STORY EXCERPT

“What did you want to talk about?” James asked. Talk wasn’t a word he cared for, but with Mitch, talk could easily mean something was bothering him. Often, it did, and it had nothing to do with their relationship to date.

Mitch’s smile failed slightly before he picked it back up. He didn’t answer, choosing food over this needed talk.

James’s stomach tilted, on the verge of a full capsize. He forced himself to eat his pulled pork sandwich, trying to keep the air light against the sudden heaviness bearing down on his shoulders.

“Baby.”

Mitch picked a piece of pork from his sandwich, letting it drop into the bottom of the container. James forced the mouthful of food down his constricting throat and laid the rest of the sandwich down.

“Oh, it was nothing really.” Mitch laughed, but the sound was strained. James managed to smile even if it hurt his face. “Some lady was eyeing me so I picked at my ass in hopes of turning her off. I wish I caught her reaction.”

Why were subtle warning bells going off in his head? This story was nothing out of the ordinary for Mitch. The man always had eyes on him. Hell, he was beautiful. Sure, maybe it stoked James’s jealousy a little, but in the end, he knew better than to let it get out of control. Mitch was the epitome of introverted. Whether he became that way because of his injuries or if he’d always been that way remained to be seen. Mitch didn’t speak with anyone other than James and Emery. He refused to come to the employee lounge at night to shoot pool or play cards.

Mitch was private, a world James had become privy to.

Then why does something feel off?

“That’s better than you busting your ass on a ladder trying to unclog a gutter like that one time.”

“Very true.”

James often wondered why management placed Mitch on maintenance duty when it was clear the man didn’t have much experience with maintaining buildings. Then again, everything surrounding Mitch’s arrival on Sinn was unconventional. He still couldn’t remember what happened to land him in the water without clothing and looking like he’d just been beaten in a dark alley, or anything from his previous life. Josephine had explained about trauma and amnesia. There was a chance Mitch’s memories would return with time, but there was also a chance that time would be permanently lost to his lover.

“Is there something else bothering you?” James asked. He’d learned never to press a subject that he might not be happy to unravel. When it came to Mitch, though, he wanted to know. He wanted to be a part of his lover’s problems, the part that helped him through his difficulties.

Mitch’s lips twitched. “I-I don’t know.” He frowned, looking across the table at James. “If I figure it out, I’ll tell you. I promise.”

“Okay.” James offered him a reassuring smile, even if he felt the effects of red-hot pokers stabbing into his gut. “I’m here for you. Always.”

“My life saver and guardian angel.” Mitch pushed to his feet and circled the table. James sat back and Mitch fell into his lap, loping his arms around James’s neck. Nuzzling his nose to James’s cheek, he murmured, “I know I can rely on you.” A soft kiss to his jaw. “I know I can trust you.”

“Yes, baby. You can.”

And yet, that nagging warning signal wouldn’t release its grip on James’s conscious.

Worried over nothing. Of course things won’t seem perfectly normal. He doesn’t remember much before I found him.

Wrapping his arms around Mitch’s waist and holding him tight, he smiled. Despite all the things that didn’t quite fit, many of which were out of Mitch’s control, one thing was for certain.

James had fallen in love with the washed-up maintenance man during their first week together.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Damn it.” James hissed, drawing his fingertips down Mitch’s back, pressing into his skin and making the man arch. A fierce shudder claimed his lover, followed by a long, delighted moan. “That’s right, baby. You love sensation. I’ve learned that.”

But thirty minutes wasn’t enough to play the way James wanted to play.

“I’ll save the good stuff for later. For now…” James lifted Mitch off his feet. The man locked his ankles behind his back and started nibbling along James’s neck, unleashing wave after wave of warm chills down his spine. His cock jerked against Mitch’s heavy-hanging sac. “Aw, hell. I can’t think when you do that.”

“There is no thinking.” Mitch licked the side of his throat and lifted those warm blue eyes to James. James’s heart cinched. The blood in his veins rushed, weakening and heating him. Mitch caused a visceral reaction that always started in his chest, spreading outward to his lung until breathing became a chore, down to his gut that would surrender to a mass of fluttering butterflies, and through his legs. “This is beyond thought.”

“Yes.”

James tipped his head, exposing the neglected side of his neck as Mitch leaned over and ravaged every inch with suckles and nips, playful licks and kisses. God, he could take him here, like this, if his lube wasn’t across the room on the nightstand. Mitch rocked, however subtle, but the gentle slide of his dick over the rippled muscles of James’s stomach had him seeping from his slit.

He couldn’t wait to fit himself inside his lover’s ass and make him come while crying out his name.

James shuffled over to the bed and eased Mitch onto the mattress, but Mitch didn’t unlatch his legs from James’s waist.

“Come here, James.”

James growled, the sound raw and primitive in his chest. He slid his palms along Mitch’s thighs, the hairs like silk against his fingers. “I want to bury myself inside you, baby.”

“I want to play a little first.”

He couldn’t help the grin that came over his mouth. He ran one hand along the underside of Mitch’s cock, paying attention to the sensitive glans that had his lover’s eyes rolling back.

“Interesting.” James smeared the pre-cum dribbling from Mitch’s tip along his shaft with a few slow, steady pumps. As soon as Mitch tried to thrust his dick through his fist, James stopped, circling his hips to grab Mitch’s fine ass. He spread the man’s flesh and slid his throbbing cock along his lover’s crack. “So do I.”

“Mmm, you know just how to tease me.”

“I know a lot of ways to tease you, baby. I’ll remind you later on when I’m off shift.” A sharp breath fled James’s lips as he slid through his crack again. “We keep going like this, I’m gonna bust without the help of your tight ass squeezing my dick.”

“You have a way with words,” Mitch said with a husky laugh. “Ahh, you know what?”

“You’re ridiculously sexy with your hips in the air and your dick glistening with juice?” James licked his lips. Speaking of juicy dick, he wouldn’t mind if he had a quick taste. “I already knew that.”

He peeled Mitch’s legs from his hips and pushed him deeper into the bed. Mitch rose to his elbows, his blond brows lifting.

“James—“

James sucked the tip of Mitch’s cock between his lips, turning his gaze up to meet his lover’s. The sensual haze that fell over his eyes urged James on. He fisted Mitch at the root as he took him to the back of his throat, savoring the rich, earthy flavor as it soaked over his tongue and assaulted every sense, every thought. A beautiful pink hue brushed over Mitch’s cheeks. He chewed his lower lip, a cute motion James loved to watch.

“Sexy, sinful man you are.” Mitch practically purred the words, pushing his hips off the bed. James opened his throat and took the extra length, then taunted his lover with short, subtle pumps of his mouth. Mitch dropped onto his back and moaned, his knees falling open. “That’s sweet, James. So damn sweet.”

James came off his cock, his fist resuming the motion of his mouth as he dipped his head and graced Mitch’s sac with light, airy kisses and quick licks. His lover jerked.

“Damn you, James. You know that drives me crazy.”

“I know a few ways to drive you crazy.” James gently suckled one testicle into his mouth. A flood of juice drizzled from Mitch’s cockhead, coating his fingers in fresh lube. The man writhed against the blanket, fucking his fist until James settled his weight between his lover’s legs and pinned his hip to the mattress with his free hand.

“Ohh.” The sound of breath sieving between clenched teeth filled his ears, followed by a loud hiss. “Dear god, James! It’s torture. Damn delightful torture! Ahhh.”

James shifted to the other half of Mitch’s sac and delivered another dose of delightful torture until his cute man was thrashing, tugging the blanket around his head.