Shooting Star (10 page)

“Fine.
I guess I’ll just wait to see you until you get released then, because I can’t stand being close to you without touching you, and I can’t do that until I know what the hell’s going on.”

Great
.
Jessup took a deep calming breath. He’d called
Brac
in the hope of having a little phone sex before he went to sleep but that was obviously not going to happen. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

“You can do anything you want, obviously, and I just have to
go with the flow
.”

“Goodnight,
Brac
,” Jessup said before hanging up. He knew he should cut the man some slack. After all,
Brac
had been cooped up inside the cabin for days. Maybe giving Priest the go-ahead to take
Brac
fishing would help.

He turned off the light and pulled the covers up under his arms. A thought began to creep into the forefront of his mind. What if arguing was part of being in a relationship?

* * * *

Brac
thumped his head against the blanket under him. Even fishing wasn’t enough to get the argument with Jessup off his mind. He’d finally given up, reeled in his line and was currently staring up through the trees.

“Yeah, I can see why you enjoy this so much. It’s just a big ole party,” Priest said from the water’s edge.

“Shut up,”
Brac
grumbled. It seemed that every time he was in a bad mood Priest’s spirits rose. What the hell was up with that?

Priest set his pole on the ground before walking back to the blanket. Staring down at
Brac
, he shook his head. “You still want to go into all the reasons why Jessup’s loveable?”

“Do you mind? Your big head’s blocking my view of the leaves.”

Priest dropped down onto the blanket and pushed
Brac
until there was enough room for both of them to lie on their backs. “Don’t be too hard on him.”

Brac
rolled his head to the side.
“
Why’re
you defending him all of the sudden?”

“Because he was just as grouchy as you when I talked to him earlier.”

“So?”
Brac
tried to tell himself he didn’t give a shit what Jessup’s mood was.

“It’s not like him to let someone affect his mood like that. The fact that you have the ability speaks volumes for how much you mean to him. I seriously doubt he even realises just how much he likes you. As a matter of fact, it could even be the big L word that men like us only whisper about.”

“Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“You always refer to the two of you as ‘men like us’. What exactly does that mean? I’ve seen Jessup’s cock, so the only thing I can come up with is men with super big dicks. Is that what it is?”

“No, but I can beat Jessup in that department. Let me show you,” Priest said, hands going to his zipper.

“Keep it in your jeans, Sasquatch.”

“Ouch. Do you have any idea how much it hurts my feelings when you call me that?” Priest clutched his chest as though wounded.

Brac
rolled his eyes, not buying the act for a second. “Stop it,” he said, slamming the back of his hand against Priest’s stomach. “Just tell me the truth.”

Priest held up his arm, drawing
Brac’s
attention to the tattoo that he’d shown Ryan the first day. “Jessup has one of these, too.”

“Yeah.
I’ve seen it.”
Duh.
“What’s it mean?”

“It’s the Mark of the Damned. It’s a reminder.” Priest outlined the Angel of Death with the tip of his finger, seemingly lost in thought.

“A reminder of what?”

“No friends, no family, no one to miss us when we fail to return from a mission. As far as the government and other agencies who hire us are concerned, we don’t exist as real people.”

Brac
rolled to his side and tucked his hands under his cheek. He’d thought a lot about Jessup’s early beginnings, but he hadn’t realised Jessup had no other family. “Jessup doesn’t have anyone? Who took care of him when he was a boy?”

“I don’t know. He won’t talk about it. Knowing what I know of his birth, I’d say foster care same as me.”

Brac
wanted to ask Priest about his parents but by Priest’s expression,
Brac
could tell it wasn’t open for discussion. “Okay, so even if Jessup had to live that way while he worked for whoever it was, why’s he still holding onto it? I mean, I’m here, trying desperately to get close to him. Doesn’t he want that?”

“You haven’t been listening.” Priest adjusted the gun holster under his arm before resting his head on his clasped hands.

“Of course I have,”
Brac
argued.

“The Mark of the Damned isn’t something people get for kicks. It’s the symbol of how we feel about ourselves. I don’t know when Jessup got his, but the day I got mine was the day after I tried to kill myself. You see, in the end, I decided I might as well make a load of money and let others try to kill me since I’d done such a shitty job of trying to kill myself.”

The news that Priest had once tried to kill himself hit
Brac
like a ton of bricks. For the first time since they’d met,
Brac
brushed a caring hand across Priest’s stomach. “I’m glad you didn’t succeed in killing yourself.”

“You and most of the gay dudes I’ve met since then,” Priest quipped.

Leave it to Priest to make a joke out of a serious situation. “And you think Jessup felt that way when he got his?”

“I can’t speak for why he did it, but it takes a seriously fucked up mind to do what we do, or as in his case, did.”

Brac
thought of his parents. What would he have become if he hadn’t had their support in the early years of his life and career? Jessup had confided in
Brac
that he didn’t know how to date or be a boyfriend, and
Brac
had repaid that confidence by yelling at Jessup every time he screwed up. “Would you take me to the hospital?”

“Sure I will. Right after I catch that bass you promised me.”

* * * *

Staring down at the green and brown
goop
on his plate was enough to drive away Jessup’s hunger. He pushed the tray aside just as the door opened. “You can take…” He stopped mid-sentence and smiled. “What’re you doing here? I didn’t figure you’d show up after the argument we had.”

“You call that an argument?”
Brac
grinned. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

Brac
dug into the messenger bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out a white takeout box. “I’m sure they’re cold, but I brought you some tacos from O’Brien’s.”

“You went to O’Brien’s?” Jessup couldn’t believe Priest would be so careless.

“Me? No. Priest went into town for me.”
Brac
moved the uneaten tray of food out of the way before setting the tacos in front of him.

“I can only imagine the attention Priest received in town.”

“Yeah, sounds like he caused quite a stir.”
Brac
started to reach for Jessup but quickly pulled his hand back. “He’s downstairs, by the way. You want me to get him?”

“No.” Craving the man’s touch, Jessup lifted
Brac’s
hand from the mattress and pressed it to his mouth. He took his time kissing
Brac’s
palm before clutching the hand to his chest. “I wasn’t lying when I told you I missed you.”

Brac
leant over and sealed his lips over Jessup’s.

With a hungry groan, Jessup reached up and buried his fingers in
Brac’s
soft curls. He forced his way into
Brac’s
mouth and proceeded to plunder the warm orifice with his tongue.

The way his cock reacted to the kiss, Jessup had no doubt of his staying power when it came to
Brac
. However, even though his dick was up to the challenge, the rest of his body wasn’t. He was forced to break the kiss long before he wanted to. Jessup tried to draw in a few good breaths. “Sorry. I get winded for some reason.”

“Don’t apologise. That kiss would’ve taken anyone’s breath away.”
Brac
ruffled Jessup’s short hair. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“No. I know I’ve been sending mixed signals.”

“You have, but I haven’t been very patient with you either.”

Still holding
Brac’s
hand, Jessup moved them down his body to press against his erection. “Hopefully that’s not a mixed signal.”

Brac
grinned.
“Nope.
I understand that one perfectly.”
Brac
released Jessup’s hand and lifted the sheet far enough to reach underneath.

Jessup felt his idiotic hospital gown being lifted seconds before a warm hand wrapped around his cock. Thank God he’d got them to remove the catheter the evening before. With his hand free, Jessup reached for the front of
Brac’s
cargo shorts.
“Seems you’re suffering from the same condition.”

“That I am.”
Brac
glanced over his shoulder towards the closed door. “Hang on.” He released Jessup’s cock and carried the chair to the door. With a devilish grin,
Brac
wedged the chair under the handle. “That should do it.” Returning to Jessup’s side,
Brac
unzipped his shorts and let them fall to his ankles before flipping the sheet back to expose Jessup’s cock.

Instead of paying attention to Jessup’s dripping erection,
Brac’s
gaze fell to the bandaged area on his torso. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Jessup felt the cock in his hand start to go soft as
Brac
continued to stare at the wound left from the gunshot and subsequent kidney removal. Jessup applied pressure to the cock in his hand. “I’m fine, honest.”

“It’s still hard for me to believe someone could hate me enough to kill me. Especially because I’ve never done anything mean to anyone, so I can only assume my sexuality’s the reason.”

“Have you ever received fan mail that made you uncomfortable?” Jessup asked.

Brac
continued to slowly pump Jessup’s cock. “Not really. When I first came out, I had some whack jobs email me and stuff, but for the most part my fans have been incredibly supportive.”
Brac
slowed his hand as his expression changed. “I did get one disturbing email about a year ago. It was from a Private First Class that I corresponded with several times. He was stationed in Iraq and miserable from the sound of it.”

“He was gay?” Jessup couldn’t imagine being forced to hide his sexuality from the very people he had to trust enough to fight beside.

“Yeah, although he was completely in the closet, even at home. I guess he just needed someone to talk to, so we began emailing a couple times a week. Then one day I received a handwritten letter from him instead of an email. It was the first letter I’d received so I don’t know if his handwriting was usually as sloppy, but it was hard to read.”

“What did the letter say?” An uneasy feeling began to creep its way up Jessup’s spine.

“That I’d ruined everything and he hated me. Of course I’m paraphrasing, but it all boiled down to that.”
Brac’s
eyebrows drew together. “That’s the last time I heard from him. I wondered about him for a while, but then Kit moved next door, and I had other things to do besides dwell on a guy who believed I’d done something to ruin his life.”

“Do you remember anything about him?
His name?
Where he was from?
Anything?”

“Sure do. It’s the reason his email caught my attention in the first place, S. Hostetler, but instead of Simon, the S stood for Steven.”

Jessup nodded, remembering
Brac’s
given name was Simon Hostetler.
“Any idea where he was from?”

“Lincoln, Nebraska. We talked a couple of times about how different life was growing up in the Midwest.”

Jessup rubbed the head of
Brac’s
cock with his thumb. “Would you mind if I try to get in touch with him?”

“He couldn’t have been the shooter,”
Brac
started to argue. “He was confused, but he was a good guy.”

“War has a way of changing people and not always for the better,” Jessup said.

A loud knock sounded, making
Brac
jump. He quickly pulled up his shorts and threw the sheet back over Jessup’s lap.

“Who is it?” Jessup yelled, pissed that someone would interrupt his
handjob
.

“It’s time for your pain medicine. Why’s this door locked?”

Jessup rolled his eyes. “It’s Nancy. She’s my least favourite nurse.” He pulled
Brac
in for another quick kiss. “Do me a favour and go find Priest while I make this woman happy.”

“Not too happy, I hope.”

The mental image made Jessup shiver from head to toe. “Don’t even go there. The woman makes Mussolini look like a happy puppy.”

The knock came again, with more force. “Mr Jessup. Open this door or I’ll have to call security.”

“She’s serious,” Jessup mumbled.

“I’ll unlock the door and slip out before she has a chance to string me up then.”
Brac
brushed another kiss across Jessup’s lips. “Be back in a few.”

Brac
unlocked the door and jumped back as Nancy pushed her way inside. Her face was so red Jessup expected her to keel over any second. She stopped in front of
Brac
and narrowed her eyes. “You’re that actor.”

“Yes, ma’am.
I didn’t want to take the chance of a photographer following me in here so I locked the door. I hope I haven’t caused a problem.”

Right before Jessup’s eyes a miracle occurred. Nancy’s face transformed from the dour bitch
who’d
begun to haunt his every waking moment, to a…fan girl?

“Oh, that’s okay, Mr Riesling. I completely understand. I didn’t know that you knew Mr Jessup,” Nancy fawned.

Brac
glanced over and met Jessup’s gaze, his dazzling smile on full display. “We’re very close. I would really appreciate it if you would take extra good care of him while he’s here.”