Rogue-Jericho's Boys #2 - Ch. 3 (Patreon)

This is as always unbeta'd, unedited, and completely off the rails. These two absolutely refuse to listen to anything I say. They've literally gone rogue. Ugh. 

Levi

“He said he was there to kill you?”

Levi nodded, sitting stiffly on Jericho’s super comfy couch in his penthouse apartment across town. It wasn’t the white couch they used to have. Nothing about the apartment was really the same as before. The blankets were gone, the walls were painted. The place looked more…lived in? The new couch was much darker, probably to hide all the stains from spilled drinks and grubby little hands.

Outside, the sun was just starting to rise, painting the sky in pinks,oranges and yellows. Levi had come straight from work just as Jericho had asked. But he’d had two hours to think about everything that had happened and now he was more worried for Shiloh than ever. What would happen to him when he returned home without having completed his job?

“Yeah, he said his brother wanted to send you a message.”

Jericho’s husband, Atticus, sat in one of the chairs opposite the sofa, arms crossed, his expression mutinous. “How exactly would your dead body have sent a message to Jericho? Was he planning on leaving a calling card like some super-villain? Was he going to send a flower bouquet with a confession to your funeral? Send up a beacon in the night sky like Batman? Who is this moron?”

People could say what they wanted about Atticus, but he sure never pulled any punches. You always knew where you stood with him. He seemed slightly more cranky than usual, but maybe that is because of Levi’s three-thirty wake up call. He seemed alert enough to have been up for some time, but was still wearing pajama pants and one of Jericho’s t-shirts, his red hair messy.

At first, Levi had thought Atticus was kind of an asshole—which, to be fair, he was—but he’d grown on all of them. Maybe because it was obvious how much Jericho loved him or maybe it was how protective Atticus was over all of them, even when they weren’t super nice to him. Either way, Levi respected the man. He’d saved their asses–and fed their asses–more than once.

“Easy, freckles,” Jericho murmured, sitting on the arm of the chair and petting a hand over his husband's bed head.

Levi hadn’t really thought about that. Maybe there was going to be some kind of calling card? It was hard to say because the plan had been thoroughly ruined. “I don’t know, man, but I do know that kid’s in trouble. His brother was slapping him and shoving him, and it definitely wasn’t the first time. He was really scared.”

Jericho grimaced. “Did he say anything else that might help you identify him?”

“All he said was his name was Shiloh and his brother was making him do this,” Levi said, shaking his head.

He should have tried harder to get some kind of identifying information out of him. Instead, he’d kissed him. He touched his lips. It was a really good kiss too. He was so…submissive. Deep down, Levi knew that submission probably came from years of trauma, but his dick wasn’t getting the message.

Was it wrong that he wanted Shiloh to be submissive for him? He’d never hurt him. He’d never take advantage. He’d treat him like he was supposed to be treated. And he sure as shit wouldn’t let his fuckwad brother ever lay a finger on him again.

Levi blinked as he realized Jericho was snapping his fingers in front of his face. “What?” he asked dully, realizing that Jericho had asked him a question.

“Did you bring the security footage like I asked?” Jericho repeated.

Levi nodded, pulling the thumb drive from his pocket, then hesitating. Jericho frowned at him. “What’s the problem?”

Levi’s gaze slid away from the couple. “Who exactly is going to see this footage?”

“Calliope, us,” Atticus said. “We’re not going to show the cops if that’s what you’re worried about.”

That was so not what he was worried about. Fuck. Calliope was in their group chat. If she saw this, she’d tell everybody. How she’d even gotten into the group chat was a mystery. Maybe she’d just inserted herself one day and they’d never noticed. She was a hacker. If she could hack government agencies, surely she could have invited herself into the group chat.

But if she watched the footage, she’d see Levi kissing Shiloh. She would definitely tell the others. When Jericho saw it, he was going to have questions. At the very least he would tease him. And tell the others. If Calliope didn’t beat him to it. Which she probably would. And then Atticus would tell his brothers. And if he didn’t, Noah would. Why did he have to have the world’s most gossipy friends?

“What’s the problem?” Jericho asked.

Levi closed his eyes. “So…before I give you this, there’s something you should probably know.”

When he didn’t continue, Jericho gave him an impatient look. “Are you going to tell us or is this a guessing game because I haven’t had my coffee yet and I’m due at the garage in an hour and we still have to get the kids up and ready so Ever can watch them.”

It was so weird to think of Jericho and Atticus as parents. Like, real parents, to little kids. Sure, the guys all thought of them as surrogates for their own shitty parents, but Jett and Jagger were literal toddlers—preschoolers?—without Jericho and Atticus they would die. That was just so much responsibility for two guys who said they were too selfish to have kids.

Levi took a deep breath and let it out. “When you watch the footage, you’re gonna see…”

“Gonna see…” Atticus prompted impatiently.

Levi didn’t know how to explain it. He’d watched the footage himself. He couldn’t even say he’d only kissed Shiloh to distract him. It was clear at first that the kiss was a surprise, to both of them, but then…then they’d, like, settled into it?

Levi had watched a grainy 720p version of himself holding Shiloh’s chin, adjusting his position, tugging his mouth open, pushing his tongue between his lips. He’d watched Shiloh stiffen, then panic, then just melt. Just rewatching it had made him hard.

Luckily, there was no audio, no way for them to hear the way Shiloh had whimpered and whined into Levi’s mouth, practically begging for more.

It hadn’t seemed like the kiss had lasted that long in person, but on camera it didn’t look like Levi was thwarting a felony. It looked like he was attempting to execute one on Shiloh. And a not small part of him was disappointed it had ended with a kiss. He didn’t even care what kind of monster that made him.

He just…wanted Shiloh.

He felt his face flush. “You’re gonna see me…kiss him.”

“Kiss him?” Jericho repeated.

Levi nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Atticus chuckled. “He put a gun to your head and you…kissed him?” He looked at his husband fondly. “Yeah, he’s definitely one of yours.”

Jericho smirked, voice full of mock innocence as he said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Mm,” Atticus said, his tone implying otherwise.

“Why…did you kiss him exactly?” Jericho asked.

Levi sighed, flouncing back onto the sofa cushions. “I was afraid Mendel would see the footage and see the gun in his hand. As soon as he raised his arm, I grabbed it and yanked him forward to block the gun from view.”

“And you just thought while you’re there you’d just have a little taste?” Atticus said, sounding amused.

“I thought it would look less suspicious on camera if it just looked like I was kissing my boyfriend,” Levi muttered, face flushing.

“Ah, so it was for altruistic purposes?” Atticus said, nodding.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Levi admitted. “None of that matters. He thinks his brother is going to kill him. We need to find him, protect him.” Levi looked at the sun creeping into the sky, his chest tightening. “If it isn’t already too late.”

“He’s not dead,” Atticus said with a confidence Levi found impressive considering he hadn’t known Shiloh existed two hours ago.

Levi frowned. “How do you know?”

Atticus sighed. “His brother likes to beat the shit out of the kid, no?”

Levi nodded. “Yeah?”

“He’s not going to kill his favorite victim. You said the kid was nervous, scared, fidgeting, had no idea what he was doing? Made several mistakes?” Atticus asked.

“Yeah?” Levi said, unsure where Atticus was going with this.

Atticus looked at Jericho, then back to Levi. “Yeah, he knew the kid wasn’t going to kill you. He sent him in there to fuck with him. Maybe he even hoped that you might kill him, but chances are he sent him in there to fail so that he’d have an excuse to beat him when he did. It’s a control tactic.”

“But why? Why say that I was a message?” Levi asked, shaking his head.

“You were. Here you are, telling us that he’s coming for me. That’s all he really wanted,” Jericho said. “He’s playing head games. Seems like a real ego maniac.”

That was worse. What was this psycho doing to Shiloh right then? Was he hurting him? Was he hurting him because of Levi? He never should have given him the chance to run away. He should have kept him there. Even if Atticus was right and Shiloh’s brother was just…setting him up, it was so that he could justify hurting him.

“We have to save him…like Arsen did Ever,” Levi said. “Especially if his brother is just looking for excuses to torture him.”

“We’ll try, kid,” Jericho assured him. “But first we have to find him. He didn’t give any other identifying information? Nothing?”

Levi shook his head, then stopped. “Wait. He has another brother. In prison. He said his older brother had framed him and that he was probably trying to do the same thing to Shiloh.”

Atticus arched his brow. “Wow. I don’t suppose he dropped the brother’s name or what he went away for?”

Levi sighed, shaking his head. “No.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Jericho said. “In the meantime, head on a swivel. Just because he didn’t mean to kill you last night, doesn’t mean he won’t try again now that the message has been delivered. That goes for the rest of the crew too. Make sure everyone is on high alert. Even Silas. We don’t know who this dick is or how much he knows about me. We need to act accordingly.”

Levi nodded.

“Daddy,” a tiny, sleepy voice called from somewhere inside the apartment. “Jagger won’t stop licking the cat.”

Atticus closed his eyes and shook his head, then stood. “I’ll handle it.”

“Why is your kid licking the cat?” Levi asked, frowning in the direction Atticus had disappeared.

“Cause we stopped letting him lick the windows,” Jericho said as if that made any more sense.

Kids were so fucking weird. “Oh. Right. Um, I’m going to go and try to get some sleep. Let me know if Calliope figures anything out?”

“Yeah, I will.” Jericho walked him to the door, then clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t spend all night obsessing. He’s going to be fine. We’ll figure this out.”

Levi nodded, but he didn’t really believe it. How was he supposed to find someone when all he had was a first name? What if he never saw Shiloh again? What if Atticus was wrong and Shiloh was already dead? Levi’s heart plummeted to his feet.

Then he shook the thought away.

“He’s fine,” he whispered to himself as he got on the elevator, earning a nasty look from an old lady with a dog in her Chanel handbag. Rich people were fucking weird too.

Shiloh was fine. He just kept repeating it over and over again. Shiloh was fine. Shiloh was fine. Shiloh was fine and Levi was going to find him and bring him to stay with him. He was going to help him.

###

Shiloh was not fine.

Levi was leaving work when he heard it, this hesitant, barely there voice saying, “Levi?”

When he looked down, he almost didn't believe his own eyes. After two days of Calliope and Arsen searching for Shiloh in every conceivable way—driver’s licenses, school records, property records, tax records, hell, even facial recognition software—they’d turned up nothing.

Calliope said Shiloh was a ghost. Metaphorically speaking.

But now, there he was sitting on the concrete between the broken newspaper dispenser and the door, knees to his chest, huddled, head down in a heavy coat completely unsuited for the summer heat.

Levi stared for a long moment. He’d spent the last two days making himself sick with worry, half convinced Shiloh was a literal ghost. This boy had occupied all of Levi’s waking thoughts and most of his nighttime ones too. He’d been distracted in his classes, had backed out of streaming with his friends, had even been a total zombie through this whole shift. He couldn’t remember a thing that had happened.

And now Shiloh was just…there, like it was nothing, like he hadn’t been ruining Levi’s peace of mind for days. The longer he stared, the more angry he got. He wanted to shake him, to ask him where the hell he’d been and whether he knew how worried Levi had been.

But he didn’t. He couldn’t. He had absolutely no right to Shiloh. Shiloh had no obligation to update Levi on his well being. Even if he had tried to kill him. Logic didn’t quell his anger, but it was Levi’s issue, not Shiloh’s. He hadn’t done anything wrong. They were strangers. Strangers who’d shared a really fucked up moment together. But strangers nonetheless.

Levi sighed, then squatted beside him, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Shiloh? Are you okay?”

Shiloh’s curls bounced as he nodded, but when he lifted his head, Levi’s heart shattered. Shiloh was not okay. There was a deep purple bruise around his right eye and two more on his left cheek and the center of his chin.

“Jesus,” Levi whispered, gently gripping Shiloh’s delicate chin, turning his head to examine him closer. Tears pooled in Shiloh’s pretty hazel eyes and the misplaced anger he’d had towards him less than a minute ago found a new home with his brother, only now it was a barely contained fury that made his voice tremble as he asked, “Did he do this to you?”

Shiloh’s tears broke free as he nodded, then he pitched forward, startling Levi. For a split second, he thought this was another much more well planned attack, but then he realized Shiloh was just hugging him. Tightly. Desperately. Clinging to him like he was afraid to let go, like he was holding a long lost family member.

Levi’s arms went around him, bringing him to his feet, without breaking his hold on him. Shiloh buried his face against Levi’s chest, hot tears soaking through his shirt. Levi’s heart twisted. How touch starved was Shiloh that he was hugging a complete stranger like this?

He closed his eyes, resting his chin on Shiloh’s head, swaying as he crooned,“Shh. Shh.”

He didn’t want to quiet him, just soothe him somehow.

He didn’t know how long they stood there on the deserted sidewalk underneath the spotlight bright security bulbs. Long enough for Levi to feel like he was a little high off the scent of Shiloh’s shampoo and more than a little distracted by the way his fingertips danced over the skin at the base of his spine, dipping just the slightest bit below the waistband of Levi’s jeans.

There was no way Shiloh didn’t feel that Levi was already half hard just from holding him. He felt like he was back in high school, excited just to touch another boy. But if he noticed Levi was turned on, he didn’t acknowledge it and he didn’t pull away.

Finally, Levi pushed Shiloh just far enough away to see his face. “What are you doing here?” Levi asked.

“I-” Shiloh cut himself off, dropping his gaze to the pavement. “I need the gun back,” he said, then mumbled, “Please,” almost as an afterthought.

Levi stared at the top of Shiloh’s head. “What?” Shiloh trembled, but didn’t answer. “Look at me.”

Shiloh did as Levi asked, expression miserable. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but I need to get that gun back.” He started shaking his head, tears welling again. “If I go back without it, Micah’s gonna…I just can’t go back without it. Do you have it? Here? Do you have it on you?”

Of course Levi didn’t have it on him. He’d taken it back to his apartment. He couldn’t leave it there for the next shift to find. “You want me to give back the gun you almost killed me with?” Levi asked, not unkindly.

Shiloh was hugging him again, shaking his head against his chest. “No. I don’t want to. I have to. I have to. I can’t go back on the roof again, Levi.”

Levi? That was the second time he’d said his name. How did Shiloh know his name? He looked down to ask, then answered his own question as he remembered it was stitched onto his pocket. Oh, right.

Why couldn’t Shiloh go back on the roof? What the hell did that mean? What was this fucker doing to him?

Levi had no reason to keep the gun. The serial numbers had been burned off. He was sure if they ran DNA, they’d find nothing but Shiloh’s.

“The gun isn’t here. It’s at my apartment,” he finally said.

“Can we go there? Now? Please? Can we go get the gun?” Shiloh asked, sounding seconds away from hysteria.

Levi nodded. “Yeah, it's only a couple of blocks up the street. Are you okay to walk that far?”

Shiloh nodded. “Yeah.”

As they walked, Shiloh stayed quiet, head down, but he tucked his hand into the crook of Levi’s arm, like they were walking home from a date. Once more, he felt that ache deep in his chest. There was something so…desolate about Shiloh. Looking at him hurt.

Levi didn’t know how to tell him that even though he would give Shiloh the gun, he wasn’t letting him go back to his brother. There was no way. He didn’t care what he had to do, who he had to call, how many favors he had to cash in. Shiloh was not going back to his house to be his brother’s whipping boy.

When they reached the apartment, they walked to the third floor then Levi punched in the code to the door. Inside, Nico sat on the couch in his underwear, an entire pizza in his lap, one slice hovering halfway between the box and his mouth. He frowned when he saw Shiloh, then glanced down once more like he was just then making the connection that he had almost no clothes on.

“Um, who’s this?” Nico asked, more curious than mad.

Levi glanced at Shiloh who was staring at Nico wide-eyed. He looked…hurt? “Shiloh, this is my roommate and best friend, Nico. Nico, this is Shiloh.”

Nico’s brows ran for his hairline and then he made his fingers into a gun shape before putting it to his head. “Shiloh? That Shiloh?”

Levi gave him a look he hoped conveyed the ‘shut up’ that was echoing in his head before saying,. “We’ll be in my room.”

Nico smirked but remained silent. Levi didn’t ask why Nico was up at two am. It could have been anything from an anime marathon to jerking off to amateur porn. With Nico, it was just better not to ask.

Levi opened his bedroom door and led him inside, pushing a bunch of magazines off the bed to make room for Shiloh to be able to sit.

“Sorry, I know it's a mess but I wasn’t expecting company,” he said, hating how hot his skin suddenly felt.

Shiloh shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s nice. Cozy.”

Levi gestured towards him vaguely. “Do you…want to take your jacket off? Aren’t you hot?”

“I don’t think I should,” Shiloh mumbled.

Levi’s stomach churned, that anger settling in his stomach once more. “Take off the jacket.”

Shiloh’s gaze jerked towards him, eyes wide. “What?”

“Take it off.”

“O-Okay,” Shiloh said, giving a stilted nod.

Shiloh was afraid of him. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer. He was complying because he thought he was going to hurt him. “Hey, I’m not going to do anything to you. You know that, right? I just want you to show me what you’re hiding.”

Shiloh swallowed audibly, then gave a pained smile, before sliding the jacket off, letting it fall to the floor.

Levi clenched his teeth to keep from losing his shit. What the actual fuck? More bruises, all in various shades of healing, some deep purple, others with green edges, some mottled purple and yellow.

The oldest ones were fingerprint shaped, like someone had grabbed him hard on both arms, the lighter purple and green bruises were about the size of a silver dollar.

But it was the fresh bruises that had him ready to take that gun in his drawer, go find Shiloh’s brother and force him to swallow every fucking bullet in the magazine. They were weird, large, circular shaped, some full circles, some half-moons. There were three on his left arm and two on his right. One disappeared underneath the sleeveless top he wore.

Levi stalked forward, yanking up Shiloh’s shirt. He cried out, startled, trying to yank the fabric back down but it was too late. Levi made a disgusted sound as he saw similar bruises on his chest and stomach. He took a deep breath and let it out. He had no right to answers, but he wanted them anyway. “What is that? What are these? What did he do to you?”

Shiloh dropped onto the corner of his bed, putting his elbows on his knees, then covering his face with his hands. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Fuck.

Levi sucked at this stuff. Years of dealing with his alcoholic mother had dulled his ability to be sensitive. He kneeled down in front of Shiloh, gently taking his hands away from his face. “You know I can’t let you go back there, right? You can’t keep letting him do this to you.”

Shiloh gave him a sad smile. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just…tired. That’s all. If you give me the gun, he’ll be good for a couple of days. He’ll chill out.”

Levi shook his head in disbelief. “Why are you defending him?”

Shiloh’s laugh sounded almost acidic, his words bitter. “Defending him? Who’s defending him? I’m just telling you how it is. He always pretends to feel guilty after beatings like this. He will be nice to me. As long as I do as I’m told.”

Levi couldn’t stop himself from ghosting his fingertips over the bruises on Shiloh’s, watching, fascinated as goosebumps erupted in his wake. “Doesn’t it hurt?” he asked, mystified at how Shiloh could just be sitting there, not writhing in pain.

Shiloh ignored the question, looking Levi in the eye. “I like when you touch me,” he said boldly. He took Levi’s face in his hands. “I liked when you kissed me too.”

Levi blinked at him, trying to keep up with the wild left turn the conversation had just taken. “Oh, yeah?” he asked, voice thick.

Shiloh nodded, drawing Levi closer to him. “Would you do it again? Now?”

Levi’s gaze fell to Shiloh’s lips, already parted. It felt…wrong. Like a trap, like something about this fucked up situation was too good to be true. “Are you trying to, like, seduce me?” he finally asked.

This time it was Shiloh who looked at Levi’s mouth, chewing on the corner of his lip. “Could I?”

Could he? What kind of question was that? The real question was should he and the answer to that was absolutely unequivocally no. This was such a bad idea. The worst idea. If Jericho knew what was happening at that very moment, he would have lectured him until he longed for his ears to fall off. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

Levi came up onto his knees just enough to gently cup Shiloh’s face, tilting his head to slot their mouths together softly, just in case he changed his mind. Shiloh’s hands fisted the fabric of Levi’s shirt, a tiny cry falling from between his slightly parted lips.

Levi leaned back enough to look at him, once more studying his expression. He didn’t want to force him into doing something he didn’t want to do just to get that gun back. “You know you don’t have to do this, right? I’ll give you the gun. But you can’t go back home.”

Shiloh ignored him, bringing Levi’s hand to his chin, his voice soft when he said,“Kiss me like you did the other night. Please?”

Like he’d done the other night? Oh. “Like this?” he asked, voice raw.

He used his thumb to tug his mouth open further, tilting his head before licking along the seam of his lips

. “Please,” Shiloh said again.

Fuck. He begged so sweetly. Levi leaned in again, brushing their lips together before sliding his tongue inside. Shiloh moaned into his mouth, laying back on Levi’s bed, dragging him back with  him.

Shiloh kept inching further back until his head was on the pillow, Levi followed, not breaking the kiss. He tried not to put his weight on Shiloh. He could easily have had a cracked rib or two.

Shiloh clearly wasn’t worried, his legs slipped open and he tugged Levi down until their hips were flush against each other. Fuck, the hard length of Shiloh’s cock was pressing against his thigh and his hands were running up under Levi’s shirt.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Levi said, breaking the kiss to trail his mouth along his bruised jaw, to the spot behind his ear.

“You won’t,” Shiloh assured him, then suddenly froze. “Unless you don’t want this…want me? I-was the kiss just a way to get the gun away from me? Oh, God. It was, wasn’t it? I’m such an idi-”

Levi gave him a hard kiss, just to shut him up. “Stop.”

“Okay,” Shiloh said.

Fuck, he was so fucking obedient.

“Open your mouth,” Levi said, making an approving noise when Shiloh did as he was told. “Hm, that’s good. So good,” he praised, before dipping his tongue inside once more.

He knew he should stop. Was sure of it. But he also knew that nothing short of Shiloh changing his mind was going to stop him from giving Shiloh anything he wanted. Anything.