Unhinged by Onley James

As soon as they entered Adam’s loft, Noah headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth, while Adam tossed his wallet and keys on the table, staring at the cracked bathroom door. He wasn’t sure what Noah might need from him. It seemed his days were becoming more and more stressful and it was Adam’s fault.

On the way home, he had grilled Noah pretty hard about what he’d talked about with his father. Noah had answered each of the questions without hesitation but seemed more subdued than he’d been on the way there. Before they left, his dad had pulled him aside and told him to keep a close eye on Noah, to be cognizant of his feelings because he’d had a hard day.

Noah left the bathroom, flipping off the light and walking straight to Adam, wrapping his arms around his neck. Adam returned the embrace, surprised when Noah lifted his legs and wrapped them around his waist, burying his face against his throat.

Adam dropped his hands to cup Noah’s ass, shifting his weight before carrying him farther into the room. “What’s happening here? What are we doing?”

He nuzzled his nose against Adam’s neck. “You’re carrying me to bed.”

“To bed, huh?” Adam teased, walking towards the staircase. “And what are we going to do when we get there?”

“Slow boning,” Noah said, kissing his way along Adam’s jaw.

“I’m sorry, what?” Adam asked around a laugh, trudging up the stairs with Noah still clinging to him.

“I want you inside me, but I don’t want it rough. I’m not in the mood. I want the feelings stuff. Kissing. Missionary. Lots of eye contact and mushiness. Fuck me but make it romantic-like.”

Adam snickered at Noah’s explanation but was more than happy to give him whatever he needed.

Once upstairs, he set Noah on his feet, finding his mouth as they undressed each other. Adam liked roughing Noah up but only because that was what he needed and Adam loved watching him fall apart. But if Noah wanted slow, Adam could give him that and was already half hard just thinking about sliding inside him.

When they were both naked, Adam laid Noah down on the bed, then followed him down, blanketing his weight over top of Noah so he could kiss him again, slowly, deeply, thoroughly. He found himself caught up in just kissing Noah—the softness of his lips, the way his tongue darted and retreated, the breathy sighs he released.

Somewhere along the way, Adam slowly started rocking against him, their cocks slotting together in a friction that sent tiny shocks along his spine. He couldn’t remember ever enjoying sex as much as he did with Noah. It had always been a means to an end, an orgasm that required far more work than just masturbating.

But everything Noah did was sexy. The way he rolled his hips upward to meet Adam’s. The way he gripped his ass like he needed him closer. The way his breathing quickened the longer they lay there, and the tiny aborted noises of frustration when Adam didn’t immediately give him what he wanted.

Adam broke the kiss. “You wanted slow. I’m giving you slow.”

“I said slow, not glacial,” Noah said, tone grumpy.

Adam chuckled, catching Noah’s hair in his fist to tug his head back, giving him access to his neck and shoulder. “What do you want, baby?”

“I want your mouth on me.”

“Oh, I can definitely do that,” Adam promised. He moved down Noah’s body, licking over one nipple and then the other, tugging gently with his teeth. “Here?”

“Lower,” Noah murmured, breathless.

Adam smiled, biting at Noah’s side and earning a barked out laugh and as he squirmed to get away. Noah was ticklish. That was good to know. “So, not there?”

“No, not there. You’re getting warmer, though.”

Adam skipped over Noah’s flushed and leaking cock to nuzzle at the seam where his hips and thigh met, the hair tickling his nose but Noah’s whine of irritation making it worth it. He gave the other side the same treatment. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Stop teasing,” Noah said.

Adam caught his knees in his hands and brought them over his shoulders, using his thumbs to spread Noah wide, tonguing over his entrance. Noah moaned long and low, his hands fisting in Adam’s hair, pulling him deeper into the heart of him. “Oh, fuck. More.”

Adam gave Noah what he wanted, licking and sucking at him like a starving man, Noah’s cries feeding him. He lifted his head, searching for the lube. The tube slapped him in the forehead.

“There. Get back to work,” Noah managed.

“Yes, sir,” Adam said around another laugh.

He coated his fingers, his mouth closing over Noah’s cock as he pushed two fingers into him, eyes rolling as the tight heat of Noah’s body seemed to almost suck him in. Once more, Noah’s hands found Adam’s hair, squirming beneath him as he sucked him, wanting to make him feel good but not good enough to get off. Noah was only going to come with Adam buried inside him.

“I’m ready. Get up here,” Noah said, digging his heels into Adam’s shoulders to drive home the point.

Adam crawled up his body, pressing his forehead to Noah’s. “You sure are pushy when I’m not bossing you around,” he said before burying himself in Noah in one thrust.

Noah cried out in surprise, moaning as Adam began to move within him. “Is this what you needed?” He captured Noah’s mouth in a greedy kiss before tearing his mouth away to say, “Fuck, you feel so good. I’ve wanted to be inside you all day, fantasized about sneaking you upstairs and fucking you up against the wall of my childhood bedroom, coming inside you with my whole family downstairs. Is that romantic?” he mused.

Noah wrapped his legs around Adam’s waist, his blunt nails scratching at his back. “I don’t know, but it’s definitely working for me,” Noah promised.

It was working for Adam, too. The tight heat of Noah’s body was like a drug, and Adam couldn’t get enough. He sank his knees into the mattress, giving himself the leverage to drive up into Noah in a way that had Noah’s panting breaths ratcheting higher. “You like that, baby? You like when I go deep?”

“Fuck, yes. More.”

“I want to hear you. You know what I want,” Adam growled, biting at his earlobe.

“Please, Adam. I want more. I need it. Fuck me harder. Faster. Make me come.”

Christ. Noah was far too articulate for Adam’s liking. He raised up on his hands, making room between them. “Touch yourself,” he ordered, gazing downward to watch himself piston in and out of Noah as he jerked himself in time with his thrusts. “Fuck, yeah. That’s it, baby. Make yourself feel good. God, I love to watch you jerk off.”

Noah’s head fell back, eyes closed and lips parted, as he worked himself faster. Adam knew he was close, close to giving Adam what he needed to push him over the edge.

“Come on, baby. You can do better than that. Don’t you want to feel me throbbing inside you as I breed you?”

“Oh, fuck. Yes. I need it. Please, Adam. Please, I want to feel you come inside me. Oh, God, I’m so close. You feel so good.”

There it was. The babbling. Adam fucking needed it like a drug. “Who do you belong to?”

“You,” Noah swore, eyes flying open to look directly into Adam’s. “Only you. Forever. I promise.”

Adam’s orgasm took even him by surprise, his hips stuttering off rhythm as he came, spilling deep inside Noah. Luckily, Noah wasn’t far behind. Two more strokes and he was painting his release between them a second before Adam collapsed on top of him.

“Was that slow boning?” he asked, when he could formulate any kind of real thought.

“I don’t know, but it sure was hot,” Noah said with a laugh, sucking in heavy breaths. “I don’t ever want to move again. Forward my mail, I live in this bed now.”

A shock ran through Adam, a strange feeling overtaking him—a weird warmth. “You do live here now. You know that, right? This is your home. We need to get your stuff from the trailer,” he said, making a move to sit up.

Noah snagged him back down with a chuckle. “I think we can wait until the cum dries before we rush off to pack my things. I’m not going anywhere.”

Adam bristled. “You say that now…”

The idea of Noah trying to leave him stole his breath. Maybe they hadn’t known each other long but part of him recognized something in Noah, something deeply ingrained in their DNA. Adam didn’t believe in soul mates—was quite certain he didn’t have any soul to speak of—but Noah was it for him.

“I will say that always,” Noah promised, carding his hands through Adam’s hair in a weirdly comforting gesture.

He had never received much affection as a child. It hadn’t been offered or needed, but Adam found he loved the way Noah would pet him, like it soothed something within him to touch Adam. “This would be a lot easier for me if I could just chain you to my radiator.”

“You’re the only person I know who could make a felony sound romantic.” Noah grinned. “And, as previously stated, you have no radiator.”

Adam flopped down hard enough to make Noah grunt. “Details.”

After a few minutes, Noah asked, “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

“I don’t know, go on a date?” Adam asked. The concept was as foreign to him as advanced calculus. “That’s a thing couples do.”

“Like, you wanna take me to the movies? Buy me popcorn and hold my hand?” Noah asked, sounding almost as perplexed by the concept as Adam.

“We could go to the movies,” Adam said, propping his chin on his hands that rested in the center of Noah’s chest. “But once the lights are out, I can’t guarantee I won’t try to fuck you again.”

An almost evil grin spread across Noah’s face. “Buy me popcorn and I’ll give you a handjob in the back row.”

Adam kind of liked the sound of this whole dating thing. “Deal.”

* * *

Adam and Noah woke up at the crack of noon the following day. Their movie date had been fun. Neither had any idea what the movie was about but giving each other buttery handjobs in a crowded theater turned out to be a kink neither of them knew they had, but one both were eager to explore further at a later date.

Adam leaned against the counter, his pajama pants slung low on his hips, watching a very sleepy Noah shovel Cheerios into his mouth. He didn’t get how Noah could eat cereal with no sugar. They weren’t even the Honey Nut Cheerios, just the plain kind. It was weird. How did he live without sugar? Adam took a sip of his overly sweetened concoction of caramel-flavored creamer and sugar with just enough espresso to be able to say he was drinking coffee. He needed sugar to survive.

When the phone started to vibrate between them on the counter, they both froze, Noah leaning forward to see who it was, sighing when he saw the name. “Calliope.”

“Answer it,” Adam said.

Noah swiped to answer, then put it on speaker. “Hey, Calliope.”

“Hi, Noah,” she said, sounding absolutely thrilled over a simple greeting.

She never acted that way when Adam answered. Noah seemed to be everybody’s new favorite. He was unintentionally charming the pants off everybody in Adam’s life. He smiled, sipping his orange juice, letting Noah do the talking.

“What’s up? Any news?” Noah asked, taking another bite of his cereal and munching loudly.

“Not about the priest or even your dad, but…I think I found a lock for the key you swiped from Gary’s.”

Noah’s startled gaze shot to Adam then back to the phone. “You did?”

“Yeah, it took some deep, deep digging. Like, a decade of digging. It took forever because I don’t think the key belonged to Gary. I think it belonged to your father.”

“My father?”

“Yes. While I was cross-referencing all the players like Thomas asked, I came across your father’s will.”

“My father had a will?” Noah asked, seemingly confused.

Calliope paused. “Yes. But he left everything to Gary…including you.”

“What?”

“Holt had named Gary as your guardian. But he was declared unfit to care for you given his record and…uh, lifestyle. So, you were turned over to foster care.”

Adam watched Noah try to process that information. “Hey, I know foster care sucked, but if Gary was your guardian, there’s a very good chance he would have just found a way to make a profit off a defenseless ten-year-old boy.”

Noah nodded, clearing his throat. “So, Gary has whatever this key unlocks?”

“Afraid not. The key unlocks a small storage unit at a place called Sure-Lock Storage.”

“Wouldn’t anything in a storage unit have been auctioned off long ago?” Noah asked.

“You would think so, but no. In addition to handing over his meager possessions and his son to Gary, there was a strange little provision in his will. Part of his life insurance money was to go to keeping that storage locker paid for. The key was to be held by Gary and, upon his death, the contents of the storage unit were to be forwarded to the police.”

Noah’s dad sure did have a hard-on for this Gary guy. What the hell was the deal between them? Were they in love? “Can you send me the address?”

Calliope sighed. “You already have it. Be careful, though. The GPS on Gary’s phone shows he was out at the cabin yesterday but only for about twenty minutes. He could be starting to suspect something.”

“I’m always careful,” Adam quipped, even though they both knew that wasn’t true. When they disconnected, he gave Noah a look. “You up for a drive?”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, why not. Let’s do it.”

Adam checked his phone, finding Calliope had indeed sent the address, but that wasn’t all. She’d sent an email marked confidential. When he opened it, there was a link to a DNA profile. Noah’s DNA profile along with the username and password. Adam flicked his gaze towards Noah. “Why don’t you go get dressed? I just have to email something to my dad.”

Noah frowned but nodded. Adam waited until he heard him moving around the bedroom, looking for clothes to borrow. They needed to go get the rest of his stuff. Maybe on the way back from the storage unit. With one final covert glance towards the stairs, he opened his laptop, which sat abandoned on the dining room table. He hadn’t touched it in weeks. He preferred to work off his phone.

Once he punched in the information, a profile popped up giving Noah his genetic makeup, his ancestry in percentages, but there was also a button that showed familial matches within the database. There were three. All girls. The three matches were siblings to each other but appeared to be Noah’s first cousins on his mother’s side.

They lived in Mexico City.

Noah had family. In another country. Adam swallowed the lump in his throat. What if Noah decided to leave him, to go be with a family he’d never known existed? Now that the information was in the database, it was there for anybody to see. Any of them could contact Noah at any moment and tell him about his newfound family.

Shit. He closed out the profile and toggled back to Calliope’s email.

I fast-tracked Noah’s DNA test. I put it on your credit card. I figured you wouldn’t mind.I did some checking based on the results and found the boy’s mother, Josephina Hernandez. She has two sisters, Juana and Veronica. Both have children, but Juana has a son who went missing when he was just two years old. I’m pretty sure she’s Noah’s mother. She now lives in Killeen, Texas with her husband and three other children. Noah has a family.

Texas was much closer than Mexico City. Still, the thought of losing Noah weighed heavy on Adam as he walked up the stairs to dress. He needed to tell him. He had to know. But part of him longed to keep it a secret. Noah’s mother had moved on. She had a new life and a new family. Noah was his.

Adam dropped to sit on the end of his bed.

Noah spun, holding up a shirt. “We definitely need to stop and get my clothes. All your stuff makes me look like I’m shrinking.” He frowned when Adam didn’t immediately respond. “What’s wrong?”

Adam cleared his throat. “Calliope had a hunch about your dad. One she followed up on.”

Noah crossed the room to stand between Adam’s splayed thighs. “And? What could be worse than what we already know about him? My dad was a rapist and child killer. How much worse could it get?”

“He wasn’t your dad.”

Noah sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”

“You were kidnapped from Mexico City when you were two years old. Either by Holt or by somebody who gave or sold you to Holt. He wasn’t your father.”

Noah dropped to his knees in front of Adam, looking up at him, face pale. “That’s not true.”

“We ran your DNA.”

“What? How?”

“I took your hair while you were sleeping and Calliope sent it to an ancestry website to see if we could find any familial matches.”

Noah blinked rapidly, like he was attempting to process this information, his expression pained as he asked, “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Adam cupped his face. “Because if we couldn’t find your family or if it turned out you were put up for adoption or sold by your mom, I didn’t think you needed to know that.”

“So, you just wouldn’t have told me?” Noah asked, not exactly accusatory but close.

Adam swallowed. “Probably not. It would have done you less harm not to know. But you weren’t given away or sold. You were taken. You have a family. Cousins. Siblings. A mom. We have their information if you want to get in touch.”

Noah’s face was hot beneath Adam’s hands, his eyes wet with unshed tears. He pushed Adam’s hands away and stood, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hands. “What I want is to go see what’s in that storage unit.”

“Are you mad at me?” Adam asked, unsure if he’d somehow betrayed Noah.

Noah shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know how I feel. I get that your heart was in the right place, but it wasn’t your decision to make and you promised me I would be able to make my own choices outside the bedroom. That’s what you said.”

Adam crossed the room and hugged him, even though he stiffened in his arms. “I know. You’re right. I wish I could say I felt bad about it, but I don’t. I didn’t want to be the reason you were hurt again. Yes, it was selfish and stupid, but I thought I was making the best decision I could to keep you safe. I’ll always do the thing that keeps you safe.”

Noah relaxed in his arms but didn’t return his embrace. “I know.”

“Are you going to leave me?” Adam asked, the thought turning him cold inside.

“What? No. I can be mad without leaving you. I’m probably going to be mad at you a lot because you do boneheaded shit like this and then don’t even have the capacity to feel bad about it.”

“That’s true,” Adam agreed, dropping his cheek to the top of Noah’s head.

Finally, Noah’s arms came around him. “You cannot lie to me about the big stuff, Adam. I know people keep things to themselves and hide little white lies, but you can’t keep this kind of shit from me. It makes me feel stupid and unimportant.”

Adam stepped away from Noah, tipping his chin up. “You are the single most important thing to me. You’re the only thing that matters to me in this whole fucking world. Tell me you believe that.”

Noah stared at him with wide eyes, swallowing audibly. “I believe you believe that.”

Adam kissed his forehead, pulling him back into his arms and holding him tight. “Then I’ll just have to prove it to you.”