Enamored To A Fool by Jackie Nacht Page B

bitter-cold weather, and the next moment, he was in an awe-inspiring forest with every color leaf he could imagine. The trees glistened with morning dew that seemed to make the forest appear unreal. Maybe someone slipped something into one of his drinks, because there was no way in hell any place like this could actually exist. He was either on something or having one crazy-ass dream.
    Waiting was never one of his specialties, and it seemed like he had been tied to that tree forever. The sun had risen and now shone brightly in the sky. The colorful leaves were giving him a canopy, but he definitely needed sunglasses to help with the beams of light breaking through.
    By now, Axle was hungry and thirsty. Without water, his weekend of drinking had become the worst hangover he had ever experienced. His head throbbed, making it the mother of all headaches. He couldn’t get comfortable, and he was sure Red sat him on the sharpest rocks he could find. He would be digging them out of his ass for the next year.
    Let’s not forget he had to use the restroom. There was an urgency to get his hands undone. Axle thought maybe if he called out for help, someone might be able to hear him. However, he didn’t know who the fuck would come. He had no clue where he was, and by the looks of it, he might get some scary-ass flying monkeys. Who knew? Maybe he hit his head and actually landed in Oz.
    Leaning his head back against the tree, he tried to think of anything besides all his discomforts. There was a small breeze that blew across his face, and he tried to focus on that. The smell of jasmine seemed to calm his nerves. It cleared his head some, and he began to wonder if his brother was okay.
    All his life, he had protected Torque from their father as best he could. Yet, he could feel with every day that he was beginning to sink into the same pattern as his old man. He would never hit anyone; he just knew that to his very core he could never hurt someone physically. The thought turned his stomach. But he was becoming reckless and drinking too much.
    At twenty-one, he knew he had a chance of turning it around if he got his act together. He just didn’t know how. He was terrible at school. Axle never let anyone know that he'd struggled with reading, and that kind of set him up to fail all through his academic career. Then, there was his home life.
    When he had been younger, he and Torque had hid out when their father came home from a very similar weekend to the one he'd just experienced. He used to hug Torque as his father screamed out, looking for a way to expel his rage on his sons. Torque tried to be strong, but silent tracks of tears would come down his cheeks, and Axle would wipe them away. The fear on those nights hardened Axle, and his brother tried to keep him from it by being a typical smartass teenager. Man, he wished it had worked. Instead, he'd become bitter and angry.
    Is my brother okay? God, he looked rough when Red carried him away . Guilt ate at him. There was no denying that this was his fault. He let that asshole tag along and got so fucking drunk he actually brought a predator into his home. He didn’t think Donavon would be capable of doing something so horrible, but it didn’t change the fact that it had happened, and he had been too FUBAR to help his brother out.
    Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back on the tree. He was going to have to figure out a way to get to his brother and find out if he was okay. The forest was deadly quiet, which was why it surprised the hell out of him when he felt the envelope being ripped off his chest.
    Axle’s eyes flew wide, and his mouth dropped open in shock. The guy standing before him was fucking hot. Ice blue eyes swept over the envelope in concentration for a few seconds before one of the corners of his mouth pulled up in a smirk, and holy hell, what a mouth it was. He had full lips, hair that was green with white tips. Must be a dye job, but it looked great styled in a