Prologue
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New Year’s Eve atAlluring Indulgence Resort
Keepinghis distance from Beau Bennett was proving to be harder than Ethan Walkeranticipated. Didn’t seem to matter how strong he was mentally or physically,when temptation was greater than all of his combined strengths, he foundhimself fighting a losing battle. Didn’t mean he wasn’t still trying.
AsEthan moved through the vast, airy room, watching the various couples andthreesomes, he wondered how he had ended up there. And yes, he was speaking inthe literal sense.
Thisresort, no matter how swank or howalluringhis brothers made it, justwasn’t his thing. He’d rather be at Moonshiners, sitting at the bar, drinking abeer and listening to the jukebox churn out tunes that were handpicked by thecrowd. Or hell, sitting on his couch, watching reruns ofanything,wasmore appealing than getting dressed up to watch people in various states ofundress in the lavish, kinky, sex resort that wasn’t even open to the publicyet.
Buthe wasn’t at Moonshiners, and he wasn’t at home on New Year’s Eve, which meantthe only upside was that there was an open bar.
SinceAlluring Indulgence Resort belonged to his brothers and they had gone throughthe hassle of inviting him, his conscience wouldn’t let him avoid the placeforever. His brothers were proud, and he wanted to come to show his support. Figuringonce would be enough, Ethan opted to make tonight that night so he wouldn’thave to come back in a couple of weeks when the place was open to the masseswho enjoyed being naked in public. Something Ethan definitely didn’t need tosee.
Despitethe fancy design, the stylish furniture and the impressive sound system, Ethanwasn’t much into it. Glancing down at his watch, he was eagerly counting downthe minutes until midnight when he could escape without feeling guilty.
Afterretrieving another beer from the bar, Ethan made his way to a far corner whereno one was currently undressed or performing some sort of godforsaken sexualact right there in the open for everyone to see. Maybe it was out of characterfor a Walker, based on his brothers’ reputations, but, no, he wasn’t into otherpeople watching him. Nor did he share his lovers.Ever. Call him oldfashioned, but he preferred the one on one in private.
Butyou liked when Beau watched.
Fuck.That wasnotthe same thing. And Ethan wouldn’t go so far as to believehe liked it.
However,the last person Ethan wanted to think about tonight was Beau. Or how Beau hadinadvertently shown up at the Walker Demolition shop just in time to watchBlake suck Ethan’s dick, just a few short weeks ago. Or how Ethan had purposelymade eye contact in the hopes that Beau would back off.
Nosuch luck.
Andthe kiss they had shared on Christmas was proof that Beau didn’t give up. Evenworse, that kiss only reaffirmed just how little resistance Ethan had to theman.
Beauseemed even more intent on testing Ethan’s good intentions these days, and hehated him for it. No, wait. That was a lie. He didn’t hate him. Hedespisedthe man because he wanted him so fucking much it hurt. And not just in thecarnal sense – although he’d grown accustomed to the ever-present physical achethat couldn’t be eased – which he knew was downright stupid.
Heand Beau had nothing in common, aside from the fact they shared the samecareer. Ethan was in the closet, perfectly satisfied with keeping the eyes ofthe town out of his business and Beau had recently had a come to Jesus momentor some shit. Ethan didn’t want to be Beau’s experiment and he damn sure didn’twant something as complicated as what Beau represented.
Listenhere you little piece of shit. Lay off me. Understand? You’re damn lucky Ihaven’t told Ethan what a fuck up you really are.
Fuckinghell.
Heheard Beau’s warning in his head as clear as when he’d witnessed theconversation between Beau and Blake just a few minutes ago. He wanted tointerrupt, to ask Beau to clarify that statement, but he had opted to sit backand let the two of them duke it out.
Ashe peered across the dimly lit room, Ethan’s gaze landed smack dab on the oneman he wanted to avoid tonight. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t turnaway when Beau looked back at him. Beau’s gaze was like a heat-seeking missile,finding its intended target because Ethan’s blood was boiling with a desperateneed to find out what Beau actually had to offer him.
Sex.
Onlysex.
Itwasn’t like it could be anything else because Ethan didn’t want anything morecomplicated than that. And as far as his life went, sex was complicated enough.
Isuggest you get Ethan out of your system because the guy’s gonna kick your assto the curb soon enough. And I’m gonna be waiting. At that point, if you wantto chat about whose balls are bigger, you find me.
Hecould still hear the sexy, lethal tone of Beau’s voice, the way he put Blakeright in his place without ever laying hands on him.
Andfuck yeah, Ethan knew he should be offended for Blake, but in truth, hehonestly didn’t give a shit. Blake could pick his own battles, and if he wantedto provoke Beau then that was his business. Ethan had never claimed to beinterested in Blake for his intelligence. As it was, their “relationship” wasdecidedly less serious than Blake believed it to be. And Ethan knew good anddamn well that he wasn’t responsible for Blake’s misunderstanding of thesituation.
“Hey,babe.”
Sighing,Ethan took a lengthy swallow of his beer, his eyes still locked with Beau’sfrom across the dimly lit room. Without turning to look at Blake, he said,“Don’t call me that.”
“What?You don’t usually have a problem with it.”
