Paladin, page 20
“There’s one of you and eight of them, and you only have enough ammo to take out three or four. You can’t use your machete. Just…trust me.”
Ever nodded but didn’t leave the safety of his hiding spot just yet. He glanced over at the chat, eyes catching on the emojis first. Lots of hearts, frogs, and flowers. He didn’t understand what most of them meant. For the most part, people were nice.
“Okay,” Ever said, more to himself than to anybody else. He took a deep breath, sending his avatar back into the fray. As he crept behind the walls of the dilapidated house, he could hear the zombies just out of sight, knocking things over, groaning, all looking for him.
His heart slammed against his ribs, adrenaline coursing through him in a way he only felt when he played these horror games or when Arsen was inside him. There was something so exhilarating about being afraid in a controlled environment, knowing that the monsters on the screen couldn’t really hurt him but feeling the anticipation all the same. It was…addicting.
Ever took a deep breath and rounded the corner, hurling the grenade. “No!” he shouted, realizing his mistake.
It was too soon. Only two of the zombies fell, leaving another six lurching towards him.
“Fuck,” Arsen said, urgency creeping into his voice as he said, “Shoot them. Shoot them.”
Instead, Ever just took his hands off the keys, covering his face with his hands. He couldn’t watch. He was as good as dead already. He hated seeing his avatar torn limb from limb, then munched on by hungry flesh-eating creatures. It felt…demoralizing.
Arsen laughed, his arms coming around Ever, easily taking control of the game. Ever watched from between his fingers as Arsen took out the hoard with nothing but a handful of bullets and a rusty machete. Was it weird that Ever found that hot? He was just so good with his hands.
Ever flushed thinking of all the things those hands had done to him since the first time they’d had sex. Arsen had made him come on his fingers more than once, all while praising him.
“My good boy.”
Ever shifted uncomfortably, his dick half-hard just thinking about it.
While Arsen continued to play to the save point, Ever checked the comments. They always came fast and furious whenever Arsen brought Ever onto a live stream. Not all of them were kind, many of them were crass, and some were just plain nonsensical.
Ever’s so cute.
Premature evacuation, bro
<3 <3 <3
You should let him play Paladin.
You two are so hot together.
Kiss.
Kissssssssssss
He sucks
That one hurt, even if it was true. In his defense, he’d spent most of his life in a closet and only started playing video games two days ago after a viewer promised Arsen a large donation if he taught Ever to play a scary game. Ever had been more than willing to do whatever helped Arsen earn money, even though Arsen insisted he made plenty from subscribers and tips.
He scanned more comments.
You need to kiss more.
Ever agreed.
You’re so bad at this game. Never change. It’s so cute.
Fuck you, but thanks.
You two should get married.
Ever sighed. Maybe someday.
How am I this obsessed with two gay boys?
They were, too. They were obsessed with Arsen and Ever. The majority of the comments revolved around Ever and all the things they wanted to see him do with Arsen, many of them X-rated.
<3
I love you, Ever. Ditch the Russian and be mine.
Ever snorted. Yeah, right.
When is Ever getting his own Discord?
Ever didn’t really even understand what Discord was. Only that Arsen seemed to meet up in certain rooms to play with certain people. It was all very confusing for Ever. He just liked playing the games, even if he was terrible at it. And Arsen said he liked showing him off.
But his popularity wasn’t the only reason he was there. Jericho had a plan. A plan Arsen hated but that they’d all admitted had merit. The only way the dead cop could have known Ever’s name was if he’d heard it through the neighborhood or he was watching him online.
Maybe a combination of both. Either way, Jericho wanted Ever front and center—a way to safely use him as bait to see if that cop was all talk or if there really was a “boss” they needed to take out in order to keep Ever safe. And others.
It was the others that scared Ever. How many other boys were living like him? A domestic servant to a narcissistic lunatic? A sex slave to a monster, having their bodies traded for money? How many kids were snatched from their mothers so young they couldn’t even remember them? That was why Ever didn’t mind being the bait. He was free. So many others weren’t.
With each passing day, Ever grew more uneasy. The silence was almost worse than the attack. It was like living every day with a sword swinging over his head. He wanted this over with. He wanted to be normal. Atticus was working on securing a new birth certificate and social security number for Ever, something that took more time and money than Ever could even fathom.
He’d offered to pay him, but Atticus had waved him off, saying there was no benefit to being as disgustingly rich as he was if he couldn’t use it to help people who needed it. It was so weird. Arsen insisted the Mulvaneys were psychopaths, vicious murderers who tortured people for their crimes. But they just seemed so…nice.
Only when the noise of the game quieted did Ever realize he’d zoned out. He quickly reached for the gummy worms in the bag in front of him and put one in his mouth, tipping his head up to show Arsen the half dangling over his chin.
Arsen looked down and smiled, dipping his head, teeth scraping against Ever’s lips as he stole half of Ever’s treat, smirking as he chewed it triumphantly. Ever slapped his cheek softly, glowering until Arsen reached over and took another worm, swinging it in front of Ever’s mouth.
Ever took the apology worm, chewing and swallowing, then showed Arsen his empty mouth. Arsen swooped in, kissing him deeply, sucking the sour taste from his tongue until Ever moaned low, his half-hard cock now fully at attention.
Arsen continued to plunder his mouth, his hand sliding beneath his t-shirt, fingers skimming his belly in a way that made Ever’s stomach swoop. He heard the chime signaling that the people watching were “paying” Arsen—a strange sort of online currency the platform converted into real money twice a month. That was what Arsen called it: a platform. He said Ever’s appearances made him lots of tips because the world loved Ever.
Ever only cared that Arsen loved him. He said he loved him, had whispered it a hundred times a day since that night. It had only been four days, but it felt like just yesterday and a hundred years ago at the same time. He loved Arsen like they’d known each other in every lifetime, comfortable with him in every way. But no matter how much time they spent together, no matter how many times he let him into his body, it just never seemed like enough.
Ever’s hands slid along Arsen’s jean-clad thighs. Arsen gripped his chin, holding him in place so he could taste his mouth at his leisure. They should stop. They were on camera in front of roughly six hundred people at last count. All watching Arsen tongue-fuck him with enthusiasm.
That should bother Ever, right? People watching Arsen kiss him, touch him, manhandle him. But it didn’t. He wanted everyone watching to know Arsen was taken—not just the ones online but the girls who showed up at the shop, giggling and flirting. He wished they could see him, too. Maybe they could. Maybe they were watching.
Good. They needed to know Arsen was his. Just his.
And Arsen proved it every night, fucking him long into the early morning hours, then dragging himself out of bed to go to work, just to do it again the next night, sometimes even during lunch. Ever almost felt guilty about how sleep deprived Arsen was. Almost. It was hard to feel guilty after several mind-numbing orgasms. Arsen buried inside him was quickly becoming an addiction.
Arsen pulled his mouth away, but then dropped three more kisses in rapid succession onto Ever’s slack mouth. He looked at the camera, a dopey grin on his face. “Stream’s over. See you next time.”
He signed off quickly, pushing the buttons to take them offline. Ever glanced once more at the chat log on his monitor, heart stopping at the second to last row of comments.
Ever. Ever. Ever.
I seeeeeee you…
See you soon.
He slapped Arsen's arm and pointed, the words sticking in his throat. It could be just another online creep. It wasn’t the first weird thing someone had said to him. It wasn’t even the first weird thing that day. Levi said the chat section was the wild west, and the only way to deal with it was by blocking, reporting, or ignoring the bad apples.
But this seemed different. Malicious. It left Ever feeling like he needed a shower. Arsen took a screenshot then turned off the monitor. “Don’t worry about it. It’s probably nothing.”
He was lying.
And they both knew it.
A muffled shriek cut through the fog of Arsen’s dreamless sleep, shooting his heart rate into the stratosphere before he was even fully conscious. He reached for Ever, eyes still closed, sitting bolt upright when he realized he wasn’t beside him. He glanced around the darkened room, his brain trying to decide if what he’d heard was real or simply some kind of panicked hallucination. When another shrill scream came from far away, Arsen grabbed the gun on his side table and ran barefoot to the glass wall that overlooked the garage below.
Relief flooded his system as soon as his gaze landed on Ever, but the excess adrenaline pumping through his body made him light-headed. He sagged against the wall, heart still hammering, dropping the weapon to his side, taking a few deep breaths, willing himself to relax.
Below, Ever sat on the couch—the couch Jericho had dragged out of storage just for him—with Nico perched above him on the back, working one of those spider-like scalp massagers through Ever’s hair. Ever shivered and squealed, seemingly delighted at the sensation. Arsen remembered the first time Levi had used one of those things on him. It left a feeling like running water that he found both pleasant and disturbing.
Felix was also there. He sat beside Ever, doing his best to hold Ever’s arm still as he dragged something along his skin. Arsen couldn’t even imagine what it was this time. Stickers? Temporary tattoos? It could have been anything.
Arsen’s friends—the friends who always claimed they had school or work as an excuse to not hang out—seemed to have infinite time when it came to Ever. They were there every day. Every. Single. Day. Not always together but all of them, usually once a day, made an appearance. At first, Arsen thought maybe they worried he couldn’t protect Ever on his own, but now, he realized they just wanted to be around him.
They seemed addicted to bringing Ever his next first experience. And there was no shortage of experiences. Boba tea. Sushi. Garlic bread. Coloring books. Lake’s chunky monkey muffins. Seven’s babcia’s pierogi recipe. A slinky. A furby. The list went on and on. Arsen tried not to be jealous. After all, Ever had let Arsen give him the ultimate first experience. But still, he was greedy with all of Ever’s firsts.
But Ever had become his best friends’ new favorite pet. Especially Levi’s. Levi, who’d acted like Ever’s very existence was a personal slight, now arrived everyday with treats for him. Only, he didn’t care about Ever’s firsts. Instead, he brought Ever’s favorites. Peanut butter ice cream. Coke slushies. A cupcake from the shop on the corner. Flaming Hot Cheetos. Even this one special Japanese soda that could only be found at the Asian market on the edge of town.
Some small part of Arsen worried Levi was trying to steal Ever away from him. It could happen. Arsen was hot, but Levi was thirst trap hot, girls following his stream just to stare at him hot, had been offered money for sex hot. And Levi and Ever had started out hating each other. Plus, Ever loved romance novels, especially those with the enemies-to-lovers trope. What if Ever decided that was his next first?
When Arsen had said as much, Nico had laughed himself sick but wouldn’t say why the idea was so funny. He’d assured Arsen that Levi just felt guilty because of how mean he’d been about Ever when he’d first arrived. He was trying to make amends. Arsen should be grateful. These guys were more than his friends, they were brothers-in-arms. They literally knew where every body was buried. For them to keep the neighborhood safe, they needed to function as a unit. They couldn’t do that with infighting and jealousy.
Once Arsen knew Ever was safe, he returned to the bedroom, brushing his teeth and splashing water on his face before throwing on a zip-front hoodie and shoving his feet into shoes. He took the stairs, two at a time, down to the garage. Ever turned to look at him as soon as he was on the first floor, eyes shining and a huge smile on his face.
Arsen’s heart tripped over itself. Ever wore a full face of makeup. He was so fucking…pretty. Black liner accentuated his huge brown eyes, and a dusty mauve color made his already lush mouth look even more so. He had pink cheeks and inky lashes and tiny crystals glued beneath each eye.
It took Arsen a full minute to realize Ever was looking at him expectantly. “You look very”—he struggled to think of a word suitable enough—“beautiful, besenok.”
Ever beamed at his words. “Felix did it.”
“Oh, I know,” Arsen said ruefully, arching a brow at the culprit.
Felix smirked. “He looks hot, right?”
“He always looks hot,” Arsen said, walking to the couch and leaning down to plop a kiss on Ever’s glossy, slightly sticky mouth. That was when he noticed the markers on the table and the one in Felix’s hand. “What are you doing?”
“Baby wanted to match you,” Felix said.
Baby? That was new. There were many terms of endearment when it came to Ever. Gizmo. Ewok. Fragolina—Nico said it meant “little strawberry” in Italian. Gumdrop. Little one. Ever’s nicknames were as plentiful as the gifts he received every day. Arsen moved around Nico, who had yet to say a word. When he saw Felix’s art project, his chest tightened. There, on Ever’s arm, was a scorpion drawn in black sharpie.
Felix smirked at him, well aware of the effect the drawing was having on him. “He wanted the real thing, but I thought, if you woke up and found him missing, you’d call the National Guard.”
Felix was right. Crazy or not, Arsen didn’t want Ever out of his sight. Not until they figured out how deep this trafficking ring went. There hadn’t been any new cryptic messages from their mysterious watcher, but that might have been because Arsen had been keeping Ever offline. If he wanted to play games, they came down to the garage so he could play on the PlayStation, something else that had made an appearance with the old sofa.
“You’re not usually one for sleeping late,” Nico mused. “Even on your days off, you’re usually up before the sun, like some kind of psycho.”
“He didn’t get much sleep last night. We were up really late,” Ever supplied cheerily. “Arsen was teaching me some stuff.”
“I bet he was,” Felix murmured, patting Ever’s head like he was a dog. “Like what, babydoll?”
“Yeah, what is it Arsen’s been teaching you into the wee hours of the morning?” Nico asked, tone salacious. “Tell us everything. Every scandalous detail.”
“He taught me to play Resident Evil 7,” Ever said. “Oh! And Until Dawn.”
Arsen’s lips twitched as Felix and Nico exchanged disappointed looks. Served them right.
“Oh,” Felix said, clearly disappointed.
That wasn’t all Arsen had been teaching Ever, but neither Nico nor Felix needed to know the intimate details of their sex life. Their very active sex life. A sex life Arsen had been hoping to resume when he woke up ten minutes ago. Hell, the more he looked at Ever’s glossy lips, the more he wondered what they’d look like wrapped around his cock.
“Why are you guys even here? Don’t you have school?” he asked Nico before looking at Felix. “And don’t you have a whole company to run?”
“Wow, rude much?” Felix asked. “I brought Ever some presents. And Nico brought him breakfast.”
Arsen narrowed his eyes on Nico. “You brought my boyfriend breakfast?” he asked, tone measured.
Nico gave Arsen a sly look, sliding his hands into Ever’s silky dark hair, massaging his scalp. “Mm,” he said. “I brought him some new toys to play with.”
He moved his hands down to Ever’s shoulders, working the muscles there until Ever moaned, sending a gut-punch of lust through Arsen.
Nico’s knowing smile widened, his hands sliding down Ever’s arms. “I didn’t want him to be bored waiting around for his workaholic boyfriend.”
Arsen dropped to sit beside Nico on the couch, facing away from Ever, his voice low enough for only Nico to hear. “You can stop touching him.”
Ever stared at the television, unaware of the tension between Arsen and his friends. Felix was not. His lips twitched. Arsen knew they were doing this on purpose—pushing his buttons. But it didn’t stop the jealousy swimming in his belly.
“How can I do that?” Nico simpered, cupping his hand under Ever’s chin and tipping his face up to show Arsen. “Look at how adorable he is. Such a cute baby. Aren’t you, fragolina?”
Ever nodded, completely oblivious to Nico’s teasing.
Arsen leaned into Nico’s space, clamping a hand around the back of his neck and dragging him close enough for his springy blond curls to press against his nose as he spoke directly into his ear. “It’s going to be really hard to defend yourself in this neighborhood if both your hands are missing. Stop. Touching. Him.”
