IMPORTANT: This story is set after the 11th/12th of January 2011 episodes where Brendan meets Kyle Ryder except Kyle flees to Spain so all the other stuff with Theresa/Kyle/Warren/Brendan doesn't happen. Also, at this point Ste is still with Rae but Rae isn't pregnant.
CHAPTER 1
"Rat boy"
Nervously, Ste dropped the cloth with which he was wiping down the bar and looked up at Warren. "Yeah?"
"I need a word with you... now" Warren beckoned, before he walked into the office, closing the door behind him.
Ste moved to follow but was stopped by a tight grip on his arm.
"What's this about?"
Ste looked up at Brendan's face and noted that there was a clear tinge of nervousness in his expression, like he was worried about something.
"Don't worry, he doesn't know anything about us." Ste placed his hand over Brendan's on his elbow. "And I won't tell him, if that's what's got you scared."
Brendan snatched his hand back. "Don't" he bit out, as he looked around to see if someone had spotted them.
"Brendan, the place is empty." Ste let out a frustrated sigh "Look, whatever, I got to go."
Ste walked out from behind the bar and headed towards the office, all the while aware of Brendan's eyes staring holes into the back of his head.
...
Ste stood in the middle of the office, unnerved by Warren's staring. The man's gaze was intense and Ste couldn't help but worry that Warren was on the verge of uncovering all of his deepest and darkest secrets from looking at him alone. It was a silly thought and he knew it, but Ste was still terrified that Warren would suddenly say that he knew that Ste hadn't delivered the package, or even worse, that he knew about him and Brendan.
Warren leant back in his chair and watched as Ste got more and more antsy after each minute that passed between them in silence. He enjoyed every second of it.
"This is your lucky day." Warren finally spoke to Ste's relief.
Ste let out a baited breath. "Is it?"
"Yeah, you did an alright job with that delivery, rat boy."
Ste bit at his bottom lip. "Right" he said, while behind his back he was clutching at his fingers so hard that they were starting to go red.
"And I'm a very busy man, so it's occurred to me that I could really use someone like you to do a few jobs for me." Warren continued "I'm sure you could do with the money."
"I couldn't" Ste shook his head, knowing exactly what kind of jobs Warren was talking about. The last thing he wanted to do was to get into anything dodgy with Warren again. Even he knew that it could only end badly. "Thanks Warren, but no."
"Alright, suit yourself." Warren shrugged. "I just thought you'd jump at the chance to make some extra cash, what with having kids to support and all that."
Guilt started to bubble up in Ste's gut. The extra cash that Warren had given him for doing the delivery had really helped out and if he-
No, Ste thought. What kind of father would he be if he was locked up in prison for getting caught doing something dirty for Warren.
He'd all but made up his mind when he started thinking about his kids, Rae, Amy being in college, having to pay for the apartment and food and clothes and the kids daycare and how the fridge had stopped working last night on top of everything else...
Ste sighed resignedly."What kind of jobs are we talking about exactly?"
Warren smirked.
...
"No, there's no way I'm doing all that, and I get paid better working at the club."
"It's the first job. Prove yourself to me on this one and then the next time, I'll triple the money." Warren's mobile started to ring. Grabbing the phone, he looked at the screen and headed to the door "I need to take this call, I'll be right back. Don't touch anything." Warren gave Ste a warning glance, then he left the room.
Ste took a deep breath, grateful for some time alone where he could think about Warren's offer clearly.
Any time Ste could have had was interrupted only seconds later when the door was swung wide open and Brendan barged into the office, slamming the door shut loudly behind him.
"What did Foxy want?"
"It's not any of your business Brendan."
"You want to bet?" Brendan asked darkly. "Tell me Stephen" he crossed the distance between them "Now."
Ste took a step back. "He just wants me to do a couple of things for him."
Brendan's eyebrows rose. "What kind of things? Nice things? Scary things?" he tilted his head "Illegal things?"
Ste ran a hand through his hair. "Look, what do you care anyway?"
"What do I care?" Brendan laughed, looking upwards and shaking his head incredulously. "What do I care? He asks me." Suddenly, as if the question had instantly lost all its humor, Brendan turned angry and pushed Ste up against the wall. "I care" Brendan assured him, his tone low and dangerous as thoughts of Danny Houston ran through his mind. "I care a lot, believe me."
Ste's back ached from the impact as he hit the cold, hard brick, but it didn't matter. No, whatever pain Brendan inflicted on him never mattered when Brendan got this close, when he could feel Brendan's hot breath against his cheek and his hard body up against his own. He didn't even try to get out of the painful grip that circled his upper arms, instead Ste tilted his head forward, brushing his lips against Brendan's, feeling the hair of Brendan's moustache tickling his upper lip.
Brendan pulled his head back angrily. "You never learn do you? We're not doing that here."
Ste moved his head back, hitting and then resting it on the wall. "Alright, just let go of me then."
Brendan's grip only tightened. "No. Not until you tell me that you're not going to get involved in Warren Fox's business."
"Brendan, I have kids to support."
"I'll give you money."
Ste shook his head. "No. I told you, I don't need you to look after me."
"Obviously you do if you're going to go around acting like an idiot." Brendan retorted. "What part of Warren Fox is bad news do you not understand?"
Ste started to struggle in Brendan's hold. "Stop telling me what to do Brendan."
Brendan frowned. "No."
The door swung open and Warren walked in. A look of surprise contorted his face when he caught sight of Brendan holding Ste up against the wall. "Is there a problem here?"
Brendan immediately let go of Ste. "No, no problem." He straightened Ste's jacket. "Not at all"
Warren looked suspicious, not buying Brendan's answer. "That's good, because as of today, Ste here is my best employee." Warren grinned at Ste "And if he's having any problems, he knows that he just needs to tell me and I'll take care of it." His eyes slid from Ste to Brendan and then back. "Well?"
Ste shook his head. "Everything's fine Warren."
"Well you better get out there then" Warren gestured to the door "It's getting busy and Rhys isn't going to be able to handle everything on his own."
Ste nodded and left.
Without even looking back at Brendan, Warren moved to sit behind the desk and started to rifle through a few papers.
"Foxy, Foxy, Foxy." Brendan murmured. "We need to talk, old buddy, old chum."
Warren looked up, an eyebrow slightly cocked. "Do we now?"
Brendan nodded.
"What about?"
"Stephen. I don't like you using my staff for your...extra Curricular activities." Brendan stated "It's unethical, that."
"Well, the way I see it, your sister's the one that owns the majority share in this club, not you." Warren pointed out smugly "So you really have no say, do ya?"
All good humor fled Brendan's body. "Guess not." Brendan bit out, his teeth grinding against each other.
Brendan stood there for a few moments, fuming as Warren went back to his work, all the while ignoring Brendan's existance. Trying to calm down, Brendan took a deep soothing breath. "Ok" he finally said, spinning on his heel. "Ok" he said once more before exiting the office.
...
A MONTH LATER
Brendan pushed into Ste again and again, feeling Ste's ass clench around him.
"Fuck" he groaned.
Ste moaned in response, squeezing his legs around Brendan's waist and digging the heals of his feet into Brendan's arse insistently, begging him to thrust harder, faster. The friction against his prostate was almost becoming unbearable, but Ste still wanted more. Brendan complied and Ste knew he wasn't going to last much longer.
"Brendan" Ste shouted when the older man suddenly bit at his neck. The pain broke through the haze of incredible pleasure and Ste arched his body and came, rubbing his erection harder against the muscles of Brendan's abdomen and spilling cum all over the both of them.
A few more thrusts later and then Brendan was coming as well, his eyes still fixed on Ste's face as his own orgasm hit him.
Brendan collapsed on top of Ste, feeling like his limbs couldn't hold his weight any longer. Ste didn't seem to mind, wrapping his arms around Brendan as the two men lay together, their chests heaving with every breath that made Brendan's crucifix dig into their skin.
Ste couldn't ever remember feeling so content than in that moment with Brendan's cock still inside him and the feel Brendan's lips against his neck. He ran his fingernails down Brendan's back, scratching lightly at the sweaty skin.
"That was crazy intense" he breathed out. "I've never come so hard"
Ste's words seemed to bring Brendan back to himself because in the next moment Brendan was pulling out gently and rolling over to dispose of the condom in the bin beside the bed.
Brendan moved to lie on his back beside Ste, his head resting on top of both his hands. "Rae not scratching your itch well enough?"
Ste frowned and propped his head on one hand in order to look down at Brendan. "Hey, don't speak about Rae like that. It's not her fault she hasn't got a cock, now is it?"
"It takes more than just a cock to make you come like that Stephen, it's called skill."
Ste couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, you're a right stud Brendan Brady."
Ste got off the bed and started to clean himself up.
Brendan propped himself on both his elbows and watched as Ste moved on to looking for his clothes around the room. "Where are you going?" he asked, when Ste started to pull his clothes on.
"I got something to do tonight."
"Again? Is it the kids? Rae? Tell them you're busy."
"I can't." Ste shrugged on his jacket "It's important, but I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Right." Brendan answered, watching with suspicion in his eyes as the boy pressed a kiss to his lips and then left the room.
...
As soon as Ste closed the bedroom door behind him Brendan started to get dressed. He pulled on the closest set jeans, a T shirt, then socks and shoes. Rushing through the flat, Brendan took a moment to feel grateful that Cheryl was working the later shift at Chez Chez before he followed Ste out onto the street.
Brendan trailed Ste through the village, making sure that the boy didn't see him as Ste lead him down a dark street and into an alleyway. Brendan waited in the shadows while Ste approached a couple of large men waiting for him and watched as Ste and the two blokes exchanged words.
When Ste was pulled out a small package after a few minutes, Brendan strained to see what it was but he had no luck. The shorter of the men quickly pocketed the package and then nodded at Ste before making a swift exit with the other close behind him.
Ste was just about to turn and leave himself when he felt the warmth of someone's breath on his neck. Turning around, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that it was Brendan.
"Brendan. What are you doing here?"
"Funny, Stephen, cus I was just about to ask you the same thing." Ste pressed his lips firmly together as if to stop himself from talking. Brendan sighed "This is Foxy's doing, isn't it?"
"How did you know to follow me?"
"Before this past month when had you ever left my bed without me having to tell you to? Never, that's when. " Brendan replied "Now stop dodging my questions. What is the Fantastic Mr Fox having you do?"
Ste pushed past Brendan and started to walk. "Nothing."
"You're a lousy liar Stephen."
"It's really nothing." Ste repeated over his shoulder at Brendan who had resumed following after him. "I just deliver messages or packages or paperwork for him. I don't even know what any of it is about but he's paying me good money-"
"So you don't ask questions." Brendan interrupted "That's smart Stephen, real smart"
The cutting sarcasm in Brendan's tone made Ste pause and turn. "I don't get it. What I'm doing ain't dangerous or anything. You're getting all bent over nothing"
"It's not nothing Stephen. You have no idea what Warren Fox is capable of and you have no idea what he could get you mixed up in." Brendan's hands clenched as he tried to push down the anger that he would never admit spawned from worry "But whatever, if you want to get mixed up with Foxy then that's your mistake."
Brendan pushed past Ste and stalked away, leaving Ste to watch after his retreating form.
...