Dealing With the Dead (3 page)

"Thank you, Frannie, that would be greatly appreciated."

"No worries. Leave it with me." Both Frannie and Jackson left and closed the door behind them.

Jayden looked at Noah as the door closed, their eyes meeting. A shiver of arousal slid through his body as Noah continued to stare into ocean-blue eyes. Jayden's mouth quirked into a shy smile.

"Now, Jayden, how long have you managed?"
Jayden broke their eye contact as he turned to his father once again.

"Umm, I'm not sure. I go and talk with Gramps when I'm feeling lonely and I lose track of time a fair bit while we're talking. Last time I think it was somewhere around the five hour mark."

"Holy shit, son." To say that James seemed shocked would be an understatement. But this was exactly what Noah needed.

"And that didn't drain all your power?" Jayden shook his head.

"I barely felt the loss." At this admission, pink stained his cheeks in embarrassment.

"I hate to sound like a broken record, but holy shit."

Noah watched James as the man attempted to digest what his son had just said. His mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to speak again. "How?" James's voice broke on the single word.

"Gramps seems to think it's because I'm the seventh son of a seventh son."

Noah whistled. That was something pretty big, if you believed in all that.

James stood suddenly and shook his head. "That's not right though. I'm the youngest of six not seven. I only
have five brothers."

"I'm sorry, Dad, but that's not correct." Jayden looked utterly heartbroken.

"What are you talking about? I think I would know how many brothers I have, Jayden." Noah couldn't decide if James was angry, hurt or just plain confused.

"Jayden, baby, please just tell us what you know,"

Jessica said as she walked forward to comfort her husband.

Noah watched as Jayden steeled himself for what he was about to say. "I can only tell you what Gramps told me," he said so quietly that Noah was having trouble hearing him.

"You had another brother, Terrance."

"What do you mean, 'had'?" his father asked. James had gone as white as a sheet at the news he had another brother.

Jayden ran his fingers through his hair and seemed to gather the last of his resolve before he turned once again to look at his father. "Terrance was Gran and Gramps' first child. He was born when Gran was only seventeen." Jayden took a deep breath before he continued. "He only lived for two weeks… it was cot death. Gran was devastated.

Gramps says it took years for her to get over his death.

Gran was twenty-three when Uncle Maxwell was born."
Noah watched as James seemed to collapse with the news that he'd had a brother he had no idea about. "Why didn't they ever tell us?" the man choked out.

"I don't know, Dad, that's something you'll have to ask Gramps."

Noah stood in silence trying not to intrude on the Thompson family's private time. Yes, he had asked to be included in what was said here today, however, he really had no idea it would get so personal. Jessica was still comforting James while Jayden sat as quiet as a mouse behind his desk looking decidedly sick at having to break such news to his father.

After a good ten minutes, James pulled himself together enough to ask his son to take care of Noah before he and his wife quietly left the room.

The silence after the door clicked shut was broken by a loud rumbling.

"Sorry."

"Excuse me." They both spoke at the same time.

Looking at the other man, Noah noticed a cute blush staining Jayden's cheeks again.

"Are you okay?" Noah asked never taking his gaze off Jayden's red-rimmed eyes. "I know you don't know me, but I could tell how difficult what just happened was on
you."

"Thank you. I'll be fine, I think." Noah watched as Jayden thought about his answer for a moment before he continued. "I really should have said something earlier, but how do you tell your parents something like that?"

Noah didn't think Jayden really wanted an answer so he remained silent.

He watched as Jayden snapped out of his musings and glanced at his lunch before looking back at him. "Can I interest you in half a sandwich?"

"Are you sure? That's your lunch,"

"It's fine. It's way more than I can eat anyway. Plus we have things to discuss and I don't think we'll be getting out of here anytime soon."

"Thank you. I would appreciate that." Noah sat forward on the edge of his seat and waited as Jayden unwrapped the food. The sandwich looked and smelled delicious. Jayden placed half on the paper bag it had been packaged in and slid it across the desk to Noah. "Hope you like it. It's my favourite."

"Thank you."

Noah picked up his half, squashing it in his hands slightly to fit it into his mouth. Taking his first bite he moaned as the flavours assaulted his palate. The crispy
chicken schnitzel, perfectly cooked bacon, ripe tomatoes and slightly melted cheese tasted like pure heaven.

Noah flicked his eyes up and across the desk when he heard the giggle. He arched an eyebrow but Jayden just smiled and took a bite of his own half. Noah was barely able to swallow his food when Jayden's eyes closed as the most erotic sound he'd ever heard in his life had his blood heating in seconds.

Noah grunted as his cock hardened. This was
so
not the time to be sprouting a hard-on. Jayden didn't seem to have any idea the effect he was having on Noah and the young man just continued to eat. Deciding that was a good idea, Noah concentrated on his food too. Everything else, including his cock, could wait until after they finished their lunch.
CHAPTER 3

Jayden was worried about his dad. It wasn't every day you find out that your parents had another child you knew nothing about. He really hated having to be the one to tell him about Terrance. But, seeing as how Gramps was dead and Jayden didn't have another explanation as to why he was so powerful, he had no choice.

There wasn't anything more he could do for his dad so he concentrated instead on what his father had asked him to do today. Take care of Noah Michaels. All sorts of naughty ideas raced through his mind detailing just how he could take care of Noah.

Jayden had never been so glad to be sitting behind his desk in his life. His mind began to betray him with random thoughts about the sexy man in front of him.

Before long, he was so hard he could pound nails. There was no way in hell someone as stunning as Noah Michaels would ever be interested in a twenty-year-old necromancer with blue streaked hair. Jayden sighed softly and decided to finish his lunch then conclude their meeting as quickly as possible. It was not good work practice to be getting hard around the clients.

Once lunch was finished Jayden fished out some
spare napkins he kept in his desk draw and passed a couple over to Noah. He really needed to stop thinking about the man as if he wasn't a potential client. Once he was cleaned up he took a large gulp of his water before putting it aside and concentrating on the man opposite him.

"Thank you, that was delicious."

"You're welcome. As I said it's my favourite. Just can't have it too often."

"You don't have anything to worry about."

Jayden paused, wondering if that meant what he thought it meant. Jayden found himself unsure of how to proceed and eventually stammered out a "thank you".

"Now, Mr Michaels, why don't you tell me why you want to raise someone for more than fifteen minutes?"

"Well, for starters you can call me Noah."

"Okay, Noah, and I'm just Jayden."

"It's nice to meet you, 'just' Jayden," Noah replied with a smile that lit up his eyes. Why did Jayden feel as if he was being stripped bare and devoured by this man?

Jayden cleared his throat and asked again, "How can the Thompson Agency help you?"

"Have you ever heard of Grayson Michaels?" Noah asked him.

"Ah, yeah sure. He's a famous novelist, with a
dozen or more bestsellers. Can I ask what this has to do with why you're here?"

Noah sighed. "Grayson's my twin brother. A month ago he was on his way to pick up his daughter from school when a teenager who was trying to outrun the cops ran a red light on the highway and collided with his car. He died instantly."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Noah. I can't imagine how difficult that must have been for you."

"Thank you. His wife, Rebecca and their daughter Nikki are devastated."

"Understandable." That was the one thing he hated about his job, dealing with the emotional, grief stricken family members that were left behind. As bad as it sounded he was glad Rebecca wasn't here. He honestly didn't think he could have dealt with any more crying today, he was still feeling a little fragile from earlier as it was.

"Rebecca came to me a week ago crying. She doesn't know what the hell to do about the last book Gray was working on. She kept going on about how Gray would have wanted it finished. I told her to leave it with me and I would deal with it. She had enough on her plate as it was.

"Gray was in the middle of writing the last book in his current series. I know he had plans for a new series but
that doesn't matter now. What does matter is the book needs to be finished. Gray would be devastated at stringing all his fans along through eight books only for them not to get the ending they want and deserve."

Jayden nodded. Now he understood exactly why no one else could help Noah in his quest.

"I have all his notes and his storyboards, but that's just what they are, notes and a board with more notes and timelines. There is no way in hell I could ever attempt to finish what my brother started. He was always the talented one in that area. I need your help to give Rebecca and Nikki a little peace of mind."

"So, basically what you need from me is to raise your brother for hours at a time so you can talk with him and he can dictate to you the remainder of his story while you type it?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand it's not going to be cheap to do this?" Jayden hated bringing up the subject of money, but his father and brothers would skin him alive if he didn't.

"Money isn't an object. Are you saying you can do this?"

Jayden sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before looking deep into Noah's eyes. The hope that lit
them settled deep inside him.

"Yeah, I can do it. It might take a few weeks, hell a few months depending on the story." Noah's reaction was instant. There was a mixture of appreciation, anticipation, and what he though was maybe a little fear. Fear, he had learned, was a constant emotion among those that were going to see their loved ones again.

Jayden watched as Noah visibly relaxed in front of him. "Thank you. I can't tell you what this means to our family. After talking with your father and brother I had started to give up hope of being able to help Rebecca finish Gray's last work."

Jayden couldn't help but be struck by the emotion in Noah's voice. He had never lost a loved one to a senseless act so he had no idea what the other man was going through, especially as his brother had been taken from him by a reckless kid.

He started rummaging through his draws looking for the appropriate paperwork. Jayden retrieved what he needed and turned back to Noah. They settled down for the next half-hour going over everything in detail and completing all the paperwork required. Jayden had just signed the last form when there was a knock at the door and his father, who was looking a lot more composed then he
had when he left, entered the office.

"Everything okay in here?" Dad asked as he walked in.

"Yes, thank you for everything," Noah answered quickly looking at Jayden before turning to face his father.

"Everything's good, Dad, we just finished signing all the paperwork."

"So you can do it then?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can. Shouldn't be a problem. You'll have to clear my schedule for at least the next month, maybe more.

We'll be starting tomorrow night."

His father shook his head, but smiled at him anyway. "Sorry, I'm still having a little trouble with the fact that there is so much about my boy that I didn't know."

"Dad—" Jayden hated the fact that he had hurt his parents. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone. He just didn't know how to tell anyone he was different. He also didn't want his brothers hating him because he had more power than them.

His dad lifted a hand, stalling anything else he was going to say. "It's okay. It's just going to take a little time to get used to it. I'm glad that you were able to help Noah here, though. Don't worry about your schedule. I'll have Frannie add your clients to your brothers' and my
schedules."

Jayden smiled. "Thanks Dad. I'm glad I could help Noah too."

He watched as the man in question stood and shook his father's hand thanking him for the opportunity to do business with them before turning back to him.

"Thank you for everything. I look forward to tomorrow," Noah said as he held out his hand. Jayden stood and reached out to grasp the other man's hand.

Shock raced through him from the contact. It felt like electricity had run up his arm and down through his body. Jayden gasped in complete surprise. He had always been told by his parents that necromancers didn't sense their mates by scent like some paranormals, instead, they recognised their perfect matches by touch.

It was then that Jayden realised this was the first time he had touched Noah since he had met the man several hours earlier. Looking at the man whose hand he still held, he was a little startled to see the shock and hunger staring back at him in those deep green eyes.

They stood there for several minutes, neither of them saying a word, until a throat clearing broke the trance Jayden was in.
CHAPTER 4

Jayden turned slowly in the direction of the noise, unwilling to take his eyes off Noah until the absolute last second. As it was, he refused to let go of the other man's hand and what felt like electrical charges continued to run up and down his arm from the contact between them.

Jayden was still trying to get his head around the fact that he'd met his mate.
His mate!