by Sy Walker
He slipped, crying out in panic. Trying to avoid certain death, he grabbed at anything he could to steady himself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t save himself, and fell backward, sliding on his backpack down the mountain. He was coming to a cliff, and cried out, trying to stop himself with his feet, but he wasn’t strong enough to work against the momentum. He was suddenly freefalling over the edge of the cliff, landing with a hard thud on a plateau. His body was still propelling itself forward, and he braced himself to accept his fate.
Of course it would come to this. He had led a shallow life with a failed romance in a stupid job he had never liked in the first place. And now that he was trying to save himself from it all, perhaps the only way out of the hole that he had trapped himself in was death.
Suddenly, his bag snagged on something, slowing him enough that he stopped before he reached the edge of the next cliff. He was on a new plateau, at a slight incline, but he had somehow come to a stop.
“You can open your eyes,” a deep, masculine voice said to him with a soft laugh. “You’re safe now.”
Mack hadn’t realized that he had squeezed his eyes shut, and dared to open them. He was startled to find an incredibly handsome man, wearing a breezy white tank top with blue trim, revealing massive, well-sculpted arms. His hair was golden and thick, pulled back into a bun, and he had a neatly trimmed beard. The man’s icy blue eyes stared down into Mack’s.
“Do you work out?” Mack asked faintly. The man chuckled deeply, as he Mack passed out from the combination of fear and exhaustion.
Chapter 4
When he came round again, it was late afternoon and the sun was beating down hard. Mack looked around for any sign of the handsome man, but there was none, except for a cool cloth on his forehead. He sat up and held the cloth in his hands. The man must have left it there, knowing that he would recover quickly, but wanting to make sure he would be all right.
He sighed, peering over the cliff face. He would end the mountain climbing for the day and probably just stick with hiking in the future. With this new resolve in mind, he made his way down the mountain using the safer of the trails, even though it took longer. He walked the great length through the park and finally made it to his car, where he sat in the front seat and took a breather. He was exhausted and still shaken up from the near-death experience. He had been so lucky that the handsome stranger was there to save him.
Mack napped briefly, stowing his backpack in the trunk. He wasn’t sure he wanted to even hike anymore after his terrifying experience. When he woke up, he decided that he needed a drink. It had been far too overwhelming, and he wanted to relax among other people for a little while before returning to his tent. He was feeling shaken up.
He remembered there was a town not far from the Joshua Tree National Park and turned the key in his ignition so he could head out in that direction. Evening was setting in, and he found a bar without too much trouble before the sun set.
It was a small establishment unlike any he had ever been in before, decorated to the hilt with paintings and carvings of wolves. When he walked in, it seemed as if everything stopped. Several rough-and-tumble men stared at him as he made his way awkwardly to the bar and sat down, trying not to make eye contact with anybody. Maybe coming into civilization had been a bad idea after all. He had been all about making bad choices lately; this was probably just going to amount to another one.
“What will you be having?” the bartender asked him, though his voice seemed menacing for some reason.
“Can I just get some whiskey please?” Mack asked, running his hands through his short, meticulously styled dark hair. Even out in the wilderness, he had managed to keep his hair in the most pristine condition and had taken extra care to groom it after his death-defying escapade in the mountains.
“I would have pegged you for more of a beer man,” a familiar voice said behind him. Mack looked around and was surprised to find the same man who had saved him on the mountain. “Looks like you have recovered well. I was feeling a little guilty for leaving.”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Max said, looking awkwardly down at the counter of the bar. “Thank you for helping me out back there.”
“Please, it’s nothing,” the man said, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s not like I would’ve just let you die out there. I’m happy to help.”
All eyes were on the duo, and Mack looked around, shifting uncomfortably on the barstool as the handsome man sat beside him. He had changed from his tank top and into a white T-shirt and jeans. He was wearing a black leather jacket, even though the temperature was still pretty warm outside. On the back of the jacket was an embroidered wolf’s paw.
“I think everybody is staring at me. Did you notice?” Mack asked, sipping on his whiskey once the bartender had slid it to him from across the bar.
“We aren’t used to newcomers around here, that’s all,” the man said, his eyes hardening as he took in Mack. “Most people drink at the bar down the street.”
As Mack looked around the bar, he realized that everybody was dressed in a similar get-up as the man who had saved him. He had thought there was a surprising amount of motorcycles outside the bar, but he hadn’t put two and two together.
“Oh my God, is this a motorcycle club?”
The man gave him a silent grin, and Mack laid his head on the counter of the bar and sighed. He definitely looked out of place, and now it made sense that everybody had been looking at him. He was wearing his business casual suit; a tight black blazer that hugged his form and showed off his lean body. He had a white button-up shirt on and was even wearing some classy dress shoes. He had changed out of his hiking attire when he decided to make the leap into civilization, and now he thought he might fit in even better if he had just left his shorts and tank top on.
“Give me some gin, would you?”
The bartender poured him a glass quickly and the man chugged it down like it was water. Mack was taken aback by his high tolerance for liquor and realized that he might be a little bit out of his element. Even if the man was gay, there was no chance that he’d be interested in him. Men like this stuck with their own kind, and generally seemed to only enjoy traveling in like-minded herds. That was the whole purpose of being in a motorcycle club. At least, that’s what Mack had always assumed.
As if he could read his mind, the man peered at him with his ice blue eyes and offered his hand out. Mack took it uncertainly, and the man gave it a quick pump in the air, his fingers lingering on Mack’s before he lowered his hand and picked up his glass again.
“My name is Saber,” the man said. The bar suddenly grew so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop. Mack looked around, feeling threatened. They were watching the duo resentfully, and they seemed surprised that Saber had offered his name to the odd boy out. Was something bad going to happen to Mack? Was Saber just playing with him or could he really trust this man, who apparently seemed to wield more power than he had originally anticipated?
“It’s nice to meet you,” Mack said, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice. “My name is Mack.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to get out of here,” Saber said with a chuckle, sipping at his gin. “These guys sure know how to give the stink eye.”
Mack laughed. “You are right about that. I don’t think they like me at all for some reason.”
Saber smirked and shrugged mysteriously, as if he knew exactly why the men didn’t like him but chose not to say. It made Mack nervous, but he was too intrigued by Saber to move from the spot. It was this stubbornness that always seemed to get him into trouble. When he had formed a vague idea of what he wanted, he stayed at it until he got it. And apparently, now he wanted Saber.
He glanced around the room, suddenly realizing that not only were the men all motorcyclists, but they also had paired off somewhat. Many of them seemed to be intimate couples, who were holding hands or kissing one another in passing. He hadn’t expected to find any kind of gay activity in this area an
d was surprised when he realized that the MC seemed to be exclusively gay men. Many of them were watching him with a jealous fire in their eyes, but when he would make eye contact with them, they would look away as if minding their own business.
Maybe they were all jealous that Saber was paying attention to him. And if these men were gay, did that mean Saber was as well? Mack allowed himself to get his hopes up, before he was reminded that even if Saber was gay, there was very little chance he would be interested in a scrawny city boy like himself. Even though he was fit, he was nowhere nearly as massive as the tough guys Saber was surrounded with daily. How could he compete? He probably couldn’t even win in a bar fight. Not even against the weakest guy there.
Saber, who seemed to have a second sight for insecurity, turned to Mack with a fire in his blue eyes that darkened into something animalistic and raw, something impossible to mistake for anything but sheer lust. Suddenly, Mack’s stomach started to growl and Saber broke out into a carefree laugh.
“Sounds like your fuckin’ stomach knows what it wants. I’d offer you the food here, but it’s really greasy. I know a much better place. Come on.”
And with that, Mack followed Saber wordlessly out the door and didn’t look back.
Chapter 5
Mack had never been on a motorcycle before and wasn’t really interested in taking any risks after his mountain climbing incident. Although Saber tried to insist on taking him on his bike, Mack shook his head and said that he preferred to get directions from the passenger’s seat.
“Rain check though,” Mack promised.
Saber grinned and nodded deeply, climbing into Mack’s luxury sports car.
“Where the hell did you get this thing?” Saber asked, fiddling with the radio. Mack was embarrassed as Saber flipped through his favorite stations, crinkling his nose in distaste at the romantic and poppy techno music that he found. Finally, he settled on a classic rock station. “That’s more like it.”
“I bought it,” Mack said vaguely, feeling a little bit too embarrassed to put himself out there. “So where are we going?”
“Diner. Take a right. You must have a nice job.”
Suddenly, Saber’s eyes were fixed on the sun visor with a picture of Mack and Lance paper clipped to it. Mack had forgotten it was there and snatched it right out from underneath Saber’s scrutiny. He crumpled it up and tossed it out the window without a word.
Saber raised an eyebrow. “Bad break up?” he asked, his voice low and bemused.
“In a word,” Mack said. But he didn’t want to talk about that. He wanted to know more about Saber. “And as for my job, I quit. Yesterday. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with my life from here on out.”
Saber was quiet for a moment, before he let out a long low whistle. “That’s rough. Why did you quit?”
“You know the area here that’s set aside for the wolf conservation?”
Saber nodded.
“The company I was working for has big plans to try and develop over it. So I told my boss that I quit and then I called the newspaper about it. It was supposed to be really top-secret, the kind of thing you can’t stop from happening because it’s too late. But now that the public knows, I think they will have to stop. Hopefully anyway. Either way, I’m not to have anything to do with it.”
Saber listened quietly, eyeing Mack as if for the first time. “It’s a left up here at the light. You’ll see the sign from there.”
“All right,” Mack said, slowing down to a stop in front of the diner. He smiled to himself. He vaguely remembered this place from his childhood. They had the best cheeseburgers that he had ever had. He hoped they were still on the menu. He hadn’t eaten since before he began climbing.
He unlocked the door for Saber before climbing out and pocketing the keys. He hoped Saber wouldn’t take it as a sign of distrust, it was just a habit that he had gotten into after living in LA for so long. You couldn’t really trust anybody there.
“I know this place,” he said, looking up at the neon sign with a smile on his face. He could feel Saber watching him, and intense energy flowed between them. He tried to ignore it. Maybe he was making it up.
“Oh yeah?” Saber asked.
“I came here as a little boy. I hope that it’s still the same. They had the best cheeseburgers on the planet.”
“I’m pretty sure you don’t have anything to worry about. They still have the best everything on the planet if you ask me.”
They walked into the diner and were immediately hit with the comforting smell of food. Mack’s stomach rumbled again, and Saber chuckled.
“Saber!” an elderly woman exclaimed in excitement. “I was wondering when you would turn up. The grill’s been getting cold waiting for you.”
“Hey, Aunt Sandy,” Saber said, curling her tiny body into his large one in a half hug.
“And who is this?” she asked, looking Mack up and down.
“This is my new friend Mack,” Saber said. “From the city.”
“Oh,” she said, suddenly sounding worried.
“Don’t worry, I don’t think he’s one of those snobby types. He said he’s been here before, as a little kid.”
“Best cheeseburgers on the planet,” Mack said solemnly.
“He’s after my heart already,” Sandy said, nudging Saber. “I’d keep this boy around if I were you.”
Saber shook his head as Sandy disappeared into the kitchen.
“Burger and fries all right for you, honey?” she called out to Mack.
“Yes, ma’am, thank you.”
Saber led him to a booth in the corner, where they sat across from each other. Mack looked shyly down at the table and began fiddling with the salt and pepper shakers. Soon though, he could no longer ignore Saber’s intense gaze.
“I didn’t hear you order,” Mack said nervously.
“Aunt Sandy knows what I like,” Saber said with a grin, peeling off his jacket. Mack’s eyes moved to the man’s bicep, where he noticed a detailed tattoo of a wolf. It was white, with piercing blue eyes. It reminded him of the wolf he had seen in his camp earlier the night before.
“You guys must really like wolves,” Max said. He had always been terrible at small talk, preferring instead to avoid it altogether.
“You could say that,” Saber said, a dark glint in his light blue eyes.
Suddenly, the table was filled with heaping plates of rare steak and vegetables. Saber grinned and grabbed a knife, sawing excitedly. Mack couldn’t help but feel slightly nauseated as the blood ran onto the plate. He looked away, and suddenly was gifted with the cheeseburger of his dreams and a huge pile of French fries.
“Enjoy,” Sandy said with a wink, returning behind the counter to sip on a mug of coffee and watch the muted television behind the counter playing the news as closed captioning struggle to keep up with the stories.
“So this is how you got to be so buff,” Mack said with a laugh as he dug into his cheeseburger.
Saber nodded. “That, and I go hard.”
He fixed his icy blue eyes onto Mack, being completely clear about his meaning. Mack felt an undeniable surge of arousal as the conversation grew quiet. Of course he was talking about lifting weights or something like that, but he was also talking about other things. Mack shifted his legs under the table, feeling the tightening in his black dress slacks as his erection began to press firmly against the fabric.
Saber seemed content that he had conveyed his intended meaning and continued eating pleasantly. Once or twice, their legs brushed under the table and Mack swallowed hard. The cheeseburger was just as good as he remembered from his childhood, even better with the handsome man across from him being so bold and flirtatious.
When they finished the meal, Saber stood and gathered up all the plates and carried them behind the counter. He was about to wash them, too, when his aunt Sally shooed him away.
“I’ll need something to do to keep myself busy until the diner closes,” she said with a soft lau
gh, slapping him playfully with a towel.
Mack reached into his wallet to pay, but Saber stopped him.
“No, this one was on the house,” he said with a grin. “Maybe you can pay for the next time.”
Chapter 6
As soon as they got into the car together, Saber leaned over and kissed Mack hard on the mouth. Mack was surprised but pleased and returned the kiss fervently. He let his hands roam up and down Saber’s muscular arms, shocked that the rugged man had shown any interest in him whatsoever. It was too good to be true. And it would probably make a lot of men very jealous back at the bar.
“Maybe you should take me home,” Saber said, running his hands along Mack’s inner thighs. Mack shuddered in pleasure, his body on fire with longing. Saber was looking at him with the same dark, almost predatory look that he had given him earlier in the bar. Now he was beginning to understand what that look meant.
“All right,” Mack said softly. He turned the keys in his ignition and pulled away from the diner.
Saber led him to a wooded cabin far away from the diner and not too far from the Joshua Tree National Park. When they got inside, the entire place smelled like cedar wood, and Mack found himself closing his eyes to take it all in. He was surprised when the throbbing bulge in his crotch was cupped by Saber’s large hands, and he was squeezed with a gentle, warm tug over his black slacks.
“I’ve never been with a city boy before,” Saber teased, his voice deep and rumbling in Mack’s ear. “Anything that I should know?”
“Some of us are bigger than we look,” Mack said with a laugh as his shaft began to harden under the pressure of Saber’s hands.
“Is that so?”
Saber pushed Mack’s light blazer off of him and tore open the white button-up shirt beneath it. Mack fought a familiar temptation to protest, to talk about how much money that shirt had cost him, but he realized the futility of it. He wanted Saber to tear it up. He never wanted to wear anything from his old life again. This was going to be the beginning of something new and exciting. Something that he would enjoy as his and his alone. Not something that he thought he should want just because that was what the world expected.