STORY EXCERPT

Logan waited as Hunter signed the forms. He glanced around the hardware store, noticing that a few things had been added on since the last time he’d been at the store. There were new rows next to the nail section that held power tools and all the accessories a man could desire. The owner was expanding his business, and it looked nice.

“You can unload the lumber out back,” the hardware store owner said as he handed Logan back his pen. “And anything else that isn’t lumber can be stacked by the back door.”

Logan nodded as he shoved the pen in the front pocket of his ugly brown work shirt and then tore off a copy of the delivery ticket, handing it to Hunter. “Not a problem.”

Tucking the clipboard under his arm, Logan headed out front to his delivery truck. He climbed inside and then pulled the truck around to the back of the hardware store, backing into a spot near the door and turning off the motor. This should be a quick in-and-out job.

He hoped.

As Logan slid from the truck and headed around back to the door Hunter had specified, he heard the wind blow and leaves rustle across the concrete. A chill entered him as he shook his head. What was he expecting in the back of the hardware store, zombies? He needed to lay off the late-night movies. He was starting to spook himself.

He loosened the tie-downs, releasing the pressure on the thick, cloth material. No one had a forklift around here, so unloading the order would be by hand. Thank goodness Hunter hadn’t ordered much. Logan didn’t figure to be unloading wood for the rest of the day. He had better things to do, although, at the moment he couldn’t think of a single one.

If the order had been large, there would have been a forklift attached to the truck as well. It took Logan a little while to stack the last of the wood in the designated area by size and length. Once he was done, he walked around to get the few boxes sitting on the floor in the cab of his truck.

A soft breeze blew across the back of his neck, warm and subtle. It felt like someone was standing directly behind him, blowing on his neck in soft tufts. Logan rubbed the tingling skin and opened the truck door. He grabbed the first box, carrying it inside and setting it next to the already-existing inventory that still needed to be put away.

The back room was cluttered, but not so much that Hunter wouldn’t be able to find what he was looking for. It was sort of an organized clutter. Nails were with nails, clamps with clamps, so on and so forth. He made sure he stacked Hunter’s order accordingly.

I wouldn’t want to mess the guy’s strange system up. Some people functioned better disorganized than neat and tidy.

Hunter was apparently one of those people that liked disorganization.

Logan walked outside into the warm spring air and felt goose bumps march down his arms. A low whistling noise drew his attention to his left, so Logan looked. But nothing was there.

He ran his hands over his head and went to the truck to get the rest of the boxes. Maybe that zombie marathon last night wasn’t such a good idea after all. He was imagining things, very bizarre things, noises and touches that weren’t there.

His buddy Cal was going to rib him good for his runaway imagination. They had only known each other for six months, but he teased Logan about his imagination. Logan grabbed the last two boxes and took them inside the hardware store, stacking them according to Hunter’s screwed-up system.

Wiping the dust from his hands onto the front his pants, Logan stepped back outside and stilled. The passenger’s door was closed.

He hadn’t closed it.

Or maybe he had and didn’t notice he had done it. Some things were done out of habit to the point people didn’t remember doing them. This could have been the case. Logan chuckled softly to himself, wondering if he was going to be this freaked out all day. He usually didn’t imagine things after watching one of his favorite horror movies, though.

But last night was the first time he had watched a marathon of them. That could have been what was freaking him out. At least, that was how Logan justified the huge case of the willies he seemed to have.

Sliding into the driver’s side, Logan turned the key to start the truck. He heard a whirl and then a click in the silence of the cab. Something deep down inside of Logan made him scramble from the truck and then run as fast as his damn legs would carry him. He didn’t hear a boom or any kind of explosion as he rounded the brick building.

Damn, was he really letting his imagination get the better of him? That’s it. No more late-night movies for me.

Just as Logan headed back toward the truck, feeling like a complete idiot, an explosion ripped through air, expanding outward toward the back of the hardware store. Wood, glass, metal, and fire rained down all around him as he huddled in a ball on the ground. He felt objects slap his arm and leg as he lay there curled up tightly, covering his head. His right side was the only thing exposed, and that was the side that took the brunt of the falling debris.

People began to run around back, and a small crowd began to form. Logan looked up from his arm, seeing the twisted metal of the truck he had been sitting in only moments before and the back of the burning hardware store.

“Hunter!”

ADULT EXCERPT

A course of lust shot through Tony’s groin, making his dick throb with his heartbeat as Rave’s canines slowly slid down. Tony leaned forward, pushing against Rave’s hands, forcing his way to Rave’s throat as he nipped the tattoo on the man’s neck. He had never asked what the symbol meant. Tony had seen a lot of the wolves in this house with the tattoo on their necks, but he wasn’t going to ask. That was Rave’s decision if he wanted to tell Tony.

Rave’s fingers tightened on Tony’s nipples, squeezing them, rolling them between his fingers. The pleasure of his mate’s hands racked Tony’s body, making him tremble with need as his tongue snaked out, licking a path from one side of Rave’s neck to the other.

Tony’s hands glided up Rave’s arms, circling around his mate’s wrists, applying the lightest of pressure as he pressed his chest harder into Rave’s hands. Rave bucked underneath him, the brown in his eyes bleeding out until they were nothing but two coppery orbs. Rave’s wolf was close, watching Tony’s face with enchantment.

He shifted his weight, pressing his body down until he could nuzzle Rave’s neck, and then leaned back, pulling Rave’s shirt free from his body. Tony needed raw, naked skin. His flesh needed flesh. Tony rubbed their chests together, feeling the sensual and hard body beneath him.

“Are you rubbing your scent all over me, marking me?” Rave asked, this time humor floating around his words.

Tony hadn’t realized what he’d been doing. Now that he thought about it, he’d never rubbed all over another man before. It had always been hard, rough sex, animalistic almost, but he’d never rubbed all over anyone before.

“Maybe I am.” Tony glanced down at the tanned and gleaming chest. It was lean, strong, and damn near perfect. There were a few scars here and there, but nothing to detract from the sculpted way Rave was formed. His hands ran over the bare flesh, his nails scraping lightly, small red marks appearing along the way. “Maybe I am,” he repeated more slowly this time.

Glancing down Rave’s body, just above where Tony was sitting, he saw the outline to Rave’s erection. It was full, stretched wide, and left little to the imagination. Tony released the snap on Rave’s pants, pulling the zipper down until he saw the moist head of Rave’s cock peeking out.

He glanced up at his mate, staring into the deep pools of brown as he snaked his hand into Rave’s jeans and massaged the heated flesh. It was hard, but felt like liquid silk under his fingers with the pre-cum leaking over Tony’s fingers.

Lifting his hand to his mouth, Tony sucked his fingers in, the taste rolling over his taste buds like nectar to a bee. He groaned, licking each finger clean before he pulled at the waistband of Rave’s pants, chasing the material down Rave’s body until he could toss the fabric aside.

Rave lay there stunningly naked now, exposed to Tony’s appreciative eyes. He drank the man in as he pushed Rave’s thighs apart. Rave didn’t hesitate. He parted his legs, showing off the sexiest thing Tony had ever seen. A male’s body was such a sculpted piece of art to Tony, so perfect, so exotic. He found himself wanting to rub his scent over Rave again.

Tony wasn’t sure what was up with that, but the urge was strong, compelling him to lean forward until his stomach was touching Rave’s erection. He rubbed his body over Rave’s length, feeling the pre-cum trailing over his skin.

“Marking me again?” Rave asked, his voice wrapped around Tony, touching him in the wickedest of places. Tony grinned as he pushed his body down the length of Rave until his head was even with Rave’s weeping cock.

“Do you have a problem with me marking you?”

“None at all,” Rave answered as his hands pressed into the carpet on either side of his body. “I’d wear your scent proudly.”

Tony licked a path up Rave’s cock, his tongue circling around the head as he watched his mate watch him. His broad shoulders pushed Rave’s legs further apart, shouldering Rave’s thighs as he licked back down the heated flesh until he reached Rave’s thick and heavy sac. Rave’s hand came down, pressing and massaging his balls, feeding them to Tony. He lapped at them, like a kitten lapping at cream. His tongue glided over Rave’s scarred and thick fingers as Rave squeezed his nuts harder.

A rush of blaze ate at Rave’s brown eyes as he fed a finger to Tony, pushing it past his lips as Tony sucked it in. His tongue swirled around the digit, sucking it hard into his mouth, his lips promising Rave what he could do with them.

Rave’s fingers caressed Tony’s jaw, gently, almost begging Tony to show Rave just what he could do with his lips. Tony leaned forward, taking Rave’s cock into his mouth, the finger wedged between Rave’s cock and Tony’s lips. Rave groaned out his pleasure as Tony drank the man’s dick down his throat.

“Yes,” Rave hissed as he pulled his finger free, placing his hand back onto the floor. Tony cupped the back of Rave’s knees, pushing the man’s legs back as he worked his mouth over Rave’s cock. His jeans became too tight, too confining, and Tony wanted to stop to pull them off, but wouldn’t let the cock slip free long enough to get the jeans free.