Love in the Land of Fire (16 page)

Karney takes a half step back and Josiah sees Gar shift slightly in the corner of his eye but dismisses it when the doctor seems to gather himself. He sets his shoulders and meets Josiah’s gaze head on, distaste curling his 7plush mouth into a sneer.

“I don’t answer to abusive assholes like you so take my advice and back off before I have you thrown out.”

Josiah gapes for seconds, caught off guard by the doctor’s implications, before he steps forward, hand raised to grab the other man by his collar. Gar’s in front of him suddenly, crowding the doctor’s space and speaking in a low intense voice.

“Josiah wasn’t the one who did this. It was Zweil’s former dominant. Josiah is an enforcer and the last one who would hurt another in such a way.”

Karney searches Gar’s face for a moment, his eyes flickering around to the rest of their group as well before they land on Josiah again. The doctor studies him for a moment and seems to find what he was looking for because his face softens, his eyes warming and his shoulders relaxing. He steps around Gar so that he’s face to face with Josiah again and this time when he speaks his voice is smooth and warm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I see far too many cases such as this one and it never gets any easier.” Shadows flicker behind the doctor’s eyes and Josiah understands. He’s still angry but he understands.

He recognizes someone who’s been wounded before.

“Rafe?” He pushes aside everything else, focusing on the one thing he truly wants, needs, to know.

Karney scrubs a hand over his face, exhaustion once more in his movements as he begins to give Josiah his report.

“I’m not going to lie to you; it was touch and go for a while. The drug he was injected with mixed with the trauma and blood loss did a number on his system. The cuts he suffered on his back were deep and will take time to heal, and even with our technology he’s going to have scars. Overall he’s stable for the time being and our main concern is the possibility of infection. We cleaned the wounds and gave him a full round of antibiotics, but there’s always the possibility that something latched onto his system before he got here. He’s going to need a lot of help over the next few weeks, and I would prefer it if he wasn’t left alone. If he needs a place to stay I know people who work at Sanctuary and a few private facilities.”

“He’s mine.” Josiah snaps the words out, unable to hold them back when this man, this stranger, is talking about sending Rafe away.

“What Marx here means is that Zweil is officially under his protection and that’s not liable to change any time soon. He’ll have a place to stay and all the hands on care he could ever need, I imagine.” Eagan speaks up for the first time, an almost amused expression on his face as he works to smooth things over.

There’s a knowing look in Karney’s eyes at that, and he seems to soften even further towards Josiah as he nods in agreement.

“I’m sure you’d like to see him now. I’ll only allow one of you in at a time and only on the condition that you do not upset him. He’s still weak and he’ll be in pain for a while, but it’s probably best that he receives the reassurances I’m sure he needs.”

Karney motions for them to follow him and personally leads them down the hall to the private room where Rafe is. No one else makes a move to enter the room, all of them knowing that it’s not their place and that Josiah would never allow it anyways. He intends on being the first person Rafe sees when he opens his eyes.

His breath catches in his throat when he walks through the door and lays eyes on Rafe’s still form. He’s lying 7face down on his stomach, his back a mass of bandages, and the sight of him simultaneously makes Josiah relax and breaks his heart. He wasn’t able to spare Rafe this, wasn’t able to protect him properly like he’d promised him he would and that knowledge, that guilt is already beginning to eat at him.

Josiah makes his way to Rafe’s bedside, careful to keep his footsteps light, and stares down at him. Even like this, even beaten and asleep, Rafe’s beautiful to him. He has to fight the dual urges to drape himself growling over Rafe’s prone form to keep anyone else from touching him and the urge to turn around and hunt Frisch down and kill him with his bare hands.

He has a feeling that those will be two urges he’ll be fighting with for a long time to come.

He reaches out and strokes a careful hand through Rafe’s hair, fingers careful not to get caught in any tangles. He’s caught off guard when Rafe’s eyes flicker open, pained green focusing on him with surprising clarity.

“Josiah.” Rafe whispers his name, and Josiah musters up a smile for the injured man.

“Hey, Rafe.”

“I’m sorry.” Rafe’s eyes flutter shut and Josiah’s surprised to see a lone tear work its way from the corner of his eye.

“What for?”

“I-I wasn’t strong enough. I, they took me and I couldn’t stop them. You told me to keep myself safe and I couldn’t do it.” Rafe’s crying silently then, tears dripping down his face one after the other.

Josiah wipes them away with his free hand and continues stoking his fingers through Rafe’s limp hair.

“No, Rafe, I’m sorry. You were perfect. You killed one of those bastards, and you fought them every step of the way. I’m the one who wasn’t there when you needed me. Wasn’t where I should have been.”

Rafe raises a hand from the mattress and Josiah’s quick to gather his clammy fingers in a loose grip, to press his lips to the bruised skin of Rafe’s knuckles.

“You came for me. You got me out, Josiah. No one, no one’s ever done that before, no one but you. No one’s ever took my wellbeing into consideration before.”

Josiah stops, his mind ringing with Rafe’s words while the earlier whispered conversation he’d had with Marcel springs to the forefront of his mind.

“Rafe…there’s something you need to know.”

“W-What is it? Is it Frisch?” Rafe’s eyes are wide and Josiah curses himself for scaring him by being cryptic.

“No, no he’s gone. He’s locked up and you’ll never have to worry about him again. That’s what I wanted to tell you. You’re free now, well and truly free. Frisch and Jean Zweil are currently in custody and they’ll never be able to get near you again. It’s over, Rafe.”

Rafe stares at him uncomprehending as he slowly registers Josiah’s words.

“Over? The contract? It’s gone, dissolved?”

7“Beyond dissolved, Rafe. Marcel had every record of it sealed for your protection. Your family will be choosing a new Head of House soon, and you’ll never have to worry about being a bargaining chip again.

You’ll be able to form a contract with whoever you choose or you can continue your life in Zweil House.”

Rafe’s face clouds over in confusion and hurt as he stares up at Josiah.

“I thought, I mean, we had agreed…I thought there was to be a contract between us? Do you not want that, want me, anymore?”

Josiah takes a deep breath and puts it all on the line.

“I don’t want a contract with you, Rafe. No, wait, let me finish. Seeing you there, not being able to get to you through that wall, it almost broke me. I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you, wanted to own you, possess you, in all ways that I could. That’s not changed.”

“Josiah, what’re you saying?” Rafe’s voice wavers, hope building in his eyes.

Josiah lowers his forehead until it presses softly against the side of Rafe’s head, until he can whisper, breathless and rushed, into the shell of Rafe’s ear.

“Bond with me, Rafe. Bond with me and make sure that nothing will ever come between us again. Help me build a House of our own. Become a Marx and make a family with me. Please?”

Rafe sobs, an open sound laced with laughter and relief, and Josiah feels tears rising in the corners of his own eyes.

“You’ve got one hell of a sense of timing, Josiah. I’m looking forward to being surprised by it for the rest of our lives.”

“Do you mean it?”

Rafe raises his head as far as he can up off of the pillow and catches Josiah’s mouth in a sweet kiss. When he pulls back they’re both smiling, Rafe a small secretive curl of his lips and Josiah an actual full-blown grin.

“I’ve been a Zweil for far too long, Josiah, and Rafe Marx has a bit of a ring to it.”

Josiah reaches out and traces a finger lightly over the back of Rafe’s neck, fingertips seeking out the silver of his collar.

“Not yet it doesn’t, but it will. As soon as you’re out of here, as soon as you’re better, I’m going to sear my crest into this collar and nothing will ever come between us again.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Josiah’s the one who captures Rafe’s mouth in a kiss then, chaste and sweet, a promise for all of the years to come that they will spend together. After everything, after all that has ever happened in his life, Josiah has finally found someone, finally found that one person that he can make a home in and with.

He intends to never let him go.

The End

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www.rbrochu.blogspot.com

Other Books by Rebecca Brochu:

Lover Unexpected: Manlove Edition

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Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

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