Zoe Perdita's Blog, page 10
September 16, 2015
Vigilante Butts: Another sneak peek of the art for the comic!
I was channeling my inner Tina Belcher when I wrote the title. Butts. Okay. I'm done.
Now, I'm really done.
This week, I've been finishing up Akito (Alpha's Reign Book Two), plotting Alpha's Jest (Lost Wolves Book Five), and working on the Vigilante script. It sticks to the book (for the most part). The story is the same, but certain things work better in a visual medium than a written one and vice versa, so I have made some super minor changes.
It's a lot of fun to play with the POV. Now, I'm writing a scene we never saw in the book between Adele and Deacon. Fun!
Now what you've been waiting for. Butts. Whose butts are they? Also, these are the rough sketches, not the final butts. ^_^
Calder getting checked out from behind.
Patrick stripping. Why? With whom? You'll have to read to find out!
Next week, I'll give you a sneak peek of Calder from the front. It's worth the wait. Trust me! Note, this isn't a peen pick, just his face and bod. Still worth it. ^_~
Now, I'm really done.
This week, I've been finishing up Akito (Alpha's Reign Book Two), plotting Alpha's Jest (Lost Wolves Book Five), and working on the Vigilante script. It sticks to the book (for the most part). The story is the same, but certain things work better in a visual medium than a written one and vice versa, so I have made some super minor changes.
It's a lot of fun to play with the POV. Now, I'm writing a scene we never saw in the book between Adele and Deacon. Fun!
Now what you've been waiting for. Butts. Whose butts are they? Also, these are the rough sketches, not the final butts. ^_^
Calder getting checked out from behind.
Patrick stripping. Why? With whom? You'll have to read to find out!
Next week, I'll give you a sneak peek of Calder from the front. It's worth the wait. Trust me! Note, this isn't a peen pick, just his face and bod. Still worth it. ^_~
September 9, 2015
Big News: Broken Heroes is getting a BL/yaoi Webcomic!
I promised big news a while ago, and now it's time to announce it!
I'm working on a BL/yaoi/whatever you want to call it webcomic based on the Broken Heroes series.
*cue hysteria*
Unlike a normal book which ties me down to two POVs (Calder and Patrick, in this case), a comic allows me to explore the world as a writer and give the readers a better idea of what's going on. Plus, you get to see the yummy Deacon, and what he's up to. And the other members of the VS.
Of course, this is a BL webcomic, and it's gonna be deliciously smutty.
Because I bring the smut. And it will be free smut, because you shouldn't have to pay extra for smut. That's my slogan. I may also run for president on the smut platform.
However, the webcomic is going to have a slight name change. It's called Vigilante instead of Broken Heroes, but the story is the same.
It will update once a week (at first) on Wednesday.
Since I can't draw, I hired an amazing artist. When the comic launches, I'm going to start a Patreon page (with some nice perks for supporters) in order to cover the costs of the artist and (possibly) con fees in the future.
Note: I'm not trying to make a living on this.
But I am trying to find new fans, so spread the word!!!
Also, I'm still going to write as many books as I can, but I love webcomics and I've always wanted to work on one. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!
Now for some sneak peeks at the artwork.
Apprentice. His ass needs to get home.
Rough sketch of Patrick. He's not gonna be bored for long. ^_^
Next week, I'll post some butt pics. Whose butt?!?! You'll have to tune in to find out!
I'm working on a BL/yaoi/whatever you want to call it webcomic based on the Broken Heroes series.
*cue hysteria*
Unlike a normal book which ties me down to two POVs (Calder and Patrick, in this case), a comic allows me to explore the world as a writer and give the readers a better idea of what's going on. Plus, you get to see the yummy Deacon, and what he's up to. And the other members of the VS.
Of course, this is a BL webcomic, and it's gonna be deliciously smutty.
Because I bring the smut. And it will be free smut, because you shouldn't have to pay extra for smut. That's my slogan. I may also run for president on the smut platform.
However, the webcomic is going to have a slight name change. It's called Vigilante instead of Broken Heroes, but the story is the same.
It will update once a week (at first) on Wednesday.
Since I can't draw, I hired an amazing artist. When the comic launches, I'm going to start a Patreon page (with some nice perks for supporters) in order to cover the costs of the artist and (possibly) con fees in the future.
Note: I'm not trying to make a living on this.
But I am trying to find new fans, so spread the word!!!
Also, I'm still going to write as many books as I can, but I love webcomics and I've always wanted to work on one. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!
Now for some sneak peeks at the artwork.
Apprentice. His ass needs to get home.
Rough sketch of Patrick. He's not gonna be bored for long. ^_^
Next week, I'll post some butt pics. Whose butt?!?! You'll have to tune in to find out!
September 1, 2015
Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series #8) Released!
The book is out! Finally! It's also on sale for $2.99 for the first week. Check it out here!
Amazon
All Romance
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords
Tyler Harrison doesn’t believe in love.
Between his fledgling tattoo parlor and an annoying older brother, he’s got too much shit going on in his life to even think about it. But when he meets Quinn Winters, a mysterious shifter, he realizes he might’ve been wrong. Even if Tyler assumes he's straight, Quinn fills him with desires he’s never known. A desire that tells Tyler, an alpha wolf, that Quinn is his mate.
Or Quinn could be his mate if the shifter wasn’t bound to someone else – a human.
Quinn is one of the last of his kind – a rarity in the shadow world – and he’s spent his whole life as a prisoner to a family he hates. Tyler Harrison is his saving grace, but can an alpha wolf with a broken past really be the one to rescue Quinn, or will they have to rescue each other?
Amazon
All Romance
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords
Tyler Harrison doesn’t believe in love.
Between his fledgling tattoo parlor and an annoying older brother, he’s got too much shit going on in his life to even think about it. But when he meets Quinn Winters, a mysterious shifter, he realizes he might’ve been wrong. Even if Tyler assumes he's straight, Quinn fills him with desires he’s never known. A desire that tells Tyler, an alpha wolf, that Quinn is his mate.
Or Quinn could be his mate if the shifter wasn’t bound to someone else – a human.
Quinn is one of the last of his kind – a rarity in the shadow world – and he’s spent his whole life as a prisoner to a family he hates. Tyler Harrison is his saving grace, but can an alpha wolf with a broken past really be the one to rescue Quinn, or will they have to rescue each other?
August 30, 2015
Print Cover Reveal: Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series #8)
Woo-hoo! It's almost time. A couple more days before the book is live. Until then, check out the print cover. Lovely, huh?
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
August 24, 2015
First Chapter Sneak Peek: Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series #8)
Bam! It's that time again. Time for the almost release of another Haven City book. The book comes out next Tuesday, September 1st!
And I'm fucking exhausted. I reworked this book so many times I want to crawl into a cave and sleep for a year. *cries in corner*
It's not that Tyler and Quinn were stubborn (like some people *ahem* Felix *ahem*), but the book was a lot different in my head than the finished project.
But it's finally done!!! And I'm gonna take a few days off to recuperate. Maybe read some yaoi. Play some video games. Read some books/fanfiction. Not drown in my tears.
Thankfully, I found this while looking for tattooed yaoi guys.
Thank you, Yoneda Kou. Thank you. She makes everything better.
Also this. I just sort of ship everyone together on Free! I mean, Reigisa is my Free! OTP, but then I also love the idea of Sougisa. Or Nasuke. And basically everyone fucking each other all the time.
Finally, here's a peek at the first chapter of Alpha Enchanted. Quinn isn't crazy. Or is he? Or isn't he?!?!
Enjoy!
Everyone in the room thought Quinn Winters was insane. Even Dr. Ross, who was one room away. Sometimes, at moments like this, Quinn wondered if they were right. He leaned back in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, the ones that made it impossible to do anything with his long legs, and crossed his arms over the gray button up shirt. It wasn’t his shirt. Nothing was his, but it fit well enough. It was slightly snug so the buttons pulled the fabric a bit, but that seemed to be the style for certain men. The jeans were snug too, and those ugly slip-on white tennis shoes were just slightly too big. They slipped off his heel when he walked, which gave him blisters that then healed and reformed on a weekly basis. The shoes were the only things Bradley Montgomery, the light mage who kept Quinn prisoner, bought for him. That morning, Bradley had been unhappy with Quinn again. Of course, that wasn’t unusual. Bradley Montgomery was mostly unhappy since he was the only member of the Montgomery family left, and Quinn was entirely his responsibility now. Not only that, but Quinn’s magic had been declining, which meant Bradley’s magic declined with it. And if Quinn’s magic faded enough, Bradley had little reason to keep him around the house twenty-four hours a day. That meant he might actually listen to Dr. Ross for once. A cold, dark knot coiled in Quinn’s belly. He’d rather be dead than shoved into the place Dr. Ross thought suited him. The woman behind the desk, Sarah, glanced at him when she thought he wasn’t looking with a pretty yet wary smile. Her expression was always full of pity and a tinge of regret, though the latter wasn’t aimed at Quinn himself. She was probably disappointed that someone like him was certifiable. His kind tended to attract humans, even when he wasn't in his true form. However, he couldn't complain about his human shape either. It wasn’t nearly as crude as some. From the looks Sarah gave him, and the mirrors that studded the prison where he lived, he knew what they saw in him. “Mr. Winters. Dr. Ross is ready for you,” Sarah said and gave him another tight smile as her gaze drifted from his face to his chest. Quinn smiled pleasantly and sauntered into the office. Dr. Ross had redecorated recently with brand new brown leather chairs and dark stained furniture. The man himself, squat and pudgy with beady eyes beneath his wire-framed glasses, watched Quinn enter carefully. “Take a seat, Quinn. We have a lot to discuss today.”Quinn didn’t do as he was told. He walked to the window and leaned on the generous sill. Behind him, the mixture of modern high-rises and art deco apartment buildings that dotted Haven City’s downtown towered around them. In the distance, the view faded toward the river in one direction and the colorful Victorian neighborhoods in the other. “I don’t sit on the skin of dead cows. It’s gruesome.”Dr. Ross jotted something in his notebook. “And why is it gruesome?”Quinn pouted. These meetings were a waste of time, well, if his time could be wasted. It really couldn’t, considering the circumstances that brought him here. And at least he got away from that prison for a while, but coming to therapy didn’t feel like much of a reprieve, especially with Dr. Ross eyeing him carefully—the same hint of pity in his eyes. The entirely wrong type of pity. It’s not as if Quinn could tell the truth either. Even if he could, they’d think he was even crazier since the ‘they’ in question were all humans who didn’t know a damn thing about the world of shadow folk living right under their noses. “You know why,” Quinn said and looked out the window. Dr. Ross’s pen scratched across the paper. “Does this have to do with the magical shadow world? The one only you can see?” he asked slowly, like he was speaking to a child. Which, when talking to a creature as noble as Quinn (who was actually closer to thirty than three, but Dr. Ross didn’t care about that) was distinctly insulting. Quinn smiled and tugged at the thin chain necklace that hung from his neck. No one else could see it besides Quinn himself and the man who controlled his fate: Bradley Montgomery. “It’s not just my magical world. Plenty of others subsist in it, and you see it every day. You see me right now.”Dr. Ross nodded. Scribbled. Quinn just made out what it said. Over the years he’d learned to read that sloping script upside-down. It nearly haunted his dreams. No improvement. “You look human to me,” Dr. Ross said and pushed his glasses up his pig-like nose. “Don’t insult me like that. I’m not such a simple being,” Quinn said and waited. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Narcissism getting worse. Institution? Different meds?“And what are you, Quinn?”Dr. Ross regarded him, and Quinn bristled up and down his spine. He pushed the hair behind his ear. It was as pale as that of his true form, and his eyes were as otherworldly as well, but of course a man like Dr. Ross would never think that perhaps some bit of truth could come from Quinn’s words. It was all part of the cage that held him, and that part wasn’t even magic, infuriatingly. The magic did keep him from speaking of his actual plight and that included divulging his real form to anyone. Even worse, his very own nature worked against him at moments like this. Lies didn’t slip off his tongue, but he could twist things if the need suited him. Like now. “I could be a griffin. Or a dragon. Yes. Imagine if I were a great dragon. I’d set your head on fire. Thenyou’d believe me.”Dr. Ross’s face turned tomato red. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Threat of violence. “Is that really what you want to do? Set my head on fire?”“Yes,” Quinn said and smiled. “That would work.”The man’s fingers worked faster, the pen pressed into the paper so hard Quinn thought it might rip. “Do you have violent thoughts toward others? Bradley said you jumped into the lake with all of your clothes on again.”“I was trying to drown myself. It didn’t work. It never works, and that’s the shame. I don’t really want to die, I just don’t want to—don’t want to—” Quinn’s throat closed up, and he frowned at his fisted hands. He knew it was no use, and yet he kept trying. Stubbornness. That was it. The inability to give in. Montgomery senior often said it was one of his worst traits, along with the selfishness and that ever-present arrogance. Well, none of that had done Montgomery senior any good in the long run. He’d died like all the others. After so many years, he finally stumbled upon Quinn during a full moon. At that point, it didn’t take much to push him over the edge—his truth was as rotting and diseased as his corpse. Still, Quinn was bound to the family who captured him. The ones who locked him up and kept him as a caged animal for their own gain. “Do you have violent thoughts of Bradley?”“Most of all, but I can’t act on them so you don’t need to worry,” Quinn said and grinned mildly. He tapped one foot against the wall and hoped it left an unsightly black smudge from the underside of his shoe. “What sort of thoughts do you have about Bradley?” Dr. Ross asked and his mouth pinched. Quinn studied the window he leaned against. They were nailed shut and double paned, probably to prevent someone crazy from leaping to their death. Well, it wasn’t really crazy to want to get away from Dr. Ross since he was nearly as insufferable as Bradley. “Drawing and quartering sounds fun. Medieval, but I like the fact that he’d really suffer through the whole process. I found pictures of that in the library. Illustrations, really, but they were graphic. Very bloody.”Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. “Have you been taking your medication?”On the street below, Quinn watched the cement darken with rain and those who walked freely going about their day. Did they take that freedom for granted or did they relish in it the way he would? Difficult to tell. One person in particular caught Quinn’s attention—a young man with bright blue tips of hair. He wore a black jacket and jeans, and a trail of smoke snaked behind him. Quinn watched him bend and pick up an umbrella that a woman dropped and hand it back to her, and then he crossed the street, turned the corner and disappeared. “Quinn?” Dr. Ross said, his pen smacked the paper, and his brow furrowed. “Hm? I’m bored. The people outside are more interesting than you,” Quinn said and pressed his nose into the glass, like he could melt into it and find that man again. He couldn’t. “Your medications?”“Oh. I toss them out. I’m not as crazy as you think. Or delusional. Or narcissistic,” Quinn said with a heavy sigh. Dr. Ross frowned and covered the paper with his hands. “Leave the diagnosis up to me. You know what’ll happen if you want to harm others, Quinn? Do you understand the consequences for those actions?”“I don’t want to harm anyone but Bradley and you, to a lesser extent. Mostly out of spite for making me sit here for an hour and torture me with this view. I want to try ice cream. I have to watch people go into that shop and come out with brightly colored things on delicate cones, and they all look so happy. What does it taste like?”Dr. Ross blinked. “You’ve had ice cream before, I’m sure. We’re not making a lot of progress today, Quinn. Do you see that? You’ll never make progress until you realize the truth—the Montgomery family is trying to help you. You’re very sick and you need to start taking your medications and living in this reality, not the one in your mind.”Quinn snorted and crossed his arms. “However,” Dr. Ross said, wilting under Quinn’s gaze, “you haven’t asked to make a bargain with me in a long time. That’s progress, in a way.”“Making a bargain with you is an act of stupidity because you couldn’t fulfill your end of it,” Quinn said and studied his nails. His foot tapped faster now. Dr. Ross opened his mouth, but the phone rang and cut him off. He held up a finger and rose to his desk. Quinn heard the voice on the other end—his sense of hearing was sharper than normal humans since he was a shifter. Different sorts of shifters had different senses. His were scent and hearing, but others had increased sight as well. Not that it mattered. He could do something no other shifter could, and that’s why the Montgomery family kept him locked up. Because he was a monster—one to be feared in the depth of the night. Though, most people who laid eyes on him wouldn’t believe that until he acted. It was Bradley on the phone, and though his voice was distant, Quinn still heard bits of the conversation. Bradley said something about the institution—was it really a good idea?Dr. Ross hardly hesitated. “We’ve tried almost everything else. No matter what, he retreats from me.”On the other end, Bradley huffed and grumbled something crude. Dr. Ross looked at Quinn. “Can you wait in the lobby for a moment? Merci is coming to get you now.”Quinn nodded and left quietly, his heart pounding. Sarah was on the phone, her eyes turned away from Dr. Ross’s office. No one else was in the waiting room, and if Merci, the raccoon shifter who doubled as Montgomery’s driver, wasn’t there yet, that gave Quinn a unique opportunity. He didn’t stop to think. He slid out of the door and stepped down the hall. Quinn half expected someone to charge after him. They didn’t. He got to the elevator without anyone from Dr. Ross’s office noticing his absence. It wouldn’t last long, so he pressed the ‘down’ button and trotted to the stairway instead. Stepping out into the cool spring evening, without Dr. Ross, Merci or Bradley and his fetid stench at Quinn’s side was as close to freedom as he’d had in over twenty years. Even with the weight of the necklace and his binds tying him down, he had this moment to do whatever he wanted. So, Quinn turned in the direction the blue-haired man had gone and walked. None of the people on the streets knew he was supposed to be crazy, and they cast him curious glances. Many smiled, and Quinn smiled back. The air was cool and seemed to drift under the collar of his shirt and up his long sleeves, but it was better than the stuffy air in an office that smelled like leather and Dr. Ross’s pungent aftershave. As evening darkened into night, Quinn found himself walking with a crowd of people down the side of the river. The water, though murky, still sparkled with the golden lights from the streetlamps and the shops on the other side of the road. Most people had umbrellas, and even though the rain wasn’t particularly hard, it was steady enough to soak into his shirt and mat the pale hair to his head. A shiver shot up his spine, and Quinn ignored it. It didn’t matter how far away he got—Bradley would find him eventually. The tether that held him in place would tighten, and he’d be punished for this infraction. Painfully, no doubt. Yet none of that dampened Quinn’s mood. He hadn’t escaped since he was much younger, and at that time Haven City looked too big and intimidating to be much fun. Now, all he saw were people enjoying themselves. Lively music poured from the buildings on his left, a war between the steady thump that shook the sidewalk under his feet and the voices that rose on the street. People spoke to him as he passed them. One group of women invited him to get a meal with them, and Quinn agreed. It was something in his eyes or his looks that drew them in since he hadn’t spoken. Some people, those with weak minds, could be nudged gently from his voice when he spoke the truth, but he didn’t try that now. He didn’t have to. The food was good even if he didn’t remember much else besides several of them touching his legs. When he told them he wasn’t interested in sex, they got a little annoyed and Quinn made a hasty exit. The moon hung high in the sky by then, her light kind and familiar. Quinn smiled at her as he strolled on. Finally he stumbled upon a cinderblock building that looked like all the others along the street. A rainbow flag fluttered over the entrance. Inside, besides the scent of alcohol and humans, he caught the hint of others like him—shadow folk. The burly man at the door who smelled like magic of some kind (not rotten magic, like Bradley, but a cool clean scent) asked Quinn for money, which Quinn didn’t have. Unfortunate, since the inside of the building looked better than the outside with all those flashing lights, and the constant noise that could drown out anything. Another group of people came up behind him and made some negotiation with the burly man, who finally let them all in. Once inside, they handed Quinn drink after drink, usually brightly colored and fruity with the bite of bitterness underneath. Some even had punctured fruit inside them, and those were his favorite. Between each drink he got pulled onto the dance floor, and everything turned into a wonderful sweaty mess of bodies pressed together. Hands wandered over his arms and chest. Fingers flicked his shirt open, and that was soon lost somewhere. Another set of hands rested on his hips. At some point, a group of helpful young women gave him a band to keep the hair off his neck. The only problem was no one listened to him. Quinn tried to talk to the shadow folk who were there, but none of them seemed to understand his plight. He couldn’t flat out ask for help, of course, the spell that bound him prevented that. But even having a conversation beyond “what do you want to drink” or “let’s dance” seemed impossible. At one point he even spotted a flash of blue hair across the room. The man attached to it stood at the bar, a bottle clenched in his fist. Shadows pinched his dark eyes, and he stared right at Quinn. The slight scent of wolf musk met Quinn’s nose, and he wondered if that was whom he smelled. An alpha—a hungry one. Then the crowd swept in the way and the wolf disappeared from his view. Quinn frowned. If Bradley let Dr. Ross lock Quinn in a mental institution, he’d never find someone who could break his spell. And if this was Quinn’s last night—his only night—of freedom, he swore he’d make it better than all the others. He wasn’t going back to the Montgomery prison. He’d either find someone to help him break his binds, or he’d free himself in another way.
And I'm fucking exhausted. I reworked this book so many times I want to crawl into a cave and sleep for a year. *cries in corner*
It's not that Tyler and Quinn were stubborn (like some people *ahem* Felix *ahem*), but the book was a lot different in my head than the finished project.
But it's finally done!!! And I'm gonna take a few days off to recuperate. Maybe read some yaoi. Play some video games. Read some books/fanfiction. Not drown in my tears.
Thankfully, I found this while looking for tattooed yaoi guys.
Thank you, Yoneda Kou. Thank you. She makes everything better.Also this. I just sort of ship everyone together on Free! I mean, Reigisa is my Free! OTP, but then I also love the idea of Sougisa. Or Nasuke. And basically everyone fucking each other all the time.
Finally, here's a peek at the first chapter of Alpha Enchanted. Quinn isn't crazy. Or is he? Or isn't he?!?!
Enjoy!
Everyone in the room thought Quinn Winters was insane. Even Dr. Ross, who was one room away. Sometimes, at moments like this, Quinn wondered if they were right. He leaned back in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, the ones that made it impossible to do anything with his long legs, and crossed his arms over the gray button up shirt. It wasn’t his shirt. Nothing was his, but it fit well enough. It was slightly snug so the buttons pulled the fabric a bit, but that seemed to be the style for certain men. The jeans were snug too, and those ugly slip-on white tennis shoes were just slightly too big. They slipped off his heel when he walked, which gave him blisters that then healed and reformed on a weekly basis. The shoes were the only things Bradley Montgomery, the light mage who kept Quinn prisoner, bought for him. That morning, Bradley had been unhappy with Quinn again. Of course, that wasn’t unusual. Bradley Montgomery was mostly unhappy since he was the only member of the Montgomery family left, and Quinn was entirely his responsibility now. Not only that, but Quinn’s magic had been declining, which meant Bradley’s magic declined with it. And if Quinn’s magic faded enough, Bradley had little reason to keep him around the house twenty-four hours a day. That meant he might actually listen to Dr. Ross for once. A cold, dark knot coiled in Quinn’s belly. He’d rather be dead than shoved into the place Dr. Ross thought suited him. The woman behind the desk, Sarah, glanced at him when she thought he wasn’t looking with a pretty yet wary smile. Her expression was always full of pity and a tinge of regret, though the latter wasn’t aimed at Quinn himself. She was probably disappointed that someone like him was certifiable. His kind tended to attract humans, even when he wasn't in his true form. However, he couldn't complain about his human shape either. It wasn’t nearly as crude as some. From the looks Sarah gave him, and the mirrors that studded the prison where he lived, he knew what they saw in him. “Mr. Winters. Dr. Ross is ready for you,” Sarah said and gave him another tight smile as her gaze drifted from his face to his chest. Quinn smiled pleasantly and sauntered into the office. Dr. Ross had redecorated recently with brand new brown leather chairs and dark stained furniture. The man himself, squat and pudgy with beady eyes beneath his wire-framed glasses, watched Quinn enter carefully. “Take a seat, Quinn. We have a lot to discuss today.”Quinn didn’t do as he was told. He walked to the window and leaned on the generous sill. Behind him, the mixture of modern high-rises and art deco apartment buildings that dotted Haven City’s downtown towered around them. In the distance, the view faded toward the river in one direction and the colorful Victorian neighborhoods in the other. “I don’t sit on the skin of dead cows. It’s gruesome.”Dr. Ross jotted something in his notebook. “And why is it gruesome?”Quinn pouted. These meetings were a waste of time, well, if his time could be wasted. It really couldn’t, considering the circumstances that brought him here. And at least he got away from that prison for a while, but coming to therapy didn’t feel like much of a reprieve, especially with Dr. Ross eyeing him carefully—the same hint of pity in his eyes. The entirely wrong type of pity. It’s not as if Quinn could tell the truth either. Even if he could, they’d think he was even crazier since the ‘they’ in question were all humans who didn’t know a damn thing about the world of shadow folk living right under their noses. “You know why,” Quinn said and looked out the window. Dr. Ross’s pen scratched across the paper. “Does this have to do with the magical shadow world? The one only you can see?” he asked slowly, like he was speaking to a child. Which, when talking to a creature as noble as Quinn (who was actually closer to thirty than three, but Dr. Ross didn’t care about that) was distinctly insulting. Quinn smiled and tugged at the thin chain necklace that hung from his neck. No one else could see it besides Quinn himself and the man who controlled his fate: Bradley Montgomery. “It’s not just my magical world. Plenty of others subsist in it, and you see it every day. You see me right now.”Dr. Ross nodded. Scribbled. Quinn just made out what it said. Over the years he’d learned to read that sloping script upside-down. It nearly haunted his dreams. No improvement. “You look human to me,” Dr. Ross said and pushed his glasses up his pig-like nose. “Don’t insult me like that. I’m not such a simple being,” Quinn said and waited. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Narcissism getting worse. Institution? Different meds?“And what are you, Quinn?”Dr. Ross regarded him, and Quinn bristled up and down his spine. He pushed the hair behind his ear. It was as pale as that of his true form, and his eyes were as otherworldly as well, but of course a man like Dr. Ross would never think that perhaps some bit of truth could come from Quinn’s words. It was all part of the cage that held him, and that part wasn’t even magic, infuriatingly. The magic did keep him from speaking of his actual plight and that included divulging his real form to anyone. Even worse, his very own nature worked against him at moments like this. Lies didn’t slip off his tongue, but he could twist things if the need suited him. Like now. “I could be a griffin. Or a dragon. Yes. Imagine if I were a great dragon. I’d set your head on fire. Thenyou’d believe me.”Dr. Ross’s face turned tomato red. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Threat of violence. “Is that really what you want to do? Set my head on fire?”“Yes,” Quinn said and smiled. “That would work.”The man’s fingers worked faster, the pen pressed into the paper so hard Quinn thought it might rip. “Do you have violent thoughts toward others? Bradley said you jumped into the lake with all of your clothes on again.”“I was trying to drown myself. It didn’t work. It never works, and that’s the shame. I don’t really want to die, I just don’t want to—don’t want to—” Quinn’s throat closed up, and he frowned at his fisted hands. He knew it was no use, and yet he kept trying. Stubbornness. That was it. The inability to give in. Montgomery senior often said it was one of his worst traits, along with the selfishness and that ever-present arrogance. Well, none of that had done Montgomery senior any good in the long run. He’d died like all the others. After so many years, he finally stumbled upon Quinn during a full moon. At that point, it didn’t take much to push him over the edge—his truth was as rotting and diseased as his corpse. Still, Quinn was bound to the family who captured him. The ones who locked him up and kept him as a caged animal for their own gain. “Do you have violent thoughts of Bradley?”“Most of all, but I can’t act on them so you don’t need to worry,” Quinn said and grinned mildly. He tapped one foot against the wall and hoped it left an unsightly black smudge from the underside of his shoe. “What sort of thoughts do you have about Bradley?” Dr. Ross asked and his mouth pinched. Quinn studied the window he leaned against. They were nailed shut and double paned, probably to prevent someone crazy from leaping to their death. Well, it wasn’t really crazy to want to get away from Dr. Ross since he was nearly as insufferable as Bradley. “Drawing and quartering sounds fun. Medieval, but I like the fact that he’d really suffer through the whole process. I found pictures of that in the library. Illustrations, really, but they were graphic. Very bloody.”Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. “Have you been taking your medication?”On the street below, Quinn watched the cement darken with rain and those who walked freely going about their day. Did they take that freedom for granted or did they relish in it the way he would? Difficult to tell. One person in particular caught Quinn’s attention—a young man with bright blue tips of hair. He wore a black jacket and jeans, and a trail of smoke snaked behind him. Quinn watched him bend and pick up an umbrella that a woman dropped and hand it back to her, and then he crossed the street, turned the corner and disappeared. “Quinn?” Dr. Ross said, his pen smacked the paper, and his brow furrowed. “Hm? I’m bored. The people outside are more interesting than you,” Quinn said and pressed his nose into the glass, like he could melt into it and find that man again. He couldn’t. “Your medications?”“Oh. I toss them out. I’m not as crazy as you think. Or delusional. Or narcissistic,” Quinn said with a heavy sigh. Dr. Ross frowned and covered the paper with his hands. “Leave the diagnosis up to me. You know what’ll happen if you want to harm others, Quinn? Do you understand the consequences for those actions?”“I don’t want to harm anyone but Bradley and you, to a lesser extent. Mostly out of spite for making me sit here for an hour and torture me with this view. I want to try ice cream. I have to watch people go into that shop and come out with brightly colored things on delicate cones, and they all look so happy. What does it taste like?”Dr. Ross blinked. “You’ve had ice cream before, I’m sure. We’re not making a lot of progress today, Quinn. Do you see that? You’ll never make progress until you realize the truth—the Montgomery family is trying to help you. You’re very sick and you need to start taking your medications and living in this reality, not the one in your mind.”Quinn snorted and crossed his arms. “However,” Dr. Ross said, wilting under Quinn’s gaze, “you haven’t asked to make a bargain with me in a long time. That’s progress, in a way.”“Making a bargain with you is an act of stupidity because you couldn’t fulfill your end of it,” Quinn said and studied his nails. His foot tapped faster now. Dr. Ross opened his mouth, but the phone rang and cut him off. He held up a finger and rose to his desk. Quinn heard the voice on the other end—his sense of hearing was sharper than normal humans since he was a shifter. Different sorts of shifters had different senses. His were scent and hearing, but others had increased sight as well. Not that it mattered. He could do something no other shifter could, and that’s why the Montgomery family kept him locked up. Because he was a monster—one to be feared in the depth of the night. Though, most people who laid eyes on him wouldn’t believe that until he acted. It was Bradley on the phone, and though his voice was distant, Quinn still heard bits of the conversation. Bradley said something about the institution—was it really a good idea?Dr. Ross hardly hesitated. “We’ve tried almost everything else. No matter what, he retreats from me.”On the other end, Bradley huffed and grumbled something crude. Dr. Ross looked at Quinn. “Can you wait in the lobby for a moment? Merci is coming to get you now.”Quinn nodded and left quietly, his heart pounding. Sarah was on the phone, her eyes turned away from Dr. Ross’s office. No one else was in the waiting room, and if Merci, the raccoon shifter who doubled as Montgomery’s driver, wasn’t there yet, that gave Quinn a unique opportunity. He didn’t stop to think. He slid out of the door and stepped down the hall. Quinn half expected someone to charge after him. They didn’t. He got to the elevator without anyone from Dr. Ross’s office noticing his absence. It wouldn’t last long, so he pressed the ‘down’ button and trotted to the stairway instead. Stepping out into the cool spring evening, without Dr. Ross, Merci or Bradley and his fetid stench at Quinn’s side was as close to freedom as he’d had in over twenty years. Even with the weight of the necklace and his binds tying him down, he had this moment to do whatever he wanted. So, Quinn turned in the direction the blue-haired man had gone and walked. None of the people on the streets knew he was supposed to be crazy, and they cast him curious glances. Many smiled, and Quinn smiled back. The air was cool and seemed to drift under the collar of his shirt and up his long sleeves, but it was better than the stuffy air in an office that smelled like leather and Dr. Ross’s pungent aftershave. As evening darkened into night, Quinn found himself walking with a crowd of people down the side of the river. The water, though murky, still sparkled with the golden lights from the streetlamps and the shops on the other side of the road. Most people had umbrellas, and even though the rain wasn’t particularly hard, it was steady enough to soak into his shirt and mat the pale hair to his head. A shiver shot up his spine, and Quinn ignored it. It didn’t matter how far away he got—Bradley would find him eventually. The tether that held him in place would tighten, and he’d be punished for this infraction. Painfully, no doubt. Yet none of that dampened Quinn’s mood. He hadn’t escaped since he was much younger, and at that time Haven City looked too big and intimidating to be much fun. Now, all he saw were people enjoying themselves. Lively music poured from the buildings on his left, a war between the steady thump that shook the sidewalk under his feet and the voices that rose on the street. People spoke to him as he passed them. One group of women invited him to get a meal with them, and Quinn agreed. It was something in his eyes or his looks that drew them in since he hadn’t spoken. Some people, those with weak minds, could be nudged gently from his voice when he spoke the truth, but he didn’t try that now. He didn’t have to. The food was good even if he didn’t remember much else besides several of them touching his legs. When he told them he wasn’t interested in sex, they got a little annoyed and Quinn made a hasty exit. The moon hung high in the sky by then, her light kind and familiar. Quinn smiled at her as he strolled on. Finally he stumbled upon a cinderblock building that looked like all the others along the street. A rainbow flag fluttered over the entrance. Inside, besides the scent of alcohol and humans, he caught the hint of others like him—shadow folk. The burly man at the door who smelled like magic of some kind (not rotten magic, like Bradley, but a cool clean scent) asked Quinn for money, which Quinn didn’t have. Unfortunate, since the inside of the building looked better than the outside with all those flashing lights, and the constant noise that could drown out anything. Another group of people came up behind him and made some negotiation with the burly man, who finally let them all in. Once inside, they handed Quinn drink after drink, usually brightly colored and fruity with the bite of bitterness underneath. Some even had punctured fruit inside them, and those were his favorite. Between each drink he got pulled onto the dance floor, and everything turned into a wonderful sweaty mess of bodies pressed together. Hands wandered over his arms and chest. Fingers flicked his shirt open, and that was soon lost somewhere. Another set of hands rested on his hips. At some point, a group of helpful young women gave him a band to keep the hair off his neck. The only problem was no one listened to him. Quinn tried to talk to the shadow folk who were there, but none of them seemed to understand his plight. He couldn’t flat out ask for help, of course, the spell that bound him prevented that. But even having a conversation beyond “what do you want to drink” or “let’s dance” seemed impossible. At one point he even spotted a flash of blue hair across the room. The man attached to it stood at the bar, a bottle clenched in his fist. Shadows pinched his dark eyes, and he stared right at Quinn. The slight scent of wolf musk met Quinn’s nose, and he wondered if that was whom he smelled. An alpha—a hungry one. Then the crowd swept in the way and the wolf disappeared from his view. Quinn frowned. If Bradley let Dr. Ross lock Quinn in a mental institution, he’d never find someone who could break his spell. And if this was Quinn’s last night—his only night—of freedom, he swore he’d make it better than all the others. He wasn’t going back to the Montgomery prison. He’d either find someone to help him break his binds, or he’d free himself in another way.
August 17, 2015
Manuscript Monday Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series #8): Sexy fun in the tattoo parlor
The verdict is in! According to my betas and my editor, the book doesn't suck and Quinn isn't too weird. *wipes brow* I hope everyone agrees with them.
I'm nearly done with the final edits, so it'll be ready for you guys by September 1st.
Also, in a few moments of free time on Sunday, I found this:
By: Sakimichan
Damn, Link! He was my first video game crush. I'm talking Link's Awakening and Link to the Past, when he was a tiny 16-bit chibi with pink hair. *sigh* He's sure grown up. And he learned how to hover leaves to protect his nipples from pervs like me ogling them. ^_^
Here's what you've been waiting for, another peek at Tyler and Quinn. Quinn gets a tattoo, and things get sexy. Enjoy!
After Tyler finished and Mei left, he washed his hands and glanced at Quinn. He was looking at Tyler’s sketches again. “We’ve got an hour before that raccoon picks you up.”“I know. What would you choose if you were me?” Quinn asked and ran his long fingers over a black and white sketch of a dead tree covered in crows. “Not that,” Tyler said and felt his cheeks heat. He remembered drawing that after Davis first got back to Haven. His brother interrupted him at his old place and they got into a stupid fight. Mostly because Davis didn’t understand that simply coming back to the city wasn’t a free pass for forgiveness after all the shit he’d pulled over the years. Quinn’s green-gold eyes caught him and held, so Tyler skimmed the walls. He didn’t find one sketch that fit. “I don’t know. None of these suit you. I’d have to draw something new.”“Can you?” Quinn asked and smiled, somewhere between a grin and a smirk. Tyler nodded before he realized it, and grabbed the sketchpad from the reception desk, mostly to stop the surge of warmth that rushed to his balls at that expression. “Sure, but it might not be great. I think you need something simple. Black ink. No color. Maybe something symbolic.”His hand moved across the black piece of paper quickly. When he finished, Tyler frowned at his handiwork. “Is that a broken cage?” Quinn asked. He leaned so close each beat of his heart pounded with Tyler’s, and the heat of his shoulder pressed into the alpha’s body and warmed him further – not what he needed. “Yeah. It’s stupid though. Never mind.”Quinn touched the sketch and shook his head. “It’s not. I—I like it. Where would you put it?”Tyler took a sharp breath and looked at Quinn, the way his lips were always just shy of a smile and the angular cut of his jaw – the elegant strength in his neck and how his Adam’s apple begged to be touched. Kissed. His heart did that dumb fluttery thing. Shit. “Uh, maybe your wrist or ankle. Bicep tats are popular,” Tyler said and touched the taut flesh on Quinn’s exposed arm. He wore a gray T-shirt today, slightly too small, but that just meant it hugged his body perfectly.Quinn leaned forward until his lips brushed Tyler’s ear. “What about a little lower?”Tyler blinked. “You don’t want a dick tattoo.” Glass green eyes widened briefly, and Quinn let out a laugh that sounded like music. “People do that?”“Sometimes,” Tyler said with a shrug and fought not to smile. “Not there, but it needs to be someplace Bradley won’t see it by accident.”Tyler’s fingers twitched, and no matter how many times he told himself that going past this line meant more than he wanted it to mean, he still did it. Kissing a guy was one thing – willfully stroking his ass with the intent to get his pants off was something else. He always thought if he were gay, he’d have figured it out by now. Hell, he’d known Ken his whole life and that omega had always known he was gay. And he’d known Rory for the past two years, but Tyler never wanted to fuck either of them, though there was nothing wrong with them. Sure, there was that one time a twink sucked him off in The Pit’s bathroom, but he was also high as fuck on ecstasy and having anyone suck him off sounded like a great idea at the time.With Quinn it was totally different. Now, he wasn’t drunk or high, and there wasn’t anything else in the world he wanted to do more than kiss Quinn. And, shit, he’d spent most of the last month not kissing Quinn, which now felt like the biggest waste of time in the whole world. He let his hand move, and it grazed Quinn’s ass – the muscles tight. He stopped on Quinn’s slim hip. “How about here?”Quinn’s body leaned into the touch and his eyes sparked. “I like that idea.”Tyler nodded. His mouth dried out before he could speak. He licked his lips. “Get on the table and pull down your pants.”He’d said those words more times than he could count, but they never sounded like that– like he wanted nothing more than those pants to come off and stay off. It’s not like he could blame the ache in his groin on Mei either. Tyler’d worked on her and never been aroused. Shit, he worked on plenty of people without this happening. That meant it had to be Quinn. Several minutes later, Tyler ended up on his stool looking at the bare skin on Quinn’s delectable hip. It reminded him of how they’d first met, and what Quinn’s bare chest looked like bruised. Those marks had healed since. Quinn settled on his back, the pale hair splayed around his head. He’d unbuttoned the jeans so the hint of his pubes peaked out, and it was obvious he wore no motherfucking underwear. Tyler raised an eyebrow. “You always go commando?”Quinn shrugged. “Bradley doesn’t buy me anything, and I’m not going to wear his.”Tyler snorted. “Can’t blame you.” Then he took a deep breath and disinfected Quinn’s right hip, the spot just below the bone. “This’ll hurt a little.”“I’m sure I can handle it,” Quinn said, his voice held a note of bitterness Tyler never noticed before, and it played havoc on his emerging hard-on. Quinn’s chest heaved, and his nipples hardened into tight pink tips. The needle made contact, but Quinn didn’t so much as move. He took another shallow breath and let it out, and it felt like they were both breathing the same air at the same time. He worked for a long time like that, neither of them speaking, and it felt as natural as it always did. “Full moon’s coming up next Monday,” Tyler said as the final bar of the cage took shape on Quinn’s fair skin. Quinn sighed. “I know. That means we can’t meet, doesn’t it?”“Do you still shift at the full moon or does the necklace keep that from happening too?” Tyler asked and wiped the blood off before he continued. It was as red as anyone else’s and smelled the same, but for the hint of magic. “I shift. They can’t prevent that. No one can,” Quinn said, and his lips twisted into a smile that didn’t look anywhere near happy. “I’d like to see it,” Tyler admitted and pricked the needle back into Quinn’s skin. Quinn started and shook his head. “You can’t – not yet.”Tyler frowned and wiped off the last bit of blood before he covered his handiwork lightly with gauze. “Who says I can’t? Are you going to attack me?”Quinn frowned. “No, but there’s a barrier around the house, and it’s the only time of month I can use my magic so it’s not safe to see me like that until our bargain is fulfilled.”Outside someone honked on the street, but it sounded like it was a million miles away. Tyler removed his gloves and slid his palms tentatively up Quinn’s thigh. “Would you hurt me?”Quinn sucked in a breath and grabbed Tyler’s bicep, pulling him closer. His eyes widened and a look of panic surrounded them. “Not on purpose.”“Will our bargain hurt me?” Tyler couldn’t look at Quinn’s face because the reactions in his body were so incredible. Beneath the fabric of the jeans, his cock hardened just like Tyler’s own, and he’d never wanted to touch a dick so badly in his life. “It. . . shouldn’t,” Quinn breathed, and Tyler’s hands tightened on his thighs. “Shouldn’t or won’t?”Quinn’s gaze dropped. “I can’t say anymore than that.”Tyler sucked in a breath through his nose, and all he smelled was Quinn’s alluring scent. Quinn’s gaze held his. Then Quinn unzipped his jeans, revealing his length, thick with veins and throbbing for attention. Tyler’s lips quirked. “There’s a window right there, and the door’s unlocked.”“So lock it, and I’ll go behind the screen,” Quinn said and leaned forward. He almost made it off the chair when Tyler grabbed him by the chin and pulled him forward. Their lips met, hard and hungry, and the heat of Quinn’s mouth melted into Tyler’s own like that’s the only place it was meant to be. Ever. The alpha roared inside him – fingers dug into Quinn’s hips, and their teeth bumped with a gentle clack. Tyler didn’t bother mentioning that it was past an hour by now, and Quinn was going to be late. Because Tyler wasn’t going to let him go like this – not with his body begging for something that only Quinn could give. The lust clouding his brain felt normal by now. It surrounded him whenever he thought of Quinn.“Am I under a fucking spell?” Tyler huffed and pulled back. Quinn’s eyes widened, the hurt evident on his downturned mouth, and he shook his head once. “No. I can’t do that to you. If that’s what you think—”It’s not what he thought. Dammit. What Tyler thought might’ve been worse. The way his chest ached when Quinn wasn’t around—the desire to see him happy—set him free. Not to mention the motherfucking desire that singed his goddamn hands as they slid over Quinn’s unblemished flesh. His heart was close to bursting with all those sensations combined, and there was only one realexplanation for it. Love. He was in love with a shifter. A male shifter, who turned into the moon only knew what. And it didn’t faze him in the least.
I'm nearly done with the final edits, so it'll be ready for you guys by September 1st.
Also, in a few moments of free time on Sunday, I found this:
By: SakimichanDamn, Link! He was my first video game crush. I'm talking Link's Awakening and Link to the Past, when he was a tiny 16-bit chibi with pink hair. *sigh* He's sure grown up. And he learned how to hover leaves to protect his nipples from pervs like me ogling them. ^_^
Here's what you've been waiting for, another peek at Tyler and Quinn. Quinn gets a tattoo, and things get sexy. Enjoy!
After Tyler finished and Mei left, he washed his hands and glanced at Quinn. He was looking at Tyler’s sketches again. “We’ve got an hour before that raccoon picks you up.”“I know. What would you choose if you were me?” Quinn asked and ran his long fingers over a black and white sketch of a dead tree covered in crows. “Not that,” Tyler said and felt his cheeks heat. He remembered drawing that after Davis first got back to Haven. His brother interrupted him at his old place and they got into a stupid fight. Mostly because Davis didn’t understand that simply coming back to the city wasn’t a free pass for forgiveness after all the shit he’d pulled over the years. Quinn’s green-gold eyes caught him and held, so Tyler skimmed the walls. He didn’t find one sketch that fit. “I don’t know. None of these suit you. I’d have to draw something new.”“Can you?” Quinn asked and smiled, somewhere between a grin and a smirk. Tyler nodded before he realized it, and grabbed the sketchpad from the reception desk, mostly to stop the surge of warmth that rushed to his balls at that expression. “Sure, but it might not be great. I think you need something simple. Black ink. No color. Maybe something symbolic.”His hand moved across the black piece of paper quickly. When he finished, Tyler frowned at his handiwork. “Is that a broken cage?” Quinn asked. He leaned so close each beat of his heart pounded with Tyler’s, and the heat of his shoulder pressed into the alpha’s body and warmed him further – not what he needed. “Yeah. It’s stupid though. Never mind.”Quinn touched the sketch and shook his head. “It’s not. I—I like it. Where would you put it?”Tyler took a sharp breath and looked at Quinn, the way his lips were always just shy of a smile and the angular cut of his jaw – the elegant strength in his neck and how his Adam’s apple begged to be touched. Kissed. His heart did that dumb fluttery thing. Shit. “Uh, maybe your wrist or ankle. Bicep tats are popular,” Tyler said and touched the taut flesh on Quinn’s exposed arm. He wore a gray T-shirt today, slightly too small, but that just meant it hugged his body perfectly.Quinn leaned forward until his lips brushed Tyler’s ear. “What about a little lower?”Tyler blinked. “You don’t want a dick tattoo.” Glass green eyes widened briefly, and Quinn let out a laugh that sounded like music. “People do that?”“Sometimes,” Tyler said with a shrug and fought not to smile. “Not there, but it needs to be someplace Bradley won’t see it by accident.”Tyler’s fingers twitched, and no matter how many times he told himself that going past this line meant more than he wanted it to mean, he still did it. Kissing a guy was one thing – willfully stroking his ass with the intent to get his pants off was something else. He always thought if he were gay, he’d have figured it out by now. Hell, he’d known Ken his whole life and that omega had always known he was gay. And he’d known Rory for the past two years, but Tyler never wanted to fuck either of them, though there was nothing wrong with them. Sure, there was that one time a twink sucked him off in The Pit’s bathroom, but he was also high as fuck on ecstasy and having anyone suck him off sounded like a great idea at the time.With Quinn it was totally different. Now, he wasn’t drunk or high, and there wasn’t anything else in the world he wanted to do more than kiss Quinn. And, shit, he’d spent most of the last month not kissing Quinn, which now felt like the biggest waste of time in the whole world. He let his hand move, and it grazed Quinn’s ass – the muscles tight. He stopped on Quinn’s slim hip. “How about here?”Quinn’s body leaned into the touch and his eyes sparked. “I like that idea.”Tyler nodded. His mouth dried out before he could speak. He licked his lips. “Get on the table and pull down your pants.”He’d said those words more times than he could count, but they never sounded like that– like he wanted nothing more than those pants to come off and stay off. It’s not like he could blame the ache in his groin on Mei either. Tyler’d worked on her and never been aroused. Shit, he worked on plenty of people without this happening. That meant it had to be Quinn. Several minutes later, Tyler ended up on his stool looking at the bare skin on Quinn’s delectable hip. It reminded him of how they’d first met, and what Quinn’s bare chest looked like bruised. Those marks had healed since. Quinn settled on his back, the pale hair splayed around his head. He’d unbuttoned the jeans so the hint of his pubes peaked out, and it was obvious he wore no motherfucking underwear. Tyler raised an eyebrow. “You always go commando?”Quinn shrugged. “Bradley doesn’t buy me anything, and I’m not going to wear his.”Tyler snorted. “Can’t blame you.” Then he took a deep breath and disinfected Quinn’s right hip, the spot just below the bone. “This’ll hurt a little.”“I’m sure I can handle it,” Quinn said, his voice held a note of bitterness Tyler never noticed before, and it played havoc on his emerging hard-on. Quinn’s chest heaved, and his nipples hardened into tight pink tips. The needle made contact, but Quinn didn’t so much as move. He took another shallow breath and let it out, and it felt like they were both breathing the same air at the same time. He worked for a long time like that, neither of them speaking, and it felt as natural as it always did. “Full moon’s coming up next Monday,” Tyler said as the final bar of the cage took shape on Quinn’s fair skin. Quinn sighed. “I know. That means we can’t meet, doesn’t it?”“Do you still shift at the full moon or does the necklace keep that from happening too?” Tyler asked and wiped the blood off before he continued. It was as red as anyone else’s and smelled the same, but for the hint of magic. “I shift. They can’t prevent that. No one can,” Quinn said, and his lips twisted into a smile that didn’t look anywhere near happy. “I’d like to see it,” Tyler admitted and pricked the needle back into Quinn’s skin. Quinn started and shook his head. “You can’t – not yet.”Tyler frowned and wiped off the last bit of blood before he covered his handiwork lightly with gauze. “Who says I can’t? Are you going to attack me?”Quinn frowned. “No, but there’s a barrier around the house, and it’s the only time of month I can use my magic so it’s not safe to see me like that until our bargain is fulfilled.”Outside someone honked on the street, but it sounded like it was a million miles away. Tyler removed his gloves and slid his palms tentatively up Quinn’s thigh. “Would you hurt me?”Quinn sucked in a breath and grabbed Tyler’s bicep, pulling him closer. His eyes widened and a look of panic surrounded them. “Not on purpose.”“Will our bargain hurt me?” Tyler couldn’t look at Quinn’s face because the reactions in his body were so incredible. Beneath the fabric of the jeans, his cock hardened just like Tyler’s own, and he’d never wanted to touch a dick so badly in his life. “It. . . shouldn’t,” Quinn breathed, and Tyler’s hands tightened on his thighs. “Shouldn’t or won’t?”Quinn’s gaze dropped. “I can’t say anymore than that.”Tyler sucked in a breath through his nose, and all he smelled was Quinn’s alluring scent. Quinn’s gaze held his. Then Quinn unzipped his jeans, revealing his length, thick with veins and throbbing for attention. Tyler’s lips quirked. “There’s a window right there, and the door’s unlocked.”“So lock it, and I’ll go behind the screen,” Quinn said and leaned forward. He almost made it off the chair when Tyler grabbed him by the chin and pulled him forward. Their lips met, hard and hungry, and the heat of Quinn’s mouth melted into Tyler’s own like that’s the only place it was meant to be. Ever. The alpha roared inside him – fingers dug into Quinn’s hips, and their teeth bumped with a gentle clack. Tyler didn’t bother mentioning that it was past an hour by now, and Quinn was going to be late. Because Tyler wasn’t going to let him go like this – not with his body begging for something that only Quinn could give. The lust clouding his brain felt normal by now. It surrounded him whenever he thought of Quinn.“Am I under a fucking spell?” Tyler huffed and pulled back. Quinn’s eyes widened, the hurt evident on his downturned mouth, and he shook his head once. “No. I can’t do that to you. If that’s what you think—”It’s not what he thought. Dammit. What Tyler thought might’ve been worse. The way his chest ached when Quinn wasn’t around—the desire to see him happy—set him free. Not to mention the motherfucking desire that singed his goddamn hands as they slid over Quinn’s unblemished flesh. His heart was close to bursting with all those sensations combined, and there was only one realexplanation for it. Love. He was in love with a shifter. A male shifter, who turned into the moon only knew what. And it didn’t faze him in the least.
August 11, 2015
Manuscript Monday: The Alpha Gives In (to bathroom sex and maybe some kind of bargain)
The book is getting so much closer to being done. My revisions are almost finished, and I'm not as worried about Quinn being too weird anymore. Also, I actually took a few days off over the weekend so my brain doesn't feel as much like mush.
That means I finally updated some of my Pinterest boards, and I found this. Levi is in trouble. The best kind of trouble.
Here's another sneak peek. Tyler and Quinn get naughty in a public bathroom. They also talk and stuff. Enjoy! ^_^
The door swung open, and Tyler’s musky scent fought with the Lysol for dominance. “What the fuck was that about? You can’t tell humans what we are!” he growled and bared his fangs. He stood just a few feet from the door, the dirty gray tile surrounding him, and his hands balled into fists. Quinn let out a breath, leaned against the sink and smiled carelessly. “Why not? They never believe me.”“That doesn’t matter. Humans don’t get it. If they knew the truth, what do you think would happen? Look what they do to each other. Not to mention, motherfucking hunters,” Tyler said and threw his hands in the air.“Look what shadow folk do to each other,” Quinn said, raising his brows and crossing his arms. If that didn’t make this wolf feel at least a little guilty, than Quinn wouldn’t feel guilty for leading him into a bargain.The light above Tyler’s head buzzed faintly, and the glow cast shadows across his face. He chewed on his lip ring and frowned. “No shit. But now those humans all think you’re crazy.”“I don’t care about them. Do you think I’m crazy?” Quinn asked quietly and held his breath.“Probably,” Tyler answered and let out a snarl of frustration before he continued. “You’re obviously some kind of shifter—I know that, and that asshole magic user is. . . what? Your caretaker?” Quinn snorted. “He only cares about. . . I can’t say why he cares because of this,” he said and tugged at the necklace. “But it’s not good for me, and it’s not good for him. This hurts me. It’s diminishing what I am. How would you like to be caged and kept by a mere human?”Tyler’s eyes focused on the chain, and his frown deepened. He flinched at the last part while the alpha inside him bristled at the surface. “Right. That. How do I know no one else can see it?”“Because I can’t lie,” Quinn said and pushed himself off the sink.“Is that part of the magic spell?” Tyler asked and his shoulders relaxed enough that Quinn figured he wouldn’t get punched if he moved forward.“No, it’s part of what I am. We don’t lie. Ever. The truth isn’t as subjective as most people think. It’s a solid thing that doesn’t change shapes with thoughts or words. That’s why Bradley is scared of me.”Tyler stiffened at that, and Quinn knew why. Everyone lied, whether to others or themselves, and the truth was often the thing that scared them the most. If it weren’t, his kind wouldn’t be such a threat. “You realize how fucking crazy this all sounds.”“I know. Maybe it is crazy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” Quinn said, choosing his words carefully for fear the necklace might choke them out of him again. It didn’t. He took a few tentative steps forward, and Tyler didn’t move away. Good. That’s what he needed.“How the hell do you expect me to help? If you have a spell on you, I can’t break it. I’m a wolf with no magic,” Tyler grumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets, though his eyes stayed glued to Quinn the entire time, his expression guarded.“Breaking spells doesn’t require magic; you just need to find the weak points and exploit them. All magic has a weak point, if I could tell you more, I would.” Quinn stood about a foot from the alpha now, and his fingers twitched to touch those arms and kiss those lips again, but he held the urge at bay. For now, at least. Quinn waited for the words that would give him an opening – what’s in it for me? No one did something without personal gain. He’d learned that a long time ago too.The humans who were drawn deep into the woods didn’t look into the mirror without thinking they would get something wonderful in return. Very few could stand what they saw, which made the gift they may have received moot.However, Tyler didn’t say that. He simply flicked his pink tongue over his lip ring and frowned ever so slightly. Perhaps he needed a nudge.“If you break the spell, I can give you whatever you want,” Quinn breathed. Of course, the trick was the wolf would have to look into the mirror. What his heart most desired would be reflected therein, and that’s the gift he would receive. While Quinn couldn’t lie, he didn’t have to spell everything out in detail either.“What if I don’t know what I want?” Tyler said and his voice dropped low.“I think we can figure that out,” Quinn said and took the opportunity offered. He might’ve been the prisoner of the Montgomery family, but he wasn’t some innocent creature with no experience. Plus, the way his body radiated around Tyler hadn’t happened before. He’d been turned on in a clinical sense, but never like this, with the ache in his groin and the urge to touch the alpha rubbing him raw from the inside out.Tyler’s chest heaved lightly, and Quinn’s fingers ran over the smooth cotton – the muscles beneath it hard. His hand pressed into the solid heat, and it tensed with his touch. Since Tyler didn’t protest, Quinn slipped his hand lower.Lower.Past the band of Tyler’s jeans and palmed the half-hard cock tucked inside.Tyler sucked in a breath. “You think that’s what I want?”“You’re letting me touch your cock. I think that’s a ‘yes,’” Quinn said and pressed their mouths together into a kiss that was the exact opposite of the first one they’d shared. That one had been chaste – this was all heat and lust.Tyler groaned in the back of his throat, and the sound reverberated into Quinn’s body. The cock against his palm hardened, and the hot velvet tip of the wolf’s tongue brushed his—the perfect contrast to the hard metal ring in Tyler’s lip.Strong hands dug into his biceps and squeezed as Quinn slipped the zipper down slowly. The middle of a public bathroom probably wasn’t the best place for this, especially since the therapy group would let out soon. Still, Quinn wasn’t about to stop when he had Tyler right in front of him – ready to give in.
And to think he was going to get himself killed a few days before. This was so much better than death.
That means I finally updated some of my Pinterest boards, and I found this. Levi is in trouble. The best kind of trouble.
Here's another sneak peek. Tyler and Quinn get naughty in a public bathroom. They also talk and stuff. Enjoy! ^_^
The door swung open, and Tyler’s musky scent fought with the Lysol for dominance. “What the fuck was that about? You can’t tell humans what we are!” he growled and bared his fangs. He stood just a few feet from the door, the dirty gray tile surrounding him, and his hands balled into fists. Quinn let out a breath, leaned against the sink and smiled carelessly. “Why not? They never believe me.”“That doesn’t matter. Humans don’t get it. If they knew the truth, what do you think would happen? Look what they do to each other. Not to mention, motherfucking hunters,” Tyler said and threw his hands in the air.“Look what shadow folk do to each other,” Quinn said, raising his brows and crossing his arms. If that didn’t make this wolf feel at least a little guilty, than Quinn wouldn’t feel guilty for leading him into a bargain.The light above Tyler’s head buzzed faintly, and the glow cast shadows across his face. He chewed on his lip ring and frowned. “No shit. But now those humans all think you’re crazy.”“I don’t care about them. Do you think I’m crazy?” Quinn asked quietly and held his breath.“Probably,” Tyler answered and let out a snarl of frustration before he continued. “You’re obviously some kind of shifter—I know that, and that asshole magic user is. . . what? Your caretaker?” Quinn snorted. “He only cares about. . . I can’t say why he cares because of this,” he said and tugged at the necklace. “But it’s not good for me, and it’s not good for him. This hurts me. It’s diminishing what I am. How would you like to be caged and kept by a mere human?”Tyler’s eyes focused on the chain, and his frown deepened. He flinched at the last part while the alpha inside him bristled at the surface. “Right. That. How do I know no one else can see it?”“Because I can’t lie,” Quinn said and pushed himself off the sink.“Is that part of the magic spell?” Tyler asked and his shoulders relaxed enough that Quinn figured he wouldn’t get punched if he moved forward.“No, it’s part of what I am. We don’t lie. Ever. The truth isn’t as subjective as most people think. It’s a solid thing that doesn’t change shapes with thoughts or words. That’s why Bradley is scared of me.”Tyler stiffened at that, and Quinn knew why. Everyone lied, whether to others or themselves, and the truth was often the thing that scared them the most. If it weren’t, his kind wouldn’t be such a threat. “You realize how fucking crazy this all sounds.”“I know. Maybe it is crazy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” Quinn said, choosing his words carefully for fear the necklace might choke them out of him again. It didn’t. He took a few tentative steps forward, and Tyler didn’t move away. Good. That’s what he needed.“How the hell do you expect me to help? If you have a spell on you, I can’t break it. I’m a wolf with no magic,” Tyler grumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets, though his eyes stayed glued to Quinn the entire time, his expression guarded.“Breaking spells doesn’t require magic; you just need to find the weak points and exploit them. All magic has a weak point, if I could tell you more, I would.” Quinn stood about a foot from the alpha now, and his fingers twitched to touch those arms and kiss those lips again, but he held the urge at bay. For now, at least. Quinn waited for the words that would give him an opening – what’s in it for me? No one did something without personal gain. He’d learned that a long time ago too.The humans who were drawn deep into the woods didn’t look into the mirror without thinking they would get something wonderful in return. Very few could stand what they saw, which made the gift they may have received moot.However, Tyler didn’t say that. He simply flicked his pink tongue over his lip ring and frowned ever so slightly. Perhaps he needed a nudge.“If you break the spell, I can give you whatever you want,” Quinn breathed. Of course, the trick was the wolf would have to look into the mirror. What his heart most desired would be reflected therein, and that’s the gift he would receive. While Quinn couldn’t lie, he didn’t have to spell everything out in detail either.“What if I don’t know what I want?” Tyler said and his voice dropped low.“I think we can figure that out,” Quinn said and took the opportunity offered. He might’ve been the prisoner of the Montgomery family, but he wasn’t some innocent creature with no experience. Plus, the way his body radiated around Tyler hadn’t happened before. He’d been turned on in a clinical sense, but never like this, with the ache in his groin and the urge to touch the alpha rubbing him raw from the inside out.Tyler’s chest heaved lightly, and Quinn’s fingers ran over the smooth cotton – the muscles beneath it hard. His hand pressed into the solid heat, and it tensed with his touch. Since Tyler didn’t protest, Quinn slipped his hand lower.Lower.Past the band of Tyler’s jeans and palmed the half-hard cock tucked inside.Tyler sucked in a breath. “You think that’s what I want?”“You’re letting me touch your cock. I think that’s a ‘yes,’” Quinn said and pressed their mouths together into a kiss that was the exact opposite of the first one they’d shared. That one had been chaste – this was all heat and lust.Tyler groaned in the back of his throat, and the sound reverberated into Quinn’s body. The cock against his palm hardened, and the hot velvet tip of the wolf’s tongue brushed his—the perfect contrast to the hard metal ring in Tyler’s lip.Strong hands dug into his biceps and squeezed as Quinn slipped the zipper down slowly. The middle of a public bathroom probably wasn’t the best place for this, especially since the therapy group would let out soon. Still, Quinn wasn’t about to stop when he had Tyler right in front of him – ready to give in.
And to think he was going to get himself killed a few days before. This was so much better than death.
August 6, 2015
Manuscript Thursday: Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series #8) Mysterious Shifter is Mysterious (and sexy).
I've been restructuring this book before I edit it. Turns out, I needed to add a few extra scenes to fill in the middle. Fun fun. But it's getting there. Slowly.
I'm a little bit nervous about Quinn. I hope he's not too weird. Maybe he's not weird at all and I'm just being a dork. That's probably it.
Also, this:
And this for inspiration:
Finally the sneak peek! Tyler and Quinn meet for the first time in an unusual fashion. This is unedited and subject to change. Enjoy!
Tyler wasn’t certain who got him on the dance floor to begin with, but he moved to the music, sweat beading on his brow and under his black T-shirt. His tatted up arms were in full view, and he scooted up to a few girls who happily let him join. They were all fingers, and probably straight. Just looking for some fun in a safe place. And, since he was a guy, they probably assumed he was gay and open to be groped. Fuck, he didn’t mind, and the constant pound and buzz of the music and the throb of bodies helped him forget everything. Almosteverything. At one point, in the sea of club clothes and limbs, he swore he caught a glimpse of that silvery blond hair again and a hint of that man’s unique musk before it faded. A few minutes later, hands crept up his hips, over his jeans. Strong masculine hands, and he let them. It was just dancing. Fuck, if he was high he might grind into the man’s cock just for kicks. As it was, Tyler swayed and leaned back, his head light and his pulse quick. Lips brushed his ear, and he caught that scent again – now so familiar he swore he’d know it anywhere. “I’ve always wandered what an alpha smelled like.”Tyler tensed, but he didn’t turn. Why the fuck should he care if someone knew what he was? That just meant it was a fellow shifter, even if he had no clue what this fellow shifter was, or why he smelled so much like magic. Or why the hell in a place like Haven City he’d never run across a wolf. “Lucky you,” Tyler said the strange shifter laughed gently. His chest, solid and hot, brushed Tyler’s back and sent a shock through his system. When the song changed those hands slipped away, and by the time Tyler turned, the man was gone. Again. What the fuck?Still, none of Tyler’s business, and he told himself that knot in his gut was aimed at all the other stupid shit in his life and not some vague disappointment. When Tyler finally stumbled out of the club at two a.m., the sidewalk outside The Pit was empty. A few cars were parked along the street, and the stench of the river rose up to greet him. It rushed on the opposite side of the road, down a slight grass embankment that’d been built to make it look pretty and not deadly. He didn’t have a car to drive home, nor was he going to call a cab. That’s some shit Ken would do because he could throw around money like it was nothing. Tyler wasn’t so lucky – never had been and probably never would be. Still, ever since he got out of the Flats and moved to Chinatown, his business improved. However, a lot of his new clients were shifters from the Chinese gangs – at least that’s what he guessed since they mostly wanted tats of their shifter statues. Still, money was money. It’s not like he was one to complain about it. But that meant he’d have to walk the twenty blocks home in the cold spring air. He shrugged on his jacket and popped the collar against the breeze. His sweat dried to his skin as he moved purposefully down the road. A few blocks from The Pit he heard the telltale sound of a fist slamming into flesh quickly followed by a pained grunt and a huff.“Fucking faggot, coming on to me,” a man spat. “Maybe I’ll throw you into the river and see how you like that.” “Go ahead,” a familiar voice said, bright and husky. Tyler’s chest clenched as he rounded the corner into the alley where the sounds originated. The blond shifter sat scrunched against the cinderblock wall, his face swollen and his chest bruised. His hair hung over his eyes, ragged and stained with blood. Three men stood over him, all human. They looked younger than Tyler himself, probably college students at one of the local universities from the style of their clothes – slightly baggy jeans and polo shirts. At least, that’s what Tyler thought dumb shit college assholes dressed like. He cracked his knuckles and bared his teeth. The blond noticed Tyler first, and the three idiots turned toward him as one unit. The guy who stood in front of the shifter wore a spotless Yankee’s baseball cap, the other two had their brown hair slicked back in the exact same way. They looked at Tyler like they’d gotten an extra present on their birthday.“Maybe I’ll throw you in the river,” Tyler growled and stepped toward them. The one with bloody knuckles was taller than the other two, and he stepped up to meet Tyler like he stood a damn chance in a fight. Well, he didn’t know Tyler was a wolf. He was taller than Tyler too, probably a good six foot three and meaty. Tyler’s strength was leaner, and he was just slightly shorter than six-foot by about half an inch. Still, he met the asshole’s gaze and showed the tips of his fangs. “Leave it alone. This queer wanted us to fuck him so we decided to fuck him up. Got a problem with that?” Tyler didn’t feel like answering with words. And if Ken had to bail him out of jail – again – he’d claim he was doing the public a favor. Tyler reached forward, grabbed the asshole by the hair and slammed his face into his knee. The snap of bone and teeth rang through the air, and the heavy odor of human blood filled the alley. The guy stumbled back, hands to his busted face as he whimpered something unintelligible. His friends tried to scurry away, but Tyler caught them both by the back of their necks. The first one got a fist to his face, and the second one got a knee to the gut before Tyler slammed their heads together with a satisfying crack. They tumbled into a writhing pile. “Is that your car, assholes?” Tyler asked and pointed at the black Audi pulled partially onto the curb. The leader groaned, and Tyler glanced at the blond shifter. His eyes were wide, and he nodded as he struggled to his feet. Tyler thought so – it looked like some spoiled shit’s car. He yanked the switch blade from his pocket and glanced at the building next to him. None of these places, mostly restaurants and a few bars, had outdoor cameras. Good. It made vandalism a hell of a lot easier. He went to work quickly – first with the tires – he slashed all four of them – then he carved ‘asshole bigot’ into the hood. Not his best work, but it’d have to do.Finally, he rinsed his hands in the river, gross but better than dragging those idiot’s blood all the way back to his place. No sirens blared down the street, so those bastards hadn’t called the cops – yet. Didn’t mean they wouldn’t, and Tyler wasn’t going to be around when they arrived. His body buzzed, and his heart raced. His cheeks burned in the crisp air like it was the middle of summer. If the blond wasn’t here, he might’ve tossed those assholes into the river and been done with it. But that was pretty much murder, and he didn’t want to go to prison. The blond held his side and shivered in the breeze from the river. Tyler frowned and yanked off his jacket. He handed it to the guy he’d just saved, which didn’t sound right in his head, so he didn’t dwell on it. “You got someone you can call?”“Not really,” the blond said and put the jacket on. He was about an inch taller than Tyler, and the jacket came up short on his wrists. He smiled ruefully. “Maybe I’ll take a swim in the river, alpha. What do you think?”Really? Tyler balled his hands into fists, grabbed the blond’s hand, and gripped it tightly. “Yeah, that’s not happening. I didn’t just rescue your ass so you could drown yourself.”
The blond limped behind him, but Tyler didn’t slow. He walked at a brisk pace. They both needed to get the fuck out of there before the cops showed up and before this weird shifter took a nosedive into the Columbia. Plus, Tyler’s heartbeat hadn’t slowed. His body flooded with adrenaline accompanied by a whole new emotion he wasn’t familiar with. It warmed the hand that held the blond’s, and his head ached for something to bring him down. Relax him. Because if he didn’t find it, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He freed the cigarette he kept behind his ear and lit it one-handed. “You smoke?” he asked. The blond shook his head. “Can I try it?”Tyler handed him the cigarette and watched the blond wrap his gentle lips around the butt and suck in. He didn’t inhale properly and coughed immediately afterwards, his eyes watering madly. Tyler took the cigarette back and stared at this strange shifter’s eyes. They were the same color as green glass with flecks of gold at the center. Not yellow or orange like some shifters, but pure gold. “That’s terrible,” the blond said and laughed nonetheless. “Well you don’t have to do it,” Tyler grumbled and continued their trek. Tyler rarely took anyone home, not even the girls he fucked. He’d crash at the chick’s place, just because it was easier to leave in the morning than kick someone else out. But this – what was he doing?And even as he thought about it, he couldn’t stopdoing it. What other option did he have? Leave this helpless bastard by the side of the road and let him jump into the river? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen even if Tyler couldn’t figure out whyhe felt that way. He wasn’t Ken. He didn’t do altruistic bullshit for the warm and fuzzies. Fuck. He could barely help himself; how could he help another person?“Aren’t you cold?” the blond asked after a another mile or two. They walked next to the street that ran parallel to the river, and the bridge that crossed into Chinatown stood about a block ahead.“No,” Tyler said, though he felt the goose bumps trailing up his arms and over the back of his neck. “Liar,” the blond said softly and pressed his shoulder into Tyler’s bare arm. The heat from his body soaked into Tyler’s through the jacket.
I'm a little bit nervous about Quinn. I hope he's not too weird. Maybe he's not weird at all and I'm just being a dork. That's probably it.
Also, this:
And this for inspiration:
Finally the sneak peek! Tyler and Quinn meet for the first time in an unusual fashion. This is unedited and subject to change. Enjoy!
Tyler wasn’t certain who got him on the dance floor to begin with, but he moved to the music, sweat beading on his brow and under his black T-shirt. His tatted up arms were in full view, and he scooted up to a few girls who happily let him join. They were all fingers, and probably straight. Just looking for some fun in a safe place. And, since he was a guy, they probably assumed he was gay and open to be groped. Fuck, he didn’t mind, and the constant pound and buzz of the music and the throb of bodies helped him forget everything. Almosteverything. At one point, in the sea of club clothes and limbs, he swore he caught a glimpse of that silvery blond hair again and a hint of that man’s unique musk before it faded. A few minutes later, hands crept up his hips, over his jeans. Strong masculine hands, and he let them. It was just dancing. Fuck, if he was high he might grind into the man’s cock just for kicks. As it was, Tyler swayed and leaned back, his head light and his pulse quick. Lips brushed his ear, and he caught that scent again – now so familiar he swore he’d know it anywhere. “I’ve always wandered what an alpha smelled like.”Tyler tensed, but he didn’t turn. Why the fuck should he care if someone knew what he was? That just meant it was a fellow shifter, even if he had no clue what this fellow shifter was, or why he smelled so much like magic. Or why the hell in a place like Haven City he’d never run across a wolf. “Lucky you,” Tyler said the strange shifter laughed gently. His chest, solid and hot, brushed Tyler’s back and sent a shock through his system. When the song changed those hands slipped away, and by the time Tyler turned, the man was gone. Again. What the fuck?Still, none of Tyler’s business, and he told himself that knot in his gut was aimed at all the other stupid shit in his life and not some vague disappointment. When Tyler finally stumbled out of the club at two a.m., the sidewalk outside The Pit was empty. A few cars were parked along the street, and the stench of the river rose up to greet him. It rushed on the opposite side of the road, down a slight grass embankment that’d been built to make it look pretty and not deadly. He didn’t have a car to drive home, nor was he going to call a cab. That’s some shit Ken would do because he could throw around money like it was nothing. Tyler wasn’t so lucky – never had been and probably never would be. Still, ever since he got out of the Flats and moved to Chinatown, his business improved. However, a lot of his new clients were shifters from the Chinese gangs – at least that’s what he guessed since they mostly wanted tats of their shifter statues. Still, money was money. It’s not like he was one to complain about it. But that meant he’d have to walk the twenty blocks home in the cold spring air. He shrugged on his jacket and popped the collar against the breeze. His sweat dried to his skin as he moved purposefully down the road. A few blocks from The Pit he heard the telltale sound of a fist slamming into flesh quickly followed by a pained grunt and a huff.“Fucking faggot, coming on to me,” a man spat. “Maybe I’ll throw you into the river and see how you like that.” “Go ahead,” a familiar voice said, bright and husky. Tyler’s chest clenched as he rounded the corner into the alley where the sounds originated. The blond shifter sat scrunched against the cinderblock wall, his face swollen and his chest bruised. His hair hung over his eyes, ragged and stained with blood. Three men stood over him, all human. They looked younger than Tyler himself, probably college students at one of the local universities from the style of their clothes – slightly baggy jeans and polo shirts. At least, that’s what Tyler thought dumb shit college assholes dressed like. He cracked his knuckles and bared his teeth. The blond noticed Tyler first, and the three idiots turned toward him as one unit. The guy who stood in front of the shifter wore a spotless Yankee’s baseball cap, the other two had their brown hair slicked back in the exact same way. They looked at Tyler like they’d gotten an extra present on their birthday.“Maybe I’ll throw you in the river,” Tyler growled and stepped toward them. The one with bloody knuckles was taller than the other two, and he stepped up to meet Tyler like he stood a damn chance in a fight. Well, he didn’t know Tyler was a wolf. He was taller than Tyler too, probably a good six foot three and meaty. Tyler’s strength was leaner, and he was just slightly shorter than six-foot by about half an inch. Still, he met the asshole’s gaze and showed the tips of his fangs. “Leave it alone. This queer wanted us to fuck him so we decided to fuck him up. Got a problem with that?” Tyler didn’t feel like answering with words. And if Ken had to bail him out of jail – again – he’d claim he was doing the public a favor. Tyler reached forward, grabbed the asshole by the hair and slammed his face into his knee. The snap of bone and teeth rang through the air, and the heavy odor of human blood filled the alley. The guy stumbled back, hands to his busted face as he whimpered something unintelligible. His friends tried to scurry away, but Tyler caught them both by the back of their necks. The first one got a fist to his face, and the second one got a knee to the gut before Tyler slammed their heads together with a satisfying crack. They tumbled into a writhing pile. “Is that your car, assholes?” Tyler asked and pointed at the black Audi pulled partially onto the curb. The leader groaned, and Tyler glanced at the blond shifter. His eyes were wide, and he nodded as he struggled to his feet. Tyler thought so – it looked like some spoiled shit’s car. He yanked the switch blade from his pocket and glanced at the building next to him. None of these places, mostly restaurants and a few bars, had outdoor cameras. Good. It made vandalism a hell of a lot easier. He went to work quickly – first with the tires – he slashed all four of them – then he carved ‘asshole bigot’ into the hood. Not his best work, but it’d have to do.Finally, he rinsed his hands in the river, gross but better than dragging those idiot’s blood all the way back to his place. No sirens blared down the street, so those bastards hadn’t called the cops – yet. Didn’t mean they wouldn’t, and Tyler wasn’t going to be around when they arrived. His body buzzed, and his heart raced. His cheeks burned in the crisp air like it was the middle of summer. If the blond wasn’t here, he might’ve tossed those assholes into the river and been done with it. But that was pretty much murder, and he didn’t want to go to prison. The blond held his side and shivered in the breeze from the river. Tyler frowned and yanked off his jacket. He handed it to the guy he’d just saved, which didn’t sound right in his head, so he didn’t dwell on it. “You got someone you can call?”“Not really,” the blond said and put the jacket on. He was about an inch taller than Tyler, and the jacket came up short on his wrists. He smiled ruefully. “Maybe I’ll take a swim in the river, alpha. What do you think?”Really? Tyler balled his hands into fists, grabbed the blond’s hand, and gripped it tightly. “Yeah, that’s not happening. I didn’t just rescue your ass so you could drown yourself.”
The blond limped behind him, but Tyler didn’t slow. He walked at a brisk pace. They both needed to get the fuck out of there before the cops showed up and before this weird shifter took a nosedive into the Columbia. Plus, Tyler’s heartbeat hadn’t slowed. His body flooded with adrenaline accompanied by a whole new emotion he wasn’t familiar with. It warmed the hand that held the blond’s, and his head ached for something to bring him down. Relax him. Because if he didn’t find it, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He freed the cigarette he kept behind his ear and lit it one-handed. “You smoke?” he asked. The blond shook his head. “Can I try it?”Tyler handed him the cigarette and watched the blond wrap his gentle lips around the butt and suck in. He didn’t inhale properly and coughed immediately afterwards, his eyes watering madly. Tyler took the cigarette back and stared at this strange shifter’s eyes. They were the same color as green glass with flecks of gold at the center. Not yellow or orange like some shifters, but pure gold. “That’s terrible,” the blond said and laughed nonetheless. “Well you don’t have to do it,” Tyler grumbled and continued their trek. Tyler rarely took anyone home, not even the girls he fucked. He’d crash at the chick’s place, just because it was easier to leave in the morning than kick someone else out. But this – what was he doing?And even as he thought about it, he couldn’t stopdoing it. What other option did he have? Leave this helpless bastard by the side of the road and let him jump into the river? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen even if Tyler couldn’t figure out whyhe felt that way. He wasn’t Ken. He didn’t do altruistic bullshit for the warm and fuzzies. Fuck. He could barely help himself; how could he help another person?“Aren’t you cold?” the blond asked after a another mile or two. They walked next to the street that ran parallel to the river, and the bridge that crossed into Chinatown stood about a block ahead.“No,” Tyler said, though he felt the goose bumps trailing up his arms and over the back of his neck. “Liar,” the blond said softly and pressed his shoulder into Tyler’s bare arm. The heat from his body soaked into Tyler’s through the jacket.
August 4, 2015
Omega in the Shadows (Lost Wolves Book One) is Free on Amazon!
I'm running another free promotion on Amazon, this time for Omega in the Shadows. It'll be free from today to the 8th of August. Check it out!
Amazon
Amazon
August 3, 2015
Cover Reveal: Alpha Enchanted (Haven City Series # 8)
I can't believe this is the eighth Haven City book! That's crazy! I have plans for the next two books involving Ari and Cage (yes, the healer finally gets some ^_^) and probably Max the hunter and a fox shifter, or maybe a bear. . . not sure on that yet. Any requests? Who needs some love in Haven City?
I haven't posted much this last month since I've been busy with several projects, mostly writing this book. *wipes brow* I'm almost done with Alpha Enchanted. I actually named the book as a joke to myself after Ella Enchanted, which is a great book, btw. But it sort of stuck and I have no clue what to call it otherwise. Plus, Quinn is enchanting and mysterious. Who wants to guess what kind of shifter he is?!?!
Anyway, here's the cover! It's Tyler, being pouty and tattooed. I'll post a manuscript Monday later this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. Oh, and tomorrow, Omega in the Shadows will be free on Amazon, but I'll do a real post about that too. ^_^
Enjoy!
I haven't posted much this last month since I've been busy with several projects, mostly writing this book. *wipes brow* I'm almost done with Alpha Enchanted. I actually named the book as a joke to myself after Ella Enchanted, which is a great book, btw. But it sort of stuck and I have no clue what to call it otherwise. Plus, Quinn is enchanting and mysterious. Who wants to guess what kind of shifter he is?!?!
Anyway, here's the cover! It's Tyler, being pouty and tattooed. I'll post a manuscript Monday later this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. Oh, and tomorrow, Omega in the Shadows will be free on Amazon, but I'll do a real post about that too. ^_^
Enjoy!
