Chapter 4
Maddox was crunching toast when the call came. Tom’s name flashed, and the device vibrated on the table.
He sighed, grabbing it with his crumb free hand and placing in to his ear. “Yes…”
“Boss, he’s handed the diamond over.”
He stopped chewing too soon. The last bite scrapped its way down his throat, and he coughed to ease its passing.
“What do you mean?”
“Kid came straight up to the car, handed it over. Said he didn’t want any more fuss.”
Maddox’s mouth flapped open, he stared down at his half-eaten toast. Jake had given up his prize with no fight, handed it back, unable to cope under the pressure of Maddox’s interest.
“Where is Jake now?”
“I got him, Boss, he’s unconscious. Thought you’d wanna scare him a bit for messing us about.”
He didn’t wish to terrorise Jake, but to look at him one last time before he became nothing but a stale memory. That, Maddox wanted more than anything.
“Take him to the freezer, clothes off, hung up. Leave him with Amber.”
“Y-you sure, Boss?”
“Yes.”
He tugged the phone from his ear and silenced it. The empty feeling that expanded in his chest wasn’t from hunger, but the loss of entertainment. The diamond was back under his possession. Ian had failed in his attempt to steal it, and even better than that, Richie hadn’t claimed and flaunted it. It was back under his watchful eye, but the regaining of his possession also felt like he’d lost something too, something he couldn’t yet put words or meaning to.
He had one more time to appreciate Jake, and he intended to offer an experience the thrill-seeking man couldn’t refuse.
Tom drove him to the freezer. The rounded man darted furrow-browed looks in the mirror but Maddox ignored them. Instructed him to put on Ride of the Valkyries and settled into the seat.
They arrived and before Tom could undo his belt, Maddox spoke with a tone that left no room for negotiation.
“Stay here.”
Tom sank back into his seat. “Yes, Boss.”
“Wait for me here.”
“Yes, Boss.”
Amber nodded when she passed. Maddox made sure her footsteps had faded completely before striding into the room. Jake swung on his restraints, both sight and sound compromised. The lights in the abandoned freezer buzzed constantly, letting Maddox drift into the room undetected. Maddox grimaced at the blindfold; it was his last chance to see Jake and he wasn’t going to learn the colour of his eyes.
Jake was stretched out, hands bound together hanging around a meat hook. His tiptoes barely brushed the floor and his calves strained with the position. Maddox observed from a distance. The picture Tom had snapped for him didn’t do Jake’s rear justice. His legs were toned, and his rounded cheeks clenched from the strain. Jakes pale flesh longed to be squeezed, massaged and flogged. Once he got close enough, Maddox held his hand out in front of himself, seeing how big they were and how well they’d hold Jake’s arse. His flawless skin longed to be stroked with warm palms, caressed with sensual kisses.
Maddox’s admiring stare broke when Jake attempted to wriggle his blindfold off. He brushed his face along his straining bicep, huffing with his failure. Maddox smiled at his helplessness.
“The irony in feeling most alive when our hearts forget to beat,” he drawled.
Jake jolted to attention, chin lifting and head turning towards his voice. The catch of breath had Maddox grinning fondly. Jake was adorable when he flailed for air, fear blocking his body’s automatic responses for a second. Jake’s pink lips popped open, but no words came out. Maddox sighed and filled the silence himself.
“Is your heart skipping and tripping?”
Maddox was close enough to see the explosion of brail on Jake’s skin. The air of the room was cold, but that reaction was purely from his voice. It was an addictive power, making Jake’s skin light up with sensitivity. All it took was his stern tone, the softening of words at the end of a sentence. It was intimidating, and Jake’s heart reacted accordingly. Maddox could see the punching pulse in his neck.
“Wh-what?”
The words stuttered from Jake’s mouth, and Maddox rolled his eyes. He hated having to repeat himself, but the dent appeared at the top of Jake’s nose and he wanted to diffuse his confusion.
“Your heart, is it skipping?”
No verbal response, but another shudder went up Jake’s arms and down to his toes. Maddox reached to feel the answer to his question.
His hand was huge against Jake’s pale skin. The tattoo that finished on the back of his hand covered Jake’s heart. In that moment, their hearts were joined, music flowed between them and Maddox grinned at the beauty of their connection.
“Excitement overcomes your fear of death, is that right?”
The dent of confusion reappeared, and Jake’s pink lips popped open only for Jake to nip closed. Maddox could see he wanted to answer but feared the truth. He backed away, marched around Jake, burning the sight of him to memory. He was beautiful, skin tight and blemish-free. No hair on his chest, a trail led from his belly button down. Maddox raised an eyebrow at the length between Jake’s legs. Half hard and all he’d done was grumble some words.
“You’ve had the diamond all this time, why give it up now?”
Jake moved his head to follow Maddox’s booming steps. His teeth were no longer pressing on his bottom lip, they were loose and drying from his panted breaths.
“Why now?” he asked again with more bite.
The lips quivered, popping open before pressing together in defiance. There was still some fight to Jake, even when he was at his most vulnerable.
“Was I not exciting enough for you, Jake?”
Maddox stopped, a few inches from the hanging man. His hands flexed at his side, wanting to touch but he resisted the urge. He would not caress Jake without the other man agreeing to it.
“I panicked; I took it without thinking...”
Maddox narrowed his eyes. “I believe that, I do. Why return it now? Why not get the reward money instead?”
Jake shook his head. “You’d have come after me.”
It didn’t make sense. Jake was already on his radar, he was already pursuing him. It was a bit late for Jake to fear being stalked.
“Does that scare you?”
“Yes.”
Maddox swallowed uncomfortably. Jake was afraid of him, he had misread terror for excitement. Nothing but a kid messing with things far beyond him. Maddox moved his eyes to the rope holding Jake up, knowing he should release him and let him go.
The edge of Jake’s lip tilted into a smile, and the length between his legs thickened. Maddox eyed him curiously.
“You're scared, I can see it. But your body reacts strangely to fear, you love the feeling.”
The shake of his head was so minute, Maddox wasn’t sure who it was aimed at. Was he denying his words, or trying to push away his feelings? The frown on Jake’s face was fierce and Maddox only just stopped himself from reaching and flattening it with his fingers. Jake’s expressions and his body’s reactions contradicted each other. Maddox stroked at his beard and pondered the man before him.
“H-hello?”
Maddox didn’t grace him with a verbal reply; he tracked around him, so Jake could hear his feet and know he was still in the room.
“What-what are you going to do with me...kill me?”
Maddox sighed in reply, slow and disappointed. There was so much he wanted to do with Jake, but it was limited to this moment and only if Jake chose it.
“My life is predictable, this deal, that deal, drugs, people, issues to sort out, stuff to steal, stuff to sell on...it’s all predictable. Even Ian, as clever as he thought he was, was predictable. I knew he would betray me, had a car ready to chase him down. He barely made it three miles before I took him out.”
Maddox paused directly in front of where Jake hung.
“But I didn’t predict you...”
He stretched out his hand, brushing his fingertips along Jake’s chest. He moved up at a slow pace, marvelling at the dots that sprouted on Jake’s skin at the slight contact.
“You have been an abnormality, a cure to my mind-numbing boredom. I could not predict you, and that, that makes me interested. Very interested...in you.”
“Look, you got the diamond back now. This is over.”
Jake spluttered a sob then rolled his shoulders as best he could in his restrained position.
“S’like the movies, right? You’re gunna cut of my fingers...my thumbs.”
Maddox shook his head with a bored huff. He was no longer the mad dog who used excessive violence rather than words. That wasn’t necessary when fear was already instilled in people. Silence and indifference could be more powerful than a fist or a boot. Jake was evidence of that by the way he panted. But unlike the others he had intimidated, the more Jake panted, and gasped for breath in the quiet room, the more blood flowed south between his legs.
“I can’t reach your hands at the moment; there are other far more important assets on display...”
Jake crossed his legs, shielding his body from Maddox as much as he could. It would’ve been easy to pry his legs apart, to rub the flesh back to full inflation-
“Don’t!” Jake yelled.
“Don’t what?”
Maddox leaned closer, face centimetres from Jake. So close he could smell him, not the disgusted reek of fear and fluids, but floral, Jake’s sweat re-awakened whatever shampoo he had used that day.
He had done enough teasing. He needed his flesh against Jake’s, needed their scents merging and their bodies growing in excitement together.
Maddox unclipped the buttons on his shirt, the fabric was folded and placed on the floor, joined by his trousers and shoes in a neat stack. He stood in all his muscled glory, huge body perfect for wrapping around Jake’s slighter one.
“’m sorry okay...just don’t…”
“Don’t what?” Maddox mumbled, cocking his head.
“Don’t hurt me.”
His voice was fearful. Maddox darted a look back towards his clothes, wondering if he had gotten ahead of himself.
“You like the touch of a woman?”
Jake didn’t answer. His head jerked backwards, and he released a sad whine from his lips.
“Let me go.”
He was trembling, and the need to soothe him became too much. Maddox walked behind and embraced him. His chest pressed snugly to Jake’s back, and he didn’t miss how Jake’s body relaxed at the contact. Maddox’s skin scorched, and he hugged his arms around Jake, taking some of the weight off his arms with his own strength. If this was as much as Jake was comfortable with, he’d leave it and hope the ghost of their embrace lingered on his skin for days. There was no victory in forcing his desires on someone else, but getting them to surrender, having permission to conquer, that was what he wanted from Jake.
“I’m gunna give you a choice. I can let you go right now...or you stay like this and I get your heart thumping harder, get that adrenaline you love filling your veins.”
A high-pitched noise escaped Jake's mouth. Maddox waited for his answer, hands no longer around Jake’s body but clutching hips. There was a wriggle, Maddox frowned, moving his arms back into their restraining position. It earned him a broken gasp and a shiver, but that wasn’t enough of an answer.
“What’s it gunna be, Jake? Will you give me your body?”
He ran a palm over the Jake’s stretched out body, moving to his biceps and kneading warmth into the aching flesh. Jake shuddered, whimpered, gasped, but he didn’t agree to what was offered.
Maddox sighed harshly. “Okay, I’ll let you go.”
“Wait!”
The shout had Maddox blinking, surprised. Jake hadn’t yelled like that when he thought his life was on the line, but the thought of Maddox stopping had him despairing. He peeked around Jake’s body, smiling at the straining flesh between his legs. Maddox couldn’t resist touching, and he trailed a hand to grasp at Jake’s swollen arousal. The flesh in Maddox’s hands was hot, firm and so soft against his rough hand.
“Can I make you come alive Jake?”
He formed an O with his thumb and forefinger, moving the circle up Jake’s straining arousal. The barely there friction had Jake moaning, forehead rubbing on his stretched bicep.
“Yes,” he breathed, “my body’s yours.”
Finally, he could touch. Once Jake had verbally surrendered, his body did too. Maddox gripped his cock firmer, moving along the flesh feverishly. He kissed and licked the back of Jake’s neck, closing his eyes and listening to the soft moans and broken breaths.
“But...I’m not gay.”
Maddox smiled into the back of his neck, nosing the flesh and taking in the other man’s scent. “Try telling your cock that.”
“I don’t understand...”
The admission had Maddox momentarily losing his stride. Jake had sounded so innocent, and when he leaned to see his face, the frown lines were splitting the top of his nose again. Maddox didn’t want him feeling confused when all he should be thinking about was pleasure. He increased his hand movements, biting and sloshing his tongue against the marks on the base of his neck. When he pinched Jake’s nipple, a whimper joined the slick noises. The ache between Maddox’s legs throbbed wildly, but he was a man of iron control, would ignore his need until Jake came apart from his touches.
“Every time you’re touched by a woman, you’ll remember this.”
Jake tipped his head back, turning towards Maddox’s deep voice, and had he a hand free, Maddox would’ve yanked Jake’s blindfold free to gaze into his eyes.
“You’ll remember how I completely owned your body like no one else can...”
Jake’s lips parted, no breath flowed in or out. Maddox was sure he was about to release. He denied him, not wanting the moment to be over so fast.
He stopped all caresses until Jake had his breathing under control. His own arousal had leaked onto Jake’s lower back. Mesmerised by the glittering sheen, Maddox trailed his fingers through the patch, into the crease of Jake’s arse.
His fingers were immediately squeezed in defence of Jake’s intimate flesh.
“No one teased you here before?”
Jake shook his head, but he didn’t yell for Maddox to stop. The thought of being the first to touch Jake in that forbidden area had a hot rush fizzle through his veins. It was strangely satisfying knowing he’d be the first to pleasure Jake this way.
He waited, finger still hugged by Jake’s arse cheeks, but the tensing lessened until he could find his goal. Maddox’s slippery finger probed, being stopped from its exploration each time Jake clenched.
“You tense like that and it’ll hurt.”
“Wait. I’m not sure.” Jake gasped.
Maddox made a soothing noise, noting how the tense body he caressed relaxed immediately. Jake’s head tilted to get nearer to the white noise he was making, wanting to be soothed.
“Trust me, Jake. It will feel great when you give up the pretence.”
He removed his fingers, rubbing his own leaking cock, squeezing moisture from the tip and adding to it with a pool of saliva.
He tried one digit on Jake to see if his natural lube helped penetration. The finger was swallowed and Maddox bit back a moan at how receptive Jake’s body had become.
He pulled the digit free, adding another with a generous helping of his biological slick. Jake quivered, not just the flesh on the outside, but the skin Maddox rubbed at fluttered against his fingers. Jake’s pulsating warmth maddened his usually firm control. Maddox bit his lip hard for composure. He registered the bloody tang in his mouth and released the seeping flesh.
“Relax. It won’t hurt if you relax, it will feel good.” he coaxed.
Jake shook his head, but the movement was slight. “I don’t want it to feel good. It shouldn’t.”
“Oh, but it does. Don’t deny yourself.”
The vice pulsing against Maddox’s fingers softened. Jake released a wrecked moan of surrender. Maddox was beyond frustrated, and each time Jake whimpered the ache increased between his legs. Maddox leaned his sweaty forehead on Jake’s shoulder, hoping Jake’s cooler flesh would relieve his brow. But there was no relief, only more warmth and wetness; Jake was burning up like him.
The sounds escaping Jake were grunted, inhuman in their pleasure. He wasn’t capable of speech. Maddox was pretty sure he couldn’t think anymore, could only feel. He chuckled in surprise when Jake’s head tipped back, and he yelled.
“Fuck yes!”
If he was still able to process words, Maddox wasn’t pushing him enough. His fingers twirled, circled, curled, each individual touch got its own strangled reaction. Jake heaved, mouth open and inviting, but from the angle, Maddox couldn’t reach it.
Jake froze, no sounds escaped him, no air either. His whole body tensed ready to be overcome by the onslaught of orgasm.
“Not yet,” Maddox commanded.
He pushed the words straight into Jake’s ear, said them twice just to be sure they registered.
“Whole body hurts, right?”
Jake nodded desperately, bottom lip trembling as he did.
“Ye-yes...”
Maddox released him, slipped his fingers out and admired the view of Jake’s flushing body. Jake’s face scrunched in an expression close to devastation, the blindfold around his eyes had dampened, from sweat, tears or a combination, Maddox wasn’t sure. His brown hairs had clogged with moisture, weighing down the usually springy strands.
“I could leave you like this...”
Maddox leaned closer, whole body fizzling with arousal when he saw how frantically Jake shook his head as his teasing. There was no way he was leaving Jake in that state. The younger man’s excitement had peaked, drops from his engorged cock leaked on the floor. The sight was adorably tragic.
Maddox wanted to taste him, and he always got what he wanted. He moved to stand in front of Jake, trailing his eyes up his flushing body. He gripped Jake’s thighs, leading them round his body. He ran his finger over the purple mark on Jake’s thigh; the small tranquiliser Carl used thankfully hadn’t damaged him too much. His hand roamed to Jake's arse, massaging the cheeks.
Jake’s responsive moan made Maddox squeeze his eyes shut to concentrate on his goal. His own cock was sore from neglect and each time a destroyed murmur echoed in the room, a shot of ecstasy jolted in the tip. He needed to take charge of his own body, block out his own desires to push Jake off the edge of the biggest high of his life.
Lifting Jake onto his shoulders was easy with the right motivation.
“What are you-”
As soon as Jake’s pretty cock was in view Maddox sucked it greedily into his mouth. He tapped his tongue on the underside, bobbing his head forward and back with vacuum suction. Jake quivered, spluttered and choked out noises of absolute ecstasy. Jake was ready, but Maddox wanted to test him, see how he reacted to different stimuli before drowning him in exquisite pleasure.
He licked, lapped his tongue, sucked fast and slow, soft and firm, deep and ghosting. Jake didn’t disappoint; the spectrum his vocals had at expressing pleasure knew no bounds. Wails and moans, pants and gasps, the vibrations of Jake's music had Maddox’s hair rising, pleasant rushes of sensitivity spreading through his body.
The taste was intoxicating, heavy and sweet on Maddox’s tongue. That, matched with Jake's music made his own cock throb and his erection was so full, he felt the skin pull tight almost to the point of pain.
He couldn’t survive the torture much longer, had to release himself.
He slipped his fingers back between Jake’s arse cheeks, delving two digits inside. He didn’t push too far, but enough to feel the contraction when the time came. Maddox lunged with his mouth, encased Jake deep and sucked in pulses, rubbing his tongue on the underside as the only friction.
Jake swallowed hard, struggled to take in breath before stilling and exploding with a silent scream. He slumped over Maddox’s head, body jittery as he continued to spurt on Maddox’s eager pallet.
Maddox hummed at the taste, corkscrewing his fingers gently in Jake’s pulsing body.
The man above him went deathly still. Maddox pulled back with a slurp, staring up into Jake’s unresponsive face. He couldn’t tell if Jake was conscious or not. The blindfold was still in place, but there were no lines of confusion. His lips were pliant and there was no twitch from his features.
He had passed out from the intensity. Maddox helped him down, holding his weight off the floor in an embrace. Soft and beautiful, pliant and adorable, all things Maddox longed to have from a partner, but it was a fantasy to think he could have Jake more than just this once. People too close to him got hurt, more than hurt. He couldn’t bear to see Jake snuffed out.
Jake’s head rolled, a grumble of consciousness breezed through his lips. The desire to kiss him was hard to ignore, but he’d want more than to kiss, he’d want to bury his cock into Jake’s body, pound into him until he blacked out again. Consume his mouth and swallow his howls of abandonment-
Maddox sighed angrily at himself and shook the imagery away. He released Jake, letting his shoulders yank painfully before untying his hands and watching him collapse at his feet.
He wasn’t a cuddly person, but seeing Jake curled on the floor had his hands restlessly flexing at his sides. The dimple of unease returned to Jake’s forehead and before Maddox could help it, he uttered the words.
“Good boy.”
The expression on Jake’s features relaxed, and the smallest of smiles bent his lips. God, he wanted Jake, more than the one time he’d promised himself, but he couldn’t have him.
He positioned himself over Jake, gripping his throbbing erection in both hands. The fingers of one circled the top while the others worked the length with speed. He came with a grunt, teeth digging into his lip hard enough to puncture the indent he’d made earlier.
His release splashed Jake’s face, streaked down his still blissed face. When he licked at the droplet stuck to his top lip, Maddox hissed under his breath and faced away.
The visual was too hot, would only lead to more trouble if Maddox registered what it meant. Jake was considering tasting a man. He had sampled a part of him and his face didn’t compress with disgust; he was savouring the taste.
“We’re done.” Maddox mumbled.
Half talking to himself, half to his still interested cock. He couldn’t have Jake anymore, it was a one-time slip back into his desires. Tomorrow it was back to usual, boring scams and deals, hunting down money and lending more.
“Game's up, Jake.” he said to clarify.
He scooped his clothes from the floor, holding them to his chest as he walked out. He wasn’t spending any more time in the room with Jake gasping at his feet. His lust reformed fast, Maddox wanted him again. He had to leave before temptation got too much and he had Jake on the floor.
Walking away from the vulnerable man was unexpectedly hard. His legs mutinied his decision, tripling in weight and his neck twitched with the need to look back. He squeezed his eyes closed, picturing the diamond waiting for him back at his house. That was what was most important to him; his possessions were all his rivals could target.