Page 14 of A Handsome Devil

I’d been utilizing the Club as a way to put Alessio out of mind. My work was an amazing method of placing lifesaving action first and foremost, shunting the boring details of my real life into the background. I even had a cot in the storage area that I utilized more than I could admit. Now, though, I couldn’t separate Alessio’s travails from Club life. He was an addict.

And a musician.

Erin approached me kindly when I meandered to the backyard to pet the employee dogs. Her warmth bathed my back as she approached. That’s how I knew it was her.

“Tough code event.” She even put her hand on my shoulder. “But I wouldn’t compare Kermit to Alessio. Alessio is hard to categorize. He’s a great rock innovator. A sort of provocateur. Kermit is straight metal rock. Alessio used to tour the world. Kermit did a tour around Reno.”

Her attempt to cheer me up almost made me sob. I rubbed my face with my palm. “Kermit had tranq in his system.”

There was a brief pause. “Oh.” Sighing, Erin continued. “Haven’t seen any of that in months.”

Tranq was xylazine, which had been ruining communities. “Hey. Do me a favor. Ask Gunning where Kermit got that idea. Let’s follow the path. Run down these guys.”

Erin was always telling me to stay in my wheelhouse. “You don’t want to get involved in that shit. You’re asking for trouble.”

I snorted. “Hell. This entire universe of ours is trouble. I don’t care anymore.”

She folded her arms and regarded me. I didn’t like what she’d concluded. “It’s Alessio, isn’t it?” Stepping closer, she lowered her voice. “Tru. We know you went overboard with that guy. Can’t say as we blame you. You need a partner in your life. Fuck. We all do.” Erin had been holding back from getting involved with anyone. Gunning was just plain terrified of intimacy.

“Yeah. Maybe. But not an addict, right?”

She shrugged. “Alessio fits the mold of the former addict. He’s got a lot to live for.”

I didn’t tell her he’d gone to break out a road dog. She might not be so fond of him then. “Just ask Gunning about the tranq, all right? I’m going home.”

I jingled my keys and beeped my Volkswagen Taos in the tiny parking lot. Maybe later I could tell my roommates that I had fallen for Alessio because I felt a kinship with him. His rapes, my mother’s rapes, we were both of the same tribe. We’d spent our lives being run off or belittled by our own families, or people who posed as our family. People who drained our spirit or wrought pain. Our childhoods had been horribly ripped to shreds, defined by violence and assault.

Once you survived, as we physically had, it just didn’t stop because you recovered from being tased, or flushed gasoline out of your eyes. Simply because we’d made it through the experience didn’t mean we were done with the natural survival mechanism.

We still had to act it out.

Alessio

Bone-weary but oddly exuberant, I clambered the steps to Truman’s front door. I had no idea if he’d welcome me, especially after I’d admitted I was going to help Denmark. What else could I have told him? Honesty breeds honesty. Normally I wouldn’t give two fucks, but my relationship with Truman—whatever it could be called—was already elevated into the sacred realm.

Still, my heart thudded when I heard someone jogging down the inside stairs. No doubt Truman—his car was on the street—had seen me through his Ring. Whether he raced with joy or anger was debatable.

But when he flung open the door, I knew.

His face shined with bliss.

Reaching out to me, he cried, “Aless—” But he didn’t make it very far.

Striding into the vestibule, I slammed the door behind me and smashed Truman against the wall. Taking his jaw in my palms, I covered his lush lips with my mouth. Licking his mouth, the tips of our tongues entwined. I pinned him to the wall with the force of my hips, grinding my erection against his.

Holy Mother, I wanted to feel that big dick in my hand. Sliding in and out of my mouth as I teased him to orgasm, if only I wasn’t such a diehard Dom.

Who would dominate became the overwhelming test as we snorted against each other’s faces, fought for supremacy as we kissed, as we cupped each other’s asses in our hands, squeezing and humping each other.

Breaking away a few inches, Truman panted, “Here.” Grabbing my hand, he whipped me into a nearby room. He banged me up against a low dresser, forcing me to put my hands behind myself to balance.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life for you,” he muttered against my mouth. Something surged in my chest. I later realized it was love. Like fire, it couldn’t exist without constant motion. If I stopped hoping and fearing, love would cease.

Running his mouth over my jaw, my throat, nibbling my earlobes and chin, he yanked down the neckline of my muscle shirt and took my erect nipple between his teeth.

The shock. The intense pleasure that caused a few drops of come to spurt out the tip of my cock. Casual lovers never did this. It was so unexpected I gasped, utterly torn between pulling him closer and shoving him off me.

After hugging his face to my chest for a few split seconds, I chose to push him away. I couldn’t let him think he ruled me.