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,” Clark said, framing Ellis’s jaw with his hands and forcing their eyes to meet. “Come what may, first loves, lasting loves, or lovers for a night, we’re with you for good. We can play, we can not. You’re in our lives—all of our lives: me, Daniel, Lucian, Shea, Chance, Ryuu, the works. And we love you. Well.” Clark rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, considering. “Maybe not Ryuu. Not sure that man loves anything but Chance.” Clark paused for Ellis to guff a rough laugh. “But the rest of us? We’re one big, happy, fucked-up family. You can’t shake us, kid. We’re way too invested in the idea of you being the normal one.”


Though Ellis hadn’t known it, Clark had said precisely what he had needed to hear. Ellis threw himself into Clark’s arms and hugged him like the lifeline Clark had been so many times. Dams broke in Ellis, and longing for Bryn filled Ellis up to the brink.


Chapter 28