Chapter One

 

 

“We learned a lot from them as we almost destroyed the bee population with our search for the perfect weed killer. Now we’re the busy little bees keeping each of our hives alive. We work together, we exist for each other, and that is how we prevailed when the world began to burn.”

Axel stared out the thick see-through material, keeping out the toxic fumes from the fires still burning in the distance. As long as he could remember, he’d seen the world burn. As long as he could remember, he’d seen those dark fumes rise and blot out the sun, leaving even the sky looking scorched.

“But it’s your twentieth birthday this year, and you are the only ones at that age not yet tested in other relations. You have come here to learn if your genetic makeup is one of the few that can help humanity grow strong again.”

Axel paid attention to the Hive General, standing on the tribune at the very center of their hive.

Of the nineteen thousand or so people living in that hive, a few hundred had shown up and waited with bated breath for the results. Some because they were family to one of the seven young men and woman standing in front of the podium, waiting. Others because they shared in the hope of more being chosen. Some came because they were bored.

“Today, all of you will be given a medical examination. Within an hour, the results will be put up on this board.” The Hive General pointed to the pinboard next to him. He then pointed toward the men and women in lab coats, waiting to one side of the tribune. “Please go with the one calling out your name.”

One by one, the doctors called out a name, and Axel waited. He was the second from last to be called out, and he followed, his stomach making knots from nervousness.

“Nervous?” the doctor asked, glancing at him.

“Very.”

The doctor chuckled. “That’s very natural. What do you hope the outcome is?”

“Well, of course I hope to be able to help. To go see another hive could be pretty wild.”

The doctor smiled, and Axel’s fell when he heard the sound of a rubber glove snapping into place. “Please, undress.”

Axel did, feeling shy. The doctor listened to his heart, checked his eyes, his ears, even looked up his nose. Reflexes were checked, his body weighed and measured, and his balls fondled to see if they were normal.

“You are the picture of health so far.”

Axel smiled. “Great.”

“One last thing…two, actually, but they’re done simultaneously. If you would turn around and lean on the table, this will be cold and a little uncomfortable.”

Axel turned, hesitantly, placing his hands on the desk as specified. He heard a squirting noise, then felt cold fingers press between his ass cheeks. Instinctively, he tightened up.

“I know, I know. Please relax.”

Axel drew a deep breath, then managed to relax his muscles to be probed. Having a finger pump in and out of his ass was nothing new, but the latex and not knowing the guy was new.

“You’ve tried this before?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The finger disappeared, and a second pressed in next to the first. “Was it to stimulate your own prostate?”

“Yes.” Axel left it at that. No need to tell the doctor he’d been ramrodded thoroughly by his work partner on and off for the past six months.

As the doctor found Axel’s prostate, Axel gasped and blushed. It felt good. He then saw the doctor’s other hand holding a small jar at the ready, and Axel knew what that was for. So he rolled with the touch and tried not to enjoy it on a sick level. It was a medical thing, not something smutty.

A groan tore from Axel as the doctor’s persistent touch resulted in a thorough milking of his prostate.

“That’s a good load. Thank you.”

“Thank you…” That was a compliment, right? He then blushed as his answer could have been understood as a thank you for the…touch’s result.

Apparently, the doctor hadn’t noticed. Either that, or he was too professional to let a comment drop. “You may get dressed again and wait outside with the others.” The doctor turned his back on him and took the semen to a worktable in the back of the small room.

Feeling dismissed, Axel got into his clothes and left the room, joining up with the two already done.

Nobody discussed their examination.

The hour crawled by with idle chitchat and the Hive General once in a while making an announcement that soon, the test results would be up.

Finally, someone looking official came in with a stack of papers and handed it to the Hive General, and he quickly looked through them, a smile growing on his face. He then stepped up to the podium.

“Ladies and gentlemen. We have three who will be leaving us to help brighten the future.”

A rush of excitement raced through Axel, yet he tried do cull it, since that meant four wouldn’t be leaving. He could just as well be among those.

The first sheet of paper was hung on the board, and the Hive General called out a girl. She leaped into the air, exclaiming joy. Axel’s heart rate sped up as the surrounding people applauded loudly.

“Axel Cunning.”

People looked around, and the name finally registered. “Oh…me,” Axel managed, feeling stupid. People applauded some more, a few laughing. Doubled with the thumps of blood rushing past his eardrums, Axel didn’t hear the third name, but he saw a guy smile, raising his hand.

“Congratulations, you three,” the Hive General said, joining in the applause. “You have until tomorrow at noon to gather your belongings and say your goodbyes to friends and family.”

Axel left the center square and headed back to his hive. That had to mean he didn’t have work in the morning.

Axel’s mom had not been on friendly terms with her assigned baby-daddy, so Axel had grown up only knowing the man peripherally. As the years ticked by, they grew more and more distant, and Axel didn’t even think to contact him with the news. His mom had died a few years earlier in a work-related accident, leaving Axel all alone. Well, almost. He had his work partner, Sebastian, and they’d been friends since they were eleven years old and tested into the same field of future schooling.

He’d come by after work to hear the results, and Axel felt disheartened by the news he had to relay, even though he knew that Sebastian would also feel proud of him for being able to help out in such a monumental way.

But they’d been together for so long. They’d depended upon each other for so long, and that was difficult to say goodbye to.

The door opened, and Sebastian stepped in, still wearing his work clothes. “So?”

“I have the genetic makeup. I’m leaving at noon tomorrow.”

Sebastian stared at him for a moment, then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He looked like he’d been slapped in the face. Axel kinda felt like he had done just that.

Finally, Sebastian threw out his arm, shaking his head. “Don’t mind me, I’m proud of you, I’m happy, I am, I just…” He came over and hugged Axel tightly. “I’m gonna miss you, buddy.”

Axel held onto his friend. “I’m gonna miss you, too.”

“So!” Sebastian stepped back. “I need a shower, and you had your day off so you don’t, but you get to wash my back, and then we should totally just vegetate and enjoy a ten-year friendship being broken up.”

“Mood killer.”

“Yeah.” Sebastian sucked his teeth. Then he grinned. “Then we can fuck all night.”

Axel mirrored the sexy grin. “Better. And I prepared for that.”

“Oh, so you planned on all of this?” Sebastian indicated to his body, looking sly.

“Yeah.”

“I like how you think.” Sebastian shrugged out of his clothes and dumped them on the floor by the door, while Axel went into the bathroom and ran the water.

Sebastian was under the sprays quickly. “Aren’t you joining me?”

“No, I showered before I went there.” He lathered up a loofah and turned the water off.

“Do you think you’ll work as a janitor there, too?”

“I don’t see why not. They say all the hives are built equally. Unless they need me someplace else, I don’t think they’ll reschool me.”

“How do you think you get there? I mean, in the toxic atmosphere?”

“I don’t know.” Axel focused on washing Sebastian’s broad back, loving the way it tapered into a perky ass. The sods all ran that way and in between, making him smile as he admired the stream of white bubbles. “I wonder what the world looks like, though. I mean, the fire. From above.”

“With the ground burning, you’d have to fly, so that makes sense. Maybe it looks like the sun?”

“Could be.”

Sebastian turned around, and Axel continued washing him. “You’re far off in thoughts on anything but what you’re doing. It’s not like you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be, I get it.” Sebastian took over the project of getting clean, then rinsed off, and stepped out to dry off. “I programmed my dinner here tonight.”

“Okay.” Axel went to the dispenser, checking that it had been set for two rations. He hoped the other hive had different selections of goo. They had eight kinds of goo in four different colors. With it came a fiber bar, or stick, and it came only in the color of mucky beige. “It’s set for two. Ten minutes.”

“Super.” Sebastian dropped down on the couch, ruffling a towel over his hair. He wore nothing but boxers, looking hot. Axel was slighter and had less hair. In fact, Axel had almost no chest hair. He liked the feel of Sebastian’s. To use his last opportunity to do so, Axel sat next to Sebastian, leaned into him, and ran his fingers through the still damp hair.

“Do you think I’ll ever find someone to beat in Mappers now that you’re leaving?” Sebastian asked.

Axel chuckled. “You can’t even beat me in Mappers, so no.”

Sebastian laughed. “We’re gonna have one last game, you know.”

“Okay, and when I win?”

“Aren’t you even gonna leave me with a sweet victory?”

“No. Earn it.”

“If I win…” Sebastian looked smug and paused for effect. “Then I get to tie you up and have my way with your mouth.” Sebastian bobbed his brows.

“You and your tie-me-up fetish.”

Sebastian flashed a smile. “You usually don’t complain afterward. I mean beforehand, don’t get me started, but after…” Sebastian leaned over Axel. “You’re like goo in my hands.”

The dinner goo decided that very moment to ping in. It made them both snicker.

Axel got up to fetch their rations while Sebastian got the spoons. They sat down, finding green goo, four sticks, and a note saying congratulations.

“What’s a party without pigging out?” Sebastian held up the two sticks, grinning theatrically. They ate their goo ration and sat back to chew on the more filling fiber bars.

“I know Catherine from the damper plays Mappers.”

“I know.” Sebastian sounded bummed out.

“Go get it.”

Sebastian perked up. “I’m so going to win.”

“No, you’re not. And when I win, I’m going to tie you up and have my way with your mouth.”

Sebastian gasped in mock indignation. “No stealing my ideas!”

Axel laughed loudly. He was going to miss this. Sebastian was always in a good mood. He always made people smile.

Sebastian set the board, and they chose their pieces. Axel found a pillow to sit on the floor opposite the couch. As always, they played for about an hour, yet this time, Sebastian cut it pretty close. Close enough for Axel to almost feel his arms being restricted behind his back. Last move made them both gape at the board.

“A tie?” Sebastian asked, staring at the board. “Ten years you beat my ass, and we end in a tie?”

“It’s almost poetic.”

“It’s unfair. I had fantasies.”

Axel grinned. “Well, then how about you tie me up, but I have my pleasure from your mouth?”

“Uh, fiend, I like it.”

Sebastian packed away the game, and Axel undressed since he was suddenly the one with too many clothes on. He then turned the sofa into a bed, spread out a towel, and climbed in. Sebastian came over, still with his boxers on, but he had the straps he usually used to fixate Axel when he got his way. It wasn’t a turn-on for Axel. It wasn’t a turn-off either, yet tonight, he wouldn’t deny Sebastian anything. He was pretty sure Sebastian felt the same way.

Axel sat up on his knees, facing Sebastian. He collected his hands on his back and let Sebastian reach around him to tie his wrists together. It was never something tight—just enough for him to not easily wiggle out.

Sebastian smiled as he pulled back, then leaned in for a kiss. “I’m gonna make sure you remember my mouth,” he whispered. He then blindfolded Axel and helped him find a comfortable position on the bed, which wasn’t easy when back-tied. But the seat and the back of the sofa left a gap where his hands fit perfectly.

“I’m sure I will already.”

“Yeah, but just to make sure.” Sebastian closed his mouth around a nipple and sucked gently, making Axel gasp and arch into it. “I’m gonna drive you batshit.”

“You already do.”

“Yeah, but in a sexy way.”

Axel chuckled.

“Now, focus.” Sebastian licked the other nipple, and Axel stayed quiet, his mind trying to guess where Sebastian would touch him next. He actually liked being blindfolded because of it. Sebastian knew him so well that he knew exactly where his buttons were.

“Oh!”

Sebastian definitely found one when he ran his tongue up Axel’s inner thigh.

Axel was in sensory heaven, and he stayed still to let Sebastian explore and caress his body, the touches going from less erogenous zones to oh yeah! When his cock slipped into a warm mouth, Axel groaned loudly and lifted his hips for more.

Sebastian stayed still, holding his mouth above Axel’s pelvis, his dick halfway into the delicious heat, and Axel understood what he had to do. He set a slow pace, pumping his hips and pushing his cock into Sebastian’s waiting mouth. As he pulled out, Sebastian created suction, and Axel whimpered, almost losing his rhythm at the sensation. Then Sebastian groaned around his cock, and the added vibration caused a full-body tremor to race through Axel, and arousal rose steeply.

Suddenly, Sebastian pulled off with a pop, and Axel jerked. “Not yet, sweetie,” he whispered. Gentle hands found their way under Axel and turned him over. Sebastian nudged Axel’s legs apart, and Axel guessed at what was coming next. He whimpered from need and jutted out his ass.

And there it was! A hand on each cheek, a gentle spread, and a warm tongue was finding his hole.

Axel cried out from pleasure and wiggled in the restraints, and when showered with this much pleasure, the ties did it for him. He felt completely in Sebastian’s mercy, and he trusted his years-long friend, so it was a heavenly sensation to be in his focus.

Sebastian’s tongue laved and probed, and his hands kneaded Axel’s ass, caressed his thigs, his back, his balls, and within five minutes, Axel was moaning with abandon, begging for more.

The lovely tongue disappeared, and a slick finger pressed into him, making Axel jut his ass out even more. He wanted to feel more inside of him. He wanted Sebastian’s cock.

“Please, fuck me.”

“So impatient,” Sebastian whispered, pumped his finger in and out slowly, and kissed and nibbled on Axel’s ass.

“Yeah, please, Seb, please.”

“Who can say no to that?” Sebastian asked in a teasing tone. He pulled his finger out and dove back in to rim Axel more. Not what he’d wanted, but it was so good. Then the tongue disappeared again, and the finger teased its way inside again. Sebastian kept that up until Axel was about to lose his mind. Then two fingers pushed in, and Axel groaned louder, jutting his ass up for more force behind the penetration. He got that alright.

“Oh, I’m gonna fuck you just like this,” Sebastian said in a husky tone, the bed dipping and revealing what he was doing. Axel felt Sebastian straddle his legs. Then a cock teased its way between his cheeks to press against the well-lubricated and relaxed hole.

Axel moaned in expectation and held still, bracing for penetration. It was oh so slow, and as the head popped in, Axel’s arousal grew monumentally. “Yeah, yeah!”

“Oh, yeah,” Sebastian whispered and lowered himself until Axel could feel his chest hair tickle his arms. Sebastian then continued the slow penetration, driving Axel’s already teased mind further toward the edge of absolute need. It seemed like forever before he bottomed out, and Axel all but held his breath as he felt the cock slide effortlessly into him, adding a bit of a burn to the stretch. But it didn’t matter. Soon, there would be nothing but fullness and pleasure, and Axel shivered in expectation.

Finally, Sebastian set a slow pace, pumping in and out of him, and Axel released a drawn-out moan from blissful fulfillment of his body’s need.

“Oh, yes, that feels so good,” Sebastian whispered, nibbling on Axel’s ear.

“Uhu.”Breathing heavily, Axel nodded, his senses fully trained on the weight on him and the cock sliding in and out.

Slowly, the pleasure built to Sebastian’s steady rhythm, and slowly, Axel needed more.

Then Sebastian grunted, apparently reaching the limits to his own self-control, and he pumped into Axel a bit harder.

“Yes! Yes!” Axel gasped.

The weight against his body disappeared as Sebastian sat up to drive in with more force, and Axel lifted his head, straining to hold back, the ties still making him as passive and incapable of taking control as possible. That was what Sebastian loved, after all. The full control of Axel’s orgasm.

Sebastian shifted a bit, and his cock filled Axel out more. At least that’s what it felt like.

“Oh, yeah!” Axel shouted.

“Yeah, there we go, oh fuck, there we go,” Sebastian mumbled, driving in harder and further. From then on, it didn’t take long for Axel’s body to reach its pinnacle, and he came, shouting into the mattress while Sebastian jerked, filling his ass with his cum.

Axel had always loved that. He couldn’t explain why. He loved the idea of it. It was so intimate.

Before pulling out, Sebastian released Axel’s arms and let him find a comfortable position. He then pulled out and lay down next to Axel, facing him. “I love when you come like that.”

Axel grinned. “That’s because you’re not the one lying on the wet spot.”

Sebastian sputtered laughter and pulled Axel closer. He stroked Axel’s face, leisurely. “When you get to the new hive, I hope you’re assigned a woman who likes you better than your parents did each other.”

“Like your parents.”

Sebastian smiled. “Yeah. I’ve had it easy. I hope you finally get to feel what it’s like to have a family.”

Axel had thought about it. Everybody in the hive thought about it, he surmised. They never knew who the other parent would be, they’d just get a note saying that person had to fall pregnant by you within six months, and then they had to figure out the rest. That was planned procreation, and everything was done from genetic tests.

“But you’re a lovely guy,” Sebastian continued. “Whoever they pair you with will have to think you’re at least half as awesome as I think you are.”

“You flatter. Are you trying to get more ass?”

Sebastian growled and toppled Axel. “Always.” His smile fell. “I can’t wrap my head around it being the last time.”

Axel hated the fact, too, and he closed his eyes to get a handle on his emotions. Sebastian helped by leaning in for a kiss, and Axel let himself be swept away in it.