Between the Bars Pt. 02

The room smelled stuffy, like motel rooms invariably do, but I sighed with relief as I flopped down on the king-sized bed. I was forced to share that bed with Daniel tonight, but there was plenty of room for him to stay on his side and me to stay on mine. I eyed him cagily as he stripped down to the borrowed khakis and propped himself on pillows against the headboard with the chicken bucket, bottle of beer and the remote.

Dammit. Confronted with his bare chest, his rippling abs, his sexy belly button and the line of silky hair beneath it disappearing into the waistband of the pants, there was no way I could keep the images of last night from bombarding me, and I rolled over on my belly to hide my cock nudging against my jeans.

"Tired?" he asked me with his eyes riveted on the news. So far, there was nothing about the case in Florida on the local news. He switched to CNN, sipping his beer.

"Yeah," I said briefly. Just talk to him as little as possible.

"Here, have a beer before they get hot. You going to eat?"

My belly growled at the smell of the chicken and I'd never wanted a beer so badly in all my life. I didn't want to accept anything he had to offer, but at the same time, I had to eat, didn't I? Fuck.

Instead of answering, I just snarled, and Daniel laughed, reached in the bucket and drew out a chicken breast, holding it out to me. I took it with bad grace and ate it, still lying on my front facing the TV, pretending to watch the news when I was focused on ignoring him. I'm not thinking about him. Not aware of his body, not smelling him - faint scent of my soap and that essence that drove me so wild last night - not thinking about last night at all, or this morning, not thinking about how it felt when he pushed back on my cock and I slid inside his tight ass...

I stifled a groan. My cell phone, which Daniel had tossed on the bedside table, rang just then and I froze and looked back at him in alarm. This was something we hadn't talked about; my phone didn't ring during the trip because my friends knew not to call me during the day, when I was working.

Daniel glanced at the caller ID. "Who's Nick? Your boyfriend?"

"No, my editor. We're working on a second draft." My heart thumped as the reality of the situation washed over me all over again. This was no game. I was in danger here, if I wasn't careful.

"Answer it. But watch what you say."

Swallowing, I flipped the phone open. "Hello?" I tried to sound as normal as possible but to myself at least, I sounded hysterical. "Hi Nick. No, it's okay." I listened to his chatter and mumbled responses, my eyes on Daniel who was listening to every word. "Well actually, I can't email you right now because I'm not at my computer. I needed a break, so I'm taking a few days off and going home for a visit; I didn't take my laptop, and soon the cell phone coverage will be gone too. I'm not sure, maybe a week. Yeah, it was sudden but I'm fine. Just a little burned out, I think. Sure, just email them to me and I'll catch up when I get back. Okay Nick. Bye."

"Good," Daniel nodded as I ended the call. My heart was still racing but I was oddly pleased by his praise before I caught myself. His opinion of me didn't mean shit. "Is it unusual for you to leave town without telling anyone?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"But nothing to where someone would call the police if they didn't hear from you."

I shook my head. Daniel didn't know I sometime went days without talking to anyone in person, only exchanging email with even close friends like Josie and Drew.

"They'd just think I was in the zone and I'd call when it wound down."

"The zone?"

"Oh, you know. Writing in a smooth flow." I blushed because I hate talking about my work, especially with non-writers. They had no idea.

"I think you should call a friend and tell them what you just told your editor, so they won't wonder where you are and start asking questions. That will buy us enough time to get to Chicago before anyone realizes you're not visiting home. But don't try anything stupid, okay?"

I nodded resignedly. It was a good idea. And maybe, if I talked to Josie, something in my voice would tell her things were amiss and she'd look a little deeper; but I wasn't getting my hopes up. Josie wasn't known for her stunning mental prowess; but if I talked to Drew, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying too much. Fuck. I dialed her number and she sounded just as cheerful and bubbly as ever; there was obviously a man in her apartment so she didn't pay a lot of attention to what I was saying. Then she scared me half to death with an afterthought just as I was about to hang up.

"Hey, you know that guy you went home with last night? I thought I saw him on the news the news earlier!"

"Oh?" I forced myself to laugh. "Doing what?"

"I dunno... the police were looking for him or something. They said he was a cop. It was in Florida I think."

"Nah, I doubt it... Craig's a construction worker from somewhere in Alabama. He left this morning after I fucked him until he could hardly walk."

Staring at me, Daniel lifted his eyebrow in disbelief and I smirked, but this was no laughing matter. He listened until I hung up and I dropped back against the bed, damp with nervous sweat. I thought for sure I was sunk when she said she saw Daniel on the news.

"Craig?" he questioned, amused.

"It was all I could think of on the spur of the moment." I shrugged weakly.

"It was fine. You're fast on your feet. Thank you."

"I'm not doing any of this out of the kindness of my heart." I got angry. "I'm doing it because I don't have a choice. You made me come along and neither one of us can afford to forget that."

He looked at me, and then shrugged his shoulders. "You're absolutely right. I can't start thinking I can trust you, can I? In that case, give me back the phone."

I handed the phone over and glared at him. It was easier this way really... easier to see him as the enemy, so I wouldn't have to like him and I wouldn't have to question my own feelings and my motives for doing any of this. It didn't make him any less sexy, but at least it put up a wall between us. I watched him put the phone in the pocket of his pants, then stand up, and go over to his bag he'd dropped on the chair.

"I need a shower. And since I can't trust you, you're going to have to sit where I can watch you. Can't take the chance of you doing something stupid like calling the cops, can I?" He dug around in his bag.

"And how can you watch me while you're taking a shower?"

"Easy." He flashed a grin as he pulled something from the bag and held it up. Handcuffs. I gasped when I saw them dangling from his finger. "These make a great babysitter."

"You've got to be fucking kidding."

"You just said we're on opposite teams. That must mean you'll turn on me if you get a chance. So, I have to play it safe."

Smiling sweetly, he slipped one of the cuffs over my wrist and I was too stunned to do anything about it. I struggled, but that only made the metal cut into my wrist even more and I bit back a cry of anger and pain. I called him every name in the book, and some nobody'd ever thought of before, as he escorted me to the bathroom with his arm around my shoulders. The indignity of the situation was just unbearable. I caught the bathroom doorframe with my hands. I felt trapped and helpless and panic rose up and choked me, threading through my anger.

"Fucking let me go, Daniel, you son of a bitch."

"Oh, so feisty."

He smirked. I gripped the door as hard as I could, I was absolutely determined he was not getting me into the bathroom, but all he had to do was give the handcuffs one jerk and I let go from the pain, and he was able to push me inside. He cuffed the other end to the handicap bar next to the toilet and stepped back, looking a bit regretful but more than just a bit amused.

"Listen, I didn't want to do this. I want to make this easy on both of us, Ry. But you've decided to make it hard." He shrugged, grinning at me. "I'm sorry I can't trust you, but those handcuffs really look good on you."

He stopped and looked at me like he was waiting for me to say something, but I sat down on the closed toilet seat and stubbornly looked away. He just shrugged and unbuttoned his pants, setting the key on the edge of the tub out of my reach. My arm was twisted rather uncomfortably in the handcuffs and it would soon be numb, but I'd be damned before I uttered a word of complaint.

I stared at the corner above the door as the pants dropped around his ankles and he stepped out of them naked and tossed them out the bathroom door where I couldn't get to them, since the cell phone was still in his pocket. There was absolutely no way I was giving him the satisfaction of looking at him. No way. Nope, I wasn't stealing a glance at his firm ass when he stepped into the tub. I definitely wasn't watching through the clear shower curtain when he turned the water on and tilted his head back so the steamy spray could splatter his face and stream down his lean, hard-muscled chest...

"Mmm." A low throaty groan echoed around the tiles and a shiver shot straight down my spine.

Fuck.

I cursed under my breath, but I couldn't stop looking at him. He moaned again as the water soothed his muscles. Oh sweet Jesus. His skin was tawny golden brown with a distinct tan line low on his hips and his round smooth ass cheeks were pale and so tempting and spankable. The hot spray pelting down just made him gleam like a god, hard muscles all sleek and slippery and delicious and I groaned silently, shifting on the toilet seat as my dick hardened. It ground against the hard crotch of my jeans and I squirmed while I gritted my teeth together hard.

The clear vinyl shower curtain was fogged, but his body was clearly visible through the veil of droplets that trailed down. Reaching up, Daniel braced his arms against the tiles and leaned forward onto his hands with his shaved head down so the water could pour over his neck and down his spine in rivulets that streamed down the crack of his ass. I licked my lips, mesmerized and it wasn't fair that he leaned back then, flexing all his muscles along his back in a long, slow stretch. The scent of the soap teased me and I sucked it in.

"Ahhh," Daniel groaned as he arched his back, the water pelting his face. He ran his hands over his face and over his head to his neck and he shivered. The sound of his low groans made my balls tingle and he knew it, damn him.

Shit... The urge to touch myself was almost too strong to resist but I bit the inside of my bottom lip and the pain brought me out of the trance, until I looked again and he was soaping himself slowly.

Hands smoothed wet flesh in lazy circles, stroking down his chest, over his ribs and down his hips to his ass, slowly rubbing the stiffness from his muscles. Both hands soaped his belly and I stared as he wrapped his sudsy hand around his cock and stroked it. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't soft either and my mouth dropped open as it thickened in his hand and he gently soaped his balls. Fuck...

His fingers teased his balls I licked them and the light hair tickled my nose and slid under them and soaped his hole my tongue swirled around the tender rose colored pucker and his cock was hard now, flushing with blood and the plump juicy head hit the roof of my mouth and I sucked it lightly tracing the satiny ridge with my tongue and his thumb traced the slit, dancing over it, teasing it, teasing me. I happened to glance up and he was looking though the water-streaked shower curtain straight into my eyes, his cheeks flushed with more than just hot water.

***

Chapter 8

Through the splattered shower curtain, our eyes held. I watched his wet lashes flutter, and then his eyes rolled back in pleasure as he slowly stroked his cock in his soapy hand. A little moan left his throat that I could just hear over the drone of the shower.

"Like that?" he asked hoarsely. "I know you're hard. Bet you'd like to have your hands free, wouldn't you, Ry? So you could wrap them around my cock... like this..."

His hand tightened around his cock and he jacked it more firmly, stroking the fat, dark head and I began to sweat in the damp heat while my dick throbbed and I couldn't tear my eyes away even though I was getting angry that he was toying with me like this.

"I'll unlock you if you like... just keep a close eye on you," he growled. "Very close."

I had to swallow hard before I could say anything. "Fuck you."

"Oh yeah... I like that idea. You fucked me so good this morning, and last night. Was your dick sore from fucking me?" he purred. He tilted his head back a bit as his hand stroked and gently squeezed his balls while he jacked his cock. I forced myself to close my eyes to block out the sight, but behind my eyelids, I still saw the image.

"You're such a whore," I said between my teeth.

"I know." That rough velvety growl of his hit me right in the gut. "We don't have to waste this trip being enemies you know...I'm sure we could find a way to make it interesting..."

I knew we could too, but there was no way I was playing this game, especially not on his terms. Not while handcuffed to the handicap bar. I stared above the shower and inspected the ceiling tiles in great detail. If he expected me to just drop to my knees, he was sorely mistaken... and I wasn't tempted by his luscious curving dick either.

In the hot spray, Daniel was too far gone to notice what I was doing. He started out teasing me but he'd quickly reached the point where he couldn't stop. Even though I wasn't looking at him, I still saw him reaching back to grip the handicap bar to steady himself. I saw his knees give a little as he jacked himself a little faster, a little harder, moving his hand expertly up and down his shaft. He moaned, his breath harsh and gasping in the little chamber of tiles. My mouth was so dry, I couldn't even swallow but I didn't look... No, not even when he threw back his head and moaned as a jet of cum spurted from his cock and splattered on the clear shower curtain. I watched the thick, creamy spunk slide down the vinyl as Daniel leaned back against the tiles weakly and caught his breath, laughing softly.

I sat there looking up at the ceiling like I was terribly bored as he peeled back the shower curtain and stepped out with one tanned, dripping leg. The rest of him followed all naked and gleaming; I swallowed and tried not to imagine my tongue licking off every drop of water from his skin. Damp warmth radiated off him as he stepped very close to me and reached for the towel hanging on the rack behind my head, deliberately pushing his now mostly-soft cock close enough to my face that I couldn't turn away. When I glanced up at him, he was leering down at me, looking straight at the bulge in my jeans.

"Mmm, I feel so much better."

Daniel groaned and stretched six inches from my face. The small bathroom put us in close quarters anyway and he wasn't making any effort to put distance between us. He patted himself dry with a towel and then reached for the key and unlocked the cuffs. I snarled and rubbed the feeling back into my semi-asleep arm as he wrapped the towel low around his hips. Little droplets of water gleamed in his treasure trail.

"You want to take a shower too?" he asked sweetly, glancing back at my cock.

The urge to get myself off was strong but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that I was beating off to his little performance so I shook my head firmly.

"Not right now. I've got some writing to do."

"Oh." He looked vaguely surprised, and I hoped a little disappointed. "Okay."

With a shrug, he let me out of the bathroom, and he went over to the bed, pulled back the covers and lay down after dropping the towel. I made myself not look at his naked body. I took the notebook out of the Wal-Mart bag and opened the package of pens. Too bad he didn't think to get toothbrushes, but I actually did appreciate that he'd grabbed these things for me. I wasn't sure why he'd done it; surely, it would end up benefiting him in some way that I'd find out later, but for now I was just glad I had paper and pen. If I had that, I'd be okay.

Am I going to die? I didn't know the answers to that question and that made my chest tighten and my hands begin to tremble. I couldn't think about it. I took the notebook over to the small writing desk in the corner by the window, flipped on the light and started writing, and soon I was okay.

"I'm going to sleep, Ry."

Some time later, Daniel's voice cut into my thoughts. He'd been drinking beer and watching TV, mostly flipping obsessively through the news channels. I looked up and focused for a moment. It was past midnight and I yawned involuntarily. "Will the light keep you up?" I asked; and then I regretted it, because what did I care about his sleep?

"The light's going off. You're going to sleep."

I stared at him in disbelief. He was telling me when I could go to bed? "What?"

"I can't keep an eye on you while I'm sleeping, can I? You'll have to be right next to me so I know you're not up to anything." Stretched out with the sheets up to his waist and his hands behind his head, Daniel watched my anger and resentment play across my face. His eyes were so fucking blue and they read me so easily. I couldn't hide my feelings even if I wanted to; redheads never can. My easy blushes always betrayed my anger or embarrassment, things I would rather keep hidden. "Listen," he pointed out quietly, "You were the one who decided to fight me on all this and make me not trust you... you made your bed, Rylan. So come lie in it."

At least he didn't say "Come lay in it."

Despite my anger, I almost laughed at myself. Bad grammar, the unforgivable sin to an English major. Worse than kidnapping.

He did have a point, though. There didn't seem to be much point in making it difficult. There were other battles worth fighting, like my going back to Atlanta tomorrow, but right now, I was tired.

"All right," I finally said. "But only because I'm ready." I wanted to make it clear that I wasn't obeying his orders, but I did flip off the light and drop my sweater and jeans on the floor and I crawled between the sheets in my boxers and t-shirt.

I closed my eyes. The bed was big and Daniel was way over on the other side. Plenty of room between us, no need for me to think about him being naked between the sheets right next to me. I'd wake up at home and this would all turn out to be a crazy dream. No more ham sandwiches right before bed.

The sheets should have been cool, but they weren't. His warmth seeped into me even from the opposite side of the bed. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled up on my side facing the wall with the sheet and blankets pulled up to my chin like a protective shell, closing my ears to the little sounds he made, little huffs and grumbles and sighs as he tossed and turned. Sleep. I was going to sleep and not thinking about the way he moaned and writhed under me, naked, slippery and wanton.

Dammit.

Gritting my teeth, I curled into a tighter ball as my dick stiffened. Traitor.

Next to me, Daniel suddenly moved all the way across the bed until his shin touched my calf and his strong arm slid over my ribs. The silky hair tickled me and I shuddered as I felt his breath against the back of my neck. He pulled closer until he was spooned against my back touching me all over, all that lean delicious flesh pressed against me and my heart knocked against my chest with the sudden onslaught while my cock throbbed in hot waves.

"There, that's better," he murmured.

"Fuck!" That was all I could get out after stammering a few times. I remembered I was supposed to be pissed off and I struggled, but his arm locked around me and held me tight and all that I accomplished was rubbing my ass against his naked crotch. He wasn't hard at first, but I was and I'd rather die than let him know it. I pushed ineffectually at his arm that pinned me like an iron band. "What the hell are you doing?" I hissed.