7
Rude was hardly amused as Reno handed out the last of his cards, the remaining having been redeemed within moments of each other. His hand had barely closed around the cold hand of his friend before someone was taking the other, pulling his life's blood away from him and each interruption served for nothing more than to make the big man bristle every time someone approached, even if they were only making a greeting. What was worse was Reno was becoming more pallid as the night wore on, his hands colder, eyes losing their glimmer and almost listless as though something were draining the very life out of him. Stopping him before he followed the last of his clients through the thick drapery, he growled out a warning. "This is bullshit, Reno. Utter fucking bullshit and you know it. We're going home."
"No, we're not. I've got one more card to redeem and then I can close the house down. All the other boys are done."
"So let THEM close it out," he ground through gritted teeth, veins in the side of his head standing out thick and blue against the sun-mochaed skin. "You look sick. No, you look like you're dying. Fuck this. We're going home."
"No, we're not." He turned and pushed open the curtain.
The flippant tone the little courtesan had applied liberally was like gasoline to a fire and set Rude's ember to a full borne blaze as he picked the suited redhead up over his shoulder and headed out for the door, shoving Max aside when he tried civilly to stop him. Reno, shocked at first, did nothing until he realized Rude was heading for the door. It was then he began protesting, kicking his feet and throwing fists at the impenetrable back. Rude, having anticipated retaliation, had made sure the bottom half was immobilized, leaving the upper body to its own devices. The more he fought, the weaker and weaker his attacks became and his voice became more distressed. Just as Rude's fingers wrapped around the door handle, a meek voice brought the words to stall his momentum.
"But Rude. I wanted to sing."
Face bearing a full grimace, Rude stopped, fingertips resting on the brass handle; one flick of his wrist was all it would take to send the wooden barrier open wide and clear their exit from the grand mansion. He faltered as Reno whimpered, slumping against the sturdy shoulder. "Lookin' forward to it all night. Worked hard t'be able t'sing an'…"
Rude sighed hard, the decision weighing heavily on his conscious. "Reno…" He stopped, wishing desperately hard to hear his little lover sing, knowing his Reno's one secret love had been singing. His Reno had given it up out of fear, but this one… With a groan of surrender, he dropped the pale thing to his feet, giving him a hard look. "We are never doing this again, do you understand me?"
"We?" If he didn't know better, he'd swear the waxed blue eyes picked up a bit of life. "S'that mean you're stayin'?" He leaned heavily against Rude, arm thrown around the thick middle holding up the wasted frame.
"Well, for awhile yet, at least. This is hard as hell on me, Reno. I just can't do it. I can't. I can't watch you throw yourself away like this."
"Rude, I'm not throwing myself away! Get that through your thick ass head! If you only knew what I…" He stopped, finger in mid-air jab toward the barrel chest. "Look, let's just not talk about this, alright?"
"As soon as we get home." His tone made it very clear this was not up for debate.
Reno sighed, shuffling across the floor again and toward the curtained room, pushing the entry open to find Baby straddling the lump under the blankets and quite involved. He turned over his shoulder, placing a hand on the man's chest as he rocked his hips, looking very bored with the entire process. "Hey, Reno! I offered him a deal. Two for one since you had to go take care of that thing. Commere an' help a boy out, huh? It's not every day I bottom yanno. Just come over here and stick something in his mouth to shut him the fuck up. He whines too much."
Reno grinned at the bouncing boy, turning over his shoulder toward Rude. "You sure you don't wanna come in? Watch? Think it's sexy when my boys watch me." A soft smile touched the pale, cracked lips and he leaned in, pressing against him in the way only a lover would, fingertip drawing along the still open shirt front. Rude glowered at him, a deep growl slipping past his throat where he'd attempted to squelch it. Reno looked slightly hurt and backed a step away, turning toward the bed and waffling back and forth between Baby and Rude. He finally settled on entering the room, looking at Rude with the same kicked puppy look he'd given Max and it absolutely burned his stomach raw, the bile racing up his throat as he choked it down, the curtain closing between them. It was all he could do not to storm through the curtain, grab Reno by the arm and drag him off before anything else could happen. With a deep shudder, Rude flexed his hands and ground his jaw, not moving from the spot, his feet welded in place before he moved and acted on his plan to whisk the wilting flower from his waterless tomb.
Water.
Rude turned on his heel and headed for the refreshment table, demanding bottled water from the server through a tightly clenched jaw. The poor server jumped and scrambled under the table, thrusting forward a single bottle with a terrified look. Saying nothing, Rude raised an eyebrow in irritation and the frightened young man disappeared under the table again, this time shoving several wet, cold bottles into his arms, standing and dancing in place until Rude retreated to his position beside the door, once again fighting the urge to break something until Reno reemerged, arm around Baby's waist. As soon as they drew up on Rude, Reno clung to him, taking the offered bottle of water readily and gulping it down in several deep drags. Once it was drained he dropped it onto one of the passing bus trays.
They wandered the floor for awhile, Rude searching for somewhere Reno could sit down, all the seats taken by the well dressed clients. He spied a small gathering of people sitting on an elevated area and chatting over glasses of wine and made his way over, ushering his parcel in ahead of him. Gripping the back of one of the chairs containing a very healthy looking young man with one hand, Rude dumped him unceremoniously onto the floor. The outraged partygoer turned mouth open and at the ready to fire angry words but promptly closed his mouth with the white hot fury Rude exuded. He sat for several minutes on the floor as though he expected Rude to help him up and the towering giant was having nothing of it, crossing his arms over his chest and puffing like an angry rooster until the youngster swallowed his pride and most likely his tongue before picking himself up and making his way to the wine counter.
"Reno, are you feeling alright? I was worried about you earlier. Will you be able to sing tonight?" Max had pressed himself in on the pair to assuage any damage done by Reno's watchdog to his sophisticated guests, having caught the entire scene from across the floor. He leaned in low, eyes scouring the gaunt face and taking in his vitals.
"Yea. Just… give me a stool or something." The words drained more color from his face, his fingertips taking on a faint blue cast. Rude bent over him, rubbing the tinged fingers between his hands.
"No," Max stated plainly, shaking his head. In the brief pause Max used to collect his thoughts, Rude bristled, his right hand making a fist and jerking in the first movement to strike. "You'll stay right there. Sing from the box. You'll be like one of those lounge singers. It will be perfect. I don't want you moving. You don't look well, Reno. You'll stay here tonight."
"Like hell he will," Rude rebuked. Stilling the motion momentarily, yet still at the ready, the ache in his jaw spreading from time spent locked.
"He'll never make it home. He's sick. You'll stay here and I want you in the room with him tonight. I'll call a doctor in the morning. I'll hear no other words of it. He stays, you stay, you alert me if anything, and I mean anything happens to him tonight, is that clear?"
Although Rude absolutely hated taking orders from Max, he knew the ass was right. He contemplated arguing with him just to be contrary, but decided that wouldn't be in Reno's best interest. However, something that would do Rude's heart good was just to lay the man flat out on the floor in a puddle of his own blood and slobber. One punch, straight to that glass jaw and pretty boy bitch goes down. Hard. It was extremely hard to still his fist from making the uppercut, eyes leveling on the end of that pointy little chin. As though he'd read his mind, Reno's opposite hand slipped around the clenched fist, icy fingers stealing the heat he'd built up. Rude relaxed, jaw still clenched tight and voice low and gravelly. "I'll do it, but only because it's what's best for Reno."
They stared daggers at one another until Reno kicked Rude's shin with his foot, reaching out for another bottle of water and thrusting the empty one at him with a grunt. Max took the downtime as his moment to stride off, his gait exposing his obvious irritation.
A bit of feedback announced the beginning of a small speech. "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for attending this evening!" Max had taken the microphone from one of the boys and took his place beside Reno, his hand stroking the back of his chair lovingly. "This evening's event was one of the best yet thanks to the loving support of your donations to our establishment. Each of our boys are guaranteed clean and safe because each of you comply with the mandatory testing. Because you believe in paying what a quality product is worth, our boys are tested every month. None of the boys ever perform acts without proper protection and they are all maintained by personal bodyguards. This is how sexual exchange is meant to be. Safe, sane and consensual. So many places are dirty, the whores unclean, and the situations dangerous. Here we are careful, cautious. I take care of my boys and it shows. Thank you so very much for making this a rewarding experience!"
Max gave the crowd a few moments to applaud and give polite feedback, bowing graciously. Once they had settled, he continued, "For closing ceremonies, my boy Reno has agreed to grace us with song. His voice is simply angelic for those of you who have never been graced with his attendance at previous events. Again, I thank you all for coming and wish you the best until we meet again. Thank you all, good evening and good night!"
With a deep bow, Max handed the microphone to Reno as the piano played the introduction to a song Reno knew well and sang beautifully, keeping his audience in rapt attention until the last chord played and the song ended in a round of appreciative applause.