Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Aaron sighed heavily as another car blasted past where he was clearly trying to signal someone. He had been walking for well over an hour since his damn truck up and quit on him…again. It hadn't even been a full week since getting it back from the mechanic's shop.

Shoving his wet hair out of his face did little to stop the rain from continuing the damn streams constantly blurring his vision. That last car had managed to splash some dirty street water on his pants, making the situation even better. He was so done with this night.

All he wanted to do was go home after a crappy shift, and play with the dildo he had stuck to the shower wall to help take the edge off. Was that too much to ask? Then if there was time and he had the energy, maybe watch something one of his buddies had sent him.

The sudden blinding glare out of the darkness as a vehicle pulled onto the road caused him to jerk a bit, stumbling in the mud as he did so. Just as he stuck his thumb out to signal the driver in the age-old sign for a hitchhiker, his work-issued duffle bag, strapped across his chest snagged a sturdy low hanging branch throwing his already questionable balance into jeopardy. With a yelp, his arms pinwheeled in an attempt to correct himself. Aaron fell backward down the slight incline luckily it was mostly his back and ass that took the slide and not his head.

The humiliation was made all of the better by the sound of a car slowing, tires crunching on the loose gravel along the edge of the road just before the grass took over.

There was a pause, then a light shining down the ridge, before over the steady rainfall he heard, "Hey! Are you okay down there?" Groaning as he mentally assessed himself, Aaron called back a bit roughly. "I think I will live, but if you could be kind enough to chunk your flashlight as hard as you can to club me over the head so I can drown in a shallow puddle. That would be great. It would really round out my night."

A snort could just be heard and the silhouette grabbed something from near his feet. Sliding a strap over his head, he carefully descended the slick slope.

Aaron pushed himself up to a sitting position as what ended up being a tall muscular man crouched down beside him. Placing a well-used medical kit next to him, the man asked as he unzipped the bag. "Can you tell me anywhere you are not hurting?" Aaron rubbed a hand down the side of his face and onto his neck before thinking better of it. With a grimace, he pulled his mud-covered hand from where he had smeared the dirt on his skin. Sighing he squinted up at the other man and replied. "Surprisingly not too much hurts. My back and ass are sore, my pride is so wounded I'm shocked there isn't blood gushing everywhere. The only saving grace is that my team didn't see me."

From the glow of the light, Aaron could see the other man grin slightly as he popped back with, "I want to say it is a shock you aren't hurt more, but in my time as a firefighter, I've seen people walk away from things that should have killed them. In my humble opinion what saved you was the graceful arm waves before the suave reverse dive down the hill. If you aren't in a dance group, they are missing out. That was talent."

Aaron chuckled a bit as a second flashlight was pulled out so the man could look closer at a few cuts that were decorating his arms. In little time the wounds were cleaned and dressed in slightly soggy wrappings. The man was brushing over the pressure tape to secure it, when he spotted Aaron's bag sitting innocently a few feet from them, just on the outer band of light from his torch. The word SWAT across the side seemed to trigger something. He shook his head and stated to the muddy man almost as if shocked.

"Are you by chance Aaron?"

The man in question tensed a moment before hesitantly nodding. That had the other man smacking himself in the head as he informed him.

"I apologize, I never said my name. I'm Duncan. Our buddies Davis and Kit called me up as they knew I was starting my four days off. Davis said your car broke down and you were going to hitchhike it back to town since he couldn't get anyone out here until morning. I didn't think the hot, muddy dancer would be my rider."

A brow raised in surprise at both the blatant flirting. Up to this moment, it had just seemed part of his personality, in addition to the use of apparently their joint friends' names.

Davis and Kit were well-known names in the local, and not-so-local BDSM community. Both men had taken a shine to Aaron when he had moved to town around ten years ago. Knowing he couldn't go just on the word of a stranger, even if he did seem like he was looking for someone, Aaron was a cop. He had made plenty of enemies.

Shifting a bit, he slipped his thankfully undamaged phone from his jacket pocket. Waving it toward the now named, Duncan, he asked "You won't mind my calling Kit to confirm you are who you said?" Duncan nodded as he stood. "I'd question your judgment as a police officer if you didn't check." Leaning down, he helped Aaron to his feet. "Let's get you up to my SUV. I'll come back down here to clean up and you can make your call."

Taking a little bit longer than he thought it should, Aaron nodded to his savior when he pulled open the backdoor to get out a blanket. Opening the front passenger door, so the muddy man could sit, Duncan wrapped the material around him before heading down to where he had left his kit.

No sooner had he disappeared from sight, Aaron pressed call on a well-known number. It rang twice before a soft voice sounded. "Aaron? Is that you? Did Duncan get there yet?" Smiling, as warmth filled him Aaron replied. "A man did show up saying you and Davis sent him. He's a firefighter in a faded grey SUV. He found me after I fell down a hill and eventually made cracks about being a dancer." A light laugh sounded in reply before he heard. "That would be Duncan. He's normally friendly. Davis thought he would be perf…I mean he is…" Aaron jerked forward in shock so hard he nearly fell out of the vehicle. "Kit, are you saying that the two of you used my unfortunate car situation as a chance to set me up?"

A throat cleared over the line before a deeper voice took over. "Aaron, you were in need and Duncan was able to assist. Did I happen to think that he might be a perfect yin to your yang? Sure. Have we been trying to figure out how to set the two of you up? Of course, we have. Could I have gotten someone else to help you? More than likely. Give him a chance." Aaron sighed, rolling his eyes to himself. "Anything I need to know?" He could all but feel the grin over the line as Davis replied. "He wasn't involved in the idea of setting y'all up. He was just a friend willing to help a friend of a friend because he is that kind of guy. Just a heads up, he likes to play both sides of tying up and some other things."

"Hey, I got your work bag. It's a bit dirty, but nothing too bad. You could probably wipe it when it dries." Aaron jerked around to see the other man completely for the first time. While he had a nice voice, it was hard to make out details through the harsh beam of a high powered flashlight that is aimed more or less in your face. Duncan was tall and broad. Aaron had a few inches on him and was a bit wider around the shoulders, but he was still very impressive. His hair was darkened and plastered to his head from the rain, but it looked to be a dark blonde or light brown with possible curls. He had bright blue eyes that gave off a friendly vibe. Plump pink lips were pulled into a slight smile.

The man was stunning and to top it all off, Aaron suddenly realized Duncan was shivering and much wetter than he should have been from a quick trip down the hill. Standing quickly, he dropped the phone pressing the speaker by accident as he caught his around the shoulders. "Duncan, are you okay? You are completely soaked through." Once a dark grey henley, now mostly black from moisture pulled tighter across thick muscles as the man shrugged when he replied. "I tripped when I went to pick up the bag and fell into a large puddle. Not a big deal really, I'll dry off."

Aaron cupped his jaw as he looked him over quickly, checking for a possible injury. The smile softened as Duncan pushed into the hand seeming to acknowledge the pull the two men had been feeling since they met. "Honest, Aaron, I'm good, just very wet." Pulling him closer to the vehicle, Aaron asked, "Do you have any dry clothes?" Shaking his head, he grinned a bit. "Nah, it was laundry day at my apartment and I forgot my spare uniform. Really though, I'll be fine. Let's get going so we can get out of this rain. I'll turn the heat up."

Quickly rewrapping the muddy man, Duncan bundled him into the front seat. Dropping the two bags he was carrying in the back, he hopped into the driver's seat to hear Aaron assuring someone, "He's cold and wet, very wet. Other than that Duncan is fine." There was a dramatic sigh on the other end of the line before, "Alright, you two hurry up and get somewhere you can clean up, dry off, and sleep. If you need to pull over somewhere for a bit until y'all warm up then do so. I will talk to both of you later…oh and just for shits and giggles, orgasms help warm people up faster so does sex. Bye." The click of the line sounded loud in the otherwise silent SUV. Both men were staring at the phone a moment before their eyes met each other and they snorted.

Duncan started the engine then reached up and cranked the heater. "It should get warm in here soon. Kit gave me your address in case I didn't find you so I could check if you made it home. We're about an hour and a half from there, I'd offer my place but it's shit and another forty-five minutes from your place." Aaron nodded in understanding; poking a hand out of his cocoon, he waved toward the windshield. "Lead on, Duncan."