Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Angel Elegy by Jaime Samms

Blurb
 
Twin Angels Jophiel and Ariel are servants of Heaven bound to help the humans of a world headed for ruin. But for them to become the independent Angels they need to be, their bond must first be broken. 

Jophiel takes his duties seriously, answering a call from an artist struggling with his dominant, sadistic nature. But Ariel, embittered after being tortured and killed by human captors and returning to Heaven in shame, hesitates. The choice is taken from his hands when he is sent to Earth, wingless and without any memory of who or what he is. Until he regains the faith in the humans he’s meant to help, he’ll never reach his full potential and be readmitted into Heaven. From somewhere within himself, Jophiel must find the courage to let go of his twin and trust Ariel to be strong enough to Rise again… or they will never be together. 

A Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.
 
 
Excerpt:
“Your eyes have been shut, little Angel. You forget that an Angel Fallen is an Angel with darkness around his heart.” He turned his head to glare at me. “An Angel Fallen is a beacon for the darker souls. If Mick and Gabe bring light to this world, there are those who gave up their wings so they wouldn’t be reminded of what they lost.”

“And are you one of those?” I asked, my fear sudden and blinding.

“If an Angel can Fall, why, then, can a Demon not Rise?” he asked, turning to face me. And there, behind him in the fading afternoon light, were wings, the like of which I could never have imagined. Leathery and clawed. Horrific, and yet beautiful as the failing sun shone through the membranes and cast a rainbow shadow over his arms and face.

The sight was terrifying. And then it was gone as Flin rounded the end of the stall and blocked the light for a split second.

There was a moment of brittle silence. I couldn’t breathe. Pac seemed frozen in shock, and Flin’s easy smile slipped from his face.

“So you know, then,” he said, sliding his slender form between me and Pac.

“I don’t know what I know,” I replied truthfully. It could have been a trick of the failing light, a flash of final glory from the setting sun.

Flin’s chest heaved, his fists clenched at his side. “If Angels can Fall—”

“Demons can Rise, yes.” I nodded. “That’s what he said.”

“I believe it,” Flin said, voice tight, teeth grinding. “I believe in him.”

Once upon a time, he would have been called a devil worshiper. He would have been hunted down and killed, along with his Demon. I knew that for an absolute certainty. Like I knew my own name. Like I knew anything at all, I knew this was dangerous, what they were doing, what they wanted.

Pac stood behind his diminutive defender, face pale, fear in his eyes. Fear like I knew. Like I had lived. Fear that left him helpless. Defenseless.

“I don’t know what I know anymore,” I said again, and I turned away from them, at war with myself. Some gut instinct told me how dangerous Pac was. How devastating he could be if he really was a Demon. If he was lying about what he wanted. And wasn’t that what Demons did? Lie and

deceive? My heart told me things had changed. People had changed. The world was not as black and white as it once was, when Demons and Angels were Darkness or Light, and people helpless before them.

If an Angel could Fall, could lose all hope in the face of all of the light and love at his command, then why couldn’t a Demon Rise? Why couldn’t he see through the darkness of his birth to what lay beyond? Who was I to deny him that hope?

“We should get this packed up and delivered to the church,” I said, turning back to them.
I found them tightly bound up in each other, Pac’s arms strong around Flin. If I looked for them now I could see the wings, leathery and clawed, folded around the smaller man, and even a tail, wrapped snakelike around their legs, as though they could not get close enough or hold to each other with enough force to contain how they felt.

The sun finally set, casting a last, rainbow-hued veil of light and shadow over the stall, sifting through Pac’s wings and reminding me of the light of stained glass and the silence of pure worship. A soft sigh left me, liberating something inside. I heard the faint echo of it in my heart, the release of a thousand pent-up breaths: the saddest, loneliest song I’d ever heard.
 
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

BY A THREAD by L.A. Witt

BY A THREAD


Leon’s never felt as strongly about any man as he does Andrew, but when Andrew asks to meet him for dinner, Leon’s sure things are over before they’ve even started. Except Andrew isn’t coming to dinner to call things off. He’s coming to drop an entirely different bomb.
Andrew’s a sorcerer. He can manipulate fire, he can manipulate lightning… but like most of his kind, what he can’t do is maintain absolute control of his power when he’s sexually aroused, which is dangerous to non-magics like Leon. No matter how much the two men want each other, there’s no way around it: they’re playing with fire, which means someone’s bound to get burned.
At first, they’re both willing to back off, but as their feelings for each other deepen, their mutual desire is only getting stronger, and Andrew and Leon are hanging by a thread trying to resist each other. But can they give in without getting burned? 

(Excerpt not available yet)
 
L. A. Witt & Lauren Gallagher
Abnormal Romance Author
2010 Carnal Passions Author of the Year
Website * Professional Blog * Personal Blog * Webcomic * Twitter
 

CONDUCT UNBECOMING by L.A. Witt

CONDUCT UNBECOMING
 
As long as no one asks and they don’t tell…
 First class petty officer Eric Randall is less than thrilled about taking orders to Okinawa. Three long, lonely years on a crappy island that’s thousands of miles from his daughter? Oh. Yeah. Sign him up. But as long as he’s stuck here, he might as well make the best of it, so he discreetly checks out the local gay scene.
 Shane nearly drops his drink when the gorgeous, cocky-looking guy strolls into Palace Habu. He buys him a drink, and before long, they’re making out in a booth. Eric is a straight-to-the-point kind of guy and doesn’t want to play games. Since Eric’s idea of not playing games is getting the hell out of there and going back to one of their apartments, Shane is more than happy to go along with it.
 What starts as a scorching hot one night stand leaves both of them wanting more…until Eric finds out Shane doesn’t just outrank him, he’s an officer. DADT may be repealed, but an enlisted man getting involved with an officer falls under conduct unbecoming.
 Still, they can’t resist their mutual desire. There’s no reason anyone has to find out. But secrets have a way of outing themselves.
 Warning: Contains two military boys who keep forgetting they’re not supposed to be together. Probably because they never have their uniforms on for any length of time…

 

L. A. Witt & Lauren Gallagher
Abnormal Romance Author
2010 Carnal Passions Author of the Year
Website * Professional Blog * Personal Blog * Webcomic * Twitter
 

 

THE CLOSER YOU GET by L.A.Witt

Available for Print

THE CLOSER YOU GET

Self-described manwhore Kieran Frost is loving the single life. Two years after moving to Seattle, he still has his friends with benefits, Rhett and Ethan, plus a never-ending supply of gorgeous, available men wandering through the bar where he works. A relationship? Spare him the drama and heartbreak. He’s got no complaints about his unattached lifestyle.
When Rhett’s daughter introduces him to newly-out-of-the-closet Alex Corbin, Kieran’s interest perks up. After all, the quiet ones are always the freaks in bed. But Alex isn’t just shy and reserved. He’s a virgin in every sense of the word, having never even kissed anyone else.
Kieran is no one’s teacher, and his first instinct is to run like hell in the other direction. But his conscience won’t let him throw the naïve kid to the wolves for someone else to take advantage of. The plan is to introduce Alex to his own sexuality, pull him out of his shell, then go their separate ways.
It’s the perfect, foolproof plan…assuming no one falls in love.
Warning: This sequel to The Distance Between Us contains a curious virgin, a shameless slut, a trip to a sex shop, and one stubborn heart. Oh, and a dildo.

 

L. A. Witt & Lauren Gallagher
Abnormal Romance Author
2010 Carnal Passions Author of the Year
Website * Professional Blog * Personal Blog * Webcomic * Twitter
 

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Behind the Iron Fist by JC Szot


PRE-ORDER!
This title is offered at a 10% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, October 18th.
[Siren Classic: Erotic Contemporary Romance, HEA]
Emasculated by his father’s prejudicial behavior, Drew Walker lives an inward life, avoiding social situations as well as women. Boxing is an outlet for Drew, enabling him to vent his pent-up aggressions. When his father is injured in an accident, he becomes a bedridden liability, forcing Drew to care for a man he loathes.
Though dedicated to his fitness regimen, Drew battles the escape that alcohol provides. Mia Riley, a compassionate LPN who fled from her career after losing a patient, resorts to slinging beers in Troy’s Tavern. Drew looks the way she feels, empty. Her need to heal has her preoccupied with Drew.
Witnessing a bar brawl leads to their first encounter. As their relationship slowly evolves, Mia learns of Drew’s tumultuous childhood. Drew is confident that he can fight his way through any physical confrontation and win, but as his attraction to Mia grows, he questions whether he’ll ever have the confidence to emerge from behind the iron fist and be the man that Mia wants.
A Siren Erotic Romance

Excerpt Coming Soon!

STEAM PUNK by Barry Lowe

STEAM PUNK
 
This punk musician’s got everyone all steamed up!
Harvey, a slightly overweight, hairy, middle-aged bus driver, lives a very ordinary life that revolves around TV, take-away pizza, and one-night hook-ups with men he meets on the net. An act of kindness to a young punk musician drags Harvey out of his comfort zone. He can either ‘go with the flow’ and open himself to new experiences or he can shrink back into his shell. Problem is, he’s falling for his new friend – their respective lives are worlds apart and they have nothing in common.

Excerpt:

There were signs everywhere for Wankers, Circle Jerks, and Carpet Munchers. I felt like I was in some sleazy sauna or rave party instead of at an inner city pub where it looked as if you could forfeit your life or pick up some sexually transmitted disease, just by going inside. I had no virginity to offer up being a bored hairy 36-year-old bus driver putting on a bit, okay more than a bit, of excess weight because of my sedentary job sitting behind the wheel all day.
I had intended sitting in front of the telly with a beer and a takeaway pizza until late that night before I’d head out on the prowl. The advantage of living in a gay neighborhood was that gay men seemed inordinately reluctant to lower their blinds. That was a godsend for me.
Then he came along. He being one of The Wankers. Yep, that’s right, a band. It was Neo-Punk night, the torn canvas sign flapping in the breeze proclaimed as much, as did the worn and torn second-hand clothing of the crowd lounging about the entrance of the Duke of Clarence Hotel. Knowing what sort of crowd it would be, I’d done my best to camouflage my age, my weight, and my natural musical inclinations, although I knew I’d never assimilate with this mob. The best I could hope for was an uneasy truce. After all, I could be someone’s supportive uncle or older brother or, even better, a record producer scouting new talent for his independent label.
I didn’t even know his name. I was driving the bus he’d hopped on at one of the busy suburban stops. Jet black hair hung over one eye, his skin as pasty white as kindergarten potato glue, he sported the obligatory piercings to eyebrows, lips, ears, and nose. I could see more, outlined through his black T-shirt, around his nipples. I also suspected he had piercings in much more intimate places.  In all, he was carrying enough metal to build a small patrol boat.
As soon as he opened his mouth to speak there was the tell-tale sparkle of a stud through his tongue. I got hard. There was something about this kid. I judged he was in his early twenties: that sure warmed my balls. But he was short forty-five cents for his fare.
“Aw, dude, I didn’t know the fares went up today. This is all the money I got,” he moaned. “Please, man, I gotta get to rehearsal. We’re playing an important gig tonight.” He brandished his guitar as if that were proof of what he was saying.
“Are you any good?” I smiled.
“We suck, man. We play like shit,” and he smiled back.
“If you don’t got the fare, get off the bus,” a passenger yelled.
“Come on, driver, get this bus moving. I have appointments to get to,” some anonymous person called from the back. There was a general murmur of irritation.
He glared at the passengers, some of whom pretended they had no interest in our little tête-a-tête although others glared back belligerently or busied themselves in their books and their newspapers. I knew if I let him on the bus at least one of them would be on to my supervisor complaining about ‘human trash’ being allowed to ride for free. Reaching into my pocket I dragged out some cash and gave it to him. I made a show of it because I wanted the cheap uncharitable fuckers to see it, more to protect myself than from any expectation of public gratitude.
He handed his fare over and I duly gave him a ticket. And change. That way he’d have enough for the fare back, at least. He whistled loudly and tunelessly, his ‘fuck-you’ gesture to the other passengers as he made his way down the aisle to the back of the vehicle. I had to chuckle. It was a very small highlight in my otherwise pitifully dull life. I adjusted my uncomfortably hard cock and steered the bus out into the traffic. 

Friday, September 21, 2012

BABY, I’M NOT A MONSTER by Barry Lowe

BABY, I’M NOT A MONSTER
Gay Vampire & Other Paranormal Erotica
 
Gay erotica you can really sink your teeth into.
If around 10 per cent of the male population is gay then it stands to reason 10 per cent of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other paranormals must lean toward a predilection for their own gender. This volume of erotica explores the world of gay male ‘monsters’: from a dentist who treats a vampire with a fang problem, through a young man who has the annoying ghost of his favorite gay porn star living in his wardrobe, to an Icelandic troll who finds a new career on a gay cruise ship as a Viking stripper. These and other stories, told with Barry Lowe’s infectious good humor, will give you shivers of hot pleasure.
** This Complete Digital Edition includes – The Vampire’s Guide to Dental Hygiene, Stupid Cupid, Pride & Joy, My Dad’s a Vampire, Gadigal, Guys & Trolls and Seeing Things – All originally published as individual eBooks by loveyoudivine Alterotica.**

Excerpt
From The Vampire’s Guide to Dental Hygiene
The dark, deserted, and pot-holed car park was no place to linger at any time; let alone at night. I shuddered that I had been reduced to this. When I decided on dentistry as a career, there was the prospect of a rapid rise up the ranks of the middle classes followed by a comfortable middle age and fulfillment in my senior years. But it seems people’s teeth, and the care thereof, feature very low on the rungs of the ladder of necessities when money is tight.
Silly really, considering a good set of chompers is essential to good health as well as the ability to savor one’s food, be it succulent home-cooked, restaurant-prepared or even the ubiquitous take-away meals that prevail today. But when dental hygiene costs as much as a plumber or electrician, then a trip to the dentist is going to slip to the bottom of the Must Do pile. Especially as only the most tooth conscious or masochistic are going to actually enjoy a dental visit. Unless the oral emergency is life threatening people shunt it aside in favor of more important everyday items, such as eating or paying rent and utility bills.
It seemed a good idea when I moved into the area to set up my practice. There was not another dentist within a twenty kilometer radius which should have told me something, I guess. Plus the suburb was relentlessly depressed. House prices were tumbling, crime was on the increase, repossessions and evictions rife. I was egotistical enough that I thought I could make it work. Now I knew how wrong I was.
Even more wrong was my choice to set up in the far from choice Brookston Mall, home to a fast food outlet that hedged its bets by selling chicken and burgers as well as noodles and curry, and a pharmacy with reinforced steel bars across its shopfront and a huge sign that declared No Drugs of Addiction or Cash Left on Premises. The sign was all-too-true as the owners had left the premises vacant months earlier, tired of the constant muggings and attempted robberies in the area. There was also a forlorn convenience store that sold essentials such as cigarettes and sugary soft drinks but very little in the way of nutritious foodstuffs, and a DVD hire where the shelves were lined with horror movies and teen sex comedies, a fitting comment on the tastes of the denizens who dared patronize the otherwise boarded up shops.
Bill who ran the DVD rental business was the only retailer who dared remain open after dark, mainly because his customers were usually the ones who lay in wait for the more defenseless souls in the darkened car park. I had won a sort of immunity from the gang leaders, having patched up a number of mouths that had come in contact with baseball bats or other sporting equipment – not on the fields of endeavor but rather on the streets where most major gladiatorial battles took place. I asked no questions, merely got on with the job at hand. There were still a few rogue elements, however, and I could never be sure they wouldn’t mistake me for an easy target.
I avoided the mall after dark as far as possible but this particular evening I needed to collect important paperwork which I wanted to examine at home. As things stood it looked as if I would be another casualty of the economic climate within the month if my practice did not pick up and the likelihood of that happening was on a par with Doris Day making a comeback.
There was something spooky about the above-ground car park, the lights barely illuminating the gloom. I locked the car, striding quickly toward the darkened mouth of the arcade where my dental surgery lay. There was enough light pulsing from Video asty, the proprietor had never bothered to fix the N after it burned out, for me to see my way to the reinforced door of my shopfront. The plate glass bore the declaration that this was a DENTAL SURGERY, in large bold capitals, below which my name and qualifications were tastefully inscribed in gold lettering using a clean modern typeface. I’d escaped the more outrageous vandalism inflicted on the mall, having replaced the glass frontage only once after a break-in, and the only graffiti was the spray painted Jameel is a wanker down the tiles on the wall dividing my premises from those next door. Some of the lettering had splashed over onto my glass frontage but my attitude was that if it upset Jameel, let him clean it up.
Inside I was rifling through the desk in my consultation room when I heard the bell above the front door jingle. I could have kicked myself. In the hurry to get in and out, the security was such a complicated bugger I didn’t want to have to go through it twice, I had left the door unlocked. I’d also left the waiting room light blazing which must have been an open invitation to Rob Me.
Quickly picking up the cricket bat that I kept handy for such eventualities, I summoned up the courage to confront my would-be tormentors. Having the element of surprise in my favor, I switched off the desk light and crept toward the door, wrenching it open and launching myself into the waiting room with a loud and, I hoped, fearsome cry. I guessed I looked more like a frightened dickhead than a formidable opponent.
I did succeed in my intention, however, as the young man sitting patiently in one of the uncomfortable molded plastic waiting room chairs dropped the magazine he was flipping through to raise his hands to his face. He had that startled expression of a chook with its head cut off.
In the split second or so it took me to appraise the situation I realized he was actually a patient who had mistaken my surgery hours because the light was on. It was an easy surmise as his mouth was covered in blood which was still bubbling from between his lips. He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like terror and shot to his feet ready to bolt. I dropped the bat, my eyes glued to his wound. The poor chap must have noticed my preoccupation and that I had dropped my weapon for he sat down with a look of utter defeat in his eyes.
Hoping I was conveying sympathy after my look of horror, I mumbled, “You poor bastard, what have they done to you?” I led him back to the surgery. This time I did remember to lock the door in case his attackers were still in the neighborhood, and switch off the waiting room light. I helped him into the chair and donned gloves and glasses before turning my attention to his plight.
“Can you open your mouth?” I asked.
Grimacing in pain, he opened up slightly. From a quick observation, the volume of blood obscured a thorough examination, it probably looked worse than it was although at this stage I didn’t understand where all the blood was coming from.
“This is going to hurt. I’m sorry,” I said as I began spraying saline solution into his mouth. He jerked a little at the initial contact but trusted me enough to go with it. Poking and prodding, scraping as gently as I could, I cleaned out his mouth then told him to rinse and spit. I was puzzled. His teeth were in fairly poor shape even apart from a plaque build-up and the beginnings of a cavity or two, but there was no sign of the source of the copious amounts of blood. One explanation that occurred to me but which I banished from my mind as far too fanciful for the 21st century was that he’d been snacking on a live animal.
Putting the instruments down, I righted the chair to take a good look at my patient now that I'd cleaned the blood from around his lips and chin. An involuntary gasp escaped my lips. He was a young man of exquisite beauty, his skin paler than I would have expected for the hot southern climate. He wore black clothing in the style of Goth and emo youth but his black shirt, now unfortunately stained with blood, hugged his body to reveal he had definition while his tight black jeans clung to a surprisingly inviting package. He wore a pair of fashionable leather boots with chains dangling around the ankle. He was a magnificent creature. I’m ashamed to say a primitive urge stirred my loins.
He must have seen me examine him almost forensically for he smiled and, in that moment, I was quite giddy with desire. I never allowed myself this sort of familiarity with my patients, it was highly unprofessional, but it was almost as if I were hypnotized by this succulent stranger.
I managed to drag my professional face back with great difficulty.
“I don’t know what happened but your teeth are fine. I pity the other guy; it must have been his blood. Were you attacked?”
He nodded. “A group of them. They bashed me with a metal bar.” He lifted his shirt and I saw the red slash across his stomach which was threatening to become a nasty bruise.
“Would you like me to call the police?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. The people who attacked me will be long gone. I managed to bite one of them in the neck before they fled; otherwise I believe they would have killed me.”
“Look,” I said kindly. “You’re probably a bit shaken. Would you like me to make you a coffee or tea? Or something stronger. I have brandy in my drawer.” Shit, I suppose I shouldn’t have offered alcohol without knowing the extent of his injuries.
“That’s very kind,” he said. He had a peculiar old-fashioned manner of speaking which probably attracted unwarranted attention. I watched as he seemed to struggle with something that was bothering him. “You seem like a kind man, and I have to trust someone or I will die.”
“I like to think I’m a nice man as you put it,” although I was glad he couldn’t read my mind and see what I would like to do to his body while he lay in my chair.
“I can, you know,” he said.
“Can what?”
“Read your mind.”
Oh no, I had a crazy in my chair. This was bound to end badly.
He smiled. “No, I’m not crazy.”
That was just a fluke.
“It wasn’t a fluke.”
I’m actually home in bed dreaming or I’ve been the victim of a mugging and I’m lying in the gutter hallucinating.
“Neither dreaming nor hallucinating.” He put his hand up to stop me. “Look we can keep this up all night but you’re never going to believe me. But please believe this. I am in incredible pain and if you can’t help me I will surely die.”
I switched my brain off to concentrate on his needs.
“Okay, doc. Thanks for that at least.”
“I’m not a doctor, I’m a dentist, so if there’s anything medical you need that’s not to do with your teeth I’m afraid I won’t be able to help. You need to go to a hospital.”
“It’s to do with my teeth,” he mumbled.
The way he flinched and fingered his jaw as he spoke convinced me there was indeed a problem – unlike me to miss something.
“I guess we were destined to meet because I’ve been driving around looking for help when I noticed your light on. Providence.”
I wish we’d met under better circumstances. A gay bar or something.
“Me, too,” he said.
I shook my head, bemused by the stranger’s ability to second guess my thoughts.
“I think I’m perilously close to passing out from the pain. I will have to trust you. Either way, you are my last resort. I ask that you keep my presence here a secret until I can explain. You are in no danger.”
“I promise. Now, lie back, so I can take another look.”
“You will be surprised but I reiterate you are in no danger. Please believe me.”
“Open.”
He opened his mouth. I watched as he reluctantly concentrated and revealed all. It took me a few seconds to work out that the volume of blood gushing into his mouth came from a broken tooth that he had retracted into the roof of his mouth. I was so shocked I reeled back. My chair skidded across the highly polished vinyl flooring, crashing against the cupboard on the other side of the room.