Splinters (13 page)

“Just to the bathroom in the hall.”

“Have another drink when you came back?”

“I…” She blinks a lot before whispering, “Maybe?”

I cover my mouth and lean against the railing on her bed. Someone roofied that bottle of cheap tequila
while it was in her room?
As Smoot takes a moment to tap on his cell phone, my heart gallops knowing someone sinister was inside the ranch house last night.

But why? What was the point of drugging, abducting, and stringing up either of us? We’d been on display, like an exhibit. The only difference being location…and hair loss. It was all so meaningless, so cruel. Was that the reason? Innocent people to torture?

“Do you have any suspects?” Elsie asks as Smoot stands, pocketing his phone.

“Nothing concrete.”

I have to push this time. “But you have an idea? Someone’s standing out in your mind?”

He hooks his thumbs on his belt and gives me a patient look. “Can’t say just yet, but I recommend the two of you stay away from the ranch for now. And…” He sighs heavily. “You should know the call this morning got picked up by a reporter with a police scanner. Vaughn says he’s already nosing around the ranch.”

“Well, shit.” I turn away to look out the little window, half expecting to see a news van or four. The lot’s empty. For now. Even without my name or Elsie’s involved, this will be newsworthy for the speculation and fear it can rouse in the locals. And while no one involved will mean to, someone always talks just a little too much.

“Al, I’ll need my things,” Elsie says, and I return to her side. “I have calls to make.” She looks at Smoot urgently. “Are we free to leave the state?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll make arrangements to leave as soon as they release me.” She reaches for the call button. “Maybe we can make that happen sooner rather than later.”

I try to stop her pushing the button. “Elsie, you shouldn’t—”

“Allan,
don’t
.” The bite to her voice stops me. “I’m getting security personnel and a flight home for both of us. This is far more serious than I thought yesterday.”

My throat closes up and my eyes burn.
My fault
. This is my fault, what’s happened to her, because I didn’t take any of this as seriously as I should’ve. Too caught up in Duke and his rough but peaceful world. Blinded. I can barely speak to whisper my apology to Elsie.

“I can see what you’re thinking,” she says and takes my hand in both of hers. “No apologies, sweetie. You told me yourself that I’m not to blame for any of this. Well, you aren’t, either. And I didn’t even consider suggesting you come here after your ordeal.” She looks up at me like she might cry now, too.

I clear my throat and buck up. “There’s a PSA in this somewhere, you know.”

“We could work on that.” She grins even if it is a little watery.

Smoot makes a blustery noise, gaining our attention. Poor man, I forgot he was still here.

“I’ll be in touch,” he says, “once things progress. Y’all let me know if you need anything.”

We thank him, and he leaves. Duke pokes his head in a moment later.

I stand up straight and take over for a minute. “Elsie, talk to your doctor because you’re not leaving here until he clears you for it. Tell him about flying to New York, too, in case that matters.” Before she can protest, I look to Duke and keep going. “Can you take me back to the ranch with you?”

“Definitely.” He smiles. It’s tentative, like he knows something else is coming, and my spine isn’t so determined anymore. I shuffle toward him and take his hand. I don’t want to do this part at all.

understand, Al.”

I stop chewing on my bottom lip to say, “I just want to make sure you know it’s nothing personal. It’s not you. And all of that.”

Halfway to the front door of the Hampton Inn, Duke stops walking and looks at me with mild amusement on his face. I suppose it’s possible I’ve gone overboard with reassurances while riding back and forth to Lufkin in the truck, collecting and hauling luggage. A ridiculous amount of luggage. I swear on my life, I’m packing lighter next time.

Duke lays a hand on my shoulder and squeezes a couple times. “Believe me, Al, if I had it in my power to make everythin’ safe enough for you to stay, I’d do in it a heartbeat.”

“Okay. Me, too.” I relax some under the weight of his hand.

We continue toward the doors to the lobby. Half the day is already gone, the heat index rising. I want to apologize for taking up his day again, but hold back. He’s already said several times that work might need doing, but the people come first. I feel as though Elsie and I have been adopted. It’s a good feeling giggling inside me beside the worries.

“I’m thinkin’ I’ll have Mia go visit her girl friends in Houston for a time,” Duke says as the lobby doors open for us. “Move the boys into the house. All of us start carryin’.” He casts a glance behind us, frowning. “Just wish I knew where Dean is. That he’s safe out there.”

I feel badly I hadn’t thought of Dean. What if he was the first victim? What if we just haven’t found him yet? My gut clenches with a new worry and I send out a hope that Dean’s healthy and not suffering, wherever he is.

Then I realize… “Carrying?” I ask as we stand for a moment in the air-conditioned lobby. “You mean guns?” I whisper.

He gives me a twinkle-eyed half-grin. “That’s right. It’s Texas, Al.”

While he saunters up to the counter to check me in with the name Elsie’s already reserved a room under—the better to conceal me a bit longer—I give a moment’s happy sigh to cowboys and their pistols. I’m not a proponent of guns at all, but there is that zing of danger to a big, ol’ cowboy whipping out his gun that meshes quite nicely with other things he could pull out and point at me. I cast a look around the lobby while trying to nonchalantly cover my groin with my hands.

The poor bellhops come in with two trolleys loaded with my trunks, and I hover nearby while the skinny young men try not to scowl at me for making them sweat. Yes, packing lighter from now on.

It occurs to me that I’m out in public with Duke for the first time where strangers will see us together. That explains the straight man shoulder squeeze outside. And here we are getting a hotel room. I unclasp my hands, shove one into a pocket, and try to appear more butch. No, don’t cock out a hip. Speaking of cocks… My jeans are too tight. I push my hand a bit deeper into my pocket to try and offset the bulge. Yeah, it’s not working, and the fact I’ve looked down at myself this many times is probably making things far more obvious. Do straight men care when they get an erection in public? Is it now when they think of baseball stats, or when they’re trying not to come? Like I know any baseball statistics. Fuck it. I’m a man. We get boners.
Deal with it, people
. Of course, it would probably help if there was a woman anywhere in the lobby right now.

Duke finds me between the two trolleys of trunks, shakes his head at me while grinning—I don’t know why, I’m just standing here—and then leads the way to the elevators. Crammed in with the trolleys, I practice ignoring Duke, trying to act like there’s nothing gay going through my head while I’m pressed up against him, my back to his front. But he does this thing with his hips that aligns our anatomy, and I can’t help a little gasp, though I try to cover it with a cough. Thankfully, the bellboys seem only interested in getting out of this elevator as soon as possible and aren’t looking anywhere but at the slowly climbing numbers.

The room has navy blue walls with white linens, like a man’s business suit, pressed and ready. I resist flopping onto the bed and having a moment since the boys are unloading their trolleys into the sitting area of this barely-a-suite. When they’re done, there’s only a thin path to the window and, unless I come at it from the arm, I won’t be sitting on the sofa any time soon. The bed is fully accessible. I glance at Duke as he tips the bellhops and sends them out the door.

Awkwardness suddenly descends like a rainstorm. Duke’s already mentioned things he needs to do or arrange. He has people and chores to worry about now. I’ll be safe here, I’m sure I can find something to do—or just walk back to the hospital and watch Elsie sleep. Duke certainly doesn’t need to stay.

But how I wish he would.

This feels like an ending. Our ending. We both know I can’t stay in his house, possibly not in this town, and if I’m leaving those, I might as well leave the state entirely. Going back to Manhattan is sensible. Elsie and I both could use the normal, comforting surroundings of home. There’s nothing to keep me here, except this beautiful, kind, protective man.

He has his hat in his hands, slowly working it in a circle while he watches it. “I better get on back to the ranch,” he says, but his feet don’t move.

“Of course.” I nod, then gulp when he looks up.

He stares me right in the eyes, leaning a little bit toward me. Does he honestly think I’d say no? Especially after everything we’ve just been though, I need to be tangled up with him. I go up on my toes, wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him.

Maybe this is goodbye, but his arms come around me, crushing me close, as his lips demand more. He doesn’t want to leave.

“Stay,” I manage to say. “Just stay for a while. They can spare you, can’t they?”

He groans and holds the back of my head as he kisses me again, cradling but keeping me exactly where he wants me. When I feel his other hand exploring my back, sliding down, fingers trying to get under my waistband, I know I’ve got him.

Like the devil, I’ve tempted a good man away from his duties. Duke’s mine.

We undress each other slowly, piece by piece, and press delicate kisses to exposed skin. When he bends to kiss my chest right over my thumping heart, my breath catches in my throat. I have to blink back the threat of tears. I’m not devilish, I’m desperate.

We’re on the bed now with him resting on top of me. It’s comforting this time, no worries of accidental restraint since we’re both completely naked. His warm, slightly musky skin and the hair all over him make me very happy to be where I am.

“You look so young.” Duke caresses my neck and smiles softly at me.

I push out a smile of my own and try to break this emotion inside me that’s bordering on a strange sort of heartbreak. “By modeling standards, I’m ancient.”

“Hell with them.” He cocks his head and frowns. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

He jerks back, eyes wide. Then he chuckles and dips down to kiss my forehead.

I frown now. “What was that?”

“I’m thirty-two.”

“And?” I sigh loudly. “Are you going to have some kind of crisis of conscious over a measly nine years?”

“Nah.” His hips roll into me. “I’m gettin’ off on my hot, young boy toy.”

My snort leads into a laugh, but he squashes the breath out of me when he leans down for deep, probing kisses. A moment later, he rolls and I’m on top. I grin, feeling playful, and sit back. His erection heads up the cleft of my ass, and I shiver. I suddenly need it inside me. I don’t want us to end without knowing, without the memory of him joined to me.

I get up off him and the bed to open one of my little trunks. Lube and condoms are right on top, like they knew I was coming for them. I hold up a packet, just making sure, and Duke gives me a feral grin and a quick nod.

When I get back on the bed…
Huh
. Duke moves his legs apart as I’m moving in to straddle him again. Our legs bump and knees knock. We lock eyes, hovering, and I raise an eyebrow. He smiles and color brightens his cheeks.

“Really?” I ask while he straightens his legs out. I sit down on his thighs.

He shrugs a little. “If you wanted.”

That… That is pretty damn awesome. And rare. Most men take one look at me and assume I’m a full-time bottom. Duke didn’t? Still doesn’t? Maybe he wants to know the feel of me deep inside him before we part, too.

“You’re good with this, though, ri—”

“God, yes.” The rumble in his very definitive answer makes me shiver.

While I open the condom and roll it on him, he sits up on his elbows, watching. For some reason, his observation of this act makes me self-conscious, like I’m a first-timer again. Maybe it’s just a burble of awareness because it’s
our
first time. And last? I push that thought away and finish rolling the latex on him. He hums and lies back again. I can watch him now as I stroke lube up and down his length.