by Victoria Sue
Seb nodded. “It’s been a while.” It had. It had barely lasted a few weeks until Seb had called a halt to it when something had told him it wasn’t working for either of them.
“I’ll be careful,” Gray said, his eyes solemn as he dipped his head to seal the promise. Seb couldn’t help winding his arms around Gray’s neck and holding him tight even though it meant Gray couldn’t move, but Gray returned the kiss just as enthusiastically until Seb’s head was spinning. Delirium, lust, or just lack of fucking oxygen, he didn’t know and didn’t care. The first touch of Gray’s fingers had him jerking back and opening his eyes. Gray didn’t stop his careful exploration, but his gaze was firmly on Seb to catch every reaction.
“Fuck,” Seb swore, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Gray’s nail scraped a patch of skin and just teased his entrance. He was so sensitive there, and someone else’s finger rather than his own was a million times better. Soon—with the help of the lube—Gray was sliding his finger in and out. The smooth glide made Seb’s toes curl and his breath hitch as he became helpless to stop thrusting his groin upward into Gray’s hand until Gray inserted another finger, making Seb’s eyes sting briefly, and he was lost in the heady burn of that one as well. More lube. More stretch. More prep. Gray’s thoroughness had him ready to scream.
“Please, just do it,” he begged. He was sure the sheets were drowned in the sweat rolling off him.
Gray brushed another choppy kiss over his lips and then pulled a pillow under his ass to lift him, and quickly draped Seb’s legs over each of his inner elbows. He knelt up, staring at Seb with a hungry look. “You amaze me.”
“Well, you drive me nuts,” Seb snapped back, officially out of patience, and then gazed in awe as Gray threw his head back, laughing in delight. Seb wished he could hear the sound that put such a carefree look on his face. Gray sobered and pulled Seb closer, lining his cock up. “Look at me,” Gray ordered as he pushed.
It hurt briefly. Seb knew it would, but the look on Gray’s face when he was seated was worth every second. Gray panted and then pulled back gently, the glide touching something in Seb that widened his eyes in sensation.
“Do that again,” he rasped, prepared to beg. Gray smiled and pulled back for one second, convincing Seb he was going to ignore the plea, and then he thrust back. The movement was jerky, burning, intense, and it stole Seb’s words. Gray did it again, a long slow withdrawal that drove him mad and then the thrust that left him breathless. Urging him on, faster, harder. He wanted to feel Gray. Feel him in every inch of his skin, every moan, every gasp, every slide of their bodies, and every grunt on his lips.
Gray pounded into him. He’d said people one day would be able to hear through their skin, and Seb believed it. Every scrape of Gray’s thumbs on his hip bones to keep him anchored, every gust of Gray’s breath on his neck, every second of pressure that built in him and around him until Gray’s fingers encircled his cock and pumped hard.
And then his skin wasn’t talking; it was screaming pleasure and showering him in noise until every color left him behind closed lids and his world was white.
Gray eased out of him and collapsed at his side. Seb wanted to keep his eyes closed and just concentrate on getting oxygen into his lungs, but he didn’t want to miss anything Gray might say while he was unguarded. Gray reached for him and pulled him close. Seb was thrilled at the contact, the obvious need.
Seb watched Gray’s lips carefully. He opened them once and closed them as if he’d either chickened out or thought better of what he was going to say. And Seb didn’t think he would need to be a mind reader to work out the probable regrets and guilt that were now going around Gray’s brain. Gray was holding him close but staring at the ceiling, just a fraction too long for letting their heartbeats and breathing return to normal.
Seb closed his eyes against the dilemma and decided to enjoy what he had right now. Maybe Gray would stay for longer if he got his own place? It wasn’t safe for him any longer at his dad’s. He didn’t trust Dr. McKay further than he could throw him, and the man seemed to have totally fooled his dad into believing his obsession.
He needed to text his dad, who was on his way home. He was going to insist on getting his own place now and not wait until next August. It was about time he grew a backbone, and his dad had to realize he was capable of sound decisions. Maybe Rawlings might have some other ideas? Maybe—Seb had a wild thought—he could contact the FBI team and offer his help? He could hear stuff he wasn’t supposed to. In his mind’s eye, he pictured himself as an agent, then shuddered. If his balance ever remained good enough to hold down a job and the traveling it would require—whatever traveling he was allowed to do—the thought of ever holding a gun sickened him. He didn’t want to. He’d never been into all the secret agent stuff like most kids. He never watched the Skyfall, and he didn’t want to Die Another Day. He was more likely to sing with his Pitch Perfect.
The thought had him smiling, and he opened his eyes as Gray moved and turned on his side to face him. His sudden humor vanished, and he regarded the solemn eyes watching him.
Here it comes.
“I WANT to say something,” Seb whispered before Gray could think of the reminders he knew had to be repeated. He slid his head up Gray’s chest and stared at him in a completely innocent movement that had Gray biting his lips.
“I want to say that I know you aren’t going to stay.”
Gray’s heart lurched as if in sudden protest.
“I know the jobs you take are only temporary. That was why I selected Rawlings Security in the first place. I only wanted protection until this situation got resolved.”
Gray froze. I selected. “What do you mean you selected?”
Seb blinked. “I don’t understand what you are asking.”
Gray sat up and focused on Seb, his pulse pounding in his ears, not sure but somehow convinced the innocent throwaway comment was significant. “We were told your father chose the company because he got a recommendation from a business acquaintance.”
Seb shook his head, puzzled. “No, when I lost Arron, my dad wanted me to manage with Andrew and Innes, of all people. I can’t stand Andrew.” Seb shuddered. “I googled bodyguards. It took me a few days, and I chose your company because you only do short-term contracts, and I told my dad it was you or no one.” He glanced down and then back up. “I’m twenty-one in August. Once I’m there, I’m moving out. I have enough saved up; between the song sales and the translations, I have easily enough for a small apartment.”
Gray was bewildered. “Enough for an apartment?” He was incredulous. “Seb, you have fourteen million dollars coming to you when you get to twenty-one.”
Seb chuckled. “Nah. I handed that over to fund the cochlear implant research at the beginning. My dad needed to use separate capital, as the board wouldn’t back something that was experimental.” He shrugged. “It was the least I could do, really.”
Gray felt sick. He’d been so wrong. If Seb didn’t have any money, then why was he a target? Or were the kidnappers either incompetent or interested in something else? “Can you do that?”
Seb expelled a shuddering breath. “Have you ever researched the guardianship rules for enhanced?”
Gray felt uncomfortable. “Not beyond the basics. I’ve been more interested in your health, to be honest.”
Seb smiled and squeezed his hand. “And I love that you did that. Not just because you’ve gone the extra mile with someone who would have made it easier for you to do your job if I’d spent the whole of last week lying on my bathroom floor, but that my mark and my enhanced status has never once been an issue for you.”
Gray took a breath. The research he had done on the enhanced had scared the living fuck out of him. Not because he felt threatened, but because he was disgusted at the things that had been done to them. Anyone who locked up fucking children wanted shooting, as far as he was concerned.
“The thing was, if my dad had wanted, he could have simply used the money wi
thout telling me. Guardianship rules trump wills every time. It wouldn’t matter how tight Mom made her will. As an enhanced child under guardianship, I have no rights.”
“So you offered?”
“I saw my dad talking to Joseph about financing the new cochlear implant and the problems they were having in securing the funding.” He rubbed his eyes. “It was before my first surgery, when I was excited about the thought of being able to hear.”
Before he’d had all the surgeries he didn’t want, thought Gray. Before his life became one huge experiment. I know you won’t stay. Why was Gray suddenly wanting to contradict something that was a foregone conclusion?
Gray gazed at Seb. The long blond hair had come free of its tie and was spread over the pillow. He’d woken up with it spread all over his chest. Smooth as silk and such a contradiction to Gray’s damaged skin. He hadn’t answered Seb. He didn’t know what to say. He should go. Go far away. But—
The light knock on Seb’s door surprised him. Surely whoever was outside would know Seb wouldn’t be able to hear him? He turned back to Seb. “There’s someone at your door.” Fuck. There was someone at Seb’s door because they’d already tried his. He jumped out of bed and pulled his shorts on and strode to the bedroom door. The sardonic smile on Rawlings’s face wasn’t amusing.
“We’ve had two phone calls. Detective Carter to confirm he would be here at two, but the second one has kind of made that one moot. A Joseph Keswick has called insisting Seb is back at home this afternoon for his own protection. I did try to point out he would be far safer here, but he quoted a bunch of legalese at me, basically accusing me of kidnapping.”
Gray frowned. “What the fuck?”
“Seb is an enhanced minor according to my research. I have no legal way of keeping him here, and neither, I’m afraid, does he have the right to stay. He is to be returned to his father’s house by sixteen hundred hours this afternoon.”
Gray closed his eyes briefly. He hated being backed into a corner. “We’ll get dressed.”
Gray returned and looked at Seb, who was sitting up with a questioning look on his face. “Your dad is worried. Maybe you should text him. He says we have to take you back to your house, but I know Diesel and Pink would be happy to have you here. You’d certainly be safe.” In fact the more Gray thought about it, the more he thought it was a good idea.
“He’ll want me back there,” Seb replied.
“But you will be safer here. Surely he wants that for you?”
“It’s too far for the presurgery visits,” Seb pointed out almost thoughtfully.
“Fuck that,” Gray snapped. “You were almost kidnapped. You could have been hurt.” He picked up the phone. “This is completely ridiculous. Text your dad. Hell, ask him to come here if he’s so worried. He can meet Pink. There isn’t a person alive who could disagree with her.”
He handed the phone to Seb, and Seb looked hopeful for a second before he started rattling off texts. In a few minutes, it was obvious what the answer was. Seb flung the phone on the bed. “He’s completely freaking out. Insisting on me being there this afternoon. Won’t consider coming here.”
“Do you want me to try?”
Seb shook his head. “He says if I’m not back by four, he will have you and Diesel arrested for kidnapping.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Gray said immediately. “Neither Rawlings nor I give in to threats.”
Seb smiled. “I know, but I think it’s important I return for another reason this time. All my life I have accepted what I’ve been given. I’ve perpetuated the belief my dad has that I will accept and go along with whatever he thinks is best. I’ve never stood up for myself, not really, and I don’t think that has ever helped me being viewed as an adult or with respect.”
“An adult?” Gray was incredulous. “Fuck respect, how about love or even simple decency?”
Seb paled, and Gray knew he had gone too far, but it was too late now. “Your dad equates love with controlling you,” he said willing himself to be calm. He resisted the nearly overwhelming urge to pick Seb up and run away with him, but he had to find out what Seb wanted first. Seb had spent the last ten years having people inflict their will on him under the guise of doing it for his own good. Gray was sick of enabling other people to do it, but more importantly he couldn’t start doing it himself. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m going to have to go home.”
“No.” Gray took Seb’s hand. “What do you want to do?” It nearly killed him to say the words. “I will support whatever decision you make.”
“You’d do that?”
Three innocent words. One sentence and the disbelief behind it made Gray’s heart hurt in so many ways it should never do. That it had no business doing. “Yes,” he answered simply.
“But what if Rawlings had to—”
“Then I’ll resign.”
“You’d….” Seb shook his head. Not, Gray thought, because Seb disbelieved it or didn’t hear him, but that he was astonished someone—anyone—would back him. Seb blew a breath out and smiled shakily. “Then I’m going to see my dad.”
Gray blinked in astonishment. “But—”
Seb squeezed his hand to silence him. “And you’re coming with me.” Gray shut up. “I need to talk to him properly, as an adult.”
Gray didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all, but not respecting what Seb wanted to do would make him as guilty as Quinn Armitage.
Chapter Eighteen
RAWLINGS HAD insisted Mac and Ringo shadow Gray and Seb in another car back into Atlanta, and Gray hadn’t been opposed to the idea. He’d gotten a quick ten minutes with Danny and Rawlings while Seb was in the kitchen with Pink. He was thrilled Pink had taken to Seb so easily even if he still had no clue what that meant for them long-term. Or even if there was to be such a thing.
Danny had confirmed Seb’s money had been promised to his father in its entirety over five years ago. And the guarantee had enabled Armitage to borrow money to fund the research. Trying to delve into Armitage Senior’s finances was much more complicated, as his business interests were wide and varied. The most startling thing to come out of the research was discovering that McKay wasn’t just a consultant in the cochlear implant research; he was a fully invested partner. Gray didn’t like it. He didn’t like any of it, and he’d liked it even less when Rawlings had offered to withdraw their security.
“Why?” Gray had stared in astonishment.
“Because I have a signed short-term contract with Quinn Armitage. Meaning he is the client and not Seb. You ever need that to change, just let me know.”
“I can resign?” Gray had clipped out the question, but Rawlings had just regarded him steadily in the same way he had when Gray opened Seb’s bedroom door. Not that even being in Seb’s room meant anything. Rawlings wouldn’t have been the least surprised to find Gray asleep on his floor. The fact—Gray was sure—that the room probably stank of sex, wasn’t remarked on.
Pink had waved them off as they left, hugging them both and exacting a promise from Gray and Seb to return as soon as they could.
Seb was quiet on the drive back. I know you won’t stay. What could Gray say? His silence had confirmed it more than any declarations would. But he felt like shit. He had fucked Seb this morning with no reassurance or promise of even another time, and Seb had never asked for one. He’d been clear his expectations were zero. He drew a sharp breath in at that. Was he such a complete shit that Seb would have no expectations of him at all? And suddenly he wanted Seb to rail at him, to demand. Wanted him to hope for things. Seb deserved that.
His sister had cornered him as he left Rawlings’s office, and caught his hand. She’d looked at him in exactly the same way she had when he was a kid and his little sister thought he hung the moon every night so they had light for him to read her stories. She’d crept into his bed some nights, begging for another story when Mom had said enough, and he could never say no. He was sure his mom knew. I
t had stopped eventually as they had both gotten older, but right at that moment, she reminded him of being ten years old when he had been someone she could depend on.
He wanted that feeling back so fucking badly. He was sick of letting everyone down and knew whatever was happening with Seb was going to be the worst. He opened his mouth to ask, beg, something, anything, but a soft snore from Seb told him he’d fallen asleep. He wasn’t surprised. How Seb had found the strength to accept whatever was thrown at him astounded Gray. He had little choice in his life, and while on the surface he was far better off than a lot of people, you couldn’t measure one person’s suffering or circumstances against another’s.
They finally pulled into the driveway, and Gray nearly immediately pulled straight back out. The gleaming 5 Series BMW belonging to McKay was parked at the house, along with two other SUVs he didn’t recognize. He touched Seb’s arm, but he was already sitting up higher and opening his eyes. He frowned. “I don’t recognize the cars.”
And then the house door opened and six men in combat uniforms all spilled out.
All carrying guns.
All pointing them at the car.
“What on earth?” Seb gaped at the firepower as the men surrounded them. Gray swore and had a second to realize he couldn’t back up because the gates had shut behind them and they were effectively trapped. Ringo and Mac had pulled up to the gates, but they had firmly closed before they could pull through. Gray had the sudden surprising realization the gates had been fixed very quickly. He saw Ringo and Mac both being forced to drop their weapons by two of the men as they had hurried to the car. Quinn Armitage stepped out of the house, closely followed by Keswick. Derwent was nowhere in sight.