Chapter 23 Nikolai
NIKOLAI
Niko didn’t know how Ace did it. Six and a half hours on the road with Blade, and he already wanted to kill the man.
Not only was he eating these cheesy puff things that made everything he touched turn orange, but he kept constantly burping like he’d been drinking all day.
“Sorry, guys. Not sure why I keep burping.” Blade apologized for the millionth time since they’d left home.
They were driving from New Mexico to Colorado to deliver some merchandise for a gang Niko had never heard of. They were a new group that Marcus had started doing business with—part of his cross-country expansion, it seemed.
“Perhaps it’s because you keep guzzling that soda,” Caden answered, unrolling the window once again.
Three dudes in an enclosed van did not always smell the greatest.
“You know if you get fat, Ace won’t want to be with you, and you’ll have to go back to helping Niko carry his dick around during threesomes, right?” Caden added.
“First off, Ace will never leave me because I have a gargantuan cock. Secondly, Niko’s dick… eww.”
Niko glanced over at Blade, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
“Please. I hear you whining to Ace all the time about how you miss holding Russian cock. Don’t feel bad. The weight of cock is a burden I must bear on my own,” Niko responded, accentuating his Russian accent.
“Heavy is the crown.” Blade bowed his head.
Yes, heavy was the crown… and confusing were his thoughts.
This was the second—no, third time he’d had sex with Reid alone, just the two of them.
Over the years, he only ever had threesomes, usually with two guys and a girl or three girls and two guys. But he'd never had a one-on-one with a man.
He’d never even sucked a cock before this week!
When he and Reid entertained clients together, whenever a client asked them to touch each other or engage in oral sex, Reid was always the one to take one for the team.
Usually, he distracted them, often guiding them toward another form of sexual activity—one Niko was more comfortable with.
But on rare occasions, when a third guy was involved, sometimes Reid wasn’t able to steer the conversation away and ended up going down on the other guy instead.
Or on even rarer occasions, he actually ended up getting fucked by the other guy.
Yet, here Nikolai was, having gay sex with his best friend. Not once, not twice, but three times. And nothing felt weird or awkward about it. If anything, he found the sex hotter and more satisfying than he’d ever experienced with previous partners.
Was it because they were best friends? Or was it because he felt more comfortable around Reid?
Or was he actually… gay?
“Speaking of dicks… how are things going with Reid?” Caden asked from the back seat of the truck.
Niko glanced at him through his rearview mirror.
“He sucked my dick.”
Blade began to choke next to him in the front seat.
“What?” Blade asked, trying to swallow whatever it was that he had been chewing.
“He suck my dick, then I suck his. It’s only polite,” Niko said with a shrug. The guys didn’t need to know that they kissed and then fucked as well.
“Wow! Good for you, man. Finally knocking down that barrier and giving the old meat popsicle a try. So? What did you think?” Blade asked, turning his body so he could look at Niko directly.
“Jaw was sore.”
Caden and Blade both chuckled.
“Bet the chick loved watching the two of you guys going at it,” Blade added.
“No chick. Just Reid,” Niko responded, eyes locked on the road ahead. This was where he would hear what his buddy really thought about him sucking a dick.
“What? Seriously? I thought you only did threesomes, dude?” Blade asked, looking shocked as hell.
Niko shrugged his shoulders. It never really occurred to him that most of his sexual encounters had all been threesomes.
“That’s not true,” Nikolai tried to argue. He was desperately searching his memory banks for a time when he had one-on-one sex with just a woman.
“Yeah, it is. I’ve never seen you have sex with a woman without at least one dick in the room,” Blade defended.
“Now you are just being crazy,” Niko charged.
“Actually, it’s true.” Caden came to Blade’s defense. “In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you have sex with just a woman. It’s okay, and we really don’t care if dick turns you on. Blade was just stating a fact.”
“He’s just upset that I don’t need his emotional support dick anymore,” Niko argued, glancing over at Blade, who was still staring at him with his mouth hanging open—a bit of orange cheese smeared across his lips and beard.
Silence filled the truck.
“Hey, have you ever stopped to consider that perhaps the reason you only ever had threesomes during sex might be because your heart already belonged to someone else?” Caden asked.
Niko’s deep-blue eyes locked onto Caden’s in his rearview mirror.
The man was crazy. Delusional, if anything.
“It’s kind of hard to grow attached to someone when there are always other people in the room fucking as well. Perhaps, having only threesomes was your way of subconsciously trying to keep that wall up—making sure that you never fell in love?” Caden offered.
“So why did I have sex with Reid alone, then? See? Your thoughts are wrong. You are dumb,” Niko chastened.
“Or… maybe he’s the one person you trust completely and can actually see yourself getting attached to.”
Niko looked at Caden for longer than he should have, especially considering he was the one driving.
The man was full of shit. He had to be.
Yes, Reid was his best friend, and he would do anything to protect him. But that was just what people did for their best friends.
A flashback of that kiss he and Reid shared ran through his mind. At that moment, he couldn’t imagine being in bed with anyone else.
Reid was his best friend. They cared for each other. He loved spending time with him. He even… no, he couldn’t feel that? Not for another man.
Caden didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.
“What the…” Blade’s voice trailed off as they approached what looked like an abandoned amusement park.
Ahead, there were broken-down game booths, signs with faded lettering, and even a mini-roller coaster that looked like it had seen better days.
“You got to be shitting me.” Caden gasped, finally seeing what they were seeing.
There were lights strung along the entrance and around some of the booths. Some worked, some didn’t. Some flickered like they were trying to hypnotize unsuspecting prey.
“Fuck this shit,” Blade cursed, pulling out his cell phone and hitting the call button.
Nikolai slowed the truck.
A group of men, all dressed in clown costumes, began to emerge from the abandoned structures.
“Hey, boss? We just arrived at the address you gave us, and check this out.” Blade put his phone on speaker and clicked on the video option. He scanned the view ahead of them.
They all sat in silence as laughter erupted on the other end of the call.
“Why do you think that Ace didn’t want to come? Meet the Crimson Carnies, boys. They’re a group of ex-carny folk who decided there was more money in crime than in making children laugh. Colorful, aren’t they, boys?” Marcus asked, chuckling over the speaker.
“You know I hate clowns, right, boss?” Nikolai growled through clenched teeth.
“Trust me. These guys are more afraid of you than you are of them,” Marcus responded, amusement dripping through the cell.
Blade and Niko exchanged glances. Neither of them found this very funny.
“See if they have any cotton candy. I prefer the blue and pink swirl if they have any. Have fun, boys! Oh, and make sure that their payment isn’t counterfeit. You know how these clowns like to goof around.” Marcus ended the call with another bout of laughter.
Niko, Caden, and Blade all exchanged glances. They didn’t find this situation very funny after all. No wonder Ace kept smiling at them when they were loading up the guns for delivery.
“I don’t care what he says, I’m not taking any chances,” Niko mumbled, reaching into the arm console and pulling out his trusted brass knuckles.
He slid them on over his fingers.
“Any one of those freaks gets too close to me, they will be breathing through an oxygen tube.”
“Sounds like a plan. Cade, you go and introduce yourself,” Blade offered, eyes still locked on the horde of clowns waiting by the entrance.
“You’re such a dick,” Caden responded, opening the back door to the van.
They needed to get out of the truck before the Crimson Carnies started thinking they were a threat and began making balloon animals for their protection.
Taking a breath, they all exited the van.