Cask Strength, page 1
Cask Strength
By Layla Reyne
Professionally, the FBI team of Aidan “Irish” Talley and Jameson “Whiskey” Walker is as good as it gets, closing cases faster than any team at the Bureau. Personally, it’s a different story. Aidan’s feelings for Jamie scare the hell out of him: he won’t risk losing another love no matter how heart-tripping the intimacy between them. And loss is a grim reality with the terrorist Renaud still on their trail, leaving a pile of bodies in his wake.
Going undercover on a new case gets them out of town and off the killer’s radar. They’re assigned to investigate an identity theft ring involving a college basketball team in Jamie’s home state, where Jamie’s past makes him perfect for the role of coach. But returning to the court brings more than old memories.
As secrets and shocking betrayals abound, none may be more dangerous than the one Jamie’s been keeping: a secret about the death of Aidan’s husband that could blow his partner’s world apart and destroy forever the fragile bonds of trust and love building between them.
This book is approximately 61,000 words
Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Deborah Nemeth
Dear Reader,
I love paranormal romance, so it was an extra pleasure for me to decide we were going to publish two paranormal romance anthologies and then get to read all of the submissions for them. I’m pleased that these two anthologies, Primal Need: A Sexy M/M Shifter Anthology and Mated: A Paranormal Romance Shifter Anthology, are finally available for purchase this month. Romantic, sizzling and just plain fun, I think you’re going to love them.
Primal Need features three talented authors of male/male romance bringing together three incredible tales (and tails, I guess? Ha!). In Parker Foye’s “Wolf in King’s Clothing,” collared shifter Kent must steal one final thing before he can be free, but alpha wolf Hadrian doesn’t intend to go quietly when he realizes he’s the thing Kent has to steal—nor does his pack intend to let him go without a fight. In “The Alpha’s Claim” by Holley Trent, quick-witted actor Teddy Gaines is the mate Coyote alpha Jim West’s inner beast craves, but in claiming the very human Teddy, Jim risks inciting rebellion in an already restless pack. Last in this male/male romance anthology is “Dark Water” by debut author K.L. White. Struggling with PTSD, blinded navy veteran Benjamin wades into the ocean to die but is intercepted by a kelpie, a water horse shifter named Rez, who planned to sacrifice him, but their unexpected passion and love may save them both.
After an accident on her twenty-first birthday, Sam MacTire has to give his best friend, Callie, a quick and dirty education on the ways of the wolf, clan politics and the little problem of their raging hormones before he faces censure for defying clan law and changing her. Check out “Wolf Summer,” debut author Sionna Fox’s addition to the Mated paranormal romance anthology. Returning Carina Press author Shari Mikels joins her with “Drawn to the Wolves.” Wolf shifter and pack alpha Callan Mohan meets his human mate, former sketch artist Kate Ballard, who’s terrified of wolves after witnessing a traumatic childhood incident. And in “Saving His Wolf” by Kerri Adrienne, bear shifter Powell senses the instant he holds her that Olivia is his mate, but the one thing threatening their healing mating hunger is Olivia’s distrusting and vigilant pack—who are prepared to do anything to get her back.
In addition to these six novellas, we have a full lineup of romance to keep you going through spring and the end of the school year! As FBI agents Aidan “Irish” Talley and Jameson “Whiskey” Walker struggle to separate their professional and personal relationships, the challenging task is made impossibly harder when they’re sent undercover—as basketball coach and sports agent—on an identity-theft case in which all their secrets are ripe for exposure. Layla Reyne’s Agents Irish and Whiskey series is back in Cask Strength, and if you’re not following this male/male romantic suspense series, you’re missing out. It’s not too late to catch up with book one, Single Malt.
When she agrees to pose as his woman to get details they need for the case, things heat up fast—and it’s not long before the lines between business and personal blur, and they’re both in over their heads. Sarah Hawthorne’s Demon Horde contemporary romance series will keep you turning the pages and this newest installment, Rebel Custody, is no exception.
Contemporary romance author Jen Doyle is back with her charming and romantic Called Out. Widowed mother of four Lola McIntire did not need a man. Been there, done that, got the broken heart. Even worse? A man who had more drama in his life than she did—like the irredeemable Jack “Ox” Oxford, the major-league pitcher who slept with his best friend’s fiancée. By all accounts, he should be called out. But there’s something about Jack that Lola just can’t shake.
Jules Court first brought us Hot in the City and now she’s Enticing the Enemy. When passion erupts between police detective Daniel Cruz and defense attorney Erin Rafferty, natural enemies might become something more.
Last this month is the steamy erotic romance Crave Me by Stacey Lynn. Master Jensen Rhodes was determined to leave the BDSM lifestyle forever, but when he’s introduced to Haley Portsmouth, a new sub seeking her first Dom, he not only decides he’ll train her for submission, he’ll take everything from her—including her heart.
Pick your poison—or your paranormal or contemporary romance—this month with all these great offerings!
Coming next month: Rhenna Morgan is back with her latest übersexy hero in the Haven Brotherhood series. Hang on to your hats because Trevor is going to knock your (cowboy) boots off and set your world on fire! Also releasing: our newest anthology offering, a capers and heists collection!
As always, until next month, my fellow book lovers, here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.
Angela James
Editorial Director, Carina Press
Dedication
For anyone who’s ever been homesick, then realized your heart and home lie somewhere else now.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Excerpt from Barrel Proof by Layla Reyne
Acknowledgments
Aso by Layla Reyne
About the Author
Chapter One
The roar of the Vanquish’s V12 engine sent a bolt of desire racing down Jamie’s spine, warming him from the inside out and chasing away the February chill. The sports car’s growl was sexy as hell on its own. The fact that it also heralded his partner’s perfectly timed arrival, right on Jamie’s heels, magnified the seduction tenfold.
Aidan’s gleaming black sports car careened around the corner, wheels squealing on wet pavement. Jamie laughed as he pushed opened his front door. He and Aidan were rubbing off on each other, and not just in bed. He’d begun twirling his pen around his thumb, and Aidan ignored his brakes with increasing frequency, drifting with unbridled zeal whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Figuring Aidan would need a couple times around the block to get the drift thrills out of his system—and find a parking spot on a rainy Friday evening—Jamie headed inside. He flung his sopping trench at the coatrack, dropped his bag on the floor, and toed off his socks and shoes. He added his crumpled tie to the scattered remains of his work week, then climbed the stairs to the main floor. He was drying his hair with a dishtowel in the kitchen when the front door opened and closed again. The muffled thump of a tumble, followed by a filthy Gaelic curse, floated up the stairs.
Jamie smiled. He’d also learned a few of those over the past five months. They came often, Aidan daily tripping over his messes here or at the office. Tidiness was not a habit he’d picked up.
Head in the fridge, scoping out dinner options while music blared, Jamie wasn’t prepared for Aidan’s sneak attack. His dress shirt was yanked out of his pants, and Aidan pressed something cold and wet against his spine. Jamie hissed his displeasure, cold and wet enough already from his commute home, but then Aidan’s teeth nipped his earlobe and desire burned away his chilly irritation. He stretched his neck and fell back against Aidan’s hard body, a wine bottle trapped between them.
“What’ve you got there?”
Aidan trailed his open mouth from Jamie’s ear down his offered neck. “We’re celebrating.” He yanked aside his collar and sucked hard enough to leave a bruise.
“Because it’s Friday?” Jamie limited alcohol to special occasions, of which the weekend didn’t qualify on its own, but his self-imposed rules hardly seemed the point as he rubbed his ass against Aidan’s stiffening erection.
“Because we’re officially on top of the FBI’s clearance board.”
Attention snared, Jamie whipped around, beaming. “We passed Powell and Hazen?”
Aidan wore a smile to match, heat blazing in his autumn eyes. “That piracy case put us in the lead.” One-handed, he grabbed Jamie by his open collar and dragged him into a hard, searing kiss, lips and teeth colliding, his wicked tongue invading.
“You’re gonna tear another dress shirt,” Jamie mumbled while unbuckling Aidan’s belt.
With a hard jerk, Aidan ripped his shirt the rest of the way open and scorched a path up his exposed torso. “Then stop taking off your damn tie so I have something else to tug.”
Hand inside Aidan’s slacks, Jamie palmed through silk an erection he knew as well as his own by now. Liked better than his own. “I’ll tell you what you can tug.”
Hips jutting forward, Aidan’s arousal filled his hand. “You’ll pay for that.” Fingers digging into his neck, Aidan hauled him in for another bruising kiss.
Jamie was playing with fire and he couldn’t wait to get burned. He came up for air and threw on another log. “Promises, promises.”
In one of those frighteningly fast flurries of motion Jamie still wasn’t used to, Aidan shoved the bottle of champagne in the fridge, slammed the door closed, and manhandled Jamie around so he was facedown against the white quartz island. Hands bound behind his back by his dangling shirtsleeves, body trapped between the cold, unforgiving countertop and Aidan’s warm supple frame, Jamie gasped. The hold, the contrast, was exquisite but he wanted more. He wanted all their clothes gone and his hands back on his partner. Aidan, however, held him pinned, one hand on his back and the other braced on the countertop beside his face. Jamie turned his head to the side, as much as Aidan’s open mouth on the nape of his neck allowed, and the sparkling gold and emerald clover cufflink twinkled back at him.
Aidan drove his dick along the crease of his ass. “Last Friday of the month. Always my favorite.”
Jamie shoved back, begging for it. “Payday?”
Snaking a hand around his front, Aidan loosened his belt and zipper and dove inside. “Maid day.” He swiped a thumb over his leaking head and took him in a firm, slick grip. “All month long, I dream about fucking you on this countertop.”
“You could just take an arm to it. Wipe it clean.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Aidan suckled the sensitive spot behind his ear, warm lips and warm breath overwhelming Jamie’s motor functions. His toes curled and his knees turned to jelly. Aidan shoved a hard thigh between his legs, and Jamie ground against it shamelessly. “I see you take my point.”
Oh, he took his point all right. But it was time to make his. He was two seconds from exploding, and the countertop was not his intended target. Exerting his core, he levered up and trapped Aidan’s dick between their pitching bodies. He leaned back, head on Aidan’s broad shoulder, and licked the underside of his auburn-stubbled jaw. Jamie’s tongue prickled, lust stoked by the five o’clock shadow. “Point taken. Now fucking take me.”
Growling, Aidan released his cock and ripped the dress shirt the rest of the way off his arms. Limbs freed, Jamie flailed forward, saved at the last second by Aidan’s arm around his chest. Hand landing atop his interlocking N and C tattoo, Aidan’s fingers dug into ink and skin. His hand always went there, and each time, Jamie swore he could feel it burrowing through skin and closing around his heart. The grip tight and unyielding.
With the other hand, Aidan grasped the back of his pants and briefs and tugged them down, freeing his cock. Chin on his shoulder, cheek to cheek, Aidan watched as he took him in hand once more, palm sliding up the underside, thumb circling the tip.
Jamie thrust forward, putting on a show. “Baby, please.” He angled his face in, seeking Aidan’s lips, as he groaned and rocked into his fist. Aidan bit his bottom lip, sucked it between his teeth, but only for a second before he pushed Jamie away, spun, and lifted him. His ass hit the island top and Aidan fused their mouths back together.
Lost as he was in the kiss, Jamie vaguely registered Aidan’s multitasking—dropping his own pants and boxers, shedding his shirt and tie, scrounging in the island utility drawer for the condoms and lube they’d stashed there, among a dozen other places in the house. Five months of the best sex of his life, each time hotter than the last. Jamie hadn’t been fucked into oblivion like this in years, if ever. But kissing Aidan was still the highlight of every encounter. The way their mouths fit just so. The sensual glide and demanding suction of Aidan’s silky lips and rough tongue. The lingering taste of coffee and sometimes whiskey. The addictive mix of light and dark. He’d never get enough.
Tearing their mouths apart, Aidan put a hand to his chest and laid him out, yanking his ass to the end of the counter and dipping out of sight. Jamie’s grumbled objection became a strangled moan as Aidan spread his ass cheeks and applied that rough tongue to an up-close-and-personal tour of his most sensitive areas. A torturous sweep around his hole, the tip diving in to tease, before lapping at his taint, toying with his balls, then tracing the underside of his dick on the way to swallowing him whole.
Gripping the counter’s edges, Jamie writhed from pleasure overload and from curbing his orgasm, not ready for this to end. “Fuck, baby.”
Dark eyes stared up at him through a hank of dyed blond hair. “That’s exactly what I intend.” Smirking, he slid two fingers inside him and sucked his cock back into his mouth, all the way to the root.
God, that mouth. Hot, wet, almost as good as he remembered the heat inside Aidan’s ass, but he hadn’t had the pleasure again since that one night during their investigation in Galveston last fall. Just one of the boundaries Aidan had thrown up since their return. Jamie lived with it, though, like he lived with the other walls, for the precious pieces of Aidan he did get. There was too much there to walk away from. Too much he lo—
Cool air and emptiness chased away the dangerous thought. Straightening from his crouch, Aidan pressed Jamie’s knees back, pulled his ass off the counter’s edge and thrust inside. A burning sting gave way to glorious fullness, and Jamie had no more thoughts, only sensation.
They both groaned and Jamie curled up, bracing one arm behind him and draping the other over Aidan’s shoulders, dragging him closer. “Come here, Irish. Need to feel you.”
Aidan clawed at each ribbed ab, at the tattoo, at his heart. “Think you’re feeling me just fine.”
A wrecked moan rumbled out of Jamie’s throat. Fingers digging into Aidan’s back, he contorted so they were skin to skin, his erection wedged between them, rubbing against ridged muscles and coarse hair. He’d pay for the acrobatics tomorrow, but fuck, the heat, the sweat, the smell...
“Come for me, Whiskey,” Aidan whispered, voice gravelly and roguish.
Jamie exploded, coating both their torsos, while Aidan cradled his head and clutched his ass, holding him impossibly closer as he sprinted to his own finish, muffling a final moan in his shoulder.
Arm giving way, Jamie relied on Aidan’s tight embrace to hold him up, relishing the quiet intimacy his partner seemed as loath to part with as he was. These were the moments Jamie craved, the pieces he treasured, the reasons he didn’t walk away. In these moments, he was sure Aidan felt the same as him.
He kissed his sweat-dampened temple. “I’ll clean more often.”
“Bullshit. I’ll pay for biweekly housekeeping.”
“Fine by me.” Jamie lowered his legs and pitched forward, letting Aidan help him stand. “Shall we move this celebration to the bed?”
“I don’t know...” A mischievous glint flared in Aidan’s eyes. He grabbed the dishtowel Jamie had used earlier and wiped them clean. “Beds upstairs made?”
Jamie took the rag from him and tossed it in the sink. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Ooh, seventeen-point-word.” Aidan slapped his ass and skirted past him. “Grab the champagne.”
Laughing, Jamie admired the firm backside and toned legs climbing his stairs. There were two more rooms upstairs with king-size beds, both freshly made and free of laundry. It was going to be a long night.
Of the best possible kind.
* * *
Jamie’s long night ended two short hours later.
