A Little Roughed Up at The Asylum Safe House - Part Thirteen

 

Only a few more parts to go!

Hope you're having a great weekend. The days are starting to get longer again and the snow outside is thick and fluffy. Little things to love!

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Part One

Part Two 

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six 

Part Seven

Part Eight 

Part Nine

Part Ten 

Part Eleven

Part Twelve
 

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How fucking sad is it that this is the closest thing to a vacation that I’ll ever get?

Rhodey huffed out a laugh, back braced against a tall oak as he tipped a flask to his lips.

Or ever want.

The bite in the air, contrasting sharply with the warmth of the day, made the decision to leave Avery back at the house with Keiran a good one, but not having his boy by his side still messed with him. Even on missions, the only time Avery was out of reach was when it was strategic to use their skills separately. But...Avery had been right about him needing to be out here.

Having Keiran at his boy's side was almost as good as being there himself. Keiran and Avery had a strong connection, one that served them both at home and out in the field. Rhodey trusted his other sub to make sure Avery rested. And was pampered.

Even if his little viper grumbled about it at first.

“Didn’t I teach you anything about keeping quiet? Puppies make that very difficult.” Rhodey held out the flask, pleased that Dallas’ boots hardly made a sound in the undergrowth, but the damn pup would get him shot if they were on watch as anything other than a precaution. “If you want me to beat your ass, just say so.”

Dallas took the flask, grinning at him over it. “Tempting, but I think that would be a lot noisier than the pup. Besides, watch this.” Making a hand signal, Dallas caught the fluffy little thing’s attention, then used ASL to give it a simple command to ‘be still’. Koda immediately lowered to his belly, not moving a muscle, only the wind in his fur distinguishing him from the foliage in the shadows. “Stephan showed me and Danny all the important commands, just in case. He won’t move again until he’s called or Bram comes to get him.”

All right, that was pretty fucking impressive. Rhodey inclined his head, mentally giving the furball his stamp of approval. “Fine, you can keep him around. Real test would be if he’d keep that up with bullets flying. And he’d look cute in a bulletproof vest.”

“I think Stephan’s training him to help with therapy—put mercs back together, not take ‘em down.” Dallas handed back the flask, then crouched to scratch behind the puppy’s ears. “He’d be good to have around The Asylum for a bit, if we can talk the rest of the core into it.”

Rhodey lifted his brow. “Stephan or the pup? And who do we gotta talk to? It’s already decided. Danny worked out some shit, talking to the guy, and Stephan still needs to deal with Pike’s thing with dogs. Sounds like it might not be a quick fix.”

Straightening, Dallas shot him a sideways look. “Won’t be a fix at all if he’s not ready to work on it, my man. I know Stephan’s good at what he does, but he can’t force anyone in this group to open up to him. I wouldn’t be comfortable with him using some of his methods with Avery or Keiran.”

“He won’t be, he enjoys living.” Rhodey took another swig, tilting his head to one side at the quiet brush of Lawson’s shirt sleeve against a branch nearby. The man was getting rusty. Curtis, however, had picked up well on his training with the mercs at Vani’s compound. His time with Stephan seemed to have done him some good, too. But that didn’t give the shrink full access. “The dog issue being fixed isn’t an option. Karliene knows she can use it against the boy. We need to take that power away. Word is, Stephan’s done it before, and Quint trusts him. Which means Seth will. Let them worry about how much their boy can take.”

Overhead, Stephan’s raven landed silently on a branch, staring out into the darkness and making horror movie sounds. Whoever had worked with the creature before Stephan had gotten some good intel on Wren. The man was brilliant when it came to tech, and he was a damn good sub, but in some ways he was still...almost innocent. More so since his head injury, though even before that his sporadic exposure to society had left some weaknesses that were too damn easy to exploit.

And of the core subs, he wasn’t the only one with that issue.

Dallas bumped against his side, sticking close as Rhodey slid his hand around the back of his neck, lightly massaging the corded muscles there. “I hate the reasons we had to come here, but...this has been nice. I know you have a few of your own safehouses, but would you ever consider…”

Lips curving, Rhodey drew Dallas in, bending down a little to taste the heat of his mouth. The man felt good in his arms, all solid muscle and a mix of control and surrender that Rhodey was damn addicted to. He might consider letting his man play with others. Maybe. One day. But that rare submission was all his.

Along with fulfilling his man’s needs. This one wasn’t surprising. “We’ll find one together. A place that’s ours, with somewhere for Avery to dance on his silks. A huge kitchen for Keiran to make you a million snickerdoodles in.” He smiled as Dallas huffed out a laugh. “A massive bed we can fuck them both in. Somewhere to get away, just the four of us.”

“Should that be five?” Dallas’ brow lifted slightly as he pressed against Rhodey. “I know how you are when you decide someone’s yours.”

“We could kidnap him sometimes. Along with his other Doms, who I’ll need to whip into shape.” Half his attention on the woods around them, Rhodey turned Dallas roughly so his man’s back was to the tree. On more high risk missions, Rhodey usually wouldn’t indulge like this, but there’d been a time or two on the easier ones he’d had some fun seeing how fast Dallas could recover.

He was getting better. There were no more close calls of him shooting himself in the foot.

Groaning, Dallas tipped his head back. “I want to see how our boys will corrupt him. He’s a sweet little thing. I wouldn’t have considered playing with him before, but ever since you took him…” He sucked in a breath as Rhodey undid his jeans, taking a firm hold on his nice, thick erection and gliding his hand over it in lazy strokes. “Fuck, Rhodey.”

“You can picture it, can’t you. But that’s not enough. You need to be there, you need to watch me strip him down, being so careful because he’s softer than our boys.” Rhodey grazed his teeth along the side of Dallas’ neck. “You want me to let you play with him, to force you to restrain yourself while you see how gentle I can be. And it will drive you out of your fucking mind, because part of you will be desperate for what I give you when we both lose control.” He sucked on Dallas’ earlobe, enjoying the shiver that passed over him. “Then we’ll let our boys have him so we can stop holding back.”

Another groan, Dallas shifting his hips as Rhodey stroked him at a lazy pace. “How did we get here from talking about real estate?”

Chuckling, Rhodey framed Dallas’ jaw with his free hand and claimed his lips, leaving him breathless. “Silk, snickerdoodles, and sex. It led to talking about all the things that make me fucking hard.”

“You rarely eat cookies, how…” Dallas thumped his head against the tree as Rhodey braced him up against it, jerking off one boot and one jean leg so he could get at that fucking tight, round ass. “Jesus, Rhodey, I swear to God if you stop I’m going to shoot you.”

Small packet of lube in hand from the stash in his wallet, Rhodey slicked his man up. “I love it when you speak my fucking language.” He pressed the head of his dick into Dallas, stretching him open with shallow thrusts. “They taste like your lips. Thinking of your lips has me wanting to kiss you. Which has me wanting to fuck you.” Slamming in hard, he tasted those very hot, sweet lips again, smiling at the way Dallas panted, grinding against him to take him in deeper. “God, I missed this body. You better not expect to get much sleep, I’m going to have you and our boys under me, one after another until I can’t fucking move.”

That got him a throaty laugh as Dallas dug his fingers into his shoulders, leveraging himself against the tree so he was riding Rhodey’s dick along with the pistoning motion of his hips. “Who...needs sleep?” His voice was rough, like he’d already been screaming, but that didn’t stop him from doing it now. “Fuck… Harder!”

“If you were in a submissive mindset, I’d punish you for that.” Rhodey curved one arm around Dallas’ waist, lifting him even more so he could let his man feel his whole length, taking him over and over, hitting the right spot until the pleasure was almost torture. With the intensity of his thrusts, it was a good thing the tree was solid, or it would be moving with them, giving away their position.

Of course, all the noise his man was making would do that too, but Rhodey had put enough security measures in place to indulge a little. The danger shouldn’t be much worse than on a training mission, and Dallas had learned how to take apart a dozen different firearms while Rhodey had him bent over the table, with either Avery or Keiran’s lips around his dick.

My men are good under pressure.

Slick, brutal kisses to leave Dallas’ lips nice and swollen, sweat gathering between his shoulder blades, the grip around Rhodey’s dick tightened with Dallas’ release. He drove in harder, making Dallas cry out, heat and pressure gathering in the base of his spine. Gathering Dallas close, he slammed in one last time, groaning as he came deep inside one of the men he loved, the sensation bringing him to one of those rare moments when he allowed himself to let go completely. To take the pleasure he could have, the peace in another’s arms.

Then the moment was over. He didn’t even blink when he heard sounds he shouldn’t have. Unfamiliar movement in the distance. Familiar ones closer, barely disturbing the undergrowth, coming toward them fast.

Lowering Dallas to his feet, Rhodey helped him adjust his clothes. “What was overlooked, Avery?”

“A phone. Jacks still has his. A call came through, but it’s been on since he got here.” Avery relayed the information matter-of-factly, taking a bit longer to catch his breath than he normally would. He needed more damn time to recover, but that couldn’t be helped. And from his level gaze and firm stance at Keiran’s side, he would put up a fight if Rhodey tried to get him to sit this one out.

Rhodey met his boy’s eyes, then gave a firm nod. “There’s been plenty of time for the signal to be traced and I can hear them out there. Dallas, go let Curtis know. Keiran, the same with Lawson.” He grabbed Avery’s shoulder when he moved to follow the other sub as he darted through the trees. “No, my little viper. You’re needed out here, I won’t debate that. But you’re not well enough for me to chance you being out of my sight.”

Lips parting, Avery hesitated for a second, then took a deep breath. He’d been training Keiran a lot, a role he still wasn’t used to, but had come naturally. The next step was letting go, trusting that their man could manage on his own. Which was much harder.

“He’s a decent shot. Better with the knives, but he’s got this.” Avery nodded, almost as though to himself. He kept to Rhodey’s side as he moved out. “Stephan should have taken the phones.”

Rhodey’s jaw clenched. “Yes. And I’m going to find out why he didn’t.”

At the rapid Crack! of bullets, Rhodey snapped his arm out, bringing Avery a step behind him. Bark spit away from the trees ahead at the impact. Over to the right, the raven flapped down, then swooped away, drawing fire in a way that showed this was another part of the bird’s training.

Dressed in all black, masks covering their faces, men moved through the trees, following the noise Bram was making in the branches. Rhodey picked two off, his silencer enough to keep from alerting the others. The third fell with a thump and the men scattered, the static from a walkie-talkie making it clear they were about to get the information out that their sneak attack had been foiled.

Slipping behind a tree, Avery flung his knives, catching the man with the handheld in the throat. He retrieved the device, passing it to Rhodey.

One finger to his lips, Rhodey listened to the exchange between the mercs further out.

“Target spotted. Advise. Out.”

“Bring him in unharmed. Hard to make bullets look like an accident.”

That got some laughter.

“We don’t have a mark on the house. Looks like it went dark. We’re missing another chunk of change if we don’t hit it too.”

The mercs were getting comfortable. Fuckers didn’t know they’d lost anyone yet. Not a very tight outfit, but skilled enough to be arrogant.

Those were always fun.

Glancing in the direction of the house, Rhodey’s lips curved as he took in the blanket of darkness. The moon was only a sliver, hardly enough to see by. If the clouds covered it, the area would be pitch black. The mercs might have night vision, but without having pinpointed the exact location, it would take them just long enough to find it for Rhodey and his men to finish them off.

Another voice came over the walkie-talkie. This one familiar. “It’s admirable that these mercenaries are working pro bono. That kind of charity isn’t as common these days… No, not pro-boner, I don’t think they’re getting sexual favors, Jam—Jay.”

By Rhodey’s side, Avery snickered, earning himself a sharp look. His boy was getting a bit cocky. Not that Rhodey could blame him. Listening to Wren casually tap into their transmission was amusing. It was a clear signal that they had the upper hand.

The vibration of his phone in his pocket gave him another. He plucked it out, smirking as he looked over a layout of the area, with red marks to indicate where each of the mercs were positioned. Wren had used the exact method that had brought them here against them.

“Who the fuck is this?” A gruff voice came over the radio. “If you think you can pay us more than what we’re getting for your man here, you’re fucking dreaming.”

Wren cleared his throat. “Martin Lasalle, yes? I just sent you a screenshot of your client’s accounts. Including the ones overseas. Curtis was very clever coming up with this plan last time. It’s hard to pay anyone when you have no funds. Oh, yes, you’re right, Ma—” There was some ruffling, like someone had covered whatever Wren was speaking into. “No names. Yes, I know that. I forgot. Should I tell them they’re going to die now?”

“You can get off the line now, Freaky Friday.” Humor in his tone, Curtis cut in, telling Rhodey he’d taken down one of the other groups and claimed their walkie-talkie. “Take out the whiskey, we’ll be coming back in s—”

More gunshots, then a curse from Curtis. No sounds of pain, so he wasn’t hit, but Vani would kick his ass if she got wind of him messing around like that.

So long as he didn’t get himself killed, Rhodey didn’t give a fuck. The man had earned some down time. This was the closest he’d get anytime soon.

Motioning Avery with him, Rhodey picked up the pace, following the shots and picking off the stragglers. The numbers were going to be an issue. Not that his men couldn’t clear them out, but Quint’s safehouse was known by too many. It would have to be abandoned.

“Curtis, I’ve got you. Don’t move.”

That was Lawson. Rhodey sighed, making a mental note to brief his crew on who should take the lead in situations like this. Namely, not the one who would bring in the biggest payoff. Lawson’s father’s funds might be frozen now, the plan had been to put them on the radar for investigation by the Feds, but if the mercs had a single working braincell between them, they’d figure out he was still a valuable target and grab him.

In a small clearing, the green of night vision goggles glowing off the faces of a few of the mercs, Curtis faced off against three, Dallas at his back, beretta fixed on two, one down behind them. Keiran caught up with Lawson, tugging him away from the treeline, their hushed voices drawing the mercs’ attention their way.

Avery made a hand gesture, requesting permission to join Keiran. This time, Rhodey inclined his head. They needed to regain control of the situation and his boy could guide Keiran on how to deal with unruly assets.

“That’s one of the O’Rourkes.” One of the mercs who’d spoken over the walkie-talkie earlier, let out a gruff laugh. “Don’t take him out yet, he’s worth more alive. Get rid of the other one.”

The mercs aimed at Dallas.

Stepping out, Rhodey shot one in the head, cutting across the distance and catching another in the chest. Not dead. Vests. Stupid mistake. He paid for it when a bullet grazed his arm. Kept moving, more headshots. Not fast enough.

Whispers came and there were more shots from their side. Rhodey grinned as he caught sight of Noah with Ezran, the younger man directing Noah toward the mercs trying to rush them through the trees. The choice to bring Noah in hadn’t been an easy one, but even without being at full strength, his nephew was damn good backup.

Still, the mercs outnumbered them. Dallas and Curtis were too exposed. Rhodey needed to get closer.

A whistle came from somewhere to his right. Diving down into the fray, the raven created enough confusion to send a few shots wide. Stephan rushed after him, shooting one merc and slamming into another before he could set his sights on Dallas.

On the ground, Stephan grunted, struggling with the merc who rolled over him. The pistol between them went off. Stephan jerked and the merc brought the muzzle up to his temple.

Grabbing the merc by the throat, Rhodey wrenched him off Stephan, twisting until bone snapped and the merc went limp.

Noah froze, watching the man fall. His jaw ticked.

“Hey, stay with me.” Rhodey put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder, giving him a little shake to keep him from slipping into the past. Or somewhere darker where his mind could shield him from it. “There are three on the run. We can’t let them leave. Head out with Ez. Dallas, Keiran, go with them. Curtis, you and Lawson with me.” Bending down, Rhodey hefted Stephan into his arms. “You’re lucky, my man. What you just did there? Is the reason I’m going to let you live.”

Hand pressed to his side, Stephan managed a weak smile, his gaze sweeping the trees. “Bram, get Koda.” His voice didn’t carry much, but the raven let out a whistle in reply and flew off. Closing his eyes, Stephan spoke softly. “Your boy...let him take care of them for me…”

“Will do, but try not to die first. We’re not done with you yet, we’ve got damage.” Rhodey adjusted the man in his arms, long strides bringing them back toward the house. He winked at Avery. “My boy here keeps talking in his sleep.”

Stephan’s brow creased. “Nightmares?”

“No, dick and chocolate syrup. Is that healthy?”

Laughing, then coughs that had droplets of blood shimmering on Stephan’s lips. “I’m a therapist, not a dietitian. Sounds healthy to me.”

“God damn it, Rhodey.” Jared sighed as he stepped out on the porch, giving Lawson and Curtis a quick once over before ushering Rhodey inside. “Are we saving him or torturing him? You won’t get much if you let him drown in his own blood.”

Rhodey’s lips quirked. “Saving. I’ll have some questions for him later, but for now he’s all yours. Where you want me to drop him off?”

Clucking his tongue, Jared directed him to the living room. “And don’t actually drop him, you brute. I don’t need you making extra work for me.”

“He put himself in the line of fire for Dallas. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” Sobering, Rhodey lowered Stephan to the coffee table after Wren wiped it down and covered it with a sterile sheet. He glanced over as Danny came to the doorway, the puppy in his arms and the raven on his shoulder. Tears glistened on his cheeks, his eyes on Stephan. Gaze snapping to Jacks, who stood behind his sub, Rhodey considered the one man he hadn’t seen out there. “Shea?”

Jacks shook his head, some relief in his eyes. “He just checked in after meeting up with Noah and the rest. He’d gone out further and found the bastards’ cars. They’re not going anywhere—not that any of them are still breathing.” He wrapped his arms around Danny and the puppy. “He’s worried about Stephan. Is he…?”

“He should be fine. I’ll start working on him in here, but we need another room cleared out so I can operate. Wren, Jamie, go take care of that. Quint, he needs a chest tube.” Doing a quick field type scrub, Jared snapped on some gloves. “Jacks, get Danny out of here, he doesn’t need to see this.”

Face white as Quint pressed a scalpel into Stephan’s side, Jacks put his hand over Danny’s eyes, backing out of the room with him.

Avery made a pained sound, drawing Rhodey’s attention to him. He started to pick his boy up, but Avery shoved at his chest, which made no damn sense. Unless… “Are you going to puke?”

“No, sir.” Avery nudged his chin at Rhodey’s arm. “You were shot.”

Glancing at his arm, Rhodey snorted. Looked like the ‘graze’ was a clean through and through. Nice, wet, and throbbing now that he’d noticed it. “Want to practice that trick I showed you with a hot knife?”

“Seth, will you patch this fool up before I have to see how well the fucking belt works on him.” Jared grumbled to himself as he bent over Stephan. “A hot knife. I’ll give you a hot damn knife.”

Humor lit Seth’s eyes as he motioned Rhodey into the kitchen, pulling out a chair for him. “You give him more reasons to swear than I do.”

Rhodey gave him a lazy smile. “Practice, my man. You’ll catch up.” He looped his arm around Avery’s waist, lifting him onto his lap. “We keep things interesting and he fucking loves it.”

At the other side of the table, cuddled up against Jacks’ chest, Danny watched Seth cut away the sleeve of Rhodey’s T-shirt. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth, the raven now on Jacks’ shoulder fussing with Danny’s hair in a way that seemed to comfort the boy.

Until Seth started picking bits of fabric out of the bullet wound with tweezers.

Jacks cupped Danny’s cheek to get him to look away again, but this time, Danny shook his head. “I can take it. These things happen and I need to toughen up. Need to not freak out every time. Not be...too soft.”

Shifting a bit to face Danny, Avery blocked his view and smiled at him. “If you can stay a bit soft with all this? That’s pretty tough. Besides, you don’t want to ruin the image you have in your head of our Dom being invincible, do you?”

“It won’t be ruined.” Danny rested his head against Jacks’ shoulder. “He’s still breathing.” Inhaling roughly, Danny closed his eyes. “But you should probably give him one of those injections, Seth sir. Wren told me about gangrene, do you think he’ll get it? Or some other kind of terrible disease? Oh!” He sat up a bit, staring up at Jacks. “Do you think we should find a metal detector and make sure there’s no bullets left out there? If someone steps on one and it goes off—”

Silencing Danny with a kiss, Jacks let out a quiet laugh. “Don’t ever change, little mouse. With all the things you come up with, I think you’re already prepared for just about anything. And I like being able to tell you there’s some things you don’t have to be afraid of.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

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Part 14

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