“Why?”
Yeah, why? “A gut feeling.”
“A feeling?” The man leveled a look at Reese.
“Yeah.”
“And what else does this gut feeling tell you?”
“That some of those dead contractor men might not be so dead, and they might have a lot of other people involved.”
Harrington huffed. “Your gut feeling have any idea where they’re located?”
“No. My gut feeling doesn’t work that precise.” Reese shrugged. “But if it were me and I wanted to secretly amass an army, I’d make sure it was in the middle of nowhere, I had lots of firepower, and a concrete bunker.”
“Concrete bunker?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s pretty specific.”
“Do they make any other kind of bunker?” Reese tacked on a smile.
Harrington exhaled a sigh. “I guess I should probably go make some phone calls and see how much of your gut feeling is accurate. Wouldn’t surprise me at this point. New World apparently owned the property where Luca lived.”
For some reason that didn’t surprise Reese either. He wasn’t sure there was much left that would surprise him.
Harrington started out the door but stopped. “I’m glad you’re okay, Dr. Dante.”
“Me too.”
“When we get you back to the states, I’ll have you checked over again.”
Reese figured arguing was useless. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Harrington stood there like he wanted to say something but never did. He shut the door behind him, and Reese dropped his head back on the pillow.
The machines beeped, and people moved up and down the hall. Reese closed his eyes and inhaled the ménage of scents riding on the eddies of air from the vent above his bed.
Each one so distinctive it had actual flavor.
And people didn’t have those kinds of heightened senses. But before he could think about it too much, he drifted off to sleep.
One month later, somewhere in the North Eastern US.
Rain tapped the roof of the van. Muted light swept between the front seats to do battle with the shadows in the back.
The unseasonal cold snap left temperatures low enough to snow, and Luca’s exhales turned white. He pulled the sleeping bag tighter around his shoulders.
“Do you need me to turn on the engine for a while and run the heat?” Sleep had left Nox’s voice rough. He rolled over, causing a gap in the covers.
Goosebumps raced over Luca’s shoulders. He shivered, and Nox slipped his arms around him and tugged him against his chest. The heat radiating from his skin chased back the cool air.
“Who needs the heater when I have my own personal furnace.” He kissed Nox’s throat. It had been a few days since he’d shaved, and a dark scruff covered his chiseled jaw, prickling Luca’s lips.
He loved the feeling. He loved everything about the man in front of him.
When Luca tried to figure out when he’d realized he did, it all came back to the moment Nox stepped into his life.
A gift from his brother.
With the ichor, Nox had pulled across the fabric of the universe and given to Luca came the knowledge of his brother’s love, his sacrifice, his want for Luca to live.
He just didn’t understand the why yet. Answers that had no questions. At least none Luca knew to ask. If only Koda had told Nox more.
Tears threatened to fall, and Nox tipped up Luca’s chin. “We agreed. No more crying.”
Yeah, they’d shed enough tears for two lifetimes.
Luca pushed Nox over, and he didn’t resist. The man smiled at Luca, a lazy pull of lips that said he knew exactly what Luca was about to do.
And he should. Ever since that day at the bunker, they’d spent every moment they could exploring each other’s bodies, sharing each other’s pleasure, exchanging thoughts. Sometimes when they were awake and more often when they dreamed.
Luca straddled Nox’s waist. His half-hard cock pushed against Luca’s ass. Luca leaned down pinching one of Nox’s nipples between his teeth. The man hissed and reached for Luca.
“Nope, hands behind your head.” Luca waited until Nox obeyed.
He did because he wanted to, not because he had to. Unlike Luca’s brother, Nox wasn’t bound to him by shared ichor.
If only Dekker had realized the death Koda had given to Nox wasn’t independent. It had rejoined what Nox already contained, becoming whole.
Luca placed a kiss in the middle of Nox’s chest, lower at the edge of his ribs, again near his navel, inching down the length of Nox’s body on his knees until the man’s thick cock bumped his chin.
Droplets of precum beaded at the slit. Luca swiped his tongue across the crown, and Nox arched his back. Luca smiled as he licked a hot line to the base and nuzzled the bed of dark curls. The scent of cheap motel soap mixed with the richer flavor of musk; spicy like fall leaves, lush like fertile ground.
Luca returned to the head and wrapped his lips around it.
He’d gotten better at this but nowhere skilled enough to take all of Nox. Not that it mattered, through their connection, his pleasure was Luca’s and Luca’s was his.
Luca sucked, forcing his throat to open until he couldn’t breathe. Tears burned Luca’s eyes and heat filled his cheeks. He pulled to the tip again, teasing the slit.
Nox’s thigh muscles quivered.
Luca brushed his lips over the head. “What are you thinking about?”
“You.”
“And what else.”
“How much I’m going to enjoy fucking you in a bed, in the shower, on the kitchen table.”
Luca stopped, and Nox’s breath whooshed out.
“You got us a house?” Luca sat up a little.
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“Comes with the job.” The one Nox started today.
“But it’s not safe for us to stay in one place.”
“I want to try. Moving around has been hard on you.”
It had. Luca missed the comfort of a stationary place. Eating homecooked meals. Hell, even cleaning up his own mess. The new van was bigger than the first one they’d had, but it was still a van.
Luca took Nox into his mouth again, this time keeping his cock shallow enough for him to swallow around him. Nox’s heated gaze turned feral. The flush in his cheeks darkened.
“Fuck, Luca….”
He hummed and took Nox deep again. His expression a movie of his unraveling will.
And Luca loved it when Nox lost control. When he skated on the edge of man and monster, the place where his very being relied on Luca’s touch.
A reminder of how much Nox had risked opening himself to the darkness to bring Luca back.
Nox bared his teeth. Blood outlined his lengthening canines.
The moment he snapped rode down through those invisible ties, striking Luca in his core. He cried out, and Nox yanked him up. One roll put Luca under him.
Nox raked his teeth over Luca’s shoulder, across the back of his neck, to the place between his shoulder blades. Sharp points drew stinging lines that disappeared as quick as they formed.
Nox never let Luca hurt, his willingness to surrender resources to spare him the smallest discomfort. Sometimes the guilt of his willingness ate at Luca, other times like now?
Nox seized Luca’s hips. The weight blanketing Luca vanished. A bottle snicked, and trails of lubricant poured down Luca’s ass crack.
“Hey, go easy on that.” The plastic bottle hit the side wall and bounced away. Luca pushed up on his arms, and Nox covered him again, trapping him under his broad chest. Tremors ran down Nox’s limbs, and his cock bumped Luca’s balls. “Calm.” He reached back, petting Nox’s cheek.
The tension in Nox’s body eased, and his uncoordinated movements steadied.
“That’s it.” Luca turned his head and nipped Nox’s jaw. “I’ve got you.”
Nox growled.
“Yes, please. Fuck me.” Strong arms wrapped around Luca, towed him back, and the blunt head of Nox’s cock nudged his hole. There was a moment of resistance, then the ring of muscle gave. Every inch of heated flesh filling Luca until he fought to inhale.
Nox’s balls pressed against Luca’s ass, and Nox groaned. “You are so perfect.” He rocked his hips, forcing a cry out of Luca. “You are my everything.” Nox withdrew farther, then returned hard enough to slap their bodies together.
“Yesss—” Luca writhed in the man’s grasp. “More, please….”
And of course, Nox gave Luca what he wanted.
Body surging, heart racing, the spiral of ecstasy flowed from Nox, consuming Luca. The world brightened until it scattered into stars. No longer just two bodies connected, but two beings who were one.
I love you.
Luca didn’t know if the thought was his or Nox’s or if it belonged to both of them.
Far away where their bodies remained flesh, Nox’s movements stuttered. He tilted his hips, and pleasure went supernova within Luca. He yelled, but Nox caught his mouth drinking away Luca’s voice.
Ensnared by the storm of energy Luca was distantly aware of his cum splattering against his thigh, then the heat of Nox filling him.
For the longest time, there was only them, connected, one.
Luca trickled back into his body. Where touch returned to three dimensions. Where his eyes had limited sight and his voice relied on words.
Sweat traced the creases of his skin, and Nox held him tighter.
Luca rested his head back against Nox’s shoulder. “We should probably get some breakfast.”
Nox rumbled.
“I was thinking French toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, and gravy.”
Nox raised his gaze. “That’s a lot of food.”
“Yeah, well, your metabolism is thwarting my dastardly plan.”
Nox quirked an eyebrow.
“You’re still as hard as a gravel driveway, and I swear sleeping on you leaves bruises.”
Nox chuckled. “Then we should probably double that order.” He eased Luca to the floor, slipping free of his hole.
The sudden loss made Luca gasp.
Nox bowed over him. “Unless, of course, you’d rather stay here.” Sharp teeth nipped Luca’s ear.
Luca’s stomach growled, and he laughed. “I think you just got overruled.”
Nox rolled away and collected their clothes from one of their duffle bags. He passed Luca jeans and a sweatshirt.
“I’m going to love taking a shower whenever I want.” Luca dug his shoes out from under the sleeping bag.
“Me too.” Nox retrieved his hiking boots and put them on.
Luca laughed. “Something tells me getting clean is going to be at the bottom of your priority list.”
“Absolutely.” Nox opened the rear doors.
The rain had eased to a mist accompanied by a layer of fog hugging the ground. They’d parked behind an abandoned gas station behind a strip mall. Across the road, the mom-and-pop cafe they’d eaten dinner at the night before.
Green spaces on three sides blocked the van from view and offered as much privacy as a roadside parking space could.
Luca climbed out with his coat.
Nox shut the van doors and locked them.
“I hate to say it, but I’m not going to miss sleeping in a van.”
“Me either.”
Sleeping in a bed, with a mattress and fluffy pillows. Blankets to roll up in.
Nox nudged Luca with his elbow. “What are you grinning about?”
“Waking up next to you.”
Nox slipped his hand around the back of Luca’s neck and kissed his temple where only the faintest scar marked the bullet exit wound that had killed him.
“I promise you one day you’ll have a home that’s safe, somewhere you can get up every morning and watch the sunrise. Somewhere no one will find us.”
Luca laughed. “You say the sweetest things.” Then he sobered. Yeah, a home would be nice.
“C’mon before they quit serving breakfast.” Nox turned.
A red pickup truck and an old station wagon pulled into the busted-up parking lot of the gas station.
The hairs on the back of Luca’s neck stood up. Beside him, Nox growled.
Four men and two women exited the vehicles. None of them looked over forty. The black man with green eyes walked in their direction.
The man stopped. “We’ve been looking for you.” An accent flavored his words, but Luca couldn’t place it.
Nox pushed Luca behind him.
“We’re not here to hurt anyone.” The black man held up his hands. “My name is Jelani.”
“What do you want?” Heat radiated from Nox’s body; the mist specking his skin steamed.
There was no way the strangers didn’t see it but none of them looked surprised.
“We’ve been looking for you since you destroyed that camp in Canada.” He nodded to the woman with red hair. “Cassie’s our best tracker.”
She stepped forward. Her presence hummed against the air, soothing Luca’s fear. An eerie Déjà Vu settled over him.
In fact, the more he looked at these people, the more Luca was sure he knew them yet there was no way he did.
Nox went quiet.
To Luca, the redhead, said, “What’s your name, Cana.”
Where had Luca heard that word before?
You have no idea how hard he’s going to be to replace. It’s not like Cana grow on trees. The only good thing is if I can’t have him, they can’t either.
She smiled a little. “I’m always my best.”
“Good. You can go. Just make sure to keep me up-to-date on everything you find.” Palmer still didn’t look up, and Laura had the strangest feeling it was because he feared she’d read him.
The question was, why?
But the answer could wait. Laura had far more pressing matters to attend to.
Such as preventing the extinction of the human race.