Beyond the Shadows--m/m, adult excerpt

Beyond the Shadows by Deirdre O'Dare www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/bio_ODare.html

Blurb: First year Border Patrol officers Rhys Davis and Liam Malone have been friends since second grade. When their new assignment puts them on the front lines in tracking down a vicious and inhuman killer along the southern border, they must call on every resource at their disposal.

The most potent of these turns out to be memories from a life they shared two thousand years ago in the British Isles, one in which they were partners in every way, forming an eternal bond that allowed them to defeat this same enemy in that life. Will crossing the line from friends to lovers in this life destroy their friendship or build on it? 

Excerpt: At this point, as Rhys returns from a week away to training, they finally confront the reality of the powerful attraction between them.

As he drove into the carport to stop beside Liam's old Jeep, he noticed lights were still on. In fact, it looked like every light in the house was ablaze. Liam flung open the kitchen door and held it wide while Rhys stumbled in with his stuff. All at once, he was dead tired. Relief compounded the result of a six-hour drive on top of a full day, coupled with constant worry. He tossed his gym bag, laptop, and an armful of other stuff onto the counter and sank into the nearest chair.
For a long moment, he looked at Liam, really looked, seeing the newly deepened lines that bracketed the other man's mouth and the tension around his eyes. Still the familiar and beloved face looked good, comfortable and precious beyond words.
"I worried," he said finally. "I sensed something was out of whack when we talked last night."
Liam's gaze fell away from his for a moment and the other man exhaled a long, slow breath, almost a sigh. "Yeah, it's been weird. No more murders, but... I'm not sure how to explain this or even what really happened. Maybe it was a hallucination or just my imagination." With that preamble, he launched into the tale of his encounter on Monday.
Rhys nodded several times, but did not interrupt. He sensed Liam needed to get this out as quickly as he could, as if to eradicate the incident from a deep place inside himself and dispose of it by sharing the story. He could see the encounter haunted his friend and troubled him in ways the other man was not able to explain and probably didn't fully understand. He even sensed there was something Liam was not revealing, but what that was he had no idea.
"The monster wants us both," Liam concluded. "At least that's what he said, and he hinted about the two of us causing him a lot of trouble, thwarting his goals a long time ago. I--that didn't make sense to me, but then, well, there're those stupid dreams. I never used to dream, but lately I've had a couple about another time and place, another life maybe. I don't know what to believe. Still, I'm damn glad you're back. I guess I let myself get a little spooked."
Rhys nodded again, giving the other man a wry grin. "Yeah, monsters under the bed and the whole shebang. I didn't figure our demon would come to Albuquerque after me, but then again, he can probably go anywhere he wants to. I worried, I have to admit that, mostly about you and Billy."
Liam's eyes widened for a moment. "Never thought of that, our monster or whatever it is traveling away from around here, but you're probably right. What are we going to do? Do we start working separately so he can't get both of us at the same time or do we stick together and try to figure out how to take him down?"
Rhys took a moment to frame his answer. What he was going to suggest could either strengthen their bond of friendship or shatter it beyond repair. He had no way to guess ahead of time. Could Liam possibly be ready to hear and accept what he was about to say? He'd just have to approach it carefully and try to gauge the other man's response as he went along.
"I've had some dreams, too, and my sense is they're true, real. We did live before. At least one time was in the British Isles a couple of millennia ago. We met, and maybe I saved your life. We became friends, more than friends, much more..."
Liam's troubled gaze met his, locked in a steady stare. Rhys could read no shock or revulsion in that look, so he went on.
"Somehow that bond gave us the strength to defeat this monster then. You called him the Soul-Eater, told me about how he'd preyed on your people. Then he started to do the same thing with my tribe, while you were there with me. Druid magic, warrior powers and the strength of our love--that's what we used to bring him down before. If anything will work for us now, it'll be something close to the same. We just have to remember the spells, the herbs and the ways to invoke the old gods. And we have to be together, totally and completely together. Can we do that?"
Liam answered not in words, but in action. He closed the distance between them and dropped to one knee in front of Rhys where he sat in the wooden chair beside their small kitchen table. Liam rested one hand on Rhys' left knee and with the other reached out to touch his face. His fingertips brushed Rhys' cheek and then his palm curved to cup it.
"That's about all we haven't shared," he said finally. "Our lives are as twisted together as one of those Celtic knots. If it's gonna be okay with you, it'll be okay with me--whatever we need to do. Hell, I've loved you since we were kids. There were times I wanted to be closer, but I didn't know how to ask or what to do. I wasn't sure how you'd react, so I never tried."
Rhys turned his head until his lips pressed into Liam's curving hand. "I've always loved you, too, in every way I possibly could. I wanted so much more than just our friendship, but... We'll both be learning and exploring, but I think it'll be all right."
He stood then and put his arm around Liam as the other man also rose. "For now, for tonight, let's just share a bed. I mean to sleep, nothing more. I'm too tired to do anything else and you look pretty beat, too, but I think we'll both sleep better if we know the other is close."
He was surprised how easily it went, how comfortable they were as they both undressed and crawled into the queen-sized bed in Liam's room. Years ago, when they were both young and innocent, they'd slept together a few times, but all too soon innocence faded and inhibitions overcame the bond, at least to some degree. Touching became verboten, sissy and suspect. Rhys recognized suddenly how much he'd missed it. No, not missed, but needed.
Tonight they settled quickly, constraints perhaps soothed by weariness and stress. They spooned together with Liam's back to Rhys' front, just as they'd been in his recent dreams. Within moments, sleep began to blur his thoughts as a sensation of complete comfort enveloped him.