Chapter 42 Swim Speed #2
Asher’s hips began to move with more urgency, thrusting into Levi’s mouth as his ragged pants filled the room.
Levi gagged, the intrusion hitting the back of his throat, tears streaming freely as he tried to pull back, but Asher’s hand tightened like a clamp in his hair, holding him in place with brutal strength.
“Just a little more,” Asher gasped, his control fraying at the edges, sweat beading on his forehead. “Relax and swallow around me—you can do it. Be my perfect little slut, Levi.”
This shouldn’t feel like connection. Why does part of me want his approval? What is wrong with me?
“I’m close,” Asher warned, his voice strained and guttural, hips stuttering as Levi tried to control his gagging. “Fuck, Levi, so good, just keep taking it—”
Asher’s voice broke on a deep, shuddering moan, his entire body tensing like a coiled spring as he reached his climax. His grip turned cruel in that moment, forcing Levi to remain still, to accept the hot, pulsing release that flooded his mouth, bitter and overwhelming.
“Swallow,” Asher ordered, voice rough with ecstasy, eyes locked on Levi’s tear-streaked face. “Swallow all of it for me.”
Levi had no choice, his throat working reflexively around the flood, tears streaming down his face as he fought not to choke. When Asher finally released him, Levi slumped back on his heels, gasping for air, his lips swollen and slick, tasting of salt and shame and arousal.
Asher slid from the table to kneel before Levi, taking his face between his hands with unexpected gentleness, thumbs stroking the wet tear tracks on Levi’s flushed cheeks, smearing them like a mark of ownership.
“Good boy,” he whispered, leaning in close, breath hot against Levi’s ear. “You’re fucking perfect. Look at you—ruined and beautiful, all because of me. I’m inside you now, a part of you. You’ll always have me with you.”
He pulled Levi into a deep, possessive kiss that tasted of what had just happened—salty, intimate, claiming—and Levi melted into the softness of his lips.
When he broke away, he studied Levi’s face with an intensity that was almost unbearable, his thumbs pressing just hard enough to leave faint imprints.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Levi answered honestly, voice hoarse and broken.
Instead of apology, satisfaction bloomed in Asher’s expression, a wicked smile curling his lips. “Good,” he murmured, fingers tracing Levi’s swollen lips. “Now you won’t forget how much you mean to me.”
He tilted Levi’s head to the side, mouth descending to the junction of his neck and shoulder. His teeth scraped the sensitive skin, making Levi shiver.
“Everyone should know,” Asher whispered against his skin before biting down hard enough to leave a mark.
The pain was sharp, immediate, drawing a gasp from Levi’s already abused lips. “Asher, stop,” he whimpered.
Asher pulled back, admiring the purple bruise already forming on Levi’s pale skin with a satisfied hum. “Sometimes I hate that you’ve done this to me, Levi. I never cared about being alone before. Now everything hurts a little all the time.”
Levi didn’t know what to say. His mind was still reeling with the taste of Asher on his tongue. He leaned his head against Asher’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around him. “I’m sorry,” he said, and some part of him actually was.
“It’s okay.” Asher pulled him into a tighter embrace. “We’ll always have each other now, so we can make each other feel better.”
“I know.”
A sound from the wall broke the moment—a subtle grinding that indicated the building was changing again. A seam appeared in what had been solid surface, widening to reveal a passageway where none existed before.
“Looks like we’re being invited to continue.” Asher tucked himself back into his jeans and refastened them as he stood before offering Levi his hand. “Shall we?”
Levi nodded, not trusting his voice. He felt hollowed out, scraped raw by what had just happened.
The newly formed passage led to a narrow stairwell that spiraled upward, the steps worn smooth by decades of use. According to the blueprint, it should connect to the upper level where the Observation Deck was located—the site of the third and final key.
They climbed in silence. The stairs seemed to extend further than physically possible, each turn revealing yet another flight instead of the expected exit.
“Something’s wrong,” Levi said after what felt like the twentieth identical landing. “We should have reached the upper level by now.”
As if in response to his observation, a grinding sound emanated from above. The stairwell shuddered, dust raining down from the ceiling as the structure reconfigured itself once again.
“The building’s still changing,” Asher noted, glancing upward. “Adapting to our progress.”
A new sound reached them—the rushing of water, growing steadily louder. From above, a torrent appeared, cascading down the stairwell in a powerful surge that immediately soaked them.
“It’s flooding the shaft!” Levi shouted above the roar of water. “We need to go back down!”
But when they turned, the lower portion of the stairwell was already submerged, water rising with alarming speed. They were trapped between the incoming flood from above and the rising level below.
“There!” Asher pointed to a maintenance door on the landing, barely visible in the dim light. “That might lead to another section!”
They moved toward it, the water ankle-deep and rising quickly. Asher wrenched the door open to reveal a horizontal shaft.
“Go!” he urged, helping Levi climb into the opening. “I’m right behind you.”
The passage was tight, forcing them to crawl on hands and knees. Water followed them in, flowing along the bottom of the shaft in a steadily deepening stream.
“Keep going,” Asher called from behind, his voice tight with unusual tension. “Don’t stop.”
The shaft branched, each junction forcing a split-second decision. Levi chose directions instinctively, with no real way to know which path might lead to safety. The water continued to rise, now flowing around their wrists, making each movement more difficult.
After what seemed like an eternity of crawling, the passage widened into a small junction chamber where several ducts converged. The water splashed around Levi’s elbows and thighs.
“Which way?” Levi asked, scanning the identical openings that surrounded them.
Before Asher could respond, a violent surge of water crashed through one of the ducts, the force of it knocking Levi sideways. The current pulled him toward a different passage, the suction unnaturally strong.
“Asher!” he called, fingers searching for purchase on the smooth metal walls and finding none.
Asher lunged for him, catching his wrist in a grip of iron. For a moment, they were suspended in perfect balance—the current pulling Levi away, Asher’s strength holding him in place.
“I’ve got you,” Asher grunted. “Hold on.”
But the water’s force was increasing, the current becoming a powerful vortex centered on the passage, as if the building itself was determined to separate them, to drag Levi away into its depths.
Asher’s grip began to slip.
“If we get separated,” he said through gritted teeth, “find me. Promise me you’ll find me.”
In all their loops together, Asher had always been the one to find Levi, to hunt him down with predatory determination. Now he was the one afraid of being lost.
“Promise me, Levi!” he demanded, the fear naked in his eyes now.
“I promise!” Levi shouted.
It was the last thing he said before the current won, Asher’s fingers slipping from his wrist. The water swept him into the passage, carrying him away and slamming him against the metal walls.
The narrow duct filled with water. There was no air, no light, just a relentless current pulling him deeper into the building’s bowels.
His lungs began to burn, the need for oxygen becoming desperate.
There was nothing he could do. He pressed his hands over his pockets that held the two keys, determined not to lose their hard-won progress even as his consciousness began to fade.
It was a strange feeling to drown in utter darkness, cold and lonely in a way none of his previous deaths had been.
Asher was always with him when he died.
I don’t like dying alone.
Levi took in a deep breath and surrendered to the water.