He couldn’t help it. He didn’t even wait for Bowie to stroke him, instead thrusting into his tightened fist. “Oh, fuck. Angel. That’s perfect. Just like that,” he muttered against Bowie’s lips before giving a hoarse shout, his whole body convulsing as he came hard, spilling over his fist.
Javier pressed his forehead against Bowie’s. “You okay, angel?”
“Yeah. I think so,” he said, but then shook his head. “No. Actually, I’m not. I’m scared.”
Javier cupped Bowie’s face. “I promise, I won’t let anybody hurt you. You don’t believe me?”
“I’m not worried about me, stupid. I’m worried about you.”
Javier’s heart skipped in his chest. “Don’t worry about me. I went to jail once for my own stupidity. Those other bids? I was doing somebody else’s time. How do you think I afford this place? Ain’t nobody catching me if I don’t want them to. Okay?”
Bowie licked his bottom lip, giving a stilted nod. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
* * *
It was still dark out when Javier pulled up in front of the dance company, throwing the car in park before turning in his seat, pulling Bowie’s ice coffee from his grasp. Bowie whined, reaching for it with grabby hands. Javier held it out of reach. “Nope. Not until we go over the rules.”
“I know the rules. Give me my coffee before I bite you.”
Javier chuckled. “I’m serious. You don’t go anywhere without me or somebody else with you. Somebody like me or Lawson or Cy, not Odette. She’s mean, but she doesn’t carry a gun. No leaving the premises,” he said, enunciating each word. At Bowie’s exasperated look, Javier doubled down. “I’m serious, angel. Not even for lunch. This is your home away from home until somebody comes to retrieve you. Understood?”
Bowie made a face. “Yes, Daddy,” he muttered, clearly sulking.
Javier pinched Bowie’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, tipping his head up to meet his gaze. “That’sPapito you,mi amor.”
Bowie shivered, lips parting in a way that made Javier’s cock take notice. “Uh-uh, angel. You are not distracting me with that look. You have to go to class. You’re already on thin ice.”
Bowie’s whole body deflated against the leather seat at the reminder. “I don’t even want to be here anymore. I know they’re only keeping me because it looks shitty to fire a rape victim, but, eventually, somebody else is going to be the sad sack du jour and I’ll be out on my perfectly perky ass.”
Javier grinned. “It is a very nice ass. But you’re still going. If you get fired, we’ll deal with it then. In the meantime, go. Dance. Be brilliant.”
Bowie stuck his tongue out, licked the tip of Javier’s nose like a weirdo, and then snatched his ice coffee while he was still recovering from the odd plan of attack. The door was already shut when Javier started laughing, watching until Bowie entered the building, waiting to see the light go on at the end of the hall.”
Javier called Lawson. “Where ya at?”
“In the fucking lobby where you told me to be, getting dirty looks from a snooty bitch in a headset. Your boy just bounced past me and gave me the finger.”
Javier smiled. “Yeah, he’s…in a mood.”
“How long we gonna do this for, man?”
“You got something else to do,vato?”
“No, of course not. I just mean, is this really a sustainable plan?”
“Look, we’re only doing this until we figure out who’s behind this, then they will be dealt with accordingly.”
“You can’t kill everybody who threatens your boy.”
Sure I can.“I’m not planning on killing anybody. But where I come from, when people mess with you and yours, you mess with them back and you make sure they know not to do it again.”
“Yeah, man. I’m from fucking West Virginia. You ever hear of the Hatfields and the McCoys? We take our grudges deadly serious. I’m just saying, you’ve known him five weeks and you’ve dropped almost as many bodies. When does it end?”
“When I say it does.”
He hung up before Lawson could ask another question Javier didn’t have an answer for, then dialed his lawyer’s cell phone number. “Enrique, it’s Javier.”
“Christ, already? You’ve been out, what? A year?”
