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I shrugged and held my hands out in front of me. “You got me, officer. Lock me up and throw away the key.”

He pushed off and sat next to me, his hand gentle on my thigh, his eyes drilling into mine.

“You have the most beautiful eyes. Have I ever told you that? And your hair.” He trailed his hand through it before stroking down my face. “I can’t wait until you’re well. There’s so much I want to do with you.”

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Tell me. I’m listening.”

He leaned forward, his lips close to my ear. “I’ve imagined you lying in my bed, your hair splayed on my pillow. There are no bruises, only the scars that show how incredibly strong you are. I’ll stroke each one, lavishing attention on them. Then we’ll make love, slow and passionate, taking our time.”

He nuzzled into my neck and licked the soft skin behind my ear. I shivered at his touch, and this time, the ache wasn’t from my injuries, but from his touch, strong and sure.

“Hmm, I can’t wait until we can do that. Hopefully, it won’t be too long. I might need you to look at something else that’s giving me some problems.”

“And what might that be?” He continued his exploration of my neck, his hands grazing the hem of my hoodie.

I took his hand and placed it on my cock, showing how much I liked his idea. “Should it be like this?”

“Oh, yeah. Just like that, but we should stop, or Dad might see more than he bargained for.” He dropped his head to my shoulder and groaned. “It’s gonna be a while before your ribs are up to anything.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t do anything else. I think I’ve proved there’s nothing wrong with anything else, and maybe I'll just lie back and think of England.” I smiled at him, and he burst out laughing.

“God, you’re amazing.” He stood up and kissed the end of my nose, an action I loved. He’d shown me nothing but care and attention ever since we met, and I hoped to God he never changed.

“Go, get out there and help your dad. He’ll be wondering where you got to.”

“What? With this?” He pointed to his sweatpants, his arousal clear. He pressed it with the heel of his hand, but it did nothing to hide it.

“I mean, I’d love to help, but it looks like your dad’s on his way.” I pointed out the window, where his dad was beckoning him. “Good luck with that.”

I slapped his arse as he turned to leave, my laughter following him out of the room.

God, I loved him…

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MAC

It had been a month since the assault, and Frankie was doing amazingly well. His cuts had more or less healed, and the bruises had faded to little more than faint blemishes on his face.

He still struggled with his ribs, but they were improving day by day, and after that day at Dad’s, we’d experimented with hand jobs and blow jobs, seeing what he could tolerate. We’d barely been able to keep our hands off each other.

It seemed like, when Frankie set his mind to something, he was all-in, and despite the agony he must have been in, he gave and received them both with enthusiasm.

We’d fallen into a comfortable relationship, and when I returned to work, he took care of the house, looking after it like he had at his mum’s.

I didn’t ask him, hadn’t expected it, but he’d said it was the least he could do until he got a job to help support himself and find his own place.

Find his own place. Those words had hit hard. I’d got used to having him around, being there when I got home from work, often with a hot meal and occasionally a beer.

We still slept in separate beds. Frankie said it was because he didn’t want to wake me when he invariably fidgeted in the night, his body aching, but it had been a month, and I couldn’t help but think something else was wrong.

“Hey, Frankie, I’m home,” I shouted as I came through the front door, the smell of something delicious coming from the kitchen. “What’s cooking, beautiful?”

I walked in to see him leaning against the worktop, his lip between his teeth, looking at something on his phone.

I kissed his forehead and stood next to him. “Everything okay? You look worried.”

“Mm, I’m okay. I’ve just seen this.” He turned his phone to me so I could read what was on the screen.