by Bru Baker
“Is it safe?”
Jackson laughed at the open judgment and horror in Candice’s tone.
“Mostly,” Harris said. “And the guest room is at the other end of the apartment, so….”
Candice’s tinkling laugh rang through the wall. “Okay. I guess if I see anything that traumatizes me, I know a good psychologist.”
Harris laughed and closed the laptop with a snap.
“Don’t take that off!” Jackson yelled from the bedroom.
Harris was laughing when he appeared in the hallway. His bow tie was untied and the first few buttons were undone.
“Tuxedo does it for you, huh?”
“Baby, on you? A ratty old bathrobe would do it for me. But I want to savor this. I need to build up an immunity so I don’t jump you in front of Candice.”
“She’d never forgive you. Remember how angry Ryan was when the elevator opened and we were making out?”
The Alpha’s son had ranted about how he was going to have to take the stairs because the elevator was going to reek for days. He’d been smiling when he said it, so Jackson wasn’t too worried about emotionally scarring him, but he did worry he and Harris might be starring in his fantasies for a while.
Which was fine, as long as the kid realized Harris was his. Not that there was much doubt. The two of them completed their bonding ceremony two months ago, combining it with the ceremony that officially adopted them into the Pack. They’d held off on his formal Second installation until earlier this month, even though he’d been Acting Second since they moved in. Alpha Connoll had suggested it, and Jackson was forever in his debt. He’d been feeling pretty antisocial after the bonding ceremony—he didn’t think he’d have been able to go through the rest of the rituals without throwing Harris over his shoulder and running out.
The bond was settling, though it was still touchy. Tate said that was normal. It would be a few months before either of them could take a trip or be apart for more than a night, but that was okay. Jackson didn’t foresee wanting to be apart from Harris for a good long time.
Jackson watched as Harris slowly undressed. He loved this private side of his mate. He was playful and so full of joy.
Jackson was practically panting by the time Harris was naked. How could he want him this much? The need was just as overwhelming as it had been the first time. He was constantly hungry for the feeling of his mate’s skin against him. It was a good thing that Harris didn’t work in the building, or they’d never get anything done.
Harris climbed up the mattress until he was straddling Jackson, their naked thighs touching. Even that was almost too much, thanks to the feedback loop through the bond. He’d thought it was intense their first time, but he’d been wrong. He couldn’t even put into words what it felt like to experience his mate’s pleasure along with his own.
Harris leaned down and kissed his chest, humming happily. “Come in from the gym?”
Jackson arched when he moved up to his neck, kissing and sucking at the tender skin. “Yes. I had a class.”
“Mmm. I like when you’re all sweaty.”
Jackson knew. Sometimes he went for a run shortly before Harris was due to come home exactly for this reason.
Harris kissed him and brought their hips together, rutting against Jackson. Pleasure sparked through him, white-hot but far from enough. Jackson wrapped his hands around Harris’s waist and flipped them so he could kiss his way down his body, paying special attention to his bobbing cock. When Harris started to squirm, he delved deeper, licking over his entrance and drinking up his mate’s cries.
One of the many benefits of the bond was being able to tell when Harris was getting close. The way Harris pushed a bottle of lube into his hands was also a good tell. Jackson eased away, grinning at Harris’s needy groan, and lubed himself up, replacing his tongue with his cock. The delicious slide inside always made his vision gray, and Jackson stopped when he’d bottomed out. Once they’d recovered from the bond flaring, he set a steady pace, knowing exactly how Harris liked it. They didn’t have much time, so he couldn’t take him apart until he was crying, but he’d do that later. They had so much sex these days even Jackson’s teenage self was impressed.
He could feel Harris’s orgasm building along with his own, so he leaned in and cradled Harris’s head as he drove into him, breathing in his scent. Jackson still couldn’t believe he got to have this every day. He couldn’t imagine a better life.
His orgasm took him by surprise, and he sped up his strokes, determined to take Harris over with him. It didn’t take much for him to follow, both of them gasping and arching together.
Jackson stilled, enjoying listening to Harris’s pulse race. He pressed a kiss against his neck and eased out of him, rolling to the side so he didn’t crush him. Harris stretched and grabbed a pack of wet wipes in the headboard, cleaning them up quickly. They kept supplies in nearly every room in the apartment, earning them eye rolls and sighs every time someone opened a drawer looking for a pen and pulled out wet wipes or lube.
Jackson refused to be embarrassed by it. He had a healthy appetite for his mate, and as far as he was concerned, they had ten years to make up for. He didn’t know why his wolf waited so long to fall in love with Harris, but he was glad it had.
New York was a big lifestyle change for them, but they were finding there was a diverse supernatural community surrounding them. It was eye-opening, seeing how much good Harris was doing with his practice, counseling supernaturals of all backgrounds. And Jackson had never been as fulfilled as he was acting as Second for the Connoll Pack. Every day brought new challenges and new experiences.
And he got to go through them all with Harris at his side.
His mate had been hiding in plain sight for all of their adult lives, and he was grateful every day that he’d found him.
Author’s Note
AS the Camp H.O.W.L. series comes to a close I wanted to talk about the Hoosier National Forest, which is the perfect place to hide a werewolf camp. Southern Indiana has several large, heavily forested parks. And speaking as someone who’s lived there--let’s just say the wolves wouldn’t be the weirdest people around.
The Hoosier National Forest is a great place to lose yourself in nature for an afternoon or a weekend (or a month of how-to-werewolf classes). National parks are under threat from both climate change and political posturing, and they need an advocate. That’s why I’m donating a portion of the royalties from the Camp H.O.W.L. series to the National Parks Conservation Association. We need to preserve these parks for future generations--and werewolves, of course.
I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting Camp H.O.W.L. as much as I have. And don’t worry, you’ll see familiar faces in my next project, the Connoll Pack series. Look for that in early 2019, starting with Stealing His Heart.
As always, thanks for reading!
Bru
BRU BAKER got her first taste of life as a writer at the tender age of four, when she started publishing a weekly newspaper for her family. What they called nosiness she called a nose for news, and no one was surprised when she ended up with degrees in journalism and political science and started a career in journalism.
Bru spend more than a decade writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now works in reference and readers’ advisory in a Midwestern library, though she still finds it hard to believe someone’s willing to pay her to talk about books all day. Most evenings you can find her curled up with a book or her laptop. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
Website: www.bru-baker.com
Blog: www.bru-baker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @bru_baker
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bru.baker79
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6608093.Bru_Baker
By Bru Baker
DREAMSPUN BEYOND
CAMP H.O.W.L.
#7 – Camp H.O.W.L.
#22 – Under a Blue Moon
#28 – Hiding In Plain Sight
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
#31 – Tall, Dark, and Deported
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Now Available
Camp H.O.W.L.
By Bru Baker
A Camp H.O.W.L. Novel
Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….
When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty,” he assumed he was, somehow, human. But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack—scared, alone, and eight years late.
Dr. Tate Lewis’s werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man—or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian too.
A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge?
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Now Available
Under a Blue Moon
By Bru Baker
A Camp H.O.W.L. Novel
Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match.
Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere.
Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them, and his ridiculous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of Drew's private practice patients threatens his life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Coming in October 2018
Dreamspun Beyond #29
The Librarian’s Ghost by Sean Michael
The Supers
Can love survive the perils of MacGregor House?
The Supernatural Explorers are back and looking for their next big paranormal case. They might’ve found it in a plea from Payne, a mild-mannered librarian who has inherited the family mansion—MacGregor House. Since moving in a few months ago, Payne’s exhausted the list of ghost hunters and experts in his quest for help. The Supers are his last chance.
So why does normally good-natured cameraman Will take an instant dislike to Payne? For that matter, why has he felt irritable and angry since they arrived at the site? It soon becomes clear that the answers they seek will be found in the basement—where nobody has gone since Payne was a little boy. As the haunting grows deadlier, things get sweeter between Will and Payne, but all hell’s about to break loose when they breach the basement door.
Will they be ready?
Dreamspun Beyond #30
Calculated Magic by SJD Peterson
Never too late for love.
Three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old warlock Tikron must find his true love or forfeit his immortality. But if he hasn’t found his ideal mate in all these centuries, the prospects don’t look too bright.
That is, until he sees mathematician Richard Beaumont. It’s love at first sight and Tikron’s future just got a whole lot brighter.
Except Richard doesn’t believe in love at first sight. He doesn't believe in love at all. He certainly doesn’t believe in magic. His life is ruled by statistics and logic, and they tell him a relationship with Tikron has only a 10 percent chance of success. That’s unacceptable—even if the attraction between them is off the charts.
With his powers waning and the clock ticking down, Tikron’s last hope is showing Richard the true meaning of magic.
Coming Soon to
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Hiding In Plain Sight
© 2018 Bru Baker.
Editorial Development by Sue Brown-Moore.
Cover Art
© 2018 Aaron Anderson.
[email protected]
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-866-9
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64108-108-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018941318
Digital published September 2018
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America