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

“They were sixteen, arguing, and physically in peak condition,” Clark said. “He could have given Bryn hell.”


“Unless he didn’t want to give him hell,” Shea said softly.


“Hm. And the likelihood that he would have held still for hand tying is…” Kris once again drifted off.


“Minimal,” Clark said. “Bryn would have had to knock Jared nearly unconscious to do it without significant resistance.”


“He didn’t say it went like that,” Ellis said.


“No, he didn’t,” Clark agreed. “You told us that Bryn said he looked into Jared’s eyes during the act, yes?”


“Yeah, he did,” Ellis said. “He said they fought, then he tied Jared to the headboard, and then he…”


“Headboard?” Kris chuckled. “That’s a fun Friday night, not a rape.”


Chapter 57