Chapter 25
Holden
I’m nervous as hell, waiting for everyone to meet me in the dining room. I finally got the tracking devices back. I just have to tell them I want to implant it in them. Easy. I almost snort at that thought.
One by one, they come in and settle around the table, waiting for me to tell them why the hell I asked them all in here.
“What’s going on, Holden?” Les asks softly, sensing my nervousness.
Bringing up every bit of willpower, I straighten my shoulders and look her directly in the eyes. “I designed a tracking device for all of us.”
Both her eyebrows raise. “That’s awesome.”
I lay the box on the table and flip it open. All of them lean in to get a closer look. That’s when Ryder’s brows furrow. “I don’t understand.”
They’re small, about the size of a grain of rice that slides right under the skin and can’t be detected by any means. Taking another deep breath, I lay it on them. “They go under the skin.”
Les and Ryder’s heads snap up at the same time. I have to fight everything in me not to cower. “Come again?” Les asks.
“They go under the skin,” I start explaining. “They can’t be detected because they’re too small. They will continuously transmit a signal of your location. Your own body keeps them charged.”
Zane pulls the box closer to him. “You designed this?”
Rubbing the back of my neck nervously, I mutter, “I designed the prototype. Someone else made the trackers.”
“These are fucking cool as hell,” Gage exclaims, looking closer.
“Who made them?” Ryder asks, and I don’t like the tone in his voice.
“A guy Ghost knows.”
Dex raises an eyebrow. “You talked to Ghost? By yourself?”
“I’m perfectly capable of having a fucking conversation,” I bark before I can stop myself.
“I don’t think he meant it that way,” Les says gently. “Who would implant them?”
“Doc Sorenson.” That phone call was fun, but I know if anyone can point me in the right direction, it’s him. He’s worked for the Poletti’s almost his whole career.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryder demands. “You said you were making new trackers; you never said a word about putting them in us.”
“Because of this right here,” I say hotly. “I wanted something that can’t just be disposed of like they did with Les and Zane’s phone.” I snatch the box, pissed the hell off. “Forget it.”
“Wait,” Zane calls when I’m at the doorway, causing me to pause. “I’ll do it.”
Shocked, I turn around, and the whole table is just as shocked as me. I figured he would be the hardest to convince. “What?”
Zane shrugs. “It’s a damn good idea.” He looks at Les. “It’s the safety net we need for what’s going to happen.” He looks back at me. “Call Doc. Let’s get it started.”
Any doubt I’ve ever had about Zane disappears at that moment. He sees how much this means to me and how hard I worked on it, and he is giving it a chance. I don’t want to admit how much it hurt me that the rest of them didn’t even try.
I’m sitting in the little hospital room with Doc and Zane an hour later. Doc explains that he inserts a needle with the tracker inside just under the skin and that you won’t even know it’s there.
Zane cuts his eyes to me. “I fucking hate needles.”
“You’re scared of needles?” I can’t help but laugh. He has scars everywhere from his time with Les, and he’s been shot before. And his fear is of needles?
“It’s not funny,” Zane says with a shudder.
“You want me to hold your hand?” I ask sarcastically.
His eyes narrow. “You owe me for this.”
He might be joking, but I do. He doesn’t know me for shit, but here he is, waiting to get something implanted in him that I designed, something I’ve never done before.
“Alright,” Doc announces, needle in hand. “You ready?”
Zane eyes him warily. “Where does it go?”
“We figured on the back of your neck would be best, but ultimately it’s up to you,” Doc answers.
Zane closes his eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Don’t forget I’m here if you need me,” I joke.
“Don’t forget what you offered me last night,” he replies without opening his eyes.
White hot lust flashes through me before I can stop it.
Admittedly, I was drunk when I made that comment, but that doesn’t stop me from remembering everything that went down in the pool with Les.
I love Ryder, but there’s something about Zane that I want to explore.
I don’t know if he even is into that; I guess time will tell. I didn’t think Ryder was, either.
“All done,” Doc says, stepping back. Zane opens his eyes, and I see how pale he is. “Fire it up. See if it works.”
Doc is just as excited as I am to see if all our hard work paid off. Doc helped the other guy design them so they were safe for the human body. Weeks of endless work went into this.
I tap a few buttons on my laptop until the app for the tracker loads. I named them all on the screen, so my heart soars when I see the red dot with Zane’s name start blinking.
“It fucking worked!” I exclaim, ready to yell it from the rooftops. Doc gets to work on mine, and two seconds later, mine starts flashing right beside Zane. “Holy shit,” I breathe, pumped as hell.
Zane slaps me on the back. “I never had any doubts it would work.”
“Thank you,” I say seriously. He smiles, then winks, causing me to flush again, making him grin.
Is he flirting with me? Or has he picked up on the attraction and is just fucking with me?
The door to the room slowly opens, and Les steps through with Gage, Dex, and Leo. No Ryder. She smiles knowingly. “He’ll come around.” I knew it would be tough to convince them, but I didn’t think it would make anyone mad.
“Look at this shit,” Zane says proudly, pointing at the screen. They all crowd around to look. “That’s us right there.”
Les turns to me with a soft smile, pecking my lips. “I’m proud of you. I’m sorry if I made you feel any other way. It was just a shock.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her honestly.
“Put it in me, Doc,” Gage says, making Doc laugh with a shake of his head.
Their names start blinking on the screen, and honestly, I could weep with relief. “I have an app for all the phones too, so you can look while you’re out.”
“You’re fucking awesome,” Gage announces. He grabs my face, laying a sound kiss right on my lips, making my eyes widen. It shouldn’t surprise me; it’s such a Gage thing to do.
Running my hand through my hair, I murmur, “I need to find Ryder.”
“I think he’s in the gym,” Les tells me.
Pecking her lips, I go toward the gym and push open the door. Ryder is laid back on the weight bench, but it looks like he’s lost in thought. He hears the door open and sits up.
“Can we talk?” I ask. He grunts as an answer, and I grit my teeth to keep from snapping again. “What’s your deal?”
“My deal?” he asks angrily, turning those eyes on me. “My deal is you went behind my fucking back.”
I frown at that. “I made a couple of phone calls behind your back. That’s it.” I walk further into the gym. “What’s this really about?”
“You should have told me. I could have made the phone calls for you.”
“Ryder, I don’t need you to make phone calls for me.”
“And that’s it, right? You don’t need me anymore,” Ryder says, then stands up. That’s when it hits me. Ryder has gotten so used to taking care of me that he hasn’t realized I don’t need him in that way anymore. Being with them has built my confidence. I’m that scared kid they brought here.
“I’ll always need you,” I say, walking toward him. “But you have to understand that I can do things now I couldn’t do before. You have to let me be a man.”
“You don’t think I know that!” Ryder half yells. “Fuck, Holden. I know that. It’s just hard to realize you don’t need me for much anymore.”
“The only thing I need is this,” I say, gesturing between us. “That doesn’t mean I feel any different about you.”
His shoulders drop, all the tension leaving him at once. “I’m a fucking dick.”
I shrug. “You are.” His eyes narrow. “But that’s one of the things I love about you. You’re unapologetically yourself, no matter what.”
Wrapping a hand on the back of my neck, he pulls me until my forehead is against his. “I’m proud of you, Bello. For the man you’ve become and for thinking about this family enough to design that tracker.”
I wrap my arms around his waist. “You guys are my family. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect you guys.”
Ryder pecks my lips once before grabbing my hand and practically dragging me from the room. “Where are we going?” I ask with a laugh.
“Upstairs,” he says gruffly, and I know what that means without asking.
We get to his room, and he jerks me inside, pulling his shirt over his head.
“Naked. Now.” Doing as he says without question, I start pulling my clothes off while watching him reveal all of his glorious naked skin.
Once his cock is free, he begins roughly stroking it, squeezing the head, making pre-cum drip from the tip. “Get on the bed on your back.”
I shiver at the commanding tone in his voice.
I’ve heard him use it with Les, but he’s never used it with me, and it makes my cock jerk.
Laying sideways across the bed as he said, I wait for his next move.
He digs around in his bedside table and tosses a bottle of lube on the bed before straddling my thighs.
Pulling my cock against his, he squeezes his thighs against mine, closing them.
He starts stroking our cocks together in his big fist, looking me dead in the eye. “I want to fuck you,” he rasps. “I want this whole house to hear how good I fuck you.” He strokes harder, making me groan. “Because no matter what happens between you and anyone else in this house? You. Are. Mine.”
“You’re mine too,” I reply hoarsely.
“You better fucking believe it, Bello,” he answers, leaning down and rubbing his body against mine. “You’ve had me tied in knots from day one with your innocent looks. But you aren’t innocent, are you?” I shake my head, and he chuckles deeply. “You want me to fuck you hard, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I gasp when his cock slides against mine.
“Good,” he growls.
Sitting back on his knees, he quickly squirts lube onto his fingers before knocking my legs apart with his knees.
He slowly slides his hand between my butt cheeks, rubbing the tip of his finger around my back hole.
Grabbing my cock with one hand, he slides a finger inside me, working it in and out before adding a second finger.
“Oh fuck,” I groan. I watch his eyes darken to black, the color that makes him look like a predator.
And right now, I’m his prey. Stroking my cock in time with his fingers, he starts pumping harder. “Ryder,” I groan again.
“Say it again,” he says, almost savagely. I don’t know what came over him, but I love it.
“Ryder.”
“That’s it, Bello,” he purrs. “You want my cock?” I nod fast. “How bad?”
I groan. “Bad. Ryder, please.”
He grins, making him look even more like a predator. Pulling his fingers out, he squirts lube directly onto his cock. “You’re mine,” he repeats, massaging the lube in. Not giving me a chance to reply, he lines up and slams his hips forward, burying every inch inside me in one firm push.
“Fuck!” I grit out, grabbing ahold of his hips and pulling him closer.
“Is that what you want?” he asks, thrusting in and out slowly, making his piercings drag across my prostate.
“Fuck me,” I beg. I know begging should make me feel like less of a man, but it doesn’t. I’m man enough to admit that I want Ryder. No, I need Ryder to fuck me like his glittering eyes are telling me he wants.
Placing his hands on the back of my thighs, he pushes them back, widening me for him. “You have the tightest ass,” he groans, moving faster.
I wiggle my hips closer, begging again without words, and he doesn’t disappoint.
His grip on my thighs tightens, his lips peel back from his teeth, and he starts hammering his hips forward, jerking noises out of me that I’ve never made before.
He’s fucking me so hard that my back is scooting up the bed, and my cock is slapping against my stomach.
“What do we have here?” I hear Gage ask.
Ryder’s thrusts never slow. He just glances over his shoulder.
“You left the door wide open; I took it as an invitation.” Gage’s face comes into view over Ryder’s shoulder, and he’s grinning from ear to ear.
Ryder’s whole body shudders from whatever Gage just did to him.
“I brought a friend,” Gage whispers in Ryder’s ear, making him shudder again.
Leo steps to the end of the bed, also grinning.
“Fuck,” I groan when Ryder starts hammering harder.
“Hm,” Gage hums, “Now’s your chance to tell us to leave.”
Ryder and I lock eyes, both asking the unspoken question. If we let them stay, it’s hard to tell what will happen. I really want to find out.
“Stay,” I gasp, and Ryder’s thrusts slow, still stroking in and out.
Gage and Leo undress quickly before climbing onto the bed opposite each other, meeting face-to-face right over my cock. They smile at each other again before bending down and licking up each side.
“Oh fuck,” I pant. Having Ryder buried in my ass, dragging slowly in and out, and both their mouths on my cock are sensation overload. Leo grabs my cock by the base, offering it to Gage. “Shit,” I grunt, my head hitting the bed.
“I’ve wanted to taste this big fucker for a while,” Gage comments, swirling his tongue around the head.
Leo chuckles. “At least take a man to dinner first.” Leo turns to me and leans down until his lips hover over mine. “Or he could make your cock the meal.” Leo seals his lips over mine at the same time Gage deep throats my dick, making me moan into Leo’s mouth.
They’re going to kill me.