Chapter Four
The night turned out to be a hell of a lot longer than Clay expected.
A week of preparations had to be slashed to only hours.
With their unwilling guest locked away, Scout and he rushed through the house doing all the last-minute inspections.
They had scheduled the maid service for tomorrow.
That left Scout and him with the job of tossing bedding on top of beds as quickly as possible.
By the time they were done, Scout looked exhausted.
Clay couldn’t stop tossing looks his way, checking for any signs of his earlier ordeal.
On his part, Clay was still enraged. That fucking piece of shit had held a knife on Scout.
Clay was ready to tear him apart. But orders were orders, and Beau—with the help of Henry, no doubt—wanted him alive.
In the smallest of ways, Clay felt slightly bad for the guy.
If Jay spoke the truth about only following orders, and Scout seemed to think that was the case, then Jay hadn’t known how massive of a mistake he had made.
His shitty leaders had sent him in blind to a situation he couldn’t win.
Jobs like these weren’t personal. Clay would know. He had been there.
“What are you thinking so hard about? You have a very intense look going on over there.”
Clay smiled at Scout’s observation. “It’s just been a hell of a night, and it’s not over. Beau will be here soon.”
“I’m sure he won’t expect you to stay awake when he gets here.”
Clay shrugged. “Honestly, I have no clue what will happen. It’s been a while since I’ve heard Beau that angry.”
They stood in the center of the main family room and held each other’s stare. It was obvious neither of them knew what to say.
Scout stepped closer and rubbed Clay’s arms, as if trying to warm him. “Don’t stress too much about this. Beau is one calculating motherfucker. I doubt he’ll actually walk into anything with nothing but blind rage.”
Clay lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I don’t even know why I’m worried about what he’ll do.”
The comforting expression Scout wore soothed Clay’s frayed nerves. “Because you’re a good person and you know that guy is just a puppet. But whoa, dude. That hold was impressive as hell. Jay isn’t just some guy with a knife. He’s a trained assassin. You acted as if he was nothing.”
The complementary speech confused Clay a little. “I’m on Beau’s security team.”
A smile stretched Scout’s lips. “You say that as if I should’ve realized you’re a badass.
In retrospect, I guess I should’ve. Not just anyone has what it takes to guard such a huge target.
Of course, this has a thousand other questions running through my mind.
Like how exactly were you trained? Is the entire army of guards trained the same? ”
“They learn from me.”
Scout jumped at Henry’s appearance. Then he was shoved out of the way by Beau’s massive right-hand man. “Are you okay?” He patted Clay as if searching for injuries.
“I’m o—”
Henry was shoved aside. Beau looked panicked. “Tell me what happened. Are you sure you’re all right?”
A nervous chuckle escaped Clay. He wasn’t used to being fussed over.
Scout jumped in and saved him. “You should’ve seen him. He was amazing. In seconds, he had everything under control without even breaking a sweat. It was awesome to behold.”
Clay fought an uncomfortable smile. He wasn’t good at handling praise.
Beau ignored him. “It was the longest flight of my life trying to get here.” He ran a shaky hand over his eyes.
Clay couldn’t stop studying his every reaction.
Beau’s adorable husband, Kylo, stood at his side, hugging a teddy bear while rocking from one foot to the other, as if he too was a nervous wreck. “You really scared Daddy. He fretted the whole way here. You’re like a son to him.”
Beau already had his head together with Henry, discussing their next move.
Clay’s gaze moved that way before jumping back to Kylo. “Thanks for that. He made sure I was prepared for exactly this. Everything is okay.”
Kylo jumped forward and hugged him. “I’m happy you’re safe too.”
A genuine smile touched his lips. Kylo was a breath of fresh air.
Kylo took a step back. He squared his shoulders, taking on as hard of a look as he could considering it was him…
and he wore a hot pink tutu with electric blue leggings.
“Where is this bully? I want to get a hit in too.” He hopped, shooting one arm toward an invisible opponent in what looked to be an acceptably good punch.
It took everything Clay possessed to not laugh. He didn’t get a chance to respond.
Beau obviously heard the question. “You’re not getting involved with this.”
Kylo’s bottom lip shot out.
Beau threw his hands up. “For fuck’s sake. Come on, then.”
Kylo bounced in place, wearing a huge grin.
Beau focused on Clay. “You should head to bed. I’m sure you’re exhausted. Don’t worry about work. You’re on vacation.”
Clay nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Beau held his stare for longer than was necessarily comfortable. He cleared his throat. “I’m damn glad you’re okay.”
A smile exploded across Clay’s face. “I love you too.”
Henry chuckled.
Beau shook his head and walked away, but not before squeezing his shoulder. Most people never saw this side of Beau. All the kids he raised were major exceptions. Occasionally, he let his mask slip. Clay was damn glad for it.
Scout watched the entire exchange with two parts disbelief and one part jealousy.
When Clay had told him the story of growing up in Beau’s care, he hadn’t formed any pictures to match that life.
He just couldn’t see Beau as a loving father, even though he had taken in all of Scout’s family too.
This was a side of Beau he never would have thought existed.
Seeing behind his mask firsthand was a huge weight off his chest. He had wondered several times how long it would take before Beau no longer had use for them and made them disappear.
He saw it now. Whether they did the odd job for him or not, Beau had opened his home to them, and everyone under his roof mattered to him in some fashion.
Scout’s gaze moved over Clay. Obviously, some were more important than others, but there was a human buried somewhere inside Beau.
He had suspected as much since Kylo had married the guy.
But Kylo had a screw or two loose, so they were probably more alike than not.
“Well, I guess there’s nothing left to do for the night. We should head to bed.”
Clay’s words pulled Scout from his thoughts. He fought hard for a way to flirt and get back to what they shared on that dance floor. His mind lagged. Clay headed for the back hall toward the long line of bedrooms. Scout panicked, but he still didn’t know what to say to keep Clay from slipping away.
At the mouth of the hallway, Clay paused and looked his way. “Are you coming, or were you just toying with me earlier?”
Scout’s feet moved before his brain caught up. It was obvious his body had better sense than his brain. “I’m coming.”
A smirk passed over Clay’s lips. “That’s the plan.”
Clay turned away, and Scout’s knees weakened.
The door to the confidence Clay hid had been kicked open tonight.
It seemed Clay had chosen to stay in beast mode for a little longer.
Scout adjusted the bulge in his jeans that kept growing on the way to Clay’s room.
One thing Scout had noticed about Clay right away was his amazing ass.
Now he couldn’t look away from that masterpiece.
Fuck. His lust was off the charts. He couldn’t take another second of the hunger.
In one long stride, Scout had one hand around Clay’s jaw and the other tearing open the front of Clay’s pants.
While molded against Clay’s back, Scout dove inside Clay’s underwear and roughly palmed Clay’s cock.
He sucked Clay’s neck while Clay openly moaned.
Anyone could catch them at any second. Scout couldn’t stop.
He ground his lower body against the perfect ass that had broken him.
Scout needed Clay’s screams. He wanted his cum.
He couldn’t wait another second to have what Clay had teased him with for months.
“Bedroom,” Clay choked out between harsh breaths.
“Right here.” Scout sounded almost inhuman with the growl in his voice.
He couldn’t help it. Clay had done something to his head.
“Blow for me right here where anyone could watch.” He bit Clay’s ear, making Clay gasp.
“Give me that cum.” He tugged ruthlessly, leaving Clay with no other choice but to gasp and writhe in his hold.
The satisfaction that roiled through him when a tiny cry reverberated from the hallway's walls and Clay jerked in his hold was like nothing else he had ever experienced.
He stroked until he stole every twitch before he released Clay.
Scout brought his hand to his mouth and licked the cum from his fingers. “Now we can go.” Even he was terrified of how possessive he felt in that moment. Clay was his.