Well, uprooting his entire life and moving clear across the country would certainly be that.
All of his thoughts scattered when Matt stopped kissing him long enough to throw off his T-shirt. As the garment fluttered to the floor, Matt wrapped both arms around Gabe’s shoulders and drew him in close, giving him exactly what he wanted. They both groaned as their chests pressed together, Gabe dropping light kisses across Matt’s shoulder, his lips almost reverent on the smooth, warm skin.
So much for quick. He wanted nothing more than to lay Matt down on the bed and spend hours exploring his body, bring them both to a slow sensual climax, then doze in a tangle of sated limbs and pretend like the rest of the world didn’t exist for a while.
“Damn, you feel good,” Matt murmured, rocking against him in a way that had Gabe’s heart rate ramping up.
“Yeah,” he replied, not even caring how unsteady his voice sounded. “You on top of me might be my new favorite thing.”
Matt leaned back to look down at him, wicked smile edging over his lips. “Want to know what would feel even better?”
Oh, he had an idea, but no words. Instead he nodded eagerly, breath stuttering as Matt’s hand dropped down to where Gabe’s pants were gaping open. Their gazes held and clung, Gabe forgetting how to breathe as Matt slid a hand down into his underwear, gripping him firmly and freeing his erection from its confines.
Matt didn’t stroke him, however. Instead, he left Gabe’s cock jutting insistently between them and went to work on his own jeans, flicking the button free and then drawing the zip down in the weighted silence. Gabe hardly waited for him to finish before returning the favor, reaching into the soft cotton of Matt’s sexy boxer-briefs to draw him out.
Gabe thrust up a little, dragging their cocks together, watching the utter rapture that melted Matt’s expression from intense concentration to sheer bliss. Too many ideas and desperate desires exploded through his mind all at once; he wanted to fist both of them together and jerk them to a quick and dirty orgasm. Wanted to rut against him until they came all over each other. Definitely wanted to fuck him until Matt’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he was incoherent with pleasure.
Instead, his phone rang in his pocket, leaving them both cursing.
Gabe lifted his hips to get his phone out, leaving Matt swearing again, this time for a different reason as their erections slid together but not with enough pressure to be truly satisfying. In what had to be Matt’s idea of revenge, he leaned in and lightly clamped his teeth into the junction of Gabe’s neck and shoulder, making him shudder, and this time he was the one using every colorful word he could think of as he glanced at the screen.
Dammit, Yas. She must have arrived. He didn’t answer the call but dropped the phone to the bed beside him.
“I have to go.” He hated saying every word, and his reluctance was obvious in his tone.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Matt tightened his knees against Gabe’s thighs as if he was physically going to stop him from getting up.
Gabe opened his mouth to protest, but all that came out was a wanton moan as Matt wrapped a hand around Gabe’s erection and started in with quick, firm strokes.
Really, he didn’t have time for this. Not with Yas waiting. But his body was definitely not in agreement with his mind as he arched into Matt’s fist, pleasure blooming at the base of his spine and radiating out through the rest of his body.
He reached up with one hand and dragged Matt in for a messy but oh-so-sexy kiss as his other hand found Matt’s cock and quickly fell into the rhythm Matt had set. He dragged his thumb over the smooth head, finding it damp and weeping, amping Gabe’s own pleasure way up at the knowledge Matt was so turned on right now.
A thumping sounded somewhere nearby, and it took Gabe a long minute to realize it was on the motel room next door. His motel room. Shit. Had Yas come here looking for him? Sure enough, his phone started ringing again.
He let Matt go, earning a frustrated groan that sounded pissed but also ridiculously adorable. This time he answered the call, gritting his teeth since Matt hadn’t stopped stroking him.
“Yas. Hi.” He clamped a hand around Matt’s wrist to still his motions, but Matt simply took up kissing his neck and squeezed the base of his cock—not enough to hurt, but enough to send his hips kicking upward and almost made him come right then.
“Hey, where are you?” Yas greeted. “They said you left the hospital over an hour ago.”
“Ah, yeah.” He cleared his throat since his voice was a little hoarse. “I went to grab some lunch at the diner.”
“I just came from getting possibly the world’s worst coffee at the diner and you weren’t there either. Obviously.”
Oh great, now she sounded suspicious.
“I got caught up with something.” The way Matt was kissing his neck, Gabe couldn’t get his mind to invent any better excuse. “How about you head back to the diner and I’ll catch up with you in a bit?”
Matt did the squeeze thing again and he desperately bit his lip, even closer to coming that time. A low, quiet laugh against his neck told him Matt knew exactly what he was doing.
“Okay,” Yas said slowly, except he was so far gone he couldn’t work out whatever tone she was using. “But—”
“Gotta go, see you in a few.” He ended the call and dropped his cell from limp fingers as Matt squeezed again, this time with a little upward pull since Gabe’s grip on his wrist had gone lax.
His body burned, strained, so close he was trapped between torture and ecstasy. “Oh God, you’re going to pay for that.”
Gabe got his hand between their bodies and took Matt in his fist again, palm easily sliding against the liquid weeping from the tip.
“Do your worst,” Matt murmured in a wicked voice, doing some kind of squeeze-pull-twist combo that violently shoved Gabe into oblivion. He pumped up into Matt’s tight grip, and even as white-hot sensation overtook every faculty he possessed, he felt Matt’s cock pulsing against his hand, felt the warm wetness blooming over his fingers as Matt came, whole body shuddering against him.
“Oh shit,” he breathed out as he drifted down from the high and Matt slumped against him. He didn’t think he’d ever gotten off so hard over a mutual hand job.
“God, I needed that,” Matt mumbled against his shoulder.
The sated relief behind those words made something in Gabe’s chest warm and tighten. Yet again, the idea of spending the day naked in bed together teased him, so he forced himself to move, boosting Matt off his lap and letting him fall gently to the bed beside him.
“I’m staying right here for the rest of the day,” Matt said, stretching his arms above his head and making his lean muscles stand out tautly across his chest. He would have made the perfect picture, except for the rapidly darkening welt on his cheek marring his fair skin. Gabe’s temper reignited. Later, he wasn’t going to let Matt distract him with sex. He was going to get to the bottom of what’d happened. Maybe by then Matt would be more willing to talk.
And then he’d work out whether he needed to find this cousin of his and use every ounce of the FBI weight behind his job title to put the fear of God into the asshole.
“Want me to bring you some dinner later?”
Matt caught his gaze, a spark of gratitude and happiness in his features. “Would you mind? I’m not one for going out a lot. We could watch a movie, if you want.”
“Takeout dinner and a movie with you all alone in a motel room? I couldn’t think of anything better.”
It wasn’t just some throwaway line. It was the truth. He really couldn’t think of anything more appealing than a quiet night in with Matt, food, and a movie. He wasn’t sure if Betty’s diner or Monroe’s bar did takeout, but he did remember seeing pizza on the bar menu, so he’d check and figure something out later. “And now I really do have to go.”
He leaned down to kiss Matt quick and almost chaste on the mouth, not allowing himself anything more or he wouldn’t end up leav
ing this room for hours—where Matt was concerned, his self-control was that weak. As he got to his feet, he glanced down ruefully at the stickiness across his chest and abdomen, but luckily his clothes had somehow managed to stay clean. He used the towel he’d put the ice in earlier to wipe himself down, shivering at the freezing damp material when he dragged it across his still-heated skin. It effectively tamped down the last of his desire, though.
“No more getting yourself into trouble this afternoon,” he playfully warned Matt as he refastened his shirt and did a passable job with his tie—nowhere near as neat as he’d been this morning.
“I definitely don’t plan to,” Matt replied in a too-serious tone, shadows creeping into his gaze.
Dammit, he should have kept his mouth shut. He’d wanted to leave Matt satisfied and blissed-out, not brooding over his cousin. Gabe crossed back over to the bed to loom over him.
“After that dinner and movie thing later, I’m going to strip you out of your clothes and torture you until you’re begging me to let you get off.”
Never mind teasing Matt, the images those words provoked got his own pulse racing.
“We’ll see who ends up begging,” Matt replied in a too-knowing voice that almost did him in. God, but Matt’s almost dominant traits in bed that ran in direct contrast to his near-reticent personality in public turned him on so much, it was ridiculous.
Matt smiled serenely and stretched again, the gleam in his eye telling Gabe loud and clear he was taunting him with every inch of exposed, gorgeous naked skin. At least the shadows had left his blue eyes, but now Gabe had a low-throbbing tension echoing through his entire body he just knew wasn’t going to let up the entire afternoon.
“See you later,” Matt said pointedly with an irreverent grin.
“You’re a bastard,” he muttered as he retreated from the bed.
Matt only grinned at him. “I know I’ve won when you resort to name-calling like a twelve-year-old.”
He resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Matt, just like the twelve-year-old he’d been accused of being, and instead beat a hasty retreat to the door. “I’ll call you when I’m finished later and we can work out what to eat.”
Matt told him goodbye as he rolled off the bed and headed for the bathroom—still with the door off its hinges since Gabe hadn’t tried to put it back and they hadn’t told the motel owners yet.
As he stepped out into the mild, middle-of-the-day heat, he didn’t bother trying to keep the satisfied grin off his face. Yeah, he was hungry and didn’t have time for lunch now, but that little interlude had been so worth it.
Right up until a door opened a few rooms down and Yas stepped out.
Aw, hell. Was it really too much to hope she’d actually done what he’d suggested and gone back to the diner? She spotted him straight away, exasperation settling over her features as she approached him.
“Got caught up with something in your room, huh?” Her gaze skipped over his shoulder to focus on the dull silver number, leaving her frowning as she obviously realized it wasn’t his room number.
“Actually—”
The door behind him opened and whatever almost-plausible excuse he was going to toss at Yas died on his lips.
“Gabe, you forgot your—” Matt broke off, and Gabe glanced over his shoulder to see him standing there with no shirt and dark hair all rumpled like he’d just rolled out of bed. Which of course he had.
“Um, here’s your phone.” Matt quickly handed it over and then crossed his arms, backing up a step. “Sorry, didn’t meant to interrupt. I’ll see you later.”
Before he could say anything, the door shut soundly between them, leaving him alone with the heavy weight of Yas’s judgmental silence.
“Don’t tell me you brought your boyfriend on a business trip and tried to hide it from the bureau by putting him up in a separate room.” Yas’s tone sounded like he’d reached the heights of stupidity. “And since when were you seeing anyone? And why didn’t you tell me?”
“One, he’s not my boyfriend.” His heart did that stupid tripping-over-itself thing that made him want to claim the exact opposite. “Two, he put himself up in his own room because he’s in town for his own reasons. Three, I’m not really seeing anyone and definitely would have told you if I was.”
She crossed her arms, seeming somewhat unconvinced. “So this is some kind of business trip fling? You found the only other single gay man in this town and decided to screw him?”
A small spark of irrational anger ignited at the way she’d trivialized whatever he and Matt had going on, even though it was basically an accurate description.
“It’s not like that,” he shot back without thought and then wanted to grimace at the utter feebleness of that empty retort. “Anyway, does it really matter what I do during my private out-of-business hours?”
Yas made a point of looking at her watch. “I suppose we can count lunch break sex as out of hours.”
“Yas,” he groaned, starting to wish he hadn’t called her out here to help him after all. She was going to ride him about this for the rest of the week. And not in a fun way.
“Okay, okay,” she conceded, holding up her hands in surrender. “I won’t say anything else about the cute guy you’ve got stashed in the motel room next to yours.”
He hadn’t stashed Matt anywhere, but he definitely liked the thought.
“Come on. We’ve got a case to put together.” He turned around, intending to head straight for his car, only to realize he’d come back to the motel with Matt earlier and left his bureau sedan parked outside the diner. He glanced at Yas, trying not to look as sheepish as he felt. “Don’t suppose I could get a lift?”
GABE WATCHED Yas rearranging reports and evidence across the table in the conference room of the sheriff’s department. Apparently satisfied, she stepped back and crossed her arms.
“I think you’re right. The crimes are definitely escalating.”
“To what end?” He cast an analytical glance over the spread of papers and items. “And have we reached critical mass with the beating, or do you think whoever is responsible might take it all the way and eventually murder a victim?”
“I’m not a profiler, so I can’t say for sure.” Yas kept her attention on the items as she spoke. “As for the means to an end, I don’t think a group is behind this like the sheriff assumed. I think we’re dealing with one person trying to make a point or create an impression for any number of reasons.”
“A member of the ALP?”
She gave a decisive nod. “Most likely. But we can’t entirely rule out a third party.”
Great, that narrowed down their suspect list to only a few hundred people.
One of the clear evidence sleeves held a pamphlet that caught his eye. He reached over and picked it up, spending a long moment trying to work out why it looked familiar until his brain finally sifted out the answer. The layout and fonts were startlingly similar to the religious pamphlet Matt had found under his wipers this morning. However, instead of homophobic bullshit, this edition featured religion-based racism. Coincidence? Now he was wishing he hadn’t been so quick to rip up the pamphlet he’d found in Matt’s rental and tossed out in the motel’s main office when he’d gone to get the ice.
“Got something?” Yas asked as she shifted closer to look at what he was holding.
“I don’t know. Maybe not. Where do you think this came from? The church?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Only one way to find out.”
Matt folded the plastic evidence sleeve in half and tucked it into his jacket pocket as he followed Yas out to her car by unspoken agreement. Yas had always had this weird thing about driving. Not that he minded. She was a demon behind the wheel, and he got the feeling if they ever found themselves on a racetrack for some weird reason, he would have eaten her dust.
They made small talk about the town and Gabe’s initial report as they drove the short distance to the middle of Everness where the church an
d community hall took up one side of the street opposite the town square. The double doors of the hall stood open, the raucous sounds of young children and simple melodies of preschool music drifting out, a sign stuck to the door announcing Everness Preschool Playgroup was in session.
He and Yas bypassed the hall and went into the church, looking for the minister. Luckily they didn’t have far to go before they found him, but had to cool their heels for a few minutes as the minister stood to the side of the church speaking with a middle-aged couple. After he bid them goodbye, he came straight over with a friendly smile on his face.
“Good afternoon, I’m Reverend Peter McKinny.” The reverend stopped in front of them and vigorously shook both their hands. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties with the relaxed, composed manner of most priests Gabe had encountered in his lifetime.
“You must be new in town,” McKinny continued, now appearing eager. “What can I do to help you?”
Yas dipped a hand into her pocket and flipped out her badge briefly. “Special Agent Yasmin Quinn, FBI. This is Gabe Lopez. We’re working a case in town and hoped you could give us some information.”
The smile dropped from the reverend’s face to be replaced by concern. “Nothing serious, I hope. This town has seen more than its fair share of trouble in the past few years.”
“And the FBI would like to ensure that any trouble is minimized in the future,” Gabe picked up before Yas could reply. He reached into his pocket and took out the evidence bag. “Can you tell me where this might have come from?”
McKinny took it and frowned as soon as he saw what it was. “Admittedly, it looks very similar to pamphlets I design and print myself, if not a little more crudely done.”
The reverend led them into the back office where several small boxes were stacked with pamphlets, these ones more toned down in content and covering positive subjects like support for people with mental illness, advice for families in crisis, and even one extolling the virtues of accepting people from all walks of life no matter their race or religion.
“So someone is making copycat pamphlets of the ones you put out?” Yas had picked up a glossy folded sheet featuring help for addiction.
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