Confessions (8 page)

came the desire to settle down.

He tried to picture himself going to a regular nine-to-

five job and shuddered. Okay, he may want to slow down,

but he was honest enough with himself to know he would

never fit into that kind of life. Luckily, Priest was financial y

secure unless someone decided to bomb Switzerland.

Despite the cold December temperatures, Luke

roared into the driveway on his black and silver Harley.

Priest got out of the truck and met him as he climbed off the

bike. Right away it was obvious something was wrong. For

the first time since he’d met Luke, Priest wished he was

comfortable kissing his lovers because Luke sure looked

like he could use one. “What happened?”

Luke took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. “I

froze.”

“I’m not surprised, it’s fucking cold out here. Maybe

you should invest in a car.” Priest rested his hand on Luke’s

back as they walked to the house.

Luke unlocked the door. “Not that kind of frozen. I

mean I got to an accident scene last night and couldn’t get

out of the fucking truck.” He threw his helmet across the

living room. “I’m stuck taking mandatory vacation until the

first of the year.”

“That’s perfect,” Priest said.

“Excuse me?” Luke moved his hands to rest on his

hips as he shot Priest an accusing glare.

“I rented a cabin in the Shenandoah Val ey. I was

hoping you’d share it with me for a few weeks. I’ve been up

most of the night trying to figure out how to convince you to

come, but since you won’t be working anyway, it’s perfect.”

Priest held his breath. His heart wanted him to tel

Luke the truth, but his gut said it was better to keep him in

the dark, or was it the other way around? Priest was under

no il usion that Luke would feel the same about him if he

knew how many people he’d kil ed. Maybe it was pure

selfishness on his part, but Priest wanted to take a normal

life for a test drive, even if it would be temporary.

“I’m supposed to see…” Luke’s voice trailed off.

“Who?” Priest prompted.

“A shrink. My boss thinks I need to get some kind of

professional help to deal with a fatality I worked.” Luke

plopped onto the couch and put his booted feet on the

coffee table. “It’s the reason I couldn’t work the accident a

few hours ago. The reason I froze up.”

With time ticking, Priest needed to hurry Luke along.

He reached down and pul ed Luke to his feet. “Talk to me

about what happened if you need to, but come with me.”

Luke stared up at Priest. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“Kiss me.”

Priest stared down at Luke. Although a kiss was an

innocent enough gesture of affection between two people,

for Priest it meant so much more. He remembered the last

time he’d kissed someone. The emotions involved in letting

his guard down had made him weak. He’d almost died at

the hands of the man he’d thought he could love, but that

had been nearly nine years ago.

Luke’s different, he told himself as he slowly lowered

his head. Luke’s arms wrapped around Priest’s neck as

their lips met for the first time. At the taste of Luke’s mouth,

Priest didn’t know if he would ever be able to stop kissing

Luke. Gripping Luke’s waist, Priest lifted him off his feet as

the kiss went deeper.

His cock rigid and aching, he wanted nothing more

than to throw Luke on the couch and fuck him until the entire

world melted into the background. Unfortunately, that would

never happen. Especial y when there were men out there

who wanted Priest silenced.

Eventual y, Priest broke the kiss. “Tel me you’l come

with me?”

“When?” Luke asked, his lips red and swol en from

the intensity of their kiss.

“Now. Go throw a suitcase together and let’s get the

hel out of here. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

Luke’s eyes rounded. “We’re driving al the way to

Virginia? You got a problem with flying?”

Flying required identification that could be easily

tracked. “I just thought it would be nice to spend the time

together.” Priest kissed Luke’s forehead. “Come on, it’l be

an adventure.”

Luke glanced out the large picture window. “Wil that

truck get us al the way to Virginia?”

“Probably, but if not I can always buy something

different along the way.” Priest had no intention of driving

his truck beyond Omaha. He’d already made the necessary

arrangements to store the vehicle out of sight should

someone pick up their trail.

Luke shook his head. “You’re an odd man, aren’t

you?”

“I try.” Priest grinned before swatting Luke on the ass.

“Come on, I’l help you pack.”

* * * *

Omaha, Luke was confused. “What’re we doing here?”

“I’ve decided to go ahead and buy something else,

but I don’t want to give up my truck, so I’l run in here and

see if they have any units available.”

Before Luke could ask further questions, Priest

jumped out of the pickup and went inside. Luke ran his

fingers through his hair in frustration. Although the trip so far

had been enjoyable, Priest insisted on taking back roads

instead of utilising the highways. It didn’t make sense and

when Luke asked, Priest always had an excuse at the

ready.

The truck seemed to be running fine, so it didn’t make

sense to buy something else. Moreover, why would Priest

pay money to store his truck instead of just trading it in?

Luke growled, the sound echoing inside the closed cab.

After the kisses they’d shared before they’d left Cattle

Val ey and on the drive, Luke had begun to think Priest

liked him for more than a piece of ass, but he was no

longer sure what the hel was going on.

In a matter of minutes, Priest was back behind the

wheel. They pul ed into a large storage unit, much too big

for the single truck, and turned off the engine. Luke held his

tongue when Priest asked him to stay with the truck while

he took a cab to the nearest car dealership.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Priest asked when the cab

pul ed up.

“It’s not that I mind, I just don’t understand,” Luke

confessed. “Why don’t we both get the new car and head

out?”

“I have a lot of expensive equipment in the truck. I’d

rather not lug it al over town.” Priest brushed Luke’s cheek

with the back of his fingers. “I promise we’l talk after we

leave Omaha.”

“What should I do while I’m waiting?” Luke asked.

Priest pointed towards the diner across the street.

“Why don’t you go grab something to eat? Just use that

padlock I gave you for the door before you go.”

After Priest had gone, Luke grabbed his cel phone

out of the truck. He pul ed the heavy garage door down and

slipped the padlock into place. As he walked towards the

diner, he cal ed Kenny.

“Hey,” his friend answered.

Luke waited for traffic to thin before darting across the

street. “I didn’t interrupt class or anything, did I?”

“No. What’s up?”

Luke walked into the diner and slid into a booth by the

front window. “I’m in Omaha.”

“What?”

“Priest asked me to go away with him for a couple of

weeks, but he promised we’d be back by Christmas.” A

shadow fel over him and Luke smiled up at the waitress.

“Hang on,” he told Kenny.

After a quick scan of the menu, Luke decided he

wasn’t very hungry. “I’l just have a glass of iced tea and a

piece of apple pie,” he told the waitress.

“Okay, I’m back,” Luke informed Kenny.

“What about work?”

“I’m on vacation until the first of the year. It’s al been

cleared through George.” Luke left out the reason he’d

been asked to take time off. “So, you see, it’s just a chance

for me to get away.”

“But you barely know this guy,” Kenny argued.

“I know enough.” Luke noticed several of the diner’s

patrons turn to stare at him. He cleared his throat. “You

have Eli. Let me have this. Just for a little while,” he added.

Although he’d had a hard time accepting Eli, Luke had

slowly learned to appreciate the love Kenny and Eli felt for

each other.

“I’l worry about you until you get back.”

“Don’t. I’l be fine. Give my love to Eli, and I’l see you

both at the end of the month.” Luke hung up just as his tea

and slice of pie arrived. As he took the first bite, Luke

stared out the window, waiting for Priest. He may have told

Kenny he’d be fine, but Luke wasn’t so sure. His heart was

already involved. It was something he’d promised himself

he’d never give away lightly again, but he’d gone and done

it. Unfortunately, he was afraid Priest was playing some

kind of game without explaining the rules.

* * * *

chuckling. “I can’t believe you bought a minivan.”

“It’s comfortable,” Priest said, trying to defend his

choice. In reality, Priest had purchased the van for just that

reason. He knew it was the last thing anyone from the

agency would expect him to drive.

Priest reached over and threaded his fingers through

Luke’s. It was time he told Luke the truth, or at least part of

it. “We need to talk.”

Luke lifted Priest’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

“We don’t have to if you’re not ready.”

“I doubt I’l ever be ready, and if we do it now, I won’t

have to look you in the eyes,” Priest admitted.

Luke’s grip on Priest’s hand tightened. “I’m not sure I

like the sound of that.”

They rode for several more miles before Priest

gathered the nerve to begin. “Remember when I told you I

worked in the security field?”

“Yeah.”

“Wel , it’s more complicated than that. I work for an

agency that contracts with the US government and other

wealthy individuals around the country.”

“Like the CIA?”

“Kind of, only the CIA doesn’t even know about us.

The agency I work for is privately owned, unlike the CIA.”

“What does that mean? What do you do for them?”

Priest took the opportunity to withdraw his hand from

Luke’s grasp. “I take care of individuals the government

consider a threat.”

“Take care of, you mean…kil ?” Luke unbuckled his

seatbelt and turned to face Priest. “Oh my God, you do do

that, don’t you?” He covered his mouth with his hand. “Are

you going to kil me?”

“Not unless you plan to do something to disrupt the

workings of the United States Government,” Priest

informed him.

Luke shook his head. “I hadn’t planned on it.”

It was obvious Luke was stil in shock over Priest’s

bold announcement. Instead of giving Luke time to digest

what he’d been told, Priest decided to get the rest out.

“Although I’m real y looking forward to spending time with

you, that’s not the main reason I wanted you away from

Cattle Val ey.”

Luke sat up straighter, and clenched into tight bal s.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s entirely possible people wil come looking for me.

I covered my tracks wel , but they’re almost as good as I

am. I needed to make sure if they found me in Cattle Val ey,

you wouldn’t be harmed. One of the primary rules in my line

of work is to exploit a person’s weakness.”

“And I’m your weakness?” Luke asked.

Priest glanced at Luke before returning his attention

to the highway. “Yeah, you’ve quickly become my

weakness.”

“Are you saying you have feelings for me?” Luke

probed.

Priest wasn’t ready to admit to himself, let alone Luke,

how he felt about him. “I just told you I kil people for a living

and you’re asking about my feelings?”

“Yeah. I’l think about the other thing later, but right now

I need to know what I am to you, and why you’re tel ing me

al this.”

“I like you, okay? It’s not something I’m comfortable

talking about, so I’d rather drop it. And the reason I’m tel ing

you is because I don’t want to lie to you anymore. Besides,

there are certain precautions we need to take right now to

ensure no one finds us.”

“Like what?”

“No phone cal s without a scrambler and then only

from disposable phones. We won’t be able to enjoy dinners

out once we get to Virginia. Once we arrive in the state, I

can’t be seen. Which means you’l have to do al the

shopping.”