STORY EXCERPT

There are times in life when clarity suddenly hits a person and one realizes that life is one fucked up mess after another. As I sat on the floor of some dive bar I had forgotten the name of, cradling my aching cheek in my hand, I realized this was just another dramatic moment in a long line of dramatic moments which seemed to plague me whether I wanted them to or not.

I was cursed. There was no other way around it. Either fate really hated my ass, or I had done something horrific in every past life I had ever lived—if I believed in past lives, and I didn't—but still, how in the hell did this keep happening to me?

I didn't go looking for trouble. I never did. It just kind of happened to me. A simple trip to the grocery store turned into a hostage situation and then a shootout with thugs. Buying a new pair of shoes ended in using said shoes to run for my life when I witnessed an assault and tried to stop it. But, hey, what was I supposed to do? Let the poor girl get kidnapped?

My last episode came from stopping in at a bar I was passing when I took a different route home from work. The front door had been propped open and the music from inside had poured out onto the streets, drawing patrons inside. The voices and laughter had drawn me more than the need for alcohol, and all I had wanted to do was soak in the atmosphere for a little while, a few minutes at the very least.

But no...my desire to sit on the fringes of other people's happy lives led to some guy taking offense when I stared at the beautiful blond on his arm too long. If only he knew. Her breasts were big and perky—which was what had me staring in the first place because they defied gravity and I couldn't understand how.

Sexually, they did nothing for me.

If the guy hadn't been such a jerk, he might have gained my interest. When he had his two friends corner me in the bathroom before smacking me around, whatever interest I might have had in the well-dressed man shot away faster than the fist to my face. All thoughts of flirting with the guy evaporated with the first punch.

Okay, I wouldn't have flirted, but it was nice to think I might have. The guy had clearly been with the blond, and I didn't poach. I didn't do straight guys either. Which made flirting a useless action. My father hated useless actions. So, flirting with straight guys was out.

Well, I tried not to anyway. There was that one time, and I honestly thought he was gay. It wasn't until I was running down the street pulling my shirt back on with Brian and his best friend chasing after me that I realized he was most decidedly not gay. In fact, he seemed a tad homophobic.

I didn't stick around to find out if I was wrong.

This time, I had not tried to get friendly with the pretty, straight man. I hadn't tried to get friendly with anyone. I hadn't even talked to anyone except the bartender when I ordered my beer. I was just swinging around on my stool, people watching.

I like people watching. There were so many interesting people in the world, and I liked watching them. And no, I wasn't a creepy, stalker dude. I didn't follow people. Usually. I just sat and watched...fantasizing.

Everyone from my mother to my therapist said I needed to go get a life instead of fantasizing I had one. I didn't get it. I had a life. It just wasn't a very exciting life. For the most part, anyway. Times like this made me wonder.

I winced when one of the men reached for me, jerking me to my feet. It wasn't so much the pain that bothered me—although that kind of sucked—but more the knowledge that my pain was just beginning. I could see it in the gleeful twinkle in the guy's eyes. He was enjoying himself.

When he pulled back his fist, I raised my arms up in front of my face, trying to protect it. I knew he would probably use that opportunity to punch me in the stomach, but I still had my glasses on, and those things weren't cheap, especially not as often as I went through them.

My ophthalmologist knew me by first name.

I hated the fact that I could see through the small slit between my forearms. I wanted to close my eyes and pretend I didn't see the fist coming at me.

They wouldn't close.

Terror stole my scream, as did the beefy hand wrapped around my throat. I was well versed in the excitement some people seemed to have when they were about to beat the shit out of someone else. I had seen it often enough. I could see it in the man's eyes.

I was gonna die.

"Is there a problem in here?"

My world stopped.

I rolled my head toward the door, following the deep timber of the voice that had spoken to a mountain of hard, bulging muscles. My eyes widened at the absolute power before me. The hard body stretching the seams of the guy's black tank top quickened my pulse. Despite the fear coursing through my body, I felt my cock harden in response to the sheer masculine beauty before me.

And he knew it.

One lone eyebrow rose, a peculiar smirk lifting the corner of the rugged man's face.

There were a great many things I was good at. Picking out the perfect china pattern to match a newly designed gourmet kitchen. Organizing a squad room full of testosterone driven police officers. Even duking it out over the phone with some schmuck who thought he'd get lippy with me because I was only an office assistant.

Hiding my response from this man was not one of those things.

The air hummed with tension, a hint of violence thrown in for good measure. I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. Terrified that the man who filled my every fantasy in one glance would join in on the beating that was sure to end my life, or hurt really bad at the very least.

"Come to me, caro."

Oh. My. God.

ADULT EXCERPT

God, I wanted this man.

I wanted him in my bed.

Now.

I lifted Lany up, swung him around so he was straddling me, and then cradled him to my chest as I stood. "Legs around my waist, caro."

I grunted when Lany's legs wrapped around me and our cocks pressed together. While it was right where I wanted him to be, it sucked all the blood out of my brain and pooled it in my groin, robbing me of even an adequate thought process.

I grabbed Lany's ass cheeks, holding him to my body.

"Sei bellissima, caro," I murmured as he carried him toward my bedroom. "Voglio fare l'amore con te."

"En-English," Lany stuttered.

"You are beautiful, caro," I replied. "I want to make love to you."

"Yes, please."

"Sì, per favore," I translated for him. Maybe teaching him some Italian wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Yes...that."

I chuckled. Lany was quite possibly the most adorable man I had ever encountered. That, combined with the eager innocence in his eyes, made him so damn sexy in my eyes. I ached to possess him, to claim him and make him mine.

I dropped Lany down onto the middle of my king-sized mattress and then stood there, staring at him in my bed. I hadn't known until this moment just how much I was going to be addicted to the sight of the beautiful man in my bed. It was one I didn't think I would ever forget.

I leaned down and grabbed Lany's shoes, pulling them off before dropping them on the floor. And then I went for his slacks and his button down shirt. The smiley face underwear made me chuckle, but they didn't stop my intention to see the man naked.

As I dropped the last item of clothing on the floor, I was once again stunned by the sight before me. "Non c' non è mai stato un uomo bello come te nel mio letto." When Lany just stared at me, I smiled. "There has never been a handsome man like you in my bed."

"Never?" Lany's voice was full of doubt.

"Not as beautiful as you." I was positive of it. Lany took my breath away. I crawled up onto the bed between Lany's legs, settling myself over the top of him. I tried to make sure I kept my weight on my arms so I wouldn't crush the smaller man, but Lany's hands grasping at me, pulled me down on top of him. "Lany—"

"Per favore."

Damn, the boy learned fast.

"Kiss me, Lany."

I refused to take no for an answer. I covered Lany's mouth, using my tongue to tease Lany's lips apart. I knew once Lany forgot his panic over me being a S.W.A.T. officer, he would accept me and whatever this was growing between us.

Lany groaned, and within seconds, he was pressing into the kiss, opening his mouth and allowing me in. I devoured Lany's mouth, licking, sucking, teasing. I kissed a trail from Lany's lips, to his chin, to the tender skin of his throat, time and again, teasing Lany.

I stroked my hand over Lany's shoulder blades, down the valley of his spine, over the firm, round butt cheeks. I encouraged him to grind against me as our tongues dueled. I lightly bit Lany's bottom lip. Lany gasped before returning the nip.

When I glanced down at Lany, his amber-green eyes were wide and round.

Shocked.

"Did you like that, caro?"

Lany nodded wordlessly.

"Then you're going to love this." Keeping my eyes locked with Lany's, I leaned down and swallowed Lany's straining erection, wrapping my lips around the flared head of the man's cock. The drops of pre-cum pooling on the head of Lany's cock trickled over my tongue.

I licked those drops away before swallowing Lany's length to the back of my throat, letting my throat muscles relax until pubic hairs tickled my face. I heard a swift intake of air, and then Lany shuddered.

Encouraged by Lany's response, I began to suck, my tongue tracing the veins, my cheeks hollowed as I moved Lany's thick erection further into my mouth, bobbing my head up and down.

I could feel Lany's thighs tighten under my hands and knew that Lany wouldn't take long to come. I closed my lips completely around Lany's cock and sucked him all the way down before pulling back again.

I licked a long path from the tip of Lany's cock down to the root and then down just a bit further. I felt Lany's hand tighten in my hair when I sucked one of his balls into my mouth. The man's moans were growing louder, higher.

I devoured Lany with my eyes. The arch of his back, the ecstasy on his face, the fall of his light brown hair, the swanlike curve of his neck, all of it was the most spectacular sight I had ever seen.

I took Lany deeper, flattening my tongue as I slid the cock to the back of my throat again and then took the heated flesh down my throat. I eagerly licked at the erection as I moved my head back. By the time I reached the slit on the head of Lany's cock, another pool of pre-cum had gathered and started dripping down the sides. I eagerly licked at each drop until my mouth exploded in flavor.

I slowly started to bob my head, sucking in my cheeks as I moved my lips up Lany's cock. I wanted to savor every last inch as Lany moved through my mouth. The more my mouth moved up and down, the easier it became to swallow him to the root every time. I could still feel drops of luscious tasting pre-cum splattering over my tongue every time I swallowed, and god, it was fucking fantastic.

When Lany's balls started to pull up tight to his body, I increased the speed of my movements, sucking Lany's length down my throat faster and faster each time, hollowing my cheeks out as I moved back up to the tip.

I knew Lany was getting close and I wanted him to remember this blow job as the best one he had ever received. When the man's cock began to swell, I lowered my head, taking Lany's cock into my mouth as far as I could.

As my throat massaged Lany's length, Lany came hard, screaming my name. His hot seed shot down my throat in hot ribbons of release. I swallowed greedily, savoring the salty taste of the seed filling my mouth in great spurts.

I let the man's softening cock slip from my mouth and then sat back, my jaw dropping when I saw that Lany had passed out. Chuckling, I ran my hand over Lany's head, stroking my fingers through Lany's thick, shoulder-length, brown hair.

"What am I going to do with you, caro, huh?"