Ryan is a young artist hoping to make a name for himself. When he meets a man who offers to help him advance his career, he accepts. His career takes off when Merrick arranges two shows for Ryan at a local gallery. Ryan is elated, especially when their relationship becomes more personal. What he doesn’t expect is to end up being abused, physically and emotionally, as Merrick tightens his control over the younger artist.<br><br>After a vicious beating, Ryan manages to escape, naked except for a bedspread wrapped around himself. Policeman Shaun Levitt finds him cowering in an alley. Taking the battered young man under his wing, Shaun begins the slow process of helping Ryan come to grips with what happened.<br><br>Will Ryan learn to trust again? Or will he forever look at any man who might be interested in him as another potential abuser ... including Shaun?

In the Name of Love

There was a knock on the bedroom door, followed by the sound of the key turning in the lock. Ryan was sitting on the edge of the bed, with the sheet over his lap, having awakened half an hour earlier when he heard Merrick slam the front door when he came into the house. Probably to let me know he was home.


“You’re finally awake,” Merrick said after opening the door. He had a plate in one hand, holding a hamburger and fries. “Are you hungry?”


Ryan nodded. The aroma made his stomach rumble and he realized he hadn’t eaten since lunch the previous day.


“This is yours, if you beg for my forgiveness.” Merrick smiled maliciously. “Otherwise, it goes into the garbage.”


“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Ryan replied mutinously, his hands gripping the edge of the sheet to keep them from trembling. He refused to bow to Merrick’s demand because it was the truth—he hadn’tdone anything wrong. Not anything to merit what Merrick had done to him.


Chapter 47