STORY EXCERPT

Kester woke to the sound of banging. He shoved the pillow over his head, but the noise continued. With an irritated grunt, he got up and went to the window. When he parted the curtains, his brows furrowed. He didn’t see anyone.

Curious, Kester got dressed and left his room, remembering to take his key with him. The sound was coming from room three. The woman from his earlier check-in was in there, a pipe wrench in her hand, and she was banging away on the heating unit. She was also still in her robe and hair curlers.

“Excuse me,” Kester said above the noise. When she didn’t acknowledge him, just kept on banging, he said the two words louder. He didn’t dare touch her shoulder. She might’ve gotten spooked and swung that wrench at his head.

She still didn’t turn around, but she sure cursed a lot. Kester blushed at some of the words that came out of her mouth. Sailors the world over would’ve been proud of her.

“Ma’am?” Kester rapped his knuckles on the door. Finally, she stopped banging. He was pretty sure the dead were grateful for the cessation of noise. Unfortunately, the banging was still echoing in his ears. “Do you need some help?”

She turned and waved the red-and-silver wrench that appeared old and a bit rusted. “All I need is this and to be left alone.”

Well, okay then. “But it’s ten at night,” he said. From the looks of the room, it hadn’t been rented to anyone after Kester had switched to the next room over. “Can’t this wait until a decent time?”

He’d driven for hours on end to get away from Arkansas and Agent Gugino. Kester was not only exhausted but starving. If it hadn’t been so cold outside, he would’ve walked to town. He just might have to do that in the morning since this place clearly didn’t serve a continental breakfast.

And even if it had, Kester wasn’t sure he would trust this woman’s cooking…or want to eat it.

His GPS told him Maple Grove was a mile away. In this weather, it might as well have been ten miles away. He was gonna freeze his balls off by the time he made it there.

She moved toward him. Kester moved back. He backpedaled until he was outside the room. The woman—he had no clue what her name was—exited room three and slammed the door. She gave him a heavy glare before shuffling back to the office.

Great. Now he was wide awake and his stomach was rumbling fiercely. An arctic blast of wind shot past him. Kester hurried to his door and dug out his key, his hand shaking badly as he tried to slide it into the hole. After two attempts and another gust of wind, he made it inside as his teeth chattered.

He was just going to have to be hungry, because any thought of walking to town this late at night and in that weather wasn’t going to happen. The cops would find his frozen dead body on the side of the road if he attempted the walk.

Kester saw a long, rectangular card by the ancient television. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? He snatched it up and realized it was a menu for some tavern. Kester searched the card, but he didn’t see anything that said they delivered.

Crossing his fingers, Kester turned his burn phone on and dialed.

“Tilted Tiger Tavern,” someone said when they answered. Kester was taken aback by how deep and sensual the voice was. Had he called some sex hotline instead? He snickered at the thought and started to imagine what the guy on the other end looked like.

“Hello?”

“Um. Yes.” Kester cleared his throat as his humor faded and his hunger pangs intensified. “I was wondering if you delivered.”

“Only to the motel,” the guy replied.

“Great!” Kester wanted to dance a little jig. “I’m staying in room four.”

He looked the menu over and ordered half a dozen barbecue wings, some fries, a hamburger, and a slice of key lime pie. Hopefully the food didn’t suck. Too bad they didn’t have any healthy choices, but Kester figured he could eat like a pig for at least one night.

“Need anything to wash it all down?”

Duh. “Whatever soda you have is fine.” Kester thought about not having a vehicle. “Make it three sodas.” He’d need something to drink while he lay there counting the stains on the ceiling just to pass the time.

“About thirty minutes.” The guy hung up before Kester could ask how much the total was.

He shrugged, turned his phone off, then tucked it into his pocket as he looked around the room. Kester was used to being on the go all the time. He’d been a cardio aerobics instructor before he’d had to flee. Kester was used to running from one class to the next and sweating it out for at least six hours a day. His body was small and compact, but he was flexible and in excellent shape.

Now he sat in this room that smelled like old cheese, with its weird stains, and felt so homesick he wanted to cry. He missed his mom, his daily chai tea, and his tiny apartment. He even missed the pesky ankle biter that lived across the hall from him.

Half an hour later, Kester nearly jumped off the bed when a hard knock sounded at the door. He got up and peeked out the curtain. His jaw dropped. He’d definitely called some sex hotline because the guy standing on the other side was sinfully gorgeous.

And nothing how Kester had imagined him, because Kester didn’t have an imagination this good.

ADULT EXCERPT

He nearly swallowed his tongue when Mike bent over to rummage through his bag. God, that ass. Had Kester seen anything close to that perfection before? Nope. Not in his short lifetime. And he appreciated the view tremendously.

Mike straightened and turned toward him. He caught the look Kester gave and smirked. “Like what you see?”

“I’d have to be blind not to.” Kester turned onto his stomach and tucked his hands under his head like a makeshift pillow. He’d had sex before. No big deal. Nothing new had been invented since the last time he’d engaged in the act.

But watching Mike move toward the bed had his heart thundering and his mouth going dry. This was different, of course. Mike had said they were mates. From what little Kester did know, once they did the nasty deed, their souls would be tied together.

Kester’s dad hadn’t known much about nonhumans, but what he did know he'd imparted to Kester. There was no breaking up or calling quits. Mike was it for him.

And that knowledge had him trembling slightly as Mike crawled onto the bed. Kester stayed on his stomach as Mike stretched out next to him. Kester was glad for the dimly lit room. Hopefully it helped to hide his nervousness.

No sooner was Mike settled than Kester moved closer, attaching his lips to Mike’s throat. He liked the tickle of Mike’s beard against his face as he kissed his way up to Mike’s lips.

A growl. A groan. A whimper. A hiss. Kester wasn’t sure who was making what noise as they rolled around the bed, lapping at each other’s mouths, hands everywhere, legs entwining, cocks brushing.

The room echoed their sounds, their heavy breathing, and the sound of their lips smacking together. Kester was all for nude wrestling, but he wanted to get down to the good part.

Kester listened to Mike’s heavy breathing as his mate—Kester liked that word—curled his fingers around Kester’s hard cock. Kester threw his head back and groaned.

Mike’s eyes were filled with excitement and want. He stared at Kester with hunger as he moved to settle between Kester’s spread legs.

“Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about doing this?” Mike popped the cap on the lube and slicked his fingers, pressing them at Kester’s hole. “Do you know how many times I had to force myself not to grab you and bend you over?”

“And now I know why you’ve been super nice to me,” Kester said. “Why you drove me around town, brought me food, and did things a stranger normally doesn’t do.”

Mike looked stricken, but Kester could tell the expression was fake. “Hey, I’m a nice guy. Even if we weren’t mates, I would’ve done all that for you.”

“Liar.” Kester grinned then hissed as Mike’s fingers breached him. His body sizzled at the burn as Mike stretched him, moving his fingers in and out of Kester’s hole.

“You got me.” Mike grinned. “I might not have done all that stuff, but I’m still a nice guy.”

Kester believed that. Mike had an air of authority about him. He screamed danger, but so far, the guy had been nothing but sweet toward him.

As Mike hovered over him, his fingers flexing and twisting, Kester stared into his pretty brown eyes. “Are mates really nice to each other?”

Mike pressed a kiss to Kester’s lips. It was soft and sweet. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, hon. I’m not your uncle, and like I said, what he did isn’t how mates are supposed to act with each other.”

Kester forced Strabo from his mind. He didn’t want thoughts of his uncle to ruin the moment. Even so, a small part of him worried about mating Mike. Any sane man would have some reservations. He hardly knew the guy.

His thoughts fled when Mike pulled his fingers free and lined his cock to Kester’s hole. One swift move impaled him. Kester arched his back and cried out at the pain/pleasure that assailed him.

Mike braced his arms on either side of Kester’s head and pulled almost all the way out then thrust back in. Kester curled his legs around Mike’s waist, grabbed his biceps, and held on.

Mike brushed his hands over Kester’s hair, giving him a savory kiss that had him melting. Another wave of pleasure rushed over Kester, a mind-blowing, tingling sensation that reached every nerve in his body. It wasn’t just the mouth-watering stretch of his ass, either. There was something about being with Mike that made the experience all the better.

His firm body. The spark of need in his eyes. The gentle way he held Kester as he punched his hips forward. The scrape of beard across Kester’s face. The panting. The touching. The moans and grunts.

Kester was falling hard for him. There was no denying the fact. The time they’d spent together, the moments they’d shared, Mike’s soft laughter, and the way Mike looked at him had wormed its way into Kester’s heart.

“What’re you thinking about?” Mike reared back to look down at him. “What’s running through your mind?”

“You.” Kester bit his lower lip. “I think…I might be…” He grabbed Mike’s face and devoured his lips, unwilling to spill his heart just yet.

The kiss distracted Mike, making him moan into Kester’s mouth as he pistoned into Kester’s ass.

The buildup raced up Kester’s spine and wrapped around his groin. His balls drew tight, and his body pulsed with his nearing orgasm.