I’d had a shitty day from the moment I forced myself to release my hold on Jonas this morning and climb out of bed. I’d known Mace would be pissed at me for leaving without an adequate explanation but I hadn’t expected him to actually be worried about me. I also hadn’t expected to hear that he shared the same affliction as my father but in a perverse way, it gave me hope. Mace had suffered so many of the same things as my father, but had come through it. Maybe I could still get back the man I’d idolized instead of having to bury the bitter, angry drunk who just this morning had called me some pretty choice names when I’d told him I was going to go see his doctor about getting him into rehab. The answers I’d gotten were on par with what I’d expected. The most I could do was try to get a court to find my father incompetent but since he didn’t have any mental issues, it was unlikely any judge would give me the power to make medical decisions for him. Which meant the onlyway my father was going to get help was if he chose to. And that was looking more and more like a pipe dream.
I led Jonas to the living room and sat on the couch, pulling him down next to me since I didn’t want to relinquish the contact between us. I turned my body so that I was facing him and was pleased when Mace took up a similar position on his other side. Cushioned between us like he was, I hoped that it would be a little easier for him to say what he needed to say. I already had a good idea of what he needed to share with me considering his childhood, but I didn’t push or rush him in any way as he twisted his hands. But when he didn’t speak after several minutes, I leaned forward and kissed him. My plan was to keep it short and sweet but when he opened his mouth on a moan, I couldn’t resist taking a taste of him. It took everything in me not to continue the molten kiss and when I released his mouth I said, “Nothing you tell us changes anything between us. Nothing.”
Jonas nodded and sucked in a deep breath. His hand searched out mine.
“You asked me if I worked for Mateo, do you remember?”
I nodded.
“I did for a little while when I first arrived in Chicago. I met him at the bus station.”
I felt my heart clench as I remembered how Jonas had stepped in to try to stop Carrie from the same fate.
“His brother…his brother was the one who got me ready to meet with customers. They were planning to sell my services online and then have me meet with the johns in motels. Eduardo kept me for almost a week before he said I was ready.”
Jonas’s voice shook but I resisted the urge to tell him he didn’t need to say anything else. Instead, I began stroking his palm with my thumb.
“I hated it,” Jonas whispered. “Them,” he added. “Eduardo always went with me when I met clients so I couldn’t get away. But this one client liked to drink and do drugs while he was fucking me so one night I kept urging him to drink more and more till he passed out. I climbed out of the room through a bathroom window.”
“Did Eduardo or Mateo find you after that?” I asked.
Jonas shook his head. “I took the client’s money when I ran. It wasn’t much but I was able to get a room to stay in. I tried finding a regular job but no one was going to hire a fourteen-year-old kid. I knew I’d have to keep doing what I’d been doing. I thought if I was in control then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”
I knew listening to Jonas would be hard but I hadn’t expected the full-on rage that took over me. I wanted to track down every man who’d ever touched Jonas and rip him to shreds. I managed to keep my grip on Jonas gentle but that was only because my eyes connected with Mace over Jonas’s shoulder and I saw the silent message there. Jonas didn’t need me to be angry for him, he just needed me.
I let my fingers drift up to his wrist while I waited for him to continue but when I felt the raised flesh beneath my touch, I dropped my eyes to look at what I was feeling. A long, ugly scar ran the width of his wrist.
“I did it about a week after I got away from Eduardo,” Jonas said softly as he watched me caress the healed wound. “The first few times that I was on my own, a couple of the guys I’d been with took more than they’d paid for and one didn’t pay at all…he had a knife. I thought I was going to die and when he was done, I wanted to.”
Jonas shook his head. “I was just really tired, you know?” he whispered as he lifted his eyes to meet mine.
“I know, baby,” I responded as I closed my hand around his and pulled his fingers up against my lips.
“I met Carrie about nine months later. After I got away from Eduardo, I didn’t go to the bus station at first because I knew it was one of Mateo’s favorite places to find new girls. But picking up johns on the streets was more dangerous because you’d have to get in their car or go to motels. At the bus station, the johns were in more of a hurry and there was this spot behind the building where people couldn’t see what was happening but they’d hear if you started calling out.”
Jonas’s voice dropped off for a moment before he seemed to collect himself. “I kept a low profile whenever I worked the busstation and if I saw Mateo or one of his guys, I took off. I saw him talking to Carrie one night and I saw the way she looked at him…desperate, hopeful. I knew I couldn’t leave her there. You know the rest.”
“Jonas, you said there was someone in Paris,” Mace said softly and I saw his hand rubbing gentle circles over Jonas’s shoulder.
“Um, yeah, Victor. I met him my first year in school. He wasn’t a student. He was a few years older than me. We met in a café and started dating. I was attracted to him but I was having trouble letting him get close to me. We didn’t even kiss until our seventh date. I could tell he was getting frustrated with me so I told him the truth about my past.”
Jonas fell silent again and I could see tears shimmering in his eyes. “What happened?” I asked, knowing he needed to finish his story so he could start finding a way to be free of it.
“He said he understood, that we could take it slow. We were hanging out one night in his apartment just watching TV. He had a lot to drink and started kissing me. It was okay at first but then he wanted more. I told him I wasn’t ready and he got pissed. Started calling me a cock tease. He pinned me down on the couch and began unbuttoning his pants. I begged him to stop but he kept saying I should be good at sucking cock since I was a professional. He was having trouble getting his pants loose so he had to release me and I hit him. I was able to get away…I never saw him again after that.”
I struggled to find the right words and finally settled on just kissing Jonas. “I’m in awe of you, Jonas,” I whispered against his mouth. “Thank you for telling us.”
Jonas nodded. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to be with you like that.”
“Just having you with us is enough,” I said. Jonas glanced over his shoulder and saw Mace nod in agreement.
I could see Jonas’s nervousness increasing as the silence grew between us so I said, “Did you like watching us?”
“You guys are beautiful together,” he said softly, a small smile gracing his lips. I returned his smile and then covered his mouthwith mine. He opened to me almost instantly and as I swept my tongue into his mouth, I gently eased him back so that his back was flush with the couch cushions. I let my hand rest on his belly as we kissed but didn’t move it. As soon as I pulled free of the searing kiss, Mace’s mouth took the place of mine and I felt my dick swell at the sight of them consuming each other. Then it was my turn. I welcomed Mace as he took my mouth over and over again. Jonas had a perfect view of us since he was still between us and I could hear his breathing increase as Mace made love to my mouth. Fingers curled over my thigh and since one of Mace’s hands was at the back of my head and the other was supporting his weight as he leaned over Jonas to reach me, I knew the hand belonged to Jonas and a thrill shot through me that he felt comfortable enough to participate.
When Mace released me, I turned my attention back to Jonas and kissed him as I let my fingers rub over the tight muscles of his abdomen. I sensed Mace moving but I didn’t know what he was doing until his body appeared in front of me. His hands settled on my knees and gently shifted my legs open. It wasn’t until he dropped to his own knees that I understood what he was planning and a shot of trepidation went through me. As much as I wanted what was about to happen, the knowledge that it would be a man’s mouth bringing me pleasure was still something I had to adjust to. I didn’t know if Jonas sensed my nervousness or not but he suddenly became the one stealing my mouth in a series of heart stopping kisses and his hand began stroking all over my chest. When Mace pushed my shirt up just a little, Jonas grabbed the hem and pulled it all the way up so that he could get it off me.
His lips were back on mine as Mace worked my pants loose. The feel of Mace’s fingers pulling my cock free of my underwear had me gasping and dropping my head back on the couch. Within a few strokes, he had me rock hard and I wasn’t even sure I’d have to worry about having his mouth on me since I’d probably come long before his lips ever reached me. Jonas’s hands continued to stroke over my skin and I just languished in the differences in how they touched me. But I wasn’t even a little bit surprised to find thatJonas’s inexperienced and tentative touches stirred the same level of lust in me that Mace’s knowing caresses did.
