by Неизвестный
Cort panted heavily as Nix licked him clean then tucked him back into his jeans. He could barely lift his arms to wrap them around her when she climbed up onto the bed and cuddled up next to him. He did turn and plant a small kiss on the top of her head.
"Thank you," he whispered.
Nix patted Cort's chest. "Just remember that there are three of us in this relationship, not just you and Boone. That's all the thanks I need."
"Truthfully, Nix, I don't think I could ever forget you."
"Just remember that, and we'll be just fine."
Cort chuckled. "You know I have no idea how to be with a man, right?"
"Well, I don't imagine it's that much different than being with a woman," Nix replied. "Tab A goes into slot B. Tab B—" Nix burst out laughing when Cort growled and rolled over on top of her. "It can't be that difficult, Cort. You've had anal sex before. I know this from personal experience. Just do to Boone what you'd want done to you. How could you go wrong?"
"You really think it's that simple?" Cort wasn't so convinced.
"Well, if you're really interested, I can teach you how to give a blow job. I have some experience with them. We'll use Boone as our guinea pig. I'm sure he won't mind."
"Just one problem," Cort said.
Nix frowned. "What?"
"We have to find Boone first."
Chapter 9
Boone watched the people coming and going at the research facility and tried to pay attention. He needed to keep his mind off how badly he had fucked things up with Cort and on the job at hand, watching the research facility. He was just lucky his vision had greatly improved when he mated Nix or this would be a lot harder.
Still, he wasn't having much luck not thinking about Cort. He couldn't seem to stop seeing the man's face when he kissed him. The man looked stunned. Boone hadn't waited around to see that shock turn to disgust. He didn't think he could stomach it. He knew eventually he'd have to face Cort, but he wanted to put it off as long as he could. Boone knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
He didn't even know if Cort would ever speak to him again, let alone Nix. Boone tightened his hands around the steering wheel of his truck. He had really screwed up. He'd lost the two most important people in his life because he couldn't control himself. He was so fucked.
Boone reached up and wiped a tear out of his eyes, telling himself that it was a piece of dust, really, it was dust. He wasn't really crying. Grown men didn't cry. They also didn't fall in love with their best friends.
Looking back out the front window of the truck, Boone absently noted a large delivery van driving up to the building. He didn't pay it too much attention until the scent of wet, dead dog reached him.
Boone sat up straighter in his seat and watched the delivery van a little closer until it pulled around the side of the building and out of sight. He'd bet almost anything that the disgusting scent he smelled came from that van.
Boone pulled his cell phone out and dialed. He checked the ammo in his gun while he waited for Dane to answer. "Hey, Dane, this is Boone," he said as soon as the man answered. "I'm down here at the research facility. A delivery van just pulled in, and it smells like wet dead dog."
"Keep on an eye on it, but don't make a move without my permission," Dane snapped out. "We're on our way."
"Gotcha." Boone snapped his phone closed and shoved it back into his pocket. He climbed from his truck and shut the door, watching the building the entire time. He needed to sneak around the side of the building, but he needed to not be caught doing it.
Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, Boone made his way toward the building. Instead of walking through the parking lot as he'd done the time before with Cort, Boone snuck along the edge of the trees surrounding the facility. He needed to move along the large fence that surrounded the place, but it kept him from a direct line of sight of the building.
Reaching the side of the building, Boone crouched down behind some bushes and watched the delivery van. He didn't see anyone moving. In fact, it seemed eerily quiet. The scent of wet, dead dog still filled the air, though.
Boone had no doubt that someone was around somewhere, delivery men, guards, technicians, someone. It didn't make sense for absolutely no one to be coming or going. Boone crouched down a little more and tried to tap into those extra senses he had when he shifted that one time. Maybe they would help.
Boone heard a rip and glanced down, shocked to see long claws sticking out of his fingers, shredding the edge of his shirt. Nope, not the ability he was looking for. Boone concentrated until the claws receded, then lifted his nose to the air. He needed smell or something.
Again, he was overwhelmed by the stench of wet, dead dog, only this time, it was so strong Boone almost retched. He covered his nose with his hand and tried to breathe through his mouth. That smell was nauseating.
A sudden movement by the delivery van caught Boone's attention. He moved a little closer and watched. Three men walked out of the door on the side of the brick building and headed for the back of the van.
Boone's breath caught in his throat when the double doors opened and he spotted two unconscious people lying on the floor of the van. Two of the men reached inside and pulled a young man out of the van and carried him inside. It was clear that the man's hands were tied together and that he'd been roughed up.
Boone could barely hold back his small growl. He didn't know what the man had done, if anything, but there was no cause to treat him like this. Boone had a strong urge to take the three men down and tear some serious strips out of their hides. He knew he would need help to do it.
He waited until all three men walked inside of the building, two carrying the unconscious man, one opening the door for them, before he made his move. Dane was going to kill him, but Boone couldn't just sit by and let someone be abused if he could help it.
The moment the door closed behind the three men, Boone glanced around once, then sprinted forward to the van. Luckily, the men had left the door partially open. Dumb bunnies! Boone opened it right up and grabbed for the remaining man inside. Boone pulled the man out and tossed him over his shoulder.
Boone put the door back in its partially closed position then scrambled for the tree line. He ducked behind a large oak tree just as the door on the side of the building opened again. Even though he couldn't be seen, Boone knew the moment they discovered the young man in his arms was missing that the alarm would go out.
As quickly and as quietly as he could, Boone made his way through the trees to his truck. He felt a sense of déjà vu as he put the man in the truck. This situation was much like the one where he and Cort had rescued Nix.
That thought made Boone wonder why security around the van had been so lax. If these people were really trying to capture and experiment on Others, and they had already lost one specimen, wouldn't it have made sense to beef up security?
Boone paused as he set the young man down on the bench seat of his truck. He started searching the man's clothing, his hair, even his shoes. Some inner gut feeling told him that rescuing the man had been just a little too easy.
On the back of the man's collar, Boone found what he suspected, a small black device that looked like a bobby pin. Boone pulled it off and looked it over. He didn't recognize the make or model, but he knew what it was, a tracking device.
Boone clenched the small, thin device in the palm of his hand. He glanced around the area surrounding his truck. He needed to dispose of it, but he didn't want anyone knowing he'd disposed of it. He needed another target for the dumb bunnies to track. Although, it was starting to look like they might not be so dumb after all.
He couldn't immediately see anything that would do, but he could hear loud voices coming from the direction of the delivery van. Knowing he had just run out of time, Boone secured the young man in the passenger seat of the truck and ran around to the other side. He'd drive around in circles if he had to until he found someone to take his tracking bug.
Boone started the tr
uck and slowly backed out of the hiding place he'd parked in a few hours ago. He knew he would have an easy time escaping the facility grounds because whoever put the tracking device on the young man expected him to be rescued. They wanted to know who would rescue him and where he'd be taken.
Quickly heading back the way he came, Boone easily made it to the main road. He hoped he could put enough distance between him and whoever came after him that they wouldn't be able to tag his truck, or he'd have to ditch it. He loved this truck.
Boone dug his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Dane. The man was going to be pissed at him, but there was nothing Boone could do about that. He couldn't leave the young man to whoever kidnapped him. He just wasn't built that way.
"Dane."
Boone rolled his eyes. "This is Boone. Hey, look, I know you said not to do anything without talking to you first, but—"
"Christ almighty!" Dane snapped. "What did you do?"
Boone chuckled. "You know that delivery van?"
"Yes."
"Well, it seems it was delivering something to the research facility."
Boone heard Dane heave a heavy sigh. "What?"
"Two young men, both tied up and unconscious," Boone replied.
"What?" Dane shouted. Boone held the phone away from his ear until Dane stopped shouting. Damn, that man was loud. Once Dane quieted down, Boone held the phone back up to his ear.
"Look, I was able to get one of them but not the other one. But, there's a hitch."
"There always is," Dane said.
"He had a tracking device on him. I found it, and I'm driving around in circles right now to throw them off. I could use a little help right about now."
"Damn, boy, you do like to get my blood pressure up, don't you?"
"Just like to make sure your heart is working properly, sir." Boone chuckled. "I wouldn't want to lose you this late in the game, you being such an old man and all."
"Fuck you, Boone."
"Love you too, Dane."
"Okay, look, head down toward the waterfront near the fountain," Dane finally said. "I'm going to send Cort and Sal down to intercept you and your little tracking device. The minute they retrieve the device, I want you to hightail it back here to the lodge. I want to know who that young man is and why they have him. Understood?"
"Understood."
"And Boone, don't deviate from the plan this time. My old ticker can only handle so much strain."
"Yeah, yeah." Boone snickered. "I hear ya."
"Just do it, bonehead."
Boone rolled his eyes and hung up his phone. He glanced at the man sleeping next to him, then turned the truck and made a beeline for the waterfront. He wasn't too keen on seeing Cort at the moment, but didn't figure the guy would say anything while they were on a mission of sorts.
It didn't take Boone more than ten minutes to maneuver through the streets and reach the waterfront. It was dark outside. There weren't that many people out and about, and traffic seemed light.
He pulled up into the parking lot in front of the fountain and found a parking spot. Glancing around, he realized that he had arrived before Cort and Sal. That wasn't a bad thing. It gave him time to get his emotions under control.
Boone had no idea what he would say to Cort once they were alone. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could avoid that. Boone laughed softly to himself and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
Unless he decided to leave the group and Nix, Cort would catch him alone at some point. The man could be like a rabid dog with a bone when he wanted to. Boone felt sure that Cort would catch him alone and then most likely punch his lights out.
Boone groaned. He was in such deep shit, and he only had himself to blame, well, himself and his overactive imagination combined with his libido. Both seemed determined to get him into a shitload of trouble.
The lights from the truck pulling in next to him brought Boone out of his self-loathing pity trip. He turned to see Cort and Sal in the truck. Grimacing, Boone opened his door and climbed out.
He avoided Cort and walked around to the front of the truck. He tapped his foot as he waited for them to get out and join him. A quick look through his lashes told Boone that Cort was not a happy man. The glare he was receiving would have made a lesser man quake in his boots. Boone hoped he was made of stronger stuff.
The moment they walked up to him, Boone held out the small, black tracking device in the palm of his hand. "Kid's in the truck," he said, nodding toward the cab of his truck. "He's still out cold."
Sal took the small device and held it up to the light coming from a parking lamp. "Looks like something the CIA would put out, but I'll have to ask around to be sure."
Boone nodded. "Just be careful. I didn't realize until I already had the kid in my truck that it all seemed too easy." Boone pushed his hand through his hair as he turned to look out over the waterfront. "I should have known better. They even left the damn door to the delivery van open. I just couldn't think of anything except getting that poor kid out of there."
"Boone, get real," Sal said. "You saw someone in trouble, and you tried to help them. Stop beating yourself up over it."
"It was a setup, Sal, right from the very beginning," Boone said as he swung around to look at the man. "You know it, and I know it. Hell, even Dane knows it. I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I get back to base."
"Ah." Sal smirked as he held up the little tracking device. "But they don't know you know it's a setup. We can use that to our advantage."
Boone frowned. As good as that sounded, it still didn't get his ass out of hot water. He should have seen the trap from the very beginning. He was trained for that sort of thing, but no, he had to walk right into it with his eyes wide open. He could be such an idiot.
"So, what now?" Boone asked.
"Now, I find us someone to carry this little baby around," Sal said, indicating the tracking device. "You two take the kid back to the lodge so Dane can talk to him. We need to know whatever the kid knows and who the other guy was."
Boone nodded even though he felt like protesting. Him and Cort inside the cab of a truck? Yeah, that was going to be a blast. He'd rather have a root canal or bamboo shoots shoved under his fingernails. Either would do in a pinch.
"Fine," he said instead, "let's get this show on the road."
Boone walked back over to the cab of the truck and climbed in. A moment later, Cort opened the passenger side door. Boone helped Cort scoot the unconscious man over to the center of the bench seat and buckle him back up. Cort climbed in and buckled his seat belt. Boone started the truck.
"Are you going to say anything?" Cort asked as they got onto the road headed back to the lodge.
"Nope."
"You know we need to talk, Boone," Cort insisted.
Boone shook his head. "Nothing to talk about." No way, no how.
"Boone!" Cort snapped, clearly astonished. "You kissed me."
Boone's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. Yeah, so he kissed Cort. There was no way he could pretend that he didn't. "Yes, I did," he admitted. "But don't worry, Cort. It won't happen again." Boone could almost hear the wheels spinning in Cort's head in the silence of the cab. Once again, Boone wished that he had kept his big mouth shut.
"Why not?"
Boone almost swerved off the road at Cort's softly spoken words. He righted the truck and turned to stare at Cort in shock as his mouth dropped open. He knew there was a response to Cort's words. There had to be an answer, but damned if Boone could think of it.
"I thought it was kind of nice." Cort kind of shrugged his shoulders and dipped his head to one side. "I thought maybe we could see where that kiss leads."
"Cort—" Boone choked out. He took a careful breath through his nose and tried to rein in his sudden anger. "Don't fuck with me, Cort. I know it was a shitty thing to do, and I have no excuse, but that doesn't give you reason to fuck with me."
Boone jumped when Cort's fist hit the dashboard. "Stop the fu
cking truck," Cort snapped.
Boone stared at Cort for a moment, then pulled the truck over to the side of the road. The truck hadn't even come to a full stop before Cort jumped out and stormed around the front of the truck to the driver's side door.
Boone barely had time to unhook his seat belt before Cort opened the driver side door and yanked him out. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the punch he knew was headed his way. He wasn't going to dodge it. After what Boone had done, Cort deserved a little revenge.
Instead of the fist he was expecting, hot, plush lips crushed against his. Boone's eyes snapped open. He felt Cort's body press against his, every luscious inch. The feeling was only heightened by Cort's hard cock thrusting against Boone's groin.
The lips touching his did more than just kiss. They claimed, explored, demanded. Boone's hands clenched in Cort's shirt. He started to return the kiss he was helpless to ignore. It was every fantasy he had about Cort, only better.
"I never thought you'd taste this fucking good," Cort groaned against Boone's lips.
Boone froze. What?
"I can't wait to see if the rest of you tastes just as good."
Boone gripped Cort's shirt tighter and shoved the man away from him. He felt tears prickle the corner of his eyes as he looked into Cort's face. After all of these years of being best friends, he couldn't understand why Cort was being so cruel to him.
"It was just one kiss, Cort. I promised I'd never do it again. Why are you being like this?" he whispered desperately. The ache in his chest just seemed to grow larger and larger with each word he spoke. "Do you hate me that much?"
Cort's eyes darkened and his lips thinned into a tight line when Boone flinched away from the hand he tried to cup around his cheek. Cort let it drop to Boone's chest, his fingers fidgeting with the edge of the collar.
"I don't hate you, Boone," Cort said softly. "If anything, I—"
Boone frowned when Cort stopped speaking and swallowed hard. "If anything you what?" he asked. He felt like he was on some sort of reality television show and that any moment the director would yell, “Cut!”