Seducing the President's Son Ch. 04

"I know," I said. "Get in, the water's hot."

I helped Colin up and into the bathtub, aiming the showerhead over his body. I grabbed a bar of soap and began to wash away the dirt, grime, and blood from his body.

"Ah-" Colin winced as I ran my hands over his stomach. I could see deep, dark bruises around his ribs. He looked awful, but I didn't think he had any internal bleeding.

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked me. "When you told him you loved me?"

I washed Colin's back, kneading his dense muscle with my hands. "No. I just said that so he would stop hitting you."

He turned and grabbed my wrist, causing the soap to fall out of my hands. The look in his eyes took my breath away.

"No you didn't," he said.

"No," I said quietly. "I didn't."

He was still holding my wrist as the water rained down on us, washing the soap off of his body. He was staring so intently at me that I couldn't help but look away. He grabbed me with his other hand, pulling my naked body against his. I could feel him growing hard against me as his hand slid down in between my cheeks.

Colin ran his fingers along my crevice, searching for my hole. I moaned as he found it, feeling his finger slip inside me and sending shivers along my spine.

"I know you, Zachary Nelson," he said to me, kissing me softly on the neck. "I know how to touch you..."

He slid his finger in deeper, causing me to cry out.

"...how to kiss you..."

He put his lips on mine, his tongue fighting, insisting its way into my mouth. I put my hand on his chest, running my fingers down his abs.

God, those fucking abs. They were like kryptonite. How was I supposed to hold my ground when they were there, just staring me in the face?

Colin broke the kiss, leaving me wanting more. "And I know how to make you cum," he said.

He reached down with his right hand and grabbed my cock, stroking it. I braced myself against the shower wall, my body responding to his touch. Colin leaned forward and began kissing my neck, pushing me up closer against the wall. He stroked me faster with his right hand, his left hand still fingering me from behind.

I put my hands on his head, holding him against me as he pleasured me. I was so mad at him, so angry, so hurt... but I didn't want him to stop. His touch felt so good, especially after the past two days of being frightened and alone. As long as he was touching me, I didn't care about what was going to happen to me. All I wanted was to be here with him and allow him to take me far, far away with his touch.

My breathing grew faster as I got close to cumming. Colin began sucking on my neck, thrusting his hard cock up against me like a horny dog and rubbing me up against the wall as the water streamed over us. His finger was hitting a spot in me that was so deep and so good that I felt like I was going to pass out.

I had never met a man so good at giving me pleasure as Colin. That was the thing that had surprised me the most from his confession. For a straight guy who was absolutely terrified of gay sex, Colin had been the most passionate lover I'd ever had. Sex with him was so intimate, so exciting... even just a kiss or a touch set my skin on fire.

Even now, bruised and dirty and trapped in this nightmarish compound in the Mexican jungle, Colin was able to bring me to orgasm in little more than a minute. My breathing came out in small, sharp bursts as I came all over Colin's hand. He moved his lips up to kiss me on the mouth, still stroking me slowly as I came down from my orgasm.

I jumped as I heard a bang from the door. "Time's up!"

Colin smiled at me, then kissed me softly on the lips. He reached over and turned off the faucet, cringing as he lifted his leg to step over the tub and onto the bathroom floor. He grabbed a towel and handed it to me to dry off.

"Zach?" he said as I was toweling myself off. "Can I ask you something?"

I turned to see him standing naked in front of me. The light of the rising sun streamed out of the small window behind him, making him look like a Greek god. Jesus, he was so goddamn beautiful.

"Do you think... you'll be able to forgive me?"

I sighed. "I don't know," I said honestly. "I don't want you dead, but... I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget what you did."

He gritted his teeth and nodded.

After we got dried off and put our clothes back on, the guard led us back down to the basement. As he shut the door behind us, Colin limped over to sit on the ground in the corner.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm gonna try and get some more sleep," he said.

I sighed. I walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

"Don't be stupid. Come share the cot with me."

He smiled, then hobbled over to the cot. He laid down behind me, pulling the covers over us. I fought the urge to grab his arm and pull it around me.

Despite our entanglement in the shower, I couldn't just forgive him for what he'd done. The pain still felt so deep inside me it felt like it would tear me apart. I knew I didn't want Colin to get hurt, but I couldn't bring myself to say that I could ever trust him again.

"I love you too, Zach," I thought I heard him say quietly as I slipped off to sleep.

____________________

I woke up to a stabbing sensation in my ribs.

"Get up. Dominus wants to see you," said the man with the gun. He prodded me in the stomach again.

"All right, I'm coming. Jesus," I said, climbing to my feet.

Colin sat up, glaring at the man. "Where are you taking us?"

"Not you. Just him," he said.

"He's not going anywhere without me."

"It's fine," I said, pulling on my shirt. "He won't do anything to me, will he?"

The man gripped his gun tighter, saying nothing.

"Lead the way," I said.

He walked over to the door and unlocked it. Colin gave me a small smile goodbye before I followed the man out into the hallway. He led me up the stairs and into the living room, where two men were setting up a light stand and a camera facing towards the couch. It was silly, really, almost like they were prepping to film me for an Oprah interview or something.

"Come with me and get dressed," said a voice behind me.

I turned to see a man holding a garment bag. I did a double-take when I realized I recognized him. Where had I seen him before?

I felt a nudge from behind me. "Get a move on," said the guard.

I walked towards the man with the garment bag and followed him towards the front hallway. I suddenly realized where I had seen him before: it was at that weird event Colin took me to for his cult. This was Jeff, his friend who had done stand up that night. The one who Colin said had betrayed him.

Jeff opened the door of a small walk-in closet and beckoned me in. I took the garment bag from him and walked in.

He walked in after me and closed the door behind us.

"Uh, a little privacy?" I said.

"Dominus has said you're not supposed to be left alone after that stunt you pulled last night," said Jeff.

I rolled my eyes, then hung the garment bag up to unzip it.

"You just do whatever he says, don't you? Kidnapping, murder-"

"I've never killed anyone," said Jeff.

"No. You just betrayed one of your best friends," I said.

"Just put the clothes on," Jeff said, his face betraying no emotion.

I unzipped the garment bag to reveal a polo shirt and a pair of khakis. "I thought the point of this video was to prove to this guy that I'm actually me," I said.

"Your point?"

"Well, I wouldn't be caught dead in this. It's so basic. Don't you at least have anything with any color?"

"Put the clothes on now. Dominus is going to be downstairs any minute."

I began unbuttoning my shirt, relieved to be given new clothes (even if they were as hideous as this).

"At least tell me something, Jeff," I said, pulling off my shirt. "What is it that's so great about Dominus, huh? You said you'd jump off a cliff for him, not that I can see why. He must have done something to inspire such loyalty in you."

"Dominus is a great man," said Jeff, staring blankly at me as I pulled on the polo shirt.

"Yeah, so I hear," I said. "Yet I'm not hearing anything that's overriding the whole "kidnapping and human trafficking thing".

I unbuttoned my pants and started removing them.

"He saved my life," said Jeff. "He brought me back."

I raised an eyebrow. "From what?"

Jeff looked at me for a moment, as if debating whether or not to say any more. Finally he spoke again.

"My sister died. When I was 16 and she... she was only 10."

I watched Jeff silently as he spoke softly.

"I had just gotten my license, and we were going for a ride to the store, I was gonna buy her something... Somebody hit us. She died."

"Jesus," I said. I stopped changing and listened to him as he continued.

"I blamed myself. For years. I told myself that it was my fault, that I should have been the one who died... but Dominus helped me see that I was wrong. It wasn't my fault. That was just my guilt talking, limiting me. It was my own fucking internal limitations that were keeping me from living my life. I wasn't a bad person."

"No," I said. "You weren't."

He stared at me, his face registering the first thing approximating an actual emotion that I'd seen today.

"But what about now?" I asked.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think she would think of you now? You think that she would be proud of you? Proud that her big brother sold out his best friend to be killed?"

Jeff swallowed, his face growing cold again. "Colin made his own decisions."

"Yeah, and so did you," I said. "I get that Dominus helped you and that makes you feel loyal to him. But you don't owe him anything. You look at Dominus as this savior because of what he's done for you, but ask yourself: is it worth it? Is it worth a human life?"

Jeff stared at me, his eyes darting back and forth between mine.

I put my hand gently on his. "Please, Jeff. You're a good guy. You can still undo this. Just help me and Colin get out of here."

He ripped his hand away from me. "Get dressed. NOW."

My heart sank. Jeff was too far gone to be of any use to me or Colin. It suddenly made me feel grateful for Colin. At least he had recognized the insanity of what was going on here, even if he wasn't quite convinced Ecclesium was a cult. And he had come back for me, even though he'd put his own life in danger.

I pulled the khakis on and tucked in my shirt. There was a comb in the garment bag, which I used to comb my hair into some semblance of a style. I chuckled at the absurdity of it all. What on earth was I trying to make myself look good for?

When I had finished, Jeff opened the door and followed me out. We walked back into the main room to find Dominus standing there talking to the man behind the camera.

"Make sure to get him nice and close. We want them to be able to verify it's him through facial recognition software."

He turned and opened his arms to beckon me over. "Zachary, you look wonderful. Very sharp. Go ahead and have a seat in front of the camera."

I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster, then took a seat on the couch directly opposite the camera.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Dominus?" asked Jeff.

I rolled my eyes. God, he was like a mindless puppy, eager to please.

"That'll be all for now, Jeff. I'll come and find you when we're through here."

Jeff nodded, then turned and left the room.

Dominus turned to me.

"You don't get stage fright, right?"

"I'm a fucking public figure," I said dryly. "Of course not."

Dominus clapped his hands together. "Great! So, this is going to be super simple. You only have one line."

"Let me guess: I'm Zach Nelson, son of the President. Who wants to start the bidding at a billion dollars?"

Dominus laughed. "That's a good one! Oh, now I'm wishing we could have written that instead. No, it's not quite that, I'm afraid."

He nodded at the man standing next to the camera. The man picked up a cue card that read, "MY NAME IS ZACH NELSON. I'M THE SON OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BUY ME AND YOU BUY YOURSELF THE EAR OF THE PRESIDENT."

I felt a pit in my stomach. I could feel my hands beginning to shake with rage. The insanity of all of this finally felt like it was sinking in. I wasn't even sure if I could do this anymore. My face turned red as I began to cry.

"Oh, come on," said Dominus. "Stiff upper lip. You don't want to look all puffy on camera."

"Fuck you," I spat out.

One of the guards stepped forward with his hand raised to strike me. Dominus lifted his hand to wave him off.

"We can't have you in anything less than perfect condition for the buyer. But that doesn't mean that I can't bring your boyfriend up here to get the shit beat out of him. Is that what you want?"

I glared at him. I had never felt so much hatred for a human being before. If I had thought that I could kill him before one of the guards got to me, I would have done it right then and there.

I wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Just roll the cameras," I said.

Dominus nodded at the man behind the camera. The man leaned down and looked into the camera, adjusting it to my height. I stared into the lens. I had given so many interviews, been on camera so many times since I was a kid that it felt completely natural. But it took everything in me not to let my face tremble.

"5, 4, 3..." said the man, putting up two fingers, then one. He pointed at me.

"My name is Zach Nelson," I said, reading from the cue card in a neutral voice. I took a deep breath. "I'm the son of the President of the United States. Buy me and you buy the ear of the President."

I stared at my reflection in the cold black lens. I had never looked so small and frightened before. I felt like a scared little boy again, back in high school with all the bullies and the bullshit. The kind of weak person I told myself I would never be again. The kind of person who would try to take his own life.

The only difference was that I didn't want to die this time. I wanted to survive.

Dominus clapped loudly, startling me. "Wow, one-take wonder!" he said. "You did great, Zach. Once we send this off to the buyer it should only be a matter of days before you're off on the next chapter of your journey."

"Can you take me back downstairs, now?" I said quietly.

"Of course. But you will join me for dinner tonight."

That wasn't a question, I noticed as the guard stood me up and walked me out of the room towards the back hallway. With every step I took down the stairs, I could feel my composure beginning to break. By the time he unlocked the door and ushered me inside the room, I was in tears.

Colin stood up from the cot, staring at me with a look of fear on his face as the door slammed behind me. "Zach... are you okay?" he asked as I rushed towards him, tears streaming down my face.

I held him tightly, letting out huge, racking sobs into his chest. Colin rubbed my back, holding me against him as he gently swayed from side to side. I sobbed loudly, letting go of all of the fear and the anger and the emotion I'd felt over the last few days. I didn't care about my composure, didn't care about anything but letting everything out into the open.

Colin held me through all of it, rubbing my head softly, squeezing me in a hug, kissing the top of my head to try and comfort me. When I finally let go of him, my face was streaked with tears and my eyes were red and puffy.

"Did he... did he hurt you?" Colin asked me gravely.

I shook my head. "No," I said.

"Then what is it?" Colin asked, putting his hand against my cheek.

My lower lip trembled. "I don't wanna die," I said.

His face began to shake, his eyes turning glassy. He clenched his jaw and put both hands on my face.

"You are not going to die," he said. "I am going to get you out of here if it is the last thing I do."

"But you're the reason I'm here," I said, my face crumpling. I didn't want to say it, but I couldn't help myself.

His face fell. He lowered his hands from my face but didn't look away from me.

"How am I supposed to forget that?" I asked. "I want to forgive you, but I just can't. You did this to me, Colin. I trusted you to hold my heart and you betrayed me. You brought me to him and now I'm going to die and it's all because of this fucking cult."

"Zach-"

"And don't tell me it's not a cult, Colin. It's got all of the classic cult signs, for Christ's sake! Telling you to doubt your own intuition, making you see everyone outside the group as an enemy, this bizarre loyalty to your leader..."

Colin stared at me as my words washed over him.

"I get that there's good in your group," I continued. "Of course there is, otherwise you wouldn't have joined in the first place. But they used that goodness to manipulate you and to get you to do things you never would have done otherwise."

Colin's eyes darted back and forth as he considered what I said. I put my hand on his. He looked up at me, his eyes full of shame.

"There's a lot that makes sense of what Dominus says," I said softly. "He's a very skilled man, Colin, very good at getting to the root of people's issues and helping them move past it. But he manipulates them in the process, using them to achieve his own ends. And once you've bought into it, once you've credited him with being the savior who has all the answers, then you'll do whatever he says, no matter how outlandish. But it's all bullshit."

I stared at him desperately, willing him to listen to sense. I had no idea if he was too far gone to truly see things for what they were. But I knew I had to try.

"You're right," he said after a moment. "I know that Dominus isn't the man I thought he was. That much is obvious. It's just..."

He put his head in his hands, his face screwing up in pain.

"it's hard to accept that this was all a lie. That the last 5 years of my life, I've just been a mindless weapon for Dominus to use. I mean, Jesus, Zach..."

He looked up at me, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I think about all of the people that left, that I cut off completely because Dominus told me that they were apostates... And then I think about the people that I brought in, the ones who are still in there, who have no idea what Ecclesium is. I'm responsible for that!"

He stared at me sadly, his hand brushing my cheek. "And I'm responsible for you..."

"No," I said, pulling his hand down. "You're not responsible. Not really. I mean, yes, you did it, but you didn't know what you were doing. You were being manipulated. I mean, hell, you were straight and yet Dominus managed to trick you into fucking me."

Colin looked at me, taken aback. "That's not true," he said. "He didn't make me fuck you."

I rolled my eyes. "You literally just told me an hourlong story last night about how he forced you to seduce me."

Colin shook his head, which made me start to grow angry.

"Don't shake your head at me! That is what happened, he made you go out with me and told you to have sex with me. You told me that, don't deny it now."

"Yes, but I... that's not what was happening in my brain at the time," said Colin.

I scoffed. "Colin-"

"No, let me say this," said Colin. He was looking at me with those puppy dog eyes again.

"You have to understand, when I kissed you... it was because I wanted to. Because I was attracted to you. I told you, I kissed you before I even knew what I was doing. Something inside me just clicked. I never did anything physical with you that I didn't 100% want to do."

He reached out his hand and grabbed mine.

"The lying I did because Dominus told me to. And I did it with a pit in my stomach, with something deep inside screaming out at me that deceiving you was wrong. But when I was with you, in that way... that was all me, Zach."

I stared at him, biting my lip to keep it from trembling. "What if this is all just a fluke?" I said.