Wait Until Dawn by Bailey Bradford (book club suggestions .txt) 📕

“Don’t know,” Rich croaked in answer to the first question. “Whiskey, some prescription pain meds,” he managed for the second.

His father grunted, then Rich was lifted by two strong hands under his arms. He opened his eyes as the world tilted and spun. His father stood and brought Rich up with him, holding him up until his toes barely touched the floor. Rich couldn’t avoid looking in his father’s dark brown eyes then, eyes so like his own. Except his father’s reflected a wealth of love and compassion Rich hadn’t been expecting. There was no condemnation in their depths, no judgment in his father’s expression. Something terrible rose up in Rich’s chest, then burst free in a strangled sob. He clung to his father, and for the first time since he’d been abducted and tortured by the mad man who’d cost him everything, Rich cried, secure in his father’s arms.

* * * *

Diego Montoya tucked his son into bed and brushed a damp lock of hair off his brow. Though his touch was gentle, Diego railed in silent fury at the sick bastard who’d hurt his boy. Rich had been such a bright light in the world, dedicated to his job as a Houston police detective and to having fun, enjoying life. Then he’d gone to McKinton to help his former partner, Laine Stenley, catch the man who’d killed Stenley’s lover years ago. Rich had ended up a victim of the killer’s, tortured and sliced open in too many places to count. How he’d survived was a mystery.

But this, Diego knew as he looked down at Rich’s pinched features, this wasn’t surviving. He traced a fingertip over the faint silvery scar that ran from the outer corner of Rich’s left eye to the hinge of his jaw. The doctors had done a good job stitching him back up. The scar itself wasn’t so bad, but there were more, and the ones Rich carried inside were worse.

Diego cupped his son’s right hand. The index finger had been severed at the second knuckle. There was nothing the doctors could do to reattach it since the missing piece hadn’t been found. Diego couldn’t stand to think of what the killer had done with it. He wished the fucker was still alive. Diego would love nothing more than to tear the bastard apart, slowly. Forget justice and courts. There was no justice for that asshole’s crimes. Not even an eternity in the fires of Hell were cruel enough for him.

After placing a soft kiss on his son’s forehead, just as he used to do when Rich was a boy, Diego stood and made his way into the kitchen. The entire house was filthy, a reflection of his son’s depressed state, but the kitchen floor where Rich had laid in his own filth for who knew how long was especially nasty. Diego found a mop but the sponge was dried out and cracking. It fell apart when he wet it. Sitting it by the overflowing trash can, he looked around the kitchen. Dirty dishes, but not many. As thin as Rich was, he probably ate very little, if at all. No paper towels, no dish towels.

Diego’s fury pulsed white hot inside him. Where were Rich’s friends? Had he pushed them all away as Rich had done to him? And what about the man Rich had helped in McKinton, where the fuck was he? Didn’t Stenley give enough of a shit to check on Rich, see how he was doing? Rich had almost died trying to help that man. Diego suddenly had a new outlet for his anger, but first he had some cleaning to do. Maybe by the time he was done, he could speak to the man without threatening to kill him.

* * * *

Laine Stenley moaned as his lover swallowed around his cockhead. Severo could give a blow job that’d suck the chrome off a bumper. Laine fisted his hands in Severo’s long dark hair and pumped his hips, wedging his cock just that much deeper in his lover’s throat. Every nerve in Laine’s body was hypersensitive. The feel of the charm on Severo’s necklace brushing over his balls sent shivers from his groin to his chest.

“Fuck yeah, baby, take it all,” Laine murmured as Severo swallowed again. “Gonna come,” he warned as his sac drew up. Severo hummed and bobbed his head, keeping the suction tight and his tongue flicking every hot spot along Laine’s length. A slight pressure against his hole had Laine spreading his legs a little wider. A slick finger slid into his opening and he screamed and bucked, his body bowing as cum spewed from his dick. Ass play—at least, his ass getting played with—was a new and tantalizing addition to their lovemaking, and it drove Laine right out of his mind.

Laine vibrated with pleasure as Severo swallowed and sucked, massaging Laine’s shaft until every last drop of spunk was gone. The finger in his ass pumped a few times, then brushed over his gland, and Laine damn near came off the bed, it felt so good. His dick slipped from between Severo’s lips with a lewd slurp and he glanced down to find Severo grinning smugly up at him.

“Like that, do you?” Severo asked, wiggling his finger. Laine gasped and his entire body jerked as electric sparks shot from his rectum to the top of his head. “Yeah, you do. Gonna make you come all over again, just from doing this—”

“Fuuuuck!” Laine shot up until he was nearly sitting as Severo rubbed his gland harder. “Sev, baby, please!” Stop, don’t stop, Laine didn’t know what he wanted, his body was filling with so much ecstasy he thought his head might pop off.

Severo chuckled and fisted his own thick cock. “Lay back down, lover. Gonna come all over you, mark you with my scent, rub it into your skin until it’s mixed into you