“A... deer?” Rory said, looking at Elijah with wide eyes.
“I told you I didn’t make that shit up,” he said simply.
She shook it off, glancing at me then back to Elijah. “So you risked your life for Mason?” she screeched. “ForMason? You dipshit.” She was laughing, though, and she ended up hugging me too, before telling us she was glad we were both okay.
???
Chris and Rory came to Elijah’s house with us that night. The threat was gone, but we were still on edge. There was one person in my mind who was unaccounted for, but Chris didn’t seem worried about the guy he’d seen in the woods. Had he been leading us to an ambush, or to Elijah? Though they’d combed the woods for evidence, no one else had been found.
We turned on the TV and opened a bottle of wine to relax our nerves a little bit. It felt safe enough here, with friends. I felt like I deserved one glass of wine after everything, but I wouldn’t allow myself to have more.
The hero cat was curled up in a chair like she hadn’t left all day. Like she hadn’t jumped into a car window and attacked an armed man, allowing Elijah to escape. Like she hadn’t then broken a tree limb to take out one perpetrator, then led a fucking deer where it needed to be. I stared at her for a minute, unnerved by the whole ordeal. She lifted her head and opened her eye, looking right back into mine. Then she yawned and stretched, moving to curl up in a different position, and went back to sleep.
I shook my head and went to set my glass on the end table without looking. I knocked off the wallet I’d tossed there carelessly, and it fell open onto the floor. Before I could pick it up, Chris said, “Hey, what the fuck?” I looked at him. “That’s the other guy I saw in the woods,” he went on, his face twisted in confusion as he looked at my wallet.
My breath caught and I froze, looking down at the photo of myself and Brady in a bar. The photo I kept there to try to remind myself of the good times, even though it had never made me feel happier or alleviated my guilt.
Elijah was looking at it too, his eyes wide. He’d never seen the picture. He looked at me hesitantly. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. I was pretty sure he already knew who the man in the photo was. “What?” my voice came out a whisper, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.
“That’s...” He paused, but finally went on. “It’s the guy who led me to the hole in the church wall.” He’d given the investigators the story, but had left out the disappearing man. He’d only told me about it, but I’d been so emotional at the time I hadn’t put thought into it or even connected it to Chris’s story. He looked at me on the couch, brow furrowed, unsure of how I’d react.
Chris and Rory looked thoroughly confused. “That’s... it’s Brady,” I choked out. “My partner. The one who died. The reason I’m in town.”
Rory looked down. Chris looked shocked. He looked like he’d seen a ghost, because apparently, he had. “He’s... been around for a bit,” Elijah said softly, but stopped talking and looked away.
“What do you mean?” I asked him, touching his chin to turn him toward me. I needed to hear it.
“He’s the guy in the woods who you couldn’t see from my bedroom window that day,” Elijah said quietly. “And he was here. I thought it was a dream, but now, I don’t think it was. He was on the porch swing one morning. He talked to me. Told me he was a friend and he was trying to help me. He’s still looking out for you, Mason.”
I caught the sob before it escaped. I looked away from all of them and took another sip of wine. The day had been too much. But the thought that Brady was still my wingman after everything, that he was looking out for me and the person I loved, yes, trulyloved, made its way into my heart to try and comfort me.
Elijah sat back, uncertain. I touched his hand and he flipped it over, taking mine and squeezing gently. Even though Rory and Chris were here, I took his chin again and turned his face back toward mine. I needed to say it, because I’d almost lost him. Had come so close that a fraction of an inch or a millisecond would have taken him away forever. “I love you,” I whispered, then I kissed him before he could say anything back.
I didn’t want to hear the “I don’t know,” or the “I still can’t say it.” I didn’t want to leave an awkward silence; I just wantedhim to know how I felt. I hadn’t ever stopped loving him.
When I pulled back, though, he smiled. “I love you too.” And my heart exploded into a million butterflies, because that was all I’d ever wanted.
Chapter 26
Mason
Rory and Chris had been gone about an hour and I was watching TV with Elijah. I wasn’t ready to come to terms with everything that had just happened. I already had an appointment with my therapist from high school, since I’d added to the list of things I needed to talk about, but right now, I just wanted to forget and soak in the knowledge that I still had Elijah. That his predictions had been correct but misunderstood and he’d lived through it. We won. I started out rubbing his belly and biting at his jaw line. He laughed a little and turned toward me, catching my roaming mouth in a kiss. I moaned into his mouth before pulling back. “Let’s go to bed, huh?”
He looked at me with those eyes I could still read. I saw love there. And somethingfeistier. “Okay.”
I stood up and pulled him off the couch with me. Before he completely had his balance, I grabbed him and threw him over my shoulder. He started laughing as I walked toward the bedroom. We’d been through a lot; I was going to take care of him the way we both needed. I tossed him onto the bed and hescrambled back up, immediately going for my shirt, but I pushed his hands back then grabbed the hem of his, pulling it over his head. I pushed him back onto the bed as I pulled his hands above his head, catching him off guard because he had no idea I had my handcuffs on me. His mouth opened in shock when he realized he was stuck again.
I chuckled lowly and kissed him before he could start running his mouth. “Don’t worry, baby,” I said. “Daddy’s got his little cockslut tonight. I’m going to give you everything you need.” I watched his dick twitch in his pants and I smirked. He blushed. I called it a victory.
I moved down and unbuttoned his jeans, unzipping them slowly and pulling them off. I was going to drag it out. I was going to have him shaking and begging me to come, and I was going to give him the biggest orgasm he’d ever had. Because he wasmine.
There was already a wet spot in his underwear, but it was much too soon for him to come. “Mmm,” I said. “You like being tied up and at Daddy’s mercy, don’t you?” I glanced up to look at his face. He just nodded, even though he was still blushing. I grinned and swiftly pulled his underwear off him.
“I know you’re desperate,” I said, grabbing the lube out of the drawer. “But I’m going to take my time with you tonight.” I sat the lube on the bed beside him and moved between legs that spread for me. I pushed them up by the back of his knees and watched his heated face as I made my descent. I went to work, licking and biting at his hole.
He cried out and jerked, but I held him in place and kept going. “Nn, Mason, please.” I grinned and went in even harder, letting my tongue slip past his rim and my teeth scrape over his sensitive skin. He jumped under me, but he moaned. “M... Mason.”
That wouldn’t do. I wiggled my tongue a little further in, but then slid up, licking all the way past his balls as I sat up and hovered over him. “What was that you said?” I asked him. His dick was hard and heavy on his belly.
