Their Bounty (Dark Gay Harem Contemporary Romance) (Four Mercenaries Book 1)

by K. A. Merikan

  Drake snorted but complied and put Clover back on the ground. But while Clover’s feet were steady, the rest of his body was not, and he wobbled, his head spinning from the effort.

  “Go on then. Run,” Drake said, jumping up to grab the thick branch of a tree above. His arms flexed, and he started pulling himself up in a steady rhythm, with muscles rolling under his newly tanned skin.

  What.

  Clover looked around, but with the trees growing all around the lake, they were pretty well hidden. A grin stretched his lips. He stepped closer to Drake and wrapped his arms around the angular hips. The fresh, citrusy scent of Drake’s cologne and the hint of tobacco he always carried about him was now overcome by the musky aroma of fresh sweat, and Clover leaned in, greedy to taste him. The droplets were sweet on his tongue when licked off the pronounced stomach muscles. “What if I rather stay back?”

  Fuck, did Drake taste good. Even his sweat was fragrant.

  Clover let out a groan of excitement when Drake’s legs wrapped around Clover’s chest in return. Would he be able to stay hanging from a branch like that while being sucked off?

  Clover’s fantasies were cut short when Drake tightened his hold. Veins bulged on his neck, when his entire body stiffened and Clover’s feet lifted off the ground. Clover’s heart sped up, but before he could have as much as attempted to lean in for a breathless kiss, Drake twisted and let go of Clover, dropping him to the dirt.

  The battle to touch Drake without restraints was an uphill one.

  But Clover wasn’t about to give up. He rose, wiped the dust off his jogging bottoms, and circled the tree to reach a lower branch. He was still working on his pull-ups, but he could climb things if he found leverage for his feet.

  Drake’s body continued going up and down even though his fingers paled from lifting the weight, but he didn’t check his pulse on his activity watch nor look at the shimmering lake. No. He kept glancing at Clover, as if he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to make his interest obvious or not.

  “You’re fast.”

  Clover grinned at the compliment, which only made him want to try harder. He loved every second he got to spend in Drake’s presence, and he was proud that while Drake trusted the other mercenaries, Clover doubted he’d discuss his past with them. That one time he spoke to Clover about it made Clover feel special. Drake liked joking around with Pyro or spending time with Boar. Tank knew him longest, but their relationship was nothing like the budding closeness he shared with Clover.

  “Doing my best.” Clover climbed the tree and ended up with his feet on the branch Drake held on to. The dark eyes glinted like the steel blades Drake always had on him, already cutting through Clover’s workout clothes and causing Clover to pull in his stomach in anticipation of a physical poke.

  Breathless, he steadied himself and looked to the lake, uncomfortable with how obvious his crush on Drake was. But as embarrassed as it made him, the need to show off won, and he let go of the rough trunk, balancing on the thick branch, though there was one on his chest level he could grab on to if he needed to save himself.

  Drake’s hands twitched, as if he were suspecting Clover might kick them. He wasn’t a trusting man. Clover understood, and while their relationship had become much closer since they’d arrived here, Drake still wasn’t vocal about his emotions, always keeping that air of mystery around him. It drove Clover crazy, and annoyingly only made him want to endear himself to Drake more.

  “Didn’t you say you rarely had the chance to be out in nature when you were a kid? That’s some amazing balance,” Drake said, keeping still.

  Clover’s heart skipped a beat at the compliment and he lowered his body to straddle the branch next to Drake’s hands. He wanted to show off, not fall on his face in front of the guy he longed to impress. “I had this boyfriend who was into parkour, so I learned some too. He dumped me when I got better at it than him.”

  Drake’s mouth twitched, but when Clover thought that was all the reaction he was going to get, the handsome face relaxed into a full-on smile, which made it even more appealing than the harsh expression Drake usually sported. “You could be the perfect cat burglar.”

  Clover smiled back and leaned down, craving Drake’s attention after being pushed away for so long. That rare smile gave him hope and beckoned him closer as if he were a moth, uncaring that it would get burnt the moment its wings touched the light. “Because I’m so cute and cuddly?”

  Tank, Boar, and Pyro were satisfied with Clover’s obedience and sweetness, but Drake was a man whose taste wasn’t so simple. Judgmental, mistrustful, so fast and agile his skill level seemed unattainable, Drake needed to be impressed to give another person the time of day. He’d been through unspeakable horrors yet had managed to elevate himself and become a force to be reckoned with, and that was one of many things Clover admired about him.

  Drake snorted, briefly looking away, but Clover noticed the flush on his cheeks. So he wasn’t made of stone after all. “If that’s how you want to frame it, be my guest.”

  The cute blush spreading over Drake’s features was a call to action Clover couldn’t resist. It was making his head fill with air and cotton candy. “Wait, watch this.” He grabbed the branch in front of him, made sure it was strong enough by pressing down a couple of times, and climbed on it.

  He stilled when it creaked under his weight, but what could possibly happen to him in such brilliant sunlight, with the lake grinning at him with all its shimmering teeth, and Drake waiting for his next move? He didn’t overthink it anymore and tilted back, letting gravity take its course. His lungs expanded as he took a deep gasp, but while the bark might have scraped some skin off his palms, he wasn’t falling, just hanging with his head down, as evidenced by the tips of his hair swiping across Drake’s knuckles.

  Success.

  With a sense of triumph trickling to his head, along with blood, he looked straight into Drake’s face upside down. “How about this?”

  Drake’s nostrils flared, but their eyes remained locked, and Clover found it physically impossible to avert his gaze when, after a couple of breathless seconds, Drake’s hands twitched. He pulled himself up so his face was level with Clover’s. For once, his eyes carried no threat of injury. They were soft. “I could work with that, suspend you upside down,” he said, breathing minty air at Clover’s nose.

  A wide grin spread across Clover’s face, even though he was getting dizzy. “Try me,” he teased and attempted to reach Drake’s lips for a kiss, but when he flexed his stomach to lean in, his attention slipped, and so did his legs. He tried to grab something, but it was no use.

  His body stiffened when the world rolled around. It took only split seconds, but he did feel strong arms catch him before they both collapsed, Clover’s fall broken by a hard male body.

  Drake let out a strangled groan, and his hands fell to the sides. “Goddamnit.”

  Clover bit his lip, still shocked by the sudden landing. “Sorry. Tried too hard. You okay?”

  Drake’s face was twisted into a scowl when he opened his eyes to look at Clover without a word. He didn’t move, even though since Clover had met him, Drake had always been extremely protective about his personal space and avoided close physical contact like the plague. They’d had oral sex many times since that first time, but he’d never relaxed and let Clover serve him, insistent on always restraining his partner first, as if he didn’t want anyone to have the freedom of touching him.

  But this time, he remained still under Clover, contemplative rather than tense. “I’ve taken worse falls than this.”

  Clover snorted, and as he realized that they’d somehow made progress in terms of intimacy, he shut his eyes and pushed his nose under Drake’s jaw, breathing in the musky scent of fresh sweat. “Nothing ever phases you, does it?”

  Drake’s Adam’s apple moved against Clover’s lips, and he sucked in a sharp breath, but didn’t push Clover away.

  It was strange and new to lay on top of him, e
ven so innocently, but maybe the fact that Drake allowed this meant he didn’t see Clover as a threat?

  Drake raised his shoulders and head to meet Clover’s gaze. He had a leaf in his black hair, sticking out like an eccentric addition to his somber appearance. “There’s many things that phase me. I just don’t let anyone see.”

  Clover licked his lip and picked the leaf out of Drake’s hair. As much as he enjoyed Drake’s rough ways in sex, this felt like something else altogether, not just because of the gentleness of this encounter. Drake might not say it out loud, but the dark pools he had for eyes enticed Clover to take a dip and see more of what was hiding inside the stone exterior.

  And once he dove in and saw the truth about Drake, he’d never be able to leave.

  He leaned down tentatively, but his intention to kiss was clear. Sink or swim.

  Drake’s lips twitched, as if he wasn’t certain whether this was what he wanted, but when Clover moved even closer, the soft mouth opened to him. The warmth of Drake’s tongue had Clover gasping as they melted together, with Drake’s legs spreading to accommodate Clover with more ease.

  Clover was surprised by the sweetness of this kiss. With barely any tongue, it felt innocent, almost as if Drake lacked experience, yet each lick and touch had the intensity of a breathtaking blowjob. Drake wasn’t pushing him away anymore, and instead slid his hands up the back of Clover’s T-shirt.

  Clover moaned into the kiss when it gained momentum. Without warning, Drake spun them around, and Clover’s back hit the path when Drake’s weight pressed down on him. Clover opened his lips, and when his tongue met the split tips of Drake’s, it hit him that Drake could have been self-conscious about it.

  Because it was hard to imagine Drake self-conscious about anything, let alone a feature of his body.

  Drake gave a soft gasp, rubbing his nose against Clover’s, as if they’d been intimate too many times to count, as if this wasn’t their first kiss. His strong yet lean body stretched over Clover’s, but he didn’t try to move things any further and took his time exploring as they lay in the dirt, comfortably entwined under the tree.

  “The hell?” Tank yelled from afar. “I’m on my second circuit!”

  His footsteps were approaching fast so Clover let his head fall back. Fun time was over. He looked up into Drake’s eyes with a sigh, and the surprise he found there made his heart beat faster. “So good,” he whispered, longing to express how much this meant to him. The tar that always boiled in Drake’s gaze had seeped into his clothes, his skin, his muscles and bones, marking him forever, and he hadn’t even noticed when.

  Tank stopped, towering above them like a giant. The bastard wasn’t even panting. “I’m serious, boy. You’re not winning the race by seducing the fastest runner.”

  Drake rose to his knees and stretched as if nothing had happened. “I was just performing a mouth-to-mouth.”

  For a moment, both Clover and Tank stared at him, shocked over Drake making such a lighthearted joke, but then they burst out laughing.

  Clover grinned at Tank. “I was in desperate need of it.”

  Drake’s smirk was the epitome of ‘smug’, but he got up and hauled Clover to his feet as well. “I think he’s had enough. We don’t want him to constantly be in pain. Not everyone can go without breaks in between training. Especially since we need to do the thing tonight.”

  Clover put his hands on his hips. “What ‘thing’?”

  Tank scowled and nodded at Drake. “We’ll tell you later.” He turned around. “Hop on?”

  All questions Clover might have had went out the window. Clover squealed in glee and climbed onto Tank’s back, hugging him tightly. Clover loved piggybacking, and Tank seemed to have endless strength.

  Maybe Clover should start eating six-egg omelettes too.

  Chapter 18 – Clover

  Clover loved the shower in Tank’s ensuite. It was larger than the average tub and had a coarse floor of dark tile, which prevented slipping, even during sex. The showerhead was the size of a dinner plate and rained hot water, which soothed the muscle aches of the day with the same ease a massage would. And if Clover felt like he wanted to look at the beautiful nature surrounding the house, he could open the blinds of a floor-length window. All that while he showered.

  Clover took his time choosing an aftershave from Tank’s expensive collection, applied a moisturizer to his face and, after a moment’s hesitation, rubbed some into his buttocks too. He wondered if ‘the thing’ Tank had mentioned had anything to do with sex, because he was ready if it did. Just what he needed before bed after the long, tiring day of competition and exercise.

  With Pyro and Boar gone to watch some gory movie at the nearest theatre, he was left with Tank and Drake, who’d both been in the bedroom when he’d started his shower. Did that mean they’d have a threesome? Was that the surprise?

  He briefly wondered whether Drake was one of those guys who only did oral sex, but he was more than interested in seeing the other guys fuck Clover’s ass, so perhaps that wasn’t the case. Maybe he needed more time to come around to it? Clover didn’t dare mention it to Drake, for fear of fracturing their fragile relationship, but each time he was bound and at Drake’s mercy, the need to feel his dick push inside him from behind became harder to ignore.

  Any other guy would have gone for it already, but Drake wasn’t like anyone else, so he would get all the time he needed. Especially that since the moment they’d shared in the afternoon, it seemed yet another of Drake’s barriers had fallen. He hadn’t stopped hovering around Clover since they’d returned home, had sat next to him at dinner, and had even stolen another kiss in the garage.

  Things were looking up.

  Clover towel-dried his hair, put in his new contact lenses, and walked out into the bedroom as Mother Nature had made him. He half-expected to find both men just as naked, or maybe at least wearing only underwear, but they were completely dressed and sat on opposite ends of the mattress. Sometimes, Clover entertained fantasies of watching the others fuck each other but that didn’t seem to happen beyond the relationship between Pyro and Boar. A boy could dream.

  But there was nothing even remotely sexy about a set of tools laid out on a towel at the edge of the bed. They glistened with steel, and any hint of arousal that might have been simmering under the surface of Clover’s skin, was gone at the sight of a scalpel.

  He stilled, so shocked by the sight he considered backing away to the bathroom. “What is this? Whatever it is, I don’t like it.”

  Drake stood up and took Tank’s giant fluffy robe off the hanger before handing it to Clover. “We need to talk to you.”

  Tank’s mouth remained set when he patted the middle of the bed.

  Clover was glad to be tucked into the soft fabric when he sat down. He tried not to look at the surgical tools, but they were there, glinting for attention. “Um… yes?”

  Tank turned around to face him while Drake remained standing, his face sporting the stormy expression Clover used to consider a permanent fixture before he saw him smile for the first time.

  “This isn’t a sex thing, just to get that off the table,” Tank said.

  Clover released some of the air in his lungs in short-lived relief. “Good, because I’m no pain slut.”

  Drake smirked. “You didn’t mind the nipple clamps.”

  Tank raised his hand. “Don’t change the topic.”

  Drake shrugged, but the smile wasn’t entirely gone from his face. “Just saying.”

  Clover chewed on his lips, glaring at the scalpel again, but Tank gave his arm a gentle pat. “You want to be free, boy? We might have come up with an idea how to get there.”

  “I’ve managed to track down who your buyer was,” Drake said, pulling up his feet and moving to a cross-legged position. “But we can’t work out their location. We need to contact them and pretend we’re interested in doing business. This way, we’d get them where we want them, but you’d have to serve as bait for that fat fish.�
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  Tank butted in. “But I feel it’s too much risk.”

  Clover swallowed as the somber atmosphere sank into his flesh. Fear was only a tickle at the back of his head. He wasn’t alone. His men wouldn’t have come up with this if they didn’t feel there was a solution. “I understand. I’ll do it if that’s the only way. I’m done running.”

  Tank’s massive shoulders dropped. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

  Drake gave Clover a discreet nod. Was he the one to come up with this plan? Unlike the others, Drake held a firm belief that Clover couldn’t just rely on others for protection. And as much as Clover disliked the prospect of being captured, he knew it was the right thing to do.

  “Do you trust us?” Tank asked, placing his hand on Clover’s. It was so large it could have easily covered both of Clover’s and radiated strength that would keep Clover safe, no matter what happened.

  “I do,” he said and meant it in every sense of the word. There had never been anyone else worthier of his trust than the four men who’d taken him in when everyone else had deserted him.

  Tank swallowed, averting his gaze. “And I trust you to not lose your cool. But to make sure we can find you even if they somehow outsmart us, we need to put this inside you,” he said, and picked up a small glass container. There was a tiny piece of electronics inside.

  Clover gave a nervous laugh, even though amusement was not on the list of things he was feeling. “Where? In my prison wallet?”

  Drake grabbed his jaw with a scowl. “This isn’t a joke, Clover. It will go in your back.”

  Clover’s mouth dried when he took in the oval shape the size of a fingernail. “But it’s so big.” His breath hitched when he looked at the scalpel again. “You want to put it under my skin?”

  Drake sighed and sat on the side of the bed. “It’s like pet microchips. Larger but you’re also larger than a cat or dog. It won’t be so bad.”

  Clover couldn’t get his mind around the process, even though the guys wouldn’t lie to him about this. It couldn’t be some kind of excruciating pain, and that was not what frightened him most. It was having it inside him forever that gave him pause. Then again, if he really hated the idea of having a tracking device implanted in him, he’d have it removed in the future.