Hunger (Chicken Ranch Gentlemen's Club Book 1) (3 page)

Declan was still reeling as he descended the stairs. He'd just given a man head for money. His throat still ached from the repeated drilling. His lips were a little bruised, and his jaw ached; other than that, he was no worse for the wear. However, the pungent taste of latex lingered on his tongue like a bad memory. Thank goodness the man hadn't wanted any more than that. Although the guy seemed nice enough, he was also over fifty, with a potbelly reminiscent of a mall Santa's fake gut.

A shiver passed through Declan at the thought of someone so unattractive taking his cherry. Sex was sex, but fuck if he wanted his first time to include someone so out of shape; that dude probably would have sweat all over him and huffed and puffed like a pig. Gross.

In retrospect, he should have considered all the unattractive men he'd have to bang working as a rent boy. It stood to reason that good-looking men wouldn't frequent places like Chicken Ranch when they could get all the ass they wanted for free. The only hot men he'd seen so far that night were the other employees. As it turned out, the boss man frowned on fraternization. Go figure.

However, that didn't stop him from enjoying the view or talking to the other men. A gazillion questions had run through his mind, each one more embarrassing than the last. Thankfully, a few nice men had lent him their ears and listened while he stuttered over one query after another. Only one was obviously perturbed by his presence.

He'd caught one svelte blond in particular shooting him dirty looks more than once throughout the afternoon. Before Declan could let it get to him, one of the other working boys had told him not to take it personal. The guy who'd been giving him the stink eye—Rich or Rick or something that started with an
R
—had a habit of being unfriendly with guys he considered competition. Declan understood that in a roundabout way, even though he doubted he would be a threat.

Comparing them was like relating a prince to a pauper. What's-his-name's hair was thick and shone like spun gold when the light hit it, whereas Declan's limp locks were so pale they verged on white. Peach freckles dotted his nose and cheeks, while the other man's complexion was as tanned and smooth as an artist's canvas. Declan was short and skinny, without a lick of fashion sense. Why would anyone worry about losing business to him?

Grey, a big man who Declan probably would have avoided under other circumstances due to the sheer amount of ink and metal covering his body, was the nicest out of the bunch. He took the time to answer Declan's questions without making him feel like the rube he was, and even went so far as to explain the items on the "menu" they were all instructed to use. Declan made a ton of mental notes until Grey was pulled away by business.

He was a little surprised by how much the men charged, considering the rural area. One of the other men—whose name escaped Declan—had assured him people from all over visited Chicken Ranch. Declan was impressed at the amount of business they seemed to do, considering he'd been born and raised in the same county and had never heard a peep about a brothel of any sort in the area, much less an all-male establishment. Sure, he'd heard whisper about hookers, but he'd just assumed they were talking about the streetwalkers. Hell, he'd never ever seen one of those until recently.

And now here I am, ready and willing to sell my ass to the first man who wants it.

Part of him still thought he was going to wake up any minute, safe and sound in his bed at home. The more realistic half prepared for the night to come. Although he'd gotten off lucky with his first client, he wasn't ignorant enough to think he would make it through the night without his ass being penetrated.

Worried about proper stretching before his first time, he'd taken it upon himself to make sure his muscles were loose and ready for whatever was thrown his way. After selecting one of the many toys stocked in the private room he was issued, he'd covered the butt plug with a condom, spread a copious amount of lube over everything, and slowly worked it into his body. Never having had more than a finger up his ass, the plug going in had burned like the devil. Afterward, he'd gradually gotten used to the feel of the silicon toy stretching him open. It was kind of hard to forget about, considering every move he made jostled the damn thing and caused it to hit his prostate—as it was doing now.

Before he reached the bottom of the staircase, a loud bell rang through the house. As it had been described to him, there were two different bells. One was high-pitched, signaling the arrival of a female. The other bell, which announced the arrival of male clients, sounded low and rusty, kind of like a cowbell. The reason for two different broadcasts was simple; some of the rent boys preferred one sex to the other, while a select few swung both ways. Declan was glad for the segregation. No way did he want to end up in the lineup for a female client. He didn't have anything against women, but the thought of sleeping with one made his stomach roll with nerves. He needed this position too much to fuck it up, and that kind of situation would be a disaster waiting to happen.

Six of the eight men on staff that night rushed out of the sitting rooms on either side of the entrance and lined up in front of the entrance. Declan hustled down the last couple of steps and joined them, standing at the very end of the row.

Colt stepped forward, with a tall, lanky brunet by his side. "Gentlemen, this is Killian. As you can see, Killian, you have your choice from the cream of the crop tonight. Introduce yourselves, boys."

Declan fidgeted as the other men greeted the client, one at a time. The selection process grated on Declan's nerves. When his turn came, he felt a little like the last kid chosen for team sports in physical education class. "Hello. I'm Declan."

Declan winced at the hoarse rasp of his voice. He sounded like he'd chain-smoked a carton of cigarettes.

The client nodded at Declan and then bent to speak quietly to Colt.

Colt smiled at whatever the man said. He then turned his attention to the lineup. "Thank you, boys. You can return to what you were doing. Declan, if you would stay behind, please."

Declan squirmed as the other men filed out of the foyer. Grey patted Declan on the back and whispered, "Hang in there, kiddo."

He clearly heard someone else mutter, "Fresh meat," but couldn't discern who had spoken. Although he was a little irritated by the snarky comment, he supposed he could understand. Regardless of whether the men were friendly during downtime, they were still competing for business.

Left standing with the client, Declan regarded the other man. He was several inches taller than Declan's own five feet eight, placing him somewhere around six feet tall, give or take an inch. His dark brown hair was a little long, the thick locks curling around his ears. Judging from the way the other man kept his hands in his pockets and repeatedly shifted his weight from one leg to the other, Declan guessed the client was almost as nervous as him.

Since the other man didn't seem in any hurry to get things started, Declan took the initiative and stepped forward. "Hi," Declan said. Up close, he noticed a fine sheen of sweat on the other man's upper lip. "Would you like to go somewhere more private and talk?"

The man nodded. "S-s-sure."

"Okay. Just follow me." Without waiting for a reply, Declan turned and started back up the stairs, certain the other man would follow. With every step, he felt more confident the other man's gaze was on his bottom. Just for the hell of it, he put a little extra wiggle in his stride. The sharp intake of breath from behind him made him smile.

Upon reaching the landing at the top of the stairs, Declan turned right and led the way down the hall to the third room on the left. He pushed open the door and stepped aside, motioning for the other man to go in ahead of him. "You first."

"T-thanks."

Declan followed the older man inside and closed the door behind them. His gaze flitted over the decor, still trying to get used to his temporary surroundings. It should have been simple enough, considering the space's resemblance to a hotel room, but he still found it hard to think of these quarters as his for the time being. Since it was unlikely he'd get the same room every time he was on duty, he'd been allowed to peek into several of the rooms to discern for himself that all the rooms were nearly identical. The only difference was the color scheme. His current room had a navy bedspread and area rug. Other than the large bed, the only things in the small, windowless room were a nightstand and an armoire. As he'd already ascertained, the nightstand was stocked with pillow packs of lube and various kinds of condoms. The armoire housed toys of all shapes and sizes in the cabinet, while the bottom drawers contained his few possessions.

"So," Declan said, his back pressed to the door. "What would you like to do this evening…um…sir?" His cheeks heated in embarrassment as the man's name eluded him.

"Killian."

"Thank you." Declan smiled, thankful the man hadn't taken offense by his momentary slip of memory. "Is this your first time here, Killian?"

Once again, the other man nodded.

"All right, so what are you interested in this evening?"

"I'm n-not r-really sure."

"Okay." Declan plucked one of the paper menus hanging off the doorknob and crossed the floor. He sat on bed and patted the mattress beside him, inviting Killian to join him. "Would you like to sit down?"

"Sure." Killian perched on the edge of the bed. "I d-don't d-do this."

"What? You don't sit on beds or talk to strangers about sex?"

Killian snorted. "The l-l-latter."

"Ah," Declan murmured, noncommittally.

Silence filled the gap between them. Finally, Declan could take no more. He scooted closer and rested his hand on Killian's thigh. He squeezed the firm flesh under his palm and met the older man's wide-eyed gaze. "Would you like to look over your options? Everything we offer is right here in black and white. I could even go over them with you, if you'd like."

Killian's Adam's apple bobbed. "All right."

"Well, first of all, I should mention that everything is referred to as a party. They're pretty much self-explanatory. There's a frottage party, an oral party, an anal party, et cetera. Time limits are broken down by the hour, but if money's an issue we're allowed to go as low as thirty minutes for half-price. I could suck you off, as slow and easy or as quick and dirty as you'd like. If that doesn't interest you"—Declan leaned in, his heart pounding—"we could always fuck." Although the thought of anal sex set his nerves on edge, he wasn't sure his throat could take another pounding so soon after the last.

Killian licked his lips. "I-I-I… The last one."

"You want to fuck me, or the other way around?"
Christ, me and my big mouth
. He'd fuck things up for sure if he had to top so soon. He'd probably come before he even got it in—and wouldn't that just be fucking fabulous? The man would surely run to Graves and demand his money back. Rightly so, since Declan couldn't hold his load. Then Declan would be out on his ass. Again.

"I, um—"

Declan swallowed his pride and interrupted. "My ass is really tight. You won't be disappointed."

"That s-sounds really g-good."

"Okay. All you have to do is pay up front—cash only, please—and I'm all yours for the next hour." While his fear of losing his job receded, anxiety over taking a cock up his ass jumped to the forefront of his mind and yelled,
Boo
. He was in over his head, but there was no stopping now. He would just have to fake his way through it and pray for the best.

Declan bit into the inside of his cheek and observed as the older man rose to his feet and dug out his wallet. He pulled out a mound of fifty-dollar bills, counted out the right amount as Declan watched, and then handed the money over.

"Thanks." Declan took the wad of cash, stood, and stuffed it inside the pocket of his jeans. Facing the front of the bed, he slipped his T-shirt off over his head and dropped it to the floor. With his sneakers tied loose, all it took was a little nudge to rid himself of them. The jeans went next. He popped the top button and slid down the zipper, meeting the other man's heavy-lidded gaze. A shimmy-shake of his hips sent the denim pooling to his knees. He turned and bent at the waist, showing off his ass as he worked the jeans off and pitched them aside. Underwear was a waste of time. Since most of his were plain old tighty whities, he chose not to wear them.

A quiet groan from the man on the bed was all the confirmation he needed to know he was getting through loud and clear. His main objective was to turn the guy on and make him come, earn his fee, and then move on to the next.

So far, so good.

Declan sauntered over to the bed and dropped to his knees between Killian's legs. He pinched the material near the man's right knee and gave it a tug. "What do you say we take these off so you can be more comfortable?"

Since he already knew the answer, he didn't wait for Killian to respond. His hands shook as he undid Killian's black leather belt and released the top button. The zipper slid down with little fuss, revealing a pair of plain boxer briefs so white, Declan figured they had to be brand-new.

Declan tapped the other man's hip. "Lift up a little for me?"

Killian leaned back on his elbows and raised his hips, creating enough space for Declan to slide the other man's pants and underwear down over his hips. He caught a quick glimpse of a flat belly and sparse hair before Killian's shirt fell and concealed his stomach and groin from sight.