by A. P. Moraez
They clawed and tugged at each other’s clothes until nothing remained between them. Everything stopped for just a millisecond, where they stared at each other, reflections of pure hunger, and then their mouths crashed again, and all Ash ever wanted was to crawl so deep under Logan’s skin that they’d become one in every way possible.
Their hands were everywhere, Ash’s caressing Logan’s back and the nape of his neck, while Logan couldn’t seem to stop kneading Ash’s ass. They kissed ardently like that for minutes on end, until Logan’s engorged cock was leaking all over Ash’s belly. He was so hard that he could’ve come just like that, with kissing. But he wanted more. He wanted to suck Logan until his eyes crossed. Wanted to make him feel good, like a king, exactly like Ash was feeling now that he had that momentous engagement ring adorning his hand.
When he slid his hand between them and started stroking Logan’s shaft, though, Logan grabbed his hand and lifted it atop Ash’s head, pressing it against the mattress.
“Let me take care of you tonight, okay?” He husked as he made a meal of Ash’s neck, licking and sucking in a way that surely would be noticeable in the morning. “I need it. I need to make this all about you tonight, okay?”
Ash whimpered, looking forward to having Logan’s undivided focus like that. He nodded, and Logan continued the fire he was igniting all over Ash’s body with his mouth. Ash just focused on breathing and enjoying the virile roll of Logan’s back muscles under his hands, his smell, the way he made him feel.
When Logan’s hot tongue traced a path along the scar down his chest, then clamped down on his left nipple, Ash’s hips bucked up, and Logan chuckled, evil. He spent a little time on that nipple, sucking and biting and twisting it with his agile fingers until Ash was putty under his body. Then he lowered down, licking a slow path all along Ash’s stomach, pressing soft kisses every inch of the way, hands massaging Ash’s flanks. Ash was breathing fast, turned on beyond belief, and when Logan thrust his tongue onto Ash’s belly button, Ash cried out, such was the pleasure. Just before his mouth got dangerously near the tip of Ash’s cock, lying flat across his stomach, Logan stopped.
“Tell me what you want,” he rumbled. “Anything. Top, bottom. I’m down to anything. This night is yours.”
Ash didn’t even have to think. “I want you inside of me. I don’t care how we do it; I just want to feel you in me. I want you to fill me with your cum and then fill me up again ‘til morning. That’s what I want.”
Molten sapphires went to slits and Logan growled, a sound so low in his chest it gave Ash shivers all over. Then he moved. He crossed the room to the obvious closet, disappeared for a second, and in a flash was back with a bottle of lube. His dick was leaking heavily, dropping a few sticky blobs as he walked. It was hot as hell, so hot that a low moan escaped Ash’s lips just at the thought that soon all of that would be fucking him into this mattress.
Logan left the stuff next to Ash’s head, then in an instant was on top of him, letting his whole body drop down onto Ash’s, the way he knew Ash loved. They kissed fervently for a few moments, then Logan hunched back and flipped the lid of the bottle. He coated his fingers heavily, then rubbed the gooey substance all over his thick cock, and Ash rolled his hips, impatient. “Please,” he whined, unashamed, “I need you.”
Logan’s lips tipped up for a second, but then his face was all serene drive again.
Ash moaned loud while Logan stretched him with three fingers, getting him ready enough for his beast of a member. When he was done, Ash couldn’t even think straight. He was kinda out of it when Logan grabbed Ash’s right leg and lifted it, and it was heaven when the hot, wet tip of Logan’s broad cockhead started forcing its way against his entrance. When it popped up a few seconds later, both of them groaned in pleasure.
It was different this time. Logan took his time with him. He started pumping slowly in and out, bottoming out before sliding it out until only the head remained. He kept Ash’s leg lifted and maneuvered until their bodies were flush against each other, all missionary. Ash had been clawing the sheets, succumbed to the burn and stretch and pressure of Logan’s cock driving into him, so it surprised him when Logan took both his hands and intertwined their fingers, then lifted Ash’s hands up above his head, fucking him slowly and deep.
He’d never felt more cherished or loved than in those moments when Logan squeezed their joined hands and fucked him slow and steady, their tongues tangling under candlelight. And when the burn finally turned to pure pleasure, Logan picked up the pace and started hammering in and out of him, just the way he knew Ash lived for.
Ash’s toes were curled, and he moaned to the four walls every time Logan’s shaft touched his prostrate. They’d never let go of each other’s hands, and never stopped kissing. They were both tonguing each other, groaning and moaning into each other’s mouths, lost to the moment, buried in each other’s bodies. Logan’s sweat was dripping all over Ash’s face and neck, and he’d never felt dirtier and more alive than in that moment.
He came first, screaming his orgasm into Logan’s insatiable mouth, without even having to touch his cock. Logan’s dick always made him feel so full, touched everywhere. It was always enough to overstimulate his prostrate and make him come hands-free. One more thing he loved about him. It wasn’t long before Logan finally let go of Ash’s hands, wrapped Ash’s shoulders with his bulging biceps, now all sweaty, and started fucking him down on the mattress with gusto. Ash was so lost to it he just clawed at Logan’s back and moaned and let himself be used. It was just a few moments later when the familiar hotness of Logan’s sperm coated all his internal walls.
Ash was sure he’d passed out for a few seconds, for next thing he knew Logan was still rolling his hips, cock twitching inside of him, while he licked Ash like an animal, from mouth to the base of his neck, chin and back to his mouth.
They must have been exhausted, for they ended up sleeping like that, Logan on top of him, hugging him, and Ash hugging him right back. Logan’s cock softened still inside of him and came out in their slumber. Ash woke up at some point of the early hours dripping with cum and sweating under Logan’s bulk. And when Logan opened his eyes, already hard, they started it all over again.
IT WAS JUST before six in the morning when the faint light coming from the open door to the terrace woke Ash up. Coincidentally, the phone rung right on cue as he was carefully getting up to go to the suite bathroom take a piss.
It was Jeff.
With a smile, Ash answered the call, and it was then that his whole world came crashing down from paradise.
“Ash, they got him.” Jeff’s voice had never been like that. He was a rock. Strong. Steady. Warm. He didn’t break down. His voice didn’t crack or falter. “I couldn’t do anything. We were just there— and… and then he— he passed out. It’s bad. Please come home. Please, I— They got him.”
“JEFF,” Ash screamed, beyond terrified. “THEY GOT WHO? WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT?”
“Trav,” his brother spoke in the weakest voice Ash had ever heard come out of him. “The bastard got him somehow. He must have been at the circus. It’s poison. The doc— the doctors don’t know if he’s gonna make it. Please, come home. I— I need you, bro. Please.”
Ash didn’t even hear the cellphone hitting the marble floor. All he knew was that Logan had his arms around him and it was the only thing that kept him from following the cellphone’s path.
“What happened? Talk to me!”
“We need to go,” Ash sneered. “Now.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Logan was frantic, spinning Ash around and clamping his big hands on Ash’s shoulders.
“Trav,” Ash said, voice shaking. “I think Leo got to Trav.”
Logan’s eyes widened and he let go of Ash. He just stood there, paralyzed, for a couple moments, then he burst into action and grabbed his phone.
In just a second Logan was shouting at Duke on his cellphone at the same time he started grabbing everything and thr
owing their belongings into suitcases. Ash came out of his frozen stupor, even as the fear threatened to drown him. He didn’t have time for that right now. His family needed him.
As they packed their things in a rush, Logan kept on barking orders, demanding explanations. How could they let this happen? Logan demanded. How could Leo had possibly gone undetected by all the security people they’d set to Jeff and his family? What exactly was going on? That short-fused side of Logan was on full-force, and all that Ash could think was that it was all a waste of time. It didn’t matter. All that matter was that they got home; that he got to Trav.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m gonna find that man,” Ash sneered, hands clenched so hard around the handle of their suitcases as they thundered out of the detached house, they were shaking, “and I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands.”
something hidden
ASH HAD KNOWN hell, but nothing had ever burned like the pain searing his chest as the jet finally landed with a long, continuous screech at Frozenbone’s airport. The whole trip he’d kept in close contact with his family through their WhatsApp group, demanding to know any news the doctors had to give.
Trav was in bad shape. They’d stabilized him, but it was more than nine hours now since he’d dropped to the circus floor, unconscious. It was clear to them that the boy had been poisoned, but despite having run test after test, they couldn’t find out what exactly his little godson had ingested. He was still unconscious and they doubted he could last till the afternoon if they didn’t find an antidote soon.
“Ash, hold up!” Logan cried as Ash jumped from his seat, even as the aircraft still ran through the runway. Logan’s warm hand closed around his, and Ash tried to get a hold of his temper. It wasn’t his fault. Any of this. Lashing out at people wouldn’t help anyone.
Logan must’ve sensed he was about to explode, for he didn’t say anything as Ash just squeezed his hand for dear life and waited, standing, for the doors to finally open.
Before anyone could even unbuckle their seats, he was flying through the stairs the assistant had set for them to disembark, Logan right next to him.
Heavy footsteps followed them. A quick look over his shoulder revealed Duke and Ian. The rest of the teams were already rushing to the awaiting Mercedes. They could deal with luggage and insignificant things like those later. Right now, he just needed to get to his family.
Trav had been rushed to Frozenbone, to the same hospital Ash had just left a month or so ago, after his serotonin episode.
He didn’t have to say a word. Thankfully, Logan had briefed Ian and Duke about the situation while Ash freaked on their way out from Lecco to Milan’s airport.
They just got into the car and in just a few seconds Duke was snaking, like lightning, through Frozenbone’s heavy traffic. And just for that one time Ash thanked the heavens for the man’s incapacity to drive slow.
Logan had a death grip on his hand, and even the pain was welcome. It gave him something to focus on other than dark thoughts that he might not ever see Trav’s lively green eyes open again.
It was early in the morning; a Monday morning. Traffic was chaotic with everyone trying to get to their jobs and schools, and Ash just wanted to incinerate everyone that was keeping him from getting to his family.
Logan seemed to sense his anguish, for he lifted Ash’s hand to his lips and kissed it briefly. “It’ll be alright,” he whispered in the darkness of the backseat, “you’ll see. We just gotta have a little faith.”
Shaking, tears threatening to fall, Ash squeezed Logan’s hand even harder, then squeezed his eyes shut too. Flashes of just two days ago, as the group of four men had knelt at the Duomo, surrounded by art and serenity and history, and prayed, played in his mind’s eye. He focused his energy on that, in the images of saints and the absolute sense of calm being in that beautiful cathedral had given him, and Ash prayed. He prayed for God, in whatever shape he was out there, to not do this. To let Trav live. To let him see the little boy smile that shy smile that never failed to melt Ash’s heart, and then sit in a corner and draw for hours, without a care in the world.
When the car finally parked outside the hospital glass doors, Ash flung the door open, let go of Logan’s hand and ran right through them.
The girl at reception must’ve thought him crazy, judging by her alarmed gray eyes, but he just didn’t give a rat’s ass.
Logan and the other men were all close behind him when the elevator’s doors finally dinged and opened to reveal his family all crammed up, looking utterly destroyed, in the waiting room.
He’d never forget the brief relief that crossed his brother’s face when he lifted his gaze from the floor. He’d been standing beside the coffee machine, leaning heavily against the massive wooden pillar that pierced the corner of the waiting room. When he registered that it was Ash standing there, it was like the world got a little lighter for him; a little more bearable. But then his lips trembled and his eyes brimmed with tears.
Ash didn’t hesitate; their chests collided with a muffled thud when Ash enveloped Jeff in the strongest hug he’d ever given the man. It took only a few seconds for Jeff to wrap his log-like arms around him, and then he was crying. It was evident that he’d been holding back on the phone. The guttural, loud sobs at Ash’s ear let him know that. There were no words. What could he possibly say? That everything would be alright, when the doctors couldn’t even figure out what the hell was the specific poison running through his son’s veins? That he’d never forgive himself if his only child died because Ash hadn’t finished his most important job, years ago? How was that supposed to help? So he just hugged his brother and let him cry, and that was all he could focus on for minutes on end, as the beeping and whispering, natural to hospitals, waved in and out of his ears.
“They— they don’t think he’s gonna last too much longer, Ash,” Jeff choked out. “What do I do? What the fuck do I do?” he sobbed.
Ash clenched his fists at Jeff’s head and just squeezed him tight. It was probably useless, since Jeff was nothing but a giant wall of solid muscle, but the intention was what mattered.
“We just gotta have faith, okay?” Ash repeated Logan’s words. “We can’t lose hope.”
Jeff stepped back. Only now Ash noticed how his eyes were reddened and puffy. He’d probably been crying nonstop for hours and hours.
Fucking hell.
When he turned around, Soph was right there, and she didn’t look even close to the tough woman she usually was, with her tattoos and edgy outfits. She looked small and destroyed; confused and angry. She jumped at Ash and hugged him too, like she’d never done before.
Martha and Tom were there, and they just threw him a quick smile, not even raising from their seats. Ash got it. They were probably exhausted, both from being up all night and from the painful situation.
Cass and Peter were both lumped in one of the couches, holding hands and asleep.
Logan, Ian, and Duke made the rounds greeting everyone, while Ash thought furiously at everything that he’d ever learned about Leonardo Lazarus. Through the years after that night when he made Ash kill in cold blood for the first time, he learned a lot. About his personality, the way he thought, his methods. He was cocky, yes, but meticulous. A psychopath, but extremely gifted in the field of Chemistry and Biology. A little quick to pull the trigger, sometimes, yeah, but never reckless. Ash’s fingernails were digging half-moons in his palms by the time Logan reached him and grabbed his hands.
“Hey,” he said, voice low, “don’t do that. You’re hurting yourself.”
Ash took a big breath and unclenched his hands, then let it out slowly. This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. He couldn’t lose Trav. But if it was really Leo behind this, as much as it hurt to admit, Trav’s chances were practically nonexistent. The realization of that made him gasp, chin trembling, it was so painful.
“I need to see him,” he said, not exactly having intended to spea
k the words out loud. But then, since they were already out, he realized how true that was. “I want to see him,” he said, louder and more firmly, turning his gaze back to Jeff.
“I’m not sure the doctors will allow it, but you can try,” he muttered, jutting his chin out to a group of doctors that were standing nearby, talking in hushed tones. “It’s Doctor Hugh who’s monitoring him.”
Ash didn’t even wait for him to finish before he was marching purposefully to the doctor he knew so well.
“Excuse me.”
The blond, tall doctor whirled around to face him.
“Ash,” he greeted, sounding confused, but then understanding downed on him. “Oh, you wanna seed Travis, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Hugh studied him for just a second, then his eyes shifted for a moment to his family, all grouped a few yards behind. Logan had stayed behind too, talking to Martha and Tom, trying to console them. Hugh shifted his eyes back to Ash and patted his arm lightly. “Follow me.”
They followed along the corridor. Five doors down, Hugh stopped, his hand on the door-handle. “It’s bad, Ash,” he confessed in a half-whisper. “I feel like shit, but I can’t figure out what’s running through his system. He’s unconscious. We’re trying everything we can, trying to reduce his heartbeat as much as possible so the poison takes longer to spread, but I… I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to stand it.”
“Let me see him.”
Hugh nodded and they entered the hospital room.
Ash’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the little boy, pale under the soft morning light filtering in through the window at the right wall next to the bed. The machine attached to Trav’s little body beeped a steady beat, but a stone lodged in Ash’s throat at seeing how slow his heartbeat was. With faltering steps, he approached the bed, only barely registering the door closing as Hugh left him alone with his nephew.
The boy was pale, skin a weird shade of gray that made Ash sick to his stomach. He had clear drops of perspiration along his little forehead, chest waving slowly, up and down, under the standard light gray bed covers the hospital provided. He looked peaceful and serene, like a dying breath.
