Wearily, Walker slid his legs off Mark’s shoulders. Mark lost his balance and collapsed in a sweaty heap on top of Walker. They stayed like that for long moments until Walker really needed to breathe. Mark was smaller but he was a solid man.
He watched Mark slide of the bed and stagger into the bathroom. He could have sworn he saw the faintest tremble of Mark’s thighs, but he was kind enough not to mention it when Mark returned with a damp wash cloth.
Mark wiped around Walker’s come-spattered belly, thighs, and genitals, then threw the cloth in the direction of the bathroom before collapsing lazily face-down onto the bed. “You’re gonna wear me out.”
Walker rolled to his side and patted Mark’s fuzzy ass. “Never mind, old man.”
“Fuck you.”
“You just did that.”
Mark turned his head to look at him. “You’re very cocky all of a sudden.”
Walker couldn’t hide his smile. “That’s all down to you.”
The smile Mark gave him made his insides flutter.
“I think you had something to do with it as well. This was a two-way process, baby.”
Walker leaned over to kiss Mark. “Thank you for showing me what it could be like.”
Mark propped himself up on his elbow and faced Walker. He trailed a finger down Walker’s torso, flicking the nipple, and further down until he reached Walker’s softened dick. “I want you to come back. I know you’re not going to have much time between assignments, but if you have a few days here and there, will you come back and see me?”
“God yes,” Walker said with relief. “I didn’t want to pressure you, but I do want to see you again. Are you sure you’re okay with my erratic work pattern?”
“It’s not like I don’t know what to expect,” Mark said. “No expectations, no strings attached. You come when you can. And if it causes you any problems with your team, let me know.”
Walker grimaced as he thought of Doyle’s comment. “I think if it is going to cause me problems I’ll find out on Monday. I don’t think Doyle is the type to keep his mouth shut if it bothers him.”
Mark furrowed his brow. “You tell me if there’s a problem.”
Walker kissed him once again. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Always.” Mark said with a growl that set Walker’s heart racing. “Who are you, Josiah Walker?”
Walker pulled a face. “You heard.”
“I like your name.”
“I hate it,” Walker confessed.
“Why?”
“It’s a long story.”
Mark raised an eyebrow and Walker sighed.
“It involves a cow, the star quarterback, and my mom.”
“You really think I’m not going to want to know the whole story now?”
Walker whimpered and Mark smiled broadly.
Chapter 7
Waking up on Sunday was no more peaceful than the Saturday, but least there were no weapons pointing at him this time. However, persons unknown thumped on the door and kept thumping.
“What the hell’s wrong this time?” Mark barked as he flung back the sheets.
Walker cracked open one eye, saw there were no strange men in the room, and decided to let Mark handle the unwelcome caller. Mark yelled out for them to keep their panties on and stomped down the stairs, wrapping his robe around him. Walker closed his eyes again. He’d almost dozed off when he heard booted footsteps pounding up the stairs. That didn’t sound good. Were the cops back to arrest him? He sat up in bed and Raines burst through the door, followed by Mark. Walker’s heart started pounding at Si’s grim expression.
“Si, what the fuck?” Mark yelled, tugging on his arm.
Raines didn’t budge. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Mark rolled his eyes. “We were busy.”
Walker bristled at Si’s grunt.
“You need to get out of here,” Si barked. “Move!”
“What?” But Walker was already climbing out of bed at the order.
“For fuck’s sake, Si,” Mark muttered. “This is nothing to do with you.”
Si turned on Mark and Walker readied to launch himself across the room and get between them.
“Rhianna Bridgeman is dead,” Si said.
Mark went still, the color draining from his face. “When?”
“Yesterday.”
“How did she die?”
Si’s face looked grim. “It was an execution by a sniper. It’s clear from the CCTV she was deliberately targeted. She was in a crowd of people.”
“Does Lukas know?”
“Yeah, unlike you Lukas answers his phone. He’s under lockdown at the Hague. Mitch has forbidden him to fly back here.”
Si and Mark grinned at each other, so Walker surmised that had been Lukas’s first reaction.
“Do we know who’s behind it?” Mark asked.
Walker wanted to go over and put his arms around Mark, but he didn’t know if it would be welcome at the moment, so he stayed where he was.
“Not yet. Mitch only found out last night. He’s been calling you constantly.”
“I turned my phone off because people kept ringing about appointments. I sent it to the answering service.”
“You said it was odd to get so many calls at the weekend,” Walker added.
Si narrowed his eyes, then he turned back to Mark. “You didn’t know the people who were calling you?”
“One of them was Moose. The other two I didn’t know, but it’s not unusual for me to get new clients. Sometimes people are just trying to find out availability.”
“Did they book an appointment?” Si demanded.
Mark shook his head. “No, and neither did the call after that. Got fed up so I turned my phone off and put the call through to the answering service.”
Si turned on Walker. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Walker flushed. “It’s downstairs and on vibrate. I didn’t hear it.”
“You’re always supposed to have your phone with you at all times.”
Walker did know that. He’d fucked up. “Who is Rhianna Bridgeman, and why do you both look so frightened?”
“I worked with Rhianna Bridgeman in one of my last assignments,” Mark said. “It was a one-off very specialized team and involved taking out a group of people.”
“You mean you assassinated them,” Walker said flatly.
“Yes.”
It was a function of the agency to get their hands dirty. Walker wasn’t surprised by Mark’s simple answer.
“Now someone wants revenge?”
“It’s been over a decade. Why wait this long to take their revenge?” Si said.
“I’ve no idea,” Mark said. “What does Mitch want us to do?”
“You’re going into a safe house.”
“Hell no,” Mark exploded. “I’m not leaving my home and business just for some nebulous threat. How long would I have to stay away?”
Walker understood the bluster, he really did. No one wanted to be yanked out of their home and locked down for an indeterminate period of time. But Mark had to think straight.