McKenzie, Cooper - Winter and His Twins [Welcome to Sanctuary 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove)

Welcome to Sanctuary 2

COOPER MCKENZIE

Copyright © 2011

Chapter 1

Winter Ryan stared hard at the message he was about to send, debating only a moment before pushing the send button. Thankfully the virtual assistant company he used worked twenty-four hours, so his sister would know of his plight within the hour. He knew Spring would send help if she didn’t try to come herself.

He only hoped she didn’t try to call beforehand. If she did, she would reach his voice mail. Until he replaced his phone, he had no other way to communicate with the world outside his apartment except by e-mail.

Using his legs to roll away his chair from his desk, he stood carefully, wincing with a small gasp as pain shot through his body, reminding him why he’d given in and made contact with the outside world. He’d done enough for now. He’d broken down and asked his sister for help, the one thing a brother should never do.

Men were supposed to be strong and self-sufficient, able to deal with anything. But with both hands heavily bandaged he couldn’t work on the computer, couldn’t hold a pen to write the romantic e-books that were gaining popularity, hell, he could barely hold his own cock to pee.

Thanks to the pain medications they’d given him at the emergency room he couldn’t think enough to be creative anyway. Unfortunately, with Scott out somewhere still stewing in his anger he didn’t dare leave his apartment without the possibility of another beating.

Walking slow and careful, Winter walked out of the room where he worked and into the room where he lived. Stopping in the kitchen nook, he looked through the cupboards and refrigerator before gathering what he needed.

Comfort foods were definitely the order of the evening. Two cans of his favorite soda, a bag of barbecue potato chips, and one of the bags of clearance Easter candy he’d bought before running into Scott would start him on the road to a junk food coma. If that wasn’t enough, he would return for the leftover lasagna he’d made the night before.

When he woke up in the ambulance, he was surprised to find that he still held the shopping bag of chocolate eggs and marshmallow Peeps. Especially when he later learned that several fingers of that hand had been broken when his ex-lover stepped on them. His right wrist had snapped when Scott shoved him, and he’d landed on it. He didn’t realize until he’d returned home and dumped the bag on the dining room table that someone had put his broken phone in the bag.

After setting his bounty of junk food on the small table next to the queen-size sofa bed that spent more time open than closed, he used a knife blade to open the can of soda. Thankfully the pharmacy had taken pity on him and packaged his pills in an easy open envelope instead of a bottle. He managed to pick two up between his first and second fingers and wash them down with several swallows of soda.

Hoping the medication worked fast, he slowly eased himself down onto the mattress. He gritted his teeth against the pain as his ribs, back and rest of his body protested any movement. He needed to clean up but, with both hands in casts that he was not supposed to get wet for the next four weeks, there wasn’t much hope of that without someone to help him.

Picking the television remote up, he managed to click the television on and then flip to his favorite movie channel. With a cautious sigh, he rearranged himself until he found an almost painless position. Then he settled in for what he expected to be a long, pain-filled night.

* * * *

“Hello?” Hawk Sullivan sat up as he answered his cell phone. Though it was after midnight they were still awake, having just returned from the opening reception of the three-day electronics convention they’d come to Charlotte to attend.

“This is Spring. Are you Hawk or Garrett?” a woman’s gentle voice asked. She sounded frantic.

“Hawk. What’s up, Spring?”

He looked across the room at his brother, who’d just come out of the bathroom. His twin stopped in the doorway, lifting one brow in curiosity.

“It’s my brother, Winter. I just got a call from his assistant. He needs help. I tried to call him, but his phone went straight to voice mail. I know you’re busy, but…”

“What’s his address, sweetie?” Hawk propped the phone between his ear and shoulder as he grabbed a pad and pen off the nightstand between the two beds.

After he reassured her that they would take care of things there, he hung up and looked again at his twin.

“Trouble?” Garrett asked as he tossed the towel back in the bathroom and went to his suitcase for clean clothes.

“Don’t know. Spring says her brother had his assistant call her and ask for help, but she can’t reach him on the phone.”

As soon as they dressed, Garrett opened his computer and looked up directions to Winter’s apartment. Once he printed them out, Hawk led the way out of their hotel room and downstairs to the parking garage.

Twenty minutes later they pulled into an upscale apartment complex. They found Winter’s building in the back and parked in an empty slot not too far from his door. Stepping out of the SUV, he took a deep breath. He was surprised to hear his brother growl softly even as his own cock jumped to attention.

“Garrett, do you smell that?”

“Orange and spices, like Christmas,” his brother responded as he moved forward. “Our mate.”

Hawk caught up with him on the sidewalk. Together they tracked the delicious scent. He wasn’t surprised when the trail led them to Winter’s front door.

* * * *

A heavy pounding jarred Winter from sleep. Without thinking, he started to roll out of bed. He yelped when pain shot through him from head to toe. Moving slower and more cautiously, he rose and slowly made his way to the door. As he did, he looked at the small alarm clock sitting on top of the television set. Two forty-five. Since there was no sun streaming through the sheer drapes on the small windows, he deduced it was the middle of the night. At least he’d gotten a few hours of sleep.

“Who is it?” he asked, all at once fearful that his ex-boyfriend had tracked him down.

Scott had never been to his apartment before. He had always demanded Winter come to his house or meet him out at a club. He wasn’t sure if Scott even knew where he lived.

“Spring sent us.” The voice was muffled by the door but sounded deep and strong. Something about the voice reached into his belly to soothe the anxiety that had taken up residence there ever since he’d come to in the emergency room.

Flipping the dead bolt back, Winter took the door between his two casts and tried several times to twist it open. Finally he gave up and twisted the lock in the doorknob instead.

“You’ll have to let yourself in,” he said.

He stepped back and shifted to lean against the wall, his knees suddenly feeling as limp as wet paper towels. His insides tensed as the knob turned and the door slowly swung open. Two men stepped through. He relaxed when he saw neither one was Scott. It took another moment to realize he wasn’t seeing double, but the men were twins.

Hot, gorgeous, drool-worthy twins. Taller by his five feet nine inches by at least half a foot, they were powerfully built with broad shoulders, thick arms, and flat washboard abs. Skintight T-shirts hugged their muscles while loose-fitting cargo pants hid their assets. Their golden blond hair was tousled as if they’d just awoken from sleep and thrown on clothes to come to his rescue.

These were the kind of men Winter had been dreaming about since he’d realized girls held absolutely no attraction for him whatsoever. These were the kind of hot, sexy men he wrote about in his gay erotic romance e-books. He could only hope these two were gay as well and not married with kids.

He made a whimpering sound of hunger when the second man closed the door before twisting the dead bolt into place.

“Spring called us and said you needed help,” the first man said as they turned to look at him. “Holy…what the hell happened to you?”

“Who are you?” Winter asked as the two men moved to either side of him. Each man wrapped a big hand around his upper arms.

When the two men leaned close he wondered what was going on. He watched one then the other as they each took a deep breath. They sighed at the same time as smiles grew on their faces. They shared a look and nodded as if in unspoken agreement.

“I’m Garrett Sullivan,” the one with grass green eyes on his right said, while “Hawk Sullivan,” came at the same moment from the one with bright blue eyes on his left.

“Spring sent us,” they said together as if to assure him. “Now, what the hell happened to you?”

“Can one of you help me to the bathroom? I really need to pee,” Ryan requested, his voice weak.

“Sure, baby,” Hawk said. “Just relax and let us take care of you.”

“Okay.”

Hawk stepped back as Garrett swung him up into his arms. When Winter stiffened, Garrett made soothing sounds that reverberated through Winter to warm what had until now been an empty spot in his heart.

Garrett easily carried him into the bathroom and helped him out of his shoes, socks, and sweatpants. When surprise and hunger flashed across Garrett’s expression, Winter was glad he went commando. Once he was sitting on the toilet, the big man stepped away, but stood in the doorway with his back to the closet-size room.

Winter closed his eyes as he answered nature’s call. He hadn’t peed in front of another man since high school when the class bully teased him for having a hard-on. That had also been the first time he’d been hurt because he was gay. Since then, he’d been very careful to keep his sexual preference secret from the world.

Even his family didn’t know he was gay, though Spring had made comments over the years that made him think she knew and accepted. She was always the one he went to with his problems and who listened when he needed someone to talk to. Eventually he admitted the truth of his sexual orientation, and she didn’t react as expected. Instead she just nodded and changed the subject. He wondered if she’d told anyone else about her husbands-to-be’s special abilities or if she’d trusted that information to him alone.

Once he finished, he tried but could not stand up. Even if he could get on his feet, he couldn’t take a bath without help, and more than anything he wanted a bath.

“Um, Garrett?” he asked softly as he looked at the bathtub with longing. The big garden tub was one of the major draws when he’d been apartment hunting. It was more than big enough for two, though he’d never shared it with anyone.

“Yes?”

“I know I’m a major pain in the ass right now, but do you think you could help me take a bath?”