Jake's Thief (11 page)

“I like it. It tastes like regular Coke instead of diet. I drink it all the time. I don’t like beer.” Caden took another sip.

“A former soldier who doesn’t like beer, that’s unnatural,” Bull told Caden.

“That’s why I live with Johnny and not you.”

Bull hurmpped.

“Could we get back on topic? Davey texted me. I have to leave to pick him up at Caden’s which means I’m going to have to follow you home to Jackson. I have a GPS in the car but sometimes it’s unreliable in farm country.”

“He’s a sub. Whether or not he decides to explore his submissive side is up to him. He looks gun shy, as if he’s been beaten for no reason and that’s going to make convincing him to take even a spanking difficult, and spanking is what you do.” Bear used his napkin to wipe some mustard from the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, my frustrations build up all week then I take it out on some sub’s ass on the weekend.” Jake sighed.

“If he’s as good a paralegal as you claim, won’t you be less frustrated?” Caden asked.

Jake’s face brightened. “That’s true.” Then he shook his head. “But I’m still a Dom, that’s not going away.”

“True. So, if you want him, he’ll have to learn to accept what you give out. You’ll find out a lot about how he feels about you if he’s willing to try.” Caden took another bite of his sandwich.

§ § §

Saturday Lunch at Johnny’s

Greg, Davey and the others arrived at about the same time despite traveling in separate cars. Mrs. Mills was at the door. “How nice to see all of you boys again! Oh, there is one more of you, and who are you, dear?”

“My name is Davey Howell. I came with Jake Cohen for the weekend.” Davey blushed.

“Jake’s that the lovely lawyer who drew up Harvey Thomas’ new contract of employment. He doesn’t bother Johnny as much. I’ll call Johnny.”

Johnny came down the stairs, hair mussed and black glasses perched on his nose.

“Someone’s been coding again on a Saturday. Does Caden know?”

“No, and nobody’s going to tell him. It’s that scheduling app for the Army he thought the government needed and it’s a surprise. He still has friends over there and it looks like things are blowing up again in the Middle East. I listen to the news now, Caden’s in the reserve for two years yet. It’s like being an indentured servant. Caden’s done enough he shouldn’t have to go back.”

“Don’t worry, Johnny, Caden’s not going back even if I have to shoot him in the foot to keep him here. He did three tours. Enough is enough.” Danny was dry-eyed and determined.

Fifteen minutes later all of the boys were lounging in the great room. Davey’s cat was playing on the floor with Johnny’s, batting a rolled up ball of aluminum foil Aubrey made back and forth.

“Davey, have you decided what to do about Jake?” Johnny played with his cat helping him bat the aluminum ball back to the Balinese.

“I think I’m going to stick my toe in the water as Robbie suggested.”

“Lunch is ready, boys,” Mrs. Mills said as she came out wiping her hands on a towel.

Greg turned to Davey. “You ready for the inquisition?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Everyone rose and went to the dining room.

Mrs. Mills set a beautiful table. She had placemats and cloth napkins out with a floral centerpiece. She’d brought out the good china and silver.

“You were expecting maybe Pope Frank, Mrs. Mills?” Jim raised his eyebrow.

“Shush, she doesn’t get much of a chance to show off,” Johnny whispered.

She came back with a lovely cream of mushroom soup in a large silver tureen. Johnny served the soup. “Mrs. Mills, soup is perfect for a day in late September.”

She also made a pork loin, German potato dumplings and red sauerkraut. Not much was said as everyone stuffed themselves with food. As Brian wiped the brown gravy off his plate with some homemade bread, he told Davey, “We always eat a big lunch on Saturday. If our Masters want to play on Saturday night, then it’s a good thing to have just a light supper in your belly.”

“So why were you in foster care?” Jim asked. Davey saw Brian kick him under the table.

“My mother was a heroin addict but she refused to terminate her parental rights. She stopped coming to see me when I was eight. My social worker said she might have overdosed but the department didn’t have the funds to go and look for her.” Davey took another piece of roast pork from the platter.

“Social Services should have gone to court to have her rights terminated once it became clear she wasn’t going to get clean. Then you could have been adopted,” Robbie said indignantly.

“Yes, adoptive parents want their kids. They don’t throw them out on the street,” Danny said with some bitterness.

Mrs. Mills brought out some hot apple strudel for dessert with vanilla ice cream on the side. They had plain black tea with dessert.

“Are you going to be here on Monday? We have tea either here, Jim’s or Danny’s. Sometimes one of us will go to Teavana and get special tea to share. I love their Mango Blossom tea,” Brian told him.

“They have exotic teas at Chelsea Market in New York. I used to buy some occasionally as a treat when I was working.” Davey sipped his tea and took his last forkful of strudel.

“Next week, you’ll have to bring us some,” Jim told him.

“How do you know I’ll be back next week?” Davey asked.

“You’re going to sign on for at least three months, you’ll be back. We told Jake we’d have tea at eight instead of ten so you guys won’t be that late for work.”

The cats were going from one boy to another looking for scraps. “I can see I’m going to have quite a job breaking this one of bad habits.” Davey gave the Balinese a pat on his head. The doorbell rang. “That could be Jake. Even if it isn’t, I should get ready so he doesn’t have to wait.”

§ § §

Mrs. Mills answered the door. “Mr. Cohen, come in, Davey was just getting his jacket and putting the cat in the carrier.”

“Davey, let me see him before you cage him again. I want to know what we signed up for.”

Davey lifted the cat and held him close to his chest. Jake could see he was already attached. “Let me see him… Balinese, right?” He glanced at Brian. “Good choice.”

“He doesn’t have a name yet, I thought you may want to name him,” Davey said, offering up the cat for Jake to hold.

“How old is he?” Jake looked at Brian.

“Nine months, he was surrendered because the breeder couldn’t sell him and he was getting too old,” Brian said, sadly.

“They should be required to have buyers in place before the kittens are born.” Jake petted the cat along its silky coat. “You’re going to be very happy, Davey. You get to brush the cat and clean up the cat hair.”

Davey blushed. “I like to clean.”

“Do you clean when you’re angry?” Jamie asked expectantly.

“No, I just like to clean.” Dave peered at Jamie quizzically.

“I usually clean when I’m angry at Bull. I bathe the cats so he can’t pet them and then I start going through his closet to see if there is anything that is past salvation.” Jamie seemed angelic.

“You clean to annoy the hell out of Bull. Then you throw out his favorite old T-shirts,” Brian said.

“Guilty as charged.” Jamie laughed.

“What am I getting myself into?” Jake muttered. “Come on, baby, put the cat in the carrier and let’s go over to the hotel for a nap. You’ve had a big weekend so far.”

“We have to get supplies for the cat, I didn’t think—and oh my God, the Marriott, will they let us have a cat in the suite?” Dave was abashed

“First, I picked up supplies for the
well-equipped cat
at Petsmart from a list Brian wrote up
that Bear gave me. They are currently taking up the entire back seat of the car and there is a scratching tree in the trunk. And second, as far as the Marriott is concerned, if I pay them enough, the cat will be able to stay wherever I want it, even sitting at the check-in desk in the front lobby.” Davey put the cat in the carrier, thanked Mrs. Mills and waved good-bye to the boys.

Jake took him by the arm and they were about to leave when Danny shouted, “My house on Monday at eight for tea, don’t forget.”

“I’ll make sure he gets there.” Jake opened the front door and they left.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Saturday Afternoon

Jake put Davey in the front seat and buckled him into his seatbelt. He moved some cat litter into the trunk and that made a space for the cat carrier. He then belted the carrier to the seat. Coming around to the front of the car, he got in and put on his own belt, turned the key and they were on the way to the Marriott.

“I have to admit, Jim was right. Brian is a good judge of cats—but never, ever, let him get us a dog. Bear is still waiting for replacement shoes from Loeb for the ones that Pesto chewed up, to say nothing about the ones the dog shit in. That dog’s a pain in the ass. Bear had to take him to obedience school because Brian wasn’t stern enough with him. I see you look thoughtful. What was he going to bring home today?” Jake smiled at Davey.

“There was a dog in the kennel that was missing a leg and an eye. He had cancer. The family surrendered him because they could no longer pay his vet bills. I thought the dog looked like he was in pain. Even though it’s a no-kill shelter, that dog should have been put down. He was miserable. Brian started to cry over it until Jim came over and took him in to see the cats.” Jake turned onto Route 1.

“He’d have every animal in the shelter at his house if Bear would let him. Bear indulges Brian, but not even an indulgent Master could handle two Pestos.” Jake shook his head.

“Sir, where was Pesto this morning?”

“Bear had him out in the dog run to
get some air
. You can take that to mean Bear was about to kill the dog, thought better of it, and put him outside instead.”

“Why did they name him Pesto?”

“Bear named him Pest and Brian added the
o
so the dog wouldn’t be offended. But he only answers to Pest because Bear is the one who had him trained. Ask Danny about it. Brian tried to train Pest with Danny and Gary’s dog Widget. Pest couldn’t even learn to sit. No, no dogs from Brian.”

They pulled into the Marriott and Davey got the cat carrier and put it in the new litter pan along with its water and food dishes. Jake went up to the front desk, had a brief discussion with the manager and handed over his credit card. He came back to Davey.

“Let’s go to the suite. That wasn’t so bad. They only wanted a hundred dollar deposit for cleaning. Give me the food bowls and the litter pan. I’ll carry that to the suite and then go back out for the litter and the food. I’ve got dry food for the weekend but we’ll feed him canned during the week because it’s better for his health.”

“Thank you, Sir.” To Jake’s surprise, Davey stood on his toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek then turned and took himself and the cat back to their suite.

When Jake came back with the cat litter and food, he found Davey playing on the floor with the cat.

“Would you like to name him?” Davey asked shyly.

“Let’s go look on the Internet and find a Balinese name.” Jake started up his laptop and pushed some keys. “Hmm, it seems the Balinese name a person by their caste. The highest caste is Brahmana or the priestly caste. A boy would be named Ida Bagus. The other possibility is from the ruling class, the Ksatria. Those names are Anak Agung, plain Agung or Dewa. What do you think?” Jake looked up at Davey from the computer. The two little frown lines appeared between Davey’s brow.

“Maybe we should name him something in English?” Jake suggested. “His face appears as if he is wearing a mask, how about Bandit?” Jake considered Davey. There was that megawatt smile. Davey picked up a can of kitty treats.

“Bandit is perfect! Bandit, Bandit,” Davey called. When the cat came to him, Davey gave him a treat.

“Well, it looks like we have a smart cat. He seems to know his name.” Jake laughed. “Let’s take a short nap. We have to be back to the club for the collaring ceremony at seven and it’s already three-thirty. Would you like to lie next to me?” Jake asked, thinking he was pushing his luck.

“Could I?” Dave asked, need evident in his eyes.

I’m not going to take him. I’ll only hold him until he trusts me.

“Come here…” Jake held out his arms and Davey scurried into them. They walked to the bedroom, where Jake removed Davey’s clothes but left on both of their undershirts and briefs. “Get under the covers. The room is a bit chilly.”

Davey’s eyes went wide at what he thought he had done.

“Don’t worry, baby, I’m only going to hold you until you fall asleep.”

“Thank you, Sir— no-one has ever held me that I can remember although they must have had to hold me to feed me when I was an infant.” Davey turned away from Jake’s eyes. Jake was sure Davey was afraid he had said too much.

Jake raised his eyebrow. “You’ve had sex, haven’t you?”

“In college in a club up against the bathroom wall, I got two blow jobs but they were hurried affairs. I’ve never even been kissed.”

Jake picked Davey up and gently put him down on the mattress. He turned over the sheet on the other side, and got into the bed. Moving over, he pulled Davey into his arms and they lay spooned until Jake’s phone alarm went off at five thirty.

Jake woke Davey with a kiss to his forehead.

§ § §

Saturday Night

Davey woke shaking.
What have I done, I practically offered myself up to Jake on a platter. But he didn’t take advantage of me. What kind of man is this? He beats subs every weekend yet he held me so tenderly and took nothing from me I didn’t want to give. I need time to think. I keep saying that, but it isn’t true. I know what I think, I’m just afraid of being wrong or looking foolish when he kicks me to the curb.

“Come on, it’s time to get ready to go to the club. It looks like we had company for our nap.” Bandit sauntered up to the head of the bed.

“Meow,” Bandit told them.

“I think our new friend wants his supper.”

“I’ll feed him.” Davey sat up in bed and grabbed his jeans, using that as an excuse to run from the room. He went out of the bedroom into the small kitchen to the side of the living area. He opened the bag of cat food and poured out a portion of the dry food into the bowl. He got some water from the sink and put it into the second of the two bowls. The cat twirled around Davey’s feet and Davey put the bowls on the floor.