Chapter 7

C hapter S even

Michael lowered the heat-sensing binoculars, turning toward Thor. "We can watch what's out there all we want, but we don't know what exactly is going on."

Thor sighed. "I know. There is only so much detail that we can make out. Sometimes this job is frustrating as hell.

Michael went back to watching, looking as closely as he could, hoping to see something that could be helpful. He concentrated on the larger boat, figuring they had gotten a good look at the smaller one. "It's sleek and built for power. Whoever owns it has plenty of money, because those aren't cheap by any means. I'm willing to bet that there's a great deal of power in her engines."

"Could you recognize it if you saw it again?" Thor asked.

"Hell, yes," Michael answered without hesitation. "It's the same one I saw the other day. And since there are no other safe harbors south of here, it's coming up from San Francisco. And we know its schedule for the last week." Michael watched and rattled off as much of the detail as he could remember, as well as what his mind was filling in from the heat signature. "Maybe someone could check on a boat of that description leaving and returning to the bay area at about that time," he offered, and Thor patted him on the back with one hand.

"Good thinking. I wish there was a way for us to get the name of the boat or some kind of specific information. But I can't see that kind of detail from here, and I don't think the fog is going to grace us by lifting again the way it did before."

Michael lowered the binoculars. "I'm afraid not. There's nothing but pea soup out there." He really wished there was a way to get the name, but this equipment only showed heat variations, and the paint on the back of the boat with the name was not enough to change that signature. Still, he spent as much time as he could providing the details he could see to Thor. "They're both slowing down."

"Yeah, and look, the smaller boat is sitting lower in the water."

Michael could see that. "I think Wally's repair is failing, and they're taking on water." The two boats were getting closer even as the smaller of the two sank deeper. "This is bad. They aren't going to make it." He grew more and more anxious as the two craft met. The men on the smaller boat began transferring things to the larger one and then jumped aboard. The larger boat backed away. The heat signature of the engine quickly grew dark, and Michael figured the water had reached it. "It's gone."

"Yeah. I'll need to call the coast guard." Michael continued watching as the larger boat turned around and headed south. Then he returned to where the smaller boat had been, but any signs of it was gone.

"I hope no one was hurt," Michael said as he stared at what was now just a cold patch of ocean. He lowered the binoculars.

"They got off," Thor said. "There were two on the small boat, and I saw them get to safety." Michael nodded as the light around them continued to fade. "Just stay there for a minute." He pulled out his phone and made a call, letting the coast guard know of the possible wreck. Then he hung up the phone and shifted closer to where Michael lay in the grass, an arm sliding over his back.

"I know you do this all the time, but what did we accomplish tonight?" Michael turned toward him as the night settled in around them. "We don't have the name of the big boat, and the smaller one is at the bottom of the ocean. It might break up and wash on shore eventually, but it was probably just far enough out that who knows if it will ever be seen." The whole exercise seemed kind of futile.

"But like you said, we now know what's going on, and we have a timeframe for the last two runs. I'll contact my boss, and he can help track down the larger boat. Now that we know the schedule, we can set up a trap for them." Thor pulled him closer, and Michael went willingly.

"You know, this is probably why I became an architect rather than going into law enforcement. I thought I could be helpful and maybe see if I couldn't make the area where I live better."

"You are making it better. You're the reason that I had anything to go on in the first place." He drew nearer as Michael swallowed hard, then inhaled deeply. The damp evening air did nothing to hide Thor's deep scent. Hell, he rested his head against his arm just so he could get more of it. Thor took the binoculars, along with his own, and set them aside. Then he tugged Michael closer, sliding his lips over Michael's, taking his breath away in a matter of seconds. In an instant, everything to do with boats, his family—all of it—flew out of his head.

Michael pressed against Thor, the heat radiating off his body warming Michael quickly. "Would it sound bad if I said that I've wanted you since that first day I saw you on the cliff?"

A low, rough laugh greeted him. "I know. I could tell. But then, I wanted you too." Thor slid his hand under Michael's shirt, his fingers gliding over Michael's skin before finding a nipple. Thor kissed away further conversation as he lightly pinched, making Michael whimper against his lips out of sheer mind-clouding passion.

"Jesus," he mumbled as Thor pressed even harder, taking possession of his lips, fingers roaming, spreading heat, making it bloom all over him.

"Exactly," Thor said, pulling back. Michael could barely make out any details in the fading light, but he didn't need any. His mind filled them in perfectly. He knew the cut of Thor's jaw, the way his eyes grew deep as the ocean, and how the muscles bunched in his shoulders. He'd been watching him more closely than he should, and all those things and more were impressed on his memory. He let his hands wander, finally feeling those muscles under his palms as Thor straddled him, leaning closer, blocking out the last of the sky, filling his vision as he filled his senses.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" It was getting darker, and the only thing he could hear over the crashing ocean waves was the thumping of his own heart in his ears. He wanted this more than he dared to let himself admit. To say that Thor was hot was an understatement. The man was smoking, and he made Michael feel the same way, which only added to the attraction.

"I think it's a fucking fabulous idea," Thor whispered, a hand resting on Michael's belly.

"You and me is a great idea. It's the location I'm questioning," Michael said as he slowly sat up, and Thor backed away. "This grass can cut, and there are bugs and things that are not conducive to this sort of activity."

Thor slowly got to his feet and offered Michael a hand. Michael managed to stand, and they picked up the equipment before heading back to the trucks. Without a word, Michael climbed in his and followed Thor out to the main road, heading north to his hotel, his mind swirling the entire time. More than once, he questioned if this was the right thing to do. It wasn't likely that Thor would stick around once he had figured out who was running the drugs from the area. As he drove, keeping an eye on Thor's taillights, he wondered if he could handle Thor leaving, if taking the chance was worth it. Still, he followed and pulled into the hotel parking lot.

Michael sat in the truck until Thor got out, and even hesitated until Thor turned to look at him, those eyes inviting him forward. Michael shut off the engine, climbed out of the truck, and followed Thor inside and down the hall to his room. They both seemed to pause at the door, and then Thor unlocked it and held it open. Michael went inside, and Thor closed the door behind them. He stood next to the bed, waiting for Thor, feeling the indecision washing off both of them. Part of Michael's mind screamed that it wasn't too late and reminded him that Thor was going to leave, but then Thor turned to him, the naked passion in his eyes tossing logic out the fucking window. Suddenly Michael didn't care. If Thor left, then he left, and Michael would figure it out.

He swallowed, realizing in a momentary flash of self-insight that he spent most of his life surrounded by people, yet he was still alone. But this past week or so, that feeling had been absent. Even when they weren't together, Michael hadn't felt alone. He liked that, and he was going to hold on to it for as long as he could. He swallowed, meeting Thor's gaze, even nodding slightly. In that moment, everything changed. Thor practically threw himself across the room, pressing against Michael with enough force to nearly knock him off balance, but then Thor was there, his arms around him, holding him up, lips pressed against his.

Michael gasped and then held Thor, returning the kiss with years of stored-up desire. His head spun as Thor pulled at the base of his shirt. He lifted his arms, and off it went, Thor pulling away for a moment before he was back. It seemed like their kiss hadn't stopped. Thor shed his own shirt, and Michael groaned at the skin-to-skin contact.

"Fuck, Thor…," Michael groaned deeply.

"Oh, I intend to," Thor returned, his voice as rough as gravel, pressing Michael toward the bed. "I intend to keep every damned person in this hotel up half the night with your yelling." The expression in his eyes was wicked as all hell. "Now, you're wearing too many clothes."

"Look who's talking," Michael countered.

Thor backed away and began kicking off his shoes. Within ten seconds, Michael stared at a naked Thor, standing stock-still, completely forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. Thor, however, remembered and pushed Michael onto the bed. He hadn't even stopped bouncing on the damned mattress before Michael found his pants yanked down to his ankles.

"You forgot my shoes."

"Then get them off," Thor growled, and Michael managed to kick them off his feet. The pants followed, but by then, Michael's arms were full of Thor, and he had him pressed into the bed, the heat between them reaching explosive in seconds. Thor kissed him and then moved to his neck, sucking lightly as the hottest hands in history wandered over him, sending Michael into a writhing frenzy.

"You're fucking hot…," Thor told him, and the words might have been a little cheesy, but Michael couldn't have cared less. He was about to say that he found Thor the same, or something to that effect, but all that came out was a cry as Thor slid his lips down Michael's cock, taking him deep, with a loose-throated talent that Michael had only dreamed of in his wildest alone-in-his-room fantasies.

"Thor…," Michael crooned as he threw his head back, trying to hold on to some sort of control. Thor pushed all his buttons, and Michael hadn't had this kind of hair-trigger lack of control since he was a fucking teenager. Thor pulled away, his eyes filled with delicious mischief, tongue sliding over a slightly swollen lower lip. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"Make you scream. Maybe make you remember what it's like to be completely out of control."

Michael's breath hitched, and Thor kissed him. "You almost had that… and more…."

Thor drew closer, his eyes looking deeply into Michael's. "Then give it to me. Don't hold back. You aren't with your family or anyone else with any kind of ridiculous expectations of how you should act or who you should be. All I want is Michael, pure, unassuming, unpretentious you. Nothing else." Thor slipped a hand down his belly and then gripped his throbbing cock, holding it still and hard in his hot hand. "And let me tell you, it's taking every bit of talent I have not to take all you've got to give… and that's considerable."

"Oh… you like what I've got?" Michael smirked.

"Don't be coy with me. You've got plenty, and you know it." Thor grinned, and Michael used that moment to roll them on the bed.

"Look who's talking," Michael said as he gripped Thor's large mouthful and took a big taste for himself. He had talents, Michael knew that, and he thanked God that sucking cock was one of them. He loved it—the rich flavor, the head sliding over his tongue, but most of all, he loved the way big, strong, confident Thor seemed to come apart under him. That alone was heady as all hell.

"Oh fuck…," Thor groaned, his entire body seeming to shake. Michael relished every movement and reach, and every strangled cry as he took him deep and then slowly backed away, knowing he was driving Thor out of his mind.

"Smug bastard…," Michael said, backing off for a moment.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." Michael gripped Thor's cock, stroking slowly, wanting to keep him on edge for as long as possible. "You think you're the only one who knows how to make a man scream." He took Thor again, determined to get him to cry out his passion.

"Is this a contest?" Thor gasped between heaving breaths.

"Do you want it to be?" Michael asked, swirling his hand around Thor's spit-slicked cock. "I could make it one, but you'd lose." He grinned. "Or since your eyes are about to roll back into your head." He returned to his delicious task, and Thor gasped, gripping the bedding as his mouth hung open.

"Don't stop," Thor whispered, though Michael had no intention. He sucked hard, taking Thor's considerable length all the way down until he felt him still. Then he backed away, stroking as Thor went to pieces under him, coming hard as he cried out in an ecstatic display, the sight and sound searing themselves deep into Michael's long-term memory.