by Sean Michael
“Let me feed this to you,” he said softly. His fork sank into the crisp and the apples, and when he pulled it away, steam rose up.
“This is a terrible idea.”
“No, it’s a good idea—you love apple crisp.” Just let me feed you, babe, he thought, trying to laser the thought right into James’ brain. He held the fork to James’ lips and, to his surprise, his lover’s lips opened.
He licked his own lips as James took the bite in. “Good?” he asked softly, mesmerized.
“Yes. Another bite?”
He was so hard he ached. “Absolutely.” He glanced away long enough to make sure he got crisp and apple on the fork, then looked back at James, offered the forkful over.
“Thank you.” James’ lips were soft, open, decadent. God, it was pure sex.
When a bit of apple smeared across the side of James’ lips, he risked leaning forward to lick it away. The taste of apple and cinnamon exploded on his tongue, but even better than that was the flavor of James himself.
“Guard.” That soft, breathed-out sound brushed his lips.
“Right here.” He met James’ eyes, licked the corner of James’ mouth again.
“Don’t kiss me.”
“I didn’t. You had a smear of apple…” He looked into James’ eyes again. “Why not? I want to.”
“I know, but you can’t. We’re not lovers anymore.” James was right there, watching him.
“We could be. I want to be.” So fucking badly, he felt the ache of it with him all the time.
James reached up, touched his lips. “I can’t. Wanting won’t fix that.”
“Why not? Give me one good reason.”
“I’m broken.”
“Bullshit. Your legs don’t work so well, that doesn’t mean we can’t adapt.” He wasn’t going to give up.
James shook his head. “I can’t. I can’t adapt anymore.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re here. You’re alive. You have two men who love you.”
James rolled back, out of his reach. “Love doesn’t fix everything.”
Guard sighed. “No, but it means I’ll stick around until something does.” He put the fork down and nodded toward the folders. “All right, let’s go over our next set of clients.”
James bit back a sigh of his own at the redirect. “Three of them—one is straightforward. Kidnap fantasy. The other two are more complex. We need to find a good Dom for the first, though.”
“Are we kidnapping from home or not until he hits the island?” It was fascinating the way every client brought a new set of challenges.
“He wanted from home, but legal says no way. He’ll come here.”
“Yeah? So we’ll set him up in a cottage and he’ll be kidnapped from there? So he wants the whole non-con thing?”
James nodded. It was fairly typical for them—decent money and the Doms loved the job. They specialized in the impossible fantasies.
“Anything unusual about the job?”
James smiled at him. “Isn’t there always?”
Coming soon from Pride Publishing:
Three More Wishes
Sean Michael
Released 9th August 2016
Excerpt
Chapter One
Guard was dreaming. He had to be. It was only in his dreams that he woke up curled around James’ body, their shared heat filling the air with the scent of them. He moaned happily, rubbing his cock against James’ ass. God, this dream felt so good, so real.
“You two look cozy. And I was thinking you missed me…”
Damien.
Guard was going to kill the fucker.
Especially now he knew he wasn’t dreaming. He popped his head up over James’ shoulder and glared. “Anyone ever tell you that you have lousy timing?”
“All the time. Talked to Rosa. He had a bad night. Did you give him a Valium?”
“No, actually, I didn’t.” No, instead a bit of a miracle had happened—James had let Guard soothe and ease him, had fallen asleep in Guard’s arms.
James shifted, frowned, starting to wake up. Guard held on, kissed James’ head. God damn Damien for coming and waking him up anyway.
“I… What’s going on? Why are you in here?”
Guard ignored Damien for now and gave James his full attention. “You had a nightmare.”
“I… I. You should go. Did I wake you? How did I wake you?”
“Don’t you remember?” He’d just stay where he was for now, thank you. His cock had flagged a little, but it was still snug up against James’ body.
“I remember you coming. I told you to go, but you’re warm.”
“You were screaming like someone was killing you.” He wasn’t going to leave James like that.
“I… I’m sorry. It’s been…” Four years. Four years since the incident. Four years since he’d been confined to the chair.
Guard knew. They all knew. “I know, James. I know. I’m here, though. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
“Sweet.” Damien’s voice was dry as dust.
“Dame?” James’ head whipped around. “You’re on the island?”
“Apparently.” Guard glared. Damien knew it was a delicate balance to get James to stop pushing them away.
“Come on, Wheels. You think I’d miss this anniversary?”
James winced, and Guard could see the devastation, the guilt in Damien’s eyes.
“All right. Let’s get some breakfast in us, huh?” Guard said.
If James and Damien could just let the past be the past, they could start looking forward. Together.
“You two go. Ask Carmen for something. I have to get up.”
“We can help you, James.” He was tired of James running him off, pushing him and Damien away.
“No.” The word came out cold, without any embellishment. James had never let him in, let him touch.
“We’re here now. It’ll be easier.” Come on. Come on.
“No. There’s work to do, isn’t there?”
“Of course there is. But we can take five minutes to take care of each other.”
James stared at him, breath coming quick. There was a major panic attack, right there at the surface.
Guard stroked James’ head. “Come on, J. Just breathe. We can do this. All together. Come on.”
“Go away. Go away.”
Damien stepped forward, eyes shimmering.
Guard nodded and held his hand out to Damien. “Help me.”
“Go away…”
Damien came closer. “Jamie…”
“We just want to help, Jamie. Don’t keep pushing us away.”
“I’m not him anymore. I never will be. Ever. I’m broken.”
“Stop that. Stop saying that. I don’t believe it, Damien doesn’t believe it, and somewhere deep inside you don’t believe it, either.”
“It’s true. It’s all true.” James sat up, scooted to the edge of the bed. “Go. Make sure there’s juice. I’ll be out in a little while.”
Guard sighed, torn between pushing it and letting James have a few minutes to pull himself together, to put up his walls. He finally decided on going because James had let him stay in the aftermath of the nightmare. He was taking that as a win and leaving now to ensure James made the same choice next time. If there was a next time.
He kissed James’ shoulder and slid out of bed, grabbing Damien’s hand and throwing a “We’ll be at your breakfast table” over his shoulder.
As soon as the bedroom door closed behind them, he turned to Damien. The man was always away, on the road looking for clients, arranging for tops and other specialists to make the fantasies come true. It wasn’t often that James didn’t know he was coming home—James usually cut the man’s credit cards off when they needed Damien here.
“Perfect timing, as always,” Guard noted.
Damien shrugged, pinked. “It’s the anniversary. I came.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know.” Then he hugged Damien. “He’s nev
er let me in his bed before. We’re wearing him down.”
“He’ll never forgive me.” Damien would never forgive himself.
“He already has. He thinks we only see the chair.”
Arm around Damien’s waist, Guard led the man over to the table. There was breakfast for three, including juice, laid out. Carmen was a treasure, and he would pay her any amount of money to keep her happy.
“Fucking wheels.”
“Better than the alternative.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I should’ve done better work.”
“Would you let it go? You’re as bad as James. Christ.” He pulled out a chair and looked at Damien pointedly.
Damien flipped him off, the motion lazy.
“Sit your ass down, man. We’re going to have breakfast with James and then we’re going to talk about the upcoming guests and then we’re going to try to get into his pants. Again.”
“And when that doesn’t work?” Damien sat.
“Then we try again tomorrow and the day after that and then the day after that.” He’d been at this game for years now. He wasn’t planning on giving up any time soon.
“Good plan.” Damien grabbed a piece of pineapple.
“When did you get in?” Guard found the oatmeal and dished himself up a big bowlful.
“Midnight. I wanted to be here.”
“You should have come over. Helped me with James.”
“I watched.”
His head whipped around. “What?”
“I was outside. I watched. I mean, after the storm and all. I wasn’t around for the nightmare.”
“You should have joined us, man.” He was tired of being close to one or the other but never the two together. At least he got to make love to Damien. Fuck, he missed them.
“I couldn’t. I don’t belong there.”
“Of course you do. We only ever worked right when it was all three of us.”
Damn them, they were the stubbornest assholes he’d ever met. Too bad for them he was just as stubborn and he wasn’t giving up on getting his wonderful life back.
“I’d give anything to have it back.”
“It’ll happen, D. I can feel it.” He believed it. With all his heart. And he should know, he was the one who stayed on the island, who was here day in and day out. Gopher, security, he did all the things James—their computer guru and, frankly, the real brains behind the operation—couldn’t. He met planes and inspected the cabins. He oversaw new construction and accepted deliveries. The guests knew Damien as their main contact off the island. Guard was the man on the island.
“Nonsense. I’m not on the market. Is there coffee?” James wheeled in, face carefully blank.
Guard snorted. “Of course you’re not on the market—you’re already taken. And would Carmen dare serve you a breakfast that didn’t include coffee?”
“Not if she wanted to keep her job.” Like James would fire her. James treated that woman like royalty. Of course, she took care of James like it was her calling in life.
Guard met James’ eyes, really looked at the man. “How are you doing?”
“Fine. Ready to get to work.” James poured a cup of coffee and snatched a Danish.
Ah, work. James holed himself up in here behind his computer, using ‘work’ as his shield and hiding behind it. James was damned good at losing himself in it, too. Guard thought sometimes that James forgot that it took all three of them to run this place, to make people’s fantasies come true. No man was an island and all that crap, which was kind of funny, really, in a not very funny way.
He stared at James for a moment and bit back his sigh before pouring himself a cup of coffee as well.
Damien rolled his eyes. “So, we’re working. What do you need me to do?”
“Have we got all the details on the kidnapping squared away?”
A kidnapping. They had to be very careful with this one. He’d put them on the far end of the island—this fantasy required total privacy.
“Ben will arrive on the island, ostensibly to have a vacation. The abduction will occur on the man’s first night here. The Dominant is perfect—a bit coarse, rough, but truly professional.” Damien sounded sure.
James nodded. “Excellent work, by the way, in double dipping on the Swan and Bonart fantasies, Dame.”
Damien’s grin widened. “Thanks, Wheels.”
He nodded, smiled. Getting two men to pay for a fantasy was fabulous. “I’ve put them on the west side of the island.”
James nodded. “Mister Leonides is going to be in the eastern cabin. You even managed to find a top for him.”
It was a giant pain in the ass, to find a Dominant to top a top.
“Of course I did.” Damien looked smug.
Guard couldn’t blame him. Damien was good at his job.
James arched an eyebrow. “Leonides is famous in certain circles, incredibly controlled.”
That smug look got worse.
“Don’t tell me you got one of his associates on board to top him, Damien.”
Damien’s eyes got wide. “Would I do that?”
James shook his head. “This man has a reputation, Dame.”
“I wouldn’t do that!”
Guard let his eyebrow go up. No, he supposed Damien wouldn’t.
James relaxed. “It would be a perfect solution, but both men have to go home, and even if Leonides doesn’t keep a sub or anything…”
“He lives in a different city, I swear.”
“But he does know Leonides?” Guard groaned. “Really? Really?”
“Trust me.”
James glared. “You always say that.”
“Trust me, Wheels.”
Guard watched his lovers’ eyes meet, the air electric.
James nodded. “I always do.”
Damn, but they were sexy together. Why couldn’t they see just how electric they still were? The guys just looked at each other, eyes caught, and Guard knew Damien was hard as a rock. His own cock was firming again, and he swallowed, held his damn breath.
“I…” Damien moaned.
“Kiss him,” Guard muttered. All Damien had to do was lean in…
Damien moved closer, hands landing on James’ wheelchair, and James jerked back.
“James,” murmured Guard. “Please.”
“There’s one more fantasy.”
Damien took a hitching breath. God damn it, there was no reason that couldn’t wait five minutes. Except that James was the most stubborn man on earth.
“Kiss me, and I’ll tell you I did my job.”
Guard nodded. That was it. They couldn’t let James run away from them.
“I know you did your job.” James’ hands were shaking.
Guard shifted and wrapped his hand around James’ wrist. He held on.
“Jamie. Please. One kiss,” Damien begged.
Guard squeezed James’ wrist and added his own quiet plea. “Just one.”
“I can’t. I can’t.”
“You can, J. Dame’ll do all the work. All you have to do is let him.”
Damien scooted forward, almost in James’ lap. “One kiss.”
Guard leaned in close for a better view. He could smell James—so good. James shook his head, but those eyes were on Damien’s mouth. Guard licked his own lips and nudged Damien in the ribs. Damien blinked, but kept leaning until his lips were pressed against James’. Guard felt like all the air in the room had just been pulled out. Whoosh.
James opened, and Damien moaned, the sound almost painful as the kiss deepened. Guard was finally able to breathe again, tiny panting breaths that were just enough to fill his lungs as he watched the most beautiful kiss he’d ever seen unfold in front of him.
Damien’s hips were rocking, fucking the air, desperation in every line of the man’s body. Guard reached out, both hands. One landed in Damien’s lap, rubbing against his lover’s need. The other slid along James’ shoulder, connecting them.
Damien cried out, jerked into his touch, and James
broke the kiss. “We can’t.”
“Please,” begged Damien.
Guard wasn’t letting James back out. “We can. We are. Come on, James. Let go.”
“Forgive me, please. God, I want you, Jamie, so bad.” Damien was nearly sobbing.
Guard hadn’t seen Damien so lost in years.
“James. Please, kiss him again. I’ll help him come.” And then James, if the man let him.
“Damien.”
“Jamie…” There were tears, right there at the surface, and when James grabbed Damien’s neck, kissed the man like he meant it, Guard almost died.
He took in a deep, almost sobbing breath, his fingers sliding to wrap around James’ thigh, his other hand giving Damien something to rub against. Damien humped him furiously, cock leaking against his touch.
He pushed his hand into Damien’s shorts, groaning at the heat of it. Rough and desperate, Dame took his hand like a wild man.
“That’s it, babe. He tastes so good, doesn’t he?” Guard was talking to both of them, his whole body tight—he couldn’t quite believe this was happening.
Damien sobbed, hips leaving the chair, cock throbbing in his hand.
“Take it. Take the pleasure. In both hands.” He wasn’t even sure which one of them he was talking to anymore. It didn’t matter.
Damien threw his head back, heat spraying over his fingers.
“Oh, babe. Babe. James?” What did his other lover need?
“Go away. I want you both to go away.” James’ cheeks were streaked with tears.
“No, please, James.” Guard laid his cheek on James’ shoulder. “We love you.”
“Go away!” James rolled back, bumping into the wall. “Get out of my house!”
Damien stood, face white as a sheet.
“James! We’re your lovers.” Guard was tired of constantly being pushed away.
“You were. Not anymore. You’re my business partners!”
“We want more than just business, James. We are more. And you know it.”
James shook his head, wheeling out. “Leave me alone.”
“Damn it.” Guard sighed, letting James go, knowing chasing him down would just make James angrier. He turned to Damien, touched his lover’s arm. “Hey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”