by Onley James
They’d been on set for almost three weeks and the hours were grueling for cast and crew alike. Six days a week, fourteen to twenty hours a day either in front of the cameras, prepping for the cameras or going back to the hotel suite and passing out for a few precious hours. Elijah spent his days off sleeping next to Shep but little else. Tobi’s obsession with Elijah’s god-like bodyguard gave Elijah a good excuse to keep Shep closer than necessary and kept the crew from asking too many questions, even if Demi did side-eye them an awful lot.
It was strange seeing Shep out in the world around people who didn’t know his secret, laughing and smiling and just looking so… normal. Maybe it should have concerned Elijah more that Shep passed so well, that he was such an accomplished liar, but it made his blood hum. Elijah was the only one who got to see Shep with his mask off, got to see him let go of the strain of pretending to be something he wasn’t. Even Dr. Molly Shepherd didn’t get to see that.
Demi hopped from her chair, giving Elijah the once over before saying, “Come on, Tobi. We’ve got thirty minutes to hit the craft services table. If you promise to behave, I’ll pretend I don’t notice you sneaking a donut instead of a fruit cup.”
“Sugar,” he shouted, jumping off of Shep and striking a muscle man pose as he gave a bloodthirsty yell. “Sorry I beat you up, Shep.”
“No problem,” Shep grunted, his color now a more cherry red than eggplant purple.
Ten minutes later, Kaija pronounced Elijah shine-free. He stood, cocking his head towards the door. “Come on, Thor. Let’s go see if we can find some ice for your balls. I hope you weren’t planning on having kids.”
Shep wheezed out a hollow laugh. “Not anymore.”
They gave a wave to Kaija and made their way back to Elijah’s trailer. They just barely made it inside when Shep wrapped his arms around Elijah and pressed him up against the door. Shep leaned down for a kiss, but Elijah slapped a hand over Shep’s lips. “Sorry, Sam. If I mess up my makeup Kaija will have questions.” The disgruntled look on Shep’s face was enough to make Elijah smile. “Oh, don’t pout,” Elijah said, his hands unbuttoning his jeans. “I didn’t say you couldn’t use your mouth. I have just the thing for you.”
Shep’s eyes were a brilliant gold, his grin feral enough to make all the blood in Elijah’s brain desert him, his cock hardening with dizzying speed. “Oh, yeah. What did you have in mind?” he murmured.
So many things. “I want your mouth on my cock. Suck me off, Sam. Please? It’s been forever.”
Shep dropped to his knees, pushing up Elijah’s shirt to bite at his abs and hips before dragging his jeans and underwear to his thighs.
Shep’s mouth closed around him, drawing him deep. “Oh, fuck,” Elijah muttered, his head thudding against the trailer door. “God, that feels amazing. Oh, yeah, Sam. Do that thing with your tongue… yeah, that’s it.”
It was so easy with Shep, the usual anxiety of asking for what he wanted didn’t exist when it was just the two of them. Shep would give him anything he asked, and that turned him on almost as much as Shep’s pornstar-level fellatio. Elijah gripped Shep’s hair with both hands, canting his hips forward, holding him still as he fucked into the tight, hot suction of Shep’s perfect mouth. “Fuck, I’m not gonna last. Get up here.”
Shep did as Elijah commanded. He quickly undid Shep’s jeans, shoving them out of the way, noting the lack of underwear. “Somebody was thinking ahead,” he murmured. “Pick me up.”
Shep lifted him up as if he weighed nothing, slamming him back against the door, rattling it on the hinges. Elijah didn’t care. Shep’s fingers were digging into the flesh of his ass hard enough to leave bruises and the hard length of his cock pressed against Elijah’s just right. He started grinding his hips, whining at the friction. “Yeah, like that. That’s perfect. Oh, fuck. Faster. Yes. Hurry. I wanna feel you come first. Please.”
Shep growled, shifting Elijah’s weight allowing Elijah to work their cocks together in a way that made his eyes roll back in his head. He whined as waves of pleasure shot along his spine making him shiver. Shep made a harsh sound and Elijah could feel his release slick on his skin. That was all it took. One more thrust and he was coming hard, his head once more banging against the trailer door.
Shep took three steps backward, dropping onto the built-in ugly green sofa, Elijah now straddling his thighs. “I hate this,” Elijah muttered.
When Shep frowned, Elijah shook his head with an eye-roll. “Not this,” he gestured between them. “This.” He gestured around at everything else. “I just want a night off so we can do more than grope each other like teenagers before we pass out.”
“You practically are a teenager,” Shep said with a smirk.
“Does that make you my sugar Daddy?” Elijah simpered, before licking the tip of Shep’s nose.
Shep squinted as though thinking. “I’m pretty sure you still have the bigger bank account. Would that make you a sugar... boy?”
Elijah scrunched up his face. “Ew. Never use that phrase again.” He stroked his thumb over Shep’s bottom lip, counting the freckles there before he said, “I’m serious. I want just one night off, that’s all. I’m missing the times when there were limits to how many hours I could film.”
“True, but if that were the case, we wouldn’t have been doing any of what we just did.”
Elijah sighed. “True.” He looked back over at the door. “I hope nobody walked by. We probably shouldn’t do that again here.”
“You’re the one who calls the shots. I just do as I’m told. You told me to get on my knees, so I did.”
Elijah snickered, slapping him on the arm. “Just following orders, were you? I didn’t hear you complaining.”
The sudden heat in Shep’s expression had Elijah’s cock trying to rally once more. “I have no complaints. I’ll get on my knees for you anytime.”
Elijah’s heart skipped and the urge to smash their lips together was almost overwhelming. “Stop saying things that make me want to kiss you when you know I can’t.”
“Sorry,” Shep said, looking not sorry at all.
Elijah perked up at the low rumble in the distance. Was that thunder? Storms had plagued the Atlanta area, but most of the scenes to date had been set indoors. This was their first day that called for an outside shoot. They could plan somewhat for inclement weather, but if the high school track became a swamp like on previous days, they’d have to shut down the shoot. Elijah would go out there and rain dance naked if he thought it would get him a day off where he wasn’t so exhausted he wanted to die.
He shifted his weight, pushing back the tacky maroon curtains to peer up at the sky. Ugly storm clouds hung low in every shade of gray. He grinned down at Shep. “Maybe our luck is turning?”
His brow went up. “Would they call the whole day for a little rain?”
“They’ll try to make us wait it out, but if it goes on for too long, they’ll call it.” The thought brought a smile to his face. “In the meantime, I need to clean up and change my pants. I don’t want wardrobe seeing any remnants of the mess we made. Rumors would fly by lunch.”
Elijah stood and stripped, walking naked towards the back of the trailer when he froze. “Where did those come from?”
On the small table sat a floral arrangement. Lavender roses. Again. Elijah crept forward, his heart sinking. Wondering if there would be another white card attached. He jumped when he felt Shep behind him.
“I don’t know. They weren’t here this morning. They look similar to the ones from the house the other day. Do you recognize them?”
Elijah shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about those. Didn’t want to talk about how he used to send him lavish gifts and expensive floral arrangements all in his favorite color, how Lucifer used to tell him how lucky he was to have such powerful people believe in him. “Throw them away… please.”
Shep didn’t hesitate, just tossed them in the trash can beside the counter. “All gone.”
Elijah nodded
, shaking away old memories. He stopped at the bathroom sink and cleaned up as best he could before throwing on sweats and a fresh hoodie. Another rumble of thunder came, this time close enough to make the trailer vibrate.
Elijah forced himself to turn to Shep and smile. “I hope you’re ready. Cause if this day gets canceled, we’re going on a date. Then it’s just you, me and all the free porn we can stomach.”
“Is that a giant dick?”
Elijah grinned at Shep over his shoulder. “Yeah, it is. Want to rub it for luck?”
They stood just inside the entrance of a restaurant in an Atlanta neighborhood known as Little Five Points. A very busy neighborhood where tons of people wandered by each moment, all of their gazes lingering on Elijah too long for Shep’s comfort. He took a step closer. He should never have agreed to this. There were just too many uncontrolled variables. Keeping Elijah safe was his number one priority, always.
He scanned the perimeter, honing in on a group of girls who had their phones out. They weren’t pointing in Elijah’s direction, but the girls whispered and pointed towards them just the same. Shep scowled. “This was a bad idea.”
“What? This was a great idea. A date. A real date. Just the two of us. What could be wrong with that?”
Shep hooked a brow upwards. Was he serious?
Elijah stepped closer. He ran his thumbs along Shep’s eyebrows. “No, don’t give me the eyebrows of confusion.”
Shep huffed. “My eyebrows aren’t confused. They’re concerned. People recognize you. The entire world thinks you and that Robby kid are dating. People have threatened your life.”
Elijah shook his head. “Oh, please. People have been threatening my life since way before I outed myself. Besides, we took precautions. You’re armed. Nobody knows I cut my hair for the movie. I have brown contacts in.” He looked down at his skinny jeans, black sweater and white sneakers. “And Lucifer wouldn’t let me be caught dead in this outfit. Those girls are staring because you’re hot and you look like the wood in your jeans is far bigger than the fake one standing in front of us. We make a really hot couple. People are going to stare. Get used to it.”
Before Shep could utter a response, Elijah spun away from him and wrapped his arms around the giant wooden dick. “Quick, take my picture,” he commanded, squishing his face to the statue.
Shep smiled against his will and took out his phone, capturing the photo. “You look ridiculous.”
Elijah sidled up to him, slipping his arms around his waist, letting his hands slide under his sweater. Shep shivered at the coolness of Elijah’s palms. “Don’t be jealous. Unlike those girls, I know exactly how big your dick is and I promise to give it the same treatment later. I’ll even let you take a picture.”
Shep’s cock took notice of Elijah’s words, no matter how ludicrous the sentiment. His infatuation with the boy was a problem. He should take him back to the hotel. It’s what any other guard would have done. But Shep found it impossible to refuse Elijah anything, which is why when they’d shut down the set for inclement weather and Elijah had gazed up at him with those big eyes and begged for a real date, Shep had folded like a lawn chair. He hoped it didn’t come back to bite him in the ass.
Once seated, a server came to the table, chomping her gum. She had blonde hair shaved short on one side revealing deep black roots, but the middle part swooped down to cover one overly lined blue eye. Other than that, she wore no makeup. Her nails were short and painted black except at the ends where it had worn away either from her biting them or from everyday wear. “What are you drinking?” she asked Elijah, her tone somewhere between bored and irritated. “And if you say anything with alcohol, I’m carding you, baby face. Even if you are here with your dad.”
Shep’s lip curled, his anger instantaneous. But Elijah laughed, threading their fingers together on the table. “Relax, babe. They get paid to be rude. I’m just having a Coke, anyway.”
She rolled her eyes. “What about you, Outlander?”
“Water,” he grunted.
She turned without another word. Elijah shook his head. “Down boy. Being rude is their shtick. Or are you mad that she said you were old enough to be my dad?”
“I am old enough to be your dad,” Shep said. “I don’t like people talking to you like that.”
Elijah laughed. “We live in LA. If ten people aren’t rude to me before lunch, I get paranoid. I’ll let you know when to get mad. I promise.”
Shep just grunted. “It’s my job to protect you.”
“You do protect me. More than anybody in my entire life ever has. But, maybe don’t snarl and growl at the servers who make like two dollars an hour. Let’s just have fun today, please?” Elijah’s fingers squeezed Shep’s, and his anger faded away. The boy was so excited to be out in the world, he was vibrating with it. He’d smiled more in the past two hours than he had in the last six weeks, even with the gray skies and the oil slicked puddles on the street outside.
“You seem happy.”
The statement seemed to rattle Elijah, his smile dimming a bit, before he shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I be? I am out in public with a person I chose, eating in a place I love without being surrounded and harassed by hundreds of people on a much-needed day off.” He leaned forward, dropping his voice, his tongue darting out to lick over his lower lip. “And when we get back to the hotel, my night will end with mutual orgasms.”
Shep’s cock throbbed behind his zipper. “You need to stop talking like that or your day will be cut short.”
Elijah’s grin was pornographic. Shep jumped as Elijah’s shoe rubbed against his calf. “Am I turning you on?”
“Always,” Shep promised.
Elijah’s laugh sounded breathless. He dropped his foot as the server brought their drinks, all but slamming them down on the table. Shep scanned the room once more, relieved to see that nobody paid them any attention. A man lit up a cigarette at the bar and the bartender slid an ashtray towards them. “They let people smoke inside?”
Elijah laughed. “Wow, you had just enough disdain in your voice to sound like a true Californian.” He paused, a wrinkle furrowing his brow. “Wait? I haven’t seen you smoke in… weeks.”
Shep shrugged. “I stopped.”
Elijah’s mouth dropped open. “What do you mean you stopped? Just like that? Why?”
“You didn’t like it. You said I smelled like an ashtray.”
Elijah’s expression seemed almost bashful. “Well, you did. I’m not upset that you stopped. But… how did you stop? I know you aren’t using like patches or anything. I’ve done a very thorough exploration of your body.”
Shep snickered. “I just did. I didn’t need to smoke. It was just something I did overseas because most of the guys over there smoked too. It was a way of… passing as one of them.”
Elijah shook his head. “That’s… That’s crazy. I’m glad though. It was bad for you.”
Shep glanced down at the sugary beverage sitting in front of Elijah. “Sugar’s bad for you.”
Elijah gave a delighted laugh. “Aren’t I entitled to one cheat day in my sad, sugarless existence?”
“Fine. Just one though. I want to keep you around.”
Elijah flushed, his gaze dropping to their joined fingers, squeezing once before their server returned. “Do you know what you want? I don’t have all day?”
They ate their lunch, chatting about everything and nothing, before Shep paid the check and allowed Elijah to drag them out into the street, hand in hand. It was no longer raining, but the air had teeth, just cool enough for Elijah to tuck himself under Shep’s arm. They wandered, Elijah pulling him into shop after shop. Vintage clothing boutiques, a music store that still sold vinyl. Elijah insisted on buying Shep a copy of Nirvana’s Nevermind and Shep let him because it seemed to make him happy. As the sun sank into the sky, they stopped at a Cantina that didn’t seem as concerned about Elijah’s age. He quickly made friends with the couple beside them, a girl with bubblegum pink hair and her
brunette girlfriend.
“You look just like Elijah Dunne,” the pink-haired girl said, her words slurred. “But you’re cuter.”
Elijah clinked his shot glass to hers and they both downed a shot the color of antifreeze. “Why thank you,” he said, throwing a wink over his shoulder to Shep who stood beside Elijah’s barstool, his chest to Elijah’s back.
“But his boyfriend… wha’s his name? Billy? Bobby? Robby?” Bubblegum girl asked. It gave Shep an odd thrill to know the girl couldn’t remember Robby’s name.
The brunette seemed to have better recall. “Robby. He’s dreamy. It’s too bad he’s a PK. My little sister wanted to bang him so bad when he was on that show… that kid’s show? What was it called?” the brunette asked.
Elijah stiffened, but Shep leaned forward. “PK?”
The brunette girl gave a solemn nod. “PK. Preacher’s kid. Usually those kids are wild but not Robby. His family are like weird militant bible-beaters. It’s why he has like nine siblings. They were all trying to be actors, but only Robby seemed to have that star quality. His parents had him sign a purity contract, and he even wore a fucking purity ring. How creepy is that?”
“He took it off when he started dating Elijah Dunne though. Not that I blame him,” her girlfriend said, clinking her glass with the new shot sitting before Elijah.
“He took it off before then,” Elijah stated, sucking in a breath as the two girls examined him with suspicious eyes. “I mean, I read an article where he took it off after he came out and his dad flipped on him. Maybe his dad took it back? That would be sad.”