Edwin Masters has spent his entire life lusting after one car -- a 1962 Alfa Romeo Spider 2600. When he finally buys one, it changes the entire shape and meaning of his world. The car comes with a guest, and the restless spirit is awakened by Edwin.<br><br>Cooper James, the young man who died behind the wheel forty-seven years earlier, haunts the Spider and he wants a life. He wants Edwin. So he reaches out, sucking Edwin into a deepening abyss by exploiting demons from a past Edwin can't break from.<br><br>Edwin resists, struggling against the phantom in favor of an attractive, exciting young man who wants to be with him, Carson Heston. Carson holds the key to Edwin's salvation, but every time he gets close, Cooper terrorizes him. Edwin knows he'll be lost forever if he submits to Cooper's dark promise of release and relief, but that might be the only way to save Carson's life.

On a Bruised Road

“Need you. Need you. Edwin. Please.”


Edwin suspected Cooper didn’t even know what he was begging for. More contact. Always more contact. They scrambled for each other, and the clothes were impossible barriers. Edwin let Cooper tear at the material. He was beyond caring about the state of his clothing. When Cooper finally worked the buttons free, he slammed his mouth to Edwin’s again, and they were locked together, bare chest against bare chest.


Edwin only realized in a distant way that he didn’t feel Cooper’s chest move. There was no expansion for breath. No vibration of his heartbeat.


“Tell me, Edwin,” Cooper moaned against his mouth. “Tell me, please.”


Edwin’s mind stopped for a moment. Tell him what? What more did Cooper need from him? An echo of his own feelings? A promise? A declaration? Or did Cooper just want to know what was going through him? His brain could generate the questions, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t latch onto the answers.


Chapter 48