The Exit Strategy Bundle

by Jocelynn Drake

“You’re in your head again,” Justin whispered.

  “I’m not.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not. I’m fine. “I can—”

  “It’s not fine,” Justin said firmly before finally deepening the kiss so that his tongue swirled around Gabriel’s. He relaxed into the pillows, letting Justin dominate his mouth while the old tension was replaced by something more delicious and wonderful. When Justin broke off the kiss, Gabriel blinked, surprised his eyes had fallen closed. “There’s so much more we can do.”

  Gabriel opened his mouth to argue again, but Justin covered it with his own, deepening the kiss until whatever he was going to say drifted completely from his mind. Flexing his hips, Justin rubbed his cock against Gabriel’s and they both groaned. That warm flesh on flesh felt so damn good, sending waves of pleasure rushing through his body. Gabriel released his dick and wrapped both arms around Justin, pulling him down tight against his narrower frame. Wrapping his hands over his shoulders, Gabriel lifted his hips, grinding his leaking cock against Justin’s.

  “Oh, Jesus fuck,” Justin swore on an exhale. He bit down on Gabriel’s lower lip and then licked him, earning a hiss of pleasure from Gabriel. “I’ve got an idea. Something I haven’t done in a long time.”

  “Do I have to move?” he teased.

  “Just roll onto your side.” Justin pushed off Gabriel and then shifted around on the bed so he was lying on his side next to Gabriel, but his head was now positioned next to his cock. A slow grin spread across Gabriel’s lips as he shifted to his side.

  Using Justin’s thigh as a pillow, he swirled his tongue around the head of Justin’s cock and then licked his way down to the root, taking a second to nuzzle his balls. He breathed in his musk before licking back up his cock. He opened his mouth wide, eager to take him down his throat when Justin beat him to it. His eyes rolled back in his head when Justin engulfed his dick, swallowing him down until the head touched the back of his throat. Fuck, he nearly came at the feel of the flat of his tongue sliding around the shaft. And then Justin hollowed his cheeks and sucked him harder. It felt so damn perfect.

  Gabriel turned his attention back to Justin’s cock, working him over. He loved the weight and feel of his dick on his tongue, the soft sounds rumbling up his throat. Justin started shallow-thrusting as his cock swelled even further.

  Hard hands gripped his thighs, and Justin pulled off his dick, groaning. “Fuck, G. Your mouth should be illegal. Wanna come so bad.”

  He answered by increasing the suction and speeding up the movement, taking his cock just a little bit deeper. The thought of Justin coming down his throat had his own dick swelling. He moaned, letting the vibrations caress him until Justin was suddenly shouting. His hips jerked, and the first taste of semen splashed on the back of his tongue. He swallowed him down, continuing to suck him until he was empty.

  “Now it’s your turn,” Justin said on a sated sigh.

  It was Gabriel’s only warning before Justin sucked him to the back his throat. He relaxed his jaw and encouraged Gabriel to fuck his mouth. He started slowly, not wanting to gag him, but Justin gripped his thighs, pulling him in deeper. And Jesus fucking Christ, Justin’s mouth was pure sin. Nonsense might have poured out of it on a constant basis, but he was the goddamn king of blowjobs.

  “Jus, fuck…Justin,” he panted. He could feel his accent slipping, but he couldn’t think, couldn’t get his own tongue to obey his commands when Justin’s mouth was so perfectly moving over his dick. And still, he couldn’t tip over the edge. It was so perfect, and he couldn’t… “Please, more.”

  Justin hummed and slowly pulled off. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you there.” Gabriel met his stare and watched as he placed two fingers into his mouth. Justin seemed to hold frozen for a second before Gabriel gave a jerky little nod. “Just say if it’s too much,” Justin continued when he removed the fingers from his mouth.

  And then his cock was sliding back down Justin’s throat, and a moment later he could feel the blunt pad of his finger circling his hole. Pleasure sparked through his body, and Gabriel could barely catch his breath. He moved, fucking Justin’s mouth and pushing back on those fingers until the tip pressed back those tight muscles. He’d forgotten that first bite of pain, the burn and stretch. Forgot how much he loved it. A loud, deep moan drifted from his parted lips. Had it always felt this good?

  “Yes. More,” he begged.

  Justin sucked him harder and pressed one finger deeper then slowly pulled it back. When he pushed deeper a second time, Gabriel was aware of him brushing against that magical spot and the world whited out. He shouted, coming hard down Justin’s throat. There had been no chance to warn him or pull away. Fuck, he didn’t know his own damn name or where he was in that moment. There was only pleasure sizzling through his entire body, stopping his heart and knocking the air from his lungs.

  And then he was slamming back down to earth. A soft whimper could be heard over heavy breathing, and Gabriel didn’t want to face that he’d made that noise, but he didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d come so hard. Well, maybe last night when he’d been deep in Justin, but damn, this was so good too.

  When Justin released him, Gabriel flopped onto his back and dragged his arms over his head, desperate to get enough air into his lungs. He blinked slowly, and Justin crawled up his body, knees on either side of his hips and hands braced above his shoulders. The smuggest grin was spread across his face, and the man deserved to look smug.

  “Fuck,” Gabriel panted.

  Justin leaned forward and kissed him deep, plunging his tongue into his mouth so Gabriel could taste himself. And he was damn sure Justin could taste himself. A perfect blending. When Justin pulled away again, the smugness was gone, but he still looked supremely pleased.

  “I forgot how much I enjoyed that position,” Justin said.

  “Definitely worth keeping.”

  Justin snorted and dropped down onto the bed next to Gabriel. They were lying diagonally so that Gabriel was only partially on the pillow. Justin’s legs had to be halfway off the bed, but the man didn’t complain, and Gabriel was one-hundred-percent-sure that Justin would say something if he wanted Gabriel to move. They lay comfortably in the bed, their bodies touching from chest to knee.

  “Do you like what you do?” Justin asked suddenly.

  Gabriel wanted to shift to look at Justin, but he didn’t move. He knew what he was talking about and it was suddenly easier to talk without meeting those all too perceptive blue eyes.

  “Some days,” Gabriel admitted. “You?”

  “Parts of it,” Justin said after a couple of seconds. “I like the sneaking. The hacking.”

  Gabriel nearly nodded. The sneaking was his favorite part as well. There was an addictive rush of adrenaline when he broke into a place, grabbed what he needed, and then escaped again without anyone being the wiser. He loved discovering ways around the world’s most sophisticated security systems. He just loved outsmarting people.

  “Pulling the trigger gets old,” Gabriel murmured.

  “I never expected to be doing it for so long.”

  “Seventeen years.”

  Justin snorted. “Old man.” He then added quietly, “Twelve.”

  Gabriel closed his eyes and quickly did the math. If Justin had joined the military like himself and his first kill was at eighteen, then the man lying stretched out next to him was only thirty. Just three years younger than himself.

  “Why still do it?” Gabriel asked.

  Justin twisted and leaned up on his elbow to peer over at Gabriel, who raised an eyebrow at his confused look. Had he really never considered walking away?

  “Why are you still doing it?” Gabriel pressed. “If you’re half as good as me and usually work solo, you should have a lovely nest egg. You don’t have to do this. So why are you still doing it?”

  Justin frowned at him, his expression turning dark a second before he pushed off the bed
and started to get up. Gabriel grabbed his wrist and jerked him down hard enough that he bounced a little when his back hit the mattress. Moving quickly, he slid over him so that he was straddling Justin’s hips. He knew that Justin could push him off, but it would mean them both tumbling to the floor.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s what I’m good at. All I’m good at,” Justin snapped.

  “Well, you are pretty damn good at blowjobs too.”

  “Blowjobs don’t pay as well.”

  Gabriel smirked. “I think you’re underestimating exactly how good you are at sucking dick.”

  Justin looked away from him, but not before Gabriel caught the hint of a smile toying with the corner of his mouth. Some of the tension flowed from Justin’s shoulders, and Gabriel relaxed a bit, no longer expecting to land in a painful heap on the floor.

  “Lying, sneaking, hacking, killing…it’s all I’ve known for so long. It’s been beaten into my head. I’m trying to help people, but at the end of every job, someone is dead, or hurt, or worse. And there’s always a dozen more contracts waiting.”

  Gabriel leaned down, kissing Justin slowly. He started at the corner of his mouth, moving down along this bottom lip, licking and nibbling to the other corner. Then he moved over the slimmer top lip until he reached the center and deepened the kiss. Justin instantly opened and moaned into his mouth, welcoming him.

  Reluctantly he broke off the kiss and pulled back. The smile he gave Justin felt frail and weak, already trying to slip away. He knew the feelings of burnout. The wear and tear on the soul when he thought too much about what he was doing. Most of the time he could keep those doubts at bay, but there was something about the time they spent together. He knew of no one else who would understand their frustration and pain.

  Crawling off the bed, he quickly scooped up a handful of his discarded clothes. It didn’t matter if he got everything. It was more important to beat a hasty retreat before he did or said something that would be even stupider than the sex they’d enjoyed so far.

  “What about you? Why do you do it?”

  Gabriel stopped, his clothes balled tightly in his fists, and looked at the man who was still lying on his back in the middle of the bed, staring at the ceiling. A dozen answers danced through his brain, but on a whim, he decided to give Justin the truth.

  “Because I haven’t yet found a reason to stop.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Justin lounged in the leather desk chair, glaring at the screen in front of him as he tried to read through more of the report he’d pulled from the research files at the hospital, but the shit just wasn’t making any sense to him. He’d already talked to a friend who was a forensic pathologist. The autopsy reports had already been located for the three dead patients, and he was sure that he could get his hands on the data during their time in the study. If he could get all that data over to Brianna, she could uncover the truth from all this medical jargon.

  But first he had to break into the doctor’s portable hard drive or get into the files at Iaso. The hacking program he’d written was still working on the hard drive password, and his phishing emails to Iaso had gotten him nowhere so far. Not that he was surprised. This part of the process was supposed to take weeks. The only problem was that he’d not expected to be hunted by another mercenary nor had he expected to have Gabriel Prescott under foot.

  Not that Gabriel had been that problematic.

  He’d actually been quite helpful. And sex before bed always helped him sleep better at night.

  It was just the after that he was struggling with.

  As if against his will, his eyes darted over to the computer screen that showed the video feed from the various cameras around the house. He’d switched the screen from a four-way split screen to a single feed of Gabriel lounging in a chair in the living room. With his feet propped up on the ottoman, Gabriel sat there in a pristine button-down white shirt and dark slacks. The outfit perfectly framed his wide shoulders and narrow hips. The only thing he was missing was a tie. All his tattoos were hidden from view, but Justin knew exactly where they all were even if he couldn’t read them all. He sat primly in the chair, reading a book.

  Blinking suddenly, Justin sat upright and leaned closer to the screen, staring at Gabriel. Had he even moved the chair? He had! The fucker had moved the chair just a little bit, but it was now squarely facing the camera as if he knew exactly where it was. It was galling! And more than a little unnerving.

  Justin had never had anyone stay in his home for so long. And never allowed anyone in his home that would be able to sniff out all his secrets. There was a twitchy part of his brain that was demanding he check all his weapons’ hiding places around the house, but he didn’t move from his chair. They’d called a truce.

  Fuck…he’d already come harder with Gabriel than he had with anyone else in a long time. Not that sex meant shit in their business, but for some reason it felt like it did with Gabriel. It had been painfully obvious from the very first moment that Gabriel didn’t trust anyone, and Justin was at the top of the list for untrustworthy, but he was slowly unbending, and it was the most fascinating thing to watch.

  Flopping back in his chair, Justin watched Gabriel lick the pad of his index finger and then slowly turn the page. Justin swore he could feel that lick on his goddamn dick. Narrowing his eyes, he could see Gabriel’s lips twitch as if he were fighting a smile. Fucker. He was doing this on purpose like he knew Justin was watching him. Asshole. Didn’t stop him from being sexy even if Justin knew he was teasing him on purpose.

  He would just kick his ass out and—

  Justin stopped sharply at the thought as he realized that he could kick Gabriel out. Well, send him back to stay in a hotel. They’d tracked down the culprit for the hotel raid. It was highly unlikely the contract owner had discovered that the mercenary was dead. Gabriel was safe, and they could go back to operating in separate spaces again. How had he not thought of that before then? His eyes jerked back to Gabriel’s face, wondering if the same realization had occurred to his partner. Justin had a sneaking suspicion it hadn’t.

  And now that he knew he could kick Gabriel out, he didn’t want to. Holy shit! Fuck Gabriel. And fuck himself sideways with a barbwire dildo. He knew better than this. He couldn’t want Gabriel. Couldn’t feel…something. The man could kill him. He was a trained, cold-blooded mercenary. He was in it for the money. He was…wickedly brilliant and had a subtle, dry sense of humor that had a way of sneaking up on Justin. And even though he gave Justin grief over his own goofy sense of humor, he still laughed, even if it was only with his eyes. There was a quiet strength to him, and Justin couldn’t help admiring him because under that strength, he knew there was something deeply broken within him.

  Oh no. No. No. No. No. No. Justin covered his face with his hands and moaned loudly. This was stupid. It was as if his brain had permanently leaked out the end of his dick.

  Gabriel had to go. They needed the space so Justin could start using his brain again and stay alive.

  A cheerful chime rang above the steady hum of computer fans. Justin dropped his hands to his lap and looked over to his main computer to find a little window greeting him with the best news he’d seen in days. The program hacking the doctor’s hard drive was done and the contents were now unlocked.

  With a celebratory whoop! Justin rolled forward and opened up the hard drive. There was just one file folder, but it was enormous. There were piles of spreadsheets and databases of information. There were more file folders with copies of X-rays and MRI results. There were pictures taken of what looked to be cultures in petri dishes. He opened a few, but he really didn’t understand what he was looking at for the most part. An hour passed, Gabriel’s taunting sexiness temporarily forgotten as he worked his way through the files. He didn’t understand what he was looking at, but there was one document that got his heart pumping.

  Unplugging the portable hard drive from his computer, he jumped up and grabbed it and a s
pare laptop before charging up the stairs. When he pounded into the living room, Gabriel was shutting his book. He looked poised to make some snarky comment, but he must have read Justin’s excited expression because his own eyes widened and he stood, dropping his book onto the chair.

  “What did you find?” Gabriel immediately demanded.

  “I got into the hard drive.”

  “And?”

  Justin looked around for a place to set the laptop where they could both see it without one of them needing to sit in the other’s lap. With a grunt, he turned and placed the laptop on the breakfast bar. He slid into one of the chairs while Gabriel remained standing at his shoulder. Heat emanated from the man, and Justin wanted to twist around and offer up his mouth for a deep kiss, but this really wasn’t the time for such things. Maybe later…to celebrate.

  “There are a shit-ton of files on here. Patient records. Test results. I don’t understand…well, any of it.”

  “Fantastic. My degree wasn’t exactly in medicine.”

  Justin perked up at that little bit of information and looked over his shoulder at Gabriel. “What is your degree in?”

  Gabriel pursed his lips together, glaring down at Justin for a moment before he finally said, “Some other time. Is there anything we can use?”

  Justin looked back at the file, but he was definitely going to circle back to that little fact. Now he was dying to know what Gabriel got his degree in, but he was right. It could wait. “I’ve got a friend who is a forensic pathologist. I’m going to send her everything and let her dig through it. She’ll be able to spot the good stuff we need.”

  “You can trust her.”

  “Yes,” he said, and then gave a little huff, hunching his shoulders a little. “She’s not totally free. We will have to pay her a couple million for the consult.”

  He looked back at Gabriel to see him give a little eyeroll. “If she can find what we need, she’s worth the expense. How long will it take?”

  “With this much data?” Justin sighed heavily. “A week. Maybe two.”