TAKING OVER TROFIM (Dominion of Brothers series Book 4) (16 page)

Trofim felt the pain as if he’d just been punched in the chest, “I’m sorry, Shay. I didn’t—”

Shay didn’t let him finish before he pulled him back into his arms crushing him against his chest.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He kissed the top of Trofim’s head. “I’m just tired. It was a hard night. Let’s go home, please.”

Shay kissed him again and Trofim let him lead them out.

They went up to the second level, and followed the overpass pedestrian tunnel that gave safe passage over 82nd Rd and into the Pavilion Building. They exited out the back on Parsons Blvd, finding some luck on their side when they spotted the bus just coming to a stop on the corner. They quickly hopped in and rode home to Trofim’s apartment.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

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After a solid morning’s sleep, something Shay hadn’t had while Trofim was away, he decided to spend his one day off taking his partner out for some fresh scenery; right after he recovered his car, then picked Trofim up from the boathouse after his practice.

“Where’re we going?” Trofim asked when Shay passed the turn-off for his apartment.

“We, that’s you and I, need a day of playtime. So I am taking you to the beach.”

The gray shadows that had become almost a permanent residence on Trofim’s face seemed to lift a bit and then when his smile broke through, Shay nearly wrecked the car for not watching the road. But roads and traffic just seemed so inconsequential to dare miss the moment to see his lover’s smile return. There was just that one adverse effect of not living through a wreck, which made him give up the moment and keep his eyes on the road instead.

He drove out to Ocean Parkway, with Trofim scooted in as close as the console of his Mercedes would allow. Shay found a place to park as soon as Trofim pointed out what looked like a good spot.

They jogged side by side along the park’s path until they hit the white sands just east of Jones Beach State Park. The sun and salt air greeting them both with open arms and it felt good. He snatched Trofim up by his shirt and tugged him in close for a forceful kiss right there on the spot, letting out a playful growl before releasing him. Then gave him a good swat on the ass.

“Mmmm—” Trofim hummed, “I like it when you get rough.” Trofim gave him a frisky smile.

Shay reached out and caressed the very spot he’d just smacked, then squeezed his grip into the firm bubble of flesh. “Mmmm, I like this ass.”

“Then you should get rough with it more often.” Trofim gave him a deviant grin that had them both laughing as they fell hand in hand and began strolling along the sand.

Trofim’s suggestive flirt clinging to Shay’s thoughts. He didn’t miss a single word of it and it raised another chuckle from him.

“What has you laughing?”

“Your recent hints for speculative playfulness.” Shay playfully tugged on Trofim.

“I’m just playing around with you. I don’t mean anything by it.” Trofim’s smile wavered a bit, and for a moment Shay saw his own past looking back at him through Trofim’s eyes.

Shay was all too aware of how sensitive Trofim was to Shay’s pain. So acutely, his partner suffered it for him when Shay refused to. But he didn’t want Trofim to worry that his flirting might have triggered such nonsense. And he quickly curled his lips up in a wicked grin, “Oh yes you did. Do you think I don’t know what your body tells me?”

Shay stepped in a one-eighty, coming in front of Trofim’s path, altering his steps to walk backwards, catching Trofim by the shirt to keep him moving with him while pressed against his chest. “I’ve told you before, whatever my sweetheart wants. If he desires romance I shall woo you to the end of the earth. If my lover wants it rough—” Shay paused drawing Trofim all the way against him and leaned in to whisper in Trofim’s ear with a heated growl, “Then I will tease and nip, and pin you down, and drive my cock inside you until sore becomes your favorite word.”

He felt Trofim’s body melt like candy in his grip and nearly stumbled into him trying to reach for a kiss. “Can we go home and start now?” Trofim continued to lean against Shay even more to encourage the suggestion.

Shay let out a hearty laugh and shook his head playfully, “No, my love. Today we play and get our laughs back on.” He face-planted a kiss to Trofim’s lips with an exaggerated pucker then let out a loud
mwah
before turning on his heels and giving Trofim’s arm a tug then took off down the beach.

They ran zig-zagging down the strip of sand playing a game of one on one tag. When they got hot, they chased one anther into the ocean, only to have Shay come bounding back out. “Holy shit that’s cold!!” He laughed and managed to do a hopping high step that to some might have resembled a miracle of walking on the water. “My nuts are so shriveled they might never function properly again.”

“I’ll be sure to give it my special mouth to cock resuscitation.” Trofim came leaping after Shay with what looked like intentions to drag him back in.

“I will spank you!” Shay pointed a warning finger at him then turned about and took off in a full run.

Shay should have known better to think he could out run him. Trofim was as fit as an Olympic athlete. Now a days, Shay spent most his time strolling no further than the length of the hospital corridor. So he was faced with quite a challenge to try and outrun Trofim, who was closing in on him despite Shay’s slight advantage of having a longer stride. Shay tried to do a duck and pivot, but it was no use. There was no way for him to out maneuver Trofim. Though he didn’t mind as much as others might have. Rather, Shay couldn’t help but feel proud of Trofim and enjoyed getting caught.

He’d never forget that day just last fall when he was out on the water, his team had a good pace going, but their lead called out the cue, warning them to prepare for a Power-20.

Just further down river from them, they all could see the Greenwich Queens crew pulling up. As much as many of the teams hated to admit it, they silently knew the Queens were the team to keep a close watch on. The Greenwich Queens were a power house crew that had rowed up a river of hate and prejudice to make it to the regionals.

There was a millisecond of a desire Shay felt like throwing the race, just to see them win. But the burning tension in his arms and legs meted the thought away. He hadn’t beaten and battered his knuckles raw, trained every hour he wasn’t at the hospital to get here, only to hand it over to someone else so freely. Even if it was the Laszkovi brothers. If they wanted the championship that badly, they’d have to take it from him— and then the cox’swain in his boat let out the call— “POWER 20!”—
The young man’s shouting echoed in Shay’s head as he re-lived that day in his mind.
Eight men, already fighting exhaustion. Bodies and muscles already screaming in agonizing pain were given the order to endure more and ROW HARDER— it was an insane sport— only mad men tortured their bodies in such a way. However, there was something to be said about winning. No other sport gave the victor such a triumphant view of the losing team falling behind them as they rowed for the finish line. That was the glory in rowing.

Their bodies folded over, shoulder over toes, oars dipped into the water then with a cry they all shouted while pushing their legs out in full stretch, arms pulling at the oars in the carryover of movement then returned to the folded start— then did it again. Each next sweep and draw, was harder and faster. Rowing at twice the exerted speed of their normal pace for a full twenty strokes. But it was too late. The Greenwich Queens were drawing up. The eerie chant the Queens crew called out had an unsettling effect on Shay and his teammates, several let out curses to mask their fears. The Greenwich team had taken a similar course of action with a power-up and were already throttling up river in full force like a locamotion and were gaining the momentum they needed.

The Queens’ black glossy scull shell sliced through the water like a torpedo— navy and gray blades dipped and pulled— dipped and pulled— Pyotr Laszkovi was in the lead seat. Shay recognized River, sitting in front of Pyotr. He wasn’t sure about the next two men, but Hemi, the large Maori man covered in tribal tattoos stood out among the team.

Shay was trying to remember who the rower in front of Hemi was, but his attention suddenly skipped to the next instead. To the mop of near black curls now plastered down with sweat to a frame Shay had made love to, kissed and held a thousand times.

Trofim.

Something had hit Shay’s back, then jarred his shoulders when the oars of his teammate behind him crossed over Shay’s. The curse was enough to raise the dead and Shay realized in the absolute shock of seeing his runaway lover, he was the cause of a pile-up for his team. He’d unknowingly stopped in mid draw of his sweep. His team cursed and damned him as Shay rushed to reset his alignment, but no amount of pulling would ever forgive him the hate his team felt for him that day. Nevertheless, all Shay could think of was he had to row to the finish line just so he could catch up to the man who’d vanished from his life over four years ago.

Trofim Laszkovi was home.
Shay remembered sighing with excitement
. He’d been reborn that day.

Shay and Trofim gave in on their game of tag, idling down for some casual walking. Basking in the warmth of the early spring sunlight. Every now and then stooping over to pick up a sea shell or to toss a rock back into the ocean. Shay still had his past replaying in his head. “When I found out you’d left, I thought I died.” Shay began to lament those darker times. “That maybe my father had gone too far and killed me this time. My penance in hell was for having not protected you from him. So I was to wander the earth without you in my life ever again. My life was over.”

Trofim’s hand slipped around Shay’s arm and clung to him. “Please don’t speak that way.”

Shay kept his eyes out along the distant horizon, squinting his eyes against the intrusion of sunlight. He felt Trofim press a kiss to his shoulder giving him strength to confess the darkness he’d been living. “You always ask about what happened to me. The thing is, nothing my father has ever done to me even compares to the pain and desperation I felt when you were gone.” Shay glanced along his shoulder to Trofim. It was odd, he’d gone through it all, but he felt none of it now. For once he didn’t feel broken, it was just a peculiar memory as if he’d witnessed it as a third person. “I would have left then. Gone looking for you or just given up. Then one day, I overheard Pavle talking to you on the phone during his break at the hospital. I stayed because that small bit of assurance let me know you were at least alive and if I stayed close to Pavle, one day I would see you again.” Shay spared Trofim another glance and smiled for him, “I wanted to be sure I would make you happy, and that I would be able to provide for you.”

“Shay, what you do for work doesn’t matter. But I would have been hurt had you dropped out, because you have never wanted to be anything but a surgeon. I don’t want you to give that up. Not even for me.”

“But I would. Because I always wanted to be a doctor until I met you. Then I wanted nothing more to be the man who will always make you smile, laugh, and moan.” Shay tried to laugh. “I want you, but I need you to need me, because you’re my oxygen, Trofim. I can’t live without you. Now you’re back and I will do anything to please you to keep you as mine.”

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Trofim hardly took his eyes off of Shay’s face as they fell silent in the slow walk back to their car. The things Shay had just told him spiraling around in Trofim’s head like a cycling marquee sign.
It had nearly killed him too when he left. He’d bawled his eyes out with only Pyotr’s strong arms around him to hide in as he stood at the entrance to the boarding terminal for the plane. He wasn’t just going away for a couple of days, he was going for good. And his heart had been left bleeding somewhere on the far end of the city. Wherever Shay had vanished to.
As frightening as it was to think they may have to go through all of that again, Trofim agreed with Shay, being apart had been the worst of it. Trofim knew he would never leave Shay ever again. But there was one other thing that rang out in his head. Something Shay said that Trofim had heard many of his Dom friends say:
A Dom wants his submissive partner, but needs their submissive to need Him.

Despite all the broken pieces, Shay was certainly a natural alpha when it came to their relationship. Shay had always taken full responsibility and control of their affairs. As scary as such a rebellious idea one would think, Shay had never left Trofim wanting. Shay fed and sated him sexually, romantically, and as friends. They laughed, and hugged and wrestled. No matter where Trofim was, he always felt Shay’s loving arms around him.

Trofim had never really thought about getting into kink back then, despite his brothers and a few of his friends involved in it. He and Shay didn’t need it. Now, it still wasn’t really a need, but Trofim found himself more aroused by the idea of being tied to the headboard with Shay’s dress tie or being spanked while they fucked. And just as Trofim had started to drop hints about them, Shay picked up on it. And that left Trofim wondering if they could actually explore a D/s relationship and if it would work for them.

That was when Trofim realized Shay didn’t need to worry about being needed. Trofim already felt it inside his heart and further down into something far deeper. Something he didn’t know how to define, needed Shay to take charge, and keep them together no matter what came at them. “I most definitely need you.” He leaned in to whisper then kissed Shay’s cheek. Shay’s arm coiled round him and they walked the rest of the way arm in arm, watching as the sun began to dip towards the horizon.

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They’d just finished knocking the sand from their shoes before climbing into the car when Shay’s father called. “Yeah.” Shay answered without any attempt to be the doting son or even professional.