Sex & Mayhem 02 The Devil's Ride (23 page)

It started beating again when Tooth’s thick, coarse
fingers curled around his hand. “I don’t have an appendix, but
that’s a good thing,” said Tooth, and the corners of his mouth
twitched.

“How did you get involved with organ snatchers
then?” Luci quickly took the opportunity to squeeze Tooth’s hand.
“Did they catch you, and you fought them off?” He imagined that
would be the kind of thing Tooth would do. Wiggle out of their grip
and smash some faces.

Tooth swallowed hard and looked away. “Remember when
I told you about my former girlfriend? That she died?” he
whispered, twisting his beard.

“Yes, that she was ill.” Luci stroked Tooth’s thumb,
giving him all his attention and more. For what Tooth did for him,
how he took care of him, Luci wanted to be the vessel for any of
his problems, take them and lock them away.

Tooth hid his eyes with his hand and sighed. “She
was doing fine, she was on medication,” he said, slowly looking up
at Luci. The truth hung between them like thick smoke.

“
Was she kidnapped like Suzy?” Luci watched the
massive man next to him. He hoped that maybe it would be easier for
Tooth to share a painful memory with someone like him, instead of
one of his club brothers. That maybe he would be able to give back
even a tiny bit of the support Tooth
had offered to him a few weeks ago.

Tooth sighed, playing with his beard. “It was
supposed to be her night off, but she told me
she was seeing a friend for coffee. But
she never came back,” whispered Tooth.

“Just like that? They just chose her at random?”
Luci entwined their fingers, shocked at such a horrible event.

Tooth took a shaky breath, squeezing Luci’s hand.
“No
… I don’t think so.
She was... she was a working girl.”

Luci’s heart
sank. “Oh,” was all he managed at first, but he hugged
Tooth’s cool body again. Luci knew all too well what that
meant.

When he first ended up on the street, each day he
would ask himself if it was his last. Each car he got into with a
stranger felt like a potential trap. Each quick blow job in a back
alley had him only half-focused on the dick, as the other half of
his mind kept alert in case the man had a gun or a knife he
intended to use. He had heard horror stories from acquaintances
whose names he didn’t even remember anymore. Their company had
always offered a bit more protection than being alone. But even
around them he never felt safe, avoided sleeping in a bed with
someone in case they decided to get frisky at night. Yet he still
had a man crawl into his bed when he shared an abandoned house with
others. He had to wrestle his way out and walk out of there with
nothing at three in the morning. At least with blow jobs he’d had
the illusion of control. It was some guy’s dick entrusted to
his
mouth, so much less invasive
than being fucked. Early on he’d decided not to get ass-fucked for
money. Not only was he afraid of being hurt, but it was also much
easier to give three blow jobs than get fucked once. Not to mention
easier to avoid STDs. He wasn’t
completely
clueless. Most guys wouldn’t want to use a condom,
so giving head carried much less risk.

That was why he welcomed the work at the Vanilla
Lounge with such relief. Many
others weren’t as lucky. After what he’d been through,
giving lapdances and servicing the glory hole was nothing. He had a
tiny room in the motel next door, and it was all his. Rick would
bring him hot food, they would go running or even swimming a few
times. Sure, maybe it wasn’t what he wanted from life. He’d hated
the sequin leggings with a vengeance, but it was much better than
going hungry and not being able to sleep in fear that the man who
lived downstairs would come and try to rape him.

“
It must have been hard… How did you meet?” Luci
asked after a long pause. Was Tooth’s past the reason why he took
pity on him when no one
else did?

Tooth slid his hand out of Luci’s grip and covered
his face with a low sigh. “I was a runaway, not able to get any
legal work yet, so I was pickpocketing, sleeping in abandoned
buildings, and so on.” Slowly, Tooth uncovered his eyes, still
shielding the lower half of his face in the cradle of
his fingers. “I usually ate at
those cheap diners, and one time this girl started flirting with
me. I was still a virgin, and... yeah, that was a long time ago.
She suggested she was available, but I didn’t really have any
decent money. But it had been a while since I actually chatted to
anyone so I bought her some food, and we talked for a long time.”
Tooth swallowed. “She was tired, but really pretty and sweet once
she kinda opened up. And when it came up that I hadn’t found
anywhere to sleep yet, she invited me over. She had this tiny
apartment with three other girls, and that’s how it
started.”

“
Did you hustle as well?” Luci cocked his head,
amazed by this new side of Tooth he got to find out about. It
looked
as though they
had more in common than Luci would have imagined.

Tooth shook his head an
d nervously massaged his eyes.

Luci swallowed. “Did you
take care
of them?” It was the best euphemism he could think
of for ‘did you become their pimp?’. He’d seen situations like that
all too often where a guy would be the girl’s boyfriend and provide
her with security while she worked.

Tooth sighed. “Yes and no... I mean... I was already
big at the time, and it just seemed like a better thing for all of
us. I wasn’t taking their money or anything,” he said, squeezing
his toes over the asphalt. “I got a bike, and I took them to
clients, and made sure they were safe, and they gave me pocket
money. I know how weird that sounds, but at the time it seemed like
a good arrangement. I really... loved them. They were my family. We
got each other Christmas presents and shit.”

Luci couldn’t help a little smile. He would have
loved to have a Tooth around when he was out there on the street.
Then again, he had Tooth now, so it wasn’t all that bad. “And she
was targeted by these criminals?”

All c
olor drained from Tooth’s face, and he shrugged. “She
shouldn’t have gone without letting me know. And then someone found
her in a shallow grave. One of her kidneys was removed, but they
dumped it with her body. I think they found out about her positive
status from something she had in her bag. They didn’t even use the
fucking kidney...” Tooth bit his hand, his body beginning to
tremble, but it was hard to say whether it was the cold or the
memories.

Luci’s eyes watered at the horrifying confession. A
life lost for nothing. A life so precious to Tooth he’d tattooed a
commemorative cross on his arm. A life so important he left
everything to find the perpetrators and joined the Coffin Nails.
Lucifer slid closer again and wrapped his arms around Tooth’s
midsection. For once, it wasn’t a silly attempt to get a feel of
Tooth’s muscles. All Luci wanted was to give Tooth some comfort.
“I’m so sorry.”

Tooth pulled him closer, close enough for Luci to
hear the powerful heartbeat. “And she probably didn’t tell me
because I was getting serious about her. I was jealous and wanted
us to move on. I was old enough to find work, and it could have
worked out, you know?”

Even listening to it crushed Luci’s heart. Both
for Tooth and the imagined ‘Tracy’ who
m he could feel for just as much. He could see her
meeting a guy like Tooth, them getting along better, falling in
love maybe. But they would have no money, so she would go out for
one more time, and then another one last time. Luci knew that maybe
his imagination was running too far, but he couldn’t help but put
himself in the place of Tracy. He felt so safe with Tooth’s arms
around him, and if Luci were her, he would also try to do anything
he could to get money for them both, so they could have a future
together. He bit his tongue so hard he drew blood not to cry. It
wasn’t his moment, he was here for Tooth, not for his own stupid
tears.

When Tooth spoke again, his voice had a strange,
high-pitched rasp. “I didn’t know what to do. My life was falling
apart again without her, and so I ended up here. I guess that’s as
much of a happy ending as I could get.”

“Now you have brothers, right?” Luci swallowed and
gave Tooth a quick kiss through the beard, with his heart pounding
like crazy. He didn’t want to offend Tooth, but he was dying to
show him some kind of support and affection. All he could do was
hope Tooth wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

The coarse hairs tickled his skin when Tooth turned
his head to look at him, and their noses touched, side to side,
lips only millimeters apart. Luci couldn’t blink, too choked up
with emotion. He’d never been in love before and he was beginning
to wonder if this was what it was like. Always wanting to be around
the other person, getting all hot and bothered over them, missing
them if they were gone, and never feeling better than when they
were close. It wasn’t just about Tooth being hot either, Tooth was
the whole package. Handsome, caring, protective, and able to crush
anyone Luci could ever be afraid of. Sadly, not gay.

Luci slowly pulled away. The last thing he wanted
was to freak Tooth out.

Tooth slowly exhaled and put his hand on top of
Luci’s head, petting it gently. They looked at Beast, who was busy
at the feeder and didn’t pay them any attention. “Thanks.”

Luci smiled at him with a deep exhale. “Always
here.”
Waiting for something that will never happen.

They sat together for a while in a strangely
comfortable silence, but when Tooth started shivering in earnest,
it was time for a hot shower and some of his favorite coffee. Luci
declared he wanted to stay with Beast for a while, so Tooth left
him alone in the courtyard, with Dolly and Priest’s shouting still
resonating throughout the compound. As sad as Luci was about all
this, if there was an argument, it meant Father wanted to keep him
around, which made him feel slightly warm inside. Beast kept
teasing him through the fence so Luci eventually gave up and
entered the pen, stroking the goat’s coarse fur.

“What? You’re hungry? I can’t believe Astaroth
wouldn’t feed you,” he babytalked to the animal. “So cute, you’re
so cute.” Luci smiled and rubbed Beast’s ear.

“I know, Blitz is usually the one to do it.”
Astaroth’s voice went straight into the core of Luci’s brain,
making him freeze in place. Didn’t she leave?

He laughed nervously and pulled away from Beast.
“Hey, sorry, I mean…” What was he to even say. Would Asty hate him
now?

But she just looked at him like a curious puppy,
and step by step, she joined him in the pen. There was a strange
silence,
neither of them
knowing what to say, but it was more awkward than
malicious.

“So, you’re my brother?” she asked in the end,
taking hold of Beast’s horn.

“Y-yeah. I look nothing like Bell, do I?” He looked
into her dark eyes, trying to think of sensible things to say.

Asty swallowed hard, and her lips twitched. “Yeah,
Bell told me your mom was blonde. He looks totally like Dad.”

“And has your mom’s complexion. You’re pale like
me.” Luci smiled and put his hand against Asty’s.

She chuckled and slowly, very slowly raised her
hands. They hovered close to Luci’s neck,
and with each moment it became more and more like
an embrace. “I knew Dad had another kid. He just wouldn’t tell us
about you because of Mom,” she whispered with her eyes
closed.

“
I never knew about you. I didn’t even know about
Bell. Priest, I mean Dad... he never talked to me much.” Luci took
the plunge and hugged Astaroth with a sigh. He was becoming a part
of something. Sure, maybe it was a highly dysfunctional family
soaked in criminal activity, but it
was
family.

Her arms tightened around him in a gesture of
acceptance. “God, that’s so stupid. You’re so cute, who wouldn’t
want a brother like you?”

Luci laughed out loud. That was a new one. “Bell
didn’t. I’m not cute. Beast is.”

Astaroth pulled back and gave Luci’s chest a playful
nudge. “Okay, I agree, he’s cuter. He’s even cuter than me.”

“I don’t think dad is thrilled with a gay son. Bet
he wanted another son like Bell. One that could prospect and shit.”
Luci sighed and went back to petting the goat.

Astaroth rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. Who cares
about his opinion? And for your information, he complains about
Bell all the time.”

“Does he?” That made Luci grin. He was all ears for
this kind of gossip.

Astaroth pushed Beast’s head away when the goat
tried to munch on the hem of her dress. “Yeah. He doesn’t like him
fucking every girl in sight, and he thinks Bell’s too fat.”

Luci started laughing so hard he couldn’t speak
for a good minute. “Oh, my God! That’s so mean. Sure, he’s not a
lean, mean machine like Tooth, but he’s tall and buff, I’d do him
if it wasn’t extremely creepy to say because he’s my
brother
.”

Astaroth covered her face. “Oh, my God, you didn’t
just say that.”

“
Oh, yes I did!” He winked at her. It was fun to
have a girlfriend he didn’t have to
tiptoe around.

“Anyway, what’s going on between you and Mr. Lean
Mean Machine?” asked Asty with an innocent bat of her
eyelashes.

Lucifer straightened up with his ears on fire. “Huh?
What?” Oh God, he knew exactly ‘what’.