STORY EXCERPT

Lorenzo jerked forward and grabbed his mate before Jayce hit the floor. Jayce’s skin felt clammy as he cradled him. “Papa! I need some water.”

The big, burly man came from the back, saw Jayce on the ground, and rushed to the cooler, grabbing a bottled water. “What happened?”

“I think it’s the heat.” Lorenzo gently shook his mate to rouse him. “Hey, Jayce. Come on. Wake up.”

If he didn’t wake up, Lorenzo was rushing him to the hospital. He picked Jayce up and hurried him to the cruiser, placing his mate on the backseat. Then Lorenzo started the engine, putting the air conditioning on full blast.

Papa followed them and gave Lorenzo the water. “Should you take him in? I’m not very familiar with human anatomy.”

“He just needs to cool down.” He got out of the driver’s seat and joined his mate in the backseat. “I need to close the door.”

With a nod, Papa stepped back, and Lorenzo shut it. Less than a minute later, the car began to cool off.

Jayce groaned as his eyelids fluttered open. “What happened?”

Lorenzo had his mate resting against him. His skin was starting to feel normal, not clammy. “You passed out.”

“So you put me in the back of a cop car?” Jayce struggled to sit up, but Lorenzo tightened his grip. “You’re arresting me for heat exhaustion?” He still didn’t look totally lucid. “It was the sun’s fault. Go arrest him.”

“You’re not in custody. I just wanted to cool you off.” He cracked the bottle open and put the rim to Jayce’s lips. “Take a slow drink.”

Papa returned and knocked on the window. Lorenzo tried to open the door and then realized he couldn’t open the back door from the inside. He’d locked himself in. Shit.

As if he knew Lorenzo’s dilemma, Papa grinned and opened it. “Arrested yourself?”

“Looks that way.”

He handed Lorenzo a purple Gatorade. “It has electrolytes in it, as well as a ton of sugar, but it’ll help.”

“Thanks.” Lorenzo took the bottle.

Papa hunkered down by the door. “How’s he doing?”

“Better,” Jayce said.

Lorenzo had been friends with the bear shifter since the pack had arrived in Fever’s Edge. Papa was an older shifter, seasoned, with mysterious eyes, a full beard, and a tattooed sleeve on his right arm. He looked more like a biker than a pizza guy. He also had the kindest heart.

“Thanks.”

Papa nodded but kept looking between Lorenzo and Jayce, like he knew the truth.

“Yes, he is,” Lorenzo said. “Just figured it out last night.”

“Figured what out?” Jayce tried to sit up. He looked much better. His cheeks were no longer flushed, and his hazel eyes were a lot clearer. Lorenzo couldn’t believe how lucky he’d gotten when it came to mates, even if he was still a bit suspicious about Jayce working at Cat Calls.

He prayed like hell that Jayce wasn’t involved in anything shady.

“That you can’t take the heat.” Lorenzo helped him sit up. “Drink more water.”

“You’d be amazed at the heat I can take.” Jayce grabbed the offered bottle and guzzled half of it down as Lorenzo looked at Papa.

Papa was smiling. “He can take the heat. Why don’t you crank it up?”

Lorenzo glared at the guy. “Don’t you have dough to play with?”

With a shit-eating grin, Papa stood and walked back into the shop.

“I need to help him.” Jayce reached for the handle, but the door wouldn’t open.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Lorenzo slouched, enjoying the cool air in the car, even though the door was cracked. He’d made sure not to close it all the way when Papa went back inside.

Jayce looked at Lorenzo from over his shoulder. “So you are arresting me.”

What was with his mate and his aversion to cops? “Why would I be arresting you? What’d you do wrong, Jayce?”

“Not a damn thing.” Jayce turned fully around to face Lorenzo. “Now let me out.”

The guy was guilty about something. He might have been scowling, but Lorenzo saw the fear in his eyes.

He sighed. “I’m not trying to hold you. I just want to make sure you’re cooled off and have plenty of water. A lot of dangerous things can happen when the heat becomes too much.”

Lorenzo wasn’t just talking about the weather. He was referring to the criminal activity Jayce might be involved in. If his mate was involved, Lorenzo wanted to help him get out of it, but the legal way.

“Tell me about it,” Jayce groaned. “I’m fine. Let me out…please.”

Now Lorenzo saw he had a very stubborn mate on his hands. “I’ll let you out when you tell me why you don’t like cops.”

“That’s blackmail!” Jayce frowned. “I think. At the very least it’s unfair. I didn’t do anything wrong, and you have no right to keep me in this backseat.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and damn if he didn’t look adorable. “I want a lawyer.”

“I’m also an attorney.”

“You’re lying.”

“I am.” Lorenzo grinned. “Seriously, do you feel better?”

Jayce touched his temple. “I have a slight headache, but I’m okay. And…thank you.”

Lorenzo chuckled. “Did that gratitude hurt?”

“Yes.” Jayce crawled over him, and Lorenzo had to stop his cheetah from purring in arousal. The guy was slim, compact, and fuck, his ass was gorgeous. Lorenzo wanted to squeeze those wonderful globes but kept his hands to himself so Jayce wouldn’t demand another lawyer for sexual harassment.

When Jayce was out of the car and on the sidewalk, he turned to Lorenzo. “I appreciate your quick thinking and cooling me off. Have a nice day, Officer.”

Before Lorenzo could stop him, Jayce slammed the car door closed and walked inside. Even though he knew it was futile, Lorenzo checked the handle and groaned. This was not a great way to end his shift.

 

ADULT EXCERPT

 

“Of course, we’re not official mates yet.” Lorenzo’s voice was low, breathy, and strained. “There’s a process.”

“What kind of process?” Jayce stared at the man’s lips, dying to taste them again. The kiss earlier had been too brief, and he wanted more, so much more. He wanted to feel those lips gliding across his, hungry, probing, demanding, and dominating.

Lorenzo moved even closer and slid his finger across Jayce’s shoulder, sending a shower of shivers through him. “I have to bite you here.” He leaned in and whispered into Jayce’s ear, “While we’re having sex.”

Jayce whimpered.

“Then our souls will bind together. There is no going back from that, so I want you to think long and hard about it.”

It wasn’t easy to think when Lorenzo’s deep, earthy scent wrapped around Jayce’s head. He felt hypnotized, spellbound, and the only thing on his brain was kissing Lorenzo. Did he care that Lorenzo wasn’t even human? He looked human.

“Kiss me, please.” Jayce’s breaths came out short and choppy. “I’m dying for you to kiss me.”

Lorenzo slid his hand around Jayce’s nape and pulled him close. Jayce’s body roared to life as their lips touched. The scruff on Lorenzo’s jaw scraped across Jayce’s skin as the kiss went deeper. Lorenzo’s hands explored Jayce’s sides and back, roaming wherever the hell they wanted to go as Jayce tried to get even closer.

Jayce inhaled sharply when he was spun around and bent over the back of the couch. His shorts were snatched downward, exposing his ass. The sudden move confused him, and it was the hottest thing anyone had ever done to him.

It was the domination he’d been looking for.

“What are you gonna do to me?” Jayce’s heart migrated to his throat.

“What I should’ve done as soon as I discovered you were my mate.” Lorenzo’s voice low and rough and made every inch of Jayce shiver.

“And what’s that?” Like Jayce needed the scene spelled out for him. He didn’t, but he liked teasing Lorenzo.

“Don’t. Move,” Lorenzo growled into his ear before stepping back. Jayce watched his every move before Lorenzo disappeared from the room and returned moments later. The guy had a bottle of lube in his hand.

 Jayce curled his fingers into the cushion as his breathing grew shallow. He’d been in Fever’s Edge for months and hadn’t gotten laid. Not that he was on a sabbatical where sex was concerned, but the pickings at the bar and trailer park had been zero.

Now he had a hot stud who rippled and flexed as he crossed the room, making Jayce’s body tighten desperately with need. As Lorenzo moved in behind Jayce, the sound of the cap snicking open filled his ears, along with Lorenzo’s heavy breathing.

He twitched when wet fingers slid down his crease. Lorenzo parted Jayce’s cheeks and then pressed the tip of his finger inside. “So tight,” Lorenzo said with savage satisfaction.

His shorts kicked aside, Jayce spread his legs. He bent over the couch, strangling the cushion. The tip of a finger wasn’t enough. It was like giving a thirsty man a drop of water. Jayce gritted his teeth and waited, but Lorenzo didn’t go any farther.

Finally the finger slid farther inside then pulled back. Lorenzo repeated the move a few times before a second finger joined the first.

Jayce gasped, but it still wasn’t enough. He needed more.

His legs were spread, his lips parted, and his body relaxed. Jayce whimpered when Lorenzo moved his fingers so slowly that the invasion did nothing but torture him. Even so, Jayce wasn’t going to say a word and destroy whatever was taking place. If he told Lorenzo to hurry the hell up, the guy just might come to his senses and realize what a mistake this was.

Pressing the palm of his hand between Jayce’s shoulder blades, Lorenzo bent him so far over that the only thing stopping Jayce from falling over the couch was Lorenzo’s hand.

He thrust his fingers deep, moving them so fast and hard that Jayce shot to the edge, damn near spiraling over. Frustratingly, Lorenzo stopped before Jayce could explode.

“Oh my fucking god!” Jayce panted between words. “You’re doing that on purpose!”

“Doing what?” Lorenzo’s voice was filled with mischief. “This?”

Jayce gritted his teeth, his eyelids fluttering as Lorenzo stroked over his sweet spot. His legs turned to wet noodles, and if the couch hadn’t been holding him up, he would have collapsed.

“Is this what you were referring to, Jayce?” Lorenzo stroked the gland again as he added a third finger, making Jayce damn near drool.

“You’re a wicked, wicked man.” Jayce barely got the words out. “Is sexual torture your kink?”

“Relax.” Lorenzo said that single word so soothingly that Jayce’s body obeyed. Lorenzo’s chest pressed into Jayce’s back. The touch of skin, the earthy smell of Lorenzo, and the man’s deep voice had Jayce struggling to breathe. “I’m not a five-minute man. I like to explore, to taste, to touch, and to listen to the pleasure escaping your sweet lips.”

Jayce bit into his lower lip as his eyes closed. The stretch burned as he reminded himself to breathe. This was exactly what he wanted, even if he hadn’t known he wanted it. Lorenzo had been a complete gentleman all day, showing Jayce a good time, smiling at him as if Jayce truly meant something to him. He couldn’t recall the last time—if ever—a romantic interest treated him that way.

The pressing of Lorenzo’s chest disappeared. Jayce instantly missed the heat, the safety he felt being trapped under the guy. He liked feeling cocooned, feeling as if no one, not even Anderson, could get to him.

Lorenzo’s hand returned to Jayce’s upper back, and then his fingers gripped the nape of Jayce’s neck, holding him firmly in place. The fingers stretching him slid free, replaced by the blunt head of Lorenzo’s cock.

“Mine.” Lorenzo thrust fully inside him, with no hesitation, no warning. Jayce cried out, his hands pulling so hard at the sofa that he should have shredded the fabric.