Chapter 3
Levi
“Would you excuse me a second?” I asked as soon as I showed Phoenix where he could sit and went to the coffee machine to get it going.
My face hurt like crazy and I could taste blood in my mouth along with the lingering flavor of T’s cum.
I’d hoped to spit all of it out after T had finished, but he’d kept his cock shoved down my throat for so long that I’d had no choice but to swallow some of it.
Either way, it meant yet another round of STD testing. At this rate, the people at the free clinic wouldn’t even need to ask my name or what I was there for.
I’d tried a few times to get T to wear a condom, but he hadn’t given a shit.
But he hadn’t hesitated to tell me if I gave him anything, he’d kick my ass.
I hadn’t bothered to tell him that anything he picked up would come from one of his numerous “girlfriends” since I hadn’t had sex in a few years…
not since Gun had decided to make me his bitch in the shower the day after I’d stepped off the prison bus that had transported me from my hellish past to a whole new world of torture and torment.
Being Gun’s toy had only lasted a few weeks because Hank had taken pity on me after finding me on the floor of the shower, broken and bleeding from several of my body’s openings after Gun had let his disciples take turns using me as punishment for going to the guards and begging for help.
As much as I’d deserved everything I’d gotten the moment I’d stepped off the prison bus, I hadn’t been able to withstand Gun’s brutality.
At one point, I’d even begged him to kill me, but he’d merely laughed at me and asked me why he’d get rid of a perfectly good new fuck toy.
Luckily, with T, his brutality was limited to rough blowjobs.
I’d learned enough about blowing a guy from Gun that I could usually make T come quickly, and fortunately, he hadn’t shown any interest in me beyond using my mouth on occasion.
But I suspected my reprieve wasn’t going to last because he’d spent much of the blowjob today wondering aloud if he fucked me from behind, would my ass be any different than any other bitch’s.
His words had scared the hell out of me and I’d worked harder to make him come quickly so he wouldn’t push me down on all fours and shove into me like Gun always used to do.
T had always made a big show of calling me a faggot and asking me if maybe I was hiding a pussy beneath my clothes because I was so pretty.
I guessed it was his way of reminding me he wasn’t gay and that fucking my mouth didn’t count as being with another guy.
I’d expected T to just leave me there like he usually did after he came, but I’d been surprised when he’d had a new demand this time around.
And as soon as he’d voiced it, I’d wished he’d told me he was going to fuck me instead, because there was no way I could give him what he was asking.
Not couldn’t…wouldn’t.
Most of the choices in my life had been taken from me, either by Ricky, prison, or Gun and T, but there were still a few things I would say no to until my dying breath.
T could beat me, fuck me, even kill me, but I would never hurt another living soul ever again. Even if what he was asking might not physically endanger someone, it would be breaking the trust of someone who’d believed in me…who’d taken a chance on me when no one else had.
T hadn’t liked hearing no, and I’d prepared myself for his displeasure, but he hadn’t gotten very far with his beating before he’d been interrupted.
Phoenix.
Even thinking about the man’s unique name had me searching him out. I found him watching me intently and I suddenly realized I’d asked him to excuse me for a moment, but hadn’t heard his answer. Shit, how long had I been standing in front of the coffee maker, my finger on the start button?
“Sorry,” I mumbled as I pressed the button.
“Be right back,” I added as I hurried from the kitchen.
There was a private bathroom near the storage room where the non-perishable food items were kept.
I avoided the mirror as I searched out the small bottle of mouthwash I kept beneath the sink.
I’d gotten smart after the first time T had confronted me on my way to the soup kitchen and bought a couple of bottles of the strong antiseptic-style liquid in the hopes it would offer some protection against any diseases T sent my way, in addition to helping get rid of the disgusting flavor that no amount of juice, water or coffee could mask.
Once I’d gargled for several minutes and spit the mix of mouthwash and blood into the sink, I looked up to study myself in the mirror.
All in all, the damage wasn’t as bad as it usually was.
I guess I had Phoenix to thank for that.
My thoughts drifted to the man waiting in the other room for me as I began dabbing at my cut lip with some wet paper towels.
For starters, the guy was huge. Not that that was a surprise since at 5’9, I couldn’t even be considered average.
Phoenix had to be at least six inches taller than me and probably outweighed me by 75 pounds or more.
Even Gun hadn’t been that big. I hadn’t missed the tattoos on the man’s dark skin where the collar of his shirt had shifted as he’d knocked T to the ground, nor had I been able to look away from his piercing eyes which were so dark, they looked almost black.
Phoenix’s hair was cropped short and he had a neatly trimmed beard that framed beautifully wide, full lips.
I was inexplicably intrigued by those lips, which wasn’t the norm for me since I tended to shy away from guys like him…
hell, any guys these days, since my on ly experiences with sex were something I’d rather forget, but was condemned to remember and apparently repeat if T got his way.
Which he would.
I sighed as I studied my reflection. Why was I even thinking about all this? Not only was the man in the other room likely not even gay, but the last thing I wanted was to get involved with someone.
Involved?
I laughed out loud.
Guys didn’t get involved with me. They fucked me. They used me. My body was my form of payment and nothing more. Hell, my body wouldn’t even react to my own hand anymore. In what universe would I have a normal reaction to a good-looking guy like Phoenix?
Yeah, I’d felt a little flutter of excitement when I’d first gotten a good look at him, similar to what I’d felt when I was a kid and I’d gotten assigned Kyle Verona, the most popular kid in the eighth grade, as my lab partner.
Back then, I’d often found myself battling to keep from popping a boner whenever Kyle would brush up against me as he leaned in to study the contents of our beaker, but nowadays, unwanted erections weren’t something I had to worry about anymore.
I’d thought that the mysterious flutter was gone too, but apparently not, because my stomach was currently doing little somersaults and I was eager to get back out to the kitchen at the same time that I wanted to hide out in the bathroom for the rest of the evening.
I shook my head and dismissed my errant thoughts that were clearly just a result of Phoenix riding in on his white steed to rescue me. I should have told him he was far too late.
Seven years too late to be exact.
I forced myself to finish cleaning up and made my way back to the kitchen.
A shimmer of disappointment went through me when I saw the chair Phoenix had been sitting in was empty.
But the unexpected sadness only lasted long enough for me to round the corner and nearly run right into him where he was standing in front of the coffee machine.
He put his hands out to catch me by the arms just before my body made impact.
Electricity danced beneath my skin at the contact, despite the fabric of my shirt separating us from being skin on skin.
I couldn’t stifle the gasp that escaped my lips as the sensation shot throughout my entire body.
Phoenix instantly dropped his hands and stepped back from me and I saw the same look he’d given me outside…the one that had set off warning bells in my head.
He hadn’t looked at me like he wanted to fuck me…I would have preferred that look compared to the one I’d seen then and was again seeing now.
It was the same look he’d given T after he’d thrown him to the ground.
Cold, deadly anger.
I automatically stepped back. “Sorry,” I murmured as I took in his tense frame. He shuttered the menacing look quickly and nodded at the coffee machine.
“You forgot to put water in it.”
“What?” I asked stupidly, not really hearing his words since I was still caught up in trying to figure out why he’d looked at me twice now like he was regretting not letting T finish what he’d started.
Had I done something to piss him off? Maybe I’d embarrassed him with my comment about everyone needing a helping hand?
I mean, yeah, the guy didn’t look homeless, but I knew looks were deceiving.
And I certainly hadn’t meant to offend him, but wasn’t the hot meal the soup kitchen offered the reason he’d been in that alley?
Phoenix picked up the carafe full of water and poured it into the machine’s water reservoir. “You didn’t put any water in it.” He flipped the switch and I listened as the coffee machine began pulling the water into the tank to heat it.
“Um, sorry,” I murmured. I felt foolish for looking so scatterbrained to him.
I had a lot of limitations when it came to my intelligence, but I was usually pretty good at following through on tasks, especially if they were part of a routine.
But between T’s demand in the alley and Phoenix’s interruption, I was still struggling to process everything.
Especially since I knew T would be back.
Hell, I would likely find him waiting for me tonight when I left for work.