Exasperating (Elite Protection Services Book 3)

by Onley James

  “No. Now.”

  All traces of humor were gone as Webster replied, “Roger that. Give me fifteen.”

  Linc ended the call. “Are you sure this was your sister?”

  Robby licked his bottom lip, nodding. “I only saw her for a minute, but yeah, I’m pretty sure. Who else would ask for my help?”

  “Do you trust your sister?” Linc asked.

  Robby shrugged. “I don’t really trust anybody…except you guys.”

  Linc scribbled notes as he lobbed questions at Robby. “Could your sister be working with your father? Could this be a trap? What’s your sister’s age? Birthdate?”

  “My sister and my father aren’t close. I don’t think it’s a trap but I don’t know. She’s about four years older than me, I guess. We never actually celebrated birthdays, so I don’t really know.”

  “You don’t know your birthday, angel?” Calder asked, surprised.

  “I mean, my father put September ninth on my birth certificate, but I don’t know if that’s my birthday or he just made something up for the birth certificate he ordered from the state. We were all born off the grid. The government didn’t know most of us existed until my father needed them to know.”

  Calder shook his head. Jeb Shaw was a fucking monster in a thousand dollar suit. Everybody knew Magnus Dei was a cult of loons but nobody understood just how horrible conditions could be in places like that, how fast things could go from a dream to a nightmare. As a Texan, Calder remembered watching Waco unfold practically in his backyard. Even as a teenager, the horror of it was evident. Seventy-six people willing to die for a man who spouted nonsense. Would Jeb Shaw’s people die for him? Would they kill for him? How about this Brother Samuel? Which of these men were after Robby and why? Hopefully, Rebecca might have the answers.

  “Tell me what you know about the church,” Linc said.

  Robby once more wrapped his arms around himself. “They call themselves Christians. They preach the gospel with an emphasis on Old Testament. They teach that God is jealous, petty, vengeful. They are quick to punish, slow to praise. Most of the women looked to Samuel as some kind of messiah figure. They often shared his bed, even my mother. I think that’s when my father decided that what he wanted didn’t align with Samuel’s goals. Whatever those might be. My dad wanted money. He wanted the spotlight. He wanted fame. He saw religion as a way to justify his fury and indignation about growing up poor and staying poor. It’s been years since I left. I don’t really know what’s happened since. That’s why I think I need to talk to my sister.”

  “You can’t meet your sister in public and you damn sure aren’t meeting her wherever she’s hiding out,” Calder said, leaving no room for argument. “I won’t have you putting yourself in harm’s way.”

  “Ask her to meet you here, Robby,” Linc said. “Neutral territory. Also, if she’s on the run, then this is the safest place for her, right?”

  Robby nodded.

  Linc’s phone rang. Once more he left it on speaker. “Whacha got?”

  “Burner phone. I can try to triangulate a signal but it’s not really going to help. That’s about the best I can do. Anything else? Or can I get back to the Delaney financials?”

  “I need you to do something for me,” Calder said before he lost his nerve.

  He thought he’d maintained his composure when he spoke, but given the stricken way both Linc and Robby were looking at him, maybe not. “What can I do for you?” Webster asked, sounding almost sympathetic.

  “I—” Calder hesitated. Robby took his hand, threading their fingers together. Calder watched Linc make a note of it, but he had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “I need you to try to find my sister, Megan Michelle Seton. Date of birth four eleven sixty-eight. Brown hair, brown eyes, strawberry birthmark the shape of the Death Star on her left shoulder. She went missing in eighty-four. Disappeared outside Dugger’s Grocery in El Paso, Texas. Nobody’s seen her since.”

  The silence was deafening. It was like they were all staring at an invisible corpse and nobody wanted to disturb the dead. Maybe it was the quiet? Maybe it was the way Robby squeezed his hand or the fact that Linc looked poleaxed. “I know, okay? I know she’s probably dead. I know she probably died hours after she disappeared. I’ve run the numbers. I know the statistics. I’d just like to know for certain. If possible, I’d like to bury her with my parents. I just need to know. Can you please help me do that?”

  “Yeah, man. I can help you do that. It’s not a quick ask, but I’ll get on it as soon as I put the Delaney thing to bed. Okay?” Webster asked.

  Calder nodded even though there was no way Webster could see him. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Once Webster hung up, Calder looked to Linc. “Anything else?”

  “The keys to the safehouse,” Linc said, opening his middle desk drawer and tossing a set of keys in his direction. “The keys to the Land Rover are on there too. Ditch your truck in the garage and take that. The press knows what you’re driving and they have your license number. Have Robby make the call to his sister from one of the office lines before you leave. Just to be safe.”

  “We’ll use the one in the conference room. I’ll be in touch.”

  Calder and Robby were almost to the door when Linc called out, “Watch your six, hoss. I really hate religious zealots.”

  Calder gave one last nod. “Will do.”

  Rebecca didn’t answer. Robby left her a message telling her she could meet him at the Elite headquarters tomorrow morning. His hands had shaken so badly Calder had taken the phone from him and hung it up as if worried he might somehow damage the equipment. Robby was just done with this day. He wanted to go home. Except, they weren’t going home. They were going to a safehouse.

  They rode in silence, Southern rock playing softly from the speakers of the Land Rover, which was new enough for Robby to still smell the leather. His stomach churned, dread heavy like a stone in his belly. What did it say about his family that he didn’t know if he could trust his own sister? What did Linc’s not accepting Calder’s resignation mean to their relationship? If one could even call it a relationship.

  “Are we over?” Robby blurted.

  He wanted to suck the words back into his mouth before they’d even left his tongue, but it was too late. Calder glanced over at him, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, his mouth gaping slightly. “What? Why would you even think that? Have I given you any reason to think this is done?”

  Robby shook his head, embarrassed. His misery coursed through him, a living creature with claws and fangs, shredding his insides and his sense of what was real and true. He felt raw and needy, everything in his life uncertain except Calder, and yet, he worried he couldn’t trust that either. They were temporary. That was the unspoken agreement they’d had since this began. But then Calder had said that he cared about Robby. That he was too important to him. He’d quit his job to be with Robby in every way and not be a liar.

  Calder took Robby’s hand, lacing their fingers together, just as Robby had done to him in Linc’s office, squeezing tight. “I know you’ve had a rough couple of weeks, angel, but you’re tilting at windmills. We’re fine. We’re better than fine. Okay?”

  Was he making problems where none existed? Imagining enemies that didn’t exist? Was he only imagining his father as an enemy? Was his sister really just reaching out for help? These last few months, his life had spun out of control. He’d felt completely alone and hopelessly lost at sea without a shoreline in sight. And now, there was Calder and he made everything so good that it made the idea of losing it feel like it was the worst thing imaginable. He had no idea where any of this was coming from but he felt like it was choking him. He couldn’t even answer.

  Calder turned the truck into the parking lot of an old brick fire station. Robby frowned at Calder, his minor meltdown temporarily halted by his confusion. Calder clicked a button, and the red door of the garage rose, allowing them to drive in before it closed behind them. He got out, throwing a latch of
some kind—maybe a lock—before opening Robby’s door and helping him from the car.

  Robby expected Calder to turn and lead the way inside, but he crowded Robby up against the side of the truck, cupping his face. “Tell me what’s bugging you. Really.”

  “I can’t.”

  “That’s not like you, angel. You always tell the truth, even if it scares you.”

  Robby stared at a stain in the brick over Calder’s shoulder, his heart pounding like he had just run a marathon. “I’m not afraid it will scare me. I’m afraid it will scare you,” he muttered.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I’m pretty unflappable.”

  Robby met Calder’s gaze, blinking tears from his eyes. He took a deep breath, feeling like there was only one way this conversation would end. “I think I’m in love with you.”

  Calder laughed, and to Robby’s utter humiliation, he began to cry harder. Why was he like this? Then Calder’s arms were around him. “I hate when you cry, sweetness. You’re breaking my heart. Why are you so upset?”

  “Because this is all temporary. I’m either going to prison, or we’ll figure out what really happened to that guy in my apartment and I won’t need your protection anymore, and then you’ll just be gone and I’ll be alone again,” Robby wailed into Calder’s t-shirt.

  “Angel, I love you too, but I have to tell you, you have a flair for being dramatic.”

  It took too long for Calder’s words to penetrate, but when they did, Robby was in the middle of a big hiccuping sob. He wiped his face on Calder’s shirt before looking up at him with wet eyes. “You do?”

  Calder tilted his head, looking at Robby like he was crazy. “I quit a six-figure job for you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, that ass is fantastic, but I wouldn’t quit just to have sex with you. I could have lied to Linc, but I knew the minute he saw us together he’d see what everybody probably sees when I’m with you, and that’s that you own me, sweetness. I’d do anything for you.”

  Robby’s head spun at Calder’s words. “Really?” he managed, dragging the back of his hand across his runny nose like a five-year-old.

  “Yes, really. Now, please, please, stop crying. Let’s go inside and take a shower.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Calder pressed his lips to Robby’s forehead. “Don’t be sorry, angel.”

  He stepped away from him, pushing him towards the door that Robby assumed led into the interior of the fire house. Calder punched in a door code and swiped a key fob over the pad. The door gave loudly. Robby didn’t know what it was made of but it was heavy and cold, so he assumed it had to be heavy-duty material. Steel, maybe?

  Past that door was a staircase leading upstairs. It was definitely no longer a fire station. Floor to ceiling windows allowed sunlight to stream inside the large living space and kitchen. The place had an ultra-modern feel, which was to say it felt stark and barren like a hotel room. There was no warmth. No energy. It was nothing like Calder’s well-loved couch or the bed that smelled like him. It was just another place to hide. Like Robby’s sterile apartment. A place where people stayed, not a place where they lived.

  He found Calder in the bedroom, gun in hand. Had he had it with him the entire time? Sometimes Robby forgot that Calder had the skills necessary to kill if he had to. He supposed the thought shouldn’t turn him on but it did. He watched silently as Calder checked the chamber, clicked something on the side of the pistol, and set it inside the top drawer of the side table beside the king-size bed.

  Calder wrapped his arms around Robby from behind in a bear-hug, walking him into the bathroom. He flipped on the tap, undressing first Robby then himself as the water heated to an acceptable temperature. Calder washed Robby thoroughly, paying almost too much attention to his ass, teasing his soapy fingers between Robby’s cheeks, grazing his hole just enough to make him whine in frustration. By the time Calder declared them both clean, Robby was already hard and Calder wasn’t far behind.

  They dried each other off and wandered back into the bedroom where Robby flopped onto the fancy, overstuffed chaise with a sigh, starfishing himself so his arms and legs hung off the side. Calder grinned at him, straddling Robby and leaning down to hover over him. “What’s the matter, sweetness?”

  “I hate this place,” Robby said.

  Calder laughed. “This place was designed to be both incredibly safe and ridiculously luxurious. We’ve guarded princes in this house. Diplomats, pop stars, even a magician once. You miss your fancy pants apartment?”

  “I miss your apartment. Can’t we just go through the back entrance or something? Every complex has one.”

  Calder shook his head. “Do you think those vultures haven’t thought of that already?”

  “This place feels like a museum. Your house feels cozy. Warm. Like a home.”

  Calder’s grin slipped off his face as he brushed his lips across Robby’s once, then again. “Places aren’t home, angel. People are.”

  Was that true? Did that make Calder Robby’s home? “Well, this place doesn’t smell like home. It smells like lavender and vanilla.”

  “Well, now that you are squeaky clean why don’t we go dirty up those sheets until it smells like you and me in here.”

  Robby’s heart skipped in his chest. His tongue flicked out to wet his lower lip. “Okay.”

  Calder rocked his hips against Robby’s, their cocks slotting together like puzzle pieces. “Mm, somebody’s already excited,” he noted with a low rumble. Robby ducked his head, all kinds of dirty thoughts flooding his brain. Calder, of course, noticed immediately. “You blushing because I noticed you’re hard already? It’s a little late for modesty now, don’t you think?”

  Robby shook his head. “I was just thinking about what you said earlier.”

  Calder frowned. “You’re gonna have to be more specific than that. I’ve said a lot of things.”

  Robby forced his face into the crook of Calder’s shoulder, his words muffled. “You said if I was good we could do…things.”

  Robby could feel Calder laughing. “Did I say that, angel?”

  “Yes,” Robby said, clutching Calder closer so he didn’t have to look at him.

  “What’d I say exactly?” Robby groaned, knowing Calder was enjoying making him squirm. “It’s okay. Don’t be shy,” Calder drawled. “You know how much it turns me on when that sweet, innocent little mouth of yours says filthy things. You can whisper it in my ear if you want.”

  Robby pressed his lips to the spot just below Calder’s ear. “You said we could try things like…spanking and that other thing.”

  Calder wasn’t laughing now. “What other thing, angel? Just say it. I want to hear you ask for it.”

  Maybe Calder was teasing him, but there was no missing the heavy length of his cock now pressing against Robby’s hip. It emboldened him. He dropped his head back to the mattress, gazing up at Calder’s chocolate brown eyes. “I want to sit on your face.”

  Calder snarled, his hips surging down to grind against Robby’s as he kissed him, plunging his tongue into his mouth before breaking off to give Robby a look that made his cock throb. “Do you think you earned it, sweetness? Have you been good for me?” Robby nodded. “Say it.”

  Robby swallowed hard. “Yes.”

  “Good boy,” Calder practically purred.

  Robby whimpered, rocking his pelvis against Calder’s, desperate for any kind of friction. Would he ever get tired of this? Would everything Calder said and did always have this effect on him?

  Calder stood, tugging Robby up with him. He moved to the bed, lying down in the center with his head on the pillows, gesturing to Robby. “Come here, angel.” Robby climbed onto the bed. “Face the mirror,” Calder said, helping Robby swing his leg over so his calves sat on either side of Calder’s head. The mirror image was obscene in the best possible way. Calder hadn’t so much as touched him and his cock was already throbbing.

  Robby shivered as hands ran along the outside of his thighs, blunt nails scraping his s
kin until Calder gripped his hips and drew him down onto his mouth. At the first touch of Calder’s tongue Robby moaned like a porn star. He couldn’t help it. How had he never known that could feel so good? He tried to keep his weight balanced on his knees, but Calder was having none of it. He pulled Robby back until Calder’s beard was scraping the delicate skin as he buried his face between Robby’s cheeks, licking and sucking at his entrance with a delicious pressure that had Robby crying out, “Oh, God. Oh, fucking fuck.”

  He couldn’t tear his eyes off the mirror, off the picture they created. Calder’s naked body was beautiful, his muscles straining, his perfect cock standing at attention, and Robby felt beautiful too. Calder made him feel beautiful. Calder loved him. Calder thought he was worthy of love. Calder thought Robby was sexy and that made him feel sexy. He ran his hands along his thighs, his stomach, he tugged at his own nipples, the stimulation even better as he watched himself ride Calder’s face with abandon, body gyrating as he took himself in hand, chasing his own pleasure.

  “Turn around, angel.”

  It took a moment for the words to penetrate but he jumped to comply. Once he straddled Calder’s chest, his mouth closed around Robby’s cock, taking him deep, sucking him like he was trying to extract Robby’s soul through his dick. Robby couldn’t help the way he yelped or the way his hands fisted in Calder’s hair as he fucked into his mouth and the tight, wet heat. “Oh, God. You’re going to make me come,” Robby warned.

  If he thought Calder would pull off, he was wrong. Instead, Calder sucked harder, took Robby deeper until his balls were drawn up tight to his body and his every nerve hummed with pleasure. “Oh, fuck. I’m-I’m gonna…” He didn’t even finish his sentence before he was coming hard down Calder’s throat, his whole body going rigid at the waves of sensation pulsing through him.

  When Robby could form a cohesive thought again, he slid off Calder, rolling onto his belly, his whole body feeling like it was made of Jell-O. Calder’s fingers trailed along Robby’s spine and down the cleft of his ass, his fingers teasing at his hole, still slick with spit. Robby lifted his hips, whining a bit as Calder’s finger penetrated him just the slightest bit. He was still a little sore from the night before but not so much that he didn’t want to do it again. “Fuck me,” he begged, his voice just above a whisper.