As for the possibility that he and Tanner were related - well, Martin was prepared for anything. If it panned out, then he'd welcome his new relative with open arms, and do his best to make sure that all of their meetings were away from Denver, and also away from Chris. It would be hard enough on Tanner just knowing that Martin and Chris had been together. He didn't need to see them in the same place, even if everything was platonic between them. The case was over, and Chris was either boarding a plane home that evening or first thing in the morning and would never know that one of the agents working his case had been his temporary lover. For the sake of his own mental and emotional well-being, as well as for Tanner's, Martin vowed to do all he could to make sure that he and Chris never saw one another again.
As they walked into their hotel room, Danny wondered if Martin was ever going to talk to him again. The man had spent the entire ride from the saloon in silence, and had managed to get to their room without speaking as well. Danny pretty much figured that Martin was still pissed at him for what he'd said back at dinner, and now that more time had passed, Danny felt a bit guilty about saying it. He also felt guilty about what he'd been thinking once Martin had left the table, although he certainly wasn't going to say anything right now about Martin having a tantrum or sulking, or anything of that nature.
Danny plopped down on his bed and reached for the TV remote, hoping that there'd be something decent on to watch. He glanced from the TV screen over to the closet, where Martin was hanging up his suit jacket.
Since Martin was still being quiet, Danny figured that it was up to him to break the silence. "It's not often that we get a little vacation out of a case. Granted, I didn't get to see more of Denver than what I could see while driving to the Federal Building and then to dinner and back here, but you got to go out to see a ranch and all…"
"It's not a real ranch," Martin replied as he began to unbutton his shirt. "Chris just has some horses and a lot of land."
"Still, you got to see more than I did. And it sounded as if you and Buck got along okay."
"It's not as if you were stuck with anyone awful," Martin said. "You and Vin seemed to get along quite well. At least, I hope you got along well since you felt it necessary to tell him as much as you did." Martin finished hanging up his shirt and he draped his tie over the hanger, then closed the closet door and walked over to his bed, sitting down on the side and facing Danny's bed. "Still, he seemed to take it well."
Danny shrugged. "He asked, guessed mostly, and I told him the truth. Besides, you talked with Buck about it, too." Danny scooted back on the bed, and moved his pillows so that he could lean back against the headboard. "It can't be easy to be in love with your boss…with your friend, and know he's been fucking someone else all week long."
"Is that how you view it? As just fucking?"
Something in the sound of Martin's voice made Danny look over at him, and he could have sworn that the guy's eyes were full of pain. "What other way is there to describe it, Martin? For crying out loud, Larabee was sharing. You don't do that with someone you really care about. At least, I know that I'd never do that."
"Hell, Danny. You wouldn't do half the things that Chris did," Martin quickly retorted as he got to his feet. "I'm going to shower. Do you need to get in there first?"
Danny frowned and shook his head. From what he'd heard about what Larabee had been doing, he'd most certainly do half of the same things, and then some! And God, but it was still so easy to imagine the things the waiter had mentioned and picture Martin doing them with him.
Trying to ignore his burgeoning erection, Danny tried to focus on what was happening on the television. That worked until Martin stopped in front of it to get his sleep clothes out of the dresser drawer. Looking at Martin's nicely shaped ass, outlined so carefully by the drape of the pants material just made Danny get harder. He even found himself licking his lips as Martin's hands moved to the hem of his undershirt and pulled it up and off, and then dropping the cotton item into the drawer.
That morning, Danny had thought that he'd seen things in the dim light - marks on Martin's body. Now, with two lights on in the room, there was no mistaking what he was seeing, and Danny found his erection quickly flagging as his mind registered what he knew to be welts on Martin's shoulders.
"Martin…" Danny managed to say, his voice sounding raspy and uncertain to his own ears.
Martin turned around, and Danny could see other marks on his body. Bruises that were caused by love bites, and bruising around each of Martin's nipples. "Changed your mind?"
Danny got to his feet and walked over to Martin, his hands shaking as he realized that Martin, plain, vanilla sex Martin, had let some bitch take a whip to him. His mind couldn't even consider the other things that the woman could have done to Martin, things that would leave marks like that on his body.
Martin was looking at him strangely, but Danny couldn't stop staring at the marks on Martin's body. He finally gestured toward Martin's chest and the bruising around his nipples. "Looks like that hurt."
Martin smiled slightly, his eyes taking on a distant look, and that disturbed Danny more than anything else had so far. The bitch had not only hurt his Martin, but Martin had enjoyed it, too! Martin nodded, "Yeah. But it was a good hurt. I wonder if Vin likes that, too?" Martin suddenly looked thoughtful. "He'll have a much better chance with Chris if he does."
Danny blinked slowly at Martin, feeling a bit confused. One second they were talking about what Martin's girlfriend had done to him, and the next Martin was wondering what Vin Tanner liked? And Chris Larabee?
Shaking his head, Danny moved so that he was between Martin and the bathroom. The man wasn't going anywhere until this was cleared up. "Who cares about Vin Tanner and Chris Larabee? I want to know about this." Danny once more indicated Martin's chest. Torn between wanting to comfort Martin and his fascination that Martin would ever do something like this, Danny had to curl his fingers tightly or else risk reaching out and tracing over those bruises and other marks.
Martin frowned. "I thought that's what we were talking about."
For some reason, Danny felt as if he were stuck in some surreal place where things had been turned topsy-turvy. It seemed as if Martin was the stone-cold sober one, and he was the one who'd drunk a bit too much. That is, if his slow mental uptake was anything to go by. And then it was if that thought cleared everything for Danny, and images and words from the past two days just fell into place. The waiter talking about Larabee's boy toy having expressive blue eyes, Martin's edginess about Larabee, Martin throwing up when he saw Vin Tanner for the first time.
"You were with Larabee." Danny's voice sounded flat even to his own ears.
Martin once more looked confused. "That's right. I told you that last night. You said you were okay with it."
Danny took a step toward his bed and sank down onto the edge of it, remembering that conversation on the plane. He'd thought that Martin was admitting that he'd been judging Larabee, and now he was finding out that Martin was telling him that he'd been the one with Larabee. Three simple words, three words that Danny misunderstood, because if he'd understood them at the time, then there'd be no way in Hell that he'd have been 'okay' with it. He could easily recall Martin's words, "It was me." And now, looking back, he could remember seeing the unease in Martin's eyes, and he realized that Martin hadn't been sure how he'd handle that admission.
"Danny?" Martin was now standing in front of him, a worried look on his face. "I know today was hard for you, but it's over now."
"Hard for me?" Danny asked. Martin had had to fly out to where Larabee worked, had gone through the man's house and personal belongings. Martin had had to meet a man who looked just like him, a man that Larabee considered a friend as well as a co-worker, and then Martin had gone to dinner with that man after finding out that Tanner was in love with Larabee. He was surprised that Martin hadn't gone screaming mad during the day, and the man was saying that the day had been hard on *him*?
"Martin…I didn't know." Danny looked up into Martin's face and saw the moment when the look of concern in those expressive blue eyes turned to confusion.
"But we were talking about it on the plane. You were talking about Chris and the guy he was with and I said…"
"I know what you said. But I didn't think that you…I thought you were admitting to being homophobic, Martin. Not that you spent this past week with Larabee."
And then it hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks. Martin had spent the past week being Larabee's fuck toy. Martin had sucked off the room service waiter because it was something Larabee wanted. And God, Danny remembered how easily he'd found it to imagine Martin doing that to him! That image had excited him, but the reality of Martin being spread open for Chris Larabee's amusement just made him feel sick. Words from Ron Bradley's interview were ping-ponging in Danny's mind: He was one sweet piece of ass…I really like a guy who knows his place…spankings, nipple clamps, a cock ring…He has a beautiful mouth…a very talented mouth…money or his mouth…sucking on Larabee's fingers…fuck his mouth…take him like the slut he is…God, but there's just something else about a guy when you're thrusting hard into his mouth and he's looking up at you, his eyes all dark and intense because he's getting off as much as you are…
Danny closed his eyes, not able to look at Martin right then. There was too much information twisting around in his head and he couldn't look at Martin and think clearly. Then another thought hit him, and Danny surged to his feet, taking Martin by surprise as he pushed him up against the wall, his pulse racing as he thought about others knowing what Martin had been doing. "Jack knows, doesn't he? That it was you?"
Martin nodded. "You were all out when I got back to the office from the courthouse, and I saw Chris's picture. I told Jack about it immediately; told him that I couldn't work the case. That's when he decided to send me to Denver."
"And had me bring in the tapes. He didn't want anyone seeing them because he knew that we didn't need them in order to ID the slut that Larabee'd been fucking all week."
Martin flinched, but right then, Danny didn't care. He'd moved past the confusion and slight numbness of finding out the truth, and now he was just angry. He was angry at Martin for never telling him that he liked men. He was angry at Chris Larabee for taking what Martin had offered, what Martin should have been offering to him, damn him! He was angry at Jack for knowing about it before he did, and…
Wait. Danny went back to what Martin had just said. It wasn't that he'd heard Larabee's name and knew, but that he'd seen Larabee's picture. Oh no, there was no way possible that Martin hadn't even known Larabee's name.
Shaking his head, Danny knew that he had to get that idea confirmed or denied. His partner might now be revealed to be wild enough to like the taste of a whip and the things Ron Bradley had described, but there was no way he'd be so careless and stupid as to go off with a stranger. Or was he? Right then, Danny was starting to feel that he didn't know Martin at all. "How long have you known Larabee?"
"Since last Sunday," Martin replied, a look of resignation now on his face. "I'd never seen him before then."
"So you met…got to know one another, went back to his hotel…"
"Something like that."
Danny looked intently into Martin's eyes and saw that he was holding something back. "Something like that? Where'd you meet him, Martin?"
"The Falcon. I was outside and Chris had just arrived, but he never made it inside. We met and went back to his hotel. You probably know a lot of what happened from interviewing that waiter."
Danny knew the Falcon. He'd been there plenty of times, but obviously not at the same times as Martin. He knew what kinds of hook-ups happened there, the anonymous sex that happened in the back rooms. Martin had gone off with a complete stranger and then spent the whole damn week with him. Danny wanted to hurt someone right then, Larabee mostly, but Martin secondly.
"How could you be that stupid?" Danny demanded, his fingers digging into Martin's upper arm as anger surged through him.
"That's pretty much what Jack said. I told him that I didn't deserve that kind of a lecture from him and I don't deserve it from you, either." Martin didn't seem worried about it, though, not about Danny's anger, nor about how stupid he'd been, and that just made Danny feel more angry and frustrated over Martin's attitude.
Danny abruptly turned away from Martin and stepped away. He was just too close to doing something he'd vowed to never do, and that was to strike someone that he cared about. "You should get your shower now. I need to think about this and I can't think with you standing there half-naked."
"I can get dressed," Martin started to move toward the dresser.
"No!" Danny didn't turn around, but he knew that he couldn't think if Martin was in the same room with him. "Just go shower. I need to be alone."
Martin must have moved quietly, or else Danny was too angry to register his footsteps, because Danny didn't realize that Martin had left the room until he heard the sound of the bathroom door closing and locking.
Danny sank down onto the mattress, not sure what to think or do. He'd wanted Martin for such a long time now, cared about him for almost as long. And yes, he even loved the guy. It had taken a lot of thought and will power to convince himself that he never stood a chance with Martin, and for several reasons. The first reason being that Martin wasn't gay, or even bi-sexual. The second reason being that even if Martin did like the occasional guy, he most likely wasn't willing to submit to Danny as much as Danny would prefer.
Danny snorted as he remembered the way he'd secretly admired Chris Larabee for just reaching out to take and do what he wanted. He'd also been a bit envious that the guy had found a man willing to do those things for him, a man willing to submit so totally to him. That was Danny's dream, that one day he'd be lucky enough to find a guy like that. The fantasy was that the man would be Martin, but Danny was practical enough to know that fantasies rarely come true.
But now Danny was having to face the fact that Martin was either gay or bi, *and* he liked submitting to other men when it came to sex. Hell, judging by the smile Martin had given him when he'd commented on his bruises, Danny could tell that Martin even liked it when it hurt. His dream and fantasy rolled up into one person. So, Martin was available, and could potentially fulfill quite a lot of Danny's fantasies. There was just one small snag.
Martin obviously didn't like Danny that way. What else could explain the fact that in the two years that they'd known one another, Martin had never responded to any of Danny's overtures and flirtations? Granted, he never came right out and suggested spanking that fine ass, but he'd flirted plenty and had been suggesting almost as much. And Martin had never shown any interest at all in him.
But he'd shown a Hell of a lot of interest in a total stranger.
God, the idea of Martin going off with a stranger just made Danny's stomach turn. Aside from the fact that it was a stupid thing to do, Danny also found himself jealous that someone else had been touching Martin all week, someone who'd remained a stranger to Martin during that time.
Danny kicked the nightstand, not feeling any closer to a resolution of any kind than he'd been when Martin had gone into the bathroom. Speaking of which, Danny couldn't hear the water running, and Martin had already been in there for a few minutes. Shit, he'd probably pissed him off or something. So now, not only did Danny have to find some way to reconcile the fact that while Martin was gay, he could never be his, but to also find a way to soothe any and all ruffled feathers. Because when all was said and done, Danny's initial commitment to holding onto Martin's friendship was still there, and still firm. Danny just hoped that since Martin had no interest in being his lover, that he would still want to be his friend.
Part Thirteen