These two books are halves of one story. In our first book, we hear of the torrid affair between germaphobe and psychotherapist, and in the second, two years later, the pair reignite things, but to what end?

A Series of Closed Doors

Eloy Deimos lives a tormented life, avoiding excessive social interaction, intimate relationships, and anything else outside his tiny bubble of comfort. Emotionally fragile and fraught with germaphobia of a crippling severity, he runs into Dr. Nathan Pederson by sheer happenstance. The doctor is immediately drawn to him, since the man is the perfect case study for a scientific essay he wishes to write. However, as the pair get to know each other and the doctor delves into the germaphobe's eccentricities, they begin to engage in less than professional ways. The pair become inappropriately entangled. Can such a relationship work, or is it doomed from the start?

Smashing the Locks

It's been two years since Dr. Nathan Pederson has seen Eloy Deimos. After finishing a temporary lecture assignment out of state, he returns with one thing on his mind: reconnecting with a certain germaphobe. They do, but it becomes clear that things have changed, and perhaps Eloy Deimos is no longer the man Nathan came to love two years back. Even so, the young doctor is stubbornly hooked, and wishes to make himself an anchor to the drowning man once again. Time has passed, and supposedly both have done work on themselves, but were they ever meant to be?

Characters

Eloy Deimos

He's the oldest of the characters but deceptively young-looking. He suffers from crippling germaphobia and traits of OCD. He must wear gloves everywhere he goes outside his apartment, including his job, so he often over-dresses in suits and sports coats and anything else that appears a bit less strange with gloves. He hasn't been inside a grocery store for years, or any other public place for that matter. He's a slender, tender-faced man who cries at the drop of a hat and would rather run than deal with confrontation. The roots of his severe self-imposed hardships are tragic, and it takes the intrusion of Nathan Pederson to begin unraveling it.

Nathan Pederson

A young practicing doctor that specializes in pediatric psychotherapy. He comes from wealthy, successful parents, but made his own living with his sounding intellect and dedication to his education. He's on the spectrum, and has difficulty expressing emotions on his face, so he's become an expert in mimicry. Openly gay since a child, he's been in a few relationships as well as had his share of casual romps, but Eloy is the first person he's ever fallen for. He tends to be controlling and intense, a part of his personality he's barely aware of, and until he addresses that, he'll be more of a burden than a blessing to the delicate blonde he loves.

Andrew (Andy) Reynolds