When the Dead Speak Bailey Bradford (books on motivation txt) 📖

took his time, working his length in so slowly Sev wanted to shout in frustration, except it felt too good to change it.

Once he was fully buried inside Sev, Laine brought a hand to Sev’s cheek and forced Sev to meet his molten gaze.

“You need to understand something, Sev.” Laine’s eyes seemed to see into Sev’s soul, and he couldn’t stop the shudder that worked through him. “I think you believe that I still love Conner—ah, not a word. I will always love him, that’s true, but Conner is dead. I know that, I accepted it a long time ago. But you—”

Laine moved his hips, small movements from side to side that completely stole Sev’s ability to speak.

“You are right here, right now, and I want you more than I have ever wanted anybody. Anybody, Sev.” Laine’s eyes seemed to flash, something showing in them that Sev couldn’t comprehend, then it was gone and Laine began pounding into him. He pushed Sev’s hands away and held his thighs, leaving Sev to scramble for something to grasp.

Laine’s forearms bulged with restrained strength, and Sev gripped them, holding on as the force of Laine’s thrusts increased. Sev’s orgasm slammed into him, the intensity of it whiting out his vision as bursts of semen hit his stomach and chest. Laine groaned then roared, the sound exploding in the room as he rammed his shaft home, filling Sev as he filled the condom.

The sounds of completion—heavy breaths and sweat-slick bodies pressing against each other—seemed amplified to Sev, but not nearly as loud as his heartbeat drumming in his ears. As his vision cleared, so did Sev’s mind, and he knew that he’d just been claimed, his body owned and tamed by this one man. No one else would ever make him feel what this man could. Sev didn’t even want to consider letting anyone else try—and that scared the pleasurably sated feeling right out of him.

* * * *

Darkness had long fallen over McKinton by the time he pulled his car around the back of an abandoned gas station at the edge of town. Not that anyone was out and about, but he’d learned over the years that paranoia paid off. Good thing none of the toys ever figured that out, though it would make the game so much more interesting. Interesting was fine and good, but Laine Stenley’s three-year disappearing act, that was unforgivable.

Not that he’d been worried. He’d never doubted that Laine’s escape would be anything other than a brief respite for the man. Actively looking for Laine had been a risk he hadn’t been willing to take. Besides, he knew Laine was his, had never doubted that someday Laine would find a way back to him. His patience had paid off, and now he was eager to claim what belonged to him.

As he opened the door and slid out of his car, the dome light disabled because he wasn’t a careless idiot, he thought about all the ways he would make Laine pay for breaking the rules of the game.

Chapter Six

Laine was still fretting over that look he’d seen flit across Sev’s face last night when he’d walked through the door of the Sheriff’s Department. As usual, Doreen was already at her desk, phone pressed to her ear. Laine tipped his head in greeting and started to walk past her, stopping at the side of her desk when he heard Doreen’s part of the conversation.

“Edward, you know how small-town gossips are. Rumors are the life’s blood of places like McKinton!” Doreen’s face pinched in disapproval over whatever the voice on the other side of the line was saying and Laine’s stomach took a sharp dive. Edward could only be Mayor Edward Jeffries, Laine’s boss. The man also happened to be Doreen’s brother-in-law, having been married to Doreen’s sister Mona for several years now. Doreen’s link to the mayor had benefited Laine at times when he and Edward didn’t see eye to eye. Doreen had always staunchly supported him, but whether that was because Laine was her boss or her friend, he didn’t know.

“No, you will not jump to any conclusions based on innuendo! I don’t care who contributes to your campaign or how much they contribute, if you do something rash…” Doreen’s eyes took on an evil gleam. “Did you know Mona used to date Chad Easton, the news anchor for channel six in Dallas, before she married you? I bet a story on small-town bigotry would get a lot of coverage—”

Laine felt frozen in place, though his legs seemed curiously gelatinous. He’d known the risks when he’d decided to take Sev home with him, but the reality of his fears coming to fruition, and in less than twenty-four hours, was still a shock.

Doreen jerked the phone away from her ear at the mayor’s retort then hung the phone up. She turned to Laine and shook her head. “My sister married an idiot.”

“Doreen…”

“Now, now, Sheriff, why don’t you go sit down and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee and then we’ll talk.” Doreen was already stepping away from her desk when she spun around and grabbed a stack of pink messages. “Oh! You might want to go through these, but this one, the one on top, it’s from a Detective Montoya out of Houston PD. He called early this morning, said it wasn’t urgent, but since we’ve never gotten a call from Houston PD, I kind of wondered, you know? Isn’t that where you came to us from?”

Laine managed a nod and forced his legs to carry him to his office. He heard the front door opening, and a few seconds later, Deputy Matt Nixon stepped into Laine’s office.

“Morning, Sheriff, everything okay?” Nixon’s eyes were serious, his normally jovial demeanor absent as he studied Laine.

“I guess so, Matt, why?” Laine stopped himself from tapping his fingers on the desk, his nerves spiking the longer Nixon kept up his inspection.

“Well, there seems to be some talk.” He shrugged