Four Mercenaries - The Complete Collection

by K. A. Merikan

  “I don’t wanna leave.”

  Clover laughed and prodded at Pyro’s side. “I didn’t know you were a fan of organic living. Gonna hang up your gun and swap it for a rake?”

  Pyro frowned, his eyes trained on the decorative lamp made out of antlers. “Oh, I know everything about sweeping, cleaning, and tending to a garden. I had a crazy amount of chores growing up.”

  Clover rolled out of Boar’s embrace and on top of Pyro’s sturdy form to look him right in the eye. “You? Chores and gardening? I don’t believe a word.”

  Boar snorted, rubbing his cheek against the pillow like a lazy cat. “Oh, yeah. He even had a uniform he needed to wear for home schooling.”

  Pyro shook his head. “I’d get punished all the freaking time. With the amount of spanking I’d gotten, it’s a surprise I haven’t gotten into it. You know, as a defence mechanism.”

  Clover rested his elbows at the sides of Pyro’s face, struck by how little he knew about his lover’s background. He hadn’t wanted to pry, but he’d now strike the iron while it was hot. “You do like spanking me... Were you a bad boy already? A rotten child?”

  Boar laughed and put his hand on Clover’s naked ass under the covers. “Can you imagine him not being a bad boy? If you ask me nicely, I might show you what a pretty blond boy he used to be at eleven. Though I bet he was already having all the wet dreams about his handsome neighbors.”

  Pyro put his hand over Boar’s mouth. “Don’t show him that photo, or I’ll tell him about that sexual fantasy you had about the confessional!”

  Boar couldn’t stop laughing. “You wouldn’t!”

  Pyro grinned. “Try me. I might need a blowjob to reconsider.”

  Clover pinned Pyro back down when he tried to get up, feeling like a lion cub play-fighting with the leader of their pride. “No, wait! I need to know more. Were you two part of the same community? I thought you only met later?” His mind still spun with the idea of Pyro forced into a uniform. How constricting it must have been for a free-spirited man like him.

  Boar snorted. “If we were part of the same community, I’d not have stayed a virgin for as long as I did. But I guess there are some similarities in our childhoods.”

  “Only my dad was a military guy and super strict, and his parents were religious nutjobs who started each day with family prayer and finished it with communal Bible study,” Pyro said, butting in.

  Boar showed his teeth in a scowl. “Yeah. There wasn’t much place for being gay in that environment. So when they found out, I had to go.”

  Clover reached for Boar’s beard and stroked it as his heart was struck by sadness over this gentle giant having to go through such a thing. “I’m so sorry. Were you kicked out too, Pyro?”

  The green eyes met his, and a smirk tugged at Pyro’s mouth. “No. I left. Was fed up with all the discipline. With having to do stuff just because someone else said so. I moved in with this squatter community and met Boar some time after that.” He squeezed Boar’s hand with fondness even as he nuzzled Clover.

  Before Clover had met the mercenaries, he would have never thought he might learn to feel so much for more than one person. And in case of Pyro and Boar, he’d expected to be a third wheel in their relationship, but both of them were so open, so welcoming, Clover no longer thought about it much. Their arrangement might have been unusual, but it worked. He didn’t feel less wanted because these guys had feelings for each other too. Last night, they’d kissed while spit roasting him, and witnessing it had made Clover so hot he wouldn’t close his eyes even when they watered from the hard throat-fuck. He wasn’t jealous, and neither were they, content with sharing both tenderness and physical pleasure.

  When Boar pulled closer, Clover decided he’d never roll out of bed if he didn’t do it now, which would end up with Tank losing his patience and coming over to get him. As attractive as that sounded, Clover didn’t want to keep his Daddy waiting.

  Boar shook his head when Clover rolled over him to get to the floor. “Pyro’s never been one for following rules. Always chasing everything that’s different,” he said, watching Clover with a slight smile. “Hard to say what he sees in me,” he teased, because Boar wasn’t insecure. If he used to be back in the day, Pyro had definitely loved that out of him.

  Pyro reached over to pet Bear’s head, but his gaze kept following Clover like a laser dot. “And you are just… can’t stop looking at you.”

  Clover put his glasses on and grinned, basking in the heat of adoration that kept hitting him so hard whenever he realized that he’d only traveled with the guys for the past month. It felt like it had been so much longer. Was it the intensity of their connection or the fact that they were such a good fit, he didn’t know, but he’d settled into their unexpected affection like a donut into sizzling oil.

  Clover used to resent his albinism in the past, but he’d outgrown that attitude a few years ago. Sometimes, it still hit him with insecurity when a man told him he wasn’t their type, but the attention Pyro showered him with for the exact reason some rejected him for made him grow more confident.

  He looked into the mirror, focused on his two lovers, who lazily watched him from the bed. “Oh yeah? What do you like so much? I’ve only got one tattoo.” He pointed to his arm. He didn’t love it anymore. It was the silhouette of a racoon. All of Jerry’s crew had gotten it, since they considered the trash panda their collective spirit animal, and while it had made sense when he was seventeen, the inked picture was now a bitter reminder of how little their bond meant to Jerry.

  Boar groaned. “Ass like a peach.”

  “You look like an elf,” Pyro added, stretching in the bed, as if he were trying to show that he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Neither was Clover, but he had to run if he wanted to pretty himself up for his Daddy. After all, he had some explaining to do.

  He grabbed a comb out of his bag and sat on the edge of the bed. Boar gave Pyro another peck and rose, taking the comb without Clover having to ask for the favor. Boar brushing his hair was a little ritual they enjoyed.

  “I just wish my eyes weren’t all weird,” Clover said softly.

  Pyro stretched his muscular tattooed chest and shifted closer, tapping Clover’s chin with his index finger. In the mirror, his eyes remained steady while Clover’s continued the miniscule movements, which made people stare or ask unsolicited questions.

  “They’re not weird. They’re just unusual. I guess it sucks you don’t see well without glasses, but that’s not uncommon.” Pyro swallowed, applying just enough pressure to Clover’s face so that he’d look Pyro’s way. The man smiled, showing his large teeth. “I think they’re as beautiful as the rest of you, Clo.”

  Clover’s heart fluttered, and he leaned in for a kiss that felt so honest it took his breath away. Pyro could be so filthy, yet so sweet at times. A man of extremes. No wonder he couldn’t be contained by chores and a uniform. “Thank you.”

  Boar kissed the back of Clover’s head and returned the comb. “All done.”

  For a moment, neither of them moved, creating the prettiest family picture in the mirror, with Boar hugging Clover from the back and Pyro watching him fondly. But there was one person missing. One person who’d surely want to know why he’d had to sleep on his own last night.

  Clover eventually left the cabin, and while he wanted to see Tank as soon as possible, he diverted toward the communal showers, wishing to smell nice before he met his Daddy.

  He used a herbal mint soap that someone made on the premises, and put on fresh clothes which had been dried in the sunshine. He wasn’t surprised the guys visited this place a few times a year, because in their line of work, relaxation was hard to come by.

  High on fresh air and morning cuddles, Clover knocked on Tank’s door in case his man had something important going on. He entered as soon as he heard an invitation, but his smile faltered the moment he saw another familiar face.

  Travis sat on Tank’s unmade bed wearing a pair of cut-off shorts and a l
eather vest over naked skin. His dark hair was tousled, as if he’d just rolled out of the sheets, and Tank’s black boxer shorts looked far too cozy to be guest-appropriate.

  Clover licked his lips because they’d gone dry, but his skin was going colder by the second as if his thawed heart was freezing over fast. “Oh. Am I… interrupting?” He had to exercise all of his willpower to not demand an explanation. He couldn’t do anything that might be seen as undermining Tank’s authority. Not with Travis present.

  He threw Travis a hateful glare. Hateful glare? Who was he kidding? He wanted to grab the fucker by the hair and slam his face against the bed frame until his nose wasn’t so cute anymore.

  Tank called him over with a gesture, and Clover filled the vacant space under Daddy’s arm, breathing in his scent to search for any indication that Travis’s presence had lasted throughout the night.

  Tank smelled like he always did in the morning, his usual cologne only a ghost at this point. He pulled Clover closer as he looked Travis’s way. “You were saying?”

  Travis winked at Clover. “I was saying morning coffee tastes best with some man-milk.”

  Don’t cause a scene. Don’t cause a scene. Don’t cause a scene.

  Clover hugged Tank, wishing to cover him up from head to toe so that Travis couldn’t even fill his eyes with the view, but who was he to tell Tank what to do?

  Tank played with the hair on Clover’s neck, his massive chest trembling when he laughed. “I’m not stopping you.”

  Travis licked his lips, his gaze briefly darting south, to Tank’s package, which Clover itched to hide from prying eyes.

  It was time to man up. Clover cleared his throat. “So… is this a thing? Should I go? Should I… er, stay?” His position with Tank, of which he’d been so sure of before, shook under his feet, and he didn’t know how long he had left until he fell into the hole created by this uncertainty.

  Tank shook his head and gave Clover a soft kiss. “No, he only brought me breakfast. Where have you been all night, naughty boy?” he asked with a playful slap to Clover’s butt.

  Travis’s face didn’t change much, but the twitch to his lips was like maple syrup on Clover’s pancakes. He didn’t hate the guy, but what the fuck was this man-stealing attempt?

  Clover grinned and got to his toes to kiss Tank’s jaw. “I’ve been good boy with Boar and Pyro,” he said, rubbing his face into the warm skin of Tank’s throat, to cover himself with his Daddy’s scent.

  Travis got up with a groan and threw his arms in the air. “Oh, my God! No need to hoard all the guys.”

  Tank grinned and dragged Clover into his arms for a hard but fast kiss. The sense of weightlessness Clover felt for a split second had him clinging to his man and kissing him back more ferociously than usual. “Don’t be like that, Travis. You’ll be the only guy on the board soon. You can hoard all the gays and bisexuals in the settlement.”

  Knowing that someone wanted what he had, made Clover reassess just how special it was. Different and unconventional, but what mattered was that it worked for them.

  Travis shook his head. “Maybe I should dye my hair,” he said, and pinched Clover’s ass on the way out.

  Tank still watched Clover when Travis left, taking his time before he put him back on the floor. “Am I imagining things or was that a low-key jealousy scene?”

  Clover stalled as heat flushed his face, unsure if he should question Tank’s conduct. In the end though, he remembered how much Tank insisted on honesty and looked into his eyes. “Um… Did I have the right to it? I know I’m yours exclusively, but it didn’t occur to me you might want other guys…”

  Tank stretched that amazing chest and pulled on Clover’s ear. “I can see your self-worth is growing.”

  Clover bit his lip. “But you don’t do anyone else bare, right?” he asked, deflated despite his better judgment. The image of Tank with someone else, cuddling them, calling them his ‘boy’ or even disciplining them for that matter, wouldn’t leave Clover alone, and the taste in his mouth became bitter despite the aftertaste of toothpaste still present.

  Tank took a deep breath and steadied Clover with both hands. “Do you think that between training and work I’d have time for doing anyone behind your back, bare or not?”

  Clover had to stop himself from grinning too widely as relief flooded his body. He hugged Tank, all but bouncing in place. “No! No time at all, Daddy. Your hands are full with your boy.”

  “Such a bad boy at that. Hogging Daddy all to yourself while other boys may only ogle Daddy’s dick when it goes into you,” Tank said, squeezing Clover’s ass none-too-gently.

  Clover stood on his toes, pressing into Tank with a gasp. “I need the attention to be good, Daddy.” Was there time to show Tank just how worth his time he could make it?

  Tank’s brows rose. “That’s why you didn’t show up and left Daddy’s dick without the love its due? Leaving me alone in the cold bed?”

  Clover slid his hand up Tank’s side, feeling particularly naughty. “It was a warm night…”

  Tank spun him around so fast Clover didn’t even dare breathe until his cheek rested in sheets that smelled of Tank’s skin and his cum. Had he jerked off thinking about having Clover like this?

  He let out a strangled cry when Tank gave his buttocks a playful swat through the jeans. “Neglectful boy. Unless I give you permission, you come back to my bed. I don’t care if it’s five in the morning and you’re full of Boar and Pyro’s spunk. You come back to me. Understood?”

  Clover gasped at the show of force, but the spanking was nothing like the true punishment Tank didn’t administer often, so he took it in stride. “Yes, Daddy. I should have asked for your permission.”

  Tank slapped his ass again. “And that’s in person only. No texting-from-Pyro’s-phone kind of bullshit.”

  “In person only.”

  “Daddy was worried about you,” Tank said, smacking Clover’s ass again. The strokes produced heat that already tickled Clover’s balls, and he was on the verge of asking for forgiveness by satisfying Tank’s dick when the door swung open.

  So maybe he’d had sex in public a couple of times now, but he wasn’t used to being walked in on. He turned his face to the intruder and flopped to the bed, groaning at the sight of Drake.

  The man looked infuriatingly sexy as ever in a tight T-shirt, and his black hair was loose for once, with damp ends swiping his shoulders. “Can this not wait? We were supposed to leave half an hour ago.”

  Spoil-sport.

  Tank’s hand still rested on Clover’s ass, but his hesitation meant only one thing: Clover would have to show his Daddy how much he cared later in the day, which was unfortunate, since his cock had already started to fill up.

  “Right. Let’s get moving then,” Tank concluded in the end, pulling Clover back to his feet.

  Drake shook his head. “You can slut around later.”

  Clover spread his arms. “Seriously?” The first thing Drake said to him in a week since watch where you’re going, and this was it?

  Tank stepped in front of Clover, his voice sharp and clear. “Shouldn’t respect within our group be mutual, Drake? Stop picking on the boy!”

  Drake hissed like a piece of chicken tossed into sizzling oil. “He’s not a member of our group. He’ll be trouble. I’ve been saying this from the start, and I haven’t changed my mind. Fuck him all you want, since that’s how he’s paying for protection, but don’t drag me into it!”

  “Whatever. You don’t know me,” Clover said, but it came out flat and childish. “You’re just jealous ‘cause your dick is stewing in its own juices.”

  Drake took a step closer, baring his teeth like a rabid dog. “You better put a muzzle on the boy,” he said to Tank. “If he was mine, I’d have put a gag on him and only take it out for feeding and dick-sucking.”

  “You’d love to do that to a boy this pretty, wouldn’t you, Drake?” Tank asked, perfectly calm.

  Drake’s face twitched
, as if its muscles were cooking under skin, but in the end he stepped outside, jumping off the tiny porch. “Whatever. I’ll be in my van.”

  Clover remembered to breathe once Drake was out of sight. “Wow. That was intense.”

  Tank shook his head and pushed his boxers down, revealing his long cock to Clover, who at this point. “Don’t listen to him. He’d claimed Pyro would be our undoing for a whole year after he and Boar joined us.”

  Clover’s gaze zoomed in on Tank’s cock, and he sank to his knees. “We’ve got ten more minutes, right?”

  *

  Saying their goodbyes took forever, and Cross insisted they stayed for a communal breakfast, so it was close to noon by the time Tank’s crew left the compound and embarked on a long, lonely drive toward Oregon.

  Tank decided to take his Harley off the back of the pickup truck and rode it, with Clover hugging him from the back as beautiful landscapes passed by.

  Monumental mountains, still covered with snow, rose beyond dense woods that could’ve been the backdrop for a scary fairy tale, but soon enough Clover’s focus settled on the stream running alongside the asphalt and the way it glimmered in the sunlight. Ground rose on either side of the road, and soon enough they drove through a narrow ravine that might have been a cathedral of nature with the way the thick tree tops created a ceiling above.

  Could this really become his life? His position within the group remained uncertain, and the strange four-way relationship was still fresh, but Clover knew he fit in with the guys well, and maybe in a year’s time Drake would get over his conspiracy theories and give Clover a chance? He’d never lived on the right side of the law, so their job wasn’t an issue. They hadn’t yet talked about more distant future, but could staying be on the cards?

  Clover’s dreams were interrupted by a curse, and he looked up when Tank slowed his motorcycle. They were in the lead of the little cavalcade and the first to spot two large trees blocking the mountain road.