STORY EXCERPT

“That would be Mr. DeMarco.”

“Well, go let the poor man inside before he breaks down our door.”

“Be nice, Mother.” Tossing a wink in her direction, he left the room and hustled down the stairs to answer the door. “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

Gripping the doorknob, he hesitated for a second, more than a little afraid of what he’d find on the other side. When he couldn’t wait any longer, he took a deep breath, released it slowly, and pulled open the heavy wooden door. “Hello, Mr. DeMa—”

His eyes rounded, his stomach fluttered, and his mouth went desert dry. His brain short-circuited, leaving him speechless as he stared up at the man who plagued his dreams and interrupted his thoughts during the day.

Suddenly, he couldn’t move, couldn’t formulate words. Hell, he could barely breathe. The harder he tried to pull air into his lungs, the more constricted his chest felt. His hair was a little shorter, a little darker, and he looked like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks, but Gavin had no trouble recognizing him.

“Gavin?”

The way Javier said it led Gavin to believe that he’d been talking to him for some time, but he hadn’t heard a word of it. “I’m sorry. Uh, please, come in, Mas—Mr. DeMarco.” Holding his arm out to the side to indicate that Javier should enter, Gavin held his other hand behind his back and dropped his head submissively.

“Gavin, look at me.”

His head snapped up immediately, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s eyes.

“Look at me,” Javier repeated with more authority in his tone.

Fisting his hands at his sides, he held his spine rigid while he lifted his gaze to meet Javier’s. It was no easy feat, and he was more than a little afraid of what he’d see there.

Javier’s lips lifted fractionally at one corner, and his eyes softened with tenderness as his hand came up to cradle the side of Gavin’s face. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he breathed in a shaky whisper. “I’m fine.”

“Did you call the police?”

“And tell them what? I invited him inside. Nothing was taken. No one was hurt.”

Dropping his hand away from Gavin’s face, Javier huffed and nudged him toward the living room, closing and locking the door behind him. “You need to call the police, give them a description of this guy. Maybe nothing happened this time, but he was obviously here for reasons and none of them good.”

“Yeah,” Gavin conceded, “okay, you’re right.”

“I know you’re scared. Take a deep breath and try to relax.”

Yes, he was freaking scared. “Why was he here? What does he want?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” Javier assured him. “I need you to tell me everything that happened, and then we’re going to call the police and tell them everything.”

Remembering what he could, Gavin described the man who’d sat right where Javier was sitting now, including what he was wearing. “He had a scar.” Gavin reached up and tapped at the corner of his bottom lip. “Right here. It looked like he might have had it pierced at one time.”

“That’s good. Most people don’t catch little details like that. What did he talk about? Did he ask you any questions?”

“He asked about my schedule, if we had any staff, entrances to the house, that kind of thing.” They’d seemed like perfectly legitimate questions when he’d thought the man had been there to protect him.

“Wait.” Rising up from the sofa, Javier began to pace, lengthening his strides with each pass in front of the coffee table. “If this guy is connected to the other attacks, there’s no reason to ask those types of questions. To break into the house, he’d already have to know your schedule as well as the entrances. He’d also know what staff you have and how often they’re here.”

“I don’t understand.” It was hard enough to pay attention with Javier so close to him, but with this new development, his head was beginning to hurt. “What are you saying?”

“Maybe he was trying to dis…” Javier jerked around, his eyes locked on the coffee table. “Did he leave this room?”

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“Where did he sit?”

“Right here, right where you were sitting. What’s going on? What are you doing?”

Pushing the table back from the sofa, Javier knelt on the floor and ran his hands over the wood—under the top, down the legs, and all around the edges. Gavin opened his mouth to question what the hell he was doing, but Javier pressed a finger to his lips at the same time he pulled his right hand out from under the table, producing a flat, round piece of plastic no bigger than a dime.

When he placed it carefully on the tabletop, Gavin expected him to do something super cool spy-ish. Instead, all he did was pop it apart and pull on a little wire. “That’s it?”

“What did you want me to do with it?”

“I don’t know. I thought we were supposed to pretend like we didn’t know it was there and feed false information or something.”

Javier snorted and brushed the broken pieces of plastic into his waiting palm. “You watch too much television, pet.”

The deliberate exaggeration of the endearment sent his pulse racing, and Gavin’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “You do remember me!”

A quiet, sexy chuckle filled the room, causing Gavin’s cock to flex in interest. “Yes. I remember you.”

ADULT EXCERPT

This wasn’t a one-time deal, though. Javier had received just a small sample of the passion that lurked inside Gavin, and if he was given free rein to truly indulge his appetite, he didn’t think he’d ever get enough. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, didn’t know what it was about the man, but Gavin possessed something that was amazingly addictive.

It wasn’t the sculpted, nude body, or the pink, plump lips that convinced him. It was the vulnerability in Gavin’s hazel eyes that finally broke him. Closing the distance between them in one long stride, he curved one arm around the small of Gavin’s back and cradled the nape of his neck in the other.

Then without words or preliminaries, he did the one thing he’d been wanting to do since he’d first set sights on the man. He bent his head and slanted their mouths together in a hungry kiss. The needy whimper that bubbled up from Gavin’s chest went straight to his cock, and each tangle of their tongues had him fighting for control.

Now that he had Gavin’s taste on his lips and his clean, warm scent filling his head, it was that much harder to resist taking it farther. The way Gavin moved against him rang with a quiet plea, an unspoken desire for more. Small, almost delicate hands rested lightly against the tops of his shoulders as Gavin leaned into him in a beautiful display of surrender.

It was obvious that Gavin had no training, but his natural submission was a coveted treasure in Javier’s eyes. Yes, he was frustratingly stubborn, and he’d challenge him at every turn, but that was part of his appeal. If he wanted someone to obey his every command without question, he’d get a dog.

Gavin Hart was either his greatest strength or his greatest weakness, and only time would tell which one.

Gripping Gavin’s pert ass, he slid one finger down the crease and tapped at his quivering entrance. They didn’t have the necessary supplies to take this as far as he’d like to, but there were other ways to please them both. Walking Gavin to the center island, he pressed his back into the counter, holding him in place with a thigh pressed between his slim legs. “This is not the way to get my attention, tesoro.”

“Seems to be working pretty well from where I’m standing.”

The determined little sub was trying to talk himself right into a spanking, but since that was exactly what he wanted, Javier needed to find another form of acceptable punishment. Walking away and not giving in to Gavin’s manipulations would be the best course of action, but sometimes a Dom needed to know when to bend.

At this point, after Gavin had worked so hard to build up the courage to seduce him, ignoring his advances would cause more harm than good. Insinuating a hand between them, Javier fisted the man’s rigid cock and stroked him in quick glides from root to tip. “Don’t come.”

“Yes, Sir,” Gavin panted, though it was clear that he was already struggling by the increase of his pulse and the trembling of his legs.

Using his free hand, he cupped the side of Gavin’s neck and used his thumb to tilt his lover’s head back on his shoulders. “Look at me.”

The instant their eyes met, Gavin moaned, and his hips jerked forward, pushing his throbbing length through Javier’s tight grip. Each breath came faster and more shallow, puffing through his slightly parted lips. His cock felt hard as steel, yet smooth as velvet—hot, heavy, and pulsing in Javier’s fist.

His tesoro, his treasure, was exquisite in his submission. Those delicate hands continued to rest atop his shoulders, not grabbing him, but simply touching. Gavin’s creamy skin—so soft and kissable—flushed with an alluring shade of pink, starting in his cheeks and spreading to encompass his entire body.

Harder and faster, he stroked the cock in his hand, pushing Gavin closer and closer to the edge. A single teardrop of translucent pre-cum beaded from the slit, shining in the overhead lighting. When Gavin was gasping for breath, moaning and writhing in his arms, Javier released the rigid flesh in his hand and placed a searing kiss on Gavin’s lips.

“Finish dinner, tesoro,” he whispered against the shell of his lover’s ear. “Behave, and dessert will be very enjoyable.”

For just a second, Gavin looked like he would argue, but in the end, he simply dipped his head and pushed away from the counter. “Yes, Sir.”

“I’m going to change and unpack my things. We’ll eat here in the kitchen. I’ll meet you in half an hour.”

Nodding in resignation, Gavin turned to reach for his clothes, but Javier stopped him by pushing him against the counter once more. “Oh, and one more thing.”

“Sir?”

Mmm, he loved the way the title rolled off Gavin’s tongue. In a swift move, he groped his lover’s cock once more and gave a sharp twist around the head. “Come for me.” Then he dipped his head and bit into the sensitive flesh at the crook of Gavin’s neck.