by A. P. Moraez
Even under the dark, cloudy skies, Vincent’s lustrous, silver hair shone. He had his back to where Ash stood, facing Leo, who now had his back to both of them, hands inside the pockets of his slacks.
“Please,” Vince said as he took a step forward and rested a hand over Leo’s arm, “I need the money.”
Leo didn’t answer and didn’t turn around.
“I’ll do anything you want,” Vincent pleaded. Then he closed the distance between them even more and, in a very suggestive tone, repeated. “Anything.”
Ash couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing. Vincent was too young, still a few weeks shy of eighteen. He couldn’t really be… offering himself to a man twice his age. A man who was feeding him and giving him a place to stay, out of the kindness of his heart. It was just all wrong.
Well, things sure got a whole lot weirder when Leo, instead of doing what Ash had imagined he’d do — putting Vincent in his place —, whirled around and closed the small distance between the two of them. It was hard to see between the bushes, but it looked like Leo was actually considering Vincent’s offer. The boy, as if sensing exactly what Ash was sensing himself, got bolder and cupped the pronounced bulge that was always visible when Leo wore the tight slacks.
“I mean it,” he whispered, “I’ll do anything.”
Ash was having a hard time trying to not up and run away. He shouldn’t be seeing this. He didn’t want trouble and trouble was all that was coming his way if this progressed to what he thought it’d undoubtedly progress and he was found out watching.
Leo remained silent, but it didn’t keep Vicent from starting sliding his hand along his crotch. Their gazes were locked and tension was thick in the air. With a single word, Leo could dismiss the boy’s attempt at seduction, but he didn’t do anything. On the contrary, a ghost of a smile seemed to be forming on Leo’s angelic face, and even though Ash wanted to run away back to the safety of his dark room, it was too late now. He’d never seen something as dangerous or as hot as the scene unfolding right before his eyes. He was trapped.
Soon, that ghostly smile turned into a full-on sinful grin. “You know you can’t take it back, right? Once you’re in the pink book, there’s no going back.” Leo’s words faltered there for a moment; probably because of the hearty squeeze Vincent had given him. “My clients are incredibly… demanding.”
“Let me prove it to you,” Vincent insisted, voice low.
Ash held tight to the edge of the hedge when the bold boy circled both arms around Leo’s tatted-up neck and leaned up on tiptoes. Then they were kissing, a wild kiss that sent heat right into Ash’s groin. It was so wrong that Leo was taking advantage of him, but it was so hot. Ash couldn’t for the life of him stop looking. Never in his life had he seen a man — a real, mature, hot man — just take with the carelessness and passion Leo was taking Vincent’s mouth, strong hands roaming over Vincent’s back and kneading the boy’s ass with vigorous strength. They were both moaning, the wet sound of tongues tangling reaching Ash, who spied just a few yards away.
Disgust spiked through him when images of himself in Vincent’s place started to pop-up, uninvited, on his mind. But he couldn’t deny it, not with how hard he was. Couldn’t deny the sudden need to know what that’d feel like, to be completely owned by a strong, older man. Maybe then… maybe then he’d even be able to finally forget.
Absorbed by the absurdity of the immoral scene unfolding in front of him, Ash jumped back in terror when, in the middle of the kiss, Leo opened his eyes and looked directly at him. The little gaps between the leaves made it possible for him to see the grin that took over Leo’s features; a sinful, revealing smirk that let Ash know with certainty that the man was seeing him there exactly as Ash was seeing them.
Paralyzed, however, he found he could do nothing about it, so he just kept looking as he tried to keep his thundering heart from breaking his ribs.
For several more seconds Leo licked and sucked Vincent’s mouth, eyes open, while the boy grew limper and limper in his arms, lost in a torrent of moans that filled the night. Eyes still on Ash, he finally broke the kiss.
Both hands on Vincent’s behind, he squeezed and then said, “Let’s see what you can do, then.” He paused. “Consider it kind of a test.”
Vincent was down on his knees so fast Ash would’ve missed it if he’d blinked. He mouthed Leo’s crotch for a moment, gliding up and down the engorged outline before the older man pushed him back a few inches so he could open his fly.
Leo was big. Not the biggest he’s seen, but big. He didn’t get to see much, though, for just a few seconds after he’d pulled his cock free, Vincent jumped into action.
The sheer magnetism of it all had Ash’s eyes glued to where their bodies connected. He felt every cry of pleasure as if he was being touched himself. Every one of Leo’s deep groans coiled more heat into his groin. He was hard even though he didn’t wanna be.
Leo had one hand pressed firmly against the back of Vincent’s head, silver strands twining between his tanned fingers; the other he was using to pull his suit and undershirt up so they wouldn’t get in the way of the blowjob. As Ash had suspected since their very first encounter, Leo’s skin was covered in ink. The designs were there, shifting with his carved abs every time he breathed in and out, moaning loudly now that Vincent had found an aggressive rhythm.
Ash let his eyes travel up Leo’s torso until they inevitably locked eyes again. For all he knew, it was like the hedge between them didn’t even exist. The way those cold blue eyes were locked with his, it was like leaves were nothing but air; imagination. And it all got Ash gasping, having trouble to breathe, because Leo’s fixed gaze on him, in a way, included him in the experience. It was like Leo was saying enjoy the show, kid; see what I’m capable of; see what my body can do. And damn if dark parts of him didn’t want to just jump from behind this stupid hedge and experience that, even though it was bound to drown him in guilt and shame.
When Leo started deliberately fucking Vincent’s mouth and the night air was filled not only with moans and grunts, but also gasps and slurpy gagging, Ash bit his lower lip sharply so he wouldn’t let his presence be announced. Leo knew he was there, but Vincent didn’t, and he was sure he’d get in trouble if they let him know.
Every time Leo pumped his hips forward, the blood in Ash’s ears pumped, too. And when, a few moments later, Leo’s guttural moan filled the night, he was forced to squeeze his own dick so he wouldn’t have to run back to his room in drenched pants.
Shadowy droplets of cum mixed with saliva hit the cobblestones when Vincent didn’t manage to swallow all of Leo’s abundant release. On wobbly knees, he got up to his feet at the same time Leo tucked his still half-hard cock back into his pants.
“I think I can make some use out of you, after all,” Leo murmured, hand cupping Vincent’s jaw. His eyes were filled with malice. “But you should go back to your room now. We don’t want anyone finding us out, do we?” Those last words were said with his eyes back to Ash.
Vince nodded. “So, I’m in?”
“I’ll make the arrangements. Now, go. Back to bed.”
Vincent leaned up on tiptoes again, chuckling out a laugh, and pressed his lips to Leo’s.
Ash didn’t wait around to find out what’d happen once Vincent heeded Leo’s advice and went back to the mansion.
On shaky legs, he whirled around and ran.
ERIC SCREAMED ALMOST as loudly as him when both of them flung the bedroom door open at the same time. Ash covered the boy’s mouth with his right hand, but not before checking over both shoulders to see if somebody had heard them. Thankfully, the hall was empty.
Ash rushed forward and locked it shut behind them, then he pulled his hand from Eric’s mouth.
“Dude! Where hav—”
“Shhhh,” Ash interrupted right before he pressed his ear against the door. He listened for a while, but nothing. Nothing until heavy footsteps came from the stairs across the hall.
&nbs
p; Eric threatened to start asking questions again, but Ash lifted a hand to stop him and pressed his ear back against the wood.
The footsteps halted and Ash’s breath caught when the door handle turned. Once, twice, three times it turned and he’d never been more thankful for having locked it.
Not today, friend.
If Leo thought Ash would be his to torment just because of what he’d seen; that he’d just barge into the room and threaten him or maybe have a repeat session with him of what had just happened outside, he had another thinking coming.
He didn’t dare to move or speak or even breathe too loud. Just stood there with his hand in the air to keep Eric quiet and waited to see what’d happen next.
Thankfully, after a few more moments, there came a creaking of wood, as if someone had just shifted their weight; then footsteps growing distant, and then silence.
Shaking, Ash took a step back from the door and spun around. Eric was white as a sheet, curly hair disheveled from sleep.
Ash cut his questions off with the hand he still had in the air, exhaled heavily and padded to his bed. He slumped down against the mattress and held his head with both hands. He was shaking so bad it was a miracle the frame didn’t shake with him.
“Ash, what the fuck is happening?” Eric whispered loud enough for him to hear. “I woke up and you were gone, then I open that door and you look like you’ve seen a ghost and then someone tries to get in our room. What the fuck?”
All the events of the night were coming at him full force, and he couldn’t find a way to speak. The lack of response got Eric kneeling in front of him, both hands grasping Ash’s trembling knees.
“Talk to me,” the younger boy pleaded. “You’re freaking me out.”
He was gonna regret it, but there was no way he could keep something this big to himself. He liked Eric, and the idea of something like what he’d seen out in the gardens happening to him twisted his guts. If anything, he had to tell him so that he’d keep an eye out for more of that stuff. So that he’d be careful around the other guys and especially around Leo.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he finally started after taking a deep breath, “so I headed out for a walk in the gardens. When I got to that place after the hedges, where they have those benches for picnics and such, I heard voices.”
“Who was it?”
“Vincent and… and Leo.”
“What the hell were they doing talking out there this late?”
Ash snorted. “They weren’t exactly talking.”
“What d’you mean?” Eric asked, dark eyes widening as he got up and sat across from Ash on his own bed.
“Well, at first they were talking. I didn’t get much of it. Vincent was saying he needed money and needed Leo to put him in some book.”
“What book?”
“I don’t know. A pink one.”
“Vincent was asking Leo to put him in some pink book so that he’d get some money?”
“Yeah.”
“That makes, like, zero sense.”
“I know! Why do you think I’m freaking out?”
“What else happened?”
For a second, Ash considered that maybe Eric wasn’t ready to hear this. He was barely fourteen, for Christ’s sake. But he wasn’t an average fourteen-year-old. Nobody that’d lived on the streets got to keep their innocence. Harsh, but that was the reality of it.
“Vincent kissed him and Leo kissed him right back. And… and in the middle of it Leo opened his eyes and saw me.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eric exclaimed. “So he knows you saw them?”
“Yeah. And by the likes of it he was enjoying that I was watching. The freak smiled at me while Vincent’s tongue was still down his throat.”
Eric’s expression would’ve been comic if the whole situation wasn’t so freaking creepy.
“And then… then Vincent gave him a blowjob.” He waited for Eric to say something, but he was apparently too stunned for words. “Leo was looking at me almost the whole time, like he liked that I was there watching.”
It was as if Eric had been petrified by the Medusa. His dark eyes, usually lively and cunning, were widened and horrified. He had both hands clenched between his scrawny legs, mouth agape.
“Say something,” Ash pleaded. “Now you’re the one freaking me out.”
It took a second, but he finally came back to him. “I just don’t understand. I thought… I thought we were safe here. I thought Leo was a good guy.”
“Me too.” As soon as the words left him, he shook his head. “Actually, from day one I’ve felt there’s something off about him. Nate, too. I just don’t know what.”
“You think it was him trying to open the door?”
Ash gave him a firm nod, then cast his eyes down to his own hands, which were fidgeting by their own will on his lap.
“You think…” Eric hesitated. “What do you think that talk about the pink book was?”
“No idea. But it can’t be good, right? Because Vincent was desperate to be in it and Leo said the blowjob would be some kind of test. What kinda deal demands a sucking someone’s dick to test your skills?”
“I don’t like this.”
“You ever heard anything? From the other guys? About Leo and Nate or his sister?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.” Ash rose from the bed, too fired up to be seated, then raked a hand through his hair. “Anything. Something you thought was weird or shady. Like, where do they come from? How do they have so much money? Why the fuck do they help people like us?”
“Like us?”
“Come on, I know you did it.”
“Did what?”
“Who did you kill?”
Eric jumped from the bed so quickly Ash didn’t have time to react before the boy was nose to nose with him.
“Shut up,” he hissed.
“Listen, Leo told me on my… interview that this house is for boys like me. I’d just killed a man that tried to rape me before Nate dragged me here. His blood was still on my hands when they offered me a place. And they made it crystal clear that everyone in this house is like me. That they help people like me.
“But there’s plenty of kids out there on the streets and they’re not helping them.”
“What are you saying?”
“C’mon, man! Think. If you wanted to keep some shady business under wraps, but you needed some kind of help to grow it, what kind of people would you recruit?”
Eric just glared at him for a few moments, then understanding seemed to down on him. “People that are like you. That do the kind of shady thing you do.”
Ash nodded. “Or people you have some type of leverage on. Leverage like knowing that person you recruited committed a crime.”
“Are you saying they’re criminals?”
Ash puffed out a breath. “I’m saying I’ve been thinking something about all of this is off since the moment I stepped foot in here. And I’m thinking what I saw tonight makes things start making sense. But I need you to trust me and help me understand this. So, tell me, who did you kill?”
“I didn’t kill nob—”
“Eric, please, trust me. I’m not gonna tell anyone. I just need to know so I can figure things out.”
A minute passed, then two. A tear fell from the corner of Eric’s eye. He turned around and sat on his bed. His next words were so low that Ash strained to hear them, “My parents.”
Okay, not scary at all.
“Right,” Ash murmured, carefully taking a seat next to the boy. He cleared his throat. “May I ask you why?”
Eric’s shoulders started to shake. “We were poor. I had an older brother, his name was Jack.” The boy paused for a few seconds. “Growing up I was the classic little brother, you know? Following him around the house, asking a thousand questions, getting him in trouble.”
The way Eric’s voice was cracking had Ash bringing a hand to his shoulder. No fourteen-year-old should know the kind of pai
n that did that to their voice.
“Jack was pretty. Real pretty, like those models you see on TV. And the more we grew up, the prettier he got. It didn’t take long for our parents to notice that. They started taking him everywhere; agencies, photo shoots.” His eyes were gleaming and a little smile formed on his face; in a matter of seconds, though, they were gone.
“One day when I was ten, I was coming back from school when I saw this black SUV in front of our house. We lived in the poorest neighborhood ever, and no one ever visited, let alone in a fancy car like that, so it got my hackles up.
“Next thing I know there’s this giant guy carrying Jack on his shoulder, unconscious. I screamed and kicked them in the ankles more times than I could count, but they didn’t let him go. One of them punched me in the stomach and all I could do was wheeze on the ground as they took my brother away.”
The moonlight filtering through the curtains was barely enough to capture how pale Eric had gone. It broke Ash’s heart that he was making him relive such horrible things, but they needed to know what was going on in the mansion, so he pushed. “What about your parents? Your neighbors? No one did anything about it?”
Eric snorted. “That’s the thing. Both my parents worked at a restaurant at the time, if you could call it that. It was more of a shabby bar where you could grab a bite between bottles of cheap beer if you wanted. Dad more got drunk there than got paid and mom waitressed.” He paused. “That night when they got home, I told them what happened; I cried for them to call the police.” Eric sniffed. “You know what they said?”
Ash shook his head, squeezing the boy’s shoulder tighter with each passing second.
“Nothing.” The word rang in the air for a moment. “They said nothing. The sons of bitches just looked at each other and the way they did it made it real clear for me that they knew. They fucking knew what’d happened; what was gonna happen to Jack and they fucking let it happen.”
Ash squeezed Eric’s shoulder. What did you say to something like that? There were no words.
“I tried to run, but my mom caught me by the arm and threatened me. Told me all sorts of things; that if I told someone no one would believe me. That if I didn’t keep my mouth shut, the same was gonna happen to me.”
