Redemption FinalWPF6 7 (7 page)

Pete. His only brother. Either Gabe already knew all about
his brother or he was being politely curious. Maybe by talking, Uriah could
figure out if the good doctor was hiding his real involvement or really was as
innocent in all this as he appeared. He thought for a moment about where to
start.

“To understand Pete, you have to understand my family. My
father. Back in the seventies, when the word spread that the tribes were going
to put casinos on their lands, all kinds of people wanted to find some trace of
Native American blood, figuring they’d get rich. Dad wasn’t able to show the
right pedigree as he put it, so he found a young girl at a group home for
mixed-bloods. She was barely over eighteen. He married her so she could give
him kids with Navajo blood and some legitimacy within the tribal council. Nine
months after the wedding she had Pete. She had a couple of miscarriages before
she had me. She conveniently died during my birth, so he didn’t have to worry
about having extra baggage left about. He got the two boys he wanted, and got rid
of the wife he didn't.”

Uriah realized he was rubbing his stomach, trying to loosen
the knots that formed when he thought of his father. He let his hand drop to
the sand. “From my earliest memories I always knew I was the extra, the spare
in case my brother didn’t work out. Dad didn't have to worry. Pete gave him
what he needed. Tops in school, a three-sport athlete, popular, and was more
than willing to follow in Dad’s footsteps and become a lawyer so they could
work together.

“Dad was one of the earliest to specialize in Native
American civil rights. Better than an ambulance chaser, Dad makes his money,”
he made air quotes, “representing the interests of the disenfranchised.” He
lowered his hands, aware he sounded bitter, but not ready to back off. This was
what his brother bought into, the path he’d chosen to follow. “My father's firm
makes a lot of money, but it’s never enough. Currently, he targets Federal
agencies working with the various tribes because they have the deepest
pockets.”

Gabe was a good listener, making noises at all the
appropriate spots, and Uriah found himself forgetting he was supposed to be
suspicious of the man. He was beginning to believe that Diane was right. Everything
about Gabe rang true.

“Thinking about your brother?” Gabe prompted, after the
silence had stretched for long minutes between them.

"My brother followed in our dad's footsteps. More than
I knew. He'd become all about getting rich."

"But you’re here to scatter his ashes. Obviously from
what you said the other night you feel responsible in some way. How did he
die?" Gabe asked.

"Suicide. He shot himself." Uriah waited a beat
but when Gabe didn't gasp or act shocked, he took in a deep breath and blew it
out through tight lips. "It was my fault. I swear, if I could take it back
I would. I never would have…" His throat tightened convulsively as tears
threatened.

Uriah was aware that Gabe was watching him, but he kept his
face turned toward   the river. There was comfort to be found in the fluid
constancy, the juxtaposition of water over rock. A relentless pressure could
cause anything to crumble. He blinked, swallowed hard, and cleared his throat.
He couldn’t find the words to go on.

Gabe touched his arm. "Uriah, your brother was an
adult. He could have gotten help for whatever it was that disturbed him. Suicide
is never anyone else’s fault. Why don’t you tell me what happened?"

Nodding, finally able to speak, Uriah began again. "I
refused to follow into the family business, so Dad wouldn't pay for my college.
I do a little carpentry work, to help pay my tuition."

Gabe turned to look at him, eyes wide. “Jesus, you really
are a college boy?”

“I’m older than I look.” Uriah smiled at Gabe. Again, the
moment seemed to stretch between them. With a shrug, he continued. "A few
months ago, Pete asked me to build a bookshelf in his office with hidden
storage space behind it. I was always making secret boxes and hiding things as
a kid. Pete always tried to find them. It was a game, and I usually won.

"Anyway, this was a massive project and even though I
sort of expected to do it for free, Pete said Dad would pay for a semester of
college if I did it in a hurry. He and Dad planned to put in a safe. It was the
biggest job I’d ever tackled and it had to be done alone, otherwise it wasn’t a
secret, right?"

Gabe nodded that he understood.

"Because of my class schedule and Pete's clients, I did
all of the work on weekends or after hours. Sometimes I would catch a couple of
hours sleep right there behind the case, especially if I had an early morning
class. One night about a month ago, I grabbed a quick nap before I got started
because I’d been up over twenty-four hours between work and studying. I’d been
asleep for maybe two hours when I heard Pete and my father talking over plans
for a project at the Grand Canyon. I stayed where I was because I didn’t want
to hear another lecture on how I’m throwing my life away studying
horticulture.”

Gabe blinked. “You’re studying horticulture?” he asked, his
tone neutral, but Uriah saw the flash of surprise and grinned.

“No, but it’s the first major I could think of that would
piss him off enough that he’d leave me alone. So anyway, I was thinking about
catching another hour of sleep, and then I heard Dad leaving. He told Pete to
do whatever he needed to do to fix it. As soon as Dad left, Pete immediately
got on the phone.

“At first, I thought it might be Diane…I mean it was, you
know, intimate, but from the things Pete was saying, I finally realized he was
talking to another guy. That really got my attention. There was a lot more to
the conversation from Pete’s side. I didn’t let on I was there, and after Pete hung
up and left the office, I started searching. It took nearly two weeks before I
uncovered it all. I had to keep working on the bookcase, too, so he and Dad
wouldn’t know I was gathering evidence, but that’s what I was doing. I planned
to turn everything over once I had proof.”

“You lost me, Uriah. If Pete was having an affair with a guy,
I agree it’s bad, but is seems like Dee would believe you without—Wait…Proof of
what?” Gabe asked.

Uriah nodded. “Do you know about the uranium mining in the
canyon?” Uriah asked, finally forcing himself to the heart of the matter.

“Sure, a little. I mean it was big news around here when the
Park Service called a moratorium on mining.”

“Exactly. And my dad and brother were planning a big lawsuit.
They knew they have no valid claim, but they are soliciting for clients on the res,
stirring up trouble, telling them the government’s stealing from them. Pete
came out here to sign up a few more clients and met with a guy named Joe.”

Uriah looked over his shoulder at the apparently sleeping Diane
and decided to continue. “From what I could tell, they started an affair, and Joe
wanted Pete to leave everything and move out here. Claimed he knew where some
treasure was hidden that would make them rich. Pete wanted that more than
anything, something to break him free from Dad.”

“When I’d gotten the proof about the mining lawsuit, some
bribery, and a couple of letters from Joe, I confronted Pete. Told him I wasn’t
going to let it happen. Not to the Navajo, not to this guy he had at the canyon
waiting for him. Not to Diane.

“Pete cried…fucking cried. Said he didn’t want to do this,
but our father was making him. He couldn’t get out of the deal and that the
marriage was the only thing saving him. He said he really did love Joe and that
they had all the clues to find this treasure left in the canyon nearly a
hundred years ago. Anyway…it was a long, ugly fight. I told him he had to come
clean with everyone. Tell Diane the truth, come with me to the Park Service to
tell them what was happening with the trumped up lawsuit. He said he was tired
of the lies.”

“Did you believe him?”

“Yes—no. I don’t know. Not about the treasure, but I knew it
was true about our father. He would never tolerate anything but straight from
one of his sons. Pete had always been the golden boy, but if Dad found out he
was gay?” Uriah blew out a breath, shook his head. “About the other…the being
in love part and coming clean? I wanted to…but… Anyway, that was a Friday,”
Uriah said quietly. “We were supposed to meet my father on Sunday, to give him
a chance to drop the lawsuit before we exposed him. We never got that chance
because by Sunday morning, Pete was dead.”

Gabe turned to face him and the hazel gaze trapped him,
hypnotized, paralyzed. He couldn’t breathe. Feelings he had no name for chased
through him. They sat next to each other, leg against leg, and the wiry hair of
Gabe’s shorts-clad thigh scritched against his own smooth skin. He burned where
they touched.

“Uriah, you can’t hold yourself responsible for your
brother’s choice in this. He had a lot of pressures, your father, the lover,
the lawsuit. You can’t claim responsibility for his action; you just have to
learn to live with it. I think it’s probably time for you to acknowledge the
real source of the guilt you feel is that you’re in love with your brother’s
wife,” Gabe said.

A statement, not a question. It was a truth Uriah had denied
for years, would still deny.

“No.” His voice sounded funny. Strangled, as if he would
choke on the lie. He cleared his throat and repeated his answer. “No.”

“Don’t lie to me, Uriah. I can see it in the way you watch
her, in the way you made love with her, in the way you say her name. You love
Diane, and you don’t know what to do with those feelings. And now, you want me.
Given everything with your father and brother, that leaves you in a real mess.”

Uriah’s breath was coming fast. He wanted to look away, to
move, to shout that every word was a lie. But he was frozen in place as Gabe
moved closer. He licked his suddenly dry lips.

“Yes,” Uriah whispered.

Gabe’s gaze dropped to Uriah’s mouth, and he growled low in
his chest. Before Uriah could speak, Gabe closed the distance between them.

This kiss was nothing like the gentle press of lips earlier.
It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Firmer, rougher…scratchier. That
thought almost drew a laugh, but then Gabe slipped his tongue inside Uriah’s
mouth, and all ability for rational thought slipped away. Gabe’s hand slid up
to cup the back of Uriah’s head, fingers threading into his hair, pulling him
close.

There was a dangerous edge of possessiveness to Gabe’s
demand. Then Gabe’s other hand touched Uriah’s face. Gentle, tender,
unexpected.
This isn’t how men touch. Is it?

Chapter Seven

Diane woke with a start, shifting from sleep to awake with a
jerk of tired muscles and pounding heart. Momentarily at a loss to explain her
surroundings, she lay still. Memories flooded back as she heard Uriah speaking
to Gabe. She rolled to her side to let them know she was awake, but the words
caught in her throat when she caught sight of the two men. She had a perfect
view of them as they leaned against the cave wall. She was tucked into the shadows,
invisible to them. Not that they were looking at her.

Uriah licked his lips and Gabe’s eyes narrowed and shifted
focus for a second, locked on what she knew was one of the most beautiful
mouths she’d ever seen…ever tasted. Gabe leaned forward, their lips a
hairsbreadth apart. Then Uriah sighed as Gabe closed the distance and pushed
their mouths together.

A gentle touch of lips that stole her breath at the beauty
of the act, at the beauty of the two men. Then the gentleness disappeared in
maelstrom of need. Hot, hungry gasps of breath. Swallowed murmurs and moans.
Her breasts felt full, tight with need, nipples pinched into hard peaks when
Gabe’s hand slid to Uriah’s bare chest and he pinched the dark copper nipple.
Jesus, she wanted that nipple in her mouth, the taste of Uriah on her tongue.
The feel of Gabe at her back.

To have the both of them—

Gabe broke the kiss and leaned back, slightly. “I want you,
Uriah. Make no mistake, I fucking want to have you, want to teach you,” Gabe
said. His voice was heavy, deep. His breath came in panting gasps. Oh God, was
he going to take Uriah right now? She went wet at the thought.

It was too dark to see Uriah’s eyes, but something about his
posture changed at Gabe’s words. He’d definitely been enjoying the kiss, if she
was to judge by the quiet sounds from the back of his throat. But when Gabe
growled that promise, Uriah…melted. Shit, that wasn’t right, too
girly…maybe…submitted. Uriah turned up his chin and exposed his throat. Gabe nuzzled
into the crook and bit his way along the collarbone, just like he was claiming
his mate. Diane shook her head at the fantasy. Something about the mysticism of
the canyon was getting to her.

Jesus God, I’m going to come just watching them.

Gabe pulled back again with a little bite to Uriah’s bottom
lip.

“God, Uriah. So fucking hot. So fucking young.” Gabe leaned
in and brushed his lips across Uriah’s once more. Then he stood and offered his
hand. Uriah reached up, and Gabe pulled him to his feet. The men stood close
for a minute before Gabe gave Uriah a little push on the shoulder to turn him
toward the cave.

“It’s my turn on the watch, you go tuck in next to Diane.
You need the sleep and there will be time enough for all of us to think about
this. Because it can’t just be you and me, college boy. You love, Diane, and
I’m fairly certain those feelings don’t go just the one way. For me, it would
have to be a package deal, because I want you both. But
I’m
not certain
I can go there with a couple, again. Go on,” he said, giving Uriah another
little push.

As Uriah shuffled deeper into their cave, Diane quickly
closed her lids so they wouldn’t realize that she’d been awake and privy to
their conversation, to their kisses. What had Gabe meant about couples? And how
did
he
know how she felt about Uriah? With a secret smile, Diane knew
that no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes, she’d never forget the look on
Uriah’s face: eyes sleepy-sexy, heavy lids half-closed, his mouth kiss swollen,
lips slightly parted…
God.