Something to Die For

By Piper Doone

Josh Tucker lives a blessed life—great job, great family, perfect husband, and two wonderful children—but a mysterious man named Adam who haunts his dreams and soon his waking life threatens everything when he stirs doubt as to whether any of it is real. Adam makes Josh question the world he’s taken for granted—as well as the origins of Adam himself.

Even if Adam's claims are true, Josh has nothing to live for beyond his fabricated life—except the possibility of a real man out there somewhere who can love him. Josh is left with an impossible choice: stay in his delusion where he's assured some happiness or take a great leap of faith for a chance to make a life with Adam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
• Release date: Mar 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781632164827

Book preview

For JPL and one crazy night in the desert… sort of. I love you.

Something to Die For

THE SCREAMING started before he could fully open his eyes—wild yelps and shrieks like demons clawing their way out of hell itself. The loud bang still echoed inside his skull, and the clatter of metal on metal rang in his ears. He needed to act, to react, to stop them, but he couldn’t move or they were all dead.

Blood gushed down his face and obscured his vision—something, somebody hit him on the head? No. That wasn’t it. He hit it on the way down. On the way down…. Oh. I’ve been shot. He was dizzy, confused, but still in danger. They were all in danger. Nothing went according to plan and their only hope was to escape.

He could just make out someone to his left, and there was too much going on around him for him to know if it was friend or enemy, but he didn’t dare move in case whoever was lurking in the shadow hadn’t seen him yet. Not until there was a chance of attacking effectively.

Josh! Behind— But a shriek and the sickening crunch of bone cut off the voice.

Ana! He could buy his people some time to get out of there if he could distract the men going after them. Ana! Talk to me! Tell me you’re okay! She was only twenty-three. Too young to die. The louder Josh was, the faster they would leave his people alone to come after him instead. With herculean effort, he managed to stand up. He knew from everything he’d ever been taught that it was only the adrenaline making his body cooperate now.

Another sickening bang, closer this time. He tried to run, to guide the attack to him so his people had a chance, but he fell to the ground again. The shrieks and whoops got closer too. They knew where he was. They had found him. He was going down, but he was going down saving his team. He tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in his side when he tried to move made him fall again. He slipped in something as he attempted to stand one last time. It was blood. His blood. And it was everywhere. Oh. I’ve been shot. The noises got louder and louder in his ears. It was chaos and cacophony and pain and mocking laughter, and Josh was sure they would be the last things he would ever hear.

DADDY! PAPA! It’s a good morning parade!

Josh Tucker awakened with a jolt, the dream temporarily forgotten.

Josh let his head flop back onto the bed and covered his grin with a pillow while his kids marched through the door with pots and pans and wooden spoons. There was a gentle nudge at Josh’s side.

Well, you’ve done it now, growling in your sleep. Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to be stealthy?

Josh threw the pillow at his husband, Sergio. "Stealthy? In my sleep? I’d like to see you try that."

The kids jumped on the bed, discarding their makeshift instruments in favor of throwing themselves on their parents.

Let’s go, daddy! Get up! Little Peter, all of five but with the strength of ten elephants when he really wanted something, pulled on Josh while three-year-old Analesa played airplane with her belly balanced on Sergio’s feet until Sergio glanced over at the clock and crashed the plane at the foot of the bed to Analesa’s delight.

All right, all right, you little monsters! Go watch TV or something! Daddy and I need to get dressed so we can make breakfast and head to Grandma’s, said Sergio with a laugh.

Josh rubbed his eyes and braced for more chaos as the kids picked the pots and pans back up and continued their parade all the way to the living room, until he heard the sounds of some innocuous and slightly more annoying cartoon coming from the TV.

Up until midnight last night after you fed them ice cream, and now they’re up at the crack of dawn? Josh had so few chances to stay in bed past seven these days.

Sergio threw him a look that shut him up quickly. And they’re still kids, darling. Every kid has one natural instinct that is far more powerful than all the others. And that is the instinct to ruin as much of their parents’ sleep as they can. Now, come on. I reckon we have about twenty minutes before they start complaining, and if we shower together, we can knock it down to around seven minutes, leaving us thirteen minutes to…. Sergio raised an eyebrow and lifted his soft and worn-in shirt over his head.

If Josh knew nothing else in the whole world, he knew to never question the calculations of an insurance adjustor. He didn’t need to be told twice when Sergio gave him that look.

He lay back on the bed and watched in awe as Sergio deftly climbed on top of him, slicking Josh up before guiding him inside. Sergio was deadly silent from years of practice—Peter was the lightest sleeper they’d ever known—as he thrust his hips against Josh’s, riding him until they had both come, Sergio’s long dark hair plastered against his caramel skin, a beautiful contrast to Josh’s own pale skin, freckled from growing up in the harsh Mojave Desert sun.

Still panting slightly after what seemed like a fantastic orgasm, Sergio collapsed on his chest while Josh stroked his slightly sweaty back and planted light kisses on him. It went on for a few minutes until Sergio sighed and rolled off to head to the shower.

Reviews for Something to Die For

[Tamara · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars
I don't know. The theme was totally my thing, but the execution was, well, kind of meh to be honest.
I can't tell you much without spoiling the story, so I'm not gonna. Enough to say I was underwhelmed by the book.