STORY EXCERPT

“Where are my brothers? Did he follow?”

Nothing he said made sense to Emery, but a protectiveness he’d only felt for Jade surfaced, eliciting a growl from deep in his chest. “Did someone do this to you? Who are you running from?” For some strange reason, the idea that someone had intentionally hurt his new ward set his blood boiling. “Tell me,” he demanded.

“There is no time. I’m certain he’ll follow when he discovers that we escaped.”

Emery offered a hand to help the guy up when he began struggling to his feet, but he was completely ignored. “At least let me help you. Do you have a name?”

“Gaius.” He offered no more as Emery moved to slip an arm around his waist. The minute their bodies met, Gaius went completely rigid. After a tense moment, his knotted muscles slowly relaxed, and an expression Emery couldn’t decipher washed over his face.

“So, Gaius, where exactly did you come from?” he asked as he began walking them toward his pickup. He couldn’t force the man to go to the hospital, and miraculously, he seemed to be mostly unharmed from the ordeal. Still, he could offer some kind of aid, even if it was only a ride into town.

“The third circle of the Limbo Realm.”

Okay, maybe the guy had jarred his brain loose on impact. Emery liked D&D as much as the next guy, but he needed some straight answers. “Where did you fall from?”

“The sky.”

Emery had to bite the side of his tongue to stop his snappy retort. “You aren’t big on words, huh?”

“There is no time for conversation. We need to hurry. I have to find my brothers before he does.” Gaius picked up the pace, but leaned heavily on Emery for support as they neared the pickup.

“You keep saying that. Why are you running? Who’s after you?”

Gaius stilled suddenly, turning one of his pointed ears toward the east. Pointed ear? Oh, hell, Emery was losing his mind. Then he lifted his nose and sniffed at the wind, shivering clear down to his toes as his eyes rounded until Emery thought they might pop right out of their sockets.

“Hurry,” Gaius pleaded, pushing at Emery’s chest but making no move to leave his side.

Why they were supposed to be hurrying, he had no clue, but the urgency in Gaius’s voice spiked his own anxiety, pushing him to move faster. “In you go,” he said when they’d reached the driver’s side door.

Gaius put a hand out in front of him as though searching for something to grab on to but kept his other hand fisted in Emery’s cotton T-shirt. He shuffled forward half a step and lifted his foot slowly, making strange walking motions in the air before his toes finally found the running board.

His free hand landed on the driver’s seat, and he lunged forward, lifting up on the running board to haul himself into the cab. Unfortunately, the upward momentum caused his forehead to smack against the door frame, and Emery winced at the loud thud and resulting moan of pain.

“Here, let me help you.”

“I’ve got it,” Gaius snapped at him.

“Quit being a pain in the ass.” Placing his hand on the back of Gaius’s neck, Emery urged him to duck his head and lean into the cab. “Keep going straight. You’re going to have to climb over the console.” He rested a hand lightly on the man’s hip, guiding him gently as he made his way to the passenger side of the vehicle. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re blind?”

“It’s none of your business.” Pulling his feet into the seat with him, Gaius pressed his knees to his chest and wrapped Emery’s jacket more securely around his shoulders.

“If you want my help, it damn sure is my business.”

“You’re right, and I apologize.” Gaius tilted his head to the side and leaned closer to the window. “They’re coming.” His head whipped around so that his sightless eyes pierced right through Emery. “Please, we have to go.”

“Look,” Emery said as he slipped behind the steering wheel, “I want to help you, but you’ve got to be straight with me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I will when it’s safe. Please, carus.”

The name rolled off his tongue like a physical caress, and though Emery didn’t know what the word meant, a shiver of longing that he hadn’t felt in a long time traveled down his spine. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the little guy was mouthwateringly gorgeous, but it was more than just physical attraction. It was something deeper, something he couldn’t name, and a primal part of him was already growing possessive of the stranger sitting across from him.

“Go!” Gaius barked suddenly as he turned to Emery and began rocking back and forth in his seat. “Go, go, go!”

The terrified look on his face finally spurred Emery into action, and he threw the transmission into drive without further questions. Whatever Gaius was trying to escape had come. There was a charge to the air, a ripple on the wind, and Emery could practically taste the malice on his tongue. Whoever was out there in the night watching them hadn’t come with bright smiles and fruit baskets.

Releasing the brake, he pressed the accelerator to the floor and gripped the wheel tight. The tires spun, throwing gravel behind them, before finally finding their grip and launching the truck forward.

A loud howl penetrated the closed cab, almost like that of a wolf, but deeper, darker, and dripping with threat. Several others followed, each distinctly different than the ones preceding it.

“What the hell is that?” Emery’s heart raced, his fingers wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel that they bit into his palms, and sweat beaded across his forehead to drip down his temples. “Answer me!”

“Nekros.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“Yes, that would probably be better.” Stretching his neck, Gaius pressed his lips to the underside of Emery’s jaw. “Thank you.” His slender hand landed in Emery’s lap, and a fingernail scraped over his zipper. “Now, where were we before I had my meltdown?”

“I don’t know where we were, but I like where this is going.” Inching down in his seat, he spread his legs a bit wider to give his lover more room and encourage him to explore at his leisure.

Gaius didn’t disappoint, and in quick order, he had Emery’s jeans unbuttoned and was reaching inside the denim to extract his swelling cock. The warmth of his fist surrounded Emery’s length, and just like their first time together, he could feel very inch of him buzzing in response.

“How do you do that?” he asked through gritted teeth as he struggled not to moan like a wanton slut.

“No clue,” Gaius answered innocently. “I feel it, too, though. It’s kind of nice.”

“Nice” was one way to put it, but not exactly how Emery would describe the feeling. It was more like grabbing onto a live wire that he couldn’t release. The sensations were intense, almost too pleasurable, and he never knew if he should make it stop or beg for more.

“I’m not really sure what to do,” the nymph admitted while he lapped at the head of Emery’s cock like a lollipop.

Part of him wanted to tell Gaius that it was okay and he didn’t have to go any farther. No man in his right mind passed up a blow job, though, and Emery desperately wanted to feel those plump, wet lips wrapped around his dick. “Just don’t bite me, and I won’t complain.”

“I can figure out the mechanics of sucking your cock.” The indecent words coming from such an angelic face was so contradictory that it added another level of eroticism to the already naughty scene. “I meant that I don’t know how to lessen the intensity.” One side of his mouth turned up in a confident smirk that had Emery gripping the wheel tighter and fighting off the urge to come.

“You don’t hear me complaining, do you?”

“In that case…” His mouth closed around the leaking crown, and he bobbed his head slowly, dragging his lips along the pulsing length in measured strokes.

“Fuck!” Emery shouted, thankful that they were the only ones on that particular road when he swerved dangerously close to the ditch. Getting the vehicle back under control, he kept his attention focused through the windshield, concentrating harder than he ever had before on keeping the truck moving forward in a straight line.

While it wasn’t quite as powerful as sinking into Gaius’s tight ass, the moist heat encompassing his cock was unlike any other blow job he’d ever received. His thighs tensed, his sac contracted, squeezing his balls close to his groin, and every swirl of his lover’s tongue sent his pulse racing out of control.

Thank mercy they were almost to their destination.

Slowing to turn onto the winding driveway that would take him to Jade’s house, it was all Emery could do to remember which pedal was the brake. The slight dip off of the main road jostled the vehicle, causing him to bounce in his seat and pushing his cock deeper into Gaius’s talented mouth.

A loud groan rolled through his chest and vibrated around the cab when the sensitive tip nudged against the back of the nymph’s throat. Gaius didn’t even pause, though. He relaxed his jaw, extended his tongue, and buried his nose in the short, coarse hairs that surrounded the base of Emery’s dick, sending white-hot pleasure radiating throughout his entire body.

Coming to a stop in front of the small farmhouse, Emery parked the truck and leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes as he tangled his fingers in Gaius’s hair, encouraging him to bob his head faster. “That’s it, baby. Fuck, I’m close.”

The driver’s side door opened, and whatever Jade was going to say halted on the tip of his tongue when he caught sight of Gaius’s head in Emery’s lap. The look of concern quickly changed to one of shock, which then melted into a smoldering look of pure desire.

Well, if he wanted to watch, Emery wouldn’t stop him. Not that he could if he’d wanted. His lover commanded his full attention, and he was too happy to give it to him. “Little faster,” he coached, tugging on Gaius’s hair as he rocked up into his mouth. “Yeah, just like that. Don’t stop.”