A steamy, age-gap romance, featuring two smoking hot firefighters who can’t seem to keep their hands off each other, is out this week from author Felice Stevens, and I have a sneak peek for you.
Excerpt
Isaac rushed to the door, hoping Levi would listen. Because if he didn’t, Isaac had no compunction in dragging him inside and sitting on him until he did.
Levi waited, but from the defeated slump of his shoulders, Isaac knew he was facing a battle to make himself understood.
“Listen to me now. Please?”
There was pain and confusion in Levi’s eyes, and Isaac had spoken to enough LGBTQ youth in his time as a fire department spokesperson in the schools, as well as to people inside the department who hadn’t yet come out, to know that Levi’s struggle could overtake his whole life, maybe even cause him to do something he’d regret. He hated to think that guilt over what was happening between them was adding to his burden.
“Okay, but I don’t think anything you could say is going to change things.”
Isaac took Levi’s hands in his and squeezed them tight. “Look at me.” Levi met his eyes. “I don’t have relationships. People are always trying to get something out of me because of who I am. All I know are hookups and, for want of a better phrase, one-night stands.”
“I’m not that type of person. I’m—”
“I know you’re not. You’re a good guy. I can see it.”
Levi shrugged, his cheeks turning pink. “I don’t know about that. It’s more like how we were raised. Our parents didn’t believe in television. They believed it would corrupt us. We were homeschooled and weren’t allowed to go to the movies or parties or anything like that.”
“Oh…wow.” Isaac hadn’t ever met someone so sheltered. Growing up in New York, kids talked about the movies they’d seen or what was on television. It was part of their growing up and social scene.
“Yeah…once we grew older, Jacob began rebelling and would go out on the sly. They got tired of fighting with us, so Jacob and I went to a regular high school and started going to the movies and parties. Like everyone else. But I guess since it was never important to me as a kid, I wasn’t all that into it—I’m still not.”
“Interesting. But see? You’re not like other guys I’ve met. They’re looking to say they’ve fucked me and either put it online somewhere or try and get me to push their music, clothing line, or help get them into modeling themselves.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of Levi’s hand, felt him shiver, and watched those soulful eyes darken. Levi was unlike any man he’d ever been with. His emotions ran as clear as the water in one of the sparkling lakes he’d driven past, and so close to the surface, they couldn’t be faked.
“I wouldn’t do that. I may live in the closet, but I’d never use anyone. I’m real, even though my life is fake.” Levi licked his lips, and Isaac’s stomach churned with unaccustomed nerves.
“I don’t think you would either. And your life’s not fake. Even if you can’t come out now, it’ll be okay. You’ll figure it out when the time is right for you. But what’s not okay is for you to be so torn up about who you are. You have to understand you deserve love, just like anyone else.” He tangled their fingers together and squeezed them tight. “I’m willing to be that friend with benefits. While I’m here, we can be together. It’s obvious we’re compatible sexually. It’s not exactly a strain.”
Sweat trickled down Levi’s face, and he blinked, his brown eyes wide with disbelief. “You…you’re willing to be nothing more than a booty call? I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not. I’m offering.” Isaac leaned in close and heard Levi’s breath hitch. Damn it to hell, that was sexy. There was no faking the attraction—it sizzled between them like water droplets dancing on a hot skillet. “We can barely be together without wanting to rip each other’s clothes off.” He nuzzled Levi’s neck and kissed the pulse beating at the base of his throat. “What else could anyone hope for?”
“I’ve always heard a relationship based on sex is very empty.”
Isaac tugged Levi’s T-shirt out of his jeans. “That’s the beauty of this arrangement.” He teased along the zipper of Levi’s jeans, tracing the thick bulge of his erection. “We won’t be in a relationship. You can come to me whenever you want sex, and I can do the same. Scratch the itch whenever we get it.” Slowly, he released the zipper downward and popped the button tab of Levi’s jeans. “Mutually beneficial. What do you think?”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand why you’d want that.”
“Because I want you. And I’m willing to do what it takes to have you.”
Tiny golden sparks flared in Levi’s eyes. “When you put it like that, it makes it hard to say no.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t.” Isaac pulled him close and kissed him.
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