Between the Bars Pt. 02

"It's okay, I won't take advantage of you." He sounded rough and sleepy, but slightly amused and goddamn it, why did his voice have to be so sexy? "Even if that's what you want. I just can't relax unless I know you're not going to sneak off. If you try to get away, I'll wake up; I'm a very light sleeper when I have to be. It's either this or I handcuff you to the headboard. Your choice."

"Fuck you," I snarled, still pushing at his arm. It was like trying to move a brick wall but at the same time, his skin was so smooth and warm and he was all man, all muscle and he felt so fucking good against me I just wanted to melt into him and soak into his bones. His cock was partly hard now just from my struggling against him, but he didn't seem driven to do anything about it, and I couldn't do anything about mine no matter how it demanded me to. Not while we were this close, not without him knowing it. With a petulant sigh, I gave up and stopped struggling but I still didn't relax, I held my whole body stiff and rigid so he would be damn sure I wasn't cuddling him. That would be giving in and I couldn't do that no matter how much I wanted to, because that would mean he won.

"Sure, just wake me up when you're ready," he said in that thick sleepy voice, chuckling while his breathing got slow and even. My heart still knocked but I inched away from his body just a tiny bit. It just wasn't fair for him to feel this good and be this close to me. His arm tightened and pulled me back against him and there was nothing I could do but lie there with every muscle in my body tense.

Soon he was asleep. I could tell because I'd slept with him the night before and I knew the pattern of his breath. He was heavy and solid in his sleep, immovable. His thighs were so strong and the light hairs brushed the backs of my legs; his cock was a warm weight against the crack of my ass. I saw him stroking it under the cascading water with his head thrown back; then it was the feeling of penetrating him from behind and I shivered and forced myself not to rub against him. It was useless, though. My cock ached from all the teasing, all the sensations, all the mental images and I was desperate for relief but I had no idea how I was going to get it without Daniel knowing what I was doing.

I stared at the wall in the dark. Cold in here and Daniel was so fucking warm, like a glowing stove wrapping me in heat. I shifted and his magnificent abs pressed against my lower back. His feet were even warm, toes tucked between my ankles. I kicked them away and he tightened his arm around me to let me know he was aware of my movement. That only brought me into sharper contact with his naked body and I stifled a groan. This was not working. There was no way I was sleeping like this.

"Where you going?" he muttered as I pulled away.

"Bathroom. Is that allowed?" I sounded about as cuddly as a wolverine and he chuckled that low sleepy laugh that made my dick so hard. Fucker.

"If you really, really have to."

I had to all right. I was thankful for the darkness as I raced to the bathroom and turned the lock behind me. No light, didn't need it. I yanked off my shirt. My back hit the wall and I slid down while I wrapped my hand around my cock, impatiently pushing my boxers down. The tiles were cold on my bare ass but my hand was warm and I bit back a groan as I teased the head with my thumb. My hand was a practiced lover that knew exactly what I craved.

Sweet pouty cherub lips wrapped around my dick, blue eyes looking up at me...

Lotion. I'd seen it earlier on the vanity in one of those tiny bottles motels have along with the miniature shampoo and bar of soap. I fumbled for it but I couldn't find it in the dark so I had to flip the light on for a second. When my eyes adjusted, I caught a brief glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror behind the door, on my knees on the hard tile floor with my boxers down around my knees and my dick sticking out in front of me. My face was flushed and my lips red and wet, damp strands of hair stuck to my sweat-glazed neck. I looked completely slutty and out of my mind. Fucking Daniel. I grabbed the lotion bottle and flipped off the light, sinking back down to the floor.

The lotion was cool and slick as I stroked my cock and it felt so good but I didn't have time to relax and draw this out; I needed to get off fast, before Daniel started to wonder what was taking me so long. I squeezed another blob on my fingers and circled the rim of my hole. It fluttered and my breath quickened.

Push your tongue in and show me how you want to fuck me... Smack me again and make me cum so hard...

Shuddering from his raspy voice in my head, I threw my heel up on the side of the bathtub, sinking down so my cock hit my stomach and I stroked it while my finger slid effortlessly inside me and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Didn't want to think about him but I couldn't stop the images and the sound of his words from flooding me and I didn't care anymore.

Another finger filling my tight hole and the tingly sensation burst inside me. I came so fast and so hard, it left me weak and panting, splattered with cum. I lay there collapsed against the wall, spread out in a heap, for a moment to catch my breath before I got up and flipped the light on, turning on the hot water tap in the sink. My face in the mirror was flushed with residual excitement. And shame. My head knew there was nothing to be embarrassed about, it was a perfectly natural thing, but there was still some little voice in the back of my head that was implanted in me too early to ever root it out, no matter how hard I tried, and kept me from expressing certain things sexually that came out much more easily in my writing. The fact that I'd given in to Daniel pissed me off, but he never had to know.

"Took you long enough," Daniel grumbled when I lay down, dressed and cleaned up. He threw his arm over me again and my heart just went on in its slow, satisfied beat instead of racing wildly from his touch. I relaxed into his warmth, eyes getting heavy. "What the hell were you doing in there?"

"Fried chicken gives me the shits."

"Oh yeah?" He snickered in my ear, drifting off to sleep. "I'll just bet it does."

***

Chapter 9

Rain poured down in sheets as I went to the office for check out, with Daniel waiting in the Honda. Stepping out under the roof, I shivered in the cold. Crazy. Neither one of us had so much as a jacket, and he thought he was going to Chicago in December? Well, not me. I wasn't going to Chicago and as soon as I got back in the truck I planned to tell him that.

Wet and shivering, I climbed into the driver's seat. Rain pelted the roof and the windshield wipers slapped their rhythm, trying to keep the glass clear enough to see. I had my speech all planned, but Daniel was talking on my cell phone. That was odd. I didn't want to seem like an eavesdropper but there was no way I could help listening.

"I'm fine, Wyman. You sound more like my mom every day. Nag nag nag." He rolled his eyes and smiled slightly at whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Nothing on the news since I left Atlanta and I've been out of sight since Birmingham. I'll be in Chicago late tonight." His eyes went to me and I tried to pretend I was concentrating on backing out of the parking space. "Never mind about that. Got anything good to tell me? I could use a break, man. I'm flapping in the breeze out here."

There was a long silence, broken only by occasional grunts or "uh-huhs" from Daniel. The thumping of the rain prevented me from hearing what Wyman, whoever he was, was saying even though I tried. I heard his voice faintly, but I couldn't make out the words or tone.

"They've got audio. No shit. Are you sure?"

His voice was low and I felt his tension creeping into my own nerves.

"So the FBI is going to take care of everything. Clear my name and protect me until this breaks. All I have to do is make the call and meet this agent at the field office when we get to St. Louis."

My heart started to thump. The FBI?

"Scott, are you sure about this?" he questioned. "How did you hook up with the feds on this?" There was a long silence while the voice on the phone explained and Daniel listened intently. "Have you had her checked out? I know you know your job, man, but I'm trying to stay alive here. I'm nervous as fuck, I need to know that everything's cool before I..." Another pause. "And did you speak to her directly, or just through your captain? Okay. Yeah, I know." He grinned briefly. "That paranoia's bailed your ass out of a few jams too, right? Got that number?"

He dug the pen and notebook out of the back seat where I'd tossed it and scrawled a number on a blank sheet. "Okay, got it. I'll be in touch. If you need to get a hold of me before I get to St. Louis, call this number I'm using. No, it's not my cell, do you think I'm crazy? It belongs to someone I'm with." His eyes went to me again while he listened to the phone. "Civilian. He's just giving me a ride, it's no big deal. Well, I didn't have a choice after Birmingham, now did I? Once we get to St. Louis, it won't matter anyway. All right. Catch you later."

After saying his goodbyes, Daniel flipped my phone shut. He turned to me.

"Change of plans."

"Yeah?" I said like I hadn't heard anything that was just said. The dumb act came naturally to me. It wasn't hard to convince people I was innocent and oblivious, lost in my own little world. Hell, a lot of the time, I was.

"Yeah. That was Scott Wyman. Works in IAD up in Chicago. He's the one I was going to see, who's working this case from the other end. He had an FBI agent contact his captain about getting me on interdepartmental task force to take this case national. Once in a while, IAD works with the FBI on cases like this when they cross state lines. Anyway, the field agent in St. Louis has some audio she wants me to hear, so I can ID some people from Tallahassee to link them with the Missouri suspects. The FBI is going to protect me until these people are brought down."

"What about the murder charges?" I asked, although I had no idea why it should matter to me. I was getting caught up in this drama was all. I couldn't help it. It was like being in a movie, except the actors were all real. I was nothing but a bit part, but it was exciting now that the possibility of danger was fading.

"The FBI will make that all go away." Daniel nodded. His words were reassuring, but instead of being overjoyed the end was near, he was tense and distracted with a fretful line between his eyebrows.

Despite his doubts, I was flooded with relief. Just a five-hour drive and this would all be over. I'd leave Daniel in the hands of the FBI and be on my way. I could get back to my life and never see him again. That was a good thing. I ignored the little hitch in my chest that might suggest otherwise. What did I need with excitement? I had a novel to finish and a second draft to edit. This thing I started writing in the notebook last night was just for fun, just something to distract me. Daniel and his problems were nothing but a big disruption and I couldn't wait to draw back into my routine like a turtle in a shell.

"Until then, though, we still need to be careful not to be recognized. I don't want to get you in any trouble. You wouldn't last a night in jail." He shot me a grin that sent a funny little tingle through me. Jesus, that hadn't happened to me since my undergrad years. Oh god. I groaned to myself. I was getting a schoolboy crush on a handsome, dangerous cop who oozed sex. The sooner I was away from him, the better. "If you pull into a drive-through I'll buy you breakfast."

"Good thing for you I'm a cheap date," I snorted and he laughed.

We had our sausage biscuits and coffee in the car. The temperature had dropped in the night and it was getting cold enough to make us both shiver until the car warmed up. If I hadn't been driving to St. Louis and then turning around and heading back, I would've insisted we stop somewhere and buy a jacket, especially when I was the one who had to get out and pump the gas, shivering in the chilly wind. Daniel handed me the money and when I came out of the gas station after paying, he was behind the wheel.

"I'll drive. Got a map?"

"We don't need one, I know the way."

Normally, I didn't let people drive my vehicle, but it was a long drive and I'd done it all so far, so I deserved a chance to sit back and ride. Neither one of us slept well last night. I was used to sleeping alone and I had never slept close to any of my lovers. I didn't like being crowded, let alone being pinned under someone's weight. Also, Daniel woke up several times in the night with violent starts, waking me instantly. When I asked him what was wrong, he said nothing, but his heart thumped heavily against my back and I was sure he had to be having nightmares. I tried not to feel any sympathy for him, but I knew he'd be just as glad as I was when all this was over even if he did thrive on excitement. This whole running-for-his-life thing was disturbing his sleep.

The temperature dropped steadily as we went further north, and by the time we made it to the Illinois side of the St. Louis metro area in the early afternoon, it was close to freezing. The radio was issuing a winter storm advisory by evening. I planned to be out of here by then after dropping Daniel at the FBI field office in the city. We'd had a quiet ride up from Nashville, through Paducah and onto the state highways in Illinois. I'd made this drive many times, so I knew the shortest route. I passed the time scribbling in my notebook, while Daniel kept his thoughts silent.

The Arch came into view. I glanced up when I realized we'd stopped. Daniel had pulled into a truck stop and parked in the corner furthest from the building, out past a parked eighteen-wheeler.

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

"Nothing's wrong."

Daniel turned to me and gave me the full benefit of his bone-melting smile. His eyes lingered on my face like he was memorizing it ... as silly as that thought was. He'd forget me the minute he got out of the truck and walked away without looking back. That was just the nature of his job, to use whatever tools he needed to accomplish his objective, and I was just something to help him to that end. It was okay. It would all be over soon and we could both move on.

I tried not to think about this morning when I opened my eyes in the dim gray motel room, waking to find Daniel half-consciously rubbing his nose in my neck while his body stretched out and relaxed next to mine, his arm heavy across my chest and his morning hard-on nudging my thigh. His skin was so fucking warm and I pushed him away, jumped up and headed to the bathroom with my heart pounding and my dick begging for his touch.

"Then why'd you pull over?"

He cocked his head and I felt my stomach give a little flip from the way his lips curved in at the corners. Smiling like that, looking at me. Fuck.

"I wish I had the words to tell you how much what you've done means to me."

"It's not like I had a choice," I mumbled as heat crept up my face.

"You had a choice, Ry. You know you did. You know you could've just refused to do this, but instead you chose to help me, to believe me... no matter how much you bitched about it." He laughed slightly and then he lifted his hand and touched my cheek. I knew it was red and I felt foolish; he ran his thumb lightly over my jaw, his eyes following his touch, and I tried to hide the shiver that ran through me, swallowing as I cursed myself for being such a ninny.

"Well," I forced a smile, "turns out my gut had something to say after all."

"Yeah. Thank you for listening to it."

There was a split-second where he slid his hand behind my neck, my breath stopped and then he leaned across the center console and his mouth caught mine and covered it, his tongue slipping inside, lingering over the edge of my top teeth, tasting my tongue and twining around it. Shock froze me but only for a moment then my eyelids drifted down and I wrapped my arm around his neck like I'd never let go and I lost myself in his kiss. "Being lost in a kiss" was a phrase I'd repeated in my books a hundred times but until this moment, I thought it was only a tired cliché. His tongue probed and teased, lightly tracing my lower lip and I caught it playfully and sucked on it, then he was slowly fucking my mouth in and out with his tongue and the thrusts made me whimper as my cock got fully hard and strained against my crotch.

"Shit, Daniel." I drew back panting, grinning in a dazed and bleary sort of way. "If this is how you thank people then I wish I'd been a lot more helpful."

He laughed against my neck where he was nibbling little kisses along my jaw.

"I'd like it."

His mouth slid over mine again and his fingers reached for my crotch and nimbly unbuttoned my jeans. I can't say I stopped him but I did hesitate slightly.

"What about them?" I gestured out the window at the people gassing up their trucks and milling around not too far from us.

"We'll just have to charge admission." He grinned, but then he ducked between the seats and climbed over the back seat into the cargo bed, beckoning me with one finger while he shimmied out of my khaki pants he still wore, his lean hips and belly emerging for my hungry eyes. "Come along, little redhead..."

I scrambled over the seat in record time, pulling my jeans down as I tumbled into the cargo bed where he waited with that breathtaking smile of welcome. I was caught in my clothes and he helped me ease them off while the cold drizzle misted the windows around us. Nobody would be peeking into cars in this weather, and I didn't care by now anyway. I didn't care that it was chilly and the cold made my nipples hard and my skin prickly. I didn't care that the rough carpet would leave rug burns on my knees and my elbows. I didn't care about much of anything except Daniel kneeling over me naked, straddling my stomach and grinning with his hand wrapped around the base of his cock, stroking it slowly.

"You gonna watch this time, or look up at the roof of the car?" Daniel teased. "You can't fool me, Ry... I know you were watching the whole time while I made myself cum for you..."

I let out a little groan and nodded while I avidly watched the way he circled the head with his fingertips, then stroked his balls, just like in the shower only this time the view was better because there was no soap, and I felt free to just stare hungrily instead of pretending like I wasn't watching. Fucking pride, making me miss that opportunity, when I could've slipped into the hot spray with him all wet and naked and gotten on my knees and felt his cum drench my throat instead of making him jerk off.

A wide grin spread over my face because I had the chance to make up for that now.

I put my hands on his strong thighs and slid down between them so that his knees were on either side of my neck and his cock was right above my face and I could see every vein pulsing and the thick head flushed and eager. A sticky little drop welled up in his slit from his stroking and I lifted my head and licked it off and it was deliciously warm and salty-sweet. He dropped his hand from around his cock and stared down at me and I could see his chest rising and falling rapidly, his nipples hard from the cold, his belly so smooth and inviting.

"Oh yeah, I was watching and it was so fucking hot my dick almost melted," I growled. I wrapped my hand around his shaft, so warm and so hard, and licked it from the base to the tip and made him groan. "You made me crazy, I was so hard watching you..."

"Yeah, I saw," Daniel smirked and I got my revenge by licking his balls. The scent went straight to my pleasure receptors and for a moment, I was totally hypnotized. I sucked them gently, gripping his muscular ass in my palm while I teased the head of his cock with my thumb. Shit, he smelled good...