Break the Chains

by Reis Asher

  Conrad sat on the side of the bed and watched Avery sleep. Now he had the chance to give Avery the life he deserved, a life worth fifty million dollars. He couldn't fill it with sports cars or vacations, but Avery didn't want that stuff, anyway. He wanted love, and in that realm, Conrad had more wealth than he knew what to do with.

  The highway lay stretched out before them. Conrad couldn't wait to travel with Avery to wherever the road took them. As soon as they got home, he was going to call Garth. They'd have a housewarming party, now that Avery was going to buy the house. Maybe, if Avery had anything left over, they'd be able to give Garth something towards his debts, pay back some of the help he'd given Conrad over the years.

  Conrad lay down and wrapped his arms around Avery. He rested his head next to Avery's back, listening to his steady heartbeat. The adrenaline rush from the sale and Avery's appearance was finally wearing off, replaced by a crippling exhaustion, filling every muscle in his body with a deep ache.

  He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He longed to wake Avery and cover his body in kisses but knew they both needed their rest. They'd have plenty of time once they were home.

  Home. Their home. Shabby as it was, Conrad hadn't envisioned living anywhere else. Now Avery was going to buy it back from the bank. They'd build a modest, ordinary life together.

  Conrad smiled, the last vestiges of fear draining from his body. Without the shadows making his mind race, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Avery

  Avery startled as he was shaken awake for another day of servitude. No doubt his Master wanted to see him for an early morning fuck. Which Master was he with? Was it the organ house? Maybe he had a surgery scheduled for today. He cringed, wondering what else they could take from him. Maybe they'd leave him blind this time. He was almost at the end of his useful lifespan anyway.

  "Avery, open your eyes. It's me, Conrad. Look at me."

  Avery snapped to full awareness and saw Conrad's steel grey eyes right in front of him. Noticed the omnipresent stubble on a lined and weathered face he knew so well. A face he cherished. Conrad sat up to give him space and he saw the battered wallpaper of their motel room. The truth came flooding back to him and he reached for a collar that was no longer there.

  He began to cry. Tears poured from his eyes and he tried to stop them, but they came gushing forth like water breaking through a dam.

  "I'm sorry," Conrad said, his voice thick and gravelly with emotion. "I didn't mean to startle you."

  "For a moment I thought I was back there," Avery admitted. "Then I opened my eyes and I'm here, it's real. I'm with you and we're free."

  Conrad smiled. "That's right. We belong to nobody but ourselves and each other. If that's all right with you."

  "Of course it is." Avery dried his face on a pillow and looked up at Conrad. He pulled Conrad down into a kiss, planting his lips on every inch of skin within reach. Conrad laughed and they rolled together, kissing each other like they were together again after a long time apart.

  "We should get on the road," Conrad protested. "I'd like to get home before the bank decides to take the house and throw all my things out with the trash."

  "I'm not sure the garbage company would take that couch," Avery said.

  "Hey! That couch happens to have a lot of good memories. Like the time I was high as a kite and this gorgeous guy who was living with me gave me the best fucking hand-job in history." Conrad flashed a winning smile that made Avery's heart leap with joy.

  "I was scared you'd push me away. I wanted you so much, but I was scared you wouldn't believe that."

  "I still don't know why, but I've accepted that I'm the luckiest guy on the planet." Conrad leaned in and claimed Avery's lips, silencing all conversation between them. Avery stirred as Conrad ground against him, their breaths growing shallow and needy.

  "Okay," Avery gasped. "Maybe just a quickie before we hit the road…"

  Epilogue

  Garth smiled as Avery opened the door to him. His latest boyfriend dangled on his arm, eyes warm and more than a little curious as they fell on the pale mark on Avery's neck where his collar had been. The damaged skin was healing, but Avery was reminded every time he garnered odd looks that he wasn't quite free of the Circle's mark.

  But he was getting there. The nightmares still invaded his life, but Conrad showed such patience, always waiting for him to tell his stories, listening as if Avery was telling him life's great secrets instead of the worst horrors a human being could endure. Afterward, Conrad would hold him, never asking for anything, only giving.

  Avery had started to venture outside more and more. While he hadn't quite made the leap into a working life, he was starting to help Conrad with his business, picking up books on WordPress and using Conrad's computer to help build a website for Conrad's private detective service. Conrad had started to garner some real jobs, and Avery was always happy to sit with him on a stakeout. There was always something for them to talk about. Avery was taking joy in rediscovering the world and the years he'd lost.

  The biggest triumph in Avery's life, however, had been Conrad's negative test results. With them, Avery had been able to throw off some of the horror that pervaded his veins whenever he thought about that night at the Master's mansion. His own viral load was falling after months of real medical care, and Conrad still took his PrEP religiously. They'd been more careful since returning from the auction, practicing the safest sex they could. There was always a full box of condoms in the bathroom cabinet now.

  Life wasn't something they could take for granted anymore, Conrad had said as he flushed the last of his cocaine and painkillers down the toilet.

  The housewarming party was small, but cozy. Garth's boyfriend turned out to be quite the sweetheart, and they parted on good terms, with the promise to meet up again sometime soon.

  "What's on your mind?" Conrad asked as he shut off the kitchen light in preparation to go upstairs to bed. "You look pensive."

  "Even now I…I struggle to feel safe. I'm still waiting for the Circle to come knocking."

  "They can't do that." Conrad encircled Avery with his arms, pulling him close. Avery melted into his embrace.

  "I know. I do. But they've left their mark."

  "Of course they have. Nobody could endure what you did and not come out of it unscathed." Conrad pulled up Avery's shirt and kissed along a jagged scar. "I'd like to write over them with some good memories."

  "If anyone could, it would be you." Avery smiled. "I thought I was a dead man. I honestly believed that one mistake had ruined my entire life. I can't believe that I'm saying this, but thank God Christina sent you to that auction. Otherwise…"

  Conrad smiled. "I know what you mean, Ave. I'm glad too." He closed his eyes as he held onto Avery, stroking his hair. "Thank you, Avery. For everything."

  "No, thank you. You could have been like all the others. You had ample opportunities to be cruel, or to use me as you wished, and nobody would have thought less of you for it. But you didn't. You gave up everything—including your own freedom—for me. That's a debt I'll never be able to repay."

  "No, no debt," Conrad whispered. "You don't owe me anything. I did it all for me—because I couldn't stand the thought of you going back to that life, or the thought of putting a bullet in your brain."

  "I never thought spending fifty million dollars could feel so good," Avery admitted. "I called Dad earlier. He wants to meet you."

  "He'll be disappointed," Conrad said. "I'm not even close to being worth fifty mil."

  "No," Avery agreed. "You're priceless."

  FIN

  About the Author

  Reis is a bisexual, nonbinary transmasculine person (he/him pronouns) living in Pennsylvania. In another life, he might have been a robot, but now he just dreams about them.

  In addition to original fiction writing, he can also be found playing video games, writing fanfiction about them, and snapping pictures of his mischievous, bitey cat Kamineko. He’s marri
ed, sleeps too much, and loves all things science fiction.

  Catch him on Twitter @landale where he’s happy to interact.