Killer Thoughts

Chapter Twelve

Ian glared at the thugs holding him by the loop on the ugly-ass collar around his neck. When they entered the living room again, he shook his head and pretended his nudity didn’t bother him. “Please, Carl. This collar is hideous.”

Fielder and Koffman sneered at him and left him with Kerr at Kerr’s command. The playthings he’d had with him in the living room were gone, leaving just Kerr, Ian, and a big mounted camera before the roaring fire. Man, cliché of clichés, a bearskin rug lay before the monstrously large fireplace.

“You are just breathtaking,” Kerr said with wonder.

Appeased that at least the psycho had good taste, Ian nodded. “Thank you. Considering your own fair features, I appreciate the compliment.”

Kerr grinned and stared at Ian’s cock as if the thing would disappear. To Ian’s relief, he didn’t get the least bit hard.

“You’re well-endowed too. How lovely for Owen.”

Ian shrugged. “You do realize I’ve been looking for a sugar daddy for years, don’t you?”

“Oh?” Kerr wouldn’t fall for this. He couldn’t. But Ian had nowhere else to go with his playacting. Now to convince Kerr he’d switch teams without a care. “Caleb, you dick. Kerr is right here!” he sent as hard as he could.

Nothing.

“Tell me, darling,” Kerr tittered. “Is this where you convince me that I could make you happy and that Owen means nothing to you? That together, you and I can rule the world?”

“Okay, even for me that’s overly dramatic.” Ian shrugged and let the pretense drop. He immediately read Kerr and knew lying would get him nowhere. At least, not blatant lying. “Hey, it was worth a shot.”

Kerr seemed more interested. “So you admit you and Owen are a couple?”

“Sure. He’s madly in love with me.” Ian nodded. “I mean, look at this face, honey. And my body.” He did a pirouette and stuck out his ass. Kerr latched onto him like a magnet. “Did I mention I’m an A-plus cocksucker? Yes, I’m a gay man and proud of it.”

Kerr laughed. “Funny too.”

“Yes. Tell my boss that.”

“Owen?”

“No. He’s not my boss. Are you crazy?” All signs point to yes. “Dalton, pay attention. I’m naked, Kerr has a huge erection, and the camera is rolling. Um, time to step in, maybe?” “You never sleep with your employer, because when the relationship goes bad, as it usually does, then you’re out of a job too.”

“Intelligent as well. Ian Ryder, what can’t you do?”

Kerr took off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. He had enough muscle to make the possibility of taking him down difficult. Shove matches were not Ian’s style. He outthought, not outmuscled, his opponents.

“I’m guessing I can’t bribe my way out of this.” He motioned from him to Kerr.

“No, sorry.”

“Well, what if I told you about your father’s and brother’s deaths? What’s that worth?”

Kerr stopped moving. “What about them?”

Ian crossed his arms over his chest, too aware of his dick hanging free in the wind. Man, he’d never take being dressed for granted again. “Did you know Owen had them killed?”

“Of course.”

Ian narrowed his eyes. “But did you know how?” “Caleb, if you’re going to make a move, now’s the time.” Something had gone seriously wrong. Shit, shit, shit.

Kerr advanced and touched Ian’s chest. His small hands felt cold, clammy. Ian couldn’t suppress a shiver. He’d worried about rape when younger and on the streets, but he’d never let himself get this close to danger. And this was worse, because Kerr wanted to hurt not just Ian, but Owen as well.

“How?” Kerr wrapped one hand around Ian’s cock, the other around his throat, over the already tight collar.

Ian wanted to throw up. Instead, he kept his cool. “Owen did it himself,” he whispered.

Kerr stared at his mouth.

“With a thought,” Ian continued, then sneered. “You fucking shithead. Why do you think I let your men capture me? For a big bad villain, you’re not that smart.”

Kerr squeezed his neck and cock with equal pressure. And fuck, it hurt.

“How’s this for smart, you little queen?”

Ian didn’t want it to go like this, but he couldn’t break Kerr’s hold. A chain attached to his collar would have made a nice weapon. Too bad he didn’t have one. The pain in his groin made it impossible to concentrate on anything else.

“Hold on, Ian. Just a minute.” Dalton. Finally.

Ian felt a pressure on his mind, then a loosening as a bright light flashed in Kerr’s eyes. Kerr blinked.

“Wh-what?”

His grip lessened, and Ian threw himself back and watched Kerr stagger.

“No. No. Get out of my head. Stop it.” He gripped his hair and yanked. Chunks of hair and skin ripped out. Blood trickled from his nose, his ears, and even more disgusting, his eyes. “Owen! Fuck you. Leave me alone,” he screeched at the top of his lungs. He looked around him with wild desperation, and then he focused on the fire. “No!”

Kerr ran into it all the same, ramming himself headfirst into the flames.

The sight and smell of burned flesh made Ian sick, and he retched as Kerr screamed and flailed, burning to death as he watched. Expecting Kerr’s thugs to storm in to see what was happening, Ian stumbled to his feet and raced away from the fireplace.

“How many more?” Dalton asked, his voice distant.

“Three that I saw.” Yet no one arrived to help Kerr. No one responded to the screaming. “No one’s come in.”

“No one will. Sit tight, and we’ll be there in half an hour. Listen for the jet.”

They made it in twenty minutes. But they looked like hell. Ian had managed to lose the collar, thank God. He’d dressed in his own clothes again and wiped his prints from anything he might have touched in the off chance of an investigation. He’d also stepped over the bodies of Koffman, Fielder, Neever, and another guy and figured Owen must have gotten to them too.

When the cavalry arrived through the door, he turned to thank them, seeking his lover, needing his support. Keegan, Jack, and Dalton were there, dirty and bruised. No sign of Owen.

“Where’s Owen?” He started to panic. No way would Owen not be here to meet him unless he’d been hurt. “What the hell happened to you guys?” He stared at Dalton’s bruised forehead, thinking the guy looked about to pass out.

“We’re all good,” Dalton croaked. “Owen’s in the plane. He can’t move right now.”

“What happened?” Ian asked and ran past them, not waiting on an answer.

“Nothing Heather can’t fix,” Jack yelled.

Ian raced back behind the house to the small runway and hurried into the jet to see Owen lying in the back, his hand like hamburger, bloody and burned. He was also covered in soot, his clothes ragged. Ian threw himself to his knees and stroked his lover’s hair.

“Owen, baby. It’s over. We won.”

Owen didn’t stir, and Ian freaked. He started crying, breaking down. He’d finally found a man he could love, someone who knew and saw the real him. Only to lose him to a madman?

“Damn it, Ian.” Jack physically pulled him away and thrust him at someone else.

Ian couldn’t think straight. The trauma of the past twelve hours made his brain hurt. The kidnapping, the fear, the worry Owen might die…

“…be ready, honey. He looks terrible. Caleb’s hurt too, and I want you to check Ian. He’s irrational, even for him,” he heard Jack saying.

“Shut up, Jack.”

Dalton, defending him? A heavy arm wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him into a bench seat right next to Caleb. The plane took off before he could belt himself in, but Dalton held him tight.

“Don’t worry, buddy. Owen’s a fighter. He’ll be just fine.” Keegan grinned, but he looked pale.

They all looked terrible. Ian cried harder.

“Shit,” Dalton swore. “Don’t tell Owen I did this, okay?”

“Not a word,” Keegan answered.

“Ian?” Dalton’s voice was soft, caring.

That gentleness had Ian turning his way. So he wasn’t prepared for the fist to his jaw that knocked him out cold.

“I don’t care. I want him fired. Killed. Whatever you do with that psychic assassin stuff, take him out.” Ian huffed and refused to look at Dalton without glaring.

Owen sighed. It had been two weeks since they’d been back. He’d already warned Ian to lower his voice about the word assassin several times, but Ian wasn’t having it. The party was in full swing, a Labor Day to end all holidays. Having the entire PowerUp! team at his house in Bend, along with his family, as Ian insisted he call his team—Bev, Dolly, the Knoxes, and Tim—felt better than good. It felt great.

“He hit me, Owen.”

Still not letting that one go. Owen glanced over Ian’s shoulder at Caleb, who stood smiling at something Keegan said. He saw Owen looking at him and shrugged. He’d explained the situation to Owen, and frankly Owen agreed. Putting Ian out of his misery had been best for all concerned at the time. But try telling that to Ian.

“Fine. Want me to hit him back for you?”

Ian nodded and sniffed. So dramatic. But that spark in his eyes told Owen a reward would be forthcoming tonight in the bedroom.

So, for his precious little thief, he walked over to Caleb, pulled back his good hand—the other was taking longer to heal than he’d thought it might, even with Heather’s healing power—and punched Caleb in the gut. Considering Caleb’s stomach might as well have been steel, the man barely flinched.

“Shit. Make it look convincing, damn it,” he said in a low voice.

“The G-man not helpin’?” Keegan raised a brow, then grinned at him. “Watch this.”

He narrowed his gaze on Caleb, and Owen felt the psychic lash of the telekinetic in action.

Caleb bent over, clutching his belly. “Ow, fuckhead,” he muttered under his breath.

Not sure if he’d directed that at Keegan or him, Owen smiled, clapped him on the back, and said in a loud voice, “Thanks for saving him, Caleb. Ian is everything to me.”

Overhearing that, Ian clapped so loudly that everyone turned to stare. “My hero!”

Instead of making fun of him, the room exploded into applause. “Three cheers to Owen for taking on Ian!” That sounded like Chloe, Ian’s best buddy, whom he said he missed when not working the night shift. Her twin fiancées raised their glasses in salute.

Rory, Owen’s cousin, smiled at him and gave him a big hug. “I’m so happy for you, Owen. Now you and Ian can be the baby’s godparents.”

She’d found out that she was pregnant, and James and Keegan, the proud papas, couldn’t have been happier. At least, until now.

Keegan grimaced. “Rory, uh, how about we talk about this?”

James grinned. “I like Ian. Besides, Owen is loaded. He can spoil the kid, and we can still have date nights.”

“Isn’t it great?” Ian asked, his eyes twinkling.

Then Heather and Jack joined them, their hands intertwined. Heather’s wedding band glowed with an inset gem Rory had handpicked for her. Jack, for once, seemed happy. A true newlywed.

“Oh my God. Is Jack grinning?” Ian gasped as he crossed the room to Owen’s side.

The others started teasing Jack, who took their ribbing with good humor.

“I have an announcement too,” Heather said, and everyone quieted.

“She’s good,” Ian whispered. “Sexy crowd control. Just like you.”

“I know.” Owen hugged him close and kissed him on the cheek. He saw Tim and Joe standing close, and Reuben and Dolly cuddled like sweethearts. Bev had outdone herself once again, and his friends and family finally made this seem like a real home.

“Jack and I are so happy that all of you came to the wedding. Your friendship means a lot to us,” Heather was saying.

“Even Keegan’s?” Nathan, that smart-ass, jeered from the crowd.

Everyone laughed, especially when Keegan whined, “Aw, come on. Jack and me is tight now, right, buddy?”

Jack flipped him the bird, and Keegan guffawed.

Heather continued after glaring at her new husband, who shrugged and mouthed, What?

“We wanted you to be the first to know that I’m pregnant. So if Jack is a little more growly than usual for the next nine months, you’ll know why.”

The men in the crowd groaned as one, but the women gathered around Heather, squealing with delight.

Jack crossed his monstrously huge arms over his chest. “We’re very happy. Heather says I have to put you on notice as future babysitters. Well, not you, Nathan. But the others, yeah.”

Nathan complained about not being included until his lover Avery told him Jack was joking. “Right, Jack? Jack?”

“Oh, right.”

Didn’t sound like it to Owen. He glanced around and saw several of the men hugging one another. Nathan and Avery, Aidan and Gavin—who had cornered Caleb and was giving him what for—James and Keegan with Rory between them. Even Chloe with her twin loves and Kitty and her psychic-resistant boyfriend. So much love, unconventional though it might be, existed in this powerful group of psychics, lovers, and friends.

“Feels like family, huh?” Ian said with a smile.

Owen kissed him and then whispered, “You’ve never been more beautiful, little thief. I can’t wait to take you tonight.”

Ian blushed, and his good friend Noah came up to clap him on the back. Noah saw the past everywhere he looked, his particular ability rooted in seeing history. Tonight he looked at peace, as if seeing a brighter future. “Happiness looks good on you, Frank.” Ian’s old alias, the one he’d used when they’d first met.

Ian grinned. “Frank retired. I’m just Ian now.”

Noah laughed. “Lara will be glad to hear it. And you will be there for the birth, right?”

Lara was due to give birth in two months, but she wanted to do it in Arizona, in the place where she and Noah had met, back when Ian was working as an artist in a haunted little town.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He shook Noah’s hand. “You leaving?”

“Yeah. Lara’s going to stick around, but I have some work to do for Jack. New cases, you know.” Noah turned to Owen. “Take good care of him. He’s a pretty great guy.”

Owen smiled. “Will do.”

Noah, once a reserved man, seemed less tense, and they watched him go.

Jack slapped Owen on the back. “You’re going to be an uncle. You good with that?”

Owen laughed. “You know it.” Then he winked at Ian and, in a louder voice, said, “If I can have everyone’s attention?”

They quieted and looked to him.

“It’s a pleasure being a part of your organization. Jack and you have been doing a stellar job. But I have to reorganize some business back East. While I’m gone, I’m putting a fine man in charge. He’s familiar with the workings of the gym and a real go-getter.”

Catching where Owen was taking this, Ian laughed out loud.

“Ian Ryder,” Owen introduced. “Your new boss.”

The room grew so quiet Owen feared he’d shocked the life out of them.

Then Tim started laughing. Joe joined him. The others chuckled until mirth filled the room.

“It’s not that funny,” Ian griped.

Jack, however, wasn’t laughing. “What is it about the term ‘silent partner’ you don’t understand?” he growled at Owen.

Heather latched on to his arm before Jack could take a swing at him.

“So, Jack, I have some thoughts about the future,” Ian began.

Owen subtly wandered away, seeking safety in the crowd.

An hour later, Jack found him again. “That was all a joke, right? Ian as my partner? Shoot me now.”

“He’s not that bad, Jack.”

They both turned to see Ian dancing with Rory to some hip-hop music someone had put on the stereo.

Jack sighed. “Between you and me, he’s not that bad. But you tell him that, and his head about explodes. Him and that ego.”

Owen smiled. That was the man Ian wanted them to see, not the man he really was. Oh, he had the ego, but he had a heart twice as big. “He’ll be fine. Besides, it’s just for a week while I’m gone. I’m not putting him in charge of the gym forever. I’m not that crazy. In love, yes. Insane, no.”

Jack let out a relieved breath. “Good to know. Okay, I have to go dance with my wife before she kills me with another death glare. I swear, she was so nice before we got married.” He grinned again, a record for the once-taciturn warrior now turned loving husband.

Owen watched him go. He saw Ian slap some money into Tim’s hands and resolved to ask him about that later. Tim and Joe left together, and by the looks on their faces, Owen figured another part of his family had coupled up.

He couldn’t have been more pleased. He noticed Ian motioning for him to join them. With a light step and a happy heart, he joined his best friend and partner, grooving with the man who’d stolen his heart.

Ian laughed. “Who knew you had moves to go with that pretty face?” He kissed him smack on the lips.

“Hell. I have to keep up with you, don’t I?”

Behind him, he heard Keegan complaining about the music, asking for country. Rory laughed. James argued. Others offered their two cents. Nathan demanded to be in charge of the stereo. Aiden threatened to break his mind in half if he tried. Laughter and teasing filled the crowd.

Owen looked around, more than content to see Jack holding Heather in his arms, both soon-to-be new parents. Just like his cousin and her partners. The special people working with, not for him, had finally found a place to belong. Not just in Bend, but with each other.

He turned back to see Ian smiling at him. And then Ian said the words that bound them forever. “I love you, Owen.”

“I love you, Ian.” His little thief had indeed stolen his heart. “Just promise me one thing.”

“Yeah?”

He leaned close. “That you never, ever change.”

“Anything for you, Owen. Anything.”