Chapter 15
Jace
“You okay there, babe?” I asked casually as I watched Caleb squirm in his seat.
“Shut up,” he responded. “Could they make that shower any damn smaller?” he asked. “It’s impossible to reach all the important spots.”
I chuckled because I knew exactly what spots Caleb had been trying to reach.
“Is that your way of telling me I wasn’t very thorough this morning?”
He sent me a death glare. “You know you were, you cocky bastard.”
I failed miserably at hiding my grin as I plucked a piece of bacon off my plate and took a healthy bite. I was rewarded with a forkful of scrambled eggs being flung at me.
“You did not just do that,” I said, my eyes going wide.
Caleb was already dipping his fork into the eggs on his plate again when I lunged for him.
He laughed and grabbed some of the eggs in his hand and tried to mash them in my face.
I ducked and ended up with eggs in my hair.
I managed to drag him from his seat and we crashed onto the floor.
We were both laughing as we fought to control who ended up on top.
I won, but once I closed my mouth over his, we were both winners. Caleb groaned into my mouth.
“You want me to double-check some of those spots you missed in the shower?”
Color suffused Caleb’s cheeks and I knew he was very tempted to have a repeat of the events of the morning.
I’d ended up following through on my threat from the night before with the Sno Ball, but I’d made sure Caleb was asleep when I’d started.
He’d slept without a shirt so it had been easy to get some of the frosting on him without waking him up.
I’d had the pleasure of watching his body become aware of my touch long before his gorgeous eyes had actually opened.
By the time they had, they’d been bright with need and the first word out of his mouth had been my name.
I’d tortured his front for a while, but when I’d turned him over onto his belly, he’d tensed just the slightest bit.
I hadn’t asked him to trust me, because I already knew he did.
But I had leaned over his back and kissed him until he’d relaxed.
I’d put some of the frosting on his back and had slowly licked it off until he’d once again gone completely pliant beneath my touch.
He’d chuckled when I’d spread some of the frosting on his ass cheeks, but his laugh had died a quick death when I’d split him open and swiped a generous amount of frosting on his crease.
I hadn’t given him time to think about what I was doing.
He’d jerked as soon as I’d run my tongue up his crack, but I hadn’t given him the opportunity to question what was happening.
I’d merely closed my mouth over his gorgeous hole and kissed it like I’d so often kissed his mouth.
He’d moaned as he’d buried his face in the pillow.
After that, I’d taken my time, since any resistance he’d shown to the taboo act had fallen by the wayside.
I’d eased his dick underneath him so I could reach it while I played with his ass.
I’d used what was left of the frosting to toy with him.
When I’d finally allowed Caleb to come, it had been with my tongue in his ass and my hand stroking his dick.
I’d been so turned on that I hadn’t managed to hold back and I’d ended up coming all over Caleb’s ass myself.
Between the frosting and my cum, it didn’t surprise me in the least that he might have a sticky spot or two left in some sensitive places.
“Maybe,” he admitted shyly.
I chuckled and kissed him, then helped him to his feet. We were both covered in food, and I regretted for the umpteenth time that Dalton’s boat didn’t have a bigger shower.
Caleb and I began cleaning up the mess. As we worked, I brought up an issue that I knew we needed to deal with sooner rather than later.
“Caleb, I need to call Ronan to tell him about Jennings.”
Caleb stiffened. He was in the process of scraping some food from his plate into the garbage can. “Why?” he asked. “Jennings won’t help me.”
I hated that he even thought that there’d been a chance Jennings would have helped him. The man was a predator, just like Caleb’s father.
“He needs to be held accountable for what he did to you,” I began. Before Caleb could object, I said, “But going to the cops is too risky. If Jennings feels cornered, he might tell them it was you the morning of the shooting.”
“It’s over, Jace. It doesn’t matter anymore. Sending him to prison won’t undo what he did.”
I was tempted to bring up the fact that it was very likely that Caleb wasn’t the only kid Jennings had hurt, but that would only add to Caleb’s guilt and shame.
“We need to tell Ronan so we can try to figure out if Jennings is the one who put that hit out on you.”
Caleb set the plate in the sink. “You don’t think it was my dad?” he asked. He almost looked hopeful.
“Honestly, it could be both of them. We won’t know unless we do some digging. But I need Ronan’s help with that. He’s got resources that I don’t.”
“What will you do if you find out it’s one or both of them?” Caleb asked.
I dropped my eyes. “We’ll deal with that when we know for sure,” I said .
Caleb appeared in front of me and gently grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. “What will you do?”
I held his gaze. “We’ll make sure they can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again.”
Caleb settled on one of the benches that were on either side of the small table. “He’s my father, Jace,” he whispered.
I knelt in front of him and cupped his cheek. “Your safety, Eli’s… that will always come first. You understand that, right? That man isn’t your father anymore, Caleb. He stopped being that the moment he touched you and your brother.”
Caleb managed a nod. “Does that mean we’re going back to Seattle?”
“I think we have to. You’re due back there next week for the pre-trial hearing.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t tell the prosecutor about the letter. He’s going to be so mad.”
“No, he won’t. He’ll understand, Caleb. We all do. And people will believe you. Your father is desperate to keep you from talking. He’ll say anything at this point.”
And do anything.
But I kept that part to myself.
“Promise me things won’t change, Jace. Promise me that everything you said last night—”
“I promise, Caleb. I meant every word. I’m not going anywhere.”
He pushed into my arms. I stood, taking him with me. “I need to make the call,” I said.
“Okay.”
“Everything will be okay, Caleb. I know I said those words to you before—”
“I believe you.”
I relaxed and kissed him. I released him and went to my room to get my regular phone, since I wasn’t worried about hiding our location anymore.
I returned to the kitchen and sat down. I watched Caleb moving around the kitchen as I waited for the phone to power on and find a signal.
I couldn’t help but think how nice it was just to have him there, puttering around.
I had no clue what was going to happen next in terms of our relationship, but I wasn’t having even a single doubt.
I loved him more than I feared losing him.
I’d just have to figure out how to keep him safe. I’d do better by him than I had Maggie.
My phone beeped in my hand, a surefire sign it had found a signal.
Message after message began appearing on the screen.
Most, not surprisingly, were from Mav. I sighed because I knew I had a lot of bridges to repair, starting with him.
He wasn’t going to like that Caleb and I were together.
He hadn’t said as much, but I knew he didn’t think I was good enough for the young man he considered a brother.
I skimmed the messages just to make sure there was nothing of importance. That was when I noticed a message from a number I didn’t recognize.
A foreign number.
I stilled for all of two seconds, then frantically opened it.
Treptower Park. Friday, 3pm .
“What the hell?” I whispered. My heart began racing as I dialed the number.
“Jace?” Caleb said. “Everything okay?”
I didn’t answer him because someone picked up at that precise moment.
My German wasn’t great, but I was able to get enough information from the woman speaking on the other end to determine that she did in fact live in Berlin and that her phone had been stolen two days earlier.
I ignored her question about who I was and hung up.
“What is it?” Caleb asked, his voice filled with concern.
“Someone texted me from Germany,” I said. “They used a stolen phone to do it. They put down the name of a park and Friday, three p.m. in the message.”
“This Friday?” Caleb asked. “That’s the day after tomorrow.”
I nodded. My fingers were shaking as I looked up the name of the park. It, too, was in Berlin.
“It has to be Maggie,” I said. “It has to be. She’s the only one over there who would know my cell phone number. ”
So why hadn’t she called? Or left a better message?
Fear consumed me as I jumped to my feet. “I need to go. I need to go!”
“Jace, calm down,” Caleb said as he grabbed my arms. “Take a breath and just talk to me. Tell me what needs to happen.”
“Have to get back to Dalton’s. Find a flight…”
“Okay, how do I come with you? I don’t have a passport.”
“Caleb…”
“Jace, just answer the damn question. And don’t tell me no, because I need to come with you. I know Mav can do shit like make up fake passports because I’ve seen it, so you must know someone!”
He was almost frantic as he hung onto me. I knew it wasn’t smart because the trip could prove to be dangerous, but part of me needed him there.
My gut was telling me so.
“I do,” I said with a nod. “I’ll call him. But Caleb, if I can’t pull it all together in time…”
“I know,” Caleb said. “I know.” He hugged me, then released me and motioned to the phone. “Do what you need to do. I’ll get us back to Dalton’s.”
“Do you know the way?”
“I do. Trust me.”
I did. I absolutely did. And I told him so. He smiled and kissed me hard, then hurried above deck. By the time I started dialing Dalton’s number to tell him what was going on, the boat was already moving, and I sent Maggie a silent message.
Hang on, Maggie, I’m coming .