Aftermath

by Bailey Bradford

  “He sounds mad. Why—” Darren’s face turned a cute shade of pink as he slapped a hand over his mouth, mumbling around his spread fingers. “Oh my God, did he hear me? Did anyone else? We shouldn’t have—”

  Lee took Darren’s hand in his and pulled it away from Darren’s mouth, lacing their fingers together. He couldn’t resist kissing those swollen lips, didn’t see any reason to even as the sheriff pounded on the door again. Lee took his time with the kiss, stopping only once Darren melted against him then he licked Darren’s lips slowly before ending the tender kiss.

  “Don’t worry about him, or what anyone else might have heard.” He glanced at the love bites on Darren’s neck then traced each one with his fingers. “These, though, will let everyone who saw you come back here with me know who you belong to for now.” Lee knew it was the wrong thing to say immediately, but it wasn’t like he could take the words back.

  “For now,” Darren repeated, his shoulders tensing as he turned away. “We’d better go before Laine breaks the door down.”

  Everything about Darren’s flat tone seemed wrong. Lee surged forward and caught Darren’s wrist. Darren stopped and Lee tugged until Darren gave in and faced him. Another round of banging on the door lit the wick of Lee’s temper. “Just give us two goddamned minutes,” he snapped, studying Darren, trying to figure out how to fix the mess he’d just made.

  “You’ve got a hundred and twenty seconds,” Laine growled, and Lee knew that would be exactly the amount of time Laine would wait before breaking the door down if they didn’t open it.

  “Darren, look at me,” Lee urged when Darren seemed determined to stare at the floor. Lee almost wished he hadn’t made the demand when he saw the hurt in Darren’s eyes, but he simply couldn’t make any promises, not to make Darren or himself feel better. “I need to talk to you about Stefan. There were some things in his last letters that I didn’t understand. Will you please come to my room at the motel? I’m in room six—”

  Darren was already shaking his head. Lee plowed on, determined to make Darren agree to meet with him. “Fine. We can meet here, or wherever you live, anywhere you want. I won’t touch you if that’s what you’re afraid of. Just listen to me, tell me if I’m reading too much into what Stefan wrote.” Lee stopped, dangerously close to begging when Darren shook his head again. He resigned himself to doing just that when Darren finally spoke.

  “I’m not afraid of you doing…touching me,” he whispered, his cheeks tinting darker with each word.

  “Then what?” Lee knew he was scowling, but he couldn’t understand why Darren looked at him with fear-filled eyes. “I won’t hurt you. I don’t expect you to put out because I sucked you off.” He’d hoped, yearned, but he wouldn’t have ever forced.

  Darren’s bitter laughter was as shocking to Lee as a bucket of ice water would have been. “I don’t think that either. You won’t want anything to do with me once I tell you why Stefan died, and that’s what scares me.”

  Darren turned and walked to the door, unlocking it and leaving Lee in stunned silence.

  Chapter Five

  Darren knew he was lucky that Virginia only chewed him out and sent him to work in the kitchen after what he’d done in the office. He should have told Lee no, but how could he when Lee had knelt down and eagerly sought his dick? Darren hadn’t been touched in so long, and even then, he hadn’t had a blow job anything like the one Lee had given him.

  Maybe it had been because both he and his partner at the time, Cody, were both inexperienced, but the only other blow job Darren had been given had been just…less. Less intense, less exquisite, less everything. He couldn’t help but wonder if actual anal sex would be better too, because his one time topping had felt pretty amazing, albeit way too brief. But being on the receiving end had hurt so much he’d thought he was being ripped in two—which was pretty much what Cody had said it felt like to him when Darren had topped. They hadn’t had another chance to see if it got any better.

  And he wouldn’t get a chance to find out with Lee, not if he went and talked to the man like he knew he should. He understood Lee wasn’t interested in anything other than a quick hook-up—he’d made that clear with his ‘you’re mine for now’ comment. Darren was sorry he’d acted like a wounded lover over that when he should have appreciated Lee’s honesty.

  It was just that it’d felt so good to be touched, not just the blow job, but touched like he mattered, like someone cared. Probably it had been stupid to pretend it meant more than it did, but Darren hadn’t been able to stop the little fantasy that he could have someone who loved him, wanted to do the things Lee had done. Lee’s words had slapped Darren back to reality, though, and once Darren told him…

  Darren set the clean dishes down and wiped his hands on the dish towel. He was going to talk to Lee. Stefan’s brother deserved to know how Darren’s selfishness had led to Stefan’s death. It didn’t matter that Darren hadn’t killed Stefan—if he hadn’t let his hormones overrule his common sense, Darren would have been with Stefan, and Stefan wouldn’t be dead.

  “Your shift’s over. Laine and Severo are here to take you home.”

  Darren sighed. He didn’t particularly want to face either of those men right now, but if he really was going to talk to Lee, surely he could be strong enough to tell Laine and Severo he didn’t need their charity. Maybe he’d luck out and avoid another lecture. Virginia’s had been embarrassing enough.

  “Let me get my backpack.” Darren avoided looking at Virginia as he walked around her. She’d let him stay and finish his shift today, but part of his punishment for getting raunchy in the office, as his boss had put it, was a week off without pay. The money didn’t really matter—it wasn’t like he earned a lot or had any bills—but the idea of being alone with nothing to do for a week was kind of intimidating. Darren would have entirely too much time to think, something he tried to avoid. He’d just have to keep busy.

  The chicken coop could use a new coat of paint on the outside, and he’d been meaning to weed the vegetable garden and look up whether or not it was too late to plant anything. Darren started making a list in his head as he made his way to the office. He nearly tripped over his feet when it dawned on him he was making plans as if he meant to stay in McKinton.

  Was he? Darren forced himself to keep moving as he considered the question. Would it be so bad to stay somewhere? He hadn’t wanted anyone to depend on him ever again, but he already sort of had friends here, if he considered a couple of overprotective older men friends. Darren realized he did think of Laine and Severo as friends, and Virginia, too. She’d found him hitching along 97, filthy and starving, scared, and yet she’d stopped and offered him a ride. Then a place to stay and a job here at her café. If that didn’t make her a friend, Darren didn’t know what would.

  He hefted his backpack onto his shoulder, trying not to think about what he and Lee had done in here a few hours earlier. It was no use. Darren’s dick had started hardening the second he’d walked in the door. At least he was in the habit of wearing his apron home—and Mrs. Hawkins’ place was home, at least for now—and washing it out in the evening so it was clean for work the next day. No one would think twice about him leaving it on now, which was a good thing.

  Glancing at the door where Lee had kept him pinned with one big hand on his belly, he regretted that he’d never get to feel Lee’s cock filling his mouth as he’d filled Lee’s.

  “Jeez,” Darren muttered as lust settled in his groin, warming him from his core to the tips of his fingers and toes. If just thinking about it got him this wound up, what would actually doing it do? Darren huffed as he strode from the room. Likely he’d do something stupid like think he was in love if sex with Lee felt anywhere near as good as that blow job had. Darren could definitely understand how people got lust and love confused.

  Darren stepped out of the back entrance and steeled himself for what he hoped wouldn’t become a confrontation. His anxiety eased somewhat when Laine’s lips quirked a
nd Severo grinned.

  “You look like you were walking out to meet your doom,” Severo said. “Don’t think that you’re the only person who’s ever been blindsided by lust. Me and Laine know a thing or two about it, too.”

  Darren knew he was blushing to the roots of his hair as Laine scowled at Severo. “Too much information, sweetheart. You embarrassed the hell out of Darren.”

  Laine’s cheeks had a ruddy stripe of color tinting his skin, too. Darren pushed past his usual reticence and gave the sheriff an arch look. “I’m not the only one, either. You’re looking kind of colorful there yourself.”

  The color on Laine’s cheeks deepened as Severo laughed, and Darren felt a tingle of pride at having been able to tease back. He joined the two men beside Laine’s truck and waited until he had their attention. “I’m going to talk to Lee.”

  Laine nodded and his normally icy gray eyes seemed to warm as he looked at Darren. “I figured as much.”

  “Are you really planning on talking?” Severo piped up, waggling his eyebrows.

  “Yes,” Darren croaked, sure he was going to burst into flames any second, his cheeks felt so hot.

  “He told me some of what happened.”

  That chased the heat right out of Darren, leaving him so cold inside it was almost a physical pain. His throat tightened with emotion as he glanced away, afraid he’d cry if he saw even a hint of sympathy in Laine or Severo’s faces. “What’d he tell you?” Darren finally asked when neither of the two men spoke. He listened as Laine recited a short list of facts. Darren’s friendship with Stefan, Lee joining the military, Darren’s mother’s death and so quickly on the heels of that shattering moment, Stefan’s only days after.

  When Laine mentioned Lee’s suspicions that there might have been more to Stefan’s death than it seemed, Darren thought the guilt might suffocate him. He managed to murmur an appropriate response then quickly said no when Laine offered him a ride to the motel. It wasn’t far, and Darren needed a few minutes alone to compose himself before talking to Lee.

  He thanked Laine and Severo both and promised to call them if he needed a ride home from the motel. Severo’s whispered question of whether or not Darren had ‘protection’ had it sinking in to him that, despite his claim earlier, Severo—and probably Laine, too, for that matter—thought he was going to have sex with Lee.

  Darren wished he was. Even if it hurt, it wouldn’t be as painful as the conversation to come.

  * * * *

  Lee flopped back on the bed and draped his arm over his eyes. Talking to Laine hadn’t been as bad as Lee had thought. The man wasn’t a bully as Lee had suspected, he’d just been very concerned about Darren. That alone made Lee kind of like the sheriff. Laine tried to come off all rough and gruff and cold—and he was, to an extent. But he also obviously cared a great deal about the people in this town, and about Darren in particular. Lee understood—Darren brought out protective instincts in Lee he’d thought long gone.

  “That’s not all he does to me,” Lee groused, glaring down at his stiff dick. About the only time that part of him hadn’t been in that particular state since first seeing Darren was when Lee had been getting grilled by Laine. If this kept up, he was going to have to beat off several times a day, like he had when he’d first discovered how much fun it was to do so.

  Then he thought of Darren as Lee had last seen him and Lee’s erection began going soft immediately. He’d thought Darren might have felt guilty for not being there when Stefan had died, that maybe that was why Darren had left Jackson right after Stefan’s funeral. Darren probably thought Stefan would still be alive if Darren had been there, and maybe he would, but Lee doubted it. Stefan’s last letter had hinted that he’d made a new friend and felt bad about spending less time with Darren.

  Lee wanted to know who that new friend had been and whether he—which was about all Lee knew about the mysterious friend, that he was male—knew anything about Stefan’s death. And whether it’d been an accident or not, because while it was true enough that Stefan had fallen into Mercer’s Ravine, it was equally true that Stefan had confided his fear of heights to Lee more than once—and probably to Darren as well. So why would Stefan have been anywhere near such a steep drop? Would Darren know, or had Stefan and Darren’s friendship already become distanced by whatever secret friend Stefan had made?

  Lee needed to know because not knowing was driving him insane. The idea that someone could have killed Stefan and got away with it wouldn’t leave him alone, hadn’t since Lee had learned of the manner of Stefan’s death. Darren was the last possible lead Lee could think of, since the people he’d asked in Jackson all claimed Darren was Stefan’s only friend. Lee knew different, but he’d kept Stefan’s last confidences to himself.

  Stefan didn’t know what he’d missed, but something seemed to have happened. Darren had hickeys on his neck—Stefan knew what those were, he’d had one himself before he died, but he didn’t like to think about how that mark had ended up on him. He wished someone had noticed, though, once his body had been found. Maybe they had and just thought it was a bruise. He’d hit the bottom of the ravine really hard.

  Lee mumbled something and Stefan focused on his brother, lying on the bed wearing nothing but a towel and a scowl. Stefan thought it was kind of funny, not just because it rhymed, but because Lee was fixing to find himself with company. Well, other company. It wasn’t like Lee knew Stefan was here. Stefan wished he did. He wished he could hug Lee and Darren both, tell them he was sorry for hurting them because he had been keeping a secret that had got him killed.

  A knock on the door startled Lee. Stefan had known it was coming. Should he stay? He wanted to know what his two favorite people were going to talk about, but when Lee walked over and opened the door, the towel riding low on his hips even though he held it with his hand, Darren’s expression did funny things to Stefan. He knew that look on Darren’s face—Stefan had often stared at his best friend like that when he knew Darren wasn’t watching him. Then Stefan had looked at someone else, maybe not exactly like that, but… Look how that had ended.

  But Lee wouldn’t hurt Darren, not ever, and Darren was probably the best person Stefan had ever known. Still, he wasn’t sure what to do. Stefan’s agitation increased as the two men stared at each other. The curtains fluttered and one of the chairs at the small table tipped backwards, and Lee and Darren both jumped, Darren saying something as he stepped inside to stare at the mess Stefan had accidentally made.

  He should go, definitely. What if he got upset and something flew and hit Lee or Darren? He could hurt them and he’d never want to do that. Some of the others like him had been working with him—once he’d quit freaking out when they tried to talk to him—and tried to show him how to control the weird stuff he could make happen. It wasn’t bad when he wanted it to happen, like trying to get attention by slamming Darren’s door. Well, that hadn’t turned out so well, so maybe he needed to learn how to control himself as well as…whatever it was he could do.

  Maybe that was what Conner had been trying to tell him. Stefan hadn’t understood all the talk about ‘actions reflecting emotions’, but now he thought he might. With one last look at the two men who’d loved him, Stefan floated away to find his new friend Conner.

  “What happened?” Darren stepped inside and stared at the chair. “How’d that get knocked over?” He’d gone stupid with lust when Lee had opened the door wearing nothing but a towel, but seeing the curtains whip out until they were parallel with the floor had started to douse the desire. The chair shooting backwards before slamming onto its back had replaced the arousal with something very close to fear.

  Darren glanced at Lee and didn’t feel any better. His tanned skin was nearly as white as Darren’s. Darren’s fear from the creepy event transferred to Lee. He cautiously put his hand on Lee’s biceps. The muscle was hard as a rock and the skin covering it felt chilled under Darren’s palm.

  “Lee?”

  Lee shook his head as if clear
ing his thoughts then looked at Darren. “I don’t know what that was. I keep trying to convince myself a mouse tipped the chair over, but that doesn’t explain how the chair flew back a good six feet first, or why the curtains did that weird shit.”

  Darren bet Severo could explain it, which was a scary thought. There had to be more than a little truth to the rumors claiming Severo talked with spirits. Darren might have shrugged it off before, but believing in spirits wasn’t so difficult after having seen what happened a few minutes ago. Darren frowned as he wondered if the little stunt with the screen door was a fluke or if there was some supernatural entity messing with him.

  As tempting as it was to freak out, Darren stifled the impulse. He’d talk to Severo as soon as possible, though, because if there was a spirit hanging around him, Darren wanted to know who it was and why it was bothering him. One look at Lee told Darren bringing up the possibility of a spirit having had something akin to a tantrum was probably a bad idea. Lee’s jaw was clenched tightly and Darren could hear him grinding his teeth.

  “We’ll figure it out.” Probably with Severo’s help.

  Lee unclenched his jaw and gave Darren a look of disbelief. “Right, like there’s a logical explanation for the sudden lack of gravity for the curtains or the self-propulsion of the chair. That shit is just creepy.”

  “But it happened, we both saw it,” Darren pointed out. “There is an explanation, it just might turn out to be one that’s hard to accept.”

  “Virtually impossible,” Lee muttered then looked down at Darren’s hand on his arm. Darren felt the change in Lee instantly, the anger turning to arousal so strong the air seemed to thicken with it. “Darren, about before…”

  “It’s fine, I get it.” Darren started to pull his hand away only to have Lee grab it and press Darren’s hand to Lee’s broad chest. “I do,” Darren reiterated before his brain could turn to mush like it would if Lee kept letting him touch.