Foster Siblings 3: Brokedown Hearts (6 page)

In response, Ben’s heart pumped faster, and it didn’t make him happy. “Do you think it would have been better for me to have to live with slamming into you?” He curled his hands into fists at his sides so he didn’t shake the beautiful fool. “What if I had killed you? Did you ever think about that?”

Crimson flooded David’s cheeks. He parted his lips. “I…I don’t… I’m sorry.” His hand low, David pointed a shaky finger behind him. “The kitten.” He then spun and hopped down into a tree-lined ditch riddled with weeds and bramble, leaving Ben on the side of the road.

He’s going after the damned kitten
. Muttering “Shit” under his breath, Ben skidded down into the ditch after his prey.

Broken tree branches littered the shallow ditch, and Ben cursed again as the sharp end of one jammed into his shin. A dozen feet away, up into the trees on the other side of the ditch, David dropped to his knees and crawled under the low-hanging branches of a weeping willow.

Within moments Ben could no longer see David, but he heard the guy softly say, “It’s okay. You can come to me. I’m not going to hurt you.” He paused and then added, “Come on. Come on. It’s all right.”

Shit. Shit. Shit
. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Backtracking quickly, Ben leaped across the ditch and swung open the passenger-side door of his car. “I don’t even like cats.” Still, he grabbed a bag of cheese crackers and hustled back to the willow tree.

Reaching the tree, Ben kept his voice gentle. “Here. Take these.” Squatting, he reached under the willow branches to hand David the bag of fish-shaped crackers. “They’re probably not good for him, but maybe they will get him to come to you.”

With barely a glance at Ben, David took the snack. “Thanks.” After pouring a few in his hand and setting the bag down, David put his palm with the treats flat on the ground. “Are you hungry, baby? Here’s some food for you.” He tossed one of the fish toward the tree trunk.

Now that Ben was in a crouch, he could see a small, furry brown-and-tan ball wedged into a knotted cavern of roots at the base of the tree. Huge blue eyes and a pink nose dominated the kitten’s face. The animal eyeballed the cracker on the ground just a few inches away, and his nose twitched.

“Go ahead and take it,” David crooned, on his knees about four feet away from both Ben and the kitten. “You can eat it. It’s all right.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, the kitten unfurled himself and crept toward the treat. Once he reached it, he sniffed again and then gobbled it up in one bite.

David tossed another one, not quite as far this time, and the kitten went for it. He set down a second, third, and fourth one, creating a trail that led straight to him. The kitten, clearly starving, easily took the bait. The moment he got within grabbing distance, David scooped the animal up and tucked it in the crook of his arm. The kitten instantly meowed and struggled to free himself from David’s hold.

“Quick.” David snapped his fingers in Ben’s direction and held out his hand. “Put some more of the crackers in my hand.” Just as fast as David stretched out his palm, the kitten wiggled under his arm toward his back, and David twisted and threw himself fully into subduing the animal. “He needs to know he can keep eating, and we weren’t just tricking him to catch him.”

In two lightning-fast moves, Ben grabbed the bag off the ground and dumped the rest of the crackers into his own hand. “Here. Here. Here.” Moving his hand in front of the kitten’s nose, Ben lured him back to resting comfortably in David’s arm and then let him eat what was left of the treats.

As the kitten crunched on a fish, David stroked the animal’s head and back. Ben couldn’t help noticing the corded lines down the back of David’s forearm and hand, and the surprising length of his fingers. David had dirt wedged under the short nails, and his forearm had fine blond hairs and a sprinkle of freckles too. A tightness started forming low in Ben’s gut, flared south, and his mouth began going dry.
Fuck.

Ben ripped his stare up to David’s face, and when he noted David had his full attention on the kitten, he breathed a sigh of relief. Immediately, though, Ben zeroed in on a smudge of dirt on David’s jaw, and his fingers itched to wipe it away.
Or maybe lick it away. Fuck, I bet he tastes good.

No way. Don’t even think about him like that
. Ben tore his gaze away and took a fast step back. The kitten meowed at him, but with a glance down, Ben thanked God the food was already gone from his hand. He’d moved so quickly he could have roused curiosity and suspicion in David.

Ben blurted, “Maybe we should get him to the car while he’s still happy and calm from the snack.” Ben then took another step away, making it look as if walking back to the car had always been his intention.

David jerked and lifted his focus to Ben. “Oh.” His voice rose an octave, and he started to fidget. “You’ve done so much already. We’ll be okay. I don’t want to put you out any longer.”

All Ben’s hackles pricked up on end. “The motel is the only thing up this road”—his tone was a little more clipped than he’d meant it to be, but damn it, he didn’t like being brushed off—“so I’m assuming you were headed back to your room when all this went down.”

“Yes, I was.” David scrambled to follow Ben.

“And I was heading back to my room too.” With a flourish—Jesus, everything felt too fucking serious, and Ben needed to lighten the mood—Ben swung open the passenger door and dramatically swept his arm across the opening. “Hop in, and I’ll give you a ride.” Thinking fast, he quirked a brow. “Unless… I’m sorry. Are you parked farther up around the curve?” Ben knew the guy wasn’t, but it was best not to give any cause for suspicion by assuming a grown man didn’t own a vehicle.

David flicked his stare to the ground. “No.” His tone barely registered above a murmur. “I don’t have a car.”

Shit
. A tug grabbed Ben in the chest hard.
Don’t start feeling bad for him; he’s a job
. Wiping his hand against his chest, Ben did a sharp quarter turn and strode around the car. “Then we’re back to my original thought. Get in, and I’ll give you”—Ben eyeballed the bundle of fur from across the hood of the vehicle—“and the budding lion a ride.”

David got in the car without further fuss, and Ben breathed easier.

As soon as Ben got behind the wheel and buckled up, David whispered, “Thank you. For everything.”

Ben shifted the car into drive and muttered, “It’s the least I can do for someone I almost killed.”

“Sorry about that.”

With a glance at David, Ben took note of the spots of red burning his cheeks. “Don’t sweat it. I was just joking.”

“Oh.” David kept his focus downward.

After a moment, when it became clear David didn’t intend to give Ben eye contact again, Ben pulled back onto the road and got them going in the direction of the motel. Unable to help himself, Ben kept sneaking peeks at David, checking on him. On David’s end, he positioned the animal on his lap and ran his fingers over small areas at a time, sifting through fur and feeling around under to the skin.

“Is the little guy okay?” Ben wondered aloud.

“I don’t see or feel any cuts or bites.” As David shared, he lifted the kitten in one hand and frowned. “But he’s really skinny. And really dirty, and he has a ton of fleas. I’ll try to clean him up a bit tonight and then take him with me to work tomorrow. Maybe he has a chip in him, or someone might have reported him missing.” Finally, as Ben pulled into the parking area of the motel, David looked up at him and offered a small smile. “I work at a rescue shelter.”

“Ah.” Ben smiled back. “Then it was fortuitous he ran into your path tonight.” An empty pool stood in between two rows of motel rooms, with parking on either side of the pool. “Which number are you, exactly?”

“Number seventeen.”

Once David answered—even though Ben already knew; on his second day of surveillance, he’d shifted down a few rooms so he could be in the room directly across from David’s—Ben eased into the spot in front of David’s door.

“Thanks again for helping me.” David lifted the kitten a bit and wiggled him. “For helping us.” With another little grin, one Ben read as shy, David climbed out of the car.

Rather than drive away, Ben leaped out of the car too. “Do you want me to go get you some stuff for the kitten for tonight?” He glanced between David and the animal. “A can of food and maybe a litter box or something?”

David snapped up to eye contact, his stare wide. “Oh, you don’t have to.”

Ben growled as his hackles rose again. “I wasn’t implying you were forcing me. I’m merely asking if you would like me to.” Taking a breath, Ben ordered himself to dial down his irritation. Jesus, he didn’t know why the guy’s apologetic manner bothered him so much. Plastering on an easier smile, he added, “Besides, you said you didn’t have a car, so you can’t exactly go get the stuff yourself. Do you want the cleaning bill if the kitten poops and pees the night away in your room?”

David rolled his eyes and laughed as his cheeks went pink. “Good point. Let me give you some money.” He reached over his shoulder and immediately muttered, “Crap, I left my backpack on the side of the road. I threw it down when I ran into the street to get the kitten.”

Before David made another move, Ben lifted his hand. “Don’t worry about the money or your bag. Go get an extra key from the office, and I’ll pick up your bag when I pass it on the way out.” After stepping back to his car, Ben paused, his hand on the door. He looked at the too-handsome man in front of him and couldn’t stop words from spilling out of his mouth. “I’m going to grab some dinner first. Do you want me to bring you something to eat?”

Somehow David’s eyes went wider. “Oh no, thanks, but that’s okay.” He waved Ben off. “I didn’t break for lunch until late today, so I’m still full.”

“Okay.” Ben couldn’t help grinning again. Damn, the guy made Ben want to give him a hug and make a promise that the whole world didn’t hate him. Instead, Ben very deliberately swung open his car door. “I’ll be back in a bit with stuff for the kitten.” He started to tuck down into the car but just as fast popped back upright. “My name is Ben, by the way.”

“Hi.” Tucking the kitten higher against his chest, David offered a wavering smile. “I’m David. Thank you again for your help, Ben.”

“No problem.”

With that, Ben climbed into the car and closed the door. Hands on the steering wheel, he felt his blood buzz with crazy life right under his flesh, and his nostrils flared as if on the scent of valuable prey. At the same time, his brain screamed with denial.
What the hell are you doing, Evans? This man is not for you.

Still, Ben glanced up at David through the windshield, and their gazes collided. Rich pools of blue offered entry into this man’s very soul, and Ben’s cock awakened and his skin grew even hotter. Christ, he hadn’t stared into such sincere, welcoming eyes while sinking deep into a scorching, tight ass in forever. The lure of an endless and sweaty night of coma-inducing sex had Ben reaching for the door handle, his mind already halfway to tearing dirty clothes from David’s lanky body.
Hell yes.

Just as fast, Ben let go of the door handle as if it were made of blistering-hot oven coils, and slammed his hand back on the steering wheel.
No. No. No. No
. Rather than get out of the car, Ben peeled out of the parking lot faster than the law allowed. As he did, he vowed to read every label on cans of cat food when he got to the store, not stopping until he found the best one. Whatever it took to get his mind off the attractive David Joyner.

A possibly unstable man who was his job.

Chapter Three

A tickle of moisture whispered across David’s nose, attempting to tug him from sleep. With a grumble, he wiped his hand across his face, rolled onto his back, and snuggled deeper into the bed.

* * * *

Pictures of a giant wolf running across a stream, splashing water in his haste to reach his destination, grew more vibrant and detailed in David’s mind. Inky-black fur covered the imposing animal’s body, and huge paws tore up the fertile ground with every galloping move he made. With a fast turn, the wolf barreled toward David at breakneck speed. Steam flared from his nostrils, and his mouth curled up to bare shiny white teeth. David’s heart pounded into another gear, and every hair on his body stood on end, but he did not run. The animal gunned straight for him, and David had never felt more alive in his life.

Bring it on, beast
. Tensing his body for impact, David beckoned the charging wolf into his sphere. With an enormous leap, the animal growled and launched himself into the air, right in David’s direction. David shouted in welcome, desperate for the shock of raw pain that would come with the shredding of his flesh, hungry for the tearing of his skin that would make his blood spew. Instead, in midair, the wolf looked at David, and his hazel-amber eyes punched David hard in the chest. Suddenly the wolf morphed into a hulking, bronzed beauty of a man. As he landed in front of David, his body heat shimmered off him in drugging waves. Without hesitation he swept his thick arm around David’s waist and yanked him in close.

David whispered, “It’s you,” breathlessly. With the words barely gone from his mouth, the man from the side of the road, Ben, swooped down and captured David’s mouth in a searing kiss.

Oh God, yes
. David parted his lips, starved to taste another man’s mouth again.

* * * *

Then, as if adrenaline had been jammed straight into his heart, David sucked in a terrible, stinging breath. No longer in the sunny meadow, he shot up in bed, wide awake.
Oh no. Not again.

Streaks of morning light sneaked in through the edges of the heavy curtains, highlighting tendrils of dust floating in the air. Blue numbers glowed on the alarm clock, showing it was almost eight a.m. Dirty clothing from yesterday still clung to David’s sweaty skin, reminding him he’d fallen asleep early last night without having showered or changed clothes. All those details attacked David’s psyche, feeding him information, but none of it mattered, because David could still see Ben’s unusual, changing eyes, feel his scorching flesh, and good God, could still taste Ben’s tongue sinking past his lips and claiming ownership of his mouth.