STORY EXCERPT 

“Tell me what’s going on.” Howell took a seat and gazed at Corky. “Was your car stolen?”

Corky gave him a total bullshit story. No way would he tell Howell he’d spent the last three months up on the mountains. That might lead to more questions he didn’t want to answer.

“I just did a three-month stretch up north. That’s why my car was left in the driveway for so long. I just need to get it back, pay the fine, if there is one, and scoot the hell out of here.”

Howell began to type, looking at Corky every few seconds. Whatever. Corky didn’t give a rat’s ass what the deputy thought of him.

“It sat in impound for two months.” The sound of his fingers clacking across the keyboard filled the empty reception area. Corky bounced his leg as he waited for the deputy to tell him where his freaking car was.

Howell shook his head. “Sorry, but it was auctioned off to pay for the impound fees. ”

“What?” Corky hadn’t meant to shout, but the single word burst from him. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! How can someone just sell a car that doesn’t belong to them?”

“We have the signed paperwork.” Deputy Howell clicked a few more keys, and the printer behind him came to life, spitting out sheets of paper. He grabbed them and handed them to Corky.

Corky looked the papers over and felt sick. His mom had signed them. The car had technically been in her name, but she’d bought it for him. What kind of low-life bullshit was this? He would expect his dad to screw him over. But his mom? Then again, it wasn’t as if she’d win the Mother of the Year award.

“When we couldn’t get ahold of you, we phoned her. It took a while for us to reach her, but when we did, she came in, signed the paperwork, and left.”

His parents were hiding from bill collectors after blowing through the two million dollars they’d won in the lottery. His mom had given him a lousy ten grand and the car he’d loved. But she’d done it behind his father’s back since Corky’s dad hated his guts.

His mother had tried to call him a few months back, but Corky had ignored the call. She could’ve texted him to tell him about his car. Corky would’ve come back to Grizzly Ridge to get it out of impound. But now he’d lost his ride as well as his rental.

Corky crumpled the papers in his hand, threw them on the floor, and stormed from the station.

Aggravated to the point he wanted to hit someone, Corky walked to the nearest ATM and withdrew a hundred dollars. Since his life was falling apart and he hadn’t gotten high in three goddamn months, he needed to find Mitch and pick up some weed.

After putting the money into his wallet, Corky headed down the street. Spring might’ve come, but the late evening air was still chilly. He zipped his jacket up, shoved his hands into his pockets, and picked up his pace.

The more he walked, the more the thought that he was homeless sank in. He had his savings, but Corky had tried his best not to touch that. Besides, ten grand—now seven grand since he’d had bills to pay and had pimped out his car when he'd first gotten it—wouldn’t last long.

Deep in thought, Corky almost missed the dark blue Toyota Tundra cutting the corner. He spotted it in time to see Jesse behind the wheel. Corky dove behind bushes and prayed the wolf shifter hadn’t seen him.

How the hell did Jesse know he was in Grizzly Ridge? The headlights washed over the bushes, and Corky sank even lower behind them as he waited for the truck to pass. Thankfully Jesse hadn’t seen him. When the taillights faded around the corner, Corky hauled ass down the street, his heart in his throat.

Out of breath, Corky knocked on Mitch’s door, hoping the guy answered before Jesse did another drive by. The door squeaked as it slightly opened. Apparently it hadn't been shut all the way. Oh, this couldn’t be good. “Hello?” Corky wondered if he should go in. “Hey, Mitch, it’s me, Corky.”

No answer. Corky might’ve called the cops—even though he hated them—but for one, he was there to buy weed and how would he explain that to Deputy Howell? Two, a door ajar was never a good sign. What if something was going down? The last thing he wanted was to get involved in something shady.

Was getting high worth the risk? Corky knocked on the door frame. “Hey, Mitch, you in there?”

The light from the kitchen cast enough of a glow that Corky saw legs sticking out from behind the couch in the room beyond. He should’ve turned and taken off. Instead, stupid him pushed the door fully open and stepped inside. “Mitch?”

The pair of legs didn’t move. Maybe Mitch had gotten drunk and passed out. Corky could leave his money and take what he needed if that were the case, but his gut told him he wouldn’t be so lucky.

When he stepped into the living room, the odor of something rotten hit him in the stomach. Corky gagged as he waved a hand in front of his face. What in the fuck was that smell?

Corky flicked on the table lamp and gasped at the blood splattered over the walls and floor. Furniture had been overturned and some framed pictures were broken on the floor, as though a struggle had taken place.

He dug his fingernails into his palms as he forced himself to move around the couch. Before he reached the other side, Corky slipped on something wet. He went down, then screamed when he realized he’d fallen in a pool of cooling blood.

ADULT EXCERPT 

“Oh, jeez.” Corky gritted his teeth. The head of Jesse’s cock was that close, pressing against his hole. One good shove and he would be buried balls-deep. “You’re a freaking talker.”

“Say it.” Jesse pulled his hips back and Corky no longer felt the connection between their bodies. He was stunned at how much he craved the closeness, and not just with sex. He wanted that deep bond Bailey had told him about.

He wanted to be owned by Jesse. A knot formed in his chest at the thought of Jesse ever turning his back on Corky. He shoved his insecurities away, refusing to allow them to ruin this moment.

“Fine!” Corky smashed his lips against Jesse’s. The kiss was filled with hunger, need, and desperation. When Corky came up for air, his chest expanded and compressed in quick pants as his lower jaw tingled from Jesse’s low-cut beard. Goddamn, the man could kiss. It was as if the act was an art form to him. “I want you to shove your dick into my ass and fuck me into a coma.”

Satisfaction swam in Jesse’s eyes. He reared back and pressed his hands into the backs of Corky’s legs and shoved them to Corky’s chest as he walked on his knees to get closer. When the head touched Corky’s hole again, Corky bit his bottom lip, his eagerness making pre-cum leak heavily from his own cock.

“Look at me, Ramen.”

Corky was too far gone to care that Jesse had used his given name. His gaze left the nest of curls he’d been staring at and slowly glided up Jesse’s body, memorizing every cut line, every tight muscle before he looked Jesse in his beautiful glowing eyes.

Jesse pressed forward. The head popped past the ring of muscles, and Corky sucked in a deep breath. He wanted to close his eyes, to enjoy how good Jesse felt inside him, but he forced himself to keep his eyes open, to keep staring into those softly burning blue flames.

“Feel me inside you, taking you?”

How could Corky not feel Jesse’s thick shaft stretching him wide? The pressure was intense, making Corky glad Jesse had taken the time not only to prepare him with his fingers, but his natural lube. Still, the burn had Corky hissing. He dug his nails into Jesse’s biceps as his lover inched a little deeper.

“Tell me.“ Jesse stopped moving and his cock pulsed. “Tell me what it feels like for me to be inside you.”

Corky wasn’t used to talking during sex. His entire body flushed with embarrassment. He had no clue what to say. “Good? ”

Jesse gave a slow nod, still refusing to move. “You can do better than that, pup.”

Pup? Oddly enough, Corky liked that endearment. It made him feel closer to Jesse, connected in a deeper way than he already felt, as though, at the moment, he and Jesse were one.

But he had to give Jesse a hard time. After all, Corky was who he was. “You can call me that, just as long as you don’t try to feed me puppy food or buy me chew toys.“

A sweet and endearing smile spread across Jesse’s face. The smile wasn’t sexual but more amused—as if their banter truly made Jesse happy.

He gave a light squeeze to the backs of Corky’s knees. “You’re being a brat.”

Corky slapped at Jesse’s chest. “And you’re being a fucking tease!”

Jesse sank just a little bit deeper. “If you want to feel me pounding this sweet ass, then tell me what I want to hear.”

Oh crap. Corky could see now that Jesse would use sex to get what he wanted. And he would get what he wanted. Jesse’s dick was too damn good for Corky to hold out. He might want to strangle Jesse for making him play this game, but if Corky were honest with himself, it was giving him a natural high.

He’d never been playful with a lover before, not during sex. And as much as telling Jesse what he wanted to hear embarrassed Corky, it also turned him the hell on.

He cupped Jesse’s face and pulled him closer—so close that their noses touched. He saw anticipation and lust in Jesse’s eyes as he stared at Corky. It was a look one might have on Christmas morning, and that only made Corky want to please him.

He just prayed he didn’t sound like an idiot.

“Your dick is splitting me in half. The head is sliding over my kill zone, and it feels as if I’m being jacked off from the inside. So fucking incredible.”

Jesse’s breathing became shallow. “Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. I want to feel your balls slapping against me.” Corky groaned before he went on, adding sound effects to emphasize his words. “I want to hear your moans telling me how good my hole feels squeezing your dick. I want you to unleash yourself on me like I know you want to.” Corky slid his tongue over Jesse’s lips. Jesse didn’t bother to kiss Corky back, as though he was too afraid to break the spell Corky was weaving around him. “Now fuck me with that fat dick of yours.”

A growl rumbled in Jesse’s chest. He pushed off from the bed, kneeling between Corky’s legs. He cupped the backs of Corky’s knees once again, pushing them forward until Corky was afraid Jesse would snap him in half.

“Fuck.” Jesse looked at where they were connected. Sweat glistened over his skin as he licked his lips. His gaze shot to Corky’s face. “That was fucking perfect. Every single word.”

Corky yelped, pushing his hands into the headboard as Jesse unleashed on him. He fucked Corky so hard that the mattress slid to one side. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Jesse to unleash on him. Corky wasn’t sure his ass would survive the pounding.

Even so, Corky held on for dear life, moving his hands from the headboard to grab on to Jesse’s neck.

Then Jesse moved back, pulling Corky up until Corky was seated on his thighs. He slid his legs around Jesse’s lean waist and pressed the heels of his feet into the flare just above his lover’s ass.

Jesse gripped Corky’s hips and punched upward as he left a trail of kisses along Corky’s shoulder. “Fuck, you feel so damn good.”

“You’re like an animal,” Corky teased. “I love it.”

Jesse dropped to his back, not releasing his hold on Corky. “Ride me, pup.”