Rescuing Jack by Caitlin Ricci

Author:Caitlin Ricci
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“NOT BEHIND me,” Jack whispered as he forced himself not to freeze as the couch dipped behind him when Marius got on. The movement stopped, and then the couch rose as Marius backed away. He came around the front where Jack could see him. If he’d had the guts to have his eyes open. The foldaway mattress squeaked as Marius lay down in front of him. The sheet shifted and Jack tried not to think, to not let his mind wander as he heard Marius softly sigh.

“What the hell happened to you?” he quietly asked.

Jack forced his eyes to open so that he could look at the other man. Once upon a time he would have loved to have someone like Marius in his bed. Confident, sexy Marius would have been a welcome lover and friend in his life. But now he couldn’t even see where he fit in his own world, let alone bringing another person into the mix. “Nothing,” he whispered, hating the lie of it. But saying the thing that had happened, the wound that had been opened, felt like it might be just too hard.

“Bullshit,” Marius snapped at him. “No one just wakes up one day and finds out they’re scared of damn near everything. No, something happened to you, and I’m tired of the runaround and trying to figure it out for myself because honestly I’ve got nothing but a lot of questions that you refuse to answer. So tell me what the fuck happened to you, Jack.”

Jack’s breath caught, and his back curled, bringing his knees up to his chest. He hugged himself tightly and shut his eyes, blocking out Marius’s words, his anger and the accusations between the lines of what he’d said.

“Uh-uh, not this time,” Marius growled. He pulled on Jack’s arms even as the smaller man struggled beneath him. Soon Marius had him unfolded, unprotected, and open. He hovered above him, his face inches from Jack’s so that when he opened his eyes Marius’s gaze was all he could see.

Jack tried to turn away, to pull out of Marius’s strong grip, but it didn’t help. He thrashed under him, crying out as hot tears streamed down his face. When he started sobbing Marius released his hands, and Jack scrambled toward the bathroom. He didn’t make it, though. He barely made it more than three feet before his legs gave out from under him, and he collapsed on the ground. He couldn’t breathe, could barely think, as Marius crouched beside him.

Marius didn’t touch him, and for that small gift Jack was grateful. Missy whined at him from the corner, and he reached for her. He looked beyond Marius’s legs and smiled at the small dog as she crept closer until his hands brushed her fur. She licked his hands and then his face before lying down in front of him, putting herself between him and Marius.

“Talk to me, Jack,” Marius whispered. “Please.”

Jack looked up into his gaze and saw worry there. But there was something else as well, something that made his gaze grow dark.

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