STORY EXCERPT

What. The. Fuck.

Joe cracked his eyes open to the sound of a motorcycle reeving. He tried to settle back into sleep, but the noise wouldn’t stop. Joe shoved a pillow over his head, hoping it drowned out the sound, but no such luck.

Was this what he had to look forward to every morning? Were his neighbors that damn inconsiderate? He’d thought he’d lucked out with a gay couple moving in next door since Maple Grove wasn’t exactly a progressive town.

But his happiness seemed to be a premature celebration. Joe was surprised their wolf wasn’t out there howling next to the motorcycle with as much racket that was going on.

Joe looked through bleary eyes at the clock on the nightstand. It was just a little after ten. He hadn’t gotten to sleep until four in the morning. He worked for a small website design firm that was based out of Dallas. Joe did most of his work from home on his computer, but there were times when he had to fly to Dallas, or other parts of the country, to help out clients.

In fact, Joe had to fly out next week because Tillman Tech was hosting a tech convention in Alabama, and Joe had to make sure everything was up and running smoothly before the convention began.

He flipped the covers back and got up, scrubbing a hand through his hair before he shoved his robe on and stormed to the front door and flung it open. The reeving intensified.

“Are you kidding me?” Joe shouted as he stepped onto his front porch in nothing but his robe and boxers.

Milo had his back to Joe and didn’t turn around to acknowledge him. He was seated on a box, a few tools on the ground beside him. The hot stud reached up and twisted one of the handles, the reeving sound piercing Joe’s sleepy brain.

This was unreal. “Hello?” he shouted to no avail.

Joe stormed down the steps and crossed his lawn. There was a patch of grass that separated their driveways. He approached Mr. Sexy and tapped him on the shoulder.

The guy grabbed Joe’s wrist so fast that Joe didn’t have a chance to react. Milo stood and spun around, his brown eyes narrowed.

Joe used the other hand to point to the bike. “Are you always this noisy in the morning?”

Milo released him and slid his gaze over Joe, and not in a friendly way. “Never sneak up on me again. Consider yourself lucky I’m in a good mood this morning, or you might’ve lost that hand.”

What an arrogant jackass. That went to show that good looks weren’t everything, especially if the personality didn’t match. “I didn’t sneak up on you,” Joe argued. “I shouted from my porch, but you were reeving your death trap. It isn’t even noon yet!”

And Joe hadn’t even had a cup of coffee in his system. He was ready to murder Milo if the guy didn’t shut his damn bike off.

Milo shrugged and sat back down. “My bike needing some maintenance. Ten is a decent hour. I can’t help it your lazy ass sleeps in so late.”

Joe sputtered, but no retort came to mind. He wanted to kick Milo in his thick skull. But the guy was too damn tall and muscled. Joe had no doubt that if he assaulted Milo, he’d get his ass kicked. He wasn’t a violent man, either. He believed in working problems out like an adult, with words instead of fists.

His gaze dropped to Milo’s strong back, and for a split second, Joe wanted to whimper at the way his black T-shirt hugged his muscled form. Then his brain snapped into focus, and he remembered Milo was an asshole.

You’re an adult. Try to reason with him. Joe cleared his throat, deciding to change tactics. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you,” he said. “My name is Joseph Zelko. I live next door.”

“Yeah, I got that already.” The jackass didn’t even turn around.

“I work late nights and don’t get to bed until the wee hours of the morning. Is there any way you can put off your work until later?” Joe had used his syrupy-sweet voice.

Milo reached up and twisted the handle, the bike roaring loudly. “Sorry, can’t hear you.”

Joe’s fists convulsed at his sides as he gritted his teeth. He had an overwhelming urge to punch Milo in his dumb head. Instead, he stormed to Ben’s front door and pounded his fist against it.

“What the fuck’re you doing?” Milo stood and glared at Joe.

“If I can’t get you to give me some leeway, I’m gonna ask the owner of this house,” Joe snapped. His eyes widened when Milo stormed his way. Fuck, the guy was super tall compared to Milo’s five feet six inches. He was ready to bolt until the front door opened.

“Hey, Joe,” Ben said. “What’s going on?”

Joe braced himself to get pummeled by Milo’s fists as he said, “I was trying to reason with your friend, but he has a damn stick up his ass.”

His very gorgeous ass.

“Milo?” Ben said.

Milo stopped a foot from Joe. The guy’s nostrils were flaring, and if looks could kill, Joe would’ve exploded where he stood. “Your neighbor is bitching me out for working on my bike.”

“That’s not true,” Joe argued. “I’m complaining about the noise this early in the morning. If you want to cut your motorcycle off and work on it, that’s completely fine.”

“Is he for real?” Milo asked Ben. “Tell me our neighbors aren’t this fucking uptight.”

Our neighbors? Joe wanted to shout at the injustice. He’d been hoping Milo was just staying for a visit once he’d discovered what a jerk the guy was. Did he have this bullshit to look forward to every morning?

His ears perked up when he heard a baby laughing. A baby? What on earth was going on in Ben’s house? He didn’t remember seeing a child when he’d come over before.

“Milo, work on your bike later.” Ben waved as though to tell Milo to come inside.

“Are you kidding me?” Milo barked. “You’re taking his side?”

Ben gave Joe an apologetic smile. “You look like shit.”

Joe bristled. “Gee, thanks. You can have Jericho bring my casserole dish over later. Right now I’m going back to sleep.”

Joe spun, nearly colliding with Milo’s sexy body. But Joe was too pissed to drool over the guy. As far as he was concerned, Milo could hop on his death trap and ride right back out of town.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I know this is frightening,” Milo said. “But as my mate, you’ll never want for anything. I’ll never cheat on you, and your happiness and health will always be my priority.”

Joe considered himself fairly intelligent. He was down to earth, tried his hardest not to judge, and had a very kind heart. But what Milo was asking him to ingest was too bizarre, too farfetched for him to even consider.

“So you’re saying it’s kismet that has brought us together?” Joe moved around the couch to put distance between them, but Milo slowly stalked forward, eating up the space.

“Kismet, fate, destiny, it’s all the same. Tell me you didn’t feel an instant attraction to me that has only grown since we’ve met.” Milo tapped his chest. “Right here. An insane need to be near me.”

“That’s called lust.” Joe’s leg bumped into the coffee table, and he would’ve fallen over if Milo hadn't jerked forward and caught his arm.

“That’s called the pull.” Milo curled Joe in his arms. “It’s an overwhelming need to be close to your mate, and no matter how hard you fight it, you just can’t.”

Joe pressed his hand against Milo’s hard chest and groaned. No, wait. He wasn’t supposed to be attracted to Milo. The guy wasn’t even human. This was crazy on the deepest level. Joe should be running from the house in terror as he screamed his fool head off. He wasn’t supposed to want Milo to curl his arms around him, to kiss Joe until he couldn’t fucking breathe.

A smile curled the side of Milo’s gorgeous face. “You feel it, don’t you?”

“I feel your hard cock poking me.”

Milo chuckled then started to nibble at Joe’s neck. “Come on, admit how attracted you are to me, because I think you’re the sexiest motherfucker to walk the planet.”

“Wait…I just need…oh hell.” As badly as Joe wanted to kick Milo out, his body reacted to the guy’s lips, his touches, and the hard cock still poking him.

His body throbbed and tingled as his face flushed. His skin tightened then hardened as Milo slid his hands down Joe’s back and cupped his ass.

Mate. The word rang in his head. That was crazy as hell. Joe didn’t want to believe fate had brought them together, but he couldn’t deny how he felt toward Milo whenever the guy was near. Or when he wasn’t. He’d tried to throw himself into his work, to forget about Milo, but the harder he tried, the more he wanted to run next door and throw himself into Milo’s arms.

“Tell me you’re not dying for me to fuck you,” Milo murmured in his ear.

Joe’s breathing grew shallow as he tried to work shit out in his head but failed. He should be afraid of Milo, but the guy was right. All Joe could think about was getting naked and getting fucked.

He turned his head to look Milo’s in his eyes and got lost in those brown beauties. The urge to kiss the guy was too damn strong, so Joe gave up trying to resist.

He teased Milo with his mouth, making the guy chase his tongue as he gripped his rounded, naked ass. Joe hadn’t had sex since he’d broken up with Lange a year ago. He was so fucking horny that he shoved aside what Milo had told him, what Milo had shown him, and just went with the moment as he inhaled deep drafts of Milo’s masculine scent and devoured his mouth.

They tumbled backward onto the couch, Joe landing on his back as Milo used his arms to brace his fall. He wiggled out of his robe and then shoved at his pajama pants, desperate to feel Milo’s hard body against his.

Joe lay there panting as Milo sucked a finger into his mouth and then wedged it into Joe’s crease. He hissed and sucked in a breath when Milo slid the wet finger inside Joe’s ass.

His mouth dropped open and a moan escaped as Milo sucked at Joe’s neck. This had to be a dream. Joe had fallen asleep and was having a bizarre dream, a very sexual bizarre dream.

No one had ever called him sexy. Not even Lange. Joe was okay looking, but he wasn’t a god like Milo was. The guy was a walking wet dream, and he wanted Joe.

Milo licked and kissed at Joe’s jaw as he pumped his finger in and out of Joe’s ass. “I want to bury my dick deep inside your body,” Milo murmured. “Tell me you have lube.”

Joe’s breath hitched as his body sang with need. “Nightstand drawer.”

Milo pulled back and then grabbed Joe’s hand, yanking him from the couch. Joe walked in a daze to his bedroom, staring at Milo’s gorgeous ass.

When they entered his bedroom, Milo shoved Joe onto the bed and climbed on top of him, sucking in one of Joe’s nipples as he curled a hand around Joe’s cock.

“Oh fuck.” Joe threw his head back. The suckling didn’t last long. Milo flipped Joe over and trailed kisses down his back until he reached Joe’s ass.

Milo separated his cheeks and dined on Joe’s pulsing hole. “Milo!”

The guy chuckled. “It only gets better, love.”

Joe gripped the sheets and tucked his legs under himself, giving Milo more room to play. Joe had never been rimmed and couldn’t believe Milo was doing it.

And fuck, it felt amazing!

His lips parted, and a crazy noise came out when Milo inserted his fingers into Joe’s body. He pressed his forehead into the bed as his body pulsed, and Joe was seconds away from coming.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard his nightstand drawer opening, but Joe was too lost in the sensations for the sound to fully register.

Just as his orgasm grew close, Milo’s fingers disappeared and were replaced by the blunt head of his erection. Joe grabbed the bedding tighter as Milo slowly entered him.