Manuscript Monday Hunter & Hunted (Darkvale Book One): Trust and Kinks

This month is going by too fast. I wanted to have the book ready for preorder, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. *cries*

Anyway, it will be ready for release on March 1st, no matter what. Well, unless a T-Rex eats me. Or my computer. Then I think we'd all have bigger problems. . . .

Spence and Hunter discuss trust and kinks. Hunter has a lot of both. Spence needs to work on the trust part.

Note: This is still being edited and subject to change. Enjoy!

The waitress brought their milkshakes before Hunter could respond. She set them down carefully, then sauntered to the coffee pot and filled up his cup.

Hunter gave her a quick smile.

Spence frowned as she lingered. “I’m fucking him, okay? But don’t worry, you’ll get a good tip.”

The waitress’s eyes widened, and she turned on her heel and marched away.

Spence wanted to kick himself. He took a long sip of the thick banana shake (and his brain didn’t thank him for it) before he looked at Hunter. Prepared for the annoyance or disgust or whatever it was he’d have etched on his face.

A grin.

Spence didn’t expect that.

“You’re a jealous little bastard, aren’t you? And when are you gonna fuck me, by the way?”

“When we get out of here, and you agree to my brilliant plan,” Spence said, thankful Hunter couldn’t hear his heartbeat or feel the way the nerves on his skin danced with anticipation. Worry that Hunter would disappear like a puff of gorgeous smoke.

Hunter sucked on the straw, his cheeks going hollow, and Spence pictured him on his knees with that bar between his legs holding them open.

Did Hunter really like it or was he just saying that?

Spence hoped it was the former.

“Your plan is. . . not bad. I mean, it’s fucking crazy as all shit, but mobsters are predictable when it comes to money. So are politicians. Plus, you’re smarter than me, and I trust you.”

Spence’s chest squeezed pleasantly, and he wished he hadn’t eaten so much from the way his stomach flipped. The smile pulled at his lips as he stirred his milkshake and thought of what to say to that. It wasn’t a damn thing like Kyle Brigham asking Spence to come over after school. This was real. It actually meant something was going on between them. Something special. Something Spence didn’t want to give up or lose.

 For the first time since retreating to the street, he didn’t care about finishing his meal. Not when Hunter was looking at him with an expression like a hungry wolf.

Spence licked his lips.

Hunter trusted him. Him! That was new—almost better than the idea of sex.

“You really trust me enough for—”

“I trust you, kid. Now hurry the hell up so we can get out of here.”

The words bristled across Spence’s skin, and he pressed his foot into Hunter’s thigh.

Hunter slipped around in the booth, spreading his legs and pushing his hips forward until the sole of Spence’s boot rubbed against his groin. “Yeah. This is how much I trust you. Good enough?”

Spence nodded and swallowed.

He didn’t know how much of the milkshake he actually finished since he was a thousand times more concerned with Hunter’s bulge and how he couldn't feel it through the sole of his boot. Sneakers would be better. He should get a pair of Converse just for occasions like these.

Hunter paid, and they slipped outside into the misty drizzle that filtered between the gothic buildings around them. The squat felt too far away, more than the ten blocks it actually was.

His fingers trembled until he took a breath and reached for Hunter’s hand. The heat of Hunter’s palm, the callouses on the skin, calmed him. The fingers gripped his. Soaked into his until the only thing he could think about was how stupid he was to have almost given this up because he was too scared to face Hunter again.

And how badly he wanted to touch Hunter now. See those nipple rings and pull on them until Hunter begged him to stop.

Spence didn’t realize he’d taken the lead until he arrived at the abandoned hotel. If the weather was better, he’d have stopped in an alley and taken the chance of getting caught. With the chill raking up his spine and the rain dotting his cheeks, he decided against it.

Hell, even the room felt like a bad idea.

They needed to get out of there anyway. Hunter had said so himself.

“We should move to a motel,” Spence said.

“Now?” Hunter frowned. “No fucking way. Moving can wait. No way in hell Baratta knows where we are yet. And I’m not waiting an hour to wrap my mouth around your cock.”

Spence’s skin might as well have caught fire. “Yeah? With your hands behind your back?”

Hunter grinned, all teeth. “Fuck yeah.”

They jogged up the stairs, and for once Spence didn’t have to stop and catch his breath. His legs carried him the whole way with only the barest hint of an ache in his thighs. Either he was building his waning stamina (again) or his brain overrode the rest of his body when a blowjob was on the line.

He didn’t really care which.

“When did you get the nipple rings?” Spence asked as Hunter worked on the door to their squat. It seemed like it’d be difficult for a homeless guy to maintain them, especially since Spence doubted Hunter got them before he bailed on the foster care system.

“Roberts didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re thinking. Fuck no. I got these a while back on a dare. Jordan didn’t think I could do it, so I proved him wrong.”

“Jordan?” Spence said, trying to sound casual and not annoyed.

Hunter sneered and the door popped open. “Old friend. We aren’t anymore though. But you like the rings?”

Spence cheeks cooled as he shut the door. If Hunter noticed his irritation, at least he hadn’t said anything about it. “Yeah.”

“What do you want to do with them, kid?” Hunter practically purred as he turned on the heater and cracked the window. It chugged to life, the distinct hum welcome as the buzz of heat flooded Spence’s body.

He’d never been the one in charge before. Every other time he’d had sex, he was giving something. No one asked him what he liked. What he wanted.

Spence took a breath and stepped forward. The room smelled like them. Smelled like home. He hadn’t realized that until he got back here the night before and drank it in before he took a quick shower.

“What do I want to do to your nipple rings or to you in general?”

Hunter sat back on his heels and looked up at Spence. It was the first time he’d done that, and a rush of lust flooded Spence’s brain, although they weren’t even close to touching. “Both.”