Keep Me Close Chapter XVI - PART I
Team: San Jose Sharks
Pairing: Joe Thornton/Evgeni Nabokov
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Not all in San Jose is sunny as the path to the Stanley Cup proves to be as difficult as ever; falling in love might be the simplest task on this year’s agenda.
Editor: Sherlockelly. WOMAN this would not be up if it wasn’t for you. Everything you’ve done has been wonderful and I hope that we shall have many more chapters together to come ;) This chapter is for you!
Note: READ THIS PART FIRST
Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Chapter V | Chapter VI | Chapter VII | Chapter VIII | Chapter IX | Chapter X | Chapter XI | Chapter XII | Chapter XIII | Chapter XIV | Chapter XV
Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the original franchise relating to the San Jose Sharks, or any other NHL team
Chapter XVI - READ THIS FIRST
“I’m sorry, Yevi. Oh my god, I am so sorry.”
He ended the embrace and took both of Evgeni’s boney shoulders in his rough hands. Dark eyes stared back, and Evgeni’s teeth clattered through his shuddering breaths. Evgeni’s lids slid shut and he clenched his jaw, a whine escaping his throat as he shook his head again.
In that room, time stood still; the air stopped moving, Joe’s brain stopped working. Outside, the world went on, rushing hectically, carelessly, never once looking back.
As a last act of desperation, and with all of the fear, hope and regret which he possessed, Joe cupped Evgeni’s tear-stained face to bring their lips crashing together.
-----
He was frozen, like the ice he knew of, like the waning minutes in the last period of the game. Frozen.
What was he doing? Was he transferring his courage to the cold lips? Was it a sign of reassurance?
…Was Joe actually kissing Evgeni?
Joe’s lips were ridged, and they remained pursed together securely against the bruised ones of Evgeni. It did not suggest anything and it was purely innocent, as his muddied mind would have had him believe.
The scent of the grime on Evgeni’s skin filled Joe’s nostrils, the dank smell calling his attention hastily. There was a mix of flagrant odors which churned in his stomach painfully, but yet… the stale layers could not quite mask what Joe knew to be so him.
The Russian always had the illusion of the ice about him and it lingered on his skin long after the game ended. He was every cut of the blade into the ice and every touch of the puck on the stick. Every mistake, every goal, every save followed Evgeni, each game another chapter to his existence. Every time Joe was near, he could feel the absolute thrill of the game radiating from him. When his eyes finally slid shut, Joe could almost hear the deafening roar of the crowd.
His mind had drifted off, and the mental awareness of his lips faded away. Joe relaxed into the touch, the contact, the kiss and he parted his lips to swallow the rush of the game from Evgeni’s mouth before the last buzzer sounded.
He sucked the upper lip between his teeth just barely and ‘Oh god Evgeni isn’t doing anything back.’
Joe’s eyes flew open, and the image of the thunderous HP Pavilion snapped when he did. Latching his lips together over Evgeni’s, Joe stared numbly at the tear-leaking, bolted-closed eyes inches away from his own. He dug his fingers into Evgeni’s cheek and ripped himself away.
He felt disgusting. Dirty, sick and wrong.
Was he no better than Avery? Stealing Evgeni’s innocence and vulnerable state whilst only thinking of himself?
Of all the things that Joe could have done, he decided to thoughtlessly force himself onto Evgeni, his actions which would be the first crack in there friendship.
‘No,’ he tried reasoning with himself. He had acted for the benefit of his friend and for him alone… If only his regretful heart would listen to him.
Joe bit back a sorrowful cry at his stupidity, and clenched his eyes shut, anticipating the hit which would solidify the end to whatever they had created together. Joe knew it was the least he deserved.
The hit came after an eternity of oppressing silence. But it was not the hit that Joe had been expecting.
Trembling lips regained their warm spot on Joe’s own, a powerful kiss which sucked all of the doubt that Joe had straight from his mouth.
Evgeni’s tears stuck to Joe’s cheeks as their faces shaped together. His hands hovered near Joe’s neck, unsure whether to let go or to hold on for dear life.
Finally, light fingertips grazed over Joe’s prickling skin before they intertwined at the base of his neck.
Joe did not know what to do. All set plans were thrown out the window when it came to Evgeni. They would run until life caught up with them if need be. But this… this was something that Joe could have never prepared for.
Not the explosion behind his eyelids when Evgeni’s warm, ragged lips slid against his own. Not for the way his own hands withdrew from cupping Evgeni’s face, instead choosing to twist themselves into the untamable dirty-blond locks at the nape of his neck.
But especially not the guttural moan that tore from his throat when Evgeni’s flat chest rubbed over his, the nipples under his shirt hardening at the touch.
After the cry died on his lips, the haze covering Joe’s mind parted, and violent awareness cleaved his entire body in two, and his eyes wrenched open in shock.
This was Evgeni sitting in front of him.
He was kissing his friend.
He was writhing like a fool under the lips of another man.
A wave of questions crashed into Joe, but his buzzed mind stopped all of them from making any possible sense. All he knew was that his love of hockey was congesting his nose, caressing his lips and shivering under his hands. If anyone knew Joe Thornton, they knew that he could never resist the seductive call of the game.
He focused on the face pressed up against his. A knitted brow of determination and desperation set low above closed eyes, a thin crystal stream flowing from the cracks and over the delicate curve of the cheeks. Evgeni’s lips began to move and his hold on Joe’s hair became taut.
Pleasure spread throughout Joe’s body, each nerve overwhelmed with crackling electricity, pulsing as if they were all alive under his flushed skin. His lids grew heavy, and the darkened image of Evgeni’s heated face filtered though his lashes before his eyes flickered closed.
For now, Joe pushed all questions to the back of his mind, choosing instead to focus on the touch that sent a melting sensation rushing through his veins with excitement. It clouded his head, relaxed his timid muscles, and pooled like hot, boiling magma in the pit of his stomach.
For now, Joe allowed the moment and Evgeni’s touch to engulf him whole.
Evgeni parted his lips, taking Joe’s bottom lip gently between his teeth, but sucking the flesh greedily. His hands became claws as they hooked the back of Joe’s ears and shoved the both of them even closer, their noses smashing up against the other’s flesh. Evgeni’s cheeks hollowed as he nearly swallowed Joe’s bottom lip, sinking his canines in deeper, and causing a whimper of both excitement and pain to escape the back of Joe’s throat.
Breathing became a chore, and he soaked in the last nuances of the way all of Evgeni’s body squirmed against his. From the groping hands at the sides of his face, to the way Evgeni’s chest kept on pushing itself flush up against his painfully hard nipples; Joe could not decide which one he liked more.
He had to tear himself back to gasp ravenously for air. Uneven pants filled the suddenly very warm room. Evgeni’s hands drifted back to the curve of Joe’s neck, his palms resting lightly over the flittering pulse. Joe ran his tongue over his wonderfully swollen lips to see is he could catch the any remaining tastes of Evgeni’s wickedly sweet mouth before he dove back in.
Instead, the bitter tang of copper laced over his taste buds and Joe cringed, his hooded eyes flickering to Evgeni’s lips. Memories crashed into him when he saw them battered and split; blood beading between cracks before Evgeni would lick them away with his devilish tongue.
With a jolt, Joe remembered who he had been kissing, and what had transpired not so long ago. Guilt overshadowed the pleasure that churned in his belly, and he gripped Evgeni’s shoulders to push himself away again.
He was as bad as Avery.
He was taking advantage of Evgeni, was he not? He had let his body’s gluttonous desires usurp his logical thoughts and take control of his actions. Joe felt absolutely horrible.
He stared with wide eyes at Evgeni’s guarded expression, tears caking his face and occasionally dripping from his long lashes. No light shone in his eyes, no stars rippling across the surface now. They were dark and so unbearably grey.
Joe remained frozen once again, this time with revulsion for himself. What was he to do? What was he to even say which might sway Evgeni’s decision to take him back?
The hands at Joe’s neck began to slip towards his jugular; the fire of their touch was unable to warm the ice-cold dread that settled in Joe’s heart. Evgeni’s eyes stayed locked on the movement of his drifting hands, enraptured at their tricking pace, as they mapped out the column of Joe’s neck.
He could feel the fingertips brush over his Adams apple when he gulped down his excuses. He stopped breathing altogether when the wandering hands slipped under the first button of his thin shirt.
The pads were rubbing at the hard edge of Joe’s collarbone when Joe snatched the wrists out of the air. He stared at the imploring hands briefly before he snapped his attention back to Evgeni’s face. Fresh tears cascaded down from his eyes and his chest shook with every wheeze and every shuddery breath that left his bleeding lips.
“J-Joe…” he whimpered, and Joe remembered the same voice calling his name when he was trapped under Avery. The thought made Joe scrunch his eyes together and turn his head to the side. Was he trapping Evgeni now?
“Joe… why… why are you here?” he whispered. Suspicion was absent from his tone. He was just… simply asking.
His voice rung loudly in Joe ears and he brought his chin to his chest as he heaved an unstable sigh. “I-I am… I was here for you…” ‘But now you must hate me.’ He left that go unsaid.
Joe heard Evgeni swallow and lick his torn lips before he spoke again. “T-then be here f-for me… h-help me now.”
With that, he twisted his wrists away from Joe’s hold and balled his fists into the collar of his shirt, pulling them together to capture Joe’s lips with his own.
“Dhon’t stop… J-just… Please dhon’t stop… I nheed… to have… control…” he mumbled into Joe’s unmoving lips as he sucked air into his lungs between quick, fierce kisses.
“Do it… for me,” he panted when his kisses became less frantic and when he rested his forehead on Joe’s brow.
His soft voice was a whimpered plea, the desperation in his words weighing down Joe’s heart with mixed emotions. Joe was torn between doing what was right and doing what Evgeni was practically begging for.
Memories flew by his eyes like a flash. The moment he saw Evgeni fall to the ground in the bathroom, Evgeni lying in a crumbled heap on the ice, Evgeni pinned, helpless underneath Avery.
Joe was motivated to protect his friend; he needed to be the foundation that Evgeni never had.
But then he remembered scrubbing Evgeni in the bathtub, and the way the soap melted on his skin. He remembered laughing over drinks at Jack’s Bar & Grill. And he remembered watching stupid movies together, their legs nearly touching as they sat on opposite ends of Joe’s couch.
Peace and serenity swelled in Joe’s chest at the wave of thoughts, and maybe, the right thing and what Evgeni wanted were the same.
And when Evgeni twisted his body so that he was straddling Joe’s lap between his thighs, Joe knew that he was begging for more as well.
His face drained of color and his vision swam when all the blood in his body felt as though it was being pushed into his growing erection.
Bucking his hips reflexively, the heat between Evgeni’s legs grew heavy on Joe’s thighs. But even then Evgeni gripped the collar firmly, his hard, watery eyes staring deep into Joe’s, and waited anxiously for an answer.
‘Like I could deny him now,’ he growled to himself before he nodded eagerly, tipping his chin forward and catching Evgeni’s lips with his own.
Both men reacted immediately. Evgeni scrambled to perch on his knees, using Joe’s hair as an anchor when he responded to the kiss with vigor. Each were short, heated nips, every touch sucking more restraint from Joe, and his arousal pushed him to the edge of his sanity.
Through layers of a buttoned-up shirt and jeans, Joe could feel Evgeni’s hardened member grind into his stomach. Needy gasps for air were dragged into Joe’s lungs between the bombardment of sloppy kisses; a need for what though, he was not so sure.
He needed life to slow down so that he could figure out what was happening. But dear god he needed Evgeni’s hands to speed up and release him from his straining jeans.
When Evgeni arched his lean body into Joe’s, each muscle sliding into place, their curves molding together, Joe knew that it was not the time to take it slow, he needed it now.
Evgeni finally kept his lips locked on Joe’s, only to part them and shove his tongue into the mouth.
Joe’s face flushed from the heat and embarrassment when he choked out a strangled whimper. The man’s tongue skirted over Joe’s teeth, the slick muscle teasing his sensitive gums.
His hold on Joe’s hair tightened as he thrust his hips clumsily forward, the bulge trapped in his pants, prodding for attention. Gasping at the way the sudden thrust caught him in the stomach, Joe had to steady the trembling body with his hands.
Joe’s fingers trailed from the heaving shoulders and down over the elegantly arched line of Evgeni’s back. Every knot and every bone could be felt under his skin, even though Joe’s touches were as light as the fog of his breath on the ice.
His hands faltered at the small of the back, which was flat and shaking under his sweaty palms. But even with his arms wrapped around Evgeni’s body, the wild bucks, which rung their pleasure through the entire length of Joe’s cock, refused to cease.
The curve of Evgeni’s slim waist fit perfectly in Joe’s palms. It felt even better when Joe brazenly slipped his hands beneath the shirt to hold Evgeni by the waist there.
Slick skin rubbed up against slick skin, hard, rough, and fast. Soon, the single outlet for their gratifications was not enough. As Evgeni kept on twisting his tongue with Joe’s, he slithered his sly hands back over the gleaming collarbone and undid the topmost button of Joe’s shirt.
Joe’s breathing hitched when fingers danced through the budding sweat on his chest. Their mouths continued their heated caresses, even as the gentle touches grew more aggressive, more passionate.
They barely separated to breathe, their searching kiss standing much more prominent in their minds. Joe gulped in air with his wide-open mouth before he and Evgeni came back together with a flurry of biting, licking, and sucking. Escalated pants filled the small room, and soon the air was filled with their every sharp keen, quiet whimper, and shuddery sigh.
Joe could not think. He could barely even see through the lust filled haze that settled over his eyes like a woolen blanket. All he knew was Evgeni’s tortured look on his face and the intoxicating effect the hands had on his body.
All of their fondling sent blood pounding to Joe’s ears and cock. Evgeni would urge Joe with his touches, and the man would respond obediently.
Suddenly, Joe’s shirt was ripped fully open, and the last buttons flew to the ground, forever lost in the fibers of the carpet. The material pooled at his elbows from Evgeni’s guidance. Swollen lips broke off from the intricate knot of the tongues, and Evgeni latched onto the glossy skin of Joe’s shoulder.
Joe hissed almost silently, “Ah-!”
Swirling his tongue, Evgeni pushed his palms forward, with surprisingly tender care, and Joe eased himself onto his back, allowing the man to obtain his much desired control.
The bedsprings creaked in protest with every vicious buck Joe delivered into Evgeni’s quivering thigh. He was hot and thick; his member pulsed and the head felt as though it would explode. Joe grunted huskily, his insides curling at the licking flames, teasing every fiber all the way up his spine until it combusted in his head. His rational mind shriveled in the presence of the whirlwind of fire raging in him.
Evgeni answered Joe’s frantic jerks with a thrust of his own, uncertain and unwaveringly sure at the same time. The bed rocked with their combined movements, and the air vibrated with the carnal desires. It burrowed under Joe’s skin like a swarm of bees, buzzing in his blood and in his ears.
It took Joe a second to realize that the buzz was his own throaty rumbling. The buzzing inside him erupted from his throat as a muffled shout when Evgeni’s nips drifted towards his collar and he bit down, hard.
A string of curses flew through Joe’s brain when Evgeni left his mark on the bone, his tongue lapping up the perspiration dewing on the skin. He flexed his hands from resting on top of Joe’s pectorals and began inching them down the stretch of slippery skin.
Joe’s head spun when the long fingers tweaked his puckered nipples once, before leaving them without a second thought to continue leisurely south. His own hands rode high on Evgeni’s arched back, the shirt bunching under his arms and sticking to his sleek, pale flesh.
Even his fingertips were drowned in the overwhelming flood of pleasure. In his hands, Joe held Evgeni’s very soul, squirming and mewing, acting and reacting, kissing, groping, sobbing. The fact that Joe was the cause was exhilarating, even though he knew he had no real control at all.
Evgeni tugged at the dangling sleeves of Joe’s shirt. He reluctantly tore his hands away from the heaving back to help remove the restricting garment before he rushed to reattach his hands to Evgeni’s flesh. His shirt was tossed aside, and it fluttered to the ground, forgotten.
And then Evgeni was pulling at the zipper of Joe’s jeans.
His cock ached and wept to be released, to stand proudly erect with its base nestled between the dark curls of his pubic hair. Joe wanted it so badly, and the hand massaging his groin almost made him come right there. But he sucked in a breath and snatched Evgeni’s wrist before the man could slip the button through the hole of his jeans.
Both men breathed hard, their heaving chests the only sign of life as they grew completely still. Even the vibrations in the air settled, thick and searing in Joe’s lungs.
He inhaled once, the oppressing oxygen swirling in his body. Joe wet his lips and stared hard into Evgeni’s eyes, and the weight of the hand on his crotch faded into the back of his mind.
“Are you sure?” his dry throat scratched out, the voice foreign to his ears. It was clumsy off Joe’s tongue, but it was gravelly enough to be a predator’s eager purr. “If we do there’s no… no going back.”
Evgeni swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing once, and a bead of sweat threatened to fall from the curve of the sweet flesh. “Da,” he whispered. The Russian phrase was no more foreign to Joe’s ears than his own words. Evgeni’s face twisted and his eyes clamped shut. “Y-yes!”
He opened his orbs and let the tears stream down his face. In his blackened eyes, Joe could see the fear of the past and the fog of the alcohol, but also the lust and the fortitude.
And now he could see a galaxy of stars twinkling back at him. It was as if he was all alone, looking up into the night sky, the wonder and mystery flowing in and around his insignificantly small body. He could touch it, and the vast reach of space shone with life for him. He could see it all, and yet, he could never see enough.
Evgeni bent down to place a chaste kiss to Joe’s lips, and he returned the action without hesitation. They pulled a breath away, the crest of their mouths ghosting over each other’s
“I d-dhon’t want to go back,” he kissed Joe lightly again. “I know what we’re dhoing.”
Through one last lingering touch, Joe felt so completely and utterly filled, like he finally reached out and held the entire universe in his arms.
“And I know… I know you whon’t hurt me.” His voice shuddered and cracked with the raw emotions rising in him.
Joe’s resolve shattered at the naked words. They were quiet, but he heard them with absolute clarity. Every strain and every waver, every single syllable that came from Evgeni’s battered lips were spoken from his heart, and Joe knew this too.
“I would never hurt you,” Joe muttered, as he punctuated his promise with a kiss of his own. “And I never want to see you like that again.” A possessive urge growled in his words and compelled him to encircle Evgeni’s waist with the arm not restraining the thin wrist.
“Evgeni…” the name rolled over his tongue like wine, hot and sweet and smooth like silk. “Tonight… I’m yours.”
Joe lifted his hold from Evgeni’s wrist, and placed his hands back on the smooth plane of the shoulder blades. They met in another kiss; one that was confident and reassuring. One that sent Joe’s mind reeling.
The button was undone at the top of Joe’s pants, and he lifted his hips off the mattress to help Evgeni slip them off. The denim made it all the way down to Joe’s calves before Evgeni huffed with frustration and gave up. He slunk with the grace of a cat up Joe’s body, his eyes lingering hungrily at the bulge of Joe’s member under his boxers when he crawled over it.
Soon they were chest to chest once more, and Joe plucked at the bunched material of Evgeni’s shirt, which was still wrapped around him, under his arms. They worked together to slip the shirt over his head slowly, and the fabric peeled away from his skin with a gratifying hiss.
Joe threw the material to the side in a heap on the floor. Now only skin and bones separated their rapidly pounding hearts. With every beat, more blood was forced into Joe’s cock, and the more forgiving cotton of his boxers darkened as precum beaded from his slit and rolled down his thick shaft.
His hands glided down over the expanse of creamy skin, marred in certain places with angry scratches or teeth marks. The thought made Joe wince, but Evgeni knew how to kiss the memories away.
-----
Next Part
-----