STORY EXCERPT

His stomach filled with sludge as a gurney with a black body bag on top was wheeled out. Austin threw a hand over his mouth and ran to the side of the building, upchucking whatever he’d had on his stomach.

Austin had never seen a dead body before, and even though he couldn’t see the vet, he still knew the guy was lying dead in that bag.

“Are you okay?” Officer Rickman asked as he joined him.

With the back of his hand, Austin wiped his mouth. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

Rickman handed him a card. “Call me if you think of anything that might help this investigation.”

Austin curled his fingers around it and gave a quick nod. He wanted to get out of there. He wanted that image out of his head. There was no need for details. Austin didn’t need to know how his boss had died. He was already processing too much at the moment.

Frank was dead. Someone had murdered him. If it had been a heart attack or something else like that, there wouldn’t be crime-scene tape or a ton of cop cars.

Austin walked back over to Mindy. “What about the animals?”

Her gaze was transfixed on the gurney as it was wheeled into the coroner’s van. “I already called Dr. Maze. He’s going to take our patients to his clinic for the time being. I doubt we can get back into the building anytime soon, anyway.”

The thought of going in there after a murder had taken place made Austin’s stomach tie into a million knots.

Mindy squeezed his shoulder. “Why don’t you go home? Until we find a replacement vet, none of us will be working.”

Everything felt detached, an echo all around him as he turned and walked back to his car, the card Officer Rickman had given him still clutched in his hand.

Austin sat behind his wheel, staring at the scene in front of him. It was too unreal. He’d never had to deal with death before. His grandparents had died before he was born, and his parents were still alive. Austin wasn’t sure how to feel or what to do.

So he started his car and eased away from the growing crowd. It took a moment to get past the barricade and traffic, but he finally managed to turn the corner, still dazed.

It didn’t take long for him to get home. Austin lived close to his job. After parking, he made his way to the elevator, feeling numb. He kept picturing Frank’s smile, his soft laugh, the way his brown eyes sparkled when he was working with a patient.

He’d been so kind and gentle. Who on earth would want to hurt him?

A sob broke free when Austin entered the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. Tears filled his eyes as a hard, burning lump clogged his throat. The craziness just seemed to keep piling up.

When the doors slid open, Austin stepped out and went right to his apartment door, surprised that his neighbor, Doug, wasn’t in the hallway. Doug was always in the hallway when Austin was.

He was so busy pulling his keys from the front pocket of his pants that the sound of a voice caught him off guard. He hadn’t seen the stranger twenty feet away.

“Are you Austin Girard?”

How could Austin have let his guard down? He had a stalker after him, and he’d walked right into a trap. He backed away, looking at the elevator and wondering if he could make it before the doors slid closed.

Too late. A chime sounded right as the doors shut.

“I mean you no harm.” The guy held up his hands, but that gesture meant nothing to Austin. The stranger was built like a linebacker, with smooth, pretty brown skin, a goatee, handsome brown eyes, and a walk that said he meant business.

“Stay a-away from m-me.” Austin kept backing up, praying he wasn’t the next person to be murdered.

The guy stopped moving. “You came to Redemption Security for help.”

“How do you know that?” Austin eyed the exit stairwell and wished he could rush past this person to escape.

“I’m Teague Harris. I work for Rhys Maxwell.”

Austin hesitated. “Show me some credentials.”

“I’m just reaching for my wallet.” Teague grabbed a wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open. He pulled out his business card, as well as his driver’s license. “If it will make you feel more at ease, you can call Rhys and verify who I am.”

Austin stepped closer and gazed at the ID but still maintained a healthy distance. “I thought Mr. Maxwell was blowing me off. To be honest, I know I can’t afford his services.”

“He decided to look into your case.” Teague stuffed his wallet back into his pocket. “Would you be more comfortable talking inside, or if you prefer, we can stay in the hallway, though I’d feel better if you were inside.”

Uncertainty filled him. Austin wasn’t sure what he should do. The guy seemed legit, but since he had no clue what his stalker looked like, he waffled with his decision.

Teague pulled out his phone and dialed, putting it on speaker.

“Rhys Maxwell,” the guy on the other end answered.

It sounded like the man Austin had talked to at the agency, but he couldn’t be certain.

“Hey, Rhys, this is Teague. I got a very nervous client who needs proof of who I am.”

“Let me talk to him,” Rhys said.

“You’re on speaker,” Teague informed him.

“Mr. Girard, this is one of my associates,” Rhys said. “His name is Teague Harris, and he’s going to help you. You came into my office yesterday with pictures of yourself that someone had taken.”

Austin was starting to feel slightly better, but he was still edgy. Who wouldn’t be with all this crap going on? He wasn’t going to blindly trust the word of some smoking-hot guy who stood in front of him just because he looked good enough to lick from head to toe.

“Thank you for verifying his identity, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Call me Rhys,” he said.

That was the same thing Mr. Maxwell had said yesterday. “Okay, Rhys. Thank you.”

“I’ll call you back later,” Teague said into the phone before he hung up. He turned to Austin. “Can we talk inside now?”

After exhaling a shaky breath, Austin nodded and unlocked his door.

ADULT EXCERPT

The kiss took Austin by sweet surprise. He hadn’t expected Teague’s lips to be so damn soft or for him to curl a strong arm around Austin, coiling him close to his hard chest. His tongue teased Austin’s lips apart then plunged deep.

Holy crap! The guy could kiss like a wet dream. His natural scent assaulted Austin’s senses, enveloping him as he moaned, trying to get impossibly closer. The crotch of his pajama pants was getting tighter, tenting as Teague’s hands slid down Austin’s back and then cupped his ass.

As Austin groaned, he slid his palms over Teague’s perfect pecs, loving how swollen they felt. They were like two puffed pillows, harder, yet also soft. It was an amazing contradiction. Teague pulled Austin’s shirt off, and then Austin let his hand graze the man’s well-honed abs, glorying in them as Teague’s tongue swept through Austin’s mouth.

Teague was naked.

Austin felt the man’s erection against his arm.

Before he could come to his senses, Austin gripped the base of Teague’s cock, moving his hand up and down the hot, heated length a few times. Teague hissed, curling his hand around Austin’s nape. “Fuck, wildcat.”

Austin’s ego was thoroughly stroked that he was the one making this strong man fall apart like this. Teague, his bulldog with baggage. A guy who looked as though he could bench-press a car while still reminding Austin of a lost soul.

He quickly shoved that image out of his head. Austin didn’t want to think about Teague’s problems while he was holding the guy’s dick in his hand or while Teague was plundering his mouth.

It was bad enough they were crossing a line, which, at the moment, Austin didn’t regret. Maybe he would later when he came to his senses and this lustful feeling was gone. If it ever left. He wasn’t so sure about that since Teague was hot as hell.

Right now, nothing came close to the look of need in Teague’s eyes, and Austin wanted to see him fall apart, to lose control, and give him everything he had.

Teague moved his lips to Austin’s throat and licked along the dip, sucking at his Adam’s apple as Austin tilted his head to the side. Need washed through him, and his cock became even harder. He feared he would do something he hadn’t done since he’d hit puberty.

Come uncontrollably in his pants.

What kind of hold did Teague have over him? All the guy was doing was kissing and licking Austin’s skin, and Austin was so intoxicated by it that it felt as if Teague’s lips controlled Austin’s entire body. Whichever way his lips went, that part of Austin sizzled to life and begged for more.

The urge and need were too strong to fight. Austin was caught up in the moment, his hormones in overdrive, and he had the most delicious guy he’d ever seen naked and willing in front of him. So Austin didn’t protest when Teague slid his hands inside Austin’s waistband and pulled his pajama pants—no underwear because he’d gone commando—down his legs.

Austin kicked them the rest of the way off without losing his grip on Teague’s cock. One of Teague’s beefy arms swung around his waist and lifted Austin off his feet. Teague knocked his duffel bag aside and spread Austin out onto the bed. “Tell me you have lube.”

Unable to speak from pure excitement, Austin pointed to his nightstand. Then he gazed at his—fuck, Teague’s ass was shaped nice as hell. The guy turned, but Austin refused to tear his gaze away from Teague’s midsection. Now he was drooling over the man’s erect, fat cock.

Teague lubed his palm then curled his hand around Austin’s dick, slowly stroking him, teasing him, his thumb gliding over the slit. Austin’s head flew back, and he let out a long groan, spreading his legs wider.

But he needed more. “Please,” he begged. “I need you inside of me.”

The side of Teague’s mouth turned up into a grin. “Say that again.”

“I need you inside of me,” Austin said between gritted teeth as Teague stroked him a bit faster.

Then his hand was gone, his fingers tapping at Austin’s ring of muscles. He drove two inside, and Austin shouted to the ceiling. Fuck, Teague’s fingers were thick. Austin felt the burn all the way to his toes.

Teague leaned over him, one hand pressed beside Austin’s head, the other doing things to Austin that had him writhing and groaning.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Teague bent his head and sucked at Austin’s bottom lip, and then he slid his tongue over it before releasing Austin’s mouth. He’d never been this turned on in his life. Teague’s fingers scissored, and Austin damn near lost his load. He grazed over Austin’s kill spot, making Austin shudder and his cock throb even harder than it already did.