MM romance written from Heath Braxton's point of view. If you don't like Slash this isn't one for you.

CHAPTER ONE

I tossed and turned in my bed, alone and unable to sleep. Brax had finally flipped out over the number of different girls I'd had staying over, and on top of that, he'd discovered what I was really doing to make money. He'd suspected I was dealing weed, but he hadn't known about the coke until my supplier turned up at the house chasing payment. Brax had damn near knocked my head off my shoulders after he paid the guy off, and now I sported a nasty shiner as well as not having company. I'd heard Brax and Ricky screwing and trying not too successfully to be quiet, and it didn't help one bit. At twenty-three I was always as horny as fuck, but I wasn't ready for a girlfriend. Not by a long shot after Tegan got pregnant and barely let me see the kid. Her mother had gone crazy and refused to let me around the house, and I hadn't wanted to be a family man anyway. Not so young. But I still wanted to see Darce.

I rolled over again, grimacing. How the hell had things got to this? Even Casey had a girlfriend and was happy and he was only sixteen. Not that I wanted one, but I sure wanted something. And Brax's fist in my face wasn't one of them.

A slight sound outside caught my attention and I sat up, tilting my head towards the open window. The sound came again – a faint squeak as if the swing chair was moving in the wind. Except there was no wind. Or it could have been the door of the shed.

I slid out of bed and pulled on my surfing shorts, which was the nearest garment I could find in the dark. Rather than open my bedroom door and creep past Brax's room like a fucking criminal in my own house, I opened the window wider and climbed out into the back yard. My bare feet landed on grass and I made my way towards the shed, inwardly cursing that I hadn't thought to at least grab my phone, so I could use the torch function.

The shed door bumped closed and I moved faster. Someone was in there.

As I halted outside the small wooden structure, I heard a muffled sob coming from within. Then another, and a long drawn-out sniff. Then another sob. Shit. Who the hell was hiding in our shed and crying? Not a burglar, like I'd first suspected.

Cautiously, I opened the door and slipped inside. A cloud slid away from the moon at that moment and enough light shone through the window for me to see the huddled figure in the corner, amongst the unused plant pots, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them. Wide frightened eyes looked up at me and I frowned down at him.

"Dean, what's going on?"

Dean Thompson was a mate of Casey's. They were the same age and had gone to school together until Dean dropped out. I didn't know him that well, only that he lived with his mum who was a bit of a psycho. He'd always been in trouble at school – nothing serious, just playing truant, failing to do homework, rotten grades etc. I also suspected he was gay. He gawked at me when he was around the house and I was walking about with my shirt off. I was only surprised Case and Brax hadn't noticed. He wasn't that discreet about it.

"I, um…" He sniffed and scrubbed his hands over his face. "Sorry. I'll go." He scrambled up and almost stumbled into me.

I grabbed his upper arms and steadied him, then held on as he broke again and wept helplessly. I tugged him against me and felt his tears on my bare chest. My arms slid around him of their own accord and I rested my chin on top of his head. Damn it. I felt sorry for the kid, but I didn't need to be feeding his potential fantasies about me. I tried to step back, but he'd fastened his arms around my waist and clung on, although his tears had stopped.

"Hey, come on." I withdrew my arms and rested my hands on his shoulders instead. "What happened?"

"My mum." He sniffed and finally pulled back to wipe his nose on his hand. Thank God he hadn't wiped it on my shoulder.

"What about her?"

"She, um, I don't know. She had a bad day."

"Another one?"

"She's been drinking. A lot. I don't think she knew what she was doing."

"Dean, what did she do?" A stab of anxiety made my guts clench.

"She went for me with a knife."

"Fuck. Did she hurt you?"

"No, I got away."

"When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago. I was, um, walking around. I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Come in the house." I opened the shed door again.

"No! Brax will go mad. He doesn't like me."

"What gave you that idea? He doesn't have anything against you. You're just a kid. He won't turn you away when he hears what happened. Besides, he's too busy being mad at me to be bothered about you."

"Why, what did you do?" Dean wiped his face again and met my gaze. Then his eyes widened. "You have a black eye."

"Yeah, Brax wasn't too impressed with my latest, um, job."

"He hit you?"

"Don't worry about it. I probably deserved it. Come on." I grasped his wrist lightly and tugged him out of the shed.

"What did you do?" Dean repeated.

"It doesn't matter." I told myself he wasn't technically a minor, being old enough to leave home, work, and have sex, but admitting I'd been dealing coke wasn't something I was keen to tell the kid. Part of me kind of liked that he looked up to me and I wasn't so sure finding out I was a Class A dealer would impress him. Or maybe it would. Who knew? I led him to my window and climbed in, then turned to look out. "Take your shoes off. You're gonna land on my bed when you get in here."

Dean grinned suddenly. "That's your bedroom?"

I frowned. "Be quiet. Give me your shoes."

He stooped and a moment later passed me a pair of sneakers. Then he climbed through the window and dropped onto my bed, sitting cross-legged. I put his shoes on the floor and sat down at the other side of the bed.

"Do you need anything?" I asked. "Something to eat?"

"No, I'm okay. Thanks."

"You can stay here until the morning. Then we'll talk to Brax about this. Having something else to think about might stop him giving me another shiner." I grinned ruefully, and Dean smiled back.

"You really don't mind me staying here? With you?"

"No. It's fine. Get some sleep." I lay down, keeping my board shorts on, and waited for him to do the same. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and cut-offs, which he kept on. He stretched out on top of the bed covers, leaving about a foot gap between us. I could hear him breathing, fast and uneven, and guessed he was nervous. "You're safe here," I said softly.

"I know. Thanks."

"I meant, I'm not gonna do anything," I clarified.

"I didn't think that. You're straight."

"Am I?" I chuckled quietly.

"Aren't you?" He rolled onto his side to look at me.

"Most of the time, I am," I admitted. "What Brax doesn't know about that won't hurt him. But like I said, I'm not gonna do anything."

"I wish you would," Dean blurted. Then he closed his eyes and ducked his head down. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"Are you gay?" I asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Yes. No one knows except Willow. My mum would kill me if she found out."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No. Never done anything except a kiss one time. I never dared. I thought someone would find out and, um, tell my mum." He shivered and pulled his knees up towards his chest, his lips trembling. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Of course I won't. It's okay. You can talk to me about anything you want."

"Do you, um, like me? At all?" he whispered.

"Don't, okay? You're too young."

"I'm legal."

"Just. If you want to fool around, you need to do it with someone your own age. I'm not gonna mess with you, Dean. It's not happening." I made it clear, while at the same time my cock twitched in my shorts and reminded me it with almost a year since I'd been with a guy. Here was a boy, hero-worshipping me, right in my bed, and I had to say no. Sixteen years old? Brax would probably rip my dick off and make me eat it.

"Sorry. You must think I'm a stupid kid. You're grown up, and hot, and could have anybody you want."

"I wouldn't go that far. You're not stupid, Dean. You're young, that's all. Don't try and rush into things before you're ready to."

"I am ready."

"All right. Go to sleep." I turned away, grimacing at the feel of my erection throbbing inside my shorts. The kid was good-looking, and he wanted me, and damn it, all I could think about now was touching him, grasping his hand and putting it on my cock.

Dean sighed and shuffled around, getting comfortable. I doubted I would sleep, but as I listened to his breathing, eventually slowing and steadying, I began to drift into unconsciousness.

When I woke, it was daylight, and Dean rested in my arms, his back to me and his hand holding my arm where it rested around his waist. My face was tucked into the back of his neck, breathing in the warm scent of him, and my dick was rigid against his arse. Fuck. I tried to get my arm free and move away, but he woke and wriggled against me, obviously feeling my erection. His face reddened, spreading to his ears and neck.

"Sorry. Morning wood." I made a joke out of it and moved back, but he held onto my arm.

"Please stay there. I don't want to wake up yet."

"You are awake."

"I haven't slept this well in weeks. Months."

I relented and kept my arm around him. My arousal ramped up another notch as he moved his hand off my arm and adjusted himself, indicating he was hard too. I slid closer again and let myself rest against him. I needed to come so badly it hurt. Then Dean put his hand over mine and pushed it down to his erection. His cut-offs were undone, and his underwear was damp over his rock-hard dick. He gripped my hand firmly, holding it there, cupping him. I groaned. I was going to Hell.

"Dean…" I protested. "I can't do this with you."

"Please. I'm not asking you to fuck me." His erection throbbed under my hand. "I feel safe with you."

"Fucking hell," I muttered. The kid was pushing all my buttons. I told myself how badly I was about to fuck up, but the demon in my head reminded me he was old enough although I could still get in the shit for it. At least he wasn't doing it with some random stranger who might hurt him or push him further than he wanted to go. "Can you be quiet?" I asked, not quite believing I'd actually said it.

"Yes." He let go of my hand and clenched his fist around a handful of pillow.

I hesitated, then slipped my hand inside his underwear and wrapped it around his dick. He groaned, then clamped his hand over his mouth. "Sorry."

"You have to be quiet," I reminded him. He nodded. Slowly, I began to move my hand up and down. He was leaking all over the place, literally dripping pre-come, and I guessed it would take about five seconds. I gripped tighter and rubbed my thumb over his tip. His cock felt good – bigger than I would have expected – slightly curved towards his belly. He arched his back and pushed himself into my hand. A moment later he spilled into my fist and over my bed covers, a whimper escaping his lips.

I laughed quietly. "I lasted about that long when I was your age." I took my hand off him and he turned to face me, quickly tucking himself back into his clothes.

"What was your first time like?"

"You mean with a boy?"

"Yes."

"Well, I was eighteen. He was a mate of Brax's, so a few years older than me. I'd had some fight with Brax and decided to spend the night on the beach. He found me there and we talked for a while and fooled around. Just, um, jerking off." I hissed through my teeth as Dean tugged the drawstring of my shorts loose and slid his hand down the front of them. "Christ, what are you doing?"

"Returning the favour. Don't tell me you would have given in to me if you hadn't been so desperate to get off."

"You know too much." I bit my lip as he grasped my erection and pumped it slowly.

"Let me. At least I get to try this without it being someone I don't know who might not want to stop at this."

I frowned, remembering having that exact same thought. "All right." I gave in and pushed my shorts down over my thighs to make it easier for him. He used his other hand to stroke my balls, which were already tight against my body. Hell's teeth. I was about to come, barely having lasted as long as he did. "Tighter." I covered his hand with mine, squeezing it around my dick. "You won't break it."

Dean chuckled and tightened his grip. I managed to last a couple of minutes before I shot my load onto the bed between us. Grinning, Dean took his hand away and licked it.

"Don't do that. Jesus." I sat up and pulled my shorts back into place.

"Why? I wanted to taste."

"You can't do that unless you know somebody's history. I'm clear, I get tested regularly and I don't fuck without a condom, but you need to be sure of that if you're gonna have someone's come in your mouth or up your arse."

"Sorry. But you're clear?"

"Yes, I said so."

The kid licked his hand again and carried on licking until it was clean. My partly softened dick twitched again, and I turned away. I had to stop looking at him. And I had to talk to Brax. I'd just heard him and Ricky talking as they made their way to the kitchen. Shit. This was going to go down well.

"Stay here, okay? I'm gonna speak to Brax." I found a shirt to put on and opened my bedroom door.