STORY EXCERPT

“I need you to do the side dishes for these steaks.” Gus waved at the counter. “Get some veggies in a pot for me.”

Shane saluted him. “I’m all yours until the handyman shows up,” he said. “I’m supposed to give him a tour and go over Morgan’s list with him.”

Gus snorted as he started stirring the pot again. “And how long is Morgan’s list?”

“I think Santa’s is shorter.” Shane went into the enormous pantry and retrieved industrial-sized cans of vegetables and brought them to the large chrome worktable that sat in the middle of the kitchen. He used the old-fashioned hand crank to open the first can.

Fuck, why on earth hadn’t they invested in an electric one? Shane was straining muscles he didn’t even know he had, and he was a goddamn bear shifter, for crying out loud.

Maybe he did need to get out and exercise more often, but with the weather turning for the worst, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Like until spring was in full bloom, and maybe not even then.

“You gave me the hard stuff to do, shorty.” Shane was breaking a sweat, and he was only halfway through opening the can. “You did this on purpose.”

“Maybe now someone will tell Morgan I need an updated can opener,” Gus said. “He shouldn’t be so cheap.”

Shane agreed. It had been Caleb who’d bought the stove Gus was cooking on. What had Morgan done with the line of credit besides finally hiring a handyman and having the boiler room fixed? Not a damn thing. Scrooge was sitting on his pile of gold coins. The least he could do was update Gus’s kitchen equipment and buy new microwaves for the rooms that needed theirs replaced.

“Mr. Damiani is here,” Morgan said as he strode into the kitchen. “I need you to set him up in his quarters before giving him the tour.”

Shane threw the piece-of-crap can opener onto the counter. “Open that can and tell me Gus doesn’t need an electric one.”

Morgan furrowed his brows as he moved to the counter and picked it up, turning it over in his hand. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Seriously?” Shane widened his eyes. “That thing has been around since Moses parted the Red Sea.”

Morgan set the opener down. “It’s been working so far.”

“Jeez.” Shane rolled his eyes before looking at Gus. “I’ll buy you a new one since Scrooge doesn’t want to open his change purse.” He glared at his brother. “And I’m billing it to the hotel.”

Shane walked out of the kitchen and headed toward the lobby. When he spotted the stranger standing by the cushioned chairs at the big bay window, his heart did a somersault.

“Holy Christ on a Ritz cracker,” he murmured. He had to do a double take at the stud with brownish-blond hair, a lean body to die for, and…shit, the guy had killer blue eyes that made Shane’s jeans a little tighter.

“You must be Shane.” The guy stuck out his hand. “I’m Kieran Damiani. But you can call me Kieran.”

Can I call you a god? Shane slid his hand into Kieran’s, and instead of shaking it, he kissed the knuckles. “This is all my pleasure.”

Kieran cleared his throat, looking a bit uneasy as he eased his hand from Shane. “I’m here for a job, not to get hit on.”

Caleb will skin you alive if he catches you flirting. You’ll have to do twenty more hours online with that sexual harassment course. “Right.” Shane nodded but couldn’t stop his gaze from roaming over the Italian stud. Fuck me. He’s the hottest thing that’s ever stepped foot in this place. “I’ll show you to your room.”

“After the tour, I’ll gather my things from my truck and get settled in, and then start on the list Morgan said you had.”

Shane looked toward the front counter. Morgan hadn’t given him a list. “I’ll be right back.”

He hurried to the counter, hoping Kieran was checking out his ass. “I need the list.”

Caleb eyed him. “Why do you look so flushed?”

“Didn’t you just see me run over here?” Shane asked. It wasn’t as though he could admit that Kieran had that kind of effect on him. “Exercise’ll do that to you.”

“You ran twenty feet.”

“Twenty long feet, and what’s with the interrogation? Just give me Morgan’s list.”

Caleb reached under the counter and came back with a ream of copy paper.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Shane took the stack from Caleb and flipped through it. “Morgan has officially lost his mind.”

Caleb gave him his back. Walking slowly this time, Shane strode back to Kieran. “Here it is.”

A frown puckered between Kieran’s eyes. “That’s a novel.”

“I think Morgan is a frustrated writer.” Shane handed it over. No joke. There had to be at least forty pages, maybe more. Shane wouldn’t put it past Morgan to have inspected every single inch of Honey Haven and written down everything from leaking faucets to scrapes on the wall. “Let me show you your room so you can drop that book off.”

Too bad Shane couldn’t walk a few steps behind so he could check out Kieran’s ass. He took the handyman to one of the empty staff rooms.

“It’s not fancy,” Shane said as he opened the door and stepped inside. “But you can fix it up however you want, you know, add your own personal touches to it.”

“Bare minimum is fine.” Kieran wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Shane had expected him to ask at least a dozen questions by now—such as how big the hotel was, did he have his own workroom, could they have sex before the tour got started—but the guy was one of those quiet types. Or it could be the fact that Shane was outspoken and expected everyone else to be the same. Quiet people made him nervous because he never knew what they were thinking.

Kieran set the stack of papers on the dresser. “Okay, you can show me around.”

Shane forced his cock to behave as he led Kieran from the room and started the tour with the functional mute beside him.

ADULT EXCERPT

Shane was seated on Kieran’s bed, using the remote to flip through channels. When Kieran exited the bathroom, Shane looked up, and then his eyes widened.

“Forgot my clothes.” Kieran rummaged through his drawers but felt Shane’s gaze on him the entire time. He wasn’t unaffected by Shane’s staring, either. Kieran’s cock twitched under the towel as he reminded himself that this was just a feeding, nothing more.

Shane slid from the bed and padded over to him. The guy’s closeness was testing Kieran’s resolve not to touch the shifter. What was it about Shane that made Kieran’s stomach do somersaults? Why did his heart beat faster whenever the man was around? The guy was good-looking, but Kieran had been around a lot of handsome men before, and he’d always been able to maintain self-control.

But with Shane, Kieran had to fight the urge to drop his towel and bend the guy over a flat surface. He curled his fingers around a pair of underwear, strangling them as he tried to steady his breathing.

“I know you want me out of your room, so we can hurry this up.”

Shane stood too damn close. Kieran felt his body heat scorching his skin. His fangs descended before Kieran could stop them. His cock hardened, and if he strangled the pair of underwear any harder, he’d shred them.

Kieran closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, telling himself not to turn around, to tell Shane this was a mistake, and to ask the guy to leave. But he didn’t have that kind of willpower. His heart might feel broken, but his body didn’t care. It wanted Shane in the worst way.

“You already admitted that you can’t control yourself around me.” Shane shoved his wrist close to Kieran’s mouth. “Stop fighting it and take what you need. Just don’t kill me in the process.”

“You’re giving me a lot of trust.” With Shane’s wrist so close, Kieran’s hunger intensified. “You should be more careful who you offer yourself to.”

Shane pushed his wrist even closer. Kieran’s throat grew tight as his body coiled. Instead of taking Shane’s wrist, Kieran spun and grabbed the shifter, pulling him close as their lips collided. He feared he was being too rough with Shane, but Shane grabbed Kieran’s biceps and clung to him as their tongues tangled and Kieran walked them toward the bed.

Kieran wasn’t sure if he would regret this later, but right now, at this very moment, all he could think about was burying himself in Shane’s body as he drank from his jugular.

As they moved backward, Shane stripped out of his clothing, their lips parting just long enough for Shane to get his shirt over his head. They fell backward, landing on the mattress, their limbs tangled as their lips sucked at each other’s mouths.

Clearly Kieran wasn’t the only one who was hungry, but Shane craved his body while Kieran craved both body and blood. He yanked the towel from around his waist and tossed it aside as Shane worked his pants and underwear off.

Their bare skin touched, and Kieran hissed at how good it felt to have someone beneath him, to feel hard muscles writhing against him as Shane tried to get impossibly closer. Their cocks brushed against the other, sending ripples of pleasure through Kieran.

You need to stop. Regardless of what Shane said, he’s still your boss. But Kieran couldn’t stop now even if he tried. He felt as though he’d burst into flames if he didn’t get inside Shane.

“Tell me you have some lube,” Shane said against his lips. “Or anything you can use.”

While keeping his lips pressed against Shane’s throat, Kieran reached under his pillow and produced the bottle. Shane grinned against his mouth as Kieran wet his fingers, settled them between Shane’s legs, and then slowly pushed into his hot, tight body.

Shane groaned as uneven pants burst from his throat. He spread his legs as he lowered himself to his back, raising his arms above his head as he closed his eyes.

Damn if he wasn’t a gorgeous sight to behold. The raw pleasure that spread across his face was mesmerizing as Kieran stretched his soon-to-be lover. Shane lowered his right arm and wrapped his fist around his cock, stroking himself and making Kieran hiss at the erotic sight.

“I don’t know if I can hold out much longer.” Shane’s eyelids fluttered open as his canines descended. “I need you inside me.”

Kieran lubed his cock, moved forward on his knees, and lined himself up to Shane’s slicked hole. “Then I’ll be inside you.”

They both sucked in a breath as Kieran drove deep inside Shane’s ass. But Kieran didn’t stop. He was too wound up, too thirsty, and too needy to take things slow. Shane’s body wrapped around his cock felt fucking amazing, but it was Shane’s jugular that Kieran was concentrating on. He watched every single beat, smelled the nectar as he drove his cock deep inside Shane, and he wouldn’t be able to think about anything else until he quenched his thirst.

“Do it,” Shane said. “Bite me.”

Kieran licked his lips, hesitating for only a second before he sank his fangs into Shane’s neck.

“Oh fuck!” Shane arched his back as he grabbed Kieran’s hair, pulling the strands in a strangled grip as Kieran drank his fill, the ambrosia coating his throat on its way down.

As soon as he pulled his fangs free and licked the pinpricks closed, Shane attacked, sinking his canines into Kieran’s shoulder.

Kieran cursed, slamming his cock into Shane’s ass repeatedly as he felt something move inside him. He felt a connection to Shane unlike anything he’d ever experienced with anyone else. It was as though their souls had merged, and then it struck Kieran, the impact like being slammed into a brick wall.

They were mates.