Snakes Among Sweet Flowers (22 page)

Cam turned his back to Jackson and stood for a moment, showing the additional ink there, including a huge snake with a fanged skull that appeared to be wrapped around his spine and readying to strike his neck. In stylized letters among the throngs of blooming vines to each side were the words “Snakes among sweet flowers do creep.” It was the story of his life up until that point. Those he counted as friends and family had done the worst to him.

When Cam turned around, Jackson’s attention was no longer on his tattoos, but instead on his thickening cock and the heavy set of balls beneath. Cam smirked with pride at the look of obvious hunger on Jackson’s face. Cam could relate and was eager to get another look at Jackson’s equipment. He knelt next to the couch and was reaching for the waistband of Jackson’s sweatpants when there was suddenly a bright light coming through the living room window.

Cam frowned. It wasn’t fully night yet, but dark enough that he could tell the source had to be headlights as a car pulled into his driveway. Jackson was frozen beside him, looking to Cam for instruction. It couldn’t be Jackson’s parents; they were out of town for the evening. And it was far too late for any of the townsfolk to come for a visit.

When the light was extinguished and a car door could be heard opening, Cam stood and made his way to the front window to look out.

“You’re naked,” Jackson said unnecessarily.

“It’s Grant,” Cam responded. Shuffling sounds came from behind him as Jackson sat up.

“What does he want?” Jackson asked, and Cam figured he really didn’t expect him to answer.

Instead, Cam stepped away from the window and toward the door. “He has something in his hands.”

“Cam! Don’t you want to get dr—”

Cam pulled the door open enough to see and be seen, then pushed open the screen. “Grant, to what do we owe this pleasure?”

“Don’t let him in,” Jackson hissed.

Grant’s eyes widened and roamed up and down before finally settling on Cam’s face, a grin firmly in place. “I… I brought my wife’s famous three-layer coconut cake.” He handed over the offering to Cam, who accepted it.

“Thanks, that was real nice.” Cam made no move to allow Grant to enter. He raised a brow when Grant still stood there.

“Is Jackson in? I wanted to visit.”

“He’s not taking visitors this evening,” Cam said. “But I’ll let him know you stopped by.”

Cam started to close the door, but Grant threw out his hand and stopped it. “Please, Cam. I’ll do whatever you two want. We can have some fun.”

Cam canted his head to the side, as if considering, then wrinkled his nose a little. “Nah. We’re good. See you later.” He pushed at the door again, and Grant shoved his foot in the way this time.

“Anything you want,” Grant offered again.

“No,” Cam said firmly.

Grant’s face transformed as his pleading expression became a hateful sneer. “You’ll be sorry, Camden Sanders. I’ll—”

But Cam’s expression transformed too. He put on his I’ll-cut-you face and leaned closer, speaking low. “Don’t even think about it.”

Grant pulled back, and Cam closed the door in his face. Through the door, Grant yelled, “Fuck you! Fuck both of you,” then stomped down the steps and out toward his car.

“We got cake,” Cam announced, turning back to Jackson and displaying it like he was Vanna White.

Jackson chuckled and slowly lay back on the couch again. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Why? It’s not like he doesn’t already know about both of us. And I’m not scared of him.”

Jackson shook his head. “You were just so….”

“Honest?” Cam filled in.

“Yeah, I guess.” Jackson chuckled again, and Cam set the cake on the coffee table.

“Now, where were we?” Cam went to his knees beside the couch again and took hold of Jackson’s sweatpants. “Let’s get these off of you.”

Jackson huffed a bit as he lifted his hips but helped as much as he could while Cam pulled the pants down and off.

“Damn, Sheriff. You put a beer can to shame.” Cam ran a hand up Jackson’s thigh and then wrapped it around his cock, giving it a few good pumps before lowering himself to wrap his lips around the head.

Jackson made some unintelligible sound, one hand landing on the back of Cam’s head, nails scratching for purchase against his scalp. Cam’s lips stretched around the girth of Jackson’s cock as it completely hardened within his mouth. He hummed out his pleasure and felt Jackson thrust upward in response.

Cam reached down and scooped Jackson’s balls into his grip, rolling them as he took the cock as far as he could into his mouth.

Jackson gasped and then murmured, “Wait. Wait.” He struggled to sit up, and Cam pulled back.

“What? Are you hurting?”

“Just to get you in my mouth. Let’s take this to the bedroom so I can reciprocate.” Jackson sat up and Cam helped him to his feet. Together, they made their way into the bedroom Jackson was using, and Cam fell over on the bed while Jackson sat gingerly and then lay back.

Cam turned himself so that they faced in opposite directions on the bed, then focused his attention back on Jackson’s cock and balls. Jackson’s hands were soon on Cam’s penis and guiding him into Jackson’s warm mouth. From there, coherent thought ceased, and grunts, groans, and slurps filled the air as they both fought for their pleasure and that of each other.

Jackson shot first, his cum thick and salty on Cam’s tongue, which he savored before swallowing. Once he had licked Jackson clean, he laid his head back, breathing hard with his eyes closed, as Jackson finished him off. Jackson knew how to put that mouth to its best use, and Cam soon released his own load down Jackson’s throat.

The room grew quiet except for their panting breaths, until finally Jackson spoke in a rough voice. “Come up here.”

Cam pushed himself up and turned around, lying on his back beside Jackson, then looked questioningly into Jackson’s eyes. Jackson smiled, laid his casted arm across Cam’s abdomen, and closed his eyes, relaxing. Cam watched his face as Jackson dropped off to sleep. He’d never slept next to a man before. At least, not in a romantic way. It was odd, but Cam had to admit it was nice. Cam turned his head and looked up at the ceiling.
Yeah, this is nice.
That was the last thought he had before he too dropped off to sleep.

CAM REALIZED
he was not in his bed when he woke. He lay with his eyes closed, trying to remember his location and why he could hear another person breathing beside him. His heart slowed some as memories of the previous evening replayed, and he took a deep breath in relief. For a moment, he’d thought he was back in prison, that his release and everything about Hog Mountain had been a dream.

But right behind the relief came distress as he also remembered the conversation with his mother. Cam opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh.
Shit.
He glanced over to see Jackson was still asleep. He looked good, still golden-boy fresh, even first thing in the morning. If only some of that ability to save the world could solve Cam’s problems… but Cam was pretty sure there was no helping him.

Cam sat on the side of the bed, leaned over, elbows on knees, and rubbed his face in his hands. What was he going to do? Wasn’t that the question of the day, of the century, of his life.

“Morning” came a sexy murmur from behind him.

Cam jerked his head up and dropped his hands, glancing behind him. Jackson was all sleep-softened and still appeared sated and happy from their activities the night before. It looked good on him.

“Hey,” Cam replied.

Jackson’s smile dropped. “You regretting what we did or something?”

Cam shook his head. “Nah, just….”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah, I can hang on to a worry worse than a dog to a bone.” Cam started to stand, but Jackson grabbed his wrist.

“Tell me about it. Please?”

Cam grimaced and searched for a good reason not to.

“Do you not trust me, Cam?”

Well, shit.
After a moment, Cam nodded. “Okay, but we gotta have coffee.” He stood and headed for the kitchen. He made a detour and grabbed his jeans from the living room, carrying them with him and pulling them on once the coffee was percolating. He filled the cat’s bowls as he considered what he would tell Jackson. He could tell some of the story without going into all of it. Jackson didn’t need to know every detail of his life, and it was better for everyone if he didn’t.

Cam flipped on the radio but cut it down so they could talk comfortably over it. He was just pouring both of them a cup when Jackson shuffled in. He had bottles of meds in his hands, reminding Cam that he needed to heat up some breakfast so Jackson could take his pain pills. Once he’d nuked two servings of the breakfast casserole, he set it all out on the table and took a seat. He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation, but he might as well get it over with.

Jackson took a few bites of the food, then washed his pills down with a sip of coffee. Once that was done, he turned to Cam.

Cam sighed and fiddled with the handle of his cup, trying to figure out where to start. Finally he said, “I’ve run scams for years with a few others. There was no changing as long as I hung out with them. And, well, I lived with them too. I had to get away. But one guy, he can be controlling….” And wasn’t that an understatement. “I just took off and he’s been lookin’ for me ever since. He’s bugging my mom and I’m just worried about it.”

Jackson frowned as he listened, obviously concerned, but Cam knew he wasn’t fooled. Jackson was too smart not to realize that there was more to the story, but Cam wasn’t spilling any more than he had to.

“Anyway, that’s the story.” Cam stood and headed back toward the coffeepot. This was definitely a multiple-cup morning. Jackson’s cell sounded, and Cam collected breakfast plates to wash, offering some privacy as Jackson answered.

Cam could tell it was Jackson’s father on the phone and wondered if Pamela had given her talk yet. Cam’s attention turned inward, and he stared out the window over the sink as he went back over the things he had just told Jackson.

The radio’s volume seemed to get louder as the station turned from music to the top-of-the-hour news. Cam huffed and reached to turn it down, but froze as he heard:

“And in local news: A mutilated body found Monday in a remote area of Candler Park has been identified. The deceased is thirty-three-year-old Detra Lynn Willis of DeKalb County. No official cause of death has been released, although William Grey of the DeKalb County Police Department has confirmed that the body was not in one piece when discovered.”

Cam couldn’t remember when he fell to his knees, but it must have alerted Jackson to the news report because not only was Jackson now holding on to Cam’s shoulder, he was also asking his father to contact the DeKalb Police Department for additional information about the death of Detra Lynn Willis.

When Jackson hung up with his father, he said, “Cam, there is no way I can lift you off the floor, so if you don’t help me, you may have to stay down there ’til Daddy gets here.”

Cam’s brain didn’t seem connected because even after he gave his body the order to get up, he continued to kneel on the tile floor.

“Okay, listen,” Jackson said. “Can you crawl to the couch?”

Cam brushed his hand across his face and found it covered in tears. Detra….

THE NEXT
time Cam was aware of what was going on around him, Walter had his hands hooked under Cam’s arms and was lifting and dragging him toward the living room. Jackson walked alongside, concern written all over his face.

“I think you need to tell Daddy what’s going on, Cam. All of it. Okay?”

Cam tried to answer, although he had no idea what he was attempting to say and never would since it came out as an unintelligible mumble. Walter heaved him up onto the couch and Cam collapsed there, staring up at Jackson in a state of panic.

Harold had killed Detra. Cam was sure of it. And he was pretty sure he knew why. Which led to the prospect that Detra had spilled what she knew about Cam before she’d died. Which then led to the possibility that Harold knew where Cam was… and might have known since Monday or even earlier. Cam was numb.

The couch sunk in to Cam’s left, and he glanced over to see Walter’s patient but expectant face. “Son, I need you to tell me what’s going on and what you know about Detra Willis. A couple of DeKalb County officers are coming out to talk to you this afternoon and we need to be ready for them.”

Fuck!
He was so going back to prison. But wasn’t that where he belonged? Maybe he just needed to accept it and quit fighting the inevitable.

He nodded and swallowed painfully. “What do you want to know?”

“All of it,” Jackson said, sitting on the arm of the sofa right next to Cam and patting him on the shoulder. “Tell him all of it.”

Cam nodded again, and Jackson held a glass of iced tea to his lips, tipping it so Cam could drink. Cam took a long draw off the refreshing beverage and felt tears burn in his eyes as he thought about losing all he had built for himself in the small town.

“We were a gang of criminals,” Cam started. “Our last job was on a temporary warehouse unit used by Tinneman & Sons.” The company was a well-known high-end electronics store that carried all the latest gadgets for the wealthy of Atlanta’s Northside.

“I heard about that. The huge take at Christmas?”

Cam nodded. “We had a guy on the inside at the warehouse where the company rented temporary space for their extra inventory through the holidays. He knew when Tinneman was moving product in and out, so we were able to hit when it was at its fullest. Anyway, he let us in, made sure we wouldn’t be detected, and we cleaned the place out. I was already wanting to get away from all that, but after our guy came to us the next day, freaking about the police questioning him, we all had a fight.”

“We who?” Walter asked.

“Harold Livsey, he’s the one that I mostly was arguing with. Detra was there too, but she always stayed quiet, just went along with whatever. And Cally, she was always around, but she would go along with Harold no matter what. We hired any other help, so it was just us. Anyway, it was me that argued. Because Harold decided we needed to get rid of the guy who helped us, before he cracked and told the police anything. He wanted to kill him.”