by J. M. Dabney
I needed to scope out the courthouse and other buildings to see what security was like in the records departments. Usually, if you looked like you were supposed to be there, no one said much.
Finally, he appeared and was standing out front messing with his phone. Probably ordering a car to pick him up. I rushed out of the darkness.
"You scared the fuck out of me. What the hell are you doing?"
I didn't answer except to press the barrel of my gun into his ribs. "Don't make a fucking sound, we're going to take a ride, and if you lie, I'll pull the trigger with no regret."
He opened his mouth but closed it fast when I dug deeper into his side and led him across the street to the parking garage where I'd stowed my SUV. I secured his wrists and ankles with zip cuffs, then tossed him in the back seat. Thankfully he wasn't struggling or yelling for me to let him go. Even if he did, it wasn't happening. We had several things to get straight, and then I needed to get to the courier office. Sunrise was approaching, and by the time I was done, they should be open.
I carefully wove my way through traffic to my storage unit. I pulled up to the gate and punched in the security code, the fence slowly opened, and I drove through. I'd asked for a unit at the back of the lot. I parked, jumped out, and unlocked it. Then I lifted the door.
Quickly I got my vehicle inside and shut us in. I kept the lights on but cut the engine.
"Man, I can explain."
"You better be able to, I have plenty of questions."
I threw him to the cement floor, and bright beams had him covering his eyes.
"I don't know where Josh is."
"Oh, I know. Fortunately, I know where he is. I got some intel that you were put on desk duty for tampering with a witness. If they had enough evidence, you'd be disgraced and running back to the parents' mansion. What the fuck is going on?"
"Okay, when the Cross case landed on my desk, we were called in to take care of witness interviews. As high-profile as the case was, the prosecutors wanted to bring us in to handle witness location. Clarkson was already on board for the trial."
"So you took the money?"
"No, someone a lot higher on the food chain did. I was already on the hook for it because I was one reprimand from losing my job, at the worst going to jail. We were told to ignore anything that made Josh look credible. In the end, he was the only witness, and I quickly realized that someone ordered a hit on him. After a few close calls and suspicious activities going on around the safehouse, I came to you."
I wasn't surprised by any of it. Too much revolved around politics. Exchanging of favors for future help or funding, a vote on a new law. If the Cross case hadn't appeared so high-profile, it would've been another.
"Keep going. I'm still debating whether to shoot you or not. A dirty agent turning up in a few weeks floating in the harbor won't make too many waves. Especially you, your friends are almost none."
"I may be a bastard who's controlled by his dick, but Josh is a good kid. I took one look at the file and hospital records and knew if he didn't kill Josh, the next one to fall at Cross' feet wouldn't be so lucky. So I protected the only witness, but then the defense came forward with one witness after another claiming to have at one time fucked him. They were willing to get on the stand to swear he liked to be roughed up."
"And then his testimony would be completely discredited?"
"Exactly, but the Senator and his son weren't satisfied with just a not guilty. They wanted Josh completely out of the way. I was as careful as I could be, but I think they hid a GPS on my car or were just following me. Different teams to make sure I didn't get wind of it."
"Why should I believe you and not dump your ass in the harbor after putting a round between your eyes?"
"You're not a killer."
"No one fucked with someone that belongs to me before."
"There is that." He bent his knees to place his feet flat on the floor but left his arms lowered.
I noticed his usually perfect tan was sallow and he had dark circles under his eyes. His features pulled with the strain of his injury. I didn't feel any remorse for grabbing him outside the hospital. Dirty or not, I couldn't see him getting his hands bloody being too close to a murder.
"Do you have names?" I paced the width of the unit, one side to the other, I repeated the path trying to work out the details, what would help, and what wouldn't. Less than a week and we'd walk back into the same courtroom. The deadline was too close with more to do.
"None that will do you any good. When I showed up at the hotel to try to scare him off with the defense's character witnesses, they must have followed me inside and checked which floor I got off on. Easy enough to ask the staff about a boy as pretty as Josh."
"If you want to remain living, you'd do well to stop telling me how pretty you think my boy is."
"I did tell him that he had you by the balls."
I wouldn't deny it but I sure as hell wasn't admitting it out loud. "We're not changing the subject."
"I'll do whatever, I tried to fix it and only fucked-up."
I didn't trust him and probably never would, but his usual modus operandi was he leaned toward being cocky about his abilities to get away with anything. Bragging wasn't beneath him. He'd talked plenty about the women he'd fucked while on the job, from witnesses to witness family members. As long as I'd known him, he was ruled by his dick.
"You think the same hit team was responsible?"
"I don't know, but I can guess that they'd have something to prove. They did go excessive. Maybe to make sure the job was done. How did Josh know how to get out?"
"We talked exit strategy as soon as we got to the safehouse, just like I did with every place we stayed or visited. I packed him a go-bag for him to grab. I also armed him."
"I know, he shoved that gun in my damn face seconds before the front windows exploded."
"And why would he pull a weapon on you?" My boy hated carrying the gun. I’d heard him complain enough. What the fuck had West done to provoke him that badly?
"He took my joke a little too seriously."
"And the joke?"
"Nothing important." He was looking everywhere but at me. I knew he'd shoved his foot in his mouth in that inappropriate way he had.
"I'm still up in the air about shooting you. You might not want to piss me off by not answering my questions."
"Then, I might not want to answer your question."
"I should leave you here to starve to death." I stopped my frustrated pacing and leaned back against the grill of my SUV. I scrubbed a hand over my face and beard, I was tired, and my new fucked-up shoulder ached like a bitch. What I needed was a nice long vacation without wet-work teams or crazy exes.
"You could, but decomp would smell up your things. You know you can never get that smell out."
"I don't like or trust you. When this is over, I don't want to see you again, are we clear?"
"Crystal. I really didn't mean to set him up."
"But you knew it was going to happen."
"True and if it makes you feel any better, when this case is over, I'm history. They may call it something else, but I'm getting fired at any minute."
"Good. You don't deserve the badge you carried." I removed a knife from my pocket and tossed it to him. "If you want to be helpful, you hear anything useful, make sure I hear about it."
He cut through the ties at his ankles easily but struggled with the one around his wrists. I wasn't offering to help.
"I'll message you. I'm sorry, Sorenson. This job is all I got. I can't lose it, and when the boss says to let a few things slide and my latest reprimands would disappear, I didn't have a choice."
"You always have a choice, West. Your ego and wallet nearly got an innocent man killed."
"He's different though, man, he didn't back down. He kept his shit together. The Josh I met wouldn't have done that."
"Just get out, I have shit to do, and then I have to get back to him."
I would've
rather killed him, but I let him walk out. Knowing my boy was safe with Arianna wasn't the same as seeing it for myself. I dug out a few things of mine and Josh's, shoved them in my pack. The envelope addressed to the Senator was stowed inside as well. I'd mail it and call for a ride. I was too old for this shit, but I had a job to do. At least I knew that in a week this would all be over. Both of us needed to move past this.
West would fuck himself over sooner rather than later. Maiming him while it would have made me extremely happy, nothing would make him learn. I checked my watch, and I still had an hour before the store opened. Maybe coffee and breakfast to kill time because sleeping wasn't going to happen until I was with Josh.
Twenty-Four
Josh
The perfect dream didn't exist until that moment. The tickle of Daddy's rough beard on the side of my neck. The way he easily lifted me from my cot in one of the communal sleeping rooms. "Come on, baby boy, I can't sleep without you." His voice was a gruff whisper in my ear, and I felt weightless, gently rocked by his pace through the house and up the stairs. A door slammed somewhere in the distance, but I forced myself to stay asleep.
My body sank into a too-soft mattress, my clothes were stripped, and I moaned Daddy as his weight settled between my thighs. His hairy body was perfect on top of mine. I searched blindly for his mouth but it didn't take too long because his lips found mine. The softness of his belly rubbed my hard dick.
"Daddy." I rutted against him as I felt the bump of his cock head against my hole. He nipped at my lips, traced them with the tip of his tongue.
"Wake up, baby boy." He nuzzled the side of my neck.
"I don't wanna, you'll be gone."
"Fuck, baby boy, I've tried to be good…give you time." I felt my dream Daddy start to retreat, and I frantically clutched at him to keep his weight on me. "Calm, shh. Daddy's going to take care of you."
"Yes," I hissed as he straightened and spread my legs wider. I wanted this to be real. To have him loving on me like I'd fantasized about since our first kiss. But I needed something…this wasn't perfect. Yet, it was all I could ask for.
With his hands behind my knees, he pushed them back to my chest, and I took over, holding myself wide. I held my breath in anticipation. Kept my eyes squeezed shut to stay in the dream. I didn't want to wake up and be on my cot alone, still unsure if he was safe.
My nails dug into my skin as he lubed me inside and out, and I felt my cock jerk. His movements were fast yet gentle as he stretched me just enough.
“I need you to wake up.”
The thick head of his dick pushed to my opening, and I whimpered. It was all too much. The section of my brain waiting for pleasure to morph into fear pushed into the dream.
“Only good boys who listen to their Daddy get what they want. You’ll open your eyes now.”
Sadness became a suffocating band around my chest as I opened my eyes. A gasp slipped out as he didn’t disappear. The rough plane of his hand stroked over my belly, across my chest, and teased my nipples.
“There’s my beautiful boy. Do you want this? Use your words.”
The pressure of the fat head of his cock increased as he nudged my hole.
“Yes, Daddy, please.”
The feral grin that transformed his face was nothing like the gentleman of before. Danger and contentment became a maelstrom of conflicting emotions. Just as I was going to reach for him, a scream tore from my throat as he took me with one brutal thrust.
I bit into my lip, and I grabbed his sides. His gaze was locked on mine. I felt the weight of him, his warmth, and the coarseness of his body hair. His hips were slapping against my ass with each slam. When I clenched around him, a growl teased my mouth.
I was equal parts loved and used; discomfort eased into something more. I lifted my head to watch his thickness stretching my hole wide. The metal frame of the single bed banged against the wall. I lifted my arms and wrapped my hands around the bars.
He braced himself on either side of my head—his fists sinking into the thin pillow. I arched my hips to meet the downward movements of his. I felt every thick inch. I wanted more. I wanted harder. My tongue wouldn't work to form the words, and tears stung my eyes. I wanted to beg, but I'd never been an active participant. I was a body to come in and nothing more.
"I'm not gonna last, baby boy." His mouth captured mine and his hips sped up, and then he was jacking my cock in time with his thrusts. The pads of his fingers and palm were rough against my sensitive shaft. Pleasure and pain combined into an experience I had never come close to achieving before.
I stilled with my hips tilted in the air—every muscle in my body pulled tight as I waited for something. It was strange and terrifying, and then a long moan slipped from my lips to his mouth. Come covered my belly, and I jerked my hips higher, then his full weight collapsed on me as he ground against me. I held on to make sure he didn't leave me, but all he did was roll his hips upward, and he slipped free.
I didn't like the emptiness. He rolled us carefully until I was sprawled on top of him. Our harsh breathing filling the quiet. More mornings than I could count—this is the way I awakened. Him already awake and stroking his fingertips along my spine. It was safe and familiar, this was ours, something special for us, and he didn't complain I was too heavy or it was too hot. While there wasn't much difference in our heights, I’d sworn he'd grow tired of me doing that at some point.
"I told Arianna that I was stealing you from the communal sleeping room. I searched for an empty room. I didn't think they'd appreciate me attacking you on your cot."
"We wouldn't be the first. I thought we weren't going to do this?"
"Probably wasn't my best idea, but when I came back to the house to find you gone, all the worst-case scenarios played out in my head."
I wasn't hurt, but the adrenaline crash earlier had made me feel lost and vulnerable. I'd only fallen asleep because of exhaustion. We'd both needed to know the other was okay. I wouldn't deny I wanted a lot of repeats, but I also knew on an intellectual level that when the danger was gone, I'd need to reassess my life. And sex was a huge factor in clouding my judgment, especially sex with him. "I vote for you waking me up like this every day. And before you say it, I need to take my time and think."
"I'm sorry."
I lifted my head and crossed my arms on his chest, then laid my chin on my forearms. "What are you sorry about?"
"A lot of things. I left you alone with that bastard West. You almost got killed…again. I can keep going."
"It won't always be like this. One day we'll have nice, boring lives."
"Oh, with you, I don't think life would ever be boring. We need a shower. This time you'll be naked in there with me, and I won't be weak from blood loss."
I eased off the bed. "I'll get the water started." I ran for the bathroom, feeling lighter than I had in forever. I bent over to turn the water on. When I straightened, I had a big, solid man pressed fully to my back. I slightly tilted my head as he sucked at my neck, but not hard enough to leave a mark. His rough hands stroked from my chest to my groin, and then across the top of my thighs.
After he helped me into the shower, we took turns washing between kisses. Not much was said after that. Once we dried off and returned to bed, he flipped down the covers. He laid down first, and I draped my naked body over his. I pulled the covers over us and inhaled the scent of his skin. I missed his body wash and cologne.
"What do we do next?"
"A few more days we'll have a meeting with the Senator. Moffett helped me find some intel he doesn’t want to get out. Taking him out of the equation leaves his son without financial backing. It seems he's only holding onto his business and social standing because of who his father is. Without him, Vernon loses everything."
I rubbed my cheek on his chest. The deadline on whatever this was we had was quickly coming to an end. Walking away, even for a short time, was going to kill me. I'd always felt trapped in the past, and even when we were in hiding, I'd
felt freer than I ever had before. He'd made everything right with the way he cared. Even when he had all the opportunities to take advantage to use me for a quick fuck with no expectations, he hadn't done that until today, and that was only a way to assure each other we were alive.
"What happens after court?"
"We'll discuss that when it happens. Right now, I want to sleep with you."
That only softened the blow. We both knew that when I walked out of court, he'd send me back to Arianna. She'd already arranged for me to receive counseling when I returned. Someone to talk to who would help me get better on my own. If he saw that I wasn't using him as a crutch, that this was more than one moment and a memory to fade in time, he'd worry less about thinking he didn't give me choices.
I closed my eyes and listened to the steady thump of his heart; I didn't think I'd fall back to sleep but knew he needed his rest. I drew circles on his chest. Savored the soreness and relaxation of just being. No one could find us there. It was a sanctuary for at least a few more days. I knew I should feel relieved that it was all coming to an end, but while I was ready to be safe, I didn't want to say goodbye.
Twenty-Five
Yuri
Arianna set me up with an attorney that looked like he was a mob enforcer. I felt like I'd have to sell my soul to avoid ending up at the bottom of the harbor. Dominic Kluge was at least three inches taller than me and outweighed me by a good hundred pounds of muscle. She'd assured me that no one fucked with him and he didn't care who the fuck he was going against. He was currently sipping espresso from a tiny cup and appearing bored from the other side of the table.
I kept checking my watch and was still a half-hour away from the meeting time. I'd chosen a busy cafe in the middle of the day. Kluge had agreed to take care of anything to do with Josh. I didn't have a ton of stuff or money, but what I had would go to him in the event something happened. I'd had my Will drawn up that morning, and Kluge would sell everything and give the proceeds to my boy to give him some cushion to start a new life somewhere.
