#freakdom

Even if it meant that Charlie kept shooting him concerned looks. Eric mostly just gave him an awkward pat on the back. Dom knew it was because he’d probably said less than ten whole words all night while he kept his distance from the–understandably, even he can begrudgingly admit–suspicious Coffin boys and their friends. 

None of that trying helped, though.

Seeing Tig practically glued to Gareth’s side all fucking night was hellish. And the way he smiled at Gareth… that extra wide grin, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners and sparkled every motherfucking time that short shithead cracked a barely funny joke, like he was the sun in Tig’s sky. Uhg. Made Dom want to throw his glass of wine at the wall so hard it shattered, rip his own heart out, and throw it at Gareth’s feet to be stomped to mush so at least it looked how Dom felt. But that was a tad too dramatic, even for him.

So Dom suffered quietly, slowly sipping his only drink of the night and offering the blandest smiles and clipped answers to the very-brave very-few who dared approach him and the figurative thunderstorm brewing over his head. One that snapped into a deluge when he caught sight of them again.

It was awful to watch Tig wrap his arms around Gareth’s waist from behind and nuzzle his face into his neck, his lips moving with whatever secret affections he whispered into that undeserving cunt’s ear–

Tearing his gaze away, he started to take a series of deep, measured breaths, tapping out the time between each on his glass with a finger. He was trying. Trying, god-fucking-damnit.

He cast around for anything else more interesting and less heart wrenching, a distraction, and saw someone else. Someone who also watched Tig and Gareth’s sickening little display, and who Dom knew also held some measure of jealousy about it.

Freak also stood off to the side, just a little ways away from the group. Had this kicked-puppy expression as he stared at the happy couple over the rim of the can. His stunning blue eyes reluctantly left their mutual, though opposite, objects of desire and jealousy and, amusingly, landed on Dom.

Raising his glass in a wry gesture of camaraderie, he took a sip as Freak gave a humourless laugh and followed suit. This wasn’t the first time they’d “commiserated” over their feelings, though Dom was still endlessly bitter that Freak, at least, had gotten to fuck them a few times anyway. Freak had snarled in his ear, while he fucked Dom into the floor, that maybe he could’ve too if he weren’t such a bitch; that had ended with both of them covered in scratches and carpet burns, and had Dom limping for almost a week.

The memory left him feeling a little warm. He held Freak’s gaze and tilted his chin up a little so he could look at him through his lashes, letting a slow smile stretch across his lips. They could both use a distraction, he figured. Why not offer one?

Freak glanced at his friends gathered just a few feet away, then back at Dom, letting his eyes roam lazily down Dom's body. Against the wall, Dom preened under his attention and stood in a way that he knew made his willowy frame look subtly more enticing. 

They've danced this dance before so Freak skipped the act of trying to seem disinterested and walked over instead. "Having fun?" he asked dryly, and Dom snorted with a disbelieving stare.

"Does it fucking look like I am?"

"Yup. Really the life of the party over here."

That pulled the tiniest, most reluctant smile from Dom, and he hid it with a sip of wine and a roll of his eyes. He did a sarcastic little bow with a flourish of his free hand, and said, "Welcome to the party, then."

"Happy to be here," Freak replied blandly.

"No you're not." Dominik pointedly looked at Tig and Gareth. "Neither of us are."

Freak laughed. "Fuck, you're miserable."

"Fuck off," Dom snapped, his irritation rising like bile in his throat, "like you're any better."

"Yeah I am."

Freak said it so plainly that Dom wanted to lash out at him. If they weren't here, if they were somewhere private, he would have. Instead he glared up at Freak, feeling caged and prodded at, and started trying to suss out any cracks in the armour of superiority Dom was convinced he hid behind. He'd knock Freak down a fucking peg even if he took himself out at the same time.

"Prove it," Dom demanded, his tone just shy of a growl. He stepped up into Freak's space with a dangerously coy tilt of his head. The closeness reminded Dom of how deliciously overwhelming Freak could be when provoked hard enough and a familiar zing of interest raced down his spine, only fueling his need to push and anger the man. So he added,

"Fuck me like you'd fuck him."

Freak's eyes narrowed, his lip upturned in a sneer. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Well, it should be easy, a fucking walk in the park, if you're that much better than me. And besides, darling." Dom lowered his voice and stepped just close enough to feel Freak's body heat and smell his cologne. Using one finger, he turned Freak's head in Gareth's direction and watched, with self-satisfied glee, as Freak's eyes flicked over, right where Dom had intended. "You could just close your eyes and think it's his cunt you're fucking instead."

He lowered his hand but didn't step away, so he heard the unsteady breath Freak took. Dom waited patiently for him to respond. The more seconds that ticked by, the more certain he felt that he'd won this part of the battle. He looked forward to the next part.

Without looking away from Gareth and Tig, Freak finally spat out, "Fine."

"Great. I'll meet you at mine? Unless you back out like a fucking coward and prove me right," Dom asked with a smug smile. Freak's downright furious expression just made him smile wider.

"You'll regret that."

"Oo, I adore threats."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, neither one backing out of the bare few inches of space they'd left between themselves, Dom grinning and Freak fuming. Gritting his teeth, Freak was the first to break away, schooling his face into something much friendlier before going to say his goodbyes to his friends.

Dom went back to leaning against the wall. He figured he'd finish his wine first and privately revel in his petty victory. He'd earned it.

There was a chorus of farewells and the front door shut, so Dom swirled the rest of his drink, giving Freak a head start of a few minutes. But he wasn't able to enjoy his small moment of peace.

"Nickie."

Sighing, Dom gave Charlie a tight smile and a short hum of acknowledgement. His friend looked anxious, that iconic moustache of his tilted in a frown, which seemed to be the only way he looked at Dom these days.

"Dominik," Charlie continued, sounding vexed, "come on. What was all that? Did you drive him off?"

"Not this time," Dom grumbled.

"I'm serious." Charlie crossed his arms over his chest.

"So am I, fucking hell, stop riding my ass, it's–" Clamping his mouth shut, Dom exhaled through his nose and let the wall take his weight. Then he looked at the floor and scrubbed a hand down his face. "Sorry, Chuckie," he said, with actual remorse.

Charlie patted Dom's shoulder, letting it rest there as he spoke. "I know. We're okay. But, really, what the hell was that? You were all up in his space, he looked pissed, and then he left."

"I did piss him off a little," Dom admitted, unable to help the satisfied lilt to his voice, "but it's not what it looks like, alright? It's just a… an arrangement."

Dom glanced up at Charlie and was met with the second most disappointed look he'd ever seen on his friend's face. Didn't appreciate the reminder that he was also the reason for the most disappointed look he'd ever seen, too. "Nickie–"

"Don't. Just, shit, don't. I know."

Sighing, Charlie squeezed Dom's shoulder and reined him in for a side hug. Dom bristled but let it happen, refusing to cause some kind of scene. Again.

"I hope you know what you're doing, and that you're talking it out and being safe. Freak's pretty rough."

"Yeah he is." Dom flashed a salacious grin at Charlie, hoping that it would distract him from the fact that he didn't acknowledge the rest of what he'd said. The tired eyebrow levelled his way said that Dom didn't succeed. "Listen, it's fucking fine. It's nothing. Stop wasting your time mother-henning me and go be with the well-adjusted assholes over there," he said sullenly, though without his usual bite.

"It's not a waste of my time to worry about you, man." 

And that there was too much, too far. Dom ducked out from Charlie's arm with a thin smile. "Either way, I'm wasting my handsome gentleman caller's time the longer I'm here. So if you'll excuse me, I have to go get my brains fucked out of my head. Say goodbye to Eric and… and Tig, for me."

"Nickie–"

"Good night, Chuckie."

Dom made for the back door, where he figured he could slip away with only Charlie knowing. He opened it carefully, not wanting to make his exit obvious, and when the door creaked lightly he glanced over his shoulder. Which was, of course, a stupid mistake.

Tig was watching him.

Pinned in place like an insect, Dom couldn't look away from Tig's blatant worry and sadness. Shame and guilt and want flooded his chest, threatening to drown him, drag him under and into the dark, so Dom bit down hard on the inside of his cheek. The bloom of metallic-tasting pain was enough to get him through the door without so much as a wave goodbye.

The drive home was a blur. Dom could barely remember any of it beyond pulling into his parking space, when he pried his tense hands off of the steering wheel. Groaning, he flopped against the seat and ground the heels of his palms into his eye sockets until he saw stars.

He shouldn't have gone to that goddamn party.

The thought echoed in his head, taunting him, until there was a tap-tap-tap on his window and Dom jolted. He almost started yelling at the person for being a creep until he realised it was Freak. The parking lot light cast his face in a yellowed half-light, enough to see his slight frown. Dom had had enough of people looking at him like that.

"Come on," he said when he slammed his car door shut. Freak followed silently, a steady presence at Dom's back as he led them into the building. In the elevator, he punched the button for the 6th floor and stared at the display wordlessly.

"We don't have to do this," Freak hedged to break the quiet ride up.

Dom crossed his arms. "You backing out now?"

"Not backing out, giving you an out. Kinda looks like you don't want–"

The elevator came to a stop with a ding, the door rattling open. Dom shoved his foot against the gap where it disappeared.

"What I don't want is to keep being treated like I don't know what I'm fucking doing." He sneered at Freak. The seal on his temper was so close to bursting. "So are you coming in, or going home?"

Freak examined him for a moment. Seemed to weigh his options. The elevator tried to close, but as it met Dom's foot, Freak stepped forward and held it back, looming into Dom's space at the same time.

"You're going to let me know if you want to stop. At any time. And don't snap at me when I check in," he said.

Dom tilted his head, one eyebrow cocked. "Fine. But talk to me again like I don't know basic etiquette and I'll rip your dick off."

"Oo," Freak cooed, both sarcastic and alluring, "I adore threats."

The callback made Dom bristle, but the dark thread of desire woven through his tone made it more fun than annoying. Marginally. That, and the way Freak leered at him, using his extra few inches of height to his advantage, felt like a challenge, and Dom craved that push, that fight.

Trailing his hand up Freak's leg, smirking at the small hitch of breath he heard, and held his gaze as he hooked a finger into a belt loop, pulled, and said, "Good."

Freak shoved Dom out of the elevator, his patience clearly worn thin, and Dom muffled his cackling as he jogged backwards down the hall, unzipping his coat and grabbing his crotch suggestively. He managed to ruck up his black shirt when he ran his hands up his chest, knowing that Freak could see the thatch of hair that disappeared beneath his waistband. Freak watched hungrily, following at a pace slow enough to enjoy the show. But when Dom turned to unlock his door, Freak was on him, crowding him against it.

"Such an attention whore, huh?" Freak growled appreciatively in Dom's ear. Dom shivered, grinning. "Fucking starved for it. Bet I could fuck you right here where your neighbours could see and you'd get off on it."

Laughing low and breathless, Dom fished out his keys with one hand, jingling loudly in the quiet hall, then reached around to grab Freak's ass with the other to yank him closer with a hard squeeze. The words, the idea, made his cunt throb. He could feel how Freak's breathing picked up, with his chest against Dom's back and their faces side-by-side. The slightest turn of his head had Dom's lips brushing Freak's stubbled jaw.

"While I do love putting on a show," Dom murmured, rubbing against Freak's hardening cock with a satisfied sound, "we have other plans."

Freak groaned in complaint when Dom let them inside, leading the way. Whirling around on his heel, Dom started stripping, flinging his coat one way, his shirt the other. He could almost feel the way Freak watched him, a little stunned but intense. "Don't forget to lock the door, darling," he taunted, smirking. With one hand held up, two fingers crooked to beckon Freak along, Dom undid his belt with the other, the leather making a loud snap as he whipped it out of the belt loops. Freak slammed the door shut, throwing the lock, still staring as he shoved his jacket off.

"You just gonna fucking gawk or–oh shit!" Freak charged, scooping Dom up as he squawked in surprise, and started towards the bedroom. "Jesus–fuck–put me down!" He scrambled for purchase, forced to wrap his hands around Freak's neck and trust that he'd hold Dom up. Though the way his biceps flexed as he hoisted Dom a bit higher left zero room for doubt.

Freak's confident, cocky stare fed the heat pooling in Dom's belly. His self-assuredness was so frustratingly hot. And shit, it was fun to fuck around with someone again that matched his energy, that kept up with him. That bit back.

Dom tangled his fingers into Freak's dark, curly hair and tugged, and though he hissed Freak also laughed and dug his blunt nails into Dom's jean-clad thighs in retaliation. But then they passed the doorway into Dom's room. And Freak grinned. It clicked just a split-second before–

"No–!" 

With an effortless shove, Freak flung Dom onto the unmade bed. He landed in an undignified heap amongst the pillows and blankets with a muffled yelp. Getting up on his elbows, Dom blew his hair out of his face and glared.

"You told me to put you down," Freak said, shrugging.

"You… clichéd asshole," Dom fumed, his jaw clenched to keep from laughing or smiling. He refused to show that he'd actually enjoyed being hauled around so fucking easily.

He watched as Freak shrugged again, unbothered and amused, before pulling his shirt off and propping a leg up on the bed frame to start untying his boots. Dom kept watching as he unlaced his own boots. Admired his thick thighs, the swell of his belly over his jeans, the dark hair that covered his forearms and torso. He wanted to get his hands on every inch of skin and leave bruises that would last for days.

Seeing Dom start to open his fly, Freak grabbed him by the ankles and yanked him across the bed, standing between his outstretched legs before pulling Dom’s jeans off so roughly he heard a seam snap, taking his boxer briefs with them, leaving him naked and spread open. Dom gasped, looked up. His gut swooped at the way Freak studied him, almost cold, calculated, the fun from earlier hidden behind whatever was going on in his head. Then, slowly, Freak sank to his knees.

Shock coursed through Dom’s nerves. They hadn’t done this before. They had an agreement to not use their mouths; no lips, tongue, teeth. Only hands, fingers, Freak’s cock or a toy or two. So Dom asked hesitantly, “What the fuck are you doing?”

“You wanted me to fuck you like I fuck Gareth,” he responded flatly. That name sent a sick spike of jealousy through Dom’s heart. “So I’m giving you what you wanted. Unless–”

“Fuck you, I’m not backing out,” Dom spat. Anger seethed alongside his jealousy, but not at Freak, not really. At himself. He’d forgotten, so fast, that that was why they were even here tonight. He fucking forgot. Some unnamed feeling sank like a stone in his chest, so he buried it. Swiftly.

Dom hooked a leg over Freak’s shoulder and dug a demanding heel into his back, catching the barest wince on his face before he came closer to Dom’s bare, glistening cunt. The thrill at the sight of Freak on his knees between his legs warred with the bitterness of knowing why he was there. Dom grit his teeth. “Get to it.”

Freak gave him one last significant look before closing his eyes with a short huff. His broad hand grabbed the leg that wasn’t over his shoulder and held it in place so he could bite. Dom let out a surprised sound, the new feeling of Freak’s teeth in his skin going straight to his dick, and throbbing when he started to suck.

Freak sucked two more hickeys into Dom’s thigh on his way up, each one harder than the last, leaving Dom panting, his leg twitching in Freak’s strong grasp. Dom didn’t realise his own eyes were closed until he felt Freak’s hot, wet tongue lap at the seam of his cunt, licking over him and then in with a throaty groan. Moaning in surprise, Dom let his head fall back.

He wanted to swear, to run his mouth like he usually did, but something held him back. He didn’t want to ruin whatever fantasy might be playing in Freak’s head and change the scene, remind him of who he was actually eating out and be treated differently. Even if this was only because Freak was picturing Gareth, he wanted to know. Wanted that awful, twisting stab in his chest, knowing how that asshole got pampered.

Biting his lip to keep silent, Dom started rocking into Freak’s face when he felt him latch onto his dick. But Freak laid his arm across his hips, pinning him easily as he shoved Dom’s leg wider, sucking harder and licking at the tip of his dick in a way that had Dom trembling and choking back every sound. Freak was fucking eager, greedy.

All he could do was lie there and feel. Dom’s hands fisted in the blankets as his pleasure built and built, gasping and breathless when he wasn’t desperately trying to be quiet. Freak’s laser-like focus on his cock made it really goddamn hard.

Distracted, Dom didn’t notice at first that Freak’s hand, the one holding him down, started moving. He jolted when Freak’s nails pressed into the sensitive skin at the bend of his hip, dragging up in harsh red lines. They’d stand out on his pale skin for hours.

When Freak’s fingertips reached Dom’s chest, he paused. Dom thought it was because his hips jerked up helplessly against Freak’s mouth. Then Freak’s fingers trailed over one of his scars, halting and almost gentle, before thumbing at Dom’s pierced nipple. Confused, Dom opened his eyes and looked down at Freak to find he was already looking back.

“What?” Dom asked. Freak pulled away, his chin shining with slick in the low light, and Dom strangled the sound of protest that tried to escape him as his cunt throbbed at the sight.

“You’re not Gareth–”

“You think I don’t fucking know that–?” Dom snarled, but Freak slapped his thigh hard enough to make Dom jerk, his breath catching in his throat at the sting.

“Shut the fuck up for one second, christ!” Wiping his face on his arm, Freak surged up from his knees to cage Dom in against the bed. His jeans were rough against Dom’s thighs when he squeezed his legs around Freak out of instinct, habit, need. “You’re not Gareth, and I don’t want you to be! Let go of the stupid game and let me fuck you. Just you, Dom.” 

Dom blinked up at him, stunned. Emotions whirled messily in his chest, bursting into sparks as they collided with his ribs. His eyes darted over the other man’s face, finding frustration–a familiar sight–but also hunger, sheer want, and… earnestness. It only worsened the chaos in his ribcage. Part of him wanted to end it all right here, send Freak home, delete and block his number and snuff out the sparks, swift and sure and cynical. But then Freak’s face started to close off the longer Dom took to respond and something dug its claws into his bones and begged.

“Do it, then,” he rasped, his heart thundering as he deliberately held Freak’s gaze. “Screw the game.”

“Thank fuck.” Freak burrowed into Dom’s neck, immediately biting at his tattooed skin. He couldn’t make himself tell Freak off for it. The movement brought their hips together, both of them gasping when Freak’s hard cock, still trapped in his jeans, pressed against the wet mess he’d left between Dom’s legs. They rutted into each other, Dom thriving off the rough drag of fabric against his swollen cock and the sharp bite of Freak’s teeth, digging a trembling hand into his curls to hold him against his neck.

Fuck the game, fuck their agreement. Dom wanted this.

Wanted Freak.

When a particularly hard bite made Dom choke back a moan, Freak growled into his neck, “Stop. Stop fucking hiding, wanna hear you.” He laved his tongue over the red, painful spots he’d made and Dom shuddered.

“Then fucking do something worth moaning about.”

Chuckling darkly, Freak yanked Dom’s head back by his hair, using the leverage to thrust against him, and bit down at the soft spot under the hinge of Dom’s jaw, sucking a hickey there so hard that Dom cried out, his cunt clenching around nothing. God, fuck, he needed Freak’s cock fucking immediately.

Reaching down, he scrabbled at Freak’s belt, squeezing his length for good measure and preening at the sounds that earned. It took some fussing and swearing, and Freak helped not at all as he kept nipping his way across Dom’s neck, but Dom finally managed to pull those goddamn jeans down and get Freak’s thick cock out. He smirked when he felt the eager twitch in his hand as he pumped it, smearing precome along it.

“So wet for me, darling,” Dom purred into Freak’s ear. Guiding him to his cunt, he hissed when Freak took the hint and started thrusting again, sliding through Dom’s slick folds and rubbing against his dick. “For me.”

“You’re no better,” Freak laughed, “listen to this.” He straightened up, grabbed Dom’s hips, and thrust faster, the wet sounds getting wetter each time the head of Freak’s cock ground against Dom’s.

Then he grinned, and before Dom realised it he was being pulled closer to the edge of the bed, and then up, into his lap, where Freak bent him nearly in half so he could leer down into Dom’s face as he spoke. “You were soaked before I even got my mouth on your cock.” He angled himself so his dick sat tantalisingly at Dom’s entrance, just barely pushing in, his grin growing wider when he felt his cunt twitch and flutter.

“For me,” Freak echoed, so self-satisfied, and Dom glared even as he desperately wanted to squirm, writhe, do anything to finally be fucked like he wanted.

“You smug fucking–oh, bastard, fuck!” Dom shouted as Freak bullied his way inside with a rough shove. His mouth fell open around a surprised, needy sound, turning into a hiss as his cunt had to stretch around the welcome intrusion. Freak sighed, his head falling back in relief. He might’ve been a bastard, Dom thought, but fuck if he wasn’t a hot one. As he wrapped his legs around Freak’s waist, Dom made plans to mark up his neck as revenge for mauling his own. And because he could, now.

Dom rolled his hips into each hard thrust, the push and drag inside him setting his already wound-up nerves alight. Their eyes met, and even as they both grinned, slap-happy and running on endorphins, Dom realised this was the first time they’d fucked like this, face to face, and he didn’t know what to do with the feelings building in his gut alongside his arousal. So, he did what he always does.

Digging his nails into Freak’s neck, Dom said with a teasing smirk, “This how you wanted to do it? Missionary, like we’re fucking vanilla?”

Freak rolled his eyes. “Don’t think you’re supposed to bend this far in missionary,” he shot back, forcing Dom to bend at the waist just a little more, his cock hitting deeper, at just the right angle to hit Dom’s g-spot and punch a high, reedy groan out of him. “Besides, wanna see your face for once when I make you come.”

“And you think—oh, fuck—you think this is all it’ll take?” He pressed his sharp nails further into Freak’s skin, making him wince. “Like I can’t go out and fuck someone else like this whenever I want? I fucking could—”

Faster than Dom could blink, Freak’s palm slapped Dom’s right cheek with a loud crack. Shock hit him before the sting, the burn, and Dom cut himself off with a fucking whimper, a full-body shudder rocking through him as he suddenly had to keep himself from coming right there and then. Holy shit. Freak grabbed his chin, forcing Dom to look up, wide-eyed and speechless.

“You’re mine.”

The dark, possessive growl behind Freak’s words made Dom clench around his cock. It shook him, down to his core. To be claimed like that, the evidence still stinging hotly on his red cheek, was almost more surprising, hotter, than being slapped.

Freak’s hand released his chin, instead resting on the centre of Dom’s chest, and he wondered if the other man could feel his heart racing, aching, under his palm; if he’d know exactly why it did. “Alright?” Freak asked, and Dom nodded, feeling a little dumb, a lot reckless.

“Again,” he said breathlessly.

He held Freak’s serious gaze until he seemed to find what he needed. Heat flared in Freak’s blue eyes, and Dom felt him throb, still buried to the hilt in his cunt. Freak lifted his hand and struck Dom again, on the same cheek, with the same force, and a moan ripped out of his throat as his eyelids fluttered closed and the coil in his belly went taught, threatening to snap.

“Fu-fuck, Freak, again, say it again, shit, please!” Dom pleaded. Freak switched hands, hitching Dom’s hips closer, before he gave Dom what he begged for.

The slap came down on Dom’s left cheek with so much force he cried out, his head whipping to the side. Freak ducked down immediately and licked a long, wet stripe along the clearly defined handprint he’d left, his fingers tangling in Dom’s hair as he said, with a low, gravelly snarl,

“Mine.”

And Dom came. Trembling, whining loud and guttural as he arched off the bed, fucking himself on Freak’s cock on drunken instinct as lightning arced through his body, knife-sharp and burning and fucking delicious. Freak thrust into him, helping Dom chase the high until he went limp on the bed, panting and still shaking. When Freak started to pull away, though, Dom’s legs kept him trapped, held him close.

“I swear to god if you pull out now I’m going to kill you,” he said breathlessly. “Keep fucking going.”

Laughing, Freak shook his head fondly and said, “Jesus christ you’re demanding.” Stubbornly, he shifted them both so that Dom wasn’t bent into a half-moon any more, and braced himself over Dom like proper fucking missionary. But, thankfully, he listened too, resuming his steady pace with a satisfied groan.

The overstimulation sent sparks skittering along Dom’s nerves and he knew, if Freak kept this up and he got his fingers around his cock, he could come again. So he reached between them and started rubbing himself in time with Freak’s thrusts, which grew faster, harder, when he noticed what Dom was doing. He rode the edge of pain and pleasure, gasping when Freak grabbed his waist and held him still, fucking into him rougher, using him.

Dom watched him as they raced towards their end, took in the sweat on Freak’s brow and the way his lips were bitten red, and that stupid, greedy recklessness swelled in him again. Unthinking, Dom reached up, guiding their faces close so he could kiss him.

His lips were soft. That was devastating, somehow. Life altering. Freak’s hips stuttered and his hands clenched where they grabbed his sides, but Dom felt him melt into the kiss before he licked into Dom’s mouth with a hungry, urgent sound. When their tongues slid together, Dom could taste the remaining salt and tang of his own slick in Freak’s mouth. It quickly turned messy and uncoordinated as Freak’s pace faltered and Dom quickly brought himself to the edge again.

“Dom, shit, I’m gonna—”

“Come on, darling,” Dom urged thoughtlessly, “fill me up, I’m yours, fuck, please.”

Freak pressed another sloppy kiss against Dom’s lips, which he met eagerly, his hands on his cheeks holding him there almost gently, and in just a few deep pumps of his hips Freak came, adding to the wet, frantic sounds of skin on skin. The feeling propelled Dom into his second climax with a choked out whimper.

Letting his forehead rest against Dom’s, Freak slowed, and then stopped, both men gasping for breath. Aftershocks sent tremors through Dom’s muscles, the twitching making Freak hiss and then chuckle lightly. Dom groaned, low and somewhat pained, when Freak pulled out so he flopped onto the bed beside him, the dip in the mattress bringing Dom into his flank, their legs dangling uselessly over the side.

Dom had a whole minute to soak in the bliss. The ache in his cunt, his thigh, and along his face and neck were so fucking good that the only thing keeping him from curling in on himself in satisfied delight was how loose-limbed he was. Instead, he hummed, a short, pleased sound. Then it hit him.

They’d kissed.

No. Dom had kissed Freak. He’d gotten so carried away by his own hormones and his stupid fucking feelings, whatever the fuck they were, that he’d seen the tatters of their agreement, his one rule, to keep their mouths to themselves, and skipped straight to kissing Freak. And then… I’m yours, he’d said. Oh fuck. Panic and regret flooded him, his heart racing with anxiety. The thing with the claws in his ribs shook, expecting to drown. Freak must’ve felt him tense, because he shifted slightly to look at Dom with a concern he desperately did not want to see right now.

“Are you—?”

Dom cut him off by quickly sitting up. “I’ll get us some water,” he said tonelessly. Standing, Dom snatched the robe hanging off his computer chair and slipped into it before walking on unsteady legs to the kitchen, ignoring the mess leaking out between them.

The only light he bothered to turn on was the oven hood light. Anything brighter and Dom illogically thought he’d be forced into a self-interrogation he couldn’t currently bear. Numbly, he pulled out two mismatched glasses and began to fill them.

At the sink, he caught his own faint reflection in the darkened window. His eyeliner was a dark, messy smudge around his eyes now, and even in the darkness he could see how red his cheeks were. He touched his left cheek and flinched at the sting.

He hadn’t noticed the glass was spilling over until a hand reached out and shut off the faucet. “Dom?” Freak asked softly, standing close enough that Dom felt caught in his gravitational pull. Dom’s howling anxiety kept him from giving in.

Freak seemed to mull over his words first, and when he finally spoke it was in that same soft tone that made Dom want to simultaneously lash out and fucking run. But his feet stayed glued in place as Freak said, “I know you’re not one for a lot of aftercare, Dom, but… christ, that was intense and even if you don’t need it I, uh. I think I do. I know I’m gonna drop if you send me home right now, or if you don’t… don’t say anything.”

God, he wanted anything but aftercare right now. Dom wanted to snap at Freak, tell him to fuck off and take care of himself; to curl up and tear out his own hair and rage and be miserable and—

Dom wanted the drop, could feel it, was probably in the midst of it right then, and something his brand-spanking-new therapist had told him suddenly clicked. He was trying to punish himself. For kissing someone, kissing Freak.

Letting out a shaky breath, Dom finally let himself lean into Freak’s side even as a part of him still wanted to rip and tear. “Okay,” he said.

“Thank you,” Freak replied and wrapped his arm around Dom’s shoulders.

“What do you need?” he asked wearily. 

“To clean us up, and lie down with you. Make sure your face is alright. You?”

“That… sounds nice,” he admitted. “Zuko might have to join us.”

As if summoned, Zuko rose from his large bed in the living room and trotted over, his tail wagging so fast it smacked into the cabinets in a way that made both men wince in sympathy. Wrapping his robe tighter to his body, Dom leaned down and babbled baby talk at his dog while he scratched Zuko’s head. When he glanced over at Freak, he caught the tail end of an expression so soft that his panic threatened to return.

“We should get cleaned up and put clothes on,” Freak said. “I don’t think I want to lie in bed naked with your dog.”

Dom snorted. “Good idea.”

They cleaned up in the bathroom, where Freak handled Dom so gently he had to blink back tears, overwhelmed by the care he was being treated with on top of the rollercoaster of the entire day. He let Freak examine his face and neck with careful hands, admitting to being very tender but fine. The wet cloth Freak used soothed Dom’s warm, raw skin. Dom used another to wipe away the sweat that still decorated Freak’s skin and the dried slick on his chin. Seeing Freak be so pliant for him, so trusting, his eyes closed as Dom cleaned him off with a thorough touch, was so new that Dom didn’t know what to do with it, couldn’t parse the emotions that welled up along with everything else.

When they’d dressed—Dom in pyjama pants, Freak in a flashy pair of harem pants from an old costume that were at least comfortable—they crawled under the blankets of Dom’s bed. Zuko, his patience having clearly worn out, ran and jumped onto the bed before squeezing himself between the wall and the nearest body, which happened to be Freak. His pained oof when Zuko stepped on him accidentally made Dom cackle tiredly. Then they were all settled, snug on the bed. How fucking strange.

Dom thought they’d just lie side by side, but instead Freak pulled him in, wrapped him up in a loose hug that made his heart skip a beat. They hadn’t done this, either. Cuddling. But it felt… nice. Laying his arm on Freak’s chest, he scratched through the hair there gently and enjoyed the novelty of just listening to him breathe.

“You’re okay, right?” Freak asked quietly.

He thought for a moment. It was still fucking weird, letting this happen, having Freak in his bed for longer than only needing to catch their breath. There was still too much going on in the cage of his chest; the weight of the kiss was still heavy on his mind. But it was easier to deal with, when Freak’s arms were there to hold him together.

“Yeah.” Dom wiggled in closer and wound his legs around Freak’s, his forehead resting in the crook of Freak’s neck. “I’m okay.”

—

Two days afterward, Dom found himself in front of his bathroom mirror for the third time that day. The marks Freak had left were still there. The snake skull on his neck, once monochrome, was blooming into deep purples haloed in yellow, and every time he turned his head the hickeys and bites ached dully. Even his cheek was still sore. It didn’t help that Dom was a little obsessed with how pink it still was, touching the spot more than he should to keep it tender. To keep the reminder of what happened.

It was useful, too. Now that the bruises were in their prime, he took a selfie, skillfully cropped so only his pinked cheek and the dark marks on his pale, tattooed neck showed between the splay of his spindly fingers. He posted it to his work Twitter and smirked at the instant flurry of notifications, but locked his phone so he could go back to admiring the damage.

He pulled himself out of it when a trio of messages made his phone buzz loudly on the counter. Laughing, he answered the first.

✨delicate boy✨: YEEEEEAAAAAAAH BOOOOOOYYYY 🥵🎉🍆🍆🥵💃

dom: 😎😎😎

The second, he shook his head fondly while he responded.

chuckie cheese: are you ok??? who MAULED you????

dom: a friend. i’m great thnx 😏

The third had Dom biting his lip against a smile as heat pooled low in his belly. Turning, he leaned against the counter and reread the text a few times before he finally responded.

that bassist: Could give you a necklace to match

dom: come do your worst.

With a derisive scoff, Dom shoved away from the other man and sat up, leaning over the edge of the bed to rifle around for his jacket. “Jesus, can’t even get a good hate-fuck these days without getting that stupid fucking look,” Dom snapped as he finally found his jacket and dug his pack of cigarettes out of the pocket.

“You can’t smoke one of those in my bed,” Freak said flatly as Dom lifted a smoke to his lips.

Rolling his eyes, Dom mockingly mouthed the words back at Freak before he got out of the bed. Stepping out onto the balcony just off the bedroom in naught but his skin, Dom turned to look back into the room while he lit his cigarette and took a deep drag.

Freak was watching him, his gaze heavy and intense as it trailed over Dom’s body. He couldn’t deny the curl of heat that surged through him at the way those eyes lingered on the dark thatch of hair at the crux of his thighs; it was still damp from their earlier activities, the memories of which sending heat thrumming through Dom all over again.

With a knowing smirk, Dom lifted a foot onto a nearby patio chair as he leaned back against the solid railing, shivering as the lips of his cunt spread open and a drop of spend and slick ran slowly down his inner thigh. Freak’s eyes followed the thick drop as Dom took another deep drag of his cigarette.

Lowering his other hand, Dom caught the mess with his fingertips and pressed it back into his cunt with a low moan, his eyes rolling back. By the time he opened his eyes again, Freak was on the balcony with him, crowding Dom against the railing and knocking his chin up with his nose to expose his throat.

“No kissing,” Dom reminded Freak, even if he desperately wanted to feel the man’s lips on his skin.

Just below his ear, Freak sighed and something like guilt swirled sickly in Dom’s gut.

“Why’s this have to be a hate-fuck?” Freak asked, pulling back to search Dom’s face.

“Because, I fucking hate you,” Dom lied, jutting his chin out defiantly as Freak narrowed his eyes down at him. Freak’s expression was far too thoughtful for a man whose dick was beginning to harden where it was slotted between Dom’s thighs.

“Sure, you do,” Freak eventually said before bodily turning Dom around, the sudden move catching him off-guard. “Spread those legs of yours.”

Dom didn’t have a lot of time to actually obey the order before Freak shoved his cock into Dom’s messy, desperate cunt.

Kali sat in the front passenger seat of the van, staring intensely out the windshield as she told Funshine where to go, apparently getting directions from her telepathic sister named Eleven, of all things. Dom had seen a lot in his short time with Kali, he knew all about her strange powers, but he hadn’t heard the whole, basic rundown of her story until now.

Figures that the government would be running shitty experiments on little kids. That the experiments worked was still wigging him the fuck out.

“Turn left,” Kali said, and the van veered around a corner, jolting and rocking over some rubble, knocking Dom off-kilter and into the wall with a metallic thud. Axel whooped, loud in the crowded space, Dottie cackling from the floor, and Dom just glared at them. He looked to Mick, who was watching the tiny town speed by with a serious frown.

“What’s going on out there?” he asked, and Mick shook her head.

“Hard to tell. Kali, where are we going?”

“El said some of her friends are in trouble, asked us to pick them up on our way,” she said calmly, before giving another direction. Funshine sped up.

“I hope they aren’t more brats like she was,” Axel grumbled, and Mick shot him a look.

Dom craned around to look out the tiny window by his head and saw a crumbling building whiz by. “This place looks like a fucking warzone,” he said under his breath, hearing Mick hum in agreement.

 Kali glanced into the back. “We’re close. Dottie, get ready to open the door, El says to watch out, and that guns won’t hurt it, only push it back.”

“It? What do you mean, ‘it?’” Dom asked, sounding more shrill than he’d admit, but the van barreled over more debris and interrupted anyone who might’ve poked fun. His heart raced in his throat when Kali told Funshine to speed up, and for the first time since he’d been kicked out of his home, Dom regretted throwing himself in with these maniacs.

“Get ready,” Kali commanded, and Dom’s hand clenched around the handle of his machete. Dottie clung to the door handle next to him, ready to whip it open, and Axel and Mick braced, guns at the ready anyway.

Tires screeched, Dom tensed, and the door whipped open. He launched himself out of the van, brandishing his machete, shouting at the five people he spotted immediately. “Get in!”

All five looked at him. Or, four of them did. It was only when he had a chance to pause that he saw the fifth was way too tall and didn’t have a fucking face. It was a maw of teeth and flesh surrounded by… petals, or something, and his skin crawled just looking at this—this monster. In real fucking life.

Then it roared, or screamed, sounding like a chainsaw on crack, and absolute disbelief was the only thing that kept him from fleeing from the thing in terror as the sound of it pierced his eardrums and made his hair stand on end.

“The fuck is that!?” Axel screeched.

“Demogorgon!” one of the actual humans said, and Dom was shaken from his fear when he realized he was a child.

“Like fucking Dungeons and Dragons!?” Dom yelled, and the kid gave him a surprised look before shouting at the other guys as he raced to the van.

The monster roared again and tried to follow, but Mick and Axel started shooting, bullets not even piercing its sickly grey, leathery skin. But the impacts distracted it, knocked it back, and Dom motioned for the kid to haul ass and praying to a god he didn’t believe in that that thing wouldn’t recover too quickly.

The kid barreled past with a slight limp, shouting at the other guys as they scrambled into action. When he reached the van, Dottie hauled the kid inside, getting out of the way for the others. Two clambered in, but not before the monster got its bearings, straightening up as he heard the telltale click of a pistol out of ammo. Shit.

The shortest, a floppy-haired guy, spat fuck fuck fuck fuck as he ran. Shaking its awful, disgusting head, the thing walked, and then picked up speed. Dom backed up to the van and said, “Kali, do something!”

“I’m trying,” she hissed.

Of course, right then, the guy tripped. Dom darted forward on instinct and snagged his hand, yanking at him as he flailed for balance.

But the monster was on them.

Shouting, “Go, go, fucking go,” Dom hauled them both backwards into the van. His legs hit the floor, he toppled back, and strong hands grabbed his arms and pulled him and the floppy-haired guy clung to each other in a blind panic.

The monster lashed out, one massive clawed hand raking down the guy’s leg before grabbing his ankle. He screamed, and Dom acted without thinking. He kicked, teeth bared in a furious grimace, steel-toed boot colliding wetly with the meaty, tooth-filled hole that passed for a mouth. Someone yanked the machete out of his hand and started chopping at the thing’s arm as he kept brutally kicking out.

Tires squealed and spun until they caught on the pavement and the van lurched into motion just as the monster let go with a wounded, wailing gurgle. The person behind him pulled Dom and the guy further in and Dottie slammed the door closed, leaving that horror in the dust.

The van was quiet except for the road of the engine and everyone’s panicked breathing. Dom blinked, realizing that Axel and Mick were still by the door. Who the hell had gotten them in the van?

Dom looked back and came face to face with the biggest of the four guys. His pretty blue eyes were still wide with fear, but he was looking back at Dom, darting over his face, inevitably glancing at all his piercings before pausing at the ones in his lips just a touch too long. When Dom’s jaw dropped in surprise, the guy blushed and looked away.

His usual recklessness reared up, fueled by the adrenaline pumping through his veins. “Thanks for the save, darling,” he purred, smirking, and the guy’s face flushed an even deeper red.

“Dominik, can you not be a slut for one minute?” Axel sneered, and Dom just flipped him off, still watching the cute guy’s face as he tried to look at anyone but Dom. Oh, he was cute, and Dom thought he might have fun in this shithole called Hawkins after all. Aside from the fucking monsters.