A Long Way Back (Unfinished Business #2) - Barbara Elsborg Page 0,68

the soft dark hairs. Desire shot to his groin.

Ink dropped down at the other end of the couch. He was like a skittish horse. It would take very little to make him run—and keep running.

“If you could live anywhere, where would you live?” Tay asked.

“I don’t have a specific place in my head. I’ve found something good in most of the towns I’ve been to. London’s great, but I like to move around.”

“Until you settle in your little house by the sea.”

Ink chuckled. “Yep. What about you?”

“I’d been starting to realise London was a mistake, but now I don’t think so, because if I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have met you, and I’m really glad I did. But I’m not going to stay in London. I’m not good at making friends and I think this is a city where you need friends. People to meet after work or at the weekends. Do things together. I’m lonely. I was lonely.”

“Do you have friends in the north?”

“A few.”

“And Jonty?”

“And Jonty, although he probably thinks he’s lost me as a friend, since I refused to see him and told my mother not to tell him where I’d gone.”

“You think you could ever let him know how you felt about him?”

“I don’t see any good coming from that, but I need to stop blaming him for what happened to me, and to stop using it as an excuse not to see him.”

“You’ve had an epiphany?”

Thanks to you. “I’m beginning to see a different way of thinking would be better for my health. I’ve had an invitation to go to the reopening of the hotel Jonty used to work at. He’s still going to be working there for a while. Would you go with me?” Oh shit. He hadn’t meant to voice that last part. “I need to go and lie down.” That was much safer. Except now he’d made it look as if he didn’t want Ink to go with him. “I’d really like you to go with me.”

“To the hotel or to bed?”

“Both.” He’d said it and not freaked out. Neither had Ink.

Tay lifted Dog off his lap, pushed to his feet and held out his hand. “Come with me?”

“I haven’t slept in my new bed yet.” Ink stood up.

“But I might need you in the night. I might…choke, panic, fall out of bed, get cramp, catch fire, need a glass of water… If I catch fire, I’ll need more than one glass.”

Ink laughed.

“I want to fuck,” Tay blurted.

That wiped the smile off Ink’s face. “How did we get to sex without me noticing? Where were the clues?”

“I’ve been dropping hints like crazy. Questioning you about what you’d do if you were ill, asking you to take the pizza out of the oven, leaving the plates half-washed, worrying about catching fire. Obvious clues.”

“And not asking me to do a striptease?”

“Did I?”

“Come on. Let me give you another massage. You’re all tense.”

Tay only just held back his whine.

He thought Dog would follow them, but when he looked back, he’d stayed sprawled on the couch, though he gave Tay a look and cocked his head on one side. Yeah, good idea. You ought not to watch.

By the time Tay reached the bedroom, Ink had taken off his boots and was barefoot.

“Want to play naked Twister?” Ink asked.

“Yes, but no. I’m feeling battered and you were battered. Another time. Okay?”

“Let’s shower.” Ink took Tay’s crutches from him, then knelt to remove his shoes.

Tay put his hands on Ink’s shoulders so he didn’t fall as Ink pulled his shoes off. He found himself stroking Ink’s neck, his hands cupping the curve of his throat and caressing the delicate skin with his fingers. Ink peeled him out of his trousers and stood up. Tay’s cock was a hard length under his shorts. Ink stared at it, the tip of his tongue sliding across his lip, before he stepped back. Tay took off his T-shirt and tossed it aside.

Ink took off his jeans, and Tay winced when he saw the bruises, particularly the boot print on his thigh. Fucking Lennie. But when Ink’s T-shirt was off, Tay’s breathing faltered.

“Oh God,” he whispered.

Ink’s chest and hip were a mess, painted with long, painful-looking stripes of brown and red bruises.

“Christ. Look what that bastard did to you.” Tay and his cock were horrified. His erection began to wilt.

“Not all of me is messed up,” Ink said.

“What—? Oh.”

Ink stepped closer. He ran his fingers over the plane of Tay’s stomach, slid