The First Three Rules (30 page)

SNAPPED!

Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony- The ‘Infamous 7’ change one man from a cynic into a killer. And Bryce sees first hand, how war is not only fought on the battlefield, it is also drawn from the mighty pen.

Joel checked the time and looked up at his class. “Okay. Read the next two chapters on the difference between telling and showing in writing. Then give me two hundred words on each, one telling the other showing, so I know you know the difference.”

He put his laptop into his valise and checked his phone. He still hadn’t eaten. All he had ingested all day was a cup of hot chocolate from a vending machine inside the school.

The class emptied and he put on his jacket, carrying his briefcase and makings sure the light was off in his room. The janitorial staff was cleaning, so Joel walked outside and was slightly unprepared for the weather. His shoe skid on the ice and the wind was whipping a fine misty drizzle, which was quickly coating everything with ice.

“Jesus!” Joel walked with more care to his car and got his key out of his pocket. He stood, his collar up against the wind, and opened the door to his car, then tossed his valise into it and was about to sit down when someone pushed him into the front seat.

Joel panicked and was pinned to the passenger’s door and across the console.

A strong man hefted him into the car so his face was on the passenger’s window. Joel tried to look over his shoulder. “Take my fucking wallet! Just don’t hurt me!”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Joel gasped and spun around. Bryce sat on the driver’s seat and shut the door, making the inside light turn off.

“You attacked me! You scared the shit out of me!” Joel inched his way to sit in the passenger’s seat, still shaking.

Bryce grabbed Joel by his hair and brought him to his mouth.

Joel resisted, pushing both hands against Bryce’s leather jacket and shivered from the cold and the unexpected force.

Bryce pinned Joel’s back to the seat, grabbing his wrists to control them. When he had Joel helpless, he made for Joel’s mouth.

Joel closed his eyes and tried to turn away, making a whimpering sound in his throat.

Bryce’s tongue touched his sealed lips, trying to gain entry.

Joel felt tears well in his eyes and he turned away. “Why—”

His pants were opened and Joel struggled to push Bryce off but it was like battling a machine. The man was so big and powerful, it was impossible. And…did he want to make him stop?

He’d done nothing but think about him all day.

Bryce exposed Joel’s cock in the freezing car and when Bryce managed to suck it, Joel succumbed to the seduction and rested his head on the seat and his hands on the heavy black leather of Bryce’s jacket.

“What are you doing to me…” Joel moaned.

Bryce appeared pent up sexually, as if he was a wild animal escaped from his cage. He whimpered as he drew Joel’s cock into his mouth and made Joel’s ass tingle and his balls tighten up. Bryce pushed Joel’s jacket and shirt up his chest, touching his skin, his hard nipples and then going back to massaging Joel’s pelvis as he drew deep and fast on Joel’s dick.

Joel rocked his hips and threw back his head. “Fuck. Oh, fuck!” He came and the interior of the car began to steam up, ice on the outside, boiling heat on the inside.

Bryce went crazy while Joel’s cock pulsated and came in his mouth. He sat up, exposing his own cock, as Joel caught his breath and panted for air. Cupping his mouth, Bryce spit Joel’s cum into his palm.

“Roll over.”

Joel blinked and tried to understand.

When he wasn’t immediately obeyed, Bryce grabbed Joel by his coat sleeve and forced Joel to face the passenger’s door of his car. Joel’s hips were hoisted up and his pants were jerked down to his knees.

“Bryce!” Joel choked in shock and gripped the edge of the car seat and held on. “What the hell are you doing to me?”

A slick finger entered Joel’s ass and he knew the lubrication was his own cum. “Oh fuck!”

Shuffling noise followed, a condom wrapper was tossed on the floor near Joel, on top of his valise and then he felt the head of Bryce’s cock push against his rim.

“Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!” Joel was not ready for this. He was an emotional mess and could not decide if this was the most amazing sex he’d ever had in his life, or being forced into an act he was not prepared for.

Bryce nailed Joel to the passenger’s door. Joel felt his cheek hit the cold glass and pressed both his palms on it to prevent it. Bryce’s cock pushed deep, thrusting for a climax. Joel coughed and tried to stop thinking.
This is insane!

His cock was cupped and the hammering inside him amped up to a frenzied pace. Joel closed his eyes and cried out but the whimper sounded like pleasure even to his own ears.

“Yes! Oh fuck!” Bryce pressed Joel painfully against the cold window.

Joel gasped and ran his hands down the icy surface, seeing his fingers making lines down the glass from the condensation.

“Oh, yes.” Bryce thrust once more and pulled out.

Joel lay still, unable to catch his breath.

More rustling noises came from behind him, then a heavy thud as if Bryce dropped down into the driver’s seat.

Slowly Joel began to function, pulling his pants up and fastening them. He too sat correctly, huffing for air, and looked down at a tissue with the used condom, on the floor near the wrapper and the briefcase.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Joel asked.

“Thought you’d say no if I called.”

“You stupid fuck.”

Bryce gripped Joel’s jaw and pulled him towards his mouth.

The stiff bristles of Bryce’s unshaven jaw scratch him, but Joel opened his teeth for that tongue. Joel crawled on top of Bryce’s lap as Bryce used the lever to pull the seat as far back as it would go, giving the big man leg room. They kissed, still catching their breath.

Bryce parted from the kiss and rested his forehead on Joel’s. “Would you have said no?”

Joel had no idea. He smiled, then laughed, but it was just a soft cough he was so tired. “What the fuck do you want with me? Huh?”

Bryce didn’t answer, digging his hands into Joel’s hair and keeping their lips and cheeks in contact. Joel closed his eyes and held onto Bryce, like he was his bodyguard, someone sent here to protect him. Under his breath he repeated, “What the fuck do you
want
with me?”

It’s no easy feat transitioning from the disciplined arena of competitive gymnastics to the artistic whirl of the Cirque du Monde. Kelsey Martin finds secret inspiration in Theo Zamora, a dark, taciturn trapezist–until his partner dies in a tragic accident and he decides to leave the circus for good.

Theo doesn’t understand why Kelsey reaches out to him, only that she compels him with her unique combination of innocence and recklessness. Before long the two are collaborating on an aerial silks act for a new production, the Cirque de Minuit. Theo’s impatience with Kelsey’s naivete is matched only by his passion for her, and the two soon become embroiled in a tempestuous, consuming romance.

But some still blame Theo for his partner’s accident, and danger wraps up the two performers as inevitably as the scarlet silk of their act. Theo and Kelsey must find a way to connect and trust one another as he leads her deeper and deeper into a dangerous world of control and desire.

This erotic romance novel is approximately 70K words and contains sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, m/f/m menage, BDSM scenes, power exchange themes, and swinging/partner sharing.

Jason had a reputation for being zealous about his new recruits, about getting them acclimated and involved in one of Cirque du Monde’s fifteen currently operating shows. So Kelsey tolerated his poking, pushing, prodding, and general questioning as the practice space around them ratcheted up in motion and noise.

Unfortunately, since she’d turned to talk to Jason, she saw Theo saunter past jugglers and a troupe of musclemen to lean against the pull-up bars. He scanned the room with haughty disinterest. Kelsey looked away before he caught her staring, but Jason noticed and turned to find the object of her scrutiny.

He turned back to her a moment later with pursed lips, pushing her ankle back nearly to her shoulder. “I wouldn’t recommend getting tangled up with the likes of him.”

“‘The likes of him?’ You sound like my grandma.”

“Grandma knows best,” he said, releasing her. “Listen, all the new girls—and guys—get fascinated with him in the beginning. But he’s not relationship material.”

“Minya likes him.” Kelsey watched Theo’s partner do some half-assed warm-ups on the practice trapeze. Theo glanced at Minya, then away. Kelsey studied them from behind Jason’s back, trying to decode their body language. “So, are they a couple or what?”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I’ll go with or what. You’re probably better off not knowing.”

“What does that mean?”

“I mean, they’re weird. He’s weird, she’s weird. They belong together. You, on the other hand, are very normal and well-adjusted, and I’d hate to see that change.”

“Well-adjusted? Really?” Kelsey frowned. “That means I’m boring.” Since coming to train at the Cirque, Kelsey had the sinking feeling she was hopelessly dull compared to everyone around her. Being focused and responsible had worked great for her in the world of competitive gymnastics, but now…

“Kelsey, you are a breath of fresh air,” Jason assured her. “Too many over-the-top personalities around here. It gets old.” He finished with her other leg and shook his head. “What is this place, when two Californians are the most normal people to be found?” He started on her core, helping her twist and warm up her arms and shoulders. “While we’re on the subject, I would also avoid the parties he and his cronies attend.”

Kelsey frowned. “Drugs?”

“God, no. You know they test here. Therefore…they get their thrills in other ways, and Theo happens to be one of the ringleaders. He’s not a nice guy.”

“He doesn’t seem that nice.”

“But he’s good at trapeze. One of the best in the business.”

“So I should admire him professionally, but avoid him socially.”

“Like the plague.”

Kelsey laughed. “Okay, I’m sensing you feel strongly about this.”

“I just think you should be concentrating on your training right now. This is a transitional time for you in the company. They have high hopes for your future, but you have to give them what they want.”

“Do you think I haven’t been concentrating on my training? I’m working damn hard. Ow!”

Jason ruthlessly worked at a knot in one of her back muscles. “I didn’t say anything about you not concentrating. Let’s keep it that way. New people sometimes get too caught up in the partying and backstage shenanigans. I call it the circus underbelly. I’ve seen more than one promising recruit go down.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, way down.”

Kelsey looked around at the assembled company as the stage manager called out “Ten minutes to animation!” None of the performers looked especially dissolute or seamy. Well, most of them didn’t, she thought, with a sidelong glance at the object of her obsession.

“Don’t worry,” she said, shrugging away from her coach’s prodding fingers. “I’m not taking chances with anything right now.”

“Genevieve says you can take Marisol’s place in just a few weeks, if you feel ready. How are things going with you and the other acrobats?”

Kelsey turned to take in the group of Argentinean tumblers she’d been rehearsing with. She was getting the routines okay. They were certainly within her physical skill set. The greater challenge was growing more natural as a performer, and tapping into the communal synergy. The Argentineans were a smooth, well-oiled machine, while she was still a misfiring spark plug. She didn’t even speak their language. She looked back at Jason and shrugged. “I just need practice. I don’t feel ready yet, but I’ll get it.”

“Yes, you will.” He manipulated her feet now, paying careful attention to her joints. “You can do all the things Marisol does. Easily. It’s just about getting into the rhythm of the group.”