(PRE-ORDER) Barbarian

Nico Michaels pretends to be carefree, avoiding anything serious, especially relationships; his chaotic past has taught him that love only complicates things. He’s content with one-night stands and his close-knit group of friends, including his roommate, Malachi Mizrahi.

Neurodivergent and gender-fluid, Malachi wakes up each morning with a whole new personality, but one thing remains constant: his love for Nico. They clicked perfectly from day one, sharing a love of everything from anime to nature documentaries. They even share a bed. Platonically, of course.

One night, the lines blur when they share a kiss, but before things can go further, a desperate call from one of Mal’s dance students throws them into a missing person’s case that leaves them with more questions than answers. To complicate matters, Mal reveals he’s been quietly orchestrating Nico’s whole life without him even noticing. Nico is shaken to his core, his perception of their relationship shattered.

As they navigate the perilous world of a vicious Chinese triad, their bond deepens, and Nico begins to see that Malachi is not only the perfect friend, but the perfect man to fulfill all his needs. Together, they must face their past and survive their present if they want any chance of a happy ending in their future.

Barbarian is a friends-to-lovers, dark romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a masochistic vigilante with ADHD and a video game addiction and his sadistic and controlling best friend who worships the ground he walks on. As with any Onley book, you’ll find dark humor, steamy sexy times, and gratuitous violence, but only against people who totally deserve it. This is book 3 in the Jericho’s Boys series. Each book follows a different couple.

Mal watched from below as Nico lowered himself into the tunnel entrance, the light from the sun disappearing like an eclipse as Levi pushed the heavy manhole cover back into place. He flinched, fretful, as Nico took the metal ladder a little too quickly for his liking. He kept raising and lowering his hands, ready to catch the younger boy if he fell, while also trying not to stare too hard at his ass. But it was a really nice ass.

About eight feet from the bottom, Nico let go, Mal’s heart dropping with him as he landed on the concrete floor of the tunnel, before turning and grinning at him like he’d performed some miraculous feat and not like he’d just scared the shit out of Mal. He blinked at Nico, hoping his face wasn’t acting out the complicated things Nico’s smile did to his insides. 

It must have been okay. Nico took his hand like it was the most normal thing to do to a perfect stranger, dragging him deeper into the dimly lit tunnel. Mal’s head was on a swivel as they moved, absorbing every detail. It wasn’t an abandoned train or subway tunnel or—thankfully—a sewer tunnel. 

Judging by the grimy subway tiles and the numerous steam pipes they passed, it was a maintenance tunnel, probably still in use by utility workers around the city. Which was a relief. While he wasn’t crazy about the heat or the rainforest-like air quality, they weren’t likely to end up with black lung. 

Nico didn’t walk beside him but a bit ahead, pulling Mal along like he knew he wouldn’t protest. Of course, he wouldn’t. Nico’s skin was warm, his hands a little rough and bigger than Mal’s own. He stared at the back of Nico’s head, watching the pretty ringlets bounce, playing peek-a-boo with a scorpion tattoo at the nape of his neck.

After a moment or two, the other boy looked back at him with another easy grin, his bright blue eyes alight, like this was the most fun he’d ever had. Mal’s heart did something complicated in his chest. Nico had the face of an angel. It wasn’t hyperbole. He looked like a painting Mal had seen on a trip to the museum with his seventh grade class. A picture of Lucifer as an angel. Nico was the embodiment of that painting, Lucifer in the flesh. Maybe Mal should take that as a warning. But he too often found himself running towards danger instead of away. 

Mal had never seen anyone as radiant as Nico. Lucifer meant light-bearer and Nico was all light. His hair and eyes were bright, his skin glowing, his soul radiant. Mal itched to drag him close, to bury his face in his neck, inhale him like a drug. He wanted to taste his smile. He wanted to live in his light. But he didn’t say any of that because even Mal knew his thoughts were too crazy. 

They had only made it a short distance when Nico grinned and asked, “If you had to describe yourself as any toy, what would it be and why?” 

Mal rapidly blinked at him, processing the question, spitting out his answer immediately. “Mr. Potato Head.” 

Nico gave a surprised laugh and it fell around Mal like rose petals, like bells, like rain. He closed his eyes, trying to commit the sound to memory. When he opened them again, Nico stared at him expectantly. When Mal frowned, the younger boy said, “You have to say why.” 

“Oh,” Mal said. “Because my foundation never changes. Who I am at my core is inflexible. My intellect, my beliefs, my view of the world as a whole. But everything else changes based on who I am when I wake up in the morning. All my other parts are interchangeable.” 

Nico’s brows knitted together. “What kind of other parts?” 

Mal shrugged. “My hair, my clothes, my gender, my accent, my sexuality… Whenever I wake up, I’m never really sure who I’ll find in the mirror looking back. Most people find that…off-putting.” 

Nico studied him, looking him up and down in a way that made Mal want to press him up against those tiles and see if his moans were as pretty as his laugh. He pushed the thought away, trying to concentrate on his words. “Looking like you do? There’s no way people aren’t lining up for you, off-putting or not.” 

Mal smirked, then shrugged. He wasn’t blind. He was fully aware he was what society found conventionally attractive. He was given the benefit of the doubt more often than not simply because he was born with a pretty face. “Looks only get you so far. Then people want to know who’s sleeping beside them each night. I can’t give anyone that comfort.” 

They fell into a tense silence for about thirty seconds before Nico shook the hand he held. “You’re so enigmatic,” he teased, turning to walk backwards, facing Mal. “How was prison?” he asked, like that was a totally normal thing to say. 

“Could have been worse, I suppose,” Mal said with a shrug. “I’m not a big fan of communal showers,” he added with a lazy drawl. “Or shared toilets.” 

Nico scrunched up his nose. Mal’s brain instantly ground to a halt. He wanted to kiss him right there where it crinkled the most. His heart beat faster just thinking about it. He let his gaze sweep the other boy’s body. He wore a black tank top that showed off broad shoulders and muscular arms and wide-legged jeans that would have looked stupid on most people but somehow just worked on him. 

By the time his gaze crawled back up to Nico’s face, the boy had a knowing smirk on that perfect heart-shaped mouth. Mal had been caught. The younger boy cocked a brow. “Are you checking me out?” 

“Just looking,” Mal said, hoping he sounded nonchalant and not like he was mentally picking flowers for their future wedding. 

“Did you get beat up in prison?” Nico asked, spinning back around to walk beside him once more. 

Mal gave a humorless laugh. “People tend to not mess with me.” 

“Why? Are you dangerous?” he teased. 

Mal dropped his mask for a moment, letting Nico see just how truly devoid of humanity he was when he stopped trying. “Prison is like the jungle. Inmates instinctively steer clear of the weird, crazy, or unpredictable.” 

“Which are you?” he asked, his tone still amused. 

Mal blinked at him. “I’m all three.”

He waited for Nico to freak out or grow nervous, but he just laughed again, showering Mal in hearts and flowers. When Mal continued to stare, Nico said, “I know it’s not funny, but my friends are married to a disproportionately large number of papered psychopaths, so weird and unpredictable is kind of my normal. ” 

Mal believed what he said about his friends. He also believed that being weird and unpredictable was Nico’s normal. But that wasn’t all of it. “You like it,” Mal said. “You like the danger.” 

A statement, not a question.

Nico cocked his head, a smile playing at his lips. “Is that so?”

Mal nodded. “You’re a storm chaser.”

Nico barked out another laugh and Mal saw fireworks. “What?” 

He shrugged again. “You’re an adrenaline junkie. The kind of person who runs towards danger instead of away. You like the danger.” 

Nico stared at him for a long moment, considering. “Yeah, maybe.”

Mal nodded, letting the silence creep in once more, focused on the odd cadence of their echoing footsteps. Nico tended to scuff his shoe every second or third step, and soon, the pattern of it became a beat in Mal’s head, something he could dance to. 

 “We used to come down here to get high and play laser tag,” Nico said suddenly, answering a question Mal hadn’t asked. 

“Oh,” he said, uncertain of the appropriate answer. 

When the silence dragged on once more, Nico began to fill it, words spilling into the confined space like sand. “Do you like horror movies? I love them. Like love love them. Even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones. There’s something so fucking intense about being scared. Like, you’re probably right about me being an adrenaline junkie ‘cause I think I’m addicted to that feeling, you know? My favorite is Hereditary. Oh, and probably Dawn of the Dead too, but maybe that’s just ‘cause I would happily live in a shopping mall forever. Picking off zombies from a rooftop would only be a bonus. The Conjuring is another favorite and like, yeah, I know it’s kind of cliché, but it’s my comfort horror movie, you know?” 

He turned those bright blue eyes on Mal, anticipation lighting his face. How could he stay quiet with his future husband looking at him so expectantly? He really meant to say something normal, to tell Nico his favorite horror movie—Rosemary’s Baby—but what came out was, “Did you know in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, they used chocolate syrup for blood?” 

Nico slow-blinked at him once. Twice. A pit formed in Mal’s stomach. Was this what it felt like to care about disappointing someone? He hated it. 

Nico scrunched his perfect nose once more, and Mal decided then and there that he would let the other boy stomp all over his heart wearing six-inch heels if he asked. “Gross. Probably better than corn syrup, though. So…sticky.” 

Mal nodded, grimacing. “Yeah. I hate being sticky.” 

“Mm,” Nico agreed. “Me too. Did you know The Exorcist set was haunted. Poltergeist too. I have this really cool documentary about it if you want to watch it with me. I like documentaries, True Crime and movie stuff mostly. The others won’t watch them with me be—”

“I will,” Mal blurted. Nico’s eyes went wide so Mal kept going. “I’ll watch them with you. Any of them. I-I like documentaries, too. Mostly nature stuff and stuff about aliens.”

Nico gripped his arm, excitement leaching into his voice. “You like alien stuff, too? Ancient Aliens is one of my favorite shows.” 

“Mine too,” he said, once more too quick with his answer. 

Nico looked at him like he was made of cellophane, like he could look right inside his chest and see how far gone on him he was already. 

But Nico was a benevolent god, taking pity on Mal, ignoring his obvious crush to ask, “Do you like anime? Please tell me you like anime and not just the bloody stuff like Demon Slayer but the soft stuff like Studio Ghibli. I really need someone who will watch Princess Mononoke with me when I’m sad.” 

Mal’s chest tightened, nostrils flaring. Who made Nico sad? Nico should never be sad. He had Mal now. He would make it his life’s mission to ensure Nico was never sad ever again. He’d die first. He’d kill, slaughter millions, make a castle out of their bones if it meant he got to spend his life watching him scrunch his nose so cutely. But, again, he would never say something that insane out loud. 

He just needed to say something normal. 

I love Studio Ghibli. 

“Sometimes, I watch those cake smash videos and imagine someone getting impaled on one of the dowels they use to hold up the layers.”

His chest caved in on itself. Why was his brain like this? 

Nico stared at him, then began to giggle. “You’re so weird.” 

Oh, good, Nico knew already. Mal sighed, relieved. He was weird. No point in denying it. “Yeah.” 

“That’s a good thing,” Nico promised, squeezing Mal’s hand. 

Mal’s lids fluttered as he tried to memorize the feel of Nico’s hand touching his. “Oh, okay. Thanks.” 

“You don’t smile much, huh?” Nico said. 

Mal smiled reflexively, like Nico had pulled a cord on his back. 

Nico gasped, hand going to his mouth. 

Mal’s smile died. “What? What’s wrong?” He looked around for whatever threat had pulled that reaction from Nico. 

Nico dropped his arm, then tilted his head. “You have the most adorable bunny teeth I’ve ever seen. Cuter than Ever’s even.” 

Mal stared, wheels spinning. “Bunny teeth?” 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, like you know, rabbits, hares, Bugs Bunny?” He put his hands in front of his chest like bunny paws. “Those cute fuzzy creatures that fuck like they’re the last two survivors in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, somehow trying to repopulate the earth.”

“I’m familiar with bunnies, Nico,” Mal said, affect flat. 

“Bunny teeth,” Nico said again, with less enthusiasm, then pressed his top teeth against his bottom lip in what Mal could only assume was another attempt at impersonating a cartoon rabbit. 

“Is that what you think I look like?” Mal asked, slightly horrified.

Nico’s face smoothed out. “Can’t I just like your bunny teeth?” he asked, a pout on his face, voice exaggeratedly sullen.

“It’s a free country,” Mal said with a wave of his hand. “You can do as you please.” 

Nico flicked his gaze up to Mal’s, his pouty face suddenly seductive. “Oh, you don’t want to give someone like me that kind of power,” he promised. 

Mal gave him a very thorough once-over. “You don’t know what I want.” 

Nico faltered, his shoe catching on the concrete. Mal’s hand shot out, righting him before he could go face first into the cement. 

Nico blinked at him. “You have the reflexes of a cat.” 

Mal smiled. He loved cats. “Thanks.” 

Nico shook his head, staring hard for a full thirty seconds. Maybe this was why the other boy fell down a lot. He was constantly looking anywhere but ahead. 

Just when he decided to say something, Nico tipped his head to the side. “You’re hot.” 

“You’re pretty,” he blurted, then snapped his mouth shut, tips of his ears burning. 

Nico looked almost shy for a second, then pushed his hair behind his own, non- crimson ear, pretending to be bashful. “Are you hitting on me, Bunny?”

Mal shrugged, again hoping he appeared at least somewhat ambivalent. “No. Just stating a fact.”

Nico grinned, looking up at him from beneath sooty lashes. “You’re pretty, too. Way prettier than me, honestly. You’re pretty like a girl. But also really handsome. You’re both.” 

Mal pondered this sudden shift in conversation. Was Nico just making an assessment based on fact? Mal was pretty. And handsome, objectively speaking. He would be stupid to pretend otherwise. But why would Nico bring it up? “Are you hitting on me?” 

Nico gave him another appraising look. “I could,” he said, then bit down on his bottom lip, dragging his top teeth across it in a way that made Mal’s dick take notice. “I could take you back to my room and let you fuck me. Bet you had quite the dry spell in prison. I bet you’re crazy hot in bed. You’d probably rock my world.” 

Mal’s breath punched from him at Nico’s bold statement. He wasn’t wrong. But Mal was crazy everywhere, not just the bedroom. Nico’s words gave Mal permission to let himself wonder about his new friend’s sex life. What was Nico like in bed? Was he strictly a bottom? Was he kinky? Did he like it rough? Mal looked into those pool blue eyes and knew he would do anything to make him cry, either with pleasure or pain. 

Nico sighed, pulling Mal from his thoughts. “But it would probably get weird. And Levi and Shiloh would be all in their feels about it.” 

Mal’s heart shriveled like a rapidly leaking balloon. “Oh. Okay.” His gaze dragged down to look at Nico’s pretty, pink heart-shaped lips. “So, we’re not having sex?” he asked, concentrating on sounding bored so hard he worried he might get a nose bleed.

Nico shook his head, coming to a stop. He gripped Mal’s soft hands in his rough ones. “I think I want to keep you. So, we probably shouldn’t put our dicks in each other.”

Nico’s first sentence exhilarated him. His second devastated him. Why couldn’t they do both? He tamped down his disappointment. If not fucking Nico meant keeping him than he’d just have to get used to jerking off in the shower until the other boy realized they were meant to be. 

But there was one thing he couldn’t do without. “Can I still touch your butt?”

Nico gave that bell-like laugh once more. “If you tell me why.” 

Mal chose honesty. “‘Cause I can’t stop thinking about how it would feel in my hands.”

Nico’s brows went up, but then he gave him an impish look. “Sure, as long as you don’t get too attached to it.” 

“Okay,” Mal lied easily, stepping in front of Nico to wrap his arms around him, cupping his ass with both hands, letting his eyes fall shut as he squeezed the perfectly jiggly globes once, then again. Nico’s breath hitched against his ear. His hair smelled like coconuts and his clothing smelled like lavender. 

Mal swallowed hard, forcing himself to take a step back, some small part of him feeling vindicated when he saw Nico’s slack mouth and unfocused gaze. 

When Nico turned back towards the exit, Mal smacked his ass without thought, earning a surprised yelp and a pissy look from the younger boy.

“We’re just friends,” Nico said again, rubbing his sore ass before threading their fingers together. When Mal looked at their joined hands, Nico shrugged. “What? Friends hold hands.”

They did? “What else do they do?”

 “Hmm,” he said, pondering his question. “Watch movies, play video games…cuddle?”

Cuddle. As in hold Nico in his arms? He could do that. “Friends cuddle?” 

Nico nodded quickly. “Sure, and nap. And play with each other’s hair.” 

Mal’s mood darkened. Did Nico do that with all the guys at the garage? “You do this with all your friends?”

Nico gave him a forlorn look. “Nah. I used to when we were younger. It was the only place I could get any affection. But now, most of my friends have moved past it or are too busy.” 

Mal processed that information. “So, you’d only do that stuff with me?” 

Nico blinked in surprise, his tone teasing again when he asked, “Are you jealous already?” 

“No,” Mal said a little too quickly to be believable, his tone sulky even to his own ears. 

Nico sighed, lifting their joined hands and biting Mal’s finger hard enough to draw a surprised hiss from him. “Listen, I like sex. A lot. I’m no virgin.” Mal had no idea where Nico was going with this. “But I don’t do relationships. Falling in love is for suckers. My mom taught me that early on. I plan to marry for money.”

“Oh,” Mal said. 

“I’ll make you a deal,” Nico said, leaning against him. 

Mal cocked his head. “I’m listening.” 

“If you promise not to get clingy and to not cockblock me when I need to get laid, I promise I’ll only cuddle and do all those other things with you. Deal?” 

Mal had heard of friends with benefits before, but he’d always imagined the sex was the benefit, not the…boyfriend stuff. Still, he had no right to Nico. At least, not yet. If being the only one he used for comfort meant enduring him fucking other people, it was a sacrifice Mal was willing to make. It wasn’t Nico’s fault he didn’t see that he belonged to him. 

Yet.

“Deal.”