STORY EXCERPT

Lany

It made sense that it would be drizzling on a day like today. How could the powers that be allow sunshine and bright blue skies when my heart was breaking? Staring down at the polished wooden casket at my feet, I wondered if I would ever enjoy blue skies again.

I knew life was finite, but the last week had proven to me that it could end at any second. One moment you are there, and the next you are simply gone, the victim of a needless car accident.

I glanced across the casket to where my Uncle Jerry stood, his hands folded together in front of him, his eyes pinned on the casket as it was slowly lowered into the ground. How the man wasn’t screaming was beyond me. I’d be a blubbering mess on the floor if anything happened to my Sal.

I leaned into the SWAT commander, needing his touch to comfort me. Salvador Delvecchio was my reason for breathing. Without him, nothing worked. Not my job as personal assistant to the police chief—my uncle. Not raising our adopted twin girls, Rosy and Bella. Not even the flame that burned in the center of my soul only for my husband.

I needed Sal to function.

After everything we had been through, the kidnappings, the attacks, the mobsters...this might be the hardest. It sucked that our anniversary was this week. I didn’t feel like celebrating. I just wanted to gather my family close to me and hold onto them with every ounce of strength I had.

I sniffled as tears streamed down my cheeks.

A moment later, I felt Sal’s hand grab mine.

When I lifted my eyes, Uncle Jerry was staring at me. I sent him a weak, wobbly smile, but it was the best I could muster under the circumstances. Uncle Jerry nodded back, just the barest of movements of his head to acknowledge me.

It wasn’t something I felt he had to do, but I was glad he did. I was worried about my uncle. He had just lost his wife of nearly twenty years. If he wasn’t broken, then he was close to it.

I was still stunned by the fact that my Aunt Sally was gone. The woman had just always been there. Her and my mother were as thick as thieves, as close as two sister-in-laws could be. The two women were the cornerstones of the Harris family.

What would we do without her?

I pulled my handkerchief out of my pocket and swiped at my nose. It had been running practically as long as my tears had. I had been crying for days. Just when I thought I was done, I would remember something Aunt Sally said or did and I would start up all over again.

I was a mess.

“Come on, caro.”

Sal’s arm felt heavy around my shoulders, but I was glad it was there. The man was practically the only thing keeping me vertical. He led me away from the gravesite and back through the freshly manicured lawn to the long line of limousines waiting to take us to the wake.

When I saw my parents, I pushed away from Sal and rushed over to them. I tried not to run. My mother wouldn’t approve. Emotional outbursts in public were not allowed. Behind closed doors, you could scream your head off. Never in public.

Knowing that, I was surprised when my mother reached for me just as I reached her.

“Junior.”

“Mom.” I breathed deep when I felt my father’s hand go to my shoulder, giving me a good squeeze. After hugging my mother longer than probably was appropriate, I leaned back. I sent my father a wobbly smile. “Hey, Dad.”

Lancaster Harris II nodded at me. I would have thought him totally detached from the situation if I hadn’t seen the red rimming his eyes. “Junior.”

“Where are the girls, Junior?” Mother asked.

“Eddie and Lyn are watching them.” I wouldn’t leave my twin girls with just anyone. “They said they’d stay as long as we needed them. I thought it was better to leave the twins at home.”

I adored my adopted twin girls and had since the moment they were laid in my arms almost a year ago. I could still remember how precious each of the three-week old twins had looked. They stole my heart with that one look. They did the same with almost everyone they met.

“Yes, quite right.” Cynthia Harris drew in a strong breath. She was a formable woman and it rattled me a little bit to see her shaken. “A funeral is no place for those beautiful little angels.”

Despite the somberness of our situation, I found myself smiling. Rosy and Bella had stolen my mother’s heart the second she saw them. She had all but given up ever being a grandmother, instead, devoting herself to my father and me and all her little causes. Learning that she had not one but two granddaughters had put me and Sal in her good graces for months.

My father tried to pretend he was merely amused by his wife’s total devotion to Rosy and Bella, but I had caught him sneaking into their room to watch them sleep on more than one occasion. More times than not, a new stuffed animal for the girls was clutched in his hand.

It was a secret kept between just us.

“We’ll see you at your uncle’s house?” my mother asked.

“We’ll be there Cynthia,” Sal said.

Cynthia’s lips spread into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, but I didn’t think it was Sal. Her eyes were too filled with sadness. She clasped Sal’s hand between two of hers. “Thank you, Salvador. You’ve been a godsend through all of this.”

I noticed a slight flush to Sal’s cheeks before he glanced away. “This is my family.”

I wanted to hug the man again, but took his hand instead. As much as I wanted to shout to the world that Sal belonged to me, waving my rainbow flag at a funeral was wrong, even I knew that. I needed to be thinking about my aunt today, a woman who accepted me and all my quirks and threw Sal and I the biggest engagement party of the season.

God, I was going to miss her.

ADULT EXCERPT

I was the team leader of SWAT Team One. I was a Lieutenant on that team. That made me a fairly intelligent man, and yet, I had never been able to figure out how Lany stayed single before I rescued him from a beat down in the bathroom of a bar.

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would have grabbed him up long before I came on the scene. I would be forever grateful that it had never happened.

“Are you worried about court?”

My surprise had me turning to look at Lany. “No, why should I be? It was a domestic disturbance call. We were called to do an insertion. We rescued the hostages and secured the suspect. Everyone came out of it alive. End of story.”

Lany was so cute when he frowned. “Then why are you having to testify?”

I shrugged, because I didn’t know. “Non ne ho idea.”

“Well, I don’t like it.”

I went back to making sure my suit looked right in the mirror. “I don’t either, caro, but a subpoena is a subpoena. If I don’t show up to testify, the judge can have me arrested.”

When Lany shuddered, I stopped messing with my suit and drew the man into my arms. “I’m not getting arrested, caro. I promise.”

Lany had one eyebrow raised as he tilted his head back. “Our anniversary is this week. I don’t believe you.”

I chuckled because I knew he was right. For some reason, every year when we tried to celebrate our anniversary, something happened to mess it up. An undercover assignment that went haywire. An insane father bent on stealing my brother’s millions and willing to kill to do it. A mobster fiasco of epic proportions.

The list was never ending.

This year had been by far the worst. I had no idea how Jerry was handling it. After the wake, the man had taken some personal leave, which he no doubt needed. I had no idea what I would do if anything happened to my Lany.

I loved my twin girls, adored them. I loved my brother and my nephew. I respected the men I worked with. Loved my job, what I did on a day to day basis. I even felt something kind of like affection for Lany’s parents now that I had truly gotten to know them.

But Lany, he was my reason for breathing. Without him, nothing in my world worked. The man had stolen my heart the moment our eyes met in that seedy bathroom four years ago, and I willingly let him keep it.

I wrapped my hand around Lany’s neck and pulled him closer. I covered his mouth with all of the desire I felt for the man. Much to my utter delight, Lany moaned and pushed into the kiss, his tongue coming out to brush against mine. Lany’s lips were soft and warm, sending spirals of ecstasy through me.

My breath caught in my throat as Lany pulled away and dropped to his knees at my feet. My cock became so hard as I watched him looking up at me, I thought it might rip right through my slacks.

I had to have him.

Without taking his eyes off the visual feast at my feet, I unbuttoned my pants and pushed my boxers down until my cock popped free. “Voglio sentire le tue labbra su di me, caro.”

Lany’s eyebrow arched and a slow sensual grin lifted the corners of his lips. “I would be more than happy to wrap my lips around your cock.”

Not exactly what I said, but close enough.

I looked down into Lany’s beautiful amber-green eyes as he opened his mouth and wrapped it around the head of my cock. Lany groaned then tightened his lips, his body jerking a little, but he didn’t take his gaze away from mine.

“Damn, caro, your mouth is like hot silk.”

Lany licked up one side of my cock and back down the other. He swirled his tongue around the helmet, licking at the clear liquid as he reached between my legs and gently massaged my balls.

Lany leaned a little closer, taking my cock further into his mouth, his tongue flattening against my length. I cried out when the pressure became too much, my entire body shuddering as I spilled inside of Lany’s mouth. Lany swallowed down every last drop

Once I stopped shuddering, I reached down and picked Lany. I was so glad the bed was only a few steps away. I dropped Lany onto the mattress and yanked his pajama bottoms down before settling myself between his legs.

I wrapped my hand around Lany’s cock and licked the tip, pressing my tongue into the small slit on the top before swirling it around the mushroomed head. Lany’s body went stiff for a moment, his thigh muscles going rock hard, then he trembled almost uncontrollably.

Lany shouted out my name and bucked beneath me. Hot spunk filled my mouth. I swallowed it down and kept licking and sucking until Lany giggled and tried to squirm away from me.

“Too sensitive.”

I chuckled. It was a low, mean, yet satisfied sound. I loved watching Lany come apart in my arms. Knowing I had brought my love pleasure was better than any orgasm I had ever experienced.

“So, lunch then?”

I chuckled. “Lunch.”

Maybe we could get Lyn or Clarke to watch the twins for a few minutes while we snuck off to the broom closet.

I could fantasize anyway.