Without Fear

by Reese Knightley

  “I know, right? It looks like a castle to me,” Macy replied before hitting a fob on the keychain. One of the four garages opened and Macy pulled the car inside.

  Logan unbuckled his belt at the same time Macy leaned over his thigh. His heart just about slammed out of his chest at the sight of a slip of skin where Macy’s shirt had ridden up and the skintight jeans started. An elbow nudged into his crotch as Macy dug around in the glove box.

  Long hair fell over his arm, shirt, and his other thigh as his cock went from soft to hard. Satisfied after several moments of searching, Macy shut the glove compartment and flashed him a smile before sliding from the car.

  Logan sat frozen watching as Macy tucked the gun into the back of his poured-on pants.

  Bending down to glance back into the car, cornflower blue eyes met his.

  “Coming?” Macy quirked one eyebrow.

  Not yet! Logan silently grumbled and lifted his empty cup before he slipped out of the car.

  “Sam lives here?”

  “Not at the moment. He’s thinking of putting it on the market.”

  “As in for sale?” He turned back and looked at the estate in a different light.

  “Why? You thinking of buying it?”

  “Maybe,” he said slowly. “The grounds are magnificent.” He could only imagine what the rest of the place looked like.

  Macy grinned and pushed the button on the wall to shut the garage door.

  “They are, and we’d be neighbors.”

  “Mhmm.” He turned and squinted at Macy. “Why do you have a gun in your glove compartment?”

  “It’s not my glove compartment,” Macy responded cheekily and marched toward a door he presumed led into the house.

  The man, again, hadn’t answered his question. He wondered if deflecting was something Macy did without thinking, but Logan kept his mouth shut. He had a feeling Macy shared on his own terms.

  “I’m hungry.” He followed Macy through the door. It wasn’t until they reached an entryway that he stopped. The inside was just as majestic as the outside with tall cathedral ceilings, inlaid tile, and expensive furniture.

  “Should have grabbed a donut,” Macy snorted.

  “I’m not a fan,” he murmured, and then grimaced at the thought of the overdose of sugar and white flour and rubbed at his stomach. “I need substance.”

  “Come on. There’s always food in the freezer, beer in the fridge, and canned goods in the pantry.”

  Sure enough, there was all of that and more. Out back, he fired up the massive barbecue on the covered patio. Macy brought out a steak and a vegan patty burger before placing a bottle of sparkling water and ibuprofen on the patio table.

  “You sure you don’t want some beef?” he teased.

  “When have you ever seen me eat meat?” Macy’s chin tipped.

  “Never,” he replied when his joke fell flat, but he was talking to Macy’s back when the guy disappeared into the house.

  Prickly as a hedgehog.

  Logan swallowed down two pills for his shoulder. The smell of grilled steak made his mouth water. He carefully kept the meat and plant-based burger separated on the grill.

  The rain started in earnest, accompanied by lightning and the sound of thunder.

  The patio door opened and Macy appeared with two plates piled with green beans and potatoes. Logan placed the veggie burger on Macy’s plate and the steak on his before taking a seat along with Macy at the long, glass patio table. With the ambiance of the rain and the night, it felt as if they were cut off from the world. But they weren’t. Someone was after them.

  “So…” Macy said around a forkful of green beans. “The guys chasing us are looking for me.”

  “Why?”

  “I have information on the man they work for.”

  He cocked his head for a moment and then cut a slice of steak. He waited. He was patient like that.

  “Not going to ply me with questions?” Macy quirked one sculpted eyebrow at him.

  Logan took a sip of his water and another bite of food.

  Macy sighed and it was everything Logan could do not to smile.

  “Okay!” The slender man threw up his hands with a pout. “I possess a video of a murder.”

  Logan carefully watched Macy’s face; the slight tip of his chin told him that Macy had set out to shock him. He scooped up another bite of potatoes.

  Macy tapped his fingers against his lips and Logan fixated again on the pale pink nail polish. It was a fucking turn on to think of those long fingers and nails stroking over him, but first things first.

  “Does this have something to do with your disappearance those two weeks?” he asked around a bite of food.

  “No,” came the short reply. Figuring he wasn’t going to find out why, he tried another tactic.

  “So, how did you come into possession of the video?”

  “I recorded it.”

  Well, well, the plot certainly does thicken.

  “Who’s Mercedes Giles?”

  “Do you want to go swimming?” Macy jumped up and carried his plate toward the house.

  He watched Macy’s butt disappear back through the patio door and into the house. Eating his last bite of food, he stood and found the younger man at the sink in the kitchen.

  “I don’t see a pool,” he said, attempting to ease the tension.

  “There’s one.” Macy gave a relieved sounding sigh and smiled at him.

  “It’s raining,” he pointed out, inching closer.

  Plucking the plate from his hand, Macy rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. “It’s indoors.”

  The dishwasher slammed shut and Macy was hot footing it toward the hallway.

  Logan lunged and gripped the man’s arm to keep him from darting away.

  “Macy, stop running.”

  “I’m not.” Macy whirled on him with a glare and poked a finger into his chest.

  Logan dropped his hand, but didn’t back up. “We can go swimming, we can watch a movie, hell, we can even go on a hike, but at some point before we leave here, you need to tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” The man’s nostrils flared and a pulse throbbed in Macy’s pale throat.

  “Everything.”

  Macy

  Everything?

  The husky, growling voice sent a shiver down his spine and throbbing through his body. Oh, good lord.

  How could he tell Logan everything? He hadn’t done that since Frank. God, he wondered if Stanton had heard from Frank.

  “Macy?”

  He closed his eyes against the burn and opened them to find Logan’s forest green gaze locked with his own. Why did the look in the man’s eyes get to him so much? Logan’s kind gaze made him feel guilty.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you, but in my own damn way.” He clenched his teeth.

  The side of Logan’s mouth quirked. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Fingers lifted to brush back a long strand of loose hair from his cheek. Macy froze, the touch locked his muscles and swelled his cock. Oh crap, don’t be gentle.

  He regretted taking Justin’s advice about wearing his hair loose. Logan seemed fascinated by it. Macy wanted to shove the guy away or purr and arch beneath Logan’s strong hands.

  He shuddered when Logan’s rough palm cupped the side of his neck and his thumb brushed just beneath his jaw. As easy as breathing, Macy let his head fall back. Please kiss me. With lids at half mast, he watched Logan’s eyes and then mouth before licking his own lips.

  “How about that swim?” Logan smiled and stepped back, dropping his hand.

  Oh, you fucker!

  Macy gasped, his stomach swirling like he’d just stepped off a rollercoaster ride, and he fisted his hands. Whirling around, he marched out of the kitchen with Logan’s soft chuckle following him.

  If they weren’t trapped together, he’d end it.

  That was a lie, but it had sounded good in his head. He could no more stay away from Logan than he could from m
akeup. He only wished he could wear Logan like his foundation and preferably over his whole body. He adjusted his tightening pants and grumbled.

  Freaking tease!

  Logan’s footsteps followed him and Macy whirled around, hair flying.

  Logan’s eyes ran over his body and the tight pants that showed too much of what he was feeling. Damn it.

  “Don’t let the clothes fool you,” he warned.

  “I’m not fooled by your choice of clothing,” Logan husked back.

  He planted his hands on his hips. “Just so you know, I make no apologies for who I am.”

  “Did I ask for any?”

  He squinted at the beefcake. “I’m making sure you don’t get any ideas.”

  “Oh, I have ideas, Macy. Trust me, but they don’t include your designer choices.”

  His lips twitched, he couldn’t help it. Have I met my match?

  “What exactly do you want from me?” He didn’t let on a damned thing.

  Logan’s eyes glittered in the dim light. “A chance.”

  “Of?”

  “Letting me in. Let me see the real you.”

  “You don’t think this is me?”

  “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that barricade you keep around yourself,” Logan said instead.

  Macy swallowed and tipped up his chin. “I want you to think that over.”

  “Think what over?” Logan looked puzzled and took a step toward him.

  Macy took a step back and Logan stopped.

  “If you can handle the truth.”

  Logan’s head tipped to the side as if he were trying to figure him out. Good luck with that, he almost said, but didn’t. Nobody figured him out unless he allowed them.

  He flipped his waist-length hair over one shoulder and pivoted in the hallway.

  “The bedrooms are down that way,” he pointed out. “Take your pick,” he called as he disappeared into the small office that he kept there and shut the door.

  Placing his thumb to the safe lock, it popped open and he tucked the gun from the back of his pants inside before removing one of the several burner phones. He’d need to find another place to store his gear if Sam really sold this place.

  He put a call into dispatch, gave the daily code, and left another message for the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge with the new burner phone number. Tony was still in the wind and there had been no contact from Frank as far as dispatch knew.

  A second later, his phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Macy? It’s Alexander. What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t know,” he told the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge. “All Stanton said is that Tony disappeared from Federal prison and Frank is missing.”

  “I know all that, but where are you?”

  “I had to shake a tail. I don’t know if it was Siegel, but I’m lying low for now.”

  Alexander sighed. “It’s a shit show here with Siegel out. I’m worried about Frank.”

  “Me too.” He gripped the phone.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Alexander asked, and it was one of the reasons Macy really liked the ASAC. The man trusted his agents to make the right decisions.

  “I’m going to stay put for a day or two and then make my way back to Crumpet to check out the lay of the land. It might be enough to draw out Siegel.”

  “Call me when you execute. I’ll have agents there. I think it’s time to bring the marshals to your location. You might need to disappear,” Alexander replied.

  “I agree. Can you have Stanton call me?”

  “Will do,” Alexander said and ended the call.

  Having US Marshals on hand helped, especially when he might need to disappear or needed some extra muscle. It wasn’t normal FBI procedure, but then Alexander Channing wasn’t your run of the mill Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge. In two thousand-eleven, Operation Zero Deep had brought agencies together in a rare occurrence.

  Alexander had initiated his own version of the historical event in twenty-nineteen with Operation Void Sweep, a joint task force with state police, federal law enforcement, and the US Marshals. They took down twenty-five suspects, weapons, and a significant amount of drugs. After that, Alexander was known for pulling in all kinds of agencies to assist with a multitude of problems. His motto was the more the merrier. Even the Assistant Director, Forest Taylor, admitted that Alexander Channing’s leadership style had improved cross department relationships and had, in fact, increased the number of closed cases.

  Macy sighed and sank into one of the office’s plush chairs. He’d kept the fact he was involved with Logan from Alexander. He didn’t want Logan anywhere near what was going down.

  Macy plucked at the arm of the chair. He had a bigger problem. One in the form of the beefy hunk in the other room wanting answers.

  Hmmm… perhaps, he’d do what he did best and deflect. It was worth a shot, right?

  Or maybe, he could just stay away from Logan for the duration of their stay. He huffed. Who was he kidding? He wanted to jump Logan’s bones and had wanted to since the very first time the bodyguard had set foot in Crumpet looking all powerful and edible. Logan took the hunky, older man look to a whole different level.

  He left the office and headed down the hallway. Reaching a locked door, he unlocked it with a key on his key ring and stepped inside.

  The room was just as he’d left it. Every so often, if he were in the area or on a job, he’d stay here. Everything in this room was his. Sam had moved from Crumpet to this estate just outside of Aberdeen, but the friendship he’d made with Sam hadn’t ended. They’d kept in touch, and the man’s friendship was one Macy would forever cherish.

  He smiled and moved to the closet to select something to wear.

  “Ah, yes!” He snatched up the hot pink swimming briefs. “This will do the trick.” He would take Logan’s mind off questions and put it on something else entirely.

  Stripping, he tugged on the shorts and adjusted his package. Smiling in the mirror, he turned this way and that before he selected a sheer, white cover up and slipped his arms inside. It billowed open, showing off his slender frame.

  The knock on his door was almost expected and he smiled with glee when he yanked it open.

  Logan’s eyes widened and swept over his body.

  Macy turned away from the yummy hunk and sauntered to the mirror. He lifted his arms so the billowing sleeves of the cover up fell away. Trying to keep his eyes off the miles of muscles on Logan’s bare chest, he made quick work of his long hair by braiding it and tying it off at the end.

  “I see you found something to wear.” He eyed Logan’s pale blue board shorts.

  Logan cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

  “Each room has a selection of clothing, so if what’s in your room doesn’t fit, you might be able to find something else.”

  “Yeah.”

  The one word responses had him grinning. His plan was working perfectly. Smoothing lip gloss over his lips, Macy then turned to walk toward the door. Logan didn’t move when he approached.

  Tipping his chin, he slid up next to the hunk and made extra sure to brush his body against Logan’s on his way out the door.

  “You are not coming in the water!” he called out, swinging his hips as he walked away.

  He could feel Logan’s eyes on his backside.

  Logan

  “What? Why?”

  He frowned and hurried after the vision in pink and white.

  “Because of your wound.”

  He glanced at the bandage on his arm. Damn it. He’d completely forgotten about it.

  Macy disappeared through the door to the pool and then sang back, “You can watch!”

  And watch he did.

  To save his life, Logan couldn’t take his eyes off of the butt bouncing in those pink short shorts. Nor the way the water slipped over the man’s sleek skin. Black hair became even darker from the water and he wondered how it would feel all silky and wet.


  When Macy flipped over and swam on his back the length of the pool, Logan was fixated on Macy’s firm six-pack. Macy was compact, yet tall and in ripcord shape. He’d known it by looking at him, but he hadn’t known just how much until he saw him almost naked.

  “Logan?”

  “Yup,” he drawled with a start and shifted in the lounge chair.

  “How long did you stay in?” Macy was hanging onto the pool’s edge and gestured to the tattoo on his right arm. He glanced down at the combat patch design he’d had inked on his right upper arm.

  “I did three tours in the Army before calling it a day.”

  “That’s a long time.”

  “It is.”

  “Just how old are you?”

  He squinted at Macy. Had there been an inflection in the word “old”?

  “Forty-five, but you already know that,” he said with a pointed stare at the smile toying on the man’s full lips.

  “Do I?”

  “Yes, didn’t we already have this age discussion?” He frowned, remembering that at one point over the past several months, Macy had bitched at him for mentioning their age difference. Now the man was bringing it up again? He scowled.

  “If this is your way of keeping me at arm’s length, it’s not going to work.”

  Macy poked his tongue out at him and then smiled. “Can you make me a coffee?” The man pointed at a small bar along one wall to what looked to be a single serving coffee maker.

  “What do I get if I do?” he hedged.

  Macy’s eyes narrowed rather slowly and a bit dramatically. “A pleasant evening?”

  He snorted on a chuckle and stood. Noticing the way Macy’s eyes were locked on him, Logan stretched and flexed before sauntering over to the table. Confirming the fact that Macy didn’t mind his age at all.

  “And lots of cream!”

  “I know how you take your coffee,” he grumbled. He couldn’t count how many times he’d hunted down Macy at Herman’s Coffee Shop when the weather kept the young man from eating lunch at the park.

  “Progress.” Macy laughed and pushed off from the edge of the pool and swam a lap before drifting back toward the edge.

  “What does that mean?”

  “You remember what I like.”

  “What is this? A test?” he complained and sat the cup on the edge of the pool.