STORY EXCERPT

“I think this is it.”

Harland “Harley” Thomas fingered the long scar running down his cheek as he looked over to where his driver and friend, Manny, was pointing. His heart pounded a little faster as he glanced at the driveway. He couldn’t help but chuckle when he read the ranch sign hanging over the driveway.

Crazy Acres

That sounded just about right.

He couldn’t see anything of the place beyond the sign as trees lined both sides of the driveway for as far as the eye could see. Harley nodded to Manny, and the SUV slowly turned onto the driveway.

“Damn!” Manny said as they drove past the tree line and the view opened to show a majestic sight. He gave a low whistle as his eyes darted over the land. “This is pretty nice, man.”

Harley couldn’t agree more. It was just as he had imagined, maybe even better. Fencing lined both sides of the driveway all of the way up to the house. The field on the passenger side of the vehicle was empty, but the field on the driver’s side had several horses grazing in it, looking as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

Beyond the house and fenced-in pastures, the entire place was surrounded by tree-covered hills, like the little valley the ranch sat in was created just for it. The driveway came to an end in a round circle right in front of a large log cabin. Situated right inside of the circular drive was a large oak tree with grass growing around it.

Manny brought the SUV to a stop right in front of the house. “Do you want me to go in with you?” he asked as he cut the engine and turned to look at Harley.

Harley grinned as he looked at Manny, and then into the backseat where Bill and his lover Angelo were seated. He shook his head. “No, I have this.”

Harley opened the door and swung his legs down to the ground. His feet hit the paved driveway, and he grimaced when he had to reach back in for his cane. He would have preferred doing this without a cane, but if he wanted to walk, he had to carry the damn thing with him.

As he headed toward the house, Harley’s eyes gazed over the place, taking in the vision he had dreamt about. It looked exactly like it had in his dreams, right down to the wraparound porch and the large front windows. He hoped the inside looked just as he had seen it in his head as well.

Using his cane, Harley slowly made his way up the steps to the front door. He took a moment to look around, seeing the hard work that had gone into building the place. Besides the fenced pastures and the house, there was a barn set just beyond the driveway. It was all so picturesque.

And perfect.

Before lifting his hand and knocking on the door, Harley drew in a fortifying breath and then slowly blew it out. This was it. The next few seconds could make or break him, and he knew it. He had been through a nightmarish hell, and lived for only one single reason. With any luck, that reason was about to be his reward for staying alive.

Harley’s heart felt like it was climbing into his throat and squeezing the very breath from him when he heard a soft musical voice from inside the house, and then the door slowly opened. His breath froze in his lungs, and he found it hard to breathe when his saw a long cascade of black hair and the soul-deep caramel-brown eyes that blinked up at him through the screen door.

Harley had to literally make himself start breathing again. The vision was so breathtaking that all he wanted to do was just stand there and admire the man.

“Hello, Mitsuaki,” he whispered in a voice that sounded echoed and seemed to come from far away.

“Harley-chan?” There was a slight tinge of wonder in Miko’s voice, the magical lilt pulling Harley in deeper. “You alive, Harley-chan?”

Harley felt tears clog his throat, but he managed a tremulous smile despite them. “I’m alive, Miko.” Barely, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. Harley would rather think about the beauty standing before him. He had pretty much been thinking of nothing else for months.

Miko had haunted Harley’s dreams, awake or asleep, like a vision that wrapped itself around him and brought him comfort in a time when he needed it most. He was pretty sure the gorgeous man was the only reason he was alive and standing on the front porch of a house he had only fantasized about instead of dead in some drug lord’s crazy clutches in Central America.

The screen door slowly pushed open, and Miko stumbled out, staring up at Harley like he was seeing a ghost—like he wasn’t real or tangible. Miko’s hand trembled as he reached up and pressed the lightest of touches against the side of Harley’s face, his fingers as smooth as silk and as warm as the summer sun.

“You alive, Harley-chan!”

ADULT EXCERPT

“I want to touch you, Miko.”

“Hai, Harley-chan.” The words were spoken on a husky whisper, barely audible, but Harley heard them just the same. He moved his hands down to the hem of Miko’s shirt and slid them underneath. Soft, silky skin brushed against his fingertips as Miko inhaled deeply.

There was a tangible bond between them, an intense awareness. There always had been, from the moment they met in a small street-side café in the city. Miko had been working, busing tables. Harley had stopped to have coffee, taken one look at Miko, and known his heart was no longer his.

It had taken him weeks to get Miko to agree to go out with him, weeks of flowers and phone calls and even begging. When Miko finally agreed to a date, Harley almost thought he was dreaming. It had taken him even longer to get Miko to agree to marry him, but that had been one of the happiest days of his life, equaled only by the day Miko had taken his name.

Harley had never looked back or regretted his decision to pursue the gorgeous little man. Miko made his heart feel lighter just by being in the same room with him. The long months away had been more painful because of the separation between them than from anything Miguel Fernandez had done to him.

And now that he had Miko in his arms once again, Harley was going to accept the gift that had been given to him and never let Miko leave his side again. And he didn’t care who he had to kill to make that happen. No one was going to take this from him again.

Harley felt the uneven rhythm of Miko’s breathing and knew his lover was just as affected by their closeness as he was. He trailed his finger over Miko’s silken skin, circling his belly button before moving further up his chest. He might not be able to see where his fingers were going, but he could see the response to his touch in the slow tenting in Miko’s boxers.

“You like it when I touch you, don’t you, Miko?”

“Hai,” Miko groaned. “Yes.”

“You missed my touch,” Harley murmured as he brushed his fingers over Miko’s taut nipples. The anxious whine that fell from Miko’s lips was the man’s only response. Harley felt a ripple of excitement roll through him at the needy little sound. “I missed touching you, Miko.”

Gods, he had missed touching his lover. Miko’s body was built to be made love to. His slim frame fit perfectly into Harley’s arms. His soft skin and delicate bones were in such deep contrast to Harley’s hard, toned body that it was almost awe inspiring to look at.

Miko cried out and arched, pushing into Harley’s hand when he rolled one hard pebbled nipple between his fingers. Harley’s mouth went dry at the sight. Miko had always been so damn responsive to his touch, and knowing that he was the only man to ever see Miko’s pleasure made it even more special.

Harley reached down and grabbed the hem of Miko’s T-shirt and pulled it up. Miko lifted his arms, and Harley pulled the cotton shirt off, tossing it off the side of the bed. Harley brushed his hands down over Miko’s chest again, pushing them down to the edge of Miko’s boxers.

When the man offered no protest, Harley pushed the waistband of the boxers down, freeing Miko’s thick erection. It bounced up and slapped against Miko’s abdomen, leaving a trail of pre-cum against Miko’s skin.

Hunger spiraled through Harley at the sight of the hardened flesh. Miko’s cock was perfect in his eyes—not too small and not too large, not too thin and not too thick. It was perfect, just like Miko.

Harley heard Miko’s breathing hitch when he wrapped his hand around him. Harley smiled and blew a breath of air against Miko’s ear. “Do you like that, baby?” he asked as he gave the thick shaft one long stroke with his hand.

“Hai!”

There was a glint of wonder in Miko’s eyes as he tilted his head back and looked up at Harley. It was too much for Harley to resist. He fisted his hand in Miko’s hair and brought their mouths together, devouring Miko’s lips with all of the pent-up hunger he had been feeling for the last two years.

At the same time, he stroked Miko’s cock, tightening his fingers then loosening them, drawing out the pleasure as long as he could. The little needy noises Miko started making drowned out the thundering of Harley’s heart.

Harley slid his hand down to Miko’s abdomen and pulled the man back into the apex of his thighs as far as he would go. It pushed Miko’s back right up against him, trapping Harley’s hard, aching cock between them.

“My sweet baby,” Harley whispered against Miko’s lips, knowing that his lover liked to hear him talk when they were alone like this. It was one of the few times when Miko felt he could be open and free with what he was feeling. “So beautiful and all mine.”

“Hai, Harley-chan,” Miko whimpered. “All yours, just yours.”

Music to my ears.

“Come for me, Miko,” Harley demanded as he sped up the movement of his hand. The wiggling of Miko’s body against his cock was pushing him closer to his own release, and he wanted to watch Miko come before that happened. He needed it. “Show me how much you want me, baby.”