STORY EXCERPT

The apartment he rented for the job was only two blocks away and Ari retreated home. Brice had always used safe houses that he could mask from the outside world, but Ari preferred the best cover of hiding in plain sight. He went inside the apartment building, pausing briefly to check his mail. He said hello to a few people as he slung his gun over his shoulder. His cover was military so most of the residents didn’t think too much of him carting a sniper laser around the apartment building.

The stairs seemed like a better option than the elevator. He could be well aware of his surroundings without succumbing to the ultimate surprise on the others side of the elevator doors. He had his keys out and unlocked the apartment door, finding some comfort in being out of danger for the moment. He pulled out his instant access transmitter and found his brother Race’s hologram.

“I’ve got a serious problem.”

His brother sat his drink aside. “Like that’s fucking new. What did you do this time?”

“Another assassin went after my target and succeeded. He also got a pretty good look at me in the process.”

“Fuck, Ari. That’s a rookie mistake. You’ve been fucking doing this for how long?”

Ari blew out a breath. “Yeah, I screwed up. Can you help me out of it or not?”

“Who was the assassin?”

“Have no clue.”

Race gave him the same look he gave Jai, Brice’s boyfriend, when he’d asked too many questions. It was a look of annoyance and thin patience. Ari fucked up. He knew it. He’d been  preoccupied with complaining about the stupid job and he didn’t do a  thorough job of knowing his parameters. He should have known everyone inside that building, including the assassin. It’d definitely make his job easier right now.

“I’ll have Bella do a search on known assassins around here. See if she can find any talk about hot shots making their way up in the world. It’s a long shot, but it we might get lucky. Until then, you’re the target, Ari. If he sees you again, he’s going to kill you and if you see him again, you’d better do the same fucking thing. This is not a good situation to be in.”

No shit. He disconnected from Race and sat the IA transmitter on the table in front of him. Yeah, this was not the best situation to be in. His father had done something similar when another assassin tried to hijack his target and it ended up being a huge bloodbath. Despite everything, Ari was not desperate enough to ask for his father’s help. Or protection. He had to at least try to get himself out of this mess.

Ari hadn’t sat there five minutes before Bella popped up on his IA. He huffed a breath and answered her.

“I see you’ve lost your touch, hot shot.” Bella arched an eyebrow at him. “Rookie mistake 101. Your father would kill you with his bare hands if he found out.”

“Is there something you want?”

“Hot shot assassins in the area are: Dax Myer and Beckett Dekker. If the guy you met is Dax, then you can handle him without much effort. If the guy you met is Beckett, I’d say congratulations on fucking up your mission.”

Beckett Dekker. He had heard of the name, but he didn’t know the person. Before he could ask, Bella sent him pictures of the two men. The first was not the assassin at the party tonight. The second, the one that labeled him screwed, was.

Fuck it all to hell and back.

“From the look on your face, I’m guessing it’s Beckett.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Trained by Marquise. He’s part of the King family organization. He’s completely hot and completely badass. I hear he’s ruthless.”

Ari rubbed his forehead. “Weaknesses?”

She smiled. “Sex?”

Ari frowned. “So I just fuck him to death?”

She laughed. “I would.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re a pain, you know that?”

“Hey, you’d better be nice to me. I’m helping you save your ass.”

“It’s part of the job.” Since she was to replace Brice on missions, he had to work with her. He liked it better with just Race, but Race had been caught up in his own issues here lately. “I need to go. If you discover a real weakness for me, message me back.”

She saluted him and he clicked off, ending their conversation. Sitting at the table for a moment, Ari thought about the situation he was in. It wouldn’t take too long before his father found out. He seriously doubted that Bella would cover for him, but she had surprised him before. He wasn’t going to hold his breath about it though. He needed to find this guy and he needed to do it quick.

Voices out in the hall drew his attention to the doorway. It was late at night in an apartment building that was more or less empty. Ari glanced down at his attire and decided to take his shirt off and kick off his shoes before going to see who was making all the racket.

When he opened the door, he froze. Beckett stood chatting with the elderly neighbor that lived to the right of Ari. At the sound of the door opening, Beckett met Ari’s gaze and recognition filled his face. How long had his worst nightmare lived across the fucking hall from him?

ADULT EXCERPT

“You see something you want?” Ari asked, completely arrogant and sure of himself.

Beckett shrugged. “Sex wasn’t a high priority for you earlier. What’s changed?”

“Who said anything’s changed?” Ari knelt on the bed next to him. “I sleep nude.”

Beckett snorted. “Of course you do. With a hard-on.”

Ari grinned and moved over him. “For a badass assassin, you sure do pout when you don’t get your way.”

Beckett opened his mouth to respond  as Ari pressed a kiss to his lips, effectively shutting him up. Oh, God. His taste was  better than Beckett imagined. Ari’s tongue slipped between Beckett’s lips, tasting, exploring. His cock thickened, hardening  more than it had been the entire fucking night. He groaned in pleasure as his hands roamed along Ari’s body. Hard muscle lay beneath smooth skin.

Ari’s mouth tore from Beckett as he pushed his shirt upward. A low sound in Ari’s throat filled the silence as Beckett tossed his shirt to the side. His hands went to his pants next, but Ari stopped him.

“Let me.”

Ari’s long fingers unsnapped the fly and tugged the zipper over the bulge of Beckett’s erection. Beckett hissed when his cock popped free. Ari licked a path along Beckett’s stomach, completely ignoring his prize. Beckett felt on fire. He ached for some relief, but it looked like Ari wanted to tease and torture before Beckett would get his wish.

“You like playing with your prey, don’t you?” Beckett watched as a slow smile spread across Ari’s face. Fuck it, the man was gorgeous. He had hard lines and rough edge, but when he smiled, his eyes lit up. When he was aroused, the dark depths of his blue irises burned with passion.

“If you wanted a quick orgasm, you should have used your hand instead of egging me on.” Ari flicked the tip of his tongue over Beckett’s flat nipple. “Don’t tease if you can’t handle it.”

Beckett drew in a sharp breath as Ari’s teeth lightly nipped at his sensitive flesh. Every ounce of his being wanted to take control. To push Ari against the mattress and shove his cock deep inside his tight ass. He’d been thinking about it all night, but the look on Race’s face when he thought about Ari on the bottom played in his mind. Ari never bottomed. To Beckett, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He didn’t mind having that glorious prick rammed into him, but he wanted the same pleasure from his lover. At least while they were together, for however long that would be.

Lost in thought, Beckett’s eyes damn near crossed when Ari’s mouth finally wrapped around his cock. He hadn’t been paying attention to reality when his fantasies of fucking Ari overpowered. Now the sexy warrior was sucking him, dragging his tongue along Beckett’s thick cock like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted in his life. Beckett dropped his head back and thrust his hips forward, driving his prick farther down Ari’s throat. The hot wetness was too unbearable.

“Slow down,” Ari murmured. “Let me enjoy you.”

Beckett watched as Ari tugged his pants down  enough that his mouth could taste Beckett’s balls. “Ah, fuck.”

Ari’s hot tongue washed over the sensitive flesh, his lips lightly sucking as he continued to play. Beads of sweat dotted Beckett’s forehead as he gripped the sheets beneath him. Ari moved back briefly, to pull the pants off entirely. Beckett’s legs fell open and he begged Ari to suck him.

“Please.” Beckett gripped his cock and angled it toward Ari.

The damn man grinned. “Roll over.”

Beckett panted as he tried to comprehend what Ari had said. Without waiting, Ari helped him to his stomach and pulled his ass up into the air. A long finger slipped between his cheeks as Ari continued to explore Beckett’s body.

“I can’t take much more.” Beckett clutched the pillow in front of him. “Fuck me.”

Instead, Ari spread Beckett’s cheeks and the wet tip of his tongue pressed against the tight little hole. His balls ached, tightening as Ari continued his teasing. He slid his tongue up, then down, lightly pressing the tip against the opening. Beckett closed his eyes, teetering on the edge of pleasure. That warm, wet tongue moved lower sucking his aching balls again and Beckett saw stars. His entire body tensed as his orgasm poured through him, pleasure so intense that he shook from it. Ari reached around and fisted Beckett’s cock, stroking with hard and fast pulls as his orgasm slowly subsided.

Beckett collapsed against the mattress, his entire body spent. He could die now, and he’d still be one fucking happy man.

“Don’t even think about going to sleep.” Ari scraped his teeth along Beckett’s firm ass before lightly smacking it. “We’re nowhere near done.”