by Misha Horne
Kyle laughed, his body finally loosening up as Juno teased and tickled him. “I think your fetish might be clothes.”
“Your clothes.”
“The clothes don’t bother me. I should probably keep those. I know you made room. And I’ll unpack the stuff I need for class. It’s mostly just… stupid things. Stuff from my room at home. Stuff my mom bought to send me out here. I don’t know. Some of it just makes me feel sick. Makes me think about things I don’t want to think about. I’m not even sure why. I just know I like how I feel here. Around your things. Around you. It feels safe. I just want to have one safe place, you know?”
Juno wrapped both arms around him, crushing him as he pulled him into his chest. “This is that place, rook. I promise. If whatever’s in those boxes is messing you up, I’ll help you burn them, I don’t give a fuck. All I need is you. I think it would scare you to death if you knew how much I needed you here.”
“I’m not scared.”
“I am. What you said earlier, about being scared I’ll change my mind about what I want? I’m scared of that too. Of you changing yours. So, I kept pushing you to unpack when it was obvious you didn’t want to, and that was…” He shook his head. “That was bullshit. I need to listen better than that. I just… it’s like that not taking on my cleats thing when I was a kid, I guess. In my head, I figured as long as you unpacked, you were really gonna stay. And I really want you to stay.”
“I’m really staying. It’s not you. It was never you. It’s not this place, I love this place. It’s just the stuff.”
“Then fuck the stuff. I just want you to be happy. I’ll do anything to make you happy. Whatever it is. No matter how hard this is, no matter how complicated, I’ll do it right, I promise. I’ll take such good care of you. I want to. I want that more than anything.”
Kyle leaned against him, wishing he was smarter and better and stronger, that he could hear things like that and not cry like a baby. That he had a million right words to say back. He didn’t. Not even close.
He pressed his forehead against Juno’s, like he could make magic happen somehow, make his thoughts come out sweet and orderly if they were close enough to his.
“I don’t know how to say those kind of things you do,” he whispered. “You’re really good at making me feel important. With the romance stuff and everything. But, if you really think I’d ever walk away from somebody that loves me like you do, you’re crazy. If I had to, if I have to, I’ll trade anything for you. You’re an actual part of me, like my arm or my heart. If I ripped you out, I’d bleed to death. I’m not going anywhere.”
He thought Juno was laughing at him again until he realized he wasn’t. Until he tilted Kyle’s face toward his and kissed him gently, and he tasted the salt on his lips.
“Don’t sell yourself short, rook. You’re better at that stuff than you think.”
“Are you drowning yet?” he whispered.
“Yeah.” Juno kissed him again. “A little.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
* * *
Kyle and Juno’s story will continue in Benched #7
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More by Misha Horne
HARD LESSONS SERIES
Old School Discipline
BENCHED SERIES
Benched #1: Rookie Mistake
Benched #2: Double Play
Benched #3: Out by a Mile
Benched #4: Scoring Position
Benched #5: Ground Rules
Benched #6: Rain Delay
Misha Horne & AJ Sisko
NOT SO SERIES
Not So Smart
STANDALONE NOVELS
Working out the Kinks
Visit www.mishahorne.com for more.
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If you enjoyed this book, you might also like…
OLD SCHOOL DISCIPLINE
I never planned on continuing my pointless education. But then I got arrested. Again. Hey, if those laptops weren’t meant to be stolen, they should have been locked up better.
Somehow, my latest stunt and lousy attitude landed me in Redwood Academy. An exclusive university where they’re supposed to turn screw ups like me into upstanding citizens. Or some crap like that. But, okay, fine. Some lame private college still sounded better than jail. It’s not like I’m footing the bill.
So, what’s the problem?
Well, let me name a few. The dean’s got it out for me, because I might have broken a fairly big rule on day one. Gotta make an impression, right? The troublemaking twink across the hall is obsessed with me, and his overprotective boyfriend doesn’t like that very much. What can I say? It’s hard looking this damn good.
And then there's my roommate.
Bax is a complete psychopath. An obnoxious, dominating bastard, with a vicious sneer and massive biceps, and a past no one will talk about. I hate him like hell. Except when I don’t. When he uses those strong hands to punish me in ways I’ve never dreamed of, hate is the last thing on my mind.
Oh, did I forget to mention the spanking? See, Redwood’s all about the old school discipline. And, apparently, so am I. Because getting bent over and spanked by my roommate is pushing buttons I never knew I had.
Any normal person would be planning a jailbreak, I guess. Believe me, I’m tempted. But I’m starting to think I might actually belong here. Even worse, that I might want to belong. To Bax. And that’s definitely a problem.
Old School Discipline is a 100,000 word erotic enemies to lovers novel, with an HFN/HEA ending and lots of spanking. This book includes angry, sexy male/male action between roommates who can’t stand each other and absolutely refuse to believe they could be perfect for each other. No matter how much they like fooling around.
Old School Discipline is available now.
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NOT SO SMART
“It wasn’t obsession, exactly. Except, it probably was.”
JOSH
Damon Price is a brutally hot, ripply muscled, scarily confident, dimpled god. Without his hard body to stare at three times a week, I probably would have dropped out of college months ago. Too bad he doesn't know I exist. But, even if he did know, even if it was true that he screwed anything and everything that moved, an awkward virgin like me would still be at the bottom of his to-do list.
Even if he knew the kind of filthy stuff I actually wanted.
Even if he knew the last thing I need is any kind of relationship.
“I never meant to fuck a virgin.”
DAMON
I should have been out the door the second that word came out of his mouth. A virgin was not what I was looking for. Except, damn, he knew how to talk. Knew how to say things so off-the-grid dirty I hardly knew what to say back. And talk wasn’t all he knew how to do. There’s kinky, and then there’s crazy, and then, apparently, there’s Josh Holloway-- who’s up for anything.
And who I definitely should not still be thinking about.
Because the last thing I need is any kind of relationship.
An angsty virgin who might be a little twisted. A moody manwhore who might be a little lonely. All they wanted was to use each other for one dirty, kinky night. Feelings were absolutely not part of the plan.
NOT SO SMART is a 52,000 word enemies-to-(still-mostly-enemies-but-also-)lovers novel, featuring messed up college guys who are great at lying to themselves, wall to wall sex, naked guitar playing, inappropriate library behavior, inappropriate dressing room behavior, inappropriate tube sock behavior, bondage, spanking, little bit of shoplifting, and some very unwelcome romantic feelings.
Not So Smart is available now.
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WORKING OUT THE KINKS
Mistakes aren’t supposed to feel this good…
I learned early on that pretty much everything in life is a scam, and love's at the top of the list. Easy to fake, maximum payout, and people just never stop falling for it.
Watching my mom break hearts and empty bank accounts as we bounced from house to house taught me just how dangerous feelings could be. That's a whole lot of hassle I don't need.
These days, I stick to three basic rules. I don’t take something just because I want it. I don’t ask for help, even if I need it. And I never look twice at a guy who has a bigger bank account than I do. I know where those things can get you, and it's not anywhere I need to go.
I’m perfectly happy never getting too close to anyone. Just scraping by with my guitar, chasing the rock star dream until my time or my sanity runs out. At least, I thought I was.
Until Brett showed up.
Another thing I don’t do is think about the past. Ever. So, the last person I need to go breaking all my rules for is the cocky, spoiled brat who used to sleep in the room across the hall.
No matter how gorgeous he is now.
No matter how filthy he is in bed.
No matter how good it feels when he says all he wants in the world is me.
Working Out the Kinks is a 98,000 word filthy forbidden romance novel about a grumpy, broken rock star who refuses to fall in love, and a lonely, relentless, spoiled brat looking for someone to belong to. So much angst, so much arguing, so much spanking, and just a touch of taboo. (An unrequited one-sided crush between former stepbrothers.)
Working Out the Kinks is available now.
About the Author
Misha Horne writes about sexy, kinky, somewhat angsty men discovering who they really are and what they really want... and finding that certain someone they can be themselves with. Expect lots of spanking, serious dirty talk, explicit sex, and untidy emotion. Sometimes love gets involved. Okay, usually love gets involved. But, mostly by accident.
Misha kicks about in Chicago, where, if she's not writing, there's a good chance she's reading, obsessing over the Red Sox, drinking cheap wine, or losing at Mario Kart for the ten millionth time. If it's a super productive day, maybe all those at once!
You can find Misha corrupting social media on twitter, facebook, and www.mishahorne.com.
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