The Man Who Hated Ned O'Leary (Dig Two Graves 2)

Terje was a good fuck, though infinitely more interested in his compatriot, Lars, who was no longer there, due to unfortunate circumstances.

Terje snorted and walked up to them, already in his costume made of tiger skin, which only covered one of his pecs and left his muscular thighs on show. “I meant no disrespect. So where’s the bastard hiding?”

A part of Cole wanted to tell him the truth, but there hadn’t been anything serious between the two, so perhaps it was better to spare Terje the painful details. And if one was to lie, better to do it in style. “He left for Argentina some time ago.”

Terje spread his arms and scowled. “What?”

Gavin blinked theatrically. “That sounds like him. Always out to find the next grand adventure.”

Yes. Yes, he was.

Cole made himself smile. “Don’t think we’ll ever hear from him again. Sorry, Terje,” he said, leading the way out. “That why you’re in your costume already?”

The man’s boulder-sized shoulders sagged, but he nodded. “No underwear,” he added and lifted the skirts of the pelt tunic to show off his privates. He had the decency to wear tight pants for the shows, but Cole rather liked him indecent.

Terje was an all-around good egg. Handsome, friendly, and just as delightfully frank about things he did not like as he was about the things he did enjoy. No man was honest or trustworthy, but this one came damn close, even by Cole’s standards.

“I’m here with a different friend,” Cole said, letting his words hang in the air like tempting perfume.

Terje cocked his head, and the disappointed frown turned into a smile. “Good-looking?”

Cole’s stomach turned into a heavy rock, but he nodded, because this was the decent thing to do. He was certain of it now—if he was to leave Ned, he needed to make sure Ned had someone to keep him sane. Away from booze and all the Wolfman horseshit. And who’d be a better candidate than good-natured Terje? Maybe they could even work together, since Ned bonded with animals with such ease.

“He is a bit lost though. And got attached to me. It would do him good to spend time with someone else.”

The bright green eyes drilled into him. “What do you mean ‘lost’? Speak frankly.”

“As in, I’m the only man he ever fucked.”

“I get it, a bit feral. I’m good with those.” Terje nodded with a grin that had Cole itching to punch him. Still, he went with it and walked with Terje, circling the main tent at an easy pace. He had no right to Ned if he didn’t plan to keep him.

“So you’re up for the challenge?”

Terje rubbed his massive hands together. “Always.”

The sun shone from behind a wispy cloud, the smell of popcorn hung in the air, and Adam had promised Cole a shower. So why the hell was he miserable like a baby crying that it was being denied mother’s milk when it was high time to stop hanging at her breast?

A shriek tore through the air and ripped Cole out of his thoughts. Moments later, a loud bang followed, and then voices. Voices Cole did not recognize. They were coming from the large tent at the very back of the enclosed grounds.

Chapter 20

Terje ducked out of the encampment’s main alley and into a back area where some of the more unsavory entertainments were relegated to, so the women, children, and moralists wouldn’t have to face the reality of how popular they were. Cole followed him at top speed. The folk traveling with Jan Dudek’s show weren’t strangers to brawling, but one of the voices belonged to a woman, and it didn’t sound like a battle cry.

Cole took a deep breath when he stopped in the middle of the back alley, only to move when something fell over in the tent where an exotic dance show was featured on a nightly basis. The silhouette of a naked woman painted on the entryway rocked her body with every blow of the breeze, but even if the cries couldn’t have convinced him to run in without thinking, Ned’s voice did. He stormed past the flap of heavy fabric without waiting for Terje to catch up with him.

The exotic dancer, Parita, kneeled on stage and bawled, shaking her husband’s unconscious body while fresh blood glistened on the side of the wooden podium, but the immediate threat wasn’t to her.

Ned writhed in a man’s hold so ferociously he lifted the bastard off the floor, but a harsh punch to the face from another stranger made his head wobble. Cole felt the impact of the hit as a phantom pain in his own jaw, and let out an inhuman growl he didn’t recognize as his own voice.

Terje grabbed a chair from in front of the podium and rushed at the guy holding Ned’s arms back.