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“Fuck off,” I try to growl at him. It comes out as a hoarse whisper instead. “Just… fuck off.”
“Casey-” Travis says when I approach him.
I don’t even bother giving him a response.
When Jake puts a hand out for me, I nearly fall from how quickly I jerk out of his reach.
“Baby boy, I can expl-”
“You,” I say to the man. And this time, my voice is a growl. I take another step and point a finger that is thankfully not trembling. The man holds perfectly still, his chin lowered just enough to meet my gaze. I feel my eyes burn with tears, but I’m not sure if they’re angry or sad. “I know you.”
“Yes,” the man says softly, his voice thick with an Irish accent. An accent I’ll never forget. An accent I thought for sure belonged to a hallucination. “You do.”
A man dressed in a suit standing between my legs.
“Nice nap? I could only give you two hours.”
He’s touching me. My hole. Rubbing something into it. I can’t figure out what because everything down there feels numb.
“Someone is coming soon. Can you hang on until then?”
Someone is coming. Someone I need to hang on for. Someone who would do… what?
A flask of water is brought to my lips. It feels like some sort of miracle. And then he takes it away.
“I can’t give you more. I’m sorry. Hang in there, okay?”
Hang in there.
Because someone is coming.
“You didn’t rape me.”
“No,” he says quietly, his blue-green eyes soft and sad. “Of course not.”
“But you were touching me. What was that? I was… numb.”
“An antiseptic with lidocaine.” His lips twist. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
“Someone is coming soon,” I say, the words an echo of the memory the two of us share.
The man smiles, his eyes darting over my shoulder. He notches his chin. “I’m glad he got there in time.”
I turn to look, even though I know exactly who is standing behind me. “It was you.”
“Of course, it was,” Jake says, lifting a hand to touch my cheek. I realize why when he comes away with wet fingertips. “DuGray was taking too fucking long deciding if he’d sell you to me or not, and he wasn’t willing to stop… punishing you until he did. Ronan was able to get his foot in the door. Check on you. Give you whatever he could to keep you going. Give you some hope. Tell you to hang on.”
I grab Jake’s hand, tangling our fingers together before I turn back to the man - Ronan. “Thank you.”
His shoulders fall in relief. “Like I said - I wish I could have done more.”
“You took care of mine when I couldn’t,” Jake says, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me in until my back is to his chest, our joined hands resting against my stomach. “I’ll take care of yours now.”
The man's relief flickers with the reminder, only getting worse when he glances at the SUV. Him looking over seems to be a catalyst for whoever is inside. The passenger door opens before he can look away, a guy my age climbing out of the vehicle and slowly approaching the rest of us. He’s a strange sort of attractive - all messy blonde hair and dark eyes and angry expressions. The way his upper lip curls when his gaze settles on Ronan is nearly feral. “Did you tell them?”
“Max-”
“In case he didn’t tell you,” the man - Max - says in a voice that trembles with anger and fear. “I’m not coming with you anymore. We’re sorry for the misunderstanding.”
