It had been quiet for an hour now. Both Zak and Aaron sat in chairs facing the bed. Nick had grown quiet and still after Aaron pressed the bible and cross so hard into his body, it left a bruise. His eyes had closed; his breathing evened out. It appeared as if he were sleeping. They had dressed the wounds around his wrists as his body lay limp, but left the handcuffs on. Emotionally and physically exhausted, they sat and waited and watched.
Zak's eyes were heavy and his body craved sleep. Next to him, Aaron had dozed off a couple dozen times, shaking himself awake each time his head dropped. Both snapped to attention as Nick's head rolled to the side. Groaning, he tried to sit up. Zak stood, walking over to the bed. "Nick?"
"Zak?" he groaned. "What the hell?" he asked, pulling on his swollen, injured wrists still in the cuffs. His eyes went wide with pain as the metal cuffs dug into the wounds. "Ow! Shit!"
Zak dove for the key in the dresser drawer, unlocking the handcuffs. Aaron stood on the other side of the bed, ready just in case Nick still wasn't Nick yet.
"What the fuck are the handcuffs for? And where are we?"
Zak and Aaron exchanged nervous glances. "What's the last thing you remember?" Aaron asked him.
"I went home to my wife after we … uh… shared that … experience…," he said nervously, sitting up to inspect his wrists after Zak unlocked the handcuffs.
Zak smiled and tackled the man on the bed, kissing him passionately. Nick gently pushed him back. "Whoa whoa. Okay, Zak."
Aaron sat back down in the chair. Yeah, that was definitely Nick.
"Did you guys drug me?" Nick asked, looking at both of them. "And what the hell happened to my wrists?"
Zak climbed off of him, allowing the man to sit up again. Slowly, they started to recount the events of the past week when things really escalated. Zak showed him the marks on his neck and other bruises around his body that Nick had left. Delicate fingertips traced over the marks he had left without knowing. "I did that?"
Zak shrugged. "Well, what was inside you did it."
"I'm so sorry, Zak. You know I would never hurt you."
He smiled weakly. "I know. I'm sorry we didn't try to rescue you earlier. I can't believe you don't remember anything."
Nick shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that, you know, the sex we had was great, but I don't remember it."
Zak shifted a little uncomfortably on the bed. "Actually it was a little painful."
Nick blushed slightly. "I'm sorry."
Aaron shook his head. "It's not your fault. But, dude, didn't you feel it going into your body? Did you feel it take over?"
Nick shook his head. "You know, I was thinking about what we did for the whole week. And I guess it just took advantage of my weakness. It saw…," he cleared his throat, "it saw something that I wanted, I guess, and went for it. I guess that's the best way to think about it."
Zak raised his eyebrow. "So you wanted us. You wanted us."
Nick rolled his eyes and Aaron grinned, piling on top of them on the bed, bowling the other two men over. It was his turn to kiss Nick softly. His lips were soft, pliant. "Welcome back."
Nick smiled, getting comfortable against the pillows as Aaron lay down next to him. Zak took his position as his personal cling wrap shield, throwing a leg over and resting his head beneath his chin. Wrapping an arm around his back, Nick sighed contentedly, "I do remember this…"
Zak yawned and smiled against his shoulder. "Starting over."
Aaron rolled on his side, laying an arm across Nick's chest, fingers brushing softly against Zak's skin. "From this moment." Nick rested his hand overtop Aaron's, interlacing their fingers.
Closing his eyes, he finally felt fully in control of his own body. "Starting over, from where we left off," he whispered. Closing his eyes, he felt Zak's body go heavy on him as Aaron's soft snores started. Nick sighed, contented in the moment, hopeful for the future, repentant for the past.
The rising sun shone through the curtains of the hotel room. Zak rolled over, releasing Nick from his death grip. His new found freedom woke him up. He could hear Aaron in the shower in the bathroom. Momentarily, he contemplated getting up and joining him, but Zak's sleep-warm body rolled over again, facing him this time. Nick rolled on his side to look at him. The bruises he had left on his body stood out. Nick noticed other bruises that Zak hadn't shown him and hoped those weren't from him, even though he knew they were, had to be. Softly, he brushed his fingertips over the small marks on his hip.
"They don't hurt," Zak whispered.
Nick jumped. "I thought you were asleep," he whispered back.
"I was until you touched me."
"Why did you let me do this? You could have stopped me." His hand moved up to Zak's neck, thumb brushing carefully over the bitemarks there.
"It was you…"
"Yeah, I know."
"No… it was you. You know I can't say no to you." Zak took his hand and kissed the palm. "I can't say no. You get me up on top of buildings, into clown motels. Anything you want. "
Nick smiled, rolling Zak over with his body resting on top of him. "Well, you need to learn to say no to me."
"Ok, fine. No," he laughed.
"No, what?"
Zak bucked his hips up against Nick's.
"But I'm not possessed anymore. So this," Nick rolled his hips against Zak's, "is all me. I want to experience sex with you without the interference of a demon."
"But we also need to shower and brush our teeth. I'm not kissing you until you brush your teeth."
Nick groaned and rolled off, getting up from the bed. "Fine. Five minutes. And I think a shower is pointless because you're going to need another one when we're done anyways."
Nick picked up his shirt off the floor as Aaron stepped out of the bathroom. As he stood up, he grabbed the towel around his waist and yanked. "You too. Five minutes. Stay just like that," he grinned and walked out the door.
Aaron stood naked in the hotel room, not quite sure what had just happened or what was happening in five minutes. Zak stood up and walked by him into the bathroom, smacking his ass. "I think Nick's back."
"So what's in five minutes?" Aaron asked, rooting through his suitcase.
Zak started the water, grabbing a toothbrush and toothpaste. Leaning out of the bathroom, he leered at Aaron. "We're putting you in the handcuffs."