Red Hot(Sex & Mayhem #5)(52)

Red Jack lit another cigarette and passed the first one to Loki. “What did this methhead do?”

The cigarette trembled in Loki’s fingers, but when he spoke, his voice was as steady as ever. “He did a lot of things. I was with him three years.”

“I hit you. You wanna kill me too?” Red Jack watched the sharp shadows dancing on Loki’s face.

Loki took a long drag from the cigarette and held in the smoke, closing his eyes. He curled his shoulders, appearing smaller than he was, and pulled down a few strands of hair, covering the scars on his cheek. “You didn’t do it like he did. You didn’t break my arm, you didn’t knock me out, you didn’t...” He swallowed the rest of the sentence and shook his head. “Not the same.”

“How did you two break up?”

Loki smiled and leaned against the desk, gently twisting his sensuous body as he did so. “Told you. I reported him.”

“And that was the last you’ve heard of him?” Somehow Red Jack didn’t believe Mozer wouldn’t have tried to take revenge.

Loki’s Adam’s apple bobbed abruptly, and his dark eyes glanced at Red Jack’s face. “No. He and his friends fucked me up bad. I don’t think he knows I’m still alive.”

Red Jack licked his lips. “Those scars on you were no bet, were they?” His pulse rose rapidly, filling his veins with rage that made him curl his fingers into fists.

Loki kept his gaze and slowly shook his head. He raised his hand and just kept it there for a moment before combing back his hair. He gave a low grunt and rubbed the scars on his cheek. They must have been covered with something because very soon the tic-tac-toe pattern changed color to a pink shade. “They were playing. On my face.”

Red Jack groaned and inhaled a big breath of smoke before reaching out to run his fingers over the raised skin. “Fuckers cut you up?” He couldn’t stop his breaths from getting deeper.

Loki gently shook off Red Jack’s hand and pulled up his shirt, turning around to show him the abstract scarification on his back. Loki pulled his long hair forward. “I had it changed so that you couldn’t see the words.” He took a shuddery breath. “It was Rat cumwhore.”

It wasn’t that Loki was sweet, or not a rat for that matter, but it was becoming clear that sending the guy to prison was the only thing Loki could think of doing to end the miserable relationship where he was constantly abused. Red Jack’s imagination worked all too vividly, suggesting torture he didn’t want to see inflicted on Loki. Sure, the guy could be an annoying fucker at times, but the kind of evil that came with those scars was something else entirely.

Red Jack butted the cigarette and slid his arms under Loki’s. Fuck, it felt good. Relief as if he’d taken a long drag of weed after a stressful day.

Loki leaned back into him and gently picked up Red Jack’s hand, leading it into his soft hair, all the way to the scalp. “There are some here too. They cut my hair with a knife, and... some of the skin got pulled off as well,” he said softly.

Red Jack traced the scars with his fingers and couldn’t help but kiss Loki’s ear from the other side. “How long did they keep you?” As horrible as Loki’s story was, the violence that was about to spill tonight was already exciting Red Jack because of the reasons behind it.

Loki gasped, melting into Red Jack’s embrace, completely trusting. “Three days, I think. I was bleeding real bad by the end of it. I wanted them to kill me, but it just went on and on. They wouldn’t even give me water, and I was so thirsty I’d drink anything... I guess that makes me a cumwhore.” He snorted and squeezed his hand on Red Jack’s.

Red Jack swallowed. It was worse than he’d imagined, and that thought truly terrified him. Not in the sense of being afraid of tweaker scum like Ted Mozer, but scared for Loki, even though this shit had gone down a good two years ago. How could anyone go through being brutalized that way and live a normal life? How did Loki still want to fuck anyone after? The hug he’d given Loki before didn’t seem like enough, so he squeezed him tightly and gave his neck a tender kiss. “It’s not funny, you fucker.”

Loki chuckled. “No? Damn, I thought I needed to find humor in the bad things.”

“Dying is not funny. I know.” Red Jack took a long whiff of Loki’s hair. It was a bit greasy after the two days in hospital, but it still had that herbal undertone Red Jack loved.

“It’s not, but after those three days I was really happy that I was dying. They dug me a hole, covered me with dirt, and left. I couldn’t breathe. I don’t remember getting out, but I was told someone found me crawling at the side of the road and took me to the hospital.” Loki slowly turned around in Red Jack’s arms. His eyes were two black holes, sucking Red Jack in and refusing to let go. “You would never do that, right?”