Mid Week Tease: Deep Water #MidWeekTease #MWTease
Happy Hump Day! Let’s celebrate it with another wonderful Mid Week Tease, courtesy of the lovely and talented Sandra Bunino. I’m afraid I don’t have any sexy scenes from Deep Water ready for prime time yet, so you’ll have to make do with a scene where Poseidon suddenly has to deal with a stricken Griffin. Next week, sex, I promise!
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
Poseidon, God of the Sea, has spent millennia alone due to a single terrible act — a drunken assault on his agapetos, or fated mate, shared with his consort Amphitrite. His queen has sworn never to forgive him for his actions, and he must live with the knowledge that he drove an innocent girl to a dreadful retribution.
But when one of the Olympic Cove cottages gets a new occupant with an all-too-familiar soul, Poseidon discovers that the Fates have given him a second chance. Now he must try to right the wrongs of the past and win back both his beloved consort and the mate he betrayed.
Assuming, of course, that the Mad Nereid Thetis doesn’t interfere…
Horrified, Poseidon watched as Griffin stiffened without warning, then started to collapse. The sea god lunged forward, grabbing the Englishman before he could tumble back onto the boat. Muscles twitched hard under Poseidon’s hands as Griffin began to jerk, limbs flailing awkwardly. His eyes rolled up, showing a sliver of white.
Not knowing what else to do, Poseidon scooped the man up and translocated to the mers’ cottage, landing in a stylish tiled living area. “Nicholas!” he bellowed. “I need help!”
Seconds later a dripping Nick came running into the room, hastily wrapping a towel around his waist. “What’s wrong?”
“We were just getting off the sailboat and he collapsed,” Poseidon blurted, holding Griffin up. “Help him, please!”
Nick’s expression changed, turning professional. “Okay, he’s seizing. Lay him out on the floor, carefully,” he ordered. “Keep your hands under his head, don’t let him bang it on the floor.”
Poseidon did as instructed, dropping to his knees without a flinch and laying Griffin out on the cool tile. He slid one large hand under the man’s skull, cradling it as Nick also knelt, checking Griffin’s pulse.
Just then Griffin relaxed, arms dropping to the tiles in a boneless flop. There was a sharp smell, and Poseidon saw a dark stain bloom across the front of the man’s shorts.
Nick caught the god’s glance. “Sometimes the bladder cuts loose during a seizure,” he said. “It’s no big deal.”
“All right.” Unsure of what else to do, Poseidon remained in a crouch, one hand still cradling Griffin’s head as Nick continued his examination. “Does he need any medication? I’ll fetch whatever is required.”
Nick sat back on his heels, shaking his hed. “If he was still seizing I’d have you go get some Keppra, but right now we just have to wait until he wakes up.” He grabbed a pillow from the nearby couch and held it out to Poseidon. “Here, put that under his head so you can sit up–”
“No,” Poseidon snarled.
Nick twitched at his tone, but kept the pillow out. “Look, some patients are really freaked out by people hovering over them when they wake up from a seizure,” he said gently. “I promise you, I won’t let him hurt himself, but give him a little space.”
“Oh.” Reluctantly, Poseidon accepted the pillow and slid it under Griffin’s head, settling back to wait.
After a few minutes the man’s eyelids fluttered, opening slowly and blearily. “Wha’ happened?” he mumbled.
“You had a seizure,” Nick said, his words low and clear. “P—Dunn brought you over here.”
Brown eyes focused on Poseidon. The sea god watched, helpless, as they filled with shame and anger. “Fuck,” Griffin whispered.
Nick cleared his throat. “I take it you’ve had seizures before?”
“Yeah. I thought—” Griffin grimaced, rolling his head towards the doctor. “Where am I?”
“My living room. I’m Nick — I hosted the cookout last night.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Now Griffin looked back at Poseidon. “Dunn. Shit. I’m sorry, mate.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Poseidon insisted.
“Yeah, I do.” Griffin struggled to get up. Poseidon leaned in to help, sliding an arm under Griffin’s back and easing him into a sitting position. “I didn’t think that was going to happen. My doc—” He stopped, jaw clenching briefly. “I have medication for it. Guess it didn’t work.”
“You may have just overdone it a bit,” Nick said. “Where were you two?”
“On a sailboat,” Poseidon said before Griffin could answer. “Is that dangerous?”
The doctor frowned. “If he’s by himself, definitely.”
Griffin grunted, belatedly looking down at his lap. He flushed, clasping his hands over the stain. “Shit.” His voice was raw with humiliation.
“It’s tile, don’t worry about it,” Nick said easily. “Why don’t we get you into the bathroom so you can get cleaned up? You’re about my size. I’ll lend you some shorts.”
Griffin’s face was still red, but he nodded.
“Cool. Dunn?”
“Oh. Yes.” Scrambling to get his feet under him, Poseidon helped Griffin stand up. He didn’t want to let go, but the man almost tore out of his grasp.
“I can do it,” Griffin growled. “Where’s the loo?”
“This way.” Nick guided him towards a hallway. Helpless and hating himself for it, Poseidon followed.
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Oh, look, Facebook is pulling its usual reindeer games
I’m talking about their plan to charge fees for any post they consider “advertising,” which includes posts about book releases, upcoming books, books in progress, etc. Apparently all we’ll be allowed to post for free are pictures of kittens and links to Buzzfeed videos. Considering that book promotion is pretty much why I have a FB account in the first place, I can’t honestly say I’m too pleased about this.
But it’s their playground so whatever. That being said, I still need to promote my books (frex Breaker Zone should have a release date Any Day Now) so it looks like I’ll be posting here much more often than I have in the past, very possibly on a daily basis. I also have a Twitter account and a Google+ account, and I probably should set up that Ello account while I’m at it, but the nice thing about the blog is that it’s all under my control and I can write as long as I want to.
I also need to ask y’all a question. Is there any interest in a brief, informative, and ideally hilarious monthly newsletter? If there is, I’ll set up a sign-up sheet and go investigate reasonable ways of doing this that won’t spam people (to be honest, I’ll probably just ask Tiffany Reisz what she does because her setup seems to be quite cool).
It’s bad enough that the EU is instituting their stupid VAT laws that means I won’t be able to self-publish there. Sometimes technology is just not what it’s cracked up to be.
Hoo boy
At 4:30 AM CST this morning I finished the first round of edits for Breaker Zone and sent them back to Evernight. This editing round was a particularly challenging one, mainly because 1) the edits arrived while I was on vacation, 2) I was also trying to maintain my NaNoWriMo word count (which I did — 62K on Deep Water, go me!), and 3) I had to write a short story for Evernight’s uniform fetish anthology. Meanwhile, I had three major dangling plot issues to resolve in Breaker Zone, and I probably wound up rewriting about 25% of the book in the process.
Sleep? What means this word, sleep?
But lo, I won NaNoWriMo, wrote the short story and had it accepted, and sent off the edited Breaker Zone MS at Oh Dark Thirty before collapsing into bed. By rights, I should be allowed to spend the day sipping absinthe and painting my nails while my brain decompresses.
Unfortunately, we have a house guest arriving tonight, which means that I’ve spent a large chunk of yesterday and today swamping out from NaNoWriMo-induced housekeeping fail. So far the guest room and guest bath are sparkling, and I should have enough time to clean the living room and kitchen before she gets here. As for the rest of the place, I’ll just have to hope my sparkling personality makes up for the dust rhinos.
My life. You know you want it.
If you ever wonder why I don’t write as fast as other writers
It’s something of a challenge to write with one hand while the other is keeping two grey tabbies from going after one another. This, my friends, is how I spent much of the morning sitting. I ask you.
It’s good to have inspiration
You may remember earlier this year when I was promoting a certain someone’s Indiegogo project “Colby Does America (And Canada, Too). I also contributed to the project, and yesterday I got one of my perks.
That’ll do, Colby. That’ll do.
It’s Black Friday!
And I have two completely awesome deals for you!
First off, all eBooks on the Evernight Publishing and Evernight Teen websites will be discounted 25% from Friday, 11/28 – Monday 12/1. In addition, all Evernight and Evernight Teen eBooks will be on sale at AllRomance eBooks for Black Friday (25% off)!
Secondly, did you know I’m also a jewelry designer? Well, I am, and I sell my OOAK and custom handmade jewelry through Belaurient Arts at Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/belaurientarts). So if you need to buy some unique jewelry for the holidays and want to support a small business, please check out some of my pretties!
And yes, I AM running a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale! From today until 12/1 use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY40PERCENT to get 40% off all purchases!
Mid Week Tease: Fine Dining #MidWeekTease #MWTease
Happy Hump Day! Let’s celebrate it with another wonderful Mid Week Tease, courtesy of the lovely and talented Sandra Bunino. Here’s a tease from my short story “Fine Dining,” which will be appearing in Evernight Publishing’s upcoming uniform fetish anthology. James Fairchild has something of a crush on the elegant, handsome waiter Gustav, but is too shy to do anything about it. After an unfortunate mishap with some spilled soup, James learns to his delight that Gustav is more than happy to make the first move.
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
A sharp rap sounded at the door. On instinct he dropped into the chair like a marionette with its strings cut, covering his briefs with the wadded trousers. “C-come in,” he called.
Gustav peered around the door, holding up a large soup bowl with a white cloth draped over it. “Ah, good,” he said, bustling over. “Once again, monsieur, I apologize for this. Luckily Marco is an expert at treating stains before they set, and of course I will pay for your dry cleaning.”
“Absolutely not,” James said quickly. “It wasn’t your fault. That boor bumped you on purpose.”
Gustav gave a most Gallic shrug. “Nonetheless, I insist,” he said, putting the bowl down on the desk before gently prying the trousers from James’s hands. He held them up, studying at the stain. “Quel salaud,” he muttered.
A Paris veteran, James was fluent in French and recognized the phrase. “Calling him a bastard is probably an insult to bastards.”
Gustav smirked. “Yes, I suppose. But it will be the last time that connard and his friends eat here. Un moment, s’il vous plaît.”
He opened the door, handing the trousers off to someone outside with murmured instructions, then came back in. “Now for you, monsieur.”
“I–” James choked slightly as Gustav knelt in front of him, taking the bowl of ice water from the desk and putting it on the floor. The choke turned into a gasp as the waiter matter-of-factly slid two somewhat chilly hands between his knees and gently nudged them apart.
“This will cool the temperature of the burn and help it heal more quickly. It would be better if we could soak it in milk for a half hour, but I’m afraid that’s impractical considering the location,” Gustav said, wringing out the soft white cloth before wrapping it around an ice cube. “Brace yourself, monsieur.”
James shuddered as the wet cloth touched his burn, moving gently over it. Gustav clucked in apology, but James knew his reaction was equally due to Gustav’s free hand coming to rest on his uninjured thigh. The man was kneeling practically between his knees, so close that he could feel Gustav’s breath on his bare skin. He clasped his hands over his groin as camouflage for what promised to be a most inconvenient erection. “I’m all right, really,” he said thickly. “You don’t have to do this.”
Gustav eased back a bit, one hand still resting on his uninjured thigh. “It would be irresponsible of me to let you go while you are still in discomfort,” he said, dropping the cloth back into the bowl. “I should fetch some aloe vera lotion from the kitchen–”
“No, please,” James begged. “It’s all right.”
Grey-blue eyes narrowed at him, then glanced down at his clasped hands. A welter of emotions played across the man’s face, then; surprise, disbelief, acknowledgement, and finally an incandescent joy that shook James to his marrow.
“Ah,” Gustav said softly. His fingers left James’s thighs, gliding up so softly, touching his wrists, then the back of his hands. “I had hoped, but I wasn’t sure. Please, let me?”
Dizzy, James nodded, unsure of what he was agreeing to. He quickly found out what it was when Gustav pulled his hands away, revealing the long, hard shape of his desire under clean cotton. Already there was a spot of dampness at the tip, a faint grey shadow that spread as they watched.
Gustav bent his head and pressed a kiss to James’s pubic bone just at the base of his shaft. Warm breath gusted through the fabric, and James made a soft noise as Gustav’s lips closed around him, laying open-mouthed kisses up to the rounded head. A flickering tongue licked at the wetness there, savoring it.
“Délicieux,” Gustav murmured, glancing up at him with eyes that had gone dark. The waiter’s polite mask was gone, revealing the man underneath. “Please, James. Let me taste you.”
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Okay, I admit this tickles me
As you may know (Bob), when I’m not writing I like to make jewelry, particularly chainmail and wire-wrapped pieces. I know from experience that it’s always kind of a crapshoot when you make a piece as a surprise for someone — you can try your best but sometimes you don’t get the size right, it’s the wrong color, it’s just not something the person really likes, etc.
So I was very pleased this morning to wake up to pictures of the delightful and talented Colby Keller wearing the wire-wrapped malachite amulet necklace I made for him earlier this year. I feel the green of the malachite goes very well with the hazard orange of his hat, plus seeing my work on a torso that in itself is a work of art — yeah, Christmas came a little early this year.
Allow me to flail a bit, here
So Ramón and I were on a eagerly awaited Caribbean cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel last week on the Disney Wonder, courtesy of Disney Cruise Lines. If you’ve ever wanted to take a cruise, I strongly suggest that you go with DCL. Trust me, they’re not just for families and kids — all the ships have adult-only places including a coffee shop, pool, restaurant, and bars — and their food and service is phenomenal. This was our second cruise, and it was just as fabulous as the first.
During our five days at sea I wound up swimming with stingrays and dancing with dolphins at Grand Cayman (have I mentioned how much I love being able to write all of this off on my taxes as research? Also, I may have come up with a stingray shifter story — woohoo!), did some lovely souvenir shopping at Cozumel and accidentally wound up drinking at Hooters, hung out on our stateroom verandah and marveled at the color of the ocean (it really is lapiz lazuli blue), had an amazing dinner at the Wonder’s adults-only restaurant Palo, and generally had a whale of a good time relaxing and hanging out with my honey. And, er, we may have already booked a cruise for next year. Well, you get a 10% discount if you book on board!
Also, the Outlook Cafe on the Wonder is a great place to write because there are outlets everywhere, plus someone checks on you regularly and brings refreshing adult beverages. You don’t even have to get up and make them yourself. And yes, I wrote on my cruise — writers don’t get vacations during NaNoWriMo. In addition to working on Deep Water, my edits for Breaker Zone arrived on Monday while we were at Grand Cayman (I decided to pop for a Connect@Sea internet package which would allow me to check my email).
Oh, and I got my cover.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this one, especially with the almost sculptural look of the guys in back. Once again, the Evernight graphic design team delivers in spades. Now I just have to finish round one of edits and get them back in…
Time to don the evening gown!
The first round of votes are in, and now it’s time to vote for your favorite Evernight books. I want to send out a huge thank you to EVERYONE who nominated Two to Tango in “Best in Category: Gay” and Assassin in “Best Planet Alpha book” — it’s an incredible honor to be nominated, and you people rock! I’m also thrilled that two anthos with my short stories (Executive Assistant: Manlove Edition and HIS: Manlove Edition) are also in the running for Best Antho.
Now go vote for your favorites!
Nicola Cameron Writes 