by Maris Black
I scooped it up in the palm of my hand, marveling at the softness and the whiteness of its fur. “Hello, little man,” I said quietly. “Where did you come from?”
It nuzzled its head against my thumb, reminding me so much of Bain and the way he snuggled against me when he was needy. I looked around to see if maybe there was a clue about where the cat had come from. I don’t know what I expected— some kid wandering around looking for it, a mama cat ready to pounce and reclaim her baby, or a Lost Cat sign posted in the parking lot? I saw none of those things, and I decided that he was abandoned and that he would probably die if I didn’t take him. For Bain, of course. He was perfect for Bain.
I climbed into the car with him and set him down in Bain’s lap, but Bain didn’t notice. He was already snoring. On the way back to school, I stopped at the small general store and bought a cheap plastic litter box, a jug of litter, a bag of kitten food, and two small bowls. Pets were forbidden at Otranto, but I just couldn’t imagine leaving that sweet little ball of fur out in the open to die. Besides, I knew it would make Bain happy. He’d always wanted a pet, but our parents would never let us have one. I may not have been willing to incur my father’s wrath, but pissing off the powers that be at Otranto was worth it. Already the kitten was curled up in Bain’s lap, right up against his groin where it was the warmest.
Getting our new pet home wasn’t the Mission Impossible drama I thought it would be. First I helped my drunk brother up to our room and into the bed, averting my eyes as I stripped him down to his boxers and pulled the covers over his almost naked body. Then I returned to the car to retrieve the kitten and the supplies. I lowered the kitten into the litter box and carried both bags to our room. The few people milling around the lobby and game room areas didn’t pay me any attention.
When I got into the room, I removed the cat from the bag and set up his litter box in the bathroom. Then I filled the bowls with water and food and placed them nearby. I hadn’t wanted to put his litter box so close to his food and water, but I had no choice. If anyone came to our room, we I could shove the kitten into the bathroom with all of his supplies and close the door, thereby hiding all of the evidence.
I gave the cat a minute to explore, and he drank a little bit of water. Then I climbed into Bain’s bed beside him and let the kitten climb all over the two of us. Bain groaned and rolled over. “Gavin, I think there’s a cat in here.”
I laughed. “He’s yours. You need to think of a name for him.”
Bain reached out and pulled the kitten to him, rubbing his nose against the fur. “He’s so soft and fluffy, like a little powder puff.”
“How about Powder? That’s a good name, right?”
“Powder,” Bain repeated. “Powder Murphy.”
“He’s one of us now.”
I turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled in against Bain’s back, reaching around to pet Powder’s fur. There was a faint vibration against my fingertips as the cat started purring, and a similar one against my chest as Bain went back to snoring softly. I fell asleep thinking I was a pretty lucky guy.
CHAPTER 14
(GAVIN)
SATURDAY MORNING was gray and dark, so I slept later than normal. It was after noon when the sound of rain against the window woke me, and I tried to stretch my stiff limbs out. Sharing a bed with Bain always lulled me to sleep in the most relaxing way, but keeping my body in the same position all night took its toll.
I rolled off the side of the bed onto my knees. “Fuck, we need a bigger bed,” I groaned.
Bain turned over and smiled at me. “Do you think we could get dad to send us a king size? And a huge TV for the wall? We could really fix it up in here.”
“Can you imagine what people would say if we only had one bed?” I moved to the closet and pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
“I know, but it would work so much better for us. We always share a bed to watch movies, and it’s so cramped.”
“If we had a huge TV instead of a laptop, we could actually watch from separate beds.”
Bain frowned. “I’d rather be cramped. Trying to talk about the movie from across the room would really suck. What do you think?” He sat up and threw the covers back, uncovering Powder, who stretched his tiny legs. “Oh, Jesus,” he gasped. “I thought I had dreamed about having a cat. He’s real?”
I smirked. “Obviously. What do you think of our little brother?”
“I love him,” Bain said, gathering Powder up and clutching him to his chest. “He’s so damn adorable. What are we going to name him?”
“Ummm… we already named him Powder. You were really out of it last night. What were you thinking getting that drunk around Leo?”
Bain shook his head and scrunched his face up in thought. “I didn’t drink that much wine, Gavin. One glass is all I remember. No, it was two, but I swear I only had a couple of sips of the second one.”
“Bullshit. You sounded perfectly lucid when you called me, but when I got to the room, you were like a zombie. You couldn’t even stand up on your own. I had to help you to the car and to the room.”
“No, you did not.” He paused and squinted, as if trying to call up a memory that was just out of reach. “Did you? I can’t even remember.”
“Exactly. You were seriously fucked up, Bain. Like two-bottles-by-yourself fucked up.”
“That can’t be right. Leo only had one bottle, and he poured himself two glasses. I know that for sure. I’m also pretty sure I only had one glass and a couple of sips of another. I went easy on the second one because I didn’t want to get drunk and do something stupid. Leo was coming on strong, trying to get me to sleep with him, and I didn’t want to. He didn’t want to take no for an answer, and I knew that with him being so pushy I needed to stay sober.”
Suddenly, I had a disturbing thought. One that had my blood boiling. “What if Leo drugged you?”
Bain scoffed. “That’s crazy.”
“Is it? Let’s look at the facts. Firstly, he drugged both of us with mushroom tea. Granted it was an initiation, and there were other people involved, but it still counts as drugging because he didn’t get our permission or warn us. Secondly, you say you only had one glass of wine before you called me, and you sounded sober at that point. Did you see him pour both glasses he served you? Did he ever have an opportunity to slip something in without your knowledge?”
He thought for a moment. “I remember he opened the bottle and poured the first glass when we were on the sofa. We drank those pretty fast. Then I went into the bathroom and called you.” He paused again, deep in thought. “Then I came back out, and he poured the second— No, he already had it waiting for me. God, my memory is so fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it happened. Do you really think he could have drugged me?”
“That bastard,” I growled. “You weren’t playing along, so he was going to date-rape you. I swear I’m gonna tear his fucking head off.”
“We don’t know for sure that’s what happened. I could have just been tired, and the wine affected me more than usual. You can’t go accusing the most popular guy in school of date rape, especially when nothing happened. He tried to kiss me, but I pulled away, and that was it. No actual rape took place. As for the drugging, just because I felt a little weird and got drunk faster than I usually do proves nothing.”
“My gut tells me he was up to no good. I’m thinking the first glass he gave you was clean, but when you left the room he put something in your second glass. Thank God you barely drank any of it. What if he’d been able to slip something into the first drink before you called? It makes me sick to my stomach to think what could have happened.”
“I know. It freaks me out, too. But since we don’t know anything for sure, just don’t say anything, okay? I know that’s going to be hard for you, but please make an effort.”
I walked over and sat beside him on the bed. “I’ll keep my mouth shut for now on one condition. That you promise never to be alone with him again. I don’t c
are if we have to call Baron in for real. If you need a bodyguard for times when I can’t be with you, I’ll get you one.”
“I have no desire to be alone with Leo. He wasn’t what I expected.” Bain rested his head on my shoulder and sighed, stroking Powder’s tiny head with his fingertips as the furball snoozed on his lap.
“That cat is already spoiled rotten.” I leaned down to nuzzle Powder, turning my head from side to side to burrow my face into his fur. He purred loudly, which only encouraged me to nuzzle him more, chuckling with delight at his reaction. That is, until I realized I had my face embarrassingly close to Bain’s crotch. Two inches to the right and I would have been nuzzling the morning wood that was suddenly visible through his boxers. His dick twitched right in front of my eyes, causing the flap to gape open for one excruciating second, and God help me I wanted to put my mouth on it. Fuck. My face heated, and I snatched my head up in alarm.
Bain’s eyes were wide, and his lips were slack. “Uh…” He giggled nervously.
I was mortified. Did he think I was a pervert now? I had always been so careful to hide my inappropriate urges, but lately I was letting myself get too damn close. It was making me careless. I needed to stay vigilant and maybe one day the urges would pass, but for the time being I would have to play it off.
“Dude, if you’re going to be hogging the cat, the least you can do is go to the bathroom so I don’t have to get a faceful of your junk when I try to play with him.” I stood up and gestured toward the restroom. “Go take care of that shit now. And give me the damn cat.”
He giggled again, his face blushing scarlet as he stood and handed the furball off to me. “Well, if I had known you were going to stick your head in my crotch, I would have at least put some pants on.”
He disappeared into the bathroom, and I ran my finger’s gently along Powder’s back, watching the bathroom door until it finally opened again. Bain came back into the room with a big grin on his face.
“All clear,” he said, jumping onto the bed beside me and rolling onto his back.
I tried not to look at him lounging there in nothing but his boxers, but my peripheral vision picked up the movement of his hand stroking idly along his torso, his fingertip tracing a message for my eyes only. Speaking of things that could never be.
Finally I allowed myself to look directly at him, and he was staring right back at me. “What?” I demanded.
He grinned. “Nothing. Just you.”
I felt a blush creeping over my cheeks, so I made my voice as stern as I possibly could. “What about me?”
“You came all the way out to that motel to save me even after I was mean to you yesterday. And you got me a kitten.”
“Well, I didn’t exactly get you a kitten. I found him. If he had died, the hotel staff would have had to dispose of the body. I was only doing my civic duty.”
Bain’s grin stretched even wider. “You are so damn sweet, and you don’t even know it.”
“Fuck off, Bain. I am not sweet.”
“Are, too.”
I glared at him, wishing I felt anything for him but affection. And desire.
“You know what’s weird?” he asked, still tracing that maddening communiqué on his chest and abs.
“What?”
Thunder boomed outside the window, and Bain laughed when I jumped. Then he reached out and linked his fingers with mine. His were pliant and warm where mine were stiff and cold.
“I really wanted to have sex last night,” he said. “I’m eighteen years old, and I’ve only kissed one boy. My body is aching to have a man, and yet I can’t find one I want. Why do you think that is?”
His words were killing me, and the way he was rubbing his thumb softly against mine was driving me to distraction. I groaned as I let my eyes wander down his perfect belly and fixate on his shorts. At the bulge that was filling them out so temptingly.
“I thought you took care of that in the bathroom,” I heard myself rasp.
“Guess I’m backed up from being so horny all the time,” he said in a teasing voice. “Maybe you should have let Leo have his way with me last night.”
“Don’t even fucking joke about that. I’m still trying to talk myself out of killing that bastard.”
“You wanted to kill him even before you thought he might have drugged me. You wanted to kill him just for looking at me, didn’t you Gavin?”
I dropped Powder and came up off the bed like I’d been burned, because what the hell was he saying? Did he suspect the horrible thoughts I had about him? Did he know how fucked up I was inside?
Needing to put an end to the uncomfortable exchange we were having, I stalked to the closet and started rummaging around for something to wear. Something authoritative. “I’m going to Leo’s room right now. I’m going to tell him to keep his hands off of you, or I’ll report him.”
“No,” Bain pleaded, hurrying over to me and grabbing me by the arm as I was reaching for a shirt. “Please don’t Gavin. Nothing happened. Just let it go, and I promise I won’t be alone with him again. Let’s not stir up drama. Everything will be fine, you’ll see. Just you and me against the world, right?”
He threw his arms around my neck and flattened his body against mine, and I couldn’t stop my arms from winding around his waist and squeezing him tightly against me. A hunger surged up in me stronger than any I had felt before, and I tried to ignore it. Tried to ignore the feel of his body in my arms, under my hands, against my skin.
“I have to do it, Bain. I’m not going to let him think that he can hurt you. You’re mine, and I’m going to protect you.”
Bain nuzzled into my throat like he always did. “But what if I want to protect you, too? Leo has a lot of influence at the school. You know that. He already hates you, and if you go accusing him of something, there’s no telling what he might do. He could make things really uncomfortable for you, Gavin. He might even be able to get you kicked out of school. I’m scared of what might happen if you confront him.”
I could barely pay attention to what he was saying, because his lips were moving against my throat, so soft and tempting. And when he parted them and kissed my neck like he had before, I was lost. My dick started to get hard, and I let out an involuntary sigh and tilted my head to give him better access. This time he didn’t stop with just one. He trailed a line of hot kisses up the side of my throat, placing the last one on my jaw.
“Please,” he whispered. “Please, Gavin.”
I couldn’t even remember what he was pleading for. I was so hard, I was seconds from forgetting who I was and just taking him. Bain had always been touchy-feely, but when had he started touching me like that? Kissing me like that? Had our interactions ever been so intimate?
“Talk to me,” he said. “Why do you get so mad when any guy shows me attention? You told Leo you would kill him if he touched me, and you got so angry at Caleb for just kissing me.”
I groaned, wishing he would quit touching me, and quit asking the tough questions. “No one is good enough for you, Bain. I know you don’t believe it, but you’re special. None of those assholes deserve you.”
“Who does deserve me, Gav?” He laughed quietly against my ear and whispered, “You?”
That’s when I lost it. I pushed him away from me hard enough to send him reeling backward through the open closet door, his expression a mixture of surprise and hurt.
“Stop fucking touching me like that,” I growled, stalking after him and backing him all the way across the room until he came up against the empty wall beside the bathroom and had nowhere else to go. “Jesus fucking Christ, it’s hard enough to be around you. Do you have any idea what you’re doing when you touch me like that? When you say those things to me? This is not a fucking game, Bain.”
Bain shook his head, an expression of utter shame on his face. “I’m sorry, Gavin. Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t mean—”
I didn’t let him finish his sentence. Instead, I flattened him against the wall and slammed my body
flush up against his, grabbing his wrists in my hands and pinning his arms above his head. He looked into my eyes, confused and so damn innocent. Normally his vulnerability had my protective instincts kicking into overdrive, but not this time. This time, all I felt was the hunger.
I ground my dick hard against him, just needing to make contact, to ease the ache that had me mad with need. The only thing that separated our cocks was a couple of pairs of boxer shorts— two thin slips of fabric keeping my flesh from his flesh— and I felt the undeniable bulge of his own matching hard-on.
I shuddered, and my voice went husky with pent-up lust. “I left for a year to keep from fucking you, Bain. I won’t run away again. You’ve been teasing me ever since we got here, and now it’s time to pay the fiddler.”
I don’t know what I expected. Struggling, yelling, crying… But none of those things happened. Instead, Bain’s eyelids dropped to half mast, and he arched his back, rubbing his hard dick against mine. The feeling was exquisite, the rub and the friction centering every bit of my consciousness on that one spot and obliterating everything else in the world.
Keeping his wrists pinned above his head with one hand, I reached down with the other and pulled his boxers down until they fell to the floor, and he stepped out of them. Then I did the same to my own, and we were finally naked. Together.
Bain’s cock stretched toward me, begging for the attention that I so wanted to give, his hardness letting me know in no uncertain terms that he wanted me like I wanted him. I closed the gap between us, watching in undisguised fascination as the tip of my cock kissed the tip of his. We were both leaking, and I moved subtly against him until both of our heads were slick with precum and I was in danger of blowing before we’d even begun.