by BA Tortuga
Sonny glanced back and forth between the two of them before shrugging, nodding. “Come on, Rick. We’ll start simple.”
“No.” MJ shook his head. “Don’t baby him. He’s not stupid.”
“No.” He knew that. “I’m not stupid. I can learn things, quickly.”
“I never said either one of you was stupid. I just don’t want to get shot.” Sonny gave MJ a dark look. “I just meant the fucking thirty-eight instead of the Glock.”
“Don’t snarl, redneck. I’m not pissed. Show him the Glock. Once.” Then MJ looked at him. “You learn it the first time, you get one. You don’t, then you’re fucked.”
Paddy nodded. “I can do it, Boomer.”
For Neil.
Sonny nodded again, tapping him on the arm and jerking that bald head. “Come on, then. Let’s get this over with.”
“I promise only to shoot you where the scar won’t show, Sonny.” He was mostly joking.
“Ha. Here.” Sonny led him to one of the built-in boat seats, where a piece of cotton toweling was laid out. “Your basic breakdown on a Glock.”
Paddy watched, relaxed, brain taking picture after picture after picture. This goes there. Slide. Click. Slide. Click.
Right.
“Got it?” Sonny slid the clip into place, the last thing on the reassembly.
“Yes.”
He reached for the gun, hands following what his brain remembered. He was good at this.
Sonny watched him like a hawk, but he could ignore the dark, careful stare until he was done. When he looked up, Sonny was nodding.
“Okay. Show me more.” Show him everything.
Sonny nodded again, once, showing him how to load a clip, maintain the gun so it wouldn’t jam. Working up to a shotgun and a long-range rifle. No flamethrowers.
“I could add flame.” He looked up at Sonny, hopeful.
“Not to this. It’s not rated for that kind of heat.”
“Oh. Maybe I could make one. This will kill a man, yes?” If he shot it. He wanted to find Neil and kill the men that hurt his lover.
“Yes. It surely will. Be very, very certain you want to pull the trigger.” Sonny put a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “Got it?”
“I do. They have my Neil. I’m going to get him back.”
“Okay. I can get that. I just have to be sure you won’t shoot me. Or Boomer.”
“I won’t.” Not unless they decided to stop helping.
“Then we’re good to go. Show me one more time.” Sonny let him go and stood back, waiting.
He nodded, let his hands and his brain work together. Apart. Together. Apart. Together.
For his Neil.
Anything.
For his Neil.
If the steel and oil got slick with tears, Sonny never said so.
Chapter Forty-One
THE POUNDING in his head was almost unbearable. Neil thought it was almost unbearable as opposed to completely so because, somewhere out there, Paddy was still alive. As long as Paddy was alive, Neil had hope. He might see his Padraic again.
Paddy was worth any amount of pain.
Indeed, Neil had managed not to tell the men who had him anything they did not know, just to keep Padraic from being caught. He’d rambled, at length and while drugged, about Manning’s past, about Padraic’s preschool, and about monsters with green eyes, but he’d never told them about Sonny or about the new boat.
Most of the time he was simply lost in the wash of voices inside his head. Lab workers made for bored people.
Someone, somewhere, was singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider….”
He felt the nervousness, the disgust, the honest, unadulterated fear moving through the lab outside his cell like a wildfire in a dead forest.
Something quite unpleasant was coming.
Sighing, Neil rolled his head on his shoulders and closed his eyes, breathing deep. It always went better if they thought he was asleep when it began.
The door opened, the mind that walked in ice-cold. For half a second, he was tempted to open his eyes and see if it was Manning.
It wasn’t, though. There was not a bit of the annoyance that Manning usually mixed into his thoughts about Neil. Only cold calculation.
“I know you’re awake. Let’s not play games, shall we?”
Neil let his eyes open, slowly, as they were swollen and sensitive to any light he might be given. Really, they acted like the government had never gifted them with billions….
Dear God.
The man was… a monster. There was one eye, peering from a face that seemed to be nothing but a wax figure, attacked with a blowtorch to make it melt, covered in a mask of clear plastic, distorting everything ever so much more.
Neil blinked, fearing for a moment that he’d lost his mind and was hallucinating.
No. The… thing… didn’t alter. Didn’t move. Simply stared at him.
The sound of his dry swallow echoed in his head. “No games? But I’ve had such fun with your underlings.”
“Yes. They said you haven’t been helpful when we’ve asked you a very, very simple question. Where is he?” The voice was bubbly, somehow, as if the words were pushing up through porridge.
The idea of them breaking at the surface like little boils made him shudder. “I have no idea.”
“That is very bad news for you.”
Pain. They were going to hurt him, more.
“Yes, I suppose it is. I mean, honestly, don’t you think I would have said by now?”
The hunched man moved, shifted, and Neil got a sudden, sharp flash of amusement. They knew MJ was coming. They knew. He was bait.
“Bloody hell. I suppose I ought to be happy you’ll keep me alive until he gets here, hmm? God, I hate bureaucrats.”
“Don’t make me put your eyes out until he arrives. I want your lover to watch that.”
“Oh, yes. I’m sure you want everyone to be as horrified as possible, you twat.” Maybe he ought to just… implode. He could do that. If it wasn’t for Paddy, he could just bust a vein.
“How did MJ manage not to kill you?”
He got a quick flash, an old man, beaten and bloody, with Manning’s eyes.
What did the man’s father have to…. “You have his father, as well? Then what on earth do you need with me?”
“Stay out of my mind.” The blow almost didn’t hurt, the man was so weak.
“I wish I could.” He really, really did. It was like swimming in a river of filth. “Sadly, I cannot control anything at the moment. You have only yourself to thank.”
One hand gripped his balls. “I’ll rip them off.”
No. No, he didn’t think so. Not right now; not yet.
Neil stared right into the monster’s eye, letting a slow smile stretch his torn and bruised lips. “You need me. Now let go, or I will show you what I learned from your Manning.”
“That selfish bastard wouldn’t teach you a fucking thing. I’m going to destroy him and everything he’s ever touched.”
He kept smiling, focusing all of the energy he could muster. Perhaps he’d pass out when he was done. That would be pleasant. Neil shifted all that power, all that focus into a single piercing thought. “Out.”
Chapter Forty-Two
DUNCAN SAT in the bottom of the tub, holding his head, rocking as the water beat down on him.
You can’t get out.
You can’t get out.
You can’t get out.
California.
They were in California.
They’d flown into Nevada, driven in a couple of huge circles, and….
They were in fucking California!
“No….”
He groaned, turning the water up even hotter.
“Doc? Are you in there?” Colby. Colby was calling him.
He closed his eyes tight. You can’t come out.
You can’t.
Stay in.
The doorknob rattled. “Babe. Come on. Let me in. I can help.”<
br />
He groaned, judging the distance between the tub and the door. “’Kay.”
Eventually.
“If I break the door, you can’t lock it again.”
Asshole.
He growled, “I’m coming.”
Sort of.
“Well, come on, then.” Colby rapped sharply on the door.
“Stop pushing!” He growled, fighting so fucking hard as he stumbled to his feet and careened toward the door.
“Someone has to push you, honey. Someone has to teach you to control it. Let me in, and I’ll suck you off.”
“I’m the teacher here.” He was going to scream, going to explode. He wrenched the door open, fighting with all he was.
“Not in this, you’re not.” Colby stared at him, gray eyes watchful, not smiling with that pretty mouth. “You like the sucking.”
He could eat Colby up. So fine. So beautiful.
“Mmm.” Cowboy smiled, reaching for him. “Hey, Doc.”
“Colby. Help me. He’s right there.”
“Shh. I got you.” Colby took his hand, leading him out to the bed in their little room, grabbing a towel to dry him off along the way. “Come on and sit, honey.”
He wrapped his hands around Colby’s waist as he sat. “He’s right here.”
“I can feel it, babe.” Stepping close, Colby smiled down into his eyes. “You just concentrate on this.”
Colby kissed him. Hard.
His Cowboy.
Duncan groaned, lips parting to let Colby in deeper. Climbing into his lap, Colby straddled him, giving him more pressure, giving him something solid to rub against. Oh. That pressure helped him relax, let him breathe, and he bucked up.
“Better, Doc. Much better. Wait until I get my mouth on you.” Hard hands framed his face, Colby holding him still for another kiss, then another.
Duncan’s world tilted a little, hands sliding up along Colby’s arms, testing the muscles.
They rocked together, both of them grunting, rutting against each other a little. Everything else went away. Everything but Colby.
It was an addiction, Colby’s tongue pushing in, fucking his lips, Colby all around him. The taste was all man, all heat. The feeling of that lean, hard body made him moan. He wrapped around Colby, bringing their hips together.
“Uhn. Doc. Good.” Writhing, Cowboy pushed and pushed, loving on him.
“Uh-huh. Harder.” He couldn’t help growling.
“More.” Colby obviously agreed with him, bending to lick at his throat, then bite at it.
“Fuck.” His muscles clenched, and his chin shot up, giving Colby more.
“Love that, don’t you, Doc? Love how that feels.” Colby bit down again. Harder.
“Yes.”
My Cowboy.
“You can’t come out. This time it’s mine.”
“Don’t think so much, Doc.” He got a wild grin, and he wanted to growl. Colby enjoyed his torment far too much.
“That’s easy for you to…. Uhn. There.”
“There? How about here?” Colby pushed a hand between them, pressing against his cock.
“Harder.” His heart was slamming against his rib cage.
“Definitely hard.” That grin came again, Colby’s eyes flashing pure fire.
“Bastard.” His bastard. His. He rolled up, rubbing into the hand.
“You know it. I take what I want.” Colby bit him again, licking to ease the sting. Perfect.
“You took me.” Kidnapped him. Asshole.
“I did. You fascinate me, Doc. Make me need.” That hand never let up, pushing down, rubbing it in.
“Want you.” Duncan growled low, stopped fighting it, just let himself go.
“How? How do you want me?” Those fingers pressed down farther, finding his balls. “Want me to suck you?”
“Suck me. Fuck me. Just let me come.”
“You got it, babe.” Colby slid down his body, undoing clothing, getting to skin in no time. Then that mouth dropped over his cock like a hammer on a nail. Bam.
A groan tore out of him, low and raw and almost broken.
Cowboy.
Fuck.
Tongue working him, Colby sucked hard, licking on the way up. Every time. Oh, the man could suck so well. His toes curled, hips bucking up, slamming into Colby’s lips. Moaning, hands on Duncan’s hips, Colby held on and bobbed with him, working him over good and hard. He thought the man might just suck his balls up through his cock.
“Cowboy.” That wasn’t his voice. “My Cowboy.”
Those gray eyes snapped up to meet his, Cowboy almost grinning around him. Then the suction seemed to double, Cowboy going back to work.
His heels hammered against the floor, his balls tight, feeling hard as stones.
Everything in him was stretching, taut as a rubber band about to snap. Cowboy knew where to touch him, Colby knew what to do to both of them… oh.
He snarled, the pure pleasure ringing out of him.
“Mmm-hmm.” Cowboy’s approval echoed around him, buzzed against his skin, making him shake.
He shot so hard the room went dark, the power of the monster, the beast, moving under his skin.
Cowboy licked him and sucked him afterward until he was so sensitive he thought he might scream. Maybe he did scream; he couldn’t tell.
“Cowboy….” The word slid out of him.
He could feel the grayness surrounding him.
“I got you, Doc. Duncan. Lover.” He liked the sound of that. Lover. It made him want to purr. There was a tiny prick at his hip, a bright, cold pain, and then the world went blue, not gray.
“Colby?” He blinked, shook his head a little.
“Shh. I’m sorry, Doc. I know it’s sneaky. I have to get MJ’s momma today, though, so we have to have you calm. We’ll be in Arizona in no time.”
“I was….” He blinked again. “I can’t protect you like this.”
“Don’t worry, honey. You’ll get your chance. I promise, I’ll be around a long time.” Kissing his hip, Colby stroked his thighs, easing him toward unconsciousness.
Something inside him growled, deep and low. “Miiiiiine.”
“Yours. I swear.” Well, that was definite.
He nodded, cupped Colby’s face. “Yeah.”
His. His Cowboy.
Chapter Forty-Three
SONNY GRIPPED the steering wheel a little tighter, trying not to growl when MJ changed the radio station. Again. For the third time in two minutes.
Being on the open road was usually one of his favorite things, and he loved California highways, as long as they weren’t in a city. Too bad this was not the best of circumstances, that MJ wasn’t willing to blow him, and that they had to have Paddy with them.
Maybe it was better than the last time he’d had Paddy in the car, though. No one was puking, and no one was in the trunk.
“Precious, if you touch that dial one more time, I will snap your fingers.”
“You’ll try.” The words were flat, not even angry, just… matter-of-fact.
Sonny glanced over, glad his mirror shades hid his worry. MJ wasn’t just in work mode. He was turned off. Paddy was restless in the back too, driving his ass crazy a little bit. The closer they got, the more psycho the kid got.
“So, are we any farther along on the plan?” Guns blazing, Butch and Sundance might not be such a good idea.
“We have coordinates. We go in at a shift change. Rick says Neil can get him access codes.” MJ stared out the window. “We grab the right guy, use his eyes, his code, get in and get the Brit. Set charges. Run.”
Uh-huh. Something was hinky, though. There was none of the wild adrenaline he usually saw in MJ just before a job. It was making him edgy too. No adrenaline. No fire. Just dead, cold ice.
There was some heavy-duty hoodoo going on here.
“We’re getting close.” Paddy slid around the seat. “We need to hurry. He’s hurt.”
“I’m aware he’s hurt. I’m waiting on Cowboy’s c
all.”
“Boomer.”
“Rick. Stop.” That was razor-sharp.
Sonny wanted to scream. The steering wheel creaked under his hands, he was holding it so tight. Goddamn, he needed Cowboy to call.
Paddy opened his mouth, and MJ moved, so fast Sonny never saw it, hand around the kid’s throat. “I. Said. Stop.”
“Urk.” Paddy stared, eyes wide and horrified.
Thank God the damned cell phone rang.
MJ settled back in his seat like nothing had happened. “Yo. Yeah. Uh-huh. Good. You know the rules, man. Yeah, you too. Later.”
The phone was clicked off. “It’s done. Let’s go. We need to find a place to wait.”
“Tell me where, Precious.” He could make an educated guess, but MJ knew the roads, knew it all.
“Needles. We’ll set up, load up, attack. Take 95.”
“Got it.” It would be up to him to find the hideout, and up to MJ’s gut to say yea or nay. Jesus, he was tired. Sonny scrubbed a hand over his head, wondering where the hell his gimme cap had gone.
MJ watched him, silent as the grave. It was fucking unnerving. About the time he was fixin’ to lose it, MJ grinned. “You are the best thing that ever came out of North Carolina, redneck.”
“Yeah? Well, I guess I’m lucky you stepped out of the fog.” Grinning back, Sonny shook his head. Nut-burgers. They were all nut-burgers.
When they reached Needles, he started scanning their options, knowing they needed something far enough out that they could have some privacy, close enough in to town that they wouldn’t be the only car in the lot.
As soon as he picked a place, MJ hopped out, heading for the office.
“He’s losing it, Sonny. He’s going crazy. You know that, right?”
“No. I mean, I know he’s on edge.” No, MJ was gonna be fine. If Sonny had to kill everyone they knew to make it so.
“On edge. Yeah, right, and Neil’s got a boo-boo.”
“Oh, shut up, kid.” He hated to be nasty to Rick, as Neil was heavy on the kid’s mind, Sonny was sure. He’d be the same way, and his man wasn’t psychic.
“I just… so long as you know.” Rick leaned back, closed his eyes.
