STORY EXCERPT

Zavion was out of his chair and halfway down the hall before he even realized he was moving. “Way to be a spaz, stupid,” he chided himself as he dipped into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.

The worst part of it all was that he didn’t even understand his reaction. In the beginning, it had irked him a bit when his brother or some other bit of fluff flirted with Cian, but he’d been able to keep it together. Hell, he’d even turned on the charm for some of the other Enforcers, thinking he could kick whatever addiction he had to Cian Murphy.

Obviously, it hadn’t worked. As the months went by, his attraction to the Irishman slowly built, consuming most of his thoughts and infiltrating his dreams. They’d had barely a handful of conversations, and never once had he actually been alone with the man. So what the fuck was wrong with him?

Patting his face dry, he tossed the towel into the hamper and shuffled toward his room, feeling completely miserable and defeated. Things could only get worse with Cian living under the same roof twenty-four-seven. How was he supposed to rid himself of these feelings if he had to sit across the breakfast table from the guy every morning?

“Hello, darlin’,” an accented voice drawled from the darkness when Zavion stepped into his room. “Took off like a bullet, ya did, but no worries.” The light clicked on beside his bed, and Cian grinned at him as he perched on the edge of the mattress. “Now, I believe we were havin’ a discussion.”

They were? Since when? “Uh…” Well, that was brilliant. Clearing his throat while struggling to breathe was no easy task, but he somehow managed it. Now, if he could just tame his pulse before his heart leapt right out his chest, he’d be in good shape. What the hell was the man doing in his room anyway?

“Tell me, Zavion.” His name rolled off Cian’s tongue like a caress, and it was all he could do to stay upright when his legs began to tremble. “Tell me why it is that you’re not wantin’ me here.”

“I never said that.” Damn, he was going to pass out if he didn’t get air into his lungs soon. Cian was too close, much, much too close. His scent permeated the air around them, wafting off him like a tangible force that wrapped around Zavion as if it was a living blanket.

“Not outright,” Cian admitted. “You may as well have just slammed the bloody door in my face, though.” Kicking his boots off, he shifted to the center of the mattress and leaned back against the headboard, linking his fingers behind his head. “I’ll not be leavin’ until I get an answer.”

“Then I guess you’ll be here all night.” Zavion’s lips snapped together, and he barely resisted the urge to close his eyes and groan. Had that really just come out of his mouth? Not that he’d mind sharing his bed with the sexy shifter, but he doubted activities of the naked variety were on the menu for the night.

Cian’s grin was quick and confident. “I’m okay with that.”

Maybe this was some kind of sick and twisted joke. Cian had somehow discovered his secret, and now he was there to torment him with it. He might even have believed it, but Cian would never be that cruel. Still, he couldn’t come up with a plausible alternative for the reasons why the guy was lounging on his bed as though he planned to take up permanent residence there.

Zavion hadn’t moved away from the door, and it would be very easy to turn and walk back out. Easy, except for that fact that he was rooted in place, unable to do more than blink and breathe.

Perhaps he should just come clean about everything. He wanted Cian to see him as more than a friend. Right? It was much easier thought than said, though. What if Cian rejected him? It was a very real possibility, and then he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to look the man in the face again.

No, it was definitely better to keep quiet and at least maintain some kind of friendship with the man rather than lose all contact with him completely.

A soft sigh floated to him from across the room, and the cockiness vanished from Cian’s visage as he pushed himself off the bed. “Come here, Zavion.”

Though his brain screamed that it was a bad idea, his body betrayed him, carrying him across the carpeted floor until he was just a foot from the man that made every cell in his body ache with longing. “Yes?” he croaked through dry lips.

“Closer.”

He took half a step, placing him as close as he could get without actually touching the Enforcer.

Cian closed that last bit of space, encircling Zavion’s waist with one arm and pulling him forward until their chests molded together. “Better,” he whispered as he dipped his head to skim his nose up the curve of Zavion’s jaw.

ADULT EXCERPT

Their naked cocks rubbed together as Zavion humped up against him, creating a friction that had Cian trembling with restraint. “Can’t go slow,” he warned through gasps for air. Gods, his mate deserved so much more, but there would be plenty of time for that once he could actually think beyond, “Mine. Fuck. Yes. Now.”

“Don’t want you to,” Zavion answered as he pulled on Cian’s hair to drag their mouths back together. “I feel like I’m burning.”

Yeah, Cian knew that feeling well. The embers that had been smoldering inside him for months finally erupted into an inferno, growing bright, hotter, and more intense as the flames threatened to engulf him.

He mapped the muscles of Zavion’s slim chest and then repeated the journey with his mouth. Lapping at one copper-colored nipple, he sucked the hard bud between his teeth and nipped lightly, groaning at the sensual gasp that puffed from his lover’s lips.

Zavion’s taste on his tongue, his scent in Cian’s nose, and his warm body undulating beneath him had him reeling. The lines between fantasy and reality blurred, and his vision shadowed in the peripheral, narrowing so that Zavion was the only thing he could see.

His heart thundered, his cock flexed, and the pressure built inside his sac. Currents of desire crawled over his skin, his abs clenched, and a tingle started at the base of his spine. The ability to breathe was becoming more difficult, the gums around his canines were on fire, and if he didn’t get this party moving, it was all going to be over before the fat lady got her standing ovation.

The nightstand beside the bed had only one drawer, and when he finally managed to get it open, he found it completely empty. Growling in frustration, he slammed it shut with more force than necessary. What gay man—any man, for that matter—didn’t have lube in his nightstand?

Lotion, massage oil, anti-wrinkle cream—he’d settle for anything at that point. Zavion didn’t make him suffer long, however. Reaching over his head, he produced a small, half-empty bottle of lube from the top of the headboard.

“Clever,” Cian rasped in approval. Grabbing the slick from his mate, he wasted no time popping the cap open and generously coating his fingers.

Slipping one finger into Zavion’s fluttering pink star, he paused at the first knuckle and cocked a questioning eyebrow at his mate. While still the tightest, most wonderful thing he’d ever felt, the ring of muscles relaxed quickly, sucking his finger in without resistance.

Zavion simply shrugged and gave him a sexy grin. “I was horny earlier.”

“I’m thinkin’ ya should elaborate on that.” Jealousy was a new emotion for Cian, and he didn’t much like it. He punctuated his request with two hard pumps into his mate’s channel. When he received no answer other than a garbled moan, he inserted a second finger and gave a sharp turn of his wrist.

“Vibrator,” Zavion whimpered, whipping his head back and forth on the mattress. “It was a vibrator.”

Cian eased up, sawing his fingers in and out of Zavion’s ass at a more leisurely pace. “And what do ya think of when you’re pleasurin’ yourself?”

Again, he received no response. Fisting Zavion’s swollen cock, he stroked his lover lightly, paying special attention to the bundle of nerves just under the crown. “Tell me, Zavion.”

“I don’t know.” Lie. “Just stuff.” Lie.

Pulling his fingers free of Zavion’s clenching tunnel, he lightly ringed the slick rosette while he held a loose grip on his lover’s dick. The urgency was still there, and it was as much torture for him as it was for Zavion, but he wasn’t moving until he got his answer. “Tell me.”

Zavion growled and tried to hump up into his fist, but Cian anticipated him and moved his hand to Zavion’s hip, pinning him to the mattress. “You!” Zavion wailed. “I think about you when I’m jerking off. Please, Cian! Ahh!”

Gods, yes. Searching through the tangled blankets, he finally found the lube, dribbled it over his pulsing cock, and lined the head up with Zavion’s entrance. “Yes?” Considering that his mate was practically begging him, he figured he knew the answer, but he needed confirmation one more time.

Once he started, there would be no turning back, and he didn’t want to make assumptions while his dick was doing most of the thinking.

“Fuck, yes!”

They both groaned long and deep as he sheathed himself to the root inside Zavion’s heated channel. His mate’s inner walls clamped down around him, massaging his cock, gripping him in a velvety caress.

“Move,” Zavion demanded, breathing heavily as sweat trickled from his brow.

Moving sounded like an excellent idea, but Cian needed a moment to get it together, or he was going to go off like a Roman candle. He sucked in several deep breaths, but the scent of Zavion’s desire blasted him each time, doing nothing to tame his runaway lust.

“I can’t…” With that little bit of warning, his restraint finally snapped. Growling like an uncivilized beast, he jerked his hips back and slammed forward, plunging into Zavion’s sweet body with a wild abandon that scared him just a little.

“Cian!” Zavion screamed and clutched at his shoulders, arching up to meet him thrust for pounding thrust. Their damp skin slapped together, groans and grunts echoed around the room, and the air thickened with the scent of erotic passion.

A dozen snaps of his hips, and Cian knew he was done for. With the tight suction on his cock and the sinfully delicious sounds spilling from Zavion’s kiss-swollen lips, there was just no way he was going to last. Thank the heavens for the speedy recovery time of young shifters, because he wasn’t anywhere near satisfied.