Nightcrawler (Trackers #1)

Chapter Nineteen

MIGUEL

Raven was so beautiful. I couldn’t believe I’d disliked the man currently straddling me for so long. In my mind, he’d stolen the bounty for the Mulberry diamond all those months ago and I didn’t like those thoughts. Had I only gotten to know Raven Mathis, we wouldn’t have been apart as long as we had. I should have known the moment Cassidy and Mike showed up after Raven had called, that he was a good guy. My oldest friends hadn’t given a moment’s hesitation to the warm greeting they’d bestowed on him that day.

The fact was, I’d been so mired in my own fear and debt, so self-involved in merely staying alive and keeping myself fed for so long, I couldn’t see him for who he truly was. When I’d let myself get to know him, I’d found a man who was not only capable at his job, but also kind, and decent, all the way down to his bones. But it was the soul inside the man which completely eclipsed the much more obvious beauty on the outside.

And he was completely and utterly everything I’d ever dreamed of having in a partner. As he smiled down at me, I realized, once again, just how well my nickname for him fit. He was the epitome of sunshine when he smiled that way, and I was crazy about him. I shook myself out of my revelry as I realized he’d asked me something.

“What?” I grinned.

“Distracted?”

“Just a little,” I admitted.

“I said, we need some supplies for this highly skilled operation, Marine.”

That made me laugh. “Oh…of course. Where are they?”

“No worries, Miguel. I’ll get them.” He smiled at me.

I let go of him as he rolled off and stood, going into the bathroom and coming out with a bottle of lube and an unopened box of condoms, wagging them in his hand as he held them up for me to see. The fact that they weren’t open and readily accessible in his bedside table, made me feel better than it probably should. I hoped that meant having men over for a night of debauchery wasn’t a regular thing for him. As he climbed back over me, tossing me a condom and breaking the seal on the lube, I remembered who this man was. He certainly wasn’t some trick I’d picked up in a bar, the way I was used to.

I focused on opening the condom and sliding it onto my dick as he drizzled lube in his palm and then reached around. Watching him prepare himself was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen. I imagined his fingers tunneling inside his tight, little hole, opening it up for me, as he fucked himself on them. When he slid them out and reached for the bottle, snapping the cap open again with his thumb, I had the oddest desire to simply put my hands behind my head and watch him top me from the bottom. As appealing as the thought was, I decided against it, and took hold of his hips, as he poured a healthy amount of lube over my rigid length. He tossed the bottle aside to join the box of condoms on the bed and levered himself up and over my cock.

“You ready?” he asked.

I nodded my head, waiting for him to go at his own pace. “There’s no rushing here, Raven. You’re the one who—” I suddenly couldn’t speak as I felt him bearing down on me. All I could do was hang on for the ride. The experience of slowly fucking into another man wasn’t something I ever got tired of but knowing that it was Raven taking me in, had my mind reeling. He was so beautiful, so perfect, and at least for tonight, he was only mine.

As I breached him, I watched his face. The way he bit his lower lip as the head of my cock slid inside, made me want to thrust all the way into him, taking him hard. I hadn’t been kidding about the screwing. My entire body shook from the effort it took not to fuck him roughly, but I held off, letting him go at his own pace. The very last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. Whether it was the pain he’d received from the recent gunshot to his belly, or just the fact that he was being penetrated—which I’d never found to be especially pleasurable—I wanted to let him take the reins here. There’d be plenty of time for me to pound him into the mattress or pin him to a wall when his wounds were fully healed.

“Oh, God,” he groaned, sliding deeper. He hung his chin to his chest, and I watched sweat break out over his smooth chest as he slid onto me. I reached for both nipples, tweaking and twisting them to distract from the pain. It seemed to do the trick because he moaned, lifting off me as he braced both hands on my belly, before sliding back down, taking more. He was so fucking tight, and it was everything I could do not to moan out loud. I lifted my hips just the tiniest bit, sliding even deeper as he bore down until he was well and fully seated on my cock.

“Baby, you’re so fucking tight…so beautiful,” I said, gently stroking the tops of his thighs. I needed him with me and not lost on a wave of pain. I needed him to feel nothing but pleasure. He lifted his head and met my gaze. His dark blue eyes were glazed but I couldn’t detect any signs of discomfort. Instead, the lost look on his face, made me feel stronger…more powerful than I ever had. Raven was lost in me and the sensations my cock was giving him. I couldn’t describe the way the very idea of that made me feel.

The warmth of his insides, the way he lifted and lowered himself on me, slowly building heat between us, made me feel as though I’d been missing something all this time. He made me feel whole and I know he sensed it too. By this very act alone, I prayed Raven also realized he was my other half. I nearly laughed at the very idea of how cliché that sounded, but nothing else seemed to fit us so well. My soul had been seeking another to make me whole for so long, and to find it here in this funny, decent, wonderful man, was everything I could’ve ever wanted.

“Miguel—” he gasped, slowly working my cock from the inside. “I’m so full.”

“You like that, Sunshine?” My words were guttural, almost unrecognizable as I fucked him onto me. I brought my hands to both his thighs and held on, digging my fingers into his flesh. My gaze slowly mapped his body, admiring the muscled V of his abs with its white bandage marring his otherwise flat belly and his defined pecs with nipples standing in two erect nubs. His biceps stood out as he absently curled fingers into my belly. His skin was all golden, as if his gods had formed the ideal man of shimmering light and the sun itself.

“You’re so fucking big,” he gasped.

“And you’re so fucking tight…so perfect for me, Raven.” I powered up into him, still letting him drive, but feeling my own desperate need as it rapidly approached. All I could do was pray for more staying power, but it had been a very long time, nearly a year upon reflection, since I’d made a trip to a bar to satisfy that need with another nameless, faceless body.

But this man…Raven...meant so much more to me than any of those empty encounters. This one coupling felt greater than any of them ever had, and I hoped I’d somehow find the words to tell him when the time came.

He reached for himself, and my eyes were riveted on him as he jacked his leaking cock, putting on a show only for me. Fluid slid out of him each time he squeezed, and seeing him from this angle made all my quick, fraught encounters in dark bathrooms and seedy, dimly lit motel rooms so meaningless. Raven was nothing like those men. He stroked himself faster and faster, speeding his hand as he began bouncing up and down on me. My climax was so close I could feel my balls drawing up tightly against my body, and it took overwhelming effort to resist the urge to come.

“Raven…I can’t…I can’t hold back much longer,” I gasped.

“ Yesss ...” he hissed. “Come on, baby…come inside me,” Raven suddenly cried out.

His hot body strangled my dick as I focused all my attention on his slit. I wasn’t disappointed to see a creamy, white spray as it shot out of his cock, arcing gracefully into the air as I gave up my own load, emptying myself into the condom buried deeply inside him. For a brief moment, I was lost in my own pleasure but then Raven’s hot splatter hit the middle of my chest. It puddled there for a miraculous moment before being joined by another and still another as I shuddered through my climax as we came together in a moment of sheer, unadulterated bliss.

Only when his movements slowed above me could I tear my eyes away from the erotic sight. I glanced up to find him watching me with the tiniest of smiles tipping up the corners of his mouth. My chest was heaving as I sucked in great lungfuls of air. And only when he let go of his cock and leaned down, taking a long, slow lick over the white puddle he’d made on my chest, did I let go of his thighs and cup the back of his sweaty head.

I held him against me for only a minute but as I gradually came back into my body, I realized he had to be uncomfortable in this position. I let him go and he sat up, grunting as he gingerly levered himself up and off as I reached between us and held the condom in place as he dismounted. The rubber’s reservoir was heavy with my white spill, and I held it in place, perhaps just a little too proud of myself and the evidence of my manhood.

Raven threw a leg over and rolled to his back, still recovering as he lay there panting while my own heart returned to a resting beat. When he started laughing, I looked over at him and smiled. His dancing eyes met mine. “That was…Jesus, Miguel…that was—”

“Fucking hot?” I held my hand over the mess on my chest so it wouldn’t leak onto his bed and leaned over, kissing him thoroughly before breaking the kiss with a smile. I stared into his gorgeous eyes. “Hell yeah, it was, Sunshine.”

Before he could say anything, I rolled away from him and grabbed several tissues from a box on the table. I cleaned up as much as I could and sat up before walking to the bathroom to dispose of the tissues and condom.

I cleaned up in the bathroom, wetting a washcloth for Raven and drying myself off before returning to the bedroom. As I walked past the cat tree, Stanley opened both lazy, orange eyes and stood up, arching into a perfect arc as he let out a loud yawning meow before curling back into a ball.

Raven lay on his back holding out his arms and smiling as I climbed back onto the bed. I crawled over to him and used the washcloth to clean him up. For the most part, he didn’t nag me when I checked the bandages front and back to make sure no damage had been done. When I was satisfied, I set the washcloth aside and let him pull me down. I lay against him with his arms around me, my head on his shoulder as he absently weaved the fingers of one hand into my hair. Blood pulsed through my veins. I felt alive in his arms, alive as I hadn’t felt for as many years as I could remember.

“That…was…incredible,” he said into my hair.

“Yes.” I had to admit to similar feelings as I lifted my head and kissed his shoulder. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

He shook his head as he stretched out on his side, facing me, head propped up in one hand. “No, and even if you had, I’m stronger than you think, Miguel. I wouldn’t have missed feeling you inside me, for a million dollars.”

I grinned at him. “I’m a little short right now.”

He smiled back at me, eyes glinting in the near darkness. He reached down and covered my cock with his hand, lifting it from the hair in my crotch. “You’re anything but short, Miguel Huerta.”

I threw back my head and laughed, reaching around and squeezing his tight butt. I dragged my gaze away from his lips and looked down at his chest, sobering. When I glanced back up at him, he was watching me. “I love your body, Raven.” I reached out and tweaked a nipple, watching his reaction as he sucked in breath. “I do miss the nipple bars, though.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t sure what you’d think when you saw them. I figured it was a risk but then again, I didn’t really know how to explain them.”

I leaned in and kissed him softly, blending our lips in a slow, sensuous kiss. When I pulled away, he was panting again. “When I saw them, I figured you were gay.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Really? How?”

I smirked. “Let’s just say that between high school and the Marine Corps, I’ve seen my share of naked guys and to a tee, not a single one with nipple bars turned out to be straight.”

He laughed. “And I bet you tried them all out, just to be sure.”

I raised my hand, grinning and giving a mock salute. “Oohrah!”

He chuckled and then reached out, cupping my cheek. “I had a great time tonight, Miguel.” He paused only a moment before going on. “I hope we can do this a lot more.”

“I’d like that.” I sat up, looking around the room and not finding what I needed. “Not to change the subject, but I built up a terrible thirst.” I smiled. “Do you have water somewhere?”

“Let me get it.” He started to get up, but I stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.

“You relax. You’re going to be sore in the morning, so I’ll grab some acetaminophen for you and a bottle of water, and then, you’re going to sleep. We both have a meeting in the morning, and I want you in good shape for that.”

“Thanks, Miguel. There’s bottled water in the fridge and the Tylenol is in the bathroom.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.” I leaned down and kissed him again before dragging my pants back on and walking out of the room.

RAVEN

I looked down at the wound on my belly after Miguel walked out of the room. The bandage covered it well and as I touched the plastic covering over it to make sure it was still in place, I felt relieved. There was no heat and no swelling coming from the wounds and I didn’t feel the least bit feverish. Right before my shower, I’d opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a few pills which came from my nana’s medicine bag. She always kept a supply of herbal medicine on hand.

The man who brought them, lived almost an hour from us, but Chico always brought her a supply of his herbal concoctions with him when he dropped in to visit her. He made them himself from plants he collected in many places, and she swore by them. They cured everything from headaches to minor infections to more serious liver and kidney conditions. At least, that’s what he’d proven to my nana and many other Native American women over the years. I’d sent a few off to a lab GMS dealt with just to make sure they were safe for Nana to take, and the analysis had come back just as he’d promised. The ingredients were harmless and all natural. Their effectiveness had never been questioned by her and I can remember many days when her daughter—my mother—had sworn by them.

Thinking of my mother now brought back both sad and happy memories for me. She’d been so beautiful with long, glistening, black hair and almond shaped eyes of the darkest blue. That she’d never truly accepted her Native American heritage pained my nana. That she’d cursed my nana, blaming her for my Caucasian father leaving us when I’d been just an infant, had never been fair. Though my mother never said so, I’d always believed that she wished she’d been born fully white, so that he wouldn’t have had an excuse to abandon us. I’d quit asking about him when I was just a kid because bringing him up only led to my mother’s rages. I hadn’t realized she’d most likely been an undiagnosed manic depressive, until I was an adult.

I had mostly good memories of her. She’d sung to me and rocked me and held me in her arms even though we’d struggled for every morsel of food. As soon as I was old enough, I’d left Arizona and come to L.A. I still felt guilt about leaving her there alone, but she was sad all the time, and me being there or not didn’t alter things. She wouldn’t get any help, and I had to make a life for myself. She’d most likely died from drugs, taken to deal with her mental illness, though, my nana never confirmed it. She’d explained that her daughter—my mother—had finally died of heartbreak. A man it didn’t work out with. My mother had lived a very sad life.

Thank God for my nana.

Miguel came back into the room, looking strong and handsome in just jeans as he padded across the room in bare feet. He held two sweating bottles of cold water and a bowl full of green grapes. I couldn’t help but grin as he climbed onto the bed.

“Water?” He offered me a bottle and I took it, downing half in seconds as the icy coldness of it slid down my throat. I pushed painful memories away as I watched the man stretch out on the bed next to me. He smiled as he plucked a fat grape from the stem and offered it to me. I rolled toward him, letting him feed me the grape. It burst in my mouth, juicy and sweet and I reached out, caressing the thatch of hair on his chest.

Miguel was a handsome man. His tanned skin looked almost olive in the low lighting of the bedroom. He looked at me with such devotion on his face as I remembered the way he’d made love to me. He’d taken my breath away. Either he’d had a lot of practice, or he was just a quick learner. For my own ego, I preferred the latter explanation. Whatever the truth, it didn’t matter. Tonight, at least, he was mine, and at the moment, he had decidedly too many clothes on to suit me. I waved at the jeans.

“Take those off.”

Miguel smirked at me, drank an entire bottle of water, and popped another grape into his mouth, chewing as if to make a point. He raised a silky eyebrow. “Why?”

I chuckled. “Because I’m planning on cuddling with you all night, and I don’t like the idea of chafing when I rub up against you.”

Miguel threw his head back and laughed. When he’d finished, he lifted the bowl of grapes from his belly, and twisted to put them aside. When he turned back to me, he wore the slyest expression.

“You’re planning on rubbing up against me?”

“Maybe.” I grinned.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” He unbuttoned the waistband and shed the jeans before I could even blink. Dressed, Miguel Huerta was gorgeous, but undressed, lying naked and half hard in my bed…he was breathtaking. He tossed the jeans on the floor and drew me into his arms. I went willingly.

He kissed my ear and then my neck, sending shivers running down my spine as he twined our legs together, erections rubbing. I wanted him again but I was also exhausted from everything that had happened today. I settled, melting boneless against his strong body, meaning to close my eyes for just a second.

I didn’t wake up until morning.