STORY EXCERPT

When Odin got off the phone with his brother, he could hardly believe what he just heard.

Joshua would be coming here. His brother had done it. Karloff had convinced his mate to come home.

Odin threaded his fingers together and stared at the phone.

And all he could wonder was how would he convince Noah of the same thing?

“Is everything all right?”

Odin glanced up. Noah stood right there, just by the door. His hands were folded in front of him. He stood at attention, dark sunglasses hiding the look of his eyes. The earpiece made the whole getup that much more real.

It was a reminder that Odin was not allowed to touch.

This man was here to do a job. And that job had nothing to do with getting in bed with the man he was supposed to be protecting.

Yet somehow his younger brother managed to do just that with his own bodyguard.

Which meant Odin was definitely a coward.

Karloff had made his move, so why couldn’t Odin?

Even with the sunglasses on, the way Noah looked at him suggested he knew something was up.

“Your Highness?”

Odin shook his head. If he didn’t say something soon, the other man might assume that there was a problem.

If there was ever a problem with a prince, then it usually meant more people in suits, cars with flashing lights, and a whole lot of people with cameras.

Odin would rather avoid that.

“I’m fine, just thinking.”

Again, the other man looked at him in a way that suggested he wasn’t buying it.

“Are you sure about that?”

Odin cleared his throat. He could only look at him for so long before it became painful, so he went back to staring down at his phone.

As if that would hold all the answers he wanted. As if it would tell him the secret Karloff had gone and used on Joshua to make him come home.

Well, not necessarily come home. Karloff had sounded happy over the phone, full of hope and brimming with energy.

He had sounded that way since an assassin tried to kill him in the tunnels of the house where they lived.

It was for that reason Odin thought that his brother had made more real progress. Though he had said there was a lot of talking the pair of them needed to do, Karloff had also made it clear that he would be doing a lot of that talking at Joshua’s apartment.

If that didn’t sound like commitment, if that wasn’t two people coming to an understanding, then Odin didn’t know what was.

So if his brother could convince his former bodyguard of the impossible, why couldn’t Odin do the same with Noah?

He looked at the other man. It was only the two of them in here. Odin had stayed in his own bedroom after the attack. After all, he wasn’t the one whose room had been broken into by an assassin. So what reason was there for him to move around into another space?

“Can I ask you something?”

Noah adjusted his stance. “Of course.”

Odin took in a deep breath. “What do you think about what happened to your friend?”

Noah seemed confused. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Joshua?”

Of course he was. Who else was there?

Noah seemed to take that as his answer. He looked away. “Right, should have been obvious. Shouldn’t it?”

Odin went back to staring at his phone. “Sometimes…I’m not so sure about you.”

“Sure?”

Odin shook his head. “Don’t worry, your job isn’t in any danger. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Noah, ever the professional, said nothing. Odin wasn’t sure if that meant the other man was accepting what he said or just refusing to demand answers from the brother of the king.

Odin’s older brother, the new king of dragons, had insisted that his two younger brothers be given their own personal bodyguard. No longer just a casual security team who followed at a distance. No. Noah was meant to always be in sight of Odin, even when he was in the bathroom, taking a shower, getting all sorts of personal business out of the way.

Which was humiliating as fuck.

The shifts were long. Considering Noah was a human, Odin had no idea how the man managed to always be awake when Odin woke up, and how he could remain so stoic when Odin finally went to sleep.

Obviously the human slept. He had his own room in the mansion. One that was right next to Odin’s. Other members of the staff took over during those few times when Odin had to be away from him.

Odin assumed those were for going to the restroom, or even eating, but again, those almost never seemed to happen.

For Karloff, he had been the one to fight against the idea of having a personal guard the hardest. He’d been insulted, calling it a glorified babysitter.

Odin wasn’t so sure he was wrong.

But he’d been more willing to accept it after the incident.

His mother, father, and younger sister had been killed in a car wreck not so long ago. The wound was still fresh, as was the fear that someone might have purposely done that to them.

Then, months later, Karloff had been determined to get Odin to open up, to stop being so depressed. To smile.

So he’d brought Odin into the city, to party, to get drunk, get laid, and it had been nice. Odin had managed to forget for a while.

Until the next morning when he woke up, discovering from a member of the hotel staff there was a dead body in his brother’s room.

That same cold, merciless fear that gripped him when he found out about his parents and sister had taken hold again, but this time, his prayers were answered.

Not his brother. Karloff had stumbled into a different room. He’d been getting drunk with so many different people that why wouldn’t there have been some complication like that?

The man in his room, however, turned out to be a dragon-hunting preppy. The sort of person who “hunted” dragons in order to sleep with them, be seen with them, and gain popularity by being around them.

Poor bastard had probably thought it would make great headlines to be found in Karloff’s bed or to be seen sneaking out of his room the next day.

Instead, someone had been hunting Karloff, not ironically, and he’d gotten in the way.

Odin’s older brother, the new king, had freaked out, and now Noah was here. Watching over Odin.

Protecting him.

Having no idea the perverted thoughts that raced through Odin’s head whenever he thought of the other man.

Karloff believed his bodyguard was his mate, and he’d had many arguments with King Gungir about it.

And now Karloff was in a relationship with the man. Regardless of what their brother thought.

Odin wasn’t that brave. Noah was handsome, but he was stoic, just doing his job. He probably didn’t want Odin back.

ADULT EXCERPT

Pushing the other man toward the bed, the oversized king bed, Noah was about to give up his well-paying job, and his career, for a quick fuck.

And that animal side of his brain that looked at Odin and pronounced the man to belong to him absolutely didn’t give a shit.

He fell on top of Odin. Shocked air whooshed from Odin’s mouth. His cheeks were flushed, and Noah swore he’d never seen a man more handsome.

No, not handsome. Gorgeous, he decided.

That was the word for it.

“You should smile more,” Noah said, unable to help himself.

He was about to fuck the prince of dragons. He might as well speak plainly with him.

Odin blinked. “Why?”

“You have to ask?” Noah touched his cheek. “You look handsome when you smile. You look…alive.”

Odin’s cheeks flushed even deeper this time, but then he looked away, a shy smile curving at his lips. “You…you really think so?”

“I know so.” Noah kissed him again, softer this time, pulling back. “Smile more. I like it when you do.”

Again with that shy expression on his face, but Odin kept on smiling through the blushing, and he nodded. “All right.”

Satisfied, Noah kissed him again.

He liked kissing this man. He liked this man. A lot. So much that it should be criminal.

Hell, maybe it was. Was there a law that said it was illegal for a member of staff, someone contracted to protect the royal family, to get into bed with them and have a sexual relationship?

Noah wasn’t sure if that existed, but if it didn’t, it seemed as though it should.

Whatever. He needed to do this before he suddenly thought better of it and changed his mind.

As Odin curled his leg around Noah’s thighs, the prince made it difficult for him to see anything other than the benefits of this.

Noah pulled back just enough to begin unbuttoning Odin’s shirt, but even then, he barely put any space between their bodies. He couldn’t do it. He needed Odin’s heat, even if it made getting the man naked a little more complicated than it should have been.

“I want you to fuck me. I need you,” Odin begged.

Noah nodded, not saying another word in case he gave too much of himself away.

He knew it. He knew the pain, and baby, he wanted it, too.

Getting Odin’s shirt open, Noah attacked the man’s chest with his mouth. He kissed and licked at Odin’s nipples, using just a touch of his teeth on them, and he loved the way Odin shivered. The way Odin grabbed at Noah’s hair, trying to grasp at his too-short hair as he moaned.

Too loud.

Noah reached a hand up, quickly covering Odin’s mouth.

Odin looked down at him, shock in his eyes, but the noise stopped, despite the pleasured flush on his cheeks, neck, and face.

“Make too much noise, and the others will come running in here.”

That should have been reason enough to stop, not to simply slow down and keep quiet.

“Understand?”

Noah pulled his hand away from Odin’s mouth as the man nodded his understanding, and he was pleased.

And relieved.

If he was going to get fired from what was meant to be a cushy paying position, he at least wanted to make sure he got the sex out of it first.

Otherwise, he figured he was sort of betraying the point.

“I’ve thought about this since the first time I saw you,” Odin confessed.

That threw him off a little.

“You have?”

Odin nodded, biting down on his lower lip. His kiss-swollen lower lip.

“Yeah.”

God. Why was it that everything this man happened to be doing turned out to be so sexy? He didn’t even look as though he were trying.

But now was not the time to get sentimental. Or to hesitate.

Noah put his focus onto Odin’s belt.

“Well, thanks for that.”

That was so incredibly lame, and stupid.

Really? Odin confessed something as personal as that, and the only thing Noah could say to it is a quick thanks?

Odin looked at him as though it confused him, too, but there was nothing that could be done about it.

Onward, as the saying went.

Noah tried to erase his stupid words with more kissing.

Every kiss was another taste of Odin’s skin that needed to be mapped to his memory. Every small lick that made the prince moan and shiver brought Noah as much pleasure as though he were the one this was happening to.

And hopefully, distracting Odin from Noah putting his foot in his mouth.

Odin kept his moans low. He put his hands over his mouth, as though to ensure that no one would hear him from the other side of the door. Everything else, as Noah worked his way down, gently easing the elastic band of his underwear down, freeing his cock, was silent squirming and lovely thrusting.

Odin had a beautiful cock.

Despite being in the bathroom when Odin had been in the bath or shower, he’d never seen it.

Noah had managed to pull that much control forward to keep it from happening, though he had seen the man’s ass from the corner of his eyes.

That had been a little more difficult to look the other way on, so there was nothing he could do about that.

His cock, however, was a thing of beauty.

Curved, strong, throbbing warmly in Noah’s hand.

He was as long as Noah was, but not as thick.

Uncut, too. Noah liked that. He didn’t like it when his partners had been cut, so this was a nice surprise.

Odin moaned through his hands as Noah stroked him, gently teasing him from root to tip.

“You like that?”

Odin nodded from behind his hands, his eyes screwed tightly shut as he thrust into Noah’s fist.

He looked so helpless. Ready to be pleasured. To give everything of himself over to Noah in an instant.

And Noah wanted to give him that.

And he also wanted to know what Odin’s dick would taste like in his mouth.

So he leaned in, darting his tongue out, licking at the side of his cock head before sliding his way to the tip for a drop of precum had already formed.

Salty, a little bitter. Noah wanted to laugh.

It seemed that even in the middle of his lusty fantasies, there were some things that remained universal.

No matter how romantic Noah made this in his head, there were some tastes that were less than ideal.

Didn’t mean he wanted it any less, however.

“Don’t stop,” Odin whispered, looking down at Noah, and what a sight he made.

Pants and underwear down around his thighs, shirt wide open, face flushed, and looking at Noah as though he were holding Odin’s beating heart in his hand, instead of simply his throbbing cock.

“Please, don’t stop.”

“I won’t.”

STORY EXCERPT

When Odin got off the phone with his brother, he could hardly believe what he just heard.

Joshua would be coming here. His brother had done it. Karloff had convinced his mate to come home.

Odin threaded his fingers together and stared at the phone.

And all he could wonder was how would he convince Noah of the same thing?

“Is everything all right?”

Odin glanced up. Noah stood right there, just by the door. His hands were folded in front of him. He stood at attention, dark sunglasses hiding the look of his eyes. The earpiece made the whole getup that much more real.

It was a reminder that Odin was not allowed to touch.

This man was here to do a job. And that job had nothing to do with getting in bed with the man he was supposed to be protecting.

Yet somehow his younger brother managed to do just that with his own bodyguard.

Which meant Odin was definitely a coward.

Karloff had made his move, so why couldn’t Odin?

Even with the sunglasses on, the way Noah looked at him suggested he knew something was up.

“Your Highness?”

Odin shook his head. If he didn’t say something soon, the other man might assume that there was a problem.

If there was ever a problem with a prince, then it usually meant more people in suits, cars with flashing lights, and a whole lot of people with cameras.

Odin would rather avoid that.

“I’m fine, just thinking.”

Again, the other man looked at him in a way that suggested he wasn’t buying it.

“Are you sure about that?”

Odin cleared his throat. He could only look at him for so long before it became painful, so he went back to staring down at his phone.

As if that would hold all the answers he wanted. As if it would tell him the secret Karloff had gone and used on Joshua to make him come home.

Well, not necessarily come home. Karloff had sounded happy over the phone, full of hope and brimming with energy.

He had sounded that way since an assassin tried to kill him in the tunnels of the house where they lived.

It was for that reason Odin thought that his brother had made more real progress. Though he had said there was a lot of talking the pair of them needed to do, Karloff had also made it clear that he would be doing a lot of that talking at Joshua’s apartment.

If that didn’t sound like commitment, if that wasn’t two people coming to an understanding, then Odin didn’t know what was.

So if his brother could convince his former bodyguard of the impossible, why couldn’t Odin do the same with Noah?

He looked at the other man. It was only the two of them in here. Odin had stayed in his own bedroom after the attack. After all, he wasn’t the one whose room had been broken into by an assassin. So what reason was there for him to move around into another space?

“Can I ask you something?”

Noah adjusted his stance. “Of course.”

Odin took in a deep breath. “What do you think about what happened to your friend?”

Noah seemed confused. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Joshua?”

Of course he was. Who else was there?

Noah seemed to take that as his answer. He looked away. “Right, should have been obvious. Shouldn’t it?”

Odin went back to staring at his phone. “Sometimes…I’m not so sure about you.”

“Sure?”

Odin shook his head. “Don’t worry, your job isn’t in any danger. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Noah, ever the professional, said nothing. Odin wasn’t sure if that meant the other man was accepting what he said or just refusing to demand answers from the brother of the king.

Odin’s older brother, the new king of dragons, had insisted that his two younger brothers be given their own personal bodyguard. No longer just a casual security team who followed at a distance. No. Noah was meant to always be in sight of Odin, even when he was in the bathroom, taking a shower, getting all sorts of personal business out of the way.

Which was humiliating as fuck.

The shifts were long. Considering Noah was a human, Odin had no idea how the man managed to always be awake when Odin woke up, and how he could remain so stoic when Odin finally went to sleep.

Obviously the human slept. He had his own room in the mansion. One that was right next to Odin’s. Other members of the staff took over during those few times when Odin had to be away from him.

Odin assumed those were for going to the restroom, or even eating, but again, those almost never seemed to happen.

For Karloff, he had been the one to fight against the idea of having a personal guard the hardest. He’d been insulted, calling it a glorified babysitter.

Odin wasn’t so sure he was wrong.

But he’d been more willing to accept it after the incident.

His mother, father, and younger sister had been killed in a car wreck not so long ago. The wound was still fresh, as was the fear that someone might have purposely done that to them.

Then, months later, Karloff had been determined to get Odin to open up, to stop being so depressed. To smile.

So he’d brought Odin into the city, to party, to get drunk, get laid, and it had been nice. Odin had managed to forget for a while.

Until the next morning when he woke up, discovering from a member of the hotel staff there was a dead body in his brother’s room.

That same cold, merciless fear that gripped him when he found out about his parents and sister had taken hold again, but this time, his prayers were answered.

Not his brother. Karloff had stumbled into a different room. He’d been getting drunk with so many different people that why wouldn’t there have been some complication like that?

The man in his room, however, turned out to be a dragon-hunting preppy. The sort of person who “hunted” dragons in order to sleep with them, be seen with them, and gain popularity by being around them.

Poor bastard had probably thought it would make great headlines to be found in Karloff’s bed or to be seen sneaking out of his room the next day.

Instead, someone had been hunting Karloff, not ironically, and he’d gotten in the way.

Odin’s older brother, the new king, had freaked out, and now Noah was here. Watching over Odin.

Protecting him.

Having no idea the perverted thoughts that raced through Odin’s head whenever he thought of the other man.

Karloff believed his bodyguard was his mate, and he’d had many arguments with King Gungir about it.

And now Karloff was in a relationship with the man. Regardless of what their brother thought.

Odin wasn’t that brave. Noah was handsome, but he was stoic, just doing his job. He probably didn’t want Odin back.