Chance Encounters - 3. Ch. 3 ~ Facing Demons

Simon struggled to keep his hands from trembling as he looked at the non-descript door that would open into the club. He had been studiously avoiding the place ever since Richard had told him about what had almost happened, and in essence he hadn’t actually been back since the night of the attempted rape, which had been nearly a month ago. The only thing he could figure was that his subconscious had been trying to protect him from either realizing what had happened or from the same thing happening again.

He had finally realized that in order to accept what had very nearly happened to him, that he would have to face going to the club again and facing the demons that had started to encroach on his dreams. Every few nights he would be assailed by the nightmare of being drugged and most the time, Richard showed up before the guy in the dream could actually start raping him, but once or twice Richard had arrived too late. Simon had woken up from those dreams in a sweat and been unable to go back to sleep. As it was, he’d been on edge ever since meeting Richard in the coffee shop. Trying to shake himself out of his dark thoughts, Simon took a deep breath and took a heavy step towards the door. The closer he got, the more his body tensed up and when he actually reached out to open the door his hand was shaking so severely that he almost decided to just forget the whole thing.

“Decided to come back to the scene of the crime,” came a deep voice from his left, causing Simon to whirl in the direction of the voice, his heart trying to pound its way out of his chest.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Simon accused as he faced Richard.

“Sorry,” Richard answered as his golden eyes gazed into Simon’s started blue ones. “I saw you watching the building. You don’t have to go in there, you know,” Richard told him as he looked back and forth from Simon to the club.

“Yeah, I do,” Simon answered cautiously. “I need to face it. I can’t sleep at night, I’m on edge all the time, this is something I have to do.”

“If you have to do it, then I’ll watch your back,” Richard replied as though it was a done deal. He could understand why Simon felt he had to face the club, but he also knew that the guy who had drugged him was inside. He’d been watching the club for a while and he’d noticed the guy and his pals enter a half hour or so before Simon got there.

“Before I forget, I realized that I never actually thanked you for coming to my aid that night,” Simon said quickly.

“No thanks are necessary,” Richard answered, slightly uncomfortable. Out of all the victim’s he had saved over the years, he had never encountered any of them after the night he had saved them. Simon was different and Richard seemed to be drawn to him.

“Yes, it is necessary,” Simon insisted. “If you hadn’t been there then who knows what all would have happened. I never would have thought that something like that could happen to me, I’m strong, and capable of taking care of myself, or at least I always thought so.” It was hard for Simon to come to terms with the fact that despite how much he worked out and how much he had built his body up over the years, that he had been so vulnerable, all because of a stupid drug.

“If he hadn’t drugged you, you probably would have been fine,” Richard answered.

Deciding not to answer, Simon steeled himself and forced his hand to reach out and open the door. As soon as he stepped inside the club, the fear crashed in over his head. If it hadn’t been for Richard reaching out and putting a supporting hand on his shoulder he would have turned and fled. He felt Richard squeeze his shoulder lightly and forced himself to move through the throng of people. He was grateful that there weren’t as many people there as there had been on that night, but as he looked around, his gaze landed on the same group of guys that had given him a bad feeling the last time he had been there. He knew without Richard telling him that one of those guys had been the one to drug him and his feet stopped moving and held him rooted to the spot as his body because paralyzed with fear.

“Simon, listen to me,” Richard’s voice came to him from behind. “I’m here to watch your back, they can’t do anything.”

Simon could only nod as he kept his gaze on the group of guys. He wasn’t even aware of Richard stepping closer to him until he felt arms wrap around him from behind.

“Relax,” Richard whispered, “it’s just me.” Richard used his own body to make Simon move forward and break him out of the trance that his fear had put him in. He could feel the trembling in Simon’s body and once again found himself wanting to pound the guy who had drugged him into a pulp. He urged Simon up to the bar and got both of them a bottle of water. He figured that since the bottle had a cap, Simon might be able to relax a bit more, knowing that nobody would be able to drop anything in his drink.

“Thanks,” Simon said quietly as Richard handed him the bottle. Twisting the cap off, he took a sip before gazing around the room again, forcing his eyes to move past where the group of guys from last time were.

“Just ignore them,” Richard told him, “they won’t be getting anywhere near you tonight.” Richard knew that he told the truth as he had his own ways of making sure that Simon was left alone.

“Why are you doing this?” Simon asked. “You don’t even know me.” Simon couldn’t keep the confusion out of his voice. Not only had Richard saved him before, but now he was willing to watch his back.

“I don’t know how to explain it to you,” Richard said honestly. “There is just something about you that makes me want to get to know you better, and I guess it also makes me a bit protective.” If Richard was completely honest, he would have told him that there was something about him that made Richard believe that Simon could be his mate, and that if that was the case, then it was his duty and honor to protect him from any harm.

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad to have you watching my back,” Simon answered with a smile. “I think I’m going to go out there and dance a bit, might help me relax a bit.”

“You do that,” Richard answered, looking forward to watching Simon move his body. Not that he would ever tell him that, but Richard was sure it was a sight that he wouldn’t want to miss. “I’ll just hang out here and watch.”

Simon didn’t wait for anything else and leaving his bottle of water with Richard, he made his way out on the floor. He had just gotten into the current song when he felt someone continuously brush up against him, and he could tell it was no accident. He felt his body tense up as the fear rushed back over him. It didn’t even register with him that he didn’t have a drink and so he couldn’t be drugged that way, but that didn’t seem to matter as his fear took hold of him.

Richard watched in interest as Simon moved and swayed on the dance floor. He could tell that Simon was really getting into the song when some guy started brushing up against him and generally putting his moves on him. He could tell the second that Simon’s fear took over as his movements became sluggish before stopping all together. Taking a last sip of his drink, Richard quickly moved towards Simon and after muscling the guy out of the way, he pulled Simon back against him and pressed his lips lightly against the other man’s neck before whispering. “Don’t let them mess with you, just keep dancing.”

As soon as Simon realized that Richard was now with him, he allowed himself to relax, something about Richard made him feel safe and protected. Simon felt Richard’s body pressed against his and for the moment he forgot about everybody else in the room and just reveled in the feel of Richards toned body against his. Even the feel of Richards growing erection didn’t cause the feeling of fear to return, instead, Simon’s own cock to begin to stir in his jeans. Simon wasn’t sure how long they spent out on the dance floor, but eventually he needed something to drink and broke away from Richard to head back to the bar. It didn’t take long before he had gotten a couple more bottles of water and when he turned back around he found Richard standing directly next to him.

“Feeling a little better?” Richard asked as he took the bottle of water that Simon offered him.

“Yes, I am,” Simon answered as he studied Richard. “I think I’m about ready to get out of here though.”

“I’ll walk to you out,” Richard answered, placing a hand lightly on Simon’s back. “I think I’m about ready to get out of here myself.”

During the trip to his car, Simon tried to summon up the courage to invite Richard to come back to his place. His mind kept straying to the comfortable feel of Richard’s hand pressed against the small of his back, and to Simon, the touch felt a tad bit possessive. Reaching his car, he turned to thank Richard and was just about to ask Richard to go with him when Richard lowered his lips and brushed them lightly over Simon’s. Simon was too stunned to even return the kiss before Richard pulled gently away, his lips hovering just slightly over Simon’s.

“Thanks for a great night,” Richard whispered a hairsbreadth from Simon’s lips.

Simon couldn’t find his voice before Richard turned and walked away. By the time he was able to speak again, Richard was nowhere to be seen. Feeling slightly vulnerable, Simon hurriedly unlocked his car and climbed behind the wheel. He never realized that Richard hadn’t gone far and only left once Simon’s tail lights were no longer visible.