Infuriating, page 16
“I don’t know,” Jackson barked. At Day’s shocked look, Jackson softened his voice. “I don’t know. Let’s just search the house. Can you just look and see if he’s hiding under one of the beds upstairs? And maybe throw me down my gym shorts?”
Day nodded, turning to do what Jackson asked, even though it was clear he didn’t understand what was happening. Jackson stripped off the gloves and slid them inside the envelope. Could this fucking prick have gotten to Kevin? Did he have enough time after triggering the alarm? Had he somehow managed to trigger the alarm after he’d entered? If so, how long had he been in the fucking apartment? Christ. Jackson had been so distracted, he’d let this fucking psycho get close enough to hurt them. Dammit.
“Jackson!” Day shouted from upstairs.
Jackson glanced up to see Day holding Kevin in an awkward grip, the fat cat spilling over Day’s arms. Jackson sighed with relief, meeting Day at the top of the stairs. He took the gym shorts Day held, slipping them on before taking Kevin from Day to look him over. He was unharmed. Not only was he unharmed, but his collar was still in place. Jackson glanced down to the collar on the counter. It was the same color, the same name tag. Everything identical. He placed Kevin on the floor, heading to his room. He snatched his phone and dialed Linc.
“Hey, brother. What’s up?” Linc said, voice gruff from sleep.
Jackson dropped onto the edge of the bed, digging the heel of his hand into his eye. “I think this fucker may have finally made a mistake. I think he can see us.”
At Day’s sudden intake of breath, Jackson pulled him close. Day dropped onto Jackson’s knee, and he wrapped an arm around him, grateful to have him close.
There was the rustling of covers and Wyatt’s sleepy voice asking, “What now?”
“Go back to sleep,” Linc muttered before a door closed. “You think he’s got eyes on you in your own apartment?” Linc asked, fully alert. “How?”
“I don’t know, but I want a team in here ASAP to sweep for cameras or any kind of remote access devices. I have Webster pulling footage from the security feed, but this fucker probably wouldn’t be stupid enough to show his face. Maybe, if we can figure out how he’s watching us, we can trace it back somehow? I also want to know where this guy showed up the first time. What site? Once we’ve got a company name, I want a meeting with their IT people, like yesterday.”
“Yeah, I’m on it.”
Jackson disconnected without saying goodbye. He tossed the phone on the bed and wrapped both arms around Day who said, “Do you really think he’s finally made a mistake?”
Jackson kissed Day’s shoulder. “I don’t know for sure, but I hope so.”
“Do you really think he’s watching us? Even now?” Day asked, looking around with a shudder.
“Either that or he’s found a way to Houdini himself in and out of my apartment. I’m not sure which idea I like less.”
“Me either,” Day mumbled. “I’m really sorry about all this.”
Jackson gripped Day’s chin gently, forcing his head upwards. “Hey, none of this is your fault. Keeping you safe is my job.”
“I’m not even paying you,” Day reminded him.
Jackson caught Day’s lips in a fierce kiss. “It’s not my job because you’re paying me. It’s my job because you’re mine, and I protect what’s mine.”
Day dropped his head to Jackson’s shoulder. “Did you think he hurt Kevin?”
Jackson smiled, not because of Kevin, but because, for the first time, Day hadn’t argued that he and Jackson were a thing. “Yeah, I thought it was possible. But he’s fine. You’re both fine, and you’ll both stay that way.”
“Charlie and Wyatt think I know him,” Day said after a few minutes.
“Why do they think that?”
Day looked at Jackson, his pool blue eyes wary, like he was almost too exhausted to be afraid. “Because he never speaks or shows his face. Do you think it’s true? That it’s somebody I’ve met? Charlie said it could be anybody I’ve ever talked to, even in casual conversation.”
“Is there anybody you talk to on a regular basis who knows about you camming?” Jackson asked.
Day shook his head. “No. It’s not something I talk about to people. Not that I even talk to people. I don’t have friends. I don’t even have casual acquaintances anymore. Not since Sarah died. Like, the only people I ever talk to are bill collectors, my cable provider, my new gross landlord, and the guy who works in the payroll department for my camming site,” Day said, sounding annoyed. “They screw up my pay constantly. He says there’s some kind of glitch with my account. Every time we think it’s fixed, it happens all over again.”
Jackson looked at Day, frowning. “It’s always the same guy you talk to?”
“Yeah, his name is Oscar. He’s always making really bad jokes.”
Jackson reached for his phone. “Do you know Oscar’s last name?”
“No, we’re not exactly BFFs or anything.”
Jackson called Webster and relayed this new information before hanging up. “It can’t hurt to at least run a background check on the guy.”
Day went quiet, his top teeth digging into his bottom lip until Jackson tugged it free, rubbing his thumb across it.
“I don’t want to spend my whole life looking over my shoulder, Jackson,” Day said, his voice one step above a whisper.
Jackson could see the toll this was all taking on him. Day was good at hiding, good at making a joke out of things that he couldn’t fix. Good at using sex as a shield to protect himself from everything he’d been through in his life. But this was all wearing on him. He had slight bluish purple shadows under his eyes, and he looked pale under the dim bedroom lights. Jackson wondered if Day was eating enough. He certainly wasn’t getting much sleep. That was Jackson’s fault. “You won’t. We’ll figure this out. He’s going to make a mistake eventually. He might have already. Okay?”
Day nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Jackson stood, bringing Day with him. “No use going to sleep. Let’s take a shower before the guys get here to sweep the place. Then I’ll make you breakfast. You need to eat something.” Jackson sighed. “Besides, I gotta call Jimmy and let him know what’s been going on. I haven’t spoken to him since you got the email.”
Day grimaced at Jimmy’s name. Jackson didn’t blame him. He had no idea how his father had been friends with Jimmy, much less partners. He always struck Jackson as being greasy. There was just always something off about the guy.
“Can we have sex in the shower?” Day asked, jumping into Jackson’s arms, fully confident Jackson would catch him.
Jackson rolled his eyes as his hands found Day’s ass and squeezed. “You are insatiable. We don’t have a lot of time.”
He wrapped his legs around Jackson’s torso, grinding his semi-hard cock against Jackson’s. “I don’t need a lot of time, Daddy. Promise.”
“You’re such a little monster,” Jackson murmured, catching Day’s lips in a dirty kiss.
“I just have a weird fear response… It makes me horny,” Day said between kisses before leaning back and giving him an exaggerated pout. “It’s not my fault. I had a bad childhood.”
Jackson chuckled. “I’m sure that’s what it is. Your bad childhood. Not that you’re just a giant ball of hormones.”
“I could make a really corny joke here about making this whore moan but it’s beneath me,” Day said, still actively rubbing his cock against Jackson’s now equally hard erection through the thin material of their shorts. “This is good, too, you know? You could just put me up against the wall and we could rub off on each other.”
Jackson placed biting kisses over Day’s mouth before teasing his tongue between Day’s lips. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have an alphabetized list,” Day assured him. “We’re at F for frotting.”
Jackson gave Day what he was begging for, quick and dirty, setting him down on the bathroom counter and pushing their shorts out of the way so their cocks could slot together. It felt amazing, but Jackson was enthralled with Day and the blissful look on his face while he worked himself against Jackson, head thrown back, lips parted, breathing heavy. He was just too fucking beautiful. When Day came, Jackson used his release to jerk himself off hard and fast, kissing Day deep before spilling between them.
Day fell back on his hands, grinning at Jackson, and his heart did this funny skipped beat thing. Yeah, Day was definitely it for Jackson. He couldn’t imagine not having him in his life. Now, he just had to convince Day of that.
Groups of people moved in and out of Jackson’s apartment all day, checking every nook and cranny for the cameras he was certain were there. In the end, he was right. Somebody had managed to slip into his home without detection, replacing the smoke detectors downstairs with ones containing a tiny camera as well as one in the upstairs hallway. Luckily, there were none in the bedrooms.
Day had sat on the sofa, legs pulled beneath him, chewing on his thumbnail as strangers pretended not to look at him as they moved around their boss’s home. He did his best to stay quiet and out of the way, but when three strangers entered his room, he jumped up, suddenly realizing they intended to go through all of his things. His personal private things. Day already felt like his life wasn’t his own. He had already bared his soul to Jackson.
Before Day could even get the words out to protest, Jackson was pulling them out of Day’s room, taking the equipment from them and re-entering the room on his own, bringing only Linc with him. Somehow, that was better. Linc was Jackson’s best friend. Wyatt and Linc had lots of kinky sex. There was nothing in there that would shock Linc or cause him to look at Jackson differently. Day never wanted to be an embarrassment to Jackson.
By the time the team was gone, Day’s nerves were frayed. Jackson made them a quick dinner and put on a movie, but the moment Jackson set his plate down, Day was on him, stripping him bare and riding him right there on the sofa, channeling all his nervous energy into the one thing he could control, the one thing that made him feel good. Jackson let him control the speed, the intensity, jerking Day in time with his thrusts, until they got off and Day’s head was quiet for just a little while.
“Why didn’t he put cameras in the bedrooms? Do you think he was interrupted?” Day asked Jackson when they were lying naked and sated on the couch. The only light in the room was a random scenic picture on the television screen saver.
Jackson gazed down at Day where he was lying between Jackson’s splayed legs, head on his thigh, Jackson’s soft cock close enough to feel Day’s breath each time he spoke.
“Maybe. He clearly knows we’re in a physical relationship. Maybe he didn’t think it was necessary since we’ve been uploading to your website. Maybe he didn’t want to interrupt his fantasies about being your first.”
Day shivered at the idea. How could somebody he barely knew become so fixated on him? “Do you think this is my fault? Do you think I brought this on myself?” he asked, finally voicing the thought that had been circulating in his head since Wyatt and Charlie had implied he might know his stalker.
Jackson ran his fingers through Day’s hair. “No. Of course not. You didn’t do anything wrong. Just because some psycho has an imaginary relationship with you, it doesn’t mean you did anything to provoke it. It’s no different than a stalker imagining a relationship with a celebrity.”
Day pushed his head up into Jackson’s caress, not satisfied with his answer. “Celebrities don’t tweet about needing somebody to use their hole. They don’t call their clients Daddy. I put myself out there. I let them think they stood a chance.”
Jackson shook his head. “You’re offering clients a fantasy, an escape. No sane person out there thinks that the person on these chat services is actually offering up their bodies. Not unless explicitly stated.”
Day’s stomach twisted. “Except, I did explicitly state it. I offered up my virginity to the highest bidder, knowing full well nobody would ever really be able to meet my price. I knew there was nobody on that site I would be willing to have sex with, on or off camera. I just wanted to make enough money to get out of LA. I hate it here.”
“You do?” Jackson asked. “You never told me you wanted to leave LA.”
Day shrugged. “Why would I? I never expected us to be…whatever this is. I never expected to meet somebody who gave a shit where I lived or what I did for a living. I know what I am to people. A body to use. A hole to fill. They don’t care about my day or if I eat. They don’t care if I can’t pay my rent or if I need to go to the doctor. And that was fine. It is fine. It was just an exchange. They gave me money, and I gave them my time. I gave them the fantasy. It was a way to keep a roof over my head or food in my stomach without having to trick on the street. I never anticipated you.”
Jackson dragged his blunt nails across Day’s scalp. “If it makes you feel better, I never anticipated you, either. And you are so much more than just a hole to fill or a body to use. I wish you could see you the way I do.”
Tears pricked behind Day’s eyes at Jackson’s words, but he didn’t press. He wasn’t sure if it made him feel better or worse that Jackson saw him as something more. His words kicked up a tornado in his head, a whirlwind of emotions making him feel like he might just fly apart into a million pieces.
He scooted closer, taking Jackson’s soft cock into his mouth, not actively trying to get him hard again but just needing to be closer, needing Jackson inside him somehow. Day had done this to Jackson once before, after he’d given him a blowjob on the balcony. Just like then, Jackson didn’t protest, just kept petting his hands through Day’s hair.
Day wanted nothing more than to believe in Jackson’s notion that there was a happily ever after for them, but Day had twenty-two years of anecdotal evidence that said otherwise. Day didn’t think people like him got to live out their happily ever afters. Maybe he was working off bad karma. Maybe he’d just lost some universal lottery system before he was born. Either way, he didn’t know how to wrap his head around what a life with Jackson would even look like. If Day wasn’t camming, what would he do? Flip burgers? He couldn’t even fill out the application without help.
Jackson was worth millions, but Day didn’t want to live off of him. He didn’t want to feel like he was just some trophy husband. Husband. The thought made Day’s stomach slosh. Is that what Jackson saw for them? A house with a white picket fence and a mess of kids, like his sisters? Would Day be expected to stay at home with their kids? They’d have to hire tutors. Day couldn’t even help them with the most basic of homework assignments.
Their kids… Jesus. Day was so far down the rabbit hole, he could no longer see daylight.
Jackson shifted his hips slightly. He was hard again just from being in Day’s mouth. He never second guessed this. They were so good at this. Sex came as easily as breathing; their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces. Jackson was the most perfect Daddy, and there wasn’t anything Day wouldn’t do to be his good boy. He teased his tongue around the head of Jackson’s thick cock, sucking him leisurely as his hand massaged his balls.
Fingers threaded through Day’s hair, and then Jackson was dragging him upwards, shifting on the sofa so that he spooned Day. His head rested on Jackson’s bicep, Jackson’s arms locked around Day’s body, like he was afraid Day might run. When Jackson pushed his knee between Day’s thighs, he sighed, moaning when Jackson’s hard cock slipped between Day’s cheeks, catching on his slick and leaking hole. Jackson slid inside Day in one smooth contraction of his hips, forcing a whimper from Day.
“You okay, baby?” Jackson asked, the concern in his voice tearing Day up inside.
“Yeah, Daddy,” Day managed, voice thick.
Day wasn’t okay. He was overwhelmed. Jackson was wrapped around him, buried within him, lips dragging open mouth kisses along his shoulder, his throat, running his tongue along the shell of his ear. It was almost lazy in comparison to their earlier session where Day rode Jackson hard and fast, begging him to breed his hole, to choke him.
This time, Jackson held Day’s arms hostage against his body as he just rolled his hips, working himself into Day, slow and deep. “Do you have any idea how fucking beautiful you are? How happy I am that you were just dropped into my life?”
Day couldn’t speak past the sudden lump in his throat. He hadn’t signed on for this. He didn’t know what to say, so he just tilted his head back and captured Jackson’s lips in a kiss that he hoped somehow conveyed to Jackson that he heard him, even if he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
The kiss didn’t stop Jackson, though. He kept murmuring words of praise against his ear as he used Day’s body, jerking him in time with every movement. “You’re so sweet, so open. I love waking up next to you every day. I love your big heart and the way you tell off mean old ladies in grocery stores and even the way you yell at my clients to protect me. You’re so sexy and so confident in your sexuality. It’s so hot. I love that you wear makeup and soft lacy things, and I love when you wear your glasses and your holey sweatpants, too.”
“Jackson,” Day managed, tears streaming down his face. If Jackson saw it in the dim light of the living room, he was kind enough not to say anything.
“It’s true. I’m never going to stop telling you the truth. You might not see it, but I do. You’re smart and funny and fierce, and I need you in my life, Day, just as you are. I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect you and keep you forever. I mean it.” Jackson suddenly pulled free of Day’s body. “Roll over. I want to look at you.”
Day hesitated, wiping at his cheeks before doing as Jackson asked. He caught Day’s leg with his arm before slipping back inside. Jackson’s tempo quickened, and the slow rolls of his hips became hard thrusts as he captured Day’s mouth, his tongue moving in time with his cock.
When the kiss ended, Day stayed as he was, their lips almost touching, both of them panting hard, Day thrusting down each time Jackson drove upwards until each motion caused Day to moan Jackson’s name, begging him for more, even though there was really nothing more he needed from him. It was all just too much. He’d never imagined this level of intimacy with another human being. He’d never thought there’d ever be a single soul who looked at him and saw anything worth looking at.
