Deliver Us (24 page)

“Yeah, it’s over,” Ben assures him, kissing him softly before rapidly unfastening the bonds on his wrists and ankles. He scoops Kyle up in his arms and carries him the ten paces or so from the bed to the toilet, setting him carefully down onto it.

“Let it go. Let the water out,” Ben tells him.

“I don’t wanna,” Kyle pouts, eyes still mostly closed over.

“Stubborn ass,” Ben sighs. He places a hand on Kyle’s taut lower belly and another right above the crack of his ass and pushes with both.

Kyle gasps as the water is forced out. It’s not that much, not as much as a full enema, but it’s still embarrassing, and he feels himself blushing beet red.

“You know I don’t like you being here for this part,” he complains.

“I don’t fucking
care
if you like it. You aren’t in charge. You done?”

“Yeah.”

Ben unfastens both sets of cuffs and helps him stand, guiding him to the shower. He rinses Kyle off with warm water, and makes sure he’s clean. He can see the exhaustion setting in, so he guides Kyle right back to bed, stripping the plastic sheet from it first and folding it up to be disposed of.

“Still cold?” Ben asks, as Kyle lies back on the pillows, and gazes curiously up at him.

“Yeah,” he admits. “Why?”

“I’ll warm you up,” he offers.

Kyle watches as Ben rips open a condom wrapper with his teeth. Pulling out the circle of latex, he rolls it onto his aching, huge erection. Kyle feels the low, niggling tickle of terror grip his stomach again as Ben spreads him open and guides his legs back. With one hard push at the clenched rim of his entrance, Ben’s dick forces through all resistance until he bottoms out, fitted in the perfect, fascinatingly-cool-from-the-ice glove of Kyle’s body.

Leaning down over him, Ben kisses him tenderly, suckling at his pouting lips and brushing a hand over his creased brow. His thrusts are slow and gentle, and Kyle kisses him back fervently. Kyle grips at Ben’s ass, pulling him impossibly closer, but there’s still pain sparked-bright in his eyes.

“You all right?” Ben asks in a gasp, his hand going to Kyle’s cock to stroke him off twice as fast as his deep, easy pushes into Kyle’s body.

“I’m scared,” he admits, biting down on his own lip but arching up into the touch. He starts to make that small mewling sound back in his throat again as Ben’s cock jabs at his prostate on each push, and it warms Ben’s heart.

Kyle’s head snaps back and he gets lost in the feelings, but it’s so intense, too intimate, and the intimacy
hurts
.

“Don’t be scared,” Ben tells him, kissing along his neck, over his pulse point and Adam’s apple. “This is just me loving you.”

“That’s what scares me,” he gasps. He comes suddenly, with a sharp cry, over Ben’s fist.

Ben rides out the fluttering, pulsing grip of Kyle’s body reacting to the orgasm. Pushing harder now, his hips slap audibly against the smooth, firm curved muscle of Kyle’s ass. With a long, rough, grunting moan, Ben fills the condom.

Stripping it off, and disposing of it, he crawls back onto Kyle, and smiles when Kyle wraps his legs around him, and twines his fingers around the back of his head, brushing through his short hair. Kyle pulls Ben down against him and whispers next to his ear, “Look... this is serious to me, okay? I trust you with my body. You know that. But if I give you this part of me, too, then you have to
swear
to take it seriously. You have to
swear
not to fuck me over with it. And please don’t
ever
lie to me. I might come off like a cocky bastard sometimes, but that’s only because underneath I break kind of easy.”

“Yeah, I’ve figured that out. I’ll protect you,” Ben vows, “I’ll protect you in every possible way. Don’t you get it? That’s what this
means
. I’m responsible for your
well-being
now, in every sense. Your job is to obey me, and
my
job is to take care of you completely.”

“That sounds kind of perfect,” he sighs.

“Good.”

“Mornin’ sleepyhead,” Darrek hears through the fog of slumber clouding his senses, as he rouses from weird dreams.

“Gabe?” he croaks, still hoarse from the previous night. Trying to crane his neck around to see him, Darrek feels a nerve pinch and curses with pain.

“Don’t try to move,” Gabriel warns him. “You’re stiff, right?”

“Yeah...” Darrek groans.

A weight settles onto the backs of his thighs and, as hands start to work at his muscles, slowly and gently un-knotting them. Darrek hears, “I know I should have done this last night, but I saw how tired you were. I don’t think you moved once all night, so that probably didn’t help, either.”

Gabriel continues to massage him, starting at the top near his neck and shoulders, working steadily downward, knuckles and palms, fingers and fists digging in circular motions. They get to his lower back and Darrek moans with pleasure.

“So good...” he sighs. “I wanna wake up like this every day. Well, not with the muscle pain, but the massage is nice; really, really nice.”

“You’d probably get tired of me after a while,” Gabriel responds quietly.

“I don’t think so. I liked what you said last night, you know, about keeping your stuff here. If you’re still interested... I would like that. I’d like you to stay here. And stay for as long as you want....”

Smiling, Gabriel starts to work at Darrek’s left arm, the muscles in his bicep and triceps just as clenched as those in his back.

“I can hear you smiling,” Darrek chuckles.

“How in the fucking world can you
hear
me smiling? Seriously, how?”

“You are, aren’t you? You didn’t deny it. I bet you’re still smiling. I wanna see. Can I see?”

“I’ll be smiling again later, after I fix you.”

“You’re fixing me?”

“Yeah. I guess you don’t have to go to work today, right? Because yesterday you were home.”

“Nah. No work. Our crew got laid off from the bank job. It happens. We’ll probably be hired for a new job in a few days. No biggie. In the meantime, I’ll just work on my other projects.”

“Good.”

“Sierra... is she...?”

“She’s fine. I fed her already and let her outside to run around. She was ready to break down the door to get out there if she had to.”

“Yeah, she’s got a lot of energy to burn off. That’s one of the reasons I liked this place and bought it. It has a nice, big yard for her. She’s always calmer after running around for a while.”

“Sounds like you and she have similar personalities,” Gabriel says.

Darrek chuckles and agrees. “Only I don’t burn off my energy by running around in circles and chasing squirrels. I like my way of calming down better, even if it is a little... unconventional.”

“Me too. Are you calm now?”

“Yeah, I am. It’s... strange.”

“I, um... I’ve been thinking, while you were asleep. I have some thoughts I want to share with you.”

“Okay. Lay ’em on me.”

“I’m going to tell Sam that I’ll be restricting my future involvement in Diadem to the videography side of things, and running their website. I might offer to train Alyssa and anyone else they would be bringing in to replace me as a Dom—whoever would be taking over my current clients, besides you, of course. No one else gets to touch you. But, as of today, once I talk to Sam, I will have no more clients, and will not be doing any more assisting either. And that will leave me with enough free time to explore... other avenues.”

There is a brief pause and then Darrek asks, “Really? That’s... that’s a
big
deal.”

“I know. But, I want you to trust me. If I’m expecting you to trust me completely, then I have to reciprocate, you know? And, this idea... it appeals to me. I can get into doing other kinds of video production; I can work on my craft instead of staying stuck in the professional Dominant side of things. Because I realize now, that if I ever want more than that, if I want someone... well, okay, if I want
you
to be in a fully exclusive and committed relationship with me, then I have to give it up.”

“Gabriel... I have to see you. May I see you, please? Can I get up and...” Darrek says almost desperately, still face down on the bed with Gabriel’s body and his seized-up muscles keeping him pinned.

Gabriel just moves off of him in response and lies down next to Darrek, so that they are face-to-face and nose-to-nose.

Darrek cups the side of Gabriel’s face with one large hand, his own face creased with frown lines. His voice is hushed as he says, “That means so much to me, that you would do that... that you would change your whole life around like that. I could never... I would
never
ask you to do that.”

“I know. That’s why I’m not waiting for you to ask. It’s my decision. It’s as good as done. I’m doing this. It’ll be all wrapped up today.”

“And you said... you said that we’re in a....”

“Committed relationship,” Gabriel finishes for him.

“Oh my god...” Darrek breathes. “
Thank you
, Gabe. I don’t even know what to say.... Um.... Yes. I guess I’ll say yes.”

Gabriel moves closer, pressing his lips to the tousled mess of Darrek’s hair, and soundlessly mouths three little words to him, meaning them in every possible way, even if he is not yet able to let Darrek hear them.

The fullness of his rose-colored lips urgently form the words, ‘I love you.’

After a thorough massage, Gabriel makes sure that Darrek can move around unassisted and without discomfort. Satisfied, Gabriel leaves him to go and make breakfast downstairs while Darrek gets washed up and dressed.

Once he finishes getting ready, Darrek appears at the bottom of the stairs, eagerly following the enticing aroma of coffee and bacon with a growling stomach, eyes alight. Ravenous with hunger, Darrek gratefully devours the hearty, filling meal laid out by Gabriel, the delicate purple flower from the night before still sitting in its vase between them.

Gabriel smiles happily the whole time, nursing a huge mug of coffee, and seemingly unable to take his eyes off of Darrek.

“I guess you’ve gotta go into the office?” Darrek asks between bites.

“Yeah, just to talk to Sam and work some things out. I’m going to swing by Trace’s place too, and grab some of my stuff. If you’re going to be in the garage all day working on those chairs, it’ll help to keep me occupied so I’m not just gawking at your ridiculously sexy ass all day. When, um... when I get finished with that, I thought I might clean up your garden. Do some weeding....”

Darrek grins widely up at him and takes a sip of his coffee.

“What?” Gabriel asks at the twinkling in Darrek’s eyes. As he blushes slightly, Gabriel adds in his own defense, “I like to work with my hands, too.”

“Oh, I
know
,” Darrek assures him, chuckling a little. Lowering his eyes, he asks, “You always gonna clean up my messes?”

“I hope so,” Gabriel replies, a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

They finish their breakfasts and clear the table.

Both of them are keenly aware when the moment of their parting approaches. Needing to broach another, more difficult topic before he goes, Gabriel leans against the counter next to where Darrek is rinsing and loading plates, silverware, and glasses into the dishwasher. His voice lowers a little as he says, “I... uh... I talked to Ben earlier. It turns out that Kyle called me last night because he was really fucking wasted. He called Ben too and actually tried to hurt himself, but Ben got there in time to stop him from doing any real damage. They... well, they worked things out between themselves kind of the way we did. They’re together now. Ben’s keeping a close eye on Kyle, and he’s taking good care of him. It’s so bizarre, but I’ve never seen Ben care about someone to the extent he cares about Kyle, even in all the years we’ve been friends. So... I guess I’m telling you all of this because I want to assure you that Kyle is okay and that he’s not as big of an asshole as he appeared to be last night.”

Darrek has shut off the water, and set down the dish in his hand. He struggles momentarily with a fairly uncontrollable desire to go to his knees before Gabriel again, just because of the kindness in the way Gabriel is talking about the very man that caused him so much heartache and pain. The fact that Gabriel obviously really
has
forgiven him, and Kyle as well, has Darrek reeling with near-delirious joy and gratitude. His eyes close and a shiver runs down his spine at the tone in his lover and Master’s voice.

After a moment or two, he gives in to the urge and gets down onto his knees, curling his arms around Gabriel’s body. Sighing with relief once he does, feeling better already for having done so, he rests his forehead against Gabriel’s hip and shivers again when Gabriel’s fingers curl into his hair, brushing gently over his scalp.

He has never felt as loved as he does in that one small moment.

Gabriel continues speaking, after taking a second to clear his throat and tame his own wild desire to show Darrek with actions as well as words how much he truly feels.

“Ben and I discussed the fact that you and Kyle work together. We realize how much your friendship means to you both, and we want to help each of you resolve this shit and salvage that friendship. The best way, in our opinion, for you to take that first step is for you both to apologize for how you’ve hurt one another. Would you like us to help you do that? Is that something you want?”