STORY EXCERPT

There are moments in time when you could pinpoint when your life changed. This was one of them, one that would be looked back on over the years.

The day was winding down and Brodie and Cade were settling in. They normally ate supper together and then went their separate ways. Tonight they were planning on watching a favorite TV show.

Before Brodie could bring up the menu on the TV, a commercial came on. Actually, it was more of a public service announcement, he realized. He was shocked to see a familiar face. He heard Cade’s gasp beside him. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

Neither of them were expecting to see someone they knew on the huge screen.

Cade sat up sharply, the chair locking down in place as he, too, stared at the TV.

Ricky Borden, a former employee, general pest, and nice guy, was seated on a tall wooden stool. The background was dark, leaving Ricky spotlighted as he looked directly at the camera.

“Hi, I’m Ricky,” he began, a slight smile curving his mouth. “Many of you know me from the posts I put on the Internet, but many of you don’t. Right now I’m speaking to those of you who don’t know me, those people who aren’t aware of my story. I want you to know that I’m a survivor and you can be one, too. There’s hope and help available to you.”

He took hold of the bottom of the long-sleeve shirt he was wearing, then pulled it up and over his head, shocking both Brodie and Cade as he exposed his scarred torso. The camera did a close-up on him as Ricky touched a few of the scars with slender fingers.

“My mother tried to kill me for being gay. She stabbed me twenty-seven times. She would have succeeded if my younger brother and sister hadn’t come home from school and stopped her. While I was in the hospital and my body was healing, my mind wasn’t. I experienced thoughts and feelings that there wasn’t any hope for me, that I had no reason to live. My own mother hated me, someone I had always believed loved me so much that she would continue to love and support me once she learned I was gay. I never suspected she would hurt me. Now she’s in prison for what she did, and I have begun a new life. I’ve found my purpose. This is it. If you are considering harming yourself, or if you need help out of a dangerous situation, call the number at the bottom of the screen. You will be connected to a person who will listen to you. Remember, there is always hope. I found mine. I want you to find yours, too.”

Ricky gave a full smile and sat up straight. He nodded and held his hand out toward the camera, offering it as a sign of hope to the viewers.

It was a powerful statement.

Brodie cleared his throat, trying to ease the knot of emotion pulling it tight. “Well, hell.”

“Fuck. I didn’t know. Did you?”

They stared at each other. Brodie suspected the expression of horror on Cade’s face was mirrored on his own. “No. I knew from the start that he was here through the program that gives people a second chance, but he never shared the details of his past life.”

Brodie didn’t know how he felt about not knowing more details of the attack on Ricky by his mother. It was disgusting, of course. He was also reeling from disbelief. However, having been a lawyer for twenty years, he had seen more despicable behavior than he wanted to remember. As far as Brodie knew, during the few months Ricky had worked on the ranch as part of the program he was in, he hadn’t told anyone the details about his life before arriving in Silver. What Brodie did know was that Ricky had no talent for working on a ranch. He’d been on the ground more than he had been on the horse. The cattle scared the hell out of him, and getting him to wake up at four o’clock in the morning had been a chore all in itself, one that Cade had bitched about more than anything else. They had to all but pry him off the mattress. On more than one occasion, Ricky had been carried, asleep, to the shower, where he was doused with cold water.

If all that hadn’t been enough, Ricky had followed Brodie and Cade around as if they were candy and he wanted a lick. Brodie liked his twinks, but there had been something vulnerable about Ricky that made it impossible for him to take him up on his obvious invitation. It had been the same for Cade. Ricky was a nice guy and he didn’t deserve to be used.

“I hear he’s living in Cincinnati,” Cade said as he rose from the chair and rubbed his hands over his face. He then reached for the beer on the side table.

“Yeah, he’s working for Darby.”

ADULT EXCERPT

He reached for the buttons on his shirt as he watched Ricky climb onto the bed. He growled, actually growled, as a lightning bolt of lust shot through his body with an intensity he had never experienced before this moment.

Without wasting time, Cade stripped and followed Ricky onto the bed. A part of his brain registered that the bed was as soft as a cloud. The remainder of his brain only had one thought, and that was to get the sexy little man underneath him. He stretched out on his back, pleased when Ricky crawled up over him. Ricky lined up their bodies so that their cocks pressed together, his toes sliding over Cade’s shins. Then he was kissing Cade’s face and licking his lips, teasing them until they opened. Ricky pressed their lips together, taking charge of the kiss, until they were moaning, nipping, and rolling around on the bed like horny teenagers.

Fun wasn’t normally a part of Cade’s sexual experiences, but he wasn’t going to put a stop to it, especially when Ricky’s giggling put an end to their kissing. Ricky went exploring then, kissing and licking his way over Cade’s chest and stomach, the tip of his tongue dipping into Cade’s belly button. He choked on his laughter as Ricky turned into a total goof and began licking and sucking in earnest, until Cade was doubling up and grabbing narrow shoulders.

“Uncle!” Cade shouted, collapsing into the pillows as he laughed. He let go of Ricky, then watched as the grinning imp scooted down a little until his mouth was hovering over the head of Cade’s cock. Ricky encircled the shaft with slender fingers and lifted it until he could take the wide, mushroom-shaped head into his mouth. He sucked at it as his lips closed in a tight seal. “Oh, hell yeah! Do it, baby.”

Sliding his fingers through Ricky’s silky dark-brown hair, Cade proceeded to experience a toe-curling meltdown as Ricky opened his mouth wide and slid it along the length of Cade’s cock. The damp heat sizzled his nerve endings. His body arched off the bed, his head tipping back into the pillows. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before it began to spin. Ricky was definitely a magician with his mouth. He was stroking and swirling his slick little tongue around the head, teasing the ultrasensitive bundle of nerves beneath it, and tracing the twisting veins along the length, as his head bobbed up and down. His hands were busy, too. Cade’s balls were tenderly explored before being cupped. Ricky’s fingers tugged his sac. Cade groaned and then drew in a deep, steadying breath. He was close to coming, and he didn’t want to do so yet.

Cade had no choice. The delightful man lavishing wondrous attention to his cock and balls was in complete control. Cade shouted as he came hard, his balls pulling tight against his body. He felt Ricky’s throat working around the head of his cock as he swallowed every drop of Cade’s cum.

Drained, sated, Cade’s body felt boneless as Ricky released his wilting cock with a slurping flourish. A grin tugged at his mouth. Ricky definitely had a playful nature, one Cade was quickly coming to appreciate. With his eyes closed, he rested as he caught his breath. Ricky was still halfway down the bed, his head on Cade’s thigh. He was motionless and Cade had to wonder if he had fallen asleep. He also wondered if Ricky had found any relief.

He would take care of that. After opening his eyes, he looked down the length of his body to his lover. “Come up here, baby.”

Ricky lifted his head and wriggled his eyebrows. “What do you have in mind?”

It wasn’t difficult to see what a future with Ricky would hold. But was it possible, and would Ricky want to tangle the sheets with Cade more than a few times? The thought was depressing. Cade had arrived at that point where he wanted someone to share the high and low points of his life. He got that impression from Ricky, too.

Ricky’s body slid along Cade’s, warm, sweaty skin against warm, sweaty skin. Ricky’s body was virtually hairless, with only a sprinkling of hair in the center of his chest and a line of hair from his belly button to the nest of neatly trimmed dark-brown curls surrounding his cock. Cade’s mouth watered for a taste. The deep-purple head was begging to be licked and sucked. A trickle of pre-cum leaked from the small slit and dropped onto Cade’s skin. After swiping his fingertip over it, he lifted his hand and offered it to Ricky. He watched as red, swollen lips parted and Ricky took the tip of Cade’s finger into his mouth. A moan vibrated around his digit, sending tiny shock waves through his body and straight to his dick, making it twitch, as if it was about to be revived. Cade had no doubt that it would do so soon, but not yet. Even he didn’t have the superpower of instant recovery.