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

“Charles Towne. It’s in the South. Way, way south. Too damned south.”


“And you can’t get to nearby airports?”


“I can!” Bryn yelled. “I can get there, but there’s buses and cars, and do you think the bitchcunt’s going to help me get home? Fucking knee. Fucking…Just fuck.” A sob cracked in Bryn’s chest, and Ellis’s heart broke for him. He was a damned mess.


Ellis stared at the laptop and let the plan brew in his mind. It was a crazy plan, but it might help. “Hang on, okay?” Ellis left Bryn on the floor. He went into the kitchen and hit buttons on his cell phone while searching for an ice pack.


Chance answered on the fourth ring. “Ellis,” Chance roared. “Strange but good to hear from you. Why are you calling me?”


Chance was nothing if not direct. “Hey, Chance. I need a, uh, favor. I think.”


Ellis found an ice pack and also pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge. He set them on the counter. “I need to borrow a, um, well, a plane.”


Chapter 59