Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"Need a lift?"

It was on the tip of Keely's tongue to say no, that he was just walking backwards along the side of the road with his thumb out for shits and giggles, but sassing the first person to pull over was probably a bad idea with the look of the storm clouds in the distance.

Besides, it was no middle-aged dude in a cowboy hat and ancient, rumbling pickup that had pulled over for him this time. Just from the head the guy stuck out the window, Keely could see that he was somewhere in his thirties and smokin' hot, with smoldering eyes that raked over him and left Keely longing to see what color they were.

The newish model Chevy Silverado had a sweet looking motorcycle covered in transparent plastic tied down in the back and buffered by a bunch of black totes. At least this had the potential to be a pleasant ride. One without longwinded stories of bulls Keely had no interest in knowing the names of, and rodeos he never wanted to see. The whole idea of forcing animals to perform so humans could appear larger than life when they managed to ride one was too heartless for his tastes.

With any luck, this guy's radio would not be permanently stuck on the country station. If he had to listen to one more song about whiskey, or someone's wife leaving with their dog, truck, and heart, he was gonna start chewing off pieces of his t-shirt to stuff in his ears.

"Hell yeah," he replied as he raced up to the passenger's door.

All that silver paint was blinding with the sun ricocheting off the shiny metal and chrome at various angles. Keely was forced to shield his eyes as he approached. Even then, he found himself blinking into the interior, waiting for the spots to stop dancing in front of his eyes as he attempted to focus on the driver.

Well damn.

The dude was massive, and all of that bulk looked to be muscle. Emerald eyes stared from a tanned face surrounded by shoulder length blond hair and highlighted by a neatly trimmed beard. He had a moment to consider the kind of damage the guy could do if he was a serial killer or something, but hell, with his luck, it wouldn't be Mr. Sinfully-Sexy that tried to end him, it would be the middle-aged dude in a station wagon that suckered him in with some comment about how much Keely reminded him of one of his kids.

"Headed anywhere in particular?" the guy asked as Keely's fingers fumbled with the doorhandle, the weight of his backpack digging into his shoulder, sending pain shooting down his arm every time he flexed his fingers.

"Naa man, just wherever," Keely said as he finally got the door open and scrambled up onto the running board to climb in. "Thanks again for stopping."

The lift kit on this thing made Keely feel short, and he was five-foot seven. Without the running board, he doubled he would have been able to get up there without making a spectacle of himself or pissing off the driver for taking too long, which had happened before. Keely rushed to tuck his backpack between his legs and shut the door before running his fingers through his sweaty lavender hair, the fading color having left it gray in places, while the dust from passing vehicles had left it gritty.

"Today is your lucky day," the guy said as he put the truck in gear. " Wherever is exactly where I'm headed."

"Nice," Keely groaned, getting comfortable as the guy rolled up the window and a blast of frigid air hit Keely right in his flushed face. "Really nice."

Damn, that seat was soft.

His body felt like it was melting as he sunk into the leather upholstery. Being off his feet eased some of the ache he'd experienced as he'd crunched over loose rock and garbage in threadbare shoes. For a moment, he just sucked in the freezing air, eyes closed as he waited to feel less like a half-melted popsicle.

"Put your seatbelt on."

The voice jarred his drifting brain back to the present, through it struggled to comprehend the words. "Huh?"

"Seatbelt," the guy said, pointing to it when Keely sluggishly glanced his way. "You need to wear it and drink this."

Where had the dripping bottle of water come from?

The guy pulled it away when Keely reached for it and shot him a stern look. "Seatbelt first."

"O-oh, okay." Fumbling, Keely locked the belt in place, adjusting where it fell across his shoulder and chest until it no longer felt like it was riding up and choking him. He gratefully accepted the ice-cold bottle and moaned with relief at the feel of that fridged water as he started gulping it down.

"Slowly," the man cautioned. "You don't want cramps, and I'd prefer it if you didn't throw up in here."

"I won't…throw up," Keely said as he slowed his guzzling to little sips. "Promise."

"Thanks for that," the guy said as they headed down the blacktop. "You picked a hell of a day to be out here."

The hot asphalt radiated shimmering waves of heat, making it seem like the world was melting, while in the distance, those dark clouds were growing blacker, the occasional flash of lightning a promise of the lightshow to come. There was no denying that the guy had a point, even if Keely had been faced with fewer options than he had hoped for the last time he'd gotten dropped off.

"It wasn't exactly a choice," Keely admitted. "There was nothing appealing about the last town, or the town before that, so I just kept moving."

"I see. How long have you been on the road?"

Keely shrugged, because it wasn't like he kept track of the days or how many months had passed since he'd been home. At least three, though it wouldn't shock him to discover that it was longer. He would make it back there eventually, he always did. It was his sticking around time that fluctuated, though his folks always said that he came by his wanderlust honestly.

"I was born on it," Keely admitted near the end of a song whose name he could not remember. "Literally. Mama had me in the RV while my mom was racing to the nearest hospital. My old man always said that was the wildest bit of driving he had ever experienced and that was saying something, considering he made his living as a stuntman."

The guy shot him the side-eye accompanied by a long, low whistle Keely took as admiration. "No shit?"

"No shit. Mom was too, which was why she was driving," Keely explained. "He tells anyone who'll listen that she's the best wheelman he ever worked with, which was why he was in the back delivering me while she was up front taking care of business."

"Wait…back something up for me a minute," the guy said, shooting Keely a funny look. "You've got two moms?"

"Yup."

"And they were both with your dad?"

"Since almost a decade before they had me," Keely admitted proudly.

He'd had an awesome upbringing that he wasn't the least bit ashamed of, and so much love that there were times when he'd wished for a sibling, just so he could share the trek across several states and all of the amazing adventures that ensued, with them.

"That's some cool shit right there," the guy replied. "Good for them. When something works, it works. Fuck what anyone else thinks. Life's too long to live it by someone else's rules."

Oh man, Keely loved hearing it put that way instead of the cliched life is too short . The passage of time had always flowed like a river for him, rapid, rocky and wild in places, winding and meandering in others, each day filled with the potential for something outstanding to happen, as long as he got off his ass, used his imagination, and wasn't afraid to venture into the unknown.

"Exactly. I'm Keely, by the way. Thanks for the water. I didn't realize how badly the heat was starting to get to me."

"In that case, the storm up ahead would have finished you off."

Chickling, Keely couldn't argue with that point. "No shit."

"I'm Taz," the man replied, taking one tattooed hand off the wheel to shake Keely's.

Between the ink and the bike, Keely suspected that Taz had some wild road adventures of his own to tell.

"Real name or road name?" Keely asked.

"Both."

"Sweet. Sounds like you had interesting parents yourself."

"You could say that," Taz said with a rough chuckle that made the ends of his mustache bob. "Or you could say I was lucky not to be named Daffy."

Snickering, Keely couldn't help but eye the man with skepticism, the snarky little voice in the back of his head quickly piping up to drown out his impulse control. "It could always be worse. They could have gone for Buzzard or Foghorn."

"Okay, Buzzard I'd have learned to live with," Taz admitted. "At least I could introduce myself as Buzz and everyone would just think my folks were space nuts."

"Or fans of Toy Story." Keely said, having never grasped the fine art of shutting the fuck up .

Fortunately, his words didn't fall flat or backfire on him this time. Instead, Taz spewed soda all over the steering wheel as he laughed, then slapped a hand over his mouth, Mountain Dew dribbling down his beard until Keely spotted tissues sticking out of the center consol and passed them over.

"Thanks," Taz muttered once he had cleaned himself up and wiped as much of the mess as he could off the steering wheel. "Though if that's the kind of humor I can expect outta you, I might be in mourning for my upholstery before the end of this trip."

Oops.

Still, Keely couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I'll do my best to reign it in."

"Please don't. Seriously. I've had my fill of being around people who don't know how to lighten up and just enjoy shit instead of looking to wreck it."

"I've known a few people like that myself," Keely admitted, feeling instantly at ease. "They tend to suck the fun out of everything."

"Ain't that the truth."

There was no greater feeling than being in the company of someone who got you. It was a rare thing, in Keely's experience, and yet it was something he craved so much that it was on the short list of attributes he sought out in the people he met.

"So, are you really out here with no destination in mind?" Keely asked, curiosity about Taz drowning out even the awesome collection of music that had thrummed from the radio so far.

"I have a general idea of what I'm looking for, but it's more like an I'll know it when I see it kind of thing," Taz replied.

"Yeah, I get that. My folks are that way. Sometimes they park the RV and are willing to rent a place until the wanderlust hits again and other times they just live in campgrounds and move on when they get bored, or they've exceeded the number of nights they're allowed to stay."

"Now that's the life right there," Taz declared. "There's nothing better than seeing where the road takes you; each new day filled with unknown possibilities."

"Tell me about it," Keely said. "I love that life. The RV will always be home."

"Then why the hell are you out here in this mess?" Taz asked as someone cut in front of him, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with an oncoming SUV.

Keely gripped the oh shit handle as Taz laid on the horn and the brake simultaneously, cussing up a blue streak as the red sports car roared off down the road.

"Fuckin' dumbass!" Keely grumbled as they watched the taillights getting further and further away. "He's gotta be doing a buck-twenty, easy."

"That's what racing to your doom looks like right there. If there's not a wreck in his future than he'll be seeing blue lights in his rearview soon enough, even on a stretch like this one," Taz said. "Drivin' like that, there's no way his guardian angels can keep up forever."

"Don't tell that to my old man, he'll just take it as a challenge."

Laughing, Taz cut him a look and shook his head. "I bet. Doesn't answer my question, though."

Chuckling, Keely cut a glance at him, then turned his attention back to the horizon, where the light show had finally begun to kick off in earnest. "Just looking for something of my own. I couldn't keep riding along with them on all their adventures, as awesome as they were."

"I can appreciate that, though I doubt you'll find two chicks willing to hitch across the country with you," Taz said.

"Then it's a good thing that's not my end goal."

"The chicks or the cross-country odyssey of orgies?"

Now it was Keely's turn to choke and sputter on the piss-warm bottle of water he had pulled from his backpack, not wanting to abuse his host's hospitality by asking if he had another cold one.

"When you put it like that, I seem almost lame for not being interested," Keely said with a little shrug.

"If it's not your thing it's not your thing," Taz said. "I know it's not mine, though I'd love to find a guy who loves long stretches of road and the uncertainty that comes from living like a nomad."

Had he said…

Keely fell silent, letting Taz's words and the beat of Rockin' in the Free World soak in.

Okay, but was he saying it to bait Keely into admitting something that might get him dropped on the side of the road, or had he seriously just announced his sexuality without a smidge of hesitation, or a care in the world, if the way he drummed along on the steering wheel was any indication?

Best to tread with caution.

"You got all silent over there," Taz said. "Is that not your thing either?"

"I…" Keely stammered, cutting a sidelong look at him while nibbling his bottom lip.

They were going at least seventy, way too fast for a bailout if this went sideways, not that caution had ever been his strong suit. Either the man was a damned good actor or the heated looks he kept shooting Keely's way were real. Holding back had never gotten him anywhere, so he smirked and brushed his hair out of his eyes as he regarded Taz.

"Oh, that's my thing," Keely purred. "It's just not always the best idea to advertise it."

Another chuckle from Taz, but it was warm and filled with heat, like his molten gaze when he glanced over at Keely again. "Consider this a fly your flag zone."

Keely licked his lips and saw Taz's eyes darken before he returned his focus to the highway that stretched out in front of them.

"Even if it happens to be a freak flag?" Keely asked.

Now that earned a growl from Taz, who flashed him a grin. " Especially if it turns out to be a freak flag."

Giggling, Keely raised an eyebrow at him. "Many have said that, but few have truly understood the depth of depravity it entailed."

"Now that sounds like a challenge to me."

Heat bloomed in his belly and slithered up his spine like a molten snake, throwing off sparks of pleasure. "Really?"

"Hell yeah. We've got a lot of road ahead of us, and if that storm proves to be a beast, maybe even a bit of a layover while we wait for it to pass. Seems like the perfect opportunity for a little freak-finding session."

Oh, hell yeah!

"And what does that involve?" Keely blurted, unable to smother his enthusiasm in a fake attempt at being coy.

It might work to make folks seem mysterious and alluring, but it reeked of dishonesty. When Keely wanted someone, he wanted them to know the door was open for a lust blown tryst filled with raw, unfiltered passion.

The look Taz shot him promised wicked, filthy things that Keely was more than down to experience. "Oh, just a bit of honesty and adventurousness."

"Sounds like a fancy way of saying truth or dare ," Keely said.

"Six of one, half dozen of another," Taz shot back. "Does it really matter what we call it as long as we both understand the game?"

"Nope. Not really." Keely said. "Does that mean we're playing?"

"Oh, we're most definitely playing." Taz assured him.

Game fuckin' on!

"In that case, what's the freakiest thing you've ever had anyone do to you while you were driving?" Keely asked. "And please don't say a blow job. That is a way too common and almost disappointing answer. Who hasn't been blown in an automobile?"

Taz chuckled at that, the look in his eyes smoldering as he shot a glance Keely's way. "I don't know if I should answer that honestly and hope you'll take it as a challenge or exaggerate and see how creative you can get."

"Shit, now I don't know which way I want you to answer, either," Keely admitted. "Would it help if I told you about the freakiest thing I've ever done in a moving vehicle?"

Taz sucked his breath in through his teeth and settled one hand above Keely's knee, giving it a squeeze. "It would help more if you showed me."

Cheeky as always, Keely dragged that hand higher, groaning and raising his hips in offering when it reached his crotch. "I thought you were worried about your upholstery?"

"In this case, I'll happily pay to have it detailed," Taz groaned, his voice growing a bit rough as he split his focus between fondling Keely through his jeans and keeping the truck between the lines on the road.

Taz had slowed their speed, not that they had to worry about impeding someone's progress. Since the red car, they hadn't seen another vehicle traveling in their direction and only a handful heading the opposite way.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Keely teased when Taz veered onto the shoulder. "It looks like you're barely keeping it between the lines as it is. I'd hate to have you spin out of control while I've got three fingers buried up my ass."

Taz let out a hiss that ended in a frustrated moan as he corrected the truck's trajectory. Keely could see his breathing pick up as his chest rose and fell more rapidly.

"Watching you finger yourself is a show I'd want to devote my full attention to," Taz admitted. "Why don't you come up with something I'd get to experience?"

"Oh, I promise there would be plenty for you to experience once I was sitting in your lap," Keely said. "The fingering is mostly for my benefit, considering the swelling I spotted in your jeans. You just promise not to land us in a ditch while I'm riding you. Steering wheel imprints take way too long to fade."

"I promise nothing," Taz growled as he rubbed the heel of his hand in a slow circle over the crotch of Keely's jeans.

Chuckling, Keely cocked his head, flicking his tongue out the moment Taz glanced his way. "Then this might turn out to be a wilder ride than I expected."

"Wild is my specialty," Taz yelped when Keely displaced his hand to slowly start unzipping his jeans. "I excel in wild! Just get your ass over here and prove you are as talented as you claim!"

Keely made a show of leaning over to undo the laces on his boots and found that he couldn't quite reach. "There is one problem with your request," Keely stated as he straightened up.

"And what's that?"

Grinning, Keely raised an eyebrow at him and sassily replied, "You told me to put my seatbelt on."

Taz eyed him again, eyes narrowing as he shook his head, a slow, shit eating grin crossing his face as he removed the bottle from the center consol and tossed it over his shoulder into the backseat so he could flip the consol up and out of the way. "Seems like I need to amend that instruction, doesn't it?"

"If you want me over there it does."

"Oh, I want," Taz growled. "Fine, you're free to have it off as long as some part of your body is touching mine."

"I can work with that," Keely muttered, immediately reaching for the restraint and taking it off.

He made short work of removing his boots and wiggling free of his jeans and underwear, deliberately keeping his cock obscured so Taz couldn't see it until he'd straightened up fully.

"Fuck me, you're pierced!" Taz groaned the moment he saw the apadravya piecing, and the curved barbell Keely wore in the head of his erect cock. "Holy shit!"

Chuckling, Keely twisted so that he kneeled on the seat, putting the piecing on display. For the second time, the truck bounced on the shoulder, forcing Taz to look away from him to correct their path and bring the vehicle back under control again. The danger wasn't lost on Keely, who fed off the edge of adrenaline and hint of fear surging through his body.

"Now that, I don't think I can manage while we're moving," Keely declared. "But I'd be happy to take you in the backseat later if you really want to know what it feels like."

For a moment, Keely was afraid he'd gone too far. In his experience, guys like Taz were fine with fucking him six ways to Sunday but had little interest in taking it up the ass.

"You keep talking like that and I promise you this little road trip of ours will never reach nowhere or wherever, I'll make damn certain of it."

"Sounds like you're threatening to keep me," Keely replied as he crawled close enough that Taz could brush a hand down his abs and finger the piercing in his cock.

Supersensitive.

Holy hell.

The man knew how to explore the piercing without being rough about it, every caress fanning the flames of desire Keely already felt. When Keely had gotten it, he hadn't just done so for his pleasure, but after several days of being on the receiving end of a cock that had a magic cross piercing, he'd wanted to share the joy. Those four little balls at the ends had teased in ways nothing ever had, but he'd been told he needed to wait on the ampallang piercing until the other heeled, and so far, he hadn't met up with anyone he was willing to let do it. Was a good thing he knew how to get back to the shop and the piercer who'd brought him many hours of pleasure and left him with a gift that Taz was clearly fascinated with.

That was okay, there were plenty of miles ahead, so he held still and let Taz fondle, the man's eyes darting between him and the road every few seconds while Keely drank the attention in and moaned as Taz rubbed his thumb over it.

"I know that had to hurt," Taz murmured. "Not sure I could sit still for someone to shove a needle through my cock."

"You could if you wanted it bad enough," Keely murmured. "Desire makes things possible that we wouldn't dream ourselves capable of."

"And what made you desire that?"

"Oh, what I wanted was two of them. The one I have and one crossing in the other direction," Keely explained. "And I'll have it too, once I get back to the person who did the first piercing for me. I might be a bit impulsive about some things, but it takes a measure of trust before I'll let someone come at me with a needle."

"And how long does it take to establish that kind of trust?"

"About nine days, in his case," Keely responded a bit sheepishly, "but it was a seriously intense nine days."

The bark of laughter Taz let out was unexpected, as was the way he shook his head at him.

"Nine days and you'll let someone shove a needle through your cock," Taz said, the disbelief evident in his voice. "I'd be curious to see what was on the table after seventeen."

"That's when shit gets truly interesting," Keely promised. "But it would ruin the fun if I tried to tell you about it."

"I suppose it would," Taz replied. "Guess we'll just have to see how long the road keeps us together then, because now you've got me curious. I haven't been this interested in someone's company in…well damn, I don't think I've ever been as interested in anyone."

"I can work with that," Keely declared, preening before he finally took the opportunity to glide his hand over the bulge in Taz's jeans and holy hell was the man packing. "And I can definitely work with this ."

Taz hissed as Keely gave him a little squeeze, then worked to maneuver himself into the best position possible for what he planned to treat the man to. It took a little squirming to find a comfortable position and a little more to slip his head under Taz's arm without bumping it and causing him to swerve. Resting it on the man's thigh left his ass in the air and his knees tucked under him, a position he was flexible enough to hold for a good length of time.

"And a tramp stamp?" Taz rumbled. "Please tell me the universe isn't playing a cruel trick on me and I'm not really in a ditch, unconscious and dreaming that this is happening."

"Oh, it's real," Keely said, though if Taz thought he was going to get right to the main event, he was in for a surprise. Keely was a lot of things, including a world class flirt, and a sinfully wicked bedpartner, but one thing he prided himself on was his ability to tease someone to the point of distraction and beyond, and right now he fully intended to put that to clever use.

Maneuvering with both his teeth and hands, he worked Taz's shirt up, the man leaning forward some to help him expose tan skin over layers of muscle and the kind of six-pack that deserved being worshiped. Nuzzling, Keely rubbed his cheek against Taz's abs, making sure to let the silky softness of his hair brush across his flesh as well. He felt them clench and smiled as he slowly did it again, humming and letting the man feel the vibration against his skin. When one hand began stroking his hair, he knew Taz was already getting into it.

He licked a stripe up Taz's side and was rewarded with both a groan and a chuckle. Okay, so a little ticklish then. He could definitely play with that. With little kitty cat licks, he worked his way around the bottom of Taz's peck, taking time to enjoy the sculpted planes and ridges of his body. The best part was that Taz didn't hurry him. He didn't press, he didn't demand, he just let Keely explore while petting his hair and making the most delicious little sounds of encouragement and desire.

Keely knew the effects of freezing air on nipples and licked, then nuzzled a line down the center of his chest punctuated with little nips, feeling the moment when a blast of AC hit because Taz inhaled so sharply his body shivered and his hips bucked up. It was the perfect time to catch the pebbled nub in his teeth and give a little tug, only to be rewarded by a low, rumbly groan.

"I love the way you play," Taz encouraged, his voice already on the edge of wrecked and they were just getting started.

It was a welcome change from those who wanted to jump straight into fucking, like they couldn't wait for the encounter to be over with. Of course, too much play and things reached the wrong side of uncomfortable, especially where zippers were involved, so Keely carefully undid the button on Taz's jeans with his teeth, then used them to slowly lower the zipper before moving off to the side enough that Taz could raise his hips.

It took effort, and some tugging that also involved him kneeling on the floor, but with Taz's help, and a few more swerves onto the shoulder, they got his jeans and his boxers down his hips, and further until they sagged around his knees.

"Whoa," Keely breathed, his mouth watering as he got a look at the cock that stood up proudly from a neatly trimmed nest of blond pubes. "How were you going on about a piercing when you've literally got a smiley face tattooed on your cock, and wait a minute, are those words too?"

"The result of a drunken night I have little memory of," Taz admitted.

"Dude, it says have a nice day ."

"I'm aware."

"We'll I'm about to have an awesome one," Keely said as he leaned to get a closer look.

Fat head, long length, thick enough that he'd feel it for the rest of the night and maybe in the morning too. In other words, perfect.

Keely let the ends of his hair brush over it, knowing the effect the feather light drape of strands would have. Taz's cock bobbed and Keely licked over the head of it, then nuzzled his thigh, earning himself another chuckle.

Oh yeah, definitely some ticklish spots worth taking the time to explore.

Another lick up Taz's side prompted a similar response, then he caught Taz's nipple between his teeth again and gave another tug. The last thing he expected was Taz to clasp a hand across his back and hold him in that position, his voice a little raspy when he spoke.

"Can you stay just like that for a little while?" Taz groaned, trailing his fingertips along Keely's side. "Damn that feels amazing."

Ohh shit, a request to feed one of his favorite oral fixations? Hell yeah he could manage that. Keely snaked an arm across him and settled in, nuzzling first, getting a feel for that toned muscle beneath his cheek before circling his tongue around the bud. The position was super comfortable, with his body pillowed across Taz's lap and the way he'd taken to caressing Keely's back as he started suckling.

"Fuckkk yeah, baby, you stay just like that."

Keely shivered at the pet name and the glide of Taz's fingers down his spine, hitting the spot that made him gasp and shiver. The scent of Taz's bodywash lingered on his skin, warm and spicy, like being in the woods in winter when the only scent was snow and evergreen trees. Sighing contently, Keely broke his slow suckling with little laps of his tongue and poofs of warm air blown over Taz's nipple while the man trailed lazy circles on his hip and thigh. Intimate and perfect, like they did this every day and had all the time in the world to take their time and enjoy the moment.

You'll know when you know.

That was his mama's voice echoing in his head, his mom's laugh accompanying it.

He'll know when the last thing he wants is to hitch another ride or go anywhere beside wherever his chosen person is going.

Those had been his old man's words, and he'd never steered Keely wrong. Even when bailing him out of a jam or an actual police station, he'd never tried to dissuade him from making his own way in the world.

Everyone's got to live the lives they see for themselves, not try and fit other people's visions.

It was a mantra his father lived by, along with his belief that people should never be shamed for the kinks they loved. Keely couldn't imagine what life would have been like to grow up in a family where sex-positivity wasn't a preached and practiced, because he'd never once felt like he couldn't ask a question, or for help getting the supplies he'd needed to stay safe while he was experimenting.

Taz's moans, hisses and hums were occasionally louder than the radio he'd turned down, like it was distracting him from the moment and the sounds Keely made as he suckled on him. Keely could tell Taz was enjoying them. The longer the activity went on, the easier it was for Keely to let his mind settle and even drift so there was nothing but the taste and feel of Taz's skin and the warmth of his body and light caresses.

When they drifted past his tailbone and dipped into his crack, Keely got the sense that Taz was finally ready for things to move further, and with a wet pop, he pulled off the nipple he'd been sucking.

"Please tell me you've got lube in that bag of yours," Taz growled, a tremble running through his body as Keely eased away from him.

"Never hit the highway without it."

They shared a laugh at that, though it was drowned out by a roll of thunder.

It wasn't raining yet, but the sun was gone and everything around them had grown to a deep, metallic gray. If he was gonna pull off the ride he wanted, he needed to do it now, before it was even less safe than what he was already planning. The only way to do this fast was to prop his feet on the dashboard once he'd fished the lube from the mesh along the side, and yes, yes, he did keep it there for easier access, thank you very much. In moments like this, time was precious.

There would be a stretch, since he'd done the job as quick and dirty as he could manage, not even taking the time to tease himself, and Taz in the process. Maybe later, if they got to have a second round. There was no guarantee that the road to nowhere would be as long a journey as Taz had alluded to. He knew from experience that some people would say anything if they thought it would get them laid, but Keely didn't get that sort of vibe off him.

The moment he felt he could take Taz without much discomfort, he rolled a condom on him, then crawled carefully over the man, aided by the arm then hooked around his waist to steady him while he braced one knee against the door and widened his knees as far as he could manage in the confines of that front seat. Angling his head on Taz's shoulder to be sure to keep his field of vision clear, he felt the truck slow down more, creeping along as he reached down to guide Taz's cock into him.

"God damn," Taz groaned as Keely settled over him.

Pressed chest to chest to keep from nudging the steering wheel, Keely didn't bounce, he just rocked his hips, abs undulating in a slow, snakelike motion as Taz groaned, arms caging him in.

"Fuck. Holy fuck. Oh, my fuckin' god you feel good."

"You feel pretty amazing yourself," Keely moaned.

The angle wasn't perfect, but it felt so, so good to be filled this way that Keely didn't care about anything else.

"Ride me, baby, oh my god, fuckin' ride me," Taz groaned.

Part prayer and part plea. Taz's groans were better than music, even as they lurched, then slowed, then lurched more before bouncing onto the shoulder again, only this time, Taz didn't correct things, he just guided them the rest of the way off the road, stomped on the brake and fumbled to get it in park. The moment he got the truck shut off he gripped Keely's hips in a punishing grip and thrust up, drawing a ragged moan from Keely, who threw his head back and started moving in earnest now that he no longer had to worry about bumping the steering wheel.

One of Taz's hands slid down to grope his ass, nails prickling his skin as he thrust while tugging Keely against him. Keely's knee banged the door, and the opposite thigh started cramping up, but he wasn't going to stop now that there was no danger of wrecking.

Every roll of his hips sent pleasure rocketing through him, especially when Taz tangled a hand in his hair and tugged just enough to get Keely to lean fully against the wheel. There was heat in Taz's eyes when their eyes met that only burned hotter when he glanced down between them to where their bodies were joined, watching his cock gliding in and out of Keely's body.

Keely moaned, clenching around him as the change in angle just heightened his pleasure more.

"You've just destroyed every other image of every other vehicle tryst I've ever experienced," Taz growled as he touched Keely's cock, toying with the piercing in between stroking him.

That he wasn't just focused on chasing his own bit of pleasure made Taz even more desirable in Keely's eyes. With his hands free to roam, Taz took every opportunity to tease, caress, and leave stinging nips across Keely's throat and up the side of his neck.

Taz's hands dragged up his sides, thumbs rubbing over up the center of his chest, then outward, brushing over his nipples in a touch so maddeningly light that Keely mewed, quivering as he rolled his hips faster.

"Gah!" Keely cried out when Taz pinched them, then rolled them between his fingers, tightening his grip until Keely's hips started bucking like an out-of-control jackrabbit and Taz's groans and growls grew ragged and out of control.

A second squeeze and twist threw Keely over the edge, howling as he came and dragging Taz right into an orgasm with him. The pinprick of nails in tender, sensitive drew his climax out longer as Keely yowled and trembled, everything going from spotty to gray to an explosion of bright light and colors. Time became little more than an abstract idea, faded, and blurred as he slumped against the wheel, too limp and rung out to even open his eyes.

He could feel the heaving breaths Taz gulped in, and the way the man's cock still twitched from time to time as it softened. Something dug into his leg, and he knew without aid of a mirror that he was going to have a circular shaped bruise on his back again, and perhaps even the Chevy emblem's imprint.

Was so worth it though, even if his fractured thoughts couldn't manage to urge his body into the faintest bit of motion.

Taz's hands rested lightly on his thighs, fingers flexing like he wanted to rub them but didn't have the energy. Good, he hoped the man was as fucked out in that moment as Keely was because it had seriously been the best damned fuck he'd had in years.

"The storm is gonna be on us soon," Taz said, voice low and gentle as he brushed a fingertip along Keely's cheek. "Gonna be hard for anyone to see us, even with the blinkers on, which I didn't manage to reach."

"Fuck…that means we gotta move," Keely groaned, eyes opening enough to see just how dark it had gotten. "Can't we just pass out here and wait for it to blow over?"

"We could if we wanted to risk getting plowed into by someone who can't see where the lines are anymore," Taz groaned. "Which is a very real possibility judging by the forecaster on the radio. They claim it's a slow-moving storm."

"I must have missed that part," Keely grumbled as he tried and failed to sit up.

"You were a bit preoccupied."

"Is that you complaining while you're still both under and inside of me?"

"Oh, hell no! I just don't want us to get killed before I get to experience that piercing and anything else you'd care to share with me."

"That would suck."

"Exactly."

"But it still means I gotta move," Keely complained, only half in protest.

It took three tries and a lot of jostling that Keely didn't appreciate, but Taz was finally able to grasp whatever he was reaching for and stopped lurching every which way. It turned out to be the hazard lights and tissues that he used to clean the cum off Keely's belly and thighs before gently tugging him forward to rest his head on Taz's shoulder.

Hugging.

Taz was hugging him and not in a hurry to let go despite his concerns about the weather and road conditions.

"If it were safe, I'd hold you like this for as long as you wanted," Taz murmured, the sincerity in his voice unmistakable.

Keely's knee ached, his lower back was on fire, but he melted into that embrace like he was trying to meld his body with Taz's. The scent of sweat, sex, and cum had replaced the forest scent on Taz's skin, but it wasn't at all unpleasant. Nuzzling the spot beneath Taz's ear, he sighed and basked in the feel of Taz stroking his hair again, wondering if he'd be as willing to cuddle in a big comfy bed.

The force of an 18-wheeler rocketing past jostled the truck, the moment shattered by its air horn and the rumble of its wheels on the strips along the side of the road.

Okay, now that was close. Keely was forced to admit, even if it was just to himself, that the level of danger had ramped up to a level where it wasn't so thrilling anymore. Lifting his head, Keely brushed the hair from his eyes, but he couldn't see a god damned thing with the way they'd fogged up the windows.

Taz blew out a long breath, caressed Keely's back, then nudged him until Keely sat up so Taz could cup his cheek.

"We need to get off of this road, so I need you back in your seat with your clothes on," Taz said, holding Keely's gaze. "But that doesn't mean this is over. Not even close."

Keely nodded his understanding and scooted right onto the passenger's seat. He reached for his jeans, quickly wiggling into them as Taz started the truck and turned the defogger on.

The sky chose that moment to let loose a torrent of rain, the fat drops splattering against the windshield in layers so thick the wipers could barely keep up.

"Damn," Taz muttered, shaking his head at the deluge the sky unleashed upon them.

As the windows finished clearing, not that the rain was easier to see through than the fog, they finished getting on their clothes, Keely banging his head on the dash when he went to shove his feet in his boots.

"Ouch! I know that hurt, I smacked my head on the dash just the other day when I was digging something out from beneath the seat," Taz said.

"It didn't tickle," Keely grumbled as rubbed his forehead.

He was much more careful when he leaned again and managed to get his boots tied without injuring himself further. This time, when he got situated in the seat, he didn't need to be told to put his seatbelt on. The winds had grown so strong that they were starting to rock the truck as Taz eased them back onto the road, both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel.

Silence descended over the cab as Taz focused and Keely kept his mouth shut, not wanting to do anything to distract him as they rolled along. It was creepy not being able to see more than a few feet in front of them, the rest of the world obscured by a curtain of water. It was like being in a science fiction movie when a shadow moved behind the water, headlights dulled as a car passed them without them ever being able to see it. They were moving, but it was a weird kind of motion, and a little bit scary too. Distance was impossible to judge. Despite how hard he tried; Keely couldn't see anything but the occasional reflection of the lines through the lights.

How Taz was keeping them on the road was anyone's guess, with the wipers sounding like war drums and brief glimpses of white streaks his own source of navigation. Keely caught sight of an offramp, but before he could say anything, Taz steered them up it and into the parking lot of what looked like either a rest area or a nature center. Keely couldn't be sure what anything was now that hail had mixed with the deluge of water. He couldn't even tell if they were parked properly, once Taz got them stopped and the engine turned off. Without the wipers they were left in a bubble of moisture and sound that acted like blackout curtains.

"We might be here awhile," Taz remarked with a glance in the review, but even the bike in the back was obscured. The layers of translucent plastic encasing it would probably keep it dry, but that hail might leave a mark if it got any bigger. He could see the biker's jaw working like he was chewing nails and decided to offer the only thing he could to lighten the mood.

Humor.

"There are worse places to be stranded," Keely attempted.

Taz shot him a look, but he didn't look amused. "You can say that again."

"Sounds like a story there."

"Several of them."

"We've got time," Keely offered, hoping to coax him back into a good mood. "I doubt mother nature is going to stop pissing on us any time soon."

He knew he'd succeeded when the corners of Taz's lips lifted into a small grin. "You can say that again."

This guy was everything!

Humor, snark, a love for the open road, hot as hell and not at all shy about his sexuality and desires. Keely was the whole package, right down to the wicked tongue he was curling around the lip of his water bottle, with a little grimace once he'd sipped the liquid inside.

"Want one that's cold?" Taz offered as he reached between the seats to where the cooler rested on the back seat.

"Please," Keely replied. "Unless you've got something stronger."

He was shivering now that the defogger was off, so Taz reached for him and watched as Keely fumbled to get his seatbelt undone.

"I wish," Taz said as Keely scooted over beside him.

He hadn't been able to tell when Keely was on top of him and scrunched up so Taz would still be able to see to drive, but they fit together perfectly. As he draped his arm around Keely, now plastered to his side, it was impossible to miss how right it felt to have him tucked against him that way.

"So, worse place you were ever stranded," Keely asked, curling towards him instead of way.

Not only that, but he caught Taz's sleeve and tugged his arm around him like a blanket, pressed his ear to Taz's chest, and damn near went dead weight on him.

You couldn't get more perfect.

"Bug Tussle, Texas," Taz admitted.

"What, the place with the antique car trek?" Keely replied. "That place is awesome."

"Oh bullshit, come on!" Taz said, scooting back so he could stare down at Keely. "No one has ever recognized the name of the town before. Hell, most think I made it up."

"Like I said, my folks go wherever the wind blows them," Keely explained, "and since cars happen to be a passion all three share, Bug Tussle was one of the many assorted places we wound up in."

"Dayum. At least you were there by choice."

"I take it you weren't?"

As pissed as he'd been when it happened, Taz was proud of the fact that he could look back on the moment now with a smile and not a scowl on his face.

"I was shanghaied," Taz prefaced. "Key information that would have led to me saying hell no , was withheld from me at the start of the trip."

"Anytime anything is phrased that way, it was either a menace for a family member, or the kind of friend you kick yourself for having, who was responsible for the whole mess."

"In this case it was a family member."

Keely giggled at that, but the silence that followed let Taz know that he was genuinely interested in hearing the rest of the story.

"That car trek you mentioned, that's how we ended up there too," Taz explained. "Someone who obviously didn't know my brother well enough to know it was a bad idea, hired him to deliver a car to the guy who'd purchased it from him."

"Was it a caddie?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Taz asked as he studied Keely intently, searching his memory for any recollection of having met the man before.

"It's the most popular car up there," Keely explained. "Folks looking for parts or looking to buy or sell a vehicle, tend to flock to that event. Between the trek and the show, it's great advertising, and one of the biggest gatherings for antique caddies in all of Texas."

Taz took a moment to let that sink in fully. "You call them antiques instead of classics. Why?"

"Because everything older than twenty years is considered a classic," Keely explained, "But those aren't the kinds of Caddies that feature prominently there. Vintage is a specific range of cars between two years I can't remember, but antique is anything over forty-five years, so it's more accurate for what people take on that trek. Which is exceedingly long, and extremely boring when you're a kid who has very little interest in old vehicles and just wants to divide their time between the theater and the giant slide and splashpad behind the candy store.

"I'd have said you didn't have an interest in vehicles at all, considering the way we met."

"And you'd be wrong," Keely said, giving him a little poke in the ribs, right along a ticklish spot that he had discovered earlier. "I drive extremely well, thanks to my mom and my old man sticking me behind anything and everything from the time I could crawl. I just never learned to fix them like my mama."

It took a moment for what he said to sink in, then Taz chuckled, because he was really coming to love hearing about Keely's family. Was it wrong that a little thread of hope had started wiggling into his brain that one day he'd get to meet them.

Then something dawned on him, and he cocked his head as he stared down at the top of Keely's head. "You didn't leave home hitching, did you?"

"Nope."

"What did you start out in?"

"Old school 70's Shaggin' Wagon," Keely admitted.

"I don't even know what that is."

"Picture the A-team van with a bed in the back."

"I can only guess how they got that name."

"Exactly."

"So, what happened to it?" Taz asked, curious about the wonderful misfortune that had thrown Keely into his path.

"I'll tell you that after you tell me what happened in Tussle Bug."

"Fair enough."

With the rain still beating against the roof and windows, it was truly starting to feel like they were the last two people on earth. Taz stroked Keely's hair as he debated where to begin the story to not look like a complete moron by the time he reached the end.

"My brother is an asshole, that's what happened," Taz began, hoping to preface it with that and save face a little. "We were supposed to keep the Caddy on the back of the flatbed. That was the only instruction besides the name and address of the person we were delivering it too. You can't get any easier than that. All we had to do was drive and switch off when he needed to, so we didn't have to waste money on a motel somewhere, but do you think my brother could stick with that?"

"Apparently not."

"First he starts showing off for some girl, just on the edge of Oklahoma, then he decides to take her on a date in the car, then he showboats and obliterates the mayor's mother's prized rose bushes," Taz explained. "No damage to the car though, at least not any we could see. He'd managed to duck down a backroad and avoid the cops, so there wasn't a ticket to deal with or anything fines to pay, so we loaded the Caddy back up and got our asses to Texas."

"I since a but coming."

"Several."

"Those make for the best stories."

"Of course they do," Taz said as he mussed up Keely's hair a little.

Damn, but he could picture them sitting on a couch this way, a couple of beers on the coffee table, some disaster movie on the television, the volume turned low.

"I should have known things would go to shit the moment my brother insisted on staying behind at the motel while I dropped the car off with the owner. He claimed the food we'd had the night before didn't agree with him and he wanted to stick close to the crapper. What he'd really wanted to do was avoid being on the scene if anything went wrong."

"Which it did."

"Like shit rolling downhill with rotting swamp water at the bottom."

"That does not sound pleasant."

"It wasn't," Taz assured him. "It was a royal shitshow. Remember when I said that we didn't see any damage? Well, we might have, if we'd though to look underneath the damn thing."

"Ouch."

"Naa, the ouch comes later."

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Keely giggled, rubbing his hands together.

Taz wondered if he was the type to watch someone play video games and cackle with glee every time they got killed. If so, then he hoped they'd have the chance to play, because he'd been known to do a bit of heckling too and was curious to see how Keely would respond to it.

And what lengths he'd go through to exact revenge.

"So, I get the car where it's supposed to be, make sure the guy is there and have him sign the paperwork for delivery," Taz explained. "Then I go to get it down off the back of the flatbed, with the guy standing there and watching as I put it in gear, so I'm being super careful with everything I do. Only instead of easing back like I'd planned, it zips backwards off the ramp and rolls. I'm damn near standing on the brake and nothing is happening, then a horn blares and the momentum of everything changed. I'd rolled it right into the path of a UPS truck and got creamed."

"Holy shit!"

"Exactly," Tax said. "The insurance company determined that the brakes were damaged and rendered inoperable before the accident. Now to sell the vehicle the original owner had taken tons of photos, from several different angles too. Several of which showed the brakes and the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them when the vehicle had been sold. Now, the seller, he's pretty paranoid about his cars, so he's got a home security system that backs up thirty days' worth of footage. He had video proof that the only time the vehicle was moved after it was sold was when it was loaded up onto the flatbed, which meant that the only way it could have gotten damaged before I went to unload it was if it had been unloaded before."

"Oh man, so much for being about to talk your way out of the mess," Keely said.

"Pretty much. Between the cops and the insurance company, someone turned up information about the incident in Oklahoma and pieced together that it was the same car. When they pulled up traffic cam footage, who do you think they spotted behind the wheel?"

"Your brother."

"Exactly."

"Damn."

"Meanwhile, I'm laid up with a busted leg, broken ribs, and a cracked collarbone, and my brother tells me that he's got to head home before he loses his job," Taz explained. "Like I hadn't just lost mine when I'd told them I wasn't going to be able to come to work for at least eight weeks."

"Oof."

"Big oof," Taz said. "So, he takes off and I'm stuck there because I can't travel and I'm technically in police custody for causing the accident and the injury to the driver as well as property damage. I've got no cash and no cell phone charger, so when the power runs out, I'm at the mercy of whatever nurse decides to take pity on me. It sucked because the driver was a local guy with a family, and he'd gotten hurt worse than I did, so some of the folks at the hospital weren't my biggest fans."

"How long before you got out of there?"

"Four months," Taz admitted. "Two in the hospital and two in the county jail while they worked on sorting everything out. Then they tried to get me for obstruction of justice because I wouldn't tell them anything about my brother driving that car, but they had no way of proving I knew and finally had to drop the matter completely, at least with me."

"They ever catch up to your brother?"

"Not before the statute of limitations ran out," Taz said as he tugged Keely across him, taking the opportunity to do something he hadn't be able to on the road.

"He must be pretty lucky," Keely murmured.

"Nowhere near as lucky as I am right now," Taz said, silencing whatever response he might have with a kiss.

Keely opened to him with no coaxing whatsoever, his hands tangling in Taz's hair as he twisted to straddle his lap. Keely kissed like he was trying to climb inside of him, his hips rolling the same way they'd been when Taz was inside of him. He hadn't made out like this since he'd been in his twenties and damn, having Keely in his arms reminded him of the rush he'd always gotten from connecting with someone.

Slamming both hands on Keely's bottom, Taz gave a hard squeeze and listened to him gasp and mewl, the roll of his hips getting frantic and shallow. That wouldn't do. He wanted that slow, lazy, teasing roll of hips Keely had first treated him to and damn it all, he was gonna get it. Gripping harder he held Keely's hips still and felt him tremble when stopping ended all the delicious friction of their bodies rubbing together.

"Relax and move with me," Taz demanded and changed the cadence to a drawn-out roll of hips. He slowed their kisses too, turning things into a make out session rather than a frenzied rush to completion.

Cupping the back of Keely's neck, Taz rubbed his thumb along the side, lightly caressing the muscle and pressure point, knowing the rush of endorphins it would send singing through Keely, who moaned and melted like putty against him, grinding now, but keeping to the pace Taz set. As he dragged his hand beneath Keely's shirt, he made sure to get his nails involved; tiny pinpricks that left Keely trembling.

Every time Keely arched backward it created a drag of friction like fireworks, bright and desperately fleeting, and every time he rocked forward it was with a breathy sign. Taz devoured each one and raked his nails down the back of Keely's shoulder and up his side until he shuddered and whined and gripped Taz's hair tight enough that he couldn't move his head.

Growling, Keely leaned in and nipped the size of Taz's neck, and Taz groaned and bucked beneath him. When Keely's teeth bit into the top of his shoulder and squeezed the pressure point there, Taz was treated to the same endorphin rush he'd wanted to provide Keely with. He didn't want him to move and crushed Keely to him, gripping his ass and releasing, until Keely got with the program and mimicked him with his teeth.

One of them was growling, or maybe they both were. It was getting harder and harder to tell where he ended and Keely began, the storm inside the cab raging as wild as the one outside of it now as wind rocked the truck and rain pelted it. None of it mattered as they clung, gasping as their kisses grew frantic, ragged breaths mingling, bodies trembling, until time stopped completely.

Rain, lightly slowing to just a soft patter against the window, was the first thing Taz managed to focus on over the fading roar echoing in his ears.

Limp.

Sated.

He felt amazing and they hadn't even stripped off any clothing this time.

Taz could barely draw a full breath, let alone move and he was already picturing what Keely would look like shackled to a spanking bench, his ass varying shades of red and purple. A little pinch to a three-day old bruise left under the crease of Keely's bottom, a reminder not to sass him when Taz was talking. A stinging swat to a fresh red line left by Taz's thinnest cane, to ground Keely and remind him to focus on what Taz was telling him to do. The image in his head held several types of bruises; varied shapes, assorted sizes, all made on different days. Like Taz'z brain was planning a future with a man he'd met just a few hours ago.

It was sex, dammit.

Wicked, kinky, pain-tinged sex, and Taz's cock clenched at the memory of Keely's teeth pinching his shoulder. Most chose only to be on the receiving end, never venturing to see if Taz might enjoy a bit of roughness too, but Keely, that son of a bitch dove right in and went for it, reading Taz's reaction as a flashing keep going sign and man had he delivered.

The imprint of Keely's teeth in his skin might fade, but the memory of these past few hours would be burned into Taz's mind forever. An image bloomed, of a rain-soaked Keely with his wrists bound to the grill of that truck, ass wiggling while he howled into the storm and begged Taz to fuck him harder.

In his lap Keely felt completely fucked out and boneless, yet all Taz could picture was rainwater dripping off him as they fucked in the heart of the storm. It was on the tip of his tongue to suggest it once they caught their breath, then the world erupted into a blinding flash of light and Taz decided that he didn't want to risk riding the lightening.

The intensity of the rainwater had increased again, causing Taz to start giving some serious though to finding a hotel room to hole up in, preferably with a plus one to warm his bed. There was so much more he'd be able to do with room to maneuver and no clothing between them.

"Please tell me you're not in a big hurry to get to wherever?" Taz groaned.

"I'm never in a hurry to get anywhere."

"Good, because I'm starting to think that this storm is going to hang around awhile and maybe even get worse," Taz said. "I was thinking of doing a Google search for the nearest motel and getting off the road for the night, finding something to eat too. You're welcome to join me if you'd like, or I can drop you off at an all-night gas station if you're in the mood to try your luck with another ride."

"One bed, or two?" Keely blurted.

"What do you think?"

"That I'd be out of my fuckin' mind to ask you to drop me at a gas station or anywhere else you weren't going to be," Keely replied with a flick of that pink tipped tongue against his upper lip.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"Just so you know, I don't gotta take off after the storm is over, either," Keely said. "I'm free to stick around as long as you want me to."

"Even if there's no way of telling how long that'll be?"

"Especially then," Keely said, and it sure sounded like a promise to Taz, who rubbed slow circles up Keely's back and held him close, waiting for their heartbeats to finish settling.

"Let me see about the hotel," Taz said when it started to feel like Keely was trying to fall asleep on him. "That way we can both get comfortable."

"Comfy right here."

The whined complaint was adorable, as was the pout on his face when he reluctantly sat up and slid back into his seat so Taz could find his phone. Somehow, the damn thing had gotten itself wedged beneath the gas pedal. He really had to twist and bend around the wheel before he was able to reach it.

"Let's hope there's something close," Taz muttered as he started punching local motels in the search bar and authorized the app to determine his location. "I do not like the thought of being on the road for any longer than we have to be."

"If it hasn't been washed away already."

"There is always that possibility with how hard it's still pouring," Taz said as he checked out the options that popped up and saw three seven miles away at the nearest exit. "Damn."

"What?"

"It's gonna be a long seven miles."

"Seven? Ugg."

"Tell me about it."

"Guess we'd better go before the arc floats by with a pair of ravens and offers us a lift."

"As long as it's headed our way and had room for the truck, I'd take it," Taz admitted as he tossed his phone on the seat between them, started the truck and got the defog going again. "Not having to drive has some major perks when it comes to the things I could do to you."

"Haven't had enough yet?"

Growling despite the teasing note in Keely's tone, Taz leveled his fiercest gaze on him. "Not even close."

Keely's only response was to grin like an imp and flick out his tongue, licking it along his upper lip as he winked at Taz.

"You like to poke the bear, don't you," Taz asked as he buckled his seatbelt and eyed Keely until he got the hint and did the same.

You'd think that the son of stuntpeople would have more regard for vehicle safety but as long as he was riding with Taz he'd wear the damn thing or they'd sit there until the vehicle rusted around them….or Keely climbed into his lap and rode him until Taz stopped caring about anything but getting off.

"I like poking lots of things," Keely said with a gleam in his eyes the promised fun, wicked things that Taz couldn't wait to discover.

Chuckling low, Taz rested a possessive hand on Keely's thigh and squeezed it. "Yeah, I won't be letting you go anytime soon."

"Trying to tie me down already, Taz?" Keely purred, drawing out the z in a way that sent a shiver down Taz spine.

Hell, his cock twitched like it was trying to come back to attention and he could tell that Keely knew just what kind of effect he was having on him because the little shit flicked his tongue out again and teased around the edge of his lip.

"You'll find that I've got a knack for finding innovative things to use as bindings," Taz warned. "If trussing you up is the only way to keep you by my side, then perhaps you'd like a satin rope corset to wear beneath your shirt."

When Keely's jaw dropped and he sat blinking for a moment, Taz feared he'd take it for some creepy kind of threat, like he was about to chain Keely up in his basement somewhere with the bones of his previous victims. He was about to apologize and launch into a rambling explanation when Keely's eyes darkened with lust as a low, rough exhale escaped him.

"Fuck, I love satin," Keely groaned. "Especially when it's wrapped around me."

"Good to know," Taz replied as he stroked his chin and pictured Keely with a rope pattern running down his splayed thighs, his hands bound together and suspended over his head.

He must have glanced at the oh shit handle, because Keely's head jerked up and he smiled when he saw it. Slowly, with that teasing smirk on his face, he lifted his arms over his head, gripped the handle, and cocked his head.

"Too bad you don't have any way of keeping me like this," Keely remarked with a wink.

"Don't bet on it," Taz warned. "But I wouldn't dare do it in this kind of weather."

"Raincheck then," Keely said, until he realized what he'd said and started laughing. "Okay, that is one of the few time that the irony of it makes the saying useless."

"Guess you'll have to think of something for sunny days then."

"Ech, I've got seven miles, I'm sure I'll come up with something."

"Oh, I'm looking forward to hearing what it is," Taz said, turning down the wipers now that the deluge had slowed to a light drizzle.

"Then I guess I'd better come up with something good, huh," Keely muttered. "Challenge accepted."

The sight that greeted them when the fog finally cleared from the windows drew a chuckle from Taz, who couldn't quite believe what was taking place.

"What the fuck, seriously?" Keely muttered, rubbing his eyes, and leaning forward to get a better look.

"Guess the storm got them as horny as it did us," Taz said at the sight of two ducks fucking like bunnies in a puddle of rainwater. The slightly bigger duck was giving it to the smaller one with so much enthusiasm that he kept driving her head under the water. "Man, he's gonna drown her if he's not careful."

"Can you even drown a duck?" Keely asked.

Taz opened his mouth to retort, then snapped it shut because he really didn't know the answer to that.

"And how do we know she doesn't like being drowned?" Keely went on, while Taz blinked and shot him a look he didn't even notice, he was too busy staring at the ducks. "Maybe that's part of the thrill, like having your airway restricted only his wingtips aren't long enough to reach. You hear all that quacking? She's prolly yelling give it to me, big pappa and I'll lay you a clutch of eggs ."

Taz lost it then, collapsing against the steering wheel and laughing until tears leaked from the corners of his eyes and he could hardly draw a breath. Was Keely really sitting there making an autoerotic asphyxiation joke about a pair of ducks? And that crack about the wingtips was genius. There was something about a guy who wasn't afraid to be completely, unashamedly unfiltered, that pressed every button for Taz. Now that he'd found Keely, he planned to do everything in his power to encourage him to stick around for a while.

"Hey, you owe me an answer," Taz blurted, as the tail end of one of their previous conversations popped into his head.

The way Keely's face scrunched up when he was confused was so expressive, Taz couldn't help but chuckle and take pity on him.

"You promised to tell me what happened to your van."

"Oh, that," Keely replied as Taz straightened out the truck and got them pointed pack towards the highway, with one final glance at the ducks to see them still going at it. "It's not nearly as sorted as yours."

"Uh-huh, so what happened to it?"

"It was weird," Keely said. "The lights on the dashboard were being weird, but the damn thing was old, so sometimes shit just went wonky before eventually correcting itself. Then the radio started fading in and out, and I was like, okay, it's a country road, let me try a different channel, but they were all doing it and eventually I just lost the radio completely. I figured dead zone and kept on rolling, only then the van started getting hard to steer. It was like someone had drained all the power steering fluid out so the littlest correction required way more effort than it should have. A couple miles later I lost power all together and had to coast it onto the shoulder."

"You sure it wasn't haunted?"

"I wish. Poltergeists I might have been able to deal with if I got my hands on some holy water and the right banishing spell," Keely quipped. "Honestly though, at the time I figured it was the battery. The roads were shitty, the kind with four distinct colors of asphalt from all the patching they'd done instead of smoothing everything over. I grabbed my wrench and got out, intent on tightening it and being on my way, only to see the flash of something in the rearview that I thought was the sunset at first, until I realized it was coming from the wrong direction."

"Oh fuck, it was on fire, wasn't it?"

"Yup."

"Damn, how fast did it go up?"

"Fast enough that the only thing I had time to grab was my backpack," Keely explained. "Fortunately, it was packed because the campsite I'd planned to stay at required a bit of a hike and I hate finding out after nightfall that I've left something somewhere I can't easily get back to."

"Yeah, that can be a pain in the ass," Taz said. "It's like heading to the docks to do some fishing and realizing you've forgotten your tacklebox."

"Pretty much," Keely said. "Only in this case I'd have been hiking down a winding trail with a flashlight that could have used a battery change."

"At least you avoided that, I suppose."

"Yeah, my tent and the rest of my camping supplies went up with the van, but it's summer, and my hammock was in my backpack so at least I haven't had to sleep on the ground."

"Why not just head home?"

"Because I hadn't found what I was looking for yet," Keely explained. "So, I didn't see any reason for that to mean the end of my trip. The weather is nice out here, it's not like the winters suck the way they do out east, so I figured why not have a few more adventures before heading back to regroup."

"How long ago was it that your van burned?"

"Three weeks," Keely said. "And to be honest, I'm sort of over the whole sleeping in a hammock thing. It was hella fun when I was a kid, but by day thirteen I'd fallen out twice, gotten tangled more times than I can count, and hadn't had a full night sleep in over a week."

"And what number would tonight be if you hadn't run into me?" Taz asked.

"Twenty-two."

"Then I'm sure you'll enjoy a night spent on a mattress."

"Enjoy it, I'll worship every minute of it and you too if you want."

"Oh, I want," Taz said for the second time since Keely had wandered into his life.

As they rolled down the highway towards the nearby motels, Taz hoped that with luck and some creative enticement, he'd be saying those words for many days and miles to come.

THE END