Blind Spot (8 page)

SAM GOT
up early the next morning. He found Eric awake and puttering around in the kitchen, butt naked.

“Oh,” Sam said as he rounded the corner and eyeballed Eric’s low hangers. The guy had a full, untrimmed bush, which contrasted with his closely cropped hair up top. “I didn’t know you were… uh.” He flushed and looked away.

“Hope this doesn’t bother you?” Eric asked. He used his muscular ass to hip-check one of the lower cupboards shut. “I’m a firm believer in nudity. It’s good for the soul. Freeing. I’ll cover up if you want me to.”

“It’s fine.” Sam carefully skirted the periphery of the kitchen to grab a mug. “I’m just not used to waking up to find random naked men in my kitchen.”

Eric frowned. “What a shame.”

Sam helped himself to a cup of coffee and tried to work out how he was feeling. In less than three hours, Nathan and Eric would be gone and Sam would have to live with it. There was no denying Eric was attractive. He would probably be tempted if he were in Nathan’s place, but he didn’t have Nathan’s history with him. There wasn’t anything between them, and he doubted there would be in the future. It was all for show. An act. He could live with that.

He grabbed his laptop from the kitchen counter, where it was charging, and headed for the living room.

There were still no arrests in the mayor’s murder investigation. Sam wondered whether there had been any developments since the last time he spoke to Chief Howard. He figured he might as well head to the station to poke around—maybe follow up with Barney Collins too.

“I want you to know I have no intention of moving in on Nate.” The statement distracted Sam, and he looked up from his laptop. Sometime in the last five minutes, Eric had located his underwear and put on a wife beater. He’d also apparently fallen under Shadow’s spell. She lounged belly-up in his massive tattooed arms, purring like a motorboat as he scratched under her chin. “The guy worships the ground you walk on, anyway. You don’t have nothin’ to worry about.”

Sam flushed. “The feeling’s mutual. And I’m not worried.”

“Oh no?” Eric raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“Well, you have to admit, this whole thing is weird.”

Eric shrugged. “It’s all relative. If you saw some of the things I’ve seen, you’d be thanking your lucky stars Nate’s got a case like this. Don’t you trust him?”

“Of course I trust him.” But… once Nathan was in the field, who knew what might happen? It wasn’t impossible that he might meet someone who interested him. Worry twisted Sam’s stomach even though he tamped it down.

“Listen. I get it, man. I had a guy I was crazy for once. We were together in Iraq. Had a threesome with another buddy, and it was strange. I didn’t like it.” He stared off into the vacant space behind Sam’s head.

“So what happened with the guy?” Sam asked. Was this mysterious lover the referent of the
FP
tattoo? He was surprised at the revelation that Eric had served in Iraq, though he didn’t know why he should be. The timeline made sense.

Eric shrugged, his nonchalant grin firmly back in place. There was a hollowness behind his eyes, though. “It’s not important. Love isn’t for me. It’s too much… everything.” He shook his head and went back to petting Shadow.

Before Sam could ask him to clarify, Nathan stumbled, bleary-eyed, out of the bedroom.

“Morning,” he said, smiling at Sam. Once he saw Eric in his underwear, he closed his eyes and muttered something to himself. At least he had put some clothes on.

“Hi, lazy bones,” said Sam.

Nathan approached him and gave him a quick kiss. “What’re you two talking about?”

“Oh, nothing.” Sam didn’t want Nathan to know about his continuing concerns, because it would suggest he didn’t trust him. He did. But he hated not knowing what might happen. Unforeseen circumstances couldn’t be prevented.

“I’m gonna take off for an hour or two. See the town and give you some time alone,” Eric said. He was already walking toward the guest room. “Be back at ten. And then we head out. Right?”

Nathan nodded. The two of them would be met by their handler and receive their final briefing later that day, and then they’d be off to someplace in New Jersey. The specific location hadn’t been disclosed. Nathan couldn’t even tell Sam the alias he’d be using, but Sam did know that he and Eric would be posing as a newly married couple. The two of them had already gotten matching rings, but Nathan hadn’t put his on yet.

Once Eric was dressed and gone, Sam closed his eyes and rubbed them. He chastised himself for being so damn emotional.

“I’ll be home before you know it,” Nathan said softly. “And I’ll only be a few hours away. Yeah?”

Sam steeled himself, opened his eyes, and took a deep breath. He turned to Nathan with a seductive smile. “Well, we still have some time. Let me give you something to remember. What do you want? You want to fuck me out here? Maybe use some toys? I’ll get the blindfold—”

Nathan grabbed his hand before he could get up. “No.”

“Don’t tell me you want to cuddle?” Sam teased. The serious expression on Nathan’s face made his heart clench along with his stomach—like all of his essential organs were connected to Nathan, and his departure was twisting them up.

“No. I want you to fuck me.” Nathan’s eyes were a little watery, and Sam wasn’t sure if he should acknowledge it or pretend he didn’t notice. He cupped Nathan’s neck from behind and drew him forward.

“Okay,” Sam whispered, leaning his forehead against Nathan’s. “Okay. Let’s go back to bed.”

They undressed slowly, taking their time to feel each other’s bodies as they kissed. Nathan seemed to want Sam to lead, so he did. He ran his hands over Nathan’s chest and down to his hips. Nathan’s cock lay thick and hard on his belly, and Sam leaned down to kiss it, but didn’t take it into his mouth.

“Turn over.”

Nathan grunted something unintelligible, flipped onto his belly, then ground against the soft duvet. His hips canted back, as though in anticipation.

Sam leaned down and kissed a trail to Nathan’s fabulous ass, which was toned and firm from all the swimming. He urged Nathan’s legs apart to kneel between them. Splayed out like that, Nathan was a sight to behold. Sam drank in the long lines of his body—his defined, sleek muscles and narrow hips. Nathan’s hole twitched under the inspection, and Sam ran one finger over the tight furl, smiling as Nathan shuddered.

While Nathan might excel at taking control in bed, Sam knew exactly what to do to make him lose it. He thought he knew what Nathan needed.

Not wasting any more of the precious time they had left, Sam spread Nathan’s cheeks and kissed him right above the clench of skin and then dragged his tongue along a wet, slow path downward. Nathan moaned and pushed back at the contact, and Sam flicked his tongue around his entrance, not lingering long enough for any real satisfaction. He blew softly, letting the warm air tease and tantalize. Then he placed a full kiss right where Nathan needed it. A jolt ran through Nathan’s body, and Sam felt it everywhere they were connected. He nuzzled in deeper, probing with his tongue to open up the tight passage, breathing in the male scent he loved so much. Gradually Nathan started to respond. His muscles quivered and relaxed. Sam gave his ass a playful bite and then added a finger to stretch Nathan’s rim.

The first time Sam had kissed him there, Nathan was unsure, but it hadn’t taken him long to give himself over to the sensation. Sam loved knowing he was the only one who had ever made Nathan come undone like that—the only one who had ever been inside him. And maybe Nathan wanted to remind him their relationship was a mutual, evolving dynamic. They belonged to each other.

Soon Sam’s own need became overpowering. His cock pulsed between his thighs as he reached for the lube.

“No. Just you.” Nathan looked over his shoulder. His eyes were dark with desire and another, more vulnerable emotion.

“It might hurt,” Sam gritted through his teeth.

“I’ll be fine.” Nathan arched his back in defiance. “Do it.”

Sam instinctively obeyed the commanding authority of his tone. With fingers shaking from arousal and emotion, he urged Nathan’s hips up and guided his cock to the cleft of Nathan’s ass, which was still wet from his mouth. He nudged the tip of his dick against Nathan’s hole.

It always seemed impossible, but Nathan opened to him, and he fit himself in, inching deeper. The first full slide was excruciating pleasure. Sam watched himself disappear and bottom out, and he ran his hands up and down Nathan’s lower back in a soothing motion. After so many sessions of orgasm delay and denial, he could come right that instant, simply from Nathan’s velvety muscles clenching around him.

He started a slow rhythm, rocking into Nathan with each thrust. He angled for the best possible penetration, and when Nathan held on to the sheets with both hands and moaned loud and long, he knew he’d found it.

“Like that?” he asked, starting to pant with exertion.

“Shit.” Nathan met him thrust for thrust, arching his back in a long, beautiful line. From the tension radiating from his body, Sam knew his orgasm was building. He also knew Nathan was having a hell of a time stopping himself from barking orders. While he appreciated the reversal of their usual power dynamics and what it meant, Sam wanted Nathan to let go. He slowed his stroke.

“How about this?”

“Mmm. Harder. Don’t play with me. Not now.” Nathan’s voice sounded raw, and Sam bit his lip. He pulled out.

“What are you—”

“I want to see you,” Sam said. “On your back.”

Nathan switched position so Sam could kneel between his thighs again, but this time his mouth was accessible. Sam slid back into him and leaned up for a kiss.

It was even better with Nathan’s face visible. His expressive mouth was soft with pleasure, not hard like it sometimes was when he dominated Sam. He was vulnerable and precious—the most precious thing in Sam’s life. Nathan wrapped his arms around Sam and urged him on.

“Love you,” Sam whispered, catching Nathan’s lips clumsily as he started to come, and the words turned into a groan. With his heart pounding in his ears and his orgasm blotting out all other sensation, he missed the moment Nathan came. But after, when he collapsed on top of his lover and felt the cooling wetness sticking their skin together, he smiled.

“I love you,” said Nathan softly. He brushed his fingers against Sam’s lips. “Be careful while I’m gone. All right?” His eyebrows drew together in a look Sam knew all too well.

Sam reached for the tissues and grabbed a couple for Nathan. “I’ll be fine. Focus on your case. Don’t worry about me.”

“That’s what you always say.” Nathan snorted. He wiped the smear of come from his belly, balled the tissues, then tossed them at the can near the side of the bed—and missed by a mile. Sam laughed, but his throw was no better. The alarm clock already read 9:40 a.m., and as much as he wanted to crawl back into bed and tuck against Nathan’s side, Nathan was already in business mode.

“You know the combination to the safe,” he said, striding to the closet and rifling through his clothes. The safe held enough weaponry to take down the Spanish Armada if they ever showed up in Stonebridge.

“Yes. Yes.” While Sam didn’t like having so many guns in the house, he knew it was important to at least appear willing to use them if trouble arose. He’d needed one to take down Randall Palmer, aka Benedict Anderson, on Halloween. But even though the asshole deserved it, Sam hadn’t enjoyed shooting him in the leg.

“I’m serious,” Nathan said, pausing to look back over his shoulder. “At the very least, you need protection. I don’t want to worry about what you might be up to here.”

“It only seems fair. Tit for tat.”

Nathan furrowed his brow. “Tit for tat? Really?” He pulled on a crisp, black button-down and a pair of dark jeans. No suits on this venture. “Sam—”

“Okay. Okay.” Sam sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. “I get your point. But I will be fine. And you take your own advice and stay out of trouble. I want you home in once piece.”

Nathan leaned down for a kiss. His beard scratched Sam’s smooth-shaven chin. “Understood.”

SAM BREATHED
in the humid country air and surveyed the muddy lot with his hands on his hips. A housing development had hired Manella’s to seed and plant all of the new yards. They were building cookie-cutter houses for families and young professionals making the move from city to country. When Yuri called him to ask if he was interested in helping out, Sam immediately said yes. Sitting around the empty apartment with only Shadow and his laptop for company was starting to take a toll, and it had only been a couple days since Nathan’s departure. He glanced at the sky, hoping the rain would hold off for at least a few hours. They couldn’t afford to lose another day. Around him the other guys discussed the plan of action.

“Hey, bud,” said Yuri, elbowing his side. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s a helluva project. What’s the turnaround on this one?” Sam swiped at a horsefly buzzing around his head.

“They want it done by Friday. Family arrives Monday. We better get our asses to work.”

Sam rubbed his hands together, eager to get them dirty. “You’re the boss.” He enjoyed the work more since he didn’t have to do it every day. It was clear that Juan, Yuri’s new partner, had a lot more ambition for the business, anyway. He was the one who’d gotten the development contract.

The morning grew into a sunny, late-May afternoon. Sam shot the shit with the other guys, but in quiet moments, his mind wandered to Nathan. He wondered whether he and Eric had hit the club yet, and if so, what it was like. Of course he didn’t really want to know, but he couldn’t help thinking about it. He had only heard from Nathan once so far—a brief call on the night he arrived in Jersey. They planned to talk that night, though, so Sam pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind and focused on the work.

He was tired by the end of the day, but not terribly so. With all the running he’d been doing, he was in the best cardio shape of his life. He whipped off his shirt and used it to mop his sweaty forehead. The rain had held off, but it was only a matter of time. Thunder rumbled in the distance.