ArousingMemories (12 page)

He stood aside to let her pass him. She opened the door to
the conference room where he had stashed the two boys they had grabbed off the
Esplanade. While that particular area of Boston had nothing to do with the
Revolution, the Boston Pops always played a big concert there for the Fourth. A
bomb would take out hundreds for sure. Sev suppressed a shudder at the thought
and followed Haley inside the room. The two kids still had sullen looks on
their faces, although he was pleased to see a little more fear mixed in there
as well. At the sight of Haley, the mouthier of the two started in.

“Are you in charge here?” he demanded, standing up.

The operative baby-sitting them gripped the kid’s shoulder
with his beefy hand. “Sit down!” he ordered.

Haley nodded at her man. “Thank you. You can go.”

“Yes ma’am.” The guy rolled his eyes
at Sev as he left the room. Sev understood the gesture. Terrorists or not,
these two boys were a pain in the ass. Either they were hard-core believers or
too pampered to realize how much trouble they were in.

Haley stood on the other side of the table from the kids,
arms crossed, legs braced apart. She stared at them until they squirmed, and
Sev’s mood picked up. This was going to be good. He had trained this woman and
it pumped him up knowing she was a real ballbuster when it came to the bad
guys. Still, this shaggy-haired pair in their Goth clothes didn’t ring the bell
for him. He couldn’t picture them as terrorists. After a few long minutes of
silence, the more aggressive of the two cracked.

“What?” he demanded of Haley. “What are you staring at?”

“Hmm,” Haley replied in a contemplative fashion. “I’m not
sure. Either I’m staring at a couple of dopes or a couple of terrorists.”

“Terrorists!” the other kid squeaked. Up until now he had
let his friend do all the talking. “We’re not terrorists,” he added vehemently.

“Jesus, Craig,” the first boy said with disgust. “She
doesn’t think we’re terrorists. She’s busting our chops. Man, you are a dope,”
he added with a shake of his head. He looked at Haley and sneered. “I want my
lawyer.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said and made a mockingly sad face. “No
lawyers here, are there?” she asked, turning to Sev.

“No ma’am,” he replied, taking his cue from her and giving
his voice the same tone of regret.

“Bullshit! I know my rights.” The kid tried to stand up
again, then thought better of it when Sev growled.

“Oh, your rights.” Hands clasped behind her back, Haley
paced the length of the room. “Let’s talk about your rights. Do you have a
right to plant a bomb on the Hatch Shell and detonate it when thousands of
people are listening to the Pops concert?”

“A bomb? Oh, man,” the quieter boy found his voice again. He
turned to his companion. “I told you this was a boneheaded move, Dillon. I told
you other guys had gotten into trouble for doing shit like this. But no, you
said it would be cool, that we’d get an A for our chem project if we hung
fireworks on the Hatch Shell. You said everyone would get that it was just a
gag. You said.”

“I know what I said!” the mouthy one, Dillon, exploded. “Be
cool, man, she’s just jerking our chain.”

Haley had stopped her pacing and now placing her hands
square on the table, leaned into the boys. “Oh, I’m going to jerk your chain
all the way to federal prison.”

Craig looked like he was about to shit his pants, and even
Dillon the smart-mouth was starting to sweat. “Please, ma’am,” Craig pleaded.
“I swear it was all a prank. There’s not enough explosives in our project to
hurt anyone. It was only going to set off a few sparklers and make an American
flag pop out. That’s all. Honest. You must have a lab or something that can
tell, right?” His gaze was darting from Haley to Sev. The fear was real enough,
and Sev was pretty sure at this point they were what they appeared to be, two
kids with far fewer brain cells than they knew. He waited, though, to see how
Haley was going to play it. This was her op and he respected her enough to play
second fiddle as ordered.

Haley didn’t answer. She continued to stare down the pair
until they both lowered their heads. Craig looked like he was starting to cry
and Dillon was chewing on his lower lip in obvious fear. Finally, she stood up.
“Yeah,” she drawled out. “We have labs. We’re checking your little science
project. If it’s what you say it is, all you have to worry about is state
charges for illegal fireworks, disturbing the peace, that sort of thing. You
probably won’t have much in the way of jail time,” she tossed in as she left
the room.

“Oh, shit!” Craig said, and it was clear now he was crying.
Dillon, however, shot Sev a dirty look.

“Stay!” He barked out the order and followed Haley into the
hall. The other operative rolled his eyes once more as he went back in to
resume his babysitting duties.

Leaning against the wall, Haley looked pissed. “Stupid
little fuckers,” she fumed.

“You can say that again. Sorry I pulled you in for nothing.”
Sorry I took you away from Noah’s arms
, he thought, except he wasn’t
sorry. Not really. He much preferred her being with him even if all they were
doing was talking. And wasn’t that too pathetic? He had thought he’d gotten
over her, but he had been wrong. Now that they were working together again, he
couldn’t lie to himself anymore. He loved her still, and the fear he had
developed for her wasn’t so bad when he was there to keep an eye on her. But
there was no way to go back and pick up the pieces of their relationship even
if she were willing. And wasn’t that a big if? The truth was when this op was
over, it would be back to them leading separate ops and his fear for her was
going to make him go all caveman on her again. It was hopeless.

“It’s okay,” she replied with a weary eye roll. “I wasn’t
doing anything productive anyway.”

“You were with Noah,” he pointed out, pleased at how casual
his tone of voice was.

“For all the good it’s doing. He asked me to tell him more
about who he is and what he was doing when he lost his memories. I told him
some things. I didn’t tell him about Jill.”

“Probably for the best. He might not be able to handle it at
this point.”

“I suppose, although if we don’t take chances, he won’t get
them back in time.” She stared at him, lips pursed, eyes flinty. He knew that
look. She wasn’t happy. “You should go check in on him.”

Ah, that was it. She was pushing him at Noah in the hopes he
would succeed where she had failed. She didn’t like it, though. It bothered
her. Question was why? Was it the competition which had always been a part of
their relationship, or was it jealousy? If the latter, what was she jealous of,
his being with Noah or Noah being with him? He liked the second possibility
more. He wanted to believe Haley didn’t like someone else fucking him. He
wanted to believe she still loved him the way he loved her.

Dream on.
If he really thought that, he was an even
bigger dope than “Dumb” and “Dumber” inside the conference room. Still, if he
couldn’t have Haley, then he may as well go seduce the guy. He did like him and
he was worried about him. Maybe he could still succeed where Haley had failed.
Part of him liked the idea of besting her, and part of him was disgusted with
himself for it.

And yet he nodded at the suggestion. “Okay. You going to
wait for the lab results?”

She turned her head away from him and nodded. “Yes, and when
we get confirmation it was just a hoax, I’ll send them over to the Boston P.D.
Good luck,” she added, the words sounding forced. “Good luck with Noah.”

Sev didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. He turned
and walked away.

* * * * *

He found Noah in his bedroom, but now there was a television
with a cable box. The other man was sitting up in bed in his boxer shorts and
nothing else, pressing the remote. Sev knocked once before pushing the
half-open door all the way and stepping inside. Noah looked up at the sound and
smiled.

“Hey, Sev. Come on in.”

Sev shut the door behind him and approached the bed. The
sight of the younger man in so few clothes made Sev think about stripping them
all off. His cock liked the idea as well. He didn’t pounce right away, though.
Something in Noah’s eyes checked the impulse. “How’s it going?” he asked
instead.

“Hmm,” Noah replied and clicked the set off. “Haley arranged
for the television, but I’m sorry I asked for it. All I see are news reports
about the Fourth celebrations and that only serves to remind me how totally
useless I am right now.”

“Hey,” Sev started to say.

“No.” Noah cut him off with an angry jerk of his head.
“Don’t try to tell me otherwise. Please,” he added with a fierce look. Sev
could see the misery in the man’s eyes, and it made him want to climb into bed
and hold Noah tight. He wanted to ease his hurt, but realized denying the truth
wouldn’t help.

Settling on the end of the bed, he said, “Okay, I won’t.
You’re right. We’re in a tight spot. We’re all on edge about it and feeling
pretty helpless. Lives will be lost if we can’t stop this thing. Getting your
memories back would be great. We can’t count on that, however, so there’s
little point in beating you or ourselves up about it. I’m sure Haley feels
guilty about your being hurt in the first place. But guilt and anger and
frustration’s not going to get the job done. Right?”

Noah sighed. “No, I suppose not.” He slid down on the bed a
bit farther. His foot bumped up against Sev’s thigh. Deliberate? Maybe. Sev’s
body certainly didn’t give a damn. His skin flushed with excitement. His cock
twitched even more to life. “She shouldn’t feel guilty about me,” the other man
continued. He didn’t seem to notice the contact, except, hello, was that little
Noah peeking out from the front of the boxers?

Sev slid down onto his side, resting his head on the palm of
his hand. “Haley cares, a lot. It makes her a good field operative, a good team
leader.” His hand crept up to clasp Noah’s leg right below the knee.

“She cares too much, I think. She’s spending too much time
with me when she should be concentrating on the mission. I don’t matter.” As he
talked, Noah moved his leg and bent it so that his foot could press against
Sev’s groin. A groan escaped Sev’s lips at the contact with his already aroused
cock. “You shouldn’t be here, either,” Noah admonished, scrunching his toes
against the bulging crotch.

Somewhere in his mind Sev realized Noah didn’t know why
Haley and Sev were spending so much time with him. He didn’t understand they
were trying to fuck his memories back. Just as well, too. Such knowledge
couldn’t possibly help matters. Best to leave it alone and concentrate on the
pleasure of playing with Noah’s body.

Sitting up abruptly, Sev yanked his t-shirt over his head.
“I’ve done all I can for one day,” he said in response to Noah’s concern.
“Right now I want to fuck you. Any objections?”

The other man’s eyes widened at the crude words, but his
eyes roamed over Sev’s naked chest in obvious interest. His tongue licked his
lips as if he were picturing having Sev’s body for a snack. “None whatsoever.”
Noah started to sit up. Sev grabbed an ankle and yanked him back down.

“Don’t move, boy. I want you on your back just as you are.”

“Okay,” was Noah’s breathless reply. He settled down once
more and kept his gaze on Sev.

Wanting to draw the treat out for both of them, Sev slowly
toed off his shoes while undoing his belt. His gaze fixed squarely on the other
man, he snapped open his jeans and drew them down his hips, taking his
underwear with them. His cock was already at full arousal. It sprang out of the
confines of the jeans, an angry red and pumped for action. He stepped out of
the pants, and walked around to Noah’s side of the bed. The guy stared at Sev’s
erection, his chest rising and falling on more rapid breaths.

“See what you do to me, boy?” Sev said in a voice thick with
his own passion. “It’s past time for me to be inside you.”

Noah gnawed at his lower lip. “Have we done that before?” he
asked. There was concern laced in his voice.

Sev smiled at him wickedly and placed one knee on the bed
beside Noah. “Damn right we have.” Leaning over, Sev pressed both hands on the
pillow on either side of Noah’s head. “You love having my cock buried in your
ass.” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead he swooped in for a kiss, his
tongue plunging into Noah’s mouth without asking permission. The other man met
him at the entrance and twined his tongue with Sev’s, sucking hard.

Noah’s hands clasped Sev’s waist and pulled, trying to bring
him down so that their bodies would touch. Sev held firm, though. It was too
soon, and he wanted to be the one in charge. He pulled out of the kiss just in
time to stop Noah from grabbing his cock. “Easy, boy. That’s not for you yet.
Put your hands up by your head and keep them there.” Noah blew out a breath of
frustration, but otherwise complied as Sev knew he would. Sev had the
authority, after all.

He looked down at the lean, hard body and admired its
sleekness, the subtle strength of it. Noah’s skin was flushed with his arousal,
causing his bruises and cuts to fade into the background. His brown nipples
were hard and inviting. Sev bent down to take first one and then the other
between his lips. He sucked and he nipped and was rewarded when Noah groaned
and arched into his mouth. Sev spent a few minutes with those lovely pecs
before he slowly descended the center of Noah’s chest. The skin was so smooth,
so hot, so tasty. Noah’s body jerked with each lick. Looking down to his
destination, Sev saw Noah’s cock jutting out from its confines.

Sev hooked the shorts by their waistband to get them out of
his way, careful to free Noah’s erection before dispensing with the cotton
completely. Now they were both naked. Naked, hard, hot. Sev straddled Noah’s
legs before sucking the man’s cock into his mouth. It tasted salty and got
harder and thicker as Sev sucked it like the treat that it was. Noah gasped and
bucked, causing Sev to pull back. A groan of frustration met Sev’s ears.