by Marie Jermy
“Adams will take them on. Oh, and should Steve wake from his coma during your stay, then when he’s fit enough to leave the hospital, he’ll be joining you. He deserves some R and R.”
Nick slowly nodded. He still didn’t like it, but he could do this. Not that he thought Steve would wake anytime soon and join him in Silver Creek. And neither would he be staying for more than six months. “Okay. I’ll go.”
Richards gestured to the envelope Nick held. “Go home and pack and say au revoir to Steve. Your flight for Salt Lake City leaves this afternoon at one. Once there, there’ll be an hour’s wait until the connecting flight to the Bert Mooney Airport in Montana,” he explained. “A good friend, Ross Anderson, will pick you up and drive you to Silver Creek. You’ll be staying with him and his wife, Jess, for the duration of your transfer. You’ll be under Chief Peter Connors. And you start duties at the town’s station eight o’clock tomorrow morning, sharp.”
Nick was flabbergasted. He’d only just agreed to the transfer. Richards, on the other hand, looked as though it had been a done deal even before Nick had entered the office. In fact, Nick was sure this transfer had been planned for quite some time. He pocketed the envelope then turned and opened the door where he paused. “Anything else, Sir?”
“Yes. Jess said to pack your thermals.”
Richards’s grin was wider than the Grand Canyon, and Nick made a quick exit.
Chapter 3
Nick was with him again.
Steve had only been in the black seemingly empty void for a month, but it felt like a fucking lifetime. The only prick of light was Nick. And, shit, could his long-term buddy waffle! Jeez, Nick could provide enough energy to heat a colony of emperor penguins in the South Pole for a year. He badly wanted to tell Nick to shut the fuck up. However, his brain and his body wouldn’t surrender their grip on the numbing darkness.
So, he had to lay there and listen to Nick. Steve knew everything. From the drugs raid that culminated with him tumbling down some steps and smashing his head on the ground hard enough to make him comatose, to all the latest sports results, to who was fucking who in Hollywood.
Comforting warmth spread over and around his right hand. Steve smiled when he realized Nick was holding his hand. Or at least he thought he smiled. He’d deny it until he was blue in the face, but Nick, as hard as nails as he was, was a real softy, a romantic at heart. He was, too, to a certain degree. What turned him off was when women used feminine tactics to mask problems instead of working them out. Steve could never understand why women in committed relationships couldn’t share things, particularly the things that matter. Didn’t they know a problem shared was a problem halved? That was his philosophy anyway.
Neither of them had any family left now, and both had been the only child. Sadly, Nick’s father had passed away eighteen months previously, and his mom had run off with another man when Nick was young. Nick’s father had never uttered a bad word against his wife leaving him. He knew the reason was because she couldn’t cope with his military career, a career he had to give up to look after Nick. However, on the many occasions Steve had visited him, he’d seen the burning resentment in the elder North’s eyes. Not that any of that resentment had been directed at Nick. Nick’s father had been proud of his only son. Nick didn’t know of his mother’s whereabouts, and Steve seriously didn’t think that Nick gave a fuck whether she was alive or dead. Steve lost his parents when he was twenty. His mother succumbed to breast cancer after a brave five-year battle and his father a few months later due to not wanting to live without his beloved spouse.
It was a shame that most of their friends and colleagues only saw Nick’s serious side, even away from work. Nick always said he didn’t want to appear weak in front of anybody, but Steve had told him on more than enough occasions that he was talking shit. So what if their friends knew Nick could be playful and as mushy as a mashed potato? It wasn’t as if anybody they knew was going to let that slip to some drugged-up asshole.
The only thing people were in the dark about was their preference to ménage relationships. They didn’t even know that he and Nick wanted each other like fire needed oxygen. It had been Steve and Nick’s joint decision not to say anything. Steve had thought about letting a select few of their closest friends and colleagues, including their boss, know, although he strongly suspected that Lieutenant Richards had already guessed. He’d wanted to discuss this with Nick, but a tumble down some steps and a coma had prevented him from doing this.
Steve grimaced. Or, again, at least he thought he did. They weren’t lovers per se—they hadn’t even locked lips—but his feelings for Nick ran deep and true, and it was seriously ripping his heart in two knowing that Nick was hurting because of his comatose state. If only Nick would off-load to somebody, but Steve knew Nick would rather skewer and barbecue his balls than talk. He sighed. No, that was crap. If he was smiling, grimacing, sighing, or pulling any kind of face, Nick would have noticed.
Speaking of Nick…He was still prattling on. The baseball game between the Yankees and the Indians had not been pretty. Damn, he’d wanted to see that game. In international news, while US soldiers were withdrawing and returning home, the Taliban still maintained their stranglehold on Afghanistan. Jeez, will that war ever come to a peaceful end? Personally, he couldn’t envisage it. Perhaps an atomic bomb was needed. It certainly stopped the Japanese in World War Two. Of course that meant hundreds of thousands of innocent people would lose their lives, but lives were already being lost in a war that nobody was winning. Nick was being transferred to Silver Creek, some hick town in Montana. Yep, that was funny. Steve could visualize Nick’s expression when he’d been told that—
Whoa! What was that? Nick was being transferred to Montana? A small town called Silver Creek, no less? No. No. No. Nick couldn’t go. Steve’s eyes sprang open. “No fucking way! You are not going to Silver Creek!”
Nick stopped in mid-sentence and just stared at him, his brooding, dark blue eyes like orbs of the ocean deep. If Steve could, he’d stare back at himself, too. Was he awake? Had he just spoken? The seconds ticked by before he decided to try again.
“You can’t go to Silver Creek.”
Yep, he was definitely awake. His voice was raspy, and his mouth and throat felt full of sandpaper. Nick immediately reached to the side of the bed and did two things. One, he pressed the buzzer for immediate medical attention. Two, he picked up a glass of water and placed the straw between his parched lips. Steve sucked on the cool drink, immediately relieving the dryness. He nodded gratefully to Nick, who put the glass to one side and took up his hand again. His thumb swept across his knuckles, sending pinpricks of tender warmth up his arm and beyond.
A smile stretched Nick’s mouth, though the worry lines bracketing his eyes remained. “If I’d thought for one second that the mere mention of me taking a transfer would have woken you up, I’d have done it a lot sooner. Thank Christ! How are you feeling?” Nick slapped his forehead with his free hand. “Dumbass question!”
Steve smiled, and he knew he smiled this time. “Yep. This transfer—” He stopped when three men rushed into the room. He guessed from their attire that two were nurses and the other was a consultant of some sort.
“I’ll tell you later,” Nick said before one of the male nurses told him to wait outside.
For the next hour, Steve was subjected to a barrage of questions and tests. Yes, he knew his name and date of birth, where he lived. He could read, write, count, recite the Miranda—backward. No, he didn’t have a headache, though in time, he was certain he would develop one, especially if the stiff-assed consultant continued to treat him like a five year old. He never knew a man could speak so slowly or phonically enunciate every word right down to its last syllable, even if it didn’t have any syllables left.
Finally after being told he would face more tests and scans in the morning, Nick was allowed back in. He immediately took his hand in his own again. Steve studied his friend for a moment. Nick looked
beat, but the relief showing in his expression was palpable. His black hair was shaggy and a beard covered his jaw. Steve decided the gladiator look wasn’t too bad, just not his preference. He ran his free hand over his own face and head, finding his skin smooth and his hair in its usual short back-and-sides style. Nick instantly understood his bemused expression.
“I shaved you. The lucky nurse tasked with giving you bed baths also cut your hair.”
Steve raised a brow. “And you?”
“No. I didn’t get a bed bath.” A ghost of a smile lit Nick’s tired gaze. He shrugged. “I’ll shave and get a haircut when I get to Silver Creek.”
Steve grimaced. Ah, yes, the transfer. He shuffled around on the bed for a moment, searching for a comfy spot since he’d realized his ass was as sore as a bear with a bad head and his body felt like rigor mortis had set in. But then decided he would be better off getting up off his ass and walking around to restore circulation.
He slowly edged to the side and swung his legs out, while Nick watched him with a frown dipping his brows. Now gripping Nick’s hand, he put his feet on the floor and stood up. Shit, the linoleum was cold. And, oh, look, didn’t he look peachy in the pale blue hospital gown that gaped at the back and gave everybody a view of his ass? Magnificent as his ass was in Steve’s opinion. He guessed Nick thought the same, as on more than one occasion he’d seen Nick eyeing his ass with affection. He also guessed Nick would have provided pajama bottoms if either of them possessed a pair, which they didn’t. They both slept butt naked. Just not together. Something that Steve was getting more pissed about, especially now after his accident. It was about time they moved in with each other and saved themselves some rent money.
“What are you doing?” Nick asked, still frowning when Steve took one step, two, and then three.
“A 10K marathon. What does it fucking look like? I need to move.”
“You’ve just come out of a coma, Steve. Take it easy. You should rest.”
“Plenty of time to rest when I’m dead.” Steve immediately regretted his words. Nick was hurting enough without his wisecracks heaping more misery. He laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder and squeezed firmly. “Sorry. That was crass of me. It’s just that if I’m horizontal for a minute longer, I’ll start to vegetate. I’ve already got a cauliflower for a brain, judging from my last comment.”
A smile crinkled the lines around Nick’s deep blue eyes “Not arguing with you there.”
Nick slipped an arm through Steve’s and they slowly toured the antiseptic-smelling room a few times. Steve was glad of Nick’s support as his circulation rapidly returned, giving him at least three cases of wobbly knees. The pins and needles sensation pricking his feet stung like he was walking on hot coals, making him wince every time he took a step. Thankfully, he could put that discomfort out of his head because he was dying—bad choice of word, he knew—to know all about Nick’s transfer. “What’s this transfer to Silver Creek all about?”
“Richards’s idea. Not mine. I think he’s been planning it for some time. I fly today at one. I’m already packed. Did it before I came here.”
Nick puffed out a long breath. The resignation in his tone was clear. Christ, Nick was going—Steve glanced at the clock in the room—in two hours’ time. Nick continued, his expression laden with regret.
“I haven’t been firing on all cylinders since your accident.” Nick fingered a kink of hair. “Still got results, though, just been flirting between life and death myself. This morning, I stood in front of a junkie loaded Chevy and flashed my badge, thinking they’d shit themselves and stop.”
Despite the situation not being funny at all, Steve felt a smile curling his lips. “And did they?”
“No. Rocky had to shoot the tires out.”
Steve silently thanked Grant “Rocky” Adams, another first-grade detective on their team, who’d gained his nickname through his passion for rock climbing. Seeing Nick surreptitiously glancing at his wristwatch, Steve knew time was running out. “Do you have to go? I mean, I’m awake now. If all the tests and scans come back clear and if a doctor says it’s okay, I could be back on duty in a month or so.” He sounded desperate and really, he was.
Nick nodded. “I know. And believe me, I don’t want to go. I was gonna fight it all the way, but Richards said if I didn’t take the transfer, he’d suspend me. And he meant it. But don’t look so pained, Steve.”
A smile stretched his friend’s mouth. Steve couldn’t tear his gaze away from firm, full lips that were hot, rocking, and begging to be kissed. He knew Nick’s tongue would be the same. His prick twitched.
“Richards said if you were to wake up, and after you’d been released from hospital, you’d be joining me for some R and R. Something tells me, though, that I’ll also be spending most of my time on my butt. Can’t imagine there’s much action in Silver Creek.”
Steve concurred, not that it mattered whether Silver Creek saw criminal action or not. He was going to be with Nick. That was what mattered the most. Perhaps he and Nick could create their own action in Silver Creek. A brush with death had made his mind up to further his relationship with Nick. The spark between them was undeniable. So the sooner he got out of hospital, the quicker that would happen. And when he again caught Nick’s quick glance at the time, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to start now. “You’d better go. You’ve got a plane to catch. But just before you leave…”
He inched forward and melded his mouth to Nick’s. He tasted of pure man and chocolate. No surprise there since Nick was a chocoholic with a capital C. Nick pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket with more regularity than he did his gun. The beard felt springy and soft against his skin, and he let out a long groan when Nick’s arms snaked around him so their bodies melded. Nick kept his eyes open, sending Steve’s lust levels soaring as he watched sparks of delight and Nick’s own lust deepening the color of his already dark blue eyes. His cock thickened as Nick’s tongue roughly slid against his, before turning softer and encouraging him to return the erotic favor.
Sweet heaven, why had he waited so long to kiss Nick? He was a fucking idiot, that’s what he was. Before he could berate himself further, one of Nick’s arms purposely dropped to his ass. His hospital gown flapped and then Nick’s long forefinger found his hole.
Steve damn well melted on the spot.
Chapter 4
Silver Creek, Montana
Nick stared down at the large oak desk, with its two empty wire baskets denoting files in and out, and, not for the first time either, asked himself how in hell had he ended up in his current position—that position being temporary police chief of Silver Creek.
He took a seat in the leather chair, musing about the day before while tearing the wrapper from his favorite bar of chocolate. He’d left the hospital on cloud sixty-nine. Of course he knew the phrase was “on cloud nine,” but he was way higher than that. Steve was awake! However, there had been a downside. Steve had told him he wouldn’t be in hospital for long and would join him in Silver Creek faster than a roadrunner. Yet Nick had the sneaky suspicion that doctors wouldn’t be releasing Steve until they were completely sure he was recovered. It could take weeks—months, even—something which was sure to piss Steve off to no end. Nick had kept his suspicions to himself, because really he didn’t want Steve going off half-cocked and thus placing himself back in hospital.
However, with every downside there was an up. And what an “up” it had been! Steve had kissed him. The kiss they’d shared had set his loins on fire to go all the way, but they’d both decided making love on a hospital bed was in bad taste and not very special. There had been no embarrassment between them, just a basic need to be with each other, to love each other. His lips still tingled and he smiled as he remembered the weight of Steve’s mouth on his, their tongues mated in perpetual bliss.
Nick had still been grinning like a loon when he finally landed at the Bert Mooney Airport. His connecting flight had been delayed by almost three hours due to freez
ing fog. As promised by Lieutenant Richards, Ross Anderson was waiting for him, who neither commented on the delay or his coat hanger-sized smile. Anderson had been extremely warm and friendly, and despite their age difference—Anderson was in his early eighties—Nick felt he could talk to the man about anything and everything. This in itself was unusual, because apart from Steve, his father had been the only man he could be entirely at ease with. He and his father had had a strong, close relationship, and Nick sorely missed him.
A welcoming lamp was glowing in one of the windows when they arrived at the Anderson home, which in turn, gave Nick’s belly a warm glow. Jess Anderson was just as friendly as her husband. She was also at least twenty years younger than Ross, which in reality didn’t matter one jot because he could feel the deep love they had for each other the moment he entered the house. She made him hot chocolate and added a mountain of marshmallows. He guessed Richards had told them about his chocolate craving. Jess, too, was a chocoholic.
He and Jess also shared more in common, and really he should have joined the dots earlier because Jess was a legend at the Hollywood Station. She’d been stationed there in her earlier days and still had many friends there, including Richards and Frank Walsh. In Nick’s opinion, indeed everybody at the station thought that though Walsh was their greatest asset, he did have an overinflated opinion of himself. Upon telling Jess this, she’d rolled about giggling like a schoolgirl for at least twenty minutes.
As with Anderson, the more Nick got to know Jess, the more he felt he could talk to her about anything and everything. He also realized through their lighthearted banter why he found her startling green eyes so familiar. He and Steve had met their daughter, Samantha, along with her then boyfriend now husband, Daniel Ferris, at the station eighteen months previously.