Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

Rowe barely stifled a groan when he peeked in the room and was greeted with the sight of Keegan’s bare ass. Not that it was the first time he’d seen it. Some things simply couldn’t be helped when spending nearly every waking moment with a person for almost four years. A shadow of the same heat that he’d experienced in the bathroom ghosted through him, but it faded fast under the weight of concern and relief he felt just looking at Noah’s limp, exhausted form. Apparently Noah had dropped on the bed after showering and immediately passed out buck naked.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Rowe let his gaze travel over Noah’s long, muscular frame in the dim light slanting across him from the hall. New scars stretched across his back and there were a few that could have only been put there by bullets.

With a shake of his head, Rowe grabbed the far corner of the plain navy-blue comforter and pulled it over his friend. Maybe everything would make a little more sense by the light of day. Right now, he was just too damn tired to try and figure it all out.###

Rowe awoke with a start, his hand immediately sliding under his pillow for the gun he kept there. Otherwise he remained perfectly still, holding his breath while straining to hear what had awakened him. In the distance, he heard the rattle of a garage door slowly lowering. He opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. 3:20 a.m. His neighbor Sam Bell was leaving for work.

But that knowledge didn’t slow his heart. He knew it had only been the sound of Sam pulling his car out of the garage that woke him, but his brain was still wondering if Noah had left. Would he slip out in the darkness and just disappear?

Silently cursing himself, Rowe released the gun and slid out of bed. He stepped around the dogs in the darkness and soundlessly padded down the hall to the guest bedroom. He paused and flipped on the bathroom light so that the glow would illuminate the dark room. When he peered inside, he found Noah lying in the same position. He hadn’t moved a muscle.

Rowe rubbed his eyes, trying to settle his fragmented thoughts. He was exhausted but wide awake. Without making a sound, he moved to a deep shadow on the side of the bed closest to where Noah had dropped and sat on the floor with his back against the wall.

He would just sit there a few minutes, reassure himself that Noah wasn’t going anywhere and that he was safe, and then he’d be able to return to his own bed. He gazed at Noah’s sleeping face, remembering how he’d done the same before—years ago—confused about why the man brought forth such strong urges. Urges Rowe had always been able to brush off before. Noah was a good-looking man, so his attraction to him wasn’t surprising, but it hadn’t been only about that. He’d genuinely cared for him.

“Why are you lurking, Ward?” Noah’s low, rough voice rumbled across the room even though the man had yet to move.

Of course Noah knew he was there. The man was a former Ranger. You didn’t survive that job by sleeping soundly, no matter how fucking tired you were.

“It’s my house. I’m allowed to lurk all I want,” Rowe replied, ignoring the petulant tone of his voice.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know,” he snapped, but the words settled something deep in his chest, releasing some hidden tension so that his eyelids finally felt heavy.

Sliding his right arm across the bed to the empty space beside him, Noah started pulling at the sheets. “Get in the fucking bed so I can sleep.”

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Get in. The damn. Bed.”

“Keegan.”

“Ward. Now.”

Rowe pushed to his feet and shuffled across the room to the other side of the bed. “Could you at least put on some underwear?”

“No.”

Rowe huffed but still climbed under the sheets beside his old friend. “You have protection?”

Noah groaned. “Not tonight, honey. I’ve got a headache.”

“Fucker.” It was all Rowe could do not to laugh. Damn Noah.

Before Rowe could say another word, Noah pulled a Glock out from under this pillow and held it out to Rowe. “If you’re asking me if I’m armed while I’m in your house, you keep it. I’m too tired to shoot anyone tonight.”

Rowe wordlessly accepted the gun and put it under his own pillow before settling the blankets more comfortably around him.

Silence fell back over the house and Rowe felt himself relaxing to the sound of Noah’s steady, even breathing. He was edging toward sleep when Noah’s whispered words washed over him.

“I’m sorry about your wife.”

Rowe breathed through the first dull ache, concentrating on the steady thump of his heart. In the darkness with the sound of Noah beside him, the pain didn’t seem so impossible to survive this time.