Authors: Carol Lynne
came the desire to settle down.
He tried to picture himself going to a regular nine-to-
five job and shuddered. Okay, he may want to slow down,
but he was honest enough with himself to know he would
never fit into that kind of life. Luckily, Priest was financial y
secure unless someone decided to bomb Switzerland.
Despite the cold December temperatures, Luke
roared into the driveway on his black and silver Harley.
Priest got out of the truck and met him as he climbed off the
bike. Right away it was obvious something was wrong. For
the first time since he’d met Luke, Priest wished he was
comfortable kissing his lovers because Luke sure looked
like he could use one. “What happened?”
Luke took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. “I
froze.”
“I’m not surprised, it’s fucking cold out here. Maybe
you should invest in a car.” Priest rested his hand on Luke’s
back as they walked to the house.
Luke unlocked the door. “Not that kind of frozen. I
mean I got to an accident scene last night and couldn’t get
out of the fucking truck.” He threw his helmet across the
living room. “I’m stuck taking mandatory vacation until the
first of the year.”
“That’s perfect,” Priest said.
“Excuse me?” Luke moved his hands to rest on his
hips as he shot Priest an accusing glare.
“I rented a cabin in the Shenandoah Val ey. I was
hoping you’d share it with me for a few weeks. I’ve been up
most of the night trying to figure out how to convince you to
come, but since you won’t be working anyway, it’s perfect.”
Priest held his breath. His heart wanted him to tel
Luke the truth, but his gut said it was better to keep him in
the dark, or was it the other way around? Priest was under
no il usion that Luke would feel the same about him if he
knew how many people he’d kil ed. Maybe it was pure
selfishness on his part, but Priest wanted to take a normal
life for a test drive, even if it would be temporary.
“I’m supposed to see…” Luke’s voice trailed off.
“Who?” Priest prompted.
“A shrink. My boss thinks I need to get some kind of
professional help to deal with a fatality I worked.” Luke
plopped onto the couch and put his booted feet on the
coffee table. “It’s the reason I couldn’t work the accident a
few hours ago. The reason I froze up.”
With time ticking, Priest needed to hurry Luke along.
He reached down and pul ed Luke to his feet. “Talk to me
about what happened if you need to, but come with me.”
Luke stared up at Priest. “On one condition.”
“Anything.”
“Kiss me.”
Priest stared down at Luke. Although a kiss was an
innocent enough gesture of affection between two people,
for Priest it meant so much more. He remembered the last
time he’d kissed someone. The emotions involved in letting
his guard down had made him weak. He’d almost died at
the hands of the man he’d thought he could love, but that
had been nearly nine years ago.
Luke’s different, he told himself as he slowly lowered
his head. Luke’s arms wrapped around Priest’s neck as
their lips met for the first time. At the taste of Luke’s mouth,
Priest didn’t know if he would ever be able to stop kissing
Luke. Gripping Luke’s waist, Priest lifted him off his feet as
the kiss went deeper.
His cock rigid and aching, he wanted nothing more
than to throw Luke on the couch and fuck him until the entire
world melted into the background. Unfortunately, that would
never happen. Especial y when there were men out there
who wanted Priest silenced.
Eventual y, Priest broke the kiss. “Tel me you’l come
with me?”
“When?” Luke asked, his lips red and swol en from
the intensity of their kiss.
“Now. Go throw a suitcase together and let’s get the
hel out of here. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
Luke’s eyes rounded. “We’re driving al the way to
Virginia? You got a problem with flying?”
Flying required identification that could be easily
tracked. “I just thought it would be nice to spend the time
together.” Priest kissed Luke’s forehead. “Come on, it’l be
an adventure.”
Luke glanced out the large picture window. “Wil that
truck get us al the way to Virginia?”
“Probably, but if not I can always buy something
different along the way.” Priest had no intention of driving
his truck beyond Omaha. He’d already made the necessary
arrangements to store the vehicle out of sight should
someone pick up their trail.
Luke shook his head. “You’re an odd man, aren’t
you?”
“I try.” Priest grinned before swatting Luke on the ass.
“Come on, I’l help you pack.”
* * * *
Omaha, Luke was confused. “What’re we doing here?”
“I’ve decided to go ahead and buy something else,
but I don’t want to give up my truck, so I’l run in here and
see if they have any units available.”
Before Luke could ask further questions, Priest
jumped out of the pickup and went inside. Luke ran his
fingers through his hair in frustration. Although the trip so far
had been enjoyable, Priest insisted on taking back roads
instead of utilising the highways. It didn’t make sense and
when Luke asked, Priest always had an excuse at the
ready.
The truck seemed to be running fine, so it didn’t make
sense to buy something else. Moreover, why would Priest
pay money to store his truck instead of just trading it in?
Luke growled, the sound echoing inside the closed cab.
After the kisses they’d shared before they’d left Cattle
Val ey and on the drive, Luke had begun to think Priest
liked him for more than a piece of ass, but he was no
longer sure what the hel was going on.
In a matter of minutes, Priest was back behind the
wheel. They pul ed into a large storage unit, much too big
for the single truck, and turned off the engine. Luke held his
tongue when Priest asked him to stay with the truck while
he took a cab to the nearest car dealership.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Priest asked when the cab
pul ed up.
“It’s not that I mind, I just don’t understand,” Luke
confessed. “Why don’t we both get the new car and head
out?”
“I have a lot of expensive equipment in the truck. I’d
rather not lug it al over town.” Priest brushed Luke’s cheek
with the back of his fingers. “I promise we’l talk after we
leave Omaha.”
“What should I do while I’m waiting?” Luke asked.
Priest pointed towards the diner across the street.
“Why don’t you go grab something to eat? Just use that
padlock I gave you for the door before you go.”
After Priest had gone, Luke grabbed his cel phone
out of the truck. He pul ed the heavy garage door down and
slipped the padlock into place. As he walked towards the
diner, he cal ed Kenny.
“Hey,” his friend answered.
Luke waited for traffic to thin before darting across the
street. “I didn’t interrupt class or anything, did I?”
“No. What’s up?”
Luke walked into the diner and slid into a booth by the
front window. “I’m in Omaha.”
“What?”
“Priest asked me to go away with him for a couple of
weeks, but he promised we’d be back by Christmas.” A
shadow fel over him and Luke smiled up at the waitress.
“Hang on,” he told Kenny.
After a quick scan of the menu, Luke decided he
wasn’t very hungry. “I’l just have a glass of iced tea and a
piece of apple pie,” he told the waitress.
“Okay, I’m back,” Luke informed Kenny.
“What about work?”
“I’m on vacation until the first of the year. It’s al been
cleared through George.” Luke left out the reason he’d
been asked to take time off. “So, you see, it’s just a chance
for me to get away.”
“But you barely know this guy,” Kenny argued.
“I know enough.” Luke noticed several of the diner’s
patrons turn to stare at him. He cleared his throat. “You
have Eli. Let me have this. Just for a little while,” he added.
Although he’d had a hard time accepting Eli, Luke had
slowly learned to appreciate the love Kenny and Eli felt for
each other.
“I’l worry about you until you get back.”
“Don’t. I’l be fine. Give my love to Eli, and I’l see you
both at the end of the month.” Luke hung up just as his tea
and slice of pie arrived. As he took the first bite, Luke
stared out the window, waiting for Priest. He may have told
Kenny he’d be fine, but Luke wasn’t so sure. His heart was
already involved. It was something he’d promised himself
he’d never give away lightly again, but he’d gone and done
it. Unfortunately, he was afraid Priest was playing some
kind of game without explaining the rules.
* * * *
chuckling. “I can’t believe you bought a minivan.”
“It’s comfortable,” Priest said, trying to defend his
choice. In reality, Priest had purchased the van for just that
reason. He knew it was the last thing anyone from the
agency would expect him to drive.
Priest reached over and threaded his fingers through
Luke’s. It was time he told Luke the truth, or at least part of
it. “We need to talk.”
Luke lifted Priest’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.
“We don’t have to if you’re not ready.”
“I doubt I’l ever be ready, and if we do it now, I won’t
have to look you in the eyes,” Priest admitted.
Luke’s grip on Priest’s hand tightened. “I’m not sure I
like the sound of that.”
They rode for several more miles before Priest
gathered the nerve to begin. “Remember when I told you I
worked in the security field?”
“Yeah.”
“Wel , it’s more complicated than that. I work for an
agency that contracts with the US government and other
wealthy individuals around the country.”
“Like the CIA?”
“Kind of, only the CIA doesn’t even know about us.
The agency I work for is privately owned, unlike the CIA.”
“What does that mean? What do you do for them?”
Priest took the opportunity to withdraw his hand from
Luke’s grasp. “I take care of individuals the government
consider a threat.”
“Take care of, you mean…kil ?” Luke unbuckled his
seatbelt and turned to face Priest. “Oh my God, you do do
that, don’t you?” He covered his mouth with his hand. “Are
you going to kil me?”
“Not unless you plan to do something to disrupt the
workings of the United States Government,” Priest
informed him.
Luke shook his head. “I hadn’t planned on it.”
It was obvious Luke was stil in shock over Priest’s
bold announcement. Instead of giving Luke time to digest
what he’d been told, Priest decided to get the rest out.
“Although I’m real y looking forward to spending time with
you, that’s not the main reason I wanted you away from
Cattle Val ey.”
Luke sat up straighter, and clenched into tight bal s.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s entirely possible people wil come looking for me.
I covered my tracks wel , but they’re almost as good as I
am. I needed to make sure if they found me in Cattle Val ey,
you wouldn’t be harmed. One of the primary rules in my line
of work is to exploit a person’s weakness.”
“And I’m your weakness?” Luke asked.
Priest glanced at Luke before returning his attention
to the highway. “Yeah, you’ve quickly become my
weakness.”
“Are you saying you have feelings for me?” Luke
probed.
Priest wasn’t ready to admit to himself, let alone Luke,
how he felt about him. “I just told you I kil people for a living
and you’re asking about my feelings?”
“Yeah. I’l think about the other thing later, but right now
I need to know what I am to you, and why you’re tel ing me
al this.”
“I like you, okay? It’s not something I’m comfortable
talking about, so I’d rather drop it. And the reason I’m tel ing
you is because I don’t want to lie to you anymore. Besides,
there are certain precautions we need to take right now to
ensure no one finds us.”
“Like what?”
“No phone cal s without a scrambler and then only
from disposable phones. We won’t be able to enjoy dinners
out once we get to Virginia. Once we arrive in the state, I
can’t be seen. Which means you’l have to do al the
shopping.”