12. ~Caleb~

I needed a fucking drink.

Or several.

I’d tried to make my way to King Manor after Caspian had just taken off without me like a bastard. But I’d come up against a shitload of resistance from his security. Even after insisting on speaking to Luke, himself, it hadn’t made a difference, I hadn’t been allowed through.

I was banned.

Cas was punishing me.

So much for hoping he would’ve at least missed me and wanted to talk things out.

He knew damn well that I didn’t have any connections here in Rossun anymore after the way I’d left and for how long I’d been gone too. I had nowhere to go except with him.

Now that was off the table, it was gonna be a hotel for me tonight.

Unless he was gonna take it further and have me turned away from a bunch of those too.

Usually when it came to the hotel route, I just had to avoid the ones owned by my parents, but this could be a lot harder. I might end up in a dive of a place for the next little while.

Kind of like the place I was at right now, intending to drink up a storm.

Haywire.

The newest nightclub in the City of Rossun.

It definitely had a sleazy element attached to it.

There was no dress code, no list, and no rules apparently.

It was open to everyone and a total free-for-all too.

People were literally getting it on over on the dancefloor as the slow jams boomed over the sound system. I even saw a guy getting a blowjob right there. There were two women spread out over the table of a booth as a bunch of guys did shots off their half-naked bodies, then sucked on their breasts. Another woman sat up at the end of the bar, her legs spread with no underwear on. Some guys out on the dancefloor were taking their fill and grabbing their dicks obscenely.

This wasn’t even a sex club. Jeez.

There was nothing erotic about it, it was just sleaze.

Right up its owner’s alley.

As I downed my scotch, then went to order another, a shadow fell across my vision.

I started, then turned to see the guy himself sliding onto a stool right beside me up at the bar.

“Damien,” I ground out.

“Long fucking time, Cal.”

I took him in.

A couple of years hadn’t changed him much at all.

His dark brown hair was still down to his collar and wild, those amber eyes still flamed with malice as his hulking form gave the stool he was perched on a run for its money. He was wearing a see-through tank that put his chiseled abs on display in a very overt way. And his black leather pants were so tight that they were doing the same with other parts of him too. Bold fucker.

“Long time, “ I agreed.

“Couldn’t believe it when I picked you up on the cameras. I mean, I heard you were back, but coming here was a definite surprise. Besides, I figured you’d be with the boys your first night back.”

“Yeah, well.”

“Huh, I see. King is being his dickish self and driving home an aggravating point by banning you from his property, right?”

“It’s not your concern.”

“No? Then how come you’re here?” He leaned closer. “In my domain, babe?”

I shoved him back and he laughed. “God, I’ve missed this push and pull game of ours. It’s been a real bore without you around lightening shit up.”

“Why are you back here, D?”

“Why do you think? His Majesty finally deemed it acceptable.”

I shook my head. “No. I know Cas. There’s more to it.”

“You think so?” he asked with a coy grin.

“I’m certain of it.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right.”

There it was. “Tell me.”

He wagged his finger. “Uh uh, not so fast.” He looked me up and down in my gray jeans and white t-shirt, my aviator jacket over the top. “You’re dressed the same. Coming back to your old self in that way.” His gaze flicked to my overgrown blond hair, the thick stubble lining my jaw. “But in others, you’re different. More rugged. Harder. Tougher. Haunted. And sexier than fucking ever, Cal.” He startled me as he laid his hand over the top of mine on the bar. “How about you stay with me tonight in my new penthouse?” As I went to pull away instinctively, he held on tight. “And I’ll tell you everything you want to know about the deal King made me.”

I brought my free hand down on top of his, digging my nails into his palm, making him hiss.

“Fuck, yeah. Give me more, babe.”

Son of a bitch. Of course he’d gotten off on that. It had been too long since I’d been around him, any of this, I guess I was a little rusty with it all. “Tell me something first, or nothing else is on the table. Something real, D.”

He leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper as he told me, “King didn’t just leave me alone and merely have his people watch me while I was away. He also had me nurture a certain connection of mine.”

“He’s using you as an asset?”

He pulled back and winked. “Correct.”

“To what end? Who is this connection of yours?”

“No dice. I’ve given that in good faith as you asked. The rest comes later when you do your part.”

“Define my part.”

“Like I said, crash at my place, spend some time with me.”

“We’re not fucking.”

“You really think that’s all I’m about?”

“I know you.”

“No. You knew me. Things have changed, just like they have for you.”

“Damien.”

“Fine.” He dragged his hand from mine, then rubbed his clean shaven jaw. “It’s been lonely, all right? King hates me, I can’t go near my brother, my mom isn’t my greatest fan either at the moment because of King’s threats to her livelihood over what I did that’s kept me away from the Thorn estate. And you and me, we were friends at one point. I figured maybe for one night while you’re back here and still estranged from them, we could hang.”

What the fuck was happening? “Hang?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, why not?”

“And what does that entail in your mind?” In his twisted mind.

“Watch a movie, binge some TV show, talk? One of your sitcoms, maybe? If you’re not up for that, we could play poker, although you might be out of pocket by the end, you know how good my bluff game is.”

“That sounds rather tame for you.”

“It’s been a long day. Figured you’ve also got enough pressure right now, so if I can keep things low-key for you at least for a while, I will.”

“Fine.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “We have a deal.”

He grinned, then slapped his hand down on the bar top and two of the bartenders spun toward him right away. “Give my boy, here, whatever he wants. On the house.” They gave their confirmations, then Damien turned back to me. “Relax a little for the next couple of hours until I’m done here.”

And with that, he was gone, disappearing into the crowds, heading back to his office.

Another glass of scotch brushed my fingers and I turned from tracking him to see one of the bartenders had pushed it into my hand.

I hesitated for a moment.

Fuck it.

I brought it to my lips then gulped it down.

Maybe just one more to properly take the edge off of being back here and all the complications that came along with it.

So,I might’ve ended up having more than just a couple of drinks.

“You still with me there, Cal?”

I blinked against my blurry vision and the lightheadedness making my head swim to see Damien manspreading across half of the couch just a foot from me, his arm slung over the bright-red pleather as he looked between me and his massive flatscreen fronting one hell of an entertainment unit. I heard the laugh track of Will Grace sounding through the living room of his penthouse. At least I thought that was what we were still watching. I’d spaced out for a bit, I just wasn’t sure for how long.

I sank back against the couch. “Yeah. Still here.” I heard myself slurring the words. It had been that last tequila that Damien had given me when we’d arrived back here an hour or so ago. He’d driven me in his Ferrari because I’d been in no state to get behind the wheel myself. The tequila had been to calm me down after I’d gotten pissed that he’d slid his hand up my thigh during the drive.

Normally, I would’ve responded aggressively, but I’d been too fucking tired to muster the wherewithal to do much in that respect. So I’d just put it down to a slip from him, then gone ahead with our deal to hang here at his place.

We’d played cards for a bit and he’d taken me for two hundred bucks before I’d ended up earning it all back. Then we’d started watching a couple of sitcoms.

Through it all, he’d been talking non-stop about his excitement concerning opening his club, telling me some of the other things he’d been up to, things he was looking forward to doing.

Just nothing about him being an asset for Caspian.

Not yet, anyway.

“You want another drink?” he asked, sitting forward and sliding his still full glass along the coffee table to the end closest to me.

“Nah, I’m done.”

“Yeah, I think you really are.” He rose to his feet. “Let’s get you settled for the night.”

The next thing I knew, his arms were around me.

Instinctively, I went to pull away, but it had me wavering and almost crashing onto the thick shag rug. He caught me and tightened his hold. “Just relax. No need to fight, babe.”

I blinked, trying to clear my vision, but it proved impossible. Shit. “Need to lay down.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that.”

I felt him pulling me along then, basically taking my full weight. The swanky penthouse whirled around me in a mess of images. Red pleather furniture, golden accents, big white plastic statues of a tiger, a lion, and what looked like a centaur, erotic photos lining the walls.

A door opened and he dragged me through it.

I was plunged into darkness for a few moments and my back hit something soft, bouncing a little.

In my state, it took me a moment and some feeling around to realize it was satin sheets of a bed.

I squeezed my eyes shut as a light nearby switched on.

Groaning, I buried my cheek in a pillow.

I heard some shifting around, some movements, but I paid it little mind.

I could barely focus at all on anything.

But then fingers on my belt had my eyes popping open again. My jeans were opened then, my fly drawn down.

I looked out to see Damien at the foot of the bed clad only in his boxers now, the rest of him bare. And he was pulling down my jeans.

“Why… what are you doing?” I slurred.

“Just getting you comfortable as I tell you my little story you were so eager to hear.”

“Story?” I murmured. “Yeah… tell me.”

My tee was pushed up to my pecs and a hand to my upper back eased me forward so it could be pulled up over my head.

I shifted, feeling myself just in my boxers now.

“Damien?”

“Yes, babe?”

“I’m hot.”

“Hell, yeah, you fucking are.”

“No… the temperature… it’s sweltering.”

“You’ll feel better now your clothes are gone.” Fingers caressed the waistband of my boxers. “You want these gone too?”

“I… I don’t know… maybe.”

“It’ll cool you off all the more. That’s what you need right now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

In the next second, they were ripped off me, pulling a gasp from me.

“Holy fuck, you got your dick inked.”

I strained to see his eyes all over my shaft and the black, red, and gold demonic claws encircling it.

“Yeah,” was all I could manage.

It took him several moments to get past it, and then he was straddling me, his knees either side of my legs, his hands pressed down by my head. “So, my little story… I told you that King had me nurture one of my connections while I was gone. The person in question is Jett Bane. I have an in with him and when he came out of his coma, I made sure I was the person there for him. He trusts me and every now and then he confides in me.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, King’s manipulative and calculative side at its finest.” He reached out and fondled my hair. “I didn’t just do it for King. I could’ve refused and taken punishment from him instead. But I didn’t. Because of Bastian. And you. To redeem myself, Cal. To prove to you that I know I made a mistake and that I’m in your corner now.” He drew his fingers over my lips, down my chest, making me shift on the bed, sending sparks of sensation through me that I couldn’t fight for the life of me while I was so fucking out of it. “I want to come in out of the cold.”

“Cas won’t trust you.”

“I don’t care about him trusting me. Just you and Bastian.” He shifted his knee, pushing it between my thighs and I groaned as it rubbed against my cock. “You spending time with me tonight was the best time I’ve had in so fucking long. And for once without all that bullshit defense from you, you’re actually open to it, to me. I can even feel you wanting me.”

Another groan slipped from me as he rubbed his thigh against my cock, harder this time.

I jerked my hips, but I didn’t know if I was trying to move away, or grind into it.

“There. See? You feel it.”

“D,” I breathed.

“Relax into it,” he whispered at my ear, before licking my throat then nipping my lobe.

His hands were all over me then, running up and down my naked body, setting every nerve-ending alight, making me shudder beneath him.

He brushed his fingers over my cock. “Damn, you’re so fucking hard for me.” I jolted as his thumb teased the tip and traced the pre-cum that had leaked out. He held my gaze as he gathered it, then stuck out his tongue and spread it all over.

“Fuck,” I groaned.

He smirked, then swallowed it down and licked his lips.

Then he eased back until he was sitting right in front of my cock, his fingers fondling the base, his blunt nails scraping over my balls every now and then too.

He leaned down and flicked his tongue out, just an inch from actually connecting with my crown.

He chuckled darkly. “Tell me you want my tongue, that you’re so fucking hard at the thought of me squeezing this big, thick dick with my throat.”

My head lolled to the side. “I can’t… my head’s not… clear. I can’t think.”

“That’s the whole point. No more useless thinking. Just feel, babe. Relax into me, let all the rest go.”

He dipped down and closed his lips over my crown, sucking hard and then swirling his tongue, making my hips buck at the intensity. “Fuck!” I cried out.

He pulled away, grinning. “Say it and I won’t leave it as just an appetizer.”

“I… I can’t.”

His face fell.

His fingers clenched around my cock for a moment, making me hiss.

But then he released it and sat back on his haunches. “All right. Not tonight.”

I frowned up at him, not understanding him backing off.

That usually required a fight.

He smiled down at me, then reached out and stroked my hair.

The next thing I knew he was fixing my boxers back on for me.

He went to do the same with my shirt, but a brutal thud sounded that had him abruptly jerking back.

A vicious snarl followed and then rapid movement flitted across my vision just before Damien was ripped away.

I heard crashing and cursing from him a moment later.

And then a familiar voice.

A very familiar voice that hit me down deep even in my current messed-up state.

“Stay down!”

“It’s not what you think, King.” Another thud rang out. “Ah, fuck! Stop! Think. Look. He’s hard for me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Caleb gets hard from the slightest touch, he’s very sensitive.”

“He wanted me!”

“He’s drunk, Damien! He can’t consent! One glance at him and it was brazenly apparent to me. You’ve been with him all night, you were well aware!”

“You weren’t here, you don’t know what happened or—”

“Get the fuck out!”

“It’s my bedroom!”

“Get out now or you won’t have the option of walking out of here. Three seconds.”

I heard scrambling, then Damien cursing, and then the door slammed shut.

In the next second, the bed shifted and caramel waves filled my vision.

“Cas?” I murmured.

“Yes, it’s me.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”

I felt my jeans sliding up my legs, then being fixed in place.

The bed dipped right by my head, then I was being lifted into a sitting position just before my shirt was pulled on.

Hazel eyes burned into mine. “I’m here now, lovely.”

“Lovely? You still… care about me?”

He stroked my cheek. “No matter if we’re apart or the distance or time between us, it’ll never diminish this connection we share. It was forged in fucking hellfire, there’s no breaking it.”

It took me a moment, but then the recognition set in. “I said that.”

“You did.” He smiled, then wrapped his arms around me, supporting my weight as he eased me off the bed and pulled us toward the door. “Time to get you home.”

Home.

I hadn’t had that for so long.