Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1) Page 14

  Hell, he probably reinforced it with rebar.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Kane brushed his fingers gently down Dorothy’s silky coat. At her belly, her five newborn kits suckled. They’d been born while he was at work and she had done a good job of cleaning them up. Toto hovered nearby, looking kind of lost. Since Kane had finished changing the bedding at the bottom of their enclosure, leaving the nursery up top alone, her mate had tried to get close only once. Dorothy had hissed him away and Kane had picked the little fella up to cuddle him. He’d immediately crawled up Kane’s shoulder and perched on top of his head. Kane had no doubt he was anxious at being a father for the first time and confused by Dorothy’s behavior. The room smelled muskier than usual but he didn’t want to disturb the family. He’d do it before he and Kelly met at the station in the morning.

  Kane reached up and pulled Toto off his head and opened the door to the top enclosure again. He gently put the ferret into the cage and watched as he walked hesitantly toward mom and babies. Dorothy lifted her head and then sniffed the air before finally nodding to Toto. He ducked his head and belly-crawled over to her. When he was close enough, she sniffed the top of his head and seemed to settle, rolling back to her side, kits still attached. As Toto was allowed to smell the babies without her reacting angrily, Kane knew everything was going to be okay. He watched them for a few more minutes and when there weren’t any incidents, he turned and checked the thermostat in the room before walking out and closing the door.

  He showered and changed into loose-fitting jeans and a black muscle shirt that he usually kicked around in at home. Since they had a big day planned in the morning with Kelly making her approach to Brandon Moore, he wasn’t planning on going out. He went to the kitchen and looked at the fridge. Nothing caught his eye. He opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza, removing it from the wrapper and tossing it onto a shelf in the large toaster oven on his kitchen counter.

  After setting the oven timer, he walked over to his desk in the living room and sat down, scrolling through email and absently perusing Facebook. He used an account with a profile picture of Leo, his very first and favorite ferret. Leo had lived eleven years and in ferret years, that made him a very old man. They rarely lived longer than ten years, most even less. He had almost no notifications because he never used Facebook. He’d logged onto the site for a different reason. He pulled up listings of Luca Price’s and was surprised that there were tons of them. Luca wasn’t a common name. He scrolled and looked at profile photos, ruling out all of them but two. One picture was of a Bible and the other was of a rainbow. He chuckled to himself and clicked on the rainbow pic.

  When the profile opened up, Kane searched the pictures, looking for the man he couldn’t get out of his mind. There were several photos of the man he knew as Luca Price. The pictures revealed a side of Luca that Kane hadn’t seen before. Most of them were with young men with their arms around each other. Luca always was in the middle with men on either side kissing his cheeks. There didn’t seem to be any of him with one particular lover or boyfriend. Kane didn’t know why the idea of finding a picture of Luca kissing another man on the lips bothered him so much but since he didn’t find any, that emotion was one Kane didn’t have to explore.

  There were other pictures there as well. An older woman and a younger woman were the subject of many of his other photos. By the devotion and love he recognized on their faces, it was clear to Kane that he was looking at Luca’s mother and an older sister. He clicked on one of the photos to read the caption.

  “Mother’s Day, 2018. Miami.”

  So, Luca had been visiting his family in Miami. At least Kane assumed they lived there. He could be wrong but since all the photos of the women were captioned in Miami from different years, the detective in him told him his first instinct was probably right. He noticed the photos went back several years. There were photos of Luca as a kid of no more than ten and others at various ages from elementary school all the way through high school. He hadn’t changed a whole lot. He’d been a beautiful child and was now a beautiful man. Most prominently though, Kane noticed that there was no father figure in any of the pictures. His mom and sister were there but there was no dad.

  Maybe Luca had grown up like Kane… with no father but definitely not by choice. He clicked back to Luca’s public wall. Most all his status updates seemed to be public. The most recent one was from only two hours before. There was a flyer for The Abbey, Rock the Vote event and the caption. “On my way! Whoo Hoo!” Kane smirked. The toaster oven beeped and he lifted his hand to shut his laptop, pausing only a second.

  What the fuck am I doing?

  He hovered on the mouse pad and moved the cursor with his finger, requesting Luca’s friendship, knowing for sure he’d lost his mind as he slammed the laptop closed. He glanced at the kitchen and walked over to the toaster oven. He opened the door and pulled out the pizza. It looked absolutely inedible and smelled even worse. Without another thought, he picked it up and dumped it in the trash, striding out of the room in disgust. If it weren’t for takeout and food truck cuisine, he’d probably starve.

  Kane’s stomach growled as he walked into the bedroom and pulled on his Doc Marten boots and his black leather jacket before picking up his keys. As he strode out of the bedroom, he tried his best to stay calm as excitement flooded through his senses. He locked up his townhouse and walked to the parking garage, taking the stairs down to the subterranean lot where he strode to his shiny black classic 1973 Dodge Charger with a hood-mounted blower. He unlocked the car and got in, sinking down onto the white upholstered bench seat as he started the car with a roar. As he pulled out of the parking garage and pointed the car toward West Hollywood, he knew he’d lost his mind.

  Chapter Ten

  It didn’t take too long to get to The Abbey from his townhouse. As he turned off Santa Monica to Robertson, he ran straight into hell week. The street was packed with cars and it seemed that Robertson had turned into a parking lot. An actual parking lot. Cars were empty of their drivers who were now standing on top of their cars—no, they weren’t standing—they were dancing. Pedestrians had flooded out of the packed bar onto Robertson and were holding a mass party. West Hollywood police cars had created a barricade on both ends of the street to allow the party to go on. They stood outside their patrol cars, leaning against them with ankles crossed, smiling. They were actually smiling.

  Kane couldn’t help but believe the world had gone mad. He pulled up to a parking lot on the west side of Robertson Boulevard that had been cordoned off by a barricade of sawhorses and red tape. An officer was standing there and she motioned for him to roll his window down. He reached into the front of his T-shirt and pulled out the badge he’d hastily grabbed on the way out the door. It hung from a chain and he held it out to the officer. She smiled as she stared at it.

  “West LA?” she asked.

  “Brentwood,” he replied dropping the badge back inside the T so that it hung down against his skin. “Having fun tonight?”

  Her chubby face split into a wide grin and then she looked over to a man who’d somehow managed to take off most of his clothes, not missing a step in a red jockstrap as he danced on the roof of his car. She watched him for a second as two more unis walked over and started talking to him, telling him to get the fuck off the car and get some clothes if he didn’t want to be arrested. She turned back to Kane.

  “Are you shittin’ me? I always have fun when the gays go wild.” She let out a long throaty laugh. “They don’t cause no damage unless you count them drag queens. Now those ladies can do a number on an officer with a shoe.” She shook her head. “Nope… no howdy… not this officer. I stays away from the gays with pointy shoes. Other than that, I loves me a good boyfriend fight as much as the next woman.” She laughed again, reaching down and putting both hands on his windowsill. “So, how can I help Brentwood tonight, Detective?”

  “I’m not here in an official capacity. I s
upport Rock the Vote and I heard they were in town. I just have no idea where to park,” Kane said, eyeballing two empty spaces next to a patrol car in the lot.

  She straightened and grinned. “For an officer of the law, I’m more than happy to have you park next to me if you’d like? Give me just a minute.” She didn’t wait for Kane’s answer before walking over to one of the sawhorses and lifting it. She moved it aside easily, opening a space for him to drive the huge Charger inside the lot located ideally, right across the street from the door to The Abbey. After he’d parked, she moved the sawhorse back and he walked over and shook her hand, thanking her again and telling her how nice the gesture was.

  “Have fun!” she called out, waving at him as he walked toward the bar and grill. He grinned and waved back. As soon as he crossed the street in between parked cars and dancing pedestrians, he realized how crazy it was that he’d come looking for Luca in this crowded mass of happy, partying, drunken revelers.

  The bar was even more packed with bodies than the street had been. They were a young crowd and many of the people there wore Rock the Vote T-shirts. Kane immediately felt the contagious happiness within the main room. It was hot as he headed for the entrance even though the bar was open to the street and should have been breezy. He moved through the crowd on the patio, dodging servers holding platters of food and drinks. The servers here were dressed differently than other gay bars and the place attracted an upscale crowd. Everyone was fully clothed, even the bartenders wore black long-sleeved shirts and black pants.

  The Abbey was beautiful inside. Kane had been to a few gay bars in his capacity as a detective in San Diego and of course, he’d been inside Barcelona here in West Hollywood, but he was quite certain the owners of The Abbey had a different vision for the bar. It was unique with a fireplace and a mixture of brick, wood, stainless steel, and copper covering all surfaces. The floors were stone and there were intricate accents of iron on the walls. The ambiance was enhanced by the mass of writhing, dancing, gorgeous men and women. The presence of so many of the opposite sex kind of surprised Kane. Most gay bars were designed to cater to men but this one was obviously an important tourist stop and not necessarily a hook-up bar.

  He pushed his way through the crowd, searching for Luca and not knowing what he was going to do with him once he found him. He’d left the house on a whim. That sweet post on Facebook had not only amused him, it had excited him. On my way! Whoo Hoo! For some damned reason, that simple post on Facebook made him want to see and maybe touch the man who’d posted it. That elevator kiss and the feel of Luca’s lips on his when he surrendered and started to kiss Kane back, was seared into his memory. He needed more of him and he had no idea why.

  I want to touch him.

  As he reached the bar, Kane was once again surprised by the happy energy that infused the place. A band had taken the stage and they were playing a song he recognized but couldn’t name and everyone was dancing like joyous fools. Young men were kissing and he watched them with unabashed interest. He loved the comfortable environment. He stood at the bar waiting for a bartender to get the time to serve him when someone pressed against his side. He looked down and found a slender young man dressed in a dark green shirt and tight florescent green skinny jeans. The man couldn’t have been more than twenty-five and he had blond, spiky hair that matched his long eyelashes. His blue eyes were the highlight of his gorgeous elfin face and Kane was instantly intrigued by the way he pursed his full dark pink lips and then smiled shyly.

  “Hello, handsome,” the man purred. He reached up and laid his hand on Kane’s chest, sliding it up over his pectorals to rest on his collarbone as he batted his eyelashes up at him. He was at most five five and delicately beautiful. Kane was reminded of a woman he’d taken to bed who looked just like him. “Will you buy me a drink?”

  Kane grunted, opening his mouth to tell the guy to leave when a voice directly in front of him said, “Can I get you something?” Relieved, Kane turned his attention back to the bar, forcing the man’s hand to drop away from his chest. He nodded at the smiling bartender who was holding a bar towel in his hand.

  “Let me have a Stella Artois,” Kane said. The bartender nodded and immediately moved away to get his drink. He brought it back and Kane paid him, adding a large tip. The bartender grinned and thanked him, moving away to serve someone else.

  “Detective?”

  Kane spun around and found Luca and another blond man standing there. The man who’d touched him was standing beside Kane, shooting daggers at Luca and it was clear as day he wasn’t happy. Kane looked at him for only a second, turning his gaze instead to the man he’d come there to see, the man who’d dominated his thoughts ever since he’d first seen him.

  “Price,” Kane drawled. He smiled at Luca, watching his expression morph from surprised to see him into pleased to see him and the sudden rush of warmth it made Kane feel was worth all the effort it had taken to come to the bar and wade his way into this enthusiastic crowd.

  “What are you doing here?” Luca asked with surprise. Before he could answer the blond standing beside him moaned, “Luca, introduce me… pleeeeeeease.”

  “Hey, hands off. I saw him first,” the blond who’d touched Kane whined, moving to put himself between Kane and Luca as he leaned back against Kane’s much taller frame, sliding both hands behind him to grab Kane’s hips. If he were a woman, Kane’s natural reaction might have been to slip his arms around her waist and pull her back tightly against his body. But a woman was not what Kane wanted tonight and neither was the slender man in front of him.

  Kane turned, set his beer on the bar, and then used both hands to peel the small limpet off him. It took almost no effort at all to turn the man to face him and take both of his biceps in his large hands, pushing him back to arm’s length.

  “Sorry, I’m not here for you,” Kane said, moving the guy out from between him and Luca who was watching the pair with his mouth hanging open. Kane dropped his gaze to Luca’s full lips, remembering the elevator kiss and growing harder than a rock inside his jeans. If the bar weren’t so dark and crowded, it would have been embarrassing. Instead, the feelings of arousal rushing through his bloodstream had Kane burning with surprise and desire… desire for a man… this man.

  He dragged his gaze away from Luca’s startled expression and turned back to the bar where he grabbed his untouched beer and downed more than half of it. When he slowly turned back around, Luca was whispering something in his friend’s ear and the elfin blond who’d touched Kane was long gone. He cleared his throat and Luca looked up, smiling broadly at him.

  “This is my best friend, Corey. Corey, this is Detective Delancey.”

  Kane stuck out his hand. “Kane. Nice to meet you.”

  “Oh my God,” the man said, looking down at Kane’s hand before taking it. Kane closed his fingers over the small hand, nearly engulfing it in his own. When the man looked back up, Kane noticed how his pupils looked blown and how the man swayed.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Let go of his hand, Corey,” Luca said. His smile was genuine and Kane noticed how it lit his whole face, making him look even younger than the twenty-two Kane knew he was.

  Corey looked drunkenly at Luca and smiled, extricating his grip from Kane’s hand as Kane let go.

  “Oh my God,” Corey repeated, tearing his gaze away from his friend and letting it sweep up and down Kane’s body. “I can see why…” Corey’s words were cut off when Luca instantly slapped one hand over his friend’s mouth and leaned in, whispering something into his ear. When Corey nodded, Luca dropped his hand, grabbed both of the man’s biceps and turned him 180 degrees before shoving him into the midst of the crowd. By the time Luca turned back to face Kane, Corey had arms of other men around him and was being hugged. Kane realized the pair had either come here or met up with a group of friends.

  “Why are you here?” Luca repeated, frowning slightly at Kane.

  Kane didn’t answer, instead lifting the bottle of Stella to
his lips and draining the last of it. After he set the empty down on the bar, he turned back to Luca, immediately reaching out and grabbing his hand.

  “I’ll tell you outside,” Kane growled, dragging him toward the exit. Luca didn’t resist and they made it outside through the press of bodies a minute later. Instead of stopping in front of the bar, Kane dragged Luca through the crowd of cars and street-dancers to the parking lot. He nodded at the nice patrol officer who’d let him into the lot and when she asked him if they were leaving, he told her he’d move the car shortly. She waved him away as he pulled Luca across the parking lot to a quiet place under a massive oak where it was dark. Luca put up no resistance until they got to the Charger. When he saw the gorgeous black car, he stopped dead in his tracks, tugging on Kane’s hand to get him to stop.

  “What?” Kane asked in frustration, frowning at Luca.

  “What are you doing, Delancey?”

  “Get in the fucking car, Luca,” Kane ordered. He unlocked his door and then slid onto the bench seat, leaning over to pull up the button on the passenger door, praying that Luca would do as he was asked and get into the car without any drama. Luca opened the door and got into the car, glaring hard at Kane.

  “Seriously, what do you want?” he asked.

  Kane watched Luca’s lips as he spoke and he felt his dick quickly resuming its flagpole position. All he could think about was how it would feel to have Luca’s hot lips wrapped around his hard cock and just picturing it in his mind, made him crazy with lust. He reached out and grabbed Luca, pulling him over to straddle his lap with very little effort. Once he had his unresisting body positioned the right way, he reached up and slid his hand into the hair at the back of Luca’s head, loving the feel of the soft strands on his fingers. Their eyes locked and Kane felt something twist deep inside him. When Luca didn’t resist, Kane smiled and pulled his head down until he could kiss the question right off his face.