Chapter Eleven

Ezra

Wrapped up in a blanket while sitting close to Brandon on the couch, they both watched as Eric walked cops and his lieutenant to the door.

It had been a long fucking morning and Ezra hoped he never had one like it again. Ezra's hand had pretty much gone numb from how hard Brandon had been squeezing it.

Annabelle clapped her hands and Ezra jerked his head around to check on her. The big tattooed cop that Ezra had seen in his apartment the night that Eric had brought him home was on the floor, coloring with Ezra's baby girl. The gorgeous dog that had come in with him was on the floor under Brandon and Ezra. The big cop, Dane—Ezra remembered he'd been introduced as Dane. He'd said very little but he'd also positioned himself between Brandon, him, and the others in the room. He'd also appointed himself as Annabelle's babysitter.

How was this his life?

All of these people coming out of nowhere to protect and watch over him and his little angel.

Of course, Ezra wouldn't need protection if Joey Collins hadn't targeted Ezra for some unknown reason.

Being woken up in the dark by Eric should have been sexy and led to more touches and kisses like Eric had promised. Instead, Eric had been all business, helping Ezra dress, telling him that everything would be okay. Ezra hadn't felt like everything was going to be okay. And when he walked out into the living room to meet a bunch of cops. Yeah. Ezra had nearly fainted.

Shifting on the cushion, Ezra laid his head on Brandon's shoulder. "How are you holding up?" he whispered. Dane didn't look up, but Ezra thought the cop might be able to hear them. Still, the illusion of privacy was something.

"I…I'm okay…" Brandon's voice shook.

Dane's hand stopped coloring.

Damn! He could hear them.

"Do you need anything? Are you hungry?" Ezra asked. He wanted to do something. Anything. This was all his fault.

Brandon placed the hand that he wasn't clinging to Ezra's on his stomach. "I couldn't eat right now."

"Okay. I understand." And he did. Ezra just felt so useless.

The front door closed then Eric was striding back into the room. Even with wrinkled clothes, dark circles, and stress lines, he was still the most attractive man that Ezra had ever seen.

Spotting them, Eric's face fell before he hurried across the room. Maverick's head popped up.

"It's okay." Brandon laid his hand on the dog's neck.

Ezra was pretty certain that the dog was in love with Brandon. Maverick seemed glued to Brandon's side and had growled if anyone other than Ezra or Dane went near him.

"I need to talk to Ezra," Eric said. "Can you two watch Annabelle for a few minutes?"

"Yes!" Brandon seemed relieved to have a responsibility. A task that needed done.

"No problem," Dan agreed. "Take your time. Maybe clean up a little."

Ezra was in desperate need of a shower.

"Thanks." Eric motioned for Ezra to come to him.

Ezra smiled at Brandon before he climbed from the couch. He joined Eric, relieved when Eric captured his hand. Just that small touch grounded him. They walked down the hall until they reached Eric's bedroom.

He didn't think this was an excuse to get Ezra alone and naked.

Eric closed the door behind them.

"What's going on?" Ezra asked.

"I need to ask you something." Eric led Ezra to the bed. He sat before pulling Ezra onto his lap. "I wanted to get to know you organically and learn everything about you when you were ready to tell me."

Ezra snuggled deeper on Eric's lap. "But something changed that."

Eric hugged him tight. "I need you to tell me about your parents."

Ezra shook his head. Why would Eric need to know about them? Something was seriously wrong. "Why?"

"Because Joey Collins is claiming that your parents paid him to get close to you."

"They did what!" Ezra demanded.

"Collins says that he was supposed to get close to you. Gain your trust. Find out where you work, lived, all the places that you might frequent."

Ezra couldn't believe what he was hearing. His parents had been angry at him when he refused to move home. Bring Annabelle into the church. But he never suspected they'd pay someone like Joey to stalk him. "They—"

"They wanted to kidnap Annabelle."

Tears filled his eyes even as Eric began to rock him. He should have run farther than one state away. His parents weren't like other families. They hadn't cared about and loved him. They did the bare minimum. Kept a roof over his head and food in his belly. Their entire lives revolved around the church that Ezra had been born into.

"Why?" Ezra wailed as his tears fell. "Why would they do that to me?"

"I don't know," Eric responded. "I'll figure it out though. I'll keep you and Annabelle safe."

"You can't promise that." Ezra wished he could though.

Eric cupped his face. "Want to bet? I will use every resource available, call in every favor owed to me—no one is going to take that little girl away from you. Away from us."

Ezra nodded.

"Can you tell me about them please, baby? I need to know what I'm up against."

He clung to the front of Eric's shirt. "I was raised in a small town in northern California. It was just me and my parents. I don't have any siblings, cousins, or other family."

"Okay." Eric kissed his forehead urging him on.

"I thought it was a pretty normal upbringing. We went to church three days a week and had bible study on the other nights. My parents followed everything the preacher and deacons told them to a tee. They weren't affectionate to me. Not like I saw on television or out in public, but I thought that was just them. They weren't even affectionate to each other. It was all about the church. And the teachings."

"This is sounding like a cult," Eric said as he scowled.

"I don't think so." Ezra shrugged. "They were just very religious. When I think of cults, I think of isolation and drinking the Kool-Aid. It wasn't like that. We went to stores, had dinner out—I even went to college."

"There are over a hundred cults in the United States, and they come in many forms, sizes, and beliefs. They are dangerous though," Eric told him.

"Maybe." Ezra wasn't sure what to think. He hadn't been isolated growing up. Like he said, they went to town and out to eat. His parents had just kept him close until he'd gone to college. "It was common for the kids in our congregation to go to college. The preacher would decide what would benefit them the most and that's what we would study. I was supposed to go into civil engineering."

"Was that even something that you were interested in?"

"No," Ezra admitted. "But I wanted to go to college. To not live at home any longer."

"Understandable," Eric told him.

"I might have gone a little crazy when I was on my own for the first time. I could choose my own clothes, friends, what I ate. I partied pretty hard the first year. I did settle some during the second semester and that was when I met Cameron. Annabelle's mom."

Eric squeezed him hard.

"Cameron was fun. Easy to be around. Gorgeous. I didn't even know that I could like both guys and girls. In church being gay or bi was a sin. Cameron was bi and we just clicked."

"I'm glad you were able to explore. That's what college is for."

"Like I said, I might have taken that too far. I was fucking both men and women. I always used a condom. I knew once I went back home with my degree that the preacher would have my wife picked out and I would be expected to marry fast."

Eric shuddered. "Sounds horrifying."

"I thought it was normal until I spoke to Cameron, my roommate, and my friends. They showed me different. It was fun."

"Then Cameron got pregnant?" Eric guessed.

"Yeah, we had hooked up at one of the frat parties. I used a condom, but we were both too drunk to notice that it broke until the next morning. Cameron's parents didn't believe in birth control, so she wasn't on any. We thought it would be fine. What were the chances that she would get pregnant the first time we had a mishap with a condom?"

Eric snorted. "I would say pretty high since I've met your precious baby girl."

Ezra sighed. "We ignored the signs. Like if we didn't talk about her morning sickness or gaining weight, it would just go away."

"Baby."

"I know!" Ezra exclaimed. "I'd just turned twenty. I was young and dumb."

Eric's lips twitched. "And full of come?"

"Exactly. Cameron and I were still close, but I'd found the club and had just started to explore my little side. She came to me when she was six months pregnant and couldn't ignore the baby growing inside her anymore."

"That had to be hard."

"I took her to the doctor and it was confirmed. We were going to be parents."

"Except that wasn't what she wanted."

"We talked through all out options. We could get married and raise her. We weren't in love but close friends. Her parents refused to help her, and I was too scared to tell my mom and dad. She was the one that brought up adoption. We made an appointment with an agency but at one of her doctor appointments, I heard the baby's heartbeat."

"Oh, Ezra."

Tears fell again, but this time they were from a fond memory. "It was amazing. My little baby, and I couldn't let her go. I asked Cameron to let me take our baby. She wasn't sure at first. I was barely older than a kid, but I knew what I wanted. She agreed but only if I never contacted her again. She would give me the baby, but I lost a friend."

"It must have been a hard decision for her," Eric said.

Ezra was thankful that Eric understood. That he wasn't blaming Cameron. "It was hard, and I thought a few times that she would change her mind. She signed over all rights to me when she had Annabelle and I never heard from her again. I dropped out of school and went home. I had no idea how my parents would react."

Eric winced. ‘Not well, I take it?"

"Actually, the opposite. I didn't know that my mother had complications with my birth and couldn't have more children. They tried to take Annabelle from me. Said I could leave her with them and go back to school. They'd raise her as my sister."

"Which wasn't what you wanted."

"Even at a couple weeks old, I knew that girl was going to be my entire life."

Eric smiled.

"But my parents kept pushing me. The preacher agreed with them. Said giving up Annabelle was my penance for sinning. Every day for a month they tried to force me. My mother began to try to keep Annabelle from me. Wouldn't let me feed or change her. I knew that if we didn't get away, they would do something drastic. So I took Annabelle and we left."

"They must not have considered you'd do that."

He shrugged. "I don't know what they thought. But I didn't want anyone raising that baby other than me and I didn't want her part of the church."

"I'm going to need to know the names of everyone involved. They have no claim to Annabelle. No one will be taking her away from you."

"I'm scared," Ezra confessed.

"I won't lie. I am too. I just found you and that precious girl. I won't let anyone hurt you or take you away."

"I've been nothing but trouble since we met."

Eric's chuckle was warm. "You are worth every bit of trouble that you might bring my way."

Ezra smiled. "I'll remind you if you ever forget."

"I hope so." Eric lowered his face until their lips were inches apart. "Because you're all mine. My partner. My boy. You'll be my everything."

He sucked in a breath. "You really mean that?"

"I love you, Ezra," Eric confessed. "I don't want to scare you away, but I was half in love with you before I even knew your story. Now…now I am absolutely certain of it."

"Wow." Ezra was mesmerized by the look in Eric's eyes. By the words.

"You don't have to say the words back. Please just give us a chance."

"I'm not going crazy. I love you too and I want everything that you do. I want to make us a family. Me, you, Annabelle, Brandon, Dom, Lake, Dane, and even Maverick."

"I might need to add a few people to that list but it's a good start."

"A very good start," Ezra agreed.

"I bet we can squeeze out a few more minutes for alone time. How about a shower?" Eric offered.

"Together?"

"Yes, baby. Daddy wants to wash his boy from head to toe."

And the hard-on trapped in his pants was about to explode. "Please, Daddy." By the end of the night, Ezra vowed to have Eric in his mouth. He wanted to play.

Eric lifted him before he strolled toward the ensuite bathroom. Ezra clung to his Daddy's neck. It was awesome being so much smaller with a big strong Daddy that could carry him.

He set Ezra on the counter, where Ezra watched as Eric walked to the shower and turned on the water. He kicked his feet, knowing that he was a very lucky boy. Eric hadn't taken off when he'd heard Ezra's story. No, in fact, Eric had said that he loved him.

After three long years of being alone, it was nice to have someone who was strong enough to stay with him, even if it wasn't always a smooth ride.

Walking back over to him, Eric stopped before he began to tug off his clothes. Ezra totally approved of a naked Eric. Once he was bared, Eric reached for Ezra.

"Let's get those clothes off and into the shower."

Ezra hopped off the counter with Eric's help. Together they removed Ezra's clothing and he followed Eric into the large shower.

The bathroom in the hall had both a shower and tub but Eric's bathroom held the biggest shower that Ezra had ever seen. Gray and black stone covered the walls and there was even a bench.

Ezra might have a few fantasies that he wanted to act out with Eric involving that bench.

"When we have time by ourselves, I want you to feel free to regress or not. You don't have to be little all the time when it's just us, but I want you to know that you have the option."

"I'm not sure how much I'll get to indulge," Ezra confessed. He missed being little, but he still had his little girl.

"We'll figure it out together," Eric told him, guiding Ezra under the hot water. The water felt wonderful hitting his neck and shoulders. "I want you to be comfortable. Plus, you have me and Brandon now. We're here to help you."

Ezra turned to peer up at Eric.

The older man's hair was slicked back as he watched Ezra.

"Should we talk about me and Annabelle heading back to the apartment?" Not that Ezra wanted to leave. He loved the house.

Eric scowled. "It's not really safe. I would prefer to have you here in case your parents try to contact you."

Shit! He hadn't thought about that. "Yeah."

"Okay, that was a lie." Eric grabbed the soap from the holder built into the wall.

"What?"

Eric grimaced. "I don't want you here just because of your parents. I know it's too fast, but I love having you and Annabelle here. You make this house a home."

"That's an even better reason for us to stay," Ezra told him.

Eric stilled. "It is?"

"I don't want to be an obligation," Ezra said. "I want you to want me here."

"I do. I love you, remember?"

Ezra smiled. "I love you too."

"Now let's get you clean so I can get you dirty again."

"Yay!" That sounded like an awesome plan.