Outwitted by a Husky (Mystic Pines Book 1) Read online

  Outwitted by a Husky

  Mystic Pines 1

  Come join us for a fun-filled vacation in Mystic Pines, Alaska, where the weather isn’t always warm but our hospitality is.

  Spencer Clarke and his four best friends decided to take the abandoned town of Mystic Pines and turn it into a vacation destination for the LGBTQ community. But nothing about Mystic Pines was as he thought it would be, especially when he encounters someone who challenges his notions of family.

  When Reese Alston heard about Mystic Pines, he had to admit to being intrigued by the idea of a town that would accept everyone for who they were. But when he moved there in hopes of opening an animal daycare, he found that not everyone was as accepting as he wished. An animal lover at heart, Reese was dismayed to find out that Spencer Clarke was adamant no pets would ever be allowed in his resort.

  Will they be able to come to a compromise? Or will one husky have to outwit them both to see the future they were meant to have?

  Warning: This series takes place in the middle of the Alaskan Triangle. Anything could happen, from Bigfoot, to aliens, to disappearance and upside-down trees, so expect the unexpected.

  Copyright ©2020 by Shea Balik

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Cover by Harris Channing

  Edited by Avril Stepowski

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  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  EPILOGUE

  Coming Soon

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  “For fuck’s sake, I think I have icicles hanging from my balls,” Axom exclaimed as a blast of freezing air whipped over them.

  Spencer Clarke cursed himself once again for being unable to get out of the house without alerting Axom. Unfortunately, sneaking out of a house with five men living there in the dead of winter in Alaska wasn’t easily accomplished. Between the four layers of clothes, big, bulky coat that was impossible to miss, and snow boots, a person would have to be deaf and blind not to know Spencer had been getting ready to leave.

  “I told you to wear pants.” Several times, in fact. Yet, despite the fact that it was two degrees Fahrenheit, with a windchill that made if feel like negative five, Axom, as usual, refused to dress for the weather.

  His friend turned to gape at Spencer as if he’d lost his mind, forcing them be out in the ridiculous cold even longer as they stood there. “You know, the clothes you’re wearing when you die are your ghost clothes. I’m not about to end up wearing something that doesn’t show off my body for eternity.”

  In typical Axom fashion, he friggin’ posed in ankle deep snow, in order to show off his outfit. But it was the absurd skirt that Spencer was shaking his head at. Not that it wasn’t fashionable, for it was. The brown underskirt went down about mid-thigh, with brown suede strips of material that hung down from his waist to just above his knees.

  As unpractical as it was, Spencer had to admit, it was stunning. The look captured Axom’s outdoorsy vibe as well as the fashion icon he was striving to be all at once. If it wasn’t so damn cold, it would have been the perfect way to pay homage to the wilds of Alaska.

  “Yeah well, you’re going to freeze your nuts off if you don’t hurry the hell up,” Spencer grumbled.

  Wearing long underwear, knee high socks, jeans, and sweatpants, Spencer still swore his balls were ready to crawl back up into his body. No way was he about to put on less clothes and end up with frost-bite on his dick.

  He hadn’t even been willing to wear his usual lip gloss for fear if his lips were wet, they might stick together. In this cold, he was sure it would be entirely possible.

  They had just started walking again when he heard a yelp from next to him. He looked over, seeing nothing, he glanced down and rolled his eyes. Yep, leave it to his friend to slip on a patch of ice. Then again, Axom had on his fashion boots, which looked great, but did little to offer traction when it came to navigating the frozen ground.

  Spencer tried to keep a straight face, but he was finding it challenging. Axom was a big man. At six-foot-five and easily three hundred pounds of well-defined muscle, he was the epitome of a mountain man, which considering he grew up in the hills of Tennessee, made sense.

  That was why seeing Axom face down, with his legs splayed out, his skirt riding up to show off his naked ass - because apparently ghosts aren’t meant to wear underwear? – and his ginger beard and hair that was now white as snow covered much of it, had Spencer doing everything he could not to laugh his butt off. In the end, he failed miserably.

  Then again, how could he not? That was especially true, when Axon had to spit out a mouthful of snow when he said, “Not funny.”

  If only it had stopped there, but, since they’d met in college their freshmen year, Spencer had learned when it came to Axom, it never did. The man was a walking accident. For normal people, sure they might have slipped on the ice, but they’d get back up, brush themselves off and continue on their way. But not Axom.

  No. It was never that simple.

  When Axom put his bare hands down, which Spencer couldn’t imagine doing on ice but somehow it didn’t stop his friend, and Axom started to push up from the ground, he let out a very unmanly scream that had to have been three octaves higher than his normal voice.

  “I know the ice is cold, but it’s not going to get any warmer, so suck it up and let’s get going.” Spencer might be wearing a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, sweater, fleece coat, and a heavy winter coat, but he was still cold as fuck. “Come on, I’d like to get some hot coffee and try to warm up. With any luck they have the fire going.”

  Spencer had been born and raised in the plains of Iowa, where the winters were bitter, especially when there was no stopping the fierce winds from blowing in, but that didn’t mean he want
ed to keep experiencing it. He should have gone with his original plan to find a place in the south where he could settle down.

  If only the allure of being part owner of a town, as well as own a resort hotel, hadn’t of been so damned tempting. He could be basking on a beach somewhere right then if he hadn’t allowed his stupid ambition to get in the way.

  “I can’t,” Axom squeaked out.

  “Really?” Spencer sighed as he leaned down to put a hand on Axom’s arm to help pull him up.

  Before he could do much of anything, Axom screamed, “Nooooo.” The piercing sound as well as the raw terror he heard in his friend’s voice had Spencer frowning down at the man.

  He was ready to just leave him there. Well, not really. He wasn’t about to let Axom freeze to death, but he had to admit to being tempted.

  “Come on, man, I’m cold. Get up,” Spencer told him.

  “I can’t. I’m stuck,” Axom groaned as if he were in tremendous pain.

  Spencer rolled his eyes. “How many times do I need to tell you to wear gloves?”

  “It’s not my…” Axom stopped as he wiggled his arm, only to realize he wasn’t able to move it. “Fuck. Apparently I’m stuck in two places.”

  Frowning, Spencer looked down at his friend. “If it isn’t your hands then what…”

  Spencer could feel his eyes grow large as he stared at Axom’s bare ass. His skirt had completely come up over the man’s large hips, leaving everything exposed.

  “Please don’t tell me…” Spencer started to say but was cut off by a loud bark, then a howl that had chills racing up and down his back. “Please tell me that’s not a wolf,” he begged to no one really, just putting it out there in the universe.

  “Please tell me if it is, you’re not going to leave me here to be eaten,” Axom pleaded just as fervently as Spencer.

  If the situation weren’t so dire, Spencer would have laughed. He needed to get Axom off the ice before he ended up losing parts he would seriously miss or, worse, get eaten by a pack of wolves sensing easy prey. Friend or no, Spencer wasn’t so sure he could promise to fight off wolves.

  He needed something warm to melt the ice that was attached to Axom. If only he had taken some coffee… “Where is your tea?” he asked glancing around for one of Axom’s colorful cups.

  He knew Axom had it. The man never went anywhere without his tea. In the summer it was iced tea, but in the winter, Axom drank a ton of hot tea. Most likely to try and keep warm since the man refused to have enough sense to wear more clothes.

  There was another squeak of outrage. “You can’t use that,” Axom insisted. “It’s hot, you’d burn my dick off.”

  “It’s that or you can stay here and wait for your dick to freeze off,” Spencer told him bluntly. He wasn’t about to argue when there might be wild animals in the area. He really should have brought his gun, but Kip hated having guns around.

  Of the five of them, Kip was the most sensitive about hurting… well, anything. He was someone who would carefully shoo a spider outside instead of just killing it. The only exception to that rule were mosquitos. Not that Kip approved of killing any of Earth’s creatures, but it was hard to curb the instinct to slap whatever was biting one’s skin.

  “But it’s my organic jasmine pearl green tea,” Axom whined. “Do you have any idea how expensive it is? Not to mention nearly impossible to get, especially up here in the middle of nowhere,” Axom griped.

  Suddenly, a grey and white wolf streaked out of the nearby woods, heading right for them. Spencer had to fight the urge not to pee his pants. It wasn’t until he heard someone yell, “It’s okay. He won’t bite,” that Spencer was able to breathe once again.

  “Some friend you are,” Axom grumbled. “Were you planning to defend me at all since I’m stuck here to the ice with no way to run?”

  “It’s your own fault for not wearing more clothes. And who the fuck cares how much your stupid tea is? Are you seriously telling me you’d rather lose your dick?” Spencer shot back.

  “Oh, my,” an amused voice said, causing Spencer to turn and look at the most stunning man he’d ever saw. A bit of blonde hair peeked out of the knit hat he wore. Wide blue eyes stared at Axom’s bare ass, which had Spencer wanting to step in front of the man until he was only seeing Spencer.

  But it was his grin that lit up the dim mid-morning sky that captured Spencer’s attention. It was as if the man was easy in his own skin, something Spencer had been trying to find for himself.

  “Sorry, Sammy and I didn’t mean to interrupt,” the man said with a laugh. “Although, I’m not sure it’s wise to…” The melodious laugh from the man had Spencer’s prick taking notice as the sound wrapped around him like a warm blanket. “Have sex on the icy ground, but, you know?” There was that chuckle again, this time even richer as he seemed to find the situation they were in quite funny. “Whatever floats your boat.”

  Then those sky blue eyes, full of amusement, met Spencer’s and it was like being punched in the gut with lust. He wanted nothing more than to take this man, who seemed so damn full of life, back to his room and keep him there for days.

  “Spence,” Axom barked out.

  Forcing himself back to the situation at hand, Spencer realized what the stranger with the wolf-looking dog was insinuating and it seemed suddenly imperative that he correct that notion. “Oh no. We’re not…I mean, Axom and I aren’t…”

  Unsure exactly how to state what he meant, he glanced down at Axom and saw his bare ass sticking out. “We’re just friends. No way am I fucking that hairy ass.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, Spencer wished to hell he could take them back.

  It was the story of his life.

  “Hey,” Axom yelled, clearly affronted. “My ass is hair free. I’ll have you know I was waxed three days ago.”

  Spencer groaned as the newcomer laughed even harder. “Seriously, Axom, that was more information than I ever wanted to know about you.”

  “You’re the one who called my ass hairy,” Axom grumbled.

  Spencer held out a hand to the man he was having trouble taking his eyes off of. “Spencer Clarke.”

  A strong, firm hand that clearly knew a hard day’s work gripped his. “Reese Alston.”

  “Dude,” Axom yelled. “My dick and balls are frozen to the ground. Now is not the time to flirt. Plus, I have to be honest, I can’t feel my prick and I’m afraid it’s fallen off.”

  “Shit,” Reese said as he picked up the travel mug that Spencer had been asking Axom about. A smile caused those pinkened lips to curve into a stunning smile when he read the bright green cup. “Bigfoot. Hide and Seek Champion,” Reese said with a chuckle. “Which of you is a believer?”

  “That would be me,” Axom said with the same excitement in his voice he always had whenever the subject of Bigfoot came up. “Did you know there are more sightings of Bigfoot in Alaska than all the other states combined?”

  Reese had already opened the lid of the bright green cup. “Good, it’s still warm.” Then he knelt down onto the ground. “I didn’t know that, but did you know Alaska has mysterious disappearances just like the Bermuda Triangle?”

  Reese put a gloved hand onto the ice and bent his head until he was looking under Axom. Spencer knew he was just trying to help, but irrationally he wanted to yank the pretty man as far from Axom’s dick as possible.

  “Don’t use it all,” Spencer warned as Reese started to pour the liquid. “His hands are stuck, too.”

  Reese glanced at the travel mug and frowned. “I’ll try, but I’m not sure there’s enough to do both.”

  “Ummm, is it possible that one of you decided to get frisky and lick my ass?” Axom asked as if fearing the answer.

  Spencer glanced at Axom’s rear end to find one very large… wolf?… dog?… husky? licking one of Axom’s rounded butt cheeks. Reese let out another chuckle. “Sammy’s just saying hello,” he assured Axom.

  “Could he, like, you know, not?” Axom shivered. “I lov
e dogs but I’m not into that shit.”

  “Sammy, sit,” Reese commanded in a tone that had Spencer’s cock twitching for attention and the dog doing as his owner ordered.

  “Try to lift up your hips,” Reese told Axom.

  Axom sighed in relief when he was able to do so with his dick still intact. Then Reese went to his hands and poured the rest of the tea from Axom’s travel mug along them to melt the ice holding them in place.

  “Hey,” Axom bitched. “That’s my organic jasmine pearl green tea. Do you have any idea how hard that is to get up here in Alaska?”

  Spencer shook his head that Axom, who had probably developed frostbite on his dick and balls, would complain about using his tea to free him. “Next time, wear pants and we won’t have to use your tea to save your cock from falling off,” he told his friend bluntly.

  Knowing Axom would have some snarky comment, Spencer added, “Unless you’d rather know what it feels like to have your dick ripped off your body.”

  That shut him up. Axom could only grimace at the imagery Spencer had created. Hell, his own balls were trying to crawl up into his body at the thought. Which was an odd feeling since his prick was getting harder by the second around Reese.

  CHAPTER 2

  Life was full of surprises. At least, that was what Reese Alston had discovered. Not all of them were good, yet some of them were excellent. No way would Reese had ever imagined when he took Sammy out to play as the sky finally began to lighten after nine in the morning that he would end up meeting a half-naked man, face planted in the snow and ice.

  But, as funny as that situation had been, although, at the same time, dire, since the guy had been frozen to the ground, it was meeting Spencer Clarke that sent Reese’s heart fluttering wildly, as well as causing his prick to stiffen in interest. The man was stunning, to say the least.

  Dark, wavy hair had Reese’s fingers twitching to touch, broad shoulders and what he imagined was a trim waist, although he couldn’t be certain with the layers of winter clothes he was wearing, had Reese wanting to take the man home, strip him down and fuck him until they both collapsed from exhaustion. Not that he would. Reese wasn’t that type of boy.