All First Chapter Samples

“Driving all over the fucking mountains just to ask random fucking insane people if they’d happened to see a truck full of gold just lying around where it didn’t belong.” I couldn’t stop grumbling as I drove around the curve in the mountain because it’d been a long-ass fucking day. “Because that makes perfect sense and that’s how police work is done when everyone knows everyone else.”

Sure it fucking was.

And no, the idiots I worked with in the sheriff’s office didn’t know everyone in the entire goddamned Blue Ridge Mountains—but it sure felt like I’d been driving over the whole fucking thing.
Just go around and ask nicely. It’s time you met a few more of the locals, buddy.

“There is no way I’m still in the right state, much less the same fucking county where I actually work.” But fuck if anyone would actually point out the goddamned boundaries. “But nooo, it’s all very normal.”

Bullshit.

Nothing about the job worked like it did anywhere else in the fucking US, and the only boundaries seemed to be where the aliens stopped and the normal clueless variety of humans were actually living. That got more and more obvious every time I turned around because the FBI didn’t casually make phone calls asking local sheriffs to poke around for missed armored trucks.

„Ist alles in Ordnung? Du sitzt schon eine ganze Weile hier.“ Um ein Spanking zu bitten und ihn zu fragen, ob er meinen Schnuller suchen könnte, wäre eine etwas unpassende Antwort, vor allem, weil der Mann, der durch den Garten kam, der Vater meines besten Freundes war. „Nein, Mr. Hammond. Ich denke nur nach.“ Er verzog das Gesicht, woraufhin ich grinste und mich leichter fühlte als seit Tagen. „Elliot, bitte. Du bist vierundzwanzig. Ein richtiger Erwachsener. Du duzt mich. Hör auf mit dem Mr. Hammond-Blödsinn.“ Einerseits hatte er recht. Auch wenn ich jung aussah, war ich ein Erwachsener mit Erwachsenenproblemen … aber ich mochte es, ihn Mr. Hammond zu nennen. Es kam der Anrede „Sir“ oder etwas noch Perfekterem wie […]

“If you don’t stop bouncing around, I’m going to tell Master you’ve been good today!” Sawyer’s words burst out once he seemed to reach the end of his rope.

I was excited, but nowhere near hyper enough to be sending his stress levels that high. I’d have been worried, but I knew exactly what was on his mind. Giving him a big smile that made him groan in frustration, I answered him sweetly. “If you do, I’ll tell him you were jerking off in the shower this morning.”

His eyes went wide, but I could see the desire flaring in his eyes. “That’s lying! I did not!”

“It doesn’t matter. It will still get you the punishment you want.” I had to laugh as Sawyer sputtered and sent me dirty looks. “I think he’ll believe me enough that you could find yourself bent over his lap later.”

And even though I’d be lying, Sawyer wouldn’t be able to deny it convincingly enough, because he wanted the spanking.

Desperately.

“Date. Date. Date. Pancakes. Date. Sex.” Bouncing around the kitchen, I tried to remember everything I was supposed to do. It was my turn to clean the kitchen, and I wanted to get it all done before I went to work.

But I knew I’d forgotten something.

“Cooper!” Sawyer’s frustration made me smile, and I looked over toward the fridge where he was standing, trying to dig his lunch out of the back of it. That was what I was supposed to have been doing…clearing out the old stuff.

Giving him a sweet smile, I cocked my head innocently. “Yes?”

He snorted and crouched to grab the plastic container of leftovers. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“Because you want pancakes too?” It was date night with Jackson, and I couldn’t wait.

What do you get the man who has everything for Valentine’s Day? Chocolate? No, he was allergic . Card? He thought fake romance was disturbing, and there was no way I was crafty enough to make one. Dinner out at a nice restaurant? He ended up with food poisoning last time, so he wanted to pick the restaurant this year.

Go with an experience, my mother said. Just go out and do something together, his brother said. That wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be. We both had busy jobs and couldn’t take time off from work in February. I was scared of heights, so that left out those ropes courses and things. We both thought something like a spa would be painfully boring.

So I started thinking outside the box.

He really shouldn’t have left the planning up to me. He should have learned that after the vacation disaster two years ago. He’d said fun and carefree…evidently that hadn’t meant an indoor waterpark resort filled with families.

I’d thought it sounded like fun.

Tobias didn’t. He was a bit too serious sometimes. That was one of the things I liked about him, though. He wasn’t boring, but he was thoughtful and focused, and I never had to worry about him doing something stupid like spending all our rent money on lottery tickets and Girl Scout cookies because he’d gone grocery shopping while high.

But that seriousness made holiday shopping for him more…interesting.

“I really don’t think we had this much stuff.” Ryan looked around at the boxes and stacks of random things that filled the room, frowning. “There’s just no way all of this is ours.”
Scott was nodding like he wanted to believe Ryan, but he was the more practical of the two because it didn’t look like he was taking Ryan’s word for it. “Um, I think we just had a lot of stuff in the closets?”

Trying not to laugh, because they really did have a lot in the closet when we’d first met, I focused on getting them organized so Ryan didn’t have a heart attack. “Okay, I’ll start on the kitchen. I’ll work from the basic layout you had in the apartment, and you work on your bedroom.”

That had both of their cheeks pinking, but they straightened like having a plan made them feel better. Clearly, having a Dom in their lives was helpful outside of the bedroom too.

“Once you have that done, we’ll tackle the living room together.” Looking around the room, I didn’t think it was quite as bad as they thought. “A lot of this stuff is going on shelves or into the office. That room is nearly empty. It’s not going to take long.”

Contrary to what Ryan thought, I’d seen a lot worse when I’d helped my siblings move.