In Deep

by Bailey Bradford

  “VINE? What’s VINE? Shit!” he heard Stacy exclaim. “Titus!”

  Titus made it to the bathroom and slid to his knees in front of the toilet. The dinner he’d had came up instantly, and his eyes and nose burned. Stacy would figure out what VINE was—the victim notification program that let victims know when their offender was being released from prison.

  Titus heaved again and broke out in goosebumps. His mind reeled back to that night almost five years ago. “No,” he whispered. He’d known at some point this day would come, had thought he’d be prepared for it.

  He’d been wrong.

  Chapter Twenty

  Draven was thrilled that Titus was arriving a day early. They’d been apart a week. It’d felt like longer. When he’d gotten Titus’ text asking if it was okay to show up today, Draven had almost shouted with joy. And, of course, Riveen had been with him, and given him a smug look that had made Draven want to trip his smart-ass brother.

  Luckily, Riveen had been distracted by a “Shiny”—Draven didn’t even want to guess what Riveen was referring to in such a way—and had left in a bit of a rush.

  Well, maybe Draven would have something to tease Riveen about in the near future.

  Draven kept peeking out through the front window to see if Titus had arrived. God, he was pathetic, and so hooked on Titus, it wasn’t funny. Draven’s heart raced every time he thought of the man, and Titus was always on his mind.

  Which should have scared Draven more than it did. He’d been hurt before, but… But Titus isn’t like him. And this doesn’t feel the same.

  Before he could fret anymore, he saw Titus’ blue car turning into the driveway. Draven’s smile probably looked goofy, but he didn’t care as he opened the front door then loped down the steps. He couldn’t wait to get his arms around Titus!

  Titus parked the car and unbuckled. Draven’s smile faltered as he caught a glimpse of something in Titus’ expression. It wasn’t happiness, that was certain. Draven opened Titus’ door, and Titus gave him a weary look.

  “What’s wrong?” Draven had a split-second of panic that Titus had changed his mind about them dating, but he quickly dispelled the notion. Titus wouldn’t have wanted to get there early just to dump Draven. Which means something else is wrong.

  Draven held out a hand to Titus. “Tell me.”

  Titus blinked. “My bag…”

  “I’ll get it while you talk to me.”

  Titus got out of the car. “Could you kiss me first?”

  Draven’s jangling nerves settled a little at that. He guessed he’d still been worried that he was about to get dumped, despite his reasoning. For an answer, Draven pulled Titus into his arms, then slanted his mouth over Titus’.

  It was amazing how perfectly Titus fit against him, how warm and strong he was, how incredible he tasted. Everything about him was perfect for Draven, even his flaws. Draven hadn’t found any of those yet, but he knew, like every living person, Titus had to have some.

  And they wouldn’t matter to Draven. He slid one hand down to massage the small of Titus’ back as he deepened the kissed.

  Titus clung to him, there was no other way to describe it. Draven could almost taste his desperation, and Titus trembled as he caressed him.

  Draven eased his head back just enough to break the kiss. He opened his eyes and saw that Titus still had his closed. Titus’ lips were parted, and his cheeks flushed. A soft whimper slipped from him, and Draven kissed him again, letting go of his thoughts and immersing himself in everything Titus.

  He couldn’t get enough of this one man, didn’t think such a thing was possible. Draven slid one hand down and cupped Titus’ ass, giving it a good squeeze.

  Titus pressed closer to him.

  A horn blared, and Titus jolted. He probably would have stumbled back had Draven let go of him.

  “Just someone honking,” Draven rasped. “Not at us. Down the road, sounded like.”

  Titus gulped and nodded. “I…” He pressed his lips together and all that electric need that had been flowing between them was shut off. “We need to talk.”

  Draven slowly let go of Titus until only one hand lingered on Titus’ shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  Titus shuddered. “Can we go inside?”

  “Of course.” Draven didn’t want to stop touching Titus. Whatever was bothering him had to be pretty bad. Now Draven could see it all over Titus—‘it’ being his nervousness and something that sure looked like fear. “I’ll get your bag and we can go in. Trunk?” Just as he asked it, he saw the duffel in the back seat. “Oh. I see it.”

  Draven moved his hand to Titus’ waist, then put his arm around his lover’s hips. He needed Titus close, and he thought that was what Titus needed, too, judging by how Titus moved closer to him.

  After Draven had grabbed the bag, Titus locked the car. Draven nudged him to take the steps first, since walking up them side by side wasn’t possible. Titus reached behind him, and Draven slipped his hand into Titus’. Worry quickly filled Draven. Something was definitely wrong, and it wasn’t a problem with Draven. Maybe someone in his town found out about us?

  Titus went inside, and Draven was right behind him. Draven didn’t stop any longer than it took for Titus to lock the front door—something Draven didn’t think Titus had done there before—then Draven was leading Titus into the master bedroom. “Tell me what’s wrong,” Draven urged as he tossed the duffel bag onto the chair by the window.

  Titus shuddered again, and Draven sat on the bed. “Come here and I’ll hold you while you tell me.”

  “That’d be—” Titus licked his lips, more of a nervous action than a sensual one. “That’d be good.”

  Draven kicked off his flip flops, moved the pillows up against the headboard then got comfortable. Titus removed his shoes and crawled up onto the bed. He surprised Draven by lying on his belly almost, with one leg thrown over Draven’s and resting his right arm over Draven’s stomach. Titus used Draven’s chest for a pillow.

  “What’s wrong?” Draven asked, sliding his fingers through Titus’ soft hair. “Did someone find out?”

  Titus took a deep breath then let it out. “That’s not—I mean, I told Stacy and Michelle, but they’re cool. Remember how I mentioned I hadn’t been with anyone in a long time? Years. I moved somewhere I wouldn’t even be tempted to get involved. Small, conservative town.”

  Draven’s gut pitched and went cold. “Why’d you do that?” Titus had said as much before, but Draven hadn’t focused on it. He’d just thought Titus—well, he hadn’t thought about it, had he? “Baby, please?”

  Titus tipped his head back and kissed Draven’s neck. “I’m scared. Not of you,” he added, his breath ghosting over Draven’s skin. “Never of you.”

  Draven kept his touch gentle as he sought to comfort Titus. “I’ll never hurt you.” And he knew then why Titus was trying not to fall apart. “Who did? Who hurt you?”

  Titus clenched his fist, grasping a handful of Draven’s shirt. “You hear about domestic abuse all the time. It’s hard to admit, to accept, that it happened to me. My boyfriend—first one, only one until…”

  Draven finished for him when Titus seemed unable or perhaps afraid to. “Until me.”

  “Yeah.” Titus kissed him again. “I mean, I’d messed around some before I met Joel when I was a freshman at UTSA. He was…overwhelming, maybe. I don’t know. Older, a senior, handsome. I didn’t know why he was interested in me. Why he was single.”

  Draven already wanted to beat Joel into a bloody puddle.

  Titus’ laugh held more bitterness than not. “Now I know why. He needed a certain type of guy. Someone who was easy to manipulate. I was so shy, and no one talked to me. I was the perfect victim for someone like him.”

  Draven tried to remain calm, to keep himself from tensing up as anger pulsed through him.

  “We started dating after he asked me out several times. I thought he was just screwing with me. He was…dynamic. Handsome. Wealthy. I didn�
��t know what he saw in me,” Titus said again. “He had to work to get me to agree to a coffee date in the cafeteria. He seemed so nice, so focused on me. By the time I moved in with him in my sophomore year, I thought I was in love with him. I guess I was, just…just the version of him he showed me. I should have known it was all wrong. Everything was perfect…well, that’s how I felt. The little corrections Joel suggested for me were only meant to help me not be so awkward and shy.”

  “Titus,” Draven whispered, aching for the young man he could easily imagine Titus to be back then. Innocent, trusting, wanting the love and affection he thought was being offered, when in truth, he’d been manipulated by—

  “It didn’t start out as physical violence until I’d lived with Joel for almost a year. He would snap at me then tell me it was for my own good. I was too soft, too easily hurt,” Titus murmured. “I needed thicker skin. I believed him. I knew I was socially off. Then he came home one night, and when I didn’t get up to meet him at the door because I was working on a term paper, he grabbed me by the hair and punched me in the stomach.”

  As Titus began to tremble again, Draven held him closer and dropped kisses into his hair. “I’m so sorry, baby.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. If he bellowed with the rage he felt, that’d be no help to Titus.

  “He usually kept the bruises to places I could easily cover,” Titus said after a moment. “But he got more violent, and I wanted to leave. I tried once, and he found me at the hotel on the south side of San Antonio. I still don’t know how. After he got me back to his place, after what he did, I didn’t try to leave again. I’d probably be dead if he hadn’t lost it when we were dining at his favorite restaurant. It was my senior year then, and I don’t even know what set him off. I saw it click, though, that furious glint in his eyes that always appeared before he hit me. I knew when we got home, I was going to pay for whatever made him mad. Maybe I picked up the wrong fork, I really don’t know. He jerked me out of my chair and slapped me. I was so stunned. He’d never hit my face before then. I remember people gasping, then—just pain. He hit me, and someone tried to stop him. A woman. My lawyer said that’s probably why Joel got as many years as he did, because he hit her, broke her nose and cheek bone. And all he was sentenced to was eight years, five served. I guess he got out early because he behaved or whatever. I got the text yesterday that he was being released and I can’t—I feel like I’m going to shake out of my skin.”

  “I’m here,” Draven murmured. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Titus. I swear it.” If he had to move to the small town where Titus lived, then so be it.

  “I shouldn’t be scared. I should be able to defend myself against him.”

  Titus’ quiet sob tore at Draven’s heart as he struggled to find the right words. None came. He wanted to find Joel whatever-his-name-was and break him in two.

  “Stay with me for the summer?” Draven asked instead, the question just blurted out before he’d even coherently formed the thought of it. “We can go back to your place if you have to do anything for work. Just, stay with me and…” And what? Relax? Draven bit back a groan at his own ineptitude. “Please. I’d like you to. I missed you this week. I’m not just asking because of what you told me.” Total truth. Gods, I want him here, or I want to be with him wherever. I just need him. But he didn’t want to cling too tight and remind Titus of Joel. “You don’t have to. We can keep dating and—”

  “If you mean it,” Titus said so quietly that Draven almost didn’t hear him. “Maybe for a little while, at least.”

  “Yes.” Draven would take “a little while” and hope it turned into forever. He nuzzled Titus’ hair and asked him if he wanted to talk about anything else that happened with Joel. It made Draven’s gut burn to do so, but Titus’ hesitant, “Yes,” told Draven he’d done the right thing, and no matter how hard it would be, he’d listen to every detail of what Titus needed to share with him.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Titus liked the way Draven held his hand as they walked along the beach. “I’m glad we got up to see the sunrise.”

  Draven nodded. “It’s something few people appreciate. I know sleeping in is great, but this”—he gestured toward the sky, which was growing brighter with a myriad of colors—“this touches the soul.” Then he blushed darkly and turned his head aside.

  Titus touched Draven’s hot cheek. “Don’t be embarrassed. That was beautiful, and fitting. I like you being, well, you.”

  Draven looked at him and smiled, a shy quirk of his lips that did funny things to Titus’ belly.

  “Just don’t tell my brother, okay?” Draven said. “He’d never let me live it down that I have a…um…poetic side, maybe.”

  “I promise not to narc,” Titus assured him as a wave trickled over his toes. “Water’s so warm.”

  “Want to go for a swim?”

  Titus chuckled. Draven was always up for a swim. “Sure. Last one in’s a rotten egg!” He tugged his hand free and ran into the ocean—which worked about as well as running through wet cement after a few steps.

  He didn’t even have time to do more than shriek when Draven caught him with an arm around his waist. Draven whooped and turned, then they were both going down, salt water and sand all around them.

  They hadn’t gotten deep enough for them to be in any danger. Titus rolled to his knees, Draven beside him, as they both laughed and swiped at their faces, pushing aside hair and water. “You turd!”

  Draven snorted. “That’s a teacher insult for sure. No bad words allowed.”

  “Even ‘turd’ is bad if I say it around kids or parents,” Titus replied. “My grandma always said, never say something you wouldn’t want a mouth full of.”

  “That…” Draven frowned. “That doesn’t make sense, actually. I don’t want a mouth full of sand, or money, or—”

  Titus chuckled and poked Draven. “Um, you would not have argued with my grandma. She’d have skinned you alive. Possibly literally.”

  Draven looked skeptical. “Really? I don’t think she would have literally done that.”

  “Hah. You have no idea. Grandma was not someone to be messed with,” Titus said. “Now, my other grandma is as sweet as Texas tea. She can’t swat a fly, and yes, I mean that literally, too. Poor Grandpa has to take care of the flies when she isn’t around.”

  “Hm. And your other grandpa? The one who was, er, with the skinning grandma?”

  “That was Grandma Eleanor. She divorced my grandpa way back before I was born. Dad never really knew him.” Titus shrugged. “He died in Vietnam. I think maybe Grandma Eleanor regretted divorcing him, but I don’t know. And she wasn’t mean, just firm. She passed away a few years back. Grandma Janet and Grandpa Ed are both still alive and healthy. They live outside of Austin where a bunch of my cousins are. Well, and a couple of aunts, hence the cousins. Anyway, what about you? I don’t think you’ve ever really talked about anyone in your family other than Riveen.”

  Draven snorted. “Isn’t he enough?”

  Titus wondered if Draven were trying to divert from the question, but before he could consider it, something brushed against his calf. “Eek!” And he sounded like a dork as he scrambled away from whatever it was that had touched him.

  “Damn it,” Draven muttered, tugging Titus close.

  “What?” Titus twisted around, his panic vanishing as common sense told him he’d probably just had a seaweed encounter.

  Except it wasn’t seaweed behind him. “Oh my god!” Titus moved faster than he ever had in his life, grabbing hold of Draven’s arm and shooting to his feet.

  “Titus, it’s not going to hurt you,” Draven rumbled, though he stood as well and took a few steps before he dug in his heels. “It’s just a manta ray.”

  Titus gulped and had to either stop trying to run with Draven, or let Draven go. He stopped and turned enough to glare at Draven. “Just a manta ray?”

  The creature was right behind Draven! “Draven!”

  Draven kicked the w
ater, splashing it at the manta ray. “Cut it out. Go do manta ray things.”

  The manta ray splashed Draven back, then thumped his leg before spinning around in a circle.

  “Why isn’t it going away?” Titus hated how shaky his voice sounded. “It’s huge and it needs to go away!” He’d seen articles and clips of people swimming with manta rays but had assumed those were somehow…tamed. This one was entirely too close to Draven. “Shoo!”

  Titus could have sworn the thing looked at him and laughed. Air bubbles floated up to the surface of the water.

  “Get,” Draven snapped, and the manta ray finally made a lazy spin off toward the deeper water and left them alone.

  “I didn’t know those were in the water,” Titus mumbled, eyes glued to the last spot he’d seen the creature at. “Not here. I thought they were in the Pacific, or Atlantic, or just…just deeper water. We’ve been swimming with those?”

  “Sometimes there’s a few of them around the Gulf Coast area,” Draven said, and he seemed to be studying Titus closely. “They don’t hurt anyone. Mantas are peaceful, and they usually avoid humans.”

  “That one didn’t.” Titus shivered despite the warmth of the water and the day. “They don’t have the spiny tails, right?”

  “No, they don’t have the defensive barbs like a stingray does,” Draven agreed. “They can bite, but honestly, they stay away from people if they can, so biting isn’t an issue. That one, I’ve fed before. Regrettably.”

  Titus cocked his head and kept staring at the water. “So it’s friendly?”

  Draven snorted. “It’s a damned pest, but yeah.”

  “Not sure I want to swim with it,” Titus mused. “You might be all chill about it, but I’m nervous, to put it mildly.”

  Draven muttered something under his breath, then he slipped his hand into Titus’ grasp. “It won’t bother you again.”

  Titus wasn’t sure how Draven could make that promise, but…he was inclined to believe him.