Page 52 of Inhuman Natures #1

Shaun

Shaun had only looked himself up online once since he’d been newly recreated.

He’d been desperate to find out if his parents had believed the lie of his staged suicide, but he’d seen nothing and still paid the price when Lawrence discovered he’d been searching.

Shaun didn’t recall the exact punishment, but the additional threat of Lawrence taking his parents out of the equation had dissuaded him from ever trying again.

So Shaun was clueless at how to react when, at the hastily put-together leaving party Rake and DJ threw for their ‘move’ to Australia, a woman thrust a folder into his hands.

“Uh,” he said, looking down at her shiny blue nails where she still held her end of the folder.

“I’m Van. You’ll have heard of me.”

“I have,” he said, cautious. “Nice to put a face to the name. What’s this?”

“I did some research.” She tapped her nails on the folder and then let go, leaving it in Shaun’s hands. “I discovered some interesting things about you, Shaun Forrester.”

Shaun blinked. “What did you find?” He readied himself to compel her to reveal everything. It was a last resort, of course. But his hand would be forced if she’d found something she shouldn’t have.

She gave him a discerning look. “Your secrets are safe with me. In the interest of full disclosure, I found some information about your family. And you, personally. The sole reason I went looking was to protect Rake and DJ. They’re my friends, and I was worried about them.”

“My family?” Shaun asked, the folder suddenly feeling too heavy to hold up.

Van nodded. “I won’t dig any further. What I saw was enough, but tell me if you want any more.”

“Thank you,” he said, swallowing around the lump in his throat.

“Thank me by being good to the guys.”

“I will,” he vowed, meaning it.

Another woman draped her arm over Van’s shoulders. “I think I had a little too much gin before getting here,” she whisper-shouted, holding her thumb and forefinger a centimetre apart.

Van moved the woman’s fingers as wide as they could go. “More like that much, Sophie.”

Sophie turned to Shaun, eyebrows raising as if she hadn’t noticed him before. “You’re even cuter than they told me.”

“Thanks?”

“Oh, I’m not flirting with you,” she said. “I’m a one-person kinda gal.”

“That’s nice,” Shaun said, searching for DJ or Rake to come to rescue him from being paid any more compliments.

At Shaun’s panicked expression, DJ broke away from the group of lad-type guys he’d been chatting to, and Rake drifted over from his spot in the corner of the kitchen that he’d not left since the party started.

Shaun himself had only just emerged from there as people began to arrive.

“You better not be corrupting Shaun,” DJ said to Van and Sophie as he sidled up.

“Me?” Sophie asked, aghast. “I am the corruptee, not the corruptor.”

Rake put a hand on the back of Shaun’s neck, playing with his curls. The touch was so soothing that Shaun leaned into it as the others bickered about which one of them was the worst influence. It was a silly debate, as the answer was obviously DJ.

A young man came to join them, wineglass in hand. “God dammit,” he said. “How is it possible for me to be the sixth wheel in a friendship group? This is awful.”

“Sorry David,” Sophie singsonged, entirely off-key.

“It’s nice to meet you anyway, Shaun,” David said. “Even if you do remind me of how endlessly single I am.”

“How about instead of moaning about it, you flirt with the guys over there?” Rake suggested, nodding his head towards the men DJ had been speaking to.

David gave Rake an incredulous look. “But then I might have to go on a date with someone.”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“No, I want to complain about being alone forever and not do anything about it. I’m much happier that way.” To punctuate his explanation, David downed the rest of his wine.

At one time in his life, Shaun might have understood the sentiment.

Years with Lawrence had left him favouring the possibility of being alone as an alternative to being with someone awful.

But now, with Rake and DJ, he couldn’t imagine wanting to go a moment without either of them.

Rake’s presence at his back and DJ’s at his side reassured him of their permanence.

“What’s that in your hand?” Rake murmured into Shaun’s ear.

“Van gave it to me,” Shaun replied in a low voice. He noticed DJ listening in, even as he nodded along to David’s new story. “It’s got information about, well, me .”

Rake’s fingers flexed on Shaun’s nape. “I didn’t ask her to do that.”

“I’m aware.” Shaun excused himself from the small group and went into the bedroom, Rake and DJ following.

“How do you feel about it?” DJ asked, eyeing the folder.

“I don’t know yet. Rake, Sir, can you keep it for me please? Until I’m sure I want to read it?” Shaun needed Rake to take charge at that moment. The tension twisting inside of him dissipated as Rake took the folder from his hand, and he felt lighter still as DJ wrapped him in a bear hug.

Shaun didn’t see where Rake hid the folder, as he’d buried his face in DJ’s chest. Shaun liked it there. It had become his head’s favourite resting spot.

“Should I kick everyone out?” Rake asked, sounding hopeful.

Shaun hummed into DJ’s chest. “No. I want to be distracted right now. And I’d like to get to know your friends.”

“Just let me know if you’ve had enough of them, sweetheart,” Rake said, coming over and brushing a kiss over his temple when Shaun turned to face him. “They can be a lot. ”

“They’re nice,” Shaun insisted.

“Mm-hmm. Although, I have far better methods of distraction.” To demonstrate, he squeezed Shaun’s arse, then trailed a finger along his crease.

Shaun chased the touch. “Not fair, Sir.”

“If you don’t stop now,” DJ said, “we’re gonna end up fucking while the guests are here.”

“An hour,” Rake said. “I can make them leave in an hour, right?”

“Two,” DJ countered.

“One and a half,” Shaun said.

“Done,” Rake and DJ said together.

Shaun spent the rest of the night chatting with Sophie, Van, and David.

He’d been telling the truth; he liked them, and could see why it was so easy for Rake and DJ to be friends with them.

Guilt still filled him when he thought about how they’d have to say goodbye to them, but at least they didn’t have to cut permanent ties too soon.

They got rid of the party guests ninety minutes later down to the second, Rake showing them out with no shame. Van and Sophie left together, Sophie having to be shushed all the way down the stairwell. Van shot Shaun an up-nod as she left, which he supposed was her version of a heartfelt goodbye.

David slunk away with one of the laddy guys he’d been so dismissive of. If Rake thought he was subtle in his delight about that, he failed. Shaun wouldn’t have been surprised if Rake sent David away with condoms and lube, along with a nudge and a wink.

The rest of Shaun’s time before sunup was spent being thoroughly distracted: Rake took his time wrapping ropes around every part of Shaun’s body, criss-crossing up his legs and arms, looping around his hips and waist, securing him at his chest and back.

DJ followed each knot and tie, kissing every inch of available skin as Rake’s movements lulled Shaun into sweet serenity.

Once Rake deemed Shaun suitably bound, DJ switched to devouring Shaun’s hole as Rake teased Shaun’s cock with his tongue. Shaun was a quivering mess by the time he came, and then Rake made him come twice more, just in case he hadn’t got the message the first time.

Shaun was loved. He was safe. Rake and DJ would do whatever he needed, even when he himself didn’t know what that was. And if that thing happened to be tying him up six ways from Sunday and wringing orgasm after orgasm out of him, then Shaun wasn’t about to start questioning their methods.

Over the following few nights, DJ offered a listening ear whenever Shaun needed to externalise his thoughts, whilst Rake provided ample diversions when he needed that instead.

When Shaun made his decision, he sat them both down on the sofa to deliver the news.

“I want to know what happened to my parents.”

They enveloped him in a suffocating hug. He’d never been more pleased to not need to breathe in his whole life. Being so cherished and cared for was still a novel experience, but it was becoming Shaun’s new normal.

Rake brought the folder through from wherever he’d been keeping it safe, placing it on the coffee table.

As Shaun opened the folder, he steeled himself for what he might read.

When he saw his parents had separate sub-folders, his stomach churned.

He opened the one with his dad’s name—Jason Forrester—first, as he thought it might be easier.

It took him a second to parse the information on the first document: a decree absolute.

“A divorce,” Shaun said, flipping to the next page and hoping there might be some mistake. But a print-out of a wedding announcement with a stranger’s name on it next to his dad’s had him sagging backwards.

Shaun scanned the information, reading aloud. “My dad got remarried to a woman named Heather Kilburn almost a decade ago. They have a kid together.” He double-checked the birth announcement. “A daughter. Iona. She’ll be eight soon. I…I have a half-sister.” He choked on the last words.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Rake said, pulling him close.

It took a long time before Shaun was ready to look at his mum’s file.

Another wedding announcement in the file marked ‘Laurie Walker’ made him feel both better and worse.

Given his mum’s age, it didn’t surprise him there were no new births.

But the information told him that her new partner, Robert Freeman, had two sons from a previous relationship. It floored Shaun.