ChapterOne
“What can I get you?”
Roman Blackwell took one look at the bartender’s cowboy hat and plaid shirt and guessed he wasn’t going to find his favorite brand of whiskey in a place like this so he simply said “Scotch, neat” and then turned around to study the surprisingly busy club. He’d been to more gay clubs than he could count but this one was on the top of his “what were they thinking?” list. There was the obligatory mirror ball above the dance floor but for the life of him, Roman couldn’t figure out how it jived with the honky-tonk country music blaring from the antiquated sound system or the dark wood-paneled walls that looked like something you’d find in the house of a 70’s sitcom family.
He’d had high hopes when the app on his phone had showed that a club calledRedwas within a few miles of his hotel in the not-so-busy downtown section of Missoula, Montana but when he’d arrived, he’d found that the app had left out a strategic apostrophe as well as ansandRedwas actuallyRed’s.The sight of a few Harley Davidsons sitting out front among the half dozen pick-up trucks – two of which were attached to horse trailers – had been the deciding factor in whether he stayed or not. He’d always found bikers to be an interesting bunch when it came to random hook-ups because despite their testosterone-driven demeanors, tattoos and leather wear, they usually ended up being the guys that begged him the loudest to get them off when he had them pinned beneath him.
But despite the Harleys out front, he wasn’t seeing any men who looked like they belonged to the Hogs. What he did see was a lot of cowboy hats, bolo neck ties, blue jeans and cowboy boots in all sorts of textures and colors. And then there was the dancing…there wasn’t a pole or cage in sight and while there were a few guys who might as well have been fucking on the dance floor considering all the gyrating they were doing, Roman was waiting for the moment when the whole group broke out into a line dance.
“Hey.”
Roman glanced to his right and saw a pretty little thing sizing him up. No way the emo guy had been there a minute ago because he certainly would have noticed the full, pouty lips, nose piercing and hint of guy liner framing bright blue eyes. A shot of lust went through Roman and he shifted his weight so he could give the guy his full attention.
“Buy me a drink?” the guy asked as he let his long fingers rub over his hip and down his thigh.
The bartender slid Roman’s drink in front of him but instead of ordering the guy a drink, he took a swig of his own. Emo Guy pouted prettily but didn’t seem too disappointed because he sidled up even closer to Roman. But when he placed his hand on Roman’s thigh and let it travel towards Roman’s dick, Roman grabbed his wrist.
“Where is he?” Roman asked coolly as he took in the leather pants and vest the guy was wearing. There was no doubt the guy was linked to the still absent bikers but he definitely wasn’t one himself.
“Who?”
Roman turned the guy’s arm over and pointed to the tattoo on the guy’s forearm. “Cooter,” Roman said with a chuckle as he read the name tattooed beneath the wordsProperty of.
“He’s playing,” Emo Guy said, though from the smile on his face, whatever or whoever Cooter was playing with didn’t seem to bother him. “Want to go watch?”
While Roman liked fucking bikers, he wasn’t really interested in brawling with them over some boy toy that had so far only managed to get him half hard. But curiosity got the best of him so he gave the guy a brief nod and then swallowed the rest of his drink. Emo Guy took his hand and began leading him through the still sedate crowd of cowboys. Several of them openly stared at him and a few even sent him inviting looks but he ignored them. As they drew closer to the far side of the club where a red curtain separated the main room from what he assumed was a private area, Roman could hear hearty laughs and deep, rumbling voices.
As Emo Guy pushed the curtain aside, Roman realized it wasn’t a private area – it was just a room with a couple of pool tables. But that wasn’t what had his attention. No, it was the half-naked guy bent over one of the pool tables who caught his eye along with the huge guy pounding into him from behind. Several other guys were standing around the table and a couple even had their cocks out and were stroking them as they urged the guy doing the fucking on.
The first thing Roman noticed about the guy getting fucked was how still he was as the biker rammed into him. His hands and cheek were pressed flat against the green felt. His shirt was still on but was pushed up to reveal a slim back and even under the dim light hanging above the table, Roman could see his hair was a startlingly light shade of blond. His body kept jerking as he was brutally fucked but he made absolutely no sound and didn’t struggle against the man holding his hips as he thrust into him. His eyes were open and staring in Roman’s direction but not looking directly at him.
“Fuck, yeah!” one of the onlookers shouted as the guy doing the fucking cursed as he came. He held himself inside the guy for only a few seconds before pulling out and then another guy was stepping up and slamming into him.
“That’s Cooter,” Emo Guy said with pride.
Roman shook his head at the sickening sight. As much as it bothered him, especially considering how young the guy pinned to the table looked, the guy wasn’t complaining about the harsh treatment and he didn’t look drugged or drunk so Roman turned to leave. But just as he reached behind him to pull the curtain back, his eyes once again caught on the guy’s and some unnamed emotion went through him when he saw how empty his gaze was – like he wasn’t even there. He’d seen that look before and it had fucking haunted him his whole life.
“Such a pretty little slut,” Cooter snarled as he fucked into the guy. His big hands reached up and fisted in the guy’s hair and he yanked his head up and held it at an unnatural angle as he continued to brutalize him. The guy still didn’t make a sound and when Cooter slammed his head back down on the table and pinned it there with his beefy hand, the guy’s eyes looked exactly the same. Cooter grunted as he came and Roman felt the bile rise in his throat as he watched the man pull out and a trickle of blood ran down the guy’s inner thigh.
“Bleeding just like a bitch,” Cooter said in satisfaction and as the next guy moved into position, Roman dropped the curtain and began moving towards the pool table.
One of the bikers stepped in his path and snarled, “You gotta fucking wait your turn, man!”
But Roman just kneed him in the groin and then slammed his hand into his nose. The guy shouted in pain as he hit the ground and then Cooter was coming at him. Adrenaline surged through Roman’s blood as he saw a smattering of blood on the guy’s condom covered cock and he didn’t hesitate to slam his fist into Cooter’s bulging neck. Cooter gasped and Roman hoped to God he’d managed to cause permanent damage to the man’s trachea. The guy who’d been about to fuck the man on the table stepped back but Roman grabbed him by the balls and squeezed hard. The man screamed like a stuck pig and froze in place. The only two men still standing had enough sense to back off and one of them quickly tucked his own dick back in his pants as if to protect it from Roman’s wrath.
“I suggest you take your friend there” – Roman motioned to Cooter who was struggling to draw in air – “and go before I rip your fucking balls from your body and jam them down his throat.”
The biker he was holding onto nodded and as soon as Roman released him, he and another guy dragged Cooter to his feet and helped him stumble out of an emergency exit. Roman had no idea if Emo Guy had taken off when the whole thing started and he didn’t care. All he cared about was that all the bikers were gone. But he wasn’t stupid enough to assume they wouldn’t return once they had the chance to regroup. He turned to the pool table and saw that the guy hadn’t even moved during the commotion but awareness had returned to his gaze and even though he lifted his head slightly to look over his shoulder at Roman, he didn’t move otherwise. When he dropped his head back into the same exact position, a surge of anger went through Roman as he realized the man fully expected him to take the bikers’ place. But his rage dissipated as he eyed the blood on the man’s thigh.
Roman sucked in a couple of deep breaths and then reached down to pull the man’s jeans up. He closed his hand over the man’s upper arm and pulled him upright. Shock went through him as he got his first good look at the man’s face and he realized that he wasn’t a man…he was a fucking kid. Late teens maybe – twenty at the most.
“Do you need medical attention?” Roman asked as the kid finally reached down to zip up the pants that Roman was still holding up around his slim waist. As soon as he was done, he shook Roman’s hand off.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” was all the kid said as he ran a hand through his light hair. Roman didn’t miss how striking the young man was but his affect was so fucked up that Roman didn’t know what the hell he should do. Maybe if the kid had begged him to take him home or to the ER or even if he’d shown some sign of being intoxicated or drugged, Roman would have had a place to start but the guy was so disconnected from what had just happened that Roman was clueless. He had a very strong suspicion that if he just left him, he’d fold himself back over the pool table for the next guy who walked into the room. That or he’d go looking for the bikers so they could finish him off.
“Is there someone I can call for you?”
The kid shook his head and then pushed past Roman. But when he swayed and nearly fell, Roman grabbed him by the arm and made a decision that he knew he was going to regret come morning. “What’s your name?”