CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jeo

 

3 months later

 

“I don’t think this is a very good idea,” I said.

With whiskers and a pink nose painted on his face, and two pointy little ears sitting on top of his head, Nick’s determined expression looked comical. The smoky eye makeup and sexy-as-sin black body suit had me wanting to pull on that long black tail while fucking him, but that would have to wait until after the Halloween party at Rainbow House.

“We’ve got to be there in twenty-minutes,” I said, less worried about being late than Nick upsetting himself before an event he’d been looking forward to all month.

“And we will be,” Nick said. “Meet me downstairs.” He turned, tail swishing, and was halfway down the hall before my mind caught up, and I shut and locked his apartment door before going after him.

“Nick!” When I rounded the corner, the elevator door slid closed.

I took off for the stairwell.

Since the night of the talent show when his father had pretended not to know him, things had changed between me and Nick. I’d thought we already had something really good, but it turned out that was nothing in comparison to what we had once the barriers had fallen. I don’t know if it had been me or him or the both of us, but the change was undeniable. No tension, no inner questioning. Total trust. After thinking about it, I’d come to the conclusion that, for Nick, it had taken my telling him I loved him. And for me, I’d needed to see that complete trust in his eyes.

Nick hated that he was afraid of small spaces. The incident in Tony’s bathroom had embarrassed him, and he’d admitted to being terrified something like that would happen in front of other people. His best friend had been one thing, but he would be mortified if anyone else saw him like that.

“What about me?” I’d asked him, and Nick’s face had softened.

“No,” he’d said, stroking my cheek with his fingers. “Because I love you.”

What those words had done to my heart—I couldn’t describe it. I thought they’d been the final piece I needed in my new life.

I hurried to the lobby, the black boots of my costume echoing in the stairwell. Although I was worried about Nick, I couldn’t help but be proud of him for having the guts to face his fears. But why did he have to pick today? I was killing myself trying to get down the stairs so I could be there when the doors opened.

Jay looked up from the reception desk when I burst through the exit door and raced across the lobby.

“Everything okay, Jeo?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I called back to him.

I heard the ding of the elevator as I rounded the corner, and the next thing I knew, I’d crashed into Nick.

I grabbed him before he could fall, and he clutched at me frantically, body shaking.

“It’s okay. You’re okay,” I said, rubbing the back of his neck. His skin was covered in a cold sweat. I continued holding and petting him until his breathing slowed and his grip on me loosened.

Nick shook his head and spoke into my shirt between panting breaths. “That—was awful. You were right—I shouldn’t have done it.”

I stroked his hair. “Yeah, well, maybe you’ll listen to me next time, but I doubt it.”

Nick’s soft chuckle was my reward.

“You were so brave,” I said, heart constricting. “Daddy’s proud of you.”

Nick looked up at me, eyes wet.

“Careful, you’ll smudge that pretty makeup. And I want to do that myself when we get home tonight.”

His pupils dilated, and his hand moved to trace my dick in my pants. He smiled coyly. “Really, Daddy?”

I nodded. “Really.”

Taking his hand, I led him through the lobby, Jay nodding to us on our way out the side door leading to the underground garage.

Nick sighed as we got into his car, handing me the keys and staring out the window as I backed out of his space and wound around and out into the twilight. Gabe and his brother, Jon, were throwing the party. I’d helped decorate the day before but had spent the night with Nick at his place.

“I didn’t accomplish anything except freaking myself out before the party,” he said.

“You just need to take it slow.” I pulled into traffic, flipping off the dickweed who blew his horn at me.

“Don’t do that! Road rage is a thing!” Nick looked over his shoulder out the back window.

“I can hold my own,” I said.

He smacked my arm. “I know that, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you in prison for fighting some twat in the middle of the street.” He settled back. “Now, explain to me what you mean by easing into things. I’m so tired of not being able to take an elevator by myself or getting freaked out when I close the door to the bathroom.”

He usually didn’t shut the bathroom door at home, but he did when we were other places, and I knew it cost him. He always took as little time as humanly possible behind the closed door before hurrying out like the room had caught fire.

“You could try sitting in your closet with the door open, then gradually close it little by little until you’re ready to shut it,” I said.

Nick looked at me. “Yeah, maybe I could try that.” He shuddered. “God, that was so awful. It took fucking forever to reach the damn lobby. If the elevator had gotten stuck, I would’ve freaked the fuck out. You would’ve had to take me to the mental ward where they would’ve strapped me to a board.”

“You would’ve been okay. I’d have gotten you out.”

Nick clasped his hands in his lap and gnawed on his lip until we pulled up behind Rainbow House, but once inside, a switch flipped and Nick became all smiles and bubbly banter. A month ago, he would have put on that facade for me, and I found myself glad we were past that.

“Jeo! You look so sexy!” Katy exclaimed. She wore a Red Riding Hood costume.

Like Nick, I’d dressed entirely in black—well, Nick had on a sparkly red collar, something else that made me incredibly horny every time I looked at him. I had on a long black coat with a lot of buttons and a short version of a top hat. Nick had called me a modern-day warlock, and I hadn’t questioned him, but I wasn’t sure the idea communicated to everyone else.

I complimented Katy on her costume before she turned to admire Nick’s. The place was already packed, but I spotted a few Hedonists in the mix.

Dressed as a pirate, Zeke stood with Morgan, who’d come as Waldo from Where’s Waldo. I was pretty sure Trace was in the unicorn costume. I barked out a laugh when Axel approached me, looking more comical than frightening in his T-Rex costume.

“You look awesome, man,” I said. “Where’s Caleb?”

“This was a little too much for him, but he insisted I come,” Axel said. Nick stood chatting with a group of people, so I headed to the refreshment table with Axel to get us some punch.

“Everything looks so good, Lake said. He was right—the place was decorated to the nines with a ton of spider webs and creepy things hanging in dark corners. Carved jack-o’lanterns were centerpieces on the table, and the punch was a swampy shade of green with frozen eyeballs floating in it.

“You’re looking gorgeous,” I told Lake. He’d dressed as Jasmine from Aladdin, complete with a dark wig and bare midriff.

“You like?” Lake smiled and lifted his arms, clanking little cymbals between his fingers and rolling his body like a belly dancer.

“Glad you shaved your pits, man,” Axel said, and I laughed. “And did Jasmine actually belly dance?”

Blaze appeared behind Lake, draped in a sheet.

“Hey, Bossman. Cool…er, shepherd?”

Blaze nuzzled Lake’s neck. “I am a sheik, and my Arabian beauty dances for me,” he said in a really bad accent, and Axel and I broke into raucous laughter.

“I see you have a pretty kitty on your arm tonight, Mr. Warlock.” I turned to find Lake’s friend Sara holding a cup of the punch and smiling. She was something anime, that’s all I knew.

I smiled back at her.

“He got away from me.” I looked around the room for Nick but didn’t spot him.

“Maybe he needs a leash,” Axel said in my ear. My cock liked that idea.

The Monster Mash started up over the speakers, and someone began flickering the lights, either to look scary or just to be silly.

Blaze looked around, then said, “Shit,” and dashed over to a guy in a skeleton costume and led him out of the room.

“Adam,” I said, and Axel nodded. “I’ll take care of whoever’s doing that to the lights.” I found a couple of teens over by the switches and quietly explained that making the lights flicker could bring on seizures for some people. They apologized and hurried away, looking like they were about to shit their pants. When I turned, I realized it was because Ax was standing behind me. He was a big motherfucker and scary-looking, even in a dinosaur costume.

“Adam okay?” I asked Blaze when he reappeared from the hall.

“Yeah. I saw his eyes roll back in his head and rushed over there. He’s resting on the couch in the back room.”

“He can go lie down on my bed if he wants,” I offered.

“I think he’s okay,” Blaze said. “He told me he’d wait a few minutes before rejoining the party. Tease said he’ll check on him in a minute.”

I found my naughty kitty dancing with a guy in a really lame Benjamin Franklin costume. I put a stop to that real fast.

“Trying to make me crazy, boy?” I asked him when I had him in my arms, having told old Ben to go find a new partner.

Nick gave me a flirtatious smile. “Maybe.”

I leaned toward him. “Careful what you wish for. I’ll take you in a corner and make you yowl like an alley cat.”

Nick brought his arms around my waist and scored my back with the long black nails he’d had attached that afternoon at the salon, evidently by the same chick who bleached his ass. “That isn’t exactly a threat, my evil warlock. I’m yours to do with as you please, after all.”

I snagged his collar with my finger and pulled his face close to mine. “I can’t wait to make the bells on this collar jingle,” I said before sweeping my tongue through his mouth.

“Daddy…” Nick whispered, and my cock ached with need for him. But we had to stay at the party at least a little while. I took his hand. “Let’s go find Mike, Ellis, and Nathan. I want to be sure to say hello to them before I take you out of here and fuck you hard.”

Nick moaned and squeezed my hand. “You’re killing me, Daddy.” He reached up and wiped at my face. “Some of my glitter got on you.” He smiled, and I smiled back, sure that to anyone watching we looked like complete saps. I didn’t give a damn.

We wove our way through the crowd, every few minutes stopping to talk to people, Nick tucked beneath my arm, his hand on my ass under my long coat.

We found Nathan in a ninja costume talking with Gabe, who had dressed as one of the Weasleys from Harry Potter, and Mike, who wore an aviator outfit. Nathan had been socking away his money since going full time at the coffee shop and was well on his way to saving up enough to get out on his own. I was as proud of him as if he were my own son. I felt the same way about Mike, who Zeke had told me was doing a great job at the garage.

We all exclaimed over one another’s costumes and teased Gabe by asking him if that was the only ginger costume he could find. In the middle of it all, the newest resident of Rainbow House, Ki-ha, hurried over and grabbed my arm.

“I got a call today from the law firm! They hired me, Jeo!” His dark eyes danced with happiness and pride.

“That’s great, Ki-ha!”

“Your friend Dante is so nice. I know he put in a good word for me.”

“He might have, but they wouldn’t have hired you if they hadn’t been impressed by your interview.”

Ki-ha bounced up and down on the soles of his feet and began chatting with Nick. They’d hit it off from day one, and I listened, amused, as they discussed what Ki-ha would wear on his first day on the job.

“I’ll bet there are some sexy-ass attorneys coming through that office,” Nick said. I put my hand on the back of his neck and tugged on the collar, and he leaned against me. “None as sexy as my Daddy, but that’s not even possible.”

I laughed low in my throat. “Nice save.”

Finally, finally, we’d been at the party long enough to leave and began saying our goodbyes. I could tell Nick had had a great time by the way his face was shining when we left, but I could also see the stiffy growing in his cat suit, which didn’t leave a lot of room to hide it.

“Does kitty want a treat?” I asked in his ear before licking it.

“Are you two leaving already?” Tony asked, and I tore my eyes away to see him and Cane coming up the sidewalk. “Don’t tell me; you want to leave to have sex.”

“Don’t act like you’re this late because you weren’t having it,” I retorted, and Tony blushed.

“See you later,” Cane said with a grin, as they entered the building. Nick and I walked to his car. The big moon shone down on us through the windshield as we settled in our seats.

When I went to start the car, Nick stopped me. “Let’s wait a little. Okay?”

“Okay.” I cracked the window on the driver’s side and pushed back the seat. We sat for a few minutes, holding hands over the console, watching dried leaves tumble over the street and a few revelers tripping out of the bar two blocks down.

“When we met, did you ever imagine this? Where we are right now?” Nick asked.

“I never imagined I’d be working at a place like Rainbow House. And, no. I never thought you’d want to be with a guy like me.”

Nick turned in the seat to face me. “Are you kidding? I had a huge crush on you.”

I brushed his hand with my thumb. “You were just a big flirt. Still are.”

Nick shook his head. “No. I mean, yeah, I was, but I was totally smitten with you.”

“And then you became my assistant and wised up.”

“It didn’t change anything. I was jealous of all the people you slept with, and I was angry at you for wasting your life. But I still liked you. A lot.”

I hadn’t realized that. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Nick huffed. “Like what? Hey, Jeo, I really like you. Wanna date? Besides, I was still with Royce.”

“You could have broken things off with him and asked me out.”

“And you would have gone?”

I thought about it. “I might have. I mean, I saw you. Don’t think you were just that annoying guy banging pots in my ear to get me out of bed. But I never felt I was in your league.”

Nick tilted his head. “What changed, then? How come you asked me if I wanted to start something with you for fun?” Nick asked.

“I was sick of wondering what it would be like. Of trying to fool myself into thinking I didn’t really want you. I did think it would wear off eventually.”

Nick grinned. “But it didn’t.”

I shook my head. “No. It didn’t.” God, my life had changed. I had a relationship—a real one that was based on more than sex. Nick and I had started hanging out with other Daddy/boy couples. I stayed at Nick’s place whenever I wasn’t required to be at Rainbow House. We went to the movies, took walks, bought a fish for his tank together. I couldn’t imagine life without him—didn’t want to.

“Can we go home now?” I asked, squeezing his hand. He nodded, and I started the car, knowing that when I got him there, I would rip a hole in that cat suit right below the tail and pound him into the sofa. Then I would take him to bed and make love to him until the morning sun stole through the curtains and crept over our naked bodies. Then we would sleep half the day and have a meal together before I had to go to work.

And the next day, if we were lucky, we’d do it all over again, except Nick would go to work, and I would lie around his apartment, feed his fish, and dream about the next time I got to touch him. Then I’d steal upstairs to the offices to do just that.

 

THE END