Page 82 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

Will did the only thing he could think of doing. He gently left kisses on the wounds on his back, trying to soothe them.

Corbin closed his eyes, and fought damn hard to not break more from that act of tenderness.

“I hate them,” Will whispered. “I hate them more than I’ll ever be able to articulate. I despise what they did to the sweetest man in the world. I hope they hurt them in ways they never expected. I hope Gene pummeled them, and broke them into pieces.”

Corbin knew the feeling.

“It gets worse,” he warned.

Will assumed.

What Will knew was Corbin gave during sex, he didn’t receive. He knew that what they’d done to him likely hurt his ass in ways he’d never thought possible. As a bottom, he was accustomed to sex.

As a Top, he wouldn’t be.

“I think you need to know something,” Corbin said. “And if it makes you hate me, I understand. I wouldn’t blame you. I hate myself because of it.”

Will moved to stand in front of him. There was nothing that would make him hate him.

NOTHING.

“What?” he asked.

He shared.

“I didn’t let them do a rape kit on me, so I didn’t have to face them in court.

I can’t face them. I’m not strong enough to hear people whispering, and to see my name in the paper.

I’m not brave enough to face the other detectives as they know what happened to me.

I don’t know if I can even go back to work if it gets out. ”

Will softly touched his face with his palms, framing his cheeks with his hands.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “I’ve had many rape cases, and I know how brutal they are. I don’t hate you for that, Corbin. I understand. As the victim, that’s your choice.”

Corbin kept talking.

“I don’t want anyone to know what was done to me. It’s too horrific. What they did to me, Will, is something that I’ll never overcome. They humiliated and broke me for their amusement. They won,” he whispered.

Will stopped him.

“They didn’t win. You survived. Going to court doesn’t mean you’re a better survivor. If this is how you need to heal, Corbin, then you did the right thing. You advocated for yourself.”

He told him.

“I let Ethan swab me for some DNA. He’ll have the only results, and they will never see the light of day. I let him see me, Will. I had to trust someone.”

He reassured him.

“That you trusted them with this tells me that they are good men, Corbin. That they helped you through it is all that matters. I don’t care that they saw you naked or that you leaned on them when you needed someone. I’m going to lean on them when I need them too. They are our family.”

That they were.

“Those results are secret, and I’m good with that. I suspect Gene was big mad.”

He nodded.

“He was.”

Corbin explained.

“I just wanted you to know that Ethan helped me wash away the DNA. He helped me, and I don’t want you to be upset with him.”

Will wasn’t upset.

He knew from being around the men that Ethan was madly in love with Gene, and that they only saw Corbin as a brother.

He wasn’t jealous.

He was grateful.

“Well, then, I owe him for taking care of you until I could take over,” he admitted. “They are letting me move in with you. We’re going to all be living here until you’re ready to leave.”

Corbin was kind of grateful he was here. Already, he felt better. He didn’t want pity, and Will was treating him like he would anyone else.

That helped.

“Okay, I’m ready,” he whispered. “You can see the rest of my body.”

That was all Will had to hear.

When he pulled his pants down, he was careful to leave his boxers. He helped him step out of the borrowed sweats. Then, he gently pulled his boxers down, and he saw his boyfriend’s body.

They’d been terrible to him.

His dick was bruised and so were his balls. They clearly beat on his groin to damage him. He had lacerations all over his thighs and groin where they’d whipped him with what looked like a belt buckle to destroy him.

Then, he saw the burn.

“Jesus,” Will whispered. “Did they burn you?”

He nodded.

“Yes. They branded me to sell me into the sex trade, but they damaged me too much. I was garbage to them at that point.”

Will was kneeling in front of Corbin, helping him step out of his boxers. With tenderness, he gave the burn a gentle kiss.

“When you get out of the water, we’ll put something on that, so it doesn’t get infected,” he said. “We don’t want it needing antibiotics. An infection won’t be fun.”

Oh, well, he had news for him.

“There’s another one.”

Hearing that, Will looked up. He was trying his best to not lose it, and it was so damn hard.

He.

Was.

Pissed.

“Where?”

Corbin had tears on his cheeks.

“On the back of my sac,” he stated.

With gentle fingers, Will checked, and tried to stay composed. As he moved his balls, Corbin cringed in pain and whimpered.

Jesus Christ.

He hated those men.

“Okay, we have to get cream on that too. Maybe some gauze. It’s raw and rubbing from being swollen.”

Corbin nodded.

Will got up, and held out his hand, helping Corbin into the water. When he slowly sat down, he moaned.

“Too hot?”

He shook his head.

“No, it’s perfect. It feels good.”

That was all he needed to hear. Kissing him on the forehead, he had him relax.

“I’m going to go look for a first aid kit. Can you handle being alone for a few minutes?” he asked. “I’m sure the Feds have to have one here.”

Corbin nodded and shared.

“It’s in the closet when you walk in. It’s on the shelf,” he offered.

Thank God they had one or he was going to have to go get some supplies. He figured the men didn’t dress the wounds because they didn’t want Corbin uncomfortable with a stranger touching his body after this.

Even though it was his family.

They let him have his dignity, unlike the rapist animals who did this to him.

“Do you need anything?” he asked. “Some water? A drink?” he asked. “Maybe a cup of tea?”

Corbin felt better in the water, but he would like something.

“Can I have some coffee? I have a caffeine withdrawal headache,” he admitted “Or a concussion. I’m not sure which,” he admitted.

Will smiled, faking it.

“Absolutely. Give me ten,” he said, getting up from the edge of the tub, and heading out. When he closed the door behind him, that’s when he ran.

FAST.

He just made it to the guest bathroom in time to start vomiting.

What he saw devastated him, and turned his stomach to the point that his coffee and bagel earlier didn’t stay down.

As he purged, he knew one thing.

He hoped and prayed the animals that did this to his man suffered in unimaginable ways. He hoped that Gene was brutal, and they were in the hottest pits of Hell.

For Corbin and what they’d stolen from him.

From them.