STORY EXCERPT

“Okay, I need you to stay as calm as possible, Newton.”

“It’s Newt.” Not that the shortened version of his name mattered at the moment.

“Okay, Newt, I need you to stay as calm as possible.”

How the hell was he supposed to stay calm when he had a goddamn stranger in his house? He’d never been this scared in his life. He couldn’t stop shaking and feared the intruder would hear his bones rattling.

“Are you still safe?” the guy asked.

Newt held his breath when he heard the floorboards creak. His heart pounded so hard he should have had a heart attack. Blood pulsed in his head, giving him an instant migraine as his entire body became covered in sweat.

“The police are minutes away,” the operator said.

Newt might not have minutes. From under the crack of the door, he saw a shadow pass by. Newt slammed a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. This couldn’t be happening to him. He’d heard about home invasions, but he’d never thought he’d fall victim to one. This happened to other people. Not him.

His racing heart beat even faster when he heard mumbled voices. There were two of them! Newt squeezed his eyes closed, praying the police made it there in time.

“Two,” he whispered as low as he could.

“There are two assailants?” the operator asked.

“Yes.”

“Remain hidden and remain calm,” the guy said. “The unit should be there any second.”

Newt nearly pissed himself when the closet door handle started to turn. He wanted to scream at the dispatcher that it was too late, that he was about to die, and then the handle stopped moving.

“I see a cop car outside,” one of the men said.

He heard thundering footsteps but didn’t trust that they’d left his house. Maybe they were in the living room looking out the front window. Maybe only one man had left and the other was still in his room.

“The unit is there,” the operator said. “Stay hidden until Sheriff Werth calls out for you.”

That wouldn’t be a problem considering Newt couldn’t move. He was frozen in terror and didn’t think he could crawl out of the closet even if he’d wanted to.

Bam. Bam.

“Stay hidden,” the operator stressed at the sound of gunshots. “Are you still safe?”

Safe? Was the guy kidding? The intruders were having a shoot-out with the cops in Newt’s home. How could he categorize that as safe? He guessed that answered the dispatcher’s earlier question. At least one of the bad guys was armed.

“More units are on the way,” the guy said. “Can you give me your description, Newt?”

“Why?” Newt was getting tired of the questions. He just wanted this over.

“We need to let the sheriff and his men know what you look like so they know you’re the caller, not the intruder.”

“I-I have on pajamas.” Newt wiped away the sweat that was dripping in his eyes. “They’re Adventure Time pajamas.”

“I love that show,” the guy said. “Tell me about your physical features.”

Newt suddenly felt like he was on some dating site. “I have brown hair with blond highlights, blue-gray eyes, and I weigh about one hundred and twenty pounds.”

“Got that,” the guy said. “How tall are you?”

Newt heard the sound of distant sirens. The first police car must have tried to creep to Newt’s house, because he hadn’t heard the siren. But now that the intruders knew cops were outside, he guessed they didn’t have to sneak.

“Five feet six.”

“Are you still safe?”

“I-I think so.” Newt strained to hear what was going on, but the shadow had disappeared and he didn’t hear anyone talking. The gunfire had also stopped. The quiet was deafening. Newt wanted badly to escape his closet and see what was going on, but he kept his butt parked on the closet floor while he was still curled into a ball, his cell phone pressed to his ear. 

“I’m right here with you,” the operator said. “We’ll get through this together, Newt.”

Hearing the guy use his first name, as if they knew each other, went a long way in keeping Newt calm. It almost felt as though they were friends, and he suspected that was what the guy was aiming for.

Still, Newt was so terrified that he was seconds away from passing out.

Until he heard footsteps.

“I think one of them is coming back,” he said in a strangled whisper. His throat went bone-dry, and his body started shaking again. His heart beat so fast that his chest hurt.

“Stay as quiet as you can,” the operator said.

Newt held his breath, afraid the intruder would hear him breathing. But he couldn’t hold it for long. His lungs began to burn, so Newt let his breath out in tiny bursts.

“I’m right here with you,” the operator said.

Though the voice on the other end of his phone had brought him a tiny measure of comfort, Newt wanted the guy to shut up in case the intruder heard him.

Where were the cops? Why hadn’t they arrested the bad guys yet? Why were they still walking around his house as if they were arrest-proof? The police should have stormed his house and taken the men down by now.

Had the gunfire taken down the first-on-the-scene cop? Were the others hiding behind their car doors with their weapons aimed, waiting to see what the bad guys would do? Newt needed to stop watching so many police procedural shows. He hadn’t the first clue what happened in real life when a situation like this occurred.

But not knowing what was going on was killing him.

“The police are inside the house now,” the operator said.

The doorknob turned again. Was it a cop or one of the intruders? Newt pushed to his feet and buried himself behind the row of clothes hanging on the pole. His legs were visible, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

He sucked in a deep breath and held it as he waited to see if he was about to die or be rescued.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Did lunch fill you up?” Orlando tossed the towel on the dresser and sauntered over to the bed, his dick swaying with every step.

Newt couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

“Hey, my eyes are up here.”

Newt had to rip his gaze away, and then it traveled up Orlando’s impressive abdomen as he imagined his hands gliding over the muscles. He gave Orlando’s pecs a once-over before he gazed into those beautiful brown eyes.

Orlando smirked as though he knew his body was rocking and loved that Newt was drooling over it.

“Scoot over, shorty.”

Newt wiggled backward. When Orlando got in, the bed dipped so deep that Newt rolled back toward him and landed against Orlando’s naked body. His hand pressed against Orlando’s stomach, and his face was that close to the guy’s armpit.

“You’re so short.” Orlando chuckled.

Newt glared at him. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“Who’s making fun of you?” Orlando turned on his side to face him. “I like your compact size. It makes me feel even bigger than I already am.”

“It’s like lying next to a bear.” Newt ran his hand over Orlando’s chest, loving how hard and smooth the man’s body felt under his palm. 

Orlando gave a small growl. “Wolf, not bear.”

Newt noticed the way Orlando looked drowsily at him, his eyelids at half-mast. Orlando glided his hand down Newt’s arm and then played with the waistband of his pajamas. Newt sucked in a breath and held it, waiting to see what else Orlando would do with that hand.

“You know what I realized?”

Newt’s pulse thrashed in his ears. His heart galloped like runaway horses. He was wound so tight that he was afraid he’d combust at any second, and Orlando wanted to ask him questions? Newt didn’t have the brain function for that right now.

“We haven’t kissed.” Orlando slid his hand over Newt’s cheek, bringing their faces closer. His minty breath huffed over Newt’s mouth, their lips inches apart. Newt licked his lips in anticipation, although his throat had gone dry.

“We haven’t?” Newt was proud that he was able to produce those two words considering his intelligence seemed to have fled.

Orlando’s grin stole Newt’s heart. “Nope.”

Their lips touched, and Orlando moved his head back and forth, ghosting his lips over Newt’s. A million thoughts crammed into Newt’s head as Orlando plunged his tongue deep, moaning while sliding his arm over Newt’s side, pulling him even closer.

Newt was terrified, excited, impatient, and so many other things. Would the bite really hurt, or had Pat been telling the truth? Was Newt ready to commit himself to a guy he’d just met? Newt forced a lid on those thoughts as they rolled, Orlando placing Newt under him.

“If you’re not ready for this, say so, shorty. There’s no going back once we start.”

“I thought we already started.” Newt smirked as nervous tension built inside him.

Orlando shook his head. “We haven’t begun yet.”

That hotter-than-hell kiss said otherwise. But Newt took a moment to stare into Orlando’s eyes. “Are we really mates?”

Orlando glided his hand up Newt’s thin chest before cupping his face. “We are.”

Could Newt go back to his old life knowing there was someone out there made just for him? Could he deny what he felt whenever he looked at Orlando? Would being with the guy be so bad? Orlando was sweet, caring, and, as Newt had thought before, the total package. Could he walk away from that?

Hadn’t Pat said Newt would want for nothing, that a shifter put his mate’s needs before his own? What person didn’t dream of having something like that?

“I’m scared,” Newt admitted. “Your world…you…your wolf…everything.”

Orlando pressed a soft kiss to Newt’s lips. “I know, but I’ll always try my damnedest to make you happy. That doesn’t mean we’ll always see eye-to-eye, but I’d never hurt you, Newt.”

Newt melted at Orlando’s promise. “Then I’m ready.”

“Are you sure?”

“Ask me one more time and I’ll walk out of this room,” Newt threatened.

Orlando grinned. “No you won’t.”

“No, I won’t.” Newt reached between them and grabbed Orlando’s cock, stroking the hard flesh as Orlando groaned.

“Point taken,” he said. “I’ll stop asking.”

He painted Newt’s neck and chest with slow kisses, alternating with long licks and a few nibbles. His lips glided over Newt’s skin like soft, warm silk. The longer Orlando’s lips touched him, the needier Newt became. He arched his back, desperate to get closer, for Orlando to do more than pleasure Newt with his mouth.

“I’ll be right back,” Orlando said as he pulled away, leaving Newt completely confused. “Get those pajamas off while I’m gone.”

Orlando walked out the door but returned a moment later, bottle of lube in his hand. “Didn’t I tell you to get naked?”

Newt’s heart raced as he shoved the material down his legs and kicked the pants the rest of the way off.

“So fucking beautiful.” Orlando’s heated gaze swept over Newt.

Newt had never been complimented so much in his life. Should he thank Orlando? Since he wasn’t sure, Newt kept his mouth shut as Orlando crawled back into bed. He lay on his side, pressing kisses to Newt’s shoulder as a slick finger slid over Newt’s pulsing hole.

Newt sucked in a breath as he spread his legs, moaning as Orlando’s thick finger breached him. He wiggled his butt, trying to adjust to the invasion.

Orlando added another finger, kissing Newt so passionately that white-hot pulses of need had Newt crying out for relief from the all-consuming fire building inside him.

The fingers disappeared, and the blunt head of Orlando’s cock replaced them. But he didn’t enter Newt. He simply stared down at him, something close to reverence in his eyes.

“Here’s the part where we don’t turn back,” Orlando said. “Are you ready?”