To Serve and Protect (6 page)

Now he lay on the floor next to a bed, with Jacob sitting on him, holding him down.

Jacob was screaming, “What’s wrong with you, Vincent?”

Vincent closed his eyes, shook his head, and reopened them again to make sure he was now awake, that in fact it had been a dream and now it was over. Yet why did he feel so weird and what was Jacob doing on him?

Slowly his senses started to clear, and he remembered he was in Jacob’s apartment and had been sleeping in the guest bedroom. Vincent looked over his head to see Jacob held his wrists pinned to the floor. “What happened?” he asked him.

Jacob didn’t move but said, “That’s what I’d like to know. I heard a scream and came to investigate. When I saw you were having a nightmare and thrashing about, I decided I should wake you from it. That’s when you attacked me!”

Vincent half laughed. “I attacked you?”

“Yes, you did.” Jacob’s eyes were serious.

Now understanding what happened, he couldn’t help but make light of the funny and compromising situation. And besides that, staring into Jacob’s eyes and having him sitting on Vincent’s pelvis was giving him a hard-on. Jacob looked just too cute and too serious.

Giving him a sideways grin, Vincent said, “If I attacked you, then why are you on me, instead of the other way around?”

Jacob let go of his wrists. “I’m sorry. I…” He began to move off of him, when Vincent stopped him. He didn’t want him to get up. The attraction pulling him to Jacob obsessed him.

Vincent grabbed his hand, desperately trying to stall Jacob’s retreat, and asked, “Is this how we used to play before making love?”

Jacob didn’t speak, just stared into his eyes transfixed for a second, and Vincent swore Jacob’s defensive wall had started to crumble when his stare became a hungry, sexual look. But a second after that, Jacob broke the trance and got up.

He offered his hand to Vincent, who took it, pulling himself up. But Vincent didn’t let go of it. “Why do you always pull away? Do I scare you that much?” he asked.

Jacob frowned. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped and stared with a look of bewilderment at Vincent’s hand holding him. “How can you do that? Isn’t it hurting you?”

Vincent let go and lifted his arm. “What the…?” He blinked as he moved it up and down and around. No pain, no tension where the stitches had been. It felt as good as new.

He started to pull off the bandages, when Jacob stopped him. “Don’t. You’ll open the wound and it’ll bleed again.”

But Vincent didn’t care. Curiosity compelled him to look, just like it compelled bystanders or passersby to stare at the debris, the injured victims, and the blood at the scene of accidents.

He peeled off the bandage, pulling his arm hair, too, but it barely made him flinch.

And as he surmised, the cut had healed. No mark. No scar. Not even the stitches remained.

The doctor had said he would remove the stitches in ten days. Where did they go? Did they come off? Looking at the bandages he removed, he saw no suture stuck to it. Were they dissolving sutures?

He rubbed the skin and Jacob stopped him. “What are you doing?”

He obviously hadn’t seen the healed wound until now, when he stared at his arm in awe.

“It healed so quickly?” he asked, his mouth falling open.

Not knowing what to answer, Vincent said, “So it appears.”

Jacob stared at his face and bandaged forehead. “Your eye isn’t bloodshot anymore. What about your head? How does that feel?”

Vincent had completely forgotten about that. He touched it through the gauze and felt nothing. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Jacob touched it with hesitant hands. “Do you at least feel this? Does it hurt?”

Jacob’s gentle touch made Vincent smile. “No, not at all. It feels good actually.”

Jacob laughed and looked at Vincent’s chest. His intense gaze soon traveled downward. Vincent and his cock reacted. “Like what you see?” he asked, egging him on. The sexual tension between them was on fire. Vincent was on fire, and he could sense the same desires flamed in Jacob, too. Why couldn’t Jacob just give in to them, to Vincent, and they could take it from there?

Jacob broke his fixed stare, and walked to the chair where Vincent had folded his clothes. He came back with his underwear. “Will you put these on?”

Vincent wagged his finger at him. “Only if you say please.”

Jacob smirked. “Please.”

Vincent’s brow lifted. “Well, since you put it nicely…” He began to slip on his tight briefs but couldn’t help checking Jacob out. Obviously, he wasn’t the only one finding his underwear really constricting right now. The head of Jacob’s erect cock was playing peek-a-boo with him.

Vincent was dying to play peek-a-boo with it, too. Twirling around to face Jacob when he was done, he asked, “So do I now please you?” He purposely used the flirty play on words hoping to push Jacob over the edge. He’d try anything right about now if it meant he could win the “hard to get” hunk standing before him.

He walked closer to him, and being of the same height as Jacob, he stared straight into his eyes. Vincent played his charms to the hilt. No holds barred where seducing Jacob was concerned. The window of opportunity opened when Prince Charming came to his rescue minutes ago. And he would not waste a second of it.

In a low, sensual tone, Vincent asked, “Would you mind removing them to see how it looks?”

Jacob grinned widely and, with a lifted brow, looked at Vincent’s underwear, then at his head. “I don’t mind removing the bandages.”

Vincent couldn’t help laughing. “Now I know why I fell for you.”

Jacob squinted. “Like I told you before, you never fell for me.”

Not for one second did Vincent believe it was even possible. The feeling bubbling deep inside of his heart could not be a lie or an illusion. He did start to have feelings for Jacob. But how could he convince Jacob of this?

Sighing, Vincent replied, “So you’ve told me.”

Jacob remained silent, staring into Vincent’s eyes, and Vincent stared back. Maybe, just maybe if Jacob looked deep enough, he would finally see the truth.

What seemed like a minute after that, Jacob started to remove the bandages in a slow and hesitant motion. “Please tell me if I’m hurting you.”

Vincent nodded, looking deep into Jacob’s eyes. The color had darkened. The cerulean blue in them had Vincent thinking of a dark blue sky the night of a full moon. The moon’s bright light illuminating the sky and the stars for all to behold the world’s beauty in awe. Jacob’s beautiful eyes had the same effect on Vincent. The specks of golden moonlight floating in Jacob’s cerulean-sky-blue eyes were one of God’s masterpieces, no doubt.

The adhesive on the surgical tape holding the dressing tugged at Vincent’s skin as Jacob slowly pulled at it. “Sorry, I’m trying to do this as gently as I can.”

“Don’t worry. Just pull it off in one shot. It doesn’t hurt at all.”

Jacob snorted. “I doubt that very much. The bump and wound were nast—” He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open.

Vincent asked, “Is it that bad?”

Holding the now-removed bandages, Jacob pointed to the vanity mirror on the bureau in the room. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”

Vincent turned around and quickly made his way to the mirror. Now he understood Jacob’s expression of shock. “It’s completely healed, too!”

Jacob came to stand behind him and asked, staring at Vincent’s reflection, half laughing, “What exactly did the doc give you? I’d like that miracle pill, too.”

“So would everyone else,” Vincent replied as he touched and stretched the skin. All that remained of the injury now was a slight pinkish blemish. “This is freakin’ amazing!”

Jacob frowned, thinking. “Yeah, too amazing for me.”

He crossed his arms and walked out of the room, heading down the corridor.

Vincent chased after him. “Where are you going?”

“To make some calls.”

“Now! At this time!”

Jacob’s frown intensified as his brow furrowed when he picked up the phone. “I need to get to the bottom of this now!”

If looks could kill, Vincent would have fallen down dead that very moment. The hate and anger he saw in Jacob’s eyes had just stabbed a big gash into his heart.

Chapter 8

Jacob hung up the phone and raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn.”

Vincent sat on the sofa, his fixed stare never wavering from him. “Are you done?”

Jacob huffed. “For now.”

“So am I.” Vincent stood up and walked up to him, gave him a sideways frown, and then walked past him, heading to the guest room. Jacob cursed as he followed him. Once in there, Vincent picked up his clothes resting on the chair and began to get dressed.

“What are you doing?” Jacob asked.

Vincent didn’t look at him while he continued to slip on his pants. “What does it look like I am doing? I’m getting dressed and getting the hell out of here.”

“Are you crazy?”

Vincent quickly turned around and put his hands out in front of him. “No, I’m not crazy. I have amnesia.” He resumed buckling his belt. “Anyway, I don’t stay where I’m not wanted. You made that perfectly clear.”

Jacob opened his mouth to speak but didn’t know how to respond. The fact was that what Vincent just said was the truth. Jacob had spent the last half hour talking to the hospital, then his partner, Troy.

He got nowhere with any of the phone calls. Doctor Evans couldn’t be reached on his private number he gave Jacob to explain why Vincent’s wounds had just suddenly disappeared. And when Jacob called the hospital to find out if Doctor Evans was on duty, the annoying nurse at the ER desk said yes, but she refused to page him since Jacob’s news wasn’t an emergency.

The next phone call to Troy didn’t help either. Although Troy found it fascinating the wounds had suddenly healed and agreed something fishy was going on here, he was ticked off Jacob woke him up in the middle of the night, or rather morning. He refused to come over and take Vincent off Jacob’s hands. And he suggested that if Jacob so desperately wanted to get rid of Vincent, then he should call the captain and demand the change.

Although Jacob wanted to follow Troy’s advice, he decided it could wait until after the captain woke up and got to work rather than waking him from his soothing sleep and having his mood turn foul.

Now staring at Vincent, who had finished buttoning up his shirt, he replied, “I’m not letting you leave here.”

Vincent’s brows furrowed deeply. “Why? You couldn’t wait to get rid of me just five minutes ago. What changed?”

“Did you forget the serial killer is still out there? He can be looking for you right this minute!”

“Don’t worry about the killer. I can take care of myself.”

“It’s my job to protect you. I’m not going to let you go out there alone unguarded.”

Vincent shrugged. “Look, I’ll head over to the station directly from here and tell them that I want to be under another police officer’s protection. That way you’re off the hook and I’m still protected from the killer.”

Jacob crossed his arms and shook his head. “No, that won’t do.”

“Why?”

“Because none of the other officers knows as much about the serial killer as Troy and I do. Only Troy, the captain, or I can protect you correctly. We know the killer’s complete MO, which hasn’t been revealed to the public or the rest of the officers at the station. And so we know what to look for if the killer is stalking you and will be coming for you again.”

Vincent’s eyes went wide. “You honestly think he will come after me again?”

Jacob nodded reluctantly. He didn’t want to alarm Vincent, but if it meant that Vincent would stay here under his protection until he could talk to the captain, then he’d tell him his honest opinion. “Yes, from what I see, the killer has always finished the job he’s set out to do. We stopped him last night before he could complete what he set out to do to you, but that only delayed him. He will come after you again to finish it. I feel it in my gut, too.”

Vincent’s face paled as he remained quiet, staring at him. After a moment of silence, he said, “Then why are we just standing here waiting for him to come after me again? Why don’t we go after him?”

Jacob nodded. “That’s exactly what we are doing. Only right now, we have no further leads to investigate. If your memory came back, or part of it did, then perhaps we’d have an advantage and may be one step closer to knowing who it is.”

“I wish I could remember. Anything. I’ve tried, but nothing from last night or my past has come back to me. Except…”

A spark of hope ignited in Jacob. “Except what?”

“Except for you.”

“Me? You mean the vision you had about you and me in bed back at the diner?”

Vincent shook his head, a serious look taking over his facial features. “No, it’s not only the vision. I feel it deep inside me. Even though I don’t remember what we had together, I do feel the connection I have with you, and there are these feelings, too. They couldn’t have just appeared now. They must have been there all along.”