STORY EXCERPT

Dillion Palmer had never seen such a courageous beast. He’d been working with Wildlife Services in Utah for five years, which meant he’d been called on to hunt all kinds of predatory animals, but he’d never seen anything like this. Bold as brass and twice as blinding, a coydog with butterscotch hair and wickedly intense fuchsia eyes stared right down the barrel of his gun. What was even more stunning was he continued to advance.

Instincts told Dillion to shoot, but something else told him that if he did, he would be committing a grave sin, so he held off, but kept his finger on the trigger, watching through the scope. Closer the beast came, his stride as casual as any teenager on a mall stroll. As crazy as it seemed in broad daylight where Dillion clearly had the upper hand, the animal showed no fear. The beast looked past the barrel of his rifle and past his sunglasses and seemed to drill its unusual gaze right into Dillion’s soul.

I am very much like you. I’m an animal who calls to the beast in you.

Dillion shook off the fanciful notion that the creature was communicating directly with him. Obviously, he’d been out alone in the desert heat for too long. Five blistering days and six frigid nights would break most men, but Dillion Palmer wasn’t most men. He was alpha prime. At six feet seven inches tall and three hundred pounds of meat-eating muscle, he was the most dangerous animal in the entire desert. Most creatures ran from his scent, and those that dared to meet his gaze ran soon after. But not this curious creature.

Noonday sun beat down upon both of them, making their shadows short, and their breath even shorter from the dry air. If today reached five percent humidity, Dillion would be surprised. As he drew another slow lungful of air through his nose, he was fairly certain the humidity was around two percent at best. His lips were stuck together and he’d give just about anything for a drink of the cool water from the flask near his hip, but there was no way in hell he’d turn his attention from the beast. If it came down to who could hold out the longest, Dillion was willing to toss his hat into that ring. Unlike the beast, he didn’t have thick fur. But then again, the fur of this animal was a light color and was probably acting more as insulation from the heat than a detriment. That was why the beautiful beast’s fur was puffed up rather than lying flat.

From years of experience, Dillion judged the creature at about sixty pounds. Far too big to be a pure coyote, the creature was about the right size for a coydog—a cross between a domesticated dog and a wild coyote. Such couplings weren’t common, but the creatures they produced split the features of both animals. If a lighter-colored coyote bred with a Golden Retriever, it would equal the amazing coat color of this creature and match the size. But those eyes…those wickedly hypnotizing fuchsia eyes were unlike anything Dillion had ever seen. They weren’t the frail pink color of albino eyes, which were more blood loaded and vision poor. These eyes were deep fuchsia, rich in both color and acute perception. The creature’s unusual eyes missed nothing, and Dillion found himself utterly drawn into the animal’s gaze.

As he watched the beast advance, Dillion became mesmerized as the sleek fur shimmered over the animal’s body. All Dillion could think of was butterscotch pudding. Shiny butterscotch pudding. Sunlight glittered over the animal’s mane, indicating it was well fed and possibly domesticated. Could the farmer who’d been so adamant they not hunt on his ranch be secretly harboring the very creatures Dillion was stalking? According to the county sheriff, there was a coydog that was black as night and at least one hundred fifty pounds. Whatever animal had scared that worthless gasbag, it clearly wasn’t this beast, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a pack of partially domesticated coydogs living on or near the ranch.

For all Dillion knew, the enigmatic ranch owner, Marshal Roberts, might have refused them passage on his land to avoid having to explain about his semiwild animals. This especially made sense in light of the death of two men who were clearly killed by a creature with a much bigger jaw than a regular coyote. Even this beast wasn’t big enough to have done the damage, but one that weighed in at around a hundred fifty pounds would be about right.

The creature took another step and then stopped. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, but the saliva droplets were too thick to fall. Was it dehydrated? Perhaps what had called the beast near was the smell of the water Dillion had. It certainly wasn’t food. He was far too careful to let the scent of food lure an animal close unless he was trying to bring them to him rather than him having to hunt the animals down. But water could certainly have called the creature to his camp. Water was rare in the desert.

And then the beast did something he wasn’t expecting. It turned its back on him, lifted its tail, and whimpered.

Dillion was compelled to lay down his gun, which he did, and then he growled.

The beast let out an even more submissive cry that touched deep into Dillion’s soul.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Now do you understand why I wanted you to do this?”

“I do. Even now, with you strapped down, I don’t feel totally safe.” Micah had to be honest.

Dillion met Micah’s gaze. “If I wanted to, I could bend this bed in half.”

Micah nodded. At least his mate wasn’t a man who would lie about the obvious.

“But I wouldn’t.”

“No?” Micah spread his delicate hand against his mate’s powerful chest.

“No,” Dillion answered, relaxing his massive form below Micah’s. “I honestly respect our host, but more than that, I would never willingly frighten you.”

“You’re sweet.”

“I am.” Dillion grinned.

“Is that really why you put me in charge?”

“I needed to protect you, Micah. You have no idea how hungry I am for you.”

With Dillion tied down by his ankles and wrists, his massive form was nothing but a wicked playground. “So you didn’t trust yourself to fuck me.”

At the word fuck, Dillion flicked his hips. Thick jean fabric protected Dillion’s cock from the wet slick of Micah’s hole, but just that tiny thrust convinced Micah that Dillion was wise to have himself tied up.

“I have to be honest that at first I didn’t want to be in charge because I really didn’t know what to do.” Micah unbuttoned and unzipped Dillion’s jeans. Dillion’s thick, monstrous prick sprung forth from his pants. He was so hard the veins on the side of his shaft visibly throbbed. “But now I think I can take my time and figure things out.”

“Go as slowly as you need to—ah!”

“Turnabout is fair play.” Micah lifted his mouth off Dillion’s cock only long enough to say that, and then he lowered his head and sucked the head of his prick into his mouth.

“Oh, God. Micah…that’s so good. Your mouth is so hot.”

As Micah worked his lips and tongue over his mate’s cock, it was obvious Dillion struggled to remain passive. Below their bodies, the bed creaked and groaned as Dillion tightened and released his limbs in the manacles.

“I won’t last. Babe, please, I won’t—I—”

Micah sucked hard until Dillion came. His taste was wickedly sublime. Just as Dillion had done to him, Micah didn’t stop pulling until his mate was empty. Grinning, he looked up and found his mate was watching him with a smile on his face and his head slowly shaking side to side.

“You naughty creature, you. Did Elliot tell you to do that?”

“He did. Elliot said it would take the edge off.” Micah settled himself on his knees between his mate’s spread legs. “He also said you’d be less hard the second time, but you’d last longer.”

“Elliot was just a wealth of information, wasn’t he?”

“Wasn’t Marshal?” Micah punctuated his conversation with strokes and kisses along his mate’s inner thighs. From Elliot, Micah knew right after climax his mate’s cock and balls would be far too sensitive but the rest of his body was perfect for strokes to get him riled up again. Elliot had told him all kinds of tricks, and he’d done so without any hesitation at all. At first Micah had been embarrassed and unable to meet Elliot’s gaze, but after ten minutes he was asking probing questions without reluctance. He wanted things to be good for his mate. Even though they were bound to one another that still didn’t mean Micah didn’t have to try.

“Marshal was quite informative.” Dillion’s hungry gaze drilled into Micah’s eyes, reminding him it was a good thing he was tied up.

“Have you given more thought to Dooley’s suggestion?”

“If you want to keep me revved up, I don’t think that’s the way to go.” Dillion laughed.

“Sorry.” Micah rose and then settled his bottom right on top of his mate’s soft prick. “What should we talk about?”

“Like I can think coherently with your perfect little butt on my dick?”

“Oh. Should I move?” Tauntingly, Micah moved forward then slid back. “Or maybe I should move this way.” He moved side to side, gently rolling Dillion’s cock between his slicked-up buttocks.

“You know, I won’t always be bound.” Dillion snarled menacingly.

“Yes, but you are right now.” Micah licked his lips and continued to swivel over Dillion’s dick until he stiffened. “My, my, how quickly you get hard.”

“All the better to fuck you with.”

“But that’s just it.” Micah grinned as he slid up his mate’s body to kiss him. “You can’t fuck me, remember?”