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“Make sure he doesn’t move!” Ryder barked at Jeremy, terror making his voice sound wild.
Jeremy crammed his knee into the middle of Eric’s back as he yanked his arms back and held him immobile. “I’ve got him, Ry. Get Remi out of there. He’s gonna be okay. You got here. Don’t panic.”
Jeremy’s calming words did nothing to help ease Ryder’s terror. His hands trembled when he reached for the lock on the metal door. Seconds later, he’d pulled Remi’s naked body from the icy tomb Eric had locked him in. Making sure to carefully place Remi’s body out of his abductor’s reach or view, Ryder immediately began stripping his own shirt and jeans off. Once he was naked, except for his boxer briefs, he dropped his body onto Remi’s sickly white and deathly cold form and wrapped his lover into a bear hug. Holding tightly, he whispered words of love and encouragement as he gave his body heat to Remi.
“Come on, baby,” he urged quietly. “Come back to me. I’m right here. You’re safe. Come on, Remi. Fight for me. You know how much I need you with me.”
In the background, Ryder heard Eric’s laughter, mocking how he pleaded for Remi to fight death’s cold embrace, but then heard Jeremy’s fist connect with flesh. “Shut the fuck up,” Jeremy growled. “I promised Ryder I’d let him have you but if you keep pissing me off, all bets are off. You’re a cowardly son of a bitch, aren’t you? Picking on women and men younger than you? Did that make you feel like a real man? Yeah, I bet that was the only time you felt like a man, wasn’t it? Probably a lot like your son; he only felt like a man when he was trying to murder a girl half his size. Nosiree, the apple didn’t fall from the rotten tree, did it?”
“Remi! Listen for my voice, Remi,” Ryder urged. “Follow my voice, baby. Just like before. Come on, Remi. You can do this. Veronica and Gary don’t need you anymore. I need you; not them.” Ryder kept his weight covering Remi’s body but began vigorously rubbing Remi’s arms and hands. Unable to stop himself, his lips gently touched against Remi’s. Kiss after kiss. Stroke after stroke. Ryder silently begged the heat of his body to force its way into Remi. “For us, babe. Fight for us.”
Ryder had no idea how many minutes passed; it felt like hours to him, but he’d lost focus on anything other than ensuring the heart inside Remi’s chest still beat. It had started as a weak flutter but grew stronger with each passing second. The feeling of victory surged through Ryder’s soul as his lover’s heartbeat grew more robust. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime to Ryder, Remi’s eyes fluttered open. Like all the other times before, Ryder expected it to take seconds for Remi to become aware of his surroundings but this time, it was instant. A look of pure love flooded into the pale blue orbs.
“Ryder?”
“Yeah, baby; I’m here,” Ryder whispered as he wrapped his arms tightly around his lover, squeezing perhaps a bit too tight, but he couldn’t help it. Just hearing Remi’s voice had shocked his own heart back into rhythm again. “I’m right here. My heart is right next to yours, babe.”
“You found me,” Remi sighed in wonder. “I didn’t think there was any chance of you finding me.” He smiled and then started struggling to raise into a sitting position. “Oh, shit, Ryder! He’s here! He’s here somewhere. We’ve got to find him before he’s able to hurt anybody else!”
Ryder eased Remi back down onto the floor. “Jeremy’s got him. There’s nothing to worry about.” Ryder’s eyes finally turned away from Remi to look toward where Jeremy still had Eric pinned to the floor, his knee pushing into the center of the man’s back with more force than necessary. Ryder smiled. It was time for somebody to pay for their sins.
Ryder looked around the warehouse and saw a pile of blue blankets that companies used to cover appliances during shipping. He knew from experience they would be coarse and rough against Remi’s skin, but also knew his lover needed all the warmth he could offer him. After placing another kiss on Remi’s cold lips, he said, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab some of these blankets to cover you up with. We need to keep you as warm as possible until we can get an ambulance here. Okay?”
Remi shrugged, and his eyelids drooped heavily. “I’m sleepy. Just cover me up and I’ll take a nap.”
“No, you won’t be taking any naps,” Ryder said. “I need you to stay awake for me, okay? That’s very important.” Another kiss. “I’ll be right back.”
The minute he moved his heat away from Remi, his lover’s body started shaking uncontrollably. “Shit,” he muttered as he ran across the warehouse and grabbed several of the blankets. The warehouse wasn’t that cold, but Remi’s body temperature was still nowhere close to where it needed to be. When he reached Remi’s side, he put one blanket on the concrete floor and doubled it for as much padding as the cheap blankets could offer. Once that was taken care of, he gently lifted Remi and deposited him onto the makeshift bed. Gently and meticulously, he wrapped each of the blankets around Remi until he looked like he was a beautiful butterfly about to escape from its cocoon. In fact, Ryder had him wrapped so tightly that he couldn’t move anything other than his head. That earned him a frown from his lover.
