by Jaime Samms
Lee stared at him but said nothing.
“First, I have to call Pete and tell him you’re okay. I’m sure he’s pacing his hotel room.”
“I called him.”
“Well that’s something at least.” Vince called Pete anyway, and unsurprisingly, Pete answered on the first ring.
“He really okay?”
“Other than being terminally idiotic and stubborn, you mean?” Vince tossed a mock glare at Lee, who gave him the finger, but also uncurled a tiny bit.
“Vince.”
“He’s fine, baby. I’m going to take him home.” He made eye contact with Lee. “And chain him to the bed if I have to. I’ll call you when I’ve got him locked down.”
“You’re an asshole,” Lee muttered.
Vince reached over and cupped a hand around Lee’s nape. He felt the sweat and the goose bumps under his fingertips and saw Lee’s shiver, so he tightened his grip. “But I’m your asshole, so get used to it.”
The smile Lee managed this time was slightly stronger. He waggled his fingers for the phone and Vince handed it over.
“Hey,” Lee whispered. When Vince shimmied closer, Lee moved so they could put their heads together and both hear Pete’s end of the conversation. That was progress, wasn’t it?
“Hey yourself.” Pete’s tone was a mixture of exasperation and relief.
“I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now go home, let him tie you down, and stop making this harder than it has to be.”
Lee snorted. “I’m not you.”
“No. He doesn’t have to tie me down. I volunteer to stay there. But I get that some people need the security of knowing they’re really kept.”
“How are you so sure it’s safe?” The glance Lee shot him was so full of nerves, Vince had to grip his hand and hold on tight. He couldn’t let Lee doubt.
“Why are you so sure it’s not?” Pete asked.
Lee stared at Vince, gaze searching, and Vince tried to keep his expression calm and patient. He didn’t want to look angry or put out. He didn’t want to seem pissed off in any way. Now that he had laid eyes on Lee and seen that he was okay, all he wanted to do was get them both home behind a closed, locked door. It would be better if Pete were there too, but he could do this.
“Maybe I’m not as sure as I was.”
“Oh! Baby! Halleluiah!”
Lee snorted out a short laugh.
“Hey, Lee.” Pete’s voice snapped Vince’s attention back to the conversation, and he realized he’d been staring into Lee’s eyes. And, for once, Lee had not lowered his gaze or thrown down a challenge.
“Yeah?”
“You trust me, right?”
“Sure.”
“I mean really trust me.”
Lee blinked and bit his lip. “You wouldn’t lie to me.”
Vince let out a breath.
“So trust me. You don’t need me between you and Vince to stay safe. You only need to tell him what’s got you so scared, then let him help you figure it out.”
“No one has ever kept me safe just for the sake of what I need.” Lee stared into Vince’s eyes again. This time, the fear was right on the surface, glassy and brittle. So easy to shatter.
“Then maybe that’s the first thing you ought to tell him, right there.”
“I think I just did.”
“Well. Not to sound smug or anything—” which he certainly did “—but my work here is done. Give Vince back his phone.”
“Bossy.”
“Yes, muffin. Hand him the phone.”
“‘Muffin’?” But Lee held out the phone to Vince.
“‘Muffin’?” Vince said.
“Meh. I’ll work on it. You got this, babe?”
“I hope so.”
“Vince.”
Vince drew in a deep breath and smiled, pulled Lee against him, and nodded. “I got him.”
“Good. Now I have to go to bed because I have a hell day tomorrow. But you should maybe call in sick or something.”
Vince snorted. “We’ll see how that flies, but I’ll try.”
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you too.”
“Love you, muffin!” Pete called over the phone, and Lee sniffled out a small laugh. He touched the back of the phone tenderly, but didn’t say anything. “He’ll get there,” Pete whispered.
Vince truly hoped so.
Pete plugged in his phone in the bathroom outlet and crawled into the gigantic hotel bed. It was a little too soft, a little too empty, but he could deal.
“I want to go home,” he muttered to his pillow. It remained fluffy and silent.
But work was work, and it balanced him so he could give Vince as much of what he needed from a sub as he had to give.
Sitting up, he peered into the artificial dark peculiar to hotel rooms. “Lee’s a challenge.” It wasn’t a new idea. He knew he and Vince had settled into a comfortable place. Not a rut, exactly, because they were happy and grounded, and their life worked. Lee shook them up, challenged them, made them take better notice of each other, while they were both watching him too.
A smile twisted up Pete’s lips as he thought about the scene with Lee, about Lee’s hard pounding, and he shivered. Yeah. Just the recall brought his cock to attention. That scene had made one thing very clear: Lee liked to fuck, Pete liked to be fucked, and Vince liked to watch. They made a perfect little circle of three.
“And as soon as you believe we’re keeping you, Mr. Bradshaw, we can get on with some really interesting shenanigans.” He stroked his cock and closed his eyes, letting that past evening play through his memory. If he strayed into new, more risqué territory in his imagination, no one had to know. At least, no one had to know yet. It could be fun, later, to share those fantasies. Vince liked a good challenge, and he’d love the chance to push boundaries.
That was a lovely thought. Yet, after tonight, Pete had to wonder if they’d already pushed one too many of Lee’s boundaries. Despite his agreement to go home with Vince, how long would that last before Lee ran again? How often would Vince agree to go after him? For that matter, how willing was Pete to share Vince’s limited resources? If Lee continued to be this difficult, to mistrust them and refuse to tell them what was really going on in his head, was it worth the stress on Pete’s relationship with Vince to keep trying?
“And I’m the optimistic one,” Pete muttered, as he pulled sheets up to his chin. He’d lost interest in his earlier sexy thoughts. “Just figure him out, Vince. Please.” He had to have faith Vince could do this without him.
Thankfully, Vince didn’t ask questions or make any indication he wanted explanations as they drove home. Between his fading buzz, the stress, and the uneasy silence, Lee found himself nodding off after a little while. Vince only woke him when they had pulled into the driveway.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“Don’t be. Let’s just go inside.”
With a nod, Lee got out of the car, but then he stood there, unsure as Vince locked the car doors.
“Come on.” Vince took his hand, led him up the walk and into the house. They didn’t speak as Vince took him down the hall to the master bedroom and into the en suite. He closed the door behind them, then pressed Lee back against it.
Standing close enough that Lee could feel Vince wasn’t hard, that the night chill was still clinging to his clothes, Vince took his face in both hands and stared into him. “The last time someone kissed you, they wanted to control you,” he whispered. The breath of his words brushed over Lee’s lips, and Lee ran his tongue out like he might taste them. “And you’re right. It had nothing to do with you. It was about them.”
“You don’t even know who it was.”
“I don’t have to.” Vince ran a thumb over Lee’s moist lower lip and it was all Lee could do not to try and suck that digit inside. “They tried to drug you, Lee, and tell you it was for your own good. They were trying to take over your will. I know you’re smarter than
to believe that.”
Lee nodded.
“The next time someone kisses you, it’ll be because you want to give them that control.”
“Yeah?”
“I will never take what you don’t want to give.”
“That why you let me go?”
Vince leaned his head against Lee, pressing his cool forehead to the side of his neck. It felt so good to be pinned there. Calm filtered through him. He relaxed, ran his hands up Vince’s arms, and tipped his head back against the door. A shudder shook him, head to toe. After a frenetic night, after the last few days of tension and avoidance, it finally felt like he was exactly where he should be.
As if responding to the need shooting through Lee’s veins like quicksilver, Vince pressed his lips to Lee’s throat and began kissing. Each touch was tender but meticulous, small pops of sensation that promised more if Lee allowed. The occasional lick interspersed those tiny kisses and Lee huffed, squirming to get contact where he wanted it, along his collarbone, or up along his neck to his ear.
Vince moved away slightly to whisper commands against Lee’s skin where they melted into him, became part of his soul. “Still,” Vince ordered. “We’re going to get you out of these clubbing clothes and into the shower. I want you sobered up.”
Lee groaned. “I’m fine—”
“Then you can control yourself long enough to get cleaned up.” Vince pulled back to look into his eyes. “Do this for me. Please. I want you, but it matters to me that it’s all you, and not influenced by anything else.”
“I’m not.” Lee pushed at Vince to escape the captivity, but Vince placed a palm on his chest.
“Still,” he said again.
Lee shivered and gradually twitched to a stop, only his chest rising and falling as he panted.
“Hands on my waist.”
Lee did as he was told.
“Now leave them there.”
“Okay,” Lee agreed, the promise as much breath as word.
Vince proceeded to unbutton Lee’s shirt, unbuckle his belt, and then peel him out of his clothes. It was a tactile exploration, intimate without being sexual. The goal was getting Lee naked, certainly, but into the shower not the bed. And Vince didn’t join him. He guided Lee into the enclosure, closed the door, and moved back into the bedroom after telling Lee to take his time.
Lee washed from hair to toes thoroughly, then stood under the spray, feeling the tiny needles of water penetrate to his core.
When he finally came out, wearing Pete’s fuzzy bath robe, Vince was in the living room watching TV. A tray of snacks sat on the table, and a large glass of lemon water waited next to it. Vince had a thick towel draped over one thigh. He wore sleep pants and an old T-shirt, and pushed his glasses up with his thumb as Lee approached.
“Come sit,” Vince told him, indicating a pillow at his feet. “I’ll dry your hair.”
“I don’t need—” Lee closed his mouth. Why was it so hard to accept that it wasn’t about what he needed so much as it was about what Vince—and Pete—wanted to do for him?
He folded himself onto the large pillow and leaned his back against Vince’s shins. The water was perfect, tart and cool down his throat, and he polished off half of it before setting the glass down and relaxing.
“Good,” Vince approved, and began to scrub his hair with the towel. Again, it was intimate and connecting, not sexual. Lee sighed and closed his eyes.
Hours later, after the snacks and more water and a short, restoring nap with his head on Vince’s lap, Lee found himself following Vince into the bedroom, hand in his, body relaxed, mind remarkably clear. The world had stopped spinning and his reservations about the situation had eased.
“Let me see you,” Vince whispered, backing him against the door and cupping his cheek. He met Lee’s gaze and studied him. “You seem more coherent now. You had me worried.”
Lee wanted to say he didn’t need anyone to worry about him, but he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he examined the fluttering in his chest and the soothing calm permeating the moment. He didn’t want to ruin that, but wasn’t sure what to do to hold on to it.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “It wasn’t about making you worry, I swear.”
“Tell me,” Vince demanded, but softly, almost pleading.
“I wanted— Shit. I wanted to prove I didn’t need—”
Vince silently watched him, fingers slowly caressing his cheek. “Need what?” he finally asked.
“I don’t know. That I didn’t need you. And Pete. This place. Everything.” He closed his eyes and sagged, “That you couldn’t make me stay.”
“I want you to stay.”
Lee tipped his head back as Vince kissed his jaw and throat, making it hard to think. The one thing stuck in his brain wasn’t hard to find, though. “Why?”
“Because I like you. A lot.” Vince shifted back to peer at Lee. “I wish that wasn’t so hard for you to see or believe. Just give us a chance to show you?”
Lee licked his lips, fascinated by the way the room’s dim lighting pulled delicate strands of color from Vince’s hair and made his eyes shine and shimmer. Or maybe that wasn’t the light. Maybe that was Lee’s own reflection. He dragged a thumb under Vince’s eye, over his cheekbone. “Why?” he asked again.
“Let us show you.”
Lee nodded. He didn’t know what else to say, but he didn’t want to let go of the hope that this might be a real thing, despite what he’d learned could happen when someone wanted this kind of relationship with him.
Vince resumed his slow exploration of Lee’s throat and jaw, and trailed his hands over Lee’s body. He set off sparks, tiny bonfires of heat and desire wherever he found skin, until Lee was aflame with not enough.
Finally, Vince stepped back until Lee’s hands slipped from his body. Lee let them fall to his sides and he stared at Vince, trembling.
“Undress.” Vince brushed a strand of hair out of Lee’s eyes and Lee blinked at him, breathing hard, fighting not to let his eyelids flicker closed. Vince tucked the hair behind Lee’s ear, and the gesture sent another shiver through him. If he moved away from the door, his knees might give out on him. No one had ever done this to him with a few whispered orders and some practically chaste kisses.
He’d chased this precarious lightness for years at the hands of men who’d demanded so much more of him, had been so much harsher with his body and less considerate with his mind and heart. They’d never got him anywhere near where Vince led him so softly and so quickly.
“Lee?”
Lee swallowed and nodded. “Y-yes. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Tell me what you were thinking.”
So gently spoken, but the steel behind the words was undeniable. Lee reached for the knot in the robe’s belt. “I was thinking people have worked a lot harder to get me this pliable,” he said, watching his fingers as he picked at the knot. “Told me I had to work for what I wanted. Made me jump through their hoops, bend to every little thing they—” He gulped, forced himself away from the door and tugged the belt open. He shimmied the robe off his shoulders. The room was warmer than the rest of the house, but gooseflesh sprang up over his back and stomach anyway. “It was never like this,” he admitted.
“Good.” Slow and deliberate, Vince reached over and tweaked Lee’s nipple.
Lee gasped, almost jumping back from the harder touch, but the heat it dissipated through his body pooled in his groin. The gooseflesh receded and his skin flushed warm. He almost wanted to thank Vince for the sizzling desire it woke in him.
Vince’s gaze on him was hot. Possessive. Lee felt it sweep over him as he peeled away the tiny briefs underneath the robe. He’d had to use the ones he’d worn to the club, since all his own things had been moved back to his dismal apartment. Vince held out a hand and it took Lee a moment to realize he wanted the underwear. Embarrassment swept through him, almost driving him to cover himself as he bent to pick them up and hand them over.
“I’m
very happy no one else saw you in these tonight,” Vince told him, holding the garment out between them. He sounded so calm and still. So carefully contained.
Lee felt like he’d just been reprimanded. “So am I,” he whispered.
“You wore them with the intention of someone seeing them.”
Lee pursed his lips and said nothing.
“But you were in Port Angeles. So who was going to see them? Not me. Not Pete.”
“I made a mistake,” Lee admitted after a few heartbeats.
Vince dropped the underwear onto the discarded robe and kicked the lot off to the side. “It won’t happen again.”
“Nope.” Lee tried a tentative smile. “Unless I know you’ll be undressing me?”
“That’s a decent answer.” Taking his hand, Vince tugged him a few steps forward. “Come here.”
Lee went willingly into his arms and the kiss he allowed contained so much more than surrender. It was all his fears and tension, all his want and hopes bundled into the simple touch. It was a promise that he wanted the control it offered. He slowly melted to jelly as Vince took command of the kiss and drove his tongue into Lee’s mouth. His entire naked body pressed to Vince’s clothes, heated. His skin lit up with need so overwhelming, he couldn’t breathe. The moan he finally let escape sounded so small in comparison to what he was feeling.
“Good,” Vince approved as he pulled away enough to look at him once again, pushing the hair out of his face. “Come to bed.”
“Yeah,” Lee breathed, wondering where all his fight had gone and if he was going to need to find it at some point.
“This is okay,” Vince assured him, like he could read Lee’s mind.
Lee tried to be flip and grinned, though his nerves undermined it. “No pj’s?”
Vince raised an eyebrow at him. “Be careful. We have three whole days together. Keep being mouthy and you might have to earn clothes back one piece at a time.”
That got Lee’s heart racing and his palms sweating. “Okay.”
What was he agreeing to? And why wasn’t he afraid it?