THE NIGHT air was still warm and humid as Jake and Danny stepped outside when the movie had finished. After a quick dinner at a really great sports bar Danny had known about from when he’d been in college, they’d picked a comedy adventure kind of movie. It’d been funnier than Jake had expected—not that he could have said what happened from around the middle onward.
Sitting in the dark, right up in the back row like teenagers, had proven to be too much temptation and they’d spent the second half of the movie making out… with a side of groping. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed a movie so much.
“What are you smiling about?” Danny asked as they started making their way down the block to where Jake had parked his Jeep. Danny’s fingers brushed the back of his hand, and then he slipped his palm against his, twining their fingers together.
“Just thinking that was the best movie I’ve seen in ages.”
“You didn’t even watch the second half of it,” Danny replied in amusement.
“Exactly.”
They both laughed, and Jake pulled him to a stop. When Danny turned to face him with a questioning expression, Jake slowly drew him in and kissed him leisurely and tenderly. All he wanted was to be able to take Danny home, spend hours making love to him, and then sleep tangled in each other’s arms. Except it was too soon for that. Things had already happened so fast between them and despite both of them rolling with it, he was still wary of pushing Danny too far too quickly.
“I’ve had a really great night,” he said in a low voice when they finally pulled apart.
“Me too.” Danny’s reply was a little sad and wistful.
“Are you sure?” he teased, brushing his fingers along Danny’s jaw. It wasn’t surprising, given what had happened earlier that afternoon, and everything that’d happened in the previous week. But they’d agreed to leave all that in Everness for the night.
“I can’t stop thinking about everything. And I wish it could always be like this.” Danny held out a hand to indicate where they stood with their arms around each other in the street, not bothered by the few people coming and going from the movie multiplex. “I just want to be with you and be happy.”
He pulled Danny closer. “We’ll get there. We’ve got time. There’s no rush. Like Gina said, if you decide to tell your parents, you’ve got people who’ll be there for you no matter what happens.”
“For the first time, I actually believe I might be able to tell them, and it’ll turn out okay one way or another.”
“It will, Danny.” Jake cupped his face in his palms. He had no idea how this man had come to mean so much to him in such a short amount of time. He’d thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies. But already, he couldn’t believe Danny had existed in this world and he hadn’t known about it. That he’d lived so long without knowing him, when it felt like he’d already known him for years. “Things might get rough sometimes, but eventually, everything will work out.”
“I’m going to do it.” Danny sounded calm and resolute. “I want to do it. I don’t know when, but I think one day soon, I’ll be ready to face him.”
“And I promise, I’ll be right there next to you.” He leaned in and kissed him again, emotion brimming between them.
“You’re kind of amazing. You know that, right?” Danny’s voice was a little uneven as he said the words against his mouth.
“I can’t take all the credit. I think it’s more like we’re amazing together.” He pulled back and smoothed a hand through Danny’s hair, who immediately made a low groan with a look of pure bliss on his face. It sent a sharp bolt of unadulterated lust through him. “Fuck, Danny, you want to get us arrested?”
“Sorry.” Danny focused on him, blue eyes hazy with desire. “But when you run your fingers through my hair like that—”
Oh damn.
Danny’s words left all kinds of images flashing through his mind, none of which he should have been having while standing on a very public street if he wanted to retain any sense of dignity.
“Come on.” He tugged on Danny’s hand and started hurrying down the block toward his Jeep.
“Where are we going?” Danny asked, sounding a little amused.
“Anywhere that’s not here.”
They reached his car and Jake practically threw himself behind the wheel. Danny didn’t say anything as he put his seat belt on and they peeled away from the curb. Jake drove several blocks, debating with himself. They should just head back to Everness. Surely Danny would agree to come to his house for a while before going home? He didn’t know if he should be asking, but he couldn’t get it out of his head: the look on Danny’s face on the street a few minutes ago. It was driving him crazy. He spotted a kind of park or reserve—the streetlamps not reaching all the way to the deserted parking lot at the bottom of the short road, and made the impulsive decision to pull in.
“Something wrong?” Danny asked in a too-innocent voice as Jake yanked on the hand brake and cut the engine.
“You’re really asking for it, you know that?” He reached across the center console and pulled Danny toward him. He came willingly, meeting him halfway as their lips crushed together like it’d been hours or days since they’d kissed each other, not just fifteen minutes or however long ago the movie had ended.
Danny pulled back to look at him with a hungry gaze. “I think I need you on this side of the car.”
“Danny—” He glanced up, trying to gauge exactly how much privacy they had here. The tall trees and lack of streetlamps meant it was fairly dark, and there weren’t any other cars parked nearby. But he was a cop. He knew exactly what they could get charged with if they got caught.
“You’re thinking about this way too much.” Danny grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged.
Throwing all caution out the window, Jake let himself get hauled across the car until he was straddling Danny, who immediately took up where they’d left off, pulling him down into a hard, drugging kiss.
Danny shoved up his T-shirt, so Jake took his cue and threw it off, leaving Danny dragging his mouth down his chest. He moaned when Danny found a nipple and bit down gently, making his hips buck forward. Despite Danny’s lips and tongue driving him crazy, he managed to pull off Danny’s T-shirt and then started on his jeans, flicking the button open and hastily unzipping his fly. By the time he’d done that, Danny was unbuckling his belt.
Jake slid his hand into Danny’s underwear, both of them groaning when he wrapped his hand around Danny’s cock. He was so hard, which only made him ache, his own erection pressing almost painfully against the inside of his jeans.
Danny paused, obviously distracted for a moment as Jake stroked up and down the length of him. Except then he quickly finished on Jake’s pants, pushing them down a little so he could pull him completely free.
Jake couldn’t breathe for a long moment as Danny took him in hand, grasp firm and sure. Danny kissed his way up his neck, until he took his mouth again. They found a rhythm together, kissing deep and languidly, caressing each other with long, dragging strokes.
It was too good to last long. So good. Danny’s hand was ecstasy around him, made even better by the way they were rocking against each other. In a matter of seconds, he was burning up, the rapture starting deep within him and roaring outward to eclipse everything. He clamped his free hand on the edge of the seat near Danny’s shoulder, clenching his jaw and groaning as he came in shuddering waves. A split second later, he felt Danny pulsing against his palm as he arched against him, gasping a half breath that ended on a moan.
Jake collapsed against his chest, cool relief and contentment washing through him.
Danny brought his arms up, hugging him close as Jake rested his forehead on Danny’s shoulder. He’d had a few boyfriends over the years, but he didn’t remember anything with them ever being this intense. Didn’t remember any of them convincing him to do completely crazy things like getting off together in storerooms and dark, deserted parking lots wit
h so much as a suggestive look.
Sure he’d had sex in a car before, but it’d mostly been awkward and not very sexy. Danny was pretty much blowing all of his preconceived notions about sex out of the water. He’d always enjoyed sex, but with Danny it was on a next-level, mind-blowing, can’t-get-enough scale he’d only ever dreamed of.
His thoughts scattered as he realized Danny was silently laughing.
“What’s so funny?” He leaned back to look down at him.
“Us. We’re never going to do this properly in a bed, are we?” Considering the way Danny was grinning, it seemed he didn’t mind all that much.
“Well, we almost did—”
“Until we got interrupted by your boss who is practically my uncle. Yeah, that went really well.” Danny rolled his eyes.
“I was thinking about asking you back to my place before I take you home.”
Danny’s expression became serious, staring up at him, thoughts clearly whirling around his mind. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”
“I know.” He lowered his head and kissed him tenderly. “I kinda thought that myself.”
“So it’s okay?” Danny’s brow was creased, making him look a little troubled.
“Of course it is, Danny.”
“What about what you want?” Danny reached up and caressed the side of his face.
“I’m not sure I’m ready either. I really like you, and the last thing I want to do is ruin this by rushing. I just want you, however I can get you.”
A smile melted away the worry before Danny glanced down between them. “I’m pretty sure you just did.”
“I seem to remember this not being my idea.”
Danny’s smile turned smug. “Didn’t hear you arguing, though, did I?”
He sighed since he’d walked himself right into that one. “There should be some tissues in the glove compartment. We better get out of here before someone calls the cops. I don’t want to end the night in a jail cell for public indecency.”
Danny reached around him and clicked open the glove compartment, sitting back with the tissues a second later.
Once they were decent and back on the road to Everness, Jake reached over to take Danny’s hand, twining their fingers together. Danny fiddled with the radio until he found something he was happy with, and then sang along softly.
As they left the city limits and turned onto the darker country roads toward Everness, Jake couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so settled. Definitely not in the last year, not since Luis—
He tried not to let what’d happened to his brother drag him down, but it was hard not to. He knew Luis wouldn’t want him to spend his life being angry and sad. Plus he’d made a promise at Luis’s graveside on the day they’d buried him that once he made sure Hobbs was in jail, he would live enough life for both of them. But it was still so fresh, still hurt so much, and he still couldn’t believe his younger brother was actually gone. Still had the odd day when he automatically picked up his cell phone to text and call him about something—like the day he’d met Danny and those gorgeous blue eyes that’d given him brain-failure—only to remember Luis was gone and never coming back.
Jake almost blurted it all out to Danny right there and then. But he didn’t want to ruin the mood. They’d had such an awesome night together. There’d be plenty of time to tell Danny later. Besides, he probably needed to figure out a way to tell him about it so he didn’t end up sounding like some creepy stalker or sociopath bent on revenge.
A sudden flare of lights in the rearview mirror left him blinking. He adjusted the mirror so it stopped blinding him and waited for the car behind him to get a clue and turn down their lights. But they didn’t. Instead the vehicle—some kind of pickup truck—raced up behind them until they were being tailgated.
Danny glanced over his shoulder with a frown. “What an idiot. I’m sure he wouldn’t be such an ass if he knew a cop was driving this car.”
“Yeah, well, since I’m not on duty, I can’t do much about it except get out of his way.”
On the next straight stretch of road, he slowed and pulled to the shoulder a little, expecting the pickup to overtake them. But it didn’t. It stayed on their tail, engine revving loudly, leaving Jake with a sudden bad feeling in his guts.
“What’s his problem?” Danny demanded, sounding more annoyed than anything.
Jake pulled back onto the road and pressed his foot down, making his Jeep jump forward. They were only a few minutes out of Everness, and he was about to break every speed limit in the county to get them there sooner.
“You’re wearing your seat belt, right?” Apprehension had hooked into his stomach, and his hands were clutched tight enough on the steering wheel to make his knuckles ache as he pushed the Jeep harder. His Wrangler wasn’t exactly a race car, but he managed to quickly put some distance between them. The pickup lagged behind for a moment, before catching up again.
“Jake, what the hell is going on?” Danny was hanging on to the door handle and staring at him, fear edging into his features.
“I have no idea. But I get the feeling we need to get back into town sooner rather—”
He didn’t get to finish what he was saying as the pickup rammed them from behind, jolting his Jeep forward and making him jerk against his seat belt.
Danny swore, but Jake was too busy concentrating on trying to keep his Jeep under control. Getting shunted at this speed had almost made him swerve onto the shoulder. But instead of slowing down, he pressed his foot harder, trying to outrun the bigger vehicle. It was the only play he had—make it into Everness and hope whoever it was gave up the game.
He could see the town lights in the distance. So close but still too far as the pickup roared up behind them again.
“Jake!” Danny twisted to look behind them and shouted the warning a second before they were shunted again. Jake didn’t answer. All he could do was concentrate on keeping the Jeep steady at a speed that was beyond dangerous and bordering on suicidal.
The pickup swerved out to the right a little, and Jake’s entire body flashed ice-cold. They were in serious trouble. Even as he had the thought, the pickup nudged into the back side panel of his Jeep.
“Danny, hold on!”
“What—”
The pickup jerked toward them, forcing out the back end of his Jeep. There was nothing he could do about it, not at this speed. The back tire of his Wrangler hit the gravel on the shoulder and the steering wheel jerked sharply under his hands. He tried to correct, but the wheels had no traction as the car went into a sideways slide along the dirt. They hit a ditch and the nose of the Jeep dropped, ending with a crunch of metal.
When everything fell still and silent, it took him a second to realize they were no longer moving. He blinked, bringing his head up, his face aching from the impact of the airbag.
He heard a car door slamming and turned his head far enough to see a pickup truck parked in the middle of the road—the same pickup that’d just run them off the road, one of its headlights now busted out. A scattered field of broken glass and bits of metal stretched out between them on the pavement in tiny pieces of reflected light. In the silhouette of the single headlight, a figure strode toward his wrecked Jeep.
Danny was swearing a streak of curses as he straightened, pressing a hand against the side of his head.
Though his hands were shaking, Jake scrambled to yank open the compartment in the center console to pull out his gun. His eyes were watering too much to aim it properly. Instead he pointed it toward the ground a few yards away. Besides, he didn’t want to kill anyone, even if they had just run him off the road. He let off two shots—warning shots. But they worked, and a second later, the door slammed again and the pickup roared off into the night, away from Everness.
“Danny?” Jake looked over at him, not able to see much in the darkness. He reached down with stiff fingers to unclip his belt.
“Ow. Fuck,” Danny muttered, shifting around in the darknes
s. Jake pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight, aiming it low toward Danny on the other side of the car. For some reason, his airbag hadn’t deployed, and there was a gash above his right eyebrow trickling blood down the side of his face.
“What the hell just happened?” Danny demanded, sounding more angry than shocked. Or maybe his anger was the shock. Either way, he was pale and shaking.
“I don’t know.” His voice wasn’t much more than a hoarse whisper. His stomach was churning and he felt like he couldn’t breathe, but he forced himself to stay calm. “Are you hurt?”
“My head. Think I hit the side window. Anything else—hell, I don’t know. Considering this is my second car accident in as many weeks, I’m doing awesome.” Danny yanked at the seat belt, which seemed to be stuck.
“I need to call this in. My car’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Danny muttered an affirmative, so Jake turned his attention to dialing 911. As he talked to the operator, he tried his door, but it was jammed. The window was cracked, so Jake shifted around and twisted himself into an almost impossible position to kick at the window, sending glass raining down around him. He finished the call and hauled himself out through the window. He stumbled to the ground but managed to stay on his feet. His chest and shoulder were aching now he’d gotten upright.
Hurrying around the front of the car, he went to Danny’s side, but it was in even worse condition, having taken the brunt of the impact because of the angle they’d gone into the ditch. Giving up on the passenger door as a lost cause, he went back around his Jeep and caught sight of blue and red lights flashing in the distance. Knowing he was doing the absolute wrong thing that went against all of his training, he climbed back into the wreck. No way was he going to leave Danny in there by himself.
“Danny, you’ll have to climb out through this side.” Even as he said the words, a patrol car squealed to a stop in front of them, and he could see Danny properly now, staring at him, expression tense.
“Are you okay?” It was probably the dumbest question he’d even asked. Clearly they weren’t okay, sitting in his smashed-up Jeep.
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