Chapter 36
THEO
“Get off!” I slap Robbie’s hand off of me.
Always with the fucking touching.
“I’m just trying to help,” he pouts, letting go of my arm.
As soon as he does, I wobble, and Bailey quickly grabs me from the other side. I lean into him, letting him wrap an arm around my waist.
Ever since I was released from the hospital, Robbie’s been attached to my hip; helping me into the car, driving me home, and now trying to come into my house. “You don’t need to stay, Rob, I’m good,” I say, hoping he’ll get the hint and leave.
He stops in the doorway. Glaring, he points at Bailey. “You look after him.”
Bailey’s back straightens. “Of course I’ll look after him.”
“I don’t need—”
Robbie shuts the front door before I can finish.
“I really don’t need looking after,” I say, but Bailey isn’t listening to me either. He leads me into the living room and sits me down on the sofa, then picks up a parcel from the coffee table and stands in front of me.
“What’s that?”
“Shane’s here,” Bailey says quietly, without looking at me.
My blood turns to ice in an instant.
“What?”
“He found me.” Bailey opens the package, keeping it close to his chest so I can’t see inside. “I think Shane got someone to deliver this to the farmhouse yesterday morning.” He pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me.
I feel light-headed. The paper is stained with something dark. I look back at the box. “What else is in there?”
“Just … it doesn’t matter. You can probably guess, you don’t need to see it.”
Shane is here. He’s come for Bailey, and if I’m in the way again …
“Have you called the police?” I ask, handing it back to him.
I ease myself off the sofa and go to the kitchen to wash my hands, trying to hide the way they shake at the thought of Shane laying hands on either of us again.
He’s just one man. He can’t do anything.
“No.”
“We need to call the police,” I say, looking over at Bailey as he joins me at the sink. He squirts soap onto his hands, then spends way too long scrubbing them.
I lean around him and turn the water off, wrapping his hands in a towel. He sucks in a breath and squeezes his eyes shut. “I can’t, Teddy.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong, Bay.”
“It doesn’t matter! They’ll ask questions, and I’ll have to tell them everything; how I was so fucking stupid I didn’t realise what he was doing to me.
They’ll ask why I didn't report him sooner, or why I didn’t report Dean.
Because that will come up too. They’ll say I’m a liar.
” His breathing comes in short, sharp bursts, and he sways slightly.
“Alright … alright,” I soothe, pulling him against my chest and stroking his hair.
“We can deal with this tomorrow, okay? Robbie will be over first thing anyway, and I’ll lock everything up tonight.
" I get where he’s coming from; I’ve done it myself, refused to speak up and report Shane.
Now I’m hit with the guilt of knowing I could have.
But then I remember, if I had reported it, it would have been Bailey, not Shane, who got arrested.
“If he’s trying to get to you, Bay, there’s no other option, you know that? ”
He nods against my chest. “Yeah. I just … not tonight, please.”
“Okay, let’s go to sleep, I’m exhausted anyway.”
Once showered and in bed, I’m so focused on listening for any sounds downstairs that it takes a while to realise that Bailey’s on the edge of the mattress, keeping his distance.
I reach out for him, and he quickly presses up against me, like he was waiting for an invitation.
He nestles under my chin, his breath hitting my neck in quick little puffs.
I know he’s scared, but I don’t know how to reassure him, not when I’m barely holding myself together.
In my head I know there’s a fair chance I could fight Shane and come out on top, but my body still freezes at the memory of being tied up.
“Teddy,” he murmurs, stroking the hair on my chest.
“Yeah, Bay?”
“I’m sorry for bringing him back to you.”
I pull away from him a little too quickly, my head swimming.
“How is that your fault? You tried your hardest to stay hidden from him. The photo was a screenshot from my social media. I don’t know how long he’s been keeping an eye on it, probably since the day I left, but he never would have found you if it wasn’t for that.
” His nails dig into my chest as he clings to me.
He stays silent, and I feel myself drifting off to sleep, exhaustion from the day’s events crashing into me like a freight train.
The surface drifts further and further away.
I try to swim up, but I can’t get my body to move.
I realise my wrists and ankles are bound, and I’m being dragged down into the depths of the sea.
Bubbles explode from my mouth and nose, screaming until there’s nothing left to give.
Water floods my lungs, making me cough and breathe in sharply—but I don’t drown.
My body convulses as I take more and more of the sea into my lungs.
Whatever is pulling me through the water gives a final tug, and I’m sucked right through the sea floor.
There’s suddenly oxygen again. I cough and gasp for breath as the salt from the sea burns my throat and stings my eyes.
Someone grabs my chin and forces my head up. I lock onto ice-blue eyes, and freeze.
“I told you what would happen if I ever saw you again.”
Pain sears through my stomach, and a yell breaks free from my lips. When I look down, there’s a knife sticking out of me.
“Teddy, wake up!” a distant voice begs.
I’m back in the sea, drifting up to the surface. The pain in my stomach is now a dull, lingering ache, and the burn in my throat is fading. I choke on nothing. My eyes fly open, and I almost jump right out of bed when I find blue eyes staring back at me.
The split-second it takes to realise it’s Bailey and not Shane hanging over me is enough for his face to crumple. “Bay,” I plead.
He shakes his head furiously, tears gathering in his eyes as he scrambles off the bed and stands with his back against the wall. A sharp pain shoots through my head as I try to move after him.
“Bay, I’m not scared of you. Come back, please.” He doesn’t move, just stands there with his palms flat against the wall, chest heaving. “Jesus Christ, Bay, it was just a nightmare.” I shake my head, trying to push away memories that keep popping up in fragments.
“About me?” he asks so quietly I almost miss it.
“No! Of course not about you. Just come here, please, mo leannan.” I hold my hand out rather than trying to chase him around the bedroom. He stares at it for a moment before taking hesitant steps towards me.
As soon as he’s within reach, I grab his wrist and pull until he’s forced to straddle my lap. I reach up and hold his jaw, stroking tears from his cheeks.
“I dreamt I was drowning, and my arms and legs were tied, so I couldn’t swim up to the surface.
” Bailey’s lip wobbles, so I pull him down to catch his lips between my own in a light kiss.
“The dream shifted, and Shane was there. When I woke up, I saw you above me, and it scared me for a second.” I purposefully leave out the stabbing, but Bailey still recoils from me.
Grabbing his wrist, I say, “A second, Bay,” through gritted teeth.
“Then I looked into your eyes, and I was safe again. Do you get that? I was home. You and your brother are nothing alike, I promise.” I tilt his chin so he’s forced to hold eye contact.
“Every time I look into your eyes, I remember.”
There’s a moment's silence. Then he whispers, “I love you.” Wiping his eyes before he leans down and kisses the tip of my nose. “I’ve always loved you, Teddy. Even when I couldn’t say it out loud.”
“You never left my heart, mo ghráidh,” I whisper back, stroking his jaw.
Bailey’s mouth brushes against mine, tongue swiping along my bottom lip, seeking entrance.
I open for him, and lift my arse when he grabs hold of my waistband.
He pulls off my boxers and lowers himself on top of me, grinding his clothed cock against my bare one, making me hard in an instant.
I slide my hands down his back, brushing the cotton of his underwear, but he pulls away from me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, sitting up to chase his lips. The head rush hits me as soon as I move, and I collapse back against my pillow.
“Are you okay?” Bailey asks, hovering above me.
“Yeah, just … light-headed.” I rub my face.
“Did the doctor say you have a concussion?”
“No, it’s just from the pain. The stitches hurt like a bitch.” I lean on my elbows so I can see him better.
“So take the pain relief,” Bailey says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I don’t need tablets.”
He scoffs at me. “Just lie still, then. Let me take care of you.” He pushes a hand to my chest, forcing me to lie flat, then he slips down to the end of the bed, pushing my legs wide as he settles between them.
By the time I realise what he’s doing, he’s already licking a stripe up the underside of my cock.
I shiver and grab a pillow to prop myself up more so I can watch him.
Bailey’s eyes flick up and hold my gaze as his fingers dig into my thigh.
He closes his mouth around the head of my cock, and a low moan slips out of me.
He’s barely started, but the sight of him between my thighs already has me leaking.
Bailey pulls back, and his tongue darts out, tasting my pre-cum.
“You taste so good, Teddy,” he says as he leans forward, taking me as deep as he can, humming his approval as he moves over my length.
My fingers twitch with the need to touch him.
I want to grab him by his thick waves and thrust into his mouth over and over.
Take him by the hips and demand he ride me until he makes himself cum.
“Can you roll over?” Bailey asks, popping off of me.
“Why roll over?” I ask cautiously. It’s been years since we discussed it, but he knows I was always hesitant to …
“Do you trust me?” His hands rest on my thighs, stroking them.
I nod, shuffling awkwardly until I’m lying on my stomach, resting my head on my crossed arms.
Bailey leans over me. Grabbing a spare pillow, he pulls my hips so that he can slide it under my body. Then he pushes my thighs wide and settles between them again. My cock rubs against the pillow, sending a wave of pleasure through me.
“You’re going to stay still so you don’t hurt your head, okay?” Bailey orders.
“O-okay.”
Bailey palms my cheeks, pushing them apart. I’ve never felt so exposed. He laughs when I tense, and I feel his hot breath puff out over my hole. “Relax, Teddy.”
“How am I meant to relax when you’re—ah!
” I gasp as Bailey’s tongue licks up a broad stroke from my balls to my crease, brushing over my hole.
My whole body tenses when he kisses my taint, then he licks my hole again slowly, making circular motions as his hands run up the back of my thighs and over my arse, spreading my cheeks wider.
He pauses. “Okay?”
My mind's turned to mush, and my body sinks into the mattress, with no desire to ever leave.
“Very.”
The moment the word passes my lips, Bailey’s tongue moves with vigour, drawing sounds out of me that might have been embarrassing if he wasn’t responding so viscerally; pushing me harder or drawing back depending on how close to the edge I get.
I start grinding my hips into the pillow, needing more friction as he gets me higher and higher.
He matches the pace with his tongue, swirling it around my hole.
I feel my orgasm coming, and my hands fist the bedsheet.
“Fuck, I’m right there,” I pant.
His tongue suddenly spears me, pushing deep into my hole, and my whole body convulses as I cum across the pillow.
“So hot, Teddy.” Bailey sits up, and I look over my shoulder to see him pull himself free and tug once, twice, then I feel the heat of his cum as it hits my lower back and arse.
“Shit,” I say, chuckling, melting into the bed, unable to move.
Bailey smacks my arse with a loud crack, then gets up and leaves the room.
I’m almost asleep when I feel him wipe me clean with a warm flannel.
He then removes the ruined pillow from under me and climbs back into bed.
With great effort, I manage to get my boxers back on and roll onto my back again, and then I pull him against me tightly, ready for sleep again, praying the nightmares stay away.
Something bumps my shoulder, and a yell tears me from a dreamless sleep.
“Bay?” I murmur, fighting to open my eyes as a heaviness blankets me, trying to pull me back under.
When I finally adjust to the darkness of the room, I find myself looking into the same ice-blue eyes that haunt my nightmares. There’s no ring of gold in them. No warmth. No light. My heart speeds up as I try to get away from him, feeling across the bed for Bailey.
He’s not there.
I look to the side, only to find an empty bed. As soon as I bare my neck to him, Shane sinks a syringe in. I have moments before my body shuts down. “Where is he?” I demand through gritted teeth.
Shane's lips curl into a saccharine smile. “Long time no see, Theo.”