Cold Shadow (Cold Country #2)(6)

"Everyone around here is. But she's the only one facing a work stoppage because her employees prefer to move on rather than come to work." Nathan climbed to his feet, water slicked down his thighs, the blue trunks clinging to his body. When he turned, Drew couldn't help himself, he drew in a breath that sounded too much like a hiss.

"Nice tat. How long did it take to do something so large?" Drew said to cover his reaction to the large dragon with widespread wings raised in flight that covered the center of Nathan's back. The wings over his shoulder blades where raised scars should be. The wings moved as he did. The lower body of the dragon was wrapped possessively around an acoustic guitar. The tail of the dragon curving down his lower back to disappear beneath his shorts, only to reappear at his side where it curled back toward the guitar.

"Nice cover, Drew." A memory flashed in Nathan's eyes, anger replaced it. "It's better than having faggot and queer carved there for everyone to see, don't you think? I thought about an eagle, but I didn't want to be any more of a cliché than I already am." He angled his right arm over to show the salvaged Marine anchor tattoo he'd almost lost in the attack.

"I didn't mean anything …  Okay, it took me by surprise is all. That's some serious ink back there. I didn't think it was your style. Quinn's maybe."

"You can't get Quinn anywhere near a tattoo chair. He turns green." Nathan shrugged, the humor returning to his eyes. "Okay, just let's get this over with. It's like there's a five-hundred-pound gorilla sitting between us."

"Get what over with?" Drew wasn't pretending, he really didn't understand.

"The last time I saw you, I was still raw from the torture. I bit your head off. I bit everyone's head off. I was scared and angry and borderline suicidal. I'm not anymore. Just let's get it over with, okay, Walker? Ask what you want to ask, and stop staring at my face as if I might kill you if you dared look anywhere else. If you want to look, then look."



       
         
       
        

Drew sighed. The memory of Nathan cuffed and bleeding from his wounds kept him awake at night. That Nathan had died from those wounds haunted him. He wasn't a ghost; he was a walking, talking survivor of torture and rape. Hate had nearly killed him. "It haunts me, Nathan. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You saved my life. I'm forever grateful. So look at me. I won't take your head off if you stare too long. You saw the wounds when they were raw meat. I don't hide beneath long sleeves anymore." Nathan stood with his arms thrown wide, his body displayed in a way that made Drew's mouth go dry.

"You don't have to do that," Drew said, but he looked anyway. Several white raised lines dotted Nathan's chest and arms. A long scar ran from his navel to disappear beneath his swim trunks. There were less scars than he remembered. "The miracle of modern medicine?"

"Lasers, man. You might not be able to fight space battles with them, but they are great for fighting inner demons. The one on my groin is still the worst. I don't want a laser anywhere near that part, if you know what I mean."

"And the dragon?"

"Covers what the laser couldn't erase. You have to know what you're looking for to see the scars now."

"Bet Quinn loves that." He detected a hint of bitterness in his own voice.

"He loves the tongue piercing I got at the same time more." Nathan waggled the clear bead Drew hadn't noticed. Dear God, all the blood drained from his face at the sight of no-nonsense Nathan Truman sticking out his tongue.

"TMI, Nathan, way too much information there, friend." He crawled to his feet hoping to put some distance between them before he did something embarrassing.

"Come on, Drew, you know you want a piece of me. I'm hot as hell. What is it the mamas at Emma's school say when they think I can't hear? Something about a brick shithouse." His smile was mocking, and Drew remembered thinking just that.

"Only in your wildest dreams, pretty boy. Quinn would rip my balls off and feed 'em to me. You forget who really took down Harper, but I don't." Drew relaxed for the first time since he arrived. But there was something he did want to say, something he'd kept from Nathan all these years. "I can't stop thinking that I could have prevented … what happened, you know. I knew it was Brody Harper who killed Theo Anders. I knew at the funeral. I was still looking for proof when you went missing. I had the gun we found in his apartment. I had a warrant all ready to go. But he was missing too. And then, the funeral. I was focused on finding him. Looking in the wrong places. I should have trusted you with the information that morning. I should have known something wasn't right."