Can a working threesome find a fourth to help them balance their lives? Rook, Knight and Bishop believe so.
The happy threesome know there's something missing and when they find Jason, they're pretty sure he's just what they need.
Join these four sexy men as they explore the dynamics between them and work toward finding a happy ending of their very own.
Opening Moves #1
Summary:
Threesome Rook, Knight and Bishop make Jason an offer he can't refuse. Can the four of them be exactly what they each need? Find out in this Opening Move.
Rook, Knight and Bishop have been searching for a fourth man to join their threesome for quite a while when Knight meets Jason, the live model in the art class he's auditing. He thinks that Jason is the perfect man for them and his lovers Rook and Bishop quickly agree. The trick will be convincing Jason...
Join these sexy men as they make their Opening Moves.
Middle Game #2
Summary:
Can Jason be with three amazing men and not lose his heart in the process?
Living with and being the play toy of three men is more rewarding than Jason could have imagined. Bishop, Knight and Rook each have their own way of loving on him. In Bishop he finds a work-out partner, friendship, and good solid lovemaking. He isn’t sure what to make of Knight, but the man is a brilliant artist and there are worse things than being Knight’s subject for his latest series of paintings. And the kinky things Knight does to him blow his mind on a regular basis.
It’s Rook who Jason is falling in love with, though. The bright, loving, sexy man has him head over heels and Jason’s beginning to worry that he’s getting himself in way over his head. Can he continue to be with these men without losing his heart?
En Prise #3
Summary:
Just when things seem to be at their best, disaster strikes. Will all the men of Chess survive?
It’s the holiday season and Jason is having the best Christmas he can remember in a long time. He’s in love with Rook and settling in with Bishop and Knight, figuring out where he fits and learning to love their appetites. He might even be feeling like he belongs.
Holiday bliss is followed by disaster, though, when Knight is involved in an accident and is hospitalized. Will Jason, Bishop and Rook be able to rally around their lover and each other? Or will the strain put on their relationship tear them all apart?
Follow the moves made by the men of Chess and find out…
Helpmate #4
Summary:
Knight is home from the hospital, so everything should be back to normal, right? Things are never that easy, though, and the men of Chess must fight to get their lives back.
Knight has returned home from the hospital, but is far from recovered. Things seem to be going well, but depression slowly winds its way around Knight, and he spends all his time in bed sleeping, slipping farther and farther away from his lovers and life.
Rook just wants everything to go back to normal now that their lover is home and Bishop is out of his depth when it comes to Knight's depression. Can Jason figure out what's wrong and take the steps needed to help Knight find himself again?
The struggle has just begun in Knight's recovery—are the men of Chess up to the task? Find out in this fourth installment of the Chess series.
End Game #5
Summary:
Things are changing again for the foursome. Knight has bought a cottage outside of the city and Jason is going back to school. Can they weather the changes as they do everything else—together?
Things are changing again for Bishop, Knight, Rook and Jason. Not only is Jason going back to school, but Knight has bought a cottage on a lake several hours away, and none of them are quite sure what it all means for their family of four.
As Knight loses himself in his art at the cottage and Jason begins the hard work needed to keep up with school, Rook and Bishop call each other often to stay in touch, but it isn’t the same thing as all four of them being together.
Could this be the beginning of two couples and the end of their foursome just when Jason was settling into being a part of this weird but wonderful family? Or will they find a way to make it work just like they have everything else?
The Piercer's Game #6
Summary:
Luke sees a lot in his job as a piercer, but for all that, he’s shy and lonely. Can live-in-the-moment Temple open his eyes to life’s pleasures?
Luke’s a piercer and owns a successful business with his tattooing partner. Despite his job and his inked and pierced appearance, Luke is actually quite shy and lonely, not to mention inexperienced. An event from his past has left him unable to open up completely to anyone and it’s easier for him to just keep to himself.
Temple is a cancer survivor, coming up on five years cancer free. He’s travelling across North America on the back of his motorcycle, just going where the wind blows him. Ever since first being diagnosed, he turned into a true believer of living in the moment.
When Temple first turns up at Luke’s shop, Temple is immediately drawn to the quiet piercer. First he’s going to have to convince Luke that there’s something between them…then he’s going to have to work his way past Luke’s defences.
Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series but can be read as a standalone.
Chess: Volume One
Summary:
Opening Games #1 & Mind Games #2 Paperback
Chess: Volume Two
Summary:
En Prise #3 & Helpmate #4 Paperback
Chess: Volume Three
Summary:
End Game #5 & The Piercer's Game #6 Paperback
Rook bounced as they headed toward the Z'va coffee house, walking between Knight and Bishop, his two favourite people in all the world. "He was a stud, Knight. He really was."
"I told you." Knight winked at him, goosed him gently. "O ye of little faith and large penis."
He jumped at the goosing and rounded on Knight, his ire fading as he played the words back. "His was pretty impressive, too. You think it was just a shower? Or a grower, too?"
"That I don't know. He's never sprung wood in class." Knight winked.
"That's a damn shame." Rook stepped back between them and looped a hand each through Knight's and Bishop's arms. He loved touching them. Hell, he loved them, plain and simple. "So. I know I'm not the only one who wants to do him six ways to Sunday."
Bish snorted. "Or get done by him."
"Sure. I'm easy." He was. As both his lovers well knew.
"He might say no... You do realise this, dear boys." Knight could be such a turd.
"You wouldn't have suggested it if you believed that."
Knight nodded, hips bumping his. "He's got a great ass and the rumours are he's unattached. A little gym bunny."
"I didn't get a good look at his ass, but the rest of him was vavavavoom!"
"I saw his ass," put in Bishop. "It was great."
"I need a cup of coffee. I told him where we'd be. We're sticking with the original plan, boys?"
They'd made similar offers before-four times. No one'd ever said yes. Of course, Knight hadn't picked before.
A boy. A man. A lover. Someone for them to play with at will. They'd started talking about it late one night-the three of them naked and lazy, sprawled. Knight had been teasing Bish about getting a houseboy, someone they could touch, drive crazy. Boss around a little. Play with.
That had been Knight's phrase. Play with.
Rook nodded eagerly and Bishop grunted an affirmative.
Rook tried not to get excited, but damn. It wasn't easy.
They piled into the shop, waved at Rick and Les. "The usual, boys?"
"Please. You and Bish go sit, I'll get it." He pulled his wallet out and sauntered up to the counter.
Rick grinned at him and Les made the black coffee, the mocha latte, and the triple espresso with a shot of caramel. "We haven't seen you three in almost a week. I was going to send a search party."
"If you promise it'll be full of studs, it'll be another week before we're back."
"Shit, I can't afford that! Knight keeps me in business!"
He pouted. "Too bad. I guess we'll have to keep finding our own studs."
He handed over a twenty and waved away the offered change. Grabbing the tray, he headed to the table Knight and Bishop had chosen. Knight was straddling a chair backwards, Bishop's hands on his lean shoulders, rubbing hard. Knight looked tired, but each touch seemed to make that sexy body to relax. Rook licked his lips. Who needed a search party of hotties when he had his two very own personal studs to love on?
The look on Knight's face was pure bliss-lips parted, surrounded by goatee and moustache, the hair black as pitch.
"No orgasming in the coffee shop-they'll throw us out again," Rook teased, putting their coffees down on the table.
"Shh. He's rubbing. Don't distract him." vHe grinned at Bishop, who just smiled back. "I'll do you when we get home."
It was probably for the best-he'd never met a massage he didn't want to turn into more. Especially when Bish was the one dishing out the massage—you could feel the love in every touch.
Knight moaned, the sound like liquid sex. "Bish has the best hands."
"He does." Rook was getting hard. Between the look on Knight's face and the memories of what exactly those hands could get up to...
He sat down and pulled his chair up to the table. Bish could make you beg, make you scream, make you hurt in ways that felt so fucking good after... And after... He never ever doubted that Bish loved him.
He tried not to whimper-he already had a reputation for being easy, so the last thing he needed was to get all hot and bothered by memories.
Knight met his gaze, near-black eyes dazed. "Tell me when you see him."
Not if.
When.
Middle Game #2
Jason had been watching the snow falling for hours, mounding up around the window sill, white and fluffy. The studio wasn’t cold, not at all, but a part of him felt a little chilled just from watching the ice crystals build.
Jason shivered, making sure the motion was tiny, not moving on the lounge chair in the least.
"Be still, Jase. I’m almost done." Knight was painting furiously.
"I am." He was naked, except for a soft, silken drape over his thighs.
The front door opened and closed, Rook’s voice singing out, reaching them even here in the studio, "Hello, honeys, I’m home!"
Jason smiled. The sound of Rook’s voice made him happy every time he heard it.
"Don’t move!" Knight spoke loudly enough that Rook no doubt heard it from the front of the house because it was followed by the sound of his laughter and he appeared at the door.
"Look at this! Two of my favourite people in the whole world, both together." Rook draped himself over Knight and kissed Knight’s cheek.
"Working, Rookie." Knight did smile, though, which Jason had learned over the past month was rare.
"I know." Rook’s eyes wandered over the canvas, and he licked his lips. "God, you’re a talented asshole, aren’t you?" Rook gave Knight another kiss, then backed off, blowing a kiss at Jason. "So how long before we can puppy pile?"
"Ten minutes, tops." Knight growled the words, eyes dragging over Jason’s body.
"Does he need fluffing or anything?" Rook asked, voice hopeful.
"No touching. You’ll destroy my view."
Rook pouted and sighed loudly. "I’ve been working all day long."
"You’ve been playing with dildos, Rookie." Knight sighed, then set his brushes down. "Go on, Jase. I’m done."
He pushed himself off the chair towards Rook. The man fascinated him, so pretty with his blond hair, his bright blue eyes. So different from Knight’s slender darkness.
Rook stuck his tongue out at Knight but gave the man a proper kiss even as he held out his arm to Jason. Jason went to them, moving carefully, suddenly painfully aware of the plug inside him.
Rook’s hand slid over his skin as soon as he was close enough and the kiss with Knight ended noisily. Then Rook’s mouth covered his, tongue pushing in. A sweet hum sounded, Rook’s blue eyes staring into his own like he was the most fascinating thing ever.
It was Knight’s hand, though, that slid down his back, moving to jostle the plug. He jerked away, cheeks burning. Knight shook his head. "Still so shy?"
Rook’s eyes widened, his lips pulling up into a grin. "A plug? Knight, you naughty, naughty man." Rook slid a hand down his back just like Knight had done, heading right for his ass.
"I wanted to make sure he stayed awake."
Jason groaned. He’d stayed awake.
Rook laughed, the sound happy and sweet. "Can we play on your couch, Knight? Or should we find a bed?" Rook found the base of the plug and began to tap it.
"Let’s go upstairs. Bish will be back soon."
Rook bounced happily and grabbed Jason’s and Knight’s hands, leading the way like a naughty Pied Piper.
"I need to clean up, Rookie!" Knight was laughing, though. Rook was the only one who made the man laugh.
"We’ll help. After." Rook shook his ass, making it very clear what came before the after. Jason was given a sweet smile. "I think someone needs some help with that plug up his ass..."
"Rook..." His cheeks heated, but his cock jerked, filling.
Rook grinned and squeezed his hand, moving faster.
"Horndog. I love the way Jase walks when he’s full." Knight’s voice had a sexy, husky note to it.
"And you call me a horndog?" Rook laughed and took a half step behind him. "Knight is right, though, honey, you move like magic with that plug."
His cheeks were burning and he ducked his head then shook it.
"You should have seen him take it in for me." Knight’s fingers slipped over his skin.
Oh. Oh, God. He... He still wasn’t used to being a...plaything for these three men.
Rook moaned and rubbed against Knight. "I wish I’d seen that."
"I’m sure we can revisit after we play...with a bigger plug."
Rook beamed. "That would be perfect." Rook wrapped his arms around Knight, giving the man another one of those kisses. And then Rook’s attention focused on him, mouth latching on.
En Prise #3
That was the biggest tree he’d ever seen.
Jason stared at Bish and Rook. “You’re not serious, guys? It’s like…eighty feet tall.”
Two blond heads turned towards him, and suddenly he knew how Knight felt sometimes, with people looking at him like he’d just spoilt a party.
Rook slinked over and wrapped around him, not caring that they were in the middle of the tree lot. Rook never did and if people didn’t like it, they could lump it. “Don’t you like it? It’ll fill the living room perfectly!”
Rook was so warm and Jason hated being the spoilsport, but sometimes he felt like he had to be the voice of reason. “It’s huge. Knight said…”
Knight had thrown a fit about even leaving his studio. He’d been…almost ugly about the whole holiday thing. Jason hated to give him more ammunition to make a fuss, especially this time of year.
Bishop snorted. “Knight is being bitchy. He’ll get over it.”
Rook nodded and looked at Bishop. “He needs a spanking and a good hard fuck.”
“I know what he needs, Rookie. Don’t worry, he’ll be sweet for the holidays.” Bishop sounded sure. Bishop always sounded sure.
Jason shivered, partially from excitement, partially from nerves. “I’ve never had a tree so big. Are there enough decorations?”
“If there aren’t, we’ll buy more!” Rook squeezed him tight and beamed at him. He swore he could feel Rook’s hard-on through the layers of their coats. He made a note—Christmas made Rookie horny. Of course, everything else did—why not the holidays, too?
“Careful, he’ll bring even more perverted balls from work,” Bishop warned, giving him a wink.
“Oh, God. Tell me there aren’t porny ornaments.” Why did he think it was a vain hope?
Rook let go of him to bounce. “There so are!”
“Oh, man…” He shuddered to think. “Tell me there are rainbow lights at least?”
Bishop chuckled. “There are. And it’s a huge tree, so if there’s anything you want on it that we don’t have, all you need to do is speak up.”
Rook nodded and bounced some more. “I love Christmas!”
Rolling his eyes, Bishop teased, “You love every day, Rookie.”
“I do.” Rook grinned and winked at Jason, slipped a hand in his. “What’s not to love?” he asked gently.
Jason couldn’t help his smile, at all. Rook was… How could anyone on earth not adore this man? Rook was like Christmas every single day.
“Come on, I’ve already paid for this thing. Let’s drag it home.” Bishop got them moving.
“How on earth are you ever going to get it anywhere?” Eighty feet tall, at least. It was insane. He wasn’t sure it was going to even fit in the house. Sure, the ceilings were high, but this tree was like the ones you put in front of a town hall or somewhere. Outside.
“We’ll tie it to the top of the car. No, Rookie, don’t unwrap it until we get home or it’ll be impossible.” Bish growled a bit as Rook pouted, but Rook stopped trying to undo the twine holding the tree branches against the trunk. “Jase, if you grab the bottom end, I’ll get the top.”
“You got it.” Between him and Bishop, they could lift a lot of weight, easily.
They got the tree to the car and Rook grabbed a blanket from the trunk, laying it on the roof so they could hoist the tree up there without scratching the shit out of the paint job. There were bungee cords, too—it looked like Bishop had thought of everything—and in short order, they had the tree affixed to the top of the car. The only drawback was they couldn’t completely close the windows.
“See?” Rook made ‘ta da’ motions with his hands.
Jason stared at Rook. “It’s huge.” There was easily three feet of tree hanging over the front and back of the car.
“I like my trees like I like my men.” Rook glanced down at Jason’s crotch and rubbed against his hip. “Huge.”
Bishop laughed. “Get in the car, Rookie.”
Jason’s cheeks were burning, and he slipped into the car before his lover. Rookie sat next to him, resting his hand on Jason’s thigh, squeezing as Bish started the engine and headed carefully onto the road. It felt good—Rookie always did make him feel that way.
“I… Do you guys have a Christmas meal tradition?” He wasn’t sure he could cook a fancy meal.
“Uh-oh.” That was from Bishop up front and Rook actually blushed.
Helpmate #4
One hundred and nine. One hundred and ten.
Jason stopped halfway up on his inverted sit-up, abs screaming. His legs were hooked over the bar, his thighs trembling as he fought to hold himself up.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
He grunted and let go, head swinging toward the gym floor.
“Careful, baby boy.” Bishop came in, catching his shoulders. “You don’t want to bang up this pretty head.”
“Bish.” He was breathing hard, sweat pouring off him. “Ab. Ab work. Should have…” He should have waited for a spotter.
“You know better than that.” Bish put an arm under his shoulders and the other under his knees next to the bar, picking him up, then laying him flat on the ground.
“Sorry.” He’d just become engrossed in it and had forgotten his own rules about working out on one’s own.
Bish crouched next to him, big hand warm on his belly. “You got something you need to talk about?”
“Just got into the rhythm, you know?” Things had been so harsh, for months, after Knight had been hit by a snowplow. All that time with Knight out, then in the hospital. Jason didn’t think anything was going to be normal again. At least they were home now, right? All of them.
“Yeah?” Bishop didn’t look like he entirely believed him.
“Yeah. How’re you?” Jason had it easy compared to Bish and Rook, really.
Bishop shrugged and rubbed his face. “Glad I’m not at the hospital today.” They’d brought Knight home yesterday, which in and of itself felt like some kind of miracle.
“Me too.” Impulsively, he sat up, pushed into Bishop’s arms and took a hard hug. As tough and stoic as Bish was, he was the best friend Jason had.
Bishop hugged him right back, not hesitating for a moment, and they stayed right there, holding on for a long time. They just breathed together, clinging and supporting each other.
“Did he have a decent night?” Jason asked. Knight was in Bishop’s room, while Jason had moved his stuff in with Rook. It just made the most sense under the circumstances.
“Yeah.” Bishop let him go slowly and leaned back against the apparatus. “Knight did. I woke up every twenty minutes to check that he was still breathing.”
Jason nodded, chuckled. “I bet. Rook was up at least four times, just to go check on you two.”
“I know.” Bishop sighed and stretched, turned his head from side to side and rolled his head on his neck, clearly trying to work out kinks. “It’ll get easier, right?”
“Yes. We just have to find normal again. At least normal for now.” Jason sighed. In the time he’d been with the guys—how long had it been? Seven months? Eight?—they’d changed ‘normal’ a lot.
“Yeah.” Bishop snorted. “Like we were ever normal. You thought we were a bunch of pervs when you first met us.”
“You are a bunch of pervs.” He fought his grin.
Bishop chortled. “I’m not taking offence at that only because it’s true.”
“You want to work out?” he asked, knowing it was something he could give Bishop.
“Yeah, I could use a good hard workout.”
“Yeah, me not so much right now, huh?” At least not his abs.
“You can spot me, baby boy.”
“Anytime.” He stood on shaky legs, grabbed a towel and his water. Hydration, hydration.
Bishop shook his head. “Don’t force me to make a rule that says you can’t work out alone anymore.”
“A rule?” He blinked over, surprised. They were still doing that, even after…everything?
“I don’t want to, but you could have seriously hurt yourself today, Jason. We can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.” He was young, healthy. Strong.
“Then no more working out on your own, okay? If I’m not available, get Rookie to spot you.”
“I will.” At least the hard workouts.
“Good.” Bishop kissed him, hard. That wasn’t helping the weakness in his knees. “Maybe there’s better things to do than work out.” Oh, it was delicious, having Bishop’s attention turned on him.
Bishop wrapped an arm around him, hand on his ass, to pull Jason up against his hard body, and Bishop’s second kiss took no prisoners. It made him breathless, made him arch back over Bishop’s arm and moan. God, he was in good shape, but Bishop could make him feel, not dainty, but not big either.
Bishop slid his free hand along Jason’s chest and belly, leaving behind a trail of warmth. Jason’s prick jerked, pushing against his sweats. Bishop kept moving his hand downward, only stopping at Jason’s waistband to tease his fingers in beneath it.
Jason tried to suck in, to give those questing fingers more room, but his abs really were shot. Totally shot.
Bishop’s kiss got harder and the wandering hand slipped into his sweats to wrap around his prick.
End Game #5
Knight had bought a lake house.
Knight had bought a lake house.
Knight had bought a lake house.
Jason looked into his glass of bubbly, trying to process things. How big was the lake house? Who was going to live there? What did this mean for their family? What was the lake house for? Why hadn’t Knight said anything? Jase knew that Knight was impetuous and a little nuts and Jase knew that the accident had been brutal, the recovery harder, but… Knight had bought a lake house.
This on top of finding out, like ten minutes ago, that he’d been accepted to the physiotherapy program at the university. Knight had bought a lake house and Jason was going to be a student. Neither one seemed quite real, actually. Like someone was playing a big joke on them all, randomly throwing these new things at them to see how they coped. Except, unlike Knight’s accident, these were both good things, right? Well, his getting into the program definitely was. He’d just have to hope the other one was, too.
Rook was babbling away, but it didn’t quite sound natural and Jase wanted to give him a big hug and tell him everything was going to be okay. Luke, the piercer, was going to be ringing on the doorbell any second, too. They were going to give Knight his rings back. That’s what this evening was supposed to be about—a celebration of Knight’s recovery. And then his letter of acceptance had come. And Knight had bought a lake house. Just like that. Jase honestly didn’t quite know what to think.
“Okay, everyone. One glass of champagne and that’s it. Luke won’t do the piercings if he thinks we’re all drunk.” Bishop got them moving into the living room with its low lighting and the big, comfy couch that could—and often had—hold all four of them comfortably.
“Aren’t we just doing Knight?” Jase asked as he followed along, mind whirling about his acceptance letter, school, the lake house. It was like they were on one of those wheels you spun to see where it would stop, only they were just all going around and around and around in his head.
Knight shrugged. “I suppose it’s up to Rook, huh?”
That made Jason blink and focus on the task at hand—if Rook wanted more rings, they could discuss it.
“I don’t know. Tonight’s for Knight, right?” Rook’s hand slipped into his and it might have been Jason’s imagination, but it felt like Rook was holding on just a little bit tighter than usual.
“Right.” He leaned in, speaking just to Rook. “Knight bought a lake house?”
Rook shrugged. “I guess?” Then his lover gave him that smile he loved so much. “And you got into your program.”
“I did. Scary, huh? Me, going back to university. It’s the right decision, though.” He hoped.
“I’m so proud of you, honey. Like really.”
“Thank you.” He was a little proud of himself, to be honest.
Rook tugged his head down, giving him a good, hard kiss. The caress was delicious, sweet from the champagne, tickly almost.
The doorbell rang and Bishop chuckled. “I’ll get it.”
“Just ignore it.” Knight was laughing though, the man looking almost whole again. Almost.
“You’re getting my jewelry back, baby.” Bishop could growl when he wanted to.
“Maybe. If I feel like it.” It was clear Knight needed this, was relishing getting his rings back, despite any protests he might make.
“No maybes. No discussions.” Bishop shot the words back over his shoulder as he went to the door. “Luke! It’s so nice to see you.”
“Bish! Man! It’s been forever!” The big voice boomed in.
“Oh man, he makes my nipples tingle.” Rook pressed close to him.
Knowing Rook didn’t mean that Luke himself did it for him, Jase chuckled, pinched one nipple hard, then tugged on the ring there. Gasping, eyes going wide, Rook rubbed against him.
“Is that okay? Too hard?” Jason wasn’t into causing pain, but he knew Rook liked a firm touch sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time.
“No, honey, it was wonderful.” Rook’s grin was contagious. “Surprising but so good.”
“You two are gooey. Awful.” Knight was lounging on the sofa, watching them.
“Are you jealous?” Rook dragged Jason over to where Knight lounged on the couch and they sat on either side of him. “We can be gooey with you too.”
“Ew. No. Shoo.” There wasn’t any heat at all behind Knight’s words.
Rook leaned in and laid a sloppy kiss on Knight’s lips. Knight gagged and struggled, but he was laughing hard. He liked to pretend to be all hard and cold, but they all knew better. Especially when it came to Rook.
The Piercer's Game #6
Luke finished doing his orders and the taxes, then rolled his head on his shoulders. Tired. He was tired and ready for a beer and a burger. He headed out of the little office he shared with Donny, waving at his best friend and partner as he passed by.
“I’m going to bail. You need anything?”
Donny shook his head. “No, I’ve only got another ten minutes or so left and Armen is picking me up. Turn the sign to closed, though, will you?”
“Totally. See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Donny winked at him.
The bell over the door jangled as the door was opened, a tall, skinny, bald man in leather walking in.
He and Donny looked at each other, wincing. No one was going to want to start something new this late in the evening.
“I’ll handle it,” Luke offered. It was probably just a question anyway, right?
He headed to the door, offered the dude a grin. “What can I do you for?”
“I’d like a tattoo, I think. Are you the tattoo artist?” The man had a gravelly voice, like he’d swallowed glass or something, and his eyes were so brown. They seemed huge, too, probably because of the bald head.
“No. I’m the piercer. Would you like to make an appointment?”
“I’d like to talk to someone first. Can I talk to you?”
Donny was swamped and about to leave anyway, Bill and KT were both working on big pieces that were going to take them until well past closing, so no one else was currently available. “Absolutely. Talk away.”
Those brown eyes took him in. “Yeah, I think you can help me.”
“Well, I’m the co-owner, so I hope so.” Just look at those pretty eyes. Luke could happily spend some time thus occupied.
One big hand was held out to him. “Temple Garrison.”
“Luke. Pleased.” He shook Temple’s hand, a jolt of electricity passing between them. Wow, he’d never felt anything like that.
Temple’s nostrils flared. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hi.” They were just standing there, holding hands like that zap had fused their flesh. “Jesus, sorry. Sorry, man.” He let his hand drop, feeling like a bit of an idiot.
“No, no apologies necessary. You felt it too, eh?”
“I…” What did he say to that? “How can I help you?”
“There somewhere around here we can sit? Have a bite to eat?”
“I…” Okay, that was odd. Intriguing, though. Surprisingly. “Jack’s Diner is two doors down.”
Wait. Had he just agreed to eat with a stranger? At least it would be in public.
Temple smiled, looking pleased as punch. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Let me grab my phone.” He headed to the office. “Going to Jack’s, having a bite with a customer.”
“What? Why?” Donny demanded.
“He asked.”
Donny gave him a glare. “A repeat customer?”
”No.”
Donny sighed, rubbed his face. “You’d better be careful.”
“I’ll have my phone, man.” And Jack’s was practically next door and there was that whole ‘in public’ thing. Still, Don was a good guy. A genuinely good guy.
“Okay.” Donny repeated it, “Okay. You’re a grown man.”
“I know, right? Weird.” He gave Donny a smile and headed back out, turned the sign around on the door. “You ready, man?”
Temple straightened from where he’d been leaning against the counter. “I am.”
“Cool. It’s a decent place—burgers, fries, pancakes.”
“They do a salad?”
“I’m sure they do.” Even if Luke thought a salad was a weird choice for a tall, bald guy dressed all in leather, he tried not to make judgments like that, but this guy screamed biker and he had yet to meet one who was into salads.
“Cool.” Temple walked along next to him, long legs just eating up the pavement.
The walk didn’t take long enough to even talk, the well-lit diner inviting in the late summer night.
Often referred to as "Space Cowboy" and "Gangsta of Love" while still striving for the moniker of "Maurice," Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to "Chicago."
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.
YAHOO / ITUNES / ARe / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: seanmichaelwrites@gmail.com
Opening Moves #1
Mind Games #2
En Prise #3
Helpmate #4
End Game #5
The Piercer's Game #6
Volume 1 Paperback
Volume 2 Paperback
Volume 3 Paperback
