The Contract

by D. C. Hall

  “Just had to get away for a second.” He dead paned. Nathan walked around him and sat at the foot of the bed and watched him paint for a moment. Williams didn't pay him any mind.

  “Are you going to talk to me or are you going to keep painting that flower?” He got no response. “Williams.” Nothing. “Eugene?” That one gained a sigh. Williams sat the brush down.

  “I don't want to talk.” He said.

  “I just want to know if you’re okay.” Nathan said. Williams stood and moved over to him slowly. He wrapped his arms around his neck and climbed into his lap. Nathan still didn't know what was going on. All he could do was hug him while he buried his face in Nathan's neck. “Tell me what you need.” He rubbed his hand up and down Williams's spine.

  Williams pulled back to look him in the eyes. “I want you to fuck me.” Normally, Nathan would have been all too happy to oblige. But at the moment, he wasn't certain.

  “Are you sure?” fingers traced through the hair on the back of his head.

  “I need something to distract me. Just, please.” His eyes were pained. Nathan looked unsure.

  “Eugene, I don't know what's going on. I'm afraid that I might make things worse. Please, just think about it for a minute.” He wasn't sure when he had started calling him by his first name, but the man seemed to respond to it better. Williams sighed, wrapping himself around him. Nathan held him and tried to be as soothing as he could. That wasn’t really his area of expertise. Brad had always been the one to make people feel better. The longer they sat like that, the more Williams seemed to be breaking in his arms.

  “I'm sorry. I should probably be alone. You shouldn't have to deal with this.” Williams said, moving to get up. Nathan held him tight.

  “I'm not leaving until you're okay.” Nathan stated. Something seemed to give inside of Williams. His eyes welled up and chest clenched. He hugged Nathan tightly and cried into his shoulder. Nathan held him the whole time, stroking his back and kissing his cheek. Eventually, Williams leaned back again and Nathan brushed away what was left of the tears.

  “I feel better, thank you.” He caught his breath for a moment. “I need to lay down.” Nathan finally let him go. He laid down and Nathan sat beside him leaning against the head of the bed. “What are you doing? I said I felt better.” He’d expected Nathan to leave as soon as he could.

  “I want a smile out of you before I leave.”

  “I don't think I can do that.”

  “Then, you’re not okay yet, by my standards.” Williams blinked at him in confusion.

  “Why are you doing this?” Williams asked as Nathan took one of his hands into his and intertwined their fingers.

  “I know I haven't said it explicitly yet, but I… Well, I care about you. I don't want you to be sad.” Nathan stated. It was nearly enough to make Williams cry again. It made him feel good that he was cared about. He cared about him too, but it felt like his heart was aching. He didn't deserve this.

  “You shouldn't.” Williams muttered.

  “Why not?” Nathan squeezed his hand gently.

  “Because I tried to use you. I lied to you. I even tried to get you to have sex with me right now to make myself feel better. There's nothing about me that deserves to have you care.”

  “Alright, let's discuss those.” Nathan stated and Williams grimaced. He expected him to rip into him. “First, the contract was wrong to make.” Williams seemed to deflate a little at his words. “But, it was wrong of me to take advantage of the error. So, if you want to be mad at yourself for it, you have to be mad at me too.”

  “But I-,”

  “Hold on. I'm not done with my point in this. That contract is an issue between us and nobody else. I’ve forgiven you for it. Now, did you ever forgive me?” Nathan asked. If he was wrong, this conversation was about to get awkward.

  “Of course I did.” Williams said, some of the tears were starting to come back.

  “Then, you can forgive yourself. Now, as far you trying to have sex a few minutes ago, I can't be mad at you. You needed comfort, and you thought that was the way to get it. Which by the way, it just makes things worse sometimes.”

  “But you don't know how I lied to you.” Williams said.

  “…I might.” He scooted down the bed to lay next to him. He didn't let go of his hand, just held it close to his chest. “I saw a headline about your father earlier. Is that what set all of this off?” Williams nodded.

  “He died a week before I met you. I said two years because that was when he was diagnosed. That's when he considered himself to be dying.” Williams stopped to take a deep breath. “That's when the company started to die too. He started just throwing stuff into the system. He told me the company and the house were going to be my inheritance. If I loved him, I’d fix it.”

  Nathan was confused, but he kept his mouth shut. Williams kept going. “He didn't want me to hire anyone to fix things. He'd be pissed off if he knew I hired you, but he never even offered to teach me anything about the company. I didn't know where to start. I’d go bankrupt before I even figured out what was going on.”

  “But why did he do it?”

  “Because he hated me.” Williams choked out. “He knew that I didn't know what I was doing. He wanted the company he made to crash and burn so I would lose everything he left me. And I'm still afraid that I'll lose everything.”

  “You won't.” Nathan stated. Williams looked over at him. “From what I've seen so far, your profit margins may have gotten smaller, but the company is far from failing. You can relax about that.”

  “The last part I wanted to tell you was how our contract got made. The day my dad died, I got drunk. I stayed drunk for the next couple days, and I felt like I was completely alone. So, I called Dave. Apparently, he thought it a good idea to take contract stipulations from a drunk man. By the time I was sober, you had already signed it.”

  “I'll be having a talk with Dave.”

  “You don't have to. I chewed him out right before I met you.”

  “Good.”

  “I know it's stupid of me to get so upset. I've just had that guilt building up for a while. I saw that headline earlier, and it set me off. I'm sorry that I had to unload on you.” Williams said. Nathan reached over and cupped his cheek.

  “Don't ever apologize for venting to me. I'm here anytime you need to talk to someone.” Williams felt his chest growing warm. The only people he’d ever had care for him was Gertrude and Theodore. It was nice to have someone else. He sighed and gave a small smile. Nathan smiled back at him.

  “There's that smile.” He ran his thumb over Williams's bottom lip before leaning in to kiss him softly. Williams smiled again when he pulled back. Nathan's hand went to rest on his hip.

  “You got me to smile. So, I guess you'll want to go back to work.” Williams said. Nathan grinned at him and shook his head.

  “Why would I want to go back to work when I've got someone as cute as you smiling at me?” Nathan asked. Williams blushed deeply and laughed.

  “You’re a little flirt, aren't you?”

  “Sometimes.” He pulled Williams against him and kissed his forehead. Williams hugged him tight. “Although, I never thought I’d flirt with a man named Eugene.” The comment earned him a swat on the ass. He just hugged Williams tighter. He felt better now. That was all that mattered.

  ***

  It may have not been the time for them to fool around earlier, but that didn’t mean anything about hours later. They’d laid in each other’s arms only kissing a few times and letting their hands wander idly. Nathan leaned in and caught William’s lips. It felt different this time.

  He cupped his cheek and kissed him again. Williams returned the affection, running his hands down the other man’s side. The kisses were growing longer and deeper. Williams pulled back and kissed down his jaw line. Nathan bit his lower lip and let out a soft moan. Williams sucked at the edge of his collar bone, drawing out another one.

  “I love to hear you
moan.” Williams said quietly in his ear. It sent a chill over the back of his neck. Nathan rubbed his hands over the other man’s chest and started on the buttons.

  “You sure you’re up to this, right now?” Nathan asked. They both knew where this was headed.

  “Yeah,” Williams answered. His hand trailed from Nathan’s side to squeeze his ass. He wished desperately that Nathan would let him fuck him, but he wouldn’t ask. It seemed like an important thing to him. Still, Nathan seemed like he would be vocal. He would love to hear all the moans and quick words fall out of his mouth.

  “Would you let me ride you?” Williams asked. Nathan seemed to think for a long moment.

  “I think we could do that.” Nathan stated. Williams pulled back to look him in the eye.

  “If you aren’t sure, we don’t have to. There’s always other things.” Williams said. The response he got worried him.

  “If I told you to stop, you would do it, right?” Nathan was aware of the concern in the other man’s eyes.

  “Yes, I would stop.” Williams answered. “Do you want to talk about anything?”

  “Let’s save it for a different day.” Nathan said, kissing Williams again to try to change the mood back to what it had been previously. It mostly worked, but there was still an uneasy feeling in the air. Nathan had his shirt unbuttoned and pushed over his shoulders. His fingers trailed over the skin of his chest. Williams squeezed Nathan’s ass again before bring a hand around to the front. He unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them.

  Nathan shuddered at the feeling of fingers being so close to him. Williams pulled back enough to ask one more time if he was sure about this. Nathan nodded and leaned in to press his lips to Williams chest. Nathan’s pants and underwear were pulled down towards his knees and Williams wrapped his hand around his shaft. Nathan made a noise in the back of throat and bucked his hips. Williams felt him getting hard in his hand. He stroked slowly hearing Nathan breathing heavy. He stopped when he was fully hard. Their clothes were striped away and thrown to the floor. Lube was pulled from the night stand, and Williams rubbed it onto Nathan's dick.

  The blond was laying on his back while Williams hovered over him. He started lowering himself onto the other man's member, feeling his own get hard. He grunted and watched Nathan bite his lower lip. His eyes shut as his head leaned back into the pillow. Williams started to move up and down slowly. He couldn't hold back a moan at the feeling of Nathan hitting his prostate.

  “Oh God,” Nathan groaned. He gripped the sheets. Williams kept moving and ran his hands over the other man's stomach and up to his chest. Nathan grabbed one of his hands and locked their fingers. Williams squeezed his hand before he pumped faster. Nathan rocked with his movements. “You’re so good,” he said, breathing hard.

  “You like that?” Williams asked, his own breathing had gotten labored. This felt so good. The moans that were coming from Nathan was driving him insane. “I love how you sound.”

  “Shit… Ooohh, fuck, Eugene.” Nathan moaned. He let go of his hand to grab the pillow behind his head. His name being moaned to him made Williams feel like he had electricity running up his spine. He groaned and moved faster. Nathan bucked his hips in near desperation. “S-slow down.” Williams did as he was told. He could see from the man's face that he wouldn't last much longer at this pace.

  He could feel himself getting close. Maybe, he should slow down a little more. He was getting to the point that he was having a hard time controlling his timing. He moaned when Nathan bucked at the right time to hit his prostate.

  “I want you to cum first.” Nathan said. Williams nodded before Nathan started to stroke him and buck his hips upward. Williams couldn't stop the noises he was making. He'd never moaned so much during sex. Nathan bucked and stroked in rhythm. Williams could feel his orgasm building up.

  “Fuck, I can't last much longer.” Nathan started bucking harder, drawing obscene noises from both of them. His movements were starting to get sporadic. He was close. It was unclear who was going to finish first. In a turn of events, they came together, before collapsing onto each other and panting.

  Twenty minutes later, they had gotten cleaned up and were nearly asleep under the covers. Williams was laid against his chest while Nathan had his arm wrapped around his shoulders. It was comfortable and warm. Nathan was the first to fall asleep. Williams just laid there, eyes bleary and tired. A silent timer had set in his mind. There were four and a half years left of the contract. That was how long he had to enjoy this. After that, he’d be back on his own. He sighed and closed his eyes. It was best to not think about that right now.

  ***

  “Would you like to see your finances?” Nathan asked. Williams looked up at the computer screen. He was mildly afraid of what he was going to see.

  “I guess I have to.” He responded.

  “Well, to put it simply, you're making a shit ton of money.” Nathan said. Williams saw the number. The company was turning several billion a year. “So, you know what you’re getting. What would you like me to do now, boss?” Williams shifted in his seat. What was he supposed to do? He was also thinking about how his father had tried to throw the company away before he died. Why was it still so profitable?

  “You’re sure this is right?” Williams asked.

  “Yeah, I ran the numbers a few times.” Nathan said. Maybe the one thing his father had failed at was being unsuccessful. The question still hung in the air of what to do. He didn’t need that much money just sitting in an account. He didn’t even use a fraction of that.

  “What would you do?” Williams asked. Nathan leaned back in his chair in thought. Before he could answer him, Williams spoke up. “What was it that you wanted when we first met? Twenty five billion to the homeless and an increase in employee pay, right?” Nathan stared at him for a moment.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Do that then.” Nathan was floored. His stomach sank.

  “W-wait a minute! Are you voiding the contract?!” he was nearly yelling.

  “No,” he responded and put his hand on the other man's thigh. He squeezed gently. “No, I still need you.” He said with a chuckle. Nathan's emotions mixed as he felt himself calm down. Why did he panic when he thought the contract was going to be over? He was about to get what he signed on for, and yet it frightened him. “So, what do you think?”

  “As your accountant, I can’t advise you to do that. You didn’t make enough over the past year to cover all of that.” Nathan stated.

  “And what about as yourself?”

  “Oh, I would kiss the ground you walked on.” He said. Williams furrowed his brow.

  “That’s a big leap. Is there a middle ground?”

  “I can see how much you can feasibly pay your employees and then see if you can do like a ten percent donation every year.”

  “Sounds good. I say go for it.”

  “Alright, before I get started, how much profit do you want for yourself?” Nathan asked. Williams thought for a long while. How much money did he spend himself over the year?

  “I-I don't know. I don't know how much I spend. I guess ten million.” He hadn't expected the look he got from Nathan. The man looked perplexed.

  “You want ten million out of twenty two billion dollars of profit?” Nathan asked.

  “Sure. If it's not enough, I have plenty of money saved. I can just use that. Honestly, I don't know that I need any of the profit. I could live comfortable for the rest of my life off of what I have.” Williams responded. Nathan stared at him to the point he was getting uncomfortable. “Why are you looking at me like that? You're starting to freak me out.”

  “I've never had anyone I've worked for say fuck the profits and just not keep any. Do you understand how many lives you can change with this much money?”

  “Not really, but I'm guessing a lot. Besides I don't need the money, and this seemed to be important to you.” Williams said. Nathan was melting.

  “You're basing this on what’s important t
o me?”

  “Well, yeah. I care a lot about your opinion.” He didn't notice the deep blush in Nathan’s cheeks. “Could we split it half way between the employees and charity?”

  “How about we put two billion back as a safeguard? Then, you can put ten to each.”

  “If you think that would be best.”

  “You’re sure about this?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes. You just said yourself that this will help a lot of people. As long as you think this is the right thing to do, we’ll do it.”

  “I want you to know that you are unlike anyone I've ever met.” Nathan said. Now, Williams was blushing. Nathan wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him to lean against him. Williams smiled broadly and felt his heart skip a beat when Nathan kissed his cheek.

  ***

  “You’re going to have very happy employees.” Nathan said. Williams had been reading in the foyer, but Nathan didn't want to wait until he was done. He plopped down on the ottoman.

  “Why?” he marked his page and closed the book.

  “Unless you’ve changed your mind, you can raise their pay by fifteen an hour.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  “It’s very good.” Nathan responded. “That's a little over thirty thousand a year.” Williams just looked confused. Nathan sighed and put a hand on the man’s thigh. “Look, I’ve done good about not being bitter about the money you have, but talking to you can be frustrating.”

  “I just don’t have a good perspective on this. I'm sorry.” Williams did feel bad for not knowing, but he'd never had to worry about money.

  “It’s fine. All that matters is that you’re going to make a big difference in your workers lives.”

  “That's great.” Williams responded. He went to pick his book back up, but Nathan put his hand on top to stop him.

  “I have more to talk to you about.”

  “Oh,” Williams wasn't expecting to the tall man to crawl into lap. “What are you doing?”

  “The ottoman isn't comfortable enough.” Nathan said. They both knew it was a lie, but Nathan wasn't going to say that he liked being in his lap. He got comfortable and put his arms around Williams's shoulders.