Crossroads Shadowland by Keta Diablo Read Free Book Online

seventy
patrons now, enough to pitch the chatter
into a dull roar.
    "Chicken?' Rand said
holding the basket in the air between them. "What did come down before me?"
    "Huh?" Rand cupped a hand over his ear.
    "You're a prick, you know that?"
    "You gotta speak up, too
much noise." Pointing to the crowd behind him, he added, "Did you say something about your prick?" When
Frank flipped the basket through the air
with a flick of his wrist, Rand's eyes widened. "A stupid joke, Frank, that's all."
    "Must have gone over my
head." Nearly tipping the small table over, he came to his feet. "Party's over. Let's go."
    "You're jealous, Frank?"
Another smile. "Hey, you are jealous."
    "And you're enjoying it too
much. I'm not asking you again to get up from that damn chair."
    Despite Rand's handicapped
state, he rose and worked his way through the crowd toward the front door. Outside, Frank hailed the
nearest cab, opened the back door and
waited until Rand collapsed into the seat before climbing in.
    "Where to, Mister?" the cabbie said.
    "Provincial Hotel." The cab
pulled from the curb and Frank looked down the street, keenly aware of Rand's subdued demeanor beside
him. "Hang a left at the end of this
block?"
    "That's an alleyway, sir."
    "Perfect," Frank said. "Take it."
    "It's your dime." The man
turned left, brought the taxi to a halt in the middle of an alley surrounded by abandoned buildings, and
reached for something under his
seat.
    "You won't need that pipe
wrench," Frank said. "My buddy's a little sick to his stomach and I
didn't think you wanted him barfing all over your cab." Frank dug into the pocket of his jeans and passed
something over the seat.
    "Two hundred dollars and
your driver's license? What the fuck—?" the man said.
    "How about you take a
little walk?" Frank's dick grew harder with every passing second. "Pick out one of the neon signs I
saw flashing on that last block and have
dinner on me."
    "Hell, I'll stay away long
enough to have breakfast for two hundred dollars, but I have to take the keys."
    "No problem. I think my
friend will feel lots better in, let's say, thirty minutes."
    Rand looked as baffled as a
coonhound chasing his tail when he turned to him. "Frank, I'm not going to throw up in the cab.
Promise."
    Frank waited until the man
cleared the alley, and his voice a papery whisper said, "Tell me, Rand, who came before me?"
     
    * * * * *
     
    Rand swallowed the lump in
his throat with his eyes riveted on Frank's face. Dark didn't begin to describe the man's demeanor right
now. A shiver of fear and excitement
mingled, ran down his spine and shot into his groin. Frank would never do him physical harm, but he
had a way of making him pay—in spades—if
he chose to. The thrill of never knowing what Frank might do drove him crazy. And left him hornier than a
toad during mating season.
    God, when would he learn
McGuire always stayed one step ahead of him? Damn good thing he didn't ask him if he'd ever fucked a
man while riding a horse. With the corner
of his right eye on Frank, he looked into the rearview mirror. Yep, the cabbie had disappeared into the
night like smoke.
    Yanked by the rim of his
t-shirt, a hard body shoved him back and pinned him up against the window of the cab. Frank's knee
forced his thighs apart, and used the weight of his body to press
his lower spine into the door handle. Caught up in a frisson of
emotions, Rand barely noticed the pain.
    A distant streetlamp threw
a beam of light over the cab, illuminating Frank's dark blue eyes. In their depths resided a cauldron of
conflict Rand had trouble deciphering,
except one.
    Lust.
    Drowning under his heated
gaze, Rand drifted between intense sensations, the gentle touch of Frank's thumb tracing his
mouth and his knee pushing against his
hard staff. Rough and gentle. Soft and hard. Dark and light. Every analogy described McGuire
perfectly.
    "How do you want it? Soft
like this?" He ran his thumb over his bottom lip. "Or hard like this?" he said