Theo was sure Mason could handle Liam. He was Liam's best friend. Now he was off to find his best friend before he went to work. Today was Corey's night at the bar, but Theo had to do all of his preparations for the night before he went to the hotel, hopefully not running into Brett. Why didn't he cancel? Go to another hotel? Stay with Liam for the night? There was a reason. An answer for all of these questions. Theo needed the money. The customer booked the room in advance. He needed space from Liam.

Liam was a decent guy and his IED seemed to be at the surface. He seemed to feel the notion to apologize for something he's not even supposed to feel sorry about. He really needed his best friend more than he needed Theo. Theo also needed his own best friend. He needed to tell him about Brett and his bold pseudo-threats concerning Liam and Liam's reactions to it. He was popping up everywhere despite the clear restraining order. Theo walked into the bar and easily found Corey setting up tables, picking the chairs off of the tops. "Dude, can we talk?"

"It's about time. I heard Brett is back."

"He is" Theo said, voice unbothered. His face unfazed. Corey knew better.

"How bad is it?" Corey knew it was bad if Liam thought to ask about him.

"He is making advances at Liam and making him uncomfortable. Especially when he's in front of me. Which, according to the restraining order, he isn't supposed to be" Theo's face started to change to something akin to rage, but he shoved it deep down. Corey was his best friend, but hell, his own parents abandoned him when he was a child, so who really could he trust. His partner, the man he'd once loved, looked him in the face and accused him of being unfaithful and thought putting his hands on him was justified.

"What else?"

"He is living at the hotel that Liam works at and he doesn't know how long. Liam says it'll be at least a month, but his stay is until further notice." Theo looked at him, finally showing a glint of fear in his eyes. "Corey, he could do anything to anyone in that amount of time."

Corey understood what he meant. He meant he'd go after anyone who had anything to do with him being sent away and even go after their loved ones. Corey should let Malia know and keep Derek in the loop and keep an especially close eye on Mason. Brett's sister may not know where he is yet,

so Theo should probably reach out to her as well. It may not help anything, but it could.

"What will you do?" Corey asked, knowing look in his eyes. Theo knew what he meant, but he would still ask.

"Well, I'm going to avoid him whenever possible, obviously. What else is there?"

"I meant about Liam. He is involved now. He needs to know. Before it's too late." Corey stressed as customers started filing in the bar. "You're supposed to be his friend now, right?"

Damn it, Corey! Theo knew he was right. Liam should know. Brett was a dangerous person. Brett was the reason he'd have nightmares. Brett was the reason he'd lost faith in relationships of every kind. He tried to blame his parents, but he fell in love with Brett. Complete and unwavering. Senseless. He'd loved that person, and that same person made him into a complete disaster. A failure by the world's standards. Liam didn't need someone like Brett to do the same to him.

"I'll tell him even-"

"Not eventually, Theo. You have to tell him now!" Corey shouted, but not enough to grab everyone's attention.

Theo knew he probably should have canceled on this particular evening. Things were so out of control today and with Liam having this episode he'd probably felt like Theo was rushing off. That would definitely not be good.

As he got dressed and got his bag packed for the evening, he went through the texts from his partner for the night. He's into rough sex, which isn't a surprise. Most of the men who call him up were into rough play, bondage, and had very specific kinks that, while they weren't exactly unordinary, they were so into it that it was apparent they never got a chance to explore them. The only weird thing Theo found on the list was that he wanted Theo to be blindfolded upon room entry. Which, again, not weird by nature, but Theo didn't like the idea of not being able to see this person. He'd waved it off as being a public figure.

The drive to the hotel was filled with thoughts of the past few days. If you had told Theo a week ago that he would be meeting someone like Liam and actually being interested in a friendship, Theo would have definitely thought you were insane. He couldn't believe how easy it seemed with Liam, but at the same time so difficult. He was only a few years younger than Theo, but he acted like a total child sometimes. Other times, he acted like he was beyond his years. It confused Theo. Corey was Theo's best friend, but even he was pretty much a solid, steady person. It was a nice change, Liam.

When Theo reached the room number, he'd made sure no one was around before he knocked, blindfold in hand. The door opened; the room pitch black. Theo stepped in and put on the blindfold. He dropped his bag by the door and heard it shut. He felt hands on his neck as lips were against his. They were surprisingly gentile and warm. He felt hands reaching to undo the buttons on his shirt, slowly and sensual. He was surprised to find he liked the seduction scene this customer had going on. He was waiting for the rough 'let's do this' that he'd come to expect from these people. The man grabbed Theo's hands and led them to his own shirt. Theo started to pull it off of him, but the man stopped him. He led Theo's hands to the buttons that trailed down the front of his shirt.

Theo tried to make quick work of the buttons, but the man stopped him again by grabbing his hand

and biting his index finger. Not so hard that it actually hurt him, but hard enough that Theo was still surprised by it. The man pulled Theo's fingers to trail down his buttons slowly, letting Theo know he wanted him to go slowly. Honestly, Theo was starting to get into this whole scene. The times Theo had actually been seduced by his customers were few and far between. He knew it was just business, but he wished sometimes it could be like this. Someone wanting Theo to be taken care of too.

Once Theo had gotten the last button undone, the man grabbed Theo's hands and kissed his palms, which felt weirdly sensual for someone who was paying for sex, but whatever. Then Theo's hands were being guided to the man's chest and shoulders, Theo assumed that meant he wanted him to take off the man's shirt for him. He did as he was being instructed, and then let his hands travel back up the man's arms. He couldn't see him, but Theo could tell the man was tall and lean. He could feel his muscular tone with every time his hands grazed the man's skin. He was smooth and warm. There was something familiar about him. It made Theo feel uneasy, but so did everything else about doing this. With anyone else.

The man kissed Theo. Slow and tender at first. He seemed to want Theo to work for it, even though he was here because he was working for it. He started kissing Theo a little more passionately and then started to trail kisses down his cheek until he found his lips on Theo's neck. He paused, silently letting Theo know that he wanted him to adjust so he could have access to his neck. When Theo didn't budge, the man grabbed the back of Theo's hair and tugged. Theo let out a wince, both of pain and pleasure. Theo was understanding quickly what this man's kinks were. What it was exactly that he was wanting. He wanted to be dominant. He wanted control. He didn't just want the vague list of things he'd sent to Theo. He wanted something between porn and Fifty Shades. He wanted passion. He wanted something that he wasn't being allowed in his life and he needed Theo. In this moment, Theo was the person who would give him life. A reason to keep going.

The man kissed Theo's neck roughly, but sweetly. Then he licked a slow trail from Theo's collarbone to his jawline. He stopped to bite Theo's earlobe and kiss at his jawline and kissed trails over where he'd just licked. He did so, slow and patient. He then bit Theo hard and aggressive. It would definitely leave a mark. Theo didn't care, though. It was right in the spot that got to Theo and in the right way that he'd instantly started showing his excitement through his pants. Theo was definitely surprised, to say the least.

The man reached down and grabbed Theo's erection roughly through his pants, stroking him hard and slow. Theo's breathing was starting to shallow with each minute. He shivered and thrusted his hips slightly into the man's hands that held his throbbing erection. He felt like a horny teenager who couldn't keep his hormones in check. He'd done this hundreds of times and was used to people pawing at him and trying to get him off like it was a game. He couldn't understand what made it different this time.

The man stopped teasing Theo's cock and Theo whimpered slightly, which made the man let out a huff of a laugh. The man grabbed Theo's hand and kissed his knuckles slowly and sweetly before bringing Theo's hand to the man's own throbbing erection. Theo undid the buttons on the man's jeans slowly before he pulled them down enough to uncover him. Theo teased the man a little over his boxers and he could hear the man gasp a few times. He finally let his hand go under the man's boxers and he could feel that he was coming undone. He had precum in his boxers already, though Theo was sure he had the same.

Theo started to kneel down to take care of the man's erection, but he was being stopped. Theo was confused. This wasn't normal. The man led Theo to the bed, undoing his jeans slowly, kissing down his chest and back up. He nipped little bites and rubbed Theo's body up and down like he

was worshipping it. Like he was the most beautiful to behold. He then slipped Theo out of his jeans and underwear. The man sat Theo down as he knelt down on the carpet beside the bed. He kissed Theo's thighs and ran his fingernails over him sweetly. He started rubbing the tip of Theo's cock with his thumb with every stroke he made. He was slow. Patient. Agonizingly so. Theo didn't want to come undone over a hand job. It was worse than having a wet dream.

Finally, Theo felt the man's mouth over his cock. He shivered slightly at the way the man was teasing him. He could take in Theo's entire erection without any problem and yet, he'd stayed mostly at the tip, teasing. The man finally stopped. Theo sat confused again. He heard his bag opening; the sound of handcuffs broke the silence in the room. He felt the man handcuffing his hand and leading him to the headboard where he then cuffed the other. It was a very different experience than he was used to from his other clients. He was being made to feel everything and not focus on his thoughts or really even his actions. He was pretty much being the one focused on.

He heard a wrapper which he assumed was from a condom and after that he heard a bottle open, he assumed it would be lube. Theo felt the man start working his fingers along the rim of his entrance and he let out a startled gasp. The fingers stopped as the man came up to kiss him. Another sweet kiss, like they were lovers, not like they were doing something wrong. He relaxed at the thought that he wasn't being judged, or at least wasn't feeling judged. The man continued, this time making sure to leave trails of kisses up and down Theo's body. When he was sure Theo seemed comfortable, the man removed his fingers and positioned himself between Theos legs. He went down for a kiss just as the tip of his cock was penetrating Theo's ass. Then he kissed down Theo's neck and started pushing in a little further. Theo gasped in pain and discomfort. It wasn't that he wasn't turned on, or even that he wasn't used to being a bottom. He was just uncomfortable in general. If this situation went south, he didn't have a face or even know where an exit was besides the front door. he had no idea the layout of the room.

The man obviously sensed Theo's discomfort. He started kissing him and stroking Theo's face and hair. He went down to his arms and legs and when he did this a few times, Theo started feeling more at ease. The man hovered back over Theo and kissed him long and passionate, making Theo moan. He took this as permission to continue. He did as he had done before and licked Theo's neck before he took a violent bite that made Theo all but go limp from the pleasure. One of Theo's kinks was biting his neck, but it had to be done the right way in the right spot, and this guy nailed it. The man took advantage of Theo's being distracted and shoved his cock the rest of the way into Theo. He quickly worked on Theo's even more hardening erection. Theo whined in pain and pleasure once again.

The man went slow. With Theo's cock and with his own inside of Theo. He went easy, as if he were taking Theo's virginity. As if this wasn't something Theo did. Theo was grateful, however. He was able to actually enjoy it for once. The man started going faster. Harder. Started edging Theo and teasing him more. Theo was completely on edge. He almost couldn't handle it anymore. He needed release. Soon. He was breathing hard and rutting in the man's hand. If his hands weren't tied up, he would have already given himself release. This man was giving him so much pleasure and when he was to his breaking point, the man stopped. It was, to Theo, cruel and unusual punishment.

Finally, he felt it. The man came inside Theo. It was, in that moment, the hottest thing to Theo. The man had a husky, breathy moan when he came. It was different than the overreaching that his regulars had. It was like they knew better. It felt authentic. Like the man knew Theo wasn't into the whole 'you're so fucking hot' 'this is amazing' and all that bullshit. He knew he didn't have to be nice. He knew it was a transaction. That made Theo weirdly turned on and when he felt the man go down on him, hungrily, like it was the only thing that mattered to him, Theo let out a loud "Oh! Fuck!" as he came in the man's mouth. He took every drop and Theo was spent. It's been too long

for him since he'd had a real orgasm.