Hands of Clay

Hi, Friends,

I am working on my next Alien Love Book. I just had a great idea for the end, so I'm on it! But in the meantime here is more of this story. I went back to 1:05 a.m. an Ice Era Chronicle and did some reading. In that book, I first introduced Brice and after flipping through those pages, I became even happier that I decided to write this book. I know it will never be published like my other chronicles, but I am still glad it is out in the world somewhere.

To all of you who are here reading this, again a BIG thank you.

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*Chapter 7*

(Clay)

"B.A.," one of the recruits joked as the group meandered out of the training room. "Should be called badass skills instead of basic agent skills. This is going to be bomb-ski."

As the formation was dismissed for the day, the generally excited chatter was about what they would learn in the coming weeks. Today was mostly the outline of what knowledge and skills it would take to get the glowing gears bracelet that would signify a man or woman was as a full H.S.P.C. agent.

"Wait until we have to do the class on Local Matrix," Red-headed Zac grumbled behind Clay. "Then we can call it boring-ass skills."

The recruits laughed as Clay stepped to the side. Everyone filed out of the training room and into the walkway. The instructors told the platoon to walk to dinner chow and then go back to the barracks to rack out. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Clay dismissed the idea of heading to the DFAC. He planned to see Brice. The man had shown up at the start of the introductions, but then Clay hadn't seen him for the rest of the day. He hoped if he lingered, he would be able to catch him.

"You coming to chow?" Abdul moved to the side of the rowdy group. He stood with Janis by the exit as the last of the recruits ambled through the doorway. "Clay?"

"No." Clay hunted for a lie. "The sleeping pills Gears gave me are too strong. I'm going to see him, but then I'll meet you later."

"Too strong?" Abdul appeared thoughtful. "I was going to tell you that I thought those sleeping pills must be working. This morning I've never seen you so energetic and well-rested." He frowned. "Well, not since we were kids at any rate. You looked happy."

"Yes," Janis agreed. "You look like you got laid."

Clay glossed right over that. The sentence hit a little too close to home.

"Claymore is as sexual as a panda bear." Abdul laughed. "If he was the only one on the planet and he had to fuck, humans would go extinct."

"Oh, yeah." Janis laughed with him. "I forgot about corpse-cock."

"I want to make sure the dosage is correct." Clay didn't respond to Janis's and Abdul's accurate description of his previous sex life. Instead, Clay tried to stay on topic. "I don't want to end up sleeping through the morning formation. Besides, the instructors talked about mock night missions," Claymore added. "I'm going to see Doctor Gears and get this squared away. I'll catch up with you."

"See you," Abdul said as they headed down the long hall toward the evening meal.

Dragging his feet, Clay followed Janis and Abdul for a short distance until he reached the elevator. As soon as he passed the door to the stairs, he spotted Brice talking to Trainer Dean and Trainer Essie.

Clay knew the second Brice's eyes were on him. Pausing, Clay crouched and pretended to tie his boot. Seconds passed, and then Brice marched past Clay with long, purposeful strides. Clay rose and trailed Brice back down the hall. Since Clay was pretending to visit Gears in the medical wing, he knew he should head to the elevators. He frowned as he kept up behind Brice. The man didn't even turn around to acknowledge him.

"Where are you going, Wicks?" Dean's booming voice had Clay spinning around and thinking of his lie.

"I have an issue with the medication that Doctor Gears prescribed me. I was going to speak to him, Trainer Dean." Clay pulled out his sleeping note and handed the envelope to the other man. "I need to check the dosage and ask what to do for night missions." The instructor unfolded the document and glance at the paper.

"You're going the wrong way. The elevator is this way." Dean pointed. "Do you need a compass?"

"Right." Clay shook his head. "I haven't gotten the hang of this place yet. HQ is big. Thank you."

"I'll make sure he gets to medical." Brice appeared at Clay's elbow. "And that he's not fucking around."

"Are you sure?" Dean paused. "I thought you had a meeting."

"I'm getting my prosthetic checked. Gears is going to look at the hydraulics." Brice rolled his shoulders. "I can go there first. I'll keep an eye on Recruit Wicks and then get him to the mess hall." As Brice spoke, his eyes scanned Clay's face. Gulping, Clay had to fight the urge to kiss him.

"Thanks. I'm hungry." Dean strode off toward the dining area for the recruits, and Brice spun on his heel.

"We will take the stairs, Recruit Wicks." Brice used that sexy bossy voice that had Clay wanting to drop his pants. He had no idea how Brice could make that sentence suggestive. "The exercise is good for recruits."

"There are lots of exercises I'd like to do with you, Head Instructor Brice. How about front leaning rest?"

"Watch it, Recruit," Brice growled and then quickly started for the door marked stairs.

Clay chased after Brice as he opened an entrance to the stairwell. The instructor didn't take the first flight but went around to the back wall. A metal door labeled maintenance was hidden in the corner.

Momentarily, Brice glanced around and then opened it and disappeared. Clay followed as excitement surged through his system. All day he could barely think. All he wanted was Brice. Again, and again.

When Clay entered the tiny room, he noted that shelves and dusty equipment covered three walls. One wall was smooth concrete. The only light came from a single bulb hanging from a chain.

Brice turned and opened his mouth, but Clay couldn't wait. He wrapped his arms around Brice and kissed him.

The grader was even hotter than last night. Clay wasn't sure how that was possible. Soft lips crushed hard on Clay's, and he nibbled on Brice's mouth. The nip and then the return suction from Brice shot tremors down Clay's spine. This is what he'd wanted all day.

Clay drew Brice's tongue into his mouth and drank in the other man until he forgot where he was. When his hips rocked, the two of them stumbled into the cement wall. Never in his life had he been this horny. Corpse-cock was a thing of the past. Every inch of his skin was on fire. Automatically, his hands went to Brice's pants. He undid the button and zipper. Being with Brice would ease the horrible idea of losing him. Right as Clay shoved his hand into Brice's underwear, the grader ripped his lips away.

"Claymore Wicks. Stop." Brice squeezed his shoulder. "We need to talk."

"Then do it." Clay kissed Brice's collarbone as his fingers found the straining erection seeking him. "Talk."

"We need to talk with your hand not in my pants." Brice grabbed Clay's wrist and pulled until Clay let go. He stepped away from Clay toward the exit.

"Any conversation where my hand can't be in your pants isn't one I want to have." Clay reached for Brice again. Once more, in the small space, Brice maneuvered away from him.

"I mean it, Recruit Wicks." Brice buttoned his pants and pulled up the zipper. "Stop." He threw his hands out as if keeping Clay at bay.

"I like it when you call me Recruit Wicks. You make it sexy." Clay began to untuck his shirt. "Fuck, I want you so bad that I can't think." As he glanced around the small space, he looked for a chair or something to bend Brice over. "You're my trainer, Head Instructor Brice. What do you want me to do?" Maybe they could have sex standing up against the wall. "I can fuck you against the door or suck you off. Which one?"

"Which one?" Brice swallowed hard and then waved for Clay to fix his shirt. "I mean, we can't do this."

"You're right." Sadly, Brice was correct. There wasn't much space in this little room, and the way Brice had him moaning last night, someone would hear them if they took the stairs.

"I am?" Brice's eyebrows hit his dark-brown hair.

"We don't have enough time or lube." Clay was new at wanting sex with this kind of ravenous craving. Maybe he didn't know all the intricacies of this kind of insatiable passion, but what he did know was that they would need more time alone together than what this closet offered. "I'll meet you on the top floor tonight."

"Did you say lube?" Brice licked his lips like he wanted to kiss Clay again.

"Hell yeah. We need lots of lube if I'm going to fuck you. Ah, Instructor Brice," he sighed simply thinking about Brice's ass. "I'm going to make you come so hard." Clay headed for the exit fixing his clothes. "What time will you be there?" Already Clay was planning how to get Gears to give him the supplies they would need. He'd had sex with men before. If Brice were up for it, Clay would have the man spread eagle on those sleeping bags.

"No." Brice shook his head. "I mean, we can't date each other. I'm not meeting you again. I'm the head instructor, and you're a recruit. There are rules."

"Rules?" Clay stopped at the door and turned around. Was Brice joking?

"H.S.P.C. Rules, regulations, procedures." Brice's voice hardened. "You'll get kicked out of training for fraternization with a superior. This is Keith's rule to prevent favouritism bias. It comes from high up." Brice sounded like he was reading from the H.S.P.C. manual. "If we get caught together, you'll be banned from the program. I'll be removed from my position for messing with a subordinate. This thing between us is over, and we can't tell anyone about what happened on the top floor."

"Over?" Clay blinked in surprise as Brice placed his hands on his hips. The grader wasn't joking. Rubbing the back of his neck, Clay tried to come up with what to say. He agreed that their relationship should be kept secret while he was in the training program, but not have it at all? That wasn't going to happen. Their connection was bigger than H.S.P.C. policy or rules or... anything. Clay wasn't going to let the H.S.P.C. stand in his way of being with his soulmate. Once he'd let The Originals take Brice, and Clay would be damned if he would let that happen again.

"Over." Brice took a deep breath like the issue was settled between them. None of this was settled, and this relationship was not over.

"I understand what you're saying, but I don't care about being kicked out of training." Clay studied the other man's expression. Yes, Brice meant what he said, but he would come around. He had to. They would have to work this out. Clay didn't want to wait weeks to be with Brice.

"I care about you getting kicked out." Brice crossed his arms over his chest. "You're going to be a good agent, Claymore Wicks."

"First off, you can call me Clay. I've had your dick in my mouth, so I think we're past full names. And second, I'm going to be a phenomenal agent, but this isn't that difficult. I'll stay in the program, and you stay an instructor, and we will..." Clay sighed. "We can come up with a plan to meet in secret." He hoped Brice wasn't going to say that they would take cold showers until graduation day. At this point, Clay thought he might be able to fuck at negative temperatures. "I'm an expert at keeping secrets. This will be our secret squirrel mission."

"No secret squirrel missions. No plan. We aren't dating. I mean it. Over."

"I get that we have risks right now, but sooner or later, we are going to date. You're going to be my boyfriend and then one day my husband."

Brice shook his head like he could dislodge Clay's words from his ears.

"Brice." Clay sighed the other man's name. "Can't you feel this bond between us? This connection is stronger than H.S.P.C. We're going to be together. It's only a matter of when." Didn't Brice feel how powerful this yearning was? They wouldn't be able to ignore each other for weeks on end. Brice was under his skin and in his blood. There was an electric current between them, and the power kept amping up.

"This isn't a negotiation." Brice looked like he was fighting the attraction the same as Clay. The grader's hands shook when he let them drop to his sides. "I'm not allowed to date a recruit." Brice didn't like this rule-bullshit either, so why was he being so stubborn?

"Okay." Clay lifted one eyebrow. "If I had the blue gears bracelet on, then we could date? I'd be an agent instead of a recruit. We can be boyfriends. I can marry you."

"No." Brice shook his head like Clay had missed that part of the lesson. "I don't date H.S.P.C. agents, and I'm never getting married."

Clay took a steadying breath. This was starting to sound more like fear of relationships masquerading as following H.S.P.C. policy. The not wanting to date a recruit because of the strict rules? Yes, Clay could understand that. But beyond that, there was no good reason why they couldn't be together. Why was Brice putting obstacles in their way? Not one part of Clay believed that Brice didn't feel what he did last night.

"You liked me last night," Clay pointed out. "You said I was too good to be true. You said you really liked me. I know you want me. Even now, I see it in your eyes. I see the way your hands shake. You itch to hold me."

"Stop." Brice closed his eyes like he could erase last night from his head. "I can't date you."

"You don't date recruits or agents." Clay grinned. "Do you date Original members? If I was one of those, could we be boyfriends?"

Brice's lids fluttered open, and he glared. The sour expression had Clay snickering.

"This is not a joke, Recruit Wicks."

Yeah, this sounded exactly like fear to him, but he didn't know what Brice was afraid of happening. The only thing Clay knew right now is that he wanted Brice, and he didn't care about anything else.

"What job can I have?" Clay stared at Brice, daring him to come up with more excuses. "I'll be whatever you want. Cook? Guard? Medic? I'll fucking scrub floors for you."

"Don't do this." Brice gave an exasperated sigh. "I didn't mean to lead you on. I misunderstood the situation last night. I didn't realize that you—" He threw his hand out. "It's not important what I thought. The important thing here is that what we did was good but—"

"It was out of this world. Don't lie to me and say it was good, but that's it."

"But," Brice continued like Clay hadn't interrupted him. "I won't date a recruit. That's the H.S.P.C.'s rule, and it's my personal rule that I don't date agents. This is over."

"I heard you. So, what job can I have so we can be a couple?" Clay took a step closer to Brice in the small space. The man's mere presence had Clay panting. "Because if you think I'm not going to have sex with you again, you're delusional. I know you want me too. I know that if I walked out this door and never saw you again, you'd miss me. You'd come to find me." As Clay approached Brice, his grader backed up against the exit. When Clay's mouth was a breath width away, Brice's eyes dropped to his lips. That hum of energy returned. The pull was borderline painful. If Brice gave him even one small gesture that said they could go for round two, Clay would have his pants around his ankles faster than the arctic wind.

"We have to forget what happened between us." Brice took an unsteady breath and placed his hand on Clay's chest. "That's what I'm going to do." He pushed as if begging Clay to back away. "I can't do this, Recruit Wicks. I can't play games with you. I have to go. I have meetings and work. Forget last night and get back to training. You're going to be a great H.S.P.C. agent one day. I'm doing this for both of us. Forget it all. Is that clear?"

Forget it all? That was never going to happen. Over? Also never going to happen. Brice had been in Clay's head and under his skin since that night in the hut.

"Clear as mud." Clay took a step back so Brice could move away from him again. "Say whatever you want. Say over." Clay waved to the door. "Do whatever you want, but just so you know, ignoring this connection between us is never going to work." Clay crossed his arms over his chest. If Brice needed time, he would give it to him, but they would be together eventually. "It's no biggie. We won't date for now, but I'm never going to forget anything that happened between us." When Brice scooted toward the shelves, Clay headed to the exit. He stopped at the door. "And when you realize you can't eat or sleep or function without seeing me, you'll know where I am. I'll be waiting. Is that clear?"

"For Pete-sake, you hold yourself in such high regard. It was one night, Wicks."

"One night?" Clay spun around and glared. "It wasn't just one fucking night." Clay laughed darkly. "I spent night after night thinking about the way you licked my face and the way you held me to stay warm. I can still feel your tongue on my chest. I remember you sucking on my fingertips. I dream about you." His body shook with his mounting frustration. "Even in that hut, I wanted to kiss you. I wanted us to be together, even bleeding and broken." Clay took a deep breath to steady his growing annoyance at his soulmate. "It's not one night. You'll see how fucked up you get without me. I'll wait until you figured it out." Clay spun back to the exit and set his hand on the knob. "I'm giving you a D minus in your lack of understanding of how love works."

Before Clay could walk out the door, Brice's hand was on his shoulder. The grader whirled him around and stared with wide eyes. The look was as if Brice had never seen Clay before. With a shove, Brice had Clay's flat against the wood.

"Licked your face?" Brice's eyes jumped over him wildly.

Clay nodded

"Held you to stay warm?" Brice squeezed both of Clay's biceps and stepped between his legs until he pressed into Clay's chest.

Clay nodded again.

"Shepherd?" Brice's eyes shone with hope.

"Shepherd?" Clay grinned. "Is that what you called me? I called you the grader. In the Original's hut, I didn't even get an A plus back then."

Suddenly, the grader's mouth was all over him like Brice hadn't a second ago given him a lecture on not dating. The kiss came so fast and was so unexpected Clay wondered if Brice was bipolar. He didn't have long to ponder Brice's mental state before he got crushed between Brice's hard body and the door.

"Clay," Brice whispered his name as he hugged him. Was this what over looked like to Brice? Brice buried his face into Clay's neck and held him like he was desperate. God, he loved it when Brice hugged him in that frantic I-have-to-have-you kind of way.

"Brice, I—"

"I thought I'd never see you again." When Brice lifted his head, he swiped at the wetness gathering around his eyes. He kissed his cheek and traveled down to Clay's neck. "I thought you died."

"Not that I want to point this out, but you do remember that you told me we couldn't date?" Clay laughed and then kissed Brice a second time. Their tongues twirled and licked until Brice ripped his lips away. They both gulped for much-needed air. When Clay's lips were free, he grinned at Brice. "I don't know if you know this, but normally, you don't kiss someone after you tell them it's over."

"For Pete-sakes, Clay. Why didn't you say who you were last night?"

"What do you mean? I told you my name."

"I thought you were my blind date. I thought we'd just met." Brice shook his head. "I didn't know it was you, my shepherd."

Warm chills infused him at the term, my shepherd. As Clay considered that Brice didn't recognize him, it occurred to him that the reason was probably Luna's impromptu makeover. Even Abdul said he looked like when they were younger. Clay's mind slipped over his conversations with Brice, and then his brain conjured his vacuum suction.