Page 75 of Imperial Stout
His bedmate grumbled about moving, so Cam moved for him, rolling them onto their sides and carefully slipping out.
“So smart, Agent Byrne.”Nic grinned mockingly, face half in the pillow.
Cam slapped his ass for the sass while a contented, humming Nic wiped his hand on the sheet.He nestled down into the bed, not seeming to care that the sheets were a disaster even before they’d made a mess of them.
Shaking his head, amused to no end by this side of Nic, Cam cleaned up in the bathroom, then did a quick lap around the house, checking locks and making sure blinds and curtains were drawn against the rising morning sun.
Aswooshby his feet, thepitter patterof claws on hardwood, and Bird, whom he’d fed and watered when they’d first gotten in, snuck into the bedroom ahead of him, hopping onto the bed with ameow.
Nic startled, but not enough to do more than grumble and attempt to shake the cat off from where he was crawling up his back.“Fucking Bird.”
Cam grabbed the troublemaker and dropped him back on the floor, shooing him out of the room.“Spoken like a true Lakers fan.”
“Wrong end of the state.”
“Warriors, then.”
Nic buried his head in the pillow, muffling his laughable words.“Worse, Kings.”
“Oh, you poor baby.”Chuckling, Cam slid back into the bed beside him.“But I understand.Being a Red Sox fan wasn’t always championships.”
“Fuck,” Nic groaned, snuggling up to him.“You’re gonna be insufferable come October.”
“Says the Giants fan.”
He got a light snore in answer.Good; Cam didn’t want anyone to see the stupid grin on his face.Nic had implied they’d be together for at least the next several months.Cam liked that idea a lot.He didn’t, however, like the idea of Nic being caught in the crosshairs of his father’s mistakes.Worse still that Nic was in jeopardy for a man who’d disowned him, who’d turned him out for being gay.Cam didn’t even know the fucker, but no way he was going to let Nic get hurt because of him more than he’d already been hurt.
Threats, Nic had argued, but Cam was far from convinced.Someone had tried to gun him down tonight.What was next?Worst-case scenarios ran through his head.Sure, Nic could take care of himself better than most, but depending on how much force was brought to bear against him, he could be injured, killed, kidnapped.He was Curtis’s only son.And a successful one in his own right.The loan sharks could try to ransom him or force Nic to deed over his interest in the brewery.In any of those scenarios, Cam didn’t see Nic walking out alive.
Cam shouldn’t have walked out of last night’s scenario or the past week alive either, much less happy and with his psyche intact and the man he’d wanted for months in his bed, but Nic had helped make all that happen.Had anchored him when he’d needed it most.He had to do the same for Nic.Had to make sure Nic stayed anchored to this Earth with him.
Extending his arm, he snagged his phone off the bedside table where he’d plugged it in.Nic snuffled, pulling him closer, then settled back down, snoring evenly.Cam brought the phone closer and texted Lauren.
Get me everything we have on Curtis Price.
He didn’t expect the text right back, assuming Lauren had already passed out.Nic’s father?Did something happen?Was there another attempt?
The rest of the pieces fell into place.Tonight wasn’t the first time Nic had been targeted.The sniper at the initial botched raid.The car at the foiled South Park meet.TheUnknowncalls and hang-ups.
Another text came in from Lauren.Shit, I might have said too much.
No fucking shit.Hewas her boss.She should have told him all this before now if she and Nic had already put it together.Unless...
Nic shifted in his arms, reacting to his sudden tension.He’d probably asked her not to say anything with how closely he’d played this to the vest, and with Cam undercover on a dangerous assignment himself.Nic had been protecting him.
Now he had to protect Nic.
Everything, Lauren.Full report when we’re back in the office.
On it.
A ray of sunlight snuck through the curtains again, splashing light across Nic’s back.The giant tattoo came to life, the intricately carvedGSstanding out in stark relief.How had he ever missed it on first glance?
His biggest mess, Nic had said.Then tonight, when asked why he’d left home, he’d been holding something back.Cam had let it go, too eager to address the immediate danger, then too eager to get his mouth around Nic’s dick.In the light of morning, Cam realized Nic had glossed over the exact details of the falling out with his father.Cam sensed it wasn’t just his coming out.He also sensed it maybe had something to do with Nic’s familiarity with abuse cases and victim support organizations.Was it Nic or someone else?
ThisGS?Who or what exactly had driven him to that enlistment office the day after graduation?His investigator’s brain wouldn’t let this go now.
He sent Lauren another text.And see if you can find anyone with the initialsGSconnected to Nic or Curtis.
She sent back the thumbs-up emoji and some of his tension rolled away on a quiet laugh.He darkened the screen and laid the phone back down on the table.
Relaxing into the mattress, he dragged Nic closer, half on top of him, so he could wrap both arms around him, holding Nic tight as he kissed his drying brown and gray curls.
He needed to know everything if he was going to be ready.This was serious.
Cam wouldn’t lose someone else he loved.