Aftermath
by
Cara Dee
Release Date: March 3rd , 2015
Genre: M/M / Contemporary Romance
Available on: Amazon and Amazon Paperback
~~SUMMARY~~
Warning: This story contains violence and scenes of an explicit, erotic nature between two men and is intended for adults, 18+.
Austin Huntley and Cameron Nash are like night and day. One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.
Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.
After surviving a five-month long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they're more drawn to each other than they ever could've imagined.
"I know I'm not normal, but I'm not fucking stupid."
"Define normal," Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. "And for not being normal, you're the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?"
Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.
After surviving a five-month long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they're more drawn to each other than they ever could've imagined.
"I know I'm not normal, but I'm not fucking stupid."
"Define normal," Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. "And for not being normal, you're the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?"
~~Excerpt~~
Cam was in purgatory when someone woke him up. Disoriented and ready to fight for his life, he flew out of his chair and pounced on the fucker touching his arm. Vision blurry, he gripped Psycho by the throat and they ended up on the floor—
“Cam!”
What the fuck?
The sound of Austin’s voice made Cam slow down his movements.
“Jesus Christ, Cam,” Austin growled. And with a force Cam couldn’t compete against, he ended up on his back, his shoulder blades digging into the wooden boards of the patio. Shit. Patio. He was back home. Not hell. Not that metal cage. Austin was here. They were safe.
Cam released a choked breath and tried to relax under Austin’s body.
Austin must have noticed. He loosened his grip on Cam but didn’t move away. Now Austin wasn’t holding him down to defend himself, it seemed. It was to comfort. He leaned down and cupped Cam’s cheek and rested their foreheads together. It was a contact that had worked for them before.
The next time Austin spoke, it was gentler. “Talk to me, Cam. You’re a mess.” He brushed his thumb over the shadows under Cam’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered in a strangled voice. “Fuck. I don’t—” I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Well, he had a guess, but he refused to go there. His shrink had told all of them about PTSD, and Cam didn’t want to add another issue to his already-long list. PTSD was a condition that felt so permanent—the last thing he needed in his life. But it had been like this whenever someone startled him awake, so he knew he needed to address the problem.
At the hospital, it had been his brother. Then, a few days after he’d been released, he’d hooked up with one of the chicks who never stopped calling him. He had fallen asleep at her apartment after a mediocre fuck, and when she’d woken him up, she had been on the receiving end of a fist.
He’d felt beyond shitty. Savannah had been understanding—had even tried to comfort Cam while he took her to the emergency room for her split lip, and she’d offered to drive him to his shrink’s office afterward. Cam had passed on the offer, apologized a hundred times, and then ended their casual relationship.
He wasn’t gonna take a chance with Kim or Brian, the other two he’d hooked up with from time to time. He’d ended things with them, too. Kim had cried, reminding Cam of how women could get—so much for casual fucking—and Brian had been oddly quiet.
There was also another reason Cam had already planned on never seeing Brian again, and that reason was currently lying on top of him. Being with a guy would cause Cam to think about things other than being friends with Austin, a man he needed in his life.
“Have you spoken to Gale about this?” Austin asked as he slowly removed himself from Cam. They went to the same psychologist—all the surviving guys did. “You should. It could be PTSD.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cam grumbled and pulled himself up. Giving Austin a hand, he helped him up, too. “Sorry I attacked.” He adjusted the towel on his hips.
“I can take it.”
The two men stood before each other, close enough to touch, and maintained eye contact. It made Cam wonder if Austin found their relationship odd. ‘Cause closeness was as easy as breathing to them. So was touching. Personal space was usually so fucking important to Cam, but with Austin…
Austin broke the spell, clearing his throat, and plopped down in his chair again. Then he pulled out a bottle of painkillers from a side pocket of his shorts, and Cam gave him a cocked eyebrow.
“Headache,” Austin answered. “These glasses are taking some getting used to. Plus, the sun…” He shook his head and sighed. “You know how it is.”
~~About the Author~~
As a writer, I'm not finished until the men and women in my books come to life, until I can see them as real people, until I can connect with them. Which means I write what I want to read: everyday heroes and heroines who have the same struggles we all do. They evolve, have flaws, make mistakes and amends, learn, and find the endings they fight for.
Those are the characters who take the readers on a journey away from work, laundry, grocery shopping, and to-do lists.
When I'm not writing, researching, or brainstorming, I'm either planning my next trip (never-ending bucket list!), reading, watching hockey, or spending time with family and friends.
~~Author's Links~~
Be sure to look for Cara Dee's other books!
Outcome - Aftermath #2
The Touch Series
Look But Don't Touch - Touch #1
Twice The Touch - Touch #2
Touch To Surrender - Touch #3
Touch Of Trouble - Touch #4
Public Display Of Everything
On The Offensive
4.5 Stars
Being kidnapped and held for 5 months is not exactly the type of thing you can just forget and move on from, but that's exactly what Austins wife wants him to do. That's not really something you forget and the only person who understands is Cameron.
They were cell mates for those 5 months and the two became close, they understand each other better than anyone else. They have their share of issues, but when they're together everything around them isn't quite so hard to deal with.
Austin is the suffer in silence type, he's the strong support always there for everyone else. But when it comes to himself it took being kidnapped for him to find his voice...and someone to listen.
Cameron doesn't care what anyone else thinks, he is who he is and that's that. He's brash and in your face and if he rubs you the wrong way what does it matter to him? He's got problems from before being kidnapped and adding that on top of everything else makes things even harder for him, but the one person who gets him is Austin.
There is allot of bad in this story this is definitely one to decide beforehand if you can really read as it does have triggers in it that might make it difficult to read.
I however enjoyed it quite allot I loved seeing these twos struggles as they work through their problems of readjusting to their lives. And also as they work to figure out what it is that makes them happy and going for it even if it might be difficult or different. I fell for these guys and wanted to see them find their HEA as they worked through the hell they went through. And I'm definitely excited to see more from the other characters introduced throughout this one.
OUTCOME
4.5 Stars
Remy was gutted when he found out what his half brother did to 10 innocent men, but he felt the worst about the one who "played" him for Ben's sick twisted games. But reaching out to Chase didn't go quite the way he expected. Its been 3 years since and for the last year hes done nothing but party hard and ignore life, and now the friends Remy has ignored have found him and are determined to help him clean up his act.
Chase finally has his dream of owning a bar, so what if he's living in his office, everything he has is his free and clear. So after all hes been through does the sudden appearance of a man he was once forced to pretend to be bring everything back to the surface in the worst way?
These two are alike in so many ways always taking blame onto themselves that isn't theirs. Everything bad is their fault and the best way to handle it is to ignore, ignore, ignore. When one of them sees in the other themselves he has to decide if he can finally allow everything into the open in order to truly move on.
There's attraction between these two right off the bat, but their pasts keep them from acting on it and I loved the anticipation of waiting to see when they would snap and just feel and give in. They both have allot of bad they had to go through, but their journey is what brought them together and I enjoyed seeing their story unfold and going along with them as they figured everything out.
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