STORY EXCERPT

“What the hell.” Jaycee groaned as his car sputtered and then died. He carefully veered the vehicle to the curb as he began to curse up a storm, smacking the steering wheel in his angry tirade. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. “You’re not supposed to die. I just had you fixed.” He was practically whining at the hunk of junk as if it would sympathize with him and start up. He wasn’t holding his breath for that miracle, but it would have been nice.

Jaycee had to scrape the money together for the repairs in the first place, and now this? There was no way he was working another three weeks of overtime for repair costs. His car was not getting another damn dime out of him.

Frustrated, he climbed out of the car and walked around back, kicking the back tire in frustration. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

He really wasn’t looking for his car to answer him, but yelling out loud made him feel better.

Somewhat.

Feeling irritated that his only mode of transportation was now an oversized paperweight, Jaycee reached in the car, pulled the hood lever, and then walked around to see what the problem was. As he held the hood up, he wondered what he was doing. He hadn’t a clue what he was looking at. What did he know about cars?

Not a damn thing. But for some reason, looking under the hood made him feel like a solution was going to pop out at him.

But it didn’t. He stared at a dirty motor and hadn’t a clue what was what. The only thing that looked familiar to him was the plastic container sitting off to the side of the engine that he poured washer fluid into occasionally.

Growling, he let the hood drop back into place, hearing it smack closed as he walked around to the passenger side and grabbed his backpack from the front seat. It was only three blocks to the house he shared with two other men. It shouldn’t take him too long to get home on foot.

Thankfully he was on his way home from work instead of the other way around. His boss was an asshole, and Jaycee hated to deal with the man on any basis.

As he glanced at his car, Jaycee really didn’t want to leave it behind, but it was parked at the curb. There shouldn’t be any problem, unless one of the neighbors called to report an abandoned car outside their home.

Gods, he hoped not. He didn’t need for his POS to be towed. That would only be another bill he couldn’t afford, and he wasn’t going to sink another dime into it. Jaycee contemplated leaving a note on the front windshield to let everyone know that he would be back for his car, but then that would also tell people that it was a heap of metal just sitting there.

Maybe he could find someone to give him a jump later. Rico had a car. His roommate would probably help out, but with Rico, one never knew.

Deciding against alerting anyone that his car was not running, Jaycee hiked the strap of his backpack onto his shoulder and headed home. After working ten hours, he’d rather not be walking, but he didn’t have any choice in the matter. His body ached and he wanted a hot shower desperately, but there wasn’t anything he could do about his situation. He was stuck walking, so he needed to stop mentally bitching about it and get moving if he ever wanted to get home. Pulling his iPod out, he shoved the earbuds in his ears and turned the music on.

As he rounded the corner of the second block, Jaycee noticed a man leaning against a tree close to the curb. The man was just leaning there. It should have been no big deal. Maybe the guy was waiting for someone to pick him up. But the hairs on the back of Jaycee’s neck stood on end as he walked closer to the stranger.

He tried to keep his eyes averted, but he could still feel the man’s stare boring into him. It was seriously creeping him out. Jaycee reached into his pocket and turned the music down once he passed the guy. He wasn’t sure why, but something told him he needed to be on full alert and aware of his surroundings.

There was just something not right about the stranger leaning against the tree. Maybe it was all the dark clothes the stranger was wearing, or possibly the badass attitude the guy was projecting. Whatever it was, Jaycee heard the vibes loud and clear.

Stay away.

Jaycee picked up his pace a tad, suppressing the urge to full-out run. He was probably overreacting, and most likely was. He’d been known to freak out before. Jaycee was the type to freak the hell out first and then think things through once he had a meltdown. It was a flaw of his, one his mom tried to break him of for years, but Jaycee was who he was.

Just because he tended to react first and think later didn’t mean he was going to ignore the feeling that danger was somewhere near. The feeling was like a wet blanket over him, making him aware of everything around him as the heavy, oppressing sensation of someone following him weighed him down.

As his house came into view, Jaycee let out a relieved breath.

He had been overreacting.

Figures.

He had let his imagination take flight and scare him into thinking that someone was after him. The man was no threat to him. He was almost home, and the stranger was nowhere in sight. Jaycee felt stupid for getting all worked up over nothing.

His roommates always teased Jaycee that he had an overactive imagination. They said he scared easily and could turn something ordinary into a big hoopla. Jaycee had argued that they were the ones overreacting, but maybe they were right. He chuckled to himself, feeling like a total dweeb. What did he think would happen next, the Secret Service would pull up and kidnap him?

Okay, so he had an overactive imagination. Sue him. It kept life from being boring, and there was nothing Jaycee hated more than being bored. And unfortunately, right now, his life was about as boring as it could get. He wasn’t a thrill seeker, but a little more action wouldn’t hurt to shake things up a bit.

As he headed up the driveway, going around to the back of the house, Jaycee felt his backpack being ripped away from his shoulder. He spun around to see the stranger who had been leaning against the tree standing there snarling at him.

ADULT EXCERPT

The touch of Jaycee’s lips against his was a heady sensation that Wolf was now addicted to. He wasn’t used to feeling a goatee scraping against his skin, but he knew he could kiss Jaycee for hours on end and never tire of the man’s sweet taste. The rough rasp of Jaycee’s goatee only added pleasure to the already-explosive kiss. Wolf grabbed the length between his fingers and gave a light tug. Jaycee moaned and parted his lips, and pleasure radiated outward as Wolf’s tongue swept into the moist, cavernous mouth of his zaterio.

Jaycee’s hands skimmed over Wolf’s chest until his fingers began to play with Wolf’s nipples. He groaned at the sensation. Wolf’s legs parted, and he pulled his mate between them, their cocks brushing against one another, making Wolf’s thoughts spin out of control. Feeling their skin touch unhindered was more exquisite than Wolf even dreamed it would be.

His mate broke the kiss and scooted down Wolf’s chest, taking one lone nipple into his mouth. Wolf hissed, running his fingers through Jaycee’s dark hair, gently scraping his nails over his mate’s scalp.

Jaycee closed his lips over the peak and then gently bit Wolf’s flesh, rolling the nub around with his teeth. A growl ripped from Wolf’s throat. The caress of his lips on Wolf’s body sent Wolf up into flames.

“Zaterio, you torture my body so sweetly.”

Jaycee gazed up at Wolf, his swollen lips parting in a smile. Wolf growled at the erotic portrait his mate painted and grabbed the man, pulling him up until Jaycee was straddling his hips. Jaycee’s cock jutted out and Wolf wrapped his fingers around the heated flesh. His mate moaned as his head rocked back on his shoulder as Wolf began to slowly stroke his mate.

“You are mine for all eternity, Jaycee. I will never let you go. You are my zaterio, my chosen one.” Wolf reached behind his mate with his free hand and circled his mate’s tight ring of muscles, dipping the tip of his finger inside and then pulling free. He reached over to the nightstand and prayed there was some lube inside the drawer. He wasn’t in his bedroom after all.

He snagged the bottle and released Jaycee’s cock, spreading the clear gel onto both hands and then dropping the bottle. He used one lubed hand to stroke his mate’s straining erection while the other made its way back to Jaycee’s ass.

“Lean forward.”

Jaycee pressed his hands into Wolf’s chest, his breath coming out quicker as he stared down at Wolf with so much trust and desire that Wolf felt his heart seize in his chest from the emotions tightening his chest.

Sliding one finger into Jaycee’s ass, Wolf gripped his mate’s cock harder, their eyes never straying from each other.

“That feels so damn good, Wolf,” Jaycee moaned. “Add another finger.”

Wolf obliged his mate, slipping a second one in next to the first. He hated that he was wounded. Wolf wanted to show Jaycee his stamina, his prowess as he mated the man. But he knew that he had limited mobility at the moment.

Jaycee leaned forward and nipped Wolf’s chin, his tongue skimming across Wolf’s jaw. Wolf’s chest began to rise and fall more quickly now, the head of his cock brushing Jaycee’s ass and throbbing with need.

His zaterio brushed a featherlight kiss across Wolf’s lips, grinning. “I thought your lips would be hard, but they’re soft and warm.”

“Why?” Wolf asked, “Because I am a warrior?”

Jaycee nodded.

“There are many places on my body that are hard, zaterio.” Wolf hitched his hips, his cock stabbing into Jaycee’s ass cheek. “But my lips are not one of them.”

Wolf speared a third finger into Jaycee’s ass and moaned at how silky his mate’s channel was. It sucked his fingers in greedily as Wolf stretched his fingers apart, twisting his wrist and looking for Jaycee’s hot spot.

“Wolf!”

Wolf had found it, and stroked his fingers over the walnut-sized gland over and over again until his mate’s arms began to shake.

“When I am healed, I will show you many more ways your body can sing with pleasure from my touch.”

“O–Okay,” Jaycee said as he swallowed hard.

Wolf pulled his hand free, grabbed Jaycee’s hips, and rolled so quickly that he bit his bottom lip to keep the howl of pain trapped behind them. He pushed the pain aside, shoved it deep down inside of him, and locked it away as best he could so he could claim his mate properly.

“Wolf—”

“My zaterio,” Wolf growled and then lined his cock up to Jaycee’s well-lubed hole. “My mate.” He thrust forward, Jaycee crying out as Wolf’s wings spanned out to their five-foot length. They began fluttering and fanning, the mating dust falling on them like fresh, new snow. It was light, as light as fine dust, but it was a part of the ritual that would bind them for all eternity.

“You have wings!” Jaycee shouted as his fingers dug into Wolf’s chest, the nails breaking skin and drawing blood. Wolf growled, pressing his chest harder against his mate’s fingers. He welcomed the pain. It was barbaric and savage and only heightened the sensations of claiming his mate.

“You did call me a winged vampire, zaterio,” Wolf teased.

“But I didn’t think—oh hell,” Jaycee’s head rolled back and forth against the pillow as he pulled his legs further back into his chest. “You feel so damn good inside of me.”

Wolf applied the weight of his body into his good leg, stretching out the wounded one and keeping as much pressure off of it as possible. He thrust his cock deeply into Jaycee’s ass, feeling it swell even further as his mate’s cock bounced freely between them. His mouth watered to taste his mate, but Wolf was too lost in the feeling of being inside the human to pull free.