STORY EXCERPT 

He wiped away the tears with his palm and turned, then forced himself to walk toward the entrance. If he couldn’t get the answers he was looking for, Caleb would have a few drinks, take some random home, and get fucked into delirium until he passed out and could finally get a good night’s sleep.

What would be the harm in finding a hookup? Maybe that was exactly what Caleb needed.

Mind made up, Caleb headed into Krave. The music, smells, and disco lights assaulted his senses. He wasn’t a partier, and under different circumstances, the world he’d stepped into might have excited him.

He should have been coming here with Jacob to celebrate Caleb’s twenty-first birthday—which was yesterday.

Instead, he headed right for the bar. But he had to get through tons of people first. Caleb shoved through sweaty and rude people, or ones who pinched and grabbed his ass like it was prime meat. He kept slapping hands away, growing more frustrated by the second.

He finally reached the bar, which was only slightly less congested. The guy in front of him moved aside, and Caleb snagged his vacant barstool.

The beefy bartender looked him up and down. “Got ID, kid?”

After fishing his wallet out of his front pocket, Caleb handed the bald guy his driver’s license.

“Happy belated birthday,” he said as he handed the card back. “First drink is on me.” He winked and despite his morose mood, Caleb blushed. “What’ll you have?”

“Uh.” Caleb had no freaking clue.

The guy chuckled. “Never drank before?”

He shook his head.

“Then let me hook you up, handsome.&rdquo He stuck his hand out. “Name’s Spike.”

Spike’s hand swallowed Caleb’s when he shook it. “Caleb.”

Instead of releasing his hand, Spike kissed Caleb’s knuckles. “Maybe when I knock off we can get to know each other better.”

Caleb might have considered hooking up, but this guy… He pulled his hand away. Spike looked as though he could give Caleb a good time, but Caleb wasn’t sure. Maybe he wasn’t drunk enough to say yes. “I’ll let you know.”

With a wink Spike headed toward the other end of the bar, but not before mixing Caleb a drink and setting it in front of him. Caleb stared at the pink concoction, then took a tentative sip. He coughed, his throat burning as he wiped at his mouth. He wasn’t so sure he liked alcohol, but he forced himself to take another drink, and then another until he finally finished it off.

He immediately felt the effects. Caleb’s shoulders loosened, his anger faded, and he giggled as he spun in his seat and stared at the dance floor.

“Another?”

Caleb turned back around to find Spike standing in front of him behind the bar. “What was that?”

“A strawberry margarita.” Spike leaned his large arms on the bar, his smile inviting and naughty. “Want to try something else or do you want to stick to them?”

“What do you recommend?”

Spike’s tongue traced his bottom lip, and Caleb’s gaze followed it. “Since you never drank before, I’d suggest sticking to the same drink.”

Caleb had opened his mouth to order another when he spotted the man he’d been tailing all day. The one he’d been attracted to. The one with auburn hair and pretty brown eyes. He was at the other end of the bar, talking to some guy.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” he told Spike as he slipped off his stool and headed toward the stranger. Unfortunately, the closer Caleb got, the more his feet turned to ice. He slowed, then came to a stop, too afraid to approach. Caleb wasn’t sure how to start off a conversation that would lead to questions about Jacob’s death.

All Caleb had to do was flirt to get the guy’s attention, but he was aggravatingly inept at it. Caleb flirted about as well as a fish breathed out of water.

He was surprised he’d ever lost his virginity. His first attempt had ended with Caleb getting a concussion after falling out of the guy’s bed and hitting his head on the nightstand while somehow managing to fracture his wrist.

His second attempt, he’d accidentally given his lover a black eye during his climax. Caleb didn’t have to wonder why no one came back for seconds.

“Now don’t you look like a delicious piece of candy?”

“I’m what?” Caleb turned too fast and bumped into the partier behind him, making the stranger spill his drink down the front of his dress shirt.

Crap.

“Do you know how much this damn shirt cost me?” The stranger ran toward the counter and grabbed a handful of napkins, then blotted at the wet spots.

Caleb groaned.

“Nice way to get rid of my competition.” The deep, silky voice slid over Caleb and made him shiver as he forced himself to turn slowly this time.

It was the guy he’d been following all day. He stood so close his dark, masculine scent wrapped around Caleb and made him feel dizzy with want.

“I’m-I’m sorry?” Caleb asked.

His intense, interested eyes turned cold. “You will be if you don’t tell me why you’ve been following me.&rdquo The stranger grabbed Caleb’s wrist to stop him from fleeing. “Are you a Hunter?&rdquo

“A what?” Caleb tried to yank his hand free, but the guy gripped his wrist even harder.

“Why have you been following me?” His voice dripped with venom.

Caleb’s heart thundered as his legs threatened to give out. He was seconds away from fainting from the guy's menacing expression. “I…”

ADULT EXCERPT 

Showers were true miracles for the body. Caleb sighed as the stress that had tightened his muscles vanished as the spray cascaded over his skin. Caleb stuck his head under the spray, one hand pressed against the wall.

He no longer cared about Kovachi, the weird men who had gone with Bayne to the warehouse, or the fact Chad was still texting him—even after the prick had pulled that bullshit stunt at Caleb’s job.

Caleb also didn't care too much that he’d been fired. He was worried about what he would do next, but for now, he let the thoughts drain away. The only thing left on his mind was getting some sleep.

Well, not the only thing on his mind. Raven was in the shower right behind him, running a soapy washcloth over his back. Raven’s strong hand was not only getting him clean, but expertly massaging Caleb’s aching body.

Raven’s touch was also making Caleb’s cock harden. It pulsed as Raven’s hands worked lower and lower, rubbing in circles as they made their way to Caleb’s ass. But right before he reached Caleb’s backside, Raven’s hand glided around his side and slid up Caleb’s chest.

Goddamn tease.

With a grunt, Caleb leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “You should wash people in the shower for a living. ” He’d gone from a bundle of stressful nerves to a standing pile of goo. Caleb was unsure how he was still able to stand.

Raven’s soft chuckle vibrated down Caleb’s body, making his dick tingle. “I think I’ll stick to just you. ”

Caleb had never been turned on from someone scrubbing his arm, but the way Raven washed Caleb’s pit with the cloth was erotic as hell. It also tickled.

Caleb laughed and knocked Raven’s hand away.

“Hmm.” Raven used the cloth on the other pit, and Caleb laughed again. “ “Ticklish? ”

“A little,” Caleb confessed. But his laughter turned into a moan when Raven’s hands glided down his chest and swiped through the patch of hair at his groin. The cloth dropped to Caleb’s feet as Raven’s hand coiled around Caleb’s boner.

Oh my fuck. Caleb leaned against Raven’s hard chest as his hips shot forward, fucking Raven’s grip. His legs shook as Raven bit at his shoulder, then licked away the sting.

Caleb grabbed the shower curtain and tugged on it as Raven’s other hand worked at his sensitive hole. He whimpered when Raven crushed him against his chest, his heart pounding against his ribs.

Raven’s thumb pressed into the slit of Caleb’s dick, and Caleb hissed as he pushed to his toes. “Your hands are amazing.”

“Just wait ’til you see what my cock can do, ” Raven whispered into Caleb’s ear in that deep, dreamy bedroom voice. Then Raven turned him, sliding one arm behind Caleb’s back and explored Caleb’s mouth. He kept tugging on Caleb’s dick as his other hand mapped out Caleb’s back and his tongue swept the interior of his mouth.

Raven turned him on, and Caleb didn’t hide that fact. He threw a leg up, and Raven wound his hand around it and held Caleb’s knee at his mate’s hip. Caleb wanted to get fucked, to be wrecked by this man, to feel Raven’s cock buried deep in his ass.

As if reading his mind, Raven reached behind Caleb and shut the water off before carrying him from the shower, their lips still melded. Caleb held on as Raven walked them to the bed. Still wet from the shower, Raven lowered him to the mattress and settled between Caleb’s legs.

Their bodies became a tangled mess, kissing and touching, unable to get enough of each other. Their cocks glided against one another’s as Raven probed a finger at Caleb’s hole. Caleb rocked against him, making needy sounds. Raven growled into his mouth as his finger breached Caleb’s ass.

“More, ” Caleb panted, desperate, shoving his ass down on his lover’s finger. Raven twined his tongue with Caleb’s, tongue-fucking his mouth as his finger moved in and out of Caleb’s ass like a dick.

Then he added a second finger, and Caleb winced, shoving at Raven’s chest. “Need lube. ”

When Raven rolled off him, Caleb lay there staring at the ceiling, his body a mess, his skin so sensitive that a stiff wind would make him come right now.

Raven rummaged in the nightstand and came back with a bottle. He squeezed some clear gel onto his finger, then resumed his position, as if he’d never left.

Caleb spread his legs and wound them around Raven’s waist, digging his heels into his lover’s lower back as two of Raven’s fingers entered him. Caleb moaned and grunted incoherently. He grabbed Raven’s nape and pulled his lover down to him. Their kiss was sloppy and amazing, and fuck, Caleb was so wound up he was ready to come. He just prayed he didn’t suffer a concussion, or black Raven’s eye, or have the bed collapse under them, or the earth explode.

As the kiss deepened, Caleb’s tongue trailed over two hard points. He pulled back and stared at Raven’s long canines.

“You scared?” Raven asked as he pulled back.

The sight should have frightened him, but Caleb was turned on by them. Raven didn’t move as Caleb touched each point with his fingertip. “They’re sharp.”

“The better to nibble on you with.” Had Raven just purred? It had sounded like one, but Caleb was so used to hearing Raven’s growls that he couldn’t be sure.