Touch in the night, p.2
Touch in the Night, page 2
She gave him a mocking look. “Out of credit again?”
“It’s sort of an emergency.”
Daisy’s face clouded. “An emergency?”
Jesse nodded to the girl and lowered his voice. “Found the little lass in an alley. Got separated from her dad at the switch-on, I think. My phone’s dead, and I need to call the police.”
“Oh Lord,” Daisy whispered, handing over her phone. “Sure thing, Jess. The poor little mite. You get on with that, and I’ll sort them out with some sugar.”
“Thanks, Daze,” Jesse said with a heartfelt smile and stepped to one side to make the call.
“Police, please,” he answered the emergency switchboard operator. “Hey,” he said when a woman answered after a number of beeps, “I’m at the cafe on Huntington Road, York. I’ve found a lost little girl, Dimity. She’s looking for her dad.”
“Did you say Dimity Hawthorn, sir?”
Jesse blinked. “Don’t know her surname, but I think she was at the Christmas light switch-on—”
“We have a call in for her, sir. Did you say she’s safe?”
“Yes, she’s safe. She’s a little shaken up, but she’s with my nephew now and seems better.”
“Your name, sir?”
Jesse watched Daisy start loading ice cream into the milkshake mixers, keeping one eye on the children. “Jesse Truelove.”
“And the cafe?”
“Ditzy Daisy’s.”
“We’re on our way. Please keep the child in the cafe.”
“Yeah, of course. So you’re gonna tell her dad?”
“Officers are on the way,” the woman repeated. “Please do not move from your current location.”
She hung up. Jesse stared at the phone for a moment with unease sneaking through his insides. He returned to the booth just as Daisy set two glasses overflowing with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and sprinkles in front of the wide-eyed children.
“There you go, me dears,” she said, tucking a glittery straw into each glass. “That should keep body and soul together until we get you home.”
“Amazing,” Oliver enthused. “This is the biggest one I’ve ever had.” He slurped noisily. Dimity watched him with a shy smile. “Go on. It’s caramel choco fudge, my favorite.”
The little girl sipped from her own glass. She smiled shyly through a cream mustache.
“Good, huh?” Jesse smiled, and the girl nodded. “And I’ve got some good news,” Jesse said. “Your dad’s on his way.”
She beamed. “He is? Really?”
“He’ll be here any minute,” he said. “So you better start work on that.”
She grinned wider, showing a gap near the front where a new adult tooth was just starting and went at the whipped cream with the long spoon Daisy had laid on the table.
“Thanks, Daze,” Jesse said, handing the phone back. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“Don’t worry about it. Poor little thing must have been terrified. And you can forget about that, too,” she added, as Jesse started rummaging in his pockets for money. “It’s on the house.”
Jesse smiled sheepishly. “A double lifesaver.”
“Not a problem, hon. Want a coffee before the coppers get here?”
“That’d be great.”
Jesse perched at the counter with his coffee, grateful for the bitter heat warming him through from the inside. Daisy flipped the sign to Closed, just as blue flashing lights filled the cafe and three police cars crowded the curb outside. Jesse straightened as a black car muscled between them and out climbed a tall, thin woman, immaculately turned out in a peach belted overcoat and black patent heels, her silver-streaked hair gathered into an artful arrangement at the nape of her neck. She screamed money, and her tall, rigid posture screamed control, but the look on her face was unmistakable. She was scared.
She strode into the cafe with three police officers and what looked like two members of private security at her heels, her eyes darting everywhere until they landed on Dimity. The worry in her face stiffened into hard lines of anger.
“Dimity Hawthorn, there you are. Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”
The girl cowered into her seat. Oliver glanced between the girl and the gathering in the doorway with wide eyes. Daisy watched with a wary expression from behind the counter.
Jesse frowned and stepped forward. “Uh, hang on…”
The woman’s gimlet-sharp gaze transferred from the girl to Jesse. He saw her take in his undercut, nose ring, tattoos and leather jacket and watched a familiar look of disdain fill her amber eyes. “And you are?”
“Jesse Truelove. I called the police.”
“Oh,” the woman said, looking down at his ripped jeans and worn-out trainers. “Well, we thank you for keeping Dimity safe, but she’s coming with us now. Dimity? Come along at once.”
“Just hang on one second,” Jesse said, stepping between them. “She said she wants her dad.”
“Mr. Truelove,” the woman said, her thin, dark brows drawing together in a sharp frown. “Please, step aside.”
“Where’s her dad, lady?”
Dimity was clutching her glass tight, a small frown of defiance creasing her forehead. “I want Daddy, Aunt Helena.”
Helena’s face flushed. She glared at Jesse. “I regret to say my niece has no father, Mr. Truelove. And she ran away from her minders today when they took her to the Minster for the carols.”
“I wanted to go to the lights,” Dimity said, her face screwing up. “Daddy was supposed to be there.”
“She seems pretty sure,” Jesse began, but the woman nodded to her security men, who hustled forward and manhandled Jesse out of the way. Dimity burst into tears, and a diminutive, somber-clothed woman came forward to take her hand and drag her from the booth.
“At least let the lass finish her milkshake,” Daisy put in.
“Dimity does not eat such things,” Helena said as the little girl was steered toward the exit. The police stepped aside to hold the door open.
“Hey, wait.” Jesse moved to follow them, but Helena stepped into his path.
“Again, we thank you for your assistance,” she said, producing a leather wallet from her oversized handbag and extracting out two fifty-pound notes. “We can take it from here.”
“I don’t want your money, lady—just to know the lass is okay.”
“She’s fine,” the woman insisted, holding out the notes. “She is back with her family now, where she belongs. Take it. I insist.”
Jesse took the money with numb fingers, and the woman swept out of the cafe without a backward glance. She exchanged some brief words with the police officers before they doffed their caps, climbed into the police cars and drove away. One of the security staff held open the back door to the big black car to allow Helena to climb inside. Jesse caught a glimpse of Dimity sitting in the back with her stony-faced minder before the door was closed and they drove off.
“Poor wee thing,” Daisy said, shaking her head. “Guess the rest of that milkshake’s yours, lad,” she added to Oliver.
“No, we’d better go,” Jesse said. “Olly? You done?”
Oliver nodded, his face strangely solemn as he watched the black car disappear from view. “Do you think she’s okay, Uncle Jesse?”
“Yeah,” Jesse lied. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s fine. Here,” he said to Daisy, laying the money on the counter. “You take this.”
“Oh no, honestly.” Daisy waved it away. “Jesse, that’s yours.”
“I don’t want it,” he said, shoving it toward her. “Put it toward your Christmas staff booze-up or something.”
Daisy smiled an uneasy smile and took the money. “Okay, I’ll do that. Thanks, Jesse.”
“See you around,” he said, taking Oliver’s hand and leading him outside. He heard Daisy lock the door behind him and stood looking in the direction the car had gone for a long moment until a yawn from his nephew reminded him how time was getting on. He steered them back toward the river then over the road bridge and back toward Heworth.
Chapter Two
Jesse stood in the overheated, over-decorated living room, glowering at the designer rug rather than meet his brother’s eyes.
“I just cannot believe you took him, Jess.”
“I take him every year.”
“Not this year. I specifically said I don’t want him anywhere near that thing.”
Jesse fought a sigh. “That’s why I took him, Ant. The poor sod thinks there’s a vampire living up the road.”
“There is.”
Jesse gave him a look. “Perhaps you should try getting your info from somewhere that’s not Facebook.”
“And the dark web’s so much better?”
“Ant…”
“I was there, Jess. I was there in London when that guy got slaughtered.”
“Yeah, I know. You never stop bloody going on about it.” Anton’s face darkened and Jesse pursed his lips. “Look… You and Sareena don’t go around teaching Olly it’s okay to judge people by their race or anything, do you? So, you shouldn’t—”
“The key word there is people, Jess. Those things are not people.”
“It was just one rogue haemophile, Ant.”
His brother’s handsome face was tight with anger. His green eyes, a shade darker than Jesse’s own, blazed. “It only takes one.”
“You’re being daft.”
“They are dangerous. And I don’t want my son anywhere near them. Understand?”
Jesse was grateful to be shown the door. He made for the gate, but someone calling his name made him turn.
Sareena crunched down the snowy drive toward him. Her breath hung around her in clouds, and her warm, kind face held an unfamiliar strain of worry.
“Try not to think too badly of your brother, Jess,” his sister-in-law said. “He’s just trying to protect Oliver, that’s all.”
“Olly was scared out of his wits until I showed him this guy’s just a guy,” Jesse said, lowering his voice. “His own dad telling him there’s monsters living up the road? Jesus Christ.”
Sareena winced. “You have to understand how much Blood Winter shook him. His conference was in the same building where that man got killed.”
“I know. And that would shake anyone up. But this is about Olly. And I don’t think he needs to be scared of some dude who’s just trying to live his life.”
“I know, and I agree with you,” Sareena said, laying a hand on his arm. “But it’s not your fight.”
Anger, instantly doused by sadness, flared in his chest, and he looked away.
“I’m working on it, I promise,” Sareena said, squeezing his arm. “Just…give Ant a break, okay? He’s been finding everything tough since your dad passed.”
Jesse closed his eyes, a dull ache in his gut. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”
Sareena’s smile was gentle, but her brown eyes were concerned. “You’re okay, right? You don’t need any money or—”
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t usually miss calling Ant back. Are you out of credit again?”
“My phone died is all.”
Her gaze was knowing. “A contract phone would be more reliable, you know. There are some good deals around now. And we can help out with the payments.”
“I don’t need charity, Sareena.” Jesse regretted the words the minute they left this mouth and lowered his gaze. “Sorry. I guess it’s getting to me, too.”
Sareena put her hand on his arm. “You don’t need to apologize. And it’s not charity, Jesse. It’s for Oliver. He wants you to keep in touch, too.”
“I should get some work any day now,” he said softly. “The first thing I’ll do is buy credit.”
“And pay your heating bill?”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Promise?”
Jesse looked into her deep caramel eyes, welling with love and concern. Like always, he didn’t know how to handle it.
“Get back inside. It’s freezing. Tell Olly I’ll see him around, yeah?”
Sareena nodded. “Of course. And come back soon. Your brother misses you, too.”
Jesse clenched his mouth of his response, nodded and turned away before Sareena could say anything more.
He soon found himself at the end of Chestnut Avenue, looking left along Heworth Road toward the university district and his poky flat then right toward the river and the city center. He searched through his pockets, found a crumpled fiver and headed toward town.
The Evil Eye was crowded and steamy, the air thick with the smell of warm humans and spilled spirits. He made his way to his normal stool at the bar, weaving between the usual mix of townies and tourists, laughing and sipping elaborate cocktails. He ordered a Dark and Stormy then sat, sipping his drink and searched the crowd.
It wasn’t long before a guy hanging on the edge of a group near the door caught his eye. He weighed Jesse up a moment with seeming interest building in his square-jawed face. He leaned in to shout something to his friends then made his way over, carefully steering his whiskey sour ahead of him in an exaggerated attempt not to spill.
“I’ve seen you here before, right?” the man said, overly loud.
“I dunno, have you?” Jesse said, trying to gauge if the guy really had big arms under his hot-pink shirt or if it was just a trick of the light.
“Pretty sure I have. And on Grindr, too, yeah?”
Jesse’s blood started to thrum. “Maybe.”
The man glanced back at his friends, who were all laughing raucously over something on a phone. He leaned in to talk into Jesse’s ear. His breath smelled like whiskey and mint gum.
“Yeah, I remember your listing. Said you like it a bit out-there, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said, meeting his eye. “Think you got it in you?”
Dark heat lit the man’s eyes. “Yeah. I reckon I do.”
“Okay then…?”
“Tyler,” the man said, grinning and showing straight, white teeth.
Jesse set his glass aside. “Okay then, Tyler. Your place or mine?”
“Yeah, I, uh…” He looked back at his friends. “Gimme five minutes?”
“Four.”
Tyler hurried back to his friends, downing his drink as he went. He conversed insistently with them, and they looked over, sniggering and clapping the big guy on his back.
Jesse checked his watch then jumped when someone slammed a shot glass on the bar at his elbow.
“He’s not gonna give you what you want.” A girl with hair the same electric-aqua as the liquor sat beside him and downed her own measure. She made a face and coughed. “And you know it.”
Jesse eyed her narrowly. “And you know what I want?” he said and drank.
“You want a man who can make you feel like a whore and a prince, all at once.” She grinned, her teeth very white against her dark lipstick. “You’re asking too much of human beings, Jess. No such man exists. Believe me, I’ve looked.”
“What do you want, Trixy?”
“I want,” she said, holding up her hand to order two more shots, “to discuss a business proposition.”
“This isn’t really a good time.”
“From the state of those,” Trixy said, nodding at the holes in Jesse’s jeans that were clearly not part of the design, “I would say it’s the exact right time.”
He sighed, lifting the second shot. “What’s the job?”
“Not here,” she said. “Come to mine?”
“Can’t you just email me?” he said, downing the shot with a grimace.
She shook her head, her bunches dancing. “I’m not putting any of this into emails. Come over and all will be made clear.”
“I’m kinda in the middle of something here,” Jesse said, sliding off his stool as Tyler caught his eye and nodded to the exit.
Trixy glanced at Tyler and snorted. “Fine. Go have your lackluster bar-pickup sex, then come over. I’ll be awake all night anyway.”
* * * *
They hadn’t even got to Jesse’s floor before Tyler was shoving him against the wall and thrusting his tongue into his mouth. There really was strength in his brawny arms, evident in the way he was grabbing roughly at Jesse’s arse, but the movements were clumsy with drink and desperation. Jesse concentrated on the feel of the strong, male body, his warm, musky scent and the very promising feel of a hard, long member crushed into his crotch.
“I want you to hold me down, yeah?” he said as he fumbled through his pockets for his keys. “Make me beg.”
“Fuck yeah,” Tyler panted, grinding against him. “I can do that, baby. I’ll make you beg.”
Jesse got the door open and they shambled across the sitting area, shedding coats and shoes as they went. Tyler’s breathing was heavy, his hands grasping, the kiss sloppy and demanding. Jesse grunted as he came up against the kitchen unit and yanked Tyler’s salmon-pink shirt over his head. He was toned as an athlete, his skin tanned and dusted with fair hair. His biceps bunched invitingly, making Jesse’s arousal spike. Jesse ran his hands up them. Tyler responded with a growl and fumbled at his belt.
As soon as he’d unfastened his fly, Tyler shoved Jesse’s hands down the front of his pants. A frisson of excitement went through Jesse when he measured the thickness and weight of the hard flesh in his hands. He began stroking and tilted his head away from the clumsy kiss to let Tyler mouth wetly at his neck.
“Get your pretty arse out, yeah?”
“Hold me down,” Jesse breathed, closing his eyes and clutching at Tyler’s hard biceps with one hand, pumping the thick length with the other.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Tyler panted, unbuttoning Jesse’s jeans. “Where’s your room?”
“No. Right here.”
“Fuck. Okay.”
Tyler spun Jesse, shoved him against the counter and yanked his jeans down. He grabbed Jesse’s wrist with his free hand and crushed himself against his arse, fumbling his thick cock toward his entrance.
“Jesus,” Jesse growled. “Put a rubber on, you reprobate.”
“Christ, really? Now?”
“Yes, now,” Jesse snapped, yanking open a drawer and slamming a condom on the counter.
Tyler swore and reached over, pinning Jesse with his strong legs but then he heard the packet ripping and Tyler’s grunts as he sheathed himself. “Lube?”
