STORY EXCERPT

From the first time Emery caught the kid staring at him, he’d taken a cautious liking to looking right back. Only his observations didn’t stop that afternoon at Sunrise. His continued, growing into a quiet attraction that made absolutely no sense to him. He didn’t do relationships, and he sure as hell didn’t do virgins.

Once they hit the cleared path, he headed a solid twenty feet ahead for safe measures. The kid hadn’t fought thus far. From his experience, the moment a captive was released, they often took off running. Sometimes screaming. He wasn’t taking his chances.

Emery tossed a glance over his shoulder. No one traveled this poorly lit path at night except for the occasional lovers or employees of Sinn. Judging by the dress of the kid, as well as the lingering stale scent of food, he’d wager a bet he just caught himself server of the day, fresh from shift.

“I advise you to keep your trap shut and don’t take off running. Pursuits this late irritate the fuck out of me,” Emery warned as he came to a halt. The kid nodded vigorously. He almost felt bad for putting a solid scare into him.

He slowly loosened his hold around the kid’s chest and turned him to face Emery. His hand fell away from the kid’s mouth—well, not really a kid—and Emery caught his first fitting up-close-and-personal look at the lurker.

Three things hit him immediately. The guy’s eyes were such a light blue that even in the dark, he could tell their color without strain. Maybe it helped that those eyes were wide with…surprise? In those eyes, a storm of emotions lashed mercilessly, making him dizzy. The third was the most stunning. Although he’d watched this guy from afar, standing this close he was pretty damn cute for a redhead. Emery caught himself scouring the guy with a look he’d put on a bedmate, not on a voyeur getting off watching a private act from behind a tree.

The kid raised his hands in surrender and took a step back. Emery crossed his arms over his chest and arched a brow in silent warning. His guilty charge came to an immediate stop, his back stiffening.

“I-It wasn’t…I wasn’t doing anything to…I didn’t mean to…”

“You didn’t mean to hang around those two for your own gratification?” Emery asked. The kid’s lower lip moved soundlessly. Emery had to admit those lips were damn tempting. Full and plump. The deep rose that spread across the guy’s face was definitely endearing. “Do that often?”

“God no!” Almost a squeak. The kid was definitely making him feel bad. “I swear, I’ve never done that. Never.”

“Um, if you’ve missed, you did it tonight.” The kid blinked at him. Emery held his gaze steady. “What’s your name?”

“Chase.”

“Employee?”

Chase nodded, a chunk of red hair falling over his forehead. “Yeah. Sunrise.”

Well, his sense of smell was spot on. “Did you follow those two?”

“Sir, listen. I heard something. I went to check it out. I stumbled upon them. Really, it was innocent.”

Emery made a pointed trail with his gaze down to Chase’s crotch. The kid shifted from one foot to the other.

“Mm-hmm,” Emery murmured, drawing out the sounds with a slow nod. “Sure.”

“I swear. I-I don’t know what made me…” Another deep blush hit the kid’s face. He rubbed his jaw with his clean hand, stuffing what Emery would assume were pretty damn sticky fingers into his pocket. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

“Did you find that a turn on, Chase?” Emery asked, pushing the boundaries of duty versus curiosity. Right now, Chase intrigued him more than he pissed him off. That was saying a lot considering his lack of sleep and equal lack of patience. He was still considering a run at the punching bag.

Chase’s brows came together, dark slashes over those light eyes. The kid dropped his gaze to the ground, tugging his lower lip between his teeth. Emery waited, never taking his eyes off Chase.

“I think I should be going. It’s late,” Chase murmured. Although it was apparent to anyone with a set of eyes that the guy was uncomfortable, he didn’t make a move to leave. At last, he lifted his eyes to Emery’s. “You won’t, you know, say anything. Right?”

“How about this. You keep your eyes to yourself next time and I won’t say a word about your little expedition.” Emery lowered his arms, hooking his thumbs in the pockets of his leather pants. “Deal?”

Chase nodded, a small smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you.”

“Remember what I said.”

Emery stepped by Chase and paused to look over at him. He did a quick scan of the man’s face in this shadowy darkness. His chin was prominent, his jawline narrow. His cheeks were high and his nose was sharp and straight. Compared to the muscle on Sinn, Chase was delicate. However, beneath that delicate appearance, Emery distinctly recalled the solid form of his body as he dragged the man to the path. Chase may be a few inches shorter, a few sizes smaller, but he possessed a compact strength.

Emery made a slight motion over his shoulder. “I don’t expect to make another round here and find you lingering about.”

“You won’t.” Chase pivoted and started up the path ahead of Emery. He paused a few feet ahead. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Emery.”

“Thanks, Emery. I appreciate you keeping this quiet.” Chase twisted enough to catch Emery’s gaze. “I owe you.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Chase leaned back on his free hand, spreading his knees a little more. Heat stirred all over his body, centralizing in his groin. He licked his lips, watching his hand move over his slick penis. Pre-cum streamed from his slit, glistening along his crown.

He looked up at Emery. The dark perusal the man poured over him spun this heady desire into a new dimension. His nostrils flared, and everything pulsing off the muscled man was alive and wild. Chase grunted, the burning ache and echoing pulse of blood along his erection unbearable.

Emery crossed the room. Each step ripped away a layer of control, exposing a wicked, starved, prowling creature that sucked away the air around Chase.

“Uh-uh, kitten.” Emery crooked his finger. Chase straightened up, forcing himself to stop pumping. He was brimming, needing a little more before he’d burst into a million blissful pieces. Emery, on the other hand, reached along his back and grabbed his T-shirt in two fists. The man had it off before Chase could blink. “Now’s when I’ll step in.”

Emery braced one knee beside Chase. He took Chase’s lube-coated hand and folded their woven fingers around his cock. A shock of delight jolted his body.

“Slow, Chase.”

“Why?”

Emery combed his fingers through Chase’s hair. He moaned when the man’s nails scraped along his scalp before tipping his head back. He stared up into those dark, dark eyes, lost. Gone.

“Because I said so.”

Emery dropped his head, pressing his open mouth to the column of exposed neck. Chase gasped. His skin erupted with a storm of sensation-tickling, fluttering, suffocating. He couldn’t coordinate his brain and his body to resume his self-gratifying cock-pumping.

“Oh my god,” Chase whispered.

“Mmm.” Emery’s sinful tongue drew along his collarbone until he came to Chase’s shoulder. A taunting scrape of teeth left him in the embrace of shudders. “That’s right, kitten. Let go of all inhibitions. All doubt.”

The grip on his hair loosened. Emery’s hand slid free down his neck, his shoulder, and came to rest over his pec. The man’s mouth moved south, leaving a torturous path of moisture and heightened nerves from the gentle scraping of his whiskers along his feverish skin.

“What are you…holy shit.” Chase’s eyes practically crossed when Emery’s mouth formed around his nipple and gave him a hard suck. An explosion of pain quickly turned into a dose of potent, mind-unraveling pleasure. His cock pulsed against his palm as Emery suckled his nipple again. His backbone weakened. He began to fall back onto the mattress, but Emery pulled away and shook his head.

“Sit up, Chase. Support yourself with your arms if you must, but sit up.”

“You want me to jerk off, though,” Chase said, his voice thick.

“You’re not doing a great job of that.”

Emery balanced on his knee and rung Chase’s wrists with his fingers. He placed both hands on the mattress behind Chase, his massive figure hovering over him. Chase had to tip his head back, finding himself looking straight up into Emery’s shadowed face. His nerves were riding overload, his entire thought process short-circuiting.

Without warning, Emery took his mouth, demanding and possessive and raw. His kiss was far from the tender one they stole at Breakers. No, this kiss exploded inside him, unleashing his tentative hunger to grapple and satiate this newfound need. And yes, it was a need, so primitive and basic, so pure and clear, unfurling from every corner of his being.

Chase groaned into the hard kiss, feeding his deprived soul with every essence of Emery. His knees were nudged apart with Emery’s hard thigh. His strong fingers traded out his wrists for a double-fisting of hair. His scalp stung from the force of Emery’s grip, but what he thought would be unsavory in feeling turned into something altogether erotic. A deep-set growl erupted from Emery’s chest, his tongue plundering a moment before he tore away from Chase and made a moist path of open-mouthed kisses to his ear.

“Fucking damn, kitten.” Emery licked the shell of his ear. Chase whimpered, his arms shaking. The man slid his erection against Chase’s thigh, dimming his every thought to one potent image. Emery. “You are hot.”

Chase would’ve snickered, if he had the strength. “Hot’s not an adjective used to describe me.”

Emery nibbled his earlobe, tugged it, and sat back on his heel. He straddled Chase’s right leg, that thick length of his dick and heaviness of his balls resting along his quad. Those rough hands of his slid across his shoulders and down the front of his body, molding around his compact pecs, his faint abs, then back up. He paused over his chest. His thumbs rolled each pert nipple, gentle at first. Chase chewed his lower lip, watching those hands work him into a puddle of hypersensitive nerve bundles.

“I could eat you up,” Emery murmured, licking his lips. His smoldering gaze lifted. “Every last inch of this creamy flesh.” Chase dropped his head back when Emery dipped down and dragged his tongue across his nipple. “I can smell your arousal, Chase, and it’s making my mouth water.”

Emery shifted off the bed, his mouth moving lower and lower. His tongue traced over the lines of muscle along Chase’s stomach, his rough chin teasing the very tip of his cock.