by Maggie Walsh
“What?” Aaron furrowed his brows.
Raith chuckled and kissed his head. “There’s my confident, arrogant mate.” Aaron sent him a glare and turned his head away. “Oh, don’t be like that, sweetheart. We love you just the way you are.”
Aaron crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, well, I was able to convince them to let you in.”
Raith wrapped his arms around Aaron from behind and kissed his head. “Thank you, baby.”
Aaron melted against him and closed his eyes.
“So when can we see the little cutie? Maybe I can talk to him, convince him to come home with you guys,” Taylor offered.
“How you gonna do that, little buddy? Talk his ear off with one of your crazy rants and confuse him into it?” Lexi laughed. Taylor walked over to him and threw his arm around the back of Lexi’s neck and pulled him down into a headlock and started giving him noogies.
“Say Uncle and I’ll let you go.” Taylor laughed.
“Hell no. I don’t care if you’re freakishly strong now. I won’t give in.” Lexi laughed as he tried to grab a hold of Taylor’s waist.
“Oh hell no. You did not just call me a freak. I’ll show you freak,” Taylor said laughing. He slung his other arm around Lexi’s throat in the front and released him from the back. He reached down to the waistband of Lexi’s pants in the back and reached in a little to grab the waistband of his underwear. He couldn’t find it.
“What are you digging for in there, little buddy? Gold? The crown jewel is in the front.” Lexi laughed.
“Where’s your underwear you, Nancy?” Taylor laughed.
“I don’t own underwear, sweet cheeks.” Lexi continued to laugh.
Taylor dropped him onto the floor. “Eww, and I had my hand in there. Gods I’m glad we’re in a hospital. They have industrial strength anti-bacterial shit here.”
“Will you two stop? We have more important things to worry about than Lexi’s lack of undergarments,” Raith said in amusement. “Like how we’re going to get our mate to come home with us.”
“What about his family? Won’t they want to take care of him?” Jesse asked.
“That’s a good question,” Aaron said and rubbed his chin.
The door opened and Grant walked in. His eyes went wide at the sight of the group gathered there. He looked everyone over and then his eyes landed on Aaron and Raith. “Hey guys, can I talk to you outside for a minute?” He motioned with his head.
“It’s okay, Grant. There with us. This is my family. Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of them,” Raith answered.
Grant eyed them over again and nodded. “Okay. He hasn’t woken up yet, but as you know, Aaron, with his condition that’s normal. But the X-rays and the labs just came back.”
“I want to see them.” Aaron moved away from Raith.
“I figured you would, but no one here is related to the patient,” Grant said cautiously.
“It’s okay, Grant. Any info we find will be safe with them. Let me see,” Aaron said and motioned to the laptop in Grant’s hands. Grant handed him the laptop and Aaron opened it.
“I better not lose my job over this,” Grant huffed.
“If you do, come see me. I’m Micah Angel. I’m opening a clinic in Sanctuary. Aaron’s going to be in charge, but we’re looking for good medical professionals.” Micah held out his hand and Grant shook it.
“Sanctuary? Where is that?” Grant asked.
“It’s where we live. It’s a town about seventy miles north of here,” Micah answered.
“Fuck.” Aaron growled.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Raith asked moving closer to his mate.
Aaron looked up at him with tears in his eyes. “He has had multiple broken bones in his life. From the look of the new bone growth, I would have to say most of these are only a few years old. Some are only recently healed. And his bloodwork shows traces of LSD in it. He’s a junky.”
“Shit,” Raith said and ran a hand over his face.
“That’s not necessary,” Jesse whispered. Raith and Aaron looked at him.
“No it’s not.” Taylor agreed.
“What do you mean?” Aaron asked in confusion.
“If this boyfriend of his is truly a dick like you think, then he may have caused these injuries. Along with shooting Rory up against his will.” Jesse looked down at his clasped hands. Micah wrapped his arms around his mate and held him tight, a pissed expression on his face.
“I have to get that back before anyone knows I took it,” Grant said and pointed to the laptop. Aaron nodded and handed it back to him. “You can go in to see him now if you want,” Grant said and headed for the door.
“Thanks for everything, man,” Raith said. Grant gave him a small smile before he left.
“Let’s go see him,” Aaron said and headed for the door.
“Thanks for coming, guys. I’ll let you know what happens,” Raith said.
Jesse walked over and hugged him. “You call us if you need anything.”
“I will, Jess.” Raith hugged him back. Then he gave Micah a quick hug and followed his mate out.
Chapter 7
Rory’s eyes fluttered open. The room was dim, but he could tell it wasn’t his room at Tom’s. The ceiling was made of those pressed-board white tiles like you found in a hospital. The ones you could count all the holes as you laid there waiting for the doctor to come in. He moved his head to look around to see where he was. His eyes landed on a big window. The blinds were open and he could see that it was night out. He looked down at his body and found that he was in a hospital gown and he had tubes in his arm. His eyes followed the path of the tube from his arm and up to a hanging bag with a clear liquid in it. Why am I in the hospital? He lowered his eyes and sighed. He couldn’t remember what happened to make him have to be in the hospital, again. He couldn’t remember his Master getting angry and hitting him.
He heard a gentle breathing and turned his head to look at Tom. But when he turned his head, it wasn’t Tom sitting in the chair not far from the bed. His eyes opened wide in shock and his breath caught in his throat. His pulse quickened and his heart began to race. The machine next to him started to beep. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He released the breath slowly. It worked, his heart stopped pounding, and the machine stopped beeping. He opened his eyes and looked at the pair sitting in the chair. He couldn’t believe it. It was the Dom and sub he couldn’t take his eyes off of at the club. The Dom sat in the chair, his head leaned back, eyes closed. His mouth rested with a slight smile and his breathing was slow. His arms were wrapped lovingly around his sub, who was sitting in his lap. His head and hand rested against his Dom’s chest. His eyes were closed too and he also had a slight smile on his face. They were both sleeping. But what were they doing in his room? Why were they here?
He remembered hanging by his wrists from the chains above the stage. His Master was whipping him because he was bad. He stole the lube from the store and Tom, being the cop that he was, couldn’t condone him stealing. He tried to explain that after picking up the dry cleaning, paying for the stuffed pork chops and buying the inserts for his Master’s shoes, that he didn’t have enough money and he didn’t want to come home without everything his Master told him to get. But Tom didn’t care. He slapped him around at home and then threw him in the car to go to the club. He didn’t even get to eat the pot roast he made for dinner. Not that he ever got a lot to eat anyway, but he hadn’t had a thing to eat all day and he really wanted to eat the delicious roast.
Tom stripped off his clothes and tied him extra tight up on the stage and then started to whip him. The pain was the worst he had ever endured under his sadistic Master. But when he saw this duo walk into the club, his mind went somewhere else. Somewhere he was never allowed for it to go. If Tom found out that he had been thinking about Roman, he would have received broken bones, too. Tom hated when he spoke of or t
hought about Roman. But then he watched the loving display of the duo in the chair and he started to cry. He wanted so bad to be there with them. To feel that Dom’s loving hand. He wanted to kiss the strong Dom’s lips and feel his hands on his bare skin. He wanted to know what it felt like to touch the cute sub’s skin. What would it feel like to have these two men run their hands down his body?
He couldn’t believe he was thinking about being with two men. He had always been happy with just Roman. But there were times he did think about what it would feel like to be with two men. He told Roman about this once and Roman didn’t laugh at him. He told him that if it was something he really wanted to explore than maybe he would find a third to invite into their play. Roman was always considerate with him like that. He always wanted to make him happy.
He pulled his thoughts away from Roman. It was not to be. Roman was taken from him and he would never come back. He mourned the loss of his love a long time ago. Tom allowed him one month to mourn Roman’s death. Then Tom said that was enough. It wasn’t. He mourned Roman for years. He just never let Tom see it. He was done living in the past. He knew Roman would have wanted him to go on. To find someone to love and who would love him. Roman wouldn’t want him with Tom. But he was trapped and he couldn’t find a way out.
But he could dream. He could dream of these two sexy men in front of him. His cock started to twitch at the thought of these two men lying in bed with him, all of them naked as their skin slid against each other. Maybe they would make a sandwich out of him. There was something about these two that made him feel safe. He couldn’t understand it. He had never even met them, yet he knew he would be safe with them. Knew they would protect and love him.
He groaned as his cock jerked and started to fill with his thoughts. The Dom’s eyes opened and those incredible emerald green eyes met his. They stared at each other for a minute, and then the Dom raised his head and smiled at him. It was such a beautiful smile. And those eyes, god those eyes. He could get lost in those eyes. The Dom shifted and the sub curled into him even more and he sighed.
“Hello, beautiful,” the Dom whispered.
Rory’s breath caught at the deep sound of the man’s voice. It was a sexy voice, deep, but not too deep. Masculine, but not overly so. A thrill of excitement raced through Rory when the man called him beautiful. He opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t know what to say, so he closed his mouth again. Then opened it again and closed it. Rory internally rolled his eyes at himself. He must have looked like a fish. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Hi.” He was so lame he wanted to slap himself.
The man smiled at him again. “It’s okay. Try not to talk. Your throat is probably dry,” he said and then stood up with his sub in his arms. The cute redhead was oblivious. The Dom turned and gently placed his sub back on the chair. He walked over to a counter in the room and grabbed a blanket. He brought it back and covered his sub with it. The sub never woke up. The Dom turned to him and stepped up to the bed. He reached over to the tray next to him and brought back a pink plastic cup with a straw in it. He held the straw to Rory’s lips and Rory opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around the end of the straw. He sucked in the cool water. It felt so good against his dry throat. He looked up through his long lashes and caught the lust in the man’s eyes as he watched Rory’s lips suck on the straw. It made his heart jump seeing this beautiful man look at him like that.
He pulled his lips from the straw and cleared his throat again. His eyes never left the other man’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Rory,” the man said in a husky voice. Damn that was sexy.
“How do you know my name?” he asked.
The man’s eyes darkened. “Your boyfriend told us,” he answered with a strain in his voice. Rory flinched at the thought of his Master being there. He snapped his head around looking for him. “He’s not here, beautiful. He told us at the club when you passed out. He hasn’t been here all night. Strange how a man who claims you are his sub didn’t even come to the hospital to check on you,” he said in a cold voice.
“He’s a busy man. He has obligations at work,” Rory whispered and lowered his eyes.
Rory watched in amazement as the stranger placed two fingers under his chin and gently lifted Rory’s chin up until he was looking at him once again. “I don’t care how busy he is. If you were mine, nothing could stop me from being here with you. Nothing,” he said with a sexy smile. Rory shivered from his touch and his words. His breath hitched and his heart pounded. What would it be like to be yours?
“I’m Raith, by the way. And the gorgeous redhead over there is my mate, Aaron,” Raith said and motioned to the sleeping sub.
“It’s nice to meet you Raith,” Rory said shyly. His face turned red.
“You don’t have to be shy with me, beautiful,” Raith said. “May I?” he asked and motioned to the bed. Rory nodded. Raith sat on the edge of the bed and reached a hand out and pushed a stray lock of Rory’s hair out of his face and pushed it behind his ear.
Rory swallowed. Raith’s touch sent shivers through him and made him want things. “How did I get here? And why are you here?” he asked cautiously.
Raith’s eyes darkened over for a moment and then softened. “Do you remember anything from the club last night?”
Rory nodded and his eyes started to fill with tears. “Master tied my up on the stage and punished me. I was very bad,” Rory whispered as a tear broke free and rolled down his cheek.
Raith reached out and wiped the tear away. “What could you have done that was so bad that you deserved a punishment like that?” Raith asked gently and wiped away another tear that escaped.
Rory looked down. “I stole something from a store,” he whispered in shame.
“What did you steal? Let me guess, was it a BMW? Or did you rob a bank? Oh, I know, you downloaded a book from a pirate site?” Raith said teasingly. “You know that’s wrong right? Stealing books or music from one of those sites is a crime. People don’t realize it, or maybe they don’t care, but those authors or musicians work hard on creating those things. They deserve to get paid for their hard work, too. And you could be slapped with a huge fine for breaking copyright laws. Along with time in jail. Promise me you will never do that again.” Raith snickered.
Rory’s eyes went wide at Raith’s ramble. “I would never steal music or a book from one of those places. It’s not right. It’s not fair to those artists who worked so hard. I’m not a thief. I had no choice in stealing that lube. Master didn’t give me enough money to make all his purchases. But if I didn’t bring everything home he would have punished me,” Rory explained frantically.
Raith looked at him with sadness in his eyes. “But he punished you anyway, baby. Why?”
Rory looked down again. “He didn’t see the lube on the sales receipt, so he knew I stole it. He’s a policeman. He needed to teach me not to steal.”
Raith took a deep breath and released it. “You’re an adult. You knew not to steal in the first place. You said it yourself, you’re not a thief. It sounds to me like your master set you up to fail.”
Rory kept his head lowered but nodded his agreement. Raith gently placed his hand on Rory’s head and ran it down the back to his nape. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, baby. I’m sorry that you got a master that doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing,” Raith said tenderly. Rory’s head snapped up and his eyes were wide in shock as he looked at Raith.
“What do you mean, he doesn’t know what he’s doing? He’s my master. He knows what to do with a slave. What I deserve. He knows what to do.” Rory was almost hysterical now. “Doesn’t he?” he pleaded with his eyes for Raith to help take his confusion away.
“No he doesn’t, Rory,” Aaron said.
Raith turned his head to look at Aaron as Rory’s eyes snapped to him. Aaron stood up and placed the blanket on the chair. He walked to the bed and stood in front of Raith. He moved closer and Raith opened his legs. Aaron stepped
between them and Raith wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close. “Did you see that? I never said a word. Raith just opened himself for me and wrapped himself around me to protect me. That’s what a good Dom does. He takes care of you. He cherishes you, protects you. He encourages you and helps you find your limits. He respects those limits, always. He cherishes the gift of trust that you placed in his hands. He sets you up to succeed, not fail. Raith really isn’t my Dom. He’s my mate, my partner, my equal. But when it comes to certain things, I need to give up that control and he needs control. So I trust him to know my limits. He may push those limits at times, but not too hard. It is supposed to bring you pleasure. Give you what you need. It’s not supposed to beat you and hurt you. Some subs like pain and that’s fine with their Dom, but even they would agree that is it about pleasure and needs of both parties. Not abuse. And that is what your Dom was doing to you,” Aaron spoke gently.
Rory’s bottom lip trembled and fresh tears came to his eyes. “But he owns me. I have to do what he says until I pay him back.” Rory’s body shook as his emotions took over, and he wept. He covered his face with his hands and lowered his head in defeat.
Aaron sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around Rory. Raith moved around to the other side of the bed and sat next to him and wrapped his arms around him, too. Rory continued to cry as the two men comforted him. They held him in their arms. They caressed his back and head and whispered softly to him that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to believe them. It felt so good being in their arms. It felt so right. Like it was where he was always meant to be. He wanted to stay like this forever. Right here in this cocoon of safety that they created around him. And he did feel safe, truly safe for the first time in his life.
When he was younger, lying about who he was, that he was gay, he never felt safe. He and Roman were always afraid they would be found out and that people would treat them horrible. As they went through college they still hid their relationship from everyone until one day his roommate found them in bed together. He texted pictures of him and Roman to everyone on campus and they started getting a lot of hate flung at them. One time someone covered his dorm door with used condoms and a note that said, “Here’s your lunch for the day. We know how much you love to eat cum.” He didn’t want to be there anymore. No one did anything to Roman like they did to him, because they were afraid of Roman. He was six two and a hundred and eighty pounds. He was on the football team and people didn’t want to piss him off. But they humiliated Rory every chance they got, but only when Roman wasn’t around to catch them. It got so bad that he dropped out of college and moved home. He told his parents what had happened and why. They didn’t care that he was gay. They loved him no matter what. They stood by him and supported him. He moved to the city to get a job and his own apartment. He was there a month when Roman showed up. He dropped out of school, too. He didn’t want to be there without Rory.