Page 32 of Simply Perfection
Trevor sat up. He needed some distance at that moment. Curling his arms around his shins, Trevor laid his head on his knees. “When the two of you stripped me of my control, I found a simple purity in being together. The merging of our bodies and, as you said, the intertwining of our souls felt like a perfect moment. But perfection is nothing more than a desert mirage. The moment reality sets in, the vision disappears, and you’re left with nothing but space in all directions and a burning, unquenchable thirst.”
“I think I understand. You’re afraid that if you open yourself up and let Matt and I into your life, truly become a part ofyour life, not a quick fling or crossing off kinky three-way from your bucket list, then at some point we’ll abandon you, as your parents did. Leave you broken and alone, with nothing to cling to but the gauges in the rock face you must scale to move on with your life.”
Was that it? Could it be something so simple as fear of being alone? He’d been alone all his life, why should the prospect of returning to that state strike such fear into Trevor’s heart? He had to make a choice. A real one this time.
Trevor stood. He heard Niall’s breath catch behind him. Trevor looked around Matt’s home. It was nice, but the only place Trevor truly felt at home was in Matt and Niall’s arms. It was simple as that, and yet so very complicated as well. He turned to face Niall and held out his hand.
“Take me to bed?”
Niall stood and captured Trevor’s hand. They quietly went downstairs. Trevor climbed into Matt’s bed first and settled into the middle spot. Matt’s arm immediately came around his waist and pulled Trevor back into his large body. The room was too dark to see, but Trevor felt Niall’s smile against his lips when Niall kissed him goodnight after he settled on his side to face Trevor. Niall’s arm landed on Trevor’s hip. Trevor’s brain was peaceful, his body warm and his heart a more full than it had been that morning.
Chapter Nine
Trevor hummed along to the music. He had his phone paired with a set of speakers in his AV suite at work. He pulled up his playlist and selected his favorite live-recorded album of the Rat Pack. Mail was piled up on Trevor’s desk, and he set about sorting the various envelopes. Several journals that Trevor hadn’t gotten around to reading yet sat in a pile. He should take those to Niall’s to read over a weekend soon. There was the usual junk mail. Symposium advertisements. All in all, nothing important. He marveled that nearly three months had elapsed since he'd first met Matt and Niall.
Valentine’s Day was right around the corner, and Trevor was unsure of what to get his men. They’d both said gifts weren’t necessary, but Trevor wasn’t falling for that trap. He may not have had a lot of traditional relationships in his life, but he knew that on Valentine’s, you gave your significant other at least a card. Funnily enough, calling Matt and Niall his significant others no longer terrified Trevor. They were significant. Howlong that would last and what that meant for the future, Trevor still did not know.
He’d worked very hard in the last months to open himself to Matt and Niall. It hadn’t been perfect, and Trevor had slipped into his old self-reliant ways more than a few times, but he could tell both his men appreciated the effort. He withheld some things from his lovers, but only to spare them undue worry. Frequently he got a tingle in the back of his neck, feeling that something wasn’t right, but Trevor didn’t have any solid evidence to go on. And Trevor had been around the department long enough to know that with no evidence, there was no case.
So he went on with his life, and life meant Valentine’s gifts. So what should he get? Trevor had seen, in a sex shop, some novelty underwear that could be fun. Niall had a bit of a sweet tooth. They could get some chocolate, dribble it all over Matt’s body, then lick it off. Oh hell, maybe he should show up at Niall’s wearing nothing but a big red bow around his cock. Then again, that might seem a tad self-serving.
Trevor picked up the last envelope sitting on his desk. It was large and pink. His name emblazoned in red on the front. There were cute little hearts and loopy lines drawn on the paper. It was way too girlish to have come from Matt or Niall. Did he have a secret admirer? Flattering, but could be awkward at work. Maybe Logan had put it there as a gag before going to court earlier.
Trevor opened the sealed envelope and peered inside. A jewel case holding a disk rested in the pouch. Trevor reached in and removed the thin, flat holder. He popped open the case. There was no label on the disk except the one from the manufacturer. It was a DVD. Had someone made Trevor a bootleg of an old movie?
He stuck his head out the door and glanced down the hall. Trevor saw Frederick headed in his direction.
“Captain?”
Frederick looked up from the papers he’d been reading. “What’s up, Mitchell?”
Trevor held up the DVD. “This was in an envelope on my desk, but there’s no label on it.”
Captain Frederick stopped in his tracks. “Is it related to a case?”
“It wasn’t in an evidence bag, and there would have been postage on the envelope had someone on the outside mailed it to us as a tip-off.” Trevor held up the envelope. “It was in here. Did I miss a memo and we’re doing office valentines this year?”
“I sure as hell hope not.”
Trevor watched the captain have an internal debate for a moment. Trevor could have waited until he got home to find out what was on the video, but curiosity had gotten hold of him.
“Go ahead, Mitchell.”
Trevor walked over to his desk, slipped the DVD into the CPU tower and tapped several keys to tell the computer to send the image onto the monitor to the left of his desk.
Trevor noticed the captain didn’t leave the doorway of his suite. In fact, the busy man was all too determined to wait around and find out what was on the disk. Maybe the captain was Trevor’s secret admirer? Unlikely since he was married and had two kids in college, but stranger things had happened.
Trevor opened up the media player on his computer, then clicked the play button. The first image had Trevor sitting in his chair with a smile on his face. Then Mindy appeared. Sweet, loyal Mindy, looking up at the camera, happily panting and turning in circles with excitement.Wait a minute. Who would have video of Mindy?Trevor didn’t think Mr. Carlyle even knew how to work a video camera.
Then it all went horribly wrong. A hand appeared from off-frame, and in seconds all Trevor’s happy memories shatteredas he watched Mindy die right before his eyes. Trevor fell backwards out of his chair as he tried to escape. What followed was a flash of innumerable images. Each one burned itself into Trevor’s retina in a matter of seconds. Horrific scenes of prisoners in desolate conditions interspersed with grainy video of extreme BDSM. Men were being whipped and fucked. A few scenes of what looked like assault and rape. Blood other bodily fluids mingling on bruised and split skin.
“What the fuck is that!” Frederick yelled.
Trevor couldn’t move. He wanted to look away, wanted put a stop to the horror, but he sat on the floor frozen.
“Mitchell, shut that off.”
Trevor scrambled to his feet. His hands shook, and the mouse chased all over the monitor before Trevor directed it to the control bar at the bottom of the screen.
