by Christi Snow
Ryder rose with Jeff’s help. He had stayed by his side throughout the entire ordeal.
But right now, Ryder needed to get to Stig. He started to walk away, but then stopped to ask the police officer. “Peter will stay in jail, right?” He had to make sure that he wasn’t a threat to Stig anymore.
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about him. He’ll be our guest at the county jail for the foreseeable future.”
“Okay, thanks.” He wanted to be relieved, but that wouldn’t happen until Stig looked at him again, free and clear of any drugs. Then he would make sure that nothing ever threatened Stig’s happiness again. Ever.
The hospital.
Ryder stepped off the curb and then stopped, confused about how to proceed. He didn’t know where the hospital was. Hell, he wasn’t even sure where the keys to the truck were. Stig had done all the driving yesterday. The odds were good that the truck keys were in his pocket...at the hospital.
Jeff draped an arm around his shoulder. “Come on. You’re in no condition to drive. William can take you to the hospital.”
“Okay. Thanks.” What would he have done if William and Jeff hadn’t been here today? It wasn’t something he wanted to consider.
***
As they skidded to a halt in front of the hospital, it was larger than Ryder expected. He said as much to William.
“Yes,” William agreed. “It serves all of Carson and several of the surrounding counties. Luckily, the head of the ER is my uncle, so he should be able to get you into to see Stig right away. I texted him from The Peacock to let him know we were coming.”
A large guy, who was a bit more fat than muscle but who looked almost exactly like an older, grayer version of William, met them at the reception desk of the ER.
“Hi, you must be Ryder.” He reached out and shook Ryder’s hand. “I’m Dr. Carmichael. Stig has been asking for you. Come on back.”
“He’s okay?” He wanted to feel relief, but didn’t think that would happen until he actually saw Stig for himself.
“Yes, he’s responding well to treatment. He was injected with a veterinary grade-sedative called etorphine hydrochloride. It’s generally used for large mammals—elephants, rhinos, and etcetera—so it’s extremely fast acting. It can be very dangerous to humans, even fatal if the dosage is too high. It doesn’t look like your friend received that powerful of a dose, and we were able to quickly counteract the effects with an antidote called naloxone. He’s still a bit groggy and is going to feel pretty rough the rest of the day, but he should fully recover.”
The doctor knocked on the doorframe and pushed the door open. “Mr. Minton, you have a visitor.”
Stig lifted groggy eyes, glimmering from his incredibly pale face to look at Ryder. “Ry...” he said with a garbled, scratchy voice. An IV line led to his left hand and there were way too many machines around him. Was he really okay?
Ryder rushed over to Stig’s bed and cradled his head. “God, you scared me. When I saw him carrying you, you were completely limp. I thought you were dead.” His voice hitched on a sob.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m here. You’re here. We’re both okay.”
William touched Ryder’s shoulder. “We’re going to leave and give you guys a bit of privacy.”
“Thanks.”
When the door closed behind them, Stig tugged at Ryder. “Come here. Lay down with me.”
“No, you’re hurt. I can’t get in your hospital bed with you.” Although he really, really wanted to touch and hold Stig as tight as possible and never let him go.
“I’m fine, just a little nauseated and sleepy. The doctor says that will pass, that it’s just like a hangover where I missed the party.”
A full body shudder shook Ryder. “Thank fuck, you missed that party. Stig...” His voice broke again at all the possibilities of what could have happened. If he hadn’t come around that corner right then...
“I know, baby. Come on. I need to hold you as much as you look like you need to do the same with me right now.” Stig’s eyes filled with tears. “Don’t make me beg, because I will do it.”
There was no way he could resistance that. If Stig needed him in bed with him, then he would be there. He nodded, slipped off his shoes and gingerly lay down beside Stig. He closed his eyes as Stig pressed against him, inhaling his comforting scent. A scent that meant home, security, and love.
For the first time in what felt like hours, Ryder took a deep breath. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I really am. Thanks to you. I heard you went all Rambo on Peter.”
“Um, a little, but I think my camera looks worse than him, unfortunately.”
Stig kissed the top of Ryder’s head. “I’ll buy you a new one. Hell, I’ll buy you every model made if that’s what you want. You saved me today. Now, we need to get me out of here, so that we can get on the road to St. Louis.”
Ryder reared back to look at Stig. “What? You’re in the hospital. There’s no way we can go to St. Louis now.”
“We can, and we will. The doctor already said I’d be released in just a little bit.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? You were drugged this morning.”
Stig brushed his thumb over Ryder’s cheekbone. “And I’m fine now. Get some coffee in me—because I totally missed getting enough caffeine this morning—and I’ll be good to go. I’ve been told that I need to go by the police station to make a statement. I’m assuming you still need to do that, too. After I’m released, we can go together.” Stig gave him a reassuring smile. “Then we get on the road. We only have a few more hours driving to go. We can’t miss your appointment tomorrow. That’s unacceptable. I’m not going to let Peter disrupt our life anymore.”
No matter what Stig said, Ryder couldn’t see how he could possibly be up for a road trip today, but Ryder could wait it out and let reality set in when Stig stood up and had to start moving around. It was easy to be positive about how he would feel while lying flat on his back.
Chapter Thirty
Stig
Stig had never been so happy to see a hotel come into view. They were staying at the hotel right around the corner from the hospital where Dr. Sturgarten had his practice in downtown St. Louis. Just a couple of blocks west of the Arch, the traffic had been crazy to get here for the last hour and a half.
Ryder had been right. It had probably been too much for both of them to try to finish out the drive to St. Louis after their trying morning, but he refused for Ryder to lose his appointment.
After he had been released from the hospital, William had taken the two of them by the police station where they’d made their statements. The Carson police department had already checked in with the Denver PD and had reassured them that Peter wouldn’t be getting out of jail for a long time to come. He’d proven to be a threat, which didn’t go over well at bail hearings.
They’d also discovered that Peter had found them through Staci, the gallery owner. She had posted the photo of the two of them on her Instagram account effusing her excitement about having “the Stig Minton” interested in her art. The post had pinged on the Internet notification Peter had set up for Stig’s name. Once in Carson, it hadn’t been hard for him to pinpoint where to find Stig and lay in wait.
It had been a hell of a long drive to St. Louis despite the fact that they’d taken breaks often, even taking a couple of naps in rest areas.
Stig looked across the truck to Ryder, who’d been dozing the last thirty minutes or so.
He stirred now and peered out the windshield. “Are we here?”
“Yes, come on. We’ll let the valet take care of the truck and luggage. I don’t know about you, but all I want now is food and a bed, and not necessarily in that order.”
“Agreed,” Ryder grunted as he sat his seat up. He squinted through the windshield. “Where are we again?”
Stig’s gaze swung across the truck to him. Fucking damn. He’d thought they’d been stopping enough to keep Ryder sharp, but it shouldn
’t be a surprise that he was regressing. “St. Louis,” Stig said softly. “Do you remember who I am?”
Ryder frowned. “Yeah, Stig.” He opened his door, leaving the words trailing off behind him. “The love of my life.”
Stig froze. Had he heard that right? But he couldn’t ask.
Ryder was already gone.
Stig jumped out of the truck, tossed his keys and gave his name to the valet, and took off after Ryder. He’d already disappeared through the grand entrance of the hotel.
When he caught up with Ryder at the reception desk, it was just in time to hear him ask for a change in their room. “There was an error in the reservation. We just need a single room with a king sized bed.”
“Of course, Mr. Garrett, that’s an easy fix,” the hotel clerk said.
“Thank you. Also, how late does room service run?”
“We have room service set up with a wide variety of cuisine from the area restaurants. You can order by calling extension one-four-five up until midnight.”
“Excellent. Thank you.”
For a moment in the truck, he’d been sure Ryder’s brain had been glitching, but there was no sign of that now. Ryder was confident, in charge, and obviously planning a night-in for the two of them in their single room. A frisson of excitement and anticipation worked its way through Stig’s core.
He raised an eyebrow when Ryder glanced over at him.
“Any objections?” Ryder asked.
“Nope, not a single one.”
Their room was on the seventh floor, and neither one of them said a word on the elevator ride up. But as soon as the door to the hotel room closed behind them, Ryder rounded on Stig and pressed him up against the door, kissing him soundly. The kiss was passion and love, desperation mixed with anticipation.
When Ryder lifted his head, they were both panting for air. “I’ve needed to do that since I saw you this morning in Peter’s arms. I’m so sorry, Stig. I’ve been so stupid. I want you, only you, if you’ll still have me.”
“Yes, you’re all I want.” Stig reached up and tugged Ryder’s head down to kiss him some more. He was about to dive under Ryder’s clothes when his stomach echoed with a loud rumble of hunger.
Ryder groaned and lowered his head to Stig’s shoulder with a small laugh. “Way to set the mood, right?”
“I promise you, the mood isn’t broken. I need to feed you. Let’s order some room service. It should take a little bit for it to be ready.” Stig winked and then lowered his gaze to Ryder’s heavy erection prominent even in his jeans. “We can concentrate on other things while we’re waiting for it to be delivered.”
They scrambled for the room service menus and made their selections. While Stig made the phone call to order, Ryder began to unbutton Stig’s shirt. As each button popped free, his heart rate increased. Ryder placed a kiss on the exposed skin. By the time Stig hung up the phone, Ryder had his shirt completely open, and his breathing had gotten incrementally faster.
“The waiter taking the order probably thought I was a pervert, getting off on ordering food,” Stig gasped and then moaned as Ryder found a particularly sensitive spot right above his nipple.
Ryder nibbled at the puckered nub. “That would be a weird kink, wouldn’t it? I’d much rather get off on you.”
Damn. Stig was pretty sure he could orgasm without touching his cock when Ryder said things like that. “I’m okay with that, but we only have thirty minutes, so you might want to speed this up a bit.”
“Are you trying to rush me?” Ryder asked as he dropped his hands to Stig’s belt buckle.
Ryder unbuckled, unbuttoned, and unzipped Stig’s pants. As Ryder dipped his hand into Stig’s pants and stroked his long length, Stig grunted as pleasure speared through him. “Definitely...ungh...not rushing anything.” His hips thrust into Ryder’s grip, but when he closed his eyes to enjoy the moment, Peter’s leering face swam behind his eyelids, Peter’s hand gripping his cock. His eyes flew open again in horror and desperation.
Ryder hadn’t noticed.
Stig clung to the reality of the moment here with Ryder, only Ryder. “Ry, I want you to fuck me. Please. Erase the memory of his hands on me.” Panic threatening to overwhelm him, he clutched at Ryder. He couldn’t let Peter have this part of him.
Ryder froze. “He didn’t...”
“No, but I only want to feel your hands on me when I close my eyes. Right now, I close my eyes and I hear his voice and feel his grip.” Tension clung to him, threatening his relationship with Ryder.
“Shh,” Ryder soothed as he continued to stroke Stig’s cock. He bit his neck.
Stig tried to relax into Ryder’s soothing, arousing touch and focused on Ryder’s voice.
“I’ve got you. Do you know why?” He didn’t give Stig time to answer. “Because you’re mine. From now on, you belong to me, and I belong to you.” Ryder punctuated the words with tiny bites across his sensitive skin.
Stig cried out, “Yes, yes, yes.”
Reluctantly, Ryder pulled his lips from Stig’s skin. His cheeks were red with the flush of desire when he met Stig’s questioning gaze.
“Strip and get on the bed,” Ryder instructed, his tone brooking no argument.
Not that he had any problem with those instructions. He needed this right now, Ryder taking control. Hell, he needed this for the rest of his life. Forget visiting BDSM clubs. Ryder fulfilled him in every single way. He scrambled to do Ryder’s bidding. No, he couldn’t move fast enough to do what Ryder demanded.
But he stilled to watch Ryder undress. Ryder undressed with very careful, precise movements. He sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes, and Stig leaned forward and trailed a line of kisses up Ryder’s spine.
Ryder arched his back with a moan.
There was no doubt Ryder wanted this, was just as turned on. But he worried about over-tiring Ryder before his appointment tomorrow.
“You’ve had a long day,” Stig whispered. “Why don’t you lie back and let me take care of you?”
Ryder laughed. “I’ve had a hard day? Good god, Stig. A few hours ago, you were in the hospital. Relax, I’m fine. I want this. I want you. No more coddling me. Not now. Tonight, this is about the two of us here together. No one else is in this room but us.” He stood and shucked his pants, removing a condom and a lube sachet from his wallet.
Stig raised an eyebrow and had to chuckle at Ryder’s preparedness. “Who would have guessed that just a few weeks ago you were a virgin?”
“What can I say?” Ryder crawled over Stig, pushing him back onto the mattress. “I had a very good, very inventive teacher who’s inspired me to always be prepared.”
“He sounds like a wise man.” Stig nodded and then shoved his hips at Ryder as Ryder grabbed hold of his leaking cock.
“Hmm? Oh yes, very wise...” Ryder licked up his length, taking the tip in his mouth and sucking hard.
Moist, tight, tantalizing heat engulfed his hard dick. Stig moaned guttural and deep.
“Also, so very well endowed,” Ryder added right before deep throating Stig’s cock like a pro.
“Ry,” Stig panted out as he gently thrust in and out. “Your mouth is a thing of beauty.” He gasped a few breaths and then groaned low. “Damn...you need to stop. I don’t want to come until you’re in my ass.”
Ryder slowly pulled off his shaft with an extra suck and swipe of his tongue that had Stig cursing. Zings of spine-tingling arousal exploded from his balls. He was so, so close, a drop of precum oozed out the tip of his cock.
With a mischievous smirk, Ryder dipped over his throbbing dick and licked it off, applying tantalizing heat at the tip that could have him coming if there was just a little bit more. But Ryder had already pulled back as Stig’s hips thrust of their own accord into empty air.
Relief flooded Stig at the distinctive sound of crinkling plastic. Ryder opened the condom and then gently slid it on, smoothing it down his length. His shaking hands and leaking dick betrayed how close to the edge
Ryder skirted.
Ryder looked up, focused on Stig’s ass and balls, and his cock flexed in reaction. Stig couldn’t wait to feel that move in his ass.
Another drop of precum leaked, dripping onto Stig’s stomach. “You’re killing me, Ry. I need you in my ass. Now.”
“I haven’t even prepped you yet.”
Stig lifted his legs and presented his hole with a shimmy. “Well, get to work, young man.”
“Yes, sir, you demanding bastard.” Ryder grabbed the lube sachet and ripped it open. He drizzled the cold liquid onto Stig’s ass.
Stig hissed.
Ryder snorted. “Remember that when you rush me next time.”
Before Stig could give a snarky reply, fingers painted lube over his taint, hole, and balls, and he couldn’t think past the lust and anticipation. Then finally, finally a finger brushed over his hole, rubbing, massaging and then breaching.
Stig’s breath rushed out in a whoosh. Even having this one small part of Ryder inside of him felt more powerful than it had ever had with anyone else before.
Ryder stretched and explored, but Stig wanted more.
“Another,” he instructed.
Ryder’s eyes darkened in the low light, but he followed the command and another finger breached Stig’s ass.
“Fuck, Ry.” It was already too much, but not enough. He was so turned on. “No more. I need you. Now.”
“But...”
“No, I’m fine. You know me, I like a bit of pain. A little burn will just make it better.”
He pulled Ryder up to his chest by the arms and hooked his legs around Ry’s hips, yanking him in tight. Ryder’s cock slid along the long line of his crease.
Stig groaned at the sensation. So close, but not there yet. “Again,” he demanded.