Frost
“What are you doing?”
Bemused green eyes looked up at him in surprise followed by a quick frown. Teeth chewed at a plump bottom lip and Frost bit back a groan.
“Working?” Seth looked at him expectantly.
“Is that something you need to do now?”
“Um, maybe?”
“Oh.” He turned away.
“Wait, why?”
He hid a smile when Seth shoved to his feet and hurried after him.
“I just thought you’d like to take a drive with me. Stefano needs me to check out a small shipping yard they may be using as a trafficking holding place.”
“I’m in.” Seth jogged back to his desk to grab a jacket.
“Where you going?” Frost heard Reggie ask Seth.
“With Asher. I’ll be back.”
“Can I go?”
“No,” Seth said hurriedly.
It was nice that Seth wanted to be alone with him. “It’s a two man job. If there’s any techie stuff, I’ll relay it back to you,” Seth promised the kid.
Stepping outside, Frost was glad Reggie wasn’t tagging along. If he could get through the happily ever after ideals in Seth’s head and get him to acknowledge that a quick hook up would work wonders, then they just might have a shot at mutual satisfaction.
They both climbed into his jeep. He liked the way Seth looked sitting in the passenger seat. And the way the man smelled was downright fucking sinful. Most of all, he wanted another kiss.
“So, what’s the deal? How did the commander find out about this holding place?” Seth asked, clipping on his seatbelt.
“The county sheriff’s office called about an anonymous tip.” Discreetly, he adjusted his crotch before starting the jeep and peeling out of the parking lot. He took the freeway - because it was quicker at this time of day - to the location in Oakland. Containers upon containers were stacked on top of each other and took up the length of at least one city block. They canvased the area, but nothing stood out. The manager’s office was locked.
There was no way in hell they’d be able to find anything without a manifest listing the contents.
“Looks like the place is closed for lunch.” Seth tried the door knob.
“Why don’t we grab a bite to eat?” he suggested. He wouldn’t mind spending an hour watching Seth put something in his mouth. Of course, it wouldn’t be the something he wanted in the man’s mouth, but it would have to do for now.
“There’s this little cafe just around the corner,” Seth suggested with a smile.
“Sounds good.”
The place was small, but surprisingly uncrowded. After seating them at a booth, the waitress left them alone for a moment. Frost picked up the menu and gazed at it. Silence across from him made him look up to find Seth watching him with those wide, green eyes.
“What?”
“This is the first time we’ve eaten together.”
“No it’s not.”
“Yes it is.”
Frost had to think a moment. “Yeah, okay. It is.”
With a tiny pout, Seth lowered his menu and blinked those incredibly long lashes.
“Stop that,” Frost growled and reached beneath the table to adjust his dick in his jeans.
“Sorry,” Seth said, but the playful angel didn’t look a bit sorry.
“What are you going to eat?” He changed the subject away from dangerous ground.
“A burger and fries.”
He ordered breakfast and grinned at Seth’s astonished look. “I can eat breakfast every meal.”
“I do love pancakes,” Seth agreed.
The food came quickly and Frost kept the conversation light. The last thing he needed was to walk out of there with a hard on. Although, it was damned difficult with the way Seth’s long fingers lifted each individual fry to his mouth.
“So, tell me about yourself,” he ordered.
“You first,” Seth volleyed back, taking a bite of his burger and wiping some juice from his chin.
He took a deep breath, shifted on the booth’s seat, and recited his Grindr mantra. “I’m thirty as of my last birthday. I make a pretty good living, and I’m an Aries.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “I know all that. I want to know…” The man’s head cocked to one side. “Where did you grow up?”
“Here, just across the water.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I’m an Alameda native. My grandparents moved here when they got married. My dad worked for the Oakland Police for years.”
“No brothers or sisters?”
The dreaded conversation. Did he lie and say no? Technically, he didn’t know any of the kids his mother had spit out, but that didn’t make them not related.
“A few.”
“How many?”
“Let’s save that conversation for another time.” Taking a bite of his pancakes, he ignored the searching look Seth gave him. “What about you?” he asked, waving his fork at Seth.
“I grew up with my dad just north of here in Sacramento.” Seth suddenly went quiet for a long minute. “Then, when I turned sixteen, he… went away. I was on my own,” Seth finished evasively.
Frost frowned. What the hell did that mean, went away? All these years and he never once questioned Seth’s upbringing. He just figured the guy grew up normal. Whatever the hell normal was.
“I’m sorry?”
“Nah, don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Seth looked away as if bothered by something.
“So, you went and lived with your mother then?” he probed gently.
“Nope. I went and crashed on the couch of a guy I was doing some hacker jobs for.”
“That’s crazy.” His eyebrows shot up. “How’d you get into this line of work? How did you meet Rossi? He was the one that introduced you to the commander, right?”
Seth looked down at his plate and then away for a moment before looking back at him. “You have to promise not to repeat what I tell you to anyone.”
His heart picked up tempo and concern filled his voice. “I promise.”
Seth took a deep breath. “Giovanni Rossi is my uncle.”
His mouth slackened and then snapped shut. Going over past conversations, he couldn’t remember anything said about it. He did remember the day Stefano had shown up with Seth about six years ago. The commander had Noah, Allison, and Seth train together. That was about all he knew of the story. It was his own fault, really. He’d taken one look at the angelic, dark-haired young thing sitting in Stefano’s office and had hightailed it out of the country for months. So, Seth was Giovanni Rossi’s nephew.
“Wait, that makes you…”
Seth nodded. “Noah’s cousin.”
A question gnawed at him. “Does Noah know?”
“No, Rossi doesn’t want me to tell anyone.” Seth glanced down at his hands and Frost immediately missed watching the man’s expressive gaze.
“Why not?”
“Because there’s some bad people after my Uncle Rossi and the less people related to him the better. That’s his words, not mine.” Seth finally looked up.
“I thought all that shit stopped with Terrance Manning’s death. Who else is after him?”
“I’m not sure. But he hasn’t given me the go ahead to share any of this with Noah. I think there’s other stuff going on that he’s not telling me about.”
“Damn it. Well, I promise, I won’t breathe a word.” He didn’t know much about Noah’s dad, Giovanni Rossi, other than the shit that went down with Terrance Manning and having met the guy at Mac and Noah’s place a few times.
“Thank you.”
The thought of someone gunning for Seth turned his mouth dry and he took a hasty sip of water. Rossi had better keep whatever the hell he was into away from Seth or Frost might take a chunk out of the guy’s hide if he put Seth in jeopardy.
After lunch, they traveled back around to the shipping office. The place was open and the manager was helpful. He handed over the manifest and they called in the local police to help search. The tip turned out to be wrong, the containers were empty.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow…” Seth’s words petered out.
He saw the moment when the words dried up because he was totally focused on that lush mouth.
They were standing near the passenger side of his jeep, just outside the gate and hidden from view of the small shipping yard that was closing for the day. Frost didn’t give a fuck if the people leaving saw them. All he could think about was getting a taste of Seth.
“Um, Asher? My eyes are up here.” Laughter laced Seth’s voice.
“What if I don’t want to look at your eyes?” he grumbled, but then looked up to catch Seth’s enticing green gaze. The stare went straight to his crotch.
“Well…what do you want to look at?” Seth sucked on his bottom lip again. The move seemed to be deliberate, flirtatious.
“Everything. But I’ll take a taste.” Leaning back against the side of the jeep, he tugged Seth forward. The man tripped into him and Frost took the opportunity to lower his head and take Seth’s lips in a kiss. Slipping an arm around Seth’s waist, he partially lifted Seth against him.
On second thought, maybe Seth had taken his mouth. Or fuck, maybe it was them both taking each other, but the heady kiss awoke a deep hunger inside of him. Their teeth clacked, tongues whirled, mouths bit, and hot breath rushed.
Frost sent his hips grinding into Seth’s. The man’s hands sank into his hair and curled into fists, holding him tightly. His chest lurched and he angled his head, following Seth’s lead. He nibbled and sucked in the taste as the kiss grew slow and intoxicating. Fucking Christ, he’d met his match. Seth screwed with his reasoning; his whole fuck em’ and leave em’ agenda.
Seth
Hell yes!
He groaned into Asher’s mouth and bit at the man’s lips before thrusting his tongue inside. Asher tasted like sex and sin all rolled together. The kiss mesmerized him, all dangerous and hot. The roughness of Asher’s unshaven jaw scraped against his cheek and he pushed into it, relishing the scratchy touch. He shivered and the small sound that escaped from his throat was swallowed by Asher.
The man kissed him as if there was nothing on this earth more important. Seth loved it. Asher’s strong arms closed around him and he found himself lifted onto his toes. Their chests bumped together and he slipped his hands up Asher’s massively corded arms, over his shoulders, and gripped the back of his neck. He ground his crotch against Asher, feeling the man’s hardness through the denim.
He grew lightheaded just before Asher broke the kiss. Seth sucked in lungfuls of sweet air and tipped his head back.
“Asher,” he breathed.
The operative’s smile flashed wicked in the semi-dark and he dipped his head. The firm mouth running along his throat drew a gasp from his lips. It felt so good, so right, all he could do was fist his hands into Asher’s shirt and hang on.
“I knew we’d blow a fucking gasket,” Asher growled against his skin with a warm hum before slowly stepping back.
Seth swayed and leaned against the jeep to keep his legs from buckling. The sexy smirk almost had him coming in his jeans.
He was disappointed that Asher hadn’t stayed. The chemistry between them was mind-blowing. Yet, something had flashed in Asher’s eyes. He’d seen it. But before he could determine what it was, the man had become thoughtful. When he’d tried to ask questions, Asher had given him a smile before driving away. He was starting to think it had all been in his own head. The guy probably hadn’t stayed because he didn’t live alone. He got it. Really, this was Mac and Noah’s house, there was no privacy here. Too bad Asher hadn’t taken him seriously when he had offered to get a hotel room. He sighed and stared after Asher’s jeep until it disappeared before heading inside.
Too distracted by thoughts of Asher, he didn’t see the stack of mail sitting on the small table just inside the door of the house. Later, Mac had passed the letter to him after dinner on his way to his room. The envelope was white, the stamp a little crooked, but the handwriting was as familiar as his own.
Ripping open the envelope and pulling out the letter addressed to him from his father, he read the short message.
Would love to see ya, boyo.
Love, yer Da
He gave a warm-hearted laugh and smiled at his father’s corny writing. Finnegan O’Leary was half Irish, but his accent had been gone for years. He did love to pour it on when he needed something. Damn, he missed Finn. He’d do anything for his dad. And it appeared that Finn needed to see him. He carefully folded the note and tucked it into his wallet.
Pulling up the website, he requested a visit online and selected the date on the prison’s calendar. Everything took time, so it would be a few weeks before he could get in. Even the mail was slow, so he didn’t bother writing back like normal. He’d be seeing his dad before a letter could even reach the prison.
“Good news?” Noah asked.
He glanced up to find Noah standing in his open doorway, and smiled. “Yeah, it’s from my dad. I’m going to see him.”
“That’s great.” Noah made his way into the room. “You know what’s weird?” Noah dropped into a chair near the bed.
“What’s that?” Seth scooted back to sit cross-legged on the bed.
“After all these years, you have never told me why he got arrested.”
“It’s not something I go around telling people,” he tried to explain.
“I’m not just people. We’ve been friends a long time.” Noah looked down at his hands.
He reached out and touched Noah’s knee, drawing his attention. “Best friends. And I think that’s why I avoided telling you. Your opinion matters to me.” He blinked against the sting in his eyes.
“You know I don’t care about that shit. Your family doesn’t define you any more than mine does me.” Noah squeezed his hand while holding his gaze.
He nodded and drew in a breath. He chewed his bottom lip. Damn, how he wished he didn’t need to have this conversation. But wishing didn’t take away the fact that his dad was doing nine years in the State Pen for second degree robbery. And wishing didn’t change the fact that he owed it to his best friend to share.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, I need to.” Seth dipped his head for a moment, and then spoke. “I was sixteen when my dad got mixed up with a really bad man. I mean, he’d done an odd job here and there, but this guy was on a whole other level. Stanley Starr, that’s the guy who talked my dad into robbing a high end jewelry store. Long story short, it didn’t go down the way they had hoped. My dad’s doing a stint for armed robbery and Starr got away free.”
“What about your mom?” Noah frowned, looking concerned.
“Not in the picture.” He kept it short and looked away. He was glad when Noah didn’t push.
“Have you tried to get anything on this Stanley Starr guy? You know, to make him pay?”
“I haven’t really looked.” He knew if he searched for Stanley Starr, he’d find the guy. He just wanted to forget about that time in his life when his father had whored out his hacking skills like a pimp.
The visit with his dad came up before Seth knew it and he sat anxiously waiting to speak with his father through the thick glass that separated them.
Finnegan O’Leary appeared older. More lines bracketed his eyes and mouth. New gray hair threaded through the reddish strands and a fresh cut slashed over his eyebrow.
“How’d that happen?” Seth pointed at the cut.
“This? That’s just a scratch.” His dad shrugged it off.
It was more than a scratch if the stitches in the cut were any indication, but he let it go. Prison was a harsh life. There was no getting around it.
“It’s good to see you, son.” His father reached out a hand and placed it on the glass.
He lifted his own hand and touched the glass. He blinked back the sting of tears and smiled. “You too, old man.”
“Bah, not so old.” Finn chuckled. “So? Tell me about this new office you’re working in.”
He couldn’t tell his dad what he really did. So, he’d made up a cover as a help desk technician. Seth dropped his hand and clutched the phone. “It’s cool. I like it, dad. It’s legit and makes me feel useful.”
“That’s good. You always was good at computer stuff,” Finn said, nodding. “You ever hear from anyone in our old life?”
“No. Nobody knows where I am. I like it that way.”
His Dad nodded and sighed.
“Why?” His stomach turned suddenly queasy. It was a feeling he got whenever his dad got a certain look on his face. Finn had that look.
“Well,” the older man began, looking away. “I was hoping you could look someone up for me.”
“I thought we were past this.” His chest suddenly ached.
“We are, we are,” his dad said hurriedly. “I just need a favor. I’d do it myself, but I’m stuck in here,” Finn joked.
“What favor?” He swallowed hard.
“I just need you to find Stanley and tell him that the cops took the goods from the job. I didn’t get nothing. I didn’t have no time to hide anything.”
He frowned. “Does he think otherwise? Did he contact you?”
“Yeah…” his dad said, evading his searching gaze.
“What happened?”
“Oh, ya know. He knows people.” Finn touched the fresh scar over his eye.
“Did Starr sic his dogs on you?” he demanded.
His dad hung his head.
“That prick.” He squeezed the phone.
“It’s okay, Seth. I’m fine. I just need him to get the message.”
“Okay, Dad. I’ll do it.”