EM Lynley - Precious Gems 1 - Rarer Than Rubies by EM Lynley

Author:EM Lynley [Lynley, EM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“WHO’S Marc? You said his name in your sleep.” Reed watched Trent

rub his eyes as he came fully awake.

“Marc?” The look of near terror on Trent’s face told Reed he’d hit

a touchy subject, but it was too late to un-ask the question.

“My… uh… boyfriend. Partner.” Trent rolled away from Reed and

huddled at the far edge of the cot, as far from Reed as he could get, given

his limited mobility.

Reed hadn’t expected his stomach to drop ten stories at Trent’s

response. Boyfriend? Partner? The words cut deep into the unexpected

contentment Reed had experienced since he’d met Trent.

“I was under the impression you were single.” Reed swallowed but

the lump in his throat still threatened to choke him. “Is he in LA?” “No.” Trent’s voice was so soft Reed could barely hear the reply.

“He’s dead.”

“Oh, God. I’m sorry.” Reed hated himself for the sense of relief he

felt. But even a dead lover was competition if Trent hadn’t completely

gotten over his loss. “You don’t have to tell me. I won’t ask again.” “It’s okay. It happened two years ago.”

Trent sounded so forlorn Reed wanted to put his arms around him

and make him feel safe, but it didn’t seem like a good idea at the

moment. He needed to let Trent control the rest of this conversation. “I’ll tell you. I want to.” Trent rolled back toward Reed, eyes redrimmed and full of pain.

Reed reached out to stroke Trent’s shoulder and got a small smile

in return, but a couple of tears spilled out of Trent’s eyes.

“Marc ran an art gallery in LA. He was very successful but he

always complained it was boring. He’d travel sometimes for work, and

I’d go with him, but most of the time he was at the gallery sucking up to

rich people—as he put it.

“So, for excitement, he bought a motorcycle.”

Reed thought he knew where this was going, but Trent hadn’t

objected to the prospect of Reed taking him on the bike.

“No, he didn’t die in a motorcycle accident.” Trent had read Reed’s

mind. “After a while the bike wasn’t enough and he needed something

else: hang gliding, off-trail skiing, bungee jumping, skydiving. None of

those are particularly dangerous if you do it right and you take safety

precautions. I even did some of it with him, until fear outweighed the fun

for me.”

“You jumped out of a plane?” Reed couldn’t keep incredulity out

of his voice.

“Yeah, with the instructor—not on my own. Still, I didn’t worry

about Marc until some of his skydiving friends got him talking about

BASE jumping. That’s where you jump off of something instead of out

of a plane.”

“I’ve heard of it. It’s a lot more dangerous.”

“Right. A lot of people get hurt when they crash against the cliff or

building. Well, Marc went with these friends to jump off some cliffs in

Mexico.” Trent paused and Reed realized he’d been holding his breath,

dreading the predictable conclusion to Trent’s story. “I couldn’t eat or

sleep or write, waiting for him to call to say he was okay after they’d

jumped.”

Reed swallowed, waiting for the inevitable.

“Eventually he called. He was fine. Not a scratch on him.

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