Page 22

22

Diem

T allus seemed too shocked to argue or notice when I snagged the half-empty bottle of whiskey from the bedside table instead of drinking the lukewarm coffee from the carafe. The liquor worked wonders to blanket the pain coursing through my shoulder and neck every time I moved. Mixed with a few painkillers, I hoped I could continue this godforsaken investigation.

“Hold on a freaking minute.” Tallus held the iPad, squinting his gorgeous hazel eyes at the screen like he wasn’t wearing his glasses. “He’s their father?”

“Yep.”

“The English teacher.”

“Yep.”

“Hugh Abercrombie the English teacher.”

“Yes, Tallus.”

A property search had proven Delaney correct. The three-story white house where we’d seen the twins come and go belonged to Hugh Abercrombie. Delaney had claimed Londyn’s last name was Brydges, which had thrown me off, but a quick search in the right places gave me answers.

Hugh Abercrombie was or had been in a relationship with a woman named Sonya Brydges. I found no record to confirm they were married, but it wasn’t unusual for couples to live as common law these days. The twins were clearly a result of that relationship and had been given their mother’s last name.

Tallus removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Let me get this straight. The twins have a secret hideout in the woods, where evidence suggests they hold secret club meetings. A member of this secret club winds up in the river under suspiciously similar circumstances to a story the club was working to perfect. Hence, it’s not far-fetched to think someone else in the club could be responsible for Weston’s… accident .”

“Yep.”

“Do you think Hugh knows Loyal is running a secret writing club in the woods? Essentially in his cabin?”

“I don’t know. When we mentioned to the twins that we knew about the location, Londyn got panicky, remember?”

“I do.”

Tallus flipped the iPad screen back to the Notes app. “Who do we know is in this club for sure? Londyn and Loyal are a given.”

“Duke, who seems to harbor a crush on Londyn.”

Tallus stared into the middle distance. “Do you think there might have been a rivalry between him and Weston?”

“Maybe.”

Tallus jotted it down. “What was the girl’s name who was hanging off Loyal’s arm at the diner?”

“Noel. She didn’t talk highly of Weston either. Kept mentioning him stealing her ideas.”

“I don’t think that’s grounds to kill him.”

“Probably not, but it could have invoked a fight. There’s Chett, too,” I said, remembering the kennel and Echo. “And it was his dad out in the woods with a rifle.”

Tallus’s face turned contemplative. “Why do you think Chett’s father was out there? It’s not his property.”

I rolled some ideas around and shook my head. “I don’t know. Unless he suspects his kid is up to no good and did something wrong. He could be protecting Chett’s secret.”

“But what would Chett have against Weston? Apparently, they were best friends.”

“Chett seems more loyal to… Fuck me. To Loyal. He strikes me as the type who would abandon a long-term friendship if it meant being popular, and for some fucking reason, Loyal seems to be the top dog in that group. The one to impress. Chett might even do the popular kid’s dirty work if asked because he’s desperate to be one of the cool kids.”

“And you think Loyal wasn’t a fan of Weston.”

“I guarantee it.”

“Why?”

“No clue, but the way he acts with his sister makes me think he didn’t like Weston getting cozy with her.”

Tallus stole the last strawberry from the tray and popped it into his mouth. “Is that it?”

“Atlas. I’d like to have another word with that fucker. I have a feeling we can press him for more information. That kid has no loyalties to anyone.”

“Do you think he knows what happened?”

It was my turn to consider. “Maybe. I have a hunch he doesn’t know for sure, but I think he suspects.”

Tallus clicked his tongue in a familiar way. He did it when he thought hard. “So what do you want to do?”

“Find out who dropped a goddamn tree on me and rearrange their face.”

It wasn’t exactly a joke, and Tallus didn’t laugh. Sorrow pinched his features as he stared at my bruised shoulder. “The question is, who could have done that, D? It’s no easy feat scaling a tree and rigging it to come down on us. It must have been while we were in the woods, investigating the cabin. If it was a warning, then who’s warning us?”

I picked through options as I scowled at the leftover cold scrambled eggs. Tallus was right. Whoever had done it was skillful, smart, and efficient. “We were in the woods for close to forty minutes.”

“During school hours.”

“That doesn’t fucking matter. Kids skip all the time.”

“Did that seem like something a teenager could do?”

“Not alone, but as a group… Two or three of them…” Or were we looking at an adult? A crazy man and his dog, hell-bent on keeping us away from the cabin. Why? To protect his son? Chett was lower on my list of suspects, but not if he’d become Loyal’s grunt.

I covered the breakfast tray and moved it aside with a grumble of pain. “I need a fucking shower. Delaney’s sorting out a rental for us. We can pick it up in an hour. We have a handful of kids to interview.”

“They’re in school until three.”

“Nicholas isn’t. Let’s head back to the kennel and find out what he knows about Chett’s relationship with the twins. I’d also like to know what the fuck his old man has been doing on Abercrombie’s property. If Nicholas doesn’t know, he sure as hell can find out for us.”

With a plan for the day, I focused on how exactly I would make it happen. Getting out of bed was the first step. Showering was the second. If I could manage both tasks, I would consider it a win.

I hadn’t been bullshitting Tallus. The joint was more mobile that morning, if not stiff from swelling. As much as I wanted another hefty swig of whiskey, I left the bottle on the bedside table and rolled my aching ass out of bed with a slurry of curses.

Tallus hovered like he wanted to help but was afraid to offer. When my knees trembled, he held out a hand. I took it and let him guide me to the bathroom. He ran the water until it was warm and pulled the curtain, starting the shower.

“Want me to leave?”

“No… Can you… Can you help me get my shirt off?” The thought of pulling it over my head on my own made me nauseous.

Gently, Tallus gathered the hem and hiked it up as far as he could. I bent so he could hook it carefully over my head. The uninjured arm popped out without issue. The other required caution and teamwork, but we managed.

I stared at the worried pinch in Tallus’s brow, a vague memory of the previous night coming back to me. Taking him in my arms. Holding him against my chest. Never wanting to let him go. He’d slept in my arms all night. No panic, uncertainty, or noisy brain telling me I was doing everything wrong and didn’t deserve him.

Without thinking, I cupped his cheek, stroking gently with a thumb.

Tallus searched my face with shimmery hazel eyes. “You okay, Guns?”

“I’m glad it wasn’t you. It would have destroyed me to see you hurt.”

His attention moved to my bruised shoulder. The tender touch of his fingers explored the injury and raised goose bumps along my arms. “I hate seeing you in pain, too, D.”

“I’ve been worse off. Trust me. I’ll live.”

“Don’t you think you’ve suffered enough for one lifetime?”

My dad never thought so, but I wisely stayed quiet, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate those truths. I’d always thought the universe didn’t want me happy, but lately, I’d been cautiously optimistic that I was wrong. The universe had given me Tallus. With him in my life, I clung to hope for the first time ever. Maybe happiness wasn’t out of reach.

“What can I do for you?” I heard myself asking the question, my voice clogged with emotion I didn’t have the strength to hide. “Anything, Tallus.”

The shower rained down, beating against the plastic curtain as Tallus shifted his gaze over my face. “It’s me who should be making the offer.”

I wet my dry lips and forged deep for the courage to continue. “Will you shower with me?”

A hint of surprise lit up Tallus’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I… I kind of want to… be naked with you.” Taking the initiative without guidance or instruction was new for me, but I glided my hand down the smooth skin of his torso and hooked my fingers into the band of his underwear. “May I?”

He nodded, so I pushed them over his hips and let them fall to the ground.

I mapped his naked body while a deep thrum of pleasure vibrated in my core. “You’re so fucking gorgeous. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

His smile was bashful and pure. “I think alcohol works wonders to break you out of your shell. No wonder you used to show up at my house half in the bag.”

I frowned and took his jaw in a loose grip, angling his head so he looked me in the eyes. “I’ve had two sips this morning. Believe me, it takes a lot more than that for a guy my size to be affected by alcohol. This isn’t whiskey talking, Tallus.”

And maybe it took nearly getting crushed by a tree for me to wake up and get with the program. Or it could have been fear. If Tallus and I had been standing opposite, it would have been him in the tree’s path. It would have been Tallus taking the blunt force of the blow. With his much smaller stature and finer bones, it would have done irreparable damage.

It could have killed him. I choked on the thought, and a strangled noise escaped my throat.

“D?” Tallus touched my chest over my heart. “Breathe.”

A deep-rooted tremble took over my body, and I couldn’t stop it. “It could have been you.”

“It wasn’t.”

“But it could have been.” I drew his face toward me but couldn’t hunch enough to kiss him. Recognizing my limitations, Tallus rose to his toes and closed the distance. His mouth was the only balm I needed. He tasted like heaven. Like freedom. Like happiness.

He wrapped his fingers around my neck, holding me close. Only when he tugged did I wince. He loosened his grip, and we parted. “In the shower.”

I followed him under the spray, unable to take my eyes off his body. His perky ass, lean torso, bare chest, and gorgeous cock that stood erect and interested. In me. I might never understand.

He washed me carefully, gliding soap-slick hands over every inch of my body, taking care with my injured side. The warm water worked wonders at loosening my aching muscles, and the steady throb eased the longer we were in the shower.

Before he put the soap away, I held out a hand. “My turn.”

He arched a brow and passed it over. I’d never done this before, but I wanted to more than anything. I worked the soap into a sudsy foam and, with halting movements, brought my hands in contact with his warm, silky skin.

Tallus’s lips parted, and the water clinging to his lashes made him all the more sexy. I caressed his body, washing him as he’d done to me, freely touching him like I’d always wanted but never been brave enough to do.

A soft moan escaped his lips, and he lowered his forehead to my chest.

One arm was less functional than the other, but I fought to keep moving, urgently wanting to take advantage of a moment of courage. I mapped his back and skated my hands down his spine to the round globes of his ass. It required bending more than my injury liked, but I gritted my teeth through the pain. It was worth it. Once I started touching him, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get enough.

How was this real?

Why had I been granted such pleasure?

Tallus rocked his erection against me, and my own swelled in response. I wanted to be inside him. I wanted him wrapped around me. If I could have hiked him into my arms and pressed him against the wall, I’d have buried myself in his body. I’d have taken my time. I didn’t want to open my eyes because this must have been a dream, and I didn’t want to wake up.

“D?”

I moved a hand between us, taking his cock and stroking. He whimpered and pressed into my hold. “Oh god, Diem.” I stroked faster, adding a twist of the wrist every so often to ramp up the pleasure.

“Fuck…. Diem… Do you want me to come?”

“Not yet,” I rasped, slowing the pace. “In bed.”

He blinked water-damp lashes, a querying look in his eyes. “In…”

“Rinse.”

We rinsed, and he shut off the water. Drying proved difficult, but Tallus took care to run the fluffy pink towel over spots that hurt too much to reach. But I didn’t care about being dry. I cared about riding the momentum before it vanished, before my brain caught up and I lost the nerve.

I took his hand and brought him back into the bedroom.

“Lie down,” he said, but I shook my head.

“You lie down.”

Every time we fucked in a bed, Tallus took the lead by laying me on my back and riding me. Not this time.

I motioned to the bed. “On your back.”

All Tallus seemed to be able to do was stare. I rooted through my bag for a condom and lube. By the time I located them, he still hadn’t moved.

“On the bed, Tallus.” The growl in my tone got him moving.

I hated the doubt in his eyes. He didn’t trust this was real any more than I thought I could sustain this level of bravery.

My shoulder screamed as I crawled onto the bed, stopping only when Tallus was beneath me. I balanced on my good arm, keeping inches between our shower-warm bodies. Lust replaced the doubt when I stroked his cheek.

“I’m kind of sore, but I’m going to do my best.”

“It’s all I’ve ever asked for, D.”

“I know. I’ve wanted to… I dream about… Tallus, you’re…” I closed my eyes in frustration. If touching was a challenge, talking about my feelings was almost worse. No one had taught me how, and my father had beaten what he considered to be sissy emotions out of me before I was old enough to understand.

Tallus brushed his feet over my calves, drawing me back to the present. I met his patient gaze. “I’m just… going to do this and stop trying to talk about it.”

He chuckled. “Such a charmer.”

“Shut up, Tallus.” I lowered my head and kissed him. He met me heart and soul, encouraging me to lower my body so we connected. I did, cautious of my extra weight, not wanting to crush him.

His tongue, his lush mouth, his warm skin. It buzzed like electricity through my veins. A deep, insatiable yearning took over. Tallus hooked his ankles at my lower back and moved against me, our cocks brushing together with delicious friction.

A month ago, a week ago, I couldn’t touch Tallus without battling a swirling vortex of negative thoughts. That morning, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. For once, my dad’s taunting words and my own reprimands vanished.

It was Tallus and me and endless possibilities.

I roamed a hand over his body, memorizing every inch of his flawless skin, silky and smooth under my rough palm. I devoured his mouth, sucked his tongue, and barely let him come up for air. I was a man drained of nourishment, deprived for too long, hungry for replenishment.

I couldn’t get enough. I wanted all of him. I wanted to be inside of him. I wanted to protect him and ensure no harm ever came his way.

With a generous helping of lube coating my fingers, I prepped him, knowing I needed to slow down and take my time, but Tallus’s moans fanned the flames, and I couldn’t.

He helped me with the condom, and before I could order my thoughts, I pushed inside his willing body, growling at the surrounding heat and squeeze of him around me. It was heaven, and my good arm trembled. It wouldn’t hold me up much longer.

I moved to an elbow, bringing my face against Tallus’s neck and inhaling as I slowly moved inside him. We’d never been this close. Sex had never been this intimate. I was lost in an ocean with no land in sight and didn’t know how to swim.

But I didn’t fucking care anymore. I was happy to drown in everything Tallus.

If there was pain in my shoulder, I didn’t feel it. I sucked his neck like I’d always dreamed, marking him, claiming him, owning him.

“Mine,” I growled.

I bit his ear until he hissed, then soothed the skin with tender kisses. I thrust relentlessly into his body as he moaned and begged for “more, deeper, harder.”

He wound his lithe limbs around me, and we moved together. It was an out-of-body experience, like it was happening to someone who wasn’t me. But it was me. And it was Tallus. And this was us and ours to share.

Pleasure was a slow-building flame in my lower abdomen. Every thrust brought me closer. Every whimper and gasp of pleasure that crossed his lips was gasoline. It didn’t matter that I’d lain him out and taken control. Tallus was not submissive. He raked nails over my scalp. He angled his body how he needed it. He planted his heels in my lower back and matched my pace, tugging me deeper and setting a brutal pace.

When he clenched around me, I came unexpectedly, roaring and gritting my teeth as I buried myself deep inside him, riding the waves as I trembled, spilling into the condom.

In a distant part of my brain, I wondered how much more amazing it would be to unload without a barrier. To fill him with my release. To claim him in a different way.

I pushed the thought away when it stirred my anxiety. I didn’t want to be anxious. I wanted to drift on the euphoria of the moment.

Tallus took my face in his hands, and we kissed again, wet, desperate kisses that went on for a long time. Tongues. Teeth. Sweat rode the bridge of my nose. I moved inside him, slowly at first as my world righted, then faster, letting him find his pleasure as well. When he came and cried my name, it was a heady rush.

All the feelings and emotions I’d been carefully keeping at bay hit me square in the chest. I hardly knew what to do with them.

We slowed, still moving together but less frantic, bodies slick with sweat. Breathless and boneless, I eventually pulled out and collapsed at Tallus’s side so I could remove the condom. Still half-draped over his body, connected in every other way imaginable, I studied my boyfriend, processing all we’d shared.

The lust-drunk look in his eyes made me smile. He touched my mouth, tracing the curve of my lips. “That… was fucking incredible.”

I couldn’t find words, so I continued to stare at him in wonder. Wound together, neither of us seemed to be in a hurry to get up. As the adrenaline faded, the pain returned tenfold, so I closed my eyes to ride it out.

Tallus massaged his fingers over my scalp, and it soothed me to sleep.