STORY EXCERPT

Border agent Houston Modey was pursuing the dark pages of the internet, looking for a date. He normally didn’t go online to find a guy for the night, but he was lonely—really fucking lonely.

Lonely.

As.

Fuck.

It’d been way too long since he’d been with a man. After sending out a private message and hearing a response, it was time to meet.

Darkness surrounded Houston as nighttime pressed in around him. He drove to the bar called Bull on the edge of town. He knew he wouldn’t run into anyone he knew there. Houston was glad he changed into jeans and plain T-shirt before heading out. Country music pumped from hidden speakers. It was still early evening, but the bar just on the outskirts of Eagle Pass, Texas, was starting to fill up.

For the last few days, a deep abyss threatened to pull Houston under. He needed a few minutes to forget all about how he couldn’t find a man to love him. As he scanned the bar, he didn’t see the guy he was looking for. That had him finding a booth toward the back where he could watch the entire bar and the front door. Every time the door opened, he glanced over, but it wasn’t the guy.

An hour bled into two, and he was still nursing his first beer which had gone warm. He was starting to think he’d been stood up. In fact, Houston was quite certain he’d been played, but why? As he checked his phone, he saw that he had no missed messages. Running a hand through his hair in frustration, Houston went to the bathroom to piss.

As he stood in front of the urinal, he saw two guys walk in. He zipped up, flushing, before turning to wash his hands. When he finished, he headed for the door. One of the guys blocked his path.

“You’re not one of those guys from that hook-up site, are ya?”

“Why? Interested?”

It was clear the guy was not. His face reddened, and a vein in his neck started to pump and bulge.

“You better watch your mouth.”

The guy pushed Houston’s shoulder, slamming him back against the stall door. Pain seared down through his shoulder. He held up his hands as he backed away toward the bathroom door. “We’re good. I don’t want any trouble.”

The guy’s buddy grabbed his friend’s arm, pulling him away. As he turned, Houston couldn’t help but wink at the guy.

“You goddamn fruit loop!”

Houston shut the bathroom door behind him, leaving the chaos of the two guys behind. He wasn’t about to get into a fight tonight. Unable to give up on his evening, he went to the bar and sat down.

“What can I get you?”

The first thing he noticed about the bartended was that he was wearing a flannel shirt that was rolled up on his forearms. They were tanned with dark hair moving up. As his eyes went upward, Houston’s heart started to hammer for all the right reasons. Black hair fell over his forehead. His face was rough, with a scar slashed down his cheek that looked as though it’d been there for years and was a gift from a fight.

“Bourbon neat.”

The bartender pushed back, making those muscled forearms flex. Within the mirror across from the bar, Houston watched the guy move. He was tall, probably over six feet. When he came back with an empty glass and bottle of bourbon, he set it down before Houston. He poured three fingers.

“Just leave the bottle,” Houston said.

A flash of something that looked too much disapproval moved through those vibrant, blue eyes. “I’ll pour for you.”

Houston was drinking to forget. As the first glass emptied with a stinging burn, he waited for the bartender to pour his second. With the second, he poured a splash more.

“So, why are you here?”

Houston frowned. His face had been flashed all over the news lately. “You mean you don’t recognize me?”

“Should I?”

“You’re probably the only one.”

A guy sided up to the bar, making Houston stiffen. “I didn’t know you started serving dirty cops, Lucas.”

Lucas. That was his name. It seemed fitting. With his gaze on the drink, Houston could feel the intensity of his eyes on him.

“What can I get you, Brad?” Lucas asked.

“The usual.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Houston watched as Lucas went to flip the cap off a bottle of beer before sliding it across the bar. Lucas stared Brad down until he walked away. To his relief, the bartender moved away. Houston was tired of explaining away his actions of that night. Tonight, was all about forgetting.

The bar filled up. Laughter and conversation swirled around him. Despite Brad leaving him alone, he could feel his hatred moving toward him. The guy was in the corner with four of his friends who were now shooting him dirty looks. This was not going to end well for him.

The buzz of the alcohol was humming through his system. He was finally starting to feel the edge of that night go away. Without warning, the bartender appeared before him and pulled Houston’s empty glass away.

“You’re cut off.”

The bartender wouldn’t move. Houston reached for his wallet, sliding cash across the bar. He took his keys from his pocket, gripping them in his hand. He was in no position to drive without sobering up. A strong hand came down over his, slipping the keys out from his palm in a swift move.

Their eyes locked, and Houston felt suddenly lost and at the same time found. “I was planning on sleeping it off in my car.”

“Just in case.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Outside the barn, the rain started hard. The wind was howling, and lightning struck off in the distance, followed by a rolling thunder that shook the roof. If the storms kept up, the river would flood, and they would both be cut off from the outside world. The thought of being marooned with his sub for a few days appealed to him.

Everything his submissive did made him want to lose control. That was breaking the rules he had set for himself as a Dom. He was good at keeping the rules so that his submissive stayed safe.

As he pulled away from the man he so desperately wanted to dominate, Lucas thought about all the mistakes he was making. It unnerved him to know that this man had so much power over him. Despite all of that, he went back in for more.

Opening his mouth, Lucas licked two of his fingers. He rubbed them up against his sub’s rim. As he pressed those two fingers against his rim, he heard his submissive exhale deeply, relaxing into his touch. His compliance always unnerved him. His sub trusted easily.

Lucas had purposely kept the relationship from developing into something more. Despite their contract, he could feel that there was more to the relationship. That frightened him. When this was over, he wanted to be able to walk away from his sub without looking back.

That wasn’t going to happen.

As he stepped closer to his submissive, he resisted the urge to take him. The sadistic side of him wanted to take him to his hard edge and make him code. He felt as though his submissive had branded himself on his mind, making him think nonstop about having the man over and over again.

Anger and resentment tore him apart, he felt as though his sub had broken him. He turned away, taking deep breaths to calm his pounding heart, closing his eyes as he did, counting to five. When his mind was clear, so was his purpose of what he needed to do next.

Lucas was going to brand his submissive’s body in an outward sign of how he was feeling. He wanted everyone who saw his naked body to know that this man belonged to him. Lucas came in close to his sub, wrapping a hand around the front of his neck so that he had to arch his head back.

“I’m going to brand you, sub. Are you okay with that?”

He felt his sub swallow hard. He sensed the fear suddenly taking over, making his muscles tense at the possibility of what he was offering him. “Yes, Sir. Please brand me.”

Again, his sub’s compliance unnerved him. He reached for a piece of wire, shaping it into a design that looked similar to a Celtic knot. He heated it with the blowtorch, until it was glowing hot. When he was sure it would scar his sub’s skin, he pressed it against the outside of his thigh.

His sub moaned a deep, guttural, wounded sound that made the hair on the back of Lucas’s arms stand on end. Despite his cry of pain, there was pleasure moving through his eyes, and his dick was waving for more.

Lucas felt his heart soar as he pulled the metal away from his skin, loving the way his sub had taken everything without coding. That had him pressing on. He normally wasn’t like this with any submissive, but he wanted to see how much further he could go.

With that thought in mind, he decided to find some leather straps to get his submissive under control. He used the leather straps to restrain his legs into the air on another post above them. Ass up, he was so completely exposed to him.

Lucas came in close and played with his rim. A moan of pleasure echoed from his sub’s mouth. Despite having his submissive completely restrained, he was still getting under his skin. The man had a way of bringing him to his hard edge with a simple echo of pleasure.

No submissive had ever made him feel this way. And for that reason alone, he was going to punish his sub tonight. Using one of the leather straps, he circled in around his cock, pulling it back like reins.

When he was satisfied with the way his submissive was restrained, Lucas grabbed the lube from his duffle bag. He lubed his cock and come back in close. Ever so slowly, he pushed his wet cock deep inside his submissive. Then he pulled back on the reins, making his sub moan.

Using the leather strap he set the tempo, loving the way his submissive’s ass cheeks bounced with every hard hit of his hips. He took him hard, with every thrust he heard him whimper. Rain hammered hard on the roof of the barn, marching in time with Lucas’s thrumming heartbeat.

Despite the low lighting of the room, he could still make out his sub’s twisted features. With every hit of his dick deep inside his submissive, Lucas felt as though he were coming closer and closer to the edge. Lucas wanted to torture his submissive, but he was finding out quickly that his submissive was the one who was torturing him.

Lucas wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer, if he kept this up. Every muscle in his body was tensed up tight as he thought about letting go. Waves of pleasure and pain coursed down over his body. He wasn’t disappointed as he heard his submissive moan desperately for more.

As Lucas let go of the leather strap that was controlling his sub’s dick, he dropped it to the ground and grabbed hold of his cock, pumping it up and down as he came hard deep inside his submissive’s ass. As his hot cum sprayed into his sub, Lucas felt his sub’s dick kick out hard. His jizz went flying in spurts out of the tip of his cockhead. Lucas smiled in greedy pleasure. He wasn’t done with his sub yet.