Page 47 of Something Unavoidable

Izzy crossed his arms over his chest and hunched his shoulders, glaring at his feet as he curled and uncurled his toes inside Keegan’s thick wool socks. They were finally starting to feel normal again. They’d been numb when they got back from their hike, then burned with pins and needles as they thawed. His thigh was still aching too, the metal attracting the cold, but it would fade in a few minutes as well. The hike had been worth it. The views were spectacular, and getting his heart rate up, out in the fresh air, had felt amazing. Izzy hadn’t realized how much he needed it. Back when he still had Birdie, they used to go out on the trails near his parents’ farm all the time. Not in the winter, though. This was his first time experiencing the backcountry covered in snow.

At the moment, Izzy kind of wished he were still out in the snow-blanketed silence. Even though it was dark now and the temperature had plummeted, he’d rather be freezing his toes offthan arguing with Keegan about this. “Because I barely know him, and I definitely can’t afford him.”

Keegan lifted the spoon from the spaghetti sauce he was stirring and pointed it at Izzy, a splat of tomato hitting the floor between them before vanishing under Lucky’s eager tongue. “First things first, you’re part of the ranch family, and it might be a little convoluted and incestuous over there, but Xavier isn’t going to say no to family. And second,” Keegan continued before Izzy could come up with a plausible argument, “if he did charge you, which I doubt will happen, there are a lot of us who would be more than willing to help pay for it.”

Izzy didn’t want Keegan’s money, and he was starting to regret telling Keegan the rest of the current scandal. He’d been nothing but understanding and supportive, but he also wouldn’t leave Izzy alone about it so he could ignore the problem until it went away. Izzy should have expected it. Keegan, the overbearing asshole, saw something he thought he could fix, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Luckily, Izzy was just as stubborn, because no way was he letting Keegan win this one. He didn’t need Xavier, in all his part-time-publicist glory, coming to his rescue. Izzy had things under control. He hadn’t had a panic attack since before they got to the cabin. Forty-eight hours was a record at the moment.

“Isaac,” Keegan sighed, returning the spoon to the little ceramic rest on the counter.

Izzy narrowed his eyes. “Don’t do that.”

Keegan raised his eyes to the ceiling, like someone in the loft was going to help him deal with Izzy’s bullshit. “Izzy,” he tried again, abandoning their simmering dinner and walking over to cup Izzy’s cheek in one of his big, warm hands.

Izzy leaned into the touch helplessly, his eyes trying to fall shut. Dammit, why did he let Keegan play him like this?

“What are you scared of? Do you think Xavier is going to blame you for what happened?”

Izzy clenched his jaw and shrugged, not able to meet Keegan’s gaze. Of fucking course he was. Xavier was a rich, powerful guy who’d probably never had someone look at him wrong, much less been fucked over like Izzy had. At best, he’d think Izzy was a fool. At worst, he might believe, like so many people on the internet did, that Izzy was in on it. That he’d beenhelpingJosh hide the abuse. He’d never even told Micah the whole truth. What if Micah found out and didn’t believe him? Or Ryan? Or Maggie? Izzy’s eyes burned and he tried to pull away before Keegan could see it, but Keegan had him backed against the counter and just stepped closer, trapping him.

“Look at me, Isaac,” Keegan said, tone unyielding even as he brushed a gentle thumb below Izzy’s eye, catching the dampness on his lashes.

Izzy braced himself and glanced up, but Keegan’s eyes held only soft compassion.

“We know you, baby. No one is going to think you helped that monster hurt anyone. You were young and, I’d guess, probably groomed to trust him.”

Izzy flinched at that word. Groomed. That felt…heavy. And much more deliberate than what Izzy remembered. His breathing got tight, but a moment later, a weight pressed against his legs.

He and Keegan both looked down at the blue-eyed dog that had squirmed her way between them and was now sitting on their feet, looking at Izzy imploringly. Izzy cracked a smile and unfolded his arms so she could nuzzle and lick his hand.

Once Riley was sure he was okay, Keegan caught the back of Izzy’s neck and pressed their foreheads together. “I know you’re having trouble believing it, but baby, you weren’t his accomplice. You didn’t help him. You were one of his victims.”

Izzy pressed his lips together to keep from arguing. Somewhere in his head, he knew Keegan was right, but it didn’t do anything to stop the guilt that kept creeping up and trying to choke him.

It took the rest of the night, all of dinner, and until they were sprawled on the sofa, sated and a little sticky, for Izzy to say, “Fine. You can call Xavier. But if he says no, you’re the one who has to deal with impending breakdown.”

Izzy was floating onan endorphin high, his ass on fire while exhilaration coursed through him in ever-building waves. Keegan’s palm came down again, jostling the plug up against his prostate and lighting him up with equal parts pain and ecstasy. He groaned and thrust his oozing cock into the too-wide gap between Keegan’s thighs.

Keegan, it turned out—much to Izzy’s delight and dismay—loved edging. Izzyhatededging…right up until he got to come, at which point, he adored it and would eagerly consent to doing it again. That eagerness wore off fast once his cock was dripping an overstimulated puddle on Keegan’s hardwood floors.

“Keegan,” Izzy whined, his head swimming. He couldn’t get any friction like this, sprawled across Keegan’s thighs, face down, ass up on the bed while Keegan tried out a few of the toys he’d packed. The plug was thick, because Izzy liked the stretch, but he’d never been spanked with something inside him, and clenching down on the toy with every swat was fucking with his head in the best way. He never thought he could trust someone to push him to this point of desperation over and over again. Not until Keegan. Izzy wanted more. He wanted it to stop. He wantedto cry, and beg, andcome. He wanted to keep riding this wave until Keegan decided to let him get off. “Keegan.”

“You’re doing so well, baby,” Keegan said, smoothing his hand up and down Izzy’s back, pausing to tug Izzy’s hair just as his palm smacked down again, right over the plug.

Izzy let out a shout, his cock throbbing as he teetered on the edge. He spread his legs and arched his back. “Please, please, please,” he begged. He rubbed his hot, damp face against the bedding, his fingers twisting in the towel Keegan had thrown down to protect their only remaining clean sheets.

“Please, what?” Keegan asked, his voice gravely with arousal. His erection was pressed against Izzy’s belly, but he wouldn’t let Izzy do anything about it.

“Please…” Izzy said again, his words floating away while he tried to grasp them.

Keegan chuckled, warm and low. “I need a little more than that, baby.”

Baby. Izzy flushed. Keegan had been calling him that, and Izzy liked it too much. Baby. Keegan didn’t say it like Izzy was a little or a boy, and he’d promised Izzy he didn’t want to be “Daddy,” but other than that, he hadn’t given him any direction. Izzy licked his lips. He’d already said what he wanted to say once. It would be okay to say it again, and if Keegan didn’t like it, he’d let Izzy know. “Please, sir. Please make me come.”

Keegan groaned and rolled Izzy onto the mattress, then gathered up Izzy’s legs and pressed them up toward his chest. “Hold them there,” he said.

Izzy whimpered at the scratch of the towel against his burning skin but did as he was told. A moment later, he was rewarded by the plug being removed and replaced by Keegan’s fat cock. He clung to Keegan’s shoulders, his lungs heaving as he adjusted to the new stretch.

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