Chapter Sixteen

The day moved into the afternoon, and Kellum had yet to surface from the back room.

Beckett assured Creed that Kellum was fine, so Creed kept his distance.

Ace came in from the kitchen and tucked his cell phone away. The way their boss stood drew every single pair of eyes.

“What?” Creed asked and stood from the sofa-type chair.

“I have some people coming. This will probably get ugly. I’ll be honest, guys, we’re probably going to need to do something beneath the radar.”

“You mean illegal?” Owen nodded.

“Yeah.” Ace blew out a breath. “I don’t normally go this route, but with this situation, I’m not sure that staying above board will get this done.”

Link squinted. “You bringing in the assassins?”

Ace nodded slowly. “I just had a thirty-minute discussion with Dave and we think having that type of backup will help get shit done that much faster.”

“Because using law enforcement in this case won’t work,” Eagle murmured, and several of the men gave nods of agreement.

Ace walked over to the side door that led to the outside and opened it.

“Okay, you can come in.”

The first one to enter was a dark blond long-haired guy with crystal blue eyes.

“This is Wrath,” Ace said.

Ice entered after Wrath. They all knew Ice from a joint operation when Seven had been in trouble.

Which reminded him. “Where’s Hunter and Seven?” Creed murmured to his boss.

“Running a little behind,” Ace said with a grunt.

Fisher popped his head inside at that moment, he was all long hair and wild looking. The former Pegasus operative turned assassin waved and disappeared back into the dark outside.

“Figures,” Creed snorted after his friend disappeared. Fisher never stayed in one place for long.

“So, that’s three, and we have one more coming.” Ace glanced at his watch.

Ice and Wrath exchanged a puzzled look.

“We do?” Ice asked.

“Who?” Wrath cut in.

Ace stepped closer to the door and gazed into the dark. “You can come in and at least give everybody a wave.”

The guy who appeared in the doorway had to be five feet ten inches, if that. He was thin, but his body was tight and fit. He wore a black ball cap pulled down low over his face when he stepped inside wearing all black. He slowly lifted his hand and pulled the cap off, shaking out straight black hair in a short men’s haircut. His eyes were dark, his face alabaster, of Asian descent for sure.

“Echo, this is my team. Guys, this is Echo.”

Wrath looked Echo over and gave an abrupt nod. Of course, Wrath wouldn’t offer his hand, he never did, but the new guy looked capable enough. Sure, he was small, but that probably made his job a whole lot easier. Wrath glanced sideways at Ice, who’d gone rigid.

Wrath zeroed in on Ice’s face; it was expressionless, except for Ice’s eyes. They were glacial and Wrath had a funny feeling in his gut that Ice was ready to leap across the distance that separated him from the new guy.

Echo gave them all a quick once over, pulled the ball cap back on his head, and disappeared out the door so quickly, Wrath would have missed it if he hadn’t been looking.

Ice launched after Echo and was out the door.

Creed, Link, Eagle, and Holden ran for the side door just behind Wrath, who’d gone after Ice.

“Where’d they go?” Wrath asked Fisher.

Fisher turned and pointed to the ten-foot fence and then the roof of the house next door.

“They cleared the fence and then I saw Echo spider climb the house next door with Ice on his ass.”

“God damn it,” Wrath muttered and gave Ace a quick apologetic look. “Sorry.”

“No worries, I’m sure they’ll be back.”

“Let’s hope so,” Wrath said.

Link laughed.

“What?” Eagle asked his boyfriend.

“I’ve never seen Ice move that fucking fast.”

“Anyway,” Ace said with an exasperated look, “we have shit to plan.”

“Wait for me, I’m going to go check on Kellum,” Creed said and left the garage.

When he reached the room where Kellum was, he knocked lightly. With no answer, he gently cracked the door open. The room was dim, with a small side light illuminating the top of Kellum’s blond-haired head and Creed stepped inside and closed the door quietly. Walking to the bed, he stood gazing down for several moments before he slowly pulled the blanket off Kellum’s head to his shoulders. The man slept peacefully, his golden lashes resting against his cheeks and Creed reached a finger out.

Keeping an inch of space between his finger and Kellum’s skin, he air traced it over the younger man’s eyes, nose, and lips.

Kellum slowly opened his eyes. Creed held his gaze and slowly lowered his arm. If the eyes were truly mirrors to the soul, then what Creed saw in Kellum’s warm depths was puzzling, but before he could analyze it, Kellum slipped up and out of the blankets and flung his arms around his neck.

Surprised, Creed wrapped his arms around the young man’s waist and held him close. He flattened his palms and moved them up Kellum’s back. Kellum moved his head back and forth, his mouth pressing against his shirt…Creed felt the lips the material kept from his skin and rubbed his cheek against Kellum’s temple, then ear, his mouth brushing there. Kellum’s lips touched his throat and Creed lifted a hand to cup the back of the man’s head, sinking his fingers into the soft curls.

When Kellum began moving his hips against him, Creed pressed a hand to the man’s ass and held him still. Kellum ran his mouth upward along his jaw, trying to reach his mouth, but Creed tilted his head up and out of the way.

Kellum froze for a split second, gasped, and then tried to wrench away, but Creed refused to release him. Creed tightened his hold until Kellum stopped trying to run and grew quiet in his arms.

“Why?”

“Because we are not in the right head space to do this at the moment.”

“But I want to.”

Creed sighed, ran his hand up and down Kellum’s back, and dipped his head to rub his cheek against Kellum’s.

“So do I, trust me.”

Kellum nuzzled into his cheek with his own and Creed closed his eyes, feeling the soft skin. Their breaths grew ragged in seconds and when Kellum turned his head and pressed his mouth to his cheek, Creed allowed it for a few moments before he drew back.

They held each other’s gazes.

“Your eyes are dark and smoky now instead of light,” Kellum said, his tongue flicking out and licking at his own lips.

Creed caught the movement and zeroed in on Kellum’s mouth. The state of his cock could be felt through his jeans where their groins were mashed together, and Creed could definitely feel Kellum through his sweatpants.

A soft knock sounded on the door and Creed eased Kellum away and down with his ass to the mattress before he stepped back from the bed.

When Beckett entered, Kellum was sitting and Creed was standing a few feet away. Creed gave the medic a quick nod and strode from the room. The minute he was out in the hallway and the door closed, Creed leaned against the wall. It never took long for him to gravitate to Kellum. Even if he set his mind on keeping his distance, he literally couldn’t do it.

It was like a craving inside that wouldn’t go away. He needed Kellum like air.

His throat tightened and he shoved from the wall.

Better get shit handled so he could focus on what to do about wanting a man who was way too young for him.

One who’d been abused for years.

Fuck. Just how deep did the damage go?