Tempt Me Read online

  “I don’t see why. It’s not his fault.”

  “I know. But as you get to know him, you’ll realize he protects his own.”

  Jason figured this was Spiers’s way of giving him the hurt Gabe Ford and I’ll hurt you speech in a roundabout way. “I’ll make that call for you.”

  Detective Spiers tipped an imaginary hat. “I know you were hurt, but the sooner I can get that footage…”

  “I understand. I’ll make the call.”

  “Good. We want to make sure we have this creep dead to rights before we say anything. And—we haven’t told anyone you’re alive. We’d like to keep it that way until we collar him.”

  “You got it.”

  The moment Spiers was out, Molly came charging through the door, being followed closely by Gabe. She fell on his chest, making him grunt, but he hugged her back as best he could. She then cradled his face and kissed him repeatedly. Jason laughed.

  “Molly, you’re kissing me in front of the sexy cop.” He groaned. “He might think we’re an item or something.”

  She laughed. “Yeah okay. Just because you’re dating Stud McHottie over there doesn’t mean I’m going to stop kissing you. Are you okay? How you feelin’?”

  “Like I’ve been shot?”

  “Smartass,” Molly chastised.

  “A little bit of pain, but that’s all right.” Jason realized then that Gabe hadn’t said anything, so he shifted his head to meet Gabe’s eyes. “The doctor wanted to give me something for it, but I wanted to see you before I go all hazy again. Besides, it’s bearable.”

  “I know you want to spend some time with Gabe, but I wanted to see you. And don’t worry about Warrior. The second they release the scene, I will take care of things.” Molly dropped another kiss to his forehead. “Fitz and I will take care of everything.”

  “Thank you, my beauty,” Jason said.

  Molly smiled and left the room. Gabe stepped forward and sat on the side of his bed.

  After enjoying a slow, long kiss, Jason smiled and held up the badge. “You were here.”

  “Yes. The doctor said I couldn’t stay. I didn’t want you to think you were alone.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Have you called your father?” Gabe asked.

  “No. He’s just going to worry.”

  “You can’t hide the fact you were shot from him,” Gabe said. “You’re going to have to tell him.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  Gabe wrinkled his nose.

  “I spoke to your cop friend,” Jason confessed. “I gave him all the information he needed and accepted his hurt Gabe and die speech.”

  Gabe laughed. “No! Jon did that?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Nice!”

  Jason chuckled.

  “You scared me,” Gabe said. “Do you know who did this?”

  “Yeah. But Jon said you can’t get involved.” Jason rested a hand on Gabe’s thigh and squeezed. “I don’t want you to lose your badge over this.”

  “I won’t lose my—was it Patrick?”

  Jason hesitated but knew if he refused to answer, Gabe would know. He inhaled and shifted slightly on the bed. “Can you pass me that glass of water?”

  “So, it was him.”

  “Please?”

  Gabe frowned but picked up the glass. He held the straw to Jason’s lips until Jason stopped sucking.

  “Yes. Jon will have all he needs for the arrest—I promise.”

  “I’ll kill him.”

  “Gabe, with the mouth on you and that ass, you’d never survive jail.” Jason chuckled. “You’d be the bottom.”

  “That’s what you think. I’ll have you know I am very versatile.”

  “One of these days you’ll have to show me.”

  Their eyes met, and Gabe leaned forward. He tangled his fingers in Jason’s hair and rested his chest against Jason’s in a way that didn’t irritate the wound. Jason wrapped his good arm across Gabe’s back and breathed into the hug. He shamelessly gave his body up to the warmth of it while nuzzling the side of Gabe’s face with the stubble on his.

  A throat cleared at the door, and Jason frowned. Gabe released him and rose.

  “Hey, Malik,” Jason said.

  “Sorry—I wanted to check on the two of you.”

  “I feel so loved,” Jason said, smirking. “But gimme a second to make a phone call to get Detective Spiers some security footage.”

  Chapter Ten

  AFTER A few days, Gabe received the all clear on his blood test. It took some doing to get tested. Apparently, a few days wasn’t enough time for any infections such as HIV to show up in the blood. They did the testing but told him he had to come back for another test in a few months. He wasn’t worried about it because he knew, in his heart, Jason didn’t have anything.

  It was also good news for Jason. Since his wound hadn’t shown any sign of infection, the doctor released Jason into Gabe’s care. Gabe had to take some time off work, but he could. He’d been storing vacation days, and the captain was glad to see him go for a while. He was pretty sure Jason expected Molly to pick him up. But Gabe had asked Molly if he could do it. She’d merely grinned at him, hugged him tightly, then told him to wait while she ran over to Jason’s place to pack a bag.

  As they got him ready to sign out of the hospital, there was a lull in time where they were alone together. Gabe wasn’t going to complain. He enjoyed a quiet moment with Jason where they merely kissed and snuggled as best they could around the wound. The tender attention made him hard. The thought he wanted Jason but couldn’t have him yet irritated him. Still, he took a deep breath, slipped in even closer, and fondled Jason until they heard footsteps in the hall.

  A nurse entered with Jason’s walking papers and to remind him he must comeback for them to check on the progress of his wound.

  As per hospital policy, they wheeled Jason to the exit in a wheelchair. A nurse waited with him while Gabe ran to get his truck. It wasn’t really a struggle to get Jason in, and soon they were on their way.

  “This isn’t the way to my condo,” Jason said after a few minutes.

  “I know. I’m not taking you home.”

  “Oh? Where are we going?”

  “To my place.”

  “Gabe—you don’t have to do this. I’m pretty sure I can manage for a couple of days on my own.”

  “I’m a little shell-shocked right now. It’s my issue, I know. And besides, no one is supposed to know you’re still amongst the living. They’ll be looking for you at your place and at Warrior.”

  “I was watching the news—they were speculating, but so far the media doesn’t really know anything. I guess until someone leaks something, they’ll keep guessing.”

  “So, let them. I would feel much better with you being with me.”

  “You want me close.” Jason’s voice was soft and full of emotion. “I get it.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. To be honest, I didn’t want to be alone right now either.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Jason reached across and squeezed his thigh as they slipped into silence.

  The midday sun rose higher and higher in the sky. The trees seemed to fly by the truck as Gabe exited the freeway and turned along a less busy stretch that led toward his house. It took about another twenty minutes for him to pull into his driveway and as close to the steps as he could get the passenger side.

  “Does this mean I get my own nurse for a week?” Jason asked as Gabe helped him up the front steps and inside.

  “Something like that.”

  “Are you going to be wearing nothing but an apron?”

  Heat exploded across Gabe’s face. He quickly helped Jason into the living room and onto the sofa, then stepped back. He dragged a hand against the back of his neck and tilted his head. “You hungry?”

  “That’s a no on the apron, then?”

  “Jason, you were shot. No fooling around until you’re healed.”

  �
�You can’t be serious!” Jason groaned. “You cannot expect me to stay away from that delectable body for—for—how long was it again?”

  Gabe sighed but couldn’t help smiling. “I’m going to get you something to eat so you can take your meds. After that, I’ll give you a bit of a sponge bath and help you into bed.”

  “Your bed?”

  “Sure.”

  “Woohoo!”

  Gabe laughed out loud but left the living room anyway. He couldn’t believe how fast things had progressed with him and Jason. True, if Jason hadn’t been shot they wouldn’t be doing any of this. They’d be out on a date or fooling around in Warrior before it opened. Yet, a few dates and a gunshot later, Jason was in his house.

  Shaking it off, Gabe made a couple of ham sandwiches, sliced up some cantaloupe into a bowl, then grabbed two bottles of juice. He put them all on a tray and carried his treasures back to Jason who was sitting up on the sofa. After setting the tray on the center table, he found himself sitting across Jason’s lap.

  “Baby….”

  “I just need to taste you,” Jason whispered.

  Unable to resist, Gabe wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck and offered up his mouth. He moaned into the kiss, loving Jason’s taste. With each pass of Jason’s tongue, Gabe’s cock pulsed more and more. When he was hard and throbbing, Jason lifted his head and grinned.

  “You’re so hard.” He groaned, reaching a hand between their bodies to rub Gabe. “I love knowing I can do this to you.”

  “And what did I do to you?”

  “Why don’t you rest that beautiful ass down a little?”

  Gabe did as he was told and was greeted by Jason’s hard dick poking against his ass. It took everything in him not to rip both their clothes off and get that thing buried as hard and as deep as they could inside him.

  There wasn’t anything Gabe could do in that moment. He knew he had to lay off anything strenuous a while longer. Instead, he took Jason’s mouth again while gyrating into Jason’s large palm.

  “You’re going to need to stop touching me like that.” Gabe panted.

  “Or what? You’ll spank me?”

  Gabe groaned, then pulled his body out of Jason’s capable hands. The thought of seeing Jason’s beautiful ass hiked in the air and growing red under his palms was enough to push Gabe to the brink of climaxing.

  “One day soon, Jason—I swear to God.”

  “You promise?” Jason leaned in to nip at Gabe’s chin, the green of his eyes flashing wicked fire.

  Instead of replying with words, Gabe kissed the smirk off Jason’s lips.

  FINALLY ALONE in Gabe’s bedroom with a bag of his possession, Jason went through it. He found his wallet, a necklace with his mother’s wedding ring as a pendant, his cell, his class ring, and a few other things that weren’t as important. The cell phone had a little blood on it, which caused his thoughts to go back to the moment Patrick pulled the trigger. The strange thing was, Jason had suspected Patrick was up to something. But he’d never thought that something would be a bullet to the chest. Everything had moved at lightning speed. With his hands curled at his sides, his pulse hammered in his ears and every little hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

  One minute he had been advancing on Patrick, wanting to punch him in the throat. The next—

  Boom!

  Jason hadn’t been able to move quickly enough to avoid it. He supposed the shock that Patrick had actually gone through with it had paralyzed him.

  His ears were ringing from the blast and his chest was on fire. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so afraid. As he’d lain there, in a pool of his own blood, Jason realized he was going to die alone. No one would find him and he’d just ooze out to nothingness.

  But from somewhere inside his dying head, he’d heard Gabe’s voice.

  Baby, I’m going to need you to open your eyes for me.

  He’d tried, if nothing else but to stop the worry he’d heard in Gabe’s voice. But his body wouldn’t obey.

  “Jason?”

  He jerked around, the phone falling to the bed.

  “I’m sorry, baby,” Gabe said, hurrying around the bed to hug him. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “I didn’t want to die alone,” Jason whispered. His eyes burned with unshed tears. “I was so scared.”

  “But you didn’t die.” Gabe picked up Jason’s fallen cell and set it on the bedside table.

  “Because you found me.” Jason closed his eyes. “You found me.”

  Gabe said nothing. He kissed Jason’s neck, and that was the only communication Jason needed. He slumped as much as he could against Gabe, allowing his lover to hold him and taking all the calmness from Gabe he could.

  “I meant to call my dad.” Jason eased back. “I really should have done this before. But I haven’t been sure how to break the news to him.”

  “Better you than someone else.”

  “True—but thankfully, he doesn’t really follow the news from this side of the world.” Jason wiggled his body a little. “It wasn’t like I went completely radio silent. We’ve been texting.”

  Gabe extended his phone. “Here. Use mine.”

  “I’m calling Osaka, Gabe. It’s not cheap.”

  “You can pay me back,” Gabe said, wiggling his brows.

  Jason laughed and accepted the cell. From memory, he dialed his father’s number. He knew it would be almost midnight the next day by then, but Gabe had been right. The media had probably gotten a hold of the incident, and the last thing he wanted was for his father to find out like that.

  “Hello?” George’s voice was sleepy.

  “Hi, Dad.”

  “Tommy? I didn’t recognize the number.”

  “Sorry to be calling so late.” Jason looked over at Gabe and smiled. “But there was an incident. And I wanted to tell you before you heard it on the news.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry. Gabe is here and he’s taking care of me.”

  “Jason Michael Tomlinson!”

  “Patrick tried to kill me, Dad.”

  “What? When did this happen?”

  “He shot me.” The second question, Jason didn’t answer, on purpose. His father would only lecture him about waiting and he didn’t feel like he had the mental strength for that.

  George gasped. “But you’re okay, right? I’ll get on the first flight I can find. I’ll be there in—”

  “—Dad? You don’t have to fly in,” Jason said. “I swear. The surgery went well and now I’m home with Gabe.”

  “Did they catch him?”

  “They have evidence to put him away,” Jason said. “I gave them the security footage from Warrior. But they can’t seem to find him. Apparently, he’s hiding and with his money….”

  “It won’t be easy.”

  “No. But honestly, I’ll fly into Osaka the minute my doctor clears me to fly so you can see for yourself that I’m still standing.” Jason laughed.

  “And bring Gabe?”

  “I’ll ask him, Dad. But I make no promises.”

  “That’s the best I can ask for, I suppose. And you’re sure you’re okay? You said something about a surgery? How bad?”

  “They just had to remove the bullet,” Jason told him. “It didn’t hit anything major and I’m healing.”

  “You promise?”

  “I promise. Believe me, if it had been worse, Gabe would be making this call.”

  “You call me if anything.”

  Jason promised he would and hung up. He set Gabe’s phone on the bedside table and settled back, watching Gabe’s back as he stared out the window. “Gabe?”

  “Mmm?”

  “The nurse told me they were only allowing family in to see me after my surgery. How did you get in?”

  “I told a little white lie—I told them I was your boyfriend.” Gabe shrugged. “She didn’t ask any questions.”

  Jason grinned. He couldn’t help it. “Really. Do
you want to be?”

  For a moment Gabe said nothing nor did he turn around. Jason climbed from the bed and made his way over to touch Gabe’s shoulder. “Too soon?”

  “You would think so, wouldn’t you?” Gabe’s voice was soft. “Life is short, Jason. I’m not saying we’re going to move in together or anything like that. But there is no reason for us to beat around the bush. We both want something serious, right?”

  Jason remained silent.

  Gabe turned to meet his eyes.

  “Yes,” Jason admitted.

  “Then let’s not worry about what people will think is too soon,” Gabe said, resting a hand in the center of Jason’s chest. “Let’s do what feels right and good for the both of us. When I saw you lying there, I was so scared. Then I couldn’t feel you breathe.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jason bowed to kiss Gabe’s forehead. He wrapped his arms around Gabe’s back and pulled him in. “And you’re right. Let’s do it.”

  “Yeah?” Gabe looked up.

  “Yeah.”

  Chapter Eleven

  WITH NOTHING else to do, Gabe spent the next few days being Nurse Ford. Between catering to Jason, ensuring he had everything, and checking in with Jon on the progress of their search for Patrick, he had plenty to do. He could tell Jon was getting a little irritated with his constant calls, but Gabe couldn’t seem to help himself.

  He accompanied Jason to his appointment to get his wound checked, cleaned, and bandaged, then treated him to ice cream and a walk in the park.

  The days blended into one. Molly and Fitz were constant guests. Gabe found he liked Molly. Not only was she beautiful with dark chocolate skin, big brown eyes, and curves to make a straight man cry, but Molly adored Jason. There was no mistaking it.

  It was a week later, right before Gabe was supposed to go back to work, when Fitz, Molly, Jason, and Gabe were all sitting on Gabe’s balcony enjoying after-dinner beers. Jason’s father called, and he excused himself to speak to him. Molly set her bottle down and leaned in to speak with Gabe.

  “He saved me, you know?” Molly said.