Friday Fireworks! Launching the Pride Cruise 2024 collection!

 

The first book in the 2024 Pride Cruise Secrets, Secrets Aboard by Brina Brady, goes live in just a few hours! Don't forget to set your anchor, find a few umbrella adorned drinks, sprawl out on that deck chair and relax as you enjoy each adventure. 

In Secrets Aboard: 

Luka trades the short-term approval of his lover by helping with a home robbery for the gilded cage of Captain Clarke’s cruise ship.

A year of servitude, a court-mandated reprieve from prison, all thanks to his influential father’s deal. Sadly, Luka’s immediate future includes scrubbing the decks and hauling suitcases, a stark contrast to the prison sentence he could have faced alongside his lover, Maleko. Haunted by the ghost of his lover’s absence and his own guilt, Luka grapples with newfound tenderness coming from the least expected person.

A year of servitude, a court-mandated reprieve from prison, all thanks to his influential father’s deal. Sadly, Luka’s immediate future includes scrubbing the decks and hauling suitcases, a stark contrast to the prison sentence he could have faced alongside his lover, Maleko. Haunted by the ghost of his lover’s absence and his own guilt, Luka grapples with newfound tenderness coming from the least expected person.

Captain Westly John Clarke, an experienced maritime hardliner, enforces the court's contract with grim adherence. Beneath the surface, something shifts. Luka's boyish charm chips away at the older man's icy exterior. Still, he keeps Luka at arm's length, unable to forget the bitter memories of the young man's past. As the Captain battles his own awakening heart and hidden secrets, his compass spins out of control, adding to the chaos. 

As the love story etches in the shadow of a criminal past and the unforgiving grip of duty leaves them both adrift in uncharted waters. Only time and the churning sea will tell if they admit what's in their hearts. 

Secrets Aboard can be found here!

After Captain Clark showered and dressed for dinner, he opened the adjoining door

to Luka’s room. He turned around from looking through the porthole and grinned. The

boy wore his G-string and nothing else. The court demanded he do surprise visits. No

knocking on the door. No warning. Surprise visits. What a cute ass.

“I hope you don’t plan on going to dinner dressed in your G-string,” Captain Clark

said.

“I would if I was allowed to. I heard passengers have walked around naked and it

was okay,” Luka said.

“I suppose you heard that from Charlie. He’s trouble.”

“I never said I heard that from Charlie.”

“No, you didn’t, but he’s the only one you’ve talked to on this ship besides me.”

“Do I have to wear my uniform?”

“Yes, they’re in your closet. Make sure you wear your lanyard with your uniform.

There are several uniforms which consist of navy slacks and blue short-sleeve shirts,

navy vest, and a matching tie. The laundry room is at the end of the hall. You’re

responsible for keeping your uniforms clean and ironed. All the machines and use of the

irons are free.”

Luka checked his closet for his uniforms and his lanyard. He didn’t seem impressed

with what he saw or even thank him for getting them for him instead of him standing in

line and picking them up at the Crew Store. He might not know all the ins and outs of

things on the ship. But still no thank you. Ungrateful rich boy.

“Why did you offer to supervise me?”

“Your father asked me, that’s why.”

“Do you owe him a favor?”

“No. Your father wants to steer you in a better direction. He convinced me you were

worth saving.”

Welcome to Pride Cruise 2024!

Where the water is crisp, the men are HOT, and the party has started! Each book is a standalone but feel free and dive in and binge them all. You won't want to miss a second of their naughty antics. If you think they're silly when the sun is up, just wait until it goes down.

The pride cruise collection can be found here!

Thursday Thirst-Trap: From Bleeding Dawn....I was run amok

 

Bleeding Dawn was part of the 2022 Rocktoberfest Collection. 

Bleeding Dawn can be found here!

The 2022 Road to Rocktoberfest Collection can be found here!

“I’m still trying to figure out how you guys managed to beat us here?” Tavis asked.

“Decided to have two cigarettes instead of just one,” Winter said. “By the time we were finishing the second one, we’d already seen three cops race past, so we mapped out a different route and took the local road that ran parallel to the highway. It took us to within a mile of the rest stop. Gave us a chance to smoke a few while we waited, too.

“Well, Riley rolled some left-handed cigarettes, figured you guys will need a few of those too,” Tavis remarked, lighting one of the two Riley had left on the table and passing it to Winter, who gratefully accepted.

“You figured right,” Winter wheezed, blowing smoke rings at the ceiling. “God that’s good.”

There were a dozen things Tripp wanted to ask, but he took his clues from Tavis and waited for Winter to begin talking on his own, which he did only after enjoying several long tokes.

“Can I preface this whole conversation by saying that I was set up?” Winter asked.

“I suppose you were bamboozled and run amok too,” Tavis quipped, prompting Winter to flash a ghost of a smile his way.

“No, just set up,” Winter explained. “Wouldn’t have said fuck-all if the bastard had admitted to being a reporter. Wouldn’t have taken him to bed either.”

There was a sudden tick at the corner of Tavis’s jaw, and his eyes darkened in that way Tripp had come to recognize meant he was pissed about something. He plucked the joint from Winter’s fingers and inhaled deeply, scowling when Winter reached to try and get it back from him.

“I’m sorry,” Winter said. “I was drinking, I needed someone to talk to and…”

“You talk to me!” Tavis snapped, scowling, inhaling, and allowing the smoke to remain deep in his lungs for several seconds before exhaling a stream of smoke. “Wasn’t that what we agreed on? You don’t ghost me just ‘cause….”

“I know!” Winter snapped, while Tripp felt like he was inching closer to learning what had gone wrong between them. “I panicked. It was shitty of me. I know I fucked up and I know you’re pissed.”

“Try again,” Tavis growled.

Blinking, Winter met his gaze, and only then did Tavis pass him the joint back.

“You really hurt me,” Tavis said. “I’d rather be angry with you. I wanted to be. But in the end, I kept on asking myself what the hell I’d done to have you turn your back on me that way.”

“Nothing.”

When Winter didn’t elaborate, Tavis raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

“It wasn’t…”

“Me? Anything I did? Let me guess, it was you and I shouldn’t feel bad about what happened,” Tavis remarked, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

“Well, it’s true,” Winter groused. “I panicked. It was the most intense night of my life, and I didn’t know how to take that. I’d been looking for something that would make me truly feel something for so long, that when it happened, I didn’t know how to handle it. Especially when it came with someone I’d known as long as I’ve known you. To think that it’s been right there, all this time, and I was too scared to cross the line and go after it.”

“Until you weren’t.”

“More like until we weren’t alone,” Winter admitted. “Would never have had the guts to go for it if it hadn’t been for Tish.”

“It shouldn’t have taken a third person in the bed for you to accept what we both wanted.”

It was like watching a ping pong ball bounce back and forth across the table, and there was no longer any doubt in Tripp’s mind what they were talking about.

“I just want to be clear on one thing before you two keep going,” Tripp interjected during a pause where they passed the joint back and forth, short double puffs spaced between each handoff. “Is the reason Winter doesn’t know if he’s the father of Tish’s kid or not because there is a chance you might be?”

“Pretty much,” Tavis replied.

Glancing from one to the other, the one thing that was impossible for Tripp to miss was that they appeared completely at peace with the situation.

“But that’s not what you’re fighting about,” Tripp said, trying to clear things up before they started going back and forth again.

“We were never fighting,” Tavis explained. “He started ignoring me after we fucked each other stupid.”

Scowling at his brother, Tripp struggled to wrap his mind around what he’d just heard. “O-kay, umm…I didn’t think…I mean…”

Biting his lower lip, Tripp tried to map out what he wanted to say before he said it, so he didn’t come off as invasive or insensitive, while Tavis just chuckled.

“If it’s any consolation, it shocked me too,” Tavis admitted. “I figured Winter was too shameless to ever let anything throw him, at least, not in the bedroom.”

Snorting, Winter flipped them both off.

“I wouldn’t mind a round three,” Tavis shot back, and holy shit, his brother blushed a little. Before tonight, Tripp wouldn’t have thought that possible, considering all the debauchery Winter got up to. Then his brother spoke, and Tripp went from shocked to stupefied.

“I wouldn’t mind more than just another round.”

Had Winter actually said that? Judging from the way Tavis was staring at him, mouth hanging open, eyes wide, he didn’t seem to know what to make of Winter’s words either. It was like everything was moving in slow motion as Winter locked a hand behind Tavis’s head and tugged him into a rough, possessive kiss that left no doubt about his intentions.

Tripp just sat there, dumbfounded at the display until they finally came up for air. Even then, they had eyes only for each other, Tavis crushing Winter’s jacket in both fists, holding him in place so they were nose to nose.

“Ignoring me is a dealbreaker,” Tavis said. “You’ve had your one and done, got it?”

At first, Winter just nodded, but a heartbeat later he leaned in. “It won’t happen again,” he breathed, before kissing Tavis as savagely as he had the first time.

Tripp started to edge away, intending to give them their privacy, when they broke apart, bumped foreheads, and slowly let each other go.

Wicked WIP Wednesday: Cruising right along

 

Seafoam and Saltwater Taffy can be preordered here!

“Remember when I told you that you were going to get a surprise when we got on the ship?” Daddy asked.

Ember did remember, and now he nodded enthusiastically, raising his hips in offering, expecting Daddy to suck him, only Daddy just moved away. Blinking and a bit confused, Ember sat up a little, until Daddy wagged a finger at him.

“Uh-uh, you stay just like that,” Daddy said. “And close your eyes.”

He flopped back where he’d been and closed his eyes like Daddy said, one hand inching down the front of his body as he struggled to resist the temptation to stroke himself.

“Was that where your hand was before?” Daddy asked.

It wasn’t the kind of question that required an answer, it was more like a correction in the form of a question so Ember could make a good choice and correct himself so Daddy didn’t have to. He quickly jerked his hand off his abs and let it flop back on the bed beside his head, but he was too excited to keep completely still as he waited on Daddy.

It was the change in the lighting on the other side of his eyelids that gave him his first clue of what Daddy was up to. The tones shifted, like color changing LEDs then they were gone, the light replaced by touch when he felt something soft and spiky brush along his side, tickling him. It slid over his belly, tickling him more, then up his thigh and over the top of it to rest against his hip a moment, before Daddy ran it down his leg. That tickled so much he jerked his leg up, which must have been exactly what Daddy wanted, because he pinned Ember’s ankle in place and he dragged the squishy spikes up the back of Ember’s leg and over his left ass cheek before moving it away again.

Ember let out a frustrated huff and knew he’d be whining at this point if he could and he really, really, really wished he could right now because what Daddy was doing was maddening and completely unfair. 

Welcome to Pride Cruise 2024!
Where the water is crisp, the men are HOT, and the party has started! Each book is a standalone but feel free and dive in and binge them all. You won't want to miss a second of their naughty antics. If you think they're silly when the sun is up, just wait until it goes down.

The Pride Cruise series can be found here!

Twisted Tuesday: I am not your mate. Welcome to Lyric's world and that of the Ghost Hollow Pack

 

“I am not your mate!”

Even as I growl the words, the skin on my forearm itches and I can practically feel the mating mark take hold.

Fuckin’ fates. Despite everything I’ve endured I should have known they weren’t done screwing with me yet.

The wolf who sat across from me might have been beautiful once, if not for the trio of scars that bisected his face from cheekbone to chin, and the fact that the chair he was sitting in had large wheels mounted beside the motor that sat under the seat. His fingers tapped the joystick mounted beside his left hand and the chair inched forward, closing the gap between us. He was missing the tip of one finger and the one beside it appeared twisted and gnarled, like it had started heeling before being properly attended to.

I didn’t know where to look so I scanned the room for the nearest exit, trying to come up with a backup plan now that my original one had blown up in my face, only this had been my last ditch, hail Mary attempt at happiness and now…

Now I was just simply screwed.

I’d come here to find my mate and I’d found him, but this wasn’t the mate I’d dreamed of. This wasn’t the wolf who’d run beside me beneath the moonlight or stalk the woods with me on a long and grueling hunt. This wolf would never be able to pin me down and control me when everything grew chaotic, and the memories fought to take control and drive me insane. This wolf was the furthest thing from what I’d envisioned and judging from the way his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“What is all the commotion in here!” A voice hissed from the doorway, cutting off my escape.

The only other one lay past the man in the chair, and I wasn’t sure that I could make that leap, even if I shifted to wolf.

“I found our mate,” the man in the chair replied, his voice rough, cold, and devoid of emotion. “He is less than pleased with the prospect.”

The man who approached had eyes like emeralds in a storm and easily dwarfed my five-foot six-inch form. I’d been born the runt of my litter and had never been able to catch up, a fact my siblings had constantly reminded me of every time they’d smothered me with their attempts to ‘help’ and ‘protect’ me. It was one of many reasons I’d become a loner and staunchly avoided returning to my home territory. There were only so many good intentions one could handle before their sense of self began eroding. Couple that with a particular wolf who’d made it his life mission to make my life hell, and I had more than enough reason to remain in the lower forty-eight and away from my native Alaska.

“He’s mistaken,” I snapped, feigning a haughtiness I didn’t feel.

The itching had turned to burning and my forearm ached though I refused to rub it. That alone would give away the ruse I was about to attempt.

“There were others in here before I arrived, surely, it’s one of them. I am already mated. He’ll be expecting me back at his side. If you’ll excuse me, I’d better find him before he comes looking for me. He can be rather protective. I’d hate for a misunderstanding to lead to someone getting hurt.”

I expected that to be the end of it, but the big man in the doorway didn’t move and the one in the chair inched closer, forcing me to try and sidestep around him.

“What is the name of this so-called mate?” the one in the chair growled, his tone hostile and challenging.

I licked my lips and opened my mouth to speak, only to have my mind go blank when I realized that his eyes, in addition to the rest of his features, aside from the scars, matched that of the one in the doorway.

Twins.

Damn fate was testing me.

It had been my secret fantasy to be mated to twins. It was the only time, within our society, that a mating bond was shared between three rather than the usual pairing. Now here was that fantasy come to life in the form of a nightmare, and I couldn’t even stammer out a name to complete my lie.

The one in the doorway was rolling up his sleeve to reveal swirls of blue and silver twisting in interlocking whirls. It was only about four inches now, but time and proper bonding would see it expand from wrist to elbow and wrap around the arm completely.

“There is a simple enough way to prove he’s wrong,” the one in the doorway challenged. “Show us your arm.”

The one in the chair shoved at the loose material of his Henley, soon revealing a scarred arm bearing the matching design, only his was on the opposite arm as his brothers, more fuel for the wolfen myth that twins were two halves of the same soul.

Shucking off my leather jacket, I was grateful for the long sleeves beneath and the way their eyes were drawn to the material, soul focus on seeing skin revealed.

Too bad.

Fur was all they were getting.

I shifted in a blur of fluff and tangled clothes, a reminder that it had been far too long since anyone had brushed me. I’m sure it was matted in places and in desperate need of being tended to, but there was little opportunity for grooming when one lived in the woods. Bolting left, I leapt, back legs somewhat hindered by the jeans that had ensnared them. It meant I didn’t get the height I’d hoped for, and instead, barely cleared the windowsill before my front paws struck glass. Would have broken them both if the glass had been bulletproof, as it was, it hurt like hell breaking it out without all the force I’d intended to generate.

Outside, I shook off the glass, put my front paws on the inside of the long-sleeved t-shirt that still clung to me, and held it still while I withdrew my head from the neck hole. Finally free from all entanglements I took off at a frantic, breakneck pace, heart hammering, wolf whining because he’d sensed mates and now we were fleeing from the very ones we’d come here to find.

These weren’t my woods. My lack of familiarity with them meant that I reached the edge of the ravine before I realized I was about to fall. Skidding, paws flailing, I rolled tail over snout down the hill, striking small branches and painful rocks on my path to the bottom. Landing with a squelching splat in mud and standing water sucked, the swarm of mosquitos I stirred up taking great pleasure in siphoning my blood. Dizzy and disoriented I staggered to my feet only to trip over my own paws and land snout first in the mud again. This time, I lay there until the world stopped spinning, then inched deeper into the muck, crawling towards the churning river that lay several feet away.

The plan was to swim across it and emerge much cleaner on the other side, find a rabbit or waterfowl for dinner then search for a path out of this valley and as far away from Ghost Hollow Pack territory as I could possibly get, but the universe had other plans for me. The cold was a shock to my system, drenching my fur and making it difficult to make any headway, while the current was swifter than I imagined, and spun me like a saucer as it carried me away.

Fate was truly kicking my ass today.

Coming early 2025

Musical Monday: Broken Chorus...on the Road to Rocktoberfest

 

Last week you met Vander, today I'll introduce you to Cordell. 

They said show him the ropes, but I look at him and nothing sits right about him doing this job. 

I knew from the first time I saw him play that he was born to be on the stage. His fall from grace shouldn't have ended that. Other men had come back from worse than a prank gone wrong. The remorse was written all over his face even all these years later, yet not one outlet had stepped forward to offer him the chance to express it. 

If it wasn't for Logan, he'd have stepped from behind those prison gates with nowhere to go and only the clothes he'd been wearing the night he was arrested. 

The clothes he burned in the first bonfire we had after he joined us. 

That eyepatch of his doesn't detract from his beauty, he'll always be rockstar handsome to me, but I know there is a story behind it, some horror he experienced while locked up in that prison. I can't help but feel like his fame, money or management company could have gotten him placed at a safer location, but when I asked Logan about it, all he'd say was that Vander didn't ask. 

That he didn't say or do anything to protect himself, he'd just admitted the truth and owned up to his mistake...

...only talking to Logan and hearing the story the media didn't portray has left me thinking it wasn't a sober one. 

That's not an excuse and I'd never try and make it sound like one...but it is a factor and I know better than anyone how that factor can fuck up a life. 

According to Logan, that particular bit of truth never came up, since there wasn't a trial. 

No need for one when Vander pled guilty before the DA could finished explaining the charges. 

Logan's words, not Vander. 

Vander never talks about it. 

Hell, he barely talks at all. 

The music world wouldn't touch him in any capacity, hell, Puma was still skeptical about having him as a part of our crew. It's a good thing it wasn't his decision. Vander not only works his ass off but he's always willing to jump in and help with a task, even when it wasn't assigned to him. 

He barely interacts, even in the down times when we're joking around, and he's cautious, super cautious, like he's afraid that any little mistake will get him kicked down the road. He's wrong. Not a single member of our crew is flawless, we all fuck up from time to time, but we're family, which means that we don't give up on someone just because they get something wrong. 

Sometimes I wonder if that's what Logan brought him here to see, or if there is more that's gone unsaid about their dynamic. 

When I watch them together, it's the only time a ghost of a smile crosses Vander's face. I know we're supposed to call him Evan, I do when I say his name out loud, but he'll never be Evan Morris to me. He'll always be Evander Morrison. 

And it sucks to see his talent go to waste. 

Taking the fall for a shared mistake ended his once promising career, now he's a roadie traveling with one of the few people who knows who he used to be. It's a secret he clings to even when an unexpected second chance to take the stage presents itself. If jail taught him anything, it was how to keep his head down and stay off everyone's radar. When the truth is unexpectedly revealed, his first instinct is to run as fast and far from that tour bus as he can get. Unfortunately, the past has a way of finding even those determined to cling to the shadows, if only to prove that a broken chorus can still be made whole again.

Broken Chorus is part of the multi-author Road to Rocktoberfest 2024 series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but why not read them all and see what antics our bands get into next? Hot rockstars and the men who love them, what more could you ask for. Kick back, load up your kindle and enjoy the men of Rocktoberfest!

Sunday Snippets: Gemini's Rogue: Every time we've ever touched

 

“I wish you wouldn’t flirt with me,” he groaned, pulling away fast and putting distance between them.

“Why?”

“Because you don’t mean it,” Rogue grumbled from somewhere off to the left of them. “Just go ahead and open your eyes, and look, really look around.”

Gemini did, blinking at first at the brightness of the sun, then looking out over the rolling fields with the forest at its edges, the blue, blue sky, the red tail hawk swooping low and the buzzard circling in the distance. In that moment, Gemini could see what it looked like through the eyes of someone who’d never experienced any of the negative memories associated with the place. Through Rogue’s eyes, as he stood, half turned away from them, gazing off into the distance. It was beautiful, truly, amazingly beautiful, and the more they thought that way, the more they wanted to sweep the old memories from every corner of the land and replace them with something special and new.

“You’re right,” Gemini said softly, stepping back up beside him again. “It is beautiful. I shouldn’t let myself forget that just because I’m still angry with my father.”

“No, you shouldn’t, especially when he isn’t even here anymore to know that you’re upset with him. Why give the dead that much power over you?”

“I-I guess I never thought about it that way.”

“Well, maybe you should. You’ve got something awesome here, something most people can only dream of. Hell, it’s something I can only dream of. Thank him, toast his passing, and move on, he has, they all have. Life’s too short to waste it on people who never really gave a damn in the first place.”

Gemini bristled, instantly on the defensive.

“How would you know he didn’t give a damn!”

“People who give a damn don’t hurt the people who love them.”

Those simple words took all the spark and fire out of Gemini, who sagged and hung their head. “I just wish he could have loved me for who I am.”

“Don’t.”

Cocking their head, Gemini gazed up at him to find him staring down with contemplative eyes.

“It’s a waste of time, don’t bother, wishing doesn’t change things,” he said softly. “I used to wish for a lot of things, none of which has ever came true.”

“That shouldn’t mean you stop wishing.”

“Maybe. But it does mean I stopped wishing for impossible things.”

“Who’s to say what’s impossible,” Gemini asked, feeling themselves bristle again.

“Wishing your old man had loved you for who you are is an impossible dream, ‘cause he’s dead and he can’t love anything anymore.”

“Yeah, well your family is alive, what’s their excuse for not loving you!”

Rogue flinched and Gemini instantly regretted their words.

“I-I shouldn’t have said that, I…”

“No,” Rogue barked, his words harsh, choked, his fists tight at his sides. “You’re right, they don’t, they never have, they never will. I can’t change that, which is why I gave up wishing for it a long time ago.”

He stalked away then, but Gemini couldn’t leave it be. They ran after him and caught his arm, half expecting him to throw a punch. The last thing they ever expected to see was fat tears rolling in thick lines down his cheeks. He was trembling beneath their fingers and when they pulled him into a hug he didn’t resist, instead, he wrapped his arms around them and clung, shaking, sobbing, the force of it bringing him to his knees and dragging Gemini down with him. It hurt, the impact with the ground and it couldn’t have felt too great on his knees either, but Gemini refused to let go. They hugged him and held him through the storm of his emotions, and when he calmed a bit and settled into occasional shakes and twitches, they stroked his hair and down his back, until he relaxed against them.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Gemini said softly.

“Don’t be,” Rogue whispered, still holding on tight. “I needed that. I haven’t, not in a long time, and I just, it feels…”

“Relief,” Gemini supplied when Rogue’s words trailed off.

“Yeah.”

“There’s something you need to know,” Gemini replied, their hands still threading gently through his hair, enjoying the softness while he seemed relaxed and soothed by their touch. So soft, though this wasn’t how they’d have liked to answer that question.

“Okay.”

“It’s about why I flirt with you.”

“Don’t.”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Please don’t do this.”

“I’m not lying, Rogue. Look at me. Please.”

He raised his head, slow, hesitant, the distrust in his eyes unmistakable and it hurt Gemini’s heart to think that they had given him any reason to feel that he couldn’t trust them. They knew they had, years ago when they’d mocked him and outright accused him of all kinds of ulterior motives for trying to warn them off his brother.  

“I care for you,” Gemini admitted, holding his gaze. “I have for a long time and it made me feel ashamed because it was your brother I was married to. I’m intrigued by you. I’m turned on by you. This isn’t about my relationship with Randy. This is about you being here with me, and me wanting to know what happens if we just go with it because every time we’ve ever touched, drunk, high, sober or whatever, there’s been a spark like a lightning bolt and you feel it too, I know you do. No promises, no regrets, no bullshit, let’s just see what happens, okay? Maybe we’ll break each other a little more than we already are, or maybe we put each other back together again.”

“Fuck!” Rogue snarled and lunged, smashing their mouths together, the kiss all teeth and tongue and wild, clumsy aggression.

Gemini slid their hands up his sides and wiggled closer, kissing him back with just as much pent up, out of control emotion. Fingers grasping, legs tangling, they kissed until they lay breathless, holding each other in the dust.

“Someday,” Gemini said softly, as they caressed his face and brushed their fingertips over the lingering tears beneath his eyes. “I’m going to prove to you that you deserve only good things.”

“Someday,” Rogue remarked, leaning in to brush one last, lingering kiss against their lips, “I just might let you.”

Gemini's Rogue can be found here!

Growing up with a strictly religious father in a house with little joy, or love, left Grady Stoltz eager to get out. At the first opportunity that presented itself, they left home with a young man who swept them off their feet, used their preferred pronouns, and accepted that they were gender fluid and wished to shed the name Grady and all of the constraints of their former life. Dubbed Gemini, they never expected to return to that farm or the rural community they’d been raised in, but life took some unexpected turns, and they found themselves returning four years later. A little older, a little wiser, and the new owner of a house full of memories and regrets.

Cleaning the place up is only the first step towards deciding if they wish to sell it, or if they wish to stay and try and make a life for themselves in a place they’ve never felt as if they belonged. Haunted by the memories of the father who could never accept them, the mother they lost at a young age, and their own shortcomings and failures, they are in a very dark place when Rogue arrives.

Charismatic when performing in front of an audience, yet shy and vulnerable when faced with the prospect of being alone in a crowd, Rogue seeks shelter with Gemini on their middle-of-nowhere farm, hoping for a new beginning and a chance to see if the tiny spark that had flared between them once before, can be kindled into a roaring flame.

Two battered souls, one tattered farmhouse, an old dog, a cranky chicken, several misspoken words, and one crazed ex-husband combine in an explosive combination of truth, lust, dreams, and vengeance. Will the force of it tear Gemini and Rogue apart, or will it leave them closer than they ever dared to hope?

Sinfully Delicious Saturday Snippet: Seafoam and Saltwater Taffy: Packing up to go

 

Seafoam and Saltwater Taffy can be preordered here. 

Daddy had helped them make lists of what to pack. They each had two suitcases, Daddy wanted gear in one and everyday stuff in the other. What Rusty was doing was utter chaos. The next time Rusty walked out of the closet with a single item of clothing in his hands, Ember stepped directly into his path and captured his hands, bringing them up between them until Rusty slid them over his shoulders and tugged him forward until Ember was molded against Rusty’s chest.

“Slow down, I know and I will,” Rusty murmured. “I just need to remember to breathe.”

Ember pulled back enough to smile up at him before he signed. “And get out the list Daddy made you.”

“And…damn….I forgot.”

Ember snuggled against his chest again, listening to his heartbeat while Rusty pet his hair.

When a last minute request to speak at a conference in New York had resulted in Daddy being away when he’d planned to come over and help them with their packing, he’d created elaborate lists for them so they wouldn’t need to worry about forgetting anything. Ember had put them in the end table drawer beside their bed. He led Rusty there now and extracted them, laying his beside his suitcases and passing Rusty his.

“One line at a time, the same as before,” Ember signed.

Rusty nodded at that and flashed a little smile, so Ember matched it, then widened his until Rusty smiled brighter. When he did, Ember hopped back and forth from one foot to the other, waving his hands in an impish little dance he’d created back on one of their Saturday morning living puppet shows. It never failed to make Rusty laugh, even when he was frustrated about something that had gone on at work.

As he’d expected, it worked now too.

“I love when you do that,” Rusty said. “We could be seventy-three years old and I’d still want you to do it, even with a cane. Might be even funnier that way, who knows. Add in the some gray hair and a gecko on your head and I’d say you’d top even the original rendition.”

Ember silently laughed along with him, then signed, “Do you want to play a game with me?”

“Always,” Rusty replied.

“I pack for you, you pack for me,” Ember signed. “The only catch is that we each have to slip in a surprise for the other, and we can’t look until we’re on the ship.”

“Game on,” Rusty said as he picked up his list. 

Friday Fireworks: Saint's Sinner is live and check out this explosive clip from chapter 1

 

Saint's Sinner is Live!

Amazon Link for Saint's Sinner

They took what meant the most to him, but they underestimated what he and his club would go through to retrieve the man he loved.

Going legit didn’t mean going soft. Unfortunately, no one informed the rest of the world of that. Factions within their MC had been pushing buttons for months, wanting to pull the club back into ventures they were better off staying out of. Betrayals had been brought to light and swiftly dealt with. Treaties had been forged that were proving to be particularly lucrative. Business was good. They were even learning the ins and outs of diversifying. It wasn’t as profitable as their previously less than legal pursuits, but it kept the cops off their backs, for the most part, and bodies in the clubhouse rather than behind bars.

So then why was Sinn not at his side where the man belonged?

Well, that’s exactly what they were burning up the road trying to discover.

Along the way, loyalties might be tested, lines would certainly be drawn, and blood was sure to be shed, once they discovered who was behind the mysterious disappearance of the man he’d unwaveringly been drawn to.

And if a certain prospect should happen to prove unbelievably desirable in ways that had nothing to do with the road, well than that was just a bonus to Saint’s way of thinking. He was a man who thrived on pleasure and debauchery. What better place to find both than in the arms of men named Night and Sinn?

“Relax.”

If there was ever a word spoken in the human language that had the ability to cause the opposite effect it was intended to, relax was at the top of that list. In fact, Saint couldn’t think of a single instance in the history of the word relax where someone had responded to it by calming the fuck down. His brother should know that but judging from the way he was kicked back in his chair nursing his beer, he’d clearly forgotten what it was like to have it uttered at him when he was stressed.

“Brutha,” Saint cautioned, slamming his empty bottle on the desk, and taking satisfaction in seeing it shatter, “if you tell me to relax one more time, I’m gonna forget we’re blood and kick your ass to the beach and back.”

“Save your energy for when we find Sinn.”

“You mean if we find Sinn!”

“We’ll find him.”

“You can’t promise that!” Saint raged, “You can’t promise he’ll be okay either!”

“No, but what I can promise is that whoever has done this will be made to pay.”

Snarling, Saint slammed his hand on the front of the desk and wound up with a piece of glass embedded in it. “And that’s supposed to be comforting?”

“Did I say…”

Snarling, Saint cut Mark off by whipping a heavy glass ashtray at his head. Fucker didn’t even have the good graces to try and get out of the way. Would have been nice if he’d pretended it had come close to hitting him, but Saint’s aim had always been shit when it came to throwing. Mark probably figured moving would be what got him hit. That or he just didn’t give a shit. He didn’t flinch when glass and plaster exploded outward from the dent the ashtray put in the wall, nor did he twitch when shards slit his cheek and sent blood spilling down it much like the flow trickling from Saint’s hand.

“If this was Teddy, Kat, or god forbid, one of my nephews, you’d have destroyed half the town by now!” Saint roared.

“And you’d have been right there beside me.”

“Then why the fuck aren’t we out their doing it now?”

The casual way Mark reached up and brushed glass fragments out of his hair took Saint to a whole other level of pissed off. “Because we’re older and supposed to be wiser at this point in our lives, and we both know the cops are itching to swarm this place and lock us under the jail. Between those fuckheads taking a shot at me in the dinner and sending Lucky to the hospital, and the brawl with Shaw’s crew, we’re on thin ice with the local authorities, or have you forgotten their warning Kat bailed us out that day?”

Saint groaned and rolled his eyes, knowing his brother was right, despite not being in the mood to hear him sounding reasonable. “Wasn’t going legit supposed to keep them off our asses?”

“Could be we underestimated how difficult it was gonna be to keep the personal from spinning sideways even when the businesses were on the up and up.”

“You think!”

“Saint! Cool it! I mean that shit too. I can’t think with you going ballistic every twelve seconds and I’m tired of telling you that no one has called in to report the smallest damn thing.”

“Well what the fuck are they waiting for?”

“To find something would be my guess!"

Rollin' Jokers Sale!

Burning Luck, book one in the Rollin' Jokers series is currently on sale for .99 cents. 

Lucky Strike McAllister isn't very lucky. In fact, he isn't much of anything most days, to hear his MC tell it. Since the death of his father from cancer and the suicide of his pops, he's done nothing but find ways to get into trouble. He's talented with an airbrush gun and an amazing artist when he sets his mind to it, but more often than not, the things Lucky sets his mind to are pretty self-destructive.

When Thorn and his partner Cain, are forced to fish Lucky out of the ocean on a chilly fall night, both men decide he needs a keeper and who better than them to keep Lucky from destroying himself? Too bad Lucky can't see that they're trying to help. Bitter and lashing out, he does everything he can to sabotage the only chance he's ever been given at truly belonging to someone.

Will Lucky be able to put aside his anger long enough to get to know the two men who have taken such an intense interest in him, or will he run from them, his club and everything he's ever known, and burn the last of his luck in the process?

Burning Luck

Claiming Cody, book 2 in the Rollin' Jokers series is currently on sale for $1.99

When Lucky moved to the Outer Banks to work in Thorn and Cain’s surf shop and eventually fell in love with them, Cody lost himself in gambling to dull the ache of missing his best friend. The flashing lights of the casino, the feel of cards beneath his fingers, and the rough-smooth texture of poker chips all served to drag him deeper into an addiction he was slowly giving himself over to. It helps that he works security there, easy access, and an increasing reason not to go back home. The Rollin’ Jokers are family, always would be, but there’s an ache Cody can’t fill with the roar of his machine and the wind in his hair. The best he can hope for is to dull it one bet at a time.

Wreck owes a lot to the Rollin’ Jokers MC, after all, his old man was a founding member. So, when the Joker’s president asked for a favor, no way would he turn him down. Even if the favor meant playing babysitter to Mark’s out-of-control son, Cody, who seemed to get a kick out of pushing buttons Wreck didn’t know he had. Still, he has no intention of letting Mark down, and if that means teaching Cody some discipline, well then, there are plenty of ways he could make it fun…for them both.

Only…Cody’s got different ideas, and issues that are only just being brought to light. Add in bad boy Bellamy, the wandering nomad biker who happens to land on the same road Cody’s cruising down, and Wreck finds his carefully ordered world turned upside-down. Now he’s wrangling kittens, including a human-sized one hell-bent on making a home in Wreck’s lap when he’s not looking to scratch his eyes out…and Bellamy? Let’s just say that’s the mystery element in an equation Wreck’s not certain he can solve.

With the past closing in and the future uncertain, Wreck’s desperate to find a way to protect Cody….from himself, from his demons, and from a past that’s come back to haunt him.

Claiming Cody