Chapter 9

C hapter N ine

The city seemed like a carpet of lights sprawling over the hills as they crossed the Golden Gate bridge. Thor had left his truck at the motel and was driving Peter's BMW. Michael could tell by Thor's smile that he loved the way it handled. They hadn't wanted to just leave the car there as a beacon to what had happened.

"Where are we staying?" Michael asked. He had only woken up a minute ago and was still a little bleary.

"I got us a hotel in the city." Thor followed the GPS directions and pulled into the parking garage of the downtown Hyatt. He grabbed their bags, leaving the guns locked in the trunk, before leading Michael to the lobby. It was well after midnight, and the place was quiet. Thor got them checked in and up to their room.

"Nice," Michael said as he followed him inside, set his bag on the floor, and headed for the bathroom. He started the shower, then stripped off his clothes and climbed under the water. The bathroom door opened, and moments later, Thor joined him under the spray, his chest pressing against Michael's back.

He leaned into the touch as Thor's hands glided over his chest, lightly pinching his nipples. "Are you too tired?"

Michael tried to stop the yawn, but failed miserably. Parts of him were more than ready—standing tall, as a matter of fact—but the rest of him…. All Michael could do was sigh and close his eyes. "In the morning?" he asked quietly. Thor chuckled and reached for the bar of soap, cleaning Michael's skin as he held him. "I don't think I want to do that kind of operation again. It was exciting, but I keep wondering what might have happened if things had gone wrong." He shivered slightly, and Thor held him tighter.

"They had no idea what they were walking into," Thor told him. "And that was our ace in the hole. If we had needed it, Ernie was prepared to step in to back us up. He was watching and waiting for any sort of trouble. But we handled it." Michael glopped some shampoo onto his palm to wash his hair, but Thor took over, gently massaging his scalp, taking away some of the residual tension. "Try to relax. It's over."

"Then why are we here?"

"To get out of the way. I'm willing to bet that Bobby and company are telling the DEA everything they want to know. And this time, they aren't going to hit any dead ends. They knew the people in charge, and that means the entire organization is going to go down."

"You hope." Michael didn't want to be cynical, but he couldn't help himself. They had gotten a piece of it before, and it had been a dead end. Still, he closed his eyes and let Thor take care of him.

Once they were clean, Thor turned off the water and wrapped Michael in a towel. After he was dry, he climbed into bed and closed his eyes. Thor joined him, and in those strong arms, he breathed deeply and sighed, slipping into unsettled dreams of men coming after him.

At some point in the night, Thor woke him, getting out of bed. "You're safe, and no one is going to get you," Thor whispered before stepping away.

Michael settled back to sleep, and this time, his dreams were of a very different nature.

"Okay, Miller," Thor said as Michael woke later. He sat right up, blinking until he remembered where he was. He snatched his phone off the nightstand and checked his messages before remembering a meeting back home. He made a quick call to reschedule, citing a family emergency, and then got out of bed, scratching his butt as he went to the bathroom.

"Damn, that's a beautiful sight," Thor called, and Michael flipped him the bird for the hell of it before closing the bathroom door.

Thor was sitting on the side of the bed when Michael came out of the bathroom. "We need to talk."

"That's never good," Michael said, and pulled on some clothes. If Thor was about to tell him that he was being transferred and that he was being dumped, Michael was sure as hell not going to be naked. "What is it?" His nerves spiked all to hell.

"I know what happened yesterday and its effect on you. You held a gun on another human being, and you found out that under certain circumstances you would be able to pull the trigger. I remember the first time I discovered that. It was long before I did this type of work, and the person I was protecting was Angie. She was being stalked when she was in high school, and he physically threatened her. The gun I had at hand wasn't even loaded, but that didn't matter. I found out that I could shoot another person."

Michael nodded slowly. "I guess I didn't know myself as well as I thought I did." He had been going over the situation in his head all night long.

"No. You are still the same man you were before. Nothing has changed. You're the same kind, caring person who, even after all the crap with your father and brother, still thought of them first and wanted to help them. You looked out for your brother after years of playing second fiddle to him. You have a heart as big as any person I've ever met. It's why I love you." Thor swallowed, and Michael blinked. He knew Thor loved him, but Thor wasn't a man who spoke about his feelings. They stayed inside. Michael was a lot like him in that way.

"But I…." Michael's voice faltered.

Thor took both his hands. "You would do anything for those you love too. I know that. And I know that you did what you had to back at the motel because you love me. It's in everything you do. So, think about it. You would never hurt anyone unless you had to. Hell, you wouldn't hurt a bear outside our tent. I was a hair's breadth from shooting to protect you, but you stopped me. Because that's who you are."

"I know. But what if I had been wrong?" Michael asked. "What if the bear had come for us?" Michael knew he was second-guessing everything he'd done.

"It didn't, and our back-up in the motel room made sure Thug One and Thug Two didn't have a chance." Thor paused. "You did what you did because you loved me and to protect me. You would have walked away otherwise." Thor drew him closer. "And I can tell you that that isn't something you need to second-guess. I would do anything to protect Angie, Brian, Auggie, and you. And I know you'd do the same for us."

Michael found himself nodding and realized he had a lot more thinking to do. The answers he needed weren't going to come to him in a moment or a conversation, but over time. There were parts of himself that he still needed to figure out.

After they finished getting dressed and had something to eat, they spent the day in the city, having a fine ramen lunch in the Japanese shopping center and wandering the shops of Union Square, before heading to the Castro for dinner. To Michael's surprise, Thor tugged him into Toad Hall, where the music and boys were electric.

"Can you dance?" Thor asked.

Michael nodded but was struck speechless as his generally reserved and quiet lover seemed to magically shift into a man whose hips and shoulders glided in almost hypnotic enticements. Michael's throat went dry, and it took him a second before he realized that most of the room had turned their feral gazes to Thor.

He tugged Michael to him, and together they moved as one, with Michael following wherever Thor was willing to lead them on a journey of clothed, vertical passion. The desire and need that shone in Thor's eyes brought beads of sweat to Michaels's skin.

"Jesus, why don't you ever look at me that way?" someone asked in jealous awe somewhere behind him.

Michael didn't care. Thor was his, and in a room filled with hot, mostly shirtless men with lots of attributes on display, they might as well have been alone, just the two of them, lost in a world of music, anticipation, and hot sensual foreplay, that went on for hours.

Well after midnight, Thor tugged him to the door, the cool, foggy air bracing his skin. Thor hailed a cab to take them back to the hotel, where he made love to Michael with the curtains pulled to the side, the entire city spread out below then. Michael gasped and tugged Thor down to him as Thor rocked his hips, sending Michael on a trip of passion that went on and on. There was no hurry, and more than once, Michael thought himself at the brink, only to have Thor back away before driving him even higher.

The patience, the control, the passion and ecstasy, all built higher than the Transamerica Pyramid until Michael could take no more, and he tumbled into a mind-blowing release, taking Thor along with him.

"What the hell is that?" Michael asked, pulling the covers up as the light from the windows penetrated the room.

Thor pulled the curtains closed and went to the door. "What do you want at this hour?" Thor snapped, and Michael lowered the covers to the now-darkened room.

"Who is it?"

"Miller," Thor said.

Michael checked the time and groaned. It was nearly eleven.

"We'll meet you in the lobby in half an hour." Thor closed the door, and Michael groused as he climbed out of bed.

"She has the worst timing," Michael said, before hurrying to the bathroom and starting the water for a shower. He hurt in all the best places, and once he stepped under the water, letting it wash away the aches, Thor slipped in with him. "You know we don't have time for this."

Thor chuckled softly. "She can damned well wait." He held Michael tightly, the water rushing over them. He loved those warm hands as they glided over his chest, and when Thor took his lips deeply, passionately, Michael returned the passion in equal measure, nipping lightly at Thor lips, taking what he wanted. So when Michael guided Thor's hands over his head to the shower head, pressing against his back, Thor pushing into him.

"Are you sure?" Michael asked.

"Hell, yes," Thor groaned, and Michael joined them together, the heat and pressure almost too much. He stilled to cool himself off slightly before winding his arms around Thor, taking him with everything he had, giving to Thor the way Thor always did for him. Thor never held back. He always gave all he had, and Michael returned the favor, loving the feel of Thor around him, the taste of his skin as he nipped at it, and the delicious sounds of passion that filled the enclosed space, echoing off the walls until neither of them could take another second more.

Thor's cock throbbed in Michael's hand, his release adding to the water, carrying Michael over the edge with enough force that his knees nearly buckled from under him. "You're amazing," Michael whispered in Thor's ear, sucking lightly on it as they stood together. Thor slowly turned and wound his arms around Michael, the afterglow combining with the water to cocoon them in warmth.

Michael was the first to move, turning off the water before they got pruny, grabbing two big fluffy towels, and drying Thor's back before wrapping him in warmth. Wrung out but happy, they dressed, and once they left the room, Thor took his hand as they walked to the elevator.

They found Miller at one of the tables near the lobby, busy at her laptop. "Hello," she said with a smile, motioning to the other chairs.

"What did you need?" Thor asked as Michael yawned. A server came to the table, and they both ordered breakfast with plenty of coffee.

Miller looked at him and then she turned to Thor.

"I'll tell everything to Michael anyway," he said. "So, what gives."

"The two men you captured told us everything they knew, which was more than we hoped. They were only supposed to find you, but they thought they could make points if they took you out." She smiled. "They have given us the names of nearly everyone involved, and law enforcement is rounding up everyone today. We even have more than enough to put Reynard Holton and his wife, Cynthia, out of action for a long time. They have been big players in Napa, Sonoma, and Marin. We've wanted them for years, but didn't have the evidence, and now we have the entire organization."

She paused as the server brought their coffee. Michael sipped it and let the warmth and caffeine work through his system.

"That's great. But you could have told him that with a phone call," Michael said. "So what else is there?"

"Well," Milled sighed and closed her laptop, looking right at Thor. "It's time for you to make a choice. The type of program that you work under is being phased out. My position is being eliminated, and I'm to be promoted to regional director. We have a couple of opportunities for you, but the biggest question is, are you going to join us or leave us? You've done this hybrid position for too long. And it just so happens that after the last year, we've come to realize that we need an agent out of the Fort Bragg area in order to keep a close eye on things. I put you up for the position."

Michael found it hard not to say anything.

"You want me as a full-time agent?"

"Yes. You're more than qualified. You could stay where you are. We need you there."

Thor nodded. "Would I be working for you?"

"In a way. You'd work for one of the area captains," she said. "I don't need an answer immediately. Take a few days and let me know what you'd like to do." She leaned over the table as if sharing a confidence. "I really hope you'll stay. You're amazing at what you do and have great instincts."

Thor nodded. "You know how I feel about all the official stuff and the paperwork." He rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I know. But you'd also have a chance to settle down." She smiled at both of them. "You can build a life."

Thor placed his hand on top of Michael's, the warmth making Michael smile. "And I want that. So yeah, I'll accept the offer as long as I don't have to come into some office every day."

Miller smiled and extended her hand. "I'm glad." She also shook hands with Michael before putting away her laptop and getting ready to leave. "The bureau is picking up your hotel, so add your breakfast to the room and enjoy the rest of the day. I'll be in touch with all the details." She hurried out, and Michael shook his head.

"Most of the time, I don't know whether to love her or hate her."

Thor chuckled. "She is what she is, but she looks out for her people." He sipped some more of the coffee before looking deeply into Michael's eyes, enough to make him shiver slightly. "Are you okay with this? Is this what you want?"

Michael leaned closer. "More than anything. So, you're going to stay?"

Thor held his gaze. "I was always going to stay. If I had to find a new job, I would have. But I'm never leaving you. That you can take to the bank." Thor kissed him, and the server cleared her throat before setting down their plates. Thor snickered softly and leaned close to Michael, speaking quietly. "Let's eat quickly, and then we can go back upstairs for dessert before heading home."

The way he said that word made Michael warm and safe. "Sounds perfect."