"His name is Taehyung and I named my vibrator after him," Sonam explained to Dorian, who was sitting next to her on the couch watching a video on her laptop. "In my opinion, he's the cutest one. I'd give him my eggs if he asked. I'd cook them too."
"He's attractive," he agreed.
"Period."
"Have you guys seen my phone?" I asked, face planted on the floor as I searched under my bed.
"Couch," Dorian replied, a second later waving my phone in his hand.
"Oh, thanks," I said, getting up from the floor and running to retrieve it in a hurry. "I'll be back later."
Hopefully.
"Have fun, Lucy," Dorian said, flashing a smile my way that made my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach.
It was difficult holding back the emotions threatening to push out of my eyes in liquid form. This wasn't a safe life that I was diving into. I was being incredibly irresponsible by still living here, a safe place for my friends, a vulnerable location that could easily be found by these people if they discovered the truth of my situation.
"Thanks," I said, leaving the apartment.
Cedric had been waiting outside for an hour. At first he tried knocking on the front door, but after he found out I was sleeping, he opted to wait outside until I woke up. He thought he'd be disturbing me, which was kind of him, but there were more important things right now than sleep and I wouldn't have been mad if he'd woken me up.
"Ready to go?" Cedric asked when I joined him in his truck.
"Yeah, I'm ready," I replied quietly, noticing right away that something was wrong. I knew what it was, but had no clue how to approach it without messing it all up.
Before I started a conversation, I pondered for a while, mostly to give him some time to brave up and ask me himself, but that moment never came. I watched his face from the corner of my eyes, there was nothing there except a disapproving expression. He was surely thinking about it.
"Cedric?" I called his name quietly.
"Hm?"
"D-Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" He was either pretending or I read everything wrong.
"Everything."
"As in . . ."
"Jesus, Cedric."
"My name is Cedric Hunter, not Jesus Cedric."
That was such a horrible fucking dad joke that I had to turn my face away and cringe against the glass window.
I cleared my throat and composed myself. "Well, Cedric Hunter. Now that we're alone, do you want to talk about Elijah and how I ended up in two gangs?"
"You explained yourself perfectly last night," he said dryly, his green eyes glued to the road while his hands gripped the wheel like he was trying to choke it.
"You're clearly mad and I'm sorry for not saying anything, but I was scared."
He clicked his tongue and loosened his tight grip on the wheel. "I'm not mad, just disappointed."
"Why?"
"I thought you trusted me. You could have talked to me. Instead you led me on and played patty cake with some other guy from another gang, and not just any gang, but the worst of the worst."
I turned my whole ass body so I'd be facing him while I talked, because I could easily lose my patience trying to defend myself and I needed him to really listen to me this time.
"Cedric, I didn't ask for any of this. You act like I had a choice. I didn't. And I know you're upset about Elijah, but I promise you that I was not leading you on."
"Then explain last night."
"I care about him, I wanted him to feel safe."
"Nice."
"But I also care about you," I said, slightly moving forward so that he didn't have to move his eyes too far from the road to look at my face. "I like you both, a lot. And I'm sorry if I hurt you or made you feel like I betrayed what we have."
There was a sparkle in his eyes. Maybe I restored some hope.
"Let's just get through today."
The ride seemed longer this time around, but once I saw the familiar magical trees getting closer, I knew that the time to be scared as fuck was here. Cedric got me some make-up to cover up the tattoo as much as I could. In the back of the car, while he drove slowly towards the mansion, I applied the powder and foundation, and hopefully erased the cyan tattoo from my skin.
"How does it look?" he asked.
I checked my work with a small mirror Cedric gave me. "It's covered up, but if they check my neck, it's game over."
"I have an idea, but please try to look intimidated and scared. Don't overdo it, make it subtle."
"You want me to look like an innocent little boy who lost his mommy?" I suggested.
"Exactly."
"I better get an Oscar after this."
"I think my plan will work. If I was even remotely hesitant, we'd already be doomed."
"What's your plan?"
"They have a section in the mansion, like a hospital wing. We have nurses and people who are working day and night to provide services for all of our members. I think I can convince Lorena to let me do your check up."
"Oh, nice. That way nobody has the idea of checking my neck."
"They need to believe you're scared. I can't do this alone."
I met his eyes in the rear view mirror and nodded. "I got this."
Besides what was currently happening in my life, I couldn't remember a time where I was so scared I thought I'd lose my life. The feeling was new, and considerably unnecessary. The thought that I could die any second was terrifying in so many ways, but if it had to happen, I hoped with all of my heart and soul that death touched me swiftly.
The second time being in the presence of this monster mansion wasn't any different from the first. I was mesmerized by how old and beautiful it truly was—like a castle adorned with magical plant life squeezing around the high towers like serpents, and more plants and moss on the walls, creating incredible swirls and mysterious textures.
Cedric parked where he did last time and we basically repeated the same steps, only this time Lorena was not outside to greet us. We marched up the steps side by side and I put on my scared little boy face. I bit my lips, looked around nervously, made a plan to avoid as much eye contact as possible, and let myself fidget away.
The mansion was busy inside, something that you wouldn't guess from the outside appearance. I remembered how empty it was the first time I went in, now it felt like a packed day at an office job. This time around there were people walking down the halls, from room to room, some hurrying with boxes and papers like it was an ordinary job.
"Where's Lorena?" Cedric asked some random man.
"Garden."
"Thanks."
Cedric moved and I followed like a puppy, afraid of the hall that I once entered when I followed a strange carpet that led me to the massive backyard with the bleeding statue.
That I bathed in.
Basically.
Half of the scared face I wore was an act, the other half was real. It didn't bring back good feelings being in this place. I was so damn anxious that I didn't even have to pretend anymore.
We found Lorena by the creepy statue. She was sitting by the water while surrounded by a group of men. They were talking quietly, it seemed serious so we didn't interrupt. When they were done and the men scattered, Cedric told me to stay put and walked to her. Whatever he was telling her, she was buying. She kept nodding like an understanding mother, her hand resting over her heart delicately.
When they were done talking, he ran back to me and flashed me a quick smile that Lorena couldn't see. He was victorious. All of my anxiety disappeared as fast as it came.
I was mostly glad I didn't have to talk to anyone. I couldn't explain to them why I disappeared. Any lie I'd say would sound suspiciously planned.
Cedric took me to the hospital part of the mansion. I swear my legs were burning by the time we got there. You might need a whole ass car just to cross from one side of the mansion to the other.
It was truly weird. It looked so different from the rest of the place. It actually seemed like a real hospital. There was even a waiting room with a front desk.
Cedric went up to the receptionist and got a clipboard with some papers, afterwards he fetched me from the waiting room and took me to an empty room and closed the door behind.
"Fucking hell," Cedric sighed, catching his breath as if he were holding it for the longest time. "I can finally breathe."
It was insane how normal this looked. There was a blue bed with the paper sheet where a patient would sit or lay on. There was a small counter with a sink and other medical supplies, with cabinets that I was sure were filled with tools and more supplies.
"What now?" I asked, looking around skeptically as if we were being secretly recorded.
"These rooms are safe, don't worry," he said, reading my face. "I have to fill these papers. I've never done it before, but I know how it goes since I've seen it done many times."
"You make it sound like it's a procedure."
"Please have a seat, Mr. Mars," he ordered with a sly smile.
"Ah, yes. I've seen these videos on the hub," I admitted as I jumped on the bed. "Do I need to remove my clothes for this?"
Cedric looked lost for a second, like he was imagining it and forgot to come back to earth. "N-No. It's not a physical examination, but I will definitely need your weight, height, and I do need to take your blood."
I slouched my shoulders and groaned. "Can we just do the blood first so we get it out of the way?"
"Sure."
"Do you know what you're doing?" I asked as he pulled out the tools.
"Yes, I do. Lay back for me."
As soon as I saw the syringe, I closed my eyes and looked away. It wasn't that I didn't like needles, I was fine with them, I just wasn't sure how much trust I should be putting on Cedric.
"Your veins are so easy to see," he said as he inspected my arm, tapping it with a finger.
"Some people are into that."
"It wasn't an insult, just means it will be easier and I don't need to use a tourniquet."
Everything was happening fast. He used an alcohol wipe to clean my skin and the scent made my heart start beating fast like an engine. A second later a needle was thrusted into my skin. It felt like a pinch, it wasn't bad, it didn't bother me, I was just scared that Cedric would mess it up since he wasn't a doctor or a nurse.
"Is it over?" I asked, my head still turned away from the action.
"Yep."
I opened my eyes and looked at the crime scene as he put a band-aid over the stabbing wound. The vial of blood was on the counter next to some papers. Cedric looked so damn serious it was almost hot. He'd make one hell of a sexy doctor.
"Doctor, I think I have a medical problem," I teased.
"What?" Cedric wondered, confused at my role-play attempt.
I palmed my growing bulge and moaned in fake pain. "I think there's something wrong with me. Do you know any treatments?"
"Oh." He eyed the visible shape of my dick and understood finally. "I'm not sure, since I think I'm suffering from the same issue." He stepped back and also grabbed his junk, but his was not hard, yet.
I sat up and jumped back on the floor, but still leaned against the bed. I pulled him closer by his belt until our bodies were barely an inch apart.
"What if we do this?" I asked, moving him close against me until our bodies finally touched and our bulge pressed against one another.
The next moan that left my mouth was real. Because of how thick his member was, it felt incredible to have it rubbing on mine. The pressure, the friction, it made me want to whip them out and start jerking right here, right now.
Cedric was enjoying it as well. His face told me everything I needed to know. His eyes were closing, his face was inching closer to mine. My heart was beating like crazy as I looked up into his dreamy eyes, both panting for air but only breathing in each other. He leaned against the friction, wanting more. For a second it seemed like he was about to kiss me, but turned his face away and used his voice to whisper in my ear and send chills through my entire body.
"I want to fuck you," he whispered, grinding his heavy cock on me. I wasn't sure if it was possible for me to be any harder, but my dick needed to be freed.
"I want to fuck you, too," I threw back at him, smirking confidently when he looked dumbfounded.
"Sure, we can do that too," he played along.
I kind of swallowed like a bitch. I wasn't expecting for him to just straight up accept it. I wasn't going to lie to myself, I thought about our positions a lot, sometimes in bed when I was alone, sometimes in the shower, sometimes with hand movements. I wanted both. I wanted to fuck him. I could imagine how warm and tight his hole would be around my cock. The image was mouthwatering, but it didn't stop there. I wanted him to fuck me as well. I'd take the pain of his thickness any day. I wanted him to be rough, to destroy me until I begged him to stop. I wanted everything with Cedric.
"Fuck, Cedric, I . . ."
"We can do something quick if you want, but we can't be in here too long."
"Really? Can I finally see it?"
"Yeah, but we have to be fast, understand?"
"Dude, I'll probably last ten seconds once I see it."
Cedric stepped back for a moment and his hands went down to his belt. He unbuckled, unbuttoned, freed his zipper, and pulled out his rock-hard cock. There was so much drool in my mouth that I had to swallow it down. It was so fucking beautiful. It was thick, cut, with a smooth tip just as big as the rest of it that would cause some havoc if it entered my virgin hole. It was the type of dick that you could suck on for hours and be satisfied with just that. It was a blessing to be in its presence, to be honest.
"I've never wanted to be killed by a dick so badly in my life," I said, biting my lips hard.
"There's time for that later."
"Right." I moved quickly and pulled down my pants, letting lose my own hard cock. It wasn't thick, and it was longer than his, but a dick being long didn't mean it was special. I wish I had one like Cedric. I'd use it to dominate and rule the world.
Cedric moved back to me and our dicks collided. Our warm bodies, pressed together in this cold room, was heaven. Cedric used his hands to align our members and pump them between his strong hands. I felt so useless just letting him do all the work that without thinking, I kissed his lips. He stopped jerking us for a second while he processed what I had done, but didn't seem to mind it as he slowly brought back his lips to mine. I had a feeling he wanted to kiss me, for a long time.
Our lips came together, this time in a mutual decision. He wasted no time opening my mouth with his and giving me a taste of what he was about. We were only a few seconds into the kiss and it was already better than anything I ever had with Chance. There was so much passion and desire in the way Cedric kissed me, held me, and touched me. Every second was important to him. His tongue wasn't desperate or needy, it was just right.
After a minute of kissing and having his hands over our cocks, I was moaning my warning. He kissed me back harder, acknowledging my desperation. He squeezed his hands together and fucked upward, giving my own cock a jolt of tingles that made the climax begin. I lifted my shirt and held it over my chest as I came hard and long over my stomach, and a second later Cedric released his hot shots over my own. He didn't give us time to rest and recollect ourselves; there was no lock on the door. He rushed to get wipes to clean us up, especially me, while I was still coming down from heavenly bliss.
"That was definitely needed," I muttered, pointing out the consistent sexual tension between us that always went unresolved.
"We should get out of here before we do any more stupid shit," he said, collecting the papers he filled out and stuffing them into a folder. Before he could get the chance to open the door, I pulled him back, spun him around and kissed him one last time. It was so shocking to him that as soon as I moved back, he let out a chuckle and quickly silenced it with a serious-macho face, because expressing emotions was too gay.
"What?" I asked, a little confused by his reaction.
"Nothing, but everything."
"Oh, awesome."
"Come," he said, flinging the door open.
"Already did," I replied, a smug on my face as I brushed past him into the hall.
"I want to scream," he whispered to himself.
"Don't worry, you will." I winked.
"STOOOP!" he scolded.
I chuckled like an evil villain as I followed him to the reception desk. The many jokes floating in the air were phenomenal. I was ready for anything he threw at me. But once we left that room, I was back to acting like a scared little cat.
We had to wait a few minutes, since the woman was currently helping an oddly familiar guy out. I just looked around awkwardly like I just had an embarrassing appointment with the doctor.
"Thanks, Derek. Tell your grandma to stop by as soon as possible."
"I will," he said before leaving.
"Don't forget the photo," the woman told Cedric as he handed her the paperwork when it was his turn.
"Oh, right."
Cedric took me to another room, but this one had a camera in the center and lights beaming at a white backdrop. I stepped over the small X on the floor before he could even tell me what to do. It was obvious what the photo was for. He took it quickly, and no, I didn't smile. Imagine smiling for a gang picture.
"Did you get it?" Cedric asked, popping his head out of the room.
"Got it," the woman responded.
"Okay, let's go."
Some stress left my body when he said those words. It went by really fast, but I doubt it would have been that easy if it had been another person who checked me. Still, I didn't let my guard down until we marched through the mansion to go back outside.
Nobody glanced at me, nobody spoke to me, nobody even bumped against me even when the day was busy. I was invisible and that was exactly what we wanted. No one would ask questions or wonder who I was. I didn't exactly look like I belonged here either, or in Lords. I just . . . didn't have the look. I was a nobody, nothing threatening, nothing to worry about.
We didn't speak once we got in the car until we were out of the vicinity of Devilian's headquarters. When we were completely far away, Cedric was the one that spoke first, taking me by surprise with his question, "Are we meeting whatever his name is?"
"I don't know, are we? Didn't you ask me for his number last night?"
"I assumed he talked to you."
"He hasn't."
"He wants us to meet him at an apartment."
"Let's go then."
"Can you tell him we're on the way then?"
"What did you guys talk about?" I asked, trying not to sound like I was curious or anything. I picked up my phone from my pocket and wrote Elijah a quick text message.
"You want to move out of your friend's place so they don't get pulled into this mess, right? We just talked about where we could take you, somewhere that is safe, but also where you could hide while we figure things out."
"Didn't you have to write an address or something for those papers back then?" I wondered.
"Yeah, I wrote my address."
It was kinda frustrating how annoying this was. I wanted to escape my boring hometown, not jump into an action movie. There wasn't a second where I wasn't feeling anxious about something. I hated the constant stress I was under. Struggling in life was a basic concept for me because I lived and breathed it since the day I was born, but even that kind of life was different than this one. I feared going homeless or starving to death, but not getting killed or killing someone, or worse, getting my friends killed. Nothing about my current state of life showed me a rainbow at the end of the storm, it was just death. There really was only one ending for me.
The apartment was somewhere between my current apartment and Cedric's place. It cut the travel time in half. It made me wonder if Cedric had disclosed his address with Elijah, but it seemed highly unlikely that he would ever do that.
I read the address out loud for Cedric as we took a parking space in front of the building. It was a small building in a fairly quiet location. Only when I stepped out of the truck did I notice the stealthy motorcycle behind a large SUV.
We quietly walked up the outside stairs and made zero noise as we crossed the halls to reach the door. I knocked lightly and looked around to make sure no one was peeking through their blinds or watching from the ground floor.
"You look like an idiot," Cedric commented.
"I'm just trying to be careful," I whispered.
Cedric became impatient and tested the door knob, which twisted all the way. He looked at me, squinting his eyes, and pushed the door.
"Aaah!" Elijah screamed from the kitchen as the door slowly opened. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of beer in his hand.
"Did you not hear the knock?" I asked.
"What knock?" He looked confused.
"You mean the feather you threw at it?" Cedric commented, yet again, when no one had asked.
"Welcome, come on in, boys." Elijah waved at us.
I walked in first and Cedric closed the door behind him. The apartment was empty and even with a lack of furniture it looked small. There was only a small couch in the living room and a wooden table with chairs that matched next to the kitchen.
"When did you get this place?" Cedric asked as he looked around the apartment.
"Last night," Elijah replied happily, making the unlit cigarette in his mouth bounce with his tongue. "Do you want a tour?"
"Sure," I said.
"Okay, here's the kitchen." He waved behind him. He hurried to what I assumed was the living room. "Here's the parlor. And right behind you is the kitchen table. And right in there is the bedroom, where the necromancy happens." The bedroom was nothing special, but there was a single mattress on the floor with a blanket and a pillow.
"Wow."
"Don't worry, you'll only stay here a day or two."
"Why is that?"
"It's just temporary, so we can leave your friends alone while we look for a permanent home for you."
"Thank, guys," I said while looking at the both of them, "it really means a lot."
"Don't thank us, it's the least we can do for putting you in this mess in the first place," Cedric said.
"What he said."
"You should call your friend, tell him to pack your things so I can drive you back quickly and we can pick them up. The less time you spend there, the better."
"Oh, fuck." I palmed my face when it hit me. "Dorian is going to be so mad."
"It's okay, let him be mad, it's for his own good."
I walked over to the mattress and laid down on my back, pulling out my phone and hovering a finger over his name while I gave myself some time to think about what I was going to tell him.
When I made up my mind, I called and he picked up fast.
"Hey, queen."
"So . . ."
"What did you do . . . No, who did you do? Are you pregnant?"
"I'm at my new apartment," I told him.
"New apartment? What do you mean?"
"Cedric surprised me with it. He got me a job, but it's far away from where we live. It's a good job. He knows the owner of this building and hooked me up. I can start tomorrow if I want to."
I hated lying to him, but I kept telling myself it was a good thing. I was protecting him.
"I'm happy for you, I really am. I just want to make sure you're going to be okay, you know? But if you want this and you trust Cedric, then go for it. You deserve to have a good job and have your own place. If it doesn't work out, you know I'm here for you always."
"I know, thanks, Dory."
"Are you moving in now?"
"Yeah, I'm calling to see if you can put my things back in my suitcase so I can pick them up."
"No problem. Are you picking them up tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be on my way in a bit."
"I'll see you soon then, babygirl."
I snorted at his dumbness. "Alright, see you soon."
I dropped my phone on the bed and just sighed. It was going to suck not seeing him, but this was a good thing. This was a good fucking thing. I wouldn't get any of them in my mess, they would be safe.
Cedric and Elijah didn't talk much to each other. It was a little weird, they were holding back a lot. I knew they had questions, but they were too cowardly to ask them in front of each other. I should expect something soon enough, but for now my priority was to get my things and say goodbye to my friends.
The ride back to Dorian's was a lot less troubling on my ass. No more long rides was a blessing. Dorian had everything packed, including my secret money box that he didn't bother checking. I was surprised he didn't look, but he seemed sad when I arrived, so maybe he didn't have the energy to. We hugged, we kissed—on the cheek. It felt heavy saying goodbye to him, especially so sudden. I knew he was confused, maybe a little hurt by me moving out this fast, but on his side he also knew it was a good thing.
Cedric dropped me off at my 2-day apartment and I spent all night lying on my lonely mattress with my phone plugged into the wall, staring at my screen for hours until I fell asleep.
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[Author's Message]: WAH! I KNOW you guys are mad at me for taking months to update. I apologize SO hard. With my entire soul. Depression hit me hard, I lost motivation, and I used all the energy I had to work on my new story and that's pretty much what I've been doing all this time. So I'm going to do a few things, things that probably won't matter to you guys but I want to talk about them anyway >:( My plan with this book in the beginning was to write smaller chapters and post frequently, but that is not really working out for me, it never will. I can't work with small chapters, it's just not my thing, I have too many things to put in a chapter. So I'm going to write longer ones, which technically means this book will have less chapters than originally intended. I would like to finish this story before I turn 69 years old. I want to actually move on from it and start my new one, which I am so incredibly proud of. So I will try super super duper duper hard to write more chapters, faster, without hopefully pressuring myself. LETS CROSS OUR FINGERS AND ANYTHING IN BETWEEN THAT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS. ALSO, this means more xxx scenes way more frequently, because I will be putting chapters that are meant to be separate, into one. Hue. But I know you guys don't care, I know yall want more sin. Nasties. ily tho <3 Please follow my twitter, I like talking there and tweeting things :( the link is in my profile. ty ty mwah, see u soon.