exclusive excerpts from Julia, BA and Sean
Sean Michael
The Supers
Blurb:
Hunting ghosts and finding more than they bargained for.
Blaine Franks is a member of the paranormal research group the Supernatural Explorers. When the group loses their techie to a cross-country move, newly graduated Flynn Huntington gets the job. Flynn fits in with the guys right off the bat, but when it comes to him and Blaine, it’s more than just getting along.
Things heat up between Blaine and Flynn as they explore their first haunted building together, an abandoned hospital. Their relationship isn’t all that progresses, though, and soon it seems that an odd bite on Blaine’s neck has become much more.
Hitchhiking ghosts, a tragic love story forgotten by time, and the mystery of room 204 round out a romance where the things that go bump in the night are real.
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Excerpt:
Blaine made sure his hair was smooth and braided, his shirt clean. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The light from the camera came on, and Blaine put on his best smile. “Welcome to the Eugene Thurston Memorial Hospital. I’m Blaine Franks, and with my buddies Flynn, Will, Jase, and Darnell, we’re the Supernatural Explorers.”
Flynn waved when Blaine got to him but didn’t add anything as he already had the EMF reader turned on and was checking the readings.
“Let’s do this thing!” Blaine said, and they headed in.
Flynn was all business now—no more rush of questions, his focus on the results he was getting with the EMF reader.
“We’re going to check out the ER first. It was the scene of a mass shooting, shortly before the hospital closed, where eight people were killed.” Blaine knew the more grisly details they could give, the better people would like it. “A shooter came in—Dave Underwood—looking for his ex-wife, Maryann. He ended up killing her and many of her coworkers, along with two patients and himself. Tonight we’re going to try and communicate with them.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Flynn grinning and bouncing. It felt good having that positive and enthusiastic energy there. It made Blaine feel like maybe they weren’t wasting their time on a fool’s errand.
They made their way down the hall, stopping about halfway along when Flynn made a noise. “We’re getting a high reading, here by the admin offices.” Flynn moved the EMF reader around, and Blaine peered over his shoulder at the device. The needle was jumping like crazy.
“Let’s try an EVP.” Blaine turned on the recorder. “Is there anyone here with us? Maryann? Are you here?”
Flynn switched on the infrared camera and aimed it in the direction where the EMF reader had pinged. “Ask again,” Flynn suggested quietly.
“Maryann? Are you here with us? Do you have anything you’d like to say to us?” Blaine paused, giving the spirits a chance to respond. “Anything at all?”
There was a lot of creaking and groaning, but it sort of sounded more like the building settling than noises a spirit might make.
“You feeling anything?” Flynn asked, almost whispering.
“Not so far. But let’s keep running the EVP, huh?” Blaine closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “Is there anyone who wants to speak to us? Just talk into the recorder.”
Will and Flynn stayed silent. In fact, Blaine could almost hear them holding their breath.
Then Flynn spoke quietly. “I’ve got something on the infrared. Just shadows, but they suddenly appeared, and they’re moving toward you.”
Fuck. “If you need to speak to me, I’m right here.”
“One of them is responding to you. Keep talking.” Flynn took a couple of steps in his direction. Blaine didn’t know if it was for his benefit or Flynn’s.
“Tell us what you need to say. Speak right into the recorder.”
Flynn nodded and pointed to the ghostly figure on the infrared camera. It didn’t look like a person, but it was vaguely human shaped—the right height and width, even if there was no definition to it.
Blaine let the recorder run, trying as hard as he could not to either move or freak out.
The thing came closer, still visible only on the special camera. He couldn’t see anything with his naked eye. The air got cold, the drop in temperature sudden, and the image on the infrared sharpened. It was right there in the foreground now, almost on top of them.
Flynn began breathing rapidly, quick little pants that all of a sudden became visible, the air cold enough that each exhalation showed.
Then he blinked, eyes huge, and poof. The moment was gone. Disappeared.
Flynn’s cheer was quiet, but it was there, and Blaine could feel the excitement pouring from him. “That was so cool. Could you see anything? With the naked eye, I mean.”
Blaine shook his head. “No. Nothing. I felt the temperature drop. Did we get a reading?”
“Yeah. The EMF was going nuts, and you saw the thing on the infrared camera. It got damn cold there for a minute.” Flynn’s excitement was contagious. Even Will was chuckling.
“Rock on. Hopefully we’ll have some EVP too.” Damn. Damn, that had been cool.
Flynn nodded, still bouncing on the balls of his feet like a big kid.
BA Tortuga
Above the Fold - Midnight Rodeo series
Cowboy Kelly is Midnight Rodeo royalty. When his family sold the outfit to Darque and Knight, Kelly stayed on as security of sorts, using his skills as a warlock to keep the mundane world from colliding with the wild and wooly rodeo. None of his years of experience have prepared him for what happens when he meets Jon, though.
Rodeo reporter Jon keeps coming back to the Midnight Rodeo, even if he doesn’t know why. In fact, these days he can’t remember anything about his life. He just travels, following Darque and Knight across the country. When Kelly realizes that Jon has been on the receiving end of a bit of magical amnesia, he knows he has to do something. He thinks he’ll just help Jon move on, but that’s before he falls for the guy. How is Kelly supposed to help Jon get his memory back when all he wants is for Jon to stay with him forever?
Kelly Masterson watched Steve escort some guy away from the room they always set up in the arena offices, no matter where they went. He called it the warded room, and even the best magick user might still fall asleep in there.
The guy had all the telltale signs of confusion and dizziness, and Steve guided him out to the parking lot gently.
Kelly made a hmph noise and headed inside to pour a cup of coffee, which was where he found Erik.
“So what was with that dude?”
“I don’t know. He saw everything. Everything. A journalist. Creeped me right the fuck out, Kelly.”
“No shit?” He raised his eyebrows. A lot of mundanes might slip and see one or two things they shouldn’t, but everything?
“No shit. He shorted out. We had to wipe his memory and, man, it wasn’t easy.”
“How long did it take?” Kelly added cream and sugar to his cup.
“Four hours.”
“Jesus!”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll give him a frickin’ brain tumor, Erik.”
Erik grimaced, his sloe eyes sad. “I hated to do it, but he’s got some kind sight.”
“Still…” Damn. The kid was cute enough and young—too young to short him out already.
Good thing they were heading out. The guy would return to the rodeo grounds to find nothing, and he would think he dreamed it all.
Kelly shook his head. He thought that they should keep the mundanes out, totally ban them and save this sort of issue, but Cody and Phillip had bought the Mastersons out more than a century ago and they didn’t care much what their wayward son said.
They walked a razor line, though. The crowds paid handsomely, but one young reporter with the sight could put them out of business.
He shuddered to think of the ramifications of that for all of them, for their lifestyle.
“Keep an eye out for him,” Kelly said. “In Dallas, I mean.”
“You think?” Erik gave him the wide eyes.
Journalists were dogged by nature. “I think.”
“He’s forgotten everything,” Erik protested.
“Erik.” He said nothing else, but Erik nodded emphatically.
“Sure, boss. Sure.”
“Thank you.” He knew the man would be back. He knew. Not today. But soon. “Are there any doughnuts?”
“Aren’t there always? The kitchen churns them out.”
“Yeah.” They didn’t mingle with the shifters any more than they dealt with the creepers that lived in the back of the house. Their job was the crowd. That was it. Wards and glamours, crowd control and dealing with angry locals who felt invaded.
“Chocolate cream?”
“I got raspberry.” He shook his dark thoughts off. “Don’t forget. Dallas.”
“I’ll put out a memo,” Erik said. “You okay? This is no biggie.”
“Mmm.” Kelly made the noise as non-committal as he could. He had a feeling, and those were rarely wrong.
“Right. See? Memo. Memotastic.”
“Right.” He gave Erik a smile to stop the babblefest.
“You need to lighten up, boss. Seriously. You’re going to give yourself an ulcer.”
Julia Talbot
When Cheri moves to Lobo Basin, all she wants is a quiet place where she doesn’t have to worry about the perils of the big city. She’s never had a lot of luck in love, so it’s a complete surprise when not one, but two beautiful local men show interest in her.
Cowboy Josh and handyman Paulo come from opposite sides of the werewolf pack that rules the town, and they had a falling out years ago over the firestorm of lust that burns between them. When they both decide they want the new girl in town, the competition heats up—and so, finally, does their sexual connection.
Cheri doesn’t know what to do with the bickering men or with the bitey little kids in her class at school. Is she terrible for wanting both Josh and Paulo? The boys don't think so, and they'e going to have to work together to win their mate and help her understand her nature—both werewolf and sexual.
Note: This is a previously published work under the title Fever for Three. 5000 words has been added to the text.
Josh knew it was totally wrong of him, but he couldn’t help himself. He left Cheri’s house and slipped around the back, hoping she hadn’t put curtains up on any of the windows yet. He just wanted one or two more glimpses of the prettiest newcomer he’d seen in an age.
Oh fuck.
Fuck.
There wasn’t anything hiding the rooms but those little sheer not-curtains and… Oh sweet Jesus.
He’d known that girl was hiding under those too-big clothes. He’d been damned sure. Josh just sat there with his teeth in his mouth and stared. Naked, wet, Cheri was in the bath, and she had a frickin’ vibrator in her hands.
Curvy and lush, that pretty gal was sex personified, and she made his mouth water. He chuckled at that thought. It could be mistaken if he said it out loud, at least in Lobo Basin.
“What’re you doing, vato?”
Josh almost killed himself turning around when the heel of his cowboy boot caught in a groove in the dirt. Shit. Paulo. He’d thought that asshole had left. His cheeks went hot. “Nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” Paulo’s eyes went to the window and the short little asshole groaned at the picture Cheri made.
Josh pushed him a little, shoving him away from the window. “She’s not for you.”
“She ain’t yours.” Paulo grabbed him, dragging him out toward the desert, where their trucks were parked. The grip on his arm was angry, urgent.
“I saw her first.” He knew it was petty, but it was an effective argument. He dug his boot heels in, but man, Paulo was a strong little fuck.
“Yeah. She wanted me first.”
Josh was leaving tracks in the dirt. It was getting on to dusk too, and he looked at the sky, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. His skin snapped with electricity, frustration and need rising in his blood.
“Fuck you. Moon’s coming.”
“It is.” Paulo’s voice was damn near a growl, teeth bared, and Josh could smell arousal.
It made his nose quiver, his breath starting to come hard and fast. Between the hot new girl and this man, the one he’d wanted and wanted, being right there… God, he was going to explode.
They walked out to the trucks—there wasn’t anything out here, no streetlights, nothing but caliche and heat, burning up through his boots. His cock felt like a rock in his jeans, a hot one, pressing against his zipper. God, he wanted to bite something.
“I smell you, vato.”
“Shut up.” He whacked Paulo on the arm, finally getting himself free. No one treated him like a naughty kid, as if he was being hauled to the principal’s office.
Paulo popped him right in the jaw, hard enough to sting. “No. You’re all worked up, looking at her.”
“So? So are you.” He grabbed Paulo, shook hard, then gave Paulo’s jeans a pointed look. “I wasn’t the one rubbing up on her like a puppy in the kitchen.”
“She didn’t complain.” Paulo flexed and spread, stood as if he owned the world, hands clenched into fists, hips thrust forward.
Silly man. Everyone knew cowboys were the ones who owned the world.
“How would you know? You were too busy looking at her boobs.” Josh bared his teeth, not backing down. In fact, he figured now was the time to throw a punch of his own. He missed by maybe a quarter of an inch.
Paulo rolled his eyes while dancing back, the look playful. “Uh-huh. Like we could have seen her under all those clothes.”
Josh grinned a little, in complete agreement about Cheri’s clothes. He hadn’t agreed with Paulo on anything in four years.
“She’s something else.” When Paulo said it, it came out “somet’in’”.
“She is. I want her.” He wanted Paulo too. He always had. Fucker had turned him down, which was like the elephant in the room, always there between them.
“Me too.” Paulo took a step closer to him, their chests slapping together.
“Well, you can’t have her.” He bumped a little in return, giving some aggression back.
“Watch me.” Paulo was a short little shit; one hand landed on Josh’s hip, helping Paulo stay balanced. “Hard as you are, I think you’d like that.”
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