Page 42 of The King of Halloween
“Because you made me buy them!” Raj thundered. “Thanks to your fragile ego, unable to handle a little competition, I had to spend the last of my petty cash on shitty caramel apples.”
Adam didn’t know that. He’d thought the random check was another flash of his wealth to wow the people, especially the council. Wincing, he shook off the guilt. “No one forced you to do that. To show off, as you keep doing. Blaze in here out of nowhere acting like you’re already the town’s darling.”
Raj’s flustered face stilled. He quirked his lips to the side in a half-laugh. “I’m sorry if they’re looking to trade in for a newer model.”
He could never say why he did it.
All Adam remembered was a snap in his ears like a broken rubber band. The next thing he knew, he was lunging. Hands on Raj’s shoulders, lips pulled into a sneer, legs running until Raj slammed into the wall.
A wave of anger twisted around them, both men silent save for the shocked panting as they glared into each other’s eyes. The rage subsided enough that Adam could feel his fingers again—fingers and hands holding onto the very firm arms of a man that smelled like myrrh and amber. “You…” Adam sputtered, shocked to realize he was the aggressor. Pain snapped at the back of his eyes, the humiliation dragging him back to his moment on the stage. “They wore her masks.”
“What?” Raj asked, dumbfounded.
“The assholes who pelted me with apples. They were wearing her masks, the ones you sold. That you took from my sister.”
“I didn’t—”
“Do you have any fucking idea how humiliating that was?” Adam leaned closer, his heart darkening as their jeers echoed in his ears.
Raj didn’t panic. Maybe he realized he could easily bat Adam away. But he took a slow breath and stared him down. “How about a grown man shoving me aside to steal my caramel in front of everyone I’m trying to impress?”
Okay, so maybe he’d overreacted that day. But he had good reason. “You opened a store to sell fucking Halloween costumes.”
“Only because you opened a haunt before I can even get mine to god damn work!”
“I did that—!”
“Oh, I know why you did it,” Raj interrupted him. He leaned off of the wall, his hot breath tumbling down Adam’s face. “Because you’re threatened by change, by someone new, by thinking there can only be one accepted gay man in this town.”
Adam’s fingers tightened around his shoulders. “You don’t know me.”I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I… It’s complicated.“I’m sick of you. Of people chattering about your hotel day in and day out in my store. How fucking excited they are because you’re a master of Halloween.”
“Oh, as if I can avoid you, Mr. King of Halloween. Every day, every event, there you are, lording over the proceedings like Pope and Emperor in one lithe body!” Raj panted hard, his nose almost glancing against the tip of Adam’s. His chest kept rising higher as his lip bunched into a quivering rage.
Fuck him.
But Adam was a mess at the sight of Raj coming undone. The man’s flushed face and body practically straining to leap out and wrestle him back had Adam throbbing in his pants. Instead of feeling embarrassed by the mysterious erection, all he wanted was to press it into Raj’s hips, which made him all the angrier.
“I hate you,” Adam cursed, feeling near tears. The asshole was right here, hot, smart, and with someone else.
Raj sneered. “I hate…” He glanced at the water level that’d risen another inch during their fight. “I hate that we’re going to die before I…”
“What?” Adam asked. Before he opened his haunt? Before he ran Adam out of business? Before he took the King of Halloween’s crown? “What do you—?”
Raj lunged. Adam’s first instinct was to let go. He almost cowered back when Raj wrapped a palm to the nape of his neck. All that inescapable teddy bear power locked Adam. He shivered to his toes.
The water parted, and Raj pulled him down to his lips.
The feral kiss ripped through Adam. His heart exploded in shock, heat tearing through his veins. It took until Raj’s fingers brushed over Adam’s waist for him to think to return the rising kiss. Raj parted his lips, and Adam raced to keep up. Their tongues tapped as if on accident, before both started to taste the other.
At his mercy, Adam stumbled backward through the water while Raj led. Finally, Adam raked his fingers through Raj’s untamable mane. Fuck, he wanted to wrap it around his knuckles and pull Raj’s head back while thrusting.
Raj didn’t let up for a second. He kept shoving until Adam’s back smashed into a shelf. Dusty jars shook on the rotten wood, and Adam gasped.
Which was when Raj cupped his palm around Adam’s bulge.
“Oh, fuck…” he moaned. His skin burst into flames at just that over the pants action.
Wait. What about—?
