Monday Mancraving

Sunday Spotlight -- Stormy Glenn and the Vampire's Duty

Welcome Stormy Glenn back to Sunday Spotlight! She's here both celebrating her 10 year publishing anniversary AND sharing a bit from her new release, The Vampire's Duty.

THE VAMPIRE'S DUTY

Vampire Chronicles 4

Aldrich was the head enforcer for his vampire tribe. He'd seen the worst of humanity, both vampire and human. When he finds a sweet man in need of protection, he knows he's up for the job. Mating is something all together different. Mating requires something he doesn't have. Gentleness. Understanding. Patience. Love.

Mateo has been looking for someone to see him for a very long time. He's been through his share of jerks because of it. When the head enforcer acknowledges him, Mateo can't help but hope for something more, but when Aldrich disappears without a word, he admits defeat.

All too soon, Aldrich realizes Mateo is his mate. He isn't quite sure what to do with the sexy little man until someone goes after Mateo, and then he knows exactly what to do. Death won't come easily to his enemies because Aldrich doesn't have an ounce of compassion in his soul for those who threaten what's his.

https://www.bookstrand.com/the-vampires-duty-mm

STORY EXCERPT

Aldrich watched with a growing sense of disgust as Mateo sucked off another vampire. After weeks of watching the man flit from one vampire to the next, dropping to his knees to service someone in the tribe, he knew what he would see next.

As Mateo wiped his hand over his mouth, removing all remnants of what he had just done, he looked up at the vampire he had just sucked off with a glint of hope and desperation in his eyes.

And just like every other time, the vampire merely patted Mateo on the head and walked away, forgetting Mateo even existed the moment he turned away. Mateo would stare after him, a shimmer of tears glittering in his eyes for a moment before he blinked them away and pretended like one more dream hadn't been shattered all over the floor.

Aldrich seriously doubted anyone except him ever saw that moment of weakness on Mateo's face. Why would they? They weren't looking at his face. They never did. Aldrich would bet his entire fortune that if he asked any member of the tribe what color Mateo's eyes were, they wouldn't know.

Aldrich knew.

Mateo's eyes were golden-amber brown.

He wasn't sure what exactly had drawn the little vampire to his attention, but something had. And he hadn't been able to stop watching him since. Aldrich had seen Mateo get dismissed time and time again over the last several weeks. 

It was painful to watch. 

Aldrich couldn't stand to watch one second more. With the way Mateo went from vampire to vampire looking for acceptance, someone was going to get pissed and get into a fight. As head enforcer and second in command under Louis Redgrave, the head of security for Vaile Industries, it was Aldrich's job to keep the peace. Someone needed to take Mateo in hand before things escalated and it looked like he was going to be that someone.

"Mateo!"

Hair the color of burnt copper flopped around Mateo's face as his head whipped up, his golden-amber eyes searching the darkness until they landed on Aldrich. For a moment, he looked stunned, his mouth hanging open as if he couldn't quite believe he had been called by the head enforcer of the tribe.

"I'm waiting, Mateo." Aldrich's voice dropped an octave, ensuring that the man knew he was serious. He was in no way surprised when Mateo jumped to his feet and raced across the marble floor. An order was an order and refusing one could get Mateo in serious trouble. Aldrich pointed to the spot on the floor next to him when Mateo reached his side. "Sit."

Mateo dropped to his knees so fast that Aldrich heard them smack on the hard marble floor and winced. Damn, that had to hurt. To give him credit, Mateo didn't even whimper. He just knelt there on the floor next to Aldrich's chair and waited.

After a few moments, his shoulders slowly started to slump.

"Sit up straight, Mateo." Aldrich's tone was a little harsher than he intended, but Mateo snapped up ramrod straight, so the desired effect was accomplished. "I do not like slumping. It is lazy."

"Yes, sir." 

A low rumbling growl tangled up the air currents. Those two little words took Aldrich's intrigue and turned it into a physical awareness of Mateo that stole the very breath right out of his lungs.

Something pulled Aldrich's attention to Mateo, refusing to release him until he reached out and fisted a handful of the man's burnt-copper curls. There was a tingling in the pit of his stomach, a deep awareness that something in his life was about to take a major left turn.

Aldrich needed space before he started to hyperventilate or mauled Mateo right there in the great room, and he needed that space now. He pulled Mateo's head back until he could look down into the man's golden-amber eyes. "I don't like the smell of so many others on your skin. Go bathe."

Mateo gulped, his eyes straying to the darkened window. "Now, sir?"

Aldrich's brows pulled together in an angry frown. His silence had to speak for him because he wasn't about to repeat himself. He never repeated himself.

"But—" Mateo glanced back at Aldrich, his expression clearly saying he hoped Aldrich might change his mind. One look at Aldrich and Mateo's shoulders slumped, but just for a moment before straightening up once again. "Yes, sir."

It took all of Aldrich's control to loosen the grip he had on Mateo's hair and allow the man to stand. As much as he wanted Mateo as far away from him as possible, he wanted him close as well. He didn't understand these possessive feelings.

"Mateo."

"Yes, sir?"

"No one touches you but me."

Mateo's eyebrows were high and his eyes rounded as he nodded his head. "Yes, sir."

Aldrich had no idea what made him say that considering that nearly half the tribe had put their hands on Mateo at one point or another. But as Mateo walked away, carefully maneuvering between other tribe members to avoid touching them, Aldrich knew he had made the right choice. 

Restlessly, Aldrich stroked the arm of his chair. He turned his attention to the vampires lounging about the great room. Being the enforcer for his tribe gave him a unique viewpoint where the members were concerned. He knew their secrets, things that they would rather never came to light.

He knew who had broken the rules and skirted along the edges of the traditions they were taught from birth to adhere to, and he knew who was in danger of betraying all that they believed in as a species.

He could see the blackness in their souls. That did not make him a very popular person. He was feared by his tribe members almost as much as their prince was.

Their enemies feared him more.

My Coffee Addiction

Maintenant disponible: Kelex et April Andrews' LIÉ À LUI (Bound BDSM Club, t.1)

April Andrews et Kelex s’associent pour vous proposer deux formidables courts récits BDSM gays :

Tout droit sorti de sa cambrousse par Kelex

Levi, originaire du Texas, cherche désespérément un travail. Quand il voit une offre d’emploi sur la vitrine du Bound, un club BDSM privé, il pousse la porte, sans réaliser où il met. Lorsqu’il découvre la vérité, il se dit que, tant qu’il est payé, un barman est un barman, et ce, peu importe l’endroit où il travaille.

Seulement, le propriétaire du Bound, Alex, veut s’assurer que Levi sait dans quoi il s'embarque. Il l'introduit au monde de la soumission et manque de se perdre dans la naïveté et la passion sauvage de Levi.

L’ours de Nicky par April Andrews

Jasper a toujours trouvé les soumis qu’il souhaitait au Bound, mais, cette fois-ci, ce n’est pas du tout un soumis sur lequel il tombe. Nicky, le livreur, complètement ignorant du monde du BDSM, lui tourne la tête et fait battre son cœur.

Jasper va apprendre à Nicky tout ce qu’il sait, mais, au cours de cette nuit, ce sera peut-être lui qui finira par apprendre une leçon sur l’amour, grâce à Nicky. 

Bienvenue dans l’univers du Bound.

Twisted E-Publishing  *  Amazon FR  *  Amazon CA  *  Google Play

Monday Mancraving

That's right... hold him down (sigh)

Sunday Spotlight - Hayden West and Sagar

Welcome Hayden West back to Sunday Spotlight. Hayden is sharing a bit from the new release, Sagar (Ascension, Book 2)

****

I’m one of the Angels. My duty is to be a messenger and to watch over the mortals. I protect them. Secretly I’ve wanted to be one of the warriors, but I tell no one my wish. I have a place in the hierarchy, and I won’t challenge it.

At least not until I meet the lifeguard Dorn, who is also tasked with protecting humans. I want to be intertwined with his future, but evil is approaching, and I’m not in a position to solely protect him. I have duties.

Doesn’t stop my desire for him.

I am…

Sagar

Twisted E-Publishing  *  Amazon  *  Google Play

Chapter One

The stench of dead and decaying bodies permeated the air with a thickness not even an angel could ignore. His stomach seized, and Sagar struggled to keep his lunch down. Truthfully, most of his focus remained on keeping his pristine feathers out of the mix of entrails and blood as he moved across the carnage to where to Powers stood, talking to one another.

From all appearances the Powers weren’t fazed. Not even with the dark stains on their wings. Still, their wings didn’t hang in the muck and he didn’t want his in there either. Slanting a gaze to the angel who had been summoned with him, he sidestepped a pile of bloody mess and returned his gaze to the warriors there.

By all accounts—from what he’d heard—even the Archangels were amazed by the fighting skills of these Powers. More specifically, Danijel.

“You’re staring,” Jordan whispered.

“Hard not to. He’s a legend. They both are.”

Jordan shook his head, but there was the same look in his own eyes, which Sagar knew mirrored his. They slowed and waited for the duo to acknowledge them both. Golden eyes, the mark of a Power, looked at him. Correction, not just at him, but deep into him seeing all he was and more. It wasn’t Danijel but his fellow Power, Demuri. The one who had fallen in love with a human.

A human male.

Thoughts to focus on another time.

“Thank you for coming.” Demuri’s tone vibrated with his power, and it overflowed both of them from Jordan’s expression and his own feeling.

“How can we be of service to the Powers?”

While he posed the question to the two he found it nigh impossible to look away from Danijel. He was awe inspiring, and the legends surrounding him only added to the mystery and lore.

Danijel gave him the briefest of glances. “There were three angels here, one’s missing. There is talk you are friends.”

His stomach lurched and to him, Jordan’s expression turned a bit green to his mind. These were angels lying in nothing more than entrails and blood upon the ground? Unease skated up his spine. Why would anyone want to do this to them?

“What did this?”

Both the Powers stared at him once more. He refused to look away. Jordan had lost his food, and neither Power said anything, merely stared at Sagar. Assessing.

Correction, not merely. Nothing with these two was merely anything.

“Where would Renata be?”

He thought about it and struggled not to focus on the knowledge if they searched for Renata, lying there were her siblings that made up the triplets.

“She enjoys the beach and ocean. California’s beaches.”

“Go there.” A flicker to Jordan. “I will send another Power along. Jordan will remain here.” Demuri cracked his neck. “You come with me.” He walked away, and Sagar hastened after him, not wishing to make him tell him more than once.

They may not be in the same circles, but they all had the same boss. And Demuri was a Power. A warrior. Something Sagar had always wanted to be, in the deepest, darkest recess of his mind, that was his wish. He was always careful to keep that desire hidden from everyone. He never wanted anyone to think he wasn’t happy where he was, but in truth, he’d always wanted more. Not more power, but more. He wanted to be on the front lines.

The Power lifted from the slaughter with a powerful beat of his dark grey wings. Sagar took after him—a lot less impressive than Demuri for sure.

They flew for a while, and he had been pushed to his limit when they landed by a large home. Unsure of where they were, he gazed about as he struggled to keep his wings up as Demuri did. Sagar was strong but compared to the Power beside him, he was like a newborn baby. All he wanted to do was fall over with exhaustion.

The Power didn’t look winded, even in the slightest. If there was any strain to hold those wings up and out of the dirt, it wasn’t shown on his face.

“Wait here.”

It never occurred to him to disobey, so after the Power vanished into and subsequently returned from the structure, he never moved. Beyond Demuri, he spied a human male stepping out onto the porch.

His lover. Before that registered another angel flew into sight. Another Power, golden eyes, cold and unforgiving as he landed beside Sagar.

Again, he was woefully outmatched and he didn’t like this feeling in the slightest. He gave him a nod, a respectful one, but didn’t speak. One didn’t simply talk to the Powers.

“You are the one accompanying me to California?”

“I am.”

“Let’s go.”

No name was given, yet when the Power lifted up, Sagar remained on the ground.

“We need to go. Now.”

“I was told to wait here.” Sagar flicked a quick glance to the powerful beating wings of the Power near him. Then he moved his focus to the one kissing the human.

“You are ignoring my command?”

“No, Elexus. He was following my order.” Demuri’s strong voice entered. “Land. We are not ready to go yet.”

The one called Elexus obeyed, but Sagar couldn’t help but notice the slight flicker of discontent on his face as he did so. Averting his gaze, Sagar waited for his next instruction. He was far out of his league here, unsure how they went around and found those who preyed not just on humans but also angels.

Frustration burned his eyes as he thought about Renata and her twins, Rolto and Reni, having to face the horror and fear they had. He didn’t allow them to fall for he refused to cry.

“Come, Sagar.”

Lifting his wings slightly higher, he followed Demuri’s bidding and approached the two Powers. Again, he took in how their wings never dragged in the dry, dusty ground and how they didn’t appear to have to strain as he did to keep that from happening.

Demuri ran a critical gaze over him. “We will rest here for two hours then press on. I would suggest you rest. The flight is long. Tristan will show you to a bed.”

While he longed to argue that he could go now and didn’t need to be babied, he kept that to himself and followed the dark-haired human male inside.

“Here you go,” he said, opening the door to a nice-size room with a large bed.

Tristan stepped back, ensuring not to touch his wings before moving back down the hall.

Sagar’s dreams were full of blood and gore. When he woke, his uncertainty level had risen. After thanking Tristan for his hospitality, he rose into the air and followed Elexus and Demuri off to a part of the land he’d never been to before.

Bear Mountain Cometh...

I know I posted last week about the issues I was having with my muse... and how I was really struggling with life in general and the lack of stories circling in my brain...

BUT...

I feel like I might be crawling out of the black pit of despair, slowly but surely.

I actually finished an outline for ONE of the books I'd mentioned and I'm back to writing. I'd already had it partially written (some scenes here and there that had come to me), so now it's just a matter of putting them into place and connecting the dots; adding more flesh to the bones.

So what was that ONE book?

A Bear Mountain story.

I know I've told some of you guys that I was planning a Return to Bear Mountain/Next Generation series...

NO... this book is NOT in that series.... but YES, I still am planning to write RTBM.

But in my quest to get all my p's and q's in place, I re-read the entire Bear Mountain series, took copious notes, and let some ideas churn.

And I noticed I'd never told the story of Declan's YOUNGER brothers Kai and Landon.

They were mentioned at Gregor's funeral and then never showed up in the series again. In my mind, I knew where they were. I just forgot to tell you guys...

They aren't the next generation. They're about the same age as many of the McCreary boys.

So it didn't feel right to include them in a next generation series.

Kai and his brother bear Lane will be book 21. Landon and his brother bear, Chase, will be book 22.

Both of these stories will be post-Zed and a bit of a bridge between the stories that have already come and the new ones to come in the Return series.

Neither have firm titles yet, but I *HOPE* to have book 21 coming to you the end of October.