STORY EXCERPT

“I’ve brought some bandages.” The man who had offered out his lap for Quintus was back with a basket full of items.

McBride nodded and then looked down at Quintus. “This might be easier without your pants on.”

For a moment, Quintus thought McBride was going to bend over and help him remove his pants, but he turned and went into the bathroom. After a moment, he was back with a crimson towel.

“To protect the bed.” McBride slid that under his leg and then assisted him in sliding his trousers down.

Quintus felt oddly vulnerable to be wearing his ripped shirt and clinging underwear in front of two men he really didn’t know. The only saving grace was that his underwear wasn’t all tattered like everything else he was wearing. When he looked up, he discovered that both McBride and the slammer were looking at him, but there was a marked difference in how they were looking at him. McBride was staring intently at the wound, his gaze seeming to assess it, while the slammer—damn that he didn’t know his name—was considering the wound, but he was also darting surreptitious glances along Quintus’s entire body.

Feeling oddly vindicated that the slammer’s interest in him went beyond merely tending to his injuries, Quintus acknowledged a perverse kind of reciprocated interest. The slammer was tall and very strong. His black hair was short and shiny, his brown eyes wide and somehow innocent. Something about him interested Quintus, but he wasn’t certain exactly what. He was handsome, there was that, but there was something beyond the outer display. Something inside, a hidden element, that was calling to him in far stronger terms. Their little verbal tussle in the back of the cart came back to Quintus. The slammer had bristled at Quintus’s comments about the situation with his brother and Jonas. What Quintus hadn’t explained was that he wasn’t shocked about a landed gentryman selecting a slammer as a mate. Not at all. Even before the world changed so drastically, Quintus imagined there were plenty of gentrymen who had inappropriate relations with their slammers. What had surprised Quintus was that McBride had not only condoned the relationship but helped the wayward lovers be together by offering them the protection of his name and his home.

“Go ahead, Renner.” McBride nodded to Quintus’s leg.

Renner. Quintus echoed the name in his mind. It was a good name. Powerful and fitting to the strength the man possessed. It matched his dark good looks yet also seemed to work with that vulnerable sweetness in the man’s gaze. Quintus realized he was staring at him, so he dropped his attention to his leg. After a very brief look at the bloody mess, he looked away. Even as a child he’d been squeamish about his own wounds but utterly fascinated by everyone else’s. Clearly, he had some disrupted circuit in his brain. A blood-saturated crime scene didn’t bother him in the least, but he grew nauseous when he nicked himself shaving.

Renner knelt down and carefully inspected Quintus’s wound. He touched lightly around the area while Quintus kept his attention on the ceiling.

“You deal with blood every day.” McBride leaned into Quintus’s line of sight.

“Not my own.”

“Ah.” McBride moved back, and after a moment Quintus realized he was kneeling down by Renner because he could feel McBride’s breath against the hairs of his leg. “Is it broken?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s a relief.”

“This might hurt,” Renner said right before pressed a wet cloth against the wound.

Quintus grit his teeth not to cry out. He wasn’t entirely successful.

“Can we give him anything for the pain?” McBride was standing again, clearly intent on getting whatever Renner needed.

“Ask the butler if we have something.” Renner rose up so he could look at Quintus. “Are you a drinking man?”

Taken aback by the question, Quintus shrugged. “No more than any other, I suppose.”

“I was thinking a shot or two might relax you.”

“Oh. Right.” Quintus nodded. “Whisky if you have it.”

“On my way.” McBride was off, clearly pleased to have something to do.

Renner returned to his kneeling position by the bed. He held the cloth over the wound, which made Quintus brave enough to look down. After seeing Renner’s tanned hand against the white cloth, Quintus looked up into his eyes.

There was a moment of perfect awareness where it seemed to him they were destined to come together in some way. Quintus lowered his gaze to Renner’s neck. Since his shirt was opened around the collar, his bronzed neck was almost fully exposed. A vein pulsed below his skin. Sweat had captured some of the black dust, making him seem harder than he was, but it didn’t dissuade Quintus. He wanted to bite him and taste the salt of his sweat mixed with the bits of dirt and then the rich hot gush of his blood. Even though he knew this slammer was McBride’s and McBride’s mark was on Renner’s neck, there wasn’t anything marring his skin on the side Quintus was looking at. In his mind, he could pretend Renner was untouched and begging for his first bite.

In a dual wave, Quintus’s teeth extended and so did his cock. There was no question in his mind that Renner noticed because he blushed lightly.

“Do you want to feed?”

ADULT EXCERPT

Leaving off his scar, Quintus slipped his finger below Renner’s chin, urging him to lift his face until they were looking into each other’s eyes. He held him there for a timeless moment that he was loathe to break. He wanted to just stop time so he could memorize every smooth and rough line of Renner’s expressive face. His brown eyes were wide, innocent, and yet almost desperately hungry. His mouth trembled with a confusing mix of lust and fear. But it was the way his breath caught, and then he’d make an almost-imperceptible whimper deep in his chest. That was what pushed at Quintus to command him. Just as slammers were conditioned to submit, Quintus had to acknowledge that he was driven to take control.

Unable to resist, Quintus lifted him up until he was pressed against him and their lips were so close and yet so far. Holding him there, Quintus closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, smelling and tasting Renner before he ultimately lowered his mouth and covered Renner’s.

As soon as the contact came, Quintus was assured that his attraction was reciprocated. Renner surrendered against him, leaning up, moving closer so that he was pressing against Quintus’s bare chest. Smoothing his hand down his neck, forgoing the scar, Quintus got to work unbuttoning Renner’s shirt.

Renner pressed his hand against Quintus’s as if he would stop him, but his resolve faltered and he groaned. In the end, he helped to strip the garment away. As soon as it was gone, they were chest to chest. The shock of his hot flesh stunned Quintus. He couldn’t recall anything ever feeling as good as this man. He wanted to taste him again, but more importantly, he wanted to know him.

“Tell me what you dream of.”

“What?” Renner met his gaze, puzzled but obviously willing to please.

“What’s your fondest dream?”

“I want you.”

The comment hung in the air between them, true and stunning.

“I want you, too.” Quintus urged him close for another kiss, but Renner lowered his head.

“We shouldn’t.”

“Why?” Quintus placed his fingertip upon the scar again, but he only held it there. He didn’t think it was fair to cloud Renner’s judgment with lust.

“Because you’re promised to another.”

“I never promised McBride anything.”

“No?” Hope flared in Renner’s eyes.

“No. I thought he asked me here because we work together. Nothing more.”

“You don’t want him?” Renner seemed utterly shocked by the very idea of anyone not wanting his powerful master.

“He’s handsome, strong, and I’m sure he would be a good provider.” Quintus’s words only slumped Renner’s shoulders. “But I find that I want you.”

Up came Renner’s head, his eyes so full of yearning it was positively striking.

“But it’s illegal.”

“Not anymore.” Quintus stroked lightly over the scar then lowered his hand to Renner’s shoulder. His muscles strained under his touch, and Quintus realized it wasn’t just his teasing of the scar that aroused Renner. Simply placing his hand on his shoulder was erotic torment. “Everything has changed.”

Renner frowned and looked away.

“Should your brother and the gentryman he’s with be locked up?”

“No.” Renner’s frown deepened.

“Then why is it any different for you and me?”

Rather than answer, Renner rose up and pressed his lips against Quintus’s. A surge of need made Quintus grasp Renner’s buttocks and pull him tight. He felt incredibly strong. Using his massive body for balance, Quintus moved closer to the edge of the bed, grinding their bodies together. All that stood between his cock and Renner’s chest was the thin fabric of his underwear.

Clearly hungry for more, Renner rose up so that more of their bodies were pressed together. Groaning and grasping, they were like wild animals writhing against one another, seeking release. Quintus shoved his hand between their bodies and fumbled with Renner’s trousers, pushing them off once he got the fastener open. Renner matched him when he struggled to push Quintus’s underwear down.

When he wasn’t able to get them out of the way, he broke the kiss and pulled back. Quintus lifted up to assist him in pulling the garment down, but Renner yanked the fabric out of the way then wrapped his lips around Quintus’s cock.

A cry of surprise broke free against his best efforts to suppress it. Quintus had wondered what it would feel like to have another man take his prick in his mouth, but all the imaginings in the world didn’t come close to the slick heat of Renner’s mouth. The shock of pleasure was so great, Quintus feared he would release without fully experiencing the moment. As if he sensed his urge to climax, Renner backed off. He didn’t stop working his mouth on Quintus’s cock. He just eased back on the intensity.

When Renner reached up and stroked his hands over Quintus’s nipples, he settled back on the bed, lost in the feelings that Renner evoked. He was beautiful in his passion, eager and hungry to give Quintus pleasure. It was as if he’d been holding back his entire life and was suddenly set free.

With great care, Renner rose up, letting off Quintus’s cock while he pulled his underwear down and off. As he tugged them past the injury on Quintus’s leg, he gently kissed over the top of the bandage. It was an island of compassion in their sea of raw passion. Even though Renner was clearly hungry for sex, he hadn’t lost sight of his need to tend to Quintus’s injury.