Ings of London

* * * * *

This story follows on from Nate's Evil Exploits.

* * * * *

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back in London, the Latin Kings find Nate, and they have a request.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I'm not bothered," said Nate, his eyes fixed to the pale, gorgeous kid on his knees in front of him.

Alec looked up, his mouth full. He ran his tongue along the base of Nate's shaft and slid off the end, his lips slick with saliva.

"I'm not bovvered."

Nate shook his head. "No, there are no 'v's in it."

Alec stroked Nate's shaft as he considered this. "I'm not bo-zzz-ered."

"Close."

Nate groaned as Alec swallowed his length again, one hand running lightly across his balls, the other clamped around his base, stopping Nate from reaching fulfillment until he'd gotten the 'allocation' (elocution) lesson he'd asked for.

"I don't know why you want to learn this anyway," said Nate. He winced with pleasure as the kid tongued the seam between his head and shaft. "I can understand you. Everyone can understand you—"

Alec gave him a look that said

'really?'

his cheeks hollowed as he suctioned Nate into the wet warmth of his mouth.

"Well, I can understand you anyway. Please, fuck it Alec, can I please cum now?"

Alec grinned around his cock and shook his head, brushing his teeth lightly against Nate's swollen organ.

"Fu—Alec!"

Alec dove down on Nate's cock, swallowing it into his throat, and held it there, twitching and throbbing.

Then pulled off, leaving Nate in agony.

"I think you should wait." There was a teasing lilt to his voice that said he was taking sadistic pleasure in taking control. Except that there was nothing sadistic about Alec.

You're projecting. Relax.

"That was perfect pronunciation," said Nate, his eyes bright with an edge of frustration. "Perfect. You've mastered it."

"You could cum wiffout cumming any time, bruv." Alec's eyes glittered.

"That was perfect too," lied Nate. "Except what's the point of

orgasming

, without the... you know, you taking a hot mouthful of—"

He groaned as Alec touched his tongue to his bobbing erection.

"Perfect, you reckon?"

Nate gritted his teeth. "I'm not even lying."

Alec laughed and took his lover's cock into the back of his mouth.

Naked and pale, every muscle defined by a life of street survival, his brown hair tipped with gold by nature, Nate knew he was ensconced in the mouth of an angel. He didn't care what noises came out of the kid's face, as long as there was joy in his eyes. Even if that joy was at taking pleasure in teasing Nate to the point of madness.

Nate made a noise that might have been a word if he'd unclenched his teeth, one hand resting against Alec's hair, his other propping himself up on the bed.

Alec pulled back. "Should I—"

"No!" Nate groaned. He pulled the kid back onto his cock a heartbeat before he erupted.

Alec licked and sucked and swallowed, drinking in his lover's screwed shut eyes, his grimace of pleasure, the way his fringe brushed against his forehead as he jerked in place, lost in Alec's art.

As Nate finished, Alec teased out the last drops with a skilled tongue, and didn't pull away until his lover stopped groaning and opened his heavy-lidded eyes.

"Perfect?" asked Alec.

"Yes."

Alec slapped his Nate's thigh.

"I meant the way I said it, bruv!"

"Yes! It's perfect, everything you do is fucking perfect."

Especially when you let the afterglow percolate for more than eight seconds.

Nate closed his eyes, trying to go back into the warmth.

"You're not even lying?"

Jesus wept!

If he was honest, Nate had stopped hearing Alec assassinate the English language a long time ago, and it sure as hell didn't 'bother' him anymore. Not when he had this alabaster vision kneeling in front of him, so determined to prove himself worthy.

Nate shook his head. "Not even lying." He held out his hands to Alec. "Come here."

Alec climbed onto his lap, his erection pushing against Nate's abdomen, then pushed Nate down on his back. "Am I on top today?"

Nate considered him. "Sure. If you can say 'Speech Therapists Thrust into Throats on Thursdays'."

Alec slapped Nate's chest, his erection bobbing between them. "Don't be a cock, bruv! You know it's my turn!"

Nate grinned and rested his hands on Alec's waist. "Allow it! Dis manz marvin for a nang mashing!"

Alec shook his head. "No, bruv. Just no."

"No?"

"No. You sound ridiculous."

"Yeah, but you love me."

There was a moment, a tense heartbeat of panic inside Nate as he realised what he'd just said.

Alec let the silence lie between them, then grinned.

"Aaaaah, yeah, I

s'pose.

"

That grin! Little fucker knew damn well how that pause made Nate feel, but he still did it every time.

Alec pressed against him, his hard cock resting against Nate's sated one, and kissed him.

Nate put his arms around his lover and sought his tongue, feeling himself stir under that carved marble body. Alec's heat soaked into him, his scent a mix of all the things he'd stolen from Nate's bathroom, that he knew would drive his lover crazy.

They kissed until Nate felt himself stiffening against Alec's firm smoothness, and reached for his own hardness, coaxing slick moisture from the end with his thumb.

The younger man moaned and pulled himself up onto all fours.

"Arright. Today you can fuck my arse, but tomorrow—"

"I can fuck your arse!" said Nate cheerfully.

Alec rolled his eyes and got off Nate so that his lover could position himself behind him.

He didn't mind that Nate chose to top most of the time. It wasn't as though he didn't enjoy things this way—he just loved the power switching gave him. The way Nate shivered under his touch, how his body seemed to melt around him, how vulnerable he was when Alec took him. The way it seemed to touch something inside him that was more than physical.

There was safety in touching his lover that way. If Nate hadn't cared about him, Alec wouldn't have trusted him. There were too many cues Nate missed, too many gaps in his emotional understanding of the people around him. As much as he was a quick study of human behaviour, only a handful of emotions reached him. And to bond with him, Alec knew, Nate had to feel as if Alec had some power over him.

While part of Alec was at odds with this, he knew it was what Nate needed, and that was all that mattered.

But losing himself like that wasn't an emotional place his lover could go every day, and Alec got that too. Luckily, Nate's attentionto his pleasure more than made up for it.

Alec dropped his head as Nate got on his knees behind him, his fingers running over Alec's back then trailing over the soft rise of his buttocks.

A phone beeped.

They both glanced at it.

It beeped again.

"Is that—?" asked Alec.

The text tone was unique to that one contact. Both of them knew what it meant.

"Fuck," said Nate.

Alec gestured with his head, directing Nate's attention back to his arse. "It can wait."

Nate bit the inside of his lip. It could. But he needed to know. Needed to know what was going to be asked of him now.

Alec sighed. "Arright, fuck it bruv, just answer it."

Nate climbed off the bed and snatched his phone up from the chair beside it. He read the text and glanced up at Alec.

"Is it bad?" asked Alec.

"No details. Just a time and a place."

Alec sat up. "Don't go. Don't do it, bruv. It's gonna get you killed."

Nate shrugged helplessly. "If they release that video, if the cops turn up at our door, Alec, if I can't work, we're both fucked. Even if I don't go to jail, even if, by some miracle, they let me go—who's going to employ me after that?"

Still sitting on the edge of the bed, Alec pulled Nate to him. "So let's run. I don't like having this hanging over us."

He put his arms around Nate's waist and pressed his face against his lover's taut stomach.

Nate put his hands on Alec's shoulders. "It's a small price, really."

Alec looked up at him. "No, bruv. It's not." He pulled away and started looking for his clothes.

"What are you doing?" asked Nate.

"I'm not hanging around hoping you don't get merked."

Nate stared at him as he pulled his t-shirt on. "Where are you going?"

Alec tugged on his jeans. "I'm coming with you."

Nate started breathing again. For a second he'd thought Alec was about to walk out on him forever. And that... no. He couldn't entertain that thought without breaking into a cold sweat. But there was no way he was letting Alec come with him.

"You're not coming."

Alec stopped in front of him. "Yes I am, bruv."

To Alec, it seemed Nate swelled in size. Tall, slim and muscular, his dark-haired lover seemed to grow another inch as Alec faced him down.

"You're not," said Nate. "You've been pulled into my shit enough. The more they see your face, the more likely they are to use you against me."

Alec's expression hardened, and Nate knew this would never stop being something they fought about.

"Go shower, bruv. I'll have one after we get back."

Nate narrowed his eyes. He

was

intending to take a shower before he left, and it was because it'd relax him. It bothered him that Alec knew him this well.

"Okay?" said Alec.

Nate shook his head. "No. You're staying here. I'll text you. It'll be fine."

Alec let out a hiss of annoyance. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and pulled it on.

"Wha'evs, bruv. You want to do everything on your own, that's your call."

Nate watched him head for the door with a kick of nervousness. "Where will you be?"

Alec shrugged. He pulled the door open and let it bang shut behind him.

* * * * *

Nate turned on the shower and stepped under the water, disquieted by how much hold a nineteen year old kid had over him.

He couldn't pinpoint the moment he'd lost himself to Alec but now, every time his lover let his t-shirt fall to the floor, Nate felt a spark of panic at the thought that it might be the last time he saw him naked. The last time he was sheathed inside him.

How could someone with the loyalty and good nature of a bull terrier, actually think Nate was worth pursuing? It left him lying awake at night, afraid he was lying to his lover, hiding something. He'd tried to be honest, but it was honesty that usually drove his lovers away. And Alec had just drawn closer.

Water trickled down his face, steam rising around him. He closed his eyes and let it run through his hair, the scent of his shampoo as he massaged it into his scalp working on him like a muscle relaxant.

He couldn't fuck this up. For the first time in his life he felt truly known. And apparently Alec saw something in him that he didn't see in himself. An ability to surrender, however briefly—not just physically, but emotionally. Letting the kid—

You're only twenty-six. Why do you keep calling him that?

Because Nate felt he'd lived a thousand lives, wore the battle scars inside him. And every one of the handful of times Alec had come inside him, he'd felt his lover touch those scars, and it scared the crap out of him.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, towelling his hair dry first, then wrapping the towel around his waist.

As he shaved he could feel it rising. The urge that sprang from fear; his fear of whatever the Kings might ask of him this time.

Twice they'd called on him. The first time, to make sure he answered, and to remind him how much he had to lose. The second, to ask him to act as the courier for a drug deal.

Nate had navigated both incidents by himself, keeping Alec away from the Kings' liaison, Damian. He didn't want the man's dark eyes all over his lover. He knew Damian was cruel, could see it in his gaze, in the way he stared at Nate as if it was looking forward to hurting him, the second Nate gave him an excuse.

Nate wasn't afraid for himself... but there was no way he was letting a predator sink his teeth into Alec. Alec was the only bright thing in Nate's life. If something happened to him... well.

It wouldn't be pretty.

* * * * *

Nate checked the address he'd been given, and dressed to impress. As he pulled on a woollen coat, he tripped over Alec's clothes, left strewn on the floor. He picked up his lover's zip-up hoodie and held it to his nose, then stripped off his coat and pulled the hoodie on.

He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath, drinking in Alec's scent.

They could make it through these fights. He knew they could. As long as Alec left his shit lying around on his floor, the kid had no intention of leaving. In fact, Nate had stopped picking it up. When he came home after work and the place was a tip, at least he knew Alec was still there.

He took Alec's jacket back off and laid it on the bed, then pulled his coat back on. A light dusting of cologne and he was ready to meet his destiny.

He caught a cab to the address in the text, and found himself outside a house near Hampstead Heath. The house was the only three level in the row with a red door.

He rang the doorbell, wondering if he and Alec would ever be able to afford a house in this neighbourhood.

Damian came to the door. He was lean and well-groomed, in his late thirties, and about Nate's height. He was a good-looking guy, in a boring, clean-cut way. Not to Nate's taste.

There was nothing flexible about him; something Nate understood well enough, but he'd yet to meet another person who was so immune to his charm.

He realised Damian was staring at him.

"You texted me," said Nate.

Damian nodded. "Come in."

Damian led him down to a narrow lounge full of cream-coloured furniture.

"Wait here."

He left, and Nate heard him jog up to the next level. A short time later, heels clipped their way down the stairs.

A woman stepped into the room, dressed in an elegant black cowl-necked dress that clung to her slim frame. She looked awfully familiar.

"Hello Nate."

It took him a moment. She looked so different here, out of context, with her dark hair curling around her shoulders. Every movement was filled with sinuous grace as she stalked across the room.

"Lucia." He got to his feet. "What...?"

"Good to see you, Nate."

"Whhyyy are you here?"

She smiled up at him. "I'm your new boss."

"So... you weren't running from the Kings? You work for them?"

She nodded. "I am sorry for what happened at Isleta del Moro."

"Oh, so, you've destroyed the video?" said Nate, his voice steeped in sarcasm. "Very kind of you."

She shook her head slowly. "No. No. That exists in a dozen secure locations. That's not going away."

"So how did you get involved with the Kings?" His eyes lit with realisation. "You're someone important's daughter aren't you?"

She squinted at him, incredulous.

"Someone's wife?"

Staring at him now, with naked hostility.

"Mistress?" He was rather enjoying this.

"No. I'm not 'someone important's' anything! I'm the Kings' business manager."

Nate gave her a blank look, "But you're a woman."

"Seriously? It's 2017!"

Nate nodded. "Of course. Girl power, and all that."

Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Are you winding me up?"

"I might be." He grinned.

"I should have known. Well, that's good. You're taking this better than I thought you might."

He sent his gaze from her dark hair down to the pointed toes of her boots, and brought his eyes back to her face. "I so love the smell of blackmail in the morning."

She laughed under her breath. "Very few things smell as good as you."

He resisted the urge to step into her and place his hands on her hips. She looked so delectable, standing there, threatening him.

"I have good news. A position's opened up on our team here in London, and I believe you can fill it."

His eyes flickered to the region of her sex. "I imagine so." Her met her gaze again.

"We need someone slick. Someone who can get in anywhere. Someone who can appear respectable, someone with moral flexibility. Someone with a lot to lose."

Nate gave her a cold smile. "I'll tell you what I told Colin six months ago. I don't do well chained."

She pushed him back onto the couch and stood between his legs. "You won't be chained. You'll be incentivised. I've always believed it's better to reward than punish."

A muscle in Damian's cheek twitched, and Nate guessed that wasn't his preferred approach.

"We have businesses here in London," said Lucia. "We need someone to be the face of our enterprise. Someone who can attend meetings. Negotiate on our behalf."

"And you thought of me? I'm flattered."

She pushed a hand into his hair as he looked up at her, tugging a lock of it between her fingers. "Enrique told me how you survived in Malaga. You have the skills I need. You take pride in things other men don't. You understand how far you need to go when the stakes are high."

This did not sound good. "I already have a job."

"You would be better at this."

She climbed into his lap, her short skirt riding up her thighs, and pushed both hands into his hair, her long nails scratching lightly against his scalp.

Nate shook his head, tiny thrills spilling down his spine as those long nails moved against his skull.

"I'm saying no."

She smiled and kissed his mouth. The scent of her perfume drifted around him, transporting him back to the last time he'd seen her, their desperate fucking against the sea wall, while the ocean foamed against the rocks behind them.

He pushed her back gently, just enough to disengage from her kiss.

"No."

"You can't say no," she said. "And you know why."

Yes. He knew why. "How long are you going to hold this over me?"

She ran a finger down his nose, then tapped the end of it.

"Until you're no longer useful."

"So, week after next?"

"This is why you appeal to me."

She kissed him again and his hands automatically rose to her waist. It was all still there, the intoxicating feel of her under his hands, her lightness in his lap.

Damian cleared his throat.

Lucia broke the kiss. "Oh go away, Damian. No one asked you to watch."

Damian gave Nate a filthy look and left the room.

Lucia turned her attention back to Nate. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I think I just fell in love."

She climbed off his lap. "So, you'll do it?"

Nate shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

"Oh, you always have a choice," she said, and Nate laughed under his breath. Yes. The same choice he'd always given his victims. Obey, or be ruined.

She tugged him to his feet and he found himself towering over her. She turned her face up to his, giving him the delicate angles of her face, the terracotta blush of her skin. A smile so innocent, he could almost forget that she held the careful construction of his life in her hands. An artificial, paper thing she could crush flat at any moment.

But as beautiful, and as clever as she clearly was, she had no idea how dangerous that was.

"Shall we go upstairs and celebrate?" she said.

Nate pushed his hands into his coat pockets. "No. I'd like to. But I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?"

He gave her a half smile. "He took me back."

"Alec?" she said. "Really? Now you're a one-man man?"

He shrugged. "You know I'd enjoy it. You know damn well you'd enjoy it. But right now, my loyalty's to him."

Lucia considered him. "You can't have two masters."

He chuckled. "I can't have

any

masters. No one demands my loyalty, Lucia, and no one gets it through blackmail."

She pushed her hands under his coat, tucking her body tightly against his.

"I have fifteen pages of psychological profiling that say the chances of you being loyal to Alec are a million to one."