Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

but the whole flat. There are no pictures or anything.”
    “That neighbor woman totally has the hots for Daddy,” Angel said in an
    attempt to distract him. “Come out. Daddy says we‟re not allowed in here.”
    “You said he was out of the country on business.” Jack walked over to the
    freestanding flogging post. “Have you ever been whipped, I mean for real?”
    “Yes.” He grabbed Jack by the arm and tried to steer him toward the door,
    reluctant to talk about his private life. Jack would not understand.
    “Take it easy, mate. When the cat‟s away, the mice will play.” Jack sniffed the
    air, mimicking a mouse twitching its whiskers, and laughed.
    “Just because he‟s not here doesn‟t mean I don‟t obey him. He takes great care
    of me, and I obey him because I want to.” No one else ever gave a shit about me.
    “I thought the S and M stuff was just in the dungeon.” Jack mimed air quotes
    when he said dungeon.
    “For some people it is, but not us. I obey Daddy‟s orders even when he‟s not
    here. Come on, we can‟t stay in here.” This time he grabbed Jack‟s arm more
    forcefully. “Out!”
    In the living room, they finished their homework, and when it grew dark
    outside, Angel went to the wide picture window overlooking the Thames to lower
    the blinds. City lights under a darkened sky had always left him feeling small and
    lonely, but not since being in London. Now he would turn away from the window
    and see Daddy, always there, ready to protect him and direct him. To keep him safe
    and expect the best from him. He never felt lonely anymore.
    If he didn‟t have Daddy, he would be wandering the streets somewhere looking
    for men to have sex with to earn enough money to eat his next meal. His mom sure
    as hell wouldn‟t have taken him in, even if he‟d shown up at her door destitute.
    She‟d have handed him the Rolex watch, and he‟d have sold it just to live.
    Suddenly the dark night seemed threatening. Where are you, Daddy? Please be
    safe.
    The TV going on made him turn to look at Jack. They were good friends and
    they had a lot of fun together, but increasingly he realized how inexperienced and
    protected Jack was, like most of the boys at Redmond Independent College. Jack‟s
    home was wealthy and ordinary. His parents were both doctors, his sister was in
    university where Jack was headed next year because he had completed high school
    and was only at Redmond to get his A levels.

    Angel and the Assassin: Be Brave

    61

    And then there was Angel. Years of foster care followed by an arms-dealer
    stepfather and a social-climbing mother. Now living with his assassin, leather
    daddy in a sterile flat on the River Thames. And he‟d never been so happy in his
    life. He wandered over, picked up the remote, and started channel surfing.
    “Let‟s go into the bedroom and hook up,” Jack said. He looked a bit nervous
    and embarrassed saying it, but his eyes never left Angel‟s.
    “No. Let‟s watch a movie, then go to bed.”
    “Together?”
    Angel was getting bored with this. He‟d have been happier staying by himself,
    keeping everything perfect for Daddy. “No! You‟re sleeping in Sharon‟s room.”
    “Who‟s Sharon?”
    “Daddy‟s mom. When she visits, that‟s her room.”
    “We could just sleep together. Not do anything.”
    “Maybe. What do you want to watch?”
    “Got any porn?”
    “No. Daddy says he‟d rather do it than watch it.”
    “Daddy says. You say that twenty times every day.”

    * * *
    It was six a.m. when Kael stuck his key into the door. The exhilaration he had

    felt in Buenos Aires was compounded by the knowledge that he was home and that
    Angel was waiting for him. He would slide into bed beside him and pull his boy into
    his arms, and when Angel woke up, he would fuck him face-to-face. He loved
    fucking his boy while looking into his face. Angel‟s beautiful silver-gray eyes would
    half close, and his pale face would flush pink as his pleasure rose. His soft panting
    would increase in tempo until he was moaning loudly. Kael‟s cock thickened as the
    images raced through his head.
    He put away his weapons and hung his coat. In the living room, he saw a pair
    of shoes he did not recognize. On the couch lay a white school shirt. He picked it up
    and sniffed. That wasn‟t Angel‟s scent. Pressing it to his face, he sniffed again. It
    was that boy, the annoying one. Jack.
    I’ll fucking kill him! If Angel has that boy in bed with him, in my