Stray Awakening
By F.A. Ray
Rainbow Rescue Cat Café, Book 1
I fled my hometown seven years ago. I never planned to come back. I never planned to give up my city life for a small town. And I definitely never planned to fall for another man.
Henry
Tripp Lake, the place I love the most. Working at a cat café on Main Street gives me a chance to get some deserving cats their forever homes.
But when a blast from the past walks into my café, I’m not sure what to feel. Alex was always hot and popular in high school – and straight.
So it’s a shock when he keeps accepting my invitations to hang out. I don’t think I’m imagining the spark between us, but is Alex actually interested in me, or am I letting this straight boy break my heart?
Alex
Tripp Lake, the place I hate the most. I’m only here because of my father’s heart attack. But the second I return home, I remember all the reasons I ran away.
My parents are overbearing. This town is small and boring. And I want nothing more than to flee back to my new life in San Francisco - a life that doesn't come packed with any surprising new feelings about a guy I went to high school with.
Henry is a ray of sunshine amid this bleak journey home. But I've never been interested in a guy before. When a relaxing hike results in my first timid kiss with another man, I start questioning a lot more than just my decision to leave Tripp Lake. Is Henry worth staying in this crappy town for?
Stray Awakening is a small-town MM romance with first-time gay experiences, a sweet ray of sunshine winning over a jaded grumpy, spicy open-door scenes, and, of course, lots of cats. Go to linktr.ee/faraywrites for CWs.
Excerpt
I don’t dare move, even when Alex rises to his feet and closes the distance between us. He doesn’t touch me, but he could, and that awareness thrums between us like electricity crackling in the air. Air I’ve forgotten to breathe in far too long.
I suck in a startled breath. It would be hard to miss the way Alex’s eyes flicker to my parted lips. But he’s straight, isn’t he? This can’t possibly be happening.
He steps even closer. The crackle is a lightning bolt spitting and sparking before it strikes. Alex raises his hands, lowers them, opens his mouth to speak but says nothing.
Then one single word escapes his lips: “Henry.”
I leap forward without thinking, falling against his mouth. Alex catches me, hands going to my shoulders. Even as he clings to me, Alex kisses me back. This isn’t some light, accidental brush this time, a mistake easily dismissed. His mouth presses hard against mine, and when I gasp for breath Alex tilts his head and goes in deeper. His mouth massages mine, his tongue glancing along my lips. It nearly takes me off my feet, so hungry, so passionate that it’s like a hurricane tearing down the walls to leave me windswept and exposed.
We finally break, both flushed and panting. I cling to my damp towel while Alex clings to me.
“Yeah?” he says.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Yeah.”
I drop the towel and grasp the front of his shirt, tugging him to the couch only a couple steps away. I’m too scared to attempt the longer hike to the bedroom. What if the frenzy fades? What if the distance sobers him up, makes him change his mind? I don’t know what’s happening, but I definitely don’t want it to stop.
I hit the couch hard and drag Alex down with me. One of my legs hangs off the furniture, giving Alex space to lay atop me. His weight presses me into the cushions, and I grab at his shirt, eager to pull him down and feel even more of him on me. The solidity of his body heavy against me is as strong an enticement as his mouth when it finds mine again. My hands sneak around his broad back, fingers curling in his shirt as he kisses me into the couch cushions with a hunger I wouldn’t have dared to expect when I invited him over here. Because seriously, what’s happening right now? I thought he might hate me for kissing him on Saturday, and here he is sucking the breath out of my lungs and licking into my mouth.
And he’s hard.
He shifts, and suddenly I can feel it. I gasp — or I try, anyway. It’s difficult with the voracious way he keeps his mouth against mine. He wants this. He really wants this.
His body’s blunt proclamation inspires a surge of confidence within me. I push at him, flipping us over on the couch before he has time to react. Alex lands on his back and blinks up at me, and the flash of startlement in his dark eyes sends me scrambling.
I shimmy downward to his jeans before he can overthink this, then start undoing the clasps. I glance upward before I pull his pants down. He has one last chance to tell me he’s straight and this is a huge mistake. But there’s no hesitation in his face. He watches me with rapt attention, cheeks and eyes bright, and I don’t delay any longer.
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About the Author:
F. A. Ray started writing fiction as a child and has never stopped. When they aren’t writing, they enjoy rock climbing and hiking in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where they live with their partner and cat.
Visit linktr.ee/faraywrites to find out more. You can also sign up for my Patreon, where I post WIPs, updates, bonus scenes, deleted scenes and short stories that don’t appear anywhere else.
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