by BA Tortuga
He only hoped that in doing so he had not killed them all.
Chapter Fourteen
“WE NEED to talk, babe. I don’t have a lot of time.” How he knew, he didn’t know, but he did. There was shit clicking along in the back of his brain, a machine with a schedule he couldn’t beat.
He sat across from Colby on the porch, met the ice-cold eyes. “They fucked with me, bad.”
“You think?” For a moment those gray eyes twinkled, the old irony right there. Then Cowboy got serious. “Tell me what to do to take this bastard down, Jay-Jay.”
“I need Rick. I need him to help me take the place out.” He knew that like he knew his own name. He’d get in there and they’d fuck his world up. He needed someone else to stir the pot. “They’ve got something in my brain, man. Something I can’t get out.”
“Red is a little crazy, Jay-Jay. Like whoa. He’s not inclined to help.” Cowboy chewed shit over for a moment. “We’ll have to use the Brit.”
“That’s not a problem.” He’d use whatever he had to. “It’s not going to end well. I suggest you take the Professor and Sonny and run once I get Rick.”
“No. Sonny ain’t gonna leave you again.” Cowboy leaned forward, elbows on knees. “You blew his mind a little with that whole giving-yourself-over thing.”
“He won’t have a choice.” He wasn’t going to get out of this alive. He wasn’t taking his redneck with him. “How’s the Professor holding up?”
“Okay. Confused, sometimes growly.” Cowboy shrugged. “They can’t have him back.”
He knew that voice, at least in his current state. Had heard it when Cowboy was on the job.
“Good. I don’t want to have to fight him in close quarters. He’s the only one of those that’s still alive. Like the rest of us.”
“Yeah. And he’s mine.”
He chuckled. “Man, I never thought you’d get hooked, babe.”
“Neither did I.” Cowboy gave him a wide grin. “Been a hell of a ride.”
Something inside him started hurting, started burning, right at the base of his skull. “I’m going to have to go for a run, soon. When it’s at the end, if you’re there, don’t let them have me, man. I know there’s no winning. I get it.”
“I promise, Jay. I’ll shoot your sorry ass first, okay?” Cowboy held out a hand, making a promise.
“Good.” That pain was digging in now. “I have to go.”
He shook Cowboy’s hand, met those lizard-cold eyes. “You rock my socks, babe.”
“Stop calling him babe!”
Oh, now, Redneck was grumpy. Cowboy winked at him.
MJ grinned, winked back, even though he was holding on by the skin of his teeth. “Hey, Sunshine. I’m going out. Hold down the fort.”
He saw Sonny’s hands clench and unclench, but Sonny nodded. “Come back soon.”
He hoped so.
He really did.
THE HARDEST thing Sonny had done in, oh, days, was let MJ walk away. Jesus, he wasn’t made of stone.
Still, he knew MJ had to do whatever he felt he had to do. It was the only way. But it made Sonny crazy to do it.
MJ had run for a while, then headed into town. He bought gasoline, detergent, a knife, bananas. Then the crazy bastard headed for the marina.
Sonny had followed, and he hadn’t wasted time arguing with Cowboy. He’d just whapped the shithead in the nose.
He watched MJ sock the crap away, then head to the pay phone with the broken receiver, dial, and jabber away. When his Precious turned from the phone, the man’s nose was bleeding.
Sonny gritted his teeth. They had done everything they could to break his MJ, and they were going to pay for it. If they could fix him, they’d do that too.
MJ came right to him next, eyes laser-focused.
Sonny dug out a kerchief, handed it over. “You got a drip, Precious.”
“Thanks. I have a vicious headache.”
“I bet.” He bit off all sorts of shit he wanted to say, because MJ knew, right? What was gonna change? “You want something for that?”
“Yeah.” MJ walked, head down, tension in the tight little body.
“Weed? Morphine? Hot sex?”
“Let’s go kill something.” MJ flashed him a grin. “Or blow something up.”
“Okay!” He could so do that. So.
MJ nodded, eyes back toward the marina. “I’m supposed to blow up your boat.”
“Our boat, Precious. And you’re not gonna do that….” Sonny pondered. “We could build me a wee boat, and you can blow it.”
“Okay. Good. Good. I love our boat.” MJ looked at him, stopped short. “Where the fuck are we, Sunshine?”
“Jamaica.” God, it was good to see MJ in those eyes, to know who he was talking to. Even if the hair was gone.
“Jamaica. Cool. Have I fucked things up yet?”
“Nope.” He knew better, knew that even without the receiver and the talking, dialing the number would let the assholes after them know right where they were. Still, Sonny hoped to hell they came. Bring it on.
“Liar.” MJ rubbed the back of his neck, grinned over.
“Only a little.” Sonny grinned back. “The whole thing is fucked-up. What do you expect?”
“To have a little wild sex, knock your ass out, blow some shit up, and go out in a blaze of glory. You?”
“I’ll go with that.” They were going to retire, but MJ didn’t believe that now. He would.
“Cool.” They were almost back at the cabins.
“Mmm-hmm.” Sonny had to touch, and now that they were more out of sight, he let himself rub MJ’s back a little.
“They had me in a cage. An electrified cage like a lab rat. Did you know?”
There was a meltdown on the horizon, like a really bad storm.
“I knew they had you in a cage in a very dark room.” Sonny ran through the checklist of all the things he’d need to get Cowboy to do to the boat. “I want to kill them, Precious.”
“I’m going to. I’m going to make them burn, me and Rick.”
“I’m not sitting this one out, Precious.” He knew MJ thought he was, but he was going to watch them all die.
“You need to.”
“Do I? Why? What have I got that’s not you?”
MJ reached up for him. “They had you. They had you, Sonny.”
“Yeah. You were supposed to shoot me.” They were behind the little bungalows, and he pulled MJ up on the porch. Whoa. Déjà vu.
“That wasn’t an option.”
They sat together on the swing.
“It was supposed to be.” He reached over, his fingers stroking MJ’s hand.
“I love you.”
Bald. Simple.
Insane.
“Thank God.” What else could he say? “I love you too.”
“I know. You brought me Ding Dongs.”
“I did. I do.” He liked to watch the man eat them too. A lot.
MJ grinned at him. “Lie to me. Tell me this has a happy ending.”
Sonny took MJ’s hand firmly. “There’s a boat and a private island in Turks and Caicos with our name on it. Sand and blue water and bananas.”
“Surfing and sunshine and steak on the hibachi.”
“Hammock sex.” They’d tried that once with hilarious results.
“Yoga on the deck.”
“I like yoga.” Jesus, did he like to watch MJ bend like a pretzel.
MJ nodded, leaned against him. “You know, I let you shave my head.”
“I know. You wanna do mine?”
“Yeah.” There was something in MJ, something fucking broken, damn it. He didn’t know what to do about it.
“Precious? You wanna just nap?” He could hold on. He so could.
“Just stay here with me a second, dude. Let me have this.”
“You know it.” Sonny figured whatever MJ wanted. It fucking broke his heart.
“Okay, asshole. I’ve had enough of the drama.” Cowboy’s voice rang
out. “Jay-Jay, you either need to fucking fight this or let me shoot your pussy ass.”
MJ’s head came up, eyes blazing. “Pardon me?”
Sonny popped up like a jack-in-the-box and turned on Cowboy, ready to smash the asshole right in the nose.
Cowboy’s grin didn’t falter one bit. “You heard me, Jay. You gonna let those fuckers win?”
Sonny’s fists clenched, but something stopped him. Some little bit of fire in MJ’s eyes, maybe. Come on, Precious. Fight.
MJ stood, the movement slow, deceptively relaxed. “Are you suggesting I’d give up, dude?”
“I think you have. You’re waiting to die. You’re asking the redneck to let you go.”
“You know as well as I do that the odds are so far out of my favor it’s not funny.”
“So? How were the odds in Singapore?”
“Okay, I’m sick of hearing about Singapore without hearing about it!” Sonny was gonna explode.
MJ’s grin was fucking evil. “The odds were better in Singapore.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t have me and the redneck.”
“You know, babe, you might be right. He’s my hero, even if he runs a meth lab.”
Sonny swung like a rusty gate, hitting Cowboy in the chest. Then he dove for MJ.
MJ slid out of the way, foot catching the back of his knee. Someone was feeling better.
Sonny growled, feeling hope for the first time in days. They’d tussled when he found MJ, but the man hadn’t remembered him.
“You can do better than that, Sunshine.”
Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Duncan snarling.
“I can.” He feinted, knowing that was his best bet. He was like a freight train. Once he got all his momentum going, it was hard to stop.
MJ didn’t take the bait, but it didn’t matter because he knew the man wouldn’t take the first one. His shoulder caught MJ’s, the elbow to his back barely noticeable.
“Pussy,” he taunted, knowing MJ hated being called small. “Midget.”
“What does that make you? Freak.” MJ went low, foot connecting with his ankle.
His ankle slid right out of the joint socket. Fucking thing never had been right since North Carolina and the mountains.
MJ caught him as he fell too, fingers popping his ankle back in, quick as a snake.
“Better?”
“Yeah.” He grunted, casting around for Cowboy. Gone. Good.
“He took the Doc away.” MJ straddled his hips, stared down at him. “Still want to play?”
“Fuck, yes.” He rolled, trying to put MJ on the bottom.
MJ rolled with him, scrabbling along the porch. They ended on their sides, MJ half under him.
Sonny panted, pressing down, letting his weight hold MJ there. Felt so damned good. Precious was getting stronger.
“Gonna kick your ass.” MJ rippled underneath him, eyes dancing.
“Come on, then. Do it.” He rocked his hips.
In one of those vicious fast yoga moves, MJ was out from under him, weight on his ass.
“Shit!” Jesus, he loved how MJ moved. “Now what are you gonna do with me?”
Strong fingers wrapped around his throat. “I could knock you out and run.”
“What the hell fun would that be?” Besides, MJ needed him to find Red and Momma.
A soft kiss brushed the top of his ear. “It wouldn’t be. You’d find me anyway, you relentless motherfucker.”
“Always. I will hunt your ass down in the fucking afterlife.”
“Then I guess we have to kill those assholes, make them pay for what they’ve done to us.”
“There you go, Precious. Maim. Destroy.” Fuck yes.
“Take them down and make sure that no one ever looks for us again.”
Sonny wanted to fucking scream with pure relief at the ice-cold determination in his Precious’s voice.
“Yes. You know it, Precious. Soon.” He twisted and bucked until they were face-to-face again. Then he kissed MJ like he meant it.
MJ kissed him back, one hand behind his head, eyes never once looking away from his.
Sonny moaned, bearing down hard enough to draw blood. He wasn’t sure whose.
It didn’t matter. What mattered was the look in MJ’s eyes.
There wasn’t just a spark there. There was a fucking wildfire.
“Take me inside, fuck me hard, and then we need to make a plan.”
“I’m all about a plan.” Sonny hoisted his ass up and pulled MJ to his feet. “And the fucking.”
“Fucking A.”
MJ took his hand, and they headed into the cabin. “We’re going to need C-4, a shitload of wire, and enough weaponry to make me feel better.”
COWBOY LAUGHED for sheer joy, bouncing along on Duncan’s shoulder. The Doc was in full growly puffy mode, carrying him to the bedroom.
Well, he hoped it was to the bedroom.
“Mine.” Duncan’s fingers squeezed his ass, dug in.
“Uh-huh. Only you get to smack me around, Doc.”
“Mine.” His ass got one sharp slap.
“Yours.” He loved that. Loved the possessive freak.
“Yes.” Duncan pushed through the door, heading for the bed. “Want.”
“Now.” Man, there was nothing like sparring with Sonny to get the blood up.
He was thrown onto the bed, Duncan’s thick fingers tearing at his shirt.
Cowboy helped, raising his hips when Duncan tore at his jeans. He lost more clothes that way.
“Mine. My cowboy. So good.” Those hands drew him close, the kiss he got splitting his lip.
Cowboy wrapped around Duncan, kissing back. Damn. Yeah. He could feel the heavy, thick cock, throbbing against his thigh.
Cowboy grinned, fighting it just a bit, wanting Duncan to use a little force. Just a bit.
The low growl almost had him coming, though, and when Duncan’s hands jerked him up, lifting his ass to that hungry mouth, he damn near screamed.
Flailing for something solid, Cowboy finally found Duncan’s shoulders, holding on for dear life. Duncan fucked him with that tongue, fingers grabbing on to his skin.
“Doc. Christ. Making me crazy.” His cock was so hard a cat couldn’t scratch it, and he couldn’t catch his breath.
“Good. Need.” That tongue slid over his cock now, slurping over the tip.
“Fuck.” He dug in, lifting up with his hips, giving Duncan his whole body.
“Yes.” Duncan nodded, licked his way north so that fat cock could nudge his hole. “Fuck.”
“Now.” He didn’t care that it was gonna be some major stinging. He wanted Duncan inside.
“Yes.” That cock pushed inside him, his Doc not careful at all. The burn made him grunt, but the pleasure was bigger.
His belly drew up, and he tried to ride and push as hard as he could. He squeezed down too, wanting Duncan with him.
Duncan’s hands slid under his shoulders and pulled him up, bouncing him on those thighs, on that thick cock.
Cowboy worked himself up and down, fucking Duncan as surely as he was being fucked. Fucking A.
“My cowboy. Mine. So fine. Want.” Duncan was growling happily, rumbling for him.
“You got me.” He forced the words out, his throat tight as all hell.
“Yes.” Duncan’s eyes were bright, shocking green.
“Come on.” He moved faster, losing all sense of rhythm.
“Yes.” Duncan’s head fell forward, throat working.
Cowboy did a little growling of his own, his fingers digging deep into Duncan’s skin. Shit, the man could take some abuse.
Duncan arched, slamming into him, that cock swelling inside him.
“Yeah. Fuck. Doc.” Cowboy couldn’t last much longer, not like this.
“My Cowboy….” Somehow—possibly fucking blessedly—Duncan’s cock found his gland, started working it but good.
Cowboy hollered, his body snapping back and forth, his cock leaking. His breath huffed out of
his chest.
“Yes. Yes.” Duncan’s skin was burning against him, the deep sounds that filled the air driving into him.
Cowboy gave a little more fight, just a tiny struggle, needing Duncan to bite him or smack him or something. Please.
Duncan roared, hand slapping around the back of his neck, and his fucking mouth was devoured, lips starting to bleed even as that cock swelled impossibly.
Ding. That was all it took. Cowboy shot so hard his teeth rattled.
He felt Duncan shooting, as if from a distance, the throb and ache fucking amazing.
“Duncan….” He kinda collapsed against that wide chest, trying to find some solid ground in his spinning world.
“Mmm.” Those muscled arms wrapped around him and he was cradled close. “My cowboy.”
“Yours. So very yours.” He wasn’t even going to try to disagree.
Duncan hummed, the sound rough and tuneless, caresses almost too hard.
His skin beaded up with goose bumps, his cock jerking weakly. “You’re something else, Doc.”
The soft chuckle made him smile.
He stroked Duncan’s back, the throbbing in his jaw starting up again now that the orgasmic rush was fading. That damned redneck could pack a punch. It had been worth it, though, to see Jay-Jay in those oddly empty eyes.
MJ was back, and he was pissed. Cowboy figured that was the best of all possible solutions.
Chapter Fifteen
NEIL STARTED awake, a tiny pain in his jaw making him grunt.
Hmm. Manning was feeling better.
He could hear the man more and more clearly. The trouble was, Manning was coming for his Padraic, and it was at least half his own fault. He had opened the safe.
Neil shook off the pain, his joints creaking as he crawled out of bed, where he’d spent entirely too much time of late. He wanted to run, to take Paddy and flee, but it wouldn’t work.
Manning would just come and come, so they simply had to be ready.
Paddy wasn’t in bed, wasn’t in the kitchen. Neil could feel him, brain spinning, worrying at something.
They were all that way. Even Nan, whose thoughts ran slower, had a strain of constant stress. Had a broken song.
Nan met his eyes, handed him his tea. There was something broken about her now, something wrong and lost. “Have they found my boy yet?”
