Damon scowled. “You’re in a hospital, fresh out of surgery. There’s a ring of purple bruises around your neck in the shape of handprints. You’re missing damn near an inch of skin around your wrists and ankles. What part of that is okay?”

Micah had trouble holding eye contact with Damon with his injuries being thrown in his face so boldly, and he tried to look away, but Damon wouldn’t allow it. He took him by the chin. “I need to know. You were half naked when I found you. Your pants weren’t done up properly. Did McCormick – did that swine touch you?”

Micah could feel himself blanch, and his first instinct was to immediately deny it, because Ren hadn’t touched him – not in the way Damon thought. But then he remembered the way the man’s eyes had trailed over his exposed skin, and the way their teeth had clacked during that forced kiss, and he couldn’t suppress an involuntary shutter.

Damon exploded into a rage, shooting to his feet – cuss words and threats flying out of his mouth. Something about bringing the bastard back to life and making him eat his own cock.

Micah needed him to stop – before the hospital staff came running and kicked him out.

It was just a kiss.

Micah nearly had to smack the man with the board to get him to notice the words, but Damon’s anger didn’t dissipate even after he’d read them.

“Just a kiss?” he hissed, momentarily stopping his pacing. “I ought to go to l’obitorio and rip la sua lingua sporca from his mouth.”

“Stop.”

“Don’t speak,” Damon snapped.

“Then d-don’t-” Micah squeezed the words out past his rapidly contracting throat.

Damon covered his mouth with a large, warm hand before he could push out any more. “Enough. You’ve made your point. I… I’m sorry.” Damon took a deep breath in through his nose before allowing his hand to drop – and suddenly, it was Damon avoiding eye contact. “It’s my fault – everything. If I had been watching out for you like I should have been, none of this would have happened.”

No.

Micah underlined the word twice, shaking his head emphatically.

“I never should have walked away from you.”

It was ridiculous.

What Ren had done wasn’t any more Damon’s fault than it was Micah’s. Even if Damon had never broken off their agreement – their relationship – who’s to say Ren wouldn’t have still taken him? It’s not like he and Damon were together every second of the day. Damon had a life outside of Micah, and Micah… well, he had his job, anyway.

But there wasn’t room on the whiteboard for Micah to write all that out, so…

You came for me. You saved me. Micah hesitated. I wasn’t sure you would.