With the added pressure of Drake’s cock moving inside Clover’s hole, Tank’s softening dick slid out with a slurp, leaving Clover overflowing with lava-hot cum that lubricated him for the rapid pace of Drake’s thrusts.
Tucked into Tank’s warm embrace, bent into an uncomfortable position and with a hole that was at the same time numb and hypersensitive, Clover still rode his high, watching Drake’s handsome features twist as he drilled into him time and time again. His long, damp hair stuck to the sweaty face, but all Clover could focus on were his eyes—black yet hot as two burning coals—overflowing with the lust that was so obvious in the hard, hurried fucking.
When Drake came too, shivering as he buried his face into the crook of Clover’s neck, the heat exploding inside Clover felt like a reward for satisfying this man, who’d been through so much and lived to be here with Clover.
“So, so pretty when you come,” Clover whispered into Drake’s ear with a grin, so elated he could float on air.
Tank detached the cuffs in two lazy moves, and guided Clover’s legs down, which was true mercy because Clover’s muscles barely held the weight of his own limbs. He lay on top of Tank, but once his hands were free, he hugged Drake, who’d collapsed on top of him like a wounded predator still trying to hold its prey.
The haze of afterglow was thick, but Clover still noticed Tank stroking Drake’s arm. The unusual intimacy of the gesture made it impossible to look away, and Clover found himself choking up when he realized he’d never once seen anyone else touching Drake. Not in an affectionate way, nor in a friendly pat on the back, bros-being-bros kind of way.
And in a yet more unimaginable development, Drake who at first stiffened, searched for Tank’s hand and entwined their fingers.
Drake tightened his other arm around Clover, hugging him while his groin remained firmly pressed to Clover’s ass. “That felt... incredible,” he said, lifting his head to meet Clover’s gaze, but his hand remained locked with Tank’s, as if this encounter between the three of them had torn down a barrier he’d been struggling with since forever.
Maybe… with Clover as the glue between them, they’d find it easier to express the feelings they had for each other.
Oh no.
It hit Clover so hard he opened his eyes wide and stared at the ceiling. Had he confessed love? For who even? For both of them? Could there be anything more embarrassing than doing such a thing with two dicks up his ass?
But maybe… it was fine? The guys had probably been too busy to pay attention anyway.
Tank rolled over, and they all moved to lie together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Tank and Drake’s arms embraced Clover, but they also didn’t stray from touching one another, and while this was such a new development, seeing them so comfortable with each other brought Clover joy instead of insecurity. He was proud to give them that closeness, not only accept their adoration and protection.
Tank hummed. “So, that thing you said, boy...”
“Yeah,” Drake nuzzled the back of Clover’s head. “Who were you confessing your love to?”
Clover groaned and hid his face in Tank’s neck, but they wouldn’t give it a rest.
“Probably our dicks. Dirty boy.”
Embarrassment was still there, but the teasing made Clover snap. “Both of you, okay? It was an intense moment!”
Tank’s chest rumbled with laughter, but he stroked Clover’s hair. “Just messing with you.”
Clover hugged him, feeling so much more vulnerable than he had during the sex. “It’s true though. I love you,” he whispered. “If it’s stupid, I don’t care.”
Drake embraced him from behind, as freely as never before. “It’s not stupid. You feel what you feel. I… I’m falling for you fast.” He kissed Clover’s shoulder where Tank had sewn in the tracker. “So be careful tomorrow.”
Clover was too choked up to speak, so he nodded instead. He’d risk his life to keep what they’d built together. Not just for himself, not just because he wanted to put an end to some crazy people chasing after him, but because he understood others cared for him and the thought of causing them pain with his disappearance was unbearable.
He would do his part of the job. He would be the bait.
Chapter 19 – Boar
Boar shouldn’t have had breakfast, because it now sat heavily on his stomach. His gaze kept straying to Clover, who sat next to him in the Subaru, pale eyes focused on the narrow road, on the passing trees and cars. Throughout the journey, they’d both been so silent Boar had been compelled to fill the eerie atmosphere with music, but that didn’t help the sense of doom clutching at his throat.
He was competent at his job, and while danger was a fact of his life, and he didn’t think about it much, the fact that Clover was about to be in a position that put him at risk—bait to eliminate the threat to his life forever—was stirring up feelings Boar didn’t know how to deal with.
Stronger and more resilient than he seemed, Clover wasn’t a frail flower that lost its petals at the faintest gust of wind. When he’d first declared he wanted to get stronger, they’d all expected him to give up after the first grueling training session with Tank, but he’d trudged on, sweating, cursing, but determined to keep up with everyone as best he could. Drake had taken him under his wing, intent on teaching him basic self-defence first, but Tank hadn’t spared Clover either.
Still, Boar couldn’t help but look at Clover’s pretty features, his pale skin and slim frame without a desperate need to protect him from the whole world.
“I’m a bit nervous,” Clover said out of the blue, and surely that was the understatement of the century.
For the longest moment, he wondered whether he shouldn’t hide his true feelings in order to nip Clover’s anxiety in the bud, but whenever he tried to make himself say the simple words of support Tank would have offered, his tongue turned into a wooden appendage and refused to move.
Boar swallowed hard and glanced at the boy’s hunched shoulders.
He owed Clover the truth, even if it meant the boy could change his mind and make them call off the entire plan. “Me too.”
Clover stared out the window, chewing on his lips as if he were a nicotine addict desperately trying to get his kick out of a cigarette-replacement gum. “Isn’t this routine for you?”
Boar squeezed the steering wheel, focused on Tank’s pickup ahead. It should feel routine. He’d done dozens of dangerous jobs—assassinations, interceptions, abductions—the list was long, but with Clover in the picture, the stakes had become sky-high. “I don’t usually have to worry about the others involved. They can handle themselves, but you...” He took a deep breath, giving himself two seconds to study Clover’s profile and the way smooth white hair brushed against his cheeks. “You’re not used to this. I worry what would happen if you panicked.”
Or if one of the guys lost their cool because of their fear for Clover. They were about to use him as bait to get rid of the insistent buyer, but what had made sense in theory felt riskier with every mile they drove.
Clover didn’t protest, or claim that he was as capable as everyone else, which was a good sign. He understood he had a long way to go if he wanted to be proficient at combat. Instead, he stroked Boar’s forearm with the same gentle fingers that could clutch flesh so hard in a passionate embrace. Boar still had nail marks on his back to prove it.
“I’ll just have to do my best. Drake is right. We have to face them, or I’ll be running forever.”
Boar’s stomach twisted with rising anxiety. “You need to stay calm and trust us. You have the tracker inside you, it’s loaded up so the battery won’t die. I mean, we will deal with it then and there, but just in case we got separated… we will find you,” he said, though he wasn’t sure whether he was trying to persuade Clover or himself.
Up ahead, Tank switched on his indicators and pulled into a parking area, so Boar followed his lead, trying to ignore the antsy-ness trailing up and down his back. He hated
that they needed to part, that he couldn’t close Clover in his arms and hold him until all of this blew over, but that was the reality of the situation, and they needed to forget about obstructive sentiments.
They were only about twenty minutes’ drive away from the abandoned factory on the outskirts of a small town where they’d arranged a meeting with Clover’s buyer, under the pretext of giving him up for the outrageous sum of money Tank had taken time to negotiate.
Boar knew it was all to create the illusion that they were serious about the trade, but he still didn’t know how Tank had managed to discuss details, send pictures of Clover’s naked body to confirm the quality of the ’merchandise’ and then fall asleep with the boy in his arms. He wouldn’t have been able to pull that off.
He was somewhat glad that he’d be going to the factory first, to find a vantage point to oversee the exchange and intervene with a rifle if needed, but at the same time, the necessity of parting from Clover was making him itch to call it all off. What if everything went wrong, and these were their last moments together? Highly unlikely, but possible. This, he could not say to Clover.
Anyone who took part in the trafficking business deserved a bullet in the head, so he hardly felt remorseful about what he was about to do, but he’d rather avoid putting the boy at risk regardless. Earlier that day, he’d even proposed that Clover didn’t have to be present, since they’d already baited the buyer with his pictures, but Drake was quick to point out that the bastard would likely send some goons to stay anonymous. If that were the case, they’d have revealed themselves as a threat and lose their chance to ensure Clover’s freedom.
So the plan had to go on in its original form.
Clover slipped his slender fingers into Boar’s hand. Any time Clover graced Boar with such tender gestures, Boar’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt fifteen again, making out with a friend in the backyard of their church.
“I trust you,” Clover said, but his brows were still pulled into a frown.
Boar exhaled, uncomfortable with how sweaty his hands felt, but when he parked the car behind Tank’s vehicle, he could at least close his eyes and take a deep breath to deal with the mounting stress.
“You need to. That’s the only way out of this mess. I’ll… do whatever it takes to free you from that bastard,” Boar said, watching the van stop behind them in the rearview mirror.
Clover wore a neon blue T-shirt so that he’d be easy to spot, but the shade only made him look paler. “I just… if something bad did happen… I want you to know this,” he squeezed Boar’s hand, “matters to me. Even if what we have is unconventional, it’s more important to me than any other relationship I’ve had.”
Boar’s chest sank, creating a heavy sensation that made him want to pull Clover into his arms and then take him away to the depths of the woods, where he’d never be in danger again.
But when he squeezed Clover’s hand more tightly, the sudden knock on the window made Boar stiffen. Pyro peeked inside, his eyebrows up. But they weren’t done with their private conversation yet.
Boar swallowed and urged his lover away with a gesture, his heart picking up its pace. He didn’t want to discuss this with anyone else listening, no matter how important Pyro was in his life.
Clover leaned in for a kiss, but couldn’t reach well, so he climbed out of the seat and into Boar’s lap. His weight was glorious, and when he wrapped his arms around Boar, sending his minty cologne into Boar’s nose, Boar squeezed him tight. So sweet, so lovely, so sexy. An ideal partner for them, wrapped in perfect pale skin.
And despite his earlier request for Clover to trust them, Boar rubbed his face against Clover’s neck and asked, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
Clover kissed Boar’s ear, as if he wasn’t the one who needed the emotional support but the one to provide it. “I don’t want to. But I have to. I don’t want to be hostage to fear all my life.”
Boar shut his eyes, ignoring their friends, who hung out together just a couple of meters away. In this moment, he only wanted to feel Clover’s touch one more time despite believing in the success of Tank’s plan. He didn’t even want to think about the consequences of failure.
“You can still change your mind. We could take you across the border to Canada. Visit you there,” Boar whispered, even though having to part from Clover felt as painful as the perspective of not seeing Pyro for months would have.
Clover’s grip tightened around his neck in an instant. “No. I don’t want to be on my own. I don’t want to be away from you. What’s the point of running my whole life? I would never be able to be honest with anyone again. What we have is special, and I will do everything to protect it.”
Boar took a deep breath and settled his hands on Clover’s hips, longing to force him into safety against all reason. “I love you.”
Clover backed away far enough to meet Boar’s gaze. “I love you too. So I need you to think about yourself if things get out of hand, okay?” he asked and slid his fingers into Boar’s beard before meeting his lips in a soft kiss.
Boar’s breath caught, and he glanced at the empty road, embarrassed that his worry had been so obvious that Clover decided to soothe it when he was the one in danger. “They won’t,” he said without thinking and tightened his arms around Clover as the need to hold him and feel his exact shape became impossible to resist.
Clover cocked his head, a playful smile back on his lips. “You’re so tense, babe.”
Boar scowled, though the honesty of Clover’s confession made him loosen up the tiniest bit. “That’s because I’m worried. I know we’re going to succeed, but when I think about you out there, my mind comes up with the stupidest scenarios. I know I’m the best sniper, so it makes sense for me to protect you at a distance, but that means I won’t be with you. That’s what makes me nervous,” he said, shuddering. The possibility that they’d have to let those bastards take Clover in order to find the man behind it all was high, and the stakes the prospect brought with it had him breaking in cold sweat.
Clover bit his lips, looking into Boar’s eyes in a way that reflected Boar’s own feelings. It didn’t matter that the others were nearby, because in this moment, he was the only one who mattered to Clover. “Then kiss me like it’s the last time. No regrets.”
If anything happened to Clover, there would be no end to Boar’s regret, yet knowing that the boy reciprocated his feelings and thought of him before his own safety made Boar’s heart flutter. He cupped the pale face, rubbing his thumbs over Clover’s cheekbones and pushing his fingers into the long hair as their gazes locked, sparking emotions that crashed over Boar like stormy waves. He leaned into the breathless kiss and let his head clear of anything but the sensations stirring inside him.
Clover’s kisses were nothing like Pyro’s. Where Pyro was harsh and grabby, Clover’s touch was gentle, and he opened his mouth, inviting Boar’s tongue. It wasn’t a question of one kisser being ‘better’ than the other, but about the variety, about how Clover complemented Pyro, and how the dichotomy between them was Boar’s perfection. Pyro was spikes, Clover was velvet, and together they were the ideal combination in Boar’s life.
He’d often worried that Clover’s bond with him wasn’t as strong as with Tank, but the intense nature of Clover’s confession, his honest and caring words dispersed past worries.
He eventually broke the kiss but wouldn’t stop touching Clover and moved his lips down the graceful throat, savoring the saltiness of their boy’s sweat. A boy like Clover had been a fixture of his wet dreams from the time when he’d first realized he liked guys, the answer to his most secretive longings, and however the plan went later today, they’d bring him home.
Forever safe.
“I just… I’ll have to go soon, but—” he whispered, rocking his hips against Clover.
The boy grinned at him with teeth like rows of pearls and removed his top. “I get it. You need encouragement for the job. Something to remind the soldier wha
t his mission is about.”
Boar groaned. “No, I’m serious. This isn’t a game. I just… I need you.”
Clover’s smile faded, and the kiss he gave Boar was like rose petals brushing against lips. “How would you like it?”
Boar swallowed, his hands already trailing all over Clover’s body, massaging his thighs, back, chest, his face. Heat shot up Boar as he licked Clover’s mouth before grabbing the lever at the side of the seat to make it tilt all the way back. “I wanna swallow.”
Clover’s eyelids lowered, and he nodded, already unzipping his jeans. Yet another thing Boar loved about the boy. Always up for it, easily enticed and enthusiastic.
“It’s such a good feeling when your beard tickles me,” he said, ignoring the whistle outside.
Boar watched Clover from his horizontal position, breathless with the excitement of seeing the slender hand dive into open jeans. Tremors of excitement danced all over his body, but when Clover rocked on top of him, his weight pushing at Boar’s belt buckle, his dick started to fill rapidly. “I like when you touch it,” he whispered, closing his eyes when Clover gently twisted his fingers in the beard.
“Then you have to promise not to cut it. Unless I die, of course. Then you have to cut it and never grow it out so that no one else can touch it.” Clover bit back a smile as he pushed down his pants and underwear just enough to reveal his stiffening cock.
Boar wanted to chastise Clover for his dark humor, but despite the thickness in his throat, the sight of the rosy cockhead made him still, mesmerized by its beauty. “Don’t be a dumbass,” he said in the end, pulling Clover’s hips closer when his mouth watered despite the stress.
Clover laughed when he lost balance and had to steady himself with his hand against the roof of the car. He moved up Boar’s body, dick stiffening by the second. His body flushed so easily, and his face was already getting that pink color Boar loved so much.
“I just don’t want to think about any of it for ten more minutes.” Clover took a deep breath and stroked Boar’s beard, looking down at him with eyes obscured by white hair. “But I know you’ll make that easy for me.”
Their Bounty (Dark Gay Harem Contemporary Romance) (Four Mercenaries Book 1) Page 24
