by Alison Bliss
Wanting to make sure everything was all right, I tiptoed down to his room and put my ear to the door. He groaned again, and the noise came through even more clearly. For a second, I wondered if he was masturbating, but the sound was just too… I don’t know. Different somehow. Worried about him, I quietly turned the doorknob and cracked open the door, hoping like hell that I wouldn’t find him stroking himself. Otherwise, things were going to get awkward fast.
Since my eyes were already adjusted to the dark, I was able to peer inside the dimly lit room and actually see what I was looking at. Which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Seth lay on his back with his eyes closed as his feet dangled off the end of the queen-size bed. His legs twitched several times before I spotted his sheet and blanket on the floor at the foot of the bed.
But the thing that I noticed the most about Seth was that he was completely stark-ass naked. Not a stitch of clothing in sight.
His large body outlined only half of the bed, and his arms were held up over his head, buried beneath his pillow. The pose stretched his lean, muscular frame out in the most delicious way possible, accenting the vee of his narrow waist that led downward to his gloriously large…
Jesus. What the hell was I doing?
I was standing there in the dark, staring down at Seth’s naked body, like some kind of voyeuristic pervert. Just great. That’s all I needed was for him to wake up and find me gazing at his junk.
But as I started to leave, Seth let out an agonizing groan that sent a cold shiver down my back. Startled by the sound, I gazed back at him over my shoulder. His eyes were still closed, but he sweated profusely as his whole body trembled with some kind of manic distress. His laborious breathing heaved in and out forcefully as if he were not getting enough oxygen to his brain.
He murmured something else that I couldn’t quite comprehend, and I began to worry. It was as if he was having some kind of nightmare and watching him struggle to get through it was heartbreaking. Not knowing what else to do, I switched the unneeded baseball bat into my left hand and reached for Seth with my right one.
I touched his arm lightly to wake him. “Seth—”
The word barely escaped my lips when I flew through the air with dizzying speed and landed on the other side of the mattress, flat on my back. Shock at the unexpected movement quickly turned to alarm as Seth’s heavy weight pinned me down and feral hawk-like eyes gleamed back at me in the moonlight.
My heart beat wildly. The man had the reflexes of a jungle cat, and his intense eyes held a hostile edge that I hadn’t ever seen before. One that had real fear welling up inside of me. I tried to scream but his muscled forearm mashed against my throat, cutting off most of my air supply.
Panicking, I wedged my hands between us, pushing at his broad chest. But it was like trying to knock Stonehenge over with my bare hands. He didn’t budge an inch. So I swung my arm up to hit him, but he managed to grab it and hold it down against the mattress in a tight grip. He’d moved with such precision and lightning fast speed that I hadn’t even realized he had disarmed me of the bat until this very moment. And that only made my heart pound faster.
Primitive lines etched into his face, and his lip snarled. “Who are you?” he asked, as if he was in some weird, altered state.
I shoved desperately at his shoulder with my one free hand, but he still wouldn’t release his hold against my throat. “Seth, it’s me,” I choked out. “It’s me!”
He blinked and shook his head, as if he was clearing his vision, and then immediately removed the pressure of his arm from my neck and lifted himself off me. I gasped in a breath and rubbed at my sore throat.
His hands instantly began grazing over my body, touching me everywhere. “Christ. Did I hurt you?”
He hadn’t hurt me. Not really. But he’d scared the crap out of me. “No,” I said, taking a deeper breath now that his weight was off of me. “You just…frightened me, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
I placed my hand over my racing heart. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I’m fine. Really.”
His jaw tightened. “Next time someone grabs you like that, thrust your hand up into their nose, like this,” he said, grabbing my hand and showing me how to aim it up at his face. “They’ll let go of you instantly.”
“Okay. But…what the hell was that even all about?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I…don’t know. I guess I was dreaming.”
“I wouldn’t call that a dream. You looked like someone was torturing you in your sleep.”
His eyes lifted to mine, and his lips pursed. “It was just a dream,” he growled, though his wounded eyes spoke of something else. Something tragic.
I had the chilling revelation that I had gotten it right the first time, which explained the scars I’d seen on his body every time he took his shirt off. Had he been tortured by someone? And if so, why? “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. Just leave it alone.” Anger tainted his tone of voice.
“Okay,” I told him, not pushing the issue.
But I had no intention of leaving it alone. Something was troubling him. And I wanted to know what. I’d give him a couple of days to tell me himself. But if he didn’t, then I would just have to get the answers from someone else. Either way, I would find out the truth.
One way or another.
Chapter Twelve
I replenished the tray of appetizers and added another pitcher of sweet iced tea to the table before taking a seat beside Emily and Anna. It was Austin’s fifth birthday party, and most of our good friends had come over to celebrate.
Right now, all of the adult males were running around the yard with the kids, playing tag football. It was supposed to be just a friendly game, but some of them took it a little more seriously than others in the group.
Cowboy spiked the ball onto the ground for the second time in a row and did the chicken dance. “Top that, bitches.”
Anna scowled at him from across the table. “Watch your mouth. And you could’ve let one of the kids win.”
Cowboy shook his head adamantly. “What? Screw that. I had five bucks riding on that game. Besides, they had the advantage anyway.” He lifted his shirt and displayed an enormous bruise on his rib cage. “I’m still sore from where I got kicked while trying to help that horse birth a new foal last week,” he drawled, hunching his shoulders and wincing at his cracked ribs.
“That’s what you get for being so careless.”
Cowboy leaned on the table with both hands and grinned. “I’ll show you how careless I can be tonight when I get you alone,” he said, lowering his voice so the children couldn’t hear. “I’ll borrow Jake’s handcuffs and forget to ask for the keys, too.”
Anna’s cheeked pinked up. “You would. You’re rotten.”
“And you love every second of it,” he said, giving her a quick wink.
Her eyes crinkled a little, but I noticed that she didn’t bother denying it one bit.
Judd passed by the table and glanced in our direction. “Hey, where’s my woman?”
“Gina went on a beer run with Dale,” I told him. “They should be back soon.”
He grimaced. “Those two are always running off together now that they live here.”
“And you’re always running off with me,” Ox said, chuckling as he came over to sit down. “That’s what we get for being best friends who date best friends.”
Cowboy tilted his white Stetson back to gaze at Judd. “I don’t know what you’re worried about, anyway. Gina’s safer with Dale than any other guy out there. Not only is he taken by Ox, but Dale isn’t remotely interested in anything Gina has to offer. No offense, buddy.”
“None taken,” Judd agreed, smiling.
“What are y’all talking about?” Jake asked as he approached the table, followed closely by Seth, who was giving Austin a piggy-back ride.
“Gay men,” Cowboy said, grinning.
Seth slid Austin off his back. “Uh, maybe you should go play with the other kids.”
“Okay,” Austin said before running off.
Anna smiled. “It’s sweet how fond of you he is,” she told Seth.
Seth nodded. “I’m fond of him, too. He’s a great kid.”
“So you don’t have any kids of your own, Seth?” Emily asked him.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
She leaned forward on her elbows as if she was going to get the scoop of a lifetime. “But you want children, right?”
“Emily,” Jake warned.
“What?” she asked innocently. “It’s just a question.”
Seth shook his head. “It’s okay. Sure, I want kids. Someday. But right now that’s not really in the cards for me. I move around way too much to even consider it.” Then he headed for the ice chest. “Anyone need another beer?”
I’d warned him before the party that Emily had a mouth on her and zero couth to go along with it. Bet he believed me now.
Jake started to join him, but I motioned for him to come over to me. “Hey, can I, um…talk to you for a second?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Uh, I mean alone. Let’s go over there to talk,” I said, rising to my feet and moving to the corner edge of the house, well out of earshot from the others. He followed me, and I turned to him, wringing my hands together. “I, ah…sort of need a favor.”
He leaned one hand against the house. “All right. What favor?
I hesitated, biting into my bottom lip.
Jake had never been a very patient person, and he cocked his head. “Bobbie, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what it is you need from me.”
“Well, I have a problem that has to do with Seth.”
His gray eyes hardened into granite spheres. “Like the kind that requires me to hide a dead body?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. I just…need you to check into Seth’s past for me. Like do a background check or something FBI-ish.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Oh, nothing. I just want to know more about who’s living in my house with us.”
“Then why didn’t you bother to do a background check before you let him move in with you?”
“Because I didn’t think it was necessary at the time. I mean, he is Junior’s nephew.” My eyes shifted to Seth to make sure he wasn’t paying any attention to us.
Jake’s gaze followed mine. “Are you scared of him or something?”
I shook my head adamantly. “Of course not. He’s not dangerous, Jake.”
“You don’t know that for certain. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be asking me to check up on him. There’s something wrong with him, isn’t there?”
“No. You’re reading into things. Junior wouldn’t have put me in harm’s way. Or my child. I’ve just noticed some strange behavior and wanted to confirm my suspicions.”
“Which are what?”
“Basically that Seth’s had some kind of formal military training. He’s mentioned little things, but I want to confirm what I’ve already gathered about him. I just want to know for sure.”
He gazed at me curiously. “Why don’t you just ask him?” When I didn’t answer, he guessed. “It’s because you either don’t think he’ll tell you or because you think he might tell you but won’t be honest about it. Am I right?”
I shrugged. “Possibly. He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to talk about his past. But that only leaves my imagination to run wild. And that’s no good for either of us. I just think it will better if I know the truth.”
“All right. Text me everything you know about him. It’s probably going to take me a few days to find out whatever information he’s hiding, though. The military doesn’t always willingly give up information on their troops. In the meantime, I’ll talk to Junior about it, too. Though knowing him, he’s probably not going to say much about it, either, or he would’ve already mentioned it.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help.”
“No problem. But if you have any issues with this guy, you call me. Immediately.”
“Of course. But I’m not expecting any problems from Seth at all. He’s a good guy, and I trust him.”
Jake shook his head. “No, Bobbie. If you trusted him as much as you say you do, then you wouldn’t be having me look into his past. Until I find out more about Seth, I want you to be careful. You don’t know who you’re dealing with at this point.”
I sighed. “It’s fine. I’m telling you, I just want to know what he’s hiding.”
Jake nodded, and then gazed over my left shoulder. “Shit. Incoming. Cocky bastard at six o’clock.”
I had no clue who he was talking about until I spun around and noticed Jeremy standing there. Just great. What the hell was he doing here?
“Go on back to the party,” I told Jake. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Right after I throw this asshat off my property.
Jake hesitated and then nodded. “All right. But if you need anything, holler.”
As Jake left, Jeremy moved closer and stopped directly in front of me. “I didn’t get an invitation to the party,” he said, smiling.
“That’s because you weren’t invited.”
He shrugged. “Good. I didn’t want to hang out with all of your loser friends, anyway.”
I crossed my arms. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m picking up the boy.”
“Hardly. This is my weekend with Austin.”
He grinned. “You apparently didn’t read the court order. We have to take turns with him on birthdays. Since you had him last year, then this birthday is mine. You can call the case worker if you want. I already verified this with the court.”
Now that I thought about it, I did see some kind of clause in there about rotating birthdays. But I hadn’t expected Jeremy to take him for this one in particular. “Well, we have company right now. You can take him next year.”
“Nope. I’m not having you use that against me in court. I’m taking him now.”
“No, you’re not. I told you already. We have people over for Austin’s birthday. It’s not convenient for you to take him now.”
“You think I give a damn about what’s convenient for you? You can go get him or I’ll call the police and report you for being in violation of a court order. You can serve jail time for that, ya know?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wanna bet? I’m sure the judge would love to hear all about how your new live-in handyman has a shady past.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grinned. “Play stupid all you want. But I overheard what you said to Jake. The judge might be very interested in learning how your new boyfriend is under investigation by an FBI agent…at your request. That’s not going to make you look good, now is it?”
“Well, maybe I’ll tell the court how you’re trying to blackmail me into letting you have my son this weekend.”
“Go for it. It’s your word against mine. Besides that, the court will agree that it was my weekend, anyway. So why would I need to blackmail you into doing anything?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Damn it, Jeremy. Be reasonable. Or at least act like you’re a decent human being for once. It’s Austin’s birthday party.”
“So?”
I sighed heavily. “Why are you doing this?”
“Hey, you’re the one who forced me into taking a paternity test back when he was born just so you could get money from me. You wanted me to be the kid’s father. Now that I’m trying to do that, you don’t like it? Well, too fucking bad. Next time, be careful what you wish for.”
“You’re just doing this to hurt me, aren’t you?”
He rolled his eyes. “Not everything is about you, doll. Now are you going to get him and his stuff or do I have to call a police officer out here and make an official report about you violating my parental rights by denying me visitation?”
“You
have to be a parent first before I can violate your rights, Jeremy.”
“All right. If you want to do this the hard way,” he said, pulling his cell phone out, “that’s fine by me.”
I had no choice but to let Austin go with him. And, since the last thing I wanted to do was cause a scene in front of my child or our guests, I shook my head. “Fine. I’ll go get him. Just…give me a second.”
I went inside and gathered Austin a change of clothing and a few toys and stuffed them into his backpack. When I came back outside, I yelled for Austin, who was playing chase with Lily. “Austin, you have to go. Jeremy is here to pick you up.”
He skidded to a halt and walked over to me slowly, his head hanging. “I don’t want to go. I’m having fun playing with Lily.”
“I know, baby. But you have to. It’s his weekend with you.” I motioned to Jeremy who had come around the side of the house and was now standing in the backyard glaring at all of my friends. “He’s waiting on you.” Then I remembered that I hadn’t put Austin’s little stuffed bull inside his backpack. “Oh, I forgot something. I’ll be right back,” I said, handing him his backpack.
I ran inside and looked around for the little spotted bull, finally finding it in Austin’s room on the floor. When I returned to give it to him, though, Austin was no longer standing there and a truck rumbled down the driveway, the sound growing fainter by the second.
“He’s gone,” Jake said, shaking his head with irritation. “I’m sorry, Bobbie. I couldn’t legally stop him from leaving. Not since it was his weekend.”
“Damn Jeremy,” I said, my voice cracking a little. “I didn’t even get to tell my son goodbye.” My head lowered as frustration and sadness mingled inside of me.
Anna put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Bobbie. That wasn’t right of Jeremy to do that to you.”
Emily shook her head. “I agree. But we all know Jeremy never does what’s right. He does things just to hurt you any way he can. He seems to get off on it.”
Seth held a grim expression. “That guy really needs his ass whipped.”