My teaser this week is from Electric Candle, book 2 of The Sleepless City. This series is cowritten with Anne Barwell.

This week's Tuesday Teaser is from For the Long Run.
You can get this book in eBook or paperback
and it's available in Kindle Unlimited.

When the door opened Eric turned to greet his new boss.
​
“Hey, I’m sorry, for some reason there is always some disaster in the kitchen when I need to—” The young man stopped short and blinked at Eric. “Oh God… I….” His voice just sort of faded away.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Eric tried for a casual chuckle and produced a nervous laugh instead. “This is—a surprise.”

“I… um… Jason Molloy,” he held out his hand, but before Eric could grasp it, Jay raised it to pinch the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. “Jason… Jay.” Shoulders sagging in defeat, Jay moved his hand up to run through his glossy black hair and managed to look everywhere but at Eric while finally shaking his hand. The poor kid looked like a deer in the headlights with a cannon pointed at it. “But you know that… the Jay part.”

Eric swallowed another laugh and put on a sympathetic face that was real. He felt sorry for the guy. Jay was surprised to see him, that was evident, but the reaction wasn’t quite right. What it wasn’t was a man who’d spent the night with the wrong person, more like a man who’d spent the night with the right person. Eric couldn’t put his finger on what his exact impression was, but it wasn’t rejection. “Eric Keger.” He offered Jay a crooked smile and decided it was time to put Jay out of his misery. “It seems like I’m your new head of security.”

Jay’s mouth dropped open, but he recovered quickly this time and snapped it shut, then moved around to the other side of the desk. Eric turned, following his progress, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and waited.

“Look, this is….” Jay stopped and took a few deep breaths. “Let me try this again. I had no idea, honestly, none. My father hired you and told me a few days ago.” He picked up a file and let it drop back down, opened. “I guess I should have looked at the damn thing.” Jay flicked with one finger at Eric’s picture on the first page, then shut the folder.
“I’m honestly pretty glad you didn’t.” Eric smiled, nodded, and shrugged. “No one is perfect.”

He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing outright when Jay managed to look even more horrified and grumbled, “My father is.” That did it; Eric couldn’t hold back the hearty chuckle waiting impatiently to burst out any longer. Jay’s eyes narrowed for a split second before he blushed. “You think this is funny?”

“Yeah, I sort of do.” Eric shrugged and moved to the desk, hiking one hip onto the edge and twisting to look at Jay, who’d sort of collapsed into his chair. “You didn’t know, and neither did I. We, either of us, didn’t do anything wrong, and we were a county away, so who’d think? I mean seriously, come on, this is like a scene out of a bad date-night movie.”

This week's Tuesday Teaser is from A Barlow Lens.
Two romances. Two stories. Two timelines. Two mysteries solved.

Once they were back at their hotel, Wyatt ushered Val into their room, not bothering with the light. They were high enough up there was no need to close the drapes, and light from the city cast a soft glow over them.

As Val unbuttoned his suit jacket, Wyatt stepped up behind him, placing his palms on Val’s shoulders, then rubbing lightly up and down his arms a few times. “Let me give you a hand.” Wyatt eased the jacket off and kissed the side of Val’s neck, nudging his head to the side as he did so. A low moan rumbled out of Val’s chest. Wyatt dropped the jacket on a chair and slipped his hands under Val’s shirt, caressing Val’s skin with his fingertips.

When he reached Val’s tightening nipples, he rubbed small circles until Val’s hips jerked. Val shuddered and pulled in a quick, shaky breath, making Wyatt smile. Val’s tie and shirt joined his jacket. Wyatt ran his hands over Val’s torso before returning them to Val’s shoulders. He lightly traced the scars on Val’s shoulder with first his finger, then his tongue.

Val’s surgery to repair the damage done in the course of stopping some seriously dangerous people who had been trying to force jockeys to throw races, had left several scars. They weren’t red, raised, and angry anymore. Val never complained about them hurting, but the marks were still puckered and darker than the surrounding skin.

“You know,” Val whispered between dragging in a breath and panting it out again. “That first time we went out to dinner, I was so worried you’d think I was some uncouth, country hick because I don’t know about wine and art. And that I was too young to bother with.”

“Hmm, do you know what I worried about when I was thirty?” Wyatt scraped his teeth across Val’s shoulder blades.

“N-no. What?”                   
                                      
“Getting a sweet piece of hot ass,” Wyatt said in a low voice.

Val laughed. “Well, you’re sort of slow. Took you long enough. Worth the wait?”
​
“Oh, hell, yes.” Wyatt maneuvered Val to the bed.

A Barlow Lens is on sale this week for $2.99 (ebook) and $6.99 (paperback). It's also available in Kindle Unlimited.

This week's teaser is from Shifting Chaos (book 4 of The Sleepless City).

It wasn’t exactly a glowing endorsement of friendship, but it was a start, so Declan plowed ahead. “You two are bonded. Sharing such thoughts will strengthen that bond and help you both accept each other. If you feel him so much, then of course he feels you.”

“Don’t you think I know that? As a matter of fact, I know a whole lot more than either one of you think I do.” Blair picked up the tablet and spun on his heel. He held up the tablet. “You write very well.”

“Blair, wait.” Declan was honestly surprised when Blair turned back to him. “Once one of a soulmate pair is marked, the ability to feel the other so powerfully diminishes. What you and Jonas have is incredibly rare and special.” This last part was true, and Declan had to find a way to make Blair see that, for all their sakes.

The front door opened, and Blair looked away from Declan, but not before he saw a hint of understanding cross Blair’s face. In the next instant, Blair’s expression softened to a smile. He’d likely heard, as had Declan, the approach of Simon’s human soulmate, Ben.

Ben joined them, taking his bike helmet off and dropping it on a chair. “There are no jobs anywhere.”

“I could check at the university,” Blair offered.

Simon was a few steps behind Ben. “I just had a call from Marion. Apparently, Lucas and Forge were involved in some fracas at Council.”
That got Declan on his feet. “What?”

“What happened?” Blair asked. He turned his head toward the back door. A second later Moose was running to the back of the house.

Jonas strode in, jerked his jacket off, and tossed it down beside Ben’s helmet, muttering as he went. He stopped and faced them. “Those fools have decided I have to be head detective.”

Lucas came to a stop behind Jonas, grinning.

“Wait, you’ve been pissed off all day because you got a promotion?” Blair asked.

Ben lunged forward and threw his arms around Jonas’s neck. “Sweet as! We need to celebrate. It’s about time they recognized you like this. I think it’s crappy you haven’t been promoted until now.”

Jonas pulled in a breath and stepped back from Ben. “Thank you, but it’s a fucking disaster.”

“Another of the Council’s tricks,” Declan added.

“They can’t do this, can they?” Simon said and sat down abruptly on the couch. “That’s against the Council rules.”

“What’s wrong with all of you?” Ben turned in a circle, glaring at each of them in turn.

“I can’t be the head detective.” Jonas took a DVD from the shelf under the television and put it in the player. He grabbed the remote control, aimed, and pointed. “This”—he waved at the scene appearing on the TV—”is why I can’t have this job.”

An image of Stewie in relation to some incident that, by the looks of it, had happened a few years ago appeared on the screen. Underneath were the words “Boggslake, Ohio, Head Detective Stewart Belle,” and Stewie was speaking to a reporter.

“Oh crap,” Blair said. He and Ben stood side by side.

“Yes. Oh crap covers it nicely. The head detective must be a human, has always been a human. You know, someone who can be seen by a camera and is available during the full moon,” Jonas said. “Before Stewie there was some dick by the name of Felton, and before that we had the oh-so-delightful Smyth.”

Ben nudged Blair and waved one hand between Declan and Jonas. “Have you noticed that between the thief and the cop, the cop is the one with the problems with authority?”

“Oh yes, I have,” Blair said and nodded. He rolled his eyes, and Ben grinned.

Jonas glanced back at Blair and cocked an eyebrow. “Those morons on the Council cannot do this and I told them so.”

All the books in The Sleepless City series are available in
​Kindle Unlimited.

My teaser this week is from Strays. It's a scifi mm romance.

Kyle came back to the world of consciousness slowly, eased awake by Daniel’s gentle urging. There was a lot of background noise and movement and it took him a few minutes to orient to the fact the van had stopped. He was being prodded to his feet. Kyle forced his eyes open and stifled a yawn. Looking around he finally focused on Daniel, blinking at him. They were the last ones left in the van.
​
“C’mon, tiger.” Daniel pulled him to his feet. “Time to get you cleaned up and—”

Kyle curled his lips to a lazy smile. “And you have a promise to keep.”

“I have a room here. We’ll spend the night and go back in the morning. Got a few days off coming to us.”

“Hmm,” Kyle hooked his fingers in the belt loops of Daniel’s pants and nuzzled his neck, planting soft kisses until he heard others close to the van again. “Hope you don’t plan on getting rest.”

He followed Daniel through the maze that the barracks was to him, wondering if he’d ever learn his way around this place. By the time Daniel opened a door and stepped back for him to go through, Kyle was completely awake, mind spinning with how Daniel’s mouth had felt against his, how their bodies pressed so perfectly together.

As soon as the door was shut and locked, Daniel was all over him, pushing him back against the wall, hands getting under the blankets and shoving them away. The man’s hands were everywhere and all Kyle could think of was how much he wanted this, how he had wanted it for the entire time he’d known Daniel. However, Daniel was older and so very confident and so much more experienced that Kyle hadn’t known how to ask. He’d felt too foolish and clumsy, simply too young.

Daniel was good to his word and didn’t seem to see those things at all. Holding Kyle close his tongue and lips worked up and down Kyle’s neck. Dropping his head back, Kyle sighed and ground his hips against Daniel, letting the other man take his weight and hold him up.

Fingers pressing into the muscles along Kyle’s back, Daniel turned them and walked them backward until Kyle’s legs hit the bed. Flopping back he pulled Daniel down on top of him. Fisting the material of Daniel’s shirt, Kyle pulled and tugged until Daniel lifted his arms and the clothing slid away. “Maybe you could, you know, be naked too?”

Strays is available on Amazon and is in Kindle Unlimited.

My teaser this week is from Whiskey and Moonshine!

When Colt was trying to convince them he was the perfect choice, it all seemed like a great idea. However, he’d never been around this much wealth, and except for what he’d picked up these past weeks since he’d been here, he knew very little about the production of spirits.
Maybe he was out of his league.
​
“Should he use an accent similar to mine?” Mr. Kensington asked. He, like Audrey, had a soft Southern accent.

“Your voice is deeper. It’s nice,” Colt observed.

Mr. Kensington smiled softly at him. “Thank you.”

“I don’t think so. Unless someone has a very exotic accent, I’m not sure people pay much attention,” Mr. Grice pointed out. “Pretending he’s from this area will likely backfire on us at some point. It’s better to avoid something like that from the beginning.”

“He will need a new wardrobe,” Audrey added. “Gwendolyn will need Colt’s measurements so she can do some shopping for him.”

Gwendolyn nodded. “I need to get a few things. I’ll be back before Phillipe is finished with his hair.” She hurried from the room.

More of Colt’s dark hair fell to the floor. It had a nice shine in the light, and the individual hairs were on the thicker side with a little wave. Phillipe took a spray bottle and spritzed Colt’s hair, then cut more. He worked from back to front. After a few minutes, he stood in front of Colt, lifted his chin, spritzed again, and combed Colt’s hair down to cover his face before Colt heard the gentle clip of scissors.

The strands that fell to the floor weren’t nearly as long as the ones Phillipe cut from the back of Colt’s head. It didn’t take long before Phillipe was turning Colt’s head again. Audrey and Mr. Kensington moved around so they stood in front of them. Audrey put her tablet down and stood staring with Mr. Kensington, who crossed one arm across his middle and braced his other elbow against it with his chin in his palm, watching.

When Philippe blow-dried Colt’s hair, using a brush to flip his hair around, Audrey gasped, and Mr. Kensington’s eyes widened.

Whiskey and Moonshine is on sale this week! The eBook is $3.99 and the paperback is $9.99. It's available in Kindle Unlimited as well.

This week the Tuesday Teaser is from Quarry! It's available for pre-order and is on sale for $3.49.

This week for Tuesday Teaser I have an excerpt from Collared Souls (Sentries Book 4).

When two of the guards took a position on either side of Todd and one pulled Todd’s hands behind his back to cuff him again, Nick couldn’t stay still any longer. A huge bubble formed inside his chest, threatening to burst through his ribs. His guts tightened down, and he couldn’t pull in enough air for a decent breath.

Lurching forward a few steps, heading for his mate, Nick garbled, “No. We’re sentries!”

Raleigh laughed, loud and obnoxious. “You think that matters to me?”

“Since sentries are the people who can get rid of the scum he uses, all the more reason to get rid of us, Nick,” Todd said.

He yanked his arms away from the guard, took a step closer to Nick, and waved his hands in a come-here gesture. 

One of the guards sidestepped, blocking Nick’s path and shoving him back. The other guard grabbed both of Todd’s arms, stopping him from going any farther.

Moving fast, Witze got between them, holding both hands out. “Quit,” he snapped at the guards. “Give them a minute.” Turning to Raleigh, Witze shook his head. “They’re not going anywhere. Todd’s already given his word. Let them say goodbye.”

“Witze, your sentimentality is nauseating.” Raleigh nodded at the guards. “Let them go, but any suspicious moves, shoot them both.”

Nick didn’t waste time. The second the guards’ hands were off him, he closed the distance between him and Todd and stopped when Todd’s hands came to rest on either side of Nick’s face, holding him so Nick was forced to look only at Todd.

“Nick, you listen to me. Go with Mr. Witze and do what he tells you to, okay?” For a split second, Todd’s gaze flicked to Witze before coming back to hold Nick’s.

Nick could do no more than nod. His throat was too tight, and there was no way he was going to let Raleigh hear the wet, broken quality his voice would have if he spoke aloud.

“That’s my boy.” Todd pulled Nick closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead, then cheek, before wrapping both arms around him and pulling him in for a tight hug. Nick bent his head so his face pressed to Todd’s shoulder, sucked in a shuddering breath, and nodded again. He turned his head a bit to the side when Todd whispered in his ear.

Purchase Collared Souls

Purchase the Sentrie series

My teaser this Tuesday comes from Jewel Cave, part of the Circles romantic mystery/suspense/thriller series.

Clint took a few steps closer to the french doors. Phoenix stood in the middle of the living room, ruff and tail puffed out. He didn’t make a sound, but his attention was riveted to the kitchen and side door.

“Griff?”

Where is my phone? He’d had it in the kitchen while he made coffee. The goddamn phone’s still on the counter.

All at once jumbled thoughts began charging through Clint’s head. Dogs don’t act like that with someone they know. That was followed by things Griff had told him over the years: “Don’t let on to an intruder there are guns in the house.” “Lamps, keys, even a pen is a good weapon.” “Cooperate.” “If you have the chance, take it and run.” “Look them in the eye.” “Don’t let anyone get you into a vehicle if you can help it.” “Make noise.”

“Hey, cut this shit out right now!” Clint shouted as loud as he could. It was nice outside, the windows were open. Someone would hear him.

Fern ducked behind his legs. Phoenix didn’t move. Clint looked around for something—anything—to use as a weapon. A creak came from the far side of the house. He could only see part of the kitchen and not through to the side door. Had the noise come from the landing, the basement steps, or the steps to the kitchen?

Clint held his breath. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the signed baseball bat resting on a stand on top of his office shelves. It had been a housewarming gift from his grandmother when he and Griff had moved in.

He could do a lot of damage with a baseball bat.

Unfortunately, to get to the bat, he’d have to go back into his office and would lose the advantage of being able to see most of the kitchen and all of the living room. He had two choices: stand there and watch whoever was in the house come at him, or arm himself with a weapon he could use.

Clint opted for arming himself.

Moving as quietly and as quickly as possible, he stepped back into his office, mentally cursing when he hit a squeaky floorboard. He was almost close enough to reach up and grab his prize when he felt a presence behind him.

My taboo offering is from Home Coming, book one of Pain and Pleasure.

Taren lightly smacked Ian’s ass with his hand. “You’ll probably want to hang on.”

Ian barely had time to grab at the bars attached to the upper part of the cross before Taren removed the ice pack, codpiece, and plug. All were dropped onto the floor a few feet away. An enema blub, slick from lube, was pushed steadily into his ass. Ian heard the soft lob-lob as Taren squeezed the attached pump and filled the bulb, keeping it snug in Ian's ass. Ian bit his lip, fighting the urge to rock onto his toes. Ian knew the bottle of liquid Taren would attach held nearly half a liter.

Taren used both hands on the bottle and squirted vinegar water into Ian with enough force Ian felt every bit of it as the stream blasted and cleansed his insides. Ian liked it the best that way. He allowed himself the luxury of a moan when the sharp, quick sting of pulsating liquid sluiced through him.  With one of Taren’s big hands on his shoulder, Ian waddled to the bathroom to complete his clean out.

Once Ian was prepared, he was guided back to the cross. He stepped up, gripped the bars again and rested his chest against the padded center piece. Taren took lube and a butt plug with three bulbs from the low equipment table against the wall. New batteries were inserted and Taren took up his position behind Ian, out of sight once again. As Taren inserted the plug, he turned it slowly, one way then another. Each of the bulbs was bigger than the one before it and the topmost bulb was elongated to a blunt, tapered end. The entire thing was curved in just the right way so his prostate would be constantly prodded. Once in place, Ian heard a faint click when Taren had turned on the device. Ian’s spine straightened without any commands from his brain and a shudder rippled through him when the low-level vibrations began.
​
He’d be hard as a rock soon. Taren’s hands on his hips turned Ian so he was leaning back against the cross. Moving quickly, a thin, ribbed steel bar was covered with surgical lubricant and inserted into Ian’s slit. It attached to a narrow ring that fit snugly around Ian’s shaft just under his glans and was long enough to jab at his prostate.