by CJ Bishop
“Forget it.” Dane’s nerves were riding the surface of his skin, making him jumpy, shaky. Sudden images exploded through his head of him and Angel touching and rubbing, their bodies pressed close, rocking in perfect rhythm. A shuddered breath escaped him before he could suppress it and he cleared his throat, raking anxious fingers through his hair. “I’m not a dance instructor. Why is he even here if he can’t fucking dance?”
Losing a smidge of his humor, Cole looked at him more seriously. “And why are you being such a dick to the kid? He’s sweet, and beautiful, and amazing. You might see that if you weren’t so fucking determined not to fall for him. So get off your fucking high horse and help the boy out.”
At a loss for words, Dane just stared at him. It wasn’t often that Cole got truly serious with his friends, but when he did–it was wise to listen up. Still, Dane wasn’t ready for this. In truth, he was afraid to touch Angel the way Ricky was doing. He liked to tell himself he wasn’t out of his mind for the guy, but he was nevertheless aware that one intimate touch and he would be gone, falling fast and hard over that ledge with no idea how close the bottom lay. It isn’t the fall that’ll kill you, baby–it’s the sudden stop.
Shaking his head slowly, Dane whispered, “I can’t. Sorry.” His throat was closing and he didn’t know why. He only knew he had to get out of sight of Angel and the effect those pure eyes were having on him.
***
The stinky bastard that Cole and Trevor had kicked out of the club–was sitting in the small dank kitchen of Angel’s apartment when he got home sometime past midnight. He froze in place, the door half open. Wade and Axel sat around the table with him, drinking, their voices rising in laughter. It wasn’t even so much the unexpected presence of the filthy customer that made Angel want to puke–but Maddy in the midst of them. And that fucker’s hands on him.
“Hey!” Angel slammed the door loud and hard, demanding their attention in an instant. “Get your fucking hands off him!” He rushed into the kitchen and grabbed Maddy, pulling him away from the men. There was a tremor in the boy’s body though he said nothing. “Go to your room, Maddy.” He said anxiously, knowing exactly why this bastard was here. When the kid hurried away, Angel turned enraged eyes on Wade. “We had a deal. No one touches Maddy.” He choked. “No one.”
“Calm down.” Wade smirked and downed a gulp of beer. “We didn’t hurt the little fucker. Our friend here was just having a look-see.”
“Keep Maddy out of it.” Angel said thickly, fiercely. “Completely.”
“Or what?” Axel snorted. “You gonna blast us with fairy dust?” He looked at the other guy and they both laughed.
“You said you would leave Maddy alone.” Angel told Wade.
“We are.” Wade assured with a crooked grin. “The boy don’t go on the market unless you come off.”
Angel swallowed hard, flicking a quick look at the thick man sizing him up. “Why is he here?” he spoke low, unsteady. “How did you even meet…?”
“You think I don’t keep tabs on you?” Wade smiled dryly. “The front doors were wide open, I saw your faggot friends kick this poor guy out, when all he wanted was a little fun like everyone else.” He scooted up in his chair. “So I offered him a discount off your five hundred dollar ass.”
“Fuck.” Axel chuffed and shook his head. “Five hundred bucks. No one’s gonna pay that for your skinny ass.”
Whenever possible, Angel ignored the moron and focused on Wade. “You said if I landed a job at the Phoenix, then…” He glanced quick at the other man. “Then I didn’t have to do this anymore.”
“Well I kind of thought you would actually be bringing in more cash.” Wade pointed out. “But so far…we ain’t seein’ much.”
“I told you.” Angel said tightly, quietly, “This weekend should bring in a lot of high paying customers. I’ll get some money then.”
Axel slapped the table and Angel jumped. “We need it now. Tonight.” He swept his hand over the table. “We need beer. And weed. We can’t wait till this weekend, dumb shit.”
“He’s right.” Wade said. “We’re out of stuff right now. So unless you got a wad of cash stuffed in that crotch, ‘fraid you’re gonna have to get it for us other ways.” He arched an eyebrow. “You got cash on you now?”
Angel trembled. “No.” he whispered.
Glancing at their guest, Wade held out his hand. The man snorted and dug out a small bundle of stained bills and slapped them into Wade’s palm. “Two hundred?” Wade inquired.
“Ayuh.” The guy grunted then stood up. Angel backed away instinctively, though he knew it was futile to retreat. “So go get dressed for the occasion, baby.” The man told him. “And turn on the music.” He grabbed his crotch through his baggy pants. “Wanna be good and hard when I tap that ass.”
His breath quick and stomach churning, Angel nodded silently and left the kitchen to dress down, wondering if real hell could possibly be any worse than his private hell right here in this apartment.
Chapter Six
Demons in My Mind
The club owner was fat and sweaty, his hair shoulder length and stringy. He shoved some leather garb at the boy. “Put this on.” He smirked around the butt of a cigar. “We got a special show tonight, see what you’re made of.” He turned away, pulled out his wallet and began stacking bills in the hand of a third man. “Half now, half after the show. If the boy don’t perform, you don’t get the rest.”
“He’ll perform.” The guy assured then looked hard at the boy. “Won’t you?”
The boy nodded silently, eyes filled with tears. He struggled to pull them back but they refused to recede. He wasn’t stupid; he knew what was going to happen tonight.
When the two men left, he broke and cried as he slowly undressed and tried to figure out how the leather outfit was supposed to go on. It mainly consisted of a black leather G-string, leather choker with silver studs and matching bracelets. The choker and bracelets had metal half rings. To complete the outfit was a black leather mask that covered his eyes.
Less than twenty minutes later, he was ushered to the rear entrance of the small stage and shoved through the curtain. The dingy club was packed with sweaty, horny men–some old enough to be his grandfathers, most old enough to be his fathers. When they saw him, whistles and catcalls exploded through the confined area, vile remarks were slung at him. He tried to close his ears but there was just no way to block them out. He struggled to swallow the sobs piling in his throat.
Standing near the pole in the center of the stage were two other performers. Both dressed much like the boy, one gripping a leather whip in his right hand. Their faces were covered with a black leather mask, giving them an ominous look. They were both lean and muscular, bodies glistening with oil and sweat. As the boy approached hesitantly, the guy with the whip stepped back as the second man took hold of his wrists and raised his hands above his head, up the pole. Straps hung down from above with clips on the ends. The man snapped the clips onto the half rings of the leather bracelets, securing the boy’s hands in place.
Tremors rushed through him and the tears broke loose, seeping out around the mask and down his cheeks. The guy holding the whip pressed up close behind him, a prominent bulge to his crotch as it pushed snug against his bare ass. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and choked on a swell of sobs. The tail of the leather whip slithered around his body slowly as the guy’s concealed face pressed close to his ear. A hard sob escaped the boy and he pushed his forehead against the cool metal pole, shaking.
***
“Angel?” Maddy whispered, fear in his quiet voice.
Huddled up against the cold wall, Angel curled into a ball, shaking, trying to keep his cries as silent as possible, not wanting Maddy to hear. But the boy crawled from his mattress to Angel’s bed and touched his shoulder tentatively.
“Angel?” Tears thickened Maddy’s voice. Angel was all he had and he knew it scared the boy when he cried, showed weakness.
Angel
pressed up closer to the wall, his body hurting from the sleazy man’s forceful fucking from earlier. “I’m okay, Maddy.” He choked softly. “Go back to bed.”
The boy didn’t move. “Why do you let them?”
“I have to, Maddy.” He whispered thickly.
“Why?” Maddy cried quietly.
He had never told his little brother all the details, but he was getting older and beginning to demand answers. “I just do.” Angel trembled. “Go to bed.”
The mattress springs popped as Maddy retreated and crawled back onto his own bed. “I hate them.” Angel didn’t know if he was talking to him, or just thinking out loud, but the whispered words hung heavy in the dark bedroom. “I wish they would all die.”
Angel stared at the wall, paint chipped and cracked, behind which rats scuttled and squeaked, scuffling breaking out now and then. Warm tears dripped onto his case-less pillow that didn’t smell very good.
So do I, Maddy…so do I.
***
“Do you really think Dane’s aversion to Angel stems from the whole thing with Caleb?” Gabe lay stretched out on the bed, without a stitch of clothes on, strong legs loosely open and advertising his stiff erection. With his fingertips, he absently petted the underside of his thick cock as he watched Cole shed his clothes and, lastly, unfasten his wrist watch.
“I thought it was.” Cole dropped the watch onto the night stand then crawled onto the bed and straddled Gabe. He rubbed his hands over the man’s hard, rippled stomach then on up his chest. “But I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t more to it. He really cared about Caleb, but he pretty much knew right from the start that Caleb wasn’t available to him.”
A soft groan squeezed tight inside Gabe’s throat as Cole pushed his ass down against his hard cock. He reached over and fumbled in the night stand drawer then brought back a small bottle of lube.
“In a hurry?” Cole grinned.
“Fuck.” Gabe groaned again and squirted a glob of the clear gel into his palm.
Cole chuckled and scooted off him as the man coated his member, wiped his hand on the sheet then grabbed Cole’s hips and pulled him back up over the top of him. “Fuck.” Cole gasped when he was penetrated by Gabe’s thick, solid rod.
“Oh shit.” Gabe exhaled hard and pushed his hips up, burying himself deeper inside Cole’s tight cave.
“God!” Cole squeezed Gabe’s chest fiercely, fingers gouging into the thick muscle, back arched as his breath panted out of him. “Fuck, man…what’s got you so fucking hard tonight?”
“Is that a complaint I hear?” A strained smile curved Gabe’s lips, his face tight with tension as he administered a few short jabs, working himself all the way in and causing Cole yell a little.
“No…not…complaining.” Cole groaned between clenched teeth. “Just wondering…so I’ll know…what to do every night to get you like this.”
Grinning, Gabe pushed Cole’s hands off his chest and sat forward, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist. “Just get naked for me,” he kissed him hard. “And I’m good to go.”
Cole chuckled, nodded and kissed him back with as much ferocity, moving his hips, rocking and swirling with a quickened rhythm until Gabe’s fingers were gouging into his back and he panted into his mouth. Their kiss burst apart with loud gasps from them both. The bed shuddered and bounced as Gabe got into rhythm as well and fucked Cole with vigor.
“Fuck!” Cole shouted then landed on his back as Gabe shoved them over onto the foot of the bed and fucked him urgently. “Yes! God! Fuck me, baby! Harder!”
Pushing up on his arms, Gabe drove his cock into him, using all the strength of his hips and lower abdomen to deliver the thrusts. Cole grabbed his hard ass and squeezed as the man’s cheeks flexed in his hands with each slam of his body.
“Holy fuck!” Gabe grunted, sweat beading up all across the surface of his skin, breath puffing and panting as he pounded Cole relentlessly.
“Uuhh!!” Cole’s head dropped back over the end of the bed, legs bent and heels grinding into the mattress as he thrust himself onto Gabe’s cock. His fingers dug into the man’s ass, gripping desperately, pulling the guy into him hard. “Fuck! I’m gonna fucking come!” His cock throbbed and leaked, sandwiched between his and Gabe’s hard stomachs, the friction of their forceful fucking propelling him towards a mind shattering orgasm.
Gabe pulled him back up then dropped onto his back so Cole was riding him again. His rock hard erection smacked against Gabe’s rippled abs as he bounced on the man’s cock with urgency, clutching Gabe’s chest again. The bed knocked loudly against the wall, rattling shit on the night stand, threatening to toss the lamp to the floor. Cole didn’t give a fuck. The entire fucking house could crash down around them at that moment and it wouldn’t faze him as he fucked his lover to a forceful orgasm.
“Fuu-uuck!!” Gabe yelled, choking on the wail spiraling up his throat. He fucked Cole harder, ass lifting off the bed as he burst inside him. His fingers pinched Cole’s hips fiercely and his thrusts turned erratic.
Cole’s mind squeezed and threatened to crack as cum began to squirt from his cock head, a little at first then his full load. “Fuuuck! Uuuhh!!” Gabe grabbed his dick and pumped him furiously, working out his orgasm. “Shit! Fuck, Gabe! Yes…oh my god…oh fuck…that feels so fucking good…” He gasped for air as his body remained locked, tense, as Gabe’s perfect hand slid up and down his shaft until he began to relax a little and soften in his fist. “Holy shit.” Cole fell onto the bed next to Gabe, hand plastered on his heaving chest, sucking for air.
“So…” Gabe panted hard, exhaustion weighing his eyelids. “About Dane…”
Cole chuckled and sucked in a deep breath, releasing it with force. “I think he’s afraid to admit he’s falling for Angel.” He released another hard breath and looked at Gabe. “I just don’t know why.”
Grinning, Gabe rubbed the back of his fingers down Cole’s damp, hot cheek. “Me neither.” He breathed hard. “Being in love is fucking great.”
***
The clock above the bar read 5:36 a.m.
The club was silent, most of the lights turned out, the front doors locked. Dane grabbed himself a beer and sat on a stool, his back to the bar as he stared distantly at the stage. Behind his eyes, he saw Ricky and Angel up there, going through the motions. In these quiet, dark hours of the morning, he was able to admit to himself that his animosity towards Ricky was misplaced. The guy could only teach Angel what he knew, but it twisted Dane’s guts with nausea to watch Angel dance that way. He didn’t know why–they all did to some degree. They were strippers, for fuck’s sake. Their dance wasn’t supposed to be clean.
So why–when Caleb had performed–had Dane merely found it exciting and hot? But when Angel began to dance with the same moves…he wanted to drag him off the stage and hide him away?
He thought about Cole’s words, his suggestion for Dane to teach Angel a more sensual style of dancing. He wanted to, he couldn’t deny that anymore. But that something was still there, holding him back. He didn’t understand what it was, but felt like he should know. Yet when he reached for it, tried to analyze it–it evaded his touch and hid in the shadows of his mind. Sometimes it felt ominous and filled his heart with an irrational fear. Other times, it formulated an ache so fierce and painful he wanted to cry and scream. And still, he didn’t understand it. Didn’t know from where it stemmed.
Or why it flared up each and every time Angel looked in his eyes.
It almost felt as if…he didn’t believe he deserved to be loved by the boy.
The back door clicked and opened, then closed again. Dane glanced towards the rear entryway. Quiet footsteps walked down the narrow hall then Max appeared in the doorway, clearly startled to see Dane at the bar.
“You’re here awful early.” Max came over to the bar.
Dane twisted back around and set the beer bottle on the bar top. “Actually,” he murmured. “I’m here awful late.”
Frowning, Max
took the stool next to him. “You’ve been here all night?” Dane nodded. Max shook his head. “Why?”
“Didn’t feel like going home.” He licked his lips and let out a slow breath, then looked at the older man. “Ever feel that way? Like there’s nothing to go home to?”
Dragging his hand over his mouth, Max nodded slowly and whispered, “Every damn night.”
Dane twisted the bottle on the bar, eyes blank. “Do you think I should give Angel dance lessons?” he asked quietly, distantly.
Max sighed and stood up, slid his arm across Dane’s shoulder and kissed his cheek. “I think you should listen to your heart.” He murmured, then walked away towards his office.
Twisting his head around, Dane watched him go. Maybe you should take your own advice, boss.
Chapter Seven
In The Shadows of Hell
He couldn’t decide if the mild shock on Max’s face was a good shock or a bad one. “Horatio.”
Horatio closed the office door behind him. He had said he would try to comply with Max’s wishes, and stay away. But he’d also told him he wasn’t making any promises. And what Max truly wished for wasn’t the things he spoke aloud.
“I thought you were…overseas.” Max remained seated behind his desk as if it served as a barrier to keep Horatio at bay. His eyes were evasive and rarely met Horatio’s gaze for more than seconds at a time.
“I was.” Horatio sat down on the sofa and poured himself a drink. “And now I’m back.”
“Why are you…here?” Max asked anxiously.
Shrugging, Horatio sipped the drink. “Just thought I’d check in and see how things were going with your boy.”
Max frowned, momentarily puzzled, then nodded. “Caleb? Things…seem to be going well.” He finally stood up and came out from behind the desk. “And, again, thank you for your help.”