Bound in Blood J.P. Bowie

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.At the first touch of a hand on him, he’d be ready to give the bastard a face-full of pain.Chris wasn’t tall.He worked out regularly and figured he could probably defend himself in a fight, but why chance getting beaten up and subsequently out of work when pepper spray and a hasty retreat was a much better plan?He’d only been working at the Xtasy Club a week.He’d been hired to take care of the bookkeeping by Lonnie Zielowski, the owner.Lonnie had thought at first when Chris showed up at the club that he’d come to audition as one of the go-go boys he’d advertised for along with the bookkeeping situation.“Sweetheart,” Lonnie had told him, taking in Chris’ shaggy blond hair, blue-eyed gaze, and tight, slender body, his pectoral muscles nicely defined under the chest-hugging T-shirt he was wearing.“You could make a helluva lot more money dancin’ here.What d’ya say?”Chris had said no thanks but asked if the bookkeeping position was still available.“It’s available, and it’s yours,” Lonnie had replied, rolling his eyes in disbelief that his offer to make more money had been refused.Chris had feared the worst, bracing himself for all the innuendo and ball-grabs he was sure his new boss was bound to try and wondering if he could stand it.But to his surprise, Lonnie had so far shown him only polite indifference—and piles of back-dated work for him to upload into the computer.He’d experienced some lewd remarks from the patrons as he passed through the club on his way to the office, things like “Nice ass, bring it over here” but that he could live with, and besides, some of the guys who frequented the club were cute.BOUND IN BLOODJ.P.Bowie12But none as cute as the guy he’d noticed earlier in the evening.Only ‘cute’ was entirely the wrong word to describe him.To say he would stand out in a crowd was putting it mildly.He was beautiful— beyond beautiful—yet in a totally masculine way.Tall, wide shouldered, with a mane of thick, black hair that had Chris’ fingers itching to run through it, and a brooding gaze from eyes so dark and mysterious they had taken Chris’ breath away.Eyes that had swept over his face and body with a quiet intensity, making him shiver and feel a hot hardening between his legs.Even later, he would experience that same heat when he thought of the man and wondered how it would feel to be locked in his arms, how he would taste and smell.Chris knew without a doubt that the man would haunt his dreams this night—and maybe many more nights.Would he have the nerve to approach the guy if he showed up in the bar again?Probably not, he’d thought ruefully.The man was in a league of his own, and not likely to be enthralled with Chris’ admiration, even from a distance.His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as once more an elongated shadow was cast on the wall ahead of him.He cursed himself now for not accepting Randy, the maintenance guy’s, offer to drive him home.But Randy was a moron—a moron who called him ‘Blondie’and had bad breath and sticky palms… ugh.Chris had given the creep the brush off on more than one occasion, and getting in a car with him would have been tantamount to stupidity.Just a hundred yards or so more and he’d be out on the main street and could hail a cab.Of course, he berated himself, if he’d used the brain he’d been born with, he would have called the cab and had it pick him up at the club door.With any luck, he’d have his own car back from the repair shop in a couple of days.For now, all he could do was keep walking and pray that whoever was tagging behind him was just some dude minding his own business and not someone who’d been lurking outside the gay club—someone intent on grabbing and beating the shit out of him in this long, dark alleyway.Wait, if that was really his intention, wouldn’t he have made his move by now?Chris was almost at the end of the alley.He heard the sound of traffic and people’s voices.His breathing calmed a little, and he found himself quickening his pace, almost running the last few yards that would take him out into the well-lit street where he would be surrounded by the late-night crowds thronging the sidewalks.Only a few yards more, and he’d be safe.BOUND IN BLOODJ.P.Bowie13Then they came out of the shadows in front of him.Three large, formidable figures that made Chris stop dead in his tracks.Fast as he could be on his feet, he knew there was no way around them in this narrow alley.They had spaced themselves across, forming a barrier of muscle and bone—and hatred.“Hi, there…” The cold sneer in the voice brought up the short hairs on the back of Chris’ neck.“What’s a pretty little faggot like you doing out here so late?” The speaker, tall and bulky with thick shoulders, tapped the palm of one hand with the baseball bat he held in the other.“Lookin’ to get a blow-job or somethin’?”“I work at the Xtasy Club back there,” Chris said, trying to keep the tremor of fear from his voice.“I’m just on my way home.I’m not looking for any trouble.”“Funny…” The guy with the baseball bat giggled, a sinister, unpleasant sound that made Chris’ skin crawl.“’Cause trouble’s lookin’ for you.” The other two men added quiet, insidious sniggers of their own at their friend’s attempt at humour.“When we’re done rearranging your pretty face, no one’s gonna want a blow-job from you, faggot.”Chris’ fingers, inside his pocket, flipped the top off the pepper-spray vial.They were going to hurt him without a doubt, but he’d go down with the satisfaction that at least one of them wouldn’t be able to see for a while.He backed up a little, wondering if he could make it back to the safety of the club, where Joe the security guard could call the cops.No, he decided, he’d never make it.They’d be on him in a flash, beating the crap out of him with their fists, feet and that baseball bat.He shuddered as he imagined the pain these creeps were about to inflict on him.On second thought, maybe running was definitely worth a try.He turned, ready to sprint as fast as he could towards the club, but before he’d gone more than three or four steps, he ran straight into a tall man’s hard chest.“Oof—” Chris staggered back until strong hands on his shoulders steadied him.Four of them—oh shit.And this one was even taller than the others.Chris pulled the pepper spray from his pocket, ready to squirt the man’s face.His hand was taken in a firm but gentle grip.His fingers were closed around the vial then he was lifted off his feet as if he weighed nothing at all and set down to one side.He peered up, trying to see the man’s face, but the only nearby light shone behind the man’s head and obscured Chris’ vision.BOUND IN BLOODJ.P.Bowie14“Gentlemen…” The man’s slightly accented voice was soft and husky.“I suggest you put aside all thoughts of harming this young man and go about your business elsewhere.”All three thugs laughed raucously.“Oh, do you now?” The leader stepped forward, baseball bat raised, while the other two sidled up on either side of the tall man.“What if we take you, along with your faggot friend?”“I would advise against trying that,” the man said in that same calm, husky voice.“I will give you but one chance to leave here unhurt.Take this chance now or suffer the consequences [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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