Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

hospital. Thank you for indulging me, Rocher. It was a passing whimsy. I appreciate you not laughing in my face, though," Tabansi smiled before turning and heading into the locker room to change, forcing away thoughts of being spread out on a table while Taggart, Jordy and Maddock feasted on his body.
    CHAPTER 2
    Maddock watched as Tabansi walked into the locker room without a backward glance and sighed heavily.
    "Was that him?" Jordy asked him quietly. Maddock nodded. Gods and goddesses, when did Tabansi get so goddamn beautiful? The last time he'd seen the younger man had been the day that he'd met up with Trevor and Christopher and the two men had spoken to him about joining their marriage group. Maddock had been new to Kardalas, having moved there from Varnon after his training in law enforcement was complete. He'd never considered moving to the capital city when he had begun his lessons. He'd spent so many years wandering and avoiding his destiny in law enforcement that once he'd finally settled down and headed off to the academy he was pretty sure that he'd be stationed at Eggronti. Eggronti was a country filled with the roughest, meanest men ever born. Perhaps it was because Eggronti was also the poorest country on Kardalusia, but whatever the reason no one wanted to be in law enforcement in "Egg," so called because the water smelled like rotten eggs.
    He'd been in Kardalas for all of a month when he'd first met Trevor. The broad-shouldered red-haired man had fascinated Maddock and he'd been instantly attracted to him. When Trevor introduced him to Christopher, Maddock felt as if he'd hit the jackpot. He'd gone home directly into his play-room to check his toys, his floggers, whips, canes, etc. spending hours cleaning everything. The next day he'd met both men for lunch and when they'd shown him a picture of Tabansi, Maddock had fallen instantly in love with the light-skinned man. He remembered vividly the whimper that had escaped his lips and the laughter of Trevor and Christopher as they told him they'd had the same reaction.
    He hadn't needed any coaxing when they'd invited him to join their marriage group. The opportunity to be one of three men legally bound to Tabansi had been intoxicating to him. He'd been quick to go home and start tagging items to be sold and ones that he wanted to keep. Visions of Tabansi tied to his bed as he fucked the smaller man, with Trevor and Christopher fucking on the bed beside them had filled his dreams that night. Waking up the next morning and hearing everyone talking about the horrific shuttle accident that had taken the lives of the two men had ripped his world apart. The two of them had been rushing home to tell Tabansi about him and had wound up dead instead. Grief and guilt ate away at his insides. He'd attended the funeral and stood in the back of the church, his gaze trained on Tabansi as the young man cried and screamed out in grief.
    Maddock had lost his voice that day. Oh, he could still talk, but his sense of humor was buried in the ground along with Trevor and Christopher. His joy was ripped away from him with each cry from Tabansi's throat. Every smile he'd ever had and ever hoped to have melted from his face, with each thud of dirt hitting on Trevor and Christopher's coffins. His dreams for the future were mired in grief and guilt. The guilt he felt over being the reason for the other two men's excitement and rush to return home. Their desire to tell Tabansi about finding the fourth and final person to join their marriage group. His insistence they leave and tell Tabansi right then, rather than keeping him company had all led to the tragic accident. The fact he'd joined up with Taggart and Jordy in the hopes of offering Tabansi the one thing that he'd stolen away from the younger man earlier was a crapshoot. He could only hope that it worked. He desperately wanted to give Tabansi a future. It was all he'd ever wanted to give the other man.
    "He's gorgeous, man. Way more beautiful than that fucked up picture you keep in your billfold," Jordy snorted from beside him.
    Maddock turned to look down at his partner with a snicker. Jordy used humor and sarcasm to defuse the tensest of situations. Usually it was a welcome relief for Maddock. This time it only annoyed him.
    "Shut the hell up, JD. It wasn't like I could walk up to him and ask for a picture. As it is, once he finds out who I am, he's going to hate me," Maddock pointed out.
    "Man, stop being so hard on