Desperate Lovers by Adam Carpenter (good beach reads TXT) 📕

“Flipped out?”

“Yeah, he told me that Parker isn’t really…” Pause. “What the hell is that guy doing?” Next Dane heard a loud bang. Then another.

Sawyer must have dropped the phone but Dane could still hear him shouting. “Oh my God, they’re trying to—” His voice was lost in a sickening cacophony of metal against metal. Then the connection ended.

“Saws? Sawyer!”

Dane wasn’t sure what happened. Had Sawyer gotten into an accident? He was about to try and reconnect when a loud noise sounded from downstairs.

“What the hell?”

The first thud was followed by another. Dane dropped the phone and ran to investigate. No sooner had he reached the main floor than what sounded like a barrage of fists pounded against the front door. Dane paused for a full minute. Then, hearing no further outburst, he opened the door and cautiously peered out. The air was crisp and fresh. The night seemed at peace as the houses of Eldon Court huddled silent and dark. And then something flashed out and caught Dane in the stomach. He doubled over in pain. A hand grabbed him by the hair and pulled him out of the house. Then a foot kicked him down the stairs of the porch. He had just enough time to see someone… two someones… closing in on him. All he knew for sure was that they were wearing dark hoodies that hid their faces in shadow.

“Help!”

Dane grabbed the leg of one of his attackers, holding him off balance. But from the other direction, a fist connected hard with the back of Dane’s neck. He saw stars. Then he felt the battle slip from his fingers as the two college-aged guys pummeled him. In disoriented terror, Dane blindly lifted his hands to ward off jabs that came at him from every direction at once. He was screwed and he knew it.

“Hey!” An authoritative shout cracked the air.

Then a dark freight train rushed from the porch in a single fluid movement, crashing into both intruders and knocking them to the ground.

Taking advantage of the respite of hostility directed at him, Dane crawled clear of the ruckus, trying to gather his wits. When he looked back, Dylan had thrown one guy into the bushes and was clobbering the other with body shots. Clad only in a pair of Hanes underwear, he looked like a gladiator in battle. He certainly fought like one. As one aggressor slumped to the grass, the other reemerged. Dylan deflected a punch with one massive arm, and then popped the guy in the face, snapping his head back.

Dane heard the kid’s nose crack.

That was enough. The attackers ran.

Dylan feinted a step as though he were going to follow, but instead came to Dane’s side. He examined his host’s face. “You okay?

What was that about?”

“Beats the hell out of me.”

“Just about, I’d say.”

Within the house, there was a crash. Dylan and Dane turned toward the sound. They paused for a second, exchanged a look and then bolted inside. Someone had just exited the back door, breaking the window in the process. Dylan left Dane’s side to give chase through the back yard.

Dane looked around to see if anything had been taken. Everything appeared to be in its place.

And then it hit him.

He took the stairs two, then three at a time. When he reached the third floor, he already knew what to expect. His computer was gone. So was the external hard drive. Dane sat on the bed for a moment in confusion. Why? Why did this happen?

And what happened to Sawyer?

Dane remembered his lover’s last words before leaving the house for Los Angeles. “Erase that.” But he hadn’t. Now the video was gone.

Number One Eldon Court felt haunted to Dane Walters. Someone had violated his home. Not sure where to turn, Dane finished dressing and stumbled across the street to his brother’s place, only to find no one there.

He curled into a wicker chair on the porch, knees to his chin, and wrapped his arms around his legs. He watched the street, clutching his cell phone tightly. Praying for Sawyer to call, to say everything was all right. If he did, Dane would ask Sawyer to marry him. He couldn’t live without his lover. It was even hard to breathe. “Be safe,” he had said before Sawyer pulled out of the driveway. But they weren’t. None of them were. Now his mind ran wild. Thinking the worst.

When Aaron and Paolo arrived home, they rushed to his side. He tried to explain. Minutes later, Edgar and Jack came out outside and joined them.

“I thought I heard a commotion.”

And then, out of the darkness (and out of breath) came Dylan. He was headed for Dane’s place, but when he saw the crowd across the street, he approached. Between pants, he managed, “They got away. I chased them … but they got into a car.” He lifted his hands hopelessly.

Nobody else said a word. All stared at the muscular guy in the tighty-whities.

“Uh, who are you?” Aaron was ready to defend his brother.

Dane pulled him back. “He’s okay. His name is Dylan. He’s the new star of Straight to Bed.”

Dylan, looking uncomfortable in his state of under-dress, nodded to the group. “Dylan DeMille.”

Edgar stared at the young man’s bulge. “Well, I’m ready for my close-up.”

Dane didn’t hear the joke. He slumped against Aaron, lost in thought.

What next?

PART FIVE

End Game

by Adam Carpenter 

All summer long in Wonderland, life on Eldon Court had been like a cable television show, the sex and violence more explicit than implicit. With firebombs, brutal attacks, sex videos and seductive manipulations, cheating, lying, betraying taking center stage, was it any wonder the neighbors were on constant edge? For one such couple, Marc Anderson and Rich North, the situation made them determined to make good use of their concerns, coming together in a lengthy expression of love and lust to beat away all that was wrong. They were hungry for one another, and frightened enough to let go their inhibitions.

Marc loved the way the tension left his body the moment his lover’s big, hungry cock entered him, as though the pressure