City Knight 04 - Knights Out (CMS) (MM)

by T. A. Webb

  Knights Out

  By T.A. Webb

  Dedication

  This one is for my mom. Turning 52 while writing this made me remember all the “Happy birthdays” I got, and how I miss them now. Love you.

  Chapter 1

  “Marcus.”

  He rolled over, burying his head under the pillow, and ignored the voice.

  “Marcus.”

  Maybe he could groan and fake Benjamin out. He could always whimper and act like his chest was bothering him and get a sympathy pass. Maybe even a morning blow job. Anything but having to—

  “Marcus, if you don’t get your ass up and answer your phone, you will never taste real bacon again. And I’ll ban you from Chances Are burgers for the rest of your natural life.”

  His hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed his cell, sliding a finger across the front until he hit Answer. No fucking way was he losing bacon and a medium rare bundle of heaven. In fact, if he could get this call answered, convince Benjamin to play around some, and hit the shower, maybe he could talk his lover into getting out and visiting Chance and the guys. And if it happened at Chances Are, and lunch was involved…well, who could blame a man, right?

  “Marcus here. And it better be damned important.”

  A slight pause, then a familiar laugh filled his ear. “Marcus, please do not tell me you are still in bed. It’s almost ten o’clock, man.”

  Marcus ran a hand over his face, then snorted. “Jealous much, Zack?”

  “Fat and lazy. Never thought I’d see the day the famous Marcus Prater would rather lounge in bed than be up and working. If it’s like that, I can add Ben to my collection of men over here.” Zack laughed at the growly sounds Marcus was making. “Well then, if you aren’t ready to give him up, how ‘bout you meet me over at Chances Are for some lunch, and we can catch up on things. There’s something I want to run by you and Ben.”

  Marcus rolled over on his back and fist pumped the air. Yes! He saw a big, juicy half pound of love in his future. But then he had to wonder at what Zack could have in mind. “Noon then? And care to give me a clue what you want to talk about?”

  There was a weighty silence, and Marcus was almost ready to ask again when Zack sighed. “There’s still no word from Nick. Jeremiah’s really concerned, and I promised him we would see what we could find out. He swears it’s not like the kid to disappear like this. And from what I’ve been able to dig up myself…well, we need to talk about it.”

  Marcus nodded. Benjamin brought the subject up almost every day, and while Marcus privately thought the kid probably found someone or something to entertain himself with, he was beginning to wonder. “Okay. See you at noon. Send my love to Archer. We’re looking forward to seeing you guys Thursday.”

  After hanging up with Zack, Marcus rolled onto his back and tapped the cell phone against his chest while he thought. Atlanta was a big city, or more accurately, a collection of small communities that, all combined, made up the four million plus metropolitan area. Someone with the survival skills that Nick—or Gabe, his street name—possessed could blend into almost anywhere. But something that insignificant never stopped him before.

  He started to yell for Benjamin when a weight bounced on the other side of the bed, and suddenly the sheets were yanked down and off. A wiggling body sprawled on top of him, and Marcus found himself more absorbed in the interesting way Benjamin’s hands made their way down his chest, tweaking his nipples before they roamed under his body. When Benjamin grabbed his ass and lined their cocks up…just right…he started to lose all thought except how damned lucky he was.

  “Have something to tell me, love?”

  Marcus grunted, loving the friction of his partner’s smooth skin against his hairy chest and belly, and the heat of their cocks rubbing together. He knew there was something important, but damned if he could remember. “What? Something? Oh, don’t you fucking stop,” he growled as Benjamin lifted his hips and slowed the delicious grind. Marcus reached for Benjamin, who rose on his haunches and sat on Marcus’s legs.

  Shaking his head, Benjamin stared down at him. Marcus’s gaze caught Benjamin’s, his eyes slitted and his breath shaky. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, baby.” Benjamin shook his head. “I don’t know, Marcus. Your doctor said to keep up the cardio, but I’m not sure this is exactly what he meant. I think maybe you should get up and we can go running. Especially if you want to split a grilled chicken sandwich with me at Chances Are. Any maybe Blake can give you an iceburg lettuce quarter with some of that low fat Italian dressing on the side. Or just a salad, what do you think?”

  Marcus grabbed Benjamin’s hips and pulled him back down, snarling. “Here’s what I think. That bullet came out of my chest four months ago. I’m fine, and so is my heart. I think”— he kissed Benjamin hard—“I’m gonna make love to my man, then”—Benjamin groaned as Marcus spread his ass, finger skimming around his entrance—“we’re gonna take a shower, and you’re gonna see how quick an old man like me can give you round two.” Slapping Benjamin’s ass hard, making him buck against him, he smiled. “Then we’re going to Chances Are, I’m gonna eat a burger and onion rings and, if you’re very, very good, you can have some chili fries with your salad. What do you think about that?”

  Hands held his face in place, and Benjamin ghosted his lips across Marcus’s mouth. “I think, if you can do all that, babe, you can have two of those damned burgers. Now shut up and fuck me.” He worked his way down to Marcus’s chest, licking and sucking. “Or are you all”—he paused to swirl his tongue around Marcus’s right nipple and bite down—“talk.”

  Marcus pumped his hips and flipped Benjamin up, then onto his back. His hand slid under the pillow, snagging the bottle of lube hidden there. He grabbed Benjamin’s legs and pushed them to his chest, holding them in place with one hand. Flipping open the top, he squirted a stream of the clear liquid onto his cock, then tossed the bottle aside. Marcus reached down and stroked himself, capturing Benjamin’s gaze. “Better watch that mouth. I seem to remember showing you on more than one occasion…” His cock pressed up against Benjamin’s tight entrance, and Marcus smiled evilly as he leaned his weight forward, shoving in. Benjamin’s legs strained against Marcus’s hold and Marcus slid his way inside, making Benjamin take it. “…who’s the boss here.” With one final thrust of his hips, Marcus’s groin met Benjamin’s balls.

  “Fuck.” Benjamin tried to push back against Marcus, twist his hips, grind up or back, but Marcus had him pinned with his hand and his groin. “Marcus, I swear to fucking God if you don’t move now, I’ll…I’ll…”

  Reaching between them, Marcus grabbed Benjamin’s shaft and slowly slid down, then tightened his grip and pulled, inch by inch, up his cock then twisted his fist at the very end, right against Benjamin’s cockhead. He held it in his palm, tight. “You’ll what, baby? Beg for more? Scream my name? Come for me?”

  Sobbing, Benjamin tossed his head from side to side. “I’ll tie you down and make you beg for me to fuck you, big man. Now, if you ever want to eat red meat again, move, or so help me I’ll talk to the cook at Chances Are and you’ll have black bean burgers for the rest of your fucking life. Now. Move!”

  He held Benjamin down for one more long moment, then pulled out and with a snap of his hips, slammed back into Benjamin. They both groaned, and before Benjamin could catch his breath, Marcus had pounded back into him, again and again. When Benjamin reached for his cock, Marcus batted his hand away and took him in hand, his strokes matching the rhythm he set. “I’m close, baby. Want you to come for me.”

  Benjamin arched up, wrapping one hand around the back of Marcus’s head and pulled him into a kiss. His tongue demanded entry, an
d Marcus opened and was surprised by the ferocity of Benjamin’s passion. His hand held him tightly against Benjamin’s mouth, and when Benjamin’s breath caught, he felt the hot streams of his load hit his chest and stomach. That, and the sudden grip of Benjamin’s ass on his cock sent him over. Marcus’s sight went white, and he felt himself unanchored from the earth. When he came back into his body, he rolled to the side to allow Benjamin to breathe.

  They both lay in the bed, panting. After a moment, Benjamin reached over and twisted his fingers around Marcus’s. “Well”—he grinned—“that earned you onions and mushrooms.”

  Marcus could feel his heart fill, and he smiled. “Guess we better hit the shower soon then, ‘cause I’m in the mood for chili and cheese.”

  *

  It was good to get out of the condo, even if it was to allow Marcus to eat his weight in grease and beef. The man would hang out at Chances Are every day for lunch, and then at that damned barbeque place at night, if Ben didn’t keep him in line with glares. And sex.

  They took a booth near the back, and Ben eyed the one that usually sat empty. It was unofficially reserved for Wick, when he deigned to visit and Ben had to hide a chuckle. The guy still spooked him, and he didn’t like turning his back on him completely, but Marcus loved him like a brother so he left it alone. Plus, the man was just smokin’ hot with that fuck-the-world attitude, and it was fifty shades of wrong, but he was attracted to the man. Even though he knew Marcus and Wick had some kind of history, and that was kind of yucky and sexy both at the same time.

  As soon as they sat, Chance worked his way over from the end of the bar and slid in beside Marcus. After a shoulder bump, he turned to Ben. “He’s looking good. Almost back to normal now. You keeping him in line, Ben? Feeding him all that rabbit food and letting him run around on his hamster wheel? Ow!”

  Marcus glared at them both after elbowing Chance. Ben laughed and flipped his hand in the air at them. “Don’t even try, Chance. You know damn good and well you’ve been sneaking him those barbeque brats every Sunday for weeks. Now, he earned his burger this morning.” He shifted around in the booth, making it plain what he meant. “How about two of your burgers, medium, and rings? And my guy here, he gets chili and cheese.” He blushed at the huge grin on Marcus’s face and the knowing smile on Chance’s.

  After passing the order off to Gerry, Chance turned to Marcus. “I know Zack called you. So what do you think? Any ideas?”

  “Nothing yet. I haven’t had a chance to really move on it yet. Thought maybe the three of us could put our heads together. Benjamin’s agreed to help me out on cases until school’s out, and since he probably knows our guy better than anyone else, here we are.” Marcus pulled a small notebook out of his jeans pocket and looked over at Ben. “What?”

  Ben stared at the big doofus, shaking his head. He had no idea what was going on and who the client or missing person or whoever they were talking about was. But he knew one thing—if this was the way things were going to work for the next year, he didn’t want any part of it. And Marcus must have seen part of that on his face, because he went a little pale and started backtracking and explaining.

  “Now, Benjamin, what happened was, Zack called me to check to see if we’d heard from Nick—Gabe. I didn’t think you had, and Jeremiah was worried, so Zack asked me…us…to check and see what we could find out. And since you know him best, I thought if we all got together and talked, compared notes, maybe we could figure out what’s up.”

  The silence was heavy, and it was kind of fun to watch Marcus squirm. Ben was almost ready to let him off the hook when Zack and Jeremiah came in the bar. Chance waved them over, throwing Ben a worried look. Geez, for such a group of tough cops, those two sure were easy to fuck with. Ben scooted over to make room for J, Chance jumped up to let Zack sit and pulled up a chair to sit at the end of the booth and soon they were all settled.

  Ben cleared his throat. “So, as I understand it, Gabe’s still missing and you guys want me and Marcus to look into it. Is that right?” Jeremiah nodded to him while the three older men gaped. He rolled his eyes. “Dudes, really? I may be twenty-five, but I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Nick’s a friend, and I haven’t heard from him in a couple of months. So, where do we start?”

  Marcus, as usual, took control. He opened his notepad and started taking notes. “Chance, he was supposed to move to your apartment above the bar, what, about a month ago?”

  Chance leaned back and rubbed his chin, thinking back. “Yeah. It was right during the time you guys”—he gestured to Zack and Jeremiah—“were working on that case with the priest. The last time I saw him was after the scene upstairs. He was supposed to move in, but he missed his next shift and didn’t show or come by to get the keys.”

  Zack looked over to Jeremiah. “And you didn’t hear anything from him, right, love?”

  A smile played around Jer’s mouth. Ben had to grin; the endearment slipped off Zack’s tongue freely. Ben had been pissed off with Chance and Wick a few weeks earlier when they not only implied, but came right out and treated Jeremiah like Zack and Archer’s rent boy. In all honesty, Ben had thought the same thing about the three men. Even hit Zack between the eyes with it the first time he met the man. Whether for an hour, a night, or a year, when money changed hands for sex it made a man a whore.

  But now, Ben was with Marcus and unconventional as it was, Jeremiah was with Archer and Zack. And it worked. Any fool could see the care, the love between his friend and his Dom. Doms.

  “That’s right. Something’s wrong here, Marcus.” Jeremiah spoke more forcefully than he’d ever done before. Ben sat up and listened closely. Something was bothering his friend and he wanted to know what it was. “I talked with Gabe before he left the bar after his shift right after Ben and I helped catch that asshole priest, and he was excited to be starting here, moving in. He left and was going to move his things in upstairs and it’s like he fell off the face of the earth.”

  Zack reached across the table and took one of Jer’s hands, rubbing it between his own. That touch seemed to calm Jer, and he took a deep breath and continued. “I went and checked his apartment, and everything is there. His clothes, his laptop, everything. The only thing missing is his phone. And there’s more.” He glanced around the booth, making sure he had everyone’s attention. “I’ve been talking to some of the guys working the streets. There’s been three kids gone missing. There one day then poof.”

  Both Marcus and Chance stiffened at that. “Are you sure?” Marcus continued scribbling notes, but Ben could see the concern, the attention and tension in his body. “I haven’t heard anything about missing kids. Have you, Chance?”

  Shaking his head, Chance leaned back in his chair at the end of the booth. “No, not even a whisper of it in here. But”—he rolled his neck and took a deep breath—“you know how these cases are. Nobody takes a count of the kids on the streets, nobody really cares unless there’s an informant relationship, and then, Marcus, we both know how it goes. It’s only a matter of time before we expect those kids to move on, OD, disappear.”

  “The thing that’s weird,” Jeremiah broke in, “is that there’s been a few John Does showing up the past year or two. Nothing to tie together yet, although there have been a couple of similar MOs. One young man found burned to death in his vehicle. The usual overdoses. One stabbing. Metro area, but not the same county. No reason to assume the deaths are anything but coincidence at this point. And three unaccounted for.”

  The table was quiet, and Gerry brought the group’s food. Ben reached over and stole onion rings off Marcus’s plate, and got a growled mine in return. After a few minutes, when the feeding frenzy was done and everyone was thoughtful, Marcus again took control. “So here’s what I think. There’s two issues here. We know these boys—men,” he corrected at Ben’s glare, “don’t normally make this lifestyle a long term career choice. It’s dangerous and most guys burn out really quickly. So we need to try to track down the o
nes that are missing. But our top priority is Nick.” He looked around the table and Ben was relieved at all the nods of agreement.

  Ben spoke up. “I’ll hit the streets tonight and ask the guys I know.” He kept his voice very neutral, and the battle he and Marcus fought eye to eye was intense, but quick. “And Jeremiah, if you can help, we can rule out a lot of our mutual friends. The ones who won’t answer questions from big former cops,” he kept speaking over Marcus’s objections. Jeremiah nodded, and Ben saw the same stubborn look on Zack’s face that was on Marcus’s.

  Don’t fight me on this. Ben held his spine stiff and waited for Marcus to yield. When he did, Ben almost let out a sigh of relief, but strangely, what he noticed was his hard cock. And from the look on Marcus’s face, he knew his ass was going to be very sore that night.

  Chapter 2

  Benjamin was out on the street again. It was all that Marcus could do to stay in the townhouse and work, when what he really wanted to do was follow him and make sure nobody laid a hand on him. But that was the surest way to piss Benjamin off. One of the reasons Benjamin had agreed to work with him was that Marcus trusted him as an equal, and he damn sure wouldn’t break that trust.

  Besides, there was other work to do. Marcus had put it off long enough, and he was a little upset with himself that he’d been such a wimp about doing it. He’d sat there in front of his laptop almost every day for weeks, meaning to start the search, but just couldn’t bring himself to type in the name. He had love in his life again, his health was better than ever, in no small part due to Benjamin’s healthy food choices, and he was…happy.

  It’s amazing, what a man will do to be able to say that. And to keep it true.

  But it was time to show he had a few hairs left on his balls, so he pulled up his search engine and typed in the name. F-r-a-n-c-i-s P-r-a-t-e-r. Then waited.

  His phone buzzed, and he glanced down.