STORY EXCERPT

Will barreled around the corner and almost flattened Liam coming out of one of the narrow little rooms. Liam’s hair was loose around his face in a glory of long red spirals.

He grabbed Liam into his arms for a hard hug, then pushed him back and ran his hands up and down, searching for bandages.

“Are you all right? Where does it hurt?” Will asked frantically.

“Steady, there,” Liam said, grabbing his hands. “I’m fine.”

“Drake called me to meet you at the hospital. He said—” Will stopped. What had Drake said? He couldn’t remember. His mind was an anxious blank.

Liam held him by the arms.

“I imagine Drake said I got a cut on my arm in a knife fight, and that I told him that you didn’t have to come to the hospital. I’m all stitched up now, nothing to fret about.” Liam was speaking slowly, and looking him in the eye.

Will found that he could breathe again after all.

“You’re all right? How the hell did you get into a knife fight? Where were the cops? Didn’t anyone call the cops to protect you?”

Liam dropped his arms and looked uncomfortable.

“As to that, the cops were late and—”

“And our Irishman is one hell of a dirty street fighter,” Drake said, walking out of the elevator with Doc Dover. “He has moves I’ve never seen. Almost like watching a dancer. If dancers muttered Irish curses and insults.”

“Jaysus, Drake, what a load of blarney.” Liam shook his head, and Will was fascinated to see his cheeks turn red. “It was nothing like that.”

“So, this other guy, tall and buff, came out of the apartment waving a knife and screaming, clearly high as a kite on God knows what,” Drake continued. “By the time I could set the bags down, Liam was moving in, smooth and quick like watching water flow, and the other guy was down with his knife on the floor. Liam’s my hero.”

“I deflected the knife and clipped his jaw,” Liam said repressively. “He’s got a glass jaw.”

“And he dropped like a bag of rocks,” Drake said with a snap of his fingers. “Fight over in ten seconds. Well, you couldn’t call it a fight, the other guy barely contributed.”

Liam rolled up his sleeve and displayed a bandaged arm.

“If there’s blood, then it was a fight,” he said and rolled the sleeve back down.

“And then the cops arrived, and took the guy into custody,” Drake went on. “The guy was there robbing his ex-boyfriend’s apartment because he had heard the man was dead. Brutal, right? Some people just have no respect. We’re still not sure who called the ambulance or why. Should have called the police first, right?”

Will looked back to Drake, who was watching Liam, and the admiration in his gaze was clear. Whatever had happened, it looked like Liam really was Drake’s hero.

“Is it some kind of martial art you practice?” Will asked.

“No, but I grew up Irish,” he said as if that should explain everything.

“And that makes you an expert in dealing with knife-wielding crazies?”

Liam shrugged. “It helps.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Near midnight, Liam walked into the kitchen, but Will was already there, eating the last of the caramel apple pie straight out of the dish with a fork.

“I was looking for a midnight snack,” Will said and set the empty pie plate on the counter. He licked his lips, and the heat in his eyes sent a shiver through Liam.

Will raised his glass of milk and drained it in a long swallow before he set the glass aside. His gaze never left Liam, traveling down slowly.

Liam’s cock rose in a stunning rush and stretched forward to be admired.

“Uh, sounds good, officer,” Liam said. He had come down to the kitchen for a munch himself, but under that hot blue stare, he felt suddenly like the main entrée.

Where were his fancy words when he needed them? Not that he wanted a defense against his gorgeous cop, but the clink of handcuffs as Will approached him inspired such a fierce blaze of lust that he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

What the hell was Will doing to him? He used to have a brain and now when Will touched his tongue to his upper lip with that look of hot speculation, all Liam could think of was what those full lips would look like stretched around his throbbing cock.

Will reached out one big hand, cupped Liam through his boxers and gave a firm squeeze. Will fondled with an experienced hand, rubbing and pressing. When Will lifted him slightly to measure the heft of his growing package, the appreciative hum almost sent Liam to his knees.

“Oh, no, no,” Will admonished in a deep, slow voice as he steadied Liam. “I’m the one who should be on my knees.”

He pushed Liam gently back against the counter and dropped to his knees before him. Will ran his hands up and down over Liam’s bare chest, plucking his nipples with a strong pinching grip.

“Jaysus.”

Liam swallowed hard.

Will leaned forward and nuzzled the front of Liam’s boxers. Liam could feel the heat of Will’s breath, but the sensation was too gentle. He pressed forward, angling for a harder touch, but Will pulled back with a dark laugh that Liam felt in a wash of heat across his aching cock. A bead of sweat rolled down his spine.

“Be patient, Irish. I want to play.”

Liam’s head whirled as Will tugged down his shorts so that his engorged cock sprang free.

One tiny flick of Will’s tongue over the flushed crest and Liam was already panting. Where the hell did his Officer Innocent learn to seduce him so perfectly?

Will’s hand closed around Liam and stroked lightly up and down while his lips and tongue explored with a tender curiosity. When Will closed his lips over the swollen knob, Liam’s cock jerked hard and gave up a tiny spurt of fluid.

Will hummed and sank his whole mouth down over Liam while his hands rolled and tugged Liam’s tight balls.

The thunder of his heartbeat roared in his ears. Liam held on to his faltering control and managed to keep his thrusts shallow, but he had less control over his voice.