Taylor Brooks Rocky Mountain Man Hunt 5 Paul's Possession

Rocky Mountain Man Hunt 5

Paul’s Possession

Paul Rayburn made moves away from home to start a new life
with his boyfriend, Tyler, positive that the path he has chosen is

the one right for him.

Josh Hendricks is living the charmed life. As a cop in a small town
with little crime it is exactly what he needs.

When Josh’s job throws him into Paul’s troubled world, the two
find an instant connection that neither of them can explain. Unable

to turn Paul away while he’s in need, Josh opens his home to the
stranger who threatens to steal his heart. Just when Josh doesn’t

think his life can get any more complicated, a serial killer rips
through their town leaving a trail of bodies and unveiling a thirty-

year secret.

Will Josh and Paul be able to build on what they’ve started? Or will
the killer finish them both?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary
Length: 38,528 words

PAUL’S POSSESSION

Rocky Mountain Man Hunt 5

Taylor Brooks

EVERLASTING CLASSIC

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

PAUL’S POSSESSION
Copyright © 2013 by Taylor Brooks
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-434-1

First E-book Publication: August 2013

Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
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express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of Paul’s Possession by Taylor
Brooks from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

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Ms. Brooks’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

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DEDICATION

After writing my Sultry SoCal series for Siren Publishing, I

wanted to try something a bit different. In this fifth installment of the
Rocky Mountain Man Hunt series I introduce you to Josh and Paul.
They are a couple like many others who meet under unusual
circumstances and have to feel their way through their growing
feelings for one another, but something may threaten to destroy their
future before they’ve even begun. I’ve offered you a few twists and
turns in this series and I don’t think this one will be any different, so
sit back, relax, and enjoy. Don’t get too cozy though, you might just
find yourself jumping out of your seats!

This book, as with all of my others, wouldn’t have been possible

without the support of my friends, my family, and the wonderful staff
at Siren Publishing. Thank you one and all.

PAUL’S POSSESSION

Rocky Mountain Man Hunt 5

TAYLOR BROOKS

Prologue

Two months ago…

Paul placed his last suitcase in the back of his cobalt-blue Chevy

Lumina and closed the trunk. That was his final bag, and he was set to
hit the road to embark on the next chapter of his life. So, why did he
suddenly feel so sad, he wondered?

He was happy and excited about his decision. Regardless of what

his parents thought, he was positive that going off to Central City with
Tyler was the right decision. On the surface, he knew Tyler didn’t
appear to be the ideal candidate for a proverbial son-in-law, let alone
what his parents probably envisioned of his live-in boyfriend.

In fact, everything about Tyler just screamed “bad boy.” Yet no

matter how many times he argued with his parents and tried to explain
that with Tyler there was more to him than met the eye, they just
couldn’t see it. Paul gave up trying to convince them weeks ago. He
knew the real Tyler, the one who held him so tenderly after they made
love. He was the one who he’d invested the past year of his life into a
relationship with. He was the one.

“I can’t believe you’re really going to do this.” Charles Rayburn

said, while shaking his head.

Paul’s Possession

Paul closed his eyes and let out a sigh of part frustration, part

sadness. He was tired of this argument. It never went anywhere good,
and they both ended up miserable by the time it ended. Paul knew his
father was still adjusting to learning his son was gay. Sometimes he
wondered if it wasn’t that Tyler wasn’t good enough, as much as it
was about Tyler just being a man.

Paul turned to his father, “Dad, we’ve talked about this. I’m

twenty-three years old. I’m a grown man, please don’t do this again.
We’re never going to agree. So can’t we just agree to disagree?”

“That’s not fair. You know that your mother and I love you very

much. You’re everything to us, our only child. And any other time I
would agree that you are old enough and definitely mature enough to
make your own decisions, but there’s more to worry about here than
just Tyler. I know you love him, but what about that killer. The Rocky
Mountain Mangler has made his way up and down the Rocky
Mountain range several times in the past months. They say he’s
vicious. And you’re going to move to a place which could put you
right in the killer’s path. Not to mention the different ways that Tyler
could hurt—”

“No Dad, please, we’ve talked about this enough. There’s nothing

more to say. I’m not going to get killed by this Mangler character. I’ll
be careful. And I love Tyler, and he loves me. I know you’re worried,
but trust me when I tell you, I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t
absolutely sure.”

Charles Rayburn said nothing to him in response. He didn’t have

to. Paul saw the disappointment and worry in his eyes, and it sent a
loud and clear message. It made Paul sad that his father was so
adamant he was making a mistake with Tyler. What he wouldn’t give
for both of his parents to have more faith in his life choices. He
wasn’t an idiot. Far from it, in fact. He had always gotten good grades
in school and had a high IQ. His intelligence alone should have
granted him a little slack in the decision-making department.

Taylor Brooks

Tyler Garrett may have been labeled a smooth-talking punk by a

majority of the judgmental adults in their small town of Dove Creek,
Colorado, but Paul knew the rumors weren’t true. Tyler had a soft and
gentle side. It was the side that made Paul fall in love with him in the
first place. While he was sorry that his parents couldn’t see that part
of Tyler, Paul did see it, and he was sure that someday they would as
well.

“We just don’t want to see you hurt, honey. We worry about you.

You’re just starting out. You have your books to think about, and
Central City’s a long way away from here. If something happens we
won’t be there to help you.” Shirley Rayburn stood behind them on
the front steps.

“Mom, stop. It’s really not that far.”
“It’s seven hours away. That’s a whole day’s drive. If something

happened to you and I wasn’t there…if your father and I couldn’t get
to you…” She stopped talking when her voice trailed off, and liquid
filled her eyes.

Paul turned to his mother, hating the tears he saw welling up in his

mother’s eyes. If he didn’t love them so much he would probably
scream in frustration over their constant worry. Just because they
didn’t see in Tyler what he did made them relentless in their nagging
on the subject.

“Mom, Dad, I love you both so very much, and I’m so thankful

that you care as much as you do, but I promise you that Tyler won’t
hurt me.” Paul went over to his mother and wrapped his arms around
her, giving her a hug filled with nothing but love and hope. Hope that
someday they learned to accept Tyler into all of their lives.

“You’re my baby boy. I will never stop caring for you, or

worrying about you either. Not even for a second.”

“Oh, Mom. You just wait and see. Everything will be fine, and

years from now when we’re sitting around the table talking, we’ll all
be able to look back on this moment and laugh.”

Paul’s Possession

Charles groaned. “Sweetie, you’re already moving to Central City

with this man. Don’t rush anything else. Take things slow.”

“Dad, come on. We’re going be living together. We are going to

have a future together. I wish you would just accept that.”

“Goodness gracious, Paul Matthew. Are you trying to send your

mother and I into complete and total panic? Just slow down and see
what the future holds.”

“That’s a little cliché in this day and age, Dad,” Paul said.
“You call it cliché, I call it wisdom. We never know what the

future holds for us, so don’t push for anything. Just let whatever
happens happen.”

Paul resisted the urge to use his father’s own logic against him,

but decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. Standing out there
saying good-bye to them was hard enough, and it was growing harder
by the minute. The more they complained about Tyler, the more angry
Paul became.

“Dad, let’s just agree to disagree and say good-bye. I’ve got a

long drive ahead of me, and I don’t want to start it on a bad note. I’m
begging you.”

“Fine. I’m done. But you know I’m right, young man. All I hope

is that sooner, rather than later, you will realize it.”

Paul just rolled his eyes. He’d had enough, and even the most

patient person in the world probably would have snapped long before
he did. “That’s it! I’m so tired of fighting about this. I love you both,
but I think it’s time to get on the road. I have a long drive ahead of
me, and I don’t want to drive these mountain roads once it gets dark.”

“You mean you don’t want to be late picking him up, in your car,

so you can drive him to Central City to fulfill his ridiculous dreams of
becoming some cheesy lounge singer.” Charles shook in his apparent
disgust. “Paul, I love you, and your mother loves you, but if you go to
Central City with that, that, loser, it will be the biggest mistake of
your life. Mark my words. It’s true.”

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His mother jumped in, obviously sensing the growing tension that

was surrounding them. “All right now, that’s enough arguing. Honey,
we love you. We really just want you to be happy.”

Shirley Rayburn then turned to her husband and gave him the

same look that Paul had been the unfortunate recipient of so many
times before. From his adolescent days right on up to the teenage
years, it was a stare which spoke loud and clear without any words
saying it was time to “shut up or else.”

Then she turned back to her son. “Paul, sweetie, if being with

Tyler makes you happy, then that’s all that matters to us.”

“Are you insane? Tyler’s using him. I don’t care what he’s

promised. He’s not going to help support them when they get settled.
It’ll be about him and his music. Paul won’t even matter! Tyler will
bleed him dry and then just move on to the next hapless victim. He’s a
piece of shit and always will be.”

“That’s really nice, Dad. Thanks for the obvious faith you have in

me.” Paul held up his hand to silence his mother when she was about
to interrupt. “No, Mom. Just forget it. We’re obviously not going to
see eye to eye on this. I love you both, but I love Tyler, too. Now, if
you’ll excuse me, I’m leaving.”

Paul stormed around the back of his car in a huff. He was about to

open the door, but when he reached for the handle his father’s hand
closed over his. Paul turned to face his, willing his anger to subside.
He didn’t want their final moments together before he’d see them in
so long to be like filled with hostility.

“What is it dad?”
“I’m sorry. I love you, Paul. Take care of yourself and be safe.

Your mother and I are here for you, always. Please remember that,
okay?”

Paul was surprised when his father wrapped his arms around him

so tightly he could feel the emotions emanating off of his dad in
waves. Charles Rayburn wasn’t an emotional man. Usually he kept
them in check and rarely lost his cool. Something about his only son

Paul’s Possession

always pressed his buttons and set him off. He prayed it wouldn’t
always be that way, but he knew his father was a stubborn man and
would never admit to being wrong. All he could do was hope that
over time he would open his eyes, his mind, and his heart to Tyler.
Just like he had.

Taylor Brooks

Chapter One

Present day…

Special Agent Charles Hanson leaned back in his chair and blew

out a frustrated breath. He was tired and knew that even if he tried to
lie down and sleep he wouldn’t be able to. This case had been
dragging on for far too long. The trail seemed to be running cold the
past two weeks, and the sightings of the couple of terror were
dwindling.

He and Clarkson had discussed the possibility that the two had

fled the country, but their gut told them they were still somewhere in
the Rocky Mountains. They even considered the option that one of
them had been hurt or even killed. That didn’t even seem plausible
though. The two would have to have left a trail of some kind. In fact,
they’d done the opposite. Except for the few leads which proved to be
false, they all but vanished into thin air.

The door to Hanson’s hotel room opened, and in walked his

partner, Anthony Clarkson who looked worse for the wear lately.

“What’d the doctor say?” Hanson asked.
“Well, I’m still alive so that’s something.”
Hanson shook his head at his partner’s bitter tone. There was

something about this case which had been wearing on him more than
any others they’ve worked on in the past. Being a veteran with the
bureau for as long as Clarkson was, Hanson knew that there came a
point when all of the murders and the horrific things they witnessed
finally could become too much for some agents to take, and they’d
burn out.

Paul’s Possession

Hanson had no idea if that was what was happening to Clarkson,

but one thing was for sure. He had never seen him look so bad in all
their years together. From his ashen face to the weary look in his eyes,
he would be lying if he didn’t admit how worried he was about his
partner.

“You don’t say? You’re alive, huh? Well it’s a damn good thing

that we sent you to the doctor then. I’ve been sitting on pins and
needles wondering if I’ve been working this case with a zombie.
Thank God I finally now know.”

“Smart ass,” Anthony muttered.
“Heya pot, I’m kettle,” Charles bit back.
Anthony threw his keys on the bedside table. “Man, what the

fuck? Would you quit it already? You’re a bigger nag then my ex-
wife was.”

“Shit. Someone’s got to nag you. Since you two aren’t married

anymore it might as well be me. Now quit being such a damned baby
and tell me what happened at your checkup.”

“I’d hardly call it a checkup. More like a forced visit by my pain-

in-the-ass partner.”

“Jesus H, Anthony. What in the fuck did the doctor say?”
“Nothing.” Anthony picked up a pad of paper and scanned his

eyes over the notes. “Now what is up with the case? Did any new
leads come in? I feel like I’ve been out of touch for hours.”

“We’re leaving for Colorado in two hours. Have a few eyewitness

accounts of the girl at a small mountain town just outside of Golden.”

“Yeah? They reliable sources? Or more of these whackos that just

are trying to get their names in the paper?”

“They seem reliable, but we won’t know until we get there and

interview them ourselves. Set up some meet and greets with the local
law enforcement agencies, too.”

“Shit, why are we waiting two hours then? Let’s head out now,”

Clarkson said.

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“Relax. The plane won’t be ready until then. The bureau is setting

up a charter for us to get there quicker. I had no idea how long you’d
be, so I wanted to be sure you were all set to go before we were
wheels up. Now what did the doctor say?”

“We can talk about that later.”
Charles was tired of this chip on Anthony’s shoulder and even

more tired of going to verbal blows with his partner on a daily basis.
He had no idea what was happening with the man he’d normally trust
with his life, but enough was enough.

He stood up and stalked across the room to where Anthony stood.

Then with an aggressive nature he usually held for the scum of this
world, he grabbed the pad of paper away, threw it across the room,
and pushed Anthony down into the chair.

“What the fuck, Hanson?” Anthony demanded.
“Spare me the look of shock. You’ve been an unbearable ass

lately. And it’s not just your normal dickhead mannerisms. You’ve
been especially prickish lately. But even so I’d normally be willing to
let that slide.”

“So fucking let it go then!” he shouted in return.
“You know damn well if we were back in Quantico, the director

would have your ass at the doctor for a full workup and physical.
Hell, he’d probably even sideline your ass until you started to look
halfway human again.”

“I’m just stressed about the case, all right. I want to catch this

fucker.”

“And you don’t think I do? Come on, man. I know you better than

this. There’s something up with you.”

“Something up? Yeah, Hanson, there is something up. Look at

this shit!” Anthony stood up and walked over to their bulletin board.
He grabbed a few of the newspapers which were hanging up and read
them aloud. “Killer Takes Three More In Colorado—Manhunt
Continues, Elderly Couple Killed—Authorities Search for Clues to
Killer’s Identity, Two Dead and Another Missing, Nineteen-Year-Old

Paul’s Possession

Girl Slain…I mean what the fuck, Charles? Do I really need to go on?
This fucker isn’t going to stop unless we stop him!”

“Look, I know it seems…” Hanson stopped when he noticed

something odd. “Are you okay? You look like you’re ready to pass
out.”

Clarkson took a deep breath and sat back down on the chair. “Can

you just please let it go.”

“Sorry, pal, no can do. You see, it’s not just your shitty demeanor

that has me riding your ass lately. It’s the way you look. It’s the fact
that I hear you pacing at night when you should be sleeping. It’s the
fact that—”

“I’m not going to ask again. Let it go!” he shouted.
“Let it go? Jesus Christ, man. Is that all you can say? How the

fuck can I let it go when we have a fucking killer to catch and you
look like you’re knocking on death’s door.”

Anthony’s head snapped up to Hanson, and in that singular

moment in time, Charles knew that his partner’s eyes had betrayed
him. The man who he had played poker with so many times and could
bluff with the best of them was suddenly not able to hide a single
emotion. The truth was staring back at him in a moment of sad
realization.

“Anthony? What are you…” Hanson swallowed the nervous lump

in his throat. “Are you sick?”

His normally tough and rugged partner stared back at him with

steely eyes. He didn’t utter a word, but Hanson still knew. It was
written on his face just the same as if he’d put up a billboard. Special
Agent Anthony Clarkson was dying.

Taylor Brooks

Chapter Two

Paul punched his time card and all but dragged himself to the

parking garage a block away from the restaurant. He was so tired that
he just wanted to cry, but even crying would take energy he just
didn’t have. The air was surprisingly cool for Central City this time of
year as he wrapped his hands around his arms, hugging himself to
stay warm.

Entering the garage, he was careful to take a quick survey of his

surroundings. The area he was in was far from the best part of town,
and he had already heard of several people being attacked within the
surrounding blocks of where he was right at this very moment. After
several seconds of sweeping his eyes back and forth, he felt it was
safe and proceeded to the stairs.

He cringed with every step he took on the hard concrete. The

dress shoes he wore were murder on his arches. All he wanted was to
get home, get undressed, and slip into a hot bubble bath.

His little fantasy was ruined as quickly as he thought of it. He

knew all too well what would actually be awaiting him once he got
home. There would be no bubbles to soak into. Not to mention he
hadn’t had a moment of relaxation in months. His apartment was the
opposite of warm and cozy. It was a roof with walls, nothing more
and nothing less.

Paul hated what had become of his life. Everything that he

thought Tyler was had been an illusion, some made-up fantasy that
his mind had concocted. The thing he hated the most above
everything was that his parents had been right all along. It wasn’t so
much that they had been right that bothered him, but that Paul had

Paul’s Possession

been wrong, horribly wrong. He had loved Tyler so much. At least he
thought he had. Tyler had acted so different back home in Dove
Creek.

He glanced at the number on the stairwell. One more flight to go

in these godforsaken shoes and he could slink down behind the wheel.

Shouldn’t it be illegal to make shoes this uncomfortable? If he

was in any position to make and enforce laws of cruelty, he would
hog-tie the manufacturer and string them up over a fire pit for
roasting. No human being should have to suffer wearing shoes that
hurt this bad all because they met some sort of dress code. As it was,
it was bad enough that he had to wear this monkey suit, which made
him look like a rejected penguin. The bow tie made of silver sparkles
alone was cruel and unusual punishment.

Sure, he knew that he had chosen to wear them, but it was either

that or suffer the consequences of his boss. That man wielded his
power like it was a high for him. By abiding by the rules, Paul was
less likely to get fired, and whether he liked it or not, that was the way
things worked at the Diamond Dust Casino Lounge.

Finally, level four!
Paul opened the door to the parking area, stood still, and looked

around. He scanned his memory of hours earlier and where he’d
parked his car. He was positive he’d left it in the slot next to the
stairwell.

“No!”
He screamed, knowing full well that the sad reality of his scream

was that no one would care enough to come and help him or even
check to see if he was okay.

Damn it! Why didn’t I pay my cell phone bill?
He shook his head in disgust, with himself or his situation, he

wasn’t sure which. He knew very well why he hadn’t paid that bill,
because Tyler needed his beer. Not to mention the myriad of other
items he just had to have.

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There were his cigarettes, a nasty habit he picked up almost

immediately upon their arrival in Central City. Then there was his
demo tape, which he was positive he’d already paid for twice before,
regardless of Tyler’s claims otherwise. Then of course there were his
countless parties, which he always wrote off to Paul as networking
opportunities. To him they all looked like a bunch of people acting
like irresponsible teenagers more than anything else.

What did he know, though? He was just a waiter at one of the

cheesiest casinos in town. The memory of Tyler saying those same
exact words to him so many times before echoed in his head and only
added fuel to his ever-growing anger.

Damn it! Why?
He stared at the empty parking slot for a moment before turning to

go back down the stairs.

Fifteen minutes later Paul hung up the phone at a twenty-four hour

corner market. “Thank you. I appreciate you letting me use your
phone.”

The young kid working behind the counter just nodded. Paul

could tell he had been sizing him up the whole time he had been
reporting his car stolen with the police department. He suddenly felt
very uneasy at the idea of being left alone with the stranger at 3:30
a.m. in a store that was void of any customers.

“Actually, can I use your phone just once more? I really should

call my boyfriend. We live together, and he’s extremely possessive.
Gets a little crazy if you know what I mean.”

The kid must have gotten the subtle hint because he just handed

Paul the phone and turned away from him, apparently losing all
interest.

Not wanting to look like it was all a ploy, he dialed his apartment.

He knew there would be no answer, and true to his track record of the
past several months, Tyler didn’t deviate from the usual. Rather than
be concerned that his boyfriend, who just happened to be out until all
hours of the night working a part-time job—his second job, just to

Paul’s Possession

support his good for nothing ass—instead he was probably out getting
drunk, spending Paul’s money, or God even knew what else!

Asshole!
If only he had listened to his parents. If only he had never fallen

so head over heels for Tyler. The list of “if only” possibilities could
have gone on for hours inside his mind.

After a half an hour had past and no one had shown up to take his

report, he asked to borrow the phone once again.

“Hi, yes, I called a while ago. My name is Paul Rayburn. My car

was stolen from the parking garage at the corner of Minor and
Gregory Street. I was wondering when—”

The officer on the other end abruptly cut him off and asked him to

hold on the line. He waited patiently, or as patient as one could be
when they were tired, hungry, and becoming crankier by the second.
The pain in his feet had gotten so severe they were now numb, and
tiny needles shot up to his ankles.

He glanced at the clock and wondered if Tyler had bothered to

crawl back home yet. Or if maybe he had found another floozy to
hook up with. Lord knew it wouldn’t be the first time. He closed his
eyes tightly to prevent the tears from spilling freely. He refused to be
sad about Tyler any longer. He wasn’t even sure he cared anymore.

Just two months ago he had been so in love with Tyler that he was

sure nothing could possibly change that. He had been dead wrong in
that thinking though. He wasn’t sure if it was Tyler’s drinking, his
lack of responsibility, or his cheating. Hell, it could have been a
combination of all of the above. One thing was for certain. He not
only didn’t love the man anymore, but he was slowly starting to
despise him. An emotion he didn’t like to admit he was capable of.

His parents had always taught Paul to never hate anyone or use his

strength for negativity. It was a worthless emotion, they would say.
They had taught him so many things. And he had listened to them
always, each and every time, except once. Now here he was, standing
in a dive part of town, in the middle of the night, wearing a

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ridiculous-looking tuxedo, a sparkly bow tie, and shoes that were
clearly made by the devil himself.

The officer came back on the line, breaking him from his

thoughts. “Oh yes, I’m still here,” Paul answered.

He listened as the voice on the other end apologized for the delay

but asked if he would be willing to come to the precinct in the
morning to file the report.

“In the morning?” He was already exhausted and thought it should

be pretty obvious that he didn’t have a car to even get there in the
morning.

“I’m sorry, sir, but we’re really short-handed tonight, and there

was some sort of robbery attempt, which has us a bit tied up. I believe
your insurance company gives you twenty-four hours to file a report,
if that helps at all.”

“Sure, no, of course, I understand.” He hung up the phone and

exhaled a huge breath. He really couldn’t believe his luck. He was
positive he was like one-sixteenth Irish somewhere on his mother’s
side. Where the hell was the luck of the Irish that everyone was
always talking about?

“Thanks for letting me use your phone again.” He waved to the

young man who had since lost interest in his creepy ways, and Paul
headed outside.

He reached in his jacket pocket and felt the various bills which

were stuffed inside. He’d earned enough in tip money from tonight’s
customers to take a cab home, but knew that wouldn’t be the
responsible thing to do. He had bills to pay and a loser boyfriend to
support. No, he knew that the smart thing to do would be to walk back
to his apartment and save his money.

Damn if his feet didn’t hurt so badly that he wanted to cry. He

tried to shake off the pain and ignore that he could feel the warm
burning proof that he had a blister that had popped and was bleeding
inside his fifteen-dollar man-made faux leather shoes.

Paul’s Possession

Paul considered taking off his shoes, but on these streets one

wasn’t sure what they’d find, a broken beer bottle, trash discarded on
the side of the road, the possibilities were endless. He tried
desperately not to think about the three and a half miles it was to his
apartment, or how long of a walk it would seem in the dark, all alone
on these streets.

The vague recollection of hearing a few of his customers talk

about a serial killing duo crossed his mind. He’d heard them
discussing it the other day, saying there was a countrywide manhunt
looking for the two. Chills raced up his spine as he considered the
possibility that he might be in danger. He looked around the street and
saw no one. It was almost eerily quiet for Central City at nighttime.

Paul had probably walked around three blocks and maybe a half a

mile when he stopped dead in his tracks. What in the hell was wrong
with him? His responsibilities and pride meant little if he was dead
from exhaustion or at the hands of a killer. Screw it all! He didn’t care
anymore if his parents repeated the phrase “I told you so” a million
times over. He had to get out of this dead-end relationship and out of
this joke of a life he’d been living.

What he had with Tyler was nonexistent anymore. Even though he

had only caught Tyler that one time, he was sure that the lowlife was
still cheating on him. It was the main reason he refused to let Tyler
touch him anymore. He no longer had the ease of mind knowing that
his lover was clean and healthy. Paul had always been careful about
things like that. It was why he had chosen to be in a committed
relationship before he went all the way with someone. He didn’t like
taking chances with his life. To add to all that, Paul had become
completely disgusted with Tyler’s constant drinking, partying, and
never even showering anymore. He looked like he was trying to live
up to a bohemian grunge lifestyle, but even those people made it look
somewhat stylish. Tyler just looked like a slob now.

Paul didn’t really care that Tyler had told him a thousand times

that he had used a condom when he’d cheated. The mere idea that he

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was doing things with other men completely turned Paul off and made
his body tense up. His libido had been set to the “off” position ever
since, and there was no way in hell Tyler was ever getting near Paul
again.

To hell with Tyler and to hell with the crappy life he’d dragged me

into!

With new resolve and proud of himself for finally taking the step

he was about to, Paul crossed the street to where a cab sat with the on-
duty light illuminated. Paul quickened his pace with ease and
approached the cab with a newfound lease on life. Why hadn’t he had
this epiphany weeks ago? Hell, why not two months ago when he first
noticed that Tyler was the asshole his father made him out to be?

The first thing Paul was going to do when he got back to his

cockroach-infested apartment was kick his good-for-nothing,
cheating, loser-ass boyfriend out on the street. Then he would settle
up with the landlord for whatever he owed for breaking the lease and
head back home to Dove Creek.

He opened the door of the cab and jumped in the backseat.

“Double C Apartments, please.”

“You got it.” The driver started the meter and pulled away from

the curb, out into the street.

Paul could almost cry from the relief he felt sitting on the faux

leather upholstery. They probably weren’t the most comfortable seats,
but they felt like heaven to his weary feet. He gazed out the window
at a drunk passed out on the side of a building. This town sure had
changed since the big casinos had moved in nearly twenty years ago.

It was no longer a quiet little gaming town either. Those first few

casinos made it still a friendly environment, or at least so he’d heard.
Now that some of the big-named casinos had moved it, that altered.
Much like New York City, this mini version of Las Vegas was always
hopping and never slowed down. Being a man who always loved the
wide-open scenery of Dove Creek, Paul had grown tired of the filth

Paul’s Possession

that piled up along the streets and the litter choking the city storm
drains. At least he wouldn’t have to see it for much longer.

He was angry at himself for allowing Tyler to get away with

everything he had dished out to Paul, but there was only one way to
fix the disaster that his life had become. Quite simply put, he needed
to eliminate the problem, and that problem was Tyler.

“That’ll be five seventy-five, sir.” The driver turned around to

face him.

Paul smiled at him and handed over six dollars. It was the best six

dollars he had spent since he moved to this damned city. “Thanks.
Sorry I can’t tip more. I know how important tips are.”

“No worries, sir. Tips are a rarity these days anyway. You have

yourself a nice night.” He smiled politely.

Paul returned his smile and headed up the stairs to his third-floor

apartment. Anxious for the relationship to end and his new and better
life to begin, he put his key in the lock and hoped that Tyler would at
least have the decency to be home so Paul could throw his ass out.
Taking a steadying breath, he opened the door and prepared himself
for a battle he was going to love fighting in.

Once the door was open, he stood there wide-eyed. Scanning the

room from side to side with shock and disbelief, he stood there
frozen.

No! No! No!
Not only was Tyler not there, but from the looks of things Paul

had a sneaking suspicion that the bastard wouldn’t be back either.

Un-fucking believable!
Paul walked the rest of the way into his apartment, closed the door

behind him, and locked the door. He scanned the proximity of the
one-room studio apartment with his eyes. From left to right, then right
to left, over and over again. It was as if on some level he believed his
eyes may be deceiving him and he would suddenly see all of the
furniture and his belongings that appeared to be missing suddenly and
miraculously reappear like magic.

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Only that didn’t happen. No matter how many times he stared at

the room, it became painfully obvious his eyes were telling the truth,
and everything, absolutely the whole lot of it was gone.

He leaned his head back against the door and slowly slid down to

the floor. Why hadn’t he had his revelation yesterday? Or even the
day before? At least then he would have all of his things and…Oh no!

Paul’s mouth hung open as soon as he came to yet another

shocking realization that he felt stupid for not seeing sooner. Covering
his eyes with the palms of his hands, he fought the urge to cry.

“God damn you, Tyler!”
He now knew there would be no reason to hitch a ride to the

police department in the morning. There was no reason to file a
report. His car hadn’t been stolen, at least not in the traditional sense
anyway. He was positive Tyler had taken it, just as sure as he’d taken
everything else. The only difference was, Paul had handed him a
spare set of keys and all but offered Tyler a written invitation to
royally fuck him in the ass. Only this time he wouldn’t get so much as
a kiss afterward.

Much like Tyler had in so many other ways in the past two

months, he had completely manipulated Paul once again. He sat there
shaking his head as he remembered quite clearly how Tyler had
convinced him, just days after their arrival in town, to add his name
onto the vehicle registration. His reasoning had seemed far-fetched at
the time, but Paul apparently must have been wearing his dumb-ass
sign because he’d fallen for it.

Tyler claimed it would only cause problems if he was pulled over

and didn’t have any way to prove he was allowed to drive Paul’s car.
For some reason his high IQ had failed him and he’d stupidly fallen
for the lame excuse. Just like a damn fish being lured by bait, he’d
been taken in, hook, line, and sinker.

God I am such an idiot!

Paul’s Possession

Tyler took Paul’s most prized possession, his heart, and then he

turned around and squashed it. That wasn’t good enough, though. He
had to take everything he owned right along with him, too.

“Great, Paul, you really know how to pick ’em,” he chided

himself.

No longer holding back, he allowed the tears to flow freely down

his cheeks. “God damn you, Tyler Garret! God damn you to hell!”

He hated Tyler with every fiber of his being. Pressing his palms

into his eyelids, he willed the tears to not sting so badly. He had lost
everything, just like his father had predicted he would. Tyler had not
only hurt him, but he’d destroyed him. It wasn’t just his heart he had
ruined. He incinerated his mind, body, and spirit along with it.

He had nothing left. He was broke and broken.

Taylor Brooks

Chapter Three

A banging sound permeated through Paul’s head, and he cursed

himself for crying himself to sleep like a baby. Crying always gave
him a headache. Besides that, he hated that Tyler was still able to hurt
him so easily.

Paul closed his eyes, willing the pounding to stop, but still after

several minutes of remaining perfectly still and trying to drift back off
to sleep, the beating continued. It was relentless. That was when he
lifted his head and opened his eyes, realizing that he was still curled
up on the floor.

The memory of what he came home to the night before stared him

in the face in a mocking fashion. He squinted against the harsh
sunlight which shone through the ratty and torn curtains.

“Open up, Central City Police Department. Come on now. Don’t

make this harder than it needs to be.”

Police department? What on earth are they doing here? Good

God, what had Tyler done now?

Paul cringed at his thoughts. With everything Tyler had done to

him so far, it would only seem fitting for Tyler to probably drive
drunk in his car, damage property, or kill someone and somehow find
a way to make Paul the responsible party.

He worked his head from side to side and tried to ignore the

monkey that was beating drums inside his head as he loosened his
stiff neck. He slipped out of his death shoes and placed his palms on
the floor to push himself up. He wondered why he hadn’t done that
the moment he walked in the door last night. Sadly, he remembered
all too well what it was that had distracted him from getting comfy.

Paul’s Possession

“Open this door right now!”
Paul pushed his body up and fought against the discomfort he felt

in his sore feet. For a split second he had a fleeting moment of hope
as he thought maybe the officer on the other side of the door was
there to tell him they’d found his car. Maybe they were there to tell
him that Tyler was placed under arrest and they somehow
miraculously found all of his possessions.

It was a nice dream for the short moment it lasted, but Paul knew

it was far from the realm of possibility. He forced himself up from the
floor and steadied his weak body. He was so light-headed that he
nearly fell down, which reminded him that it was nearing the twenty-
four hour mark since he’d last eaten. He wasn’t a diabetic, but even
normal people had their limits in the blood-sugar department.

“Look, guy, I have a lot of things to do today. We’re not going

away. So you might as well just open the door,” the annoyed voice
shouted from the other side of the door.

He was reaching for the door handle when he heard a shout of

final warning. “You have exactly sixty seconds to open this door. And
if you don’t open it I will be forced—”

Paul opened the door and interrupted the officer by holding up his

hand in the middle of his speech. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. I just woke
up. But, please…can you just stop shouting.”

“Sleeping, huh? Sir, we’ve been pounding on your door for a good

five minutes now.” The officer took off his sunglasses and gave Paul
a skeptical glare.

“Look, I work two jobs and didn’t get home last night until,

well…this morning, Officer…?” Paul attempted to read the letters off
of his golden badge, but the glaring morning sunlight didn’t cooperate
with him.

“Officer Hendricks.”
“Okay, Officer Hendricks. So, what is that I can do for you?”
Paul’s landlord came out from behind the tall law enforcement

officer so quickly it startled him. He hadn’t even realized he was

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standing there until he’d popped out. Not that he could notice much
with the large officer standing over him. He had to be well over six
feet. His upright and stern posture made Paul hyperaware of his less
than average height of just five feet eight inches.

“Don’t you play stupid with me! You know damn well what you

can do for me! What do you think this is anyway? Some place
for…for…Just get out!” the landlord shouted at him.

Paul jerked back from the man’s words, as he not only screamed

at him but spat in his face as well. “I don’t understand.” He ignored
his landlord and looked up at the officer. “Was there a complaint or
something?”

Paul’s question apparently angered his landlord that much more.

The man laughed at him bitterly. “Was there a complaint? What in the
hell is it with you kids these days? Was there a complaint?” He turned
to the officer, annoyed and ready to spit again. “Yeah, I’d say there
was a goddamned complaint. I’m not running a charity hotel here. I
would definitely say letting a couple of freeloading kids live rent-free
and never answering my calls would make me complain. Now get
out! Lord knows I’ve given you enough time to make things right.”

Freeloading? What the hell was he talking about? Paul tried to

remember the landlord’s first name, but was too tired to think clearly.

Jenner, Jenkins, Jennings? Yes, that was it! Jennings!
“Mr. Jennings, you must have me confused with someone else. I

am Paul Rayburn. I moved in around two months ago with my
boyfriend. Tyler Garrett, remember?”

Apparently something Paul had said didn’t only make him

angrier, but downright furious. “Why I ought to—”

Officer Hendricks placed a hand in front of the irate old man who

was acting as though he was going to come at him like a prize fighter.
“Sir, let me handle this please.”

“I tell ya, if this cop wasn’t here…well, it’s a good thing that he

is, because it’s bad enough you’ve lived here rent-free for as long as

Paul’s Possession

you have, but to act so…so…damned freaking innocent is
despicable.”

He then turned to the officer. “I want him gone! Isn’t that what

you’re here to make sure happens? What are you waiting for? Just do
it already!”

The officer nodded. “Yes sir. Let me take care of this. Why don’t

you head back to the office and I’ll come and find you once I’m
finished here.”

Paul watched as Mr. Jennings walked away. He was really getting

worried now. He had assumed that it was just a misunderstanding at
first, but now as the situation progressed he couldn’t deny the
possibility that it might not be.

Paul scanned his memory of the past couple of months. He had

always given Tyler the money to pay the rent. Tyler may be selfish
and irresponsible, but Paul had no reason to think he wouldn’t pay the
rent, though. He had to live there, too, and needed a place to sleep just
like Paul did. The only problem with that logic was that Tyler wasn’t
here. He’d taken off, and with all of Paul’s things no less.

Oh God. Could things possible get any worse?
“Sir, I’m afraid you’re going to have to”—the officer hesitated

when he looked into his bare apartment—“ah…get whatever
belongings you may have and leave the premises.”

Paul’s mouth hung open in disbelief. This was really happening.

He was really being evicted.

“Wait, how much do I owe? I’ll pay. I have money in savings.”

He glanced up to the Lord above and prayed that he still did and Tyler
hadn’t cleaned that out as well. Why had he let Tyler talk him into
adding his name to his bank accounts?

The officer shook his head. “I’m sorry. But according to Mr.

Jennings you have had plenty of time, and in light of the fact that your
first and last month’s rent check, along with the security deposit
check, all bounced you’re essentially—”

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“What? They all bounced? How could they? I…” Paul stopped

asking the question, because he already knew the answer.

Damn it! That was the whole reason he had taken the job as a

waiter. He hadn’t wanted his savings to dwindle away. He wanted to
have that money to fall back on in case an emergency came up.

As Paul stared at the uniformed clad man in front of him he knew

that not only was his car gone, his furniture gone, and his checking
account emptied, he was sure that his savings was nonexistent as well.

“Sir, are you okay? You look like you’re ready to pass out.”
If only Officer Hendricks knew how right he was. Paul was ready

to pass out. From shock? Maybe, or maybe it was from being
overwhelmed with disgust for the clusterfuck that his life had become.
What was he going to do now? Where could he go?

“Officer Hendricks. Listen, I swear I didn’t know about any of

this? Please…can you help me? Isn’t there something we can work
out? I literally have nowhere else to go.”

As Paul stood there nervously awaiting the officer’s response, he

saw sympathy in his eyes. Paul wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t freeload
and was an honest person. He hoped the officer would be able to see
that, despite all of the manipulative characters he’d come across in his
career. He prayed that the man would be able to see this situation for
what it was.

“Please?” Paul added. “I’m not lying to you. I got home last night

after finding my car was taken only to find my apartment cleaned out.
I was finally ready to kick my asshole boyfriend out, too. Believe me,
I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner, but I swear to you that I’m
not responsible for this. The only thing I’m guilty of is falling in love
with the wrong guy and getting taken to the cleaners for being so
goddamned naïve.”

“Mister Rayburn, I’m sorry. Really I am, but the court order says

what it says. I can’t change it. And honestly, even if you do have the
money, I don’t think Mr. Jennings would let you stay.”

Paul’s Possession

Paul fought the tears that wanted to well up in his eyes. Damn it!

When did he become such a big baby? He would not cry! Especially
not over something that asshole Tyler had done. That man had taken
enough of his tears. He deserved no more!

“Please, I’m begging you. Isn’t there something you could do?”
Silence loomed between the two of them and Paul waited, hoping

the compassion he saw in Officer Hendricks’s eyes would work in his
favor. Before he may have been willing to go back to his parents, but
now…now Paul wasn’t sure he could face them ever again. He was
completely and utterly mortified by the foolish choices he’d made.

“Damn it,” Officer Hendricks muttered. “All right. I guess you

can stay with me for awhile.”

What?
Paul stared at the officer who was sent to kick him out and

wondered if he’d possibly heard him right? Could his headache be
playing tricks on his overstressed mind?

“Are you serious?” Paul asked.
“Ah…um…Sorry, I guess that was pretty inappropriate of me. I

just don’t know what else I can do. It’s not like we have any shelters
up here, and I want to help you. For some reason I believe you, but
my hands are tied as far as letting you stay here any longer.”

“No. No, it was very generous of you. I just wasn’t expecting for

you to offer that.”

“Like I said, I’m not sure what else I can do. You have to leave

here,” Hendricks reiterated.

“Right. I understand. And your offer…it’s so very kind. You’re

right. I do need help, and it’s so nice of you to offer such a generous
thing.”

“Yeah…Anyway, I still have a job to do. I’m going to have to ask

you to get your stuff, and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

Paul sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he had clothes to

gather and nowhere to take them. He was homeless, except for an
offer to stay with a cop who was a complete stranger. He was pretty

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sure the offer was only said out of politeness, and probably some sort
of knee-jerk reaction to be a good guy.

This whole situation was unbelievable. Despite all of his hard

work, his straight As all through high school and college and his
numerous published self-help books, he was now a homeless waiter
and had literally nothing to show for all of his achievements.

“Okay, just give me a minute and let me just see what I can find.”

He turned away from the door and walked to a small closet just off of
the bathroom.

“Excuse me? Did you say, see what you can find?” Hendricks

asked curiously.

Paul gave him a defeated halfhearted smile. “Well, seeing as how

my loser ex-boyfriend took everything I own, including my car and
all my money, it seems only plausible that he took my clothes, too.”

“Mister Rayburn?”
“Yes?”
Paul turned and found he was looking up into Officer Hendricks’s

rich chocolaty-brown eyes. He had seemed large when he first opened
the door, but now he seemed to almost tower over Paul. The tall, dark,
and handsome officer had to be at least six inches taller than him, if
not more.

“Mister Rayburn, I know it might seem strange, but I do believe

you. And if you truly need a place to stay, then my guest room isn’t
too shabby. Honestly, I’ve never done this before and I have no idea
why I am now. I can’t rationalize it, but I feel like I need to help you.
It might seem crazy, but it’s true.”

“You don’t even know me?”
Officer Hendricks held out his hand. “Josh. Josh Hendricks.”
Paul held out his in return and shook the gorgeous man’s hand.

“And I’m Paul Rayburn, but you already knew that.”

“Yeah.” Josh shrugged and smirked. “So, what do you say? Let’s

get your stuff and get you out of here before Mister Jennings comes
up here and gives us both a run for our money?”

Paul’s Possession

“Sounds like a plan.” Paul smiled. Just as he turned to retrieve any

clothes he may still have had, he turned back toward Josh. “Thank
you. Really, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

Josh grinned. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a sparkly bow

tie.”

Taylor Brooks

Chapter Four

The ride in his sheriff’s car was quiet. Paul still couldn’t figure out

why he had accepted the offer to stay with Officer Hendricks. Not
only was he a complete stranger, but it went against everything he’d
ever been taught by his parents, not to mention his better
judgment. He already learned the hard way that the one and only time
he had gone against advice given to him by his parents he had lived to
regret it. Sure, Josh was a law enforcement officer, but even they
could turn out to be crazy ax murderers, right?

He sat in the patrol car hoping that Josh Hendricks wouldn’t end

up being the exception to the rule. Paul closed his eyes and rested his
head against the side window. It was all too unreal. His gut still ached
from the realization he had been forced to suffer only fifteen minutes
ago when he called his bank. The nice but apologetic man at the
branch had confirmed his suspicions, telling Paul that both of his
accounts had been completely wiped out. To add further insult to
injury, he had only forty-eight hours to deposit two hundred and forty
dollars, the amount his checking account was overdrawn, or it would
be closed permanently. Never mind the restrictions that were placed
on it right now.

How had everything gone so wrong so fast?
Just two months ago Paul thought he had a bright future ahead of

him. He no longer cared about that little lesson his parents had tried to
teach him about not using his energy for hate. He pushed that way of
thinking aside and now officially loathed Tyler Garrett with every
part of his being. It was an intense feeling that filled him with
thoughts of vengeful types of retribution, like taking tweezers to his

Paul’s Possession

balls to make him cry, or even making him a nice steaming-hot cup of
laxative soup.

Damn, but he was pissed!
“You okay?”
“Huh?” Josh had startled him from his deep thoughts with the

question. “Oh, I guess so. I mean, if being taken in every way possible
in a matter of eight weeks is ‘okay,’ then yeah I’m just great!”

Paul didn’t mean to sound quite so bitter or harsh in his reply. His

emotions were just raw, and he was way past the point of having any
pride left.

Josh’s knuckles curled tight around the steering wheel, and Paul

watched as his jaw tensed in frustration. He almost looked angry.
“What did I say?” Paul asked with concern.

Without turning to face Paul, Josh answered in a harsh whisper. “I

really don’t need to hear about the ways you have ‘been taken.’ As a
matter of fact, if it’s all the same to you I’d rather not hear about it at
all.”

Paul quickly retraced his words and realized how Josh had

misconstrued what he’d said.

He was mortified by the

misunderstanding. “No. You misunderstood. When I said taken, I
meant taken advantage of. I didn’t mean—”

“Forget it. We’re here now.”
Paul stared at Josh for a moment, wondering why he seemed so

upset. He considered the possibility that maybe the do-gooder was
one of those religious fanatics that had a problem with people who
were gay? If that were the case, maybe it would be a blessing in
disguise. Officer Josh Hendricks was incredibly attractive. More than
a couple of times Paul had caught himself sneaking a peak at the
toned muscles pressed against the fabric of his uniform trousers. After
all Tyler had done to him, Paul was probably more vulnerable than
ever. Which again begged the question, what on God’s green earth
was he doing? Accepting Josh’s offer and staying with him was a bad

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idea on so many levels. Still, he had said yes. What choice did he
really have anyway?

“Hang on. That door sticks a little,” Josh said before getting out of

the car and walking around to Paul’s side to open it for him.

The gentlemanly and sweet gesture was just as nice and surprising

as the invitation to stay at his place. Tyler had never opened a door for
him, nor had he ever exuded any real manners. It was something he
hadn’t noticed too much until they started to live together.

Paul exited the car and followed Josh to the back of the vehicle.

He was about to reach in the trunk to grab his one small bag when
Josh reached in and grabbed it for him.

“I’ve got this. You’ve been through enough.”
“Thank you,” Paul said while walking behind Josh up the steps to

his front door.

The small one-story home looked quaint. It had two windows of

equal size on either side of the front door, and its white paint on the
house’s siding was weathered and flaking off. It was the kind of house
he expected cute little old grandparents to live in, not a sexy cop.

Josh unlocked the door and ushered Paul inside, the whole time

saying nothing. Paul couldn’t help but be curious about the man
whose quietness came across as a strange quality, but yet appeared to
be so kind.

There was something about his demeanor which intrigued Paul.

Whether it was his compassion or just silent nature he wasn’t sure, but
there was definitely something there that was piquing Paul’s interest.
Even stranger, it wasn’t an uneasy feeling, nor did he feel nervous. In
fact, he felt oddly at ease with this man.

That, in itself, Paul thought to be strange. Shouldn’t he be feeling

more cautious around this complete stranger who had opened up his
home to him? Rather than focus on the nagging feeling, Paul pushed it
aside. With everything his parents had drilled into him in his
formative years, manners and how to be grateful were some of them.

Paul’s Possession

“Here it is. Home sweet home. It’s not much, but it’s a place to

lay my head at night,” Josh told him, motioning to the living room
they’d just walked into.

Paul took in his surroundings, wondering if it was big enough to

have two bedrooms. It seemed a silly question to have to ask, but
looking at it now, it was no bigger than the small bungalows which
lined Everest Avenue in his hometown. The guy was giving him a
place to stay. If need be, he’d just sleep on the couch. It looked
comfortable enough.

“It’s nice,” Paul said. Ignoring his urge to ask about the proposed

sleeping arrangements, he added, “Do you live here all by yourself?”

Josh nodded “Yeah, I bought it a little over a year ago. I normally

wouldn’t have been able to afford a house on my own, not with the
salary I make in this town, but I got a heck of a deal from the widow
of a retired police officer. She was moving to be closer to her
grandkids and just wanted to get rid of it quickly. Plus, she said that I
reminded her of her late husband, George. Apparently he was in law
enforcement for twenty-four years before he retired and they moved
here. I kind of got the feeling since I was a cop like her husband that
she was kind of sweet on me. But hey, I wasn’t going to complain. I
got one hell of a bargain and a slice of the best homemade apple pie
I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

Paul couldn’t help but grin. It was the first time he had seen Josh

with anything other than a serious expression on his face. A little
smile quirked up the corners of Josh’s mouth, and Paul was noticing
what a nice smile it was. It was too bad he didn’t use it more often.

Josh was handsome in a naturally rugged way. He wasn’t like

some men who kept their skin moisturized or went to extra lengths to
make sure they looked their best at all times. No, Josh Hendricks was
quite the opposite from what Paul could tell. His dark hair was
unkempt in an almost messy fashion. His cheeks and face held slight
stubble, but Paul couldn’t tell if it was from days of not shaving or if

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Josh was the kind of man who grew a five o’clock shadow by ten in
the morning.

It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t spoken in a few

moments, and silence loomed between them as Josh stared at him.
“Well, I think your place is really cute.”

“Oh no, cute? I can’t speak for all men, or even yourself for that

matter, but I can tell you that I’m not a fan of anything even remotely
relating to being ‘cute.’ Maybe cool, or righteous, even an awesome
might be better, but cute?” Josh shook his head. “Not so much.”

Going with the flow of Josh’s lighter teasing mood, Paul replied,

“Actually, if I knew anything about men I don’t think I’d be in this
situation. I think it’s pretty obvious I don’t read people very well.”

Paul smirked at him, hoping Josh caught his sarcasm. Damn but

he wished he hadn’t been raked over the coals by his ex-boyfriend
who would forever go down in history as the asshole who would out-
asshole all other assholes.

“Well, I don’t know about that. Sounds like he was a real piece of

work. Come on. Let me show you to your room. It’s not big, but it has
a bed and a dresser.”

Paul perked up at the thought of sleeping in a bed after spending

the night before on the floor. ”So you do have a second bedroom?”

Josh turned to face him, “Didn’t I mention I had a guest room? I

was sure that I had.”

“Well maybe you did. I don’t remember. You’ll have to forgive

me. I’ve had a few shocks this past twelve hours or so, so I’m not
exactly playing with a full deck right now.”

Nodding and leading him the rest of the way down the hall, Josh

motioned toward an open doorway. “Here we go.”

Paul took a peek into the room and tried his best to hold back his

immediate reaction to its decor, but after only a few seconds his
attempts failed him as he burst out laughing.

“What?”

Paul’s Possession

“I’m sorry,” Paul apologized, trying desperately to bite back his

free-flowing laughter. “It’s great. Really, it is. It’s just not quite
what…well, it’s not exactly what I might have expected to find in a
cop’s home. But, hey…I’ve never been famous for my interior
decorating. If you’re into canopy beds with pink satin and lace, then
who am I to judge, right?”

Josh gave his a look of slight amusement. “Ha ha. Very

funny. Make fun if you must. It was my sister’s bedroom set from
when we were growing up. I didn’t exactly have the budget to
purchase guest room furniture, so I brought it from my mom’s house.
Besides, little sis visits every so often, so it just makes sense.”

“Okay, if you say so, but really, I won’t judge you.”
“You want a place to stay or not?”
Paul was only teasing, and it was obvious that Josh was playing

right along with him, but the initial image did place quite the picture
into the type of man that Josh may be. It was a complete contradiction
of what one might expect from a cop.

“Alright, I’m sorry, but you have to admit it completely goes

against what the stereotype of an officer of the law projects.”

Josh chuckled, but was interrupted from responding to Paul’s

wisecrack when Josh’s radio sounded with the voice of his dispatcher.

Paul watched with that same curiosity which had plagued him on

the ride over as he reached for the device on his shoulder and
proceeded to answer his call. The subtle motion caused his forearm
muscle to flex as his shirt pulled a little tighter across his chest,
accentuating what appeared to be a very brawny physique.

“Copy that. On my way,” Josh answered the dispatcher and turned

his attention back to Paul. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. I’ve already taken
too long as it is. I was only supposed to be gone for a simple
eviction.”

When Paul heard this it struck him even more inquisitive. “A

simple eviction? Why wasn’t it? What’s so different about me
anyway, Officer Hendricks?”

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Josh appeared to be studying him while he wondered how to

answer. Paul wished he would provide one, because he was clueless
as to why he was in this strange man’s home who he felt so unusually
comfortable with.

“Well? Are you going to answer me?” Paul asked again. He

wasn’t even sure why he was being so demanding for an answer from
someone who had been nothing but kind to him. The phrase “curiosity
killed the cat” came to mind, and he almost relented.

Josh smirked. “I’ll tell you what. When I figure out the answer to

that question I’ll let you know.” He said nothing more before heading
down the hall and for the front door.

Paul’s eyes widened, realizing that he was literally being left in

this house with no more than Josh’s blind trust in him. The whole
situation seemed unreal and made Paul feel nervous. Trying to catch
him, Paul ran down the hall.

“Wait, when do you get off? When will you be back? I need to be

at work by six o’clock. I can catch a cab or something, but how do I
lock up? I don’t know anything about your place. I don’t even know
the address.”

Josh was almost out the door by the time Paul finished his long

diatribe of questions. Turning, Josh offered a smile and reached in his
pocket. He pulled out a key ring and detached a gold one then handed
it to Paul.

“Relax. Here’s a key. Just lock the front door when you go. I’d

offer to take you myself, but with my job I never know when I’ll be
getting off.”

Paul had to hide his smile and inappropriate giggle at Josh’s

comment of getting off. As funny as he thought it was, he wondered
why he would even take the comment and twist it into a sexual
innuendo. Having a dirty mind usually wasn’t Paul’s style. Then
again, maybe it was his style and he just didn’t know it yet. Or maybe
the hunky officer who had rescued him from the fate of being
homeless was bringing out the mischievous side in him. Josh

Paul’s Possession

definitely had a rugged masculinity about him. In fact, if Paul wasn’t
so shell-shocked by his past day’s surprises he might admit that he
found the officer downright sexy.

“Paul, I really have got to get going. Take the key,” Josh said

impatiently.

“Oh sorry. Thank you, Josh. I truly mean that. You have no idea

what this means to me. I don’t know how I’ll repay you, but somehow
I will.” He did a mental shake of his head as thoughts flashed through
his mind of the many wonderful ways he would be willing to repay
him. Paul’s wandering mind both excited and intrigued him. The
naughty ideas were definitely out of character for him.

“It’s no problem. I’m happy to help. I’ll see you tonight then. I

could ah…” Josh hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Do you
want me to pick you up after work?”

“I really don’t want to be any more trouble than I already am.”
“Would you stop that? It’s no trouble. I’ll be there. Here.” Josh

reached in his pocket and pulled out a business card. Grabbing a pen
from his front pocket, he quickly jotted something on the back before
handing it to Paul. “Call me when you get done. I’ll come and get
you. You have enough money troubles. You don’t need to be wasting
your money on cab rides.”

Paul took the card and wondered once again why Josh was doing

all of this for him. Josh turned on his heel and walked quickly out the
door back down the sidewalk to his patrol car. Paul waved good-bye
and watched him drive off in the distance

After closing the front door Paul decided to get settled. He walked

into his new pink frilly bedroom and began unpacking his suitcase.
Once he had all of his clothes put away, he moved on to his toiletries.
The house only had one bathroom, so he assumed they were going to
have to share the small space. For how long that would be though he
had no idea.

It suddenly dawned on Paul that not only had Josh made this

grand gesture and Paul had accepted, but neither of them had even

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discussed any of the details. He just accepted and here he was. Lord
only knew what his parents would have to say about his latest
adventure.

What have you gotten yourself into this time?

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Five

Josh’s car ride had been filled with thoughts of more questions

than he had answers to. He had no idea why he was helping Paul. He
was a nice guy and normally cared about this town and its people, but
he sure as hell had never invited any of them back to his house. Some
people he’d known for years and hadn’t even invited them over for a
barbeque, much less a sleepover.

There was something different about Paul Rayburn, though,

something that made Josh believe every word he had said. If he was a
betting man, and normally he wasn’t, he’d almost guess that he felt
Paul was…special.

Luckily, his department’s dispatcher had called him just in the

nick of time back at the house. Josh had been holding back the urge to
grab his unsuspecting house guest and kiss him until he satisfied his
curiosity of what it was about the man that intrigued him so.

It was crazy, but Josh believed he was actually attracted to the

distressed mess of a man who he’d left in his home. With his sandy-
blonde hair which was sticking up in the back from a rough night’s
sleep, right down to his bloodshot eyes which hid the vibrancy of
what he believed were otherwise gorgeous green eyes. Josh wondered
how someone could look so messy and so damn cute all at the same
time.

Ten minutes later Josh listened to the woman scream at him over

and over again about how the city had no right to tow her car. She
screamed obscenities about corrupt governments, dirty politicians,
and a society where the woman was still looked down upon.

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“Ma’am for the hundredth time, nothing you mentioned has

anything to do with your car being towed.”

“Nothing to do with it? I say it’s got everything to do with it! You

think I don’t know what y’all are up to?”

Okay, so she’s crazy. You can handle this Josh, just take a deep

breath and keep your cool.

“Ma’am the sign here clearly states, in big, bold letters no less, no

parking between nine o’clock in the morning until six o’clock at
night, Monday through Friday. Now according to the owner you have
been warned before and he also claims that—”

“Owner? What owner? No one owns me.”
Josh used every amount of willpower he had to keep from

groaning in frustration. “That isn’t what I said. Please just calm down
and listen to me. Now as I was trying to say, the owner of the body
shop claims that you not only have been warned about repeatedly
parking in the way of his service entrance, but that he had asked you
for over an hour to remove your vehicle. At which point he further
claims”—Josh held up his notepad to quote the man—“you told him
to kiss your ass because you ain’t moving a goddamn thing.”

The woman said nothing as she just stared at Josh, giving him the

evil eye that he was sure was powerful enough to actually kill.
“Ma’am? Is that what happened?”

“Well, I don’t think I said the word God, I mean…I was angry,

but I never take the Lord’s name in vain.”

Oh for the love of…Never hit a woman. Never hit a woman.
Not being able to control himself any longer, Josh rolled his eyes,

hoping that the God himself would save his from the misery of having
to talk to this woman for one second longer.

“Look, you seem like a reasonable person.” It was a complete and

total lie, but sometimes upholding the law was half reasoning and half
ass-kissing. “Why don’t you just admit to the nice man over there that
you were wrong, which by the way, I think is the right thing to do,

Paul’s Possession

and then I’ll see what I can do about getting your car back? How does
that sound?”

The look of shock on the woman’s face spoke volumes about what

she thought of his idea. “Never! I have never apologized to that man
in all of our twenty-seven years together. Why on earth would I start
now?”

“Wait…what? You two are…together?” Fan-freaking-tastic. It

was a damn domestic dispute!

The woman just shook her head at him like he was an idiot. “Well

yeah we’re together, I guess. I married the damn fool!”

“I don’t believe this. You”—Josh shouted and pointed toward the

man standing over by the body shop—“get over here!”

Josh waited for the man to oblige before continuing. “Do you two

realize that there are real problems going on out there? Real laws are
being broken and people actually really need our help. But instead
I’m here refereeing a sparring match between two…children!”

Both the man and the woman jerked their heads back as if being

smacked. “S–sorry, Officer. He just makes me so damn angry
sometimes. I swear he does things sometimes just to upset me.”

“Yeah well, now you’ve done it because not only am I not going

to help you get your car back, but I’m going to write you both a ticket
for disturbing the peace. Maybe then you’ll think twice before using
the tax payers’ resources to facilitate your childish arguments!”

They both looked down in shame and muttered their apologies.
“Fine, whatever. Look, just don’t bother us anymore unless you

have a real, honest-to-goodness situation, okay?” Josh turned to leave.

“Ain’t you gonna write us the ticket?” the man asked, prompting

his wife to sock him a good one in the stomach.

“No. Just get your car out of impound and we’ll call it even.

Behave though, all right? I mean really, you two. This is ridiculous.”

They both nodded in agreement as Josh got in his car. He shook

his head wondering what in the hell was wrong with people these
days. Kids were shooting kids, couples were having their significant

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other’s cars towed, and boyfriends were stealing anything and
everything from their boyfriends, what was next, anarchy?

Only he knew what chaos reigned after society reached that point.

He knew all too well, because that’s when one lost all sense of reason
and rational behavior and invited a complete stranger to live with him,
a completely adorable and utterly baffling stranger that was already
starting to consume his thoughts.

“What in the hell are you doing, Hendricks?” He asked the

question aloud to the silence of his squad car, knowing that there was
no answer to such a perplexing question.

Erotic images flashed in his head of Paul sitting astride him as he

thrust into his ass, riding him to climax. He had no idea what his
house guest’s body looked like, but he could guess. His lean body
teased of a flat stomach and sexy frame.

Josh stopped his car at a stoplight and rested his head against the

back of his seat. “You are so screwed, Hendricks.”

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Six

Josh was driving down the road when he received word to come

back to the sheriff’s office for an emergency meeting. He hesitantly
pulled into the parking lot dreading the ass-chewing he knew he was
about to receive. He shouldn’t have gone off on that couple earlier,
but they had just plain ticked him off.

Moments later he walked into the station, surprised to see

everyone filing into the debriefing room. He glanced over and saw
that the sheriff’s office was empty, so he fell in step with the others
and took a seat at the back of the room.

“You’re probably all wondering why I’ve called you back here

like this,” the sheriff said with a grim look on his face. “I’m not going
to sugarcoat anything. I need some volunteers to work the weekend
night shift.”

The room was filled with grumbles and groans of dissatisfaction.

The night shift in Central City on a weekend was worse than any
other nights of the week. If one wasn’t trying to assist the local
casinos with the slew of city folk who had come up to the hills for
gambling, they were running all over the small town answering
bizarre calls.

Something happened to a person when they mixed alcohol with

gambling. Some people couldn’t gamble for fun or sport. It became an
obsession, and there was an irate demeanor that could come over even
the calmest person once they were faced with the knowledge that
they’d lost money. This scenario was often magnified if they were
with their significant other who was just as angry. Weekends in
Central City were nothing but a clusterfuck.

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The thought of that one little naughty four-letter word shot Josh’s

mind straight to Paul. The idea of him walking home late at night and
wearing that ridiculous outfit in such a bad part of town didn’t sit well
with Josh at all. If it was a halfway decent looking tuxedo it might not
be so bad, but the out-of-style fashion reject from the nineteen
eighties made Paul stick out like a sore thumb.

If he took the weekend shift he’d no doubt spend a lot of time

patrolling the area that Paul worked. Volunteering would also earn
him some brownie points with the sheriff as well. He surely would
need them when and if the complaint came in for him screaming at
that couple earlier today.

“I’ll do it,” he blurted out, and the whole room quieted and turned

toward him. “What?”

“You’re volunteering for this, Hendricks? I thought you hated that

shift. Lord knows you bitched about it enough last year until you
finally got off of it,” the sheriff asked in disbelief.

Josh shrugged casually. “What can I say, Sheriff? I’m just a team

player like that.”

Sheriff Lankford cocked an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “What’d

you do, Hendricks?”

He held in his laughter, but he thought it was pretty funny that

Lankford had him figured out so easily. “What? I am shocked that
you don’t have faith in my ability as a law enforcement officer to—
what? Why is everyone laughing?”

“Maybe it’s because we all know that you’re feeding us a line of

bullshit,” Officer Baca said from behind him.

“Hey, if you want the shift, Baca, then it’s yours. I was just trying

to be a nice guy.”

His fellow officers and the sheriff all had a good laugh at Josh’s

expense, but he didn’t care. He just hoped when it came time for him
to get his ass reamed for his behavior with the feuding couple that the
good old sheriff would remember what a swell guy he was.

Paul’s Possession

“Alright, fine. That’s enough, everyone. Hendricks, you’re on the

weekend night shift starting tomorrow. And you.” Sheriff Lankford
pointed to Baca. “Since you have an opinion on anything and
everything, Baca, you can fill the other spot.”

Baca whined like a four-year-old who had just had his toy taken

away. “Oh come on, Sheriff.”

Sheriff Lankford held up his hands to silence the whiny officer.

“Don’t blame me. Blame Gallagher and Hall. They’re the ones that
you two are covering for.”

A hush fell in the room. There had been talk going on for quite

some time about the two deputies. For both of them to miss their
shifts at the same time only added fuel to the proverbial fire.

“Alright you little scoundrels. I can see your mouths watering for

juicy gossip. I swear to Christ, sometimes you men are worse than my
wife’s church group. Here’s the short version of it, but it’s all you’re
going to get it. The rumors about the two were apparently true, and
Hall went and got herself pregnant by that damn lug, so as we speak
two of my best deputies are in Vegas having a little impromptu
honeymoon.”

Josh and his coworkers’ jaws all but hit the floor. It was one thing

to suspect a couple of coworkers were screwing around, but to hear
that they up and got married and were having a kid put a whole new
level of shock value into it.

“All right, so it is what it is. They’re together and you all can quit

your damn cackling like hens over it. Understood?”

A rumble of acknowledgment filled the room. Josh knew not one

of them, probably himself included would completely drop it.
Gallagher and Hall were going to be the victims of officer banter and
poor jokes for quite some times to come.

“That’s all. Ya’ll are dismissed. Baca and Hendricks, get out of

here and go home and get some rest. You’ll need it for tomorrow
night. As for the rest of you, I’ll be unavailable for the next couple
hours. Unless the whole dang town catches on fire, don’t call me.

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There are a couple of feds who want me to meet them over in Gilpin
County. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Without saying another word
Sheriff Lankford left the room.

Josh headed for the door and smiled. He knew Baca was giving

him the evil eye, and it amused him to no end. “See you tomorrow,
Baca.”

He waved and headed for the parking lot, but not before hearing

Baca holler in response, “You’re a dickhead, Hendricks.”

The comment would have made him laugh on any other occasion,

but the thought of that one little word sent more erotic images of Paul
flashing through his mind. What in the hell was wrong with him, he
wondered. He didn’t even know this guy. Hell, for all Josh knew he
would come home to an empty house. Paul could be robbing his ass
blind right now, and all he could think of was how much he wanted…
Shit. He needed to get his head straight.

Thief or no thief, he was going home to see Paul now. If there was

ever a test to see how trustworthy his new houseguest could be, this
was it. He would show up unexpectedly and catch him when his guard
was down. He hoped that whatever he found, he was prepared for it.
He couldn’t help but want to be right about Paul. If he wasn’t, he
wasn’t sure he would be able to handle that.

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Seven

Paul had just finished vacuuming when he felt the first pang of

achiness. He had been cleaning and doing laundry since virtually the
moment Josh had left earlier. He felt like he needed to do something
with his nervous energy, especially after the visions that flew into his
mind when he watched Josh walk down the driveway and away from
him.

For reasons that he couldn’t quite understand, much less explain,

he found himself staring at Josh’s ass in his tan-colored trousers,
wondering what it would look like in the flesh. His illicit thoughts
unfortunately only brought on more images, which only confused him
that much more. Paul was not a promiscuous man. In fact, before
Tyler he’d lived a very boring sex life. To feel such an immediate
attraction to a man he’d just met was definitely not the norm for him.

Paul, by nature, had never been very sexual. Sure, he’d had sex

before, but only with two men. Tyler, of course, was one of the two,
and while it was enjoyable, it was never earth shattering. He certainly
had never before felt with Tyler the same type of feeling that he’d
experienced as he envisioned Josh standing naked and erect before
him.

To keep his wandering mind in check, Paul did the one thing he

was good at, staying busy. So he cleaned. He cleaned like he was
Suzy Homemaker. He took a page out of his mother’s book and kept
his mind busy on something else rather than what was weighing on
his mind. He was beginning to pay for it now, though, and suddenly
the idea of standing on his feet for over eight hours in those horrible
shoes was not something he was looking forward to.

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Wrapping the cord and putting the vacuum back into the closet, he

glanced at the clock. It was only half past two in the afternoon. He
had plenty of time to take a nice long, hot bath and relax some of the
tension knots which were building up in all of his muscles and joints.
He knew they’d surely return after a night of waiting tables, but the
small bliss of a relaxing soak would at least tide him over for the time
being.

He wished he didn’t have to go. He wished more than anything

that he didn’t need this job. Sadly, wishes didn’t add up to much in
his bank account. Josh may have offered him a place to stay, but there
was no telling how long the offer would last. Plus he didn’t know if
there would at some point be a demand for rent, or some sort of
monetary compensation for the roof Josh had placed over his head.

All of this crap with Tyler couldn’t be happening at a worse time.

In between work, Paul was supposed to be starting his new self-help
book and get it to his publisher by the end of next month. It was only
his third, but his writing was his main career choice. It was what he’d
gone to college for and the reason he had worked so hard all those
years. Faced with having to worry about his deadline now only
increased his stress on so many other levels. A hot bath wouldn’t
solve any of his problems, but at least he’d be able to forget about
them for a short time anyway.

Paul went to his pink and girly bedroom to get his robe. To add to

the feminine style of his accommodations, he had to shake his head at
the irony in the situation. His robe was coincidentally enough satin
just like parts of Josh’s sister’s bedding set.

The robe had been a joke gift from Tyler back from a time when

they were a real couple. Tyler had teased Paul incessantly, claiming
he was too sensitive and acted more like a girl than a man. It was
jabbing, which had been fun in the beginning, but like everything else
with Tyler, it didn’t take long before it grew old.

When Paul’s birthday rolled around, Tyler had gotten him the

shiny fabric robe, or he’d picked it up anyway. It was purchased with

Paul’s Possession

Paul’s money just like everything else was. As silly as it seemed at
the time, Paul learned to love the cool feel of the smooth fabric. He
only wore it as a joke at first, and had planned on getting himself a
nice regular robe, the kind that a man would wear. That was of course
before Tyler treated his bank account like an ATM and took him for
everything he had, which sadly wasn’t much.

A couple of moments later, Paul was stripping down and dipping

his feet into the hot and steamy water. It was sweet and sultry heaven,
he thought as he rolled up a small hand towel and placed it behind his
head. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander, which was
something he really shouldn’t have done, because suddenly the same
thoughts that he had tried so hard to erase from his head were
sneaking back in.

In his mind Josh was standing before him. He was naked from

head to toe and glistening with sweat from what Paul imagined was
some sort of sexy cop workout like one would see in the movies. Josh
was hard, his cock jutting out as though it was a weapon ready to
annihilate.

Unconsciously, Paul licked his lips at the mental image he had

formed as he pictured Josh holding his hand out to him, beckoning
Paul to come closer.

Paul lay there, daydreaming in the tub. He could feel his cock

harden in anticipation of what would happen next in his fantasy. His
hand swept down and gently grazed his cock as his skin began to
stretch against his thickening erection.

He hissed out a breath when his fingertips tickled against his balls.

With Tyler screwing around on him, he hadn’t had sex in a while and
hadn’t the desire to allow himself even a few moments of self
pleasure.

As images of Josh raced through his fantasies, Paul closed his

eyes and held on for the journey his mind was taking him on. Just
hours before a sexy cop had come to his door and all but rescued him.

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It may be the type of thing that cheesy fairy tales were made of, but
this was his fantasy and he could do whatever he wanted in it.

Paul wrapped his fingers around his length, and from just that

slightest pressure he couldn’t help but moan. He wondered if he’d
ever been this turned on before. His hunch was that he hadn’t. Sex
never seemed to be his thing. He enjoyed it on occasion, but it was
usually a means to an end. He usually was just giving into whatever
Tyler wanted. He never felt the burning desire that was coursing
through him at this very moment.

Slowly he stroked his cock, sliding his skin up and down along his

shaft and flexing his toes at the intensity of how good it was.

“Oh God.” He half spoke half groaned the words. The proof was

now in the pudding. He knew for sure that he had never ever been this
aroused before.

He continued to squeeze his nipples as he brought his other hand

down to the part of his body that needed it the most. He reached his
hand down into the warm water and wrapped his fingers around his
thickening cock. Barely grazing his balls with his knuckles, he felt a
jolt of heat shoot through his body. He then worked his hand up and
down the stretched flesh, moaning once again at how good it felt.

Josh. His name floated through his mind like a tease.
God, but he wanted him. Why he was struck with such an

elemental desire for the man he had no idea. Even his first time with
Tyler he hadn’t been turned on so intensely, and that was after weeks
of build up and anticipation. It made no sense that his body could
have such craving for a complete stranger. Somehow though, the
thought of having Josh be inside of him and rocking in and out of him
sent chills of pleasure racing up his spine.

Unconsciously he lifted a leg over the edge of the tub to gain

better leverage in his play. He was on fire for Josh, wanting him and
needing him as he fantasized about climaxing from his touch.

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Paul dropped his other hand beneath the water and arched his

body until his hand was met with the tiny puckered hole that he’d
only allowed Tyler into one time.

It ached.
It throbbed.
It needed…to be filled.

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Chapter Eight

Josh pulled into his driveway with mixed emotions. He was still

reeling from his rash decision to invite this complete stranger into his
home. He wanted to believe his good-hearted nature was the sole
driving force behind it, but he knew a part of him was being led by his
attraction.

Once he parked his squad car and walked the few steps to the

house he had resigned himself to at least trying to act casual around
the man who seemed to be taking up so much real estate in his mind.
However, his plan at being aloof was thrown off course when he
walked in and was thrown a curve ball.

The house, his house, looked immaculate. He was never a slob by

any stretch of the imagination, but he certainly wasn’t the type of guy
to spend his down time dusting and cleaning like his mother used to.

Everything smelled so fresh and clean. He didn’t think his coffee

table had ever looked so good. The dark cherrywood shined in the
sunlight. He worked his way into the kitchen in search of Paul. He
wanted to thank him, and maybe secretly do a few other things, but
mostly he wanted to thank him for all he had done that day.

As he took in the gleaming kitchen countertops and dishes drying

in the rack, he heard a strange noise and turned to determine where it
had come from. When he realized that it was coming from the back of
the house, he walked down the hall and headed toward the bedrooms.
He was nearly at Paul’s bedroom door and ready to knock when he
stopped dead in his tracks.

To his left, in the corner of his peripheral vision something had

grabbed his eye and attention. Then at the very same moment he

Paul’s Possession

heard Paul’s voice. Josh turned to face the open door of the bathroom
and was not prepared for what he saw.

Oh sweet Jesus!
Josh stared at the vision before him, entranced by the sight of his

new houseguest self pleasuring himself in his bathtub, while calling
out his name.

“Mmm…Josh…oh…yes. Just like that. Touch me…all over.”
Whatever he did, whatever good deed he had done, whatever task

he was being rewarded for, he was damn thankful for. He looked at
Paul, watching his body as it arched into one of his hands, while his
other one worked up and down beneath the surface of the water.

He looked so damn sexy. Josh couldn’t figure out what had drawn

him to Paul, but subconsciously he must have known that there was
more to Paul than met the eye. He no longer looked like the frumpy
boy who had slept in his clothes. He now looked like a god of sex.
Not able to hold his silence anymore, he let an appreciative groan slip
past his lips when Paul mentioned his name once more.

Paul’s eyes flew open in shock. He looked over at the doorway

and stared at Josh with horror in his eyes. He remained still, almost
frozen for a moment before he finally tried to cover himself.

Josh was still stunned by what he’d walked in on. He knew he was

attracted to Paul, but hadn’t actually considered the possibility he
stood a chance in hell. Now he realized just how wrong he was. In
that small moment of time all of his manners and gentlemanly ways
went out the window.

With the drive of a wild animal on the prowl, Josh came toward

Paul and knelt beside the tub and uttered an emphatic, “Uh uh.”

Paul continued to stare at him, and with his eyes wide and a

reddened face, he began to stutter a response. “Josh…I—”

“No. Not like that.” Josh shook his head. “Don’t say my name like

that.”

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Josh reached his hand across Paul’s and wrapped his trembling

fingers back around his cock. “Say it like you were a minute ago. Say
it like you want me.”

“I…I can’t.” Paul quickly pulled his hand away and looked down.
“Yes you can. I heard you. I saw you,” Josh persisted. His usually

polite demeanor was overrun with feelings of power and possession.

“I’ve never.” Paul’s lips quivered and voice shook with every

word. “I’m sorry…this is so embarrassing.”

“Shh.” Josh tried to calm him. “Here…like this.” Josh closed his

fingers around Paul’s dick and worked his fist up and down. He bit
back a curse when he felt the thick cock that lay heavy in his palm.
“Don’t stop touching yourself.”

Josh’s actions were no longer under his control. He continued to

work his hands up and down as the water lapped against his arm. The
hot liquid washed across his skin, increasing the temperature in his
own body to scorching levels.

He watched in fascination as Paul relaxed under his touch. His

face changed. No longer was the telltale sign of embarrassment
covering his expression. Now he could sense Paul’s desire building
back up.

Gently, Josh stroked Paul’s cock as he felt his own begin to twitch

and react to the wonderful fantasy he’d come home to. Paul may have
started the tease, but Josh had no problem meeting him with a taunt.
He knew what he wanted, and now he knew he wouldn’t be able to
stop until he got exactly that.

Paul gasped and continued to squirm underneath Josh’s touch.

Josh leaned further over the tub, eager for more and to see what more
noises he could create in Paul with just his touch. He reached below
the water and ignored his uniform getting wet. His focus was on one
thing and one thing only…Paul.

Just beneath the base of Paul’s cock Josh slipped his finger inside

the seam of Paul’s ass. The soft cheeks spread for him with the
smallest effort until he found the hole which he’d been after. Josh

Paul’s Possession

then slid his finger inside, delving into the tight entrance which
pulsated around his intrusion.

Paul arched his body up and sighed with Josh’s invasion. He

opened his eyes and looked into Josh’s. There seemed to be a silent
understanding between the two men who had barely just met. Paul
was welcoming him, accepting what was about to happen, and from
what Josh could tell, he was sure enjoying it.

“I’ve been dreaming about having you all afternoon,” Josh

confessed, although he wasn’t sure why he did.

Paul then muttered something, but it was didn’t register with Josh.

With Paul’s cock in one hand and fingering his ass with the other, he
was lost in a tornado of lust that was out of his control.

“What are you…doing?” Paul whispered through gasping breaths.
Josh watched, completely mesmerized as Paul bent his body and

arched with every thrust of his finger. Josh’s cock was already rock
hard and ready to fuck. He needed Paul, and he couldn’t stand another
moment not knowing what it was like to take him.

“You’re driving me crazy.” Josh bit his lower lip and slipped his

finger farther into Paul’s ass. “You like my finger in your ass? Hmm?
Does that feel good?”

“Josh…yes, but I…”
He was utterly fascinated by this man. From the disheveled state

he’d found Paul in that morning to the seductive way he moved as
Josh finger-fucked his ass. it was all too damn sexy for him to be
expected to resist.

Josh was able to witness Paul’s arousal as it lit up in his face. His

cheeks flushed as his lips parted and his eyes glazed over. He was
getting close to the edge.

His own cock was leaking through his trousers as he continued to

pump Paul’s cock. He didn’t want to wait anymore. Josh was standing
on the edge of some sort of cliff he’d never even stepped foot on
before. Yet he felt like he knew exactly what to do next.

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Josh pulled his hands out of the water and ignored Paul’s flustered

protest. He wanted Paul right where he had him. He wanted him
lingering there while he felt the sensation of his ass still tingling from
Josh’s touch. He knew all too well how much of a wonderful
contradiction it could be when his own ass was played with. The way
the hole would throb from the intrusion, almost insisting it couldn’t
take anymore. Then how it could ache for more, almost begging to be
filled deeper and harder.

Josh wanted Paul just on the cusp of that orgasm which was

obviously so close. That was where he knew Paul would be at his
most vulnerable. Josh couldn’t help himself, but he wanted to be in
control. He wanted to take Paul and make him submit to him in every
possible way.

The primal and possessive feeling was foreign to Josh. He wasn’t

into dominance. Rarely did he ever exercise the streak in him which
he kept just below the surface. There was something about Paul
Rayburn that had sucker-punched him from the moment Paul opened
that door earlier that morning, making everything in this moment out
of his control.

Josh stood up and quickly unfastened his belt, and then his button

and zipper. He forced his pants and boxers down his thighs until his
engorged cock bounced free into the hot, humid air. He didn’t miss
the thirsty look he saw in Paul’s eyes, nor was he about to make either
one of them suffer a moment longer.

With one hand he held his cock, holding it steady in his fist, and

with the other he reached out and grabbed onto the back of Paul’s
head. “Open up and suck me,” he ordered.

For a second Paul hesitated. His green eyes looked up to Josh

uncertainly. Gently, Josh massaged the back of his head, and the
indecision seemed to vanish as Paul closed his eyes and opened his
mouth wide.

Paul’s Possession

Josh slid his cock past Paul’s thick pink lips. They closed around

his skin like a glove, fitting him snugly as Josh thrust himself into the
back of Paul’s throat.

“Oh God!” Josh cried out.
He hadn’t been prepared for how good it would feel. One year

with no sex life obviously had a bigger effect on him than he thought.
Maybe that was even the reason for his sudden dominance.

Paul looked at up at Josh through his heavy-lidded eyes. Until that

moment Josh hadn’t paid that much attention to Paul’s looks. Now it
felt as if there was a magnet pulling his vision downward to study
every inch of his face.

Paul’s green eyes were bright, almost like the green one would

find in the sprawling hills of Ireland. While his hair was trimmed
neatly against the crown of his head, the style of it complemented his
light-brown hair, which hinted to natural streaks of blond.

As good-looking as he was, Josh wasn’t sure he’d call him

handsome. There was an eclectic nature about him, nothing obvious
like one would see on the covers of magazines or in movie stars. Paul
Rayburn had a natural sex appeal which was exclusive to only him. It
was unique and sexy as all hell.

Josh’s entire length was buried in Paul’s mouth as he continued to

thrust and fuck his face. His lust was unrelenting, and images of
handcuffing Paul to his brass bed and forcing his cock down into his
throat sent shivers down his spine.

He almost came from the thought combined with the compliant

way that Paul kept taking him. His body was fighting against its own
will as he tried not to pummel Paul’s mouth anymore than he already
was and let his lust take charge.

Paul moaned and twisted his mouth around Josh’s shaft. Josh’s

hands were starting to tremble. His climax was so close he could
almost reach out and touch it. The realization forced him to slow his
pace and rein in his growing desire.

“Stroke yourself,” Josh told him.

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Paul was no longer the embarrassed houseguest of just minutes

before. He was now eager and ready to please. He dropped his hand
just beneath the water and did as he was told. Just knowing that Josh
had inspired Paul’s masturbation and he was now in complete control
over what Paul did sent what little restraint he’d had and shattered it
into a million pieces.

“Make yourself come,” Josh ordered him, purposely adding a tone

of authority to his words.

Josh’s body jerked, and he encased himself in Paul’s tight mouth.

Grabbing onto the back of his head, Josh held him in place, relishing
in the tiny convulsions that vibrated against his cock as he hit Paul’s
gag reflex.

Paul let out a howl, and his face contorted just as Josh saw Paul’s

orgasm wash across his face, just before exploding into the bathtub.
He came in wild spurts as his body thrashed about the tub. Still, Josh
held him in place, refusing to relent with his cock still buried deep
into Paul’s throat. His muffled screams felt like a hundred little
tongues licking his dick and pushing him further toward the edge.

Josh couldn’t hold on any longer. Finally he fell and let out a loud

scream into the small room. His shouts echoed against the tiled wall
and bounced back to him. Electric quicksilver shot through his body
and drew up tight in his balls. Cum spilled from his cock in fast,
continuous spurts as he heard Paul struggle to swallow and take all
that Josh gave him.

He waited for the high to subside. It had been far too long since

he’d enjoyed a climax by way of anything other than his own hand.
He rode the wave and coasted on a white-hot cloud of euphoria when
he felt a gentle touch which brought him back to the present.

He glanced down at Paul, whose lips were swollen and looked

like they’d been abused. The image sent conflicting emotions through
him. Josh could never hurt another person, and certainly not a lover,
but there was something incredibly alluring about the puffy
appearance of Paul’s mouth. Just knowing that he was responsible for

Paul’s Possession

it, though, awoke an animalistic nature in Josh wasn’t even aware he
even had.

Josh had never felt this way before. He always had a healthy sex

drive and masturbated several times a week, but this was different. It
wasn’t just his dormant sex life either. He had some wild partners in
bed before, but none of them had taken him from zero to climax in
such a short time as Paul just had.

“Josh, I…I don’t know what to say—”
He didn’t want to hear Paul’s words of doubt. What’d they’d just

experienced was too incredible to question it now. He leaned over and
silenced Paul before any regret spilled out.

The kiss was not a gentle meeting of lips when they first touched.

It was fierce and lecherous, exactly how Josh was feeling. He gave
Paul no option to pull away as his large hands framed his face and his
tongue slid easily inside Paul’s mouth. He wasn’t asking for
permission, he was claiming what he felt was already his. Josh teased
Paul with his tongue as he brushed it along his and swiped it all
around inside the dark hollows of his mouth.

Damn, but he tasted sweet. The remnants of his own orgasm

lingered on Paul’s taste buds as Josh drank it up. It was like a rich
candy with a hint of something which reminded him of butterscotch.

Paul’s mouth was full of unrelenting heat and brought the idea of

taking him from behind dancing through Josh’s mind. How good it
would feel to coat his cock in a slippery lubricant and lose himself in
Paul’s tight ass. He moaned from the mental image and pressed their
mouths together that much more.

Josh felt like he was losing control. There was something driving

him that had him in a trancelike state. Josh pulled away from the kiss,
and with his hands still framing Paul’s face he stared into those
vibrant green eyes.

Whatever was happening with this stranger he’d so foolishly

opened his home to, Josh couldn’t stop himself. Even if there were a
million warning signs staring him in the face he wasn’t sure he would

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be able to get off the train ride he’d just embarked on. If he ended up
in a fiery crash, then so be it. If Paul Rayburn turned out to be one of
the biggest mistakes he’d ever make, he would take those
consequences. There was just no way he was going to be able to pull
back now.

“God damn, I want you.”
“Then take me,” he whispered in answer.

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Nine

Paul followed Josh into his bedroom as water dripped down his

naked body onto the hardwood floor. His heart pounded with fear and
uncertainty over what he was doing. It seemed wrong in so many
ways, but for some reason he couldn’t help himself from wanting it,
from wanting him.

Maybe the stress had finally gotten to him. Maybe all of the

anguish Tyler had put him through was finally making him lose his
mind. There were probably a million reasons he could have come up
with that would explain away his sudden promiscuity and lack of
resistance. He didn’t care what they were, though. All he cared for in
this moment and time was living life to the fullest, and with Josh he’d
never felt more alive.

Josh pulled him close and began lavishing his neck with hot and

wet kisses. He could feel tiny pinpoints of desire shooting down to his
already flaccid dick. The exquisite way that Josh worked his tongue
along Paul’s earlobe and down to the hollow of his neck was driving
him mad. He normally needed time to recoup after an orgasm. It only
stood to reason that he would need that much longer after the mind-
blowing one he’d just experienced minutes before. Still he could
sense his cock waking up from its relaxed slumber as Josh continued
to tease him with nips and nibbles.

Paul reached down in between their bodies and grasped onto

Josh’s cock. Even in its soft and relaxed state it seemed large. It was
hard to imagine that he’d just had that same dick fill his mouth and
throat. An instinctive worry plagued him as he wondered if he’d be

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able to accommodate his size. That concern was short-lived as Paul
felt his own cock spasm back to life.

He wanted to see Josh, not just his cock, but all of him. Eager to

find out what was hidden behind the sexy cop getup, Paul brought his
hands up and began working the buttons of Josh’s uniform.
Thankfully, Josh had removed his pants and shoes in the bathroom,
quickly kicking them aside before all but yanking Paul out of the tub
with one hand.

The bedroom was hot, much hotter than the bathroom was as their

breaths intermingled with the lustful sounds of moaning. Once Paul
had finally rid Josh of his shirt, he swiftly tossed it aside and stood
back. He stared at the man who he barely knew and took in every inch
of his physique. His tanned skin was sprinkled with dark hairs across
his chest. Curves and valleys of muscles stretched and contoured
across what Paul could only describe as the most beautiful body he’d
ever seen.

Josh Hendricks wasn’t just good-looking. He was downright

beautiful. Paul had no idea what on earth Josh saw in Paul, but he
wasn’t going to argue the connection he felt. He didn’t just want Josh
to take him. He needed him to. After everything Tyler had done to
him, Paul needed to know he was desired by another man. He needed
to know that he wasn’t just some disposal piece of trash that could be
used and abused at someone else’s whim.

“You keep looking at me like that and I won’t make it another

second,” Josh said matter-of-factly.

The rumble of his sexy voice sent goose bumps across Paul’s

heated skin. He was normally so shy and bashful when it came to his
body. Somehow, standing naked and dripping with bathwater in front
of Josh, Paul felt none of those things. It was almost as if he was
under some sort of spell. The only emotions he could sense acted as
aphrodisiacs to an already unbelievably passionate situation.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Paul admitted.

Paul’s Possession

“It’s crazy. I know.” Josh reached his hand out and cupped the

side of Paul’s face. “If it helps you feel any better, I haven’t either.”

Paul’s body was already running on overdrive, and his normally

overactive mind was threatening to take over and make him doubt
was he was doing.

“I don’t want to think. I just want to feel.” Paul turned his head to

the side and gently sucked on the tip of Josh’s index finger. “I want
you to take me from behind.”

To be so blatant with his desires was not something Paul was used

to. He just couldn’t seem to help himself. Something about Josh just
brought it out in him. He may regret it tomorrow, or even in thirty
minutes, but now he didn’t want to consider any of that.

“Get on the bed,” Josh told him, while gently brushing his thumb

across his cheek.

Paul hesitantly moved away and did as he was told. A part of him

hated to break free from Josh’s touch, but he knew he was going to
feel so much more than the tender caress of his hand.

He’d climbed on the mattress and sat awkwardly on all fours as he

heard Josh squirt something onto his hand. The bed dipped
underneath his weight as Josh crawled up behind him. A large hand
grabbed his left ass cheek and pulled it aside just as Paul felt the cool
jelly slide across the seam of his ass. He shivered from the sensation.
The gel was so cool, yet the teasing motion warmed him all that much
more.

A long finger slipped into his hole, and instinctively Paul moved

against it. His hips worked with Josh’s finger until he ramped things
up by adding a second and third. In all his life Paul hadn’t
remembered any ass play feeling so good. The one time he’d allowed
Tyler to take his virginal hole he had been riddled with fear and
uncertainty. Even now, months later, Paul could remember the pain he
felt to be stretched so viciously with little lubrication. Tyler hadn’t
used anything more than his spit and the small amount of lube which
coated the condom he’d worn. Somehow that excruciating memory

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didn’t register for Paul because now all he could think of was how
good Josh’s fingers felt working in and out of his ass.

The exquisite sensation went on for several minutes as Paul’s own

cock grew thick and hard with anticipation of what was to come.
Josh’s dick poked at the back of his thigh and told him he was also
suffering from the same affliction. For several minutes Paul continued
to rock against Josh’s hand as his fingers stretched him a little more
each time.

Paul was in heaven, loving every second of the foreplay, until

abruptly Josh pulled away. He was about to protest when the familiar
sound of a condom wrapper being opened brought him back to the
here and now.

There were no sounds in the room other than the heavy breaths of

the two men. Paul waited anxiously as seconds ticked by. He heard a
muffled curse from Josh as he slid the condom down his cock.

Josh returned his hands to Paul’s ass cheeks and spread them wide

apart. His cock poked precariously at Paul’s entrance. He could feel
his blood pressure reaching new heights as he waited for Josh to work
his way inside.

Josh’s head poked at his puckered entrance pushing just past the

creased skin. Instantly, Paul’s body tensed up. His fingers hadn’t been
close to the size of Josh, and already he could feel the pain slicing
through him.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked. “Do you want me to stop?”
Paul considered his question, and no matter how much his brain

screamed at him to make Josh stop, there was another part of him that
knew not only that he could take him, but that he desperately wanted
to.

“No. It’s okay. Keep going.”
He clenched his fists against the crisp white sheets and balled the

fabric in his fingers. He just needed to relax.

Josh held himself in place for a moment, allowing Paul’s body

time to accommodate his size. Then after a minute he pushed a little

Paul’s Possession

farther. His cock stretched into the recesses of Paul’s ass, stretching
his tight entrance as the agony ripped through Paul. He refused to
scream or let out an ounce of pain. He tried with everything he had to
control the discomfort, sure that if Josh knew how badly it hurt he
would stop.

“Fuck…” Josh whispered. “You’re so tight. Are you sure you’re

okay? I can feel you throbbing around me.”

Paul moaned a halfhearted answer of assurance, refusing to not

make it through this moment. His body was already starting to relax
and accept him. He just needed to be a little more patient and the pain
would subside.

“Okay. Tell me if I hurt you,” Josh insisted before he moved

again.

Josh pulled out slowly and then rocked forward, pushing himself a

little farther inside. He continued the exquisite torture over and over
again until Paul watched his hands relax. Suddenly there was no pain.
His ass throbbed, but in a much different way. Those tiny muscles
were no longer angry.

It felt so good, he thought as he arched his back, allowing Josh a

better angle of his rump. He was just about to move with him when he
experienced a harsh jolt back to reality. With a sudden rush of
adrenaline, Paul felt his entire body cringe in pain as Josh thrust hard
into his ass. The gentle dance of working into him slowly was no
longer in play.

Josh’s cock was buried deep into Paul’s ass, and his body

protested the abrupt invasion. Waves of pain crashed through his body
as he fought to hold himself still. A trail of sweat beaded at his
forehead before sliding down his cheek.

He tried to remember if his body had ever registered this amount

of pain before, but the curiosity was short-lived as soon as he felt his
tight tunnel start to relax. In a matter of seconds, his body had gone
from tensely agitated to fluttering with excitement.

“Jesus. I’m sorry. I got carried away,” Josh whispered.

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“It’s okay.”
“Damn you feel good. So fucking tight.”
Paul knew it was tight. That much he could feel, but as good as he

probably felt to Josh, Paul was starting to sense something that was
foreign to him. His ass no longer felt tight and closed. It suddenly felt
open and inviting. Even with having Josh’s cock buried balls deep
into him, he felt empty, like he needed more.

God help him, but he wanted more. How that was possible he had

no idea, but his hips started to rock and move against Josh as he
whispered his plea. “Fuck me.”

“Oh my…God.”
Josh grabbed onto his hips and began pumping himself against

Paul’s body. The sound of skin slapping against skin echoed in the
sultry room and mingled with the scent of sex and their ragged
breaths.

A trail of pre-cum leaked down the side of Paul’s cock, and he

grabbed onto it. He fisted his thickness in his hand and began stroking
himself. He was hard as granite, and he fought against intense
awareness that was running through him. Every part of his being felt
alive and just on the cusp of something that he could only describe as
magnificent.

Josh was groaning and filling the room with his appreciation for

Paul. Though he wasn’t able to make out exactly what Josh was
saying, Paul was completely lost in his own stimulation. His cock was
swollen. The massaging that Josh’s dick was providing to his ass was
only adding to his euphoria. What Tyler had done hadn’t even come
close to this. Paul didn’t think he’d experienced even a moment of
pleasure with Tyler. Whatever the hell Josh was doing felt magical.

“I can’t hold on. I’m so fucking close.” Josh grunted out the

words.

The way his voice struggled to speak sent prickly nerve endings

into high alert all over Paul’s body. It was Paul that was wreaking
such havoc on the sexy cop who was fucking him. It was nothing else.

Paul’s Possession

It was Paul’s ass he was fucking, Paul’s body who was giving him
such pleasure, and Paul’s tight hole which was pushing Josh over the
edge.

In that moment Paul felt his normally tiny ego explode with male

pride. Like a lion who needed to roar, he shouted his response. “Come
for me. Now!”

Just as the words fell from his lips, he felt his own climax grab

hold of him. He tightened his grip on his cock and squeezed tightly as
he stroked himself once, twice, and finally a third time before he
exploded onto the white sheets beneath him.

Josh let out a howl and pummeled Paul’s ass at the same moment.

Despite the condom, Paul could feel the warm liquid fill the latex and
heat up the inside of his ass. The knowledge that he’d caused that, that
he’d somehow held power over another’s body for even a moment,
brought a smile to his face.

Both of the men had remained silent as they each regained control

of their breathing. Paul seemed to coast forever. The high that his own
orgasm had caused made him feel like he was floating on some cloud
high above his body. He hadn’t even noticed at first when Josh started
to slide out of his ass.

Josh placed a soft kiss to the small of his back before he got off

the bed and left the room. The sound of a toilet flushing a moment
later echoed in the quietness before Josh came back to join him.

Josh climbed onto the bed, lying on the pillow to Paul’s side and

softly ran his hand up along his back. “Hey…come here.”

Paul allowed himself to collapse from his position and snuggled

into the crook of Josh’s arm. The tension he’d felt in his achy joints
was no longer present. Now every part of him felt tingly and at peace.

Josh kissed the top of his head. “That was amazing.”
“Mmm…” It was all Paul could manage to say. His entire body

hummed with blissful happiness. Words seemed so inconsequential at
the moment.

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“I’m working the night shift. What time do you have to be up for

work?” Josh asked.

Paul looked over at the red numbers of Josh’s alarm clock. “In

two hours.”

“Okay, baby. Just sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
Paul felt Josh moving, obviously setting the alarm as he allowed

Paul to lie cuddled up against his shoulder. There was something so
contradictory about Josh that made Paul all the more curious about
who this man was. In one minute he was demanding and in control, a
complete sexual god who knew what he wanted and would stop at
nothing to have it. Then in the next minute he could be so delicate and
gentle in how he treated him.

The man was a complete paradox and that made him that much

sexier to Paul. He would deal with the consequences of what they’d
just done later. Right then all he wanted to do was sleep in the arms of
the hero who came to rescue him on one of the worst days of his life.

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Ten

The buzzing of Josh’s alarm woke him from a sound sleep. Out of

habit he squinted his eyes, expecting the harsh sunlight to burn his
eyes, but only stars and a sliver of moonlight seeped through the
curtains. He reached over and turned off the obnoxious screech which
echoed in his ears.

Paul jostled in his sleep, murmuring something against Josh’s

chest before he snuggled up against him. The way his warm skin
comforted Josh as he rubbed his tired eyes gave him a foreign and
uncomfortable sensation inside.

The numbers on the clock reflected off of his dresser mirror,

telling him it was nearly eight o’clock. He didn’t want to get up, but
he knew if he rested his eyes for even ten extra minutes he’d be out
for the night. His body was far too relaxed to partake in a simple cat
nap. No matter how much he enjoyed sleeping with Paul curled up
beside him.

“Hey…” Josh gently nudged Paul who didn’t move an inch.

“Come on now…If I have to get up and work so do you.”

Paul whimpered his resistance and rolled over. In spite of the

darkened room, Paul’s movements offered Josh a treat to behold. His
naked body was barely visible in the darkness, but the light shined on
his ass cheeks almost as if a painter had created an erotic image on
canvas for him to enjoy.

Unconsciously and almost out of his control, Josh reached over

and palmed Paul’s right cheek. The soft texture of his skin combined
with the round globes were such a contradiction to the tight channel
which had held him so exquisitely just hours before. The memory of it

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made his cock jump to attention, and he knew that if he didn’t stop his
mind from wandering, there would be an act two to their earlier
performance and neither one of them would make it to work.

Playfully, Josh smacked Paul’s ass and leaned over. “All right,

sleepyhead. If I can’t sleep, then neither can you. I’ll make some
coffee. Why don’t you hop in the shower?”

“Ugh…” Paul groaned. “Do I have to?”
Josh got up from the bed. “Believe me. I don’t want to go into

work any more than you do. But it provides me with that little thing
known as money. Which helps me pay those other pesky things called
bills.”

Paul let out a sigh and sat up in bed. “You’re right. I know. I’m

getting up.”

Josh purposely left the room as soon as he saw Paul stand up. His

houseguest’s cock hung teasingly in the moonlight like a tantalizing
temptation. He ignored the sound of his shower turning on a moment
later, not wanting to picture Paul standing naked under the steaming
water. His attraction to the man was evident, and he held little faith in
his self-control if he were to join him for a quick wash.

He hurried to the kitchen, bare-ass naked in order to make some

coffee. Reaching into the freezer, he pulled out his bag of coffee
beans and poured them into the grinder. Then he pushed the lid down
and allowed the screeching sound of the machine to work through his
mind like an alarm clock on crack. If he wasn’t awake before, he
surely was now, he mused as he poured the fresh grounds into the
maker and added water.

His stomach growled at him as he waited for the coffee to finish

brewing, so he retrieved a couple of his favorite frozen breakfast
meals. They weren’t his favorite because of their flavor. In fact, when
it came to his taste buds, the frozen concoctions left a little bit to be
desired. Since cooking eggs were never one of his talents, he had to
resort to the frozen substitutes for mornings, or nights, such as these.

Paul’s Possession

“I’m all done. The shower’s free,” Paul hollered from the other

room.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll be right there,” Josh answered.
He closed the door to the microwave and set the timer. It seemed

strange that the two of them were getting ready for work as if this
were their daily routine. Shouldn’t there be some sort of awkwardness
between them, he wondered.

The stranger part of it was, he felt none of that with Paul. He

hadn’t even known the man for twenty-four hours and here he was
staying at his place. They’d already had mind-blowing sex, and now
they were getting ready to head off to work as though this was the
norm for them. His instincts told him he should be more cautious, but
his mind and told him not to worry. The whole situation seemed
unusual, even for him.

He shook off his internal nagging and walked down the hall. He

saw a light shining through the cracked open doorway of Paul’s room.
For a second he considered knocking, but realized he had no idea
what he would say, so he went for the shower in hopes the steam
would help clear his muddled mind.

Josh turned on the water and stepped inside, knowing full well his

hot water heater was not his best friend. With Paul taking a shower
first, the chances that Josh’s shower would turn to ice were pretty
strong. He made quick work of his hair with the shampoo and had just
finished lathering soap all over his body when he felt the first sluice
of coldness wash across his skin. Quickly, he rinsed off and finished
just in time as the icicles started to rain down on top of him.

He shivered as he shut off the water and grabbed a towel off the

hook. His pants and shoes were still balled up on the floor where his
fun had begun. It was hard for him to believe that the interlude
between him and Paul had happened just three hours before. Despite
the newness of it, he felt oddly comfortable with Paul. Though he had
to admit that the sex had been so awesome, he might still be riding the
wave of that, and his mind hadn’t regained all of its control.

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When he left the bathroom to go and get dressed, he snuck a peek

at Paul, who was pulling on his black trousers and fastening the
sparkle suspenders of his work uniform. As ridiculous as the getup
was, Josh admired how well Paul filled it out. He didn’t have an
overly assuming physique, but Josh knew from experience what was
lurking beneath the polyester and cotton.

He forced himself to look away and worry about dressing himself

rather than stand there watching him like a horny landlord who was
catching a glimpse at his tenant. Not that he felt he and Paul had that
type or relationship or anything.

The truth was, he hadn’t given much thought to what their

arrangement might be at all. When he’d asked Paul to stay with him it
had been on a whim. The words surprised him probably more than
they did Paul.

Now that they had taken things further than was normal for

roommates, Josh knew a talk would definitely be in order. He just
wasn’t sure he wanted to add too serious of a note to something that
was so new.

A couple of minutes later Josh was dressed in uniform and on his

way back to the kitchen. His years in law enforcement and needing to
be available at the drop of a hat made him an expert in getting ready
quickly. Paul was still rustling around in his room while Josh made
his way to the kitchen.

The aroma of sausage, eggs, and freshly brewed coffee wafted

through the room and brought a smile to Josh’s face. He loved his
coffee almost as much as he loved to eat. Though which one he loved
more was a toss-up. They each held a special place in his stomach.

He retrieved a couple of plates and cups from his cupboard and

made quick work of placing the microwavable scrambled eggs and
sausage on the dishes before grabbing the pot of coffee and setting it
on a hot pad on the table. Just as he pulled a couple of forks and
spoons out of the drawer, Paul rounded the corner and walked in the
kitchen.

Paul’s Possession

Paul took a look at Josh’s small kitchen table and said, “Wow.

How long was I getting ready for?”

Josh eyed the green-eyed beauty who stood before him and

wondered how anyone could make the ridiculous costume he wore
look even halfway decent.

“I can’t believe you have to wear that thing. Your boss must have

a twisted sense of humor,” he said while motioning for Paul to sit
down.

“I know. It kind of sucks.”
“Kind of sucks? You look like an exiled penguin from the disco

era. I can’t imagine that this outfit helps any business at all.”

Paul held out his cup as Josh poured some for him. “Thanks.”
“Cream or sugar?”
“No.” Paul took a drink. “Thanks, I drink it black.”
“Sure wish I could. I never had the stomach for it. I’m a two

sugars and a butt-load of cream kind of guy.”

Paul looked at him and grinned. “Butt-load, huh?”
Josh hadn’t caught his Freudian slip, but he thought it was damn

cute that Paul did. “Yeah, well you know what I mean.”

Paul nodded as he took a bite of the eggs. “Oh my God.”
“That bad?” Josh asked.
Paul finished chewing before answering. “No. It’s so good.”
“This?” Josh looked down. “You delirious or something?”
“I haven’t exactly been eating great lately. With my money

problems and all. This is like a feast. Thank you so much. I can’t
believe you cooked me breakfast.”

“Oh.” Josh winced. “I suppose I could be that guy and take credit

for it. But, truthfully this is just microwavable crap. I’m really not that
great of a cook. I burn eggs every time I try.”

“Well, microwavable or not, I think it tastes great. I really

appreciate it. I haven’t eaten anything other than a few slices of
cheese I jacked from your fridge earlier when I was cleaning. My

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stomach thanks you,” Paul told him right before shoveling another
healthy bite into his mouth.

“You can’t do that. You have to eat. If you skip too many meals

you can make yourself sick.”

“Believe me”—Paul covered his mouth as he finished his bite—

“it’s not by choice. My financial situation hasn’t been great lately. But
you already know that.”

“Where are you from anyway? Do you have any family? Or are

you pretty much on your own?” He hesitated as soon as he’d asked.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry.”

“No, you’re not prying. It’s okay. I’m from Dove Creek. Do you

know it?”

“No?” He shook his head. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it. Is it

here in Colorado?”

“Yeah, several hours away. A really small town with only a few

hundred residents. My parents lived there their whole lives. I’m an
only child. They’re great and I love them, but honestly I’m not ready
to run back home to hear ‘I told you so.’ Right now I’m not sure my
pride can handle much more. I’m still in shock over everything I
allowed Tyler to do to me. And since I don’t have any siblings to run
off to, I need to figure out what I’m going to do with myself now that
I’m starting over from scratch.”

Paul had a somber, almost defeated look on his face. It made

Josh’s heart ache for him. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like
to be in such a position. Not that he ever thought he would be.
Trusting people was never a trait that Josh let loose freely. Well, at
least not until Paul moseyed on into his life earlier that day anyway.

“Speaking of…” Josh set down his fork and figured there was no

time like the present to have this talk. “Maybe we should talk
about…well, this…us…what happened.”

Paul’s mouth stopped chewing, and he swallowed whatever he’d

had as he also set his fork down. The casual conversation of the room

Paul’s Possession

left, and now there was an awkward silence between them. Josh
instantly chided himself, wishing he hadn’t said a word.

“Look, don’t worry. I’m not kicking you out or anything. I

just…well I wasn’t expecting this. You know what happened between
us. And like I said before, I really don’t normally invite people into
my home. It just happened, and now—”

“It’s okay,” Paul interrupted. “I understand. If you can just give

me a couple of days to find somewhere else, I would appreciate it.”

“No,” Josh blurted out.
“Okay. Well, I’ll look for somewhere first thing tomorrow then.”
“No.” Josh shook his head. “That wasn’t what I meant. I meant

‘no’ that I don’t want you to look for another place.”

“Oh.”
The mood was no longer awkward. It was downright unbearable.

Josh felt as though there was a gigantic purple elephant doing a tap
dance in the room. He was going about this all wrong, and he wished
he didn’t lack the gift of gab. Nothing he wanted to say was coming
out right.

“Look, what I was trying to say, but obviously suck at…is that

you’re welcome to stay here. I don’t know why that is. Opening my
home to someone really isn’t like me, and to be honest with you it
kind of freaks me out.”

“I understand.” Paul nodded.
“But…” Josh added. “Even though I’m a little freaked by it, I’m

still not sorry I did it. And the kicker of it is, in case you haven’t
already figured this out, I’m just a wee bit attracted to you.”

The corners of Paul’s mouth quirked up. “You are, huh?”
“Yeah, I am sure after earlier this comes as a huge surprise to

you,” he joked.

“Huge surprise. Ginormous, really. I really had no idea.”
“Right. Well, as shocked as I’m sure you obviously are—Josh

rolled his eyes—“it’s pretty much your own fault, so you can’t go
blaming me.”

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“My fault? And just how do you figure that?”
“Oh come on. Like you’re so innocent. Just look at you. How am I

supposed to resist a guy who wears a sparkly bow tie and suspenders?
Not to mention the nifty little satin stripe down the side of your leg.
Where did you get that from anyway? Nineteen eighty-six?”

“Don’t tease. We can’t all wear sexy cop uniforms. I’m pretty sure

I wouldn’t fill it out as nicely as you do though.”

Josh watched in admiration as he saw a slight blush crawl up

Paul’s cheeks. “Yeah? You like my uniform, huh? Is that why
you…well, you know.”

Paul took a drink of his coffee and smiled. “Is that why I…what

exactly?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Do I?”
Josh let out a chuckle. “Oh, I see how it is. All sweet and innocent

at the kitchen table, but stick you in a bathtub and all bets are off.”

Paul gave Josh a quizzical look. “The bathtub? Hmm…can’t say I

remember anything about a bathtub. Care to refresh my memory?”

Josh took a swig of his coffee and watched the playful challenge

in Paul’s eyes. He liked this side to him almost as much as he liked it
when Paul had gotten lost at the moment and begged him to fuck him.
The conflicting sides to his new houseguest were certainly making his
mind and body work overtime.

“Okay, I’ll remind you.” Josh leaned over and reached underneath

Paul’s chair, pulling it closer to him. “Earlier tonight I came home. I
found you in the bathtub.”

Josh licked the side of Paul’s neck and whispered in his ear.

“Should I go on?”

“Yes,” Paul whispered. “Tell me more.”
“You were lying there in the hot and bubbly water. You had one

hand on your cock, stroking yourself. The other hand” —Josh gently
sucked on Paul’s earlobe before adding— “was under the water. I
watched you as you masturbated and finger-fucked your ass. It was so

Paul’s Possession

fucking hot. It got me so hard. And I knew. I knew it then. I had to
have you.”

Paul turned toward Josh. His eyes closed, and his lips parted.

There was a chance he was going to say something, but Josh quickly
swallowed any chance of that. He had barely a chance to learn Paul,
but already he knew that his kiss was something he wouldn’t grow
tire of.

Josh crushed his lips against Paul’s and grabbed onto the back of

his head. He held him there, like a prisoner to his mouth as he soaked
in the flavor of Paul’s kiss. His tongue met with Josh’s and together
they explored one another, searching and greedily feeding off of the
other.

Already Josh could feel his cock start to thicken. Fuck, but he

wanted him again. Only hours since the last time and minutes before
that and still it didn’t seem to be enough. As Paul’s hands roamed
across Josh’s chest and back he wondered if it would ever be enough.
There was something about this ridiculously dressed waiter which
turned him on hotter than a volcano exploding into eruption.

Josh had to pull away. He knew if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to

stop himself from wanting more. His need to take Paul was something
that went beyond mere lust. It defied all reason. He needed to control
himself and rein in this desire, which was taking hold of him.

Paul let out a breath. “Oh. That bath.”
It took Josh a moment to realize what Paul was even talking

about. When he did he let out a boisterous laugh. He’d forgotten all
about his description of Paul lying in the tub. His focus for the past
several minutes had been on kissing him, touching him, and claiming
him.

“Are you some sort of a witch or something? I can’t seem to

control myself when you’re around. You make me do all sorts of
things. I feel like I’m losing control.”

“Technically I think only women can be witches. I think the word

you’re looking for would be a warlock.”

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Josh grinned. “Is that an admission?”
“Of me being a warlock?” Paul laughed. “No. I’ve never been, nor

do I ever aspire to practice witchcraft. Besides, from where I’m sitting
it seems like you’re usually the one taking charge and making me lose
control.”

“Surely you’re not claiming innocence in all of this,” Josh asked,

amused.

“Absolutely I am.”
“And the infamous bubble bath which started this whole thing?”

he asked.

“Well, if a guy can’t take an innocent little bubble bath—”
“Ha! Innocent? You were masturbating and calling my name.”
“Well, sure if you’re going to split hairs…” Paul joked. “I suppose

if you look at things from that perspective, it might seem like I had
taunted you just a bit.”

“A bit? Babe, you were getting off while moaning my name. Now

I’m no expert on etiquette and all that nonsense. But if someone is
jerking off, fingering their ass, and doing it while they think of you
and in your own bathtub, well…that is what I call an engraved
invitation to come and get what is already theirs.”

Josh was startled by his playful words. They’d just sort of slipped

out, and he hadn’t meant to sound so territorial over Paul. From the
look on Paul’s face he was equally as shocked by the statement.

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just having some fun.”
Paul shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m not disagreeing with you.”
Josh took in what Paul said as he stared into those vibrant green

eyes. They seemed to say so much with such little effort. He had no
idea what he was doing with Paul Rayburn, but he had a distinct
feeling he was going to have one hell of a time finding out.

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Eleven

The road up this mountain hadn’t been easy to find in the dark.

With only a few stars and the moon shielded from the trees, Special
Agent Clarkson had to drive extra slow to ensure they didn’t careen
off the road and down the hill. After ten minutes of thinking they may
have gone the wrong way, he finally saw some flashing lights up
ahead. Carefully, he maneuvered their black SUV around the
embankment of trees and pulled up on the scene with his partner, SA
Hanson.

The night was calm and quiet, unlike his frazzled nerves. Neither

of the men had gotten much more than few hours of sleep in the past
two days. The leads had been coming in by the handful. It seemed
every time they turned around another caller would phone into the tip
line with another sighting.

They’d been running down leads for months now. Doing so was

just par for the course in any investigation. The biggest difference in
these leads compared to the ones earlier on in the investigation was
that these leads had validity to them. They were solid, and because of
the heightened media attention, more folks were paying attention to
strangers they saw on the street. Instead of making their job hard like
it had in the beginning, the upsurge in media exposure was finally
paying off and working to their advantage.

Hanson was the first to get out of the car and greet Sheriff

Lankford. Clarkson fell in step with him just a few paces behind.

“What do we have here, Sheriff?” Hanson asked.

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Lankford placed the sheet back over the face of the body lying on

the hill. The rough terrain almost made Clarkson lose his balance, so
he levered himself against a tree and held on.

“Stab wounds to the torso, several in fact. The county coroner is

still on his way, but from what you two told me earlier it could be the
same guy.”

“Can we take a look?” Hanson asked.
Lankford shook his head. “Have at it. Although I don’t

recommend it. Whoever did this can’t possibly have a soul.”

Hanson pulled back the sheet and looked over at Clarkson. He

nodded to Clarkson. “It’s him. It’s got to be.” Using the tip of his pen
to lift the fabric higher, he continued, “Multiple deep wounds all
around the chest and abdomen from a weapon that appears to be as
large as the others.”

Clarkson steadied himself before making his way up the steep hill

to where the body lay. His lack of rest and continued poor nutrition
weren’t helping him in the field. A good meal and a complete night’s
rest were long overdue.

He knelt down beside Hanson and lifted the victim’s hand, testing

it for the stage of rigor mortis. The vicious way the wounds were
scattered around the victim’s body, Clarkson knew it had to be the
same son of a bitch who they’d been hunting for the past several
months. No one could inflict this many injuries without having a
black hole where their heart should be.

“Lividity is fixed. We’d have to wait for the coroner to be sure,

but my guess is he’s been dead at least eight hours, if not longer. We
got an ID on him yet?”

“Yeah. Hang on a second. Hey, Baca. Grab that evidence bag out

of my Durango.” Sheriff Lankford went over to an officer standing a
few feet away and retrieved a bag before returning to them. He held it
up and read the small card through the plastic. “His name is Tyler
Garrett. Twenty-six years old from Dove Creek, Colorado.”

Paul’s Possession

“From out of town? Maybe he was a gambler trying to strike it

rich on his way through town?” Agent Hanson asked.

Lankford handed the bag back to his officer and worked his hand

over his jaw. “I don’t think so. I can’t be certain, what with this skin
all purple and such, but he kind of looks like a kid I’ve seen hanging
around town the past couple of months. I’ll have to run a few things
back at the station, but there’s something about him that seems very
familiar.”

“Either way, it’s got to be him. The wound track is too similar,

and with as many sightings as we’ve had in this area lately it only
makes sense he would strike.”

A vehicle sped onto the scene and skidded along the gravel. A tall

officer got out and hurried over to where they stood.

“Sheriff, sorry I’m late. I just got into the station when I heard the

call.”

“Agents Clarkson and Hanson, this is Officer Hendricks. He’s on

night duty tonight, so he’ll most likely be covering Main Street and
the surrounding areas. If there’s anything you need us to keep an eye
out for, I’d start with him.”

“Agents.” Josh nodded. “What do we have here? Dispatch said it

was a ten fifty-four.”

“That’s what a couple of drunk kids reported to us. They were too

wasted to be sure what they’d seen. When we got up here that
changed to a ten fifty-five real fast,” Lankford answered.

“A dead body? Wow. We haven’t had one of those in years. Well,

not unless you count traffic accidents.”

“Well this was no accident,” Agent Hanson responded.
“What…you’re saying…there’s been a murder?” Hendricks

asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Sheriff answered. “Actually, I’ll need you to run

his name when you get back to the station. He looks somewhat
familiar, but I can’t really place him.”

“Do we have an ID?” he asked.

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“Garrett. Tyler Garrett. Midtwenties from—”
“Dove Creek, Colorado?” Josh sighed.
“How did you know that?” Hanson asked. “Do you know the

victim?”

“Not exactly. But, my new roommate, Paul does. That’s his ex,

and he disappeared sometime last night with all of Paul’s belongings,
including his car.”

“Normally I’d do the notification on something like this, but if it’s

your roommate…want to come along for the ride? Maybe he’ll need
some support,” Lankford offered.

“Well, if you’re going do it quick. After the coroner gets here

we’ll need to make sure we’ve processed the scene completely. We
can’t leave any stone unturned. Now more than ever we need to stay
hot on this guy’s tail,” Clarkson instructed them.

“What do you mean?” Lankford asked.
“We’ve profiled him as being a quintessential sociopath. He

doesn’t feel anything. There is no remorse or regret for his kills. In
fact, he most likely does feel something. It’s most likely joy. When he
kills, he’s not just doing it out of some sort of morbid fascination.
He’s doing it because he has to. It’s like he can’t function unless he
completes his routine.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Lankford admitted.
Hanson added, “Some, not all, but some sociopaths are obsessive

in their need to kill. We believe he’s one of them. You’ve heard of
people who are obsessive compulsive, right? You know, the kind of
person who needs to flip a light switch on and off three times or have
their towels hanging just a certain way in the bathroom? Well, he’s
not much different, except that his compulsive is filled with the need
to viciously kill.”

“Jesus.”
“Yeah. He’s a sick son of a bitch. And his last couple of kills have

been fewer and further between. Which can only mean one of two
things.”

Paul’s Possession

“Do I even want to know?” Lankford asked.
“Well, he is either hurt, which is making it hard for him to fulfill

his need to kill. Or…” Clarkson turned to Hanson before he
continued. Because he knew that the latter of the two were what they
feared the most. “There’s a chance he may be ramping up to
something. This guy, as complex as he is, has broken nearly every
mold by way of mentally disturbed individuals we’ve studied in the
past. There is something that he has remained consistent with, though,
and that is his need to spill blood. If he’s slowing down and it’s not
because he’s injured, then we have to consider the possibility that he’s
reaching his end game.”

“Meaning…” Hanson continued. “We don’t know what makes

him kill. We don’t know what sets him off. The one thing we do
know, though, is that he’s unpredictable, and before Canada he was
off the grid. In fact, before Canada he didn’t even exist. No
fingerprints. No ID on file, no record of his existence anywhere.
Which leads us to believe that we haven’t begun to scratch the surface
into who this guy is. And for every unanswered question we have, we
have at least a dozen more.”

“So, you think that he’s working his way up to…what? A

massacre?” Sheriff Lankford asked.

“It’s possible,” Hanson answered. “And the truth is, we’ve

received more sightings of him and Sandy in the past week than we
have in months.”

“What are you saying?”
Clarkson shrugged. “He’s never been lazy. He’s always been very

careful about being spotted, and he never leaves witnesses behind.
Now, with all these sightings and the fact that he’s staying put, well, it
makes us wonder if this place doesn’t hold some sort of significance
for him.”

“You mean you think this is his home?”
“Anything—and I mean absolutely anything—is possible,”

Hanson added.

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“But, I’ve lived here my whole life. I’ve been with the CCPD for

nearly twenty years.”

“Then you will have to help us. If we’re right, he didn’t end up in

Central City by accident. If he was passing through, he’d already be
long gone.”

“If that’s true, that means that no one in this town is safe.”
Clarkson nodded sympathetically. Even in the darkness of night,

he noticed the sheriff’s face had turned a stark shade of white from
what he’d heard, and he understood more than anyone how helpless
this son of a bitch could make one feel. When lives were at stake and
it was his job to protect him, he understood all too well.

Paul’s Possession

Chapter Twelve

Paul set his tray down on the bar top and leaned against a stool. If

his boss wasn’t in such close proximity he would sit down for a
minute and rest his weary feet. The night hadn’t been too bad. The
tension he felt in his muscles and joints was no longer present, but he
had a sneaking suspicion why his body was more relaxed.

He tried not to let his mind wander to Josh too often in the past

hour. It seemed the harder he tried the more times those thoughts
would sneak inside. As strange as it was, Paul felt at ease with Josh.
Despite knowing him for less than a day he felt completely
comfortable.

Their car ride over to the Diamond Dust hadn’t been filled with

awkward silence like it had earlier that day when Josh had driven Paul
to his house. Instead of staring silently out the window, tonight Paul
had chatted incessantly about anything and everything. He probably
seemed like a cackling hen to Josh, but Paul couldn’t help himself.
He’d been living a life of virtual solitude for the past several weeks.

Having Tyler live with him had meant little. For all intents and

purposes, Paul had been living alone. They stopped talking long
before their relationship fell apart. Tyler had changed practically
overnight once they entered the city limits of Central City. Just as his
parents had predicted, Tyler Garrett had done a one eighty on him the
second he got what he wanted.

He had been used. Emotionally, physically, and financially, Tyler

had taken him on a one way ride to Take It Up the Ass-ville. The
most unsettling part about it wasn’t that his parents had warned him.
It wasn’t that he should’ve seen all the warning signs. No, the worst

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part about it was that even when he’d seen those warning signs, when
he’d realized his parents were right, he’d ignored it all, stubbornly
refusing to admit defeat. His stupid pride left him with absolutely
nothing. Nothing except for his new roommate, that was.

Josh Hendricks had literally swooped in and saved the day for him

at a time when he could’ve been left homeless on the streets. The fact
that he was devastatingly handsome and sexy as all get out only added
an extra bonus to his sudden living arrangement.

His reason for cleaning Josh’s place had been a genuine attempt at

showing gratitude for his hospitality. The bath had been meant as a
special treat for him. Paul would’ve never imagined in his wildest
fantasies that he stood a chance with someone like Josh. He was all
man, rugged, rough, and tough with just the right amount of
dominance and a dash of finesse. It made their evening romp that
much more exciting.

Paul could still feel the aching feeling in his ass from where Josh

had taken him. It wasn’t a painful throb, but more like a lonely one.
Never in his life had he ever given himself to someone so freely. He’d
done things with Tyler, but he’d always been filled with hesitance or
worry. With Josh that had all changed. Everything excited him and
turned him on in ways he thought only existed between the pages of
romance novels.

He kept reminding himself not to rush things with Josh. Don’t do

anything to screw up this incredible thing as it’s just begun, he’d
repeated to himself several times. Still he couldn’t help but imagine a
relationship with Josh. Not just an occasional screw, but a real
relationship. The kind where they would stay up late and watch old
movies together, or the kind where they’d sleep in and cuddle in bed.

Despite everything that had been handed to Paul in the past

months, weeks and days, he couldn’t feel sad. He was angry, sure.
Truth was, he was downright furious with Tyler for ripping him off
the way that he did. Still, he kept remembering something his mother
used to say to him when he was growing up and something didn’t go

Paul’s Possession

his way. She’d say, “Everything happens for a reason, dear. You just
wait. This might not make sense now, but sooner or later you’ll see
how this was meant to be.”

He smiled at the memory of his mother, so sweet and caring. She

was one of the kindest women he’d ever met, and she doted on his
father like they were two teenage love birds just starting out. That was
the kind of relationship Paul wanted, the kind that would stand the test
of time and outweigh the bad with the good. That was real love.

The four letter word set his heart fluttering, and he wondered right

then and there if he was truly losing touch with reality. In the past
twenty-four hours his emotions had been on one hell of a roller
coaster. The last thing he needed to be thinking about was love or
commitment. He was only twenty-four years old for Pete’s sake. His
whole life was head of him. What he needed to do was just take a
breath and slow down.

The night had already been one of the busiest Paul had worked all

week long. The Friday night slew of drinkers and partiers made their
way into the Diamond Dust earlier than usual, and for the past forty-
five minutes Paul had been running from table to table, taking drink
orders and trying to keep up.

According to Satan, also known as his boss, Paul was going to be

handling two sections tonight. Apparently Dee Dee, the petite little
blonde who always spent more time in Satan’s office than she did
actually working, needed the night off. Of course, being the boss’s
plaything, she got her way.

Working this hard for crappy wages and even worse tips was too

much for anyone to deal with. If he was lucky, on a good night he’d
pull in fifty bucks in tips on top of his whopping three-dollar-an-hour
wage. The problem was no one except for cheapskates with no money
went to the Diamond Dust. The décor was dated and tired. The place
smelled of mildew and must, and their food and drinks barely
qualified for human consumption.

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Up until a couple of weeks ago Paul had been actively applying

for jobs at some of the bigger casinos on Main Street, but he’d gotten
discouraged when Tyler left him stranded without a vehicle one night,
forcing him to miss an interview with the Isle of Capri just down the
road in Blackhawk. He was going to have to revitalize that job search
and get out of this hellhole.

“Do I pay you to stand around?” Satan shouted.
“No, sir.”
“There are people here who are thirsty. Get your ass going and

grab your gear and earn your keep.”

“Like Dee Dee does?” Paul muttered under his breath.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing, boss. Sorry.”
“What in the fuck did you say?” Satan demanded.
A commotion over by the doors distracted Paul from responding.

He turned to look and see what was going on. To his surprise he saw
Josh standing there with another older man, both in uniform and both
looking grim.

“Great. Just what I need the fucking law.”
Paul waited nervously while Josh pointed in his direction, and he

and the other man made their way across the dingy bar. Josh’s eyes
didn’t hold the fire that Paul saw in them earlier. There was
something wrong, Paul could feel it.

“Gentlemen, welcome to the Diamond Dust. Why don’t you have

a round on me? Paul, get these two whatever they want. On the
house.” Satan smiled.

“Actually, we’re on duty and here on official business,” the older

man said. “Paul, I’m Sheriff Lankford. We’d like to talk to you if
that’s all right. Is there somewhere we could speak privately?”

“What did he do?” Satan asked.
Paul was worried enough by the concern he saw on Josh’s face.

The last thing he needed was his asshole boss making things more
uncomfortable.

Paul’s Possession

“He didn’t do anything,” Josh snapped back.
“Is there an office or somewhere private we can talk?” Lankford

asked them.

His boss quickly lied, saying there weren’t any back rooms other

than storage. Paul always knew he was up to no good, but whatever
went on back there was clearly illegal by the way that he was so quick
to deny the existence of his office.

“We can step outside,” Paul answered.
They walked out to the front of the bar, and Paul felt a chill in the

summer night air. He wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt
to warm up, but the stare he was receiving from Josh and the sheriff
left very little for him to feel good about.

“Josh, what is it? You’re kind of freaking me out here.”
“I’m sorry.” Josh turned toward the sheriff, who gave him a nod.
“What? Seriously, what is going on?”
“We found Tyler.”
Paul was instantly filled with relief at the news. “You found him?

Oh, thank God. How soon can I get my things back?”

Josh shook his head. “No, Paul. You don’t understand.”
“What? Oh God. Did he do something illegal? Not with my car!

Jesus, he didn’t hurt anyone did he? That son of a bitch! I swear to
God I wish—”

“Paul.” Josh abruptly cut him off. “We didn’t find your things, or

your car.”

“So…” Paul looked to the two men, confused. “What? Did he sell

them or something?”

Josh let out a sigh. “We don’t know where your car or the rest of

your stuff is. When we found him…Paul, look…there’s no easy way
to say this.”

“So then just say it. When you found him…what?”
“He’s dead, Paul.”

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Paul eyes widened, and he took a minute to be sure he’d

understood exactly what Josh just said. He took a few steps, pacing
back and forth as the knowledge sunk in.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked him.
“What?” He turned back to face them and shook his head. “Am

I…okay? Yeah. I mean…I guess so. He’s dead? Really? Was
it…drugs? Did he overdose?” Paul asked the question, not entirely
sure he believed it himself.

“Umm…” Josh turned to the sheriff, who gave him a nod of

approval. “We don’t think drugs had anything to do with it. I’m afraid
he was murdered.”

Whatever shock Paul had felt just seconds earlier was nothing

compared to what he was experiencing just then. “Murdered? Are
you…sure?”

The question may have seemed foolish, but Paul was having a

hard time wrapping his head around the idea that Tyler wasn’t only
dead, but he’d been killed by someone else. Somehow Paul assumed
if anything ever happened to Tyler it would be because of his poor
choices in life. Murder hadn’t even registered on Paul’s list of
possibilities.

“I’m afraid so,” Lankford chimed in. “Please accept my

condolences. Do you happen to know any of his family? Hendricks
here tells me this was your ex boyfriend. If you know the next of kin,
or know how I can reach them it would help speed up the notification
process.”

“Right. Umm…” Paul stuttered. He knew what he needed to say,

but at the moment a thousand words were racing through his mind
and none of them made any sense.

“Paul? Do you need to sit down?” Josh placed a comforting hand

on his arm.

He shook off the offer and answered the sheriff. “I’m sorry. His

parents haven’t been in the picture for a long time. I don’t know the
first place where you’d look for them. But, he ahh…he has an uncle in

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Dove Creek. Joseph Garrett. He lived there his whole life. I don’t
have a number, but he shouldn’t be hard to find.”

“Very well. Thank you, Mister Rayburn. And once again, please

accept my sincerest condolences.” Sheriff Lankford was about to step
away before turning back to Josh. “Hendricks, can you handle things
from here? I need to track down the next of kin.”

“Go ahead. I’ll take care of Paul.”
Paul listened with his head staring down at the ground as the

sheriff’s boots hit against the gravel-filled road. A moment later the
car door closed and the engine started. Not too long after that the tires
peeled away into the night.

“Hey.”
Paul looked up to see Josh staring down at him. A genuine look of

concern was plastered across his face with a furrowed brow.

“I can’t…murdered? Really?”
“You’re in shock. Here, sit down on this bench.”
Josh walked Paul over to the wooden slat seat and sat down. He

felt the warmth of Josh’s hand on his shoulder and felt the comforting
words of his voice. Yet nothing seemed to cure the icy chill he felt in
the air. The entire world seemed colder now.

“Paul?” Josh asked again. “Say something. Say anything. I’m

worried about you.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just too…I can’t believe it. He’s really dead?”
“I know this is probably the last thing you expected. And believe

me, I didn’t want to have to say it. But…well, I wanted to be here for
you when you found out.”

Paul tried to muster a smile, but his attempt failed. “Thank you.

That’s really very sweet. I’m just numb I think. I mean…I don’t love
him anymore, and up until several minutes ago I hated the man. But
now…now I can’t help but feel guilty.”

“What?” Josh tilted Paul’s chin up with his finger. “Babe, what on

earth do you have to feel guilty about? He stole from you. He did
horrible things while you two were together and even got you evicted.

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Of course you’re not going to like the guy. That’s normal. You can’t
be so hard on yourself.”

“It’s more than hate. I…” Paul shook his head. “Last night after I

got home and realized he took my car and everything else along with
it, I said something. Something deplorable, something I never should
have said.”

“Whatever it was it can’t be that bad. You can’t blame—”
“I damned him to hell!” Paul blurted out the words as his guilt

came full circle. “Who does that? Who wishes someone to hell? And
now…now he’s…I can’t help but feel…”

“What? Responsible? That’s crazy, Paul. Listen to me. I shouldn’t

be saying this, but the feds are in on this one. It looks like Tyler was
another victim to a serial killer they’ve been tracking for months.”

“Oh God. Not the one I read about in the papers? My parents were

worried sick when I moved out here. Not just because of Tyler either,
but because this guy has been making his way up and down the Rocky
Mountains. Or at least that’s what we read anyway.”

“One in the same.”
“This is surreal.”
Josh cupped Paul’s cheek. “Yeah, I know. But, more importantly I

need to know that you’re okay.”

Paul closed his eyes and caressed his cheek into Josh’s palm. “I’m

okay. I’m in shock, but I’m okay.”

“Good. Now let’s get you out of here.” Josh stood up with his arm

snugly around Paul. “It’s bad enough that there’s a serial killer on the
loose. I don’t need you working here for Satan to boot.”

“Satan? How did you know that’s our nickname for him?” Paul

asked.

Josh grinned. “He’s known as the town asshole. Lived here for the

past decade and is pretty much the slime of our little city. No one
likes him. In fact, it might just be an insult to Satan calling him that.”

Paul’s Possession

Paul smiled. How he was able to crack one in spite of what he’d

just learned he had no idea. Josh just had that way about him.
“Thanks, Josh. But, I can’t just walk out and quit. I need the money.”

“No. What you need is a real job. And we’ll find you one, but

right now what I need is to make sure you’re safe. And out here.”
Josh motioned to the Diamond Dust’s secluded location. “It’s not
exactly safe.”

“But, my finances…I can’t just—”
“Oh good God, get in the car,” Josh demanded, but with a sexy

grin. “I have it on good authority your landlord is pretty fucking
awesome and not to mention he cares about you.”

“He does, huh?” Paul smiled. His first genuine smile since Josh

and the sheriff had shown up.

“Yes.” Josh opened the door to his cruiser. “He does. A lot in fact.

Now would the sparkly penguin please stop being a pain in the ass
and get in the car?”

Paul waddled over to the car, mimicking a penguin. Just as he

reached Josh, he smacked him on the ass.

“That’s for being a smart ass. And this…” Josh leaned in to kiss

him. “Is for being so damn cute.”

Paul got in the passenger seat and let out a sigh of bewilderment.

How much could one person endure in one day? If he was thrown any
more surprises he may just go insane, if he hadn’t already. He turned
toward Josh, who slid in behind the wheel and winked at him.

Insane or not, being with Josh made everything a lot more

enjoyable.

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Chapter Thirteen

Josh had been going through the motions all night long, but not

really feeling like he was accomplishing much of anything. His
thoughts had been on and with Paul ever since he’d dropped him off
at home. If his mind wasn’t fixated on the danger their town was
suddenly under, then it would be wandering off as images of their hot
sex flashed through his mind.

He hadn’t had much time to spend with him, no matter how much

he wanted to stay. Josh had to get back to the crime scene to check in
with the sheriff and then off to cover the rest of his shift. He’d
allowed himself just a few minutes with Paul though, making sure the
house was locked up and secure and he had whatever he needed
before Josh left.

The crime scene was still buzzing with federal agents, the county

coroner’s office, and several other officers from both Central City and
Blackhawk’s police departments as everyone who wasn’t gathering
evidence was getting debriefed on who they were looking for and
what to watch out for.

Twice he’d called to check on Paul since he’d left him just hours

ago. Between the worry of recent developments and Paul’s guilt over
Tyler, Josh felt his heart being tugged in different directions. He was
crazy about Paul, and the thought that another man had touched him
didn’t sit too well with him. Knowing that same man had also taken
him for everything he had made it that much worse.

That all went out the window and put a different spin on things

knowing that same guy had been murdered. He couldn’t help but

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101

sympathize with Paul and his guilt. He wished he didn’t feel that way,
but he also understood.

Each time Paul assured him everything was fine, though, he had

teased him that he wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in the pink bed.
Josh had just offered up his own for him to sleep him. It wasn’t
because he was trying to be a good host either. He’d done it for
completely selfish reasons. He wanted Paul in his bed. The last time
they spoke was just after midnight, and Paul had said he was going to
try and sleep.

Several times since then, Josh had resisted the urge to call and

check on him. He didn’t want to wake him if he was finally resting,
especially after everything he’d been through. Still, for some reason
Josh couldn’t get past his worry that something bad was going to
happen.

He hadn’t admitted it to Paul, but there was an ominous feeling

lingering in the air all night. It drowned out the normally bustling
sounds of the weekend gamblers who flooded Main Street and
replaced it with an almost eerie silence.

Most of the crowds had started to dwindle and thin out. It was

only nearly six o’clock in the morning and the sun was peeking up
above the hills, offering some much needed sunlight. He knew that
tonight being Saturday, the crowds would most likely double in
numbers.

Despite being only a ten-minute drive from his house, Josh knew

he had to keep his watch to Main Street and the surrounding roads at
least for the next half hour before he was due back at the station.

The all-points bulletin for Jerry and his partner in crime, Sandy,

had hit the wires hours earlier, and now the major media outlets had
flocked to their small town to outscoop their competition for what
they hoped would be the story of the century.

Josh was torn about the whole thing. On one hand he wanted the

son of a bitch caught so he could hurt no one else again. Then there
was another part of him that wanted the crazy psycho killer to leave

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their part of the Rockies and get far away. He couldn’t count the
number of times he had to force himself to not race home and protect
Paul from whatever evil lurked out in their mountains.

Protection.
It was such a primitive emotion, one he wasn’t used to having. He

never felt this close to anyone before, other than family. That made
the situation all the more unreal. He hadn’t even known Paul for a
day. Not twenty-four hours had passed, and here he was filled with all
sorts of alpha male thoughts of protecting his mate. It was crazy.

The funny thing was he always used to make fun of those people

who used to talk about love at first sight, or fate bringing them
together. He thought the whole idea of such thinking was hogwash.

He remembered his parents, how great they were together and

how they worked hard to keep their family together. That’s what he
always envisioned his Mister Right to be, someone who he fell in love
with, and together they worked hard to make their relationship work.
He never expected to fall in love with someone so easily or quickly.

Josh hit the brakes of his car as soon as he realized where his

thoughts had taken him.

Love?
Did he love Paul? Was that even possible? How could he love

someone he didn’t even know? It hardly seemed possible. Like,
maybe. Deep and profound infatuation, sure. Love though? Love
seemed to be a stretch.

“Dispatch to Hendricks. Come in, Hendricks.”
The static of his radio stole his thoughts and brought him back to

the present. He picked up his radio and pressed the button. “Go ahead
for Hendricks.”

“Copy. Hendricks, the sheriff says he’ll need you on shift an hour

earlier tonight. The state police are en route, and he wants you to head
home and get some rest. Over.”

“Copy that, dispatch. But, shouldn’t I come in for shift change

first? Over.”

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103

“Copy. Negative. Sheriff says there’s too much going on and

you’d end up waiting around. Just head home and rest. He says you’re
going to need it. Over.”

“Copy. Hendricks signing off.”
Josh replaced the radio back on its holder and let out a sigh of

relief. Not because he was off shift, but because he’d been all but
crawling out of his skin worrying about Paul. Whatever was going on
with them, whatever this thing was, it was pretty damn powerful
because Josh sure as hell had never felt it before. It was consuming
him. His every thought, every wandering idea brought him back to
Paul.

Ten minutes later, Josh was opening the front door of his house.

He did a once-over of the yard and made sure nothing looked
disturbed. Knowing there was a serial killer somewhere in the nearby
mountains made him on edge.

Once he was inside, he locked the deadbolt and stood listening.

The house was still quiet, which meant Paul was probably still
sleeping. He slipped off his shoes and quietly tiptoed through the
living room. His wooden floors often squeaked, and the last thing he
wanted was to wake Paul. The idea of slipping into bed beside him
sounded all too inviting for him to mess up.

He rounded the corner and took in a beautiful sight. Paul was

curled up on his side. His nearly naked body was clad only in a pair of
blue boxers as his knees were drawn up to his chest. Tiny little
breaths made his chest rise and fall while every few seconds an
adorable snore filled the room.

Josh looked down at him and felt a sucker punch straight to his

gut. Paul may be a stranger who he’d opened his home to, but Josh
was starting to have new respect for those people who believed in
love at first sight. As much as it pained him to admit, he was
becoming one of those sappy fools. Paul Rayburn may have just
entered his life, but Josh was falling in love with him. How, why, and
when he had no idea, but he’d be a fool to continue to deny it, because

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if this wasn’t love, God help him when he finally did fall. He’d be a
goner.

Carefully, as to not make a sound, Josh started to undress. His

hunger for Paul was just as strong as before, but right then in that
moment he didn’t want to feast on the man who wreaked such havoc
on his libido. All he wanted was to hold him, to feel close to him and
fall asleep with the warmth of his body snuggled tightly against his.

Josh slid into bed slowly as he moved his body over and wrapped

his arm around Paul. He murmured something in his sleep, and his
eyes fluttered open lazily. Josh shushed him and gave him a kiss to
his forehead, telling Paul to go back to sleep.

Thankfully, he did as Josh suggested. He wasn’t sure that he’d be

able to talk if Paul had stayed awake. His emotions were running on
high. In his throat sat a giant ball of sentimental yearnings that he
didn’t understand.

Josh ground his teeth against the feelings that were welling up

inside. He closed his eyes tightly as he felt a salty liquid burn them.
No matter how tightly he squeezed, the insistent tears pushed past his
lids and spilled down his cheeks.

Fuck.
Who in the hell was he trying to kid? Himself? He was already a

goner. Josh was in love with Paul. There was no denying it. No matter
how much he wanted to posses Paul, his sexy little roommate had
done a one eighty and took possession of him.

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105

Chapter Fourteen

Paul stepped out of the shower and dried off. The steam that filled

the room did wonders for his tired body. He hadn’t fallen asleep at
first last night. Every noise he heard sounded like someone trying to
break in. At one point he actually had thought that was what was
happening until he got up from bed and went to investigate.

The culprit who had been terrorizing him for over an hour was an

Aspen tree just outside Josh’s kitchen’s window. He’d laughed at
himself as he crawled back into bed and snuggled Josh’s pillow until
his eyelids finally gave in. The scent of Josh on his pillow had given
him comfort as he slept alone, but waking up to the real thing had
been much better.

Even though thoughts of Josh comforted him, he couldn’t help his

mind from deviating back to Tyler. He may no longer love him, and
his feelings for him may have been riddled with discontent, but that
didn’t erase the fact that at one time they had been a couple.

Tyler may have treated him horribly, but did he really deserve to

die? Did anyone deserve to be murdered in such a way? Paul couldn’t
help but wonder if maybe he would still be alive if Paul had his
epiphany just a day earlier. Maybe Tyler would have been far from
town and away from the mad man who killed him.

No matter how much the thoughts plagued him and maybe always

would, he pushed them aside, refusing to not be grateful for this new
chapter in his life.

Once he was dried off, Paul went to the pink frilly guest room and

slipped on a pair of jeans and an old T-shirt. He figured he’d get some

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laundry done for Josh while he slept. Then maybe later when he woke
up, Paul could make them both a late lunch.

He had spent most of his morning looking through their local

paper and the classified section, which wasn’t very big. Not many of
the big casinos were hiring, but a few of the middle-of-the road places
were. Even if he had to walk a couple miles down the road to
Blackhawk, he figured the extra income he’d earn would be well
worth the trade off in distance. Plus, he knew after he saved a bit
more he could start riding the trolley up and down the main drag to
hitch a ride.

He stepped out into the hall and nearly jumped out of his skin

when he saw Josh standing there, leaning against his bedroom door.
His large body seemed exceptionally bigger today as he stared back
with a sexy grin and squinty eyes.

“Well, good morning, Officer Hendricks. Or should I say

afternoon? How’d you sleep?” Paul asked him.

Josh yawned and mumbled something incomprehensible.
“What?” Paul laughed. “I think you’re still tired. Why don’t you

go back to sleep?”

“Trying to get rid of me already, huh?” Josh reached out and

grabbed onto his belt loop, tugging Paul up against him.

Paul inhaled and took in the masculine scent that Josh emitted. It

was that morning smell. That aroma of when a sexy man wakes up.
He has sleep in his eyes, his hair is a mess and he has never looked so
good.

He couldn’t help but wrap his arms around Josh and just snuggle

into the hard muscles of his chest. There was something about Josh
that made him feel safe. Not just in a physical way, but emotionally as
well.

For hours last night Paul had lain awake trying to figure out what

the hell he was doing with Josh. It was one thing that Paul was
breaking all of his own rules. It was another thing entirely that he felt

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107

so free with this man. Sexually he normally had a billion hang-ups,
but with Josh it was like none of them ever existed.

“This is nice,” Josh said.
“Mmm…it is. If you’re not careful I might just become addicted

to you, Officer.”

Josh’s chest shook when he laughed. “Addicted, huh?”
Paul looked up at him and smiled. “Can you blame me?”
Shrugging, Josh answered, “Not really. I am pretty darn

adorable.”

“Dork.” Paul playfully nudged his shoulder.
“No. A-dor-able. Say it with me, a-dor-able.”
“Fine. Adorable. I would’ve went with sexy. But, hey, if you’d

rather be adorable than sexy, no sweat off my back,” Paul teased.

“Oh wait now. Let’s think about this. I do like the sound of sexy.

You really think I’m sexy?”

Paul rolled his eyes. “Right. Like you don’t know that you’re

sexy.”

Josh waggled his brows. “Well, maybe I would like to hear it from

you.”

Paul was about to answer when Josh pulled away and went over to

the bed. At first he thought he was just going to lie down, but then he
surprised him by bending over and sliding his underwear down his
thighs. When he turned, Paul was faced with Josh’s glorious cock,
thick and hard and already leaking at the tip. Unconsciously, he licked
his lips and his own dick started to swell.

Josh climbed back into the bed and put his hands behind his head

as he leaned up against the headboard. His cock stood up at attention.
If he hadn’t looked so damn delectable, Paul would’ve had to laugh.
The way his dick jutted out reminded him of the ring toss game at
carnivals. Though he knew the game that Josh offered was a lot more
fun that tossing a plastic ring onto the top of a bottle.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Josh asked with a gorgeous grin.
“I…umm…”

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Josh laughed. “Something wrong?”
“Yeah, I seem to have forgotten how to speak.” Paul smiled back.

He was completely aware of how silly he must look with his kid-in-
the-candy store expression.

“Feel like doing me a favor?” Josh asked him.
“Anything.” No truer words were spoken. If Josh asked him to

scale Mount Everest, he would find a way to make it happen.

“Get undressed for me. I want to watch you.” Josh’s words

became quieter as he finished and reached down to wrap his fingers
around his cock.

Paul’s cock flinched and grew hard underneath the fabric of his

jeans. Everything around them ceased to exist. Paul no longer was
filled with thoughts of regret over Tyler. He no longer worried that a
serial killer was somewhere in these mountains. All that mattered to
him was Josh, Josh and this moment in time.

“You going to make me ask a second time?” Josh’s question came

out in a whisper.

Paul shook his head in response and took a few steps forward. He

lifted the hem of his T-shirt and slowly tugged it over his head before
tossing it on the floor. Paul was never big on working out or getting
buff. In fact, when it came to his body he was often self-conscious
that he didn’t do more to tone up his muscles. There was something
about the way Josh stared at him that made him forget every
insecurity he’d ever lugged around. When Josh looked at him, he
could feel his eyes heating him from the inside out.

He kept his eyes focused on Josh. The chocolaty-brown color

looked like candy heaven. He could see the swirls working around in
it, making him nearly melt from the way they were fixed on him.

Reaching down, he unfastened the button to his jeans and slid the

zipper down. He peeled the denim aside and pulled out his cock.
Fisting it in his hand, he stroked it several times as the two men kept
their gazes focused on one another.

“Take them off.”

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109

Josh’s voice may have been soft, but his eyes told Paul it was an

order. There was something so liberating and free by having Josh take
control and tell him exactly what to do. Paul pushed the denim down
his thighs and stepped out of them, kicking them aside to join his
shirt.

“Hmm…someone isn’t wearing any underwear.” Josh smirked.

“Why is that?”

Paul could barely catch his breath. His blood was nearly boiling in

anticipation. He had no idea what was going to happen, but he knew
whatever it was it would be phenomenal.

“I don’t know.”
“You sure about that? Maybe you had a secret plan,” Josh offered.
“I…no, I didn’t.”
Josh licked his lips and dropped his gaze down to Paul’s cock. “I

don’t believe you. I think you knew exactly what you were doing and
what you wanted.”

Paul’s chest was beating at an incredible speed. He was waiting

for his heart to jump clear out of his chest and explode. He had no
idea what Josh was getting at, nor did he care. His cock was hard as a
rock, and he was dying for Josh to touch him.

“So you gonna tell me? Or are you going to make me guess?”

Josh asked.

“I’m not sure what…to say.”
“It’s easy. Tell me exactly what you want. Whatever is going

through that naughty little mind of yours, I want you to tell me.”

Paul swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. “I

want you to suck me off.”

Josh’s hand stilled, and a devilish grin worked up the sides of his

mouth. “Then come here and make me.”

The challenge reflected in Josh’s eyes were Paul’s undoing. He

couldn’t refuse himself even if he wanted to. There was something
about Josh Hendricks that turned him into a sex-starved

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nymphomaniac. If wanting what he did was wrong, then he didn’t
want to be right.

Paul closed the distance between the two of them in record time.

He crawled on the bed and over Josh’s body. Straddling him, Paul
held his cock at Josh’s lips and brushed his leaking head across their
soft plump surface.

“Fuck,” he blurted out. “That feels so good.”
Josh wrapped his fingers around Paul’s cock and looked up at

him. Then he smiled, and with a glint in his eyes he said, “Oh baby,
you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Josh’s lips closed around Paul’s shaft, and in a split second he was

encased with the sweet and unrelenting heat of Josh’s mouth. He
leaned over and held onto the headboard to keep from falling as
Josh’s lips tugged on him, sucking his sensitive skin.

Paul could hardly contain himself. Tyler had only given him a

couple of blow jobs, and neither one of them had felt anywhere close
to as good as what Josh was doing to him right then. His hips were
thrusting and bucking forward of their own accord as he looked down
to see Josh’s big brown eyes staring at him.

Josh’s cheeks were hollowed out, and the sounds of spit sloshing

together and sucking filled the room. Paul wasn’t sure he’d ever
witnessed anything so erotic. He’d watched porn with Tyler a few
times, and it was obvious that those guys couldn’t hold a candle to
Josh Hendricks.

Paul continued his thrusts, fucking and taking control of Josh’s

mouth. He turned his head and watched his reflection in the mirror.
He’d never known this side of him before. He didn’t know it existed.
Yet here he was pummeling Josh’s mouth until he gagged. Over and
over again he repeated the process, each time making him harder and
taking him closer to the edge.

“Mmm…wait,” Josh mumbled with his mouth full. “I want you to

fuck me this time.”

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Paul looked at him, somewhat confused at first as though he were

doing something wrong. His chest heaved with the lust raging inside
him, and he tried to figure out what Josh was talking about because
where he stood, Paul thought he was fucking his mouth pretty damn
good. Unless he meant…

“Oh…you mean?”
Josh thrust his hips and poked Paul’s ass with his own cock.

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Oh. Well we don’t have to do that. You’ve had a long night at

work.” Paul moved off of Josh and turned away from him.

“What just happened?” Josh asked.
“Nothing. I just figured you probably could use some rest.

Besides, aren’t you hungry? I mean you worked all night and—”

Josh scooted up in bed and came up behind Paul. He wrapped his

arms around his chest and started to nibble his ear. “I am hungry. For
you.”

“Well, we can go back to what we were doing,” Paul offered.
“What’s going on, Paul?”
“Nothing. I just…we don’t have to. I can make you something to

eat if you’d like. I think I saw some turkey in the fridge.”

Paul shot up from the bed, eager to put distance between them.

Josh grabbed onto his wrist and quickly pulled him back down. Paul
tensed and became nervous. How could he explain to Josh something
that he was so embarrassed about? His nerves were causing him to
stutter like a child. He’d never felt so utterly mortified before.

“Look at me,” Josh demanded.
Paul turned his head, but refused to look up. He couldn’t stare into

the eyes of a man and reveal that he was nothing more than a boy.

“Uh-uh.” Josh used his finger and thumb to raise Paul’s chin.

“What’s going on? Was it something I did to upset you?”

“No.” Paul shook his head emphatically. “It’s not you.”
“Okay then, what is it?”
“I’m afraid.”

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“Afraid of what? To tell me?”
Paul nodded his reply.
“Listen.” Josh cupped Paul’s cheeks with his hands. “There is

nothing you can say to me that you need to be afraid of. I know we’ve
just met, but…oh to hell with it. You want to hear something that’s
going to shock the hell out of you? I think I’m falling in love with
you.”

Paul’s eyes widened in shock. “You are?”
“Yeah, I am. So if I can tell you that, as crazy as it probably

sounds. Trust me. You can tell me anything.”

“I’ve never…done that before.”
“Never done what before? Anal sex?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Umm…I don’t know if what we did last night wasn’t that

memorable or not, but it was for me. Trust me, you’ve had…ohh. You
mean…you’ve never…given…before?”

Paul covered his face and nodded. “Yes! Yes, okay! I know. I’m

an…I don’t even know what.”

“Hey, hey hey…come here.” Josh pulled Paul into his chest and

held him close. “There isn’t a thing wrong with you. Whether you
have one hundred times or never at all doesn’t matter to me. There’s
only one thing that matters to me, and he’s sitting right here.”

Paul looked through his fingertips and up at Josh. The man was

incredible. In more ways than one he soothed Paul and managed to
make him feel better no matter what the situation was.

“Thank you. I don’t know how you do it, but you always make me

feel better. And what you said, about your feelings for me.”

“Too soon?”
Paul shrugged. “That depends.”
“On?”
“Did you mean it?”
Josh chuckled and shook his head. “What am I going to do with

you? Did I mean it? Hell yeah I mean it. I have no idea what made our

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paths cross, but I feel like we were supposed to meet. Like maybe…”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was meant to be.”

“You mean like fate?”
“Ugh.” Josh grabbed Paul and wrestled him to the bed, effectively

pinning him beneath his body. “I never liked that damn word. But,
yeah. I think it was fate.”

Paul lifted his fingers and brushed his thumb across Josh’s lower

lip. “Wanna hear something even crazier than you falling in love with
me?”

Josh nibbled on Paul’s thumb and kissed it. “Sure.”
“I think I fell in love with you the moment I opened my apartment

door.”

Josh crushed his lips against Paul’s. He slid his tongue inside and

worked all around in expert fashion. Their kiss continued each of
them searching and seeking more as their hands roamed freely against
their naked skin.

“Jesus.” Josh pulled away breathlessly and worked his way down

Paul’s body.

Paul closed his eyes and relished in the sensations that were

crawling along his skin. Every part of him felt alive and free right up
until the moment he felt Josh’s lips close around his cock. Lighting
shot behind his closed lids and rapture took hold of him.

His dick hit the back of Josh’s throat, causing him to gag. He

expected Josh to retreat, to give himself a break, but suddenly
vibrations coated his shaft. The reflex pulsated against his sensitive
skin as Josh sucked him that much further into his throat.

“Oh God!” Paul screamed.
Suddenly in a moment that would forever go down in history as

the most exquisite feeling Paul had ever experienced, Josh brought his
head up then quickly down again. For several tantalizing seconds Josh
repeated the onslaught of seduction with nothing but his mouth until
he pulled Paul over the edge.

“Ahh…yes!”

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Paul’s shouts ripped out of his chest as his climax rippled through

his very soul. He’d never experienced anything so elemental that he
felt it in every part of his being. He coasted and flew with it, riding
the wave of his orgasm as his body thrashed about the bed, of its own
accord.

Minutes later Paul opened his eyes, blinking several times through

the haze that covered him like a drug-induced veil. Josh lingered over
him. His swollen lips and reddened face gave proof of what he’d just
done. A beautiful smile spread across his cheeks and made Paul return
it in kind.

“How was that?” Josh asked.
“Mmm…wonderful, amazing, fantastic!” Paul answered.
“Good. Because now I’m starving. Didn’t you say there was still

some turkey in the fridge?”

“I believe there is. Want me to make you a sand—”
The sound of Josh’s cell phone cut through the air and killed the

lighthearted mood. He grumbled something as he crawled out of bed
and fumbled in his pants pocket before pulling it out and answering.

“Hendricks here.”
Paul rolled onto his side and watched the amazing man stand

before him. He was naked, and every inch of him looked glorious.
The next chance he had, Paul was going to have to lick the
scrumptious hunk of a man from head to toe.

“Jesus. Where? Copy. On my way.”
“What’s wrong?” Paul shot up in bed as Josh was quickly

dressing.

“They found another body. Just a few miles from the last one.”
“Oh my God. What can I do?”
Josh was racing to the bathroom, only half dressed when he

yelled. “Can you throw a sandwich together for me real quick? I’m
starved, and I don’t think I’ll have a chance to stop and eat.”

Paul didn’t hesitate. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the

kitchen. He made a huge mess of Josh’s kitchen, but in just under

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three minutes he managed to slap together two sandwiches loaded
with turkey, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise. He quickly wrapped
them in foil and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator right as Josh
came in the room.

“Wow. You’re quick.” Josh grabbed the food and dipped his head

down for a kiss. “Thank you.”

“Please be careful,” Paul blurted out like a nervous wife.
Josh turned back just before walking outside. “I’ll be okay. Lock

up and don’t let anyone inside. If you hear something call it in, okay?
I don’t want you taking any chances. Got it?”

“I got.”
Josh offered him one more quick kiss before he stepped outside.

He was just about to get in his car when Paul yelled out to him.
“Josh!”

“Yeah?”
“I…love you.”
Josh smiled. “I love you, too. Now get inside and lock up or I’ll

spank that ass.”

Paul couldn’t help but laugh. He truly was in love with him. How

it happened or why didn’t seem to matter. It just was. Now, if there
wasn’t a serial killer lurking things might be a lot easier, but like his
mother always taught him. Nothing great is ever easy.

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Chapter Fifteen

Josh had been white-knuckling the steering wheel ever since he

left the crime scene. Not long after he’d gotten the call, the crime
scene unit discovered another body a hundred yards up the ridge.

Both of the bodies were mutilated far worse than the one he saw

yesterday, and each of them appeared to be within the first stages of
rigor mortis. The coroner placed their time of death as no later eleven
o’clock that morning. Knowing this put everyone’s guard up, and
extra units were sent out to patrol the town and its surrounding
communities.

As bad as all of that was, the two federal agents he’d met

yesterday, Clarkson and Hanson, seemed to be especially on edge,
which only added to Lankford’s frustration. The body count wasn’t
just rising, it was skyrocketing. Originally this Jerry, whoever the
fuck he was, was killing on average once every couple of weeks.
Then he slowed way down and made his way to their neck of the
woods, and suddenly he was up to three bodies in just two days.

Josh continued his drive along Main Street until he reached

Lawrence and took a left. His orders were to check on some of the old
time residents who lived off of Eureka Street as it veered up through
the mountains into the hills.

He took his drive slowly, carefully taking note of everything he

saw out in the distance. The afternoon sun was beating down on the
mountain causing harsh shadows between the trees and jagged rocks.
It seemed every second he was nearly stopping because the lights
played tricks on his eyes.

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He turned onto Eureka and followed it down until he reached

Prosser Street. There were only three houses on this side of Prosser,
but he wanted to get this section knocked off the list as he went onto
the more residential roads.

The first house he pulled up to was the Reilly property. The land

had been in the Reilly family for over a hundred years, and its early
nineteen thirties house looked like it hadn’t been renovated anytime
recently.

Ren Reilly, the man who had lived here his whole life, pretty

much kept to himself. People said that many years back he was a
happy guy. He had a wife and daughter, and occasionally they took in
foster children.

Josh wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. The rumors always

seemed to vary the more he heard. Apparently Ren and his wife,
Gertrude, had a little girl named Sally Ann. She was the apple of her
daddy’s eye and apparently her momma’s little angel. There was an
accident of some kind, and their little girl was killed. The way Josh
heard it, Gertrude never recovered, and Ren found her a few months
later dead in the bathtub. He’d become a recluse ever since and was
rarely seen in town unless he absolutely needed something.

Josh had met him once a few years back, but it was nothing more

than a cordial passing. If there was one thing he did remember about
this man it was that he was abrasive as a Brillo pad on a fresh
sunburn. He hoped to God today the man would be pleasant enough to
let him search his property.

Josh stepped out of his squad car and took a look at his

surroundings. The whole hillside seemed quiet, almost too quiet. The
house up the road usually had kids playing outside. Granted with the
news alert there was a chance people were keeping their families
indoors, but Josh still had this nagging feeling that something wasn’t
right.

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He lifted his radio from its position on his shoulder. “Dispatch,

this is Hendricks. Initiating check-in on Ren Reilly, at one zero three
Prosser Street.”

“Copy that, Hendricks.”
Josh let the radio rest back in position on his shoulder. He felt a

little more at ease with calling in his location, so he started the steep
incline up the gravel walkway. Looking around, he saw that all the
curtains were closed and still not a sound other than nature
surrounded him.

He knocked on the front door and waited a moment. When no one

responded he knocked once again and announced himself. He
repeated the process once more. It was no secret that Ren Reilly
didn’t like visitors, but he was usually prone to opening the door to
scream at them more than he ever was to ignore them.

Josh could’ve gone onto the next house. In fact, that was what he

probably should have done. Damn if his morbid curiosity and nagging
intuition didn’t have him walking around the back of the house to try
and sneak a peek inside.

He took each step slowly, careful not to make too much noise as

he reached the side of the backyard. There was a car covered up by a
tarp off the side of the garage, which struck Josh as strange. He’d
been by this house a thousand times, and he never remembered seeing
a vehicle out there before.

Flipping up the tarp, Josh took a look at the car and his eyes lit up

in surprise. It was a blue Chevy Lumina, just like Paul’s, the one that
Tyler Garrett had last been seen with. He leaned against the window
and shielded his eyes from the sunlight to get a better look. Boxes
were piled up in the backseat with various items like a stereo and a
laptop. Josh was sure this was Paul’s car, but when he tried to open
the door to confirm his suspicions it was locked.

He quickly covered the vehicle back up and made his way to the

side of the kitchen door. He cautiously picked up his radio and turned
down the volume as low as it would go.

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119

“Dispatch, this is Hendricks. Do not respond to this message.

Requesting radio silence. I’m at Ren Reilly’s property on Prosser
Street, and I believe the suspects are here. Send backup. No sirens.”

As soon as he finished his request, Josh quickly yanked the cord

from his radio just in case someone came through. He unhinged the
snap from his holster and pulled his gun out. He held it at the ready
and drew in a few calming breaths. If he was right and the suspect
was in there, the smart thing to do would be to wait for backup. Damn
it if he would be able to live with himself if he stood by outside while
someone else was murdered though.

His mind flashed to Paul and the sweet way he’d yelled out to him

to say those three little words. Please, God. He prayed. Don’t let that
be the last time I hear that.

With a steady hand and focused mind, Josh rounded the corner of

the house and turned the handle to the kitchen door. Whether it was a
blessing or an omen he didn’t know, but he found the door unlocked
and was able to enter with ease.

Josh took his step slowly, knowing full well this house could give

his presence away at any moment. Whoever was in here already knew
he was there. He’d made sure of that when he’d foolishly announced
himself while waiting for Reilly to answer the door.

As soon as he was more than a couple of feet in the house he

knew his suspicions were right. The kitchen table was turned over on
its side along with two chairs. There appeared to be a trail of
ransacking through the kitchen and into the living room. Whatever
had happened here, Reilly had put up one hell of a fight.

Josh took a step into the living room, and his weight was met with

a loud squeak. He winced and turned the corner to find the shock of
his life. Ren Reilly was on the floor, cornered against a wall and chair
while a wild woman held a rifle in one hand and was applying
pressure to a wound of the man lying on the floor bleeding out.

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He knew instantly from the picture he’d seen of the young woman

that this was Sandy, and if he was a betting man he’d guess the guy
bleeding on the floor was the infamous Jerry.

“Central City PD. Put down the rifle!” Josh shouted to the young

woman holding rifle.

“Fuck you!” she screamed. “He shot him! The son of a bitch shot

his own son!”

Josh looked over at Ren Reilly, who was clutching his chest and

shaking his head. Blood seeped out of a wound on below his shoulder.

“Mr. Reilly? Are you okay?”
“I’m all right. Kill the little bitch. She and that bastard tried to kill

me.”

“You son of a bitch.” Sandy screamed her words through sobbing

tears. “How could you shoot your own son?”

Josh’s mind was on overload. None of this made sense. The most

dangerous man that the feds had been hunting for month was lying on
the floor most likely dying and the man who killed him was Ren
Reilly and his father? What in the hell was going on here?

“That bastard wasn’t my son. My wife and I took him in when he

was a boy. We didn’t know then that he was evil. I rue the day he ever
entered my home. He destroyed my family!”

“Shut up!” she screamed.
“You shut up. You don’t know the monster you’ve gone across

country with. That sick-minded son of a bitch murdered our little girl.
We went to dinner one night and we came home to find—” Ren
started to sob as he clutched his chest harder. “He bludgeoned our
little angel with a meat cleaver. The sick son of a bitch cut her up so
bad we couldn’t even have an open casket.”

Josh watched as the two continued to argue. Ren was losing a lot

of blood, and it appeared he had more than the one wound Josh
originally thought. He needed to end this and get the man help, and he
had to do it now.

“Ma’am, put down your weapon!” Josh demanded again.

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121

“Fuck you. I’ll kill you both. Son of a bitch! Help him!” She

demanded of Josh.

“Ma’am, I’m going to ask you one last time. Either put down that

weapon or I’ll be forced to fire on you.”

The next second happened so fast that Josh barely had a chance to

react. Yet it almost seemed like he was watching it in slow motion as
the woman jumped to her feet. He screamed at her, warning her to
stop, but she refused. Charging him with a fire in her eyes and with
the rifle in her hand, he watched as she squeezed the trigger.

He had no choice. It was a matter of his life or hers.
Shots rang out in the quiet street of Prosser, one from her, and one

from him. The blinding flash of muzzle fire nearly exploded before
his eyes, and he felt his body crash to the hard wood floor with a thud.

An unrecognizable pain radiated in through Josh’s body as a trail

of liquid crimson slid down his forehead covering his eye.

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Chapter Sixteen

Paul paced the living room, left to right, right to left and then back

again. Over and over he repeated the worn path he was putting into
Josh’s hardwood floors as he stared back at the television.

For the past three hours the news reporters had been filling every

network with the latest news in the manhunt for the elusive serial
killer known as the Rocky Mountain Mangler. One reporter said there
were three bodies being carried out in body bags, while another said
there were as many as four. None of the four channels reporting were
saying the same thing. Josh hadn’t answered any of the dozen or so
calls that Paul had placed to him, and with every second that ticked by
he was becoming frantic.

He wasn’t just worried. He was terrified. This slicing ache in his

heart hurt. He had to know if Josh was okay. If he had any clue which
house the reporters were camped outside of that would be one thing,
but with all the slew of details they were releasing, location wasn’t
one of them. Even if Paul did decide to walk to the crime scene he
wouldn’t have any idea where to start.

He reached for the phone, his impatience winning as he dialed

Josh’s cell phone number once again. He pressed the buttons despite
his shaking hands and waited for the ringing, but it never did. This
time the call went straight to voice mail. He wanted to scream as he
slammed the phone down on the receiver.

“Damn it! Call me back,” Paul mumbled to the silent room as he

walked back into the living room.

“Can’t. Phone’s kinda broke.”

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123

Paul looked up to see Josh standing there. A bandage on his

forehead and a scrape on his cheek, but he was standing there. Alive
and safe!

He ran up to him and nearly toppled him over with a kiss and bear

hug. “Oh my God. You’re okay! You have no idea how worried I’ve
been.”

Josh laughed. “I’m okay. Just a little cut and scrape, but I’m

okay.”

“You think this is funny? This is so not funny. I was beside

myself with worry. The television reporters said there were multiple
bodies and you weren’t answering and…and…”

“Babe, take a breath.”
Josh took Paul’s hand, and together they walked back to the

bedroom. Paul’s hand was still trembling. He had such a nagging
worry that Josh had been in danger he couldn’t seem to come down
from the stress of it all.

When they got back to the bedroom Josh started to undress. “I

need to get out of these clothes and just feel comfortable again. The
past couple of hours haven’t been very fun.”

Paul noticed blood on Josh’s shirt. “Is that yours? What

happened?”

Josh kicked off his boots and yanked his shirt over his head. Then

he removed his pants and plopped on the side of the mattress. “It’s not
my blood. I cut my forehead when I went down on the ground, but
other than that I’m fine. I swear to you.”

Paul stepped into the juncture of Josh’s thighs and ran his fingers

through Josh’s dark hair. He needed to feel him, all of him, and assure
his mind that he was really here and okay. After just finding him, he
couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. Not now, or ever.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Paul leaned over and kissed the

bandage on his forehead. “Can you talk about it? Or are you too
tired?”

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“No. I can talk about it. They’ll be making an announcement here

in the next hour or so anyway.”

“Okay. So what happened? One of the reporters said they caught

at least one of the two, but reports were still coming in so they didn’t
elaborate on it any further.”

Josh motioned for Paul to lie beside him and waited for him to

snuggle against him before he started to explain. “There’s an old man
named Reilly who’s lived in these parts forever. He and his wife were
kind of like the town’s king and queen. They were the first to always
help out if anyone needed a hand, and they even took in foster kids
from time to time. Around thirty years ago a boy they were fostering
killed their five-year-old daughter. I guess the attack was pretty
brutal, and after a night out at dinner they came home to find her
body.”

“Oh my God. That’s horrible.”
Josh nodded before continuing. “Yeah, well the authorities were

called in and he was put into some sort of sanitarium for disturbed
children. This was thirty years ago. They didn’t have the tests or
programs in place then like they do now. So he went through the
system until he was eighteen. They’re still digging up some of his
records. Turns out his real name is Byron Adams, but in addition to
his already homicidal tendencies, they performed a lot of procedures
which are now considered to be inhumane and illegal. According to
the feds, it was like putting someone who is schizophrenic under the
influence of LSD. When he got out at eighteen years old, his trail sort
of runs cold, but they’re pretty sure that once they are able to track
him, they’ll also find a trail of bodies right along with it.”

“That’s horrible. That poor family. Are they okay now?” Paul

asked, unable to comprehend the type of feeling one must feel when
losing a child.

“Mr. Reilly’s wife killed herself not long after her daughter’s

death. And Mr. Reilly…he saved my life.”

Paul shot up and leaned over Josh’s chest. “He what?”

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125

“The girl that was traveling with the suspect all these months, she

was coming at me with a rifle and fired in my direction. I fired back,
but Ren grabbed onto my leg and pulled me down just as the shell
whizzed past my head. It missed me by a fraction of an inch. I’ve
never seen my life flash before me until that very second. Ren died a
few minutes later. Paramedics tried to revive him, but he had multiple
stab wounds, and he was already old. The girl went down from one of
my bullets, but apparently I didn’t kill her. The feds showed up with
Lankford, and the next thing I know gunfire erupted around me and
she was a goner. They said she tried to get up and aim for me, but
honestly everything happened so fast I can’t even remember. It was
like living in a bad dream. A nightmare.”

“Oh my…Josh, I don’t know what to say. I had a horrible feeling

you were in danger. Ever since you left I was pacing a hole in your
floor.”

“I know what you mean. I felt it, too. Since last night I had a bad

feeling, almost like an omen. And all I could think of was making
sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, well as it turns out I wasn’t the one in danger. You were.

Which brings me to my complaint.”

“Complaint? I’m an injured man here. Give me a break, huh?”
“That’s exactly my point. You can’t be running around getting

injured. You are the one that knocked on my door and swooped in
like a white knight. You are the one who made me fall for you. So
you better be sure to be more careful. Because I cannot lose you, Josh
Hendricks. Do you hear me? I can’t. So just…be careful.”

Josh smiled. “You know, you’re kind of cute when you get all

worked up. But since you’re making demands and all, I’ve got one for
you.”

Paul cocked a brow up curiously. “Okay.”
“This right here. You and me. This is it. If there is one thing I

learned today it’s that life is too damn short. I’ve never fallen in love
before, but you’re it for me. So it’s all or nothing here. And just so

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you know…I won’t take no for answer. In fact”—Josh leaned a little
closer and whispered—“Colorado happens to accept same-sex
marriages, so if I have to, I’ll drag your tight little ass to the altar and
make sure you’re legally obligated to me.”

Paul couldn’t help but smile. Only Josh could make all of the

stress and worry just disappear with a few short sentences. “Well, I
don’t know. I mean…that pink frilly bedroom has me kind of
concerned.”

“Questioning my masculinity are we?” Josh asked.
Paul raised up his hands. “Pink satin and lace. That’s all I’m

saying. Pink satin and lace.”

“Think you’re pretty funny, don’t you. Get over here.” Josh

pinned Paul beneath him and pressed his lips to Paul’s.

Just as quick as their lips touched, Paul felt Josh’s tongue sweep

inside and begin stroking him. Greedily, he wrapped his arms around
the man who had managed to steal his heart in such a short time.

His cock was beginning to swell, and he could feel Josh’s hunger

building up inside just as Paul’s was. There was something about
Josh’s kiss that acted like an aphrodisiac to an already unbearable
situation. Paul would never be able to deny Josh. Not tonight, not
tomorrow, not ever. He was Josh’s. He belonged to him.

Paul’s own lust was wreaking havoc on his body and mind. His

need for Josh was primal. It wasn’t something he just wanted, but
something he needed to have. Paul knew there would never be enough
to Josh to quench his thirst.

Josh pressed his body down on top of Paul’s and pinned his own

erection against Paul’s. The hard outline of their two cocks poking
and prodding at one another only added to the growing desire.

Paul reached down between their bodies and ran his palm against

the thickness of Josh’s cock. He groaned at how good it felt in his
hands, and he wanted to relive his memories of taking him in his
mouth and in his ass until they both came.

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Sweet memories of how Josh had sucked him off earlier that day

flashed through his mind. The recollection of what Josh had asked for
excited Paul that much more. He was no longer bashful about the
idea. He wanted to take Josh, just like he had taken Paul. He wanted
to make Josh his.

As their cocks rubbed together through their fabric barriers, Paul

pulled away from their hot kiss. He was frustrated, hot, and hard. He
was ready to fuck.

Paul’s heart was beating unbearably fast as he looked up into

Josh’s eyes. “I want you. I want to take you like I never have anyone
before.”

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Chapter Seventeen

Josh’s heart was caught somewhere in his chest. It had thumped

out of place and now was holding him hostage as he watched Paul
slide the condom on his cock. His gorgeous blond-haired lover,
normally so meek and mild, had suddenly taken on the role of
predator as he circled his prey before returning to the bed.

“Don’t make me wait any longer. I want you to fuck me so bad

right now,” Josh pleaded.

Paul stared at him as he climbed on the bed. Josh would swear

he’d never seen Paul’s eyes look more alive as they did in that
moment. There was a fire lurking in them that Josh knew could rage if
he fanned the flame.

Josh lay there stroking his cock as he stared back at Paul. He was

mesmerized by this side to him. He couldn’t wait to find out what
more was lurking beneath the surface of this quiet man who had done
very little in his sexual life.

Paul squirted the lubricant jelly onto his fingers and dipped two

fingers past Josh’s seam. The cool-feeling liquid shocked his heated
skin. Just as soon he winced from the discomfort of it, Josh felt the
alluring sensation of Paul’s hand wrap around him, stroking him so
sweetly it bordered between pleasure and pain.

Josh was still transfixed by every move that Paul made. From his

hard-sheathed cock to the expert way he dipped his fingertips just
inside his hole, Josh knew that while Paul may be a novice, he
definitely was a natural.

Paul’s Possession

129

His cock twitched with excitement when Paul reached down and

lifted underneath his ass. The position put Paul’s cock at the perfect
angle to take Josh just how he liked it, hard and fast.

“Do you want me?” Paul asked.
“Yes. God yes! You’re driving me crazy,” Josh admitted.
“Show me,” Paul told him. “Get yourself ready for me.”
Josh’s nearly came at the aggressive tone Paul used. He loved this

type of play, having one in charge of the other. He didn’t want to
disappoint or deter this fascinating side of Paul, so he did as he was
asked.

Reaching around, Josh spread his cheeks apart and felt around

with his middle finger until he found his puckered hole. The first
moment he felt that delightful tease against his anus, he started to play
with it. He strummed the sensitive outer skin like a symphony until he
started to moan in anticipation.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” Paul muttered,

all the while stroking his cock.

Josh flashed his eyes up to Paul’s and offered him that same fire

he saw staring back at him. The windows to his soul told him more
than even Paul realized. Flames were licking at Josh as he waited
almost painfully for what he needed so badly.

“Show me. Fuck me,” Josh said quietly, his words nearly begging.
Paul leaned over Josh and their two eyes connected. He wasn’t

sure what struck him the most about that moment, the beauty of the
man who hovered over him, or the beauty of what they were about to
share. Josh didn’t just want Paul to feel the inside of his ass. He
wanted Paul to take a piece of him. He wanted this moment to be
about more than the physical onslaught of pleasure.

“I love you,” Paul whispered as he positioned himself at Josh’s

entrance.

Josh lifted his hand and cupped Paul’s cheek. “I love you, too.”
Paul pushed himself past Josh’s entrance, howling as the first tiny

muscles found around his invasion. Josh was in heaven. He knew all

130

Taylor Brooks

too well how much that burn would quickly turn to pleasure. He
didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to go slow and prolong the agony.
They both wanted it and needed it.

Josh thrust his hips up and forced Paul’s cock deeper into his ass.

Both of the men screamed, but for different reasons. The pain sliced
through his body as his skin stretched unbelievably wide open for
Paul’s dick. Discomfort continued to ripple through him for several
moments until he felt the wonderful pulsating little beads of pleasure.

Wild horses couldn’t have kept him from stopping. He needed all

of Paul inside of him. Taking him, fucking him, and loving him. Paul
was trembling as he remained buried inside. Josh wasn’t sure if he
was in shock from the tight way that ass muscles could contract and
flex around a hard cock. Damn if his own lust was riding through him
like a stallion out of control.

Slowly, Josh rocked his hips, causing Paul to slide back and forth

into him. Each time it felt better than the last, and it only made Josh
increase his pace.

“Oh…my…God. This is so…” Paul stumbled over his breathless

words.

“Feels good, doesn’t it? Take me. Take more of me,” Josh begged

him.

Paul thrust inside Josh, this time taking the lead and shouting and

moaning each time his hips rocked back and forth. Josh was already
riding close to the edge. The exquisite way Paul’s cock fit his ass, so
snug and perfectly, only added to the feelings which were filling up
his heart.

He had often wondered what it would be like to let someone else

have complete control over him. Before Paul, he never thought he’d
meet someone he’d give his whole heart to. There was something
about Paul Rayburn which made him forget all of his hang ups of the
past.

“I’m so close.” Paul’s words came out on ragged breaths.

Paul’s Possession

131

He had barely even heard Paul amidst the slapping of skin, the

heavy breathing, or pounding of his own heart. He was completely at
Paul’s mercy. Whatever he wanted, whatever he needed and asked
for, Josh would give him.

Josh reached down and grabbed onto his cock. He began stroking

it slowly while Paul continued to move back and forth in his ass. His
hard cock slid so perfectly inside him, almost like Paul was made for
his body and vice versa.

“Fuck, you’re so tight.”
“Harder, faster,” Josh replied.
Josh could barely take in air, barely utter a word as he picked up

the pace on his own cock and began pumping his dick. There was no
holding back now. He was high and disoriented from his climax had
been holding over his head.

“I’m going to come.”
As quick as Josh shouted his announcement, he felt the warm feel

of cum spill into Paul’s condom and heat his already hot ass. A
sudden explosion ripped through Josh’s body as Paul howled. The
loud scream echoed against their bedroom walls.

Josh’s body shook as his orgasm hit every part of his body. Hot

and unrelenting, his release spilled onto his belly. Pleasure unlike any
he’d ever experience before racked through his entire soul. Both of
them gasped for breath in their weakened post-coital state until finally
Paul collapsed on top of Josh.

Both men wrapped their arms around one another. They held on

tight as their bodies continued to tremble from what they’d just
endured. The pleasure, the pain, it all went hand in hand with how
their love had snuck up on them when they’d least expected it.

There would always be a time and a place for Josh to display his

dominance. There was a part of him that would always need to feel
connected and in control of Paul. Each of them belonged to one
another now. Whether he was taking or giving, Paul would always be
the one who owned a piece of him, just as he owned a piece of Paul.

132

Taylor Brooks

Together they possessed one another in a way that no other could

possibly understand.

THE END

WWW.TAYLORBROOKS.WEBS.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Taylor Brooks first fell in love with writing when she penned her

first book for Siren Publishing, Take Me. She’s also an avid reader
and finds herself drawn to the stories told of gay lovers, and finds the
passion told in such stories absolutely beautiful. This also explains
why her genre of choice for her writing is GLBT.

In addition to her Sultry SoCal series, Taylor has many stories

brewing inside her head just itching to break free. Stay tuned for more
as she strives for exciting ways to tease and please her readers.

For all titles by Taylor Brooks, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/taylor-brooks

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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