Jake's Thief (22 page)

“I did the unforgivable. I made Jamie have sex with me while he was still in subspace because I knew he’d say no if he wasn’t. He forgave me, faster I might add, than you galoots did,” Bull said hoarsely, not liking to talk about his feelings.

“I cheated on Jim and he let me come home,” Reed told Jake.

“I let Johnny’s house burn down around him because I was too stubborn to see past his money. He still has a scar on his neck.” Caden’s breath hitched. He hid it by taking one of the madeleines. “These are terrific. You can’t get rid of him.” The guys at the table laughed. Bear gave them a look and they got serious again.

“Robbie didn’t think he was a sub. When he found out I was into Shibari, he was so relieved I thought he was going to cry.” Tom took a bite out of the pastry. “These are good. At least get the recipe for the other boys before you kick him to the curb.”

“I wouldn’t kick him to the curb. I’d make sure his life was back on track.” Jake bristled.

“You would, would you? How on track will your life be if he goes? You said the other day—you’d be lost without him. How is he going to be if he loses you? From what Jim says, he hasn’t opened his heart to anyone since he was eleven.” Reed turned away from Jake. “I need a drink.”

“Max,” Tom called, “brandy all around. Put it on my tab.” The others rolled their eyes. Tom wasn’t a big spender. “What? I feel partially responsible because I didn’t explain things adequately to Robbie. Maybe if I had, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Greg told me that Davey never had a friend, not one, his whole life. Yet, he didn’t become a murderer or a sociopath. He wants to please you. He needs you. Greg really likes him. They are similar in many ways. Greg almost killed himself to please me. I think that’s what the kid was trying to do, please you no matter what it cost him. He was facing his biggest fear.” Cisco raised his voice. Jake studied the floor.

“Think about it, that’s fourteen years, it took fourteen years for him to open himself up to someone and he did everything you asked of him and more in less than a week.” Reed took a sip of his brandy. “He faltered once
because he didn’t know any better.
He was given bad advice by the people you told him to emulate
and you’re ready to put him through hell for a week or more to soothe your ego. After Jim left, I had no ego. I would have crawled down a mile of broken glass, naked, to get my Jim back. Thank God, he had a forgiving soul.”

“He made a mistake. But he wasn’t even aware he was making one. He thought he was doing right by you. I keep on telling you, it wasn’t you he didn’t trust. Davey didn’t trust himself.” Bear slammed his glass on the table in a temper and Jake eyed him in shock.

“Since you people seem to be the experts,” Jake said with some sarcasm, “what do I do now?”

“Don’t tell him but do what you were going to originally do. I can understand letting him sweat for a few more hours, but not a week. Especially since you know you want him,” Reed said reasonably.

“Now I know what the boys went through with us. I’m never going to scold Greg about meddling again. Together they all made it so a recalcitrant sub saw reason and returned to his Master. They did it seven times. We can’t do it once.” Cisco drank down his brandy and gave Jake the stink eye.

Gary, who had been quiet throughout, spoke up. “There is only one thing that really matters here.” He swallowed the remainder of the brandy in his snifter. “Do you love him enough to let go of your anger and pride?”

“Brian thinks that if you wait your week, which by the way I think is punishment under the guise of building trust, Davey will be broken beyond repair.” Bear motioned for Max to give him another.

Jake’s face turned white.

“Davey needs to see someone. It can’t be Greg because they are too close and I don’t want Greg to have to give up his friendship to form a doctor/patient relationship.” Cisco stated succinctly.

“Is it really that bad?” Jake asked.

“When I met Brian he was trying to support his abusive mother who was staying with an aunt who milked him for almost every dime he had. He was living in third world conditions. If he had had twenty extra dollars, he’d have spent it on food,” Bear snapped.

“Robbie, too,” Tom said.

“Danny wouldn’t have survived one day on the streets without Robbie.” Gary was seriously pissed.

“Jim had to reinvent himself after the Army because he suppressed who he was for so long.” Reed drummed his fingers on the table.

Bear thought they were all getting tired of Jake’s stubbornness.

“Yet Davey made it through all he endured and came out the other side. He gets himself settled into a very small life because people like Danvers were taking advantage of him and he didn’t know any better…” Reed took a breath.

Gary continued, “…and you came in riding your white horse and saved him, giving him a glance of heaven. Not that you’re any type of angel, but for that kid, friends and someone that could love him and appreciate his mind is heaven…”

“…and after one week,” Bull blustered.

“And one mistake…” Caden was more than irritated.

“…you take it all away.” Bear finished.

“What do you think that would do to his psyche? What would it do to yours and you never had his problems. You grew up in a wealthy home with friends for the asking. You were able to indulge your kink and no one dared criticize you for being gay or your father would have shot them,” Cisco said.

“How easy it is for you to point a finger?” Caden clearly had enough. “Danny and I grew up in a home without love, but we had one another. I stupidly left him alone when I turned eighteen and he had to live for ten more years in that environment. I couldn’t have done it.”

“Every one of them, including Davey, is stronger than we are.”

“If I knew I was going to get my ass reamed, I’d have brought some lube. If the subs are this hard on each other, it’s a wonder they’re all still friends.” Jake looked around the table. “So I’m completely in the wrong?” he asked.

“Not completely. There was a trust issue and you’ll have to gentle him to your hand but that’s part of being a Master to one boy, pushing their boundaries, punishing them when they fuck up, not throwing them out after their first infraction,” Reed said in exasperation.

“The main question is, do you really love him, or was all of this just lust?” Bear asked. “And I warn you now—if it was lust we’re all going to beat the shit out of you for upsetting our boys and treating one of ours so poorly. We’ll find him a Master who’ll appreciate him for who he is.”

“You’re not kidding are you? You can’t do that,” Jake said in surprise.

“No, we’re not kidding and yes we can do that,” Bull said with finality.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Late Saturday Afternoon/ Early Evening

When Jake got back to the hotel suite, Davey was packing his little suitcase. Now that Jake took a look at it, it had to be the same one because they didn’t make suitcases of hardened wicker anymore. It must have been handed down to him by one of his foster families when he was an infant, and he’d carried it ever since. Jake had to get it together. He had to find a way to recover from one of the biggest mistakes he’d ever made.

“Baby, what are you doing?”

Davey turned to him, eyes swollen, face blotchy. “I’m leaving.”

“Why?” Jake asked dumfounded. They’d agreed this morning to give it another week.

“Because I can’t take not knowing, it’s too cruel,” he said simply. “The boys pooled their money. I have five hundred dollars. I’m going to put the things in my apartment in storage down here. Danny has a truck, he’ll help me move. Then I’m going to the sub house with Benji and Dex. I’ll have a job as a waiter.”

“You decided all that without talking to me first?” Jake was in a panic.

“I tried to talk to you. I tried to explain. You wouldn’t listen. It was never you I didn’t trust, it was me. I had to bare my soul to you last night, I didn’t know if I could do that at the club and then be able to sit and talk like nothing happened. If you want to press charges, you’ll know where I am. I can’t handle the roller coaster ride. Greg will be here in a few minutes.”

“Davey, I came to apologize for being such a dick. I didn’t know what Robbie had told you or how you’d react. That’s the only thing I can say in my defense. The rest of it is on me. I love you with all my heart. Wait a minute.” Jake went into his briefcase and pulled out a box. He handed it to Davey. “Open it, please.”

Davey took the box and opened it. Jake got down on his knees. “No, no…” Davey said and started to cry again. “You don’t ever belong on your knees.” Davey got up and tried to pull Jake up by his hand. Jake knelt up.

“Yes, I do. I hurt you. Please, be my boy. Marry me, take my collar. Decorate our new house. Help me with the office, I need you.”

Bandit jumped on the bed and said, “Meow…”

“See, even our cat needs you. Please stay with me, Davey. I’d be lost without you. I can’t think of it without shaking. I was afraid too. I’ve never been in love before and it scared me. When I couldn’t find you last night, I went a little crazy. When you did what you did and you came back, I thought you were trying to give me an excuse to make you leave.”

Davey got down on the floor next to Jake and made the deepest obeisance that Bull had taught him. He prostrated himself before Jake. He lifted his head and said, “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I’m so stupid. I don’t deserve you or any of the things you’ve given me. I love you too, so much.”

“Get up off the floor and let me put this on you. Tonight I want to collar you in front of our friends. Go upstairs, give you the spanking I should have given you last night, make love to you afterward and later I’ll make arrangements for a wedding next week.”

Davey nodded his head. It was such a slight nod that Jake almost missed it. He picked Davey up and laid him gently on the bed. He put his finger to Davey’s lips to quiet him.

“I’ll be right back.” He went into the bathroom and retrieved a washcloth. He wet it in the kitchen sink and got some ice cubes out of the freezer. He went over to the bed. “This will feel cold, but it will reduce the swelling around your eyes.”

Jake went into the bathroom and opened the faucets to run a warm bath. He heard a knock at the door of the suite. It was Greg. “I came to get Davey, Sir.”

“He’s going to stay with me,” Jake said, knowing the relief was evident in his voice.

“Would you mind very much, Sir, if I heard it from him?” Jake opened the door and stepped aside to let Greg in.

“He’s in the bedroom.” Jake pointed Greg in the right direction.

Greg went in and shut the door behind him. He could only hope that Greg didn’t try to change Davey’s mind. Ten minutes later, Greg came out. “He’s decided to stay. God knows why. I don’t care how many strokes I get for it, if you hurt him again, I’ll hurt you. I suppose I’ll see you later at the club, or not. Good evening, Sir.”

§ § §

Bandit was lying on Davey’s chest when Jake came in to get him. Jake had undressed and put on a pair of old soft jeans and taken off his shirt. He gently set the cat aside then picked Davey up and carried him to the bathroom, helping him into the warm water where he used some body wash to make bubbles.

“I’ve never had a bubble bath. I never thought to buy bubbles.”

Jake wondered what else he’d never thought to have for himself. He had bought furniture, a television and a stereo because he knew people had those things but he didn’t know about bubbles, such a simple thing, Jake wanted to cry. Instead, he took the natural sponge out of his kit bag and began to softly wash Davey’s skin, kissing it as he moved the bubbles aside.

“I thought Greg wasn’t going to let you stay. He told me off.”

“Oh my God, he’s going to take strokes for me. Please…”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of telling Cisco. Greg is a good friend and you need one of those. You have all the others but Greg is special, he’s a lot like you. Cisco told me that when he first met you.”

“I like Greg a lot, but I didn’t like him telling me to leave you. I belong to you and have since the day we met.”

“I have something special for you to wear to the club tonight. I bought it before I came home. Let me rinse you, then we’ll dry you off.”

§ § §

Davey stepped out of the tub into the towel. Jake took extra care and dried him everywhere, even the embarrassing places. Davey was still naked when Jake carried him to the bedroom and set him on the bed. “Let me make love to you, we’ll put your collar on, to hell with ceremony. They can have all of that next week when Judge Stottlemeyer comes to marry us. Is that okay with you, baby? Will you marry me next week?”

Davey put his arms around Jake’s neck. “Yes, I will, Jake Cohen, and you can spank me every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Lay back down on the bed, baby. You have a gorgeous ass, round, full, high and tight. Before we start, I want to make sure that you know I’m going to make love to you and spanking might be involved. I had a recent blood test. Tom told me yours is on file as negative. Can I take you bare?”

“Yes, of course, I hate that this is a negotiation.”

“I know you’ve never had sex, and I’ve always made sure I was safe. But if you ever leave me know that you have to be sure. Some guys just don’t want to bother with a condom and that has deadly consequences. Please promise me you’ll always play safe.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll always be with you.” Davey smiled his smile and even the cynic in Jake believed he meant it.

“What are your safe words?”

“Red for stop, yellow to slow down and green to go,” Davey reiterated.

Jake went to the bathroom and took two towels off of the rack. He came back and spread them down the bed. “Lie on these, face down, baby.”

Davey rolled over so that his whole body was placed on top of the towels. Jake took out a bottle of almond massage oil from his kit bag. He poured some out and warmed it in his hands.

“I’m going to give you a massage.” He began to rub the oil into Davey’s skin, first massaging the shoulders, then down his spine to the cheeks of Davey’s ass. He kissed each one. “I love these cheeks.” The oil from Jake’s fingers dribbled onto Davey’s back. Jake began to work Davey’s muscles using long strokes for his back and kneading his shoulders. He next did Davey’s feet and legs, working the toes, the arches, and balls of Davey’s feet.