LOVER FOR PAY: The Escort & The Teacher (M/M)

by A. J. Blake

  Damn, London tried to stop himself from looking nervous. Either this woman was just as good at manipulation as Marbell had made her out to be, or she was sitting here telling a truth London didn’t want to believe. Choosing not to take her word, however, London said, “I think I’ve spent enough time with Marbell to know when he’s lying, and enough time to know I shouldn’t believe a mad woman like you.”

  Vivian looked like she was holding her breathe for a second, and then took something out of her purse. It was a small stack of pieces of paper held together by a clip. She put the clip aside and began arranging the paper in front of London. It didn’t take long for him to notice it was the letter he’d left behind at the apartment in New York. “I found this in the trashcan at home,” she said. “It broke my heart a little to find out he’s went and gone behind my back again. I’m just trying to help you before my husband leaves you high and dry. He’ll use you for whatever pleasures you give him, and then at the end of the day he’ll find his way back to our bed.”

  London rested his arms above the back of the booth, his eyes trailing off from Vivian to the bar. He could really go for a shot right now, anything to calm the nerves shaking in his body.

  “You believe me, don’t you?” Vivian asked.

  “No, I don’t,” London declared, meeting her eyes again, “You’re just a woman who wants nothing but the millions Marbell provides for you, and you’re using his fear of being gay against him. It’s called blackmail, and you can go to prison for that.”

  “My husband is not gay and his father would never give him reason to fear him.”

  London crossed his arms over his chest then, and smirked, “I didn’t say anything about him being afraid of his father finding out.”

  Quieting herself for a moment, Vivian said, “That doesn’t change my husband’s sexuality. He does not care whether you’re a man or a woman. So long as he can get the same favors, he does not care who he beds. You’re just another one of the pleasures he’s using to satisfy his needs. A toy.”

  Slamming his palms down on the tabletop, London stood and leaned in close to Vivian. He’d had enough. She didn’t move an inch, nor did she look the least bit intimidated by him. In a low growl of a voice, London said, “You think you can scare me away with these lies? Babe, you’re just making me want your husband even more. Watching you turn red in the face at the thought of losing your money bags to a guy like me, man, it’s such a fucking turn on, and I can’t wait till the next time I see Marbell. I’m going to fuck him so good he won’t remember how to speak, or walk, or function right. The only thing he’ll be able to do is say my name.”

  Vivian gritted her teeth and glared up at London with a look of pure, unadulterated hatred. With him in her face, she brought her hand back as to slap the smile off his face, but he caught her wrist and held it tightly. “Nice try,” he said, “I’m nobodies bitch, lady, and I damn sure ain’t about to become yours. You can tell me all the stories you like, but at the end of the day, I just want you to know it will be my dick Marbell’s thinking about every night before he goes to sleep.”

  “Let go of me...” Vivian hissed.

  Releasing her, London stepped out of the booth, but before walking away, he stopped and said, “Oh, one more thing. You may think Marbell is weak and you can discipline him to your liking, but it’s only a matter of time until I take him from you, and you’ll be left either behind bars or with nothing. Either way, it doesn’t really matter, because he’ll be safe with me. I would suggest getting ready for that.”

  Without looking back, London exited the bar and stepped out into the night. He couldn’t have felt more triumphant if he was walking away with three gold medals, and he truly did hope that Vivian was going to prepare herself for her future.

  Marbell was his.

  Nothing she said would ever change that.

  XVII – Bitch

  London still couldn’t believe how his first encounter with Vivian went. He expected there to be some tension. Of that, he was sure would have happened, but for her to have the balls to try and turn him against Marbell; he had to give the woman props, she was damn good with her words, but London was even better at pointing out a lying bitch. She’d managed to keep her words in check previously, but as the conversation went on, her upset and body language is what ultimately gave her away. But it amused London at her confidence. She must have walked into that bar with the idea that turning him from Marbell was going to be like reciting the alphabet.

  Easy.

  He wasn’t as dull as he was sure Vivian expected him to be, though, and he was glad to have been able to show her that the other night. With a mind like his, London was never easily played by people. If he could overcome someone like his Old Man, there was no way in hell Vivian was going to terrorize him. If she wanted to scare him even a little, she’d have to grow a foot and a half taller, put on some muscle and change her name to TJ Dawncraft, the name his father went by, because so far, the Old Man was the only person in existence London would think twice about before going toe to toe with again.

  Not that London would fight Vivian, anyway. If he laid a hand on her, he’d likely end up in a cell right beside his Old Man, and then he’d have truly lost everything to her. London wished, then, that he had a female friend who liked him enough to fight for him, because Vivian sure needed a reality check...and an ass whooping.

  At work while Henry was at school, and Joyce was being babysat by Mrs. Campbell, London was in the back moving in some furniture sets the owner had imported from overseas. As he used a dolly to roll in several boxes of picture frames, London stopped for a moment when his cell phone went off in his pocket. It was Marbell. He set the dolly of boxes down, and answered right away. “I woke up this morning with someone on my mind,” he started, “His name is Marbell Matthews, and he’s got these really cute dimples in his ass.”

  There was a light insecure laugh on the other line, and Marbell said, “You don’t have to play around it, London. I know about what happened last night. She told me.”

  Lowering his voice, London whispered into the receiver, “Did she tell you about how good I’m going to fuck you next time we’re together?”

  “You said that?”

  “Oh, I said a lot of things,” London smirked through the phone. “One of them being that she doesn’t scare me.”

  “I’m glad she doesn’t, baby,” Marbell paused a moment, “Can I come by your place after school today? There are some things I need to talk to you about. Divorcing Vivian being one of them.”

  “Mmm,” London hummed, “You don’t know how beautiful those words sound. There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about, as well, involving your inevitable divorce. Come by whenever you get the chance. I’ll be home right after I get off work.”

  “I actually wanted to ask you something else right now while I’m on lunch.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Can I...” Marbell seemed a little nervy on the other line. “Can I stay at your place tonight?”

  London pressed his cellphone between his ear and shoulder, emptying the boxes he’d wheeled into the back storage area. “Wow, are we moving in together, now? I should probably start investing in a bigger bed.”

  “I’m serious, London.” Marbell said. “I don’t want to go back to that house tonight. Yours feels like more of a home to me than that place.”

  Noting Marbell’s apprehensive tone, London stopped with the childishness. “You didn’t even have to ask to stay. If you ever walked through my door and chose to never leave, I would personally help with moving you in.”

  “Thank you, baby. And, just so you know, I don’t want you to invest in a bigger bed. I like the full sized one you have. It gives me more of a reason to lay closer to you.”

  “Note taken,” London smirked. “I’ll see you in a few hours, then. Love you.”

  Now he just had to wait until they were both off work. There was definitely a lot London needed Marbell to know abou
t getting rid of Vivian. One thing being that he wanted to see a signature written down on divorce papers as soon as possible, but he also wanted Vivian to experience the backlash of blackmail.

  Marbell was a multimillionaire who’d been lured into a deal out of fear, and now that he was finally gaining the courage to knock her out of the picture, London knew a levelheaded judge wouldn’t take lightly to a greedy woman taking advantage of a petrified man. If Marbell and Vivian took to divorce the normal way, she could be granted half of his earnings for just having been his wife, and she’d still walk away with too much. London didn’t want her to have anything, not one penny of Marbell’s hard earned money, and he had a bit of an idea about how to get the job done.

  After his shift ended at 5:30pm, London headed home, stopping quickly somewhere for Chinese takeout. When he arrived, Marbell’s car was parked in the two car drive, and London couldn’t help how pleased he was to come home after a nine to five and have the person he loved here waiting for him.

  Stalling his car in the driveway, London got out and took the food inside. The moment he opened the front door, he was usually bombarded by Joyce, but she was nowhere to be found. Henry was in the living room when he closed the door behind him, laid across the couch in nothing but sweatpants, an episode from his favorite anime on the television. As London lugged the food into the kitchen, he dropped the bags on the counter, and said, “Where’s Joyce and Marbell?” he asked, taking out the containers and placing them on the counter.

  Henry sat up from the couch and started for the kitchen, “They’re in Joyce’s room,” he said, making his own plate. “By the way, I like Mister Matthews and all, I really do. He’s a cool guy outside the classroom, but can you tell him not to ask me if I want a ride home in front of my friends? I said ‘sure’ not to be rude, but, dude, you should have seen the look on my friend’s faces. Shit, I bet they think we’re fucking.”

  London’s jaw fell open and he stared offended at his little brother, “You’re fucking Marbell?”

  “What!?” Henry jumped back, “No, I’m not! I meant my friends might think so. Y’know, with all those other stupid student and teacher relationships popping up all over the place, I just meant people might get the idea that we are when we’re not!”

  “Jesus Christ,” London laughed, stepping around his brother, “Calm the fuck down, I was obviously just kidding. Besides, if I ever found you hitting on my man, I’d have no choice but to kick your teenage ass.”

  “Trust me,” Henry scoffed, “I don’t want your man.”

  “Best not.”

  London went down the back hall towards Joyce’s room, and opened the door quietly a little to peek inside. His sister was standing on her jungle print bed in one of her princess gowns today with a heart shaped fairy wand in her hand. Marbell, surrounded by teddy bears, stuffed anime plush dolls that belonged to Henry, and action figures, was sat crisscross on the floor, a sparkling crown on his head.

  When Joyce laid eyes on her brother, she gasped and dropped her wand, “Brother, brother!” she exclaimed, sliding off the bed. She ran to him and threw her arms around his leg. “I play with Bell.”

  “Bell?” London couldn’t help but be amused by the nickname.

  Marbell stood from the floor, “I tried to get her to say my whole name, but I think she’s taken a liking to Bell.”

  London rustled Joyce’s bangs, “Go to the kitchen. Henry’s got food for you.” When the hyper little girl nodded and ran off, London strolled across the room to Marbell. Without a word, he took the man’s mouth with his own, feeling the cold rim of Marbell’s glasses when they brushed the tip of his nose. He relished the minty flavor on his lover’s tongue, the warmth of their bodies mixing when London wrapped the teacher up in his arms. Stealing his kiss away, he smiled triumphantly at the breathless, needy look in Marbell’s light brown eyes. “Well,” London said, licking playfully at the wet lips in front of him, “I’ve got to say you’d make pretty sexy royalty. Even for a piece of plastic, that crown looks great on you.”

  Feeling weightless against London’s chest, Marbell spoke softly, “How do you do that?” he asked, “Two seconds with you and I’m already turned on.”

  Smugly, the tattooed boy strutted out of the bedroom, “It’s a gift, Bell.”

  Marbell took off the crown and followed London to the kitchen. With Henry and Joyce sat in the living room at the coffee table, he took a seat at the dining table, and was served a nice hot plate of takeout.

  When London finally sat down across from Marbell, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “You need to get rid of that bitch ASAP.”

  Marbell twirled his fork in a bowl of chow mein, “I know, I know, just give me a little while. There are a couple people I have to talk to before I make any moves towards it.”

  “You’d only need a lawyer, right?” London asked, “Who else do you have to talk to?”

  “Now, London,” Marbell couldn’t hide the uncertain tone in his voice, “I’m going to need a lawyer, yes, but I’m also going to have to talk to my father. The last time I saw him was this past Christmas, and although we’re doing well, I don’t know how the news of me leaving my wife for another man will be taken. I love both my jobs, and if I can at least try to save my CEO position, I want to take that possible shot.”

  Chewing down his beef and broccoli, London washed it down with a swig of sweet tea. “I hope your dad doesn’t freak the fuck out either. I don’t want you to keep the CEO position because of the money, but since you’ve continued it along with being a teacher, I can tell it’s something you enjoy being a part of. As much as I love you, I wouldn’t what that part of your life ripped away just because I’m selfish.”

  “You’re not being selfish, at all,” Marbell reminded. “I want the chance to talk with my father about us being together, and everything Vivian has done since we met. But, if he is still stuck in the past with his homophobic attitude, and he does decide to kick me out of his life, then I’m willing to walk away to focus solely on being a teacher. I do love being a CEO, but if I have to sacrifice the job to be with you...then so be it.”

  A warm flutter started in London. He said, “There is something else I need to mention before you think about talking to your father. I was thinking about what usually happens in divorce, especially when it’s between two people with a lot of money. When you and Vivian do legally divorce, she’ll be able to still make a profit off of you to live in the comfortable conditions she’s been used to since the beginning. And with how loaded you are, no matter what percentage she gets, it’ll still be way too much than she deserves...which she deserves abso-fucking-lutely nothing. So...”

  “You guys talk a lot...” Henry interrupted. He was carrying his plate to the sink.

  Marbell sneered at the teenager, “Now you know how I feel, young man.”

  London shushed his brother, and went on, “I want you to sue Vivian for putting you in this position.”

  Marbell looked almost unnerved by the proposal, “What makes you think the judge would believe me?”

  “One, you were a scared, baby-faced gay boy who was misled into this by an evil cunt. Second, if you can get a recording of her confession, you’ll be in the clear and the bitch will get what’s coming to her. Or, we always have a third option.”

  Marbell almost spit out the food in his mouth, “London,” he mumbled, “we are not killing Vivian!”

  The tattooed boy put his fork down and sighed, “Calm down, babe, I didn’t say anything about killing her. I may be the son of a convicted murderer, but that doesn’t mean he’s rubbed off on me. I was going to say our third option would be just to fucking deal with her getting what she wants out of you so we can be together.”

  “If it really does come down to that, London, trust me, I have no issue with giving her whatever. As long as we walk away from all of this as a couple, I’m fine with coughing up one million, or two, or even ten. You mean more to me than money ever will.”

/>   By the time ten o’clock rolled around, London had been able to get Joyce to sleep. He’d spent most of the evening playing with her to tucker her out, and it had worked quite nicely. The sun was down and the most active munchkin in the world was asleep before midnight. With Henry in his bedroom as well, London was laid across the couch with his head resting in Marbell’s lap. Staring up at his lover, London reached up and stroked his hand along Marbell’s chin, feeling the tiny prickles of hair against his fingertips. “You’ve got scruff growing in,” he said.

  Marbell grimaced, “Yeah, I know. I meant to shave this morning, but I was running a little late to school.”

  “I like it,” London confessed. “To be honest, my first ‘type’ were guys with beards. I don’t know why, but a nice bit of facial hair was a damn hot turn on.”

  With his fingers running through London’s fringe, pushing the long curls back, Marbell said, “Sorry to disappoint. I don’t really like facial hair on me. I like a clean shave, but I do get lazy from time to time.”

  “Oh, you’re no disappointment,” London assured. “I said beards were my first ‘type’. I’ve had many of them over the years. Like when I was about eighteen until I turned nineteen, I had a huge thing for twinks. God, there was just something so sexy about a small pretty boy who liked to be subjugated to my talents.”

  “What am I, then?” Marbell asked.

  London shook his head, “I’m not putting you into a category. Let’s just say, though, that everything about you makes my dick hard.”

  Marbell threw his head back and laughed, “That’s so nice to know.”

  “Speaking of hard dicks,” London sat up and pulled Marbell to his feet, “Aren’t I supposed to be fucking you right about now?”