STORY EXCERPT

“Sheriff? Come in, Sheriff.”

Sheriff John Henry Harrison picked up his receiver and replied. “Yeah, Maggie, what’s up?”

“We have a disturbance out at the McAdam place, Sheriff.”

“What sort of disturbance?” As far as he knew, the McAdam place was empty. Maybe it was kids playing games or something. The place had been vacant for over five years, but every once in a while, kids liked to have parties there.

“The new owner called in. He said he has trespassers. He’s holding them off with a shotgun.”

“Shit.” John Henry tossed his coffee cup in the trash. It probably was a bunch of kids. “All right, I’m on my way.” The sheriff hit his lights and spun his Jeep around, heading toward the McAdam ranch.

“New owner? When did the place sell, Maggie?” he continued his conversation with the dispatcher on his shoulder mic as he pressed down harder on the gas. He didn’t want to deal with dead teenagers because they were out for a bit of fun. People around here protected their property with a vengeance.

“Cheryl sold the place a couple of months ago. The new owner moved in last month.”

“Huh.” John Henry was surprised. He never thought that the McAdam place would sell. Once upon a time, the old rambling Southern mansion and its surrounding five hundred acres had been worth a buttload of cash. Now it was just a run-down old house in the middle of the country. He wasn’t even sure the barn was still standing.

It didn’t take John Henry more than a few minutes to reach the place. He could see a couple of cars pulled up in front of the antebellum-style mansion when he pulled into the driveway. Four people stood out in front of one of the vehicles—a very fancy-looking vehicle.

And one man stood on the front porch with a shotgun in his hands.

That wasn’t good.

John Henry cautiously climbed out of his Jeep and stuck his cowboy hat on his head. He shut the door loud enough for everyone to hear it. The four people yelling at the man on the porch turned to stare at him.

Strangely enough, the man standing on the porch with the shotgun leaned it against the side of the house as soon as he saw John Henry. He took several steps away, putting enough space between him and the shotgun that John Henry didn’t feel in danger of his life. He was grateful for the gesture.

At least he was dealing with a reasonable man.

Hopefully.

“I’m Sheriff John Henry Harrison,” he stated as he stepped around the front of his Jeep. “What seems to be the problem here?”

The man on the porch crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against one of the large round white pillars on the porch. He didn’t say a word. He just turned his gaze to the other people gathered in front of the vehicles.

John Henry blinked in shock when everyone except the man on the porch started talking at once. He counted four people talking all at the same time—an older man and woman, a man in his mid-forties, and a young woman. His surprise quickly turned to a low-burning anger when they all pointed fingers at the man on the porch and continued shouting. He couldn’t understand a word that they were saying. They were shouting over each other.

John Henry raised his hand to stop everyone, but it did no good. They all just continued shouting, pointing fingers, and glaring toward the porch. John Henry glanced at the man on the porch. He still stood there, only this time he had an amused smirk on his face. He arched an eyebrow when he saw John Henry looking at him.

John Henry wanted to roll his eyes, but it wouldn’t be very professional. He put his fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle. Everyone yelling stopped to stare at him. “Who’s the owner here?”

“That would be me.”

John Henry’s eyes snapped over to the man on the porch. “You’re the new owner?”

“I am.”

John Henry walked in his direction, keeping his eyes on the others gathered. Until he knew what was what, he wasn’t taking his eyes off of any of them. “And who are you?”

“Charlie Pennington.”

John Henry shook the hand the man held out to him, his eyes widening a little when he felt a small zing shoot through his palm when their hands touched. “Sheriff John Henry—”

“Harrison.” Charlie smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth. “Yes, I heard.”

“Did you put a call in to the sheriff’s department?”

“I did.” Charlie nodded toward the others. “I’ve asked these people to leave, and they refused. As this is private property, my property, they are trespassing, and I want them gone.”

“I see.” John Henry glanced at the four people standing there shooting glares of pure hatred at Charlie. They were scathing looks, almost burning. John Henry didn’t know what was going on here—yet—but he didn’t think these people were from around here.

This was the country. Most people dressed in jeans and T-shirts, like Charlie was dressed. It was unusual to see people dressed in fancy duds. It was instantly clear that the four people trespassing were from the city.

“Folks, if the owner of the property has asked you to leave, then you have to leave.”

“I’m not leaving here until I see my grandchildren,” an older man in a three-piece, dark blue suit shouted as he wagged his beefy finger at the man on the porch. “You can’t keep them from us, Charles.”

Grandchildren? John Henry glanced over his shoulder. The sexy man standing behind him had children? Damn. What a fucking waste.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Coming to bed, John Henry?”

John Henry groaned again. Charlie was trying to kill him. He opened his eyes when he felt Charlie grab his hand and pull. He was being led back into the bedroom. Charlie stopped at the side of the bed and reached for the hem of John Henry’s shirt.

John Henry felt a little self-conscious about all of the hair on his chest, and there was a lot, but then he saw the lust blazing in Charlie’s eyes. “Do you like that?” he asked.

Charlie’s hard swallow was audible as he nodded. John Henry grabbed Charlie’s hands and laid them on his chest close to his collarbone. He watched Charlie’s face intently as he slowly dragged the man’s hands down his furry chest. When Charlie sucked in his lower lip and shuddered, John Henry had had about all he could take.

“I want skin, Charlie.”

Charlie nodded, not taking his eyes off of John Henry’s chest.

“Now, Charlie.” John Henry chuckled at the dazed look in Charlie’s eyes when he looked up. He looked so confused. He sounded so confused when he spoke.

“Now?”

“Now would be good, don’t you think, Charlie?”

“Naked is good,” Charlie said. “I’m in favor of naked.”

John Henry chuckled again. He liked knowing he had this effect on Charlie. He reached for the hem of Charlie’s shirt. He pulled it up slowly, wanting to savor the anticipation, but each inch of tanned sculpted skin just made him want to see the next inch.

By the time he tossed Charlie’s shirt to the floor, John Henry was ready to forgo slow and savory for right fucking now. Charlie was perfection. John Henry knew the man had to stay in shape for the service, but this man’s body went above and beyond that. Charlie was a work of art—a hot, sexy, breathtaking work of art.

Charlie was almost the exact opposite of John Henry. Where John Henry had hair covering a lot of his chest, Charlie was all silky smooth skin. They both had a trail of hair leading down their abdomens to under the waistband of their jeans. John Henry’s hair was dark. Charlie’s was light.

John Henry flicked the button on Charlie’s jeans. He felt Charlie shudder as he lowered the zipper. When Charlie’s hard cock bounced out, John Henry froze and tried to retain what little control he had left as he realized that Charlie wasn’t wearing any underwear.

“Fuck, Charlie, you’re going commando.”

Charlie laughed. “And you aren’t?”

“B–Boxers.”

“Really?”

Charlie’s hands were on John Henry’s zipper before he could stop him. Heat flushed through his face when he remembered that he was indeed wearing boxers—and they had little yellow smiley faces all over them.

“Uh…” Charlie paused and peeked up at John Henry. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re into the whole Mr. Happy thing?”

John Henry snorted and rolled his eyes. “They were clean.”

“Uh-huh.”

John Henry felt a sheepish grin cross his face as he stepped back and pushed his boots off his feet, then shoved his jeans, and smiley-face boxers, down his legs. By the time he kicked them away and stood up, Charlie was standing before him in all his naked glory.

Hot damn.

“Gods, you are so fucking sexy.”

Charlie’s dark-blond eyebrows shot up. “Me?” His eyes slid down John Henry’s body. “I’m thinking you are way sexier than this old marine.”

“There isn’t anything old about you, Charlie, and you know it.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I feel like it.”

“Then let me see if I can change that.” John Henry stepped forward into Charlie’s space and wrapped his arms around the man’s shoulders. He leaned down the few inches between them and captured Charlie’s mouth with his own. Charlie’s lips were still warm and swollen from their last kiss.

John Henry’s pulse quickened when their bodies came together, skin against skin, cock against cock. He couldn’t remember that last time something had felt this good, if ever. It made him acutely aware of the strength and the warmth of Charlie’s body.

“I want to fuck you, John Henry.” Charlie spoke quietly, but his voice boomed in the room. “Will you let me?”

John Henry nodded. He had no problem letting Charlie fuck him. He wasn’t one of those guys who always expected to give and never receive. He liked it both ways. He hoped when the time came, Charlie would allow him to do the same. He was just too afraid to ask. Feeling Charlie’s beautiful cock pound into his ass was too important at the moment. It made everything else pale in comparison.

“Lube?” John Henry asked. “Condom?”

“I’ll get them,” Charlie replied. “You just lie down on the bed.”