by Zoey Marcel
“I am your prisoner! You’d rather I was dead!” She went hysterical.
Charlie saw an enormous mass of white only feet from them. Raw terror nearly blinded him as he shoved her to the ground to protect her. “Go! You can leave!”
He faced the charging animal and put his hand out, virtually blind and deaf in the tunnel of adrenaline. The buffalo stopped inches from his outstretched hand.
“She’s free.”
The animal exhaled, eyes becoming less luminous as it looked at Kendall.
Charlie glared at her. “What the fuck are you still doing here? Get out of here!”
“I’m so sorry about all this. It’s just—”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
The bison dwarfed the living hell out of both of them and it wasn’t leaving.
“I love you so much. I just—”
“Get in the motherfucking car!” Relief made him aware of the wobbling in his knees and the burn in his eyes when she obeyed. “Don’t you ever come back.”
His heart broke when she started to cry after he shut the door for her. When he glanced back over his shoulder as he started to walk away, he saw that the animal was gone.
Charlie walked back to town without looking back. He didn’t want to give her a reason to stay. He finally heard a car driving away. When the sound was long gone, he glanced back over his shoulder and saw that she was, too. His knees gave out and he fell forward on his hands in the middle of the road and cried.
Chapter Twenty
A month passed and the days all blurred together. Charlie blamed Kendall for leaving him, but he had no one to blame but himself as far as Quentin was concerned. His best friend had tried to comfort him, get intimate with him and encourage him to talk about his fucking feelings. Charlie had literally pushed him away. He ached for both of them, but she’d left him, hurt him again.
If he stayed with Quentin, the man would only end up ripping his heart out, too. Charlie had dumped his ass. Quentin had been pissed, but Charlie had seen the pain in his eyes. He’d told himself the man would get over him. No one would ever hurt him again.
Except Quentin was hurting him. Charlie scowled when he saw him walk into Bull’s Ass Saloon with his arm draped around some twink’s shoulder. Charlie had seen the guy before. It was Shelby, one of his past fuck buddies. He was surprised he remembered the younger man’s name. What the hell was he doing in town?
Charlie marched across the street and then barged into the saloon, scanning the place for Quentin. He found him sitting in a booth across from Shelby. Oh no, they didn’t.
Shelby grinned up at him when Charlie approached. “Hey, I remember you. Charlie, wasn’t it? We shared a couple of steamy nights together.”
Charlie gave him a caveman nod. “What the hell are you doing in town? Don’t you live in Sioux Falls?”
“I know people here. I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d see if I could find someone to show me a good time.” Shelby wiggled his eyebrows once and threw a flirtatious grin at Quentin before blowing a giant bubble with his purple gum.
Charlie wanted to thump his cocky ass and punch Quentin for moving on so damned quickly. He crossed his arms so he didn’t start the brawl his mind envisioned. “Quentin’s not up for grabs.”
“You’re mistaken, Charlie,” Quentin said coolly. “You ended our relationship. I’m a free man.”
“You don’t have to sound so excited about it.”
“I didn’t say I was.”
Shelby winked at him. “An hour with me and you will be.”
Quentin smiled.
Shelby blew Charlie a kiss. “Don’t feel bad. I’ll let you do me afterward if you want. I like all kinds of men. I’m even into role playing now. I had a one-night stand with this Irishman who wanted me to role play some guy he’s into. Plus, I’m into S&M if you want to beat my ass.”
“I’d like to,” Charlie snapped.
Shelby tittered. “I can’t remember if I told you I’m a masochist. I like it rough. Can you believe the most hardcore S&M I ever experienced was with this man I later found out was a preacher? I was all, ‘Oh my god, what did I do?’ I wasn’t sure whether to feel bad or aroused, so I just went with aroused. I haven’t heard from him in a while. I think he saw me that night in Sioux Falls at the gay bar with that Irish guy. Maybe the preacher thought I was done with him. I wish I knew his name. I’d go to his church and give him my number instead of these anonymous meetings. I mean, he gets brutal. It’s so hot.”
“I’m starting to remember why we only hooked up a couple of times,” Charlie muttered.
Shelby smirked. “You’re kind of a bastard, like that hot dude with the brogue. What was his name again?”
“Nobody gives a shit who you slept with in Ireland. Give it up, Quentin. I know you’re only doing this to make me jealous.”
“I’ve never been there,” Shelby said.
“I don’t care.”
Quentin looked at Charlie. His lips formed a straight, saucy line and his dark eyes were cutting. “How do you know I’m not doing this for me? What makes you think I haven’t moved on?”
The words were a knife in his heart. He’d lost Kendall. He couldn’t lose Quentin, too.
“I don’t believe you,” Charlie said quietly. He tried desperately to keep the misery out of his voice, but Quentin knew him better than he knew himself.
“I have been to France, though,” Shelby said. “I had this fling with a French guy. His wife walked in and I freaked because he didn’t tell me he was married, but then I found out that it was a game they played together. She loved coming home to him screwing men in their bed. No women, just men. Then he’d tie her up and make her watch while he fucked the guy. Afterward he always had sex with her and they let me watch. France is awesome.”
Charlie gave him a “What the fuck” look.
“Maybe it’s better this way,” Quentin said heartlessly. “You refused to give up women for me years ago and marry me. I shared you with women and stayed with you despite the fact that you would not do the one thing I asked. Perhaps Shelby here will be more accommodating.”
Charlie burned with anger and suffering. “You really think that twink wants to commit to you?”
“Whoa.” Shelby threw his hands up. “Slow down there, big guy. I’m still young. I’m all for a good time, but let’s not get carried away.”
“I wasn’t talking about commitment,” Quentin said coldly.
Charlie glanced the other way before throwing him a dirty look. “You son of a bitch, are you giving me an ultimatum?”
“I’m confused, Charlie. You don’t want to be vulnerable with me, yet you don’t want me to be with anyone else. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I know what this is. You want my ass or you fuck his. Is that it?”
Quentin seemed amused. “I didn’t say that.”
Shelby grinned. “Oh my god, you guys are in love? Two tops in a power struggle. That’s hot.”
Charlie shot a warning glance at him. “Beat it, kid.”
“Stay,” Quentin countered. “We’re not together anymore, Charlie. I’m free to be with whoever I want.”
“Goddamn it.” Charlie scrubbed his hand through his hair and then down his face. “You want my ass?”
Shelby wiggled his brows and Quentin look surprised when Charlie started undoing his belt buckle.
“Have it your way, asshole. You can fuck me right here on this table in front of everyone. Show everyone which of us is the real man.”
“There it is.”
Charlie stopped, realizing his mistake. He’d just given away the reason. He felt helpless and exposed beneath Quentin’s knowing stare.
Charlie’s father came up to him. “What the hell is the matter with you?”
Well, that was embarrassing. “Howdy, Dad. I didn’t know you were working here today.”
“Both of you take this outside. This is a saloon, not a brothel.”
Shelby smirked.
“How hot would that be?”
Hart Huntington gave him a questioning look. “Who the hell is this?” He held up a hand as he walked away. “I don’t want to know.”
“Well, you heard the man,” Charlie said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Shelby, I’m sorry I can’t stay. Charlie and I need to go somewhere and talk,” Quentin told him as he stood.
Charlie scoffed. “Talk, right.”
Shelby blew him a kiss and then hopped up. “No worries.” On his way out, he threw Charlie a teasing wink. “I think you’ll like it. Bottoming feels really good.”
“You’re trying my patience, kid.”
The guy laughed and walked out.
Quentin followed Charlie out of the saloon and over to the hotel together where Charlie paid for their room.
“He’s gonna fuck me up the ass. Isn’t that something?”
He didn’t know the woman’s name. She must be new. Her blush was obvious from behind the front desk. “I see.”
“It is all right if I pay, right?” Charlie sassed. “Or is that gonna deflate your manly ego?”
Quentin rolled his eyes and gave him a light shove. “Just keep walking.”
When they got to their room, Charlie undid his fly. “Let’s get this over with. You have lube with you?”
“I do.”
“Good. Want me to call you Sir like your little bitch?”
Quentin stood there watching him strip. “No, Charlie. I’ve never wanted that.”
“I’ll just bet you don’t.” Charlie had his shirt off and then toed off his cowboy boots. “What were you and that twink talking about before I showed up?”
“You.”
His head flew up. He sat down on the bed and took his socks off. “What about me?”
“The way you are. He said the times you fucked him you called him a bitch and a pussy. Why is that?”
“Shelby’s a masochist. He likes it.”
“He did, but I spoke with other men you slept with in the past. Some of them liked those names, but a few of them didn’t.”
Charlie paused. “What, did you just talk to every past fling and one-night stand I had?”
“Not all of them. You don’t call women names like that. Why do you insult the men you sleep with?”
He wanted to stop undressing to feel shielded, but that would be letting Quentin know that he felt susceptible. Charlie stood and pushed his jeans down, stepping out of them.
“It’s bedroom talk.”
“You’ve never called me those things.”
“You never let me top you.”
His fingers dipped into the waistband of his boxers. He had a smirk on his face, but the heavy silence drained it. He met Quentin’s piercing gaze and then averted his eyes with a sigh. The man had tricked him into a confession.
“You’re not fully accepting of yourself,” Quentin said.
“What the hell are you talking about? I’ve made out with you and other men in public plenty of times. I’m very openly bisexual, in case you missed all the signs.”
“Yet you never let any of them top you.”
Charlie shrugged. “So? Neither do you.”
He pushed his underwear down and played with himself to show the man that he had no power over him.
He realized his mistake when Quentin said, “The difference between us is that I still respect the men I sleep with afterward. I view them as men. You, on the other hand, call them degrading names so they never forget who the man is between the two of you.”
Fuck, why had he gotten undressed? To put his clothes back on now would inflate the hell out of Quentin’s ego. He hadn’t won. Charlie was still standing there naked, still in control.
“You never committed to women before Kendall, either. You cracked jokes about married men as if they were somehow emasculated by having feelings for someone. You referred to men who cried over someone as pussies behind their backs as if tears make a person weak.”
God, he almost got dressed again. Charlie approached the other man, keeping his air haughty. “Are you gonna fuck me or what?”
“Not if you won’t see yourself as a man afterward.”
“Quen, look at me. I’m all cock and testosterone. Nothing could make me feel like less of a man.”
Quentin’s expression turned cunning. “Then you won’t have a problem with me spanking you before I fuck you?”
Damn him.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed on him. “You don’t get it both ways. Either you spank my ass or you fuck me. Make your choice.”
“I’ll spank you.”
That surprised him. “Seriously? You’d rather beat my ass than penetrate it?”
“I would rather fuck you, but you need a spanking badly.”
He smirked. “All right then. Spank the hell out of me, but I’m not going into subspace, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I have no intention of being your Dom when you’re not a submissive.”
Charlie leaned over the bed. “Sure you don’t. What are you waiting for?”
Quentin pulled the belt out of his pants loops.
“Jesus, I didn’t realize you were that mad at me.”
“Would you like a safe word?”
“Don’t you fucking give me a safe word, you asshole. I told you I’m not your damned sub.”
“I never said you were. You’re simply bottoming for me. The safe word is because I respect you.”
Something about that made him feel cozy, guilty. “Go to hell.”
Quentin set the belt aside and then used his bare hand to slap Charlie’s ass. Charlie rolled his eyes. The spankings stung, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, and he sure as hell wasn’t going into subspace. He was stronger than that.
After a warm-up spanking and a few rubs on the bottom from Quen, Charlie was still doing just fine and unaffected by the intimacy. His best friend’s hand did feel good on his rump, though.
Quentin picked up the belt and then doubled it over. “Is your cock hard, Charlie?”
A shiver of lust rolled through him—because he was leaning over a bed naked. Not because Quentin was about to beat the hell out of him with a belt.
“Not a bit.” He groaned when Quentin reached around him and felt up his dick. He hadn’t known the man would check.
“You lied to me, Charlie.”
His traitorous penis leaped in the man’s hand, swelling and growing fatter beneath his palming.
“No talking,” Quentin instructed. “I want you silent and obedient while I show you who’s boss.”
Charlie felt a torrid mixture of arousal and concern. “Taunt all you want to, Quen. I’m still the boss.”
He winced when the man whacked his ass with the belt. Damn, it stung like crazy.
“I said no talking.”
The sternness in his best friend’s voice had his erection tightening with need. He was glad Quentin had moved his hand away and hadn’t felt it move. His body was way too responsive to this.
Charlie kept quiet through the hot, painful belting. He grunted and flinched at the sharp stings, but he was still the man.
Fucking Quen occasionally rubbed his sore ass, soothing away the pain and making his cock throb intensely. There was something thrilling about taking pain for the man, something intimate about feeling Quentin’s big hand brush against his backside and gently massage his inflamed skin.
Warm air rushed from his nostrils and mouth when Quentin reached around to cup his balls. He fondled Charlie’s sac, sending exhilarating pleasure through him. Pre-cum leaked from his cockhead. He damned near begged for the man to jack him off, but he wasn’t going there. He begged no one. It was what separated the men from the pansies.
“Feel good?” Quentin whispered against his neck.
Charlie shivered when the man kissed him there. “I don’t hate it.”
“Do you want me to play with your clit?”
Sensation and anger burned through him when Quentin
’s hand moved up to his pounding dick. “You bastard.”
“But, Charlie, isn’t that what you said to the other men?”
He cursed his cock for growing bigger in Quen’s grasp. “Fine, it was a dick thing to say to someone. You happy?”
“Only if you really mean it.”
“I do mean it. Now would you just finish spanking me already?”
“If I spank you any more, you’ll go into headspace.”
Charlie snorted. “You couldn’t get me there if you tried. Keep belting me. It’s never gonna happen. I’m a top.”
A note of challenge hovered in Quentin’s tone. “As you wish.”
Charlie was all about taunting the man, but there was a deeper part of him that enjoyed the pain and subjugation on some primal level. It didn’t really feel masculine or feminine. It simply was—a primitive carnality that he craved from Quentin, while he wanted the exact opposite with Kendall.
Nasty stings and ferocious slaps hammered his ass. Charlie took it all, feeling calmer by the minute. Quen’s hand on his tenderized bottom drove a surge of wildness into his cock. He needed it so fucking bad.
He heard the faint jingle of the buckle when the man dropped the belt to the floor. The sound of a cap opening followed. A heartbeat later, cold slickness touched Charlie’s anus. He gasped and his hole tightened up around Quentin’s finger.
“Shh.” The man peppered a line of kisses up his spine, finishing at his neck. “You like my fingers inside you.”
Charlie moaned. When Quentin stuck another finger up inside him, his eyes closed and he sank deeper onto the mattress. His fingers curled against the covers when Quen began to rub his prostate. Sharp electricity scattered from the gland.
“I’m going to fuck you, Charlie. You want that.”
He whimpered. He fucking whimpered when the man tickled his prostate faster and fisted his erection. Disappointment and lingering pleasure swarmed through him when Quentin’s fingers retreated from his hole and he moved his hand away from Charlie’s groin.
He heard movement behind him. Charlie wasn’t sure if Quentin’s clothes were coming off or if the belt was going back into his pants loops.