Coming Soon: Donovan's Deal, Truth or Dare 6

Donovan's Deal

Release Date Dec 21

Buy Links: TBA

Creating a family is harder than keeping house. 

Donovan's patience is wearing thin, but Mischa needs time to make things right. 

Mischa Blake needs the relaxation of the Blake brothers' weekly poker games now more than ever as he feels the pressure of his responsibilities as a parent, partner, and student multiplying. When one of his siblings proposes reviving their game of Truth or Dare, Mischa revolts. Instead, they all agree to share a truth, and Mischa has to decide how much of his domestic situation to share with his family.

The frantic pace of life is overwhelming, and Mischa has begun to let things slide. With the holidays just around the corner, he figures his current situation is a temporary thing. When he misses one of his son's soccer game that Donovan left work early to attend, time runs out.

Upset by the hurt in their son's eyes, Donovan decides that something must be done. He's worried that he's pushed Mischa into doing things at the wrong time, pushed his dreams on his young lover, just pushed too hard for too much in general.

In a desperate attempt to get Mischa to think about what he wants instead of what Donovan wants, Donovan issues an ultimatum. He sends Mischa away with orders to think about his priorities.

  

Excerpt

"Where have you been, Mischa?"

It took a moment for the impact of the question to soak into his lust dazed mind. But he got it. Furious, he pushed Donovan's hands off and stepped back. "What do you mean where have I been? Last time I checked, I was an adult capable of coming and going as I pleased."

"That's funny. Really. Because last time I checked you and I were partners, the next best thing to married and the fathers of a disturbed child who needs structure, routine and love."

Donovan's voice lost its reasonable tone and his anger was clear. Tough. Fury coursed through Mischa's veins. Was Donovan suggesting somehow that he was at fault? "I am still your partner, and Matt's father. But that doesn't mean I don't have other responsibilities and can just hang around here picking up after the two of you."

"Is that how you see us? Responsibilities? I guess that answers me pretty neatly, doesn't it?"

His jaw worked furiously. Fist clenched at his side, Mischa opened his mouth to speak.

"Just...stop. Whatever clever, rebellious retort you're about to make, hold on to it. Don't say something you can't unsay, just, please listen to me." Donovan interrupted him.

Mischa drew in a long deep breath. Yeah, what he'd probably been about to say might have hurt someone's feelings...but what about his feelings? He nodded.

"I pushed you into too much, too quickly. The last three years should have been you enjoying college, us enjoying each other, and instead, I pushed you to adopt and be a parent. It was too much. But I could swear that you loved him as much as I did the moment we set eyes on Matt."

Heart aching, Mischa whispered, "I did." What the fuck was going on? Why did it sound like Donovan was breaking up with him?

"The thing is, Mischa. We're adults. We made all the choices and Matt got pulled along with us. Now, I understand how you could want to be free, to hang out with your friends, go to parties and..." He waved a hand. "Do whatever you want."

A warming flush spread over his face and Mischa lost all interest in sex. "What are you talking about?"

"You were supposed to be here to go to the soccer game with us. You said you were going to the library. You disappeared. Ran off with Dex and Trick without even bothering to tell us where you were going, because I'm damn sure you didn't take those two to the library with you! How do you suppose that made me feel? How do you think it made Matt feel?"

Biting his lip, Mischa stared at his lover. "I..."

"I'm an adult and I can handle it, Mischa. But Matt is a child and he's been hurt by enough people who are supposed to care for him. I can't let you keep hurting him like that."

"I love Matt. I'd never hurt him."

"Your not being here hurts him, Mischa." Donovan met his gaze steadily. "You need to take the weekend and think this through."

Story Orgy Presents: Holiday Flashes #1 By Design part 2

Good morning Story Orgy readers! Hope you're having a fantastic day. Got your coffee? We've got just a few announcements to share today before we get started with our Holiday stories...

Em has a new release today- this is a fabulous sexy re-telling of Dicken's holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. 

You can get more holiday cheer from the Story Orgy crew in And The Prompt Is: Holiday Edition 

now only 2.99 at All Romance E-books and Amazon! 

Merry Christmas to Dianne Hartsock who gifted me with the following prompt: 

Person: firefighter; Place: Santa's Workshop; Thing: sugar cookies

By Design

Conclusion 

copyright Nov. 2012 by Lee Brazil 

***

He stood outside the door of a dingy little apartment in a building identical to his own, balancing the cheery wrapped plate of cookies on one palm, while banging fruitlessly on the door with the other. The sound seemed to echo in the interior, but no answer came. His brows drew tight together; he shifted the plate to his other hand and pressed his palm flat to the door. No heat seeped through.

There was no keyhole to peer through, no peephole to try to spy through.

"Hello?" He called. Somewhere in the distance a thready, weak strand of music drifted in the air. Something sad, and not quite seasonal, not quite distinguishable.

A roaring in his ears soon blocked that sound as well, and all he heard was the rapid trip-thump of his own heart as he stood before that silent, dingy door, waiting for admittance.

In an effort to achieve calm, he drew in a deep breath, and that's when he caught the scent of something evil. Not smoke, no. Smoke was thick and menacing, it reached out and choked you, burned your eyes and will away in visible swirls. If smoke and fire were on the other side of that door, he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing for whoever Aiden had sent him to save.

This was something worse. Something sneaky and perverse, a killer that stole breath without pain, took life without care.

But it was an evil he could fight, a demon he could face more easily than smoke and flame. Foolish as it may seem, he set the cookie plate carefully near the wall, and spun out in a wide angled kick, splintering the door just above the lock.

The foul gas rushed out over him, and he yanked his red thermal long sleeved t-shirt up to cover his nose and mouth, stepping into the bleak apartment. A thin figure lay on a battered mattress in the corner, narrow chest rising slowly under a shabby quilt.

"Hey!" Kyle called. He turned left into the kitchen, where just like in his own unit, a single window let in meager sunlight in the day and reflected desolation back at him in the darkness.  He shoved that window up as far as it could go then, when it refused to stay put, shattered it with a cast iron skillet that sat on the stove top. His second priority was twisting the dial to shut off the flow of sodium scented gas that drenched the air with noxious rotten egg fumes.

The idiot was either trying to kill himself or ...

Let's just go with idiot, Aiden's voice whispered in his ear.

"Hey!" Kyle called again, grabbing a worn blue terry cloth dish towel from the scarred counter top. Kyle ignored the fact that it had a smear of tomato sauce on one end and doused it with cool water from the tarnished tap. Wringing the towel out as he walked to the mattress, Kyle ignored the puddles he left on the utilitarian grey carpet.

At the man's side, Kyle wrapped the cloth about the stranger's mouth and nose and hefted the man in his arms, shabby quilt and all. There was no balcony so, he'd have to take him out in the hall until the air cleared.

And that's where he was, an hour later. Sitting in the dim hall, leaning against the wall, a stranger's ginger head in his lap, sifting his fingers through fine silky straight hair, a plate of sugar cookies on his left. Bemused.

 Frosty lashes lifted from pale freckled cheeks, and Kyle found himself staring down into pale blue eyes. "Hello," he said.

Check back next week for my second Holiday short, 

Wearing His Ring

based on prompts by Jambrea! 

If you enjoyed my post, check out the other Orgiasts at

Em Woods - http://authoremwoods.com/

Havan Fellows - http://havanshawthaven.blogspot.com/

Hank Edwards - http://hankedwardsbooks.com/hankerings

Jade Baiser - http://jade-wetdreams.blogspot.com/

Spookapolooza

Click on over to the TRS party site at

 http://trsparties.com.

and join the fun! 

Talk books, chat with your favorite authors, and be entered to win a NOOK. 

Lots of other prizes being offered as well! 

New Contest- Willow Pendant Giveaway & Encounter e-books!

Pendant Winner Announcement:

Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by and comment over the month. Amara's work is fabulous, and I'm sure that our winner...

scattered thoughts and rogue words 

will enjoy the pendant. 

Winner will be notified via email with instructions for claiming the prize. 

NEW CONTESTS FOR OCTOBER

Encounter Giveaway:

Encounter is a three story anthology of short mm romances. IT's available at Amazon and All Romance e-books. A lovely friend of mine, Jade F. Baiser, made a video book trailer for it. I’m giving away up to three copies of Encounter to readers who click over to you tube, like and comment on that video. The link is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fenxg7TS2w&feature=plcp.

Want to know what you'd be winning?

Encounter: A nervous wannabe actor slips away to steal a smoke at an audition and finds more relaxation than he expected. 

Finding Justice: When Justice figures out his boyfriend considers him nothing more than a piece of ass on the side, he takes matters into his own hands. 

Nick: Insecure nurse Nick discovers something about his rock star boyfriend he just can't forgive. 

You can buy your copy of Encounter at

All Romance Ebooks or Amazon

Winners will be selected on October 31^st from those who comment on the video.

Willow Pendant Giveaway

This fabulous pendant was designed by the talented Amara Devonte to celebrate the publication of Willow, an mm romance from Breathless Press on November 16^th. You can see more of her work HERE. To Win this pendant, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me which of your five senses you value most. 

This pendant is one of a kind, so only one winner will be chosen. If you are the winner, you'll receive the pendant and an e-copy of Willow. Winner will be chosen on Nov. 16^th.

Winner will be announced on this page. 

Willow is a bit of a different type of story for me, but it explores a few things that I enjoy- such as sensory deprivation.

 

Want a taste?

BLURB

Making decisions is sometimes difficult for Willow Shaw, but loving Cade Lawson comes easily. Too bad Cade regards him as too young to know his own mind.

EXCERPT

"Your dad asked me to keep an eye on you, Will. That's not something I take lightly." Look, not lust. The reminder was timely. When Matt Shaw had requested the favor, Cade had pictured himself and Will watching action movies, hanging out and having fun, much as they had when the kid was younger. Reality had been far different. Will snorted. "Right. I forgot. Well, I was seventeen then, and maybe he had some excuse, but I'm not a kid anymore. It's been eighteen months of fun with you peering over my shoulder, but I'm nineteen now and I don't need you looking out for me anymore."

Cade reached out a hand to clasp Will's slender shoulder, but the young man flinched back, almost hiding behind the door. He shook off his disappointment. Will just didn't like him anymore; he had to get over the loss of affection. "You're still young, Will, and since your Dad can't be here to guide you, he asked me to keep an eye on you because he loves you."

"Yeah. He fucking loves me so much, where is he?"

Sadly, Cade shook his head. He clenched his fist around his keys in frustration. This wasn't the first time they'd had this argument, and probably wouldn't be the last. "He's working a lot of extra hours to pay for your college fees."

"Tell me, Cade, when's the last time you spoke to my dad?"

Guilty heat burned his neck. He'd spoken to Matt Shaw just yesterday. The man called regularly. Cade considered him a good friend. "Will, your dad and I have been friends a long time. We speak frequently, and it's not always about you, huh?"

"Figures. You know when I spoke to him last? I can't remember. It's my nineteenth birthday, today, Cade. This is my party. You'd think he could call today, wouldn't you?"

Damn Matt Shaw. Helplessly, Cade shrugged. "Happy Birthday, Will. I'm sorry to disrupt your party, but I've had a long night and I have to work in the morning. I just need peace and quiet and sleep."

Footsteps in the gravel behind him drew Will's eye and he smirked knowingly at Cade. "Here's your boyfriend. Looks like your long night isn't over yet. Keep the noise down, you two. I have an exam in the morning and..." He leaned forward confidingly. "You may not realize this, but you're fucking loud when you fuck, dude."

Flash Fiction: If I Said I Loved You

We've tried a few flash groups, each one with different rules, and different word lengths, but in the end the structures never quite worked for us long-term, so Havan and I are flashing on our own terms on Wednesdays. The rules are simple, 250 words. No more, no less. We hope you enjoy our efforts, if you like something please leave a comment and let us know! 

Flash Fiction Wednesday

If I Said I Loved You

"I'm going unless you can give me a damn good reason to stay."

Sylvan sat in the breakfast buttering his toast with manic attention. Without looking at me, he laid down his knife and reached for the jar of peach and whiskey preserves. "I said I love you. What more do you want?"

If the dryer hadn't stopped when I opened the door to rifle through the fresh laundry, I wouldn't have heard him.

"You love me?" I threw faded jeans in the bag. "You love everything. This morning you've told me you love the toast, the jam, the song on the radio and our neighbor."

He shifted and his blue eyes narrowed as his gaze followed me. "I don't get it."

"Where do I rank? You can't love everything and expect it to mean a damn thing to me when you say it to me."

His lips tightened eloquently. "It's not the same. Loving toast and loving you are different."

"I think you love having someone make the fucking toast. I think you love having the radio set to your favorite station, having the jam you like appear by magic, and you love that Ethel thinks you're fucking adorable."

"Wait a minute!"

"I made the toast, bought the jelly, opened the door and lent Ethel coffee." I zipped the bag on my frustrations. "I'm going."

"I'll be alone."

"That's the point." Alone, and doing things for himself.

"I'll miss you."

"You'll miss the things I do for you."

 SKIP ON OVER TO HAVAN'S FOR ANOTHER FLASH TODAY! 

 http://havanshawthaven.blogspot.com/