Don't Read in the Closet volume one

by Various Authors

  Green eyes stared down at him, the depths of them sparkling. “That was beautiful.”

  Still feeling the effects of coming like that deep in his balls, Dale couldn’t help but agree. He’d never come so hard, but then he’d never had Jack inside him either. “Yeah,” he said, knowing how inadequate he sounded, but there really wasn’t anything else he could have added. It was beautiful, more than beautiful; it was amazing.

  Jack smiled, smoothing Dale’s sweaty hair away from his face. “I’ve wanted to do that to you for months. Thank you for letting me.”

  “My pleasure,” Dale said, grinning now he’d got his wits back.

  “So you’ll let me do it again?” Jack asked, reaching up to untie the leather wrapped around Dale’s wrists.

  Dale rubbed his skin, but he hadn’t been marked; Jack obviously knew what he was doing. “As long as you let me do it to you sometime.”

  “That would be my pleasure.” Jack’s smile turned into that slow, sexy grin Dale was seriously in love with, and as Jack pulled Dale into his arms and hugged him close, Dale felt he couldn’t love Jack any more. He snuggled into Jack’s warm body, content, replete, happy.

  “Thank you for finding me today.”

  Dale lifted his chin to stare into Jack’s face. “You don’t have to thank me for that. Anyone would have done it.”

  ‘Yeah, but no one would have done it while wearing nothing but their boots and a hat. I’m glad it was you, and I’m glad you hadn’t given up on trying to get me to notice you.”

  Dale couldn’t quite hide the shiver that raced down his spine as he recalled his promise to himself if it hadn’t worked. God, he couldn’t even contemplate leaving here now.

  “What?” Jack tilted Dale’s chin further, holding him so Dale couldn’t look away. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, but…” Did he want to say this? Did he want to admit he’d been close to giving up? At the questioning look in Jack’s eyes, Dale knew he had to. “That was my last ditch attempt. After that…” He shrugged. “I was ready to leave.”

  “Too late, Dale. You’re not leaving me now, not ever. I did tell you I love you, didn’t I?”

  Dale smiled. “Yes, you told me.”

  “And I meant it. And with my love comes commitment.” Jack looked so sincere that Dale was scared to say something, but Jack was waiting.

  “I love you, too. And I’m not leaving you, not now, not ever.” Dale repeated Jack’s words, turning them into a commitment to match the one Jack had given him.

  “Good. Now go get your hat and boots. The way you looked on that horse today has given me an idea.”

  Without a second’s hesitation, Dale ran to the bathroom and grabbed his gear. When he got back, Jack was stretched out on the bed and had started stroking that enormous cock. Dale’s mouth watered, his ass clenched, and when Jack grinned, his stomach flipped, but it was Jack’s next words that had Dale’s heart racing and his blood pumping. It also had him crawling onto the bed with a grin as big as Jack’s own.

  “Climb on, cowboy. You’re gonna go for a ride.”

  THE END

  Author bio: A lover of books since before she could read and a maker of stories before she knew how to talk properly, it was only natural that Penny started writing when she could hold a pen. From fairytales to teenage romances to the hot, erotic stories she writes now, she’s always held the same belief; to love what she puts down on paper. Which means she doesn’t love cooking, cleaning or weeding the garden. She does, however, love to travel and has lived in England and Ireland and now resides in Australia where she intends to stay and discover all that she can of this beautiful country.

  Penny would love to hear from you and can be contacted at myheartschoice@hotmail.com. She also has a blog address where you can read her comments and story ideas in progress at http://pennybrandon.blogpsot.com.

  Lee Brazil – BE A BAD BOY (First-time/Family Drama)

  Selected by Lee Brazil

  Dear Author,

  My marriage ended badly but I have no regrets as I now have a wonderful son. I wonder what's next for me, though, and if I'll ever find true love?

  [PHOTO: A close-up photo of a shirtless man bent over his 1-1/2 year old son. His "tough" looks directly contrast the tenderness he shows his son. He has a day's growth of dark beard, a negative gauge hoop stretching his left ear, a pierced lip, and black, shaded tattoos down his arms.]

  Sincerely,

  Juni

  Genre: contemporary

  Tags: divorce, custody battle, family drama, law enforcement, first time, abduction-kidnapping, men with children

  Words: 13,867

  BE A BAD BOY

  by Lee Brazil

  CHAPTER 1

  Furious, Devyn Strake stalked up the overgrown path to Kayla’s apartment. It was his weekend to have Kail. Devyn was stuck with this stupid visitation agreement: Wednesday nights, every other weekend and alternate holidays. He should have had full custody, but instead the judge had decreed that a boy of eight months needed his mother more than his father. Bullshit. Kail needed him as much as he needed Kail.

  2C. He hadn’t been here before, but surely, Kayla could afford better on the amount of child and spousal support he’d been required to pay?

  He knocked politely on the door, a sharp rap. A noise from inside drifted through an open screen window. It only took a moment to recognize the sound as the pathetic cries of a baby. He pounded his fists on the grubby door, calling out, “Kayla! It’s Devyn. I came to get Kail for the weekend.” There was no response, no sound from within but the continued cries. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Kayla had claimed he’d threatened her, asked the judge for a restraining order. The judge had eyed him up and down, noting every piercing and tattoo, and the order had been granted. His expensive lawyer and his Dad by his side in his Armani suit had counted for nothing. He looked like a thug, therefore he was a thug.

  Then again, Kayla was supposed to bring Kail to him for his visits at a prearranged public place. He’d waited at the McDonald’s for over an hour past the time they were to be there. When he couldn’t reach Kayla on her cell phone, he’d given in to the anger and headed over here. She could have all the money he could get his hands on, but Kayla wasn’t keeping him from his son any more.

  He could hear Kail’s frantic cries from inside the apartment, but other than that, there was no sign of anyone being home. It was his weekend to have Kail, and Kayla was fucking nuts if she thought she was going to get away with not bringing him to the meeting place again. Restraining order be thrice damned.

  Pain ripped through him as his son’s cries grew louder on the other side of that door. He looked around frantically. Either Kayla had gotten a lot more tolerant than she used to be or she wasn’t in there. If she was passed out then he had to get to Kail. The manager’s office had an out to lunch sign on the door. No help from that quarter. No one else seemed to care about the noise he made or the noise his son made.

  Devyn bent forward to peer in the window, hoping to catch sight of Kayla or Kail through the window. He couldn’t see Kayla, but he saw Kail right away. The little boy stood clutching grimly at the bars of the playpen, screaming and crying, face red with exertion. Tears had etched shiny tracks down his face, and he was nude except for a bulky looking diaper.

  Desperate to get to Kail, he pulled the Swiss army knife his Dad had given him for his fourteenth birthday from his pocket. The window to the left of the door was raised just a bit. Kneeling down, he used the sharp blade to cut the screen away from the frame. Peeling the screen back, he raised the window, talking as soothingly as he could to Kail as he did. “Daddy’s coming, big boy. No need to cry. Daddy’s here.”

  When Kail turned to the window and caught sight of his daddy climbing through, his shrieks subsided to sobs. The tear-drenched dark eyes ripped another hole in Devyn’s heart. Fuck. He landed on the floor under the window knocking a withered plant over on the way down.

  Without Kail�
��s cries, the apartment was eerily silent. Kayla wasn’t here. Devyn rose shakily and hurried to the playpen. Kail reached out to grab him, striving to climb out on his own. “Shh… I got you.” He pulled the squirming little body close, grimacing as hot liquid seeped through the soggy diaper and through his own t-shirt. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of piss. Poor tyke hadn’t been changed in a while.

  He searched the dingy room for diapers and wipes, relieved to find them and a diaper bag on the floor by the battered sofa.

  On the way over to the sofa, the sticky tapes on the side of the current diaper caved to pressure and it fell off to land with a sickening plop on the floor. He left it there. Bitch could clean it up when she got back. He set Kail down on the sofa, and held him in place with one hand while he knelt next to the sofa. He patted blindly with one hand, reaching for the wipes and a diaper.

  A sudden sharp prick of pain in his finger and he glanced down in disbelief. No freaking way. The thin glint of metal caught his eye. Way. A needle. His gaze zoomed to the grungy coffee table and took in the other paraphernalia there. Shit. Fuck it. He whipped his t-shirt off over his head and wrapped it around his son. Fuck this shit.

  Grabbing the diaper bag, he hoisted Kail into his arms and headed for the door. He clutched his little man to him with one arm, heart aching at the baby’s desperate grip on his neck, and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. A few quick zoomed in shots of the drug stuff, a few wide-angle shots of the whole room, and he was on his way. If Kayla walked through it while he was on his way out, he’d mow the bitch down.

  Bad enough to leave the little man alone in the apartment for God knows how long, but to be using again?

  He slammed the door on his way out, not caring who saw him as he cuddled his son in his arms and headed to his car. He fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial. “Dad? I’m coming over. Bringing Kail. We need to talk. Call the lawyer.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Gurgles of happy baby laughter followed by startled shrieks and the mellow hum of a more mature voice lured Sully from sleep. He smiled. The kids were up. It only took a moment longer for him to realize that it wasn’t his nieces and nephews making the happy noises. He’d moved from his apartment over his sister’s garage a month ago when he’d finally paid off his student loans. Living in the apartment complex allowed him more privacy from his nosy though well-intentioned sister and her husband, his partner on the force, but he missed the noises of family life, the interactions with the kids.

  It was the baby’s giggles that attracted his attention first. The sound was pure joy. The husky chuckles that followed the giggles caused him to tilt his hat brim back and search out the source of the sound. It didn’t take long. The residents of this complex seldom used the pool, and he usually had it to himself in the early hours. After his swim this morning, Sully had dropped onto a lounger to let the sun dry him off. He must have fallen asleep, and this was his reward for not working today. Absently, he raised his sunglasses to his lips and nibbled the earpiece of the expensive Oakley’s.

  At the shallow end of the pool a young man sat on the bottom step, his lower half submerged in the sparkling water. On his lap, he held a baby, less than a year old from the looks of it. The baby had creamy white skin and hair a rather strange shade of dark brown, like a bad dye job. The giggling baby slapped the water with a little starfish hand, then shrieked when water droplets splashed on him.

  While the sweet baby with his gurgling laughter was an invitation to joy, the father, a pale skinned, wiry man was an invitation to sin. His dark hair badly needed cutting, and he appeared not to have shaved for days. Good lord, those tattoos! Sully wanted to lick the moist drops of pool water from every inch of inked skin as it swirled across compact muscles in direct contrast to the creamy flesh.

  He knew who they were. Kind of. Last week they’d arrived as dusk was falling, accompanied by an older man driving a U-Haul truck. The younger man had carried the baby in one of those kangaroo things while they unloaded a few meager possessions from the truck. According to the white card that had suddenly appeared on the mailboxes, this was D. Strake, his new downstairs neighbor.

  “Hey,” he called; glad his voice came out reasonably normal.

  The younger man stiffened, his arms tightening around the baby, who squawked a protest. A rapid and in no way subtle scan of the area seemed to reassure Strake, and he loosened his hold on the baby, meeting Sully’s eyes. Sully drew in a sharp breath. Beautiful eyes, tormented eyes. The dark depths were full of fear, wary.

  “It’s okay. I’m Sully Moore. Sullivan, actually, but only my Grannie Moore calls me that. I’m your upstairs neighbor.” He jerked his chin in the general direction of his apartment, unable to take his eyes from the man and child in the pool.

  “Devyn Strake. This is my son Kail.” The tattooed man rose slowly from the water, keeping a tight grip on the baby. Sully exhaled slowly as he took in the body revealed to his intent gaze. He followed drops of water winding over taut muscles and lean expanses of flesh. Devyn wore beige and white hibiscus print board shorts, but the damp fabric clung to his semi erect cock lovingly. Devyn seemed not to realize where Sully’s gaze had landed, thankfully, and he dragged his gaze back to Devyn’s face.

  His cheeks had flushed beneath the scruffy beard, so maybe he had noticed after all. The baby tugged and pulled at his father’s earlobe, and Sully noted the gauge there. Interesting. He quickly catalogued the other piercings, lower lip, eyebrow, nipple. Maybe more. He’d found a bad boy here on his own doorstep.

  Devyn was murmuring to the baby, backing across the burning cement to the pool gate. There seemed to be something almost furtive in his movements. Curious. “Watch that gate,” Sully warned. “The spring doesn’t catch all the time.”

  Devyn turned his back to Sully to struggle with the faulty catch. Sully paused to admire the view before he rose and slid his sunglasses back on. He padded carefully across the burning cement and reached down over the younger man’s shoulder. Standing carelessly close, he let his erection brush against the damp fabric of Devyn’s board shorts. The cool dampness felt good on his overheated flesh. Not subtle, but Devyn didn’t react anyway.

  A deft twist and he released the gate, pushing it open and urging the other two residents ahead of him. He was crowding Devyn, he knew it. If he were any closer, he’d feel the man’s pulse beating. But the other man intrigued him and aroused him in ways no streetwise kid ever had before. Then again, he considered, as Devyn scurried in front of him, he didn’t actually seem like a street kid when you looked beyond the tats and piercings. His grammar was excellent and unaccented, his posture easy and confident. No, definitely not a street kid. But someone who was hiding something, yeah. That he could see.

  CHAPTER 3

  Devyn held Kail close, whispering soothing words as he paced back and forth in front of the sliding glass door of his patio. He’d opened it to catch as much of the evening breeze as he could since the air conditioning unit had given out this afternoon. He’d have to close it though if Kail didn’t settle into sleep soon.

  Kail’s cheeks were flushed, and his eyes glittered with fever. He’d been miserable for hours, screaming and crying in turns. Devyn’s own head pounded furiously and the muscles of his back and arms ached from their cramped position around Kail’s slight weight. He didn’t know what to do, had tried everything he could think of, but his little man wouldn’t be soothed into sleep, and he wouldn’t be put down.

  Devyn paced the short distance from the open door to the stereo and restarted the Beatles CD. When Kail had been younger and colicky this CD had soothed him. Devyn had spent exhausting hours walking the boy to sleep to the tune of Sergeant Pepper. The music helped tonight as well, but not enough. He scooped up his cell phone from the narrow counter top dividing the main room and the tiny kitchen. Hit his dad’s speed dial. Still no answer. He was in the middle of leaving another frantic message begging his dad to call back when there was a knock at th
e door.

  He froze. The knocking escalated to pounding. His head pounded in rhythm…. Finally, he gave in and inched closer to the door. Peered through the viewer. Swallowed hard. It was the guy from the pool. Tall, tan, sexy brown eyes and full pouting lips. It had been all he could do not to grind back against the full arousal the man had brushed against him as he bent to undo the stuck pool gate.

  Hand shaking, he unlocked the door but left the chain on. “Yes?”

  The man ran a hand through his hair. “Hey. I don’t want to be the Gladys Kravitz of the neighborhood, but… do you need some help with the baby?’

  Flushing, Devyn shook his head rapidly, ignoring the pain the movement caused. He tried to push the door closed, but the man blocked it with a capable hand. “We’re fine. He’s just not feeling well.”

  “I’m upstairs from you, and he’s been crying for hours. It’s keeping me awake. Let me help.” The man nibbled the tip of one finger as he spoke in a calm controlled voice.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll close the doors and windows. It’s just the air is out, and it gets hot in here.” How embarrassing.

  “No. Don’t do that. It’s hot as Hades. The air conditioning unit is out for the whole building. I talked to the manager. I wouldn’t have heard you but I have my windows open too. The heat will make things worse.” Kail’s head turned and he hiccupped sadly, staring at the owner of the soothing voice. Relief poured through Devyn at the blessed quiet. Impulsively he unlatched the chain and pulled the door open, waving Sully in. They were neighbors after all, and Kail seemed to like him.

  Sullivan pulled his finger from his mouth, and Devyn jerked his gaze from the damp tip to meet the man’s eyes again. “Come on in. You have kids?”

  “Nieces and nephews.” He shook his head, bending slightly to peer into Kail’s eyes. “Hey there baby. Not feeling too good, are you?”