Thrashing and choking, Kody pulled against Geoffrey, but he would not let go. Geoffrey leaned his head forward, crowding closer to Kody’s flailing body and inched the fingers of his right hand around the back of his own neck. He would gladly suffocate this man for hurting Sven…for potentially killing Sven.
Kody raised the gun in his right hand and wildly waved it in the air, trying to bring it around to aim it at Geoffrey. Twisting in the bed just enough, Geoffrey kicked the gun with his left foot. Kody squeezed the trigger and fired. The bullet soared across the room and dug into the old drywall with a thick thunk. Kody’s movements slowed down and this time, Geoffrey kicked the gun free. It clattered against the floor, disappearing from sight.
The door to the room burst open, slamming into the wall. Geoffrey looked up to see Sven filling the doorway. His long hair was loose and covered in white dust. More dirt and dust covered his dark clothes. There was a long cut across his forehead and several others on his cheeks, but he was alive. Oh God, he’s still fucking alive.
Geoffrey released Kody instantly and kicked his limp body aside so that he tumbled to the floor. “Sven,” he cried.
Sven walked around the far side of the bed, his eyes never leaving Geoffrey. As he passed the tripod, he shoved it violently to the floor. Geoffrey tried to reach for him, but he was still trapped. Grabbing the knife off his belt, Sven sliced through the material with two quick swipes and Geoffrey launched himself into Sven’s arms.
“You’re alive. You’re alive,” he cried, clutching him tightly. His whole body shook as he sank into those strong arms. He wanted to tell Sven that he loved him, that he’d never stop fighting to get to him, that he was never going to let go of Sven. But he couldn’t say any of that. Just kept repeating, “You’re alive.”
“I’ve got you. Never letting go,” Sven said, his voice rough. “Never letting go.”
“No!”
Geoffrey lifted his head at that rough voice to find Kody pushing up to stare at him from the floor on the other side of the bed.
“You can’t have him!”
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Kody brought up the lost handgun. But Sven was faster. With his free right hand, he grabbed the gun from the holster at his waist and fired a single shot into Kody’s chest.
Geoffrey turned his face back into Sven’s neck and squeezed him hard. It was over. He’d never wanted this. He’d never meant to hurt Kody, destroy his life. Never meant to put Sven in danger. But it was over.
“Let’s go home now.”Chapter 19Every time Sven closed his eyes, he saw Geoffrey in that video, so he gave up trying to sleep and sat up against the headboard. Geoffrey adjusted accordingly, burrowing into his leg, his head on Sven’s bare thigh, his arm sliding between his legs. He stared down at him, his chest swelling with affection when he felt Geoffrey’s nose twitch from the hair probably tickling his nose.
The room was dark, but enough moonlight spilled through a crack in the blinds allowing Sven to see him and damn, he looked small against him in the faint light. Small and defenseless. Geoffrey was anything but. He’d been taking down an armed Nathan McDonald in a chokehold when Sven had burst through that door. Admiration joined the affection and he stroked his fingers through his light blond hair. It was so thick, it was still damp from the shower they’d taken when they finally got home from the hospital.
Geoffrey Ralse was a fucking beautiful fighter to his core.
He wanted to say he couldn’t understand why some man hadn’t snapped him up and kept him, but after seeing the kinds of people Geoffrey hung out with, he understood. Only a few carried enough integrity to even be worthy. He hoped he did. Sven could be himself with Geoffrey, could lose control and give in to the passion he felt so damn much because that fear he’d carried for so long had evaporated.
No, it had shifted gears completely, turning into anxiety over losing him and he’d come too fucking close to that today.
Geoffrey’s wish to go home earlier hadn’t happened for hours because it turned out the police had been alerted to the livestream, had pinpointed Geoffrey’s location, and showed up on the heels of Ward Security. Nobody was allowed to move until their hazardous device crew was called in to sweep the place and everyone had been questioned within an inch of their lives.
Sven refused to let Geoffrey out of his sight the entire time, even when the paramedics arrived and the cops tried to pull him aside for questioning. He stubbornly insisted they interrogate him where he stood, and he hadn’t given a shit when his frowns had intimidated the EMT checking over Geoffrey. He couldn’t stop scowling at that point. The bruise already forming on Geoffrey’s cheek and the blown pupils in his wide, shell-shocked eyes had made him furious.