Exclusive Excerpt from No Luck

by Kayleigh Sky

Doug rolled his eyes. “You’re paranoid. Come help me in the fridge.”

He stepped into the hall and looked back. Vane’s stare was locked on him, his eyes blazing silver. “Help you?”

“Clean.”

“Oh.”

He still didn’t move. Doug ignored him and proceeded down the hall. He found another bucket, filled it with water and cleaning solution, and took it into the cooler. The door didn’t close behind him. He glanced back. Vane slid in with his white-knuckled fingers gripping the door’s edge.

With a grin, Doug returned a few steps, and leaned past him into the hall. “Hey, Rose!”

“What?”

“We’re in the cooler. Don’t forget us.”

“I’ll make a note.”

“Ha, ha.”

He backed up, and Vane let the door close, crossing his arms over his chest after he stepped all the way in. “I guess they can hear us if we can’t get out.”

Doug laughed. “Well, now you have another reason to be pissed off at Luis. You’re gonna need him to fetch you the cold stuff if you’re too scared to come in here.”

Vane didn’t move, but their gazes connected until Vane’s rose as he tipped his head back and stretched his neck.

The movement was strange, slow and languorous, and so lovely Doug caught his breath. He tingled, electrified at the sinuous, sexy dance that was taking place in front of him.

Vane lifted his arms like wings and twisted his body in a lissome circle. The fridge wasn’t large and longer than wide, but it allowed a few feet of space for him. His hips swayed and his hair clung to his face.

Doug’s mouth opened, his heart quickening.

Then, just like that, Vane stopped. He let his arms fall and tipped his head slightly toward the floor. “See? I’m in here. Big. Effing. Deal.”

Against his flushed skin, and in the dim light, his eyes glowed. His lips looked as rosy as a flower’s petals, his hair like silk. Though Doug would swear it was against his will, he was bizarrely smitten with him.

“Those boxes,” Doug said. “They can’t be on the floor.”

Vane blinked. “What?”

“The food.”

“Oh. That just came in.”

“Needs to be off the floor though.”

Vane swiveled his head and stared at the box of cheddar cheese. “Okay.”

Doug breathed out. Here to clean. Just to clean.

He wasn’t here to get involved with an irresponsible actor who couldn’t be bothered to be there for his family. Doug closed his thoughts on Meg and the time he hadn’t given her. Time he’d spent on work sites and in other people’s homes.

Then Vane bent over and pretty much wiped out every thought in Doug’s head except ripping the guy’s pants off. A tiny strip of underwear appeared. Were those boxers? Briefs? He glimpsed orange, red, and green. The colors reminded him of sherbet.

Vane squatted at a box. Above the multicolored waistband, a dusting of dark hair crept up his tailbone.

Damn.

“Where do you get your underwear?”

Vane jerked upright and spun around. “Are you looking down my pants?”

“Can I?”

“Perv.”

Doug stared at Vane’s parted lips and slightly flared nostrils. Color was seeping into his cheeks, but he frowned, and the frown flirted with becoming a glare.

“You think I’m a waste of space, don’t you?”

Doug blinked. “What?” Where the hell did that come from?

“I’m gonna make this place work. I have my reasons for doing things.”

“Okay.”

“I’m serious, so don’t tease me.”

The tone plucked at Doug’s heart and filled him with pity. He hated bullies, always had, and it shocked him to stare into the mirror of Vane’s eyes and see somebody he didn’t want to be.

But he’d been careless, he realized now. Everything he had churning in his head about Vane had shown on his face the way Luis’s emotions had shown on his. The hurt in Vane’s voice scraped his skin like broken glass.

“I didn’t mean to tease you,” he said, sticking out his hand as he stepped closer. “Friends?”

Vane giggled.

Damn, that was cute.

“Well, we don’t have to be totally serious,” Vane said.

“Good. So on that note…”

Contrary to everything he should be doing, Doug sank into Vane’s heat and scent with a deep internal groan. He backed him into the shelves, gripped his blood-hot nape with one hand, the wire rack with the other, and leaned in.

Vane didn’t move, his eyes tracking Doug’s, his breath warm and dry. “Is there air in here?” he whispered.

Doug paused and smiled. “Why, yes, I believe there is.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“You won’t die in here. I promise,” he murmured and brushed Vane’s lips with his.

Vane’s breath puffed faster, and Doug imagined that the drumming in his ears was the echo of Vane’s heart. His nervous heart, beating a continuous stream of adrenalin through his high-strung body. His nervousness was physical, like a vibration from a tuning fork. But when Doug pressed in, his lips softened and opened, and he slung his arms around Doug’s waist.

Doug squeezed his neck and pulled him closer. Vane’s cock poked him. He pressed a thigh between Vane’s legs and rocked a groan out of him. So sweet.

He dipped his head. The tip of his tongue met Vane’s. Vane opened wider, and something in Doug’s brain snapped and blew his thoughts away.

He absorbed the softness of Vane’s lips, the damp heat of his nape, and the silkiness of the hair brushing his fingers. The sunny, metallic scent of sweat filled his head. The slide of Vane’s tongue and the smack of their mouths were as melodic as a song.

He scraped whiskers with his thumb and shivered at the warmth of Vane’s fingers under the back of his shirt.

Reaching down with his free hand, he grabbed Vane’s ass and pulled him in.

“Um… Guys.”

Shit.

Doug broke away and twisted around, steadying himself against the sway of Vane’s chest against his back. His heat burned through Doug’s shirt and melted his bones. Why wasn’t there a cot in here? Or a blanket in a quiet corner where he could lay Vane down and bury his dick in his warm body?

He cleared his throat. “Hey, Dorcas.”

She smirked, a hand perched on her thrust-out hip. “Hey, Doug. I wanted to let you guys know we’re done out here. I guess you’re not… Done, I mean.”

“Funny.”

She grinned. “I know.”

“We’ll be right out.”

“Take your time.”

“Damn pest,” he muttered when she’d gone.

Vane stepped out from behind him. He bit his thumbnail and dropped his hand a second later. “I guess that wasn’t very hygienic.”

“My kiss?”

“No. Doing it in the refrigerator.”

“Oh, that.” Doug moved closer again, the flighty nerves in Vane’s eyes enticing him. He pressed another kiss on him. “I liked your little dance,” he murmured.

“That was nothing,” Vane whispered.

“Are you holding out on me?”

“I might be.”

Doug reached around him and snapped the waistband of his sherbet-colored briefs. “Guess I’ll have to come round again and investigate.”

“You know where I live.”

Doug nodded and took a step back. The space between them yawned. “Yep. And we start work on your house bright and early tomorrow.”

Vane groaned. “I don’t do bright and early.”

“Get an alarm clock.”

He headed across the floor and hit the light switch. The dark fell, and Vane muttered, “That door needs an alarm.”

“You’re not gonna get stuck in here.”

But when Vane stepped back into the hall, a frown pinched the skin between his eyes, and woke a warning inside of Doug. Continue reading →