Tim.

I shot our boss one last death glare before I, too, left and went slowly back to the main room. So far too many customers had arrived, but those that were actually watching the cage dancers hadn't seemed to notice anything weird and were happy enough with what they saw.

With a long sigh, I crept behind the bar and started to clean some of the dirty dishes to get what had happened off my mind, but whenever I looked up my eyes automatically found Adam and I got angry all over again.

His ever fluent movements seemed to hurt his bruised body even more, I could see it on his face, but he didn't stop and instead muscle memory did most of his job. He swayed his hips like he did every evening and rattled on the cage fitting to his get up, I was almost waiting for the bossman to bring out some actual chains for him.

Weirdly enough, as sexy as Adam looked with the red collar around his neck and that special facial expression he had reserved for richer looking customers, I couldn't bring myself to mindlessly lust after him.

No, I was still too worried and although the bruises on his neck were invisible by then, I felt like I could see them, like the image of them burned itself in my memory.

But Adam never stopped dancing and for the next hour, he kept on acting like a professional, that was until he slowed down and it seemed like his body couldn't hold him up much longer when he desperately grabbed the iron bars of his cage for support. With a strangled gasp did his hand shot up to his neck and slightly pulled the collar away from his throat, just enough for him to breath easier, but it was also enough for me and most customers to notice.

Without thinking about it, I let go of whatever was currently in my hands, jumped up from behind the bar and ran to his aid. In a few seconds flat I had opened his cage door and lifted Adam out of it rather than letting his bruised body do anything unnecessary that would just hurt him more.

I should've been completely focused on him, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sammy, our boss, watching us with a disapproving look on his face while some of the customers that had been watching Adam wore shocked expressions. Chris, thankfully, was in the kitchen and helped there out, otherwise he would've probably gotten Adam out of the cage much sooner.

"Get me out of here," Adam begged and his weak voice broke my heart. He was clinging to my shirt for dear life as if his body would fail him the second he let go of me and I wrapped one arm around his waist for support. "I'm good for the night."

It must've looked horrible, me, half carrying one of the dancers that couldn't even hold himself up anymore, but Adam was done and his body was beginning to shut down on him by the time I actually decided to lift him up and carry him properly like my bride. That idea, although it shouldn't have, brought a smile to my face and I was relieved when I noticed that Adam had been staring off into space again without noticing my expression.

The way to the backroom, where Adam's clothes were, wasn't exactly that long, but carrying a grown man around added what felt like a few miles to the mix and by the time we arrived I was breathing harder than Darth Vader.

I let Adam down, who immediately collapsed on the couch and sat down next to him after I removed my jacket and put it around his shoulders. Just in case, he needed someone to snuggle up for comfort I put my arm behind his back without actually touching him, but it was only then that I truly realized how much he was trembling.

"You didn't get mugged," I stated in a matter-of-fact voice and might as well have thrown myself out of the window right afterward.

But Adam stayed silent and instead pulled the jacket tighter around his body and let himself fall against my side.

"I can't go back to Chris' and mine flat, not today, but I need to get out of here," he whispered and although not a single tear rolled down his cheek and his eyes looked extremely dry his voice was thick with raw emotions. I squeezed his slender frame and pressed him closer to my warm body for a few minutes before I completely let go of him and after I had made up my mind I stood up.

"Get dressed, my place is big enough for two," I muttered still concerned. Maybe in a different situation, I would've beamed with delight at the thought of having Adam with me all night, but when I stood with my back to him and searched for his clothes, I couldn't help but frown at the thought and its circumstances.

His body seemed to have recovered a tiny bit of energy again or maybe it was just pure willpower, but somehow we managed to get him dressed and out of the club before anybody could question what we were doing. On our way to my car we passed Quentin, the huge security guy and I was actually scared he would stop us, but when he saw the state Adam was in, he helped me support, well, drag the dancer trough the snow without another word until we had Adam safely seated in my truck.

"Although my body is great, I probably won't be allowed to fill in for him, but I guess I'm gonna look for a replacement in case he wasn't done yet," Q rubbed his belly as his every word was accompanied by his visible breath and winked at me as I walked around the vehicle before he left for the club again.

Only after I had started the engines and made sure a half-asleep Adam wore his seat belt and was warm did I realize that I never thanked Q or in fact even positively acknowledged his help.

I was deep in thoughts before I drove off and somehow managed to get us all the way home without any incident, although the streets were frozen and Adam was sound asleep by the time I shut the engines off again.

Too late did I notice that he was still wearing the red collar around his neck. It might've been creepy would he have been awake, but I gently reached over to Adam and caressed his cheek for the shortest of moments before I removed the collar from his throat and stuffed it in my pocket.

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