Page 91 of Ask Me For Fire


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Marvin’s fist was there and Barrett reacted.

He hadn’t played baseball since high school, but he was nearly six and a half feet of hard won muscle. Barrett swung the bat and connected.

Later, he would think of it as arm for an arm. It wasn’t the most charitable line of thought for certain, but Marvin had done a lot of damage. The protective parts of Barrett, the ones that rose up in that moment, bat in hand, weren’t too fussed about his thoughts, either.

The scream Marvin let out as his elbow shattered echoed around them. Dandi snarled and barked, angrier than Barrett could have ever imagined. Barrett took Marvin to the ground with a tackle and the older man didn’t put up a fight. He was likely blinded by pain.

“The tree?” Barrett was screaming in his face. “Did you?” Marvin was half screaming, half moaning in agony and unable to answer. “Where?”

“Back…back behind me,” Marvin gasped. “Wasn’t supposed to fall that way.”

Barrett was pure instinct and adrenaline now. He was up again, yelling for Dandi to guard as he ran into the woods, following Marvin’s footsteps back. Yards ahead he caught the glint of an axe, so he scooped it up and ran back, now armed twice over.

As the whine of sirens echoed in the distance, Barrett stood over Marvin. “Get the fuck up.Now.” As Marvin stood on shaking legs, he said, “Dandi’s gonna watch you. You move, she will take you down. Understand?”

He didn’t give Marvin a chance to answer, because all he could think about wasAmbrose. Barrett had never run so fast in his life and when he burst out from the treeline, he saw Meredith and a paramedic rushing toward Ambrose, who had propped himself up against Barrett’s truck. He was cradling his jacket-wrapped arm; Barrett recognized it as his own jacket, the one that had been on his passenger seat.

Ambrose was alive, awake, and talking to Meredith as she leaned down.

“Fuck. Mer. In the woods, Marvin Gilbert and Dandi.” He handed her the bat and she was off, two police officers close behind. All he could see was Ambrose and the blood and the cuts on his face and the paramedic gently handling a pale arm.

“Pretty superficial but you’ve got some glass in here.” The paramedic was checking Ambrose’s vitals and Barrett nearly forgot how to breathe as he knelt in the dirt. He wanted to pull Ambrose to him but couldn’t. It physically ached to be unable to do such a simple thing.

“Ambrose.”

Ambrose smiled softly at Barrett. “I’m okay.”

The paramedic, a woman named Honey, with dark, curly hair and green eyes, nodded. “You’ll need to have some tests done. Likely concussed and this cut’s gonna scar. But your blood pressure’s okay and you’re breathing all right.”

“Barrett.” Ambrose held his good hand out and Barrett took it. His skin was turning cold and his heart felt like it was straining with every beat.Probably shock, he thought dimly. “You’re coming with me.”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Always

A week later

“You’re fussing.”

“Sorry. I am.”

Barrett’s flush was far too adorable, but Ambrose didn’t want to tease him. Too much. “You’re all good.” He craned his neck up and was rewarded with a soft kiss. When he tried to deepen it, Barrett gave him a flicker of tongue but then pulled back. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I am.” Ambrose sunk deeper into the pillows. “Because someone is taking such good care of me.”

Barrett kissed his forehead before whisking the lunch tray away. “You good? I was gonna take Dandi on a run.”

“A run?”

Barrett shrugged. “Thought I’d pick it back up. It’s good stress release.”

“So is sex.”

“Which you are in no condition for.”

He grinned. “Enjoy your run.”

In the hour while Barrett was gone, Ambrose pulled over his laptop. He couldn’t type, not with his left wrist broken and the entire arm in a sling, but he could dictate some emails.

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