Bare-Knuckle Love (biker gay dark erotic romance) (Rabid Mongrels MC Book 1) (7 page)

Jason didn’t even want to pet dogs, as it always fueled painful memories, but Heidi looked so much like Ratso he couldn’t help it any longer. He held out his hand for her to sniff, and then sat on the floor in front of her.

“Hey there… Hey, girl. Does your master treat you well? He seems to.” Jason stroked the pit bull’s head.

Heidi lapped at his hand, and without further ado, climbed into his lap, as if she didn’t know how big she was. A small whine urged him on to pet her. She was a really friendly dog, just as Ratso had been before Jason’s father used him for fights.

Jason curled around Heidi, for a hug no one would see and no one would judge him for. “I’ve had a really tough night, sweetie. Coming home can be hard. Wanna come to bed with me? I could really use some company right now.” He took a deep, slow breath to get rid of the itch in his eyes.

Heidi yawned and once more turned her brilliant blue eyes at him. Just like Ratso’s. Jason kissed the top of her head.

Chapter 5

“That explains everything,” came through the haze of sleep, and Jason groaned, prying his eyes open. The bed smelled nice, and there was someone warm right next to him. “So that’s your thing?” continued the voice above. “She’s hairier than me.”

Jason looked up at Hyde from the bed, where he was tangled up with Heidi. He didn’t have the heart to just push the dog away now. She slowly picked herself up, smacking Jason’s hand with her tail. Hyde leaned down and let her lick his face. Jason would happily join in.

“Good girl. Daddy doesn’t normally let you get any action with them boys, right?” chirped Hyde.

Jason looked to Hyde’s loose hair and crawled out of the bed. He couldn’t help a tingle of affection when he saw Hyde give the dog so much love. Even in a simple pair of jeans worn with a hoodie, Hyde looked good enough to eat.

“She just… came in here at night. Wouldn’t stop bothering me until I let her in,” Jason mumbled and began dressing. Someone must have been here earlier as well, because a fresh change of clothes was laid out on a chair by the bed.

“She loves people, but Amanda made this rule about not letting her sleep in the bedrooms, so you’re officially a rebel in this house,” chuckled Hyde, sitting down and pulling Heidi closer. The dog clearly loved her master, and she climbed into his lap, just like she did into Jason’s the night before.

Jason put on the clothes, which were slightly too big, and it only hit him when he zipped up the hoodie that they were likely Hyde’s. Jason couldn’t help but dream of Hyde hugging him as softly as the gray hoodie did.

“I don’t really hate dogs.” Jason sighed, watching Hyde’s fingers playing with a fold of skin on Heidi’s back.

Hyde shrugged. “You’re a never-ending surprise, aren’t you?”

Jason pursed his lips. “The secrets are oozing out through the holes in my back.”

Hyde slapped his shoulder. “Come on. No hard feelings.”

“I’m a big boy.” Jason nodded, but when his fingers lingered on Hyde’s for too long, he quickly pulled away and petted the dog’s head instead. Heidi had such a smiley face and happy eyes. Jason was not about to become a home-wrecker when such a sweet-natured dog lived here. What if Heidi loved Amanda as much as she loved Hyde?

“Good. Time to stuff your face, because you’ll be sweating like a pig tonight,” announced Hyde, getting to his feet. Heidi jumped off, whined, and scratched at the door. She too was hungry.

Jason stared into Hyde’s wide smile. “I will?” He licked his lips and followed Hyde as they walked out of the room.

“Yeah, you need to train, so I arranged for Spotty to work on you. He’s less murderous than the others and hates you a bit less,” said Hyde, walking toward the front of the house.

Fresh dough and coffee made the kitchen feel homey, and the scene in the room looked like the first minutes of an apocalyptic movie, where the viewer is introduced to a middle-class family man who eats pancakes for breakfast and is always nice to his family.

The place didn’t seem to suit a man like Hyde. Or maybe it did. Like the perfect Jekyll to his Hyde. The woman by the kitchen island had to be Amanda, and Jason couldn’t force himself to look into her eyes after what he’d done with Hyde yesterday. His gaze drifted to the spotless tiles on the floor.

“Good morning,” Jason mumbled, wondering how much she knew about Hyde’s work.

She looked up, all prim and perfect in her skinny jeans and colorful shirt. And when Jason looked into her eyes, big and friendly, he realized he did know her, too. It was the same girl Hyde married in high school, and Jason felt he shouldn’t be as surprised as he was.

Amanda looked Jason up and down, and he tensed under the scrutiny, suddenly realizing that maybe she had her suspicions about her husband. “And who’s this?”

Hyde walked up to her and reached over, snatching a piece of fruit off the plate she was preparing. “Handsome, isn’t he?” he asked, looking at Jason with a half smile.

Jason froze, as if a visceral part of him believed that if he stood really still, he’d go unnoticed. This was the third time Hyde mentioned he found Jason attractive, and it was slowly growing on Jason, even when said in front of Hyde’s wife. “Sorry, I’m intruding,” he muttered. “I told him I could stay in a hotel.”

There was a rumble of stampeding steps on the stairs, and a female voice called out, “Honey, did you see my cell phone? Can anyone call me?” A pretty Asian woman with twin buns on top of her head and deep purple lipstick stormed into the kitchen, slowing down when she spotted Jason. Her eyes alternated between the other people in the room, and just when Jason felt he’d die of tension, Hyde stepped in.

“Don’t worry, he’s gay, too.”

Jason took a step back, and then another, his brain coming to a complete standstill. “What…? What?” he hissed. “The fuck?” His stomach clenched so hard it hurt.

Hyde rolled his eyes. “Relax. You’re in a
very
gay house. I think only Heidi and Cody swing the other way, though you can never know,” he said casually, as his wife gave the other woman a kiss.

Jason clenched his hands on his nape, which only reminded him of the fucking collar. His body flushed with heat and cold all at once. Hyde’s wife had a girlfriend? “I… this is n-not on.” Great, he actually began to stutter.

The Asian woman smiled at him. “Hi, I’m Beth. Are you Hyde’s new boyfriend?” she asked, playfully wiggling her eyebrows.

Seeing Hyde nod made Jason close his mouth.

Amanda smiled his way. “Good for you! You want your pancakes with bacon?”

“More like prisoner,” Jason said, and Beth laughed out loud.

“God! Tell me about it.” She grabbed a piece of bacon and rushed out of the kitchen. “I’ll get Cody.”

“Boyfriend?” Jason mouthed to Hyde with a frown.

Hyde stepped close enough for their shoulders to touch. “I did bring you home,” he whispered and walked off to open a can and deposit the meat in a doggie bowl. Heidi kept brushing against his legs like a cat. He put it in front of her.

“Hello?” Amanda raised her eyebrows. “How do you take your pancakes?”

Jason bit his lips, smothered with more kindness than his body could take. “With maple syrup…?” Was he being needy? Was it too much to ask? Would she hate him? He hugged his own arm. A part of him knew that this had to be a trap, and the AK-47s were coming out any second. Or he would wake up. And… Hyde was gay? Like
gay
gay? Which meant that he was actually kind of available? Jason couldn’t help but glance at Hyde.

Amanda smiled at him. “Why don’t you set the table?” She then showed him where the plates and cutlery were, completely unbothered that her husband had a guy on the side.

Jason took extra care with setting the table, worried he’d fuck something up. Never in his life had he eaten in a house like this one. People living here seemed so… nice to each other. Somehow, it made Jason feel all the more miserable about his own life. About not getting breakfast as a kid. No one ever bothered making him lunch for school, or ironing his T-shirt. And this couldn’t just be some messed-up elaborate scheme by Hyde. This was his life. Jason would cut off his own finger to be a part of it.

He was checking whether the cutlery was straight enough for this picture-perfect family when he heard Hyde laugh in the kitchen.

“You’re wearing your T-shirt backwards! The dragon belongs in the front,” he said to a small dark-haired boy, who looked nothing like Hyde and seemed to have taken all of his looks after his mother.

Beth poured four cups of coffee and stirred cocoa in a colorful mug, before coming over with the tray of beverages. “Made one for you as well.”

“Thank you.” Jason dared to smile, and they all sat down to breakfast, looking like a family-friendly cereal commercial. Hyde kept cracking jokes with his kid, Beth and Amanda talked about their upcoming day over pancakes, Heidi brushed against Jason’s knees, and the sun shone bright into the spacious kitchen. Even the pancakes were perfect. Fluffy, tasty, with organic maple syrup.

Jason could never be a part of this, no matter how much he might try. In his world all little boys got in the morning was a slap to the back of the head. And he would definitely not be anyone’s boyfriend if his father had a say in it. Any potential boyfriend would end up six feet under, and Jason’s jaw would have a few teeth less. These people had no idea how lucky they were.

After the meal, Amanda and Beth drove off to work, each in her own car, which left Jason and Hyde to walk Cody to the school bus. The kid was charming and talkative, with a keen interest in MMA, which he kept chatting about with his father. They had Heidi on a leash as they walked down the driveway, with birds singing all around. It was too good to be true.

If Cody had taken anything after his father, it was a sunny personality. In a few years, Jason could imagine him being as much of a popular kid as Hyde had been.

Jason put his hands in his pockets as he watched father and son, with his heart melting in his chest, and he walked closer to Hyde than he should have. When the boy got on the bus, and they were alone again, Jason didn’t know what to say to Hyde. In a perfect world, they’d be kissing not talking.

“We could have a quickie before we go,” said Hyde, his words pushing into Jason’s consciousness like a sharp spike. They punched all air out of his lungs.

“So, you’re gay,” Jason muttered and turned back to the house as his ears heated up. His imagination was all about Hyde’s weight on top of him, driving that thick dick inside with no mercy, making Jason suck on his fingers as he fucked him.

“Yeah. Worked out well for me. I just need to make sure no one knows, and it’s fine.”

“Aren’t you… afraid to have me around your family?” Jason looked to Hyde’s perfect house in the clearing ahead. He didn’t expect a firm grip on his shoulder.

Hyde’s face was marred by an ugly sneer as he leaned closer, looking down on Jason with malice that was hard to stand. “You try to fuck with what I have here, and you’re dead. I’m gonna put that fucking video everywhere and make sure everyone knows how you look with a cock stuffing your face.”

Jason pursed his lips and nodded. “I won’t. I suppose it’s only fair that some people have nice lives. Karma and all that shit.”

Hyde snorted, composing himself. “Good. I worked hard to have this. I took care of Cody when Amanda was in college. I earned this, and nobody’s taking it away. So don’t joke about this.”

“
You
took care of Cody?” Jason couldn’t hide his surprise as they reached the house. Away from any prying eyes, the air between them became electric despite the angry outburst of moments before.

Hyde shrugged. “Yeah, she was at school all the time, and her parents didn’t want to do it, so it was me and Dad. What’s so surprising about it? Wouldn’t you take care of your own kid?”

Jason just watched him for a long moment. “
My
dad killed my dog.” The words were hollow. They didn’t contain a fraction of the anguish and pain Jason’s father poured into his life.

Hyde stopped, frowning at Jason, his eyes bright, searching for signs of lying, but they wouldn’t find any. “Damn. What for?”

Jason crouched by Heidi and petted her head. “He was too weak. My father said he would fight or die. But he didn’t die. He was mauled so bad from a dogfight, but still lived. He whined so horribly, and I couldn’t help him, couldn’t make him quiet, so my dad hung my dog from a tree.” Jason took a deep breath, but saying it out loud was too much, and in the end, he sat on the floor in the corridor.

Hyde growled and kicked the wall. “Fucker. How can anyone do that to an animal? He probably got off lightly, didn’t he?”

Jason shrugged. “No one found out about it.” He opened his arms to Heidi, who came for a hug more than willingly and started licking his hands. He’d never shared this story with anyone before, and he couldn’t pinpoint what made him tell it now. Maybe it was the fact that Hyde was gay, so Jason hoped the guy wouldn’t judge his weakness as harshly?

Hyde slowly sank down into a crouch and looked at Jason. “Look, maybe he should get a taste of his own medicine? He still around?” he asked casually.

Jason dared to look up into Hyde’s eyes. “No, he got murdered.”

Hyde pulled on Heidi’s ear. “He didn’t get mauled and hung by any chance?”

Jason trailed his middle finger over Hyde’s knuckles. “No, he got his head smashed in by a metal pipe.”