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

When Clark got monosyllabic, it meant he was trying not to say something. “What is it?”


Clark considered. “Nothing serious. I just think that your Bryn’s got some history he should share. If you give him the chance, I’m sure he will.”


Ellis wasn’t so sure. Bryn was such a private person. It could take weeks before he opened up, unless something happened between them that helped show Bryn that Ellis was sincere.


Ellis wasn’t even positive Bryn would show up at their set date. Bryn could have been agreeing so he could get out of the range. “It might take a while. It might take more than one date.”


“Complicated men do take a certain amount of dedication.”


Chapter 42