Love in Xxchange: Rory's Last Chance by Bailey Bradford (best english novels for beginners .txt) 📕

tried to get his voice to work around the knot that had lodged in his throat. Some of the anger left Chance’s dark gaze, softening his whole face as he looked at Rory.

“Please, baby.” A rough hand cupped his cheek, comforting rather than condemning.

“Tell me who it was so I can beat the shit out of him for hurting you like that. You’re wrong—you didn’t do anything to deserve what he did. Nothing. Being naïve doesn’t mean you deserve to be… Christ, Rory. What he did was violent and wrong, and tantamount to rape.”

“No.” Rory meant it to come out firm and sure instead of the wavering raspy sound it was. “He didn’t, I knew what—”

“Bullshit, Rory. Did you know he was going to hurt you, rip into you without a fucking care for what you felt? Hell, that son of a bitch had to know—”

“He called me, right after I finished brushing Rama out.” The words burst from him without warning, surprising himself as much as Chance. “He said…” Oh God, I’m going to be sick. “He said he’d let Annabelle stay on if she could s-suck—” Rory stuttered, unable to get the last word out.

Then Chance was there, closer, his dark eyes filled with a mix of sympathy and anger.

He cradled Rory’s cheek and softly kissed his lips. The gentle touch penetrated the fear clogging Rory’s throat. “I can’t let him hurt her, Chance, not like he hurt me.”

Chance nodded and brushed another kiss over Rory’s lips. “She can come stay with us—”

“She won’t.” Rory knew that without having to give it any thought at all. “Annabelle is the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. She wants the ranch, even though our dad will never let her have it. He just uses it to manipulate her, keep her dangling and under his thumb.”

Chance leant back and seemed to give the situation some consideration for several moments before looking at Rory. “Does she know what happened to you?”

“No.” Rory flexed his injured hand, watched fresh blood ooze up from the torn skin. “I was too ashamed to tell anybody, and I didn’t think he’d be—I thought he was gay, you know?” And that Annabelle wouldn’t be in any danger from the man. Rory had been a mess over what had happened, still was apparently, but that was no excuse for not thinking about RORY’S LAST CHANCE

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the depths of Art’s depravity. Rory had endangered her with his silence.

“What’s his name?”

Rory raised his eyes to Chance’s even though he’d rather keep looking away. His stomach roiled and clenched as Art’s last words replayed in his head. He didn’t want to believe there was any truth to it, but Art had sounded so smug it was impossible to believe he was lying. Rory took a deep shaky breath and muttered, “Art…”

Chance went from red with anger to white with shock then back through mad to out and out furious. Rory tried to get up. He needed to leave while he could still make himself walk away but Chance planted a hand on Rory’s chest and shoved him back down.

“No way, Rory, you’re not walking out on me now. I don’t know why you’d think I’d let you. Why you would think I’d be angry at anyone other than that asshole.”

RORY’S LAST CHANCE

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Chapter Eleven

Rory watched as Chance struggled to get himself under control. He couldn’t process the fact that Chance didn’t want him gone—the man didn’t seem to blame Rory at all. He just couldn’t understand it.

“I—I…” He what? Did he really want to point out he was every bit the young fool Chance had once thought him to be? Rory bit his lip, drawing blood as his teeth dug into tender skin.

“Stop, baby. Don’t.” Chance tugged at Rory’s chin until Rory let his lip slide from between his teeth. Chance swiped at the abused flesh with his thumb, brushing off the blood welling from the wound.

“Does he know who you’re working for?” At Rory’s nod, something shifted in Chance’s eyes, replacing the anger with worry. “And did he tell you, then, that he fucked me?” Chance didn’t blink, just focussed on Rory, watching intently. “Yeah, I can see that he did. It was a long time ago, baby. He’s what put me off pretty young things, and the reason I had to drop out of the circuit.”

“I’m not like that, Chance, I’m not some horny slut—” Rory needed him to know, to believe that if nothing else. Chance sighed and looked so weary that it broke Rory’s heart.

“But I was, when I was your age and for a few years more. When my parents died, I just lost myself the only way I knew how, fucking around with whoever was there. It was the only way I could escape the pain for a while.” Chance stood and walked to the window, staring out at the starless black night.

“Did that for a few years, then I finally gave in to having a drink with Art and we…he must have slipped something in my beer, because I woke up confused all to hell, sore and hurting in ways I couldn’t understand.” Chance walked back over to Rory.

“Sound familiar at all, baby? You wake up alone and scared, pain screaming through your body, couple of pictures somewhere close by letting you know that something out of a nightmare had happened and it wasn’t over yet?”

Rory struggled to get air in his lungs as he saw his own pain reflected in Chance’s eyes.

He knew the anger was building inside him at the knowledge Art had done to Chance the RORY’S LAST CHANCE

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same thing he’d done to Rory, but shock was keeping everything at bay, or so Rory thought.

It wasn’t until Chance reached out and brushed away the moisture on his face that Rory realised he’d been crying. He wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, but Chance held firm and wouldn’t let Rory turn away.

“I will kill