Paladin - Jericho's Boys #1 - ch. 17 (Patreon)

Jealousy and a quicky. Unedited, unbeta'd. Chapter 17ArsenA muffled shriek cut through the fog of Arsen’s dreamless sleep, shooting his heart rate into the stratosphere before he was even fully conscious. He reached for Ever, eyes still closed, sitting bolt upright when he realized he wasn’t beside him. He glanced around the darkened room, his brain trying to decide if what he’d heard was real or simply some kind of panicked hallucination. When another shrill scream came from far away, Arsen grabbed the gun on his side table, running barefoot to the glass wall that overlooked the garage below.Relief flooded his system as soon as his gaze landed on Ever, but the excess adrenaline pumping through his system made him lightheaded. He sagged against the wall, heart still hammering, dropping the weapon to his side, taking a few deep breaths, willing himself to relax.Below, Ever sat on the couch—the couch Jericho had dragged out of storage just for him—with Nico perched above him on the back, working one of those spider-like scalp massagers through Ever’s hair. Ever shivered and squealed, seemingly delighted at the sensation. Arsen remembered the first time Levi had used one of those things on him. It left a feeling like running water that he found both pleasant and disturbing.Felix was also there. He sat beside Ever, doing his best to hold his arm still as he dragged something along his skin. Arsen couldn’t even imagine what it was this time. Stickers? Temporary tattoos? It could have been anything.Arsen’s friends—the friends always claiming school or work as an excuse to not hang out—seemed to have infinite time when it came to Ever. They were there every day. Every. Single. Day. Not always together, but all of them, usually once a day made an appearance. At first, Arsen thought maybe they worried he couldn’t protect Ever on his own, but now he realized they just wanted to be around him.They seemed addicted to bringing Ever his next first experience. And there was no shortage. Boba tea. Sushi. Garlic bread. Coloring books. Lake’s chunky monkey muffins. Seven’s babcia’s pierogi recipe. A slinky. A furby. The list went on and on. Arsen tried not to be jealous. After all, Ever had let Arsen give him the ultimate first experience. But still, he was greedy with all of Ever’s firsts.But Ever had become his best friends’ new favorite pet. Especially Levi’s. Levi, who’d acted like Ever’s very existence was a personal slight, now arrived everyday with treats for him. Only he didn’t care about Ever’s firsts. He brought Ever’s favorites. Peanut butter ice cream. Coke slushies. A cupcake from the shop on the corner. Flaming Hot Cheetos. Even this one special Japanese soda that could only be found at the Asian market on the edge of town.Some small part of Arsen worried Levi was trying to steal Ever away from him. It could happen. Arsen was hot, but Levi was thirst trap hot, girls following his stream just to stare at him hot, had been offered money for sex hot. And Levi and Ever had started out hating each other. And Ever loved romance novels. Especially the enemies to lovers trope. What if Ever decided that was his next first?When Arsen had said as much, Nico had laughed himself sick, but wouldn’t say why the idea was so funny. He’d assured Arsen that Levi just felt guilty because of how mean he’d been about Ever when he’d first arrived. He was trying to make amends. Arsen should be grateful. These guys were more than his friends. They were…brothers-in-arms. They literally knew where every body was buried. For them to keep the neighborhood safe, they needed to function as a unit. They couldn’t do that with infighting and jealousy.Once Arsen knew Ever was safe, he returned to the bedroom, brushing his teeth and splashing water on his face before throwing on a zip-front hoodie and shoving his feet into shoes. He took the stairs, two at a time, down to the garage. Ever turned to look at him as soon as he was on the first floor, eyes shining, a huge smile on his face.Arsen’s heart tripped over itself. Ever wore a full face of makeup. He was so fucking…pretty. Black liner accentuated his huge brown eyes, a dusty mauve color made his already lush mouth look even more so. He had pink cheeks and inky lashes and tiny crystals glued beneath each eye.It took Arsen a full minute to realize Ever was looking at him expectantly. “You look very—” He struggled to think of a word suitable enough—” beautiful, besenok.”Ever beamed at his words. “Felix did it.”“Oh, I know,” Arsen said ruefully, arching a brow at the culprit.Felix smirked. “He looks hot, right?”“He always looks hot,” Arsen said, walking to the couch and leaning down to plop a kiss on Ever’s glossy, slightly sticky mouth. That’s when he noticed the markers on the table and the one in Felix’s hand. “What are you doing?”“Baby wanted to match you,” Felix said.Baby? That was new. There were many terms of endearment. Gizmo. Ewok. Fragolina—Nico said it meant little Strawberry in Italian—Gumdrop. Little one. Ever’s nicknames were as plentiful as the gifts he received every day. Arsen moved around Nico, who had yet to say a word. When he saw Felix’s art project, his chest tightened. There, on Ever’s arm, was a scorpion drawn in black sharpie.Felix smirked at him, knowing the effect the drawing was having on him. “He wanted the real thing, but I thought if you woke up and found him missing you’d call the National Guard.”Felix was right. Crazy or not, Arsen didn’t want Ever out of his sight. Not until they figured out how deep this trafficking ring went. There hadn’t been any new cryptic messages from their mysterious watcher, but that might have been because Arsen kept Ever offline. If he wanted to play games, they came down to the garage so he could play on the playstation, something else that had made an appearance with the old sofa.“You’re not usually one for sleeping late,” Nico mused. “Even on your days off, you’re usually up before the sun like some kind of psycho.”“He didn’t get much sleep last night. We were up really late,” Ever supplied, cheerily. “Arsen was teaching me some stuff.”“I bet he was,” Felix murmured, patting Ever’s head like a dog. “Like what, babydoll?”“Yeah, what is it Arsen’s been teaching you into the wee hours of the morning?” Nico asked, tone salacious. “Tell us everything. Every scandalous detail.”“He taught me to play Resident Evil 7,” Ever said. “Oh! And Until Dawn.”Arsen’s lips twitched as Felix and Nico exchanged disappointed looks. Served them right.“Oh,” Felix said, clearly disappointed.That wasn’t all Arsen had been teaching Ever, but neither Nico or Felix needed to know the intimate details of their sex life. Their very active sex life. A sex life Arsen had been hoping to resume when he woke up ten minutes ago. Hell, the more he looked at Ever’s glossy lips, the more he wondered what they’d look like wrapped around his cock.“Why are you guys even here?” Arsen asked. “Don’t you have school?” he asked Nico, before looking to Felix. “And don’t you have a whole company to run?”“Wow, rude much?” Felix asked. “I brought Ever some presents. And Nico brought him breakfast.”Arsen narrowed his eyes on Nico. “You brought my boyfriend breakfast?” he asked, tone measured.Nico gave Arsen a sly look, sliding his hands into Ever’s silky dark hair, massaging his scalp. “Mm,” he said. “I brought him some new toys to play with.”He moved his hands down to Ever’s shoulders, working the muscles there until Ever moaned, sending a gut-punch of lust through Arsen.Nico’s knowing smile widened, his hands sliding down Ever’s arms. “I didn’t want him to be bored waiting around for his workaholic boyfriend.”Arsen dropped to sit beside Nico on the couch, facing away from Ever, his voice low enough for only Nico to hear. “You can stop touching him.”Ever stared at the television, unaware of the tension between Arsen and his friends. Felix was not. His lips twitched. Arsen knew they were doing this on purpose. Pushing his buttons. But it didn’t stop the jealousy swimming in his belly.“How can I do that?” Nico simpered, cupping his hand under Ever’s chin and tipping his face up to show Arsen. “Look at how adorable he is. Such a cute baby. Aren’t you, fragolina?”Ever nodded, completely oblivious to Nico’s teasing.Arsen leaned into Nico’s space, clamping a hand around the back of his neck and dragging him close enough for his springy blonde curls to press against his nose as he spoke directly into his ear. “It’s going to be really hard to defend yourself in this neighborhood if both your hands are missing. Stop. Touching. Him.”“Okay, okay, jeez,” Nico said. “I was just kidding. Felix was playing around too. Why don’t you ever get all alpha male on him?”“Felix is married,” Arsen said. “And not currently pawing my boyfriend.”Felix nodded. “It’s true. I can barely keep up with the three men I have at home.”“Three?” Ever asked, eyes going wide.“Mm, Zane and Asa live with us too. And even though you’re the sweetest, I don’t think you’re quite ready for the big leagues. The sex attic requires olympian level experience. You’re still rocking training wheels.”“Sex attic?” Ever repeated, looking to Arsen as if to confirm whether Felix did indeed have a sex attic.Arsen didn’t have any idea how to explain to Ever that the twins and their husbands had a very complex relationship that would likely require diagrams and teaching things he wasn’t sure Ever was ready to know.Luckily, the bell on the counter dinged before Ever could question him further. Arsen glanced towards the front, realizing for the first time that Jericho was nowhere to be seen.“Where’s Coe?” Arsen asked.Felix and Nico exchanged a look, then Felix grimaced. “In his office with the blinds shut. Probably sexting his husband.” He shivered. “Or worse.”“What’s sexting?” Ever asked.“I guarantee you Arsen will teach you as soon as you get your own cell phone, buttercup,” Nico said.Arsen was grateful for the length of his hoodie. It was hard to hide an erection in sweatpants and the idea of Ever typing out all the dirty things he wanted Arsen to do to him was making him horny.He wandered to the front of the garage, mentally rolling his eyes when he saw the girl at the counter. Not girl, woman. She was at least ten years Arsen’s senior, not that you’d know it from the deeply scooped tank top and barely there shorts she sported.She had her strawberry blond hair swept into a braid that curled around her shoulder to hang over her cleavage like an arrow, pointing exactly where she wanted people’s eyes to go. She had heavy eye makeup, overly lined lips and several poorly done prison tattoos that told the neighborhood all about her gang affiliation.“Hiya, Arsen,” she purred.He plastered an overly polite smile on his face. “Cherry. What’s up?”She leaned forward, setting her breasts on the counter, then her elbow, propping her chin on her hand, lips pouting as she said, “My car has a flat tire…again.”Arsen frowned. “Another one? That’s the third one in the last two weeks. Do you live in a construction zone?”The amount of flat tires the women in this neighborhood got seemed statistically impossible, but maybe not when Arsen considered the amount of renovations happening all over their town. Gentrification was creeping closer every day, with huge development companies coming in and buying up whole city blocks so they could hike up the rent and force people out of homes they’d lived in forever.Cherry shrugged. “I don’t know how this keeps happening to me?” she said, tone whiny as she swayed her body closer. “Can you fix it?”Before Arsen could respond, Ever stepped in front of him, leaning his back against Arsen’s chest. Arsen looked down, frowning at the top of Ever’s head, not unhappy to see him, but surprised. Ever rarely cared about what was happening in the garage, much less the customers.Cherry frowned like she’d found a bug floating in her drink, giving Ever a hard once over.“Who are you,” Ever asked, bluntly, tone hostile.“Cherry,” she said, her tone equally malevolent.“Cherry?” Ever said. “That’s your name?”Ever leaned harder into Arsen. “Are you dropping off or picking up?”Her lip curled in a sneer. “Dropping off.”“Where’s your car?” he shot back.“Who is he?” Cherry snapped, looking at Arsen over Ever’s head. “Does Jericho have another gay brother?” Arsen didn’t speak, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. To Ever, she said, “Who are you?”“I’m Ever,” he said, taking Arsen’s arms and wrapping them around his waist, then tilting his head.“That’s your name?” Cherry parroted meanly. “Well, Ever, is it? The adults are talking. Why don’t you go find your brother. Maybe he can help you scrape that gunk off your face. You are a boy, right?”Okay, that was enough. Arsen opened his mouth to tell her to be nice but before he could say a thing, Ever hissed at her. Just opened his mouth and…hissed. Like a cat. Like a feral cat.Cherry jumped back. “What the fuck? Is he special or something?”Arsen grinned, tipping Ever’s face up then kissing him square on his frowning mouth. “Very,” Arsen murmured, unable to stop himself from kissing him again. Then once more for good measure.Arsen heard the door open behind him, and then Jericho was leaning on the wall beside him. “What’s up, Cherry? You’re here a lot lately,” he said, tone bored. “Let me guess. Another mysterious flat tire?”She folded her arms under her breasts. “Yeah,” she said, tone defensive. “I think I ran over a screw or something.”Jericho stared her down for a long minute. “You said that last week,” he finally said. “But it looked almost like someone had slashed it. Deliberately. With a knife. Seems like someone has a grudge.”Her gaze floated away from Jericho’s. “What?” she mumbled.Felix suddenly appeared, leaning over the counter, voice obnoxiously loud. “My brother said, it sounds like someone doesn’t like you. Make any enemies lately? Stick your stubby little fingers in someone else’s pie?”“What?” she said again, sweeping a nasty look over all of them. “You know what? Nevermind. I’ll just take my business somewhere else.”Felix cupped his face. “Oh, no. Wait. Please don’t go,” he mocked, deadpan.She gave him the finger, then stormed off. Arsen assumed in the direction of her car.When she was gone, Jericho shook his head. “Good riddance. That girl is trouble.”“She’s ugly,” Ever said, voice sullen. “And stupid. And I don’t like her hair. And her boobs are too big.”Felix snickered, patting Ever’s head. “Easy, killer. You don’t have anything to worry about. Even if your man wasn’t already obsessed with you, he’s been strictly dickly for as long as I’ve known him. The closest I ever saw to him having a crush on a girl was Nala from The Lion King. So unless Cherry sprouts fur, I think you’re safe.”Arsen was only half listening. Ever had been jealous. Of Cherry. He’d come to stake his claim. He spun Ever around and slanted their mouths together, dick twitching at Ever’s surprised whimper. His lips weren’t just sticky. They tasted like strawberries.“Okay, you two. Take the show upstairs or I’ll have to start charging the customers extra,” Jericho said around a laugh.Arsen didn’t break the kiss, just spun them, walking Ever backwards to the stairs before letting him go, smacking his butt gently to prompt him to keep moving. If Ever wanted some reassurance that Arsen only had eyes for him, he’d happily give it.As soon as the door of the apartment closed behind them, Ever wrapped his arms around his neck and jumped, legs going around his waist like a koala. His lips found Arsen’s, whispering, “Fuck me.”“I-” What was Arsen going to say? No? He’d planned on spending the morning buried inside him anyway. “Yeah, okay,” he said, before kissing him once more.Arsen carried him towards the bedroom, but Ever broke their kiss, shaking his head. “Not there. The other room.” Arsen frowned but opened the door to the computer room. “Not the bed. The chair.”Arsen huffed a laugh against his mouth, but it quickly died as Ever’s tongue slipped past Arsen’s lips to tangle with his own. “We can slow down, besenok. We’ve got all day.”Ever ignored him. As soon as Arsen collapsed into the chair with Ever in his lap, his hands were unzipping Arsen’s hoodie, pushing it out of the way, head dipping to lick over his nipple. Fuck. Ever knew how quickly that got him going. Not that he wasn’t already hard enough to hammer a nail through a board.Arsen gripped Ever’s ass dragging him closer to grind their cocks together with a groan. Ever made a happy sound, then moved to give Arsen’s other nipple the same attention.Arsen’s hands slid up under his shirt, forcing Ever to sit up just long enough to pull it over his head. Ever moaned, rolling their hips together as he sucked a bruise onto Arsen’s neck directly over his pulse. He was marking his territory. Where everybody could see it. Ever was jealous. That shouldn’t have been the turn on it was. He didn’t want Ever to feel insecure, but he did love how much he loved Arsen.He gave a shuddery breath, his hands sliding into Ever’s pants, fingers dipping to tease over his hole. Ever hummed his approval into Arsen’s ear, nibbling at the shell of his ear. “Finger me.”“Christ. When did you get so demanding?” Arsen teased, stretching to reach the lube that laid on it’s side behind his subwoofer.Ever used the time to suck another mark into the skin over his collarbone. “Since some slut named Cherry shoved her boobs in your face.”Arsen didn’t think this was the time to give Ever a lecture on slut shaming. When did his sweet boy learn to be so sour? Was this his friends’ doing? Felix could easily have been the culprit. He had a barbed tongue and zero filter. Or maybe Ever had always been this feisty, but was just waiting to be comfortable enough to speak his mind.He was that comfortable with Arsen.“That’s not very nice,” Arsen admonished, playfully, coating his fingers and sliding them between his cheeks until Ever was pushing back, trying to get them where he wanted them.Arsen made a pained sound as he slipped a finger into the tight heat of Ever’s body. He wanted it to be his throbbing cock. He was aching at the thought of burying himself in that perfect heat.Ever’s mouth found his, fucking his tongue between his lips, even as he worked Arsen’s finger deeper. “Another,” he demanded.Arsen didn’t try to dissuade him, just did as he was told. Ever was in charge, Arsen was just there to serve him. Or service him. Whatever he wanted, really.When Arsen complied, Ever’s responding hiss was one of pain, but just as quickly he was rocking back, rolling his hips, his hand plunging into Arsen’s sweatpants and wrapping around his cock, stroking it with purpose, making another pleased sound when he found him leaking. “I’m good. Fuck me.”“Ever…” Arsen said, breathlessly.Ever pulled back, giving him a pouty face, voice sullen. “Please? Haven’t I been good?”Arsen’s cock twitched at Ever’s pleading. He already had him wrapped around his finger. Arsen was his goddamn slave. Fuck.Even if it was an act, a roleplaying exercise, some newly discovered kink, Arsen was more than happy to give Ever the words he needed to hear. “Yes, baby. You’ve been so good.”“Better than her?” he asked, riding Arsen’s fingers with abandon.Arsen groaned, biting Ever’s chin, his neck, his collarbone. “Better than anyone in the whole fucking world.”Ever suddenly slapped Arsen's arm. He pulled his fingers free, wiping them on his sweatpants as Ever wiggled from his lap, getting rid of his pants and underwear before cocking an expectant brow at Arsen. He stared for far too long at the naked perfection that was Ever, scars and all.When Ever gave another impatient sound, Arsen remembered what he was supposed to be doing, hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his sweats. Ever waited just long enough for Arsen to get his pants out of the way, then grabbed the lube, slicking Arsen’s cock, then turning away from him.Arsen frowned, but then Ever was holding his cock still so he could sink down on him, both of them gasping at the intrusion.“Don’t hurt yourself,” Arsen begged.“I-I’m not. It-It doesn’t hurt,” he managed. “Feels so…full of you. You’re so… deep like this.”Arsen gripped Ever’s hips hard, dragging him down even as he drove up into him. “Jesus. You really are trying to kill me.”Ever whined, rising up, then dropping down, once, then again. Like he was testing whether he could take it or not. Arsen tried to let Ever set the pace. He did. But each time Ever rose up, then dropped down it sent these bolts of pure heat through him until he couldn’t stop himself from holding Ever in place and working up into him.For his part, Ever didn’t seem to mind. He almost instantly went limp in Arsen’s arms, leaning his head back against his shoulder so that Arsen could hear every breath he drove out of his lungs with each thrust.It was addictive.“Fuck. You’re so tight. So hot and wet. You feel so fucking good. So good. You’re doing so good for me.”Ever whimpered, his cock flushed and leaking, bouncing with every movement.Arsen grabbed the lube, slicking his hand and wrapping it around Ever’s hard length, jerking him in time with his movements.“Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck,” Ever chanted.Arsen smiled. It was always so easy to know when Ever was close. His mouth got away with him and he’d start to babble curses. It was still so hot hearing those words come out of that innocent little mouth, in that breathy sweet voice.Ever took back control then, chasing his own pleasure, fucking up into Arsen’s hand, then dropping back onto his cock. Arsen had to fight to stave off the climax threatening to overtake him.He wanted Ever to come first. “Are you close?”“So close. Fuck. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”Arsen didn’t point out that Ever was the one moving, Ever was the one fucking himself on Arsen’s cock, jerking himself with Arsen’s tightened fist.“Come on…let me hear you,” Arsen murmured against his ear. “You sound so hot when you’re coming on my cock. Come for me and I’ll fill you up.”Ever’s breath caught and then he moaned long and low, his release spilling over Arsen’s fist. He continued to milk him until Ever flinched away, oversensitive.“My turn,” Arsen said roughly.He put Ever on his feet, bending him over the bed so he could grab his hips and slam into him again and again. He didn’t think about anything but the heat building in his spine and the pleasure just out of reach. Every thrust had Ever going up on tiptoe, driving these tiny little cries from his lips that drove Arsen crazy.Ever was so hot, so perfect. All Arsen’s. “You’re mine,” he said. “Just mine.”His orgasm slammed into him then. He gripped Ever’s hips tight enough to bruise, working into him in tiny, aborted thrusts as he came.As the post-orgasm high wore off, he blanketed himself over Ever to kiss his shoulder. “Are you okay?”Ever wiggled his butt a little. “Can you just stay inside me?”Arsen laughed, placing more kisses wherever he could reach. “I’m afraid not.” Ever shivered as Arsen pulled free. He dropped down to the mattress, dragging Ever with him, snuggling him close. “But give me an hour and we can do it again.”Ever made a sad sound. “Half an hour.”“Forty-five minutes,” Arsen countered.Ever huffed out a long suffering sigh. “Fine. Forty-five minutes.”