The General's Lover, page 6
part #7 of Assassin-Shifter Series
James laughed softly. “Yes, I know it’s shocking. I had to deal with Josh when he was sorting out his feelings for Mark. It was the most flustered I’ve ever seen him.”
Riley was looking over Lucas Cain and saw that James was doing the same thing. He smiled and arched a brow, mouthing “Wow.”
James chuckled and lie back on the bed. “I’m ready to crash. You guys don’t have to stay, Riley. I have to go back to D.C. after this and give them a full report. I’m leaving out some details, like who actually rescued me. I expect the same from you, Lucas.”
“My lips are sealed.” Lucas stood and smiled down at James. “Dinner, as soon as you can manage, just tell me when and where.”
“I will. Be careful, Lucas.”
“Good to meet you, Riley.” Lucas shook Riley’s hand. “Take care of James for me.”
“Will do,” Riley smiled as Lucas took one last look at James before leaving the room. Riley sat on the bed and looked at James. “Holy shit, he’s hot.”
James laughed loud. “You think everyone’s hot.”
“Not true.” Riley shook his head. “That pizza guy wasn’t, that night you came over.”
James nodded. “True.”
“So what’s the deal? I can see it all over your face and Lucas looks like a lost puppy.” Riley said.
James sighed. “He said he’s in love with me.”
Riley’s eyes widened. “No shit?” Riley sat down on the bed. “So now what? I saw Derek’s face when he got here, that man is in love with you.”
“Yeah? Well he’s never said it. In fact, the first time he kissed me was a few minutes ago.”
Riley blinked. “I’m sorry; did you say Derek kissed you?”
“Yes.” James smiled and lie back threading his fingers behind his head. “For a kiss with no tongue, it was fucking unbelievable.”
Riley laughed and took James’ hand. “So now what?”
“I don’t know,” James sighed and closed his eyes.
Riley heard the soft cough from the corner of the room. He was surprised to see Reece and Lorenzo smiling at him.
“Oh wow, I think we forgot you guys were in here.” Riley giggled.
“Lorenzo, can you go check on the guys, please?” Reece stood up and grabbed his stethoscope.
“For what?” Lorenzo looked down on his husband.
“I don’t know, just go.” Reece laughed, and pushed Lorenzo toward the door.
Riley had to look up as Lorenzo passed by him, the man had to be over six foot three. “Nice to meet you, Lorenzo.”
“You as well.” Lorenzo shook Riley’s hand, and left the infirmary.
As soon as the door closed, Riley looked at Reece. “Wow.”
“I know,” Reece giggled and checked James’ heartbeat. He backed away a bit and felt James’ forehead again. “You feel a lot cooler.”
“I have to know how you and Lorenzo ended up together.” Riley sat on the bed with a grin.
“Oh, me too.” James fluffed his pillow and got comfortable.
Reece smiled and grabbed one of the chairs, pulling it over. “Long story short, I was hired by the ‘bigwig’. Two of his associates had been wounded. Well, I go to check in on my patient, and there’s a six foot four wall in my way,” Reece laughed. “So, I tell him who I am and he still won’t let me in the room. God, he made me so mad! So I finally get clearance to go in and Lorenzo calls me a dickhead in Italian. Little does he know that I speak four languages, so I tell him off. That’s how we met, and it didn’t get much better. We were in Italy and I was taking care of two of the guys. One night I was called down to the infirmary and I found Lorenzo on the table with a gunshot wound to his side. I didn’t know Lorenzo’s whole story and I ended up knocked across the room when I gave him a shot.” Reece stopped and looked at both men staring at him. “It was an accident; Lorenzo’s been through a lot. Right after that I passed out; turns out I was allergic to eggs. Go figure.” Reece shrugged his shoulders.
“After that I kind of stayed away from Lorenzo, but he kept seeking me out and apologizing. So one night I’m at the pool swimming and there he is, watching me to make sure I don’t drown. I felt bad for him, he looked so sad at what he’d done to me you know? So the next thing I know, he kisses me,” Reece sighed and smiled.
“Wow,” Riley smiled at the look on Reece’s face.
“I know, and I just couldn’t believe it! I mean, here’s all these guys we hang around who are taller than me, bigger than me, gorgeous as all hell and he kisses me. I was in shock.”
James smiled and took Reece’s hand. “He’s so in love with you.”
“I love him, too, more than I’ve loved anyone. That man would die for me and kill for me.” Reece looked at James. “Just like Derek would for you.” Reece looked at Riley. “I want to hear all about you and Mateo.”
James closed his eyes. “I’ve heard this one.”
Riley laughed and squeezed James’ hand. “Get some sleep.”
“That I can do.”
Chapter Four Derek finally made it back to the base amidst chaos; the new general had arrived and was talking with Prescott. Jessup was standing at attention when Derek walked in. The room suddenly got quiet and Derek looked at the men all staring at him.
“What?” Derek looked at Prescott.
“Jessup wants to accompany Connelly to Germany, although General Blackthorn doesn’t feel it’s necessary.” Prescott raised his brows.
“Let me speak with my soldier, please.” Derek looked at Jessup, and motioned towards his office. “In my office, sergeant.” Derek opened the door, hearing a slight cough behind him. General Blackthorn was giving him a look. “He’s still my soldier until my boots leave this base. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Derek followed Jessup out. He opened the door to his office and motioned to Jessup to take a seat. “How is Connelly?”
“He’s not good, sir.” Jessup wrung his hands.
“Speak freely, Sergeant.” Derek sat forward in his chair.
“I gotta be there. Sir, I promised him…”
Derek saw the look on Jessup’s face, and immediately figured it out. “He’s your boyfriend.”
Jessup looked up. “I…I...”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s Ryan, right?” Derek asked.
“Yes, sir.”
Derek stood up. “Get your shit packed, you leave ASAP.”
“Sir?”
“Do I have to repeat it?” Derek barked. “Get your ass on the plane to Germany.”
“O-okay, um, thank you, sir.” Jessup stood up, extending his hand.
Derek gripped Ryan’s hand. “Get out of here.”
“Yes, sir!”
Derek laughed to himself as Jessup ran out of the office. He looked at the time and realized he’d been up for almost forty eight hours. He grabbed his keys and left the office, locking it behind him. General Blackthorn was in the hallway waiting for him.
Derek crossed his arms. “Yes?”
“If I’m going to be taking over, I need these men to respect me, General Jacobs,” Blackthorn said.
Derek narrowed his eyes. “Respect is earned. I wouldn’t blindly follow you. These guys have been through enough, and if you want them to be at their best and alert, you have to make some allowances. I gave Sergeant Jessup permission to go to Germany. Maybe you should ask me about these men before I leave them in your hands. You may be a general, but I still outrank you and I don’t plan on leaving them with someone who doesn’t give a shit about them. They have names and families; you would do well to remember that.”
Derek turned and stalked back down the hall, he turned at the last second. “Until I leave this base they are still my men, I suggest you get used to that.”
Derek walked out of the building to his small room at the far end of the base. He collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t comfortable leaving his men in the care of General Blackthorn. He lie on his side and looked at the picture on his nightstand; James’ smiling face looked back at him. Closing his eyes, he tried to go to sleep with the memory of James’ lips on his own.
~~ James took a deep breath and unlocked the front door of his parents’ house. The smell of bread and bacon was the first scent to hit his nostrils. The meeting in D.C. hadn’t taken as long as he thought it would and the drive to Jersey had taken even less time. It’d been three weeks since he’d been shot; he’d wanted to wait until he could walk without a cane before he saw his parents. His mother had other ideas.
He loved his parents; as soon as he realized he was gay he had shouted it from the rooftops. But he’d always been that way, and his Mom had already known when he told her. His father had been harder to drag over; he kicked and screamed the whole way but he didn’t tell James he should go get help for his affliction. Had he gotten shit over the years? Hell, yeah, he had. He was the butt (pun intended) of jokes when he entered the Bureau and it went on as he climbed the ranks. But he had jokes of his own for the heteros and when they couldn’t piss him off, they gave up. James walked in and put his keys on the table.
“Hello?”
“James?”
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me.” James walked into the kitchen to find his mom in her apron cooking, her long, brown hair in a ponytail. He
smiled and came up behind her hugging her from behind. “How are you, Mom?”
“I’m fine, sweetie.”
James waited for her to turn around. When she did, he knew he’d see that look. “Don’t start. This was why I wanted to wait to see
you guys.”
She yelled for her husband. “Joseph!”
“Mom,” James sat down and sighed.
“What happened to you?” she asked.
“I was kidnapped and tortured. Feel better now?” James banged his head on the table.
“Jesus Christ, James, what the hell happened?” Joseph looked at his son.
“Shot, again.” James looked up at his dad and smiled. “Isn’t the government fun?”
Joseph sat down and took his son’s hand. “They tried to get information from you and from the looks of it they didn’t get what they
wanted.”
“Nope. They took Cain, too.”
“Lucas?” Joseph raised his brows. “He’s back?”
“Yes, he’s back, and in love with me.” James looked at his mom. “What do you think about that? Derek came to Italy to see me,
too. He kissed me.”
Janelle sat down and looked at her son. “Oh my.”
“Yes, oh my,” James sighed. “Have any words of wisdom, Mom?”
“Well, you are in love with Derek. You always have been,” Janelle smiled and caressed her son’s face. “Are you confused about
your feelings?”
“It’s a long story. I’m going to call Lucas after I leave here. I might go down to Tampa for a few days and have dinner with him.”
James’ cell phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, Derek’s number popped up. James looked up. “Hang on a second.” James hit
‘talk’. “Hello, Derek.”
“Hey, James, I’ve got some bad news. I’m going to be stuck here for another month.”
“Oh? Why?” James looked at his mother.
“Look, the new general is an ass-wipe. I was going to arrange my leave with coming home, that way I wouldn’t have to come back
here afterwards—”
“So let me get this straight. You are volunteering to stay longer?”
“It’s not like that, James. I’m only pushing our vacation back a month.”
“Did you or did you not volunteer to stay, Derek?” James ran his hand over his face.
“James…try to understand…”
“Oh I do, once again I’m coming in second. Just stay there Derek, I’ll take my own vacation.” James snapped his phone shut and
turned it off. He looked up to see his parents looking at him. “What?”
“Are you sure that’s what you wanted to do, son?”
“I’m not sure of anything anymore,” James sighed.
~~ Lucas watched the sun going down and sat back in the lounge chair with a loud sigh. He’d finally come clean with James, and then the beautiful and gorgeous Derek Jacobs had come in and kissed his chance away. For five years he’d been James’ partner. The night James had seen Derek, Lucas knew his chance of romance was gone. He had only himself to blame. He’d stupidly pointed Derek out to James, not that he wouldn’t have noticed General Derek Jacobs at some point. The man was disgustingly handsome. He stretched his leg out and winced; his calf was still sore from the gunshot wound. His cell phone vibrated on the table and Lucas leaned over, reaching for it.
“Cain.”
“I got one of those,” James snickered.
“Very funny, what’s up?”
“Well, I’ve been ringing your doorbell for five minutes now.”
“What?” Lucas sat up and almost fell off the chair. “I’m out back.” The line got quiet and Lucas looked at his phone. “James?” “Your gate is locked, asshole.” James jiggled the latch.
Lucas laughed and got up slowly. “Hang on, I’m coming.”
“That’s what she said,” James laughed. “I think we can hang up now.”
Lucas hung up and put his phone in his pocket; he opened the latch and looked at James standing lopsided. “How’s the leg?” “Fine, how’s yours?” James laughed and walked into the backyard. “Nice pool.”
“It’s good for rehab.” Lucas looked at James. “Did you bring a bag?”
“It’s by the front door; I wasn’t going to drag it all the way around the house.” James’ eyes wandered over Lucas’ body. “I came
here first, didn’t know if I should get a hotel room or if you’d put me up.”
“Are you checking me out?” Lucas grinned, as James’ face went red.
James averted his eyes, but damn it was hard to ignore the rock-hard pecs in his face. In all the time he’d been partnered with
Lucas he’d never looked at him in that way. He couldn’t. They were partners and Lucas was straight. Or so he’d thought. “Well, Jesus, you’re standing there in nothing but swim trunks, and I am a gay man.”
Lucas took a few steps towards James and smiled when he didn’t move away. “Why did you come?”
“Well, we did say we’d have dinner.”
“Yes, in a restaurant. I didn’t think you meant here at my beach house.”
“I can go…I mean if I’m putting you out.” James turned to leave and felt a hand on his arm.
“I’d like you to stay, I can cook.” Lucas pulled James to him. “What happened, Pruitt?”
“What do you mean?” James looked up and his eyes met with Lucas’.
“You have that kicked puppy look. Something happen with General Gorgeous?”
“He’s staying in Afghanistan for another month,” James sighed and looked at Lucas. “This was a bad idea.” “Why?” Lucas put his arm around James’ waist and pulled him into his chest. “Don’t think you can control yourself?”
James’ body went up in flames and his dick was instantly hard. Lucas’ hand was running up and down his back and he swore his skin was scorching from it. “I…”
“Hey, I’m just kidding. I’m not making any moves on you, James. If you want me, you have to come to me. I’m not taking a backseat to anyone.” Lucas let James go and smiled. “Are you hungry?”
“I am, actually. What are you making?”
“I can make whatever you want; I have just about everything in my kitchen.”
“Seafood paella,” James laughed.
“Done.” Lucas winked and motioned towards the house. “Let’s go, after dinner you can sit in the hot tub.”
“You have a hot tub?” James raised a brow.
“Yep, in the house.”
James followed Lucas into the house and looked around. It was a beautiful house, large, open and airy. Windows surrounded the living room with a beautiful view of the beach. James followed Lucas into the kitchen. A large island was in the middle, complete with a rack for pots above it. James sat on one of the stools as Lucas started taking ingredients out of the fridge.
“I was kidding. You don’t have to make it.”
“I already made some yesterday, there are leftovers. I remember you saying how much you loved seafood paella and it always tastes good the next day.” Lucas leaned against the island. “I have a spare room you can use if you want to stay.”
James looked into Lucas’ eyes. He swore they had gotten even brighter and the gold around the iris was mesmerizing. “You made it even though you didn’t know exactly what day I’d be here?”
Lucas shrugged. “I’m always prepared.”
“Look, I need to explain a few things to you.” James sat back on the stool. “A while back, when Mateo and Riley got together, we went to the fair. I saw a fortune teller there.” James saw Lucas raise a brow. “Just listen. So I’m sitting there talking to her thinking she’s full of shit, right? She tells me I’m going to have two men who love me in my life and that I will have to choose. So I’m thinking, yeah right, Derek’s never said he loves me.”
“But I did.” Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “So you think you have to play this out now. But in the end, James, you will choose Derek. I saw your face in Italy after he kissed you. You are in love with him and you always have been.”
James nodded. “Yes, I do love him and look where it’s gotten me. He’s never said he loves me, his job is way more important than I am. Yes, he kissed me in Italy but then not even a month later he chooses his job again. He’s career military and I swear he won’t retire until they force him out. I could handle the fact that he’s gone half the time if he even showed me one time that I came first.” James squirmed on the chair. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything just now when I was in your arms.”
“Oh, is that so?” Lucas took the plate and put it down in front of James. “Well you didn’t even flinch when I kissed you.”
“I was in shock. You’d just yelled at me and told me you loved me.”
