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  Grey’s Awakening

  Cameron Dane

  (c) 2009

  ISBN 978-1-59578-560-2

  Grey’s Awakening

  Cameron Dane

  Published 2009

  ISBN 978-1-59578-560-2

  Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509

  Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © 2009, Cameron Dane. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Liquid Silver Books

  http://LSbooks.com

  Email:

  [email protected]

  Editor

  Chrissie Henderson

  Cover Artist

  April Martinez

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  Blurb

  Greyson Cole needs to get out of Raleigh. Everywhere he turns, he sees people falling in love, getting married and starting families. It’s enough to make a grown man want to rip out his own hair. And for a cynic like Grey, one more employee getting engaged signals the need for a long overdue vacation. Grey owns a cabin in the mountains he has never even used, and he figures that’s just the ticket out of this nightmare of happily paired-up couples.

  Grey doesn’t expect to be greeted by a belligerent, half-naked man the minute he opens his cabin door.

  Sirus Wilder has known Grey’s twin sister for years, and she has given him permission to stay in the cabin while his residence across the lake is under repair. Sirus has never met Greyson Cole before, but he is thankful when the man lets him share the cabin for a few days. There is plenty enough room for them each to keep to themselves.

  Sirus has had his heart broken and isn’t interested in a hook-up, let alone something more.

  Even so, Grey is, hands-down, one of the sexiest men Sirus has ever seen. Too bad he’s an arrogant ass and his eyes are so damn cold. Every once in a while, though, Sirus thinks he sees a hint of fiery passion in the controlled man sleeping one room away.

  For Grey, one look at the roughly handsome Sirus puts Grey’s celibacy pact in serious jeopardy. One problem: Grey doesn’t believe in love, has even less patience for relationships, and he refuses to get mixed up in another messy romantic partnership that can only end badly.

  Two weeks. Two hard men. Both running like hell from love.

  Look out. Something’s gotta give.

  Note: This story contains male/male acts of sex and loving. Anal, oral, rimming.

  Prologue

  His twin was a dead woman.

  Grey stiffened at the sight before him and did his damnedest not to salivate.

  Not. My. Type.

  Even if the man was half-naked, full of gorgeous muscles, and standing in the archway that led to the bedrooms in Grey’s cabin. The tattoo of a rearing mustang on the man’s left pec gave away who sent him here. Only his sister Kelsie would think this kind of rough-looking guy was for Grey. Well, his sister, and maybe his best friend John too.

  In moments like this one, Grey cursed the week a couple of summers ago that his sister and best friend finally hooked up and admitted to each other they were in love. To think Grey had provided the cabin that allowed it to happen. This cabin.

  Kelsie was so, so dead.

  Grey never should have told her he planned on driving to the cabin.

  From across the living room, the stranger clutched the towel at his waist and started stalking in Grey’s direction. “Who the hell are you?” the guy growled. Dark, wet hair lay plastered to his forehead, and his flesh glistened with moisture. Heat from his body mingled with the frigid air breezing in through the open door at Grey’s back, creating a shimmer of steam around the man’s skin. “Get the hell out of this cabin right now.”

  That got Grey out of his paralysis and standing upright, going toe-to-toe with a hulk of a man who had to be at least six-feet-four. “Excuse me,” Grey would have bumped the guy’s chest to get him out of his personal space, but guessed the giant of a man wouldn’t even budge under the shove, “but this is my goddamned cabin, and you’re the one trespassing on my property. So go pick your clothes up off the floor, or wherever the hell they are, and get the fuck out of here before I call the authorities.”

  “Oh.” His head tilting, the guy took a step back, and much of the rigidity left his stance. “You’re Grey? Kelsie’s brother?”

  Grey took a breath and resisted the urge to grit his teeth. Of course the guy knew his sister. “Yes.” Everything on the outside settled and calmed. “I am.”

  “No offense,” the man scratched the stubble on his hard— fucking sexy—jaw, “but can I see some ID?”

  One, two, three, four, five, calm, calm, calm … stay calm. “Yes.” Grey slid his wallet out of his back pocket. “Fine.” Producing his North Carolina driver’s license, he handed it to the big man. “There you go. One Greyson Cole. See the picture? That’s me. Would you like me to produce a phone number so we can call my sister and confirm it? Or can you deign to tell me what the hell you’re doing in my cabin, now that you know it’s mine?”

  “Sirus Wilder.” The man stuck his hand out, the appendage yet more big and rough stuff. “I own the cabin across the lake. I had a pipe leak in my bathroom three days ago.”

  Sirus grimaced. “The shower tile and wall is going to have to be broken through in order to fix it, and the floor in the bathroom is going to have to be replaced. There’s only one guy I trust to do it, and he can’t clear enough time for a few more days. Anyway, with the valves to the house shut off, I don’t have any water. I called Kelsie, and she sent me her key for your cabin. She told me I was good to stay here so that I have a toilet and shower, until mine is repaired.”

  Okay, so not exactly a setup after all. Grey ignored the sense of deflation that sighed through him as he accepted this man didn’t bat for his team. Didn’t matter. Stunning, defined muscles and a thick head of dark hair notwithstanding, everything about Sirus Wilder screamed that he wasn’t Grey’s type. Even if— Jesus Christ—he did have the most insanely wide chest, with a line of hair that trailed down his tight-as-hell stomach, where it disappeared under the towel. Grey’s towel. Shit.

  Grey shifted his stance to cover the twitch from his cock. Geez, he’d been celibate for too long.

  Not. My. Type.

  Sirus cleared his throat, startling Grey into tearing his gaze off the man’s thick chest and quarter-sized, copper-colored nipples.

  “Sorry,” Grey covered quickly, “I was just wondering if you were ever going to give me back my license.” He held out his hand.

  “Right.” Red slashes cut through the guy’s pronounced cheekbones. “Sorry.” Sirus handed over the ID and backed up. “Let me go throw my clothes on and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  Grey paced the length of the cabin while he waited for Sirus to return. Fully clothed this time. Please, God. After the disaster of his last relationship, Grey reminded himself that he had sworn off men for good. Since women didn’t crank his carburetor, he had gotten very acquainted with his left hand over the last three years. Damn though, he missed sliding into a man’s tight ass and fucking until he could barely move.

  “Okay, sorry again about the mix-up.” Sirus emerged fully clothed, with a black bag slung over his shoulder—a very wide shoulder, covered in midnight blue flannel now.

  Shit. Grey wasn’t into guys who
wore faded jeans, work boots and flannel. “Your sister must not have known you were going to be using the cabin,” Sirus added.

  “I wouldn’t bet on that,” Grey muttered under his breath.

  Sirus glanced up, the slate in his eyes deepening to smoke. “What?”

  Swallowing past the sudden thickness in his throat, Grey rubbed his chest, smoothing the black leather jacket covering his suit and tie. “Nothing. Just mumbling to myself.”

  “If you say so.” Sirus tossed his duffel on the couch and moved to grab a coat off a hook by the front door. When Sirus shrugged into a camel-colored, suede, Shearling lined jacket, Grey almost came in his dress slacks. The guy was just so damn big. Grey didn’t go for big. At least, not bigger than himself. He had no interest in someone overpowering him, in bed or out.

  Turning his gaze down, the only way to stop staring, Grey moved out of the line to the front door, watching discreetly as Sirus made his way across the floor.

  “So,” Sirus paused at the threshold, “thanks for the use of your cabin for a few days, even if you didn’t know about it. Your sister raves about you, so it was good to finally meet you. If you need anything while you’re here, I’m right across the water. Have a good one.”

  No, no, don’t do it. He’s a big boy and can take care of himself. “Do you need to stay here a few more nights?” Grey’s fists clenched at his sides, even as he made the offer.

  Damn the man for mentioning Kelsie. “You would know by now there are two bedrooms.

  I don’t need both. There’s plenty enough room to share for a short while.”

  “I don’t want to put you out.”

  “You said you don’t have water.” Grey made the words sound like a curse. A flash of taking a bath in an aboveground pool rocked a small shudder through him; early memories from childhood he would rather not remember. “It’s really not a problem.”

  Years of negotiating with people who could buy and sell him ten times over brought Grey’s gaze up from the floor and onto a man he wanted out of his cabin more than just about anything in the world. Dark slate eyes connected with his, and Grey stuffed down the immediate desire to retract his offer. “Any friend of Kelsie’s is welcome here. You can use the second room until your cabin is repaired.”

  “Thank you.” Sirus stepped back inside, and Grey’s heart sank. “I appreciate the kindness.”

  “No problem.” Big problem. Why couldn’t this man be one of those people who protested a kindness until the other person gave up? He wasn’t supposed to say yes. “Go ahead and get yourself settled back in,” Grey offered anyway, “and we’ll just work around each other for a few days until you can go back home.”

  “Okay.” Sirus moved across the floor, his body something of incredible fluid grace for such a big man. He paused, right back where he started, and Grey slipped back those few minutes to the guy in a towel and nothing else. Damn it, Grey had gone too long without seeing a naked man in person. That had to be it. He didn’t like thickly muscled men. He preferred sleekly sculpted and streamlined, maybe a few inches shorter than his own six feet of height.

  What in the hell had he been thinking, inviting a person he didn’t even know, into his home? It was more than stupid, it was downright risky. Grey took a step back, and then another, until he bumped up against the door. He wanted to tell Sirus to get out, but he couldn’t. Not now. Jesus, Grey didn’t know what the fuck to do.

  Live with it.

  This had disaster written all over it.

  Shit.

  Chapter One

  Sirus Wilder stood inside the cabin, silently cursing and calling himself ten kinds of foolish for agreeing to stay after getting a look at Greyson Cole. Kelsie never said her brother was so damned gorgeous. Six feet of stunning, perfectly sinewy body, thick brown hair, sun-kissed skin, and the most piercing hazel eyes with flecks of amber Sirus had ever seen.

  Of course, why would Kelsie mention her brother’s near physical perfection? It wasn’t as if Grey enjoyed bending over for a stiff dick, had wet dreams about a mouth full of thick cock, or had fantasies of coming like a geyser all over another man’s body.

  Sirus imagined himself standing naked and Grey moving to him, sinking to his knees…

  No. Not again. Sirus was not in the market for a relationship, and he did not do casual sex. Not that it mattered. Buttoned-up, neat, and trimmed-out on all corners, nothing about Kelsie’s brother spoke of hot, raunchy animal sex—gay or straight. This guy probably put a double-thick towel under his woman in bed so the sheets didn’t get messy. Hell, in Sirus’s mind, one of the best things about losing control was seeing all the damage done in the aftermath. Falling over into that wet spot, knowing he drew that reaction out of his partner was pure bliss to Sirus.

  At least, it used to be. Not anymore.

  No more lusting after straight guys.

  No more convincing himself lust was love.

  A heavy ache twisted Sirus’s chest, but he quickly berated himself for letting his mind drift to Paul, his previous partner, and snapped himself back into the present. The first thing that registered in his brain was Greyson Cole edging his way outside.

  “Oh, hey,” Sirus dropped his bag on the floor, “do you need some help bringing anything inside?”

  “What?” Grey paused, whipping his head up from where he stood outside the door.

  He glanced at Sirus, barely made eye contact, and then looked away, making Sirus wonder if he had the word “murderer” etched into his forehead.

  “Help?” Sirus prompted. “Do you need some help bringing stuff in from your car?”

  “Oh, no, that’s all right. I have it.” Grey buttoned up his leather jacket, a garment that wouldn’t do a damn bit of good keeping him warm this high in the mountains at this time of year. “Thanks for the offer though. Umm, yeah, you do your thing and I’ll do mine.” Grey pointed in the general direction of the steps leading to the dirt path. “I’ll be right back.”

  Sirus watched from a dozen feet away as Grey straightened, made a very precise turn, and moved down the stairs at an even pace. If Sirus didn’t know any better, he would say the dude had a broomstick shoved all the way up his ass, right into his spine.

  Well, hell. He could already tell Greyson Cole would be tons of fun.

  Wonderful.

  Grey stayed hidden in his room for as long as he could. He took his time unpacking his bags, not seeing any point in living out of a suitcase and garment bag when he planned to be here for two weeks, at least.

  Truth was, Grey was damned tempted to take up residence in the mountain cabin. An epidemic of romance had broken out all around him down in Raleigh, going all the way back to when he’d made the decision to become celibate. He had reached a breaking point for other people’s happiness when Kelsie and John told him they were expecting their first child, due in June. It wasn’t that Grey wasn’t thrilled for them; God knew it took them long enough to get together, and they were clearly meant for each other. But the thought of knowing he would only ever be “Uncle Grey” had him announcing he needed some time away from the business and that he planned to go out of town. Seeing the hurt in his sister’s hazel eyes, so much a mirror of his own, almost had Grey relenting.

  Later that day one of his employees burst into the offices and announced her engagement.

  Grey made a quick phone call to his sister, told her he would stay in phone contact, and went home to pack his bags.

  That was yesterday. Valentine’s Day, for Christ’s sake. How lovely this cabin had looked in Grey’s mind, yesterday.

  Today, he had a sexy-as-hell stranger sharing his one place of solitude, and sleeping with only one wall between them. Fuck. Grey wondered if Sirus slept in the nude. He just knew the man would radiate heat like a furnace and feel amazing to curl up against on a cold night. He bet Sirus would spoon a partner and blanket her with his big frame, probably wake up nuzzling against the fine hairs on the back of a person’s neck too.

  Oh, no,
no, no. Grey did not like that kind of shit. It was great in a movie or a book, but in reality, a person needed his or her own space to breathe freely. It seemed in his real life all too often, though, other men ridiculously tried to bare their soul on the first date, and became clingy and needy by the third. Grey shuddered just thinking about it. He couldn’t imagine ever revealing his most personal secrets and fears, yet other people gave their own away like candy on Halloween. He didn’t understand it one damn bit. And he was sick of dates or boyfriends trying to make him feel guilty or manipulate him into cutting open a vein just so they could watch him bleed. Grey wouldn’t ever spill his guts for a partner. If that was what was required to go out on more than one date with a person these days, Grey went ahead and decided he didn’t need to do it anymore. One-night stands didn’t really suit him either, so that left a lot of yanking the one-eyed bandit on his own. There were worse things in the world.

  A soft tap sounded at the door. “Grey?” Sirus’s rich voice carried through the wood.

  “Are you hungry? I made dinner. There’s more than enough for two.”

  Speaking of worse things… Grey could not get the visual of the almost-savage planes of Sirus’s face out of his mind, most compelling of which were those deep slate eyes. The guy was built of steely muscle, but his eyes said he didn’t spend all of his time thinking about his body and working out in a gym. Intelligence. That was a thousand times more dangerous than the perfection of Sirus Wilder’s physique.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Grey slumped and closed his eyes. “I’ll be right there.” He scrubbed the tiredness from his face. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” Heavy shoes creaked the wood of the hardwood floor, telling Grey that Sirus had walked away. Taking a moment to remind himself that no business deal— or man—had bested him yet, Grey took a breath, gave himself a speech to be strong, and joined his temporary cabin mate for a meal.

  Sirus fiddled with the last few bites of his chicken and steamed vegetables. Thick silence sat heavy in the air, and from across the small table, Grey did a lot of staring at his now empty plate. No one had ever called Sirus a motor-mouth, but he could usually carry on a decent conversation, even with someone he didn’t really know. This man, however, left him feeling tongue-tied. Sirus fucking didn’t understand it.