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SIGNS OF LIFE
Resilient Love #2
Melanie Hansen
Releasing Sept 28th, 2015
Dreamspinner Press
High school teacher Kai Daniels has a heart for at-risk kids—he was one himself, and a teenage brush with the law and some troubled years behind bars left him scarred inside and out. With courage, hard work, and the support of friends, he’s built a fulfilling life that leaves no time for a relationship.
An intense encounter with Kai at a gay club ignites a spark in Jeremy that he thought was extinguished forever, but he’s unwilling to destroy the fragile peace he’s managed to create, and he leaves Kai humiliated and disappointed. Things should have ended there, but a bizarre occurrence brings the two together in a way neither of them expected.
Jeremy got as close as he could, the
people massed around the bar making it difficult to get next to his
target. The man looked Jeremy up and down leisurely, all the way to
his feet and back up to his flushed and burning face; then he slowly
spread his knees wide, making room for Jeremy between them. Jeremy
moved in, feeling like he was strangling, his chest tight, the need
to touch, kiss, lick and bite overwhelming him.
“Hey,” the man said, his voice
deep and husky, lightly accented.
Jeremy swallowed, then nodded, all
of his senses focused on the heat of the man’s body close to his,
the way his legs looked splayed around Jeremy’s hips.
“Are you here with anyone?” he
asked, annoyed at how abrupt his voice sounded. He wasn’t used to
making small talk anymore, wasn’t used to the mating dance between
strangers. It had been so easy with Brent: a backyard barbeque with
friends, an introduction, mutual attraction and easy conversation
leading to an invitation to dinner. They hadn’t spent more than a
day or two apart after that.
The thought of Brent was like ice
water on his ardor, and he could feel himself shutting down,
wondering what the hell he was doing. Just as he was about to take a
step back and leave, he felt the man settle his warm hands on his
hips, stroking the skin between his shirt and the waistband of his
jeans with a rough thumb.
“Just a friend,” the man said
softly. Jeremy struggled to focus, remembering he’d just asked if
he was here with anyone. The thumb caressing Jeremy’s sensitive
skin was rough, callused, and it felt so good. It had been so long
since he’d been touched….
Jeremy took a deep breath. He could
do this… he wanted to
do this. It was just fucking, just mutual pleasure with a willing
stranger, a stranger he would never lay eyes on again. Purging his
thoughts of anything except need, lust, he laid his hands high on the
man’s splayed thighs, drawing circles with this thumbs along the
inner seam of his jeans, flirting with his crotch but not quite
touching.
“I want to fuck you,” Jeremy
blurted, hating himself for his ineptness, his cheeks flushing hotter
as the man’s amazing eyes filled with amusement.
“Yeah, I got that, amigo,”
he said, tightening his grip on Jeremy’s hips to keep him from
moving away. “And I want to let you.”
She grew up with an Air Force dad, and ended up marrying a Navy man. After living and working all over the country, she hopes to bring these rich and varied life experiences to her stories about people finding love amidst real-life struggles.
Melanie left the stressful world of the courtroom behind and now enjoys a rewarding career transcribing for a deaf student. She currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.
Check out the first in the Resilient Love Series
