Seduced By My Doms BN (11 page)

“Do you need anything? Clean clothes? Food?” James asked.

“No. I’m good. Julianna and Mika ran by the house this morning,”
Drake replied, nodding toward a big suitcase tucked in the corner of the room.
Three large grocery sacks sat on the alcove by the window, brimming with snack
foods. “What I need you can’t give me. I’ll have to plot out my own revenge.”

After
Dayne
had died, I dreamt up
several ways to get even with Councilman Cromwell. An eye for an eye careened
through my brain on a daily basis. It took a long time, before I realized that
death wasn’t punishment enough for the son of a bitch. He needed to live. Live
the rest of his days consumed in guilt knowing his cowardice and lies had
killed my brother. Bitterness lay on my tongue, acrid and vile, but I swallowed
it down, along with my fury and guilt.

“No. No. Daddy, help me. Please. No,” Trevor called out in his
sleep.

Drake hurried to sit on the bed. Stroking his lover’s hair,
he whispered reassurance in a loving tone so poignant it made my eyes sting.
Drake reached up and brushed at his own tears.

Stepping up behind him, James gripped Drake’s shoulder, then
leaned down to whisper something in the big man’s ear.

“I know, but I am going to find them. Every last one of
them,” Drake vowed in a trembling voice. “And heaven help them when I’m
through.”

“Just cover your ass and keep it out of jail.
Trev’s
going to need you now, more than ever,” James warned
in a compassionate tone. “If you need help, say the word. It’s not like I’ll
lose my badge anymore.”

Drake didn’t reply; he simply nodded and wiped his cheeks,
once more.

“When was the last time you went out for some fresh air, or
even stepped foot out of this room?” I asked, needing to do
something
to ease Drake’s inner turmoil.

“I haven’t,” he mumbled.

“You need to. Why don’t you and James go down to the
cafeteria, get some food, or a cup of coffee. I’ll stay with Trevor while
you’re gone.”

“I don’t want to leave him,” Drake replied, his voice
anxious.

“I know, but being cooped up in this room isn’t helping you
see past your hurt and rage. Go outside for a couple of minutes. Let the sun
beat down on your skin. Drink in some clean air. Or go to the waiting room and
visit with your friends. You’re not abandoning Trevor. I’ll be right here when
you come back. I promise, I won’t leave his side for a second.”

James flashed me a heart-melting smile. “Come on, man. Liz
is right. Let’s go grab a hot meal.”

“Take down my number and call my cell if he wakes up.” The
panic slicing Drake’s voice broke my heart.

I patted my purse. “I have James’ number in my cell. If
Trevor wakes up, I’ll call right away.”

With a nervous nod, he stood. Tentatively leaning over,
Drake brushed a soft kiss on Trevor’s cheek. “I won’t be gone long, love.”

I gave him a reassuring smile as James led Drake out of the
room. Easing onto the bed beside him, I brushed my fingertips through Trevor’s
soft hair.

“You’re a lucky, lucky man. You know that?” I whispered as
he slept. “You have so many amazing people who love you. What a spectacularly
blessed life you live. Don’t let the assholes who did this to you take one
fragment of your happiness, Trevor. You’re so much more than they’ll ever be.”

He responded to my words with a sleepy moan. Sliding my hand
into his, I gently brushed my thumb over his wrapped knuckles. Memories of
comforting
Dayne
, the night we became orphans, rushed
back in a melancholy wave.

It was my last night at home before moving into my first
apartment to begin my second year of nursing school. Mom,
Dayne
and I had spent the day laughing and reminiscing as we packed my things and
loaded up my car. I never knew what prompted my brother to come out of the
closet and tell Mom he was gay, but he did. Maybe it was because the day had
been filled with so much love he thought it was safe. Or maybe he felt he
needed Mom’s support since I’d be taking his secret with me when I left.

She didn’t handle the news well—not at all. First she
screamed and sobbed, then she went postal. Railing at
Dayne
,
she called him hateful and horrible names. Bewildered and crushed by her
reaction,
Dayne
ran to his room. I was equally
stunned. She’d never shown an ounce of prejudice before, but the way she turned
on her own son made me sick to my stomach.

Instead of letting him seek shelter in his room, Mom stormed
down the hall and into his room, screaming and cursing the whole way. Rushing
in to protect him, I discovered she had already begun yanking clothes from the
closet and tossing them onto his bed. Dragging out a suitcase, she shoved
everything inside as she yelled and cursed him.
Dayne
was crying, pleading for her to understand and forgive him, but that only made
her angrier.

“I will not have a faggot living in my house.”

Dayne
was eighteen…just two months
from graduating high school. He’d been a straight ‘A’ student his entire life.
The thought of her tossing him out on the street was the last straw. Joining
the fray, I exploded on her. Yelling, I demanded that she be reasonable, but
she just ignored me, only to continue spewing horrid, hurtful slurs. Each
insult landed like a well-aimed knife, piercing
Dayne’s
fragile heart.
 

I rounded on her and got right in her face. “He’s just a
kid,” I screamed.

“He’s an abomination. Just like your father.”

“What?” I gaped. Still fuming and furious, a shocking
thought penetrated my brain. Terrified to discover the truth, still I had to
ask. More importantly,
Dayne
needed to know if what
I’d suspected was true.

“What does Dad have to do with any of this?”

“He’s a queer,” she snarled. “A flaming homosexual. There. I
said it. Are you happy?”

Denial screamed through me, but deep inside I knew it was
true. My father’s secret had devastated her. It was the only viable explanation
for her to harbor such homophobic hatred.

“He married me so his family wouldn’t find out that he was a
limp-wristed pansy. The son of a bitch even knocked me up
twice
to
prove it,” she shrieked with a humorless chuckle. “Lies, nothing but lies. He’d
kept me in the dark, living a life of deceit and deception until one day he
broke down and told me he had a boyfriend. A fucking
boyfriend
.”

My heart sank and my stomach twisted.

“Let me fill you in on a little secret. Your father didn’t
leave. I kicked his dick-loving ass out,” she confessed with a snarl. “I wasn’t
going to share my bed with a queer, and I certainly wasn’t going to let him
touch me. God knows how many assholes he’d shoved his filthy dick into. But it
looks like he got the last laugh now, didn’t he? He extracted his sweet
revenge. He gave me a son just like him…a sick little faggot!”

“Stop calling him that,” I thundered.

“My dad is gay?”
Dayne
whispered.

“Your dad is a lying sack of shit,” she screamed as tears
slid down her face. “I thought he loved me.”

“Where is he now?” I asked, still reeling from the bombshell
she’d dropped.

“In hell, taking it up the ass from the devil himself, along
with all his other ass-fucking lovers. I hope.”

It was obvious that our father, Kennett Johansson, had
attempted to live a straight life, but only succeeded in infecting our mother
with an anger that had festered and grown stronger over the years. And Sally
Johansson had unleashed all that pent-up, venomous hate to erupt in a
projectile of rage and betrayal upon her innocent son.
Dayne
,
who’d done nothing but love her, had become her scapegoat.

Sickened that a mother would disown her only son in such a
heinous way, I raised my chin and stared her straight in the eye. “
Dayne
is moving in with me. Right now. Tonight.”

“You’re siding with a sinner?” she screamed in disbelief.
“Fine, you stupid bitch. You’re just as dead to me as your perverted father and
brother. Get the fuck out of my house. Both of you. Get out!”

She turned on her heel and stormed down the hall. Slamming
the door to her bedroom, I gathered
Dayne
into my
arms and held him as we both cried. Being under the same roof with a woman I
suddenly didn’t know made my skin crawl. Wiping
Dayne’s
tears on the hem of my t-shirt, I told him to finish packing. Gathering up the
rest of my belongings,
Dayne
and I shoved them into
my car. We left that night, still wearing our pajamas, and never went back.

We shared my one bedroom apartment—me on a lumpy twin bed,
Dayne
on a duct taped inflatable mattress—while our bond
grew inseparable. I made sure
Dayne
graduated high
school—with honors—and helped him enroll at a local community college. We
worked hard, supporting each other through the good and bad, and fit more
laughter and love into our years together than most siblings share in a
lifetime.

Not long after
Dayne
and I moved
out, I heard through a friend that Mom sold the house and moved to North
Carolina. I didn’t know—or care—if she was alive or dead. It didn’t matter;
Dayne
and I had started new lives…happy ones.

After earning his bachelor degree in science,
Dayne
landed his dream job, at a private boy’s school. He
was over the moon. A few months later, he found an apartment of his own. Though
I was proud and thrilled for him, I felt melancholy when
Dayne
moved out. I’d done my best for him, and he’d survived…at least once in his
precious, short life.

“Liz,” Trevor asked on a sad whisper. “Why are you crying?”

Jerking my head up, I didn’t know he’d awakened, or that I’d
been crying. Wiping my tears I forced a weak smile.

“You’re thinking about your brother, right? Daddy told me.”

I nodded and sniffed. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose
it. You… There’s something about you that reminds me of him.”

Trevor frowned for a moment, then a slow smile tugged the
corners of his mouth. “So he was a hot, sexy beast like me, huh?”

I snorted then laughed. Happy tears sprung from my eyes.
Trevor clutched both his mouth and stomach, groaning as he laughed with me.

Just then, Drake and James stepped into the room.

“What the hell is going on here?” Drake thundered. “What’s
so damn funny?”

Trevor and I struggled to stop laughing. Finally, he sucked
in a deep breath. With a somber expression, he looked Drake straight in the eye.
“Liz wants me to father her children.”

“What?” I shrieked, stunned by his words.

Drake and James blinked in total shock. Our stunned
expressions made Trevor laugh harder as he clutched his belly. His giggles were
so infectious I couldn’t help but join him.

“What am I?” James asked incredulously. “Chopped liver? If
you need a sperm donor, I’ll be more than happy to help you out, Liz. But just
so you know, I won’t be jacking off into some damn plastic cup.”

His offer made us laugh even harder. My cheeks hurt and my
stomach ached, but neither Trevor nor I could stop.

“You’re going to tear open your stitches, boy. Quit laughing
this instant.”

Drake’s potent command stopped us in mid-giggle. A sliver of
heated desire danced through Trevor’s eyes. His lover’s tone had excited him. A
short second later, he forced his swollen bottom lip out and flashed Drake the
saddest puppy dog expression I’d ever seen.

With an apology poised on the tip of my tongue for upsetting
Drake, I rose from the bed and stepped back.

“Aw, dammit, boy,” the big man groused with a watery smile
as he leaned over the bed. “It’s so fucking good to hear you laugh again.”

Trevor reached up and softly caressed his face. “Don’t
worry, my sweet Daddy. They’ll never have the power to change me or change what
we have together. I love you, Daddy. You’re all I’ll ever want and need.”

Trevor had gone from laughter to sobbing in the blink of an
eye. I forced a lump of emotion down from my throat as I watched Drake wrap
Trevor in his arms, cradling him ever so gently, and both men sobbed.

Swiping a tear from my eye before it could spill down my
cheek, I darted a glance over my shoulder at James. A bittersweet smile lay on
his lips, and he nodded toward the door. Without a word, we crept out of the
room, giving Drake and Trevor the privacy they deserved.

Back in the waiting room, the crowd had thinned, but plenty
of worried friends still lingered.

“How’s Trevor doing?”
Leagh
asked.
Her big, green eyes were filled with worry.

“He’s doing better than Drake,” James replied grimly. “He’s
a hot mess.”

“He will be for a while,” Mika added with a frown. “We’re
all keeping a close eye on him.”

“Good. FYI, you guys might want to give them a few minutes
before you go back,” James suggested. “Emotions are running high right now.
It’s tough to watch Drake fall apart the way he is.”

Tony exhaled a deep sigh. “No doubt, but releasing his grief
is good. Cathartic. Frankly, I’m glad that his rage isn’t inhibiting his
ability to mourn with
Trev
.”

For someone who resembled a body builder, Tony possessed a
profound sense of psychological insight.

“Don’t go pulling out your scalpel and start rooting around
in Drake’s brain,”
Leagh
warned with an impish grin,
as she squeezed Tony’s sculpted bicep.

“You’re a surgeon?” I asked, cringing at my incredulous
tone.

“No,” Tony replied with a hint of indignation. “I’m a
psychologist.”

That’s what you get for judging a book by its cover.