Hold Him Close

General Release Date: 18th May 2021

Word Count: 50,528
Book Length: NOVEL
Pages: 200

Genres:

CONTEMPORARY, EROTIC ROMANCE, GAY, GLBTQI

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Book Description

Sometimes love and loyalty are all you can count on.

Ten years ago, John White Eagle, then a film extra and stuntman, met Detective Mark Rossi and sparks immediately flew, despite the fact that Mark had just arrested John as a suspect in a murder case.

Fast forward ten years and John, now a private detective, and Mark, recently promoted to detective sergeant, are happily married, even if they still have to deal with those on the wrong side of the law.

Alex Vasquez, an old friend of John’s, is being blackmailed. When the blackmailer turns up dead and Alex skips town with his boyfriend, things look bad.

Penny Andrews hires John to find her missing brother, Sam, even though she fears he has been murdered, perhaps by their own father. John discovers that Sam is very much alive, in Afghanistan, searching for Jareem, the man he loves but had to leave behind.

Hindered by liars and hired assassins, things don’t look too good for John and Mark. Can they find Alex before the police do? And can they keep Sam and Jareem safe from those who believe in honor killing and are determined that Jareem will be their next target?

Publisher’s Note: This book is related to The Set Up by J.P. Bowie.

On his way to meet Mark and Jack, Mark’s dad, John stopped in at the local market and purchased a bottle of Dewar’s twelve-year-old Scotch, a birthday card that told the lucky recipient he was the best father in all the world, and a Happy Birthday balloon. Jack Rossi would no doubt be embarrassed by the balloon, but what the hey? He’d only be sixty-five once.

Mark and Jack were already seated in a booth when he entered Louie’s Pub. The big red balloon with a smiley face etched on it caused a stir when the ribbon attached to it slipped through John’s fingers as he opened the pub’s door, hindered as he was by the wrapped bottle and the card. It sailed around the bar, aided by some of the patrons batting it on its way until one of the bar waitresses in a green uniform caught the ribbon and handed it to John with a smile.

“Who’s the lucky birthday guy or gal?” she asked.

“My father-in-law,” John told her, returning her smile through his embarrassment. “In the booth over there.”

“Oh.” She took her time staring at the two men…both of whom were chuckling at John’s antics. “Well, I’ll be right over to serve the three best-looking men in the place.”

“Thanks.” He made his way through the crowd to where his husband and father-in-law sat, still chuckling. Mark got up to give him a kiss and grabbed the gift box that contained the bottle of Scotch. “From us, Dad. Happy Birthday.”

“Well, thanks, guys.” He slipped an arm around John’s waist and squeezed while John dropped a kiss on his forehead. With Jack as his father, it was easy to see where Mark had gotten his good looks from. Despite his dark hair now turning gray, he could very easily be mistaken for Mark’s older brother.

“Happy birthday to the best father-in-law a guy could ever have,” John said, meaning it totally. Jack Rossi was a retired detective sergeant and had been supportive of Mark and John’s relationship from the beginning. John handed him the card. “Don’t worry,” he told Mark. “I signed it from both of us.”

Jack opened his card and smiled while reading it. Mark rubbed John’s thigh when he sat next to him. “Thanks for doing all that,” he whispered in John’s ear. “Sorry I sprang it on you this morning.”

John shivered at the touch of Mark’s lips on his ear as he kissed the lobe. “Not in front of your dad, please.”

“Oh, don’t mind me.” Jack winked. “I’m too old to be shocked by PDA. Better that than yellin’ at each other, like some folks I know.”

The waitress who had rescued the balloon appeared at their table. “Hi, I’m Anna, and I’ll be helping you tonight. What can I get you to drink, birthday boy?”

Jack beamed at her. “Thanks for the ‘boy’! I’ll have a Guinness, thank you.”

“Ah, puts hair on your chest,” Anna said. She had an Irish lilt to her voice. “That’s why I never drink it.”

Jack laughed like it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “That’s a good one. Now John here could use some hair on his chest.”

“Yes, but he has beautiful hair on his head,” Anna said. She raised an eyebrow at Mark. “You’re a lucky man for sure an’ all.”

“Yes, I am,” Mark agreed. “Uh, we’ll both have the Kronenbourg lager.”

“Comin’ right up.” She hurried off toward the bar.

“So, how was your day, John?” Jack asked.

“Interesting. I have a new missing person case.”

“Oh yeah,” Mark said. “Samuel Andrews. Sorry I couldn’t come up with anything.”

“That’s okay, just makes it more interesting.” He waited until Anna had placed their beers in front of them with a flirty, “Drink up, boys,” before continuing. After they’d lifted their glasses and wished Jack happy birthday again, both men gazed at him, waiting for him to continue.

“A young lady, Penny Andrews, came to the office this morning. Her brother, Sam, has been missing for over a week and she’s under the impression that her father might have killed him…whether by accident or on purpose, she wasn’t sure. Sam works at Brennan Financial, where the father’s the CEO. I went there to question him, but he wasn’t available, according to his secretary, although he could’ve been lurking behind the office door for all I knew. I have an appointment with him tomorrow afternoon at three.”

“Wonder why the sister didn’t report him as missing,” Mark mused. “If she’s concerned enough to hire a private detective, surely her first option would have been to call the police?”

“You’d think so, but she said her father would go ballistic if the police were involved. I’m guessing that he’d consider it bad for business. Then there’s the fact that father and son don’t get along too well, to put it mildly.”

“But that’s not a reason to not report your son missing,” Jack said, shaking his head. “It’s a bit callous. I know that if either of you two went missing, I’d get the police involved immediately.”

“Thanks, Jack.” John smiled at his father-in-law. He loved the fact that Jack thought of him as his son. “But from what Miss Andrews told me, callous is the least of it.”

“What d’you mean?” Mark asked.

“She told me good old Dad blames her for her mother’s death. A bad labor he says she never really recovered from. He throws that at her, apparently, when he’s mad about something or other.”

“Shit,” Mark muttered. “He sounds like a real winner.”

“He sounds like a man with no conscience or compassion,” Jack added.

“But does he sound like a man who’d kill his own son?” John shrugged. “I’ll reserve that opinion until I meet with him tomorrow.”

 

* * * *

 

John and Mark arrived home almost at the same time. John had kept pace on his bike with Mark’s Altima. “Hope Jack had a good time,” John remarked as he closed the garage door then entered the house behind Mark.

Mark turned and kissed John’s cheek. “He did…even said he liked the balloon. Hopes it won’t deflate too fast.”

“He is a sweetheart.”

Mark chuckled. “Don’t call him that in front of his buddies. He likes to maintain his bad-ass rep from when he was with the force. Some of them are taking him out tomorrow night, by the way. We’re invited, if you want to go.”

“What d’you think?”

“I think it might be nice for him to let his hair down without his son and son-in-law watching his alcohol intake. He promised he’d Uber home.”

“You’re right, as long as he’s safe.”

“Are you ready for bed, or d’you want a nightcap?”

“No more firewater for me, Kemo Sabe. You know what it does to us redskins.” Mark used to flinch when John used derogatory terms for his race, until John had told him, with a cheeky grin, that it wasn’t racist when he said it.

“I’m banking on it,” Mark said now with a salacious wink.

John chuckled. “You know you don’t need to get me drunk to have your way with me. I’m all yours, body and soul. But right now, this body needs a shower.”

“That sounds like fun too.”

“Thought you’d think so.” He took Mark’s hand and led him into the bedroom. They’d known the house needed some fixing when they’d bought it, and their priorities, after painting all the walls inside and out, had been installing new floors, a mixture of wood and carpet. Then they’d splurged on a new tub and walk-in shower in the master bathroom.

“Room for two to get frisky in,” had been Mark’s assessment, and John had lost track of how many times they’d fulfilled that particular desire. It seemed that when they were naked, and quite often when fully clothed, even after ten years together, desire was still the name of the game.

John ogled Mark’s tan body as he stripped off. They’d gone on a trip to Hawaii the month before. A full week of nothing but relaxation, swimming and surfing to their hearts’ content. They’d both soaked up the sun and Mark’s normally olive skin had deepened to a dark brown. His tan line made his ass appear pale in contrast and, in John’s mind, even more defined, more delicious.

Mark turned on the shower spray, stepped inside then held out his hand for John to join him. Once under the hot spray, they kissed and embraced before smoothing body shampoo over each other’s skin. Mark ran his soapy hands under John’s armpits then slid them around and down John’s spine, trailing his fingers into John’s crack. He palmed the cheeks apart and slid one finger inside John.

“God, but I love your sweet butt,” he whispered.

“And it’s yours for the taking,” John whispered back.

“You’re so easy,” Mark teased him.

“Only for you, lover.”

“Mmm…” Mark trailed his lips over John’s, parting them with the tip of his tongue, which John eagerly sucked into his mouth. No matter how many times they had kissed, probably thousands over their years together, Mark never failed to ignite a spark in John’s blood every time they kissed like this. Ten years down the road, John was still as much in lust as he was in love with his husband.

He moaned into Mark’s mouth, gripped Mark’s butt with both hands and pulled him even closer, grinding their hard cocks together. Soap bubbles gathered between their meshed torsos, letting them slip and slide over each other, the sensual contact enough for John to start losing control. He broke the kiss and eased back a little to rein himself in.

“Whoa,” he panted. “Don’t want this to be over so quick.” Even after all the years of living and loving together, Mark’s kisses and the sensation of his bare skin pressed sensually against John’s could bring him effortlessly to the brink of climax. “Want you inside me when I come.”

“We can do that.” Mark turned off the faucet and handed a towel to John, who ran it rapidly over his hair. While still damp, it fell in the lush blue-black waves down his back that Mark had said so often he loved to kiss and run his hands through, which he now did. “Like silk,” he murmured, steering John out of the bathroom.

John willingly let himself be guided backward until his thighs touched the bed and he fell onto the comforter, taking Mark with him, their naked bodies rolling across the silky material in a tangle of arms and legs. John squirmed around enough to get his face between Mark’s legs so he could blow him. He loved the feel and taste of Mark’s hard cock, the salty tang of his pre-cum as Mark slid his erection into John’s mouth. He sucked on the pulsing flesh long and hard, relishing not only the sensation of the hot, rigid length between his lips but also the soft moans and gasps that came from Mark as he arched his hips, giving John even more to suck on.

“John… God, John.” Mark’s breathing was labored. “John, if you want me to fuck you, you better stop what you’re doing. Jeez, never thought I’d ever say that, but…”

John released him and spread his body over Mark’s, taking his mouth in one hot kiss after another. He smiled against Mark’s lips. “Your wish and all that…” He sat up and reached for the lube, then looked down into Mark’s slightly glazed blue eyes as he slicked himself then Mark’s rock-hard erection. Mark ran his hands up John’s torso, teasing both nipples while John impaled himself on Mark’s prodigious length.

“Oh, yeah…” He exhaled a long breath as Mark slid all the way inside him. “So good, Mark. Love you so much. Never get enough of you…” He claimed Mark’s lips again to kiss through their incredible fuck as Mark used his muscular strength to ram hard inside John, gasping into John’s mouth, telling him how much he was loved.

John arched his body in rapture, leaning back, supporting himself with a hand on either side of Mark’s thighs as Mark drove into him with long, hard thrusts.

“Love you too,” Mark murmured. “Always will…” His body shuddered from the growing heat at the base of his spine. “John, I’m coming…gonna come so hard…”

John reared up and yelled as he let his orgasm take him, jetting his creamy cum over his and Mark’s chests at the same time as Mark climaxed and shot deep inside him. He collapsed over Mark, raining kisses over his face and throat, whispering mahasani, the Sioux word for lover, and some words even he didn’t understand but that felt good and right in the moment.

“John, John…” Mark murmured in his ear. “You still have that voodoo thing, or were we really flying?”

John chuckled and kissed Mark’s chest. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s that voodoo that you do so well.”

John laughed softly and caressed Mark’s face. “It isn’t voodoo or witchcraft. I used to believe the story my grandmother told me about having the power to raise someone’s ecstasy to heights they had never known before. Maybe it seemed so because I was young and any sex I had felt terrific. Maybe it was just easy for me to make the other guy believe it too. But with you and me, it’s simply love, and the fact that we fit together so well.”

“You’re right.” Mark kissed John’s chin. “We do fit together well and have done for all the years we’ve been together. But now, mahasani, we have to get up and get clean. Sounds like another shower’s in our future.”

John beamed at him. “You mean we get to do it all over again?”

“What gave you that idea?”

“You, me, naked, shower. All elements that usually lead to one thing.”

Mark sighed. “I married a sex machine.”

“For which you will thank the gods over and over.” John poked him in the ribs. “I mean, I hear you calling to them every time we have sex. Oh God, John…Jesus, John…Oh my God, J― Ow!”

“That slap on your butt is one of many if you keep that up.” Mark gave him an evil grin. “Just for that, it’s a shower, and only a shower.” He rolled off the bed. “Coming?”

John chuckled. “Not till after the shower.”

 

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J.P. Bowie

J.P. Bowie was born in Scotland and toured British theatres in numerous musical shows including Stephen Sondheim’s Company.

He emigrated to the States and worked in Las Vegas, Nevada for the magicians Siegfried and Roy as their Head of Wardrobe at the Mirage Hotel. He is currently living with his husband in sunny San Diego, California.

Find J.P. on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

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