Kid stepped into the hotel room, his nostrils savoring a sweet, pine aroma. It was the best thing he’d smelled in a long time. This was also the nicest place he’d seen since he’d first arrived at Jerry’s.

Between the main living area and the adjoining bedroom, Kid thought the room might have been as big as the workout room at Jerry’s. The living area divided into two parts. On one side was a white-tiled kitchen, complete with a fridge, microwave, and coffeemaker. A black, marble counter separated it from the living area, where Kid and Treycore stood. A red leather sofa and cushioned chairs faced a wall-mounted flat screen TV.

Treycore went to the kitchen counter, and picking up a pen and a notepad that were placed on it, scribbled something down.

Kid meandered into the adjoining bedroom.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed.

A king-sized bed took up most of the room and faced its own flat screen TV. On the other side of the bed, a window stretched across the wall, looking out at the ocean, which glistened in the moonlight.

Kid raced up to the window, his eyes fixed on a beach as waves crashed against the shore.

Treycore came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his chest and tucking his nose against Kid’s face.

“You like it?” he asked.

“It’s beautiful!” Kid exclaimed, beaming.

“Maybe once we figure all this out, we’ll have to come back. You know, for a visit.”

Shivers rushed up and down Kid’s body. The thought of getting to spend more time with Treycore was exhilarating. He giggled with excitement. Spinning around, he planted a firm kiss on Treycore’s lips.

Waves of heat rushed through his body. His thoughts scrambled. He couldn't pull Treycore close enough. He wanted Treycore to be inside him. He wanted to never let him go.

Treycore kissed his way down to Kid’s neck.

Kid became so lost in the moment that he muttered, “I love—”

Treycore pulled back sharply.

“—Kinzer,” Kid finished. He was relieved that he'd managed to catch himself before saying “you.”

The words he’d almost uttered had startled Kid, but they were how he felt. Oh, what a dumb mortal he must’ve been. It was a trick of the mind, surely. Of course, after everything he had been through he would have believed that he was in love with the most beautiful man…well, immortal…he’d ever encountered.

It must have been something Treycore emitted—some magnetic power that betrayed Kid’s senses. Made him think they were more than they possibly could have been.

Treycore would have laughed—mocked him, even—if he knew how he felt. Even worse, he might never be allowed to fuck him again.

Treycore’s arms withdrew from around Kid. His face appeared frozen, stoic.

Kid couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Maybe he was just relieved that he hadn’t said his name. Or, maybe he knew that he was about to say his name and was horrified.

“Who was that guy you called?” Kid asked, desperately trying to get out of what felt like a wildly uncomfortable situation.

“Um…uh,” Treycore stammered.

Kid was surprised. He’d never seen Treycore at a loss for words.

Treycore headed back into the living area. Kid followed after him.

“My ex-girlfriend,” Treycore said. “You remember the bitch who—”

“Oh, I fucking remember.”

Treycore returned to the counter. He tore a page from the notepad and scribbled on the next page. Kid leaned against the doorframe between the two rooms.

“Well, this guy’s got her same gift. He’s a very old friend. Went into hiding during the war. That’s not exactly accurate. I guess you could say he was forced into hiding. The Leader created a weapon. A very powerful weapon known as Morarkes. They were designed to kill immortals, particularly higherlings. Their first targets were Teleporters and Trackers, the two greatest threats to the Leader’s army, considering he had very few of either in Hell. As far as I know, there were only a handful of Teleporters in Hell. Heaven had nearly twenty.”

As he spoke, he didn’t look back up at Kid. Kid worried that it had something to do with when he’d said those stupid words, “I love…” Treycore must have known how he really felt and was sweet enough to not tell him why he could never like a stinky mortal.

“When Lero, the higherling I called,” Treycore continued, “discovered that his Teleporter friends were being killed off by this weapon, he came to earth, went into hiding, and tried to blend in with mortals. I wish I could say that after the war, he found out he liked earth so much that he decided to stay. Truth is, he’s always been paranoid about another war breaking out and him being the first target. And for good reason. The war really never ended, and his kind are at the top of the Leader’s hit-list.”

“Thank you, Trey.”

A man, appearing out of nowhere, like Vera, was suddenly sitting on the counter beside Treycore. Kid assumed this was Lero.

Lero wore a stark-white suit that contrasted nicely with his skin, which was nearly as dark as the Brazilians’ at Jerry’s. His hair was black, like Kinzer’s, but meticulously combed so that it sheened. He had a thick, inch-long beard. His head seemed too large for his body, and his nose seemed too large for his face. Even with his odd features, Kid still found him incredibly attractive.

Lero’s palms pressed down on the counter as he leaned back, kicking his feet out before him.

“I appreciate you reminding me why I shouldn’t have come,” Lero continued.

“Come on,” Treycore said, flashing a smile. “For old time’s sake.”

Lero’s eyes shifted to Kid. “Now, who’s this little guy here?”

“Kid,” Treycore said, hardly acknowledging him.

Lero smiled. “Hey there, Kid.”

Kid tossed him a wave and as friendly a smile as he could fake.

“Damn, he fucking stinks,” Lero said. “Even for a mortal.”

Douche, Kid thought. But as he inspected Lero’s expression, he didn’t detect an insult. His eyebrows were cocked, his stare fixed. His mouth hung open, as if he was about to drool. Kid knew that look. He’d seen it on so many of Jerry’s clients.

“Don’t mind him, Kid,” Treycore said, throwing Kid a brief glare. “He’s just been around mortals too long. Lost his immortal manners.”

Kid knew he was just making a joke, but by that point, he knew of quite a few immortals, and he couldn’t help but observe that they didn’t really have very good manners.

“What do you think of my hotel?” Lero whirled his hand in the air, clearly indicating far more than the little room they were in.

“What do you mean?”

“This is mine. Well, one of many. We have hotels in countries across the globe.”

“During Lero’s mortal years, if you will,” Treycore began, “he hit it big in the luxury hotel industry.”

“This was, of course,” Lero expanded, “after a few years as a struggling stage actor, a loathed opera singer, a migrant farmer, a war vet, and a series of other dead-end jobs. Of all my occupations, I think robber baron is my favorite.”

Treycore snatched the page he’d ripped from the notepad and handed it to Lero.

“Can you take us there?”

Lero didn’t even look it. “I can take you anywhere. The question is: will I?”

“You seriously gonna be an ass about this?” Treycore asked.

“Trey, you realize that every time I teleport, I leave a scent behind that the Leader and the Almighty can trace, right?”

“I know. I was with Vera, remember?”

“Unfortunately. In fact, this is where my problem lies. I can smell that bitch on you right now, so I don’t imagine that your little excursion outside of the States was for sightseeing. You’re dancing with the Raze, and if I take you somewhere and she finds you, she’s gonna be able to smell me on you, just like I can smell her on you.”

Lero looked to Kid. “It’s the shitty part about being a Teleporter,” he explained. “When we travel, we give off this scent, like burning rubber, that only other Teleporters can smell. There are so few of us that, over the years, we’ve easily been able to distinguish the nuance in each other's scents.”

His eyes snapped back to Treycore. “That said, if that bitch hunts you down and smells me, then I’m the one who’s fucked. Word’ll get out that I’m still alive and posing with a bunch of mortals, and I think you can imagine how thrilled the Almighty will be. You know how He feels about deserters.”

“Dude, I need your help.”

“And I would like to stay alive” Lero said. “I don’t know what fucked up shit you’re in with the Raze, but I’d recommend you just leave it.”

“I can’t. Dedrus and Kinzer are in trouble. I have to help them.”

Kid thought Treycore should just tell Lero about the Antichrist, but he figured he had a good reason for keeping that to himself.

Lero’s eyes shifted back to Kid. “Well, Treycore, as you know, I’m a businessman. I might be willing to make an arrangement…negotiate.”

He licked his lips.

“Negotiate?” Treycore asked. “What do you mean? I don’t have anything. I have some cash back at our place, but…”

“Oh, I’m not talking about money.”

The crotch in his pants protruded forward.

Damn, Kid thought. He might be as big as Treycore.

“Give me a little time with that foul-smelling kid, and I’ll take you wherever the fuck you want to go.”

What kind of fucked up fetish does this guy have? Kid thought, wrapping his hands around his elbows, as if trying to defend his body from Lero’s gaze.

“That’s not happening,” Treycore said.

“Then enjoy your stay in Lima.”

“I’ll do it,” Kid said.

He knew what he had to do. His mind flashed back to his nightmare.

He was back at Jerry’s. He was trapped behind that chain-link fencing. He was trapped under clients…under Daddy. He’d hoped that he’d ridden himself of that sort of life. But he knew the only way he could help the person who’d freed him from all that pain was by temporarily returning to it.

“Fuck no!” Treycore said. “No, he won’t.”

“Yes, I will,” he insisted.

Red rushed across Treycore’s white flesh. His dimples sharpened. His eyebrows came together. “Kid, stay out of this!” he barked.

Kid ignored him. “I’ll do whatever you need me to.” He stepped into the living area, dropping his arms to his side as he surrendered to Lero.

Lero’s lips curled into a smile.

“No,” Treycore snapped. He grabbed Kid’s shoulder and pulled him into the bedroom. “Kid,” he hissed. “You’re not a fucking whore.”

“Yes,” Kid said matter-of-factly. “I am.”

It hurt Kid to say it, but it was true.

Treycore’s face softened. He looked at Kid, as if pulling from his pupils the painful memories of his past. Kid let his immortal gaze pierce into his soul, hoping it would reveal his shameful, humiliating past so Treycore could understand.

“Kinzer saved my life,” Kid said. “He’s done more for me than I can ever repay him for.”

Treycore’s gaze wandered.

“I don’t care if his immortal cock kills me,” Kid continued. “This is what I know. This is what I’m good at. This is something that I can do to help.”

He pushed past Treycore and approached Lero, grabbing him by the hand, just as he’d done with so many of Jerry’s clients before.

***

Kid left the door cracked open, as Treycore had requested. Treycore had been willing to let him follow through with this, but he’d repeatedly told Kid to shout the moment he started to have second thoughts.

Lero sat on the bed. He scanned Kid. He smiled. “Wanna get a little more comfortable?”

Kid looked around uneasily. It wasn’t that Lero was unattractive or that he wouldn’t have fucked him even without a proposition. He’d just hoped that he’d never have to live the kind of life he’d lived when he was trapped at Jerry’s.

“Come here,” Lero said.

Kid approached him.

Lero sat up, wrapped his arms around Kid’s waist, and pulled him back so he was lying on top of him. He stroked his thumb across his temple.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said. “I just want to pleasure you.”

He gently kissed Kid’s lips.

A wave of heat swept through Kid’s face. It felt so good.

Kid touched Lero’s soft beard, the prickles massaging his fingertips.

Lero’s fingers slipped under Kid’s shirt as he pulled it off over his head. He rolled over. Setting Kid on his back, he kissed his way down the canal between Kid’s pecs.

The heat that Kid had felt on his face now swirled like a hurricane in his chest.

Lero’s fingers combed softly across his belly, his fingers trailing through the rifts at the edge of his abs, down to his jeans. Undoing his button, he grabbed either side of the jeans and Kid’s underwear and pulled down, sliding them off his legs.

As he returned, he pressed that gargantuan nose of his against Kid’s sack, stroking it, groping it with his most obnoxious, and for Kid, most erotic, feature.

Kid felt Lero’s tongue as it licked across his balls. It swept up quickly and then widened so that it could suck Kid’s entire cock in his mouth.

Kid’s cock swelled.

The tip of Lero’s tongue flicked about as his lips moved up and down his shaft.

Kid writhed in the sensation as tickles massaged up and down his body.

Lero pulled back from Kid’s cock, a beautiful grin stretched across his face.

He stood and undressed, removing his suit and shoes.

His body was far more impressive than his face. His muscles were bulkier than any of the other immortals he’d seen. His pecs were like boulders. They twitched as he stacked his clothes. And the way his ass bobbed up and down as he stepped to the dresser, setting his clothes down, made Kid even harder.

Even as Kid appreciated Lero’s body, still savoring the delicious sensations from Lero’s mouth, his mind couldn’t help but wander.

What is Treycore going to think? Does he think I’m tainted? Will he not fuck me again because of this?

Lero crawled over Kid, stroking through Kid’s pubes with his massive cock as he pressed their abs together and planted another gentle, burning kiss on Kid’s lips.

Lero’s fingers encircled Kid’s thighs. He gripped around them, pulling Kid’s legs into the air. He pulled his cock back and lined it up with Kid’s hole.

“That’s a beautiful ass,” he said.

He released one of Kid’s legs, pressed his hand to his mouth, and hurled a juicy wad of spit in it. He wiped the spit over his cock and returned his hand to Kid’s thigh, propping it up as he navigated the head of his dick to Kid’s hole.

Kid threw his head back. He gulped.

Lero slid the head of his dick inside him.

Kid could tell that Lero had far more experience fucking mortals than Kinzer or Treycore because of how slow and carefully he moved.

Lero lost his balance slightly on the bed and forced his dick farther into Kid’s hole.

“FUCK!” Kid wailed. It’d been too much for him to handle.

“Sorry,” Lero whispered, stroking his hand up and down Kid’s thigh. “Are you okay?”

Kid nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

But he wasn’t really fine. The awful sting just made him think of his Treycore. And as good as Lero felt inside him, he was sure that after this, Treycore would never respect him again. He’d just think of him as a tainted whore. The thought that Treycore would never force himself inside him again, never wring his neck and leave him begging for air, never send him into rapturous ecstasy again, tortured Kid. Tears streamed down his face. He tried to stop them, but they just kept coming.

I want him, he thought. So bad. But I can never have him.

“Are you okay?” Lero asked.

***

Why would he do that? Treycore thought. For Kinzer? What the fuck’s so special about Kinzer?

He sat on the couch in the room beside the bedroom, his ears anxiously anticipating any sign that Kid needed help.

He couldn’t believe that Kid had agreed to do that for Lero. He shouldn’t have. They could’ve found another way home.

What did he mean when he said he was a whore?

There was so much he didn’t know about Kid. But he wanted to know. He wanted to know everything about him.

He couldn’t believe how obsessed he was with a mortal—a mortal that was so hung up on Kinzer, he didn’t even think about him. But fucking him, touching him, was better than anything he had ever experienced in his lengthy life.

He was under Kid’s spell—totally hypnotized by him.

He'd felt it ever since he'd met Kid at Dick Dongs. He could reason that this boy was just a horrid, flawed, foul-smelling mortal, but everything about him mesmerized Treycore. The sound of Kid's voice. His humble eyes, ever evasive. His timid smile. Treycore adored this boy so much that he hated him, and he hated himself for being incapable of controlling his desire, for being powerless against his want for a lowly, nothing of a mortal.

What he felt was more than lust. He’d known lust time and time again. He’d had eons of it.

The chemistry he felt with Kid was so much more. It allowed him to see beyond the façade Kid put up. Treycore could see past it all, could hear what Kid desired and needed in every movement he made. He could feel him in a way he’d never been able to feel another.

He didn’t know his life, his story, yet he wanted this nothing of a mortal to be his everything. But why? How could he have felt this infatuated with a creature that he hardly knew?

He had loved since the dawn of creation. He'd loved Vera with his whole heart. He would've surrendered his immortality for her. He would've sacrificed everything. There was a time when she was good. He remembered when she cared for the mortals, when she fought for them. He remembered the days when the scent of her breath, her secretions, stimulated him. Her eyes lit the fire in his immortal loins. Her words were finer than the greatest of songs. When she giggled, he felt at ease. She was flawless.

But during the war, she'd been trapped in a terrible battle, one that left her mutated, deformed. Her face was scarred. Her body was tainted.

“Am I hideous?” she would continuously ask him.

The answer was always no. He'd never seen her form as hideous. Vain as angels were created to be, he couldn't see anything but the magic in her soul.

But Treycore knew by her repeated need for affirmation that nothing he could say would give her peace. And he remembered when she returned to him one day, her body uncorrupted, as flawless as it had been when she'd been first created.

“Look, Treycore,” she'd said. “I'm beautiful again. Now, you can love me.”

Try as she did to convince him that she had done it for him, he knew that she had only done it to please her own vanity, and as her beauty came at the great expense of siding with the malicious Almighty, whom they'd sworn themselves against, he could no longer set his immortal spirit alongside hers.

He left her. Left her to simmer with the decision she'd made. Left her to dwell on her loss.

Yes, he'd loved Vera. And yet, who couldn't have loved as perfect a creation as she? She had been meticulously forged to be the embodiment of seduction and desire, so his attraction had made sense. And they’d had such an expanse of time together before they united.

Kid wasn’t anything like that.

He was so far from the Almighty's ideal and he hadn’t known him even a week, but Treycore's senses craved him more than he had ever craved his greatest love.

Why does this boy haunt my mind? he wondered.

And if Treycore felt such strong desire, how could Kid be so oblivious to it. Surely Kinzer couldn’t fuck him…couldn’t understand him…the way Treycore could.

“FUCK!” came from the bedroom, ceasing Treycore's musings.

He sprang to his feet, rushing to the door and peering through the crack.

Lero was inside Kid, who had tears streaming down his face.

That’s it!

Treycore forced the door open and barreled at Lero, fists clenched.

He pried Lero off Kid.

“What the fuck?” Lero yelled.

Lero was a punching bag as Treycore thrust his fists at him again and again. He knew he had to get them in since Lero could vanish at any moment.

“Stop!” Kid shouted. “Treycore, stop it!”

Kid snatched his arm.

“Treycore, he didn’t do anything wrong!”

As Kid pulled Treycore off him, Lero disappeared.

“Fuck!” Kid cried. He smacked Treycore’s shoulder. “Are you outta your fucking mind?”

Tears were still rushing down his face.

“You screamed!” Treycore exclaimed.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Then why are you crying like a fucking baby?”

Kid wiped the back of his hands across his face. “None of your fucking business,” he snapped. He groaned. “Goddammit! Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? Huh?”

Treycore didn’t understand why Kid was being such an ass. “I was just worried.”

“Well, now you fucked up our chances of getting back to Kinzer.”

If you say his name one more fucking time, Treycore thought, I’ll turn you over and pound the shit out of you, and I won’t fucking hold back.

Kid collapsed onto the mattress.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Lero, still naked, tapped his fist against the open door. His boulder pecs jiggled. He cowered as he entered the room. “Kid, if I did something—” he began.

Kid shook his head. “No, no. I’m sorry. It was just a misunderstanding.”

“Trey, if I pissed you off—”

“My bad. I just thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

I thought I might actually matter to this asshole.

“Well, let’s get you guys back to the States.”