Part 5 (1/2)

”Now who's bulls.h.i.+tting? Talk to me, Dexter,” Maddock pleaded.

”No,” Dex replied through his teeth.

”Why the f.u.c.k not?”

Dex held his ground. ”Because I won't lose you too.”

That seemed to ebb Maddock's bl.u.s.ter. He stared at Dex, his jaw muscles working. Dex reached out and put his hand on his father's arm.

”I swear, it's not because I don't trust you or don't want to tell you, but right now, I'm barely holding it together, and I can't-” His voice broke, and he took a deep breath. ”I can't be worried about you right now. I know that's a s.h.i.+tty thing to say, to do, but I really need you to do this for me. Just for now.”

Maddock let out a heavy sigh. He nodded before hesitantly putting his hand to Dex's cheek. ”Are you okay? I mean, despite the obvious?”

Dex swallowed hard and nodded. ”I'll be okay.”

Maddock didn't look too convinced, but he accepted Dex's a.s.surances for now. ”Promise me you'll do what you can to stay safe.”

”I promise.”

Dex gave his dad a wobbly smile as Maddock kissed the top of his head. He looked as if he wanted to say more but instead headed for the door, glancing at Sloane on his way there. Sloane followed, bracing himself when Maddock turned to face him, his voice quiet.

”I don't know what the h.e.l.l is going on, but I'm disappointed in you. You promised me you'd keep him safe.”

Guilt bubbled up inside Sloane, and he found it difficult to meet Maddock's gaze. ”I'm sorry. I let you down. I let him down. I should have protected him.”

Maddock studied him. ”Was there anything you could have done different?”

”It was out of my hands.” It was the truth. Sloane had been out. Whether it had been Wolf himself or someone else, they'd been skilled. Sloane hadn't heard a thing.

”In his defense,” Sloane added, ”he never went out looking for this. It found him.”

Maddock seemed to think about that for a moment before walking out the door. Sloane watched him go, waiting until he climbed into his car and drove off before closing the door. He found Dex staring down at the floor, a frown on his face.

”Hey.” Sloane stopped in front of him and held his hand out. ”How about we go to bed?”

Dex smiled at him but didn't reply. He took Sloane's hand and followed him upstairs. Tomorrow Sloane would call Sparks and find out what the situation was at work. Right now Dex needed him, and that mattered more to Sloane than anything else.

Chapter 3.

DEX FELT numb.

He kept s.p.a.cing out, getting lost in what had happened. His brain kept replaying snippets of his conversation with Wolf. If his head wasn't torturing him with his kidnapping, it was thinking back to his parents, trying his hardest to remember the last time he saw them. He'd been in the small backyard playing with his dad. He remembered his Doc Brown visor, remembered showing Tony the toy DeLorean his dad had gotten him. They'd gone to see the movie recently, and Dex had loved it. At the time he hadn't understood a lot of what was happening, but the music, Doc's funny hair, the time machine, the action all had Dex enthralled.

Dex prided himself on his memory, even if at times it could be selective. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall any conversations that last day he'd seen his parents. He remembered his mom looking upset. She'd hugged him when she got home from work, her worry melting into a big beautiful smile for him.

”Dex?”

Dex gave a start. He lifted his head, his eyes meeting bright amber ones filled with love and concern.

”Sorry.”

”There's no reason to apologize. What were you thinking about?” Sloane took a seat on the edge of the bed beside him and reached out. He wiped his thumb over Dex's cheek, and Dex realized his face was wet.

”My mom. I was thinking about the last day I saw her and my dad. Tony had come over to babysit. They were going on their date night.” Dex shook his head. ”I can't get my brain to stop. I keep thinking about my parents, what happened with Wolf, why this is all happening now. I just want it to stop for a while.”

Sloane stood and crouched down in front of him, his hands on Dex's thighs. Dex instinctively straightened.

”What is it? What's wrong?”

”Sorry, it's just... uh, it's stupid.” He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. No. He wasn't doing this. He was not going to let that son of a b.i.t.c.h take Sloane's touch from him. Dex wouldn't let him. He placed his hands on Sloane's and met his gaze.

”Talk to me.”

”Wolf did that. When he was trying to get me to talk.”

Sloane didn't reply, but Dex could see Sloane's inner Felid stir behind those bright amber eyes. He could see its fury, the way Sloane fought to maintain a firm grip on his feral half.

”We'll work through this together, all right? Just keep talking to me. Don't shut me out. Please.”

Dex nodded. ”He kissed me.”

”Why?”

”I don't know. He told me he liked me.” Dex stared down at his bruised fingers. ”He pushed needles under my fingernails.” Why was he telling Sloane something he already knew? Maybe Dex just needed to hear himself say it out loud.

Sloane's anger appeared to melt away, and he brushed his lips over Dex's fingers. He discreetly made to move his hands off Dex's thighs, but Dex held them there. Telling Sloane what happened might help, but he didn't know where to start. What if Sloane didn't want to hear it? What if it was too painful for him?

”Sparks said you broke through the zip ties,” Sloane prompted gently, and Dex was relieved. It was as if he knew.

”Yeah. Maybe it was whatever Wolf injected me with, or maybe he just messed up. I don't know. It all happened pretty fast,” Dex muttered, pulling Sloane back up so he could sit beside Dex. He turned to face the man he loved, drawing from his love and support, knowing that whatever happened Sloane was there with him. It would be okay.

”Hmm.”

Dex c.o.c.ked his head to one side, studying Sloane's thoughtful expression. ”What?”

”Sparks seems pretty sure Wolf isn't the kind to make mistakes. Apparently he's hot s.h.i.+t.”

”He's different. That's for sure.”

”What do you mean?”

Dex took hold of Sloane's hand. He needed to touch him, to feel his warm skin. ”He's not some hired thug. The guy's sharp, patient, and he knew a h.e.l.l of a lot about me.” Dex swallowed hard. ”And about you.”

”Me?”

”Yeah. About your time at the First Gen Research Facility, about what you went through.”