Showing posts with label leta blake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leta blake. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Sunday's Safe Word Shelf: Training Season Box Set by Leta Blake



Summary:

Both of the fan favorite books in the Training Season series now available as a box set!

TRAINING SEASON
Can a cowboy’s firm hand discipline this feisty figure skater—on and off the ice?

Matty Marcus fears he doesn’t have what it takes to achieve his Olympic dream. His self-esteem is at an all-time low after figure skating coaches and skating judges have told him he’s not skinny enough, good enough, or masculine enough to win.

Matty wishes he could afford the kind of coach he needs, a top-notch one who specializes in keeping their skaters focused. But those coaches are ridiculously expensive, and Matty is financially strapped.

Until a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana.

And to Rob.

No one has ever looked at Matty the way rural cowboy and single dad Rob Lovely looks at him. No one has ever touched him, loved him, and healed him from the inside out. No one has ever made him feel so valuable and adored. Worthy. Strong.

No one has ever taught Matty how to fly. Or how to lose.

Rob might be a cowboy who knows nothing about figure skating, but after only a few months, he’s trained a new kind of bravery into Matty’s soul.

However, to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned what it means to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

Training Season is a MM romance with a feisty, flamboyant figure skater and an easy-going dominant cowboy, opposites attract, hurt-comfort, single dad, winter holiday highlights, love beyond reason, multiple steamy scenes, and a well-earned happy ending. This book contains BDSM elements.


TRAINING COMPLEX
Can Rob help Matty defeat his inner saboteur for good?

It’s summer in the city and figure skater Matty Marcus is still desperately in love with Rob Lovely. Although he misses the thrill and pressure of competition, he couldn’t be happier in their new life together, so he doesn’t understand why he’s secretly indulging in his eating disorder again and requesting harder, more intense BDSM scenes. Matty’s scared he’s losing control, and he has to believe that Rob, as always, will save him.

Rob is equally crazy about Matty. He finally has the vivacious man he adores in his arms every night. But taking it to the limit has always been the name of Matty’s game, so Rob’s love must be stronger than Matty’s self-sabotage. Even when Matty’s inner demons try to take control, Rob is committed to find their way back. Together.

Loving Matty isn’t always easy—but for Rob it’s always worth it.

Training Complex is an MM romance about a feisty, self-sabotaging former figure skater and the steady, strong man who loves him. It features opposites attract, hurt/comfort, domestic discipline, chastity play, and a heartfelt and epic happy ending. No cheating, no threesomes, and no breakups—just two amazing men fighting for their love!

Content warning for disordered eating, misapplied BDSM, and mental health issues.



Training Season #1
Chapter One 
Early Fall 
“Montana? You must be joking.” 

“It’s beautiful there.” 

“So?” 

“And you’ll be paid eight thousand dollars a month,” Matty’s mother replied. “Where else are you going to find that kind of money? To skate at the Olympic level again, you’ll need to hire coaches, trainers, and pay for costumes. You’ll have to consider the cost of a choreographer, not to mention rink time. You know this.” 

“Yeah, but do I look like a rugged, plaid-shirt wearing, Brokeback Mountain kinda gay? No, I do not.” Matty rubbed his lower back. The injury still ached, but it wasn’t breathtaking anymore. At least he could skate again and wasn’t stuck in bed, sweating in pain every time he moved. 

“For eight thousand a month, Matty, you can’t afford not to be.”

Matty sat down on his bed and looked around the room. Pictures and posters still decorated the walls in a juvenile profusion of color. Gifts from his fans cluttered the vanity and desk, and filled the big trunks lining one wall. Everything from handmade dolls of himself to cross-stitched Christmas stockings featuring him as a skating Santa were in those trunks. 

Matty’s mother wouldn’t let him throw any of it away, and so the gifts collected in the most attractive antique trunks he could find. He loved all of it, of course, but if his dreams of returning to form came true, his mother might need to start renting a storage unit for all of the memorabilia. 

At this point, there wasn’t much Matty wouldn’t do for money. Okay, peddle his ass—that he wouldn’t do. Theft, drugs, or gambling—no. He wouldn’t even know where to begin a profitable life of crime, and seeing the inside of a jail cell was a sure way to never skate again. Many had thought his back injury was career ending, and the last thing he needed was to finish his career by being a moron. 

He’d looked into getting a job—like, a real one—but nothing paid enough to get him back on the ice, and he was under-qualified by several degrees for anything that would. But… Montana? 

“Margaret is doing you a giant favor. You’ll have to apply for the job, though,” his mother said as she paced around his room. Her blouse and slacks hung on her whip-thin form, and she ran her hands through her brown-and-gray bob. “She’s on board—she wants to see you skate again. That’s the entire reason she contacted me about this. Well, one of the reasons. The other is that they really do want someone to look after the ranch while they’re in Europe. Her grandsons used to do it when Margaret and her husband travel, but they’re away at college now.” 

“How do you even know this woman again, Donna?” 

“Don’t call me by my first name and don’t be difficult, Matty. You know she’s been a fan of yours for years. She’s followed your career and she’s come to your competitions and shows. You’ve met her quite a number of times.” 

Matty shrugged. 

Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. “We email and keep in touch. She’s a bit eccentric in the way of old, wealthy people, but she’s a good woman, and she’s willing to change your life for the price of a few months light work in Montana. Think of it as patronage.” 

“It’s not patronage if she wants more out of me than just my artistry.” 

“Fine, think of it as a grossly over-paid job and suck it up.” 

“You realize she just wants me to be her pet, don’t you? This could all be some sick tactic to get me alone in the wilderness with her. It could end up like that Stephen King novel. She’s going to kidnap me and make me into her own private skater! She’ll force me to perform for her pleasure! If I don’t, she’ll cut off my foot.” 

“Matty, that’s not going to happen.” 

“You don’t know that. It totally could.” 

Donna puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes again. “Do you want to skate again, or don’t you?” 

Across from his bed, in the place of honor on the wall opposite, was the tattered Ice Castles poster, old when he’d gotten it off eBay at the age of ten. It was the movie that had inspired him to skate. He’d wanted to be Lexie so badly, and he’d experienced the first deep stirrings of lust when he imagined being in Nick’s arms. He stared at him now, feeling the old thrum of longing. 

His eyes skimmed over the photographs of skaters pinned all around the poster. They were a mixture of those he’d admired and some he’d loathed, but all competitors he’d been determined to bury. And he had. Until he hadn’t. 

He’d spent too much time depressed after his injury. Stuck in his bed with no exercise, and, worse, he’d eaten more food than anyone could justify. He’d never weighed so much or been so out of shape since he’d started skating at the elite level when he was eleven. He was still slim by most standards, but skating had its own rules. 

There was so much work to do to get back into fighting form, and sometimes the thought of it exhausted him. Still, if he never made a comeback from his injury, he’d never prove himself. Never make up for his failures. He glanced around at his mementos and sighed. 

While his room at his parents’ house in Norfolk was comfortable, he still regretted moving out of his much more tastefully decorated apartment in New Jersey. After he got out of the hospital, there’d been no choice but to move back home to Virginia. 

Things had been tight for the family since Matty’s injury. He’d been out of competition for a whole season, missing out on prize money and also his usual income from ice shows in Japan, Russia, and South Korea. Since he wouldn’t be able to compete this season either, he’d lost his funding from the Federation and would have to prove himself all over again.

His father hadn’t been able to work since he’d nearly lost his right leg in a car wreck when Matty was nine. The money he’d received from the resulting lawsuit had all gone into Matty’s skating career years ago. 

Without Matty’s income, his mother had taken on a second job. He knew how miserable she was making phone solicitations five nights a week just to make ends meet. Worse, his brother, Joseph, had dipped into his college savings a few times to help with the bills. 

If Matty wanted to get life back on track for all of them, he needed the cash this job provided. He gazed thoughtfully at the Ice Castles poster again. If Lexie could skate again after losing her sight, then he could come back from this. And he would. Or he wasn’t Matty Marcus. 

“So, what do I have to do?” he asked his mother, who waited patiently. 

She sat beside him on the bed. “Not much. Margaret wants to give you this opportunity. Consider it an extravagant and wonderful gift. But her husband needs a little convincing.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“Basically, he just wants to make sure you’re responsible and there won’t be any parties, or unwelcome visitors. That kind of thing.” 

“Unwelcome visitors? You’re talking about Elliot.” 

“I’m talking about Elliot, Joanna—”

“She’s my agent!” 

“She’s not invited to Montana.” 

“Strict.” 

“Not just Elliot or Joanna, though. I’m also talking about Heidi, or Zarah, or Franklin, or anyone else. Matty, these people are willing to pay you a lot of money and it’s only six months. I think you can do without seeing your friends.” 

“What about my training? After all I’ve been through, six more months off the ice could be the end of my career. It’s already been more than a year, Mom. I’m twenty-one. This is probably my last shot at medaling at the Olympics. It’s only two and a half years away.” 

“There’s a rink twenty minutes from the ranch. You could start training again right away. Margaret said she’d ensure you had rink time, and she’d even pay for it in advance if you let her know how many hours a week. This is huge, Matty. This is so much more than eight thousand a month.” 

“Assuming I get the job,” Matty said. “I still have to convince her husband.” 

“Show up, look your best, demonstrate that you can take care of the horses, be polite, and say ‘sir.’ I think you’ll get the job.” 

“I have to apply in person?” Matty asked.

“I bought your plane ticket this morning. You leave tomorrow.” Donna patted his leg and stood up. “Don’t pout. It’s only Montana, not Moldova.” 

“If it were Moldova, I’d be able to practice speaking Russian, and, if I was really lucky, I could become a victim of human trafficking and get sold into sexual slavery. That could be really hot.” 

Donna groaned. “Hello, honey? Mouth-brain filter? Engage.” 

Matty sat up straighter. “Wait. Mama, how did you pay for the ticket?” 

Donna patted the door frame. Matty saw her bare ring finger and tears came to his eyes. 

“You should start packing for Montana, Matty. If our luck turns around, this time next year you’ll be preparing for Cup of Russia.” 

Matty stared after her, a lump in his throat. 

She’d sold her wedding ring—and who knew how much of her other jewelry. Her never-ending faith sometimes made him made him feel deeply ashamed. His parents had already eaten through their retirement accounts, their savings, and given everything they had to his skating. In his estimation, he hadn’t paid them back at all. He’d been distracted and irresponsible, and squandered his opportunities. 

After his disappointing performance at the last Olympics, and his injury, he was humbled that his mother still believed in him so completely.

Montana it was. 

*** 

Matty called his best friend as soon as humanly possible, which, given the short notice afforded by his travel plans, was the moment the plane touched down in Missoula. Elliot was not pleased. 

“You’re in Montana? What the fuck, bitch?” 

Matty told him about the job. “It’s in some place called Whitefish.” 

“Where’s that?” Elliot asked. 

“God only knows. Probably just this side of hell.” He remembered the sight of the snow-dusted mountains as he’d flown in. “A beautiful hell, but hell all the same.” Matty paused by an airport kiosk to pull a mirror out of his bag. He checked his carefully tousled brown hair and smoothed out his eyebrows. His brown eyes shone clear in the mid-morning light from the windows, and his full lips were rosy as he touched up his lip gloss. “Just think of what you know about the kind of people who go fly fishing and drive cattle and then put me in the middle of that vision. I’m probably going to experience a hate crime here.” 

“For sure,” Elliot drawled, sounding amazed. “If you get the job I guess you won’t be at my unbirthday party this weekend.”

“Not unless it’s in Montana.” 

“Sucks. I bought a great Mad Hatter hat for you.” 

“Mad Hatter? I don’t think so Elliot. I was supposed to be Alice.” 

“You’re Alice every year. It’s my turn to be Alice, you queen.” 

“Whatever. You can be Alice all you want because I’m in Montana. Kill me now.” 

“I can’t. Your mom would be mad.” 

Matty snorted. 

“So, like, are there gonna be horses and shit?” 

“And horse’s shit.” 

“Oh, girl.” 

“Yeah.” 

Near the baggage claim, Matty spotted a medium-height, dark-haired woman with liberal gray woven in, wearing a fur coat and big glasses. She held a sign that read Matthew Christopher Marcus. She looked about ten years older than his mother, and she started waving her arms like mad trying to get his attention. 

“I need to go. I’ve got to be responsible and charming. Wish me luck.” 

“Luck,” Elliot said with a lack of sincerity that made Matty think Elliot had already lost interest in his situation. Elliot had a short attention span that way. Matty couldn’t really blame him. He’d always been distractible since they’d met in third grade and bonded over the box of glitter crayons the art teacher allowed only her favorite and most fabulous students to use. 

“Matty, darling,” Margaret Page said as she enveloped him in a massive, Dior J’Adore-drenched hug. She was taller than him by an inch at least, and Matty rose on his toes so that his chin fell against her shoulder. “Look at you! Fit as a fiddle now, aren’t you? How do you feel? Strong? Ready to train?” 

She patted him all over as she talked, grabbing his arms and pulling them out from his sides, examining him like she was a long-lost aunt looking him over to see how much he’d grown. 

But Margaret was nice enough, and Matty had no trouble keeping up his end of the conversation during the nearly three-hour drive from Missoula to the ranch. As they drove through miles and miles of farm land with the glorious mountains pulling Matty’s attention constantly, she’d interrupt their conversation to wave her hand out the window and say, “This is Kalispell, a good place to look for things you might not find in Whitefish,” or “That’s Flathead Lake, the biggest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.” 

This last she said with great pride in her voice. Matty, overcome by the beauty of the lake, the mountains, and the vast, endless sky, only nodded mutely. It wasn’t like him to be left speechless, but the natural beauty around him took his breath away. 

During their drive, Margaret asked him some hilarious questions about who was “dating” who in the skating world. The air quotes were Margaret’s and she clearly wanted to know who was getting it on. He dished a little dirt to make her happy—and he hoped to get the job—but he kept the biggest insider secrets to himself. He did have a tell-all book to pen one day, assuming he could get back in the game at all. 

Whitefish, the closest town to the ranch, was about as quaint as one could imagine, tucked as it was beneath the imposing, impossibly beautiful Big Mountain, and surrounded on all sides by the Rockies. It sort of made Matty want to throw up a little in his mouth. Not because he couldn’t appreciate the loveliness of it, but because he was going to end up with a boot in his teeth before this thing was done. He just knew it. Gay boys like him didn’t belong in rugged towns like Whitefish. 

Margaret drove out of her way to show Matty the ice rink. “It isn’t much, darling, but the Stumptown Ice Den is what we’ve got, and it should do the trick. Time’s paid up through March. Twenty hours a week—just schedule in advance when you’ll be there, of course. If you need more, you can work that out with management.”

“That’s too much,” Matty said. 

“Nonsense, consider it a bonus for doing this for us. Your mom said you could use the money and the time to focus. I want to see you take the gold at Worlds next year, Matty. Make a big comeback. And when you’re in the Kiss and Cry, and the camera is on you, it wouldn’t be amiss for you to mouth, ‘Thank you, Margaret,’ all right? I might just wet my pants if you did that.” 

“Mrs. Page, I sincerely hope I don’t deny you that particular dry cleaning bill.” 

“I think since you’ll be living in my house, dusting my trinkets, eating on my plates, and taking care of my horses, you can call me Margaret. In fact, I insist on it.” 

“Done,” Matty agreed. It certainly sounded like he had the job. 

The ranch itself was another twenty minutes outside of Whitefish, and Matty’s back was starting to ache from sitting before they even got there. He’d need to stretch plenty once he got settled to prevent a setback. He dug around in his bag for ibuprofen and a bottle of water, and downed a few pills. 

“I’ve done my share of traveling,” Margaret said. “And I’m getting ready to travel again, but let me tell you, Matty, this land is some of the most beautiful in the world, if I do say so myself.” 

Matty had done his share of traveling, too, and he had to agree with her.

“George and I moved here after his heart attack. He was only forty-two at the time and I somehow just knew that living here, in the fresh mountain air, he’d heal up just fine. That was twenty years ago now. He’s strong as an ox, Matty. That’s what Montana does for a person.” She patted his knee and smiled at the road ahead of them. “I hope it works its healing magic on you too.” 

When they pulled up alongside two long driveways that seemed to stretch back into forever, Margaret got out and opened the blue mailbox. Before getting back behind the wheel, she knocked the snow off the red one next to it. 

“Rob’s box,” she said, as though that explained a lot. 

Matty just nodded. 

As she drove up the pine-lined drive toward the house, she muttered, “Bills, bills, I swear that’s all we get. I’ve got giant, pre-addressed and metered envelopes in a file in the desk in the library. I’ll show you when we get inside. Just dump the bills in there every week and send them to our accountant. There’s another file with envelopes for the other mail—except for junk mail, which I trust you to sort out—and you can just send that along to my sister every week. She’ll handle it from there.” 

“I’m inspired by your organizational skills,” he said, feeling warm and fuzzy toward her. “I’m kind of a freak about that kind of thing myself.”

Margaret looked pleased. “Listen, you’ve got the job, okay, hon? So long as you don’t offend George, and I’m sure you won’t. But, just… well, be yourself.” 

Matty smiled. “I can’t be anything else.” 

George Page met them in the driveway in front of the two-story, log and stone ranch house, wearing a cowboy hat, a white button-up shirt, and carrying a rifle. He was not smiling, and he eyed Matty like he was John Wayne about to challenge him to a gun fight. 

“So, you’re the skater.” 

“I am, Mr. Page. Sir,” Matty said, shivering in the cold air. He pulled his coat around him a little tighter and smiled, willing the man to love him like every good and righteous human being in the world ought. “I also love horses.” 

The man’s eyes became less narrow. He rested the butt of the shotgun on his foot as he said, “Horses?” 

“Yes, sir. In fact, I had a horse as a kid. I adored him. His name was Butterscotch Brier.” Matty smiled fondly. He’d had a soft yellow-ish mane and a smooth caramel-colored coat. Matty had loved standing on a stool to brush him down. The methodical work had soothed him. He’d also loved how the wind had rushed over his skin as he rode, digging his heels into Butterscotch to go faster. The sensation of flying through air was something he loved about skating too. 

“What happened to him?” 

“Well, I had to sell him once I started my figure skating career. He wasn’t getting enough attention.” 

“Hmmph.” George looked unimpressed. 

“But I grew up in the country. Before my dad hurt his leg, we had a small farm in Virginia,” Matty went on, forcing likeability into every molecule of his body. “I’m excited to get some time away from the city. I’ve missed the countryside. Though this,” he motioned toward the mountains and the piney brush that fell away into beautiful strips of land, “is so different from where I’m from. It’s stunning.” 

George’s face registered something that appeared to be interest, so Matty forged ahead. “Oh, and I love mucking out stalls. It’s satisfying to get them fresh again. Makes me feel like I’ve really accomplished something.” 

George said, “You got the job when you said you were familiar with horses. Don’t go lying about liking to muck out stalls. Blowing smoke up my ass isn’t gonna win you any points.” 

Matty could see why this guy was rich. He didn’t tolerate any nonsense. Still, Matty hadn’t been lying. He’d never been exactly normal in his fetish for cleanliness, but his horse had always appreciated it. 

“I’m a clean freak,” Matty said. “I really do like cleaning horse stalls.” 

George was speculative, but he finally said, “Okay, then. Margaret wants it to be you, and I don’t have time to deal with this, so I’ll let her have you as her little pet project. Let me tell you the rules, son. No parties. No friends from wherever to keep you company. I’m taking a risk on you, not your boyfriend or your best girlfriend, got it? If you need help with the horses, Rob Lovely’s ranch is next door, and he’s trustworthy. Bought this land offa him after his daddy died. You can rely on him if you have any problems. You agree to that and you’ve got eight thousand dollars a month in your bank account, a car to drive for the next six months, and a place to live. Do we have a deal?” 

“Yes, sir,” Matty said, sticking out his hand to shake on it. “We most certainly do.”



Training Complex #2
Chapter One 
The thudding of Mr. Wegman’s footsteps on the floor above woke Rob from a dream of snow-capped mountains and brilliant sunlight. In the dream, Rob had sat astride a horse and watched Matty skate his old Olympic program on a frozen-over pond surrounded by daisies. Blinking his eyes open, Rob drifted in the space between the dream and their small New York apartment. 

At the sound of Mr. Wegman’s boots coming off in a one-two thump as he tossed them on the floor, Rob willed his mind back to the image of Matty leaping into the air, dark hair twirling, smile radiant and strong thighs taut with effort. Mr. Wegman coughed loudly, and his unsteady bed made a grating groan. Then it was quiet. The sounds of the city at night were held at bay by the white noise of the standing fan, and Rob pulled Matty’s warm, naked body closer. The darkness of their ground-floor bedroom tugged at him, urging him back into the liminal place that promised more of Matty’s sunshine-smile. 

The smell of evergreens lingered, and he rolled his head, sleepily recognizing that the scent wafted up from his pillow. Oh, yes, his shampoo. Still new. He’d purchased it with Ben a few weeks before because it’d reminded him of home. And Matty had liked it too, calling him his cowboy and riding him hard. Rob’s dick stirred at the memory, and he slid his hand down Matty’s side, dragging him flush against his own naked body. He pushed his hips against Matty’s muscled ass, and felt him respond in his sleep. 

He didn’t know what time it was. If Mr. Wegman had just come back from his bar, it must be after eleven but probably before two in the morning. The clock by the bed had a book propped in front of it to block the glowing numbers. He’d put it there the night before to block out that little bit of extra light, trying to get the room as black as possible in the city. Matty stirred against him, arching his ass back to push against Rob’s cock. 

“Sweetheart?” Rob whispered, reciprocating the thrust. “You awake?” 

“The stomp-monster woke me up.” Matty’s voice was sleep-blurred and warm. 

Rob snorted softly, tucking his nose into Matty’s hair and breathing in. “You smell good.” 

Matty’s soft giggle caressed Rob. 

He opened his mouth to press a wet kiss to Matty’s throat. “Yummy.” 

Matty shivered under the thin green blanket and pushed his ass back again, a hint of amusement under his next words. “Oh, no. I hope I’m not yummy enough to eat.” 

“Mmm. I think you just might be.” 

Matty’s cock was hard in Rob’s hand, curving perfectly against his palm. “I hope you aren’t the Big Bad Wolf,” Matty whispered, his tone playful and falsely earnest. “Here I am, a poor lost boy in the evil, bad city. Can you help me find my grandmother’s house?” 

Rob laughed against Matty’s shoulder, kissing his soft skin, and running his hands up and down Matty’s back, feeling each dip of muscle and bone, each inch familiar and his. “I’m always happy to help a lost boy find his way,” he said gruffly, his cock sliding between Matty’s ass cheeks. The friction was wonderful as he rubbed it up and down Matty’s warm crack.

“So you won’t eat me?” 

“Well, I can’t promise that.” 

Matty sighed and moved his hips to work Rob’s dick between his cheeks more. “Will it hurt?” 

“Maybe. But only if you like it to hurt.” 

Matty turned in his arms, Rob’s cock sliding free from the warmth of his cleft, and pressed their chests together. Rob reached to hold Matty’s cock in his hand again, treasuring the rightness of it. In the soft, ever-present city light that slipped under the blinds, Matty’s smile glinted. “Oh, Mr. Wolf, I like it to hurt so much.” 

Rob kissed him hard, holding his jaw and rubbing his fingers against the growing stubble. Pulling away, he pressed his forehead to Matty’s, feeling his breath against his lips. He slid his fingers down Matty’s neck, touching the place where his pulse beat so firmly. 

“Do you love me?” Matty asked quietly. “As much as I love you?” 

“Yeah. More.” 

“No, I love you more.” Matty kissed him again and Rob let himself fall into it, reveling in their bodies moving together, their cocks pushed side by side, and their gasps and sighs filling each other’s mouths. 

Matty broke away, kissing a line by Rob’s jaw. “You’re not so mean, Mr. Wolf. I thought you said you were going to eat me and make it hurt.” He bit gently at Rob’s earlobe. “But I don’t feel any teeth.” 

“Still want to play, huh?” 

“Yeah. That okay?” 

“That’s fucking great, sweetheart. You want the Big Bad Wolf to eat you up? Use his sharp teeth until you cry? Hmm, poor little Matty lost in the city?”

“Fuck, yes.” 

“All right.” Rob took hold of Matty’s hips and rolled him flat on his stomach, sliding beneath the covers to spread his ass and breathe on his asshole. “This looks delicious. Have you ever let anyone taste it?” 

“Oh, no! Oh please don’t!” Matty laughed softly as he said the words, unable to stay in character. “It’s not right, Mr. Wolf. It’s a naughty place.” 

“Naughty places always taste the best.” 

Matty caught his breath as Rob licked his hole. “Don’t do it again, please. Please, Mr. Wolf.” 

Rob drove his face between Matty’s ass cheeks, closing his eyes and pressing his tongue to Matty’s hot asshole. He pushed Matty’s legs apart and rubbed his own cock against the soft sheets as he continued. He opened Matty’s hole with his tongue, chewing at the tender skin with his teeth. 

Matty bucked beneath him, stifling his sounds with his pillow before lifting up to say over his shoulder, breathless and eager, “Oh, Mr. Wolf, that feels so good. Fuck, eat me harder. Bite me. Make it hurt.” 

Rob plied Matty’s cheeks even farther apart, biting harder than usual. Matty surged back, crying out, “More! Again! Please, please, Rob. Oh, please bite me hard.” 

Rob bit the apple of Matty’s right butt cheek and then hauled himself up, covering Matty’s slim back with his chest and sliding his cock into Matty’s spit-slick crack, stroking over his hot hole again and again. He lowered himself fully and kissed Matty’s neck, biting at his shoulders and clasping both of his hands in his own.

Matty gripped back. “Love feeling you, Rob. Love you on top of me like this. Feel so safe with you.” He sounded strained, like it was harder to breathe, but he wrapped his ankles back over Rob’s calves, holding him there. “Want you to come for me. Are you gonna come for me, Mr. Wolf?” 

“How does a lost boy like you know about dirty things like that?” Rob whispered and Matty laughed again. 

“Maybe I’m going to eat you instead,” Matty murmured. “Maybe my ass will devour your cock and make you come so hard you forget everything else in the whole world. And you’ll be my love slave forever.” 

“Mmm, how would that work?” 

Matty lifted his ass up as much as he could with Rob’s weight against him. “Fuck me and I’ll show you.” 

Rob stretched over Matty far enough to get the lube from the bedside table drawer, and then kissed him, messy and sideways, while he slicked his dick and rubbed lube over Matty’s asshole. 

“Yeah, I’m ready. Please, just—yes, oh yes. Fuck.” Matty moaned, and Rob let out a low groan as he pushed the head of his cock against Matty’s asshole and the ring of muscle gave around him. 

“Not so dangerous now, huh, Mr. Wolf?” Matty gasped, but he sounded strained and his asshole was tight on Rob’s cock. 

“Oh, I’m plenty dangerous, sweetheart.” He plunged in harder, and Matty writhed under him. “Feel that? Enough bite for you?” 

“Fuck, Rob, so good.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Oh, fuck yes.”

Rob smiled. In their safe room, darkness curving over and around them, Rob breathed in the scent of a no-longer-sleepy, fully-aroused Matty, and held him tightly as he fucked him hard. Each gasp, each jolt of pleasure, each touch a reminder of their love and connection. His heart bloomed with love as the game fell away and it was just him and Matty, just their pleasure and affection, their kissing and tender touches. 

“I love you,” Matty whimpered. 

“Can you come for me?” Rob muttered, rolling onto his back and pushing Matty off his cock. “Ride me. Come on my chest. Hold my hands and don’t touch yourself.” 

“Fuck,” Matty said, clambering onto him and seating himself eagerly on Rob’s dick. The heat of his ass swallowed Rob’s cock and he groaned, biting his lip and gazing up in the half-light to watch Matty’s beautiful body writhe and twist. He gripped both of Matty’s hands, twining their fingers together, and watched as Matty worked, angling himself for the most pressure on his prostate, the most pleasure from his cock bouncing as they fucked. 

“Show me. I want to see it. Shoot for me.” 

“Oh God…” 

Matty tossed his head back and then dropped his chin down again, staring Rob right in the eye and saying with radiant intensity, “This is how I love you.” 

Rob opened his mouth to say he loved Matty too, just like this, on him, over him, taking his cock like the beautiful champion he truly was. But before he could, Matty’s asshole gripped him tightly, the rhythmic pulse of his orgasm starting there. Rob’s balls drew up, his pleasure drawn aching and tight, and he stared up at the shadows of Matty’s face as they came together. Matty crooned, his eyes on Rob’s, and his stomach and thighs convulsing. Hot splashes of come spurted against Rob’s chest as he pumped his release into Matty’s tight, clenching body. 

“Yes, Rob,” Matty moaned. “Yeah, yeah.” 

Matty squeezed Rob’s fingers and then released them to grab his own cock to prolong the last of his cresting pleasure. When Matty started to quake, Rob drew him down for a kiss. “Love you,” he whispered against Matty’s soft lips. “Love you so much.” 

“I’ve captured you now, Mr. Wolf. You’ll be my love slave forever.” 

Rob laughed and held Matty to his body, still trembling. “Isn’t that the truth?” 

The city carried on around them, but they were quiet, safe, and tired. Matty left the bed to get a wet washcloth and cleaned them both up, and then Rob pulled him over to his side of the bed, away from the windows and the dawn that would come too soon. 

“G’night,” Matty whispered. He yawned, curling his back against Rob’s side and pulling the extra pillow between his knees the way he liked it. “Was it good for you?” 

“Loved it, sweetheart. Always love it with you.” 

Matty smiled sweetly and made a soft, sleepy sound. The darkness and the groan of the pipes slowly lured Rob back to sleep, and though the snow-capped mountains never returned to his dreams, he rode in a forest wearing a wolf-fur coat, looking for Matty in the trees. 

*** 

Matty’s iPhone read twenty minutes after four in the morning and played Miley’s “#GETITRIGHT” through its tinny little speakers. He danced around their little Brooklyn bathroom while he touched up his face, adding a hint of glossy lip shine and a touch of color to his cheeks. Dancing through his favorite part, he swung back around to the mirror, lip-syncing and batting his eyelashes. 

Still shaking his hips, he picked up the eyeliner and mascara, preparing to brighten his dark eyes and darken his long lashes. But as Miley faded out and a heartfelt ballad began, he remembered he’d be teaching Sabrina for what was probably the last time. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. He set aside the eye makeup. He’d be a big enough mess when he said goodbye without the added drama of eyeliner and mascara running down his cheeks. 

He pressed skip on iTunes until he found something upbeat again. Running cold water over his fingertips, he dabbed them against his hot eyelids. Then he evaluated himself in the mirror, twisting a piece of his dark hair down over his forehead for a rakish, windblown look that would soon be made real enough. The hot summer breeze that tore down the corridors of the city had left him a frizzy mess the day before. 

After checking for runaway makeup on his black running shorts and white tank, he paused the iPhone music, snapped off the bathroom light, and headed into the bedroom to grab the rest of his things for work. 

Fragile near-dawn bled through the window over the bed. Rob’s blond head was half hidden by the thin green sheet wrapped around his body. Matty carefully clicked on the desk lamp to keep from tripping. Rob made a soft snuffling sound, and Matty smiled tenderly, tiptoeing closer to get a better look. 

Rob might be five years older and wiser than when they’d first met, but he was also five years more handsome as far as Matty was concerned. Blond stubble grew on his strong jaw line and his lashes lay like small, gold fans against his cheek. The upturned edge of his well-proportioned mouth was made to fit perfectly against Matty’s own. Beautiful. 

“What time is it?” Rob murmured, his eyes still shut and voice creaking sleepily. 

“Four-thirty. You don’t have to get up yet. I just wanted to look at you before I left.” 

Rob flung an arm out and dragged Matty down against him. Chest hair bristled against Matty’s cheek, and Rob’s warm, sweet-smelling skin felt so good under his hands that he wanted to crawl back in and make a morning of it. He kissed Rob’s chest and collarbones, resting his face against Rob’s neck and taking in slow, deep breaths. The peace and gentleness of Rob’s arms seeped into him. It was a balm against the tough world outside their door—against the demanding voice in Matty’s own head. 

“Stay with me.” 

Matty reluctantly pulled away. “I’ve got ice booked.” 

Rob made a sad little sound but released him. “Missed you last night.” 

Matty’s stomach did a silly little flip. How was it possible that Rob still made him feel so squirmy inside? “You had me in the middle of the night. Remember?” 

“Oh, I remember.” Rob winked. “Don’t get lost in the city today.” 

Matty grinned. 

“But I meant yesterday evening. We barely had time together before we hit the hay.” 

“Then you shouldn’t have stayed out so late playing with your ex-wife,” Matty teased, running his hand through Rob’s hair and down the side of his face to feel the stubble along his knuckles. 

Rob snorted. “We were having so much fun talking finances I just couldn’t bring myself to break away.”

“Money. My favorite.” 

“When it means you get to spend it, sure.” Rob sighed, his mouth hardening a little and tiny stress lines appearing around his eyes. “Which reminds me, I need to talk to Bing about the goats. If we aren’t going to get some kind of payout soon, I may need for him to buy me out of my investment.” 

“No!” Matty squeezed Rob’s shoulder. “We’ll figure something else out.” He had a call in to Julien Alban asking about the possibility of skating some shows with him in Asia at the end of the summer. If he was lucky, he’d be able to bring in somewhere between three to six thousand dollars a show. Not enough to bring them up in the world, but it’d be a nice little bundle to help tide them over. “The goat farm will pay off eventually. We just have to be patient.” 

“You? Patient?” 

Matty punched his arm gently. “I can be extremely patient.” 

“I know you can, sweetheart.” Rob rubbed knuckles over his tired eyes, which didn’t look green so much as gray in the low light. “You’re right. The goats are going to pay off. After all, it was a brilliant idea.” 

“Your idea.” Matty chuckled. 

“Yep. By the way, Anja sends her love.” 

“Did hearts come out of her eyes? You always promised me hearts from her eyes, and I’ve never seen it yet.” 

“They’ll come eventually.” 

“It’s been a hard sell.” 

Rob chuckled again. “Well, you did break my heart. But she’s almost over it.”

“Jeez, it’s only been three years, but okay.” Matty rubbed away the lip gloss trail on Rob’s chest, shoulders, and neck. 

“She’s just overprotective. You know that.” 

“L-oh-L. Understatement. At least she’s nice to me.” 

“She’s coming around. Oh, and she wants to take us out to dinner for our anniversary.” 

Matty swallowed down the objection that rose immediately to his lips. Anja’s idea of a good place for dinner was vastly different from his own. Everywhere Anja liked served plates with ten thousand calories per bite and so much extra fat cooked in that it made his arteries ache just thinking about it. 

“Sounds good,” he murmured, not wanting to get into it with Rob. He trailed his fingers down Rob’s chest, smoothing over his crinkle of chest hair and tracing down to his morning wood. It was hot and hard, and Matty rubbed the backs of his fingers against the rigid, velvety length. 

Rob captured his hand and held it in place. His cock swelled even more under the combined pressure. “She’s thinking next week or the one after. Speaking of, you haven’t tried to trick me into telling you where we’re going on our trip lately.” 

“Are you going to tell me now?” A zip of curiosity almost overpowered the frisson of apprehension about the proposed dinner. Matty pried Rob’s hand free, and then teased the head of Rob’s dick with the tips of his fingers. Wetness welled up at the slit, and Matty felt an answering thrum in his own body. He slid his thumb over the pretty, mushroom head, smearing the drops around. 

Rob’s voice was sandpapery with drowsy desire as he murmured, “No. It’s a surprise.” 

Matty left off teasing and wrapped his fingers around Rob’s dick. He squeezed, eliciting a soft, encouraging noise. It was almost distracting enough to shatter the whirl of awakened anxiety, but not quite. Hopefully Anja’s dinner plans weren’t also a surprise. He needed to be able to plan in advance what he was going to eat. “Where’s Anja planning to take us?” Calorie counts whizzed through his head and he bit down on his inner cheek to try to silence them. 

“She mentioned Otto.” 

You will not have pizza. You’ll have salad. 

“Oh.” 

“You love Otto.” Rob frowned. 

Matty took a slow breath and let it out, smiling and trying to shake off the intrusive thought. “No, it’s fine. You’re right. It’ll be great.” 

You’ll have a salad and, if you’re very good, some of the olives. 

Matty pulled his hand away from Rob’s dick and wiped his fingers on the bed clothes, moving to get up. Rob stopped him with a hand on his leg. 

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Rob offered, squeezing Matty’s thigh and sliding up farther. Matty grabbed hold of Rob’s hand and lifted it, kissing his fingers. 

“It’s fine. I was just thinking about everything I need to do today.” 

“Right.” In the low light, Rob’s eyes went sea-water soft. “Sabrina leaves for Colorado when? Tomorrow?” 

“Yeah.” 

“You going to be okay?” 

Matty shrugged. “I’m always okay.” 

Rob lifted his brows. Tweaking Matty’s tight tank top, he said, “You look hot. Jogging in?”

“No, walking to the station and taking the train the rest of the way.” He leaned down and kissed Rob’s eyebrow, then his other eyebrow, and then his mouth. Pulling away he wrinkled his nose. “Ugh. Morning breath.” 

“You love it.” 

Matty rolled his eyes. Admittedly, if he was going to get back in the bed to stay, it wouldn’t matter that much. As it was, he suddenly had other, very amusing plans. Matty pulled back the sheet to reveal Rob’s treasure trail slipping down to his thatch of pubes and his beautiful, still-hard dick below. 

Rob took it in hand and aimed the fat, rosy head at Matty. “Too bad you have to go. Up for another round?” 

“Can I be the wolf this time?” 

“Sure.” 

Matty licked his lips and bent down, kissing the head and taking it into his mouth, letting Rob’s slowly jacking fist bang softly against his lips as he suckled. 

“Mmm, take control, sweetheart,” Rob murmured. 

Matty grinned. “Okay. Roll over.” 

“Hmm?” 

“Just roll over for me.” 

Rob complied, casting a saucy look over his shoulder, and Matty knelt between his slightly spread thighs. “Well?” Rob asked, rolling his hips against the bed, making his ass flex beautifully under Matty’s kneading fingers. 

“Shh. I’m enjoying myself. And plotting dirty, naughty things for your hot ass.” 

“Plot faster.” Rob lifted his hips, offering his hole. “It’s been a long time. Going to fuck me?”

Matty snorted as he ran his finger down Rob’s crack, sliding in the moist heat until he reached the soft, crinkled skin of his asshole. He pressed against it gently. “Don’t get your hopes up.” Matty glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “I’ve got to leave in exactly seven minutes if I’m going to get to the train on time.” 

Rob chuckled and relaxed against his pillow, spreading his legs even farther. “Oh well, if you’re just having a free look at the goods, I’m going back to sleep.” He closed his eyes and went limp. 

Matty slapped his ass. “You’ve only got a few minutes before your alarm now anyway.” 

“Mm-mm. We’re having employee training this afternoon. I get to sleep in.” 

Matty rubbed Rob’s asshole, feeling the muscle relax under his fingers. “Lucky bastard. I never get to sleep in.” 

Rob grinned, his smile wide and shining even in profile. “So are you going to do anything with this seven minutes? Or is this hole teasing all I get?” Matty slapped his rear again, and Rob laughed. “Ow! I’m not the one into being hit, sweetheart. So if you’re trying to turn me—oh!” 

Matty spread Rob’s ass cheeks wide and dove down, licking wetly over his asshole. Rob groaned and pushed back for more. He smelled a little musky, but otherwise he was still clean from his shower before bed. Matty nuzzled the peach-fuzz of hair on his ass cheeks, licking his hole sweetly. When Rob reached back to hold him in place, he went to work really eating him out. Teeth, tongue, suction. 

Deep, wondrous grunts and growls of encouragement drove Matty on harder and faster. His own cock demanded attention. He didn’t touch it, though, or do more than concentrate on making Rob’s universe shrink down to the tongue in his asshole—until the clock said he had two minutes to get out of the apartment.

Slapping Rob’s ass one last time and wiping a hand over his face, Matty climbed off the bed and adjusted himself. 

“No,” Rob moaned. “Come back. What the hell was that?” 

“It’s a new game I made up. It’s called—” Matty darted into the bathroom again, calling over his shoulder, “Good morning, starfish, my tongue says hello!” 

He brushed his teeth quickly, washed his face and mouth with his creamy cleanser, and swiped the moisturizer and makeup bag from the counter. He’d re-apply on the train or at the rink. 

Rob had rolled to his back when Matty returned to the bedroom, his dick hard and his chest heaving as he moved his hand over his erection. His eyes burned hot as he gritted out, “You’re not going to stay and see this through?” 

Matty chuckled. “Sorry. Gotta get the train. I have faith in you. You can handle it.” 

Rob’s hand worked faster over his dick, the head popping through his fist over and over. “Jerk. Tease,” he gasped. “Should never have plowed your drive in Montana.” 

“Oh, sexual innuendo. My favorite.” Matty laughed. 

“Brat.” 

“You know it.” Matty opened the closet, which housed most of his shoes. He pulled out the pink and black Mr. Hare summer sandals he’d picked up on eBay for beyond super cheap and bent to put them on. “You must love brats.” 

“Well, I love you, yeah,” Rob said, moving his hand up and down his cock, his voice gritty with desire. “So it stands to reason that—God, bend over again.”

“No time. Sorry.” He grabbed his pink tee, pulling it on over his tank top and picked up his duffel packed with his skates, a black thermal shirt, and leggings. He jammed his makeup bag into it. “I’ll make it up to you later.” 

“Hey!” Rob said as Matty leaned in and kissed his mouth quickly. “Just—give me…” Rob made a half grab at Matty’s legs with his free hand, his fingers brushing against the hairs and sending a thrill up Matty’s back. 

Darting away from the bed so he couldn’t be dragged down again, Matty winked. “Oh, no! Too slow, amigo!” 

“Goddamn it.” 

Matty blew him a kiss. “I love you! Bye!” 

Matty rushed through the kitchen, and in an instant decided not to grab the bagged lunch Rob had made for him the night before. 

You were in a hurry. You forgot. 

Matty heard Rob’s groan of completion just as he shut the door, and the familiar, sensual sound hit him so hard that he almost headed back inside to lick up whatever mess Rob had made, and then mess him up again with his own jizz. But he girded himself against the temptation by taking another deep breath, in and out—slow and purposeful—and marched out into the already active, pre-dawn city, a gold medalist in his own mind ready for some rare alone time on the ice.




Author Bio:
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.


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Saturday, December 12, 2020

Saturday's Series Spotlight: Home for the Holidays by Leta Blake



Mr. Frosty Pants #1
Summary:
Can true love warm his frozen heart?

When Casey Stevens went away to college four years ago, he ghosted on his straight best friend, Joel Vreeland. He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool faΓ§ade again.

Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog—and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling—Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw.

Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart? Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and steamy mm first times.


Mr. Naughty List #2
Summary:
A cute teacher gets a spanking this Christmas. How hot can it get being on his former student’s Naughty List?

Is Aaron allowed to want a hot holiday fling with his young former student? Even more forbidden, is he allowed to want this student to spank him?

It’s another Christmas, and Aaron is still in the closet as a gay man and a natural submissive. With one youthful indiscretion blacking his ethics record, he can’t afford to indulge his desires no matter how pent up and needy that leaves him.

Until his former student comes home for the holidays.

Dominant and charming, RJ knows what Aaron needs—intense, steamy encounters and a firm hand. As Christmas nears, RJ helps Aaron unlock his true self. But family and fallout await, and all good things must end.

Or can their hot holiday affair turn them into lasting lovers?

Mr. Naughty List is a steamy, Christmas MM romance set in the Home for the Holidays series that began with Mr. Frosty Pants, but can be read as a standalone. Featuring light D/s, spanking, an older sub with a younger Dom, former student/teacher dynamics, and, of course, warm, sweet holiday feels complete with a strong happy ending.


Home for the Holidays
Summary:
The first two books in the Home for the Holidays series at a discounted bundle price!

MR FROSTY PANTS
Frosty former friends get a steamy second chance in this Christmas gay romance!

MR NAUGHTY LIST
A cute teacher gets a spanking this Christmas. How hot can it get being on his former student’s Naughty List?



Mr. Frosty Pants #1
Chapter One
If Casey Stevens ignored the gaudy multicolored Christmas lights strewn through the bushes and trees—and the massive air-blown, glowing Santa popping in and out of a big, green box in the front yard—his old house looked the same as it had before they moved out. Although his dad would suck his teeth in disapproval if he saw how the new owners had decorated for the holidays. 

All Casey’s life, Jonathan Stevens had insisted on keeping Christmas “classy”: single, white electric candles in each window, expensive greenery on the window sills, and a big wreath on the front door. To Casey’s dad, strings of lights all over the house were the epitome of tackiness, and colored ones? Well, they were downright trashy. 

Casey slowed his Lexus RX—last year’s Christmas present from his parents—as he passed his old home. Nostalgia dug its nails into him with a bittersweet grip. His folks had moved out of the upwardly mobile Manor Crest neighborhood and into the uber-uppercrust Pearlwood community the autumn after he’d left for NYU. This was his first visit to Knoxville in almost four years, and his folks’ new neighborhood seemed nice enough, full of shimmering near-palaces, but it didn’t satisfy him or feel like home. Not the way the old Manor Crest house did.

In the new house, Casey didn’t have his own bedroom anymore. Instead, he had a generic, perfectly appointed guest room to crash in, complete with cream walls, cream bedspread, and cream carpet. Impersonal and threatening in its purity, it was nothing at all like the messy room in the Manor Crest house where he’d kicked back to watch YouTube videos of cats climbing into boxes and squirrels raiding bird feeders. The place where he’d first jerked off, fretted about the fact that it’d been to thoughts of Joel, and coped with the angst of falling in love for the first (and only) time. 

Leaving his former house behind, Casey drove over the next hill, his eyes gobbling up the old, familiar sights. These were the streets he’d biked on as a kid, the houses he’d passed every day on the way to the bus stop, and the neighbors he’d ultimately lost track of. 

He noticed Mrs. Weinstein had put her menorah in the window like she did every year. And Mr. Maples had put out his giant, glowing Nativity scene again. The same one Casey and Joel had stolen the baby Jesus from during their senior year. They’d hidden it in Joel’s garage for a night or two and then brought it back to Mr. Maples’s yard on Christmas Eve wrapped in a big, red bow. 

Casey’s stomach fluttered remembering the way Joel had laughed as they’d run off into the cover of night, leaving the glowing baby Jesus behind where he belonged. Joel’s slanted smile had glinted like a knife in the darkness. 

Joel.

Casey stopped the car and gazed longer at Mr. Maples’s nearly life-size Nativity scene. The shining Mary was pretty with her long, brown, painted-on hair and blue painted-on dress. Her rosy, holy lips were open in astonished joy as she gazed down at the child in the manger. 

Casey’s cheeks heated. Those were the lips he’d stupidly kissed “for practice” on Joel’s dare the night they’d stolen the Christ child. Joel had knelt solemnly by the manger, his pale skin glowing and dark hair messy, clutching the baby Jesus in his arms as he’d watched Casey’s clumsy attempt with hot eyes. Casey would never forget how his adorably asymmetrical face had lost all its usual crabby irritation. 

A shiver shot up Casey’s spine like it always did whenever he thought of that night: the clarity of feeling in Joel’s shining gaze. He’d looked holy too—holier than Mary even—lit from below by the glowing, empty manger. 

In that moment, Casey had almost let himself think… 

Yes, for a second he’d really believed it was possible that his own tender feelings were returned. There’d been something so undeniable in Joel’s eyes, something he’d never seen there before and never let himself look for again. 

God, Joel’s eyes. 

During an elective poetry class at NYU, he’d tried to describe them once. The best he’d come up with was a sad metaphor describing Joel’s eyes as akin to muddy water—dark, reflective but clear.

Obviously that poem never saw the light of day. He was better at ad copy than whimsical explorations of feelings and fanciful descriptions of nature. Poetry class had turned out like life in general for Casey: an exercise in pretending to show everything while actually showing as little as possible. 

Which was why he was getting a degree in marketing. He could shine up shit like no one else. Maybe it was because when it came to ad copy, design, and branding assignments, he actually wanted to draw people in. In day-to-day life, he’d learned long ago that to “keep up appearances,” he had to hold people at arm’s length. 

Ann, his therapist in New York, said he was a master at presenting a smooth, likable faΓ§ade instead of showing his raw humanity. And he agreed. There was a reason for that, after all. He’d been brought up in a household that prioritized image over reality, and it wasn’t like anyone was clamoring to know his personal shit anyway—not his parents, not his acquaintances at NYU, and hardly any of the guys he’d dated. 

Even coming out hadn’t changed how alone he felt. There was something holding him back, keeping him from connecting. Something he was bound and determined to change because that was another issue he was working on with Ann: Coming to terms with the fact that at twenty-two, he no longer had anyone to blame but himself for his disconnected loneliness.

The fact was, there’d only ever been one person he’d ever been tempted to be entirely authentic with, even if he died from the humiliation of it. But he’d chickened out and pushed Joel away with both hands. 

Putting the car back in gear, he eased past Mr. Maples’s Nativity scene and then past Mrs. Westfield’s gold-bow-and-holly-encrusted house—keeping it classy too, he guessed. Snowflakes drifted in hazy circles, flecking his windshield. Not enough to turn on his wipers and definitely not enough to stick. 

Just the usual Tennessee tease. 

He winced, thinking of his ex-boyfriend Theo packing up the small box of things he’d kept at Casey’s apartment. “Being with you is just a tease of the real thing, babe. You don’t love me. You act like you do, but you don’t.” Theo had run his hand through the fuzzy black curls on top of his head, sighing in frustration. “To be fair, I don’t love you either. We both deserve someone who wants more than ‘this doesn’t suck.’” He’d smiled sympathetically, his white teeth shining starkly against his dark complexion. “We deserve someone we’re crazy about.” 

He’d had a point. Casey hadn’t even cried when Theo left for good, and he supposed that said something. 

No, it said everything. 

It’d been six months since Theo put a definitive end to their year-long, off-and-on relationship. Casey didn’t really miss him so much as he missed knowing there was someone he could rely on to hang out with every weekend. Someone that meant Friday and Saturday nights were handled. Someone he enjoyed sexually and liked as a person, even if he wasn’t in love. In a city as big and bustling as New York, the appearance of intimacy was something. It beat being alone. 

At this point in his senior year, he was ready to agree with Ann that his parents had done him a disservice in getting him an apartment instead of letting him live in the dorms. He’d at least have gotten to know more people in a communal situation. Probably. But Jonathan Stevens wouldn’t have it. Not when he could afford “better.” Not for his son. 

But now, months after his and Theo’s breakup, Casey’s ridiculously expensive one-bedroom apartment, just a few blocks from busy Washington Square, felt so lonely that, despite Ann’s warnings that he might regret it, he’d been eager to accept his mom and dad’s invitation to come home for Christmas break. Spending time with his family, putting up the tree, catching up with old acquaintances, and being back home in Knoxville again? It seemed like it would be a great change from the isolation of his life at college. 

Until yesterday when he’d actually arrived after a tedious, twelve-hour car ride—something he’d rebelliously insisted on rather than accept his father’s offer to foot a ridiculously expensive, last-minute plane ticket—and discovered his parents’ new house wasn’t home at all. 

God, he knew he shouldn’t complain. So many people struggled and did without, and he was lucky as hell his parents had money. It was his own fault he was lonely. Maybe he was just broken inside. Maybe he was just wrong, and all the therapy in the world wouldn’t fix him.

Maybe Joel was far better off without him. 

Breathing against the ache in his chest, Casey braked by the stop sign where he’d shivered on cold mornings waiting for the school bus. He’d waited there with Joel, of course. 

He sighed and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. He was set to graduate from NYU in May. It’d been almost four years since he’d said goodbye to Joel. And yet he still couldn’t move on with his life. They’d never even been together! Joel had dated girls for fuck’s sake. Whatever Casey felt, it was his own burden to bear, and it was ludicrous. 

Ann said he needed to either let the past go or confront it head on. When he’d told her he was taking up his parents on their invite, she’d replied, “If you insist on returning to the scene of the crime, now’s as good a time as any to be more transparent with the people in your life, Casey. Consider it.” He’d known she was talking about his folks, but when he considered being transparent with anyone, the only person he could think about was Joel. 

He rounded the corner and entered Belmont Hills, the neighborhood behind Manor Crest, built twenty years before it. The houses there were smaller and more rundown, and the neighborhood amenities existed in a state of disrepair. The playground and tennis courts were overrun with weeds and punctuated with litter. The swing set had no swings to speak of, and the pool was roped off with yellow caution tape. Not much different than when Casey had last driven through four years ago.

He took a deep breath as he turned onto Elder Lane and passed a multicolored blizzard of over-the-top Christmas joy hosted by the house on the corner. He was almost there. Icicle lights dripped from the rooflines of the ranch style home next to Joel’s dad’s place. 

One more driveway to go… 

Casey pulled in front of the split-level house in need of a paint job. He gripped the wheel and swallowed hard, biting down on the inside of his cheek. 

The garage door was open, exposing the place where Casey used to sit on the cold, hard concrete floor to watch Joel practice his bass guitar. But now the interior was packed with children’s toys: tricycles, bikes, balls, and scooters galore, as well as a big, pink toy kitchenette and a chalkboard. Holy shit, did Joel have kids? His heart clenched hard. 

But then two lanky teenagers, a blond girl and boy, came bursting through the front door with unopened boxes of Christmas lights tucked under their arms and pouty expressions on their faces. A flustered woman followed with a stepladder, pointing at the porch roof and directing them with swooping motions of her arms. 

After a few moments, she turned to stare curiously at Casey’s car lingering by the curb. When a man came out to join them, he kissed the woman, and she motioned at Casey. His heart lurched, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat, easing his foot off the brake. 

It was clear. Joel didn’t live here anymore.

It’d been foolish to think he would still be in his father’s old house. Why would he be? It’d been nearly four years, and he was a grown man now. He’d probably gotten married or at least moved into a place of his own. But deep down, Casey had always assumed Charlie Vreeland, Joel’s dad, would still live in the house, that he’d be there forever as a tether to the days when Joel and Casey had hopped the fence between their backyards, violating their fathers’ common belief that Manor Crest boys and Belmont Hills boys shouldn’t play together. 

Wiping at his face, annoyed by the sting of unwanted, stupid tears, Casey headed toward the corner of Belview Drive. There was just one more thing he wanted to see before he drove back to his parents’ house. He hoped it was still there. It had to be. It was the one thing in the world that had been theirs alone. 

The bench. 

But as he approached what used to be the empty lot he and Joel had claimed, his stomach dropped. Someone had cleared the trees to make way for a new house going up. And, from what he could see, the wood-and-iron bench—their bench—on the formerly wooded lot was gone. His breath caught. The bench where they’d hung out to smoke Joel’s stolen cigarettes. The bench Joel had only ever shared with him. Their secret. Gone. 

He’d never again sit on the garage floor and watch Joel play bass. 

He’d never again sit beside him on their bench, as they smoked cigarettes and eyed each other.

He’d never again crawl through Joel’s window after his dad had gone to sleep and huddle with him in his twin-size bed listening to a Gaslight Anthem album and aching all over with unexpressed feelings. 

Never ever. It was done. Over. 

Gone. 

Minutes passed. He straightened up and wiped again at his traitorous eyes. The snow came down harder, threatening to stick. He flipped on the radio, his chest tight and throat aching. 

If he could change the past, he would. He’d do everything differently. Maybe Joel wouldn’t have ever cared for him that way, but Casey could at least have had Joel in his life as a friend. And that would have been something, wouldn’t it? Better than the big, fat nothing he had now. 

Leaving Belmont Hills and heading back toward his folks’ new place, he turned up the radio. A barrage of Christmas songs washed over him—bells and harps, familiar choruses and verses—but none of them touched him. He carefully stuffed his memories of Joel back into the box he’d built for them in his heart. But they didn’t seem to fit inside anymore. They poked out with sharp, rough edges. 

As Casey crested the hill leading to his parents’ new house, he gazed at the hazy Smoky Mountains in the distance. He was “home” for the holidays. But he hadn’t been prepared for how much it hurt.


Mr. Naughty List #2
Chapter One
Freshly scrubbed and eager, Aaron fairly skipped by the glittering storefronts in Market Square. Knoxville was all done up for Christmas with lights and ribbons and wreaths, and he hummed along to “Jingle Bell Rock” as he passed the outdoor ice rink on his way to the cozy, familiar pub where he usually met his hookups. 

He paid Scruffy City Hall’s leather-clad bouncer the $10 cover charge for the night’s band and headed inside to find the dim, wood-lined interior already packed with people. Needing a drink sooner rather than later, Aaron forced his way through the crowd and up to the bar to put in his order with the hipster, bearded bartender and was gratified by a glorious whisky sour within mere moments. 

An unfamiliar and yet very Christmas-y song rang around him, emanating from the next room. Visible through an arched doorway, the small, crowded stage flashed with spangled lights from a disco ball. 

The holiday spirit was evidently rampant amongst the patrons, a mix of college students and single thirty-somethings, dancing and singing along to the catchy, Christmas-themed chorus. Silver, gold, and red decorations hung from the pub’s ceiling, adding a sparkle and shine that lifted the room out of mediocrity and into joy. Aaron’s spirits rose even higher.

Gazing around, hoping not to see any familiar faces and pleased to find nary a one, Aaron moved into the room where the band responsible for the jangling array of Christmas tunes amped up the excitement of the drunk and adoring crowd. 

Dodging elbows and squeezing between dancers, Aaron sought out a place where he could watch, listen, and drink. The rock-n-roll carols vibrated his bones, a cheering, holiday-infused hum that made his eardrums ache, but Aaron didn’t plan to be here long enough to worry about his hearing. Fingers crossed, anyway. 

He’d already been blown off once that evening by a potential hookup. In his desperation to secure an end to his current spell of celibacy, he’d been less choosy than usual in arranging this one. Aside from a photo of a handsome, if rather cruel-looking face, to identify the guy by, Aaron only knew his screenname—CaptainKY—and wasn’t even sure if that referred to the state or the lube. 

Aaron had resisted the lure of hookup apps for almost six months. He’d been proud of himself for making good use of the Internet and his right hand to satisfy his needs instead of requiring the sexual services of a stranger. Not that he wanted to be celibate. It was just that it was so damn hard to find no-strings-attached fucks in a town the size of Knoxville. Not as a teacher trying to keep his sexuality quiet. 

The last thing Aaron needed was to find himself face-to-face with a student’s closeted dad on parent-teacher night, or discover he’d screwed the older brother of one of his current students, or to trip and fall into some other horrible situation that could cost him his already tattered reputation and maybe his job.

Thus, his usual preference was to pick up men passing through town: business travelers for the most part, though truckers would do just fine if he was looking for a certain expΓ©rience spΓ©cifique. That’d been the plan tonight, actually. A tough-looking man who’d been trucking through town had offered to meet him for drinks and a long, slow blow job, followed by a nice, hard spanking. But the trucker had backed out at the last minute for an unspecified reason. 

Which, okay. Fine. Whatever. 

Aaron sometimes backed out of hookups too. It happened—second thoughts, or some protective instinct warned him against a particular rendezvous, so he flaked. But he’d needed it tonight. He’d been aching for it for weeks now. So, no sooner than the trucker had ditched him, Aaron had been back on the apps, scrolling for a new catch. 

And he’d found one. 

Cruel face. Baseball cap. In town for a monster truck show. 

Aaron could totally not relate to that interest, but all the better. It was so much less likely they’d have to spend a lot of time talking. Instead, he’d test CaptainKY out here at the club, make sure he felt safe with him, and then go back to the hotel where the guy was staying. Probably not the Hotel Oliver, since that was a bit posh for the stereotypical monster truck fan, but maybe the new business-class Marriott, which was right around the corner from his apartment. Aaron wouldn’t even be tempted to spend the night.

Sipping his cocktail, he meandered closer to the stage, attracted by the glow of the fake stained-glass windows on the balcony above the room and the optical illusion of the castle-like hall behind the stage itself. The sound was tight, and the performers were dressed up in Christmas glitz—reindeer antlers, wristbands made of tinsel, and the girls wore shimmery hair and makeup. Entertainment, Knoxville style. 

Aaron was meeting CaptainKY between nine and nine-thirty, but he’d been too anxious and horny to wait at home, so he’d come out a little early. He figured a drink in advance would soothe his jitters and make him looser all over. For whatever happened in the hotel. God, he hoped the guy was hung. He needed a cock in his ass more than he needed air. 

Aaron drowned that desperate thought with another mouthful of whiskey. Fixing his attention on the band, he noted that it was made up of two girls and two guys: a glittering, probably Korean woman on drums, a pixie-looking lady with blue hair seated at a decorated, stand-up piano, and two fine, wiry pieces of man-flesh on bass and guitar. Both of the guys weren’t too precious to play up the Christmas theme either. One wore jingle-bells on reindeer antlers, and the other had tinsel bracelets and necklaces shimmering with every move. 

Aaron’s gaze hung on the lead-singer-slash-guitarist. Beneath the reindeer antlers, the man wore his light brown hair shorn close to his scalp, and he possessed an easy sexuality that made Aaron’s nipples tingle and his overeager cock rush hot with blood.

Aaron rolled his eyes at his own horniness, annoyed to be like a raw nerve, needy and twinging with every semi-arousing stimulus in sight. Like this tall, handsome singer with his beautiful, angular body. Damn. Nothing semi-arousing about him. More like a total hard-on. 

Finally finding an empty corner to lurk in while he waited for CaptainKY to arrive, Aaron stared at the stage, chewing his bottom lip and nearly drooling over the lead’s muscled arms and attractive hands. It was like a poem, the way the tendons of his forearms moved with each chord change. Aaron’s skin felt alive just watching. 

As minutes passed and Aaron slowly sipped his whiskey sour, letting the alcohol relax his high-strung nerves, he admired the singer’s strong jawline and the wiry ligaments of his neck as he sang Christmas songs both strange and familiar. His voice was a scratchy baritone that sent shivers down Aaron’s spine. 

Aaron licked his lips again, spinning out a fantasy where he got this man on a bed somewhere, straddled his long legs, and unwrapped the nice package showcased by the tight fit of worn jeans. 

Flushing with want, Aaron fanned himself. He shouldn’t have worn a sports coat. Christ. Given that he’d been horny as hell before he even arrived at the pub, it wasn’t surprising that he was steaming hot in here now, or that his imagination had taken such a dirty turn when faced with a man exactly his rough-looking type. This was the kind of man who clearly knew what to do with his hands—based on the work those fingers were doing on the fretboard, anyway.

Standing there, sporting wood beneath his sports coat, Aaron was unprepared for the effect a certain toss of the lead’s chin would have. That quick move, followed by his piercing gaze raking over the crowd, triggered Aaron’s memory. 

In a flash, he knew him. 

RJ Blitz, former high school senior, sat in back row of Aaron’s very first English Composition class as a teacher. He’d glared at Aaron like he’d wanted to turn him inside out, or beat him up, or do something else that had left Aaron feeling eternally anxious for that whole school year. 

Fuck. 

Even now Aaron battled the fear that a student would guess his sexuality and use it to hurt him—either professionally or physically. He only needed one more strike and he’d be out. Even five years ago, before the mistake and the humiliation, RJ Blitz had been a student Aaron had avoided interacting with. 

RJ had been just as tall and lanky as he was now, but he’d also radiated an intensity that had shaken Aaron to the core. Violence. Attraction. Aaron didn’t know, but he didn’t risk reaching out, even when RJ’s grades had been subpar despite his clear intelligence. 

Once RJ had graduated, not only had Aaron been glad, but he hadn’t ever anticipated seeing him again. Well, maybe on the local news, arrested for God only knew what. Drugs probably. Though, to be fair, that had been a mostly subconscious opinion he’d formed of RJ’s possible future based on the anxiety RJ had always made him feel, the lack of effort he put into his work, and classist biases that Aaron was ashamed even now to admit to. 

He blinked at RJ on the stage, all coiled sexuality and shimmery Christmas-coated lust. How was his former student the total hottie he was hungering for as he owned the small stage at Scruffy City Hall? A student. His student. And here Aaron had been ogling him for nearly thirty minutes. Hard for him even. 

Fuck. 

Based on the friendly smiles shot out to the giddy audience, as well as the affectionate, happy glances sent toward his bandmates, RJ was no longer the furious young man he’d once been. But there was still some underlying something in him that sent a shiver through Aaron’s body, riled him up, and, at least tonight, engaged his lust. 

Maybe it was because on stage, all of RJ’s formerly pent-up, hostile energy was transformed into pure sex. No matter what song he pulled out—a rock version of an old Christmas standard, or a cheesy rendition of “Frosty the Snowman”—sexuality simply rose from him like a glowing aura of hotness. 

Yes, his former student was quite possibly the most delicious thing Aaron had laid eyes on in ages. At least since the last Cocky Boys porn clip he’d jerked off to several days before. 

RJ tossed his head again, and Aaron groaned. Definitely even yummier than porn.

Aaron stayed in his corner, sipping his drink. Watching. In the dark privacy of his mind, he allowed himself to imagine all sorts of dirty things: RJ shoving him against the alley wall behind Scruffy City Hall, RJ’s hand against his neck as he jerked Aaron off, huffing small growls in his ear like the ones he’d just let loose in the middle of an artsy rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” RJ plowing him as Aaron cried with joy. 

He squirmed against the wall and took slow breaths. He wished CaptainKY would arrive already so he could get fucking laid. And he also hoped CaptainKY took his time, so he could watch RJ’s whole set. He didn’t want to miss a single, sexy minute. 

Jiminy Christmas. What was wrong with him? He seriously needed to get fucked tonight. That was the only explanation for the appealing wrongness of wanting a former student—one wearing tinsel on his wrists, jingly reindeer antlers on his head, and a sexy smirk on his face—to fuck him silly. As messed up as it was, there wasn’t much Aaron wouldn’t do to get a chance at RJ Blitz. Just look at him, for God’s sake… 

But Aaron had never been quite that good, or quite that bad. Santa didn’t give out presents like that. At least, not in his experience. 

CaptainKY would just have to do. Now where the fuck was he? 

******

Hopping down from the stage with adrenaline still rushing all wild and jangly, RJ tugged off the reindeer antlers and tinsel bracelets. Tossing them into the small crowd to the sound of a half-dozen girlish squeals, he made his way to the bar. Strange hands clapped his back, guys offering up congratulations, and young women trying to catch his eye to offer up more than congratulations. Unfortunately, girls in general weren’t his type, and he had eyes for only one thing at the moment: a cold beer. 

RJ motioned for the bartender and was rewarded with a frosty, freshly poured mug. He took a deep gulp, closed his eyes, and moaned as the bitter barley taste filled his mouth and slipped down his dry throat. Perfect. 

“Did you hear them?” Madison, the band’s pianist said, appearing at his elbow with the rest of the band just behind her. She grinned up at him with shining blue-green eyes they same color as her hair. “They love us.” 

RJ shrugged. “Hard not to love Christmas music if you’re a fan of the season.” 

Still, he knew just what Madison meant. The crowd had really loved them tonight. They could have played another hour if they’d had the material ready. His entire body thrummed with the kind of giddiness that only performing well in front of a receptive crowd could arouse. It was almost as gratifying as playing stadium tours as a professional guitarist with big-name bands. The roar of the crowds, the lights from the cellphones held up in the air, the screams… It all got his heart pumping like nothing else.

“Well, what now?” Madison asked, leaning against the bar and peering up at him. “Are we all going to party or…?” She shrugged. 

“No partying for me,” Joel, the bassist and RJ’s old friend from high school, cut in. “I have a store to open in the morning.” Joel owned a local home and garden store, and t’was the season for fir trees and poinsettias. He squeezed RJ’s shoulder. “Casey and I are gonna pack up and head home. Want us to grab your stuff too?” 

RJ glanced toward Joel’s boyfriend standing nearby, smiling, blond, and oozing with pride. Casey was RJ’s friend too, and he’d been closer to him over the years than he’d been to Joel, but now that they were a couple, RJ hardly ever saw Casey alone. “That’d be great. Thanks. Let me finish this beer and I’ll come help load out.” 

“You stay here and enjoy your drink,” Joel countered. “Casey and I can take care of loading out. It’s just your guitar and amp. Becca always deals with her drums. How she fits them into the back of that Forester, I’ll never fucking know. It’s magic or something. But, yeah, man. Relax. Have a beer.” 

Casey approached, gripped RJ’s arm, and squeezed warmly. “You don’t have to get up early tomorrow. Unlike us.” He winked. “Have fun tonight. You deserve it.” 

RJ wasn’t sure why, exactly, Casey thought he deserved to get off scot-free from the pain-in-the-ass job of breaking down their equipment and loading it out, but he didn’t argue. He’d gotten used to roadies handling that stuff when he toured with big groups, and it was nice to pretend that he was a big enough act all on his own to not need to bother with it now either.

“Practice on Friday again?” their friend and drummer, Becca, asked, sidling up closer behind Madison and wrapping her arms around her middle. Becca’s long black hair was shimmery with glitter product, and she hadn’t removed her tinsel halo. 

“Yeah. Seven o’clock at Joel’s place.” RJ nodded. 

“Good. ’Cause we need it.” 

Casey scoffed. “From where I sat, you guys already sounded great.” 

Becca laughed and tweaked his chin. “Like you’d know. You always think anything Joel does is amazing.” 

Casey kissed Joel’s cheek and shrugged his agreement. A vague jealousy settled under RJ’s skin. What would it be like to have someone to greet him like that as soon as his feet were off the stage? What would it be like to have someone who looked at him that way? Even Pan, his last boyfriend, had never shone with love like that. 

Then he let it go. Casey and Joel were cute, but they didn’t live the kind of life RJ wanted for himself. Too settled. Too domestic. Too…sweet. If he ever committed to a relationship, he’d want something with more of a bite to it. A sharp, hot spark. 

After final goodbyes and reassurances that Joel and Casey really didn’t mind loading out without him, RJ grabbed another beer and headed out the front door. Scruffy City Hall’s patio faced Market Square proper. Though a few people lingered, chatting with the bouncer, it was mostly empty, folks preferring to be inside on this chilly December night in Tennessee.

RJ wore only jeans, combat boots, and a black T-shirt, and he dropped into a chair at a wrought-iron table, shuddering as the sweat on his skin prickled in the cool breeze. Normally, he’d want a jacket at the very least. But after the heat of the packed interior and the bitter cold of the winter he’d spent in Finland last year, the chilly night air felt good on his sweaty skin. 

Stars popped between folds of darkness, obscured by the lights of the square, and the scent of buttered popcorn drifted over from the outdoor ice rink the city slapped up every year at Christmastime. Squeals and gurgles of laughter spilled out from the walled oval of ice, providing a bittersweet sense of innocence offset by the thrum of dance music coming from inside the pub behind him. 

RJ scrubbed his hand over his closely cropped hair and sighed with pleasure. Kicking his feet up into the chair next to him, he slung back another gulp of beer, then pulled out his phone to open his latest hookup app. There had to be a hard-up hottie in the holiday crowd somewhere, either in the pub itself or in another establishment in Market Square. It was Knoxville, for God’s sake. Home of tons of closeted, horny men. 

As he swiped mindlessly, holiday shoppers went in and out of the Market Square stores. All of the windows were beautifully decorated with greenery, lights, colorful ribbons, bows, and shining stars. RJ had just decided to give up on the app and on getting laid when Scruffy City Hall’s door flung wide and a slender man in his late twenties stalked out with a cell phone pressed against his ear. His shoulders curved against the punch of cold wind, and he shivered hard despite his tweed sports coat. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you,” the man said breathlessly. “Are you running late?” 

RJ’s heart stumbled. The man might have his back to RJ, but RJ would recognize that voice and that hot ass anywhere. Any. Fucking. Where. 

An electric thrill shot up RJ’s spine. 

Sitting up straighter, he dropped his feet to the ground and ran a hand over his hair to smooth it again, before quickly sniffing his pits. Not too ripe. Not too fresh either. Sweaty, like a man should be. 

Yes, a man. 

No longer a boy. It’d been five and a half long years since he’d last seen Mr. Aaron Danvers in person, and RJ most certainly hadn’t been a man back then. 

“Oh.” Mr. Danvers’s head and shoulders dropped. Puffs of condensed breath lifted around him, and he shifted from one foot to the other. Suddenly, he raised a hand and flipped off the sky. Then, totally casually, like he hadn’t just expressed rage to the heavens, he said, “Of course. No problem. I completely understand. Have a good night.” Mr. Danvers ended the call and cursed softly before dropping his phone into his jacket pocket. 

With his back still to RJ, he leaned his weight against another empty patio table, gazing toward the skating rink. Several slow seconds ticked by with music from the rink drifting over to them, Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” along with the giddy yells and bubbling laughter of people too young to know how crap the world could be. Or what it was like to be let down. 

Mr. Danvers loosed a long, frustrated sigh. “Fuck,” he whispered finally. 

“Get stood up, Mr. Danvers?” RJ asked. His insides trembled with fizzy-popping excitement, like someone had slipped Pop Rocks into his beer. But he leaned back in his chair, crossing his boots at the ankle, and tried like hell to look calmer than he felt. 

Mr. Danvers’s shoulders tensed again, and he whipped around. 

RJ caught his breath. God, he’s still perfect. 

Mr. Danvers’s golden-brown hair, highlighted by the white twinkle lights all around Market Square, shifted in the breeze and looked soft to the touch. He’d maintained the compact, twinky build that had made even teenaged RJ feel like a hulking giant next to him. Everything about Mr. Danvers’s lithe body had always been arousing—his long neck, his delicately tapered fingers, and especially his juicy ass, which was currently encased in sexy, fitted trousers that hung perfectly to show off its shape. 

Fuck. 

RJ had often fantasized about biting into that bouncy flesh. Of course, he’d never had the pleasure. After all, Mr. Danvers had been his teacher. Off-limits and out of bounds. Not to mention completely oblivious to the desperate crush suffered by the gangly, acne-faced, long-haired, queer kid in the back of the sixth-period Senior English Composition classroom.

A surge of confidence lifted RJ’s chin. His face had cleared up since then, and he’d cut his long, greasy hair years ago. He was an attractive, grown ass man now. He’d traveled the world, for fuck’s sake, and screwed a lot of dudes. He wasn’t the awkward kid he used to be. As Mr. Danvers stared at him in surprise, and with a hint of confusion in his furrowed brow, RJ tried to put all that hard-earned adult experience into his expression. 

Because, while there had never been any confirmation, or even any real rumors around school about Mr. Danvers, RJ had killer gaydar. And Mr. Danvers was as gay as a rainbow flag busting out its best colors over the Pride Parade. 

He just knew it. 

Mr. Danvers stared at him for a long, awful moment, and RJ’s bravado wore terrifyingly thin—had Mr. Danvers forgotten him?—before a smile of recognition broke across Mr. Danvers’s fine-featured face. “RJ Blitz? Is that you?” His adorable dimples grew deeper. “I didn’t recognize you up on the stage.” 

RJ cocked a brow. 

Weird. RJ wasn’t sure why Mr. Danvers had lied, but he knew bullshit when he heard it. Maybe Mr. Danvers hadn’t recognized RJ for a moment in the dark of the patio outside the bar when he’d first turned around, but he’d damn well known who he was on stage. Small inflections of Mr. Danvers’ voice and a sudden strain in his eyes had given that much away. 

Curiosity about Mr. Danvers’s lie bit into him, like the way he wanted to bite into Mr. Danvers’ butt. What had prompted such a denial? Surely it couldn’t be…

There was no way… 

Right? 

And yet, in an instant, he knew. Mr. Danvers had found him attractive. Mr. Danvers thought he was hot. Mr. Danvers…yes. 

A plan formed. 

First, he’d get Mr. Danvers to chat with him right here and now. Then he’d convince him to get a drink and talk longer. And then, the coupe de grace, he’d seduce the man. Though he’d start with just the drink. Thinking too much about anything more would cause him to explode like a cheap amp plugged into an overcharged circuit. But, with any luck, he’d find out just how tender Mr. Danvers’s ass truly was tonight. 

“Did you enjoy the show?” RJ asked, taking another slow pull of beer, pleased his hand didn’t shake. 

“Of course!” Mr. Danvers’s dimples blessed RJ again. “You guys were great. You are RJ, right? I didn’t misremember, did I?” Mr. Danvers shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. It was that familiar, smug, teacher-stance that used to make RJ want to bend Mr. Danvers over his wide, messy desk, and spank the man until he didn’t act so distant and adult. 

After all, Mr. Danvers was only four or five years older than RJ. That small age gap had been a thorn in RJ’s side back then, keeping him from even hoping he could have what he wanted, and he wasn’t going to let Mr. Danvers act like he was that much older than him now, either.

Offering what he hoped was a winning grin, RJ lifted his beer in a salute. “Yeah, that’s me. RJ Blitz.” 

“Sixth period. Senior English Comp. My first year teaching,” Mr. Danvers said with a smile. He rocked back on his heels again. His hair ruffled in the breeze, and the music from the ice-skating rink swelled with a new song: Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again.” Weird that it wasn’t a Christmas tune. “Sorry if I wasn’t that great of a teacher back then,” Mr. Danvers said with a shrug. “I was still getting my feet beneath me. That year feels like forever ago.” 

Perfect. 

They were agreed then that there was no need for any student-teacher deference. Maybe this seduction would be easier than RJ had anticipated. 

“For me too.” RJ kicked the chair beside him out from the table. The heavy wrought iron slid across the patio concrete with a screech that momentarily blocked out Dolly’s sweet voice from the rink and the bouncing dance music from within the pub. “Have a seat.” 

Mr. Danvers stared at the chair for a long minute, a small furrow digging in between his delicate eyebrows—did he tweeze them to be so perfect?—until his expression broke into a smile again. “Sure, what the hell? Why not?” 

“I mean, unless you have something else going on tonight,” RJ said, with a knowing wink. 

Mr. Danvers rolled his eyes and gestured toward the phone in his pocket. “Apparently, I don’t. And I’m not ready to go home just yet. I’d love to catch up with a former student.” He gave RJ an almost flirty glance. Or was that wishful thinking on RJ’s part? “Let me just grab a drink to keep warm.” Mr. Danvers nodded toward the bar inside. “Want another beer while I’m at it? On me?” 

“Sure.” 

Mr. Danvers’s smile grew deeper, again revealing the dimples RJ had mooned over from his desk in the back row. “Your ID?” 

“Seriously?” 

Mr. Danvers shrugged. 

“C’mon. You know I’m old enough.” 

Mr. Danvers swallowed and flushed. “You look plenty young.” 

“Like you’re one to talk.” RJ pitched his voice back, making it flirty as fuck, testing the waters. “I mean, get real, baby-face. Do you even shave?” 

Mr. Danvers laughed but didn’t relent. RJ narrowed his eyes at him and thought back to the torture of having to watch Mr. Danvers teach every day, fighting off increasingly ferocious hard-ons. Back then, Mr. Danvers had looked like an uptight, arrogant, baby-faced dream, and the intervening years hadn’t aged or changed him much at all. Soft-looking cheeks, supple lips… 

God, RJ still wanted to fuck him blind. 
“It’s been five and a half years,” RJ said, lifting his chin and gazing at Mr. Danvers with determination. “I was nineteen when I graduated. Do the math.” 

Mr. Danvers put out his hand with his beautiful, pale fingers outstretched toward RJ. “ID.”

This time he used his teacher voice, and RJ wanted to just grab him and kiss the smug look off his stupid, gorgeous face. Instead he grumbled in annoyance as he dug his wallet out of his back pocket to produce his driver’s license. 

Mr. Danvers plucked it from his hand to examine it with a raised brow. 

“See? Twenty-four years old. I’m really damn legal.” 

Mr. Danvers darted a quick, startled glance at RJ. The potential double-entendre of his words gripped RJ like a hand around his balls, as Mr. Danvers’s eyes darted down to RJ’s mouth and back up again. RJ’s heart thudded with terrifying pride. 

Yes, Mr. Danvers, I saw that. 

He’d made his prissy, hot teacher think about kissing him. Probably fucking him, too. 

RJ smirked to cover his glee, and when he took the ID back from Mr. Danvers, he was glad his hands weren’t sweaty because their fingers brushed. 

“I’ll be right back,” Mr. Danvers said, his voice a little husky. “You want anything stronger than another beer?” 

“Nah, good old YeeHaw will do.” 

“Great.” He nodded at RJ’s sleeveless arms currently free of tats. Hashtag goals for the upcoming years. “Need your coat from inside? I can grab it.”

RJ had left his coat in the band’s van and, from a quick glance over his shoulder back inside the pub, it looked like Casey and Joel were long gone. Becca and Madison were still dancing, though. He could see Madison’s blue hair bouncing in the crowd. 

“I’m good. Thanks.” He put his chin up again, determined to stay cool. “This so-called ‘winter’ has nothing on Finland mid-January. Now that’s cold as tits.” 

Mr. Danvers snorted. “Surely I taught you how to use descriptive language well enough that you don’t need to resort to crudeness.” 

RJ laughed. “Fuck yeah, you did.” 

Mr. Danvers rolled his eyes. “I don’t remember you being such a brat.” 

RJ shrugged. “I’m surprised you remember me at all. I was quiet back then.” 

“Sure. If you call that whole angry, goth-punk vibe you had going ‘quiet.’” Mr. Danvers grinned again, dimples digging into his cheeks. “I’ll be right back with drinks. I want to hear about what you were doing in cold-as-tits Finland in the middle of January.” 

The familiar sounds of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” rang out from the sound system in the bar as Mr. Danvers swung the door open to go back inside. The crowd was still in a jovial mood. Gazing in through the wide, front windows, RJ saw Becca had joined in with the folks who were singing along, dancing, and swaying with raised glasses or beer bottles. 

The buzz off the crowd was hot enough to intensify RJ’s already strong headrush. Patience was never his strong suit, and he tapped his foot to the beat, eager for Mr. Danvers to be back even as the door closed against him and the music. RJ hummed the cheesy melody under his breath while fingering the chords on his beer bottle. He couldn’t believe he was talking, flirting even, with Mr. Danvers. 

What kind of holiday fever dream was he in? The best kind. 

He grinned, remembering the last time he’d dropped acid. He’d been in Rome, and he’d promised himself he’d never do that shit again. Not after the entire world had breathed in and out like a big lung, expanding and contracting around him. Not after flowers had told him secrets that, even now, he was afraid to repeat. And definitely not after he’d nearly fallen into a chasm made by his own mind. Real or not, it was all too terrifying. 

But here he was, mostly sober, sitting in downtown Knoxville positively tripping balls because he was talking to his high school crush. RJ didn’t know if he was scared or excited. Mostly both. He rubbed a hand over his short hair again. A cold wind blew across the square. RJ shivered hard. 

Even letting his mind toy with the idea of touching the man he’d obsessed over, ached for, and lusted after was nearly too much for him. He’d wanted Mr. Danvers since he was a teen. He couldn’t stand to blow it. 

Blow it. Ha. 

He was going to seduce the pants off Mr. Danvers’s intoxicating ass tonight, and finally get the kind of Christmas homecoming he’d always wanted but never thought he deserved.

Author Bio:
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.


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EMAIL: leta.blake.author@gmail.com



Mr. Frosty Pants #1

Mr. Naughty List #2
Home for the Holiday Collection

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