Sicarii: Part I
by Adrienne Wilder
Genre: MM Romantic Suspense
When Ben Corbin’s uncle is murdered, he comes into possession of information about the man responsible for the death of his mother and father. A man his uncle appeared to be hunting. Now Ben wants to finish what his uncle began.
Jacob Moser fell into a cycle of drugs and abuse. His will broken, his life destroyed, he had no hope of survival. But the man who saved him is no angel; rather, the remnants left behind when all the complexities of what makes a person human are stripped away, leaving the darkest parts of a man.
Marcel Serghi lives by the rules of his House. Rules ingrained in him as a child under the most brutal conditions meant to hone him into a perfect killer. And throughout his life, he has made vicious enemies. Now innocent lives have been swept up into a storm of revenge against him.
But Marcel isn’t going to save them.
He’s going to change them.
Because life is a gift.
*this series has a HFN and HEA
Sicarii: Part II
When Ben Corbin’s uncle is murdered, he comes into possession of information about the man responsible for the death of his mother and father. A man his uncle appeared to be hunting. Now Ben wants to finish what his uncle began.
Jacob Moser fell into a cycle of drugs and abuse. His will broken, his life destroyed, he had no hope of survival. But the man who saved him is no angel; rather, the remnants left behind when all the complexities of what makes a person human are stripped away, leaving the darkest parts of a man.
Marcel Serghi lives by the rules of his House. Rules ingrained in him as a child under the most brutal conditions meant to hone him into a perfect killer. And throughout his life, he has made vicious enemies. Now innocent lives have been swept up into a storm of revenge against him.
But Marcel isn’t going to save them.
He’s going to change them.
Because life is a gift.
*this series has a HFN and HEA
Sicarii: Part III
When Ben Corbin’s uncle is murdered, he comes into possession of information about the man responsible for the death of his mother and father. A man his uncle appeared to be hunting. Now Ben wants to finish what his uncle began.
Jacob Moser fell into a cycle of drugs and abuse. His will broken, his life destroyed, he had no hope of survival. But the man who saved him is no angel; rather, the remnants left behind when all the complexities of what makes a person human are stripped away, leaving the darkest parts of a man.
Marcel Serghi lives by the rules of his House. Rules ingrained in him as a child under the most brutal conditions meant to hone him into a perfect killer. And throughout his life, he has made vicious enemies. Now innocent lives have been swept up into a storm of revenge against him.
But Marcel isn’t going to save them.
He’s going to change them.
Because life is a gift.
Excerpt 1
Chapter I
The killer watched.
Light bled from Sam Water’s window, backlighting his
silhouette. The pencil danced in his hand. Whatever drove him from his bed must
have been important. He was up early, even for a school day.
Marcel leaned against the porch railing and coaxed a
cigarette from the package in his hand. The momentary flame from the lighter
outlined the web of scar tissue across his palm and three and a half fingers.
The car bomb had also spared his thumb. A good thing. Learning how to write
with his left hand would have been a bitch.
Not that an old dog couldn’t be taught a new trick. He was no
old dog, but the teachings ingrained in him had been done so under conditions
leaving no room for change.
The cherry of his cigarette flared in the darkness.
Night in this suburban neighborhood was nothing like where
he’d grown up. Tucked in the mountains, there were only the stars, the moon,
and the occasional candle. There the darkness wasn’t just a state of being. It
was a living thing. All-consuming and unforgiving, conspiring with the
wilderness to kill those too weak to survive.
Here the darkness was just a veil; once lifted, life
returned, shattering any chance of reaching such perfection.
The storm door to the house opened, and the wooden slats on
the porch creaked.
Mild green tea and aloe mixed with the honeysuckle blooming
along the split rail fence nestled between the houses. The heat left over from
the shower clung to Jacob’s skin.
“I wish you wouldn’t smoke.” In the darkness, there was only
the sound of his breathing, the rustle of his clothes, the weight of his body
pressing against the space around Marcel. A space that shrank to nothing with
another small step.
Jacob’s caress traced the line of Marcel’s jaw. Layers of
scars disrupted the gentle movement.
“Did you find your money?” Marcel exhaled a stream of bitter
smoke.
“You gave me too much again.”
“It is a tip. For…you know. Good service.”
Jacob teased his fingers down the back of Marcel’s neck.
There was more in his touch than physical contact. There was longing, yearning,
endless want. But Marcel would never be able to give the man what he yearned
for.
“You don’t need to tip me. You already give me so much.”
“I make you live in a motel.”
“Only because it’s close.”
“I could buy you a house.” The tip of the cigarette flared.
Jacob was right, he shouldn’t smoke. Damn things never tasted like anything but
shit.
“I don’t want a house.”
“You should. You are young. Young people should want a house.
A family. A car. You have nothing.”
Jacob rested his cheek on Marcel’s shoulder. “I have you.”
“Nothing.” Marcel snuffed out the cigarette between his
finger and thumb, then slid the butt into his shirt pocket. “You should go. Get
some sleep.”
“I napped.”
Marcel cupped Jacob’s chin. He didn’t need the light to know
how Jacob pleaded with his eyes.
Marcel saw it every time they were together. “No. I have told
you many times.”
“Maybe I keep hoping.”
“It is a waste.”
“I don’t see it like that.”
“I could let you go. I could give you enough to go wherever
you wanted. Back to school, maybe. What was it you wanted to do again?”
“I don’t want to go to school.”
“You should.”
“I’m happy.”
“You need more than an old man’s cock in your ass. You could
go back and get your degree.”
“It takes years to be a doctor, and that dream sailed a long
time ago.”
He was young enough to catch up to it. Or simply change
direction altogether. All Jacob needed was motivation. A reason to want more.
Someway for him to see there was more.
Marcel leaned down, and Jacob tipped his face up, leaving his
mouth an inch, maybe less, but definitely not more, away from Marcel’s.
“You need to save those for someone you love.” Marcel traced
the bow of Jacob’s lips with his thumb.
“Maybe I have.”
“No, Jacob. I fuck you. That is all.”
“And I’m okay with that. I—”
Marcel stopped him with a press of his finger. The tremor
running down Jacob’s body was nothing more than a flutter of his pulse.
Jacob swallowed. “Please don’t send me away.”
One day Marcel would. But not today. Or tomorrow. Jacob
wasn’t ready. “Friday. Ten o’clock.”
Marcel went back to tracing Jacob’s lips. He deserved to be
kissed, to be loved. But that part of Marcel had been stripped away those
nights on a mountain ledge when he was a boy.
“Go home.” He patted Jacob’s cheek. “Rest. You will need it.”
The whisper of tennis shoes against wooden slats faded into
steps of rubber soles on concrete. Then those too were gone, leaving Marcel to
the darkness.
In the window of the house next door, the boy finished
writing whatever had pulled him out of bed. He folded the piece of paper in
careful movements. Then he disappeared from view, and the patch of light coming
from his lamp winked out.
And the killer watched.
Excerpt 2
When Marcel first allowed things to become physical between
them, Jacob spent his money on the best slacks and silk shirts.
Marcel didn’t give him a large allowance. The idea Jacob
found a need to spend it in order to impress him was pleasing, but not
important. Jacob did not need fancy clothes to make him beautiful. Besides, the
fancy clothes had not erased his self-doubt, his thoughts of inadequacy, the
secret fear he would never, could never not be loved.
All of those things played in the way he moved, how he looked
around a room, clenched his fists, swallowed hard, the sweat on his brow, the
jump of muscle in his jaw.
Marcel read these facts as if they’d been written in print.
Just like he read Jacob’s past in the faint white lines left behind on his body
from years of mistreatment.
A man or woman of worth did not mistreat the lives given to
him. Whether taken as a gift or sacrificed in the flesh. They were meant to be
cherished, each one special and unique.
No. Jacob didn’t need fancy clothes because you could not
give more value to something already priceless.
“Close the door.”
Jacob did.
The room was large enough to leave plenty of floor space
between the king-sized bed and the wardrobe. A full bathroom occupied the
alcove on the right side. On the left, a set of windows.
From the outside, those windows appeared as any other in the
house. But on the inside they were covered just like the walls, ceiling, floor,
and door, in acoustic paneling.
Even if someone stood right outside, a scream was nothing
more than a muted hum.
All the pain, suffering, and hate festering in Jacob could
manifest in ear-shattering pleas, and no one would hear. Marcel had hoped to
have emptied him of those feelings by now, but the well inside Jacob was deep
and reluctant to give up the terrible things it housed.
One day though, one day, Marcel would find a way to scrape
the last of those festering thoughts from Jacob’s soul and leave them in the
sun to rot.
Not because Marcel cared, but because weakness was a terrible
disease to be inflicted with. A sickness no human should suffer.
Jacob exhaled a shuddering breath. The flush across his
cheeks darkened. His lips parted. The bulge in the front of his jeans strained.
But he would wait in silence, struggling to remain still, as
long as Marcel wanted.
On occasion, it was hours.
Today wasn’t one of those days. Today, Jacob needed what
Marcel could give him.
I am a writer of contemporary and speculative fiction and artist of all things monster. I live to create new worlds and the people in them. Several of my books have been best sellers both nationally and internationally. I have also been a finalist in the LAMDA awards, the "Oscars" of gay literary works.
I do my best to write original stories with powerful characters and emotion as well as a fast-paced plot. My goal isn't just to deliver a good story but to take the reader into the story and let them experience the characters as if they are right there with them.
While almost all my books have a romantic element, I will be the first to admit, they are not traditional romance. In fact, I'd like to think there is nothing traditional about them. And the stories I paint are done so way outside the lines of traditional genres.
One of my favorite things to do as a writer is push the boundaries of what makes a story and to deliver the unexpected and maybe even change the perspective of the reader.
My characters are more often than not, beautifully flawed, not always the good guy, and make mistakes. Their stories will take dark turns which, in the end, make the light at the end of the tunnel all the brighter.
If you're looking for something different, exciting, and unique, my books are for you.
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