Damian's Treble [Rescue for Hire 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Read online

  Damian realized after watching the boss and Jack with their partners and the babies, he was ready to have that, too. Damian was as dominating a man as Cade and Jack, but where Cade was an alpha of alphas and Jack was the type who knew what he wanted and went after it, Damian couldn’t do that. And the reason he couldn’t act on his desires of grabbing the one he wanted and taking him home was sitting in the corner observing, as usual.

  When Damian had first met Treble Walker, he couldn’t believe how exotic the man looked. He had found out that his mother was of Asian descent and his father Native American. This accounted for his shiny hair, so black when the light caught it, it shown blue. Usually Treb kept it pulled back into a single braid that reached down to the middle of his back. His skin was smooth like coffee mixed with a lot of cream. His eyes tilted at the corners and were so deep brown they almost looked black. He was only about five foot six and built like a swimmer, lithe and dangerous. Damian wanted to strip him naked and lick him from head to toe.

  Damian had decided shortly after their first meeting that he wanted to find out if there was a forever with Treb. What he found out pretty quickly was that it wasn’t going to be easy. For months he had watched the little man always observing the world around him.

  Only the members of the team seemed to be able to get him to willingly participate in living life where people were involved. He had learned that Treb didn’t bother to mess around or play games. Most of his actions were straight and to the point. And then the man moved on. This was especially true in hooking up with someone. Wham, bam, and good-bye seemed to be his motto.

  Damian had concluded that to keep him he would have to get Treb to want him with more than just his body, although that would be important, too. There was no controlling him physically. After all the guy could have Damian tied up or unconscious in seconds. Treble was that lethal. It would have to be all about the brain and heart while keeping him off balance physically.

  Damian thought back to the evening everyone had gathered at the local hotel to have dinner and enjoy the band. He had been included as he was on all of the group’s activities now. However, that night, some guy decided that he wanted Treb to dance.

  “Dance with me,” said the brown-haired man.

  “Thanks, but no,” Treble replied.

  “Just one dance,” the guy pushed.

  “Maybe some other time.”

  “Come on, don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little dance?”

  That was when Treb had gotten up and walked across the dance floor and out the door with the guy following him. Less than five minutes later Treb was back. Damian hadn’t seen the guy again that night, but two days later he had seen him at the grocery store sporting a nasty bruise on his neck and walking with great care. Damian was hooked. Treb downright fascinated him.

  Treb knew the pilot was watching him again. A person would think the guy would be too busy flying the plane, but it looked like he was one of those who could multitask. Treb wasn’t sure he trusted a multi-tasker. They always seemed to have an ulterior motive.

  The guy was sure nice to look at, though. He was about a half foot taller than Treb. In his opinion, that wasn’t too tall.

  Damian’s hair was the same color as a horse in Treb’s favorite book from his childhood. When Treb had been a little kid, every night he would sit on his mother’s lap in an old wooden rocking chair. Together they would look at picture books and read stories. It was their time.

  One night they were looking at a book filled with pictures of horses. On one of the pages he had seen the most beautiful horse. He pointed to it and asked, “What color is this one?”

  “That color, my darling, would be called chestnut. Isn’t that horse beautiful with all of that shiny reddish brown hair? It looks so soft,” his mom had answered.

  “Yeah, it’s beautiful,” he replied. He had felt his mom kiss the top of his head then.

  They had spent the rest of the night looking at the horse book and then his mom had put him to bed. Treb always thought his mom was the coolest.

  Damian’s hair was shiny like that horse’s, too. Absently he wondered if it was as soft as it looked.

  Treb had to admit the guy’s eyes were fun to watch. They were blue with a hint of green in them. When that punk at the hotel tried to make him dance, Treb had seen Damian’s eyes turn from blue to sparkly green. Treb figured that green meant Damian was getting revved up about something. Although he didn’t know why the man would get upset, he had handled it just fine.

  Treb had to admit he had been disappointed when Damian had turned him down for a fuck. He was Treb’s favorite type, with the whole wide shoulders and muscled chest thing going on. Add in the small waist and tight ass, and Treb really wanted to strip his clothes off and explore to his heart’s content. Now that was an unusual state for him. He didn’t stick around long enough with a hookup for any exploring. That always made things messy, and not in a hot, sweaty sex kind of way. He so did not do that whiny emotional crap.

  According to Bret, Treb needed to start talking to people more. In his twenty-eight years of life, he hadn’t seen the point of all that “getting to know you” shit. If a man had an itch, he scratched it. It worked for him. Except now, tall, fine, and chestnut had turned him down. Maybe since he had nothing better to do he could find out why.

  Damian watched Treb stand up and make his way out of his corner to the seat next to him.

  “Hey,” came the greeting.

  “Hey, yourself.” Damian knew he had to let Treb start the conversation. Then he would make sure he enjoyed it enough to come back for more. Except now, neither of them was saying anything.

  After a few more moments of silence with Treb just sitting there looking out the window, Damian was second guessing his strategy. Finally Treb spoke again.

  “When we get back home, do you want to fuck?” Treb thought it was worth a try, but by the sudden slump of Damian’s shoulders, maybe not.

  “Nope.” Damian wanted to howl and scream in frustration. But by digging deep into his military training, he managed to keep his patience.

  “You like flying airplanes and helicopters?” There, that sounded like a halfway decent question. Bret would be proud.

  “I’ve always wanted to be a pilot and hope to keep flying until the day I die,” Damian answered, silently willing the man to keep going.

  “Is there anything else you like to do?” Man, he was getting good at this.

  “In my free time I like rock climbing, snow skiing, and zipping around in my ultralight plane.” Damian wanted to see if anything pricked the man’s interest. He held back a smile at the bright curious look that lit up Treb’s face.

  “You have an ultralight? I have always thought it would be a riot to try one of those. What’s it like?” Treb asked.

  “The weather is supposed to be pretty good tomorrow. If you wanted to come over to my house, we could go up for a while.” Damian said a silent prayer that the man would say yes.

  “Really? Is there enough room for the both of us?”

  “It’s a two passenger. There’s room,” Damian assured him..

  “Okay. What time?”

  “I have some things that need to get done in the morning so just after noon would be good.”

  “Sounds good.”

  And just like that the two had a date. One of them was oblivious and the other was fist pumping in his mind.

  Chapter Two

  The next day Damian was walking out to his private airplane hangar when a black extended cab truck pulled into the yard. Treb hopped out, clearly looking forward to the new experience. Damian was glad the man had dressed comfortably yet had protection from the wind in a faded pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a plaid, long-sleeved shirt over it. He would have to close the plaid shirt because excess cloth flapping in the wind was not a good idea.

  “Hey, Treb, it looks like it’s turning out to be a good day to fly.”

  Treb wasn’t sure if it was a good
day to fly. But the wind was calm and it was mostly sunny out, so he would go along with Damian’s opinion.

  “Yeah, looks good.” Okay, maybe this conversation thing was going to be harder than he thought. He would have just given up and walked away if Mr. Hot and Now didn’t have on a tight, long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans so thin they hugged his muscled thighs like a lover. Simple had always worked in the past. Maybe it would work now.

  “You want to fuck?”

  Damian didn’t even pause. He just walked up to Treb, leaned down, and gave him a quick kiss. Lifting his head, he looked the man in the eye and said, “Nope.” Then he turned around and kept walking until he was in the hangar and ready to push the ultralight out onto the runway. Again he suppressed a fist pump as Treb was not even a half step behind him the whole way.

  Treb’s mind was reeling as he followed Damian into the hangar. The kiss had been nothing more than a peck, but man, that brief press of lips on lips had knocked his socks off. Before he could make a move toward Damian to maybe get a few more kisses or revisit the whole “let’s fuck” idea, his attentions were diverted by the sight before him.

  Just inside the open hangar door sat a neon-green, two-passenger ultralight. To Treb, it looked kind of like a hang glider. Only it had a tail with a motor attached. The whole plane sat on three tires. Two on each side of the seats and one in the front where the passenger’s feet sat on pedals. The whole thing appeared to be put together by lightweight pipe. It was a beauty.

  “Grab the other side and we’ll get her out of here onto the runway.” Damian indicated to the other side of the plane. Together, they easily pushed the plane out into the sunshine.

  “That should be good. Take a seat,” Damian instructed.

  When the plane stopped moving, Treb picked up a helmet and slid into the seat that it had been sitting on. He found himself in a half-reclining position with his feet resting on two metal pedals. Damian slid into the seat beside him and leaned over around the joystick between them and gave him another quick kiss. Just as quickly, he leaned back away from Treb, but now he had the ends of a seatbelt in each hand, which he clicked into place just above Treb’s now straining zipper.

  “Put your helmet on and let’s see how close we can get to the treetops,” Damian instructed.

  The helmet had ear protection with speakers built in and a mike attached to it. After strapping it in place, Treb’s heart picked up speed when the roar of the motor had the whole plane vibrating.

  Before he knew it the wind was whipping past his face as they seemed to sail down the private runway.

  “Here we go,” was the only warning Treb received as the plane left the ground and took him into the air.

  Damian almost lost his concentration when Treb turned to him, eyes shining and a huge white smile beaming at him. The guy was stunning in his excitement. Knowing he could handle it, Damian decided to show Treb his wild side.

  Treb was in heaven. Damian was flying mere feet above the treetops and had swooped down between the buildings on his property. Now they were flying over the boss’s house where Bret waved to them from his little plot of garden he was endeavoring to grow plants to maturity in. Treb had felt bad the last time he was at the boss’s house and had to break it to Bret that the plants he was pulling out were beans, not weeds. Now that he thought about it, that garden had been reseeded at least three times now. Being so low, Treb couldn’t help but wince as Bret enthusiastically waved while a small row of plants were crushed beneath his knees. He hoped there was enough growing season left for a new batch of seeds.

  All too soon they were descending back down to the runway. Treb didn’t know why he was suddenly nervous. There hadn’t been much conversation during the flight. Mostly it was him letting out a few “whoops” and “all rights” over the views and Damian’s spine-tingling maneuvers with the ultralight. He wished that they didn’t have to come down yet.

  Damian drove the plane right up to the hangar. He didn’t want to drive it into the hangar as there would be dust and dirt flying all over inside from the motor’s propulsion. But just to show off a little, he did a one-eighty, turning the plane so it would be facing back outside once they pushed it into the hangar. After a preflight maintenance check, it would be ready for the next trip. If he played his cards right, Treb would be sitting at his side.

  “That was awesome, man,” Treb exclaimed as he took off the helmet. “You rock!” Together they worked as one, quickly pushing the plane back into the hangar.

  “Glad you liked it. Some people I take up think they can handle it and I end up bringing them right back down. You did really well.”

  “Of course I did. I’m a member of Rescue for Hire. We aren’t afraid of anything.” Treb bragged and strutted around the hangar, laughing with sheer joy.

  “If you say so. I guess Alex’s total two minutes in the air was just bad sushi or something.” Damian chuckled.

  Treb stopped and put his hands on his hips, challenging Damian. “Wait a minute. I’ve seen Alex rappelling from a helicopter and off of many sheer cliffs rescuing people. Now you’re telling me he’s afraid of a little ultralight ride?”

  Damian walked up to Treb, herding him against one of the pipes of the plane’s tail. Leaning down, he gave Treb a kiss that lasted just a little longer than the small pecks he had given him so far. Turning away he said, “He was scared to death.” And then he kept walking right out of the hangar.

  Treb just about had enough of this teasing crap and he couldn’t believe Damian was just walking away after dropping that bombshell about Alex. In fact, it pissed him off. A couple of running steps and a full-out leap had him stretched out prone on top of Damian in the grass. He didn’t care that the guy was swearing. With just a few motions to key pressure points, he had the guy flipped over onto his back. Now Treb was where he decided that he should be, on top.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Damian glared up at Treb. Maybe he wasn’t as pissed off as he was acting. Sure, he was going to have a few sore muscles tomorrow, but Damian had Treb right where he wanted him, chasing him. Although Treb’s next words did piss him off.

  “You are a prick teaser.”

  “I am not a prick teaser. You better be careful what you are accusing me of.” Damian’s eyes were turning a gorgeous bright blue-green.

  “You do not want to threaten me, Damian.”

  “And you do not want to be calling me names, Treble.”

  “What’s with all those pansy-ass kisses?”

  “I was being friendly.”

  “Hmpf! How many times have I asked if you wanted to fuck? Now that’s friendly.” That was the question that Treb really wanted an answer to.

  “You and I are not going to fuck, Treble.” Damian was going to push Treb out of his comfort zone just a little.

  “We’re not? Why not?” Treb was clearly confused. Didn’t Damian want him? He had kissed him more than once.

  “Because you’re not ready for me yet.” Damian could see he had Treb even more confused by that statement. With a little maneuvering of his own, Damian had Treb lying on his back in the grass and was walking away.

  Treb didn’t like Damian walking away from him, especially during this sort of argument. Wait a minute. That thought stopped Treb in his tracks. He didn’t argue with people. If they pissed him off, he beat the crap out of them or left them where they were. He didn’t bother with any compromise shit.

  Turning back to Treb, Damian held out his hand and said, “Come on, Treble, let’s go find something to drink in the house.”

  Treb wasn’t sure why, but his feet shortened the distance between them and he put his hand in Damian’s. He even left it there as they went up to the back porch of an old two-story farmhouse.

  Upon his arrival before the plane ride, Treb had automatically took note of the locations of the house and buildings on Damian’s property. In a glance he had seen anything that seemed out of place or any hiding spot a sniper could hide. He had immediately o
bserved a person standing just inside the doorway of the parts room attached to the hangar. Now that person was standing just inside the hangar door by the ultralight and had watched their whole show in the grass. From the grease-covered overalls with the name “Pete” stitched over the left hand pocket, the steel-toed shoes, and the wrench in his hand, Treb concluded Damian’s assistant Pete was not a threat at the moment.

  Treb turned his attention to the farmhouse. It was newly painted all white with no shutters. He knew from the drive up that the front porch wrapped all the way around to the back of the house. Now as they walked up the steps, he saw the floor and steps had been painted gray. There was a porch off of a door on the second floor, too. He was glad he hadn’t had to help paint this house as there was intricate lattice work around all the windows and on all the corners of the poles of the porches. In Treb’s opinion, the house was a beauty.

  Inside the house they walked into a huge country kitchen with warm oak cupboards and a red tile floor. A huge heavy wooden table stood in the middle of the room. That table gave Treb all kinds of ideas. But he pushed them aside because he knew Damian would only turn him down again. He decided that it didn’t bother him at all. Really.

  Damian let Treb’s hand go and walked over to the refrigerator taking out two beers. “Have a seat.” He gestured to the table. Before he could even set the beers down, Treb said, “Damian, you have a pussy.”

  Damian looked over at the spot Treb was glaring at and there, in the doorway separating the formal dining room from the kitchen, sat Fred. Treb didn’t look to happy at seeing Fred in his house. That might be a problem because Fred was staying.

  Treb wasn’t surprised by much in life, but the sight of a huge blue-gray cat in Damian’s house surprised him. And as usual when he was surprised he reacted in anger. “What the hell do you have a cat for?”

  Damian set the beers on the table and stepped into Treb’s space. “You have a problem with Fred?”