Excerpt Monday

For my first Excerpt Monday, I've decided to post a new passage from The Highwayman. Check below to find links to five other participants' excerpts. Your reward will be an introduction to some of the hottest erotic romance out there.

The Highwayman

Hungary, 1750

Janos Vesh is a man on the edge. He's spent all of his adult life fighting his past. Now he roams the highways of the southern Carpathian Mountains chasing what little vengeance fate has to offer for the wrongs done to him and to his family. But satisfaction eludes him, and his only comfort comes in the arms of his lover, Stefan.

The soldier's constant love is no longer enough to rein in the highwayman's growing recklessness. Stefan doesn't know what drives Janos along the path to self-destruction. He knows only that trying to save the man he loves from himself is fast becoming a losing battle. He's not ready to give up, but ideas are running short.

A robbery gone bad, a descent into darkness, and Janos's fragile hold on sanity begins to crumble. Stefan has one last hope.

Excerpt

Stefan returned the following evening to find Janos seated on the edge of the cot, trying to pull on a boot with one swollen hand while mumbling Latin expletives under his breath.

“How many languages do you curse in?”

“Four. Would you like to learn ‘suck my cock’ in French?”

He did a quick assessment, noting the way he clutched at his ribs while struggling. Still, his posture was straight, not the humped over profile Stefan expected. Perhaps the ribs weren’t broken, after all. He allowed himself a moment’s relief, until Janos glanced his way. His face was a puffy, discolored mass with one eye swollen closed. “You’re a sight. Did they leave all your teeth?”

Janos made a sound that might have been a laugh or a sob. He doubled over, moaning. “Salop. Finally you learn to joke when I hurt all over.”

“Give me that boot. You can’t think you’re going anywhere.”

To his surprise, Janos handed it over. “I only stabled Hera for one night.” He lifted a foot, waiting.

Stefan slapped the foot aside and snatched the other boot from the floor, ignoring the grumbling. He set the pair by the hearth, out of reach. “I took care of Hera. She’s boarded for three days and you’re not leaving this room a minute sooner.”

“How do you plan to keep me here?” He seemed to have an easier time running his mouth.

“I took leave. Get used to my face. You’ll be seeing a lot of it.” Stefan dropped onto the bed beside him. “Janos, talk to me. Why are you doing this?”

Suddenly, Janos looked tired. With a glimmer of defiance in that single open eye, he stretched out on the mattress with a groan, setting his back to him.

Stefan fought the urge to say something cruel and leave. He was not a patient man. Was he supposed to get on his knees and beg to be heard? Not for a moment did he believe Janos’s arrogance to be anything less than self-preservation. Something hounded him, something terrible and impenetrable. He didn’t need to know those secrets, but he did need to know he could help. He was weary of feeling useless.

So, he focused on the many tender moments—too many to give up without a fight. He lifted a lock of silken strands, and pictured his lover’s hair, black as night, flowing loose over his naked back.

“A dark cloud hangs over you, love. I’m helpless to know how to keep it away.”

Janos shifted; his shoulders heaved. When he finally spoke, his voice was hollow, vacant.

“Nothing keeps it away anymore. It rides my back like a demon. Forgive me, Stefan. If you’re seeking reassurance, I have none to offer. You needn’t fear I’ll plead your indulgence while I go mad.”

He knows and promises nothing. Stefan saw none but a coward’s way out. But not today. He was not willing to lie and promise what he couldn’t do, but today Janos needed him. And tomorrow? Who knew what solutions tomorrow might bring? He lay down and drew his love into his arms, wrapping him in silent comfort. For now, he offered what he had, and admitted, at least to himself, the leaving would be the hardest thing he’d ever done.

***

Stop. Evaluate. Farkas taught him after the third time Janos awoke to his caresses screaming, fists flying. A years and a broken nose later, Janos learned.

He held his breath until the warm wetness of Stefan’s mouth nuzzling his shoulder and the iron cock gliding over his ass through their clothes became familiar. Stefan already panted with approaching orgasm. The gentle strokes along his crack, which had registered as a dream, grew more heated, less careful, urgent.

“Enjoying yourself?” The dream left his body yearning in spite of all its aches.

Warm lips curled against his shoulder. Stefan chuckled, and a huff of feathery breath tickled over Janos’s skin. The arms enclosing him tightened into an affectionate hug.

He groaned.

Stefan stiffened. His grip loosened. “Did I hurt you, beloved? I’m sorry.”

His heart melted. How long since Stefan’s endearments held such affection? “No. You didn’t hurt me,” he lied. “There are too many clothes between us.”

Stefan made quick work of his own buttons and slid his hands beneath Janos’s shirt, patiently caressing his back, chest, toying with his nipples through the wrapping.

Janos was having a little more trouble. With fingers stiffened by the blows he’d thrown, he was still working on the first button while Stefan’s cock poked insistently at his crack. He moaned in frustration.

“Do you need help?” Stefan had his cock freed and his breeches pushed down over his hips before Janos had the chance to thank him for the offer. His hand fastened around Janos’s cock, pumping a few times.

Janos shifted just so. With Stefan’s next thrust, his cock pressed right where they both wanted it.

“We have nothing to make this easy, love.”

Another heartfelt endearment and Janos’s pain eased a little more. “I don’t care. I want you… need you inside me.”

“Come for me.” Stefan’s hand on his cock became the center of the world; his steel hardness beat in counterpoint against his hole.

Everything became dreamlike and unreal. The pain in his body and his mind disappeared. He pressed back, hard enough for Stefan to pierce him. The head entered, stretching, burning. Stefan paused, waiting for him to grow accustomed to the invasion, before pressing further, then rocked, nudging, nudging the sweet spot, gently pushing him toward the brink.

“Come.”

Every stroke extracted a helpless little cry. Janos quaked. The orgasm struck all at once, taking control.

Stefan held on, riding the waves of pleasure with him, whispering, “God, oh God.” His hand and cock disappeared, but returned quickly. Slick with cum, he sank his entire length into Janos’s body.

The cries to heaven grew from whispers to growls. After a few strokes, the thrusts grew vicious, erratic. Janos felt Stefan’s pulsing member swell, filling his passage. Pushing, hips jerking rhythmically, his lover pulled him in, ground his ass and sobbed wetly against his neck. “Oh, God, please.”

The Highwayman is available from Amber Allure. Read another, R-rated excerpt, and purchase it here.

And here are the links to five more excerpts from other authors participating in Excerpt Monday:

Vivienne Westlake, Erotic Historical (R)

Elise Logan, Fantasy Romance (R)

Evie Byrne, Medieval Paranormal Romance (NC 17)

Stephanie Adkins, Erotic Romance (NC 17)

Leigh Royals, Historical Romance (PG 13)