“Before that.”
“What comes before that?” At my narrowed gaze, his eyes widened. “Oh, Nathan. Yeah, that. I shouldn’t have tried to make you jealous by inviting Nathan to the house. Shouldn’t have drugged you, tied you up, and fucked myself on your cock.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re not sorry for doing those things, and you’d probably do them again.”
Instead of denying it, he smiled at me and squirmed out of my embrace. “Sit. I’ll make us breakfast before you burn the kitchen down. Honestly, I don’t know how you survived without me. It’s time you admit how much you need me.”
His teasing tone belied everything we’d gone through last night. I couldn’t resist crowding Ari at the sink. My heart beat to one rhythm. The rhythm of mine. Even with just the two of us here together, I tried to ward off the rising panic at the idea of someone taking him away from me. I wouldn’t let them. Wasn’t that the reason I’d hidden that body with him? To keep the authorities from taking him away from me?
Ari giggled as I nuzzled his neck and wrapped my arms around his waist to hold him to me. I needed to feel him. So badly. Not in a sexual way. Just to feel he was here. I ran my hands up his stomach to his chest and then down his sides. His bones were so fragile. I could lose him so easily, especially if he continued playing these dangerous games.
“Daddy, that tickles.” He swatted at my hand, massaging his ribcage.
“Promise me,” I whispered in his ear. “Promise me you’ll be more careful. You won’t be reckless with what’s mine.”
He inhaled sharply and nodded. “I love when you call me yours. It makes me feel so wanted.”
I pushed his shirt up to his waist, leaving his ass bare as I kissed his neck, the side of his face. “I want you. It’s not good for me, but I still do.”
I pulled down the front of my shorts and took out my hard cock, then pushed the head against his hole for him to feel just how much. My precum left a trail over his hole, and with a groan, I slid my cock up and down his crack. He gasped, clutching the edge of the counter and thrusting his ass back.
The ringing of the doorbell woke me out of the lust that almost had me fucking him dry, which would have been nothing shy of a disaster. I kissed his shoulder and lowered his shirt, then stepped away and rearranged my shorts. There was no hiding my erection, though.
“I’ll get the door for you,” Ari said.
Before he could even take a step, I was fisting his shirt and pulling him back to me.
“Not wearing that you won’t.”
He beamed up at me. Jesus, something was wrong with him if he enjoyed me being this controlling. Even a part of me was sickened by the way I acted toward him. He wasn't a toy for me to own.
Still mine, mine, mine.
“Okay, Daddy,” he said.
I frowned, not trusting his wide-eyed innocent look. Once upon a time, I would have no questions asked. After last night, no chance. What Ari wanted, he went after. I’d need to do something about that. At the prospect of curbing his stubborn, manipulative behavior, my adrenaline spiked.
I opened the front door partially, hoping to shield my erection from whoever was calling. I didn’t get many visitors, but from time to time, a colleague stopped by for no other reason than they were bored.
The door was pushed back with such force it smacked me in the face. I was thrown off-balance, unable to do anything about the punch that snapped my head back. My nose exploded from the pain. I stumbled backward, hitting the ground. Judd O’Connor hauled me to my feet, his face mottled.
“I warned you that you’d regret it, Shaw,” he spat. “You having my boy to face the district despite our little chat?”
“Get your hands off me, Judd!” I tried to throw him off, but he was so much stronger than me, fueled by his anger.
“I’m not fucking done with you yet.” He slammed me hard into the wall at my back.
“Get the fuck off him!” Ari screamed.
It distracted Judd enough for me to elbow him in the face and drive him back. Blood trickled into my mouth, and I swiped at it with my shirt sleeve. His attention was on Ari, who aimed a small gun directly at Judd.
“Ari, put the gun down,” I said calmly. Before I knew what he’d done to Rich, I would have thought the gun was just a prop to get Judd to leave, but I could no longer tell. And from the anger gleaming in Ari’s eyes, he had every intention of pulling the trigger.
“What’s this?” Judd threw Ari a look of disgust, then me. He couldn’t miss the way Ari was dressed or my hard-on, which hadn’t died at all. The adrenaline was pumping through my body. “You fucking your own son, Shaw?” he asked. “I wonder what the district would have to say about that. Have you been touching the boys at the school? Because you know, I can get testimonies from students that will ruin you.”
“I haven’t touched any of my students,” I said between clenched teeth. “No one will believe your lies.”
“I don’t hear any denial about the one you’re fucking right under your roof. How long has this been going on?” He looked past me to Ari. “When did he start touching you, kid? He brainwashed you to defend him?”