Quiet like that other place had been until the creatures showed up. The gaping loneliness was certainly the same. If Jesse concentrated, he could feel the light touch of a tentacle on his arm.
Jesse took off the blindfold. He didn’t recognize the part of the city they were in, but that didn’t surprise him. His chest was tight, and drawing in deep breaths put a strain on him. He didn’t dare close his eyes. Those creatures were somehow waiting for him to do just that. To grab him from the gray shadows and devour him. He was sinking toward that other realityfast, and he gripped the center console and the door, trying to root himself in the real world.
People didn’t slip out of the world between heartbeats. He was being ridiculous, but caught up in the silence, he was drowning in the whirlpool tug.
They turned down a street, and Jesse thought they might have passed Lawson’s apartment building. He wasn’t sure, though. Not in the dark, not in an unfamiliar city.
“Jesse,” Bryce said, his voice a low rumble that Jesse clung to like a buoy. Jesse gasped, and Bryce frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Keep driving,” Jesse managed.
Bryce continued to frown, but he ran a red light and kept them moving.
After a few blocks, the sinking feeling eased, and Jesse could breathe again. He opened the window and stuck his head out when Bryce had to stop at the next light. Muggy, wonderful, city air. Jesse drank more of it in until the light changed. Then he sat back in his seat.
“I’m not sure if I should hope that was about us or not.” Bryce had a death grip on the steering wheel.
“It wasn’t.” Jesse leaned his head back against the headrest. Fuck, he was well past exhausted.
Bryce’s tension spoke volumes, filled the car with his loud silence.
Admitting that he’d had a psychic flashback would wind up making Bryce turn back around and head for the DWO. Jesse didn’t want to spend the night being poked and prodded into providing more answers, when what he longed to do was crawl into bed with Bryce.
Assuming, of course, Bryce wanted to be with him. If their connection turned out to be some masterful game on Bryce’s part, Jesse was going to skip dating and go straight to hookups for the foreseeable future.
“Why did you let me kiss you?” Jesse asked.
“I wanted you to,” Bryce replied.
“Even though you knew I was FBI and had to be there for the same case? Were you hoping I’d share information? Slip details?”
“The only thing I was thinking about was you,” Bryce said reverently.
“And last night, was that blowjob just to keep me happy?” Jesse said.
Bryce pulled into the parking lot of Jesse’s building and brought the car to a stop. The fan was blowing air noisily, and the street lamps provided just enough illumination to steep Bryce’s features in shadows. Dark shadows that spoke to long intimacy. The stiff mask he wore was gone, replaced by a sorrowful thoughtfulness.
He was handsome as he bordered on brooding. The last few days hadn’t been easy on him, Jesse realized. He was privy to a world he couldn’t share. A world full of nightmares and secrets. Jesse wondered how many partners Bryce went through, whether he ever really tried for a relationship at all. Dating for Jesse was a catastrophe, and until recently he’d only dealt with entirely human threats.
“You’re sexy, even when you’re covered in coffee,” Bryce said. “And being with you—when the work crap doesn’t come up—is effortless. I feel like myself. Not the agent protecting the public, or the team leader juggling cats. You grab hold of me and I can finally breathe.”
Jesse took Bryce’s hand and threaded their fingers together. Unable to help himself, he smiled and held on to him. “Yeah, I—”
There was smoke coming out of the apartment building, and it drew Jesse’s attention away from Bryce. He leaned forward, still holding on, and tried to trace the source.
“That’s the fourth floor,” Bryce said.
Jesse let go of Bryce and shoved open the car door. “That’s my fucking apartment.”
