by RJ Scott
Manny settled back in his seat. He hadn't realized he was sitting upright and forward in expectation of the next thing that Josh was telling them.
"Josh did good," Nik said softly.
"Yeah."
"You did good."
"Thanks." Manny left it at that. He didn't want to talk about it. Couldn't for the life of him imagine dissecting everything that had happened. He wanted Josh on a bed, under him, on top of him, who cared, as long as they were kissing while the taste of adrenaline caught in his throat. He was flying. Everything that had happened today had been as smooth as silk.
Stunning.
CHAPTER 13
Josh waited at the door. He wasn't going to pretend he wasn't waiting. Morgan had laughed with him at the fact but Josh didn't care. Damn fool going up into a building on his own, then letting his firearm be taken from him like that, and then going all Mafioso and talking guns. He was in so much shit. The tracker showed them parking five minutes ago. How long did it take to get up to this floor?
What were they doing? Using the freaking stairs?
When the door opened and Manny walked in as casual as you like Josh went past being pissed and straight on to caveman. Grabbing at the guy's expensive suit jacket he began to pull him away from the door.
"I need to send a report back to Sanctuary—"
"Already done."
"And the comments about the body—"
"Look." Josh stopped dead. They hadn't actually made it far from the door at all. Manny looked half bemused and half laughing. "I made a full report to Sanctuary. The senator is back at his place. Alastair is back at his. Nothing is being recorded as the place we bugged is now empty. I haven't had a hit on the necklace yet nor on the face of the girl. Forensics is stepping up the search now we know for sure that there is a body. I'm running profiles on the wife to see if there is a way in through her. Does that cover it all?"
Manny said nothing. He just nodded.
That was enough for Josh to keep with the whole dragging thing and with no more words said the two men were in Josh's room. The bed was still unmade from when Manny and he had left this morning. The sight of it was a reminder of how much danger Manny had put himself in today. Suddenly shaky on his legs and with all the adrenaline of anger gone from him Josh sat on the edge of the bed. Resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hand he whimpered. It was kind of pathetic, really, just how scared he had been when they had made Manny give up his gun. Symbolically, to separate Manny from that weapon was like taking a sword from a knight.
He groaned again. Now he was getting damned poetic.
"What, Josh?" Manny's voice was soft. He removed his jacket, loosened his tie and then pulled it over his head.
Josh only knew this because he was peeking through his fingers, like a child watching gifts being wrapped. Only this time the gift was being unwrapped. In steady stages Manny removed his shirt, belt, shoes, and pants, until he was just in those crazy-tight-sexy black shorts. He was hard. Jeez, up until thirty seconds ago Josh had been hard enough to do whatever someone could do with a really hard dick. Drill holes in steel or something equally meaningful. With a single slide of fingers Manny pushed the underwear down over his hips, pulling them forward a little so his dick appeared an inch at a time. Dark and thick and so hard it was enough of a sight for Josh to lick his lips in anticipation.
"Why did you do that?" Josh asked. "Why did you give up your gun and walk into that room?"
Manny climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged.
Josh peeked again. That was one nice view, all tattoo and warm, toned skin and God that dick. He raised his head and dropped his hands.
"I needed to do it. We are breaking the case, right?"
"I've never been so scared in my whole freaking life," Josh said softly. He held out a hand in front of him aware of an almost imperceptible tremor. He was shaking.
"It's hell being that end of an op," Manny said supportively. "You can hear everything but you can't actually physically help."
"I wanted to. I wanted you to stop."
"I know you did. I wanted to stop. I was literally shaking inside. I'm not cut out for the front lines."
"So why did you do it?"
"Because," Manny started and then paused as if considering the question. "I have an insanely heroic Captain Kirk complex." He grinned and Josh couldn't help the snort of laughter. Referencing Star Trek in this charged moment was Manny to the core. "Now are you going to get undressed?" Gone was the joking and here was Manny Sullivan. Incredibly hot, pint-sized IT geek who had lust in his eyes and a really pretty dick.
Josh didn't need asking twice and he was naked quicker than Manny could disappear into the bathroom and come out brandishing some kind of medical kit.
"There's one in every room," Manny said as he placed it carefully on its side and opened the latch on it.
Inside were a jumble of bandages, Band-Aids, and a carton of condoms. Oh, and a jar of something Josh had used as lube before. The contents were like an Aladdin's cave.
Suddenly Josh was shy. He'd only really had two significant lovers in his life. The first was a guy at college; that had lasted until the end of the sophomore year. The second was the connected-to-evil-bad-guys ex.
This was really happening. He was going to have proper grown-up sex with a man who was freaking gorgeous. Who topped? He didn't really have a lot of experience. How was he going to make it good for Manny?
Couldn't they just rub off on each other? He didn't realize how much he had tensed until Manny was pushing him
back on the bed. His touch was insistent and he was shaking his head.
"Relax, Josh. We're having fun here, right?"
"Fun. Uh-huh," Josh managed.
Manny chuckled. The bastard. Then he was kissing and deepening the kisses. Just kissing was good and after a few minutes Josh was lifting his hands and burying them in Manny's short, spiky hair, finally cradling his face and tilting his head. What this guy could do with lips and tongue should be illegal.
"See," Manny said as they separated to breathe, "fun."
"More kissing—" Josh started but his words were swallowed as they did just exactly that.
The kissing was accompanied by Manny's confident touch as he explored Josh and as they kissed and laughed and exchanged sighs Manny was mapping Josh's body from throat to navel. Arching up into the kiss Josh wanted Manny to go that extra inch and when Manny appeared to agree Josh nearly shot off the bed. Manny kissed a trail that followed where his hands had been. He took his time on Josh's nipples, worrying them with kisses and soft nips.
Josh wondered if he could possibly come just from touch there alone. Manny didn't stop and as much as Josh wanted to join in he was actually boneless as Manny's mouth moved lower and lower. He kissed around Josh's navel and his hands were firm on Josh's thighs, holding him still. Josh couldn't help the whimper that left him at the hold.
"Touch me," he demanded.
But Manny wasn't listening. He had his own agenda. He kissed around and beneath and behind and by this time Josh was an incoherent mess of pleading until finally he felt Manny take just the tip of him into his warm mouth. The pressure was just right and everything Josh had been hoping for. Desperately he tried to push up but Manny really had a strong grip, now on his hips; Josh was going nowhere. But he could spread his legs wider and offer himself up. Blindly he reached for the lube and his hand curled around the familiarly shaped jar.
"Manny… please…" Jeez. He wasn't sure what he was asking for. He wanted more of Manny sucking him, and fuck, when Manny released a hand and began to trace patterns on his dick as a counterpoint to the sucking, then close to his balls, behind them, fuck.
"Use…" Josh said helplessly. He wanted those fingers inside him. Stretching him, ready for Manny's dick to just get on with it. If Manny didn't hurry he was going to come here and now. He heard the jar open and then felt the cool slick against his taint, then farther back. Manny was drawing an i
nfuriating path around him and all he wanted was fingers. Finally only when he was swearing at Manny to get in him did Manny actually press inside. One finger, two, it didn't matter, it burned and he pushed down to help them. The burn was good. A third maybe, a soft, slow exploration of the outside and inside of him and he was flying. So damn close that he'd scream if Manny didn't just shove inside him. Scrambling back and away from Manny was awkward with the guy's fingers in his ass but Manny seemed to get with the plan as Josh turned onto all fours and presented his ass.
"Now," he said brokenly. He wasn't embarrassed about begging. He wanted Manny there and he wanted to forget everything. The touch of even more cool lube and the sound of Manny wiping his hands and sheathing his dick was enough to have him reaching for his own dick.
Balanced on one hand, he nearly lost that steadiness when Manny began to push inside. Manny caught him, held him, praising him with gentle words and declarations of how fucking good this was.
Josh didn't need to be told that. The pain and burn pushed aside he saw stars when Manny's dick rubbed over his prostate. Jeez. He'd read the books but neither of his previous lovers had ever…
"Beautiful," Manny was saying, over and over.
Josh didn't feel beautiful, he felt hot and dirty and sexy and strong. Pushing back in rhythm with Manny and with his hand stripping the length of himself and then tightening at the base he was edging. And then Manny's pace changed. Harder and then broken in rhythm, he was close to coming. Josh could tell. He released his hold on the base of his dick for the last time and bowed his head as Manny faltered and then pushed deep, coming hard into him. A few more strokes and Manny's whispered, "Oh my God, fuck", was enough to push him over the edge. He teetered for a second, that delicious moment when every anticipation of what is going to happen floods your body, and then he was coming over the bed clothes and over his hand.
"Wait," Manny instructed breathlessly. Resting his forehead on the bed Josh did as he was told. Finally when Manny pulled out, Josh collapsed bonelessly to the quilt, making sure he avoided the wet spot.
Manny bustled around behind him, bringing in a towel and wiping him and the quilt. He shrugged when he realized the quilt was a goner. Instead Manny lifted his half and then tugged on where Josh was laying.
"Get your sweet ass in this bed," he said.
Josh managed to get under the quilt, and Manny spooned him from behind. The scent of Manny surrounded him and he was warm and sated. There was one thing he had to say. An important thing. Manny would like this.
"I knew you would be okay today, really," he said with a smile Manny couldn't see. "I knew you weren't going to die or anything."
"How did you know that?"
"You were wearing a cream shirt. Only the ones wearing red shirts die," Josh deadpanned.
"Someone is showing their love of Star Trek here,"
Manny laughed and settled closer. There was nothing between them, they were pressed so close.
"Wait," Josh said, "someone will wake us right? If we're needed?"
"Yeah. Sleep."
Sleep is good.
Sean Hanson knew procedure. As an FBI agent he'd had procedure drilled into him and as an FBI Sanctuary liaison he knew exactly how the two arms of witness protection worked. He was an expert at freaking procedure.
Knowing how things knitted together to form process had saved his life on more than one occasion. The guards would relax the farther away from the Bureau that they went, and he knew where he was being taken. That gave him close to thirty minutes to think about procedure and focus on the right moment to make his move.
Casually, he glanced at the watch on the nearest guard's arm. Nearing midnight now, the moon was nothing more than a sliver of pale cream against the inky sky and as the distance grew between the light pollution of the city and the direction of their travelling the darkness increased.
"Do you have the time?" he asked politely of the same guard. In answer to the question all the guy did was stare at Sean pointedly. Robertson, according to his badge.
His expression was stony. He wouldn't say anything. Rule one of transporting prisoners between Bureau HQ and a Bureau safe house was not to engage with them in any way.
On top of that, if there was a ranking of bad guys then good cops gone bad were probably bottom of the pile. Okay, so he was a Fed not a cop, ex-Fed, he corrected himself, but the principle was the same. The watch meant something.
Every watch contained a tracker, hell, it had been him who had introduced the idea on all prisoner transports. He and Jake had talked the idea to death over red wine and steaks.
Familiar pain clutched at his chest and caused emotion to grip his throat. He shouldn't even be thinking about Jake.
Hell, he was one of the good guys. Sean was way past being one of those.
The van swayed and he slid a small way into the
other guard who sat next to him. This guy didn't have a watch that Sean could see. This was clearly the one tasked with assisting Sean's escape. He'd prefer it if there was no bloodshed involved so he considered the situation carefully.
His hands were cuffed in his lap. That gave him way more room for maneuvers than if they had been chained behind him. When the van lurched a little more the guard with the gun cursed the parentage of the driver.
When it happened it was quick. The van lurched again, only this time it stopped with a sudden braking movement and Robertson-with-a-watch scrambled to stand.
He raised his gun but the other guard knocked it from his hand. Quickly Sean was there, grabbing at the rolling weapon and at the watch on the guard's arm. A quick punch to Robertson's face rendered the guy unconscious, inevitably saving his life. Cursing broadly at the pain in his knuckles Sean shook his hand and then jumped down and out of his mobile prison. The driver of the van was already backing away into the thick wooded areas by the van.
Pretend-guard raised his gun.
"Leave him, you fucking idiot. Do you want the whole world to hear this?"
"I think—"
"You're not paid to think." Harsh, but true. There was another car. Another driver and in seconds Sean was away from the scene.
Carefully, he pocketed the watch and then slid the weapon into the front of his FBI issue scrubs. That was one thing he wasn't going to miss when he made it away from here.
"Clean extraction," the guard who assisted him said quickly. He was talking into a cell phone and pulled the cap from his head. Sean recalled the guy's name was something like Al, or similar. Settling back into the backseat of the car he smiled inwardly. He knew the Bullens would come through and get him out. He knew too much and was far too valuable to be left rotting inside the FBI. They may have only bought his help with information but Alastair Bullen wasn't stupid. A Fed who knew procedure and had useful material was priceless.
Everyone, it seemed, had bought into Sean Hanson.
As a thief. As a source of invaluable information. As a traitor. Digging into his pocket he rubbed a thumb over the edge of the watch, finding the small button that ordinarily changed the time. Depressing the button he felt relief washing over him. He just hoped the only person who maybe still had any faith in what was left in the shell of him got the message The tracker was engaged.
When Josh woke it was to someone banging on the door. Over and over.
"Wah?" he said. It was the most he could pull together. He ached in places he didn't even know existed.
The door opened. Clearly, Nik had decided the banging was enough warning.
"What's wrong?" Manny asked immediately. He was upright in the bed and he looked more alert than he was allowed to be.
"Sean's transport was compromised. He's twisting in the wind."
CHAPTER 14
Josh knew that Manny was still of the opinion that this Sean was one of the good guys. It must be a shock to have the guy liberated from FBI control and so squarely placing him actually as the bad guy. Josh watched his lover pacing and exchanged a look of worry with Morga
n. Both Nik and Manny were taking this very hard.
"Fuck," Manny said emphatically.
Josh stood to get in the way of the pacing. "Does that affect your cover?"
"You mean, if we go out undercover again will Sean take one look at Nik and I, and call Sanctuary on our asses? Yes. We are dead in the water. Blown."
Josh wanted to commiserate but the selfish part of him was so damn pleased Vincenzio wouldn't be coming out to play again. "Then you can't do any more."
"Yes, I can," Manny snapped angrily.
"How?"
"If they call another meeting I could go in armed if need be," Manny said simply. "Make sure Nik is there as my backup. Maybe get Dale in, or Adam."
"That is nothing if whoever you are meeting knows you are playing them. You won't get anything except dead.
It's a pointless exercise." Josh couldn't stop the anxiety in his voice. "What if you get hurt, or shit, killed; we only just met."
"Don't get sex confused for anything more," Manny snapped. He immediately winced as he realized what he'd said and held up a hand in apology. "Shit that didn't come out right."
Josh took a step back. "It's okay," he said.
"Look I'm sorry, okay, I don't mean to sound harsh," Manny added with emphasis.
"I didn't mean that… or anything by that," Josh said. He felt as if there was a knife in his chest. Manny had immediately apologized but he reminded himself that Manny hadn't professed words of undying love. Why would he? One fuck and a blowjob, however hot, does not a relationship make. In fact Manny had just been a very hot fuck and that was the way to look at it. "I just meant. There are other ways—you don't need to put yourself in danger anymore now—"
"Leave it." Manny's voice was dead and Josh simply sat down on the edge of the sofa and watched as Manny stalked out of the living room and into the office area. He didn't move a muscle until Morgan sat on the sofa opposite and pushed a coffee toward him.