STORY EXCERPT

“Trey, you all right?”

Trey blinked several times, trying to will his headache to go away as he turned and smiled at Fire Chief Dalton Knowles. The extremely tall guy had always been nice to Trey whenever they ran into each other.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Trey’s gaze swung to the stranger with Dalton. Holy Christ on a cracker! Trey was instantly in lust. The stranger wasn’t as tall as Dalton, but he was over six feet. He had muscles that made Trey want to drool and pretty, kind brown eyes.

“Who’s your friend?” Trey asked.

Dalton waved a hand at the guy. “This is Bennet Kincaid, but everyone calls him Ben. He owns Budding Sensation floral shop two blocks over.”

Ben did not seem the type to work with flowers. He was too tall, too masculine, too roguish-looking, like he should have been been a mechanic or a firefighter like Dalton was.

Or maybe even a pirate.

“This is Treyvon Victor,” Dalton said to Ben. “He—”

“Works right here.” Trey pointed at the window behind him. “I’m just taking a break.”

“Another migraine?” Dalton brows were furrowed.

It seemed a lot of people knew about Trey’s condition. They ought to. He’d had four jobs—including this one—in the past several months. The last three employers had fired him because of his missed days. Trey couldn’t afford to go to a doctor, so he was forced to just suffer through them.

He’d been surprised Samuel had given him a chance considering he was Clark’s cousin.

Trey’s ex-boss from Cresting Moon.

“No, I’m fine.” Trey was tired of everyone looking at him with pity. He didn’t want to be perceived as weak, especially not in front of Ben. That was the problem with living in a small town. Everyone knew everyone’s business. Trey was trying hard to make everyone think his headaches had miraculously gone away. He was tired of people calling him Headache Boy.

Trey was twenty-six years old, far from a boy, and the nickname was less than flattering.

“You sure you’re okay?” Ben’s dirty-blond brows were knitted together. “You don’t look so hot.”

Trey was relieved when the pain started to ease. The sun was no longer too bright, and he wasn’t nauseous anymore. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Now he would go back inside and figure out how to do his job.

“We’re on our way to lunch,” Dalton said. “Let me know if you need anything, Trey.”

Trey waved at them as they walked away, but he noticed how Ben was staring back at him with a curious look on his handsome face. What he wouldn’t do to have a guy like that. Were Dalton and Ben dating? The fire chief was one lucky guy if they were.

Then again, both men would make anyone happy. Trey had known Dalton since he’d moved to Fever’s Edge, and he was a good catch—sexy, sweet, kind, and he had an infectious laugh.

What was Ben like? Trey wanted to find out, but the guy was way out of his league. Trey would have better luck trying to date Nando, which wasn’t an option considering Nando wasn’t his type and Trey didn’t date coworkers.

Trey liked his men mountainous. Like Ben. He wanted to climb that mountain and stake his claim.

“Dream on,” he muttered to himself.

Trey turned, about to head back into the store, when he nearly collided with Clark.

“I see you hoodwinked my cousin into hiring you.” Clark’s lip was curled and his muddy brown eyes narrowed. “I told him you were a lost cause, but he never listens to me.”

What in the hell was Clark’s problem? Other than Trey missing days at work, Clark had never uttered anything bad toward him. Now suddenly Clark looked at Trey as if he were an enemy infiltrating his cousin’s business.

“Is there a problem?”

Trey spun and gasped when he saw Ben towering over him, damn near blocking out the sun. “What’re you doing back here?”

Ben glared at Clark but spoke to Trey. “I forgot to get your phone number.”

What? This couldn’t be real. Had Trey passed out on the sidewalk and was dreaming this? No one that sexy had ever given Trey the time of day, let alone asked for his phone number.

Clark mumbled something before he stormed away. Trey still had no idea what the guy’s problem was and didn’t care. He was just thankful Ben had scared him off.

“Was that guy harassing you?” Ben looked over his shoulder and watched as Clark rounded the corner and disappeared before he turned his attention back to Trey.

“He’s an ex-boss that was acting like a jerk.” Trey looked around, suddenly feeling nervous around Ben. The guy was smoking hot and Trey had no clue what to say to him now that they were alone. “Um… Where’s Dalton?”

“I told him I’d catch up with him.” Ben’s smile was brighter than the sun. There was nothing sexier than a gorgeous smile with brilliant white teeth. “So, can I get those digits?”

“Why?” The word had come out before Trey could catch it.

“Maybe I want to take you out for drinks or dinner or just talk to you.” Ben folded his arms over his broad chest—a chest Trey wouldn’t mind caressing with his tongue. “Why is that so shocking?”

Now it wasn’t Trey’s head that was pounding, but his heart. “Uh, sure.”

Ben pulled out his phone. “Hit me with those digits.”

Trey rattled off his number, wondering what other dimension he’d stepped into. He didn’t consider himself butt ugly, but he wasn’t at Ben’s caliber, either.

“Okay, now take down my number.” Ben’s voice was almost commanding, as if he expected Trey to do as he was told. And Trey did. He pulled out his cell and put Ben’s number into his phone.

“Got it.” Trey still felt as if he was in some sort of weird dream.

“What time do you get off work?” Ben tucked his phone into his back pocket, and Trey damn near drooled at the way the guy’s muscles flexed.

“Six.”

“I’ll call you.” Ben winked at Trey before he walked away.

Trey was lightheaded and smiling like an idiot when he strode back into the store.

ADULT EXCERPT

God, the heat was so intense. He could just imagine what it was going to feel like when his cock finally entered. Trey gave a low noise, his fingers running over Ben’s short hair, pulling the dirty-blond strands as he rocked his hips, pushing his ass down on Ben’s finger.

This was what he wanted with Trey. Not just the sex but the closeness, the intimacy. The special bond mates shared. Ben had had his fair share of lovers, but at the end of the day, going to bed alone got stale after a while. Ben wanted more, not only a mate but someone who knew him inside and out.

A solace he could curl into when the world beat at him, when he just wanted to find peace, even for a moment.

Trey tweaked Ben’s nipples, making a bark of surprise leave Ben’s lips before he moaned in pleasure. Then he sucked on the left one, teeth and tongue, making Ben ground his teeth to stop himself from tossing Trey down and fucking him too quickly.

“You like that?” Trey asked as he pulled his mouth away and then lashed at the neglected nub.

Ben shoved his finger deep and then added another. Trey was driving him insane.

After a few seconds of having the man’s lips at his chest, Ben lay back, Trey sitting atop him. He was bent at the waist, sucking skin and grinding his ass on Ben’s beefy fingers.

Do you know how damn good you look up there?

But he didn’t ask. Ben’s mind wasn’t on board for conversation right now. He’d reverted back to grunting and making Cro-Magnon sounds as Trey’s hips gyrated, his actions turning hungrier, more desperate.

Ben’s cock pulsed, lying at Trey’s ass, waiting its turn. As Trey’s lips and tongue worked magic on his skin, Ben’s head began to spin, realizing that he was going to have Trey the way he’d fantasized since meeting the guy.

“Fuck me,” Trey begged before teasing Ben’s nipple between his teeth. “I can’t take the wait any longer.”

Ben pulled his fingers free, grabbed the base of his cock, and then said, “You’re in control. Take as much as you want.”

Pressing his hands into Ben’s chest, Trey lifted his ass, Ben pressing the blunt head of his cock against Trey’s hole.

“Whatever you want, however you want it. You’re the boss.”

Trey nodded, his hair sticking to his face in a matted mess, the man already sweating as he pushed back, his fingernails biting into Ben’s chest. He reached up and brushed the hair aside, wanting to see Trey with an unobstructed view, to watch every expression that crossed his mate’s face.

God, it would be so easy to fall in love with you.

As if he could hear Ben’s thoughts, his mate leaned forward, smashing their lips together, biting Ben’s. Trey’s fingernails broke skin as he inched his way down Ben’s erection, stopping every few seconds as he pulled in a deep breath before going on.

“Yeah, that’s it…ungh…take it, baby. Take me.”

“So big,” Trey muttered. “So damn full…stretching me wide.”

With his free hand, Ben slid his fingers into Trey’s hair, pulling, hearing the man groan. “Like your hair pulled?”

“I didn’t know,” Trey confessed, inching down just a little more. “But yeah, I like it.”

Ben brushed his lips over Trey’s and then sucked at his neck. He nipped the man hard just as Trey bottomed out, stilling, breathing hard, sweat glistening on his face.

“Go slow, go slow, go slow,” Trey muttered quietly. “So much”—he gasped for breath—“so big.”

Grabbing Trey’s side, Ben pushed back until he was fully on the bed. He pressed his feet into the mattress and then began a slow thrust, letting Trey get used to this, to them…joined.

“You’re unbelievably hot,” Ben said, his fingers holding Trey a little tighter. “Like a damn furnace. So tight.”

Trey smiled. “You make the strangest sounds.”

“That’s ’cause you feel…so good.” Ben licked his lips, staring into Trey’s pretty eyes, which were shinning so seductively. “Can I move?”

“I thought you were moving.”

“So much to learn,” Ben said under his breath as he increased his thrusts, keeping Trey anchored to him. “Hang on, baby. I want to make you fly, but not literally.”

Trey bit his bottom lip, and Ben nearly lost his load. He was buried so deep inside Trey that he was holding it together by a thin thread.

“Wait!”

Trey frowned as he stilled. “What’s wrong?”

“Fuck.” Ben wiped the sweat from his face. “You just brought me close too damn fast.”

A spark of mischief entered Trey’s eyes as he bounced once. “Really?”

Ben growled as he turned, making Trey shout and then laugh as he dropped to his back, dislodging Ben’s cock from his ass. “Wanna play, huh?” He grabbed one of Trey’s ankles and lifted it high in the air, back toward the headboard before slipping back into his tight sheath.

Trey’s laughter died as he hitched his other leg around Ben’s waist. “The most delicious kind of torture.”

Lowering the other leg, Trey wrapped it around Ben’s waist. He used both legs to pull Ben closer, to shove Ben’s cock deeper into his ass. “Don’t hold back.”

Ben gripped the headboard and began to rock Trey’s fucking world. He could hear the bed moving, inching just a little from the wall as he gave the man exactly what he asked for. His cock plunged deep. Trey shouted, his head thrashing from side to side. Ben contemplated putting a damn pillow over the man’s face—just in case his neighbors thought Trey was being murdered instead of thoroughly fucked—but was afraid he’d suffocate the man.

Ben growled as he punched his hips like a well-oiled piston. Trey raised his hips higher, clenching his cheeks together, creating a tighter grip. “Fuuuck!”

“Kiss me,” Trey panted. “Kiss me, Ben.”