Category Archives: Books
Mid Week Tease: Breaker Zone #MWTease #MidWeekTease
Happy Hump Day! I’m finishing up the final edits for Breaker Zone in preparation for submission, so I thought I’d use a scene from it as this week’s tease.
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
When Dr. Nick Gardiner goes on the run from a psychotic ex and ends up at Olympic Cove, the last thing he expects to find is his friend Ian living with two redheaded demigods and learning how to be a storm god. Adding to the confusion is a wounded merman named Aidan who washes up in the cove, requiring Nick’s professional help. As it turns out, the handsome mer and his partner Liam have other plans for the ER doctor — to claim him as their agapetos, their destined mate, and fulfill his need to submit.
A chance encounter at a local junk shop reveals that Nick has his own role to play in the battle against the insane Nereid Thetis. Under the reluctant mentorship of Chiron, Nick must master the use of the Rod of Asclepius if he wants to rescue his mates from a ghastly fate and help Ian save the planet.
###
Liam let Nick’s hands go. They dropped to his sides and his dark head tilted, exposing the long line of muscle and tendon just waiting to be decorated with bite marks and sucking kisses. Oh, their chuisle knew how to lure attention.
But Liam knew how to wait. Instead of putting his mouth to Nick’s offered throat, he whispered, “Now, we’re going to take off your clothes.”
A shiver ran through Nick at that. Liam paused, trying to judge if it had been caused by lust or fear. The reality of the situation came back to him — the last time Nick had played with anyone, his trust had been shattered and his body damaged. They were swimming through jellyfish-laden waters here, and one wrong move could drive their fated mate even further away from them.
He bent close to Nick’s ear again. “If something upsets you, you will tell us immediately, do you understand? We’ll sit down tomorrow and have a long talk about what you can and cannot do, and I swear to you that Aidan and I will respect your limits. But tonight is purely for your pleasure and comfort.”
He heard Nick swallow, and the shivering died down. “Good. Now, take a deep breath.”
Their mate’s ribcage expanded, filling with the air all his kind needed. “Another.” Liam ran his hands over Nick’s shoulders, enjoying the feel of the curved muscle there. “Good. I’m going to take off your shirt.”
Moving with deliberation, he slid all the buttons through their holes, tugging the smooth fabric off and tossing it to the side. He took in a soft breath, admiring Nick’s muscle definition. It wasn’t as pronounced as a mer’s, but his back and shoulders had beautifully delineated hollows and rises that implied strength and agility. Liam’s mouth watered with the sudden urge to bite into one firm shoulder.
Instead, he ran just the pads of his fingertips across Nick’s skin, tracing the outline of his upper body. On the other side Aidan had stepped closer, running his own fingers along Nick’s chest and abs. Their mate made a soft, hungry noise deep in his throat, and Aidan flashed that irresistible smile. “I think you like this, chuisle.”
“Mmm.”
Liam leaned close, nipping Nick’s earlobe again. “Use your words,” he ordered gently.
“Yes, I like this, sir.” The response was soft, almost dreamy.
Liam caught Aidan’s eye, then glanced down meaningfully. At the same time he slid his hands down Nick’s arms, gently ringing his wrists and drawing them behind his back. “You’re still wearing too much.”
“Far too much,” Aidan agreed, sinking to his knees. Liam watched over Nick’s shoulder as the other mer started undoing Nick’s belt, teasingly drawing the leather through the loops, before easing down his zipper. Nick made another noise, deeper this time.
He likes being restrained and controlled. Liam felt his own desire rise, and firmly corralled it. Tonight is for him, to show him he belongs with us.
Nick gasped suddenly, twitching in his grip. Glancing down, Liam saw his other mate planting an open-mouthed kiss at the base of Nick’s hardening cock through his underwear.
“Did I say you could do that, boy?” he asked Aidan, putting a growl into his voice.
The green-eyed mer leaned back, face shadowed in the room’s dim light. “I’m sorry, sir. I couldn’t resist a taste.”
Liam was tempted to correct him, but their focus had to remain on Nick. “I’ll deal with you later,” he rumbled, and saw goosebumps rise on Nick’s skin. The idea obviously appealed. “Hm. Would you like that, chuisle? I could tie you to the headboard and make you watch me punish Aidan. I’d bend him over the end of the bed and turn his ass a lovely red as you watched. Then I’d put him on his hands and knees and fuck him while he looked at you.”
This time both his mates groaned at the image he’d created. “I wouldn’t let him come for a long time,” Liam murmured, enjoyed the sensation of his own cock plumping out and pressing against the fabric of his shorts. “And every time I thrust into him, his mouth would come closer and closer to your cock, almost close enough to suck it. But never quite close enough. And all the time I was fucking him, all you could do is sit there, hard and aching so badly, and watch us.”
Nick’s head dropped back onto his shoulder. “Please, sir,” he whispered.
“Mm. Such a good boy.” He nodded at Aidan, and the other mer finished taking Nick’s trousers down, then his briefs. “If you’re very good and earn it, I may let you come tonight. No promises, though.”
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Well, I’m back (and with good news!)
So there I was, sitting in my hotel room in London (Ramón and I were attending the World Science Fiction Convention, long story) when I decided to get online and check my email. Lo and behold, an acceptance email for my Planet Alpha story appeared!
The current release date is sometime in October, and the acquiring editor decided that Assassin was an appropriate title in honor of my delightfully sarcastic Xyran assassin Zhan. If you’ve been following my Mid Week Teases for this story, you’ll soon be able to read the whole thing. Here’s the blurb I just submitted with my cover art sheet — can’t wait to see what Sour Cherry Designs comes up with for this one.
A routine wilderness patrol goes horribly wrong when Sergeant Deacon Shea and his patrol partner are ambushed by scavengers. After a firefight leaves his partner dead and their vehicle destroyed, Deacon is forced to hike out of the mountains alone. Stumbling across a grounded Alphan shuttle, he thinks he’s found a ride home with the Alphan warrior Taric and his Xyran associate Zhan. The handsome aliens, however, have other plans for Deacon — to make him their mate.
Forced to hide their bond from their respective governments, Taric and Zhan never expected to find their third bondmate on Earth, and definitely not in the middle of an unauthorized mission to stop a vicious Xyran slavemaster. Neither of them can resist the urge to claim Deacon, but will their new mate help them catch their old foe, or turn them over to Earth — and Alphan — justice?
I should have known this was going to happen
Did I mention that I had an absolute ball coming up with the three Olympic Cove graphics on the Merchandise page? Because man, I did. The only problem with designing logos and such is that 1) while it’s a huge amount of fun because I get to dream up advertising graphics for imaginary companies/entities (“Ooh, what can I do for Trickster Technologies? Would the Molly Girl have nose art? Maybe Mayhew Nursery’s slogan could be, ‘Putting a touch of magic in every garden.'”), 2) it takes away from actual writing/editing time. Granted, I don’t have THAT many things I can put up there (yet), but I will have to find some kind of balance between Photoshop and Scrivener.
It doesn’t help that I just petitioned Ramón to go get Assassin’s Creed because it really, really looks like fun. Rod for my own back, I swear.
And of course I also still have to come up with a proper logo for myself. I like the idea of an outline profile of a smiling woman with her chin propped on one hand, and her long curling hair has the outline of a sexy man in it. But that will take some time to do in Illustrator, and I’m supposed to be editing both the Planet Alpha story AND Breaker Zone and getting them off to Evernight before 8/13.
I really need clones. Or a keeper.
So, just had my 48th birthday
And it was lovely — Ramón gave me a lingerie shopping spree as my present (woohoo!), and I got tons of birthday wishes all over social media so I was quite the happy camper. Would have been even happier if I’d been at SDCC or RWA14, but I’m going to London this year for Worldcon so I can’t really complain. Plus there’s always next year, right? (Although when a friend of mine at SDCC got an impromptu picture with both Jared Padalecki and a somewhat tiddly Misha Collins, I may have turned a slight shade of chartreuse.)
In writing news, I’m plowing ahead on my Planet Alpha submission and I’ll have a second teaser up tomorrow for MidWeek Tease. Hope nobody minds a big action scene at the end — well, hey, if you kidnap an Alphan warrior’s human bondmate, you have to expect him and his Xyran mate to open a can of alien whoopass on you, right? Fingers crossed that Evernight feels the same way. Once that’s off, I’ll get to work editing Breaker Zone with an eye on submitting it by August 13. After THAT, I go back to work on Behind the Iron Cross so that I can get it making the agent rounds in September. Plus people have been asking for Trickster and Two to Tango sequels.
Arrgh. Why do I have to sleep?
Mid Week Tease: Two to Tango #MWTease #MidWeekTease
Happy Hump Day! With Breaker Zone currently cooling before the editing process, I thought I’d post a teaser from my M/M SF romp Two to Tango, currently available from Evernight Publishing and other purveyors of fine erotic romance. Let’s just say the scene speaks for itself, shall we?
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
Rory Maclellan, aka the Highlander, is one of the most successful interstellar art thieves out there. He’s careful, professional, and plans his heists down to the microsecond. Surprisingly, he also has a conscience. So when he runs into a suicidal museum worker during his latest job, he has no choice but to stun the man and rescue him from certain death.
Dmitri Grigoryev was an up-and-coming exoarchaeologist until a disastrous dig left his career in tatters. Hungry, broke, and about to be laid off from the only job he’s been able to find in the last three years, he never expected a dashing thief to come along and save his life.
With interstellar police on their tail, Rory and Dmitri reluctantly join forces for a major heist. But will their simmering attraction get in the way, or prove that they were meant to be together?
###
Minutes later they were upstairs in the family wing, bedroom door closed and locked behind them. Rory was busily stripping Dmitri out of his coat and waistcoat while Dmitri had his fingers carded in Rory’s hair, trying to hold him still as they kissed frenetically.
“Did I mention how fucking sexy you are when you dance?” Rory muttered against his mouth. “I swear to God, I thought I was going to get hard right then and there. Which, by the way, is pretty damned embarrassing in a kilt.”
“It was your idea to tango,” Dmitri said, licking his lower lip before taking it in his teeth and tugging gently. “And you weren’t the only one getting hard.”
“Good.” Rory’s hand snaked down between them, cupping his groin and squeezing gently. Dmitri closed his eyes at the flash of harsh-edged pleasure, thrusting into Rory’s grip. “Because I want you hard, doc. Naked and hard and on your back under me, legs over my shoulders, begging me to fuck you.”
The command sent a zing of pure need through Dmitri. “I thought you liked to bottom.”
“Normally I do. But I’m feeling a little domineering right now, and I really want to fuck you.” Rory eased up, looking absurdly hopeful. “Is that okay?”
“Bozhe moi, yes.”
They tumbled onto the bed together, struggling out of their clothes in between kisses. Dmitri ran a hand up Rory’s thigh and underneath his kilt, cupping his balls and rolling them gently. Rory tipped his head back, making a low, hungry noise.
“Like that?” Dmitri said, amused.
“You know I do.”
“How about this?” He shifted his grip, sliding it up Rory’s thickening shaft until he could run his thumb around the head. There was already a thin slick there, and he wanted to lick it off his thumb. “Yes, you definitely like that,” he crooned.
“Fucking tease,” Rory groaned back. “Let’s see how you like it.”
Dmitri abruptly found himself flipped onto his back with a half-naked and very aroused Scot on top of him. Grinning, Rory tore open his shirt and nipped his way across Dmitri’s pecs, feasting on the tiny, hard nipples. The hot, wet sensation of Rory’s mouth sent darts of pleasure through him, and he moaned in agreement as Rory drifted down, following the trail of dark hair to his waistband.
“Okay, these have got to go,” Rory growled, ripping at his breeches. The tight fabric resisted, and Dmitri finally had to arch upwards, lifting his ass off the bedspread, in order to let Rory pull them off. “No more breeches, dammit.”
“They were your idea, remember?” Dmitri protested, then gasped as Rory’s mouth descended on his naked cock. Heat, wetness, and a velvet tongue slicking across that sensitive spot just under the head made him arch again. “Oh, God. Yes.”
Rory started sucking him in earnest, head bobbing greedily between his thighs to the accompaniment of some truly obscene slurping and suckling sounds. A wet finger slid under his balls, then farther back until it pressed against his rim.
Eyes closed, Dmitri pushed outward and was rewarded with a brief, sweet burn as he was penetrated.
The finger rotated, easing deeper in time with Rory’s deep throating, until it touched something that set off white stars in Dmitri’s vision. He gasped and cursed in Russian, grinding down on the teasing digit.
Rory pulled off, licking his lips. “I found your prostate,” he sang.
“I noticed, dammit,” Dmitri grunted. “More, now.”
“God, I love it when you’re bossy.”
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Just in case you thought a writer’s life was a never-ending cycle of literary glamor
So I’m drenched in sweat from having to clean up a puddle of cat pee on the bay window ledge in the kitchen (which requires me to climb up ON THE COUNTER to reach it as it’s a deep window that is directly behind the sink. At this point I am still in my jammies, haven’t taken my meds or eaten breakfast yet, just so you get the full picture). Once I’m up there, I have to wipe everything down with enzyme cleaner and then water, climb back down, add more dirt to the large pot that Jemma mistakenly used as a litterbox (decorative stones will be added to the top so that none of them can dig in it) and two other pots because what the hell, might as well fill all of them while I have the potting soil out, clean all the excess dirt from the original digging and my own work off the sink and counters, sweep the floor, clean the litterboxes, spritz the food bowls and water bowls, and mediate Jemma and Jessie growling and chasing each other all over the kitchen and living room With Intent.
If that wasn’t enough, I then hear a knock at the door. While I’m still in my jammies. Whee. I open it a crack to see the landscaping guy whom I’d called on Tuesday, apologizing for not calling first but he was in the neighborhood so… One quick-change into yoga pants and a t-shirt later, I’m giving him a tour of Casa Cameron and showing him all the stuff that needs to be done. He promises to call me next week with an estimate, and I see him off.
I then realize it’s 12:40 PM and I have to get off to my Monday writing meet-up with two friends. Still haven’t had my meds or breakfast yet, note. I pop the meds and head off to the meetup, resigning myself to a carb-laden meal because I have to eat SOMETHING and soon or things will get ugly.
Got 1500 words done on Breaker Zone but I have a battle/rescue scene to plot out and have to come back home for that so I can blast the Pacific Rim soundtrack over the headphones while I write. Jessie is sleeping upstairs and Jemma is somewhere around here, I don’t know where. And as long as it stays quiet, I don’t care.
Is the day over with, yet?
Mid Week Tease: Breaker Zone #MWTease #MidWeekTease
Happy Hump Day! It’s time for another dramatic scene from my current WIP Breaker Zone. In this teaser, Nick has been kidnapped by the insane Nereid Thetis and is trying to treat a poisoned demigoddess with the help of Asclepius’s Rod and its resident snake/assistant Pythia. Unfortunately, things are not going well…
Enjoy, and make sure to hit the list after the teaser to see other great Mid Week Teases!
With his life in ruins thanks to a psychotic ex, Dr. Nick Gardiner winds up at Olympic Cove looking for sanctuary (and free beer) with his friend Ian. The last thing he expects to find is Ian living with two redheaded sea lords and learning how to be a storm god. Adding to the confusion is a wounded merman named Aidan who washes up in the cove, requiring Nick’s professional help. Nick soon learns that the handsome mer and his partner Liam have their own plans for the ER doctor — to claim him as their agapetos, their destined mate, and fulfill his need to submit.
A chance encounter at a local junk shop reveals that Nick has his own role to play in Ian’s battle against the insane Nereid Thetis. Under the reluctant mentorship of Chiron, Nick must master the use of the Rod of Asclepius if he wants to rescue his mates from a ghastly fate and help Ian save the planet.
###
The goddess gazed sadly at him through the bars. “You can’t stop it, can you?” she asked softly.
“I—” He closed his mouth before he had to lie. “This is something I’ve never dealt with before. I don’t think I can stop it.”
Claire’s head dropped forward, and she took a shuddering breath. “So be it. Then kill me.”
Nick recoiled. “What?”
“Kill me.” Her head came back up and her eyes were huge in the dim cabin. “Don’t let Thetis turn me into one of her creatures. Be merciful and put me beyond her reach.”
You can’t do that, Nicholas.
God damn it, Pythia, I wasn’t planning on it, he shouted in his head.
No, that’s not what I meant. Claire is a goddess — a minor one, true, but fully divine. And as such, immortal. Even if you ran her through, she would heal. Cut off her head, and the pieces would rejoin. You cannot kill a goddess.
He shook his head, horrified at the snake’s words.
“Why not?” Claire’s expression changed at his gesture, becoming a mix of pleading and anger. “I’m asking you to do this. To leave me to Thetis’s mercy would be far more cruel than killing me.”
“No, you don’t understand. I can’t kill you. You’re immortal.”
Her grip on the bar tightened. “There must be something you can do,” she said. “For Gaia’s sake, human, don’t leave me like this!”
Nicholas.
What?
There is nothing you can do. But there is something she can do. Sadness permeated Pythia’s words. It will be difficult, but it will free her from her form.
Death was something every doctor fought as long as possible. But Nick had seen too many patients turned into vegetables, dependent on life support, to believe that extreme measures always had to be employed. And in this case, Claire really was looking at a fate worse than death. What is it?
She can make the choice only one other god has ever made, and voluntarily give up her immortality.
What? Which god did that?
Pythia’s tongue flickered once. Your tutor, Chiron.
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Happy 4th of July Weekend
Or for the rest of you in the world, the first weekend in July. And how will I be celebrating my nation’s Independence Day, you ask? By taking care of a friend’s five cats while she’s on vacation, including insulin shots for the diabetic one. Because dammit, if I’m going to be called a Crazy Cat Lady I’m going to bloody well earn the title.
Breaker Zone is SO close to being finished. Working, working, working…








