THE QUALITY of silence around him awakened him. Sean strained his ears in vain for familiar sounds. The car traffic of Cambridge was replaced by the gray, early morning stillness of nearby woods. There was no sound of a clock ticking, no popping of ancient radiators, no footsteps of fellow students overhead. The silence was like a blanket of cool, morning fog, comforting and private.

He turned toward the source of breathing to his right. This was Sean’s first-ever opportunity to observe Asbjorn at leisure. His eyes, deep like the ocean blue, were closed, their pale eyelashes stretching down in a graceful arc. It amused Sean to find faded, sun-kissed freckles on Asbjorn’s nose and cheekbones—a testament to his heritage as well as to his lifestyle. The scar splitting his right eyebrow was still angry and red, a reminder of his bout with Don, a fight without a victor. Sean let his gaze travel down the chiseled planes of Asbjorn’s exquisite, sharp cheekbones, his lovely and defined jaw blurred by morning stubble, his stubborn chin. Above his chin, his lips: lush and generous and tinged pink with promise.

Sean leaned forward, sharing his breath with Asbjorn, feeling the stirrings of air on his nose. He brushed his lips against the stubbly jaw with a soft caress.

Asbjorn opened his pale lids. “What time is it, Sean?”

“I dunno. Early.” Sean reached for his cell phone, only to realize it was still in police custody.

“What day is it?” The pressure-cooker of recent events had left him disoriented.

“Uh, Thursday. Thanksgiving.” Asbjorn’s voice was still clogged with sleep.

“Shit.” Sean hit his head back against the pillow. The lab. He never handed in his stupid physics lab report.

Asbjorn reached for him with his large hands. “Shh. Don’t worry about anything right now.” Asbjorn’s voice soothed him. The strength of Asbjorn’s arms filled him with strange awareness as he was pulled in closer. The warmth was comforting, and he did not resist. He felt a cool nose nuzzle his neck.

“Bjorn!”

“Hmmm?”

“You’re not helping.”

“Not helping what?”

Sean blushed. “My morning situation.”

Sharp teeth worried the tan skin of his shoulder. Soon, a warm, wet tongue laved the nibbled skin smooth again. He felt sensuous lips taste of his arm and neck, and Sean felt himself arch. His morning wood was now a fearsome force of nature.

He felt Asbjorn press into his lower back, feeling his heat and the smooth hardness trapped between their bodies.

“Good to know I’m not alone in my predicament.”

Copywrite ® Kate Pavelle

4 Stars

I knew it was a long book when I got it and I expected it would take some time to read it.

Boy was I wrong.  I read it in two days.  I almost read it in one but I had to sleep. 🙂

It made me think.  It made me cry.  It made me smile at the interactions of Sean and Asbjorn’s and how they dealt with each other and their group of friends and family.  The martial arts involved were explained well, and for a novice (as in, never did any martial arts in a formal setting at all), this was great.  Of course, there were descriptions that I didn’t quite follow, but they certainly got me thinking.  There were a lot of action scenes, but  not a lot of sex scenes.  There were more inferences of sex than actual interactions, but overall, it didn’t detract from the story either.  I could have used more sex scenes. Always. 😉 But, I enjoy the ones that don’t have a lot of sex as well.  I enjoy plots more than sex, although the sex is nice too. I enjoyed it so much that I will be following Kate like a good author fan and only stalk her on social media, somewhat, while I wait for the next book in the trilogy. 🙂  While it didn’t end with a cliffhanger, per se, it definitely ended with the next story in mind.  It surprised me how much I enjoyed learning about martial arts and those that practice it; so much so, that I give it 4 out of 5 stars.  I look forward to the next one and reading other books from the author.