STORY EXCERPT

Adam Bozeman sighed as he pulled up in front of his brother’s place. He turned off the engine and just sat there and stared up at the big white farmhouse he had spent so much time in growing up. He had expected to feel the same comfort he always got when he came home for a visit, but it wasn’t there, not this time.

Home had a different meaning to him now, and it was one of the reasons he had come back to Cade Creek. The home he had found in the city had been ripped away from him, painfully, horribly. He had come home to regroup and try to move on with his life.

Adam’s eyes watered as he realized it wasn’t going to work. Adam wondered if coming home had been such a good idea. He didn’t think he would find the answers he had been looking for here. He was starting to doubt he ever would. There seemed to be no place on earth that would tell him why good people got taken and bad ones got to stay.

Adam pressed his hand to the twin rings hanging from a gold chain around his neck. He drew in a shaky breath and then blew it out. The number of coping mechanisms he had learned over the last few months were astronomical. That not a damn one of them actually worked was even more amazing to him.

He knew that was why he had come home. Nothing was working back in the city. He was slowly fracturing. It was becoming harder and harder to pull himself out of bed each morning. Adam was terrified if something didn’t give, he would.

Coming back to Cade Creek had seemed like his only option. His family was here. His friends were here. The town he had grown up in was here. Maybe, if he was really lucky, he could find himself here, as well.

Adam smiled when he saw the porch light come on right before the front door opened and Russ stepped out, a hot cup of coffee in his hands. Adam could see the steam coming off of it. Russ was the only person Adam knew who liked his coffee lava hot.

Adam opened the door of his truck and climbed out. He pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as he walked around the front of the vehicle and made his way across the driveway to the porch.

“Russ.”

“Adam.” Russ nodded to him as he held up his cup. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

Russ turned without another word and walked back inside the farmhouse. Adam climbed the steps and followed his brother into the house, making sure he closed the door firmly behind him. There was a nip in the air and Adam knew there were small children in the house. Keeping them happy and healthy was important.

As early as it was—the sun hadn’t even come up yet—Adam was a little surprised to see Jonny in the kitchen making breakfast. He figured the man would still be in bed sleeping.

“Hey, Adam.” Jonny smiled at him before flipping the eggs he was cooking. “Hungry?”

“Naw, man, but thanks. I’m just going to do some coffee.”

“Well, you know where it’s at.”

He did. Adam walked over to the red coffee pot plugged into the wall. While the color and brand had changed over the years, the placement had not. There had been a coffee pot in the corner of the countertop for as long as Adam could remember.

He poured himself a cup, keeping it black. He really didn’t need the sugar right now, no matter how much he liked his coffee sweet. He probably didn’t need the caffeine either, but he had to do something with his hands. Holding a coffee cup was as good as anything.

Adam swallowed tightly when the room went silent. He glanced up. Jonny was cooking, but Russ was sitting at the small kitchen table, staring at him between sips of coffee. He was waiting, and Adam knew it.

“I need to come home for a little while, and staying with Mom and Dad won’t work. I love them, but I just can’t deal with the questions right now.”

“All right.”

That was Russ, a man of few words.

“Can I stay here?” Adam asked. “It won’t be for long, a few days, maybe a week. I just...I need someplace to get my head screwed back on straight.”

“You in trouble?”

“No.” Adam wished it was that easy. “Some things happened back in the city, things I’m not ready to talk about yet. I need to get away for a little while.”

Like forever.

“What about that veterinarian internship you were getting set to take?”

Adam dropped his eyes to stare down into his coffee. He drew in a shaky breath and then released it slowly. He wasn’t sure he was ever going to take it now, but that was another thing he wasn’t ready to discuss. Not yet. He knew he wouldn’t be able to put Russ off forever, not to mention their parents. But for now, they would just have to accept that he needed time.

“It’s been postponed for a while.”

He could give Russ that much.

“All right.”

Adam smiled as he glanced up. “So, can I stay?”

Russ’s eyebrows shot up. “You have to ask?”

Adam shrugged. “It’s the polite thing to do. You bought this farm with Mitch. I’d think you’d need to discuss it with him, as well, before saying yes.”

“Has the city fried your brain?”

Adam chuckled as he brought his cup up to his lips. Leave it to his brother to put things into perspective.  ”No, but I didn’t want to presume.”

Russ’s eyes rolled. “Presume, jackass.”

“The second bedroom at the top of the stairs is free,” Jonny said as he set a plate down in front of Russ. “Why don’t you go get your stuff and put it away? I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee for you.”

Adam nodded as he took another sip of his coffee and then set the cup down on the counter. He knew Russ had to get to work pretty soon, which meant Jonny was going to want a few minutes alone with him. Adam was good with that. He just didn’t want to see it.

It hurt too much.

“If you need anything, Adam,” Jonny called out as Adam headed for the door, “we’re here.”

Adam gave a sharp nod of his head without turning around. Maybe coming home hadn’t been a good idea. He was still having trouble coming to terms with the new direction his life had taken. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to share that, but that he didn’t know how to put it into words.

How could he explain that one moment in time had destroyed his entire world? 

ADULT EXCERPT

Mike leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of Adam’s face, and then another along his jawline. He moved closer to Adam’s lips, but didn’t quite touch them.

“Michael,” Adam groaned as he pressed closer. “Stop teasing me.”

Mike grinned. He began planting small kisses on Adam’s neck, then another, each one getting longer and longer until he didn’t remove his lips at all. Kissing Adam’s skin felt too damn good.

“Mmm, that feels good,” Adam whispered, arching his head back and to the side to expose more of his throat.

“Yeah?” Mike whispered. “You like that?”

“Yesss,” Adam hissed. “Want more.”

Hot damn!

“You have the softest skin,” Mike whispered as he stroked his hand down Adam’s side. His breath caught in his throat when he reached the curve of Adam’s ass and the man pulled his leg up to his chest. Mike’s fingers slid right down inside the back of Adam’s pants, pressing a finger between his ass cheeks.

Adam cried out and arched against him.

Mike pressed the tip of his finger against Adam’s greedy hole, teasing him. When Adam started to pant, Mike forced himself to move his hand away from Adam’s ass and back up to his chest. As much as he wanted to sink into Adam’s silky depths, he wanted the man mindless with passion first.

Mike moved his hand up under Adam’s chin and cupped his jaw, tilting his head back. He swirled his tongue over Adam’s sweet tasting skin, remembering how good it felt to kiss the man. They had spent hours just making out on the couch, or anywhere else they could find a quiet corner.

Mike loved kissing Adam.

“I want you, Adam,” Mike whispered against Adam’s hot skin. “Will you let me have you? Will you be mine again? Will you let me keep you this time?”

Adam inhaled sharply. “Yes.”

Mike squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as Adam’s words washed over him. He had ached for Adam for so long and to be holding him in his arms again, Mike was starting to wonder if he would ever see the day.

And yet, here it was.

He wasn’t going to waste it. Mike carefully undressed Adam, kissing each bit of golden skin he uncovered. Once Adam was naked, Mike scooted to the end of the bed. He started to pull off the hospital shirt he had been given when pain ripped through his shoulder. Mike hissed as he grabbed it.

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked.

“You’re going to have to help me here, Adam.”

Adam stood up beside him and gently pulled the shirt from his shoulders, tossing it to the floor. Mike hissed again when Adam’s hands went to the buckle of his belt. When Adam glanced up, Mike just grinned.

Adam chuckled and went back to the belt. By the time he was climbing back onto the mattress, his cock ached more than his shoulder. When Adam stretched out beside him, Mike drew the man back into his arms.

“I love you, Adam,” Mike whispered. “I will love you until the day I die.”

Adam stilled then glanced at him. His perfect brown eyebrows were drawn together in a deep frown of confusion. “Mike?”

Mike knew he had kind of blindsided Adam with his admission, but he couldn’t hold his feelings in anymore. He did love Adam, to the depths of his soul. He’d gladly give his life for the man, fight any enemy, and protect him from the world Mike knew was out there. He would do anything for Adam.

Mike leaned forward and claimed Adam’s plush lips before the man could say another word. He was a little afraid Adam didn’t feel the same. Kissing Adam was just as good as licking his skin. Touching him was even better. The soft little moans of delight that fell from Adam’s lips went right to Mike’s cock, making him harder than steel. He felt like he could fuck a brick wall.

Mike stroked his hand over Adam’s smooth chest as he kissed him. His heart tripped when he felt Adam’s nipples pebble under the palms of his hand. He twirled his fingers around one nipple, stroking the sensitive flesh until Adam was shuddering in his arms.

“Do you like that, baby?” Mike asked as he tugged on a nipple with his fingers. Adam’s only answer was a slow moan as he arched toward Mike’s fingers. Mike chuckled lightly and switched from one nipple to the other, giving it the same treatment. “I guess you do.”

“Mike, please,” Adam cried out.

Mike moved his hand away from Adam’s nipples and stroked it down the man’s flat stomach to his abdomen. He thought he was going to come before he even had a chance to get at Adam’s ass. He leaned back until he could grab the bottle of lube and a condom off his dresser then scooted down Adam’s body. He so had to taste Adam’s smooth skin.

Mike rolled Adam onto his back and settled between his legs.

Adam almost came off the bed when Mike licked a line from his balls to the top of his groin. Mike grinned and pressed his hands against Adam’s hips, holding him down to the bed as he continued to lick every bit of smooth skin he could reach.

Mike’s cock ached so much he was afraid it might break off if he nudged it even a little. Adam was unlike any lover he’d ever had. The man was a marvel, accepting everything Mike had to give him and begging for more.

Mike poured some lube out on his fingers then pushed them between Adam’s ass cheeks. They slid easily in until he reached Adam’s tight hole. The tightness of Adam’s puckered opening made Mike shudder in anticipation. He couldn’t wait to have that tightness wrapped around his cock.

Mike started brushing his fingers against Adam’s hole, putting more pressure into his touch with each caress until they slipped inside. Adam groaned, stiffening. Mike eased up for a moment then leaned forward to swallow Adam’s cock, sucking it down his throat.

Once Adam was distracted by the mouth on his cock, Mike started pushing his fingers into the man’s ass again. This time, he met no resistance. Two fingers slid right in. It didn’t take Mike more than a few moments of stretching Adam before he could get in a third finger.

Once Adam was sufficiently stretched, Mike released the cock in his mouth to Adam’s cries of dismay. He scooted up and knelt between Adam’s thighs. His hands shook as he tore open the small foil packet and then rolled the condom down his aching dick.

Mike gripped Adam’s ass with his hands, lifted him up, and then thrust forward. His body quaked ass his cock sank into Adam’s sweet body. Mike dropped his head back on his shoulders and just breathed once he was fully in.