by Lina Langley
“I’ll come back in here when you’ve woken up a bit more,” he said. “But don’t worry, babe, I’ve already set it all up.”
Sean tried to keep his eyes open, but fighting his eyelids was too hard.
***
When he woke up, he couldn’t move his right hand. He could move every other part of him, both his legs, and his left hand and arm. He craned his head to look at where his hand was. His wrist was handcuffed to the bedpost.
He was glad not every part of him was handcuffed to the canopy bed, but still terrified about what he was feeling. He could hear Logan humming quietly near him, but at least he wasn’t on the bed.
Sean tried to stand up. He managed to do it, but he did call attention to himself. Logan looked at him from the sofa and smiled. “Hey,” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock you out.”
“It’s okay,” Sean said, glad to hear his own voice. “I… I was tired.”
He was tired. His tongue felt like sandpaper as he peeled it away from the roof of his mouth.
“That’s okay,” Logan said. “You’re awake now. Are you excited?”
“Nervous,” Sean replied. At least that felt like the truth.
Logan laughed. He had walked up to Sean and was standing right in front of him. Sean was vaguely aware that he looked different, then realized that he must have changed at some point. “You know,” Logan said. “I remember when we first talked about this. You said it sounded sexy as fuck, and I don’t think I realized just how right you were until you were cuffed to my bed.”
Sean swallowed. That did sound like something he would say. And he did think something like this would be fun, but not with fucking Logan. He wasn’t having fun at all. Logan approached him and tilted his head so that Sean was looking at him.
Sean hadn’t realized that he wasn’t looking right at Logan. When Logan twisted his head, he set his gaze on Logan’s eyes. There was a sparkle in them that Sean hadn’t seen before.
It made his heart begin to race. He tried to move away from Logan, but Logan’s thumb was on his lip and he was tracing the outline of Sean’s mouth.
Logan closed the space between them. It took Sean a few seconds to process what he was doing, even when his lips were on Sean’s own, even when the kiss had already begun to happen.
It took Sean a moment to react, but he finally did so. Despite himself, despite his entire body screaming to get away, he kissed him back. He didn’t have a choice. He didn’t close his eyes, he didn’t do anything, except let Logan finish and move away from him.
“You’re not feeling it yet, huh?” Logan asked, as if that was the most natural thing in the world.
It wasn’t. Sean shook his head. “You still have to give me some time to wake up,” he said. “You need to let me get used to this.”
“That’s fair,” Logan replied.
Sean tried to swallow down the knot in his throat. Logan grabbed Sean’s face with his hand and jerked him close to him. “Listen,” he said. “I have an idea.”
Sean couldn’t have spoken, even if he had wanted to. His face hurt from how hard Logan was pressing into it.
“Let’s get you into something more comfortable,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll be much more compelled to party if you feel more comfortable.”
Sean stared at him as Logan let go of his face. He wanted to tell him that nothing would make him feel more compelled to party right then, but that didn’t seem like the wisest course of action, so he simply nodded.
And then he closed his eyes and pretended that he was somewhere else.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Knight drove around the property a couple of times. He couldn’t see any cars parked outside, but there were a few lights in there, and according to what Tonya had sent him, the family wasn’t supposed to be there at all. Don was looking around over his shoulder, nervously. “Are you sure he’s here?” he asked.
Knight glared at him. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure of anything,” he said.
Don sighed. “I wish you were.”
Knight shook his head. He understood that Don was nervous, but his energy was rubbing off on Knight, and it was making him feel like shit. It wasn’t helping. They both avoided talking about Sean entirely, but the fact that he might be hurt hung over them like a dark cloud, and neither one of them seemed to be able to stop thinking about it.
Knight needed to make sure that he could rescue him. He needed to make sure that Sean got out of there, unscathed, and he didn’t have enough brain power to also be worrying about his little brother.
He circled the property again. In houses that looked as expensive as this one, it was a given that there would be a security system installed, though it wasn’t clear which company had done so. If there had been any indication, he might have called them to turn the alarm system off, but maybe it was better that something was triggered.
It probably was, he thought. He parked on the street, in full view of the neighbors, quite deliberately. He took the car out of gear, then killed the ignition. He turned to Don before he got out. “Listen to me,” he said. “Don’t get out of the car no matter what you hear. When the police arrive, and they will arrive, tell them everything you know. Give them proof.”
Don blinked. “I don’t have any proof,” he said.
Knight sighed. “The official license plate should be enough,” he replied, then reached into his breast pocket and grabbed his badge. “But if it isn’t, you show them this, okay?”
Don stared at him. Knight was fiercely protective of his badge and he had never, ever, let Don hold it, even when he was a little kid, so Knight sort of understood why he was so awed.
He wrapped his hand around it. Knight could see that he was pressing his hand so hard into it it’d leave an imprint on his skin.
“Don,” he said, as he grabbed the handle of the driver’s door. He didn’t turn around to look at his brother, but he could see his reflection on the window.
“What?”
Knight felt dizzy. His heart was beating very hard and his adrenaline was pumping. “I love you, kid,” he said. “Stay in the car.”
“Wait—”
He couldn’t. He couldn’t do it. He opened the door and then slammed it behind it. He took a few deep breaths as he approached the property. He couldn’t even look back, in case Don had gotten out of the car, in case he hadn’t listened to his direction.
If he lost Don, too… no, he couldn’t let himself go down that road. He couldn’t let himself think about it. He had already cased the house somewhat as he had been driving around it, but the place was a bit of a fortress. There were a lot of trees around the mansion, and the fences were taller than he was. Knight wasn’t short, but the obstacles made it all seem rather intimidating.
His best bet was the iron-wrought door, near the alarm system. It would certainly call the police immediately, which might work in his favor. If Sean was in there, and there was no way to be sure that he was.
Knight told himself to worry about that later. He grabbed the door and began to climb up, pulling himself up quicker than he had thought possible. There was no one outside.
He didn’t want to go through the front doors, because he didn’t particularly want to alert Logan Tattleborough that he was there. He started advancing to what he thought was a door, in a shaded hallway.
He jiggled the handle, but it was locked. Thankfully, it seemed like the door opened toward the inside, which made it possible for him to kick it down. Knight tried to control his breath. So much for being stealthy. He was going to have to break in, and fuck the consequences.
“Open up!” he screamed. “This is the United States Government. Open up!”
There was no answer. There was nothing. He drew his weapon before he decided to kick the door in. He took a step back, driving his heel into the door. The wood began to splinter and Knight sighed with relief. Some of these rich people really liked investing in doors, but these seemed pretty standard.
All
he had to do was keep kicking. He was aware that he was being loud, and that he should probably have another agent there to provide cover. The thought only crossed his mind for one second.
He didn’t care. He only needed to stay alive to ensure that Sean Connor himself was alive. The door creaked under his foot and swung open—or maybe it was entirely off its hinges, and he wasn’t able to tell which one it was.
He announced himself again, but there was no response. He made sure to go into the house stealthily. He couldn’t take a shot, but he had to go in. He didn’t see anyone around him, which was something of a relief.
He walked into the mansion, which was poorly lit, and gave his eyes a second to adjust. He could hear something. It sounded like music and it wasn’t close to him.
He thought it might be coming from upstairs. There was no other sound, but the entire mansion was too exposed, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to be able to walk through it without calling any more attention to himself than necessary.
He was slow, and deliberate, despite the fact that his body was screaming at him to run. Then he heard Sean.
He was sure of it.
He stopped entirely and closed his eyes again, trying to make sure that it wasn’t just his mind playing tricks on him. Then he heard it again. It was unmistakable.
Sean’s voice was quiet, more subdued than he’d ever heard it, but it was definitely his voice. He had found him, and he was alive, but he didn’t know how long that would last, and he didn’t know if he was okay.
He just knew that he was alive and that wasn’t enough. He began to take longer strides, but he couldn’t run, because it was too noisy. The stairs creaked as he went up them, but he heard someone else laughing, and then, as he approached, he heard music.
The music was quiet and muffled, perhaps because it was behind a door. For a second, Knight wondered how it was possible that no one had heard him knock down the door, but then again, the house was huge and that could certainly work to his advantage.
He approached the door, light-footed, then pressed his ear against it. He could hear Sean. That was definitely, unmistakably Sean. He didn’t sound like he was pleading, or crying, but he sounded upset. Then there was the other voice, a deeper voice. Whoever it was, they were slurring.
Knight took a deep breath, then tried to open the door. It was locked, and he could still hear them talking inside. He closed his eyes for a split second then knocked on the door.
It was instantly quiet. He could hear someone’s footsteps slowly approach. He wasn’t sure who it was, of course, but he could make the educated guess that it wasn’t Sean.
“Open the door,” Knight said.
“Go away,” the deep voice replied.
“Open the goddamn door right now,” Knight said.
“No,” the voice said.
Knight didn’t wait any longer. He kicked the door down, his weapon still drawn. Immediately, he was face to face with a man that looked about Sean’s age, his eyes were glazed over and smelled like alcohol.
“Rocky,” Sean said from behind him.
It took everything in him not to turn around and take Sean in his arms. The threat was right in front of him and Knight couldn’t let his guard down. Even through his eyes watering, he had to look right at Logan Tattleborough.
He didn’t look exactly like he did in the pictures—he looked far messier, his hair was stuck to his forehead and the sides of his hair, and he was bearing his teeth at Knight. Knight couldn’t help but think that he looked feral.
“Get on the ground,” Knight said. “Put your hands behind your back.”
Logan Tattleborough stared at him, then smirked.
He ran at Knight. Knight didn’t have a choice, he couldn’t think about it, he couldn’t do anything else. If Tattleborough tackled him, he would be defenseless, and a gun would be in play.
Knight aimed down and pressed the trigger. The sound of the gunshot made him wince. It had always made him wince, even when he was still a kid in the shooting range, but this was worse, because Sean Connor was right there, and Knight had still not managed to even look at what condition he was in and help him.
Logan stopped walking immediately. He went down to the floor, holding his knee, and screaming out in pain. Knight walked toward him, putting his weapon back in its holster, and then kicked Logan in the back. Logan screamed out again. Knight could vaguely hear himself telling him to shut up, and then Logan was balled up on the ground, his hands behind his back. He took his zip tie handcuffs out of his pocket, tied up Logan’s hands, then kicked him in the back again.
“Don’t fucking move, asshole,” he said. “Next time, it won’t be your knee.”
Logan whined. Knight dropped his hands so that he fell and then he looked up at Sean.
His eyes widened the moment that he saw him. He was cuffed to a bed post, and he was wearing a white tank top that looked about a size too small and a blue jockstrap. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he hadn’t slept.
“Sean,” he said. “Sean, are you okay?”
Sean looked at him, his eyes wide. “You’re here,” he said, more to himself than to Knight. “You really are.”
Knight was about to take the phone out of his pocket and call the police as he began to walk over to Sean, but he could hear sirens outside, and he knew he wouldn’t have to call anyone quite yet.
He took his jacket off and wrapped it around Sean’s shoulders, leaving his hands on Sean’s body. He noticed Sean was shivering. “It’s okay,” he said. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”
Sean shook his head slightly. “No,” he said, his head tilted down. Knight couldn’t stop himself. He grabbed Sean by the shoulders and brought him forward, enough that Sean protested because his wrist probably hurt, but Knight needed to hug him.
Sean buried his face into the crook of Knight’s neck.
“I’m here,” Knight said, holding him close. “I’m here.”
Sean moved away from him. He opened his mouth to warn him, but Knight didn’t need Sean to warn him, he knew exactly what was coming. He turned around at Logan, who was miraculously charging at him considering that he had just taken a gunshot in the knee, and slapped him hard enough to take him down to the ground again.
Knight got closer to him, then kicked him, softly, in the stomach. “What the fuck are you doing?” he asked, his voice a growl. “What the fuck do you think you are doing, asshole? I told you to stay put, didn’t I?”
“Rocky,” Sean said from behind him.
Knight didn’t listen to him. He kicked him again, this time harder, enough to make Logan cough.
“Rocky, stop!” Sean said.
Knight made his hands into fists at his sides, but he did stop. He kneeled down so that he was level with Logan’s face. “If you move again, I will kill you,” he said under his breath. “I don’t care what Sean says. And, I promise you, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Rocky,” Sean said. “Come here.”
Rocky stood up, then did as he was told as the sirens got louder and louder.
CHAPTER NINE
Sean woke up early in the morning. He had never been an early riser, but lately, just a few rays of sunshine were enough to wake him up. It had been two months since he had been rescued, but every morning, he made sure to check that his wrists weren’t bound, that he could move, that he was somewhere familiar.
This was as familiar as it got. He’d practically moved into Knight’s house behind the Connor mansion, caring very little about what his father might have thought. He felt safe in Rocky’s arms, and he didn’t give a shit about what anyone else thought.
He took a deep breath and looked out the window.
Rocky was breathing softly behind him, his arm around Sean’s waist, his scent filling the room.
“Hey,” Rocky said, his voice groggy with sleep. “We need to get some blackout curtains.”
Sean closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“You didn’t wake me up,” he said.
Sean tried not to roll his eyes. Knight never slept in around him anymore, and it didn’t matter how many times Sean had told him that it was okay, that he could fall asleep, that none of it had been his fault. But he knew Rocky wouldn’t believe him.
He rolled over so he was facing Knight. Through the last couple of months, he was sure that the lines around Knight’s eyes had gotten deeper and that he had lost weight. “I wish you’d sleep,” Sean whispered.
“Yes, well, I wish you’d sleep too,” Knight said, then grabbed his hands and brought them up to his lips. He kissed Sean’s fingers softly. “You never sleep enough anymore.”
Sean sighed, then sat up. He was wearing a black shirt that used to be Knight’s and hung big off him. He didn’t like going to bed shirtless anymore, though he hadn’t minded it so much beforehand. Before everything had happened.
Knight sat up with him, a firm, large hand on Sean’s back. “Good morning, babe,” he said.
“Good morning,” Sean replied. He lay his head on Knight’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
“What are your plans for the day?”
“Nothing,” Sean said.
He could feel the effort Knight had to make not to tense up. Sean knew that Rocky was very patient with him, especially as things stood. He remembered collapsing in Rocky’s arms as he was released from his handcuffs, then burying his face into Rocky’s chest as Rocky carried him to the car.
He was shaking for a while. It could have been minutes, but it might as well have been days. He remembered the way that Rocky had looked down at him from the backseat as Don asked him if he was okay, as Don drove back to the Connor mansion.
He remembered the way Rocky had stroked his hair and told him that everything was going to be okay, that he was right there, that he was going to hold him until everything was alright. He was wearing his own clothes, but he didn’t know when he had put them on. He could hardly remember leaving the house.
All he could remember was the way Rocky’s shirt smelled. It smelled right, and it made everything feel right, and his heartbeat had felt like it had almost returned to normal. Not entirely, but a little. Then he had fainted.
