Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

“You can’t go back to that man, Matty,” Isaac explained. “He’s out of his mind. But we can keep you here and keep you safe. Even if your father demands to come and visit you, we will never let him be alone with you for one minute, I promise you. He will be thoroughly checked for weapons before he is allowed into this house, and you will be guarded all the time by our men. I think he’ll simmer down after a few days and a few bottles of whiskey anyway. When you are feeling strong enough to travel, we’ll see to it that you are sent somewhere safe.”

Nico’s attention snapped to his father. “Pa! You would send Matty away ?”

“It is not safe for him to be around that man, Nico. And eventually we’re all going to have to be able to get back to our normal lives. We’ll keep him safe, and then we’ll figure something out. I know it sounds bad to you now, but I think it’s the best thing for everyone. I’m not trying to punish either of you for anything, and I know how close you are with each other, but this is for Matty’s safety.” Isaac could see the devastation in their eyes. “Maybe we can find a good school for him to attend and not let his father know. I don’t know. I just know that this can’t go on. Mr. Remington might do some serious, irreversible harm to Matty. Or himself.”

“Well, hurting himself wouldn’t be so bad,” Nico muttered under his breath. Then he looked into Matty’s eyes and saw the fear and sadness in them. He clutched his friend’s hand.

Matty spoke up. “He hasn’t always been a bad father. When my mother was alive, I remember him being nice to me.” Then his face crumpled, and he fought the tears that threatened to fall.

Suzette spoke up, “Nico, has Matty had anything for his pain recently?”

“Yes, ma’am. Less than an hour ago.”

“Good. Then maybe we ought to let him get some rest. He has had a terrible experience, and it is too soon to be making hasty decisions while he is still in so much discomfort.” She looked at her husbands with narrowed eyes. “You both probably need to eat as well. We should leave Nicolo and Matty to relax now.” The look in her eyes clearly told her husbands to knock it off. There would be no discussion of sending Matty away for now. As they stepped out into the hallway, Nico clearly heard his mother scolding, “I cannot believe you two. Can you not be a little more sensitive about those boys’ feelings?”

“We offered to keep him here,” muttered Isaac.

“Yes, for a limited amount of time. And then you practically ordered Matty away as soon as possible.” Her voice trailed off as they made their way down the hall.

Nico saw that Matty’s eyes were at half-mast. Feeling exhausted as well, he picked up the food tray and speedily took it back to the kitchen. He jogged back to Matty and climbed into bed with him, curling himself around his best friend carefully. The thought of not seeing Matty—for whatever reason—made his chest hurt. He almost looked down to see if he’d been stabbed.

Nico slept for about an hour, but when he awoke feeling refreshed, Matty slept on. So Nico took the opportunity to get himself cleaned up and properly dressed and then selected a book to read out of Walter’s library. This one was about modern medical advancements. He figured he might want to get a head start on Doc Louis’ plan. He also wanted to gauge his own level of interest in the topic. Much to his delight, he found the book intriguing. Sitting in his favorite chair next to the bed where Matty slept, he became so engrossed in the reading that he lost himself and temporarily forgot to be worried.

This set up a pattern they followed for the next several days. Matty slept a lot, especially at night after he was given his dose of opium. He didn’t speak much and still seemed to be in considerable pain when he was awake.

On the third day, Doc Louis removed the packing from his nose, and Matty was more comfortable talking after that. Gradually, Doc Louis reduced the dose of opium, and Matty was able to sleep at night without it. He could sit up better and needed less help to get to the toilet.

Noting his progress, Doc Louis encouraged him to get up and walk around the house as much as he could tolerate. At first Nico helped him, but Matty was soon able to navigate on his own. It was slow walking, but he was happy to be up and about instead of lying in bed all the time. He took his meals with everyone in the dining room, and that made him feel like part of the human race again, even if it pained him and wore him out. The conversations at dinner were so lively, and you never knew how many guests there would be, so it was always interesting.

The subject of leaving their home was not brought up again in front of Nico and Matty.

Nico was having the time of his life. He had his best friend with him constantly. While Matty slept a lot, Nico had a stack of incredibly interesting books to read. These were courtesy of his papa’s penchant for collecting books on the newest and greatest topics and from Doc Louis who dragged a bunch of books over for Nico to study. School was still not in session because the building had flooded and needed serious repairs before the students could safely return to class .

The rain continued. While some people complained about feeling trapped indoors all the time, Nico was happy.

In order to liven the spirits of those around them during this awful flood, the Stark-James family filled their evenings with guests. They played music and entertained as often as they could. All sorts of rain-soaked friends would show up for a meal and a good time, and all were welcome. The family was open about the situation Matty was in because they never wanted to appear that they were keeping him against the will of his father. They let people know Mr. Remington had been apprised of the whereabouts of his son and that he could not safely be moved to another location until his doctor gave him clearance. And of course, Doc Louis was extra conservative with his recommendations.

Isaac and Walter had paid Remington a visit and explained things in clear and stern terms: Matty would not be moved, and Remington was welcome to visit as long as he submitted to a body search for weapons before he entered their home. He also would not be left alone with Matty. So far, even though he grumbled a lot, Remington had not made the trip over to their house. He also did not express any thanks that they were taking care of his son. He was certainly not a shining example of a man.

One of the frequent guests whom Matty enjoyed was the local parish priest, Father Andrew. He often came to dine, and Matty would sit next to him. They had many philosophical discussions about world religions and the Bible, and Father Andrew never ceased to be impressed with Matty’s knowledge and ability to reason things out sensibly. One memorable night, Matty and the Father were having a discussion about the Ten Commandments. The conversation came to a brief halt when Matty choked when he thought he was supposed to love his father and his mother. He had no problem with his mother, but his father was a different story.

“We are directed by God to honor our fathers, Matty. You aren’t commanded whom you must love,” Father Andrew explained softly. “Not all parents deserve our love when they treat their children in an ill or disrespectful fashion—not in the way Jesus teaches us, certainly. But we still must honor them because they are part of our family. And you can do that by leading a righteous life and bringing honor to your family. Even if your father doesn’t understand, your mother would be honored by your admirable actions.”

This discussion gave Matty a huge sense of relief. He didn’t discuss this with anyone, though. It was something warm he kept buried deep in his heart that he could think about when the bad thoughts threatened his happiness. He promised himself to lead a righteous life that would have pleased his mother, and he would honor her in that way. He lost some of the guilt he had about his feelings toward his father, and he figured he would be a good person in spite of the man. There was no reason to wallow in harsh feelings.

For now, Matty was happy to be safe. And he was happy to be with Nico .

Nighttime was the best. Nico continued to sleep next to Matty in his bed, even though Matty could have moved to a new room. No one questioned their need to stay together.

When the lights were extinguished, the two young men wrapped themselves around each other. They exchanged quiet, vague words of love and promised to always remain steadfast to one another. They would be friends for life. Best friends. Nico’s friendly kisses on Matty’s shoulder or hands gradually moved to Matty’s face, and one night they found each other’s mouths at the same time. Open-mouthed gasps gave way to explorative kisses as they sought more and more from one another. Tongues tasted and dueled, probed, and explored. And in doing so, ignited a passion that reached southward in their bodies like an uncontrolled brushfire.

Matty groaned as Nico rubbed against him, and instantly Nico pulled back and stopped. “Did I hurt you?” he asked in a panic. The last thing he wanted was to cause Matty an iota of discomfort.

Matty chuckled. “That wasn’t a pained moan, you lunk. I liked what you did and how it felt. Do it some more. If you hurt me, I’ll let you know.” With a gleam in his eye, he whispered, “You can use your hand if you like.”

Nico reached out and cupped Matty through his nightshirt and tentatively began to stroke up and down. His own body felt on fire with need. This was incredible. He loved the feel of Matty in his hand, but something even better happened when Matty snaked his hand beneath Nico’s nightshirt and grasped Nico’s cock. Nico felt ready to explode, but the sensation was so magical, he wanted it to last forever. Matty was touching him too… and with his warm, bare hand, skin to skin.

Not to be outdone, Nico gripped Matty’s shirt and tugged it up and out of his way. His hand sought and wrapped around Matty’s member, and Matty let out a pleased sound that definitely had nothing to do with pain. “Yes!” Matty hissed. “Don’t stop.”

Nico suddenly wanted to see what was going on and let go long enough to fling back the bedding. In the moonlit room, he delighted with the sight of their two stiff cocks—Matty’s surrounded by a thatch of black hair, and his own by a crop of curls a few shades darker blond than the curls on his head. They were both beautiful—the same but different. Nico had the strongest urge to rub his face all over Matty’s body, so he shoved Matty’s shirt even higher and leaned in to feel his friend with his lips and face. Matty had a clean, musky smell Nico wanted to taste, so he ran his tongue from Matty’s sternum, past his navel and into his pubic area. Mindful of his injuries, Nico gently nuzzled Matty with his nose and his lips until Matty begged him for more.

“Please, Nico, Stroke me. I’m about to explode, and I need you.”

As Nico settled back and took hold of Matty again, Matty returned the favor, and they mutually rubbed each other with firm grasps until first Matty and then Nico let go and spilled their seed with soft cries of pleasure .

When their breathing slowed, Nico asked, “Are you alright?”

“Never better,” Matty replied with a chuckle. “I could do that forever.”

“I think my fathers do a lot more than that. I sort of walked in on them and saw… things.”

“Really?”

“Yes. When you feel all better, maybe we can try it.”

“That sounds good. In the meantime, I loved this.” Matty yawned. “I’m sleepy now though.”

Nico got up and grabbed a towel to clean them up before climbing back into bed.

The next night Nico added kisses to his exploration of Matty’s body and quickly learned how to excite and please Matty with his mouth. He loved the taste of Matty’s release. Unfortunately, it was too difficult and painful for Matty to bend over and return the favor with his broken ribs still giving him considerable pain. So they had to become creative, and Nico showed Matty how he could lie in bed while Nico stood next to it. The first time Nico exploded into Matty’s mouth in this fashion, he thought he would die from the pleasure. It was also less messy this way, they rationalized.

Without a doubt, they loved each other. And this was how they expressed it night after night… until everything changed.