by Onley James
Calder was congratulating himself on his incredible restraint when Robby decided to let his mouth do a bit of exploring of its own, his tongue darting out to taste the dip in Calder’s throat. He ground his hips down without thought.
Robby whined at the friction of their cocks slotting together with only the thin layers of fabric between them and wrapped his legs around Calder’s hips to rut against him. “Fuck, that feels so good,” Robby said, his voice wondrous, sounding almost drunk on Calder’s kisses.
“Yeah? You like that, angel?” he asked.
Robby didn’t answer, just nodded, burying his face against Calder’s throat like he was embarrassed to be enjoying himself. Maybe Calder was selfish but he wanted to hear it. “Tell me,” he whispered against his ear.
“Yes. Please, don’t stop,” Robby begged.
Fuck. So much for taking it slow. He tried to appease his guilt by reminding himself that Robby had begged for it, had asked Calder to be the bad guy, to use him up. How could he say no? He shoved their clothes out of the way, gripping the boy’s hips, helping him find a steady rhythm, losing himself in a dirty pantomime of the sex they could be having if not for Linc’s edict. But this was good, this was amazing. The feel of the boy’s cock, slick with precum, rubbing against Calder’s was perfect.
Robby was right. He was a very quick study, and Calder knew he wouldn’t stop, couldn’t even, especially if the boy kept whimpering, “Please, please,” against Calder’s skin desperately, like he might change his mind.
Not a chance. They weren’t kissing anymore, just gripping each other tight, rubbing off on each other like teens, and Calder couldn’t remember the last time he felt so present, so in the moment. His only intent was to give Robby what he needed, knowing the boy wanted just him.
Robby came first, nails digging into Calder’s back, gasping his name in his ear almost like his pleasure surprised him. That shocky, startled breath was Calder’s undoing, just like last time. Calder lifted himself off enough to see the evidence of Robby’s orgasm, thrusting against him until he came hard, his own cum mixing with the boy’s. He ran his fingers through it before slipping two fingers between Robby’s lips. The boy sucked them clean, teeth scraping across Calder’s skin. He kissed him deep, tasting them on Robby’s tongue before dropping his head to Robby’s shoulder. “Fuck.”
They both laid there, panting and sticky, clothes askew. Robby clung to him just like he had that day in the shower, like he was afraid Calder would run. It caused a strange ache in Calder’s chest, one he couldn’t let himself get used to. Robby could count on Calder to keep him alive and could count on him for some no strings hookups, but he couldn’t count on Calder in any personal way. He couldn’t let himself care for Calder, and he definitely couldn’t allow himself to fall for Robby. Love made Calder stupid, it got people hurt, and he couldn’t live with himself if he was the reason anything happened to Robby.
He pressed a kiss to Robby’s forehead and then rolled off and into a sitting position, reaching for the wet wipes in the top drawer and quickly cleaning up and righting his underwear before handing two to Robby. This is the part where he usually made up an excuse about work or just left to head back to his post. But he couldn’t do that. Not this time. So, he grabbed his phone to keep from having to think too much about the hazel eyes burning a hole into his back and the boy who was thinking loudly enough for Calder to almost feel ashamed of himself. Almost.
There was a text from Linc: The shit’s hit the media. It might be best to keep the kid away from the internet today. The tabloids are going crazy.
Calder clicked on Google and searched Robby’s name. Linc wasn’t kidding. The headlines were not only outlandish and incorrect but insulting.
Home Invasion Nightmare: Ex-lover of actor Elijah Dunne Accused of Murder
They couldn’t even mention Robby by name while falsely accusing him of murder? Not that the ones who did mention his name were much better.
Robby Shaw’s Downward Spiral Ends with One Dead
Kid’s Channel Star Rocked by Scandal: Angelic Robby Shaw Son of Devilish Cult Leader
The boy had been in the tabloids for weeks now, but Calder wasn’t sure if a breakup meltdown ranked anywhere near having killed a person who may or may not have been sent by your father to harm you. But the boy was stronger than Linc gave him credit for. He asked for what he wanted even when terrified. He braved a potential killer with only a cheese knife to save his dog and had come out of it without a scratch. Still, Calder would feel better if the boy wasn’t winging it in the event his father tried again. Maybe he needed to show Robby how to defend himself?
The mattress shifted behind Calder and then Robby was peering over his shoulder. Calder quickly set his phone face down on the side table, gripping Robby’s forearms and tipping his head up to kiss his lips. He narrowed his gaze. “Wow. Must be pretty bad if you’re trying to distract me with kisses when you were contemplating jumping out your own window to get away from me sixty seconds ago.”
Calder’s brows went up. “You literally say whatever pops into your head, yet you claim everything scares you?”
Robby shrugged, expression glum. “When everything scares you, what have you got to lose? You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, right?” he mumbled.
“Life lessons from the world’s grumpiest motivational speaker,” Calder drawled with a smile.
“Mockery from a guy who thinks his dick is literally magic,” Robby said, a hint of laughter in his voice.
Calder launched himself backward, trapping Robby beneath him. “Do me a favor, angel. Stay off the internet today, okay?”
Calder’s head rose and fell as Robby took a deep breath. “That bad, huh? What are the tabloids saying today? Am I the AntiChrist? Am I secretly indoctrinating actors into Magnus Dei? Oh, God. Did they say I was getting fat?”
Calder shook his head. “Stay off the internet. I mean it.”
“Fine. Can I at least call Wyatt and Charlie and ask them to bring me some clothes? Yours all smell like paint thinner.”
Calder flipped over in one graceful move, pinning Robby beneath him. “Wow, you sound mighty ungrateful. I gave you the very shirt off my back—”
“You pulled it from your bottom drawer,” Robby corrected with a giggle.
“—off my back,” Calder continued as if he hadn’t heard the boy. “And this is the thanks I get.”
He skimmed his hands up under the shirt the boy still wore, tugging it up and off, earning an involuntary bark of laughter as his fingers snaked along his sides. Robby cut his laugh off abruptly, biting down on his lip as if he’d accidentally revealed some deep dark secret. “Are you…are you ticklish, angel face?”
“What? No.”
Calder sat up, straddling Robby’s hips. “No?”
Robby’s gaze landed somewhere over Calder’s left shoulder. “Nope. Not at all. Are you?”
Very. “Now, now. Focus. This ain’t about me. This is about you, and I think you’re a dirty, rotten liar.”
Robby’s mouth fell open, looking truly insulted. “Rude.”
Calder’s fingers skimmed along the stars at Robby’s hip bones. Once more, the boy’s teeth sank into his lower lip. He was so easy to read. So open. So afraid but always so willing. Even now. Calder teased over Robby’s sides, heart skipping as the boy giggled. “What was that?” Calder asked, tickling the boy until he was squirming and breathless with laughter, hands wrapped around Calder’s wrists in a half-hearted attempt to displace them.
Calder found himself on top of Robby again, their mouths almost touching, his hands no longer at the boy’s sides but tugging at the bars through each nipple. Robby moaned against Calder’s lips. He supposed if they had to spend the day hiding from the press and ignoring the internet, there were worse ways to spend it than figuring out what Robby liked and what he didn’t. He definitely liked having his nipples played with. His hands were restlessly flexing against Calder’s back, his breath pan
ting against Calder’s mouth. He liked where this was going. At the rate Robby was learning, maybe kitchen blowjobs were on the menu at some point in the near future.
Calder’s head jerked up as rap music began to blare from the side table of his bed. “I think your phone’s having a seizure.”
Robby didn’t try to wiggle free of Calder, just bent impossibly far behind him to reach his phone. He was bendy. Calder filed that away for later.
“It’s my ringtone.”
“Why is it so angry?” Calder asked.
“Don’t disrespect Tupac,” Robby mumbled before frowning. “It’s the lawyer.”
Calder grimaced. “Well, don’t leave him hanging. Answer it.”
All the joy seemed to leave Robby, like somebody had dropped heavy curtains across a sunny window. Calder dropped a kiss to Robby’s lips without thought before adding, “It’s gonna be okay, angel face.”
Robby nodded, but it was clear he didn’t believe it. “Hello?”
“Robby? Stanton Fields.”
“Hello, Mr. Fields,” Robby managed, feeling like his heart had physically lodged itself in his windpipe. He didn’t bother to sit up, just let his head hang over the side, certain that Calder wouldn’t let him fall.
“You’re not staying at a hotel, are you?”
Robby frowned at the strange question. “What? No. Why?”
“The press is all over this. They know you’re not at your apartment. I wanted to warn you if you had decided to stay at a hotel. You shouldn’t go out right now, and you definitely shouldn’t be going out alone. It could be dangerous.”
“I hired a security detail. I’m staying…at a friend’s. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”
That was true, at least. The last thing Robby wanted was to have to muscle past paparazzi screaming at him, trying to get a reaction from him since the only reaction they were likely to get was him bursting into tears, and he was already an embarrassment.
“Good. Good. This investigation will blow over sooner rather than later, but we have to let the detectives do their job and explore all avenues. In the meantime, I suggest getting with your publicist and hiring a PR team.”
“A PR team? Why?”
“Because your father has one and he’s already out there in front of the cameras claiming that he’s the victim of a smear campaign and threatening to sue you for defamation of character.”
Robby felt like he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. “Defamation of character?” His father had no character. Besides, how could he be defaming his father? Nobody had even known who his father was…except now somehow they did. “How did the press even get a hold of this?”
His attorney scoffed. “The LAPD leaks like a sieve. I’m sure somebody tipped them off before we’d even made it out of the building. It’ll get kicked up to HSS now, and then this is about to get real Hollywood. I hope you’re ready for it.”
Ready for it? For what? To be the star of a crime drama that possibly ended up with him doing time in a real life jail cell? Was anybody ready for that? “HSS?”
“Homicide Special Services. They handle all the cases with high-profile suspects.”
Was he high-profile? Was he a suspect? Robby’s stomach sloshed. What was happening? How was this happening to him? He had the worst luck in the world. Only he could be the victim of a break-in and still somehow be the one under suspicion. “Am I going to jail, Mr. Fields?”
The attorney snorted. “I’m not going to let that happen. Like I said, this investigation should close rather quickly, but the press is gonna make a meal out of it regardless. Just do what I say and you’re going to be fine. But you should seriously get with your publicist and hire a team quickly. You need to get out in front of this. The world thinks your father is a quack, but you’ve done some pretty damning things in the court of public opinion lately. You might need to start triaging your image.”
Triaging his image? “Yes, sir.”
“You’ll hear from me shortly.”
There was no goodbye, just silence as the man ended the call. Robby dropped his phone to the mattress, feeling dizzy and sick. Calder gently tugged him into a sitting position. “What was all that about?”
Robby sighed. “My father is threatening to sue me for defamation, and the media is trying to hunt me down. I need to call Jasmine. Mr. Fields thinks I need a PR team now.”
“What do you think?” Calder asked.
“I think it doesn’t matter what I think. I need to know what Jasmine wants. I have to do what I’m told at least until the end of the year.”
Calder tipped his head like a curious puppy. “What happens at the end of the year?”
“My contract with the show is up and so is the contract with my publicist. Then I can…reevaluate.”
“Reevaluate?”
“Yeah. I became an actor because it was a way out from underneath my father’s thumb. I don’t know if I want to do it anymore. I don’t know if somebody like me is cut out for Hollywood.”
To Calder’s credit, he didn’t tell Robby he was crazy or try to tell him he was squandering an opportunity most people would kill for. Robby lectured himself about those same things enough for ten people. He lived in a constant spiral of shame and guilt.
“What would you do if you weren’t an actor?”
Robby shifted, uncomfortable with the level of attention Calder now lavished on him. Nobody had ever asked him what he wanted. It was a strange feeling. Not only that Calder asked but that he examined Robby like he actually cared about the answer. “I don’t know. I just always wanted to work with animals.”
“Like a lion tamer or like a vet?” Calder asked, give Robby a half-smile that probably melted the panties off women everywhere.
Robby’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t think I’m smart enough to be a vet or brave enough to be a lion tamer. I would just like to take care of the animals nobody else wants.”
A strange expression crossed Calder’s face. “I think you would be perfect for that.”
Robby wasn’t sure if Calder was making fun of him or not, but it didn’t really matter. Despite Wyatt and Charlie’s scheming, whatever this was with Calder was temporary. They’d fooled around twice, and both times, Calder had looked like he was fighting the urge to run away. Robby tried not to let that hurt, but it twisted his insides anyway.
“Do you show your art anywhere?” Robby asked, hoping to deflect the attention away from himself.
Calder’s head turned towards the dining room. “My paintings? Nah. I just do that for me.”
“But you’re really talented. Don’t you want to share that talent with the world?” Robby asked.
“You’re a really talented actor. Do you really want to stop acting and deprive the world of your talent?”
Robby scoffed. “Thanks, but I’m a mediocre actor on a good day. Most people over the age of ten only know me because I’m Elijah Dunne’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Well, I’m a mediocre painter, but I like that you think I’m not.”
Robby smiled. “I should probably call Jasmine now.” His gaze flicked upward. “Should I tell her you said hi?” he asked, voice deadpan.
Calder snickered. “Uh, that won’t be necessary.”
Robby batted his lashes. “Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you from anything.”
Calder caught Robby’s mouth in a dirty kiss that left him semi-hard. “I’m positive, angel. I’ve got my hands full at the moment, unless you’ve tired of me already?”
Robby’s heart cartwheeled behind his ribcage, but he shrugged, turning his attention to his phone screen. “I suppose not yet.”
“Oh, well that’s good. I have some calls to return of my own. So, I’ll leave you to your planning.”
Once Calder had left the room, Robby called Jasmine who answered on the first ring. “Where have you been?”
“In hiding. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been accused of murder and my father is all over the news.”
�
�I’ve noticed. Why do you think I’ve been freaking out? Are you okay? Where are you staying?”
“I hired a security company. I’m staying with the guard who’s looking out for me. Calder Seton.”
Robby took some pleasure in the long silence on the other side of the line and the way Jasmine cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Oh, good. Uh, good plan. I think we need to get out in front of this. The tabloids are all over it and CNN has been running stories about Magnus Dei all day.”
“My attorney says we need to hire a PR team.”
“Okay. That makes sense. I’ll call Marin Bridger. Her team handles murderers all the time…not that you’re a murderer,” she finished lamely.
He was though. Technically. He’d stabbed somebody in the neck. Didn’t that make him a murderer by definition? How did things get so out of control? “It’s fine. Don’t tell anybody where I’m staying.”
“I’ll be in touch shortly.”
For the second time that day, somebody hung up on him. He shook his head. He was the one facing jail time. Why did people keep acting like he was the one who was inconveniencing them? He grimaced as he thought about the people he might actually be inconveniencing. Charlie. Wyatt. Calder.
He quickly texted Wyatt and asked if there was any way he could bring him some clothes. He let him know he was essentially on lock-down until further notice. Wyatt shot back a thumbs up.
With that handled, Robby tossed his phone and went in search of Calder. He found him in the kitchen, facing the open window to the parking lot below. He had his phone in his hand and a woman’s voice came through the speaker. “—several attempts to reach you regarding retrieval of your loved one’s ashes. Please call us back at your earliest—” The voice disappeared as Calder hit a button on his phone.
