“Seems our best lead is the bar your friend Eddie mentioned. Let’s head out there and check it out,” Woodruff taking command.

“Uh, maybe we should wait until it opens and the regulars are in place. I’m pretty sure it won’t be any use going until after 11:00 or so. And I think it would be best to keep a low profile. Have you got anything a little more ‘casual’ to wear, Woodruff? This is supposed to be undercover.”

From the obstinate look on Woodruff’s face I knew there was a problem. Woodruff looked about my size, maybe a little taller. There wasn’t time or budget for a shopping trip so I went into my room and grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt. He took them from me with a halfhearted “thanks” and went to change.

We had a few hours to kill until we could go out so I ordered out for some Chinese food – without consulting Woodruff – he’d have to lump it. I sat down to add notes based on our meeting with Eddie.

As I worked, I saw motion near the open double doors. I looked up. ‘Shit’. I hoped Woodruff hadn’t seen my jaw drop after I saw him. Eddie was right, nice pecs and arms. Woodruff must spend a lot of time in the Bureau gym. I think of myself as pretty buff, but his chest and arms stretched the t-shirt in a very appealing way. I’ll bet his ass is cute in my jeans, too.

Woodruff was a little ill at ease without his suit. Still he sat at the table and began working. I couldn’t help sneaking looks at his body. Damn, this guy was an asshole, and a damned fine looking man.

I managed to appear to work until the doorbell rang. I met the delivery guy, Danny who usually brought my orders, at the street door. He looked past me, up the stairs. “New guy? That explains the double order, Nick. He’s really hot. If it doesn’t work out, give him a menu and tell him to call me,” Danny leered.

I turned to go back up the stairs and saw what Danny had seen, Woodruff standing at the top of the stairs, the late evening light coming in a window highlighting his formidable physique. My cock reacted, but I couldn’t help muttering to myself, “what a waste.”

Woodruff was already working by the time I got dinner ready. He ate silently while punching the keys of his computer. For the next two hours he only paused to take a bite of food or fire a question at me. I was feeling good that I knew every answer, living up to the Captain’s words about me. At last it came time to set out for the bar.

Woodruff followed the route on a map as I drove to the biker bar, asking what I knew about the neighborhoods we passed. There wasn’t much about the city I didn’t know having grown up here and working as a cop.

***

I parked a few blocks from the address Eddie had given me. As we got nearer, the sides of the street were lined with motorcycles and pickup trucks, most with motorcycle company logo decals. Definitely the right place. A large warehouse building occupied the entire block and had no apparent doorway. It was only when we passed the end of the building that I spotted a couple of burly men in leather vests heading down into a dark alley. They disappeared into the shadows. I took Woodruff by the elbow and turned him toward where I had last seen the men. Once in the darkness, I could see a set of stairs leading down. Faintly, the sound of heavy metal music made its way through the foundation of the building. At the bottom of the stairs was a metal door, studded with bolts.

“Must be the place,” I offered to Woodruff and opened the door. We stepped into a dark vestibule, the music slightly louder. I wasn’t prepared for the shock as I opened the next door. The music blasted and flashing lights dazzled my eyes. Woodruff bumped into me from behind.

“Keep the humping at home, boys.” A gravelly voice shouted at us. Woodruff backed off a step. My eyes adjusted and I spotted the source of the words. At first glance I thought I saw a blocky man with short spiky hair. On looking at the hands I realized it was a woman, a very butch woman.

“You guys new in town?” she demanded?

A bartender leaned over the bar and whispered in her ear. Her eyes wandered suspiciously over me, then Woodruff, as he spoke. I only heard his last words, “but he’s cool, one of us.”

“Tommy tells me you’re a cop. He says you’re ok. I’m still interested in why you’re here tonight?”

“Uh, I’m Nick, and yeah, I’m a cop. I just wanted to take my friend out for a drink. I was hoping this place would be more welcoming than the country club.”

The woman laughed gutterally. “Shit, yeah, everyone is welcome here, even a cop and his boyfriend.” I could feel Woodruff shudder. “I’m Brenda, but most of the guys just call me Butch. This is my place and I don’t want any trouble. Tommy give these guys a drink on me.”

“Thanks, Butch. Hey do you know a guy named Bobby? Pretty Latin type.”

“Not smart looking to hook up with your boyfriend in tow,” Butch winked. “A bunch of guys fit that description. Why?”

“He used to have a thing with a buddy of mine. Seems he ran into some trouble the other night. Any chance you know who he hung out with.”

“Well, if he’s who I think you want, he used to hang out with a pretty rough crowd. If I’m not mistaken, you’ll find them around the pool table, down past the bar. Truth is, I wouldn’t be broken up if they found another place to hang out. They’re always offering easy money for quick jobs, but a lot of my regulars don’t seem to come back afterwards.

“Well, Bobby won’t be coming back.”

“You collar him?”

“Nope, somebody killed him last night.”

“Damn. Like I said, I don’t want any trouble, from the cops or bad guys, either.”

“Thanks, Butch, we’ll keep it low key.”

Woodruff walked out ahead of me, heading along the bar. He didn’t notice any of the glances from the men around the room. I wondered if it was admiration or suspicion. He walked up to the pool table and stood facing down the six or so guys surrounding the table. Attitudes began to rise among the men, like dogs reacting to a stranger. I stepped past Woodruff and put a five on the rail of the table taking the next game by saying “Winner.”

I pushed Woodruff onto a stool by the wall, leaned into his chest and whispered into his ear, “Cool it, will ya? Let’s see what they’re talking about.” I grazed my cheek along his as I stood up. I could feel every eye on us, seeing if we checked out.

“What’s with your boyfriend? Seems pretty pissed at something.” One of the pool players asked as I lined up my first shot.

“Oh him, I’ll sweeten him up later,” I said winking at Woodruff. He steamed all the more. The other man shot several balls in. “So, you guys know of any work? I could use a job and word is you know someone who’s hiring.”

“Maybe,” cautiously replied a voice from across the table. “What can you do?”

“Well, I’m the smart one,” another wink at Woodruff, “and he’s the muscle. We can handle ourselves pretty good, do what needs doing.”

“Okay. I can’t promise anything, but I hear if you go down to the Winston Street Theatre and ask for Bruno, they’re hiring. You’re buddy here better be on his best behavior, Bruno don’t take any attitude.”

I offered my thanks and ran the table, picking up my five and the five the other player had bet. I put an arm around Woodruff’s waist and walked him toward the door. I hoped everyone saw it as affection. If he looked a tenth as uncomfortable as he felt to me, our cover was blown.

***

Woodruff hadn’t said a word since we first walked down into the bar. He kept quiet until we got back to my place. I could see he was pissed. “What?” I asked.

He sputtered, growled, and swore before he could reply. “What the hell was all that? You didn’t follow any proper enforcement protocol. Did you remember any of the things we agreed on before walking in there?

“We got the lead we were looking for, didn’t we?”

“Sounds like a long shot to me. You’ll be damned lucky if that plays out. And what the hell was all that touchy feely stuff?”

“Are you stupid or just clueless? That was a gay bar. They spotted me as a cop. Only two reasons we’d be in a gay bar, because we’re gay or to make a bust. Seems obvious to me.”

Woodruff stepped up to me and talked into my face. “It’s completely against regulations and protocol. It’s not how it’s done. I should write you up.”

“Oh yeah?” right back at him. “Well, it might not be how you do things in the ‘Bureau’, but it’s how we do them here.”

“Yeah?” Woodruff moved closer, butting me with his chest.

“Yeah!” I grabbed his shoulders to push him back.

Woodruff shoved his flushed face into mine, our noses nearly touching. I felt his intimidating anger, hot and aroused.

Hot and aroused. Hot and aroused. “Are you as turned on as I am?” I heard my own voice whisper.

“Uh huh,” Woodruff replied, his voice husky with desire, not backing up a millimeter.

“We can’t do this,” I cautioned, right into his face.

“No, we can’t. It could wreck the case.”

“Yeah, it could ruin both our careers”

“It could ruin our lives.”

“It could.”

“You should get a hold of yourself.”

“You should too.”

As one, we closed the remaining distance between our lips and locked into a deep, mouth-crushing kiss. My hands slid around his shoulders and held him tightly. I felt his hands surround me. After an achingly long time, we broke the seal of our kiss.

Panting for air, Woodruff asked, “Your room or mine?”

“Mine, bigger bed.”

Still entangled in each other’s arms, we raced down the hall and tumbled onto my bed. Hands, lips, tongues sought every contact as we rolled over each other. “Hold on,” I managed to gasp. “This is much better without clothes.”

Reluctantly, we loosed our mutual hold and got off the bed. I stepped up to Woodruff and ran my hands down his back, grasping the tails of his t-shirt and peeling it over his head. His hard, square pecs were completely hairless, contrasting his dark furry aromatic pits. I ran my fingers over his already erect nipple, he gasped. I ripped off my own shirt and dropped my pants and shorts.

“Fuck, this is crazy,” Woodruff shouted as he removed his own pants and boxers. His arms wrapped around me again as we fell onto the bed.

The details of what happened next are lost in a blur of impassioned contact. The intense dislike had transformed into physical need. I couldn’t get enough of Woodruff, he couldn’t get enough of me. Several screaming orgasms later, Woodruff lay on top of me, chest to chest, his head beside mine.

“That was so incredibly stupid. That was so incredibly wrong. That was so incredible,” he whispered into my ear.

“Yeah, it was pretty spectacular.”

Woodruff rolled off. “This has to stay strictly between us. Like it never happened. It can’t ever happen again.”

“No, can’t happen again,” I agreed.

“Unprofessional behavior.”

“Very unprofessional behavior,” I echoed.

I could feel tension in his body, as if he were struggling. Then I felt his hand on my cock, lightly touching with fingertips.

“I didn’t know it could be like that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“So urgent, so powerful, so gentle, so incredible.”

His words and wistful tone sank into my consciousness and realization dawned. “You’ve never been with a man before.”

“I’ve never been with anyone before,” Woodruff admitted softly.

“What?”

“Somehow, I just never got around to it.”

“What?”

“I guess I always liked guys and that scared me. Whenever the urge came on, I got busy – with school, with sports, with the Bureau. It didn’t seem to matter anymore, sex that is. I was getting ahead in the Bureau, staying focused.” Woodruff rolled onto his side, facing away from me. “I didn’t understand how it could feel, how I could feel.” His words trailed away into quiet sobs.

At first, I was embarrassed, unsure what to do. As his crying continued, I snuggled up to Woodruff and put my arm around his chest. I could feel him tense. “It’s ok, Woodruff, uh Steve. It’s ok.” His hand closed on mine and pulled me closer. After a time his crying eased, his body stopped trembling. I fell asleep still holding him.

***

I awoke in a joyful mood, the sun streaming into the room. I knew something was missing but until I looked around me at the sure signs of sex scattered about I could have been convinced it was all a dream. Woodruff and I had really gotten it on. And then something else. Oh yeah, he was upset, crying. So where was he now? I got out of bed, threw on a robe and went in search. As I came down the hall, I could hear him typing in the dining room. His back was to me as I entered.

“Last night didn’t happen,” his voice cold.

“We agreed on that last night.”

“No, the crying thing. It would be worse than gay sex at the Bureau. It didn’t happen.”

I approached the back of his chair and leaning, wrapped my arms around him. “Its ok, you’re safe with me.”

“You don’t understand. By all rights I should report myself. I ought to resign immediately.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s not wrong to have feelings, desires.”

“I’ve thrown away my life.” He pulled away from me and dropped his head onto his arms on the table.

“It sounds to me like you’ve found your life.” I returned to the bedroom and started removing the evidence of the previous night. I heard him come into the room behind me.

“I’m sorry. What I said probably hurt you. I didn’t mean to. But what happened last night, between us, it changes everything.”

“Yes, I suppose it does. But how do you feel deep down? What are you losing? What have you found? Think that out before you do anything. Make sure you know what you want to do.”

“I’m almost afraid to think about it. I do know what I want to do right now, though.” He crossed the space between us and enclosed me in his arms and kissed me.

“Ok,” I said when he finished. “We can take this slowly, figure it out as we go along. How about a shower, Woodruff? Maybe its time for me to get used to calling you Steve, considering.” Woodruff, Steve that is, chuckled.

We cleaned each other up, interspersed with teasing, dressed and grabbed coffee and breakfast, returning to the dining room to start working on the case. We were setting up plans for the day when the doorbell rang. I shouted ‘come in” and heard the Captain calling out as he mounted the stairs. ‘In the dining room’ I called and went back to the screen-load of data I was reviewing. Steve was opposite me making notes.

“You two seem to have resolved your differences,” the Captain observed wryly. I winked at Steve. Steve blushed. The Captain, a very observant detective at heart, averted his eyes.

Steve, reverting to ‘professional mode’, filled in the Captain about the second hit and run and our subsequent research at the bar. He even managed to make it sound very ‘Bureau’.

“So you two went to a bar, a gay bar, while on duty?” the Captain teased. Steve blustered and struggled to explain.

The Captain laughed. “Woodruff, I’ve been working with Nick since he started. I’ve realized that it’s better to let him go is own way. He gets results. Let me know how this goes. You’ve got my full support, the department’s full support, but it looks like you should keep this low key.” The Captain laughed knowingly as he exited.

“Do you think he knows?” Steve asked nervously.

“He thinks he knows, but he’ll keep it close. The Captain has always supported me. He’s smart and caring and a good cop.”

“Now about the case. I’m thinking we could do the usual search through public records about the Winston Street Theatre, who owns it, what the business is supposed to be, but that could take weeks.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Steve asked without the previous day’s hostility.

“Uncle Stavros.”

“Who?”

“My uncle. He’s a very well connected businessman in this city. Has his finger on the pulse of most everything that’s going on. If he doesn’t know about the Winston Street Theatre, he’ll know who to talk to about it.”

“I’d normally want to go through the standard procedures,” Steve said cautiously, “but I think time is of the essence. If you say so, let’s see Uncle Stavros.”