Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Oh and Happy Canada Day for our Canadian friends (even though I'm a little late with that one.)

Have a safe and fun weekend.

Understanding the Past

Understanding the Past copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Ten-

“Good.” Zev moved toward the door. “I’ll go get started on sweeping the ranch for bugs. I’ll let you and Heinrich know what I find.”

“Thanks, Zev.”

He did appreciate how the wolf had started including him in more of the decisions and over-all running of the ranch. Zev still wasn’t a hundred percent sure of him, but then again, Mason wasn’t a hundred percent sure of Zev. It would take more than six months of love from Heinrich to make Mason lose all of his distrust and, he admitted to himself, he probably never would.

The only one he trusted at the ranch was Heinrich. It was obvious the doctor wasn’t out to get him since Heinrich had every opportunity from the moment they started sharing a bed. His cock perked up at the mention of bed.

Mason had the sudden urge to see Heinrich, to hold and kiss him. Did it have something to do with the fear he didn’t want to acknowledge? The fear that he’d turn around one day and Heinrich would be gone. Shaking his head, he left the room and exited the building. He spied his lover entering the main house and followed.

Heinrich just entered their bedroom when Mason caught up with him. Sweeping the smaller man into his arms, he fell forward onto their bed. He rolled so that Heinrich landed on him and moaned as the familiar shock of Heinrich’s touch rolled through him.

“Do you want something?” Heinrich grinned as he pressed his hips against Mason’s.

Purring, he grasped Heinrich’s firm ass and ground their groins together. “I had a sudden hunger.”

Heinrich rocked against him. “Hmm…I might be able to help you with that hunger.”

Mason growled as Heinrich drew each movement out. “You’re a tease.”

A pleased laugh emanated from Heinrich’s throat. “It would seem I am.”

With a surge of muscles, he flipped them, straddling Heinrich’s thighs and bracing his hands on either side of his lover’s head. He crouched over Heinrich and leaned down to nuzzle along the man’s chin.

“I think we both need to be naked,” he murmured into Heinrich’s ear.

Heinrich shuddered, but scrambled to start stripping. Mason clawed out of his clothes, flinging them behind him without worrying about where they land. In two minutes flat, they were both naked and he had the lube in his hand.

Sparks shot through his nerves as Heinrich trailed his fingers down Mason’s chest to wrap them around his cock and stroke. He jerked and growled low. Heinrich’s touch was an addiction Mason was coming to crave more and more with each breath he took. It took concentration to get the lube squirted on his fingers and set aside.

He pushed between Heinrich’s thighs, spreading them wider to get access to his lover’s ass. Heinrich tucked his hands behind his knees, pulling them up and out. Mason rubbed his slick fingers over Heinrich’s hole and the slender man moaned.

“Please, Mason. It’s been too long.”

Chuckling, he slid one finger in the tight channel. “Too long? I do believe I fucked you last night.”

“But you didn’t take me this morning and I missed having your cock up my ass.” Heinrich pouted. “I can’t feel you anymore.”

“Oh poor baby. We can’t have that now, can we?”

Preparing Heinrich usually was part of the foreplay for both of them. He’d taken an hour or more to do it on certain nights when he wanted to drag out the pleasure, but today wasn’t one of those times. He needed to ride him until they were covered in sweat and Heinrich cried his name.

“Don’t make fun of me, Mason. I want you in me now.” Heinrich’s glare had a bright gleam to it.

Heinrich was teasing him and Mason liked it. As their relationship progressed, Heinrich became more confident in his ability to please Mason and Mason made sure to encourage the doctor every chance he could.

Pushing just the head of his cock into Heinrich’s ass, he stared down at the man. “Is this what you want?”

Slender hips arched, Heinrich grunted. “I want all of it, you prick.”

“Calling me names isn’t going to get you fucked any quicker.” He slid another inch in, his body quivering with the need to slam deep inside Heinrich, claiming every inch of his lover.

Heinrich punched his arm, sending waves of electricity through him. That burst of energy enough to break his control. He grabbed Heinrich’s hips and drove into his tight passage, forcing a cry from Heinrich.

There was no finesse or smoothness to Mason’s strokes. He thrust in and out with wild abandon, only wanting to take Heinrich with him over the edge.

“Touch yourself,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

Heinrich had one hand braced against the headboard to keep from hitting his head on it. He encircled his erection with the other and started stroking to the rhythm of Mason’s movements.

Their gazes met and it was like an arc of light buzzed between them, hitting both of them in the chest. Mason let his head fall back and he froze, buried as farther inside Heinrich as he could get. Heinrich screamed as his ass clamped down on Mason’s prick like a vise while his come coated his hand and stomach.

With each wave of Heinrich’s climax, more of Mason’s come was milked from him. He flooded Heinrich with hot liquid, only stopping when it felt like every last drop had been drained from him. His muscles went limp and he fell forward, just barely avoiding crushing Heinrich by flopping to one side.

Heinrich moved with him and ended up snuggled tight to his side, head resting on Mason’s chest. Mason ran his hand through Heinrich’s sweat-soaked hair and sighed. For the moment, his animal side was satisfied. He’d claimed Heinrich as his own. No one else would bother the doctor.

“What are we going to do, Mason?”

His lover’s question was soft, but Mason heard it over the racing of his own heart.

“Whatever we must to keep everyone safe.”

Human life was fragile and expandable. He’d killed before and he would again, if it meant keeping the others out of the government’s grasp.

Wet Wednesday

Okay, so the wet describes the picture, not the weather today...or at least not yet anyway. It's cold here though. I'm thinking we've reverted back to spring weather instead of summer.

hmmm..what to talk about? I'm glad to see you all are enjoying Understanding the Past. Now if I can just remember to wrap up all the little sub-plots and answer all your questions by the end of the story...lol. I might need to get some notecards and write everything down on them to keep it straight.

That's the problem with not plotting out the story. Things just happen and I have to remember to keep track and not forget about them as I write. I've done it before..lol. But I don't like outlining my stories because then I begin to feel stuck within the boundaries I created for myself and while I know I can change them, I have a tendency to become trapped by the ones I've already thought up. It's only when my characters decide they aren't going to do what I want them to, that things begin to morph into a different story and a better one usually.

Well, enough babbling for now. I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.

Understanding the Past

Understanding the Past copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Nine-

Stepping into the meeting building, Mason couldn’t believe how screwed up the day had become. At least it started out on a high note. He smiled, remembering the feel of Heinrich’s body moving against his. His erection pressed against his jeans and he adjusted himself for more room.

“Well, we know what you’re thinking about,” Zev drawled from where he sat, sprawled in one of the chairs, feet up on the table.

Basil and Boris snickered when Mason flipped the wolf off.

“You’re just jealous because you aren’t getting any.” He rested a hip on the edge of the table and nodded to Boris. “Are you straight on what we need you two to do for us?”

“As straight as I’ll ever be.” Boris stood, gesturing for Basil to join him. “We’ll go pack and head out. Where is the marshal?”

“We put him in the quarantine cabin. Asad and Yale will take turns watching him. Luckily, they can lock him in and not deal with him or else, we’ll have to explain to the marshals what happened to one of their agents.” Mason shook his head. “Any more time with that man and I could be driven to kill him.”

“It’s a gift some people have.” Zev dropped his feet to the floor. Leaning his elbows on the table, he studied the bear shifter. “You’ll keep an eye on Basil, right?”

Boris tucked Basil under his arm, tight to his side, and glared at Zev. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

The bear’s growl made Mason grin, but he hid it so Boris wouldn’t see. Someone was a little possessive of one skinny raven. Of course, he had no reason to make fun of Boris. It was the same way he felt about Heinrich.

“Good.” Zev held a set of keys. “These are the cabin keys, plus the shed behind it. There should already be supplies in there, but go through it and make a list of what you need. Send it back with Basil and we’ll see about getting it for you.”

“Thanks, gentlemen.” Boris inclined his head slightly before leading Basil from the room.

“Rather odd pairing.” Zev’s comment was distracted like the wolf wasn’t really thinking about Boris and Basil.

“Both of them are happy and it works. They’re actually good for each other.” Mason paced. “We need to sweep all the buildings and the main house for bugs. Heinrich said that nothing like that had been done since he moved here.”

Zev shrugged. “We didn’t think we needed to, but I should have done it just as a pre-caution.”

“How were you to know that the marshals were keeping tabs on us?” Mason stopped by one of the windows and saw Heinrich talking to Basil. “Paul seemed like a nice guy. Was he still here when you arrived?”

“No. He’d been gone for a couple months by the time I dragged my ass here. Heinrich was taking care of himself, but I knew he needed help. Shifters kept arriving every day. It was like there was a homing device leading them here.”

Turning, Mason studied the wolf. “How did you find the ranch?”

Zev met his gaze. “I heard about this place where a shifter could heal without being tortured or killed. Don’t remember who exactly told me. It was more like whispers heard on the wind.”

There was something Zev wasn’t telling Mason. The shifter couldn’t hide the fact he was lying, even though he looked Mason straight in the eye. Mason didn’t have time to worry about it at the moment, but he filed it away to look at when he had a chance to think.

“Seems to be the way most of us found out about this place,” Mason murmured.

“Is that why you were Haven?” Zev inquired, slight easing of tension around his eyes letting Mason know Zev was glad he wasn’t pushing the other comment.

Mason shook his head. “I was running, pure and simple. I had no clue this ranch existed or that Heinrich was doing penance for what his father did. I had a crazy idea that I was going to swing north and try to cross the border into Canada, figured the wall wasn’t as high or as well guarded out here.”

“I don’t know anything about that. Never thought about going to Canada or leaving the country.”
“It wouldn’t matter. From what Paul told us, there’s a second tracking device implanted in all the shifters. They’ve been able to keep tabs on us since we escaped the compound, even when we took the other implant out.”

“Fuck.”

Zev jumped to his feet and joined Mason in pacing; one on either side of the table.

“And natural humans say we shifters are cunning and dangerous.”

“We’re only trying to survive. Natural humans do what they do because they can and because some of them enjoy hurting others.” Mason shoved his hands in his pockets. “Lisa and Heinrich are going to run tests to see if they can figure out where the other device is, then we’ll see about removing them from all of the shifters here.”

“What’s the point of telling us?”

He glanced at Zev. “What do you mean?”

“Why did Paul tell us? He could have just kept quiet about the tracking implants and we’d never be the wiser. The marshals could go on with their experiment, or whatever this is, and there would never be a risk of us finding out.”

Mason stopped, braced his hands on the table, and stared down at the surface. “I have a feeling there’s more to Paul being here than we’ve figured out so far. He’s here because his superiors sent him to warn us about Von Mertz, but he’s giving us stuff that he’s not supposed to reveal, I bet.”

“So you think he’s trying to help us the only way he can without getting arrested for it.”

He nodded. “I know it sounds crazy. Why trust a marshal? Yet while he might think of us as monsters, he doesn’t see Heinrich as one, and I believe he will do whatever he can to help him survive.”

“There seems to be a lot of us who will do whatever it takes to keep Heinrich from getting hurt.”

“I’ll give up my freedom and my life for him.” He didn’t care if Zev believed him or not. It was the truth Mason was slowly discovering now that danger had arrived on their doorstep.

Death or Life-NSFW excerpt

I thought I'd give you another sneak peek at my next release. Death or Life will be released July 6th. :) This excerpt features some hot manlove...lol.

Blurb:

Noah Wiltson wants nothing more than to be left alone. His father’s candidacy for President forces him to have secrets. Imagine his surprise when a hired killer gives him the means to live his life without doubt or fear.

The killer knows this hit is going to be his last. Whether he chooses to walk away or whether they kill him. He’s never been a team player, so he ends the game on his terms.

A few months later, Noah meets Cain Packert, a man who intrigues and excites him. Only one of them knows the truth. Can they find love amid secrets and threats?

Excerpt:

Cain started unbuttoning his shirt. “Do you have stuff?”

Noah unzipped his pants and stopped. “Stuff?”

“You can’t be that innocent. A stud like you has to have had sex before.”

A surprised but pleased expression came and went on Noah’s face. “Oh, that kind of stuff.” Going to the bedside table, Noah opened the drawer. “I have lube. No condoms though.” Disappointment colored Noah’s voice.

“Good thing I was a Boy Scout then.” Cain pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and removed the condom packet he’d tugged in there earlier that day. “Always be prepared.” He tossed it to Noah.

“That sure of me?” Noah smiled.

“Not sure. Just hopeful.” Cain finished undressing and prowled towards Noah. “You’re not naked yet.”

Noah’s eyes were riveted to Cain’s groin. Cain groaned as he felt the heat of Noah’s stare. His cock twitched and swelled. He invaded the younger man’s personal space. Taking Noah’s hand, he wrapped it around his cock and showed Noah how he liked to be stroked.

Being able to compartmentalize helped. He focused on getting Noah stripped and on the bed while Noah played with his prick. The lube had been tossed on top of the covers along with the condom. When Noah was naked, Cain eased the blond onto his hands and knees in the middle of the bed.

“Enough of that for now. I’ll come and I want to be inside you when I do,” he murmured.

Cain trailed one hand over the smooth expanse of back and ass he’d been presented with. Noah’s skin was soft and flushed with desire. Cain ripped open the foil packaging and pulled the rubber out. He rolled it on his cock with a moan. The touch of his own hand almost drove him over the edge.

With protection taken care of, he picked up the tube and set out to make sure Noah was ready for him. He spread Noah’s firm ass cheeks and squeezed the slick out. When he had enough, he set the tube to the side. He coated his fingers and started massaging Noah’s opening, easing one finger in slowly, an inch at a time.

“Cain,” Noah mumbled, face pressed into his pillows.

The way Noah was pushing back told Cain he wasn’t hurting his lover. Soon one became two and Noah was fucking himself on Cain’s fingers. Cain did his best to nail Noah’s gland every chance he got. Sweat began to cover Noah’s skin and Cain felt it bead on his own chest.

“Soon, Cain. You need to be in me now.” Noah braced his body on one hand and reached back, unerringly finding Cain’s cock.

Cain let the younger man guide him. When the blunt head of his prick rested at the puckered opening of Noah’s body, Cain stilled.

“Are you sure, Noah?” It killed him to ask, but he had a momentary attack of conscience. Cain needed to know this was what Noah wanted, not something he was unknowingly forcing on the man.

“Jesus, Cain. Fuck me already.”

Noah’s exasperated tone made Cain chuckle.

“All right.”

With one hard fast thrust, he buried himself balls deep in Noah’s ass. Their cries mingled together as their bodies learned the feel of each other. Noah’s inner muscles gripped Cain’s cock like the tightest vice and Cain felt his control shatter.

“Sorry,” he whispered, before pulling out and slamming back in.

He didn’t know if Noah heard his apology or not, but his lover moved, welcoming each thrust with moans and little pleas of his own. Cain’s climax moved from his nerve endings to his groin in a flash flood of pleasure. He peeled one hand off Noah’s hip to reach around and take Noah’s cock in a firm grasp.

“Come,” he ordered, his voice harsh.

“Yes.”

Noah’s shout was accompanied by wet heat splashing over Cain’s hand. Noah’s climax caused his ass to clamp down on Cain’s prick, milking Cain’s own pleasure from him.

“Fuck,” Cain grunted, as he filled the condom.

As the last wave of passion drifted away, Noah collapsed on the bed and Cain fell, covering the smaller man with his own body. Safe, Cain thought.

“Stay,” Noah murmured, as Cain started to roll off him.

“Let me clean us up.” He ran his hand over Noah’s shoulder before climbing out of the bed and locating the bathroom.

He took care of the condom and washed up. Wetting a cloth, he went back to Noah and wiped him down. Cain took the washcloth back to the bathroom. When he came back, Noah had pulled the comforter to the foot of the bed and lay under a couple of blankets. Slipping in beside Noah, Cain wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist and snuggled up against the younger man, chest to back.

He brushed a kiss over the nape of Noah’s neck. “Sweet dreams, Noah.”

Noah patted his hand where it rested on Noah’s stomach. “You too, Cain.”

A wry smile drifted over Cain’s face. His dreams were never sweet. They tended to be nightmares more often than not. He’d grab what sleep he could and then go out to look over LeClair’s grounds. He had to familiarize himself with the layout, finding all the likely spots where a sniper might lie in wait. Every instinct he’d gained during his years as a government agent warned him that Senator Wiltson wasn’t going to give up without a fight. A man with the kind of secrets he had to hide couldn’t risk being discovered.

Noah’s soft breathing lulled him. Cain closed his eyes. Might as well take advantage of his exhaustion for some sort of rest.

R.I.P.

You gave us music.

You gave us beauty.

You gave us laughter.

In each of you, we found a piece of ourselves.
May you rest in peace.

Understanding the Past

Understanding the Past copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Eight-

“Okay, the x-rays are done. I’ll develop them and let you know what I find.”

He sat up on the table and grimaced. “Should we get a regular doctor in here, Lisa? I know you could handle it if you had to, but maybe we could find a sympathetic doctor who could help out.”

She thought about it for a while and Heinrich stayed silent. He really wasn’t doubting her ability to deal with whatever came up, yet being a vet doesn’t mean she was trained to take care of humans. Unless, once they found the implants, they could convince the shifters to change into their animal form, so she could operate on them that way.

“Let’s see what we find out before you reach out to the other natural humans. Most of them won’t be as open-minded as I am.”

“You just like animals, no matter form they come in.”

They laughed together and Heinrich realized that somewhere along the way, they had become friends. As Lisa worked on the x-rays, he settled in the corner of her lab and thought about all the events that had taken place since he left Von Mertz’s compound.

In his memories, Paul had always been the only friend he ever had, but finding out that it was all a lie didn’t hurt him as much as he thought it would. Maybe in the back of his mind, he had begun to understand that there might have been ulterior motives in Paul’s actions. The marshal had been very distant the entire trip they had made from the compound to the ranch. No effort had been made to get close to each other. Heinrich assumed it was because Paul knew he wouldn’t be staying long after they achieve some kind of safety for Heinrich.

Then Zev showed up and took over. Heinrich never really thought too much about why he trusted the wolf shifter. His desperate need for friendship or companionship might have created the perfect situation for others to come and take advantage of him.

Shaking his head, Heinrich frowned. No way was he going to doubt every person on the ranch because Paul screwed him over. He’d rather trust all of them until they proved him wrong.

“Darn.” Lisa stared at the x-rays.

“Did you find anything?” He pushed to his feet and moved to stand next to her, studying them as well.

“No. We’ll have to do a C.A.T. scan or M.R.I. and the problem might be that the tracking device is made from some material that won’t show up on any test we do.” Lisa grimaced and shot him a glance. “Anyway we can torture the information out of the marshal?”

Heinrich laughed, but he wasn’t sure she was joking. “Umm….I doubt the marshals would look kindly on us torturing one of their agents.”

She shrugged. “It was a thought. It’ll take time to find it.”

“I told you, I’m at your disposal.”

“That’s great, but I’ll probably ask some of the others if I can scan them as well. That way if I find it on any of you, that’s less I’ll have to scan.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail. “Did he say who put the implants in?”

“I assume it was Von Mertz. Probably as a way to keep track of his experiments once he released them into society. Most of them knew that they had a device under the skin and would have removed it the first chance they got. By putting a second device somewhere they wouldn’t think of or be able to remove easily, it ensured he could find them again when he wanted to do so.”

“Damn sneaky bastard,” she muttered. “The marshals read his files and found out about the second implant, but they are keeping that information close to their vest. Why would they do that? Why let Paul tell us?”

“I think there’s more going on than just Paul crashing here and disrupting our safe little life. What if he wasn’t supposed to tell us? What if he chose to tell us, to give us an advantage?” He liked that theory.

Lisa tilted her head to the side, thinking about his questions for a moment before shaking her head. “You always want to think the best of everyone. It’s a calculated risk on their part. While we’re busy searching for the second device, he could be searching and spying on our facilities. Finding out what the weaknesses are and how many shifters are here.”

“They have to know how many are here, Lisa. They know about the devices and how to activate them. The marshals have been compiling data on us since we escaped the compound.” Heinrich began to pace again, agitated by his thoughts. “Fuck. They’re conducting their own experiments, just without shocks and torture that Von Mertz engaged in.”

“You think they’re watching you all to see what will happen and how you all function in society.”

“Yes, and I wonder if the house and buildings that were here when Paul arrived with me all those years ago are bugged. We never swept them for listening devices because at the time, I believed Paul was my friend.” He headed to the door. “I have to warn Mason and Zev. Get them to start searching the buildings. What the hell are we going to do with Paul?”

“Put him in the quarantine cabin. I released the shifter that was in it yesterday. It’s been cleaned and should be perfect for him. You can lock it from the outside and he has no way of communicating with the outside world, unless he has a cell phone.”

“He can keep it. We’re going to spy on him like they’ve been doing to us. Any forewarning we can get about their plans will help us.”

Lisa waved at him. “Good hunting and I want you back here in three hours for more scans.”

“I’ll be here.”

He raced across the backyard, heading to the meeting building where he figured Boris, Basil, and Zev were still going over what they wanted the bear shifter to do at the boundary cabin. Mason was heading in the same direction.

“Mason, who’s watching Paul?”

His lover stopped and waited for him to catch up. “I put Asad and Yale back on him. Neither one of them will let him out of their sight, though he might drive them to kill him.”

Heinrich didn’t doubt that. “Tell them to take Paul to the quarantine cabin and lock him in. It’s the best place for him to be without having to place a guard on him. While I was talking to Lisa, I realized that we never swept the house or the buildings that were here when Paul left. He might have planted listening bugs and we wouldn’t have suspected anything.”

“Fuck, this is getting shittier and shittier every minute.” Mason shoved his hand though his silver-tipped dark hair. “We’ll get Zev on it after he finishes briefing Boris and Basil, plus we need to warn him about the second tracking devices.”

“Yeah. The x-rays didn’t show anything, so I’ll be going back for C.A.T. scans and an M.R.I. later in the day.” He shuddered. “I hope this doesn’t turn out to be an emergency, Mason. I don’t want the shifters to panic and leave. They need to believe we can keep them safe.”

Mason wrapped his arms around Heinrich and crushed him tight to his hard body. The kiss Mason brushed over Heinrich’s mouth went a long way to reassuring him that things would be okay.

“I’ll keep you safe, no matter what happens. If your father or the marshals come after you, they’ll have to kill me first to get you.”

Mason’s vow hurt Heinrich’s heart. He didn’t want to be the cause of anyone’s death, especially the wonderful man who held him close and offered him the precious gift of his love.