“You there?” Mitch asked.
“Yeah. Nebraska, huh?”
“Per Masters. They’re not letting too much out about the whole Protector thing. Said they would know more when they meet with me again.”
“Why? Meet with you about what?”
“My future, which I don’t want to discuss right now. You might want to have Aaron call Masters and see if he can help. He knows all that computer shit. Guy’s brilliant. They could use him.” That comment alarmed Kreed for some reason, but he pushed down that little niggling thought.
The unease coiling in his gut, tightened, then unraveled all at once. Everything stilled inside him.
The Protector hack…
Nebraska…
The dragon tattoo on Aaron’s chest…
The earth shifted, knocking Kreed off balance in an almost violent reaction. The pounding of his frantic heart blasted in his ears. The air suddenly vanished as fear gripped his insides.
No!
His body lurched forward; his world tilted on its axis. Kreed dropped the phone as he shot to his feet, all his focus centered in stopping Aaron. Kreed took off running, his only focus was getting to Aaron before anyone could find him and hurt him. That realistic sobering thought drove him faster.
The possibility of losing Aaron had him sprinting across the deck and through the back door without regard to the rattling of the glass behind him. Kreed burst through the closed bedroom door, causing it to slam loudly against the drywall. Aaron jumped, startled at his unannounced entrance. The kid was working at the desk, Kreed could see the light reflecting off the monitors Aaron sat behind. Kreed slowed, his focus trained on Aaron as he cleared his mind and worked on getting a read on Aaron’s mood.
Dammit, no question about it, he was right about Aaron. Kreed could feel the anxiety growing in the air around him as he stalked forward.
“What’s happened?” Aaron asked. He sat back in his chair, his bare feet crossed at the desk and the keyboard in his lap. Going against every emotion in his body, Kreed forced himself to calm. He removed the earphones from Aaron’s ears, then took the keyboard from his lap. Instead of smashing them all with his bare hands, like he wanted to do, he tossed them on the desk. He scanned the two screens, searching for something, anything to prove Aaron wasn’t the one responsible for the hack. Hope began to fade the more he digested what he saw.
Displayed was a massive amount of gibberish with a small chat box in the corner.
“Can they hear us?”
“No, I muted them. What’s wrong?” Aaron asked, looking a little spooked. No doubt, the kid had been monitoring the fed’s response to all this. He could do that easily with his security clearance.
Shit, it was all starting to come together and the picture being painted so clearly in his head looked grimmer and grimmer by the second. How had he not figured this out before now?
“You’ve got to stop.”
He watched long and hard as Aaron mentally placed barriers between them. No way was that going to work. Kreed reached down and gripped the sides of Aaron’s face between his palms, keeping him from turning away.
“You have to stop this. I get what you’re doing, I swear to God I do, but they’ll find you and they’ll either kill you or make you wish they had. This is not something that they’ll forgive. They don’t like being made to look like fools. If they arrest you, it’s only because they fucked it up and didn’t eradicate you.”
Seconds passed as he watched Aaron’s Adam’s apple slowly dip as he swallowed. Those intense steel blue eyes searched his for seconds before Aaron’s mask slid back in place.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aaron stated, the conviction not really matching the words. His heart shattered at how easily Aaron lied to him.
Kreed understood the reason, but it didn’t change the situation. He wasn’t getting through to Aaron. He wasn’t making himself clear. Panic dropped him to his knees. Kreed knew the things his government was capable of, had witnessed them firsthand. Hell, he’d even administered some of the blows. He had to do something, make Aaron see reason.
“The holes in my record…” Kreed sighed deeply and lowered his hands to Aaron’s, gripping them tighter than ever before. “I’ve never said this out loud before.”
Kreed bent his head, his forehead touching the back of Aaron’s hands. He let Aaron wiggle one of his hands free and felt the tangle of his guy’s long fingers threading through his hair.
“You can trust me,” Aaron whispered. Kreed lifted his head, his eyes focused on Aaron’s. The complexity of the emotion he saw in their blue-gray depths gave him more courage than he’d known in a very long time.
“I was part of a covert operation. This gut thing I’ve got made me attractive to the government. They recruited me into the program when I was young. I was sent to the Middle East where I identified and infiltrated al-Qaida.”
“Is that how you got the scar on your hip?” Aaron asked.
“Yes. I spent years there. I was one of them, filtering information back.” Kreed closed his eyes again, the images that had plagued him for most of his adult life flashed through his mind. He’d lived and breathed that terror cell every single day. He’d participated in horrific crimes against humanity to prove value and moved up the ranks quickly. He’d suffocated in that evil every day and risked his life over and over to funnel intel back to the United States government.
“I know firsthand the lengths our government will go to secure their agenda. And they will come after you. They’re looking right now. We’re on high alert looking for you, Aaron.”
The pain of the thought had emotion driving him as he implored Aaron.
“Baby, I won’t be able to keep you safe. No one will be able to keep you safe. If they don’t find you now, at some point they will, because I’d stake my life on the fact that they have a team of guys just like you out there searching for…you. The bounty’s too high and just increased ten-fold with this stunt on the military. They don’t play. You’ll disappear. Look at what happened to my brother and how they washed their hands clean. Derek followed in my footsteps, Aaron, and now he’s dead.”
Aaron sat there silently, watching him, his hand gripping Kreed’s, holding tightly as if he’d been thrown a lifeline. What he said next gave Kreed hope, even though the words weren’t quite right.
“It’s not so easy to just leave.”
“Whatever it takes, I’ll be here beside you. I love you. I do. I should have said it sooner. I can’t lose you, too. Please stop this. I get it now. I get why you kept distance between us, but you have to stop this, Aaron. Pass this torch on. Please. I love you.”
“I love you,” Aaron whispered. “I couldn’t let what happened to Derek just pass by. I don’t like you hurt.”
“Then let that be enough.” Kreed kissed both of Aaron’s knuckles. “Please stop this. Come start a life with me. Leave all that behind.”
“It’s not that easy…”
“But it is, Aaron. It’s exactly that easy. They’re on your trail, so you just disappear, then the trail grows cold.”
“There’s so much more you don’t know.” Aaron pulled away from him, breaking the contact. His eyes were so serious, as if begging Kreed to understand. Aaron turned off the monitors, rose from the chair, and left the room, leaving Kreed on his knees in the middle of the floor.
Chapter 33
The cool water lapped over Aaron’s feet at the water’s edge. He held his arms crossed over his chest as he stared out into the ocean. Never in a hundred million years did he think he’d be where he was today. Protector had been his baby since high school. Every day since he and his online gaming buddy had concocted the idea, he’d focused on the notions of this being for the greater good. Never did he ever think it would become this big of a deal—a cult phenomenon that millions of people across the world followed and helped make happen for the sole purpose of being a watchdog to help control the hate and corruption in the world
.
Back then, everything had seemed clearer. They’d had a plan and executed the steps to precision. He’d been strategic in hacking into the government site as a teenager. He’d planned the whole deal. Nothing too much, just a little breach…with a very loud and clear trail straight to his door. He’d needed that arrest to land him the job with the government. Just as he’d expected, within a matter of months, the agency had hired him to find holes in their systems. That was all it took. That one move allowed him to keep an eye on what the alphabet boys found when they were looking for Protector.
Aaron sighed and kicked at the incoming surf.
Mitch had complicated things. He’d found Mitch while looking for someone to friend who’d give him credibility. Aaron just never expected to like the guy so much. Guilt had been a foreign concept until he’d met Knox. That was the main reason he’d jumped in and helped him so much when Knox had finally asked for something—a way to help alleviate the guilt he had for riding on the guy’s honor and integrity-filled coattails. Now, Aaron knew, that was the beginning of the end.
Patrick, his high school gaming buddy that he’d never seen in real life had changed over the last couple of years. He’d turned into a conspiracy theorist, making obvious problems into a mass of finger-pointing, digging deeper, and making broad assumptions without acquiring a shred of physical proof. They’d lost their joint vision for Protector and seemed to fight as much as they agreed these days.
Since Aaron had the fact that no one had ever made a firm or valid identification of his association with Protector, he could technically bow out. Actually, Aaron figured his partner would prefer him out. They’d fought several times over the last few months. Patrick kept hinting that Aaron was holding them back from global domination—whatever the hell that meant.
How had Kreed Sinacola figured out what no one else on the planet ever had? He couldn’t even pretend to not know the answer to that question. Besides Kreed being one of the most intuitive people he’d ever known, they were connected. He connected with Kreed on a higher level than any other person on this planet. That said a lot, because Aaron had never fully connected to anyone. And it felt fucking amazing. The feelings of love soothed him, warmed him, even as the breeze blowing off the ocean became stronger and cooler.
That was another problem. He wanted what he had with Kreed to continue. Did it matter that he wasn’t who he’d portrayed himself to be? Would Kreed care? Or were those just the incidentals…those little things that didn’t really matter? But would they to Kreed? His name wasn’t even Aaron Stuart. His given name was Aaron Drake. He’d graduated from MIT with a solid 5.0 grade-point average. And he was someone who’d used his love’s best friend to further his illegal activity. That was probably a lot for a deputy US marshal to get over.
“Here,” Kreed said from behind as he draped a running jacket over his shoulders. In the back of his mind, he’d registered the cooler weather, but hadn’t really noticed until Kreed brought it to his attention. “You’ve been out here awhile. I didn’t want you to get cold.”
This man deserved every happiness this world had to offer. Aaron reached out and placed his hand on Kreed’s forearm, stopping his retreat as he stepped away. When he turned to fully face Kreed, it wasn’t the wind that chilled him to the core, it was the uncertainty in Kreed’s eyes. Aaron hated knowing he’d caused that look. He hated that more than anything. Guilt and trepidation made making eye contact impossible, so he looked down at the sand.
“Rain’s on its way,” Kreed said quietly. Aaron wasn’t sure how to reply. It wasn’t like Kreed to bring up the weather or try for small talk. Kreed had always been straightforward. Aaron sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to lift his head and meet Kreed’s stare. He couldn’t see any contempt or regret, but the concern he found speared his heart. He never wanted to see that or the disappointment swimming in those depths.
“I love you, Kreed. I’m sorry I never…”
“I know. I love you, too,” Kreed replied. His words were encouraging, but he still wasn’t sure what it meant for them. The guy should hate him for lying, manipulating his friend, and jeopardizing both their careers. Aaron gathered his strength and stepped closer. Kreed wrapped one arm, then the other, around him.
“I never planned on any of this happening. As much as you’ve figured out, there’s a lot you don’t know.” Aaron furrowed his brow and worried his lip. He was scared and still unsure, but relieved and touched Kreed had said he loved him. The deputy marshal was willing to forgive him and turn a blind eye. More so, he’d figured this moment would have ended in his own arrest. Since that didn’t seem to be the case, he owed Kreed all of the truth.
“As long as it doesn’t jeopardize your safety, I don’t really care.”
“You say that now…” he started.
“Aaron, you have to know things aren’t just cut and dry to me.”
“Yeah, you didn’t arrest me in there, but you still can.”
“It’s always gonna be you. I’m never gonna let that happen. I’m very protective of you.”
“You really see a future for us after all of this?” Aaron asked.
“Yes, and I have for a while.” Kreed held him closer, rubbing his hands up and down Aaron’s arms, the friction warming his skin.
“Kreed, I’m the fugitive they want so badly. I’m one of the men behind the mask. Even if I walk away, that’s never gonna change.”
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I’m not letting you go for any reason. I can’t stress that enough.”
Silence fell between them. Aaron slid his arms around Kreed and just held him tightly. Simple acceptance was something he’d never experienced, and if Kreed believed they could have a relationship, then he had to try. There was still so much he needed to tell Kreed, but he’d hold it till Kreed was ready to hear it.
“I need you to give it up though, Aaron. What you’re doing… I get it. You’ve brought awareness. You’ve started a movement. You educate the world, but that needs to be enough. Let the next generation guide the crusade.”
“You’re right. The group needs to grow, but without me. It was becoming a problem. My partner and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on our viewpoints.”
“And this person or persons knows who you are? They’ve already tracked y’all to Nebraska with this hack.”
“They’re not as smart as they think they are. They haven’t figured out that when they chase Protector, they’ll always end up in Nebraska. For the most part, we’ve kept our identity from each other. It wouldn’t take much for my partner to figure out who I am—we’re both pretty savvy—but we haven’t broken that code of ethics since we started.”
Kreed nodded and took Aaron’s face softly between big palms, the touch so tender and warm against his skin that it eased his heart and comforted his soul.
“I promise if you do this for me—you give this up—I’ll do everything in my power to make your life better. I’ll love you, take care of you, and provide for you. If you can find a way to move in with me, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you’re happy. I’ll even share my Lush with you. I’ve seen you eyeing them. I know you want it.”
Aaron smiled at the twinkle of mischief in Kreed’s eyes. He needed that light-hearted moment. Everything had been way too serious today.
“As long as you’re willing to share that Lush.” Aaron chuckled. Kreed leaned in and kissed him briefly. “I’m nervous, Sin. This is all so fast.”
“It’s not fast when you know what’s in here,” Kreed said, lifting Aaron’s palm to his heart. Aaron brought his other hand up to cup the back of Kreed’s neck and held him there to deepen their kiss, making it hard and sweet. Aaron could feel the emotion behind Kreed’s kiss. The sky crackled with lightning and drops of rain made themselves known on their skin. Aaron pulled back, took Kreed’s hand, and led him into the house just as the storm started to gather momentum.
They had lost their clothes, shedding them as they
’d come into the house. Aaron turned to face Kreed’s open and honest expression. This man loved him and was willing to turn his head, look the other direction, to give him a chance to prove himself. His out. He wouldn’t ever have to hide himself from Kreed again. Kreed had the ability to rip him to shreds, to destroy him in so many ways.
The wind picked up outside, and he heard the distinct tapping of rain on the windows as he pulled Kreed down the hallway. Sin slammed his mouth against Aaron’s the moment they stepped into the bedroom. He pushed an insistent tongue between Aaron’s lips, and he opened eagerly, sliding his tongue firmly against Kreed’s, tasting him, kissing him, falling deeper in love with this magnificent man with every urgent brush of their mouths.
Kreed’s tongue raked over his teeth, pushing to the back of his mouth, probing, exploring the far reaches. Aaron moaned into the kiss, giving his all, their tongues twisting and tangling, mouths working frantically to devour the other as his hands skimmed over Kreed’s skin.
The wind blew against the house, making it creak. He broke from the kiss then dragged his lips across Kreed’s stubbled jaw to his ear and nipped the fleshy lobe.
“Please make love to me.” The need to be close to this man drove him. Kreed groaned at his words, his fingers brushing across his nipple rings, sending a surge of fire straight to his balls. Squeezing his eyes shut, Aaron threw his head back to enjoy the shock of pleasure. When he opened his eyes, Kreed’s dark eyes reflected pure carnal sin.
“On the bed, now.” The deputy’s voice held authority, and damn, if that didn’t make his cock jerk to attention.
Doing as he’d been told, Aaron pushed himself to the middle of the mattress and watched as Kreed grabbed the supplies from the drawer and joined him on the bed by slowly kissing his way up his legs. Aaron spread his thighs as Sin stretched out on top of him, cocks trapped and leaking between their bodies. He inhaled the rich, spicy scent of his lover’s skin.
Nice Guys Collection With Added Bonus Material Page 109
