Hell and Back

by Dirk Greyson

  “Give me a minute and I’ll…,” Gage murmured as Forge reached for the soap. He lathered his hands and began stroking them over Gage’s chest, cleaning his skin and giving him a chance to recover.

  “Shhh…,” Forge said. “Sex is one thing, but being together, like this, naked and exposed, holding each other, just being together, is in some ways more intimate. Sex covers up the fact that when we’re together, unclothed, we’re showing ourselves to each other.” Forge stepped back, letting go of Gage, and slowly turned in a circle. “This is me.” He held his hands still. “After I married Granger, I didn’t expect to ever show myself to anyone else.” The water coursed down his back, and Forge stood still. “But then again, maybe he never really saw me.”

  “I see you,” Gage told him. “I see the handsome man in front of me, the one who has the courage of a pack of lions. Not everyone will strip themselves bare in front of another person, and I don’t mean just taking off their clothes.” He moved forward, lightly touching Forge’s chest above his heart. “I know what’s here because you showed it to me years ago, and it’s always inside you. The biggest heart I’ve ever met. I think that’s why it hurt so much when I didn’t hear from you. I thought that I’d lost the one thing I’d never find again—you.”

  Gage pressed to him, holding Forge tightly, their bodies entwining as the water washed over the two of them. “Just so you know, I will not lose you again. I will do whatever it takes to make sure you stay in my life. It nearly ripped me apart when I didn’t get the letters you sent.”

  “And I thought you didn’t love me.” Forge could admit now that he’d rebounded, and after thinking Gage didn’t want him, he’d gone out looking and found Granger. They’d been good together for a number of years, but now Forge saw that the two of them had never been great together. They hadn’t been intuitive or known what the other needed. They’d worked at their relationship and talked about things. That was how they’d made things work. But when that communication had broken down, there wasn’t anything deeper to fall back on. So they’d both retreated into their work, and eventually Granger had found what he thought he needed from someone else.

  “I never stopped. Not even after all these years.” Gage ran his hands down Forge’s back to cup his butt. “You’ve been back in my life for just a few days, and already I’m more alive than I have been in years. Like I said, no matter what happens, I have no intention of giving you up. I’ll fight for you just like I should have done seventeen years ago. I should have looked you up. I should have found you and talked to you.”

  “That’s what we both should have done. We accepted what we thought happened and moved on. There were telephones and things. We could have found each other if either of us had looked beyond what we thought. It wasn’t your fault, any more than it was mine.” He rested his head on Gage’s shoulders, kissing and licking the base of his neck. “You taste really good.”

  Gage lifted him off his feet, and Forge wound his legs around Gage’s waist as Gage turned around to press him to the tile. His strong hands cradled Forge’s ass, fingers teasing their way closer to his opening. He groaned and nearly bit Gage when he stroked over his sensitive skin. Gage’s hand left him, followed by a soft click. “What are…?” Forge gasped when Gage’s finger breached him. Forge tightened his grip on Gage with his legs, desperate for more.

  “I want you. Now.” Gage pressed him harder against the tile and lowered him. Gage’s cock slid to his opening, and Forge rested his head back on the tile, gritting his teeth as he sank lower and Gage pressed into him.

  “Oh God. I want.” Forge held on to Gage with everything he had, sinking deeper, and Gage filled him more and more with every press. “So full.” It was all he could gasp as Gage pressed upward and Forge sank the rest of the way, taking all of Gage inside.

  “Is this okay?” Gage asked.

  “If you stop, I’m going to bite the hell out of you,” he growled. “Does it sound like this isn’t okay?” He held Gage tighter. “Now fuck me like you mean it. Like you’ve wanted to for all those years.” Forge groaned, and Gage bounced him up and down, grinding into him with the energy and fury of seventeen years of pent-up longing that Forge had waited just as long as Gage to release.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “The only way you’ll hurt me is if you stop.” Forge leaned in to kiss Gage hard and moaned as Gage drove him to the moon, which didn’t take long. Forge was already so keyed up that it wasn’t long before he teetered on the edge.

  “That’s it,” Gage breathed. “Let me see you and feel you go to pieces.” Gage held him tighter and thrust deep. Forge’s entire body felt like it was going to burst into flame, and then he stilled and came with a shout that echoed off the bathroom walls. He breathed deeply, and Gage eased him down onto his feet, slipping from inside his body. He positioned Forge under the water, and Forge clung to Gage, steading himself as the water washed away the remnants of his excitement.

  Gage held him up, and once Forge got his feet under him, Gage washed him gently, caressing his body as though it were precious. Then he turned off the water and helped him out of the shower, wrapped Forge in a huge towel, and guided him to the other room.

  Forge made it to the bed and flopped down, completely wrung out. “What did you do to me?”

  Gage leaned over him, gently caressing his cheek. “I wanted you to know that you are loved.”

  “Holy shit.” Forge pulled Gage closer, holding him as he closed his eyes and dozed off. He knew they didn’t have forever and had to get ready, but he needed a few minutes to get himself together or else he’d show up at Gage’s parents’ looking completely debauched. Hell, that was still a possibility with the way he felt at the moment. Maybe if he lay here with Gage next to him for the next few hours, which they didn’t have, he’d be ready to go. “Is it stupid of me to be afraid to go to your parents’?”

  “What are you scared of?” Gage asked.

  “I don’t know. We’re going to the home of people who might be mixed up with the ones who killed Granger. I know they’re your mom and dad, but what if they’re behind all this and they take me into some dark room and have some huge guy soften me up before they really torture me and want information I don’t have, then… then they take me out back, fit me for concrete boots, and I disappear in the bottom of the Chicago River?”

  Gage pulled him closer. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a little?”

  “I don’t know.” The truth was, he knew he was being silly, but Forge also had the feeling that something was going to happen tonight. This didn’t seem right to him. Maybe he was being stupid and letting his imagination run away with him, but maybe there was something to it. “Just don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t. I promised I’d not let you go, and that certainly means not leaving you alone with my mother and father if I can help it. Hell, if you spend enough time with them, I’m afraid you’ll end up running away screaming and never look back.”

  Forge was sure that wasn’t going to happen. He slowly got up off the bed and opened the bags of clothes they’d purchased. He began taking off the tags and laying them out so he could get dressed, trying like hell to shake the sense of impending doom.

  Chapter 6

  GAGE SIGHED as he turned onto the road he’d grown up on and drove to the familiar driveway, which was filled with cars. He pulled in, and the valet his parents had hired for the evening opened the door and took the keys to park the car for them.

  “Holy cow,” Forge said as he got out, looking at the huge stone house with its portico and manicured yard. Most of the time Gage didn’t notice it. This was just where he’d grown up, at least for the better part of his childhood.

  “Yeah. Mom and Dad bought it when I was about ten. Mom wanted someplace where she could entertain to help further Dad’s business. There’s a full two and a half acres with a pool in the backyard. Dad likes to swim, so Mom put one in.” He motioned Forge toward the front door.


  “Are you sure we look okay?” Forge asked, stopping to fuss with his shirt for the twentieth time.

  “You look amazing, so stop worrying. Remember, we’re here for one reason.” Gage patted Forge lightly on the lower back and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened and his mother stood in front of him, looking as radiant as ever, wearing a dark blue designer blouse and perfectly pressed, flowing tan pants. The outfit accentuated the narrow waist that his mother cultivated at the gym with a fervor most people reserved for weekly visits to church. “Hello, Mom.”

  “Gage.” She smiled, but it was slightly forced. “I’m glad you could come.” She motioned them inside and closed the door.

  “This is Forge. A close friend of mine.” He smiled and could tell his mother was trying to deduce any meaning she could from what he’d just said. Gage wanted to tell her that, yes, they were sleeping together and that Forge was that kind of friend. But keeping her off-balance was to his advantage, so he kept quiet and kissed her cheek. “Is the party out back?”

  “Yes. We’re around the pool. Your father is grilling and telling some of his awful stories.” She looked him over, seemed to find him acceptable, and led the way, even though Gage was well acquainted with the house.

  “How are things, Mom?”

  “Your father and I are doing well.”

  “How’s business?” he asked, and her step faltered for just a second as she approached the door to the back patio. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but Gage was watching for any reaction. “I know things have been tough for some.”

  “Everything is great. Your father and I are making plans to turn the company over to the management team so we can spend more time together.”

  “That’s really good. You and Dad deserve the chance to have some fun and get away.” Gage stopped, with Forge standing next to him. His mother turned with a glare that softened when she seemed to realize that what Gage had said was the truth. “You and Dad worked hard for a lot of years, and you deserve a chance to relax and enjoy what you worked for.” Spying his father through the glass, Gage opened the door and stepped outside.

  Gage knew many of the people who’d gathered here from other parties and get-togethers his mother had thrown over the years. Some he knew from newspaper stories and television news reports, and their presence sent off bells in the back of his head.

  “Son,” his father said carefully as he handed the grilling utensils to one of the young men most likely serving dinner.

  “It’s good to see you, Dad.” Gage shook his father’s hand, and they shared a one-arm man-hug of sorts before stepping back. “This is Forge.” They also shook hands, and Gage watched for any sign of recognition between them and was grateful when his dad’s eyes sparked no recognition at all.

  “What brings you to town?”

  “Business,” Gage answered, flicking his gaze over to the others in attendance. The small group of three standing slightly separate from the others worried him. Gage had never met any of them, but he knew of them. They were businessmen with reputations that were far less than stellar. His father was in the transportation business, and in Chicago, sometimes in order to survive, business was conducted with people one didn’t necessarily want to work with. Gage knew his father had worked with sometimes shady people and managed those relationships for years without trouble. But now he was wondering if trouble had managed to slide in under the door.

  His father must have followed his gaze. “They’re customers.”

  “I see,” Gage said slowly, feeling the tension rolling off his father. This wasn’t good at all. His dad had always been the master of most every situation, and now it seemed he might have gotten in over his head. “Why don’t you and I talk a little later.” Gage paused to make sure his father understood before continuing. “It will be good to catch up. I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had a chance to spend much time down here.”

  “That’s a real shame,” Mr. Abernathy, one of his father’s longtime friends, said as he approached. Mr. Abernathy was a partner in the accounting firm his father’s company used. Gage remembered playing with his son when he was a kid.

  Gage smiled as he shook hands, then introduced Forge. “How’s Doug?”

  “Doug is great. He’s out in California practicing law, showing me up with his success.” Mr. A grinned proudly. “Marie and I were looking to retire out near them….” His smile faltered and he sighed.

  “I’m so sorry about her. Mom called me and told me she’d passed. Mrs. A was a great lady.” Marie Abernathy had been the person Gage had gone to when things with his own parents became too much. He was always welcome there, no matter what. “Are you still planning to relocate?”

  “Doug and his wife want me to, and I’m seriously thinking about it. The firm will do well without me, and maybe it’s time we realized we all need some time to ourselves.” Mr. A looked square at his father. Whatever was going on, he seemed well aware of it. Gage hoped that at least meant his father hadn’t stepped too far over the line.

  “What kind of business brings you back?” Mr. A asked.

  Gage put an arm around Forge’s waist. Forge smiled, and Gage’s dad hastily excused himself. “I’m looking into some things for a client.” He wanted to keep Forge close even as he observed the others. Maybe Forge was right and coming here wasn’t such a good idea. The three men kept watching them, and it didn’t take Gage very long to realize they weren’t looking at him as much as they were Forge.

  “Business is good, then?” Mr. A asked as he too glanced over at the other men, tension rising all around them.

  “Yes. People always need protection of some sort, especially when there are folks who don’t understand the meaning of the word no.” Gage glared at the men, challenging them, and he suppressed a smile when they turned away.

  “Do you know them?” Mr. A asked in a low tone, and Gage shook his head. “Some new clients of your father’s. I told him not to get involved with people like that. But….” Mr. A paused, and Gage glanced back to where his dad now stood next to his mother, the two of them talking softly. Then she plastered a familiar smile on her face and began mingling with the guests, specifically the men in question.

  “I recognize them for who they are.” Gage paused. “Do you need another drink? I think Forge and I could use one.” He moved toward the bar to fix a drink for himself and Forge, holding Forge’s hand as Mr. A followed. “Okay. Now I hope we can talk.” Gage leaned in closer to Mr. A. “Is Dad’s business in trouble? Is that why he’s doing business with the likes of them?” He absently mixed some martinis, knowing it was Mr. A’s drink of choice and hoping Forge liked them as well.

  Mr. A spoke quietly as well. “Things aren’t going well for your dad. He’s slowing down, but he’s in a tough, competitive environment that’s growing more so every day, and it’s taking more and more out of him to stay on top of the game. Something we all feel when we get to be our age.” Mr. A lifted his glass, and Gage and Forge did the same. “Your dad thought these would be his golden years. He’s worked all his life to provide for you and your mother, and now he’s afraid he won’t be able to do that and he’s getting a little desperate.”

  “Okay. But has he done anything he can’t undo? Has he gone beyond the point of no return?”

  Mr. A sighed. “I don’t believe so. You know your dad. He’s a lion when it comes to business, but he’d never do anything shady or illegal.”

  Gage glanced at the contingent near the pool still talking with his mother. They were laughing, but the menace just from their presence hadn’t diminished. “Then why are they here?”

  “You’ll have to ask your father that.” Mr. A smiled and turned to Forge. “It was very nice to meet you.” Then he returned to the others.

  Gage stayed near the bar. He was beginning to think he was going to need a lot more to drink by the time this evening was over.

  “They won’t stop looking at me,” Forge said quietly from behi
nd him.

  “I noticed that as well.” Gage waited until his mother turned away, then whispered, “Time for a distraction. Ready?” When Forge nodded, he led Forge over to her. “Mom, Forge was just saying how lovely the house is.”

  Forge smiled, and as Gage expected, his mother went into preen mode, explaining all the hardships involved in getting the house “just right.”

  Gage left her to it and walked over to where the three men stood. “Nice evening, gentlemen,” he said as he approached the group.

  “Yes, it is.” None of the men made any attempt at introduction. Obviously manners were not part of their training.

  “I understand you and my father are contemplating doing business.”

  “So you’re the son,” the older gentleman said, obviously the one in charge, judging by the way the others stood just a few paces back.

  “Yes. I have a security business…. I believe that’s something we have in common.” Gage met the leader’s gaze. “Though mine is much more ethical and… shall we say… legal.” He knew he was stirring a hornet’s nest, but he needed to try to put them off their game, just a little.

  “Do you know who this is?” one of the flanking men asked.

  “Of course I do. Stanley Lucci. And I know who you are and work for. But this isn’t a place where you’re going to be able to do business.”

  Stanley stepped forward, his eyes as hard and dark as onyx. “I don’t believe your father will have any choice.” The antipathy and intimidation rolling off him were palpable. Gage saw his gaze flick to Forge and then back to him. “Neither does your friend.”

  Gage kept his cool while his mind flew at a rapid pace. “That depends on just how much information your father wants made public and how much heat he wants brought down on himself and your entire family.” Gage stared right back, bluffing like hell, but he’d played enough poker in the service to know how to do it damn well. They might not have found all the information, but they had enough to be dangerous, and these guys didn’t need to know they weren’t in possession of all of it.