Taking Care of You [Taking Care 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Dani Gray

  “Lay it on me, doc.”

  “First, let me try a couple of tests.”

  The doctor went over and pulled the sheets off of Shane’s legs. One leg was in a cast that went from his mid-thigh to ankle. The other leg looked so skinny and pale. It was this second leg that the doctor went to and started to touch it.

  “Can you feel this? My touching you.”

  Shane was ready to cry. He actually felt the gentle touch the doctor had on his leg.

  “Oh my god, I feel you lightly on my leg.”

  “Okay, now close your eyes and let me know if and where you feel my hand?”

  “Wow, you are now touching my knee.” After the doctor moved his hand, Shane said, “Ankle.”

  This went on for a couple of minutes. The doctor kept moving his hand around, and Shane kept saying if he felt the touch and where.

  “Okay, Shane, you can open your eyes.”

  When Shane finally opened his eyes, he had tears on his face that he didn’t even know he had cried. Michael was standing there holding out a tissue, with such a look of pride and concern on his face.

  “Are you going to be okay, Shane?”

  With a voice full of wonder and excitement Shane said, “Yeah, I think I will be great.”

  Dr. Evans looked smugly at them. “Just like I said, you are going to be fine. Let’s take a look at the incision site to make sure all is good there. If you keep progressing this well, I see no reason why you can’t go home in a couple of days.”

  Just then a large man walked in.

  Shane smiled at the guy. “Les, glad you could make it. You’re right on time to speak to the doctor, too.”

  The blond man walked up and held his hand out to Michael. “Hi, I’m Les. I’m guessing you are Michael?”

  Michael quickly shook the hand. “Yes, nice to have a face to the voice.”

  Les just looked inquiringly at Shane, who mouthed, Tell you later.

  Les nodded before turning to the doctor and offered his hand. “Hi there, Dr. Evans. I’m Shane’s therapist, Les Owens. I’ve heard quite a bit about you and the great work you have done. Glad to have finally met you.”

  Shane was trying too hard not to laugh. The doctor was staring at Les so intently, he was pretty sure the guy was going to jump his friend right there in the hospital room.

  After a few seconds, the doctor pulled himself together. “Please, call me Jerrod.”

  Les almost purred. “My pleasure, Jerrod.”

  Shane gave them a moment, then cleared his throat, causing both men to jump.

  Dr. Evans gave himself a small shake. “Right. As I was about to do, let’s take a look at the incision and then we can go over the aftercare instructions.”

  Since Shane was already on his stomach, the doctor only had to pull the blankets down.

  “This is looking great, Shane. There is very little swelling, no redness and nothing looks like we should watch it or any concerns. Overall, I’m extremely pleased.”

  As Shane felt the covers being put back over his back, he couldn’t help smiling. He was finally going to be able to have a life instead of just living in one.

  “Can I lie on my side?” Shane asked. “My stomach and chest are getting a bit sore.”

  Everyone worked together to get Shane on his side, surrounded by pillows to keep him stable, and some more pillows for his casted leg.

  Les then began to question the doctor, bursting his little bubble. “What about the leg in the cast? Any damage there that we need to know about? When can I start Shane back on therapy for the other leg? When do you need to see him for follow-up?”

  “It’s looking great so far. Shane already has some feeling in his good leg, and he will get more as he heals. As I told Shane, he will probably never be able to walk again, but we were able to give him feeling again below the original injury. My plan was to improve his quality of life, and it looks like we have accomplished that.

  “You will be able to start therapy in about two weeks. Give the area some time to heal, and then slowly start with stretches. After two weeks of that, you can begin to gradually work back up to what you were doing in his therapy before this.”

  Dr. Evans turned to Shane. “You will get better, but remember to follow Les’s instructions. Don’t push too hard, too fast.”

  Shane was so overcome with emotion, he broke down and cried, huge sobs. He never thought he would have this again—feeling below the waist and maybe having better control over his own bodily functions, including being able to make love and feel it. He missed that, without even realizing how much he did.

  Both the doctor and Les turned and patted Michael on the back, then quietly left the room.

  Michael pulled the chair over so he was beside Shane’s head, quietly murmuring to him. After about five minutes of this, Shane started to calm down.

  “Oh god, Michael. I never thought I could have this again. Feeling. I’m even beginning to feel the sensation of the sheets and blankets. Why did my dad hate me so much? I know we still need to have that conversation, but can it wait till we get home?”

  “Of course, I’ll come over all the time to help you any way I can.”

  Shane forgot that he hadn’t yet had the chance to talk to Michael about moving in with him.

  “Michael, I know that your parents want to retire and travel. I heard what you said to the police. Would you consider moving in with me? You will have your own room for now, and we can see if we can make a relationship? I want the chance to get to know you, all of you.”

  “Are you sure about this, Shane? I know I’m not an easy person to live with. There have been some big issues in the past with my parents, and even though I’m still being treated, I don’t know if I will ever be better. I’m also going to need my stuff. I don’t think I can do this without the security of my stuff being in my space.”

  “Of course, you can bring your stuff. We can get movers to bring it all over. I have never wanted anything more. You will have your own space, and we can work toward trying to see if we can have a relationship, a future together. Will you try with me?”

  The smile that graced Michael’s face was sweet. “Yes, I think we have something special, too, and I don’t want to lose that. I will try to be all you need me to be.”

  “I just need you, flaws and all. We can work on it together. I’m even will to go with you when you see your psychologist. I’m also willing to do what it takes to make it work with us. I might not understand your issues, but I have my own, which I’m sure you will not understand.” Shane cocked his head as another idea hit him. “Do you think we should try couples therapy?”

  Michael shrugged. “Can’t hurt, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes, as well.”

  Shane put his hand on Michael’s cheek, wondering at how soft the man’s beard felt. He pulled Michael’s face to his, touching their lips together. What started as a gentle kiss soon became a roaring inferno. Tongues moved sinuously, as if dancing around a bonfire. They both kept giving and taking from each other, until finally Michael took charge.

  Shane was surprised that for someone with no experience, Michael knew such control—just how much pressure to apply, when to tease, and when to have them both burst into flames.

  Suddenly Shane shoved Michael away, frantically pushing at the blankets.

  “Oh my god, Michael, I’m hard. I can feel it.” Shane started laughing while he was crying. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve felt this! It’s been years, since I was thirteen years old.”

  “What do you mean, since you were thirteen? When your dad did this, Shane?”

  “Yes. I promise to tell you the rest of it, but please, can we talk about it later?”

  Shane was lying there with his hand under the blanket, slowly rubbing himself. He knew he sounded like a two-dollar whore with how much he was moaning, but it just felt so damn good. To feel his hand on his dick, sliding up and down, the sensations were overwhelming.

  He f
elt the bed move, then the blanket was pulled down, exposing his red and aching cock. Michael slowly started to reach out his shaking hand, then looked at Shane.

  “Can I touch you?”

  Shane was beyond ready to beg. “Please.”

  Michael gently touched his shaft, starting at the leaking head and spreading around the fluid to make it easier. As he slowly wrapped his hand around Shane’s cock, he began to move his hand up and down. The friction was so soft, and he needed more. The sensation of his hand shaking was actually adding to the pleasure.

  “Harder, faster, move, please.”

  Shane couldn’t have put a coherent sentence together if his life depended on it. The only thing that mattered to him was the hand on his cock, taking him higher and higher. He knew when the release came that it was going to be amazing, a full shower of fireworks.

  Suddenly, Michael added an extra twist at the head of his dick, and he was right. The explosion of cum from his cock had him slapping his hand over his mouth as he screamed. Electricity raced down his spine to explode in his balls.

  After coming for what felt like hours, Michael gently let his cock go and went into the bathroom. He could hear water running, and then Michael came back with a damp cloth and started to clean Shane up.

  That was the last thing he remembered.

  Chapter Four

  Shane was so happy to be home. The last four days had been busy and so emotional. He had laughed and cried so many times, was sure that Michael thought he was a basket case just waiting to fall apart. Being the sweetheart that he was, Michael just hugged him and said that what he was feeling was normal, and soon his emotions would level off. They finally started to level out yesterday, so the doctor felt he would be fine to go home today.

  What he was having such a hard time coping with was the feeling of just feeling. The sensation of even just the air moving over the skin of his feet had him in such awe that he couldn’t stop fanning himself. Then he would start to cry at being able to feel. The emotional roller coaster had him so drained by the end of the day.

  During his time in the hospital, Michael’s parents came every day to see him. He was told to call them Mom and Dad, but he didn’t know if he was ready to call Sandy and Aaron that. His past experience with parents made him wary.

  The older couple were great though. They helped make the arrangements to move Michael’s stuff, but only after Michael packed it all himself. No one else had permission to touch his belongings. After it was moved, Michael unpacked it all and slowly began to settle down in a new place.

  He knew that Sandy worried about Michael, fussing over him. It was good to see a family like theirs, one in which they really did love and care about each other. It was such a foreign concept to him, he sometimes didn’t know how to deal with it. When he started to feel overwhelmed, he usually went into his office and worked.

  Michael seemed to have reached an agreement with Travis, Shane’s housekeeper and cook. Travis wouldn’t go into Michael’s room, and they were working together on ways to make him feel more at home in his new home.

  Travis was even starting to cook some of Michael’s favorite foods, which was basically anything. Apparently, Travis was a better cook than Sandy, but Michael swore he would never tell his mom that.

  Travis had been with Shane for years now, ever since Shane had found him as a teen. Travis’s parents had beaten him and left him to die when they’d found out he was gay. He’d somehow managed to get out of the house with just the clothes on his back. Shane had found him outside his apartment building.

  When he’d gotten the story from Travis as to what had happened, he’d called the police and helped him press charges against his parents. Travis’s older siblings had never forgiven him for sending their parents to jail. Apparently, according to the church, they had been doing the right thing in beating and then trying to cure Travis of being gay.

  Since Travis had been seventeen at the time and only eight months away from his eighteenth birthday, he’d asked if he could stay with Shane. After agreeing, Shane had helped him to finish school and go to college where he’d studied food science. Even though Travis could get a job anywhere, he wanted to stay working for Shane, where he felt safe.

  He heard Michael calling out to him. “Shane?”

  “I’m in my office, Michael.”

  Michael strode into the room. He loved that while at home Michael didn’t have to wear his hoodies. The way the man filled out a T-shirt should be illegal. The seams looked as if they were going to rip open the moment Michael flexed any muscle.

  For someone who only stayed home, the body he had could put any Michelangelo statue to shame. Shane loved to just watch him move, so sensuously, and Michael wasn’t even aware of how beautiful he was.

  “What are you working on? Actually…” Michael frowned. “What is it you do? We never had a chance to talk about any of that.”

  “Computer programing, specifically games and apps. I help create the code in games and apps, but I also troubleshoot and beta test. For right now, I’m going through the stack of mail from while I was in the hospital.”

  As Shane was opening them, he sorted them into different piles. He would get to the important ones after he finished. Just as he was nearing the bottom of the pile, he found one with no return address on it. What he found in the envelope frightened and then pissed him right off.

  “Shane, you okay?”

  “No!” Shane cried out as he crushed the envelope in his hand. “When are these assholes going to leave me alone?”

  Sandy and Aaron came into the room when Shane yelled.

  “Shane?” Sandy asked, running over to him. “What’s wrong, hun?”

  “This!” He started to wave the letter around. “This is just so wrong. I haven’t done anything to anyone. Why can’t they just leave me alone?”

  Michael reached over, grabbed the paper, and began to read it out loud.

  You are a sick freak and need to die, painfully. I’m going to enjoy watching you burn as if you are in the fires of hell.

  Aaron turned to Michael. “You need to put that on the desk and don’t touch it anymore.” Aaron then moved his head to face him. “Shane, you need to call the police. After your being beat up, and now this, someone seems to be after you.”

  Shane just sat there shaking his head. “I don’t understand. Who is doing this? Why?”

  Aaron looked at Shane and then Michael. “That will be up to the police to figure out. Let them do their jobs.”

  Travis had come running in moments after Sandy and Aaron when he heard Shane yell. He looked scared, and that worried Shane.

  “Travis, are you okay?” Shane asked, feeling like a heel for having frightened the man.

  “No.” Travis shook his head. “I’m so scared, Shane. I have the same type of letters that have been sent to me, too.”

  “Why haven’t you told me about them? How many have you received?”

  “Only two, but I got them both while you were in the hospital. I wanted to wait till you were home to tell you about them.”

  “Do you still have them?”

  “Yes, I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I put them back in the envelopes and stuffed them in my desk drawer.”

  “Okay, leave them there for now. I’m calling the police. Travis, please go make some coffee and let me know when dinner will be ready.”

  Shane reached for his phone to call the police, and he hung up after explaining to them the problem. “They said they would have someone out to us as soon as possible.”

  Aaron had a thoughtful look on his face. “You have a large home here, and seem to have some money. I think you should consider hiring a guard or something while the police are investigating this. It sounds like both you and Travis have been targeted so far, but you don’t know if this is due to your being gay or for your money. I think that you should do this for the safety of everyone in this house. I know that Andy also lives here. Has he received any letters?” />
  Shane got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, just thinking that they were all being targeted because of him. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to anyone in his home, but especially Michael.

  “God, you’re right. I better check with Andy.”

  Shane grabbed his phone again and called Andy. They talked for a couple of minutes, and Shane yelled, “What! You’re kidding me. Bring it to my office please, and try not to touch it too much. I’ve called the police, and we’re waiting for someone to come by.”

  After Shane hung up, he just sat there, shocked.

  Why was this happening?

  Michael came over to Shane on the other side of the desk. “Come on, hun. Let’s go out to the living room and leave this stuff here for the police.”

  “I don’t understand this, Michael. Why is this happening to us? We haven’t hurt anyone or broken any laws. I’m scared that now that you are here, you will be targeted, as well, or hurt. I can’t let anything happen to you, Michael. I care about you too much.”

  “Shane, calm down,” Michael said as he grabbed Shane’s hand. “If we work together, we can get this taken care of.”

  Shane sat there feeling stressed, trying to breathe with the weight of his concern for everyone in the house, especially Michael. The fear that someone in the house would be hurt was suffocating Shane. The more he thought about it, the more he thought they needed some extra help.

  “I know of a company who helped another of the programmers out before. A friend of mine, Justin Palmer, was being stalked by his ex-boyfriend, and that’s how he met his husband, Eric Solomon, through the security company. Let me call Justin and see if they can help. Why don’t you go sit with your parents and let me make this call?”

  Michael nodded in agreement. After giving Shane a quick kiss, he turned to go. As Michael and his parents were leaving the room, Andy came in. He walked over to the desk and held the envelope toward Shane.

  “Here you go, Shane. What’s going on?”