by Jools Louise
Spirit of Sage 1
Legacy of Lost Souls
Thomas Tyler Mattison, a Chicago detective, was shot in the line of duty. Now an amputee, he heads to Two Spirit Ranch after an invitation from his ex-partner, Pace. He finds his old childhood friend, Cody Horton, all grown up, sexy as sin, and retired from life as an Army Ranger. Thomas has loved Cody since they were children, never imagining anything would ever come of it since he always thought Cody was into the fairer sex—how wrong he was! Their passion ignites in a hurry, as they deal with the aftermath of a cult’s last vicious act—the destruction of the nearby town of Sage, Wyoming. Acting as construction foreman, Cody has the tough task of rebuilding a town destroyed by evil, rebuilding it on hope and the legacy of lost souls. Cody learns all about the art of man-love, with a man he’ll love forever.
Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 51,511 words
LEGACY OF LOST SOULS
Spirit of Sage 1
Jools Louise
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
LEGACY OF LOST SOULS
Copyright © 2016 by Jools Louise
E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-369-3
First E-book Publication: July 2016
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
In light of the tragic events at Pulse in Orlando, I’m crying as I write this dedication, to all those who fight to be heard, to be accepted, to be loved. I chose, very deliberately, to write LGBT fiction because I truly believe you should be free to live without fear, whoever you love. For all those murdered in the name of bigotry, this book is for you. For all the families who have to pick up the pieces, and live in grief, this book is for you. Stay strong, and keep fighting. #lovefororlando #loveislove #lovewithoutlimits JL <3
#RIP
Stanley Almodovar III, Edward Sotomayor Jnr, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Amanda Alvear, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Luis S. Vielma, Kimberly Morris, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, Mercedez Marisol Flores, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, Frankie Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, Xavier Emmanuel Carrillo Fernandez, Enrique L. Rios Jnr., Miguel Angel Honorato, Jason Benjamin Josaphat, Martin Benitez Torres, Tevin Eugene Crosby, Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, Cory James Connell, Shane Evan Tomlinson, Darryl Roman Burt II, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jerald Arthur Wright, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, Christopher Andrew Leinonen, Angel L. Candelario-Pasco, Frank Hernandez, Antonio Davon Brown, Akyra Monet Brown, Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, Yilmary Rodriguez Sulivan, Paul Terrell Henry, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, Javier, Jorge-Reyes, Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, Luis Daniel Conde, Juan, Chevez-Martinez
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
About the Author
LEGACY OF LOST SOULS
Spirit of Sage 1
JOOLS LOUISE
Copyright © 2016
Prologue
Cody’s tears froze inside him, his ears ringing with the litany of faults Marissa threw at him. His wife of three years, before that high school sweethearts since they were fourteen, she was less than amused at him joining the military. He tried to remember the last time he’d done something that made her happy. And now he was leaving. He couldn’t stand the sight of her. Couldn’t stand the self-pity and selfishness that was ingrained into her nature, with no regard for how others felt.
Their relationship had never recovered from the birth of their stillborn son, Ethan. He had not recovered from the fact that as a firefighter of two years, signing on fresh out of senior high, he had not been able to protect the one person he had been desperate to save. Ethan had been the victim of Marissa’s affection for alcohol and her habit of driving whilst drunk. A steep curve in the road, too much booze, and her car had tumbled off the road, leaving her with minor injuries and a dead son. She hadn’t even called him to let him know she’d been in an accident at first, too drunk to remember she even had a husband. Finally, he’d had a concerned nurse phone and share her condolences, and he had found out. Ethan had been stillborn, Marissa told him, had not survived the impact of the crash. She had screamed at one of the nurses who had asked if Cody would like to say good-bye to his son, and he had been distracted long enough—by the time he asked to see his son, he had been told
the infant had been taken away.
He had tried his best to be supportive, but his heart hadn’t been in it. She had cried and cried over the accident, but had been sorrier about the car being totaled than losing Ethan. Cody had gradually pulled away from Marissa, disliking her spending more time congratulating herself for getting back her figure, than any grieving over their son’s death. When Cody tried to get her help, got her into rehab, she discharged herself, then drank and drank and drank some more. He was twenty-three years old and felt old. Now he’d been told she’d been sleeping around, that his son wasn’t his. Learning that the little boy he had loved so much, his unborn child, was not even his, just drove the final nail in their marital coffin.
He had the divorce papers and held the pen, urging her to sign.
“You’ll be miserable without me, you bastard,” she screeched at him, her once-pretty face showing the ravages of her addiction. “We’re married. You need me.”
He stared at her, feeling nothing but revulsion for a girl he once thought he’d love forever. She’d needed him. That was love, wasn’t it? He guessed that forever was too long for her, since she’d been cheating on him for a long time, keeping her cash cow close to ensure her lifestyle wasn’t impeded in any way. He was so over her. Let her go leech off one of her lovers…if she could remember their names.
“If you don’t sign the papers, I’ll tell your upstanding, oh-so-proper mother and father what you’ve done. They value their social standing above and beyond everything else—including you. If you want your dirty little secrets to stay secrets, you need to give me my freedom.” His hazel eyes were hard as he played his ace. He watched her face, saw the moment it sank into her brain that he was serious, that she was on her own and he wasn’t going to back down. “The death of our son meant less to you than your car. I should have left you then.”
“You bastard!” she screeched again, causing his jaguar to wince in pain at the shrill sound. “You’ll be sorry you left me.”
“Marissa, I’m sorry I ever met you,” he retorted curtly. “You lie and cheat your way through life, relying on your looks to get what you want. You’re a sociopath, with no regard for anyone. The only thing I’m sorry about is that I didn’t think about divorcing you sooner. Now sign the fucking papers, or I go public about you.” His voice lowered to a deep snarl, seeing her flinch at this new look. He’d been patient, loving, supportive, thinking he needed to be there for her, knowing she had a drinking problem. Now he just wanted to be gone.
“Fine. I’ll sign.” She snatched the pen from him and scratched her signature on the documents lying on the desk. “Satisfied?” she asked bitterly.
“The house and car, they’re all yours,” he said, standing and retrieving the divorce papers that would need to be filed as soon as possible. “I don’t want anything. You can have the lot. Since I’ve been so generous, and since you have a lot more to lose if you push me further, you understand why I’m not paying for your continued upkeep. You get nothing more from me. Get a job, sort your life out. Support yourself, stop expecting everyone else to pay for you.”
With nothing else to say, Cody grabbed the big holdall that carried clothing, and all the worldly possessions that meant the most to him, then strode out of the house he’d bought from money his parents had left him after their death. He had more money, could earn more money. A house was just a house. This place meant nothing now, tainted with cruel memories.
Striding to his big black behemoth of a truck, he hauled himself into the driver’s seat, switched on the ignition, then drove off, not looking back. This life was over. It was time to live a new one.
* * * *
“I have to go, Thomas, I can’t stay around here after what she’s done,” Cody told his best friend, Thomas Tyler Mattison, two hours after storming out of the home he’d built with Marissa. His life lay in tatters, the promise of a family and children shattered by a woman who thought nothing more of him than a convenience store for all her worldly needs as she shopped around.
Thomas’s dark brown eyes looked sad, his big frame bulky and comforting as he hugged his friend. They’d grown up together, a duo who looked out for each other over those traumatic years of school. Now both graduated, Thomas had just joined the New York Police Department and was due to qualify in a couple of weeks.
“Don’t lose touch, Cody,” Thomas said gruffly, his big arms tight around Cody’s similar-size frame. Cody had grown in a couple of short years from a scrawny, underdeveloped youngster into a big, muscular young man with a barrel chest and biceps that just didn’t quit. He always felt like that scrawny kid when he was around Thomas, though. The big man’s dark mahogany skin was a beautiful contrast to his own, paler tan.
“I won’t,” Cody replied huskily, pulling away slightly and staring up into eyes he knew as well as his own. He saw a range of emotion there, a reflection of what he was feeling. Concern, love, fear, and sorrow. He thought he saw something else…desire, and felt his body respond to something his brain refused to acknowledge. His feelings for Thomas had always been confused, wanting the man so much, yet choosing another path as a survival instinct left over from his days as the schools bullies’ punching bag.
“Don’t forget me, Cody,” Thomas growled, dragging Cody close again, then grabbing the back of his head forcefully and planting a hard, passionate kiss on Cody’s surprised lips.
Within seconds, Cody’s cock was rock hard and he was humping against the knee Thomas placed between his legs. Within a few more seconds, he exploded right into his jeans, the kiss incendiary enough to ignite every lustful nerve in his body.
“Don’t. Fucking. Forget. Me.” Thomas punctuated his warning with kisses, leaving Cody in no doubt that he had to leave, before the entire neighborhood came after him. Around here, being gay meant walking around with a huge target emblazoned on his back…” gay-bash right here” it would read. His ex-wife’s family would destroy whatever credibility he had, if any, and destroy him in the process.
“I love you, Cody,” Thomas added, kissing Cody more tenderly before releasing him, and Cody sighed in sorrow at having to walk away. After years of being with a woman who lied as often as she changed underwear, he thought he’d probably found nirvana…but it wasn’t to be. He had to go find his own life right now, had to get his head straight, even his body was screaming at him that he was gay.
“I love you, too, Thomas,” Cody replied huskily, stroking Thomas’s dark chocolate skin. “I won’t come back here, but we’ll find each other again, I know we will.”
Then he turned, bracing himself for the loss, and left Thomas standing there, the scent of cum all around him, the taste of each other…and defeat…in their mouths.
Chapter One:
Out in the Open
“This place is taking shape,” Thomas Tyler Maddison told his old friend, Cody, his Bronx accent pronounced, reminding Cody of his childhood in the Big Apple. Thomas’s ebony skin contrasted beautifully with the dazzling smile that stretched his mouth, which turned wry as he stared at the construction work going on around them. “Who’d’ve thought, after our beginnings in the city we’d turn into country bumpkins?”
His deep laugh rolled out when Cody flipped him off, unoffended by his old friend’s response. They had grown up in the same neighborhood, had shared the same school and ended up joining the fire service after graduation. Then their paths had split, after three years of Cody’s marriage to his wife ended, the loss of his son adding fuel to the destruction of a union based on lies. Cody had joined the military, leaving his old life behind for good. He’d made the rank of sergeant quickly, spending a decade and a half patrolling the world’s hot spots. Thomas had never found that special someone, his heart already spoken for, and he’d waited years for the one person he’d been in love with for most of their lives to come back. He’d known Cody was the one from a young age but had never felt any reciprocal gay vibes, except for that last, passionate kiss when they’d said good-bye all th
ose years ago, so he had remained the man’s best platonic friend instead. He’d never regretted the decision.
“Well, Tommy, I don’t mind the quiet life,” Cody teased, his hazel eyes amused as he looked at his buddy. “Small towns are so quaint, aren’t they? Full of merriment and bonhomie.”
Thomas bellowed out a laugh again, clapping a big hand on Cody’s shoulder and giving him a nudge with one bulky shoulder. “Yeah, right.” He chuckled. “When you find that quiet life, you let me know. Since I’ve been here, in the wilds of Wyoming, there hasn’t been a quiet moment yet. You and your boys attract trouble like nobody else.”
Cody wrapped his hand around Thomas’s large bicep, patting his arm firmly. “Tommy, this is quiet for this neck of the woods. You should have seen us last year!” He laughed, too, enjoying the banter.
His friend had been there through all the childhood capers he’d gotten into. Then they’d lost touch while he ran from an unfaithful wife and the loss of a son who had turned out not to be his. He knew he could have called his best friend, but had elected to kick ass with the military. There he’d met with more kick-ass than he ever imagined to see in a lifetime, meeting his crew as young men and watching them grow into lifelong friends. They were men he would gladly die for…and had taken bullets for a couple of times. More importantly, he had killed for them, defending them against the evils of war, and backing them up when they’d all retired and moved up here to Wyoming, on the eastern edge of the Grand Tetons National Park.
