New Rules

Chapter Three

Rose searched through her bag for the tenth time; she knew her swipe pass was in here somewhere. If she had to ring the main bell again all hell would break loose. Well, a very quiet, very civilised hell. End result would still be the same though; she’d be in trouble. They were supposed to keep their swipe cards with them at all times and guard them with their lives. She smiled apologetically at a passer by as the contents of her bag spilled out onto the pavement in front of him. The man glowered and stepped over them.

So much for chivalry.

She was just trying to scoop everything up when Orli opened the door from the inside. "Oh you are a darling, help me with this lot, would you?"

"Lost your card again?" he asked putting the door on the latch and bending down to retrieve a lipstick before it rolled into the gutter. At least he hoped it was a lipstick.

"Haven’t lost it, it’s in my bag somewhere."

"So is half of south London, along with the odd missing peer of the realm and a few stray sheep," Orli laughed. "You haven’t got my old cd player in there, have you? Someone nicked it out of the staff room a few months ago."

"I’m not that bad," she said scuttling over to get the last few items.

Orli held up a calendar from last year and two used cinema tickets. "Yes you are," he smiled.

Rose snatched them from him, putting them firmly back in her bag. You never knew when things might come in handy. "You’re in a good mood for a Monday morning," she said. "What happened, did you manage to get a shag over the weekend?"

Orli felt his cheeks begin to pink. She straightened up and peered at him closely. "You did, didn’t you? Orlando Bloom you got laid! There’s one for the papers."

"Leave me alone," he said smiling.

"Not a chance. Who was he? Was it any good? Where’d you meet him? Come on," she pushed. "Details, details."

"None of your business," Orli did the whole arms folding thing.

"You might as well tell me now," she said taking his arm and leaning back against the wall ready for a good gossip. "You know I’ll winkle it out of you in the end."

"Told you, none of your business," he said trying to pull away from her.

"That’s not fair you know it’s the only excitement I get and…" she stopped and looked around. "What are you doing out here, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, anyway?"

"Nothing," Orli tried to gently steer her in the direction of the door. "You’d better go in, you don’t want to be late again."

"I am not going anywhere till you tell me what’s going on," Rose pushed her glasses back up her nose, hitched up her bust and smiled sweetly up at him. "Is it the barman from the Dog and Duck?"

"What the one with the fat arse? Do me a favour and give me some credit. Anyway I’m not telling you anything."

"Arh! So there is something to tell," she said triumphantly.

"Rose! Go away,"

"Can’t, I need to know."

"You need to know what?" Elijah asked, appearing suddenly next to Orli.

"Where’d you come from?" Rose peered at him.

"Off the bus."

"What are you doing here?"

"I have a job interview," Elijah said proudly. "It’s only cleaning offices but it’s a job."

"You’ve got an interview here?" Rose asked.

"No, in the city. I want to borrow the tie Orli keeps in his desk, it’s meant to be lucky, but I can always go if you don’t like me being here," Elijah smiled sweetly.

At the mention of his name it was as if she remembered Orli again. "Oh no you stay, he got laid and I’m trying to find out who it was. In fact," she turned her attention on Elijah. "You might be able to help since you share a flat with him. Who was it?"

Elijah felt the skin on his face tighten as he tried hard not to smile. He looked at Orli but that was a really bad idea as his eyes started to soften and his lips curl.

Rose carried on regardless. "Just look at Orli, he’s got that soft drippy look about him, all smiles and sparkling eyes. If I didn’t know better I’d say he’s in love. Can’t you see it?" She glanced over at Elijah’s face and then stopped.

"You’ve got it too."

They both looked at her and then at each other.

"You shagged each other!"

The blushes creeping up their faces almost matched.

"My god, you really did."

Elijah looked at Orli and couldn’t help the soft smile this time.

"And it’s not just shagging, is it?"

"Not on my part it isn’t," Elijah said more to Orli than Rose.

"You love him?" She felt her jaw drop and her mouth open.

Elijah thought about saying he worshipped the ground Orli walked on but settled for a heartfelt, wistful, "Yeah," as the pink on his face turned red.

"Oh that’s gorgeous!" She exclaimed. "Orli?" She turned to face the other man.

"Jesus fuck," Orli said under his breath. "Suppose so."

"Oh, oh, oh," Rose was almost dancing on the spot. "Well kiss him then," she looked expectantly at Orli.

"Fuck off! It’s ten to nine on a Monday morning in Whitechapel, you can’t go around gay snogging."

"Oh please, for me," Rose begged.

"No," Orli said.

"Not for Rose," Elijah murmured, moving closer. "For you." He reached up and cupped Orli’s face. "If you want me to." Suddenly he wasn’t quite so sure.

"Course I want to, you idiot. And I don’t mind the whole world knowing." Orli closed the last of the gap and kissed Elijah long and slow, searching out each part of his mouth, until Elijah’s knees began to buckle. Orli gripped Elijah’s shoulders and set him firmly back on his feet.

Rose sighed and looked regretfully at the pair of them. "That’s so sweet."

"Shut up," Orli smiled. He turned to Elijah, giving him a quick kiss. "Here, take the tie," he thrust a green and red striped monstrosity into Elijah’s hand. "Wow the pants off them in the interview." He turned back to Rose. "Get inside you, before we’re both in trouble." She wandered off towards the door waving vaguely at Elijah and wishing him good luck. Orli went to follow her.

He glanced back suddenly to see Elijah still standing where he’d left him, silly grin on his face, pink blotches fading from his cheeks. Orli ran back for one quick last kiss. "Don’t worry, I know they’re gonna love you," he smiled before he disappeared inside.

"Not half as much as I love you," Elijah whispered to the empty space.

+

It took Rose over two hours to catch Orli on his own. She had planned to just pass by on her way to the loo but there was always someone else around or her boss wanted something done that minute. It took till her official tea break, but now she was determined to make the most of it as she kicked the door closed and perched on the edge of Orli’s desk, two cups of coffee in hand.

She gave one to Orli along with a demand. "So?"

"So what?" Orli pushed his chair back, grinning, knowing it wasn’t worth fighting.

"So what happened? First you hated him, then you felt sorry for him, now you love him?"

"I... I don’t know, sort of. Yeah. Something like that."

"So when did it start?"

"Well, the sleeping together started the beginning of last week but I guess I fell for him long before that and," he saw Rose’s mouth open in indignation. "And no, I didn’t tell you. You’ve got to understand, it’s all new and heavy and…"

"And what?"

"I don’t know, difficult maybe." He looked up at her, eyes pleading for understanding. "I don’t know what you want me to say."

"Okay, let’s ease you in gently," she grinned. "You’re sleeping together, right?" Orli nodded. "So is he as gorgeous naked as I imagine?"

"Rose! That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about."

"Boyfriend?" she asked, taken aback. She hooked her feet onto Orli’s chair, ignoring the sound of tearing papers from under her ample bottom. "But is he beautiful?"

Orli laughed out loud, a hot flash of the mouthful of coffee he’d just taken hitting the sensitive lining of his nose as he snorted. Rose ignored him. "Well?"

"You have no idea," Orli said mopping up with the tissue she thrust at him. "He has this pale skin and dark hair, it’s magnificent and curly on his legs… and it might not look like it but he has muscles in his thighs that stand out and you can lick along them and hip bones that…" Orli’s face suddenly flooded with colour. "Why the hell am I telling you!"

"’Cos he’s as gorgeous as I thought and you love him?"

"Yeah," Orli ducked his head. Lying back in the chair, he looked up at the drawing pinned to his notice board. It has come in the office post two days before, no note or anything just a simple pencil sketch of two sets of feet, naked and intertwined on a rumpled sheet. His feet. And Elijah’s. Drawn by Elijah. He couldn’t help but smile.

He smiled again at the thought of today’s drawing yet to be pinned up, this time of the fountain in the park. It wasn’t architecturally special, it didn’t even work anymore, but it was ‘their’ fountain.

"So why’s it difficult?" Rose asked softly, bringing him back to the moment. "You’ve already called him your boyfriend, that took ages with Shane, and you say you love him, is it all a bit too heavy too fast?"

"No, it’s not that," Orli sighed. "With Elijah it has to be heavy, I wouldn’t take him on otherwise."

"I don’t understand, is he pushing you?"

"He pushes all the time," Orli said with feeling. "But that’s not it."

Rose, for once, stayed silent and waited.

"Remember I said he was different, odd?" She nodded. "Well, I didn’t imagine it. He’s… been through a hell of a rough time and learned to behave in a certain way to survive. Now it’s got so ingrained that he can’t stop, doesn’t know how to do things any differently. It’s all about sex and manipulation with him."

"And you’ve only found this out since you started sleeping together?"

"God no, I knew what he was like right at the start and he told me why ages ago." He looked over at Rose, his face set firm. "He hasn’t told anyone else and I’m not going to tell you."

Rose nodded her acceptance and waited for Orli to go on.

"I knew what he was like, which is why I wouldn’t let myself get close at first. He can hurt people without meaning too, god help you if he actually does it deliberately, and I wasn’t the strongest person around, not after Shane." He stopped, trying to work out how to put things so that Rose would really understand. "It was only when I finally admitted to myself how much I loved him that I was prepared to get close. You don’t love Elijah for an easy ride."

"And he loves you?" She asked softly.

"Yeah," Orli still said it with a sense of wonder. "That came as a real surprise. To be honest I wasn’t sure if he was capable, but he is and it’s amazing." His face lit up. "He’s never loved anyone before and it’s so complete, so mind-bogglingly wonderful. I know this is daft, but it makes everything worthwhile."

"So why’s it difficult?"

"Because everything with Elijah can be hard. He doesn’t know how to act around people and…" The look of excitement from a moment earlier went. "I knew things weren’t going to be easy but I hadn’t expected it to be this difficult so soon."

"What happened?" Rose knew her job well, sit back, offer the odd encouraging question, and let Orli tell her as he wanted. That way he could see things more clearly. It was the routine they’d got into after Shane died, and it worked well.

"We went to my parents. It was bloody awful."

"They didn’t like Shane all that much when you first started seeing him," she pointed out.

"This is a hell of a lot worse. They have… history with Elijah. I’m not sure if they’ll ever come round."

Rose drank some of her rapidly cooling coffee, wiping the lipstick marks off the rim absently as she thought. Orli watched and waited. "I guess you have to decide what you want then, what’s important," she said at last.

"No decision to make, I want Elijah."

Rose picked her words carefully. "I’m only trying to look out for you here but… are you sure you know what you’re doing? Is it really as easy as that?"

Orli looked up, eyes clear and honest. "No, I don’t really know what I’m doing, I just know I have to do it with him. Nothing is going to be easy, but somehow making the decision was. I want him because he makes me feel alive again. I was half asleep and he’s woken me up and it’s brilliant but, Jesus Christ I’m scared."

"Of getting hurt?"

"Too right. He’s trying so hard even though he’s terrified as well, so I have to make an effort to hold him up. But he can still hurt me without meaning to. Then there’s my mum and dad and…" He looked up, a rueful smile on his face. "I’m going to get hurt in a million and one ways."

"I guess you have to decide if it’s worth it."

"Nothing to decide," Orli said, back to his old confident self. "He’s already part of me, I can’t get rid of him now."

+

Elijah stretched up in contentment, arms by his ears, hands gripping the edge of the table, exquisitely aware of the effect the oceans of his pale skin was having. He arched his back, a feline movement that caused two or three vertebrae to pop and heaved out a huge sigh of satisfaction. Now all he had to do was make Orli go a little harder. He pushed his hips back sharply at the next thrust and met Orli with a resounding slap of flesh on flesh.

Better.

Oh God, Orli thought. Control, what control? Elijah was doing it to him again.

He snapped his hips again and his cock reached deeper, higher, harder, his balls rubbing over the rounded curve of Elijah’s arse. This must be killing him, laid out face down on the kitchen table, no cushion or blanket to ease the sharp edges or the flat hardness. But this was what Elijah wanted, what he’d insisted on, and what he wanted he got.

Snap. He hit home again and Elijah groaned, long and loud.

Orli could feel the sweat running down his face, threatening to drip off, could feel the breath heaving in his chest. Control. Remember? Don’t hurt Elijah. He rested his forehead against Elijah’s spine and tried to calm himself down a little.

"Can’t you take the pace old man?" Elijah asked, flexing his shoulders as his hands gripped harder on the edge of the table above his head, the skin across his back pulling tight under Orli’s face. It had just the effect he wanted as Orli lifted up and started to move again.

"Three years. I’m three poxy years older than you, so less of the old man," Orli slid out slowly only to push back harder, watching as each muscle in Elijah’s back wriggled and squirmed with the force.

"Three and a half and boy, don’t it show," Elijah met that thrust with a full-on flick of his own hips. He shivered and giggled as it hit just where he liked it. "If you were a bit younger you could pound me so hard my head would be hitting the wall."

"Will this do you?" Orli eased himself up onto tiptoe and changed the angle so he hit down and right onto…

"Oh," Elijah said. But it came out so high pitched and unexpected that it barely sounded like him. Orli kept it going, not hard, but deep and relentless movements with no end or beginning giving Elijah no chance to catch his breath.

With each one of Orli’s methodical, precise thrusts the answering lift of Elijah’s hips became more and more erratic till he was scrambling around, trying to find some sort of purchase for his feet.

Orli just kept going and Elijah forgot what his feet were, forgot to try and hold in the pathetic little whimpering sounds, forgot about the edge of the table or making Orli want more. He even forgot about Orli as he became a jellyfish left out on a rock after the sea had gone out. He lay there and forgot about everything, as his world became the slide of a cock into his arse. A slide that made him burn and plead and forget everything he’d ever though he knew.

Orli hooked his arm under Elijah but, to his amusement, Elijah’s cock was as wilted as his body. He stepped the pace up a little, kissing Elijah’s back as the other man hummed. "I’ve fucked you into jelly," he laughed. "Who’s an old man now?"

Elijah tried to turn his head and open his eyes, he really did try, but they were just too heavy. His lips fell apart and a small pink tongue lapped out at his top lip. For that moment the pleasure was all about his backside, the pleading perfect pleasure that made him purr in a previously unknown contentment. Nothing else mattered.

The sight was just what Orli wanted to see. Elijah was done for but so was he.

Orli aimed to go that little bit faster, that little bit deeper, but it was too late. Much too late. He came with a fire that lit up his whole body before it filled Elijah’s. Much as he wanted to show who was still standing at the end of the race Orli was lost and he collapsed down onto Elijah with a feeble grunt. Elijah elbowed him over slightly and Orli pulled out as he panted some air back into his lungs.

"It’s not how hard you can go, it’s what you do with it."

Elijah turned his head and tried to smile. "I’ll take your word for it."

"You’re not in any condition to argue."

Elijah thought about that one but then gave up and laughed. "I’m not in any condition to do anything," he admitted. "You obviously have the secret technique for the world’s greatest fuck."

Orli turned serious. "No secret, it’s just who you’re with."

"Thanks," Elijah said, reaching out and running his thumb over Orli’s shoulder. "For showing me it could be like this."

"Pleasure’s all mine," Orli twisted his head so he could kiss Elijah’s hand, then his face split into an enormous grin. "Believe me, the pleasure really is mine. But… do you want me to finish you off?"

"Nah," Elijah said, heaving himself up and wincing as he flipped over and sat on the edge of the table. "Didn’t think it was possible, but you fucked me past coming. Besides, I’ve come twice this evening and about seventeen million times in the last two days and," he smiled, wide eyed and stood up gingerly. "Now I want to go clubbing."

Orli groaned long and loud and flopped out on the table.

Four