Taking Care of You [Taking Care 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Read online

  Taking Care 1

  Taking Care of You

  Shane Turner never hid the fact that he was out and proud, not even when it cost him the use of his legs. When he's attacked on his way home from the Pride Parade, he learns that being out and proud might be dangerous, but it also brings him the rescuer of his dreams.

  Michael Franks has issues on top of issues, but the frightened cries of a man being attacked make them seem insignificant. When he rescues Shane and discovers a man who makes his heart race, he has to find the courage to step outside of his comfort zone in order to hold onto Shane's heart.

  The instant attraction Shane and Michael feel for one another is something they want to explore, but physical and mental challenges are ahead for the two men. Will they be able to overcome them while trying to survive the three attackers who want Shane dead?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary)

  Length: 37,148 words

  TAKING CARE OF YOU

  Taking Care 1

  Dani Gray

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  TAKING CARE OF YOU

  Copyright © 2017 by Dani Gray

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-575-1

  First Publication: August 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  I would like to dedicate this to my family and some fabulous friends. To my hubby, thank you for the years of putting up with me, so far we are at 25 years and counting. To Stormy Glenn, Bellann Summer and Terry Poole—thank you! You guys gave me the confidence to write, and the help and support while I wrote got me through it. To my kids and grandkids—thanks for putting up with my “shut up, I’m writing” moments.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I still remember one of the first books I read, it was the Bobbsey Twins. As I got older, I moved into the more interesting books, but some of the typo’s made me nuts! So, after contacting writers I started a career of where I began editing, beta reading and brainstorming. After being harassed for a couple of years by some of the writers, I gave in and have now begun to write.

  I live in central Canada with my hubby of over 25 years, 4 kids, and 5 grandkids. We have a collection of pets, including our guard cat. I love nothing more than curling up with a good book, or my laptop to work on the next thing that catches the muse.

  I would love to hear from readers, you can find me at https://authordanigray.blogspot.ca/

  For all titles by Dani Gray, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/dani-gray

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Landmarks

  Cover

  TAKING CARE OF YOU

  Taking Care 1

  DANI GRAY

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Well, this wasn’t how Shane Turner saw his day going. Not by a long shot. As he was leaving the Pride Parade grounds, he found himself suddenly surrounded by thugs chanting horrible words…freak, fudge-packer, pillow biter, waste of air.

  Shane tried to ignore the rest of the crap they said. It wasn’t worth listening to.

  The blow came out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground. Fear slithered up his spine as he fell from his wheelchair. Thoughts of being beaten to death had him panicking.

  Shane yelled, “Fuck off, you stupid assholes,” as he tried to get his wheelchair upright.

  Okay, so maybe going back to his car with rainbow flags all over his chair might not have been the brightest idea, but this was Pride. He should have been safe.

  The group of three guys began taking turns stomping on his chair and kicking Shane mainly on his legs, but also the rest of his body. All the while they kept saying what an abomination Shane and his “type” were, how gays were disgusting and should be all gotten rid of. He wanted to fight back, but he was too afraid. The goons were all larger than him, but who wasn’t?

  Shane barely stood five feet three inches when he was able to stand, but while in the chair, not so much. Shane wasn’t sure if he should be glad or sad that he couldn’t feel his legs, especially when, after one good kick to his leg, it bent at a funny angle. Shane tried to get a good look at the creeps, but every time he went to lower his arms to get a glimpse of them, they tried to kick him in the face.

  Shane heard someone yelling, and when he looked up he saw a ginormous man running toward them. Shane closed his eyes, praying the guy was trying to hail a cab and not joining the goons beating him. He wasn’t sure why no one was coming to help him.

  “Get away from him,” the big guy yelled. “Leave him alone!”

  For a moment, it looked as if the three thugs were going to try to stand up to Shane’s rescuer, but once they got a good look at the tall, dark, muscle-bound man, they ran.

  As Shane tried to pull himself bit by bit over the sidewalk to get to his wheelchair, the man stopped him with a gentle hand to his shoulder.

  “Please, let me help you.”

  The sound of his voice, the concern, was a tone that Shane hadn’t heard from anyone in a long time. Usually it was people asking Shane for something, not offering to help him.

  Shane stopped to stare, watching as the big man turned his chair over. He winced as he looked down at Shane. “I’m not sure if I should move you back into your wheelchair. Your leg looks funny.”

  “It’s okay,” Shane replied. “I don’t feel it. Who are you?”

  The big guy blushed, which, to Shane, was totally adorable. “Sorry, my name is Michael. Michael Franks.”

  Shane gazed at Michael, smiling tentatively. “Thank you, Michael. I think you may have saved my life.”

  Michael blushed even more, replying, “No problem. Why were they hurting you?”

  Shane looked at Michael. “Probably because they know I’m gay and they’re assholes.”

  Michael moved his head to the side, tilting it like a cute puppy. “I don’t understand. You can’t hurt them, so why were they beating you up? I guess it’s like my mom says, ‘people can be cruel.’” Michael frowned. “Well, she says more than that, but that’s the basic meaning.”<
br />
  Shane reached into his pocket for his phone, but became distracted by Michael’s warm body sitting down on the ground next to him. He couldn’t help staring. The man was massive, but more than that, he was gorgeous.

  When Michael looked up, Shane quickly glanced down at his phone. He searched through his contact list until he found the number he was after. “I need to call my driver to come and get me.”

  Michael shook his head at Shane. “No, you need to call the police and an ambulance. They need to look for your attackers and you need to go to the hospital. There is something wrong with your leg, and since you aren’t screaming in pain, I’m going to guess you don’t feel it. If you move it without getting it stable first, then you could do some serious damage to it.”

  Eyes wide, Shane just looked at Michael in surprise.

  Michael shrugged. “Just because I’m big and look stupid doesn’t mean I am. I might have some issues, but they don’t affect my ability to think.”

  It was then that Shane noticed the trembling hands, and he became worried. “Are you okay, Michael? You’re shaking. Were you hurt?”

  Michael hung his head, hiding his face. “No, I just have a severe essential tremor, among other things. My hands are always like this. Sometimes they are even worse. Today is a mild day.”

  “Hey, we all have different issues. Mine is my chair; you have your hands. They don’t bother me. I was just worried you had been hurt.”

  Shane made his call to 9-1-1, telling them what happened, where he was, and that he needed medical help. After that, he called his driver, Andy, to tell him to go home for now and that he would let him know when he would be ready to be picked up from the hospital.

  Andy sounded concerned. “Are you sure, Shane? You shouldn’t be alone right now. I’m on the way.”

  “No,” Shane responded, “I have Michael here with me. He will make sure that I’m okay.”

  “Michael? Who is Michael?” Andy asked.

  “He’s the guy who scared off the idiots.”

  “Do you know this guy?” Andy asked. “Have you met him before?”

  “No.”

  “Shane, you don’t know Michael from a hole in the ground. How do you know that you will be safe with Michael? He could be in on this with those thugs.”

  “I will be fine. I trust him,” Shane said, although he had no idea why. It was true. He didn’t know the guy, but there was just something about Michael that calmed Shane. “Go. I will call you when I’m ready to be picked up from the hospital.”

  Andy finally gave up, saying “Okay, but call me if you need anything, even a drink of water.”

  Shane appreciated Andy, and his housekeeper, Travis, knowing that they were his family. Not so much the rest of his biologic family, but that thought was for another day.

  While waiting for the police and ambulance, Shane could really look at Michael. For some reason, Michael was wearing a hoodie in the blistering heat. Shane was glad that Michael didn’t have the hood up, since it allowed him to see Michael’s beautiful hazel eyes, dark brown hair, and full beard.

  The running shorts and mismatched socks surprised Shane. Why wear shorts and a hoodie, and what the hell was with the mismatched socks?

  When the police arrived and started to ask questions, Shane wasn’t too sure what to say about the attackers. He had tried to get a look at them, but had been too busy trying to keep what he could of his head and body protected. He gave the police a general description of what his attackers looked like, but they were all basically dressed the same. Black T-shirts, dark jeans, and work boots.

  By listening in when the police questioned Michael, Shane learned that the man didn’t really have a home. Michael said he lived with his parents, but they were retiring and wanted to travel now. The family didn’t know who would look after him.

  Shane started to wonder what was wrong with Michael that a grown man still lived at home and needed someone to look after him. That was when Shane really started to focus on Michael, noticing how good-looking he was, but how incredibly shy he was, too.

  While the paramedics worked on him, Shane answered all their questions the best he could. No allergies, no other injuries, and yes, he was already paralyzed from the waist down due to a previous injury to his spine. He winced when they started an IV. He guessed gentle wasn’t happening when they were in a hurry.

  When they went to load Shane into the ambulance, he started to freak out and refused to go without Michael. “No!” Shane yelled. “Not without Michael. I refuse treatment. Let me go. Michael!”

  To Shane, Michael was safety, and he needed to feel safe again.

  The paramedics were getting frustrated with Shane. He could see it in the dark, glowering looks in their eyes and frowns on their faces. One of the paramedics went over to the cops, pointing to Michael. “Listen, can you question these guys at the hospital? I need to get the patient medical attention, but he’s refusing to go without this other guy.”

  Michael apologized to the police, saying he would answer any question he could, but he didn’t get a good look at the attackers. He was too busy trying to keep an eye on Shane to make sure they didn’t hurt him. The police nodded, and Michael hurried over to him.

  In the ambulance, Shane kept asking Michael questions. He wanted to know everything he could about Michael, right down to his underwear size and if they were boxers or briefs, but figured he could get that information another time.

  Instead, he went with the usual “get-to-know-you” questions. “What is your favorite way to spend the day? What is your favorite food, favorite color?” Shane just needed to hear Michael’s voice to keep calm. He smiled when the man sighed and started answering his questions in order.

  “My favorite way to spend the day is playing video games, favorite food is anything someone else cooked, and favorite color is orange. What about you?”

  “Well, I enjoy reading to relax, I love a good steak, and favorite color is blue.”

  It seemed as if it had taken forever to reach the hospital, and Shane was okay with that. It simply meant he had the pleasure of listening to Michael talk some more. As soon the paramedics had Shane out of the ambulance, he grabbed Michael’s hand and held on tight, refusing to let go. Shane held it all the way into the emergency department. By the time they wheeled him to an exam room, Michael had run out of questions to answer.

  Shane appreciated the distraction.

  Michael just kept on talking to Shane while the nurses got him situated on the hospital bed. The soothing timbre of the deep voice made him feel safe. Knowing that Michael would look after him, and no one else was going to hurt him while Michael was around didn’t hurt either.

  Still, Shane freaked out whenever he became separated from Michael. He needed to keep the man in his eyesight. Every time someone blocked Shane from being able to see Michael, he became scared, which caused him to be frustrated, agitated. The only time he felt he could continue was when Michael was in his field of vision, preferably beside him. The calming influence of the bigger man was the only thing keeping him sane.

  “Michael, please stay beside me. I don’t care what they want, please! I need you.”

  Michael moved over so he was next to Shane and tried to calm him down, Michael started to ask Shane questions about his day.

  “I had such a fantastic day. Well, until this,” Shane told him. “I was having such a great time, so amazing, the smell of the food, the sounds. The entertainment rocked this year, too. You know how some years suck? Not this year!”

  Some of the sights had been pretty damn good, too, with very skimpy attire or creatively placed strips and patches of cloth. There had been eye candy everywhere.

  “Oh, my god, Michael,” Shane said. “One guy’s costume had nothing but some feathers! I know that some guys are flaming, but that was almost on fire. I’m so glad that some of the children there didn’t see too much of him. One little kid was trying to grab the feathers because he thought they were pretty. I was
afraid he was going to pull them from the wrong place and get an eye full.”

  Michael started to chuckle. “I guess you missed the guy in nothing but a red leather jock and stripper boots.”

  “What?” Shane’s eyebrows rose. “I did miss that.”

  He pouted.

  Michael asked, “Why were you at Pride?”

  Shane gave Michael a huge smile. “Since I’m gay, I go every year.”

  Michael nodded. “Same. Mom kind of forces me out of the house.”

  Shane stared at Michael in shock. “How is it I haven’t seen you there before? You are so cute that I would never have missed you. Also, you are a tad tall, not easily overlooked. Just how tall are you?”

  Michael blushed once again. “I’m only six foot eight inches tall! I’m not that big,” he said while patting his stomach. He then flexed his arm. “Besides, it’s mostly all muscle.”

  Shane was proud of himself; he didn’t start drooling. “Oh, yeah.”

  The doctor finally came into the room, introduced himself as Dr. Eugene Adams, and began to examine Shane’s injured leg. While asking Shane if there was anything he needed for pain, he began poking around Shane’s stomach and back. Michael moved out of the way to give the doctor room to move around Shane.

  “Nope,” Shane replied. “I’ve got Michael here, who is better than any drug. Besides, since I’m paralyzed from the waist down, I don’t feel it at all.”

  One push on his lower back had Shane screaming in pain. The doctor immediately stopped, for which Shane was grateful. “What caused you to be paralyzed?” the doctor asked. “Are there any other injuries you may have that you haven’t told me about?”