Page 8 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

“Seth said we need our third—you—to be complete.”

“So you and he never—”

“We cuddled, but without you, neither of us could get hard.” Aric bit his lip. “Well, wecould, but it never stayed around long enough to do much with it.”

Was it wrong that the statement made Brick feel ten feet tall? Probably.

It didn’t stop his chest from swelling, though.

He cupped Aric’s cheek. “We’ll find Seth, I swear to you. If I have to raid every fucking camp, I will.” Brick kissed Aric’s forehead. “So what’s Seth like?”

“He’s a sweet, gentle soul, a pacifist. He’d be a vegan except he needs meat to keep his cat healthy.” Aric sighed. “He saw you in his visions. He told me you would protect us. You would be the glue that held us together.” He looked Brick in the eye. “Without you, there is no us.”

Without you, there is no us.Brick could wait.

Besides, he couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of the three of them finally meeting—all of them new to each other, two of them virgins, one of them experienced but a total newbie when it came to gay sex.

Then a rush of cold flooded through him.

How can you eventhinkabout sex? When Seth is God knows where, having God knows what done to him?

Yeah, Brick didn’t like himself very much right then.

Chapter Two

SETH MILESknew exactly where to find his father. The same place he was every day, making the most of the fresh air before he was taken to the breeding block or the pair of them were dragged to the science building.

Except he thought of it more in terms of the experimentation block.

Jake Carson stood in the center of the exercise yard beneath the camouflage nets, his face upturned to catch the sun as it filtered through, dappling his skin and the ground under his feet. His eyes were closed. None of the other inmates talked to him.

No one talked much at all in the compound, especially if they knew they were being observed. It was as if an invisible layer weighed them down, depressing every positive emotion, suppressing every urge to communicate.

Extinguishing all hope.

Seth walked toward him, taking his time, trying his best to avoid purpose in his stride. This was their only opportunity to meet; the guards kept them in separate blocks at night, and it wasn’t possible to talk while they were strapped into chairs, electrodes stuck to their temples, monitors recording their heartbeats, breathing, brain activity….

Times when Seth did his damnedest not to cooperate, even though that meant far worse pain. But in the end they always wore him down.

Wore him out.

Jake turned his head as Seth approached. “You seem tired. Bad night?”

“No such thing as a good night in this place.” He studied Jake, noting the dark circles under his eyes. He swore there were more lines in that kind face than there had been when he and Jake had met in the previous camp.

How long ago was that?

Seth had lost all track of time. There were no clocks in the compound, but he’d managed a peek at one of the monitors in the experimentation block. The tiniest peek, but it had been enough to inform him they were now in July.

As to where we are?

That was a mystery. They’d been transported from the last compound in trucks with no windows. All he knew was that there was nothing to see for miles but scrubs and trees.

Pretty much the same view as the previous prison, but with warmer weather.

Hey, look for the positive, right?

There were few positives to be found. The taciturn guards strolled constantly, guns slung over their shoulders, and getting even one of them to show a spark of humanity was a huge task.

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