by Austin Bates
"Mr. Laurence?"
Damien turned, putting himself between Tommy and Lieutenant Farmer on reflex. It made warmth fill Tommy's heart even as he shoved him out of the way. "Yes?"
"We've smothered the flames. We're still checking for hot spots, but it's not a high concern since the fire didn't burn for very long." Streaked with dust, he looked more exhausted than he sounded.
Tommy swallowed, his throat clicking as he tried to work up the nerve to look at the damage. "Thank you, Lieutenant Farmer." The firefighter nodded, stepping away when one of the men called out to him. "I think I'm going to be sick," Tommy said, his throat burning.
"It's okay." Damien smoothed his hair and gave him a strained smile. "You're allowed."
"Is it bad?"
Damien leaned around the door. "Well," he said carefully, "it looks a lot worse than it is. The structure is sound, but you're going to have to gut it and start over. Smoke gets into everything."
A sob escaped his control, and Tommy pressed his fist to his mouth, trying to hold in the rest. "Oh," he said, curling around his belly as his gut cramped. "My shop."
Warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him onto Damien's lap. "I know, baby."
"How am I going to find the time to rebuild before the baby is born?" He buried his face in Damien's neck and caught a glimpse of charred concrete out of the corner of his eye. His new position gave him a view of one corner of the building, and all he could see was the black hole where his window had been. "I'm never going to be able to get up and running again," he said, his voice rising into a wail.
"I'll help," Damien said, rocking him gently. "I know a company that does a great job with smoke damage, and I can handle the contractors while you supervise."
Tommy shook his head. "You're always on call."
Damien was quiet for a long time. "I was thinking about transferring to one of the closer departments. There's a housing development going in not too far from here..."
"You love Golden," Tommy blurted, surprised at how horrified he was at the thought.
"I loved Golden because it's the last place I remember being happy," Damien said, smiling gently. "But that was only because of you. I'd rather be close to you than close to the memory of you."
Unable to resist, Tommy leaned in and kissed him. "I love you," he whispered. He still couldn't bring himself to look at the ruins of his shop, but there was a thought stirring in the back of his mind. "Maybe I could..." he said, thinking about contractors and a house that had been empty of laughter for too long. "I've been wanting to hire more artists for a while. Maybe this is a good time to expand."
Damien glanced at the other buildings nearby. "There's plenty of space if you wanted to buy up the lot next door," he agreed.
"I was thinking bigger," Tommy said, a smile starting at the corners of his mouth. "Someone told me recently that there aren't any good tattoo shops up near Denver."
Damien whooped, bending Tommy over backward and kissing him breathless. "I love you."
"I loved you first."
Epilogue
Tommy dabbed the excess ink off the last corner of the deck of cards tumbling down the woman's ribs. "I think we're done," he said, smiling as she cheered.
Sitting up with one hand carefully keeping the sheet across her chest in place, she glanced ruefully at her tattooed arms. "I know you said it was going to hurt, but I wasn't expecting it to be so tough."
"Hopefully it's all worth it," he said, handing her the mirror. He leaned back to pop his back, his eyes drifting to the clock in the lobby. It was only four thirty, and Anne gave him a thumbs up as she caught his eye.
"Oh, wow. This is perfect."
He turned back to the client as she gushed over the design. "Don't touch," he warned her, grabbing the ointment and bandaging supplies.
She was one of his best clients, but he was glad to see her out the door with ten minutes to spare. Anne laughed at him as he rushed about, grabbing his bag and phone and trying to remember where he left his keys.
"You've got plenty of time, Boss," she said, propping her feet on the counter.
"It's Jamie's first birthday, Anne. I'm allowed to be excited." He put his hands on his hips and loomed over her. "Don't be late," he said sternly.
She stuck her tongue out at him. "As soon as Emily gets here, I'm gone." Holding up her hands in surrender when he pointedly bent down to check under her desk, she grinned. "I can't wrap for shit, so Em's bringing the presents."
"You better not have forgotten."
"Would I do that?" she asked, her eyes wide.
Tommy raised his eyebrow. "My birthday, two years ago."
She blushed. "You better get going, or you're going to be late."
Cursing, Tommy dashed outside. It was a beautiful summer day, with fluffy clouds blocking enough sun to keep it from being disgustingly hot, but not enough to threaten rain. The front window of Too Vivid Ink glittered with a painstakingly applied foil logo. He couldn't help but smile every time he looked at it, remembering Damien's perplexed expression when he'd ended up with foil in a very intimate place.
He took a moment to run his hand lovingly over the seat of his bike, the buttery soft leather a Christmas gift from Damien's parents. With Damien at home for the day, he'd taken the opportunity to ride to work instead of taking the car. It wasn't often that he didn't have to pick Jamie up from daycare on the way home.
The engine purred to life, and Tommy smiled. He had just enough time to take the long way around. Pulling out of the parking lot, he waved at the Hofstadter's walking their dog.
Main Street was packed, some kind of festival in Denver bringing in a ridiculous number of tourists for the weekend. Tommy smiled as he passed the 'No Vacancy' sign flashing outside the newly remodeled Fairlane Hotel. They'd added forty rooms and a fire sprinkler system when they'd put the new kitchen in, and they'd been full most of the summer.
The diner overflowed, two of the younger Jakobsons waiting tables that had been set up on the sidewalk under patio umbrellas. There was a line halfway around the block, and Mrs. Fairlane carted takeout containers by the cartload to those uninterested in waiting. The locals watched the tourists with a mix of fascination and jaded detachment.
Turning off toward the fire station, Tommy waved as he passed. "Don't be late," he shouted at Olivia as she supervised Rafe and Kieran loading a plastic playhouse into her car. She shooed him off with a grin.
The smell of coffee that filled the air near Morton's tempted him, but he turned away. The roads became narrower as he headed away from Main Street, the trees and the houses older. He had to be more careful of uneven pavement from the roots burrowing under the road, but the shade from the towering branches was always welcome.
He pulled into the driveway of a tall, yellow Victorian house, the gingerbread still the brilliant white of fresh paint. The porch looked perfect, just like he remembered it, and he could almost forget what a nightmare it had been during the renovation. Tucking his helmet under his arm, he jogged up the front steps. He still wasn't used to the way the second step didn't squeak.
"I think I hear something, buddy."
"It's me," Tommy called, following Damien's voice to the kitchen. Jamie was sitting in his high chair, the ground around him littered with cereal pieces. He smiled and clapped when he caught sight of Tommy.
"Oh sure," Damien said, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the baby, "smile for him."
"Has he been fussing?" Tommy asked as he leaned up for a kiss.
Damien pulled him in tight, catching Tommy's lip in his teeth and tugging until a shiver went through them both. "Hello, love." Tommy leaned in for another kiss, but a shriek pulled their attention back to their rightful master.
Flinging more cereal on the ground, Jamie Laurence-King scrunched his adorable face up into a grimace and wailed.
"He's mad because I won't let him have any bananas," Damien said, calmly adding another handful to the pile.
"Thank you for getting him cleane
d up." Tommy ruffled the silky soft mop of hair on his son's head. Jamie glanced at him and burbled a long string of noises that ended in a spit bubble. "I'm going to go wash his face."
"It can wait," Damien said, lacing their fingers together. "I have a surprise for you."
Raising an eyebrow, Tommy rested his free hand on his hip. "It's Jamie's birthday, Damien."
"It's for him, too. Sort of." Damien grinned unabashedly and leaned down to rest their foreheads together. There was an excitement thrumming under his skin that made love bubble up under Tommy's skin like champagne. "Come with me?"
"Of course," he whispered, stealing a quick kiss. "But first, let me stop your son from putting soggy cereal in his hair." He pulled back, laughing at Damien's surprised expression.
Jamie hated baths and thought cleanliness was torture, but Tommy had practiced enough to get the baby clean enough to pass inspection without triggering a screaming fit. Scooping him up into his arms, Tommy rubbed his nose on Jamie's face, narrowly avoiding a fist to the eye.
"Should we go see what Daddy did while Papa was busy today?" he asked the baby.
Damien chuckled, leaning in to kiss Jamie's forehead. "But Papa," he said, as the baby stared at him, "I've already seen it. It's super-cool."
"Super-cool, huh?" Tommy said dryly. "I guess I'd better go see this super-cool surprise."
Damien led him through the living room, with banners and party decorations everywhere, to the back door. The curtains were drawn, and he made a big show of peeking behind them before dramatically flinging the door open.
The yard looked great, the tables and balloons set up for Jamie's party, the summer flowers along the fence in full bloom. "A sandbox," he gasped, stepping out onto the small deck to get a better look. "You cleared all the weeds away from the trees."
Hands tucked behind his back, Damien watched him carefully.
"That's not it?" he asked.
Damien shook his head.
Pursing his lips, Tommy frowned at the yard. He didn't see anything else out of place. "You've gotta help me out here, buddy," he said to his son. The baby chewed thoughtfully on the collar of his t-shirt.
He scanned the yard again. The area under the trees really did look great. It had been so overgrown, but neither of them had had the time to deal with it after Jamie was born. He liked the placement of the sandbox, but since it was one of the plastic ones, they could move it if they needed to. That would keep any weeds from growing up through the bottom, too.
The trees looked healthy now that they were out from under all the brush. He'd been worried that the elm had been dying, and it had lost a few limbs to the trimmer, but there was new growth in the back. He was surprised that the oak had needed to be cut back so much. It had been a little overgrown, but it almost looked like Damien had taken out a whole chunk of branches.
"What was wrong with..." He blinked again. There was a board, just barely visible around the base of the tree. He hesitated, his eyes burning as he looked closer at the branches. "A tree house," he said, his voice cracking.
"He's a little too young for it right now," Damien said, resting his head on Tommy's chin, "but I didn't want to wait."
They walked out under the tree, and Tommy stroked his hand along the smooth wood of the platform. It was lower than their tree house by the creek, but it had a railing and a roof and a tire swing hanging from the branch next to the ladder. "It's perfect," he said, his hand stroking the lump of the ring hanging around his neck. "I love you."
Damien leaned in for a kiss, his eyes hot.
"Anybody home?"
Tommy groaned, resting his head against Damien's shoulder. "We're back here."
"Wow, great setup, boss," Anne said as she came around the side of the house. "This looks awesome."
"You have terrible timing," Tommy told her. Jamie squealed when he saw her, reaching out for her colorful hair.
"You told me not to be late," she protested. "Besides, those creepy twins in the Porsche are right behind me."
"We're not creepy," Elijah said mildly, appearing around the corner. "Matthias is on his way, but Hunter forgot his camera."
"I don't think I've ever seen you without your brother," Anne said, eying him thoughtfully. I didn't know it was possible."
"It is."
"Play nice, kids," Tommy said, passing Jamie to Anne so that he'd stop fussing. This morning, he'd wanted nothing more to have all his friends around him to celebrate, but now... He glanced at the tree house and smiled. Later, he'd escape and check it out. And he'd have to think of a way to show Damien how much he loved it.
"I love you." Damien pulled him close and kissed his temple.
Tommy smiled. "I love you, too."
Turn the page to find out more about Our Paradise!
A hot romantic interlude in an island paradise sounds like the stuff of dreams… but some dreams quickly become nightmares.
Three years ago, alpha Liam Aguado made a deal with the devil to get the money he needed for his mother's cancer treatments. To this day, drug kingpin Julio Romero still holds his leash, forcing him to continue smuggling shipments to their island home. When Julio offers Liam a way out, he jumps at it–all he needs to do is deliver a package to a woman at a hotel. But with devils, things are rarely as they seem.
Dragged to the island for his brother's wedding, Simon Duncan is a lonely omega who's more interested in working on his blog than interacting with his dysfunctional family. He slips away from dinner one night and finds himself confronted with a devastatingly handsome Liam.
When a chance meeting in the lobby of an exotic island hotel brings Liam and Simon together, their hot one-night stand quickly blossoms into something more. But their idyllic new romance is soon interrupted…
As Liam's sister goes missing and an underhanded plot strands Simon on the island, the two find themselves turning the aforementioned devil for help. Now, they must work together to find a way to free themselves from Julio's stifling grasp, but the clock starts ticking when Simon discovers he's pregnant. If Julio learns their secret, he’ll surely exploit Simon to ensure Liam’s continued cooperation, and the new family may find itself forever trapped under the thumb of a vicious drug lord.
In this hot and explicit MM Alpha/Omega Mpreg 50,000-word novel (intended for adult readers only), two men from radically different worlds fall hard and fast for one another. Will they be able escape Julio’s insidious clutches and build a future for their budding family, or will the devil ensure he gets his due?
Click Here for Our Paradise!
Turn the page to get your free book, Curl Up Together!
Matt is the Man of Honor at his sister’s wedding. Jon is his best friend’s best man. They can’t deny the spark between them at the reception, and they don’t even try. When Matt’s homophobic father comes between them the morning after the wedding, they’re torn apart. Is this the end, or will love find a way?
Matt’s parents disowned him when he came out six years ago, but he’s always been close with his big sister Claudia. He thinks her wedding will be tense and unpleasant, but then he meets Jon. Jon just might be the man of his dreams, but their time together is cut short by a cruel stunt of Matt’s father. When he gets home to Boston, he finds himself pregnant. How will he move forward?
Jon is honored to be his best friend’s best man, even if his best friend does come from a homophobic family. He can put up with it for a few hours. When he meets the bride’s omega brother, Man of Honor Matt, he’s besotted. Circumstances tear them apart, but he can’t get Matt out of his head.
Click Here
Red Hot Daddy
Austin Bates
© 2017
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
