title: Guarded Desires
author: Knight, Morticia
description: A sexy young National Guardsman, a snarky bear of a DEA Agent and a vicious Mexican drug cartel. Someone's going to be sorry.  Special Agent Stephen Morris thought his home life had settled into a pleasantly dull routine. Hanging out in his yard and barbequing is a typical weekend for the brawny mid-thirties manand his partner Rigo from the DEA office is usually there with his family to keep him company. Being assigned to a main border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, keeps him busy enough at work, so he doesn't have time to worry about love. However, that doesn't mean he's not lonely.  Twenty-two year old PFC Guardsman, Joseph Pirelli, is on an active-duty-for-training mission to help support border patrol and the DEA. The Vasquez drug cartel has become even more vicious than evergoing so far as to target civilians on both sides of the border. Joseph and Stephen are thrown together in a direct conflict with the cartel and a part of Joseph's dark past is revealed.  Joseph is incredibly attracted to Stephen, even though he doesn't typically go for older men. He longs to find love, but is still recuperating from an abusive past. The idea of becoming close to a man who could physically harm him brings up fears that may ruin his chances at any kind of relationship with the big teddy bear agent.  Sometimes love shows up when you aren't looking for it and gives you a chance you shouldn't ignore. Both men will have the opportunity to wonder what it would be like to lose the other and to decide what they're willing to risk to be together.