Sated in Ink

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Lincoln grinned, looked up at Ethan as Ethan growled, tugging on Holland’s hair as he fucked her mouth, hard.

  Lincoln wanted to be there, wanted to be part of this wake-up call, but he couldn’t.

  Though he was part of this. They’d made him part of this.

  This had to work.

  When Ethan finally came, Lincoln just sat there holding the phone, waiting for his lovers to quit panting so they could look at him.

  “Coffee?” he asked, and both of them nodded.

  “I have to work today, but I want coffee,” Holland said.

  “Well, make sure you get to work on time.” Lincoln paused. “Thank you for waking me up.”

  “Anytime, big boy,” Holland said. Her laughter was the last thing he heard before Ethan waved and hung up.

  Lincoln just shook his head and set his phone on the nightstand. He had work to do, and he would get to it. But first, he would remember what was important. Maybe then he’d figure out what inspiration he needed in order to be able to draw again. Because his hands itched for a pencil, but he also knew that nothing was going to come to him right then in terms of his art.

  He’d focus on what could, on what might work for him. On who mattered. The rest would come eventually. At least, he hoped.

  Chapter 15

  Ethan rolled his shoulders back and looked at the clock, grinning. He had twenty minutes left, and then he was going home. Finally.

  He planned to work his actual hours, and considering he had already finished what he wanted to do from his to-do list, he was happy with that.

  Maximilian probably wouldn’t be too ecstatic about him leaving, but he didn’t care. His boss needed to understand that, yes, he would put in the hours and get shit done, but he also needed a break.

  Or at least he hoped his boss would understand. If not, Ethan would be looking for a new job. And that scared the shit out of him. But he was going to figure this life of his out. And he was going home. Home to Lincoln. Lincoln had said that he’d be cooking dinner for the three of them tonight after he finished with work.

  Ethan had offered to actually do the cooking, but Lincoln had scoffed, saying that it was his turn.

  Maybe it was. But Ethan wanted to be able to take care of Lincoln, just like Lincoln constantly took care of him. Call him sentimental and all that shit.

  There was a knock at his office door, and he tensed, afraid it was going to be his boss wanting another project from him. He was almost done for the day, even though he still had a little bit of work to do to get ahead for the next day. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really hide. He turned and frowned.

  “Liam? What are you doing here?”

  His big brother walked in, looked around, and smiled. “This place looks great.”

  Ethan frowned and took the place in, as well. Four walls, a window with a set of blinds, and one big desk that took over two walls. He had filing cabinets and another table that had stuff piled on it, as well as two whiteboards that covered one wall. Not too much.

  Ethan just looked at his brother.

  “Hey, you’re doing amazing. You have your own place, your own little office.”

  “Are you here for a reason?” Worry swamped Ethan, and he stood up quickly, his chair almost toppling over and falling to the floor. “What’s wrong? Is it Mom?”

  Liam held out his hands and shook his head. “No, everything’s fine. I just wanted to check on you. And I know you have plans with Lincoln and Holland tonight, so I didn’t want to interrupt that.”

  Ethan nodded, his pulse finally calming down.

  “I’m almost done. You want to take a walk or something?”

  Liam shook his head and leaned against the doorframe before looking over his shoulder.

  “Can I close the door?”

  Ethan nodded, a little worried again. “What is it?”

  “Nothing. I just want to make sure you know that the family loves you and we’re here for you.”

  “Well, doesn’t that sound like something bad’s happening?” He swallowed hard, dread filling his gut. “What’s the real reason you’re here?”

  Liam scowled and ran his hand through his hair before he started pacing the little area in front of the door. “I suck at this. I don’t know why Aaron and Bristol had me come here.”

  “The siblings wanted you here?”

  “We’re worried about you.”

  “You’re worried. About me. Why the hell are you worried about me? I’m fine.”

  “You are. We just want you to stay that way. We love Lincoln. He’s like a fucking brother to us, you know that. And I’m really glad that he was never a brother to you.” Liam laughed a bit.

  “Yes, that joke will never get old,” Ethan deadpanned.

  “Well, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like an asshole.”

  “Why don’t you just say it, and I will deal with it?” Liam was the overprotective brother, just like Aaron was the one who was always there and funny. Bristol got you where you needed to be. And Ethan? Well, Ethan organized things behind everyone’s back. Except he really wasn’t that person right now because he had been so focused on work. It was just another thing he’d fucked up on. He needed to step up, but he was doing his best. And as he looked at the clock, he realized he only had a few more minutes before he needed to head out and get to Lincoln and Holland.

  “Okay, anyway, we love Lincoln. And we really like Holland.”

  “Oh?” Ethan asked, his stomach settling a bit.

  “Yes. She is amazing for you two. She’s quirky, funny, and she makes you laugh.”

  “You don’t really know her,” Ethan said wryly.

  “No, but Arden met her. And Bristol and Madison. They love her. And the fact that you haven’t brought her to a Montgomery dinner tells me you’re trying to protect her.”

  “Or it could be that it’s not serious,” he added.

  “No, you wouldn’t risk Lincoln for something that wasn’t serious.”

  “True.” Ethan paused. “We’re happy. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re finally getting happy.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to stop working so fucking much?”

  Ethan took a step back, rubbing at the place over his heart. “Just dig a little deeper next time.”

  “What? You always work hard. And you always miss family things because of it.”

  “I get it, I’m a workaholic. The fact that you had to come to my place of work to tell me that is probably evidence enough.”

  “I just want to make sure that you know we love you. And to tell you that you need to bring Holland to the house.”

  “I know. But we need to make sure she doesn’t want to run first.”

  “Kind of figured that since you guys are keeping her so close. Don’t want the Montgomerys to scare her off.” Liam laughed.

  “If she can deal with the fact that Bristol came to her house out of the blue after somehow getting the address out of me, so…I’m pretty sure she can handle anything.”

  “Oh? Good. Then make sure she can handle us. Because we want the best for you. And the fact that even with those dark circles under your eyes, you look happy? It seems like those two are exactly what you need.”

  “Thanks, but I could really do without people mentioning the dark circles under my eyes. Maybe I need to start using those eye patches.”

  “Hey, Arden has me using them sometimes. And a scrub that helps with the beard and everything.”

  “You’re a celebrity now, with your face all over the backs of books and on websites and shit. You have to be fancy.”

  “And on that note, fuck you. Anyway, you’re coming to dinner at the house on Saturday. Mom’s already planned it, and I’m just going to call Holland myself if you don’t agree.”

  Ethan scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fine.”

  “And give her flowers or something. You haven’t seen her in a bit.”

  “Holland? I saw her yesterday.”<
br />
  “Haha. Come on. Seriously, get Mom flowers or something.”

  “I will. Though Lincoln will probably already think of that. And Holland.”

  “See? That’s why you have two loves in your life. They’re going to help you make sure that you have your head on straight. Because you’re always so busy making sure everyone else is where they need to be that sometimes you forget yourself.”

  While that was true, Ethan got caught on one word. “We haven’t said the big L word yet,” he mumbled.

  “That’s fine. You’ve got time. Take it slow, you have a lot of feelings to deal with. And a lot of limbs.” Ethan snorted while Liam scrubbed at his eyes. “Never mind. I never, ever want you to say that phrase again. Or even think it.”

  “Hey, I’m sure Lincoln could draw you a diagram if you get confused.”

  “I hate you. I really hate you. Now, sorry for interrupting the end of your workday. I’m off to pick up Jasper from the vet, and then I’m headed home to my girl.”

  “Is Jasper okay?” Jasper was Arden and Liam’s white Siberian Husky, and he hadn’t been sick as far as Ethan knew.

  “Yes, he ate a fricking sock because he was nervous. He’s fine. Apparently, it passed while he was there. Arden and I have been in and out of the vet with him to make sure he doesn’t need surgery.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “Because we were doing just fine. But if I had any news other than what I had earlier today? Then I would have called you. And, Ethan, I bet you Holland would have been there, too. And Lincoln. Because you’re good people. And you love those good people.”

  “Liam.”

  “Sorry. I’ll stop saying the L-word. But see you Saturday. Don’t disappoint Mom.”

  “I’m doing my best to stop disappointing everyone.”

  Liam smiled and then hugged his brother tightly before walking out.

  Ethan looked up at the clock, saw that it was five minutes after his scheduled end time, and picked up his stuff, making sure he had everything on his checklist that he needed. He had a couple of programs that were going to run overnight, and he could check on them from his work computer at home if he needed to. Nobody would hold that against him since he did need to work on the data that would run overnight. However, he didn’t need to sit in his office to do it.

  His boss didn’t say a thing as he waved on his way out, Julia right on his tail.

  “Hey, you’re fleeing the coop?”

  “No, I’m taking a stand with you. Maximilian never yells. He just gives you that shaming look. And I hate that look. However, if we start following the rules and set ourselves within the purview of this job, maybe he’ll get it, too.”

  “I like you, Julia.”

  She grinned. “I like you, too, Ethan. Say hi to Lincoln and Holland for me.”

  “Will do.” He waved as she got into her car, and he walked a little farther to the back where he usually parked. He liked parking under this one tree since it shielded him, even though sometimes he had to deal with bird shit more than he wanted to.

  He made it about four steps from his car when something slammed into the back of his head. He let out a sharp cry, reaching up to determine what the fuck had just happened, and tried to turn, but someone’s fist hit his jaw instead. He hit the ground, spitting out blood as he blinked.

  The sun shone behind the man in front of him, so Ethan couldn’t see his face, only shadows. His ears rang, and he felt as if he were going to throw up. He couldn’t make a move, couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.

  Was he being attacked? Mugged?

  He didn’t even have his computer with him. He’d left it at home in his office there. All he had was his wallet, but he couldn’t even open his mouth to say that. Instead, the man straddled him and punched him again. Ethan held up one hand, blocking his face, and used his other fist to swing at the guy. The attacker cursed, and as soon as he did so, Ethan knew exactly who it was. “Damien?” he spat, blood filling his mouth once more.

  “He gives the best hugs, doesn’t he? And I had that. Before…you,” Damien snapped and tried to punch him again.

  Ethan attempted to move, but whatever had hit him had almost knocked him out. Bile filled his mouth, and he couldn’t see straight. His eyes narrowed as his vision went wonky. He was pretty sure he had a fucking concussion, and he couldn’t even focus. Instead, he tried to push Damien off him again, but it wasn’t enough.

  Damien picked something up that made a grating sound on the gravel. A metal pipe? A crowbar? Jesus Christ. Was Damien going to kill him?

  “He was mine. All mine. And you ruined everything.” Damien tried to hit him again, but Ethan rolled to the side. The piece of metal or whatever it was slammed into the side of his shoulder, the corner of it catching his eyebrow. He screamed and pushed Damien off, trying to crawl away, but then Damien stood up and kicked him in the gut.

  Ethan reached for his phone, trying to call 911, attempting to get away, knowing that with whatever had just happened to his head, he couldn’t fight back like he needed to. He had to run. Why didn’t anyone hear him? Why wasn’t anyone there?

  He couldn’t focus enough to call the police, so he called the first person he could, the last person he had called that day, just to hear her voice. But when Damien hit him again, there was nothing.

  Holland stretched her back as she walked into her house, grateful that Steven was going to close for the evening. They’d had a good day, even though her mother and her sister had called. She had ignored the calls, though she knew that they might show up again. Or, they wouldn’t. She didn’t care either way. And she honestly didn’t know how to feel about that. The fact that she didn’t care that her parents had written her off? That her father hadn’t even talked to her since the wedding? She honestly didn’t care. And it really had nothing to do with her anymore.

  Her phone rang, and she looked down, smiling. Ethan. She was supposed to meet him at his house later, and she really hoped that he wasn’t going to cancel. She didn’t think he would, though. He was trying. And she shouldn’t immediately go to the negative, either.

  “Hello?”

  “He was mine. All mine.”

  Holland blinked, looked down at the phone, and then pulled it back as she heard a man screaming, shouting. There were more shouts and moans and groans. The sound of flesh against flesh, and then the terrifying sound of what sounded like metal against something soft.

  When the phone went silent, she looked down at it, tears streaming from her eyes, and her hands shaking.

  “Ethan? Ethan!” she called out to the phone, but there was no answer.

  Just dead air.

  Shaking, she looked down at the screen, hoping like hell that Ethan was okay. That had to have been him, right? It was his number. She hadn’t recognized the other voice on the line. Who had that been? Was Ethan hurt?

  She tried to call back, but it just rang and rang. With each tone, her heart raced, and her palms went damp.

  She didn’t know what to do. Could she call 911? But where was Ethan? Was he at work, or was he on his way home? He should have been on his way home by now. But with Ethan, you never knew. She didn’t know who she should call, but she had one number in her phone for a person she knew might have answers. She called Liam, hoping to hell that Ethan’s brother might know what to do.

  “Holland? What’s wrong?”

  “I just got a call from Ethan, and it sounds like he’s hurt. But I don’t know. He won’t answer now. But it’s still ringing, so I know his cell has to be on. He said that you guys were on the same family plan, right? Can you like…do that find your phone thing or something? I don’t know. He’s never done this. I can’t... I can’t.” She started to hyperventilate, and Liam cursed into the phone.

  “Okay, tell me what happened again.”

  “Ethan called, but it wasn’t his voice I heard. There was some man there, yelling, and then it sounded like there was fighting. And it sounded really
bad, Liam. And then Ethan didn’t answer his phone when I called back. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Okay, fuck. Hang up, call Lincoln. Tell him to get to you or something. I’m going to try and find the phone. We’ll make this work, okay? He’s going to be fine. He probably just dropped it or something.”

  “It didn’t sound like that.”

  “Call Lincoln. And answer right away if I call back, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She hung up, her hands shaking as she called Lincoln. But he didn’t pick up right away either. Oh, God, what if he’d been with Ethan? What was going on?

  Liam called back, even before she could leave a message for Lincoln, so she just hung up. “What is it?”

  “He’s not answering his phone, like you said. But I found his location. I’m going to call 911. It looks like he’s at work. I’m going to his building. I’m in my car right now. I just left there, so I’m close. Jesus Christ, I was just there.”

  “Oh my God. Okay, where do I go?”

  “I don’t know. Did you get ahold of Lincoln?”

  “No. I don’t know what to do.”

  “We’ll figure it out. Okay? You’re not alone in this. We’re going to figure this out.”

  Liam hung up, and then Lincoln called, and Holland almost threw up. “Oh my God, you’re okay. Right? You’re okay?”

  “Yes, why wouldn’t I be? What the hell, Holland? What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Can you come get me? I think we’re going to need to go to the hospital.”