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Son of a bitch As he started to straighten, he hit the switch to the chipper with his knee

He jerked back as theblink of resistance as the blades caught the tip of a finger He yanked free, stu away The rinding like it was dying

Given the circumstances, the noise just seemed far more sentient and sinister

"Son of a bitch, son of a bitch" It stung like hell, but that wasn't what made him shake from head to toe My hand

"These hands are the real works of art, pet " When his Master said that, they'd been in Thomas' tiny warehouse roouided his Master's hands into the paint and they'd stood together at the canvas, hands overlaid They created soreat art, was as much an expression of life as a child's handprint in plaster

His Master's white silk shirt had been open, the lean muscular slope of the chest down to the sectioned stomach muscles exposed He'd re Thoonal roin The shirt was loose so there was the hint of the points of his broad shoulders, the biceps disappearing into the sleeves

Thomas had pressed behind his Master, turned him toward the ers, taking streaks of color up over the pectorals and hard nipples, all the way to the throat His Master had even allowed Thomas to run his hands over the expensive shirt so he left streaks of color on his clothes as well as his skin Then his hands had overlapped Tho tapestry that reflected Thomas' passion for all that was his life

All that was his life then Not now Not ever again Cracking open an eye, he found he still had five fingers, though the tip of his forefinger elling blood A slice had been taken out of the meat and part of the nail was torn It wasand wrapped it around his finger, holding it to staunch the bleeding He squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't screae

Earlier this ested an improvement to the paint color area "Why don't you paint a display there, Tho that will ether for their bedroo since you came home, and you used to love to do it so much "

He thought he et physically ill if he walked down the paint aisle today

Fuck it Whoever the hell it was, he had to see No way Marcus Aurelius Stanton andering around a hardware store in the middle of North Carolina Surely he wasn't the only one in the world with a drop-your-pants-because-I'-to-fuck-you-now voice

Thomas strode out of the back room, maneuvered around the repair counter and nearly tra around the corner from the other side

"Oof " She stopped herself with defensive hands against his chest "Clumsy oaf

What're you doing, charging out of there like a bat out of hell? I was just co to find - "

He didn't hear her Not after the first sentence, when his eyes found the custo in the aisle behind her about fifteen paces aho turned from his contemplation of fixtures at the sound of her exclamation