Read Broken Road Café 1 - The Broken Road Café Online
Authors: T.A. Webb
heights the same. Dan could see Nick’s body in the dim light of the moon, how muscular and fit it was, and loved the feel of the hairiness of his chest and abdomen as it slid against the smoothness of his own.
Their shafts lay side by side, cockheads slick and sliding against each other. It had been years since Dan felt like rubbing off on another man, just letting the slow easy friction take him over the top. As he grabbed Nick’s ass and squeezed, it felt like pure muscle, and he let his finger skim down the crack, lightly brushing against Nick’s entrance. The man groaned and pushed harder, his rhythm stuttering as Dan laughed evilly into his mouth.
Then Dan’s world came into sharp focus. Fuck. His shaving kit with condoms—God, he hoped they were still in date—and lube was back at his room. Fighting to regain some control, he grabbed Nick by the hair and pulled his face up. “Condoms?” he breathed. The word seemed to hang in the air, and Nick’s eyes cleared as he shook his head.
“Back at my house. Can’t run over there in this condition to grab them.” He leaned in, kissing the side of Dan’s neck and biting down and sucking. Dan’s moan echoed in the room, and the sudden thrusting of his hips made both men grunt. “Doesn’t matter. Just let me…”
Nick began to trail kisses, some light and some heavy, his teeth brushing against the sensitive skin on Dan’s chest, his nipples, as he made his way downward. Delicate licks against the muscles of his abs had Dan sucking in his stomach. He knew the sounds he was making weren’t words, but Nick seemed to understand. The moans, the grunts, all as Nick traced a red hot path to Dan’s groin.
Dan heard the thud of Nick’s knees hitting the carpet, and he was yanked sideways so his cock lined up with—Holy Jesus. Nick swallowed his shaft down in one stroke. One strong hand cupped Dan’s balls, rolling them gently as Nick’s head bobbed up and down on his dick. Dan gripped the sheets with both hands, trying to remember how to breathe as he pumped his hips up to make Nick take all of him. Vaguely, he heard the soft slap of flesh on flesh as Nick jerked off.
Lifting his head and looking down, Dan caught sight of Nick just as he looked up, his mouth full of Dan’s dick. Nick moaned, and Dan’s head fell backward, his eyes rolling back in his head. The familiar burn started to ignite in Dan’s balls, and he managed to grunt out a warning. “Close.” He let go of the sheets, reaching to pull Nick’s head off his cock, but the man swallowed him fully, rolling his tongue under the shaft, and Dan began to come. He yelled his release, and something must have triggered in Nick, because he moaned loudly, the vibrations causing Dan to quit breathing for a moment. He heard the wet sound of Nick’s hand on his own cock, the load spilling out and over, and he was done.
Dan’s shaft softened in Nick’s mouth, then gently slid from his lips, and Nick laid his head against Dan’s thigh, breathing heavily. Neither man moved for a long time, and they both came down from the high of orgasm. Finally, Dan broke the silence. “So I guess you’re gay.”
Nick snorted against his thigh. “Never said that, Slick. Don’t assume anything. Sometimes I like a little of this, sometimes a little of that. But I don’t label myself one way or the other. And as far as anybody in this town knows, I’m straight.”
The blood began to rise in Dan’s chest, then spread up to his face. Fuck. A fucking closet case. Just fucking great. Heaving a sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and away from Nick. “Where the hell’s my clothes? And get the goddamned key to these handcuffs. I want it off me.”
Nick stood, but Dan refused to look at him. “Whoa there, cowboy, what’s your problem?”
Dan grabbed the flashlight, guiding the light around the room until he found all his clothes. “No problem here, lawman. You wanna stay in the back of the closet, it’s your choice. Personally, I kicked that door off years ago and I don’t go back in it for anybody.”
Nick snatched his own clothes, angrily shoving into the legs of his underwear and shorts and yanking his shirt over his head. “Nobody asked you to, asshole. I didn’t see you pushing away when I had your cock down my throat. Just because I don’t think it’s anybody’s business but mine—“
“Exactly. Not my problem.” Dan sat and slid his shoes on, pulling his shirt on and buttoning it as best he could. He held his wrist up. “Key. Now.”
Nick stood, glaring at him for a long moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, unlocking the cuff. Dan picked up the flashlight, checking to make sure he had his own wallet and keys, and turned and walked out of the room. He made his way to the front door, waiting for Nick with his back turned. When the chief walked out of the house, Dan re-locked the door and headed for his car.
Just as he was about to get in and start the engine, his hand on the door, Nick called out to him softly from right behind him. “So that’s it? I suck your cock and you storm off like a fucking little drama queen? Well, fuck you too, city boy. And I’ll expect you to keep your mouth shut about all this.”
Dan turned, suddenly furious. He pushed Nick backward and prepared to unleash both barrels on the irritating man.
At least he started to when heard a crack. It didn’t hurt for a moment, and he turned to Nick, who was chasing someone up the street. Then the pain blossomed like a red flower in his shoulder and he dropped to the ground.
Mother fucker
, s
omebody shot me.
*
Dan woke up, not sure what the soft bustling noises were. His condo was usually quiet unless Abe was working on his laptop, and Dan was used to the clicking of keyboards and steps as Abe moved around to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen. This was different; what the hell was all the beeping and why did he hear a fucking crowd of people trampling through his home?
Cracking his eyes open, he saw a woman in scrubs adjusting some kind of tube and…when did his king sized bed suddenly turn into a lumpy little single? He knew if he could just shake out whatever was in his head and think clearly, he’d make sense of it all. Dan remembered someone blowing him, then standing in the street with that dickhead chief of police and…
Holy shit! Dan had a sudden moment of clarity. It was Nick he was fucking with and was ready to strangle, then he’d been shot. Now it all made sense why he would be loopy and in a strange bed. He blinked his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried moving his body one part at a time. That attracted the attention of the nurse, and she stopped fiddling with the tube and gave him a huge smile.
“Well, hello there, baby doll. Welcome back. How you feeling?”
Dan opened his mouth to reply when he heard a commotion at the door to his room. “I don’t care if he’s still asleep. Wake his ass up. I need to talk to him.”
Glancing up at the nurse, Dan sighed. “I’m okay, I guess. Just have this pain in my arm.” He glared at Nick. “And this huge one in my ass.”
The nurse turned and looked at the chief, then let out a huge snort. “I see you’ve met our good chief of police. Nick, now what did you do to my patient here? You know I can’t let you in here if you upset him.” She crossed her arms and moved between Nick and Dan. At that moment, Dan would gladly have kissed her for giving Nick a hard time. Everything was still fuzzy, and he wanted to know if Nick caught whoever shot him, but Dan’s ass was still chapped over Nick’s cavalier attitude toward their…encounter.
Dan watched as Nick turned red and huffed. “Damn it, Cathy, don’t you give me any shit tonight. You know I have to talk to Mr. O’Leary here about the shooting, and it’s been a long day already. Just let me ask him a few questions then you can play Florence fucking Nightingale all you want.” Almost quicker than Dan could see, Cathy—he assumed that was her name if Nick called her that—reached out and slapped the back of Nick’s head. “Ow, what the hell?”
“Language, little brother. That crap might fly downtown at the station, but in
my
playpen, you watch that mouth of yours. You might be the chief of police, but I changed your poopy diapers and wiped your nasty little behind, so that attitude of yours? Leave it at the door. Got it, little man?” Cathy was about six inches from Nick’s face, that much shorter, and it was all Dan could do not to howl with laughter. If his shoulder didn’t hurt so damned much, he’d high five her. But damn, it did, and whatever they had given him for pain was obviously beginning to wear off.
Nick was a truly dangerous shade of red now. “Kindly leave my ass out of it, thank you very much. And don’t think just because you’re my sister I won’t lock you up for obstruction of justice. Now, get out of my way and—“
“Will you two leave the pissing contest for later?” Dan coughed, his throat dry. “I really need some water here, and maybe some morphine for my shoulder?” When the two siblings turned to him, surprise on both faces like they’d forgotten he was there, Dan rolled his eyes. “Hello, shooting victim here. Lawyer too, so don’t think you can bulldoze me into talking to you, Mr. Oliver. Cathy needs to do her job then you can fill me in on the details of the shooting.” Dan tried to sit up in the bed, and his shoulder screamed
Oh hell no!
at him. His whole body froze, and before he knew it two sets of hands were on him, adjusting his shoulder and petting his hair. He was in too much pain to notice who was doing what.
When things settled and Dan could focus again, Cathy had injected something into his IV line and the pain became a dull ache. Nick sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting and reaching out to touch Dan’s arm then stopping, darting his eyes at his sister. He realized, through the haze of the painkillers, that Nick must be afraid his sister would pick up on his being a big old ‘mo if he tried to offer Dan any comfort. A part of Dan empathized with Nick, but he’d been out for so long it made him feel tired to think about the energy Nick was wasting on something that mattered so little.
Cathy pulled the blanket up to Dan’s chest and adjusted his IV line, then moved to the door. “Ten minutes, Chief. Then I’ll have security kick you out. Mr. O’Leary needs his rest.”
Seeing Nick stiffen and open his mouth to argue, Dan broke in. “I’m fine. Chief Oliver probably wants to get home as badly as I do, so we’ll make it quick. I want whoever shot me to spend some time in an uncomfortable bed too, ma’am.” Dan gave her his best kicked puppy look. “We’ll play nice, I promise.”
“Hmm, right. Hit the call button if you need me, sweetheart. And don’t let my brother bully you, doll. He’s all bark and no bite.” She pulled the door closed behind her as she left.
“Shows how much she knows. There’s a couple of marks on you that didn’t just pop up there on their own.” Nick sounded entirely too pleased with himself.
Dan lay there with his eyes closed, tired, sore, and just wanting this bitch of a day to be over. “You better enjoy them while you can, because you won’t be getting a second chance. And something tells me you don’t want to go bragging about that to her either. Now, pull the chair over from the other side of the bed and tell me what the hell is going on here.” Nick sat there for a long moment, but Dan left his eyes closed, not wanting to talk with the chief about anything other than who shot him. He’d dated enough closet cases, and while Nick had a country charm to him, Dan had his pride.
Finally, Dan heard him sigh and the bed shifted and Nick rose and went to get the chair. Opening his eyes when he heard Nick sit, Dan pulled his wits about him as well as he could and jumped in with both feet. “I remember us…talking…beside my car then a gunshot and it hurt like hell. I saw you run off after someone.” Catching Nick’s gaze, he had to ask. “Did you catch who shot me? Who the hell was it?”
Nick held his gaze for several long moments. “I’m the one who should be asking the questions here, you know. You might be a big city attorney and I might just be a small town hick, but goddammit, Dan, I am the chief of police and you could at least respect that.”
Drawing in a deep breath, Dan had to dial back his temper. Fuck, Nick was right. As much as he was pissed at the man for other reasons, they both loved the law and tried to uphold it. And, Dan wanted to know who shot him. He couldn’t picture it being someone he knew, even if his whole life was upended.
“You’re right, Chief. I apologize. I saw you take off when I got shot. Are you okay?”
A small smile flitted across Nick’s face, but Dan was too tired to give him shit about it. “I’m fine.” Reaching into his pocket, Nick pulled out a tape recorder. “I know you’re tired, but if we can get this out of the way, you can get some rest. You know the drill. Up to it?”
“Fire away.”
After starting the tape and making all the introductory remarks, Nick asked Dan about being in the house next door to him. “The real estate agent gave the keys to me. I’m planning on buying in the area soon, and Mrs. Verline—Patsy—couldn’t show me some homes I’m interested in since she had plans for the evening. She left the keys for me, and I saved the one on Fountain Lane for last, after I ate dinner. It was after dark when I arrived, but I had a flashlight and the key.” He caught Nick’s eye and gave him a wry smile. “I guess the neighbor saw a strange light and decided to check it out.”
Nick frowned, a slight look in his eyes of…
fear, was it?
“Yes,” he coughed and straightened, his body tensing. “Chief of Police Nick Oliver speaking—I live next door to the house in question. I saw lights and went to investigate. When I saw it was Mr. O’Leary, we had a brief conversation and went outside after he finished his tour of the home.”
So that’s how he’s gonna play it
. Dan closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “As Chief Oliver said, we were outside, and I went to get in my car to leave. I heard a noise, loud, like a gunshot, and then I was on the ground. I saw the chief running, and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Nick shifted in his chair. “I went on foot in pursuit of the shooter, up Fountain Lane. I tackled him after he tripped over the speed bump the homeowner’s association installed, and subdued the suspect and read him his rights. He’s under arrest and is in lockup now.” Leaning forward, Nick reached out and touched Dan’s arm. “Mr. O’Leary, do you know Carlos Delgado?”
Dan was stunned. Maybe he’d heard Nick wrong—Carlos Delgado? He must have sat there deep in his thoughts, lost, because he felt his arm gripped tighter and realized Nick was calling his name, probably not for the first time. He blinked, remembered this was an interview and he was being taped. Clearing his throat, he looked down at his arm, then up at Nick. The man took the hint and released his grip.