by D. J. Manly
Ciel released him, looking up at his face from where he still knelt.
“Ciel,” Scott said, reaching down and pulling him to his feet. “Your mouth is bleeding. God.” He kissed it gently, tasting his blood.
Ciel reeled a little. Scott reached out and steadied him. “Are you all right?”
The room seemed to spin. “You better get me to a … hospital, Scott. Scott…” he said, reaching out, and then everything went black.
Epilogue
“I’m so glad you called me,” Amanda told Scott in the waiting room of the hospital.
Scott put his head in his hands. “God, I thought … I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him, Amanda. I…”
“The doctors will fix him up. He’ll be all right.”
Hunter came back into the waiting room now with two paper cups filled with coffee. He handed one to Scott and gave Amanda the other one. “Any more news?”
“No,” Amanda said. “And thanks for the coffee. We have to wait. Where’s Ramsay?”
“He went out for some air. He’s got a thing about hospitals. He wouldn’t tell me what.”
The doctor suddenly walked into the room. Scott stood up, Amanda behind him. He nodded at them. “He’s got three broken ribs. We thought one of the ribs had punctured the lung, but fortunately not. Came close. He took one hell of a blow to the chest. Did you report this to the police?”
Scott shook his head.
“Well, I’d consider it. Anyway, he’s in a lot of pain. He’ll be coughing quite a bit over the next few weeks, but that’s good. It will ward off pneumonia. He needs to rest, take it easy. I’ve prescribed some painkillers, but nothing too heavy. There’s not much more we can do. He’s young. He’ll heal.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
He nodded. “You can take him home in a half hour.”
Amanda squeezed Scott’s hand. “He’s going to need you to take care of him.”
Scott nodded. “Amanda,” he said. “Ciel asked me about going to counseling with him.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to find Ramsay,” Hunter said.
Amanda nodded at him. “Meet you outside.”
When he’d left, Scott continued, “I want to try. It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but damn it, he’s worth it, Amanda. Ciel is worth it.”
Amanda hugged him and smiled. “I’m here for both of you, you know that.”
Scott nodded. “Yes. I know that.”
They walked out to the front desk. When Ciel appeared, Scott’s face lit up. He rushed over to him and took his arm. “Let’s go home, baby,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
*
Hunter finally found Ramsay sitting on a bench around the back of the hospital. He seemed to be watching a few ducks swimming around in a little pond. Hunter went to sit beside him. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey, how’s Ciel?”
“Okay. We’re ready to go. Coming?”
He nodded, and stood up.
“So,” Hunter asked as they walked around to the parking lot where Amanda’s car was waiting, “whatcha got against hospitals, man?”
Ramsay glanced up at the tall white building. “A friend of mine died in this place once.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I just don’t like them, that’s all. Hunter?” He suddenly placed a hand on his arm.
“What?”
“Are you leaving? Are you going to one of Larose’s houses in Europe?”
“I don’t know yet. Why?” Hunter met his eyes. Was it possible that he gave a shit? Dare he hope?
Ramsay held his eyes for a second, then looked away. “No reason.” He shrugged. “Just wondered.”
“I’ll have to let you know,” Hunter said, and he walked out ahead of him, his heart in his throat.
*
An hour later, Amanda’s driver had dropped off Scott and Ciel. Ciel seemed to be in good spirits, although he looked rather pale. Scott laid his head on his shoulder at one point and it had brought tears to Amanda’s eyes. They had to be all right. Now that Scott had agreed to go to counseling, maybe they stood a chance. They loved each other so much. “I’ll call you,” Scott had told her, and Ciel had reached out his hand and took hers. “Thanks,” he said.
“It’s the least I can do,” Amanda replied. After they had disappeared inside their apartment, Amanda took one look at Ramsay and Hunter, and asked them if they were hungry.
“Famished,” Ramsay said, grinning.
“I could eat,” Hunter said.
“Pizza,” Amanda declared, and they stopped at a pizza joint a few miles away from the house and pigged out.
As soon as they got home, Ramsay said he was tired and headed off to his room. Amanda took Hunter’s arm and steered him into the living room. “Ramsay seemed sad. He was quiet at the pizza place.”
Hunter shrugged. “The hospital got to him, I suppose.”
“Hunter, let’s talk for a while, okay? I have a proposition for you.” She sat on the sofa and patted the seat beside her.
Hunter gave her a curious look, and sat down.
*
Ramsay lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Was Hunter really going to go to Europe? It would probably mean that he’d never see him again. The thought of never seeing Hunter again had been nagging at him all evening. Maybe it was watching Scott and Ciel together. When he saw the state Scott was in when they had arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t stay there. He had to get out, get some air. It wasn’t only because his friend Sammy had died there in that hospital after being beaten up by a john. However, it did remind him of one thing—no one had cared about a drug-addicted prostitute, and no one cared about him either. Unless you had money and power in this world, you’d live an unremarkable life. He’d read that somewhere, and he decided to make it his own credo. One day he’d have money. One day some rich and powerful man would fall in love with him and take him out in society. He’d take him places and buy him clothes. He’d eat lobster and drink champagne for breakfast. He didn’t care what Scott said. Scott was too wrapped up in Ciel to know anything about it. He had to stick to his goals. He had to find that rich man who would allow him to live the way he wanted to … who would make him count in this world. That guy was out there, waiting. He could be just a client or two away. He couldn’t be distracted, and if Hunter was leaving, well … let him go. Ramsay, he whispered to himself in the dark, let him go … let go of him … let go of your heart…
*
“What do you want to talk about?” Hunter asked.
“I want you stay here with me, even after Ramsay leaves,” Amanda stated. “I want to pamper you a little. Will you let me?”
He laughed. “No one’s ever wanted to pamper me before. Amanda, I haven’t decided if I will go to Europe yet. I…”
“If you don’t go to Europe, will you stay with me?”
“What about my father? He wants me to…”
“He won’t be a problem. Trust me.” She met his eyes.
“Amanda, what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything really. I just let him know that I could make a hell of a lot more trouble for him than he could make for me. Men like that always underestimate women, especially women with money.”
“He could tell people about, you know … the arrangement you have here with different men, and…”
She laughed. “Oh, darling, really.” She met his eyes. “Who would believe that a mere woman has that ferocious an appetite! Everyone knows we lassies just lie there.” She batted her eyelashes at him.
Hunter shook his head, then grinned. “You’re something else, Amanda. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman quite like you before.”
“You bet your sweet ass you haven’t, baby. Your father doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.”
Hunter laughed.
Amanda sobered. “Stay with me,” she urged. “Let’s show that white ass father of yours he doesn’t own t
he world. I want to take you out in that world, Hunter. You’ll see the hypocrisy and the bullshit, but you’ll be there … and it just might make that old man of yours sweat a bit. I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
“I think I might like that too,” Hunter said. “What about Ramsay?”
“He’ll stay until the three months are up, and then he’ll decide. He’s free to leave or stay. My feeling is that he won’t stay.”
Hunter nodded. “Will there be another guy?”
“Well, we’ll make sure that there are a variety of boys to whet your appetite and to satisfy mine. What do you say?” She waited while he sat back against the sofa and closed his eyes. “Hunter? You’re not going to let that old man of yours run you out of town, are you?” She made a motion with her hand like a gunfighter who was firing his gun.
Hunter’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up straight. “No, Amanda,” he said. “I’m not.”
The End
Who is Amanda?
This series began with the book Amusing Amanda.
Amanda is a young forties widow who has money to burn. She endured a boring marriage to a rich man and had lived the life of the rich, which she viewed as pretentious. Once widowed, she decided to do away with the constraints associated with class and gender. Amanda is not afraid to demand what she wants sexually. She achieves sexual gratification by watching beautiful men having sex. There is only one problem—Amanda doesn’t always have as much control over the situation as she thinks she does.
In book one, we meet Scott. Scott is half African-American. He survived a series of foster homes as a child, and eventually ended up at the Agency, which is an escort service catering to the rich. It supplies beautiful men to those who are able to rent their services. Scott is Amanda’s live-in companion. He has been with her a few years already when the story begins.
Tired of the parade of muscle boys they find on the beach, Amanda goes looking for the most beautiful man in the world. She finds him in France. His name is Ciel.
Born in America, Ciel was taken to France as a teenager to live with his French father. He worked in a fancy hotel in Paris, but hated it. He is not very good at taking orders. He wants to graduate from a university and become a writer, which is something his wealthy father doesn’t approve of, so he refuses to help support Ciel. In exchange for a chance to earn his degree in the U.S., all expenses paid, he agrees to live with Amanda for a specified period of time and amuse her, with Scott.
What happens when Ciel meets Scott … is explosive.
The series continues with Amusing Amanda: Chase and Cassidy.
In book two, Amanda requests two young men from the Agency. Chase and Cassidy come to live with her. They are very different. Chase is older, more mature, and trying to finish a counseling degree. He wants out of the “profession.” Cassidy is younger and cocky. He is looking for someone to support him, and is enthusiastic about living in Amanda’s grand house.
Chase and Cassidy clash from day one!
The third book is Suffering Jordon.
After the tragedy in book two, Chase has given up his dreams and decides to remain with Amanda. When Amanda’s father dies, her half-brother Jordon comes to stay with her temporarily. Jordon was once a race car driver. Years before, he had a terrible accident in mysterious circumstances. Now he is a race car designer. Amanda and Jordon were never close, Jordon doesn’t approve of his sister’s “lifestyle,” and he certainly doesn’t approve of Chase.
How will Chase “suffer Jordon”?
Although the Amusing Amanda series is very hot, it offers something more than the typical male/male erotica. Amusing Amanda introduces readers to Scott, Ciel, Chase, Cassidy, and Jordon. You are exposed to their passions and dreams, disappointments and pain … but most of all, to their hearts.
In The Agency, the reader gets a closer look at the Agency itself. You will meet two intriguing new characters, Ramsay and Hunter. The Agency also brings back the other characters readers have come to love throughout the series. Read it, and see what happens when they all come together.
Amusing Amanda
Amusing Amanda: Chase and Cassidy
Amusing Amanda: Suffering Jordon
Amusing Amanda: The Agency
Are all available at Liquid Silver Books.
The End
About the Author:
D.J. Manly is first and foremost a writer, but is also a college professor, a small business operator, and a sociologist who works as a consultant on research projects. D.J. is a proud Canadian who lives in French Canada, and is fluent in both English and French. Human rights are a great concern, and D.J. longs for a peaceful world free of sexism, racism, and homophobia.
D.J. writes for the pure love of writing, and always with the reader in mind. If D.J. doesn't enjoy reading it, it won't be written. Great characters, great sex, and a great love are the elements you'll find in D.J's work.
There is nothing quite as exciting as beautiful men falling in love. Come taste D.J's work, but be careful—you may become as addicted to reading it as D.J. is to writing it. One reviewer wrote that reading D.J. can give you "third degree burns in an air conditioned room." That says it all.
E-mail D.J. any time with questions or comments. Visit D.J. online at www.djmanly.com
