Free Rise to Submit [Rise of the Changelings, Book 4] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Lynn Hagen

Mason was holding Ian down, his breathing labored. “Are you back with us?” Mason asked firmly.
    His mind was groggy, and Ian found it difficult to talk.
    “You had another seizure,” Rick stated. “According to Mason, this one was longer than the last.”
    Ian’s body hurt. His mind felt numb, and the craving for the addiction he’d had for four years was eating at him, making him feel like his body was being stretched to the breaking point.
    The stranger moved closer.
    “This is Bryson, Ian,” Mason said as he moved back slightly, pulling something from Ian’s mouth. He hadn’t even realized something was lodged in there. “He’s going to help with your withdrawals.”
    Ian saw the needle in Bryson’s hand. “No!” he shouted, his body coming to life as he fought the man advancing toward him. If they put Ian to sleep, Newman would find him again.
    Newman would whip him for coming back with no information.
    Ian didn’t want to give Newman a damn thing.
    But the cravings…
    “It’s better this way,” Bryson said. “You can sleep through the toughest part. It’s called a chemically induced coma. There is nothing addictive in the stuff that I’m going to give you.”
    “No, no, no, no,” Ian cried as he grabbed onto Mason, clinging to him for dear life, trying his best to crawl onto the large man. He still wasn’t mentally focused after being with Newman, but Ian’s instincts to survive were kicking in and his body was pumping with adrenaline. “Please don’t let him do this.”
    “Stop!” Mason shouted.
    Ian had thought Mason was talking to him until he glanced up and saw the man glaring across the bed. His arm wrapped around Ian, pulling him close. Ian was shocked at how tender, how gentle those strong arms felt.
    He wanted Mason to wrap them around him and cocoon him in a safe place where no one could hurt him, especially Newman.
    “He needs help, Mason,” Rick argued. “You saw how he tried to take a walk out of the second-floor window. Do you want him succeeding the next time he tries?”
    “Please don’t let them hurt me,” Ian begged Mason in a desperate whisper. “Please.”
    Mason’s jaw firmed. “If he gets out of control again, then Bryson can put him under. Until then, I think Ian should have a say in what happens to him.”
    “You’re being a damn fool.” Rick growled the words. “He’s playing you, Mason. Just yesterday he was ready to claw your eyes out.”
    Yesterday? Just how long had Ian been out of it? It didn’t matter right now. His only goal at the moment was to stop Bryson from injecting him. Ian curled his fingers deeper into Mason’s thick arms, pushing his feet into the mattress and using the momentum to press closer to the guy. Being in any kind of coma for a few days was not an option. Newman would kill him before the first day was over.
    “He’s scared shitless. I can scent it coming off of him and it stinks. If he doesn’t need to be put under at this very moment, then he won’t be,” Mason argued. Ian saw Rick glare at Mason, but he finally nodded.
    “He’s your responsibility, Mason. If anything happens, it will be your neck,” Rick said heatedly. “Don’t let his pleas dissuade you from doing what is right.”
    “It’s for his own good,” Bryson tried once more. “It’s going to get bad, Mason. Real bad. Think about Ian and what he is going to go through. He may be scared now, but what will come in the next few days are things nightmares are made of.”
    It sounded to Ian like Bryson knew exactly what Ian was facing, but at the moment, he didn’t care. He couldn’t let Newman get to him. He just couldn’t. If he stayed awake, if he kept the wall of wakefulness between him and that monster, then Ian was safe.
    But the cravings…
    Ian slammed his eyes closed and clung to Mason harder, trying his best to fight the claws digging into his mind. He could do this. He could get clean. He was sick of feeling like a damn junkie. He wanted