Drake sat on Clover’s thighs, so when the boy sat up, they got dangerously close even before he pressed his cheek to Drake’s chest.
“I’m sorry.”
This was so typical. “Your puppy eyes won’t work on me, kid. Real life has consequences. Sometimes, your choices are limited, and you have to play the hand you’ve been dealt or you might as well shoot yourself.”
Clover let out a deep exhale, his face still pressed all too close to Drake’s furiously beating heart. Drake hated himself for not being able to kick the boy to the curb, because if there was an order for him, someone would fulfill it sooner or later. At the rate at which Clover kept making stupid choices, it would be the former.
“And all I’ve got in my hand is my looks,” Clover whispered, his eyes welling up. “I wish I was the cat. I guess you’re the only one who sees how useless I am. Maybe I should just give up and let things take their course. I’ve put you all through so much trouble already, and Tank’s been nothing but kind to me.” The tears dripping down Clover’s cheeks only infuriated Drake.
“For fuck’s sake, get a grip. What, you’re not gonna defend yourself? You’re not gonna plead or beg me to reconsider?” Drake growled, grabbing Clover’s head in both hands. A cold river traveled throughout his body when he remembered the worst of times, but even then, whatever happened, he’d always had hope. He would have never given up. “Someone wants you as their pet. Do you even understand what that means? They will train you for obedience, and you’re shit at that, so it will hurt. They will rape and degrade you. You have no idea of the kind of suffering a human body can endure before it breaks. If you choose that path, you will think back to this moment and regret it one day.”
Clover watched him with those twitchy eyes, and the grooves appearing on the perfect forehead told Drake that his words were sinking in. As much as Drake loathed Clover knowing his secret, he needed him to understand the message. He was freezing and hot all at once but kept up the eye contact.
“Maybe your new master will want to know how a split tongue feels on his dick, so he’ll strap you to a chair and have someone cut it.” Drake opened his mouth and let the two endings of his tongue slide against his teeth. It felt like stripping naked in front of a crowd of strangers, but he presented the mark of his past to Clover with courage, because whatever happened later, the boy needed to understand the stakes.
“Please don’t let them take me,” Clover begged when he finally spoke, and even though Drake had intended to take him back to Tank and gloat that he’d been right all along, he was now at loss over what to do with the boy. “I’m so, so sorry, Drake. I’m not as strong as you. I need the help.”
And for all the resentment Drake had felt for Clover since they’d first met, now he couldn’t bring himself to chastise him further. He’d revealed his secret to make a point, but the truth hung in the air, leaving him with a crack in his armor, and he’d never be invincible against Clover.
“But you can’t stay weak. Being a decent lay isn’t good enough. You can’t just rely on others. We go through a lot of shitty situations, and we can’t afford to always watch out for someone,” Drake uttered, struck by the realization that despite his anger at Clover, despite his mistrust, he so desperately wanted to see him saved. He didn’t want Clover to go through what he had. It was a duality he didn’t know how to take on.
“I can learn if you give me a chance. I… I want to stay. With you. With all of you. It’s the only way I have a shot at being safe.” Clover glanced into Drake’s eyes, and his trembling lips moved. “Please don’t make me leave. I’ve never met guys like you before. You look out for each other.”
Drake took a deep breath, for a moment lost in the hypnotizing gaze. “What would you be willing to learn? Would you kill if necessary?” he asked, but the walls he’d kept so high and so well armed were already crumbling. That was what he’d tried to avoid—getting close enough to fall under Clover’s spell—but now they were touching, and those tearful eyes were looking at him. Drawing him in with the promise that Clover would be willing to learn what was needed, that he wasn’t just giving up his body for protection.
“I don’t want to kill,” Clover whispered, blinking away one last tear. “But I want to be ready. I’m sick of being weak. I’ll never be like Tank, but maybe I can use my size to my advantage. I don’t want to be scared all the time. But I just… I need guidance.”
Drake took a deep breath, giving himself time to assess Clover. Muscle could be built, but the innocent appearance might work to their advantage, even more than Boar’s smiley face. So Clover’s vision wasn’t the greatest, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t learn new tricks. Could he start wearing contacts? Those wouldn’t fall off in a fight. If Clover was being honest, if he really wanted to give this a shot and become more than eye candy for the crew then maybe… maybe this could work.
And the truth was that no matter how distrustful of him Drake had been, faced with the choice, he didn’t want to leave Clover to the wolves. Tank hadn’t done that to him, so maybe it was time to return the favor.
“We support each other and work together without the obligation to fuck,” he heard himself say even as Clover sucked in his perfectly pink lip. “You just need to pull your weight.”
Clover gasped, and the mischievous little smile tugging at his lips promised nothing good was about to come out of his mouth. “Oh, no. I want to keep the sex please.”
Drake uttered a strange sound, staring at Clover’s beautiful face as desire grabbed him by the dick the moment Clover’s gaze turned hot. As if he were about to cook Drake from the inside with telekinesis. “With everyone?” Drake asked, struggling to keep his voice level.
The sparks climbing up his arms and back were impossible to fake. Clover’s breath hitched, and his eyes pinned Drake’s in silent understanding.
“Yes, with everyone,” he whispered. “Please.”
Self-preservation took the backseat in the face of such temptation. Drake hadn’t had sex for a while, and this open invitation after weeks of watching Clover being ravaged was impossible to resist. But Drake had been through way too much to give up without a fight and looked Clover straight in the eye.
“If I find out you’re manipulating me, I will kill you myself. Is that clear?”
Clover swallowed, his gaze relentless as he nuzzled Drake’s jaw. “That’s hot. How scary you can be.”
Drake’s eyes shut, and he kept in the moan that threatened to leave his lips at the delicate touch. “I’ll give you lesson number one then. Don’t let anyone cuff you,” he said and pushed Clover down, one hand in the white hair, the other already opening his own pants.
Clover frowned. “That’s not fair. What kind of lesson is that if you don’t show me how to avoid it?”
But the complaint fell on deaf ears, because they both knew there would be no real lessons until Drake got the relief he’d been craving for weeks. And the cuffs wouldn’t be coming off until then because few things were as hot as Clover bound and helpless.
Drake’s brain shrunk, and the empty space in his skull filled with aphrodisiac. For once, he gave himself permission to touch this perfect boy, and his dick was growing hard so fast he exhaled with relief once it was free of the constraining clothing. “Tap your foot three times if you want me to stop,” he said, clinging to the remainders of his sanity. He pulled the glasses off Clover’s nose to get them out of the way.
Clover’s pupils going wide enough to swallow his blue irises was what arousal was made of. Drake grabbed the rigid length of his cock with one hand, and pressed on Clover’s cheeks with the other. He was sure the boy would open his mouth, but for him, lots of pleasure lay in forcing the lips apart.
The relief of finally getting to rub his cockhead against Clover’s pink flesh was so immense a shiver rolled down his back. He’d never thought it would happen, too wrapped up in his hate for the boy over things he couldn’t help. It wasn’t Clover’s fault that he’d got lucky
, or that Tank had taken him in so eagerly. He didn’t deserve contempt just because he enjoyed sex and wanted safety from the men he slept with.
Clover’s white eyelashes fluttered when Drake sank his dick down into the tight, willing heat of his mouth. There were many scenarios he’d imagined with Clover as the star. Clamps on those candy nipples. A collar attached to a hook, so he’d have to remain on his toes at all times. His peach of an ass taking Drake’s cock.
He didn’t have the brainpower to pace himself now. Everyone had already munched on their chunks of that boy’s pie, and if he wanted one too, he needed to fight for it.
He grabbed Clover’s head with both hands and pushed harder. The gagging noise was music to his ears, but he watched every twitch on Clover’s face, unwilling to miss even a second of the view.
Clover’s eyes watered, and his pink lips became paler as they stretched around the base of Drake’s cock. He would train Clover’s throat as well, if he were to teach the boy other useful things, but for now, he let himself enjoy the desperate contractions around his cock and the silky tongue Clover pushed against the underside of his dick.
Yet despite his eyes welling up, Clover didn’t tap out. He really was a good boy. How had Drake not seen that?
“That’s it, open up,” Drake said, keeping up the pressure until the muscles gave, and his dick slid deeper into the wonderful channel of Clover’s throat. The boy’s eyes were so wide now. They shone with involuntary tears, and his chest shook with the realization that he couldn’t breathe.
Drake’s balls were so tight he might spend embarrassingly soon. But whatever. In this moment, Clover was his and would remain so until he tapped out.
He only pulled his hips back when Clover’s legs began shaking, and watching those pretty saliva-streaked lips gasp for air was like receiving a shot of adrenaline.
As soon as Clover filled his lungs, Drake plunged in again, and even pinched the boy’s nose with his fingers for good measure. Clover whimpered, but that was that. He took the cock again despite his face changing color. His hair lay scattered over the grass, and he shivered from the intensity of their connection, and Drake loved every second the tight hot throat hugged his cock as if milking it already.
Drake was Clover’s life or death now. In this moment, he was the only one who mattered.
The boy gagged, choked, and tears spilled down his temples as Drake fucked his face, time and time again restricting his airflow.
It was too good.
Drake’s orgasm was approaching fast, but he didn’t want to leave Clover without a taste, so he pulled out his dick, leaving the head resting on the soft pillow of the boy’s tongue and watched him sob and suck in the air he so desperately needed.
Sometimes, he thought it was a perverse thing that out of all the sexual needs one might have, this was what got him off, but it didn’t matter when he had such a willing partner, so he grabbed his cock and jerked off, gaze focused on that beautifully ruined face. “You want this, slut?”
Clover’s eyes were a blur of tears, but his pupils focused on Drake’s cockhead. “I’ve wanted it for a long time,” he rasped, rocking his hips helplessly.
Drake’s head exploded with heat. He couldn’t wait for some downtime to put the boy to use. Tease him naked and leave him hanging for hours in restraints. Whether Clover liked it or not didn’t need to be considered when it only happened in Drake’s head.
He came, and when his cum painted white lines on Clover’s tongue, pleasure reached its peak. Drake watched Clover take the abuse to not only swallow his release but even lick his lips, as if it had been the best load he’d ever had.
They watched one another for a long stretch of time that left Drake craving more, but now wasn’t the right moment. He tucked himself in and hauled Clover to his feet, happy to see the bulge at the front of those skinny jeans.
Clover arched for a kiss and tried to rub himself against Drake’s thigh like a horny puppy, but Drake pulled him back by the hair, still panting.
“Lesson two, patience. I will let you come in the evening but if I find out you jerked off before that, training is over, understood?”
Despite having just come down that sexy throat, saying those words sent Drake on a power trip. The look of dread on Clover’s face only made it better.
“But… what? Evening?” he whimpered, rocking his hips in the air.
If Drake had the time for it, he would have put a vibrating plug up Clover’s ass for good measure and cuffed him to one of the branches. Another time.
“Evening,” he agreed and grabbed Clover’s shoulder, directing him toward the road.
He felt like a new man.
Chapter 16 – Clover
Clover was shell-shocked after going from sheer panic, to arousal, to peace within the span of half an hour. He still tasted Drake’s cum after the rough face-fuck, and his knees remained wobbly, but Drake was a steady presence next to him, leading Clover through the beautiful woods. He had his hand entangled in the long hair at the back of Clover’s head and used it as a leash while Clover struggled with the fear that if he stumbled, the hold on his mane would be the only thing keeping him from breaking his neck.
Because Drake hadn’t removed the cuffs.
Yet Clover had no doubt about his actual safety. Drake had finally broken, and he’d chosen to act on the instincts that must have been tearing him apart for quite some time, because when he had acted, he hadn’t hesitated.
Tank could be rough sometimes, and hold Clover’s neck, but Drake took that to a whole new level. Controlled, calculating, he’d restricted Clover’s airflow, and Clover was still stunned with just how much he’d enjoyed the thrill of it in safe hands.
They walked back to the road in silence. Clover was still stunned by what he’d found out about Drake’s past. Terrifying, real horrors which hit too close to home. But knowing what kind of thing Drake had survived made him all the more impressive in Clover’s eyes. The man had gone through the pit of Hell, but he’d emerged strong, capable, and proficient.
Clover wanted to be like that too. He wanted to learn, to gain skills, which might be crucial for his survival one day. He wouldn’t be the mouse.
After ten minutes of walking, they heard their names called. Drake touched his curved palm to his lips, creating half a tube, and shouted back. “We’re coming. I have Clover.”
So maybe it wasn’t much, but the fact that his name had been called out along with Drake’s made his chest warm and his gait steadier as they approached the road, but that fizzled out the moment he spotted blood-covered fingers.
A dead body lay in the sparse grass. Clover’s lungs ached, and he tried to speed up to avoid seeing it in too much detail, but the hold Drake had on his head was merciless.
“You wanted to be prepared. That’s how you can start,” he said softly, steering Clover toward the bloodstained form sprawled between trees.
Clover had gotten a glimpse at Riggs’s corpse and had witnessed Drake killing the three people who had attacked them before, but this felt different. Despite the nausea rising in his throat, he didn’t fight Drake’s hold on his hair and looked.
The man must have been killed by the explosion. The side of his face was covered by dark burns, and the impact had embedded small rocks in skin. One of the man’s eyes was still open, staring lifelessly at the sky while the other drooped into the burned flesh.
But as if that hasn’t been enough horror, Clover noticed a hand laying in the grass, separate from the body. It still clutched a gun, as if it were to come to life and attack him even though it was no longer attached. He whimpered and took a step back, only to bump into Drake whose slim form wouldn’t budge. Clover took a deep breath that smelled of smoke and meat. This was just a body. No matter how scary it looked, it couldn’t hurt him, and he wouldn’t allow it to haunt his dreams. This man, who’d come here for him, to hunt him down as if Clover were a white fox good for only his pelt, didn’t deserve his pity. If anything, the be
autiful woods were too good of a place for him to die.
“See how his head is caved in?” Drake asked, taking his hand out of Clover’s mane and resting it behind his back, as if despite the harshness of this lesson he still wanted to provide some emotional support. “This might not have killed him right away. But the massive blood loss? I think that’s how he went. Just take a good look.”
Clover swallowed, his whole body going numb. “When did you kill someone for the first time?”
Drake remained still, but eventually he started scratching Clover’s nape gently as they watched red stains in the moss and on a lush fern that obscured the torn arm. “One of my owners wanted to get rid of this client. They had me poison him. I was... I don’t know. Maybe twelve.”
Clover choked up and pressed his body against Drake. The cuffed hands were even more of an obstruction now, because he longed to give him a hug. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend what Drake had been through. His own problems felt so petty in comparison.
Clover had always considered he could slide through life with enough lies and manipulation, but now he could see that if he wanted more than hiding until the end of his days, he would need to change. He wasn’t a rat to scuttle into dark corners. He was sick of tiptoeing around predators and feeding on their leftovers. If he wanted to become more like the beasts around him, he would have to stare into death’s eyes without fear.
So he watched the still body, and didn’t even blink anymore, taking in the sight.
Drake pulled Clover away from the corpse, still keeping him close. “I’d rather you didn’t mention any of what I told you about my past to the guys,” he said in his usual way, barely opening his mouth. Clover had gotten used to it, but now that he knew Drake was hiding his tongue, Clover’s heart broke for him.
He shook his head. “I won’t. I wouldn’t. I’d never.”
Drake petted his hair. “‘Never’ is a big word. People can be pushed further than they think, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
Their Bounty (Dark Gay Harem Contemporary Romance) (Four Mercenaries Book 1) Page 19