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He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.
Hollis smoothed his hand over Ian’s shoulder and tugged him even closer. God, he was warm and his strength made Ian feel like he could burrow in and make the harsh parts of the world disappear.
“Tell me,” Hollis whispered.
“I still have some issues left over from all that. Not a lot. Well…not as many as you might expect. I saw a therapist and she was really good. She got me past a lot of fear. I didn’t have sex for years after leaving Jagger and she helped me through that. I met a guy, like me, in her waiting room. Together, we managed to do some things.” He chuckled. “Sam and I are both bottoms, so it was mostly hands and mouth stuff, but he’s still a friend of mine and really sweet.”
“You still…see him?”
Ian pulled back to look into Hollis’s eyes. “Sam’s a friend with occasional benefits, but we have an understanding. I’ve been with other men since. Now, that won’t be happening anymore. Not while we’re seeing each other. I’m not built that way.”
Hollis hugged him close. “Good.”
The thread of jealousy in that whisper warmed Ian’s heart. He thought about telling Hollis more, but he decided to wait. There was plenty of time for all that. He just had to hope he was sated and exhausted enough to stay in bed the rest of the night.###
Ian blinked, groggy with confusion and pain. So much pain. Crimson-flecked gold swirls and flowers filled his vision. It was strange wallpaper. He couldn’t move his arms. Agony screamed through his left elbow and shoulder. A bone was broken. As he tried to clear his vision, he knew there was something in his system that didn’t belong. One of the drugs Jagger liked to hand out like candy at his parties. He worked to make his eyes focus. The red on the gold motel wallpaper…it was blood.
His jaw ached.
He’d bitten his tongue when someone punched him, spitting blood across the wall. Gratton.
Dwight Gratton, one of Jagger’s enforcers, had taken him.
A slam sounded somewhere close but he hurt too much to turn, to fight the rope tying his wrists together. A yell of fury shook the room, followed by a loud crack. More blood splattered across the wall. This time, it wasn’t his.
“You son of a bitch!”
Snow. That voice belonged to his new friend, Snow. Ian blinked at the golden swirls as they turned red, unable to battle the drugs in his system.
Darkness bled over the gold. Now he was on the ground. Cold. Familiar pain making him sob. His limbs were weighed down with something thick and heavy as he clawed at earth. Mud pushed under his fingernails. Rocks cut his fingers. He tried to lift to his knees. Lightning rent the sky and laughter sounded behind him as his knuckles scraped against something hard and rough.
A gravestone.###
Sleep eluded Hollis and normally he hated lying awake in bed, but he couldn’t bear to let go of Ian. They had gotten up to wrap and put away all the food, then crawled back in here. He held that slim, sexy body against him, enjoying his warmth and the deep, steady sounds of his breathing—especially now that he knew Ian had problems when it came to sleep. Every time Hollis tightened his arm, Ian would nuzzle closer.
Hollis fucking loved it.
Ian made a sound, a distressed whimper, as he rolled onto his back.
Concerned, Hollis propped up on one elbow and watched him. Moonlight spilled through the open curtains. It fell over his face, highlighting the long lashes fanning over his cheekbones and the line between his drawn eyebrows. Stubble had started to darken his square jaw and it did absolutely nothing to make him less…pretty. A word he’d never really associated with anyone he’d dated before, but there was no doubt. Ian was pretty, beard or not. In fact, Hollis had found the short beard Ian had worn for a time recently sexy as hell.
Ian had facial features he found fascinating. He almost looked delicate in some of his fancy designer wear, but he wasn’t. He was strong. Physically and emotionally. He had to have been to be as together as he was today. But the man still raised all these wild, protective feelings in him—feelings that were completely new when it came to relationships. Hell, his ex, Mark, could have easily flattened him in a fight.
Ian had taken down one of Jagger’s butt-monkey bodyguards, though.
And holy hell, he was scorching in bed.
Another one of those sounds came from Ian, and Hollis drew him close again. He considered waking him because it sounded like his dream wasn’t a good one, but Ian seemed to settle, relaxing, his nose going right into Hollis’s armpit. He chuckled, wanting to kiss him and hold him like this forever. And yeah, he wanted to fuck him again—kind of desperately—despite the story Ian had shared. The need that burned inside him shocked him in its intensity. He’d wanted him the first time he’d seen him, but the more he got to know him, the more he learned about his quirks, his life—the more that desire grew.
