Face value, p.11
Face Value, page 11
"Look on the mountain. Alastair wanted to kill me and Gregory said to leave my body on the mountain." Beckett blurted out. The words were filled with the sudden realization that his uncle had said he would finish Beckett, and that Gregory had suggested the body, his body, should be left on the mountain.
Kayden immediately stood up and took the few steps to join him at the other side of the counter. Beckett had a white-knuckled grip on the work surface and wouldn't let go despite Kayden attempting to prize his fingers away.
"Beck. Look at me." Kayden was talking. Asking him something. Telling him to calm down but Beckett had reached the end of the rope and could only focus on one question. Talking louder over Kayden's reassuring tone he finally looked up and met a concerned gaze.
"Did she see Alastair kill the girlfriend? Is that why she ran? Because she thought my father would do the same to her? Did Gregory or Alastair see her and suspect her?" His mom. Had she seen so much violence against her perpetrated by her husband? And then for her brother-in-law to murder? Was she stuck there and counting down the days until Gregory went too far, the same as his brother?
"I don't know." Kayden was using his doctor voice but Beckett could see through the forced patience. Kayden was empathizing with Beckett and without warning all the energy simply fled Beckett's body. The counter and Kayden's grip held him upright and he leaned forward.
"This is stupid," he repeated over and over. They had the result they wanted. That his mom had wanted. Her evidence hidden away for so long was enough to tie Alastair Bullen to a murder he had possibly been involved with. She'd been so brave. She had looked after Beckett; got her son to safety.
His world inexplicably turned on its head as Kayden gripped him hard and lifted him up in a fireman's carry. Ass up and with Kayden's shoulders digging into his stomach he wasn't convinced the doctor knew what the fuck he was doing.
"Let me down," he demanded, shouting. He attempted to twist in the hold but, shit, Kayden was deceptively strong. He couldn't make sense of where they were going and flailed in the hold as panic began to rise in him. Finally, Kayden laid him flat on a surface that wasn't hard and Beckett scanned the area enough to realize he was in the room Kayden had been using to sleep in. He only knew that because he had watched the other man so closely. What did that make him? Some kind of lovelorn idiot?
Immediately he curled himself to sit up, leaning maybe a little too hard on his cast-heavy arm and winced at the twinge of pain that travelled its length. Kayden stopped him. Not with a grip of iron or with strength or some freaky doctor hold but with a few quiet words.
"We don't know, Beck. We may never know unless Alastair admits to manslaughter and tells us in no uncertain terms that your mom saw the murder." He placed a hand on Beckett's chest and tilted his head in thought. "Your heart is racing. Can you try and breathe slower? Deep breaths, in and out." Kayden leaned over him, every inch the concerned doctor and finally, as he stared into green eyes, Beckett could control his breathing and the panic that threatened to tumble over into grief.
"I'm breathing," Beckett commented softly. "Sorry."
Kayden brushed away the apology. "Are you okay?"
The question was that of a doctor to a patient but suddenly, with the panic drifting away, Beckett had enough. He didn't want the doctor, he wanted the man. He wanted selfish, non-thinking, physical, hot and sweaty sex and he wanted to delay thinking on the rest of his life for a few hours. Would he need to give evidence? Did he actually know anything? Were the DNA test and the necklace enough proof that it would stand up in court? What about chain of evidence and all the stuff he had seen on TV?
He stopped as he realized he was losing himself in things he shouldn't even be thinking about when he was on a bed with the man he loved. Loved? Relationships? What the hell was going on in his life? If he could list those things he wanted in a man, the strength, courage, determination, and caring that Kayden had in spades, it would mean every box was ticked.
"I missed you," Kayden whispered as he moved in closer. It was almost as if he could read Beckett's mind. He encouraged Beckett to lie flat, conscientiously slid a pillow under Beckett's broken arm and then made to move away. Beckett stopped him with a simple soft touch.
"I missed you too." Jeez. That didn't come out right. Even he could hear he sounded pissed. He meant the words to stay calm and simple.
"I had to help Manny, I'm sorry I stayed away."
The defense wasn't necessary and Beckett wished he could pull back the tone of his voice. He sighed. "Don't be stupid. 'S not your fault. You were shot."
"A zillion pounds of force at an angle into a Kevlar vest? It was nothing." Kayden grinned as he said this and the corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement.
"Says the man who cursed a blue streak as they wheeled him away," Beckett observed drily.
"Don't you know what they say? The quiet ones are in the worst way. It's the first thing you learn in med school."
Beckett grasped Kayden's hand and laid it against his chest where before his heart had been racing with emotion. "How is my heart now?"
"Better." Kayden loomed over him and then finally with a soft smile he captured Beckett's lips in a kiss. Gently he tasted and touched and carefully he caged Beckett by straddling him and deepening the kisses.
"You don't have to be so gentle," Beckett said as he arched up to feel more of Kayden. Groin to groin they were both hard and Beckett needed this contact. With Kayden.
His lover seemed to accept this at face value and rolled off of Beckett to fumble in the drawers. With a triumphant smile he laid two items on the bed. Beckett glanced over and then did a second take. What he saw there was not what he expected. No condoms, no lube, but pain killers and muscle rub.
"Have you seen your chest?" Kayden asked.
Beckett pulled his T up and looked down at the purple bruises which still bloomed across his skin.
"Want to see mine?" Beckett's eyes widened as Kayden pulled off his T-shirt entirely and then waited for a reaction.
"Fuck." Beckett couldn't stop the reaction. Yellow turned to green then to purple and black across the entire expanse of Kayden's chest focused on one point to the left of his heart.
"I was lying," Kayden murmured. "It freaking hurt like a fucking bitch and I have bruised ribs."
"But you carried me—"
"You were panicking," Kayden shrugged.
"Freaking stupid heroes," Beckett sighed and shook his head. Then he focused on something a lot more immediate. "So what you are saying is nothing strenuous?" He couldn't have stopped the smile spreading across his face even if he tried. He watched as Kayden grumbled and then lay flat on his back with a wince. Beckett levered himself up with his cast and crowded Kayden.
"Kissing?" He questioned simply as he stole a heated kiss and bit a path of heat from Kayden's lips to his throat. With purpose he licked, kissed and sucked his way across acres of skin, being very gentle and avoiding the brilliantly marked and bruised area. That just gave him the excuse to move lower and finally taste the very thing he had been fantasizing about for a long time. Teasingly he stopped just inches from Kayden's hard dick and looked up his lover's long body. Kayden had his head pillowed on his arm and Beckett focused in on Kayden's heavy-lidded gaze.
"How about a blow job?" Beckett asked innocently. "Is that okay for us to try?"
All Kayden said was a gruff, "stop fucking with me and get on with it, kid."
Beckett tasted the length of him and then released his touch even as Kayden moved impatiently under his touch. "Patience, old man," he said. "We have all night."
The End
The Sanctuary Series
The Bullen Arc
• Guarding Morgan (Book 1)
• The Only Easy Day (Book 2)
• Face Value (Book 3)
• Still Waters (Book 4)
• Full Circle (Book 5)
• The Journal Of Sanctuary One (Book 6)
• Worlds Collide (Book 7)
The Chicago Arc
• Accidental Hero (Book 8)
• Ghost (Book 9)
• By The Numbers (Book 10)
* * *
The Bullen Arc
Guarding Morgan (#1)
When Morgan’s handler sends him to Nik for safety, neither Morgan nor Nik could imagine that two weeks alone in a cabin in the woods could start something more.
The Only Easy Day (#2)
Two SEALs both want the Bullen family brought to account, but one wants justice and the other wants revenge
Face Value (#3)
When bullets start to fly there is only one thing between Beckett and death. Kayden.
Still Waters (#4)
Against the backdrop of Sanctuary and the Bullen case Adam and Lee realize not everything they saw was real.
Full Circle (#5)
When Manny risks his life could it finally be time for Josh to risk his heart?
Journal Of Sanctuary One (#6)
Neither man is prepared for being stuck together for an entire week, nor for the secrets that threaten to get them both killed
Worlds Collide (#7)
What no one factored in, not Sanctuary or the FBI, was the lengths Griffin Ryland would go to in the effort to protect himself.
* * *
The Chicago Arc
Accidental Hero (#8)
Chicago Cop Simon Grant and Sanctuary operative Cain Brodie, have to be the heroes of their own stories, just to stay alive.
Ghost (#9)
You can’t hold onto a ghost, and sacrifice is often the only way to make things right.
By The Numbers (#10)
The only way of destroying Varga is to cut the crime boss’s money, and the two men become part of an intricate take-down involving millions of dollars.
Have you read Heroes?
A Reason To Stay - Book 1
featuring Viktor from Sanctuary
When SEAL, Viktor Zavodny, left small town America for the Navy he made sure he never had a reason to return for anything other than visiting family. He wanted to see the world and fight for his country and nothing, or no one, was getting in his way. He fights hard, and plays harder, and a succession of men and women share his bed.
But a phone call from his sister has him using his thirty day down time to go home instead of enjoying his usual thirty nights of random sex and sleep.
What he finds is a mystery on the Green Mountains and the only man attempting to make sense of seemingly unrelated deaths. His childhood friend and first love... Lieutenant Aiden Coleman, Sheriff.
There were reasons Viktor left his home. Not least Aiden Coleman with his small town innocence and his dreams of forever. Now Adam and Viktor need to work together to save lives and prove there is a hero in all of us.
When it's done, if they make it out alive, can Aiden persuade Viktor that he has a reason to stay? Maybe forever?
Find out more here
Also, in this completed series
Last Marine Standing - Book 2
Deacons Law - Book 3
Have You Read - Bodyguards Inc.?
A series of six books involving bodyguards and the men they protect
Find out more here
Bodyguard To A Sex God (#1)
Bodyguard Adam Freeman draws what everyone else thinks is the short straw at the convention for a procedural cop show - as bodyguard to TV actor Logan Brady. Or as the Internet has labelled him, Logan 'Sex God' Brady.
Logan is taking part in a convention at a London Hotel for his show 'Night Cop' and someone is threatening his life.
Adam gets more than he bargained for when his client combines coming out of the closet with them both trying to stay alive.
The Ex Factor (#2)
When Bodyguard, Ben Collins, finds Daniel Lincoln in a room, hiding and hurt, he doesn't immediately think Daniel is the victim of abuse. Daniel is good at pretending and being a finalist in a TV singing competition he seems like he has it made.
But something about Daniel calls to Ben's need to protect and he hands Daniel a card to contact him if ever Daniel needed help. Abruptly, after one frightened phone call from Daniel, Ben is racing to Daniel's aid and what he finds is a horror he can't imagine.
Daniel is trapped in a relationship where anger and controlling hate are the only emotions he is given. When his boyfriend crosses the line and leaves Daniel vulnerable and broken there is only one man that he wants to call.
The sexy bodyguard who promised he could help him.
Max and the Prince (#3)
Bodyguard Max Connery is used to being mistaken for being younger than he is. Being carded every time he buys a beer is usual. Even though he's just turned twenty-eight and has two tours in Afghanistan as a pilot under his belt.
When a threat is made on the life of a prince attending University in the UK, Max is the perfect choice to blend in with students and to keep Prince Lucien safe. Even if it means joining the swim team to be by his side.
But, when death visits the University, abruptly this job is a long way past keeping the prince happy and safe. Instead Max has to keep Lucien alive.
Undercover Lovers (#4)
Even if Ross and Kyle make it out of this alive, will the secrets in Kyle's heart stay safe?
Kyle gets caught up in a case that is entirely unrelated to Bodyguards Inc. Not only does he abruptly need time off, but he has to have absolute trust and complete support from Ross without being able to tell Ross a thing.
CIA Agent Stefan Mortimer needs Kyle's help with a case of a geneticist and a missing formula. Trouble is being led right to Kyle’s door, endangering the life of the team he has built and the man that he loves.
Going undercover, with Ross as his husband, is the worst kind of torture in so many ways, but it is the only answer. Kyle and Ross may well live through this but Kyle is convinced his heart won't survive.
Love's Design (#5)
Can Christmas be the time when Kirby finally stops running and allows himself to fall in love with the man who saves his life?
CIA Agent Stefan Mortimer is cooling his heels in the UK until he can go home. Taking on easy assignments with Bodyguards Inc. seems like a good solution to keep him sane. He's used to life throwing him curveballs, and it’s just another day at the office when he rescues Kirby Devlin and his niece and nephew. Now he has to keep Kirby and the kids alive and stay professional.
Kirby Devlin has one priority; keeping his small family safe. On the run, and facing danger at every turn, Kirby finally runs out of places to hide on a snowy December day at an Edinburgh train station. Stefan comes to the rescue, saves him and the children. Is it possible that Kirby finally has someone to trust?
Now, if only it would be as easy for Kirby to trust Stefan with his heart.
Kissing Alex (#6)
Martial arts expert Lewis is the kind of bodyguard who slips under most people’s radar. Quiet, reserved, but constantly on alert, he’ll do his job, keep his charges safe, then relax by reading Shakespeare in his spare time.
When he’s given a case involving a spoiled celebrity singer, Lewis isn’t all that impressed. The job is nothing but babysitting a pretty boy, and he’s used to diplomatic postings with depth and challenge. What could he possibly have in common with the man he’s being forced to look after?
Alex became the envy of many when he and his fellow bandmates won second place in a huge TV talent show. He has more money than he knows what to do with, no life goals, an ex-boyfriend selling a sex tape and now, someone who wants him dead, or at the very least maimed.
Can Lewis keep Alex safe, even when things usually in his control go to hell? Is running to a remote Scottish island them alive?
Find out more here
About the Author
RJ's goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.
RJ Scott is the bestselling author of over one hundred romance books and is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after.
She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn't with family either reading or writing.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn't like it one little bit.
She has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
www.rjscott.co.uk | rj@rjscott.co.uk
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RJ Scott, Face Value
