STORY EXCERPT

“Luke Rivera.” There were a million questions dancing around inside his brain. So many that he didn’t even know where to begin. “Avarus is really a god, isn’t he?”

“’Fraid so, and he’s not the only one.” Tucker pointed casually toward the dresser beneath the window and then over to the closet. “Your clothes are here. Get dressed, and I’ll find something for breakfast.”

Without even thinking about it, Luke rose from the bed and went directly to the dresser, pulling out a pair of track pants and a T-shirt. In the process of pulling his shirt on over his head, his actions finally caught up with him, causing him to pause and look over his shoulder. “What just happened?”

Tucker was looking at him in a predatory manner with way too much heat in his eyes, but he answered without hesitation. “Avarus didn’t explain your punishment to you?”

“He said I had thirty days to mend my ways. That was about the sum of his explanation.”

“Let’s grab some breakfast, and I’ll tell you what I know. You’ll have some eggs and toast.”

“Okay.” Luke paused again and shook his head. “Why did I say that? I hate eggs.”

“You’d eat them if I put them in front of you, though.”

It wasn’t a question, and Luke knew without thinking about it that he’d eat the eggs without complaint if that’s what Tucker told him to do. “You’re shitting me, right? That’s my punishment? I can’t say no to anything you want from me?” The thought scared the piss out of him, but he wasn’t about to show any kind of weakness.

“Not just me and not everything you’re told. Apparently the gods do have a little morality. I mean, if I told you to suck my dick, you could say no to that.”

“I’m not gay,” Luke blurted. It was his automatic response to anything that sounded even remotely homosexual.

“Bullshit,” Tucker scoffed. “There’s no one to hide from here. You can tell me the truth.”

“I’m no faggot,” he repeated with more hostility than was really warranted. No one could know his secret, though, not even this stranger. Especially not this stranger, who tempted Luke by simply breathing.

“I could make you admit it, but I’ll let you hide for now.” That was all Tucker said on the subject before turning with a fluid grace and disappearing into the hallway.

Luke followed without summons, navigating his way to the kitchen where he found Tucker rummaging through the freezer. How had the guy gotten to the kitchen so quickly? He’d had barely a second head start, and the house wasn’t exactly small.

“There are some frozen waffles if you don’t want eggs, but that’s about it. We’ll have to go shopping if you want something different.”

“Waffles are fine for this morning.” Luke eased onto one of the stools by the island and rested his elbows on the counter. “There’s no need for shopping, though. I can’t stay here.”

“Well, that’s going to be a problem, because you’re stuck until your sentence is up, buddy.”

“No,” Luke responded firmly. “I have a job to get back to. I can have one of my deputies take over today, but I have to get back by tomorrow.”

Tucker didn’t say anything as he pulled out a box of waffles and went about preparing them in the toaster. The muscles in his back rippled with his movements, the skin stretching taut to highlight and define every dip, valley, and subtle curve.

Prying his eyes away from the half-naked man, Luke fisted his hands and dropped his head, taking deep breaths to try and tame the lust he had no business feeling. When he’d made the decision to become sheriff of Beggs, he’d buried those desires so deep that he’d almost believed they were no longer there.

Only a few minutes with Tucker, and all of those things he’d worked so hard to hide had come rushing to the surface. Yes, the man was gorgeous, but it had to be something more. Maybe it was part of his punishment, some strange bewitchment meant to test him.

“Breakfast is served,” Tucker announced as he slid a plate of waffles in front of Luke and set a bottle of syrup beside it.

“Thanks,” Luke mumbled, pulling the plate closer to him and picking up his fork. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

He couldn’t decipher the look Tucker gave him, but he didn’t like it. “Sure. If you insist.”

Luke hadn’t insisted, and he had a feeling that he was about to regret asking. How bad could it be, though? Just because he didn’t like eggs didn’t mean that it would gross him out if Tucker ate them. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that the man’s breakfast wasn’t going to be anything quite that tame.

Moving back to the fridge, Tucker extracted what appeared to be a bag of blood like they used in the hospitals. “Avarus left me just this one.” He turned the bag over in his hands as he spoke but kept his gaze on Luke. “We’ll have to work out other arrangements once it’s gone.”

“What is that?” There was no way that it could be what Luke thought it was. Or maybe it was just some kind of sick joke.

“Breakfast.” Tucker lifted the clear bag to his mouth, his eyes never leaving Luke’s. “You don’t have to watch.”

No, he didn’t, but he couldn’t look away, either. Whatever he’d expected to happen—and logically, he knew where this little episode was leading—he still wasn’t prepared when Tucker parted his lips to reveal long, pointed canines.

The dark onyx of his pupils bled out, obscuring the mystical sea-green and even the whites of his eyes. Then Tucker tilted his head back on his shoulders, lifted the bag above his mouth, and sank his teeth into it.

ADULT EXCERPT

Was this another one of his dreams? It didn’t feel like it, but then again, none of his dreams ever did. “Is this real?”

“Very real,” Tucker answered. His fingers curled around the back of Luke’s neck, while his thumbs pressed on the underside of his chin, urging his head back for a deep, penetrating kiss. “Gods, your skin is so hot.”

That made sense, because Luke felt like he was burning alive. “It’s okay to want this.” He didn’t have a clue which one of them he was trying to convince. Probably himself, because Tucker didn’t appear to need any encouragement as he licked his way up Luke’s throat and nipped at his earlobe.

That left Luke with two options. He could lay there and pretend like it was all a dream, like none of it was real. Or he could man up and stop wasting time worrying about what people thought of him.

For as long as he could remember, he’d constantly been looking to the future and planning every aspect of his life at least three steps ahead. Maybe, for once, it wouldn’t be so bad to just live in the moment.

During his inner contemplation, Tucker had taken the opportunity to push Luke’s T-shirt up his chest and attack his senses by licking a slow, wet path down over his clenching abs. His slippery tongue swirled around Luke’s belly button and dipped inside while his fingers worked nimbly to unbutton Luke’s jeans.

Not one to sit idly by and let everyone else have all the fun, Luke stripped his shirt off over his head and tossed it to the floor. Then he grabbed Tucker under the arms and dragged him back up his body to attack his lips with a passion he’d buried long ago.

He’d buried it for so long, letting it build and fester, poisoning him like a sickness. As his tongue tangled with Tucker’s and his hands worked to divest the man’s clothing, he realized something very important. His desire wasn’t a disease. Though it did make him feel a bit shaky—kind of like the flu.

Years of hiding and denial finally caught up with him. The pressure built inside, burning his gut until it eventually exploded like a nuclear reactor. Growling and rutting like wild animals, they pawed at one another, their bodies grinding together in a primal battle for dominance.

Needing more and knowing only one way to get it, Luke locked his arms around Tucker’s waist and rolled until he had the man pinned beneath him. Their lips barely separated as they tugged at clothing, ripping the fabric in some places in their shared need for flesh.

Adrenaline pumped through Luke, heating his body until perspiration dampened his skin. No matter how fast his hands moved, stroked, and groped, he couldn’t touch enough of Tucker. The more feral the kiss became, the hotter the hunger burned. Every touch, every taste, only invoked a deeper desire that was quickly spinning out of control.

“I’m immortal, Luke.” Tucker panted between nibbling kisses along Luke’s neck and jaw. “Don’t hold back. You can’t hurt me.”

His hands fisted roughly in Luke’s hair, jerking him back into a mind-bending kiss as he rolled them again. Unfortunately, the bed wasn’t that large, and they both went tumbling to the floor with a loud thud. Luke was too busy in his pursuit of Tucker’s lips to even register the pain, though.

His balls pulled tight to his body as the friction of their nude cocks rubbing together pushed him closer to the edge of climax. It had been a long time since he’d been with someone, but he couldn’t remember it ever being as intense as what he felt with Tucker. Luke wasn’t sure what that meant, but in that moment, he wasn’t going to stop and puzzle it out.

Flipping their positions once again, Luke insinuated a knee between Tucker’s thighs, spreading them wider so that he could feel their heated skin pressing together. Holding himself up on one hand, he tried to shake off the distraction of Tucker sucking at his chest long enough to fumble around in the nightstand drawer for the small bottle of lube that always appeared there in his dreams.

Sure enough, a moment later, his fingers curled around the small, plastic tube, but unlike in his dreams, it was completely full and still sealed. Ripping the safety wrapper off with his teeth, he groaned raggedly when one of Tucker’s fangs pierced the skin over his heart, drawing a small trickle of blood that the vampire eagerly lapped at.

It probably should have grossed him out, or at the very least given him second thoughts, but it only surged his arousal. When he finally managed to get the damn lid off the bottle, he poured a generous amount into his palm, slicked his aching shaft, and used the excess to ring the twitching muscles of Tucker’s tight hole.

Everything was moving too fast, but Luke was powerless to stop it as though some long-forgotten instinct had taken over, making him little more than a primitive beast. Without much finesse, he pushed in hard and fast with two fingers, sinking as deep as he could go into Tucker’s clenching channel.

His lover gasped and dropped back to the floor before moaning in a sensual way that had Luke’s blood boiling and his cock flexing in anticipation. Sawing his fingers in and out, he made quick but thorough work of stretching Tucker before extracting his fingers and yanking the man up from the floor.

Then he spun the vampire on his knees so that he faced the bed and pressed the back of his head until he bent forward, bracing himself against the mattress while he arched his back. The curve of his spine tilted his hips, creating a shallow valley just above the smooth swell of his firm ass.

Grabbing both cheeks and kneading the flesh, Luke marveled at the contrast between his darkly bronzed skin and Tucker’s creamy, almost pale complexion. As his hands wandered upward, caressing the quivering muscles in Tucker’s back, it was as if the entire world stood still, creating one perfect moment where nothing else in heaven or earth mattered.

Pressing flush against his lover’s back, Luke grasped his cock by the base, holding the length steady as he nudged Tucker’s opening with the tip. “Say it,” he whispered, nuzzling against the fragrant skin along the side of the man’s neck.

“Yes.”