Confession of a King

“No means no, Ivy,” Matt muttered as he pulled on a pair of jeans over his black, skin-tight boxer briefs. How he was able to breathe in those things, I didn’t know. I spent the last ten minutes trying to pull them off of him, but they were like a second layer of skin. He fastened the button on the jeans and looked to me with a sigh as he pulled his belt through the loops, “It just isn’t safe for you to come along with us tonight.”

I pulled my legs into a pretzel and crossed my arms, leaning against the dark headboard, “It wasn’t safe for me to come along with you when the car got shot up and Brian drove through twenty trashcans, either.”

Matt faced the mirror, grabbing his aviators off the dresser and clipping them onto the v-neck of his black t-shirt. He gazed back at me in the reflection, “That would have meant leaving you alone at the house. You won’t be alone this time, therefore, I am not risking your safety.”

I stood up from the bed and walked behind him, keeping my eyes on him in the mirror the whole time. He glanced down at the dresser, probably searching for his watch, as I stood behind him. My chest pressed against his firm, muscular back, and my arms encircled themselves around his waist. I wasn’t tall enough to peer over his shoulder at us in the mirror, so I rested my head on his shoulder blade, kissing him through the material of his t-shirt.

“How about you let the guys do what they do best, and we stay home and spend some time together?” I purred while rubbing my cheek against his shoulder, brushing my lips against the fabric ever so slightly. His rigid form softened, leaning back into my touch. I moved onto my toes, my mouth trailing along his shoulder blade toward the back of his neck, leaving a trail of barely there kisses until I hit his skin.

Matt’s skin was warm to the touch, turning slightly pink from excitement. His faux-hawk was touched up a few days back, one of his friends was a barber that did house calls. I ran my tongue up the back of his neck, taking a moment to glance at him in the mirror. He shuddered under my feeling as his hands held onto the dresser, as if he needed to ground himself in the moment. As if he let go of the dresser he would fall into me, and allow me to drag him to bed. As I allowed him to take in the kisses on his tickled pink skin, I let my hands wander to the front of his t-shirt. I played with the hem before slipping my finger tips under the material, working my best to touch those second-skin briefs without taking his belt out the loops.

Hands flew off the dresser and grabbed onto my wrists, holding me firmly as his head lifted and hazel hit brown in our reflection once again. He was in control of himself again. I hadn’t won Shadows over tonight.

“I need to go,” his usual deep voice sounding more gruff, obviously turned on but keeping his composure. I rested my head on his shoulder, still on my toes, as he rubbed the stubble of his chin on my forehead, “I won’t be gone long… no more than two hours at worst.”

I sighed and dropped onto my heels, pressing one last kiss to his shoulder before pulling my wrists from his grasp. I took a few steps away from him, letting him turn and look at me before I walked toward him again. I grabbed his hands and laced our fingers together, smiling at him, “I love you, Sanders. Be careful out there.”

“I love you too, Sanders,” he chuckled and pulled me into him, lifting my chin with his right hand so that our lips could meet one last time before he left. He pulled his plumpness away from mine, a wet sheen glistening on his lip, illuminated from the floor lamp in the corner. “Would you like me to pick you something up on the way home?”

I pursed my lips, thinking to myself, “Ice cream would be great if that little shop in town is still open when you are done. If not, surprise me. I’ll probably be curled up on the couch with Bri and Hunter whenever you get back.”

An eye-roll accompanied his laugh, “Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“Please be careful tonight, Matt. I don’t want you to come home bloodied, bruised or in a body bag.” I moved the conversation into a more serious tone, wanting to get those words through his head once more. “If something happens to you…”

“I will be fine. Go take a shower and enjoy your time with Gates,” he picked up my towel and tossed it in my direction. “That way I know that if you smell like sex, you really are cheating on me.”

I rolled my eyes this time, walking away from him and toward our bathroom, “I seriously hate you. Go out and get shot tonight, honey.”

“Love you, too!” Matt shouted as I closed the bathroom door behind myself.

People don’t appreciate the feeling of a hot shower after you have had an hour long sex session. I remembered sitting in my office, wearing wet underwear that were soaked from bodily fluids, and feeling hot and sticky in dress clothes after Matt’s sessions in the prison. The worst was always when he would get scheduled in the morning… then I would be stuck like that the entire day. It was easier when they occurred at three in the afternoon and I could go home afterwards and rid myself of the sex stench and sticky skin. Don’t get me wrong - there are times where lying in bed with your lover after countless rounds feels great. You’ll lay in bed all day long, finally un-cuddling yourselves and feeling your skin peel from one another’s. I had done that enough times to count, and this time, hot water washing Matt’s aftershave, sweat and the mixture of our reproductive fluids off my body was almost as good as the sex itself.

I pulled my half wet, half dry, hair up into a french braid and slid on a pair of underwear and bralette before rummaging through my closet. I finally found the particular pair of pants I was looking for, a pair of black, almost blanket-like material, pajama bottoms. I shimmied them up my legs, smiling to myself at the instant warmth, then grabbed one of Matt’s flannel button-ups. I happened to grab my favorite red and black one, rolling up the sleeves a bit and buttoning it just enough so that my entire abdomen wasn’t exposed before paddling my bare feet down the stairs toward the living room for my evening with Brian.

“If those don’t look like the softest pants I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” Brian shouted as I came down the last two stairs. “Get over here and let me pet you.”

I threw my head back in laughter while heading for the sofa, plopping down and throwing my legs onto his lap. His hand immediately went to my pants, “I can honestly say I have never had someone tell me they wanted to pet me before.”

He flashed me his pearly whites, “There’s a first time for everything, Iv. I put a pizza in the oven and it should be out in about twenty. Pick whatever movie you want to watch. I’ll go grab us some beers.”

Brian pushed my legs off his lap and stood from the couch, disappearing into the hallway that led to the kitchen. I grabbed the remote and pulled up On Demand, searching through movies and trying to find something that seemed somewhat interesting. My eyes searched the screen until I saw the title for Gremlins, and I smirked to myself while pressing play.

A beer was set in my hands as my raven-haired best friend fell onto the couch next to me, an arm draped over my shoulder immediately. “Gremlins? Really? How old are we?”

“It’s a classic. You’re lucky I didn’t choose E.T.,” I snickered and sipped my alcoholic beverage. “I watched that movie with Alec on the couch one day and I’m pretty sure he had alien nightmares during his nap that afternoon.”

“You win mother of the year for terrifying your one and a half year old son with that movie,” Brian joked. “Right now I’m wishing you could’ve found a way to keep Shadows home with you to watch this shit.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned into his side, “Believe me, I tried. I had sex with him for an hour, dude. You would’ve thought that would have been enough to tire him out. Instead, he jumped out of bed and got dressed, leaving me there naked and trying to make moves on him again. I almost had him and then he did the whole I’m Shadows and I’m invincible, bullshit, threw my towel at me and left.”

Brian’s shoulders shrugged as he reached around me and brought his bottle to his lips, “His loss on the evil Furbies, I guess. I’m guessing all the trouble in paradise is ceasing?”

“As much as it can cease while I’m on house arrest, you mean.”

His chest rumbled with laughter, “You’re not on house arrest. You’re under live surveillance and baby sitting.”

I rolled my eyes and sipped, “I’m almost positive he microchipped me in my sleep one night last week. I woke up with a serious pain in the middle of my back. There’s probably a tracker on me that Zacky encrypted so that Matt knows where I am, what my heart rate is, hell, maybe even can see through my eyeballs, at all time.”

“So you think he’d know if I did this?” Brian asked, and before I knew it my face was tilted toward his as he leaned in, connecting our lips quickly.

“Brian Haner Jr…” I said quietly while staring into his brown orbs, his long lashes only centimeters from my face. “I feel it… the microchip is tingling.”

He laughed and shoved me backward playfully into the couch, “You’re such a loser.”

I sat my beer down on the coffee table and turned my body toward him, “Why did you kiss me?”

“Why didn’t you stop me?” He raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

I glared, “As if I could sense that you were going to kiss me. If I would’ve known, I would’ve stopped you.”

“Would you, tho?” I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face as he brought his beer bottle back to his lips. “So if I try to kiss you again, you’ll stop me?”

“Matt will murder you,” I assured him.

Brown eyes rolling, he laughed, “He’d definitely murder you as well.”

“Brian,” I groaned.

“Ivy, it was just a joke. Shut up,” he chuckled and stood up, the oven alarm going off. “I’ll go get our pizza while you recuperate yourself. Do you need a water to calm yourself down? Maybe a fresh pair of underwear?”

“Be gone and fetch my pizza, pion,” I pushed him with my foot before stretching out across the couch. Once he vanished from sight I sighed, grabbing the beer bottle and chugging it as fast as I could while trying to focus on Gremlins. The last thing I needed on my conscious was Brian making moves on me while he and Matt struggled to find a balance between leader and mentor. I didn’t really feel like being murdered by my husband, or watching him murder his best friend.

We finished the movie and I let Brian pick the next one. He apologized to me for joking around and kissing me, making sure that I understood it was a joke and nothing more. We agreed to not tell Matt it happened, doing our own form of a pinky promise by linking our arms and feeding one another pizza. It was weird, but that was what our friendship was. I tried my best to not glance at the time on the television as we flipped through On Demand. Matt had been gone longer than two hours already, and he had yet to call Brian and tell him he was on his way back. I had picked at my finger nails until they were nearly stubs until Sin City hit the screen, taking my focus away from the clock.

I had dozed off after my three beers and not being able to keep up with Sin City while Brian narrated next to me. It seemed like this movie was way more up his alley than Gremlins. I was glad we watched Gremlins first.

“Holy shit, Matt,” Brian’s loud voice shouting pulled me out of my slumber, as well as the feeling of being knocked off the couch. “Dude, what the hell happened?”

I tried to wipe the sleep sand from my eyes as I heard a loud bang, sounding like a fist colliding with a wall. “We were undermined by one of Corey’s men. He was the one that was intercepting, grew a following and ambushed us. Short Shit is in the hospital. Zack’s with him. Corey’s parking the car and he’ll be right in.”

I sat up on the floor and looked toward the entry way, my stomach dropping at the sight of Matt. His black t-shirt was torn, the material still held together was stuck to him and rusty brown in spots, muddled with blood. There was a slice high in his cheek, blood stains down the right side of his face, along with a busted lip. Material from his shirt was wrapped around his forearm, acting as a bandage for a wound I knew I didn’t want to see. I went to stand and instantly felt dizzy, falling down and into the coffee table in a swirl of shadows with nausea creeping up my throat. Things were officially not okay.

Notes

Hey ya'll.

Thank you for the feedback on that last chapter.
My apologies for being gone so long.

A handful of chapters left to this story, and it will be complete.
I do plan on finishing this within the next month (hold me to it).

Thanks.