The Talented Mr. Rivers (17 page)

He was about to give up when Will's fingers slipped over the material. His hand teased, stopping over Hunter's erection. Cupping and squeezing. Then he slid Hunter's briefs off. Got them down to Hunter's thighs and took it from there. Used his hands and feet to tug them off.

Then he lowered his body again until just their chests touched. Skin against skin. Nothing separated them. Nothing stopped them. Their hands moved in a wild frenzy, touching every arm muscle, then stomach, then back. Leg slid over leg.

Hunter thought about moving on top of Will, driving them both crazy, but he was too far gone. Tonight he needed it fast. Needed to imprint on Will in a way that didn't wash away when the world got tougher.

He reached over, with his chest skimming over Will's arm, and grabbed the small drawer by the bed. He tugged hard enough to pull it all the way out. It would have fallen to the floor but Will caught it and grabbed what they needed.

There was nothing smooth about his moves tonight. Hunter knew that and welcomed the teamwork. Stark fear and an overwhelming need drove him. He'd never bounced back and forth like this. He'd never experienced anything like this.

But there was one thing he did know how to do, and he already knew they excelled at this. Body against body.

He rolled on the condom and rubbed a finger over and inside of Will, letting the lube ease his way. One of Will's legs fell to the side as he let out a soft satisfied sound. Hunter pushed Will's other leg back with his knee toward his chest. The position left Will open and vulnerable.

There was no question who was in charge, but Will let it happen. He lay against the pillows with his hands on either side of his head. It was as if he knew what Hunter craved and didn't question.

There was no power play. Hunter would set the rhythm. And when he slipped inside, going in deep on one long push, he wondered how he'd ever lived without Will. He wanted to stay there, not moving. Enjoy the sensation of being surrounded even as the tension built inside him.

They both began to sweat. Harsh breathing filled the room.

After a few seconds Will's hips lifted off the bed and his hands went to Hunter's hips. “I need you to move.”

“Now, baby.” The endearment surprised Hunter but he didn't fight it. He let it tumble right out.

The push-and-pull started. Hunter plunged in and out and his hand slipped to Will's erection. It didn't take long. The tight squeeze, the slip of Hunter's fingers. Between the touching and thrusting, Will's head tipped back to expose his long neck. He visibly swallowed as his hips began to buck. Through it all, Hunter kept moving. His body, his hand…constant motion as he rode this wave.

Will started to shake. His muscles clenched and his body stiffened. He wrapped his hand around Hunter's and squeezed tight. He came right after. Hunter caught some of it in his hand and the rest shot across Will's stomach. The intimacy of the moment sucked him in deeper.

Watching Will had Hunter's muscles shaking. Seeing Will, touching him, the pressure of his body. It all proved too much. Hunter couldn't hold back and didn't try. As his hips bucked, his body let go. The orgasm grabbed him. He grunted as he came. The orgasm hit him and stretched on. He moved on instinct until his body emptied.

With his energy spent and his muscles turning to liquid, Hunter slipped down. He fell on top of Will. Landed on his chest and stayed there. No part of him wanted to move, so he snuggled in. Rubbed his nose against Will's chest and inhaled the mix of sweat and faint memory of soap.

He didn't fight the sense of rightness. Didn't bounce up and run even though a small part of his brain screamed for him to run. Not because he wanted to leave Will but because staying meant getting sucked in deeper. Soon he wouldn't know where he ended and Will began.

A few minutes later Hunter jerked awake just as he started drifting off to sleep. He looked down and Will's eyes were closed. His chest rose in steady breaths.

So content. So satisfied.

Hunter's eyes started to close until he remembered the sex and the heat. How he'd brought Will to orgasm with a hand. Yeah, he needed to wash up.

He forced his body to move. Sitting took a second as he tried not to rock the mattress or wake Will. He got as far as the side of the bed when Will's voice broke into the silence.

“Are you going to regret this in the morning?” Will asked.

Fair question in light of all that had transpired.

Hunter couldn't help but look down at Will. Hunter saw a new intensity. Hope mixed with something. An emotion he couldn't really identify. One that scared him—and nothing scared him.

“I regret a lot of things.” Hunter held back from saying more. He'd already spilled too much and the stupidity of that kept poking him.

“Interesting answer.”

The slight hitch in Will's voice was enough to crumble the wall Hunter was so desperate to throw up. With his defenses down and his body completely relaxed, Hunter gave in and said what he knew might be the one thing too much. “Never you. No matter what happens, I will never regret you.”

“Then come back to bed.”

They were all up and moving by six the next morning. The Paris streets outside remained quiet. Few people walked around. The room was stuck in all-action-all-the-time mode.

Will stayed at his seat by the small table, drinking it all in and trying to ignore Zach. Something about being in the room with the only other man Hunter admitted that he'd bothered to have sex with more than a few times made Will want to know more. It wasn't about jealousy…except for maybe a twinge. Really, the interest stemmed from needing to know more about Hunter. Zach might hold the key, but Will doubted it.

Hunter wasn't exactly the type to spill his feelings on a whim. Will wanted to believe that what had happened between them last night mattered. That Hunter didn't open up like that often.

Not that he could concentrate on anything but getting through the day. Hell, he was having trouble concentrating on surviving the conversation rumbling around him. He didn't know a lot about strategies and undercover missions, but he did know when people were making things more complicated than they needed to be.

For the last hour Seth and Fisher had been debating strategies. Every one they came up with, Hunter shot down for a hundred different reasons. Zach just watched it all, offering comments now and then.

Will had an easier way, but admitting that he'd had it for more than a day could send Hunter into a tailspin. It was hard to tell what would piss him off and make him shut down these days. Life really had been easier when he acted as the order-following bodyguard.

“Now to get Gatt's attention.” Seth looked from Hunter to Fisher, where they stood at opposite ends of the couch. “I figure we can—”

“Use this.” Will knew there wouldn't be a better time. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out the one thing that might give them an advantage, other than the trained men in front of him.

Seth took the small black square and turned it over. Didn't say anything but studied every inch.

“What the fuck is that?” Fisher asked as he peeked over Seth's shoulder.

Giving the equipment up had been the easier part. This…well, he couldn't count on how Hunter would take this but Will knew he couldn't stop now. That would only make the situation worse. “Ed gave it to me a few days ago.”

Hunter moved then. Took a step as his mouth dropped open.

Seth was smart enough to know that wasn't good.

“And you didn't think to mention that?” he asked in a deceptively soft voice.

Fisher whistled. “I have to tell you, Will. This looks bad.”

He had to stay on track and that meant keeping his attention on Hunter. Will did not drop his eye contact or give any other outward sign that he couldn't be trusted, because he knew they'd be looking. “I didn't need it until now.”

“That answer also raises some alarms.” Seth held up the square and looked at it with the overhead light shining behind it. “Just so you know.”

“When I got it, I didn't know about any of you.” Will's gaze bounced around the room before settling on Hunter again. “You were just my bodyguard.”

“Just a bodyguard?” Hunter separated each word. Drew the sentence out.

“We've actually had many conversations since then,” Zach pointed out. “And this probably means we didn't need to risk heading to the club.”

The response made sense. From what Will could tell, Zach was the pragmatic one. He'd picked up pieces about how Zach had tried to sacrifice himself to take down Pentasus. Seth and Hunter would drop a line now and then while talking and Will had put what he could together. “You wanted the last meeting to happen in public.”

“Based on the intel we had,” Fisher said.

“We're talking in circles.” Will doubted he could knock them off track but he knew he hadn't been wrong about hiding the device then and showing it now. He hoped at least one of them would see that.

They all started talking. All but Hunter. He just stood there, watching and scowling. Two of the things he did best.

“Okay, enough,” Seth broke in. “Look, he's right. This doesn't matter. From following the parties yesterday, we know how many reinforcements Peter has with him. Not many, by the way. Gatt's arsenal is a little less clear, but we have facial recognition on a bunch. The rest of our team is in position and will take them out one by one.”

“There are more of you on this particular team than the ones I've met?” Will hated to think that was true.

Fisher pinned Will with a glare. “You should assume we're everywhere.”

Maybe that sort of thing would have worked before. Backed him up and had him assessing. Not now. Will had seen too much. Been tracked down and threatened and before the day was through likely would be in the direct line of a murder attempt. Fisher being a jackass rolled right off him.

“Technically, we are.” Seth stopped, looked like he was debating how much to say. “The point of today is to get Gatt and Peter together, take out the men we can, and bring those two in. In other words, this is it.”

That meant there were a lot of reinforcements. A lot of chances for him to get in the middle and become one more Rivers death. Will almost wished he didn't know that.

“Destroy Pentasus and cripple Gatt's organization,” Zach said.

Fisher nodded. “Exactly.”

And it all started with him. Will decided it was time for him to take over. That was the role he needed to play all afternoon anyway. “Well, right now you should hide because I'm hitting the button. We're ending this.”

“Will, I think—”

“No.” He cut Seth off. “You can go in the other apartment and give Hunter the can-we-really-trust-him speech, but do it fast because I doubt Gatt is far.”

“The guy is not dumb,” Zach said as he reached across the table for the coffeepot sitting in the middle.

Since he was supposed to be dead Will didn't really have access to money, but if he had, he'd've bet it all that Hunter would be getting that speech soon. One of them would give it to him. They included Will in their plans, listened, and even gave him a weapon, but Will knew these guys were in the always-verify business.

Let them lecture on their own time. They were on a countdown now, or would be as soon as he hit that damn button. “But we're doing this. The more time we give both men, the worse this is going to be.”

Seth nodded. “Very true.”

“You're wearing a vest.” Hunter's voice boomed through the room. He didn't sound as if he wanted an argument or would even consider hearing one.

“Because that won't be suspicious,” Fisher mumbled under his breath.

Hunter talked right over him. “And I stay with you at all times.”

For a second the other men in the room fell away. Will focused on Hunter. Could hear his voice because his rapid-fire orders echoed through the room. “Does this mean you finally trust me?”

“Yes.” A short bark of an answer. “Do you understand my conditions?”

It was the tone that pissed him off, but Will wasn't about to fight about that now. “Yes to both.”

“Huh.” Zach shrugged as he stood up, coffee mug in hand. “I didn't think that would be so easy.”

“I don't have a death wish.” And he didn't. Will wanted out but when he thought that and planned for that he was talking about getting out of his family, not life.

“Good, because you're not dying today.” Hunter made it sound like one more order.

Fisher passed by Hunter and smiled. “If I didn't know better, I'd say you're about to break your cardinal rule and put your boyfriend before the mission.”

“I can still shoot you and not care.”

“And just like that everything is back to normal.” Seth handed the black button back to Will. “We'll scatter and get into position.”

Zach stopped in front of Will. “Don't be a martyr.”

Somehow Will managed to nod. To keep his voice even. “That's the plan.”

Fisher studied him for an extra second before speaking again. “For what it's worth, you strike me as the only Rivers worth saving.”

“Agreed. And believe it or not, that's a big compliment,” Zach said.

Zach, Fisher, and Seth filed out. They slipped through the hidden door and into the next apartment. Being closer wouldn't work. The apartment was too small to hide a bunch of guys standing around with guns.

That left Will and Hunter alone. They had a few minutes only because it could all end here. Maybe it should. Will's history included an entire family of murder-for-hire buffs and Hunter had his own baggage. Even if they wanted more, finding it and keeping it sounded impossible.

Will turned the black square over in his hand. Touching it would set off a chain of events that could change everything. He was about to make some joke about its size but something else slipped out. “Tell me I'm more than a job to you.”

Hunter blinked. “What?”

That wasn't the way he'd meant to go. Will didn't even know that words had lodged in his throat until they tumbled out in an awkward pileup. But still…“I don't care if you mean it. I just want to hear it one time.”

Hunter slipped his gun out of its holster, checked it, and then put it back in. “The other stuff—us? We put that aside for now and deal with it later, but we will deal with it.”

And now he had the answer. Will actually felt something inside him shrivel. A hollow pain settled low in his gut as he realized the truth. He cared and it sucked.

Being with Hunter, both the sex and not, made him spin with the need for more. It made no sense but he'd fallen for Hunter. Not maybe. Not in the future when the danger had passed. Now. Maybe from the first time he'd ever seen him. Will wasn't sure of the when and how but the thought had settled in and now it pulsed in every cell.

The gruffness, the determination. The man who went out on missions and tried to do right, if only to overcome the load of bullshit his father had piled on him. He was a little bit broken and pretty flawed. Will wanted it all. The reality of finally puzzling it out knocked into him. Made him want to find a chair and sit down.

“I guess that response will have to be good enough.” Will got the words out and headed for the kitchen.

Hunter stepped in front of him, blocking the path. Those broad shoulders didn't leave room for either of them to maneuver very far. For a second he didn't say anything. Then he admitted, “Yeah, you're more than a job. The worry is that you're everything. Do you understand what I'm telling you? Fucking everything.”

Everything.
Will froze. Every part of him did.

For a second the word wouldn't register in his brain. When it did, he reached up and slipped his hand behind Hunter's neck. Pulled him closer. Then their mouths took over in a kiss that filled in every blank and whispered every word unsaid between them. It was a little rough, with the scrape of teeth and slip of tongue over tongue. There was nothing shy and questioning in this one.

But with the ticking clock and holy hell about to rain down on them, now wasn't the time. Hunter had been right about that. Damn him.

Will broke the kiss and rested his forehead against Hunter's. “No matter what happens, you take out Gatt and Peter.”

“That's my job.”

“Listen to me.” Desperation rose in Will as he pulled back a few inches and stared at Hunter, willing him to get this. Hunter already had morphed into protector mode but Will still needed him, for just a few seconds, to be the guy who didn't switch to autopilot and act like a shield.

“Go ahead. Say it.”

“I don't want to die and I sure as hell don't want to leave you. I have no idea exactly what this is between us, but it feels big. I'm hoping for a chance to figure out if that's true.” Will swallowed back whatever was clogging his throat. “If it comes down to saving me or catching them, you catch them.”

Hunter nodded. “I've got this.”

“I'm serious.”

“Keep the glasses on because I want you to be able to see everything happening around you.” Hunter looked down between them and touched Will's hand. “And press the fucking button.”

The sharp knock came five minutes after Will followed the order. He was surprised the door didn't blow off the hinges or slam open. A knock struck Will as almost too normal for this meeting. But the timing was a concern. The idea of Gatt waiting out on the streets near the apartment filled Will with a new wave of dread.

Hunter opened the door and Gatt walked in with Ed. No entourage or contingent of armed men. Not that Will could see. But he did notice the expensive suit and air of superiority. Gatt carried himself like a man who stank of wealth. Like someone going to a fancy business lunch rather than to a meeting to discuss the best way to run an operation that killed for cash.

He could have walked onto the street out of any expensive hotel or off a yacht or private plane. Now he walked into the small space. Went straight to the windows and opened the curtains. Light streamed in from the outside for the first time in days. Will appreciated seeing sunshine but didn't like the added vulnerability. The windows were just one more place from which the bullets could come.

With a subtle nod Gatt sent Ed scurrying around the rest of the apartment, walking the perimeter and checking behind every door. Hunter just followed, the way Will guessed a real bodyguard might do.

“You did as promised.” Gatt stopped in the center of the room with his back to the door. Faced Will. “I appreciate that.”

Interesting how he acted as if there were a choice. Will was sure Gatt would have tracked him down, bullets first, if the button went unpushed much longer. “You'll find that you can trust what I say. Even if you don't like it.”

“Interesting accommodations. Not the style I would expect for a Rivers.” Gatt's gaze covered every inch of the room. Slipped up to the ceiling and then down to the floor.