“Tucker,” Kevin tried again after a few moments. “Won’t you come back home with me and think this over a little?”
“I think that question has been already been answered, Detective.” The man behind Tucker had taken an aggressive step forward as he spoke, and Kevin rose to his feet to meet his challenge. “Tucker is home, and there’s nothing to think over.”
The guy was huge, at least six foot three or four, and muscular, like a damned body builder. He looked to be probably thirty or so and looked vaguely Native American, with his tanned skin and high cheekbones. His eyes were intense and thickly lashed. The bastard was gorgeous, and if he’d met the guy in a club somewhere, Kevin might have been all over him. Kevin usually didn’t like men to be so much bigger than he was, but for this one he might have made an exception. Right now, however, the man was just pissing him off.
“Chill, dude, I’m not talking to you,” Kevin said, not backing down an inch. “Who the hell are you anyway? Are you some kind of damn bodyguard? Afraid the newest member of your cult will come to his senses if he talks to a normal human being?”
The guy tensed and clenched his fists, but Tucker stood up and insinuated himself between them, putting a hand on Kevin’s chest. “Bryson, please. This is my…uh…this is Richard. Gavin was busy and couldn’t come with me, so Richard volunteered to drive me here. I came to tell you to go back home and drop this. Please, Bryson. I know you think I’m being coerced in some way, but…”
“Well, aren’t you?” He put his hand over Tucker’s and trapped it on his chest.
Tucker tried to pull his hand away and step back, but Kevin held on to him. “Just send this dude outside, and let me talk to you alone for a few minutes. Please, Tuck.”
The man Tucker introduced as Richard put a big hand on Kevin’s chest and pushed him back away from Tucker as he pulled Tucker behind him. At the same time the guy touched Kevin, a stunned look came over his face and he glanced down at his hand and back up at Kevin. Pulling his hand away sharply, he shook his head as if to clear it. “I’m not going outside or anywhere else, dude. And this conversation is finished. Let’s go, Tucker.”
The man turned to hold out a hand to Tucker, and Kevin grabbed his arm to stop him. So fast he never knew what hit him, Richard took Kevin by the throat with one hand, pushing him backward and slamming him down on his back on the bed. He came along with him, straddling him and leaning down way too close over him.
Kevin had never thought of himself as weak, but in comparison to this guy, he was like a damned kid. He couldn’t budge either Richard’s body or his hands. He bucked up hard against him, trying to tumble him off, but it didn’t work. The hand, which had been holding him firmly, but not really hurting him, tightened a little around his throat as Kevin struggled. Richard glared down at him, his eyes widening just a little, his nostrils flaring. Kevin was aware of dark stars sparkling around his peripheral vision as he fought to get more air in his lungs.
Kevin could hear Tucker yelling, but it wasn’t until he stopped fighting and sagged in defeat that the pressure on his throat relaxed, and he was able to drag in a deep breath. Richard was crouching over him, breathing deeply, a dangerous glint in his eye. Richard didn’t move his hand, only whipped his head back to Tucker, almost snarling at him.
“Let me handle this, Tucker.”
He leaned down until his face was only inches from Kevin’s, coming so close Kevin could feel his hot breath blowing over his lips. “I’m going to let you up now, and you’re going to behave yourself, you got that?”
Kevin nodded—the brief movement of his head was all that the man’s hand allowed him. The pressure on his throat remained for another few seconds while Richard continued to lock eyes with him. If the cold stare was intended to intimidate him, it was pretty damn effective with his hand still gripping Kevin’s throat. Finally, Richard got up slowly, releasing him, and Tucker rushed to sit down beside Kevin and put his arm around his shoulders. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” He cast a furious glance up at the other man, not seeming to be the least afraid of him. Richard gazed serenely back at him and shrugged, folding his arms across his chest.
Kevin shook his head and put a hand up to the sides of his neck. He’d have bruises there tomorrow. He glared up at Richard, who was still standing way too close to Tucker for Kevin’s peace of mind. “This shit just proves my point, Tucker. I’m not leaving here without you. And there’s nothing this son of a bitch or anybody else can do to stop me.” Irritatingly, he noticed how hoarse his voice sounded, and he shot Richard an angry look.
Richard gave him a slow, soft smile. “You know better than that, don’t you, Detective?”
Kevin glared at him. “I’ve had enough out of you, asshole.” His voice came out way shakier than he intended. “You just assaulted a police officer, and I may not have jurisdiction here, but I can still bring charges for what you just did. Don’t think I won’t do it. And while I’m at it, I’ll have a word with the state police about your little operation here, since the locals don’t seem interested. Last I heard, kidnapping and holding someone against their will was still illegal in this state.”Richard gazed at him for another moment before addressing himself to Tucker. “You see? Are you satisfied now?”
“Just stop it, both of you, damn it. I’m not a bone for you two to fight over, for God’s sake.” He grabbed Kevin’s arm, turning him to face him. “Look at me, Bryson, and listen up. I wasn’t kidnapped, and I’m not being held against my will. No one brainwashed me. Shit, Bryson, give me some credit here. I’m a grown man, and I know what I want, so back off.”
Kevin huffed out a furious breath. “I want to believe that Tucker, but I can’t. People who are brainwashed aren’t exactly aware of it, you know.” He jabbed a finger at Richard. “And I’m not letting this son of a bitch off so easy!”
Tucker rolled his eyes as the man he called Richard made another move toward him. Tucker stood up again and shoved the man back before turning to put a hand on Kevin’s chest. “Wait a minute. Damn it, calm down, both of you. Give me a minute to think.”
Both Kevin and Richard glared at each other around Tucker as he stood in the middle of the floor, a hand on each of their chests. It would have almost been funny, if Kevin hadn’t known how high the stakes were. This could be his last chance to get Tucker away from these people.
“Okay,” Tucker finally said. “Come with us then. See for yourself.”
“Tucker…” Richard said in a warning voice.
“I know, damn it. But can’t you see he’ll never believe me? What choice do we have?” Tucker turned back to Kevin. “Well? Will you go with us and see for yourself? We can put you up at the lodge for a few days, and you can see that I’m not in a cult, as you call it, and I’m not there against my will.”
Kevin glanced up at Richard and saw that he was furious. That alone decided him. “Sure, I’ll go with you to this lodge. Why not? I told the chief I wouldn’t be back for a week, so I have some time.”
“You told him you were coming here after me?”
“No, he wouldn’t have appreciated that,” Kevin said with a bitter tone. “You were right about his knee-jerk reaction to finding out he had a gay officer. When he read the reports of the investigators, he acted just the way you were afraid he would.”
“He had me investigated? Why?”
“It was at my insistence. I’m sorry, Tucker. I thought…well, you know what I thought, and when I talked to you I wasn’t overly reassured. The investigators talked to a few people at the Nightstick and at Gavin’s hotel. They even found out about the club you used to go to over in Ft. Walton.” He sighed. “I think he suspects me too. After all we were partners for a long time. Obviously I would have known. He made a few comments, so when I left I didn’t want to give him any more ammunition to use against either of us. I told a couple of the guys I was going to visit my parents.”
Tucker exchanged a glance with Richard, and he nodded curtly, like something unspoken had passed between them. Tucker held out a hand to Kevin. “Then come with us. I’d like you to meet my new family.”
* * * *
As Richard stared at Kevin Bryson, talking quietly with his son, he felt a strange stirring in his chest. What the hell was the smell emanating from him? It was delicious, and seriously driving him crazy. He hadn’t meant to overreact as he had, but being so close to him, he couldn’t think straight. When he’d touched him the first time, he felt something like a jolt of electricity shoot up his arm.
It had been a long time since he’d been so immediately attracted to anyone like this. Not since he’d met his bloodmate more than twenty-five years ago. Richard thought about the incensed glare the man had fixed on him when Richard had his hand around his throat, and he was laid out on the bed beneath him. Just before he gave in and lowered his eyes, he’d given Richard a smoldering, passionate stare. Kevin would have to be assimilated into the pack and become a mate to one of the wolves, it was clear to him now. The man would never give up. But damn, he was going to be a handful for somebody.
He’d be a handful for somebody, but not him. Richard put the attraction he felt for the man firmly aside. He would never mate again, no matter what. The last time he’d felt so much for someone so quickly was when he’d met Tucker’s mother, his one true bloodmate and the woman who would become his wife. He had taken one look at her and knew she was destined for him. Luckily the feeling was mutual, and they’d been married only a week later. He hadn’t regretted it, even though she had lost her life in an accident not even a year after that. Losing her had left him so heartbroken and devastated, no one thought he would recover at first. Wolves mated for life, and the loss of their bloodmate was usually enough to kill a wolf. Richard came close, but the thing that brought him back was his love for his infant son.