In Hot Pursuit

by David Horne

  “In Hot Pursuit”

  M/M Gay Romance

  David Horne

  © 2020

  David Horne

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images and are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.04.07)

  http://www.DavidHorneauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: Bob, RB, JayBee, David and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Free Book “Princes of Westlake”

  Prologue

  “What is your name?” The deep, stern voice of the man standing over him came again as hands tapped impatiently on the dented table’s surface.

  “I don’t think it’s good to talk to strangers,” Eric said with a flat voice and cringed as a bright light was moved to shine more into his eyes.

  “This isn’t a game for you to play, tell us your name or we’ll force it out of you!”

  “You can try all you want, I don’t think anyone could make me talk,” his lips lifted up into a smile as he saw the red of anger seep into the man’s face.

  “You’re playing a dangerous game. When we find out who you are, you’re going to tell us what we want to know, or you’re going to sit in that cell until you do. See, this isn’t your average little ‘prison’. This facility is made to keep people in that we want in and not attract the attention of those we would rather keep out.

  “Funny, I snuck into that other place without even meaning to,” Eric laughed at the aghast expression the guy made before he moved the light away.

  “So, you weren’t there on purpose?”

  “I don’t know, was I?” Eric sat back and looked him dead in the eyes before he glanced around the room, seeing some chips in the cement walls and a few mystery stains that weren’t covered up very well. “You guys should really work on your cleaning skills. Everything is pretty roughed up in here.”

  “Just wait your turn, it’ll look even worse,” he growled at him and shoved him so hard he fell over in the chair onto the floor. A small hiss of pain was all the noise he made from hitting his head against the wall at the near end of his fall. “I’ll be back, better be ready to spill everything you know about us or you’re toast.”

  There wasn’t enough time to throw a comeback at him as he slammed the door shut behind him. “Pleasant guy. He must have lots of fun friends here.” For the first time, he tested the handcuffs that had his arms locked in an uncomfortable position behind his back. “Fuck, that’s a bit tight. Not even the new cops do it this tight in practice,” he murmured and put his feet up on the chair. Within a couple seconds, his arms were in front of him and he was stretching out with a grunt of pain. Putting his hands to the back of his head he felt around for any blood, finding a small patch in his hair that was scraped.

  Outside the door, he heard shouting and what sounded like gunfire before loud thudding footsteps came running in his direction. He stood up and made his hands into fists, ready to fight for his life if necessary. Sadly though, with the pain spreading into a headache and his back aching from the fall, he couldn’t see himself winning. “He’s in here! Eric Herman Thorens, please stand back from the door!”

  “Oh, uh okay,” Eric didn’t recognize the voice and it wasn’t the same guy. Thinking quickly, he pulled the table over to the opposite side of the room and hid behind it after pushing it on its side in a small panicked rush. Not a minute later, a few shots rang in the hallway and the door burst open. Peeking over the edge, he saw a man in a white t-shirt with tight-fitting jeans and a belt of black that matched his bulletproof vest.

  “Eric, are you all right?” He asked, looking around the room before holstering his gun and pushing the table out of the way.

  “Yeah, I’m great, just a little scraped and bruised. Do I know you?” Eric couldn’t help staring, the more he looked the more attractive his savior was. He had a five o’clock shadow look with dark blue, almost black eyes, his hair a deep auburn yet his skin was tanned and alluring.

  “No, but you’re going to get to know me very well under my protection. You’re a high-security risk with the information you hold. I have to ask though, why you ran away from the police?” His voice was not meant to be soft but his eyes showed his sympathy for him as he had noticed the blood on Eric’s hands.

  “I thought they were going to arrest me and think I was a suspect. I don’t have a great reputation among the locals here,” he mumbled as he was pulled to stand up but winced and leaned back into the wall.

  “Suspecting you isn’t any part of our problem right now, plus most of what they saw was you running away with your hands empty. You didn’t have a gun or weapon to kill the victim,” with rough-skinned hands, he was pulled up to the man’s chest. “Lean on me and I’ll walk you out. What you saw is very important with what went on here. Do you remember the faces of the men?”

  “Definitely, that one guy had a dumb angry look when I said I wouldn’t tell him my name,” Eric laughed but regretted the action as it made his headache worse. Doing as he was told; he leaned into the bulletproof-vested chest of the somewhat older looking man. “So, do I get to sleep at your place?”

  “Yes of course. My name is Damien Simons, you can even ask me to—”

  “What is it now?” Eric stopped narrating his made-up story when his boyfriend held up a hand, giving him a look of disapproval, “What? You think you can do better telling it?”

  “You know that’s not at all how we met you goof butt. Why don’t you tell them the real story? That one was a tall tale with obvious exaggerations, that stuff only happens in movies.”

  “Fine Damien, but it’s not nearly as action-packed and badass as the one I was telling them,” Eric groaned and sat back with a pout. He crossed his arms to think about h
ow to start over again explaining to their friends how they met and what they went through.

  “Why not start with how you ended up where we met? I even want to hear about it again the proper way,” Damien suggested, wrapping his arm around Eric to pull him close.

  "Well fine, but that's not nearly as fun," Eric grumbled and picked up a picture album they had made years later. "I'll show you where everything started, it was just a little shop owned by Damien, that my friend was working at."

  Chapter One

  "Come on please, Emma I'm begging you to just let me work here for a while! I got fired and I need somewhere to work or my parents are going to have a cow," Eric begged and clasped his hands together while he gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

  "Eric, for the last time this is a small shop and I don't have the money to pay you for whatever work you do. Maybe if we got more business but it's not even my decision, that's up to the owner of the shop. I only help run it for him while he's at his main job," Emma explained with a sigh and cleaned up the show case for the jewelry and trinkets being sold.

  "You've got to be kidding! Then let me talk to that owner guy! He can pay me half the wages of a regular employee. I just have to have a job or my parents are going to cut me off. Please, Emma!" He begged with his hands clasped together, the bell going off in the shop making him jump as a man entered wearing a police badge on his belt. Eric couldn't help but stare at him for a few seconds, the guy was clearly older by a few years but he looked perfectly fit.

  "Emma, I'm on lunch so I came to check-in. Is this guy bugging you?"

  "No, this is my friend Eric, Eric this is Damien the owner of the shop I was telling you about," Emma said trying to give him a look that would scream 'don't ask' but Eric was too wrapped up in his own mind. The man was tall muscular and had striking blue eyes that he wanted to immediately get lost in.

  "You could arrest me," Eric mumbled under his breath before he stood up straight smiling at him. "It's nice to meet you, Damien. I think your shop is charming, and now I see where it gets the fine touch." Flirting subtly, he wasn’t trying to get asked out but it made him feel less like blurting out how gorgeous the guy was.

  "Oh? And why might you be thinking that?" Damien asked with an amused kind of smirk on his face as he slipped in behind the counter to check over the work schedule and frowns. "One-minute Eric, I need to take care of some scheduling issues." With a motion, Emma stepped off to the side and they had a whispered conversation into which Eric tried to casually eavesdrop since it seemed important.

  "I don't know why he hasn't shown up for a couple of days but maybe I can give him a call? I know he's a good worker so something might have come up, you know?" Emma was trying to defend a fellow worker and went to call the number Damien handed her. From the way she was walking she was clearly feeling it was an urgent matter, her footsteps hitting the ground harder than usual.

  "So, Eric, are you Emma's boyfriend? She seems to be close to you from what I've seen," he smiled at him but Eric snorted at the idea of it.

  "Sorry to disappoint but I'm not her boyfriend, I bat for the other team if you know what I mean. I'll let her explain it to you if you don't understand though," Eric winked at him and stretched out. He could only resist the urge to out himself for so long, even if he couldn’t date the guy. "Since she's busy, I was wondering if you might let me work here. I mostly need it so I can have a job and don't need a ton of hours. I'm willing to take on any shift you have, even just an hour a day. Honestly, you can pay me minimum wage and I won't mind one bit."

  “You seem pretty desperate for this, so is that why Emma is checking so thoroughly on that other guy? And I’m guessing you’re not a good worker if you think you can be paid minimum wage with one hour of work,” Damien commented and crossed his arms. After a sigh, Eric leaned back to stare at the ceiling and pulled on his sleeves. Explaining why he needed the job was more embarrassing but he couldn’t tell the full truth, he hadn’t even told Emma.

  “No, I’m not a good worker as a professional chef or at making special kinds of coffee, but I can do customer service. My specialty is buttering someone up into buying something; it’s like second nature! I promise I’ll do well here!” Eric begged and got on his knees in front of the counter, hands clasped out in front of him. “Please! I can even help with any task, like cleaning the place until it’s completely spotless!”

  “Get up from the floor, don’t you have any shame? I don’t like someone begging on their knees like that, it’s quite sad.”

  “Sense of shame? Not particularly, I do what I have to,” Eric mumbled but got up and dusted himself off giving a winning smile. “Does this mean you’ll hire me?”

  “Not a chance, but maybe you could help me with something else. I’ve got a new house and I meant to hire a maid with the extra money I’m making from this store. Instead, I can hire you but only if you think you’re good enough to clean a bachelor’s house,” Damien said and Eric could only smile to himself at such good news.

  “I definitely can sir, I’ll even call you mas-” Emma walked in with a solemn look on her face and he stopped mid-sentence. She was his friend after all and when she was in anguish, he felt it to his very core.

  “Damien, he quit the job. Patricia is going to take on his hours but I don’t understand why he decided to quit. The hours are decent and so is the pay,” Emma seemed a little heartbroken over it. Eric had already forgotten about begging for a job to try and comfort her in the sad state she was in.

  “Maybe he was stressed or has a family emergency, those things are pretty common reasons why people need to move jobs. Don’t get too hurt over it, I’m sure he wasn’t trying to up and quit when there’s such a good supportive co-worker here,” Eric patted her shoulder and she sighed shuffling back to where she was before to clean the showcase. Her hair hung down partially covering her face as she hid that she still felt somewhat betrayed by it.

  “That’s all right Emma, you have his number, so you could call him in your personal time to see if he’s okay. For now, stay vigilant until the next shift worker comes. I need you to be strong for a few hours okay?” Damien glanced at his watch and started heading for the door. “Oh, right. Eric could you give me a call after my work is over? Emma you can give him the number, I’ll give you the instructions for the job.” A wave of his hand and he was gone with a confused employee staring after him.

  “Eric why is my boss talking to you about work when I know he wouldn’t hire you here?” She put her hands on her hips as she gave him a squinted accusing look. “You didn’t bribe him with something did you? Or is he just going to try and run you around so you don’t ask again?

  “I asked for a job here and he said no but I am going to be his butler or maid, I guess. Whichever he prefers as long as it’s a job that my parents can see me making money from,” Eric shrugged and Emma sighed softly, ruffling with his hair in an affectionate manner.

  “Such desperation is dreadful to see on you but if it’s what you want, I won’t stop you. Be sure not to hit on my boss too much, it could reflect badly on me. I know how you can be. You lead them on but never date them,” she reprimanded before writing down the number. “He gets off at six so be good and don’t call him until six-thirty at the earliest.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he winked at her playfully and took the number, hugging Emma for a short moment. “What would I do without my lovely best friend helping me out?”

  “Not get your rich parents' paychecks,” she rolled her eyes as he skipped out, ignoring the answer to his rhetorical question.

  Chapter Two

  Eric sat on the couch focused on the clock in front of him on the wall, his phone sitting in front of him on his glass coffee table. “Two minutes, not before six-thirty and I’ve waited this whole damn time. She really knows how impatient I am when I’m nervous, she did this on purpose somehow.” He tugged a hand through his hair and shook his head, “No, she wouldn’t do that but fuck is this harder than I thought.�
�� Wringing his hands together he tried distracting himself for the last few minutes, picking up a copy of his coding book from his first year in college he kept around in case he needed it.

  “Eric, are you going out to eat with us tonight?” His friend talked through his front door after knocking and jolted him from his trance-like state.

  “Shit! Not tonight but maybe tomorrow, okay?” He called holding a hand over his heart as it had skipped a beat in surprise.

  “All right, see you later then. We’ll be at the usual place though if you want to come,” as the footsteps fade away, he was picking up his phone and dialing the number for the fifth time.

  “Deep breath, it’s not like he’s a pervert or killer. In fact, he’s a policeman or in the force, so it’s extra safe. Yeah, let’s think on that and not my parents’ reaction to the type of job.” Eric took a few breaths while it was ringing and nearly gasped when he heard the same deep smooth voice answer.

  “Hello, this is Damien Monroe, may I ask who is speaking?” Damien’s voice sounded deeper on the phone, almost as if he were trying to sound attractive.

  “This is uh Eric from earlier and I was calling about the offer to clean your house for you.” He smacked himself in the forehead for stumbling over his words at hearing his voice. “I have the stuff you were talking about ready to send to whatever account you want,” the recovery did not happen and he leaned forward with his head on his knees.

  “Oh right! Well first off, I’ll have to know if you have a record or not and you can send me your usual resume to look over. You don’t have to go through much of an interview. I will just need to know if you have the skills to clean,” Damien talked in one fluid breath, giving Eric his email address to send the resume.

  “Is there anything else you need from me?” Sitting up he was writing everything down on a document on his computer, being careful to type it all in correctly.