Love and Deceit

Chapter 8: Home

I woke up because of a light, continuous jab at my cheek. It was morning, and as I slowly regained my awareness, I remembered what had happened just the night before. I was with both Nathan and Carter at the same time. Something I never thought would ever happen. What was the most surprising about that night was that, when Nathan took me, it didn’t hurt. And even Carter was gentle with me, although I didn’t think that such a thing would last forever.

I saw the clock on my night table read 1:00 pm. That was another thing that surprised me. I was normally an early riser, but this day I slept until the afternoon.

The jabbing at my cheek continued until I finally turned around, irritated, to see who it was that assaulted my face.

I’m sure anyone could guess my shock when I saw Adrian grinning down at me the way he used too.

I blinked a few times, not sure if I were really awake, or still dreaming.

I lifted a hand to my little brother’s face to see if he was truly there. He put his own hand on mine when I touched his warm cheek.

I could feel the tears sting my eyes as I pulled him close to me in a big bear hug that made Adrian yelp in protest.

“Hey! You’re squeezing me.”

I couldn’t let go, despite his protest. I was so happy that Adrian was here, in my arms, and not in a hospital bed. It was only when I needed to question how he got here that I broke off the hug.

“What are you doing here” I asked, “How did you get here?”

Adrian only grinned even more. “Carter came to get me this morning.” He said.

“Oh.” I said flatly.

Adrian’s grin turned into a frown. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“I am,” I tried to appear cheerful. “I’m just surprised that Carter didn’t wake me up so that I could go with him to pick you up. I didn’t even know you were going to be released from the hospital today.”

“You didn’t?” It was Adrian’s turn to be surprised, “That’s what the doctor said a week ago. I thought you knew!”
“I didn’t.”

“Oh, well then, I guess the doctor only told Carter, and Carter didn’t tell you. When I asked him today why you weren’t with him, he said that you were still asleep. He said you had a rough night.”

I blushed as the memories of the previous night came rushing back once again. “Uh… yeah.”

There came a knock at the door and Carter, himself, entered the room. “So? Is sleeping beauty up?”

I glared at him, but I just had to smile. As despicable as the man was, he did bring my brother back. The smile that he had when he saw both Adrian and I together was much like the smile he had when we first met. It was the smile I fell in love with. Oh, no. Please don’t tell me I’m falling for Carter again… I can’t be! No, I’m just grateful that he brought my brother back. Yeah, that’s it. Grateful.

“Hey, Adrian” Carter said, “Why don’t you go check out the pool? I’ll get a maid to show you where it is.”

“But I want to go swimming with Chris!” Adrian told him.

I smiled. “Don’t worry, little man. I’ll come and join you soon. I just have to speak with Carter for a bit.”

Adrian pouted at first, but the temptation of going swimming was much too great. Seeing one of the maids come to the door, her hand stretched out for Adrian to take it, he jumped off the bead and merrily accompanied her to the pool.

Both Carter and I looked after Adrian and chuckled.

Carter then turned to me. “So, you wanted to speak with me?” He asked, approaching the bed and sitting down on the far edge.

“Yeah. I just wanted to say thank you. You brought Adrian home. I would have liked to go pick him up with you, but I’m just glad he’s finally home.”

Carter, who was looking at me, turned his head, fixing his gaze to his feet. He smiled. “Home,” he said, “You’re glad I brought him ‘home’?”

I blushed at the realization of what I had said. “Home”. I was referring to the mansion. It was Carter’s home, but it shouldn’t really have been a home to me. But I did indeed say “home”. I smiled to myself, fixing my own gaze to the sheets covering my lower body.

“Yes.” I finally said, looking back up at Carter with, what I hoped, was a heart stopping smile. “Home.”

Carter got up from the edge of the bed and walked over to me. He cradled my cheek and pressed his lips to mine. This time, I didn’t hate the kiss. I didn’t struggle. I melted into it. I responded to the sweet kiss and, in turn, it turned more passionate until we finally broke apart. I was left breathless and flushed, while Carter was left with a sweet smile on his face.

He rustled my hair and turned to leave the room. Before he left, Carter turned to me and said, “I’m glad you think of this place as your home, Chris. Perhaps, soon, you will be able to think of me as something other than the heartless bastard I originally was.”

He left.

Confusion welled up inside me. I wasn’t too sure what he had meant by those words, but I was sure that they were sincere. Whatever it was, it did not have first priority in my thoughts at the moment.

My little brother was back, and I had every intention of spending lot’s of time with him.

***

Many weeks had passed since my little brother got out of the hospital and, it seemed that he was a breath of air that was much needed in the Welland Mansion. I must say that even things between Carter and me were much better than before. He would still come to my room for sex, but it was definitely more enjoyable. He stopped forcing me, and started to actually pleasure me. It amazed me to find just how awesome sex with that man could be. I’ve never been with anyone else, mind you, but I’m sure he was much better than anyone.

There were many days, when Nathan wasn’t around, that Carter would seem more serious, and was much colder to the staff at the mansion, however he was still kind to me and my brother. When Nathan would be around, Carter’s mood would always improve remarkably. The staff would be extremely thankful that Nathan was indeed back.

Nathan would always laugh at such maters, but anyone could see that Carter’s heart truly belonged to his older, non-biological, brother.

Despite that, Carter would still sleep with me, and Nathan seemed to have no problem with that. Problems only derived when the heir to the Welland Corporation would have to sleep with his “fiancée”. It would often start with a very angry, very annoying Miriam complaining about how Carter would never pay any attention to her, and then would escalate to her screaming in ecstasy, while I lay in the next room with a pillow over my head, trying to block out the noise. So much for “sound proof walls”. Who ever designed the rooms clearly had not met the cobra formally known as soon-to-be Miriam Welland.

Often, after having slept wit the cobra, Carter would come to my room and just lay with me. The two of us would fall asleep in each others arms, and Carter would be gone by morning, before my little brother would so kindly jump on the bed to, enthusiastically, wake me up.

Carter would come to my bed during the nights that Nathan was away. When Nathan was around, Carter would, no doubt, find his was to the other man’s room. The only reason I know this is because in the mornings, one can often see Carter walking with a slight limp, and Nathan with a smug, satisfied grin on his face.

Things were going well for the four of us… Carter, Nathan, Adrian and me. I soon realized that this place was truly my home.