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  “You taste so fucking good,” he groaned, raising his head only long enough to pin Jarrett with a glance that was sexier than hell, before returning to what he was doing. Before long, Jarrett was humping him from beneath, arching his hips off the bed to get friction for his cock. Between the two of them, the way was slick from precome and the mere feel of Thayne’s dick thrusting back at him had Jarrett ready to come then and there. If Thayne didn’t get inside of him damn quick, that was exactly what was going to happen.

  “Fuck me, Thayne,” Jarrett gasped. “Jesus, I need to feel your cock in me or you’re gonna have a mess to clean up.”

  Thayne groaned and licked him one last time before raising his head. His stubbled chin was wet and his lips were puffy as though he’d been sucking Jarrett’s dick. He stared right at Jarrett and then a slow smile spread across his face as he finally pushed himself up to a straddle over him. “Just the lube? You’re sure, Jarrett?” he asked.

  Jarrett let his hands fall on both of Thayne’s powerful thighs. “Just the lube, darlin’.” Jarrett watched Thayne nod and then looked down to catch of glimpse of Thayne’s long thick erection as he swung one leg off him and climbed backward off the bed to find his duffel bag. When he turned his back and bent over, his gorgeous ass came into view. Jarrett grabbed his own cock and began stroking it. He knew if Thayne didn’t move faster, he was going to blow his load all over himself. “Come on, Thayne. Need ya inside me,” he drawled.

  Thayne turned back and smiled. He had the lube and condoms in his hand and as he held up the box of condoms, he made a show of dropping them back into the open duffle. Jarrett couldn’t help but chuckle. Thayne stalked back to the bed and Jarrett watched the way his muscles moved under the layer of tanned skin covered with scars from the many battles Thayne had fought. Two prominent ones encircled his wrists. Jarrett knew they were from fighting against handcuffs when he’d been forced to watch a young man be beaten to death by the criminal arms dealer, Mills Lang. To have scars like those, Jarrett knew Thayne had fought with everything he could. It was still an arresting and sobering sight every time he saw them. An idea took form in his mind and he pushed it down deep to be thought of at a later time.

  Thayne climbed back on the bed, crawling over to Jarrett and insinuating himself between his spread legs. He leaned down and kissed Jarrett, letting his sweet mouth move over his with remarkable thoroughness. Jarrett held him close, enjoying the weight of his lover pressing him down into the soft mattress. Having Thayne over him was comforting. He was solid and warm and his kisses were demanding, stealing the very breath from his lungs. When he finally lifted his head, Jarrett stared up into his face. His eyes were dancing with mischief and filled with lust.

  “Come on, darlin’. Don’t make me wait.” His voice was thick with desire and he could hear the drawl in his voice. It was always thicker when he was excited or stressed and now was no exception. He wanted his lover inside him. He watched as Thayne coated the fingers of one hand with lube and then put the bottle aside. When he looked back up, his smile was sexy as hell.

  “Relax for me, Jarrett. Let me open you up.”

  “Get on with it before I come all over myself,” he ground out.

  Thayne chuckled. “Feel free to come. It’s not going to stop me from doing what I came here for.”

  Jarrett blew out a long breath, hoping he was going to be able to make it through the prep without coming because he really wanted to be able to feel his lover inside him as he came. Thayne locked eyes with him as he reached for one knee, pushing it back as he reached down and slid his lubed fingers between his cheeks. Jarrett gasped at the uncomfortable cold but then Thayne leaned down over him and took his lips in a blistering kiss as he probed.

  When one finger found him and breached, Jarrett forced himself to focus on relaxing the tight muscles that burned each time this was done to him. He moaned at the ache and then concentrated on Thayne’s tongue which was dancing with his own. Sometimes simply kissing Thayne was enough to get him so worked up he wanted to come but at the moment, he was using the experience to ignore the slight pain from what Thayne was doing to him. Jarrett knew the pleasure he’d soon be feeling was going to be worth every second of this. Thayne forced his finger in deeper and then twisted it.

  “That’s right, baby,” Thayne breathed against his lips. “Gonna make this so good for you, I promise.”

  Jarrett couldn’t help but whimper as Thayne kissed him harder. He couldn’t believe he was bottoming again. It wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed, but he needed this tonight. Seeing his brothers and talking with his father and Elijah openly about his partner had lifted a ton of weight off him and it made him want to be free to be himself. This is who Jarrett was. He was a gay man who loved fucking other men and if he was being honest with himself, bottoming was part of what he’d loved most about sleeping with men. But he’d denied this part of his sexuality for too fucking long because it meant he had to admit that he wanted to be penetrated, and even craved it the way he craved nothing else. He wanted Thayne to fuck him hard and deep, pin him down and give him nowhere to escape what he craved. This is who Jarrett was and he realized he’d been fighting it all his life because he was too afraid to be a man who loved being fucked in the ass.

  Thayne forced a second finger in, burying it deep alongside the other and Jarrett gasped as he began to push it in and pull it out. The burn was gone, eased not only by the remarkable skill of his lover, but by the way the ice around his heart had seemed to melt away as he’d confessed everything to his brother. Thayne had changed him. He’d put his trust in Jarrett from the first moment that they’d met and when Thayne had nearly been taken from him by a killer, Jarrett had realized that he’d failed him. That had made denying his love for Thayne so much easier. Even though he’d tried to push him away after his return from his training in Georgia, Thayne had worked his way back into his heart and now, had worked his way into Jarrett’s soul.

  “You’re ready, baby,” Thayne said, snapping Jarrett back into the present and away from his wandering thoughts. He hadn’t even realized his thoughts had drifted away for a few minutes but the squish of more lube as Thayne worked it back into his hole, was a wakeup call. Their gazes met once again and Thayne smiled at him. “I’m only gonna ask one more time. Are you sure you want to do this without a condom?”

  “Yeah,” Jarrett breathed. The word sounded graveled and hoarse. “Do it. I need ya, darlin’.”

  Thayne leaned down and kissed him hard, taking both knees in his hands and spreading him even wider. When he broke the kiss, his gaze was filled with heat, so sexy Jarrett knew he could burn up with it. “Keep your legs far apart and let me in.” He’d taken hold of his cock and Jarrett breathed out a long breath, gazing up into his eyes as he nodded ever so slightly as he felt the tip of Thayne’s cock flush against him. And then he was pushing inside, breaching him and spreading him wide to accommodate his hard dick.

  “That’s it, Jarrett. You’re so damned tight,” Thayne groaned. “Jesus, I always forget how it feels to be inside you. And with nothing between us… God… it’s so beautiful.” He punctuated his words with another thrust, sliding deeper, letting the lube and the prep he’d done ease his way.

  “Fuck,” Jarrett groaned, forcing himself to relax. The feeling of having Thayne inside him was making him crazy. It felt different without the condom between them. The warmth of Thayne’s cock as he pushed deep felt insanely good inside his body. Jarrett loved this man, loved him deeply and this—the way they were when they were this close—was everything good and right and perfect in the world.

  Thayne gasped as he withdrew. “Damn, Jarrett.” He grunted, shoving back in as he locked eyes with him. “You feel so good, baby.”

  Thayne began to move faster, and the sound of their bodies slapping together was driving Jarrett mad with desire for him. The burn had completely disappeared, leavi
ng behind nothing but an intense feeling of fullness which lit up all of Jarrett’s nerve endings inside. He loved this. Loved having Thayne buried inside him. Loved seeing the look on Thayne’s face that told him he was everything to him. Loved seeing his own love for Thayne reflected back in his lover’s eyes. Jarrett didn’t think he had ever been so sure of anything in his life. Somehow, though he’d traveled all over the world and was fluent in four languages, he’d come home and found someone who loved him with all his flaws. Thayne dropped his forehead to Jarrett’s neck, panting as he forced himself in and out of his body. When Thayne’s lips found his, Jarrett became lost in all the sensations he was feeling. He whimpered against Thayne’s lips and when he pulled away with a gasp, Jarrett cried out.

  “Coming, Thayne! Can’t stop it.”

  Thayne punctuated his words with an especially deep thrust and then another. “Come on, baby. Come on,” he gasped.

  Jarrett couldn’t have stopped it if he wanted to. He reached between them and took hold of his cock, pumping it only twice before come blasted out of him. The climax was almost surprising in its intensity and when Thayne suddenly changed his angle and grazed over his prostate, Jarrett nearly went insane. Electricity coursed through him like a rocket, lighting up his insides as another wave of spunk poured from his body. The feeling was intense—he’d never felt anything like it—and as Thayne followed him over the edge, coming deeply inside his body with nothing in between them, Jarrett felt himself drift away to sweet oblivion and all conscious thoughts fled.

  ****

  Thayne woke in Jarrett’s arms hours later. Jarrett loved to wrap him up in his arms when he slept, letting nothing separate them, providing him with his own personal fuzzy blanket in their bed. He smiled to himself as he rested his cheek on Jarrett’s chest, listening to his slow steady breathing. He marveled at the fact that since he’d been with Jarrett, after those first harrowing months of hiding from the hitman Mills Lang sent after them, he hadn’t had the nightmares that had plagued his nights after his undercover job. Seeing Noah Watkins beaten to death in front of him had left him with sleepless nights, waking in a cold sweat, and a scream often on his lips.

  He lifted one hand, glancing at the ragged silver scars that surrounded his wrist. They were the same on the other wrist. They had taken weeks to heal after the handcuffs he’d been locked into had cut deeply into them. Strangely enough though, the pain the handcuffs had caused had given Thayne the only relief he’d felt that night because after Rafferty, Lang’s lackey, had released him and locked him into the basement for three days with Noah’s body, the pain had been the only real thing to hold on to.

  Lang had come into the basement after Rafferty had finally returned with bread and water, and removed Noah. He’d sat him down and told him that he was still deciding what to do with him, emphasized that it took time to gain trust in one of his men, and that he’d thought Thayne was one of his most trusted advisors. Nothing Thayne said had convinced Lang of his loyalty to him and he had finally given up trying to explain that there was nothing between him and Noah after the first night they’d slept together.

  Thayne had always known Lang was a sociopathic bastard but until he’d actually seen the man dripping in Noah’s blood, he hadn’t really understood the depth of the man’s depravity. He was a sick son of a bitch and a true psychopath. If Thayne had been able to leave his assignment unfinished when Lang finally decided to let him out of the basement, he would have. But he was so close—so close to building a case against Lang—Thayne hadn’t been able to escape and quit, leaving the assignment unfinished.

  When he’d learned about the shipment of Barrett XM-109 anti-materiel weapons Lang was bringing in, he’d had no choice but to stay and finish what he’d started. Letting the power of the anti-materiel guns out onto the street would have been life altering for any law enforcement personnel coming into contact with them. Thayne had stayed and when he’d wrapped up the case with the arrest of Mills Lang, he’d thought it was over.

  Thayne had come back to the ATF with more than scars on his body. He’d seen and done things he wasn’t proud of when he was undercover. He’d not only watched Noah die and done nothing about it, he’d seen Rafferty slit a whore’s throat and let her bleed out. If he’d known her name or how Rafferty had hired her, or how to find the body afterward, Thayne would have done more than reporting the deed after he’d completed his assignment. He’d have gone after Rafferty. Fortunately for him, Rafferty had died in the raid when the ATF had arrested Lang, or Thayne might have tried to find a way to kill him. They were all cruel fuckers and after nearly two years tied up with these animals, Thayne had found himself wondering if he was really still a decent person or if he was becoming a monster himself.

  Jarrett stirred in his arms and groaned, mumbling something in his sleep as he pulled Thayne tighter against him, ducking his face into Thayne’s neck as if to hide it there. Jarrett had his own demons to deal with. He’d spent fifteen years in the Marine Corps, at least thirteen of them as a sniper, and though he’d killed many men, he still had the capacity to love and love deeply. That was a rare and special thing in a man and when Thayne looked into his eyes these days, he didn’t see the heartless killer he’d once seen. He saw the man he loved, a man so filled with compassion he could teach a little Bluebird, team building in his own special way, with a smile in place. He saw a man who loved his brothers and could laugh with Jase, chasing him around the yard spraying him with a garden hose like a ten-year-old boy. And he saw a man who could give himself completely and utterly to another man with such passionate abandon that it took Thayne’s breath away.

  Something had surely changed in him these last few days. Maybe it was coming home. Maybe it was accepting who he was. Maybe it was just declaring that to the world. Whatever it was, Thayne loved him for it. He loved Jarrett Evans with all his heart and he vowed to tell him exactly how he felt about the man he couldn’t live without.

  ****

  “You need to get us information.”

  “I’m working on it, sir.”

  “Killing him hasn’t worked so now we need you to find out what he knows. If he figures out who we are, things are going to get messy… maybe even end in a bloodbath. No one wants that scrutiny. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. I do understand and I will willingly follow your orders.”

  “Good. You are in a unique situation there in Los Angeles. You can keep an eye on him and his coworkers but whatever you do, don’t get caught.”

  “He’s out on assignment now, sir. I will dig around before he gets back.”

  “We’re counting on you. These orders come from on high. You understand what I’m talking about?”

  “Yes, sir. I understand but I can eliminate the threat from here as I told you before, sir. Obviously, the men you sent after him haven’t been successful. I promise you, I will not fail you, sir. You just say the word and Evans is dead.”

  “At this point, we believe others may be after him as well. We don’t want to step on any toes until we know who. The higher-ups have decided to have you keep him under observation, find out what classified information he’s leaked to his partner, if any, and report back what you find out about what he knows. That is your assignment for now.”

  “I understand, sir. I will do as you ask.”

  “Good. That’s good. Complete this assignment and you can have your choice of jobs anywhere in the world, the compensation that goes along with it, and the gratitude of a grateful nation. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

  Chapter Seven

  Thayne and Jarrett drove the truck out to the Red Hills Mine in the morning. They were due to meet Bud Sales and Clint Lafford at the mining office. When they got there, they pulled into a gravel parking lot where several vehicles were parked. Jeffrey Boggs’s Mercedes was there along with several trucks, one marke
d with a painted sign that noted the MSHA logo on its door.

  Several of the miners they’d seen at the hospital the night before last were milling around the parking lot looking somewhat lost. At the far end of the lot was a double wide mobile home that had a sign marked Red Hills Mine on the side and the word Office painted on the door. Lights were on inside the trailer and several men dressed in overalls and wearing bright yellow mining caps on their head. Over the bill of the cap was a light that looked to Thayne like a flashlight. Jarrett had explained that they were called cap lamp lights and all the miners wore them to add additional light to the darkness in addition to the lights in the mine underground.

  Several machines that Thayne recognized as what must be machines designed uniquely for mining were located outside the mine. They were massive and different from anything else Thayne had ever seen before. One was a vehicle that resembled an open bus with a very low roof like you’d see in the mine ride at Disneyland.

  “What is that?” Thayne asked as they got out of the truck. He pointed to the dirty white vehicle with large tires. It was very wide, able to comfortably seat about four men across.

  “That’s a battery-powered personnel carrier,” Jarrett replied. “It’s also called a mantrip. It’ll transport twenty men into the mine at a time. The design has that low canopy so it can navigate into the mine which has a low roof in places. The passengers sit in it and take it deep into the mine.”

  Thayne looked at the entrance to the mine. It was larger than he expected it to be. He really hadn’t known what to expect but it was a large square hole in the side of a mountain. It measured at least fifteen feet tall and was about twenty feet wide. The sides and roof of the opening were made of what appeared to be solid massive timber and the ground leading into it was hard-packed earth. To the left of the entrance was a very large rectangular sign painted white, its paint peeling with age. On it were the words Red Hills Mine and above the name were the letters MSHA I.D. No. 48-01091 and two boxes which were titled NFDL with the number 74 beneath it and Fatal with the number 4 beneath it in block print. Beyond the entrance to the mine, it was dark and Thayne likened it to a cave but because of the activity around it, he realized it was much more than a natural entrance to a mountain.