Page 7 of Sypher

“Hey,” I replied. “What brings you back here?”

“Meeting an associate for lunch,” he lied. I knew he was lying because he didn’t look me in the eye when he replied. He was avoiding telling me the truth. Something he was good at doing when he didn’t want me to know shit.

“Then we won’t keep you,” Carrie snapped, her words laced with a cutting tone as she inserted herself into our discussion, her arm a possessive barrier around mine. “We’re spending time with family today. Isn’t that right, baby?”

Dante’s cold and calculating eyes flickered from my face to the woman practically glued to my side, his lips a thin, tight line. “I see you are still digging through the trash.”

Carrie gasped.

“You need to leave. Now,” my brother sneered, stepping forward.

“Ace, don’t,” I hissed, my eyes fixated on Dante, my heart pounding in my chest.

It had been so long since I’d seen him. He looked different. He was troubled by something, a persistent worry that settled heavily upon his shoulders, clearly causing him considerable stress and discomfort. He appeared utterly defeated, his body and spirit worn down by whatever he had endured.

“No worries. Danny made his choice,” Dante snarled then looked at me and challenged, “Haven’t you, Danny?”

Struck speechless, I stood rooted to my spot, unable to say anything at all.

In the heavy silence that followed, Dante responded with a slow, deliberate shake of his head, his expression conveying a mixture of contemplation and disapproval. “Goodbye, Danny.”

I watched Dante walk away, the chill of his absence settling over me, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

With a sharp jerk, I freed my arm from Carrie’s grasp, spun around and seethed, my heart pounding, “We are not dating. We never were. I fucked you once. That was it. Leave me alone!”

Ace’s firm hands closed around my shirt, pulling me close in a sudden, forceful movement. “Apologize to her. Now.”

“I won’t.” I pushed him off me. “You show up out of the blue after all these years and you think you can just pick up where you left off? Well, you can’t!”

Turning away from them, I ignored Ace’s increasingly frustrated shouts, the cold biting at my cheeks as I pulled my coat tighter and hurried down the street. I felt lost, directionless and overwhelmed. The only certainty was that I needed to escape that suffocating atmosphere.

All I wanted was a quiet weekend, a chance to relax with no loud noises or stressful situations. All I wanted was a weekend to unwind and be myself, but I found even that to be an impossible task.

Lost in thought and unsure of my destination, I walked aimlessly for what felt like hours, until I jumped in a cab and told the fucker to drive as the night deepened. Eventually, I found myself standing before a door, paralyzed by an inexplicable hesitancy to knock. As more time passed while I remained standing in that spot, the tendrils of indecision began to wind their way into my thoughts, slowly but surely growing stronger. With a slow shake of my head, I was on the verge of turning away, prepared to depart, when the sound of the door opening caught my attention.

“What do you want, Danny?”

I swallowed the bitter taste of every misperceived misconception, the weight of my upbringing, and the ingrainedbeliefs I thought were truths, and then I spoke plainly, “I want to know what I’ve been missing.”

Chapter Four

Sypher

July 3, 2023, Summer break before start of junior year,

My body thrashed, tossed and turned, while a symphony of sexually charged moans echoed in the quiet room as sleep evaded me. My mind raced with a whirlwind of decadent thoughts that refused to settle. Every time I closed my eyes, I smelled the intoxicating scent of desire, the lingering warmth of gratification, and the forbidden taste of sin.

It was my living nightmare. The night I surrendered to my deepest desire, which only left a hunger for more that I was utterly powerless to ignore.

The feel, the smell and the taste—Oh God, the taste I remembered well.

Sweat trickled down my temples. My body was too hot.

My cock was rock hard; the ache so strong it was hard to ignore.

My attempts to alleviate the pain in my balls were futile, no matter what I tried.

With a firm grip on my stiff dick, I commenced rapid strokes, hoping for a quick release. My eyes closed, and I pictured the sensation of my cock penetrating deeply into that snug, warm opening. The intense heat scorched me, and I felt the suffocating pressure of the suction as I relentlessly pushed into that forbidden place.

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