Page 43 of Hold On

Dominic took out his phone, and a moment later, sighed. “It’s out of power. How can that happen so quickly?”

“New phones come with a small charge, but if you’ve been listening to music… Ask your brother for my number. I called to see if you were there and gave him mine. He wouldn’t give me yours.”

He ran his finger over Dominic’s lips and sighed. “There is so much I want to do to you. Guess I’ll have to be patient.”

“Not too patient.”

“You’re very lucky. My middle name isimpatient.”Ren brushed his fingers against Dominic’s then walked away.

Dominic set off after his brother’s voice with a smile on his face.

Chapter Seven

Ren headed for the dig site. Maybe it was just as well they’d been interrupted before things went too far. The thought made him stumble. When had he ever thought that as far as sex with someone he was attracted to was concerned? There wasnothinghe wanted to do more than to have Dominic writhing under him, hearing him beg him for more… Except what if Dominic wanted…Oh fuck. Stop thinking.

He swallowed hard and walked faster. Dominic was tempting. First time in a long while Ren had been seriously tempted, especially if he didn’t count when he was with Levan because if he’d even looked at another guy, he’d have been in trouble. But now Levan was gone and Dominic was here. So easy to get lost in those blue eyes and forget his own name, forget everything he’d been trawled up into and hadn’t necessarily escaped from, forget how close he’d come to not being part of this world anymore.

Ren wanted to haul Dominic some place private and kiss and suck and touch him until his toes curled and his eyes rolled back in his head. He wanted Dominic to look at him as though he was something the guy had to eat or he’d die.Fuck it. Fuck it. Fuck it.

He stopped walking. He very nearly turned and went after him. A couple of deep breaths later, Ren carried on towards the dig. For once, he wasn’t thinking of himself and it was a bloody miracle. Dominic was a thirty-something-year-old guy who’d never been treated kindly, particularly when it came to sex. His background was the worst Ren had ever been personally told, and he’d heard some dark stuff. Hard to criticise a teenager for finally flipping after all he’d been through. Then to have another murder charge to handle… It was no wonder he’d ended up in Marsden. But how mentally ill had he been? They wouldn’t have let him out if he hadn’t been better, would they?

Overpowering him in any way at all was the worst thing to do. Not that the same didn’t apply to Ren, but he needed to take things slow. Dominic deserved that. Except Ren was a guy who rarely took anything slowly. His mother said she’d only had two contractions before he was born on the living room floor. He’d crawled early, walked when he was eight and half months old. Lost his virginity… Yeah, well, maybe that wasn’t one to boast about.

When he got back to the site, he found Will talking to Brett, who wandered off as Ren approached.

“Hi,” Will said. “What have you been up to?”

“Went to the beach.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “Good for you.”

“Did you bring your bike helmet?”

“It’s in the tent, along with my leather jacket. I’m lending, not giving.”

“Thanks, Will.”

“I brought something back for dinner. Brett’s going home for a break so it’s just the two of us. Want a beer?”

“Sure.”

They headed towards the tent.

“I have a group of volunteers starting on Monday. There was a good response to the article on the CBA website.”

Will had told him he’d approached the Council for British Archaeology a couple of weeks ago to ask for people to come and dig. That was the day Ren’s mother had nagged him into volunteering too. Eventually, he’d agreed, only to get away from his parents. “How good a response?”

“Four signed up for taster sessions next Friday, nine for this week—all week. Five for next weekend. There was a flurry of interest in the last two days. No idea why because we haven’t gone public about the mosaic or the stone head. Well, I haven’t, anyway.”

“Don’t look at me. I’m not even on social media.” Was the flurry of interest something to worry him? No one knew where he was. And yet… “So is the money worth the hassle?” Ren followed Will into the kitchen tent and took the beer Will offered. He knocked the top off and went back out to sit on a chair in the sunshine, stretching out his legs and crossing them at the ankle.

“In a word, yes.” Will dropped down next to him. “Three hundred and fifty pounds per person for a week. One fifty for a weekend and seventy-five for a taster session. Just as long as they grasp the concept of the single-context recording system.”

“I thought you had issues with that.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “So you do sometimes listen to what I say?”

“When I have to.”

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