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

With his heart in his throat and his pulse pounding in his ears, Ellis inched closer. He wanted to hold Bryn. If he could hold Bryn, he could show Bryn that it’d be okay. That everything was okay. Bryn shook, tense as steel cables. Slowly, Ellis lowered his head and brushed his lips over Bryn’s shoulder. “It’s all you,” Ellis murmured, not even sure of his words, only their intent. “Your pace, your choice, all you.” Bryn’s pulse was jumping against the line of his throat, and oh God above, Ellis wanted to kiss that sweet spot. He wanted to lick a line to Bryn’s ear and trace the shell. “And it’ll matter,” Ellis whispered. “Because that’s the way we both do things.”


Chapter 40