Chapter 22 #3
My mouth hangs open. I think of the hell I went through to find him just to have him furious with me. I have dozens of curses spinning in my head, but I end up shouting, “I hate you!”
He sits next to me. “Come here.”
“Don’t touch me!”
“The fuck I won’t.” He pulls me close and holds me tightly to his chest. I force myself to calm down, because I can imagine how traumatizing it must have been for him to see me in the arena with no warning.
Caden leans us back so we lie facing each other.
“I don’t hate you,” I say.
“Happy to hear that.” He cups my cheek and kisses my forehead. “Don’t tell me anything.”
“What?”
“I can’t be sure that Hector won’t find out what you tell me.”
“He already knows I’m here to find you and that I’m working for the Assembly.”
“Did you come here alone?” He gives me a warning look, signaling me to be careful with my words.
“I came here alone.” I add a single nod to emphasize I’m telling the truth.
“I heard someone mentioning a Defender who was supposed to fight in the arena, so I went to check and saw you fighting for House Powell. When I left the arena, someone I used to know recognized me.” I can’t bring myself to speak about the hours of torture that followed.
“I managed to escape, but then I was arrested and ended up in the arena.”
“I’m sorry you went through that.”
“I knew the risks coming here.” Although I never could have imagined fighting for my life in front of thousands of cheering Raiders.
He wets his lips. “Do you know if Josh—”
“He’s safe.”
Caden lets out a long breath of relief. I hold his hand and tell him what has happened since we found out about the king’s betrayal, careful not to share anything incriminating. I don’t even mention the name Florence, using instead the name of another town in case Hector is somehow listening.
“You flew in a jetpack?”
“I crashed in one, yes. You would’ve loved it.”
He smiles and slides closer. “You’re crazy for coming here.”
“You would’ve done the same for me.”
“A bit more subtly, but yes. I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Can Hector… feel what we’re doing?”
“Maybe. Do you care?”
I do, but not enough to give up on this opportunity. I almost lost everything for this moment, and having him here is proof enough that I made the right choice.
I brush my lips with his. “I like your little beard.”
“I like your ass.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“True. Your ass is smooth.”
I kiss him, slipping my tongue into his warm mouth. We take it slow, savoring this moment. I almost expect him to disappear, to find out that this is one of Hector’s tricks, but the more we kiss and touch, the more confident I feel that this is real.
I rise to sit on his hips and pull off my shirt, revealing the bandages that still cover my wounds and bruises, even though the pain has mostly passed.
Caden traces my skin with his fingers, anger in his eyes.
“It doesn’t hurt much,” I say. “I know you have some of your own.”
He pulls off his shirt, and I gasp at the sight of the blue and purple bruises.
“I barely feel it. Hector’s gift makes it bearable.”
“His… gift?”
He shakes his head. “Let’s not get into it. I don’t know how long he’ll let me stay, and you still have clothes on.”
I slip out of my pants and underwear, then pull down the rest of Caden's clothes. Looking past the bruises, it’s impossible not to notice he’s in better shape than I’ve ever seen him. It saddens me to think of what he must have gone through to achieve that.
“I want you to fuck me,” I say.
“He’s in the apartment.”
“He said he wouldn’t eavesdrop.” That was likely a lie, but I choose to believe this room is private. A childish part of me feels entitled to this moment.
“Did you see my tattoo?”
“When I watched you fighting, but I didn’t see it clearly.”
He turns on his stomach. I scan every scale that covers his skin, from his nape down to his lower back. I’m searching for mistakes, like the many I have on my back, but Caden’s tattoo is perfect, as though he was born with these scales.
“Who did it?” I ask.
“Hector.”
“Did it hurt?”
He sighs. “Like hell itself.”
I sit on the bed and lean down to kiss his back. It feels different, more rugged, but it’s a part of him now, so I’ll get used to it. I kiss my way downward until I reach his ass and lick each firm hill.
“I want you to fuck me,” I say again.
“We’ve established that.” He turns on his back and touches my cheek. “Is he going to keep you here?”
“He said he would.”
“Don’t ever let your guard down with him. Promise me that.”
It scares me to see the fear in his eyes. “I promise. I think he’s only keeping me here because of you. Does he really want you to fight a New-Human?”
“Yes, but I don’t know when.”
“Can you really beat him?”
“I don’t think so, but Hector does.”
“And then what? What does he get out of making you the champion?”
Caden sighs. “A conqueror.”
I take in that word, the weight of it. “He wants you to lead the Raiders?”
“It sounds like it. He wants to take over Colorado. The New-Human was supposed to do that, but Hector can’t control him, so he doesn’t want to give him all that power.”
“But even if you are the champion, you’d never—”
“I don’t know what I’d never do, Finn. Not anymore.”
He’s unsettled, and I can’t blame him. It’s impossible for me to imagine a world where he would betray his people, but I also couldn’t have imagined any of what is happening.
The least I can do is make him feel better at this moment, to take some of the burden he's been carrying alone.
I stroke his cock, and he lets out a soft breath, hardening in my palm.
I lean down to take him in my mouth, sliding my tongue up and down his erection.
“Your hair is longer.” He slides his fingers through my curls to find a grip.
I relax my jaw and let him take over. He rocks his hips back and forth, sliding his cock in and out of my mouth until he’s hitting the back of my throat. I want to give him this sense of power after it was stripped away from him for weeks.
“Sit on me.”
I raise my head and straddle him, careful where I place my hands on his torso.
I position myself above his crown, shivering at the brush of his cock against my opening.
As slowly as I try to take him, his size makes it a painful challenge.
He strokes my thighs but remains silent until I get most of him inside me.
Breathing heavily, I shift to lie on top of him, his hands stroking my back.
“Am I hurting you?” I ask.
“No. I told you it’s worse than it looks.”
I slide back to take another inch of him, commanding my muscles to relax. “You can take it from here,” I say.
He holds my hips and slowly slides deeper, sparking pain tangled with pleasure, until he’s all the way in.
I sway my hips, feeling more of him with every shift.
His hands slide up and down my body, though he’s careful with his touch.
My precum drips onto his pubes, some sliding into his navel.
He scoops it up and sucks on his finger.
I lean forward to hold his hands above his head, looking at his face as I ride his cock.
The whole world is reduced to the inches between our eyes.
I can tell his pleasure is mixed with fear and doubt, as if he wants to fully be here but can't. I can offer him physical pleasure, but the ghosts in his head are beyond my control.
“Can I make you come, Finny?”
I sit up. We usually last longer, but these are less than ideal circumstances. “Yes, and forget what I said about that nickname—I like it.”
“I knew you’d come around.”
He strokes my cock. My moans grow louder, though I try to keep my voice down. As much as I don’t want this to end, I shoot all over his stomach in torrents. Within seconds, he climaxes inside me while gripping my hips.
We move to the bathroom, where Caden washes me under the hot stream.
There’s a heaviness to his movements, a sort of sadness in his touch.
It feels like he’s saying goodbye. I turn to face him and increase the current, making it harder for Hector to hear us.
“You don’t get to give up on me, like I didn’t give up on you. ”
He looks away. “We’re way out of our league here. You don’t realize it yet.”
“Weren’t River and Josh out of their league when they took down Las Vegas? We’re raising an army to take down this city.”
“Until it gets here—”
“If you don’t think that Dino is moving things at the speed of light with both you and me captives, then you don’t know him at all.”
He manages a small smile. “Yeah, he likes you.”
“But he loves you.”
“He doesn’t.”
“It was never just about Josh. Not when you were kids, and not now.”
Caden shakes his head, but there’s gratitude in his eyes. “It doesn’t matter now.” He pulls me closer, placing his forehead against mine. “I’m not sure how much of me is left.”
Despite the hot water, my skin turns cold. “You’re still you.”
“There are times… when his hold on me gets stronger, that I’m not sure if I’m thinking my own thoughts. He’s already inside my head like a damn parasite, and I’ve no idea how much he can control.”
I don’t dare to estimate, since I know very little of Hector’s powers. I can’t imagine losing control over my own thoughts and not knowing if somebody else is controlling my actions. “We have to play his games and buy ourselves more time until we get help. I can’t think of any other way.”
He nods, his expression thoughtful. “Earlier, when he gave me more of his fucking gift, he seemed weak for a minute there. He might be reaching his limit.”
I like the sound of that. “That’s good. We should head over to the living room before he gets angry.”
Caden turns off the water. “He doesn’t get angry; he just punishes.”
*
“Right in time for dinner!” Hector calls when we enter the kitchen. “You two catch up?”
“Yes,” Caden says stiffly. “Thanks for keeping him safe.”