Prologue

Mav

I didn't see him at first because unlike so many of the other times he'd been walking down the busy hallway towards the hospital room I was guarding, his head was hung and he didn't speak to any of the various nurses and other staff who greeted him. In fact, he was so distracted that he nearly slammed into me as he turned to enter the room. I managed to grab him by the upper arms just before he walked into me and I didn't miss his startled gasp as he lifted his eyes to meet mine.

The young man was nothing like the men I usually went for. First of all, he was just way too young. He was in his early twenties at best. Second, I liked them a little on the sturdier side. This man was so lean and slight, I'd worry about breaking him if I put all of my weight down on his back while I was fucking him from behind. And third, and most importantly, he was skittish. Exceedingly so. I didn't mind a little shyness here and there, but I wasn't into fucking guys who were terrified of me. And with the way his whole body had seized up when I'd first grabbed his arms, I knew that was exactly what he was.

"Sorry," he whispered, though it was hard to hear him over the din of the people coming and going through the hallway .

"No problem," I responded, though I had yet to let him go. With it being summer, he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so my fingers were in contact with his bare skin which was wreaking havoc on my senses. Not to mention his big, luminous dark brown eyes and his slightly parted lips that looked so full that I couldn't help but wonder if he'd just been kissing someone or if they were just naturally that plump and supple looking.

I'd first noticed him a couple of weeks earlier when the young boy I was keeping an eye on, Matty Travers, had been readmitted to the Immunocompromised Services Unit of the children's hospital. I'd only met the little boy about six weeks earlier when my boss, Ronan Grisham, had asked me to keep an eye on one of my colleagues, Hawke, in case he decided to single-handedly pursue the men who'd murdered his wife. Under normal circumstances, Hawke wasn't the kind of guy who needed backup, but when Ronan had learned that the murderers had taken up with a Mexican drug lord, all bets were off and he'd ordered me to stick to Hawke like glue.

Weeks had passed, but Hawke hadn't gone looking for the men as expected and when the man he'd lost his heart to, Tate Travers, and his five-year-old son had shown up to visit him at his ranch in Wyoming, I'd been there to witness the reunion and I'd known then that Hawke had chosen a future with them rather than seeking vengeance for the rape and murder of his wife and unborn child ten years earlier. I'd ended up sticking around town for a couple days so I could explore the mountain ranges surrounding Rocky Point, but on the day I'd finally gotten on my Harley to head to my next assignment, Ronan had frantically called me and told me to get back to Hawke's house because the men he'd given up on hunting had found him instead.

I'd made it back to Hawke's ranch just in time to save him from the bullet one of the drug lord's lackeys had been about to put in his brain, and then he and I had managed to get Tate and Matty to safety. For someone so young, little Matty had been beyond brave as a gun had been held to his head and I'd felt a kinship with him from the start. So when Ronan had asked me if I'd stay in Seattle for a while to keep an eye on the family in case the drug lord made a play for them, I'd readily agreed.

And that was when I'd seen the young man.

He arrived every day like clockwork to spend time with Matty and I'd learned from Hawke who had given me the okay to let the guy past me, that he was someone who had just started volunteering in the pediatric oncology unit. I hadn't missed how beautiful he was with his dark skin tone that hinted at Hispanic heritage and pretty, expressive eyes, but I'd dismissed my intense attraction to him because of the way he'd looked at me that very first day when he'd told me his name as he'd sought entry into Matty's room.

Eli.

I'd let the name roll off my tongue as I'd automatically flirted with him, but when he'd looked at me like I was going to jump him, I'd let him pass without further comment and I'd done my best to ignore him all the other days that he'd stopped by. But it had been an almost impossible task because there was always this inevitable moment when Eli stepped past me, that his eyes would lift to look at me for the briefest of moments and I wouldn't see fear in them…I'd see something different. Something that had my stomach knotting with anticipation and my fingers itching to reach up and stroke over the smoothness of his cheek.

But now as I held on to him, he wasn't only looking terrified, he was practically shaking in my grip, so I quickly released him.

I knew I wasn't the safest looking guy in terms of appearance, especially considering the tattoos that covered my arms, torso and back, my large build, long hair and the leather motorcycle pants I wore, but it wasn't like I'd overtly come on to the guy or done anything that would cause him to be so fearful of me.

I expected Eli to quickly move away from me and rush into the room, but other than taking a step back, he didn't do anything else. His eyes held mine as he tried to get control of his breathing and then he shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry," he said again, a little louder this time, but still very low and quiet.

I had no doubt the second apology had nothing to do with running into me and I desperately wanted to ask him what he was sorry for. But then I saw it.

Longing.

My breath caught in my throat as I realized what the look meant, but before I could question Eli or even respond, he stepped past me and into the room. I heard both Matty and Tate happily greet him and there was no fear or tentativeness as Eli greeted them in return. The idea that Eli might actually be attracted to me was an unexpected distraction and it took everything in my power to keep from looking through the glass walls to see Eli and Matty interacting. My job was to focus on my surroundings and keep the little boy inside that room safe.

It was only about a half an hour later that Eli left the room and I willed myself not to look at him as he walked by, but I failed miserably when I sensed his gaze on me. Our eyes met briefly and I felt my cock harden uncomfortably in my pants. Eli was the one to tear his gaze away first, but I kept my eyes on his slim back as he hurried down the hall towards another room and it wasn't until he disappeared inside of it that I finally managed to snap out of whatever spell I'd fallen under. Irritation flooded my system and I cursed both my own traitorous body, as well as the young man who, with just one look, had fucked with my head for those few seconds.

My shift outside Matty's door lasted only another hour and when Hawke arrived to relieve me, I said my goodbyes to Matty and Tate and hurried towards the parking garage so I could get my Harley between my legs and use the massive bike to work off some of the tension that was still lingering in my system. It took just a few minutes to get to the garage and I automatically bypassed the elevator for the stairs that would lead to the lowest floor of the garage where I'd left my bike. But the second I opened the door, I went on high alert when I heard someone yelling, "Stay the fuck away from him, do you hear me?"

The sound of flesh striking flesh had me moving and when I heard someone let out a small cry, I leaned over the stair railing and yelled, "Hey! What's going on down there?"

There was another distressed cry and then a door was opening and closing. I knew the assailant would be long gone by the time I reached the bottom landing, but I took the stairs as fast as I could anyway so I could make sure whoever had been struck was okay.

I saw the young man immediately before I even reached the last step. He was sitting on the concrete floor, his back to the wall and his arms over his head. I could hear him crying softly, but the flickering security light affixed to the wall above him made it difficult to see anything else.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked as I knelt on the floor in front of him. He flinched when I carefully tried to pull his arms away from his face. "You're safe now," I murmured as he finally relaxed his muscles enough to drop his arms. And when I put my fingers under his chin to lift his face, the light above us stopped flickering and I held my breath as I realized who it was under the bruise that was already forming along one cheek, the blood trickling from the split lip and the tears streaking down his face.

Eli.