Effing Friday--Killer Thoughts

Hope you all had a happy Valentine's Day. I didn't post Wednesday Words this week so I'm shifting a fun excerpt to today. Happy Effing Friday. Ha!

Here's a steamy m/m excerpt from Killer Thoughts, a psychic romantic suspense with plenty of sexy scenes between the heroes, Ian and Owen. Killer Thoughts releases on Tuesday February 19th! Just five more days and counting. Enjoy.

He squirmed against Owen’s shoulder. “Let go, damn it.”

“Not yet, thief.”

Ian did his best not to shudder with pleasure. He loved when Owen called him that. Like an endearment, but more personal than baby or sweetie. And it fit, because Owen had caught him red-handed right before Linda Cavendish tried to kill him four months ago.

Owen tossed him onto the bed, and Ian scrambled to leave. Before he could move, he found himself cuffed and strung up like a sacrificial virgin. “What the hell?” Ian tugged at the cuffs affixed to chains bolted into the headboard. How had he missed those the last time he’d been by?

“I had them installed a few weeks ago. After your visit, of course.” Owen smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “Now you’re going to tell me how you knew about Harry.”

“I, uh…”

Owen removed his shoes, and Ian watched, frozen, as the bigger man stripped him of his socks and then moved to his shorts. They’d come straight from the gym, so it wasn’t as if Ian wore layers of clothing. Embarrassing, because his dick stood out like a pike under that friggin’ nylon. Typically, Ian handled his lovers. They didn’t handle him. But Owen was different from the rest, in ways that unnerved Ian more than he felt comfortable admitting, even to himself.

Owen gripped him hard, and Ian nearly shot off the bed.

“Okay, now that’s sexual harassment,” he rasped when he settled back on the bed. His voice sounded shrill, and he hated the fact that he was hard and aching beneath Owen’s firm hand.

“Harry?” Owen said again, his eyes mean.

Oh shit. Ian felt Owen’s palm slide against his dampening shorts. “I saw the pattern, okay?” came out in a rush. “I was going to tell you he wasn’t right. I’d gone through some, um, financial documents and e-mails of his the last time I was here.” Ian sucked in a breath when Owen stroked him. “Jesus.”

“And?” Owen didn’t smile, laugh, or change the inflection of his voice.

Damn if that cool control didn’t make Ian want to come all over him. He pushed harder into Owen’s palm, overjoyed when Owen started jerking him off through his clothes.

“And I saw something…wrong. Harry was… Shit, Owen. Rub faster.” So of course the bastard slowed down. To Ian’s satisfaction, though, Owen sported some major wood.

“And?”

“And I went to Avery with what I thought.” Avery, the team’s prognosticator, a man who could see the future. “I asked him to focus for me, and he saw men try to kill you. They didn’t succeed. And then Tim was there, taking a bullet,” he said on a whimper when Owen slid his thumb over Ian’s slit.

Fuck, he was so wet. The thin fabric of his shorts looked damp, and he’d soaked his underwear. Oh God, in Owen’s own hand. Talk about a fantasy of epic proportions. Now if Owen would just take Ian’s shorts down and put his sexy mouth over Ian’s cock, Ian’s life would be complete.

Owen let him go. “So you knew but didn’t help me?”

Ian moaned. “I wanted to, but Avery told me not to interfere. I’d screw things up if I did, and you and Tim had it handled. If I did something, I might have killed you.”

Owen narrowed his gaze, his scrutiny intense.

Hopefully, he saw something good, because Ian was on fire to fuck. “Come on, dude. I did you a favor. I didn’t help, and we’re all good. I don’t suppose you’ll blow me?” Sure, he sounded overly hopeful. But a guy could dream.

To his amazement, the star of his daily fantasies didn’t say no. Instead, Owen stood and removed his clothing. Every last stitch, until he stood naked and hung like a fucking horse in front of Ian.

Ian tugged at his wrists, still constrained to the headboard. He wanted to touch that golden flesh, feel the warmth of skin against his palms. Like Ian, Owen had little chest hair. And what he did have was a golden blond, fine and so pretty around Owen’s hard nipples.

“Come on, sexy. Stop teasing,” Ian rasped.

“You’ve been a good boy,” Owen said. “So you deserve a treat, don’t you?”

“I knew you’d be into kink.” He’d read that one right.

“You need discipline.”

Uh-oh. “Um, wait. I meant kink-y, not like, full-on D/s shit.”

Owen’s grin scared the hell out of him…and nearly made him come.

“Now, now, my little thief. I think we can come to an understanding, don’t you?”

Owen tugged Ian’s shorts and underwear off, then lifted Ian’s shirt to his armpits, exposing his chest, which was much less impressive than Owen’s. Ian had some muscle but not much.

Trying to gain control over the situation, Ian tried again. He cleared his throat and prayed he sounded less hoarse than he thought he did. “So, Owen. You were telling me about the Kerrs. Jacob and Henry left. Carl…he wants to kill you, right?”

“We’ll discuss him later. Right now I need to fill your mouth. You talk too much, thief.”

Then, to Ian’s simultaneous horror and pleasure, Owen knelt on the bed and crawled to Ian’s side. He straddled Ian’s torso and walked on his knees up Ian’s body until his heavy balls rested over Ian’s mouth.

“That’s right, little thief. Time for you to steal from me again. How about this time, you take some pleasure, hmm?” Owen lowered himself over Ian.

“N-no condom?”

“No. I trust you keep yourself clean. Do you trust me?”

“You’re too controlling and careful to take a chance like that. Bastard.” Ian’s mouth watered. He so wanted a piece of this man, especially when Owen gave him a mean smile.

“Well, boy? Get to it.”

Ian was helpless to resist. He opened his mouth and sucked.

Killer Thoughts

Happy Valentine's Day--Chocolate Giveaway

I'm blogging at Romance Junkies today, so if you'd like to feel red and enter for a chance to win a box of Godiva chocolates, stop on by and comment!  And enjoy the romance in your day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Coming Soon...It Takes Two--contest

Carrie Ann Ryan and I are celebrating our February releases with a stellar contest next week. So keep your eyes open. Killer Thoughts releases on February 19th, but hey, you don't have to wait to pick up Finding Abigail, which is out now and is a Kindle, ARe, and B&N bestseller! 

In any case, our contest runs next week. Lots of prizes and fun just waiting for you at our blogs. So now you know...

The PowerUp! Series Finale

A casualty of funding wars and an overzealous Defense Department trying to clean up its reputation after several failed experimental programs, the Psychic Warfare Program (PWP) is scrapped in the throes of its infancy. Its participants are transferred to other defense agencies, but a few decide to leave the government behind, knowing full well their freedom hinges on keeping a low profile and living under the radar.

Life on the outside isn’t easy. Without the constant physical, mental and psychic training they’ve become accustomed to, many of the PWPs best break down, losing control of their abilities and their minds. Returning to Uncle Sam’s open arms seems like their only viable option, until one of their own comes up with an idea that just might work… And the PowerUp! Gym is born. Weights and fitness by day, psychic training and investigative work by night, and romance all around.

New Cover: KILLER THOUGHTS

Loving this cover for Killer Thoughts! Coming February 19th to Loose Id.

Late Wednesday Words: NAMESAKE

I had a post at Diamond Authors yesterday, so I delayed Wednesday Words. Never fear, it's excerpt time!

How about some Voider fun? Take a peek at Namesake...

 

In the year 2078, Cross Step, Kansas, is now home to strange portals called Voids. Norms (normal people), Voiders (those who came through the Voids) and Conduits (humans affected by the Voids) all live together, segregated from the rest of the world.

Vicki is a Conduit, a human with the psychic ability to tap into the energy around her. A mistake at a bar puts her under the scrutiny of one very hungry Ravager pack, werewolf-like Voiders who like what they see.

Eric isn’t just any Ravager, he’s Prime, the king of his clan. He takes what he wants, when he wants it—and he wants Vicki. It’ll take more than her sneaking, conniving and seductive ways to dissuade his interest. Because in Vicki, Eric and his packmates have something much more precious than a rare queen…they have a woman to love forever.

***

“What’ll you have?”

Vicki swallowed hard and glanced up. A waitress, fully clothed thank God, stood waiting.

The only noises in the bar to be heard were the clinking of the bartender’s bottles and the slurping, sucking sounds of sex.

“Scotch. Straight.” Weirdest damn night of my life. And I know weird.

The waitress nodded and left. To Vicki’s relief, conversations resumed. Keeping her head down but her energy at the ready, she decided to wait it out in here as long as she could. Once Chen’s people and the Salinas had time to breeze by, she’d leave. Preferably out the back door.

A beer plunked down in front of her.

“Thanks, but I ordered a Scotch…” She trailed off as four men surrounded her small table.

“You’re new,” the tallest one said.

Vicki nearly swallowed her tongue. Nearly six and a half feet of pure menace studied her like a hungry wolf. Jeans, biker boots and a black t-shirt clung to him like a second skin. He had ice-blue eyes, cropped black hair and an attitude proclaiming him king of the mountain.

His buddies looked just as fierce. Like the rest of the Ravagers in the place, they had a wild, earthy quality. The men flanking the leader had short brown hair and brown eyes that studied her with intensity. The one on the right didn’t smile. His eyes darkened as he stared at her. The one on the left looked like a charmer as he assessed what he could see of her past the tabletop. He grinned and rumbled something she couldn’t decipher to the fourth man furthest from her.

The lone blond nodded. “She’s definitely sitting at our table.”

“Sorry.” Vicki stood to leave and the four took a step closer.

Before she knew it, they’d moved the chairs and table out of the way. Nothing stood between her and them but a few feet of empty space. And no one around them seemed to care.

The tallest one held her beer out to her.

“You know what? You keep it,” Vicki said. “Again, my apologies for taking your table.” She met his gaze before realizing her mistake. Shit. Never look them in the eye. Not unless you want to lose a limb. She quickly glanced away.

“Our table. Right.” The blond cut off the small space between him and the wall she’d been eyeing. Her one avenue of escape now denied.

“Um, guys? You’re kind of crowding me.” One Ravager she might be able to handle. But four who looked like these predators?

“Good.” The charmer winked. “My tall friend here is Eric. I’m Logan, the pretty one.” The others snorted. “This is Jesse,” he said of the intense brown-haired male next to him. “And the blond is Dominic.”

She puzzled over the introductions. Maybe they didn’t mean to be so threatening?

“And you are?” Eric asked, the rumble of his voice vibrating along her nerves like a physical caress.

Squelching the urge to shiver, she answered, aware of his knowing gaze. “Vicki.”

“Vicki.” He savored her name. Heat licked at her womb. “How did you get in?”

“Ah,” she paused, wondering if she should tell the truth. “I, well…”

The front door burst open to admit Salinas like invading ants. The minute the lawmen understood they’d busted into a Ravager hangout, they tensed and drew weapons. Everyone in the bar froze. “We don’t want any trouble here. We’re searching for a young woman, five foot nine, long black hair. Yellow eyes.”

They’re brown, assholes.

“We seen that here?” the bartender asked.

Everyone around murmured denials, no love for the Salinas a common thread among Voiders.

Surrounded by four giants, Vicki felt safe enough from prying eyes. Hell, if everyone decided to screw the Salinas by withholding information, so much the better.

She let out a relieved sigh then noted her four new friends staring down at her with calculating expressions. “What?”

“Your eyes are unique, Vicki,” Eric said in a low voice. He cupped her face, his calloused hands warm against her skin. “Salinas,” he said over his shoulder. “Why do you want this yellow-eyed woman?”

“She caused a public disturbance at Rock Hall, assaulted two women and three men and stole private property from Mr. Chen.”

“Mr.” Chen. Great. My luck to get the Salinas on Chen’s payroll. Some in the crowd chuckled while others began talking in louder voices.

“What’ll it be, Vicki?” Eric murmured.

“Be?” Damn him. She had a bad feeling he was offering a choice she didn’t want to make.

“The Salinas or us?”

By us, did he mean… All four of the men surrounding her seethed with energy. She could feel the arousal in each of them pulsing like a living thing. The “us” definitely meant all of them, but Vicki didn’t have a choice. No way in hell could she go with the Salinas, especially if they meant to send her off with Chen. With these guys she stood a chance—granted, a slim chance in hell—of escaping intact.

“Damn it.” Vicki seethed, annoyed their arousal was stoking her own. First Chen, now Ravagers? Is this my night for Voider love or what? Swearing under her breath, she yanked Eric to her. Forcing him to bend to meet her mouth, she gave him her answer.

“Nobody here by that description, Salinas,” Dominic yelled. “Now get the hell gone.”

Other Ravagers seconded the sentiment.

Not sure if they’d left or not, Vicki tried not to succumb to Eric’s wild taste. Basic need, raw sex and a long thick cock against her belly took a huge chunk out of her resistance.

He growled and pressed her hard against the wall, no longer accepting her kiss so much as taking charge of it.

The others stepped closer, caging Vicki and Eric together.

He used his whole mouth—tongue and teeth and lips—to turn her world upside down. One minute she’d been kissing him, the next he had his tongue down her throat and his hand on her breast.

No, not his hand. His hands were on her waist as he lifted her effortlessly, wrapped Vicki’s legs around him and ground against her damp crotch.

Fingers pinched both her nipples with enough pressure to make her gasp.

Eric swallowed her cry as he dry-humped her against the wall. He swallowed her pleas for more, stroked her lips and drew a drop of blood with sharp teeth. The pain only made the pleasure that much sweeter.

“She’s burning up,” Logan murmured.

Jesse rasped, “I want a taste.”

“Not until Prime’s done,” she heard Dominic say. “And by the look of him, he hasn’t had his fill.” Dominic laughed, a hoarse sound full of need.

What the hell’s a Prime? Dazed at the intense lust swamping her, Vicki tried to break Eric’s hold.

He sucked hard at her neck and groaned. “That’s it, fight me.” He managed a hand down her pants. How, she had no idea. “Oh yeah, you’re wet, baby. So fucking ready.”

The others panted in time, as if drawing the same breaths.

“Do it now, Prime.”

“Fuck her.”

“Mark her,” Dominic urged, and the others stilled. “This one. I feel it.”

Lost to common sense, to the fact she was close to having an orgasm in public, Vicki shifted and cried out when a finger suddenly penetrated her.

“Ride it, baby. Come for me,” Eric said, his eyes blazing. “That’s it.”

“I have to go.” Somewhere Sean waited for her. She had to get the client that ring. Vicki couldn’t have sex in public with four men…four Ravagers, for God’s sake.

But reason didn’t make a peep as Eric thumbed her clit and thrust another finger inside her, widening her. Vicki was on fire. The hands on her continued to tease, touching her everywhere.

Eric continued to finger-fuck her and whispered, “Take it. Let your pussy swallow my fingers then my dick. I’m doing to ram it up in you. Bathe you in my seed. Then the pack will have you, again and again, until you belong. We’ll take good care of you, Vicki. Real good care.”

He nipped her earlobe and she shuddered as she came around him. Bucking against his magical fingers, she clawed at him like a madwoman.

“Christ, that’s hot,” Logan breathed.

“My turn.” Eric’s eyes glowed, much like hers, she thought dazedly. He removed his hand from between her thighs and fiddled with the snap of his jeans. Then the snap of her jeans.

Her jeans. Over her now-drenched panties.

Blushing, Vicki pushed at his chest and found Eric immovable. The hands on her breasts shoved her to the wall, no longer playing but restraining. Logan and Jesse growled in warning while Dominic monitored it all behind them.

The hell of it all was that Vicki found them arousing when she should have been screaming at them to let her go. Eric shoved at the waistband of her jeans and tangled his fingers in her pocket. When he brushed against the ring there, Vicki froze.

Sean would be waiting, unaware of Chen’s infiltration into the Salinas. Worse, Chen might have already grabbed him, wanting his property back. So much for Sean’s grand plan to steal the thing in plain sight.

“I have to go,” she said. Eric’s cock brushed her belly and she shivered. He is so damn sexy. “I really have to go.”

“Come around me this time,” he ordered.

She stared at his lengthening fangs and brilliant gaze. He bent his head to her throat and positioned himself between her folds. When the hell did my legs let go of his waist? And why are my pants and panties around my ankles?

Knowing she had piss-poor timing but unable to help it, Vicki took energy from the men around her. Reaching out to touch Dominic, she linked physically to all of them as she absorbed their strength.

With a mighty yell, she let it go.

The four of them flew back through the air as if carried by a tornado. She spared a moment to straighten her clothes and made sure the four of them could move after crashing through several tables, then tore off like a shot out the back exit.

Vicki chastised herself as the Ravagers’ incredible arousal still rode her hard. What had she been thinking? And why the hell was this damn ring important enough to stop right before Eric had a chance to push inside her?

Because Norm/Voider relationships don’t work. Especially not with sexually charged, aggressive Ravagers. Rumor had it they fucked anything that moved seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. And I turned that down? I must be nuts.

After putting a good mile between her and that damn bar, Vicki eased up. She must have lost them. Not wanting to chance that they might track her by scent, she grabbed the nearest bus and made her way home, glad she’d long ago listed the place under her grandmother’s name. Considering her propensity to find trouble at work, she’d taken her cousin’s advice and hidden her home base. Once Sean realized she hadn’t made it to MacT’s, he’d look for her here.

Inside the roomy townhouse and seated nervously on the sofa, Vicki waited. She was hungry. Her ribs ached and her jeans chafed, uncomfortably moist at the crotch. I had an orgasm in a Ravager bar with four wolfish Voiders. Technically three, she corrected herself, since Dominic didn’t do much other than guard them and cheer. Christ.

Vicki slapped a hand over her eyes and groaned. But as the minutes passed, she couldn’t stop thinking about her Ravager encounter…and why she hadn’t wanted it to end.

 NAMESAKE

 

Diamond Authors

I'm at Diamond Authors today griping about cancelled television shows and the like. Firefly...rest in peace. Come on over and tell me what shows/books/movies have been cancelled that you miss most.

Has Erotic Romance Corrupted Me?

I was watching television the other day where people were exposing secret kinks. One such woman admitted to her 23 yr old daughter that she makes amateur porn. The daughter was devastated, the mother upset about the daughter's response, but not about to quit what she likes to do. And while the mother confessed her "ugly" sins, the interviewer watched on, judgmental and dismayed. Oh the shock, the horror, that a woman over forty likes sex and wants to share!  Granted, making porn is not exactly my thing, but you know, who the hell cares?

My first thought was, big hairy deal. So what the mom likes to make porn? You don't like it, don't watch it. 

Am I wrong in thinking this? 

If my mother came to me and admitted to rolling around in the altogether on camera, I wouldn't be lining up to watch. (Sorry, Mom, but just...eck.) But I wouldn't cut my mom out of my life for this. If she's not endangering her life or my own, her choices are just that--her choices. 

Often when it comes to sex, what others consider too graphic, pornographic, or overly sexual doesn't offend me in the least. A man and woman in love? Awesome. Two men? Terrific. Two men and a woman in bed? Even better. 

I think a person should be a certain age and maturity level before being exposed to such matters, but sex isn't ugly or dirty. Procreation--a natural function that some take to all new creative highs (and lows) can be downright fun. Yet our puritanical society wants to hang and burn anyone who shows a nipple. Now, you can torture and gut folks on TV and in books and movies, and that's not so bad. But show one couple screwing and OMG, call the National Guard and put at STOP to it. 

I don't know. I just don't get it. I think consensual sex is exciting, beautiful, and a part of life. What's not to like? Everyone has his/her own kink, but if no one's getting hurt and everyone's having fun, is it so bad? 

Or maybe I'm just numb to the shocking value of pee-pees and vaja-jays, writing so much erotic fiction. The first time I read the word "cock" in a romance book, more than eight years ago, I was shocked. Now, not so much. You find course language in books everywhere, from Walmart to Target to Barnes and Noble. I don't attribute this to 50 Shades (as this was happening way before the book released) but to women reclaiming their sexuality and finally admitting they like sex. And it's okay. 

Yet for every woman who wants to write a sexy book, flash her boobs on TV, or make amateur videos, there are a hundred more claiming it's all sin, women are sluts, and sex should only ever be between a husband and wife (not two people in love, but a man and a woman) in the dark and in bed. I'm thinking those people must be so incredibly unhappy, always hiding their fantasies and pleasures behind the moral right. 

But perhaps I'm a deviant writer who doesn't know any better. *shrug* Again, I really don't care what others think, and honestly, I want to applaud the woman who wants to make amateur porn. Not necessarily for doing it, but for having the courage and belief in herself to do what makes her feel good. Her daughter is an adult, her family on their own. So why should she live to make others feel good about themselves? It's her life! Have sex, have fun, film it... You go girl!

Hell, I've been topless on a topless beach in France. And guess what? No one cared! When it's the norm not to obsess about bodies and sexuality, life goes on as normal. America, get a grip. Hmm, yeah, a tight grip. And have some fun. :)

Post Game Notes

I'm not the biggest football fan, but I make an exception for the Super Bowl. It surprised me how invested in the game I became, because neither team was a favorite of mine. I decided to root for the Ravens because of that 49ers idiot and his anti-gay comments. Lo and behold, I was shouting at the screen while watching right up until the end. My kids--ages 7 and 9--thought I was nuts, but I was actually educating them. "This is how men watch football, guys. You shout at the TV as if that influences game play." The boys accepted this as truth and joined me in jeering and cheering. Too funny.

My comments about the game:

1. I enjoyed the halftime show. Beyonce did a great job, in my opinion. And while others might complain of too much bumping and grinding on the stage, I was highly entertained. Also loved the Destiny's Child "reunion."
2. The commercials didn't suck as much this year...with one caveat. I wanted to vomit at the GoDaddy suck-face ad. I have nothing against beauties and geeks getting it on, but honestly, the slurping, eating-face sounds that continued for WAY too long grossed me the hell out.
3. Favorite commercials: the Sketcher ad where the guy outraces and takes down a cheetah, and the Samsung ad. That was just hilarious. Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen made me laugh out loud. 
4. The power going out nearly iced the Ravens. Man, that was a shocker. 
5. I loved that the game was so close. There was no clear winner until the very, very end. Those are the best games to watch.

Your thoughts on the game?