A big thank you to everyone who voted on whether the next book in the Barretti Security Series would be M/M or M/M/M!
The winner by just 5 votes was M/M/M! I'm super excited to get started on Declan and Jagger's story and have found what I hope is the perfect match for them in Ren Barretti. Although I had planned to tell Ren's story a little later, I've come to the conclusion that he will add the perfect balance to the trio! Ren will appear in Book 1, Loving Vin (M/F) which I hope to have posted on my website as a free download in a few days. Thanks again to everyone who participated!
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For the next Barretti Security Series book (Book 3), I need my readers to help me decide - M/M or M/M/M?
The story will feature Declan Hale (introduced in Logan's Need) and Jagger (introduced in Redeeming Rafe). The question is - should it just be the two of them or should I mix things up and add another hottie bad boy? Poll is open! Vote on my Upcoming Titles page. Here's an excerpt from Redeeming Rafe (subject to editing)...
Cade Gamble studied his quarry as the man examined the newspaper in front of him, the coffee the waiter had brought him remaining untouched. When he finally did take a sip, Cade felt his dick tighten at the sight of those firm lips closing over the ceramic edge of the mug. As he swallowed, Cade actually had to stifle a moan because he instantly imagined what it would be like to have his cock shoved down the man’s throat as he drank him down the same way he was languidly doing with the coffee. His attraction to the man had surprised him since he was nothing like the men Cade usually went for – soft, eager, submissive and unashamedly gay. No, this man was anything but those things. He was hard all over with a lean build and toned muscles that filled out the expensive business suit that looked like it had been made just for him. Carefully groomed, dirty blonde hair curled just a little bit above his ears and suggested, when mussed, it would be the perfect length for gripping as Cade thrust into him from behind. A strong, hard jaw was covered with the slightest bit of stubble that would feel rough on Cade’s thighs as the man worked that mouth up and down his shaft and the sapphire blue eyes that currently drifted over the paper he was holding would darken to near black with passion as Cade fucked him until he was begging for relief. Cade shook himself from his thoughts and focused on the newspaper the man was holding. That in itself was unusual since few in this day and age tore themselves away from their phones or tablets long enough to pick up a newspaper, let alone read the whole fucking thing like this guy seemed to plan on doing. The fact that he was supposed to be some computer genius made it even stranger that he’d resort to paper as his medium for learning about what horrible things people were doing to each other in the world today. Cade could have told him it was the same shit they’d done yesterday, the same shit they’d do tomorrow. The man shifted in his chair as he opened the newspaper and lust clawed at Cade as he watched the long fingers smooth over the paper. Cade searched his pockets for his cigarettes, then remembered Logan had thrown away his last one this morning – a habit that grated on Cade’s nerves, but also made a smile tug at his lips. Protecting Logan Bradshaw had been an interesting job from day one and coming to count the man as one of his closest friends had been an unexpected benefit. Logan’s lover, Dominic Barretti had hired Cade to make sure that a threat from Logan’s past never got a chance to make another attempt on Logan’s life like the one last fall when the man had shot Logan and left him for dead in his burning bar while trying to abduct Logan’s sister. Fortunately that threat was gone now, but his friendship with Logan had lingered and the man was determined to get Cade to quit smoking his ‘cancer sticks’. He’d been attracted to Logan too when he’d first started playing bodyguard and the other man had been far from his usual type as well so he was starting to wonder if this was some strange work related fantasy. Of course, Logan hadn’t been into him at all since his eyes and heart had belonged to Dom from the get go, but it had been interesting to watch Logan and Dom try to figure out they were meant for each other – something Cade had discovered after he’d gotten a brief taste of Logan’s perfect lips – lips a lot like the man he’d been following for the past three hours sported. Cade was seriously beginning to hate the crowded, smoggy streets of L.A., but the man seemed to thrive on them and moved among the hordes of people seamlessly, his confident, powerful swagger on full display as men and women alike moved out of his way, some of them openly gaping at his stunning good looks. He’d responded to neither gender with any kind of sexual interest so Cade still had no idea if the guy was straight or gay or a little bit of both. Not that it mattered to Cade because fucking around on the job wasn’t an option and fucking the actual mark was even less of one. At this point they didn’t even know the guy’s name – it had been an IP address that had led them to a small, cloistered office smack dab in the heart of the busy city. It had been easy to pick up the mark from there since he was the only one in the small, windowless space. But three hours of endless, pointless errands and numerous stops for coffee had Cade wanting to rip his hair out…or better yet, rip the guy’s perfect fucking hair out. There was no way this guy was the one they were looking for – he was just too damn boring, good looks aside. The chances that he was actually the one hacking Barretti Security Group’s servers and stealing sensitive information from them seemed unlikely, but there was always the possibility that he would lead Cade to the head of the operation. Cade took another sip of his own coffee and watched as the man finally closed the newspaper and then pulled out some money and dropped it on the table. Preparing to move himself, Cade was caught off guard when the man suddenly approached him and casually dropped a business card down in front of him. So much for not being made, Cade thought to himself as the guy flashed him a quick smile, the invitation clear in his eyes. Definitely not one hundred percent straight Cade mused as he glanced at the card as he stood to follow. On the front was the symbol of a spade that looked exactly like what one would find in a deck of cards. The back had just an address and a time. So he had been made, but not because the guy knew he was trailing him but because they guy thought Cade was looking for a hook-up. The directive from Dom had been clear – pursue, but don’t engage. But what could a little in-depth recon hurt? Maybe a good hard fuck was exactly what was called for. Here's an excerpt from Loving Vin (subject to editing)...
Vincenzo Barretti eased his finger off the trigger when he noticed two things about the woman standing in front of him. One – the guard dogs he had himself carefully picked out as youngsters and trained were flanking her protectively, indication that even though she stood in his house uninvited, she’d been there long enough to gain the dogs’ loyalties. And two – she didn’t seem scared to be looking down the barrel of his gun. No, she looked…accepting. Like facing death was nothing new for her and showing fear was as useless as histrionics or pleading. He’d known something was off when he pulled his car into the secluded, well-fortified property north of Seattle that he called home when he wasn’t off trudging through the endless deserts and ruined cities of the Middle East. The dogs typically prowled the grounds when he wasn’t home and on the off chance they had gone into the house using the doggy door that was operated by specialized remote triggers on their collars, they would have come running out at the first hint of any car or person entering the compound. So before he had even walked through the front door, he’d had his gun drawn. Briego, the slightly smaller Belgian Malinois, had appeared within seconds of his entry into the house, but had indicated no anxiety or distress that something was amiss. The dog’s brother, Bane, was a no-show though and that had made Vin nervous because even though the dogs were there to do a job, they were also part of his family. Doing a quick search of the lower floor had yielded no clue as to what was going on, but Briego had disappeared up the stairs, his nails clicking along the wood floor until they came to a halt at the end of the hall opposite his bedroom. Instead of searching the entire upper floor room by room as would have been his first instinct to do, he tracked Briego’s movements, then raised his gun at the sight of the woman standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom. The majority of her body was hidden in shadows since he hadn’t turned any lights on to give away his presence, but the automatic track lighting he’d had installed along the base of the floor for the purpose of allowing him to move and see quickly and easily enough without letting any potential intruders know his exact location gave him enough of an outline to discern a few things. Although her shape was a mystery, he could see she was wearing what looked to be a loose fitting pair of shorts – pajama bottoms – he suspected, as well as a plain, white T-shirt that was several sizes too big for her…he had the sneaking suspicion it was one of his. Long hair covered much of her face and hung nearly to her waist, though he couldn’t tell the color. What he could see was Bane sitting on one side of her, Briego on the other. Her arms hung loosely at her sides, the fingers of one touching Bane’s head. The fact that neither dog had torn her apart whenever she had first entered his house meant that someone had let her in and the list of who might have done so was pretty short. Both Santo, the guy who took care of his yard and fed the dogs and Kayla, the woman who had bred and raised Bane and Briego and stopped by to work with the dogs several days a week when he was out of town, had the security codes to get into the house but he doubted they would have the audacity to stash a woman there for any reason. That left his brother Dom as the likely culprit, though that made little sense to him either. The woman still hadn’t made a sound or move so Vin said, “Take one step forward. Slowly.” She did as he asked without hesitation, but the second the light from the floor illuminated her frame, she raised her left arm and covered her throat with her hand. The move had been quick, likely more instinctive and ingrained than anything else, but if he’d been the typical, trigger happy homeowner who just found a stranger inside his multi-million dollar home, the move could have cost her her life. He kept the gun trained on her as he studied what the light had revealed – she was taller than the average woman - 5’8 he guessed, which would put her at shoulder level with him. Something he didn’t see often since at 6’3 he tended to tower over the few women in his life and many of the men as well. What stood out more than anything was how young she looked – early twenties at best. She was thin, but not the kind of thin that many women intentionally worked at to be. No, she looked malnourished and her pale skin suggested she didn’t see much of the sun…not that springtime in Seattle had much of that to offer. Her hair turned out to be brown – at least mostly anyway. About halfway down, the color of her hair changed suddenly from brown to black. A twinge went through him as something about that flashed in his memory somewhere, but then it was gone. “Drop the hand,” he ordered as his eyes quickly flashed to his peripheral to make sure she was alone. The situation was off and even though the dogs weren’t signaling on any other presence in the house, he couldn’t quite get a read on what was going on and that had him on edge. “Do it now,” he ordered firmly when she didn’t respond, instead keeping her hand clutched to her throat. It was the first sign of any kind of emotion from her and he was satisfied to know that at least she understood him, because her fingers fluttered, then clenched into a fist before she finally dropped her arm back to her side. One look at her neck had it all coming back to him in a rush. “Mia,” he breathed and he saw her inhale sharply at the use of her name. I've posted the blurbs for the first two books in the Barretti Security series. I'm hoping to release both books at the end of this month or early next month. Check them out on my Upcoming Titles page...
Six months ago today I published my first novel and the journey so far has been an amazing one. I've had the pleasure of watching my two latest books climb the bestseller list for Gay Romance on Amazon and it has truly been an overwhelming experience to see my name among those of the many authors I respect and have spent years reading.
But of course with success comes the inherent self-doubt that can be crippling, especially as negative feedback trickles in. It is in these times that I rely so heavily on the amazing comments my readers have sent saying how much they enjoyed one of my books or asking when the next one is coming out. I honestly would not be able to do any of this without such incredible support. Thank you so much for making these past six months such a great experience and I look forward to the next six! SK |
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