STORY EXCERPT

“Please!”

“Sin,” Tanner said firmly, giving him an annoying glare. “No. We have to be up early in the morning, remember? We’re driving out to the lake.”

They were going up for a relaxing weekend, but Sinclair had planned to spend part of it working.

“And I need to air the house out and get fresh sheets on the beds. I have to grocery shop and a bunch of other stuff.” 

“Do you want Daddy to get in trouble?” he asked Sunny, and she shook her head solemnly. “We’ll play some more tomorrow after we get to the cabin, okay?”

“O-kay,” she said, giving him a little pout before Tanner plucked her from his arms.

“Tell Daddy good night,” Tanner urged as he held her against his chest.

“Good night, Daddy!” She leaned toward him, and Sinclair moved closer so she could kiss his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, princess,” he said, and her smile tugged at his heart making him grin.

“Don’t be long,” Tanner said.

“I have a lot of work on this book, baby, you know that. I still have some research left to do, too.”

Tanner’s pretty face contorted into an irritated scowl, and Sinclair sighed.

“Don’t,” he said as patiently as he could.

“I’m not allowed to have an opinion anymore?” Tanner snapped.

Sunny went still in Tanner’s arms, and fear filled her eyes.

“You can have whatever you want, but it’s not going to change reality,” Sinclair replied, fighting the chill that tried to creep into his tone.

This book was the first of a trilogy he was writing on the supernatural that just so happened to be based on a true crime mystery from two centuries ago. It was just his luck the events occurred in the small town where they had their cabin in Spring Lake.

He planned to make one last visit to the house where the owner had promised to allow him a look into the attic where some old papers were kept.

“Sin—”

“Not now, Tanner,” he cut in coolly at the sight of fear giving way to tears filling Sunny’s eyes as she started to tremble. He took her from Tanner and cuddled her close.

The child had come a long way, but she still had a good bit of road ahead of her before the terror of her father’s abuse completely faded. They had been careful around her for so long that they never argued in her presence just to ensure she healed.

Tonight had been a foolish slip on his part, and Sinclair wanted to kick himself.

“Shh, princess. Daddy isn’t going to hurt you, okay?” He smoothed her hair and looked at Tanner whose irritated expression turned contrite as he put a hand on the child’s back.

“Sunny, everything’s fine.”

“Don’t hit,” she said timidly, looking at Tanner.

“No,” he exclaimed. “I’m not going to hit anyone. Your daddy’s just a jackass—”

“Tanner,” Sinclair said in exasperation.

Sunny wasn’t fragile, but according to her shrink she might not fully recover for years to come depending on the extent of the psychological damage inflicted on her.

“Princess, look at me.” Sunny met his gaze. “You’re safe, and so is Daddy.” He reached out to caress Tanner’s cheek, and Tanner met his gaze, resting his free hand on Sinclair’s wrist. The love in Tanner’s gray eyes always warmed him, touching him so deep inside it took his breath away.

Sinclair knew he was lucky to have found a man who could love him for who he was and not his money and fame.

“I want you to go with Daddy and let him read you a story,” Sinclair said gently.

“Okay,” she said in a watery voice. “You won’t hit Daddy?”

“I promise, princess,” he said and kissed her forehead before passing her back to Tanner. “We’ll talk later, Tan.”

“You better know it,” he said quietly and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sinclair sighed and ran a hand over his hair, the strands soft and short with a wave to them. “Tanner,” he said and went to sit back down at his desk.

They had been married two years now, and he’d scaled back his work to give Sunny as much attention as she needed along with Tanner himself. Both his child and his husband had suffered heavy emotional losses that had taken patience and tender love and care on his part.

Now that both were bouncing back, he needed to step it up in the work department. Yeah, he had the money to take the time off for another year or two working sporadically, but he loved writing too much to put it any further on the back burner than it already was.

This trilogy was going to take a little more work because he’d never actually written anything like it before. Interviews with current residents of the property along with accounts of present activity were almost sifted through, but he still had to write the story.

He turned his attention back to his writing only to have his phone ring.

With a growl, Sinclair snatched up his cell phone and glanced at the display. Not recognizing the number, he contemplated letting it go to voice mail. Deciding against it, he answered.

“Hello?”

A scream travelled over the line, and he jerked the phone from his ear, face scrunched. He put the phone back to his ear.

The clang of metal was followed by the shattering of glass.

“Who is this?” he demanded.

“Beware.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Sinclair sounded a little tired, but Tanner suspected he’d been working on his book most of the night. He kissed Sinclair’s shoulder. “Sunny slept through the night. It’s almost like nothing happened.”

“That could be a good thing,” Sinclair said. “Having her terrified isn’t what I want.”

“You’re right,” Tanner said. “I still don’t understand how they got her up there.”

“The police will probably find some rope,” Sinclair said.

“Do you think it was someone trying to kidnap her to sell her or something?”

“No, Tanner, honey,” Sinclair said soothingly. “I don’t know, but we’ll keep her safe.”

“It’s okay, Tanner,” he murmured, reaching back to caress him. “Caeden and Rush are kind of glad for a little alone time.”

“Really?” He ran his hands up Sinclair’s back.

Sinclair turned, and Tanner looked up into his brown eyes as water ran down his face.

Sinclair claimed Tanner’s lips, and his tongue swept into Tanner’s hot mouth to a minty welcome. Tanner moaned and reached up to cup the back of Sinclair’s head, fingers playing in the soft curls as Sinclair deepened the kiss.

Sinclair broke the kiss to look down at him, and Tanner leaned in to trail kisses down the column of Sinclair’s throat.

“Tanner, I need you,” Sinclair cried. “Please.”

Tanner traced kisses along Sinclair’s jaw before claiming Sinclair’s lips for a slow kiss. Sinclair took over, their tongues coming together in a duel that made Tanner’s dick hard. He rubbed against Sinclair, his control slipping away.

And they savored each other slowly, the kiss bringing Tanner undone. The man had such an incredible effect on him that he almost never could say no to him.

“I ache so bad for you, baby,” Tanner whispered against Sinclair’s lips.

“I’m right here,” Sinclair murmured and traced kisses over Tanner’s shoulder to his chest.

Sinclair’s lips brushed over a small taut point, and he drew his tongue around the areola before flicking it over the nipple.

Sinclair scraped flesh with sharp teeth before biting down, and Tanner hissed and arched into him. The pleasure was so intense it bordered on pain. He closed his eyes, and Sinclair bit him again as he pinched the other nipple.

The sensual caress made his cock harder, and the nerves of his ass fairly tingled for possession.

“Oh. Fuck.”

Sinclair’s moist tongue played over an erect peak, sucking it as it plucked at the other nipple. Then, he licked his way to the abraded bud and swiped over it before teasing it with his teeth.

The touch was light, but Sinclair caught the tiny bead in a firm hold as Tanner gasped.

“Shit, that feels good.” The sting was just right and made precum leak from his cock.

Tanner arched closer, and Sinclair sucked his nipple as he bent his knees and ground his hard dick against Tanner’s. Tanner whimpered, the heat of the carnal assault merciless to his senses.   

Sinclair reached for the oil in the caddy and flipped the cap. He poured some into his hands and rubbed them together and worked some into Tanner’s chest before turning him to face the tile.

“Let’s get you all slick,” Sinclair said and landed a hard tap on Tanner’s ass before reaching up for cuffs neatly secured to the wall just above the shower. He snapped them into place and kissed the side of Tanner’s neck before landing another thwack on his ass.

Tanner hissed. “Fuck, that hurts so good.”

Sinclair added a little more oil to his fingers and ran them down the seam of Tanner’s ass. He slipped a single digit past the firm cheeks and into tight cavern. Then, he thrust it deeper, past the tight ring of muscle, and drew it out to add more oil and added a second.

“You feel so good,” Sinclair murmured, breath fanning Tanner’s ear. “I can’t wait to get my dick up your tight little ass.”

“Why wait?” he asked in a ragged tone.

Sinclair delivered a stinging slap to the side of Tanner’s ass. “Because I’m not ready,” he crooned then fucked his fingers deeper.

“Yeah.” He hissed as Sinclair stroked his fingers deeper, in and out to set the nerve endings on fire, making his cock throb. “I need…”

Sinclair delivered another tap before driving his fingers deep to bush Tanner’s prostate.

“God,” Sinclair muttered and pulled his fingers free.

In mere moments, he was tucking the swollen head of his cock at the entrance of Tanner’s.

Tanner brace his forearms against the cool tiles and groaned as Sinclair took him in two hard thrusts.

“Oh, yes,” Sinclair breathed, and Tanner moaned, shivering.

“Fuck, you feel good.”

Sinclair took him in slow rhythmic strokes, and Tanner reveled in the delicious feel of Sinclair’s hard dick. Each thrust pushed him higher, drove him closer to fire that pulled him into its thrall.

He was still amazed at how much pleasure he found in this man’s arms.

“It’s too good,” Tanner murmured. “Fuck me harder.”