Chapter 25 - Craig

Craig didn’t love her anymore. He knew from the second he saw Synthia’s face that he didn’t. He doubted he’d ever truly loved her to begin with. The month he’d spent with Jack had opened his eyes to what true love was, and what he shared with Synthia wasn’t it. What he shared with Cecilia wasn’t it, either. What bonded Craig to Jack was different from anything Craig had felt before. It was raw. It was pure. It was true.

He threw Jack down on the bed and followed him down. Jack would comfort him. Jack was the last good thing he had, besides Isaac.

But even Isaac might be leaving soon.

They kissed. It was primal and fierce, and Craig tasted blood. He’d nicked the inside of his lip. It didn’t matter. Nothing did. All he needed was to know that everything was going to be okay.

In gasps and grunts they shed their clothing. Jack’s shirt hit the floor. Craig’s pants joined it. Craig tugged Jack’s boxer-briefs off for the second time that day, this time much harder than before. Jack lifted his legs to help.

Craig needed to forget. He needed to let go of everything. Going back to Los Angeles made him feel hollow. What he wanted was here in his arms.

Just him and Jack and Isaac.

Craig stripped Jack the rest of the way, then climbed down Jack’s body and sucked Jack’s cock into his mouth with urgency. Jack was half-hard, and Craig had no idea how to give a blowjob, but he worked with such certainty that it wasn’t long before Jack hardened. Craig’s tongue lapped at Jack’s soft skin. Craig’s nose buried into his stomach. Craig bobbed his head and let Jack own his mouth. The taste was woodsy, but it was inescapably Jack, and Craig adored it.

Would this be the last time he took Jack to bed? The last time they were ever together? Craig didn’t know what the future had in store for him anymore. He hadn’t thought that Synthia would be released from rehab ready to drag him back into the hell that was Los Angeles.

It was hell. Craig realized it now.

For so long he thought he could cope—that if he changed his locks and lived on his own, the drama would leave him be. He was wrong. For as long as he lived in that place, the same people who always caused trouble would continue to cause trouble. There was no escaping it.

That was no environment for a child. That was no place for any living being.

Craig was fed up with it, yet now he was shackled to it.

For as long as Synthia fought for custody, for as long as she lived in that city, Craig would have to suffer it, too. No matter what he felt for Jack, he couldn’t part from Isaac. Isaac was his son, and Isaac was the one Craig would favor no matter what.

Craig blinked back tears as he swallowed Jack’s cock and let it invade his throat. His gag reflex kicked in and he sputtered, but he pushed past the pain. To hear Jack moan like he did was worth it.

“Oh my god, Craig.” Jack gasped. Craig held him down by the hips, making sure he didn’t buck, but he felt Jack squirm and fidget regardless. “Suck it. Fuck. Where did you get a mouth like that? Feels so good.”

Craig drew back and plunged down again. He breathed in Jack’s scent and memorized his taste. Why had he wasted so much time fighting off his attraction? He’d squandered his chance to know Jack’s body, and now it was too late.

“Do you want me to come?” Jack panted. “I’m going to come if you keep sucking me like that.”

Craig didn’t reply with words—he just kept the rhythm going with his mouth.

Jack’s fidgeting grew livelier. He worked against Craig’s hands. Craig held him down, not letting him thrust. Craig sucked and bobbed his head instead, working Jack toward an orgasm.

Jack’s breathing quickened. His muscles tensed. Craig felt his balls draw up and his cock twitch. Craig drew back just in time. Jack shot into his mouth, panting in pleasure. The bitter, salty taste of semen washed over Craig’s tongue. He swallowed it down and made sure that there was none left before he parted from Jack’s cock.

He wasn’t done.

With Jack drowsy from orgasm, Craig had no problem flipping him onto his stomach. Jack moaned and instinctively lifted his ass to present himself. Craig grabbed a condom and slid it down his cock, and as Jack lifted himself by the knees, Craig drizzled lube down the crack of Jack’s ass and worked it in. He wasn’t so gentle this time.

Jack was still wet from before, and Craig didn’t need so much lube. His fingers curled inside of Jack, experimenting. Jack buried his head in the pillows and moaned, but when his thighs suddenly shook and his body jerked, Craig knew he’d found something special. He teased around that spot with his fingers, then let them trail against it again. Jack cried out, the sound muffled.

Craig’s fingers twisted and caressed. He pushed in and teased Jack with the sensation of being full, then eased back and glided against the spot that made Jack crazy. The energy between them choked the air and stretched it taut, like the bonds that connected them were drawn tight and ready to spring. When Jack started fucking his hand, Craig replaced his fingers with his cock. They fucked each other, Jack pressing back against him and working his ass to try to get more, and Craig thrusting into him with purpose.

Savage, angry, bitter purpose.

It was their goodbye. It was a thank you. But most of all, it was an apology. Craig had spent so long with his head up his ass that he hadn’t realized what he felt for Jack until it was too late. Now there was no time left.

Craig grabbed Jack’s ass. He squeezed and pulled Jack’s cheeks apart, watching as his shaft disappeared inside his friend. Jack moaned and whimpered, but even as he did, he worked his ass against Craig to beg Craig for more.

Craig gave it to him.

“Fuck,” Jack rasped. “Craig, I… I wanna come so bad.”

“I know,” Craig said. His voice was still stiff from his encounter with Synthia. All the walls had gone back up, and he desperately wanted to take them down, but he knew he couldn’t. If he was going back into that viper’s den, he needed protection. “Come for me. I wanna fuck you senseless.”

One of Craig’s hands looped around to stroke Jack’s dick. Jack moaned, alternating between thrusting into Craig’s and impaling himself on Craig’s cock.

“I just… I just came,” Jack managed to say. “I can’t.”

“Then keep trying,” Craig urged. He wasn’t ready to come. Not yet. He was going to keep Jack in bed for a while. “I need to feel you shoot. I want to know you did it with me inside you.”

They thrusted and rutted. Eventually Craig pulled out and flipped Jack onto his back. Jack’s legs wrapped around him and they resumed what they’d started.

It was wild and passionate, but beneath it, Craig still felt sorrow.

This was what he was giving up.

“Craig,” Jack uttered. “I’m gonna…”

“Do it,” Craig said. He had his fist back around Jack’s cock, stroking him toward completion. His own orgasm approached. If he felt Jack tighten around him, Craig knew he’d shoot.

Jack grunted, then moaned. He pushed into Craig’s hand and back against his dick one more time, then shuddered as he released. Craig felt the ripple run through Jack’s body. It squeezed his passage tight, each pulse of cum mirrored in the way Jack’s body squeezed.

Craig groaned and buried himself deep in Jack’s ass. He worked Jack down into the mattress as best he could, and when Jack squeezed him one more time, he couldn’t resist. Craig came, too.

Craig’s orgasm soothed him. He sighed as he settled on top of Jack. His cock was still in Jack’s ass.

“What does this mean?” Jack asked. He sounded uncertain and fearful.

Craig wished he had better news. “I don’t know.”

“Are you going back to LA?” Jack frowned.

“I have to.” Craig pulled out. He took care of the condom, then laid beside Jack. They didn’t touch each other, but they were close enough that Craig felt Jack’s body heat. “I don’t see any other option.”

“You don’t think she can be talked to?” Jack asked. “I mean, we might not be able to talk her out of a custody agreement, but maybe we could talk her down into being more reasonable?”

“I don’t think so,” Craig said. Synthia saw him as an enemy now. There would be no changing her mind. “She’s not going to listen to anything I have to say. I think she thinks I’m trying my best to hurt her.”

“You’re not, though.” Jack rubbed his face with both hands, looking as frustrated as Craig felt. “All you’re trying to do is what’s best for Isaac. Why can’t she understand that?”

“Because I hurt her before,” Craig said. “I left her when she refused to get help for her problem. She wanted me to stay and care for her. She wanted me to enable her. I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive me for what I did.”

“But it was the right thing to do,” Jack stressed.

“She doesn’t care. I don’t think she’ll ever see it that way.”

The situation was hopeless. Craig wasn’t worried about the custody battle—when it came down to it, his wealth meant the lawyers he could afford would blow Synthia’s out of the water—but he hated the thought that it had to be that way. He didn’t want Isaac to grow up with feuding parents. Craig respected Synthia despite her problems, but he doubted Synthia would extend the same kind of courtesy toward him.

“So you’re going,” Jack mumbled. “When?”

“As soon as I can. It’s probably too late to book a flight today, so tomorrow. It’ll take Synthia three or four days to drive back, if I had to guess. I want to be there well before she arrives.”

The look on Jack’s face was too much to take, so Craig closed his eyes and pressed the side of his head into the pillows. He didn’t want to leave either, but he didn’t have much of a choice. Synthia was forcing his hand. Los Angeles still had him in its clutches.

As they laid together in silence, Isaac started to cry. The misery in the air broken, if only for the moment. Craig got out of bed and pulled on his boxer-briefs. On the way out the door, he grabbed Jack’s robe.

Dad-mode was back on.

“You’ve got this?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got this,” Craig said. “You rest.”

“Thanks. I don’t think I could stand if I wanted to.” Jack managed to laugh, but it was short-lived. “Come back after?”

“Of course I will.” Craig stopped in the doorway. He smiled at Jack even as sorrow gripped him.

He wasn’t sure if Jack was talking about after he took care of Isaac, or after the ordeal in California was over. Craig wasn’t sure it mattered. The answer didn’t change.