Their Obsession (Four Mercenaries 2)

He loved it. Loved how warm it was. How it tasted.

He loved his boy and would do anything to keep him safe.

Even go against their friends.

Clover lay in the sheets, panting. “You… I…”

Drake was proud to see Clover couldn’t even put a sentence together.

But he also knew what had to be done now. If Apollo was after Clover, then he needed to be eliminated. And what better chance could they have in the future? The right decision was clear as day.

“I’m going to kill him for you. And for me,” Drake whispered, crawling up Clover’s body with the taste of his boy’s cum still lingering on his tongue.

Blue eyes met his with complete understanding. “That man needs to go. For you. And for me,” he repeated. “Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

Chapter 10 – Clover

Clover hated being insubordinate to Tank, but there was no other way. Better to ask forgiveness than permission. Once it was all over, they’d have the necessary closure, and Tank would come around eventually. But if Drake said the opportunity was there, they needed to strike. Now.

Clover did want Apollo gone for his own sake, but he couldn’t even begin to understand the extent of the trauma Drake’s been through, and that man, the same man who was now after Clover, was at the center of it all. He needed to die, for both their sakes.

Clover’s heart beat furiously as he took step after careful step along the corridor that smelled of lavender. In the dark, he let his sense of touch guide him, and was glad that the floor was resin, not wood, and didn’t produce much sound under his weight.

The soap-like scent clung to his throat, a memory that would guide him back here once Apollo had been dealt with, the anchor he needed in moments of doubt, because thinking about Tank, Pyro, and Boar was only a distraction. If he’d wanted their opinions, he’d have stayed in bed, but he was no longer a boy and couldn’t rely on others for decision-making.

Still, it was Drake’s presence that made him so confident. At Drake’s side, he could take on the world. He even slipped his hand into Drake’s as they walked. He felt like a kitten trying to imitate his panther mentor, but even a kitten had sharp teeth and claws. Drake had told him that if they remained stealthy and struck fast, the job would be simple. That maybe venturing out as a small force would maximize the surprise factor. After all, Apollo was just a man, and all that was needed to end him was one bullet.

The house was eerily silent, though Clover paused as they were about to walk past Tank’s room. The door was open, and he couldn’t help but see the ray of light on the floor in the hallway as a physical barrier to cross. Drake stilled too, his hand somewhat damp in Clover’s as they listened to the steady breathing coming from inside. Guilt touched Clover like a hand pulling him back by the wrist, but when Drake gave him a slow nod, they both moved, neither heard nor seen. And this same way, like two ghosts, they would come for Apollo before retreating into the night.

They left the house through the open back door, and the scent of the garden filled Clover’s lungs, letting him breathe again.

Drake’s fingers twitched in his, as if he too wasn’t immune to the stress of this secret outing. Their eyes met in the moonlight, but when something thudded right behind Clover, only Drake’s hand on his mouth kept in a yelp that would have given away their presence.

Drake’s body was tense as dried wood when he spun Clover around to make him face the back of the aviary. “Must have been a bird. Shhh.”

Clover scowled at the sight. The cages brought back memories of Diana’s menagerie. Even though he’d just spent a few hours in the gruesome place, he would never forget that it. Others caught by Diana hadn’t been as lucky as him. They hadn’t suffered the captivity for hours but weeks. Months. Years.

“Tank… he’ll forgive us, won’t he?” he asked the moment Drake’s fingers slipped off his lips.

Drake hesitated, and each second of his silence had Clover’s stomach twisting into a tighter knot. In the end, Drake let him go and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it in a practiced move of the wrist. “Eventually.”

Clover wondered if smoking would relax him too, but he’d tried it in the past and unlike the taste of nicotine on Drake’s lips, cigarette smoke did nothing for him.

“Have you ever… betrayed Tank’s trust? I mean, once you two actually got to the conclusion you weren’t about to kill each other.”

Drake shrugged and Clover saw fire burning through the cigarette at an accelerated pace. “Yeah. We were on a job, and I didn’t stick to the plan. Worked out fine in the end, but he lost it. He’s a control freak when it comes to this.”