THE INNOCENT: A Cowboy Gangster Novel Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  THE INNOCENT

  A Cowboy Gangster Novel

  CJ BISHOP

  Copyright © 2018

  All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  “This way. Hurry.”

  The snow was falling thicker and a breeze had picked up. Nevin tugged his jacket tighter around himself and jogged to catch up to Matt. His feet were already freezing inside his soaked sneakers, his toes completely numb. “What is this place?”

  Matt was eighteen, a year younger than Nevin but much taller with greater muscle mass and more mature features. Sometimes Nevin forgot he was older than Matt and most everyone else who didn’t know them just naturally assumed Matt was the oldest.

  “I don’t know.” Matt adjusted the strap of the sports bag on his shoulder. “But it doesn’t matter, it’s the only place close by.”

  Their car had blown a tire on the rural road half a mile back and the spare was missing. When they’d opened the trunk to find the compartment empty where the spare should have been, Matt had blown up. He cursed his brother, Tony, convinced he had “borrowed” the spare without asking. He’d done it before.

  Now, Matt and Nevin were stranded in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter with no spare tire or cell phone—Matt had forgotten to charge his and Nevin didn’t currently have one. It would be dark in an hour and Matt was certain a storm was brewing. It was by sheer luck they’d had the flat just around the corner from the driveway to this place. At first, Matt had thought it was just some old logging road; it didn’t look like a driveway that led anywhere. But they’d had no option but to follow it. Good thing they had.

  “It looks deserted.” Nevin caught up with Matt and shoved his hand into Matt’s jacket pocket where it was extra-warm. Nevin’s own jacket was thinner and hardly adequate for cold weather. He hadn’t expected to be hiking in the snow when they’d left the college upstate. It was supposed to be a long warm drive to the city, just him and Matt, alone for two hours or so in the car. Nevin had been looking forward to the trip. It seemed he and Matt hardly had time for each other while at school—Matt was a study-addict, but it was understandable; much was expected of him by his parents. The trip was supposed to be their time to relax, forget about school, and have fun together. It had been going along as planned until the damn tire blew.

  “Guess we’ll see.” Matt led the way up to the small porch.

  The place was huge and looked like it could have been a boarding house at one time or a small Inn. At least a foot of snow covered the lawn and piled up around a weathered pole that had dark discolorations all over it. Nevin pressed closer to Matt and followed him up the couple steps to the front door. Matt tugged one hand free of his jacket and knocked urgently. Dead silence. He knocked again; harder.

  “Maybe it is deserted,” Nevin suggested as he shifted back forth, his feet like ice inside his drenched sneakers. “Check the door.” His teeth were beginning to chatter and his whole body was growing numb with cold. If there was a bed inside, maybe Matt could warm him up with some hot sex. He liked that idea.

  The doorknob twisted easily in Matt’s grip and the other boy eased it open and peered in. “Hello? Is anyone here?” They both recoiled at the same time when a powerful stench hit them.

  “Shit.” Nevin clamped a hand over his mouth and nose and nearly gagged. “What the fuck is that?”

  Matt coughed, his face wrinkling unpleasantly. “Smells like a corpse took a shit.”

  Nevlin looked at him, then laughed. “That’s disgusting.”

  “I know,” Matt grimaced and started to enter.

  “Wait.” Nevin tugged back. “We’re really going in there? I’ll puke.”

  “We don’t have any choice. It’s freezing out here and there’s nowhere else to go.” Matt stepped inside, taking Nevin with him.

  Nevin pressed his hand over his face again and tried to keep his guts from revolting. He stopped dead in his tracks as Matt closed the door. Nevin stared at the dark stain on the floor just inside the door. “What the hell is that?”

  “What?” Matt looked to where he was pointing. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “What if it’s…blood?”

  Matt smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “That would be your first conclusion, wouldn’t it?”

  Nevin studied forensic science in school and planned on being a CSI when he graduated. And that stain sure as shit looked like it could be blood.

  “If it is blood,” Matt went on, “then you’ll have something to do while we wait out the weather—practice your forensics skills.”

  “I’d rather it not be blood,” Nevin mumbled uneasily, “and pass the time fucking.”

  Matt chuckled. “That works for me.”

  “God, it wreaks in here,” Nevin groaned, stating the obvious.

  “Get used to it,” Matt smiled. “In your line of work, you’re going to be encountering these kinds of smells all the time.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not a CSI yet and this is just gross as fuck.”

  Matt looked around then pointed to a desk across from the door. “There’s a phone. Let’s try that. It’s a landline. Even if the electricity is out, it might still be working.” He passed the sports bag to Nevin and walked over and picked up the receiver, pressed it to his ear, frowned, then picked up the phone itself. “Fuck. The cord’s missing.”

  Nevin remained near the door and hooked the strap of the sports bag over his sho
ulder, then rubbed his hands together. He really didn’t want to go back outside but this place was giving him the creeps. The only light was from the windows and it was growing dimmer by the moment.

  Matt set the phone down and motioned to a door at their left. Nevin followed him through the door into a living room. The furniture was pushed back, leaving a large empty floor space before the fireplace. Fireplace. They could build a fire.

  Matt tried the lights. Nothing happened. “Snow probably knocked out the power.”

  “There’s a fireplace,” Nevin shivered. “Can we burn something? It’s fucking cold in here.” He dumped the sports bag into one of the easy chairs and approached the cold fireplace.

  “Here.” Matt grabbed some old newspapers from a box by the hearth. “There’s some bits of kindling here, too.” He began twisting up the newspapers and laying them in the cold bed of ashes. “This’ll get it going, then we can go find something else to burn.”

  Nevin blinked. “Go find something else? You mean…inside the house?”

  “Yeah.” Matt glanced up at him. “Why?” He smiled. “You’re not scared, are you?”

  Nevin had never suffered from masculine pride and nodded. “Hell, yes. I really don’t want to find out what’s making that gross smell.”

  “Well, we have to find more to burn. The kindling is just for starting the fire, not holding it.”

  Glancing anxiously around the living room, Nevin pointed to one of the end tables. “They’re wood. Can’t you burn them for now?”

  Matt sighed and stood up. “Yeah. But even they won’t hold for too long. We’re going to have to find more.”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Nevin shivered. “We’ll go hunting for firewood later. After we warm up and…” he grinned mischievously.

  Matt snorted. “And what?”

  “What do you think?”

  Matt chuckled and wasted no time busting up the end table. He had a roaring fire going within minutes. They dragged the sofa closer to the fireplace and, moments later, Nevin was kneeling on the cushions and bent over the back, pants shoved down his thighs and the heat of the fire warming his ass. Matt strapped on a condom he’d dug out of the sports bag and lubed himself up good.

  Nine thick inches plunged into his ass in one go, wrenching a hard gasp from Nevin. He clutched the back cushions of the sofa and held on as Matt pumped him vigorously, rocking him back and forth, his heavy balls smacking Nevin’s full sack. Nevin panted and groaned and begged for more, his own erection swelling massively as Matt assaulted his sweet spot.

  “Fuck…” Nevin shuddered, his fingers digging into the cushions. “You’re gonna make me cum so hard…” He shoved his head into his arms and growled and moaned through clenched teeth. He fucked Matt as enthusiastically as he was getting fucked. “Oh fuck…don’t stop…right there…keep hitting it right there…”

  Matt released his grip on Nevin’s ass and shed his jacket without slowing his thrusts. He grabbed onto Nevin’s hips and pounded him harder, faster. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum…”

  “Not yet,” Nevin whimpered and reached down, grasping his own dick. He whipped his fist up and down his shaft as Matt shoved in, held, and ground down on his prostate. “Uuh! Fuck…yes…fuck-fuck-fuck! Maattt!” Nevin’s rod swelled in his hand then blew his wad all over the sofa. “Fuuuckk!”

  Matt let go and fucked him furiously, clawing his heat skin, then let out a roar and unloaded into the condom. “Uuh! Fuck!” Matt hit him a few more times then pulled out. “Shit,” he panted and stripped off the condom. He tossed the full rubber into the flames and fastened up his pants as Nevin remained bent over the back of the sofa, breathing hard. Matt smacked his flushed, throbbing ass cheeks, making him jump. “Get dressed. We need to find more stuff to burn.”

  Nevin twisted around and sagged onto the sofa, pants still bunched on his thighs, his member drooping heavily against his lower abs and dribbling a tiny bit of cum on his stomach. “Right this second?”

  “Yes,” Matt insisted. “The wood from the table isn’t going to last long. We need to maintain the heat in the room.”

  Sighing, Nevin grinned, eyelids sagging. “I’m not cold anymore.”

  “Well, you’re going to be,” Matt smirked. “We can’t fuck all night to stay warm.”

  “Why not?”

  “Even I don’t have that much stamina.”

  Nevin chuckled and worked his pants up over his ass and hips. “I beg to differ. We’ve had all-nighters before.”

  “You just don’t want to go out into the other part of the house.”

  “Duh,” Nevin grinned and stood up. He fastened his pants. “I thought I already established that fact.”

  “What’s to be afraid of?” Matt asked. “Whatever’s out there is obviously dead and has been for a while. It can’t hurt us. Probably just an animal that got inside and died.” Matt rifled through the sports bag and retrieved two flashlights. He smacked one into Nevin’s palm. “Man up, baby.” He kissed him and walked to the door, then paused and looked back when Nevin didn’t immediately follow. “Coming?”

  “Coming is what I’d rather be doing,” Nevin mumbled and reluctantly trailed him out of the living room.

  Matt draped his arm around Nevin. “There will be more of that, too, I assure you.”

  “There better be.” Nevin cast the flashlight beam over the mysterious stain on the floor as they passed through the entry room.

  “Stop obsessing.” Matt forcibly turned Nevin the other direction, pulling the beam off the stain. “Someone probably just spilled something.”

  “Yeah,” Nevin chuffed. “Like their brains.”

  Matt laughed. “Are you sure you want to be a CSI? You don’t seem to have the stomach for this.”

  “Yes, I’m sure.” He didn’t discourage Matt’s arm from hanging across his shoulders. The guy made him feel safe, in many respects. A lot of sexual banter passed back and forth between them, but there was much more to their relationship than just incredible sex. On Nevin’s 19th birthday last month, Matt had proposed to him. It didn’t matter that they were just heading into their college years, Matt knew what he wanted and didn’t hesitate to claim it. In this case—Nevin was his claim. It had taken all of two seconds for Nevin to say yes; he knew what he wanted, too. And what he wanted was Matt—for the rest of his life.

  Neither had yet informed their parents of this new development. Shit, Matt’s parents still thought he and Nevin were “just friends”. Matt had never out-and-out told his parents he was gay, and he hadn’t come out until after high school graduation—just a few months ago. Of course, he and Nevin had been secretly dating through high school, and during one of the many sleepovers at Matt’s house, they’d had sex for the first time. It had been thrilling for them, knowing they could be caught by Matt’s parents at any given moment. Which had added to the excitement.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Matt quipped.

  Nevin smiled. “Just thinking about our first time having sex. In your bedroom. Just down the hall from your parents’ room.”

  Matt laughed quietly. “Fuck, that was hot.”

  “Do you think they really didn’t know that all the times I stayed over we were fucking our brains out in your bed?”

  “I don’t know,” Matt chuckled. “They never said anything and didn’t act like they knew. I’m not sure my dad would admit it if he did know. It might tarnish his manly image of me.”

  “Doesn’t tarnish mine,” Nevin grinned and palmed Matt’s crotch. “In fact, it enhances my manly image of you.” He withdrew his hand, pleased to note that his touch had immediately inspired a mild erection in Matt’s shorts.

  “Yeah, well…” Matt smirked.

  Nevin halted abruptly when they entered a narrow hallway. “Oh, my God.” He coughed and clamped his hand over his mouth and nose, trying to block out the horrid stench. “It’s a million times worse in here.”

  Matt grimaced and tugged the collar of his shirt up over his nose.
“Maybe the whole forest of animals died in here.”

  Nevin hoped that’s all it was. What could be making this much stink? It wasn’t just rotting flesh, but the smell of human shit. He didn’t want to know the source. “Can’t we just burn more stuff from the living room?”

  “There isn’t anything else except the cushioned furniture,” Matt said, his words slightly muffled beneath his shirt. “And besides, I need to find a bathroom.”

  “You’d use a bathroom in a place that smells like this?”

  Matt chuckled and shrugged. He left the shirt over his face as the two of them moved forward, beams swaying and flickering back and forth along the hall and up the walls. A door appeared at the far end and they approached it cautiously. It did nothing for Nevin that Matt was showing signs of unease. He might wonder how Matt wasn’t afraid at first, but it gave him comfort that he wasn’t. Now, Nevin’s anxieties seemed to be infecting Matt as well.

  They stood before the door. Neither rushed to open it.

  “What do you think is in there?” Nevin murmured with sick dread. The source of the foul smell was definitely coming from whatever lay beyond this door. “Maybe…maybe we should go back to the car and try to drive to the next town.”

  “If I drive on a flat, it’ll ruin the rim.”

  “I’ll buy you a new tire.”

  Matt chuckled. “Thanks. But, seriously, I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of. Like I said, whatever is making this smell is dead. Now, if we were in The Walking Dead show, we might have cause to fear. But we’re not.”

  “Thanks for that imagery,” Nevin mumbled. “Just what I needed.”

  Matt pulled the shirt off his face, rubbed his nose, then nodded. “Let’s bite the bullet.” He shoved open the door before Nevin could protest and entered the dark room. The stench hit them like a physical punch and Nevin started to gag, then somehow managed to keep from puking—for how long, he didn’t know.

  “Fuck!” he gasped and tried holding his breath as his eyes watered.

  There were no windows in here, which rendered the room pitch black but for their flashlight beams. They swung the light around and recoiled in disgust and horror.

  “What the fuck?” Nevin gasped between breaths.