[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

kitchen. He was supposed to feel something different from how he was, but how he felt
was perfect. Satisfied and spent and content.
 You late for work yet? Gabriel asked, a whisper floating past Shane s ear.
He pulled his mouth from Gabriel s damp throat.  No. I don t even have to go in. I
just figured I might. Something to fill a few hours.
 What d you do?
 I m a mechanic.
 You take a day off, Gabriel said, stroking Shane s hair again.  You stay in bed
with me  til we too hungry to sleep. Later we go down for a drink and listen to the
music.
 No more drinking for me, not for a couple days at least.
Gabriel pulled his face back a few inches and smiled at Shane.  Fine. How  bout the
rest?
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 I dunno. I m already hungry, Shane lied. He was uncomfortable with how damn
comfortable he felt right now.
 You ever been with a man before me? Gabriel asked.
Shane felt a strong urge to haul back and hit him, revenge for how hard it stung to
hear the truth laid out so bare. He swallowed.  No.
Gabriel ran his tongue over his lower lip for the briefest second, smirked, a tiny
show of self-satisfaction.  You ever wanted one before?
 No& I think I better head in to the garage. He shrugged Gabriel s arms off and
rolled over, swung his feet to the floor.
Gabriel propped himself up on his hip and elbow, smiling wickedness in Shane s
direction.
Shane yanked his shorts and jeans back on, buckled his belt.  What s that shit-
eating grin for?
 I jus like lookin at you.
 You love this, don t you? Gettin the better of straight guys.
 You make it sound like a game, Shane.
 Yeah, well. You make it look like one, sometimes. Like right now. You look real
pleased with yourself.
 I m more interested in pleasin you, Gabriel said.
Shane narrowed his eyes a moment, found his shirt and tugged it on.  Good. Just
you remember that. And don t start forgettin whose house this is. Who s the guest.
That evil smile again.   Course not.
 And who s in charge.
 Never.
 Good. Good, since Shane was having a harder and harder time remembering it
himself.
 Shane?
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Cara McKenna
He buttoned his shirt all the way up before he met Gabriel s eyes.  What?
 I can use your couch again tonight?
Shane batted a few replies around in his head before settling on cruelty.  We ll see.
Now get your ass up. This ain t a halfway house.
Shane made himself busy, pulling on socks at the couch, keeping his eyes off
Gabriel s naked body as the man rose and strolled from the room. Shane inhaled, deep,
and blew the air out, propped his elbows on his knees and hung his head. It was easier
to breathe when that man wasn t close he was like a fire, sucking all the oxygen out of
a room. Shane stood and headed for the kitchen, praying to God he d get through the
day without suffocating.
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Chapter Four
Two weeks passed by in a haze endless days full of waiting, nights drenched in wine,
mornings when Shane woke up with a dry mouth and his arms wrapped around a
naked male body.
Somehow it was Saturday again and nearly March. Shane didn t know what he d
managed to accomplish in the past two weeks aside from keeping the barest distance
between himself and that one act he wanted and feared so deeply. But every night he
managed to resist, managed to corral their encounters into a relatively safe routine
drink like fishes, fool around like teenagers, sleep like a goddamn married couple.
Shane was alone in the garage for the afternoon, free to overthink things to his
heart s discontent& which was all he really knew how to do anymore. The emotional
pattern had become sickeningly predictable. First, a cold feeling in his gut, shame or
fear or a mix of the two. Then something warmer, curiosity and a dark thrill trickling
through his veins. Then fear again. Twice in the past two weeks Gabriel hadn t turned
up. Shane had busied himself helping out in the bar until last call, stayed up late
watching shit TV, left the door unlocked when he eventually gave up and went to bed. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]