by CJ Bishop
THE PHOENIX WEDDING
The Complete Series
CJ BISHOP
Copyright © 2017
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
BACHELOR PARTY
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
BE OUR GUEST
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
BEST MAN
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
LOVE and HONOR
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
TO HAVE and to HOLD
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
I THEE WED
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
BACHELOR PARTY
The Phoenix Wedding
BOOK ONE
Chapter 1
“You, my boy, are having delusions of grandeur.” Carl hugged Caleb around the neck on his way to the fridge for another beer. “If you think you’re going to get them all to go along with that.”
“Well, Cole and Gabe, and Angel and Dane will do it.” Caleb twisted his head and grinned up at Carl.
Carl planted a kiss on his head and moved on to the refrigerator. “I’ve no doubt about them.” He grabbed a can of Coors and popped the tab. “Even Abel will be game. But Devlin, Max, and Horatio?” He shook his head and chuckled as he took a drink. “Good luck with them.”
“I’m with Carl,” Axel smiled, perched on a stool at the counter in Caleb and Samuel’s kitchen. “I can’t see those three cooperating.”
Sliding his arm around Axel, Cory grinned against his ear. “Just wait till you and the cowboy get hitched…”
Axel laughed. “I won’t be cooperating, either. And Clint…” he shook his head. “You better have medical insurance if you go after him.”
“Ah, we’ll get him,” Cory insisted and kissed Axel’s cheek. “And you, too.”
“No way.”
“Yes way,” Cory nodded, and the others laughed and backed him up. “Just wait and see.”
Axel shook his head. “We’ll run away and elope.”
“We’ll hunt you down, hogtie you, and drag you back.”
“For sure,” Gavin spoke up, sitting on Tommy’s thigh, the other boy’s arm curled around his rear end. “We’ve all seen his bad-ass side, now we want to see his sexy side.” The small harem of boys whooped and hollered.
Axel smiled slyly. “I see his sexy side every day.”
“But we don’t,” Ricky said. He looked Axel over with warm lust. “You don’t show us yours either.”
“And I’m not going to.” He rubbed his mouth and grinned. “I only show it to my cowboy.”
Waving his hand, Cory said, “Don’t worry, boys. When their day comes around, we’ll get ‘em.”
“We better,” Samuel spoke up and stepped over, hugging Caleb from behind. “I got a thing for sexy cowboy booty.” He nibbled Caleb’s ear, making him squirm.
“Fuck,” Levi snorted. “I wouldn’t mind seeing more of your cowboy’s booty. Damn.”
“Me, too,” Gavin nodded emphatically. “I’ve never got to see it at all.”
“Oh hell, baby,” Tommy groaned. “He about killed us all at Angel’s birthday party.”
“Shit,” Caleb laughed. “I wasn’t that hot.”
“Really?” Ricky stared at him incredulously –then grinned and spoke to the others. “Our sexy cowboy here doesn’t think his performances are hot enough to cause a heart attack.”
The kitchen exploded with protests.
“What you talkin’ about, boy?” Carl quipped. “Didn’t you see me over there sucking on that oxygen hose at Angel’s birthday party?”
“Oxygen hose?” Ricky snickered low. “Is that what we’re calling it these days? Besides, with your man it would be more like a fucking firehose.”
“So true,” Carl grinned.
Samuel shook his head. “Not hot enough? Are you shittin’ me, baby?” He snorted. “Didn’t you see the good doctor beating on my chest?” His hand shot up fast, stabbing a finger at Ricky without looking at him. “Not a word, buddy.”
Grinning, Ricky looked at him innocently. “What?”
Caleb laughed and looked at Samuel. “I do recall our little rendezvous in the dressing room after the show. Guess I did get you a little worked up.”
“A little, he says,” Samuel grinned. “I was giving it up in like two to three minutes flat, I was so fucking horny.”
“Isn’t that about your typical ETA?” Caleb snickered, and the rest of the guys burst out laughing.
“Hey!”
“No way,” Ricky shook his head. “I don’t believe that. I got your back, Sammy. I know you got staying power.”
Shooting Ricky a suspicious look, Caleb murmured, “And how do you know? You and your little harem haven’t been playing with my man, have you?”
The other three boys huddled close to Ricky and smiled like little imps. “We’ll never tell,” they cited in unison.
Caleb shifted his narrowed eyes to Samuel, who reprimanded the boys. “You trying to get me in trouble?”
“If he spanks you,” Levi winked. “We’ll kiss away the bruises.”
Cory leaned back on the counter on his elbows and grinned. �
�I get spanked all the time.”
“I can believe that,” Axel smirked.
“Ooh…” Levi sighed and looked Cory over lustfully. “We’re always available to soothe away the soreness.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Cory wriggled his eyebrows.
“You better keep in mind that your man used to be a Texas Ranger,” Axel reminded. “And probably still has his gun. So…you better watch it.”
Cory smiled wryly. “I ain’t afraid of him or his…gun.” He chuckled and winked at Ricky and the boys.
“I bet he blows you away every night, huh?” Ricky snickered.
“Oh yeah,” Cory nodded.
Caleb laughed. “Okay. Okay. Back to the topic at hand; the bachelor party.”
Slipping his arm around Caleb, Carl said, “Speaking of bachelor parties and weddings...” he smiled at Samuel. “When are you two boys going to tie the knot?”
Caleb looked at Samuel; there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Samuel was The One. He’d known it practically from the moment they had met that first night at the pool. His body tingled at the memory. Samuel hadn’t just swept him off his feet – but knocked him off his feet and blew his mind…among other things. That was the night he’d discovered that love at first sight was more than a wistful myth.
He sighed and smiled, his heart thumping erratically at thoughts of becoming Samuel’s husband. “I can’t get married until Nick can stand up there with me as my best man. It just wouldn’t feel right.” He and Samuel had talked about it, and Samuel understood. Nick’s freedom rested in Samuel and Nolan Emery’s hands, and both men were determined to get him out, and Christian as well. Nick would never Christian on the inside alone—not when Christian had nearly been raped.
“I get that,” Carl said, and the others nodded. Carl, Ricky, and Levi knew the lengths Caleb had gone to trying to secure Nick’s release. Nick and Samuel were the two most important people in Caleb’s life.
♦
Ricky held up his hand “I have an idea.”
“Do we dare ask?” Carl wondered, conjuring chuckles from the other guys.
“Hey,” Caleb smiled. “This is a bachelor party for strippers; nothing is too dirty or kinky.” He nodded at Ricky. “Speak.”
Ricky offered his input and received agreeable nods on his party game idea. Other ideas emerged, more and more piling up. Axel had no clue how they were going to decide which ones to use and which ones to discard; they all sounded good to Axel.
When their day arrived, he was curious to see how Clint would handle a bachelor party planned by the Phoenix boys. The cowboy wasn’t exactly a publicly demonstrative kind of man. Of course, neither was Axel. He was somewhat nervous about what the club boys would plan for them. With Gabe, Cole, and surely Cory at the helm of that bachelor party—and it being for Clint and Axel—God only knew what they would put him and his cowboy through.
I don’t care, Axel decided with a tickle of excitement. As long as I get to marry my cowboy in the end, I’ll endure anything.
An hour later, Axel arrived home to find Clint in the kitchen cooking dinner.
“Gotta love a man who cooks for me.” Axel hopped up and sat on the counter. Clint looked at him, a small smile playing on his lips. He stepped in between Axel’s thighs and kissed him. Axel swung his legs around him and locked him in, drawing out the kiss before leaning back and licking his lips. “Yum.”
Clint’s smiled stretched, and he pushed deeper between Axel’s thighs, gripping his hips. “So, what crazy things are they planning for the bachelor party?”
Axel teased his fingertips in Clint’s hair. “I think maybe we should be more concerned about what they are going to do for ours.”
Shaking his head slowly, Clint murmured, “Ours is only going to be you and me.” He kissed Axel and smiled. “You can dance for me, do a little strip tease.”
Axel laughed softly. “You’re the cowboy. It should be you dancing for me.”
“Cowboys don’t dance.”
“That’s not what I hear.” Axel tightened his legs around Clint and pulled him up closer, rubbing crotches. “I have it on good authority that a dancing, stripping cowboy is pretty damn sexy.” He plucked at the top buttons of Clint’s shirt. “You could give it a try. Give me dinner and a show.” He ran his hands slowly up the sides of Clint’s neck and leaned close, tugging at his lips. “What do you say?”
Clint shoved his hands under Axel’s ass and squeezed. “I say if you get me too horny, dinner’s gonna burn.” He grabbed another kiss, firm and hungry.
“I don’t mind my dinner charred.” Axel opened Clint’s shirt and kissed his throat then lower to his chest. “Don’t mind at all.”
♦
At the end of the bar, Cole and Gabe were conversing with Max when Ricky and the boys entered the club. As soon they spotted the three men, mischievous smirks formed.
“Should we be worried?” Max sipped his drink and gazed at the boys warily.
Cole nodded. “With them…always.”
The foursome sidled up to the bar and ordered drinks.
“So,” Gabe murmured. “What have you boys been up to?”
Levi flashed a sultry smile. “Do you really want to know?” A quiet snicker passed among the other three.
Cole rubbed his hand slowly across his mouth, eyeing them thoughtfully. “I don’t know; do we?”
“Don’t matter none,” Ricky drawled with a hick brogue. “’Cause we ain’t gonna tell ya.”
“You better be planning our bachelor party.” Gabe jabbed a finger at them. “And it better be hot and dirty.”
Serving the boys their drinks, Riley leaned against the edge of the bar. “How do you make a stripper’s bachelor party any hotter and dirtier than their daily life already is?”
Gabe narrowed his eyes and grinned darkly at Ricky. “By being creative.”
Clearing his throat, Max chuckled. “Well, you young bucks can have your bachelor party. I think I’ll sit this one out.”
“Like fuck you will,” Cole snorted.
“What Cole said.” Ricky nodded, then smiled slyly. “We have something special planned for all of you and no one is allowed to opt out.”
Max looked a little worried. “Probably all the more reason to opt out.”
“Don’t you trust us, boss?” Tommy grinned.
Max chuffed. “Not with that fucking Cheshire cat grin on your face, boy.” He picked up his glass and cocked an eyebrow. “No sir, I don’t.”
Chapter 2
Carl was sitting on a stool at the bar, talking to Riley, when Darius entered the club. After a few short months, the place still “awed” him. Growing up in a repressed environment, forced to hide who he was, it had been a tough life—and a lonely one. Discovering he had a brother out in the world that his dad had never told him about had been the greatest thing to happen to him. And then to learn that Max was not only gay as well—but the owner of a gay strip club—had completely blown Darius’ mind.
It had been a surreal experience entering the Phoenix Club for the first time. Being able to live openly among others who accepted and loved him for his true self had seemed like a distant empty dream before Max came into his life. His gaze settled on Riley and his heart beat just a little faster, and finding someone to love and be with had seemed an even more impossible dream. Before.
Now…there was Riley. Neither had yet to say those three little words that would seal the deal, but the truth of their feelings for one another was right there whenever they looked at each other…when they touched…kissed. It continued to stun Darius that Riley was so willing to “wait” for the sex. It shouldn’t surprise him, he deduced. Riley was a compassionate and understanding man. He knew Darius was still a virgin and continued to struggle just a little bit with the reality that he was now free to truly explore a relationship with another man. Riley refused to pressure him and seemed content with their relationship “as is”. For now, anyway. He was still a man with needs, and Darius
felt Riley’s desire for him in his touches and kisses and saw it in his eyes.
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Darius smiled when Riley spotted him walking toward the bar. You don’t have to wait much longer, baby, Darius thought with a quiver of excitement. I’m ready to take that step with you.
“Hey, sexy.” Riley leaned over the bar for a kiss when Darius approached, which Darius eagerly delivered. “You ready for the guys’ bachelor party?”
Darius chewed his lip and looked doubtful as he glanced at Carl. “I don’t know,” he laughed low. “If it’s anything like Angel’s birthday party. I just about spontaneously combusted.”
“Shit,” Carl grinned. “We about all combusted at Angel’s party.”
Riley nodded emphatically, and they all laughed. Darius recalled that night quite vividly. He still wasn’t sure how he’d made it through that experience without engaging in hot, wild sex with Riley. They’d both been so amped up it wasn’t funny. And maybe if it had been left up to Darius, he would have made the leap that night. But despite Riley’s burning arousal, he had played the perfect gentleman, escorted Darius to the restaurant after the party at the club, and then at the evening’s end…taken Darius home, kissed him goodnight at the door, and left—all the while knowing that, in Darius’ current state, he could have come inside and made love to Darius for the rest of the night. The respect he’d shown that night had made Darius fall even deeper in love with him.
“So.” Carl bumped his arm, startling him out of his thoughts. “When’re you going to get up on that stage and become a true Phoenix boy?” Carl winked at him teasingly.
Darius grimaced. “I think I’ll settle with being an honorary Phoenix boy,” he laughed. “I would look like a fool up there. I have no rhythm.”
“We’ve danced,” Riley smiled. “You have amazing rhythm.” Heat warmed his eyes, permeating Darius’ body and inspiring a low throb in his southern regions. “You would knock ‘em dead on stage.”
“Can we leave that in theory?” Darius hoped.
“I don’t know,” Carl said. “I really think we need to see you in action.”
“Have either of you been on stage?” Darius countered.
The two men exchanged a look and chuckled. “That’s irrelevant,” Riley grinned. “We’re talking about you.”
