Burden (11 page)

He spread them out on his lap, his gaze swinging from one to the next. “There’s not one mention of a woman.”

“No.”

“It’s l-like she wasn’t there.”

“No.”

“But she was. I’d gone to her at a truck stop where she finally said we could meet. I’d b-been trying to get her statement for a m-month. She was s-scared to talk. To give me a name.”

“Lieutenant Caden.” Tonya whispered the words he’d waited to hear for so long. His heart stopped. Fuck. This went way beyond a couple of cops on the take.

“Kristen Caden?”

Liquid-blue eyes met his. Her chin wobbled when she nodded. “I saw her taking Lisa.”

Lisa Patrow had been the fifteenth girl to go missing. A hooker, yes, but she’d only been fifteen.

“Jesus Christ.” Brennan swung his attention to Keegan, only then noticing how tightly he gripped the man’s hand. “It was the fucking lieutenant.”

Keegan swore long and hard. “No wonder someone’s after you. With your memories returning, they had to shut you up before you remembered it all.”

Brennan slouched in the seat, one of the articles clutched loosely in his hand. “But why this? If they wanted m-me dead, why this?”

“Fuck if I know.” After standing, Keegan pulled his cellphone from his pocket and called someone. He paced to the front window where he carefully peeled back the curtain so he could peek outside.

Brennan returned his attention to the papers. How? How had there not been one mention of a woman? Of Tonya Lewis, if that really was her name. She’d either died in the resultant fire of the wreck or been thrown from the car like him. So had she survived? If so, where was she?

Keegan’s shoes entered Brennan’s field of vision, their toes touching. “I’ve got someone looking into it.” The man leaned over, put a knuckle under Brennan’s chin and tilted his head back. “We’ll figure it all out.” His lips settled over Brennan’s, warm and soft with a hint of demand. “Tomorrow.”

Brennan’s cock thrummed beneath his zipper. Fuck pizza. He needed this more.

The knock on the door jolted them apart. Keegan’s hand went to his holster, and he flicked open the snap before looking out the peephole. With a grin at Brennan he pulled open the door, handed the man some money from his wallet, took their food and flipped the deadbolt.

The way he stalked back to the couch made Brennan’s mouth water, and it had nothing to do with pizza.

No, that belonged solely to the look on Keegan’s face as if the only thing he wanted to eat…was Brennan.

The pizza and wings landed with a thud on the coffee table and were immediately forgotten.

Chapter Twelve

Keegan met Brennan’s lips as he pulled the man to his feet. He tugged Brennan’s shirt over his head while toeing off his own shoes and then turned them and forced Brennan backward into the hall and his bedroom beyond. If he didn’t get inside him soon, he would explode.

Their tongues danced, their lips melded, and Brennan’s groans were driving him crazy. He traced his fingers down hard pecs and abs, finding the man’s fly and opening it to grasp the prize inside.

Brennan stumbled, and Keegan caught him against the wall. The bedroom was only feet away. The man might have problems in social settings, but Brennan wasn’t the least bit shy when it came to sex. His hands delved into Keegan’s hair and held tight while he took over the kiss. Keegan pushed his thumbs into Brennan’s waistband and slipped the material past his hips and buttocks. Next he gripped the man’s ass and ground his cloth-covered erection against Brennan’s.

“Bed.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Need you. Now.” Keegan finished with a growl and a shove, directing Brennan into his room and onto the bed. He yanked at the cuffs of Brennan’s jeans, and cursed when he realized the man still had his shoes on. Keegan sent them flying over his shoulders after whipping them off. The jeans and boxers followed, leaving Brennan in nothing but his skin, his erection bobbing proudly and waiting for a hungry mouth.

Keegan had no problem solving that issue. He knelt between Brennan’s legs and swallowed the rigid shaft.

“Fuuuuck.”

A glance up Brennan’s body revealed his lover had his head thrown back and his fingers fisted in the sheets. Good. Keegan had him right where he wanted him. He sucked harder, pulling upward until just the velvety head filled his mouth. With the tip of his tongue, Keegan traced the slit, coaxing a drop of come from within. The salty flavor coated his taste buds.

He used his knees to nudge Brennan’s legs wider and then slipped his hands beneath the man’s knees, both spreading him even more and bending them where he wanted them. Brennan’s hole flinched when Keegan traced the tight pucker there, and if he didn’t get inside him soon…

Keegan released Brennan’s cock with a pop and launched himself toward the bedside table where he kept lube and condoms for the rare times someone might come over. He actually hoped to shit the condoms were still good. Kneeling between Brennan’s stretched-out body, Keegan let his hand wander over protruding hipbones and slick abs. He swirled his finger in a concave belly button and flicked at a hard nipple. Brennan’s teeth came out and bit into his lower lip.

“You like that?” Keegan pinched the other nipple, and Brennan’s hips shot off the bed.

A second later, Brennan’s eyes opened, and he glared at Keegan with a heat Keegan was sure he’d never seen in another man’s eyes.

“Fuck me now, Monroe.”

“My pleasure.” Keegan slicked his fingers with the lube and pressed his forefinger beyond the tight ring of muscle shielding Brennan’s opening.

“More.”

“Relax. I’ll take this as fast as I want.”

Brennan leaned up on one elbow, the look on his face incredulous. “Fuck. Me.”

This was a side of Brennan Keegan hadn’t seen before. He liked it.

Very much.

He added another finger and scissored them inside the tight hole, opening Brennan and preparing him to take Keegan’s cock without getting hurt. The last thing Keegan wanted was to hurt the man who’d somehow stolen his heart in a day.

The mixture of vulnerability, strength and conviction had won him over.

“Keeeeegan, please.” Brennan bit down on his knuckle and shifted, trying to impale himself on Keegan’s fingers.

Keegan chuckled, crooked a finger and searched for just…that…right…

“Yeeessss,” hissed from Brennan’s mouth. The muscles in his neck corded.

Keegan took the opportunity to lick them, all while continuing his onslaught of Brennan’s prostate. Then he couldn’t hold out any longer.

Withdrawing from Brennan’s hole, Keegan pushed his jeans down, ripped open the condom with his teeth and rolled the thin latex barrier over his erection. He squeezed another glob of lube on Brennan’s opening, lined his cock up and eased inside the hot, tight confines of Brennan’s ass.

Keegan swayed back to see where they were connected, to watch as he slowly withdrew and pressed in again and again as if it were the most magical thing on Earth. Brennan writhed beneath him and slid his hand over his cock. Keegan slapped it away.

“Mine.”

“Then do something with it, for God’s sake,” Brennan spat. He squeezed Keegan’s dick in revenge, and Keegan fell forward, catching himself on his hands on either side of Brennan’s head.

Brennan glared up at the face hovering above his and silently dared the other man to stop moving. He squeezed his buttocks in a rhythm guaranteed to drive Keegan wild, which it did. Keegan’s eyes rolled, his nostrils flared.

But Keegan’s torture was nothing compared to Brennan’s as every slide of Keegan’s dick struck his gland in such a way that the breath was sucked from his lungs. He needed to touch himself. Needed to feel the pull on his cock, the touch of something on the outside as well as the inside.

Finally, as if reading his thoughts, Keegan relented and palmed Brennan’s length, at first teasing with featherlight touches and then taking charge by wrapping his fingers around him and pumping. Keegan’s thumb grazed the frenulum, and Brennan jerked upward, lodging Keegan’s cock deep inside him.

He had to have more. Needed it like he needed his next breath. The only thing left to do was beg.

“Please.” His voice sounded strained even to his own ears. What a damn baby he’d become.

“I can’t stand it either.” Keegan’s breath came in pants as he sped up his tempo of thrusting, hard and fast, as deep as he could penetrate, the friction of Keegan’s pelvis on his own making Brennan crazy.

It didn’t take long for either of them. Brennan, because he’d been out of the game so long, and Keegan…well, Brennan liked to think it was just being with him that made Keegan come so quickly. Brennan shouted with his release. Their earlier bout in the shower hadn’t even taken the edge off his need. Above him, Keegan stiffened, his hips pinning Brennan into the mattress, a drop of sweat falling onto Brennan’s cheek. Keegan’s eyes were closed, his jaw tight as he held himself as deep as he could be inside Brennan.

It made Brennan hope Keegan felt as if he couldn’t get close enough.

Keegan collapsed on top of Brennan, his cock still imbedded within his rectum, the stickiness of Brennan’s ejaculation between them, but Brennan couldn’t seem to drum up the urge to care. Sort of felt like he was marking Keegan somehow. Making him his.

That wasn’t weird at all.

They stayed that way for long minutes, listening to each other breathe. Brennan stroked Keegan’s back, his buttocks, his shoulders, learning every inch of him with his fingers.

“Shit.” Keegan’s murmur next to Brennan’s ear made him laugh.

“Is that your idea of pillow talk?”

Keegan snorted. “I don’t see either of us getting much done in the way of talking while we’re in bed together.” He slowly peeled himself upward and withdrew, his penis dragging on Brennan’s sensitive tissues as he did so.

It took a moment before Keegan could stand up without wavering, but then he disappeared into what Brennan assumed was the restroom. He came back out carrying a wet washrag in one hand and rubbing another over his belly. The condom he’d used was gone.

Brennan could admire the man’s dick all day. It really was a nice piece of work.

And then he burst out laughing.

Keegan stopped in his tracks, a bewildered look on his face. “What?”

“You wanna take your pants off next time, cowboy?”

Keegan flipped him off with a smirk on his face and threw the rag at him.

“Just for that, you can clean yourself up. I’m going to get the pizza.”

Brennan leaned forward and admired Keegan’s jean-clad backside as he sauntered from the room.

Chapter Thirteen

The hacking cough against his chest woke Keegan from a deep sleep. He tried to soothe Brennan by rubbing his back, but after a few seconds his own throat tickled and his nose twitched. His lungs spasmed like Brennan’s, and his eyes started watering. And then the stench of smoke struck him like a two-by-four to the forehead. A glance at the bedroom door revealed an orange glow just down the hall.

“Motherfucker.” Between coughs, he shoved on Brennan’s shoulder, urging the man awake. “Get up, Bren. The house is on fire.” Without thinking, he picked up his cell and called 911, barking his information at the dispatcher before throwing the phone on the bed and snapping at Brennan again. Why wasn’t he getting up?

“Waah?” Brennan’s disorientation worried Keegan.

How long had the smoke been invading the room? Keegan jumped from the bed and jerked his jeans on. Forgoing shoes, he shoved his gun into his waistband and tugged on Brennan. “Get up—” A rough cough took control, bending him over and practically choking him.

Brennan sluggishly climbed from the bed and stared at the door, and Keegan saw his chest heave with another round of hacking. They had to get out. The heat was already building in the bedroom. His first thought was the window. Keegan tossed Brennan’s jeans at him, praying the other man would shake off his stupor.

“Shit.” Apparently the jeans smacking him in the face had done the trick. Brennan scrambled into them and ran to the door. “It’s at the end of the hall and c-coming c-closer.” He slammed the door shut and then raced to the bathroom.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Keegan thumbed the lock on the window then blinked as the glass shattered in front of him. Smoke burned his eyes, and confusion racked his mind. What the hell? It wasn’t hot enough for the glass to break on its own, and he hadn’t done anything to break it himself.

Brennan handed Keegan a wet washcloth. “Put this over your m-mouth and nose. What happened to the window?”

Brennan leaned closer to examine the latch. That’s when Keegan saw the bullet hole centered neatly in a web of cracks. It was as if time slowed. He wanted to push Brennan away from the window, but his brain and his arms wouldn’t function quite right.

“Stan?” Brennan gaped out the window. “Why is Stan outside?”

Fuck if Keegan knew why, but it sure as shit didn’t feel right. There was only one reason Stan was outside watching instead of helping. He was shooting at them. Finally the fog in his brain lifted, and Keegan yanked Brennan away from the glass. He smashed him into the wall just as a shot rang out and a bullet pierced the wall on the opposite side of the room, leaving a hole the size of a basketball in the window.

“He set it, Bren.”

Wild-eyed, Brennan searched Keegan’s face. He shook his head in denial. “He wouldn’t.”

“He did.”

“What the fuck are you doing, Stan?” Brennan shouted.

Keegan was barely able to restrain him from poking his head out the window. Another shot echoed in the night. The glow of the fire was visible beneath the door, and smoke licked under the wood, desperately seeking more oxygen.

“I can’t let you take us down.” Stan’s bellow was punctuated by another shot, this time the bullet hitting the sill and burying in the wood.

An angry, mutinous look crossed over Brennan’s face, and with every ounce of waning strength he had, Brennan thrust Keegan away.

“You fucking asshole. We were partners.”

Keegan watched in horror as Stan, who was stationed partially behind a tree now, raised his weapon once more. “I know. That’s why it sucks I have to kill you. Again. You are one lucky son of a bitch. You were supposed to die in the car wreck just like that whore you were with.”