Barbarian (Jericho’s Boys #3)

11. Mal

“So…that happened.”

Nico’s soft words hung between them on the bed, his eyes fearful. Mal studied his face, taking in his swollen lips and the mouth-shaped bruises on his neck.

It had taken twenty minutes of them lying in their own sweat and cum for Mal to coax Nico into a shower. Once under the spray, he’d bit back a smile while Nico complained the entire time. He was tired. He was hungry. Everything hurt. Mal had listened to it all, scrubbing them both with detached efficiency, trying not to get hard again as he took in the evidence of their night. The kind they couldn’t wash down the drain.

The fingerprint-shaped bruises on Nico’s hip bones, the scratches down his chest, the various bite marks on his belly and thighs. Mal was all over Nico. There was no way anyone could deny who he belonged to. When Mal tried to settle his fingers over the bruises, Nico had smiled and called him a perv.

Once they were clean, Mal had made Nico a snack, which he ate while sitting in their desk chair, watching as Mal replaced their filthy comforter with a clean, soft quilt.

Now, they were finally in bed, covers pulled up over their heads, in a cozy pocket of warmth. They were on their sides, facing one another, close enough for their foreheads to touch if they both leaned forward just a bit. Close enough for Mal’s leg to press between Nico’s. Close enough that Mal could smell the peppermint of their toothpaste with every breath Nico took.

“Yeah. It did,” Mal agreed carefully.

“Do you—Do you think of me any differently?” Nico asked.

Mal blinked at him in the dull blue light of the computer screensaver, made even duller by the sheets over their heads. Mal hadn’t been expecting Nico’s question, but there was no missing the anxiety in his voice. “What?”

“Like…has your opinion of me changed?” Nico asked. “Because we had sex, I mean?”

Mal couldn’t fathom what that had to do with his opinion of Nico. But he could see it was truly weighing on his mind. “I mean, you’re a little bit of a pillow princess,” Mal joked.

Nico pinched his side hard enough to make him flinch, shocking a barked laugh from Mal. “Hey, you were the one who wouldn’t let me do anything,” he pouted.

Mal reached out, cupping Nico’s face, staring at his pretty blue eyes. “You know I’m kidding. I like being in control, especially of you.”

Nico snorted, rolling his eyes. “You don’t say.”

This time, it was Mal who dug his fingers into Nico’s ribs until the younger boy slapped at his hands, breathless. They fell silent for a while before Nico was biting his lip, like he was trying to keep himself from asking any more questions.

“Just say it, Fidget. Whatever’s on your mind. You know I won’t get mad.”

Nico studied his face for a long moment, chewing his lower lip. Finally, he mumbled, “I might get clingy.”

Mal tweaked his nose. “Clingier than you already are?”

Nico’s face collapsed, his voice cutely whiny. “I’m being serious.”

Mal gave him a patient look. “Okay. So, you’ll get clingier.”

Nico was watching him so intently. “Would that annoy you?”

It was so clear that Nico’s wheels were turning. He’d taken this huge leap out of his comfort zone with Mal, and now, he was waiting for some catastrophic fallout. He was waiting for Mal to transform into a whole different person because he crossed this imaginary line Nico had drawn. He didn’t know how to make Nico understand that nothing was different.

“No,” Mal said simply.

Nico huffed, glowering at him. “You’re not taking me seriously.”

Mal’s expression softened. “Because what you’re saying doesn’t make sense, baby.”

“It does. You think it doesn’t, but I can be really bad. My ADHD makes me hyperfixate. I’m gonna end up calling and texting you a hundred times a day.”

Mal threaded their fingers together. “Should I pull up our chat history? We text each other all day, every day, hundreds of times a day. When we aren’t working, we’re together. I spend all my free time with you. Why would that change?”

“Friends versus boyfriends is different,” Nico insisted.

“Why?”

Nico sucked his teeth. “I don’t know. It just is.”

Mal squeezed his hand. “Well, at least tell me how it’s different so I know how to…adjust accordingly. I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend. Should I…Google it?”

Nico made a frustrated sound. “There are lots of things,” he groaned.

“Like…” Mal persisted.

Nico flailed. “Boyfriends make each other a priority.”

Mal gave him a confused look. “We already do that. Who’s more important to you than me?”

“Nobody,” Nico said.

Mal gave him a patient look. “Nobody is more important to me than you either. So, done. What else?”

“They go on dates,” Nico said.

“We already do that, too.”

Nico frowned. “No, we don’t.”

“We go out to eat all the time. We go clubbing. We go to the arcade. We go to the movies. We go to bars.”

“As friends,” Nico insisted.

“Tell that to my wallet,” Mal teased.

“I pay,” Nico cried indignantly.

“When?” Mal challenged. “When do you pay, Fidget?”

Nico pouted. “I’m sure I’ve paid sometimes.”

“Never. Not once.”

Nico shook his head. “That…that can’t be right.”

Mal tipped forward and bit Nico’s nose. “It is. But that’s fine. I prefer it this way.”

“Fine,” he admitted. “You pay all the time.”

“Dates,” Mal confirmed smugly.

“Okay, but boyfriends…spend all their time together,” he said, clearly grasping at straws.

Mal snorted. “We live together. Short of taking you to work with me, I don’t know how much more time we can spend together without ending up on one of those weird shows like My Strange Addiction .” Nico was quiet, but Mal could still hear the wheels turning in his head. “Nothing’s changed. I’ve always put you first. I’ll continue to put you first.”

“You say that now, but you’ll get annoyed with my crazy.” Nico said it like it was inevitable. “I’ll probably do something like make you have your location on all the time so I know where you are when we’re not together. Not because I think you’ll cheat but just because I’ll need to see you, to know that you’re…alive.”

“When have I ever been annoyed with you? Ever?” Mal asked softly.

“Never,” Nico admitted, voice barely a whisper.

Mal sighed. “Nobody matters to me more than you. You and my brother are the single most important things in my life. I’ve been your boyfriend since the day we met. It just took you a little time to catch up. And I don’t care if you track me. Hand me my phone, I’ll download an app right now. Honestly, we should have done that already. I like knowing where you are, too.”

Nico played with Mal’s fingers between them. “Just so we’re crystal clear, you’re not allowed to sleep with other people. I’m jealous.”

Mal scoffed. “That was you, Fidget. Not me. I haven’t been interested in anyone but you since the second I laid eyes on you.”

Tears sprung to Nico’s eyes. He tried to blink them away, his embarrassment obvious. “Can I tell you something?” Nico asked, voice thick with unshed tears.

“Anything.”

“I lied. I’ve never even kissed any of those guys I went home with. I would get there and then they’d try to touch me and I’d get cold feet and run,” he confessed.

Mal’s heart rate accelerated. “Why?”

Nico met his eyes. “‘Cause they weren’t you.”

Mal cupped the back of Nico’s head, closing the distance between them to bring their mouths together in a soft kiss that lingered. When they separated, Nico followed Mal’s lips, giving a pitiful little whimper before kissing him again. Mal exhaled through his nose, groaning as Nico opened for him instantly, his tongue dipping inside.

“Can we just do this?” Nico asked. “Can we just stay like this for a little bit?”

Mal made a noise of affirmation, gathering him into his arms until they were pressed against each other, Nico throwing a leg over Mal’s hip. They kissed until Mal’s lips felt bruised, until he was dizzy from it. He quickly grew addicted to the sound of their lips meeting and parting, to Nico’s tiny gasps and broken breaths, to the way Nico clung to him like a life preserver.

There was no expectation, no promise of something more.

They fell asleep like they always did, wrapped around each other, Nico’s head tucked beneath Mal’s chin where he belonged.

Mal sucked in heaving breaths, drenched in sweat, clothes clinging uncomfortably as he grabbed his water bottle from the floor. “Good class, guys,” he panted.

The kids waved, their excited chatter echoing in the mirrored space as they filed from the room. He gulped down half his water, then set his bottle on the floor. He switched the playlist from the kid-friendly music blend used for his six to twelve-year-old jazz and lyrical class to the grittier, darker one he used for his advanced hip-hop class.

He contemplated just lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling but knew if he closed his eyes for even a minute he’d be out cold. He couldn’t stop the smile that crept over his face as he thought of the previous night. Nico was finally his. All his. He tried not to conjure up memories of the night before, the way Nico had submitted, his cries and whines, the way he’d cried so prettily, the tight clutch of his body around Mal’s cock as he fucked into him.

“I’m gonna go grab lunch. You want anything?”

Mal’s head snapped up, and he was surprised to see Maggie in the doorway. “I didn’t even know you were here,” he said, still trying to slow his breathing.

“Yeah, came in to do payroll. You were busy. Didn’t want to bother you.”

“Are you going to the bodega down the street?” he asked, perking up.

“Always,” she said. “If I’m gonna get through stupid payroll, I need a steak burrito.”

“Can you grab me some taquitos?” he asked, batting his lashes at the older blonde. “Oh, and a Jarritas hibiscus, please? Nobody else sells them around here.”

He jogged to his bag to grab his wallet, pulling a ten free before stuffing it into her palm as she said, “That stuff cannot be good for you.”

Mal flashed her his toothiest smile. “It’s not for me.”

She arched a brow but didn’t ask. “Be back soon. Don’t let the place burn down or anything.”

“Sounds good,” Mal said, already having dismissed the older woman. She was a nice lady. She treated Mal well. She seemed to feel they had a connection. She always said he reminded her of her son. Mal was happy to allow her to think that. Especially if it meant he got to bring a treat home for Nico. He loved the hibiscus soda but it was impossible to find near their house.

Mal grabbed his phone, unlocking it and thumbing open WhatsApp to see if Nico had messaged him since their earlier conversation where Nico spent fifteen minutes trying to convince Mal that a hot dog was a sandwich. Before he could get to their private chat, a notification popped up.

Felix

They fucked?

Mal snorted at Felix’s blunt question, tapping on the group chat and scrolling up to see what he’d missed.

Levi

I’m so fucking tired today that I’m a danger to myself and others. I’ve never felt this sleep deprived in my life. I dropped a tray with six plates on it. I thought Mama was gonna kill me.

Mal rolled his eyes. His brother-in-law was such a fucking drama queen. He was only bringing it up so that someone would ask why he was so tired so he could tell everyone about Mal and Nico’s night. That was fine with Mal. The sooner they all knew, the better. Nico was off the market.

For good.

Shiloh

I’m never speaking to either of them again. I’m traumatized for life.

Mal fought back a smile. Shiloh had given both of them the silent treatment in the kitchen that morning as they’d all tried to navigate the small space. Nico had tried to apologize, had begged for forgiveness, but when Mal refused to do the same, Shiloh stormed off, leaving Nico to glower at Mal.

Lake

?

Shiloh

My brother and Nico kept us up… All. Night.

Cree

Fighting?

Levi

Fucking. {vomit emoji} Well, that’s what it sounded like anyway. If Mal wasn’t fucking him, he was killing him and since I saw them this morning, I’m assuming it was the latter.

Felix

They fucked?

Mal rolled his eyes again, officially caught up, watching as a half dozen or so dots started jumping, indicating that most of their friends had their eyes glued to their phones. Hopefully, Nico was too deep in lectures to see the group casually discussing their sex life without him. Nico would kill Levi for this…and Mal would help, not because he cared, but because it was his job.

Besides, Shiloh and Levi had some nerve talking about how loud they were. The first two months after Mal had moved in were spent learning the exact volume settings necessary in his and Nico’s headphones to drown out his brother’s impassioned begging. Mal shuddered at the memory, opening the keyboard to remind the two of them of just that.

Mal

How do you think we felt listening to you and Levi night after night?

Levi

Don’t even. We at least tried to keep it down. I’m pretty sure those astronauts trapped on the space station heard Nico begging for your dick. *vomit emoji x 4*

Heat shot through Mal’s pelvis, his cock twitching. Nico had sounded so fucking good. He was so vocal, so whiny, begging so sweetly to come. He’d been everything Mal knew he would be. He was going to have so much fun learning all the different ways he could make his Fidget cry.

Arsen

Wait? They did it? It-It? The big it? You finally did it? Our Malico ship is sailing, yes? Ever will be ecstatic.

Lake

It’s about fucking time. Damn.

Cree

Congrats. Lake’s right. Waiting for this was painful.

Seven

I knew Nico was a screamer.

Felix

I knew Mal would be the type to make him scream.

Mal preened. It was good to know his friends believed in him. He was about to close out the app when Nico’s name appeared.

Nico

Oh, fuck you all.

I’m in class right now and can’t even properly defend myself.

Silas

Since when do you care about classes?

Nico

We can’t all be mathletes like you, loser.

Silas

Someone smells jealous. Don’t hate me because I’m hot and have one of the highest GPAs in my school.

Nico

{middle finger emoji}

Lake

Mal has fallen suspiciously quiet.

Arsen

I see him lurking.

Noah

Come on out, you coward. We want to hear all the dirty details.

Shiloh

No, we fucking don’t.

Felix

Ignore him. Dish. How was it?

Zane

There’s no way Mal’s stroke game isn’t epic. He’s a dancer.

Seven

Damn, Zaniac. You’re right, though.

Shiloh

I’m muting the chat for the next few hours. Heathens.

Lake

Don’t think there wasn’t a group chat conversation about the first time you let Levi hit it.

Shiloh

What?

Levi

Babe, that’s not true. Don’t listen to him. He’s delusional. Unhinged. No sane person is as calm as he is.

Arsen

He told us everything, Shiloh.

Levi

What the fuck, man?

Arsen

{shrugging GIF}

Mal snorted, switching from the group chat to his private chat with only Nico, grinning when he saw the words.

Nico

I’m bored. Send noods. Hot ones.

Mal smirked, pacing around the small studio as he opened up Google, finding a picture of a steaming plate of spaghetti. He took a screenshot then sent it. Nico’s response was almost immediate.

Nico

Yes. That’s so fucking sexy. I want it in me right now.

Mal

You have the strangest way of telling me you’re hungry.

Nico

Now send me a pic of your dick.

Mal coughed out a surprised laugh. Jesus. Nico was right. Something had changed. His flirting was a lot more explicit.

Mal

You didn’t get enough last night?

Nico

I’m insatiable. Now gimme. {Grabby hands GIF}

Mal grimaced, thinking about how sticky he was. Plus, there was no way he could slip into the bathroom and get himself hard before Maggie was back.

Mal

I’m all sweaty and gross. You do not want a pic of my sweaty crotch.

Nico

It’s like you don’t know me at all.

Mal

Pervert.

Nico

Fine. At least send me a pic of you with clothes on. I’m dying here. I need to see you.

Mal looked at himself in the mirror, lifting his shirt to inspect himself. His body looked good. His hair was wet, dripping with sweat, but Nico liked him this way. If this was Nico’s idea of clingy, Mal was all for it. He opened his camera app, dragging his joggers low on his hips, showing off the dips in the muscle there, the ones Nico had absently traced a thousand times while they watched television. He tugged up his shirt, holding it between his teeth as he took a mirror selfie.

Mal

{photo attached}

Nico

{heart eyed dog sticker} Oh, fuck. I want to lick every drop of sweat off your stomach, Bunny.

Mal groaned.

Mal

If you get me hard right before my boss comes back, you won’t be able to walk right for a week. You don’t want that now, do you?

Nico

Depends. I have follow-up questions.

Mal snorted again.

Mal

I’m listening.

Nico

Am I having trouble walking because you spanked me or because you fucked me? Or both? Yum. {steamy face emoji}

Mal

Fidget {angry face emoji}

Nico

Ugh, fine. What are you feeding me tonight?

Mal had a whole list of things he wanted to put in Nico’s pretty mouth, but none of them were edible.

Mal

Let’s go out somewhere.

Nico

Okay. Should we invite Shiloh and Levi? You know, as an apology?

Mal

They can come but I’m not apologizing for anything. Send me a pic when you can. I miss your face.

The response was almost instantaneous.

Nico

{picture attached}

Mal clicked the photo, heart tripping as Nico’s face appeared. He was winking, tongue out, holding up a peace sign. His riot of blond curls hung in front of his sparkling blue eyes, his hickeys in full view. He wore Mal’s dance jersey. The one with his name on it. He’d never worn that to school before. Had he?

Fuck. Mal was all over him now. Nobody would ever be able to say he didn’t belong to him.

Mal

My pretty boy.

Nico

Just yours. *heart emoji*

Mal groaned, slipping his phone back in his pocket before he did end up jerking off in the bathroom. He set his phone down, sighing as the front door buzzed. He made his way through the short hall to the door with the bars across the front. Maybe Maggie had forgotten her key.

He pulled the door open, frowning when he saw two familiar faces standing before him. He had just enough time to register them as the men from the market before his whole body jolted, his heart tripping in his chest. His legs gave out, his muscles stiff and twitching, skin burning where the leads from the taser had pushed against his skin.

He couldn’t move, couldn’t talk. His heart and mind were both racing. What did they want? Why were they there? How did they find him? Was Lisa okay? Would they go after Nico, too?

No, Nico was safe. He was in class, surrounded by fifty plus students. Mal grunted as they snatched him beneath his arms, dragging him into the studio. Some movement was returning, but he was still shaky. He did the only thing he could do, which was roll onto his side, curling in on himself, trying to hide as many vital organs as possible.

The first kick went straight to his solar plexus, forcing all the air from his lungs in a whoosh, making them burn like he was drowning. He tried to claw at his chest, but his fingers were spasming.

He grunted as the next kick landed just above his kidney. The third hit his stomach, forcibly expelling the water he’d guzzled moments ago. He gasped as he was able to—finally—pull air into his lungs, but a boot to the face had him seeing stars, the metallic taste of iron filling his mouth.

They continued to kick him while they spoke in rapid-fire Mandarin, clearly talking to each other. The fact that they hadn’t tried to stab or shoot him meant that they still wanted something from him. So…that was something. It wouldn’t matter though if they accidentally stomped him to death. It would serve them right.

The shorter one grabbed him by his hair, dragging him to his knees. He hissed as something sharp settled against his throat. There it was. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision, hissing when the blade at his throat cut him. It wasn’t deep, but he could feel tiny beads of blood welling, then rolling down his chest.

“Wha you wah?” Mal tried, his tongue too thick for his mouth.

“Where is she?” the man asked, his accent thick.

“Who?” Mal slurred.

“The girl,” the man barked.

Mal’s head was spinning like he was on a tilt-a-whirl. “Who?”

“Don’t be stupid,” the other one warned, digging the knife in deeper. “I will kill you.”

“Amy?” Mal asked, his jaw feeling like it was floating on its own, detached from the rest of his skull.

The man didn’t answer. “Where is she?”

Mal wasn’t sure which one asked; he was too light-headed. His vision tunneled to black for a few moments before a harsh slap brought him back.

“I-I’m looking for her, too,” he said, words mooshy.

The man yanked his hair hard, forcing his eyes open again. “Why? What do you want with her?”

Mal groaned, spitting out the blood that had filled his mouth. “Her daughter—Her daughter—” He fought to stay conscious— “My dance class. She disappeared. Was worried.”

“Why would you care?” the one with the knife asked.

Mal’s eyes rolled to the back of his skull. Even trying to lift his eyelids took Herculean strength. “Door broken. Apartment…trashed. Just worried.”

“We know who you are,” the man said with a laugh.

The man crouched in front of him, waving the knife far too close to Mal’s eyeball for his liking. “Most important, the Dai Lo knows who you work for. Stop looking into our business before your whole crew disappears, too.”

They released Mal, letting him fall into a heap on the floor. Everything hurt. Everything. But the wood was pleasantly cold against his sore face, so he kept it there. He tried to stay conscious, but his vision pinpointed until everything went black.

“Oh, my God!” Maggie’s shout and the sound of something crashing to the ground brought him back around. “Mal? Mal? Malachi!” He tried to answer but the words wouldn’t come. “Oh, fuck. Where’s my phone?” she asked herself. To him, she said, “I’m calling an ambulance. Hang in there.”

“No!” Mal shouted, holding his hand up. “No. Get—Get…my phone. No ambulance.”

“What? What are you talking about? You could have a concussion. A brain bleed. Internal bleeding.”

Micah had beaten Mal’s ass enough times for him to know that, aside from a cracked rib or three, he probably only had a concussion at worst. “Freckles.”

“What?”

“In my phone. Contact Freckles. He’s a doctor. Give him the address.”

He had just enough strength to unlock his phone for her before he passed out a second time.