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“Hadley, keep pressing tight,” he instructs, his fingersto my father’s wrist “I feel a pulse”

I’s the cloth over a nipple, and the bud puckers beneath his touch He says nothing and continues cleaning me over the next several minutes, until there’s a knock at the door

When he one And one look in the ain as I hear him take my mother’s clothes from Shawna, but that’s all I hear My father…

My chest begins heaving,downarms

“I’m here,” Ryder whispers

And apparently that’s all I need to hear

I drop htly inI can do to stopdown ht die It’s the sadness th

at I had to see him like that It’s the worry and strain of all that I’ve been dealing with lately And it’s years of repressed emotions that are now safe in the arms of a man I knoill catch me if I fall

Manyand could catch ain I don’t even recall when I lifted th I needed to lean on Nor do I recall when h so I could see him But then all I see is the affection in his eyes, the wartime friendship between us

“And that’s how you properly deal with emotions,” he tells me softly “You don’t run from them You feel them And then you do whatever the hell you can to make yourself feel better” His warm touch slides across my cheeks as his hands bracket my face “You need me, Hadley Take me”

Working on total instincts and pure desperation to gain control of my life, I slide my hands across his buzz-cut hair and seal ainst hi on the closed toilet seat, but he is He doesn’t stop et his pants down to his knees, freeing his cock for me I cli me, as I take hi up and down until theymy cheeks

He takesme, and then he leans away “Come here”

There’s soical, as he tuckson to rind against hiuish into so pleasurable

His arht now, I don’t think about all the things I should think about For now, I feel better in a world that’s cru around me I feel affection in a life that’s been filled with death I feel realness fro so much deeper

There’s nothing sexy about touching him now It’s not hot; it’s raw It’s not desire; it’s emotions For once inwe call life