STORY EXCERPT

Mick was many things: a fighter and a sniper. A shifter whose animal form was a Siberian tiger, capable of ripping to shreds its enemy with claws and fangs in minutes. He had a nasty temper and hair as fiery as his nature could be. He was proud that he had survived many tours of duty in the world’s most inhospitable places, courtesy of a decade serving his country as an Army Ranger.

Right now, proud was the last thing he felt. It eluded him how utterly useless he was at baking. The grayish mass on the flour-strewn mass that vaguely resembled dough proved just how absolutely hopeless he was at this particular task.

His mouth turned down in a pout. He was not about to let a lump of dough defeat him now. He had promised Jamie he would help out in the diner, learning how to bake fresh pastries and breads daily while Jamie was still recovering from a vicious beating that had left him with permanent brain damage and nerve damage in one arm. The beating had been six months ago and the mayor and the thugs responsible had been taken care of. The aftereffects lingered, though, and Jamie had flashbacks, nightmares, and of course, the physical scars that remained.

“I don’t know where I went wrong,” Mick sighed as he heard footsteps behind him, his sensitive nose picking up the scent of Jack, Jamie’s father, who had been rescued from the tunnels beneath Sage and returned to the diner as co-owner with his son Jamie.

“You’re making bread, not fighting a war,” Jack replied succinctly. “Both require a certain amount of passion, but with bread making, you need to make sure your adversary doesn’t die.” Jack picked up the heavy object, turning it in his hands before tossing it in the trash. “This thing doesn’t even deserve a decent burial.”

Mick sighed again, shoulders drooping.

“I wanted to help. Maybe I should do something else?” He eyed Jack hopefully, then heard hesitant footsteps, slow and a little unsteady, coming down the stairs from the large apartment above.

Immediately his back snapped straight, his jaw firmed, and his pout disappeared as if by magic. He ignored Jack’s knowing chuckle and began to mix up another batch of dough.

“Not. One. Word,” Mick hissed out of the corner of his mouth to Jack, who sniggered, clapped a hand on his broad shoulder, and then returned to mixing biscuit batter for breakfast.

“Morning, sunshine,” Mick called cheerfully, flinging ingredients into a bowl with gusto.

“Morning,” Jamie replied, a smile in his voice.

Jamie came through the door at the back of the kitchen, walking with a cane. His hazel eyes were amused as he watched Mick’s attempts at baking. Flour was everywhere, hardened bits of dough stuck to various surfaces, and Mick himself looked like he’d rolled in the stuff. The two-day growth of beard was now white rather than the same fiery hue as his hair. His blue eyes sparkled at Jamie, softening as he watched the slender young man move slowly toward him.

“Wow, what’s that?” Jamie glanced in the bin where Jack had slung Mick’s doughy disaster.

“I got a little distracted thinking about … stuff.” Mick sent Jamie a shame-faced glance, then flushed and returned to mixing the dough. He felt a soft hand touch his back, closing his eyes at the warmth that invaded him, the yearning.

“I’m okay, Mick. I may not return to how I was before, but I’m finding a new ‘normal’ that I’m getting used to,” Jamie said quietly, resting his cheek against one of Mick’s massive biceps. “It’s early days yet, you know that. Those specialists in New York were amazing, and they are confident I’ll be pretty much healed in a few more months.” He pressed a light kiss on Mick’s cheek. “So quit abusing the dough.”

Mick snorted at the comment, nudging Jamie with his shoulder.

“I wasn’t abusing it … merely showing it who’s boss.” He heard Jack and Jamie snigger simultaneously. “Well, I was,” he said grumpily.

“Yeah? How’s that working for you?” Jack laughed outright as Mick flipped him off, sending flour in all directions.

“That’s what I thought. Now concentrate, or we’ll be in trouble when the breakfast crowd gets here.”

They all laughed at that one. The diner was not huge, and the residents of the small town of Sage were few. After the mayor and his bully boys had settled in years ago, things had gone downhill for the town. Presiding over the place like a plague of malevolent cockroaches, they had ruined the town. A lot of people had left, bullied out of their homes and businesses. Others who had fought back ended up being carted off below stairs, into tunnels dug out years before. They had been used to traffic drugs and other illegal stuff across state lines literally under the noses of the authorities who had no clue the tunnels existed.

“I’m glad Rafe killed the mayor,” Jamie said after a moment, continuing their earlier conversation relating to his injuries. “He wouldn’t have stopped. He would have just hired more people and tried to kill us all.”

Mick nudged him again, pressing a soft kiss to the younger man’s forehead, transferring a smear of flour in the process.

“Jensen had it coming, Jamie. I understand ambition. I understand wanting to prove yourself. I will never understand those who achieve those things at the expense of others.”

He began to knead the dough, turning the mixture into a smooth mound that could be sectioned into several loaves.

“What he did to you? If I could, I’d rip him to pieces over and over, then put him back together before tearing him apart again.” He snarled viciously, his fingers turning white as his kneading turned violent. A slender hand covered his and he stopped pounding the inanimate dough immediately.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I think we need to shower.” Jamie smiled, then squealed as Mick grabbed him in strong arms, leaping from the bed like Jamie was light as a feather. The guy was like a mountain, six foot three in height and built like a house. Broad shoulders stretched forever, his big chest and massive arms bristling with muscle. He had long legs, and his chest was lightly matted with fire-colored hair that matched the light thatch between his legs. The cock that hung between his heavily muscled thighs was proportionately long and thick. Jamie had felt it against him earlier and his mouth watered at the thought of tasting all that delicious flesh.

“Are you saying I stink?” Mick teased, carting Jamie off to the bathroom, smacking his ass gently.

Jamie yelped as he was deposited in the large shower stall, stripped of his T-shirt, and then doused with warm water as Mick flicked the water on.

Mick waggled his brows at Jamie as he soaped up his hands, then proceeded to cleanse Jamie thoroughly, laughing as Jamie tried to evade his hands, giggling helplessly.

“I didn’t say you stank. I was referring to the fact that we went to bed glued together with spunk. Plus, you were quite liberal with the dough earlier.” Jamie grabbed the soap with his good hand, shoving it against Mick’s bearded jaw. Mick grunted, slapping Jamie’s ass, then doused him again with the shower hose.

“So now you’re saying I’m a messy cook, too, as well as unhygienic?” Mick suddenly knelt, warm water lashing down. “Let me make amends.” That was all the warning he gave before suddenly deep-throating Jamie’s slim cock, taking all seven inches down in one go, then sucking hard until Jamie was crying out, coming in hot bursts. Jamie’s legs gave way at the unexpected blow job. He dazedly wondered if he’d just won a world record. That had been the fastest he’d come in his life.

Mick got to his feet, sharing Jamie’s taste as he kissed Jamie hard, then lifted him again after turning the shower off and heading back to the bedroom again.

Jamie giggled as he was dropped onto the bed, bouncing a couple of times, limbs sprawling in all directions.

Mick followed him down, his body dripping moisture. Their bodies slid together effortlessly as Mick positioned himself between Jamie’s legs. Their eyes met, the sparks of lust flying as Mick began lapping at the droplets of water, leaving no inch untouched as he tongue-dried his lover, pausing every now and then to nip or suck or nuzzle. Jamie writhed beneath the sensual onslaught, panting hard, his mouth parted and his whimpers egging Mick on.

“I could quite happily do this all day,” he murmured against Jamie’s belly, delving into the small indentation of Jamie’s belly button, smiling against the small piercing there, and rolling the stud around on his tongue. He moved lower, nuzzling with his nose along the ridges of his lover’s belly, then stroking his tongue along the crease between thigh and cock before pushing Jamie’s legs up and sampling his ball sack. Jamie shuddered as Mick’s beard scratched his skin, adding to the decadence he was feeling. Mick was doing a fairly good impression of driving Jamie insane. Spreading his man’s cheeks, Mick nuzzled between then, letting his raspy jaw brush that tiny hole. He inhaled the musky scent, tantalizing his senses, and then rasped his tongue along Jamie’s clean crease, lapping at the rosy hole sitting there so temptingly.

Jamie was by now bucking against Mick’s tongue, his back arched, every muscle in his body rippling as his ass was subject to its first rim job. Mick’s tongue was everywhere, his balls, crease, perineum, and then licking around his hole before pushing against the tight ring of muscle there. He bit his fist, trying to muffle his cries as two thumbs pressed against his hole, opening him up. He had to grab a pillow to drown out his scream of pleasure. Mick was tongue-fucking his ass like there was going to be no tomorrow, relentless as he avidly took turns with fingers and tongue, finding Jamie’s little gland and nearly sending him into orbit.

When Mick then began to multitask, fisting Jamie’s bouncing cock in tandem with fucking his ass with fingers and tongue, Jamie lost it completely, screaming to the heavens as his cock exploded violently. His ass clenched around the fingers stuck inside it, his body shuddering and jerking like he’d just been electrocuted. He must have blacked out, coming around to find himself cuddled up against Mick’s big body, those large hands stroking his back gently as they lay under the covers.

“You okay, beautiful?” Mick asked, kissing him gently.

Jamie sighed, smiling as he felt the delicious tingles still rippling through him. The man was insatiable, sexy as hell, and had a mouth that should carry a warning sign. It was dangerous to a guy’s thought processes.

“Yes, sexy man. I’m very definitely okay.”