Worth Keeping (35 page)

“Robbie is Don’s ex-partner, but he’s well connected in the intelligence world. Despite Robbie and Don being retired, they still have fingers in many pies and sometimes, just sometimes, they operate a little outside the law.”

Owen sat up, startled. “What do you mean?” His face darkened. “Jesus, Nick, they aren’t going to kill Brad are they? Because no matter what Brad’s done, I can’t condone that—”

Nick chuckled tiredly. “Simmer down, Owen. Of course they aren’t going to kill him. You think I have a tame hit squad at my command? No, they’ll just make sure Brad can’t threaten us anymore.” His voice quietened. “Like they did when Don finally found Barb and Roger.”

“Your—” Owen hesitated, “the woman who gave birth to you and the man who left you in the alley to bleed to death?”

Nick nodded. “Yes.”

“What happened when he found them?” Owen whispered, his face unsettled.

Nick’s face tightened. “Both of them went to prison eventually. They detained them so they couldn’t harm anyone else until Don managed to find enough evidence against them for what they’d done to me and a couple of other kids who weren’t so lucky. Roger actually did kill one child. I gave sealed testimonies to the courts and they did all the medical stuff with me to prove what happened.” Remembering the hospitals, the barrage of tests, the agonies of waiting to see what diseases he might be carrying, Nick’s voice faltered. “Barb was rigid about one thing. Anyone wanting me had to wear a condom. She didn’t want to risk me getting diseases and cutting off her source of income. So I had crabs a few times but nothing serious or long lasting.”

Owen gasped in both disgust and horror and clasped Nick’s hand. Nick smiled wanly. “It was the one good thing she did do for me.”

He fell silent, not wanting to remember much about that time of his life. It was in the past now and he had to move forward. “Don and Robbie may have ‘engineered’ a little bit of evidence to make sure their case was watertight. They told me about it when I was fifteen and had changed my name. They thought I should know the truth. I couldn’t have cared less what they’d done as long as those two evil people were out of the picture.” His voice hardened. “Roger died in prison of emphysema about two years after he went in and Barb”—he swallowed—“she was killed in her cell one night six months after she went in, smothered with a pillow. No one ever owned up to it and they never found out who did it.” His voice shook slightly. “I was glad, Owen. My own mother was murdered and I wanted to throw a fucking party. Does that make me a bad person?”

Owen leaned in and wrapped his arms around Nick, hugging him tightly. “No, I think I might have done the same. You, my strong, tough man, are the best person I know and I love you dearly.” Owen frowned. “So that still doesn’t tell me what’s going to happen to Brad.”

Nick sighed deeply. “God, you are insatiably curious. If I had to guess what will happen to Brad, it would be that his damn life is turned upside down for signs of anything hinky, his business dealings will be put under the microscope and just as insurance, there’ll probably be a few pictures that are arranged to use as blackmail.” He grinned wryly. “I’ve heard Don and his friends talk before. It might not be right but they get the job done. So Brad might find himself in a compromising position or two with some masked BDSM Dom with the threat that the pictures will get out into the public if he even thinks of coming near me or any of my loved ones again. That would destroy a man like him.” He shrugged. “You look shocked, Owen. When you come from where I have, nothing like that is shocking anymore. It’s justice.”

Owen regarded him thoughtfully. “I see where you’re coming from, Nick but it’s foreign to me. I’m all vanilla, not dark matter like you.” He kissed Nick’s cheek softly. “But if it keeps you safe, I’m all for it. Whatever happens.” His hands twisted in his lap. “Nick, I’m the one that brought this all down upon us. I’m surprised you’re not madder, I—”

Nick gave into what he’d been wanting to do ever since they’d escaped. He took Owen’s lips in a ferocious kiss—hungry, needy and wanting so badly to taste his lover he could bear it no longer.

They were safe and that was all that mattered. “You tried to do a good thing for me. How can I be angry at you for that?” he murmured. Owen moaned into Nick’s mouth as his lips parted and his own greedy tongue found Nick’s. And for a moment, they could really believe that there wasn’t a villain in their bathtub and everything was going to be all right.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. A few hours later, three grim, wet and bedraggled men appeared at the cottage. Don, Robbie and a man called Steve were efficient to the point of ruthlessness as they picked up the still-irate and more than a little apprehensive package that was Brad and carted him out to a white panel van standing outside. Nick watched them literally throw the man inside, lock the door and then Robbie gave a wolfish grin, saluted Nick and he and Steve drove off.

Nick watched the broad-shouldered figure of his father come into the kitchen where Nick and Owen were sitting at the dining table. Don sat down and regarded them both carefully. Socks looked up from his comfy spot on Owen’s lap and yawned, showing his little white teeth.

“Are you sure the two of you are all right? You both look a little shell-shocked.”

“We were knocked out, tied up, slapped around and had threats of rape thrown at us, so I think it’s safe to say to say we’re a little shook up.” Owen’s slightly acerbic tone made Nick smile. He found it amusing when his lover got all drama-queeny.

“We’re fine, Don.” Nick reached out and clasped Owen’s hands, stopping them fluttering nervously like birds looking for a place to perch. Owen gripped his fingers tightly.

Socks gave a small, exhausted sigh and curled up in a ball.

Nick shook his head. “I didn’t want to call the police. They might believe us that a man broke in, tied us up and threatened us, but I doubt it would have gone far enough to keep us all safe from Brad. He might have gone to prison for a short while, if we’d managed to survive the media fallout that something like this would bring, but he’d be out soon enough. So your methods seemed the best ones to call on.”

Don nodded. “If we’re lucky Steve will find something Brad’s done to send him to prison. If not, he’ll make sure we get enough compromising evidence on Brad to blackmail him into keeping his mouth shut for good. It is a drastic step and I don’t like abusing the law this way but I don’t think in this case we had a choice.” He stretched his long frame wearily. “I should have done this a long time ago, Nick, to make sure you were safe.”

“I didn’t want that, Don, you know I didn’t.” Nick had been adamant that enough damage had been done to everyone and to let sleeping dogs lie. He felt it had been the best idea at the time. “I thought this was all over but I was wrong. But hopefully it will be now.”

He yawned, his head still woolly from the chloroform he’d been given. From the exhausted look on his face and his deep, sunken eyes, Owen was in similar shape. He reached over and drew tender fingers down Owen’s cheek. Owen smiled at him, his face softening.

“Maybe I should get off, let you two lovebirds get some sleep.” Don stood up and pulled Nick to his feet, hugging him tightly. “I’m going to take your car, Nick, and drive down to Heather’s. She said I could stay there tonight.” He grinned “She’s very curious about why I drove up here so late, so no doubt I’ll get the third degree. Do
not
say anything to her about this episode, either of you. We’ll just say you two needed me here. Heather will respect your privacy. The fewer people that know what really went on tonight, the better.” He turned to pick up his coat from the back of the couch and shrugged broad shoulders into it.

“Mum’s the word.” Owen reached up and mimed zipping his lips. He yawned, and then grimaced. “God, that bastard hit me a good one. You’ll have to go easy on the kissing, Nick, because my mouth is bloody sore.”

“That’s all right,” Nick murmured. “I can think of a few other body parts I like of yours that Brad didn’t get his hands on.” He chuckled at Owen’s flush, seeing the quick, embarrassed glance he threw at Don.

Don shook his head. “I really don’t want to know.” He pulled Nick to him for a hug. “Now try and stay out of bloody trouble, you two. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear with Brad but even then I’m not giving you details. So don’t pester me for them because I know you’ll try.” He cast a shrewd look at Owen who scowled. “I’m going back home in the morning but I’ll be keeping my eye on you lads.”

He removed Socks from Owen’s lap, placing him on the kitchen table. The monkey glared at him and Don chuckled. “Stop giving me the evil eye, you little rascal.”

Don pulled Owen into his arms, patted his back and stepped away. “I’ll speak to you soon.” He picked up Nick’s keys from the side table and walked out of the room. The kitchen door opened then closed and Don was gone. Nick looked at Owen. “I’d say it’s bedtime. What say you?”

Socks chattered loudly and jumped off the table, running down the hallway and disappearing. Nick shook his head. “I think Socks wants his bed too. He deserves it seeing as how he’s the hero tonight.”

Owen nodded. “I’d say that’s a big, fat yes to bed. Shower first, though. I feel dirty somehow and I want to wash the stench of that man off me. Not to mention that awful smell that still makes me feel sick every time I get a whiff of it.” He stretched and his shirt rode up showing his flat, honey-coloured stomach, muscles contracting as he yawned and raised his arms above his head. Nick’s groin filled with heat and in one quick movement, he moved over to Owen, sliding his hands around the bare skin of his midriff and pulling him closer. Owen came into his embrace gladly, his eyes darkening.

“Like that is it? I take it that’s a no to showering first?” he murmured, as his hands slid beneath Nick’s tee shirt and Nick drew a breath as Owen’s warm hands caressed his chest.

“I couldn’t have borne it if Brad had hurt you, Owen,” Nick whispered as his mouth nuzzled the sandalwood fragrance of Owen’s neck, smooth skin that made Nick’s senses reel and his cock surge. “Just the thought of him hurting you made me want to kill him.”

“I felt the same way,” murmured Owen as his head arched back, and his throat was an offering to Nick to plant small kisses all the way down its clean lines. “The thought of what he wanted to do you made me so bloody furious. I thought of getting the Daddy Do-Gooder and shoving it up his arse with no lube but then I thought he might enjoy it too much. So I thought maybe the poker in the fireplace instead.”

Nick chuckled against Owen’s ear as his lips found his lover’s earlobe and he tugged it gently with his teeth. Owen moaned and pressed himself closer to Nick, his desire evident in the hard ridge in his trousers.

“We do lead an exciting life, don’t we?” Owen muttered as his hands unbuttoned Nick’s jeans and slid down his zipper. He reached inside and Nick gasped as warm hands slid inside his silk boxers and grasped him, fingernails flicking the tip of him and making him squirm. “I mean, first you save my life, all hero-like, and drag me into your man-lair to corrupt me and then we get to confront smugglers in the middle of the night. I run off would-be young perverts who get their rocks off looking at you and we get captured and tortured by a psycho ex-boyfriend who we have to subdue and get the Avenging Angels to fetch so they can teach him a lesson. There’s never a bloody dull moment when we’re together, is there? Makes you wonder if we’d be safer apart.” There was amusement in Owen’s voice but also a hint of something else.

Nick thought it was fear. He felt a wave of love so strong for his man that it took his breath away. He reached up, cupping Owen’s face in his hands. Owen’s eyes stared into his and Nick thought he would be absorbed into them, Owen’s need and desire for him was so strong. Nick was humbled that he could cause that sort of emotion in another human being. It was not one he was used to—being needed and wanted.

“Honey, remember one thing. You saved
my
life that night in every way. I really was almost ready to jump off that cliff. I will always be grateful for that snippety man who washed up on my beach like a damn flounder. That wonderful man has made me believe in myself again. And I will
never
throw you back in the sea. You’re my catch and I’m keeping you.”

Owen rested his forehead against Nick’s, his hands reaching up to clasp the ones framing his cheeks. “I love you so much, Nick. And while it’s been an uphill battle, I want you to know that you, Nick Mathers, are bloody definitely all mine.”

Owen took Nick’s mouth in a long, passionate kiss that made Nick’s toes curl and his dick reach upward with the scent and the feel of the man that was Owen Butler.

As Owen released his mouth and tugged Nick into the bedroom with a wicked smile on his face, a sense of peace washed over Nick. There would be battles to fight, nightmares to overcome, a lot of loving and no doubt lots of raunchy and uninhibited sex with both their own bodily parts and Owen’s private toy collection.

But most of all there would simply be Owen, warm and generous with the ability to love unconditionally.

Nick’s future would be spent with the man who’d saved him from himself and made Nick realize that he was indeed a man worth keeping.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I was fortunate enough to spend time on the Norfolk coast looking at the beautiful lighthouse at Cromer, much like the one that Nick lives in. I’ve even been invited out with the maintenance crew in January to see the inside and I’m looking forward to that. So once again I can say I’ve been exactly to the place where my book was set, something that’s become a tradition with me.

I did a lot of research for this book too in terms of the psychological state of mind, determining how Nick’s childhood might affect him, and also the realities of being a child prostitute. Tragically it’s an all too common occurrence. Children’s lives are being taken in their early years and their innocence not just stolen but ripped from them by greedy, unscrupulous people who need to both foster a perverted desire to have sex with children and make money out of it. The link below shows just a few instances of these scenarios. And when the main perpetrator is a family member it makes it just that bit more difficult to believe.