So for Nathan to want it back, hell, yeah. So much for all that control and discipline he liked to think he had. Yet he wasn’t as upset as he should have been. Avery grinned to himself, pleased by this new dynamic. He and Nathan now felt like a team. Though one day they’d have to return to Bloomville, now was not the time, and he knew it. Convincing Jack hadn’t been nearly as hard as he’d thought it might be. Apparently Avery wasn’t the only one worried about his partner. Jack hadn’t liked the thought of Nathan going out so soon after his mother’s death. Only Avery’s vision had convinced him to send the pair.
But last night Avery had foreseen something else. A stolen book belonging to Jack’s client. Jack wanted him to check out the bookstore in which he’d seen it and try to locate another missing painting as well. Avery just hoped the whole cursed aspect of the cases wasn’t a factor. Odd how the psychic shit no longer bothered him but the woo-woo objects freaked him out. Jack would have explained away the strangeness of the artifacts they went after as a manifestation of energy, but Avery knew better.
Espada de Sangre was more than a weapon with an overabundance of energy. The damn thing was alive, and it had a thirst for blood. He didn’t want it anywhere near Nathan, so he had to figure out how to be there when Dixon eventually cornered his partner. He still considered it both a good and bad thing that in his vision, he hadn’t seen himself. Was that because he was close to Nathan, ready to spring to his defense? Or was he nowhere near, even dead? Only time would tell.
Several hours later, he stopped in Fort Collins, Colorado. The bookstore looked familiar. Eve’s Tomes, in the middle of the old part of town.
Nathan stirred. “Yo, Avery?”
“We’re here. Come on. I have to see something.”
“What?” Nathan got out of the car and stretched, and Avery’s pulse raced.
“Wake up. I might need you to charm some answers for us. We’re here about the book.”
“Oh, right. That wacky book about weird rituals and sex sacrifices. Sounds fascinating.” He yawned.
“According to Jack, the book’s mostly about genealogy with the odd family ritual running through it, but you apparently heard something else. Why am I not surprised you focused on the sex parts? Come on, princess.”
Nathan glared at him, then cleared his expression to put on his charming face, and they entered the store. A nice, middle-aged woman named Gail described her buyer. Nothing threatening about the soft-spoken woman who’d purchased the book.
“Said she had a Stallbridge in her family tree and was doing a project on her line.” Gail smiled. “Imagine you being family as well.”
Nathan grinned, and the woman softened some more. “Did she leave a number? I just bet she’s a long-lost cousin. That would be so great to find more family, you know?”
As Nathan sweet-talked Gail into giving him information she shouldn’t have parted with, Avery wondered about Nathan’s comments about family. Did Nathan want more family? He must have felt really alone, now that his mother had died. With an uncle like Malcolm Dixon to his claim, he couldn’t be looking for any love there.
Gail handed over the number and a book about the United States Marine Corps Nathan had picked up.
“Here you go.” Nathan gave her a ten, smiled, and walked out with Avery.
“Come on. We’ll hunker down in a hotel room and do some research on that credit card slip. I can’t believe that woman gave you her buyer’s name.”
“What can I say? Some people like me.”
“I like you well enough.”
“When my lips are wrapped around your cock, sure. But how about now?” Nathan asked as they entered the vehicle and closed the doors.
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you like me, Avery?”
“I did before you started talking.”
Nathan turned in the seat and stared at him. “I’m serious.”
The intent look in his deep green eyes struck Avery right in the heart. Oh hell. He had a bad feeling he was falling for the guy. “I like you. What the hell? Do you want it in blood?”
Nathan smiled. “Nah. Just wanted to see the pain on your face while you admitted the truth. I’ll treasure your sweet words forever.”
Avery started the SUV and punched in the coordinates for a Marriott on his GPS. “You’re such a pain in my ass.”
“Not yet, but I’m hoping to get there soon.”
Avery inwardly started at the words. “Hate to break it to you, pretty boy, but I top. I don’t bottom.”
“Ever?”
“Nope.”
Nathan gaped. “You never even tried it?”
“Not once.”
“But you talked about ass play.”
“Sure.” Avery huffed. “Shoving my dick in your ass is heaven. Why the hell would I want anything shoved in mine? Some rimming, maybe a finger. That’s it.”
“Oh, honey, do we have some work to do with you.” Nathan’s grin annoyed him all over again.
“Don’t call me honey.”
“You call me baby.”
Avery shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the conversation, which wasn’t like him. “That’s different.”
Nathan didn’t respond. When Avery looked at him, Nathan was smiling.
“What?” he snapped.
“Nothing.” Nathan turned on the radio, and they listened to classic rock until they pulled into the hotel parking lot.
After they’d checked in, Avery spent his time talking to Ian and Jack and filling them in on the book and the woman who’d bought it. Nathan had gone out to get them something for dinner. All day driving with only a cheap sandwich to eat hadn’t done much to soothe Avery’s appetites. Any of them.
“Any problems?” Jack asked.
“No.” Not unless lusting after his partner could be considered a problem.
“Good. We got word that Dixon killed a half-dozen drug runners in Mexico a week ago. He’s alive and well. But not gunning for Nathan yet, we don’t think. You still haven’t seen anything that can help?”
“No. Just a few vibes about this missing book and a painting Kitty’s going after in a few months.”
“Kitty?” Jack sounded surprised, as well he should. Their resident empath had yet to leave the gym on a real-world op. Or case, as Jack liked to call them to civilianize their new life. Of all the ex-PWP agents, Avery thought Kitty fit in the best at the gym. She seemed to really like helping people get in shape, and not just as a front for the real work they’d started doing. Kitty held the entire team together, and everyone knew it.
Avery apologized. “Sorry, but she’s going to be at an auction for this painting. I’ll look more when I get home. It was just a flash, but enough to tell me she’s needed on it.”
“Hell.” Jack sighed. “Whatever. Just keep an eye on Nathan. I don’t want to have to bail him out of jail again, especially with Dixon out there.” Jack paused. “Dixon’s a bad guy to have as an enemy. Watch your backs. I mean it.”
Jack disconnected, and Avery stood there, frustrated and worried. He didn’t like fear. He’d fought through it enough during his time in Afghanistan, South America, and the other hot spots in the world where danger was at a premium. But this was different. He could handle hazards of the job as they pertained to him. The thought of Nathan coming to harm freaked him the hell out.
The snarky comments, the physical sessions on the mats, the sneers from his partner when Avery didn’t react to Nathan’s constant jibes… Those things he looked forward to day after day. Being moved to the night shift had at first been a curse, or so he’d thought. But the time spent with Nathan had stirred his passion for not only the job, but for the man himself.