by Sean Michael
Doc opened his mouth and Bake glared. No. They needed to believe and to bring Dare back.
Doc shook his head but didn't say anything, and Bake squeezed Dev's shoulder again. Dare moaned, eyes fluttering, hands shifting on the sheets.
"Did you see that? Look, Dev. He's in there."
"Dare. Dare, please. You need to wake up."
"That's it. Talk to him, boy, convince him to come back to us."
"Guys, when he wakes up, he may still be hallucinating."
Bake looked at Doc and sighed. "Okay. We'll keep that in mind. And pray it doesn't happen."
"Okay. I'm going to see if I can't find him a room now. You two be quiet in here."
"We will. Quiet as mice."
He nodded his thanks to Doc and then turned back to his boys. His life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They were in a room, finally. Dare had woken up a couple of times, babbled, then gone back to sleep. It was driving Dev crazy. He wasn't going to sleep, though. He wasn't ever going to sleep again. He sat at the side of the bed, holding Dare's hand.
"Lie down with him," Bake suggested, hands landing on his shoulders.
"I don't want to scare him." He wasn't going to rest.
"Since when is you lying down with him scary? Come on." Bake helped him stretch out carefully on the bed.
"Wake up, Dare. I don't want to sleep ever again. I just want to talk to you."
"You can't give up sleep altogether, Dev." Bake's hands moved to his shoulders to rub.
"I can, too." His head hurt so bad.
Fingers digging into his muscles, Bake shook his head. "You don't have to do that."
His eyelids got heavy. "I'm never sleeping again. I'm protecting Dare."
"I'm right here, boy. I'll protect you both while you sleep together." Bake dropped a kiss on the top of his head.
"Not sleeping. Not ever." He petted Dare's belly.
"He wakes up and you're half dead from exhaustion and he'll be pissed."
"But he'll be awake."
Bake's touch was maddening, relaxing him bone deep.
"Put your head down and go to sleep, Dare. I swear to God, if you don't wake up the second he does, I will wake you." Bake kept massaging him, easing him.
"I don't want to sleep..." He yawned, wrapped one hand around Dare's middle.
Bake snorted, but those hands kept working on him.
"Dare. Dare, you gotta wake up. I need you. I'm going to take care..." He yawned, blinked hard. "...care of you."
"Of course you are. But he needs to get that crap out of his system. He needs to get well. Sleep while he does, because you'll need your energy to take care of him." Bake voice was low, sweet.
"I love you." He was talking to both of them.
Bake's lips slid over his temple. "I love you, too, sweet boy."
"I want him all better." His eyes filled with tears.
"I know. He will be. We just have to give him time." Soft kisses landed on his head.
"Promise?"
"I promise, boy. You hear me? I promise."
He nodded.
He nodded and he believed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Monsters!"
Jesus, Darius was screaming again. It was Clay's turn to sit with the twins, let Bake shower, sleep, eat something. It was going on the third day, and the doctors were beginning to worry. He'd called home, let everyone know, but none of them could afford to fly out (thank God), and Mom trusted him to take care.
"Monsters!"
"Jesus, Dare. Shut up. There aren't any monsters."
There was a growl from the doorway, Bake coming in. "I want to know when these damn hallucinations are going to stop."
"You and me both. Dev's starting to look like a ghost. And Dare's..." The man had lost his mind.
"Hush now. They're both going to be fine." Bake had been saying that and saying that. He wasn't sure if the man really believed it anymore or if he did honestly think he could make it that way by sheer fucking will.
Dare's eyes popped open. "Clay? Clay?"
"Yeah, Darius. You in there?"
"Oh, God. You have to help me. There's somebody that wants to hurt Devvy."
Dev's eyes opened. "Dare?"
Bake stepped up to them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Boys. It's okay. You're together and you're both safe. The monster is in jail, Dare. He can't touch either of you."
Darius blinked, frowned. "Bake? Bake, what's going on?"
"Hey, Dare." Bake smiled down at a suddenly much more coherent seeming Darius. "You remember going in to quit for Dev?"
Darius frowned, shook his head. "My head hurts."
"Yeah, he gave you stuff. He thought he had Dev." Bake stroked Dare's head, the big guy looking worried and gentle.
"I. There are monsters in the flowers. Monsters to bite Devvy."
"We got the monsters, Dare. You and Dev are safe, I swear it."
Clay stepped forward, met Darius' eyes. "Brother, you gotta breathe, man. You're in the hospital, huh? That fucker drugged you and made you see shit."
"You're okay now, Dare. Both of you." Bake squeezed Dare's shoulder.
Dare looked at Bake's hand, took a shaky breath. "I'm not Dev."
"I know. You're Dare. I can tell my boys apart."
"Yeah? Even now? He thought..." Dare started crying, freaking out, and Clay just couldn't deal anymore.
He backed off. "I'm going to talk to Bean, man. Update him."
"Go, man." Bake was already gathering Dare close. "Always, spicy boy. I will always be able to tell you apart."
Clay hit the door, heading for the waiting room, the elevator. Bean was dealing with work shit, keeping real life afloat. Clay got outside, dialed, wanting to hear his lover's voice.
"'Lo?"
"He made sense for a couple of sentences."
"Oh, Clay, that's great." He could hear the caring in Bean's voice.
"Yeah. Hopefully, it'll just get better." He was ready to be home.
"I sure hope so. This has been so hard on everybody." Bean's voice lowered. "I miss you so much."
"I hear you. You tell Bake you were moving in with me, babe?"
"Yeah, yeah, I did. It's all kosher. I just didn't want to go get my stuff in the middle of this crap, you know?"
"Yeah, that would be weird." He leaned back against the wall. "I'm going to have to go get some work done this afternoon, then I might go for a long run, if Dare's stable."
"You want some company?" Bean sounded eager.
"God, yes." More than anything.
"Cool. Pick me up at Bake's place at six?"
"Yeah, babe." He smiled. "I'll call if shit goes weird."
"I hope it doesn't. I could really use some you time."
Clay nodded. "I hear you. I just want to... shit, I'd be happy to fucking hold you on the motherfucking couch."
"That sounds like heaven. We could watch a movie, fall asleep in each other's arms. Wake up and fuck six ways to Sunday."
"Please, God." The raw need in his voice embarrassed him.
"Yeah. It's been too damn long."
He swallowed hard, nodded. "Yeah, babe."
"I want you to take me to bed and fuck me senseless."
"Okay. I'm on it." He grinned, thumping his cock a little to encourage it to be good.
"Yeah? I don't suppose there's time for a quickie..."
"Nope. But I want you at home tonight. For hours."
Bean moaned for him, the sound wanton and hungry as fuck. "Yes. Please. God. I'm going to have to hide out from the McDermotts for a couple minutes if I don't want to embarrass myself."
"I'll pick you up at six. Be ready for me."
"Oh, fuck. Yes, I will be. All of me."
"Yeah. Be good, babe. Work hard."
He didn't wait for Bean's goodbye; he just clicked off and headed back into the hospital. It was time for Dare to get better, damn it. He had a life to live.
***
Bea
n was almost vibrating. He'd gotten the good news from Clay and then Bake -- oh, Dare hadn't made a sudden full recovery, but he'd been awake and coherent for a short while. That was a good thing.
An even better thing was that Clay was coming to get him, and he was all ready for his man. Like completely ready. For anything. All he needed now was Clay himself.
That familiar truck pulled up, Clay smiling over at him.
It made him so happy he laughed as he climbed into the passenger seat. He leaned over, not even thinking about buckling up yet. "Hey, lover."
"Hey, babe." Clay's hand wrapped around the back of his head and dragged him closer.
He opened his mouth wide as their lips met, inviting Clay in. Clay kissed him like the world was coming to an end, like there was magic happening. He wasn't a hundred percent sure about the magic, but there was definitely something happening in his pants.
Clay pulled back, breathing hard. "Home, now."
"Yes, please. God." He made himself slide back to the other side of the cab and put on his seat belt. "Fast. But don't get stopped for speeding."
"I'm on it. I want you." Clay was already growling.
Jesus fuck, his cock was trying to break out of his jeans, pushing hard against his zipper. Clay didn't talk to him, just drove, eyes on the road. Bean could smell heat. He tried not to make it harder on Clay, but he couldn't stop the occasional whimper or moan.
They pulled into the driveway, and Clay got out of the truck, heading for the house. He climbed out, nearly tripping, slammed the truck door, and ran after the man, not an easy feat given how hard he was. Clay got the keys out, the door open.
Bean all but barreled the man into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. Fuck, he wanted.
"Get your clothes off, babe. Once I start touching, you're mine."
He'd never stripped so fast in his life. He almost had cloth burn from getting his clothes off so fast. Clay was as hungry -- boots, jeans, shirt, hat -- they all went flying. When he and Clay came together, it was all hot flesh and eager kisses, their teeth clicking together. Clay gathered him up, held him close, gave him all that muscled body to rub on.
"Fuck," he muttered into Clay's mouth. "Fuck."
"You ready?"
"Fuck, yes. For anything you want." He'd slicked himself up good, wanting so badly.
"Fuck, babe. What did I do to deserve you?" Clay turned him, pressed him against the wall, and lined up, cockhead nudging his hole.
He spread a little wider and pushed back. "Don't know, don't care, just fuck me." Please.
"Forever." Jesus. Jesus, that sounded like a promise. Almost as big of a promise as that cock felt like, pressing into his body.
"Yes. Fuck." He pushed back eagerly, Clay's cock the most perfect thing ever.
Clay didn't say anything else; that fat prick just slammed inside him, working him hard.
"Fuck. Yes. Please." He just kept throwing out words, moaning and groaning.
Clay buried his face in Bean's throat, the breath hot, damp where it pushed on his skin. It was just what he wanted, just what he needed after days with barely even seeing Clay. Clay pistoned inside him, slamming in and out, in and out. It felt so fucking good.
Bean wrapped his hand around his cock, jacking in time to Clay's thrusts.
"Mine." Clay grunted, bit his throat.
"Yours. All fucking yours." God, he wanted to come.
"Come on my cock, babe. Then we'll find a bed and do it again. And again. Gonna make your ass sing."
"Fuck yes!" He shouted, his cock jerking hard in his hand as he came all over Clay's wall.
Clay grunted, forehead on his neck. "Gonna. Babe..."
He bore down, wanting to make it as good as he could for Clay. Clay froze, and Bean swore he could feel the condom filling, his lover crying out against his skin.
Groaning, he collapsed against the wall. "Fuck, Clay. It's good to see you."
"Fuck, yeah. Gonna see more of you."
"Uh-huh. Soon as we can get my stuff moved in..."
"Not tonight."
"No, tonight we're busy." Clay'd promised his ass would sing.
"Yes. Tonight we're going to fuck."
He laughed and nodded, forehead leaning against the wall. "Yes, please."
Clay gathered him up, held him close. "Fucking A."
He wrapped his arms around Clay's neck and nodded. "Yeah."
Chapter Twenty-Four
They were everywhere. Monsters in the flowers. Monsters under the cars. Monsters under the bed and in the closet. Dare ran from them, stumbling through hallways, trying to figure out where he was. Over and over, they whispered Dev's name, and he wanted to scream at them, tell them he wasn't Devvy. He wasn't. But every time his mouth opened, guilt pummeled him.
"When you're better, I'm going to take the two of you to one of those spa deals, and we're going to have a Jacuzzi and massages and all sorts of pampering, and I'm going to pound your ass into the mattress, remind you that you're my spicy boy." The voice pushed through the monsters.
He frowned, looking around. He knew that voice. That was safety. "Can you see me? Can you help me?"
"Dare? I'm right here, spicy boy. You're safe now."
"You saw the monsters?" He took a deep breath, shook himself a little. "Am I dreaming?"
"You were drugged. That man drugged you. There was a monster, but he's gone now."
He opened his eyes. "Can I have some orange juice? I'm so thirsty."
Bake beamed at him. "Of course you can."
"Thank you." His head ached, but it was better, being awake. "Where's Devvy?"
Another smile, and Bake nodded his head. "Look to your right."
There was Dev, curled up next to him.
"Dev."
Dev's eyes popped open. "Dare." Those hands found his cheek. "How are you?"
"My head hurts. You look tired."
"You've been out of it for awhile," Bake told him, squeezing his hand.
"He didn't hurt you, though." The monster hadn't hurt Devvy.
Devvy sighed. "They took my blood. He'd been drugging me. You saved my life."
"You did good, Dare." Bake sounded so proud of him.
"I just..." He didn't want to think about it. "What happened?"
"You went in to quit for Devvy, and Mike pumped you full of drugs, kidnapped you. He tried to make us believe Dev was running away with him, but given Dev was at home..." Bake shook his head. "If you hadn't gone in, we wouldn't have figured it out in time. You saved Devin."
"He..." Dare shook his head. "My head hurts."
"You're dehydrated and probably hungry. You've been out of it for days. I'll call the nurse, see what she can do for you."
"Can I go home?" Nurse? No, he couldn't afford this.
"We'd love that, wouldn't we, Dev?"
Devvy nodded. "Now, Bake?"
Bake looked at him and at Dev. "If you can stand, I'll take you home."
"Okay." He took Dev's hands, squeezed them. "Scoot off the bed. I want to go home."
Devvy nodded. "You be careful. You haven't eaten in a long time. Watch the IV deal."
"We'll need to take that out," Bake noted.
"You can't do that!" Dev sounded scandalized. "You're not a doctor!"
"So we're going to walk out of here with the IV still in him?"
Dare rolled his eyes, grabbed the needle, and yanked it out. Oh. Ow. And also, dude. Blood. Lots of blood.
"Shit." Bake grabbed his arm and pushed a couple of tissues against it.
Dev stood up, eyes huge, cheeks pale. "Dare. Dare. I. Should I push the button?"
"Not if you want to go." Bake grabbed Dev with his free hand. "It's all right, sweet boy. Let's sit a minute, let the bleeding stop, and see if Dare can make it to his feet so we can go home. If he can't, we'll call the nurse and tell her I accidentally caught it on my watch and it got pulled out."
