STORY EXCERPT

A soft thump came from somewhere behind him. Jalen froze, takeout box in hand. The sound had come from his bedroom.

“No way,” he whispered, his mouth suddenly dry. “No fucking way.”

Jalen lived on the second floor. His bedroom window faced the parking lot, a good fifteen feet from the ground. There was no fire escape, no balcony, no logical way anyone could have gotten in through his window.

He stood in the kitchen, paralyzed with indecision. The smart move would be to run, get out of the apartment and call the police from somewhere safe. But what if he was just being paranoid? What if it was just the upstairs neighbor or the building settling?

Or his imagination playing tricks after his paranoid walk home?

The creaking of a floorboard from his bedroom decided for him. Jalen grabbed a knife from the drawer, holding it awkwardly in front of him. Should he run out the front door and call for help? Or check the bedroom and prove to himself it was nothing?

Before he could decide, the sensation of another presence in the apartment washed over him, undeniable and terrifying.

A sharp knock at his front door startled him so violently, the knife clattered to the counter.

The knocking came again, more insistent.

Moving cautiously to the door, Jalen peered through the peephole.

A man stood in the hallway—tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair and the kind of jawline that belonged on a movie poster. Jalen blinked, wondering if exhaustion was making him hallucinate.

Against every survival instinct screaming in his head, he unlocked the door and opened it. Why are you opening the door to a six-foot wall of jawline and menace at 2 a.m.?

“Can I help you?” he asked, voice cracking slightly.

“Chase Kurn,” the man said in a deep voice, his eyes scanning Jalen’s face with unnerving focus. “You need to let me in.”

“I—what? Why would I do that?” Jalen asked, even as he found himself opening the door wider. “I don’t know you.”

Leaning closer, Chase tilted his head slightly and inhaled deeply, his eyes narrowing.

Then came that sound. The same deep-throated animal growl no human throat should be able to produce. Jalen’s blood ran cold.

He tried to slam the door shut, but Chase pushed against it with surprising strength. “You’re not alone in there,” he said urgently. “Let me in. Now.”

Jalen backed away, suddenly remembering the noise from his bedroom. Then he felt the air shift behind him, the unmistakable presence of someone at his back.

He knew that feeling all too well.

Chase launched himself forward. Jalen shouted, whipping around to see another man standing there, an unnatural stillness to him. The stranger’s lips curled into a snarl, revealing teeth that seemed too sharp, and way too long.

The two men collided in a blur of chaos. Chase moved with impossible agility, driving the intruder back against the wall with enough force to crack the plaster. The other man hissed—actually freaking hissed!—and retaliated with a vicious backhand that sent Chase flying across the room.

What in the hell was going on? Jalen had been trying to rationalize away supernatural activity all summer and now it was literally fighting in his living room.

He scrambled backward into the kitchen, crouching behind the counter. This had to be some hallucination, a bizarre dream, or some other weirdness that would explain what was going on. But since it was playing out, Jalen pulled out his phone with trembling hands and dialed 911.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher’s calm voice seemed surreal against the chaos unfolding in his living room.

“There’re two men fighting in my apartment!” he whispered, peeking around the counter to make sure he really wasn’t hallucinating. He wasn’t. Chase had the stranger pinned against the wall, but the other man twisted free, sending them both crashing into Jalen’s bookshelf. “They broke in and they’re destroying everything and they’re making these sounds—”

“Sir, what is your location?”

He gave his address then glanced around the corner to see Chase slam the intruder into his coffee table, shattering the glass top.

“That was from IKEA, you assholes,” Jalen muttered, wincing as his TV stand wobbled precariously.

“Units are on their way. Stay on the line and find somewhere safe to hide.”

Safe. Right. Jalen kept the phone pressed to his ear as he watched the destruction unfold, powerless to stop it. The other man had Chase in a headlock now, but Chase twisted and drove his elbow into the stranger’s ribs with enough force that Jalen heard something crack.

He moaned quietly, watching as his armchair toppled over. He’d spent three years slowly furnishing his apartment with pieces he actually liked rather than the used stuff that had come with the place. Now it was being demolished in minutes by two supernatural-looking men having a smackdown in his apartment.

“No way this is really happening,” Jalen whispered to himself.

“Sir, are you still there?” The 911 operator’s voice sounded tinny and far away.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” Jalen replied, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene in his living room. “But you might want to send an ambulance too. Or an exorcist. Or maybe even a game warden.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Chase smiled—a slow, dangerous curve of his lips—before closing the final distance between them.

The first press of Chase’s mouth against his was gentle, almost questioning. Jalen answered by leaning into it, his hands finding purchase on Chase’s shoulders. The kiss deepened, Chase’s tongue tracing the seam of his lips, seeking entrance, which Jalen eagerly granted.

Heat pooled low in Jalen’s belly as Chase’s tongue slid against his, tasting of syrup and sweetness. Chase kissed with the confidence of someone who knew exactly what he was doing, and Jalen found himself melting into it, all his walls crumbling under the assault.

When they finally broke apart, Jalen was panting slightly, his lips tingling. “Okay,” he said, trying for casual and missing by a mile. “That was... god yeah.”

Chase’s laugh was warm against his skin. “Eloquent.”

“Shut up. You’ve had centuries of practice.” Jalen’s fingers traced the hard line of Chase’s jaw, fascinated by the contrast between soft skin and rough stubble. “Some of us are working with a limited dataset here.”

“Happy to help you expand your research.” Chase’s hand slid to the nape of Jalen’s neck, pulling him in for another kiss, this one deeper and more demanding from the start.

“We should have done that weeks ago.” Jalen’s was dying for another kiss. It wasn’t his first one, but it was the best one he’d ever had.

Chase’s thumb traced Jalen’s lower lip, sending sparks of sensation down his spine. “You weren’t ready weeks ago.”

The simple truth of it struck Jalen silent. Chase had been waiting for him, not physically but emotionally. Waiting for Jalen to find his footing, to trust, to want this for himself rather than as an escape or distraction.

He found himself being gently pressed backward until he was lying on the bed, Chase’s larger body half covering his. The weight of him felt impossibly good, grounding Jalen in the moment when his mind wanted to spin off into disbelief. Chase’s hand slipped under the hem of Jalen’s T-shirt, warm palm against bare skin making him gasp into the kiss.

“We okay?” Chase eased back slightly to search Jalen’s eyes.

“Yes,” Jalen confirmed, already missing the pressure of Chase’s mouth. “More than okay.”

Chase’s smile turned predatory, sending a fresh wave of heat through Jalen’s body. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his head to press kisses along Jalen’s jaw, down the column of his throat. Each touch of lips to skin felt like a brand, marking Jalen in ways that went beyond physical.

“Also been wanting to do this since I first saw you,” Chase murmured against his collarbone. “You have no idea.”

“I think I’m getting the picture.” Jalen panted as Chase’s teeth grazed the sensitive spot where his neck met his shoulder.

He worked his way down Jalen’s body with agonizing slowness, pushing up Jalen’s T-shirt to expose his stomach. Compared to Chase’s sculpted physique, Jalen had always felt scrawny, but the way Chase looked at him, like he was a feast laid out for the taking, made him feel powerful in his own skin for the first time in memory.

“You’re beautiful.” Chase pressed a kiss just below Jalen’s navel.

Jalen’s cock twitched in his pajama pants, already hard and aching. “You need glasses, old man.”

“Perfect eyesight,” Chase countered, his fingers hooking into the waistband of Jalen’s pants.

Chase slowly pulled the pants down Jalen’s hips, taking his boxers with them. The cool air hit his  exposed cock, making him hiss. He resisted the urge to cover himself, instead watching Chase’s face as his gaze raked over Jalen’s naked lower half.

“Definitely perfect eyesight,” Chase murmured, his hand wrapping around Jalen’s cock with confident pressure.

Jalen’s hips bucked involuntarily at the contact, a groan escaping his lips. Chase stroked him slowly, his grip firm but gentle, thumb swiping over the sensitive head where pre-cum had already gathered.

After everything that had happened in his life, having someone touch him with reverence… There were no words to describe how good it felt to freely give. Because Jalen wanted to. Because he wanted Chase.

“Jesus,” he breathed, head falling back against the pillows. “That feels—”

His words cut off abruptly as Chase leaned down and took his prick into his mouth. Wet heat enveloped his cock, Chase’s tongue flat against the underside of his erection as he slid down, taking him deep.

“Holy shit,” Jalen gasped, fingers tangling in Chase’s dark hair. “Oh my god!”

My first blowjob and I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind!

Chase hummed around him, the vibration sending shockwaves of pleasure up Jalen’s spine. His mouth worked steadily, tongue swirling around the head before taking him deep again, cheeks hollowing with suction that made Jalen’s toes curl and his eyes roll back.

Holy shit! He watched as Chase’s head bobbed between his thighs, those full lips stretched around his cock. The sight alone was almost enough to push him over the edge. Combined with the wet heat of Chase’s mouth, the pressure of his tongue, and the occasional gentle scrape of teeth, it was overwhelming.

“Chase,” he gasped, “if you keep that up, this is going to be over embarrassingly fast!”

Instead of pulling away, Chase swallowed him to the root, throat muscles contracting around Jalen's swollen cockhead as pre-cum leaked onto his tongue. Chase’s fingers dug into the tender flesh where thigh met ass, spreading him wider as his other hand rolled and tugged at Jalen’s heavy balls. White-hot pleasure shot up Jalen's spine like lightning, his hole clenching on nothing as his cock throbbed, ready to explode.