14. Rio
Saint cuddled into me like I was his living teddy bear and I stroked his hair and the back of his neck. He went far deeper into this scene than I had expected him to, considering how nervous he had been in the beginning. He was a very good submissive, and it pissed me off that whoever had played with him before hadn’t taken care of him.
I held him until he fell asleep, reflecting on how everything had gone. I was mostly pleased with my choices, especially since I hadn’t played very much since I got back to the States. The only thing I wasn’t happy with was asking him what he wanted afterward. I should have seen how deeply he had gone while he was sucking me off and made the choice for him, but all things considered that was a tiny misstep and I doubted he would even see it as one. His standard of expectation from his Dom seemed very, very low.
I planned to change that.
It was dinnertime when Saint finally woke up, still cuddled up to me. I had pins and needles in one arm but was otherwise very comfortable and wasn’t eager to disturb him.
He frowned when he realized where he was and lifted his head to look at me. “How did it get so late?” he asked.
I grinned. “Wore you out,” I replied, letting a little smugness come through. I telegraphed my intent to kiss him and he lifted his head automatically, which pleased me. I kissed him with just enough heat to remind him of what we had just done and ran my fingers through his hair. “Are you feeling okay?”
Saint looked down at my chest and I could see him taking a quick inventory of himself. Slowly he began to nod and I relaxed. He looked back into my face after a minute and his eyes searched me. “Are you?”
“Oh yeah. Nothing I said earlier was untrue, you’re very good at that.” I stretched a little and combed my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, letting it pull just enough for him to notice.
Saint’s eyes closed and he nearly purred, his hand sliding up my chest. I considered asking him if he wanted to do it again but doing it with him still in bed with me, naked, and coming down from the hormones wasn’t the place or time.
We got up and cleaned up, while Saint waffled between sticking close to me and seeming to catch himself and pull away. After three or four instances of that, I took his hand and reeled him in to kiss. I wasn’t sure what was on his mind but I could make a few guesses. The top guess was he was needy but was embarrassed. I didn’t address it out loud, instead manhandling him into a cuddle on the bed and showing him my phone. “Dinner?”
Saint snuggled into my chest and looked at the screen. There weren’t a lot of options here, and we settled on Denny’s. I chose an egg and brisket melt and Saint chose the bourbon chicken skillet with extra mushrooms. I placed the order and began to run my fingers through Saint’s hair again. “Doing okay?” I asked once he was well on his way to melted. I felt him tense up immediately and pressed the pads of my fingers into the base of his skull in a light massage. I felt him shiver and almost thrum with indecision. I applied a little more pressure and that made the difference. He hummed and relaxed back into my chest.
“Saint?” I prompted when he didn’t answer for another minute. “Doing okay? Humor me, huh?”
He snorted softly and nodded. “I’m good. Trying to remember the scene is over. That was really nice.”
I hummed and scratched lightly at his scalp. “We can play again if you want to. I don’t know if we should so soon, though, you’re still needy from the last one.” I said it matter-of-factly, a needy sub is an entirely commonplace thing to me, but he frowned at me. I blinked back, nonplussed. “Aren’t you? There’s nothing wrong with it, I get the same way sometimes afterward.”
Saint looked like he was doing advanced calculus in his head and I waited, my fingers still playing with his hair and the back of his neck. I wasn’t stupid, I knew that the way I said that wasn’t how he would like to think of himself, but it was true and if he trusted me enough to play with me, I wanted him to trust me enough to let me take care of him after – and trust himself enough to let go and enjoy it.
He wound up not saying anything else, but I internally rejoiced when he snuggled into me a little closer. I could tell what he was saying. I am, and I accept it and I accept your care.
***
I slept well that night, the sex coupled with the pleasure I got from taking care of a submissive meant that I was out like a light with Saint as my little spoon. We both slept well, a four-thirty wake-up to exchange sleepy hand jobs a pleasant prelude to sleeping in until eight.
My phone woke us, Lee’s ringtone dragging me to consciousness and making me groan. “Torrez,” I growled into the phone as I hugged Saint to my chest with the other arm.
“Rio, there’s news,” Lee said. “Not particularly surprising news, but I thought I should call and let you know nonetheless. An informant spotted one of Greene’s men meeting up with one of Fernandez’s lieutenants. Greene’s gotta be funding part of this, especially if Ginny’s traveling too. I have to wonder if they’ve ever heard of the phrase about too many cooks in the kitchen, but maybe he doesn’t care as long as somebody gets the job done.”
I sighed. “I figured that’s what was happening. You’re right about the number of people, but the more people involved, the more people Greene can point fingers at. Frankly, I’m somewhat shocked he’s kept Ginny this long, she doesn’t sound particularly tractable.”
“She’s a fuckin’ fruitcake with extra nuts,” Lee said deadpan.
I snorted and Saint hummed questioningly. “It’s Lee,” I said quietly. “Greene, Fernandez, and your sister are one big happy family. Lee just shared an opinion of your sister that I enjoyed.”
“She’s a fruitcake,” Saint mumbled, and Lee and I burst out laughing. Saint turned his head to give me a stink-eye and I shook my head. “I’m sorry, but Lee said almost the same thing, if a bit more colorfully.”
“I’m a very colorful person,” Lee said in his best twink voice. I had met Lee once, and he was, in fact, very colorful. The rainbow eyeshadow look had been very well done and had complimented the pearly silk shirt he had been wearing beautifully. He had been wearing Louboutin boots and skinny jeans to complete the ensemble and he had looked fantastic.
“You are,” I agreed. “Can you forward that information to the team investigating Casimir Hallie’s shooting? I gave you the lead detective’s name, didn’t I?”
“You did,” Lee said. “Sending it off. I have some photos and a sworn statement.”
“Fantástico,” I said. I was pleased that Lee had found that, but though I didn’t say it to Saint or Lee, I had a feeling that it was going to be dead in the water before long. Greene was too big and too powerful, he wouldn’t be brought down by something that trivial.
“So… You’re taking the fake relationship cover to heart it sounds like…” Lee said with a grin in his voice. “Only one bed and all of that? How authentic are you being?” He made a little lip-smacking hum. “Do both those Durand boys have a taste for built military men whose entire goal is to protect them from any and all harm?”
I glared at the wall, then glanced down quickly to see if Saint had overheard that. He was breathing quietly again, though I could tell he was awake. Lee wasn’t being mean, he was teasing me because that’s what he did, but I didn’t think Saint would take it that way. He wasn’t reacting, though, so I thought he probably hadn’t. “Save it,” I said to Lee.
“Okay, okay…” Lee soothed. “I’m just asking.”
I snorted at him again and then hung up to the sound of his chuckle.
“What did they find this time?” Saint asked quietly.
“Photos of a contact between Greene and Fernandez,” I said. “Not them personally of course, but the two organizations. Lee’s sending it on to the detective investigating Casimir’s shooting.”
“Dead in the water,” Saint said with an air of resigned acceptance. “Maybe if it was just one or the other, but together…” He sighed.
“Sì…” I admitted. “But it’s there, at least. It’s a brick if nothing else.” I ran my hand down his belly and he almost purred, sending shivers up my spine. “And for the time being we’re safe here. If that changes, we’ll move again.”
We spend two quiet days, with a phone call each day for Saint to check in with the shelter. It was quiet there, too, which made me happy. Rishi made a report daily that I could see too. I shared it with Saint, who was grateful. Rishi had started doing a split shift with Levi and Mark, all three of them adjusting their schedules somewhat so each of them had a ten-hour shift with overlap three times a day, but alternating it so the coverage wasn’t too predictable. Rishi was the mastermind of that. He was a strategist. If he had stayed in the service he could have gone farther with that, but he had elected to reenlist once and then be honorably discharged after a second tour.
I was right about how far Lee’s tip would go. It died not far up the pipeline from Cas’ higher-ups. We didn’t know who stopped it, of course, but it stagnated. Lee was keeping as much of an eye on things as he could and he texted me with that news.
The third day after Lee’s call about the Greene/Fernandez connection, Marcus called. “You’re not going to like this,” he said when I answered, and I sighed. “I tripped over a trace on Saint’s credit cards. Has to be Greene.”
“Motherfucker. That’s how he knows where we are… and that means he’ll be here anytime.” I growled.
“Probably,” Marcus agreed. “Time to move, and try to use some other form of payment.”
“Yeah… His brother offered but I haven’t asked about that, it’s not my business. I could ask John if we could use a company card and bill it back…” I watched Saint for a minute as I thought it over. He was using two different pencils, alternating between them, one in his teeth as he worked with the other. I hadn’t seen his drawings aside from quick glances, but I knew he was talented. He was frowning at the page, switching pencils often, and I wondered for a moment what he was doing.
“Not a bad idea. I’d give him a call when we hang up, and then you’ll have to talk to Saint…” Marcus sounded like he could tell how much fun that conversation would be.
I groaned softly. “I know. He’s going to be pissed.”
The conversation with John went well. I had a company credit card for authorized purchases, and he told me to put our room on it and he would add it to Shiloah’s bill. After I got off the phone with him, I tapped the phone on my chin once or twice, then sighed, got to my feet, and went to Saint.
“Sexy,” I said, and he popped his head up, pencil still in his teeth. “Marcus called.”
His eyebrows drew together over his blue eyes. “I’m not gonna be happy,” he said around the pencil.
I shook my head. “Greene has a trace on your credit card. They’re gonna know we’re here, if they don’t already. We have to move again.”
“No,” Saint said. “I’m not running again. We haven’t seen anyone. It’s fine. If we keep moving, they’re gonna chase us across this fucking country until they catch us.”
“It’s not fine,” I insisted, but he put up his hand.
“It’s not, but it’s as good as it’s gonna get. I’m not running again,” he said. “I’m not a runner.”
I looked him over and believed that one hundred and fifty percent. I could believe that Saint”s two settings were ‘stand and fight’ or ‘immovable object.’ “I’m not saying we keep running. I’m saying move once more, using a different payment method, so they don’t know where we are. It’s a strategic retreat,” I said.
“No. We’ve been here for what, four days? And nothing. Shiloah’s card is on the room, they probably think we’re gone already.”
I turned away and scrubbed my hands over my face. “But your card was,” I said. “Saint, I…” “No. The next time I move, it’ll be to go back to LA. Rio…” Saint stood up and came to face me. “Trust me when I say I’m a lot harder to kill than it looks. It’s been tried, and they failed.”
“Saint… Michael… I–”
“I know it’s your job to protect me, and I appreciate that, but I’m not helpless. We stay,” Saint finished, looking into my eyes. “I’m not giving them the satisfaction of scaring me away.”
I breathed a deep, deep sigh and nodded acquiesce. “Alright. For now, we will stay.”
Saint smiled at me, small but it reached his eyes. “Thank you,” he said, took a step closer, and slipped his arms around me. Our lips met in a simple kiss and even though I was still worried, I had to appreciate that Saint knew where his boundaries lay.