by Kate Lowell
Upon being given the go-ahead, Mauer clapped his hands together in delight. “Marvelous. You won’t regret it.” He slipped his arm through Leo’s and sidled up close to him. “Now tell me, Dale, where is this lovely creature?”
Mauer, you are an asshole. He was going to tell the man that too, as soon as they were alone. “I’ll get him.” He disengaged himself from Mauer’s clinging arm, ignoring the amusement on his face, and walked over to Julian, who bolted to his feet, his eyes fixed anxiously on Leo. The young agent never said a word, but the question was all over his face. Leo nodded at him and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “We’re okay; he’s FBI. Play up to him. Make it look good.”
Julian nodded and murmured back, “Got it.” Then he smiled and let Leo escort him back.
DeGraff moved in and took Julian from Leo, then handed him off to Mauer with a professional smile. “I’d like you to meet Julian.” He stepped back, hands clasped in front of him, and watched Julian intently.
“Gorgeous.” Mauer palmed the side of Julian’s face and pulled him close. “Hello, Agent Fitzroy,” he murmured against Julian’s cheek.
Julian brushed his lips across Mauer’s cheek in return and said, “Hello.”
“Perfect.” Mauer cupped his hand behind Julian’s head and kissed him with every appearance of lust. Julian kissed back, and Leo had to repress a surge of jealousy. He knew it was all an act. Except he wanted to be the one Julian was kissing.
Finally Mauer released Julian. “Ah, I do love a good kisser.”
Julian lowered his eyelids shyly and sidled closer to the agent. Mauer gazed at him, wearing an expression more often seen on the faces of doting grandparents. “Dale, love, please tell me I am permitted to bring this work of art back to my own room. It’s one floor up, and as you can see”—he gestured at the two burly men standing just inside the door—“I am well secured.” He turned to DeGraff. “Of course, I’d be delighted to entertain my old friend Dale for the duration if that would ease your concerns.”
Leo glanced in DeGraff’s direction. The other man thought a moment—Leo could almost see the gears working, smoothly oiled, no clanking or grinding going on there; then DeGraff nodded and made a gesture that Leo interpreted as permission, or perhaps an order, to accompany Julian. Now it was his turn to breathe a quiet sigh of relief—he’d been worried DeGraff would keep him here, or decide he wanted to be around, just in case. Damn, but Leo was desperate for some straight talk.
Mauer waved his hands around, practically dripping rainbows as he swayed toward the door. “Then do let us go. The anticipation is killing me.”
Delivery
Mauer and Julian cuddled on the way to the elevator, though Leo noticed with a bit of dark humor that it went no further than that. They got off on the next floor, and Mauer led them to a suite at the far end of the hallway. Before he opened the door, he gestured at Leo’s pocket and wiggled his phone at Leo.
Leo dug out the phone DeGraff had given him and handed it over. Mauer passed it to one of the bodyguards with a grim nod. The man nodded in return and set his back to the wall, hands clasped loosely in front of him, phone discreetly tucked into one pocket. Mauer opened the door and ushered them in with a dramatic bow, patting Julian on the ass as he walked by.
The other bodyguard accompanied them into the room. As soon as the door closed, he pulled several electronic components out of various pockets, assembled them with quick efficiency, and hit a button that set lights flashing on one side of it. He watched a digital readout on the front for about thirty seconds, then nodded. “We’re still clear,” he said. “You want me to stay in the hall?”
Mauer shook his head. “No, Franc is fine out there. Better to stay with us. You can monitor that and let us know if anything happens or if it craps out on us.”
“Yes, sir.” The bodyguard took up a post by the door, his eyes trained on the device in his hand.
At Leo’s questioning look, Mauer shrugged. “The tech boys didn’t want anyone eavesdropping on us during this meeting. They were just as worried as you about extra stuff hidden on that phone. Gotta hand it to them—they can move fast when they have to. So the case is heating up?”
“Somewhat. What the hell is this?” Leo gestured at Mauer, meaning the whole act he was putting on.
Mauer waved that away, then turned to examine Julian. “And how are you doing? I understand you’ve been thrown in a bit over your head.”
Julian laughed, though Leo noted his voice shook a little. “I’m fine. Sore. They beat the crap out of me a couple of times, and I’m still recovering. Other than that, I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.” Leo threw himself down on the couch and motioned for Julian to sit down too. “Did they find anything in the copy of the hard drive?”
“Nothing. Online poker and porn. Not even e-mail. There’s some indication that there’s files being created, but they’re being saved to an external drive. It looks like they’re using a physical process to move anything off-site, but to be honest, it doesn’t look like DeGraff handles much of anything in the way of bookkeeping there.”
“Shit.”
Mauer nodded. “We’re out of ideas. If you want, we can run an extraction tonight. Unless you can think of something, we seem to be at a dead end.”
“Carragher has a laptop—it’s possible it’s all on that or on a portable hard drive. But I’m not going to be able to keep Julian out of someone’s bedroom long enough to find him. I hate saying it, but we have to end it.”
Julian sat up. “You mean we’re just going to scuttle the whole thing to try to save my nonexistent virginity? No way.” He stormed to his feet, hissing when his feet thumped onto the floor. “What if this isn’t the only processing warehouse? Because if they have another one, and we only shut this one down, it’s all been for nothing.” He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and breathed out slowly, then opened his eyes to stare at the two of them. “I’m a big boy. If I have to bend over for someone in order to stop this, then that’s what happens.” He glared at Leo, fierce and beautiful, like some violent godling declaring war against the world. “My body, my call.”
Something in Leo’s heart broke at those words, and he wondered if he’d ever be the same again. Was he ever that young, that heedless of the consequences? It was foolish to think he could fall in love in three days, but he had. Or at least planted the seed of it.
The psychologists were going to have a field day with him when this was over.
Mauer gave Julian an approving look. “It probably won’t come to that. If you can figure out what will get Carragher to the warehouse, do it.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a cheap cell phone. “One of ours. Sound’s disabled, just in case someone calls the number by accident. This might make communication easier in an emergency, but for Christ’s sake, be careful if you decide to use it.”
“Thanks.”
Mauer turned to Julian. “You said they beat you. How bad? We should document it while we can.”
Julian shook his head. “My feet. Back of my thighs, my rear. There’s one on my face under the makeup. Nowhere that would stop me performing.” He grinned—real or bravado, Leo wasn’t sure. “Thought I was going to die for a while, but it’s better now.”
“Lots of nerves in your feet. That’s why Lego is a deadly torture. What else?” He nodded at Julian’s wrists. “I saw bruises.”
Julian undid his cuffs and rolled up the sleeves. The bruises had faded to shades of brown and amber, still vibrant against the white of his skin. “From early on. I made them work for it.”
“Good man.” Mauer pulled out his cell phone and took pictures of Julian’s wrists. “Is there anything to see on your feet?”
“Uh, I don’t know. They were red for a bit.” Julian looked at Leo. “Did you notice anything?”
“There’s some bruising there. Mostly they look swollen.”
Mauer gestured at Julian. “Shoes off. Pants too. We want documentation.” While Julian undid
his laces, Mauer looked at Leo. “From now on, anything that happens, take pictures using that phone. But try not to let it happen.”
“Yeah.” Hmph, right. He still wasn’t happy about continuing the operation.
Mauer got his pictures, and Leo got to wallow in guilt some more as Mauer discussed the marks with Julian and interrogated him about the operation of the ring, from a victim’s point of view. Julian described his experience in a clear and steady voice, with a depth of detail and intelligent analysis that Leo might have been surprised to find in an agent already in the field for over a year. He’d be a force to be reckoned with after a few years in the service.
When Julian was done, Mauer clapped him on the shoulder. “You look like shit. Why don’t you get some sleep while I put Leo through his paces?” Julian looked confused, and Mauer explained, “This is the first unsupervised face-to-face we’ve had in six months. I’ll take his report up to this point. You can grab some sleep.”
Julian frowned. “Okay.” He sat there, fiddling with his rolled-up shirtsleeves. “If you’re sure you don’t need me for anything…”
“Get some sleep.” Leo put his hand on Julian’s back—big mistake. That simple touch surged through his body, and for the barest instant, he knew what it would be like to have Julian pressed hard against him, their bodies frantic with desire. He pulled his hand back like it had been burned, and avoided Mauer’s gaze.
“Yeah, okay.” Julian stood up and stretched. “I’ll be in the right-hand bedroom if you need me.” He disappeared through the door, dragging the pants behind him, the long tail of his dress shirt barely covering his ass.
“Okay,” Mauer said. “Let’s get this done. Then you can catch a few z’s too.”
An hour later, they’d filled pages of Mauer’s legal pad with notes. Leo briefed Mauer on his “history,” and to his surprise, Mauer cracked a laugh and congratulated him.
“I was worried I was taking it too far, but I never got a ‘tone it down’ signal from you, so I just ran with it. Kind of fun.”
He and Leo grinned at each other.
Mauer tapped his pen against the paper. “We got an e-mail and a web address from Dowe today, which will be helpful. I’ll send your boss here a note to make sure he’s easier on Julian. That’s some tough kid.”
“He is. Balls of titanium.”
“And you would know, hey?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Was Mauer picking up on the interest between him and Julian?
Mauer waved him down. “Just that you’ve stuck it out in some pretty dicey situations yourself. Put a few years on him, he’ll be a damn fine agent. I don’t think I’d go as far as taking one for the team to seal a case.”
“He spent more time with Ethan than I did. His death hit him pretty hard.” Leo got up and went to the bar to pour himself a shot of rum. “In his shoes, I might be seeing it as the lesser of two evils too. But I’m hoping it won’t come to that. This”—he waved at the room with his shot glass—“should buy us a few days.” He downed the shot in one mouthful, then poured another. “If he was less sure of himself, I’d call it quits now. But he’s turned down extraction three times. I’m going to stop bugging him about it.” He came back to the couch, carrying the bottle and two shot glasses with him. “I don’t like it, but he’s got a point about the warehouse.”
Mauer grabbed the bottle and poured for himself. “I’ll let Harrow know, but he may decide differently. The HRT is still on the table. We’ve been talking about this, and if we do have to raid you, we’ll do the standard arrest for you to try to keep your cover intact. We’ve spent too many resources to let that strong a cover go to waste, and between Diallo and Leon, we might be able to get into the organization through a back door if we have to try again.”
“Sounds good.” Leo clinked shot glasses with him, and they drank to the success of the plan, such as it was.
Mauer was in the process of taking him through his report a second time, asking questions, adding details, when Julian wandered out of the bedroom again.
“Sorry. Can’t sleep—hungry. They don’t feed us enough.” He rummaged in the wet bar and finally came back to the living room with a package of chocolate cookies. “How’s the report going?” He sat on the couch next to Leo and opened the plastic sack. Leo found himself fascinated by the absentminded movements of Julian’s fingers, going from the bag to his mouth and back again.
Was he imagining things, or was Julian making a production of it all? He seemed to need to lick his fingers an awful lot, with no evidence of icing smears or crumbs. His shirt was mostly unbuttoned, and every motion revealed tantalizing glimpses of skin. He’d put his pants back on, but it only made his bare feet seem somehow more naked against the polished wood floor. Leo had never had a thing for feet, but the casual intimacy of Julian’s toes against the dark wood twisted through his gut like opium. He wrenched his gaze away, only to have it caught by Mauer’s too-sharp eyes.
Leo cleared his throat. “That’s it. Unless you have any questions for Julian?” He needed to distract Mauer until he was in better shape.
“No, we’re good. I don’t think their methods of breaking the victims affect our investigation. It’ll just be another nail in the coffin. We can get that later.” Mauer gathered up the papers and tucked them away in his pocket, then stood. “I’m heading out. You guys should grab some sleep. Or something.” His eyes were too knowing, but there was no mockery in his gaze. He seemed to be trying to say something to Leo, though Leo was tired enough it wasn’t getting through.
Julian got up as well and held out his hand. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Mauer shook Julian’s hand. “Be careful. Don’t be afraid to call it off. We’ve had HRT on standby ever since you guys moved. You’re doing good work here, but we’ll get them some other way if the price gets too high.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Leo watched the two of them walk to the door, and Julian closed and locked it behind Mauer. Julian stood at the door for a minute, one hand still on the panel, his head bowed. Then he gave Leo an odd look and walked back across the room. He stared at Leo for another minute, the silence tightening down around them.
“You should try to go to sleep again,” Leo told him.
“I’m not interested in sleep.” Julian raised one hand and trailed it delicately over Leo’s cheek. “I’m interested in you.”
Taste
Leo bolted to his feet. He tried to speak, to say anything, only to find himself frozen in the intensity of Julian’s gaze.
Julian appeared to take his silence for acquiescence. He closed the space between them and placed both hands flat on Leo’s chest. Not a sound out of him, though his eyes spoke volumes. Then slowly, deliberately, he slid his hands up Leo’s chest and undid Leo’s tie, never looking away.
It wasn’t right—professional, whatever. They were supposed to wait until the operation was over, but somehow he couldn’t find the words to remind the other man. He wasn’t sure he could let Julian take the risks he’d been taking, not with Leo’s heart losing ground with every touch and meeting of eyes.
Leo attempted to stop him, clasping his hands gently and pulling them away.
With a twist of his wrists, Julian escaped Leo’s grasp, then caught his hands and squeezed. “No.” A pause, then, “Unless you don’t want this. I don’t think I’m wrong, though.” His eyes were wide, pupils blown, and the weight of his attention made it hard for Leo to breathe. Time stretched while Leo tried to organize a mind suddenly shattered by possibility.
Julian completed his destruction with the words, “We can wait, if you really want to. But…” He flattened Leo’s palms against his chest, where the subtle vibration of his heart raced in time with Leo’s. “We’re here; we’re safe; we have the rest of the night. I want you.”
Leo closed his eyes and shuddered.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Stop me if I’m wrong. I won’t push it again.”
He felt himself released, and then warm hands cupped his jaw. Leo turned his face in to Julian’s palm, eyes still closed, reveling in his touch. “Yes. I’m a fool, but yes.”
Julian kissed him gently. “Not a fool. Or we both are. I don’t care.”
Leo’s body protested when Julian took a step back and dropped his hand from Leo’s cheek. He opened his eyes and stared at Julian, part in betrayal, part in pure lust.
“Oh, fuck this.” Julian leaped at him, hands clasping Leo’s head, mouth open greedily, taking what Leo was too confused to offer. They landed on the couch with enough force that the heavy furniture jerked and slid across the polished wood. Then Julian was tearing at Leo’s clothes and his own, seemingly unable to decide who needed to be naked first.
With the first touch of Julian’s hands on Leo’s naked chest, his resolve crumbled. No, not crumbled—it was destroyed, not a stone left. Vanquished. Kind of like Leo’s heart. He wished this was something more than just stress and fear and work, even as he began tearing at his clothes as frantically as Julian.
From the outside, it probably looked ridiculous, two grown men rolling around on an overstuffed couch, struggling with their own clothing and their partner’s in turn. From the inside, though… Leo toed his shoes off and launched them across the room with a flick of his ankles, blithely ignoring the pop of the button on his waistband as Julian let frustration get the better of him. Julian growled and pulled on Leo’s pants so hard he lifted his hips off the leather. He laughed wildly and ripped them down Leo’s legs. It burned like hell, but Leo didn’t have time to care, because Julian abandoned them on the floor so he could capture Leo’s mouth with his. At the same time, he cupped Leo’s cock in his hand, rubbing in long, sensuous strokes.
Julian was still half-dressed, pants hanging loose about the tops of his thighs, one arm left in its sleeve. Leo drove his hands down inside the pants, shoving them away, uncovering the skin he’d been dying to touch ever since he met Julian. He stroked the curves of Julian’s ass, fine skin over hard muscle, a perfect fit for Leo’s desperate grasp.
