“We’ll see how you’ll talk in a few years.”
Mark pouted but was quick to put food on his plate. They wouldn’t be there in a few years. They would be only a memory he could maybe hold on to when someone told him good people didn’t exist when clearly they did—even if they came in the form of two foreign weirdos. No one who made crêpes like these could be evil.
Domenico shoveled down the rest of the pasta and reached out for a clean plate with the enthusiasm of a hungry puppy. “I said the same thing when I was your age,” he said as if he were seventy. “I thought I’d just fuck all my life, but when we started dating, everything just came together.”
Mark closed his eyes for a moment, delighting in the dessert melting in his mouth. “Oh yeah?” he asked as soon as he swallowed. “How many guys did you fuck?”
Domenico shrugged. “I was traveling a lot, so I guess... many. I’m attractive, so it wasn’t a big deal.”
The face Seth made suggested it was a bigger deal than Dom thought.
“So what? You’d just go on Grindr wherever you traveled to? While your hometown sweetheart was withering away?” Mark snorted and didn’t even care when Seth slapped the back of his head.
Domenico cleared his throat. “Our relationship was a bit on and off. We had a fight after high school and only got back together later.”
“So who was the most interesting guy you ever fucked?” Mark pushed, eager for juicy details.
“He’s right beside me,” said Domenico, tugging on Seth’s wrist. He swirled his thumb over the hair at the back of his hand.
Seth smiled back at him and raised Dom’s hand to his lips for a kiss.
Mark rolled his eyes. Of course Dom would say that. “Okay, okay, but I mean like looks-wise or something.”
Domenico squinted at him. “Seth.”
Mark groaned. “Yeah, right. You’re just not allowed to say anything else now, are you?”
Domenico shrugged and pulled Seth down into his seat. “Why is that so strange to you? He is perfect to me. I’d never swap him for anyone else.”
Mark gave up and settled for eating more crêpes. “But don’t you miss the thrill of meeting other guys?”
Seth answered before Dom could. “No. No one else could ever understand me the way Dom does. When you share so much past with someone, the relationship itself becomes a part of you.”
Domenico smirked with half his mouth and nodded, absent-mindedly twisting a small coin in his fingers. “Seth is the heads to my tails.” He looked up and into his lover’s eyes. “So tough but so sweet at the same time. I can’t ever get enough of that.”
“Oh, my God. Any more sugar, and I’m gonna barf.” Mark made a gagging sound.
Dom laughed loudly. “Don’t eat if it’s too sweet. More for me.”
Seth sighed, playing with the banana on his plate.
Mark frowned. “So what do you do in the US? Live off savings or something?”
Domenico looked at Seth. “More or less, yeah. I’m trying to be frugal.”
“We’re kinda drifting. Working out the details of what to do next,” Seth said without looking up from his plate.
Domenico sighed. “Yeah, we have some stuff to figure out, I guess.”
“So where are you going to next?” Mark wouldn’t mind hanging around a bit longer. They were nice and gave him free food. And he deserved the smack he got, since he did steal their car. Fred could wait.
“South. We have no plans that can’t be moved. Just drifting for now.” Domenico kissed Seth’s cheek and ate some Nutella straight out of the pot. Mark kind of regretted he hadn’t thought of doing that.
“Yeah, it’s all up in the air right now,” Seth muttered and pulled away slightly.
Dom blinked and held his hand. “What is it?”
“Never mind. Maybe we can talk about it later.”
Mark sat up straight, ready to hear something juicy.
Domenico gestured at him even as he kept his eyes on Seth. “We could put him out the door.”
Mark crossed his arms on his chest and frowned. “Hey! I’m sitting right next to you.”
Domenico glanced at him with a slight frown. “Then you should have gotten the hint that it’s time to go for a walk.”
Mark groaned and got up. “Yeah, whatever! I can go.” A crappy ending to a lovely meal. He was never on the inside of anything. All anyone ever allowed him to see was surface-deep.
“Don’t eavesdrop. I’ll know if you do,” said Domenico, unfazed by the outburst.
Mark grabbed a packet of Cheetos from the cupboard and went out, slamming the door behind himself. So much for being included.
Domenico looked back at the closed door, but then shifted his gaze to Seth, to the table that was still littered with remains of food, which they couldn’t really store anywhere, as the shack had no electricity. Or running water. It was like the Middle Ages out here, and while Domenico enjoyed some time with nature, he’d much rather be in a nice penthouse somewhere. Or in a villa close to a large city. But this shack would be their home for at least a few days, until things in the outside world settled down a bit, and Domenico was intent on enjoying his time with Seth now that they had come to a consensus about what was going on.
Domenico couldn’t believe Seth had been pushing him away all this time because he somehow didn’t consider himself attractive enough. It was such a ridiculous concept that Dom would have never come up with it if Seth hadn’t told him. Looking at that gloriously big, tan body, at the thick arms, and the hair he knew was sprouting beneath Seth’s clothes, Domenico would gladly feast on him all the time, with or without the few extra pounds he piled on since the confrontation with Vincente. He was just as hot as when Domenico had first laid eyes on him in New York City.
“What is it?”
Seth rubbed his forehead. “Nah. It’s not like it’s anything new. Just the talk of all your flings had me thinking again.”
Domenico stepped back, unsure what to make of this confession. “You know it’s only you and me now, right? I promised you that.”
Seth sucked in his bottom lip and chewed on it. “I know… but what about the consequences? You told me that you slept with several hundred guys. I mean, if you got anything from them, then I have it too. I didn’t want to think about it, but it might be time to stop living in the dark.”
Domenico stepped away, taken aback. They had talked about it before, and he’d assumed Seth had followed his example and chosen to go with the flow, not think too much about things they couldn’t really control, but clearly that wasn’t the case.
“What would this change?”
Seth swallowed and got up as well. “If you… we have HIV or something else like that, there are treatments we could start now.”
Domenico took a deep breath that burned his lungs even as he looked at the wall, which was bathed in the pleasant light of the candles. “We’re not staying in one place anyway. It would be complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be tomorrow. But you can do a checkup at any clinic we come across. I would really rather know.” Seth looked out the window with a sigh.
Domenico swallowed hard, but now that he had let off some steam, it didn’t feel like that unreasonable of a request. And yet, when he saw the worried look on Seth’s face, it suddenly struck him that he could have put Seth in danger. No, he did. From the very beginning. What if Seth’s worries came true and they were ill? What if he got Seth ill? That thought had him holding his breath.
“Will you do the checkup?” Seth asked, rubbing dust off the window with a frown.
Domenico gritted his teeth and squeezed his hand on the edge of the tabletop. “I’m sorry.”
“I know. But what’s done is done.”
“What if we aren’t okay? You’ll hate me. You won’t say so at the beginning, but you will start resenting me,” whispered Domenico as the black hole spread through his chest.
Seth wouldn’t look his way. “If I was to hate you
for what you did to me, I’d be hating you already.”
Domenico couldn’t make himself answer. His thoughts went to times past as he looked through the window, into the darkness outside. He’d never worried about the future. He’d always smoked like a chimney, gorged on food, and drank too much caffeine. And he fucked a lot. He fucked strangers without protection. All that because his life had been meant to be a short and intense one. But now? Without any imminent danger to his life, if he and Seth hid away somewhere, there was a chance he’d live to old age. Seth would be with him, and if Dom got ill, Seth would have to take care of him. Days would be subtracted from his life for every crime Dom had committed against his body, and the precious time he was to have with Seth would be lost.
“You’re right. I’m a fucking coward for not thinking about it,” hissed Domenico.
Those words made Seth instantly turn around, and he crossed the space between them, welcoming Dom into a hug. “I love you, no matter what, okay?”
Domenico shook his head, his whole body burning on the surface. “Don’t say that. You can’t know how you’ll feel if you’re right.”
Seth kissed the side of his face. “There’s no way to take it back now. I try not to dwell on things I can’t change anymore.”
Domenico exhaled, increasingly frantic on the inside. He hated not being able to act. This thing was already out of his grasp, and it was all his fault. He hadn’t cared back when they had met after years of estrangement, when he was still holding a grudge over something that hadn’t been Seth’s choice. Dom hadn’t even known that his real father had always been around and instead tried to prove himself to someone who resented him. Back then, he had wanted to hurt Seth, humiliate him, put him in his place, and he didn’t care about any possible damage. Now he had to deal with the consequences of his actions. Did Seth think back to those first months often? To the harsh words and brutal fucking so different than the rough, steamy sex they both enjoyed now?
The sweet kiss Seth gave him pulled him out of the quicksand of grim thoughts. “What’s Dana doing?” Seth stepped back toward the window.
“Setting up traps around the house. We don’t want any wild animals knocking at our door,” said Domenico and petted Seth’s back.
“Fuck. Traps. I left some bait on a hook over the water. I thought it was a good opportunity now that we’re staying here. I’ll go tell Mark to stay away from the shore. I’ll be back in a sec.” He pulled away but then came back to give Dom one last kiss. “Don’t worry so much.”
Domenico sighed and held on to Seth’s fingers, not even wanting to comment on the alligator hunt. His brain was scrambling with worry as it was. “I love you.”
Seth smiled at him and disappeared behind the door. Fucking him today had felt like a visit in heaven. It made Dom remember why it had been worth it to leave everything behind to be with him. Seth’s body was so pliant in his hands, yet so tight around his cock, but it was the way Seth opened up to Dom, parted his lips for kisses, and mewled in pleasure that told Dom the whole story of his affection.
Voices outside suggested Seth must have found Mark, but when he heard screams, all his senses went into high alert. The gun was in his hand before he even reached the door. The safety was off as he jumped off the porch, desperately trying to blink away the darkness that clung to his eyes after leaving the candlelit house. The ground was soft and uneven where he landed, but that would not stop him, and he rushed blindly toward the screams. Toward the murky water of the swamp.
Mark cried out something Dom could not understand, and just as Dom was reaching the shore, he started picking out the contours around him. Seth’s bulky body writhed around in the grass, struggling with something… large. Dom’s first instinct was that it was an assailant. Someone who followed them here and decided to take them out one by one, but seconds later, an even more awful truth emerged from the thick darkness along with a bone-chilling hiss.
Seth rolled toward the house, with a scream on his lips, but an alligator the size of Mark wouldn’t give him the chance to get away. It grabbed Seth’s leg, pulling him toward the swamp in sharp, merciless tugs, and wouldn’t let go even when Seth kicked its eye. The animal shook its head, tossing Seth about like a heavy rag doll and pulled him toward the murky water that would do the work for the alligator.
Domenico’s first instinct was to shoot the beast’s brains out, or at least distract it with a bullet to the back, but with shadows moving like snakes in the darkness, he could not risk injuring Seth further. He dove for the beast’s rear, spraying water all over when he accidentally stepped into the swamp. Its temperature sent a flash of electricity all the way to Dom’s spine, only fueling the force with which he pulled the thick tail while holding the gun with his armpit. Wet, it felt slippery in his hands, even despite the hard, rough skin that was nothing like the crocodile skin shoes Domenico had once owned. He yanked the beast back to the shore as hard as he could, and a raw, hoarse cry tore out of his throat from the effort. To his horror, the alligator kept his jaws tight on Seth’s calf, and within a second, rolled its freakishly strong body in the mud. Seth cried out but had enough clarity of mind to follow the alligator’s movements even as the tail slipped out of Dom’s grasp.
Out of breath, Domenico charged at the reptile, jumping on top of it as soon as it showed him its back. Pushing his shoes under the rear legs, Domenico grabbed the alligator’s nape and pushed, feeling it stir between his thighs. He could almost sense the claws scratching against the soles of his combat boots, but at this point, Dom’s sole focus was Seth, whose eyes were so wide they seemed to glow in the dark. Noises morphed into a mush in Domenico’s ears as he punched the beast’s head with the handle of his gun repeatedly. If he shot the thing dead, its jaws could squeeze, crushing Seth’s leg, so he pulled his arm back, and shot the alligator’s tail. The reptile writhed under him, turning Dom’s world on its head, and throwing him into the water. His gun slipped out of his hand as he fell, but there was no time to look for it when the alligator turned its jaws his way.
At least Seth was free. With mud in one eye and the darkness not helping, he could still see Seth’s shadowy figure crawling out of the water.
“Dom! Come out!” Seth yelled from the shore.
Domenico stumbled forward trying to reach his gun, but the jaws of the alligator were all too close. He jumped to the side and straddled its back to be out of the reach of the deadly teeth.
“Domenico!” Dana screamed from the shore, her voice a higher pitch than usual.
As soon as he gave her a glance, she expertly threw a gun his way, and he caught it in the air, just in time to put the barrel against the top of the alligator’s skull and pull the trigger.
The moment the familiar sound tore through the air, Domenico’s face warmed with peace as the animal slouched under him, stilling in silence. With the five-foot beast finally eliminated and its heavy, hard body limp beneath Domenico, Seth’s moans became all the more pronounced, drilling holes in Dom’s brain and pulling him close on hooks that dug deep into his flesh.
Dom rolled off and found his gun in the mud, rushing away from the swamp and more reptiles approaching at the scent of blood.
“Light! I need light!” he screamed, scrambling in the mud that soaked through his jeans and bit his skin. He reached Seth and grabbed him below the arms, dragging the heavy, struggling body away from the water. His spine screamed with effort, but he refused to let go and pulled Seth farther and farther onto the shore. Ignoring his struggles to get up, Domenico only let him go by the porch, pulsing with primal fear as he dropped to his knees and cradled Seth to his chest. It was even hard to breathe, but he made himself speak anyway.
“You... alive?”
“I’ll get a flashlight from the car!” Mark yelled and ran off.
“What’s happening?” Dana yelled, but Dom was much more focused on finding out what Seth’s injuries were.
Seth’s first words made Dom livid. “Is Mark okay?”
> Domenico gasped and looked around. “I—he ran for the flashlight. What are you talking about?” Domenico couldn’t stop choking on air as he patted Seth down, searching for wounds, but with their bodies completely wet, it was a difficult task. When he reached ripped fabric on Seth’s calf, he understood he found what he was looking for. “Dana, give me the fucking first aid kit!”
Seth screamed when Dom pushed on a tender spot. “Don’t touch!” He clung onto Dom’s tank top for dear life.
Dana disappeared in the darkness, but soon, the engine of the pickup came to life, and the cool white glow of the headlights illuminated the scene. It was a smart move that Dom would have appreciated much more if it wasn’t Mark who had lured the gator in the first place.
Mark jumped out of the car with an extra flashlight, which uncovered the horror that was Seth’s leg. Blood was pouring out of the torn flesh, and for a moment, even Domenico couldn’t tell what exactly he was looking at.
“I-I’m taking him to a hospital,” was all he was able to choke out as he looked into Seth’s lovely face, now twisted in pain. “I need to go...”
“Wait, I’ll secure the wound,” Dana said as she slid into the mud on her knees, working fast on Seth’s leg with bandages. At least she wasn’t distracted by Seth’s moans of pain and his squirming the way Dom was.
He scrambled closer to Seth and embraced him hard as his own heart went into overdrive. He kissed the wet hair on top of Seth’s head, happy to hear him breathing. “It’ll be fine. I’ve got you.”
Dana was very quick, that much he could see, but subjectively, it still seemed to take far too long. All he wanted was to get Seth in the car and drive so fast no animal would be spared if it crossed their way.
Mark helped Dom transfer a shaking Seth to the pickup. Each step of the way, Domenico’s ears filled with the frantic rattle of Seth’s teeth.
Guns n' Boys: Swamp Blood (Book 3) (gay dark mafia erotic romance) Page 13