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

It took some time to get dressed. Ellis wanted to be just so when Bryn arrived. If Bryn arrived. He was going for something between casual business attire and come-fuck-me clothes. He went with snug, strategically ripped jeans with a nicer button-down, tucked in with a belt. With the boots and the holster, he sort of looked like the stunt double in a bad action flick, but it was the best he could do while sleep deprived and anxious.


Downstairs, he went about his morning routine and then started cleaning. The minutes dragged. He was up too early, but he’d woken up around four A.M. with Bryn on the brain, and he’d thrown in the towel after a half hour of tossing and turning.


Chapter 39