Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
T orres jerked awake, the image of Gabe’s broken body, sprawled through a puddle of blood still vivid in his mind. His hands scrambled across the bed as he tried to find Leo. He tried to breathe deeply so he wouldn’t wake the sleeping man beside him, but he needed Leo to make it better.
“You ok?” Leo asked groggily, as Torres yanked him into his arms.
Torres sighed in relief. He didn’t have to wake Leo up because he knew. “Nightmare,” He gasped out. He tried to slow his breathing by focusing on different things to alert his senses like his shrink had told him to do.
Leo pulled Torres to him, urging the man to give him his weight, and what a magnificent feeling it was to have Torres’ bigger warmer body flattening him into the mattress. “I’ve got you. Do you want to talk about it?”
Torres shook his head, not bothering to lift his head to meet Leo’s eyes. He found his favorite place with his face pressed into Leo’s neck, and he wasn’t moving anytime soon unless they landed. “No, I want to forget it. What time is it?” He felt Leo shift as he looked over to see the clock.
“Three, we’ve only been out for a few hours. We need to try and go back to sleep.” Leo said around a yawn. This bed was fucking amazing and he was struggling to stay awake but he didn’t want to leave Torres awake alone.
Fuck. Torres didn’t want to close his eyes again.
“You stay where you are and if you feel like sleeping, do it otherwise just relax into me.” Leo said quietly, his fingers curling into the hair on the back of Torres’ head as he gently ran his nails over his scalp.
Torres grunted, shifting closer as pleasure wracked his body. Who knew all it took were some nails on his head to wind him up? Well, anything Leo did set his motor running on all cylinders.
Leo snorted. “Absolutely not,” He grinned when Torres whined into his neck and nipped his flesh at being denied.
“Rude.” Torres grumbled under his breath.
Leo chuckled at the pout in Torres’ voice.
“You don’t wanna join the mile-high club?” Torres asked, gently rubbing his hard dick against Leo’s thigh.
Leo raised a brow. “What makes you think I’m not already a member?”
Torres grunted, unreasonably annoyed at the thought. “Can you renew your membership?” He said into Leo’s throat as he nibbled his way up his cheek, breathing hot air into his ear, making him shiver.
“I’m not a member I always wanted to join, but Daegan wasn’t into public displays of affection to begin with, so asking was like asking him to lie in church.” Leo said, shrugging.
“Not a big fan of your ex, baby.” Torres said, his voice slurring a little as he settled his weight completely on Leo. He was so tired. “You deserved better.”
“Yes, and you showed me that, and I’ll always love you for it, Vince.” Leo said softly, kissing the top of Torres’ head as the man slipped back into sleep. He sighed. He really hoped everything turned out ok. He wanted Gabe home and safe. He had no idea what would happen to Torres if they weren’t able to save his son in enough time, and he prayed he’d never find out.
“He ok?” Kade’s deep voice asked softly.
Leo was startled and looked over to see Kade leaning against the seat. “Yeah, he had a nightmare, which is to be expected. I just hope we can bring Gabe home unscathed.”
Kade let out a deep breath. “Don’t we all shout if you need me.” Kade said as he moved back towards his bed.
“Thank you, Kade.” Leo called out softly at the man’s back and got a finger salute in return. He wiggled his hips, settling deeper into the mattress, and closed his eyes. He wanted to get some sleep so that way he’d be ready for the outcome. He didn’t want to be tired and running on fumes if he had to help with anything. Thinking about ways he could help was the last thing Leo remembered before he slipped into sleep.
“Y’all ready for this?” Hawk asked as he grinned at Leo and Torres as they stumbled to the cockpit a few hours later. They hadn’t had the chance to wake up yet.
Torres grunted his reply as Leo nodded in greeting.
“As we’ll ever be.” Torres grated out roughly, his voice scratchy with sleep.
“We are about to start our descent. Strap in.” Jett called out.
“Strap in.” Sniper mocked in a rude voice before flipping Jett off.
Kade sighed before he yanked the man back to his seat. “Sniper either get it together or I’ll kick your ass.” He hissed in Sniper’s ear as he sat next to him.
Sniper winced. “Got it.” Swallowing hard, Kade never made idle threats
“I don’t know what happened between you two, but now is not the time nor the place for this.” Kade murmured.
Sniper sighed. He felt like shit for acting like a fucking child but he was hurt. “Nothing, Kade, I’m sorry I’ll stay focused.”
“I’m here. If you need me, Sniper, all you have to do is ask.” Kade reminded him, knocking their shoulders together.
“Thanks, man. After this, I may take some time off if that’s ok.” Sniper mused, looking out of the window to watch the land fly by. He was just so damn tired and hurt, and it did nothing but piss him off. While he was happy, Jett seemed happy in his new relationship and the new boyfriend wasn’t a total waste, but it was still hard for him to sit back and watch it. That’s what he got for falling in love with his best friend and partner at work. He’d been slowly trying to build up the courage for the past three years to approach Jett and tell him how he felt, but he was so scared it would change things. He could deal with it if Jett didn’t feel the same way he would eventually get over that, but if it ruined the friendship and everything they had built working together, he didn’t know what he would do.
Kade nodded. “Whatever you need, man, take it. Just let me know and I’ll take care of it.” He patted the man’s shoulder and rolled his eyes behind his glasses. If only Sniper had seen how Jett looked at him before, he assumed Sniper didn’t feel the same way this shit wouldn’t be happening. He felt like he was yet again working at a matchmaking service.
“Thanks, man.” Sniper said roughly, his emotions clogging his throat, keeping him from saying anything else, as he leaned his head against the window and tried to take a nap.
Kade smiled knowingly. “You’re welcome.” Maybe one day they would get their heads out of their asses, but until then he would sit back and let them handle it like adults.
“Landing in five, get ready.” Jett shouted, back over his shoulder, his eyes catching his partner who was staring longingly out of the window. He wished he knew what the hell was up with him.
“When we land, there will be a car already on the ground waiting for us. It’ll take us to a hotel and from there we will gather supplies and do what we have to. Good?” Kade said calmly, as he gently ran his hands over the items in his bag. It was a calming ritual he did before every mission.
“Good,” came the reply.
Torres got Leo settled in the seat next to him as he felt the plane shift and they started the descent closer to the earth.
“It’s a good thing I’m blind.” Kade mused. “Never could stand heights.” He said gruffly.
Leo snorted. “I would have loved to have seen that. No offense, Kade.” He could just imagine the big badass turning into a scared little child when he was pushed near the edge of something and the thought made him smile. It was nice to know the larger-than-life man had some vices himself and wasn’t perfect.
Kade shook with his laughter. “None taken it was hilarious if I do say so myself, although if you try anything now I’ll kill you.” He grumbled. He could take a joke as well as the next guy, but to put him in that position now when he couldn’t gauge where he was and was already off balance was cruel. His ex used to do that shit to him and he was just over anyone leading him anywhere at this point.
Leo’s brows furrowed at the dark tone, but he didn’t take it personally and he could tell by Torres’ dark look that his man would love to tear anyone apart who messed with Kade. He smiled gently. He wasn’t at all jealous of Kade but he could see how someone could be the bond between Torres and Kade went far beyond friends or even brothers; they were closer than that and it made him happy for them that they had each other.
The landing went without a hitch and as Leo tried to grab his bag to deplane, Torres grabbed it first. “I’ve got it, baby.”
Leo arched his brow. “I can carry my own bag, ya know?”
Torres smiled softly as he pecked Leo on the cheek. “I know baby, but I’m right here. Why would I let you?”
If this man made him fall any more in love with him, he was going to lose his mind. Where the fuck did he come from a romance novel? Leo rolled his eyes at himself as he followed Torres down the ramp. He took in a deep breath of the cool misty air. The sky was dark gray with clouds but the ground was dry. He studied the airport with its giant bulbous roof that made an interesting pattern. The area around the airport was nothing but dust and a big canvas of tan dirt for miles.
“Where are we headed?” Torres asked Kade as they all got loaded into the van, the driver seemed to be a local so Torres switched to German saying a few phrases to make sure the cabbie couldn’t understand him before he tapped out a note to Kade on the man’s arm.
“To Madaba is about a half hour's drive, it’s a bigger city and we won’t go out as much.” Kade switched back to English but kept his voice low as he talked to Leo. “Put this scarf over your head to hide your hair. Blonde hair is not something they see often here and it will make you stand out a lot and we don’t want that. We want to blend in.”
“Got it.” Leo said and immediately tied the scarf around his hair and neck, almost like a hijab, to help hide the blonde curls. He didn’t want to make Kade’s job any harder than it already was, and he didn’t want Torres to be worrying about him when he should be focused on finding his son. He noticed the other men in the group that had lighter hair doing the same thing, and he felt a little better.
“When we get to Madaba, keep a standard distance from Torres until you’re in private. Being gay here is still not allowed and that could lead to some not-so-nice incidents. You can’t face criminal charges anymore. I don’t think in this area at least, but it’s still frowned upon.” Kade told Leo softly. He felt bad for the guy. He didn't want him to think he was attacking him but he wanted to make sure nothing happened to Leo, he had no idea what would happen to his friend if something happened to Leo and he really didn’t want to find out. “I’m not trying…”
“I know Kade.” Leo interrupted, gently touching Kade’s arm. “I want you to tell me the truth. I want to make sure Vince can focus on what he needs to and not worry about me.”