Thief in the Light

Lucky Denver has wandering feet, sticky fingers and an unreliable moral compass—he’s never had a home and he’s not so sure he cares about what he’s missing.

Arnold Kreed who runs a small-town B&B knows what a home should be. So does his home, The Oaks—aka Mildred—and she has some very definite opinions on who should stay and who should go.

Mildred wants Lucky to stay—and while Kreed is surprised, he can’t really blame the old girl. He’s getting sort of attached himself. Lucky might be fine with the house’s eccentricities, but he’s not so sure Kreed will be fine with the man attached to Lucky’s real name. When Kreed falls ill, Lucky needs to make a decision—wander away like he’s always done or stay and be his better self. Kreed’s hoping he’ll stay—and so is The Oaks, and Mildred has a way of getting what she wants.

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Reviews:Barb on Rainbow Book Reviews wrote:

"Character development, including that of the cast of secondary characters, is outstanding. I felt as if I were there—in that town, under Mildred’s roof, and fighting for justice for those who deserved it. This a story I most highly recommend."

See the link for the full review.

Karen on My Fiction Nook wrote:

"Ms Samms has filled this story out with some wonderful secondary characters whom I would happily spend more time with.

Follow the link to see the full review."

Denise on Two Chicks Obsessed wrote:

"Shows that a decent story doesn’t need sex to keep you invested. Even a romance."

Follow the link for the full review.

Valerie on Love Bytes Reviews wrote:

'With an intriguing plot, lively characters – including Mildred – and the men’s burgeoning relationship, I found this to be an enjoyable book that I recommend. "

Click the link to see the full review.


The Foster Family

Book Cover: The Foster Family
Part of the Audio series:
Editions:Audio: $ 24.95
ISBN: B00PX86ZP8

Growing up in foster care has left Kerry Grey with little self-esteem or hope for his future. A college dropout, Kerry scrapes by on a part-time job at a garden nursery. His friendship with his boss and working with the plants are the only high points in Kerry’s life. He’s been dating the man who bullied him at school, but when his boyfriend abandons him at a party, Kerry wanders down the beach to drown his sorrows in a bottle of scotch.

Malcolm Holmes and Charlie Stone have been together for fifteen years. Despite Charlie's willingness to accept Malcolm's unspoken domination in bed,something is missing from their relationship. Early one morning, they rescue a passed out Kerry from being washed away by the tide and Charlie immediately senses a kindred spirit in the lost younger man. When Kerry’s roommate kicks him out, Malcolm and Charlie invite him into their home. As Charlie and Kerry bond over Charlie’s garden, Malcolm sees Kerry may be just who they have been looking for to complete their lives. All they have to do is show Kerry, and each other, that Kerry's submissive tendencies will fit their dynamic.

But someone is sabotaging Kerry at every turn. As he struggles to discover the culprit, he fears for the safety of his new friends. If Malcolm and Charlie cannot help, their lifelong search for their perfect third may not end with the happily ever after they imagined.

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Verborgene Facetten

Book Cover: Verborgene Facetten
Part of the German Translations series:
  • Verborgene Facetten
Editions:Digital: $ 5.99
ISBN: 978-1-64405-579-3
Pages: 50,178

Ian McVeigh, geoutet und ungehemmt, hat seit Jahren eine flüchtige Beziehung nach der anderen. Deshalb kann er die ungewohnten Gefühle nicht einordnen, die der arbeitslose Rugby Spieler David – das neueste und höchst verlockende Spielzeug seines Bosses – bei ihm auslöst: eine Mischung aus Begehren und Beschützerinstinkt. Aber David Kelly ist ein Callboy und ein paar Nummern zu groß für Ian. Der bezaubernde, aber geldgierige David würde sich nie mit einem Mann wie Ian abgeben, der nicht die Mittel hat, ihn zu umwerben.

Dennoch beachtet David Ian eines Tages nicht nur, er berührt ihn, flirtet mit ihm und fordert ihn geradezu auf, ihn seinem Gönner abspenstig zu machen. Aber David kann niemanden zu nahe an sich heranlassen. Ian weiß nicht viel über Davids Vergangenheit und das, was er nicht weiß, kann ihnen beiden schaden.

Ian sagt, dass Davids Vergangenheit keine Rolle spielt, aber als er David mit einem älteren Mann sieht, nimmt er sofort das Schlimmste an. Beide Männer müssen sich der Wahrheit stellen, um einander nicht endgültig zu verlieren.

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1

DIE FLASCHEN klirrten leise, als ich sie zum gefühlt vierzigsten Mal neu arrangierte. Ich bekam es einfach nicht hin. Ich wusste nicht, warum. Normalerweise hatte ich dieses Problem nicht, aber heute konnte ich scheinbar nicht geradeaus schauen. Alles sah verkorkst aus. Die Flüssigkeit sah unter den Bühnenscheinwerfern nicht wie Likör aus und die Stielgläser hatten Flecken, obwohl einer meiner Helfer sie poliert hatte. Zweimal.

„Du musst die größte am Ende wegnehmen.“

Die leise Stimme überrollte mich, jagte Gänsehaut über meine Arme und ließ andere Körperteile zucken. Die Härchen in meinem Nacken begannen zu kitzeln und ich drehte mich um. „Bist du jetzt Requisiteur, David?“

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Der Mann, der mich angesprochen hatte, lächelte und ich hatte Mühe, ein Stöhnen zu unterdrücken, als er eine Hand in die vordere Tasche seiner sehr kurz abgeschnittenen Jeans steckte. Sein nordirischer Akzent unterschied ihn von allen anderen hier und kroch über meine Haut wie die herausfordernde Berührung eines Liebhabers. Er machte mich wahnsinnig.

Ich lehnte mich an, sodass mein Hintern auf der wackligen Theke ruhte, von der ich gerade versuchte, sie nach einem irischen Pub aus den Fünfzigern aussehen zu lassen. Zumindest konnte ich in der Position die wachsende Beule in meinen Jeans tarnen.

„Ich hänge nur rum und langweile mich.“

„Das ist ein gewerkschaftlich geregelter Job.“

Er nickte und kletterte auf die Tonbühne. Die abgeschnittenen Jeans rutschten an seinen muskulösen Oberschenkeln hoch und enthüllten ein Stück verfärbter Haut, vielleicht ein Überbleibsel eines seiner Rugby Spiele. Die Fransen mischten sich mit seiner dunklen Behaarung.

Ich schluckte hart.

„Ach pfeif auf gewerkschaftlich geregelt“, sagte er und begann meine Flaschen neu zu ordnen. Um das zu tun, musste er sich auf die Zehenspitzen stellen – er war fast einen Kopf kleiner als ich – und sich nahe zu mir beugen, denn der Platz hinter der falschen Bar war eng. Er versperrte mir mit seinem drahtigen Körper den Ausgang aus meiner Ecke. „Außerdem hinkt alles hinter dem Zeitplan her“, fuhr er fort. „Und Ricky flippt gerade aus. Und wenn er ausflippt, dann bekommt mein Arsch etwas mehr Work-out, als er braucht, weißt du?“

„Ricky.“ Ricky flippte immer wegen irgendwas aus. Er war der Manager des Senders und, meiner Meinung nach, für den Job viel zu neurotisch. Aber ich war nur ein Set Designer und sehr wenig von dem, was hier abging, fand meine Zustimmung. Jedenfalls bewirkte der Hinweis, dass dieser äußerst heiße, kokette Junge meinen Boss vögelte – oder eher, wenn man Richard Cornwall kannte, von ihm gevögelt wurde - dass meine Erektion sich sehr rasch wieder verflüchtigte.

„Hat er dich geschickt, um nach mir zu sehen?“ Ich traute dem gerissenen Kerl durchaus zu, dass er sein Spielzeug ausschicken würde, um ihm von den Vorgängen zu berichten. Richard war kein angenehmer Vorgesetzter. Ich konnte mir nicht vorstellen, womit er Davids Aufmerksamkeit verdient hatte.

„Nein, er hat mich geschickt, um etwas zu finden.“ David zuckte mit den Schultern, was sein Tank Top anhob und schlanke Hüften und eine weitere, frischere Abschürfung entblößte.

Ich war stark versucht, mit den Fingerspitzen über die Verletzung zu streichen, als könnte ich sie irgendwie lindern.

„Und außerdem wollte er mich wahrscheinlich aus dem Weg haben“, sagte David. Er runzelte leicht die Stirn, als er sich wieder auf beide Füße stellte und sich zu mir drehte. Er schob schmollend die Unterlippe vor, was in mir den dringenden Wunsch weckte, an ihr zu saugen. Seine Körperwärme strahlte bis zu mir aus, zusammen mit dem Geruch von Sex, Sägemehl und Farbe. Der Duft eines anderen Mannes an ihm hätte mich nicht antörnen sollen. Ich war nur einfach so hinüber und hatte das Gefühl, dass ich umkippen würde, wenn ich noch länger die Luft anhielt.

„‘Tschuldigung.“ Ich schob mich so an ihm vorbei, dass er ohne Zweifel wissen musste, dass ich absolut schamlos war, falls er das je bezweifelt hatte. Ich sprang von der Bühne und drehte mich nicht um, als ich ihn kichern hörte.

Ich ging zu Richards Büro. Wenn ich wusste, wonach David suchen sollte, konnte ich ihm vielleicht helfen, es zu finden. Irgendeine verdrehte Logik sagte mir, dass er dann genug Abstand hätte – von mir und meiner unterentwickelten Fähigkeit, Versuchungen zu widerstehen. Gleichzeitig hoffte ich, dass er in meiner Nähe bleiben würde, während wir suchten. Normalerweise überließ ich das Denken nicht meinem Schwanz. Normalerweise war ich aber auch nicht mit willigen, ganz und gar fickbaren Typen konfrontiert, die einen Körper wie David hatten und die nur nach einem Vorwand suchten, ihren aktuellen, übellaunigen Lover zu vergraulen. Ich machte mir keinerlei Illusionen, dass er wirklich mich wollte. Ich war nur aufgeschlossen, schwul und Single. Das machte mich brauchbar.

Ich klopfte an Richards Tür und trat ein. „Hey.“

„Hast du ihn gefunden?“ Richard drehte sich nicht um. Er durchwühlte sein eigenes Büro und suchte offenbar hektisch nach irgendwas. Ich verschränkte die Arme vor der Brust.

„Nein.“

„Geh und such im Umkleideraum. Wir haben ihn dort benutzt. Du hast gesagt, du wolltest ihn reinigen und dann zurückbringen. Ich schwöre dir, David, wenn jemand ihn findet, dann hältst du Schlampe besser deinen Mund.“

Ich grunzte und versuchte, meine Meinung zu diesem Kommentar für mich zu behalten. Dieser Arsch wusste in keinster Weise zu schätzen, was er hatte.

„Ich weiß, ich weiß. Es ist nur ein Dildo. Aber es könnte mich meinen Job kosten, wenn jemand davon wüsste, was wir so treiben. Davon abgesehen, sind Kleeblätter einfach peinlich. Keine Ahnung, warum du so ein kitschiges Teil in dir haben willst.“ Er war nun praktisch zur Hälfte in dem Stauraum unter dem Fenster verschwunden. Ich wollte nicht wissen, was für Zubehör er dort herausholen würde. Noch wollte ich mich der Versuchung aussetzen, ihn ganz hineinzuschieben und die verdammte Abdeckung zuzumachen. Von seiner Geringschätzung gegenüber dem Mann, mit dem er angeblich in einer Beziehung war, wurde mir schlecht.

Ich drehte mich wortlos um und da sah ich ihn. Ganz offen auf einem Bücherregal hinter der Tür. Ein langer, biegsamer Gummidildo mit Kleeblättern, die von grünem Flitter umrahmt waren. Unglaublich. Ich nahm ihn und ging hinaus. Ein kleiner Umweg zum Pausenraum, wo ich meine Tasche aufbewahrte und ich deponierte das Spielzeug an einem Ort, an dem es niemandem schaden konnte. Ich kehrte zu meiner Aufgabe zurück und hatte meinen Zorn über Richards völlige Missachtung seines Lovers fast unter Kontrolle. Und dieser Zorn stammte keinesfalls von meiner Überzeugung, dass ich David so behandeln würde, wie er es verdiente. Und kein Teil davon hätte auch nur im Entferntesten damit zu tun, ihn eine Schlampe zu nennen.

David war noch immer am Set, holte Gegenstände aus Kisten und bestückte die Regale hinter der falschen Bar mit gestapelten Bierdeckeln aus Pappe und glänzenden Cocktailmixern. Ich schloss mich ihm an und schob Weingläser in die Fächer über der Bar, nachdem er sie poliert hatte.

„Ich hatte den Eindruck, dass sie ein paar Flecken haben.“

Ich kicherte, dankbar, dass es nicht nur mir aufgefallen war. „Du weißt, dass du das nicht tun musst“, sagte ich.

„Ich weiß.“ Er lächelte und zeigte seine perfekten Zähne. „Aber es macht mehr Spaß, Ricky in dem Glauben zu lassen, dass ich tue, was er mir aufgetragen hat, als es tatsächlich zu tun.“

„Magst du ihn überhaupt?“

David zuckte mit den Schultern. „Rugby ist ein gutes Spiel. Kann man allerdings nicht ewig machen.“

„Und bringt dir verdammt viele Schrammen ein“, murmelte ich und strich mit der Fingerspitze über eine weitere verfärbte Stelle auf seinem Oberarm.

Er zwinkerte mir zu. „Das tut es.“ Ich nahm das Zwinkern als Hinweis, dass vielleicht nicht an allen Blessuren die Rugby Spiele schuld waren. „Deckt aber nicht so viele Rechnungen.“

„Und Ricky tut das?“

„Indirekt.“ Er stellte das letzte Glas auf die Bar und drehte sich zu mir. „Irritiert dich das? Zu wissen, dass ich mich von ihm vögeln lasse und dass er mich in noble Restaurants einlädt?“

„Ist ja nicht mein Arsch, den er fickt“, versuchte ich mich diplomatisch rauszureden.

Ich kämpfte seit Monaten mit dieser Frage. Seit er eines Nachts zum ersten Mal aus Richards Büro getrippelt war, als alle längst hätten weg sein sollen. Ich hatte einer Wohnungskulisse den letzten Schliff verliehen und hatte beobachtet, wie er aus dem Büro und über den Flur Richtung Herrentoilette gehuscht war. Er hatte seine Shorts in der Hand getragen und ausgesehen, als wäre er ziemlich hart rangenommen worden. Aber er hatte ein Grinsen im Gesicht gehabt und über seine Schulter etwas gesagt, das offenbar ein Scherz war. Das hatte mir damals Hoffnung gegeben, dass es vielleicht endlich jemanden geben könnte, der Richards scharfe Ecken und Kanten etwas abschliff.

Wir waren beide naiv gewesen, das zu glauben. Ich hatte angefangen, Tränen zu sehen, wo Richards scharfe Kanten ihre Spuren auf David hinterlassen hatten und es gefiel mir nicht.

David nickte. „Das ist wahr.“ Er machte sich wieder an die Arbeit, stapelte Teller und Becher in so kunstvollen Türmen wie in einem echten Pub. Ich konnte nicht umhin, seinen Blick für Details zu bewundern – und seinen Arsch. Dabei wunderte ich mich, wieso es mich nicht mehr störte, dass er ihn einsetzte, um seine Miete zu bezahlen. Vielleicht, weil er sich nicht dafür schämte. Er gab nicht vor etwas anderes zu sein, als er war. Diese Einstellung war attraktiv, selbst wenn seine Anstellung es nicht war.

„Du musst also denken, dass ich …“

„Scheiße.“

„Was?“ David zog die Augenbrauen hoch.

Ich deutete quer durch den Raum zu Richard, der aus seinem Büro kam. „Richard. Er hat die falsche Farbe. Rot. Steht ihm nicht so gut.“

David sah zu, wie er über das Set stürmte. „Er sieht ziemlich angepisst aus.“

„Weißt du, warum?“

Ich nahm an, er würde den vermissten Dildo erwähnen, aber er drehte sich weg und zuckte gleichgültig mit den Schultern. „Vielleicht, weil ich mich mit einem anderen Mann unterhalte?“

„Du bist nicht sicher? Dass du mit mir redest oder dass es ihn kümmert?“

Er schnitt eine Grimasse und verzog gewollt fröhlich das Gesicht zu einem breiten Grinsen, als er sich wieder zu mir wandte. Aber das Lächeln erreichte seine schönen blauen Augen nicht und es hielt ihn auch nicht davon ab, an seinem hellblauen Top zu ziehen, das seine Brust umspannte und farblich so schön zu den Augen passte. Er verfolgte Richards Bewegungen, als wartete er darauf, entdeckt zu werden. Ich konnte nicht sagen, ob er wollte, dass Richard aufsah und ihn bei mir bemerkte oder nicht.

Es tat weh, ihn zu beobachten. Er wollte der Grund für den Zorn seines Lovers sein. Es war klar, dass er wusste, dass dem nicht so war und ich setzte ein weiteres Häkchen unter die Überschrift Liste von Gründen, warum Richard ihn nicht verdient.

„So, was kommt als nächstes?“ Er riss sich zusammen und konzentrierte sich wieder auf mich.

Offenbar lautete der Plan, Richard zu ignorieren, bis wir es nicht mehr vermeiden konnten.

„Hier.“ Ich reichte ihm eine kitschige Tontafel mit einem Leprechaun, der grinsend seinen Topf voller Gold betrachtete. „Da oben, denke ich.“ Ich deutete auf den Balken über unseren Köpfen. „Du wolltest mich etwas fragen?“

Er kletterte auf die wackelige Theke und sah herunter. „Die ist nicht sehr stabil.“

Ich griff hinauf zu seiner Taille, um ihn zu stützen und er grinste.

„Schon viel besser, Ian, danke.“

„Einfach auf den Balken. Ich glaube, da ist schon ein Nagel drin.“

„Ja, ist er.“ Er ließ sich allerdings eine Menge Zeit, um das Ding aufzuhängen. Meine Lippe war schon fast wund, weil ich sie in dem Versuch, mich zu konzentrieren und meine Hände auf seinen Hüften zu lassen, zwischen meine Zähne geklemmt hatte.

„Nicht meins“, murmelte ich zu meinem Schwanz. „Nicht anfassen, gib Ruhe.“

„Wie bitte?“ Er duckte sich, legte die Hände auf meine Schultern, um sich festzuhalten, und sprang herunter. Für einen Moment hatte ich den besten und den schlimmsten Anblick, den es geben konnte. Die Shorts, die in seinem Schritt spannten, seine kräftigen Oberschenkel, behaarte Beine und das alles direkt vor meiner Nase. Das war schlimm, denn bloß gucken würde bald nicht mehr genug sein, und ich hatte kein Recht, ihn anzufassen. Er war vergeben, sehr, sehr vergeben.

„Habe ich etwas gesagt, das dich verärgert hat?“ Er stützte sich auf mich, sprang und seine Stiefel ließen den Boden des Sets mit einem hörbaren Knall erzittern. Nun stand er vor mir. Stand einfach da mit beiden Händen auf meinen Schultern und sein Atem wärmte mein Gesicht. Der Geruch von Schweiß und Sex hüllte uns ein.

„Nein“, krächzte ich und der Bastard grinste.

Er grinste! Seine Lippen verzogen sich langsam und lasziv, er verlagerte das Gewicht und seine Hüften neigten sich zu mir. „Dann frage ich mich, was du nicht anfassen sollst?“

Oh verdammt.

„N… nichts.“

„Aber sicher. Und vergiss nicht: Regeln sind dazu da, um gebrochen zu werden, ja?“

Ich nickte. „Ich wette, du brichst viele.“

Sein Grinsen verschwand langsam, aber seine Hände blieben.

„Wir sollten fertig machen.“

Ich hätte schwören können, dass er kurz davor war, mein Gesicht zu berühren. Er kam ein klein wenig näher, sah aber über die Schulter und trat abrupt zurück. „Hey Ricky!“ Er winkte an mir vorbei. „Hast du ihn gefunden?“ Sein Grinsen war etwas zu breit, um natürlich zu sein. Richard knurrte nur und ging weiter, offenbar um die Kostümabteilung zu belästigen, denn er steuerte in deren Richtung.

Mein Zorn auf Richard, der immer noch die Aufmerksamkeit dieses Mannes hatte, nach dem ich mich – gar nicht so im Geheimen – verzehrte, bewirkte, dass sich meine körperliche Reaktion beruhigte. Ich ging zur Seite, sodass David die Flaschen erreichen konnte, die ich zuvor hatte arrangieren wollen. „Hast du heute kein Training?“, erkundigte ich mich.

Er sah herüber und hätte mich fast dabei ertappt, wie ich auf seinen Arsch starrte. Das künstliche Lächeln wich einem natürlicheren. „Nein. Die Rugby Saison ist zu Ende. Im Augenblick bin ich ausschließlich ein fickbarer Twink.“

„Großer Gott.“ Ich trat zurück, stolperte über eine Kiste mit Dekorationen und landete auf der anderen Seite auf meinem Hintern. Hätte er nicht schnell reagiert und meinen Arm gepackt, wäre ich von der Bühne gefallen.

„Bist du in Ordnung?“

„Ja.“

Er zog mich mit solcher Kraft hoch, dass ich praktisch in seinen Armen landete. Verdammt, roch er gut …

COLLAPSE
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Part of the French Translations series:
Editions:Digital: $ 5.99
ISBN: 978-1-64405-506-9
Pages: 50,857

Ouvert et sans inhibitions, Ian McVeigh vit sans attaches depuis des années, alors il ne peut s’imaginer le désir inattendu et la possessivité qui s’emparent de lui en voyant pour la première fois David, un joueur de rugby sans emploi, ainsi que le nouveau jouet délicieux de son patron. David Kelly est un escroc et bien trop beau pour remarquer Ian, un homme avec trop peu de moyens pour le charmer.

Mais un jour, David ne fait pas que le regarder, il le caresse, flirte et fait tout pour inviter Ian à prendre la place de son sugar daddy. Mais sera-t-il capable de se libérer des murs qu’il a bâtis autour de lui ? Ian ne connaît pas beaucoup le passé de David et ce qu’il ignore pourrait les blesser tous les deux.

Ian dit que le passé de David importe peu, mais quand il le voit avec un autre homme d’âge mûr, il saute tout de suite aux conclusions. Les deux hommes devront affronter la vérité ou risquer de se perdre pour de bon.

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I

LES BOUTEILLES résonnaient légèrement pendant que je les réarrangeais pour la quarantième fois. Je n’y arrivais pas et je ne comprenais pas pourquoi. D’habitude, je n’avais pas ce genre de problèmes, mais aujourd’hui je ne réussissais pas à me concentrer. Ma vision semblait me faire défaut : le liquide dans les contenants ne ressemblait plus du tout à de l’alcool sous les projecteurs du plateau de tournage et toutes les coupes semblaient tâchées même si je les avais lavées à la main à deux reprises déjà.

— Vous devez bouger la plus grosse bouteille au fond.

Le roulement grave de cette voix me frappa de plein fouet, me faisant frissonner, certains de mes muscles se contractant. Les poils sur ma nuque se redressèrent et je me tournai.

— Vous êtes un expert pour monter les décors maintenant, David ?

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L’homme qui m’avait adressé la parole me sourit et je pus à peine contenir un gémissement en le voyant rentrer ses mains dans les poches de son très court short en jean. Son accent irlandais était différent de tous ceux du coin et caressait ma peau comme un amant le ferait. Il me rendait fou.

Je me penchai afin de pouvoir poser mes fesses sur le comptoir bancal que j’essayais de faire sortir tout droit d’un bar irlandais des années cinquante. Au moins, positionné ainsi, je pouvais dissimuler la bosse dans mon pantalon.

— Je suis seulement un parasite qui se cherche quelque chose à faire, répondit David. Besoin d’aide ?

— Vous êtes libre de faire ce que vous voulez.

Il acquiesça et monta sur le plateau, ce qui permit à son petit short de remonter sur ses cuisses musclées, révélant un bleu sur sa peau délicate. Certainement un souvenir d’un de ses matchs de rugby. Les franges du denim coupé se confondaient avec sa pilosité foncée.

Je ravalai un autre gémissement devant ce spectacle.

— On est toujours libre de faire ce qu’on veut, me dit-il en arrangeant les bouteilles.

Il dut monter sur la pointe des pieds pour y arriver, puisqu’il mesurait une bonne tête de moins que moi. Le bar factice était minuscule, il se colla donc légèrement contre moi tout en bloquant la sortie avec son corps musclé tout en finesse comme celui d’un nageur.

— Tout est toujours en retard par ici, continua-t-il. Et Ricky est toujours en train de paniquer pour quelque chose. Et quand il panique, mon cul se prend une raclée plus importante que nécessaire, vous comprenez ?

— Ah oui, Ricky.

Ricky était le directeur du plateau, un boulot beaucoup trop stressant pour une personne nerveuse comme lui, si vous vouliez mon avis. Mais j’étais un simple concepteur de décor et peu de choses dépendaient de mon opinion. Cependant, le rappel que cet homme sexy et charmeur baisait mon patron – ou plutôt, connaissant les habitudes de Richard Cornwall, se faisait baiser par lui – s’occupa de mon érection assez vite.

— Est-ce qu’il vous envoie me surveiller ?

Cela ne m’aurait pas trop étonné de la part de cette petite fouine de demander à son garçon du moment d’espionner le plateau. Richard n’était pas un très bon patron et je ne comprenais pas pourquoi David s’abaissait à son niveau.

— Non, il m’a envoyé chercher un truc, me dit David en haussant légèrement les épaules, dévoilant un autre pan de peau lui aussi recouvert d’une ecchymose.

Je ressentis l’étrange besoin de me pencher vers lui pour caresser la marque, comme pour soulager sa douleur.

— Et j’imagine, poursuivit David en fronçant les sourcils, pour se débarrasser de moi en même temps.

Il se replaça confortablement sur ses pieds et se tourna vers moi. La moue qui étirait ses lèvres me donnait envie d’écraser ma bouche contre la sienne. Je sentais contre ma peau la chaleur de son corps et je réussissais même à percevoir les effluves de sexe, de sciures de bois et de peinture qui émanaient de lui. Le parfum d’un autre homme sur sa peau n’aurait pas dû m’allumer ainsi, mais mon corps avait trop envie du sien pour s’en soucier. Ne pouvant plus retenir ma respiration sous peine de m’évanouir, je dus planifier ma sortie :

— Excusez-moi, lui dis-je en me faufilant derrière lui sans pouvoir m’empêcher de le frôler.

La bosse dans mon pantalon, qui était plus que jamais de retour, avait certainement fini de le convaincre que j’étais complètement obsédé. Je sautai hors du plateau sans me retourner, même en entendant son petit rire.

Je me dirigeai prestement vers le bureau de Richard. Peut-être que si je savais ce que David devait retrouver pour lui, je pourrais l’aider à le chercher. Une petite voix intérieure me disait que je pouvais ainsi m’éloigner de lui et arrêter de mettre à l’épreuve ma maigre capacité à résister à la tentation. Mais une autre me susurrait en même temps que je pourrais me coller contre lui pour le bien de notre recherche. D’habitude, j’essayais de ne pas penser seulement avec ma queue, mais je n’étais pas non plus souvent confronté à un homme avec un corps aussi sexy que celui de David qui cherchait une simple excuse pour rendre jaloux son amant irritable du moment. Je ne me faisais pas d’illusions, je savais bien qu’il ne me voulait pas pour ma personne. Il voulait simplement un homme gay célibataire et j’étais le premier sur sa route.

Je cognai à la porte de Richard.

— Hé.

— L’as-tu trouvé ? demanda Richard sans se retourner.

Il fouillait son bureau frénétiquement à la recherche de quelque chose.

— Non, lui répondis-je en croisant mes bras sur ma poitrine.

— Va vérifier dans la loge. Nous l’avons utilisé là une fois et tu avais dit que tu allais le laver avant de le ramener. Je te jure, David, si quelqu’un d’autre le trouve, tu feras mieux de fermer ta petite bouche de suceur.

Je grognai pour essayer de contenir mon avis sur ce commentaire désobligeant. Ce salaud n’avait aucune idée du joyau qui lui appartenait.

—Je sais, je sais, ce n’est qu’un godemichet. Mais ce jouet pourrait me faire virer si quelqu’un savait ce que nous faisions ici. En plus, les petits trèfles dessus sont gênants. Je ne comprends vraiment pas pourquoi tu voulais jouer avec quelque chose d’aussi ringard.

Il fouillait maintenant dans le banc de rangement en dessous de la fenêtre et y était à moitié enfoui. Je n’avais aucune envie de découvrir quels autres accessoires pouvaient s’y cacher et je ne voulais pas non plus succomber à la tentation de le pousser pour qu’il y rentre au complet. Son mépris pour l’homme avec qui il était prétendument en couple me dégoûtait.

Je me retournai pour partir sans lui adresser un mot. C’est à ce moment que je l’aperçus, juste là où tout le monde pouvait le voir, sur la bibliothèque derrière la porte. Un long gode en caoutchouc flexible, recouvert de paillettes vertes et de trèfles. Incroyable. Je le mis dans ma poche et m’en allai.

Je fis un petit détour par la salle de repos pour le déposer dans mon sac où il ne ferait de mal à personne. Je retournai là où j’étais supposé être depuis le début, en relatif contrôle de ma colère qui avait surgi devant le manque complet d’empathie dont Richard faisait preuve pour son amant. Ce que je ressentais n’avait aucun lien avec la petite pensée qui me titillait – que jamais je n’aurais traité David de la sorte. Pas du tout.

David était encore sur le plateau à placer le contenant des différentes boîtes sur le bar et sur les étagères l’entourant. Des sous-verres en carton et des shakers argentés garnissaient maintenant la scène, je le rejoignis donc pour continuer le travail en glissant des verres à vin que David venait de terminer de nettoyer une dernière fois dans les crochets au-dessus de nos têtes.

— Les coupes étaient encore un peu tachées, je crois.

Je laissai échapper un petit rire, content de ne pas l’avoir imaginé.

— Vous savez que vous n’avez pas besoin de m’aider, lui dis-je.

— Je sais, me répondit-il en souriant et en laissant entrevoir ses dents parfaites. Mais c’est beaucoup plus drôle de laisser Ricky croire que je fais ce qu’il veut, que de le faire réellement.

— Est-ce que vous l’appréciez au moins ?

— Le rugby est un jeu intéressant, mais qui ne dure pas longtemps, rétorqua-t-il en haussant les épaules.

— Et il vous donne des bleus à n’en plus finir aussi, marmonnai-je en effleurant du bout des doigts une autre ecchymose sur son avant-bras.

Il me lança un clin d’œil avant d’ajouter :

— Oh, pour ça, oui !

Son ton laissait clairement entendre que le rugby n’était pas le seul responsable de ses blessures.

— Ça ne paie pas beaucoup, cependant.

— Et « Ricky », lui, il paie bien ?

— Indirectement, oui, dit-il en posant le dernier verre sur le bar. Ça vous dérange ? Savoir que je le laisse s’amuser avec mon corps et m’inviter au restaurant ?

— C’est avec vous qu’il s’amuse, pas avec moi, lui répondis-je en essayant de rester poli.

Cette question me hantait depuis des mois maintenant. Depuis la première fois que je l’avais vu se faufiler hors du bureau de Richard un soir alors que tout le monde était parti, en fait. J’apportais les touches finales au décor d’un des appartements quand je l’avais aperçu partir en vitesse du bureau jusqu’aux toilettes des hommes, son pantalon à la main, avec l’air d’un homme qui avait été bien utilisé.

Mais il avait le sourire aux lèvres à ce moment-là, et les plaisanteries qu’il avait lancées par-dessus son épaule m’avaient donné l’espoir qu’il était peut-être capable d’adoucir quelqu’un comme Richard.

Nous avions tous les deux été bien naïfs de croire qu’il en était capable. Je commençais à voir à quel point David souffrait de la présence de son amant.

David finit par hocher la tête pour me signifier que c’était le cas, que c’était bien lui qui batifolait avec Richard et personne d’autre. Il se remit au travail, plaçant des assiettes et des tasses avec goût pour leur donner l’air d’appartenir à un vrai pub. Je ne pouvais qu’admirer son œil pour les détails. Et son derrière. Ce qui m’amena à me demander pourquoi je n’étais pas plus fâché qu’il l’utilise pour payer son loyer. Peut-être parce qu’il n’en avait pas honte. Il n’essayait pas d’être quelqu’un d’autre que lui-même et cette attitude était très sexy, beaucoup plus que sa manière de gagner de l’argent, disons.

— Je sais que vous devez penser que…

— Merde, l’interrompis-je.

— Quoi  ? demanda David en fronçant les sourcils.

Je pointai du doigt l’autre bout de la pièce où Richard venait d’émerger de son bureau.

— C’est Richard. Son visage est de la mauvaise couleur. Rouge. Ça ne va vraiment pas bien à son teint.

— Il est en colère, c’est certain, commenta David en le regardant traverser la pièce en grandes enjambées.

— Vous savez pourquoi ?

J’imaginai qu’il allait suggérer la disparition de son jouet sexuel, mais il pivota plutôt vers moi en haussant nonchalamment les épaules.

— Parce que je parle à un autre homme ?

— Vous n’en êtes pas certain ? Parce que vous ne savez pas s’il trouve ça si important que vous me parliez ou parce que vous ignorez s’il s’en fait pour vous tout court ?

Une grimace transforma ses traits pendant une seconde, puis il attacha un faux sourire à ses lèvres en se retournant vers moi. Ses yeux ne montraient aucune émotion. Ils ne faisaient que suivre la progression de Richard dans la pièce, comme si David souhaitait qu’il le remarque. Je le regardai tirer sur son haut bleu d’une telle façon que ses abdos y étaient parfaitement dessinés, sans arriver à savoir s’il voulait vraiment que son amant lève les yeux sur lui.

Le regarder ainsi était douloureux. Il voulait que la colère de son amant soit à propos de lui. Il était pourtant évident que ce n’était pas le cas, ce qui me fit ajouter une raison à la liste grandissante de pourquoi Richard ne le méritait pas.

— Bon, que faisons-nous maintenant ? demanda David en s’arrachant à sa piteuse distraction.

Apparemment, nous allions ignorer Richard autant que possible.

— Tenez, lui dis-je en lui tendant une plaque gravée d’un farfadet et de sa marmite pleine d’or. Nous allons l’accrocher juste là, sur le poteau au-dessus de votre tête. Mais vous vous apprêtiez à dire quelque chose ?

Il grimpa sur le comptoir branlant et baissa la tête vers moi.

— Ce n’est pas vraiment stable, dites-moi.

Je tendis les bras pour le tenir par la taille et il me sourit.

— Beaucoup mieux, merci Ian.

— Juste là sur ce poteau. Il y a déjà un clou, je crois.

— En effet.

Il prit son temps pour accrocher la décoration, tellement qu’il ne restait plus grand-chose de ma lèvre à force de la mordiller pour me concentrer à garder ma main là où elle devait être, sur sa hanche, et nulle part ailleurs.

— Il n’est pas à moi, marmonnai-je à la bosse qui déformait maintenant mon pantalon. On ne le touche pas, alors contrôle-toi un peu.

— Qu’est-ce que vous dites  ?

Il se pencha et posa ses mains sur mes épaules pour s’aider à descendre. Pendant un instant, j’eus à la fois la meilleure et la pire vue de ma vie. Son short très court mettait en valeur son entrejambe et me permettait en même temps d’admirer ses longues jambes. C’était terrible parce que, sous peu, seulement regarder ne serait plus suffisant et je n’avais aucun droit de le toucher. Il était pris par quelqu’un d’autre.

— Est-ce que j’ai dit quelque chose pour vous énerver ?

Il se rapprocha encore plus de mon corps avant de se donner un élan pour atterrir sur le sol. En un instant, il se tenait devant moi, les mains encore sur mes épaules et son souffle caressant mon visage. Un parfum de sexe et de sueur nous entourait.

— Non, pas du tout, réussis-je à répondre d’une voix rauque qui le fit sourire.

Il se moquait de moi ! Son sourire paresseux en coin me narguait en même temps que ses hanches s’inclinaient vers moi.

— Mais alors, qu’est-ce que vous ne devez pas toucher ? C’est ce que je me demande.

Oh, merde.

COLLAPSE
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By

Wheels and Heels

Book Cover: Wheels and Heels
Part of the Stories From the Hen and Hog series:
  • Wheels and Heels
Editions:Digital: $ 3.99
ISBN: 978-1-62649-702-3
Pages: 70,300
Print: $ 17.90
ISBN: 978-1-62649-703-0
Pages: 265

As a teenager, Ira Bedford fled a troubled home life and people who didn’t understand his penchant for feminine things. In the city, he fell in with Cedric, who found him work as an underage stripper. It took him years to escape Cedric’s influence and try to build a life of his own.

Now, he just wants to be left alone to create his art. But Cedric’s on-going harassment means Ira had to drop out of art school, is squatting in a friend’s apartment, and is still relying on his allure as a sexy, skirt-wearing exotic dancer to pay his bills.

Then he meets Jed. Part-time bartender and the apartment building’s superintendent, Jed is just the right mix of strong, kind, and protective to pull Ira out of hiding. He also welcomes Ira into his chosen family at the Hen and Hog Pub. But Ira yearns for more. Still, he doesn’t dare to hope that Jed will want him and his questionable past, his skirts and high heels, his hang-ups, and the profession he seems unable to escape. But Jed will do anything to prove him wrong.

Published:
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
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Safe and Sound

Book Six

Overcoming past hurts and letting love back in sometimes means reinventing everything about yourself, and sometimes means loving who you already are despite the jagged edges.

Rikki’s past is ugly, painful and full of blood. Simon is getting over a lover who only saw him for his uses, but had no use for his heart. From the outside, they seem like a disaster waiting to happen.

From the moment Simon moves into the same house, they seem to be exactly what the other needs. Except for one small detail. Simon has never been—or wanted to be—the one in charge in the bedroom. And Rikki doesn’t trust himself to keep Simon safe. So when Simon demands independence in all other things, Rikki is sure he’ll have to accept a life of solitude and hold himself inside his cold shell.

Meanwhile, as Simon waits for Rikki to bring the heat, his old lover is still hoping to use him one more time. Rikki is going to have to trust his instincts—and all the deadly skills he’s grown to loathe and fear—to keep his Simon safe.

Published:
Publisher: Titles Currently Out of Print
Genres:
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Excerpt:
Reviews:Beth Jumper on Open Skye Book Reviews wrote:

"I liked this story and will go back and look for the rest of the series."
4 out of 5 stars


Permanent Ink

Book Cover: Permanent Ink
Editions:Digital - Second Edition: $ 3.99
ISBN: 978-1-63477-779-7
Pages: 17,970

Beauty is only skin deep, but some marks—and what they represent—are impossible to escape.

Eric resents his comfortable college life and the restrictions his family’s expectations put on him. Dwayne, his best friend Angel’s cousin, is a pierced and tattooed ex-con trying to rebuild his life. Eric sees only the tattoos and the way Dwayne’s upbringing have dictated his future. It takes a surprising revelation from Angel to force Eric to see past Dwayne’s defenses to the generous heart beneath and to realize it’s time for him to break free of his own instilled beliefs. The men can’t keep apart, and they gradually learn that everything they thought they knew about each other might be wrong.

Opposites attract as two men from very different backgrounds move from enemies to lovers in a story of understanding, compassion, and redemption.

First Edition published by Pink Petal Books, 2011.

Published:
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Excerpt:

THE SLAM of the back door closing rattled the kitchen cupboards, jerking Eric out of the slug-like sleep of the overindulgent. A low, throaty “Fuck you too, asshole” in a voice he didn’t immediately recognize drove away some of the fog. The heavy snarl of a muscle car engine outside and the squeal of tires dissipated the rest. Still. He wasn’t ready to open his eyes. Not quite yet.

He grimaced as he rolled over. Even that amount of movement reminded him why he shouldn’t have gone to the bar with Angel after they’d lost the game by two stinking baskets last night. Why he’d agreed to crash at his teammate’s dumpy apartment was now far beyond him. He always ended up on the too short couch with his feet hanging over the arm. Rooms went to couples, and since Marcus had basically shut him down at Christmas, not only was he not part of a couple, he was done with guys. The whole scene no longer interested him.

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His own bed in his own apartment, now that interested him. He’d give a lot for it right about now. His bed, his blackout curtains, and the nice, soft comforter that actually covered all of his extra-long frame defined heaven for him in his current agony. The ache of sunlight pressed on his closed eyes, warmed the air around his head, and baked his brain. His already pickled brain. He let out a low, miserable moan.

“Wakey, wakey.” A hard slap on his ass jerked him to sitting.

“What the fuck! Oh Jesus.” He doubled over and braced his head between his hands. That pain momentarily eclipsed the lingering smart of the slap.

His outburst and subsequent collapse earned a chortle from the interloper. Dwayne. He might be Angel’s cousin, but they were nothing alike. Angel was studious and determined. Dwayne had a part-time bike courier job and who knew what he did with the rest of his time. Angel was clean-cut, down-to-earth, and generous. Dwayne, covered in tattoos, was perpetually scowling and irritating, filling up Angel’s space with his there-ness.

Now, he plopped down on the couch beside Eric with a little wince. “Fuck me, my ass is sore,” he muttered.

Eric peered at him from between his fingers. “Why do I need to know that?”

A tiny leer played about Dwayne’s lips. He observed Eric from the corner of his eye, dark brown glittering at him from between lush black lashes. A gold barbell piercing through his eyebrow shone in the sunlight, and a shard of diamond in his nose, bright against his dark skin, blazed a spear of sunlight into Eric’s eyes.

Eric curled a lip and yanked the blanket he’d had wrapped around him out from under Dwayne’s ass. “Fuck off.”

“Baby. So hostile.” He grinned as he wrapped a strong, calloused hand around the back of Eric’s neck and squeezed.

Eric told himself the flash of white teeth from between those full lips was not what made his morning wood pulse in his loose boxers. The scrape of rough skin across his nape was annoying, not arousing. He balled the blanket up in his lap.

Dwayne yanked on him, and he almost toppled into his lap. “Little twinge just means I got some action.” He wiggled his tongue out and clicked the piercing in the tip against his teeth. “You got the couch again, I see.”

Eric shoved Dwayne’s hand off him. “Excuse me for having some fucking standards,” he snarled, scrubbing a hand through hair he knew would be standing out in messy blond spikes across his head.

“Oh, darlin’, you keep tellin’ yourself that.” Dwayne laughed.

“You are a fucking train wreck waiting to happen.”

“And you have a potty mouth this morning, Eric Sinclair. What’s wrong? Got a stiffy and no one to take care of it for you? Again? And here I thought all you had to do was bat those baby blues and people fell at your feet begging.”

“Eat shit,” Eric muttered. He would have gotten up, walked away, but why confirm Dwayne’s speculation? About the stiffy, not about people falling at his feet. He had his share of offers. Last night at the bar had been no exception. But unlike Dwayne, he wasn’t interested in a hookup who saw blond hair, blue eyes, and a bank account and didn’t care what went on in his head.

“Aw.” Dwayne patted his knee. “Pretty boy didn’t get any nibbles last night?” He waggled that tongue again, and his hand slid upward. “Maybe you just need to loosen up. Not think so hard. It can be a strain, using so many brain cells all at once.”

Was it less insulting that Dwayne at least mocked him to his face? His head gave a vicious throb, and he moaned.

Dwayne just grinned lasciviously with more tongue action. The piercing there did not make Eric wonder what else was modified, or curb his desire to palm himself at the images that popped into his head.

Seriously? Fantasies about this asshole?

“Go wash your john off. That’s disgusting.” Eric gave him a halfhearted shove, trying hard to ignore the zing of electric heat that shot up his arm as his palm contacted Dwayne’s sweat-slick bicep.

Dwayne sighed and shook his head. “Manners, darling.” He got up and sashayed off to the bathroom.

Eric groaned and flopped over into the empty space. Thank God the horrific smells of stale beer and old pizza overpowered the lingering scent of sex and Dwayne. Still, he kept his cheek pressed to the soft pillow and closed his eyes, letting his imagination go a bit. No way would Dwayne ever know Eric entertained even the slightest thought involving him, or what it might be like to run his fingers over his cornrows. Or how easy it would be to get into the sagging pants he always wore. Or what he might look like under them, because he didn’t carry himself like some of the other out-of-shape swaggering thugs in the neighborhood. But Dwayne never had to know he thought about those things. “Or his tongue. Or his cock. Fuck!” He swore into the couch cushions twice more for good measure.

“What?” Angel had entered the room in his customary silent fashion. He nudged Eric’s head. “Move over.”

“Nothing.” Eric righted himself and looked up Angel’s long, lanky frame.

Angel grinned down at him, one steaming cup of coffee in each hand. Somehow his smile, set against his dark features, was not quite as brilliant as Dwayne’s. “You got the couch again. I’m tellin’ ya, bro, your standards are too high.”

“No, they’re not.” Marianne, Angel’s girlfriend since high school, nestled herself in between Angel and the arm of the couch, her own cup of tea in hand. “Baby, his only standard is anyone he can’t have.”

Eric took the coffee Angel handed him and blew across the top. “That is not true.”

“It is.” She leaned forward to see him, and her long black tresses tumbled over her shoulder and into Angel’s lap. “You remember Annabelle Peters in twelfth grade?”

“She was hot,” Angel reminded her, earning himself a good slap.

“She was also practically married to Simon, even then. If I recall, you lusted after him too. I hear they just had twins. What does that make? Five now?” She picked up her tea bag by the string to dunk it up and down in the steaming water.

“He was hot too,” Eric mumbled, his bottom lip never leaving the warmth of his mug.

“What about what’s-his-name in first year that time?” Angel asked.

“Steven,” Marianne supplied. “Mmm-mm. Gor-geous.” This time she got the slap, which made her squeal.

“And so straight he made Indiana Jones look like a flamer,” Angel added. “And don’t forget Carrie-Anne.”

“Who was not straight,” Eric conceded.

“And then there’s Marcus….” The way Marianne trailed off made Eric wince. “Too soon,” she whispered, and sipped her drink.

“Too soon,” Eric agreed. If anyone ever asked, he’d say he wasn’t that invested in Marcus, so it didn’t matter that Marcus chose someone else over him. But Marianne and Angel didn’t ask. They didn’t have to because they knew him and knew the rejection had smarted more than he wanted to admit.

“You gotta pick someone who’s available, man.” Angel shook his head, then sipped his coffee as he sank back against the lumpy couch cushions. “That’s a disturbing pattern you got going on.”

“There’s no pattern.” Eric protested his friends’ assessment of his love life, but in fact, he had to wonder if maybe they weren’t at least a little bit right. He’d known Marcus was more invested in his ill-advised relationship with one of the professors than he was in his flirtation with Eric. Now Marcus had his teacher, and Eric had a hangover and Angel’s lumpy couch. But Marcus looked happy, which he hadn’t done in a long time. Eric had to credit that to something.

“You know,” Marianne said, once again peering at him around her boyfriend and drawing his attention back to the sun-warmed living room and his hangover, “there is someone I can think of who wants you bad. And he’s available.” She raised one manicured eyebrow over her almond-shaped eye and grinned a sharp, wicked little grin. “I hear his tongue isn’t the only thing he has pierced.”

“Oh fuck no!” Eric took a deep swallow of his coffee. It burned all the way down, but that didn’t stop his mind from shooting straight to the gutter and his heart shooting straight into his throat.

“She’s right.” Angel lolled his head around to look at Eric. “Dwayne’s got a major boner for you, dude.”

“That asshat gets a boner for anyone with a toy to shove up his ass. No, thank you. Pierced or not, no idea where that’s been. Ain’t gettin’ anywhere near me.”

Angel sucked in a breath between his teeth. “Harsh.”

“Truth.”

“You aren’t exactly Mr. Upstanding, there, Eric,” Marianne pointed out. “The Marcus fiasco might have slowed you down some, but you’ve had your fair share.”

“Compared to him? I’m the fucking queen mother.”

“You don’t know shit about me.” Dwayne’s words dropped like tiny lead balloons from over the back of the couch.

“Fuck me,” Eric whispered, reluctant to turn around and face Dwayne. Angel craned around, and Marianne set her tea down.

“Dwayne.” She started to get up as Eric at last turned to face him.

Dwayne waved her back. “No, no, don’t get up, sweetness. You kids have a nice slagfest.” He was fully dressed and strapping on his bike helmet. “Some of us work for a living. Days like this”—he wiggled his ass—“being a bike courier just sucks, ya know?” He winked at Eric. “I’ll see you later, sweetcheeks.” He left out the kitchen door, closing it softly behind him.

“Jesus Christ.” Eric flumped back down the right way round on the couch.

“If it’s true,” Angel said quietly, bringing his coffee back to his lips, “no harm saying it, right? You’re just being real.”

Eric snorted. Angel always had a way to point out his mistakes without really saying he’d done anything wrong and still making him feel like shit about it. The last person Eric wanted to owe an apology to was Dwayne Sayer. “Look, Angel—”

“Don’t tell me, sweetcheeks.” He offered Eric his tightest, meanest grin. “Piercings and tattoos and fashion you don’t agree with don’t make a guy a thug.” He stood up and held his hand out to Marianne. “And liking sex doesn’t make him a slut any more than it does you.”

Eric wanted to glare at him, maybe tell him off. But he was right.

Angel shrugged. “Just sayin’.”

Marianne took his hand and got rather more gracefully to her feet. She smiled, leaned over, and kissed Eric’s forehead. “You’re all right, hon. Just apologize. I’m sure he won’t hold it against you.”

Trouble was, part of Eric wanted Dwayne to hold it against him and stay the hell away. Another part of him wanted Dwayne to hold that hot, hard bike courier’s body against his. He just wasn’t sure which part was bigger.

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Amy on Amy's MM Romance Revews wrote:

An interesting look into race, oppression, and misconceptions, Permanent Ink is definitely a short and worthwhile read.

See the link above for the full review.

Serena Yates on Rainbow Book Reviews wrote:

"...if you’re looking for a thought-provoking read about friendship, love, and redemption, then you will probably like this novella. "

For teh full review, see the link above.


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Like Heaven on Earth

Book Three

Book Cover: Like Heaven on Earth
Editions:Digital: $ 6.99
ISBN: 978-1-63477-574-8
Pages: 68,160
Print: $ 14.99
ISBN: 978-1-63477-573-1
Pages: 204

Cobalt Winslow lost two loves when his ex-boyfriend, Calvin Denvers, infected him with HIV, taking his health and his place as principal danseur in their New York ballet company when Cobalt became too weak. Now dealing with the aftermath as best he can, Cobalt teaches dance in Toronto with the support of his oldest friends, Conrad and Peridot. The one bright spot in his life is Malory Preston, his brother’s driver and a man who is always there when Cobalt needs him. Kind and attentive, Preston embodies everything Calvin lacks, but Cobalt can’t let go of his unhealthy, long-distance relationship with his ex.

Calvin brings a messy and violent end to their affair, but offers a chance for Cobalt to return to New York—as Calvin's understudy—just when he's on the verge of a real and lasting relationship with Preston. Now Cobalt faces a choice between two loves: dancing and Preston. Preston must show Cobalt that he has the power and support to make the life he wants and deserves, no matter what he decides.

Published:
Publisher: Author - Jaime Samms
Cover Artists:
Genres:
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Excerpt:

OUTSIDE THE community center, Preston paused on the steps to take in a lungful of fresh air. Despite the cold slush on the sidewalks and the scent of uncovered thawing garbage not yet cleared by the street sweepers, it felt like spring was well and truly on the way. The cold, dry bite of winter chill more and more often gave way to the sweeter, softer hit of damp spring air.

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He smiled to himself. It would be good when that dampness evaporated. The sooner the better. It put an ache in his own crooked legs and a burden on Cobalt’s overworked system. At least here, with the lake effect off Lake Ontario south of the city, the Canadian winter didn’t last as long as it did out west, where he had last danced. He was glad Cobalt had come home for that reason alone. It didn’t hurt that he now had firsthand knowledge of how his boss’s younger brother was doing. Not knowing if he was staying healthy, looking after himself, had been… wearing.

“Hey, Preston.” The voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he glanced up.

“Adam. Hello.”

Adam’s happy grin widened. “You bring Cobalt his dinner?”

Preston gave a curt nod.

“Did he tell you off again?” Adam’s younger brother, Matt, clapped him on the shoulder, a wide, sympathetic expression on his face.

Preston grimaced and wasn’t quick enough to hide it. Something about Adam’s little brother made it impossible to keep his professional polish in place.

“Hang in there, Prest,” Matt said. “He’ll figure it out.”

Preston straightened. “Figure what out, sir?” he asked.

Matt only grinned wider as he hurried inside.

“Ignore him,” Adam advised.

“I’m sure I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Preston insisted, but Adam only gave him a knowing look. “I simply do as Mr. Azure requests and make sure Cobalt is looked after.”

“Okay.” Adam stopped on the top step, and suddenly Preston was eye to eye with the short dancer. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you drive Azure Winslow’s limo for a living.”

“Correct.”

“Since when does that include being on call for Azure’s baby brother 24-7, bringing him takeout from the organic deli, and spying from the lot across the street to make sure he has a ride home from every rehearsal?”

“I—” Preston cleared his throat, unable to stop his glance across the street to where he had parked the limo in an unobtrusive corner of the library’s parking lot. “It’s just that… his neighborhood is….” Preston stuttered to a stop.

Cobalt lived a few scant blocks from Adam’s own family home, and though these days Adam spent most of his time with his new lover in a much better neighborhood, it wouldn’t do to disparage the place he grew up.

“Sketchy?” Adam supplied.

Preston inclined his head a very small degree. “Sir.”

Adam nodded. “Yeah. I know. And I grew up there, so I’m not worried. But your Coby has no clue. It’s good you look out for him, but I think you probably should realize you’re not actually fooling anyone. Except maybe Cobalt, because clueless, like we mentioned.”

“As you mentioned,” Preston pointed out. “His… clues… perhaps lie in teaching foolish young men not to give up on a dream.” Pushing, he knew. But Adam was much closer to his station in life than Cobalt. And he had no right to bad-mouth Preston’s employer. Sort of employer. Whatever. Cobalt’s persistence in making Adam participate in the modern dance classes had helped to convince Adam not to give up dancing altogether when his dream of ballet had disintegrated. Preston felt a small amount of affinity for the younger man.

Preston knew what it meant to lose a dream the way Adam had. A different dream, perhaps, but the despair had surely felt much the same. It had been Cobalt, way back when, who had kept Preston from giving up, as well.

Adam nodded. “Okay. Good point. I’m just saying, I’m not the only one who sees how you look at him when he’s not paying attention.”

Preston said nothing. He knew Adam had caught him looking more than once. It had been kind of the young man not to rub his nose in it. At least, not until now.

“All I’m suggesting,” Adam went on, “is that maybe you try looking at him like that when he is paying attention. See what happens?”

“I’m sure it’s not my place to—”

“Yeah, well.” Adam winked. “I’m sure you’re wrong about that.”

“He comes from a very different world than you and I, sir.”

“Maybe. But he doesn’t live in that world anymore, does he? He gave all that up and chose to live a block and a half from the worst part of the city. Ever wonder why?”

Often.

“Think about it,” Adam said. “Give him a chance to look back at you. What’s the worst that can happen?” He punched Preston’s shoulder lightly and sprinted into the center.

Preston remained on the steps a moment more.

“What is the worst that can happen?” An intriguing thought.

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Like You’ve Never Been Hurt

Book Two

Book Cover: Like You've Never Been Hurt
Part of the Dance, Love, Live series:
Editions:Digital: $ 6.99
ISBN: 978-1-63477-254-9
Print: $ 14.99
ISBN: 978-1-63476-991-4
Pages: 200

About to lose the only thing he ever loved, Adam Pittaluga is at a crossroads in a dancing career that has hardly begun. He always wanted to be a ballet dancer, but now that it’s impossible, he turns to Peridot for comfort.

Peridot has been rebuilding his life after losing his ability to dance professionally, his marriage, and very nearly his daughter. He has a lot of reasons to be leery of starting something new, especially with a man as young as Adam.

Adam and Peridot have to believe that starting again can lead to love and success and that sometimes, the strength needed to love like you've never been hurt can be borrowed from unexpected places for a while. But ultimately, they must find it inside themselves to be each other’s happy ending.

To avoid more hurt, they'd miss the chance to dance altogether.

Published:
Publisher: Author - Jaime Samms
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Excerpt:

Chapter 1

 

ADAM STOOD in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and studied himself critically. What was it about him that he couldn’t manage to lead a girl through one simple ballet routine? None of the choreography had been challenging, much less beyond his capabilities. Yet he hadn’t managed to make anything of the dance.

And that had been over a year ago. He had to stop obsessing over it.

This was a new year, a new start. His own choreography during that graduating recital, with a willing male partner, had been well received. Conrad had gone out of his way to express how impressed he had been by what he referred to as Adam’s “hidden talent” for choreography, even going so far as to offer Adam an apprenticeship teaching while he saved up for school and auditioned for jobs.

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A year later, the job was a godsend, slowly filling his bank account and keeping his toes on the dance floor as he nursed a ridiculously preventable injury. It helped that he still received plenty of compliments on that first dance. He attributed the lasting impression it had on people to the chemistry and connection he’d shared with his then dance partner, Landry. In their early twenties, they had both been a few years older than the other graduating students, and that fact alone had drawn them together. The chemistry might have been due to the copious amounts of sex they’d been having. Maybe not. But the summer had passed, and Landry had moved on to a university degree involving maths and sciences and come out the end of his first year of university with great marks and a shiny new boyfriend, complete with glasses and a pocket protector. Adam, on the other hand, was still here, wondering if he was, in the end, meant to be a dancer at all.

“I’m supposed to be here,” he muttered. “So what if one guy didn’t think I was worth his time. His loss.” He could ignore the stab of—whatever it was—that made his gut twist. Landry hadn’t even been his type. Not for the long term, anyway, and now he had a life elsewhere. Adam hadn’t wanted to follow him based on the strength of one summer’s worth of good sex and not much more. Now he had a year of learning to teach dance under his belt, the respect of his mentor, and the friendship of everyone in the rapidly growing school. He liked his life. He was ready for whatever this second year of teaching might bring.

He just had to keep up the mantra, and soon enough, it would be true.

Moving with careful deliberation, he placed his hands on the barre, making certain not to put any of his weight there. He shifted his right foot, moving from first to second positon.

His first ballet teacher had a little chant for this. When he’d been knee-high and eager, the singsong—shoulders, hips, heels—had been useful to help a little kid remember where each body part should line up. He used it with the little kids when he was teaching those same basic principles. But if he was going to make a name for himself or even have a career, he had to do better than the basics. He widened his stance so his heels were out just past his hips, then did a plié, studying every minute motion in the mirror.

Knees over his toes. Tailbone curved down. Ribs held up. Shoulders back. Tummy in. Core engaged. He pushed his heels into the floor and lifted with the backs of his thighs, straightening his knees. Plié and stretch, plié and stretch. Over and over.

This wasn’t hard. He stepped back from the barre, shook out his muscles, stretched the backs of his calves, and resumed the position, toes turned out a little more than before. More pliés, more careful attention to his body, then a slightly larger turnout. Another plié.

His hip popped.

“Fuck!” He shifted his weight to his good leg and straightened, ungraceful and sweating, to shake out the offending leg. His hip popped again and he cursed on the inhale.

“Are you all right?” The hairs at the back of Adam’s neck lifted. Peridot’s deep, quiet voice sent a shudder chasing a cascade of goose bumps down his back. The echo of excitement tingled through his balls. His fingers tightened involuntarily around the wood of the barre.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

Adam flicked his gaze up to meet the steady concern in a pair of eyes so changeable, they could appear green some days, or carved from pure amber, as they looked now. The studio’s newest dance instructor, Peridot Nascimbeni watched Adam closely. He’d arrived during Adam’s last year as a student, along with his prodigiously talented then-eight-year-old daughter, who had an attitude that outstripped her ability by half. Not that she wasn’t good. She was. She was just better at making a big deal of herself.

Peridot himself was a legend in Russian ballet. His career had risen like a rocket from nothing to overnight sensation, complete with a successful ballerina wife, Karen. He’d fallen from the public eye in a hail of rumor and criticism and all but disappeared until he’d arrived at the school to teach. Now, he was back, smaller, leaner, and one would never suspect from his demeanor that any of the rumors could be true. He was probably the most down-to-earth, soft-spoken instructor Adam had ever worked with. Over the year they had been teaching together, Adam had learned an immense amount from him about effectively nurturing young talent. It was interesting the lessons in teamwork hadn’t stuck as well with Peridot’s own daughter.

“I asked you a question, boy,” Peridot said, his voice still sliding through that low register. It now held an edge that Adam couldn’t identify and that was at odds with the concern in his eyes. The paradox sent slivers of intense interest through Adam’s gut. “Are you hurt?”

“I am not a boy,” Adam chose to answer, drawing himself back up, using all his training to get the last millimeter out of his height, which still only brought the top of his head to Peridot’s chin. He was twenty-four, but his height—or lack thereof—made people forget he’d been an older student, and probably the oldest to finally graduate from Conrad’s studio. He’d come late to Conrad’s instruction, only finding his home in the studio when he was eighteen. He’d had a lot of bad habits to unlearn before Conrad would give him his final pass, which he’d earned—at last—at twenty-three. He hadn’t complained one bit. Conrad had been the very best instructor he’d ever worked with.

“Then you should be able to answer a simple question, should you not? I saw you favor your right side. Did you hurt yourself?”

“No.” Adam set his right foot on the floor properly and balanced out his weight. There was no pain. There never was. Not after the initial shock of the joint popping. It was just an oddity of how he fit together that gave him trouble every now and then when he widened his stance too far and without care. It was the main reason for his abysmal turnout that gave him so much grief.

“Are you properly warmed up for class?” Peridot asked. “I’d like you to demonstrate some of the more complicated footwork so these students can see what we are building toward.”

“I’ll get ready,” Adam mumbled. He was halfway to his customary corner of the room when Peridot spoke again.

“If you want to be treated like an adult, perhaps you shall begin by acting like an adult, yes?”

Adam felt like sticking out his tongue at the older man. He only scowled.

“A professional adult warms up slowly, making sure he’s ready before he begins exercises he knows to be problematic, and he treats every opportunity to dance with the respect it deserves. You never know when the opportunity to do what we do will be taken from you.” He met Adam’s gaze in the mirror. “Dusty is a perfect example, right under your nose, that you never can be too careful, or get complacent.”

To that, Adam had no response. All the drama with Director Conrad’s new boyfriend, Dusty, over the past year and then some had been a wake-up call. Dusty, a former dancer who had been bashed to within an inch of his life when he was fifteen, had become a fixture at the studio over Adam’s first year of teaching. His childhood trauma had left him with a permanent brain injury and a ruined knee. He was proof. It took one incident beyond Dusty’s control, a matter of minutes, and his promising career had been stolen from him. The fact he could dance at all, ten years later, was a miracle. Adam hoped the miracle held and that the surgery Dusty had scheduled would correct that decade-old knee injury.

“Of course,” Adam said softly. No one made light of such possibilities after seeing Dusty’s struggle.

“Adam.” Peridot’s voice had softened again.

It stopped Adam in his tracks, making him turn with the compelling way it wended through his entire system. That voice was going to undo him. It made him shiver and want things he had told himself over and over he didn’t truly want. Couldn’t have. Should best forget all about, because he didn’t need that kind of distraction. This was his workplace, not a pickup joint. He would have to work with Peridot, hopefully for a long time to come.

“Adam,” Peridot said again, no raised voice, no change in tenor. Just the same inexorable insistence that he would not be ignored.

Adam sighed. “Yes?” He forced himself to meet Peridot’s gaze. Even across the room, those gold-green eyes were mesmerizing. This was a battle against his own will he was never going to win.

“I mean you no disrespect. I don’t belittle you. I speak out of concern.”

“I know.”

Peridot’s formal way of speaking grated on his nerves. The guy wasn’t so much older than Adam. Well, okay, fifteen years or so might be considered an age gap. But Peridot wasn’t from the Victorian age or anything, so why he couldn’t talk like a normal person only irked Adam more. Maybe because the formality of it, the politeness, the refined cant to his words, was just another thing to tingle against Adam’s skin, as if every word had invisible fingers with which to taunt him.

“Do you?” Peridot asked. “Because some days, I think what I say is better heeded by the walls than by you.”

“You’re talking to a wall, dude. Talking. To. A. Wall.” Adam found his fingers clenched to fists in an effort to forestall the creeping mixture of excitement and regret, want and annoyance.

Peridot raised one eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “I believe I am sometimes, yes.”

“That’s the saying,” Adam snapped. “‘Sometimes I think I’m talking to a wall.’ That’s what you say to a person who’s being a dick and not listening to your good advice.” He snapped his mouth shut.

Peridot said nothing.

The silence stretched.

“I’m going to go warm up,” Adam said, losing the attitude and dropping his shoulders. “I’ll be ready for class.” He worked his fingers loose and shook out his cramped hands.

“Thank you.” Peridot’s own voice had dropped even lower, sounding defeated. “I appreciate that.”

When Adam glanced back over his shoulder, he caught only a glimpse of the older man’s back as he left the room.

What the hell was the matter with Adam? He’d volunteered to help Peridot with the adult ballet classes, so why was he so tense whenever Peridot spoke to him in so reasonable a way?

“Because you’re hot for him, you dumb fuck.” Adam pursed his lips, holding in further vulgarity. This space—the dance studio, the office, the building itself—was a sanctuary. He’d learned when he moved here as a teenager that Conrad ran a different sort of studio. A clean one. A family-oriented space where street talk and attitude were not welcome.

Adam hadn’t found it difficult to purge the blue-collar mannerisms from his speech or to clean up the street from his thoughts when he was here. Bending himself to fit the forms the people around him preferred had never been all that difficult. Not until Peridot.

Peridot Nascimbeni had changed everything, and Adam wasn’t sure he liked it.

COLLAPSE
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Like No One Is Watching

Book One

Book Cover: Like No One Is Watching
Part of the Dance, Love, Live series:
Editions:Digital: $ 5.99
ISBN: 978-1-62380-729-0

One dancer. One cleaner. Two very different worlds.

 If Conrad isn’t good enough to be a principal dancer, at least he makes a stellar teacher, stern with the kids coming through his studio, but chatty with anyone else who stands still too long.

Dusty likes the quiet spaces between words. Since a brutal beating as a teenager, he’s content to go unnoticed, reconciled to his broken brain and a dance career lost before it ever began. Cleaning Conrad’s studio is perfect for a guy who doesn’t want to be the center of anything.

Convinced if Dusty comes out from the shadows, he’ll shine, Conrad can’t seem to leave him to his simple work—or stop talking. Because Dusty not only hears him, he also listens. It’s been a long time since anyone listened.

Far from being annoyed, Dusty is drawn to the man hidden behind Conrad’s babble. But Conrad has the life Dusty never got to have, and wanting someone from that world could shatter him all over again.

This book was previously published. The story has not changed, but this version includes the short story Out of Step, previously only available in the series print anthology.

Published:
Publisher: Author - Jaime Samms
Cover Artists:
Genres:
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Excerpt:

VOICES PATTERED on the periphery of his attention, spreading ripples through the still, heavy air of the dance studio. Dusty glanced over his shoulder but saw no one. The room was empty, as was the office beyond, seen through the plate-glass windows.

He sighed. “Hearing things, are you?” he said. Not that that was a new thing. Sometimes he spent so much time on his own, the world in his head and the one outside it blended together. Giving his head a shake, he bent back to his task, shoving his glasses up his nose with the pad of one thumb as he focused. “Come on, now, pretty girl,” he crooned. “This is for your own good, after all.” He gently set the clean plastic juice cup on its edge on the floor and shooed with his other hand.

His quarry scurried away from his probing finger and scuttled into the cup. Quickly, he slapped the lid in place and picked it up.

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“There you have it, darlin’. Safe and sound.” Rising off his knees, he peered past the cup’s logo to the eight-legged beauty inside as he hurried for the door. “Just put you outside where you belong and spare the little ones the trauma, yeah?”

So intent was he on his prize, he didn’t notice another person in the studio until he found himself nose-to-very-broad-chest with him.

“Is there a problem?” the man asked.

“Oh!” Dusty backed a step and looked up. “No! So sorry.” He pushed his glasses up his nose to see the man’s face better. Square jaw, aquiline nose, full, wide mouth, and lashes framing eyes that flashed, faceted and glorious, between them. “I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Dusty said, voice embarrassingly breathy. “Dusty… ah… Hatch.”

Holding out his free hand, elbow bent awkwardly in the tight space between them, Dusty scrunched his nose to keep his glasses usefully in front of his eyes.

The man didn’t seem to have a sense of personal space, but he nodded and tilted his head to one side, as though something about Dusty’s plain, acne-scarred face was incredibly fascinating. Dusty couldn’t imagine what, and the scrutiny forced heat upward to prickle at the edges of his hairline.

Then the man blinked, exaggerated, and shook his upper body as though he was about to spin off to music Dusty couldn’t hear, but he settled. Dusty noticed his eyes were actually starkly pale blue. Intense. And Dusty’s mouth went dry.

The eyes focused on the cup, tucked in close to Dusty’s chest. Sandy-brown hair flopped to one side as the man tilted his head the other way this time. “Conrad,” he said, gaze fixed on the cup. “What’s that?”

Conrad. Dusty jerked back, eyes wide. “Conrad Kosloff.” He gulped, mind filled with the endless hours he’d spent watching this man float across the ballet stage in school. He’d been a sensation even outside the ballet world for a brief time. His talent and his family’s high, moneyed profile had lit up the tabloids in Dusty’s youth, and Dusty hadn’t been immune to the beauty he embodied when he moved.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Dusty blurted, pushing the images out of his head before his brain short-circuited.

Conrad owned this dance studio, and the last cleaner, Tiffany, had said he was a bear, all growly and prowling around the periphery while she worked, watching to make sure she did everything just so, or didn’t touch that pile, or made sure those things didn’t get moved. To Dusty, he seemed more cougar-like, all sleekly built muscle beneath a tank top and dance tights, tawny skin, and those eyes, focused on him, slightly narrowed, almost predatory. Dusty’s skin tingled. He clutched the cup until the plastic crinkled under his fingers.

Conrad crossed muscled arms over his broad chest. “Did one of the girls leave that in here?” The forbidding timbre of his voice vibrated the air.

“Oh! No. Not at all.” Dusty held it up. “You had a refugee. I’m just putting her outside.”

Two fast steps and Conrad was backed up almost against the stereo table. “I see.” His voice wavered.

“Just a spider,” Dusty reassured. “A small one.”

“Right.” A quick nod. A swallow that made his Adam’s apple bob deeply. “Good.” Another step back. The stereo table rocked, and a pile of CDs clattered to the floor. Bits of plastic casing shattered and shot over the smooth hardwood. “Oh damn!” Conrad’s expletive was colored with trepidation, though.

He was afraid. Dusty schooled the grin into hiding before it made it onto his face. “Just be one sec,” he said softly, holding up a hand and angling to leave the room.

“The floor,” Conrad blurted. “Class starts in twenty minutes. Is it done?”

They both stared a moment at the clear plastic shards sprayed out from the table and Conrad gulped. “Stupid question.”

Dusty pressed his lips together. “Almost. I—”

“I’ll take it.” He held out his hand, lifted his chin, squared his shoulders. His lips tightened. “The garden, I think?”

“I can—”

“Mop the floor.”

Dusty frowned. “Of course. You don’t have to tell me my job.”

That earned him a slow blink. “It has to dry.”

“And it will. Excuse me.” He tried to go around, but Conrad’s graceful, swaying movement cut off his exit.

“I can.” Conrad waggled his fingers at the cup. “Please.”

Please what? Let him deal with a creature he was clearly uncomfortable around? But ultimately, he was the boss, so Dusty held out the cup. Conrad took it between one long finger and his thumb and held it at arm’s length; then he hurried for the side door out into the yard.

Dusty hurriedly pieced together as many of the cases as he could and swept up the remaining bits, then went back to mopping the last section of floor. It took only minutes to finish, and he wheeled the bucket to the back door of the studio. Outside, a six-foot fence had been erected to wall off a gorgeous oasis in the city’s heart. Since the studio floor was washed with plain hot water, he’d been pleased he could empty the bucket out the back door. It kept any grit out of the studio’s aging pipes and saved him having to lift the heavy thing up to the sink in the kitchen. Plus, it benefitted the plants during the more arid parts of the summer.

He would pour the water carefully over the narrow rock garden that controlled weeds and grass in the space between the wall of the building and the fence. That offered the plants on the other side of the fence a source of sustenance as the water drained under the fence and into the garden. That way, water used every day to clean a floor people could probably eat off wasn’t wasted.

As he carried the bucket off the porch to dump now, a soft murmur caught his attention. Setting the full bucket down, he peeked through the fence rails to see Conrad still holding the cup between his fingers, arm straight out from his body, lips moving.

Dusty held his breath to hear what Conrad was saying.

“Not going to hurt you, because obviously, the cute cleaning guy likes you. Just do me a favor and don’t crawl on me. Please. Pretty please.” He squinted at the spider. “God. Take off the lid and dump. Not a problem.” He pulled in a deep breath. His chest rose and fell with it. Sweat glistened in the tiny divot at the collar of his shirt.

“Oh God,” he whispered. His cheeks were pale, and he seemed to be trying to divorce his hand holding the cup from the rest of his body. “No problem. Just.” He gulped. “Take off the lid and dump.”

His strategy had only one flaw Dusty could see. If the spider was quick, she’d spin a web as she fell from the cup, and the silk would let her hang. The breeze would carry the little critter right into its erstwhile rescuer.

Dusty stepped forward, hand on the gate, ready to interrupt, but then Conrad moved fast, ripped the lid free, and upturned the cup.

His scream split the afternoon, and he jumped, probably five feet straight back, dropped the cup, and minced on feet that barely touched the ground until his tight butt fetched up against the fence.

“Easy.” Dusty rushed forward, crouched, and flicked the errant spider free of Conrad’s leg. She landed in the grass and promptly disappeared.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” Conrad was chanting under his breath, fingers clenching around the wooden slats behind him, eyes closed tight.

“Okay.” Dusty had put a hand on the side of Conrad’s thigh, about to get up, to offer some sort of reassurance, when Conrad’s eyes flew open, luminous and wide, and fixed on him.

“Is it gone?”

Dusty smiled. “She’s gone.”

“Good,” Conrad whispered, gazing down at him, freezing him in place. A heartbeat later, Conrad’s hand came free of the fence and his fingertips brushed over the back of Dusty’s hand, still on his leg.

“S-sorry.” Dusty stood so fast vertigo tilted the earth under his feet.

Conrad’s hands, unyielding but steady and gentle, gripped his upper arms, and Dusty blinked. He’d barely drawn a breath when Conrad took a step toward him, lips parted.

Like gravity, the sight of Conrad’s soft expression drew Dusty to him until Dusty touched his lips to Conrad’s. Or had Conrad done the touching? It was impossible to tell, and it made Dusty sigh out a little breath of expectancy. Then there was no air to breathe, no space, and nothing but the pressure of the kiss.

Dusty closed his eyes, ran fingers over the sides of Conrad’s face, and pressed the advantage of the gasp that ran through Conrad at the touch. He pushed his tongue into Conrad’s mouth and moved them until Conrad was pinned against the fence. Dusty had to stand on his toes to reach properly, but that didn’t stop him until they both needed to breathe.

When he stepped back, lips tingling, breath short, Conrad’s eyes were wide, and his chest heaved. His lips, red and parted, curved in a bemused smile.

“Was that meant to make me forget I just screamed like a little girl?”

“I—” Dusty took a hasty step back. He’d just kissed a complete stranger. He’d had this job for exactly three hours, and he’d tripped over a spider and kissed the man who signed his miniscule paycheck. “Oh shit.”

Conrad’s smile grew. The hand that had come to rest at the side of Dusty’s face exerted a tiny amount of pressure, thumb pad ghosting over his cheekbone and back, like he had brushed away a bit of hair….

“I’m so sorry,” Dusty blurted. “I—I didn’t mean—sir—I—”

Conrad grinned then. “You kiss me like that and then call me sir?”

“Oh God.” Dusty broke away and moved back, out of reach. “I am so sorry.” He turned and fled back inside, through the studio, and out the front door of the building. He had hiked back to his own apartment and was letting himself inside when he remembered he never had emptied the bucket of dirty floor water.

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Amy on Amy's MM Romance Revews wrote:

Like No One is Watching is a sweet and touching romance. At it's heart it's about acceptance and healing.

See the link above for the full, four-star review!


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