Shattered Read Free Page A

this wasn't the time. He scooted up and leaned against the wall. “You okay?”
    Cole sighed and shook his head slowly. “I think I should have a word with Devlin.” A tightness squeezed his voice. If Abel hadn't stopped him, Cole would have likely beat the doctor within an inch of his life. And in all honesty, Gabe had been ready to lend a fist. Devlin should thank his lucky stars that Abel loved him enough to want to see his life preserved.
    “You sure that's a good idea?” Gabe wondered doubtfully. “You're still pissed at the guy.”
    Standing quick, Cole turned on Gabe. “Fuck yeah, I'm still pissed.” his face tightened with anger. “A second doesn't go by that I don't want to beat that motherfucker to a bloody pulp, after what he said to Abel. He destroyed him!”
    “Exactly,” Gabe murmured. He slid across the bed then rose up on his knees and cupped the sides of Cole's neck. The man's pulse pumped hard against his hands, the tendons in his neck straining. “Maybe it's best if you give it a few days, at least. The last thing we need is for you to get arrested on assault.”
    Cole stared at him and Gabe rubbed his thumbs across the man's skin, his heart beat quickening. Cole's love and concern for Abel just made him that much more amazing. It seemed ironic that it took them making love to Abel to make them see they were in love with each other.
    A shadow of a smile corked the corner of Cole's mouth. “I thought you said you would help me hide the body.”
    “You were speaking of Kaplan at the time.” Gabe reminded.
    Cole lifted an eyebrow, and shrugged, “Semantics, baby.”
    Shaking his head, Gabe chuckled low then kissed him. “Okay, so the identity of the body is irrelevant. But,” he kissed him again, “I still think you should wait. Give the doc some time to absorb what Abel told him.” He rubbed his hands down Cole's chest. “Devlin was dealt a devastating blow as well. As much as he wanted Abel to tell him the truth, we all knew he wasn't expecting that. That was a hard dose of reality to swallow...and he choked on it. Can you blame him?”
    Cole looked at him dryly, “Defending him now?”
    “Come on.” Gabe said low, “You know I'll always be on Abel's side. But the reality is – both of them took a hard hit. Yeah, I wanted to smash his face right along with you. But the man's world was being ripped apart from the inside out. Did you really expect anything less from him?”
    Cole sighed hard. “I get what you're saying.” he said thickly, emotion swelling. “But I can't ignore what it did to Abel. He reached inside the boy's chest and ripped out his heart, then crushed it. What if...” he shook his head then cleared his throat. “What if Abel doesn't come back from this?”
    Sliding his arms around Cole's neck, Gabe pressed closer and hugged him tight. “He will.” he whispered. “Abel's a tough little shit. He'll make it back, and we'll be there to make sure he does.” He smiled, his throat squeezing. “He's our boy, Cole. No way in hell we're going to let something like this take him from us.”
    Cole's arms wrapped around him and held tight. “You should be a motivational speaker.”
    Chuckling, Gabe wondered, “Could I still do my strip tease?”
    “Fuck.” Cole laughed softly and drew back, “Now that would sure a s hell motivate your audience.”

Chapter Three
    “Behind The Veil”
     
     
    “What're you doing?” The older kid turned over in his bed and propped on his elbow.
    The boy gasped and froze; he'd thought he was asleep. He squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep himself, his hand motionless between his legs, stuffed down inside his underwear. He'd only recently began to notice other boys in a sexual manner, and wondered if there was something wrong with him that he was more aroused by the boys, than by the girls. Just that day at school, in the locker room, he'd started to get hard when the other boys took off their shorts and went to the