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  “You’re high,” Vaughn said with another grunt, “So now Ima tell you how this is gonna go; me and you will ride your bike, JD can drive my car and Brent will drive theirs.”

  Caysun gave a nod but there was a smirk on his face that put Vaughn on edge but then there wasn’t much about the man in his custody that didn’t put Vaughn on edge.

  “Come on,” he mumbled as he began to walk them around the building.

  “I’d love to,” Caysun said.

  Vaughn frowned, “What?”

  “I’ll come on you and in you and anywhere you want me to.”

  Vaughn opened his mouth, a retort poised on the tip of his tongue but then he sighed and shook his head. He refused to fall for anything more that fell out of Caysun Rourke’s mouth.

  Problem was, he kinda felt like he was already falling for a hell of a lot more than his mouth.

  Eight

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Sylas

  Cole slowly walked over to the edge of the bed feeling off-kilter. He considered Sylas one of his best friends, they talked all the time via Skype, they worked together and sometimes competed against each other for the same jobs.

  But the was the first time he’d actually seen him in person. He’d wanted to, but Sylas had never been ready.

  This Sylas that he was looking at seemed…….

  “You’re different,” Cole finally said.

  “If by different you mean lying in a hospital bed and hooked up like Frankenstein’s monster, then yes, I’m different,” he said with a small smile.

  Cole smiled back, “That’s not what I mean, and you know it. You’re stronger, Sy-sy.”

  “I’m trying Coco,” Sylas said with a grin, knowing that Cole hated that nickname just as much as he hated the one that Cole had given him.

  But Sy rolling off of Grainger’s tongue? It sounded perfect, like a cat purring in his ear.

  “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

  “I, I,” he thought about lying but then decided fuck it, “Yeah, I am.”

  “Tell me about him, Sylas,” Cole said as he sat in the chair next to the bed.

  “He’s Dr. Cecilia’s brother.”

  “The therapist I recommended? How did you meet him?”

  “Um, he’s a psychologist too. He has an office next door to hers. He, um, helped me.”

  “Helped you how?”

  “My first outside appointment, I was kind of sitting in my car in the parking lot trying not to have a panic attack. All this shit was running through my head: are there a lot of people inside, will they look at me, judge me, am I dressed okay, is my hair okay, can’t I just leave and go home? The usual crap I deal with whenever I leave the house. And then I looked into my rearview mirror and the hottest thing I’d ever seen on two legs walked up to my car. He calmly talked to me, asked me a few questions, called inside to see if there were other patients there but most of all he listened to me. He really listened, and I never felt like I couldn’t talk to him. The only other person I’ve ever felt that way with was you, but I thought that was because we only ever talked on the phone or online. He was a living breathing fucking hot-as-hell in the sexy flesh man standing right next to my car and he didn’t scare me, Cole, like at all.”

  Cole smiled and then looked longingly at the door that Kelly and Grainger had disappeared through a few minutes before. “It’s amazing how it feels when you find that piece of the puzzle that you never knew was missing, isn’t it?”

  When Sylas didn’t answer Cole turned back around to find tears shimmering in his eyes. “What? What’s wrong?”

  He angrily swiped at a few tears, “He deserves someone better, Cole. Someone better than me.”

  Cole’s eyes narrowed, “Do you like him? Does he make you feel good?”

  Sylas nodded as he swiped more tears away.

  “That is the only thing you get to think about, Sylas. You do not get to decide what he wants or doesn’t want, what he deserves or doesn’t deserve. That is for him and only him to decide. I did the same thing to Kelly when he first came back into my life but being with him has taught me something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Listen to your heart, Sylas. Your head is the place that can fill with doubts and uncertainty but your heart? Your heart knows, your heart recognizes, your heart accepts, and your heart remembers. Listen to it. What does it tell you?”

  “It’s telling me to let him in. But I’m scared, Cole. I’m so fucking scared. He doesn’t know how bad I am, he doesn’t know all of the crap that makes me, me.”

  “So? Show him.”

  “Show him?”

  “Yes. Let him all the way in, Sylas. Let him into your home. Show him your routines that get you through the day, tell him what makes you smile and teach him what makes you tremble in fear. Trust him to be there for it all.”

  “I’ll try, Cole. All I can do is promise that I’ll try.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Grainger

  “Isn’t this the part where you’re supposed to be interrogating me?” he said just before he bit into his turkey sandwich.

  Kelly grinned at him, “I am.”

  Grainger finished chewing and swallowed, “You are?”

  “Yep.”

  Grainger’s heart started beating faster. Something about this man was…...dangerous.

  “Ah, now he’s getting it. Good,” Kelly said with a wink and a grin.

  “Fucking special ops. I don’t know how the rest of the world exists with all of your egos sucking up the oxygen,” he said with a slight smirk.

  Kelly snorted a laugh as he dug his fork into his salad, “When did you come over here?”

  Wow, he’s good, Grainger thought. Most people couldn’t hear his accent unless he was pissed off. “After school, I had to get away.”

  “Why?”

  “Let’s just say that the parents and I had a fundamental difference of opinion.”

  “On?”

  Ballsy fucker, Grainger thought but figured he’d indulge the man anyways. “Me and blokes. I wanted to kiss them. They threatened to shoot them….or me.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Wasn’t gonna save me.”

  “Did you press charges?”

  “Not worth my time. Sis and I got a sponsor over here and we’ve never spoken to them since.”

  “Sis?”

  “My sister, Cecilia. She’s a year older than me.”

  Kelly nodded, “What do you do?”

  “We’re both psychologists.”

  “What’s your specialty?”

  “Mine is PTSD. Hers is social anxiety disorders.”

  Kelly’s fork froze halfway to his mouth, “Your last name is Peele, isn’t it?”

  Grainger smirked, “Ah, now he’s getting it.”

  Kelly grinned, “I think I’m going to like you, Grainger Peele.”

  Nine

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Vaughn

  Vaughn stood with Caysun next to the huge black Harley and he stared, and stared. Yeah, he could see why he refused to leave it….or let anyone else drive it. That had him frowning because all he could picture was how damn sexy Cay would look riding it.

  Cay? Now he was using nicknames? Well, thinking them anyways.

  He huffed as he shook his head. “Lend me your cuffs, would ya, Preston?”

  “Why?”

  “You’re going to cuff my hands around loverboy here, that way if he tries anything to get me off the bike, he’s going with me.”

  Without looking over, Caysun smirked and said, “Honey, I’m not getting you off my bike but I definitely may want to get you off on my bike.”

  Vaughn rolled his eyes as Brent snorted and JD laughed but truth be told, he liked the stuff that was falling from Caysun’s mouth. It challenged him.

  It made him want to shut it - with his hand…..or better yet, his dick.

  Said dick twitc
hed behind his zipper. He couldn’t climb onto the back of Caysun’s bike with a hard-on. He’d never hear the end of it.

  “Just give me your goddamn hands, Rourke,” he said with a slight growl as he spun Caysun around.

  As he unlocked the cuffs, Caysun leaned closer, too close, and put his lips to Vaughn’s ear, “I can smell your hard-on, Deputy,” he whispered.

  Vaughn glared at him, “What are you, a fucking vampire?”

  Caysun grinned, “If you want me to be, I’ll be a vampire. For you, I can be anything you want, Deputy Kepler.”

  A shiver rushed down Vaughn’s spine.

  Motherfucking hell. This man not only pushed all of Vaughn’s buttons, he pushed buttons that Vaughn didn’t even know he had.

  “Just get on the damn bike, Cay.”

  Caysun hummed, “Mmmm, nicknames. I like it,” he said as he slowly slid his keys from the front pocket of his jeans and then threw his leg over the bike.

  Vaughn swore he could smell the sweet scent of the leather chaps and vest that he was certain that Caysun wore on long rides.

  Okay….now he was smelling phantom shit. What the fuck was happening here?

  He shook his head to clear it then climbed onto the bike behind Caysun. He tried to keep his dick from making contact with Caysun’s ass but with the way the seats were designed to slide the passenger forward, that feat was impossible. He had to bite back the groan that wanted to come out when his dick settled into the warmth of Caysun as if they were made to be together, as if they were born for each other.

  They fit together perfectly, a fact that Vaughn tried, unsuccessfully, to push to the back of his mind

  Okay, now even his thoughts were getting sappy. He was clearly losing his fucking mind. Probably because it’d been so long since he dicked someone out….or got dicked out.

  He snorted at his own thoughts.

  “Something funny, Deputy?” Caysun said from in front of him.

  Vaughn frowned, “No, nothing,” he mumbled.

  “Well then, wrap your arms around me…..tight.”

  Vaughn sighed as he put his arms around Caysun’s waist, trying to leave space between his body and Cay’s. But then Caysun grabbed his wrists and pulled until Vaughn’s chest thumped again against Caysun’s back.

  “Tight, Deputy Kepler. Wouldn’t want you to risk falling.”

  Again, Vaughn squeezed his eyes shut as JD clicked his cuffs in place as Caysun’s words slithered over him.

  If he was truly honest with himself, he might be able to admit that he was already falling……...

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Caysun

  God, he was such a fucking idiot. What the fuck was he thinking, flirting with a Deputy US Marshal? How fucking stupid was that? And what the fuck did a US Marshal want with him anyways? They usually didn’t come into the picture until after someone had spoken to the FBI, turned and then the Marshal service was called in to relocate and create a new identity. But fuck that noise. He had no intention of hiding. The turning part? That was still up for debate. All he knew was that he couldn’t work for Grady O’Toole ever again.

  He’d wanted to leave for years. What finally pushed him to actually do it was when Casey had disappeared. When Casey had…….

  Nope. Not going to think that. Not right now.

  So he’d left. But he’d done it on the spur of the moment without any plan in place. He’d left behind a home in Denver, his car, all of his possessions except for what he could carry on the bike. And he’d also had no destination in mind. He’d just known that he need to get as far away from Frank O’Toole as fast as he could. That meant south to Mexico, north to Canada or east. He’d chosen east, not for any particular reason other than it felt right.

  He was now both glad for and regretting that decision. Glad for it because it brought one Deputy US Marshal Vaughn Kepler to his side.

  Regretting it because it brought one Deputy US Marshal Vaughn Kepler to his side.

  The man whose dick and thighs were now cradling his ass from where he sat behind Caysun on his bike. He couldn’t wait to feel what the vibrations from the running motor would do to that dick pressing against his ass.

  He couldn’t wait for a lot of things with Vaughn Kepler and that terrified the fuck out of him.

  Ten

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Sylas

  Grainger and Kelly walked into Sylas’ room together and Grainger smiled sweetly at him. He looked none the worse for wear, so Kelly couldn’t have been too hard on the man.

  “How was lunch?” he said.

  “It was good,” Grainger said as he stepped forward, “I brought you back a cookie.”

  His eyes danced with his smile, “You did? That’s so sweet of you.”

  Grainger glanced back towards the door, “Let me, uh, let me just check with the nurse to make sure it’s okay for you to have it.”

  He stuck out his lower lip in an epic pout, “You’re no fun.”

  Grainger leaned close, so close that Sylas thought, hoped, that he might kiss him. He did, but not on the lips. Grainger pressed his lips to Sylas’ forehead, “I hope you change your mind on that after you get to know me better,” he whispered.

  The alarm on Sylas’ heart monitor beeped, letting everyone in the room know that his heart was racing.

  Grainger glanced at it and smiled. He hummed in the back of his throat, “Be right back,” he said with one more kiss to Sylas’ forehead.

  The moment he was out the door, Sylas sighed….loudly.

  “Damn, buddy, you’ve got it bad,” Cole said with a laugh as he stepped closer to the bed.

  “I do, Cole. I barely know him, yet I feel like I’ve known him forever. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”

  Cole glanced at his husband, smiled and looked back at Sylas, “It makes all the sense in the world, Sy.”

  Sylas wiped a tear from his eye.

  Cole sat on the chair and placed his hand over Sylas’, “What’s wrong, babe?”

  “I don’t know if I can be what he needs. I’m still so fucked up, Cole.”

  Cole stood up and pressed their foreheads together, “We all have our demons, Sy. It’s how we deal with them that matters. Every day that you try, every day that you fight, makes you stronger. And one day the fighting will become so much second nature that you won’t even have to think about it, you’ll just do it.”

  “What if that doesn’t happen, though?”

  “Then you’ve got a good man by your side to catch you when you fall.”

  “I want to be able to catch him too.”

  “You will, Sy, you will.”

  Sylas sighed, “I hope so, Cole. I really hope so.”

  Grainger walked back in with a nurse. Cole walked into Kelly’s arms, so Grainger could take the spot next to Sylas. The nurse walked to the other side of the bed, “Your boyfriend here asked if he could give you a treat. Let me check your vitals and then we’ll decide, okay?”

  At the word ‘boyfriend’ Sylas’ eyes darted to Grainger and they stared at each other. The silence was almost overwhelming for Sylas but then Grainger winked at him as he dipped his chin slightly, making Sylas blush with a sweet smile on his face.

  Boyfriend.

  He had a boyfriend.

  Oh God.

  He had a boyfriend.

  Sylas swallowed hard as his breathing picked up. Not now. Please not now.

  And then he felt him.

  Grainger.

  He leaned over Sylas, took one of Sy’s hands and placed it on his chest over his heart and then whispered, “With me, Sy. In. Out. That’s it. Again. In. Out. Perfect, that’s perfect. Keep going.”

  And like the tide returning the sea, Sylas felt his panic recede into the place where he could manage it, the place where he had control.

  His eyes opened and silently conveyed his thanks to the man watching over him.

  And with a smile, Grainger’s eyes spoke right ba
ck to him as they said, you’re welcome.

  Eleven

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Vaughn

  With his hands secured around Caysun’s waist, Vaughn directed him out of the parking lot. The hotel was just a few miles down the road, a typical one-story ranch style place that was typical in these parts. He pointed towards the room on the end. He always requested ground floor, room on the end. He always felt it was safer to have as few neighbors around as possible.

  Caysun shut off the bike and then it hit Vaughn: they would have to sit here like this until JD and Brent showed up. Or, Cay could raise his arms and maybe Vaughn could shimmy his up and over but then he’d be cuffed and Caysun wouldn’t be.

  He really was an idiot.

  “Didn’t quite think this all the way through, did you?” Caysun said. Vaughn could hear the smirk without looking at the man’s face.

  He opened his mouth to answer but then he heard the rumble of both his car and Brent’s and he almost sighed out loud in relief.

  JD, smug fucker that he was, climbed out of Vaughn’s car with a smirk on his face. “How’s it going there, V?”

  “Shut the fuck up and get over here, asshole.”

  JD chuckled as he pulled his keys from his pocket and walked over, “So touchy,” he said with a cluck of his tongue.

  The woman who had checked him in earlier, before he went to the bar, walked out of the room next door with an arm full of sheets. She froze as she watched JD uncuff Vaughn.

  “Um, is there something I should know?” she said.

  “No ma’am. I’m Deputy US Marshal Vaughn Kepler,” he said as he walked over and showed her his badge, “this was just a safety precaution.”

  She pursed her lips and for a moment Vaughn worried that she was going to kick him out. Instead she turned away and said, “You’re paying for any damage. But there better not be any problems.”

  “No, ma’am. No problems.”

  He opened the door to the room that he hadn’t set foot inside yet and…..

  “Fuck. We’ve got a problem,” he mumbled.