Page 15 of Seeking Two Lovers

Grey laid his hand on my lower back, rubbing while offering me a wet paper towel. “Okay?”

I nodded, swallowing hard against another heave. Grabbing the towel, I blinked and straightened. After a quick swipe of the damp cloth over my face, Grey spun me, pulling me against him.

A shudder ripped through my body, and I sank into his embrace, my cheek on his shoulder, my arms limp at my sides.

It wasn’t the first time Grey had held me upright and offered his strength when mine left me.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he murmured, his breath hot on my hair.

“Not your fault.” My voice rasped from acid rawness.

“Go hop in the shower. I’ll clean this up.”

I pulled away, shaking my head, coolness sliding down over my front where his body had provided much-needed warmth. A deep yearning to take advantage of his heat swept through me, but I stayed steady. “No. I’ll do it.”

The stench of vomit clung to my nose long after I scrubbed the floor, and it took a hot shower and a thorough scouring of my teeth to erase the effects of past memories.

Fucking bottoming out in my head did me in every goddamn time.

Weakness continued to plague my knees, and no matter how much I tried to focus on the present, my thoughts wandered to my sister.

With dark hair and bright hazel-green eyes, she’d been a spitting image of our led-like-a-lamb mom—and in our leader’s sights when I’d left.

At thirteen, she’d been a budding beauty, and our dad had pushed her into our leader’s focus whenever he’d been able to.

I feared what had become of her, if she’d been soiled like I’d been. Used up and left a mere husk. Incapable of feeling good emotions for longer than fleeting moments.

Guilt rose to choke me as I lay in bed, my eyes clenched tight. Leaving her behind hadn’t been easy, but if I had stayed at the compound, I would have rested six feet beneath the soil long before my time. I’d been near the point of suicide when Grey offered to take me away from the only home I’d known.

Selfishly, I’d agreed.

And not a day didn’t go by that I didn’t mourn the only family member I’d loved—and left.

6

GREYSON

By morning, the feel of Blaine in my arms had faded, and a scowl etched on my face. A near sleepless night made me bleary-eyed and grumpy as fuck. Longing to fix the shit of Blaine’s past had haunted me every minute, and the only conclusion I found was to do away with the cult once and for all.

If the compound emptied, its leaders suffering for the hurt they’d caused dozens of people, then perhaps Blaine would gain emotional healing and be able to move on with his life.

He’d told me enough of the nightmares he’d lived that if proven true would disband the sheep-like flock of followers from the man they looked upon as a god. And possibly put the asshole and his wife behind bars where they belonged.

But how could I expose what went down behind the chain-link fence, especially knowing Blaine wouldn’t ever be able to take part in any court case brought against them? Merely hearing about a similar situation to what he’d endured had brought up his dinner the night before and left him weak.

And I wouldn’t be able to hold him, be his strength, as he took the stand to help do away with the fuckers.

Lips in a grim line, I settled back in my office’s chair the first minute I could spare from work and rang my father back home.

“Greyson, my son.” His usual greeting revealed his grin, but my lips didn’t twitch.

“Dad.” I sounded shorter than I’d intended.

“Everything okay?” he asked, his tone flatlined by mine, all business.

“What do you know about that compound back behind our vacation home?” I asked rather than answering.

“The people keep to themselves and are well respected. Pious. They’re rarely seen in town. Why? Is something going on with Blaine?” Concern filled his voice as it always did whenever we spoke of the man he saw as a second son.

---