“Whatever you want to do, Lee. I trust you.” It’d be nice if Lee trusted him as well, but it didn’t seem as if he did, not the way Darren wanted him to.
Lee opened his arms and Darren took it for the offer it was. He edged onto Lee’s lap and snuggled in. “And I trust you, Dar. The problem is, I don’t know if I can keep you safe. I don’t know what we might possibly be walking into. Probably nothing dangerous, but you never know.”
“We’ll both be fine, we will.” Darren would do whatever he could to make sure of it. “Now, let me call Virginia and then you and I have a couple of kinks to explore.”
Chapter Eleven
Lee smirked, he knew he did, but couldn’t help it as Darren squirmed in his seat. Darren winked at him and drummed his fingers on the dash, tapping out the rhythm to a song playing on the radio.
Last night he and Darren had decided their kinks could wait. They’d both been too desperate for each other to spend time playing. Lee had fucked Darren from behind, both of them kneeling on the cushions with Darren’s torso draped over the back of the couch. Darren had come all over the flower print material and when Lee was done shaking and moaning, he’d slid to the floor in a boneless heap. He hadn’t stayed boneless for long, though, and Darren had rolled Lee onto his side, hitched up Lee’s leg and ridden Lee until they’d both climaxed again.
Then Lee had taken Darren again, waking his lover up by sliding his cock into Darren’s ass in one long slow stroke. That time Lee had held off coming until Darren’s second orgasm, which was why his lover was shifting around in his seat.
“I’d give you a hard time for looking so pleased with yourself, but…” Darren waggled his eyebrows. “I’m feeling pretty full of myself—well, maybe I should say full of you, because I swear I can still feel that big cock of yours inside me.”
“I plan on burying it in your tight little ass again as soon as we get home,” Lee said, then shot Darren a startled look.
Darren beamed at him like Lee was every good thing in the world. “I like it, you thinking of Mrs. Hawkins’ place as home. I hope you want to stay there a while.”
A little ball of anxiety Lee hadn’t known existed unfurled and dissipated in his chest. “I want to stay with you for however long you’ll have me, Dar. It’s not Mrs. Hawkins’ place that feels like home, it’s being with you.” It felt so right Lee couldn’t imagine giving it up, not when he knew he’d already lost his heart to the man—and he thought, if he was lucky, Darren might be at least a little in love with him as well.
“That’s…that’s how I feel, too—about you, I mean. I want to be with you. I was just afraid to tell you. I thought it’d scare you away.”
Lee snorted, wishing he could look at Darren for more than a second or two at a time. There were just too many suicidal deer out this way though. He’d barely managed to avoid hitting the last one that had sprinted out in front of the car.
“I don’t think anything can scare me away. I didn’t even consider leaving town after the motel debacle because I knew I wanted something more than just a night with you.” Lee wanted a lifetime—and longer, even, if it was possible for them both to hang around after they died. Why not wish for an eternity together?
“You don’t mind if we stay in McKinton then? I’ve kind of gotten used to it there.”
Lee couldn’t have missed the wistful tone in Darren’s voice if he’d tried. Darren had more than got used to the town, he loved it there, and that was good enough reason for Lee to settle in McKinton as well. “No, I like McKinton just fine.”
“Good. There’s not much in the way of work, but…”
“I’ll figure something out,” Lee assured. “I have enough money that I don’t have to work, but I won’t be able to sit around and do nothing. Maybe I can start working on the house, or help the contractors if that’s the way the owners go with converting it to an elderly activity center.” Lee spotted the turn they needed to take. “We’re almost there.”
The line to get in was short considering the time of the year. Lee pressed the button to roll down the driver’s side window as he pulled up when it was their turn and paid the entrance fee. The blond guy handed Lee his change and some papers before sending them off with a perky, “Y’all enjoy yourselves!”
Lee put the window up and glanced at the papers, a map and information sheet. “Do we need these?”
“No.” Darren took the papers and Lee drove around until he found a parking spot several minutes later.
He shut the car off and unbuckled then caught Darren’s wrist as he reached for his seatbelt. “Stay with me. If you see anything suspicious, tell me.”
Darren looked at him seriously and nodded. “I will.” Lee let him go and Darren unfastened his seatbelt. They grabbed their jackets from the back seat then got out of the car, putting their jackets on once they were outside. Lee wished he could hold Darren’s hand but settled for walking beside him, their hands brushing occasionally as they headed toward Mystic Rock.
Darren pointed to a fissure running down the side of the mound of rock. “That’s the cave the public is allowed to go in. We’re going to a different one.”
“I don’t think I’d be able to fit in that cave,” Lee said. “It was a tight squeeze in places when I was a kid and I’m bigger now. Is the cave you and Stefan found bigger?”
“Not much.” Darren stopped and studied Lee. “You should be able to go part of the way at least but there’s this one narrow passage that I’m not sure even I will fit through now.”
Lee didn’t like the idea of Darren being out of his sight in the caves. “Maybe we should leave. There’s no guarantee we’ll find anything anyway, and I’d rather not risk you getting hurt. Stefan may get better with the communication thing and—”
Darren shook his head and Lee could see the determination in the way Darren held himself, his shoulders going back as he stretched his long body to his full height. “No, I want to do this. I’ll be careful and there’s no drops or anything, not much climbing up—you know Stefan couldn’t have stood that. If the passage I need to get through looks too narrow for me to fit through then we’ll leave, but at least let’s try first.”
“All right, but I’m going with you as far as I can.” Lee gestured for Darren to lead the way. Fifteen minutes later, their cheeks chapped from the cold wind that slapped at them, Darren stopped and pointed to a boulder at the base of Mystic Rock. “It’s behind there, unless it’s been sealed off.”
Lee walked over to the boulder and frowned when he saw the small fissure it hid. “I don’t know if I can even get in.”
“The cave widens as soon as you clear the opening. Go in feet first—watch.” Darren eased past him and squatted then sat on his butt. He grabbed the edges of the opening then began scooting inside as he talked. “Just do it like this, then once you have your legs in, kind of twist—” Darren let go of the opening and maneuvered his torso until one shoulder was on the ground and his other was close to the top of the fissure. “Then you squat as you go in and…”
Darren slipped into the cave. He stuck a hand out and waved. “Gonna have to crawl for several feet, but it opens up a little further in. You coming?”
Tight spaces didn’t bother Lee but he couldn’t keep from feeling anxious about this cave.
“I’m going to get my flashlight out then start moving back so you can try.” Darren’s hand disappeared as he went further into the cave.
Lee took a steadying breath then sat down and started working his wave in after Darren. He felt a moment of panic when his shoulders were caught in the opening. “In or out,” Lee muttered. A slight twist and his shoulders cleared the entrance although not without a few scrapes. Lee squatted in the cave and shielded his eyes when Darren shone the flashlight in them.
“Sorry. These little things are really bright.” Darren aimed the mini-Maglite at the ground.
“No kidding. Lead the way, Dar.”
Lee’s palms and knees were aching by the time
they reached the part of the cave where they could do more than crawl. After a few feet of having to walk folded nearly in half, the cave widened enough for them to stand.
“It’s not much further until the part where I think you’re not going to fit. See up here?”
Lee looked over Darren’s shoulder to where the flashlight lit what looked like a solid wall with a dark seam in the middle of it. “That’s an opening? Looks like a cave wall to me.”
Darren chuckled and started moving forward. “It looks that way but it isn’t. That’s actually where two walls converge, one behind the other. There’s a gap between them, though. Once I get past that there’s about five minutes of crawling, a short climb up—not straight up, but an incline that’s rocky enough to make it difficult. After that there’s a small cave. It’ll take me at most fifteen minutes to get there.”
Lee did the math in his head, giving Darren ten minutes to check the cave over once he reached it. “If you’re not back in forty minutes—”
Darren stopped in front of the seam and turned to Lee. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.”
How can I not? Lee pulled Darren to him and crushed his lips to Darren’s, drinking in his lover’s moan. “Be careful.” Lee brushed one more kiss over Darren’s lips then released him and stepped back.
“I will. Knowing you’ll be here waiting is an extra incentive for me to be careful.”
* * * *
Either he had gotten bigger or this space had gotten smaller. Darren grunted and wriggled, easing in an inch or two further.
“Dar, just forget it.”
Lee sounded worried, but Darren couldn’t give up yet, not when Lee had spent almost two years looking for proof Stefan’s death either was or wasn’t accidental. There might not be anything in the little cave he and Stefan used to play in, but Darren had to at least check—and he couldn’t quite shake the feeling there was some kind of clue there.
“I can do this,” Darren bit out. He rotated his left shoulder then practically popped through the narrow crevice. “God, that sucked!” He’d probably just skinned half his back.
“Forty minutes,” Lee called out, “starting now.”
Darren ignored his stinging back and started moving. By the time he reached the cave, Darren was scraped and bruised all over, having fallen twice making his way up the rocky incline. But he had made it. Shining the flashlight around, he didn’t see anything unusual, just rock, rock, and more rock, no sign of anyone having been there at all.
He walked over to the far wall and reached up until he felt the ridge where the cave wall bulged, forming a small shelf. Stefan had been the same height as Darren but had a longer reach. Darren stood on his toes and felt along the shelf. His fingers brushed over something definitely not rock. Stretching up as much as he could, Darren closed his hand over the object and knew at once what it was. He took it down and shined the flashlight on his closed hand, opening it slowly.
Bits of gold and silver gleamed in the light where the patina on the ring hadn’t yet covered the metal completely. Cold to his bones, Darren stared at the men’s Jackson High school ring decorated with a symbolic list of its owner’s accomplishments. As Darren read the inscription inside, he wondered if the man the ring belonged to had added murder to the list.
* * * *
Lee checked the time on his watch. Thirty-three minutes. He paced what few steps he could then shined his flashlight into the crevice Darren had disappeared into. “Dar?”
Lee nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a faint, “Yeah,” followed by the scuff of shoes on rock.
“Thank God. Don’t ever make me wait like this again, my heart can’t take it.” He heard a huff of laughter then Darren’s flashlight bobbed into view. Lee pointed his down so as not to blind Darren.
“Sorry, but…can you grab my arm and just pull me through? I can’t get any more scratched up than I already am.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” Lee stood the flashlight on end, bathing the area in light, then reached for Darren’s arm as it appeared from the crevice. “I don’t want to dislocate your shoulder or anything. How about you hold onto my arm and use me for leverage?”
“That might just work.”
Lee settled Darren’s hand on his forearm and widened his stance for more stability. “Whenever you’re ready.”
After a minute of groaning and pulling on Lee’s arm hard enough he knew he’d be bruised, Darren finally slid out of the crevice.
“I think I left most of my skin behind,” Darren grumbled as Lee gingerly hugged him.
“We’ll stop and get an antibiotic cream with lidocaine in it,” Lee promised as he cupped Darren’s ass. He was afraid to touch Darren’s back since he didn’t know how badly Darren had been hurt.
“Lidocaine would be good. Lee.” Darren leaned back and nudged Lee toward the light. “I found this.” He held out a fisted hand.
Lee glanced at Darren, saw him nod, then opened his hand under Darren’s, palm up, and watched as a ring tumbled down into his hand. He recognized it easily since he had a similar high school ring. It was tucked away in a box now, but he’d been so proud of himself when he’d first got it.
“Do you know whose it is?” Lee asked as he tried to read the inscription inside the band. “Can you shine your light on it?”
“Just remember, it’s only a ring. It doesn’t prove or disprove anything by itself.”
“I know, I’m not going to do anything stupid.” But he would keep digging if he thought the owner of this ring had hurt Stefan in any way.
Darren sighed and shined his flashlight on Lee’s palm. “The inscription reads, ‘To our son Johnny, love Mom and Kev’.”
Lee fisted his hand around the ring and tried to keep from slamming it against the cave wall. “Johnny Chapman.” One of the kids who’d taken every opportunity he could to pick on Stefan, until Darren had moved to Jackson.
“Stefan could have found the ring. We don’t know how he ended up with it.”
“Dar, I promise you I’m not going to go in swinging, but I am going to talk to Chapman. Just talk, that’s all.” Lee stuffed the ring in the front pocket of his jeans then picked up his flashlight. “I’ll handle the light. Let’s get out of here and get you taken care of.”
Chapter Twelve
“Strip while I call Laine and let him know we’ll be gone over night.”
Darren dropped into the plush chair covered in a soothing shade of blue fabric. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled at having to take care of the chickens an extra day.” Darren looked around the room Lee had insisted they rent for the night. The Waferton Inn was definitely a nicer place than the motel in McKinton. There were no gaudy flower prints on anything, the colors used in the room complementing one another rather than clashing. “I think we need to find out who decorated this room and sic them on the motel owner.”
Lee nodded and resumed talking on the phone. Darren listened as he took his clothes and shoes off then decided to shower and give Lee some privacy. He dug through the plastic bags until he found the one with the package of boxers in it. Taking the whole pack with him, he went into the bathroom and admired the cream on tan color scheme and the smooth marble countertop for a moment before starting the shower.
After adjusting the temperature, Darren stepped in the shower and stuck his arms out first, trying to work up the nerve to step under the showerhead. He moved forward in small increments then finally got irritated with himself for being such a wuss and stepped under the streaming water. “Ouch! Crap, that hurts!”
“Probably wish you cussed about now. You scraped your back up good.”
Darren jumped and slapped his hand against the wall. He pushed the shower curtain aside and glared at Lee. “I thought you’d be on the phone longer.”
Lee shrugged and began taking his clothes off. “You were walking around naked, your dick flapping against your thigh. Made it hard to think. Then I saw your back and rushed through an explanation
about finding the ring—Laine said the same thing you did, it doesn’t prove anything—and I just about hung up on him trying to hurry up and get in here.” Lee kicked off his shoes then whipped his jeans down before stepping out of them. Toeing off his socks, Lee looked at Darren. “Scoot over.”
Darren made room for Lee to join him and was soon moaning in pleasure as his hair was washed and his scalp massaged.
Eyes closed, Darren slicked his hands down Lee’s chest. “You have really good hands.”
“I’m just relaxing you before the painful part.”
“Painful part?” Darren opened his eyes looked at Lee to see if he was joking. From the grim set of Lee’s lips, Darren guessed not. “Can’t we skip that?”
“Nope. Your back has to be washed, so go ahead and turn around.”
When Darren hesitated Lee took his elbow and turned him so his back was toward Lee. Even though Lee was gentle, the soap still burned Darren’s scrapes, and by the time he was thoroughly clean he was ready to drop into bed and sleep even if it was early in the afternoon.
“Dry off where you can then lay on the bed on your stomach,” Lee ordered with a tap to Darren’s butt. “I’ll be there in a minute to doctor your back.”
A little dazed from the zing of arousal the swat to his backside had given him, Darren got out of the shower and grabbed a towel. After running the soft material over his hair and body except for his back, he hung the towel up and sprawled on the bed on his belly. He was already half asleep when Lee came out of the bathroom and startled him with a touch to Darren’s back.
“Easy, baby, this’ll help.” Lee’s voice soothed him more than the lidocaine-laced ointment.
Darren sank deeper into the mattress and dozed for a while before waking and reaching for Lee. The fact that Lee wasn’t beside him, and the wrongness of him not being there, had Darren rolling onto his back before he thought about it. “Holy crap!” Darren sat up and scowled when he spotted Lee sitting in the blue chair. “Why are you over there?”
Aftermath Page 11
