As for Gabe… temptation within reach? Okay, so they obviously weren’t going to do anything with Yas in the room, but he could definitely see himself snuggling up to Gabe in his sleep without even realizing it. Any bodily contact was likely to result in certain reactions he wouldn’t be able to hide. Anyway, since Gabe was trying to keep their personal connection from interfering with his case, sleeping in the same bed seemed counterproductive.
“Nope,” Gabe replied, barely sparing him a glance. “You’re in the bed, and you’re taking the side closest to the wall, away from the windows.”
“How do you want to do this, then?” Yas wheeled the cot into the room and wedged it in the narrow space between the window and the bed. “Flip a coin. Or rock off?”
“Coin.” Gabe was already fishing in his pockets. “You always cheat at rock, paper, scissors.”
Yas didn’t deny the fact, just sent Gabe a serene smile as she finished setting up the squeaky cot.
“Call it,” Gabe said at he found a coin and flipped it into the air.
“Heads.”
The coin hit Gabe’s palm, and he smacked it onto the top of his hand. “Are you sure?”
Yas rolled her eyes. “Just get on with it, Lopez.”
Matt leaned in to get a peek as Gabe lifted his hand to reveal the coin.
“Tails,” Gabe said triumphantly, before his gaze slid over to Matt. “Which means you’re all mine.”
Matt’s stomach dropped to somewhere in the vicinity of his feet at the way Gabe was looking at him. The guy was seriously not good for his equilibrium.
Yas, meanwhile, accepted her defeat gracefully. “Just keep it PG while I’m in the room, okay?”
Matt turned to his luggage, grabbing a few things and hoping his face wasn’t as red as it felt. He’d never had anyone else besides Sammie and occasionally Krissy tease him about his love life, so he wasn’t really used to the easy way Yas had accepted him and Gabe, even though she knew they’d put the brakes on for the time being.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he announced to no one in particular.
“Want me to order you the same as last night?” Gabe asked as he tugged his tie off and toed out of his shoes. He sat on the edge of the bed, and Matt was abruptly reminded of what’d happened last night when Gabe had got comfortable before their pizzas had turned up.
“Yeah, thanks.” Matt hurried into the bathroom, shutting himself in and letting out a pent-up breath once he was alone. He was half-hard at just the thought of being in bed with Gabe.
Tonight was going to be a special kind of torture.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GABE GAVE up pretending he wasn’t watching the bathroom door, waiting for it to open and Matt to step out. He’d spent the past fifteen minutes since Matt had disappeared valiantly trying not to imagine Matt stripping off his clothes. Maybe stretching indolently once he was naked. Stepping into the shower and the water cascading over his shoulders, down the lean muscles of his chest and trim line of his thighs. Running the soap over his body. Taking himself in hand and stroking—
Gabe violently cut off the line of thinking and shifted where he was sitting on the end of the bed with the TV talking to itself across from him. Yas luckily had her face glued to her tablet, reading some kind of report, and wasn’t taking any notice of what he was doing. He discreetly adjusted his pants, which were feeling too tight in certain areas, and forced himself to chill the hell out. There’d be plenty of time to do all kinds of fun things with Matt once this damned assignment was wrapped up and he could get the fuck out of this one-pony town or however that saying went.
A knock sounded on the outer door as Matt finally emerged from the bathroom, dirty clothes bundled in his arms along with his compact bag of toiletries. Their eyes met and Gabe swore he felt it in every single cell of his body, like electricity crackling through his veins.
“Pizza got here fast,” Yas commented as she pushed up from where she’d been lounging on the cot, as if wanting to prove it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it looked.
“Good, I’m starving,” he replied distractedly, watching Matt cross the room toward his side of the bed to dump his stuff there.
The knocking sounded again as Yas reached the door.
“Okay! Keep your pants on,” she yelled out as she reached for the handle.
The sudden deafening report of gunshots automatically sent Gabe ducking for cover, his training kicking in along with his survival instincts.
“Matt! Get down!” he shouted, catching sight of Matt frozen on the spot. Gabe scrambled toward him, but his attention got snagged by Yas, who’d collapsed in front of the door, clutching the side of her abdomen, bright red blood blooming between her fingers. Indecision froze him. Everything seemed to slow down, the seconds stretching as reality slammed into him as mercilessly as the bullets that had taken down Yas.
Meanwhile, the spray of ammo shifted from making swiss cheese out of the flimsy door to shattering the window and moving across the room, peppering the far wall with holes and sending tiny bits of drywall and dust flying. Matt finally snapped into action, throwing himself down into the space between the bed and the bathroom.
“Yas!”
Heart pounding, sending hard surges of adrenaline through him, Gabe army-crawled across the floor toward her, cursing at every bit of debris that hit him. He wrapped an arm across her upper chest and quickly dragged her backward, pulling her behind the small amount of shelter on the opposite side of the bed, where Matt was hunkered down holding his phone to his ear, calling 911 by the sounds of it. The shooting finally stopped, leaving the silence ringing in his ears.
“Gabe.” Yas gasped as he pulled her shirt up to get a clear look at the wound. She grabbed his wrist and pushed her gun into his hand. “Take this and go.”
His fingers automatically closed around the grip, heart thrumming somewhere in the vicinity of his throat. “It’ll be on me if it becomes a problem later.” Yas gave him a weak shove, but he easily resisted, keeping one hand pressed to her abdomen. “Go, Gabe! Matt will take care of me until the paramedics get here.”
Matt dropped the phone to the thin carpet and shuffled into Gabe’s side. He reached up and yanked one of the blankets off the bed, gently pushing Gabe’s hand out of the way and using a wadded-up corner of the blanket to more effectively stem the blood flow.
“I’ve got this,” Matt murmured. His voice was thin and his features pale, but his expression was resolute.
Gabe’s stomach churned. He hated leaving the two of them, was barely keeping his head over Yas being shot and not knowing how bad it was. But she was right. He had to go after the shooter. Stanley Ferguson, the bastard. Or maybe someone Ferguson had persuaded to act on his behalf. This had to be retaliation. Maybe the guy thought if he could get rid of them all, the investigation would go away. Or maybe he was just pissed at them for getting so close to pinning all this on him and he simply wanted revenge. Either way, if they caught Ferguson with the literal smoking gun tonight, this would all be over.
That realization got him to his feet and rushing from the room, gun held ready as he pulled open what was left of the door and peered out into the darkened motel parking lot. He didn’t see anything, but sirens wailed in the distance, steadily getting louder.
He slid around the doorjamb, scanning for any movement, and carefully crossed over to his and Yas’s cars, where they were parked next to each other. Matt’s rental had been towed to an impound lot earlier in the day after the crime scene unit had finished with it. No one had bothered to sweep up the bits of broken glass, however, and they caught the orange light of the streetlamps above.
After doing a lap of both cars to make sure no one was crouched down behind them, he did a thorough sweep of the otherwise empty interior parking lot and then cautiously moved out onto the street just as the sheriff’s SUV arrived, followed closely by the paramedics’ rig and a second patrol car.
The motel owners came out of the office looking s
hocked and worried, but he ignored them for the time being. He doubted they were in danger of getting shot. Besides, Ferguson probably hadn’t stuck around after shooting up the place. And considering the number of bullets he’d sprayed into the room from what had sounded like a semiautomatic rifle of some kind, the guy couldn’t have had much ammo left unless he was carrying a spare clip.
Gabe lowered the gun and waved to the sheriff, jogging back toward Yas’s room as the vehicles jerked to a quick halt.
“Someone got shot?” Sheriff Hayes demanded as he climbed out of the SUV, quickly followed by Perez. Neither man was in uniform, but both of them were armed.
“Agent Quinn took at least one shot to the abdomen.” His voice came out uneven, but he didn’t care. Yas was the closest thing he had to a best friend within the bureau. He could barely handle the thought she might be injured, let alone actually die.
“We’ve got this, Lopez,” the sheriff said in a firm but gentle tone. “You go be with her.”
Before he could reply, Hayes had turned to Perez and two other officers, giving them instructions to search the area.
Gabe hurried after the paramedics, who were quickly making their way into the destroyed room. Inside, Matt look relieved as one of the paramedics knelt down to take over for him, telling him he’d done a great job. Blood had soaked through the blanket Matt had pressed against the wound, and Yas barely looked conscious. Apprehension sent Gabe’s pulse thrumming again. Oh God. She couldn’t die. Not when she’d been doing him a favor coming out here and he knew she hated leaving the city. Fuck. If she didn’t make it, he’d never stop blaming himself.
Matt pushed upright, gaining his attention as he took a couple of steps and then wobbled. Gabe forgot everything else in that split second, rushing to close the distance to steady him.
“Matt, are you okay?” Even as he asked the question, he registered a warm stickiness beneath his palm where he held Matt’s shoulder. Matt swore under his breath, swaying into him, and Gabe lifted his hand to see Matt’s shirt was covered in blood at the top of his left biceps where they rounded into his shoulder. It felt like there was ice water in his veins, chilling him to his very soul.
“Matt. Oh shit. I need some help!” He guided Matt a few steps backward, letting him drop to sit heavily on the edge of the bed.
“It’s okay.” Matt grabbed his fingers in a tight grip, his other hand coming up to cup Gabe’s cheek, stopping him from free-falling off the edge into outright panic. Matt shifted in and kissed him quickly, gently, reassuringly, grounding him in a way nothing else could have. “I’m okay. I’m going to be fine. It’s just a scratch.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” One of the paramedics appeared at Gabe’s side and started checking Matt with quick, efficient movements. Gabe shifted out of her way to sit next to Matt on the bed, but couldn’t bring himself to release Matt’s hand. Not that Matt seemed like he was going to let go anytime soon. They were practically clinging to each another, and with Yas lying on the floor bleeding heavily a few feet away, Gabe had never been so glad to have another person next to him in his life. But not just anyone. Only Matt.
“It’s a just a graze. Might even be from shrapnel, not a bullet. The bleeding has already slowed, no need to panic,” the paramedic reported as she sat back to rummage in her nearby bag. She pulled out a bandage and tightly wrapped the wound over Matt’s T-shirt. “He probably just needs a shot of antibiotics and a stitch or two. I’m sorry, but I need to help your other friend. She’s much worse off.”
“Is she going to be okay?” he demanded as the paramedic turned her attention back to her partner, who was frantically working on Yas. Matt’s hand tightened around his and held on almost desperately, even though logically Gabe thought he should have been comforting Matt, since he’d been shot. Fuck. He should have made sure Matt hit the ground straightaway, but he’d been distracted by the fact Yas had already gone down.
“She’s lost a lot of blood. We’re doing our best to stabilize her. Once she’s at the hospital, the doctors will be able to tell you more.”
Gabe swallowed down the bile rising in the back of his throat, anxiety and anger and crippling worry churning in a volatile mix inside him.
“We’re taking her to the bigger hospital in Conroe. Why don’t you take your boyfriend and meet us there?” the paramedic said in a voice that told him it was more an order than a suggestion. Gabe also noticed she hadn’t said anything concrete about Yas’s condition, which was telling in itself.
God dammit. He wanted to go find Stanley Ferguson and give him a taste of his own medicine. See how he liked getting shot or the shit beaten out of him. Instead, he held tightly to Matt as he helped him to his feet. Maybe it wasn’t healthy, but concentrating on keeping Matt steady as they left the room—even though he did seem more stable since the paramedic had checked him over—was pretty much the only thing keeping him sane. Matt had become an anchor, and as long as he could hold on to him, Gabe could believe everything was going to be okay.
As they stepped outside, Perez came jogging up to them. Several other patrol cars had arrived to provide backup. It looked like every cop in Everness was on scene, and then some.
“Everything all right?” Perez asked as he stopped in front of them.
“Matt got shot as well—”
“But the paramedic said it wasn’t serious,” Matt cut in, voice pitched like he was trying to be reassuring.
“Agent Quinn?” Perez asked after giving a cursory glance at the white bandage around Matt’s biceps.
“They’re still trying to stabilize her,” Gabe replied around the lump in his throat making his voice thick. Somehow his grip on Matt had changed so that now it seemed more like Matt was holding him up.
“Is there anything I can do?” Perez asked, grim expression matching his dark tone.
“We’re going to the hospital in Conroe,” Matt answered when Gabe apparently couldn’t, too busy trying to swallow down the tightness in his chest that was threatening to choke him.
He was a trained FBI analyst, for Christ’s sake. Okay, so he’d never been in this kind of field situation before, but surely he could hold it together under pressure better than this.
Except it was Yas and her life was possibly hanging in the balance. And Matt had gotten shot as well. Yes, Matt was fine, but what if the bullet had hit a few inches closer to the middle of his chest? What if he’d died on the floor of some Motel 6 in the middle of nowhere all because he’d been trying to do the right thing by a cousin who didn’t even appreciate him and had gotten pulled into the middle of a dangerous situation because Gabe had started sleeping with him?
For a long second, he couldn’t breathe, until Matt’s grip tightened on him. Not quite painful, but with enough intensity to yank him out of the spiral before it could suck him under.
“Gabe.” Matt’s voice washed over him, bringing a wave of relief. “Do you want Jake to drive us to Conroe?”
From the tone of his voice, it seemed like maybe that wasn’t the first time Gabe had been asked that question.
“No. Thanks, but no. We’ll be fine.” He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out his car keys as if it would emphasize the fact.
“Let me escort you, then. It’ll clear the way and get you there faster.” Perez turned to jog over to the sheriff’s SUV before he could even agree.
Gabe started to turn toward his sedan, but Matt shifted into his path. He glanced at him, taking in Matt’s pale, pinched features and concern in his eyes.
“Gabe—”
“I’m sorry,” he cut in before Matt could say whatever he had on his mind. “I should have gotten to you faster. I should have—”
“None of this is your fault.” Matt stepped even closer, pulling Gabe in and wrapping his noninjured arm around him, holding him close. Gabe closed his eyes and exhaled, letting his forehead rest on Matt’s shoulder. Just for a second. Just to let Matt’s warmth soak into him. Just so the chill that’d taken hold d
eep in his chest could melt away.
“It’s not your fault,” Matt repeated quietly, pressing a kiss into the side of his neck. “Yas will be fine and you’re going to get the bastard responsible for all this, then you and I—”
Gabe raised his head when Matt broke off and tensed slightly against him. They’d already agreed to work something out together after this was all over. Was Matt having second thoughts?
“You and I?” Gabe prompted, holding his breath while he waited for the answer.
Matt’s gaze roamed his face, hand sliding up to settle on the back of his neck.
“You and I are going to have something amazing,” Matt finally said, voice warm and flowing over him like liquid gold.
Gabe exhaled as he leaned in to close what little distance was left between them, sealing his mouth over Matt’s. The kiss was brief and light but lingering and heartfelt. When they broke apart, a small, intimate smile played across Matt’s features, more color in his cheeks now, which made Gabe feel a million times better. Of course, he couldn’t feel entirely relieved until Matt had his GSW seen to properly, he knew Yas was going to be fine, and Stanley Ferguson and his accomplices were serving life in a supermax prison.
“Come on. Jake is waiting for us.” Matt stepped back, jerking his thumb toward where Perez had the sheriff’s SUV idling near the main driveway out of the motel parking lot.
Gabe stepped over and opened the passenger door of his sedan for Matt, who’d been keeping his injured arm mostly immobile at his side. Gabe had never been shot before, but he imagined it had to hurt like a bitch. Matt hadn’t uttered one single complaint, however, and had been more concerned about making sure he was okay.
As he climbed in behind the wheel and started the car, it felt like his heart had swelled to five times its normal size, especially as he glanced at Matt, who sent him another reassuring smile. How the heck was he supposed to watch Matt get on a plane and go home to SoMa when it felt like the guy had practically become a physical part of him? A vital part he needed to survive.
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