Lee crossed his arms over his chest and looked impassively at Johnny who was, in Darren’s opinion, a beady-eyed pug-nosed prick. “Now, you can and will tell me why you killed Stefan.”

  Johnny’s eyes seemed to shrink to even smaller beads as he glared back at Lee. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t even talk to Stefan.” Darren saw Lee’s arm tense, the biceps and triceps rippling, and Darren decided now was a good time to lie. He did just that as he stared into Johnny eyes. “I know you’re lying.

  He was my best friend and he told me everything. Why do you think I left Jackson? I was afraid you’d figure out I knew and kill me, too.” Johnny’s grin told Darren the prick had thought of that himself once or twice. Lee growled and took a step forward and Johnny’s grin turned into a wavering frown as his chin quivered. “I didn’t kill him! All I did was fuck him once or twice ‘cause he wanted it so bad and he knew you wouldn’t touch him! But you knew that already.” Darren thought he was going to be sick. Johnny had touched Stefan, sweet innocent Stefan who probably hadn’t known what the sick bastard was going to do to him. Before Darren could stop himself he was leaning down and his hand cracked loud against Johnny’s cheek. “You bastard! Get up so I can beat the crap out of you!” Darren grabbed at Johnny but found himself jerked back and held against Lee’s chest.

  “Shh, calm down, baby. I want to kill him, too,” Lee whispered loud enough for Johnny to hear, then quieter just for Darren, “but we can’t, and we shouldn’t. It isn’t our place to mete out vengeance.”

  Darren nodded as he glared at Johnny. “Right, but we can try for justice.”

  “Hope for it,” Lee corrected softly before slowly loosening his hold on Darren. “Why did you give Stefan your ring since it doesn’t sound like you cared about him at all?” AFTERMATH

  Bailey Bradford

  100

  Johnny rolled his eyes or he might have just blinked, Darren couldn’t be sure. “Because I wanted to fuck him. I don’t care if he was retarded, he was legal and he was hot. But he kept babbling about love and all that crap.”

  Darren understood vengeance, revenge and everything else that made someone punish another person when Lee growled, “So you gave him the ring to make him think you cared,” and Johnny nodded. “Then you killed Stefan when he wouldn’t give the ring back.” Johnny smiled but shook his head. “I didn’t kill him. He fell.”

  “Off a cliff he’d never have gone near!” Darren shouted, diving at Stefan’s murderer.

  Johnny stood and slammed his palms against Darren’s chest, knocking him back into Lee who wrapped his arms around Darren. “Maybe he was eager enough to get fucked he got over being scared!”

  “No,” Darren said, trembling so hard his teeth chattered. “Stefan wanted to be loved.” His anger was like a cold thing inside him, spreading through his veins and leeching out his pores. Lee must have been every bit as furious. Darren could feel his lover shaking. “That’s all Stefan wanted, and you used him like some cheap—” Darren stopped as Johnny’s little eyes grew wide with fear. “Why’s it so cold in here?” Johnny’s breath came out in a white puff of air and it was then Darren noticed his was doing the same.

  “Tell me how Stefan died,” Lee demanded, his breath warm on the chilled skin of Darren’s neck. “Tell me the truth or else…”

  On cue the temperature plummeted further, dropping so low it was painful. Johnny’s lips were blue as he jerked his head from side to side, his gaze darting around as if to find the source of the chill. “I dragged him up there,” Johnny blurted, stuttering every word as he shook so hard he looked like he was seizing. “I was afraid he’d tell someone what I did to him so I told him to meet me on the cliff! But he wouldn’t come up so I dragged him! Then I let him go and pushed—”

  If Lee hadn’t been holding him, Darren didn’t know what he’d have done, but it would have been bad. He knew the frigid air wasn’t natural, knew Conner had come to him and Lee at the motel and brought the temperature down to scare them into doing what they really wanted. But what good was that doing now? They knew Johnny had murdered Stefan but they couldn’t prove it. No one else had witnessed his reluctant confession. Johnny wouldn’t turn himself in for his crime.

  AFTERMATH

  Bailey Bradford

  101

  Lee seemed to think Johnny would. “You now why it’s so cold? Stefan’s here, and he’s going to let me and Darren leave, but you…”

  Darren tipped his head back so he could tell Lee he was wrong, it wasn’t Stefan but Lee nodded at something in front of them. Darren looked and saw the sheets—Conner’s hint to them? Or was there another purpose? The fabric floated behind Johnny then began winding around his body. Johnny’s scream was stifled when he opened his mouth and the sheet gagged him.

  “I think you can either die today,” Lee said slowly, his voice thick and low, “or you can call the police and make a confession—a truthful one. Let’s go, Dar.” Darren glanced at Johnny, his face streaked with tears turned to ice, then let Lee guide him out of the unnaturally cold house into the warm morning sun.

  “Will Conner kill him?” Darren couldn’t decide if that would be a bad thing or not.

  Lee glanced back at the house, his eyes narrowing as if he could see through the brick wall. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. For Conner’s sake, I hope not. Laine and Severo would probably find some way to exorcize Conner or something, and that would destroy them in a way they might not recover from.”

  Darren grabbed Lee’s wrist and tugged, trying to get him to move. “We should go inside and drag Johnny out or—”

  “Listen,” Lee hissed.

  Darren frowned at first then smiled so big it hurt his cheeks. “Sirens!” Darren hadn’t cared for the racket before, but the wail of the sirens had to be one of the best sounds he’d ever heard. He let go of Lee’s wrist and threw his arms around the man instead, happy to his soul when Lee hugged him back.

  “I think, this time, you’ll see justice done.”

  AFTERMATH

  Bailey Bradford

  102

  Epilogue

  “Virginia, I’m heading home,” Darren called out as he stepped into the kitchen. “Lee’s here!”

  Virginia turned from the grill and waved the spatula at him. “Did he get the floors stripped like he said he would?”

  “Yes, ma’am, and he brought pictures to show you. I think he’s hoping you’ll look at them and see how beautiful the wood is and decide to chunk your plan to carpet over it.” Darren agreed with Lee. Carpet would be harder to keep clean and wouldn’t be nearly as pretty as hardwood floors.

  “Well, he either needs to come back here or you need to man the grill since Mark called in sick. Again.” Virginia scowled and flipped a burger. “Just bring him back here.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Darren went back into the diner part of the café and waved Lee over. “I think she might cave if we nag her the right way—how much money would be saved now and in the long run what with the expense of keeping the carpet clean.” Lee laughed and kissed Darren quickly, a bare touch of lips. “Glad you cleared up what you meant by nagging Virginia the right way. I was just going to beg, though.” Darren took Lee’s hand in his and led him into the hall instead of the kitchen. Virginia could wait just a minute.

  “Are you taking me to the office?” Lee asked so hopefully Darren snickered.

  “Yeah, but just for a minute or two. Virginia will skin us both if we take any longer than that.”

  “It’d be worth it.”

  Darren thought it likely would but he wasn’t going to put it to a test. As soon as he got Lee inside the office Darren pinned him to the wall—not the door, he wasn’t going to close that or all his not too dirty intentions would crumble under the weight of his desire for Lee.

  Darren grabbed handfuls of Lee’s hair and started a trail of nipping kisses from Lee’s lips to the base of his neck.

  “Let’s just get one thing clear,” Darren muttered between the kisses, “I’m the only one who gets to hear you beg.”

  AFTERMATH

  Bailey Bradford

  103

  Lee arched his neck and slid his hands over Darren’s backside. “Ah, got it. So if I beg you to lock the door and fuck me…”

  Darren bit the sweet spot under Lee’s ear, making his lover moan and writhe. “You’re trying to get me in trouble, aren’t you?”

  “I’m trying to get you in me!” Lee rubbed his groin against Darren’s. “Please? I swear I’m not gonna last two minutes anyway.”

  Darren smiled as he reached for the door. “Well, in that case…”

  * * * *

  Stefan watched Lee and Darren a lot, but not when they were having sex. That would be creepy and wrong. But he liked to see them and visit, and it made him happy to know they were so in love they practically glowed when they looked at each other. He’d wanted to know what that felt like and Johnny had tricked him and done horrible things to him. Stefan didn’t think he’d have been able to ever try the whole love thing with anyone else, even if Johnny hadn’t killed him. Maybe that’s why seeing Lee and Darren so happy together made Stefan happy, too.

  “Whatcha doing, Stef?”

  Stefan blinked and was able to focus on the blond man beside him. Conner was really cute and he was nice and sometimes mean in a funny way—like when he hid Laine’s hat or when he slapped someone on the butt. And Conner had made sure Johnny went to prison for killing Stefan, how amazing was that? Sometimes Stefan still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact he had such a good friend.

  “Let me guess, you were watching Lee and Darren and they snuck into the office for a little…” Conner waggled his eyebrows and Stefan giggled—and stared at Conner in shock.

  “Excellent, dude! I heard you make an actual noise! I knew you could do it! Let’s go give Laine and Severo a hard time, hopefully they aren’t busy—oh! If they are, you can giggle!

  That would be hilarious!”

  Yeah, until Laine did the cussing and Severo did the yelling, although that could be funny, too. Just thinking about it made Stefan giggle again, which must have made Conner happy because he started laughing.

  “C’mon, Stef, let’s go have some fun!”

  AFTERMATH

  Bailey Bradford

  104

  Well, that sounded like an excellent plan to him. He’d some back and try his new skill out on Lee and Darren later—much later considering the sounds coming from the office.

  Darren was probably going to end up getting in trouble with his boss again. Or maybe not, he thought as he saw Virginia standing in the hallway with a huge smile on her face. She chuckled and headed off and Stefan decided he needed to do the same. His friend was waiting for him, wanting to spend time with him. How cool was that? Then a thought occurred to him that made him giggle from sheer happiness as he raced towards Conner.

  Life—the afterlife, Stefan corrected—was actually pretty awesome, and he really was one very lucky spirit.

  About the Author

  A native Texan, Bailey spends her days spinning stories around in her head, which has contributed to more than one incident of tripping over her own feet. Evenings are resounds for pounding away at the keyboard, as are the early morning hours. Sleep?

  Doesn’t happen much. Writing is too much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey’s brain, demanding to be let out.

  Caffeine and chocolate are permanent fixtures in Bailey’s office and are never far from hand at any given time. Removing either of those necessities from Bailey’s presence can result in what is known as A Very, Very Scary Bailey and is not advised under any circumstances.

  Email: itsbaileybradford@yahoo.com

  Bailey loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

  Also by Bailey Bradford

  Love in Xxchange: Rory’s Last Chance

  Southern Spirits: Wait Until Dawn

  Southern Spirits: All of the Voices

  Southern Spirits: When the Dead Speak

  Southern Spirits: A Subtle Breeze

  Southwestern Shifters: Reckless

  Southwestern Shifters: Relentless

  Southwestern Shifters: Rescued

  Total-E-Bound Publishing

  www.total-e-bound.com

  Take a look at our exciting range of literagasmic™

  erotic romance titles and discover pure quality

  at Total-E-Bound.

 

 

  Bailey Bradford, Aftermath 5

 

 

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