Free First We Take Manhattan by Mina MacLeod Page B

free, hot and heavy in Dave's hand. Dave squeezes him before teasing the slit with his tongue. Before Gabe can ask, Dave swallows him down. He groans, the sound wrenched from his throat. Dave's head bobs up and down as he slurps Gabe's cock. His hair is too short to grab, so Gabe settles for pulling at the bedsheets. His vision fuzzes at the edges and his back bows, the orgasm torn from him almost unwillingly. Dave takes it all, swallowing it down and humming in content.
    Gabe blinks away stars. Dave climbs up the bed and settles next to him, leaning on one elbow. He doesn't say anything, but Gabe can feel the hard line of an erection pressing against his side. He reaches for it.
    "Gabe," Dave says, and Gabe knows—he knows —that Dave is about to start on some spiel about how he should take it easy.
    So he doesn't give Dave a chance, deftly working the zipper down and shoving his hand into the folds of his pants. "Let me," he says, rubbing Dave's cock. It only takes three strokes before Dave drops to the mattress, willing and eager. Gabe pops the button on the fly and pushes it completely open.
    He'd dreamed, some nights. He'd fantasized at times. Never did he believe he would hold Dave's beautiful cock in his hand—stroking it, teasing it. He leans over to suck on Dave's earlobe, nibbling it and relishing in Dave's tiny, helpless sounds.
    When Dave comes, he spills hot over Gabe's wrist, groaning into Gabe's ear. Gabe kisses along Dave's jaw to his mouth. He tastes himself on Dave's tongue and pulls Dave closer with a sticky hand on his dress shirt, and neither of them care. This is their first time:  more than five years later, half-clothed, and practically coming in their pants. It's surreal.
    He doesn't know how they're going to keep this a secret.
    *~*~*
    The standardized examination area is set up but empty. It's a compound out back near the garage, without a single tree to protect trainees from the merciless afternoon sun. Gabe is sweltering in his PT sweats. His bangs are gelled up off his forehead, but he can still feel a bead of perspiration running down his temple.
    Gabe can do this. He has to do this, he tells himself, fingers flexing around the grip of his empty gun. He takes a deep breath and psyches himself up. It feels a bit strange, kneeling at the starting line without any other recruit hopefuls. Chief Burns and Sergeant Dahl are watching him, Dahl armed with the stopwatch that will make or break Gabe's return to active duty. Across the field, past the standard testing equipment, Archangel is waiting for him. The first sprint, that's all you need. He takes another deep breath and glares at the obstacle course. If you can get up and sprint, it's all downhill from there.
    "Go!"
    Gabe pushes off before the word is out of Dahl's mouth. His knee protests, but it doesn't fail him. He holsters his gun while he sprints, hitting the six-foot surmount in record time. He's over and down in seconds, hitting the dirt with barely a wince.
    Stairs used to be his weakness. By the second traverse across the stair climb task, he thinks they might still be. His kneecap cracks with every step but he keeps going. Dahl doesn't take pity on him, either, making him go over and back all three times. The physical restraint test is easier; they make him do six ninety-degree push-and-pulls, but it gives his knee time to rest.
    Jogging around the cones is a welcome reprieve. Gabe is careful not to jar his leg by taking the corners too roughly. Dahl notices but doesn't call him on it. When Gabe reaches the prone mannequin sprawled on the ground, he grabs the victim and quickly but efficiently drags it to safety. The mannequin is heavy, easily almost two hundred pounds, but Gabe pictures a wounded man in its place and it doesn't seem like a chore any longer.
    After resting the mannequin on the ground, Gabe proceeds to the final obstacle. He unholsters his gun, puts it through the small metal ring, and fires sixteen shots. The hollow