Ellis Parker is a lucky man: he escaped his persecuting family, survived his tour of duty, and met Maxwell Clark in the city of New Amsterdam. Clark showed Ellis more than the ropes: Clark helped Ellis figure out who he is -- a gay submissive with a massive fixation on a beautiful, mysterious ballet dancer named Bryn Rothe. Ellis knows a Good Man when he sees one, and he wants nothing more than to score a first date with Bryn.<br><br>Little does Ellis know that Bryn has a violent past that is crawling out of shallow graves to haunt him. Even his hectic schedule and beloved stage aren’t enough to distract him. It’s impossible for Bryn to figure out how he feels about Ellis with his demons between them, but when Ellis saves Bryn not once but twice, Bryn is forced to admit that there’s something about Ellis that Bryn might not merely want but need.<br><br>Together, they journey to the scene of Bryn’s original crime -- Charles Towne, South Carolina. There they will dig up secrets that might explain Bryn’s tortured life but might also be his -- and Ellis’s -- undoing.

Earthquakes

Ellis went about cleanup, removing the toy and cleaning it thoroughly, using the wipes Clark and Daniel kept under every sink in the house. He removed a sealed container for items destined for further disinfection from its hidden cabinet compartment and dropped the beads into it. He put everything away and splashed his face. He wiped off with a washcloth that he deposited in the hamper when he was done. He sat on the lid of the commode. His brain hadn’t quite returned to normal function, but he felt…off. Muzzy and sort of disheartened and not at all like he typically was post-scene. He wasn’t sure how he would face Clark and Daniel feeling so out of it.


Chapter 26