A Thousand Cuts (Cursebreakers, Inc. #3)

21. Liam

Chapter 21

Liam

W ho knew there were so many things that needed to be done when a criminal was caught? Handcuffs, paperwork, statements and signatures, avoiding the media and the nosy civilians gathered to watch the spectacle.

Liam had fussed over King nonstop until Wren took him to get looked over. Liam wasn’t allowed to go with him, having to stay and give his statement. The only things that comforted him were that Wren was certain there were no major injuries, and Wren’s promise that he’d keep King close and make sure he was pampered and spoiled until Liam could have him back and would text him updates.

By the time they were allowed to leave their clothes had dried uncomfortably stiff on their bodies, sticking to their skin and chilling them to the bone.

Adrenaline crashed hard.

Liam saw it in the little things. Fix avoiding his eyes while they were giving their statements. Fix’s stride being just a bit too fast for Liam to fall into step with. Fix’s hand not reaching out for his as he drove them back to the cursebreaker house.

It felt like an icy veil was settling over Liam as the moments ticked by. Moments in which Fix stared dead ahead, eerily silent. Liam kept quiet too, followed his lead as they got out of the car and into the house.

He walked in front of Fix like the worst episode of his life hadn’t just finished in an explosion of smoke, screams, and horrible decisions. Like he was still stuck in a nightmare with no way out. Like the man who’d caused it all hadn’t been dragged away from him in cuffs.

Liam had been promised he’d never see him again, and yet he still felt like it wasn’t over. The relief still wasn’t settling in. Instead, his legs felt like lead as he dragged them across the threshold to Fix’s room. He felt eyes on him the entire time, like brands on the back of his neck.

He wished it felt the way it usually did when Fix looked at him. Warm and comforting. Like home. But those kind eyes were dark with anger now. Narrowed with barely suppressed rage. Rage at Liam and what he had done. He swallowed the bile in his throat and wrapped his arms around his waist as he walked to the window.

Slowly.

Until there was nowhere left to walk. Until he felt like he had put enough distance between himself and Fix for the anger not to hurt.

He flinched when the door slammed, breaking the suffocating silence. It echoed around the room, rattling the windows, deafening him before settling again. It left him feeling like he was in a vacuum all alone.

He wanted Fix’s arms around him. He wanted his lap. His scent in his nose. His heartbeat in his ear. He wanted Fix to wrap him in safety and keep him there. He had no right to ask for any of it, he knew. He’d fucked up before he even found his place next to Fix.

He should get it over with. Let Fix say what he wanted and then get out of his home. He had no reason to be there anymore.

He squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears from slipping out and took a deep breath before forcing himself to turn around. To face Fix.

He spun in place, reminding himself to really look, to commit Fix to memory. He’d probably leave Slatehollow. Probably never see him again. Desperation settled in, making it hard to breathe.

He’d only just met him. Was that tiny sliver of happiness the only thing life thought he deserved?

Was he that—

“Sit,” Fix said, and Liam jerked his head up, staggering back when he realized Fix was even more angry than he’d thought.

His eyes were blazing. Lips set into a thin line. His hands were clenched into fists next to his hips and… Liam knew him. He knew the relaxed way Fix carried himself. This tense, wound-tight man in front of him wasn’t his daddy. Not that Liam had a daddy anymore.

“What?” he whispered, and Fix pointed to the armchair next to the window.

“Sit down,” he said, even firmer. Liam glanced at the door, arms tightening around his middle. Where Fix’s should be. Where they’d never be again.

“I should leave,” he said, and Fix glared at him, stalking closer until he was looming over him, forcing him to look up.

“Leave?” he said through gritted teeth. “You want to leave?”

“I just…”

“You just what, Liam?” Fix asked, voice getting louder. “Do you have better things to do than be here?”

“I just don’t want to…”

“Just sit down,” Fix said again, and Liam folded into the chair, unable to resist the command in his voice. He still belonged to him. Even if Fix didn’t want him anymore.

He didn’t raise his voice at Liam. Liam was pretty sure he never would. But he realized there was a chill in his voice that hadn’t been there before and it made him feel cold all over. His bottom lip wobbled and he pinched it to stop it. His eyes burned.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, bringing the back of his hand up to catch an escaped tear. “I didn’t mean to put anyone in danger. I didn’t think—”

“That’s absolutely correct,” Fix interrupted him, and Liam tried stopping the tears, he really did. “You didn’t think. Not for a single second did you stop and think.”

“Please don’t hate me,” he choked out. “I’ll go and apologize to everyone and leave and you won’t have to—”

“Will you stop talking about leaving!” Fix said sharply, and Liam huddled back into the armchair, heart hammering in his throat. It didn’t sound like his daddy. Not even close.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to,” he sobbed. He just wanted this to be over. The pain was tearing him apart. He wanted King. He wanted to be alone. He wanted his daddy so bad he felt like he’d choke.

“I want you to care.” Fix’s voice shook, and Liam looked up into his eyes, gasping when he realized Fix was crying too.

“Fix…” He exhaled before the man fell to his knees in front of him, grabbing his hands and pulling him forward until their foreheads collided.

“I want you to care about what happens to you. I want you to want to live,” Fix said. “I want you to fucking want to stay with me, Liam.”

“I do,” Liam said, gripping Fix’s strong hands, digging his nails into the soft skin of his palms.

“I didn’t know where you were. I didn’t know if I’d get to you in time. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. I can’t…”

“Daddy,” Liam gasped when Fix dropped his head from his forehead onto Liam’s knees, kneeling in front of him, hunched and curled into Liam as he shook with tears.

“I could have lost you,” Fix said brokenly. He let go of Liam’s hands and wrapped his arms around Liam’s thighs, hugging him as hard as he could. He’d bruise. And he didn’t care. “Why would you make me lose you?”

Liam swallowed, staring at the larger-than-life man curled into him like a child. Tears slipped from his cheeks and onto the back of Fix’s shirt as he tried to respond. He hadn’t done it on purpose. He wasn’t trying to break them, he just…

“I just wanted it to be over,” he whispered.

Fix shook his head. “Did you not trust me to end it? To keep you safe?”

“Of course I did, Fix.”

“It doesn’t look that way.”

Fix lifted his head to look at him and Liam was thankful he was sitting down, because the look on Fix’s face would have brought him to his knees. Fix’s eyes were burning him. The look of total defeat stabbed him in the chest. He lifted his hand and pressed a palm over his heart like he could rub the pain away.

“I trust you with all I have,” Liam said desperately. “But this relationship has been skewed since the very start. I need you for far more than you need me, and it doesn’t seem fair. You do so much for me, and this was eating you alive and I just…I wanted to be happy. For once in my life I selfishly wanted to have everything I wanted without some asshole ruining it. I wanted to take things into my own hands and end this so you and I could have a real chance. I wanted you to not have to worry about me all the damn time.”

“Worry?” Fix asked, eyes still wet. “Liam…I’ll worry about you all the time one way or another. I’ll always be on the lookout for you. Always be guarding you against everything. Not because I have to. Not because you’re helpless or a burden. But because I’m your daddy and I love you. Liam, I love you.”

Time froze. Something gooey and warm spread from the top of Liam’s head to the tips of his toes.

“You…you love me?” he asked, unable to keep the mix of disbelief and hope from his voice.

“Is that so surprising to you?” Fix choked on a chuckle as more tears slipped down his cheeks and disappeared into his beard. “Have I done such a poor job showing you how special you are?”

“No.” Liam shook his head. “I’ve just…never been loved before. I didn’t know… I didn’t realize…”

He held Fix’s gaze, watched his eyes shift and change as they took him in. They flayed him open. Tore through him like a thunderstorm and left him feeling raw and exposed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and Fix shook his head.

“It was my fault,” he said and Liam recoiled, horrified by the words.

“No, Fix…”

“I should have made it clear,” he said. “From the moment I knew what I felt I should have just told you. I thought it was too soon.”

“When?” Liam asked, and Fix let out another self-deprecating laugh.

“Probably from the moment I met you,” he said. “But for sure from that day you called me and said you needed me. You’re under my skin, Liam. I should have shown you. I will show you.”

The words were hard to understand.

“You still want me?”

Fix’s eyes darkened and Liam’s breath hitched. This wasn’t anger. Or fear. Not anymore.

“Do you have a safeword, Liam?” he asked in lieu of a response.

Liam frowned. “N-no. Why?”

“Pick one,” Fix said, pushing himself off the armrests of the chair and standing up. “Now.”

“I…”

“Pick. One.” Fix said, emphasizing each word so hard Liam’s brain froze for a moment.

“Um…omelet,” he said, and Fix nodded, stepping back.

“Stand up,” he ordered.

Liam pushed himself out of the armchair, unsteady on his feet as he tried to figure out what was happening. “Fix…”

“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Fix said, reaching out and digging his fingers into Liam’s hair. He clenched his fist around silky strands and yanked until Liam was looking up at him. “You’ll strip and get on the bed for Daddy. I’m gonna show you exactly how much I want you, and it’ll last however long I feel like it should last. However long I feel like it takes you to understand what you mean to me. I’m gonna own you, honey. I’m gonna use you. And the only way I’ll stop is if you safeword. Or black out from pleasure. Do you understand?”

Liam felt himself harden the moment Fix started talking. The pain in his scalp, Fix’s scent in his nose, the promises in that gruff, deep voice… He was near delirious and Fix hadn’t even done anything yet.

“I asked you a question, Liam,” Fix said.

Liam tried. He really did try to respond, but all he saw were Fix’s hands on him. The bitemarks and the ache he’d leave on his body, and he couldn’t… There were no words.

He nodded.

“I need to hear you,” Fix said. “I need to know you want this.”

“I do,” Liam croaked out, almost blind with desire. “Daddy, I do, please…”

Fix let go of his hair and Liam stumbled, feeling like he’d faint.

“Strip,” Fix said, and Liam started tugging at his clothes, pulling them off and throwing them on the floor careless of where they landed.

Fix watched him. Took in every inch of skin Liam revealed. His lips were parted as he breathed and his beard still glistened with the tears trapped there. Tears he’d shed for Liam.

He got down to his underwear—a pair of black silk cheeky panties—and hooked his fingers into the waistband.

“Leave those,” Fix growled, eyes glued to the wet patch at the front of the panties. Liam could feel it, cool and damp against his overheated skin.

He left the panties on. Stood in place. Looked up at Fix.

“Bed,” Fix said, and Liam walked on shaky legs until he reached the huge bed. He went to climb on, but realized he didn’t know how Daddy wanted him.

He turned to look at him over his shoulder, hoping Fix would understand his question without words and give him instructions he could follow. But he found Fix rummaging through a chest of drawers, looking for something.

“Daddy?” he called, gasping when Fix turned back to face him with a thick, silky pale pink ribbon wrapped around his fingers.

“I got this after we had our talk.” Fix twirled the fabric as he approached Liam. He spread his arms and the fabric separated into strands. Liam couldn’t count exactly how many Fix had, but he had a very good idea what he was going to do with them.

His cock throbbed and his lips parted in anticipation.

“On your stomach,” Fix said. “Arms and legs spread.”

Liam hurried to comply, tripping over himself to get into position without coming first. He settled in the middle of the bed, head turned to the side and arms and legs stretched as far as he could get them. He was heaving. Shaking all over. He tried rubbing himself against the bed but it wasn’t enough.

Fix knelt next to his hip and let the ends of the silk trail over Liam’s overheated skin, down his back, over his ass, and down his leg. It made him squirm. He wanted to shy away from the tickling but he didn’t want to disappoint his daddy, so he remained as still as he could be, gasping and feeling spit pool in the back of his mouth.

Fix reached his ankle and leaned down to bite the protruding bone there before he wrapped the ribbon around it and tied it just tight enough for Liam to feel. He took the other end and secured it to the corner of his bed.

Liam gave it a little tug, just to test it. It made him whine when he realized there was very little give.

Fix circled around and did the same to his other leg, then both arms. With each knot, the range of movement for Liam shrank until he was starfished across Fix’s bed, achingly hard, tied up and wearing nothing but his black panties.

He felt exposed. Vulnerable. It was almost too much. It could end horribly for him. And yet, everything in him quieted down the moment Fix’s hand landed on his back, warm and steady.

“You okay, honey?” he asked and Liam nodded.

“Yes, Daddy,” he said, because yes, he was okay. He was with his daddy and he had never been safer in his life.

“Good boy. Daddy’s gonna make you feel so good.”

“Please,” Liam whined, and Fix stood up, standing next to the bed and watching him as he took his clothes off.

Agonizingly slowly.

Liam wanted to watch, but his position didn’t allow for much movement. He took in what he could. The coarse hair on Fix’s stomach, the strong thighs, slightly bent legs, and scars on his left knee.

He wanted to kiss every inch of Fix’s body. He was a dream come true and Liam wanted to worship him, but he couldn’t move and that just made everything so much better.

He was a live wire. And he wanted so bad.

“Look at you,” Fix said. “You’re stunning. You’re beautiful, honey, and I love you so much.”

He didn’t give Liam a chance to respond.

He sprawled on top of him, pinning him down with his huge body, warm and heavy and just perfect. His weight made it harder to breathe. Liam’s chest just a bit too tight. Too constricted. And that, too, was just right.

Fix leaned down to kiss his cheek, gentle and loving, before brushing his lips over the shell of Liam’s ear.

“Ready, honey?” he asked.

Liam nodded eagerly, quickly, dizzy with want. “Yes, Daddy, please.”

Fix ground his hips into Liam’s, letting his hard cock slip between Liam’s ass cheeks.

“From this moment on, the only thing you’re allowed to say is your safeword should you need it,” Fix said into his ear. “Moaning and screaming is allowed. Words aren’t.”

Liam wanted to say yes but clamped his mouth shut.

“You’re perfect for me,” Fix said. “So perfect.”

And then words seemed to become foreign between them. All Liam could understand were the signs Fix painted on his skin with his fingers, his lips, his teeth. He left trails of bite marks from his neck to the base of his spine. He left pools of spit in the dimples just above his ass. He touched him everywhere and lit Liam’s nerves on fire. He was perfection and Liam was flying. He was reduced to nothing but the shape of him on Fix’s bed, writhing and moaning and aching.

Fix spread him open, tongue and fingers battling for their place inside his body when Liam knew there was no battle to be had. Daddy’s place was inside him, and he could take anything and everything he was given, no questions asked.

Fix fingered him just as fast and brutally hard as he had last time, except now, Liam knew there was a promise for more. He wanted more. Needed it so badly he felt tears spring up from his eyes.

Fix was relentless. He was brushing against Liam’s prostate with each thrust of his fingers, and Liam was so close. Too close. He didn’t want it to end without his daddy’s cock inside him.

But he wasn’t allowed to ask. He wasn’t allowed to beg.

All he could do was push his ass up as far as it would go and whine like a wounded animal, hoping Daddy would understand he needed him.

“And what does this mean?” Fix asked, slapping Liam’s ass when it thrust into the air again, chasing after the fingers that had left it empty and aching.

Liam whimpered, gluing his hips to the bed, but that made things worse because his cock was so hard he felt like he’d explode.

“Do you want Daddy to fuck you, honey?” Fix asked. Both hands left Liam’s body, and he wanted to cry because it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like he was whole when Fix wasn’t touching him.

He moaned, hoping Fix would take that as a yes.

“You want Daddy’s cock?” Fix asked, and Liam bit his lip, tasting copper on his tongue to stop himself from screaming and begging. “I’ll give you everything, always.”

And then the blunt head of his cock was nudging between Liam’s cheeks. It caught his rim, huge and soft at the tip, hard like steel the deeper inside him it got. Liam felt every inch dragging against his walls. Could feel the slow brush of it as it slid farther and farther inside his body, merging them together. Making them into one. As it should be.

He felt Fix’s balls rest against his ass once he bottomed out, and it was so frustratingly slow he wanted to scream. He moaned and wiggled and Fix leaned down, digging inside him even more with the change of angle.

“I know what you need, honey,” Fix said. “You don’t have to worry.”

With that, he pulled almost all the way out before slamming back in. He gave Liam no time to catch his breath. Not a single moment to register that his legs were now free, knees tucked under his chest and ass pushed into the air as Fix railed into him like a man starved.

He fucked him so hard Liam thought he’d choke on his own tongue. His face was pressed into the sheets, wet and sticky from his spit and tears. He was screaming half in pleasure and half in agony, wishing it was over and wanting it to last forever.

Fix’s grunts and moans behind him made it all feel even better. The slap of their skin sounded filthy in the quiet room.

Liam was sure everyone in the house could hear them, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to care. Countless people saw and heard him coming on his streams. This time, it was just for him and his daddy. He didn’t care about the others. Nobody else mattered.

“Fuck, honey,” Fix groaned, holding Liam’s hips as he pulled him back and fucked him with his huge cock. “Fuck, you’re perfect. Perfect for Daddy.”

The praise made him blank out. He wanted to fly apart into a million tiny molecules and embed himself into Fix’s skin so he could stay there forever.

He wanted to be a part of him in any way he could.

Fix’s hips stuttered and Liam moaned at the thought of his daddy coming because of him. Liam’s body bringing him there.

“I’m close, honey,” Fix said. “I want you with me.”

He sped up, leaving bruises on Liam’s skin as he slammed him back, the head of his cock hitting his prostate over and over and over until Liam couldn’t even scream anymore.

He fell completely silent. Mind blank. Chest heaving. Skin burning.

He came silently too.

Because silence was the loudest sound he could make in the face of the greatest pleasure ever given to him. He didn’t think a human body was made to survive something like that. He let go. He tore at the seams and flew apart just like he’d imagined he would. He hoped Daddy would be there to catch him.

He didn’t know anymore.

Everything was stars and white noise as he felt something warm spill over his ass. He closed his eyes and slumped, but caring arms wrapped him up. Gentle fingers untied him. Soft lips praised him and kissed his damp skin.

“Daddy,” he whispered, voice abused and scratchy.

“You were perfect, honey,” Daddy said. “My beautiful, magical boy.”

“Love you,” Liam slurred. “Daddy, I love you.”

“I love you too, honey. Sleep. I’ve got you.”

Liam let go.

Something was crawling over his skin. It started at the knob of bone on his ankle. Just enough to pierce through the bubble of sleep. He twitched his leg then settled back down, chasing the calm that clearly came with sleeping next to his daddy.

But the feeling didn’t go away. It climbed up his calf, feeling like a billion pin pricks on his skin. He reached down to scratch his leg, half-asleep and so tired he just didn’t want to open his eyes.

His nails raked over his leg, but the only thing that happened was that the itching feeling crept up. It escaped from under his fingers and slithered up to his thigh and hip, making him squirm. He scratched again, harder this time, because the higher up his leg the feeling went the more intense it got. He kicked the covers off thinking that was what was bothering him.

The feeling bloomed up his hip and circled his waist like fingers.

“Daddy, stop.” Liam tried prying the fingers away, but they wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t get a hold of them. Couldn’t catch them in time before they moved to his chest, then his collarbones and neck.

He was itchy all over and it wouldn’t stop.

It was burning now, making him whine as he dug his nails into his neck and dragged them.

“Stop,” he gasped.

“Liam, honey!” Fix’s voice filtered through the haze of irritation and itchiness.

“Daddy, make it stop,” he said as the feeling reached his cheeks and ears and forehead. And then, like an explosion, it bloomed all over his entire body.

He started scratching madly. It wouldn’t go away. He tugged at the blankets and the pillows, pushing them away, trying to make it end finally.

“Please!” he said, but nobody was answering him, and the phantom fingers kept wandering along his skin, setting little fires in their wake.