Deep in Your Shadows

by Darien Cox

  “That’s funny. You call them conspiracy nuts, but there is a fucking conspiracy here.”

  Christian chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

  “How old was Elliot when you met him?”

  “He was twenty-four.”

  “What was he like back then?”

  “The same. Exactly the same. Elliot has always been Elliot.”

  “Christ.” Rudy chuckled and took a sip of beer. “And now you’re interested in the local sheriff. Very star-crossed. The law man and the professional thief.”

  “I’m not a thief anymore. Gave that up for a life of figuring out where aliens were hiding.”

  “Life is strange that way.”

  “It certainly is.”

  Rudy nodded. “It’s not the same thing, but look at me. I grew up poor as shit. Now I’m living with the son of one of the richest guys in the country.”

  “One never knows what can happen.”

  “Exactly. That’s why you should go after the sheriff if you’re into him.”

  Christian glanced back at the bar. Myles was still there, talking with his friends. One was Tim Patterson, the snobby forest ranger. The other was one of the lake patrol guys. “I’m not so sure the sheriff is into me. We had an awkward encounter last night, and he didn’t look happy to see me when he walked in just now.”

  “He’s drinking a Coke,” Rudy said. “Maybe he’s still on duty. Maybe he has to wait until he’s off duty to do things like have a beer or suck a cock.”

  “Rudy!”

  “I know, I know. I need filters installed on my mouth.”

  Christian smiled at him, and Rudy smiled back. “I’m glad we did this. Went out, just the two of us.”

  “I am too,” Rudy said. “I think I like you better now that I know what a fucking reprobate you were.” Rudy glanced up. “Uh oh, your Romeo is leaving.”

  Myles was standing, bidding goodbye to his friends. He walked to the doors and left the pub without a glance in Christian’s direction.

  “Why don’t you go after him?” Rudy said. “Go talk to him. He’s by himself.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll catch up with him another time.”

  “Christian, just go. I’m still kind of jet lagged anyway. I’m gonna go home.”

  “Gonna go play with JT’s flaxen hair?”

  Rudy grinned. “Maybe.”

  Christian drummed his fingers on the table, then stood. “Okay. Fuck it. I’m gonna try to catch him.”

  Rudy stood and grabbed Christian. “Give me a hug, you smooth criminal.”

  Warmed by the gesture, Christian hugged Rudy, slapping him on the back.

  “Now go,” Rudy said. “Maybe you can get him to use the handcuffs on you.”

  Rolling his eyes, Christian said, “See you later,” and headed for the door.

  ****

  Myles had had a long day. He’d had to deal with one of his least favorite aspects of the job—executing an eviction. The couple rented one of the cottages on the beach, and had stopped paying rent when the husband, a local roofer and construction worker, broke his ankle in a fall, and was unable to work. He had a wife who stayed home with their one-year-old baby boy, and they were so deep in debt, they didn’t have anywhere else to go.

  The landlord was present, and made things more volatile than they needed to be. There was shouting, threats, tears, and a near fist fight. But Myles was presented with a surprise twist when he got a phone call from none other than JT Warden, Christian Boucher’s friend who owned the pub—the same man who’d walked in when Myles was on his knees staring at Christian’s naked cock. Blessedly, JT had pretended that never happened.

  Having been apprised of the situation with the tenant, JT offered to not only pay off the rent owed to the landlord, but continue to pay for the cottage for as long as it took for the husband to get back on his feet. He’d even suggested that if the landlord still refused to allow the family to stay, he had an empty loft apartment above his pub, where they could live rent-free until they got their finances in order. Ultimately, the landlord was so happy to get his money, he withdrew the eviction notice, and all ended happily. Myles was blown away by JT’s generosity. As was the husband, who’d wept into his hands on the sofa. Myles felt terrible for him. He hated seeing a proud man lose his dignity, just because of some bad luck.

  “Myles!”

  About to get into his car, Myles winced at the sound of Christian’s voice. Speaking of losing one’s dignity... Myles was embarrassed at his own behavior last night, his reaction when Christian’s pants had finally come down, how he’d hesitated there, unable to move. He’d been thinking about Christian all day. Couldn’t get the gorgeous little shit out of his mind. He wanted to believe Christian was actually into him. But a tiny voice worried it might be coercion, that Christian might be using sex to keep Myles off guard. So he wouldn’t be able to see straight...see whatever Christian was hiding.

  But when he turned around and saw Christian walking toward him, his resolve weakened. Christian wore a plaid button-down shirt, open over a tee shirt with dark jeans, so at least he was fully dressed this time. It should have made him less of a distraction than when Myles had to watch him prancing around half-naked. But Christian was just as beautiful fully clothed.

  “Hey,” Christian said, stuffing his hands in his pockets when he reached Myles. “How you doing?”

  “I’m tired,” Myles said, a bit more ice leaking into the words than he intended.

  Christian’s smile wilted, a flash of hurt in his eyes. Hurt? Myles wasn’t expecting that. It certainly contradicted his assessment that Christian sought only to deceive him.

  “Well,” Christian said. “At least you’re dry.”

  Myles nodded. “Yes. That was quite...unexpected last night.”

  “Falling in the lake or seeing me naked?”

  Blinking slowly, Myles ordered his body not to react, keeping his expression stony. “Both were an annoyance.”

  “Wow. I’ve been called an annoyance before, but never when I had my dick out.”

  That didn’t surprise Myles at all. Christian’s attributes were impressive, perfect like the rest of him. And he’d finally seen where the tattoos below the waist went. The thorny stems of the rose bouquet on his side continued over his hip and spread into tangled branches on his thigh, each with a snake head, large black eyes, forked tongues flitting out of fanged mouths.

  “What can I do for you, Christian?”

  “Just wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. Have a beer with me?”

  “A beer, huh? I noticed you had two already in the pub. I hope you’re not driving.”

  “You noticed that, did you, Detective?”

  Myles flinched. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a detective. But I do more around here than get cats out of trees. I notice things.”

  “Sorry. Myles.”

  “Maybe you should go back to calling me Sheriff.”

  Christian laughed, then frowned. “Why? You told me to call you Myles last night.”

  “And you told me you were Batman. Then you took your clothes off.”

  “You know why I said that. And you know why I took my clothes off. They were wet.”

  “I don’t know why you do anything, Christian. And you’ve made it clear you’re not going to tell me. So what do you want?”

  Christian’s frown deepened. “The truth?”

  Myles chuckled. “Sure. What’s the truth going to be this time? That you’re Spider-Man?”

  “I just really wanted to see you. That’s all. That’s the truth. I wanted to see you.”

  Myles’ stomach did a flip, and his heart began to pound, making it harder to maintain his aloofness. “Why?”

  “Why? Really? You know why.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t.”

  “Is it so hard to believe that I like you? That I want to get to know you?”

  “Yes,” Myles said. “That is a little hard to believe.”

&nbs
p; Christian slid his hands out of his pockets and placed them on his hips. “Why?”

  “Well, for starters, you’ve never given any indication that you liked me in the past.”

  “Probably because you were always arresting me in the past. But I think I’ve given you some indication that I liked you recently.”

  “See, that’s interesting. Your recent indications happened to coincide with me questioning you about the lake incident. And your part in it.”

  Christian huffed. “Are you fucking serious right now? You think I’d use my...indications as a tool to deceive you?”

  “Well, your indications have strange timing.”

  “Can we stop saying indications? I just like you, Myles. I’m attracted to you. I’d like to get to know you. I thought maybe you felt the same, but I guess I was reading it wrong. So you still despise me, then.”

  Myles fidgeted, studying Christian’s face as he tapped his fingers on the open car door. Christian looked sincerely disappointed. And Myles’ heart was beating too fast. “I don’t despise you. And you weren’t...you weren’t exactly reading it wrong.”

  Christian took a step closer. “I wasn’t?”

  “I’m not going to jump into bed with you,” Myles said. “If you want to get to know me, we can do just that. Talk. But I’ll expect you to do your share of talking, and give me something back. You want to get to know me? Then you’ve got to be willing to share some things about yourself. Some truthful things.”

  “I’ll tell you what I can.”

  Myles chuckled. “I know what that means. You can truthfully say that you’ll tell me what you can, when in reality you can tell me nothing.”

  “Okay, look.” Christian raised his hands. “I might be able to show you something. Something to convince you I’m telling the truth about the lake incident.” He paused. “And that I wasn’t telling you the entire truth before.”

  Myles stared at him. “Okay. That’s interesting. What is it?”

  Christian glanced around, then moved in close to Myles. “Okay, look. I lied to you before. They were keeping that debris at my marina.”

  “I am not overwhelmed with surprise,” Myles said.

  “It’s not there anymore, they took it away. But it was just orbital debris. I swear. It was nothing harmful. I saw it.”

  “And I’m supposed to just take your word on that.”

  Christian glanced around again, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I wasn’t supposed to take this. But I’m going to show it to you. If you give me your word you’ll keep this conversation between us.”

  Myles’ eyebrow cocked. “All right. Let me see.”

  He took Christian’s phone and examined the photograph. “This is at your marina?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And that’s Ogden.”

  “Yep.”

  Myles scowled at the photo, studying the details. Ogden. The debris. The surroundings. “Funny,” he said.

  “What’s funny?”

  “I only met Ogden briefly, but I thought he had a bit more gray at his temples than this. You sure this is a recent picture?”

  “What? Let me see.” Christian took his phone back and frowned at the photo. “Looks the same to me. He’s got gray there. Maybe it just looks like less in the photo. Or maybe he got his hair cut, I don’t know. But yes, it’s recent. I took it myself.”

  Myles sighed. “All right. You still going to tell me you didn’t know him before the lake incident?”

  “I didn’t know him before the lake incident. What I can tell you is I used to work for the military, which is probably why they trusted me. I can’t tell you what I did back then. Only that I’m out now. And I really am just a boat guy.”

  It was all a little convenient. But to go to such lengths to deceive Myles? That was unlikely. And Christian certainly appeared to be telling the truth. Keeping direct eye contact. No nervous ticks. There was still a small niggle of doubt, but Christian couldn’t have planned to run into Myles tonight. There was no way he’d know he’d be at the pub. “All right, Christian. Thank you for sharing that with me. I’ll keep it between us.”

  Christian’s expression didn’t change, no signs of relief, just a pointed stare. “I’m not doing anything right now. My dog has been walked. I’ve eaten. You’ve eaten.”

  “And?”

  “Let’s hang out. Talk.”

  “We just did talk.”

  “Did you miss the part where I said I wanted to get to know you?”

  Myles hesitated, pulse drumming in his neck. Am I really about to invite Christian Boucher back to my house? The thought thrilled him more than he expected. He’d enjoyed this cat and mouse game thus far, no question. Being so enthusiastically pursued by Christian gave him a charge.

  But he was tired of not being in control, tired of Christian leading him around by his dick. If Myles wanted this, it would be on his terms.

  Christian stared at him expectantly, brows raised over those gorgeous brown eyes.

  “All right. You can come to my place for a beer.”

  “Good. Should I follow you?”

  “I still don’t think you should be driving.”

  “I can handle my liquor, but okay, you’re the sheriff. I won’t drive. I’ll go with you.”

  “How will you get home?”

  “This is the village. I can walk home. Nothing’s that far.”

  “It’s a bit of a long walk.”

  “I climb mountains all the time. I think I can handle it. That is if you really plan on making me go home.” Christian grinned slyly.

  Myles wanted Christian desperately, he couldn’t deny it to himself any longer. But a small, devilish part of him also wanted to catch Christian off guard, shake up his cocky surety a bit. So Myles gave him a stern look. “You gonna keep your hands to yourself?”

  Christian looked taken aback, but he nodded. “Sure. If...that’s what you want.”

  Myles nodded. “Good. Get in.”

  Sliding in behind the wheel, Myles hid a little smile. As much as he enjoyed letting Christian fluster him by walking around shirtless and making innuendos, Myles wanted to be in the driver’s seat for this. He wanted to be the one to make Christian Boucher sweat for a change.

  And he planned to do just that.

  Chapter Seven

  Physical intimacy. Christian recalled Rudy’s words as he stepped out of the car and followed Myles up to a small but polished lake house, brown with white shutters. Rudy’s calling Christian out on his inappropriate touching with JT, combined with Myles’ precursor that he wasn’t going to jump into bed with him, had him second-guessing himself. Had living in the village, where it was all sex, fun, and bonfire parties, along with what Elliot called his ‘codependent’ relationship with his team members made him lose touch with what normal was?

  Myles wasn’t from the village, he’d only been there a couple years. He was still more or less an outsider. And he’d been averse to Christian’s behavior since the day they’d met. And even now, though admitting to some level of romantic interest, had requested that Christian tone it down. That was two people in one day...scratch that, in one hour that had warned Christian to watch where he put his hands. Son of a bitch. Am I a slut?

  Christian wasn’t used to these games normal people played. But he liked Myles, and he respected him. So he was willing to play it his way. He wasn’t about to change himself for anyone. But he determined to try and slow it down, at least for the time being. Because he didn’t just want to fuck Myles. He wanted that physical intimacy Rudy spoke of. It had been a long time since he’d had that. He’d had sex with guys, but that’s all it was. Sex. No hugging or closeness outside of the act itself. Shit, maybe that’s why he’d clung to JT for so long with the snuggling and affection. He was siphoning his own needs off his best friend.

  And he realized now, that was kind of fucked up.

  “Watch your step, there’s a loose board there,” Myles said as he unlocked his front door
.

  “This is nice,” Christian said as they stepped through the door. Myles’ house was cozy, and had that cedar cottage smell, but it was no vacation flop. He had good taste, nice, modern furniture, polished hardwood floors and big thick rugs. The wooden walls were dark and masculine, shiny, dust-free bookshelves, a big screen television. The only oddity was a coffee table with a huge, carved, wooden elephant as a base.

  Christian paused and stared down at it. “Well, this is interesting.”

  Myles looked over. “The tusks aren’t real ivory. They’re just a good imitation. I wouldn’t have real ivory in my house.”

  “Okay.”

  “I like elephants. They shouldn’t be hunted for their tusks.”

  “But apparently they should be carved out of wood and used as a coffee table.”

  Myles disappeared for a moment, and returned with two beers, handing one to Christian. “You realize I don’t give a shit if you like my coffee table, right?”

  “I do realize that. You realize that’s not going to stop me from making fun of it, right?”

  Grinning, Myles nodded, looking down at the coffee table. “Have you ever interacted with an elephant?”

  “Um...like talked to one?”

  “No, I mean at a zoo or something. They’re smart. And expressive. And sad, when they’re in captivity. Misunderstood. No one bothers to learn who they are on the inside. They assume they already know.”