Chapter 26
Nantes
Van slams his mouth into mine again, and I tumble backward onto the cold, hard ground, my fingers twisting in his hair. I don’t know what the fuck’s gotten into me, but I’m gonna ride this wave.
“We don’t have any lube,” Van mumbles against my mouth.
“You have spit. That’ll be good enough.”
“Fuck,” he moans, canting his hips into mine. “I’m so fucking horny for you.”
“Show me.”
We fumble with zippers and buttons, tugging our pants down enough for our cocks to rub together. I push away every thought but the one that matters right now.
Him.
He spits on his fingers, easily finding my hole and getting me nice and wet. As he does so, he gazes into my eyes, and the look in his makes my stomach do somersaults.
“I never knew.”
“Knew what, Van?”
“That I could feel like this. It’s a lot. Intense.”
“Do you hate it?”
He shakes his head as a slow smile spreads across his face. “No, Bends. I fucking love it.”
Van breaches me with his finger, and I gasp at the burn. This is gonna hurt in the best way.
“Put your cock in me, Van. I need it.”
He moans again as he reaches down to hook his hand under my knee and tug my leg up. While he lines his cock up with my hole, I slide my hands under his shirt to feel the heat of his skin. I watch as he lets his spit drip between us, but my eyes roll back when he pushes his way in.
“Fuck, Bends. You’re so tight. Am I hurting you?”
“No.” I claw at his pecs. “It’s a good hurt.”
Vanian blows out several breaths, his arms trembling as he hovers above me. “I feel like if I move, that’ll be it.”
“That’s okay.” I lift up enough to kiss him. “That’s what I’m for. Your pleasure. You get off using me. I want that.”
“Jesus,” he whispers. “You are something else.”
Van pulls back slowly, then slams into me again. The sting is intense as my hole clenches around his cock, but I love it. It lets me know I’m alive.
He sets a punishing pace, but I already know this isn’t going to last long. I can feel his cock swelling, his balls tightening as they slap against my body. He’s squeezing his eyes closed, but I want to see them when he comes.
“Look at me.”
He snaps his eyes open, his gaze hungry and wild as he drops down to kiss me again. As our tongues meet, Vanian wraps his arms around me, holding me close and pumping into me.
“Fuck,” he grunts. “I’m coming.”
“Yessss. Fill me up. I’m yours.”
He makes another guttural noise, his body twitching as he releases inside me. My own cock throbs, trapped between us, but I don’t even care if I get off. Somehow, this was enough.
Vanian doesn’t miss anything though. He pulls out of me, making me whimper, and scoops up some of his cum from between my legs, using it to jack me.
I throw my head back, lost in the sensation and the sticky slickness of his hand.
He attacks my mouth again, biting my bottom lip and whispering, “Come for me, Bends. I want to taste you again. I wanna taste us.”
“Fuck.” I shiver as the first wave hits, moaning so loudly I’d swear the walls shake.
“That’s it, gorgeous.” Vanian slows his strokes. “You look fucking magnificent.”
His hot mouth finds my cock as he slides down, licking and gently sucking the tip, and I force my eyes open just to be able to capture the moment. I never want to forget what Van looks like with my cock in his mouth.
“Mercy,” I mumble as another shiver moves through me.
Van lets me go, rolling onto his back beside me. I can’t imagine what we look like right now—thoroughly fucked and covered in dirt, lying next to a dead body—and I don’t care.
We lie in complete silence, except for our heavy breathing, for several minutes.
“We should clean up,” Vanian finally says.
“Yeah.”
“Be right back.”
I get to my feet while Van goes out to the car.
As I pull my pants back into place and brush off some of the dirt, my eyes catch on Fetterman, lying in a sizable pool of blood.
I should feel something besides a sense of relief that this guy won’t hurt anyone ever again, and I get how Vanian ended up doing what he does now.
You feel like a goddamn hero even if no one else will ever know.
Vanian returns with a small bag he packed with a few towels and wet wipes. We clean up the scene, making sure we’ve left nothing behind, but even if we did, it would be nearly impossible to find anything in the dirt.
Something moves in the corner, and I gasp as Vanian aims his phone light towards it. Focusing on it, I relax when I see what it is.
“Rats.”
“Perfect,” Vanian says. “They’ll do a lot of the work for us. By the time anyone finds his body, any evidence will be long gone.” He grabs a small container from the floor. “But just in case.”
“What’s that?”
“Gasoline.”
I watch as Vanian drags Alex’s body farther away from where we just fucked.
When he walks back, he’s smiling. He pours a bit of gas on the ground and uses a lighter to ignite it.
It’s not big enough to spread, but it’s enough to burn away any lingering saliva or cum we might have left behind.
Gotta hand it to him, he knows what he’s doing.
“We could burn the body,” I suggest.
Vanian shakes his head. “We want him to be identified. We want his victims to know he’s gone.”
“Oh, right. Should we take his phone? He contacted you on it.”
“Nah. I already deleted the profile on the app where we messaged.”
“You think of everything.”
“I watched a lot of true crime documentaries and learned about the ways the killers were caught. It was helpful.”
“Huh. I never would’ve thought of that.”
After the fire dies out and we stomp on the dirt to be sure, Vanian looks around. “Ready to get out of here?”
“Yeah. Are you?” I grab his hand. “I mean, are you really ready?”
He looks back at the body for a moment before exhaling slowly. “I’m ready.”
He instructs me to shuffle my feet to obscure any shoe prints on our way out, and we walk back to the car in silence, driving out with the headlights off just to be extra careful.
There’s nothing out here though. I doubt anyone else has even driven down this road in years.
It’s pitch black, overgrown, and forgotten.
Fetterman may never be found, and even if he is, he’ll be nothing but bones.
They’ll find his phone with all its disgusting contents on it, and they’ll wonder how he ended up out here.
Or maybe they won’t even care. One less pedophile to deal with.
I lean back against my seat, feeling oddly calm. “I can see why you do it. There’s a sense of accomplishment, despite the gory details.”
“Yeah. How do you feel?”
“Sore.” I chuckle. “But emotionally, I’m fine. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel, but it almost feels like we prevented a crime instead of committing one.”
“It does.” He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “But I promise to let it go. I’ll do what I have to do.”
“It’s the right thing to do. Getting caught would be devastating, obviously. None of them are worth ruining your life over.”
“You’re right.” He blows out a breath. “Thank you.” His voice cracks slightly.
“For what?”
“All of it. Showing me who I am and giving me a glimpse of who I might be. I don’t know the future, no one does, but I know mine includes you. If you’ll have me.”
My heart flutters in my chest. “Of course I’ll have you.”
“For the first time in years, I’m hopeful again. For so long, I’ve been running on a treadmill, getting nowhere. I just stepped off.”
“You can do anything you want, Van. Anything.”
He nods. “I know. It helps having you in my corner.”
“I’ll always be here.”
By the time we pull onto the family compound, the adrenaline is long gone and exhaustion has taken over. I’m dirty, sore, and spent, but despite all that, I feel amazing. I could use a good shower and some sleep though.
Vanian parks in front of the house and we step out. I stretch, leaning my head back to look at the moon. It’s finally nice at night; just cool enough to be a pleasant break from the daytime heat.
I startle at the sound of gravel crunching behind me. When I turn around, I see a small figure ambling towards us. As she passes one of the path lights, I realize it’s Nonna. What the hell is she doing out here this late at night?
“Hi, boys,” she says cheerfully. “I made some chocolate-hazelnut cornettos. They’d make a great late-night snack.”
“Nonna, what are you doing out here?”
“Saw you come in. Figured you might be hungry.”
I glance at Vanian, who’s standing behind the car, clearly nervous.
“You should be sleeping.”
“I don’t need you telling me how to live my life, kiddo.” She hands me the plate. Her eyes roam from my face to my feet and back again. “Looks like you had an exciting evening.”
I mentally scramble for a plausible lie to explain my present appearance, but she simply smiles and pats my arm.
“You’re the ones who need some sleep. A shower wouldn’t kill you either.” She smiles at Vanian. “Night, boys.”
“Night,” I mutter, watching in awe as she walks back towards her cottage.
“What was that about?” Vanian asks.
“I’m not sure, but I think Balt was right. There’s a lot I don’t know about my nonna.”
“Right. Should we go inside?”
Nodding, I round the car and enter the house. We both stand in the entry for a few seconds, clearly still processing that interaction. Vanian reaches out and squeezes my shoulder.
“How about that shower and late-night snack?”
Gazing into his eyes, I finally let the hope bloom that there’s a real chance we could make this thing between us into something permanent.
“Deal.”
He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Tomorrow is a new day, Nantes. A new future.”
“Together?”
His expression relaxes as his eyes soften. “Absolutely.”