“Only at people trying to hurt me.”
Jesse’s eyes snapped back up to Noah, “I would never hurt you, Noah.”
Noah smiled, “I have no doubt about that, Jesse,” he said as he stepped forward.
“Are you okay with him sleeping in here with us?”
“Sure. I’ve never had a dog. I’m not really sure how to act around him.”
“Just be yourself, Jesse.”
Noah pulled his shirt over his head and when he pulled it off he found Jesse staring at him, well at his body.
“What?” he said.
“You’re very handsome,” Jesse said, “Like those sports guys I used to look at when I was at home.”
Noah blushed, “Thank you,” he mumbled as he popped the button on his jeans.
As he lowered them off his hips he cursed himself for wearing briefs instead of lose fitting boxers because, yeah, not much was hidden right now, not much of anything at all. Noah knew that the outline of his thick, long cock was clearly visible pressed up against his hip behind the thin material.
He knew this because of the flare of Jesse’s eyes when he saw it. The eyes went wide as they took in the size of him and then, fucking hell, they dilated and his tongue darted out between his lips.
And god help him, Noah liked that, he liked it a lot.
He squeezed his eyes shut and silently counted to ten to try to get his body under control.
Fat lotta good that did.
The second he opened them back up Jesse had that same look in his eyes.
But then they filled with tears.
“I don’t want to be a freak anymore, Noah” Jesse whispered.
That got Noah’s feet moving forward again. He slid into the bed next to Jesse, slid his arm under his neck and pulled the man into the crook of his arm, “Oh, babe,” he said and he froze for a second because it hit him that, for a man who had never used that term of endearment for anyone, not even with Jacob, it flowed so easily from his lips and felt so natural with Jesse, “you’re not a freak.”
“But I am. I’m a twenty-four-year-old virgin who was sexually manipulated by my quote unquote boyfriend slash father-figure. I don’t want to be like this anymore. I want to know what it’s like to feel normal. I want to know how everything is supposed to feel.”
“And you will, babe. I promise you will. But you need to take it slow. You don’t want to do everything so fast that it makes the new stuff bad too.”
“I want you to make me feel good, Noah. I want you to be the one to fix me.”
Noah felt tears fill his own eyes. How many times had he wished for this same thing after Morgan got him away from Jacob, someone to hold him, heal him and make him feel normal? He wished for it every day….until he realized that it wasn’t going to happen and he gave up on the idea of ever being…..whole. Instead, he settled for numb and alone.
It had worked well for him.
Until now.
Noah’s fingers gripped the back of Jesse’s neck as he brought their foreheads together, “You are not broken, Jesse Miller,” he whispered.
Jesse inhaled and then opened his mouth to disagree but Noah silenced him with his finger to Jesse’s lips.
“Get some sleep, Jess. We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?” he somehow managed to whisper past the lump in his throat as he pulled Jesse closer into his chest.
“Yeah, okay.”
Charlie jumped up onto the bed at their feet, walked in a circle a few times and then plopped down.
“Hey Noah?” Jesse whispered even though his voice already sounded like he was drifting to sleep.
“Yeah, Jess?”
“Thank you for being my hero.”
Noah barely managed to swallow his sob.
His hero?
Noah Pierce wasn’t anybody’s hero, at least he sure as fuck didn’t think he was.
But if Jesse Miller needed him to play that role then he vowed silently right then and there he would be the best god damned hero he could be for this dear, sweet, lost, innocent man…..
Even if it killed him.
Five
As Noah’s brain began to change from sleep to awake, he became aware of several things.
First, was the warm body pressed up against the front of his own. Second, was his arm wrapped tightly, protectively around the waist of that warm body, pulling it as close as it could possibly get to his own. Third, was his agonizingly hard cock, smashed between his pelvis and the delicious curves of a firm, tight ass, his cock straining to break free from the confines of his briefs. And fourth was the absence of the weight on his feet. That fourth thing was what finally woke him all the way. Everything else was like a sweet, beautiful, wet dream. But the fact that Charlie seemed to be missing was the bucket of ice water that finally roused him from his splendor. Where the fuck was his dog? The dog who always slept at his feet? He lifted his head to glance at his feet and frowned. But then he lifted a little higher and……
Holy fucking shit.
There he was.
Charlie was the little spoon to Jesse’s big spoon, with Jesse’s arm draped protectively over him.
Charlie never did that with Noah, not once. He always slept at Noah’s feet. Had he done that because Jesse was distressed and needed comfort during the night?
Jesse took a deep breath as he too began to wake up. He blinked his eyes as he turned his head and then the smile that lit up his face when he saw Noah was bright enough to outshine the sun currently peeking through the blinds.
“You stayed,” he said.
Noah couldn’t help but smile back at him, “Of course I did,” he said as he leaned forward to kiss his forehead.
Noah’s eyes moved over to Charlie, “I see you made a friend during the night,” he said as he rested his chin on Jesse’s shoulder.
Jesse’s fingers sifted through Charlie’s fur, “I started going into a bad place,” he whispered.
“You mean you were having a nightmare about Jacob?”
Jesse’s head nodded.
“I had them for a long time too,” Noah said.
Jesse turned to look at him, “You did?”
“He did really bad things to me too, Jess.”
“I don’t know how to be normal, Noah. I just want to be normal. And not scared anymore. I’m so fucking tired of being scared. I was afraid to ask him for anything. The few times that I did he got this look in his eyes that….fuck,” he whispered and his body was trembling, literally shaking because of that monster.
Noah shifted his body back to put enough of a gap between them to roll Jesse to his back, “Hey, look at me,” he said as he cupped Jesse’s cheek, “You will be normal, you are normal, Jesse. I’ll find a good counselor for you and they’ll help you work through these nightmares and any other issues that that fucker put in your head. And as far as you feeling scared? I swear to you on my life that I will protect you from him no matter what. You are safe with me, Jesse, always.”
“I feel safe with you,” he said as he stared at Noah with so must trust in his eyes.
“I’m glad.”
Jesse’s sky blue eyes shimmered with tears as they looked at Noah, “Will you go with me?”
Noah’s eyes blinked a few times, “Go with you?”
“Yeah, to the therapist. I don’t want to go alone.”
Noah swallowed down the fear that was clogging his throat because…. this? He had avoided this for ten fucking years. Avoided talking about what Jacob had put him through. Avoided thinking about it.
Because he was too broken. He was beyond help. That’s what he always thought.
But for the beautiful, lost man who was currently looking at him like he hung the moon and the stars? Yeah, he could do this. He didn’t have to talk when they were there, right? He could just sit there, hold Jesse’s hand and listen.
Yeah, he could do this.
He fucking hoped he could.
“Yeah, I’ll go with you, Jess. Can I ask you a question though?”<
br />
“Sure.”
“If Jacob hadn’t brought you into his home, if he hadn’t exposed you to the shit that’s inside of him, well, what I’m getting at is, are you sure you’re even gay, Jesse? I mean, I hate sticking labels on people and maybe you’re bi or pan or whatever but you never really had a chance to learn, to explore, to…”
“Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“All I can think about is kissing you. You make me feel good, like all over. If that means I’m gay, then I’m good with that because I like this feeling, I really like it a lot.”
A smirk lifts one corner of Noah’s mouth, “Okay bud. I believe you.”
“Are, um, are you gay?”
Noah snorted out a laugh, “Oh fuck yes. I’ve known since I developed a huge crush on Timmy Warton in kindergarten What do you say to some breakfast?”
“That sounds nice.”
Noah rolled away from Jesse and climbed from the bed but when he stood up he realized that Jesse’s wide eyes were glued to his morning wood that was not only tenting his black briefs, it was pulling the waistband away from his pelvis. He blushed as he tried to cover it with his hands, “I’ll, uh, I’m just going to duck into the bathroom,” he mumbled as he turned to pull the door open.
“Noah, wait.” Those words were whispered behind him but to Noah’s ears they felt like Jesse had spoken them with his lips pressed up against his earlobe and it sent a shiver down his spine.
“Jesse,” he whispered back as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Please, Noah. With him I was curious about it but hated it because he made me feel so dirty and gross. Yours, God, I really want to touch it. Please, can I, just once?”
“Fuck,” Noah whispered, too quiet for Jesse to hear but loud enough for his own ears.
As he turned around, he slowly peeled his eyes open and, “Fucking hell,” falls from his lips when he sees the lust, the want, the desire in Jesse’s eyes…and it’s all for him.
But he’s just a kid, really, even though, at twenty-four he might not be in years, experience-wise he’s just a fucking kid. That thought had Noah’s hands reaching behind him, one clasping onto the door knob, the other clamping over the other wrist as a way to anchor his arms, a way to keep him from reaching for what he so desperately wanted, for what his body craved, for what he’d yearned for since last night in that club….a taste, just a taste of the man looking back at him.
But he also knew that a taste would never be enough.
So that’s why he kept his hands locked together as he whispered, with a throat that felt like it was lined with broken glass, “Go ahead.”
Noah watched with his jaw clenched so tight he was surprised his teeth weren’t shattering, as Jesse slowly climbed off the bed and walked towards him, the man’s own, impressive hard-on tenting his boxers. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached out, the only indication that the man is at all nervous, and then those long fingers clamped around Noah’s cotton-covered dick.
And he groaned.
Oh fuck did he groan.
He didn’t want to. He tried not to, but once that hand closed over his dick….he was done.
“You like this, me touching you,” Jesse whispered, his eyes still locked on Noah’s erection.
“Yes,” Noah whispered….because at this point, why lie?
Jesse’s eyes slowly moved up until they locked with Noah’s, “I like it too.”
Then his eyes dropped down again, “Can I see it?”
“Jesus, Jesse, you’re going to make me…..”
“Come? I’d really like to see that,” Jesse said with such a beautiful, lustful smile that lit up his entire face.
Noah was just about to give in, just about to open his mouth to tell Jesse to take his dick out, when there was a knock on the door behind him.
“Noah?” Luther said.
“Yeah, Luther, we’re awake.”
“There’s a situation.”
“Okay, give us a minute to get dressed. We’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Got it,” Luther said and then Noah listened as his footsteps retreated down the hall.
Then he looked back at Jesse. He saw the disappointment there but he also saw something else, something that he didn’t like. A look of this is what always happens to me because I deserve it that crossed Jesse’s face. And he was having none of that.
He unlatched his arms, stepped forward and cupped Jesse’s face in his hands, “Jesse?” he whispered
“Yes?”
Noah bumped his hard dick with Jesse’s, eliciting a groan from the man, “I can’t wait to feel more of this later, okay?”
“Yes, Noah, please, yes,” Jesse whimpered as his hands came up to squeeze Noah’s waist.
Noah couldn’t resist a moment longer.
He closed his eyes and pressed their lips together. His tongue swept out and licked along the seam of Jesse’s lips. Jesse gasped as his lips opened and that was all the invitation that Noah needed.
Somehow he maintained his control, even though every cell in his body demanded that he devour Jesse’s mouth right then and there.
Instead, he gently swept his tongue inside in what, to most would like like a tender, gentle kiss. But to Noah….it was everything. Because he had that taste now. And nothing would ever be the same again…..
Six
“Tell us what’s going on,” Noah said once he and Jesse met Luther in the kitchen.
“Eat,” Luther said as he nodded to the two full plates of food he had set on the breakfast bar.
Noah and Jesse sat down and dug into their scrambled eggs while Luther began to talk.
“Morgan had to send Kelly to a safehouse last night. He’s still at Cole’s place locking everything down. Since he’s busy there, this morning I sent Byron over to your house to check on it.”
Noah looked up at Luther and frowned, “My house? It should be fine. It’s listed under a dummy corporation. There’s no way for Jacob to know that I live there.”
Luther slid his phone in front of Noah, “Think again.”
Noah began scrolling through a series of pictures. The first, showing the outside of his home, it looked fine and completely undisturbed. But once the door was opened, another story emerged.
HE IS MINE, was spray painted in red all over the living room walls, the flat screen TV and down the hall. And once in the bedroom, it was also all over those walls but the bed was also slashed to shreds, and it looked like every piece of clothing in Noah’s closet had also been shredded.
And a huge hunting knife was stuck in the center of the bed, sticking through some papers.
“Fingerprints?” Noah mumbled.
“Wiped clean. No DNA either.”
Noah ran his fingers through his hair, “What was on the papers?”
Luther was quiet for a moment until Noah looked up at him and said, “Luther, what the fuck was it?”
“Threats, Noah. Legal threats to take down you, us, the company, anyone, if we don’t return Jesse to him. Fuck him, Noah. It’s all bullshit. I’ve got our lawyers working on it and on a countersuit.”
“Fuck, man, I’m so sorry.”
“No! I’m not. Don’t you dare be sorry. Morgan knows he should’ve taken that asshole down ten years ago. He didn’t then but you know what he didn’t have back then? Me. And I won’t rest until we take that fucker down, got it? But you are staying here until we do. Or someplace else just as safe where he cannot find you two, okay?”
Noah couldn’t help grinning as he whispered, “Whatever you say, Dad.”
“I mean it Noah. Don’t you get some harebrained scheme in your head about going off on your own to lure Jacob out of hiding or some shit. That is not the way to deal with this asshole.”
“He won’t,” Jesse said.
Both Luther and Noah’s eyes whipped around to look at him.
Jesse looked right at Noah, “You promised you’d help get me away from Jacob and you did, you promise to take
care of me and you did and you promise me you wouldn’t leave me so I know you will stay with me.”
The trust that this sweet man was giving to Noah already both terrified him and filled his heart in a way that made it feel, well, not broken. Almost.
Could Jesse actually heal him?
Noah’s mouth fell open as his eyes moved back to Luther, who was biting his lip to keep from smiling. Then it was Noah who was biting his lip to keep from smiling. He reached over and squeezed Jesse’s hand, “You’re right, I did.”
“Right, so no leaving,” Jesse said with a nod of his head.
“No leaving.”
Jesse smiled up at him as Noah nodded, “Good,” he said.
Noah looked back at Luther, “So, what’s Morgan’s plan now? Because I know he’s got a plan, he’s always got a plan.”
“Well, you know that Drake’s Black Ops team has set up a new satellite office in Wyoming, yes?”
“Yeah, I heard something about that. But you can’t just send us there to wait this out. I can’t do nothing, Morgan has to know that.”
“He does, Noah. He’s not sending you there, not yet anyways. We’re bringing some of those guys here to help us.”
“Okay, do you have bios on them?”
Luther grinned at him, “You do know who you’re dealing with right? We have bios and I’ve vetted them myself as well. They’re good at what they do and they’re good guys. And some of them are the guys who helped me and Morgan back when we first met.”
Noah smiled, “Oh yeah, I heard about that – how you two met at the club at that club, Sanity, right? And Morgan became putty in your hands when you got him into one of the private rooms. And then, a few days later, someone came after you two and you were chased through the woods and Morgan ended up getting shot.”
“Yeah, that was a brutal night. Not only was Morgan hurt bad but we almost lost Ryan that night too. That was really hard on Beau. You’ll meet both of them, they’re coming here and so are Cooper and Riley.”
“Okay, I’ll meet with them. But I’m involved with everything regarding Jacob and I mean everything, okay?” Noah said as he pointed a finger at Luther.
“Understood.”
Blackbird Fly Home (Doyle Global Securities Book 1) Page 4
