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all the help he could get. I'd say things worked out as well as they could have."
"But you're hurt!"
"And Lucas didn't get attacked and you found the flag," Adam said calmly, "which is
exactly what I'd hoped would happen."
A hand landed on Lucas' shoulder. It belonged to a concerned-looking, very muddy Ben.
"Is that true? They didn't touch you?"
Lucas felt his face flushing. The soreness in his ass flared painfully even though Donahue
hadn't torn him. The attack hadn't been a big deal a few minutes ago when it was just him and
Tyler talking, but suddenly he felt nauseous and ashamed, as if the other guys could tell just by
looking at him what Donahue had threatened to do to him.
His shoulder twitched violently without his control, dislodging Ben's hand. Ben raised his
eyebrows in surprise. Kip too, frowned at him, his gaze questioning. Lucas looked away, afraid
to meet the eyes he could feel studying him critically.
"Donahue fucked around with him but I knocked him out before anything happened,"
Tyler said, dismissive. "The new guy doesn't need any more attention, for fuck's sake. He already
thinks he's the center of the universe."
It was, strangely enough, one of the kindest things anyone done for him in a long time.
That it was Tyler who'd deflected the attention wasn't lost on Lucas and it made him feel
depressed.
"I'm ready for a shower if we can go now?" he asked of no one in particular. His skin felt
itchy and he wanted to crawl out of it. He needed, suddenly, to get the hell out of the jungle and
far away from Donahue and his gang.
"I think that's a good idea," he heard Adam say. "I'm muddier than a boar." Then the
bigger man was beside him and murmuring, "You'll ride back with me, Lucas."
Lucas winced, bracing himself for Tyler's outburst since it meant the platinum blond
would have to ride with Kip. But oddly enough he heard nothing from Tyler. Not wanting to
press his luck, Lucas responded to Adam's nudge and trudged back through the jungle by his
side.
They met a group of Donahue's men in the jungle but not Rory himself, who was
presumably still knocked out cold in the mud. Lucas felt concern for the man but that concern
was fleeting, chased away by the memory of what Donahue had nearly succeeded in doing to
him. He wanted to go back and smash Donahue's face in the mud as a matter of fact, but he didn't
think Adam would approve the violence.
A handful of insults between the two groups were exchanged but nothing worse. The
pirates dumped their horsetail dildos in a pile for the other men to collect and clean -- a chore
Lucas didn't envy. After a slippery trek down a hill to avoid having to climb down the waterfall,
they eventually made it to the motorcycles. They dressed and Lucas helped Adam put on his
helmet before climbing behind him onto the bike. The relief he felt when he curled his arms
around Adam's trunk-like torso was profound. He'd never before gained a sense of security from
a man. Sitting behind Adam with the jungle looming around them, Lucas did.
Before he closed his eyes he noticed Tyler's eyes him. It annoyed him. Tyler was no
doubt gathering ammunition to be used against him later. When would the antagonism ever end?
Lucas had tried his best to make peace. What more could he do? All at once he was too worn-out
to care. He kept his eyes closed as Adam drove them out of the jungle. He allowed the smooth
motion of the motorcycle as it hugged the curves to lull him into a meditative state in which he
thought of nothing and no one.
It worked so well that he raised his head in surprise when they reached the shell gravel
road leading up to the cottages. He hadn't realized how far they'd driven nor did he know how his
head had come to be been resting against the back of Adam's shoulder. Embarrassed, he leaned
away as Adam pulled the bike into the driveway.
He dismounted and started to walk past Adam to the front door but the other man caught
him by the elbow.
"Use the shower in my room," Adam told him. "Let Kip have yours."
"But what about you and Tyler?"
"I need to talk to him so you may as well use the shower while we're busy."
"But--"
"Just do it, Lucas."
Considering how Adam had defended him tonight Lucas didn't feel he was in any
position to refuse the man anything. He nodded dully and headed inside.
He didn't take the time to look around Adam and Tyler's room while he stripped. He
cared only about washing off the mud and the residual memory of Donahue's touch from his
body. He turned the water to as hot as he could stand and stood beneath the spray with gritted
teeth. Long after the water swirling down the drain ran clear and his skin was bright red did he
finally end the torture. He dried himself off and lacking any clean clothes, wrapped a towel
around his waist and left the bathroom.
Adam was by the dresser digging through one of the drawers. He was naked. The
bedroom door was closed with no sign of Tyler. Adam glanced up and whistled at the hue of
Lucas' skin.
"That bad, huh?"
Before Lucas could find a reply, he said, "Here." He tossed a set of gym shorts that by
their size appeared to belong to Tyler. "Put these on and hang out while I rinse off."
"Adam, I'm just gonna go back to my room."
"You can do that after we talk." Adam patted him on the shoulder as he passed. "Chill
out, Lucas. A few minutes won't kill you."
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