Book Title: Bear Essentials
Author: Rain Carrington
Publisher: Self-Published
Cover Artist: Rain Carrington
Release Date: October 25, 2020
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Trope: BDSM
Themes: Small town, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD
Length: 113 055 words
It is a standalone story, but also the first in the series
Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited
Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK
A man determined. Another wounded to his soul. A town that slumbers.
Blurb
A sleepy little town doesn’t know what, or whom, is about to hit it when Ked, Kaden Edmond Donegal, comes to live there.
Hyper and determined, Ked longs to be a great forest ranger, taking care of the land, watching over it like its protector. What he didn’t count on is falling in love with the people there nearly as much as the land, and one in particular that doesn’t give him the time of day.
Sean Ashby moved to Bear Lake to hide away from the world after he nearly died while serving in the army. A local artist, he makes his living bringing pieces of wood to life with stories of their own. When he sees Ked, he sees someone who needs tamed, but he doesn’t feel as if he’s up to the job.
Not giving up on the bearded ginger bear, Ked does everything he can to get in the way of the man, and he finally gets what he wants. Or, at least, what he thought he wanted. Sean is a dominant who needs a submissive, and Ked never thought of himself that way. With Ked’s rambling voice hushed and his hyper movements slowed, Sean leads him into a new life he didn’t realize he needs so badly.
The townspeople take him in as family, a man loves him unconditionally, and poachers are in need of catching. Is Ked up for his new life? Can he be a part of a community that is quirky and quiet, or will his own quirks and rarely silent voice make him permanently an outsider?
Contains BDSM and consensual sex between two men. Trigger warnings: abuse, violence and PTSD flashbacks.
Once he saw he was in a house and not heaven, he opened his eyes completely, seeing a fireplace, a moss-stoned fireplace, and over the mantle, pictures of a red headed man he recognized.
It was the face he saw before he passed out, his savior.
“You’re awake. That’s good.”
Moving his head hurt, so he stopped and used his eyes alone, which also hurt, to find the source of the voice. He didn’t have to try hard, the man moved over and sat on the wicker trunk that was being used as a coffee table. Ked’s eyes moved as slowly as he could get them to, and he saw the man again.
Red haired, a beautiful, trimmed beard in the same fiery color, hazel eyes that were staring into Ked’s, with a few lines between his brow showing his concern. Ked didn’t think he’d ever seen a more beautiful man.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m,” he started, but his throat hurt.
“Water?”
It hurt to nod as well, he found out quickly enough. The man held a glass up to him that had a metal straw he took a pull from and immediately, the pain subsided.
“Thanks.”
“You got hit pretty hard. The paramedics will be here any minute.”
No matter the pain, Ked didn’t want to lie like an invalid in front of such a hot man. It was stupid, sure, but he had his standards. “Great. Now everyone will know I fucked up.”
“Like Harrigan? Yeah, had to call him, but to be fair, he called me first. He knew you were going to go out on your own the minute he left.”
Ked blinked over at him, confused. “Huh?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I thought he was crazy, but then…there you were. Glad you’re okay.”
“The poachers?”
He got a smile for that. “Always the forest ranger, huh? They got away, but I was more concerned with you than trying to wrangle all of them. The good thing is that you now know what they all look like, if you remember.”
He’d memorized their faces. “There were, what, five of them? One I didn’t see, obviously. Shit, this is messed up. He’s gonna kill me and I’m probably going to get fired, and I really wanted to catch them, and technically I did, but I didn’t watch behind me, which I know better, but how did I know there was another one? I mean, shit, it doesn’t really matter now. I’ll be a great witness, but I didn’t want to be a witness, I-”
Suddenly, there was a big hand over his mouth, long fingers rested across his cheek and for some reason, that melted him. His entire body went slack, and he gazed into the hazel eyes, seeing them turning serious. “Shhh.”
There was one part of him that wasn’t slack, and he fidgeted, crossing one of his legs over the other to hide its surprise appearance.
“Don’t worry about any of that, okay?”
The nod was all he could accomplish.
“Good. Very good. Now, I’m going to take my hand away and you’re going to slow down and calm down.”
The words went into him like tiny hands, moving his skin and muscle aside, slipping between his bones and becoming a part of him.
He found himself wanting to whimper when the man took his hand away, but he swallowed the noise and licked over his lips, trying to capture the taste of him.
“That’s better.”
“Sorry. I tend to…run off at the mouth.”
Another smile, and there were a few little laugh lines that appeared at the corners of his eyes.
He was tall, even sitting he could tell that, but when he’d risen to get Ked’s water, he towered over the couch Ked was on. He was trim, but Ked thought he could see muscles under that long-sleeved t-shirt in the perfect shade of blue.
“I can tell, but it’s not good for your brain, or your mouth, to run too fast right now.”
“Who are you?”
“Oh! Oh, I’m Sean Ashby.”
The last name was familiar and then it came to him. “The wood carver?”
“Yeah. The wood carver,” he laughed.
“I have an ATV, a truck. Somewhere…”
“I know where they are, and they can stay there.”
Moving his legs over the side and setting his feet on the floor, Ked felt himself swoon a little. “I’m a little dizzy.”
Two fingers were placed under his chin and his head lifted that way. He looked into Sean’s concerned eyes and watched him checking Ked’s pupils. “Yeah, definitely a concussion, but not bad.”
“Are you a doctor?”
Sean stopped touching him and again, he hated it. He wanted Sean to touch him, though his dick wanted it more. “I went to pre-med and was a medic in the Army. I know concussions.”
“I didn’t mean that like you didn’t know, I swear. I would never presume to-”
The hand was over his mouth again. This time, Ked did whimper.
“Shh,” Sean breathed. That little rush of air between Sean’s pink lips, the way his eyes shone with the humor of it, and his warm hand over Ked’s lips, touching him, made his head swim more and it had nothing to do with the injury.
When he took his hand away, Ked sat back and stared at him like he was under some spell. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Ked.”
He hadn’t introduced himself, so he’d definitely spoken to Harrigan. “How well do you know him? Harrigan?”
Sean shrugged a shoulder, gazing down at the wood floor for a moment. “Well enough. I used to date his son.”
He’d been after Sean to see if he’d put in a good word for him, but hearing that, his entire world shifted and he blurted, “You’re…you’re gay?”
Sean’s eyes became steely and narrowed, and Ked wished he could back up farther. In those cold eyes, he saw anger, a fury, in fact. “Yes. I am.”
“Don’t get mad, I’m gay too. You just…I mean, I didn’t…”
As he lifted his hand again, Ked felt his eyes roll back and he moaned. The act was totally involuntary, but still, it was out there.
Letting his hand drop, Sean cocked his head to the side and chuckled silently. “You’re…different.”
Ked didn’t take offense to that. He’d known all his life who he was.
“Anyway, so why did you want to know if I knew Dan well?”
“Huh?” He couldn’t tear his eyes from Sean’s and the way his mind was swimming and his body was warm, overly so, he wouldn’t have remembered his own name.
“You wanted to know if I knew Dan Harrigan well. I told you I dated Darion. Why did you want to know that?”
It came back to him in a blast, so much like what had happened to his head that it hurt a little, and he winced. “Oh, that. I was hoping, maybe, if it’s okay, and if you don’t want to, I get it, you just met me, and you’ve known him a long time, at least, I guess it was a long time, but if you could, and would and wouldn’t mind, put a good word in for me?”
“That was the most roundabout way of asking for something I’ve ever heard.” Sean sat back on the trunk and leaned over to him. “What will you do for me?”
That rendered him mute, and practically nothing did that. Then, the dirty side of his mind started working and he had to slam his eyes shut and will his dick to stay limp. “Um…”
Sean was chuckling and Ked opened one eye, then the other when he saw how red the ginger’s face was from him cracking up. “I’m just kidding! I’m not that kind of person.”
Relief made him slump. “Funny! I was thinking of all kinds of things.”
“Yeah, well, if I want that kind of thing, I’ll just take it.”
I love writing, it’s been my dream for many years, and in October of 2013, when my first book went live on Amazon, that dream came true.
Writing love stories that are centered on flawed but lovable characters is my passion. Finding love between people isn’t easy, nor should it be. Even in a book, there have to be obstacles for the story to feel real.
I am a mother of three amazing people, and three adorable fur babies. I live in Colorado but love many other places besides my home. One state in particular is New Mexico, the state where I was born has always held a place in my heart.
People and places make my stories what they are. Each character I’ve written is a part of me in some way. Each place I write is as well. Adventures come in many ways, and each of my stories has taken me on an adventure that I treasure.
Come with me on my adventures and fall in love with my characters, as I have. I promise, you will love the ride.
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