STORY EXCERPT

He could hear people talking. He knew they were talking about him. He just didn't care. He didn't care about anything. If he died tomorrow, he wouldn't even protest.

What was to protest?

Richard Dickerson's world had ended a month ago. At least, the naive innocent place he'd grown up in had ended. Now, he knew he truth. The world sucked, and it didn't seem to matter if it was the human world or the shifter world. They both sucked. Humans were monsters and shifters weren't too far behind them.

So, what was the point?

He only got out of bed each day because they made him. They made him bathe and eat and walk around the vast Harrington Estate. They tried talking to him, but he had nothing to say, not to anyone. Not to his best friends Tom and Harry. Not to Tom's mate Rogan Behr. Not even to Mannford, the Harrington manservant and butler.

He especially didn't have anything to say to Dakota Hawke, the man who'd walked out on him because he wasn't a woman. The man who was supposed to be his fated mate, but had rejected him because he wasn't a woman. The man who had stolen his heart in one night of passion then dismissed him as if he didn't matter because he wasn't a woman. The man who didn't want him because he wasn't a woman.

Well, fuck him.

Dick didn't need him. He didn't need anyone. He was just going to sit there and stare out the window until his body caught up with what his heart and his head already knew and realized he was already dead. He might be still breathing, but there was no life left in him. He'd started to die when Hawke had rejected him. He'd truly died when he was kidnapped and assaulted.

Dick glanced down at the scars on his wrists. The zip-ties the guards had used to tie him down with had cut into his skin when he struggled to get away. They had healed, but had left behind faint white scars around each wrist. He'd probably always have them. A reminder of the hell some sick freak had put him through.

He had no idea why they had singled him out. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, and now, it was a moot point. They were dead. That was the one good thing Hawke had done before shifting and flying away, leaving Dick to live through his nightmares alone.

Knowing the men who'd hurt him were dead didn't help the nightmares. Nothing did. Dick suspected nothing would. He resigned himself to having nightmares until he took his very last breath. Nothing could make the horror of that night go away. Nothing.

He had thought, for a brief moment when he'd seen Hawke running toward him, that he'd have someone to hold him and protect him, to keep him safe from the evils of the world. That there might be someone to keep him safe from the nightmare his life had become. He couldn't believe how wrong he had been.

Epically wrong.

For all their talk about fated mates, it seemed that not every shifter believed in them. Hawke certainly didn't. Dick probably wouldn't even had known they were mates if the bite mark Hawke had left on his neck hadn't scared over instead of healing and fading away.

Hawke certainly hadn't said anything.

Well, he had. He had made it clear that they had no future together, but only after giving Dick a night of passion he'd never forget. For a moment, he had dreamed that he'd finally found someone to call his own.

He'd been epically wrong about that, too.

He couldn't remember ever feeling this alone. It felt as if he had a huge, gaping hole in the middle of his chest. It hurt when he was alone with his chaotic thoughts. It hurt when someone touched him. Sometimes, it even hurt to breathe.

Dick jumped when his door banged open. He gasped as stark, cold fear flooded him when he saw the large form that filled the doorway. Horrific memories of the last time he'd seen someone fill a doorway slammed into him, stealing the last breath in his body.

He pressed a hand to his aching chest as he started to tremble.

Nausea built up in his throat.

Spots formed in his eyes.

"Dick! You've got to see this."

Dick blinked until the spots faded away, then frowned. "Tom?"

He could breathe again.

"Come on." Tom ran across the room and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. The man was practically vibrating with excitement. "You have so got to see this."

"See what?" Dick asked as Tom dragged him toward the door. He really didn't want to leave his room. He was safe in here. He wasn't safe out there. "Tom, where are you taking me?"

"Camelot."

ADULT EXCERPT

"Take off your shirt and sit down."

Hawke's eyebrows lifted, but he did as Dick ordered. Dick could barely keep the smirk off his face as he swung his leg over Hawke's thighs then sat down. The surprise on the man's face was a sight he'd never forget.

Dick let his hand trail lazily down the front of Hawke's chest as he licked his lips. He could almost smell the man's growing arousal, Hawke's eyes flickering with growing arousal as he watched the tiny movement of Dick's tongue.

Dick didn't say a word as he straddled the man's thighs like an expert bull rider. From the desire he could see burning in Hawke's deep brown eyes, no words were needed. Hawke knew exactly what Dick needed. Dick could feel it in the hard cock pressing up against his ass.

"You smell really good," Dick murmured as he nuzzled his face into the curve of Hawke’s neck. Hawke grunted, but didn't say anything, which drove Dick crazy. "Don't you want me?"

"So bad, Dick. I want you so bad."

"Then touch me."

"Are you sure?"

Dick nodded. "I'm sure."

An involuntary shiver raced through Dick's body when the Hawke's large hands closed around his waist and he was pulled closer. His cock ached, his need growing with every passing second.

Hawke’s eyes dropped to Dick’s chest with a deep hunger in his eyes. Dick almost groaned when Hawke licked his lips. It was such a sensuous gesture. Dick wondered if Hawke actually knew that and was just torturing him. Fuck if he didn't want to feel Hawke licking him in other, lower places.

Just the thought had Dick’s cock pulsing.

Hawke grabbed the hem of Dick's sweater and pulled it up over his head. Dick didn't even care where it was tossed. He was too busy groaning when he felt those delicious hands move over his chest, settling on his nipples to pluck and pull at them.

"Does that feel good?" Hawke asked as he gently tugged on the hardened nub.

"Oh yeah." Hell, it felt frigging fantastic. Dick was panting and ready within seconds.

Hawke locked eyes with him and then lowered his head, his tongue flicking out as he lapped at the nipple. Dick was lost in the sight as Hawke tugging on his nipple with his teeth. His cock throbbed painfully, ready to explode, but Dick fought the need to come as he watched Hawke explore him.

"Hawke." Dick's head dropped back on his shoulders as he groaned. It was unintelligible sound but crystal clear in its volume. A deep groan of need, Dick's need. Hawke seemed to know just how much to tug, to pull, how much pressure to use to bring Dick to the very edge of bliss.

That bliss was suddenly ripped away when a deep pain started in Dick's head. He blinked in shock, not from the pain of Hawke's hand fisting in his hair, but from heat he could see building in Hawke's eyes, turning them darker with every passing second.

Dick wound his fingers in Hawke’s hair and pulled the man closer. He swept his tongue over Hawke’s lips then pressed in, exploring tentatively. He could feel the simmering need building, overwhelming him as he opened wider for Hawke, allowing the man to explore.

His brain tried to remind Dick that he shouldn’t be doing this, that he should be pushing the man away, but Dick refused to listen. Hawke’s mouth was devouring Dick's, making him forget all rhyme and reason.

"Hawke," he whispered as he tore his mouth away from the other man’s. He knew what he needed. Hawke.

When Dick was suddenly lifted up and set on his feet, then his lounge pants were pushed down his legs, he knew his dreams were about to be fulfilled. Watching Hawke strip off his own clothes was the best visual porn he'd ever seen.

Hawke grabbed him and laid him back on the bed before moving between his thighs. His hands traced over Dick’s smooth skin. The gentle caress caused a surge of heat to rise within Dick. The man seemed to want to explore every inch of his body at his leisure.

Dick's eyebrows rose when Hawke pulled a single use lube packet out of his pocket before tossing them away. Hawke slicked up his fingers and poured a sufficient amount of slick out onto his fingers, and then snapped the lid closed. He dropped the lube onto the bed.

Dick's high pitched grunt filled the room as Hawke's fingers pushed into his ass. He stiffened for a moment and then rippled. Dick’s eyes crossed. The man had nailed his sweet spot on the first try. His heart thundered against his chest.

Hawke started thrusting his fingers into Dick's tight ass over and over again, until Dick felt the little ring of muscles stretch and pulse against Hawke's fingers. He added another one and then another until Dick felt as if he had all of them in his ass.

"Need you, Dick," Hawke whispered as he pulled his fingers free. He flipped Dick over onto his stomach, pulled him back onto his knees, then scooted up against Dick's ass cheeks.

Hawke settled behind Dick a moment later, gripped his hips, and then slowly began to split Dick in half. He eased inside Dick, as if Hawke was afraid he would hurt him. This time, Dick didn’t beg the man to rush. He was lost in what Hawke was doing to him, praying it lasted forever.

Dick thought he might pass out. He felt like his ass was being speared in two as Hawke slowly pushed forward, sinking his huge cock into Dick's tight hole. By the time he felt Hawke's thighs brush up against his ass Dick thought he might be able to taste the man's cock in his throat.

He needed Hawke to move, to fuck him, to do something. He was being impaled on a two by four and the man was just standing there, not moving. It was driving Dick insane. His ass was stretched so wide he felt like he might be split in half and he ached.

Dick's heart jumped into his throat when he felt Hawke's hands smack down on his ass cheeks. He almost reared back in protest. He didn't do the whole spanking thing. It wasn't one of his kinks.

And then those large, powerful hands slammed down on him again just as the man started to move. Whatever protest Dick was going to give was lost in the loud cry of ecstasy that flew out of his throat.

Every inch of Hawke's massive cock dragged across Dick's sweet spot as the man pulled out and pushed back in. For one crazy second, Dick wondered if Hawke's cock had been specifically designed just for his ass. It felt like he filled every inch of Dick, as if Hawke was supposed to ignite every nerve in his ass.

"Are you mine, Dick?"