Piper Vaughn Asylum(1)

Johnny Cairo is known as the Scaremaster. He works for
Fear Asylum, his father’s traveling haunted house, and
makes his living terrifying people. But Johnny has never
frightened easily himself. That is, until he wakes up in the
middle of the night and finds his best friend’s younger
brother in his bed. Naked.

Johnny’s fought against his attraction to Brennan for years,
worried that giving in to it will lead to losing the friendship
he shares with Brennan’s older brother, Eddie. As much as
he fights it, though, the lure of having Brennan in his bed
proves too hard to resist. They start an affair that’s
supposed to be no-strings-attached, but Johnny’s
persistent denial of the growing feelings between them
leads to a rift that might not be mendable. Then an
accident at Fear Asylum nearly costs Johnny the one thing
he holds dear, and he learns that while his nickname might
be the Scaremaster, he knows next to nothing about real
fear.

Published by Piping Hot Books

This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, and incidents
are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond
the intent of the author.

Asylum © 2013 Piper Vaughn

All rights reserved worldwide. The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is
illegal. No part of this book may be reproduced or
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Help support authors by purchasing only authorized
copies.

Cover Design © 2013 L.C. Chase

http://www.lcchase.com

Edited by Samantha M. Derr

http://smderr.blogspot.com

Content Warning: This work is classified as a gay (M/M)
romance. It contains graphic language and sexual content
between two adult men. Not intended for anyone under
the age of 18.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to all my beta readers, my editor, Sam, and my

cover artist, L.C., for putting together a cover I’m

extremely proud to have represent my book.

Dedication

For Terry Milien, whose awesomeness knows no bounds.

ASYLUM

Piper Vaughn

Chapter One

It was raining the first night it happened. The

steady gush of water from the gutters had almost lulled
him to sleep when something jostled onto the mattress
next to him and he felt the warmth of a body against his
back. Soft lips brushed the shell of his ear. “Johnny?”

“Hmm?” Johnny stirred drowsily, his brow

furrowed in confusion. The next second, he recognized the
voice and his eyes snapped open wide. “Brennan?” He
shifted onto his back to try to get a look at the person lying
in bed next to him. In the faint glow coming from the
muted television across the room, he could just make out
Brennan’s features. Wide amber eyes, pert nose, lush
mouth. “What the hell are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Brennan pressed close to his

side, one of his hands slipping under the blankets. His hair
was damp against Johnny’s cheek, his fingers cool. Johnny
felt them brush over the tautness of his bare abdomen.

“Hey! Do you realize where your hand is?”
Brennan smiled slowly, his lips quirking up into an

impish little grin. “Yeah.”

Johnny glared at him. “So move it.”
“I intend to.”
And he did, his fingers sliding under the waistband

of Johnny’s boxers and curling around his semi-stiff
erection. Brennan stroked him with easy, unhurried skill,
his mouth at Johnny’s throat, sucking up a dark mark on
the pale skin, his confident touch enough to leave Johnny
shuddering and breathless with shock.

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Johnny tried to tell himself it only happened that

first time because of how long it took him to overcome his
initial surprise. By the time he’d recovered some
semblance of reason, he was on the verge of coming, his
body strung tight, thighs trembling. There was no stopping
it then. His orgasm washed over him in pulsating waves of
ecstasy, and Bren was there, leaning down to flick his
tongue across one of Johnny’s pebbled nipples, his eyes
gleaming with satisfaction and more than a hint of
mischief.

As Johnny lay there trying to recover, lids grown

heavy in the aftermath, he felt the bed shift and heard
Brennan release a soft moan. He turned onto his side, eyes
widening when he realized that Brennan was stroking
himself off, right there next to Johnny, his hand moving
over his shaft at a languid pace, occasionally pausing so he
could rub his thumb across the moisture that had beaded
at the tip.

Johnny knew it was wrong to watch. Hell, it was

wrong for him to want Brennan the way he did. He
couldn’t have Brennan, couldn’t risk all the complications
that might arise. But he’d wanted, so much and for so
long. His desire had become a tangible thing. And the
moment seemed so surreal, as if it were happening
somewhere other than the here and now, in a place
shrouded in living shadows and back-dropped by the
sound of rain. Nothing short of a gun to his temple or a
natural disaster could have made him look away.

Brennan glanced over, met his gaze. Johnny’s cock

stirred at the hunger he saw in that look. Then Brennan’s
eyes flicked down and he smiled again. “Like what you
see?”

Johnny wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t hide his

body’s obvious reaction. So he said nothing. Brennan

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didn’t seem to expect him to. His eyes lifted and this time
he held Johnny’s gaze. In his periphery, Johnny could see
Brennan’s arm moving faster. He wanted to look, to watch
Brennan’s hand moving over his rigid flesh, watch him pull
and tug at his cock until he came, but he wasn’t sure if
anything would have been hotter than Brennan’s face at
that moment. His eyes were dark, cheeks flushed, lips
parted, his expression one of anguished bliss. Because it
felt good. Unbearably good. And Johnny could see
Brennan wanted to drag it out, make it last, but it was
building, that ultimate release, rising too quickly for
Brennan to control despite how much he might have
wanted to.

“Do it,” Johnny whispered. “Let it go.”
Brennan bit his lower lip, his eyes fixed on

Johnny’s. “Kiss me.”

Johnny didn’t even think about saying no. He

leaned forward, his fingers twining into Brennan’s hair and
jerking him closer. Their mouths met, and Brennan opened
for him, welcoming him with a moan as Johnny’s tongue
slid inside. Johnny kissed him hard, licking, sucking, biting.
Within seconds, Brennan started shaking, keening into
Johnny’s mouth as he finally gave in to his orgasm. Johnny
pulled away so he could watch, eyes drawn to the pearly
white cum that had spattered across Brennan’s chest and
stomach. He’d leaned down for a taste before he fully
realized what he was doing, his tongue dragging across the
rippled muscles of Brennan’s abdomen.

Brennan trembled beneath him, fisting a hand in

Johnny’s hair to pull him back up for another kiss. Johnny
let him do it, knowing Brennan could taste himself on his
tongue, his fingers digging into Brennan’s hips. He tugged
Brennan close, pressing their bodies so tightly together
Johnny could feel his every breath. They kissed that way,

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deep and slow, hands exploring, touching, stroking, until
sleep overtook them both.

Johnny woke to find Brennan still in bed with him,

one of Brennan’s toned arms flung casually across his
chest. For a moment, he got caught up in admiring the
lines of Brennan’s long, lithe body in the gray, predawn
light. His skin was naturally tan, the color of coffee with a
generous dollop of cream. Johnny had always been partial
to men with nice skin and Brennan’s complexion was
perfect, silky smooth and clear. He especially loved the
way the warm brown color complemented Brennan’s
dark-lashed amber eyes.

He was reaching out to brush a hank of wavy black

hair off Brennan’s forehead when he suddenly
remembered himself. His hand flew back and he jerked
upright in bed, filled with such complete and utter horror
the sensation nearly made him choke. He was in bed with
Brennan. Brennan. His best friend’s younger brother.
Someone who was so totally off limits Johnny had crushed
any feelings of attraction toward him with swift and
certain brutality whenever they’d surfaced in the past. But
he hadn’t given a thought to any of that during the night.
Daylight brought with it the memories of what he’d done,
what he’d permitted, and every single reason why it
should never have happened.

Brennan groaned, rolling onto his back in his sleep,

and Johnny gave him a none-too-gentle slap on the
shoulder. “Get out.”

Brennan woke with a grunt, blinking groggily.

“Wha’?”

“Get out,” Johnny repeated.
“Huh? Why?”
“Because you shouldn’t have come here in the first

place.”

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“John—”
“Out!”
Brennan scrambled out of bed and bolted from the

room without a backward glance, slamming the door shut
behind him.

Johnny lay back against the pillows and ran

trembling fingers through his short, spiky hair. Shit. What
had gotten into him? He should have sent Brennan packing
the moment he realized who was in his bed, but it’d been
so long since he’d had a hand on him that wasn’t his own.
As true as that was, though, it was still an excuse, one he
knew Eddie wouldn’t easily forgive.

Fuck. He was supposed to be looking out for

Brennan, not kissing him, not letting the kid give him
handjobs. Well, he wasn’t a kid anymore, was he? And
that was the problem. Brennan had just turned twenty a
few months back. Still too young to legally drink, but way
beyond the age of consent. And Johnny had noticed. Oh,
yeah, he’d noticed. He’d been noticing ever since Brennan
hit puberty and went from a gawky preteen to a poised,
athletic young man. But he wasn’t supposed to be noticing
those kinds of things, not about Brennan. He’d known the
kid since he was in sixth grade for crying out loud.

Johnny groaned and closed his eyes. Whatever had

happened—demonic possession? temporary insanity?—it
couldn’t happen again. It was never going to happen again.
He pushed the incident from his mind, got dressed, and
went upstairs for breakfast.

Cameron, one of his longtime friends and co-

workers, stood at the stove, flipping pancakes. His
boyfriend Dean leaned against the counter next to him, a
mug of coffee in hand. They’d been speaking in whispers
before Johnny entered the room, but went quiet the

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moment he stepped inside. Dean straightened and smiled
at him.

“Want some coffee?” he asked. “I just finished

making it.”

“Sure, thanks.” Johnny accepted a fresh cup of

coffee from Dean with a grateful smile. “Mmm, do I smell
bacon?”

Cameron grinned at him over his shoulder. “You

know it.”

“Anyone else awake yet?”
“Nope. Well, except for Bren, but he just grabbed

some juice and went back downstairs. Looked like he
might be sick or something.”

Johnny strove for a casual tone. “Oh, really? That

sucks.” Cameron flicked a quick glance at him, one that
said he wasn’t buying Johnny’s attempt at nonchalance for
a second, but he didn’t say anything, just went back to
turning the pancakes. Johnny cleared his throat and went
to the fridge to grab the half and half. “So, opening night
tonight. I think everything should be good to go.”

“Not worried at all,” Dean said as he plopped into a

seat at the table. “We’re a well-oiled machine. By now we
could do this stuff in our sleep.”

Cameron chuckled as he started stacking the

finished pancakes on a platter. “Glad you’re so confident. I
always get a little nervous when we set up in a new city.”

Johnny seated himself at the table across from

Dean and sipped at his coffee. “I’m with Dean. Been doing
this way too long to be nervous. We’ll have them terrified
and eating out of our hands. Word of mouth will spread
quickly. Always does.”

“Hmm. Well, you are Johnny Cairo. The

‘Scaremaster’. Maybe you’re wasting your talent here with
us lowly carnies.” Cameron set the platter of pancakes,

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along with another of crispy bacon, on the table and
leaned down to drop a kiss on top of Dean’s head. Dean
looked sideways at him and reached up to draw a finger
along the curve of his jaw, giving Cameron a slow,
secretive smile that made Johnny feel a little
uncomfortable, as if he were somehow intruding on a
private moment.

“Ah, I come from a long line of carnie stock,” he

said to cover his discomfort. “It’s in the blood, Cam.”

Cameron laughed. “Yeah. There is no escape for

you, I suppose.”

Johnny shrugged. “I’m happy where I am. I get to

travel the U.S. and scare the shit out of people for a living.
What’s there to complain about? I could think of plenty
worse jobs.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Dean smirked. “I’ve worked

a few of those myself.”

“Well, you’ve found your calling. And tonight the

people of Chicago won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s right.” Dean’s grin widened as he dug into

the stack of pancakes and dropped a couple onto his plate.
“Fear Asylum is officially open for business.”

* * *

For all of Johnny’s boasting earlier, it wasn’t easy

running a successful haunted house. There had to be a
hook, something to lure people to Fear Asylum instead of
one of the multitude of other haunted houses available
during the month of October in any given area. As
Halloween approached, these things popped up like flies
at a picnic, with every Mo, Dick, and Larry thinking he
could slap a few decorations up in his garage, put a mask
on, and make a quick buck scaring the neighborhood kids.

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Fear Asylum was a full-scale operation. They had a

permanent staff of twelve and set up in a different state
every year, renting out old warehouses and hiring the rest
of their crew from the local applicant pool. In the off
season, they joined up with traveling carnivals and stuck to
the warmer southern states. Thanks to Johnny, they had a
substantial online following. His father, Albert, had
conceived the idea back in the ’70s, but he wasn’t
computer-savvy and had relied solely on word-of-mouth
advertising for decades. Several years prior, he’d finally
passed the responsibility of marketing on to Johnny. In
addition to setting up a Web page, Johnny had used every
social networking site he could think of to get their name
out there. His hard work had paid off and the last couple
of years had been their most profitable to date.

Johnny hoped the trend would continue. He knew

they were good at what they did, namely terrifying the hell
out of everyone. Instilling fear was part of his family’s M.O.
His father’s idea of sneaking an anonymous staff-member
or two into each group of guests—Infiltrators, he called
them—had been ingenious, really. The Infiltrators
sabotaged the group from within, increasing paranoia,
making the situation seem that much more real for their
customers. By the end of the tour, one or both of the
“guests” would have met with a gruesome demise or been
dragged off into the darkness, screaming all the while, and
the remainder of the group stumbled out of the exit, pale,
wide-eyed, and scared shitless. Most times they would run
to a crew member, babbling about someone getting killed,
but occasionally they bolted as if they expected something
from inside Fear Asylum to follow them out. Johnny found
those instances to be particularly gratifying.

That first night in Chicago was one of their biggest

openings ever. An hour before they started letting people

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inside, the line was already wrapped around the building
and halfway down the block. Johnny knew then that every
member of the staff would stay busy until they finally
locked the doors and shut down. Those were the nights he
loved best. The excitement seemed to seep into his very
bones and keep him constantly amped. It was the kind of
energy that best lent itself to their performances.

Johnny nodded subtly to Brennan when Bren

walked in at the tail end of the first group. Bren had gone
out earlier to mingle with the crowd and stand in line as if
he were a regular customer. The people he was with had
no idea he was actually on staff, which was exactly the
way Fear Asylum wanted it.

Bren acknowledged Johnny's nod with a slight

smirk and then shoved his hands into his pockets and
huddled into his hoodie. No one in his group paid him
much attention as they purchased their tickets and made
their way through the entrance, but they would notice him
soon enough. Brennan was one of Fear Asylum's best
Infiltrators, probably because he seemed so harmless and
boy-next-door. Johnny and Bren were impressive to watch
whenever they got assigned to a group together, but being
the strongest two Infiltrators on staff, that rarely
happened anymore, and it certainly wouldn’t be
happening that night, not with the crowd they had. As
Johnny suspected, they stayed busy until they were finally
forced to cut off the line half an hour after they were
scheduled to close.

After shutting down the warehouse and making

sure the building was clear, they drove back to the house
they were renting, tired but still thrumming with restless
energy and self-satisfaction after such a successful night.
Brennan sat in the passenger seat of Johnny’s Dodge
Challenger, his head bobbing along to the bass from the

Asylum

heavy metal song that blared from the speakers. At one
point, he glanced over and met Johnny’s gaze, his
expression eager and happy, a broad, easy smile stretching
his mouth, and it was almost as if the previous night had
never happened. But then Johnny’s eyes dropped to the
long fingers tapping out a rhythm on Bren’s thigh and he
remembered how it felt to have them wrapped around his
cock. Suddenly, the back of his neck burned and he felt like
everyone else in the car somehow knew what had
happened between them.

When they arrived at the house, Johnny bypassed

the kitchen, which was where the crew usually gathered to
chitchat and munch on snacks before bed, and headed
directly downstairs to his room. The two-story bungalow
had a total of six bedrooms, including two small single
rooms in the finished basement. Whenever they found
themselves in a situation where single rooms were
available, they drew straws to decide who would be the
lucky crew member to get a room to himself. This time, he
and Brennan had won the draw, leaving the other ten
crew members to pair up in the bedrooms on the upper
levels.

Johnny took a quick shower in the Jack and Jill

bathroom that connected his room to Brennan’s and
collapsed into bed in his boxers. He fell asleep within
moments, not even contemplating that there might be a
repeat of the events from the night before until the creak
of the bathroom door woke him several hours later. The
room was nearly black, lightened only by the sliver of
moonlight filtering in from the small window above the
bed, but he could hear Brennan’s approach through the
darkness and the telltale rustle of clothes being shed. He
stayed completely still, watching with half-closed lids as
Brennan slid onto the mattress beside him.

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The second Brennan had settled against the

pillows, Johnny pounced on him, rolling Brennan onto his
stomach and gripping both of his wrists in one hand.
“What the fuck are you doing, kid?” he growled into
Brennan’s ear. “I don’t want you in here. I thought I made
that clear this morning.”

Brennan shivered beneath him, his voice a bit

breathless when he answered, “I’m not a kid. And you do
want me here, Johnny. Under you, just like this.”

Johnny wasn’t sure how it happened. Brennan

shouldn’t have been able to manage it, what with the
death-grip Johnny had on his wrists, but somehow
Brennan got his hands free and turned to face him. His
fingers tangled in Johnny’s hair and jerked his head down.
Their mouths met, open and hot, and it was impossible to
think, let alone talk, after that.

Hands roamed, pelvises ground together. Brennan

trailed biting kisses down Johnny’s chest, his hands
seemingly everywhere at once. He disappeared under the
blankets, and in the next second Johnny felt his boxers
being pulled off. Then the tip of his cock was enveloped by
slick, wet warmth, and he was lost, mind gone, his skin
sensitized and throbbing with the basest type of pleasure.

Long minutes later, after Johnny had come and

then pinned Brennan down to return the favor, rationality
made a swift, unexpected return to Johnny’s brain. He
cursed under his breath, remorse rearing up to cast a pall
on everything that had just happened. Anger at himself
made him lash out, and he shoved Brennan toward the
edge of the mattress. “This can’t happen again,
understand?”

Bren glanced over at him and Johnny recognized

the familiar, stubborn tilt to his jaw. “Why not? You liked
it.”

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“What guy wouldn’t like a blowjob? That doesn’t

change the fact that it shouldn’t. Have. Happened.”

“Are you saying this because of Eddie? It has

nothing to do with him.”

“Jesus Christ. Are you really that oblivious? It has

everything to do with him. Besides, I don’t want this with
you, Bren. I don’t want you.”

Brennan tensed, and for a moment, Johnny

thought he would speak, but all Brennan did was toss the
covers aside and slip quietly out of bed. He bent down to
gather his clothes off the floor and then straightened with
them in hand, casting Johnny another brief glance. In the
semi-darkness, he was beautiful, his black hair damp and
curling around his face, lips kiss-bruised and swollen.
“You’re such a liar, Johnny.”

He left before Johnny could respond, closing the

door with a soft click that somehow made Johnny feel a
thousand times guiltier than the door-slamming from that
morning. He didn’t want to hurt Brennan’s feelings, hadn’t
enjoyed the flash of pain in Brennan’s eyes when he’d
shoved him away. And he was a liar. But he couldn’t admit
that to Brennan. There was no point. A relationship
between them could never go anywhere. Brennan would
be—should be—going places. Moving up in the world.
Johnny had obligations to his father and to Fear Asylum.
Not to mention the Eddie situation, and the very real
possibility of Johnny losing his best friend if Eddie ever
found out what had happened between him and Brennan.

Johnny sighed and closed his eyes, bracing his

forearm across his forehead. What a fucking mess. So
much for his attempt at resisting. He’d meant to. But one
kiss, one taste, and his reservations had evaporated faster
than an ice cube in the Mojave. What an absolute fail.

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* * *

The following day was a study in evasion for

Johnny. He went out of his way to avoid being alone in the
same room as Brennan. He knew Brennan had noticed, as
well as the ever-perceptive Cameron, but everyone else
seemed oblivious and he was glad for that.

They went about the day and night as counterparts

in a careful dance, Brennan stepping forward as Johnny
drew back, Brennan moving right as Johnny went left.
Though it seemed like Brennan did his best to try to corner
Johnny, try and talk to him, Johnny managed to dodge and
forestall him until he was back in his room and the house
was dead silent, the other staff-members blissfully asleep,
unaware of the inner turmoil that kept Johnny awake.

Johnny knew Brennan would come, regardless of

what he’d said earlier. It was only a matter of time. He’d
prepared a speech in his head, listing all of the reasons
why whatever the hell was happening between them
couldn’t possibly continue.

When Brennan snuck into his bed that night,

Johnny trapped him against the mattress, fully intending
to deliver the speech he’d so carefully put together, but
his eyes kept wandering to Brennan’s lush mouth, the
graceful column of his neck, the intriguing hollow at the
base of his throat that just begged to be licked and
nibbled. Brennan had his eyes lowered at first, deceptively
docile as Johnny held him down. Then, before Johnny
could start speaking, Brennan suddenly looked up, his
golden-brown eyes shining with amusement, his lips
curled upward into a naughty little smile that sent blood
thrumming straight to Johnny’s cock.

“I went to the store today,” Brennan said, his voice

low and breathy. He reached down into the pocket of his

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robe and slowly withdrew a handful of condoms and a
small tube of lube.

Johnny stared down at the stash of goodies as if he

hadn’t the vaguest idea what they were, the words he’d
memorized dying in his throat.

“I thought we—” But whatever Brennan had

planned to say vanished under the weight of Johnny’s kiss.

It was rash and it was reckless, but Johnny

couldn’t help himself. The last two nights had led to this
moment. If he were honest, there’d never really been a
chance of his resisting, not after all of the years he’d spent
fantasizing about it. He kissed Brennan as if the act were
brand new and he was trying to get in as much practice as
possible. Their tongues twined together, luscious and wet.
Brennan’s fingers skimmed up and down his sides a few
times before settling on his ass to hold him in place as
Brennan ground up against him.

There were a few times when he could have

stopped, when caution tapped him on the shoulder and
said Hello? What the hell are you doing?, but something
drove Johnny on, though whether it was mindless arousal
or just sheer stupidity, he couldn’t say. Johnny kissed his
way down Brennan’s body, pausing to suck his cock and
nuzzle his balls and torment him with slow, drenched licks
around the nerve-filled skin of his puckered entrance. He
continued on, nibbling on long, lean thighs as Brennan
sighed and moaned his name.

Finally, when Brennan writhed beneath him, his

head thrown back, hands fisted in the sheets, Johnny knelt
upright and slid on a condom. He lubed it up then reached
a slick finger beneath Brennan’s sac to trace his hole. He
slid it carefully inside and paused to let Brennan adjust.
Brennan was tight, more so than Johnny had anticipated
he would be if he’d been having regular sex, and a sudden

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thought occurred to him, one that froze his blood and
made him feel like five kinds of asshole for not asking
about it at the very beginning.

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” he

said, his eyes on Brennan’s face.

Brennan licked his lips nervously and shook his

head. “No.”

Johnny groaned and started to withdraw his finger.

“Brennan—”

“No!” Brennan reached down and grasped his

wrist, stopping his movement. “I want you to be my first.”

“Bren, can’t you see how wrong that would be?”
“Why is it wrong? What difference does it make if

you’re my first or my tenth? Would you rather I picked
some stranger?”

“No, of course not,” Johnny said fiercely. The mere

thought of someone else touching Brennan made his
stomach burn with an emotion he didn’t want to look at
too closely. “But you don’t understand. Your brother
would kill me.”

“Keep my brother out of it.” Brennan stared up at

Johnny, his amber eyes nearly black in the darkness. “This
is about you and me.”

“That’s the point, Brennan. There is no you and me.

This is about fucking. We’re not in a relationship.”

“So fuck me,” Brennan said, rolling his hips to force

Johnny’s finger deeper into his body. “You won’t tell Eddie,
and I sure as hell don’t plan to.”

Johnny groaned again and closed his eyes. The

sensation of Brennan riding his finger made his dick throb
and his groin ache. His balls felt tight and heavy with
arousal.

“More,” Brennan demanded in a shaky voice.

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And with that one word, Johnny knew he couldn’t

fight it any longer. He withdrew his finger and grabbed the
tube of lube, squeezing a small puddle into the palm of his
hand. He dipped his index and middle fingers into it and
then pressed them carefully inside Brennan, past the
resistance of that first ring of muscle, coating Brennan’s
smooth inner walls with the slippery substance.

It wasn’t long before Brennan was begging, his

hands gripping and tugging at Johnny’s hips. Johnny
slicked the remainder of the lube onto the condom,
figuring too much was better than too little, and
positioned himself at Brennan’s entrance.

Brennan stared up at him with wide, lust-hazed

eyes, his straight white teeth digging into his lower lip.
Johnny watched his face as he pushed inside, searching for
signs of discomfort. There was a moment when Brennan
winced, his eyelids squeezing shut. Johnny stilled and gave
him a few seconds to recover, then pressed on when he
felt Brennan’s muscles relax around him.

Eventually, he was buried to the base of his cock,

his balls resting against Brennan’s ass. Brennan’s thighs
were braced over his and splayed wide, his hips tilted up at
the perfect angle for Johnny to thrust in hard and fast.
Johnny gripped them and poured himself into a deep,
pounding rhythm.

The first couple of thrusts were slow, and Brennan

took them with a low, breathy moan. But when Johnny let
go, holding his hips still to slam into him, quick and
intense, Brennan gasped and grabbed one of the pillows
next to his head, pulling it over his face so he could scream
into the fabric. It was a good thing too, because even
muffled the scream was loud, echoing in the room along
with the faint squeak from the box-spring and the sound
of flesh slapping against flesh.

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“Do you need me to slow down?” Johnny asked

after Brennan released another noise, something halfway
between a scream and a sob.

“N-no,” Brennan said from beneath the pillow,

punctuating the word with a sharp shake of his head.
“God, please don’t.”

Johnny gave him what he wanted, what they both

wanted. He upped the pace until Brennan was babbling
and incoherent, saying things that would probably
embarrass him if he remembered them come morning.
Brennan’s complete loss of control spurred Johnny on. He
sped up until the bed was almost vibrating beneath their
bodies, then plowed in deep, as deep as he could go, and
held the position as Brennan sobbed and bucked against
him, needing movement, searching for friction.

Finally he released Brennan’s hips and bent down

to kiss him. “Touch yourself. I want to see you get off with
my cock inside you.”

Brennan obeyed as Johnny leaned back. His fingers

wrapped around his swollen erection and he moaned from
that very first moment of contact until his body tensed, his
inner muscles convulsing around Johnny’s dick, and he
came, shooting silky white ribbons of cum across the
flawless brown skin of his chest, his body shaking so hard
that for a second Johnny was worried.

But then Brennan’s eyes opened, the color of fine

whiskey and glazed with passion, and he reached down to
grab Johnny’s hand. He brought it up to his mouth and
drew two fingers inside, sucking and nibbling while
keeping his gaze locked on Johnny’s face. Bren rocked his
hips, encouraging Johnny to move, and Johnny gave in to
his urgings, reestablishing the relentless rhythm from
before, plunging in and receding until his own orgasm
swept up his spine and swirled out into his limbs. His heart

Asylum

beat a frantic tattoo against his rib cage and lights
exploded at the edges of his vision, but he came without
making a single sound, just trembled through it in silence,
his hips juddering reflexively.

He collapsed onto Brennan, still buried inside, and

kissed him, tasting lust and sex and something else that set
off a bittersweet ache in his chest. That night he didn’t kick
Brennan out, but by the time Johnny woke up, he was
gone. Johnny tried to ignore the pang of disappointment
he felt when he rolled over to find cool, rumpled sheets
instead of the slim, warm body he’d gotten to know so
well the last few nights.

Johnny showered and pulled on a fresh pair of

jeans and a T-shirt. He’d just finished running a comb
through his damp blond hair when his cell phone buzzed
from the bedside table. He rushed over to grab it and
cringed when he saw the name flashing across the screen.
Eddie. It figured. What if somehow he knew that Johnny
had spent half the night fucking and sucking his little
brother? It was impossible, of course. How could Eddie
possibly know? He’d left the crew two years ago when
he’d met a girl during their stop in Indianapolis and fallen
in love. He was happily married and working a nine-to-five,
with a toddler and another baby on the way. And he
probably didn’t even miss the rootless lifestyle he’d left
behind. His heart had never really been in it anyway.

Johnny hit the answer button and put the phone

up to his ear. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Nothin’ much, bro. I tried calling Bren a few times,

but his phone keeps going to voice mail.”

Johnny swallowed thickly, feeling a stab of guilt in

his gut. “Probably still asleep.”

“Yeah. Well, how are you? How did the opening

go?”

Piper Vaughn

“Awesome. It was our best yet.” Johnny perched

on the edge of his mattress and toed at the pair of dirty
socks on the floor beside the bed. “How are Lilia and
Grace?”

“Great, man,” Eddie replied, and Johnny could hear

the fondness in his tone. “Gracie started walking last
week. Just a few steps at a time, you know, but she’s on
her way.”

“Did you get it on camera?”
Eddie laughed. “Only the very end. I’m going to put

it online for the fam. I’ll send you a link.”

“Cool.”
“So, how has Bren been doing?”
“Fine as far as I can tell.” Johnny coughed lightly

and cleared his throat. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, has he talked to you about anything?”
Johnny felt himself flush, his skin going hot under

the collar of his shirt. He reached up to tug at it, shifting
uncomfortably. “Not really.”

“You okay, bro? You sound kind of… weird.”
“Nah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. What, uh, was

Bren supposed to talk to me about?”

Eddie sighed. “Man, I was worried he hadn’t said

anything yet. I told him not to wait until the last minute.”

“Wait until the last minute for what?”
“Brennan applied at a couple of the colleges here

in Indy. He got accepted into both, and I know he’d
planned on enrolling in a few classes for the spring
semester starting in January. My dad’s been on him to
stop putting school off, you know? He’s going to come stay
with me and Lil to save on room and board. As far as I
know, he got approved for enough financial aid that we
won’t owe anything for the semester.”

Asylum

Johnny was stunned into silence. He’d known that

eventually Brennan would move on. It was as inevitable as
summer following spring. Brennan would go, and that was
part of the reason Johnny had fought so hard against their
physical attraction. Johnny just hadn’t expected it to be
this soon, and he hadn’t considered the fact that Brennan
would start making plans without at least informing
Johnny of his intention to leave. Especially now.

After a few moments, he found his voice. “Wow…

no, he hadn’t said anything to me. I didn’t even know he
was thinking about it.”

“Well, you know, that first year when he joined the

Asylum crew, it was only supposed to be a temporary
thing. He didn’t know what he wanted to major in and my
dad thought it might be good for him to get some work
experience and save some money, but that was almost
two and a half years ago. We’re worried if he doesn’t go
now, he never will.”

“Yeah.” Johnny raked the fingers of his free hand

through his hair, mussing the spiky strands. “Yeah, of
course.”

“Look, if he talks to you about it, just try to

convince him that this is the right thing to do. I think he
might be having second thoughts about the whole thing,
but this is the best decision for him right now. He doesn’t
have any responsibilities to anyone, no bills to worry
about. This is the perfect time for him to go to school.”

“Definitely.”
“Thanks, Johno. And tell him to call me back too.

He never responded to my message from last week.”

“Will do.”
“All right, well, I hear Gracie crying and I’m on

diaper-duty, so…”

Piper Vaughn

Johnny chuckled. “Okay, no problem. Talk to you

later.”

“Later.”
Johnny stared blankly at the phone for a few

minutes after Eddie had disconnected, his thoughts
dwelling on the events of the last few days. Was that why
Brennan had started coming to him? Because he planned
on leaving and wanted a last-minute fling before he went
off to college? If that was the case, Johnny was going to
strangle that little shit. How could he put Johnny’s
relationship with Eddie at risk when he knew he wouldn’t
be sticking around anyway? It wasn’t as if Brennan wasn’t
hot enough to have his choice of guys once he started
school. Why Johnny? Why now?

Granted, Johnny wasn’t exactly blameless in the

situation, but he’d reacted the way almost any guy would
if the person he was secretly attracted to showed up in his
bed one night, naked and yearning. Well, he’d let it go on
for a few nights, and he’d crossed a line that could never
be redrawn, but he’d be damned if he let it continue. It
was finished. Over and done with. He just needed to talk
Brennan into staying away from him—and to convince his
body to listen to his brain instead of his dick. Easy as pie.

* * *

When Johnny stepped into the kitchen for

breakfast, the first thing he noticed was Brennan sitting
despondently in his chair, a plate of untouched food in
front of him. He was leaning to the left, propped on one of
his elbows, his face pale and withdrawn. Cameron was
eyeing Brennan in obvious concern, and he gave Johnny an
inquiring look when he entered the room, to which Johnny
responded with a half-shrug.

Asylum

He settled into his seat and served himself some

scrambled eggs and a few sausage links from the platters
on the table. “This looks great, Cam, thanks.”

Cameron opened his mouth as if he wanted to say

something, but then shut it with a snap and nodded
briefly. He stood, gathered his dirty dishes, and turned
toward the sink. While Cam was distracted, Johnny looked
at Brennan, but Bren avoided his gaze.

A moment later, Bren pushed his chair back and

got to his feet. “Thanks, Cam,” he said; then he left the
kitchen, his movements slow and stiff.

“Shit,” Johnny murmured, pushing his eggs around

on his plate. He knew what the problem was. He hadn’t
exactly been gentle the night before. Brennan had been
into it, even begged him for more, but he should have
known better. Brennan was doubtless feeling every second
of that rough sex, and in places he hadn’t even known
existed.

“Do you know what’s wrong with him?” Cam asked

without turning around.

Johnny shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth and

made a noncommittal noise.

“Christ, Johnny, don’t play dumb with me!”
Johnny swallowed hastily, nearly choking at Cam’s

sudden outburst. “Um, sorry, but you’re going to have to
clue me in here. What are you talk—?”

“Cut the shit.” Cameron turned to face him, his

hands dripping sudsy dishwater onto the linoleum floor.
“Dean and I heard you guys. Sound travels through the
vents in this house, and our room is right above yours.”

Johnny dropped his fork onto his plate as his

stomach cramped. “Fuck. Does anyone else know?”

Piper Vaughn

“No, and we don’t plan on telling anyone. But I

thought I should ask if you know what the hell you’re
doing.”

“I’m ending it. Tonight.”
“You’re ending it?” Cam repeated, his eyes wide.

“So, what, you screw him one night and the next day you
tell him it’s over?”

“It should have never started in the first place. He’s

Eddie’s little brother and he’s fucking leaving besides.”

“Leaving?”
“I talked to Eddie this morning. He told me Bren is

moving in with them. He’ll be starting school next spring.”

“Okay,” Cam said slowly. “Let’s just ignore that for

the moment and go back to the matter at hand.”

“I told you I’m going to—”
“End it,” Cameron interrupted with a dismissive

wave. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But my question is: why the
hell did you even start it then?”

“I didn’t start it. He started it. He crawled into my

bed the other night and… fuck, things just happened. I
never meant to let it go as far as it did.”

Cameron shook his head. “Unbelievable. That’s all

you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to admit, at least to yourself, that you

let it happen because you’ve wanted Brennan for years.”

“I haven’t—look, I don’t—”
“Johnny, I’ve seen the way you look at him. You

can’t lie to me.”

“Really? Am I that fucking obvious?”
“No. I’ve just known you that long. Eddie probably

would have been able to tell too, but he hasn’t been
around the last couple of years. Lucky for you.”

“Shit.”

Asylum

“If you’re going to end it, really end it, then you’re

going to have to be careful. You’re Mr. Oblivious over
here, so I’m just going to lay out the facts: Brennan is in
love with you.”

A sharp, dark thrill pierced Johnny’s chest at

Cameron’s words, catching him off guard. Hearing
Brennan and love in the same sentence did bizarre,
unnerving things to his body. He shook his head and
pushed the feelings aside with pitiless force. “What?”
Johnny faked a laugh that was nowhere near being honest.
“I don’t think so, Cam. I think I would have noticed
something like that.”

Cameron just looked at him.
“Are you serious?” Johnny asked, even knowing

Cameron would never joke about such a thing.

“You think I would make something like that up?”

Cameron’s voice was heavy with exasperation. “He’s been
in love with you since he was a kid. The only reason he
wanted to join the Asylum crew was so he could be close
to you. He was heartbroken when you and Eddie left
Miami. He couldn’t wait until he graduated so he could
follow you guys.”

“How exactly do you know all this?”
“I read his mind using my secret telepathic

powers.” Cameron snorted. “How the hell do you think?
That kid was terrified when he first left his family and
joined us, and it’s not like he could talk to Eddie about any
of it. So he confided in me—and the only reason I’m
betraying his trust right now is because I don’t want you to
fuck it up. If you’re going to break things off, be gentle
about it, okay? That’s the only advice I’m going to give
you.”

Having said his piece, Cameron turned back to the

sink. Johnny stared at his back, his brows drawn together

Piper Vaughn

in bewilderment. Brennan loved him. So what was he
supposed to do about it? How could he say what he
needed to say to Brennan with that knowledge in his
head? And why did that information fill him with as much
delight as dismay?

He thought maybe he should ask Cameron for help,

since right then it seemed that Cam knew Brennan better
than he did, despite the disparity in how long they’d
known each other. But the moment he decided to speak,
Dean came ambling into the kitchen followed by a couple
of the other crew members who were sharing the house.
Johnny forced down a few bites of food and dumped the
remainder in the trash, then added his plate to the dirty
pile of dishes beside the sink.

Cameron gave him a pointed look but said nothing.

The opportunity to talk in private had passed, and Johnny
had a sudden, overwhelming urge to get out of the house.
It’d been years since he’d visited Chicago and he had
several hours to kill. Maybe a drive and the crisp fall air
would help to clear his head. He could only hope.

Chapter Two

The third night at Fear Asylum went much the

same as the first two. Johnny got a few particularly good
scares at the very beginning and ended his shift on a high
note after having terrified two girls so much they burst
into hysterical tears and had to be escorted outside using
one of the emergency passageways they had set up for
such instances. He probably should have felt bad about it,
but in reality, he wanted to pat himself on the back for a
job well done. It was, after all, what his guests paid for.

After they’d closed down and done all their final

checks, they walked a few blocks down to where they’d
parked their cars. Brennan came to Johnny’s Challenger, as
usual, but slid into the back beside Cameron, leaving the
passenger seat to Dean. If Dean found it odd, he didn’t say
so, just settled amiably in the leather seat and leaned
forward to fiddle with the radio controls.

They made the drive back to the rental house

without speaking, the silence broken only by the low pulse
of music coming from the speakers. Everyone seemed
tired and a bit subdued. When they got to the house,
Cameron headed straight to the kitchen to put together
some snacks for the other crew members. Once again,
Johnny skipped the food and chatter in favor of a quick
shower before bed. He stuck a South Park DVD into the
player and was just drifting off to the sound of Cartman

Piper Vaughn

and Kyle arguing when the door to the bathroom swung
open and Brennan paused in the threshold.

Johnny watched him cross the room in surprise.

Based on the way Brennan had acted all day, Johnny had
assumed he would stay away, at least for a while.
Apparently not.

When Brennan reached the bed, he hesitated,

looking uncertain. Johnny wasn’t sure what prompted him
to do it, but before he could reconsider, he lifted the
covers in silent invitation. Brennan slipped beneath them
and nestled close, his head resting in the crook of Johnny’s
arm.

Johnny ran a hand along Brennan’s side to his hip,

eyeing him in contemplation. “You must be a glutton for
punishment,” he murmured, watching Brennan’s face as
he skimmed a finger between his cheeks and pressed
lightly against his opening.

Brennan tried to hide his wince at the touch, but

the tremor in his limbs gave him away. “I thought maybe
we could just… you know, like before?”

Johnny reached up to grip his hair, tilting Brennan’s

head so he could speak directly into his ear. He pitched his
voice low with just the slightest hint of menace. “Yeah? Is
that what you thought? What if that’s not what I want?”

Brennan shuddered, tipping his head back further

as Johnny leaned down to suck at the pulse that fluttered
frantically at the base of his throat. “Fine. I’ll do anything
you want.”

Though his cock grew instantly hard at the words,

Johnny shook his head. “No. Don’t be stupid. I’d never hurt
you like that.” He trailed his fingers down Brennan’s chest
toward the erection he could feel straining against his
abdomen. “What do you want, Bren? Tell me.”

Asylum

“I want you. I want your hands on me, your mouth

on me.”

Johnny fisted Brennan’s length, circling his thumb

around the sensitive head. “Here?”

Brennan trembled, his back arching. “Yeah,” he

whispered. “Please.”

And like that, Johnny’s thoughts of ending it were

forgotten.

* * *

They didn’t speak the next night, just came

together in silence, movements slow and sensuous in the
dark. On the seventh night, Brennan said he was ready to
have Johnny inside of him again and any further
conversation was lost amidst their wild, heated kisses. The
tenth night, Johnny finally built up the courage to tell
Brennan it would be the last. And then again on the
eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth. The night after that,
Johnny insisted it would really, honestly, be the very last
time.

“Mmm-hmm,” Brennan murmured and then

leaned down to take Johnny’s cock into his mouth and
suck him off.

By the fifteenth night, Johnny started to feel a little

irritated. Sure, the sex was great. Amazing, in fact. But
Brennan’s visits were seriously cutting into his sleep time,
and a sleep-deprived Johnny was never a good thing. So,
as Brennan climbed into bed and went to kiss him, Johnny
braced a hand against his shoulder and held him back. He
told Brennan in no uncertain terms that it would be the
last time. The official, 100 percent guaranteed, final time
they would ever be together in that way.

Piper Vaughn

“Okay,” Brennan said, and when it was over, he left

without having to be told.

The following night, Johnny lay awake as the

minutes stretched into hours, expecting Brennan to come
despite his words from the day before. It was the first
night he’d spent in complete solitude in over two weeks,
but he woke up even more tired than before. At breakfast,
he barely managed to stop himself from glaring at
Brennan, who looked disgustingly cheerful and refreshed,
his black hair hanging to his chin in loose waves, still damp
from his morning shower.

And so it continued for days. Johnny tossed and

turned in bed, restless and unable to sleep, annoyed by
the faint traces of coconut that clung to his pillowcases
from Brennan’s shampoo. The following morning he
stripped the sheets and washed them, but as he went to
bed that night, nostrils filled with the clean scent of
laundry detergent instead of Brennan, he regretted it,
especially when the darkness leached away into the
orange glow of dawn and Brennan still hadn’t come.

By the twentieth night, Johnny had given up on

sleep altogether. Ignoring the bed, he settled at his desk
and booted up his laptop so he could waste a few hours
online. He checked his messages, updated Fear Asylum’s
Web site, and watched the video of Eddie’s daughter,
Gracie, taking her first steps. Johnny wondered briefly if
Brennan had seen it, then cussed himself out for even
thinking the kid’s name. He’d gotten what he’d wanted,
hadn’t he? Things were finished with Brennan, and it was
for the best considering the fact that Brennan probably
intended on leaving after the Halloween season was over.

Finally, bored with surfing the Internet, Johnny

shut down the laptop and went upstairs for a snack. He
grabbed a can of Coke and a bag of chips and headed back

Asylum

down to the basement. Just when he’d reached the
bottom step, Brennan’s door clicked open and startled
amber eyes met his.

Johnny forced himself to look away and cross to his

own door, but once he was there, he couldn’t bring
himself to push it open. He glanced sideways to see that
Brennan stood frozen in place, watching him. Their eyes
met once again, the air between them practically crackling
with tension. Then Brennan started to close the gap
between them, his steps hesitant at first but increasing in
speed until he’d reached Johnny’s side. Johnny transferred
the chips and Coke into one hand and reached down to
twist the knob and shove the door open.

Brennan stepped past him into the room and

Johnny entered after him, nudging the door shut with his
foot. In the next second, the bag of chips hit the floor and
the can flew from his grasp as Brennan slammed him back
against the door and mashed their lips together. Johnny
reached down to grip Brennan’s ass, moaning at the taste
of him, pulling him close, closer, desperate for contact
after so many days without.

Brennan made a soft sound into his mouth. At first

Johnny paid it no attention, knowing that a groan had
rumbled from his own chest when their lips had touched,
but then he felt something warm and wet against his skin,
and finally he recognized what it was. He pulled back,
shocked to see that Brennan was crying. “What—?”

“Say it.” Brennan choked over the words. “Tell me

you don’t want this. Tell me it can’t happen again.”

“Don’t.” Johnny swiped at the tears on Brennan’s

cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. “You’re being
ridiculous.”

“Say it.”

Piper Vaughn

“Stop.” Johnny brushed his lips across Brennan’s

mouth, his chest tight. “Bren,” he whispered, his hands
slipping under the hem of Brennan’s shirt to run across the
smooth skin of his back. “Don’t cry.”

Johnny kissed him again, nipping at his full lower

lip, his fingers dipping past the waistband of Brennan’s
sweatpants to cup his cheeks and bring their pelvises
together. They made their way toward the bed, stumbling
and tripping as they tried to strip without breaking their
desperate kiss. Somehow they wound up on their knees on
the floor instead with Brennan’s arms braced on the
mattress, his head hanging down, hair falling forward to
shield his face. He was shaking, fine tremors running
through his body as he begged Johnny to touch him,
everywhere, anywhere, just please, please, right now.

Johnny pressed a kiss to Brennan’s nape and

stroked a comforting hand along the length of his spine. “I
know, baby. Right now. Need to be in you.” He grabbed
the lube and a condom from the nightstand and rolled it
on, then slicked himself up and reached down to rub some
over Brennan’s entrance. Without any further preparation,
he lined himself up and pressed inside, slow and steady,
until Brennan’s body had swallowed his length and his
chest was flush with Brennan’s back.

He curled an arm around Brennan’s abdomen to

hold him in place and began to thrust. As he moved, he
dropped light, nibbling kisses along the side of Brennan’s
throat, captivated by the feel of that satin skin, the sweet
smell of Brennan’s hair, the soft, needy noises Brennan
couldn’t seem to contain.

Brennan turned his head and their mouths met

again. He tasted of salt, and Johnny wondered if he was
still crying, but then Brennan’s tongue flicked past his lips
and his hips shoved down into Johnny’s upward thrusts,

Asylum

and all thoughts of tears and excuses and reasons for why
they shouldn’t be together disappeared into the visceral
lust that pulsed between them.

Johnny broke the kiss and pushed Brennan forward

until his face rested against the edge of the mattress. He
leaned back on his arms, bracing his hands on the floor,
and pounded up into Brennan, fascinated by the sight of
his cock as it moved in and out of Brennan’s stretched
opening. Brennan moaned brokenly and spread his knees
farther apart, allowing Johnny to push in deeper. His
movements picked up speed and he banged up into
Brennan, carnal and rough. Their bodies surged together,
straining with frantic hunger, skin sweat-slick and hot.

Brennan’s inner muscles spasmed around him.

Johnny saw one of Brennan’s arms drop down, his hand
slipping between his legs to stroke himself in time with
Johnny’s thrusts. Seconds later, Brennan’s back went rigid
as he came and his body clamped down on Johnny’s cock,
the constricting pressure enough to trigger Johnny’s own
orgasm. His head fell back; his arms trembled. He cried out
Brennan’s name, loud enough that he knew Cameron and
Dean had probably heard him. As if they’d somehow
missed all of the other noise he and Bren had been
making. Neither of them had even attempted to be quiet
as they had before.

Brennan slumped against the side of the bed, his

limbs quivering from the occasional aftershock. When
Johnny had caught his breath, he withdrew and leaned up
to press another kiss to Brennan’s nape. “Come on. Let’s
take a shower.”

He got to his feet and helped Brennan stand, but

instead of moving toward the bathroom, Brennan looped
his arms around Johnny’s waist and clung to him, nuzzling

Piper Vaughn

his face into the curve where Johnny’s neck met his
shoulder. “I missed you, Johnny. Did you miss me?”

“Not at all,” Johnny said, but he wrapped his arms

around Brennan and pulled him closer.

“Liar.”

* * *

The nightly visits resumed after that. They had sex

in every position Johnny could think of and some he’d
never even considered before. They never talked about it,
but Brennan always left afterward. There were a few times
he hesitated and Johnny thought he might ask to stay, but
then Brennan would shake his head and give Johnny a sad
little smile, tinged with regret, and he would leave without
a word.

Days passed and Halloween drew closer, a sinister

presence on the horizon. Johnny attempted to broach the
subject of school to Brennan more than once, but
something kept holding him back. Fear of what the answer
might be, he guessed, after the second failed attempt,
when some unnamable force stopped the words in his
throat. He wasn’t sure how he’d react to the confirmation
that Brennan really was leaving. He’d gotten too
accustomed to having Bren around, to seeing his face
every morning, and lately, to being in his body every night.
Johnny didn’t know how he would give that up, give him
up. But he had to.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth, one week

exactly from the day Johnny was dreading, the day when
he’d have no choice but to ask whether or not Brennan
planned to continue on to Texas with the others or take a
bus to Indianapolis to join his brother, Cameron reminded
everyone about the upcoming “Asylum Crew Fieldtrip.”

Asylum

Earlier in the month they’d made plans to visit the Shedd
Aquarium and The Art Institute before hitting downtown
Chicago for an early dinner and some hardcore shopping.
Johnny had completely forgotten about it, and as night
approached, he found himself trying to come up with an
excuse to get out of going. He mentioned it to Brennan as
they lay in a drowsy, satiated heap, their arms and legs
tangled.

“Hmm.” Brennan gave one of Johnny’s nipples a

playful lick. “Pretend you’re sick, and I’ll stay behind to
take care of you.”

So Johnny did. Not that Cameron believed him, or

anyone else for that matter. But Cam didn’t call him on it,
just rolled his eyes and shook his head and ushered the
rest of the crew members out of the house.

“Clean up your messes,” he said, giving them a

meaningful look over his shoulder as he walked out the
door.

The moment it closed behind him, Brennan

pounced. He hit Johnny at a dead run, flinging his arms
around Johnny’s neck and hoisting himself up so he could
link his ankles behind Johnny’s back. Johnny staggered and
probably would have fallen had the momentum not driven
him back against the wall. His hands automatically went to
Brennan’s denim-clad ass to support his weight. “Jesus,
Bren, are you trying to kill me?”

Brennan nipped at Johnny’s earlobe. “No. But I do

want to fuck you. Right here or maybe over the arm of the
couch.”

Johnny was hard before Brennan finished the

sentence. “Yeah?” he said, gripping Brennan’s ass a little
tighter, his voice breathless.

“Hell yeah.”

Piper Vaughn

Johnny groaned. “Shit. We don’t have anything up

here. I’ll go—”

“No need.” Brennan grinned wickedly. “Feel that in

my pocket? I planned ahead.”

Chapter Three

“I like this city.”
Johnny glanced over at Brennan with a smile. “I do

too.”

They were cruising down Lakeshore Drive, people-

watching and admiring the view of Lake Michigan as they
headed back to the north side. They’d left the house
intending to grab some lunch—after cleaning up their
mess, of course—but what had started as a quick trip had
turned into a mini-sightseeing expedition.

Johnny didn’t mind. It was the first time he and

Brennan had spent any real time alone together outside of
his bedroom. When traveling with the same small group of
people, there was almost always someone else around. He
was glad they’d decided to skip out on the plans with the
other crew members. Maybe he was being greedy, but he
wanted Bren to himself. If all he had left were a few days,
he didn’t want to have to share.

While his mind was on the subject, he knew he

should say something. There probably wouldn’t be a
better opportunity. But he couldn’t get the words past the
lump in his throat. Just one more day. One more day like
this and then we’ll talk.

“You know,” Brennan said as Johnny turned off

Lakeshore Drive, “there’s something I’ve been wanting to
try…”

Piper Vaughn

“Hmm?” Johnny murmured distractedly, his eyes

on a couple of girls who were standing on the edge of the
curb while they waited to cross the street. He’d thought
for a second that they were just going to dart into traffic
without waiting for the light to change, but—

“Road head.”
Johnny’s hands jerked on the wheel and his tires

swerved over the middle line. He righted the car under a
barrage of honking horns, lifting his hand in apology to the
guy he’d nearly sideswiped. Only once he’d driven a few
blocks and made a right onto one of the side streets that
led to the rental house did he risk a quick look in
Brennan’s direction.

“As you can see, there are some safety risks

involved with that idea,” he muttered.

Brennan laughed. “We should be okay, I think, if

you stick to the residential areas.”

“It’s not a good idea, Bren.”
“Well…” Brennan shrugged. “If you don’t think you

can handle it…”

“Who said I couldn’t handle it?”
Bren appeared to think it over for a second. “I

believe you just did.”

“I can handle it.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“I know what you’re trying to do, you little brat. It

won’t work.”

“It’s okay, Johnny. I understand if you’re scared.”
“Oh, fuck you.” Johnny reached over and grabbed

Brennan’s nape, squeezing lightly. “C’mere then.”

Brennan grinned at him as he unbuckled his

seatbelt. “Just tell me if it gets to be too much for you, old
man.”

“I’m going to pay you back for that later.”

Asylum

Brennan didn’t reply. He was too busy unzipping

Johnny’s pants, his tongue poking out from between his
lips as he worked. Once he had Johnny’s cock free, he
didn’t waste any time. He ducked down and took as much
as he could into his mouth, using his fist to stroke the rest.

Johnny tightened his hands on the wheel and tried

to concentrate. It was difficult with Brennan’s mouth on
him, surrounding him with tight, wet heat. Brennan wasn’t
taking it easy on him either. His fingers massaged Johnny’s
balls through his boxers and he sucked like he was starved
for the taste, as if they hadn’t just gone down on each
other that very morning.

The area they were staying in had lots of trees, and

it being the middle of the day, the street parking was
mostly empty… which Johnny discovered was a good thing
when Brennan took him deep and he felt the tip of his
cock hit the back of Brennan’s throat. He veered into one
of the open spots beside a large oak and put the car into
park. His fingers twisted into Brennan’s dark waves and he
thrust up a few times before he came in a warm rush, his
hands holding Brennan’s head down, knowing he could
take it. When he was spent, Johnny released him, and
Brennan sat up slowly. He licked his lips and gave Johnny a
cocky smirk, assured that he’d won the round.

Johnny didn’t think about where they were and

who might see. He grabbed Brennan and kissed the smirk
right off his mouth. Brennan moaned into the kiss, his
hands coming up to grip Johnny’s shoulders as Johnny
reached between their bodies and fondled his erection
through the material of his jeans. He undid Brennan’s fly
with nimble fingers and slipped them past the waistband
of Brennan’s boxer-briefs. Fisting Brennan’s shaft, Johnny
started a quick, rough stroke that soon had Brennan
shuddering against him. Within seconds, the kiss went

Piper Vaughn

from intense to frantic. They devoured each other,
tongues twining, teeth nipping.

By the time Johnny pulled away to bury his face

against Brennan’s throat, his lips stung and his cock was
half-hard again. He bit Brennan’s neck and tugged at his
dick. “Come on,” he growled, his voice so thick with lust he
barely recognized it. “Come for me. I wanna feel it.”

Whether it was in response to the command or just

Johnny’s hand on his cock, Brennan let his head fall back
and came almost instantly, gushing hot and slippery over
Johnny’s fingers. And, fuck, it was beautiful. The graceful
column of his throat was completely exposed and Johnny
couldn’t resist running his tongue along the length of his
jugular, across his jaw, and up to his earlobe, where he
paused to suck and nibble. Brennan quaked against him
and made a sound that took Johnny’s cock from lying half-
hard against his thigh to standing at full attention.

Johnny released him and collapsed into his seat,

wrapping the hand he’d used to get Brennan off around
his own dick. He gave it a few leisurely pulls, the slickness
of Brennan’s cum acting as lubrication, and added his own
to the mix a couple of moments later, his second orgasm
stretching longer than the first, diffusing through his limbs
like slow-flowing honey.

He was panting when it was over, his body strung

taut, but gradually he became aware of his surroundings
again. The realization of what had just happened, out in
public and in broad daylight no less, had him bolting
upright and peering around in horror. He couldn’t see
anyone around, but he was too alarmed to feel any kind of
relief. How could he have let things get so out of hand?
What the hell was wrong with him? What if there had
been kids playing nearby? Or, worse yet, a cop driving
past? God, what a shitstorm that would have been.

Asylum

Johnny glanced sideways at Brennan. He was

slumped against the door, eyes closed and a blissful
expression on his face. His pants were still open and cum
stained his underwear and the bottom of his shirt. Seeing
it reminded Johnny that he still hadn’t cleaned himself up.
He leaned over and opened the glove compartment,
snagging a couple of napkins from the stash he kept inside.
He used them to wipe himself off as best he could and
tossed them onto the floorboard. After redoing his pants,
he put the car into drive and pulled out onto the street
without saying a word.

Brennan straightened when the car started

moving. He tucked himself back into his jeans and pulled
up his zipper. “Holy shit, that was amazing,” he said,
reaching over to grab Johnny’s hand and thread their
fingers together. “I can’t believe you came twice in a row.
You were so fucking hot.”

Johnny yanked his hand away and placed it on the

steering wheel, gripping it with white-knuckled tension.

“What is it?” Brennan asked, not quite able to hide

the hurt in his tone. “What’s wrong?”

Johnny shook his head. This thing between them, it

was too dangerous. Johnny had never been so desperate
for someone that he’d literally forgotten where he was.
Until Brennan. He didn’t like feeling so out of control, as if
his body was acting of its own free will, against his
reservations and better judgment. So many things could
have gone wrong, but his desire for Brennan made him
reckless.

“Johnny?”
“We can’t do this anymore.”
“What?”
“I mean it, Bren. We just can’t.”
“I don’t understand.”

Piper Vaughn

They reached the rental house then. Johnny parked

the Challenger and cut the engine, but he didn’t make any
move to get out of the car. Neither did Brennan.

Johnny took a deep breath and turned to face him.

Brennan’s eyes were wide and his mouth trembled. He
was obviously fighting to keep his emotions in check and
probably only seconds away from failing. Johnny wished
he could spare Brennan any additional pain, but there
were no other options. He’d do what needed to be done.

“This was a mistake. This and everything else that’s

happened between us.”

Brennan flinched away from his words. “Why are

you saying this? Where is this coming from all of a
sudden?”

“You can’t be that surprised, Brennan. I told you

from the very beginning that we aren’t in a relationship.
This is, and has always been, about fucking.”

“But I thought that when… I thought you’d changed

your mind… after that night.”

That night. When days of yearning had culminated

in Johnny taking him on the floor with rough urgency and
then later allowing Brennan to top him for the first time,
face-to-face, slow and gentle and sweet.

But none of that mattered. Brennan was leaving,

moving on to greener pastures and greater things. If he
thought he had something with Johnny, something lasting,
he might want to stay. And later he might regret having
chosen Johnny and his nomadic existence over moving to
Indianapolis and being near his family, going to college,
meeting someone who could love him the way he wanted.
What if Brennan picked Johnny and then one day he
looked back and resented his decision? Maybe Johnny was
getting ahead of himself by contemplating those things,

Asylum

but what was the point in risking it? Their relationship, or
lack thereof, could only end one way: badly.

“Nothing’s changed,” Johnny said finally. “I know

what you want and I can’t give it to you.”

“I just want to be with you. I won’t ask for anything

more.”

Johnny sighed. “Don’t sell yourself short, kid.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“You know what I mean. You can do better than

this. Better than me.”

“Shouldn’t I be the judge of that?” Brennan’s voice

broke on the last word, and he looked away, glancing out
the front windshield, his jaw working.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. I know

you’re going to be leaving. There’s no point in dragging
this out any further.”

Brennan’s head jerked toward him in surprise.

“How did you—?”

“Your brother told me. When were you going to?”
Brennan frowned, shrugging lightly. “I hadn’t

decided for sure yet.”

“What’s there to decide?” Johnny asked, searching

Brennan’s face. “You can’t really want to stay with the
Asylum crew forever.”

“You have no idea what I want.” Brennan glared at

Johnny, his amber eyes fierce. “And you know, that really
amazes me because I thought I’d made it pretty obvious.”

“Bren—”
“No. We’re done here, aren’t we? You decided

that.” He turned and pushed the car door open before
Johnny could stop him.

Johnny watched him run up the stairs and go into

the house. He groaned, slamming his palms against the
steering wheel. Fuck. That hadn’t gone as he’d intended.

Piper Vaughn

But he supposed the end result was the same one way or
another. Whether Brennan was heartbroken or just pissed
off, or some combination of both, Johnny had succeeded
in driving him away. He’d done what he set out to do. He’d
gotten what he wanted.

Right?

Chapter Four

The next several days passed with torturous

slowness. Johnny hadn’t spoken to Brennan since their last
conversation in his car. No one in the house had seemed
to notice the sudden tension between them except for
Cameron, though he never brought it up, at least not to
Johnny. He knew Cam had talked to Brennan, though. But
when he’d asked if Brennan was okay, Cameron had just
given him a long, hard look, his lips flattened into a thin
line of displeasure, and shaken his head.

Johnny had been tempted to go to Brennan more

than once, late at night when the air in his room seemed
to crush down on him, still and oppressive, heavy with so
many unvoiced regrets. He couldn’t stand the idea of
Brennan leaving, going out into the world hating him,
being angry with him, hurting because of him. But fear
held him back. As usual. Fear that if he was alone with
Brennan, if Brennan reached for him, touched him, all of
his doubts and good intentions would crumble into dust.

As Halloween drew nearer, Fear Asylum got busier

and the nights got harder. He woke on the morning of the
twenty-eighth with a persistent throbbing in his temples.
He’d lain in bed awake until after dawn, the urge to go to
Brennan so strong it was as if his body literally ached to
cross the twelve feet that separated their rooms and take
Brennan into his arms. When he’d looked at himself in the

Piper Vaughn

bathroom mirror, he’d been surprised to see how haggard
he looked, his skin sallow instead of its normal light gold,
his green eyes dull from lack of sleep.

Of course, that night would be Fear Asylum’s

craziest so far. The line stretched even longer than it had
during the grand opening. It was the start of Halloween
weekend, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but the
customers were starting to get antsy from having to wait
for so long. To top that off, the light drizzle that had
started an hour before had progressed into a full-out
thunderstorm. Most of the line was uncovered and it’d
thinned out considerably once the rain had started, but a
surprising number of customers stayed.

They were about an hour from closing time when

the storm took a turn for the worse. Johnny was in a group
with a couple of guys and five or six women. He’d been up
to his usual tricks, setting off a variety of hidden booby
traps designed for optimal scares depending on what area
of the haunted house his group wandered into, when a
sudden boom of thunder sounded. It was loud enough
that the entire building seemed to shake for a second and
then the lights flickered and abruptly went out. Several
people screamed.

Johnny waited for the emergency lights to kick on…

and waited. After a few moments, it became apparent that
they weren’t going to. Then the panic really set in. There
were more screams. Someone shoved him and he
stumbled back, reaching blindly behind him to try to find a
wall. A second push came from the opposite direction as
someone rushed by him, trampling on his foot in the
process.

Finally, Johnny located a wall and pressed himself

flat against it. The atmosphere in the warehouse had gone
from panic to sheer hysteria. People were yelling,

Asylum

screaming, crying, and he didn’t have a goddamn clue
what to do about it. Of course, this would happen one of
the rare times he forgot the miniature flashlight he
normally stuffed into his back pocket at the beginning of
his shift. They had emergency flashlights stored in various
locations around the building too, but it was so black he
couldn’t even see the hand he’d lifted to his face. The
darkness was impenetrable, thick with tension, and stifling
to the point that he felt suffocated. He couldn’t see to
walk, let alone find a flashlight. Not to mention the fact
that the room around him was in chaos.

Another scream ripped through the air, one that

sent a chill down Johnny’s spine and made him straighten
from his position against the wall because it was edged
with pain as well as fear. People were getting hurt and he
had to do something about it. Fear Asylum and everyone
inside, guests and staff alike, were his responsibility. His
father had left him in charge for the Halloween season
while he took some time off from the constant touring,
and Johnny was failing in his duty by cowering against the
wall like a chickenshit. He remembered that, power outage
or not, he had a fully functioning cell phone in his pocket,
and in the very least he should call the police and then
start trying to contact his staff.

“Everyone, please stay calm!” he shouted into the

darkness, though he doubted anyone heard him over the
general ruckus. “I’m going to call the police. Please just try
to stay where you are. If you have a cell phone, you can—”

A cacophony of voices interrupted him.
“Get us the fuck out of here!”
“Why aren’t the emergency lights on?”
“Don’t you guys have a backup generator?”
“Please, everyone—” he started, only to be cut off

again. Johnny sighed and ignored the yelling. He didn’t

Piper Vaughn

have any answers and he was wasting time trying to talk
over people who weren’t willing to listen. He dialed 911 on
his phone and put it up to his ear. Thankfully, the call went
through to an operator almost immediately and he
reported the incident as quickly as he could, struggling to
be heard over the continual commotion.

“Sir, we’re sending several officers to the area right

now. There’ve been reports of power lines on fire and a
transformer in the area being struck by lightning.”

“But what am I supposed to do until then? Are they

going to reroute the electricity or something?”

“Sir, I can’t answer as to when electricity might be

restored. Please try to keep your customers calm and if
possible, start them in an orderly progression to exit the
building.”

“But it’s fucking pitch black in here!”
“Please refrain from using such language with me,

sir. I’m aware of your situation. If you can’t exit, stay in
place until the police arrive.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but people are going crazy in

here and I think a few of them are hurt—”

“Emergency services are on their way.”
Johnny just barely prevented himself from

snapping again. He took a deep breath in and let it out
through his nostrils, then thanked the operator and
disconnected the call. There was nothing she could do, he
knew that, but he hated feeling so powerless.

There was another scream and a groan from

nearby. Johnny pressed one of the buttons on his phone to
light up the screen and aimed it away from him into the
darkness. A flashlight app would have sure come in handy
right then, but he’d never wanted to splurge for a pricey,
high-tech phone when his contract came up for renewal.
This was what he got for being cheap. He could see a few

Asylum

points of light in the crowd, though. There were bound to
be plenty of customers with fancier phones than his. He
wasn’t sure how much range they would get in this crowd,
but any light was better than total darkness. “People,
please try to stay where you—”

“Johnny?” The beam from a flashlight swung over

him and returned. “Thank God. Here, take this.”

Suddenly, Cameron was there, pressing one of the

high-intensity emergency Maglites into Johnny’s palm. He
looked frazzled, his normally immaculate brown hair
mussed, his lower lip stained with blood. “We have to start
leading people out,” Cam said as Johnny switched on his
flashlight. “Everyone else has a flashlight already and
we’ve cleared out most of the lower level, but I can’t find
Brennan.”

Brennan. Johnny’s body went cold. “Where was

he? Was he in a group?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’ve been looking all over, but it’s

a madhouse in here.”

As Cameron spoke, several other crew members

appeared behind him with additional flashlights. They
glanced at the crowd that had formed around Johnny and
Cameron as they talked.

“Is everyone okay?” Johnny recognized Dean’s

voice. “We’re going to start leading you guys out single
file. Please follow Matt to the stairwell on the right. If you
need help, stay behind and one of us will assist you.”

Johnny grabbed Cameron’s arm. “I’m going to go

look for Brennan, okay? Do you guys have this?”

“Yeah, just go. Call me when you find him.”
Johnny nodded and took off toward the stairs on

the other side of the room, ducking around props and
animated zombies and werewolves that had frozen in
place when the power went off. The beam from his

Piper Vaughn

flashlight bounced off snarling faces, decapitated corpses,
and other gory, nightmarish creatures, all of them familiar
but frightening for the very first time because of the fear
and adrenaline running through his bloodstream. He was
terrified for Brennan. What if he was hurt and lying in
some corner of the warehouse in the dark, alone and
afraid? What if he’d tripped and fallen down the stairs and
broken his neck?

A multitude of scenarios flashed through Johnny’s

mind as he searched, each progressively worse than the
last. His search of the third floor turned up nothing in the
main areas, so he went to look in the emergency
passageway they’d set up behind the scenes. He almost
thought it was empty until he caught a glimpse of the red
shirt he’d seen Brennan wearing earlier on the ground
over in the corner.

His legs carried him there without his even having

to think about it. Brennan lay face down and absolutely
still. Johnny knelt beside him and reached out slowly,
dread seeming to freeze the very air in his lungs, but when
his hand touched Brennan’s back, Brennan let out a pained
moan that made the breath he’d been holding burst free
in a relieved whoosh.

“Bren?” Johnny turned him over gently. Brennan’s

eyes were closed, his skin pale and clammy. Johnny
pushed sweat-damp hair off his forehead. “Brennan?
Come on, Bren, please wake up. Please.”

Brennan moaned again, an agonized sound that

made Johnny’s stomach clench with worry. His eyelids
fluttered open and he looked up at Johnny with pain-
clouded eyes. “Johnny?”

Relief nearly made Johnny lightheaded. “Yeah. It’s

me. I’m here, baby. What’s wrong? Where are you hurt?”

“L-leg.”

Asylum

Johnny noticed it then. Brennan’s lower left pant

leg was drenched in blood. The relief he’d felt vanished in
a rush of fear. “Oh, God. What happened?”

“Fell. Think I… broke it.”
Johnny aimed the flashlight at Brennan’s leg and

leaned closer to inspect it. Almost immediately, he reared
back, nausea rising fast and hard. “Fuck. Oh shit.”
Brennan’s jeans were torn a few inches below his knee
and peeking out from the hole in the denim was a shard of
bone about as long as Johnny’s middle finger. Not only
was Brennan’s leg broken, but the bone had pierced
through the skin. Johnny couldn’t even imagine the kind of
pain he was in.

He glanced at Brennan’s face. His eyes were closed,

but Johnny couldn’t tell if he’d passed out again or if he
was just trying to breathe through the agony. He fumbled
in his pocket for his phone and speed-dialed Cameron’s
number.

Cameron answered on the third ring. “Johnny? Did

you find him?”

“Yeah, but he’s hurt. His leg is broken. Are the cops

here yet?”

“They just got here. There are a few ambulances

too.”

“Well, send someone up. We’re on the third floor,

in the passageway behind the torture chamber.”

“Hang on.” Johnny heard a rustle and a couple of

muffled voices. A few seconds later, Cam was back on the
line. “They’re coming. Is he okay?”

“I think he might have passed out again.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad.”
“Shit. Poor Bren. Look, I’ll see you when you get

down here. We can follow you guys in the Challenger.”

Piper Vaughn

“Okay.” Johnny ended the call and shoved the

phone back into his pocket. Brennan hadn’t stirred or
opened his eyes again, but his chest was moving steadily.
Johnny reached out with trembling fingers to touch his
cheek. Brennan’s skin was cool and perspiration had
beaded on his forehead and upper lip. Even unconscious,
his face looked tense from the pain.

“They’re on their way.” Johnny grabbed one of

Brennan’s hands and squeezed lightly. The break looked
bad, but it could be fixed. All things considered, his injuries
could have been so much worse. Johnny’s heart was still
racing just imagining the possibilities. But what really killed
him was the idea that something awful could have
happened to Brennan, that Johnny could have lost him,
permanently lost him, and his last words to Brennan would
have been from that day in the car. The day he’d done his
best to drive Brennan away forever.

“Everything’s okay. You’re gonna be fine.”
He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Brennan or

himself.

Chapter Five

Brennan was released from the hospital on

Halloween morning. He’d needed surgery to install the
rods and screws that would realign his tibia and hold the
bone in place while it healed. Johnny found out from
Cameron that Brennan had fallen over one of the metal
props on the torture chamber set after being shoved
during the initial panic when the power went out. He’d
managed to drag himself into the emergency passageway
before passing out, which had likely saved his life. If he’d
stayed where he’d fallen, he might have been trampled in
the confusion.

Outside of one brief visit while Brennan was in

recovery from the surgery, Johnny hadn’t gone back to the
hospital. He’d sat beside Brennan for an hour while he
slept off the drugs, holding his hand and wondering if he
had any real right to be there. After all, he’d been the one
to end things, and he worried that his continued presence
might send mixed signals. And the worst part of it was that
he didn’t have a clue how he felt or what he wanted
anymore.

Johnny knew what he had with Brennan was more

than just lust. He enjoyed being around Bren. He always
had—even when Brennan was a scrawny, smart-mouthed
brat who followed him around with worship in his eyes. If
Johnny was the weather, moody and inconstant, then

Piper Vaughn

Brennan was the sun itself, consistently warm and bright.
His personality drew people in and held them captive.
They liked Brennan because it was impossible not to. And
Johnny was far from immune.

But it was hard to separate the memories of the

awkward Brennan of his childhood from the older, self-
assured version who’d come into his bedroom that first
night and taken charge of the situation with pure, easy
confidence. If he were being completely honest, the new,
sexually aggressive Brennan with his wicked eyes and
impish smile terrified Johnny as much as he turned him on.
He’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted Brennan
before, not with that wild sort of desperation that made
him lose all sight of caution and common sense. It was
scary to think of how strongly Brennan affected him. And,
of course, there was the small matter of how Eddie would
react to the knowledge that his best friend since freshman
year of high school was sleeping with his younger brother.

Hell, who was he kidding? No one but himself,

obviously. His relationship with Eddie was the only reason
he’d fought his attraction to Brennan for so long. Years of
friendship versus a quick fuck or two, or a fling that might
burn out after a month? The decision had been simple. But
that was before, when he hadn’t known just how
thoroughly Brennan would get under his skin. He wanted
Brennan. In his life, at his side, in his bed. Oh God, yes, in
his bed. That much at least he knew. As to whether or not
it was love? Well, that was harder to say.

* * *

Asylum

“Brennan, stay up here. You can switch rooms with

Matt. Don’t even worry about moving your stuff now. We
can do that later.”

“I don’t want to switch rooms. I’m happy

downstairs.”

Johnny looked up from his laptop at the sound of

voices at the top of the basement stairs. So, they were
back from the hospital, then. Brennan sounded a bit
strained and Johnny imagined he was probably still in a lot
of pain. According to Cameron, the nursing staff had
handed him a few prescriptions and practically rushed him
out the door the moment he could navigate the hallway
on his crutches.

“But it’ll be easier if you just—”
“Cam, I can do this, okay?”
Wondering what was going on, Johnny shut the

laptop and pushed back from his desk. He crossed the
bedroom and paused in the doorway, shocked as all hell to
see Brennan trying to come down the steps on his
crutches while Cameron stood anxiously behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked in alarm.
Brennan’s head jerked up and one of his crutches

slipped, landing on the step below the one he’d been
aiming for. He managed to steady himself with Cameron’s
help, but the motion had jarred his whole body and his
face had gone deathly pale, his mouth bracketed by white
lines of pain.

Johnny rushed up the stairs to him and settled his

hands on Brennan’s narrow waist. “Let me help you.”

“I’m fine,” Brennan said tightly. “I don’t need—”
“Please.” Johnny kept his voice soft, his tone

pleading. “Please just let me.” After a moment, Brennan
nodded without meeting his eyes. Johnny glanced up at

Piper Vaughn

Cameron. “Will you bring the crutches down? I’ll carry him
the rest of the way.”

“Sure.”
Though it was obvious Bren wanted to protest, he

stayed silent as Johnny took the crutches from him and
handed them to Cameron.

“Put your arm around my neck,” Johnny instructed.

It was a bit awkward as they tried to maneuver while being
mindful of Brennan’s cast, but Johnny managed to scoop
him up, holding Brennan close to his chest as he carefully
descended the rest of the staircase.

Johnny was tempted to take Brennan into his own

room, but he went into Brennan’s instead. He carried
Brennan all the way to the bed and laid him back against
the mountain of pillows in front of the headboard. “Do you
need to go to the bathroom or anything?” he asked.
Brennan shook his head, his cheeks stained pink with
embarrassment. “If you need anything, just let me know,
okay?”

Cameron leaned the crutches against the wall

between the bed and the nightstand. “Same goes for me,
Bren. I’ll have my phone on me. Text if you need
anything.”

“I think I’m going to try to sleep for a while.”
Johnny recognized a dismissal when he heard one.

He followed Cameron out of the room and pulled the door
shut behind him.

Cameron turned to look at him. “Come upstairs,

will you? I need to talk to you.”

“Okay.”
They went upstairs to the kitchen, where Cameron

immediately set upon making some tea. He glanced over
his shoulder at Johnny as he filled the kettle with water.
“Do you want any?”

Asylum

“No, thanks.”
“He wouldn’t even consider moving to a room

upstairs,” Cameron said as he set the teakettle on the
burner and turned on the flame. “He missed you.”

“I missed him too.”
Cameron shook his head. “You should have stayed

at the hospital.”

“I didn’t want to confuse him, Cam.”
“It’s too late for that, don’t you think?” Cameron

leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over
his chest. “Eddie’s coming to pick him up on Friday.”

Johnny stiffened. “What?”
“They talked yesterday. He told Eddie he was ready

to move.”

“Shit.” Johnny pulled out one of the chairs at the

kitchen table and slumped into it. “I was expecting
something like this, but I didn’t think it would be this
soon.”

Cameron sighed. “This is your last chance, Johnny.

If you have feelings for Brennan, you should tell him. You
shouldn’t let him go thinking you don’t love him.”

“I’m trying not to be selfish, Cam. And the truth is

that I… I just don’t know if…” Johnny trailed off with a
groan, raking his fingers through his hair. “It’s so easy with
you and Dean. You don’t have any doubts. But how do you
know? How can you be sure?”

“That it’s love?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll know.” Cameron smiled, his expression

softening. “You can’t help but know. It’ll come to you one
moment, when you look at that person and you see all his
flaws, his quirks, his bad habits, and you suddenly realize
that none of it matters. All that matters is he’s perfect for
you and you for him. You’re perfect together.”

Piper Vaughn

Johnny gave a wry laugh. “You make it sound so

simple. If that were really the case, why don’t more people
stay together?”

Cameron shrugged. “It’ll be as simple as you let it

be. Sometimes I think it’s part of the human condition to
overcomplicate things. But it really doesn’t have to be that
way.” The teakettle started to whistle and Cameron
moved to turn it off. “Do you want me to stay with him
tonight?”

It was Fear Asylum’s last night open and the hours

had been extended for Halloween. Johnny knew the place
would be totally packed and the Asylum crew had planned
for a massive afterhours party, for which they’d been
selling tickets throughout the month. In the past, he’d
always loved working the holiday, especially when Eddie
had been a part of the crew. But he couldn’t go. His heart
wouldn’t be in it. Because it was down in that basement,
lying in bed, alone and in pain, and he couldn’t walk away.
Not when he needed to make things right.

“No,” he said finally. “I’ll stay.”

* * *

When night had fallen and the rest of the crew had

already left to start their shift at Fear Asylum, Johnny used
the fancy cocoa mix Cameron kept in the pantry to make a
mug of hot chocolate for Brennan. He’d gone out that
afternoon to buy some popcorn balls and a bag of Reese’s
Peanut Butter Cups shaped like little pumpkins because he
knew they were Brennan’s favorite.

Johnny spiked the hot chocolate with a splash of

Baileys, loaded it up with whipped cream, and took it
downstairs with the bagful of goodies he’d picked up
earlier. He knew that Brennan loved Halloween as much as

Asylum

he did, but for the first time Bren was laid up in bed,
heartsick and miserable, and missing all of the fun he’d
been looking forward to from the start of the season.
Johnny hoped the treats would serve as a peace offering
of sorts so they could talk while the house was empty.

He rapped lightly on Brennan’s door and twisted

open the knob without waiting for an answer. Brennan
was sitting partially upright, his upper body reclining
against the pillows that lined his headboard. He’d been
watching a movie, Army of Darkness it looked like, but he
reached for the remote and stopped it when Johnny
crossed the room toward him.

“I come bearing gifts.” Johnny set the candy and

mug of hot chocolate on the nightstand. “I figured if you
couldn’t go to Halloween, I’d bring it to you.”

Brennan looked at the stuff Johnny had set down in

surprise. Smiling slightly, he reached for a Reese’s.
“Thanks.”

“Mind if I sit down?”
Bren hesitated for a moment then shrugged. “Go

ahead.”

Johnny settled onto the bed next to him, taking

care not to jostle the mattress too much. Bren’s left leg
was propped up on a pillow, the white plaster cast stark
against the dark red sheets. “You can turn the movie back
on if you want.”

“It’s cool. I was starting to get tired anyway. These

pain meds make me really sleepy.” Brennan picked up the
mug and blew on the surface of the hot chocolate before
taking a slow sip. He chuckled and wiped whipped cream
off his upper lip with the back of his hand. “Did you put
liquor in this?”

“Baileys,” Johnny answered with a smile. “Just a

splash.”

Piper Vaughn

Brennan took another sip and set the mug back

down. “Look, not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but…
why? Are you doing this just because I got hurt?”

“No, I—I mean, yes, partially, but—” Johnny

cleared his throat and tried again. “I wanted to do
something to make you happy.”

“Why?” Brennan looked at him with wide amber

eyes. His hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail at his
nape and he looked so young, almost boyish, without it
surrounding his face like normal. “Why does it matter to
you if I’m happy?”

“Why wouldn’t it matter?”
“Johnny—”
“You said you were tired. Did you want to turn the

light off? Maybe lie down for a bit?”

Brennan gaped at him. “You… you want to…?”
“Yeah. Turn the lamp off.”
Brennan looked confused but he obeyed. He

switched off the lamp and then adjusted his position in
bed, sinking down until he was flat on his back. Johnny
reached for him and pulled him close, his fingers going to
the elastic that held Brennan’s hair in place and tugging it
free.

The TV was still on, bathing Brennan’s skin in a

bright blue glow. His eyes were dark as they searched
Johnny’s face. “What are we doing here, Johnny?”

Johnny slid down until their faces were level, their

noses nearly touching. “What do you want from me,
Brennan? What do you really want?”

“I already told you what I want.”
“But you said the last time that I had no idea. So

tell me again.”

“I want you. I want to be with you. But as an equal.

I don’t want you treating me like I’m just some dumb kid.”

Asylum

Johnny reached up to lay his palm on Brennan’s

cheek. “I don’t think of you that way. I know you’re not a
kid.”

“Why didn’t you stay?”
“What?”
“At the hospital. Cameron told me you were there

after I got out of surgery. Why did you leave?”

Johnny gave a half-shrug. “I was being an idiot, I

guess. I thought it would be… fuck, I don’t know what I
thought. I was trying not to be a selfish bastard. I’m sorry.”

Brennan was silent for a few moments. “I missed

you so much,” he said eventually, and Johnny knew he
wasn’t just referring to his time in the hospital. “Did you
miss me?”

“Yes.”
Brennan reached for him and Johnny slid even

closer, letting Brennan curl an arm around his waist and
nestle his face against the crook of his neck.

“I love you,” Brennan said, his voice muffled,

breath warm against the tender skin of Johnny’s throat.
“You know that, don’t you?”

“I know.”
“But I’m leaving on Friday unless you can tell me

there’s a reason to stay.” Brennan drew back far enough
to peer into Johnny’s eyes. His expression was a mixture of
hope and longing and fear. He wanted so badly for Johnny
to give him a reason, Johnny could see that. But he could
also see the anxiety there, in Brennan’s face, the worry
that Johnny might reject him yet again. “Is there a
reason?”

Johnny looked at him for a long time. He searched

inside himself for an answer and found it there, clear as
day. It had probably been there from the very beginning,
but he’d been too blind to recognize it for what it was.

Piper Vaughn

“Every reason,” he answered, his fingertip tracing the
outline of Brennan’s lips.

Brennan smiled slightly. “All I need is one.”
“You have it, Bren.”
“Yeah, well, I need to hear it.”
“I love you.”
Bren’s smile widened into a grin. “There. Was that

so hard? Did you strain anything?”

Johnny smiled back and shook his head. “No. It felt

kind of good actually.”

“Say it again then.”
“Don’t push your luck, kid.”
Brennan laughed softly and kissed him. He tasted

of chocolate and peanut butter and Baileys Irish Cream,
and underneath it all, Johnny could taste him, Brennan,
like strawberries in summer and hot apple cider in winter
and everything good in between. Brennan kissed him long
and slow and sweet; then he pulled back with a smile on
his lips. “So, are you asking me to stay?”

“I want you to stay,” Johnny admitted. “But what

about school? I don’t want you to give up on that. Not for
me or anyone else.”

Brennan’s smile faded. “What about Eddie?” he

asked instead of answering. “I know you were worried
about him finding out about us.”

Johnny’s stomach twisted at the mention of his

best friend’s name. He was terrified by the idea of telling
Eddie about his relationship with Brennan, that hadn’t
changed, but his feelings for Brennan were stronger than
his fear. “I’m still worried, honestly. I can’t imagine him
being okay with it, at least not right away. But we’ll deal
with it. We’ll get him to come around.”

“And if he won’t?”

Asylum

“Well, that would suck—” Understatement of the

century there. “—but I won’t let it change anything
between us.”

“You promise?”
“I’ll do my best.”
Brennan nodded. His eyes were warm and glowing

with happiness, belying the seriousness of his expression.
Staring into them made Johnny’s stomach twist again, but
in a good way. “That’s fair enough. As for school, I can
start off with some online classes. And later, who knows?
Maybe you’ll finally decide to put down roots
somewhere.”

“Well, I guess stranger things have happened,”

Johnny murmured as he snuck a hand under the hem of
Brennan’s T-shirt. He stroked the soft skin of Bren’s
abdomen and then slid it a bit lower.

“Hey,” Brennan said with laughter in his voice. “Do

you realize where your hand is?”

Johnny smiled, that same smile Brennan had used

on him all those weeks ago—confident, mischievous.
“Yeah.”

Brennan trembled as Johnny’s fingers wrapped

around him, his eyelids dropping shut. “So move it.”

Johnny nuzzled Brennan’s nose and dropped a

playful kiss on the tip. “I intend to.”

And then he did.

End

About Piper Vaughn

Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and
never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in
some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at
the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a
great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, she loves
them all (and has a thousand book library to prove it!). She
grew up in Chicago, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood,
and loves to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in
her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the
real one. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a
little true love in their life… even if it’s only in a book.

Visit Piper at:

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