Camden sat up and pulled himself from the bed. “I suppose if you’re not going to finish what you started”—he pointed to the tented crotch of his borrowed sweats—“I may as well tend to it myself.” He straightened his shoulders, his pride refusing to let Elijah see how much he needed him right now. He may not be worth the risk, but he’d be damned if he’d let Elijah know that.
Camden had spent many years pretending. He pretended to want the life his parents planned for him. He pretended to not feel smothered by all the stipulations that life came with. He could also pretend Elijah’s rejection of him didn’t sting.
ATthe sound of the bathroom door closing shut, Elijah slammed his fist into a nearby pillow. Camden should mean nothing to him, nothing more than any other charge placed in his care. This wasn’t his first protection detail. He’d never fucked around with someone connected to his job. If his inability to keep his hands to himself caused something to happen to Camden, he’d have a hell of a time explaining to Captain Searlington he was too busy getting his dick wet to notice something was wrong.
He’d done the right thing in turning Camden away. It might have annoyed Camden. Hell, the throbbing cock pushing at his boxer briefs didn’t like it either. But he was here to do a job and Camden’s safety had to come first.
His safety? Really, Elijah? That’s the lie we’re going with this morning?
Elijah couldn’t entertain the truths his subconscious was trying to shove in his face. To think about any other reason than the job might give Elijah license to reach for what was being offered.
And would that be so bad?
It would be more than bad. It would be a disaster.
Elijah fought to free himself of the feel of Camden’s body on his for the first time in five years. He battled to make his body stop waking up in the throes of withdrawal from Camden’s touch. It was a sickness, an addiction he didn’t want to fall prey to again. He’d kicked the habit cold turkey. To go back now, after being clean for five years, that would be lunacy. Except, last night he’d slipped.
Last night, he’d savored the taste of Camden’s mouth. He’d reveled in the skill of the man’s touch. He’d lost himself in the desire that threatened to consume him. There was no logical explanation for how he’d let himself do something as reckless as getting his rocks off with the attempted murder victim Elijah was assigned to protect.
If the taste of Camden’s lips and the feel of his flesh hot against Elijah’s could make him do something so out of character, what might this need he harbored for the man make Elijah do if he gave in to desire fully? If he indulged again, Elijah wasn’t so certain he could pull himself away.
Losing control wasn’t an option for Elijah. He’d lost control of the situation when he’d been jumped inside that illegal gambling hole. He’d nearly lost his life because of it. Elijah had gone over what little memory he had leading up to the incident countless times. As far as he could see on paper, everything had gone according to plan until two unknowns had stumbled into their gun buy. He should’ve called it off then. But they’d been working that case for more than six months. They had the leader of a gun trafficking ring in their grasps. If Elijah called off the buy, there was no telling how long it would take to get all the players and parts together again. He should’ve known it wasn’t safe. And like most people who do dumb shit they shouldn’t in the heat of the moment, Elijah paid the price.
When Elijah heard the flowing water in the shower stop, he turned his head toward the door and thought of Camden. What would become of Elijah if he lost himself to Camden’s control? What would become of them both? Elijah closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath and released it slowly. He’d nearly gotten himself killed. Elijah would be damned if he risked Camden’s life the same way.
His burner phone began to slide across his nightstand. Elijah laughed. Why wouldn’t his boss pick this exact moment, when his dick was hard and his professional guilt was through the roof, to check in?
“Morning,” he choked out. The gruff sound of his voice was still filled with desire and disappointment at the loss of Camden’s heat next to him. He cleared his throat, hoping his boss thought sleep was the reason for the rough timbre of his voice.
“You up yet?”
“Yeah. A few minutes now. Any news? We making moves today?”
Elijah looked down at his straining length and shook his head at how fucked-up this entire situation was becoming.
“No. So far Edwards and his people haven’t made any new moves. We’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on them since you left. My man on the inside says nothing’s changed. They’re still looking for Warren, but most of them think Edwards is just being paranoid by keeping up the search at this point.”
Elijah allowed a small bit of relief to course through his system. They weren’t in the clear, but if the Path was still sniffing around in Brooklyn, Camden would be fine.
“Everything’s as it should be on our end. What about yours? Anything you need to tell me?” Captain Searlington’s question made his breath catch in his throat.
Oh, there was a lot he probably should tell her, but either stupidity, selfishness, or pride was keeping him from opening his mouth. While he tried to think up a reply, Elijah heard another voice in the background from Captain Searlington’s end.
“Shit!”
“Captain?” Elijah could hear the muffled sounds of the captain’s voice as if she were covering the phone with her hand. He called her name again, and suddenly the line was clear, and he could decipher her words again.
“I had Cyber monitoring Warren’s electronics and digital accounts. Someone has been accessing his accounts remotely. We just can’t narrow down from where. If you were here, I’d be yelling at you for this shit.”
If he was there, she’d be yelling at him for much more than this. “It’s not him, Cap. He’s been on a blackout here. No phones, no electronics whatsoever. Can you tell if they found anything?”
“Not yet. Edwards is a relentless son of a bitch. He’s days away from the trial resuming, and he’s still got his war dogs scouring for Warren. Just make sure that entitled asshole you got as a roomie keeps his ass off the web. Edwards is desperate. He’s trying his damnedest to tie up loose ends.”
Chapter Fourteen
“ALLright, all right, all right!”
Camden pulled his eyes away from the Sunday newspaper he was reading and looked around for whatever was disturbing the few moments of quiet he had before the Stephenson clan converged on the kitchen. Since Elijah forbade him from scouring the internet for any bit of information about the Path, Camden’s only sources of information on the outside world were the paper Elijah’s father brought in after his early morning walk, and the television. He’d spent all day yesterday lying on the couch watching television to avoid Elijah and his family. After Elijah’s rejection of him, Camden didn’t feel all that social. He decided reading might be a better, safer solution to his current state of boredom instead.
