Chapter 27
RUDY
“No man left behind? Isn’t that what you always said, Weber? Why not me? Why was I left behind?”
The chilling words wrapped around me like a vise and I felt myself losing oxygen. The snow falling harder now, surrounding me. Drowning me. I was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe.
“Pratzer. I’m sorry! I tried to find you. I did. I tried!” Desperation was clawing at my skin, the storm picking up and blinding me as the icy wind swirled around my legs and pulled me back towards a large body of water.
My boots hit the shore, and the bite of the cold had me choking on my tongue.
“Why’d you leave me? Was I not worth it? Is your red-headed fuck toy better than me? Don’t I mean anything? It was us. The gang. All of us. All NINE of us. But you left me to die.”
Prat’s words vibrated in my skull as my body kept getting sucked into the vortex of the lake, the dark water swallowing me up until I couldn’t see anything but blackness.
“No! Stop! I tried! I tried to find you. I couldn’t get through the blizzard! I’m sorry! God damn it, I’m so sorry!”
His silhouette flickered into the abyss before a blurry image of tire tracks flashed into view. Then a set of keys floated in front of me, a light shining down on them from above.
Where was Dash’s van?
I reached out a hand, trying to grab at the keys while still feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I was dying. I was sure of it. Sinking into the dark depths. I couldn’t escape…
“No!” I jolted awake, flinging up on the couch like a zombie. Que grumbled beside me, and I rubbed my eyes, looking at the rest of the guys spread out around us. Safe and sated. Nickie was tangled on the floor with the twins and Dane. All of them naked and covered in come.
I sighed and shook my head, my eyes catching on my reflection in one of the old lady’s photos on the wall.
“What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?” I mumbled to myself, unlinking my body from Que’s and kissing him softly.
He looked peaceful. Hell, the fucker looked downright happy. Could I ever give him that? Maybe he was right and I needed to lay off the little shit and enjoy this for what it was.
Home.
The cuckoo clock on the back wall scared me half to death when it busted out and dropped a decrepit-looking bird out of the wooden block, before breaking altogether on the midnight position.
“Merry Christmas, you filthy animals,” I mumbled to the sleeping forms on the ground. Then my glare landed on Nickie. “And to you too, fuckwit.”
Que stirred again, opening his eyes and staring at me in his cute, heavy-blinking state. “Why are you awake? Need me to blow you to bed?”
I snorted, patting his head and laying him back down on his makeshift pillow. “Nah, get some sleep. I gotta take a piss.”
Que smiled and yawned. Then he reached out a hand, tapped my dick, and blew it a kiss. “Okey-dokey, dick so chokey.”
He rolled over, and I got to my feet quickly before I was tempted to stay and watch the dumbass sleep and mumble stupid shit under his breath.
I stepped over the many limbs on the ground, my feet pausing when they got to Nickie. I glanced towards the hallway where the bathroom light was creeping around the corner and back down to her sleeping form.
You thirsty, shithead?
I pulled my dick out of my underwear and crouched down on my knees, quietly gripping Nickie’s face in my hands, propping her head up and pressing her lips against my crown.
“Open wide,” I grunted. “I’m giving you a sour taste of your own medicine.”
Even asleep, this dumb broad knew how to suck cock. Muscle memory or some warped version of it, I guess. I felt the heat rise in my nuts, enjoying the way her silent tongue worked me over. I wasn’t going to give her my come, though. Not this time. She’d had enough of it all over her already.
“Swallow, Nickie. Every drop,” I warned before pissing down her throat. She choked a little before sucking it down in thick, greedy pulls like the come slut that she was.
As soon as my bladder was empty, I set her head back down and started to stand until the puddle of piss on the floor caught my attention. Whatever Nickie hadn’t managed to swallow caught in a seam of the floorboards, running down and accumulating in one spot.
I followed the stream, kneeling by the pool where the urine had collected and started dripping through the cracks with a soft pfft noise. I crept closer and noticed the board appeared slightly higher than the rest of them, and with a soft jiggle, it lifted.
My pulse spiked when I peered inside and realized what I was looking at. A plastic bag covered in blood. My body was vibrating, all my past training screaming at me not to touch this, reminding me about the DNA, cross contamination, and so many other protocols that had my head spinning.
But I didn’t work for them anymore. They’d all turned their backs on me. I was on the other side of those bars now.
“Fuck it,” I growled, sticking my hand into the hole and snatching the bag from beneath the floorboard. “What the fuck is your crazy ass hiding?”
I peeled back the two sides of the plastic, peering over a shoulder with the noise it made, then back down at what was rolled up inside.
Keys. A set of car keys.
I quickly shoved them into the dick pouch of my underwear and set the bag back into the hole before clicking the board in place. Then I jumped to my feet and rushed over to the couch. Tapping the cushion with a knee.
“Get up, Quentin. We need to leave. Now.”
Que stirred again, instinctively grabbing my dick and trying to give it a tug.
“No, not that.” I swatted his hand aside. “Get up. This is serious.” I leaned over and bit down on his neck a little harder than usual.
“Ow! Vampire, what the fu—”
I clamped a palm over his mouth. “Shhh!”
He nodded and then we both looked over at the group on the ground. Nickie seemed to stir for a moment, popping up and staring straight ahead. Her eyes were open but she wasn’t responsive. She chuckled in her sleep and laid back down.
“What the fuck are you doing, Rudy?” Que hissed at me, fully awake and ruffled now.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, getting up and dressing myself before chucking his clothes and a coat at him. “We need to go for a walk.”
He stared at me, clearly confused. But it didn’t take him long to read my expression. His entire demeanor shifted and he got to his feet without another word.
A few minutes later, we were sneaking out the back door. Que ran behind me and yanked my shoulder damn near out of its socket, causing my jumpsuit to jingle.
Que paused, looking down and quirking one of his polished brows at me. “Uh, you know I love your dick and all but… why is there a jingle in your balls?”
Normally I’d laugh and make him fish for the answer. Right now, I was too on edge. Shoving a hand into my underwear, I retrieved the car fob and dangled it in front of Que’s eyes. “Nickie isn’t as innocent as you thought. And now I’m gonna prove it.”