Chapter 27

TWENTY-SEVEN

ELLIS

“We’re going to head out for a bit,” Tavish says. “We’ll be back tonight.”

Leland suggests, “Why don’t you take the murder van? Micah needed something at the house anyway, so we’ll pack in his car. He said he loves it when we harass him.”

“Did I?” Micah asks.

“That’s what I heard,” Leland says as he tosses the keys to Tavish, who catches them. “It’s honestly best to take the murder van anyway, in case you need to get rid of a dead body or abduct anyone. Trust me. You can pack that fucker to the brim .”

“How… many…” I pause. “You know what? I don’t care. This is information I don’t ever need to know. Should never know.”

“You want to know how many people and/or bodies have been in that van?” Leland guesses.

“A little bit.”

“Not enough,” he says, and with that, he gives us a wave. “Have fun. Be safe. If you’re going to murder someone, make sure you do it swiftly and efficiently.”

And now it’s just the two of us.

I stare after the retreating vehicles for a moment. “Like… I was kind of embarrassed thinking ‘He’s totally aware what we’re going to do,’ but no… he just went on and on about abductions and murder.”

“Leland is easily confused,” Tavish says. “Just whatever you do… don’t go in the basement.”

“Fucking hell. Alright. Fine. What’s in the basement?” I ask as I get into the passenger seat of the van.

Tavish shakes his head. “Just don’t do it. Just don’t look. Don’t check. Just… trust me.”

“Come on, you have to tell me.”

“Things.”

“What kind of things? Like… serial killer trophies?”

Tavish starts laughing. “Close! Sex… furniture. Scarred me for life the first time I wandered down there.”

“Oh my god… he like… willingly asked you to go down there?”

“Nah, I went down myself and fully regretted it.”

I don’t know why that amuses me so much. “You have some unique friends, but… I really like them.”

“Right? How many people still stay your friend after you threaten to kill them a few times?”

“You also threatened me. Do you ever just stop and question if maybe you should stop threatening people until you get to know them?”

“Nah. None of that sounds fun. So where should we go? We can go to my house, which would be like some added risk. We could go to your place, which is probably also a dash of spicy risk. We could fuck in the murder van! Find a park bench somewhere… up against a tree? We could find a nice rooftop?—”

Why are all of his suggestions high risk or highly illegal? “Or we could go to like a hotel or something…”

“I suppose…”

My phone beeps, and I look down at it and realize Leland has texted the two of us.

Leland: If you’re playing hide the eggplant, you can go to one of my murder houses. I’ll send you the address and tell you the code to get into the house.

“Fucking hell,” I say, my face likely as red as it can get.

Tavish: Good because Ellis was being rather picky.

“Picky?” I ask. “Is scratching the idea of some random roof picky ? I’m horrified now. I liked it better when he thought we were abducting or murdering someone.”

Me: We were just doing… normal… things.

Leland: Jackson has informed me that my word choice was “questionable.”

Tavish: Ellis wants you aware that we are off doing murder since that is less embarrassing.

Me: I never said murder was less embarrassing. Save me.

Leland: Jackson said that he’s questioning Ellis’s true inner path if he believes murder is less embarrassing than when a papa bee sticks his stinger in another papa bee.

Me: NO! I don’t want to murder anyone!

Leland: Jackson said that Ellis should talk to someone about that.

Me: Just give me the fucking address and code to this love shack. Is that better?

Leland: Totally. Code is 6969.

Leland: I’m assuming your lack of reply is you all pausing to laugh. Fine, fine. I’ll send the real code.

I groan as I rub my face. “What if I’m too embarrassed now?”

Tavish shrugs, clearly seeing no problem with anything that’s happening. “What if you have nothing to be embarrassed about? I mean… think of all the embarrassing shit Leland willingly admits to.”

“Okay. And I’m also confused… Leland has a second house? Is it like… a lake house or something?”

“Fuck if I know. You seem to think I know a whole lot more about Leland than I do. It’s probably a safe house. A place that’s untraceable that he could go to if things went bad. Or back when he was doing jobs. But now it’s our love shack.”

“You know what? That roof looks super romantic,” I say as I point at a random roof we’re driving by in the abductor van.

Tavish laughs. “We’re not going to the roof. It’s my birthday. The Horny Homestead is my destination.”

“No…”

“That’s what Leland named the location,” he says, flashing his phone at me.

“Fucking hell. I’ll never be able to face him again.”

“That’s fine. But he has a way of wearing you down. Like a parasite,” he says as he drives.

“Hmm…” I think about that for a moment. “When we get to this… location, I’m going to woo you so fucking hard. Hard enough you’re going to forget about every second of this Leland conversation.”

“I’ve already forgotten it. Leland who? My eyes are only on you,” Tavish declares.

“Please… keep your eyes on the road. I want to live through this.”

“That’s understandable.”

He pulls into the driveway of a rather normal-looking house. I assumed it was going to be as sketchy as could be, but it really couldn’t look more normal.

“Am I the only one suspicious about this?” I ask as we head up to the front door.

“Oh, no, definitely not. I’m convinced it’s a trap of some kind, but like a fun trap,” Tavish says.

“Fun trap.” I test the words out as he pushes the door open and waves me in.

And because I might be a bit nosy, I eagerly head in and gasp.

“What?”

I kick my shoes off, as does Tavish, before venturing in farther. “Oh my god, his literal staged safe house looks more lived in than your real house. Holy shit… they have a TV stand?” I hurry into the room and wave toward the table. “ And a table . Imagine if you had a table at your house. We could fuck on the table.” I dramatically lie against it so I’m showing him my ass. “Think of all the things you’re missing out on. Hold on… I’m doing a sexy pose here and you’re staring at your phone.”

“Yeah, I’m ordering a fucking table!” Tavish says as he taps quickly at his phone. “It’ll be here Monday.”

“How the hell did you order one so fast?”

“I just wanted it hardy. I didn’t care about anything else. Where else could we fuck that I don’t have?”

“Hmm… I never got to see your bathroom, but what’s that like?”

“Super sexy. Totally.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask as I roll off the table and hurry into the kitchen. I flip open some cupboards and look in at the food inside. It all seems to be items with long expiration dates, but it’s still better than what Tavish has.

“Full cupboards. Oh my god,” I say as I grab a few cans and run them down my chest. “So sexy.”

“Oh fuck. Am I going to have to do a full grocery delivery while you touch those cans in a way I want to be touched?”

“I mean… have you ever seen a sexier can of green beans?” I ask as I run a teasing finger down it while Tavish fixates on it.

“Fucking hell. I’ll buy all the groceries.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I won’t know how to cook a damn one of them, but I’ll buy them.”

“I mean… if you need someone to cook them for you… I happen to know someone who might.”

“Is it the same person getting frisky with the corn?”

I glance down at the corn on my chest. “Sure as fuck is.”

“What if I just want to eat you?”

“I don’t know… I’m rather hard to please.”

“You are! You want a table and food, and god, what are you going to want next? A shower curtain?”

“You don’t have a shower curtain?” I ask skeptically.

“I have the plastic part!”

“Buy a shower curtain!”

“What about this one with a sloth on it? Does that work? You like animals. Will that woo you?”

“Definitely.”

“It’s in my cart. I even threw some rugs in there.”

I can’t help but laugh as I push the cans back in place and swing the cupboard shut before walking over to him. I slide my hands around his waist and pull him toward me until I can feel his cock pressed against mine. “That’s the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Yeah? Wait until you hear that I even got a towel rack.”

“Oh? Your foreplay is making me hard,” I tease.

Tavish laughs as he presses a finger under my chin. “You know, most men find it sexy when I do badass stuff. I’ve never had anyone find it sexy when I do something domestic.”

“I’m confident everything you do is like one-quarter sexy and three-quarters terrifying. I’m in a constant state of terror slash interest piqued. It’s confusing.”

“The only thing I’m confused about is how you’re still wearing clothes? I thought being naked was the first rule of the estate of ecstasy.”

“I missed that,” I say as I flip the button on his pants free and yank the zipper down. Then I lean forward and instead of kissing him, I nip his lip. “Here’s my issue.”

“Oh no, you have an issue beyond the lack of furniture?”

“I’m a very picky man.”

“Are you?” he asks.

I push his pants and underwear down before stepping back to observe and admire.

“Okay. I hate to inform you of this, but if you want to have a serious talk, dropping my pants is not the way to go about it. I can’t remember a single thing you were talking about because I now want your pants off. And my god, you’re eyeing my dick.”

“I am eyeing your dick,” I say before looking at him and smiling. “It’s a nice dick.”

“Thank you.”

“But I want more than a nice dick.”

“I have a nice ass too.”

“I want more than a nice ass.”

“Uhh… my face?”

“And more than a nice face.”

“Man, you’re greedy.”

“You know what I want, Tavish. Just because your pants are down doesn’t mean you can’t get your brain to work. I want to have sex with you either way. I just want to know how much I can let my heart get invested in this. I don’t need a lifelong commitment; I’m well aware we’ve only known each other for days. I don’t even need you to date me. I just want to know if I can let myself want more than just sex. Am I allowed to get my hopes up or is this just sex? I know we haven’t had much time together… but can you at least tell me that?”

“I really feel like this conversation would have been easier with my pants on.”

“Yeah, but I was nervous to ask it, so it made me feel better with your pants off. You know how they say to imagine the people you’re talking to are in their underwear? I just went a step further.”

He grins as he kicks his pants the rest of the way off and leans against the wall. “Here’s what I can and can’t give you. I cannot promise to quit this job. I love what I do, and I want the person who is with me to be fine with it. You don’t have to be dragged off to contend with my bullshit. I would never ask that of you. Now of course if you wanted to, I would sure as fuck not say no. But if you’re wanting someone who works a nine to five, someone who has a desk job… I just can’t do it. I would sacrifice a lot for the person I loved, but I’m so afraid I’d begin to resent them?—”

“I’m not asking you to quit any of that. I don’t want you to hurt good people. And I want you to be a bit more careful about who you abduct from now on… but I’d never ask you to quit. I… would worry about you. I would worry about all that. But I would never want you to stop something you’re obviously good at and you clearly enjoy.”

Tavish nods slowly. “I’m not good at this stuff. My father never abused me or any of that shit, but he never taught me how to love, you know? He taught me how to steal from people or how to use them. As soon as I was old enough to realize what he was having me do, I left. I was like sixteen, out there punching in faces for a roof over my head. I did shitty jobs. I did questionable work. And I was constantly on the move. It was like my whole life was a collection of looking for something I was positive I was never going to find.”

“Do you think I could help you find it?” I ask.

“I don’t think you need to. I think I found exactly what I’ve been looking for all along.”

“What, that rug you just bought?” I tease because I don’t know how to handle the honest answer. It’s a bit scary thinking I could be something someone’s been wanting for so long.

He grins as he pushes off the wall and grabs me. “Definitely the rug.” His mouth finds mine, lips crashing against mine in a hurried kiss. Tongues tangling, breath heavy… I’m immediately pulled into the caress of his lips. I’m drawn into the way his words make me feel so much fucking hope. The way they make me realize that everything I’ve ever wanted is right here in front of me.

Tavish draws back just enough to murmur, “Did that answer anything?”

“Very much so,” I say as he kisses my neck while my hands slide around his waist to grab his bare ass cheeks. “This answers even more.”

“I’d love to know the question my nakedness answered.”

I laugh and start backing away from him. “There has to be a bed somewhere in this house.”

“Am I going to find a naked man in it? Because I feel like you’re having all the fun and I’m missing out since you haven’t lost any clothes yet.”

“I suppose.” I turn around to start heading toward the bedrooms as I drop my pants and underwear before kicking them off. Then I toss my shirt and use my feet to slide my socks off. Now that I’m naked, I throw a look back at him. “Does that help?”

His eyes slowly lift from my ass. “Sure does.”

“Follow me inside to sexy time,” I say as I pull open a door and look in at the vacuum.

Tavish glances inside. “So fucking on a roof was too much, but fucking with a vacuum is just right?”

“Hold on, hold on… follow me… in here,” I say as I try another door which opens up to a large bathroom.

“I will follow you anywhere… but what about a bedroom?” he asks as he slips past me before pulling open a door. “Look. Magic. Bedroom.”

Since he’s standing in the doorway, I slide up behind him and wrap my arms around him as I set my chin on his shoulder. My cock presses right against his ass as I scrutinize his findings.

“That is… overwhelmingly sexy,” I say.

Tavish presses back into me as my hands slide across his hips to his cock that I brush my fingers over. All the while, my cock is pressed snugly against his ass and really enjoying the feel of it. “Yeah? You think my bed-finding skills are sexy? You should see what else I can do.”

I nip his neck as he reaches back and grabs my thigh. I’m confused what this position is until he hoists me up onto his back.

“Where are we going?” I ask with a laugh.

“I want to give you a closer look at the bed, and I just felt like if I stood in the doorway with your cock making friends with my ass, we’d have never found the actual bed. You’ve given me no choice.”

He swings me down onto the bed, and when I grab him, I pull him down with me as I ease him out of his shirt. “I brought lube and condoms,” he says.

“Yeah? And you look quite naked. Where are you stashing them?”

“In my pants you whipped off way back when.”

“Well, you better get them.”

“Wait for me.”

“If I didn’t run off after you threw me out of an airplane, you should be confident I’m not going to leave you now.”

Tavish gives me another deep kiss before pulling back and literally running. He’s back in record time, a packet of lube in one hand and a condom in the other. Since he still has his socks on through all of this, he comes skidding in across the wooden floors. “I got them.”

“Took you long enough,” I tease.

“Oh, no, no. This man is quick. Did you see how quick I was?”

“Ah yes, of course. I’m very impressed.”

“Now what do you want?” he asks, voice teasing.

“You.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

“You’re not being helpful.”

I grin. “You don’t strike me as a man who’d be eager with any position.”

“For the right man, I’ll do anything.”

Fucking hell, he knows just what to say. “You’ll do anything, eh? Even stuff him in a trunk and force him to play The Game of Life while threatening his actual life?”

Tavish hesitates. “Let’s just… pretend none of that happened, okay? You are brave. You are handsome. You are strong?—”

“What is this?”

“I’m trying to help you forget.”

“Yeah? Forget our sweet meet-cute? Are you sure?” I ask.

“Please forgive me.”

“Maybe… I’ll forget about it if you lay me down and fuck me hard enough that I forget?” I suggest as I pull him in close enough my cock brushes against his.

“I’m positive I can do that,” he says as he grabs my legs, pulling me up so I’m pushed down onto my back as he hovers over me.

He tears open the lube which oozes out. Quickly, he swipes his fingers through it as one hand slides down to my cock and the other between my legs.

“How weird… I… I’m having memories of you plucking my cute little spouse out of my little plastic car during that game on the airplane.”

Tavish lets out a laugh and I love the sound of it. “It was because it was a woman, and I was jealous.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I remember you flicking her frail body.”

“Jealousy does stupid shit to you. Especially when I want you all to myself,” he assures me as he presses a finger against me. “Forget all about that. Think about the magic fingers instead of that confused man in the airplane.”

“Magic fingers?” I ask with a grin.

“So magicky. Watch the finger disappear—” he says as he pushes a finger inside me.

“I swear that had to have been the least sexy sex comment I’ve ever received.”

“I don’t know how to respond besides feeling pity that you’re struggling to comprehend my sexy talk,” he says as his finger rubs inside me. It’s distracting enough that I kind of forget about the ridiculous magic trick joke but not quite .

“You’re blaming it on my comprehension?” I ask as I draw him down to me, close enough for a kiss, but I don’t give it to him just yet. Instead, I let my fingers hover around his cock, teasingly so. “I’m struggling to comprehend how to touch this thing stabbing me in the stomach.”

“I kid, I kid. And I’m totally trying to hide all of my faults with jokes so you forget about them. I’m afraid you’re going to wake up and go, ‘Fuck, what the hell am I doing with my life?’”

“Looks like I’m doing it with you. That’s what I’m doing,” I say as he presses another finger inside me, making me moan. “Tavish… I thought I was pretty clear…” I grab tightly on to him as his hand strokes my cock and his fingers move inside me. “I was pretty clear that you’re what I want. I would not have gone through even a quarter of this if you weren’t. I haven’t been fooled into thinking any part of this adventure has been… normal. But you’ve made me feel safe. You’ve made me laugh. And you’ve made me feel so ridiculously comfortable, even in the face of danger. I think you need to give yourself more credit.”

He responds with a sweet kiss and a soft murmur against my lips as I stroke his cock.

“I need to feel more of you,” I say as I start smacking the bed all over for the condom. I don’t know where the fuck it is, but I want it now. “The condom ran away.”

“It didn’t run away.”

“Then where the fuck is it?”

“Right here,” he says as he reaches past me for it. He tears it open, and I eagerly pull it out before pressing it against the head of his cock and rolling it down.

“Now the lube’s gone,” I complain. “That just fucked off too.”

“Just disappeared off into oblivion,” he teases as he flicks it in front of me.

“Damn, you’re good.”

“Thank you.”

“Almost good enough to stop me from thinking about my meet-cute with the dumpster. Or was the meet-cute with you…”

“No! Forget that,” he says as he kisses the spot on my head that collided with the dumpster. “I’m so sorry. Does it still hurt?”

“No… but I do like the attention.”

“I’ll give you all the attention you ever need.”

“You could give me that first,” I say as I point down.

“You’re rather impatient.”

“It’s been a while since I had sex. Did you forget the whole talk I had about how I played video games most nights? How while you were off stabbing your friends and popping their fantastic tits, I was like ‘I’m going to romance this sexy man… in this video game.’”

“Nope. I don’t forget anything you say. I like to hang on to every word of it,” he says, his lips finding mine as his fingers slide out of me. “But the real question is… was your fictional boyfriend sexier than me?”

“He definitely had more food than you do,” I tease. “And he had a table.”

Tavish grins and shushes my teasing with another kiss. He settles between my legs, his cock brushing against me before he presses against my hole. I love the feeling of him opening me up, of him filling me as he pushes inside of me.

His cock sinks into me as I grab him tightly with one hand while my free hand strokes my cock.

“Feels so fucking good,” I murmur.

“Good. Me too,” he says as he pulls back just enough to thrust into me. Pleasure sparks inside me, filling me as his gentle thrusts deepen. His hand trails down to my cock, bumping into my hand before taking over the job with significant skill. I mean, I’m well aware of how to stroke my own cock, but it feels nothing like having his hand on me. Whether it’s my body just loving the touch of another or it’s the way my body feels enticed by everything he does, I don’t know. I can’t get enough of him, and every touch is hypnotizing.

I guide him down for a kiss as he rocks his hips, pressing deep inside of me. And I find myself glad I was able to speak to him about my worries before this, because now that he’s inside me… now that he’s drawing my body deeper and deeper into pleasure, I’m not sure how I could separate anything I’m feeling at this moment from my growing affection toward him.

I might have only known the man for a short time, but I feel like I’ve known him for years and I want to fill many more years with him. I can’t get enough of it, but am I not allowed to be greedy for once?

A moan escapes me as he hits a sweet spot inside me that makes my entire body tense. With every thrust, every stroke, he brings me closer to the edge and further from any chance I ever had of turning away from this. Of telling myself that a life like this might be really fucking scary.

But with him… I don’t even care.

I can’t hold out too much longer. The pleasure is wrapping around me, refusing to let me go, and I don’t want it to. I want to hang on to this with everything I have.

His hand glides down my cock as I tuck myself against him and come. Bliss ripples through me as my fingers dig into his back and his hips rock inside me. He moans as he comes inside me, his hands drawing me in, leaving me breathless.

Tavish’s fingers slide between mine, squeezing my hand as he showers me in kisses before his cock slips out of me.

“Do you want to take a shower with me?” I ask.

“I’d love to,” he says as he pulls me up, never drawing away from me as I’m whisked off to the shower. Once it’s warm, he pulls me under the water and I melt against him, my hands tracing a path down his back. His hands slide down my hips to my ass, a finger sliding between my ass cheeks and over my sensitive skin.

“When I was caressing the cans in the kitchen, I noticed something,” I say.

“What’s that?”

“There was a stack of board games. Maybe you’re due to have your ass kicked in The Game of Life where your opponent isn’t bound and harassed?”

He tugs me in closer. “I could handle that. Honestly, I’d do anything to make you forget all about all of that. And El…”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for giving me the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

“It… doesn’t sound like it was much of a competition.”

“How about the best day I’ve ever had? Does that work better?”

“Now you’re trying to flatter me into not being ruthless while we play board games.”

“Maybe.”

“Just wait until we play video games. I’ll make you cry,” I say.

“You said that with so much glee in your voice.”

I start laughing, tucking my head against his neck as the water beats down on me. “I’m teasing… kind of.”

“I like that.”