Gridiron Gods 6

Running Back

How do you save a man who doesn’t think he’s worthy of being

saved?

Terribly lonely running back Kyle Water can’t stop calling exotic

dancer Skye for private shows. Following Skye’s rules—no

touching, no questions—is difficult, especially when Skye’s

haunted eyes scream out to Water’s fiercely protective side, but

Water respects Skye’s choices, even if he doesn’t like them.

Skye wants to abandon his tawdry life for Water, but his sadistic

owner would kill them both, and Skye will do anything to keep

Water safe. But resisting Water’s allure becomes ever more

difficult, and eventually, Skye succumbs.

When Water and Skye break the rules and indulge their mutual

fascination, they uncover a startling legacy, unleash a sadistic

man’s fury, and put an innocent man’s life in jeopardy.

Will they be strong enough to set things right, or will their bond

destroy the very foundation of the Gridiron Gods?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 26,352 words

RUNNING BACK

Gridiron Gods 6

Anitra Lynn McLeod

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

RUNNING BACK
Copyright © 2012 by Anitra Lynn McLeod
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-269-X

First E-book Publication: January 2012

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
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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 Running Back by Anitra Lynn
McLeod 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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DEDICATION

This is for the broken one who was brave enough to love again.

RUNNING BACK

Gridiron Gods 6

ANITRA LYNN MCLEOD

Chapter 1

Kyle Water, known as Water to his friends, swore he wasn’t going

to see Skye again. His position on the Grizzlies’ football team was
running back, but that didn’t mean he had to live up to the title in his
personal life.

Getting on the bus for the second away game of the season was

just about the hardest thing he’d ever done. Keeping himself from
checking the pictures on his cell was even more difficult, but he
managed.

Confident that he could resist the erotic dancer’s lure, Water

returned to Twin Pines College late on Saturday night with his
teammates. He joined them for pizza and beer. Water laughed, joked,
and generally did all the things triumphant teammates did, including
congratulating each other ad nauseam. Feeling positive that he was
cured, Water returned home.

His resolve faltered in two hours.
Water hit speed dial one on his cell phone.
“Hey.” Skye answered like he always did.
“Hey.” Water returned his greeting just like he always did.
“What time?” Skye asked.
“Now.”

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Skye’s laughter filled his ear. Just hearing his voice hardened his

cock, tightening his jeans. His chuckle was low and rumbling like an
ice-clogged winter creek. Water didn’t know why he was surprised
that Skye’s voice turned him on the way it did. Everything about the
man engaged his senses and pushed him right to the edge of sanity.
When he saw Skye, it was as if everything else faded from his vision.
When he came near enough for Water to catch his scent, some primal
animal part of him wanted to fuck. But what truly drove him to the
brink of madness was when they touched. Fleeting and transitory, one
brief caress made Water want to toss Skye over his shoulder and carry
him off like a caveman.

“If I could teleport myself to you, I would,” Skye said.
If I could tie you down and make you stay, I would. But Water

knew that sort of talk would keep the beautiful man away, so instead,
Water murmured, “You could stay here with me. That way, you’d be
here all the time, especially when we needed one another.” Water
examined the small, off-campus apartment he’d managed to snag for
his senior year. It wasn’t much, but it was his, and his alone. Privacy
after three years in the dorms was a novel concept. How ironic that
once he was alone, he found someone he wanted to room with.

“You know I can’t.” Skye sounded honestly regretful.
The argument was an old one that Water knew he’d lose. Nothing

in the world was going to steal Skye away from his job. Nothing
Water had discovered, at any rate. The more he pushed for something
more permanent, the more Skye withdrew. Their bond was a tentative
one at best, one that Water constantly worried he’d break without
meaning to.

“Come.” Water spoke the one word softly into the phone.
“I always do with you.”
Water clicked off, folded his cell, and settled into his easy chair.

Funny, it should be called a difficult chair as he felt anything but easy
right now. He wanted Skye naked, on his knees, his wicked violet
eyes peering up as he simulated oral sex. Not once had they actually

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done anything, which made Water’s obsession with the man all the
more perverse. They watched one another. They pretended. They
came so very close to fully engaging with one another but never quite
connected. It was madness, and Water knew that, but he still couldn’t
stay away.

Within fifteen minutes, Skye was at his door. Water had it opened

before he knocked. Like usual, he offered Skye a drink. Like usual,
Skye refused.

Skye closed and locked the front door, checked that the shades

were fully drawn, and then he lit the strategically placed candles. The
living room glowed golden, highlighting the blond strands in Skye’s
long, tousled, brown hair. His angelic features contrasted the hard
planes of his perfectly sculpted body. But Water was getting ahead of
himself. Skye was still dressed in his black-and-green letterman
jacket, a crisp, red polo shirt, and jeans that looked painted on by
Michelangelo himself.

“Sit.” Skye motioned to the chair just like he always did.
Water settled back into his easy chair with his erection throbbing.

Just one look at Skye caused his dick to jerk to attention and his balls
to ache. It had been less than forty-eight hours since Water had
whacked off with Skye’s help, but it felt more like forty-eight years.
No matter what he did solo, it didn’t match the pleasure he found
when Skye watched him. Perhaps because, in turn, he watched Skye,
which somehow enhanced their mutual satisfaction.

“Music?” Skye asked.
“Not tonight.”
Again, it was the same thing they always said to one another.

Water didn’t want tunes to detract from his enjoyment of Skye. What
they had was visual. Despite Water’s best intentions, it was also
deeply emotional. God, Water really hoped that was mutual. It
certainly seemed to be. No way could Skye fake that gushing stream
of cum that flew from his luscious prick, or the look of longing that
filled his eyes when he watched Water give him the same show.

Running Back

Off came Skye’s letterman jacket. As usual, Skye hung it up on

one of the hooks by the door. He was fastidious that way. Or maybe
the gesture calmed him. Water didn’t know. He’d asked Skye about a
million questions and very few were ever answered directly. Skye
preferred to joke, or flirt, or simply move away from queries about
himself. It didn’t take a degree in psychology for Water to see some
cold darkness in the man’s past. If he could fight his demons, Water
would, but Skye didn’t want his help.

“You know I hate this part.”
“Yeah.” Water extended his legs and dug his heels into the ugly

shag carpeting. Lifting his fanny off the seat, Water extracted his
wallet. He pulled out a wad of money and offered the bundle to Skye.

When Skye accepted the stack of bills, his fingers grazed against

Water’s, which sent a powerful surge of longing throughout his entire
body. That was the all-too-fleeting touch that woke the caveman in
Water’s soul. But he knew if he flipped Skye over his shoulder and
carted him off to his cave, he would never be able to let him go.

“It’s too much.” Skye returned all but one bill, but Water couldn’t

see what denomination it was.

Water’s fingers brushed Skye’s when he took the excess money

back. It was the only direct contact they’d ever had. Just like the drink
thing, this was old hat. Water offered lots of bills, but Skye never
accepted them, which made Water suspicious that this wasn’t about
money, not with him at any rate. Maybe money mattered with the
other men Skye went to but not with Water.

Out of curiosity, Water had counted the money before and after

his sessions with Skye. Water discovered that sometimes Skye took a
five, sometimes he took a twenty, but he never took one of the fifties.
Lately, Water had taken to offering out a one-hundred dollar bill, but
Skye didn’t take that either. Something about that broke Water’s
heart, but he couldn’t pinpoint what. Per usual, Water shoved the
money into his wallet then shoved his wallet into his back pocket.

Skye slipped the one bill he’d taken into the pocket of his

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letterman jacket, and Water watched as the coat arm swung lazily
after Skye had moved away. There was a story behind that jacket.
Either Skye or someone he knew must have attended Twin Pines
College. But who or what sport they’d lettered in—Water didn’t
know. Most nights he doubted Skye was really the compelling man’s
name. Not that it mattered. No matter what his name was, he would
never be more to Water than a fleeting visitor in his life. And that was
the real tragedy. There could be so much more between them. Water
knew he, and probably every other guy who hired Skye, thought they
had some kind of connection. As asinine as it seemed, Water felt a
true, deep, and powerful bond to Skye despite the fleeting nature of
their relationship.

Water wanted more.
Skye didn’t.
And so they didn’t talk about that.
“I want you to do something for me.” Skye looked down at the

blah brown carpet then back up into Water’s eyes. “You can say no if
you want.”

“Name it.” Water would be happy to do just about anything for

him.

“Do you own a business man’s suit?” His eyes were wide and

hopeful.

“I do.” There was a jet-black Armani in his closet courtesy of his

mother. Water had worn it once and only once. He’d kept the
extravagant garment despite the vow to never wear the luscious article
of clothing again. Too many bad memories surrounded that suit. Too
many expectations Water could never live up to. Yet even with that he
couldn’t dispose of something so beautiful. To him, trashing the suit
would be like tossing out a Fabergé egg for being the wrong color.

“Would you wear it for me?” More desperate hope filled Skye’s

incredible eyes.

“I’d be honored.” Wearing that outfit for Skye would wipe the

nasty taste of that day he’d worn it before right out of his memory.

Running Back

Water stood and something tore inside when Skye stepped away

from him and toward the front door. Lifting his hands to show his
utter lack of harmful intent, Water said, “I’ll go put it on.”

Skye nodded, but he didn’t move away from the door.
Even though Water was shorter and smaller than Skye, he wasn’t

surprised by his wary caution. God only knew how many men had
manhandled him. Doing his line of work with that face, that hair, that
body—damn. Even a straight saint would have a difficult time
keeping his hands off Skye. But Water had never violated his personal
space. The only touches they’d shared were the brief strokes of their
fingertips when they exchanged money. How ironic that those were
the most powerful touches Water had ever known.

After a short trip down the hall, Water entered his lonely bedroom.

With an economy of motion, Water toed off his sneakers and socks
while yanking off his sweatshirt. His jeans and underwear soon
followed. Everything landed in a heap on his bedroom floor. His bed,
an incredibly comfortable, queen-size, pillow-top mattress that had
come with the furnished apartment, was neatly made with fresh sheets
in the hopes that Skye would join him. Folly. Not once had that ever
even come close to happening.

Hope springs eternal.
From his minimal closet, Water removed the plain canvas bag that

stored his one and only suit. He pulled the black jacket, pants, and
crisp, white shirt out, surprised that they looked as good as they had
on the day he’d filed them away. A faint lingering essence of cologne
was still detectable despite the fact Water hadn’t worn that scent since
he’d worn the suit.

Smooth wool slid up his legs with the perfection only a custom-

fitted suit could have. The shirt, a rare combination of silk and cotton,
stroked his skin almost sexually. Easing the jacket up completed his
look. Water didn’t bother with the shoes, but he did button up his
shirt, and he tucked the tails into his trousers.

He considered himself in the mirror on the back of his bedroom

Anitra Lynn McLeod

door. Critically, he watched himself as he turned this way and that.
Water thought he looked amazing. His short, black hair was casually
mussed. His green eyes were somehow brightened by the darkness of
the fabric against his bronzed skin. Even though he was only six feet
tall, the lines of the suit made him seem taller, broader. Unbuttoning
the shirt two buttons made him appear to be a business man ready to
kick back after a long day of wheeling and dealing on Wall Street.

Finished primping, Water returned to the living room only to find

that Skye had taken one of the chairs from the dining room table and
placed it in the center of the living room floor. Armless and very
solid, the chair was probably the only seat in the apartment that could
hold their combined weights.

Talk about hope springing eternal.
Skye watched him enter the room, but his face remained

expressionless. “Sit.”

Intrigued, Water sat.
For the first time, Skye broke protocol, and not just in one way. It

seemed Skye was bound and determined to throw all their rules out of
the window.

Usually, Water leaned back in his easy chair, unbuttoning his rivet

button jeans, button by button, while Skye removed his clothing.
Since they couldn’t touch, they made a visual kind of foreplay. Once
they were both exposed, they watched each other masturbate. As
satisfying as it was, it was also unbelievably frustrating.

Water wanted to taste Skye. He wanted to feel the texture of the

pale skin that cupped Skye’s bottom. Water wanted to know what it
would feel like to slip his fingers through Skye’s curly hair. But more
than anything, Water wanted to taste Skye’s sweetly trembling mouth.

If I could know that, I could die a happy man.
Right as Skye lost himself in orgasmic bliss, his lower lip

quivered, and he bit at the shaking flesh with his upper teeth to steady
it. Water had never seen anything as sexy as Skye’s tremulous lip.

Not knowing what Skye’s mouth tasted like was probably going to

Running Back

kill Water. Or at least drive him to the brink of insanity. He’d like to
blame Skye for driving him to the poorhouse, but again, he never took
much. Water would have put singles in the stack of money but for the
fact he feared Skye would take them. Water couldn’t bear the thought
of Skye suffering just so they could be together. If he had the
wherewithal, Water would shower him in money. But he didn’t. And
that didn’t seem to be what Skye wanted from him anyway.

But maybe tonight he’d find out what his trembling mouth tasted

like. Water would be thrilled to make that small step forward in their
relationship. He didn’t need to know his flesh or the pleasure of his
cock. Those would be beyond intense, but just tasting Skye’s luscious
mouth would be gift enough. Water would not be greedy.

It was the middle of October, but all Water could think was that

Christmas was coming early. And if he were a very, very good boy,
Santa would give him the best gift ever.

“Watch me but don’t move.”
Water’s cock twitched. Rather than undressing with him, he

wasn’t allowed to undress. The break in their usual routine was
intoxicating, prompting a thousand questions. Would Skye undress
him? Would he rub up on him while he was dressed? Not knowing
was maddening and arousing in and of itself.

“You have the most expressive eyes, Water. Green like the pine

trees, yet as riveted as a bear tracking his prey.”

Inadvertently, Water growled, shocking them both.
“You animal.” Skye’s tone was jocular, but there was concern in

his gaze.

Every time Water saw that look of fear, he wanted to reassure

Skye he would never hurt him, but he imagined he’d heard that
assurance before. Probably right before someone defiled him. Water
would rather cut off his own hand than hurt Skye, but platitudes like
that would doubtless fall on deaf ears, so Water kept his mouth shut.

Observing Skye was like watching sex in motion. Every move he

made was precise, perfect, and passionate. Watching his clothing melt

Anitra Lynn McLeod

away caused Water’s breath to catch, his heart to pound, and his cock
to swell. Ah, the irony of creaming all over this suit! If it happened,
Water swore he wouldn’t be angry, no matter how much it cost to
clean. Perhaps he would send the cleaning bill to his uptight mother,
or maybe even his sister, what with her nasty rejection still ringing in
Water’s ears.

“You’re beautiful.” The words tumbled from Water’s mouth

before he could stop them.

Skye met his gaze. His eyes widened.
“I’m sorry, I know you don’t like it when I talk, but you really are

the most striking man I’ve ever seen.” Sew his lips shut but he was
only making his faux pas worse.

“I don’t mind so much when you talk.” Skye slowly and

seductively removed his jeans. “You aren’t vulgar.”

“Of course not. You’re not the sort who would enjoy dirty talk.” It

was a guess, but apparently a good one, since Skye looked relieved.
Maybe all the men he worked for talked with nothing but dark and
hungry words to him. Water imagined that got old. “You’re almost
impossibly sweet.”

“Am I?”
“Oh, yes. You have the face of an angel.”
Darkness washed over Skye’s features, and he turned away.
“But you have the body of a devil.”
Skye grinned, and the shadow left his face.
“And the soul of a proud beast.” What Water had really wanted to

say was you have the soul of a god, but he hadn’t because it struck
him strange. That, however, made his thought no less true. There was
something of a broken god about Skye, or perhaps a god who hadn’t
quite come into his full power.

Skye lifted his chin. “You are both animal and man.”
Unsure of the meaning behind his words, Water said nothing and

kept his features blank, hoping Skye would give him some insight.

“You want me almost violently, but you refuse to take what you

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want.”

“I respect your choice.”
“Do you?” Skye approached, his large and perfectly shaped cock

swinging. He didn’t stop advancing until his hard prick was less than
two feet from Water’s hungry mouth. All he had to do was lean over,
and Water would know the taste of Skye. Like a calling card, a pearl
of pre-cum hung at the tip, begging for Water’s tongue. It was the
closest he’d ever been, and yet Water still felt they were miles apart.

“I respect your choice.” Water repeated his words because he

couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Do you?”
“No, I’m lying.”
“What?” Skye didn’t move away. Instead, he seemed to lean

incrementally closer.

“I want you. I crave you. I hunger for you to the point I am almost

mad with the need to touch you, to feel you, to”—Water debated
telling Skye the truth but decided to take the chance—“taste you.”

An unnamable emotion passed over Skye’s features.
Water shook his head. “But I would never force you.”
“I know.” Skye settled on Water’s right leg, his hard cock rubbing

hot and thick against his upper thigh. As much as Water wanted direct
contact, he enjoyed this oblique caress as much as he could. “You
don’t take what you can by force because command doesn’t excite
you as much as surrender does.”

Unsure what to do with his hands, Water cupped them to the

underside of the chair upon which he sat. “Are you yielding to me?”

Skye lowered his face until his lips were a bare centimeter from

Water’s. Skye’s beautiful mouth was right there, so close, so
beautifully vulnerable yet proud, and still so terribly far away. No
matter how tantalizingly close Skye came, Water would not, could
not, close the distance between them.

“Kiss me, Water.”
As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. “I can’t.”

Anitra Lynn McLeod

“Why?” Skye’s plaintive voice vibrated inside his chest.
“You have to kiss me.”
There was a timeless pause, and then, Skye rubbed his nose along

Water’s, which only tormented him more. Now he could smell and
taste his breath—cinnamon—and the hunger for him increased
threefold. But Water could not close that distance.

“Kiss me, Skye. It has to be you. The rules were set up by you. It

has to be you who breaks them.”

“Why?” Skye continued to rub his nose against Water’s, which

forced Water to grasp the seat of the chair so hard he swore he heard
the wood crack.

“I won’t take from you.” Water would rather die a thousand times

than violate Skye in any way.

“No?”
“No.” Water met his gaze. “You have to give to me of your own

free will.”

With the timelessness of a dream, Skye slid his nose along

Water’s until their lips touched. An untold number of passions
exploded in his mind, his body, his flesh. All his dreams of what Skye
would taste like paled in comparison to reality. Sweet, soft, sinful—
kissing Skye was like kissing a fallen angel. Skye tasted of sunshine,
of laughter, and then of terrible fear that cringed from the light and
took solace in the dark.

As if he realized the kiss revealed too much, Skye pulled back,

exhaling a stunned sigh as he did so.

“Let me save you.” Water swore he would do anything to get Skye

out of the life he obviously didn’t want to live.

“You can’t.”
“I can.” Water would move heaven and Earth. “I swear I will.”
“No one can save me.” Skye slipped his fingers down the placket

of buttons along Water’s shirt, popping them apart one by one. “I am
ruined.”

“No man is without redemption.”

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When Skye reached the last button, he pulled the shirttails out of

Water’s trousers, popped the final one, then pushed the edges apart.
“You cannot offer salvation to a man without a soul.”

“What did you do, Skye? Sell your soul to the devil?”
“If I told you I did, you would only laugh and call me a liar.”
“No.” Water cupped Skye’s chin with one hand and stopped his

strong fingers from working their way into his custom-fitted pants
with the other. “I would believe you.”

“Would you?” Skye peered down into Water’s eyes with nothing

short of hope.

“I would. And then I would find a way to fight to regain your

soul.”

“You’d battle the devil for me?”
“I would.”
“I believe you would.”
“Skye, please tell me what you’re afraid of. I’ll protect you. If

someone is making you do this, I swear, I’ll—”

“You can’t save me.”
“You say that like it’s a fact.”
“It is.”
“It’s not.”
Skye leaned in and kissed him again. Oh, God, but the second kiss

was even sweeter than the first. Skye’s lips were like crushed berries
coated with sugar. As much as Water wanted to grab him and pull him
close, he didn’t. Trying to contain Skye would be like trying to hang
onto a summer breeze.

“That cologne you’re wearing is making me crazy.” Skye tried

again to get his hand around Water’s cock, but Water wouldn’t let go
of him. Knowing the longing was mutual gave Water an advantage.
As slight as it was, he was determined to have some questions
answered. But then he realized he wanted something much more
profound.

Lifting and flattening his hand, Water placed Skye’s palm over his

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heart. “Feel what you do to me.”

Skye pressed into him, kissing him deeply. He pulled back only

long enough to beg, “Touch me. If you don’t, I swear I’ll lose my
mind.”

After all this time, when he was finally allowed to touch him,

Water’s hands trembled. “You are so special. So incredibly important
to me.” He twined his fingers into Skye’s hair, loving the softness, the
way the strands seemingly melted into the heat of his touch.

“Let me touch you.”
“Not there, not yet. Don’t make this dirty when it’s not.”
“But that’s what I am. I’m a filthy whor—”
Water cut him off with a kiss because he didn’t want to hear him

call himself vile names. Not when he was wrong. So wrong. Water
didn’t know why Skye did what he did, but Water was going to make
him stop, even if he had to sell his own soul to save Skye’s.

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Chapter 2

Skye clung to Water’s shoulders as he pressed his naked body

against him. He had never had anyone care for him the way Water did.
Water didn’t say he cared. He showed that he did, in almost every
thing he did. Skye knew he was supposed to stay emotionally distant
from his clients, and that had always been easy, but then he’d met
Water.

Kind, sweet, and he was the only one who never called him names

or demanded services that Skye wasn’t prepared to give. As an exotic
dancer, what he did was perform, not touch, but drunken, horny men
and women forgot that. For all Skye could tell, Water was happy to
simply be in the same room with him, which was why Skye couldn’t
stay away.

Every time they were together, the orgasms were explosive, but

being so near and yet so far only aggravated his longing, so Skye
swore it would be the last time every time. But his resolve always
crumbled when Water called. All he had to say was hey and Skye
came running back. How ironic that Water was a running back for the
Twin Pines Grizzlies.

Tonight had been different from all the other nights. Seeing Water

again in that recliner, seeing the bulge in his jeans, the anticipation in
his eyes—too much longing gripped him to do what they’d always
done. In a last desperate bid to remind himself that this was business,
not pleasure, Skye had asked him to put on the suit. It was a terrible
mistake. Nothing had ever shown off Water like that garment did.
Sexy dressed casually, Water was gorgeous dressed formally.

With the whiteness of the shirt contrasting the bronze of his chest,

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Skye had wanted to touch Water so desperately he trembled. Knowing
it was wrong, he’d come close and hoped that Water would
manhandle him, proving that he was just like all the other animals, but
Water had practically sat on his own hands to keep himself in check.

And that’s when Skye couldn’t take anymore denial. He’d

straddled one powerful thigh. Pressing his cock against that muscle,
that taut muscle that held up Skye’s weight almost effortlessly, had
only pushed his undoing further.

Skye knew if he kissed Water, he’d be lost forever. Again, he tried

to make Water pounce on him, but just like before, Water refused.
Unable to resist, Skye had willingly given to Water what he declined
to take.

One kiss had sealed his fate.
Water had touched his soul long before he’d touched his body.

Even when Skye gave the lonely man free reign, he didn’t grope and
grab at him like an animal. No, not Water. He kissed with the grace of
a true lover, and threaded his fingers in his hair, then placed Skye’s
palm over his heart. That was what caused his sudden tears.

Water asked him to feel what Skye did to him, and he had him

touch his heart, not his cock, and that gesture spoke volumes.
Moreover, Water wouldn’t let Skye call himself those wicked, dirty
names. If he told him the truth of why he did that, Water would be
repulsed. So Skye didn’t. Discovering he didn’t need to be degraded
to get off around Water was what brought him back time and time
again. It was also what prevented him from taking more than a token
amount of money. Skye never climaxed with his other clients unless
they debased him and paid him extra. He always climaxed with Water
simply by looking at him.

“If I asked to stay the night, would you let me?” Skye didn’t

recognize his own voice.

“I’d be honored.”
“What if I wanted to sleep alone?”
“I’d be okay with that.”

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And Skye knew he would. Knowing Water as he did, Skye

believed if he asked, Water would give up his bed and take the couch,
just so Skye could have one night of peaceful sleep.

“What if I wanted to sleep in your arms?”
“I’d be okay with that, too.” Water cupped his chin. “Tell me what

you need, Skye. Don’t play games or feel you can’t be straight with
me. All you have to do is tell me exactly what you need.”

“You. All I’ve ever needed was someone like you.” Skye melted

into him, kissing him as if their bodies could only live twined
together. Something profound drew him to Water, some unnamable
force that he couldn’t deny any longer. Each time he tried to end
things, Skye was pulled back faster and harder. So he stopped
fighting. When he did, he was rewarded with a flush of pleasure
nothing on this Earth could ever match.

Quite suddenly, Skye realized he was leaking pre-cum all over

Water’s suit, but when he pulled away, explaining, Water only
laughed and urged him closer.

“Cream all over it. Since I’ve coated the inside, you should coat

the outside.”

“I’d rather feel skin on skin.”
“Me, too.” Water smiled and uttered a forlorn sigh. “But I don’t

want to you to do anything you’re not ready for.”

“I think we’ve danced around enough.” Skye rose, pushed Water’s

thighs apart, then knelt between. When he looked up, Water was
looking down at him, hunger an almost palatable sensation from his
gaze.

“Skye, I don’t think I can handle—”
“Please.”
Clearly conflicted by his longing to protect Skye but also his

yearning to finally experience what they’d only simulated before,
Water ultimately surrendered. When Skye slowly but surely
unfastened his trousers, Water returned his hands to grip the underside
of the seat.

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“You can touch me, if you want.” Skye realized that Water wore

nothing below, so when he parted the flaps of fabric, Water’s long,
thick prick was fully exposed. Skye traced his finger over the smudge
of pre-cum then lifted his finger to his lips. Water’s essence was
almost unbelievably sweet.

“Oh, God.”
When he looked up, Water was watching him with those wicked

hunter eyes, like Skye had come dangerously close to his lair and at
any moment he might pounce. Water’s attention was so riveted, Skye
didn’t think he even blinked.

Taunting the beast, Skye kept their intense eye contact, leaned

over, and licked the tip of Water’s cock.

A long, low growl shook the chair and damn near the apartment.

But rather than attack, Water gripped the edges of the chair so firmly
his fists went white.

Again, Skye licked the slit along the tip of Water’s prick while

looking right into his eyes. This time the growl was punctuated by a
flaring of his nostrils. On the third tongue stroke, Water closed his
eyes, and his head went back. Skye was mesmerized by the bobbing of
Water’s Adam’s apple. His throat worked like he was holding back a
battle cry, or perhaps deeper and far more guttural growls.

Rather than talk, Skye found himself struck almost mute.

Normally the words flowed freely, but not with Water. Here, those
rough words seemed as out of place as would an ice sculpture or a
string quartet. So instead, Skye tried to express his longing, his need,
his pure pleasure at finally touching Water with his eyes, his lips, and
his hands. Wrapping his palms gently around the pulsing shaft of
Water’s cock, Skye sucked the knob into his mouth.

There were no words to describe the sound Water uttered. It was

raw, untamed, and thoroughly sexy. Easing more of his length into his
mouth, Skye looked up, waiting for the moment when Water looked
down at him. When it finally came, when their gazes connected again,
the hunger was still there, but another feeling dominated, and it wasn’t

Running Back

lust. When Skye realized what that emotion was, and how dangerous
that feeling could be to the both of them, he closed his eyes and
sucked the rest of Water’s length into his mouth.

“My beautiful Skye.”
Skye felt his hand upon his head, but not in force, only in gentle

exploration. Fingers sifted his curls and tousled his strands, as
fingertips conveyed the same emotion Skye had hidden his gaze from.

Skye knew then that the only way to escape what Water offered

was to leave and run as far and as fast as he could. But then he’d have
a hole in his heart that nothing could fill. So he stayed. And he slipped
Water’s prick from between his lips.

“I’m sorry, I touched you, I—”
Skye placed a shushing finger on Water’s mouth. “I wanted you to

touch me. I want more. I need more.”

“Tell me.”
“I’d rather show you.” Skye offered out his hand.
Water accepted, rising off the chair.
Standing face to face, the differences in their heights and weights

were more apparent, but not extreme. Skye had a couple of inches on
Water and outweighed him by fifty pounds, but Skye always
envisioned Water as the stronger man. Maybe because he exuded the
confidence that came from playing a sport and playing it well. Water
didn’t know that Skye had tracked his stats almost obsessively. He
searched through all the pictures posted on the school website for
shots of Water. Each one he found he downloaded and poured over
when he was alone. Once upon a time, Skye had been a defensive end.
Not here for the Grizzlies, but he’d played for a team with the same
colors. When he’d found the letterman jacket in a local thrift store,
he’d pounced on it. Wearing the coat helped him feel closer to Water,
almost as if when he wore it he felt Water’s arms around him.

“Wait.” Skye stopped tugging Water toward his bedroom. He’d

never been back there, but he knew that’s where he slept.

“Skye, please, we don’t have to do anything.”

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“I don’t want there to be any confusion about what tonight is

about.” Skye released Water’s hand. He moved to his jacket, removed
the folded up bill, and tossed it on the table by Water’s easy chair.
“I’m not here as a hired man. I’m here because I want to be here.”

Water’s face brightened.
When Skye grasped his hand, Water lifted and kissed his palm. It

was the most erotic thing anyone had ever done to him, and the
gesture froze him in his tracks.

“It’s not just sex with you.”
“No.” Water stepped close and tilted his lips up until they were

terribly close to Skye’s. “Nothing will ever be that simple or that base
with you.”

Skye felt almost boneless when Water was near because he kept

melting at everything he did. When he lifted his mouth the
incremental distance and kissed him, Skye pressed him into the wall
and proceeded to kiss the breath right out of him.

“Slow down.” Water chuckled. “We have all night.”
A man like Kyle Water wasn’t going to be rushed.
And a man like Skye Martin was going to find out exactly what it

was like to be loved rather than fucked.

Running Back

Chapter 3

Water wasn’t sure what he’d done, but something was blessing

him with good karma. Now all the preparations he’d made in his
bedroom didn’t seem silly.

“Fresh sheets?” Skye asked, eyeing the bed.
“Yeah.” Water grinned sheepishly. “I’ve always put them on the

bed when you were coming over, hoping that maybe you’d join me.”
Going to bed alone in those scented sheets after Skye had left had
been a unique form of torture, almost a punishment. Water had hated
it then, but now, if this was the ultimate pay off, he didn’t care.

“I’ve never...”
Water didn’t prompt Skye to continue. Sometimes he trailed off,

and Water realized that the memory he was reliving was not a good
one. This one he thought he knew. No one had ever gone to such
lengths to make things nice for him. Probably because no one in the
world loved Skye. Not like Water did. As crazy as it was loving a man
he’d only known for three months, and only knew in this most curious
way, Water didn’t doubt the depth of his feelings. On the gridiron, he
trusted his gut, and he’d learned that same trust applied in his
emotional life. If he was very lucky, he might be able to show Skye
that this was real, and they would be spectacular together.

“I put out candles for you, too.” Water lit them and turned off the

overly bright ceiling light. His room, decorated in various tones of
blue, enhanced Skye’s violet eyes.

“And condoms and lube.” Skye pointed to the bedside table.
The guilt was so crushing Water hung his head. This wasn’t about

sex, not at all, but that was a natural, normal expression of what he

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felt. By putting out the accoutrements, however, it was almost as if he
expected Skye to put out.

“Stop.” Skye came near. “You are so sweet. I’m glad that you’re

thinking of me, of protecting me.”

“I’ve wanted you for so long.”
“Will you do something for me?” Skye pulled down the

bedclothes and then settled himself on his back.

“Of course.”
“Undress.”
Water grinned.
“Music?”
“Not tonight.”
Rather than do his usual quick shucking of his clothes, Water

slowed down, easing off each garment while turning his body this way
and that. Skye wanted to watch him for a change, and Water didn’t
mind at all. Just to be different, Water left his shirt until last. Since
Skye had already unbuttoned it, all Water had to do was push the shirt
off his shoulders. When he did, Skye gasped, and Water had a pretty
good idea why.

“You like it?”
“It’s exquisite.”
A tribal tattoo covered his upper right arm in perfectly etched

black ink. “I don’t know why I got it, honestly. I just saw the design
and had to have it with me all the time.”

“A man who likes permanence.”
There were a lot of ways to interpret that comment. When Water

examined Skye’s features and saw that he looked pleased rather than
scared, he smiled. “I do. There’s nothing in this world more important
than things that last.”

“A forever kind of man.”
“I am.”
A fragile kind of hope burst to life in Skye’s haunted eyes. It was a

small flame, and it flickered violently, but it was a start. Water wasn’t

Running Back

discouraged when Skye looked away, suddenly afraid. For him, hope
was new and unfamiliar. The more stability and trust Water could give
him, the more he’d become comfortable, and the more likely he’d be
to accept Water’s help. But for now it was too much.

Skye’s gaze drifted down, lingered on his hard cock, then returned

to his eyes. Rather than speak, Skye flicked his chin, calling him over,
and Water joined him on the bed.

He was almost afraid to touch Skye. There was a part of him that

was convinced when he did, his hand would pass right through him,
and this would turn out to be a dream. But Water also couldn’t resist
the lure of his pale skin. When he stroked over his arm, his dark hair
was soft against his fingertips, and Skye relaxed into the bed.

Water didn’t know how long he spent simply touching, kissing,

and tasting Skye. Exploring him with the precision of an artist, not a
bit of his stunning form escaped Water’s attention, but for his cock.
That he tauntingly left out of his journeying.

“Touch me,” Skye pleaded.
“I am.” Water lowered his lips and kissed his nipple.
“Not where I want you to.”
Chuckling, Water rolled Skye onto his belly then proceeded to

tease his backside until he was moaning in frustration.

Against the blue sheets, Skye’s pale bottom seemed even more

vulnerable. When Water kissed his buttock, Skye’s breath caught, and
he held it, waiting. Biting him gently caused him to gasp and then
chuckle.

“You’re going to drive me crazy.”
“Good.” Water knew the lovers Skye had had were rushed, self-

serving, and focused solely on their own pleasure. To Water,
everything was about Skye. “Then I will have to keep you.”

“Yes.” Skye lifted his bottom when Water teased his fingers along

the split between his cheeks. “I’m yours. All yours.”

It was exactly what Water had always wanted to hear. In his

dreams, Skye had always panted that phrase as Water claimed him.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Parting his long, strong legs, Water slid between, lifted up Skye’s
hips, and then breathed out against his pink, puckered flesh.

“Oh, God.”
Water spent considerable time teasing him with his breath, then

the tip of his tongue. Listening to his whimpering while holding him
still from thrashing was the hottest thing he’d ever known. When he
thought neither of them could take any more, Water slicked up his
finger then slid the digit inside.

Skye angled himself up in response, giving Water total access to

his bottom and his now extremely tight balls. With one hand teasing
his hole, Water lifted the other to finally, finally, touch Skye’s cock.

The sound Skye made mingled longing and torment in equal

measures. Water growled behind him, which caused Skye to tilt his
ass into an even more submissive posture. For all the time he had
spent teasing his partner, Water realized he’d also been tormenting
himself. His balls were high and firm at the base of his cock. As he
watched his finger gliding in and out of Skye’s hole, he had to have
that sensation along the length of his cock. And he had to have it now.

“Skye...” Water couldn’t say what he should, what needed to be

said. The words eluded him. But given their history, that wasn’t a
surprise. Most of their communications were nonverbal, and they
understood one another completely.

Skye didn’t answer. Instead, he arched up and braced his head

against his crossed arms. Wordlessly, he begged Water to claim him.

Some force that Water didn’t understand told him to do what he

wanted to do. He had to fill him, and he had to do it now. There
couldn’t be any more waiting. So Water rose, greased up his bare
cock, and placed the hot knob against Skye’s sweet hole.

Without any movement by either of them, Skye’s body pulled his

cock inside until he was balls deep. Tight, hot, and so right, the feel of
Skye’s bottom became Water’s entire world. As good as he felt,
Water couldn’t bear not being able to see Skye’s face.

Water withdrew as gently as he could, and Skye obviously knew

Running Back

why, because he turned onto his back. With his arms wide, Skye
invited him down. Smiling, Water lowered his body, and his cock
slipped effortlessly back inside.

They kissed with the slow seduction of longtime lovers. That

sweetness of Skye’s mouth was more intense now, and Water reveled
in his flavor.

There were so many things Water wanted to say, words of praise,

of longing, of love, but he felt they were superfluous. Skye knew. All
Water had to do was look into his mesmerizing eyes, and he saw that
all his sentiments were returned.

This was right.
Working together, they rocked their two powerful bodies, until

they were covered with sweat. The closer the climax came, the more
Water resisted. He wanted this to last just a bit longer. He wanted to
love Skye just a bit more.

“Please.”
One word was his undoing.
Eye to eye, heart to heart, they rose up into a crescendo of passion

that ended with a spectacular release. No orgasm had ever shaken him
so deeply, so profoundly, and when Water was finally able to open his
eyes, he found Skye peering up at him, blissful and replete.

They lay together, looking at one another, kissing one another for

a long time. The only reason Water got out of bed at all was to blow
out the candles. Normally, the smell of the cooling wicks bothered
him, but not tonight. Everything was exactly as it should be this
evening. After washing up, Water returned to bed and found himself
right back in Skye’s arms.

Silently they toyed with one another in the dark, chuckling and

kissing as sleep pulled on them. No matter how the negative thoughts
pushed to get his attention, Water shut them out. Tomorrow he’d have
time enough to worry and wonder, but for tonight, he was humbled by
the magnitude of what they had shared.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

* * * *

Water woke up alone.
His bed had never felt so empty. For a moment, he thought the

entire night had been a dream, but Skye’s scent was fused to the
sheets, and the taste of his kisses lingered on Water’s lips.

A broken heart was not what he’d expected to face first thing on

Sunday, but that’s what he would have to deal with. Water blamed no
one but himself. Skye had always been clear about his boundaries.
Water had respected them. Until something changed. Something
happened last night, and it wasn’t by Water’s prompting that the
switch had occurred.

“It was Skye. He changed things up. He gave to me because I

couldn’t take from him.”

When he’d claimed him, Water had thought that was a forever

kind of bond that nothing in this world could shake. Problem was, he
hadn’t considered that Skye simply wasn’t ready. Too much darkness
continued to lurk in his heart for him to accept the light Water offered.

Sword in hand, Water had been ready to slay Skye’s dragons, but

Skye had scared the dragons away for safekeeping. As to why, Water
didn’t know. Chances were that even Skye didn’t comprehend why he
did half the things he did. Victims of abuse often lived out patterns
without understanding why. Water figured that if all he had were
demons, he became protective of them. Like abused children who still
desperately loved their cruel parents.

Head in hand, Water rose. He showered, brushed his teeth, and did

all the things he’d done every morning for most of his life. And then
he threw himself back into bed. Burying his face in the pillow that had
cradled Skye’s head, he breathed so deeply of his scent he swore it
was almost like he was in the bed with him.

“Why not come to the source?”
Water turned and stumbled out of bed, almost falling on his ass

when the sheets tangled up around his legs.

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“Skye?”
“Who were you expecting?” Skye leaned casually against the

doorway. “The Great Pumpkin?”

“Where did you—ah.” Dangling from his long, strong fingers

were two grocery bags filled with Styrofoam packs.

“I don’t cook. Not really. But I’m capable of providing for my

mate.”

Water’s heart skipped a beat. Mate. The raw power of that word

galvanized him.

“Come on, sexy. Let’s get you fed so you and I can spend the day

messing up your bed.” Skye paused. “Ah, I’m a poet.” Skye grinned
then turned and walked toward the kitchen like they did this every
day.

Water followed him, still not quite ready to believe his eyes or

trust his luck. Like a nervous bride, Water set the table, and then they
settled down, sliding the food back and forth until their plates were
piled high with eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

“Quit.” Skye frowned at him across the breakfast table. “You’re

staring at me like you think I’m going to vanish into thin air.”

“Sorry.” Water glanced at his own plate for about half a second

before his gaze went right back to Skye. “Damn it.”

Skye laughed. “It’s okay. I’m a little shocked myself.”
They ate in silence while playing footsie under the table. Takeout

food had never tasted so good, and Water had never enjoyed
someone’s company so much. After cleaning up, they watched the
game, fooled around on the couch, moved to the bedroom, then ended
up in the shower. Water couldn’t remember a better Sunday he’d ever
spent with anyone.

“What are you grinning about?” Skye settled across Water’s hips.
“That I was smart enough to do my homework on the bus.” Water

wrapped one big hand around both their cocks and stroked.
“Otherwise I’d have to quit this.”

“Smart, sexy, and organized.” Skye rocked his hips in rhythm with

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Water’s strokes.

“I’m not just another pretty face.”
“So very much more than just that, but you are that, too.”
“You think I’m pretty?”
“I think you’re beautiful.” Skye leaned down to kiss him. Their

pressing and stroking of their cocks grew ever more heated. “Why is it
with you I feel like I can come over and over and still feel that there’s
more left?”

“Ah, that’s the magic of pan-dimensional scrotum filling.”
Skye chuckled. “And you learned this in physics class?”
“Right you are. I also found out about friction.”
“Ooh, yeah, teach me all about that.”
Playfully, they dueled their cocks together until Skye rose and

impaled himself on Water’s prick. Just like last night, they merged
together so perfectly it was as if they were made for one another.

Again, the opportunity to talk about condoms passed, but Water

knew Skye had been faithful in his use of them, just like Water had
always been. Until each other. How he knew this he wasn’t sure. It
came from the same place in his heart that told him to lay claim to
Skye last night. The same place that told him Skye was his mate in no
uncertain terms.

Watching Skye ride him, his head back, his eyes closed in bliss,

was erotic as hell. Water tried to hold back, but he was lost when
Skye looked down at him and said that one simple word.

“Please.”
Water came so hard his balls practically slapped Skye’s ass as they

rose. At the same time, Skye creamed all over Water’s chest. They fell
to panting kisses that smeared Skye’s pleasure between their powerful
chests. After much touching and chuckling, they recovered and then
showered.

Squeaky clean, they got into bed.
“As much as I don’t want to do this”—Skye stiffened as Water

spoke—“I have to get some sleep.”

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With a sigh, Skye relaxed.
“What did you think I was going to say?”
“Nothing.”
“Skye, please. We need to be honest with one another. Your rule

about no questions has to end now that we’ve broken your no-
touching rule.”

Skye nodded. “I thought you were going to say that I had to go.”
Water rolled until they were looking eye to eye. “Are you kidding?

I want you to stay here. I don’t ever want you to leave. Hell, if I could,
I’d marry you so that you’d have a legal right to be here.”

When tears filled Skye’s eyes and tumbled down his cheeks,

Water kissed them away.

“Please tell me that you’ll be here when I get back from class

tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here. I swear it.”
Eventually, Water fell asleep. As much has he wanted to believe

Skye, he had a terrible feeling that after tonight, he’d never see him
again. It was as irrational as it was ridiculous. No matter who Skye
was working for, they didn’t own him.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Chapter 4

There was a pounding at the door that could wake the dead.

Stupidly, Skye opened up without checking the peephole.

Kellen Bennet stood on the walkway in front of Water’s door. All

six foot three, two hundred sixty pounds of him looked pissed off
enough to rip the entire building apart and then take a steaming dump
on the remains.

“You stupid little faggot.” Kellen shoved Skye’s chest, pushing

him back. “You better have one hell of a good explanation for this
shit.”

Before Skye could speak, Kellen closed and locked the door

behind him. His angry presence seemed to take up all the space in the
apartment.

“Bet you didn’t think I was smart enough to find you, did you?

But that kid at the restaurant recognized you and your girly hair and
said you came over this direction.” Kellen grabbed a handful of
Skye’s locks and yanked him close then shoved him down to his
knees. “You letting some guy fuck that pussy face of yours without
giving me a cut?”

Too terrified to speak, Skye shook his head.
“That’s good because your cum-gobbling lips belong to me.”

Kellen shoved his finger in and out of Skye’s mouth. “Isn’t that
right?”

Skye wanted to shake his head, but he knew if he did, Kellen

would beat the snot out of him and then blame him for his own
injuries. After a broken arm, Skye had learned to agree with whatever
Kellen said. So Skye nodded.

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“That’s right.” Bored by his instant acquiescence, Kellen looked

around Water’s apartment with the critical eye of an experienced
burglar. “Dude’s got some nice shit.”

Kellen left Skye on the floor and then rummaged through Water’s

things. Skye wanted to scream at him to stop, to get out, but his throat
was closed and his tongue was dry. What in the hell had he been
thinking? That he could run here and Kellen wouldn’t look for him?
Stupid. Kellen wasn’t going to let his meal ticket go. The only
blessing was that Water had gone to classes about an hour ago after
they’d made love in the shower. Sweet, slow, sensual love. Sadly, it
was probably the last Skye would ever know.

“Get up, faggot.”
Skye rose.
“How much did he pay you?”
Skye shook his head.
One brown eye twitched down to a thin slit. “You spent two nights

with this cocksucking queerbate, and he didn’t pay you?”

Skye could always tell exactly how enraged Kellen was by how

many and how rapidly he fired off his derogatory homophobic slurs.
On a scale of one to ten, Kellen was pushing a solid nine.

“He’s a friend, not a client.” Fear made Skye’s voice high and

tight.

“A friend? A friend?” Kellen laughed with all the joy of a dying

cow. “Since when do you have a friend, loser?”

Skye wanted to point out that once upon a time, Kellen had been

his friend. But that was so long ago. Skye couldn’t even remember
how the switch to cruel master had occurred.

“The only friends you have are the ones I say you have.” Kellen’s

dirt-colored eyes glanced around the living room. “What the fuck is
up with all the candles? Shit, is this dude straight?” Kellen’s entire
body perked up. “He got a woman around here?”

If Water did have a woman around, Skye would have screamed his

head off for her to run, even knowing Kellen would pummel his face

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for the effort. Once, and thank God only once, Skye had seen what
Kellen did to women. That horrific scene was burned into his brain
right along with all the other atrocities his owner had committed.
Kellen didn’t kill her, but she probably wished he had.

“Answer me, cheek spreader.”
“No, his woman doesn’t live here.” Skye hoped that would

convince Kellen that nothing had happened. “But we should go before
he gets back.”

“Why?” Kellen tossed himself into Water’s easy chair and popped

up the footrest. “I don’t care if this guy’s a fucking neuter. He’s gonna
pay for keeping my pussy boy out of commission for two nights.”

“There weren’t any calls.” Skye dutifully retrieved his cell phone

from his jacket and held it out. Where once the calls for his exotic
dancing services had been prolific and profitable, they quickly dried
up when Skye refused to engage in prostitution. Most of the men who
called really didn’t want him to dance. They wanted him to fuck, suck,
and blow. In order to make enough money to placate Kellen, Skye had
skirted the edge of the law by engaging in mutual masturbation
sessions. The few women who called actually did want him to dance,
usually for a bachelorette party, but they didn’t call as often as horny
men did. Getting told no once guaranteed they wouldn’t call twice.
But Kellen didn’t know that. He thought Skye was screwing his way
through the town.

Kellen picked up the money on the chair-side table and shoved the

bill into the front pocket of his jeans. It was the bill Skye had given
back to Water so he would know this wasn’t about payment. Kellen
swiped the bill as if he had every right to take Water’s money. Seeing
him in Water’s chair, the chair where Water had always sat for their
mutual masturbation sessions, made Skye almost ill. Everything
Kellen touched he defiled. Everything. Including Skye. And now he’d
spread his toxic despair to Water.

After making him wait, holding the phone out, knowing that if he

pulled his arm back Kellen would pounce on him, Kellen finally took

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the proffered phone.

Kellen turned it on and examined the incoming and outgoing calls.

“God damn it! This town blows. Joey said there was big money to be
made here, but he must have been smoking something.”

Kellen threw the phone at Skye, hitting his belly. When the phone

dropped to the floor, Skye picked it up and put it back in his jacket.

“Give me the other phone, Skye.”
With his back turned to him, Skye couldn’t see Kellen’s face, but

he didn’t need to. He knew exactly what he would look like.
Whenever Kellen used that singsong voice, he would have that
twisted half smile on his face, the one that showed off the glittering
whiteness of his teeth. When he did that, Skye thought he looked like
a caricature of a wolf.

“Don’t make me ask twice.”
Skye knew if he didn’t comply, Kellen would beat him until he

did. But if he gave him the other phone, his relationship with Water
would become clear. Water’s number was the only one on there. It
was a cheap disposable phone that Skye paid for with the money
Water had given him. He only took what he needed to buy minutes.
Water had never asked about Skye’s curious way with the payments
he offered. Water handed him a wad of money, let him take what he
needed, then tucked the rest away. For the first time in seven years,
Skye had something that was exclusively his. And he didn’t want
Kellen to ruin it.

Per usual, Kellen didn’t ask twice. Skye heard him rise from the

chair. Frozen, unsure what to do, Skye reached for the door.

“If you run from me, you jock-sniffing cock bitch, your beating

will be so much worse.”

Skye froze with his hand on the doorknob. Even if he got outside,

even if he got down the stairs and into the parking lot, eventually
Kellen would catch up to him.

He always did.
Even if Skye started screaming right now, by the time a neighbor

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called the police, Kellen would be long gone. And he’d take Skye
with him.

He always did.
Hopeless despair ate away all the joy and serenity that Water had

given Skye. Two nights and a day. Maybe that was all the peace he
was entitled to.

Skye pulled his hand away from the doorknob and retrieved his

second phone from his jacket pocket. Without looking, he offered the
phone out to Kellen. His hand hung in midair for so long the muscles
in his arm burned and his arm started to tremble. After what seemed
forever, Kellen took the phone from him.

“Busted!” Kellen chuckled.
From under the shadow of his lowered brow, Skye watched as

Kellen turned on the phone and scrolled through the log.

“One number in, one number out.” Kellen smiled, but it wasn’t a

smile of happiness. It was a smile of dark malevolence. “You got
yourself a friend, all right.” Kellen looked at him and then around at
the apartment. “This guy.” He pointed to the candles. “He doesn’t
have a woman. He has you.” After a nasty snicker, Kellen snarked,
“Pretty much the same thing.” Kellen tucked the phone into the same
front pocket he’d stuffed Water’s money into. “Get on your knees,
ball licker.”

Skye dropped dutifully to his knees. There was no point in

resisting. He knew this drill well. But rather than brutalize him,
Kellen left him kneeling there as he examined the rest of Water’s
apartment.

“Well, looky here!” Kellen emerged from the back with Water’s

suit over his arm. “Cum stains on the legs and inside.” Kellen tsked.
“What were you two faggots doing—playing dress up?”

Just remembering Water in that suit, the way the cut and color

brought out the green of his eyes, caused a flush of pleasure to wash
over Skye’s body. Skye had never seen any man look so classy and yet
approachable while formally dressed. But what made Water sexy was

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how he had unbuttoned the two top buttons of the white shirt and then
left that on for last when he’d stripped down. No one had ever
undressed for Skye before, and he would never forget the seductive
revelation of Water’s beautiful body. No matter what Kellen said, he
couldn’t make that moment ugly.

“Didn’t your daddy wear suits?”
Skye’s heart skipped a beat.
“Your daddy who beat you like a dog and then tossed you out

when he realized that you were nothing but a cocksucking pussy
boy?”

Skye had buried that day deep down in the darkness of his past.

Repressing that memory hadn’t been that difficult, not when his daily
existence provided even more horrors to overwhelm his mind.
Remembering the initial event that started the slew of atrocities
seemed pointless, but Skye couldn’t stop that night from percolating
up through the slime he tried to keep contained in the corner of his
mental landscape.

“Did you think I’d forgotten about that?” Kellen leaned down until

his face was close, and his coffee breath wafted over Skye’s features.
“Did you think I’d forgotten how you came to me, crying and bleeding
and begging for my help?”

The events of that day flashed into Skye’s mind in an instant.
It was Skye’s freshman year of high school. Skye was a third

string defensive end for the football team, and he’d hooked up with
his first boyfriend for the first time. Jeremy was the quarterback, a
junior, and the most handsome boy in the entire school. In the
shadowed darkness of the outdoor bleachers, they’d finally found a
place to be alone together. Jeremy’s hands had been gentle, and he’d
trembled as he held Skye. Jeremy took Skye’s virginity with kindness
and care.

Afterward, Jeremy had wrapped Skye in his letterman jacket

because the walk home would be cold, what with the rain predicted to
turn to snow. “I want you to keep it and wear it every day.” Jeremy

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hadn’t cared if anyone knew. He was proud to have Skye by his side.

Floating on air, Skye had returned home, only to find his drunken

father waiting for him in the kitchen. His suit was rumpled, his tie
askew, the nightly bottle of whisky almost empty. His father
demanded to know how he’d gotten the jacket. In a burst of
confidence, Skye had told him about Jeremy, and that he wasn’t going
to hide anymore. In response, his father had beaten Skye to within an
inch of his life, cut up Jeremy’s jacket, and then tossed him out of the
house, telling him that if he ever came back, he’d shoot his worthless
balls off.

“Sniveling like a little puppy, you came sniffing at my door,”

Kellen reminded him. “And I took you in when no one else would
have.”

Kellen had occupied the apartment over the garage of the home

next door. The people who lived in the house had been gone for the
evening. They were a nice family with a mom, dad, two little kids, and
a dog. Skye always wondered what turn his life might have taken if
they had been home. But they weren’t. And Kellen was.

Kindly, Kellen had taken Skye in, cleaned him up, and tucked him

into a makeshift bed on the couch. Skye’s injuries were severe enough
that the time he spent recovering on Kellen’s couch was a blur. His
requests to go to the hospital were ignored, and he couldn’t get there
by himself. Agony gave way to anger, and Skye had demanded that
Kellen let him go. That was the first time Kellen insisted he was
protecting Skye. Skye hadn’t been smart enough to realize there
wasn’t anything to protect him from but Kellen himself. And then
they’d left in the middle of the night so he could recover at a cabin in
the woods.

After that, Skye’s life became a montage of parties that at first had

been fun, but then the reality of what was going on hit. Kellen was
showing him off in the hopes of renting him out. The first time Skye
had gone home with a man he didn’t know, he’d been terrified, but
Kellen assured him all would be well. As soon as the guy got him

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home, Kellen’s buddies busted in and busted up the guy’s house, his
face, and stole everything that wasn’t nailed down. This was repeated
ad nauseam. Not a soul called the cops because they knew Skye was
underage. Kellen and his crew ran that scheme for four years until
Skye turned eighteen.

At eighteen, Skye had become an exotic dancer, advertising his

services on the Internet. Kellen had insisted he prostitute himself, but
Skye had found a way around that. Moving from town to town
became necessary when word eventually got around that Skye didn’t
put out, but Kellen thought the tricks just got bored with the same old
thing. And thankfully, blissfully, Kellen didn’t force Skye to service
him. Kellen was a sadist who preferred to torture women. The only
reason he brutalized Skye was to keep him in line and to keep him
working.

Skye knew time was running out on Twin Pines. He knew his

relationship with Kellen was coming to an end. What terrified him
was that his relationship with Water was on a headlong course to
intersect his relationship with Kellen. No good could come of those
two lines crossing. Skye should have pressured Kellen to leave, but
that would have probably blown up in his face. Kellen never did
anything Skye wanted him to do. Skye knew the longer they stayed,
the more likely he would be to give into the powerful allure of Water,
and he had, and now, Water’s very life might be in jeopardy.

“You owe me, Skye. You know you do.” Kellen cupped Skye’s

chin. His gesture wasn’t one of caring, but one of control.

Kellen only used his name when he plied him with guilt, but this

time, Skye felt nothing. He’d done everything Kellen ever wanted
because of his own deep-seated shame. When Kellen called him
vicious names, it only reinforced what Skye had always secretly
believed about himself, what his father had said about him while
beating him. But Kellen made a mistake this time. By reminding Skye
of Jeremy, who had loved him tenderly, just as Water had, Kellen
reminded Skye his life didn’t have to be a self-demoralizing horror

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show. Like bookends, those two memories—his first sexual
experience with Jeremy and his most recent one with Water—
sandwiched the self-loathing and crushed it with powerful but caring
hands.

Skye remembered the night Water had first called. Water’s voice

was sexy, his demeanor kind and almost heartbreakingly lonely. He’d
asked if Skye would be willing to come and dance for a single man,
and Skye had laughed gently, pointing out that his offer sounded so
much better than dancing for a group of drunken, grabby women.
Water had chuckled and swore no grabbing, only looking. And then
Water had said he’d never felt such a connection to someone based
solely on a picture.

Skye had playfully asked for a picture of Water in return. When

Water had sent one over, Skye hadn’t been disappointed. In fact, Skye
had been so shockingly aroused he’d literally run the short distance
from where he was staying with Kellen to Water’s apartment. Kellen
hadn’t been home, so Skye went to Water without telling Kellen. He’d
bought the disposable phone the very next day and called Water with
the number. They’d been seeing each other every weekend for three
months. And Skye wasn’t ready for his time with Water to end. Not
by a long shot.

“Get off of me.”
Kellen’s shock at Skye’s defiance was visceral. His eyes went

wide, and he stumbled back, landing on his muscular ass. Not once in
seven years had Skye stood up to Kellen, and his surprise was readily
apparent. Unfortunately, he recovered just as quickly as he’d been
stunned.

“What did you say to me, faggot?” Kellen got back up on the balls

of his feet and thumped Skye’s chest. “Speak up, you cum-gobbling
hole lapper, ’cause I can’t hear you.”

“I said get off me.” Skye rose without permission. Cold sweat

broke out all over his body. His heart pounded, and his blood pressure
rose so fast he felt his blood thumping in his eyeballs. Defying Kellen

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was as empowering as it was terrifying. “You don’t own me, and I
sure as shit don’t owe you.”

“Is that right?” Kellen rose, too, and loomed his superior height

and weight over Skye. As a dedicated bodybuilder, Kellen’s entire
form rippled with muscles. He could literally pick Skye up and twirl
him over his head without breaking a sweat.

“You stole part of my childhood.”
Kellen settled his shoulders.
“You made me do things I didn’t want to do.”
Kellen crossed his arms.
“You hit me and berated me and sold me, and I let you because I

never believed I was worth anything.”

Kellen grinned his nasty, lopsided grin.
“But someone told me otherwise.” Actually, Water hadn’t told

him. Water had shown Skye he was priceless. Every look, every
touch, every single thing Water had ever done showed care, respect,
and the deepest love Skye had ever known. And nothing Kellen could
say would change Skye’s mind that he deserved to be loved. He had a
right to be cared for and respected. He didn’t have to live in the
shadows anymore.

“You mean this jock sniffer?” Kellen removed Skye’s cell phone

from his front pocket and held it tauntingly out of reach despite the
fact Skye didn’t lunge for it. “Is this guy the one who made you think
you actually matter to anyone but me?”

“I don’t matter to you.” Skye felt a little silly for pointing out the

obvious.

“Of course you do, baby.” Kellen pouted. “You’re my fucking

meal ticket.”

How ironic that Skye had had that same thought not long ago.
“And you know me better than anyone.”
Something shook deep inside Skye as a dark terror rose, plunging

his heart into icy shadows. All along he’d known he’d never get away
from Kellen. His bravado had been real, but that didn’t mean he

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would prevail. Not when he was up against a self-important control
freak with no other means of making a living.

“You know that if I can’t have you, no one else can, either.”

Running Back

Chapter 5

Water couldn’t stop a dreamy smile from slipping across his face.

Every ten seconds he thought about Skye and couldn’t help but sigh,
grin, or place his hand against his chest with a wistful gesture. He’d
taken enough ribbing from his fellow classmates to keep the rumors
flying around the campus so fast they actually came back at him
before his last class of the day.

“I am not dating Luke McCall!” Water clapped Cory’s back. “Go

tell your roommate to keep his mouth shut if he doesn’t know the real
details.”

“Derek didn’t tell me.” Cory frowned and scrolled through

something on his smart phone. “It was...dang.” Cory tucked his tongue
to the corner of his mouth as he searched for the info on who had
spilled. As the school gossipmonger, Cory took his information
seriously. “Crud. Fuck it. Who are you dating?”

And then Water got it. There was no rumor about him and Luke

McCall but for the one Cory started in order to get the truth out of
Water.

“You sneaky bastard!” Water wrapped his arm around Cory and

pulled him close. “Drop this right now, or I’ll spread the rumor you
like girls.”

“Prick.”
“Totally.”
Grinning, Cory tucked his phone away and ran to catch up to a

group of guys walking across the quad.

Water could have told Cory exactly who he was dating, but the

information would have been meaningless. Not a soul on campus

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knew Skye.

Stopping short, Water realized that he didn’t actually know that

for a fact. If he’d gotten lonely and scrolled the personals for male
exotic dancers who serviced the Twin Pines area, then certainly, so
had other guys on campus.

Water looked around as if seeing the grounds for the first time.

How many men called this campus home? Water had no idea, but he
knew he couldn’t be the only lonesome guy. Just because Twin Pines
College was rumored to be a bastion for homosexual males didn’t
make it any easier to actually hook up. All the same fears,
inadequacies, and issues would plague gay guys here just as they
would anywhere else. Water felt accepted for who he was. He didn’t
feel persecuted in any way. But he also hadn’t been able to find
someone. Not that soul mate he’d always been looking for. Not until
he’d met Skye.

Maybe someone else did know Skye. Maybe they even fancied

themselves in love with him. Maybe Skye had a string of lonely guys
lusting after him. Maybe Water was only another in a long line of
suckers who took the broken man in, gave him a place to stay, only to
be screwed over in the end. All that with the money could be a ploy to
get him to trust.

The idea that he’d been played for a fool by Skye hit Water for the

first time. And just as quickly the idea crumbled to dust.

“No. No way. No way was that faked. No way did he play me.”
Water wouldn’t, couldn’t, believe that Skye had been working him

all along. Skye wasn’t playing him. No way could anyone fake that
vulnerability. That craving for tenderness. That almost pathological
need for acceptance.

“Not a soul could put such dark torment into such tender eyes.”
Into Water’s mind flashed the pictures he’d captured—with

Skye’s permission—of Skye undressing for Water’s watchful gaze.
Every picture on his cell was tasteful. Nothing porno or trashy. Just
Skye undressing and looking at Water with those enormous lavender

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eyes that stole his heart right along with his soul. The one shot that he
lingered on, the one that he couldn’t stop looking at, was one of Skye
looking over his shoulder, his hands wrapped around his waist, almost
as if he was holding himself. That image of Skye was burned forever
into Water’s mind.

“Are you going to stand there like a statue, Mr. Water, or will you

be joining us in class?” Mr. Johnston commented while rushing by,
his cap of scraggly hairs lifting over his balding pate, but his words
were enough to get Water’s butt into motion.

“On my way, Mr. Johnston.”
At the time of his freshman and junior year, putting off some of

his more difficult classes, like chemistry, had seemed smart, but now,
in his senior year, Water had no room to slack off, especially not if he
wanted to keep playing football.

Honestly, Water thought he’d be older, wiser, and more

disciplined. In many ways he was. But in other ways, Water was still a
young man and easily led around by his dick. As much as he wanted
to believe in Skye, Water still had that doubtful voice snickering
behind his back calling him a fool for believing in anything as fleeting
as love with a man who made his living the way Skye did.

Since he was right on Mr. Johnston’s heels, Water wasn’t late for

class. He actually had time to snag a quick snack out of the vending
machine on his way into the lecture hall. Unfortunately, there was a
lab that followed, which meant this would be one of his long nights on
campus. Normally Water wouldn’t mind, but he wanted to get home
to Skye. He couldn’t wait to kiss him, to hold him, and then figure out
what they were going to do for dinner because the pickings in his
apartment fridge were slim. Water knew if he could just see Skye all
these nagging little fears would evaporate.

All through chemistry, the only thing Water could think about was

Skye. Everything Water studied somehow related to his wounded
love. Interactions, reactions, bonds, and electron dances—all of it put
Water’s mind right back on Skye. But Water knew he could be in

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history class and still find the same thing occurring. His brain found a
way to relate everything to Skye right now. When things settled down
and their relationship was more secure, his mind would stop
obsessing. Or so he hoped. But for now, Water allowed his mind to
connect every little thing to the object of his affection.

When Water’s phone vibrated, he pulled it out and grinned when

Skye’s number appeared. He would have answered, but he knew that
would get his phone confiscated. Mr. Johnston was fanatical about
having everyone’s undivided attention. Water was about to close his
phone when another incoming message vibrated the unit in his hand.

A photo.
His anticipatory smile faded when the file loaded.
Forgetting where he was, Water uttered a horrified, “Oh, God.”
“Give me that phone right now, Mr. Water. You know the rules

about cell phones in my class.”

Water’s gaze jerked upward to Mr. Johnston’s florid face. He

snatched the phone out of Water’s hand and peered through his
reading glasses at the picture.

“Dear lord!”
Instinctively, Water grabbed his phone back and ran. He left

behind his books, his backpack, and his notes. Nothing mattered to
him but doing exactly what the note attached to the picture said.

Come home. Come alone.

In the photo, Skye was wearing his Armani suit, sitting in his easy

chair, with his enormous eyes looking directly into the camera.
Someone off camera was holding the longest, sharpest knife from
Water’s kitchen against Skye’s exposed genitals.

Since Water didn’t own a car, he ran the six blocks home as fast

as he could. Despite his record time, Water still felt he was moving so
slow it was almost as if he were moving backward. Whoever was
holding Skye was probably not going to hurt him, not when doing so

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would damage what they likely considered their property, but then
again, no sane person would hold a knife to another.

Skye’s absolute terror showed so clearly in the photo that it

touched Water’s heart, breaking it apart, making tears of regret pour
down his face. He regretted thinking, even for a moment, that Skye
had been playing him. No way could Skye do something so hurtful. It
was much more likely that Skye had done everything he could to
protect Water from whoever held the knife on him. Judging by the
size of the hand, Water knew the guy was big. Frankly, Water didn’t
care if he was the biggest, baddest, most vicious motherfucker in the
world. If he hurt Skye, Water was going to kill him.

Despite the furious movement of his clothing, he felt his phone

vibrate. Fumbling it out, he watched as another picture popped up.

It was Skye again, still in Water’s Armani suit, but now he was

standing and tied up to another man. Face to face, they were wrapped
so tightly in rope it was cutting into their flesh. Skye’s face was red
from crying or a lack of air but what stunned Water was the identity of
the other man. He wasn’t one hundred percent positive, but that
certainly looked like someone he knew. Someone from the football
team. The name was on the tip of his tongue, but he was so panicked
he couldn’t think clearly.

Water was now close enough that he saw the front window of his

apartment. The shades were drawn. Water had opened them before
he’d left this morning so that his plants could get some of the fall
sunlight. After pulling them open and watching the dust motes dance
in the air, he’d been dazzled by the way the sunlight turned the blond
strands of Skye’s hair burnished gold.

Water was running late, but he’d stopped to take a picture, even

though nothing could capture the sheer beauty he’d seen. Skye had
laughed and indulged him, quietly speculating that no one had ever
been so fascinated by his hair. Cupping his head, threading his fingers
through the soft, curly strands, Water had pulled Skye close and
placed the gentlest kiss he could against his lips.

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No matter what happened, Water was bound and determined that

the smooch he’d given Skye would not be a kiss good-bye.

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Chapter 6

When someone knocked at the door, Kellen grinned, and Skye’s

heart plunged into ice. He didn’t have to see them to know who was
there. He could hear them. Kellen opened the door wide to his group
of four buddies. In they stomped with their boxes of beer, their loud
voices, their snarling faces. They set up around the dining room table
and discussed what they were going to do. As the leader, Kellen laid
out his plan. So convinced Skye couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything to
stop him, he let him listen in.

The first thing Kellen did was stage a picture that would get Water

running home as soon as he saw it. Once that was accomplished, they
left Skye tied up as they pulled anything valuable out of the apartment
and loaded up the back of Bunky’s crappy Impala. They did all this
without rushing or worrying themselves if neighbors would call the
police. It was abundantly obvious that the four-unit apartment
building was empty. People were at school or work, so Kellen and his
merry band of assholes had the entire building to themselves. For
now, at any rate.

Skye realized that finding him hadn’t been that difficult, not for a

criminal like Kellen. When Kellen returned home and found Skye
wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have worried—at first. Eventually, Kellen
would have gone to their usual haunts. The restaurant where Skye had
bought breakfast for Water was a place he and Kellen ate often, given
that Twin Pines wasn’t that big of a town. But never had he and
Kellen gotten takeout from there, so the employees would have
remembered Skye coming in alone and getting enough food for two.
Since the entire front of the restaurant was windows, they would have

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seen Skye walking this way. Hell, they could have watched him walk
all the way up to Water’s front door. If Kellen threatened to beat the
shit out of them, they would have told him what they’d seen. Kellen
was a bully but he was big enough to back up his word. Bodybuilding
was what he did to keep in shape but also how he made extra cash.
Posing for “fag rags” gave him money and furthered his homophobic
hatred. Kellen had also never lost his taste for burglary. He loved to
steal things. And then there was the money he made from Skye. At
twenty-eight, though, Kellen was starting to show his age. He was
starting to think about the future. Guys like him always ended up in
prison. Kellen feared prison the way Skye feared Kellen. But so far,
that fear hadn’t prompted Kellen to change his behavior, probably
because this late in the game there really wasn’t anything else he
could do to make a living.

Once the beers kicked in, the guys in the group started casting

their attention at Skye. He cringed. Skye’s belief that they wouldn’t
hurt him because Kellen wouldn’t want his meal ticket damaged
wasn’t quite so strong anymore. When he disobeyed, Kellen hurt him.
Not in any way that could be seen, except for the broken arm, but he
did things that wounded deep without leaving marks. The name
calling, the shoving him to his knees, the snarling reprimands.

While he’d tied him up, Kellen had chuckled about how fitting it

was that Skye was bound in his lover’s clothes. “Trust me, Skye, he
cares a lot more about this three-grand suit than he does about you.”

Skye figured Kellen would have cut the suit to ribbons, but he

realized how valuable it was and kept it intact only so he could sell it
later.

It was Bunky who came over to where Skye was bound on

Water’s chair. Grinning like a fool, Bunky rubbed his soul patch as he
stared at Skye’s mouth.

“You like to suck cock, right?”
Skye didn’t answer. Every time Bunky got drunk, he got horny.

Insisting he wasn’t a fag, that he only wanted to test Skye’s abilities,

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Bunky had tried to get Kellen to let him play with Skye. Thankfully,
Kellen always said no unless Bunky had the money. As much as
Bunky wanted to mess with him, he didn’t want to pay for it. Not
when paying would expose him as a fag.

“Get in here, Kellen. Your boy’s being disrespectful to me.”
“Leave off, Bunky. I don’t want him ruffled before his lover man

gets here.”

In a chorus of drunken voices, the men all wooed loudly.
“Then we’ll have them put on a little show for us.”
Skye felt sick to his stomach. The thought of doing anything to

Water while those assholes watched made him want to vomit. There
had to be a way to make this stop.

When there was a knock on the door, everyone’s gaze went wide

and swung that way. Kellen hadn’t sent the picture yet. He was
waiting for the right time. And surely, Kyle wouldn’t knock at his
own door.

Kellen shushed his crew, strode to the door, then examined the

peephole. He tucked his gun into the back of his jeans and opened the
door.

Tall, bald, with cloudy-gray eyes, a muscular man stood there with

a grin of anticipation that faded quickly. “Hey, I must have the wrong
place. I—is Water here?”

Kellen grabbed the guy by his green-and-black jacket and yanked

him into the living room. “Who the fuck are you?”

Skye knew he was very likely to be one of Water’s fellow

Grizzlies teammates, what with that letterman jacket, not to mention
his build.

“I’m Dylan Peterson and—” He stopped speaking when his gaze

landed on Skye tied up to the recliner. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Your lucky day, asshole.”
It seemed that Dylan was on the verge of fighting, but Kellen

withdrew his gun, and Dylan’s hands went up. In short order, Kellen’s
buddies had Dylan bound with his hands behind his back.

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“You scream and I’ll bust all the teeth out of his mouth.” Kellen

pointed to Skye. This was one of Kellen’s most effective control
techniques. Promising to harm another in the event of wrongdoing
engaged most people’s compassion. Not a caring soul would want
their bad behavior to hurt someone else. Obviously, Dylan was a
compassionate soul because he refused to do anything that might lead
to harm befalling Skye.

Dylan shook his head. “I won’t scream.” There was something

dangerous in the way he acquiesced, but Skye couldn’t pinpoint what.
Whoever this man was, Dylan wasn’t an ordinary man. There was
something almost mythical about him. Or maybe Skye’s brain was
desperately grasping at straws.

“Oh, I have a great idea.” Joey drew Kellen into the dining room,

and they laughed and whispered amongst themselves while Skye and
Dylan glanced at one another. Who was he to Water? A lover? Skye
couldn’t stop that train of thought from running wild. The guy was
gruff in appearance. A teammate, a friend, a study partner—maybe all
three? But he’d come empty-handed. Yet his face in the doorway had
been happy and expectant, like he’d come to deliver good news. Skye
knew better than to ask. If Skye started interrogating Dylan, and he
gave up any answers, Kellen would make him continue questioning
Dylan until Kellen knew all he needed to know. So Skye stayed silent.
So, too, did Dylan.

When Joey and Kellen emerged from the kitchen, the five guys

untied Skye from the recliner and yanked him to his feet.

“Catch!” Kellen shoved Skye into Dylan.
Numb from his time in the chair, Skye stumbled into Dylan, who

did his best to hold him up despite his bound arms.

“Aw, look, it must be love.”
“I’m sorry,” Skye whispered.
“Where’s Water?”
“At class still.”
“Have they hurt you?” Compassion shone from the depth of

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Dylan’s cloudy gaze.

“No, but they will. Are you—”
“Shut up, faggots.”
Neither Skye nor Dylan fought when the four guys posed them

according to Kellen’s instructions. Kellen leaned against the kitchen
doorway with his gun drawn and his other hand taking surreptitious
swipes at his crotch. Kellen liked nothing better than force, torture, or
pain being inflicted on others for his own amusement.

Dylan’s hand was forced between their bodies and pressed against

Skye’s flaccid cock. Dylan’s other hand was placed against the small
of Skye’s back. They placed one of Skye’s hands to Dylan’s muscular
buttock and the other to Dylan’s neck. Then they wrapped them in
rope so tight they were having difficulty breathing.

Kellen snapped their picture. “Okay, let’s see what lover man does

when he gets the first pic.”

Skye was trying to hold still, but Dylan shifted, which eased the

rope around their chests, enabling Skye to breathe more easily. It was
on the tip of his tongue to thank Dylan, but Dylan shook his head very
sharply back and forth then covered by coughing. Skye kept his mouth
shut. The less attention they drew to themselves the better.

After a while, Kellen sent the other picture. “Ah, yeah. Show him

his friend is nothing but a cock slut.”

As if Water would believe that when it was obvious they were tied

together. Skye had no idea what Water would do when he got the
pictures, but Skye imagined Water would panic and get home as
quickly as he could. And then what would Kellen do? A thousand
horrible scenarios flashed through Skye’s mind. Kellen had tortured
others, and he’d enjoyed it immensely. No matter where they went, or
how quickly they fled their living quarters, Kellen always took his box
of torture porn. Curious, Skye had looked through one of the
magazines, and his soul felt violated after two pictures. Kellen spent
hours poring over the books. And now that he had live playmates,
Skye had no idea what Kellen would do. The only thing Skye knew

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for certain was this was all his fault. After what Water had done for
him, this was a horrific payback.

Kellen moved to the living room window and peered between the

drapes.

“Here he comes.”
Kellen had never seen Water before, but that wouldn’t matter.

He’d know him because he’d be the only guy running into the parking
lot hell-bent for leather.

Skye heard feet pounding up the concrete and steel stairs then

Kellen flung the door open. “Welcome home, lover man.”

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Chapter 7

Ready to slay the dragon, Water was forced to lift his hands and

surrender because of the enormous gun in his face. He’d never spent
much time around guns, but this one looked big enough to punch a
hole in the space-time continuum.

“Kellen, please, let them go. I’ll go with you. I won’t cause any

trouble.”

“You talk again, you ball-licking sperm slurper, and I’ll destroy

lover man’s face.”

Skye shut his mouth with an audible clicking of his teeth.
Hands up, Water entered his apartment, his gaze drawn to where

Dylan and Skye were tied together. Guilt stamped harsh lines on
Skye’s face, and Dylan, poor innocent Dylan, who had probably come
to drop off the latest Grizzlies’ schedule, had gotten sucked into a
situation that neither of them had any control over.

“Lover man is home!” Kellen exclaimed in a singsong voice that

showed exactly how drunk he was.

Judging by the red sheen and glistening eyes of his companions,

and the rather tall pyramid of empty beer cans on the dining room
table, they were all drunk. Peripherally, Water noticed that his stereo
was gone, along with his modest collection of compact discs. Most of
his music was on his MP3 player, which was in his backpack,
abandoned in Mr. Johnston’s class. Not that he gave a shit. They
could have everything in the apartment if they’d just leave Skye and
Dylan.

“You owe me some money, lover man.”
Water’s faint hope that he could make this all go away with

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money was dashed. If that’s all this asshole wanted, he wouldn’t go
through this charade. Water had always suspected there was
something very dark in Skye’s life. Someone had forced him to work
in an industry he didn’t want to work in and do things he obviously
didn’t want to do. Now Water knew the who, but he didn’t know the
why. Not that knowing mattered when he had that enormous gun in
his face.

Kellen was not only big, but muscular, and nothing said sadist

more clearly than the way his eyes glittered at the tableau of forced
compliance. But there had to be something he had over Skye’s head.
That Kellen had strong-armed Skye was indisputable, but there was
likely some psychological hold, too.

“Aren’t you going to offer me money, lover man?”
Water remained silent. There was no point in discussing

something that wasn’t going to happen.

“Why don’t you tell me what he did for you, and that way, I can

fix a price.”

Kellen wouldn’t believe Water even if he tried. Kellen was broken

beyond repair. All he wanted was to find a way to dig the knife in
deeper and then twist the blade. So Water refused to give him any
additional leverage. When Skye looked on the verge of speaking,
Water shook his head sharply. That would only make matters worse.

“Aw, none of them wants to talk.” An ugly man with a scruffy

soul patch tossed his empty beer can on the floor and then stomped on
it. Flecks of beer splattered over the carpet, making a starburst of
darker spots against the brown. A stench of cheap malt rose in the air,
cutting through the smell of stale breath and sweat. “Come on, Kellen,
you promised us a show.”

Kellen cupped the back of Water’s neck and pushed him toward

the two bound men. Kellen seemed peeved that Water wasn’t giving
him any resistance. But Water knew that’s what Kellen thrived on.
Sadists loved to hurt, to witness hurt. They sucked up pain like thirsty
sponges.

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“Kiss him. No, not my ass-sucking slut. I want you to kiss your

other boyfriend.”

Skye closed his eyes, and silent tears rolled down his face. Water

knew without asking that Skye believed all of this was his fault, but it
wasn’t. Kellen was responsible for his own actions. His crew, the four
men standing around watching, didn’t say or do anything. They
watched with their alcohol-glittered eyes and their hands ready to rub
their crotches. From their obvious anticipation, this wasn’t new to
them. Apparently, their leader had provided them with masturbatory
theater before. What Water wouldn’t give for his teammates to show
up en masse right now. With half a dozen Grizzlies, they could stomp
all these shitheads into screaming puddles. It was a sad truth about
bullies. They only responded to violence.

Slyly, Water tried to slip his phone out and dial one of his friends,

but Kellen noticed, yanked his phone out of his hand, and tossed it
into the kitchen. The cell skittered across the floor and then stopped
when it hit the center support of the table.

“It’s okay,” Dylan said. “Kiss me.”
Water tried not to let his surprise show. He’d always thought

Dylan was homophobic. Hell, every guy on the football team believed
that.

“See? He likes it,” Kellen snarled. “Kiss him, or I’m going to gut

Skye like a fish with your fucking knife.”

In that moment Water regretted every unkind thing he’d ever

thought about Dylan. Water saw him in a whole new light. Dylan
looked protective of Skye and willing to do anything to keep them all
safe. Maybe Dylan wasn’t homophobic after all. Maybe he was just
lonely and screwed up like all the rest of them.

“It’s okay,” Dylan whispered. “Kiss me, and I promise we can

make them regret ever coming in here.”

Lips trembling, Water kissed Dylan. His harsh-looking mouth was

remarkably soft, and when Dylan parted his lips, Water leaned into
him, surprised when Dylan breathed in, taking his breath away like

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he’d been waiting his entire life to taste him.

Without missing a beat, Dylan turned to Skye and kissed him,

breathing into his mouth.

“Looks to me like we got us three willing jizz garglers!”
As Dylan came around to Water’s lips again, Dylan whispered,

“You’re going to get dizzy. Hang onto me and don’t stop breathing.”

Stunned, Water did as requested. Each kiss made him ever more

dizzy, but he clung to Dylan, who seemed to have the solid power of a
mighty boulder. By doing as Dylan said, Water was able to stay
upright. Something was changing, something was tearing him apart
then filling him up until he was fundamentally different. But Water
simply couldn’t put a name on what it was.

“Aw, fuck, yeah! They really like it!” one of the men screamed.

“They’re all getting boners!”

Water had no idea who said it, but the fact that they seemed

enthusiastic obviously pissed Kellen off since he grabbed the back of
Water’s neck and yanked him away from Dylan and Skye.

“You worthless shit. You’ve been fucking both of these assholes

and not giving me the money!” Kellen accused, his drunken voice so
loud people a block away had to have heard him.

Water’s heart sank. He thought if they all acquiesced, then Kellen

would have no excuse to lash out, but he’d forgotten that a true sadist
didn’t need an excuse to behave badly. If he couldn’t engender the
situation to his liking, he would simply change things around until he
found something that stroked his need.

“I’ve been fucking them both.” Dylan glared at Kellen. “Untie me,

cocksucker, and I’ll fuck you, too.”

Water recoiled at Dylan’s vicious tone. If he wasn’t careful, Dylan

was going to get them all killed. Or maybe Dylan had a plan. From all
Water could tell, Dylan seemed confident after their kissing session
the three of them now possessed the upper hand. Strangely, so, too,
did Water.

When Kellen shoved his gun into the back of his jeans, Water

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figured he’d never have a better chance. Kellen was so focused on
Dylan that he never saw Water coming. Tackling him sideways,
Water bashed Kellen’s head into the kitchen doorway, and they went
down in a heap.

“You asshole!” Kellen struggled to get his hands on Water while

Water was desperately trying to get his hands on Kellen’s gun.

His fingertips stroked across the cool metal but made no purchase.

And then Kellen’s buddies were on him. Fists and feet were flying. So
desperate to get in a solid hit, Kellen’s pals didn’t realize that Water
was hiding behind Kellen’s bigger, bulkier body. Most of their blows
glanced off Water and landed squarely on Kellen, but the drunken
assholes were way too inebriated to notice.

When Kellen struggled to get them off so he could get up, his

elbow came back, hitting Water squarely in the nose. Blood gushed,
and his vision went black.

“You are going to pay for this,” Kellen swore.
The sound of a gun cocking right next to his ear was the last thing

Water heard before he passed out.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Chapter 8

Skye wanted to scream, but he was so terrified he was mute.

Kellen had the barrel of his gun pressed right against Water’s head.
His band of idiots was cheering him on to shoot, shoot, shoot. And it
looked like he would. If Water died at Kellen’s hand, it would be
Skye’s fault for getting him involved in this mess to start with. All
Skye had wanted was a little tenderness, a little compassion, a little
love. Had he been able to resist his longings, Kyle would be lonely,
but at least he’d be alive.

“You can save him,” Dylan whispered.
Skye couldn’t take his gaze away from Water to spare Dylan a

glance.

“Save him,” Dylan encouraged.
“How?”
“Shift him into you. Shift into him. Become the bear you were

meant to be.”

“I can’t.”
“Stop being a victim, Skye, and save the man you love.”
A growl of epic proportions rose up in Skye’s chest. Rage unlike

anything he’d ever known filled every corner of every cell in his body.
When Skye reached out to Water, he felt his physical pain, but more
damning was the misery Water felt thinking that he’d failed to protect
Skye.

“None of this is your fault.”
Kellen’s head turned toward him. “What did you say?”
“I said none of this is Water’s fault. And it’s not mine, either. It’s

you. You destroy everything and everyone you touch.”

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A malevolent grin spread over Kellen’s face. “Watch me splatter

lover man’s brains all over his kitchen.”

As Kellen pulled back on the trigger, Skye pulled back on Water,

and then suddenly he was lowered toward the floor, the scents of the
room invading his brain in a blast that was almost mind blowing.

Someone screamed, and when Skye looked up, he saw Kellen’s

terrified face, and the barrel of his gun swung toward him. Skye lifted
one big paw and knocked him sideways as Kellen fired the gun. A
scuffle ensued as five men tried to get out of the door at once.

Skye lifted his head and roared, which only panicked them more.

In the end, Kellen knocked down two of his buddies and stomped over
them on his way out. The others got up and scrambled after him.
Chaos gave way to stunning silence. Skye’s ears, his big, fuzzy ears,
rang with the sound of the lone gunshot. He shook his head, and some
of the ringing abated.

And then Skye felt him. Water. He was with him inside the body

of the bear. Water was dazed and confused, but he was here and he
was safe. Profound relief washed through Skye, and he turned to
thank Dylan because he knew Dylan was responsible for saving all of
them.

On the floor, facedown, Dylan lay, arms and legs splayed out.

Nudging him with his nose, Skye tried to get him to wake up, but he
remained inert. Carefully, using his enormous head, Skye pushed until
he rolled Dylan over. The stench of blood assaulted him. In the center
of Dylan’s chest was a round, bloody hole.

Recoiling, Skye crashed into the recliner, knocking it into the wall

with the window, which broke. With the sun going down, cold fall air
filled the room.

“We have to help him.” Water spoke from the corner of Skye’s

mind. “We have to get out of here, out of this bear body. God only
knows what the police will do to us.”

Since Skye didn’t know how they’d gotten in here, within the

body of the bear they now jointly occupied, he didn’t know how to get

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out.

“You pulled me, I think,” Water said.
“I pulled you into me. Let me try to push you out of me.” Skye

visualized them as two separate people, distinct and individual, but
Water clung to him. “Let go, Water. You have to help me push away.”

Working together they were able to affect a transformation, just in

time to hear sirens blaring. Disoriented, they looked down and
realized they were both naked. Thinking quickly, Skye ran to Water’s
bedroom and retrieved jeans and shirts, dressing himself as he
returned to Water.

“Get dressed.” Skye handed the stack of clothing to Water.
“But Dylan.”
“We’ll help after we’re dressed. It’s going to be difficult to

explain if we’re both naked trying to revive him.”

Reluctantly, Water dressed then returned to checking on Dylan.

“Where’s my phone? Any phone?”

They looked around the chaos of the room, but Skye remembered

the phone in his jacket. Kellen had taken the one that had Kyle’s
number, but he’d left the other one, the one that had proof of all
Skye’s other clients. A thought that he should destroy the phone to
cover up the evidence of his life was superseded by the need to save
Dylan. Just because they could hear sirens didn’t mean an ambulance
was coming. Without one, Dylan would die. After what he’d done to
save them, Skye owed him the same measure.

“Here.” Skye tossed Kyle the phone.
Dylan was trying to speak, but Skye couldn’t understand him.

Dylan yanked him close and whispered, “Gridiron Gods.”

Information poured into Skye’s brain.
“What did he say?” Water asked after he dialed for emergency

assistance.

“Call Danny Jones. We need the help of the Gridiron Gods.”
Skye knew the same outpouring of knowledge hit Water by the

way he jerked back then dialed the number from memory.

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By the time the police arrived, they were dressed, and soon after,

the ambulance arrived for Dylan. Water and Skye would have the
assistance of their brethren as soon as things got sorted.

“Whatever you do, don’t worry. We’ll make sure Dylan is okay. If

you have to go with the police, tell them everything but for the
shifting.” Danny cupped the phone and spoke to someone else.
“Phillip says to tell them you want a lawyer. Straight up. Don’t
answer anything without a lawyer. He has one and will meet you at
the station.”

Skye didn’t have to ask who Phillip was. As soon as he thought

the question, he knew that Phillip Remson was the founder of Twin
Pines College, a member of the Gridiron Gods, and twinned to Ryan
Stone. He was also the oldest member of their sloth and had the
longest, deepest connections in the community of Twin Pines. If
anyone could help them sort this mess, Phillip Remson was that man.

In the ensuing hubbub, medical personnel took Dylan away as

officers separated him and Water. Losing sight of Water caused fear
to fill Skye’s heart but then, when he focused on Water in his mind,
remembering the way he’d rolled over this morning and kissed him,
Skye felt Water fill his heart with hope.

Faintly, like a whispered kiss against his ear, he heard Water say,

“I love you, Skye. We’ll get through this. I promise.”

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Chapter 9

“He’s going to need a lot more than legal help.” Phillip Remson

settled across from Water. They were alone in his study now that the
lawyer had departed after laying out his strategy. Skye had been
released on sky-high bail that Phillip graciously covered. Without his
help, Water didn’t have a clue about what he would have done. Just
the thought of Skye in jail broke his heart.

“I can’t thank you enough.” Water put his notes away. He’d taken

on the duty of working with the lawyer so Skye could get some much-
needed sleep. In turn, one of his teammates had retrieved his
abandoned backpack from Mr. Johnston’s chemistry class and brought
it to him here in Phillip’s palatial estate that overlooked the valley of
Twin Pines. Another few of his fellow teammates went over to board
up his broken window and secure his apartment, while still another
group went to the hospital to be near Dylan. Everyone pitched in
without being asked—it was their way, it was what they did, and in
the future, Water and Skye would repay their brothers in kind.

Phillip waved his gratitude away just as he always had. From the

moment they were introduced, Phillip offered out the full of his home,
his checkbook, and his sterling name. Phillip did so as if he’d known
Kyle Water his entire life, but they’d never met until last evening.

“We are brothers, Mr. Water. It’s the least I can do.” Phillip

considered his bulbous glass. “I have never seen such torment in
another man’s eyes until I looked into Skye’s.” Phillip drew a deep,
calming breath. “In his eyes, I saw an existence that consisted
primarily of pain.” Phillip’s gaze lifted and settled on Water’s eyes.
“Until Skye found you.” Phillip sipped his drink. “You are the only

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peace that young man has ever known.”

Water shivered under Phillip’s intense scrutiny. He knew what

Phillip said was true, but to have another state so boldly, so plainly,
what none had dared to acknowledge was as frightening as it was
touching.

“I’m glad that I could give him a taste of peace.” But Water

couldn’t bypass the truth. “And yet I hired him, too. I paid him to
come to me, to perform for me, to—”

“Skye came to you willingly. Of that there is not one doubt in my

mind, and there shouldn’t be one doubt in your mind, either.”

Water released a breath he felt he’d been holding for days. If only

he could release his residual guilt so easily.

“Don’t you dare beat yourself up for what you did. You gave Skye

solace in a life filled with terror.”

Water believed that, but having someone else tell him made it

more real, more believable.

“However, as I said, Skye is going to need so much more than

legal help. So much more than what you can give him. Do you
understand, Mr. Water?”

“I do.”
“Do you really?” Phillip sipped his drink. “I do not mean to beat a

dead horse, as it were, but through our collective consciousness, I, and
all the brothers, and surely you, now know that Skye has been
brutalized for years. He’s been taught to despise himself for his
orientation. Kellen has convinced him that his only use is to provide
men with pleasure and Kellen with money. By systematically
destroying Skye’s self-esteem, not to mention his very sense of self,
he compelled Skye’s unquestioned obeisance. Until he met you.”

“I don’t see how I—”
“You didn’t tell Skye he was worthy of love. You showed him.

And that is far more powerful than any words.”

Skye was upstairs sleeping after a long night behind bars. The

only reason the police let Water go was because he had no record and

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all his identification checked out. Skye, on the other hand, had no
identification. Apparently, Kellen hadn’t ever let Skye get so much as
a driver’s license. Skye had his name and nothing else. Well, he had
Water’s love and the backing of his sloth brothers, but that didn’t
count to the legal system.

“They believed both of you about Kellen, and they have the

photographs from your phone, so it’s obvious that Kellen was holding
Skye against his will.” Phillip pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s
going to come out, unfortunately, what Skye was doing with the other
men who called him, but I believe him when he says he never
prostituted himself. Frankly, the truth was right there for all of us to
see in his mind.”

“Skye is a man without guile.” That had been such a relief to

Water, knowing that Skye hadn’t suffered that. Moreover, finding out
that Kellen hadn’t violated him sexually either was an even bigger
relief. Not that the emotional scars weren’t deep, but that type of
abuse would be just a splash of vinegar in an already raw wound.

“The picture of Kellen with his knife-filled hand to Skye’s genitals

clearly shows his utter disregard for him.”

Water would give anything to have that image of Skye removed

from his mind. He didn’t have to connect to his brothers to know they
probably felt the same.

“It’s only a matter of time before they prove Kellen shot Dylan.”
“Thankfully I wasn’t able to get my hands on his gun, so the only

fingerprints on it are Kellen’s.” The gun had fallen out of the back of
Kellen’s pants as he stomped on his own pals to get out the door.

“Any word on Dylan?”
Phillip shook his head. “Normally, I can feel everyone in our

sloth, even him, but now...” Phillip shrugged, which tightened his
dress shirt over broad shoulders. “It’s like the connections are there
but terribly weak. I can’t even communicate mentally with my twin,
Ryan. Well, I can, but not very well. For the life of me it’s like there is
static on the line.” Phillip laughed without mirth. “How old-fashioned

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of me to think it’s like the rotary phones where everyone had to
scream into the transmitters to be heard.”

Since this was Water’s first mental contact ever with another

human, he had no idea that things could be crystal clear. From what
the other members had told Water, everyone could communicate
strongly with their twin and weaker with the other members of the
sloth, but with Dylan Peterson, the nexus of their group, in the
hospital, everything had gone eerily static right after they all got a
blast from the twinning of Water and Skye.

“Dylan never knew how important he was. Well, none us did, I

suppose.” Phillip paused. “Oh, that sounds simply dreadful. I meant to
say that we thought his contribution was limited.” Phillip swirled his
drink as he loosened his navy blue tie. “We thought all he did was
twin our souls.”

“That was the kissing and breathing thing Dylan did with me and

Skye?”

“Yes.” Phillip polished off his drink and set his glass aside. He

loosened his tie more and then slipped off his shoes. He flexed his feet
by grabbing toefuls of the thick oriental rug under them. “Join me. It’s
really quite relaxing.”

Water toed off his shoes and followed suit. Just as Phillip said, it

was oddly calming to grip his feet into the shag of the rug.

“But to find out that all our telepathic communication somehow

runs though Dylan, too, is an amazing revelation.”

“What happens if he dies?” Water hated asking, but he had to

know.

“I honestly have no idea. The only thing I know is that without

him to twin bonded souls, any souls who bond will be in torment until
he can twin them.”

Horrified, Water frowned down at the floor and grasped his toes

more firmly in the rug.

Phillip reached out and placed a comforting hand on Water’s knee.

His hand was massive but only conveyed the softest of care. Refined,

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sophisticated, and honest to a fault, Phillip embraced everyone in the
bear-shifting group as if he’d known them forever. “Don’t lose hope.
There are more things in heaven and earth...”

Reassured, Water nodded. How strange that their legacy was

apparently an old one, but there were still so many things they didn’t
know about their group, or even their own abilities.

“Go to bed, Water. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know that

Skye is waiting for you.”

Water stood.
“And perhaps, very gently, broach the idea of counseling with

Skye.”

Water nodded. He knew his twin needed help above and beyond

what he could offer. With so much having changed for Skye in the last
day, Water was a little afraid to suggest another change. But he loved
Skye. And he wanted a good life with him. Not just a life, but a good
and long life where they were happy. They could have that, now that
Kellen was out of their lives for good. But they needed help to get
there.

With an attempted murder rap on his head, Kellen wasn’t going to

be coming back for Skye this time. It was the only bright spot in the
events of the last twenty-four hours.

Up the stairs and to the right, Water counted three doors down the

hallway then entered. He knew he had the right room because Skye’s
letterman jacket was on the bench at the foot of the bed. Pale
moonlight filtered through the sheers because Skye hadn’t wanted the
drapes drawn. In his shy way, Skye had asked Phillip for a room that
faced south so that he could see the moonlight on the snow. It was
such a simple request, so timidly asked, that Phillip had been happy to
indulge him.

So far, Skye had been almost afraid of what he’d been offered. He

instinctively feared that he’d have to pay with his body for what he’d
been given. Skye seemed stunned when no one asked for anything. All
they wanted was his happiness. Skye couldn’t understand that right

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now, but soon, he’d be able to accept the love of his brothers without
fearing the cost.

“Kyle?”
It was the first time Skye had called him by his first name.
“I’m here.”
Skye rolled over in the big bed. When he mashed his fists into his

sleepy eyes, the childlike gesture touched the protective man inside
Water’s soul.

“Are you okay?” Skye asked, opening the covers to let Water in.
How like Skye to worry about him and not himself.
Slipping up onto the bed, Water murmured that he was fine, all

was well, and they should sleep.

“He’ll come for me.” Skye’s voice was very quiet in the moonlit

room.

“He won’t. Not this time. There is a statewide manhunt for Kellen.

He can run, but he can’t hide, and when they catch him, he’s going to
prison.” Water wrapped his arms around Skye and pulled him close,
burying his face in his soft, curly hair, loving his sweet scent. “No one
will ever hurt you like that again. I swear it.”

“I’m sorry about your suit.”
“Don’t be.” Later they had learned that when they shifted,

whatever they were wearing literally exploded off their bodies. All
that was left was basically lint. “That suit. The only good thing that
ever happened in that suit was when you changed the game and
touched me. For that I’m sorry it’s gone, but the other memories it
held...no. I can’t say I’m anything but glad it blew up into dust.”

“Tell me.” Skye hesitated. “I got some of it, when we twinned and

shifted, but everything is such a blur. I remember a memory of you
standing there in that suit, at your sister’s wedding, and her calling
you the same hateful names that Kellen called me. And then your
mother joined in.” Skye shook. “They did to you what Kellen had
long done to me.”

Water considered what Skye had said. Skye needed rest, but he

Anitra Lynn McLeod

also had his own nagging questions that needed to be put to bed. If by
answering, Water could give Skye a little peace before he slept, he
was happy to do so.

Softly, holding Skye close, Water said, “My mother had that suit

made for me for my sister’s wedding. All through the planning for
that event and the event itself, I was besieged by their attempts to set
me up with various women.”

“They didn’t know you were gay?”
“They knew, but they thought it was a phase. If only I found the

right girl, my gayness would magically vanish. Almost as if my sexual
orientation were a virus that the right woman could cure.” Water
rolled his eyes hard. Dealing with well-meaning relatives had been
annoying, then irritating, then downright infuriating, and ultimately
devastating. In some ways, that suit had forced Water to confront who
he was. In turn, that helped him to help Skye.

“That’s like if I found the right sunglasses my eyes would change

colors.” Skye’s wry comment was utterly apropos.

Together, they laughed. And sharing humor felt so very good after

the trauma of the last twenty-four hours.

“Ah, that would be a tragedy.” Water was glad to change the

subject away from the tale of his suit. He knew Skye understood how
ugly that day had been. He’d asked only to give Water the opportunity
to talk about it, but he really didn’t want to. “Your eyes are so
beautiful. You’re the first person I’ve ever known with violet eyes.”

“I used to hate them.”
“What? Why?” Water was honestly stunned.
“Because they made me stand out. You know how it is when

you’re a teenager. You just want to blend in with everyone else.”

Water knew exactly what that was like. “Being different is

difficult, but I was always straight with my family.”

“You weren’t gay around them?”
“No.” Water laughed gently. “I mean, I was clear with them about

my orientation.”

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“Oh.” Skye laughed, too.
“After high school, I was honest, but during high school, I fronted.

I saw what happened to the other kids who were out, and I simply
couldn’t handle that. Cowardly, I know, but—”

“Not cowardly. Just because they were out doesn’t mean you had

to join them.”

“I guess I always felt like I betrayed those kids.”
Skye hugged him a little tighter. “You didn’t owe them anything.”
But he owed it to himself to be honest. Still, there wasn’t anything

to be done about it now.

“And how like you to want to save the world.”
“Well, maybe not the whole world, but certainly my little corner

of it.”

“Does your family talk to you?” Skye asked.
“Not anymore. Before my sister’s wedding I wasn’t exactly

adamant about my orientation, but after the whole nasty scene with
my mother and my sister, where I came out in no uncertain terms, the
money cut off, and that suit became a symbol of my family’s
rejection.”

“I’m sorry I asked you to wear it for me.”
“I’m not.” Water kissed Skye’s neck tenderly. “You transformed

something ugly into something magical. And, as crazy as this sounds,
the fact that you in turn made it disappear through our connection
when we shifted makes it all the more magical.”

“Honestly?”
“Honestly. I loved and hated that suit. It represented my family,

myself, their feelings toward me, my feelings toward myself—what a
mess it all was, all bundled up into one garment that I kept because I
simply didn’t have the guts to throw it away. And now, I have to
confess, I think, in the end, by your hand, that suit was nothing short
of enchanted.”

“How so?”
“It showed me the truth of my family, of myself, and it brought us

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together.”

“You believe in fairy tales, don’t you?”
“I do now. Because of you.” Water kissed Skye’s shoulder. “And

to end my tale, after my evil family pulled my funds for my horrible—
well, in their minds, horrible—orientation, I got a scholarship here to
Twin Pines College. I’ve been happy ever since.”

“Then why did you call me?” Skye’s voice was so tiny as to be

almost like a dust mote floating in the moonlight.

“That night, I don’t know what happened, really. There were lots

of guys on campus that I knew I could have, but none of them
interested me. Scrolling through that webpage was more of a lark than
anything else. I figured what were the odds of an exotic dancer
working in the Twin Pines area? It’s not like this is a huge
metropolis.”

“That it is not.”
“And then I saw your face.” Recalling that moment sent a shiver

down Water’s body. “I can’t describe the feeling that reached in,
grabbed my heart and soul, and squeezed. I had to see you in person,
just to see if that feeling was real, if it would be repeated.”

“And was it?”
“It was even deeper.” Water hugged Skye hard. “When I close my

eyes and think, I can see you that first night, how scared you were,
how shy and sweet and oh, God, Skye. I wanted you so desperately.
But I knew you’d bolt if I broke your rules.”

“No touching, no questions, and money up front.”
“Why the money thing? There were times when you took next to

nothing.”

“I only took what I needed to get a separate cell phone that was

just for your calls.”

Deeply touched, Water pulled Skye just a bit tighter. “I loved how

you always answered.”

“‘Hey?’”
“Yeah. Something about the way you said that one word told me

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you were glad to hear from me and couldn’t wait to be with me.”

“All that from one simple word?”
“Yep.” Water sighed.
“I have a confession.”
“Yeah?”
“The way you said ‘hey’ back always said the same to me. That

you were glad I’d answered, and you couldn’t wait to be with me. And
oh, my, God the way you would say ‘come.’” Skye shivered in his
embrace. “I swear there were times I practically did right in my pants
from just you saying that one word.”

“Ah, how you stroke my ego!” Water exclaimed. “There’s so

much we have to talk about and do, but for tonight, I want you to
sleep.”

“And you’ll stay here with me?” Skye’s arm tightened on Water’s.
“I’m not going anywhere.”

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Chapter 10

“But I don’t want my own place. I want to live with you.” Skye

had thought that was a given, that he and Water would live together
once everything was resolved.

“Your therapist thinks it’s important for you to know that you can

live alone.”

Skye wanted to argue, but so far, everything his therapist had

asked him to do had helped him gain self-confidence and self-
sufficiency. Gone were the days of relying on Kellen for everything,
and Skye couldn’t turn right around and start relying on Water for
everything. Doing so would do both of them a grave disservice.

At first, it had been terrifying to have everything fall on his

shoulders, but the more he took on, the more secure Skye felt. When
Kellen had been captured and held without bail in Denver, Skye
stopped jumping at every shadow. But the thought of not crawling
into bed each night with Water was too much.

Leaning near so that their foreheads touched, Water whispered,

“That’s not to say that we can’t spend occasional nights together.”

“But I want you every night.”
“You’re not making this easy.” Water groaned. “It won’t be this

way forever, just for a year. I think that’s a good time period, don’t
you?” Water kissed him slowly then leaned back. “In a year I’ll have
graduated. I’ll be working full time with Phillip on the graduate
programs. I’ll be more stable and more able to help you and myself.
I’m not just doing this for you but for us.”

Skye understood that he’d gone from his father to Kellen, and if

he went directly into Water’s home, he would never know that he

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could survive on his own. But just because he got the reason he didn’t
have to like it.

“Okay.” Reluctantly, Skye nodded.
“Good.” Water nodded, too.
“Are you still going to teach me how to drive?”
“Yes, indeed.” Water dangled a set of keys. “I’m going to inspire

you to do well by plying you with kisses for everything you do right.”

“And when I get my driver’s license?”
“What reward do you want?” Water asked, leading Skye toward

an odd-looking vehicle that was half car and half truck. From what
Skye had gathered, this was Cory’s El Camino that Water had
borrowed.

“A blow job as a reward.”
Water stopped and grinned. “But I wanted to give you that as a

housewarming gift.”

“You can give me that gift whenever. It’s one of those all-

occasion gifts. Doesn’t even need wrapping.”

“I’ll remember that.” Water opened the driver’s side door. “In you

go, my love.”

Skye still melted whenever Water used that term with him. He

gave so freely, almost effortlessly, that he made Skye eternally
grateful he’d met him.

While they drove in the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse,

they discussed the merits of various sexual acts as rewards. Water had
been reluctant to even joke about sex, fearful that he’d remind Skye of
his past, but their teasing took the stigma away from his history. Each
time Skye broke through another layer of fear and oppression, his
openness with Water increased. He’d needed his therapist’s help to
explain to Water that by taking control of all things in his sexual
life—words, actions, role-play—Skye was reclaiming his right to his
own sexuality. Once Water understood, he stopped beating himself up
for every little thing he thought he said or did that he perceived as
wrong.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

Possibly the biggest boost to Skye’s self-respect and what

prompted the police to drop all the charges against him was what he’d
learned about his father. After throwing him out, Skye’s father had
tried to get him back from Kellen, which was why he’d taken Skye
and left in the middle of the night. Devastated by grief, his father had
reported him missing, and the case was still open seven years later.
His father had since died in an automobile accident, but that he’d
regretted what he’d done and searched desperately for Skye healed
part of Skye’s wounded heart. Knowing that his father really had
loved him, despite what had happened, mattered a great deal.

Putting things to rest helped Skye face his future, just like gaining

new skills helped him face that future with more assurance.

Learning to drive was as terrifying as it was thrilling. Water lived

up to his promise—everything Skye did right he gave up a kiss. When
they were done for the day, they parked back in the campus lot and
ended up making out in the car until they’d steamed the windows. A
tap at the driver’s side window pulled them apart.

“I swear, I better not stick to the seat, boys.” Cory wagged his

finger. “Shove over, Curly.”

“Fine, Nosey.” Skye slid across the bench seat and into Water.

One thing Skye had learned about hanging around a group of normal
guys was they called each other names, ripped on one another, played
rough, but it was all in good fun. By giving him the nickname Curly,
Cory had welcomed Skye into the brotherhood of college men even
though Skye was still working on obtaining his GED.

“I’m not nosey,” Cory defended. “I’m informed.” Cory climbed

into his El Camino, and they all buckled up. “Where to?”

“Hospital.”
Their jocularity faded. Dylan hadn’t woken up yet, and their

ability to communicate telepathically was still inhibited. But no one
was giving up hope. Phillip had even flown in neurological experts,
but there was no answer as to why Dylan was unresponsive. The
gunshot had collapsed his lung but the damage was healing nicely.

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Dylan was breathing on his own, his brainwave activity was normal,
but he simply wouldn’t wake up. With a shrug, all the doctors said it
was as if he were sleeping.

At the hospital, they found Danny Jones in the waiting room with

the biggest smile on his face. “Great news.” Danny embraced them all
in turn, even Cory, who wasn’t actually a member of the Gridiron
Gods, and then led them into Dylan’s room.

Dylan was sitting up, eating his way through what looked like an

entire cow, and bitching that there wasn’t one interesting thing on
television.

“Who ever heard of three channels? What the fuck is this—

prison?” When Dylan saw them in the doorway, his face, which had
always appeared cold and indifferent to his brothers, broke into a
smile that would have made a baby giggle. “My latest twins!”

Cory frowned, and when Skye saw the wheels turning in his nosey

head, he snarked, “Twins? Just what kind of drugs do they have you
on?”

Realizing what he’d said in front of an outsider, Dylan shook his

head and said, “Sorry. I keep picking the wrong word for this—things.
I meant the latest two. The latest couple.”

From what Skye could tell, it looked like Cory bought the

explanation, which was a good thing as the man was nosey.

They settled around Dylan’s bed in plastic chairs that were on the

small side for them, but no one cared. To have Dylan awake and
talking was nothing short of a miracle. After awhile, Cory left once he
ensured Skye and Water could snag a ride with Danny. Pulling the
door closed, they all leaned in.

“I wish I could tell you what happened,” Dylan said, “but I

honestly don’t know. I remember dreaming but not what I dreamt
about. It wasn’t scary though, just...strange, I guess, from what few
fragments I remember.”

“What do you remember?” Danny asked, clearing away a pile of

cheese-coated burger wrappers.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

When Dylan tried to explain the few visuals in his head, he wasn’t

able to. “It was more like an impressionist painting. From a distance,
it makes sense, but close up, it’s just a blur of colors.”

Relieved, they stayed and chatted for a bit longer, but it had been

days since they’d had time to be alone. They were practically
undressed by the time they got into Water’s apartment. The window
had been repaired, and all the blood and damage from the scuffle was
gone. True to form, Water had been concerned about bringing Skye
back here to the scene of so much trauma, but Skye said there were far
more good memories here than bad.

“I want you in your bed with me riding on top of you.”
A slight shiver ran through Water as he closed his eyes. “You

know just what to say to bend me to your will.”

Chuckling, Skye drew him toward the bed by lightly grasping his

exposed cock. “Come with me, sexy man. I’ve got plans for you.”
Skye was a little nervous about taking the lead with Water since he
usually led in their sexual life, but he knew Water wouldn’t reject him
or be upset that for tonight Skye was taking charge. Even on the night
when they’d hooked up, and Skye had started the rule breaking, it was
ultimately Water who took the lead in the bedroom. But not tonight.

With hands that trembled, Skye undressed Water then himself.

After easing Water into the bed, Skye lit the candles then turned off
the overhead light.

Golden light washed over Water, highlighting his green eyes and

the blue sheets. Water tucked his hands behind his head, surrendering
completely to whatever Skye wanted to do with him. After a moment
of pure panic, where Skye had no idea what to do with him, Skye took
a deep breath and considered his options.

Water grinned at him. Not mean, condescending, or anything other

than a totally encouraging smile. Softly, Water said, “Do whatever
you want to me. I don’t mind.”

Slipping onto the bed, Skye positioned himself between Water’s

legs, rubbing his fingers up the sparse body hair that went from his

Running Back

ankles up to his balls.

With a moan of surrender, Water parted his legs, giving Skye total

access to his cock. Teasing his tongue over the sac caused Water to
melt into the bed and caused Water’s knees to drop to the mattress.
Tentatively, Skye stroked his fingers lower, toying with what he really
wanted to do.

“Touch me everywhere, Skye. There are no rules in here.”
Reassured, Skye slipped his finger around the puckered flesh of

Water’s bottom, loving the way he moaned. Skye had been unsure
about touching Water there when he was clearly a top, but judging by
the way he sighed and parted his legs, he welcomed the attention.

Lowering his face, Skye tongued his way from Water’s sac to the

starburst.

Water tried to hold still, but it was clear he found it almost

impossible to be passive. Inspired, Skye rose up and turned himself
around until he was draped over Water.

“Ah, yeah. That’s what I need. Something to soothe my oral

fixation.”

It took a bit of maneuvering, but eventually they were on their

sides, diagonally across the bed, so that they could reach each other.

And then Water did the most amazingly erotic thing. He echoed

every movement Skye performed on him. When Skye teased his
finger on the sweet spot between Water’s ass and cock, Water did the
same to him. When Skye licked his way ever so slowly from the base
of Water’s luscious prick to the crown, Water did the same.

“You do realize that this is almost like giving myself a blow job,

right?” Skye asked.

“Kinky.”
Skye lifted his head so he could look over at Water, who looked

right back at him with a mischievous grin. “You’re leading this
parade.”

“Am I?”
Water nodded.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

While looking him in the eye, Skye swirled his tongue around the

head of Water’s prick. When he echoed the movement, both of them
groaned and closed their eyes. Repeating that movement several times
brought Skye very close to climax, which he wasn’t ready for. To
delay his orgasm, and hopefully Water’s, Skye licked his way to
Water’s hole. In tandem, they tongue fucked one another until they
were practically snarling in simultaneous need.

It was Water who broke the connection when he pulled back just a

bit and said, “I can’t hang on much longer.”

Pleased that he had pushed him so far, Skye worked his way back

up to the tip of Water’s prick. Pre-cum glistened over the head, and
Skye used that to lube his fist. His first stroke down compelled a
sound out of Water that was tantamount to a full-fledged surrender.

“Do you want to come?” Skye asked playfully. Before Water

could manage an answer, Skye fisted him again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
quite catch that.”

“I—”
Skye did it again, which cut off whatever Water was going to say.

Once he had Water wriggling in erotic torment, Skye placed his
mouth at the tip and licked over the slit while stroking his fist faster
and faster. Right at the crest, where Water’s climax was inevitable,
Skye pulled his cock into his mouth and sucked while sliding his
finger deep into Water’s ass.

“Oh. God.”
Water came in a shuddering burst, filling Skye’s mouth. Milking

him with his fist, and rubbing his sweet spot, Skye didn’t stop until
he’d drunk him dry.

In the rush of pleasure, Water had left off teasing Skye’s cock, so

he hadn’t climaxed. Not yet. He wanted Water to go first. Now that he
had, Water redoubled his efforts to compel a climax from Skye.

Working his finger in and out while sucking his cock in so deep

the head slicked over the back of his throat, Water brought Skye to a
body-shaking orgasm that had him babbling incoherently. Hungrily,

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Water drank Skye’s climax until he was utterly drained.

Rolling to their backs they lay breathless, recovering. Eventually,

Skye leaned up and grinned at Water.

“Did you enjoy that?”
“Oh, yeah. You?”
“Absolutely.”
Together they rose, washed up, then they collapsed into bed with

Skye’s head on Water’s shoulder.

“Damn, but your sexy mouth just drives me crazy.” Water kissed

him.

“Now that I know I can bend you to my will, I will do so more

often.”

“Aw, hell, Skye.” Water rolled until he was smiling down at him.

“All you ever have to do is give me that look.”

“Look?”
Water moaned and pressed Skye down into the bed. “That’s the

one. Those big innocent eyes that just steal my heart and soul.”

Skye grinned. “I’ll try to only use my power for good.”
“See? And you’re sweet, too.” Water kissed him. And again. And

again. “We should sleep. Moving day tomorrow.”

Skye took a deep breath.
“You’re gonna be great. It’s a nice place, good neighborhood.”
“But you won’t be there.”
“I’ll be there all the time.” Water pulled him close. “Trust me.

With all we both have going on, we’ll see plenty of each other.” Lids
lowered over Water’s expressive eyes. “And with absence making the
heart grow fonder, we’ll positively explode when we get together.”

Skye couldn’t help it. He grinned. “You know, you have a way of

seeing the good in everything.”

“I do?”
“You do.”
“No, you’re just blinded by me.”
Skye ticked off his examples by extending his fingers. “You said

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that the broken window meant you didn’t have to clean the glass that
was getting spotty. All your random stuff being stolen would allow
you to update your electronics. And now you claim me living three
blocks away from you will benefit our already epically awesome sex
life.”

“I sound almost like a saint. Well, but for the sex thing. I don’t

think saints have sex.”

“You really do look on the positive side.”
“It’s something I learned a long time ago.” Water rose and

extinguished the candles. Once he returned to bed, he snuggled close.
“Negativity breeds negativity. The more you can keep your spirits up,
the easier that becomes. I know with your history that’s going to be
more difficult for you, but you can lean on my positivity until you get
more of your own.”

“No, it’s not going to be difficult for me at all. Now that Kellen is

gone, I feel like this boulder has rolled off my back. I feel free.”

“Is there anything...”
“You’ve done everything I could ever need.”
“You know that I’m always here for you.”
“I know. And you know that works the other way around, right? I

don’t want you to think I’m weak or you can’t lean on me right back.”

“You are so much stronger than you know.”
Skye laughed.
“You had to be to survive what you have.”
Skye had never thought of it that way.
“Honestly, just dealing with Kellen on a day-to-day basis—I don’t

think I could have survived.”

“Before you, I would dream about finding a perfect love who

would take me away from him and all his horror.” Skye kissed Water.
“And here you are.”

“No, wait. I didn’t take you away. You made your way out.”
“Semantics.”
“No. This is important for you to understand and believe. You

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saved your own life, Skye. I just helped. Don’t give away the credit
that’s due you.”

“You’ve been seeing my therapist, too, haven’t you?”
“I saw him that one time with you, but yes, I’ve been seeing

someone, too. I thought that would be wise. I don’t want to do
anything that might inadvertently hurt you.”

Skye laughed. “Well, the first thing you can do is stop treating me

like I’m a fragile glass sculpture.”

“What does that mean?”
Skye took a deep breath, but his therapist’s words filled his head,

bolstering his courage. “I love you.”

Water’s grin widened. “I love you, too.”
“But there are times when I want you to be more...” Unable to find

the words, Skye pushed the image into Water’s mind.

“Whoa.” Water sat up in bed and turned on the small bedside

lamp. “I thought that would scare the hell out of you if I grabbed you
or pinned your arms to the bed.”

“Not with you.”
Water winced, clearly unconvinced that any kind of physical

aggression would be welcomed in their sex life.

“It’s not aggression when it’s coming from you. It’s passion, and I

can feel you constantly questioning yourself, constantly holding
yourself back.”

From the look on Water’s face, it was clear he wanted to argue,

but something made him change his mind. “You’re right. I do
question myself a lot. It seems we both have a bit of work ahead of
us.” Water leaned close, pressing their foreheads together. “But I
don’t mind.”

“Neither do I.” After a long pause, Skye added, “There’s one more

thing.”

“Yeah?”
“I know you don’t talk much, during sex, but I want you to and I

want to.”

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“I thought what with the way some of those men talked to you...”
“I know, it seems strange, but it’s about me taking charge of what

I like. It’s not about what they did. It’s about what I honestly enjoy.”
Skye swallowed hard. “Understand that I don’t expect you to indulge
me in everything, but I got off on the dirty talk. It was the only way I
could get off.”

Water frowned. “I don’t know if I can do that, Skye. Calling you

names. Ordering you around.”

“I know it sounds like I’m trying to get the abuse to continue, but

I’m not. And—” Skye shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t know
how to explain.”

Running Back

Chapter 11

For a long time they sat in silence. Water felt awful that he simply

couldn’t understand what Skye needed from him. Just the thought of
pinning him down and calling him any type of derogatory name made
his stomach hurt. Water knew if he did that he would lose his erection
so fast he’d give a limp noodle a run for its money.

“I’ve never been very aggressive in the bedroom.”
“I’m not asking for you to beat me,” Skye said.
“I know. I’m trying to tell you where my head is at, okay? I’m not

making judgments or saying that I won’t. I’m explaining, okay?”

“Okay. That’s fair.” Skye had been edging away from him oh-so

subtly, but now he turned toward him, opening up his body to a more
welcoming stance.

“When I look at you all I can think about is kissing you and

making you feel good.” Water took Skye’s hand. “I think part of my
reluctance to do anything more aggressive is that I wasn’t allowed to
touch you for three months. There were times when I was watching
you that I...” He trailed off, terrified that if he told the truth he would
repulse Skye.

“Tell me. Be honest.”
Water tried, but he simply couldn’t.
“Please.”
The one word broke down his defenses. “There were times when I

was watching you that I wanted to grab you, and push you against the
wall, and then kiss you breathless.”

“That doesn’t sound so horrible.” Rather than flinching back, Skye

leaned closer.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

“I hungered for you. That’s why, that night, when I growled, I

shocked us both because keeping a hold on the animal inside me was
so difficult that even now, I’m afraid if I let him out, I’ll hurt you.”
Water felt a bit lighter after confessing to that darkness. He’d hated
himself for wanting to do those rough things to someone so tender.

“What does this animal want to do to me?” Skye moved closer.

“And remember, we’re just talking here. We’re not agreeing to do
anything, just talking.”

Relieved, Water met Skye’s probing gaze. “I wanted to claim you

with every part of my body.”

Skye’s pupils widened.
“No matter how you struggled, I’d be stronger than you, and I

would pin you to that wall and kiss you into submission.”

“Go on.”
“Then I’d get you down on the floor. I wouldn’t care how or

where. I just wanted you on your back below my body. And then I’d
fuck you. Even if you were pushing at me and begging me to stop, I
wouldn’t be able to because that animal, that beast that to this day still
lives inside me, had to claim his mate.” At the last, Water closed his
eyes and turned his head away. Skye wanted to know the truth, but
now that he did, he would probably never look at Water the same.

The reaction Water got was not the one he was expecting. They

were sitting close, and then all of the sudden Skye tackled him to the
bed.

Hungry lips claimed Water’s. Skye’s mouth was possessive,

passionate, and utterly predatory. He grabbed Water’s hands and
pinned him to the bed, pressing him down with his bigger and
stronger body.

Water couldn’t explain all the feelings that ran through his mind

and body in that instant. Shock gave way to arousal, which gave way
to surrender, and then the beast inside wanted to give as good as it
got, but Water refused to unleash him. In the way of their silent
communication, Water understood that Skye had gotten Water to

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confess the truth of his inner animal so that Skye could unleash his
own.

But rather than relaxing and submitting, Water struggled because

deep down his animal recognized what Skye’s inner animal needed. If
he made this easy for him, there would be no victory. And that’s what
Skye craved.

“If you want to claim me, you’re going to have to work for it.”

Water pushed up with both hands, but Skye pinned them back down.
A powerful electrical charge seemed to run straight down to his cock.
God help him, but the devilish twist of Skye’s innocent face was such
an erotic contrast Water almost came. It was like being attacked by a
sexy angel.

“I’m going to claim you.” Skye growled and forced his knee

between Water’s legs. “I’m going to know every part of you right
down to my soul.”

Out of nowhere, Skye seemed to have developed superhuman

strength. Despite Water’s best efforts to buck him off, all he did was
give Skye a better advantage. When he realized how much ground
he’d gained, Skye lowered his mouth to Water’s neck, bit him, then
demanded, “Surrender.”

“No.” Water tried again to push him off, but Skye was so solid

above him. It was more arousing than Water would have ever thought
possible. Now he understood what Skye was talking about. The
physicality of passion was uniquely freeing. Despite being pinned,
Water was liberated for once in his life. He could abandon his
worries, his fears, and his shames because Skye was fully in charge.
Giving Skye control gave Skye the sexual independence he’d been
looking for. But more than that, Water had freed the beast inside Skye
so he could reclaim what was taken from him.

“Yield.” The fire in Skye’s eyes turned the subtle violet shade

amethyst.

Water relaxed under the press of Skye’s powerful body.
Skye pinned Water’s hands on either side of his head. “You leave

Anitra Lynn McLeod

them here, or I will find something to tie you up with.”

Water nodded, lowering his face submissively. All his life he’d

been a top and happy in that role, but this was the wildest encounter
he’d ever had by far.

Skye captured his lips, kissing him with hot, hungry swipes of his

tongue. And then he worked his way down Water’s chest. Teasing and
tormenting each of his nipples caused Water to arch from the bed,
which prompted Skye to growl and go lower. Nothing escaped his
attention. Just as he swore he would do, Skye licked, kissed, and bit
every part of Water’s body until he knew him right down to his soul.

“Spread your legs wide. Hold yourself open for me.”
Water did as instructed, cupping his hands behind his knees so

that he was completely vulnerable to Skye.

Swirling his fingertip around the pucker of Water’s ass, Skye

demanded, “Has a man taken you here?”

“No.”
Skye’s eyes went wide. He dropped the sinister expression from

his face when he quietly asked, “Really?”

“Really.” Water took a deep breath. “Don’t stop now, Skye. Let

your animal claim me. I want you to. I need you to.”

For a long moment, Skye hesitated, his brows lowering with

confusion, fear, or both until Water said the magic word.

“Please.”
Wanton need once again cast ominous darkness over Skye’s

beatific features, causing Water to shiver under his inspection.

Skye nibbled his way down to the tender, virginal flesh of Water’s

ass, where he licked and fingered until Water was trembling to hold
still. Never in his life had he felt anything as wickedly good as what
Skye did to his bottom. His tongue, finger, and hot, snarled breath
conspired to push him into climax, but each time his balls tightened
and rose, Skye gently tugged them back down.

“You’ll come when I let you.”
Water closed his eyes, lost in the fantasy of being bound and

Running Back

spread like a rare treat for this god that was both angel and devil.
Ironically, his inner animal was luxuriating in everything Skye did,
almost as if it knew that somehow, someday, he would do the same to
Skye. And his aggressive passion would be just as welcome.

“Tell me that you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” Water swore, opening his eyes to watch as Skye rose

above him and planted his thick, glorious prick right at the now-
quivering entrance of his innocent bottom.

“Tell me that you want me.”
“Yes, I want you. I’m crazy for you. For the love of God, Skye,

fuck me.”

Rather than force his way inside, Skye pressed, and Water’s own

body pulled him in. Such. Sweet. Bliss. Once he was fully buried,
Skye lowered himself over Water’s body, urging him to let go of his
legs, which Water did. Without being prompted, he wrapped his arms
and legs around Skye, almost crushing him by holding him tight.

“Thank you.” Skye kissed him with slow, sweet nips.
“This isn’t over yet.” Water flicked his hips, which jostled Skye.

“Don’t stop now, Skye. I want you to finish. Show me what you
need.”

And he did. Skye lowered his hands to Water’s hips, dug in his

fingertips, and then started out with a slow plunge that rapidly
increased until he was body slamming Water into the bed. The
bedside table was shaking so hard the lamp fell off and so did the tube
of lube.

“Shit, maybe we should—”
“Screw it, Skye. Keep fucking me. Harder, Skye. I want to feel all

of you.”

“I love you, I love you, I—” Skye froze in midthrust and came in a

face-snarling torrent.

Water had never seen such exquisite pain and pleasure blended.

Before he could do anything, Skye reached between their bodies and
wrapped his thumb and forefinger around the base of Water’s cock.

Anitra Lynn McLeod

“Not yet, please don’t come yet.”
By taking deep breaths, Water was able to stave off his climax

until Skye finished his. Before he knew what he was about, Skye
lubed up Water’s prick, impaled himself, then pulled him over so that
Water was on top.

“Your turn.” Skye looked up with those big, innocent, violet eyes

that spoke directly to the beast Water thought he’d chained up for the
night. “Let him out, Water. I need sweet, and you’ve given me that,
but I also need savage.”

Capturing Skye’s hands, Water pinned them to the bed and then

took possession of Skye’s mouth. When his lower lip trembled, Water
was pushed higher, and the animal inside growled with longing.
Roughly he flicked his hips, drilling his prick into Skye, who
surrendered by lifting his legs and wrapping them around Water’s
hips.

“Do you like that?” Water demanded.
Skye whimpered in response.
Water rode him with hard passion and biting kisses. His beast

reveled in surrendering and now turned right around and gloried in
conquering. Between them, in the safety of their bedroom, Water
realized there were no limits. They could satisfy the deepest needs of
one another, and there was no shame in those desires.

Below him, Skye undulated, increasing the pace of Water’s

thrusts, until he, too, stopped in midthrust. An epic climax that
rendered him blind, deaf, and utterly dumb just about stopped his
heart. When Water managed to open his eyes, Skye was smiling up at
him, his lips puffy from their frantic kisses and his eyes sparkling with
passion now replete.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if Skye was okay, but he

didn’t speak, not when the answer was right there. Blissfully happy,
Skye held Water, and together, they rolled to their sides.

After a very long time, where their breathing returned to normal

and the sweat began to cool on their bodies, Skye said, “So I guess

Running Back

maybe we don’t need to see the therapist about our sex life.”

Water couldn’t help it. He laughed, which sadly dislodged his

penis from Skye’s sweet channel. “I guess we don’t.” He rubbed his
nose to Skye’s. “I guess what we need to do in the future is the same
thing we need to do for everything else.”

“And that is?”
“Be honest. Hold nothing back. And listen to the beast inside.”
Skye grinned and nodded.
They rose together, they showered together, and then they returned

the bed to rights and climbed in.

Moving day was tomorrow, but

Water felt that Skye wasn’t as worried as he had been before, and
neither was he.

There was a calm now that their individual animals

had met, fought, and tasted both submission and control.

There was a

deep and abiding peace that nothing could shake, not when they had
opened themselves up to the power of love.

THE END

WWW.ANITRAMCLEOD.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are the three things

Anitra Lynn McLeod enjoys the most. You can visit her at
www.AnitraMcLeod.com.

Also by Anitra Lynn McLeod

Siren Classic ManLove: Gridiron Gods 1: Waterboy

Siren Classic ManLove: Gridiron Gods 2: Quarterback

Siren Classic ManLove: Gridiron Gods 3: Tight End

Siren Classic ManLove: Gridiron Gods 4: Defensive Guard

Siren Classic ManLove: Gridiron Gods 5: Linebacker

Siren Classic ManLove: Dirty Cowboy

Siren Classic: Devil’s Due

Available at

BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Document Outline

RUNNING BACK
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 11
THE END

Anitra Lynn McLeod Gridiron Gods 06 Running Back

Document Outline