite Vance having regained control, Ben"s teasing was driving him crazy. He was going to die if Ben didn"t hurry things up. Excited quivers ran through his body as the tearing of cellophane and the soft sounds of a rubber being rolled on reached his ears. The snap of a cap and the swish of moisture sliding over flesh only increased the trembling in his limbs. His fisted hands kept the vibrations from rattling the chains holding him, but he wasn"t sure for how long he"d be able to keep still.

  I had no idea anticipation could be this painful. Vance shook his head at his mental discovery. The throb of his erection beat in time with the tremors cycling through his body. Need for release had reached an excruciating level, and still Ben teased. Pushing his ass back, Vance tried to tempt his friend to move faster. He"d achieved what he sought. The beast of his emotions was inside his grip, tamed. He could enjoy Ben"s attentions without fear of losing control. Like he"d said, a man was always under control.

  The heat of Ben"s body against his drew another moan from his lips. The press of slick fingertips against his hole had him pushing back.

  “Do you need to come? Is that why I should hurry, V?”

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  “No,” Vance lied, biting back his body"s urge to encourage Ben to work faster. The slide of two fingers into his rectum and then a third had him rocking on his feet. He could control the need now. Couldn"t he?

  The torture only grew worse as Ben laughed. Working the fingers of one hand deeper, Ben wrapped his free hand around Vance"s straining cock. The rope in Vance"s mind strained against the pressure created by the emotions pushing to slip free. Vance tried to focus on keeping it taut and in place, but the rhythmic squeeze and release of Ben"s hand, combined with the stroke of fingers in his ass, had Vance chanting incoherently, “Oh God, yes, baby!” Again and again, he had to stop himself from uttering a plea for release. He may have regained control, but there was no goddamned way he was going to let Ben win their wager. But as Ben increased the intensity of his motions, Vance couldn"t help begging for the feel of Ben"s cock. “Ahh, God, Ben, I need it. Please, I need it now!”

  “Need what, V? Tell me.” The command was accompanied by the removal of Ben"s fingers from his ass.

  Only the slide of his hand along Vance"s cock remained, and even that had slowed to a smooth caress, the fingers no longer squeezing.

  “I need you to fuck me,” Vance said. He pressed his hips back, sliding his cheeks against the lubed heat of Ben"s flesh. “I have to feel your pole pounding inside me, Ben.”

  “How?” Ben asked. He moved the tip of his erection so it was snug against Vance"s entrance and then stilled, seeming to wait for a response.

  “Hard, Ben. Fast, baby, and hard.” Vance quivered in his restraints. The pleasure and pain that coursed through his body increased the buzz of his arousal and need to a fever pitch. His breath froze in his lungs as Ben slammed his dick home, shoving past pulsing muscles to bury his length balls deep in Vance"s ass.

  The hand around Vance"s cock kept pace with the shaft up his ass, spinning Vance"s senses into the ether, stretching his concept of where he was, what he was, and Diablo Blanco Club: Under Control

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  whom he was with beyond anything he"d experienced. Ben took him at his word and set a furious pace. The heat of his chest warmed Vance"s back with each hard advance of Ben"s length into his body, only to be followed by the steady retreat. Tingles from his building climax spread through his balls and up Vance"s spine, increasing in intensity with every thrust of Ben"s hips. His emotions pulled at the bonds. He struggled to hold them in, racing toward release. Ben"s heated whispers barely registered in his mind.

  “That"s it. You feel so fucking good, baby. Hot and tight,” Ben growled. His chest was plastered to Vance"s back, hips pounding his ass, balls slapping against balls. “Just for me. Made just for me.”

  “Yes,” Vance agreed. The blindfold heightened his awareness of every breath flowing in and out of their lungs. The sound of flesh meeting flesh, the drip of sweat down skin, the texture of the carpet beneath his feet as he braced himself and met Ben"s every advance with the push of his hips. Needing more, his body straining for the release he refused to allow it, Vance turned his head to connect with Ben"s cheek as the other man buried his face in the curve of Vance"s neck.

  The kiss was carnal. No coaxing of lips or teasing of tongues. Just a raw exchange of need as tongues dueled and lips pressed against each other. The scent of sweat and sex engulfed Vance"s senses as he parried and thrust, never giving in to the domination of Ben"s kiss. Even as they pulled apart to draw in deep gulps of air, Vance waged a war with his flesh, refusing to allow his body release, refusing to let his body dictate his passion. The control had to be his. Exerting every ounce of power within him, he fought against the explosion that tingled in his balls and twined up his spine, until Ben"s teeth tugged at his bottom lip.

  The squeeze and stroke of Ben"s fist around his cock, the pressure of the bite, had him teetering on the edge. Ben released his hold on Vance"s lip.

  “Trust me,” Ben whispered. “Do it, Vance. Come with me.”

  It was the simple command in his lover"s voice that sent Vance into climax.

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  The wet splash of his cum against his chest and belly coincided with the heated pulse of Ben"s cock within the tight confines of his rectum. Angry at his surrender at the same time every taut muscle in his frame relaxed, Vance"s head dropped back to rest against Ben"s shoulder. The steel-reinforced beam supported his weight even as the chains latched to his cuffs groaned at the pull of two hundred pounds of solid muscle.

  Even as he abandoned himself to the feelings coursing through him, he recognized the truth in what Ben had been trying to tell him: real passion, real love, slipped free of all bindings, escaped control and spread through a person, infusing the soul with peace.

  He trusted Ben. He loved Ben.

  Ben didn"t gloat over winning their challenge with time to spare, and Vance, his mind still trying to make sense of the new realizations surfacing, didn"t protest his loss.

  After Ben eased free of Vance"s ass and released the chains on his cuffs, Vance watched Ben move to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

  After releasing the cuffs, Vance set them on the nightstand and followed Ben into the bathroom. Neither man spoke when Vance slid back the shower door and turned on the spray. Minutes later, the pounding of warm water against his back barely registered over the pleasure Vance found as he swallowed Ben"s cock, working the knob to the back of his throat and drawing a curse from his lover"s lips as he used his tongue and throat to tease the tip. Pulling back, he suckled its sensitive ridge, pressing his tongue flat against the underside of the shaft as his fingers tugged at the hot sac behind.

  “Fuck, V,” Ben gasped, hands fisting in Vance"s hair as he pressed his head against the wall of the shower behind him. “You"re gonna make me come.”

  “Fair"s fair.” Vance chuckled as he allowed his hands to stroke and torment his friend before he swirled his tongue over the tip again. He drew the pearly drop of precum out of the slit and savored the taste. “You made me come, I make you come.

  Makes us even, wouldn"t you say?”

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  Ben didn"t respond. Whatever he was going to say was drowned beneath the groan that rolled through his chest as Vance surrounded his length with the heat of his lips. Letting one of his hands drop to grasp his own swollen erection, Vance focused on bringing Ben to climax with the slide of his tongue and the suction of his mouth.

  He forced down his own orgasm, defeating the niggling fear that tried to whisper in the back of his mind that any mastery of his body was merely an illusion—an illusion shattered by Ben"s easy manipulation of his need, his arousal. Breathing deep, he worked his tongue over, under, and around Ben"s cock, all the while forcing his mind to stand down, to ignore the taunts and clamp restraints on his sexual state. Arousal was allowed, but no coming, no finishing without permission. He had controlled that and would continue to do so now.

  Ben"s cry and the salty wash of his semen as it shot across Vance"s tongue and down his throat was the first hurdle. Maintaining control of his arousal was the second.

  Suckling the last of Ben"s release, Vance eased his lover"s cock from his mouth and rose to face him. Leaning forward, he pressed his stiff member against the older man"s belly.

  “Bed?” he suggested, the left side of his mouth canting upward.

  Ben gave a jerky nod. “Bed,” he agreed before dipping his head and pressing his lips to Vance"s. The flavor of his seed still lingered, but Ben didn"t seem offended by it.

  Vance enjoyed the way Ben sipped at his mouth, pressing with his lips and then flicking his tongue along the seam before slipping inside to play. When their breathing grew rough and the clutch of their hands around each other"s waists came near to bruising, Vance pulled back.

  “Bed.” This time, his words were a command.

  Laughing, Ben nodded and leaned into him to reach the faucet.

  With the cessation of water, Vance slid the frosted glass door back and stripped a towel from the heated rod beside the shower. Slapping it against Ben"s belly, he snagged the other for himself and stepped out of the stall. Ben didn"t bother with drying off. Instead, he swiped the towel over his hair and strode out of the room.

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  Forcing himself to take his time, Vance scrubbed at his close-cropped hair with the towel before sliding it along his arms. An involuntary hiss escaped his lips as he scraped the cotton terry over the reddened abrasions that encircled his wrists. The cuffs had chafed more than usual, but he"d heal, no big. A similar sting registered when he skated the towel over his ass. The welts were receding, but he was sure to have a few bruises come morning. Again, no big: he"d had worse after the Crucible and Recon training.

  Erection still at full strength, he stepped out of the bathroom. His laughter was quickly stifled by a groan that worked its way out of his chest. Ben had thrown aside the black suede comforter and turned down the matching silk sheets. Even as he approached the bed, Vance couldn"t take his eyes from the slide of his lover"s fingers as they prepared his own ass. Slick with lube, Ben took his time, using three fingers to smear the gel along the rim and inner surfaces of his channel. Propped on his side, he smiled as Vance stepped closer. His free hand came up, holding out the lube and a condom.

  “Unless you"d like me to—”

  “No.” Vance gritted out the word, his voice barely recognizable to himself.

  Snatching the cellophane square from Ben"s fingertips, he ripped it open and rolled the rubber into place. He applied the lube and tossed the tube onto the nearby nightstand as he climbed onto the mattress. When Ben would have rolled onto his belly, Vance stopped him.

  “No, I want to look at you. I want to watch your face.”

  Understanding turned his gray eyes to silver as Ben shifted onto his back and spread his thighs wide. Reaching down, Ben spread his bottom and canted his hips upward, revealing his glistening hole. “Come and get it, babe.”

  Vance didn"t try to stifle his amusement. God, he needed to find fun in sex again.

  After Aimee… He shook away the guilt and morose thoughts.

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  Ben fought the urge to demand what was wrong. The flash of grief darkening Vance"s gaze was out of place, unexpected after the passion of the last hour. Stifling his concern, he wiggled his ass and teased again, “You know you want it.”

  He was happy to see Vance play along as his fingers gripped the base of his sheathed cock before settling between Ben"s spread thighs. Pushing his hands out of the way, Ben could feel Vance set the tip of his erection against his anus and press forward.

  Grimacing at the exquisite stretching sensation, Ben gripped the backs of his thighs and pulled, opening himself farther to Vance"s penetration.

  Unlike Ben"s hammering assault, Vance took his time, easing past pulsing muscles until the damp curls at the base of his shaft teased the underside of Ben"s sac. The heat and pressure of Vance"s length stretching his channel had Ben"s head thrashing against the pillows.

  “Fuck, V, it feels good,” Ben assured him, biting back a plea for a fast, hard ass reaming.

  Just as slowly as he"d entered, Vance retreated, drawing a groan from Ben"s lips. A protest he left unvoiced as Vance pressed forward again. The weight of Vance"s body eased over his, squeezing Ben"s aroused cock between their bellies. Callused hands urged Ben to wind his legs around Vance"s waist as green eyes held Ben"s gaze. Vance lowered his head.

  “So good, Ben. You feel so good,” Vance breathed against his lips.

  The look in his eyes held more than sexual need. Again Ben read grief and pain in his lover"s gaze, but it was hidden away when Vance closed his eyelids and settled into a slow rocking motion. The friction of body against body, the rhythmic advance and retreat of Vance"s shaft in Ben"s rectum, the press and rub of skin and muscle against his rising cock, had Ben"s heart doubling and then tripling its beat.

  The threading of Vance"s fingers in his hair sent a tingle through Ben. The brush of lips on lips then tongue on tongue increased his need for a faster coupling, but still Vance paced himself. Needing more, Ben squeezed the muscles in his ass, flexing 48

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  around the solid mass of Vance"s cock, caressing and teasing his length, encouraging him to move faster, harder, deeper.