Chapter Four.

Gabe moaned as the dream continued.

He was lying in a field of lilies, naked, writhing under Legend as he begged the man to touch him, to pleasure his body in ways he never thought imaginable. His cock was hard and Gabe gripped himself, teasing Legend, trying to coax the man into sucking him off.

Legend refused. He was naked as well, the head of his erection sliding over Gabe's thigh as he spread Gabe's legs wide.

Gabe panted as his hand gripped his cock tighter, moaning at what Legend wanted from him.

"Put your hands over your head," Legend said. "Submit to me."

"No," Gabe replied.

Legend's amber eyes seemed to glow with intensity as he grabbed Gabe's hands and manacled them above his head. "You will do as I command."

Gabe squirmed, excitement filling him at the deep, husky tone. "Please, Legend," he begged. "Do something. I can't take it."

"Gabe."

Gabe's eyes fluttered open to see Legend standing over him, gazing down at him with a smoldering expression. His broad chest heaved as he gnashed his teeth. The man's muscles tensed, as if he wanted to pounce on Gabe.

"You were talking in your sleep." Legend's voice was rough, his brows drawn tight.

The sleep began to fade and Gabe gazed down at his body. His hand was wrapped tight around his hard cock and the sheet was nowhere to be seen. He was lying in his bed, exposed, and Legend had just told him that he'd talked in his sleep.

Mortification filled him, but he couldn't seem to move. He was frozen to the spot as Legend stood over him, his hands opening and closing. His expression said the man wanted to eat Gabe alive.

As Gabe gazed up at Legend, the man seemed to be struggling for some kind of control. Behind those blazing eyes, there was so much going on. The moon shone on Legend's features, highlighting the tight lines of his face.

He wanted to feel Legend touching him. The mere thought made his body vibrate with need so strong Gabe suspected he might allow Legend to do anything the man wanted.

Legend's gaze descended and rooted to Gabe's hand. Gabe began to slightly shake as he wondered why Legend hadn't moved. He continued to stare at Legend's bare chest, packed with rigid muscles.

Gabe broke the silence first. "Please."

He felt his skin heat at the way he had just begged. He was ready to cover his shame when Legend crawled into the bed next to him.

"I heard you begging me, saying my name." Legend brushed his lips over Gabe's. "Were you dreaming of me?"

Gabe flushed, averting his gaze-which fell on Legend's flat stomach, on the dark line of hair trailing from his navel. Gabe had the mad urge to nuzzle it.

"Why can't I stop thinking about what I want to do to you?" Legend peeled Gabe's fingers from his cock-which he'd been strangling-then pressed Gabe's fingertips against his face.

Gabe's fingers traced Legend's jawline, scraped over the thin beard and over the thicker hair under the man's lower lip. Legend's skin was smooth. Gabe gasped when Legend moved closer, pressing his groin into Gabe's hip, allowing him to feel Legend's sizeable erection.

"II don't know," Gabe answered.

Legend buried his face into Gabe's neck, sniffing him, inhaling his scent. "Tell me to leave your bed. Tell me you don't want any part of me touching you."

That would be a damn lie. Gabe knew he should say the words Legend had just challenged him to utter. It would be the right and sane thing to do. He shouldn't be attracted to this man. Legend was the opposite of what Gabe usually went for. He'd never been attracted to rugged men. Gabe tended to be drawn to men and women who were smaller than him, which was a feat considering he wasn't that big himself.

He also didn't bottom, for anyone. Yet his body strained and his ass ached to be filled by this man. It was as if Legend's closeness was a drug, making Gabe's thoughts hazy.

He moaned when Legend's nails scraped along his side. Gabe was on the verge of an orgasm and he was ready to beg the man to ease the growing storm inside of him.

"What if I don't want you to go?" Gabe asked.

Legend's hand rested on Gabe's hip. "Then we are both doomed." His tone was foreboding, yet Gabe's cock was pulsing in anticipation. "Is this what you want?"

"I'm not sure," Gabe answered honestly as he licked his lips, struggling to make sense of it all. "But I can't stop thinking about you either. You're sexy, I'll admit that, and you have a killer body that my fingers tingle to touch."

Legend pulled back, his firm lips parted. He shook his head, as if to dislodge whatever idea had just taken hold. "Do you know what I want to do to you?"

In a whisper, Gabe said, "Tell me."

Why in the hell was he so turned on? The sight of Legend lying next to him was so damn erotic that Gabe thought he was still dreaming. The man excited him and that scared Gabe, but he couldn't tell the man to go.

Legend pressed his lips to Gabe's ear. "I want to do filthy and wicked things to your body, sweetness."

Gabe shuddered. Good fucking god, this man was going to make Gabe orgasm just from that confession alone. He began to wonder what it would be like to let Legend do those filthy and wicked things. Gabe ran his hand over Legend's chest and the man inhaled sharply as his muscles rippled under Gabe's touch.

Gabe felt light-headed, taken over by delirium. He was wild for whatever Legend had in mind. When Legend slanted his head and sealed his lips over Gabe's, Gabe became dizzy, boneless against Legend's hardened body. Their tongues tangled and dueled until Gabe's lungs hurt for oxygen.

Legend's cock pressed harder into Gabe's hip and Gabe felt wetness. The man was leaking pre-cum, obviously just as excited as Gabe. Legend broke the kiss, his lips swollen.

"Turn onto your stomach," Legend commanded as he pulled back.

Gabe obeyed, though he couldn't stop himself from shaking. Did he really want to do this? Was he really willing to relinquish control to Legend? His ass was exposed to Legend's gaze and Gabe had an urge to grab the sheet and cover himself.

"Perfect," Legend growled before he moved to settle between Gabe's legs. His hands kneaded Gabe's ass as tension coiled in Gabe's stomach. Legend leaned forward, kissing the nape of Gabe's neck as he worked his own underwear off.

Gabe's mind screamed for him to stop this, to tell Legend to back off, as Legend's cock brushed the inside of Gabe's thigh, leaving a moist trail along his inner leg. He wasn't ready for this. Gabe had never been fucked and the thought terrified him.

What had he gotten himself into? Why had he begged Legend to do something?

Legend's hands massaged Gabe's tight shoulder muscles as Gabe tried to breathe. The man's hands were skilled, working the hard strain until Gabe became boneless. Legend's hands moved further down, kneading Gabe's lower back.

He stiffened when Legend parted his cheeks.

Legend lowered himself until his face was inches away from Gabe's most intimate spot. Before he could say a word, Legend's tongue delved into his ass, forcing him open. Gabe cried out, fisting the fitted sheet as Legend tongue-fucked him.

Pleasure boggled Gabe's brain and his protest was shut down. Legend massaged his ass as he licked and laved at Gabe's entrance. He had never known anything could feel so damn good. Gabe moaned, feeling Legend's fingers gliding closer to his hole.

"Christ," Legend growled as he licked Gabe harder. A finger nudged at Gabe's hole before sliding in to the first knuckle. "So tight."

"LLegend."

"You can take this from me." Legend licked around the muscle as his finger went deeper, making Gabe's body vibrate. He was going to come. Gabe was going to climax from having Legend's finger buried in his ass and the man's tongue laving at his backside.

Legend's free hand clamped down on Gabe's waist, pinning him in place as he brought Gabe closer and closer to orgasm. The tension was building as Gabe ground his teeth.

"Come for me, sweetness." Legend thrust his finger sideways, touching something deep inside Gabe. Gabe stiffened and then shouted, writhing in place as his cock pulsed and his seed spurted between him and the bed.

His body bowed, his teeth gnashed, and Gabe saw stars as Legend continued to finger-fuck him. Before he could come back down, Legend reared over him, pumping his cock until he shouted, his seed hitting Gabe's ass in pearly-white trails.

Gabe lay there panting, his entire body tingling.

Legend cursed and pushed from the bed. He walked into the bathroom and slammed the door. Gabe lay there, blinking. What in the hell had just happened?

After spending the entire day driving away from Louisiana, Legend felt his eyes burning from exhaustion. He'd barely gotten any sleep the night before and now he was starting to see double. If he had to push himself, he could stay awake. But he wasn't on the frontlines where it was imperative that he didn't fall asleep. He was babysitting, so he decided to get a room.

They were in the middle of nowhere, hardly another soul on the road. An occasional lit-up truck passed them by, but other than that, darkness surrounded them. Not even the moon helped, hidden as it was behind a bank of clouds.

Legend yawned.

Gabe was passed out beside him, his seat reclined, drooling slightly. Legend was still angry as hell at himself for giving in last night. Hadn't he lectured himself that Gabe Summerville was off-limits? Hadn't he vowed to keep his distance from the man and to keep this assignment professional? Yet he hadn't been able to stop himself from climbing into that bed and pleasuring the man.

Even now, Legend was growing hard just thinking about what he had done and what he still wanted to do.

He'd never lost control like that before and he didn't plan on losing it again, though Gabe tempted him in ways Legend couldn't understand.

He spotted a motel sign. Legend pulled off the highway, turning onto a barely noticeable dirt road. He followed the unpaved road for two miles through saw grass and trees, alongside a small canal, until he spotted the neon sign ahead.

He pulled close to the office before turning the car off. A light was on, which was a good sign because he would have hated to sleep in the car.

He debated whether to wake Gabe and make the man come in with him, but the guy was out like a light. He glanced at the sleeping man before getting out of the car and walking into the office. No one was behind the desk, but there was a sign to ring the bell.

Legend rang it. Seconds later, an elderly gentleman walked out, sleep in his eyes as he smiled. "What can I help you with?"

"I need a room for the night."

"You're in luck. I have one left." The man gave Legend a card to fill out. They guy didn't even have a computer. It seemed he still filed things the old-fashioned way, in a cabinet. When the elderly gentleman didn't ask for any form of ID, Legend filled in a fake name and then paid cash. If anyone was after Gabe, then his stay here would lead to a dead end.

The man gave him a key attached to a large piece of faded plastic, the number seven written on it in black marker. "Have a good night. Checkout is at eleven."

Legend thanked the man and then headed back to his car. Some small animal chittered in a tree. The wind rattled the grass. And then there was silence so deep it amplified Legend's thoughts.

He strode to the car and then growled when he saw the passenger side was empty. Legend was getting tired of this. If Maxwell wasn't such a dear friend of Legend's father, he'd wash his hands of Gabe.

They were in the middle of nowhere and Legend knew he would have no problem tracking Gabe down. He slid into his car, drove down the lot, and parked the car in front of room seven.

He took their things inside and then set a few things up before leaving the key on the dresser, making sure the door was unlocked. He stripped his clothing off and tied a pair of lounge pants to his leg, then headed toward the back of the rustic building.

Legend shifted, scenting out Gabe, inhaling the aromatic scent of lilies. As he ran, the scent became stronger until he spotted Gabe running down the barely discernible road.

He shifted back into his human form, slid the pants on, and then finished the chase, catching Gabe in no time.

"Get away from me!" Gabe gave a cry as Legend ran the man down.

Legend reached out and grabbed Gabe, flipping the would-be escapee over his shoulder. When Gabe struggled, he landed a hard smack on Gabe's backside. "I warned you."

Over the rich soil, fragrant air, and warm night, the unmistakable scent of arousal arose. It didn't help Legend's vow to leave Gabe alone when the man was turned on by Legend's attempt at discipline. In fact, it made resisting all the harder, fueling his dark appetite as Gabe continued to squirm.

"You're being unreasonable!" Gabe shouted as he battered Legend's back with his fists.

Legend kept to the dirt road. There was water on both sides of them, barely perceivable at night. The saw grass covered most it, fooling anyone who wasn't familiar with the land. Legend had been on enough assignments to recognize the stuff. He'd also grown up in the bayou where saw grass had grown rampant. He used to spend his afternoons as a young boy on the gator boats, his uncle guiding them through some of the deadliest waters.

He was panting by the time they made it back to their room. Legend deposited Gabe on the bed, grabbed the man's wrists, and cuffed him to the headboard.

Stopping to ready the room before he'd taken off after Gabe had saved him time. What he hadn't expected was to grow hard as hell at the sight of Gabe immobilized, bound to the bed, squirming to get free. A fire began to burn deep inside Legend, his heart hammering in his chest as Gabe yanked at the cuffs.

"Fucking cuffs?" Gabe yelled at him. "I'll have your head for this."

Legend ignored the threat as he shed his pants and walked to the bathroom to take a cold shower and try to forget about his captive in the other room.

He isn't your captive. He's your assignment. Stop fantasizing about what you want to do to him.

Legend stayed in the shower for ten long minutes, but he was still half-hard when he got out. The slow burn that had started in the bedroom had grown to an inferno. Legend debated whether to sleep in the tub instead of going out there to his worst temptation.

"Get these damn things off of me!"

He was going to have to gag Gabe if the man didn't quiet down. Legend groaned, hanging his head as he told himself to stop thinking that way.

After wrapping a towel around his waist, Legend strode back into the bedroom, turning the air-conditioner on. It kicked to life as Legend stood by the window. He kept his back to Gabe, struggling, fighting against his innermost desires.

And then his shoulders sagged because Legend knew that his desire for Gabe was inescapable. The attraction was too strong and he couldn't keep fighting it.

"He didn't make bail," T-Rex said over the phone. Max glanced out over the city as a light rain fell. San Francisco was beautiful at night, and he was getting the full view from his tenth floor penthouse suite. It hadn't been Max's choice to lay low here, it had been Gator's. The team leader had stated that there was only one way onto the floor and it was being heavily guarded.

"But his foot soldiers are hard at work trying to flush me out. I've got a team working the streets. Ortega's underboss is a guy named Savant. According to my intel work, Savant is even more cunning and ruthless than Ortega. My team is watching him now."

"Gator," T-Rex grunted.

Max smiled. "Not too fond of the man?"

Not only did Max go way back with Legend's father, but he'd met T-Rex and his men some years ago during one of their covert operations. T-Rex was tall, lean, and one hell of a special ops. It was too bad they retired and started up their own business. People like Tanner Rexford and his men were rare finds. They had been damn good at what they did.

"I respect the man," T-Rex admitted, "but they operate on a different platform. I don't trust anyone who is referred to as a ghost."