Surrendering to His Siren (Silver Spoon Heroes)

Chapter Nine

Emmett

" I should have learned to fly the drone," Tony Gordon mutters, glaring balefully at a massive root as he yanks his boot out of it. "Dacen has the cush gig right now."

"Chief wouldn't let you near the fucking drone, brother," Evan Whitcomb says, smirking at him. "He barely allows you to drive the rig."

Tony flips him the bird before stomping off, muttering under his breath.

Evan chuckles, glancing over at me. "Ignore him. He's happy to help look for the kid. He just has a thing with nature."

"Yeah, I know," I mutter wearily. Tony's aversion to nature isn't a new phenomenon. We've been giving him shit about it since he joined the department two years ago. But I'm just not in the fucking mood today.

The last two days have been a mixed bag. Nina has recovered well from the fire. I took her back to see Belle again this morning for another checkup, and there aren't any complications that she's been able to find. And things between her and I are going well. Better than that, actually. Since we slept together on Saturday, we've only grown closer.

But Nate didn't show up yesterday. Nina waited all day for him to come home, anxious as hell. By midnight, it was pretty fucking obvious that he wasn't coming. She cried all night.

The longer he's out of contact, the worse it is. I know it. Nina knows it. It's not fucking good. And it doesn't help that his phone has been off since he left their house on Friday. Dillon has dispatch requesting updated pings every few hours, and it's the same story. He hasn't turned it on a single time since he left.

She begged me to let her go looking for him this morning, but I adamantly refused. Instead, I took her to see Belle and then sent her to Giant and Callum Carmichael so they can help keep an eye on her. And then the fire department and I loaded up two brush trucks and headed out. We've been combing through the woods for hours, checking every nook and cranny.

Dacen is flying the drone overhead, checking for the shit we can't see. Easton has the Sheriff's Department drone out, too. So far, we haven't found anything. If Nate is really out here, he could be anywhere. There are hundreds of acres of woodlands out there. It'll take weeks to mount a proper search…and we can't afford to mount a proper search right now.

If Vincent's bookies don't already know he's missing, the last goddamn thing we need to do is alert them to the fact that he's somewhere out here on his own. If we send the general population out looking for him, there's no way to keep word from spreading to them.

It's a shitshow all the way around.

We need to find them just as badly as we need to find Nate. And that search is going just about as well. Dillon has his people pulling over every black Lexus he comes across. He also put out a BOLO to surrounding agencies. So far, no one has come up with anything.

It's pissing me off. How goddamn hard is it to find two fire-starting, murderous bookies? Damn hard, apparently.

"We've got a campsite ahead!" Devon calls out.

My heart thuds against my breastbone. I quicken my pace, skirting around a massive fallen log and then through underbrush to a small clearing beside a creek. I find Devon kneeling beside an old campfire, his dark head bent as he examines something.

"What is it?" I crouch beside him.

"Condoms," he mutters, nudging one with a stick. "Any chance the kid was out here with a girl?"

"Doubt it," I mutter, shoving a hand through my hair as I rise to my feet, muttering a curse. "I'm not sure he was out here at all."

Devon sighs, hauling himself upright. "Then what are we looking for, man? You know I'll search these woods all day because you asked, but if you don't even think he's out here…what are we looking for?"

"Hope," I sigh. "We're looking for hope."

It's all I've got to give Nina right now. Hope. Some goddamn sign that he's been out here. That he's safe. That the pricks who tried to kill her don't have her teenage brother.

Devon clasps my shoulder, squeezing. "Well, all right then. Let's go fucking find it." He glances over his shoulder at the rest of the crew. "Move out! There's nothing to find here!"

An hour later, Easton's voice crackles over the radio at my hip. "IC to 133."

I snatch my radio up, pausing midstep. "This is 133."

"You got cell reception out there?"

I drag my cell phone out of my pocket to check. I've got signal, but I'm not counting on the single bar being enough for whatever he needs. "Anyone got cell service?" I call to the crew.

"Fuck no," Evan mutters.

"Nope," Devon says.

"I've got a bar," Tony says.

"I've got signal," Bodie Jinks says.

"What the fuck?" Evan scowls at him. "How the fuck do you have signal?"

"Told you dicks that you needed to switch providers. You didn't listen." He shrugs, jogging over to me. "What do you need?"

"Hold that thought." I lift the radio again. "We've got signal, IC."

"Standby for a call."

"Negative. Call 139."

"Copy. Calling 139."

I hook the radio to my belt again, waiting for Bodie's phone to ring. Easton doesn't keep me waiting long. Within thirty seconds, the phone lights up, vibrating in Bodie's hand. He holds it out to me.

"Hey. What's up?" I ask, holding it to my ear.

"I found a campsite I need you to check out," Easton says. "It's about half a mile from your current position."

"How the fuck do you know our current position?" I ask, brows furrowed.

"Look up."

I tip my head back, glancing up at the sky.

The drone swoops down, the hum growing louder as it hovers several feet above us over the creek we've been following.

"Follow the creek to the west," Easton instructs. "The campsite is right where it swells."

"You think it's something?"

He hesitates. "Possibly. You said he camps in this area a lot."

When I asked Nina, this is the area she directed us to search.

"What'd you find?"

"Looks like a backpack was left behind. There's a physics textbook sticking out of it. Dillon checked with Garrett. Nate is in advanced physics this year."

"Shit. We're on the way."

"Call me when you get there," Easton orders before hanging up on me.

I pass Bodie's phone back to him before glancing at the crew. "There's a campsite half a mile to the west. Easton thinks it may be something."

"Then let's fucking go," Evan mutters, already striding that way.

I fall in behind him, with everyone else spreading out in a line. No one says anything as we hurry in that direction, keeping our eyes peeled along the way. I'm too goddamn afraid to hope, but it sprouts anyway. I need something to take back to Nina. Anything to give her a little hope that her brother is coming home safely. Without it, she may crack.

We find the campsite exactly where Easton said we would fifteen minutes later. It's fresh, as if whoever stayed here left only recently. Food trash litters the area, meaning it hasn't been picked over by predators and opportunistic forest animals yet.

Tony spots the backpack on the ground before anyone else and slips on a glove before snatching it off the ground. He yanks the book out. "It's definitely a physics textbook," he mutters, holding it up for everyone to see.

"Christ," I mutter, my heart slamming against my fucking ribcage when he flips it open, and I see Nate's name scrawled in the upper right corner. He was out here. At some point in the last few days, he was here.

Bodie holds out his phone without me even saying a word. "It's already unlocked and dialing."

I grab the phone.

"What do you have?" Easton asks as soon as he answers.

"It's his," I say.

"Thank fuck," Easton breathes. "I'll call Dillon."

Yeah. Thank fuck.

Now…where the fuck is he?

It takes us an hour and a half to get back to the command post. And another hour for me to get back to Nina.

"Your brother was in the woods at some point this weekend, baby," I murmur as soon as I set eyes on her.

A shudder rips through her as her eyes fall closed. A soft cry escapes her lips, breaking my heart. I pull her up against my chest, burying my face in her hair as she trembles like a little leaf in a windstorm.

Giant jerks his chin in a nod, silently letting me know that he and Callum are about to make themselves scarce.

"Thank you," I murmur to him.

He shoots me a grin.

I bundle Nina out to the truck and then help her inside.

"I love you," I whisper as I buckle her in. I've been waiting to say that shit for two days now, but I've been holding off, trying to give her time. I promised that I'd move slow with her. None of this has been slow. And yet…I can't help but say it now. She needs to hear it. She needs to know I'll comb through the woods every fucking day if that's what it takes to find her brother for her.

She clings to me for a long moment, trembling in my arms. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Emmett," she whispers.

I press my lips to her forehead before pulling back.

She doesn't ask a single question about what we found out there until we walk through the front door. I think she's a little afraid to ask. But as soon as we cross the threshold, she spins to face me, her hands tangled together. Anxiety written all over her face. "Tell me," she pleads quietly. "I can't stand not knowing what you found anymore."

"We found his backpack," I murmur, pulling her into my arms. "He was in the woods at some point this weekend, baby."

"Do you think…?"

"I don't know, Red. But we'll go right back out tomorrow and keep looking. We won't stop until he's home again," I promise. "The important thing right now is that he was out there. That's good news."

"Yeah," she whispers, pressing her face against my throat. "I want him home, Emmett."

"I know you do."

Her tears soak my skin as she cries quietly. I scoop her up into my arms, carrying her to the bedroom. She doesn't issue a single complaint as I carry her into the bathroom and then set her on the vanity long enough to start the shower.

I strip quickly before I set to work on her clothes, tugging them from her body with gentle hands. By the time she's naked, she isn't crying anymore. She's just quiet, emotionally drained, I think.

I step into the shower with her in my arms, steam billowing around us.

"Did you mean it?" she asks, tipping her head back to look at me.

I don't have to ask to know what she means. I see the vulnerability in her eyes. Even now, she's afraid to let herself believe that I was meant for her, as if I'm somehow more than her. Or maybe it's simply that she feels guilty for being happy when so much is going wrong.

"I meant it, Red." I cup her cheeks, raining kisses across her face. "I love you. I love your heart. I love your spirit. I love your sweetness. I love the way you squeak when you're embarrassed. I love the adorable shit you say. I love the way you love your brother. I love you."

"I love you too," she chokes, tears spilling down her cheeks again.

My goddamn heart pulses, growing eight sizes. My cock grows too, pointing at her like a divining rod. She feels it and moans softly.

"Don't worry about that right now, baby. Just let me take care of you."

"That's not what I want. It's not what I need." She shakes her head, adamant. "I'm not going to break, Emmett. Please don't treat me like I will. I need you to love me the same way you did before he didn't come home last night."

"I can't do that."

Her brows furrow, disappointment filling her eyes.

"I can't do it because I love you more than that today, Nina." I press her back against the shower, more than willing to give her what she wants, though. If she needs to use my body to forget for a while, I'll give her that. I'll love her until my name is the only thing she remembers. If I can't make the goddamn world what she needs right now, then I'll be her entire world so long as we're in this shower. And when we leave it, she can don her armor again. I'll help put her back together.

Her expression softens as I chase her lips with mine, kissing her deeply. Water pounds down around us, steam shutting out the rest of the world as I run my hands all over her, touching her everywhere. Kissing her until she's mewling. I could do this shit all day—just love her. Christ, I could do it for a lifetime.

I drop to my knees, lifting one of her gorgeous legs up over my shoulder. My lips run up her inner thigh, tasting droplets of water and her juices. She's already wet, already ready for me.

"Emmett!" Her hands sink into my hair, holding me to her as I feast, using my lips and tongue to drive her right to the brink. I lick and suck and fucking eat until she's sobbing my name and grinding against my face.

I grunt, loving every fucking second of it…licking up every drop she spills as she shatters on my tongue, crying out for me. I could live off her pussy and die happy. When all of this is over, I might just try it.

I haul myself to my feet, lifting her up in my arms. Her legs encircle my waist, her nails digging into my shoulders.

I lick water from the divot of her collarbone as I yank her down on my cock, filling her in one deep thrust.

We groan together as her tight cunt wraps around me, squeezing me in a vise. Jesus. There's nothing better than this. Nothing sweeter than the feel of her in my arms. Nothing more perfect than the two of us together. I don't just want this now. I want it forever.

"I love you," I murmur, driving into her again and again. "I love you, Red."

"I love you too," she sobs, head thrashing against the shower wall as I slip a hand between us to play with her clit.

"I'm never going to stop, you know." I nip the side of her throat, feeling her pulse fluttering between my lips. "I'm going to love the fuck out of you every day."

"Emmett," she whimpers.

"I'm going to worship you every day." I flick my tongue along the shell of her ear. "I'm going to fuck you like this every day."

Her pussy flutters around my cock.

"You're mine now, Nina. No takebacks."

"I don't want to take it back," she cries.

I smile, nipping her throat again. "Good because I won't let you."

I grind my thumb against her clit, pounding into her.

"I…I…"

"I know, baby. I can feel it."

She throws her head back, shouting my name as she gives in to the pleasure, coming all over me. And the feel of her convulsing on my cock sends me hurtling over the edge with her. I bury my face in her throat, whispering her name like a fucking prayer as my balls churn and I come hard, giving her every last damn drop.

They all belong to her anyway. Every goddamn thing I have is hers. She's fate.