Entangled Darkness

by Brandy L Rivers

  Desire washed through Robert. He gripped the back of Tremaine’s neck and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. Then he hissed into Tremaine’s ear. “I love you too.”

  “Prove it,” Tremaine growled, reaching behind Robert to shove everything off the desk. Files fell to the floor, books, journals, everything, even the phone.

  Their mouths collided, tongue’s dueling, teeth gnashing. Robert stood, and Tremaine pushed his jacket off, then gripped Robert’s shirt, ripping it open. Buttons flew across the room.

  They got each other’s pants open, shoving them off before Tremaine spun Robert, pushing him down on the desk.

  “Want this?” Tremaine sucked his finger into his mouth wetting it before moving to slowly push into Robert.

  “Yes!” he groaned. Gripping the edge of the desk as Tremaine spit, he added another finger, working him slowly. “Now,” Robert grunted, relaxing into the invasion.

  Once more, Tremaine spit before his blunt head breached Robert. Slow and steady pressure built as Tremaine pushed as far as he could go and stayed there.

  Needing more, Robert pushed back. “Move, Trem.”

  Tremaine groaned, sliding in and out a couple times before flipping Robert over and pushing his knee back with one hand and grabbing his cock with the other.

  Tremaine’s eyes still burned golden as he set a hard pace, stroking him off as he pounded into Robert.

  Sensation overflowed, pushing him toward release. Tremaine growled while nearing his own climax.

  Robert’s cock jerked in time with his. Tremaine thrust deep, gripping Robert’s cock tight. Robert’s come sprayed against his chest and abs.

  Then Tremaine pulled out, righting his pants. “I—shit.”

  He lay there, panting, watching the other piece of his heart turn to stare out the window.

  “What? That not enough to prove I love you?” Robert asked, forcing himself upright.

  Tremaine didn’t face him. His shoulders rose and fell with a sigh. “Is it only because of Liz? That’s what I need to understand.”

  “Do you think I could have let you do that if it was all for Liz? Really?” It wasn’t the first time Tremaine had fucked him, but Liz had always been there.

  “I don’t know.” Tremaine shook his head and placed his hands on the window, dropping his head to the glass. “I’ve done things for cases I’ve loathed, and had to play a role.”

  “What are you saying?” Robert asked, dreading the answer.

  Tremaine hit his head against the glass. “That Liz has always been everything to you. Accepting me into both your lives means having her back. I won’t even blame you if that’s all this is.”

  “Damn it, Tremaine. That’s bull.”

  He turned back, doubt in his eyes. “You sure? Somewhere in your head, you believed I turned against the Silver Council, and it kept you from coming home to us.”

  Robert shoved the torn shirt off and pulled his pants up, fastening the belt as he crossed the room. “Yeah, it entered my mind, but I didn’t truly believe it. I had to wrap my head around everything I read in those reports.”

  “I can’t have you believing I’m that scum. I didn’t choose the fucking case.”

  “Stop, Trem. Look at how many fights I had with Liz over the years. All because of how she chose to handle a case. She always convinced me, even when it sometimes took longer than not.”

  “You love her, though. You trust her.”

  “I trust you too, but I needed time to process. My mind doesn’t work that way. There were too many nights I locked myself in my office and sorted through her plan until I could accept it because she was always right and got results. Just like you.”

  He shook his head. “You never stayed that far away from her… and never for a whole night.”

  Robert caught Tremaine’s face between his hands, staring into his eyes. “I did. More times than I care to count. And last night, everything I’d been reading for weeks caught up to me. Those files from the other enforcers painted you as a monster. You get that, don’t you? Did you ever read them?”

  He gripped Robert’s hands. “Yeah, I’ve read them. I knew what I was handing over. I thought you knew me better, trusted me more.”

  “I do, but that doesn’t mean questions didn’t run through my head. Before you walked through the door, I was back to accepting it was nothing more than a job. One only you could do. If you had told me—warned me—something… I could have handled it better. You didn’t. You threw down incriminating evidence that was stricken from the record. Trem, you should know me well enough and expect it would take me time to accept your actions.”

  “Have you?” Tremaine’s vulnerability tore at Robert’s heart.

  “I have. I swear it. Can you forgive me?”

  “If you can forgive me,” Tremaine answered.

  Robert closed the distance. “Yes,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to Tremaine’s lips.

  Tremaine backed Robert against the window, threading fingers through his hair. “Let me help with the case. Not in the field, but let me do what I can.”

  “Of course. There are questions only you can answer, and things you may be able to figure out. You were there, and you know them.”

  “Anything I can do, you know I will.”

  “We have some theories. I want you to look at them, but they’re at the warehouse.”

  Tremaine pushed him toward Robert’s phone. “Call Liz, then we’ll head over.”

  Chapter 3

  Liz paced through her living room, wringing her hands. She turned to Emily. “What if Robert’s done with Tremaine and me? Maybe he can’t handle sharing.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “Never happen. Ever. He only let you go for so long because you convinced him it was what you needed.”

  “Fuck, I’m such a fool. I’ll never forgive myself for putting us through hell. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “Maybe you needed that time to heal. Look, I’m not saying it was all perfect, but would you really change where you are now? I mean, you have the two men who make you whole in a way that couldn’t have happened without all the stuff in between.”

  She shook her head. “Losing either of them would kill me.” She sank onto the couch. “What if Robert changed his mind about Tremaine? What if he wants what we had without Trem? Shit.”

  “That’s not it. He ripped my head off when I first found out, and I innocently asked about how Tremaine affected the relationship.” Emily gave her arm a squeeze on the way past. Liz turned to watch her duck into the bathroom and come back with the pregnancy stick.

  “Wish Trem were here,” Liz mumbled.

  “Not Robert?”

  Sighing, she shrugged. “Trem was here when I found out I was pregnant the first time. He begged me to finally say yes if Robert ever asked me to marry him again. At that point, it was the only answer.” She wiped at her eyes. “And now, marriage isn’t an option.”

  “Why did you say no all those years ago?”

  A sad laugh escaped. “You.” She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “I didn’t want you to think I was trying to take him away from you. I encouraged him to talk to you more, to be there for you.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t see the truth,” Emily said.

  “James was still fucking with your head. I don’t blame you. I never did. You asked, though.”

  “For the record, before James took your baby, I was on your side. I told Robert to ask you again. Told him I would go to you, convince you to say yes. Somewhere along the way, I realized you were the only one who could make him happy.”

  Liz nodded. “And then everything went to hell. I nearly killed him when he found me the next morning. I thought he was James. I was so scared and reacted on instinct and fear”

  “Because of James. Now stop with that. You are loved by two men who would do anything for you.” A warm grin crossed Emily’s face. “I’ve never seen Tremaine so happy as he is with you and Robert. You two complete him. S
top doubting. Everything will work out.”

  “Neither of them are here.”

  “They will be. Robert’s having one of his by-the-book phases. Tremaine will talk him out of it. Everything will be fine.”

  “Trem was always the one to calm me down and remind me how much I needed Robert. Then today, he runs off to deal with Robert alone.”

  “No doubt to talk some sense into my brother. Don’t worry. Neither Robert nor Tremaine would ever leave you. You said it yourself. They’re on a case.”

  “Fucking hope so.”

  Waggling her brows, Emily waved the stick in front of her. “Want to know if you’re pregnant? Because I do.”

  Liz nodded but made no move to cross the distance to take the test. Emily plopped down beside her and held the bar up to see the word pregnant written across the test window.

  Liz gulped, staring at the verdict. Her hands covered her stomach as a whirlwind of emotion flowed through her. Now she wished she had been brave enough to do this on her own. After she had lost her baby the first time, she was terrified. Part of her wanted to fall apart.

  Emily hugged her tight. “I’m so happy for you!”

  A tear escaped. “I’m scared.”

  “Why?” Emily sat back with a look of concern. “They love you. Your baby is going to be the luckiest kid in the world. The three of you will give this child everything and more. And I already feel sorry for any brat who messes with him or her.”

  A laugh bubbled up. “Shoot, I know I’ll be horrible. So will Tremaine. While Robert tries to be reasonable, convincing our kid to ignore them.”

  Emily sighed. “You always ignored us when we were horrible to you.”

  Liz shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’ll sit back and let that happen to my kids. It was different for me. I wanted less attention. I’ll teach our child to avoid the jerks, especially since this one won’t be full anything.”

  “Doesn’t matter what the baby is. They’ll be all three of yours.”

  “Very true.” She looked at her watch. “Well, I best get to the bookstore in time to open.”

  “Are you going to be able to concentrate?”

  Liz nodded. “Yes, and thank you for going with me. I needed the company.”

  “Anytime,” Emily promised.

  “And please, don’t mention this yet.” Liz pleaded, “I won’t wait forever to tell them, but I need a little time. Need to know we aren’t going to fall apart first.”

  “Would you ever give up the baby?”

  Liz shook her head adamantly. “No. Never. But I could always disappear if they can’t do this with me.”

  “You better not disappear without talking to my brother. He couldn’t leave you again. Nothing will pull you two apart.”

  Liz smiled, but fear kept her silent.

  Emily squealed and clapped her hands together. “I’m going to be an aunt, and you best believe I’ll be the best aunt anyone ever had, except maybe Christian. But I’ll give you a run for your money.”

  Liz hugged her again. “Thank you, Emily. You don’t know how much your friendship means to me.”

  Emily frowned. “I have so much in my past to make up for where you’re concerned.”

  “You don’t.” She grabbed Emily’s hand and placed it over her stomach. “And even if you did, this miracle right here would never have happened without you. So thank you for giving me a chance to bring life into the world.”

  She squealed again. “I’m going to be an aunt. I’m so excited!”

  * * * *

  Robert was getting on Tremaine’s nerves. He couldn’t stop worrying.

  “We should go to Liz.” Robert grabbed his phone and keys.

  “Has she answered your calls or messages yet?”

  Robert ran his free hand down his lapel. “No. I’m worried.”

  Tremaine had an idea where her head was. In all honesty, that was a good place for it to be. Far away from this case. With Tremaine helping Robert, she would likely insist on helping.

  Liz had stayed out of most of Robert’s cases during the last seven months… with a few exceptions. She’d tapped into her druid magic to destroy DeMarco, who had wanted to use Fallon and Devlin to complete the ritual to make him a full-fledged liche. Liz had helped to keep Dacia safe from a sadistic earth dragon. She’d even become the Druid/Mage Liaison for the Silver Council.

  Guilt reared its ugly head again. “I should have told you both about this years ago. I kept too many secrets buried for so long, now I don’t even think about them.”

  Robert gripped his arm. “How many years had you kept the secret?”

  “Always. A handful of druids knew because of my father. Draecyn knew. My mother and her husband. And of course, HARP.”

  “Whatever happened to your mother?” Robert asked. Tremaine had never spoken of his mother in all the years he’d known the man.

  “Maynard.”

  Robert looked deep into his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I told Liz this story once.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “At least most of it. Never mentioned the part about Sebastian not being my real father. Everyone believed him to be. At the time, I had no clue she was the same as me.”

  “Tell me, Tremaine. Nothing you say will change anything.”

  His brow arched. “I hope that’s the truth.”

  “Talk to me. Just like Liz, I won’t judge you.”

  “You did.”

  “I had to wrap my head around the case. By the time you stepped into my office, I realized everything you had done was for the mission. You had no choice. Draecyn put you there because you were the only one who could get results without jumping ship.”

  “Draecyn had more secrets than me, if that were even possible.” Tremaine sat down. “May as well join me.” He motioned to Robert’s seat.

  Instead, Robert took the chair beside him. “I’m listening.”

  “My mother met my biological father when they were young. She was on her first assignment. It went to hell. A druid named Marcus saved her from a feral werebear. They fell in love, but my mother had been promised to Sebastian Gallagher. Her family found her and pushed her into the marriage to save face. The wedding happened within days, but she found out she was pregnant just before all of that. Her family… and Sebastian’s didn’t know about Marcus or the baby.”

  Robert frowned. “Dad never mentioned any of this.”

  “He didn’t know Marcus and didn’t know I was part druid. Both Wilhelm and I stayed in the dorms during the academy. He only met my mother twice.”

  “And your mother? What happened to her?”

  “Sebastian beat her. As soon as I was old enough to draw attention, I took the beatings more often than not. I did everything I could to protect her.” Tremaine wiped a tear from his eyes. “After a point, he focused on me. I was a tough bastard and didn’t let his words hurt. I ignored his fists. Mother always healed me.” He drew a long breath. “One morning, when I was ten, he slammed my face into a table. I took it, let him lash out at me. My mother came into the room. When I didn’t respond, he slung a fireball at her. I’m not sure if he meant only to hurt her, or to kill her, but I redirected the spell and infused my own magic. I cooked that fucking son of a bitch in front of her.”

  Shaking his head, Robert caressed Tremaine’s face, bringing him close.

  Tremaine pounded a fist against his chest. “She told me not to, but it was too late. I was terrified he would take my mother from me. At age ten, I killed the man everyone believed to be my father. Me, I did it to protect her. She was honestly upset I killed him. Fuck, to this day, I still don’t understand.”

  Robert pulled him into an embrace and spoke against his ear. “You did the right thing. Oftentimes the abused blame themselves.”

  “She loved me, but knew I was dangerous even before that, Robert. She’d been taking me to Marcus to train. I had spent several summers with him as a child. Until Sebastian found out my mother wasn’t taking me on a pilgrimage,
but to learn how to use my other magic, we were fine. After that, everything got bad. Marcus tried for years to get her to leave Sebastian. To go to him. She was afraid and wouldn’t. He finally gave up and married someone else. So the mage who had been helping my mother and me all along took us in. Draecyn had an obvious connection to the druids through Amalie. One, few knew about.”

  He dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “She was okay for a few years. But then Maynard learned something he was never supposed to know. Sebastian wasn’t on a mission. He’d been at home when he died. Maynard suspected what I was, but I had been trained to suppress that side of myself. He couldn’t prove my druid blood. So my mother made a confession as soon as I was out of the country on my first mission. I didn’t even get the news until she was dead and gone.”

  “Tremaine, I’m sorry. My father never told me.”

  “He never believed the story. My mother was a healer, Robert. A powerful one. Sebastian was an enforcer, but he was weak.”

  “I don’t have words.” Robert knelt before him, taking his hands.

  Tremaine looked down, eyes filled with emotion. “Not your fault. But that’s what happened to my mother.”

  “If the Council put her to death, why isn’t that common knowledge?”

  “There was evidence my mother couldn’t have been the one to kill him. I proved she wasn’t to blame, without incriminating myself. Thanks to Draecyn, who had the perfect example to help me clear her name without tarnishing mine, I never realized the plans he had for me. In ways, I’m glad Liz never knew Draecyn as well as I did. Or you for that matter.”

  Robert snorted. “Whose side was he on?”

  “The Silver Council. What we were supposed to be. What we haven’t been in a very long time thanks to HARP. However, to fight battles, you have to cross lines. Sometimes those lines become blurred, and it’s hard to tell what side you’re really on.” He pushed his fingers through his hair as he scooted back in the seat. “Shit, Robert, I’ve done things I can’t stand, in order to get deeper to destroy more of HARP. In the end, it wasn’t enough. They’ve returned, strong as ever. And all my efforts were for nothing.”