STORY EXCERPT

The bumper under Shadow’s butt rocked slightly, letting him know Pen was getting restless. With a look, Shadow had let the smaller man know once already that they weren’t going anywhere until he was ready.

Shadow pressed the fob button as he walked around to Pen’s door. The second the door was unlocked, Pen opened it. Shadow grabbed the edge of the door with one hand and leaned in the opening with his other arm resting on the roof, boxing in his fidgety lover.

“Going somewhere, baby?” Shadow watched a flush creep into Pen’s cheeks.

“Look, I can’t really do anything here. You heard the report on the police scanner. They found Daniel’s car. I need to be at Otter Lake.” For once there wasn’t any temper in Pen’s tone. Defeat and pleading laced each word, and Shadow hated it.

“Knowledge is safety.” For Shadow, that said it all. Pen’s safety was first and foremost.

A speculative gleam came into Pen’s eyes. “You know something I don’t,” he accused. “This is about more than a simple mugging. You think the smoke bomb has something to do with me.”

Shadow stood up and shut Pen’s door. They could give the sheriff a statement later.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, Shadow started the Jeep and pulled away from the curb. “I need directions to Otter Lake.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Pen turned in the seat and faced Shadow.

“Directions,” Shadow stated. His mind was racing. The reporter inside Pen was starting to sniff out answers that Shadow couldn’t give.

“Continue on this road out of town. In ten miles you’ll be at the lake.” The tone of Pen’s words was flat but steady.

Shadow braced himself. The tension in the air told him the hot-tempered man was gearing up for a showdown.

“Are you going to tell me what’s really going on, Mr. Drayton?”

The tiny hairs on Shadow’s neck stood up. If he didn’t handle this right, he could very well lose Pen. He was nowhere near ready to give the sexy man up.

He decided to go with the truth, at least as much as he could tell. “Cade Miller hired me to keep an eye on you for a couple of days after you were mugged.”

The snort Pen gave was pure disgust. “Don’t treat me like a moron, Mr. Drayton. I know that. The question I want answered, is why does Cade care? I’m new in town and don’t even know him that well. It seems over the top to assign one of his employees to guard me after a simple mugging.”

Shadow kept his mouth shut, hoping the shrewd reporter had run out of steam. Yeah, he didn’t have a hope in hell of that happening. Maybe they would reach the lake soon. Shadow checked the car’s odometer. Shit, they still had seven miles to go.

“You know,” Pen went on, “I thought we were building something between us. You even wanted to give up using condoms. That’s a big deal. Good relationships have honesty between the partners.”

Shadow glanced at Pen with one eyebrow raised. If the man wanted to push, he’d better be able to handle Shadow pushing back.

“Call Cade and ask him.” Shadow sent Pen a hard look. “But be prepared to answer some of his questions with this honesty you talk about.”

“Why can’t you answer my questions?” Pen challenged.

Shadow slammed on the brakes and pulled the Jeep over onto the road’s gravel shoulder. Shoving the gear into park, he reached over and unsnapped the man’s seatbelt before grabbing Pen by the hair and pulling him half over the console.

He didn’t give the persistent man any time to speak and took his lips in a brutal kiss. Hands clung to Shadow’s shoulders, as, after a few moments, Pen finally relaxed and submitted. Once Pen succumbed to his dominance, Shadow changed the kiss, licking the man’s luscious mouth before pressing inside for a taste. Pen’s tongue touched his, and the appendages tangled together as if they were two halves of a whole.

The Jeep shook as a semi-truck roared by, and Shadow ended the kiss. Looking down into Pen’s heavy-lidded gaze, he said, “We were together before I was assigned to guard you from further attack. We will be together after Cade feels the danger has passed.”

“Do I have any say in the matter? I am a grown man,” Pen pointed out.

Shadow let his gaze rake Pen from head to toe before he said, “I will show you how grown up you are later. If you have something else to say, call Cade.”

After setting Pen back into his seat, Shadow buckled him up, kissed him one more time, and returned the Jeep to the road. He was thankful the rest of the ride was made in silence.

ADULT EXCERPT

Pen frowned, and then sniffed, before wondering why his head felt as if he had a hangover. He sniffed again, enjoying the scent of male coming from the skin his face was currently buried in.

Shadow. They hadn’t known each other long, but Pen would forever be able to pick the man out of a crowd by his scent. Lifting his hand, Pen intended to touch the ache coming from his brow. Instead, he froze as pain lanced through his arm muscles, which caused more pain to radiate throughout his body.

“Oh ow,” he whimpered.

A warm hand encircled Pen’s bicep and began to rub the sore appendage. Pen groaned from the pain and then moaned in relief when the stiff muscles loosened.

“Turn over onto your back.” Shadow’s deep, husky voice broke through the quiet.

Pen didn’t want to move. It was so nice and warm on top of Shadow’s muscular body. His dick liked being nestled against the man’s hard abs so much it was getting hard and letting Pen know it wanted some morning action. Pen shifted his hips a little. His dick rejoiced, even though the muscles lining his spine screamed in misery.

Hands grabbed Pen’s shoulders, and in one agonizing move, he was flipped off of Shadow and onto his back.

“Oh fuck that hurts.” Pen took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes and glaring at Shadow. “I was doing just fine where I was.”

“We need to loosen those muscles, or they will tighten up worse.” His tone said he would put up with no nonsense.

 Shadow moved until he was kneeling next to Pen. It didn’t escape Pen’s notice that Shadow was naked. He glanced down and saw that sometime during the night, the nakedness had spread to his own body..

Lifting one eyebrow, he asked, “When did we lose our clothes?”

The corner of Shadow’s mouth twitched as the big man lifted Pen’s foot and began to rub his calf with firm strokes.

Pen cried out in torment as the rock-hard muscles of his leg spasmed before loosening in bliss.

“Clothes…” Pen panted through those horrid, awesome hands bringing relief to his thigh muscles.

“Clothes aren’t needed and are uncomfortable in bed,” Shadow stated as he went to work on Pen’s other leg.

By the time Shadow sat a limp Pen up and began massaging his neck, Pen needed relief of a different kind on the one part of his body that didn’t feel like spaghetti. Reaching down, he grasped his dick and stroked it, rubbing his thumb over the head, concentrating on the tiny slit on top.

One second Shadow was behind him, and the next, Pen was lying on his back, looking up. For such a big man, Shadow could move fast when he wanted.

“Let go,” Shadow ordered.

Pen’s hand opened. The corner of Shadow’s mouth twitched before he leaned over and swallowed Pen’s dick. Pen tried, oh how he tried, to remain still and let Shadow’s magical mouth pleasure him, but that was not meant to be.

Pen buried his hands in the soft strands of Shadow’s long, thick hair and watched his dick slide in and out of that cavern of bliss. Moans filled the room when Shadow tongued Pen’s dick before swallowing it down with every pump of Pen’s hips.

He was losing it. Pen couldn’t hold on much longer. His balls tightened in anticipation of the orgasm to come.

A finger pressed between Pen’s ass cheeks and rubbed his hole. “Shadow?” Pen wasn’t sure what he was asking. He hadn’t expected the finger that now inched into his body.

Shadow sucked hard and swallowed around the head of Pen’s dick.

“Oh shit,” Pen shouted. Cum burst from him in great gushes, urged on by Shadow’s talented mouth. When he thought he’d finished, Shadow’s tongue stroked the length of his shaft, igniting another round of spunk pulled from his balls.

Pen collapsed back onto the bed while Shadow placed kisses on his softening dick. He hated the emptiness when Shadow removed his finger.

The bed dipped, and Pen looked up, admiring the rippling muscles of Shadow’s body as he knelt above his chest. He opened, welcoming Shadow’s huge member into his mouth.

“Your mouth is warm and moist, but your ass feels like silk,” Shadow said as he began to thrust his cock in and out. “I’m going to feel that silk around my cock soon.”

Pen’s eyes widened at Shadow’s statement, but he couldn’t say anything because the cock in question was inching its way down his throat. Pen relaxed and let Shadow find his pleasure.

Fingers grasped Pen’s hair, making him look up. The magnificent man above him was a dream come true. Pen was held prisoner by the intense gaze of Shadow’s dark and stormy brown eyes. A light sheen of sweat coated Shadow’s deeply tanned skin, and his long tresses of hair flowed around him. Never before had Pen seen such a sight. His dick hardened, and his heart softened.