Beneath This Mask

by Victoria Sue

  Jake walked slowly into his shower room and glanced around in satisfaction. This was really why he’d rented the pink house. There was no bath in here, but a nice big shower. He grinned. Big enough for two. He turned it on and walked back into the bedroom. Gael was tracking his movements, barely. His eyes were half-closed, and he looked sated. He’d heard the expression “well-fucked” but it was too crass a word to use on someone like Gael.

  “Come on, sleepyhead.” Jake chuckled and extended his hand, which Gael grasped.

  “Are you gonna carry me?” he teased.

  Jake looked askance. “Do I look like Vance?”

  “No.” Gael smiled. “You’re way cuter.”

  “I’m not cute,” Jake groused and pulled him up. “Men aren’t cute.”

  “Mmm. Well, put on those sexy tightass briefs again after your shower and we’ll see.” Gael waggled his eyebrows, and Jake put his head back and laughed loudly. Gael got rewarded with a kiss and then a smack on his ass, as he was taking too long. Jake suddenly wasn’t sure about bothering with food; he wanted a second course of something else. Gael might be hungry, though.

  “Do you wanna do pizza? Chinese? I can cook, but I’m feeling lazy.”

  Gael pretended to consider. “Go downstairs and cook, mess with chopsticks that take far too long, or”—his voice dropped to a throaty whisper—“feed each other pizza in bed.”

  Jake blinked as a hot wave washed over him. “Pizza it is.”

  The shower was warm, and Gael picked up and sniffed the shower gel before Jake deliberately took it from him.

  “I got you all messy—only fair I clean it off.”

  Gael’s eyes flared, and damn him if Jake’s own cock didn’t jump a little in response to Gael’s reaction. He squeezed out a generous amount of the soap on his hand. Gael shuddered as he stroked his hands over Gael’s chest, neck, and very carefully, his face. Jake had some special scrub for his own face, but he was all for quick at the moment. He could find out in the morning what Gael used when they unpacked his stuff. He slid his hands down over his abdomen and very gently washed his balls, cock, and groin. Gael was rocking gently into his hand by the time he had done.

  “Turn around.”

  Gael blinked as if he was in a complete daze but turned around. He put his arm up on the shower wall and leaned his head against it. Jake made short work of his neck and back, digging in, which pulled some more gorgeous throaty noises from Gael.

  Jake wasn’t sure if Gael had stood that way accidentally or deliberately, but he was leaning forward resting his head, eyes closed, and his legs apart. Jake picked up the small bottle that looked like soap but was made just for what Jake had in mind. He squeezed some on his fingers and trailed them over Gael’s ass. “That feel good, baby?”

  He got a deep moan in reply.

  Jake traced his fingers down Gael’s ass, dipped in between his cheeks, and parted them until he reached his balls, fondling them in his fingers. The speed at which the skin puckered was very gratifying.

  “Jake,” Gael gasped. “I me…. I mean, I should—”

  “Let me take care of you,” Jake countered. This really got him going. He loved being the aggressor, but he loved to give comfort, and Gael’s large size was satisfying on some basic level that he’d never thought of before. The need to dominate Gael but protect him, see him happy and satisfied, was calling out to Jake so loudly he nearly needed noise-canceling headphones.

  Gael shuddered again as Jake brushed over his puckered hole. Jake swallowed down a sharp ache, almost shuddering at the thought of slipping himself between Gael’s cheeks and slowly sliding into his hole. The tightness. The heat. He groaned helplessly.

  “Have you ever played down there?”

  Gael took a breath, and for a second, Jake didn’t think he was going to get an answer, but then he heard the small “yes,” barely audible over the noise of the water. Jake gave him a kiss as if to say thank you for sharing, and while Gael was briefly distracted, Jake was completely unable to resist pushing the end of his finger inside Gael’s tight heat. He wasn’t sure which one of them groaned the loudest. His finger was slick and slid right in to the knuckle. Jake reached around with his other hand and clasped Gael’s stiffening cock.

  “Oh,” Gael said reverently almost, as if he couldn’t believe how good it was, and Jake gently moved his finger in and out.

  He let go of Gael’s cock to squeeze some more lube on another finger, cupping and fondling Gael’s balls until they felt warm and heavy. He slid first one and then another finger into Gael’s ass, slowly, gently. He smoothed his other hand up and down Gael’s dick, and Gael cried out, his movements confused, seeming unsure whether to push toward Jake’s hand or to move back onto Jake’s fingers. Jake squeezed Gael’s dick and stroked his palm over the end, which Jake loved himself. Gael stiffened and thrust into Jake’s palm, and at the same time, Jake bent his finger and found the small spongy area he was looking for. Gael erupted; his spunk must have hit the shower wall so hard, Jake was willing to bet it had sprayed back on him. He hummed his own satisfaction, even though he was rock hard himself and hadn’t come a second time. Later. They had all night.

  He quickly pulled the showerhead from its bracket and cleaned Gael, himself, and the glass. He put the showerhead back and turned it off, all the while keeping a firm arm around Gael, who was dead on his feet. Jake remembered how every day for the last few weeks, Gael had looked more and more worried, and the dark shadows under his eyes had gotten bigger. Gael was nearly asleep. Jake steadied him as they both got out. He wrapped a huge towel around Gael and leaned him up against the sink, briefly rubbed the wettest parts of himself, and cinched a towel around his waist. Then he rubbed Gael as quickly as he could. All the while, Gael just stood completely relaxed with his eyes closed.

  “Come on. Lay down, and I’ll order us some pizza.”

  Gael let himself be led to the bed, and he climbed in and lay curled on his side. Jake couldn’t resist a kiss on his cheek before he covered him with a sheet and went to crank up the air-conditioning. He was planning on a cold room to provide the need for body heat later on.

  Jake pulled on some clean briefs and sweats and jogged downstairs to grab his phone and laptop. He knew Gael had done his report, but he still needed to do his so Talon had them first thing in the morning. Jake was five minutes at the most, but when he came back up, Gael had rolled over onto his belly and bunched a pillow up under his arm. He was also out like a light. Jake chuckled and opened his laptop. He meant to do the report, and he would, but his eyes kept returning to Gael and how settled and peaceful he looked.

  Jake gazed at him and let his brain finally go once more to what had been bothering him for weeks. Well, no, not weeks. It had been a year. The worst year of his life. It was the reason he was in Tampa. The reason he had left LA. The reason he had joined the team. He just hadn’t expected to get involved with one of them. Had he made everything worse? He had been trying to make friends before he admitted what he had done, but then he had seen the state Gael was in and he’d just reacted.

  And it couldn’t go any further. He had to tell Gael tomorrow.

  “JESUS,” JAKE groaned, opening his eyes, the delicious hot, wet suction on his dick bringing him instantly awake. He looked down and saw his dick slipping in and out of Gael’s wet lips. “Fuck,” he added weakly.

  Gael’s eyes crinkled in humor, and Jake fisted the sheet he was lying on in an effort not to thrust his hips and possibly suffocate Gael. Every cell in him was clamoring for him to move. As if Gael knew, his hand clasped the base of Jake’s cock to anchor him a little, and Jake lifted his hips in response. Gael just sucked harder, his fingers clenching.

  Jake pressed his head back into the pillow as the tingling started in his spine and shot around rapidly to his balls. “Gael, I’m gonna shoot,” he warned, and Gael pulled his mouth away but continued to jerk him until his orgasm ripped through him.

  Jake’s vision whited out for a few s
econds, and he heaved a breath, then another.

  Gael wiped his hand on the towel that he had been wearing and slid up the bed. “Just so you know, I only pulled off because we haven’t talked about it,” he said and flopped down. “Not because I wanted to.”

  Jake smiled, still trying to unscramble his brain cells. “I have a piece of paper in the drawer downstairs.”

  Gael chuckled. “Same here.” He shrugged. “Well, not in your drawer, but you know what I mean.”

  Jake would have moved if he had any bones left in his body. Currently they resembled the consistency of cooked spaghetti.

  They both heard the official text sound on their phones. Jake could have cried. “It’s Saturday,” he nearly wailed.

  Gael got out of bed and looked at the screen. “It’s Talon. He wants you to head for the ME’s at ten, and then we’re meeting at the office at twelve. Apparently Cortes and Ryker will both be present at the PM, but she’s willing to talk to us afterward.” Gael passed Jake his phone. They were all supposed to confirm to show they had seen the message.

  Jake sat up, texted a confirmation, and watched Gael hunt around in his suitcase and pull out a T-shirt and shorts. At least having to change into their uniform meant they didn’t have to be in suits all the time, which he thought would have killed him in the Florida heat. “I was hoping to help you get all your gear sorted this morning. Maybe this afternoon if we don’t have to stay the day?”

  Gael hesitated, and Jake suddenly panicked, wondering if he’d overstepped. Gael might not want to be with Jake all day. Just because they’d had mind-blowing sex—

  Did he think Jake was rushing things?

  “That would be great, but I’ve kind of decided, if we don’t have to be there long, to text my sister and see if they want to meet up. They’re staying at the Hyatt not far from Busch Gardens. Apparently they have a daughter and the vacation coincides with her birthday. They spent a week at Disney, and they’re doing two days in Tampa before they fly back on Monday.”

  Jake climbed out of bed and went to a chest of drawers to pull clothes out. “No problem.” He was relieved. “You know, I’m sure Talon would understand if you wanted to skip this morning.”

  “No point,” Gael said. “They’re gonna be in the park until four.”

  Jake disappeared to brush his teeth and find deodorant, and he heard Gael go into the guest room that had a sink and a toilet. Jake emptied his bladder, washed his hands, and ran his electric shaver over his face, grimacing. He really preferred a wet shave, but he was in a hurry. He took a last look in the mirror and wondered why he did. Not like his face had changed overnight, even if he felt different. He opened the bathroom door to see Gael texting. “I only have the one shower in here,” he said. “But whenever you need it, help yourself.”

  Gael looked up and smiled slowly, and just like that, another wave of heat traveled up the length of Jake’s body.

  Jake swallowed, and Gael stood, took two steps to reach him, and slid a hand around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. Hungry lips met ravenous ones. It seemed the more of Gael he had, the more Jake wanted.

  Gael finished with a squeeze to his arm. “We’d better not keep the boss man waiting.”

  Jake followed him down both flights of stairs and picked his keys up from the counter.

  Chapter Nine

  GAEL GRUMBLED to himself as they pulled up at the ME’s office. He really, really, really didn’t like Drew. In fact, he would go as far to say Drew was an obnoxious dick.

  Drew had been pretty easygoing, even helpful, when they’d started. He seemed to have just gotten insufferable after Finn had joined them, although that made no sense. It was always Drew who said he didn’t want to join the unit, not that they wouldn’t have him. And to be fair, it might just be because Gael wished he was listening to a certain California boy with dancing gray eyes and an easy smile. Maybe with some soft jazz on in the background.

  Currently Drew was listing all the minute details and procedures on all the hundreds of autopsies he had attended, like an instruction manual. Luckily blood didn’t bother Gael; he was the team medic, so that would have been ridiculous. He just wasn’t sure about the rest of it. The smell, the sight. He hated horror movies. He wasn’t very good with even the slightly scary ones. The line “I see dead people” was the most fucked-up shit he’d ever heard, especially from a child’s mouth, and when the boy turned around and he had half the back of her head missing, he was grateful he was watching the DVD. He was sure an enhanced screaming in the middle of a cinema would have gotten him arrested. Not that he’d ever been to one of those either. Before he got the mark, they never had the cash for that sort of thing, and after, he never had the guts. He should be grateful Drew didn’t seem to need a participant in the conversation he was having because, with the heavy traffic, it had taken a while to get to UF where the morgue was.

  “Gael.”

  Gael looked up at Drew, and by the exasperation in Drew’s voice, he thought he might have missed the first time Drew called him. He took two quick strides to the door Drew was holding open, and they stopped to sign in and show their ID.

  “Hi, Agent Fielding.” Kathy—according to her badge—flashed her eyes at Drew, and Gael followed her adoring gaze. He hadn’t ever thought Drew was particularly attractive. Slim, with reddish-brown hair and pale brown eyes. They just didn’t have the same pull as, say… steely-gray ones. Gael nearly grinned. He had it bad, and Kathy was welcome to Drew.

  They shared some story about the newly retired medical examiner, and then an office door opened from the corridor. A woman with gray hair and thin wire glasses, and wearing a smart blue suit extended her hand as she walked toward them. Drew introduced him to her—Dr. Bayer—and they both followed her into a nice airy office. Gael took a relieved breath.

  She opened a file as soon as she sat down. “Maria Kelly, forty-three. Death caused by cardiac arrest.”

  “Manner of death?” Drew asked.

  Gael glanced at Drew. Wasn’t that what Dr. Bayer had just said?

  Drew caught his look and launched into an explanation. “There are three determinations on an autopsy report. Manner of death—”

  “Homicide,” Dr. Bayer said flatly.

  “And cause of death—in this instance, electrocution—aren’t the same thing,” Drew continued.

  Dr. Bayer smiled patiently. “And mechanism of death. The reason the person died. Cardiac arrest,” she added. “She has clear Joule marks on her neck.”

  “Can we see?” Drew leaned forward.

  Gael ignored him. “Joule marks?” He attempted his best smile. “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to give me the dumbed-down version.” He ignored the snigger from Drew.

  “Joule marks are the marks—pinpricks I think more aptly describes them—where the current entered the body.”

  “Like from a taser,” Gael asked.

  “More like a stun gun,” Drew said. He flashed Dr. Bayer a smile. “Most tasers don’t leave an actual mark.”

  “Yes,” Dr. Bayer agreed with an indulgent smile. “You have done your research, as always, Agent Fielding.”

  Gael tried really hard not to roll his eyes.

  “Postmortem lividity—” Dr. Bayer hesitated. “Blood coagulation,” she explained, but Gael got that one, “indicates she died where she sat. There are no exit wounds, so we don’t think it was a powerful current or that it was held on her for a long time.”

  “Just enough,” Drew said gravely.

  Okay, Gael was officially creeped out and, of course, Drew had to go look. The space was enormous—a cavernous room with at least eight metal gurneys and what looked like a whole wall of fridges. Maria’s body was pulled out of one of them, and Gael made himself look.

  Drew seemed fascinated by everything. “And there was no exit wound, which would seem to confirm a low charge over a longer time frame,” he said, as if to himself.

  Dr. Bayer nodded. “The problem we have is human response to e
lectricity is widely variable. What would cause numbness and pain on one individual would kill another.” Dr. Bayer gently turned Maria’s head to the right. The two small pink circles—Joule marks—were clearly visible just under her left ear.

  “That’s interesting,” Drew said as they drove away. Gael hadn’t wanted to hang around any longer than he had to, and luckily neither had Dr. Bayer. Drew, he was sure, could have stayed there all day.

  Gael nodded. He was hoping the detectives all showed sense. No stun gun had been found and neither had any other type of weapon. Surely the marks themselves would be enough to clear Derrick? They drove in silence for a few minutes.

  “I just want to run in here.” Gael nodded to the store as they turned on Columbus Drive.

  Drew’s eyebrow’s rose as Gael pulled out Derrick’s broken tablet from the bag, but he didn’t say a word.

  “ONE OF the nicest ladies you’d ever wish to meet,” Finn read from the report on Jenny Mathis. “That’s what the mom of the child with cerebral palsy said.”

  “Who?” Vance asked.

  “Jenny Mathis was the nurse who worked for All Health. Her clients were Annabel Jones, Barry Jones’s wife, and Polly Jameson, a fifteen-year-old with cerebral palsy,” Drew said impatiently, like Vance was slow.

  “No, I know who Jenny Mathis is. This is just the first time anyone has mentioned cerebral palsy, that’s all,” Vance said mildly.

  Gael glanced at Talon to see if he was going to say anything, but technically Drew hadn’t done anything wrong; he was just being a dick.

  They all looked up as Detectives Cortes and Ryker were shown into the room. Jake quickly introduced Detective Ryker to the team.

  “We are working the case separately, as we have no specific evidence at the moment to believe they are connected, but we have agreed on the likelihood they are,” Cortes explained. “We were hoping to just maybe go through everything so we’re all on the same page.”