To Serve and Protect (3 page)

“You need protection since the man who tried to kill you escaped.”

Vincent couldn’t help but shake his head, which hurt, a lot. “Excuse me? Someone tried to kill me?” His mind tried to make sense of Jacob’s words, but his memory came up empty. Panic narrowed his throat, and he laid his head back down to stop the vertigo effect from making him pass out.

Jacob nodded and came to sit at the foot of his bed. “My partner and I found you injured and unconscious in the alleyway. The killer was just about to cut you when we stopped him.”

Vincent’s eyes widened. “Holy shit! Cut me? Cut me where?”

“We guess your chest, to remove your heart. He’s a serial killer, you see, and you would have been his fourth victim. Victim number three was lying beside you, by the way.”

“Boy, things keep getting better and better. My life is a real horror story!”

“Sorry. Maybe I should have waited and gotten the okay from the doctor to lay all this on you.”

Vincent shook his head. “No way. If someone is trying to kill me, I want to know!” He paused and then asked, “So you’re a cop?”

Jacob nodded. “Yup, detective.”

Disappointment got the better of Vincent. “Oh, for some reason I got the impression we knew each other quite well.”

Jacob grinned. “Yeah, we do.” He hesitated but then added, “We kind of had something going some months back.”

He chuckled. “Ah, I knew it!”

* * * *

Vincent’s reaction baffled Jacob. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Vincent moved to the side of the bed and motioned for him to sit closer, but Jacob hesitated, waiting for his response. “The way you looked at me before tells me we had something between us. There’s this strong physical and spiritual attraction, connection, I sense.”

Anger rose in Jacob with Vincent’s response. The day they broke up and Vincent’s exact words came back to haunt Jacob. “
You’re one great guy, but you’re getting too intense for us right now. That may be all right for you and you’re ready for it. But not me. I don’t want that. Too complicated. I like the no-strings-attached kind of thing going on and well, that isn’t you. So the time has come for us to go our separate ways.
”

“Nope, no spiritual connection, dude. All we had was physical and it’s been over for quite some time,” Jacob said, standing up and crossing his arms over his chest.

Vincent frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that. I honestly felt like there was this real and intense thing between us there.” He rubbed the shoulder of his injured arm with his good hand. “Ah, would you know if I have family? A love? Kids?”

Jacob shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t know much. You were pretty private on these things. But I do know you have no kids. Your family lives far away. As for a loved one, we haven’t seen each other in many months. Almost six months. If you are with someone now, I wouldn’t know.”

The thought that Vincent was seeing someone seriously now cut into Jacob’s heart. No matter how he tried to harden it, his feelings for this man he thought he erased still had deep roots in his heart and soul. Regardless of how much Vincent hurt him before, Jacob still loved Vincent in some way. Which made this so damn complicated and hard for him.

“How about friends?” Vincent asked with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Sorry, there again, you kept that to yourself.”

“Hmm, sounds like I’m a real ass, then.” Vincent looked to the wall with a blank, numb expression. Jacob could see Vincent’s need to piece his life together. To piece his identity, himself, together, and what Jacob was feeding him didn’t sit too well.

Jacob gave him an encouraging smile. “No, not at all. Just a private man.”

“How about a wallet? Did you find anything on me that may help to tell me something about myself? Or am I grasping at straws here?”

“I’m afraid we found nothing on you. No wallet. No keys. No money. Nothing. Not even Kleenex.”

Vincent didn’t respond, only bowed his head and sighed, deeply.

Jacob sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed the top of his good hand. A spark of electricity shot through him on their contact, as it always did when they touched. And it was more intense whenever they made love. But that was another time, another world.

Pushing the feelings threatening to surface, he stated, trying to cheer him, “The doctor said that apart from the amnesia, you suffered no brain damage and that your arm will heal fairly quickly. He said you’re fine and the amnesia is temporary. Your memories will all come back to you in time. So he is releasing you in my custody tomorrow and wants to see you back in a few days. If you feel up to it, how about we head to your apartment and see what we can find that’ll help jog your memory. Plus, maybe we can find some clues to help us in identifying our killer.”

Fear etched into Vincent’s features. “You think I know the killer?”

“At this moment, we don’t know. His past two victims had nothing in common, except the coroner did find they both had their blood drained from their bodies and their hearts had been cut out.”

Vincent shook his head. “Freakin’ bizarre if you ask me. Sounds like a vampire story.”

“If it were possible, yeah, it sounds like that.”

Vincent paused and then asked, “How about the last victim you found in the alleyway with me?”

“Results haven’t come in yet for his body. But he also had no ID on him or wallet, just like you. But we were able to identify him through his fingerprints. His name was Whitman Ford. The other two victims’ names were Sarah Jones and Mark Melden. Do any of the names sound familiar?”

Vincent laughed. “Nope. I got amnesia, remember?”

Jacob smiled, but he swore he caught something in Vincent’s eyes when he said the name Whitman Ford. Could it be Vincent knew the last victim?

Chapter 3

Vincent sat on eggshells that were about to crack with the slightest of pressure. That was how he felt while he rested quietly in Jacob’s car as they drove back to Vincent’s apartment. He had no idea what he’d find there. Or whom for that matter.

Jacob had said that his partner, Troy, had tried to call his number Jacob had given him but that it was out of service. Apparently, he had cancelled his number a few months back and never got a new one. No phone service. Not even a cell number. Who the hell would not have a phone whatsoever?

The more he uncovered about himself, the more confused he got. It was as if he was a secret agent or something, leading a double life, because frankly the life he was starting to sketch out was cold, heartless, and full of holes!

As he stared out the side window, he felt something come to rest on his knee. “Relax, Vincent. Everything will be fine.”

Vincent turned to see Jacob’s hand on his knee and then gazed into his eyes. “It shows that much, huh?” Then he put his hand over Jacob’s and felt his strength and warmth and just absorbed it. Mmm, it felt good to be in contact with him like this.

Their eyes fixed. And for a few seconds, Jacob was silent. Then he turned back to focus on the road and laughed. “Yeah, you haven’t stopped fidgeting since you got into my car.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it. I’m scared of what I’ll find when we get to my apartment.”

Jacob looked at him again and this time tapped his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be by your side all the while.”

Vincent shook his head.

“What, why are you shaking your head like that?”

He smiled, admiring Jacob’s perfect face, his blue eyes, and blond hair that kept slipping into his eyes even though he kept pushing it back over his ears, and his lips, full and sensual. How did it feel kissing them? Damn, he’d give anything to remember it.

“Uh, I was just wondering why we split up. You say it was only physical between us, but why didn’t it grow into something more amazing? Why did it end?”

Jacob’s eyes turned serious as he returned his focus on the road ahead. “Actually, I thought we had something more. It had started to become something more to me and I thought for you, too. You never said it in so many words, but I saw it in your eyes and in how we made love. I honestly thought we were both falling in love. But…”

Vincent cursed. “Let me guess, the prick that I was freaked out and decided to end things before they even started.”

Jacob nodded. “Something like that.”

Vincent rubbed his temples right under the bandage on his head. “The more I hear about Vincent Brewster, the more I don’t want to be him.”

* * * *

Damn, Jacob was falling once more. And again there was no safety net to catch him. The Vincent sitting beside him now, this Vincent reminded him of the Vincent he first fell in love with. The Vincent whose charm and charisma won him over instantly. But how long before the old Vincent would resurface, the one who wanted nothing further to do with him. He’d get his heart broken all over again. No, no, he would never go down the same hurtful path once more.

Trying to change the subject, he asked, “Would you like to grab something to eat? You didn’t eat much of the hospital food this morning.”

Vincent shuddered, then smiled. “I’m getting nauseous thinking of those runny scrambled eggs. I think they cook badly so patients get sick and have to spend more time in there,” he joked.

Jacob laughed, relieved Vincent got the message that he didn’t want to go down that lane he was suggesting. “So I take that as a yes?”

“Yup.” Vincent nodded.

And with that, Jacob turned the corner, heading to a restaurant where he knew the service was fast and good and where he could cool off. Thanks to the previous topic, it was getting hot in there.

Chapter 4

Rocky road ice cream. For some reason Vincent craved rocky road ice cream right now.

When the blonde waitress walked over to their table and asked, “What can I get you?” he looked at Jacob, waiting for his answer.

Jacob didn’t reply because he still scanned the menu, so Vincent asked, “Do you have any ice cream?”

“Yeah, we have chocolate, vanilla, strawberry…”

Jacob interrupted, “Do you have any rocky road?”

Vincent’s jaw dropped. “I was just about to ask that.”

Jacob shrugged. “I figured. It’s your favorite.”

Well, even though his mind didn’t remember things, his palate did.

The waitress nodded. “Yeah, we have some.”

“I’ll have that.”

Jacob asked, “You don’t want a burger or something before?”

He shook his head. “Nope, I’m only in the mood for dessert.”

Jacob laughed. “Okay. Mind if I have a full meal, though?”

Vincent smiled back as Jacob ordered a hamburger platter and beer. He stared at Jacob’s muscular arms leaning on the table and at his chest through his tight-fitting black T-shirt under his jacket. He wondered if he had chest hair or not. If Jacob did, then it would be fun to run his fingers through it as they tickled his skin. And if he was hairless, well then Vincent’s mouth would have free rein, probing every delectable inch of Jacob’s chest. He imagined how it was like to kiss and touch his body and make love to him, and he got excited.

Taking a deep breath to calm his sexual urges, he asked, “Do you like rocky road ice cream, too?”

Jacob smiled as he stared at his paper napkin under his fork and folded it on its side. His reflecting eyes sparkled. “Yeah, we often made rocky road a treat.”

Vincent’s ears perked. “Really? What type of treat are we talking?”

Just as he asked the question, an image appeared in his mind’s eye. The image of Jacob naked and tied on the bed smiling, eating something, formed in his head. Vincent also was naked kneeling beside him on the bed. He had just placed a carton of rocky road ice cream on the nightstand.

He bent down and kissed Jacob on his soft, full lips and felt his own hunger, his anticipation. He slipped his tongue into his mouth and tasted the remnants of ice cream he had just fed him.

The taste of the ice cream mixed with the taste of Jacob had him in a frenzy. His tongue demanded and probed his mouth. Jacob kissed him back with equal passion and their tongues moved in a mating dance of love.

Vincent explored Jacob’s toned body, his fingers inching their way down his chest and tight abs until he got to his cock. It was erect, and excitedly waiting for him. When he wrapped his fingers around it, he heard a moan escape his lover. And as he stroked it up and down, feeling and measuring and exploring every delectable part of him there, he slipped out of Jacob’s mouth and dipped in to whisper in his ear, “You’re my slave and you’ll be begging for release soon.”

He began to nibble his ear as Jacob moaned, “Yes, yes.” His pelvis thrust in sync with Vincent’s ministrations on his cock. Vincent felt his climax coming and it excited him. His heartbeat quickened as did his senses, his sense of hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell.

Wanting to savor more of his touch, smell, and taste, he licked Jacob’s ear, then neck. And that was when he smelled not only Jacob’s body essence but his blood, too. The metallic scent of it drew his attention, and a hunger deep within him, savage and primitive, pushed him to open his mouth and just before he bit Jacob’s neck, the image disappeared.