Six

Six

Parker

Even though Cam won’t be here for an hour, I don’t reach for Rhys again. The way he shut down when he thought I was inviting someone else over to be with us bothered me. Not that I have anything against threesomes, but it was the way Rhys seemed to think he had no say in the matter.

But Rhys doesn’t seem as bothered as I am because when I get up to get some water, he follows me. He’s still in just his jeans with no shirt on, and I try not to stare at the healing bruises along his stomach and chest.

I offer him some water, but he shakes his head before taking my hand and pulling me back out of the kitchen. “Rhys, we don’t have to do this.”

“You are the only client I’ve had to talk into fucking me,” Rhys says, his voice blunt.

“You were upset at the thought of me inviting someone over, but you didn’t say anything,” I reply, letting him guide me back into the bedroom, but I stop in the middle of the floor, and he does the same reluctantly. “I don’t want you to do something with me because you think you have to.”

His lips press into a thin line, and he sounds a little irritated when he says, “If I promise to ask you to stop, will you let it go?”

I nod and wait for him to actually make the promise. He looks like he’s barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes, but he says it. And only then do I feel like I can really touch him.

My hands are unsteady as I glide them against Rhys’s skin so I can pop the button on his blue jeans. Then my hand is inside Rhys’s briefs, and the feel of his skin against my palm steals my breath away.

Rhys’s hips buck as he presses against my hand, and then he lets out the sexiest moan I’ve ever heard.

Without breaking his mouth from mine, Rhys backs me up until my legs hit the bed behind me. Then he pushes me gently, guiding me to sit on the mattress, pulling my hand halfway out of his underwear.

I start to protest because all I want is to feel him against me, but Rhys drops to his knees in front of me. Then he’s running his fingers over the zipper of my slacks.

I suck in a breath, trying not to come immediately. I can’t remember another time when I was so turned on by a man.

Slowly—too slowly—Rhys slides my zipper down and pulls my cock free. Then he glances up at me, his blue eyes lit from the lamp on the side table. He’s flushed pink, and the wariness that was in his eyes when he first showed up here is gone. Replaced with lust.

Keeping his gaze locked on mine, Rhys leans forward and runs his tongue along my cock, from the root to the tip, leaving a hot, wet trail. Then he moves his mouth to the head of my dick, sucking on it just enough to make my hips buck up, seeking more.

I let out a strangled moan and place a hand on the back of his head, sliding my fingers through his hair. I don’t press him further into me or guide him in any way. I just need to be connected to him.

Rhys moves down to lick my balls, taking one into his mouth to suckle on for a few seconds before switching to the next. Then he licks his way back up to the head before opening his mouth and taking my cock deeply.

My back arches; my fingers clench tight in his hair. My balls are already too tight, begging to pour down Rhys’s throat. I will it not to happen because the feeling of his lips wrapped around me is too fucking amazing. I don’t want him to ever stop. I could live like this forever.

Especially when Rhys relaxes his throat, letting me in even deeper.

“Fuck.” I scrabble to clench the bed blankets with my free hand. “Fuck, Rhys, this feels amazing.”

He hums in response without stopping. He’s pressing further into me, taking every bit of me that he can. And I can’t resist watching him. Watching as his lips stretch around my length. Watching the effort he puts in to pull my orgasm from me.

“I have to…” It’s all I can get out before my words are stolen from me, but he gets the message. It doesn’t slow him down. He actually goes harder, fastening his hands onto my hips and sucking on me like he’s been waiting all his life to have me in his mouth.

I come with a yell, my hips lifting off the bed on their own. My vision tunnels as I ride out the orgasm. Rhys keeps going, swallowing every drop that comes out of me. He only releases me once I’m empty and have collapsed back on the mattress.

Then he moves up and crawls on top of me straddling my lap. He leans down to give me a gentle kiss with lips that are red and swollen and glistening.

I run my hands up his thighs before grabbing his hips and flipping him so Rhys is under me now. His mouth opens in surprise, but I lean over him and kiss him again before he has time to take a breath.

I kiss my way down his chest, over his stomach, along his waist. But when I reach his cock, Rhys closes his legs quickly.

“You don’t have to do that,” he says, his voice breathless and maybe a little wary.

“I know I don’t have to,” I say, resting a hand on his thigh to soothe him. “But I want to.”

He hesitates, chewing on his lower lip. And I realize that despite what he said, that I shouldn’t think about the money, it’s what he’s thinking of. He’s gotten so used to only giving pleasure, he doesn’t expect to receive it. Despite the fact that his cock is hard and leaking precum.

“If it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t,” I say when he remains silent. “I’d never do anything that you don’t want. But if you’re just worried about the job, don’t be. You’re the one who said it’s just us.”

“I-I know. I just… It’s been a while.” He takes a breath and lets it slowly. “I’m sorry. I just got in my head for a second. I do want it. Please.”

The small plea at the end tugs at my chest, and I lean down to press another kiss to his stomach before gently prying his legs open.

For as forward as Rhys has been about sex and sucking me off, he’s surprisingly shy about this. His whole body is flushed pink, and I’d love to kiss every inch of his skin to feel that warmth on my lips. But I file it away for later and lean down to circle the head of his cock with my tongue.

Rhys lets out a startled cry, his ass clenching immediately. I desperately want to taste that too. I’m dying to delve my tongue into that tight ring of muscles and make Rhys come from that alone.

But that’s for later too. I have something else in mind right now.

I grip the base of his cock firmly in my hand, then take the head fully in my mouth. He lets out a moan that makes my cock stiffen again.

He tastes incredible, sweet and salty and something that’s purely Rhys. He writhes and twists on the bed as I milk him, bringing him to the brink before pulling back right before the orgasm could hit.

Rhys’s breath is coming in quick little gasps, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. He’s relaxed enough that his legs are splayed wide on either side of my shoulders, and I wish I could keep him just like this all day long.

“Please, please,” he moans, thrusting his hips up. “Parker, please.”

I slide the hand that’s wrapped around the base of his cock up, wetting two of my fingers with spit and precum. When I pull them back, I relax my throat, letting Rhys in as deep as I can get him.

When he gasps, I slide the two fingers I just wet deep in his ass.

He cries out, his legs clenching on either side of my head, squeezing tightly.I keep him in my mouth, sucking until I’m sure he’s empty. He’s trembling and shaking when he finally relaxes back against the mattress, completely spent.

I ease my fingers from him and kiss the tip of his cock before letting him go. He’s panting as he stares up at the ceiling.

“That was…amazing,” he whispers. “I-I didn’t know it could feel so incredible.”

“You’re incredible,” I reply, crawling up beside him to kiss his forehead. And I try not to think about what he said because I hate the thought of him not knowing how amazing something like that can feel. He should know that. Someone should be loving him. Worshipping his body like he deserves.

I lie next to him and pull the blankets up over his body. And without prompting, he turns and snuggles into me. He looks so content that I almost don’t say anything. But I have to know. “Can I ask you something?”

“You don’t have to ask my permission to do anything,” Rhys answers. His muscles tense just a little when he says that, so I lay a hand on his back, running my fingers along his spine until he relaxes again.

“Do you ever think about quitting what you do?” I’m afraid it comes out wrong, like I’m judging him or something. But he doesn’t sound mad when he responds.

“Sometimes. But to be honest, I’ve been doing this so long, I think it’d feel a little weird to do anything else.” He swallows and traces a small pattern on my chest. “It’s why I haven’t dated. I don’t think it’s fair to date someone when I’m fucking other people, you know?”

“Do you think you’d date if you stopped?”

“No.” His answer is swift. “To be honest…I’m not sure I could find someone who’d want me after…everything.”

“Maybe you haven’t looked at the right guy yet.”

He glances up at me. “You don’t even know everything, Parker. Trust me, there are things that would make anyone run away.”

He sounds so sad when he says that. And I realize it’s not just something he thinks. At some point in time, someone said something to him that made him think that. Someone did something to him that made him feel unworthy. And that thought breaks my heart.

Instead of saying anything else, I just pull him closer to me. I’m beginning to realize it doesn’t matter what he tells me or what he’s done. I’ll still want to be with him.

***

An hour later, when I let Cameron into my apartment, I can tell immediately that something’s wrong. I thought I sensed it in the text but looking at his face now, I know.

“What is it?” I ask, closing the door as soon as he’s inside.

He glances at Rhys on the couch. “We should talk alone.”

“Okay.” I tell Rhys we’ll be back in a minute, then follow my brother back into my bedroom. The curtains are still drawn, and unlike he usually does, Cameron doesn’t make a move to pull them open and let in the sunlight.

“Dad’s out,” Cameron says, his voice blunt.

My stomach curls into a knot. “What?”

“Got out this morning on good behavior,” he continues. “I’m hoping he won’t come near us, but we can’t know for sure. So be careful. And, Parker, if you see him, I want you to call me immediately. Don’t keep it from me like last time.”

All the warmth I got from being with Rhys a little while ago vanishes. I try to swallow, but my throat doesn’t want to work. Our father was arrested and charged with armed robbery before I’d decided if I wanted to go forward about the beatings he gave me. He was supposed to be locked away for thirteen years. How the hell did he get out in only eight?

“I’m sorry, Parker.” Cameron’s blunt tone softens. “What do you want to do?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean.” There’s nothing he can do. He may have gotten rich from his company, but he can’t throw a man back in prison.

“We can go to the police and file a report about what happened when you were a teenager. I checked, and it’s too late to file anything about the physical abuse, but we could still get a restraining order against him.”

“No. That would only piss him off.” I already knew the statute of limitations had run out on that. But I’d expected to be another five years older when he got out. Almost thirty. I’d expected to feel stronger.

“What do you want me to do?” Cameron asks quietly. There’s a promise in his voice, like I could ask him to hire a hitman to take Dad out, and he would. But I’d never do anything to get Cameron in trouble. It’s not worth it.

“There’s nothing we can do,” I reply, thankful that my voice is steady. “It’s fine.”

He studies my face, reading everything I’m not saying. It’s not fine. It sucks that he’s already back out and can get at me again. And it doesn’t matter that I’m twenty-three now. When I think about my father, I’m fifteen again.

“Hey.” Cameron reaches up and squeezes my shoulder tightly. “It’s gonna be okay. If he comes near you again, I’ll kill him, all right?”

I nod even though I would never want Cam to do something that’d get him locked away for life.

He gives me a bracing smile and releases me. Then he says, “So who’s the guy out there? Because he kind of looks like the date Phil brought to the party the other night.”

Irritation flares to life in my veins, and I grab onto it, thankful to have something else to occupy my mind other than my father. “He is the guy Phil brought.”

“He got a name?”

“Rhys.” I don’t give him anything more. First, Cam would probably flip if he learned I was technically soliciting even though we haven’t done anything together. That probably wouldn’t matter to the courts. Second, I think it would embarrass Rhys if I told my brother the truth.

Cam keeps looking at me, waiting for me to elaborate. When I don’t, he simply says, “Be careful, Parker. Okay?”

“I always am.”

He gives me a look before opening the bedroom door and stepping back out into the living room. Rhys is still on the couch where we left him. It looks like he hasn’t moved an inch. Like he hasn’t even breathed.

“It was nice to meet you, Rhys,” Cameron says before looking back at me. “Call me if you need anything. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” I usher him out the door but wait until he’s in the elevator to close it after him. When I turn back to Rhys, I find him watching me.

“He loves you a lot,” Rhys says softly.

My chest warms. “Yeah. We’re pretty close.”

He gives me a sad smile, and I think about our conversation earlier, before Cam got here. Before Rhys gave me the best orgasm of my life. The most I’ve ever gone without talking to Cam is a couple days. I couldn’t imagine going five years without seeing him.

“Maybe you should try getting in touch with Jack,” I suggest.

Rhys looks away from me immediately. “Oh, no. I-I don’t think so. Maybe someday but not right now.”

I want to push it, but I don’t try. I don’t know anything about his situation. Barely know anything about him. I don’t want to scare him away.

When he meets my eyes again, he looks different. Closed off. “You want to go back to the bedroom?”

“Not really. What my brother came by to tell me kind of killed the mood.” I move closer and sit on the opposite end of the couch but turn so I’m facing him. “My father was released from prison a lot earlier than we expected.”

“Yeah, I-I heard. Your walls aren’t incredibly thick.” He chews on his lower lip. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine if Tony were locked away just for a handful of years and then released because he hadn’t committed another crime while he was in prison.”

It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say that name. And it seems like he realized it at the same time because his eyes widen.

“Who’s Tony?” I ask.

“Just…Just some guy I used to know.” He swallows and looks around the room, his gaze flitting everywhere but at me. “He got me into this life.”

“Was he—”

“What are you going to do about your father?” Rhys asks, cutting me off. It’s the first time he’s interrupted me, and I can tell from the flash of worry in his eyes that he thinks I’m pissed about it. So I keep my tone neutral when I reply.

“I can’t do anything about him,” I say. “I just have to hope he’ll stay away from me. If he doesn’t, I guess I’ll look into a restraining order.”

“You don’t sound really certain about that,” Rhys says quietly.

“Well, guys like my father would walk right through one of those. He served time for an armed robbery; he’s not going to care about a piece of paper that tells him to stay away from me.”

I don’t even realize how upset I am, how much it must be showing, until Rhys scoots a little closer so he can lay his hand on mine. His skin is so soft. So warm.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “It’s terrible that the statute of limitations is so short on so many horrible things.”

I nod silently. A part of me knows I’ll always regret not going after him when I had the chance. But what would that have really done? He probably would’ve served even less time for knocking me around.

Rhys is quiet for a few minutes before asking tentatively, “Was it just physical? Because the statute of limitations on sex abuse in California is twenty years.”

I jerk my head up to look at him, trying to read his face. His expression is impassive, but his eyes have this kind of knowing in them that freaks me out. Is it just because he’s been around that kind of thing?

My knee-jerk reaction is to tell him I don’t want to talk about it. But instead I say, “If I tell you about my father, I want to know more about Tony.”