Matesummer Monday: Howl Down the Moon's Trio of budding mates

 

The trip back to Slade’s cabin turned out to require three SUVs, with all the supplies the folks in the borderlands needed, in addition to the clothes Slade had bought Luka and the tools and the rest of the woodworking supplies they’d retrieved from his house. Winter hadn’t been kind to it, between the high winds and the already damaged and listing timbers. With the way the hallway and wall had collapsed, getting into his old bedroom had been difficult, but he’d been determined to retrieve Lily’s drawings. Slade had been none too pleased about the gashes and cuts he’d received from the jagged ends of broken wood and had tsked and fussed the whole time he was treating them. Still, he’d understood Luka’s desire to bring those memories with him and promised that they’d frame them and hang them on whatever wall Luka wanted when they got to the cabin.

He could hardly believe the three of them were going together. When Slade had come back from Rand’s and said he didn’t know if the other wolf would be joining them, Luka had gotten on the phone, prepared to plead, only to have Rand tell him he was coming. Now there were two SUVs in the garage and a whole lot of stuff that needed to be organized and put away.

Rand’s dads had gone with Slade’s to deliver supplies to the rest of the borderland residents, leaving the three of them to figure out how to rearrange the house. The dads had conspired to make sure Luka, Slade, and Rand spent the long ride in their wolf forms, curled up on the large back seat of Rand’s SUV while Nathan drove. Slade’s father had driven Slade’s while Rand’s dad had brought theirs filled with the extra supplies Slade had picked up. Somewhere along the way, Slade had rested his head over Rand’s back and fallen asleep, while Luka had fallen asleep in the V made by their bodies, his head on Slade’s shoulder, Rand’s pressed against Luka’s side. They’d woken to the soft clicking of a camera phone and Rand’s father’s grinning face as he’d taken pictures of them.

“This is a fantastic kitchen,” Rand enthused as they gave him the tour.

“To be honest, I’ve always felt like it was too much, considering I only had myself to cook for. That table has gotten more use since Luka’s been here than it ever did when it was just me. I’d just take my food out to the living room and sit by the bay window or in front of the TV.”

“That’s better than I managed most days,” Rand admitted. “Between skipping meals or eating them at my desk, my kitchen didn’t get much of a workout, outside of the coffee pot. I’ve got a notebook full of recipes I’ve been dying to try though, if no one minds me taking over the kitchen from time to time.”

“Have at it,” Slade said. “Luka and I have been alternating cooking, or cooking together, depending on what else we had going on at the time. You’re welcome to jump in however you want. There’s enough space in here that we wouldn’t be bumping into one another; that’s for sure.”

“I see that,” Rand remarked. “It looks like you had the place built for a family.”

“Because I did.”

“Wait until you see the bedroom,” Luka said, grasping Rand’s hand and tugging him down the hall. “It’s got three dressers, a huge closet, and three sinks in the master bath.”

Rand put on the brakes in the doorway, much to Luka’s surprise. Turning, he saw the hesitant look on Rand’s face and gave his hand a gentle tug. “Don’t you want to see all of it?”

“Shouldn’t we discuss the sleeping arrangements first before I invade your space?”

Glancing from Rand to where Slade stood behind him, Luka got the distinct impression that he was missing something.

“You’re right,” Slade said. “We should, so let’s talk. Where would you be comfortable sleeping?”

“Shouldn’t the question be where would you feel comfortable with me sleeping?” Rand shot back.

“I wanna sleep in the middle,” Luka piped up, hoping that would settle things and give him the chance to finally get cuddles from both of his mates at the same time.

“That’s not the issue, Luka,” Rand said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

And here he’d thought they’d left their issues back in town and could finally get with the hugs and the snuggling.

“Not yet, anyway,” Slade added.

“I don’t understand,” Luka said, looking from them to the double king that took up the center of the room. “The whole bed is comfortable.”

Slade chuckled, and Rand finally stepped out of the doorway, before hugging Luka and kissing the top of his head.

“We’re trying to work out if Rand wants to join us in here, or if he’d prefer the guest bedroom,” Slade said.

Luka pressed his face against Rand’s chest, hoping to hide the fact that his cheeks were heating up, and he was a bit embarrassed about getting lost in yet another conversation. It just hadn’t dawned on him that they wouldn’t be sleeping together. “Oh.”

Slade’s hand slid up his back, thumb stroking over the back of his neck. “It’s all good; pretty sure you just stopped Rand and I from descending into another round of questions with no answers, which wouldn’t have helped anyone.”

“I’ve got no problem joining you in here, if you’re both good with it.” Rand said. “But I wouldn’t want to make things awkward for either of you, and I can’t promise to keep my hands to myself in my sleep.”

“I’m good,” Slade said. “Your hands aren’t going to bother me any. I’d rather we start out as we intend to end up. It cuts down on the unnecessary moving. Besides, you make a good pillow; wouldn’t mind napping on you again.”

Chuckling, Rand reached over, tugging Slade until they had Luka sandwiched between them. “Going to be awfully hard to do without squishing Luka.”

“Maybe Luka will like getting squished,” Slade replied.

“Not maybe,” Luka said, going up on tiptoes so he could nuzzle Rand’s neck. “Luka likes getting squished.”

“Well,” Rand stammered, letting out a long sigh when Slade leaned over Luka to nip and nuzzle the other side of Rand’s neck. “Guess that, uh, settles that.”

“Yeah, it does,” Slade murmured.

Luka sighed contently, breathing in their mingled scents and the feeling of peace that washed over him as they held one another.

“We should get everything put away,” Rand suggested, Luka’s wolf picking up on a note of reluctance in Rand’s voice. “Slade has an early morning tomorrow, so we should probably think about going to bed early tonight.”

“Wanna help me make sausage and pancakes in the morning?” Luka asked, hoping to send Slade off with a full belly.

“I’d be happy to,” Rand replied.

“You two do not have to get up with me,” Slade said firmly. “I’m perfectly capable of grabbing something before I head out.”

Touching the side of Luka’s face, Rand urged him to meet his gaze. “Did you hear something?” Rand asked.

It took Luka a moment to realize he wasn’t being literal. Smiling, he shook his head. “Nope, sure didn’t.”

“There is no reason that all three of us have to leave a nice, warm bed at four in the morning,” Slade protested again.

Giggling, Luka nuzzled Rand’s hand. “I still don’t hear anything.”

“Me either.”

Huffing, Slade threw his hands up and marched out the door, muttering beneath his breath about stubborn wolves who didn’t have enough sense to sleep in when they had the chance.

Rand and Luka collapsed against each other, giggling because they could still hear Slade’s mumbling from all the way up the hall, but there was humor there that softened Slade’s rumbling voice.

“Let me guess,” Rand whispered after their laughter had subsided. “He’s good about doing for others and shit about letting others do for him?”

Nodding, Luka couldn’t deny that he’d noticed the same thing.

“I am so sorry.”

Rand’s apology left Luka confused once more, but when he opened his mouth to ask why, Rand placed a finger over his lips, silencing him.

“I’m apologizing because I’m the same way,” Rand explained. “And I can only imagine the struggle you’ll have getting either of us to bend on that.”

“I’m going to have to get really creative and ask for plenty of advice,” Luka replied, smirking up at him. “It’s a good thing Slade gave me a cell phone and put a whole bunch of numbers in it. I’m sure someone can give me some good tips on dealing with stubborn, headstrong mates.”

Rainbow Snippet: 2/12/22 from Claiming Cody

 Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you’ll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story’s main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

I would invite everyone to please come check out the Rainbow Snippets group, click on a link, read and comment on the writing available and get involved yourselves in this awesome exercise. The link to the group can be found HERE.  

This week's Rainbow Snippet comes from Cody's Story, set in the same world as Burning Luck. 

“Now, I might have been a bit stoned,” Cody admitted. “Okay, so, I was hella stoned, but one minute, he was sitting by himself, and the next, there were five other Elvis’ at the table. One in a powder blue pantsuit that damn near blinded me when I looked up. Talk about sequins. There was one in pink, and black, and orange, and white, while the main guy stood there in gold. There was so much shimmery shit that I started getting distracted every time one of them moved.”

“Damn, I’m trying to picture that, I know I shouldn’t be, since no amount of brain bleach will ever get it out of my head, but damn.”

“Yeah, tell me about it, turns out they were celebrating the first year of being in business.”

“Okay, here’s what I wanna know. Do they call each other up in the morning to be certain they’re each wearing a different color, or are there times when it’s a roll of the dice and you might have three pink Elvis’ rolling around the city?”

“Now see, that’s how you fuck up someone’s high. ‘Cause I could picture walking along and seeing a blond Elvis in a pink suit heading down market street, and fifteen minutes later, watching a red-headed Elvis in a pink suit parking at the taxi stand.”

“Redheads should not wear pink, worse fashion decisions ever happen when red-headed people put on any shade between hot and watermelon.”

“Does salmon count?” Cody asked. “Because it doesn’t really seem like pink to me, more like tan with a slightly warm hue. That can’t be pink.”

“Maybe when it’s cooked?”

“That’s more orange though.”

“True. I think that’s one of those colors that never really fits in anywhere because it’s just the sad faded cousin of something else.”

Burning Luck can be found on Amazon

Matesummer Monday: Let your inner snake slither

 

It took him back to another time, to home, when he was still too young to fully understand just how differently he was being treated. In those days, when the flashes of the future he glimpsed showed moments of sadness, he did everything he could to cheer the other person up. When he caught glimpses of troubled times, he attempted to give warnings, going so far as to throw himself between his older brother and a heavy piece of iron seconds before it fell. His leg had been broken for his efforts, but it was better than the vision he’d received of his brother with a huge, bloody gash in his skull, twitching in the hallway.

Blinking back the memory, he drew away from her touch and its warmth. “It only seemed to scare them more,” he admitted.

“But that was no fault of yours,” Kaandhal insisted. “The fault lay with them. Everything you attempted to do was out of love for them, and they repaid that love with scorn and fear, pushing you aside for it. You did not deserve that. Now we are giving you a second chance, but this time, it is up to you to take it. You can hold on to the pain that you carry, you can continue to lash out at the world over the actions of a handful, or you can stand up and be a man and do what you were born to do.”

He was silent for a moment, studying her.

“And if I choose not to use my gifts?” he asked. “If I choose to keep burying them, then what? Your brother seems convinced that someone is going to come hunting me. I’ve got nowhere to go. Will you throw me out of here if I don’t do what you want?”

Tight lipped she shook her head, regarding him sadly. “No. This is your home for as long as you choose to live in it.”

The shock must have registered on his face because her expression changed. “I am so sorry that you’ve grown up to be so skeptical of people.”

“I…” he stammered, shocked at the honest emotion in her voice. “Thanks.”

She smiled then, a soft one, honest and kind. “I have faith in you, Darian. You are capable of great things and I know you will help us bring Zxex back home where he belongs.”

“I wish I was as sure of that as you are,” he admitted. “Kyle…Zxex and I had one hell of a falling out.”

“Might I ask what it was about?” she asked.

Another heavy sigh escaped him as he sank down on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands. “He saw me the same way that you do, but more than that, when I looked into his eyes I accidentally saw the future, my future and how it related to him.” Darrell shook his head. “I couldn’t handle it, the trust, the expectation. You do know what I do for a living, right? Why there were guns all over my place?”

“Yes,” Kaandhal acknowledged. “You are a bounty hunter, or were, you will not need to make that kind of a living here.”

“And you know that I use my gifts to help me find the people I’m chasing,” he prompted. “That I dig around in the heads of their friends and family until I find the clues I need to locate them. Then I bring them in and I collect on their misfortune.”

“You regret it.”

“How can you tell?” he asked. “Reading my mind again?”

“No, it is in the sound of your voice and the sorrowful look in your eyes. It’s in the way you are curling in on yourself as if you wish to hide. You do not have to be ashamed here either, Darian. None will hold your past against you. This is a clean slate. All you need to do is embrace it.

Available on Amazon. 

Lazy Sunday Cinema with Dez and Riley of Tattered Angel: Hotel Transylvania and memories of when we zinged.

“Okay, so you’re serious, we’re actually doing this?”

The note of skepticism on Riley’s face would have been laughable, if Dez didn’t already feel so bad about all the time they hadn’t been spending together.

“I turned off both our phones and threw them in the drawer. Popcorn is popped, with extra butter, just the way you like it. I warned the guys not to stop by, and all three locks are on the door. Hell, I even hung that do not disturb sign we stole from the motel on the back of it to drive the point home, just in case anyone got a wild hair and decided to pop in. The afternoon is ours and I’m yours for every millisecond of it.”

When Riley narrowed his eyes at him, Dez wondered what the hell he could have possibly forgot.

“The computers are turned off?”

“Yup.”

“And your notebook is put away?”

“Locked in the same drawer as the phones.”

Riley looked all around, scrutinizing every corner.

“My guitars are in the music room, all of them. I’m serious, Riley, no distractions, we’re gonna watch movies and veg.”

“And no movies about music either,” Riley grumbled.

“Nope, I’ve got Hotel Transylvania loaded up, and the sequels in a pile beside the machine. When we’re done with those, I’ve got the Ice Age movies lined up. We are one hundred percent completely good to go.”

“One hundred percent, huh?” Riley said, sprawling against the arm of the couch. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

“I bet you will,” Dez replied, dropping onto the cushion beside him and hitting play, while Riley dug into the popcorn.

“Ohh nice, you really went all out with the butter.”

“Against my better judgement, yeah, I did, but don’t blame me when your next cholesterol check is off the charts and your doc puts you on meds and orders you to change your diet.

“Duly noted, now how about sharing how you managed to get it so perfect when every time I make a bag it chars in the center?”

“Simple,” Dez remarked, leaning across him for a handful. “I pause it halfway through the popping to shake the bag so the heat gets distributed better.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“Damn. I’ll remember that,” Riley replied, snorting at the dismayed look on the janitors face when it was revealed the clogged toilet was the result of bigfoot with a stomach ache.

“Oh man, I feel that,” Riley muttered as the janitor let out a cry and stared forlornly at his plunger. “I don’t know how the fuck he does it, but every god damned time James is over here he manages to clog the one in the hall.”

Snickering, Dez watched Frankenstein’s rear end back up behind the mummy, letting out a green tinged fart cloud the witches were forced to suck up with bellows and fire into the fireplace flames. Toad stools actually made of toads, bride of Frankenstein griping about the travel arrangements, they were laughing and pressed together less than fifteen minutes into the movie’s opening.

“Okay, I so want a pet bat,” Riley muttered, as pouty bat face dominated the screen.

“And what happens when Lady Luna Lily decides it would make good pouncing practice?”

“Uh, yeah, that could be a problem.”

“Could always find you a stuffed one?”

“So Zakk and Damien can laugh their asses off the minute I carry it onto the RV?”

“You could always leave it here,” Dez offered. “Though in fairness, you kinda deserve the shade they’d throw your way, considering the whole Daffy incident.”

“Oh my god, I did not mean to set the damned vest on fire.”

“I don’t know man, was awfully suspicious that it happened when you were the only one in the RV.”

“In all fairness….” Riley began, words dissolving into laughter. “Did she seriously say a bad-tempered piranha ate her sister-in-law?”

“She so did.”

“Shit, I wish something would eat mine.”

Laughing, Dez enjoyed the freak out of the human when he realized the monsters were real, the spinning ping-pong ball of energy bouncing around the room. There was this moment though, when Frankenhomie, otherwise known as Jonathan the human, made eye contact with Mavis and the whole eye swirling, zoned in on one another, fireworks thing happened and Dez couldn’t resist pulling Riley around to face him.

“That’s how I felt, when I saw you,” Dez murmured, pulling him in for a kiss. “Wanted to choke the life outta you for making me think about music again, but I wanted to kiss you too, shove you against the wall, make out until you couldn’t remember what you were trying to ask me.”

“Like this,” Riley growled, pinning Dez to the back of the couch, tongue invading his mouth until the sounds of the movie melted away. Riley’s hair, crushed in his fists, was as soft as feathers, his body molded against Dez’s, the taste of butter and salt on his lips. Riley sighed, finally easing away and turning back to the movie.

“Oh ick ick ick!” Dez muttered, cringing about as much as Dracula was at Jonathan trying to get the contact out of his eyes.

Fingers away from the eyeballs. Enough!

Dez had to agree with Drac on that.

“It’s not that bad,” Riley remarked, laughing at the scrunched-up look Dez knew was still on his face.

“I’ll take your word for it and continue to refrain from being anywhere near you when you’re taking yours out at night.”

“Coward.”

“Just call me KFC.”

What’s the alternative, staying at home and never seeing what’s out there?

Jonathan’s words reminded Dez of the conversations he and Winter had been having lately, about the way his friend was thinking about taking off, seeing the things in the journal he kept, all magazine cut outs and lists of obscure destinations.

“Now that should be a ride,” Riley declared, startling Dez out of his thoughts. “I’d stand in line all day to get on something like that.”

“I’d be right there with you,” Dez remarked, staring the flying tables, Drac and Jonathan chasing each other around the dining room, surfing and shoving one another until they crashed.

“Someday, I wanna be big enough where we can rent out a whole park for a couple hours, just so we can enjoy the place,” Riley muttered as the mood of the movie changed again.

“We tour with Wild Child and we could do that easily.”

“If. No one’s agreed on anything yet. Wild Child hasn’t even chosen their new bassist, they’ve run into the same issue we had trying to find a singer, only none of them have been lucky enough to wander into a dish room and find a miracle.”

Just hearing that, Dez felt his face heat up. “Wouldn’t say I was a miracle.”

“To us you were,” Riley said, pulling him into a kiss.

When their eyes met, Dez felt fireworks all over again, and he shivered as Riley’s breath ghosted along the skin behind his ear.

“To me, you always will be,” Riley whispered. “Always.”

Tattered Angel on Amazon and Kindle Select

Rainbow Snippet 2/5/22

Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you’ll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story’s main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

I would invite everyone to please come check out the Rainbow Snippets group, click on a link, read and comment on the writing available and get involved yourselves in this awesome exercise. The link to the group can be found HERE.  

This week's Rainbow Snippet comes from Cody's Story, set in the same world as Burning Luck. 

They were twenty minutes into the movie when Cody softly asked, “have you ever wished you were someone else?”

“Don’t we all, at least once, when we see someone we admire, or envy.”

“Yeah, maybe, but what if it’s all the time?” Cody asked softly. “What if you wished you could rewrite your whole life, go on some amazing journey and just stay there and live that life.”

“In a way, I guess that’s what I’ve been doing on this little adventure of mine,” Bellamy admitted.

“You really come halfway across the country for a guy you’d only talked to through a screen?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy huffed. “Stupid, I know.”

“Not really, I envy you. You didn’t care what anyone thought, you just did it. Wish I was that brave.”

“No reason you can’t be.”

Burning Luck can be found on Amazon

Flirtatious Friday: Drax and Sabre....ferrets have more fun!

 

The notebook fell from Sabre’s grasp, and he didn’t make a move to retrieve it.

“What?” Drax asked when no sound came from Sabre’s slowly moving lips. “Did you think you could kiss me like that, and I wouldn’t want to do it again?”

“If I remember correctly, you kissed me first.”

“That I did, and I’d like to do it again.”

“Are you sure you won’t freak out afterward?” Sabre remarked, tearing his gaze away from Drax as he searched for his pen in the grass beside him.

Drax stilled his hand and scooted closer to slide the other beneath Sabre’s chin, lifting so they were staring at one another again.

“I’m sorry for that; truly, I am. The whole moment was overwhelming, and I reacted badly. I shouldn’t have walked away from you without a word, and I shouldn’t have ignored you this week when you tried to speak to me.”

Available on Amazon: Ta Weezo's Blues - Kindle edition by Dorine, Layla. Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

“Would you care to get out of here? Go someplace more private where we can talk some more, perhaps over a mug of tea and some pie?”

“Pie, huh? What kind?”

“Caramel Apple,” Drax replied. “I’ve got whipped cream in a can and some apple cinnamon tea to sweeten the deal.”

“Hell, you had me at caramel apple,” Sabre remarked as he stood, all but tugging Drax out of the booth with him.

“Eager much?”

Sabre just licked his lips and gave him such a wickedly sinful grin that Drax’s cock gave a twitch at the thought of where he’d like Sabre to stick that tongue. Hand in hand they headed for the door, unmindful of the few curious stares around them.