A Change of Pace
by Tielle St. Clare
Copyright © 2012 Tielle St. Clare
Smashwords Edition
To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at www.tiellestclare.com
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Chapter One
Aiden stared at the flashing red and blue lights in his rearview mirror and decided his day couldn't possibly suck any more than it did right at that moment.
Stranded on the side of the road in butt fuck nowhere, no cell service and the only person to drive by was the one person he'd hoped to avoid. In fact, he'd specifically arranged to arrive in the afternoon because he knew the sheriff worked Saturdays and wouldn't be home.
But his car had other plans. Steam pouring out of the engine had stopped him fifteen miles out of town. He wasn't going anywhere on his own.
He sighed, pushed open the door and climbed out. No way was he going to sit meekly in his car and stare up at Sheriff Knox McClintock. He already had to look up at the man when he was standing. Sitting felt a bit too submissive—and gave Aiden too many ideas.
The door closed with a solid thunk and he leaned against the modest sedan. A few years-old, the car fit his image. It fit the life he was creating for himself. Sedate, comfortable, not flashy. Aiden had done flashy and hadn't liked where he'd ended up. Now he was looking for something with a little more substance. If that meant he had to go a little slower, he was okay with this pace.
Besides, he reminded himself, slow, deliberate strokes got you there just as well, sometimes better. Long, deep thrusts and…damn! When had his philosophy about life morphed into a sex fantasy?
He grimaced and glanced at the sheriff. It was his fault. Just seeing the man made Aiden think about sex and getting fucked.
Only a couple of things stood in his way of making that a reality. One, he was pretty sure the sheriff was straight. And, two, Aiden didn't do one-night stands. Not anymore. He was looking for a solid relationship.
Speaking of solid...
“About time, professor,” Knox said as he approached.
Aiden straightened away from the car, his body reacting to the reprimand in the sheriff’s voice. “Excuse me?”
Knox raised his eyebrows. “Jesse was getting worried about you.”
The drawl sent a shiver down Aiden's spine. Something about the man's voice made him want to bend over and beg to be fucked. Unfortunately, he knew the sheriff would lock him up for lewd behavior if he tried it. Besides, he didn't do that kind of thing. Oh, he still liked to be fucked, but he'd moved past his bad boy stage. He'd grown up, matured.
Which was good because despite being the county sheriff, Knox McClintock was pure bad boy. He looked more “biker dude” than “law enforcement.” Even his hair was too long. Thick black strands hung almost to his collar and gave Aiden all kinds of wicked fantasies about holding on tight while he fucked Knox’s mouth.
Not going to happen. Let it go.
Knox punched his chin toward the sedan. “Something wrong with your car?”
Aiden followed Knox’s gaze. The sedan’s hood was propped up in the universal symbol for “I'm going nowhere.” And sitting in the chilly air for the past hour had only enhanced Aiden's natural sarcasm. He shook his head.
“No, I just decided to stop in the middle of nowhere and drain the water from my radiator.”
Knox pursed his lips and nodded, sticking his head under the raised hood. “Well, if that was your goal, princess, I'm thinking you succeeded.”
Aiden ground his teeth together. One weak moment and, fuck, he would never live it down.
“I told you not to call me that.”
Knox tipped his head to the side and winked. “But you looked so sweet in that tiara.”
It had been a joke on his birthday. But a friend had snapped a picture and a few days later sent it to Aiden while he was tutoring Jesse, Knox's son. Jesse had seen the picture and handed the phone to his dad. Since then “professor” was regularly changed to “princess.” He didn’t think Knox had ever called him by his actual name.
Aiden sighed. “Can we just forget that?”
“Not likely.” Knox chuckled, then walked away.
“Wait, where are you going? You can't leave me here.”
“Not planning to,” he answered without turning around. “Going to get some water and see if we can't get you into town.” He walked to the back of his SUV and opened the hatch. When he strolled back, he carried a jug of water. Not that Aiden noticed it for long. His eyes wandered to the man. Short sleeves revealed strong tan arms. The dark blue uniform clung to his chest, giving hints of the muscles beneath.
Aiden let his eyes wander down that strong, hard body, hoping there was some indication the sheriff wasn’t totally lickable—maybe a beer gut starting to form—but no. The not-quite-tight enough uniform slid across flat abs. Probably ripped. Definitely lickable.
Aiden closed his eyes and took a long breath in through his nose. Don’t lust after the straight man, he warned himself. And despite the fact Knox teased him to the point of flirtation, the guy was straight. He had to be, right?
The guy has a 17-year-old son. Who is your student. Both of those facts combined to insure Aiden would never end up bent over the front of a police car getting fucked silly by the sheriff. He just had to let that particular fantasy go.
But that didn’t stop his cock from giving an eager twitch.
“You okay, professor?”
Aiden’s eyes popped open. He shifted, hoping Knox wouldn’t notice his growing hard-on. The smirk on the sheriff’s lips didn’t mean anything. Knox always seemed to be laughing at him.
“Professor?”
“What?”
“You okay? You seem to be daydreaming a bit.”
Aiden straightened his spine and pushed his shoulders back. “I’m fine.” And he was…until Knox bent over and pulled off the radiator cap.
The trousers of his sheriff uniform slid lovingly over his ass, giving Aiden just a taste of how tight those muscles were. The urge to run his fingers over the taut curve almost overwhelmed him. He whipped his hands behind his back to keep temptation out of reach, but he couldn’t quite convince himself to look away.
It wasn't often he got to stare so blatantly.
“Is this working for you, princess?”
His head snapped up. “What?”
Knox straightened. His eyes twinkled with laughter and Aiden knew he'd been caught staring. “Is this working for you?” Knox asked again. “Are you seeing water pour out the bottom?”
“Oh.” He bent over and looked down. “Uh, no. It's good.” There was a dribble but that was to be expected. “It's okay to drive?”
“Should be.” Knox lowered the hood. “Head into town. Mickey's place is just off Main on the right. He should be able to get you going again.”
“Great.” Manners drilled into him since he was a child finally surfaced. “Thank you. For helping out.”
“Save it until we make sure you get to town.”
“You're going to follow me?”
“Oh yeah, princess.” He took a step closer and Aiden swore he saw desire in those deep green eyes. “I'm going to be right on your tail the whole way in.”
He stretched out the end of the sentence making it sound much dirtier than it should have.
Aiden gulped and his cock twitched, like it wanted the man's attention. Bad, bad, bad idea. He was going to drive to town, get his car fixed and head home.
* * * * *
Aiden tried to concentrate on the paper in front of him but his mind kept slipping away.
Stuck.
For the night. Maybe two.
His radiator was cracked. According to Mickey, he couldn't get the replacement until late tonight and might not have a chance to install it until Monday morning. At first, Aiden had assumed Mickey wouldn't work on Sunday based on religious conviction, but then he was told it was because of the “big game.” When he'd confessed ignorance, Mickey and Knox had stared at him like he'd grown a second head.
Then he remembered. It was the game. That one Sunday when everything shut down. The new national holiday.
After they'd learned Mickey wouldn't have his car ready until the next day, Knox had offered him a room for the night. Aiden could hardly refuse. It would give him a chance to get his tutor session in with Jesse and it was a free place to stay.