"I talked to Sawney today."
Ricardo ‘Ricky’ de Luca stilled, his fingers
spreading as soil slid through them. His heart pounded hard causing his chest
to ache. It had been so long since he had heard that name or allowed himself
to even think of the man that haunted his dreams for so very long.
"He asked about you."
Ricky swallowed roughly. "Yeah?" His voice
sounded worn. He was tired. It took too much energy most days to merely
function. He didn’t have the strength to do more than that. He certainly
didn’t have the strength to give into the desires that constantly ate away at
his control.
Only when he was asleep and his guard was
down were his desires strong enough to break through the wall he had
frantically built around himself just so that he could survive to breathe
another moment.
"He wanted to know how you were."
Ricky turned his head until he could see the
vivid pink flowers on his sister’s skirt. She did so love wearing the
brightest colors she could find. "What did you tell him?"
Maria shrugged. "What was there to tell him?"
Maria’s voice was sour, bitter, yet resigned. "You wake up. You play with your
plants. You go to bed. Sometimes in between you eat, but not nearly enough.
There wasn’t much else to tell."
"Maria—"
"Whatever." Maria turned and started back
toward the door of the greenhouse. She paused at the doorway, glancing back
over her shoulder, her angelic face lined with worry. "I love you, Ricky. You
know that. But I’m tired of watching you fade away to nothing. If you want to
continue to kill yourself, you’re on your own. I’m going to go stay with Aunt
Clara."
"No, wait, I…Maria, please!" Pure,
unadulterated panic shot through Ricky’s system like a run-away freight train
heading for broken track. He needed Maria. He couldn’t function without her.
She was the only bright spot in his life, the only reason he continued to draw
in breath. Without her…"Maria, you can’t—"
Maria’s caramel-colored eyes were suspiciously
bright and glossy when she replied, "I can and I am. Call me when you decide
to come back to the land of the living."
Maria turned and walked away before Ricky
could find the words to reply. When he finally did, they came out in a soft
cry that slowly turned to heart wrenching sobs that shook Ricky’s body until
his muscles seized and he finally collapsed on the ground.
Hours passed, moments ticking by at a snail’s
pace. Time came and went. The sun rose, light filtering through glass panes
high up on the roof of the greenhouse. Darkness eventually settled over the
valley, blanketing the sky with points of light a million miles away and still
Ricky lay on the ground, unmoving.
He had nothing to move for. Maria was gone.
Sawney Marshall was beyond his reach. His mother had been gone for more years
than he cared to remember. Only his loneliness and despair remained, clinging
to Ricky like a second skin. It never left him, always holding on, permeating
his every move, his every thought.
He had nothing but the stars in the night sky
to keep him company until he faded into nothingness. It shouldn’t take too
long. He was practically dead already and had been for months. His body just
hadn’t gotten the message yet.
"Come on, baby." Gentle hands reached for
Ricky, pulling him off the ground, cradling him close to a wide muscular chest
wrapped tightly in a black cotton T-shirt. A loose tendril of hair on Ricky’s
cheek was lightly fingered. "Time for you to come home."
Ricky inclined his head in compliance, turning
his face until his lips brushed against warm skin that tasted of musk and man
and everything right in the world. He inhaled deeply letting Sawney’s strong
scent invade his senses and sink into his soul. Sawney’s hands were rough on
his sore body yet gave Ricky a sense of protection he hadn’t felt in forever.
He tilted his head back to gaze up into eyes
that had the ability to steal every thought from his head. Sawney’s dark smoky
blue eyes were startling against his golden skin and thick coal black hair.
There were touches of humor lines around his mouth and near his eyes. He was
even more stunningly virile than ever.
"Sawney," he whispered on a slip of sound,
wanting, needy as he rubbed his face against Sawney’s skin.
"I’m here, baby."
Ricky wiped his tear-stained cheeks with the
back of his hand. He wasn’t wiping away the evidence of his breakdown. It was
too late for that. Everyone knew he was fragile, on the verge of falling off
the edge of reality and never coming back. He was strung too tight, his
emotions chaotic and out of control. But his cheeks were cold.
Sawney stood, lifting Ricky’s slight from his
arms. There was a disgruntled twist to his lips that spoke of his displeasure
in how skinny Ricky had become. Sawney didn’t make a sound, though. He simply
headed for the door of the greenhouse, the same door Maria had exited hours
earlier.
"Oh, Sawney, I can’t—what if—" God, he was
terrified. The thick emotion consumed him.
Sawney’s dark eyebrows slanted into a frown, a
muscle flicking angrily in his jaw. "Let me take care of everything, Ricky."
He always had.
Ricky remembered the moment he became Sawney’s
obsession. He had been nineteen, a young man just learning about life. Sawney
had been a beautiful man from the neighboring pride, meant for things far
greater than Ricky.
Sawney had been on a mission for his alpha.
Ricky had been working at his part time job at the local general grocers. He
had been sweeping the walkway in front of the small brick building when Sawney
pulled up on his motorcycle. He had sat there and looked around, the king of
all he surveyed.
And then his smoky blue eyes had landed on
Ricky, and Ricky’s world changed forever. The heat that had instantly ignited
in Sawney’s eyes singed Ricky to the bone. He still had the scars, at least on
the inside. They were burned into the very fiber of his being.
"I’m tired, Sawney." He could barely lift his
eyelids to look up at Sawney. It took effort, energy, and he had just enough
left to cling to Sawney, curling his fingers around the man’s shirt.
"I know, Ricky." Sawney’s chest began to
rumble, a deep purr filling the air, cocooning Ricky in its soft welcoming
sound. "Close your eyes and rest. I’ll keep you safe."
"No one can keep me safe."
And therein lay his problem.
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