Chapter Six
C row felt the fight go out of Rebel and released his grip on the younger man’s throat.
The red on his neck where his hand had gripped him stood out starkly and Crow grimaced.
The man stunk, literally. He had packed smaller-sized clothing before leaving Nevada and went to his pack to pull out the pair of black sweats along with a gray t-shirt, new socks, and a pair of briefs.
Rebel stared at him and then the clothes in his hands.
“If you promise not to act like a wild animal, I’ll release you and you can shower and change into clean clothes.”
Crow could see the hesitation in Rebel’s eyes and knew he was going to be told to fuck off in a second, but he cut in.
“I’ll order food if you behave.”
Rebel’s eyes flew wide and the curse words died on his lips.
Crow wanted to smirk, but now was not the time. He gave a hard stare at Rebel and waited.
With a slow nod and a wave of his free hand, Rebel looked away and held up his bloody wrist with the zip cuff.
Crow took out a pair of nail clippers and Rebel scowled.
Now, Crow smirked and clipped at the one around the headboard. “You seriously think I’m going to use a knife you’ll try to take from me?”
“Asshole,” Rebel hissed, but when the first zip-tie broke away, Rebel didn’t strike out at him. Instead, the young man held out his wrist with the zip-tie still around.
Crow stood up from the bed and shook his head. “I’m not removing that one.”
Rebel glared.
Crow gave the kid a dead stare and pointed to the bundle of clothes on the bed. “You have ten minutes. If you’re not out by then, I’ll come in and get you.”
He wasn’t worried about the kid escaping, there wasn’t a window in there. What he was worried about was Rebel locking himself in there and harming himself.
“Like I said, asshole,” Rebel snarled.
Crow pointed to his wristwatch. “Time’s ticking.”
Rebel marched into the bathroom, slammed the door, and then turned the lock with a loud click.
Crow snorted on a half laugh and pulled up the app on his phone to order food.
Perhaps burgers and fries would be the way to calm Rebel down.
The water felt so fucking good and Rebel stayed beneath it for several minutes, ignoring the burning of his eyes. If the tears fell beneath the water, they didn’t count.
He took the soap and scrubbed his body clean and then washed his hair. It had been a couple of weeks since he’d been clean.
Fuck, it felt good, but it made the tears come faster.
Shit! He clenched his teeth. Fucking crybaby, shut the fuck up , he told himself. Nothing ever good came from giving up.
He’d been taken, then taken again, sold, and raped, then blackmailed and raped again. He was positive he was missing some steps in there, but that was the gist of it.
Yet, here he was.
Still breathing.
That had to count for something, right?
What did it matter if his fucking life was wrecked? He was a walking corpse anyway. Tiredness like he’d never felt before crashed into him and he went to his knees on the hard tile floor, then rocked back until he was sitting down hugging his legs to his chest beneath the hot spray of water. The sounds clawing from his throat sounded foreign as if something evil were trying to escape from his soul but had nowhere to go.
“Rebel?”
From far away he heard Crow calling his name. Why? Why was the man here? Why didn’t he just leave him the fuck alone? Being alone was all that he wanted. He was done with people fucking with him. Every man had his limit, right? Well, he had reached his.
Only…the sounds wouldn’t stop coming and before he knew it, he was screaming.
The sounds of Rebel’s hoarse screams sent a chill into him and Crow lunged from the bed. Racing to the bathroom door, he tried the knob. Of course, it was still locked.
Calling through the door didn’t seem to faze the teenager locked inside. The sobs were heartbreaking, the agonizing sound of Rebel as he completely shattered formed a knot in Crow’s throat.
Stepping back, Crow kicked the fucking door open.
Rebel sat huddled on the tile floor of the shower, beneath the spray of water. At least it wasn’t fucking cold water , Crow thought as he snapped off the faucet and crouched barefoot in front of the man.
“Rebel, look at me,” Crow didn’t ask, it was an order. He needed to get control of the situation before Rebel spiraled into a place of no return.
With hard fingers, he yanked the man’s chin up and stared down into a pair of tormented brown eyes.
That was good, he could work with tormented. It was when a person’s eyes went blank that time ran out.
Right now, Rebel was fighting. And as long as there was fight left in the man, then there was hope. Crow gripped Rebel by the upper arms and hauled him out of the shower.
Of course, Rebel fought him, but with the lack of food and his grief, Crow easily controlled the slender man.
“Fucking let go!”
“No.” Crow rubbed a towel over Rebel until he was semi-dry and then rubbed it over the guy’s curly dark hair.
Rebel kneed him again. Or tried to, but Crow deflected the blow. Still, the bony knee hit his thigh and he grunted. Grabbing the t-shirt from the pile of borrowed clothes, Crow yanked it over Rebel’s head and then pushed his arms into each hole.
“I’m not a fucking child,” the teenager hissed.
Anger was good.
“Then put these on.” Crow handed Rebel the briefs.
Angrily, Rebel jerked first the briefs and then the sweatpants up over his slim hips.
“You broke the door.”
Crow smirked. “Yup.”
Rebel gnashed his teeth at him and that made Crow smile. Rebel, on the other hand, glared at him and then marched out of the bathroom. Crow followed.
Darting a glance at the hotel door, Rebel curled his lip in a sneer at the desk still blocking the exit.
“You know if there’s a fire, we’ll die in here.”
Crow pressed his lips together to keep from chuckling.
“Your burger is over there,” he said and walked over to where he’d left his uneaten food on the small table between the beds. He settled on the mattress and started in on his burger again.
Rebel looked at the bag on the shelf that held the coffee maker and water and turned his face away.
“Why am I here?” The young man’s hands waved about.
“Eat.”
“Fuck you,” Rebel said, whirling around. The dark wet curls on the man’s head shimmered in the light. “Tell me why I’m here.”
“Eat and I’ll tell you.”
With a sound of annoyance, Rebel marched over to grab the bag. Instead of sitting on the other bed, Rebel stood against the wall with the bag.
Crow had a feeling the man was starving. Rebel was too skinny and it wasn’t hard to see that the guy wasn’t getting enough to eat.
What the fuck had he been through since coming to California? Rebel must not have stayed at Dave’s place for long.
The bag crinkled in Rebel’s hands when he squeezed it, but then the smell won out and the man tore open the bag, reached inside, and took out the burger. The bag with the fries fell to the floor.
Rebel ate like someone was going to steal his food. With huge wolfing bites, the teenager’s cheeks were puffed out as he stuffed as much as he could inside.
It took everything in Crow not to say something. Words like slow down or there’s more where that came from wouldn’t help in this situation.
No, with Rebel, he had to be cautious.
Because he suspected that the young man was almost at the end of his rope.