Chapter 6
Vincent
At the least, the heavy weight pressing down on my chest should have had me shoving the offending object away, since being trapped in any kind of way was a danger, but even as my brain teetered back and forth between sleep and awareness, I knew what – or who, rather – was pinning me to the bed.
And I also knew why I was actually reluctant to do anything about my predicament, despite the inherent danger of it.
He’s not David, I reminded myself as the warm breath skittering across my nipple had shivers of excitement flickering just beneath the surface of my skin.
As I forced my eyes to open and acknowledge the truth of the situation instead of the hopeful wish that I was once again lying in bed with David splayed across my chest, I fisted my left hand into the bedding so I wouldn’t be tempted to reach for Nathan, either to push him away… or pull him closer.
Because despite the familiar pain that came racing back every time I remembered David really was gone, I still liked that feeling of warm skin against mine. I liked the fingers that were pressing into my skin just beneath my armpit. I liked how the soft blond hair tickled my chin.
Once my vision cleared, I looked up at the mirror above the bed and felt my throat constrict at the sight that greeted me.
At some point Nathan had kicked the covers away and his sweats had slid up enough to reveal his calves, one of which he’d tossed over my right leg.
The blanket had stayed put enough to keep our lower bodies from actually touching, but Nathan’s shirt had ridden up so that his muscled abdomen was pressed against mine and I could see the gentle slope of his lower back.
His ass was just gorgeous, even in the loose sweatpants, and if my right arm hadn’t been pinned beneath his body, I probably would have been reaching for it before I could have stopped myself.
I was gripping the blanket with my other hand to keep from doing exactly that.
Nathan’s head was tucked up just beneath my chin and his arm was thrown over my chest. His other hand…
Fuck, his other hand was beneath his body. And I didn’t need to see it to know what it was doing.
Because I could damn well feel it and I just couldn’t believe it.
His hand was linked with mine. It was a crazy position for him because it couldn’t have been a comfortable angle for his arm, but that clearly hadn’t stopped him.
But the part that still had me floored was that I’d completely missed the moment he’d turned into me.
As light a sleeper as I was, I should have noticed the move.
The only thing I could think was that my traitorous body had somehow mistaken Nathan for David.
But I knew it was a stretch. David had been gone for more years than we’d been together.
Just like the night before when I’d wanted it to be David in the shower with me, my brain had chosen reality instead of memory.
Nathan stirred against me, but didn’t wake up. I inwardly cursed when his lips briefly pressed against my skin as he adjusted his head.
I suspected Nathan was gay, but either in complete denial about it or so deep in the closet he’d need a compass to find his way out. I had a feeling it was the former because of the way he’d reacted to my touch the night before when he’d asked about getting to the messages on his phone.
I had no clue what had possessed me to touch him like I had, but he’d made it a hell of a lot easier when he hadn’t moved away. A straight man would have been making a run for it the second I’d hovered my body over his. And touching his lips…instead of pushing me away, he’d held his breath.
And waited.
It had taken every ounce of control I possessed to pull away from him.
Everything about Nathan Wilder turned me on.
Just because I hated what he did for a living didn’t mean I couldn’t fuck him.
God knew I’d fucked guys for all kinds of reasons.
But I’d heard that damn vulnerability in his voice as he’d mentioned his brother, and that had sealed the deal for me.
As interesting as it would have been to show the guy he was most definitely into cock instead of pussy, I wasn’t going to take advantage of someone who was struggling emotionally.
Even I had my limits.
Nathan shifted again, but when his hand suddenly began skimming down my side, I was done and I pushed him none too gently off me.
By the time he woke up, I was already pulling my pants on.
I glanced over at him just in time to see him looking at my side of the bed in confusion.
His eyes shifted to me and I could see the question there.
But I didn’t say anything as I went to the bathroom to piss and brush my teeth.
By the time I returned to the main room, Nathan was sitting on the edge of his side of the bed, his head in his hands.
I was glad to see his bandage didn’t have any blood seeping through it, meaning my stitches had held.
When he lifted his gaze, I saw a slight discoloration on his jaw, but it wasn’t bad.
“We’re leaving in five minutes,” I said as I went to the door to remove the stun grenade.
“Good morning to you, too,” he muttered as he stood. I watched him long enough to see that his movements weren’t hampered, which meant his side was likely bruised, but his ribs probably weren’t fractured.
Nathan grabbed his bag on the way to the bathroom.
I began packing up my own bag and within the five minutes I’d allotted him, Nathan was out of the bathroom and heading for the door.
I stepped in front of him to keep him from leaving first. Energy charged the air around us as my arm brushed his chest briefly.
Fuck, how the hell was I going to keep my hands off him for however long it took to figure out who was after him?
I unlocked the door and left the room first, holding out my arm to Nathan to make sure he understood to wait behind me. Once I was sure there was no threat, I motioned him outside and went to my car.
“Wait here,” I said as I pointed to the front of the car. I quickly walked around the car and then dropped to the ground to check the undercarriage. The engine was next.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked.
“Checking to make sure it wasn’t tampered with.”
“Tampered with?”
“Brake line cut, explosive or tracking device attached,” I said simply.
“Jesus,” Nathan whispered. I glanced at him long enough to see his eyes had gone wide. If he only knew this was my normal.
“Get in,” I said, motioning to the passenger door. He moved reluctantly, but I didn’t say anything. He’d either learn to trust me or he wouldn’t.
Once we were on the road, I found a fast food place with a drive-thru window.
“Tell me about the emails,” I said once Nathan was done inhaling the first of two breakfast sandwiches he’d ordered.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“How many were there, what was in them…”
I already knew the answer, but I was interested in what he had to tell me about them.
“It started a few months ago, I guess. A lot of people reached out after I denounced my father’s stance on gay marriage. Some of them commended me, others didn’t,” he hedged.
“Were there any people from your father’s constituency that contacted you?”
“Dozens,” he said quietly. “Even people I’d thought were friends began calling and telling me the same thing.
That I was confused about Brody…that I was letting the fact that he was my brother overpower my loyalty to God.
Said it was the devil’s lure.” Nathan laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“That was always my father’s answer to anything that didn’t go his way.
Devil’s lure. It was as common a phrase in our house as Praise the Lord and Amen. ”
“Did any of the people threaten you with bodily harm?” I asked.
“My girlfriend at the time chucked a vase at my head after I told her to get the fuck out of my house. Does that count?”
I smiled despite myself. “She didn’t like the new Nathan Wilder?” I asked.
“Not sure she even liked the old Nathan,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
Nathan shook his head. “She was a prop,” he said.
“Just like everything else in my life at the time.” He went quiet for a moment before saying, “Anyway, when she jumped on the “Blame it on Brody” bandwagon, I told her we were done. She tried to brain me with the vase, called me all sorts of very un-Southern-Belle-like names and stormed out of my house. Haven’t seen her since. ”
“What about once the furor died down?”
“After a few weeks, there was just one left. GodWillJudgeYou@,” Nathan murmured.
“Tell me about the emails.”
He turned his head to look out the window. “It seemed like the typical stuff at first. Ranting about how I was going to hell if I didn’t repent. After a while I didn’t even read the whole message.”
“Did you ever respond?”
He shook his head. “Figured that would just encourage him.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“No.”
“What about your campaign manager?”
“Preston would have freaked,” Nathan responded. “He’s seen a lot of shit in this business, so I knew he’d figure it was one of my rivals and insist we retaliate in some way.”
“So much for running a clean campaign,” I said.
“Hey,” Nathan said, his voice carrying an edge to it. I looked over at him.
“Any chance you can wait until after I finish my coffee before you start bashing me and my entire profession?” The anger glittering in his eyes had my dick tightening in my pants. God, I was so fucked.
“I make no promises,” I replied, but kept my voice light. The effect was devastating because I saw Nathan’s lips inch up just a little before he dropped his gaze.
Hell, what would he look like when he full-on smiled? And not that fake smile he wore in his campaign photographs or whenever there was a camera pointed in his direction.