Elijah returns home to help his dad renovate the Victorian his grandmother left to them. The finished portion of the old house is being rented out to a newcomer to their small town of Elizabeth Cove. No one in his town is aware of Elijah’s secret, especially his mom. A quick errand to the property leaves Elijah with a stunning scene he can’t get out of his head and the fear that his secret will be discovered.
At twenty-seven, Max, has had enough of city living and being around people who think they can dictate how he lives. After coming out to his family and colleagues, trouble at work and familial heartbreak ensue. He relocates to Elizabeth Cove in search of healing, not realizing his life is about to change in ways he never expected.
Model – Jeff
CoverArtist – Amy Queau
Excerpt
UN-EDITED AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE (ROUGH DRAFT)
Eight-thirty in the morning was too early to be up and out of bed on a Saturday, but Elijah’s mom had other ideas. The tenant was due to arrive today so he had to be up and out of bed to take the welcome box of grocery she’d purchased for him—Max Riorden—up to the house for his arrival. It sucked, but he guessed he could use the pool while he was there. Elijah loved the fact that his father had agreed to put in the deep pool at the back of the house. He used it all the time and guessed he’d have to get used to sharing it with the guy who was moving in that day.
If he hadn’t had his head up his ass these past couple of weeks he would have known more about the guy who had gotten his father to agree to a twelve-month lease. The guy would eventually become his neighbor in about four months time when his own side of the house should be finished.
Originally, they had planned to renovate the house and sell it, but after more thought he had managed to talk his father out of it and into splitting it in two—half for him and half as a rental to get income to support the upkeep on the property. As long as more of their money wasn’t being sunk into the property then his father wasn’t worried.
Elijah just wished he’d put his foot down and said his side of the house would be the first to be finished, but his dad had pleaded a good case about them getting the income in, which would give them more of a leeway in getting his part of the house finished. He was twenty-four and had been living under his parent’s roof since he’d finished at college because he had wanted to come home.
He’d loved the freedom of college but had missed the quiet of Elizabeth Cove. The decision to head home after college hadn’t been all that hard to make because there was nothing in the city to keep him there. At one time he’d thought there might be, but he was proven wrong when he caught Chris with his jeans around his ankles being sucked off by someone other than him. Since then he’d kept to himself and hadn’t gotten involved with anyone else. When he was feeling horny he would make the hours journey to the largest town near to Elizabeth Cove and find a bar to hang out in. Within ten minutes he would always have a guy wanting in his jeans.
The only problem he had to moving back home was his mom constantly inviting the young women in town to dinner in hope that he would follow through and ask them out. Both his parents had no clue he was gay. That he’d been gay since well before he left for college. He’d covered his sexual preference by dating the girls in his senior year at high school, but only for show. He had no real interest in them because they had the wrong equipment. A few times he wondered whether or not his mom knew or at least suspected that he was gay. But with how social she’d been lately he wasn’t all that sure.
One day soon he was going to have to come clean because at his age he shouldn’t have to hide from his parents. In fact, any more women shoved in his face he might explode. He also wanted to make his home in Elizabeth Cove and was worried how the town’s people would take his sexual preference. It wasn’t anyone’s business but his own and after experiencing prejudice in college he wasn’t in any rush to experience that again especially by the people he’d grown up around.
With a heavy sigh he clomped downstairs and walked into the kitchen with his tee shirt in hand only to be pulled up short when Sarah from next-door let out a heavy sigh with her eyes fixed on his chest.
“Elijah, get your shirt.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned knowing how much the ‘ma’am’ would get his mom’s back up but that she was too polite to say anything in front of Sarah. “Mornin’ Sarah. How’s things?” He might as well be polite to the girl if nothing else.
“Good,” she squeaked before standing up. The chair she had been sitting on wobbled back and forth until Elijah caught hold of it with his right hand as he used his left to pull his tee shirt down his torso. Sarah was looking anywhere but at him and for some reason Elijah knew he was being a dick but couldn’t wipe the grin from his face at her embarrassment because he’d spoken to her. “I need to get back. Bye Louise.” She dashed to the door.
“Bye Sarah,” Elijah drawled as Sarah shut the door behind herself.
He started to laugh.
“That was rude.”
“What was?” He asked with a look of innocence on his face.
His mom just rolled her eyes. “Never mind now. Get over to the house with this box. Put it all into the refrigerator and leave the note somewhere where he won’t miss it when he arrives.”
He could do that. He was also looking forward to a dip in the pool. There was nothing like diving into the pool without a stitch of clothing on and feeling the water caress his skin as he swam length after length.
“Will you be back for breakfast?” his mom asked breaking through his dream.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m going to swim before I come back and work some more.”
Elijah hauled the box into his hands and with his mom holding the door open he carted it out to his truck and dumped it into the back before he glanced back to the door and saw his mom watching him. He ran back to her and gave her a hug with a kiss to the top of her head. “I have my cell on me if you need me for anything. Okay?”
“Okay, honey. Look after yourself in that pool.”
With a last squeeze he pulled away and ran back to his truck. “I’ll be fine.”
Their house wasn’t too far away from his new home but with the box of food it would have been awkward to carry it. It was also too large to attach to his bike, which was his preferred method of travel in the town so his truck would have to.
It was only minutes before he found himself pulling up at the house beside the truck that was already parked on the drive.
Has the guy, Max arrived early?
He couldn’t see any sign of anyone, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone inside. Leaving the food in the back of the truck he climbed out and slowly made his way around to the gate leading to the back of the property to see if there was any sign of anyone out there before he knocked on the door. He didn’t feel like he could use his key now that the guy had obviously arrived.
As he stepped through the gate he could hear the gentle lap of water, which he knew meant the guy was already in the pool. Elijah treaded carefully towards the back and froze when he watched a guy with water sluicing from his body climb from the pool naked. He was around the same height as he was at 6ft3in and had a shaved head, or near enough. He was lean and muscular with broad shoulders and a chest that glistened in the sun. Elijah’s eyes traveled further south and he found his eyes widening as the guys cock lengthened before his eyes. He quickly glanced up to make sure he hadn’t been caught watching and he hadn’t. So that was Max. It had to be.
Max wrapped his hand around his erection before he pulled back to his balls. To Elijah’s shock he felt his own dick swell with need as he watched. Not even in college did he ever feel instance lust like he was now. Max was oblivious to Elijah’s presence and he wanted it to stay that way. He wanted to watch him come. He wanted to watch as his release left his body.
Elijah bit down on his lip to stop himself from groaning out loud. His dick was now solid and leaking with his arousal in his jeans as he continued to spy on Max as he jerked off. But it was so good he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t even leave the guy to his own privacy.
As Max looked to be getting close to his release, Elijah started to rub his aching cock through his jeans and felt his own arousal about to reach breaking point. Desperate for more, he ripped his jeans open and wrapped his own fist around his dick and started pumping. His eyes stayed reverted on Max’s own hand and dick. Max threw his head back and started to shoot white cum out from the tip of his dick, which sent Elijah careening over the edge. He clamped his mouth together to keep his lust quiet as he came all over his hand and the fence opposite.
Fuck!
That was not supposed to happen. He collapsed back against the house and with his heart about to beat out of his chest he yanked his jeans back up and shoved his junk away before he was caught.
What the hell was wrong with him? He had never done anything like that before and to have such a reaction to the guy he was going to have, as a neighbor was not going to happen. Regardless of whether or not he was thinking about telling his parents he preferred guys, it could not happen with Max. It was far to close to home.
With a shake to his head to get the remnants of lust out, he quickly made his way back to his truck on unsteady legs and grabbed a cloth to wipe his release from his hand before tossing it to the bed of his truck.
Elijah took a minute to get back together, and then grabbed the box of groceries from out the back. He still couldn’t get his head around what he’d just done. Anyone could have caught him with his jeans around his thighs and his cock in hand. What the hell was wrong with him?
He knew one thing for sure and that was as soon as he dropped the groceries off, he was out of there.
About the Author
Lexi was born in Bolton, Lancashire within the United Kingdom, where she lived, and worked at the University of Bolton. In 2010, she moved to Ireland with her husband, four kids and pack of animals.
She’s a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of Devour, and International Bestselling Author of Seduce and Sizzle.
Her time is spent writing when she can get away from Facebook, and chasing after the kids and animals.
One of her all time ambitions is to visit Mount Everest base camp in the Himalayas.
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