Final Act

by A R Steele

  “You make it good for me and you can – ”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” Austin shook him the tiniest bit, his shoulders hitting the wall. “I’m going to make you lose the attitude. Do I have your consent for that?”

  “I’d like to see you try,” Lev spat.

  So, he wanted to play it that way? It counted as consent in Austin’s book. Austin couldn’t suppress the slight feelings of uncertainty as he wrenched Lev’s arms behind his back. Good thing the handcuffs were already there, just within arm’s reach. He secured them onto Lev’s hands, pinning them together. Lev squirmed, looking as bratty as always.

  “I have had more than enough of your attitude,” Austin told him, reaching over for a pair of scissors. He started to cut up the length of Lev’s shirt as he spoke. Lev looked down and his eyes were frantic, but he didn’t say a word.

  When he’d cut it off, he stuffed one end into Lev’s mouth. “Maybe this will help you to shut up. Lord knows nothing else is doing the trick.” His voice went serious. “If you have any issues or if you ever want to stop, just wiggle your toes. I’ll notice.”

  Lev shot him a glare and, biting the shirt in his mouth, looked down at his feet. His toes were pressed into the floor so hard they were white.

  The confirmation of his consent was good enough for Austin. He gave him a shove forward, pushing him until he was just beside the bed. Then he picked Lev up bodily and threw him down. A squeak came out of his mouth, audible even through the gag.

  Lev was beautiful like this, restrained and powerless. He was still going to resist Austin, but Austin could almost see the point where Lev would give in to him and surrender all of himself. That would be the greatest joy he could possibly imagine. Having Lev quiet and obedient in his care would get him off better than anything else in the world.

  Lev’s eyes were pinned to him as he slowly stripped off his own shirt. Austin enjoyed seeing what he did to Lev. He looked at Austin with a mix of fear and desire. Austin could tell he intimidated him, but that he wanted his bulging, tattooed muscles as well.

  “You’ve been such a little brat,” Austin said, unzipping himself and letting his hard cock free. “This is what you want, huh?”

  A garbled sound came from Lev’s mouth, and Lev bobbed his head wordlessly.

  Austin stepped out of his pants, leaving them on the floor. Now Lev’s eyes were all over his thighs, his arms, and especially his hot, hard length. Austin could hardly think with the way the blood was rushing to his cock right now.

  He stepped forward, at last getting on the bed. He put his tip right by Lev’s lips. Now Lev’s eyes darted between that and his face. Austin smiled ruthlessly. “You’re going to get it, but not before I’m good and ready.”

  It was going to take some self-control to pull off what he planned. All he really wanted was to plunge himself into Lev’s hot tightness. His mouth was a good backup option, too. Austin just needed to be inside him one way or another. Once he got started, he’d be lucky if he could delay his climax for more than a few minutes. Lev had him worked up to an incredible extent.

  But for the sake of teaching Lev this lesson, he was going to do it. He placed his tip right on Lev’s cheek, tracing it along the skin. Lev had the slightest hint of stubble, and it was a little rough against the velvety smoothness of Austin’s skin.

  Austin went lower, brushing over Lev’s pouty lips and the fabric that gagged his mouth. Skipping over his neck, he made his way to his chest. He dragged his cock along Lev’s chest, running lightly over one nipple and making Lev jump.

  Austin watched Lev’s face closely, enjoying the various changes in his expression. He was jumpy, nervous, but Austin was sure he would settle down in a moment. Lev was going to love what Austin was about to do to him.

  Austin went lower, working his cock along Lev’s abs, just to the side of his belly button. A drop of precum leaked from his tip, and he massaged it into Lev’s skin. Lev wriggled under him, and Austin had to grin when he saw the growing tent in Lev’s jeans. He moved down, straddling Lev so that he was over his waist. He cupped his ass in both hands, loving the sight of his cock beside Lev’s visible bulge.

  As Austin’s cock rested on Lev’s stomach, Austin noticed how Lev looked at it frantically. He cupped his ass, then moved over to the side and turned Lev over. He found his zipper and undid Lev’s pants, pulling them down just past his hips. Lev’s cock came loose, fully hard, stiff with desire.

  Austin ran his hands over Lev’s ass, enjoying the way he made him shiver. He stuck one finger between those cheeks, his mouth watering as he imagined sinking between them for real. Then he straddled him again from behind, pushing Lev’s handcuffed hands up and out of his way. Lev was completely in his control now, and he couldn’t even try to be bratty anymore.

  Austin placed his cock in the cleft between his cheeks. “This is what you get when you act like a little brat,” he told him. “You get treated like a brat. You want this cock?”

  Underneath him, Lev bobbed his head.

  “You can have it when you’re ready to stop being a… a…” He’d called him a brat so many times, it was getting old. “Such a drama queen.”

  He rubbed himself up and down, feeling Lev’s flesh squeeze and release around his cock as Lev twitched. He pulled back, watching how his own desire leaked from his tip. He’d never had this much precum before. Lev did this to him. This little twink drove him absolutely wild.

  The slight friction was intoxicating as he dragged his cock along Lev’s cleft again. “Or would you rather suck me first?” he asked softly. From the way Lev quivered, he could tell he was enjoying it. His entire body was shuddering, his skin rippling under Austin. “Any guy would kill to suck me off,” Austin murmured.

  Lev quivered more, and then he spat out his gag. “Stop!”

  Austin froze. He was off Lev in less than a second, moving faster than he would have imagined possible. He didn’t stop to think before undoing the handcuffs and turning Lev over. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  Lev’s face was collapsing into a red, blotchy mess. A tear dripped from one eye as he explained, “I was wiggling my toes. I did it just like you told me to, but you didn’t stop.”

  Austin’s blood went cold. He’d completely forgotten about the safety precaution. Of course he couldn’t see Lev wiggle his toes when he was on his front.

  “You sounded so scary,” Lev said, tears dripping down his cheeks. He pulled his knees into his chest and clung to them, rocking back and forth once on the bed before falling to one side in the fetal position. “You were going to hurt me.”

  “I would never,” Austin said. “I was only trying to turn you on. I would never hurt you, you know that.”

  “Then why do you keep doing it?” Lev pulled his knees in closer, pushing his head into the pillow.

  Austin’s heart was breaking for him, and he could have shot himself for doing this to the man he cared so much about. “Lev, I am so, so sorry. I don’t want to do anything wrong to you. It was just a little dirty talk. I thought you were into it.”

  “No!” Lev cried out.

  He was silent for a moment and Austin put his hand on his back, trying to comfort him. He didn’t blame him for not wanting to talk right now. Lev had the right to be upset.

  But this reaction did seem a little extreme. As Lev let out a howl, Austin wondered if that was the only thing bothering him. Although Austin continued to massage him, Lev barely seemed aware that he was there.

  “Lev, are you with me?” Austin asked after another moment.

  Lev sobbed into the pillow. “I didn’t think he was going to do that to me. I didn’t think he was that bad.”

  Austin could barely make out his words. He laid down beside Lev so that they were eye to eye, for once. “Are you talking about me, Lev?”

  “Not you,” Lev said, finally looking at him again. “I like you a lot.” His shiny eyes assured Austin he was telling the truth. “I don’t know how it happene
d, but you managed to be an exception to my rule. I really, really like you.”

  “Then who are you talking about?” As much as the words gave Austin pleasure, he was more focused on Lev’s current distress.

  “I’m talking about P-P-eyton.”

  Austin’s mouth went dry. He didn’t recognize that name, but he could guess who Lev was talking about. “You saw your ex?”

  “We were only supposed to catch up,” Lev said. “Then he tried to…” He cut himself off, and Austin’s mind went to every kind of horrible thing Lev might not be able to say.

  “Hurt you?”

  Lev’s face was red and blotchy as he nodded. “The things he said to me…”

  “I’ll kill him,” Austin said. He stood up and smacked his fist into his palm, setting his lips in a grim line as he paced around the room. “I’m going to find him and beat him into a bloody pulp. He won’t get away with this.”

  “No, Austin. It’s not about you. Come here and hold me, okay? I don’t want to think about him right now.”

  “Yeah, I’ll hold you.”

  Austin got on the bed again, but his heart pounded as he held the smaller man in his arms. At this moment, he thought he genuinely could kill for Lev. Whoever had caused the pain Lev was in right now deserved to die.

  But as he pulled Lev in closer, he bent his head to Lev’s neck. He himself was partially to blame for this.

  He knew about Peyton. He was supposed to protect Lev.

  And he’d failed to keep him safe.

  Twenty-Six

  Lev put his hands on his knees. It felt funny to not have his skateboard lying across them. He was so used to having it whenever he was a passenger in someone else’s car.

  But tonight, Austin had insisted on giving him a ride both to and from the strip club. Ever since the other day, Austin had been hovering over him at every possible moment. They had hardly been apart during their nights off.

  “Got all your stuff?” Austin asked, turning the key in the ignition.

  Lev gave him his perkiest thumbs-up. “Ready to go in and crush it.”

  The way Austin smiled back at him sent sparks flying all through Lev’s body. Lev was so attracted to Austin, painfully so. And the fact that they still hadn’t had sex didn’t help his libido.

  Over the past couple of days, they had definitely come close to it. But Lev’s overreaction the first time had made him nervous, and Lev suspected they were both scared of him breaking down again.

  Lev wasn’t sure exactly why he’d freaked out like that. Rationally, he knew Austin was the one behind him on the bed, not Peyton. Somewhere in his mind, he was conscious that Austin was only trying to titillate him. But he’d used the exact same words as Peyton did the other day, and for a brief moment that had terrified Lev.

  For whatever reason, Lev was okay with taking things slow. They would get there they got there. Austin was so kind and loving, and he held him for hours at a time. That was what Lev really wanted these days, now that he thought about it… to be held.

  “We got some funny looks when we got here the other night, did you notice that?” Austin said.

  Lev shook his head. “I didn’t pick up on anything. Why, you’re nervous?”

  “It’s not that I care,” Austin said. “The customers can think whatever they want. I’m just concerned for your comfort, and for the club, of course.”

  “I’m very comfortable with you,” Lev assured him. “And I don’t see anyone around right now, anyway.” He leaned in, grabbing Austin’s shoulder, and pressed his lips to his.

  They had kissed many times over the past couple of days. Every time, it made Lev weak in the knees. His whole body reacted to the press of Austin’s lips, and he felt like throwing himself across the seat divider and sitting on Austin’s lap, curling up in his arms and staying there instead of going inside. Austin made him feel so small and protected.

  After a moment, they pulled apart. The affection in Austin’s kind blue eyes shone through clearly, and Lev wondered why he’d ever wanted to turn this down. Austin would never hurt him intentionally.

  As they got out, Lev cast one more glance at him. He wanted so badly to grab his hand as they walked in. But that would have to wait for later. He just had to get through this shift, and then he could spend the whole night with Austin.

  A few cars were scattered through the parking lot, and Lev glanced around at them. A group of girls got out of one car. They put their heads together and whispered as Lev watched. They stood back as if waiting before walking up to the door.

  “I see what you mean,” Lev said. “I’ll see you later.”

  “You too, cutie.”

  The pet name made Lev glow inside as he walked into the main room. He grabbed his stuff out of his locker and changed. He was the first one on the side stage.

  The group from outside was the first to come in. They were all in their mid-twenties and attractive, nicely made up in stylish clothes. As he got to the side stage, another woman joined the group. They sat near the front, crowded around two tables pushed together, their elbows on the table. They leaned in, watching everything around them with unbridled curiosity. There was more inquisitiveness than lust in their gazes, Lev noticed.

  He might have gone up to them, but he needed to perform with Lucas. He grabbed Lucas from where he stood at the wall, and then they got on stage together. As they danced, spinning higher and higher on the pole each time, Lev barely looked at the audience. It seemed like every time he looked at that one group, another woman had joined. The group just kept expanding, as if they were inviting more and more people. What’s more, they whispered to each other, heads bent together, inaudible to anyone else.

  “That’s one big group,” Lev said to Lucas as they climbed down.

  Cooper and Jesse were both with that group, but there were enough of them that Lev and Lucas could join, too. “Let’s get changed and then see if we can figure out what they’re talking about,” Lucas said.

  As soon as they approached a minute later, one of the original girls pointed at Lev. Her face lit up. She whispered to her friends, but Lev couldn’t hear what she was saying.

  That friend whispered to another, and word seemed to pass between each woman at the table as if they were playing a game of broken telephone.

  Lev wondered if they might be interested in Lucas. He was incredibly good-looking, almost as much as Lev himself. But no, their eyes were all glued to Lev. They seemed to even have forgotten Cooper and Jesse.

  “Hi there,” he said when he arrived. In all his months working here, he’d never felt quite this exposed. Every woman here was staring at him, and their gazes felt as if they could see through him.

  “Hey,” several of them chorused at once. They looked at each other and giggled as if they knew something he didn’t. Even Cooper, Jesse, and Lucas looked confused.

  “Mind if I sit with you?” he asked, pulling out a chair from another table.

  “Of course,” the others said, shuffling around to make space for him. “You can have the place of honor.”

  Lev glanced from one to the next. There was definitely something going on, but he couldn’t tell if it was a bad thing or not. They seemed to like him, even if they were amused by him.

  “How’s your night going tonight?” he asked, actually feeling self-conscious from the amount of stares on him. It was definitely not a common occurrence for Lev to feel self-conscious.

  “Not as good as yours,” the first one said. She looked around, and the others giggled wildly.

  One at the far end of the table held up her phone. “I told Lisa, she’s on her way.”

  “So is Melissa,” another one said, typing furiously on her phone. “She thinks it’s so cute.”

  “Am I missing something here?” Lev asked. He couldn’t help but frown.

  “Nothing at all,” the one texting Melissa said. “I’m pretty sure you are on top of everything.”

  “Or on top of someone.”

 
“What exactly are you talking about?” Lev asked.

  “Nothing,” they chorused. “Nothing at all.”

  “Well, it was lovely to meet you ladies,” Lev said. “I have to chat with some of the other customers now.”

  This group was making him nervous. As he circled around the room, he was still trying to figure out what they were talking about. They may have known something was up, but what? Had they seen him kissing Austin in the car?

  Lev went over to another table for a while and got some tips from them, but the group at the front just kept growing. Another two tables were pushed together behind the original two, and the girls stared at him as he moved around the room.

  Maybe he should speak to Trenton and Brentley about this. They were starting to make him uncomfortable. But no, he had it under control. He didn’t need anyone’s protection. If worst came to worst, he would go to Austin. The thought made him smile, and he ran a hand through his hair. Austin would always protect him.

  At last he went to the big group again. They were looking at him so hard, he couldn’t find a reason to stay away. If they were that interested in him, surely they would tip better than other people. Plus he wanted to figure out why they were so interested.

  “Enjoying the performance?” he asked as he sat down.

  The blonde next to him nodded, looking back and forth between the stage in him as if she couldn’t decide which she liked more. “They are so cute,” she said, gesturing at Owen and Cooper.

  “Cute” wasn’t a word usually used to describe those two. They were both several inches taller than Lev, as well as being buff. “Hot” or “sexy” would have been more common.

  “They are excellent dancers,” he said with a nod.

  “You were great up there, too,” the blonde said. “You have some crazy moves. Where did you learn to dance like that?”

  She looked at him inquisitively, but he didn’t have the impression that she was about to jump into his lap, the way some of these girls made him feel.

  He opened his mouth to answer, but a snippet of conversation behind him made him pause.

  “Those two look so good together,” one girl whispered. “Do you think they’re a couple too?”