by Onley James
Linc: I’m sending Calder to relieve you.
Linc: Effective immediately Elijah is no longer your client.
Linc: I really wish you would have said something before you went public so we could get ahead of this.
Went public? Before Shep could even ask the logical question, Eli’s phone rang. Paige, his publicist. The boy frowned, his face draining of color, a look of dread taking root as he slid to answer.
“Hello?”
Shep couldn’t hear Paige’s side of the conversation, only the frantic tone and the rapid-fire words she uttered without pausing for breath.
For five minutes, Elijah stood listening without comment, then he said, “Okay, bye.” The phone slipped from his fingers to the bed. Finally, he looked at Shep. “They know.”
“They know?”
“About us. Our pictures are all over the Internet from our date last night. They want to meet with us… both of us, in the hotel conference room at eleven. Studio execs are flying in from Warner. We’re not to leave the hotel until then.”
Shep never should have allowed Elijah his fantasy date. They’d both known it wasn’t safe. Linc was right to remove him from his post. Shep shouldn’t be Elijah’s bodyguard. It required a level of distance Shep no longer possessed. He had lost his ability to refuse Elijah anything and while he’d die to protect him, he would never put Elijah’s career before Elijah’s wants and needs. Ever.
“Linc pulled me from your service. I’m no longer your bodyguard. He’s sending a replacement.”
Elijah’s face contorted with panic. “What? No! No way. You can’t leave me. Not now.”
Shep closed the distance between them, sitting on the bed and pulling an equally naked and damp Elijah into his lap. “I never said I was leaving. I just said I’m not on your payroll anymore. They can’t make me leave you. Relax.”
Elijah deflated against him, resting his head against Shep’s chin. “This is a disaster.”
Elijah’s phone chimed, signaling a text. Elijah sighed, picking it up.
Robby: You couldn’t have given me a head’s up? I thought we were friends. This is so fucking humiliating.
“Fuck,” Elijah muttered. “I’m such a dick.”
Shep watched as Elijah texted back.
Elijah: I’ll fix this. I promise.
Robby: Don’t bother.
Elijah started to open the browser on his phone, but Shep plucked it from his fingers. “Stop.”
Elijah shook his head, reaching for the phone. “No. I need to know what people are saying. I need to know if I just destroyed my career.”
Shep shook his head. “No. You need to calm down. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Elijah gaped at him. “I get dropped from a multi-million dollar contract? I get ostracized from Hollywood forever?”
Shep snorted a laugh, earning a glare from Elijah. “Because you cheated on your fake boyfriend? Do you really see that happening? So you’re the villain for a few months. Robby gets to play the victim and will get a ton of publicity as the jilted boyfriend. You’re a great actor. You just won an Oscar. This is just a little bump in the road.”
Elijah wrapped his arms and legs around Shep. “If we go public, that means you’re about to be thrust into the spotlight. These reporters will tear your life wide open. Are you ready for that?”
Shep frowned. “I don’t care about reporters. I don’t care if they know everything there is to know about me. My only concern is you.”
“I love you,” Elijah whispered against his chin. “I know you can’t say it back. But I just wanted you to know before everything falls apart.”
Shep could say it back, but he wouldn’t say it just to say it. He didn’t know what love felt like, but he needed Elijah to know if he could love somebody, it was him. “You are the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night. You are the only person who makes me smile. I feel like something is missing when you leave the room. I would protect you with my life. Is that love?”
Elijah pulled back, cupping Shep’s face with his palms. “I think so, yeah,” Elijah bit down on his lip like he was contemplating something serious. “I want you inside me,” he whispered.
Shep’s cock hardened. “Okay.”
Elijah’s gaze skated away. “I need to be looking at you the whole time. I need to see your face. To know… to know it’s you. Okay?”
Shep nodded. “Whatever you need.”
“Can we do it like this? Face to face? Me on top.”
“I’ll never say no to looking at you, rabbit.”
Elijah blushed to the tips of his ears. “That sounded downright romantic, Sam.”
A thought occurred to Shep, and he captured Elijah’s lips in a dirty kiss before standing. Elijah yelped in surprise, clinging tighter before laughing. “Where are we going?”
Shep snagged the lube, easily holding Elijah with one hand. “Dining room.”
Elijah peppered kisses along Shep’s jaw and throat. “You going to fuck me on that ugly marble table?”
Shep didn’t answer, just carried him to the ornate dining room with its mirrored walls, pulling the sleek armless chair from the table before sitting, bringing Elijah down with him. Elijah looked around, eyes going wide as he realized Shep’s plan. “You want to watch,” he managed.
“You like when I watch you,” Shep countered, handing Elijah the lube. “Get yourself ready for me, rabbit. I want to watch you finger yourself open for me.”
Elijah’s pupils dilated, his mouth going slack, swallowing hard. “Fuck, okay.”
There was just enough room on either side of Shep’s thighs for Elijah’s knees. He coated his fingers, reaching back behind himself.
“Have you ever done this before?” Shep asked.
Elijah didn’t look at him, concentrating on balancing, even with Shep’s hands around his waist. “Fingered myself? Yeah, a few times. But never with an audience.”
The thought of anybody seeing Elijah like this made Shep growl. Elijah giggled at Shep’s reaction, before his features softened, lids fluttering as he pushed a finger inside himself. Shep watched in the reflection as Elijah worked himself open, head thrown back, as he worked first one, then two fingers inside. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” Shep whispered, before pressing kisses to Elijah’s ribs and chest.
Elijah pulled his fingers free, flushing when he met Shep’s gaze. He slicked Shep’s already leaking cock with lube, gripping it in his hand as he settled himself over it. Shep groaned as the head of his cock sank past that first tight ring into the heat of Elijah’s body. Elijah hissed in pain.
Shep gripped Elijah tight, keeping him from sinking further, but Elijah shook his head. “No, don’t. Just give me a minute.”
Shep released him, but watched Elijah close, his desire to bury himself warring with the tension on the boy’s face. He didn’t want to hurt him. He didn’t need this. He had loved having Elijah fucking him, claiming him. “We don’t have to do this.”
“But I want to do this. I want you inside me. I want you to fuck me. I want to feel that you were there tomorrow. I need this. Please?”
“I-” Shep started.
“Kiss me,” Elijah cut him off, ending the argument.
Shep did as Elijah asked, slotting their mouths together, letting his tongue slip inside. As they kissed, Elijah rocked against him, his body accepting Shep in small increments, until he was fully seated within.
Elijah let his head fall back. “Fuck, you are so big. I feel so full. Touch me.”
Shep took one of Elijah’s nipples into his mouth, his hand wrapping around Elijah’s half hard cock. As he adjusted to Shep’s invasion, he started to move, thrusting himself into Shep’s tightened fist before dropping onto his cock. Shep watched, riveted, as Elijah used him to get off, gazing at him with an intensity that shook something loose inside him. He wouldn’t last much longer. “You feel too good. I’m gonna come,” he warned.
Elijah made a
helpless whine at his words. He gripped Shep’s shoulders, eyes squeezed shut tight as he bounced on Shep’s cock faster. “Oh, fuck. Fuck, Sam. Do it, breed me. Fill me up. I need it.”
Shep came hard, as if obeying Elijah’s command, his whole body shuddering as he coated Elijah’s insides with his release. His hand fell off rhythm as waves of pleasure washed over him, but it didn’t matter, Elijah was crying out, his cum hitting Shep’s stomach and chest as he climaxed, before collapsing with his head on Shep’s shoulder.
“Fuck, that was so hot,” Elijah whispered, still breathless.
When Shep said nothing, he raised his head to look at him. Shep dipped his fingers into Elijah’s cum, bringing the digits to his lips so he could taste himself. Elijah locked eyes with him, licking Shep’s fingers clean. If he could have gotten hard again, he would have. He captured Elijah’s lips, sucking the cum off his tongue.
“Who knew you were so dirty?” Elijah asked, a smile playing at his lips.
“Just you,” Shep said.
Elijah pressed his forehead to Shep’s. “It’s true. Just me.” They sat for a while, Shep still buried inside him. “Promise you won’t leave?”
A sharp pain knifed through Shep’s chest at the tremble in Elijah’s voice. Did Elijah really think Shep would leave him? No. He wasn’t sure he could leave now, even if Elijah begged him to go. He was all in. Elijah was it for him. He couldn’t believe the boy couldn’t see that. He wanted to reassure him, to give him pretty words and grand gestures, but Shep knew nothing about romance. “I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”
Elijah’s relief was palpable. He wrapped his arms around Shep, ignoring the mess between them. “Good,” the boy whispered, almost to himself. “Good.”
“You understand our concerns. Right, Eli?”
Elijah’s knee bounced as he gripped Shep’s hand under the table. “I didn’t think people would recognize me.”
He flushed as he stared down a room full of incredulous expressions.
His agent, Mark, ran a hand over his balding head and sighed. “You just did a press tour. You and Robby are in the tabloids daily. People have video of you filming all over Tumblr. How did you think they wouldn’t recognize you? Because you put in contacts and wore a sweater?”
“Let’s not play the blame game,” Paige said. “It doesn’t matter what Elijah thought. It matters what we do about it now. Do we let Robby play the heartbroken victim? I don’t think we can say they mutually parted ways weeks ago since that unapproved photoshoot that Lucif- Lucy approved at the hotel without my permission.”
Elijah cut his eyes towards his mother who sat with her legs crossed, one blood red pump hanging from her toe as she glowered at Paige. “I thought we weren’t playing the blame game?” she said, voice saccharine sweet.
Paige rolled her eyes. “We will need to get Elijah in front of the cameras stat to do some major damage control.” She looked Shep up and down, wincing. “There’s no way to make him look… younger. Guess we will have to play the whole war hero angle. You were in the military, correct?” Shep gave a single nod but didn’t embellish. “Not much of a talker, are ya? That will work in our favor. At least you’re hot. The girls and the gays will all swoon.”
Elijah finally dared to glance toward where Robby sat at the end of the table. If he was just acting heartbroken, he was the one who deserved an Oscar. He sat in gray sweatpants and a black hoodie, his eyes bloodshot and his mouth turned down in an uncharacteristic frown. Elijah watched him for a long minute, hoping he would look at him so he could at least mouth that he was sorry, but Robby watched someone else. Calder, Elijah’s new bodyguard.
The man had long hair and a beard similar to Shep’s; but he’d plaited his caramel colored hair in a braid that snaked over his right shoulder. He wore black jeans and a black t-shirt that revealed many tattoos on both arms. He was gorgeous. Elijah could see how he’d grabbed Robby’s attention. It seemed Robby had snagged the older man’s attention too. He was grinning at Robby in a way that made Elijah feel like he was intruding on some private moment.
“Robby, we need you to lie low for a few weeks. Play the grief-stricken boyfriend.”
“How does that help my client?” Robby’s publicist, Jasmine asked, crossing her arms over her chest, jaw set in a way that let Elijah know she wanted something.
“It’s only for a few weeks. Then we’ll get him on the circuit and he can talk all about how it’s the year of him and how he’s taking back his power and he don’t need no man. The daytime crowd will love it. Trust me, this might be exactly what he needed to catapult him onto the A-list,” Paige said, giving what she probably thought was a reassuring smile to Robby. He just stared down at his hands.
“Have we resolved this to your liking?” Mark asked the studio execs who Elijah had taken to calling Hekyll and Jeckle in his head because they were both dressed in black suits and they both wore wire-rimmed glasses perched on their beak-like noses.
“Elijah, we have a brand, a family brand. We’ve barely recovered from Matt Denison’s DUI and you’ve already had one video leak.” Jeckle said.
“No more mistakes. You and your new boy toy here need to stick it out for the long haul or until we approve a split. We need some stability,” Hekyll chimed in, his tone equally somber.
Elijah’s heart flipped in his chest and he looked at Shep who squeezed his hand. He gave a stilted nod to the duo. “Yeah, that’s not a problem. We’re solid.”
Hekyll steepled his fingers together like Mr. Burns. “Excellent. Now we can move on to better news. We’ve locked in our director. Contracts are signed and we have script approval. We couldn’t be happier.”
Lucifer sat forward a grin on her face. “Wonderful. Who is it?”
“Leonard Medford,” Jekyll confirmed.
Elijah’s limbs went heavy, and he struggled to suck in a full breath. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood startling everybody in the room including Shep who still held his hand. He shook it off, the thought of anybody touching him in that moment made his skin crawl. He looked at his mother. “Did you do this? Did you know? Did you plan this?”
To her credit, Lucifer looked stricken. “What? No. Of course not, Eli. Calm down. You’re making a scene.”
A high-pitched giggle pierced the room. When he realized it was his own, he slapped a hand over his mouth. His eyes were wet, but he didn’t feel like he was crying. Could you sweat through your eyes? “Making a scene? Making a scene? How’s this for making a scene, Lucifer? I won’t do it. I won’t work with him. I’m breaking my contract.”
The two execs blinked owlishly at him, before the one on the right, Hekyll, shook his head. “I would think carefully before you say another word. Breaking your contract at this late stage would be a very costly mistake.”
Elijah wanted to tear at his clothes. He couldn’t breathe. His collar was choking him. “I need to get out of here,” he told Shep. “I need to go right now.”
Shep didn’t question him, just stood and put an arm around his shoulders, leading him to the double doors of the conference room. “Just breathe, rabbit,” he whispered low enough for only him to hear.
“I’m trying,” he wheezed. “Why is it so hot in here?”
“Elijah! Where are you going? We aren’t finished here,” Lucifer shouted. “He didn’t mean it. He’s had a very hectic couple of weeks, and he’s exhausted. Give us a few days and we’ll get back to you,” he heard her say.
He shook his head to refute her words, but it didn’t matter. He was no longer in the conference room but the hallway, Shep pushing the button for the private elevator to take them to the penthouse suite where they stayed courtesy of the current studio filming The Silencer.
Once inside the elevator he leaned against the mirrored wall, closing his eyes to the hundreds of images of himself that stared back as the car jerked into motion.
Once upstairs, Shep guided him to the sofa. He sat stiffly, his head spinning. Had this all been so
me huge conspiracy? Was that why he’d set up the meeting weeks ago? Had his mother known? Was the movie why those flowers kept showing up? The heavy scent of those flowers filled his nose like they were right there and not just a triggered sense memory. His stomach lurched, but nothing came up. He hadn’t eaten since last night. Shep had tried to get him to eat breakfast earlier, but he’d been too nervous.
“Talk to me, rabbit. What’s happening here?” He shook his head. He didn’t know how to make Shep understand. He didn’t understand. “Was it him? This Leonard guy. Was he the one who hurt you?”
Elijah opened his mouth to deny it but a ragged sob escaped so he just shook his head for what felt like the hundredth time in the last five minutes. He didn’t know how to explain that this was a six degrees of separation thing. Had Leonard Medford assaulted him? Not physically. He hadn’t held him down and raped him. But he’d played a part. He’d enabled his attacker.
Elijah wanted to scream out what happened, wanted to tell Shep everything, but the words stuck in his throat, so thick and putrid he might choke. He let out a whiny sound and Shep dropped to his knees before him, gripping his hands. “Rabbit, talk to me. Just tell me who hurt you and we can make sure he’s punished.”
Elijah’s laugh rattled like broken glass. “He’ll never be punished.”
Shep’s face was stony, his brows drawn together in an expression that Elijah would call… menacing. “Tell me his name.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. You can. I promise.”
Elijah shook his head. “You don’t understand. Not… I won’t. I can’t.” It sounded stupid even to him. “I know it makes little sense. I know… but…” He looked away, trying to think of how best to explain. “I meant it when I said I’d turned him into a monster. A real monster. One that could only hurt me if I summoned him… said his name like some kind of fairy tale villain. I told myself that saying his name gave him power, like Voldemort in Harry Potter and I was safe as long as I never uttered it out loud. I told myself this so much that now I literally can’t say it. It sounds insane but whenever I try it’s like something is broken inside me. Tell me you understand.”