STORY EXCERPT

Lenox ducked behind a clump of trees and stared at the stranger who had saved him. This could not be happening. Every time he turned around someone was after him. All he wanted to do was find his family and get out of Serenity City, but since he had no clue where Paul Defranco had hid them, it felt like he was never going to find them.

He turned, shoved his hands into his pockets, and started down the street. Maybe his mom and brother weren’t in the demon realm. Lenox was starting to suspect that.

He had also started to suspect that one of the Defranco brothers had let it slip that Lenox had stolen two million dollars because, every time he turned around, someone was trying to beat the information of where he had hidden it out of him.

Like that brute who had just attacked him. Lenox had been at Diablo’s having a drink when the guy had assaulted him. 

He avoided the piece of gum stuck to the sidewalk as he made his way to King Wings. Lenox’s stomach was growling, yet he had to find someplace cheap to eat. He had less than twenty dollars in his pocket, and since he no longer had a job, he needed to make his money last.

That was what he got for frivolous spending. He should have saved his paychecks, but he had been working for the Covetti family for two years and hadn’t thought some scumbag lion shifters would force him to steal from his employer.

Lenox was almost to the door of the wing place when his upper arm was grabbed and he was spun around. He shouted, putting up his fists as he faced the guy who had saved him.

The drop-dead gorgeous guy who had saved him. Fuck. The stranger was hot with a side of yummy. Lenox wouldn’t mind… No. Stop. Don’t even go there. Lenox needed to figure a way out of the mess he was in, not hit on this stud.

“You’re coming with me.”

“The hell I am.” Lenox waved his fists in a circle, as though he could actually fight. “I have no idea who you are, but bug off!”

The guy squeezed Lenox’s arm a little more forcefully. There was a hard glint in his eyes as he bared his canines. “I’ll bug off just as soon as I deliver you to Mr. Covetti.”

Lenox felt the blood drain from his face. That was the last person he wanted to see. Cal would shred him to pieces, even though Lenox had had no choice. The bear shifter wouldn’t care about Lenox’s family. Cal wouldn’t care that Lenox had been forced to steal the two million.

He would just want Lenox’s head on a pike.

“He hired you to find me?”

“Yep, and I’ve found you, so come quietly or I’ll duct tape you and throw you over my shoulder.”

Was this hot stranger telling the truth, or was it a ruse to get Lenox to fork over the money? Lenox didn’t know who to trust, but he would be damned if this sexy hunk took him to Cal before he found out where his family was.

“You know, I’m sick and tired of shifters,” Lenox said. “First those lions beat the crap out of me and kidnap my mom and brother. Then Holbrook holds me hostage until I transfer the funds. Then shifters kill Paul Defranco before I can find out where my family is.” He sniffed at Mr. Hot and Delicious. “And now a shifter wants to hand me over to a guy who wants me dead.” He held up his hand. “Go fuck yourself.”

The guy smelled like a canine, but Lenox wasn’t sure what breed.

The stranger’s intense scrutiny made Lenox squirm. He wasn’t sure if he would be faster than the shifter, so he didn’t try running and wouldn’t. Not unless he had to.

“You’re coming with me, and we can sort things out from there,” the stranger said. “I won’t hand you over to someone who wants to taste the iron in your blood, though.”

Lenox wrinkled his nose. “That’s a very graphic way of putting it.”

The guy shrugged. “I don’t sugarcoat things.”

“You could have just said kill me. That would have worked just fine. You didn’t have to talk about the iron in my blood.” Lenox stepped aside when some guy exited King Wings. The succulent smell wrapped around him and made his stomach grumble loudly.

He shrank back when Mr. Gorgeous sniffed at him. What the chicken wing was this guy doing?

To his surprise, the stranger held out his hand. “Call me Darren.”

Lenox refused to shake it. “Call me hungry.”

With the sweetest smile Lenox had ever seen, Darren opened the door and waved a hand. “Let’s get something to eat.”

What was Darren up to? Why the sudden change in mood? His hazel eyes no longer appeared cold and flat. They were soft and warm as his hand gripped the door.

“You paying?”

“I’ll pay, just as long as you get inside.”

This had to be a trap. No one had ever been this kind to Lenox. Not even his family.  “What’s the catch?”

“I feed you, and then you come with me to straighten this mess out.”

“I got one better,” Lenox said. “You feed me, help me find my family, and then I return Cal’s money without having to face him.”

Darren looked like he was mulling it over. At least Darren hadn’t flat-out turned down his counteroffer.

He stared at Lenox, concentrating on him, which made Lenox squirm again. “Deal.”

This time Lenox shook Darren’s hand. “You screw me over and I’ll unleash my powers on you.” Demons were born with some kind of power, and Lenox had been shortchanged in that department. He could make it rain. Whoop-de-doo. If he had to attack Darren, the most he could do was make the guy soaking wet.

Praying he wasn’t making a mistake, Lenox walked into King Wings.

ADULT EXCERPT

Lenox took a step toward Darren then stopped. Once they had sex, if they had sex, he would know the truth, and was he ready to find out if Darren had been lying to him or telling him the truth about being mates?

“So quiet and dark out here,” Darren said with his back turned to Lenox. “I love the peace and quiet. Always have.”

His dark, soothing voice drew Lenox in. He joined Darren at the window and stared up at him. Darren looked down at Lenox with half-lidded eyes.

A brush of his hand over Lenox’s bare shoulder. Darren’s breath coming out in shallow pants. Lenox licking his lips. Darren’s hazel eyes growing darker. The moment set itself. The fading sun warming their skin. A finger under Lenox’s chin to tilt his head back as Darren descended toward Lenox’s lips. Lenox sucked in a lungful of air before Darren captured his lips in a soft, slow-burning kiss that had Lenox’s toes curling and his palms growing sweaty.

Lenox had never kissed a bearded man before, and the tingling scrapes across his face was exhilarating. He gasped into Darren’s mouth when Darren yanked him close. The rough feel of the man’s clothes against his bare skin made Lenox kiss him more eagerly, slanting his mouth as he sucked Darren’s tongue down his throat.

A growl rumbled in Darren’s chest, vibrating to Lenox’s. He grabbed the hem of Darren’s shirt, yanking it up, desperate to get it off so he could run his hands over the guy’s swollen chest. Darren broke the kiss long enough to rip his shirt over his head and toss it aside.

Now they were both trying to get Darren’s pants off. Their knuckles cracked against each other’s.

Darren laughed.

Lenox smirked.

He finally pulled his hands away to let Darren finish undressing, because if Lenox kept his fumbling hands near Darren’s cock…he didn’t want to think of what might happen.

Lenox slid his underwear down, letting them pool as this ankles before he stepped out of them.

When Darren’s cock sprang free, Lenox gripped it tightly, hissing at the hot flesh in his palm. Darren groaned, his eyes fluttering closed for a brief second before he slammed his lips over Lenox’s, devouring his mouth.

Lenox pulled away, dropped to his knees, and removed Darren’s shoes and socks and yanked his pants the rest of the way off. When he straightened, Darren kissed him again, only more slowly this time, as though savoring Lenox’s taste.

As much as Lenox wanted to kiss Darren all night—and he could have because, damn, Darren was a great kisser—Lenox gripped the man’s cock again, slowly stroking it, teasing the hard flesh, tracing the pad of his thumb over the head and spreading the pre-cum around.

Lenox’s brain forgot how to think when Darren cupped his ass, spreading his cheeks apart. Lenox’s hand faltered. Instead of stroking Darren’s dick, he squeezed it, gasping as Darren massaged his cheeks like they were dough he wanted to mold and shape.

Lenox stared up at him. Darren stared down at Lenox. A smile curled the side of Darren’s mouth. It was so sexy, so sinful, that Lenox nearly begged Darren to fuck him right where they stood. How could he not be attracted to such a sexy son of a bitch? Darren was all dark looks, mysterious hazel eyes, and damn it, Lenox felt the start of feelings for the guy.

And they hadn’t even known each other twenty-four hours. How was that possible? Was it possible? Lenox didn’t know and was confused as hell. Didn’t people have to date for a while before feelings got involved? Was he that lonely or that desperate?

Lenox wanted to halt things for a moment, to take a step back and try to examine what was going on inside of him, but Darren’s wandering hands made his thoughts scatter to the wind.

Darren ground his cock into Lenox’s hand, pumping the heated flesh back and forth, groaning as he cupped Lenox’s face and kissed him once more.

The shifter sure did love kissing.

And Lenox loved being kissed.

The sun sank even lower, casting dark shadows around the room. Darren reached over and cracked the window, allowing the warm breeze to filter into the room.

Crickets could be heard from outside. An owl hooted. Something splashed across the lake as Darren walked Lenox backward toward the bed.

For Lenox, the world outside their peaceful reprieve didn’t exist. It was just the two of them in the cozy room, reaching for each other, touching and petting and driving each other insane with lust and need.

Lenox squeaked when he tripped over one of Darren’s shoes. Darren caught him as he chuckled. “Careful.”

Careful. Lenox needed to be careful of more than just Darren’s shoes. He needed to be careful not to fall for this guy. He needed to be careful of who he gave his trust to.

But that single word vanished as Lenox crawled backward on the bed, scooting back enough to allow Darren to join him. Their limbs tangled as Darren kissed the very breath out of Lenox.

His lips don’t stay on Lenox’s for long. Darren ghosted them over Lenox’s jaw, his neck, around to his ear, where he whispered, “I want you so fucking badly right now.”

His soft breath tickled Lenox’s ear. The words excited him. Lenox gasped as Darren turned him over, pressing his strong chest into Lenox’s back.

“I want you, too,” Lenox said over his shoulder. He could no longer deny just how much he wanted Darren, how badly he wanted the man’s cock in his ass, his lips back on his skin, or his muscles curled around Lenox, pinning him down as Darren fucked him.

Lenox also loved how Darren was drawing this out, making his anticipation build. He felt the man’s cock trapped between them, until Darren shifted and his cock pressed at the crease of Lenox’s ass.

Darren moved to Lenox’s other ear and whispered, “Need lube.”

It wasn’t as though Lenox carried a bottle in his pocket. Was Darren asking if Lenox had any? Lenox was so wound up that he would use cooking oil if they had to.