by R. Cayden
Lawrence gasped as they pulled him down the gray, empty hallway. “You’re letting me go?”
The larger man snickered. “Sorry, kid. The boss has a reputation. What would it look like, if he didn’t follow up on his threats?”
Lawrence’s blood chilled. He tried to struggle, but the men held him tightly by his biceps and jerked him painfully as they dragged him through another door. They stepped into what looked like the interior of a large storage facility or a small warehouse, and when Lawrence jerked his head over his shoulder to look back, he saw the big, boxy room they were dragging him away from, sitting in the middle of the concrete floor.
They tossed Lawrence to the ground. The smaller guard stared at him intensely, but the bigger man turned immediately away. “I’m getting my cigarettes and whiskey from the truck,” he called over his shoulder. “Boss is supposed to call with the last go-ahead in twenty. I’ll be back once I hear from him.” When he hit the door at the end of the building, sunlight flashed inside.
Lawrence turned to the remaining guard. His beard was thick, and his eyes narrowed, making it hard to read his expression. He opened his vest, then pulled out a handgun, which he held loosely while he continued burning his eyes into Lawrence.
Still on his knees and scared to stand, Lawrence swallowed. Raiden and Cash hadn’t heard his heart calling out, but what would they do, if they were trapped like Lawrence? He thought about the self-defense lessons Raiden had taught him and the sly way Cash would talk other people into doing exactly what he wanted them to do.
Lawrence remembered the way the absent guard had made fun of his captor, joking that he had a crush on Lawrence. Knowing they only had a few minutes to act, he acted fast. He rose shakily to his feet, thought of the guys to gather all the strength he had, and batted his eyes. “Are you really going to shoot me?”
The man finally looked away from Lawrence for a second. He adjusted his grip on the gun, then snarled, “Don’t try anything cute.”
Lawrence folded his hands behind his back. They were all so intent on calling him a slut and judging him. Maybe he could weaponize their ignorance and use it against them? “If I’m going to die, can I at least have a request first?”
“We don’t give out Snickers bars or last meals, kid. Keep your mouth shut.”
“Can I blow you?” Lawrence said quickly. He sucked his lip in and tried to ignore how dry his mouth suddenly felt. “I’ll be really quick and good, and I’ll finish before you friend gets back.”
The man laughed but not with any kindness. He grabbed his crotch and adjusted himself, leering at Lawrence. “You faeries only think about one thing, don’t you?”
“Is that a yes?” Lawrence asked sweetly. He did his best to play into every one of the guard’s ignorant assumptions about him, knowing that he’d have to seem weak and pathetic if he were going to pull the thing off.
The man laughed again, then stepped forward, rubbing his hard cock. He glanced at the door, then flicked his fly open. “Just don’t make any noise, slut,” he growled.
The man kept the gun in his hand, and Lawrence watched it from the corner of his eyes as he stepped forward, then fell to his knees. He waited until the man shoved his hand down his boxers, so terrified and disgusted he felt like he was going to puke. But he had to try something, anything, and at the last possible minute, Lawrence jerked his arm back, then dropped a hard blow across the man’s knee, pounding down and sideways just like Raiden had taught him.
The man howled with pain as his knee collapsed, and Lawrence spun as fast as he could, landing a blow to his ankle at the opposite angle. When the guard collapsed backward, Lawrence took the opportunity to wrench the gun out of his hand, then sprint toward the door. The steel was cold in his clammy hand, and he couldn’t hear anything but the rush of blood in his ears and the distant howl of pain. Terrified, he yanked the door open, stumbling into the light, then tripped over something hard.
The gun went flying and skidded across grass, and Lawrence scrambled, only to look up and see the other guard, leering down and pointing a handgun straight in his face. “You little shit,” he grumbled. They were on some cleared land, surrounded by old maple and hemlock trees, with nothing else around but a truck, parked by the dirt road that dead-ended in the clearing.
Lawrence glanced at the gun he’d dropped, but it was too far. Even with everything his kidnappers had claimed about his guys, still, all he wanted was to see Cash and Raiden and to be held in their arms one last time. “You’re a monster,” he spat out. “And you work for assholes.”
The man laughed, then cocked his gun. “Any last words? We could make it real slow and real painful, if that’s what you want.”
Lawrence squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to think of something happy, something to bring with him through whatever happened next. The first night he’d slept over at Cash’s house came back to him, when it felt like the world was opening up and anything was possible with the two guys. He tried to remember the way the light came through the windows in the morning and cast shadows across their sleeping bodies.
A soft whooshing noise passed by his ear, making Lawrence yelp and wince, and a second later, the man gasped. Lawrence opened his eyes, and the man was stumbling to the side, one hand on his neck and a delirious look in his eyes.
“Oh, oh…” he growled, then collapsed to the ground like a bag of flour.
Lawrence gasped. He looked around, but the day was silent. Panicked and confused, he scrambled for the gun, then took off in a dead sprint for the trees.
“Lawrence, wait!”
Raiden and Cash emerged from the woods, each running toward him. Lawrence was shocked, but he didn’t slow down. He just kept running, gasping ragged breath, until the men caught him and held his weight. “It’s you,” he cried. “It’s really you.”
“It’s us,” Raiden whispered. “You’re safe.”
Cash pulled back, a strange plastic gun in his hand. “Do you know if there’s anyone else here?”
“Another guard,” Lawrence said, gesturing to the large storage shed. “I hit his knee and his ankle, but I ran away before I could see how badly he was hurt.”
Immediately, Cash was off like a bolt of lightning to the shed. He yanked the door open, pointed the gun, and then seemed to fire his weapon, even though it didn’t make a bang. When he turned back with a nod, Raiden took Lawrence’s face in his hands and pulled his eyes up. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Did they hurt you, Lawrence?”
Lawrence shook his head. Tears were streaming down his face, and he could barely process what had happened. “They just kept me locked up,” he said. “I don’t know who they were, but they knew both of you, and they swore you weren’t coming.” His voice cracked, and he threw his arms around Raiden, holding him tight. “They kept saying you weren’t coming,” he repeated, nearing a sob.
Cash returned and wrapped his arms around Lawrence from behind. The warm feeling enveloped him from all sides, like a barrier between Lawrence and the scary world. “We’re here, sweetheart. We’re here.”
“There’s a lot to fill you in on,” Raiden said. “But for now, let’s get you somewhere safe.”
Cash caught his breath. “Where are we?”
“A small property owned by your father’s colleague, Mackey,” Cash answered. “We pinned the kidnapping on him.”
“Mr. Mackey?” Lawrence asked as he stepped back, needing to see each of their faces and their hazel eyes. “This is his place?”
Cash nodded. “There’s been a power grab behind the scenes at Horizon Zed. Once Raiden helped me put the pieces together, we pinned it on Mackey. Since yesterday, we’ve been hitting every property attached to him, one at a time.”
“We’re in Pennsylvania,” Raiden nodded. “But there’s time for all of that later. For now, let’s get you out of here. The guards will be passed out for a while, but that doesn’t mean the site is safe. More thugs could show up at any minute.”
Lawrence’s hands began to tremble. �
�I was just so scared,” he whispered. “And they said that Cash was working for the men who kidnapped me.”
There was a slight pause. Then Raiden took Lawrence gently by the chin and met his gaze. “Hey, don’t you worry. Cash is a good man, and we’re both here for you, Lawrence. Now come on. It’s a bit of a hike back to the car, and we’re all going to breathe a little better once you’re safe.”
Raiden took one of Lawrence’s hands, and Cash took the other. Lawrence nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Raiden drove the car down quiet backroads while Cash sat in the back with Lawrence. They had water and snacks for him, and after only a few minutes, Lawrence laid down across the seats, his head in Cash’s lap while Cash softly stroked his hair. The further they got away from the storage shed, the more Lawrence was able to relax, until finally he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, like he had just run a marathon and then eaten several plates of pasta.
When he finally woke up, they were pulling the car through a large iron gate. It was dark, and the stars disappeared and reappeared as they rolled under the canopy of old trees. As Lawrence groggily pulled himself up, he saw the headlights sweep across a single-story brick house with a detached garage.
“Sorry we couldn’t bring you home,” Raiden said, glancing back at Lawrence through the rearview mirror. “We didn’t think any of our places were safe. My boss offered up his hideaway. We’ll be good here as long as you need.”
Lawrence nodded, and as they climbed out of the car and unloaded themselves into the little house, he slowly crawled out of his sleep and back into consciousness. He chugged water, and Raiden fried up some eggs and vegetables from the fridge, which Lawrence wolfed down so quickly he barely tasted them. The house was largely undecorated, with just some basic furniture scattered on the carpeted floor, but the unfamiliar setting didn’t matter. As long as he was with his guys, Lawrence was comfortable and safe.
Cash drew a hot bath, and the guys slowly undressed him together, lowered him into the steaming water, and sat on the edge of the bathtub while they washed him. The trickling warm water down his neck relaxed Lawrence, and the gentle touch of the men positioning and bathing him sent trembles of pleasure across his skin. Once they dried him with a fluffy white towel and dressed him in a fresh pair of briefs and a T-shirt, he finally let his guard all the way down and had a long and serious cry.
Finally, back in the living room, they gave Lawrence the full story. None of it was surprising, although it all made him sick to his stomach. For years, Lawrence had watched his father and his colleagues play vicious power games with each other, climbing the ranks at Horizon no matter what it took. A year ago, they learned one of the CEO spots would be opening, and the battle for the promotion had played out as the executives developed Horizon’s proprietary brand of cell phone and tablet, set to take the market by storm.
Once Lawrence heard the way his father had come out on top of the project and almost secured himself the promotion, he’d nearly vomited, all of his worst suspicions confirmed. Manufacturing the phones required a rare mineral, coltan, and his father had pulled together a small coalition of crooked politicians, military men, and global business powers to steal that mineral at any costs. While most people knew about so-called blood diamonds, not as many understood that their cell phones also relied on conflict minerals and that men like his father pulled the strings to fund violent insurrections, arm oppressive regimes, and exacerbate existing conflicts, all in the name of ensuring a secure supply line.
At least Lawrence could take some small pleasure in knowing his father’s nasty plan failed. While he was committing war crimes from the board room, his colleague, Mr. Mackey, played a whole different game. He’d hired some mafia types to take his colleagues down and ensure himself the CEO position. They disgraced Mr. Peterson months ago, apparently by exploiting his son Seb, a guy Lawrence had met a few times and remembered fondly. Lawrence felt sick to his stomach when Raiden and Cash explained that the three of them had completed Mr. Mackey’s dirty work for him when they took out Mr. Rios. That left only Lawrence’s father, and with a rapidly shrinking timeline and the coltan deal ready to be finalized in Panama, Mr. Mackey had made his move and snatched Lawrence.
There was so much more, information that made Lawrence’s head spin. Cash had started off working for Reed, the man who kidnapped him, and Raiden’s security agency had been fighting Mr. Mackey’s plots for the past year without knowing it. But Lawrence only cared that the three of them were safe and together again. They heard his heart crying out and saved him, and that truth was stronger than any other.
“You came for me,” he said softly. He was curled up in the bed, with Raiden and Cash sitting on either side of him. The windows were cracked, and he could hear the sounds of the woods at night and the wind passing through the trees. “Thank you for coming for me.”
Raiden and Cash glanced at each other. A sly smile played on Cash’s lips, and Raiden grinned back. “Of course we did, sweetheart,” Raiden answered. “We need each other. And we love you.”
“We really do,” Cash said. “We love you, Lawrence, just like we love each other.”
Tears gathered in the corners of Lawrence’s eyes, but he didn’t try to hide the emotions surging through him. “I love you,” he said with trembling breath as he pulled himself to his elbows. “I love you Raiden, and I love you, Cash. I really do.”
The guys took him in their arms. Raiden’s hand found the back of Lawrence’s head, his fingers playing through the curls, and Cash kissed softly and sweetly along Lawrence’s neck.
“You’re our guy,” Raiden said with raspy breath.
Tears streaming silently down his cheeks, Lawrence met them in a shared kiss. Their hands lifted and supported his body. He could feel the difference between their touches, like the way Cash’s spry fingers danced along the small of his back and the pressure of Raiden’s thick thumb, swiping over his nipple. Deep inside of Lawrence, pleasure grew, a warmth spreading out to replace the horrible feelings and make him whole again.
Lawrence pressed his hands against Raiden’s sides and tugged up on his hoodie. “I want you both,” he whimpered. “Show me that I’m yours.”
Cash took in a sharp breath. “Anything,” he said as he pulled himself up and tugged Raiden’s sweatshirt the rest of the way off. “Anything and everything.”
Together, the three men removed each other’s clothes, one item at a time. Lawrence melted as they each kissed at his thighs, then tugged his T-shirt off. His hard cock strained against his tight white briefs, and when Raiden slowly unbuttoned Cash’s shirt, Lawrence traced his fingers down each man’s back, pawing at their bare skin.
Naked and on his back, Lawrence looked up to the men he loved. They were suddenly so familiar to him, and he realized that he knew every scar on Cash’s body and the curls of the flames tattooed up Raiden’s wrists. The way Raiden’s throat stretched when he swallowed, the soft blonde hair of Cash’s thighs, the scent of all three men together—Lawrence gave himself into the pleasure of it all.
Cash took Lawrence’s cock in his hand and fondled it, massaging up and down his length. Lawrence gasped as Cash slicked him with precum. Raiden stretched himself out on the bed, lifted Lawrence’s legs, and let his hot breath play across Lawrence’s crease. That alone was enough to make his hole clench, and when Raiden pressed his tongue between Lawrence’s cheeks with a long lick, the pressure made Lawrence’s cock twitch.
He whimpered when Cash took his nipple, pinching it while he stroked Lawrence’s cock. Raiden’s stubble burned pleasantly across Lawrence’s most tender spots. His tongue thrust past Lawrence’s entrance, and Lawrence rode his hips down, yearning for that pleasure to reach deep.
“You feel good, sweetheart?” Cash asked gently.
“Uh-huh,” Lawrence answered, nodding and gasping as Cash thumbed his slit. “I want more.”
Raiden growled, then pulled back from rimming Lawrence. “You taste good.”
“I have,” Cash nodded.
Raiden nodded too. “Right before I started the security job.”
The desire flaring in Lawrence burned to the surface. He grabbed at Cash’s hard cock, thick in his hand. He couldn’t wait any longer; he just needed to erase the last boundaries between them, to know with his whole body what his heart had been telling him all along. “You first?” he asked Cash with tight breath.
Cash inched closer as he grabbed Lawrence’s cheeks, squeezing them just right. “You want it slow, Lawrence?”
“Fast,” Lawrence gasped, his hole clenching. “I want to feel you both and nothing else.”
Raiden brought them lube, then took up a position to the side, stroking his fat cock while he watched them. Cash entered Lawrence with his fingers at first and spread the lube generously, but Lawrence felt too needy to wait. Driving his hips down, he stretched himself out, then used his legs to tug Cash forward. Cash fell with a laugh, but almost instantly, Lawrence wrapped his legs around his hips, and Cash found the spot as his crown pushed past Lawrence’s rim.
The full, tight feeling stretched Lawrence from the inside, the pleasure pounding deeper and deeper into him as Cash thrust his hips, steady at first and then faster. Closing his eyes, Lawrence grabbed Raiden’s hand with both of his, then held his boyfriend’s palm against his chest. Desire and pleasure throbbed together, and as Cash and Raiden whispered sweet compliments, Lawrence rode his building orgasm.
His body trembled and quaked. His cock slapped against his abs, and even though he felt the rise and fall of release, he didn’t ejaculate. He just kept riding the pleasure Cash gave him, steadied by Raiden’s hand on his heartbeat, until Cash finally cried out, and his warm release filled Lawrence from the inside.
Lawrence whimpered, cum leaking from his hole while Cash gasped his breath, still buried deep. Vibrating with pleasure, Lawrence pulled Cash down for a greedy kiss. When they released each other, he turned to Raiden, who was smiling down with pride.
