The Bone Collector - The Watch #1 - Ch. 11 (Patreon)

New chapter. Unbeta'd/Unedited. 

Gift

Gift arrived at the gym at six am, two hours before his first class, just as Aspen had asked. It was eerily silent. He chewed on his bottom lip as he prowled the large empty space. Was he early or was Aspen late? He could have checked his phone but it really didn’t matter. He would wait.

He dropped his bag with his towel and water bottle onto the risers, bouncing on the balls of his feet just trying to burn off some nervous energy. Why was he so nervous? He couldn’t say, really. But his heart pounded with…anticipation. Like something was coming but he just didn’t know what. He couldn’t put a finger on the source of his anxiety, so he tried to walk it off. He had no reason to worry.

Aspen was an expert. And, more to the point, he was the only one who had offered Gift any help at all. Though to be fair, for the last month or so, they’d cycled through weapons instructors like Hogwarts cycled through Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, with all the instructors picking up the slack while Mac and Archer had been gone. When he’d returned, they’d shifted him to acquisitions.

Gift needed this class to graduate, to prove he could use some kind of weapon with accuracy, even if he was just a handler. It was part of the program. A key component to his ability to graduate. The school reasoned that handlers were often in the field to meet with their deadly counterparts. Gift wanted to be a good partner to Payton, wanted to prove he was worthy of the program even if he was only there due to circumstance.

Finally, Gift checked the time. It was ten past six. Had Aspen changed his mind? Should he leave? He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to learn. He wanted to prove himself. Why would Aspen say he was going to train him and then not show? He sighed, chewing his lip once more as he contemplated his limited options.

His eyes fell to the weapons case, pulse dancing. He slid a guilty look towards the door, then slowly made his way to the cages that made up one wall of the gym. He tried the door. It was still unlocked. With one final look at the gym doors, he opened the case and pulled the sai swords free of their cradle, once more testing the heft of them before twirling each one in his hand with a smile.

He played with each one as he would the lightsaber he had in his closet, easily moving through each move from muscle memory. But after another moment, he stopped. This wasn’t going to help him pass the class. Sai swords were meant to be used in a very specific way. Gift had looked it up the night before.

He stopped playing around, remembering Aspen’s instructions, hooking his thumb around the curved part of the weapon and twirling it outward, then drawing it back to tuck the blade beneath his arm in one smooth motion. He couldn’t stop his excited giggle. He then tried with both blades at once. His heart hammered against his ribs as he executed it flawlessly.

Holy shit. Maybe he really could do this?

“Be careful with that.”

Gift sucked in a breath at the sharp tone, spinning around, furrowing a brow at the intruder. Park. Of course, it was Park. It was always him. Wherever Gift went, there he was. Gift hated how happy he was to see him, hated the way heat swept through him and the air turned electric. Being near Park tugged at something deep within him. Something dark and sinful and so deliciously wrong that it made him ache.

But no matter how much Gift longed to just cross the room, oss himself into Park’s arms and hope he picked up where they’d left off in his office yesterday, his stomach still sank. Park was there to take this away from Gift too. He couldn’t have anything without someone else allowing him to have it, like he was a child. He wanted to scream with frustration. Even now, people were still making his decisions for him.

Had Park spent last night assuring Gift’s mother that he’d make sure Gift never finished the program? He hated how paranoid that sounded but sometimes people really were conspiring against him. His mother was notorious for pulling strings to put Gift exactly where she wanted him.

She thought Gift was incapable. A child. Ironically, tears pricked at the back of his eyes. But he wasn’t sad. He was bitter. Angry. Disheartened. He sure as hell wasn’t going to cry about it. Nothing would prove him unfit to his mother and Park more than Gift bursting into tears and begging Park to let him graduate.

Gift didn’t need his permission. Not exactly. He could do this on his own, but the only thing that would prove more frustrating than failing, was passing with flying colors only to have his mother or Park swoop in once more and convince the powers that be that Gift was a bad risk. Fuck.

Park let the heavy door slam shut behind him, the sound reverberating around the room, making Gift jump. He watched, heart in his throat, as Park trekked to the large padded mat in the center of the floor, giving Gift an expectant look. He heaved a sigh, chest tight as he forced himself to meet Park in the middle, legs heavy.

Park smelled good. He smelled so good. Like spice and orange and something earthy. It had Gift’s dick taking notice. Was it normal to have this kind of reaction to someone’s scent? Was it normal to want to grab Park and bury his face in his neck even though he was mad at him? He clenched his hands around the handles of the swords, trying to get a hold of himself, before he did something stupid like rub his face over every inch of Park’s body, scenting him like a cat.

“Hi, hia,” Gift said quietly, not sure what else he could say.

Gift itched to touch him, hold him, drop to his knees and taste him just as he’d done yesterday.

“Hi, ouen,” Park said, with the barest hint of a smile.

The fondness of Park’s tone knocked Gift off-kilter. Why did Park seem so happy to see him? Did he just enjoy ruining things for Gift? He’d hoped after yesterday something would have changed between them, that Gift would feel like his feet were on solid ground. But no. Just like always, being with Park left Gift feeling…adrift.

Gift had always thought falling in love would feel good. The movies led him to believe it was supposed to be romantic and sweet. But, so far, it just made Gift feel like shit. Like someone dangling a carrot in front of him that he’d never quite reach.

A sexy carrot with rumpled hair and workout clothes that looked soft to the touch. Gift ached to find out. He wanted to whine in frustration knowing he couldn’t just reach out and touch him. Park wasn’t his, despite the cozy boyfriend aesthetic he currently embodied.

“What are you doing here?” Gift asked when Park said nothing more. He dropped his gaze to the floor before he did something stupid like drop to his knees again. Especially since he didn’t know whether he’d be down there to beg or blow him once again. “Are you coming to tell me I can’t train with Aspen?” he asked, voice docile.

Park sighed, putting his finger under Gift’s chin and tipping his head up before quietly saying, “No, I came to tell you that I told Aspen I would train you myself.”

Gift blinked at him stupidly, his brain attempting to process his words, with Park’s hand still on his face.

“What? Why?” he cried, narrowing his eyes at Park. “Is this just so you can sabotage me? Is this some plot you cooked up with my mo—”

Gift whined as Park ducked his head, capturing Gift’s lips in a kiss meant to silence him. Even so, he couldn’t stop his hands from fisting in Park’s t-shirt. Gift was right, it was soft. He sighed beneath Park’s lips, opening for him to sweep his tongue inside. He tasted like toothpaste and lip balm. When Park finally broke the kiss, Gift swayed back into his space, dizzy and half-hard.

Park’s hands cupped Gift’s cheeks, looking him in the eyes. “I’m not trying to sabotage you, ouen. I’m trying to help you. Aspen seems…adequate at his job, but, frankly, him spending the next hour with his hands all over you is just not something I’ll allow.”

Gift’s lids fluttered as he processed Park’s statement, noting Park’s suddenly red ears and shifting gaze. Gift’s jaw dropped as the pieces slid into place. “Wait. Are you-Are you jealous of Aspen, P’?” he asked, unable to hide his delight.

“Of course, not.” Park scoffed as if the idea was absurd. “What do I have to be jealous of?”

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nobody else had existed since the moment he’d laid eyes on Park. Despite his words to the contrary, Gift knew Park was jealous. He was jealous of Aspen, because of Gift. He resisted the urge to clasp his hands together and twirl with delight, instead opting to tease him a little.

“You are. You totally are. You’re jealous. First Payton, now Aspen.” Gift was sure his heart would explode from happiness. “You’re so possessive, hia.”

Park’s expression grew stormy, and he refused to make eye contact with him. Gift tried to dull his elation but it was impossible, so he settled for the next best thing. He carefully let the swords fall to the mat, then gave into the urge he’d had since Park walked in.

Warmth bled through Park’s t-shirt as Gift slid his palms over the smooth plains of Park’s toned stomach and chest, practically purring. Park stiffened beneath him, but that didn’t stop Gift from wrapping his arms around his neck, emboldened by this turn of events.

“Hia, not everyone is trying to fuck me...” He pulled Park in, lips brushing against the skin just behind Park’s ear as he whispered, “Just you.”

Park’s sharp inhalation made Gift’s dick take notice once more, which wasn’t exactly ideal in his slightly loose sweatpants, but that didn’t deter him now that he knew he had the upper hand with Park.

“Kla!” Park snapped, sounding scandalized. He stepped back, putting a tiny bit of distance between them. “I’m not trying to—” His voice trailed off and he looked over his shoulder like he worried they had an audience.  “I’m not trying to fuck you,” he grumbled, looking adorably put out. “You’re the one who keeps trying to seduce me.”

Gift giggled at Park’s expression. Park was right, of course. This was all because of Gift. But seeing his effect on Park had him wanting to push the boundaries even more. He pooched out his lower lip in an exaggerated pout. “Poor hia,” Gift taunted. “Just trying to do a good deed and now your new ward is out to seduce you. It’s very Jane Eyre.”

When his gaze found Gift’s once more, his brown eyes glittered almost black. All pupil as his gaze dropped to Gift’s pouting mouth once more. Gift shivered. Park looked…dangerous. When he ducked his head, Gift anticipated a kiss. Instead, he yelped at the sharp pain in his lower lip, hand flying to cover the injured flesh.

Park bit him.

He’d…bitten him.

Before Gift could even wrap his head around that, Park was dragging him in until he was close enough to Gift to feel his breath puffing against his cheek.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, ouen,” Park rasped. “I’m trying to be patient with you because you’re young and inexperienced, but I’ll only let you push me so far before I just give in and do every single dirty thing I’ve imagined doing to you since you showed up on my doorstep. And I promise, it will hurt more than a tiny bite.”

Gift went from half-hard to fully hard so fast he was lightheaded. Holy fuck. What was wrong with Gift that this only made him want to press Park harder? Gift was inexperienced, sure, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew what he liked and what he didn’t. Well, kind of. Enough, anyway. He also knew this was a game between them. And, right now, Gift was winning.

“Ouch, hia. The least you could do is kiss it better,” he simpered, looking up at him from beneath dark lashes.

Park’s nostrils flared, his hands gripping hard on Gift’s hips. “You’re such a little demon. A succubus sent straight from hell to tempt me.”

Gift gave him a slow blink, heart hammering as a smile spread across his face. “Aw, you say the sweetest things.” Gift ghosted his lips over Park’s. “Kiss me, hia. Please?”

“We’re in the gym,” Park said, though with no real heat.

Gift brushed their noses together. “So kiss me quickly.”

“Brat,” Park muttered, lips slotting against Gift’s.

Park swallowed Gift’s broken sigh, but not the moan that spilled out as Park sucked at his bottom lip, biting down once more, gently this time. His hand cupped Gift’s jaw, tugging his chin down to open his mouth, kissing him in deeply, thoroughly.

Just a kiss was enough to have Gift whining against his lips, desperate and aching, his whole body on fire as Park took what he wanted.

Finally, Park pushed him away gently, his hands coming to rest on Gift’s narrow waist. “Do you want to learn how to use these or not?”

What Gift wanted was to drag Park into the nearest broom closet and finish what they started yesterday, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Do you even know how to use these?”

Park scoffed. “You doubt me?”

He didn’t. While Gift didn’t know everything about Park’s past, it was no secret that as a former operative, he had killed countless people in service to a country he’d lived in only half his life. That he had a reputation for being one of the best in the field.

Knowing Park as Gift did, it seemed impossible that the man who insisted Gift follow every old-fashioned custom in the book was the same man they’d called the bone collector. That was the thing about Park though. He had this…duality that Gift found fascinating and so incredibly hot. He had a youthful face, an easy smile. He was charming when he needed to be, funny without trying. He was effortlessly beautiful and took care of Gift without him ever needing to ask, buying him clothes, making him dinner, making sure he finished his school work. All the things he never had before.

But then there was the other Park.

Dark, dangerous, mysterious.

The unrepentant killer, wickedly smart, shockingly bold. The Park who looked at Gift like he couldn’t decide whether he was something to be savored or swallowed whole. The Park that said the most deliciously dirty things to Gift as he was making him come. The Park that threatened to punish Gift in ways that had him biting down on his knuckles while he jerked off in the shower just to muffle his cries of Park’s name.

“Gift?”

Gift dragged himself from his thoughts, swallowing audibly. “N-No, I don’t doubt you,” he said, voice raw.

“You okay?” Park asked, sounding amused.

“I’m fine,” Gift snapped, then winced giving Park an apologetic look. “Sorry, hia. Just…just tell me what I need to do?”

Park’s large hand cupped the back of Gift’s head, pulling him forward until his lips grazed Gift’s temple. “You seem distracted, ouen. I can’t have you distracted with a weapon in your hand.”

Gift’s tongue darted out to sweep over his bottom lip, giving a nervous laugh. “Then maybe you should stop touching me.”

“Why? Am I distracting you?” Park taunted, his free hand curving to cup one ass cheek, giving it a squeeze, smirking when Gift’s breath hitched.

Now it was Gift’s turn to suffer. “You know you are.”

“Turnabout’s fair play,” Park rumbled. “You started this game, ouen. Coming to my office, sitting in my lap, sucking me off with my boss two feet away. Now, here you are again, looking at me like you want me to bend you over those bleachers. You’re lucky all I’m doing is teasing you.”

Gift didn’t feel lucky. He felt…neglected. He wanted Park to do all the things he kept hinting at. All of them. But that would never happen if Park thought he had the upper hand.

Gift pressed his lips to Park’s chin, then dragged over it with his teeth. “You want to punish me so badly, hia. Yet, you never do,” he said, forlorn. “You just talk about it. Over and over again. Are you trying to turn me on? Cause it’s working. If you had any idea how often I jerk off in the shower thinking of you…Is it because I’m really your good boy? Is that why you won’t…bend me over the bleachers? Spank me? Give me what I deserve?”

“Gift.”

Gift flushed at the warning in Park’s tone. Still, he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. He let his hand trail down Park’s front, sneaking beneath his t-shirt to ghost fingers over the smooth skin just below his belly button. “Or is it because I’m still a virgin?” he asked, breathless, turning himself on while he attempted to drive Park mad. “You could fix that.”

“You’re playing with fire,” Park warned, voice tight.

Gift flicked his gaze upwards, locking eyes with Park. “I already feel like I’m in flames,” Gift said, breathless. “But i like it. I’d roll around in the coals if it meant you’d just give me what I want”

Park’s breath left him in a huff, like Gift had knocked the air from his lungs. “Gift.”

Gift wasn’t done. “You have no idea the things I want you to do to me…the things I’d let you do to me. Anytime. Anywhere. Whenever you wanted.”

The sound Park made was near animalistic. But he took Gift by the shoulders squeezing tightly, like he was trying to ground himself. “Behave yourself, or there will be no lesson at all,” he said tersely.

Gift blinked, feeling like he’d been pulled out of a trance.

Right. The lesson.

Gift sighed. “Yes, hia.”

“Thank you,” Park said, sounding relieved as he bent down to pick up the discarded sai swords.

“But you are going to fuck me soon, right?” Gift asked, making sure his face was the perfect mask of innocence.

Park’s head snapped up. “Christ, Kla. You can’t just ask me that in the middle of the gym.”

Gift shrugged. “To be fair, I’ve asked you other places and you still refuse to answer. I’m tired of waiting. I have other options.”

Gift expected another warning, another empty threat. But Park just stood there, studying Gift’s face for a long moment.

“Tonight…” Park managed. “Come have dinner with me tonight and we’ll…we’ll see. But only if you let me get through this lesson in peace.”

Gift dropped his gaze to the ground, tone as docile as he could manage while horny and gloating. “Yes, hia.”

Park snorted. “Nice try, suhn.”

Suhn…naughty. If Park only knew.

###

For all Park’s talk, he proved the biggest distraction of all. Even in a gymnasium the size of an airplane hanger, Park made Gift feel like nobody else existed outside of their bubble. He spent much of the lesson with his arms around Gift, his hands folded over his. It was an exercise in concentration.

They were both damp and sweaty now, the heat of Park’s chest against Gift’s back was just this side of too much. The feel of his half-hard cock pressed against Gift’s ass was hard to ignore. Park maneuvered Gift so the swords tucked flush against his arms, tips pointing towards his elbows.

“See? Like this, you can drive them backwards—” he used Gift’s arm to demonstrate, carefully sidestepping as he had Gift thrust his elbow back— “but you can also continue to use the hilt as a weapon, striking the face like this.”

Gift swallowed the lump in his throat, attempting to focus with Park’s warm breath on his ear and his much larger frame surrounding Gift’s. It was torture. Pure torture. “Yeah. I-I think I got it, hia. I…should be going soon. I have to shower before class.”

Gift moved to step away, but Park held firm, his hands sliding to Gift’s hips, his nose nuzzling behind Gift’s ear, before brushing a kiss over the hinge of his jaw, just above the spot he’d marked two nights ago. Gift couldn’t stop the embarrassing whimper that fell from his lips as Park pulled Gift’s hips back against him roughly.

Just when Gift was sure he was going to have to walk back to his room tenting his sweatpants, Park released him, swatting him on the ass hard enough to make him gasp.

When he turned to look back at Park, eyes wide, he just raked his gaze over Gift from head to toe, before saying, “Okay, ouen. I’ll take those. You go shower, then get to class.”

Gift gave a nod, handing over the weapons, his thoughts elsewhere as he grabbed his things and headed for his room. Inside, Payton sat on the edge of his bed, in only his pajama pants, resting his upper body up on his palms.

When he saw Gift, he barked out a laugh. “Aspen must have really kicked your ass. You look like you just ran a marathon.”

Gift dumped his stuff unceremoniously on his floor, then flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Not Aspen. Park. Park told Aspen he’d train me himself and Aspen just…agreed to it. He didn’t even give me a head’s up. Traitor.”

“Park trained you?” Payton asked a million questions buried in that one sentence.

When Gift just continued to stare at the ceiling, Payton jumped up, straddling Gift’s thighs then hovering over him, bracketing his head with his hands. “You good? Did he do something to you?”

Gift sighed, raising a hand to trace the large black X’s tattooed on Payton’s ribs and chest, watching as the skin jumped beneath his finger. “No. That’s the problem. He spent the entire hour actively not doing anything to me.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Payton said, amused.

Gift gave a beleaguered little noise. He didn’t want to rehash it all, but he needed someone to talk him off this ledge. “He was like…tormenting me. He had his arms around me, his mouth next to my ear, his hands on mine. Park is a sadist. He was enjoying every fucking minute of it.”

Payton raised a brow, smirking down at Gift. “Would you prefer he didn’t enjoy it?”

“I’d prefer he just put his dick in me already,” Gift wailed, wanting to kick his feet like a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Payton dropped down to his forearms until his face hovered over Gift’s. “Aw, your first edging? Should I add it to your baby book?”

“Fuck off,” Gift said with a smile.

“Potty mouth,” Payton said, hand on his chest. “When I first met you, you were so sweet and cute and quiet. You would just let us baby the fuck out of you. Do everything for you. We fawned over you like a stray kitten.”

Gift threaded his hands underneath Payton’s forearms to starfish on the bed beneath him. “I know. It was so nice,” he said with a sigh.

“Why did you let us do that?” Payton asked, studying him. “I mean, I get why you lied to Park…sort of. But why did you let us baby you so much?”

Gift frowned, staring up at Payton. He’d never lied to them. He’d always been up front about who he was. He might have been more reserved in the beginning but that was because he was new. He didn’t know any of them.

“I let you baby me because it felt good. I have narcissist parents and I’m chronically touch-starved. It was nice to feel wanted, especially by a bunch of people who didn’t want anyone. Besides, I didn’t know how dangerous any of you might be so it just seemed smarter to let you see me more as a helpless baby and less as a threat.”

Payton booped Gift’s nose. “That’s downright diabolical. What a manipulative little shit you are. I approve. Maybe you’re a psychopath, after all?” he gasped, making a shocked face. “Would that mean I’d have to become your handler? Plot twist.”

Gift scoffed. “I’m not a psychopath…I mean, I don’t think I am. Besides, you all love treating me like a pet. It feeds something in those deviant psychopathic brains of yours.”

Payton studied him for a long moment, then deflated. “Yeah, you’re right. I do like it. You’re not going to stop us, right?”

Gift furrowed his brow. “Stop you from what?”

“Stop us from babying you?”

Gift made a noise as if that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “No, I quite like being babied, thank you very much. It makes up for the fact that my parents don’t give a fuck about me.” He meant it to sound like a joke, but he couldn’t quite pull it off.

Payton squished Gift’s face between his palms. “My parents don’t love me either. I’d venture a guess that none of us have parents that truly think of us as their own. We were all adopted too late, too much money and power exchanged hands before they took ownership of us.”

Gift winced, heart twisting. “My mother birthed me and still doesn’t give a shit. So maybe it doesn’t matter.”

“Maybe not, but fuck her. Fuck all of them.” He looked down at Gift, expression growing infuriatingly smug. “Besides, Park’s the only parental figure you need. And believe me when I say having one good Daddy is better than having two shitty parents.” He wiggled his brows.

“Ugh, I’m not calling him Daddy,” Gift cried, covering his face with his palms.

Payton pried Gift’s hands away and trapped them above his head. “No, you prefer hia. Yes, hia, no, hia…spank me, hia, harder, hia,” he cried, sounding like something out of bad porn. “Which is no less kinky, by the way. It might actually be worse.”

Gift’s ears burned with a sudden warmth. “You’re one to talk. We all know how much you love Boone. He’s older than your father.”

Payton scoffed, resting his full body weight on Gift, like his own personal weighted blanket. “Whatever. I’m a psychopath. I’m incapable of love. I just want him to rail me until I forget my own name.”

“Oh, my God,” Gift said, eyes wide. “Does he know this?”

Payton sat up on Gift’s thighs, a grin spreading across his face. “I think it’s safe to say I’ve made my intentions clear.”

“And has he…reciprocated?” Gift asked, fascinated at the prospect.

Payton shrugged, laughing. “Not yet. But I’m wearing him down a little bit at a time. He’ll fold. They all do. Nobody can resist me for long.”

Gift rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, Dove swung their door open, Morgan in tow.

Morgan snickered when she saw them on the bed together. “You guys decide to give up on the geriatrics and just bone each other?”

“Don’t you know how to knock?” Payton asked, sounding unbothered despite his words. “What if we were naked?”

Dove snickered. “Then we definitely wouldn’t have knocked. Come on, Payton, show us the goods,” she demanded, jumping on Payton, causing the two of them to roll off of Gift and the bed.

Someone shrieked and then the sounds of slapping ensued. Gift rolled to peer over the edge, feeling Morgan join him. Payton and Dove were slapping at each other like children. “No means no, you perv,” Payton yelped between gales of laughter, while Dove pretended to try to grab for his waistband.

Dove gave a high whine. “Why? I just wanna see it? I don’t even like dick,” Dove said, still grabbing until Payton trapped her wrists in one hand.

That brought Gift up short. “Wait? Really?”

Dove turned to look at Gift from where she perched on Payton, her hands still held hostage. “Have I ever given you any indication that I did? Straight boys are sweaty and they smell bad and they’re mean and only care about sex. Girls are pretty and soft and they smell nice. There’s really no comparison.”

Payton sat up, not dislodging Dove. “What about you? Are you secretly a lesbian too?”

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Gender is a construct. I don’t really care what people have in their pants as long as they can get me off and don’t get clingy.”

“Way to have standards,” Payton teased.

Morgan gave him an imperious look. “You only fuck men who get mail from AARP, so shut the fuck up.”

“Hey, you’d be surprised on how much those discounts save on hotel rooms,” Payton quipped back.

“You’re all beyond damaged,” Gift said, flopping onto his back to stare at the ceiling. “We have a test in international diplomacy in thirty minutes and then we have to solve a murder. We should probably shower.”

Dove and Morgan stood. “Fine. See you in class.”

Once they were gone, Payton turned on Gift. “Wanna shower together?”

Gift choked on his own spit. “What? No.”

Payton gave him a teasing look. “Oh, come on. Saves water. There’s a shortage you know. Besides, think of how crazy Park would get if he knew we showered together.”

“As nice as it sounds, I’ll pass. He’d already have a stroke knowing we sleep in the same bed together. If he found out we were showering together too…he’d probably kill me.”

Payton laughed loud, throwing an arm around Gift’s shoulders. “I don’t think anyone’s ever been fucked to death.” Goosebumps erupted along Gift’s skin at his words. “But it sure would be fun to find out.”

Gift rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”