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

The penthouse floor was a wide, sweeping affair with a lot of pale-gray marble and uncomfortable, insanely expensive furniture. The receptionist’s desk was vacant, of course, but the light in Lucian’s office was on, just visible beneath the door. The glass panes to either side of the heavy metal entrance were opaque and, Ellis wagered, bulletproof.


Ellis raised his fist to knock, but the door opened before he got the chance. Shea towered on the other side. Sheldon Horatio Eucristicles Alexander Ollivander III, or simply Shea, was tall, broad, and made of muscle. His brown hair was curly and on the longer side, probably at Lucian’s request. He smiled easier these days than he had when Ellis first met him, and his gold brown eyes were warm. “Hey, Ellis.” Shea offered his hand. It was badly scarred, and Ellis was pretty sure it wasn’t all due to Shea’s work in construction.


Chapter 55