Surprise Paladin/Moonstruck Mini-Fic (Patreon)

After writing about Jericho/Arsen/Ever today, I thought I'd write a little Jericho/Atticus mini-fic about what went down after Jericho got h

After writing about Jericho/Arsen/Ever today, I thought I'd write a little Jericho/Atticus mini-fic about what went down after Jericho got home. Doesn't really contain spoilers so even if you can't read chapter 3, you should still be able to read this. Hope you enjoy. Unbeta'd/Unedited. Like really unedited. Atticus“Honey, I’m home.”Atticus glanced up from where he sat at the coffee table, papers strewn across the surface. Jericho wore Atticus’s favorite black cashmere sweater and a pair of jeans so soft and old they’d molded to his husband’s perfect ass and thighs. He looked sexy and expensive… until Atticus got to the clunky ancient work boots that were once brown but were now black from God only knew what.“How was work?” he asked, glancing back down at his papers.Jericho removed his shoes and put them with the others by the front door then folded his arms over his well-muscled chest. “How was work, Freckles?” he asked as if he’d said something insulting.Atticus frowned over the rim of his glasses. “Is that not the appropriate question when one returns from their place of employment? Is that not what you asked me when I came home yesterday?”Jericho gave him a dirty smirk. “Oh, it is. But I at least had the good manners to bend you over the kitchen counter and bury my cock in your ass before I asked. Is our romance already dead?”Atticus flushed to the tips of his ears but rolled his eyes. “A. I didn’t know you wanted to try bottoming. And 2. I’m not getting any younger. Getting off this floor is a lot harder than it used to be. You’re younger. The least you could do is come to me.”Jericho snorted, staying where he was. “1. I’ll try bottoming if you’re willing to give up pillow princess status. and B. I’ll come over there and give you a hand up if that gets me a kiss hello.”Atticus grew hot, earning a smug look from Jericho. Sometimes he hated being this pale. It left him with no secrets at all. Not that he kept anything from him anyway. “For the record, I have no interest in giving up my pillow princess status,” he said huffily. “But I will take the hand up.”Jericho grinned, crossing the room and offering Atticus both hands, pulling him to his feet when he took them. Before he could even say hello, Jericho was capturing his mouth in a filthy kiss that had Atticus’s toes practically curling and a hand down the front of his underwear. Fuck, his he was good at that. Good at everything really.“You’re practically naked,” Jericho murmured against his lips, cupping Atticus’s underwear clad ass with his free hand and squeezing. “Were you hoping for a repeat of last night?”“You said hand up, not hand job,” Atticus reminded breathlessly.“To-may-to. To-mah-to,” Jericho said, before delving his tongue back into his mouth for another taste.Atticus wrapped his arms around him, but when Jericho broke the kiss he laid his head on his shoulder, content to have his husband hold him. “Honestly, I had a migraine so I came home, took a shower and a pill, then made it as far as my underwear before I passed out on the couch. I felt better when I woke up so I started working on the data I brought home from the office.”Jericho’s fingers threaded into Atticus’s hair, kneading his scalp and neck until he moaned.“Why didn’t you call me, freckles?”Atticus was jello in his arms, his words lazy. “So you could watch me sleep? I knew you wanted to go to the garage and check up on Arsen and your latest muppet.”“You’re never going to stop calling them murder muppets are you?” Jericho asked.Atticus made a noncommittal sound. “No, probably not.”Jericho sighed. “Well, our gatito is not a killer.”“Gatito?” Atticus parroted.“Mm, little cat.”“I know what it means. I also speak Spanish,” Atticus said, affronted. “Why are you calling him little cat? Isn’t Ever cute enough without the pet name?”“You sound jealous, freckles,” Jericho teased.Atticus snorted. He wasn’t jealous. But he wasn’t wrong either. Ever was quite possibly the cutest child he’d ever seen. Small and delicate with big brown eyes and a round face. He was dangerously adorable. And horribly traumatized.“I’m just saying, he already sounds like some white girl named Bethany picked his name from a website called something stupid and trendy like Super Unique Names for your Precious Angel Baby.”Jericho chuckled. “Damn, freckles. You really hate Bethany that much?”Of course, Jericho would remember Bethany, with her tight little body in her cute little scrub set. “She said Boots was a dumb name for a cat.”Jericho huffed out a low laugh against his ear, giving him goosebumps. Fuck he smelled good too. “She said that our cat was the third Boots they’d seen that week. She’s just a vet tech. You’re so sensitive.”“She was inferring that our Boots was just another generic cat when we both know she’s far superior. Look at her.” They both looked to where Boots lay in the corner, leg in the air, licking her ass.“Yes, she’s quite the lady,” Jericho teased. “So classy.”“Please, if you could lick your own ass, I’d never get you out of the house again.”“Oh, freckles, you know I much prefer your tongue over mine.”Atticus felt himself blush but changed the subject before things turned steamy. “How is our newest orphan?”Jericho sighed. “Terrified, but surprisingly tough. Far tougher than our young Arsen.”Atticus frowned, pulling away to fall onto the sofa, dragging Jericho down with him. As soon as he was beside him, Atticus laid down, dropping his head into Jericho’s lap and placing his hand back on his head, hoping he’d get the message. Jericho smiled, then began to flex his fingers in his hair once more.Atticus sighed contentedly. “Is Ever staying at the safe house with the others?”Jericho’s mouth flattened into a hard line, before he said, “Nope. He’s staying with Arsen. In Arsen’s room. In Arsen’s bed.”Atticus met Jericho’s gaze. “Oh?”Jericho gave a little laugh. “Yeah, our boy is down bad.”Atticus snorted. “Down bad?”Jericho nodded. “Yeah, you know. Down bad. In love? A smitten kitten? Twitterpated.”“I know what it means. I just don’t know why you said it. Can’t you just say he’s into him?”Jericho pinched Atticus’s nose. “What are you implying, freckles? Are you saying I’m losing my cred? That I’m no longer for the streets?”“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Atticus said flatly.Jericho thumped his chest. “I’m still the same badass I was when we met. People fear me. I run these streets.”“Is that so?” Atticus said, smirking.“Hell, yeah,” Jericho said. “Just cause I married a fussy billionaire nerd, doesn’t mean they’re going to revoke my bad boy card.”Atticus snickered. “Your bad boy card?”“Yeah,” Jericho said, voice just this side of sullen.“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you not the one who insists we go across town to the Whole Foods on Bryer Street because they’re the only one that carries that fifteen dollar soy milk you insist on having in your morning latte?”“That’s—”“And are you not the one who had a full on hissy fit when I swapped our Egyptian cotton sheets for bamboo?”“You’re misrepresent—”“And did you not insist we change dry cleaners because the girl at the counter at our old place pointed out the gray hair at your temples?”“Hey, I can still be a badass and enjoy soy milk and nice sheets,” Jericho muttered. “You say my name to anybody in the neighborhood and see what happens.”Atticus did his best to hide a smile. “Yes, yes. You’re very scary.”He jumped as fingers suddenly dug into his ribs, a laugh escaping even as he tried to pry Jericho’s hands away. It was impossible. Every time he got rid of one, the other found an even more vulnerable spot.“What was that?” Jericho teased as he tickled him.Atticus couldn’t respond, his body convulsing as involuntary giggles left his mouth at an embarrassingly high pitch. “Okay. Okay. I give up. You’re very manly. Super manly. The manliest of men.”He sagged in relief as Jericho’s hands returned to his head. He hated being tickled. He hated that Jericho knew he was ticklish and deployed it as an attack measure as needed. He hated that he didn’t really hate it at all. It was just so disgustingly domestic of them.“Should I do something about the Arsen and Ever situation?” Jericho finally asked.Atticus frowned, looking up at his husband’s handsome face. “Like what?”“Should I bring the boy here? Should I separate them? That kid has been horribly abused. He needs therapy. Whatever sparks happen between them…it can’t be healthy right?”“I mean, traumatized people deserve to be loved too, right?”Jericho sighed. “Yeah, of course. But…is it right to let them fall for each other? They both come from really shitty backgrounds. It just feels like I should step in and be the adult here. That boy needs a dozen therapists and probably inpatient therapy.”“Is he even speaking?” Atticus asked.Jericho shrugged. “Arsen says he can talk. That he did talk to him. But only once or twice. He said he asked to sleep in bed with him and tried to ‘repay’ him with sex.”“Which I assume Arsen declined,” Atticus said, already knowing the answer.Arsen was the one they worried about the least. He was Jericho’s predecessor in every way. He had taken over his apartment, was training to take over the garage. Hell, most times he even helped dole out the jobs to the others. He was young but he was responsible and he seemed to have good instincts. Atticus had never seen him in a relationship, but surely if anyone was going to be good for Ever it would be him.“Yeah, of course he did. But I know that look. He is already looking at that boy with cartoon hearts in his eyes.”“And that’s bad?” Atticus asked.“Do you think that poor kid’s ever had a healthy relationship with anyone?” Jericho asked, brow furrowing.“Has Arsen?”Jericho frowned harder. “I mean, romantically? No. The kid’s oblivious to the people who hit on him every day. He’s always been a one night stand kind of guy and even that’s rare. Like scratching an itch kind of thing more than a need for comfort. That’s why I worry about how he looks at Ever.”“You think he’ll try to turn Ever into a one night stand?”“Of course, not. But he’s going to fall for that kid. He loves to take care of broken things and there’s nobody more broken than Ever. He needs therapy, not a relationship.”Atticus turned so he was on his side, lifting Jericho’s sweater to kiss his belly. “Just because someone has trauma, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve love, right? Look at Noah? He and Adam work and Adam is a nut job. Arsen’s much more mentally and emotionally stable by comparison.”“Noah wasn’t kept in a closet for most of his formative years. He’s experienced the world. Ever is so…innocent.”“You said the kid tried to initiate sex with Arsen in exchange for a bed. He’s not as innocent as he should be. We’ll find the boy a therapist, maybe they can coax him into talking and help him work through some of this shit he’s been through, but you can’t tell Arsen that he can’t have that boy. You’ll turn them into some kind of trauma-bonded Romeo and Juliet and he’ll just end up seeing him behind your back.”“When did you get so smart, freckles?” Jericho murmured, fingers teasing at the nape of his neck.Atticus rubbed his face against Jericho’s stomach then ran his tongue along the skin there. “I’ve always been pretty smart.”His hands went for the button on Jericho’s jeans, then the zipper.“You looking for something?” Jericho asked, running his finger along Atticus’s lips, then pushing two fingers inside his mouth.Atticus sucked on them, letting Jericho fuck them in and out, not even caring about the obscene sucking sounds filling the apartment. He pushed his tongue between Jericho’s fingers, warmth spreading through him at Jericho’s groan. “Fuck, you’re such a whore for me.”It was true. As subdued as Atticus had been his whole life, when it came to Jericho, there really wasn’t anything he’d say no to. He’d let him do downright obscene things to him.They’d fucked in public restrooms. Atticus had blown him on a train full of sleeping passengers. Hell, they’d once fucked in a phone booth they’d found at the end of an old alleyway. For their anniversary, he’d put a vibrating toy inside himself and given Jericho the remote at dinner in one of the cities nicest restaurants and then fucked him in the backseat of his Volvo.Yeah, he was a whore for his husband, alright.He rolled onto his stomach as Jericho slid his jeans and underwear out of the way. “Suck me, freckles. I want to feel my cum flood your mouth before you swallow it all.”Atticus humped his now throbbing erection against the sofa as he took his husband to the back of his throat.Jericho’s hands tightened in his hair painfully. “Oh, fuck. That’s it. God, that mouth should be fucking illegal. You suck cock like a fucking porn star, freckles.”Atticus flushed, his whole body hot from Jericho’s words. He had the filthiest mouth and sometimes Atticus was sure he could come just from his words alone.He gagged as Jericho fucked up into his throat, blocking his airway and pumping his hips, holding him there until Atticus started to struggle, tears streaming down his face.“Ah, ah, ah, freckles. Not yet. You know what I want. You’re mouth is so hot and wet. I want to feel you swallow around my cock. Come on. Oh yeah. That’s a good boy. Do it again. You’re so fucking dirty for me. You love choking on this cock, huh?”Jericho released him just as his vision started swimming and he grew lightheaded. He pulled his spit-soaked dick free of his mouth. “On your back, freckles. I wanna fuck your mouth.”He rolled onto his back and Jericho straddled his chest, teasing the head of his cock along the seam of his lips. “Give me your tongue.” Atticus did as he was told, swirling it around the head. “Good boy. Now open up so I can fuck your throat.”Once more, Atticus complied, relaxing as best he could so Jericho could get what he wanted. He watched as Jericho gripped the arm of the sofa, leaning forward so he could drive his dick between his lips, just like he did his ass. “That’s it. You can take it deeper. I know you can. Just open up for me.”Atticus was leaking into his underwear, his cock aching to the point of physical pain. Nothing got him worked up like Jericho’s voice, his filthy words, his utter devotion to making his husband do depraved things with him.“You wanna come, baby?” Jericho purred knowing full well Atticus couldn’t answer with his mouth full. “Why don’t you slide your hand into those sexy undies and jerk yourself off for me? Hmm? Think you can come before I make you swallow this load? Cause I’m so close. This slutty little mouth of yours has me on the brink.”Fuck. Atticus took himself in hand, using the precum leaking from his cock to slick his grip. It wasn’t much help, but it didn’t matter. The raw sticky catch of his grip was just this side of painful and had him fucking up into his hand, ready to spill any second. His other hand was on Jericho’s ass, trying to force his cock deeper into his throat, craving that lack of oxygen, chasing that same high from earlier.Jericho gave it to him, gripping his hair and fucking his mouth with the same brutal efficiency as before, forcing himself into the tight squeeze of Atticus’s throat again and again until he was so gone he couldn’t think, just feel.Jericho pulled back, until only the head of his cock was inside. “Oh, fuck, freckles. I’m gonna come. Open up for me.”Just hearing those words were enough for Atticus’s own orgasm to drag him under as Jericho’s bitter seed filled his mouth. He loved the feel of it, the taste, everything. He loved the way Jericho looked down at him while he used him. Atticus’s whole body shuddered as he shot his own load over his stomach and chest, the pleasure making his vision go black momentarily.When he came back to himself, Jericho was sitting on the sofa once more, Atticus’s head in his lap, his soft cock in his mouth. Atticus sighed, content. This was his idea of heaven.They lay there for a long while, Jericho petting him—his hair, his face, his ear…anything within reach—as Atticus nursed at his soft cock until he was half-hard on his tongue again. He only stopped when he realized if he took it any further, Jericho was going to want round two and Atticus was getting hungry. For food.“Do you wanna just order something for dinner?” he finally asked.“Whatever floats your boat, freckles.”“Do you want me to get the names of some child therapists for you? I can ask Lucas?” Atticus asked as thoughts of Ever came back into his head.Jericho sighed. “Yeah, that would be good. I think the kid definitely needs to talk to someone about what happened to him.”“Should we…try to figure out who he is? What if he has a family like Noah? What if there’s some woman who’s been looking for him for years?” When Jericho didn’t answer right away, Atticus looked up at him, frowning at the look of distress on his face. “What’s wrong?”“I just keep thinking about that tracking device. On its surface, it makes sense that she was the one who chipped him. That way she could let him outside knowing he had to come back. Hell, she even put it between his shoulder blades so he couldn’t reach it to cut it out himself. But there’s something…familiar about it, but I just can’t put my finger on it.”“You thinking slave trade?”“Could be. There’s a huge Vietnamese and Thai pipeline in this area. The boy could easily be from either of those places. Or she could have purchased him in a black market slave auction… or just abducted him from his front yard in broad daylight. I don’t know, but we can’t very well take him to the cops and say we found him wandering around, they’ll have questions and they’ll all lead back to that bitch’s dead body.”“I have an idea, but you might not like it,” Atticus said.“Alright,” Jericho said, tone hesitant.“What if you just let the boys handle it.”“The boys?”“Yes, your boys. The murder muppets. They’re not kids anymore. We’ll still help if they need us, but let’s maybe sit this one out and see how they go it alone.”“And if they fuck up?” Jericho asked.“Then we’ll step in and unfuck it up, but only then. It’s time we let the next generation do their thing.”“I don’t think that boy can handle much more,” Jericho said. “Arsen has his own scars and baggage. I’m worried the weight of Ever’s trauma might crush them both.”“It’s not your decision to make. They’ve…trauma bonded. However that plays out for them is solely up to them. Traumatized or not, they’re both adults.”Jericho sighed, then played with Atticus’s ear. “You’re right, as usual, freckles.”“I know. But its nice to see you so easily on board for a change,” Atticus teased then cried out as Boots landed smack in the center of his stomach. “Oof. Boots. You weigh a ton.”“You should never comment on a woman’s weight, freckles. You know that.”“Don’t worry, Boots. We like our women curvy,” Atticus said, scratching behind her ears.“What women, freckles? You got a woman I don’t know about?”Atticus snorted. “As if I have time to cheat on you. And with a woman no less. Please. Like you said earlier. I’m not looking to give up my pillow princess status.”“And you’re the prettiest princess in the whole kingdom, freckles.”A couple of years ago, Atticus would have pouted for hours about being called pretty or princess, but now he preened. “Thank you. I try.”“Chinese, Pizza or Indian food, princess?”“Um…surprise me.”Jericho surprised him by lifting his head and standing, dumping him back onto the couch unceremoniously. “Rude.”“My phone’s charging on the counter, so unless you want me to just open the window and scream our order into the abyss, its kind of a necessary step.”Atticus glowered at him, pointing to the coffee table less than an arm’s reach away. “My phone’s right there.”Jericho gave him a shit-eating grin. “Oops.”“Mm,” Atticus said.“Don’t pout, freckles. I promise I’ll make it up to you later. All night long if you want.”Atticus shivered, but continued to pretend to pout. “I guess. If you want.”Jericho leaned down and kissed his head. “That’s my boy.”He really was. For better or worse, Atticus would forever be Jericho’s boy. His favorite one. The one he was legally obligated to for life. And he wouldn’t trade that for anything.