STORY EXCERPT

"Guilty."

Yuval Zev stood there in shock as the verdict was read, too stunned to move. He heard a gasp behind him. His mother cried. The fancy lawyer who had been assigned to him by the court system began talking about filing appeals. The reporters shouted questions. Cameras flashed in his eyes.

Yuval reacted to none of it. The word "guilty" rang out in his head over and over again. How could he be guilty? He had only been trying to defend himself. He hadn't meant to kill the man who tried to rob his parents, threatening their lives and attacking them.

He only wanted to protect those he loved.

Was that so wrong?

Involuntary manslaughter. He killed someone, but that hadn't been his intent. He killed someone, but it had been an accident. He killed someone, but it had been in defense of himself and others.

He killed someone.

Six months after it happened and Yuval still had nightmares. He had blood on his hands so he wasn't surprised. What he was surprised by was the fact that there had actually been a trial. He had been told due to the nature of his crime and the circumstances surrounding it, he would get probation.

But it seemed the guy he had shot, thug that he was, had been the son of someone with money and connections, someone that wanted to make Yuval pay for what he had done, involuntarily or not. Poor innocent young college student cut down in the prime of his life by an insane gay accountant with a gun.

It hadn't been his gun.

The press had a field day with the entire thing.

And now he had been found guilty.

He was going to prison. There was no doubt about that. His lawyer tried to get him a plea deal. The district attorney had practically salivated with glee as he denied any attempts to avoid a public trial, and it had been a very public trial. The press had seen to that. Yuval's face had been plastered all over the newspapers. His life had been picked apart, every little thing he had ever done bandied about like fodder for the gossip mags.

It didn't seem to matter that the guy he shot had come into his parents' corner hardware store with his buddies and tried to rob them. It didn't matter that he had beat Yuval's father over the head until his father needed medical attention, and then the guy threatened to rape Yuval's mother. Yuval had walked in as the man attempted to rip her clothes off.

None of that was mentioned in the press. They had seemed far more interested in the fact that an innocent young man had been brutally gunned down in the store by an enraged gay man bent on revenge for being rebuffed by the handsome heterosexual university student from Harvard. 

Considering Yuval had never met the man before he tried to defend his parents from him and accidently killed him, that was laughable. He'd never even been to Harvard. But the district attorney had spun quite the tale and the press—and apparently the judge and jury—had eaten it up.

He was going to prison.

Yuval barely felt his mother and father hug him before he was handcuffed and led away. He was numb, his mind floundering with despair. He had been defending his family. Didn't that count for something? Was he supposed to have let the guy beat his father, rob him, and then rape his mother? Was he just supposed to stand there and let it happen?

He had already been fingerprinted and booked when he was arrested so it was no surprise to him when he was taken directly to a security transport and driven to prison. What did surprise him was the fact that he was led to an empty holding cell down a dark hallway once he got there. He had yet to be alone inside of a cell, so this made his insides clench with dread.

Yuval grunted when he was shoved inside the cell so hard, he stumbled across the hard concrete. The door was slammed shut before he could right himself. Yuval hurried to the door, clutching the bars with his cuffed hands.

Were they just going to leave him like that?

Yuval pressed his face to the bars and tried to see down the darkened hallway. He saw nothing except shadows and a badly lit corridor. Shivering at the fear that seemed to have grabbed a hold home of him six months ago and not let go, Yuval dropped his hands and walked over to sit on the cold metal benches built into the wall.

He just didn't understand how this had happened. He was an accountant, for goodness sake. He wasn't a killer. He wasn't some deranged gay man out for revenge. Hell, he barely qualified as a gay man. He'd had one blow job in his entire life, and he'd been the one giving it. He knew he was gay simply because he was attracted to men and not woman, but that was just about the only thing he knew.

Yuval rubbed his hands up and down his arms when the chill in the dank cell started to seep into his bones. He'd been delivered to the prison, strip searched, cavity searched, then forced to shower and be deloused.

A prison uniform way too large for him had been shoved into his hands along with brown paper sack. After quickly dressing, he'd been escorted to the room he was presently in. This was not how he imagined prison life.

Of course, this wasn't how he imagined any life he might have. He was an accountant for a very important man. He managed millions of dollars on a daily basis. He made sure Jonah Cade's money made more money, and he was good at it.

If he was going to commit a crime—and he wasn't—he would have embezzled millions, not killed a man. Mr. Cade wouldn't even miss it. Money wasn't that important to him. Yuval had been raised by parents who would have his hide if he ever considered taking something that didn't belong to him.

Tears welled up in Yuval's eyes, which surprised him. He hadn't thought he had any more tears left. He didn't like to think of himself as a weak man, but the last six month had proved him wrong in that regard. He'd cried more than he had in his entire life.

He was scared and afraid and cold and he just wanted to go home.

ADULT EXCERPT

Yuval frowned when he heard a noise from above him. His eyes rounded when he realized what he was hearing. There was no mistaking the sound of flesh moving swiftly over flesh. For a moment, he was shocked, but then he grew curious.

He'd always been too scared something was going to happen to think about the fact that the force of nature protecting him was actually a flesh and blood man. Even if he didn't voice them, Rawley had wants and needs of his own. He was a big, muscular man, in the prime of health. How could he not?

Yuval sucked in a heavy breath when he felt a tingling of arousal as the sounds of Rawley pleasuring himself filled the small cell. His cock began to fill. It was a feeling he hadn't had in months, maybe longer. He didn't know why he was feeling it now.

He swallowed tightly as he shot a quick look toward the bars of their cell, making sure no one was standing there, then slid out of his bunk. When he straightened and looked toward the top bunk, he knew he'd been right in what he suspected Rawley was doing. The man's hand pumped up and down under the blanket, moving at an alarming rate.

"Ne—" Yuval swallowed again. "Need some help with that?"

Rawley froze then dark, piercing blue eyes slowly pinned on him. "You should go back to your bunk, Yuval."

"I don't want to." Yuval moved closer to the bunk until his chest was pressed up against the edge. "I'd like to help you with that."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Please." Yuval hated having to beg, but it was better than going back to his cold bunk again. He needed some human contact with someone who didn't terrify him. He needed to erase the memories of everything that had happened to him since he'd been sent to prison. Just a few minutes of bliss to make him forget.

When Rawley's lips thinned, Yuval thought for sure the man was going to send him away. When he held out a hand, Yuval eagerly took it then climbed up onto the top bunk. With Rawley already in it, there wasn't much room.

"Last chance, Yuval," Rawley whispered. "If you do this, I won't stop at just a hand job. It's been too long since I had a willing partner. I'll take everything you can give me."

Yuval's heart beat a little faster as he slowly nodded. "I want this."

He really did, but he was also terrified. The last time someone took him, it hadn't been his choice. This time, it was, but he was still scared.

"I'll stop if you tell me to at any time. You understand?"

The lump in Yuval's throat swelled. "I understand."

He yelped when he was suddenly grabbed and rolled beneath Rawley. The man was all over him, as wild as Yuval felt. Their mouths came together in a flurry of passion, lips against lips. Rawley was a master kisser.

He'd never been kissed like this before, and for a moment, he wasn't sure how he felt about it. It was like Rawley was trying to possess him. Rawley's tongue brushed against his and something akin to an electrical shock shot through his body, settling in his cock.

He grew so hard so fast, his head grew fuzzy from lack of blood. He didn't care. He was in heaven. He'd never been kissed with so much passion. He felt as if Rawley was trying to reach right down into his soul. It was heavenly.

He wanted more.

Yuval moaned and arched into the air when he felt Rawley’s hands stroke down his back. It felt so good to be touched, caressed. He wanted to touch as well. All that smooth skin—it was incredibly yummy.

Rawley's hand clenched in his hair, holding his head still so the man could ravage his mouth. Yuval pressed closer, opening his mouth to allow the man in. He followed Rawley's lead, letting the man explore at will. Rawley could pretty much do whatever he wanted to him.

When he felt Rawley's hands slid down over his body then up under his shirt, Yuval groaned and arched into the man. Each gentle caress felt like a living flame moving over his body. It made him ache, but it was a pleasurable kind of pain.

Rawley’s hands moved to his pants. Yuval kept his lips pressed against Rawley’s as he lifted his ass and tried to help Rawley drag his pants down his legs. He kicked them off then wrapped his legs around Rawley’s waist again.

Yuval stiffened when their cocks rubbed together. His hands clenched against Rawley’s shoulders. He ached. He throbbed. He felt like his head was going to blow off, both of them. By the time he was pulled back against Rawley's naked body, he could barely breathe.

Yuval didn't miss Rawley's obvious examination of his body or the man's approval. It was right there in the way the man's eyes flamed as the raked over him and the hard cock jutting out from a nest of curls.

He felt a foreign tingling in the pit of his stomach, one he'd never felt before. "Rawley."

"I've got you, baby."

Yuval was burning up from the inside out and it was all Rawley's fault. Every touch, every sweet caress, left him panting for more. He was being consumed and he only wanted more. He needed more.

Rawley flipped him over then lifted him up by his thighs. Yuval fell forward, catching himself by his arms. They started shaking when Rawley’s tongue scrapped across his hungry hole. He could feel Rawley’s fingers digging into his ass cheeks. The man’s thumbs were just a hair’s breadth away from his opening, almost within stroking distance.

The tease was almost Yuval’s undoing.

All coherent thoughts were pushed from his mind when Rawley’s tongue began pushing into him. Yuval inhaled deeply and clenched the tight little ring of muscles. Rawley just pushed right on through them and started fucking Yuval with his tongue.

Before long, Yuval started bouncing, impaling himself on the thick organ. His arms shook even as his ass quivered. There was no word in the dictionary Yuval could think of to describe the ecstasy flowing through his body. He felt like he was on fire. Every stroke of Rawley’s tongue lit another fire.

He could feel his body opening up, begging for more. He didn’t know how much more he could take without exploding into a million pieces. Yuval ached so bad that his entire body shuddered.

“Rawley, please,” Yuval begged.