“Damn it,” Tiny said with a moan as he pushed up from the table and began pacing.
“He said to tell you it’s not your fault,” JD said.
Tiny froze on the spot, “Not my fault? Not my fault? Of course, it’s my fault!”
“No, it’s not. You can’t help it that Foster developed an obsession with you. That is not your fault, Tiny,” JD said.
Blake just sat back and watched Tiny. He wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but he knew that the man would just push him away if he did, so he watched. And he waited. For what he wasn’t exactly sure but he knew he was waiting for something.
Tiny’s hands clenched and unclenched by his thighs and his entire body seemed to vibrate with both anger and despair. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and Blake was certain he was going to yell, that he was going to lash out and punch the wall or something. But he didn’t. No, he didn’t.
His chin dropped to his chest, his voice barely a whisper as he said, “It should’ve been me.”
Blake’s eyes went wide and he glanced at JD with a help me, what am I supposed to do look on his face. But JD just sadly shook his head and glanced away. Blake was on his own – just like he had been pretty much his entire life.
He didn’t fault JD – the man had been through enough. Blake had heard about JD’s kidnapping by his own mother and the hell he’d been through during that until Brent had rescued him. Being sexually abused by your own mother is not something you just bounce back from and carry on as if nothing has changed – it just wasn’t possible.
Blake looked back at Tiny. “It should’ve been me,” he kept whispering over and over.
Blake pushed to his feet. He wanted to go to the man and tell him he was wrong, that it shouldn’t have been him. But something in his gut told him that was the wrong thing to say.
So, he tiptoed up to Tiny, pressed his forehead to Tiny’s and whispered, “Maybe so, but it wasn’t and there’s nothing you can do about that, babe. All you can do now is stay strong and be there for him when he’s ready.”
Some sort of sound escaped from Tiny’s throat – a cross between a sob and a wail, “Oh god, I can’t, I can’t, how can I fix this? I need to fix this,” he cried as he threw his arms around Blake’s waist and squeezed him tight.
“You will, babe, you will. Just be patient for a little while.”
“I hate being patient,” he mumbled into Blake’s shoulder.
Blake pulled him tighter, “How about I get you home to your own place? Would that help?”
Tiny’s head popped up off of Blake’s shoulder and he smiled at him, “To my bed?”
Blake shrugged a shoulder, “Sure.”
“With you in it?”
Blake’s heartrate tripled and he swallowed hard, “Um, uh, well, um.”
With everything that had gone on, the two of them hadn’t been able to explore each other any farther than they had back at Tiny’s house with the kissing and handjobs. Which meant that Blake was still a virgin.
Tiny’s expression changed, “I want you, Blake, more than my next breath. But not if you’re not ready.”
Was he ready? He thought he was. But now that the moment might be here, he wasn’t so sure. “Let’s get you home and we’ll figure out where to go from there, okay?” he said.
Tiny nodded so Blake turned around to JD, “I can take him home now, yes?”
“Yeah. Go home, take a few days to decompress. I’ll be in touch later with your next assignment,” JD said as he pushed up from the table.
“You, you still want me to work for you?” Blake said quietly.
JD turned to him and frowned, “Why wouldn’t I?”
Blake’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he glanced at Tiny, “Because I compromised an op by getting personally involved.”
“Oh please, if I fired everyone who got personally involved with someone they were working with I wouldn’t have anyone working for me, hell, I wouldn’t work here. We can’t help what our hearts want, Blake. It didn’t interfere with your job, you still got him out of there safely when the shit hit the fan. You’re a good agent, remember that.”
Blake glanced down at the floor because he was unused to praise like that as he mumbled, “Thanks.”
“Hunter is downstairs waiting for you. He’ll take you back to Tiny’s house since your car is there.”
“Oh, he doesn’t have to, we can get a cab.”
“It’s no trouble. He said something about needing to get baby wipes before they’re cleaning up poop with their shirts.”
Blake snorted a laugh, “That would be bad. I’ll go grab my bag and we’ll head out.”
“Sounds good. Just lock the door behind you.”
“Will do.”
Blake tried to calm his shaking hands as he walked down the hall to the bedroom to grab his go bag. “You can do this, Thornton. You want this, you want him,” he whispered to himself.
He turned around and found Tiny watching him from the doorway. “I, uh, you ready to go?”
Tiny shook his head as he slowly walked up to Blake. Blake swallowed hard as he stared at the man. Fuck, why did he have to be so fucking scared?
Tiny reached out one of his beefy hands and cupped Blake’s cheek and said, “Please don’t be nervous, Blake. I told you, we’re not going to do anything that you aren’t ready for. Do I want you? So much it hurts. But I’ll wait, for as long as it takes, until you are ready, I’ll wait. I don’t want you one second before you are ready, I don’t want to see any doubt in your eyes. Will there be fear? Of course, there will, that’s to be expected – it’s your first time. But I promise to do everything I can to make it perfect for you, to make it right, to make sure I don’t hurt you, to make sure that you know that you are loved.”
Blake’s eyes closed and he leaned into that hand, “I, I don’t know what that feels like, to be loved.”
“I know. But you know that feeling you’re having right now, the way your heart is beating so hard in your chest it feels like it wants to escape, the way you feel warm all over, that calm that’s flowing through your veins? That’s because I’m falling in love with you….and it’s only going to get better from here.”
Blake inhaled sharply as his eyes snapped open, “Tiny, I”
Tiny pressed his thumb over Blake’s lips, “No, not now. After we’re back at my place.”
Blake sighed as he nodded, “Okay, yeah, okay. Come on, let’s go,” he whispered as he threaded their hands together. Suddenly he wasn’t afraid of leaving anymore. No, now he couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The knock on the door made Garrett jump, gasping as his head lifted from Justice’s shoulder. His eyes glanced around the room as panic began to fill him.
Justice placed a hand on his thigh, “Hey, shhh, hey. It’s okay, butterscotch. It’s just the doctor.”
“Are, are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I watched him park his car and walk up onto the porch.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I’ll just go let him in, okay?”
Garrett nodded, “Yeah, sure.”
Justice slowly walked over to the door and opened it. Marc’s face lit up as he smiled at Justice, “Hey, man, it’s really good to see you,” he said.
“Yeah, you too. Come on in,” he said as he pulled the door wider.
Marc stepped inside and his eyes locked onto Garrett. His eyes moved and he watched Justice walk over with his eyes locked with Garrett’s, sit down next to him and gently take his hand into his own. It was so unlike the man that Marc knew as Justice Thyme – it was so loving and concerned and gentle as opposed to the hard, brutal, animalistic man that Marc knew intimately….or at least he thought he did. The Justice Thyme in front of him was an entirely different man.
“Garrett, this is Marc. He’s the doctor I told you about.”
“The one you fucked,” Garrett said as his eyes stayed locked with Justice’s.
>
Marc flinched because, that was a little personal…and true.
Justice moved his other hand to brush Garrett’s hair from his forehead as he whispered, “Yes, I have been intimate with him. But that was before.”
Before? Before what? Marc thought as he watched the exchange happening before him as if he weren’t there.
“Is it okay if he checks you over now?”
Garrett’s eyes softened as he nodded, “Yeah, okay.”
Justice looked back at Marc, “Where would be best for this?”
“A bed would be best.”
“A bed it is then,” Justice said as he stood and scooped Garrett into his arms. The smaller man wrapped his arms around Justice’s neck and dropped his head down onto his shoulder in an incredibly loving, trusting gesture, Marc noted as he walked behind them down to what he knew was Justice’s bedroom.
“Can you put a towel down first? I’m so filthy and I don’t want to get any of…..him….on the bed.”
Justice looked back to Marc. “I’ve got it,” Marc said as he walked into the bathroom and pulled a large bath towel out of the linen closet.
He draped it over the middle of the bed then he stepped back to watch Justice gently lay the man out on it, his eyes locked with Garrett’s the entire time like he was watching for any flinch or bad reaction.
Justice slid his arms out and stepped back.
“This shouldn’t take too long, if you just want to wait out in the hall,” Marc said.
“No, he’s staying here, with me,” Garrett said as he held his hand out to Justice.
Justice sat up against the headboard, crossed his feet and brought Garrett’s hand into his lap.
Marc realized he was watching all of this with his mouth hanging wide open. He snapped it closed, walked over to the dresser and set his bag down, “Okay then, let’s get started,” he said as he pulled out gloves and snapped them onto his hands.
“I’m going to start at your head and work my way down to your waist as I examine your injuries then I’ll move to your feet and move my way up to your thighs. We’ll finish with a genital and anal exam and then I’ll draw some blood for tests, okay?”
Garrett nodded his head, “Okay.”
Marc leaned up and began palpating Garrett’s head, “What did he hit you with?” he said as he continued his exam.
“His hands mostly, he kicked too, and one time he used a lead pipe or crow bar or something. I don’t know what it was because he was behind me but I heard it scraping on the floor so I know it was metal.”
Marc’s hands moved over his throat, shoulders, down both arms and then he poked and prodded Garrett’s chest and ribs.
“Easy, doc,” Justice pretty much growled at him when Garrett winced and hissed in a breath.
Marc sighed as he continued, “I need to do my job, Justice, and sometimes it will hurt when I do.”
“I know,” Justice mumbled as he glanced away, his jaw clenched tight.
“It feels like two of your ribs are broken but they’re not out of alignment so I’ll leave something with you to wrap them before I go.”
He got up and moved down to Garrett’s feet. He checked the bottoms first, “He had you barefoot?”
“Yes.”
“Dirty environment?”
“Very.”
“I’ll leave a foot soak with you to use daily for the next week. If you notice any redness or swelling after that, call me.”
“Okay.”
“Alright, I need to get a good look at this ankle now, okay?” he said as his eyes bounced between both men.
Justice wrapped one arm behind Garrett’s shoulders and squeezed the other over his hand.
“Okay,” Garrett said.
As Marc began to exam it he continued talking to try to distract Garrett from the pain, “How long ago did he do this?”
“Just, um, a day, I think. It was after he moved me from the warehouse and into the room where Justice found me.”
“So, you were held in two different spots?”
“Yes.”
“How were you held in the first one, the warehouse?”
“I was chained to a pipe above my head.”
“By your wrists?”
“Yes, cuffs were padded leather though.”
“But your arms were above your head for how long?”
“I’m not sure, three days, maybe four?”
“Could your feet touch the floor?”
“Yeah, but barely”
“And this is where he beat you?”
“Mostly, yes. And it’s where he, um, he….”
“So, you were standing when he raped you?”
Garrett’s head dropped, “Yes,” he whispered.
“He did more in the other room though, right? Because when I found you there you had fresh….semen….on your torso and mouth.”
“Yes, one time in there.”
“So, there was both oral and anal rape?” Marc said as he continued.
“Yes.”
“What did he use on your ankle?”
“Um, he kicked me with his boot when my foot was on the bed.”
“It feels dislocated to me. We’ll have to pop it back in. You want to do that before or after I finish your exam?”
“Um, can we do that now? Once you check everything…down there…I’m going to want to get in the bath to wash all of this off of me.”
“Okay, then Justice I need you to move for me.”
“Okay, where do you want me?”
“I want your body behind Garrett’s. You’re going to work as an anchor, with your arms looped under Garrett’s armpits and your feet locked against his hips. This is going to hurt like hell, especially with those ribs, but Justice’s legs are strong enough to anchor your hips tight so hopefully it won’t move any of your ribs out of alignment.”
Justice stood from the bed and removed his boots then he stood on it, walked up to Garrett’s head and slid down to his ass behind him. He anchored his arms and feet and then nodded at Marc.
“Ready?”
Garrett nodded, “Yeah.”
Marc had removed his own shoes and he anchored his foot at the juncture where Garrett’s thigh met his pelvis, making sure to slide his balls and dick to the side before he pressed down. Then he gripped Garrett’s foot tight in both hands….and pulled.
Garrett screamed. Holy shit did he scream. Then every curse word he knew flew from his mouth until there was a loud, audible snap that echoed throughout the room.
Marc released his hold and quickly palpated the ankle while Garrett struggled to take air into his lungs.
“Shhh, it’s all over now. You did great, butterscotch, so fucking good,” Justice cooed, yes, cooed as he brushed the tears away from Garrett’s eyes.
Marc shook his head as he got up to grab the walking boot that he brought with him. He put Garrett’s lower leg and foot in it then fastened the Velcro straps. “Okay, one more step. You ready, Garrett?”
Garrett swallowed a few times before he whispered, “Yeah, yeah I am.”
Marc slid the blanket off of Garrett’s mid-section. He didn’t miss the reaction from both men – Garrett frowned and turned away. Justice’s eyes went wide and then he clenched his jaw so tight that Marc was surprised he didn’t hear teeth breaking.
Marc took a deep breath and reached out. As he gripped the flaccid piece of flesh in his hand and maneuvered it so he could look everywhere, he said, “What did he burn you with?”
“I’m not sure. I was blindfolded when he did that.”
“Was he trying to get a sexual reaction out of you?”
“No, he, he just fucking did it. He didn’t say why.”
“How many times? Do you remember?”
“Four, maybe five.”
“I don’t see any infection yet but with burns like this infection could set in later. I’m going to have to debride these blisters and then I’ll give you some cream to apply twice a day.”
“Deb
ride?”
“Open them and cut the dead skin away. The skin underneath should be healing but I need to see it and I can’t with the blisters. Plus, the cream needs to be on the new skin, not on the blisters, which are actually dead skin now.”
“Oh, okay.”
Marc removed some gauze, scissors and a sterile needle from his bag and set them on the bed.
He tore open the packaging over the needle and poked into the first blister, quickly swapping needle for gauze to soak up the fluid leaking out. Then he used the scissors to cut away the skin on the top of the blister. He moved onto the next one and did the same. After about five minutes he had finished with all six of them.
“Can you bend your knees for me? And try to relax, okay?”
Garrett nodded and scooted further down on the bed, lifted his knees and then let them fall open.
And then something truly beautiful happened. As Marc pulled the rape kit and lube from his bag he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Justice looking down at Garrett, cupping his chin and whispering, “Keep your eyes on me, butterscotch, okay? Nothing you say, nothing he does, nothing that he finds changes anything for me, got it?”
Garrett swallowed as he looked up at Justice and nodded.
Marc touched Garrett’s thigh to let him know he was about to start, “Did he use a condom?” he said.
“No.”
“Lube?”
“I, I’m not sure. He was behind me.”
“Did it scrap and burn going in or did it feel more like it does when you have prepared sex?”
“I don’t know how it’s supposed to feel. I’ve never had gay sex before.”
It took everything in Marc not to curse out loud. He took a deep breath and got his focus back on track.
“I’m going to spread your cheeks with my hand now.”
He lifted the left check. Fucking hell.
“Justice, do you have your phone in here?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I need to take pictures.”
“What’s wrong with yours?”
“It’s recording the audio of my exam.”
“Why?” Garrett said.
“For my notes and in case I’m called to testify.”
Justice held out his hand, “I unlocked it,” he mumbled, his eyes still locked with Garrett’s.
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