Page 37 of Ravaged
“Can you sleep with that?” he asked.
Such a gentleman, I joked internally.
“There aren’t metal grates on every side, but I think it’ll do for now.” That was probably in bad taste; he could easily return me to the basement. But a smirk crossed his lips. He got into bed and turned out the lights.
I wasn’t going to wait there. Not like this. I pulled the chains, seeing if they had any slack. Not much, but enough to move. I went around to the side and reached underneath the thin flat sheet. Lying on his back, he was warm, his muscles taut. I rubbed my hand on his upper thigh, reaching around. His cock was semi-erect, lying thick on his thigh. It twitched at my touch through the boxer briefs. I waited, listening for a reaction from Ethan, but he said nothing, so I grazed my fingertips on the fabric, along the outline of his cock, trying to get him to react again.
“What do you want?” he asked.
I startled. He was clearly awake, not half asleep. What was I thinking?
“I wanted to see if you wanted any company,” I said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
“Haven’t you had enough of my company for a day?”
I wrinkled my nose, but he didn’t budge. Something was going on with him, and I had a feeling it was bigger than the guilt of making me cry.
“Why’d you get kicked out of the band?” I asked, trying to change the subject. Maybe if I got his mind off of whatever subject was bothering him, he’d open up to me. Maybe even let me in. “What happened?”
“Fist-fight, like you said.”
“But why?” I waited, but he said nothing. “You must have done it for a reason.”
“I punched another band member.” I waited again, but this time, he added on. “He gave my friend’s little sister a black eye.”
What kind of kid punches a friend’s little sister? “So you knocked him out?”
“Yeah.”
My heart sank. Ethan was the kind of person to defend someone who couldn’t defend themselves, and yet he paid for his actions. Protecting others mattered more than music. There was beauty in that.
Silence still lingered between us. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t sleep on the floor, not when I was wide awake and he was a few feet away.
“Did I say something to bother you?” He grunted, and I took that as a yes. “Was it because I called you a monster?”
“No.”
“Was it…” I paused, trying to think over the conversations. It was hard to remember everything. So much had happened that day. “Is it about the outsider stuff? Is that it?”
With those words, he shifted, turning on his side, away from me. No grunt. No sighs. That had to mean something.
“My dad sold me into slavery,” I said, “to protect me from who knows what. And I’m not using that word figuratively. I mean, quite literally, that he sold me.” He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move either. “I know you already knew that, but I’m here, you know? I’m stuck here all night, chained to the bed, if you need anything. If you want to talk.” I turned my back and leaned against the bed. “Think of me as your open-eared bartender. Except, instead of drinks, I’m bolted to the bar underneath the bed. Literally.”
I sat there quietly, trying to see if I could hear anything. The house was silent, the hum of the air conditioning was the only sound that flickered through the house. It was night, but I wasn’t sure how late it was. Was the rest of the house asleep? Had I kept him here, when he should’ve been out with the other Adlers?
“I’m the evidence of infidelity,” he said.
So it did have to do with something deeper than he let on. That was a start.
“I’m sure no one thinks about that. It’s been how many years?” I asked. Ethan had to be at least thirty. Maybe older. “You can’t hold onto that guilt. It wasn’t your fault that he got your mother pregnant.”
“I don’t blame myself,” he turned to me, a touch of anger in his voice. “What it means is that even though I’m the oldest son, I’m not legitimate. Derek has more sway in taking over the business than I do.”
It was jealousy, then. As if he was owed that throne.
“Derek has been here since birth,” I said. “It’s not surprising that he thinks he’s owed that privilege.”
He sneered. “Whose side are you on?”
