STORY EXCERPT

The man was beautiful. I couldn’t stop the thoughts and feelings that ran through me as I held the broken, shattered human in my arms. Even through the bruises, scarring, and blood, I saw his mesmerizing blue eyes. I wanted nothing more than to kiss all his pain and fear away. He screamed as I settled into the huge black Hummer, refusing to let him go.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay now. Everything’s going to be okay,” I whispered soothingly as I stroked his hair. The blood gave it a red tint, but I’d guess it was more brown. He had to live. We had to save him so I could see the beauty that was there under all that pain and suffering. I needed him to live to see there was a life beyond the one he’d been given. Whoever did this to them deserved to rot in hell for eternity.

“Shit. What the hell happened to him?” Skylar asked as he slid into the driver’s seat. I ignored him, someone else could explain while I focused on the man in front of me. He was whimpering, but at least the screaming had stopped. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if he started screaming again. It would completely shatter something inside of me. When those beautiful eyes opened, I gasped. It felt like they could see into the deepest part of my soul.

“What…” the man started, but it must have been too painful for him to continue.

“It’s all right. We’re here to help. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. I won’t let anything else happen to you,” I said. He cried out when the car lurched forward, and I cursed. I kept him as steady as I could in a moving vehicle, but even the slightest shift caused him immense pain—a pain I felt to my very core. If I could take it all away from him, I would in a heartbeat.

“Sorry, Bishop. We’re trying to be careful as we can, but he needs to get to a healer as soon as possible, so it’s not going to be an easy ride. Maybe I should knock him out until we get home,” Sky suggested.

“No, please. I see their faces in the dark,” a small voice said. I looked down to see pure terror on the little man’s face. I gave him an encouraging smile I didn’t feel.

“Okay, we won’t. I promise, everything’s going to be okay now. You never have to be afraid of them ever again,” I murmured softly. “What’s your name, little one?”

“Ervyn,” he whispered. We hit another bump, and Ervyn winced making him cry out as tears flowed in streaks down his face.

“Are you sure, man?” Sky asked. “He’s got to be in a lot of pain.”

“Just drive,” I growled, holding the now sobbing man in my arms. I wanted to hold him tighter, comfort him, but that would only make things worse—cause him more pain.

It took almost an hour to get back to the palace, and to my relief, Brennen and Jerric were waiting on us with one of the palace doctors. He wasn’t a very powerful healer, but he would at least know how to help. He had to know how to help.

“Let’s get him inside,” Brennen barked, giving Skylar a nod who sighed in relief. Before I realized what was happening, Ervyn went limp in my arms.

“What the hell, man? Why did you do that?” I demanded. He had to have heard Ervyn’s objections in the car.

“It’s better this way,” Brennen said laying a hand on my arm. He ushered us inside as Skylar filled them in on where we found him. We ran through the large double doors to the harem’s chambers.

“He’s never going to trust me again. I broke the first promise I ever made to him.” I laid him gently in the middle of the bed and sagged against the wall. It would completely shatter me if Ervyn ended up hating me, but I would do anything it took to make sure he lived, even if that meant never seeing him again.

“Sorry, man. He was just in so much pain I couldn’t see him like that anymore,” Skylar said with sad eyes—from his pain or from knocking him out against his wishes, I didn’t know.

“That’s not what’s important right now,” the doctor said, shoving everyone away from the room. “I’ve got a patient that’s half-dead. I don’t have time for you to feel sorry for yourselves.”

I opened my mouth to protest but closed it again before nodding. He was right. Ervyn needed me to be calm, not attack Skylar because he tried to help. I froze when the doctor gasped and ran to the bed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, ignoring everyone else.

“There’s so much…I can’t tell the extent of the damage. He’s got at least four broken ribs, one arm is badly dislocated, the other is broken. Both knees are shattered…” He trailed off, and I couldn’t stop the tears that spilled over and ran down my face. “I just don’t know if I’ll be able to help him. I’ll do what I can, but he needs a real healer if he’s going to get through this. I honestly have no idea how he lived this long. He shouldn’t have even been conscious let alone able to walk to that bridge.”

“Fear is a powerful motivator,” Brennen muttered.

ADULT EXCERPT

I felt a wall against my back and gasped. Bishop used it to hold me in place with his lower body while he brought his hands to the hem of my shirt and lifted, only breaking the kiss long enough to pull it over my head. I reached for the buttons on his shirt, wanting to see more, to touch more, but he grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the wall, making my dick impossibly harder. I tugged against his hold. I could have pulled out of his grasp if I wanted to, but I was too turned on to want to even try.

His mouth moved to my chin then down my neck, sucking up a bruise, and I moaned. Yes! I wanted him to mark me, to make me his. My head fell back on the wall, giving him better access as I rocked my hips against his in earnest. My cock ached for more friction, more stimulation. He ran his hands down my arms until he reached my chest, growling when I tried to lower my own. I held them up against the wall, waiting to see what he would do next. He gave one last hard suck on my neck before lifting his head to watch my face as he brought his hands to my nipples, pinching them gently then twisting. They were a hot spot for me, and my back arched, almost knocking him over with the intensity of it.

He smirked as he did it again, and I cried out, pressing my chest harder into his hand. I wanted more, but he kept his touch light and teasing. When I arched back, trying to get more contact, he chuckled and pulled away. I mewled loudly as he continued his gentle caresses, alternating between his fingertips and tongue until I was crazy. I was so close to begging that I bit my lip to keep it from slipping through my lips. It wasn’t enough. It was slow and caring, but I needed hard and fast and rough. When he denied me once again in favor of placing a sweet kiss on each, I lost the fight.

I begged as though my life depended on it as tears streamed down my face. My arms wrapped around his neck of their own accord, pulling him closer until his face was pressed against my chest. He smirked before pulling my right nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. I undulated into his mouth.

“Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop,” I chanted.

He didn’t stop. Instead, he increased his efforts, giving my poor nipples more attention until I was close to coming just from his mouth. So close. Just a little bit more, and I would shoot. One more second. Suddenly, he stopped.

“Nooo,” I screamed as my sweet release escaped me.

I took deep breaths, drawing oxygen into my starving lungs as I came back down from being so close to the edge. Bishop looked up at me, a grin spread across his face.

“I was so close,” I said, cock aching from its denied release.

His grin widened. “I know,” he said.

“Why did you stop?” I asked.

“I wasn’t ready to let you yet… Are you okay with that?” he asked. It sounded like something a controlling lover would say, but I could see the worry in his eyes that he’d gone too far. We didn’t really know each other yet, but I knew that Bishop would never do something for the sake of making me hurt unless it was something I wanted too. There was still a lot of exploring left to do, and I was looking forward to it.

“I think I am,” I answered, still trying to catch my breath. He laughed and placed a gentle kiss on each nipple before releasing me.

My feet touched the floor, but my shaky legs couldn’t hold me up, and I landed on my knees, leaving me mouth level with his hard length. I glanced up to see pure need and lust written on his face. I didn’t hesitate as I reached for the button on his jeans, pulling it down, careful not to catch any of his bits and pieces in the zipper. I grabbed the waistband and lowered his pants until his cock popped free, hard and dripping. It was longer than I expected and almost as wide as my fist. My hole twitched at the thought of taking that inside me. I couldn’t wait.

To be honest, I didn’t have that much experience giving someone a blow job, but I would give it a valiant effort. Sticking out my tongue, I licked the tip. He had a salty taste that I loved. I opened wide and took him in as far as he would go—which wasn’t far—gagging when hit my throat. I backed off a little to regain my composure, ignoring the drool that trailed down my chin. I vowed that someday I would take his full length down my throat, but that day was not today. When I sucked him back in, I moved with more caution, careful not to take too much of his hard member until I was ready. Once I adjusted to him and figured out how to relax my throat, I could swallow more of him, but that still wasn’t even half. I hummed around his cock, something I’d learned from one of those romance novels, and Bishop groaned as the vibrations reverberated reached up to his balls.