Tis the Season

Silver/Steel was written in response to a call for holiday stories at Loose Id. As usual, there was a little twist to this particular call for submission. It had to begin at one holiday, and end on another. So it could be Thanksgiving and Kwanza or the Day of the Dead and New Year’s. I was already working on an Arcada story that was set in the winter and immediately began wracking my brain for the most fitting holidays for Travis and Dylan.

For some reason, I love the world of Arcada during the winter, and I give these two some of the most romantic elements the season has to offer. They get snowed in together. They make love in an ice maze and then go driving around looking at Christmas lights. Arcada just comes alive in the snow.

Dylan is old world fae. I imagined he’d be most familiar with the calendar based holidays of the Celts. Travis is a thoroughly modern young man and pagan holidays might resonate with him, but he’d be most comfortable with traditional celebrations. Thus, I chose Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Pretty mundane, I agree. But I had a specific reason for choosing these two holidays.

It’s no secret that depression and suicide rates spike during the winter holidays, and not just because of the weather. The holidays are hard on some people. The stress of spending money, elaborate preparations and the constant barrage of merchandising can tear almost anyone down. These are also family oriented holidays. I’ve spent enough holidays alone that I can relate to the isolation some people experience when they have no family or live far from them. 

Dylan and Travis first meet in a bar on Thanksgiving. Having been alone for so many years, Dylan just wants to have company. He’s not American, but he moves quietly through the landscape of the US and is acutely aware of being alone. He goes to the Roadhouse simply to surround himself with other people. He is also working a job, but that’s just an excuse to be out on Thanksgiving. He craves companionship.

Travis went to the bar to escape the pressures of his pack and family. He’s a lower ranked wolf in the pack and after a tough week, he ducks out on the family gathering to blow off steam. He wants to get away, seeking to lose himself around strangers.

While one character is a loner, the other feels alone within the confines of his extended family. They’re both at the bar on Thanksgiving, but for utterly different reasons. And yet at the core, their reason for being there is the same. They feel isolated and alone.

There’s little more than a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the second holiday is a major contrast from the first. Both men are happy, they’re in love, and their innermost wishes are fulfilled. Dylan is in the heart of a family during the holiday. Because of the fae, Travis finally finds his place in the pack and the security that comes from knowing he’s loved and accepted. 

But the story doesn’t end there on Christmas Eve. That night crystalizes the strength of their love, and it also triggers the events that lead to crushing decisions the men face. When they wake up on Christmas day, their lives will be forever changed. 

Silver/Steel is available at http://www.loose-id.com/authors/a-f/belinda-mcbride.html

Please visit Belinda’s website at http://www.belindamcbride.com

And her blog at http://www.belindam.blogspot.com

The only easy day was yesterday

No matter how much I love writing, some days I can really relate to this quote.

“The writing process for some books is the equivalent of hitting ourselves in the head with a sledgehammer over and over and over. Being a romance author is not unlike being a Navy Seal. The only easy day was yesterday.”  -Suzanne Brockmann

Each part of the writing process has its own challenges and rewards. Some writers find the first draft the most enjoyable and inspiration-filled time, while others find that the revising and editing is where they love storytelling the most. For me, the latter is where the real creative breakthroughs happen. The ones that inspire me to keep on writing, where the little bits of dialogue and character interaction and setting details start to come together to make the story about something more powerful and engaging than the original draft, where everything comes alive.

Regardless of where I’m at in the creation process, filling a blank document with more than 80,000 words can be challenging, to say the least. Turning those words into an entertaining story seems impossible when I’m first staring at a blank document. Each and every time I get to the end and re-read a finished manuscript, I am still amazed that I did what I set out to do. I took the spark of an idea and turned it into characters who feel like real people to me, men who are experiencing the ups and downs of life while falling in love.

It’s such a rush to be a writer of fiction!

But yeah, the only easy day was yesterday. Because when I get to the end of a manuscript, I’m often left wondering...how the hell did I do that? And can I do it again?

All I can say to myself is that I’ll find out. I have every intention of taking the ride once more.

Get the sledgehammer out because I’m going again!


Sloan Parker has been writing and playing with fictional characters for years, but she finally found her true passion when she began telling stories about two men (or more) falling in love. Now she spends her writing life creating m/m erotic romances and romantic suspense. She loves to explore the lives of people who are growing as individuals while falling in love. Her greatest moments in life are spent with her family, her friends, and her characters. www.sloanparker.com   

GayRomLit Report

Right now, I’m in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for GayRomLit, and I’m having a super time.  I’ve managed not to have any horrible social awkwardness and I got through my reading without crying or throwing up – total win!  Seriously, though, it’s been a lot of fun. 

I’ve met some fantastic Loose Id authors in person like ZA Maxfield & Lex Valentine.  Ethan Day almost killed me (with laughter, I swear!) in Old Town Albuquerque.  I’ve hung out with fabulous Kiernan Kelly (although I can and have done that without travelling to New Mexico).  Today, there are some Loose Id events, and I’ll be rubbing elbows with more awesome LI people, like Lynn Lorenz, Treva Harte, Christy Lockhart, Tara Lain & Belinda McBride. 

And I know he’s not a Loose Id author, but I got to see Damon Suede dancing with the go-go boys hired for the first night’s party.  You’re jealous, I know you are! 

I’ve met some lovely readers and bloggers, and reconnected with several people I met last year or have corresponded with since.  There have been chocolate penises, a staggering amount of double entendres and some extremely graphic discussions (when you’re an erotic romance author, discussions of blow jobs and prostates are professional and routine – LOL). It’s been a wonderful time.

The biggest drawback is that my phone doesn’t seem to have great luck picking up a network, so I can’t post much to Twitter or Facebook, and the damn battery dies just as quickly as if I were posting!  I’m also very bad about taking pictures, but I’m sure everyone else’s stream is completely inundated – you won’t have a hard time finding pics!

While I’m here, I’m also pimping my latest Loose Id release, which came out a week before I left for ABQ.  It’s the third in the MIA Case Files series, and it’s Oliver’s story.  I think it’s a lot of fun. 

MIA Case Files: Craving

On a mission tracking down werewolves, a mishap disables Agent Brandon Ellison, rendering him unfit for field duty. Unable to deal with the repercussions of the accident, Brandon moves away and Oliver Cardoso not only loses his partner, but his lover. Years later, when Brandon returns as head of MIA's Research and Development team, the hurt, guilt and blame fester into jealousy and professional rivalry, making working together almost impossible.



When an equipment failure almost kills Oliver, it appears as though Brandon's executing some sort of revenge. Determined to find out the truth, Brandon invites himself along on his first mission in years, with Oliver and his new partner. With an elusive portal and the Umbrae creating a previously unknown creature, hundreds of lives, including Oliver's, are at stake. Although their attraction hasn't waned in the intervening years, putting aside their differences creates a potentially fatal distraction and falling in love again might destroy them both.

KC Burn

See Your Words

For all you bloggers and writers out there, or for anyone who loves playing with words: If you haven’t checked it out before, Wordle.net is a nifty web app that allows you to see your, or anyone else’s, words in a different way than standard lines of text.

The app creates word clouds from text you copy into a form or live from a blog or website RSS feed.

From Wordle.net: “The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”

Wordle can be a fun and interesting way for:

- writers to examine the frequency of words used in a chunk of text
- authors to share a sample or preview of their writing with readers
- bloggers to post a summary of all the blogs on their site
- anyone to graphically play with the words they love

I’ve been hearing about this site for a while and finally had a chance to check it out. I’m creating samples for each of my books and adding them to my website as a fun preview of each story. Here are some of the sites and text samples I’ve tried:
 
My blog

Loose Ends (Loose Id Author) blog

From an excerpt of my book BREATHE

The keyword tags used on my website

Give it a try yourself. Just copy and paste whatever text you want to view into the form at Wordle.net.

Have fun!

Free People Read Freely

September 30 to October 6th is Banned Books Week and It's the 30th anniversary of the observance. I'm a little sad that we have to do this at all but am a big supporter of not banning books.

As an erotic romance author, I do think I have a stake in this. It's not why I'm such a huge supporter but I do know books I write would/could be probably challenged at anytime. I do not write for children or young adults, write for adults only, but that doesn't matter to some.

One of my favorite quotes on censorship is by Mark Twain: Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.

I will be blogging all through Banned Books Week on the subject. I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 to celebrate the week.

Go read a banned book today!

Mechele Armstrong
www.mechelearmstrong.com

Three-Word Scenario: Everything about you

Since I’ve been working on my current manuscript for a while now, I occasionally like to take a short break and do this exercise to stretch my creative/brainstorming muscles. I call it Three-Word Scenario. I take three random (sometimes odd) words and write whatever scenario comes to mind, using each word at least once, and keeping the entire scenario to 200 words.

It might end up as a snippet that could become a longer story. Or maybe a character or setting description. Anything that pops into my head when I mesh the three random words together.

Last time I was here at Loose Ends, Barbara offered up these three words for me to play with.

I went over the word limit but decided to keep it the way the scenario came to me rather than start chopping. Actually, I almost kept going and wrote a sex scene too, but I figured I’d save that for another day.

Definitely more of the sweet than sexy in this m/m romance.

I stopped with the jigsaw puzzle piece held in mid-air and stared back at Joe. I couldn’t have heard him correctly.

He was on the couch across the room from me, leaning forward with his elbows propped on those strong, muscular thighs. He had a crooked smirk on his face, that innocent, yet wicked expression usually reserved for the moment right before he was about to attack my dick with his lips. I could almost see a halo over his head and a red pitchfork in his hand. Maybe I had heard him correctly after all.

He added, "I think that piece is part of his beak."

"What?"

He pointed at the puzzle piece in my hand.

"Oh." I inserted the three-sided section into the last empty space that made up the red-winged blackbird’s beak.

Now that Joe had asked the question, and the words were hanging there between us, I felt like the biggest dork with the folding table before me covered in puzzle pieces sorted by shape and color. For weeks now I’d been putting together the puzzles my grandma had left behind when she’d passed away. I met his gaze again and studied him.

"What?" he asked.

"Why now?"

"I’ve been watching you put together these bird and rabbit puzzles since the funeral, and I realized something tonight."

"What?" That I’m the biggest dork on the planet who can’t figure out how to say good-bye to his grandma?

"I love everything about you, and I want to marry you."

Thanks, Barbara, for the inspiration!

Would anyone like to throw out three words I can use next time?


Sloan Parker has been writing and playing with fictional characters for years, but she finally found her true passion when she began telling stories about two men (or more) falling in love. Now she spends her writing life creating m/m erotic romances and romantic suspense. She loves to explore the lives of people who are growing as individuals while falling in love. Her greatest moments in life are spent with her family, her friends, and her characters. www.sloanparker.com 

New Release Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law: what can go wrong will go wrong,  is something everyone has suffered at one time in their life, or if they haven't yet, they're going to. It's bad luck, or it's fated. Either way, you'll know it when it's happened to you, and for most people it's a shrug of the shoulders, for some it's a nightmare. For David, it's a way of life.



Fed up of trying to fly under his step family's radar, David sets off to Australia to get away from their constant harassment. Maybe there he can be himself, be free, be with someone who can help him forget about his problems for a while. Meeting Scott, who not only thinks he's sexy but shows him how much over and over again, is perfect. And Scott doesn't care that he's accident prone. Well, David is everything prone; what can go wrong does. And falling in love with someone he nearly kills is about as wrong as it can get.

Scott likes his sex uncomplicated, preferably with someone just passing through, but his family want him to settle down with some nice young man. To get away from their meddling he heads to Bondi Beach. That's where he meets David, a man who just pushes his buttons, and the fact that he's looking for the same thing Scott is, makes him ideal. However, he falls in love with David--sassy attitude, accidents, and adorable accent included. But how is Scott going to persuade David to stay with him, especially as David's seriously upset about nearly getting him killed?

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.

To read and excerpt click here.

2 Taboo?

A few years back, I was developing a science fiction romance that I suspected would branch out into a series.  That book was Belle Starr, and I’ve since set other books in that same fictional universe. As I was world building, I stumbled across the excerpt for a m/m twincest romance. It shocked me, not only the topic, but the idea that a publisher would take the risk and put out a book with a subject so taboo. After all, this is the sort of thing that puts people into counseling, here in real life.

By education, I’m a historian and cultural anthropologist. I have a passion for learning about the cultures of others, which may explain why I enjoy writing in genres where world building is a requirement. While I was shocked by the idea of a twincest book, I was also fascinated and plunged into research on the subject. While I didn’t find any cultures that condoned m/m twincest, I was surprised to find that there are several societies where m/f twins are not only allowed, but expected to be joined in marriage. One Asian culture believes that the twins have been living in intimate contact during gestation, so they are morally obligated to marry. A Native American tribe has the tradition that twins were star-crossed lovers who lost or missed one another in a previous existence. Thus, the Gods have ensured that they would always be together.

While I was developing the supporting aliens in the Coalition universe, I decided to utilize the idea of twincest in a setting that felt normal and healthy. Thus, when I created the sensual, beautiful Somian species, they were conceived as a twin culture. Children are always born in same sex pairs. While they are close, they are not incestuous. In fact, they believe that twins are aspects of one person. When one of the pair dies, the other often cannot function without his or her sibling. In the book An Uncommon Whore 2: When I Fall, the tragedy of a twin orphan is demonstrated with the Somian ambassadors, Leighe and Ghlen.

There is a second element to the Somian: on very, very rare occasions, opposite sex twins are born. When this occurs, the brother and sister are always married and mated. Their offspring are prodigies…sheer genius. These are the children who push the evolutionary development of the Somian forward. In the upcoming book “The Bacchi,” you will meet Drakh and Balor Partain. They are the sons of a mated twin pair, and play a very important role in the book.

The title character of The Bacchi is Lefi Dhrahn, a twin orphan and highly esteemed prostitute. When he meets to rigid, controlled police inspector Afton Teris, he knows he’ll someday seduce the Valoran. When he doesn’t expect is to become friends…and then lovers.

To learn more about the Valoran, visit my blog for Alien 101: The Valoran.

 BLURB:
The Bacchi Lefi Dhrahn lives a life of luxury and decadence, but is tortured by memories of a lost love. He survives the pain by surrounding himself with sex, beauty and all forms of self-indulgence. When he meets the alluring Inspector Afton Teris, Lefi believes the detective will make a very nice addition to his string of conquests.

He doesn’t count on falling in love.

Afton Teris is a Valoran hermaphrodite and like all members of his species, is stern, cerebral and disapproves of the frivolous prostitute. Afton orients as a male, but the beautiful Lefi Dhrahn stirs him sexually, making him question everything he knows about himself. To further confuse his emotions, Afton finds himself tempted by the forbidden pleasures surrounding the Bacchi.

When a kidnapping ring strikes close to home, the two go undercover on a brothel barge to investigate a slavery operation. There, Lefi is confronted by painful memories from his past, while Afton is faced with a horror that threatens his future, and perhaps his very life. 

Their survival lies with one another, but only if Lefi can set aside his pain and listen to his heart.

(Warning: m/m content, m/f content, intersexed character.)

The Bacchi releases July 31 at http://www.loose-id.com

Belinda’s website: http://www.belindamcbride.com

Blog: http://www.belindam.blogspot.com

Even in the darkness

Every color can be found. --Penny from Dr. Horrible

I'm sure by now most of you have heard about the tragedy in Colorado. It's sad that people at a movie theater weren't safe due to an insane human being.

Like other tragedies, tales of heroism circulate. Three (or four, I've seen two different headlines) young men lay down their lives to protect their girlfriend. A thirteen year old tried to save the six year old by giving CPR. One young woman would not leave her wounded friend. A young man helped a young mother get her baby and child out.

Every time there is an event like this, Columbine, Virginia Tech, earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Katrina, there are stories of intense bravery. Crisis calls and people step up to the task at hand.

I think the only way I can hear about events like this and not lose my mind with 24 hour, 7 day coverage is to focus on the good that came out of it.

Still my heart and prayers go out to everyone affected in Colorado, especially those hurt and the families of those injured and murdered.

Mechele Armstrong
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com/

Do You Dream in Color?

More importantly, do you dream in plots?

I usually do both.  I’ve used vivid dreams as a basis for a number of stories, whether it be resolutions, plot points, characters or even some vital scene in the middle.  

If I think the idea has any validity for a story, I’ll get up and write it down.  Sometimes it’s sexy, sometimes it’s funny and sometimes it’s scary.  Three of my books have been greatly affected by plot points I’ve had in dreams.  The blackest moment for Cooper in Blood Relations?  That was a dream, in all it’s gory detail.  Lucky me… uh…

Then again, sometimes you’re not quite sure why your subconscious comes up with things.

The other night, after a fairly innocuous night of watching White Collar and Covert Affairs, I went to sleep.  Where I dreamt about digging up dead bodies with both Sherlocks.  Yep, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr.  Okay, so maybe my subconscious was being really, really good to me, despite the clear anachronism of having the two of them interact.  I also dreamt that I helped a werewolf find his mate, although that involved a rather unfortunate amount of peeing on the carpet. 

Then, the good times ended when I dreamt I inhaled a wood chip, woke up and spent an hour coughing before remaining awake for the rest of the night.  Not much on the way of story ideas, sadly, except perhaps some slash Sherlock on Sherlock fan fiction, I suppose.  Blog fodder isn’t too bad, either ; )

But as I’d said, I do often rely on dreams for ideas either to start stories or to get past a hurdle or add a different subplot.  Anyone else use dreams for inspiration?

KC Burn

Do spoilers ruin your enjoyment of a story?

The other day I was talking with a friend about movie spoilers and whether they ruin the experience of watching the movie, specifically spoilers that give away the plot twists in thrillers or mysteries. She mentioned a study that she’d heard about last year that examined spoilers and books.

I found this article referencing the study: Spoilers Don't Ruin Stories from The Huffington Post. It posed some interesting questions.

The author of the article asked, “is plot irrelevant, and is a story really about the process as opposed to the result? Or are there just two types of people in this world -- ones that enjoy spoilers and ones who don't?”

Other paraphrased points/questions the article raised:

• Is the value of a story in how it’s told?
• Do readers enjoy books where they know the outcome more because it’s easier to read?
• Does it lessen the stress of “negative” plot twists to know they are coming?

One of my nieces does three things to sample stories before she selects a book. She reads the first page, a page in the middle, and the very last page. She does this to get a sense of the style of writing to make sure it’s something she’ll want to read for an entire novel and to check that none of the characters she may come to care for are going to die in the end.

I imagine with only three sampled pages she might miss a major character dying off, but it seems to be a system that works for her. She devours books and speed-reads at an astounding rate. Apparently, knowing the end of the story does not diminish her enjoyment of reading. In fact, I’d say it helps her lessen the “severe emotional stress” the Huffington Post article refers to, so she can sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey.

To some extent, I can understand that. When I read a romance, I expect the two (or more) people the story is about to end up together and for the arc of their relationship to have a satisfactory, happy ending. This, of course, can be subjective. My definition of “happy” and someone else’s might not mesh. When I finish a romance and it doesn’t fit my brand of happy, I’m disappointed and wished I’d known the ending going into the book. I might have read it anyway or I might have picked a more romantic story.

What do you think? Do you mind spoilers for the books you read?

What about books that are heavy on mystery or suspense? Would you like to know how it all works out in the end before you start the book?

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSloanParker
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sloanparker 

A little more heat

Because the dragons are loose at Loose Id! 

Fire Riders 3: Beyond the Fire released overnight!! I'm excited and Snoopy dancing all over the place.

When I first decided I was going to write a dragon trilogy, I wanted it to be a true trilogy, one that was interconnected and the true "ending" was at the end of the third book. I've learned a whole lot writing this series. For anyone who felt the ending of the first book, Taming the Fire, wasn't wrapped up enough...I think you'll enjoy the ending of Beyond the Fire. Not only does Beyond the Fire wrap up Rogin, Hallah, and Dunstan's story, but there is a consolidation of Geant, Alin, and Elesia's story as well as Mira, Byron, and Callum's story.

Blurb: Neither Lord Rogin nor Lady Hallah is thrilled to be marrying the other to unite their kingdoms and stop all the fighting. Lady Hallah wonders if she will be able to keep her dragon rider lover, Dunstan, and runs to him for one last tryst. When Rogin walks in on them, the last thing she expects is for Dunstan and Rogin to kiss.

But kiss they do. Only Lord Rogin knows he can't be in a permanent relationship with the two Wardonans because his people won't consent to it. It doesn't matter what he might want, even after the kiss ignites all his senses.



On the journey back to Eastania for the wedding, Dunstan dares Rogin to share a tent with Hallah and him to see what he'd be missing. Rogin takes him up on the challenge but finds himself more and more tempted each day.



When tempers fly and Eastanians let Rogin know in no uncertain terms they won't accept him with two Wardonan lovers, what choices can he make to still unite their people and get what he desires at the same time? Will he go beyond the fire and do the mating marks to unite them for eternity?



To read an excerpt.

I hope everyone has a a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow (celebrating or not). Stay safe!

May the muses have dragons
Mechele

Never Trust A Storm

When my first STORM novella called Stormlocked came out a few months ago, I wasn't sure how readers would respond to a tale about a supposedly normal couple whose belief in their sexual nature is turned on end by thunder and lightning.  Judging by my royalty statement I've done something right.

The whole 50 Shades of Grey excitement might have something to do with it, but I'm more inclined to believe Loose readers have long come here when they need their BDSM fix. Loose does a damn good job of offering readers a wide range of erotic romance, and the BDSM sales are particularly strong.

Like most writers, I'm always looking for a new adventure with the written word. I want to push  myself and not give readers same old same old. How could I put a unique twist on BDSM? Well, what if my couple wasn't 'into' that particular kink? They might have occasionally wondered what the appeal was and be intrigued, but that's as far as it went.

Until they're hit by a Vonna Harper storm.

The stronger the wind blows, the louder the thunder, the closer the lightning, the more violent the downpour, the more my characters are sucked into a new reality. A rugged but conservative man becomes domineering. A modern woman turns submissive. Throw in a little isolation and suddenly there's no need for clothes or restraint--except for a little rope.

Remember what I said about needing to challenge and stretch myself, well that's what I did with Stormbound by throwing one woman and two men together. I live near a river full of white water stretches as well as calm pools. During the summer jet boats race visitors up and down the river. Some are taken all the way to the Pacific Ocean while others opt for a relaxed trip to an isolated lodge where they're served luscious meals in an outdoor setting.

Hmm. So, I pondered, what if its winter and three workpeople (a female electrician and two hunks with toolbelts) are sent to do some off-season repairs. What if a storm--A STORM--hits? What if my heroine no longer sees her former high school classmates but a pair of domineering males? What if she's turned on as never before? What if nothing will satisfy them--and her--but to see her on her knees before them?

Hopefully the lodge won't spontanously combust.

  

TV Based On Books

Recently, I started watching Bones on Netflix.  When it first came out, I eagerly awaited the first episode.  I love Kathy Reichs books, and at one point considered taking a forensic anthropology degree (I’ve taken forensic anthropology courses as part of my physical anthro degree).  I watched the first Bones episode when it came out and was horribly, horribly disappointed.  Aside from character names and professions, in my mind, it didn’t bear any resemblance to the books I loved.

But, I’ve heard enough good things about the series that I tried again.  I like it.  I’ve always enjoyed clever mystery type shows, and ones that deal with bones are even better.  I had to make an effort to keep the books and show separate, because even though I do like it, these still aren’t the characters I came to identify with.  They’re interesting in their own right, and as long as I keep both creative entities separate, I’m good. 

True Blood suffered from a similar issue, in my opinion.  The first season followed the books closely enough that I got engaged.  In the second season, I needed to accept that True Blood was an entity in it’s own right, separate from the Sookie Stackhouse books in order to maintain my enjoyment. 

In my opinion, though, Game of Thrones is the best televised adaptation of books that I’ve read.  Anyone got any favourites? 

KC Burn

The Chimera Affair: Sexy Adventure in Italy!

My new book is out today from Loose Id! I'm super excited. It was great fun to write a spy thriller for a change of pace. I've always loved reading adventure romances, and I hope you enjoy my take on the genre.

When young Sebastian Brambani meets a sexy and exciting older man, he’s easily seduced. But for spy Kyle Grant, it’s all business—Sebastian is simply a pawn in Kyle’s mission to acquire a dangerous chemical weapon from Sebastian’s criminal father. Kyle’s life is his work for a shadowy international agency protecting the world from evil, and he can’t worry about what will happen to Sebastian when the job is done.

Sebastian’s unwitting role in Kyle’s plan is the last straw for his ruthless father, who has been embarrassed by his gay son for the last time. But when Kyle discovers Sebastian could be the key to finding the deadly Chimera, he rescues him from a hired hitman and fights to keep him alive. Can a hardened spy and naïve college student take down a criminal kingpin, stay one step ahead of the killers on their trail—and fight the scorching attraction between them?

Read an Excerpt

As he stepped out of the car, Sebastian hugged his arms to his body tightly, shivering in the cold as the wet snow fell. He hurried toward the porch, but Kyle yanked him back. “Don’t move.”

Sebastian stayed put as Kyle circled the cabin, keen eyes searching. When he disappeared around the back, Sebastian peered at the thick forest surrounding them. His leather shoes weren’t meant for running—let alone running in the Alps. Besides, Kyle had proven he was faster.

A moment later Kyle reappeared. He dropped down and examined under the porch, shining a small but powerful flashlight into the murk. When he seemed satisfied, he climbed the creaky wooden stairs and landed a powerful kick to the front door. After another, it splintered and gave way.

Inside, it hadn’t changed much from Sebastian’s dim childhood memories. The utilitarian, wooden furniture was a marked difference from the opulence Arrigo usually favored. The cabin was a snapshot in time, with an ancient wood-burning stove and no electricity. Kyle lit the lantern sitting on the solid old table and began searching.

Sebastian watched as he methodically explored the room. There was no bedroom, and the bathroom was an outhouse. A double bed sat against the wall in one corner, and when Sebastian sat on it, the springs creaked.

It seemed as if Kyle forgot he was even there as he hunted, and Sebastian wondered if the keys were still in the sedan. Doubtful, and even if they were, he didn’t think he’d be fast enough to get to the car before Kyle caught him. He thought again of Kyle’s hard, strong body pressing him down into the ground. How his mouth had tasted the night before. The jolt of excitement and pleasure when he’d pushed his finger inside Sebastian.

Abruptly he stood and began pacing. Kyle’s attention was now on the wood box beside the stove, where a few pieces of chopped wood remained inside. Sebastian couldn’t imagine his father would have hidden a chemical weapon in there and was about to say as much when Kyle pulled firmly on the box and it slid out, revealing an old metal safe about three feet high.

Sitting back on his heels, Kyle inspected it. He leaned in closely, turning the knob this way and that.

“Can you crack it?” Sebastian asked. The sooner they got the powder, the sooner he could…what? What exactly was he going to do? Kyle had promised to help him, but, realistically, Sebastian knew Kyle was just as likely to put a bullet in his brain the minute he had what he wanted.

“Of course. It’ll take some time. The older safes are actually harder. Fingerprint scanners and other modern gizmos make it much easier.”

“How?” A deeply unpleasant thought occurred. “Do you…cut people’s fingers off?”

At this Kyle smirked. “Only when I have to.”

“That’s really comforting.”

“Most people don’t wipe off the fingerprint scanner. You just need to lift the print from the scanner itself, and you’re in.”

“Good to know.” Sebastian peered out the small front window. The wind had begun howling, and the pane shook slightly. Outside, visibility was poor and getting worse as night settled in. Fantastic.

“Get my bag from the car. Backseat.” Kyle glanced over his shoulder. “I have the keys, so don’t even think about it.”

“If you have the keys, how am I supposed to get in?”

Kyle raised an eyebrow as he pulled the keys from his pocket and pressed a button. Sebastian could hear the faint chirp as the car unlocked. “Hurry up.”

“Yes, sir,” Sebastian muttered under his breath.

Outside he gasped at how much colder it was now that night had fallen. Slipping in the wet snow and mud, he rushed to the car and flung open the back door. A brown duffel bag sat on the seat as promised. Sebastian grabbed it and hurried back to the cabin.

He dropped the bag by Kyle and eyed the stove. “Can we start a fire?”

“No. This won’t take long.”

Sebastian wrapped his arms around himself and grumbled as he resumed pacing. “At least you have a jacket.”

Apparently ignoring him, Kyle pulled out a leather case from his duffel. He unzipped it and removed some kind of metal tool. “Any guesses as to what the combination might be?”

“How many numbers are there?”

“With this make and model, should be five.”

Sebastian pondered. Should he really try to help Kyle break into the safe? Perhaps if his father’s men showed up, he could reason with them. He thought of the cold, dark eyes of the man in the garage and sighed. Just get this over with. “Try fifty-two, sixteen, thirty-eight, seven, twenty-five.”

Kyle turned the dial, alternating left and right. He turned the handle, but the safe remained locked. “Nope. Try again.”

“I don’t know. Maybe a different combination of those numbers. They’re all to do with my nonna. This is her place, so he would probably have been thinking of her when he set the combination. Or he was thinking of something else entirely. I don’t know.”

Kyle tried a few more iterations of the numbers before reaching for another tool. He worked silently, head close to the metal door of the safe as he listened with something that looked like a modified stethoscope. After ten minutes of pacing, Sebastian felt like he had to break the unnerving quiet.

“So, how do I know you’re really a spy and not just some mercenary?”

“I’m really a spy,” Kyle said as he turned the dial on the safe.

Sebastian studied him. Kyle seemed like he was telling the truth, but then so had Steven. “You got lucky with the guard monitoring the cameras. Father said he was watching football. If he’d been doing his job, they would have caught you.”

“It wasn’t luck. The man’s a huge AC Milan fan. Our contact made sure he was working the cameras that night. And I’m fast. It might have been closer, but they wouldn’t have caught me.”

A spy would have contacts who could arrange things like that, wouldn’t he? At least that’s how it worked in Bond films. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.” Sebastian shivered. “It’s freezing. Hurry up.”

“Well, shut up and let me concentrate. I only have one number left.”

“They’re always a lot faster in the movies.” Sebastian stalked over to the stove and opened the door. As he tossed a log inside, Kyle was suddenly there, whipping him around, fingers digging into Sebastian’s arm.

He towered over Sebastian. “I said no fire. I’m in charge, remember?”

“Vaffanculo. Fuck you.” Sebastian tugged his arm free. He knew he was being childish, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“Yes, you do. Now get a blanket, sit down, and shut up.”

Sebastian stood his ground, toe-to-toe with Kyle. “No. Maybe I’ll take my chances with my father and his men after all. Anything would be better than being with you.”

Kyle’s jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. “Sit. Down.”

“Fuck. You.” All the anger and fear and tension of the day boiled over, and Sebastian shoved against Kyle’s chest.

A moment later he was tumbling backward, landing on the squeaky bed with Kyle on top of him. Kyle stared down, his gaze dangerous, Sebastian’s wrists in his hands. “Are you done?”

They were both breathing heavily, and as Sebastian struggled to free himself, he only succeeded in rubbing against Kyle. “Go to hell.” As punctuation he spit into Kyle’s face, his saliva spraying Kyle’s cheek.

For a long moment, Kyle was completely still, and a fresh, icy tendril of fear uncoiled in Sebastian’s gut. Too far. Then Kyle dove at him, tongue driving inside as Sebastian gasped. His body responded immediately as Kyle mastered his mouth, leaving him breathless.

Suddenly Kyle tore away and rolled off the bed, shoving Sebastian to the floor. Sebastian kicked and punched at him. “Get off me!”

Kyle ignored him as he lunged at the table, dousing the lantern and plunging the cabin into darkness as the first bullets shattered the window.

Read more in The Chimera Affair!