Page 1 of Matthew

Chapter One

The nightmare giant stood over Kom’s lifeless body. Matt screamed, and the monster turned to him. It reached from an impossible distance, but he knew it would catch him.

He turned and ran. Fell. He scrambled in the sudden darkness, searching for a place to hide. He found it, a hole in the ground, perhaps a cave. He crawled inside.

A hand like a manacle grabbed his ankle. It pulled him out, into dimly lit surroundings. He screamed and flailed, fighting the monster.

“Matt! Wake up!”

Kom’s voice. As Matt was dragged from beneath the bunk in their shared quarters, there was Kom himself, scarred but whole. Alive. The monster was gone. Reality flooded in and reminded him of where he was.

Sobbing, Matt leapt at the Nobek, his arms wrapping around Kom’s neck. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Hush. I’m here. You’re safe.” Kom sat cross-legged on the floor and gathered Matt against his chest. He rocked him and stroked his long, blond hair.

Matt wept, as much from shame as the terror of the nightmare. No matter how often he suffered the same horror, it never failed to devastate him. The only change in seven months was Kom’s presence in it. His Kalquorian friend had been cast in the starring role of Matt’s greatest fear.

As Matt’s hitching breaths eased and his shaking calmed, Kom asked, “The monster, huh?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Did I die this time?”

“I’m sorry.”

Kom sighed. He placed a finger under Matt’s chin and lifted his tear-streaked face. Their gazes met. “You know I’m a bad motherfucker to keep coming back from the dead.”

Matt choked a surprised laugh. “You must be.”

Kom grinned, softening ruggedly handsome features, but there was darkness in his purple eyes. Guilt stabbed Matt. Kom dealt with so much shit from him.

“No, you don’t. No blame for nightmares you can’t help.” The Nobek’s lips pressed his.

His touches were almost always gentle, but his kisses rarely were. He kissed as if he’d devour Matt. Passion lit, strong and heady…but it failed to replace his fears.

The monster was in his head. It snarled to him that it stood outside the door of their quarters, ready to burst in and catch them, two men, sharing an embrace it cursed as foul. Matt’s palms slammed Kom’s chest to push him away.

Matt wasn’t weak. He’d been in the military years before and trained to fight. Kom had instructed him in Kalquorian hand-to-hand techniques too. He worked out regularly under his friend’s guidance and was in the best shape of his life, toned with a decent amount of muscle.

Matt was small, however, even for a human. He stood five-foot-two in his shoes, barely up to his companion’s chest. He was no match for a Kalquorian, especially Kom, a battle-tested warrior Nobek. Kom was almost a foot and a half taller and pure muscled brawn. He didn’t shift an inch despite Matt’s panicked shoving. The kiss continued until Kom was ready for it to end.

Over the past seven months, they’d done this dance more often than Matt could count. When Kom’s hand slid over his crotch and Matt grabbed his wrist to try to stop him, familiar words rose over his frightened pants.

“Easy. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you or me. There’s nothing to be afraid of, Mattie.” The strong-featured face hovering over his was as intense as ever, but a smile hinted at Kom’s lips. His cat-pupiled eyes were calm, his voice quiet. “You’re nowhere near Mercy Colony. Sven Larsen has no idea where you are. Earth is gone, and no one, especially your father, can judge you for who you are.”

Kom’s touch was magic despite the fears it awoke. Heat poured into Matt’s groin. Senseless fears refused to let him go, but his cock stiffened in Kom’s hot, calloused grip. The Nobek insisted Matt sleep nude, an exercise in affirming he was free to live and love as he’d been born to.

It was the only therapy they’d come up with for the lingering trauma dogging Matt’s every waking and sleeping minute. That, and the sleeping medication administered three times a week under Dr. Doljen’s watchful eye.

“Don’t. Don’t,” Matt whimpered, though the coils of terror were unraveling as Kom masturbated him to full erection. He was merely holding his beloved’s wrist, resistance ebbing in the distance. “I can’t.”

“You’ll come for me,” Kom promised. “We’ll prove once again you can, and no one will be hurt because of it. We’ll do this until the nightmares give you up.”

He lifted Matt onto the bed they shared. Matt’s legs hung off the edge, spread apart, and Kom kneeled on the floor between them.

“Don’t.” Matt’s voice was a thin whisper. He’d already surrendered, though his gaze slid to the closed door of their small quarters. Part of him defied any logic. It insisted the door would slide open, and the monster would stride in to enact vengeance.

“My poor, sweet little man,” Kom sighed, staring at the shaft in his fist. He bowed over it.

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