Dan grinned. “Sounds like a plan. Why don’t I take you on down to Ron’s, and we’ll see about getting some wheels for you? And Commando, of course. I’d say if you don’t leave the county, animal control won’t fuss at you. And I’ll vouch for you there.”
“Thanks, I think.” Although Trek’s tone was drier than a good white wine, at least he didn’t reject the suggestions.
After they finished breakfast, Dan drove Trek and Commando down to Ron’s rental lot. He waited until Trek came out with keys in hand. A bit surprised to see the other man walk up to a new SUV, Dan nonetheless approved. Apparently Commando did too. He jumped right in and settled in the shotgun seat. Trek pulled up beside Dan’s pickup.
“I’ll explore around a little today. Maybe we can get together on your days off, and you can show me some of the best places.”
“I work tonight. After that I have two free days. Sounds like a plan. Why don’t we meet for lunch tomorrow and figure out what to do. That’ll give me time for a good nap, and I’ll be ready to go.”
Trek looked at him, eyes veiled behind his sunglasses but what looked like approval in his expression. “Works for me. See you then—same café?”
“Unless you find something better. Besides primo burritos, they do a great green chile cheeseburger.”
Chapter 3
Dan swallowed the last bite of his green chile cheeseburger as he watched Trek do the same thing. “Okay, then, what will it be this afternoon? The ski lift and zip-line trip, the Sinagua ruins, the catwalk up the river canyon. The rock-hound park or the ghost town and movie set?”
Trek shook his head, although he also grinned. “Good grief, man. You could knock me over with a feather. I had no idea all this stuff was within a few hours’ drive of this dirty little desert town. It sure looks like it’s in the middle of nowhere. I may have seen a small blurb on a couple of those but wasn’t sure where they were or how to get there. Hell, half the people who read the magazines I write for don’t know that New Mexico isn’t a third-world country.”
Returning the grin, Dan said, “I thought you were a real travel writer and your job is to ferret out all these amazing attractions that are off the beaten path. I’m kind of surprised. Seriously, this is neat stuff, family-friendly and all that. I guess we’re just fly-by country here—you either go over in a plane or zip past on the interstate.”
“Sad but true,” Trek agreed. “Since I’ve been handed this golden opportunity, I’m going to change all that. With your help, I’ll put southern New Mexico on the main tourist maps and make sure they know it is the forty-seventh state too.”
He drew a slow breath and let it out. “How about Commando, though, will I be able to take him along any of these places? The guy at the motel will freak if I leave him in the room, and there doesn’t seem to be a boarding kennel here, not that I would leave him in one of those that I know nothing about.”
“Shit, I hadn’t thought about your dog, Trek. Damn, that is a complication. You could probably take him on a leash through the rock-hound park and maybe the ghost town. The state and national parks are often pissy about dogs, and for sure he couldn’t ride the zip line.” He gnawed his lip a few seconds and then a bright idea hit.
“Hey, you know what? I’ve got a good-size house with a fenced yard. There’s even a doggie door. I’ve been thinking about getting a dog, just haven’t yet. Anyway, why don’t you check out of that snobby motel? I have two spare bedrooms at my place, and Commando would be safe and comfortable those times he can’t go along.”
For a minute he thought Trek would refuse. The other man frowned. “It’s too late to check out today—well, I could, though I’ll still be charged for it. So let’s do the rock-hound place, and I’ll make the change first thing tomorrow so we can go another place, with or without Commando.”
“We can drive on over there now, so you’ll know how to find it in the morning. I might even get ambitious and fix breakfast. I’ll have coffee on, at least. We can leave one vehicle there and go on to look at the rocks.”
As he drove into the carport at his place, Dan looked his home over with more critical eye than usual. Trek was not going to be impressed, he felt sure. On the old-fashioned side, about typical early sixties, the house could use a coat of paint. He needed to mow the grass too, even if it was dry. The rose bushes had to be old, and they could use a good pruning. Gosh, his parents would be shocked to see how he lived compared to the neat home in which he’d grown up on the family farm in Kansas. Maybe he’d have to spend a few more of his days off fixing things up.
Trek pulled in behind Dan’s truck. He got out, leaving Commando in the SUV. “Nice homey place,” he said. “It kind of reminds me of my mom’s home. She lives in a little town in Tennessee. No tract homes or anything there. Mostly stuff dates back to the eighteen hundreds, modernized some, though they like to keep it looking historical.”
“This looks more barrio than historical,” Dan admitted. “I can see I’ve been letting things go too much, even if it is a rental. I could buy it, ‘specially if it looks like I’ll stay here for a few years. I’ve been on the PD for not quite two years, now. So far it’s working out.”
Trek did not reply. He glanced around as if noting the street name and house number and then turned back to his rental. “Let’s take this one. There’s more room for Commando even if he misses his special hammock I set up in the Fury. I should have taken it out. Wasn’t thinking real straight that evening, I guess.”
The rock-hound park was actually more interesting than Dan expected. He’d never been there himself. It was funny how you ignored local sites until company got you off your dead ass to go. Trek seemed even more enthused.
“Wow, these formations are amazing.” He pulled out two cameras and began to snap pictures in every direction. After that he cheerfully forked over the five-dollar fee for both of them to fill a small bucket with gravel in an arroyo and go through it for gemstones such as agates and crystals. On a retractable leash, which let him wander a good twenty-five feet, Commando sniffed around, tail wagging as he investigated some small animals’ burrows and the scents around each mesquite and creosote bush.
As they headed back to town, Dan relaxed. Trek appeared to be a good driver, conscientious about obeying speed limits and giving other drivers due courtesy. The guy actually seemed to be a pretty cool dude. He might dress in a style a bit fancier and pricier than Dan would even consider, but other than that, he came across as very casual, laid-back and simply likeable.
Given a chance, Dan wouldn’t mind getting to know him a whole lot better. That notion surprised him. He hadn’t looked at anyone with real interest for some time, actually since before he enrolled in the law enforcement academy after he applied for this job. Kind of a long dry spell, come to think about it. Not that an urbane and worldly guy like Trek would be interested in a small-town cop with rural roots for anything long-term but maybe a vacation fling of sorts? Now how would he go about suggesting such a hookup? Maybe he should just wait until Trek was there and let nature take its course even if he finally had to give it a nudge or two.
Trek turned into the right street without a reminder and pulled up in Dan’s driveway. “That was fun,” he said. “While I was never a rock hound, I can see why lots of folks are. I even understand gold fever a little more. I’m glad you recognized that agate in my bucket. I would have gone right by it.”
“I’m no rock hound either, but around here you almost have to learn a little bit about gems and minerals. Somebody busts into a rock shop every so often, and it’s good to know what the owner is talking about when he tells you what’s missing. With the mines up in the foothills, most every old timer has some ‘pretty rocks’ around. There’s a little rock garden here in the backyard, overgrown with weeds. I’ll get it cleaned up soon.”
Trek exhaled, almost a sigh. “I suppose I should go back to the room and get on the computer and try to do a short piece on this and submit it to Roadtrip magazine sin
ce I missed the event in California I was supposed to cover. I need to have a byline in every issue if I can. I’m getting tired of that motel already, though. Although they have a pool, I know they’d throw a fit if I took Commando out there so…I’m not much of a water person anyway. Those damn rooms are so uninspiring. They need a good decorator with some personality!”
“My place wouldn’t know a decorator if he knocked down the door,” Dan said. He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “You’re welcome to come in and hang out for a while anyway. I’ve got some beer in the fridge and some tequila. Probably could even scrounge up a lemon or two for a basic margarita. Let Commando check the place out too.”
Dan waited, trying not to fidget as Trek seemed to consider the idea. Finally the other man nodded. “Sure. Why not? We can plan what we’ll do tomorrow.” He jumped out, snapping his fingers at Commando, who followed him without hesitation. They both trailed Dan through a gate at the rear of the carport and into the backyard. The east-facing patio, well shaded by a couple of mulberry trees, felt cool and pleasant. Trek chose one chair and dropped into it. “Hey, this is nice. I bet you live out here in good weather.”
“I do,” Dan admitted. “What’s your pleasure, a Bud Lite, a Dos Equis, or a glass, a lemon and some Jose Cuervo?”
“You forgot salt, I think I’ll start with a beer. Cold Double X sounds good right now.”
Dan grabbed two brown bottles from the fridge and headed back outside. He slid one across the glass-topped round table toward Trek as he sank into one of the padded chairs. He felt both pleasantly tired and keyed up. Having company was a novelty, since his buddies on the AJPD hardly counted. They were somewhere between family and maybe kissin’ cousins as his southern relatives would say. Not quite kin, maybe next thing to.
This was different. Trek was different. In fact he was about as different as anybody Dan had ever encountered. Just looking at the guy while pretending not to had Dan as hard as a nightstick. He shifted in his chair to take some of the pressure off as his cock strained against the fly of his Levi’s. He took several quick, deep swallows of his beer. Man, I gotta cool off here. Even if I’m sure he’s gay too, that doesn’t mean I turn him on at all.
He emptied the bottle much too fast. Trek had barely lowered the frosty line on his. Scrambling for something to start a conversation, Dan asked the first question he thought of—well, the first innocuous one.
“How did you get to be a travel writer? It doesn’t quite sound like something you might have wanted to do ever since you were in second grade.”
Trek laughed. “Hardly. I kind of fell into it after I got out of school. I’d majored in artsy-fartsy stuff, but I didn’t want to teach, for sure. I wasn’t all that talented after all, either.” He laughed again, this time a kind of rueful chuckle.
“Then as graduation drew close, it hit me: damn, what was I going to do for a living? I like to wander around and I enjoy photography, really more than any other form of art. I figured maybe I could make something work with my two main interests. To start, I went to a couple of places close to home, the kind you never visit when you live there, you know. I took pictures and wrote them up and sent two features in to the main newspaper in Memphis. Damned if they didn’t grab them right away. Then a sub-honcho of Road Trip contacted me to jazz them up some and send them to his mag. Next thing I knew, I was goin’ down the road visiting places.”
He took a couple more pulls off his beer. “I bet you always wanted to be a cop, right? Probably some others in your family were in law enforcement.”
“Not really,” Dan admitted. “My grandpa and my dad had been in the military, and when my big brother went in, I knew I’d be next. Somehow I wound up in the MPs—that’s military police. I think it’s where they put the fuckups who don’t handle tech stuff real well, but are a little too smart to be grunts—that’s the guys who carry a rifle and make good cannon fodder.
“I didn’t make rank fast enough, so as they started the last cutbacks, I was out of a job. With that experience, though, and being a vet, I decided to use it if I could. I’d gotten out at Fort Bliss, down in El Paso, and I really didn’t want to go back to Kansas, so I applied in west Texas and New Mexico. Wound up here. Could have done worse, I reckon.”
“If you’re doing what you like, that’s good.” Trek gazed off into the distance after he shared that. His faraway gaze told Dan the other man looked at a memory, not the block wall that enclosed his backyard.
“I didn’t figure you for a country boy like I was. Did you grow up in Tennessee?”
Trek snapped his gaze back to Dan. “Yes and no,” he said. “My old man was in the military so we moved often when I was little. When Mom split from him, she took me back to her family’s home. I was a lonely only since she never hooked up again.”
Dan nodded, glanced over to see Trek’s beer was now gone too. He jumped up. His prick, when he met Trek’s keen and knowing stare, did too. Well, fuck it! “You want another beer?”
“Sure, if you do. Why don’t you chill though? You’re as jumpy as a three-legged cat in the litter box.”
The remark made Dan laugh, hard-on or not. “That’s gotta be an old Tennessee hill country phrase! Yeah, I guess I am a little antsy. Not used to company, especially company like you.”
“What’s so special about me?”
Dan felt the blush heat his face and hoped his tan would conceal most of it. “I—err—you turn me on like a radio!” He hadn’t meant to blurt it out so directly. Somehow the words emerged anyway.
“Well, hell, we can fix that easily enough! Where do you want to start?”
Chapter 4
While Trek watched, a grin building, Dan stopped short of sitting down again, beers clearly forgotten. He put both hands flat on the table as if struggling to keep his balance. “Er—uhn—”
Trek stood so abruptly his chair tipped over, landing with a clang. “Oh, for Pete’s sake, don’t tell me you’re some kind of a timid virgin or still trying to come to terms with being gay!”
“Noooo, not that. I did the second a few months before I got out of the military and took care of the other right afterward. I’m not all that experienced, but I’m no fuckin’ virgin.”
Trek had to laugh then, a great howling guffaw. “Oh, that’s just too good. Did you hear what you just said?”
“I’m no virgin…”
Obviously Dan did not get the joke. “Okay, so if you aren’t a fucking one, how about a sucking one or all the rest of the possibilities?”
“I’m not sure what ‘all the rest’ includes,” Dan said, his tone laden with caution. “I have sucked cock—more than once—and been the fucker and the fuckee both.”
Trek circled the table and grabbed Dan by both shoulders. “Enough jabber. Here, I’ll lead the way.” While he had to reach up, a fair stretch since Dan was definitely taller, it wasn’t hard to find Dan’s mouth, open as he started to protest or explain yet again. Trek took advantage of that and started a tongue duel while he administered his best start-my-fire-grade kiss. Not that Dan wasn’t close to hot enough already, if Trek read the signs correctly. Still, a bit of added encouragement never hurt.
Wandering up to see what was going on, Commando bumped against Trek’s leg to be sure he got noticed. Pulling barely clear of the ongoing kiss, Trek reassured his dog. “It’s okay, bud. You’ve seen this go down before. Later, okay?” That resolved, he went back to the oscular assault. It was hot, wet, demanding, and intended to blow right past any hesitation Dan might still harbor.
Seemed like it worked. Dan’s arms wrapped around Trek’s more slender frame and dragged him closer. So close their lower bodies almost fused together as if their mutual heat vaporized one pair of jeans and one pair of khaki Dockers. It wasn’t close enough, though. Trek edged a hand between them and pried at Dan’s belt buckle. When it slid free, he tackled the zipper. Weighted by the big rodeo-style buckle, Dan’s jeans began to sag, slipping down past his lean hips.
Oh
great! He goes commando. Ex-cell-ent! In a few seconds, a large and very hard prick nestled in Trek’s hand. Dan was breathing like a winning racehorse, and his heartbeat seemed just short of earthquake strength. He moaned as Trek slid his grip in and out, holding for an instant just short of the head and then working back inward again.
“I love cocks,” Trek said, pulling back enough to gain some space in Dan’s embrace. “I want to taste this one.” As soon as he could, he dropped to his knees, sitting back on his heels to reach just the right height. He took one leisurely lick while he steadied Dan’s dark red prick in one hand. He could feel every pulse throb through it.
“Gotta sit,” Dan gasped out, “or I’ll fall on my ass.” He grabbed his chair and spun it around. Then he flopped into it. Somehow Trek managed to stay right with him.
Another lick and then Trek widened his mouth and slipped his lips past the head, drawing them tight as he went down and down and down. Then he pulled back, drawing, sucking, pulling. He knew just how that felt, and he’d never found a man who didn’t enjoy it, or fail to rise quickly to the brink of a powerful ejaculation, mostly almost too soon. He knew how to delay that final explosion too. The next time he drew back to the head, he tightened his lips even more, almost biting, and held that for at least a couple of seconds.
Dan snorted and puffed, whimpering while his fingers bit into the arms of the metal lawn chair as if he would tear them away. Trek repeated the whole process three times. By the end of the third, as he held the pinch just short of pain, Dan forced a few words out between breaths. “No…more, no—…more. Please. I gotta come. I gotta!”
This time Trek let him. Dan tasted salty, rich, distinctive, and all man. After the last contracting spasm, Trek let go and rocked back. He looked up at Dan’s contorted face as it relaxed and his eyes opened, almost as if he’d been asleep.
Canine Cupids for Cops Page 9
