Traction

by Autumn McKayne

  Declan deftly caught the keys. “How many Agents?”

  “Maybe ten, give or take.” Reese gestured down to his leg. “It’s really not that bad. I got luckier than some.”

  Gideon and Declan exchanged a look. “Casualties?”

  Reese shook his head. “Nothing fatal. Another runner got hit as soon as the Agents showed up. Upper shoulder. Her partner, the only tracker there, by the way-“ Reese glared at Gideon, “got her into their van. Sent me off quick, said he’d take her to a hospital once they dropped off their load.” He sucked in a breath as Jared prodded his wound. Reese nodded his thanks to Rae when she pressed a glass of whiskey into his hand.

  “Shit.” Gideon swung around, started digging through his desk drawers. “I knew that was a bad one.”

  “Just means they’re the fun ones.” Reese looked down at his leg, where Jared had gotten it cleaned of all the dirt and dried blood. “Gonna be good as new, right sweet-”

  Declan cut him off with a growl. “Any Agent losses?”

  Reese threw back half his shot of whiskey. “None that I’m aware of.”

  Jared looked up at Reese. “You might want to finish that,” he said, nodding to the alcohol in Reese’s hand. “This part is going to hurt.”

  Reese hissed as Jared wiped a cloth laden heavily with antiseptic over his wound. “Didn't have any damn backup,” Reese gritted out, talking to distract from the pain. “What the hell, Hatch? I thought you said a contingent of Renegades was going to meet us.”

  “I thought they were,” Gideon growled, grabbing his phone.

  “This isn't gonna work if we are shorthanded for every damn raid,” Reese called out in Gideon’s direction, cursing again as Jared patted his wound dry.

  “Sorry,” Jared said. “Almost done. You’re right, it’s just a graze. You don’t even need stitches. I’ll tape it real good, it should hold.” He pressed a clean pad of gauze over the wound on Reese’s thigh. The corner of Reese’s mouth lifted, and Jared focused much more intently than necessary on ripping a two pieces of medical tape of the roll to avoid thinking about how that mouth had felt on his.

  “You look pretty beat, for a guy who only got grazed.” Declan leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

  Reese met his challenging gaze. “Yeah, not eating for two days and then losing a couple cc’s of blood will do that to you.”

  “You look as handsome as ever, cher.” Iris had deferred to Jared on the first aid but came near them now, her violet eyes gleaming as she bent over to give Reese a kiss on the cheek. She wandered an approving eye over Reese’s leg. “And didn’t he get you fixed up right.”

  “Miss Iris, seeing you is all the balm I need for this wound.” Reese smiled that dazzling smile in her direction. Jared peeked up from underneath his bangs to study his face, wishing he could be the one to put a smile that big on Reese’s face. Reese sure hadn’t had trouble leaving Jared after that kiss the other morning. Jared felt his cheeks heat, thinking about how badly he wanted to feel Reese’s lips on his again...

  Gideon walked back into the living room, his lumbering steps interrupting Jared’s thoughts. He looked at Rae and Declan. “You two come here a minute,” Gideon said, gesturing them to his desk.

  Jared pressed his fingers over the two pieces of tape securing Reese’s bandage, making sure they stuck. Here he was feeling nervous about a kiss, while he had his hands all over Reese’s thigh. “Done. I think you'll live,” Jared said lightly, his face still hot. He busied himself with cleaning up, stuffing the towels and used wipes into a plastic bag.

  Reese shot out an arm when Jared stood to get rid of the waste. “You’ve done this before.”

  Jared shrugged, looking down at Reese’s bandage instead of into those deep, ocean eyes. “Lots of times, for Declan. And my dad. Sometimes they’d come home pretty banged up. Rae and I got real good at first aid.” He didn't mention that he’d also had to do it on himself more than once.

  “Yeah, well.” Reese wrapped calloused fingers around Jared’s wrist. “Thanks.”

  Jared swallowed, finally dragging his eyes up Reese’s body. He dropped his gaze to Reese’s mouth, and felt a coil of heat shoot through his belly when Reese turned his hand to wrap Jared’s fingers in his.

  “Jared.” Declan uttered, jaw locked tight.

  Iris shushed him and, satisfied that Reese was in good hands with Jared, wandered over to the front door.

  “So, when are your buddies coming to meet up with us?” Rae asked Iris, stopping Declan’s rant before it could start.

  “They know where I live?” Gideon asked.

  Iris opened the door just before two handsome men walked inside. “They sure do. Darlings, meet Kip and Tate Prescott.” Jared’s hand unconsciously tightened around Reese’s as they entered Gideon’s house.

  Gideon strode to the entryway and caught Tate, taller of the two, up in a rough hug. “Damn, boy, am I glad to see you.”

  “Hey there, Hatch.” Tate grinned. “Glad to see age hasn’t gotten the best of you.”

  “Met your brother years back through Iris,” Gideon said, extending an arm towards Kip. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  “Likewise.” Kip replied, shaking Gideon’s hand.

  “Son of a bitch.” Declan grinned, extending his arm towards Tate and receiving a hearty slap on the back in return. “Knew I recognized your name.”

  “Good to see you again, Declan.” Tate drawled, a hint of Cajun spice tinging his voice. “Been too long.”

  “Sure has.” Declan gestured behind him. “This is my sister Rae, and my brother Jared.” Almost as an afterthought, he included Reese. “And Reese Slater. He’s a runner that works with Gideon.”

  “It’s nice to meet y’all,” Tate said, tipping an imaginary hat. “Declan and I worked a job together what, six years ago?” He gestured to the man behind him. “This is my brother Kip. He ain't much to look at, but he can handle a gun, so we keep him around.” He winked at Rae, all easy charm and lazy confidence, and Jared felt himself relaxing slightly.

  Jared didn’t make any move to extract his hand from Reese’s though, and he barely resisted the urge to palm his wrist, to push his bracelet into his scar to feel the burn he knew would help distract from his nerves.

  Reese gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and Jared calmed once more.

  “So what makes you tag along with Iris? Couldn’t be because you missed this guy’s pretty face.” Declan nodded towards Gideon.

  Tate grinned, his rugged mountain features softening a bit with the look. “Thinking about taking a job while we’re out here, down near Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Blaine and Brandt say a raid is going down in a couple of days just outside there. Pretty big sanctuary city, Pine Bluff. We’re hoping we can stop the Agent advance, or maybe even get the rescues out ahead of time. No word yet on backup though, and Kip and I can’t go in blind.”

  “Well, we could.” Kip said, a cocky smile on his face.

  Iris smacked him upside the head. “I am not losing one of my boys, so that’s about enough out of you.”

  Rae turned a questioning look to Gideon. “Blaine and Brandt?”

  “Twins, up in New York State.” Gideon replied. “Biggest gossips you ever met, but damned if they aren’t always right.”

  Kip chuckled. “Haven’t steered us wrong yet. But Iris said she was stopping here first, to see all y’all, and we didn’t want to miss a chance to meet the famous Coopers.” He smiled amicably. “Well, me at least. Seems Tate already knows Declan.”

  “We can have time to get to know each other. I’ll go with you to Pine Bluff.” Declan offered.

  “Me too.” Rae said.

  “Declan?” Jared didn’t hear the next couple of questions Declan was asking the Prescotts, trying to find out more about Pine Bluff. All these strangers combined with the prospect of a new job had Jared’s head buzzing. He hadn’t been lying earlier when he’d said he’d felt useless and that he was itching to help the Renegades, but this
was all happening a bit fast for Jared to process.

  “You can stay here, Jare.” Declan said. “Maybe have Gideon and Iris teach you a thing or two about coordinating jobs. Wouldn’t hurt to learn from the best.”

  That cleared his head. He dropped Reese’s hand and crossed his arms. “No.”

  “Alright now.” Gideon interjected. “Let these boys come in. We can talk about who is going where over some dinner. I’ll do some digging, see if I can’t find something out that will prove you won’t be caught blindsided again.”

  "Yeah, be glad you weren't in Wyoming,” Tate told Declan. He rubbed a hand down his face. “It was a shitshow start to finish."

  Rae quirked a brow. "What do you mean?"

  "Weren't no damn rescues," Kip answered. "It was a trap. Agents caught us moving in on a non-existent camp. We held them off, but not without casualty. Lost one of our trackers."

  Declan’s mouth thinned. "Who?"

  "Dan Talbot."

  "Dammit." Gideon shook his head.

  "Yeah, it played out beautifully," Kip commented, his voice tinged with sarcasm. "Like we'd been setup."

  "Could have sworn my intel on that was good," Gideon muttered. He looked at Reese. "And you were caught short handed in Salt Lake."

  Declan grunted, and Tate raised his brows at them in question.

  "Ours was a rescue interception, but we were down half our team." Reese supplied. He frowned. "And now that I've had time to think about it, the numbers were pretty damn skewed. Almost a dozen agents, eight rescues, and three of us."

  "Wyoming didn't work like that anyway," Tate cut in. "No rescues in sight, and the Agents weren't after any one of us specifically. They were after our whole damn group. And they were damn sure more concerned with shooting than asking questions."

  Jared hugged his arms tighter to his chest. "So either the Agents aren't feeling very sure of themselves..."

  "Or they want to ensure that there no Renegade survivors after each raid." Gideon finished. He shared a look with Iris and then turned a somber look towards the room. “I sure as hell ain’t sending one more Renegade into a setup. No one goes to Pine Bluff until I verify it’s legit,” Gideon said, his hard tone brooking no argument. “Someone get some dinner on. I’m going to make some calls.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Reese stood on Gideon’s back porch, damp from the rainy mist that was falling gently in the woods around him. He pressed the phone harder against his ear, the voice on the other end coming through as a disembodied crackle. “Say that again?” Reese didn't even want to be on this call, though he’d known he’d have to take it sooner or later.

  “Are they there?”

  Reese glanced inside, where he could see the three Cooper siblings gathered around Gideon's kitchen table. Rae and Declan sat catty-corner to each other, their heads thrown back in laughter. Jared stood between them, and though it was hard to tell through the glass door, he didn't seem to be smiling along with the other two. Reese watched from Gideon’s deck as Jared bent down to see something Rae was pointing at, his long chestnut bangs falling down over his pretty eyes. “They’re here.”

  “Are the other two as good as Declan?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Reese started to pace the length of Gideon’s patio, his eyes still on Jared who had backed away from the kitchen table and pressed himself against the far wall of the kitchen, his fingers playing over his sleeve with that strip of leather he wore on one wrist. “Trained by Johnathan Cooper, I’d bet on it, though.”

  “Weren’t you on our job in Salt Lake?”

  Reese forced himself to tune into the phone call. “Yeah, but they weren’t with me. I got here later than planned and headed right out the next morning. I just got back today.” His thigh still burned, but once he’d snuck a snack and a nap, the dizziness had gone away. “Iris Chambeaux is in town, with the Prescott brothers. Tate said something about a job down in Arkansas, and the Coopers are wanting to tag along.” Reese would go to keep an eye on them if he had to, but he had been hoping to rest his leg a day or two. It wasn’t that bad, and he’d had worse. But damn, he was exhausted.

  “Where in Arkansas?”

  “Uh,” Reese tore his gaze away from Jared. “Some small town. Near Pine Bluff, I think.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Scrap it.”

  Reese stopped short. “What?”

  “Scrap it. Stop it. Don’t let them go.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “We’re planning something big, in a few days. Near Jefferson City. Make sure the Coopers are down there.”

  “When?”

  “Soon enough that I don’t want them stuck in bumfuck Arkansas in the meantime.”

  Reese’s breath caught in his chest when he saw Jared staring at him through the kitchen door.

  “Slater? Do I need to send someone else up there?”

  Reese swung away from the house at the sound of the kitchen door sliding open. “No,” he said, his hand tightening on the phone. “I can handle it.”

  “Make sure they’re in Jefferson with you, Reese. If you can’t do that-“

  Reese walked further from the doorway, where he could feel Jared’s eyes on his back. “I said I’m handling it,” he bit out.

  “I’ll let you know when I know more.” The connection ended at the same time Jared closed the door behind him.

  Reese shoved his phone back into his jeans pocket. He braced his arms on the railing that encircled the deck, the moisture left by the falling rain quickly seeping through his sleeves.

  Jared came to rest next to him on the wooden rail. A moment passed, with only the sound of raindrops bouncing off of leaves echoing through Gideon’s tree lined backyard. “What are you handling?”

  Reese drew in a deep breath, and on the exhale masked his frustration under a wry smirk. “Haven’t we already talked about eavesdropping?”

  Jared’s shoulder lifted. “Can’t help it. It’s my timing, I guess.”

  While Jared was still looking out towards the lake that rested past the trees, Reese’s eyes dropped to the thick leather cuff on Jared’s wrist. Reese had seen the inked imprint on hundreds of rescues that he had picked up over the years, but he had never met anyone who had worn anything to cover it up. He knew that jewelry and body adornments had been quite common in America before The Ravaging, but now it was practically unheard of. People usually wanted to show off their pure, untainted skin as immediate proof of not being a ditchbreed.

  Jared lifted his hands from the railing, and in an instant he was shrugging down the sleeve of his sweater to cover his wrist. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, fixing Reese with a glare that seemed much too harsh on his pretty face.

  Reese silently admonished himself for getting caught staring. “The rain is really starting to come down. You should go back inside,” he said, the words coming out more dismissive than he had intended. The rain hadn’t actually picked up, but the veiled order was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Reese leaned back against the porch rail and shoved his hands in his pockets to resist the urge to wipe away the annoyance on Jared’s face.

  Jared’s eyes flashed. “You want to know something?”

  Even as he shouted at himself to keep his distance, Reese was drawn to Jared, pulled by an innate need to protect this rescue from anything and everything.

  Including himself.

  The notion confused the hell out of him, yet it only got stronger every time they met. “What’s that?” Jared wasn't acting so shy now, in fact he looked pissed.

  Jared hugged his elbows, but didn't look away. “I’m getting really tired of people thinking they know what’s best for me.”

  A thrill shot through Reese at seeing the first display of boldness from Jared since they met. There was nothing for Jared to hide behind out here, and nothing between them but the rain. “Is that right?” Reese stepped closer, their bodies just inches apart. Jared was shorter than Reese only by a cou
ple of inches, just enough that Reese would have to tilt his head down to kiss him again.

  “Yeah.” Jared tipped his chin up. “I’m sick of being told what to do.”

  Reese placed his hands on the railing, on either side of Jared. “Maybe people are just trying to look out for you.” His palms itched to grab onto Jared’s slim hips, to tug him up against Reese’s body and show Jared every dirty thought that was running through his mind. If Jared had any idea what Reese was thinking, he’d know better than to trap himself in such a tenuous situation.