Chasing the Dragon

By Ash Penn

On his birthday, Aiden has only one thing on his mind. Spending time with the only man he will ever love. The one man he can't have.

A decade has passed since Aiden last set eyes, or hands, on Kai. Yet when Aiden tracks him down in order to keep a promise to spend their thirty-second birthday together, it's as if only a breath of time has swept by since they were last together. The attraction they share is as intense as ever despite their years of separation, and Aiden's decade-long marriage to a woman.

When Aiden learns that Kai's current relationship has broken down, he's compelled to invite Kai back to his hotel room for the night. Aiden believes if they both try hard enough, they might become true brothers again and banish the rogue feelings that originally tore them apart.

Only, Kai doesn't agree. It's his birthday too, and he's got plans of his own. Plans that involve shunning a twin room in favour of a double. And Aiden has never been able to resist his desires, no matter how skewed those desires might be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: May 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784300036

Ash Penn

I've written stories about men loving men for as long as I can remember. In the days before computers and the internet, I used to hide my stories away convinced there was no market for women who wrote gay male fiction. Fast forward a few years (okay, quite a few years) and there's not only a market, but a whole empire out there for writers like me. I'm thrilled to be able to contribute my stories and take pride in what I write. Many of my characters enjoy making my life as difficult as possible by refusing to take the easy pathway to love. They prefer to swagger through the undergrowth and laugh at me as I point at my story outline and demand they get back on the route I painstakingly mapped out. Lately I've discovered it's far easier to let them dictate what happens and when, although I do get my revenge when it comes to giving them an undesirable trait or two to contend with. My characters are as flawed as their love lives, but they will usually find a kind of imperfect perfection in each other by the time I type 'The End'.

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A Totally Bound Publication

Chasing the Dragon

ISBN # 978-1-78430-003-6

©Copyright Ash Penn 2014

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright April 2014

Edited by Rebecca Douglas

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2014 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Taboo and a Sexometer of 1.

CHASING THE DRAGON

Ash Penn

On his birthday, Aiden has only one thing on his mind. Spending time with the only man he will ever love. The one man he can’t have.

A decade has passed since Aiden last set eyes, or hands, on Kai. Yet when Aiden tracks him down in order to keep a promise to spend their thirty-second birthday together, it’s as if only a breath of time has swept by since they were last together. The attraction they share is as intense as ever despite their years of separation, and Aiden’s decade-long marriage to a woman.

When Aiden learns that Kai’s current relationship has broken down, he’s compelled to invite Kai back to his hotel room for the night. Aiden believes if they both try hard enough, they might become true brothers again and banish the rogue feelings that originally tore them apart.

Only, Kai doesn’t agree. It’s his birthday too, and he’s got plans of his own. Plans that involve shunning a twin room in favor of a double. And Aiden has never been able to resist his desires, no matter how skewed those desires might be.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmark mentioned in this work of fiction:

Google: Google Inc.

Chapter One

I recognized his voice at once. The clipped tones cut the air like a laser, splitting the night into two distinct possibilities.

"This isn’t your decision, despite what you may think, darling. I’m choosing to leave you. Do you understand? I made up my mind days ago. I couldn’t bring myself to break that lump of solid muscle you call a heart!"

I stopped just around the corner from the high street where he lived in a white-front Victorian terrace that opened straight onto the pavement. If I continued on the stroll I’d taken the previous afternoon, he and I would casually bump into one another and both stake claim to the most surprise.

The alternative involved kicking back in the other direction to my hotel for a drink in the overpriced bar followed by an early night. I had a long train journey ahead of me come morning. Still, fate had provided this opportunity, and since I’d made a certain promise a very long time ago, I drew my coat closer and rounded the corner in six broad and determined strides.

He stood in the road, staring up at his house as though he’d been tossed from the depths of an exclusive club and lacked the authority to re-enter. The bedroom sash stood open, and what I assumed to be his clothing lay strewn over the street. A pair of underpants straddled the white center line. A shoe had scaled the curb on the other side of the road. A tangle of jeans sat in a heap at his feet, and above his head a shirt dangled precariously from the top of an LED streetlamp.

Kai. My voice barely disturbed the air, yet he spun around as though I’d bellowed his name.

Oh hello, love. He staggered toward me on long, black-clad legs the width of licorice sticks. Might I trouble you for a cigarette?

A cigarette? He was drunk. Or high. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been both. Kai, it’s me. I stepped beneath the streetlamp, and stopped just shy of what looked very much like a glossy, silk thong.

Did you think I hadn’t recognized you? His eyes narrowed. It’s not been that long, has it?

Ten years.

Lord. He pushed a hand through fine strands of hair that flared the color of vibrant flames under the artificial light. We’re thirty-two already?

Well, it is the twenty-fifth.

I’m quite aware of the date. He huffed out a sigh. It’s just that I’ve been passing myself off as twenty-eight for years. Looking at you now rather knocks that delusion on the head, doesn’t it? His lips quirked in obvious annoyance. Happy birthday, I suppose. Did you say you had a cigarette?

I ignored his veiled insult. His tongue always sliced deepest at his most vulnerable. I’d just witnessed him lose both his boyfriend and his home. He must be terrified. Devastated. He wouldn’t show his fear, though, no matter how many years we spent apart.

I gave up, I told him.

You did? When?

The day you left. The day I decided to give up all my bad habits, for good.

You’ve done very well. He squinted at his front door. I’ve never been blessed with your willpower.

As I opened my mouth to tell him he’d scraped together enough willpower to stay away from me for the past ten years, the