Don't Read in the Closet volume one (21 page)

He searched the
dingy room for diapers and wipes, relieved to find them and a diaper bag on the
floor by the battered sofa.

On the way over
to the sofa, the sticky tapes on the side of the current diaper caved to
pressure and it fell off to land with a sickening plop on the floor. He left it
there. Bitch could clean it up when she got back. He set Kail down on the sofa,
and held him in place with one hand while he knelt next to the sofa. He patted
blindly with one hand, reaching for the wipes and a diaper.

A sudden sharp
prick of pain in his finger and he glanced down in disbelief. No freaking way.
The thin glint of metal caught his eye. Way. A needle. His gaze zoomed to the
grungy coffee table and took in the other paraphernalia there. Shit. Fuck it.
He whipped his t-shirt off over his head and wrapped it around his son. Fuck
this shit.

Grabbing the
diaper bag, he hoisted Kail into his arms and headed for the door. He clutched
his little man to him with one arm, heart aching at the baby’s desperate grip
on his neck, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. A few quick zoomed in
shots of the drug stuff, a few wide-angle shots of the whole room, and he was
on his way. If Kayla walked through it while he was on his way out, he’d mow
the bitch down.

Bad enough to
leave the little man alone in the apartment for God knows how long, but to be
using again?

He slammed the
door on his way out, not caring
who
saw him as he
cuddled his son in his arms and headed to his car. He fumbled his cell phone
out of his pocket and hit speed dial. “Dad? I’m coming over. Bringing Kail. We
need to talk. Call the lawyer.”

CHAPTER 2

Gurgles of
happy baby laughter followed by startled shrieks and the mellow hum of a more
mature voice lured Sully from sleep. He smiled. The kids were up. It only took
a moment longer for him to realize that it wasn’t his nieces and nephews making
the happy noises. He’d moved from his apartment over his sister’s garage a
month ago when he’d finally paid off his student loans. Living in the apartment
complex allowed him more privacy from his nosy though well-intentioned sister
and her husband, his partner on the force, but he missed the noises of family
life, the interactions with the kids.

It was the
baby’s giggles that attracted his attention first. The sound was pure joy. The
husky chuckles that followed the giggles caused him to tilt his hat brim back
and search out the source of the sound. It didn’t take long. The residents of
this complex seldom used the pool, and he usually had it to himself in the
early hours. After his swim this morning, Sully had dropped onto a lounger to
let the sun dry him off. He must have fallen asleep, and this was his reward for
not working today. Absently, he raised his sunglasses to his lips and nibbled
the earpiece of the expensive Oakley’s.

At the shallow
end of the pool a young man sat on the bottom step, his lower half submerged in
the sparkling water. On his lap, he held a baby, less than a year old from the
looks of it. The baby had creamy white skin and hair a rather strange shade of
dark brown, like a bad dye job. The giggling baby slapped the water with a
little starfish hand,
then
shrieked when water
droplets splashed on him.

While the sweet
baby with his gurgling laughter was an invitation to joy, the father, a pale
skinned, wiry man was an invitation to sin. His dark hair badly needed cutting,
and he appeared not to have shaved for days. Good lord, those tattoos! Sully
wanted to lick the moist drops of pool water from every inch of inked skin as
it swirled across compact muscles in direct contrast to the creamy flesh.

He knew who
they were. Kind of. Last week they’d arrived as dusk was falling, accompanied
by an older man driving a U-Haul truck. The younger man had carried the baby in
one of those kangaroo things while they unloaded a few meager possessions from
the truck. According to the white card that had suddenly appeared on the
mailboxes, this was D. Strake, his new downstairs neighbor.

“Hey,” he
called; glad his voice came out reasonably normal.

The younger man
stiffened, his arms tightening around the baby, who squawked a protest. A rapid
and in no way subtle scan of the area seemed to reassure Strake, and he
loosened his hold on the baby, meeting Sully’s eyes. Sully drew in a sharp
breath. Beautiful eyes, tormented eyes. The dark depths were full of fear,
wary.

“It’s okay. I’m
Sully Moore. Sullivan, actually, but only my Grannie Moore calls me that. I’m
your upstairs neighbor.” He jerked his chin in the general direction of his
apartment, unable to take his eyes from the man and child in the pool.

“Devyn Strake.
This is my son Kail.” The tattooed man rose slowly from the water, keeping a
tight grip on the baby. Sully exhaled slowly as he took in the body revealed to
his intent gaze. He followed drops of water winding over taut muscles and lean
expanses of flesh. Devyn wore beige and white hibiscus print board shorts, but
the damp fabric clung to his semi erect cock lovingly. Devyn seemed not to
realize where Sully’s gaze had landed, thankfully, and he dragged his gaze back
to Devyn’s face.

His cheeks had
flushed beneath the scruffy beard, so maybe he had noticed after all. The baby
tugged and pulled at his father’s earlobe, and Sully noted the gauge there.
Interesting. He quickly catalogued the other piercings, lower lip, eyebrow,
nipple
. Maybe more. He’d found a bad boy here on his own
doorstep.

Devyn was
murmuring to the baby, backing across the burning cement to the pool gate.
There seemed to be something almost furtive in his movements. Curious. “Watch
that gate,” Sully warned. “The spring doesn’t catch all the time.”

Devyn turned
his back to Sully to struggle with the faulty catch. Sully paused to admire the
view before he rose and slid his sunglasses back on. He padded carefully across
the burning cement and reached down over the younger man’s shoulder. Standing
carelessly close, he let his erection brush against the damp fabric of Devyn’s
board shorts. The cool dampness felt good on his overheated flesh. Not subtle,
but Devyn didn’t react anyway.

A deft twist
and he released the gate, pushing it open and urging the other two residents
ahead of him. He was crowding Devyn, he knew it. If he were any closer, he’d
feel the man’s pulse beating. But the other man intrigued him and aroused him
in ways no streetwise kid ever had before. Then again, he considered, as Devyn
scurried in front of him, he didn’t actually seem like a street kid when you
looked beyond the tats and piercings. His grammar was excellent and unaccented,
his posture easy and confident. No, definitely not a street kid. But someone
who was hiding something, yeah. That he could see.

CHAPTER 3

Devyn held Kail
close, whispering soothing words as he paced back and forth in front of the
sliding glass door of his patio. He’d opened it to catch as much of the evening
breeze as he could since the air conditioning unit had given out this
afternoon. He’d have to close it though if Kail didn’t settle into sleep soon.

Kail’s cheeks
were flushed, and his eyes glittered with fever. He’d been miserable for hours,
screaming and crying in turns. Devyn’s own head pounded furiously and the
muscles of his back and arms ached from their cramped position around Kail’s
slight weight. He didn’t know what to do,
had
tried
everything he could think of, but his little man wouldn’t be soothed into
sleep, and he wouldn’t be put down.

Devyn paced the
short distance from the open door to the stereo and restarted the Beatles CD.
When Kail had been younger and colicky this CD had soothed him. Devyn had spent
exhausting hours walking the boy to sleep to the tune of Sergeant Pepper. The
music helped tonight as well, but not enough. He scooped up his cell phone from
the narrow counter top dividing the main room and the tiny kitchen. Hit his
dad’s speed dial. Still no answer. He was in the middle of leaving another
frantic message begging his dad to call back when there was a knock at the
door.

He froze. The
knocking escalated to pounding. His head pounded in rhythm…. Finally, he gave
in and inched closer to the door. Peered through the viewer. Swallowed hard. It
was the guy from the pool. Tall, tan, sexy brown eyes and full pouting lips. It
had been all he could do not to grind back against the full arousal the man had
brushed against him as he bent to undo the stuck pool gate.

Hand shaking,
he unlocked the door but left the chain on. “Yes?”

The man ran a
hand through his hair. “Hey. I don’t want to be the Gladys Kravitz of the
neighborhood, but… do you need some help with the baby?’

Flushing, Devyn
shook his head rapidly, ignoring the pain the movement caused. He tried to push
the door closed, but the man blocked it with a capable hand. “We’re fine. He’s
just not feeling well.”

“I’m upstairs
from you, and he’s been crying for hours. It’s keeping me awake. Let me help.”
The man nibbled the tip of one finger as he spoke in a calm controlled voice.

“I’m sorry.
I’ll close the doors and windows. It’s just the air is out, and it gets hot in
here.” How embarrassing.

“No. Don’t do
that. It’s hot as Hades. The air conditioning unit is out for the whole
building. I talked to the manager. I wouldn’t have heard you but I have my
windows open too. The heat will make things worse.” Kail’s head turned and he
hiccupped sadly, staring at the owner of the soothing voice. Relief poured
through Devyn at the blessed quiet. Impulsively he unlatched the chain and
pulled the door open, waving Sully in. They were neighbors after all, and Kail
seemed to like him.

Sullivan pulled
his finger from his mouth, and Devyn jerked his gaze from the damp tip to meet
the man’s eyes again. “Come on in. You have kids?”

“Nieces and
nephews.” He shook his head, bending slightly to peer into Kail’s eyes. “Hey
there baby. Not feeling too good, are you?”

“He’s a little
feverish, and ibuprofen isn’t helping. I’ve been walking him, and bathing him,
and he won’t eat.” He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the frustration
swelled again. The scent of chlorine and sun and man filled his nostrils.

“And you’re not
too well yourself, are you?” Sympathy drenched the sexy voice, and tears welled
in Devyn’s eyes. He wouldn’t cry. Just because he was tired, frustrated and
stressed over the lack of response from his lawyer, he couldn’t let a little
sympathy send him over the edge.

“I have a
migraine.” He admitted, rubbing at his left temple futilely.

“Want to come
to me, baby?” Devyn blinked. The migraine, he was so blaming the migraine for
the way his heart jumped at that statement. Kail, it seemed, wanted to go to
Sully. Sully took him deftly, and Devyn stretched his arms over his head with a
sigh of relief. “Go on, man.” Sully waved him away. “Go take a shower, take
some meds for the headache. I’ll wait right here with the little guy, and we’ll
get to know each other.

Shower. Magic
fucking word. He craved that shower. “I’ll be right back.” A last glance at the
whimpering Kail and he headed quickly for the shower. He turned the water on to
heat while he rummaged in the medicine cabinet for the prescription pills his
doctor had ordered. The little buggers hid at the back of the motley contents.
Swishing mouthwash and spitting in the sink, he swallowed two tablets quickly
then brushed his teeth and hopped in the shower. The hot spray soothed his
tired muscles and he soaped himself quickly before rinsing and leaping out.

He paused near
the open bathroom door, Kail was crying again, and Sully murmured
unintelligibly to him. Hastily he pulled on a pair of board shorts, sans
boxers. More relaxed, a pang of guilt sent him scurrying into the outer room.
He’d left his son with a stranger. Granted, they’d met, twice, sort of. But
still.

CHAPTER 4

Devyn must have
the patience of a saint. Sully had held the crying baby for less than twenty
minutes, and already he was anxious and ready to drive to the emergency room or
call in reinforcements. A slight noise alerted him to Devyn’s’ arrival, and he
glanced over, drawing in a sharp breath as he took in the vision that crossed
the room toward him. Devyn’s pale inked skin glittered with water droplets from
the hair he hadn’t dried, his bare chest boasted a tempting smattering of hairs
that arrowed down to disappear beneath the waistband of his red board shorts.

A pulse beat
visibly in the tender hollow of his throat and an edge of fear glinted in his
eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left him with you.” He sounded so young,
so
troubled as he reached to take Kail from Sully. Sully’s
grip tightened briefly then relaxed. He reluctantly allowed the worried young
father to take the baby.