A Marked Man

by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

  “Harder…Mateo…” Riley panted. Wave after sweet wave hit Riley. His ass was clenching and unclenching around Mateo’s cock. The buildup in his balls was so fierce he wanted to cry and let go, screaming like a fucking banshee. Mateo pounded him into the fucking air mattress and he swore he heard a soft hiss. Mateo’s hand wrapped around his cock, and Riley felt the slamming rhythm slow down to a gentle thrust. His stomach quivered and his fucking toes curled as Mateo pumped his cock.

  When release finally came, Riley could hear everything. Mateo’s loud groan mixed with the sound of the water from the falls, and his breath in his throat as he came, crying out. Ropes of ejaculate shot up his chest and over Mateo’s hand. Riley’s eyes closed, and he concentrated on his breathing as Mateo licked his chest and made his way down, trailing his tongue across his

  abs. Riley wanted to say it.Neededto say it, because

  God help him, he was in love. He wanted Mateo to know that another human being loved him, no matter what he did, because he was one hell of a man.

  “ Mateo?” Riley whispered. Almost hoping Mateo wouldn’t hear him, so that he wouldn’t have to say the one thing that might drive Mateo away and keep him from Riley’s grasp forever.

  “Hmmm.”

  “Good Night.”

  “Good Night, Riley.” ~~Chapter Eleven~~

  Mateo woke to his cell phone ringing. Grabbing it, he exited the tent so as to not wake Riley.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Mat, it’s Derek.”

  “What’s the word?”

  “Get down to the FBI office in Phoenix. We are transferring Riley today.” “ We’ll be there in about four hours.” “Just be ready.” Mateo hung up and looked at the sun rising. They needed to get on the road. He opened the tent flap and watched Riley sleep. Riley had become much more to him than he’d bargained for. He kissed him, slept with him and made love to him. Mateo had never made love to anyone. He fucked them and left. He couldn’t imagine not seeing and being with Riley every

  “Where in the fuck are you?” Derek looked at the time.

  second of everyday.What is wrong with me?

  After a hot shower then a cold one; after fantasizing about Riley, Mateo got dressed in jeans and a tight black t-shirt. The perks of being the non-A-Team? No uniform. Riley was still sleeping at six, and Mateo crawled up the bed hovering over him. He kissed Riley’s shoulder making his way closer to those perfect lips. Mateo nudged Riley’s cheek with his nose and heard a soft sigh. “Hey you.”

  Riley opened his eyes. Stretching, he said. “Hi, what time is it?”

  “Six, Derek called. We need to go to the office today. So, let’s go eat and get on the road.” After they’d eaten, Riley grabbed what clothing he had and left for the shower building. Quickly rinsing off, he grabbed his toiletries and left the building. He stopped to take one last look at the beautiful view of the canyon. He would miss it here. He made his way back to the tent site and helped Mateo clean up. As they were putting the dishes away Mateo pulled Riley into him and tilted his face up with his fingertips.

  “You okay?” “ Truthfully, my stomach’s all knotted up.” Riley closed his eyes as Mateo’s lips brushed his in a feather light kiss.

  “I got you something.” Mateo pulled the tracking bracelet from his pocket and handed it to Riley. Riley looked at it. It was a silver bracelet with his name on it. He looked up and smiled. “It’s beautiful, thank you.” purpose. It’s a tracking bracelet. If anything happens to you, I will be able to find you. I want to keep you safe.” Mateo looked in his eyes. His hand went to Riley’s face, and his thumb caressed his cheek. It was that look of awe on Riley’s face that always tugged at him. The guy could have whatever he wanted in life, but a piece-of-shit silver bracelet made the guy almost cry.

  “I know it’s not gold or platinum, but it serves a

  Riley ran his fingertip over his name and looked at Mateo. “Can you put it on me?” Mateo put the bracelet on and turned it over so that Riley’s name was facing up. Riley was giving him that look again. Mateo leaned in, and their lips met. Slow and soft at first, and then it became more urgent. It was one of those kisses that had you wondering which side was up, and trying to catch your breath like you just ran a 5K. Riley’s mouth was like the transporter on the Enterprise. It felt like his whole body was being torn apart and then put back together piece by piece. So yeah, he was a bit of a Trekkie, but he could almost hear Scotty screaming, “He’s giving you all he’s got!” Mateo broke the kiss, looking into Riley’s eyes. “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  The freeway was busy as they passed through Flagstaff, then it lightened up a bit. The car ride was quiet as Mateo thought about what was going to happen. He played everything over and over in his mind. They would go over the plan again and again, but Mateo’s stomach kept churning. If anything happened to Riley, he would never forgive himself. Mateo looked over at Riley; he was clasping his hands together and chewing on his bottom lip. Anxiety poured off the man. Mateo took Riley’s hand in his own and squeezed, hoping to calm him a bit.

  They passed the signs for the airport, and Mateo watched as the traffic slowed down to a crawl. He pulled off the 17 and onto the side roads to the office. Mateo scanned as much of the area as he could and checked his rearview mirror to see if they were being followed. He turned onto Indian School Road and waited to see if anyone turned with him. Another turn onto North Second Ave and Mateo could feel Riley trembling in the seat.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” “Don’t leave my side okay?” Riley looked at Mateo, pleading with his eyes. “ I won’t leave you, Riley.” Mateo pulled through to the security gate and punched in his code. The gate opened slowly and Mateo pulled in, parking at the rear of the building. Mateo got out of his car and looked around before getting Riley out and escorting him to the building at nearly a run. They made their way into the building and were escorted through security. Mateo set the machine off and one of the guards looked at him.

  “Give me your sidearm sir.”

  Mateo flashed his badge. “Um, fuck no, dick head.” James came out of the elevator and smiled. “Let Mr. Esposito through George. He’ll kill you before you get his gun, and then we’ll have to call the carpet cleaners in.” Agent Pruitt chuckled. “How are you Riley? Everything go okay?”

  “Yes, thank you, Special Agent Pruitt.”

  “ Call me James please.” James shook Riley’s hand. His eyes met with Mateo’s and he saw something unfamiliar in them. Fear? “Mateo, what’s up?”

  “ Nothing.” Mateo looked around the lobby. “Can we just get a move on?” Mateo took Riley’s hand in a firm grip and looked into his eyes. “I’m right here, okay?”

  They passed another security desk and James punched in his code for the elevator. The elevator doors opened and they all stepped on. There were three other men in there with them besides Agent Pruitt, and Mateo kept Riley secured behind him. His eyes darted back and forth noting where their guns were and monitoring every damn breath in the elevator. They got off on the second floor and made their way to the conference room. James opened the door for them and Mateo walked in first, making sure Riley was behind him. His eyes caught Derek first. He was sitting at the head of the table with two other military men flanking him. Men in suits took up the other six chairs, and James took the last seat. Mateo narrowed his eyes at one of the suited men, and the man got up, giving his seat to Riley.

  “ So.” Derek cleared his throat. “This is how things will go down this morning. You will be escorted by Downey, Phillips, Ripley and Lyons to the safe house by van.” Derek nodded towards the suited men. “They are qualified in every way for this Mateo, so don’t even try to argue.”

  “ We’ll leave as soon as we get all the details of the transfer ironed out.” James looked at Riley. “Anything you need we can provide, and Mr. Esposito will be with you at all times, Mr. Flynn.”

  “Damn right I will be.” Mateo squeezed Riley’s hand. They spent at least an hour going ov
er the safe house location. Only trusted men would be allowed anywhere near Riley.

  They were escorted back down the hall and loaded onto the elevator. Mateo stood with Riley in the back, looking from one man to another, all armed. There were at least fifteen people crowded into the elevator and the more floors they went down, the more Mateo had a sinking feeling in his gut. He felt Riley’s hand in his, and looked over when Riley squeezed it. He had a quizzical look on his face, and Mateo tried to smile. Something was eating at him. The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, and the sinking feeling got worse.

  They came out on the bottom floor parking garage and Mateo looked up. There were cameras everywhere, and the large group moved towards an unmarked white van. Now his skin was on fire, and warning flares went off in his head. They got into the van and waited for the FBI Ford Excursion to pull out first. Another Excursion pulled in behind them, and the procession left the parking garage. Once the van turned onto Indianola Ave, Mateo was sweating fucking bullets. He looked at the James in the front seat. “Something’s wrong.”

  “What?” James turned around. Mateo saw the suburban pulling in front of the procession of cars and looked behind them to see more cars blocking them in. “Shit! We’re blocked in!” Mateo grabbed his gun and pushed Riley down onto the floor of the van. Mateo saw men coming at them with rifles and masks, and then the air around them turned white. Mateo felt the van tremble and a loud hissing could be heard. “Goddammit, they blew out the fucking tires!” Mateo looked at all the FBI men exiting the cars and opening fire on the men in the street. Ripley and Lyons were running across the busy road, taking fire and firing back. Pedestrians were running for cover, and Mateo was looking around trying to find a way to protect Riley.

  “Get Riley back to the building, Mateo!” James shouted. Mateo exited the van with Riley; the air was filling with tear gas as more men exited the vehicles. Mateo made his way towards the building with Riley, staying low to the ground. He covered his nose and tried to squint through all the smoke. He saw boots coming his way, and then a loud shot went off. “Cover your nose and mouth!” Mateo shouted, grabbing Riley’s hand tighter. They stayed close to the ground trying to make a run for the building. He felt a white hot pain shoot through his left arm and lost his grip on Riley. As he was yanked from him, he heard Riley shouting.

  “Mateo!”

  “Riley!” Mateo ran through the smoke coughing. “Riley!”

  “Mateo!” “ Where are you?” Mateo couldn’t see shit. The smoke was so damn thick. He felt the bile rising in his throat when he couldn’t find Riley. “Riley!”

  “ Mateo! I’m here!” Riley felt the burn in his throat, and his eyes were watering. He felt a hand on his arm and looked up. It wasn’t Mateo. A man with a gas mask had him in a vice-like grip. “Let go of me!”

  Mateo heard Riley’s panicked voice and ran toward it. The smoke was so thick he could barely see. “Riley! Where are you?”

  “ Some asshole’s got a hold of me!” Riley struggled and punched the guy in the face; he felt a white hot pain in his own, as knuckles hit his eye. “Mateo!”

  “ Goddammit!” As Mateo ran, he saw a black van. Riley was being thrown into the back with three more men following him in. Mateo continued running after it through the chaos filled street. “No!”

  He was never a speed runner, but watching Riley’s face in the back of that van with his hand pressed to the window, Mateo felt a new found adrenaline rush. He ran after the van, out into the intersection, and right into oncoming traffic. The van went up on two wheels, and Mateo kept after it trying to shoot out the tires. The van hit the pavement and the driver opened her up. Mateo kept running, Riley’s face was still pressed to the window …and then he was gone. The van turned the corner and Mateo couldn’t keep up. He sank to his knees in the middle of the street, oblivious to the cars honking at him, and threw up.

  He was vaguely aware of being in the middle of the road a few minutes later. A car came to a screeching halt in front of him and the driver got out yelling something at him. Mateo pointed his gun at the man’s head and the guy got back in his car in a fucking hurry. Sirens. He could hear sirens and voices shouting at him, but couldn’t distinguish the voices. Someone was going to pay, Riley was gone. He had failed to protect him, and now Riley was gone.

  “ Mateo!” Derek shook him. He was in a daze and blood was pouring out of his arm. Mateo’s shirt was soaked with blood, vomit and sweat. Derek took his own shirt off; applying pressure to Mateo’s wound.

  “He’s gone.” Mateo looked in Derek’s eyes. “They took him.”

  And then Mateo did the one thing he’d never done his whole life. He fainted.

  ~~Chapter Twelve~~ Mateo’s eyes opened slowly and he saw a white ceiling. The soft beeping of a heart monitor met his ears. He looked over to his left and saw James hooked up to a heart monitor with an IV drip. Mateo tried to sit up and felt a pain in his left arm. He’d been shot, that much he remembered. That and the look on Riley’s face.

  “Lay back.” Derek stood in the corner of the room. Face white, bags under his eyes.

  “Where am I?” Mateo sat up and looked around the room.

  “St. Joseph’s Medical. You got lucky, the bullet just grazed you.” Derek made his way over. “Riley’s gone.”

  “No shit, captain obvious.” Mateo yanked the IV line out and got out of bed.

  “That’s General Obvious to you.” Derek tried to smile. “I’m sorry, Mateo. I thought he’d be safer—”

  “Well he’s not is he?” Mateo shouted. “He was safer with me!” Derek knew that look, it was the same look of rage Mateo had on every mission they had ever been on. The man would scour the earth to find Riley, even if it killed him. “You’re in love with him.” Derek said it quietly.

  Mateo grabbed his pants, yanking them on. He hissed through the pain of putting his shirt on. He turned and looked at Derek. Mateo knew Derek had done everything in his power to help. He couldn’t bring himself to be pissed at him; they’d been friends a long time. “Yeah, I love him.”

  “Look Mat, there’s some shit I need to tell you and you’re not going to like it.”

  Mateo sat down on the bed. “What shit?”

  “Remember when I said Riley had been through every security measure we had?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He has access to classified documents…” Mateo’s brain processed the information for a second, and he stood up. “Are you shitting me? These people could torture him for what he knows!”

  “That’s not all.” Derek hung his head.

  “Oh shit, there’s more?” Mateo shouted. Derek leaned against the wall and sighed deeply, lifting his head. “We got a clear picture of the man that took a shot at the two of you. His name is Nassir Rigel.”

  Mateo blinked and his mouth dropped open. “Oh no, please tell me he’s no relation…” “ To Zaman. Yes, it’s his son.” Derek watched as Mateo’s body started shaking in anger. “We know now, that he had someone helping him access the files. He knows who you are, and figured he’d take out two birds with one stone. He hadn’t banked on you getting out of his sights and rescuing Riley. Now he’ll hold him for ransom. Not only for the chips, but for what Riley knows.”

  “ We have to get him back. Derek, I promised him.” Mateo’s heart was pounding and the panic hit. “I promised…”

  “Well then, what’s first?” Derek grabbed his jacket. “ He’s got a tracking bracelet on, so first stop is your house to get the monitor.” Mateo looked at James and then back at Derek. “Is he going to make it?”

  inches.” Derek stood over Pruitt with a small smile on his face, running his thumb over the soft, thin skin on the top of Pruitt’s hand.

  “Yes. He was shot in his leg. They missed his artery by

  Mateo looked at Derek; the way he was looking at Pruitt spoke volumes. “You care about him.”

  Derek straightened up and pulled his jacket on. “Let’s go.”

 
~~ The drive back to Benson was quiet as Mateo looked out the window. Riley was gone. The look on Riley’s face as the van drove away, was one of pure panic. Mateo felt the bile rising in his throat as he thought about what could be happening to him right now. They pulled into the driveway, and Mateo went straight into the house and grabbed the monitor off the dresser. His eye caught the purple hippo on the freshly made bed and he felt his heart ache. His vision was getting blurry and he realized he was crying. He was fucking crying, for the first time in his life.

  “Mateo?”

  Mateo wiped his eyes and took one last look around. “Let’s go.”

  ~~Chapter Thirteen~~ As Riley opened his eye, he felt a blast of heat, instantly followed by the worst smell he’d encountered in his life. It smelled like someone had taken a shit on a cookie sheet, and put it in the oven on four hundred degrees. The sweat was pouring down his back and Riley could taste blood on his lips. His right eye was swollen shut; fuck, the whole right side of his face was in pain. He looked down and saw his hands tied to a chair, the bracelet still on his wrist. His heart ached thinking about Mateo.

  When he’d been ripped from Mateo’s grip, his first thought was that Mateo was hurt. In Riley’s panic to find him, he’d been grabbed. The look on Mateo’s face as he chased the van was of fear, and he knew Mateo was blaming himself right now. Riley tried to keep himself calm as he looked around the room. There were guns lined up against the wall, and hand grenades as well as rocket launchers were spread out in a row on the floor. The room was dark, but he knew the floor was dirt. He could see logs in the wall, covered in mud; and something that looked like a window. Nothing but desert as far as the eye could see. Riley’s throat was sore, and tasted like it was full of cotton. He could hear men talking somewhere in the building, and it sounded Arabic. One of the men walked in the room and looked at him. The man grabbed a newspaper and made his way over.