Chapter 15

THE NEXT day followed a similar pattern.

“You can stop giving me that sour look,” Danny grumbled as we made our way back through the busy McDonald’s parking lot. “How was I to know he was going to run again?”

I hoped my expression had the appropriate amount of “bye Felicia.” “Really? The three-mile obstacle course we ran yesterday didn’t give you a clue?”

“I can’t believe we lost him again.”

“I can,” I grumbled. “He’s clearly a fucking android.”

“Well, we know he’s not coming back here.” After a beat Danny added, “Or to his mother’s house.”

That just irritated me even more. We’d blown two locations. I yanked on the front door of the restaurant and held it open for two chattering teenagers. “Let’s just check with the manager. He’s got to send his checks somewhere.”

After flashing a badge, we were led through a phalanx of frying, greasy goodness. I gave the nugget-fryer basket a longing look as we trooped past. Too bad I had important business to tend to. Manager’s office, then nuggets, ’cuz, you know, priorities.

When we entered his office, the manager was behind his desk, texting rapidly on his phone. He glanced up, and his already sour expression soured further at the sight of Danny. He looked like he’d been mainlining key lime juice.

“You again.” He looked back down at his phone. “Anyone else you want to pull off my busiest shift?”

Danny’s jaw developed a fascinating tic. “We didn’t know he was going to run. Obviously.”

“We need to locate Brock so we can ask him a few questions. That’s all,” I said.

“Well, I guess you’re shit out of luck.”

I sighed. No, we were shit out of patience. We’d run out of luck fifteen minutes and two fences earlier. Hitting a parking meter with my elbow as we chased Brock in the darkness had really dimmed my optimism. I glanced at the man’s name tag. “We’re sorry for taking up so much of your time, Paul. But do you know where he might’ve gone? Or when he’ll be back?”

“Do you think I’d still be talking to you idiots if I knew where he was?”

Danny’s eyes went narrow. “You know, it’s been a long day. I could do without the fucking attit—”

“We’re going to need his contact information,” I cut in smoothly. “Address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, everything.”

“Because I have nothing better to do?”

Apparently Paul was not a man who picked up on cues. Otherwise he probably wouldn’t have kept answering those texts. And he would have definitely seen that Danny’s already short fuse was lit. Burning down by the minute. And surrounded by firecrackers.

“You know, hindering an investigation is really not a smart thing to do,” Danny said silkily, his voice quiet and dangerous.

“You wanna know what would be smart for you right now?” The phone buzzed again, and Paul glanced at the screen. His hand was outstretched to pick it up again when Danny beat him to it.

Danny closed his fingers around the phone and tossed it to me. I almost fumbled it, but then I clasped it to my chest, eyes wide. Oh, that did not bode—

Paul’s face went red with anger. “I don’t have time for this nonsense—”

Danny’s hands were suddenly attached to Paul’s collar as the shorter man hung slack in his grip. He growled. “Do you have time for missing kids? You certainly have time to waste our time while you text.”

Paul’s frantic little beady eyes sought out mine from around Danny’s back. “You can’t… he can’t do this,” he spluttered over his suddenly tight checkered tie.

“If only you knew how many witnesses said that exact thing to this man,” I said with a sigh and reviewed my résumé in my head. By the time Danny was done, I’d be lucky to land a job at a FedEx Office. Considering I was always the guy asking for assistance at the copy kiosk, that was not a good thing.

“Fucking cops.” Paul struggled in Danny’s grip, but it was a waste of time and energy. Danny had a full head on him and at least fifty pounds of muscle. Paul would do better to set his shoulder to the wall of the restaurant and try to push it across the street. That would probably go a little better than the ineffective, neck-stretching move he was trying out.

“I’ll have your badge,” Paul finally yelled.

Fuck. At this point you’re going to have to get in line.

Danny looked at him, considered, and gave him a little shake. “Well, if I’m losing my job anyway, I might as well make it worth it. How attached to your kneecaps are you? What do you think, Rain?”

I barely held back a grin. Good cop, bad cop was effective but not quite as much fun as bad cop, badder cop. Hell, we were already going to get into trouble. I might as well enjoy the show.

I pretended to think. “I think they always start with the fingers, Dan.”

“I’m a sucker for tradition,” Danny agreed amicably.

“Goddammit.” Paul had apparently realized that he wasn’t going anywhere without Danny’s say-so. The man wasn’t quick on the uptake, that was for sure. “Call off your dog,” he sneered at me.

I rubbed my chin and pondered. “I dunno. I mean, I’d tell you that his bark is worse than his bite but… I’d be lying.” I winked conspiratorially. “And I hear he’s got rabies.”

“All right, all right,” Paul huffed. “What the hell do you two want?”

“Records,” Danny said, and he lifted Paul a little higher. There was suddenly air between Paul’s tan sneakers and the commercial-grade linoleum. “Now.”

MY INDIGNATION lasted all the way to the parking lot. My righteousness lasted until I was settled in the passenger seat. The guilt settled in sometime around me buckling my seatbelt. That was not the way to conduct an investigation. Despite Danny’s preferred approach of bashing heads first and asking questions later.

“Jesus,” I muttered. “I work with you for a week, and I’m already bullying witnesses.”

Danny slammed the car in reverse. “I wouldn’t waste any tears on that prick. Besides, I’m lead. If you can’t handle that, then you know where the door is.”

“I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job.”

“Because that’s not like the FBI at all, right?”

I sent him a sideways look and took in his tense hands and even tighter jaw. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

“Then don’t.”

Easier said than done. But I didn’t want to spend the time we had together fighting. And since clearly Danny didn’t want to spend it fucking, I was going to have to come up with something else. I sighed. “What do you say we end this night like normal people?”

“No murder. No mayhem?” He arched a brow. “Whatever shall we do?”

“Want to Netflix and chill?”

His mouth fell open. “You did not just say that.”

My eyes twinkled. “What’s wrong. Too hip? I got it from my nieces. I think I used it right.”

“I’m fairly certain you did not.” He laughed until I feared for his safety. He finally managed to speak again. “I’m up for Netflix. No chill.”

I shrugged. Can’t blame a guy for trying. “Sounds like a plan.”

And it certainly was that. I just don’t know if it was a good plan. Extending our contact rather than going to our separate rooms and ignoring one another? That tree limb must’ve hit me harder than I’d thought.

“Let’s hit the drive-through first,” I said. “I want nuggets.”

I BLINKED groggily and looked around to get my bearings. The logo of the cable company bounced around on the screen and cast a bluish glow over everything. It was quiet and still in the semidarkness of the living room. I squirmed a little and realized I was on the couch. And I wasn’t alone.

I tried to move backward and met resistance. Solid resistance. Resistance in the form of a pair of strong, tanned arms. I froze. I didn’t need to look down and see the ace of spades tattoo on the forearm to check.

Memories flooded me. We got home and went to our separate rooms to shower and change. Then we ate dinner in front of the TV and took the rare opportunity to veg out and watch some random cop show. And then, at some point, we fell asleep. I was a little fuzzy as to how we’d gotten in this particular predicament, but the general sequence of events was pretty clear.

Wonderful. The hardness I felt pressing against my lower back? Wonderful squared.

It meant nothing. It was just a matter of physiology. Only… my body had some physiology too. And my physiology remembered how good it felt when Danny took me this way. Took me almost before I was even really awake enough to realize what was happening. Just waking up in time for the sensation of slick penetration. That thick cock breaching me. Stretching me. Sliding along every nerve ending on the way in and then pulling back out.

The fabric of our thin sleep pants wasn’t much protection and gave enough for his long, thick cock to settle briefly between my cheeks. The fabric bunched there and distorted the shape, but it was more than enough for me to rock on. I cautioned myself, even as my hips involuntarily rocked. You know this would just complicate things. We were working together so well. We were able to talk to one another. Be with one another, sometimes all day, without it being weird and awkward. Did I really want to risk all that for a quick fuck?

Yes. I pushed back against his erection and ground on it slowly. I wanted the fabric gone. A soft groan sounded near my ear, and that arm around my waist tightened. Fuck yes.

Danny seemed to be of the same mind as he slid his hand up under my shirt and flattened that broad, rough hand across my stomach. He was busy with his other hand too, working it under the elastic of my sleep pants. He pulled the drawstring and pushed them down to my thighs with little effort at all. My cock bobbed free, sticky and wet and hard, and I could only whine a little in approval. He pulled me back against his chest.

“We don’t have anything,” I said, trying for sanity.

“Departmental testing.” He rucked up my shirt so he could play with my nipples, and he pinched them and tweaked them as I squirmed. Jesus. My nipples were sensitive, and of course he knew that well. “I’m good. You?”

“Yeah, but….” What the hell else did we need? I struggled to think as Danny dipped down between my asscheeks. I could hardly breathe as his thick finger slid over my sensitive opening. “Lube,” I finally gasped out.

“S’okay,” he muttered, face buried in the crook of my neck. “More than what I usually have.”

“What, your right hand and a dirty magazine?”

“Give me a little credit, Rain.” Danny grasped my cock, and I gasped soundlessly. “All my porn is digital.”

God, that man knew every single one of my buttons. Knew what made me gasp and what would make me shoot off the couch like a goddamned rocket. He worked the underside of the head of my dick with this thumb and damn near had me ready to cry.

“That’s it,” I gasped out.

“I know it is. I know you.” His voice was just a whisper in my ear. “Just relax.”

I know you. My cheeks flushed even further. Yes, he did. The words rang in my ears even as I lost myself to sensation. They made me feel cared for. Special. Important. And no, I don’t know when I turned sweet sixteen.

He turned my face to my shoulder, took my mouth with his, and bit and sucked at my lips. His grip was merciless as he worked me expertly, not giving me a chance to back off and build up. And finally that thick finger was pressing inside me, breaching my hole insistently. I ground back on that finger and wished we’d bothered to get the right supplies. I needed that. Wanted that. Needed his dick in me, filling that empty space that was practically pulsating with need.

I know you. I grasped at the couch cushions as I felt that low, tingling sensation start at the base of my spine. My back bowed out, and I came with a wrenching cry and spilled over Danny’s fist. I trembled with the force of it and slammed my eyes shut as Danny spoke soothing words in my ear, held me tight, and kept my shattered pieces together there in the darkness.

I know you.

My eyes drifted shut as he kissed my neck and worked himself furiously, the only sounds in the room the slap of his hand on his dick. I felt guilty not helping, but I couldn’t move an inch to save my life. He came a moment later with a gasp and spilled hot, wet seed on my lower back and in the crack of my ass. I sighed. I’d missed that. Missed him. Missed sex with someone who knew my body just as well as I did.

I know you too.

I’D THOUGHT the next morning would be awkward, waking up tangled on the couch together. Awkward and sticky, since we hadn’t bothered to clean up.

I shouldn’t have worried. I woke up alone and blinked at the morning light that warmed my face. At some point Danny must’ve cleaned me off, because my pajama bottoms didn’t feel sticky either. Thank fuck for small favors. Even though the thought of him cleaning my bare ass while I was vulnerable and asleep made my face grow warm.

I’d no sooner sat up on the couch—hair sticking up in every direction—than the front door opened and let in an alarming amount of blinding sunlight. I shoved a sheaf of hair out of my face and squinted. Danny came in, clad in a BBPD shirt and jogging shorts, a Nano in a fitness band around his arm. He looked so refreshed and healthy it almost hurt to look at him.

I scrubbed at my eyes and mumbled a greeting. “Morning.”

Danny sent me a smile as he pulled neon-colored earbuds out of his ears. “Good, you’re up.”

“Barely.” And I barely caught the bag he tossed me. A bagel from the looks of it. “Breakfast?”

“Yeah. Thought I’d get in a run and grab something on the way back.”

“Thanks.” I peered in the bag and inhaled the yeasty smell. And because Jesus hadn’t forsaken me entirely, there was a little tub of flavored cream cheese in there too. “What time are we leaving?”

“Just give me time to grab a shower. Twenty minutes?”

“Sounds good.”

Where the hell was the lover who had whispered in my ear? Taken care of me tenderly without expecting a thing in return? Cleaned me up while I was sleeping so I wouldn’t wake up stuck to the couch like a fucking human decal? How did that guy fit in with breezy, here’s-breakfast guy?

I stared glumly at the bagel. If I’d known that guy would disappear for good, I would’ve fucked him last night. Twice.

“You okay?” Danny grabbed a bottle from the fridge and stared at me as he drank, throat moving thirstily.

“Yeah. ’Course.” I blew out a breath. “Just glad we’re okay is all.” And so what if my tone was a little bitter.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” He looked genuinely surprised.

“Last night….” I gestured helplessly at the couch, otherwise known as the scene of the crime. I stared at the spot as though there were a chalk outline of our prone bodies.

He stared at me for a moment, brow furrowed, and I went pink. God help me, one day I’d learn how to leave well enough alone. “I’m just glad things aren’t awkward,” I said awkwardly.

He tossed the empty water bottle in the recycling bin and made a beeline for the couch. He leaned in and kissed me on the jaw, and his lips scraped against my morning stubble. Strangely enough that simple brush of the lips felt more intimate than a kiss on the mouth. He smelled of clean sweat and pine and minty toothpaste, and his mouth was damp and cool from the water. It was an intoxicating mix. My nostrils flared, and I was tempted to pull him back down when he straightened.

“It was just blowing off a little steam. You ever hear of sex? Stress relief?” He shook his head. “Why does everything have to be so complicated with you? You need to turn off your brain for a few.”

I widened my eyes. “But then I might not be able to get it back on. I mean, look at you.”

His eyes looked amused. “You’re a funny guy. I’m just glad we’re on the same page.” He headed for the bathroom. “I’m going to get ready. We’ve got work to do.”

I sighed and rubbed my neck. “Sounds good.”

I didn’t know who I was talking to, really. The bathroom door had already closed. I stared down at my bagel, which looked like it’d been dipped in birdseed.

I glanced over to find Ethan sitting cross-legged on the coffee table. He gave me a pitying look. Of course. Because calling his name for thirty minutes didn’t get his attention. Apparently the ghost equivalent of the bat signal was my humiliating moment. Next time I needed to talk to him, I’d just have someone pants me in public.

“Don’t,” I warned on a low growl.

He held up his hands. “Even if I wanted to.”

It was a sad day when a ghost felt sorry for me. But I wasn’t too pathetic—at least I’d had sex. Wait. Not sex. What’d he call it? Blowing off a little fucking steam. I took a vicious bite of the bagel and ripped it with my teeth.

Good to know.