Chapter 15
Matt
Aron’s forehead beads with sweat as he stares at me from across the motel room. His fingers clench and unclench on the windowsill, and his breathing is shallow and hurried.
I feel for him. He got thrust into the spotlight with no time to truly prepare for being in charge, all while dealing with being a first-time dad and undergoing a bisexual awakening, and I suppose I haven’t made it any easier on him.
An unreadable expression crosses Aron’s face, and he turns away from the window to face me fully.
“Hands behind your back.”
Easy enough command to follow. I clasp my hands at the small of my back and wait for the next order.
“Stand up.”
That one’s going to be a little more difficult. Why couldn’t he have me do this first, so I could use my hands for balance? It takes some struggling, and I almost fall over, but finally I get up as requested.
“Nose to the wall.”
While I position myself, I hear clothes rustling behind me.
There’s the sound of fabric ripping, and moments later Aron ties my hands in place behind my back.
The thin strips cut into my wrists. I wait for the cold steel of Aron’s gun to touch my skin, but instead, I’m met with his warm hands on my waist.
“Eyes closed, Matt.”
Not that I can see what he’s doing with my face against the wall, but okay.
Aron untucks my shirt, his fingertips brushing my abs and back as he works.
His nimble fingers slip my phone out of my pocket, and seconds later I hear a thud followed by a crunch.
I won’t be calling anyone anytime soon. My gun disappears from its holster soon after, and I get the feeling he won’t be too eager to return it to me when this is done.
Something tugs at my belt, and the tip of a knife grazes my lower back. The belt, sliced in two, loses its hold on my pants, and they sag a few inches, exposing part of my underwear. Aron sucks in a quick breath, his fingers tracing the edge of the waistband.
“God, Matt …” he whispers as he pushes down my pants. “Why can’t I forget you?”
By this point, I tremble with need. I know now what Aron’s doing, what’s coming next, and I can hardly wait for him to get on with it.
More fabric rustles … Aron spits, and moments later, he presses his cock to my ass.
“Did you let Rico do this?” he asks. “Did he get to feel you clamp down on his cock?”
“No. I’m the patron saint of horny tops, remember?” Something about Aron’s attitude seems … wrong. It’s like he’s forgotten what life was like with me.
His lips brush across the back of my neck. “You let me take charge.”
“It’s different with you. You know that.”
Aron’s entry isn’t gentle. He slams home, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out. The spit lubed him up a bit, but not enough. “Why is it different with me?” he asks. “What makes my cock so fucking special?”
“You know why.”
He pulls almost all the way out, then slams back in again. “Tell me.”
Tears spring to my eyes. He’s too rough; I felt something rip that time.
“It’s because I love you, Aron.”
Aron presses his forehead to my neck, and something warm and wet drips onto my back. “Damnit, Matt, why do you keep saying that?”
“Because it’s the only thing in life I’ve ever been certain about, the only truth in this world of lies and deceit.”
Aron pants behind me, his warm breath ghosting across my neck. I want to open my eyes, to turn and see his expression, but I know better than to disobey him right now. Whatever strange mood he’s in has a chokehold on him. He doesn’t seem himself at the moment, so it’s probably safer to comply.
His strong hands grip my hips, and without another word, Aron starts to move again.
This time he’s gentler, taking it easy on me.
The savagery has turned sweet, something I’m more familiar with from him.
The soft, rhythmic in and out soothes the torn tissue, and my cock hardens as Aron fucks me slowly.
I can almost imagine the bad blood between us never happened.
Almost.
“Aron … There’s something I—”
He clamps a hand over my mouth. “Shut up. I didn’t ask you to talk.”
I’d protest, but when his other hand squeezes and strokes my cock in time with the movements of his hips, I forget what I was going to say.
Time stops. The world outside the motel room ceases to exist. It’s just me and Aron.
Only one thing would make this moment perfect. Just one little thing …
There it is. Aron’s firm yet soft lips land on my neck, and the kisses he places there are light, delicate, almost reverent. The hand on my mouth moves to tilt my chin up, giving him better access to my skin.
“What happened to us, Matt?” Aron murmurs into my neck. “What changed?”
The answer is as complex as we are. It would be easy to say it happened when Aron left the Syndicate to side with his father or when I burned down the Empire penthouse. There is no simple answer, though, so I don’t know how to respond.
“We were best friends. We were so close, but now we’re almost strangers.”
It’s true, though I hate the reality of it. I’d give almost anything to go back in time and undo the rift between us.
Aron’s hips pick up speed, and I sense that he’s close. He pants faster, harder, grips my cock tighter. His mouth on my neck becomes frantic; I’ll be going back to the Syndicate with a hickey after this.
“Tell me you still love me, Matteo.” More warm drops fall onto my shoulder. “Please tell me I didn’t fuck that up.”
Tears of my own start sliding down my cheeks. The pain in his voice is excruciating to hear.
“I already told you that. I meant it, and I mean it now. I’ll always love you, Aron. There’s no way you could ever fuck up enough to erase that.”
“Fuck, Matt!” He cries out like the orgasm caught him off guard, and he stills with his body pressing me to the wall. Warm cum fills me, and Aron kisses his way up to my mouth. Our tongues tangle for several minutes before Aron finally pulls out. “Shit. We need a shower.”
We. He said we.
I don’t know why that’s so important to me, but it matters.
“C’mon. I’ll cut you loose, and we can wash up before we go back to being enemies.” Aron chuckles as he slices through the bindings on my wrists. “Fuck. What a strange night this has been.”
“Can I open my eyes yet?”
Aron turns me around and kisses me, rubbing my wrists where the strips of fabric dug into my skin. “Only if you promise to look at me like you used to.”
I let my lids flutter open, meeting Aron’s warm brown gaze. “Like this?”
His lips capture mine in a dizzying kiss. “Just like that.”
Our shower together reminds me of the manor, when it was just the two of us against the world, when we faced tragedy in each other’s arms. Aron takes extra care rubbing me down with the soapy lather, stroking my aching wrists gently and kissing the ligature marks.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he says quietly as we towel off. “I don’t even know why I did.”
“You were in pain. Pain does weird things to people.”
“That’s no excuse for hurting you.” He scrubs his face with his hands. “I don’t know why you still care about me.”
“Hey.” I take his chin in my hands and look deep into his eyes.
“Don’t talk like that. We’re both guilty of hurting each other, and this probably won’t be the last time.
While the Syndicate and the Empire are at war, we have no choice but to—” Suddenly, my memories come flooding back.
I remember why I ran from the Syndicate to fuck Rico, why I tried to interrupt Aron earlier.
“Aron … You have to go back. Now.”
“What?” He casts an incredulous look at me as I toss his clothes to him. “What are you talking about, Matt?”
“Maria. You have to get her out of Empire territory. I don’t know where you’re hiding her, and I don’t want to know, but you have to leave now.”
Aron stiffens at the mention of his daughter. He dresses with haste, then bolts out the door.
I only hope I warned him in time.