An Inner Darkness Book 5 Bay City paranormal

approached Alec’s hole and Alec noticed.
“No.” Alec’s eyes were unfocused, his face heated.
“No, what?” Liam kept his thumbs where they were, caressing the sensitive skin between balls and anus.
Again, Alec shut his eyes briefly, his breathing unsteady. “No fucking.”
The only man he can trust is the killer he can’t stop thinking about.
Walk Among Us
© 2008 Vivien Dean
A Calling of Souls story.
    As an artist in New York City, Calvin Shumacher finally has the life he’s always wanted. In fact, only one thing can get him to come back to Illinois— his father’s funeral.

    All he wants is to bury his dad and hightail it back to New York, but a sniper at the graveyard puts those plans on indefinite hold. So does Matthew Soto. The gorgeous gunman who speaks of monsters wearing human faces. And predicts there won’t be a body for police to find.

    Calvin doesn’t know what to think when Matthew claims he didn’t do anything wrong. All he knows is that this man’s haunted eyes seem to pierce right into his soul.

    But as each of Matthew’s assertions comes true, Calvin slowly realizes this killer could be the only thing standing between him and an unspeakable evil…

    Warning: Contains explicit m/m sex, violence, and an ex-priest wondering howhe can change the world.
    Enjoy the following excerpt for Walk Among Us: He never would have found the house on his own. Maybe if his rental had GPS in it, he could have done it. But the directions Matthew dictated to him over the phone had him pulling off the highway ten minutes outside of Watson Park, and then winding down a two-lane road with tall trees on both sides. Dusk stole what little sunlight filtered through the branches. By the time he found the driveway, the partly cloudy sky was nearly pitch black.
    Matthew lived in a two-story farmhouse, complete with small barn set further back on the property. The porch light was on, illuminating the porch that ran the length of the house. Screens protected it from the night bugs, but it was the figure sitting on the top step that Calvin noticed as he bounced up the dirt drive.
His forearms rested on his knees, and his obsidian gaze tracked the car’s path as it came to a stop. Matthew didn’t stand when Calvin got out, and he didn’t rise as he approached.
    “The body’s gone.” Calvin didn’t bother with a greeting. “Just like you said.”
“Did you doubt me?”
“How was I supposed to believe you?”
    The cant of his mouth might have been a trick of the light. “It’s funny how an artist can find faith in beauty, but not in the word.” An odd choice of phrase, Calvin thought. But it didn’t change the fact that Matthew hadn’t answered his question.
    “The police never identified him. How did you know that?”
“I’ve already answered these questions. Asking me again isn’t going to change what I said.”
    When Matthew rose and turned to go back into the house, Calvin darted forward and grabbed his arm. He yanked him back, forcing their eyes to meet, but didn’t let go, even when he felt just how hard the muscle was within his grip.
    “You said he wasn’t human. A monster. Tell me what that means and I’ll leave you alone.”
The smile this time was no illusion. “That’s not exactly incentive,” Matthew said softly. “I like your company.”
    Though the other man hadn’t moved, Calvin felt the pressure of a foot against his own, a ghost of a memory taking form without any additional contact. “Then let’s try this. Tell me what that means and I’ll stay.” The offer took Matthew by surprise. His nostrils flared, and his gaze ducked to the hold Calvin still maintained on his arm. Calvin thought that might be it, that he’d pushed too far and Matthew was going to either snap or make it more than necessary for him to leave.
    Neither happened.
“What it means is exactly what I said. There’s no body because it never really existed. The monsters I mentioned are literal, not metaphorical.”
    The chilly night cut into Calvin’s lungs with each breath, but it wasn’t enough to make him retreat to the warmth of his car. Neither was the answer that wasn’t really an answer.
    “I saw it,” he argued. “We all saw it. The police hauled it away.”
“But you didn’t know it. Nobody recognized him.”
“And you’re saying you did?”
“I’m saying…” His voice drifted away, his gaze softening as he weighed his words.
    Matthew took a deep breath and looked off into