My holiday story, Drag And Drop is available today from MLR Press.

It’s a short novella about how two young lovers celebrate New Years in Key West Florida and I hope you’ll have a look.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=KGDRGDRP

By Kimberly Gardner

From Loose-ID

Blurb

Dumped. Right before spring break. What rotten timing! Since the trip to Key West is already paid for, Oliver decides that he’ll go anyway. Who knows?

maybe he’ll meet a hot guy to make him forget his woes. Little does he suspect he’ll be drawn in both by the gorgeous locale and a sultry drag queen.

Drew knows he has what it takes to be a star. If he has to wear a skirt and stilettos to make it happen, so be it. He looks good as a woman. But then he

meets Oliver and has his doubts. He can’t tell this terrific new guy what he does in the evenings. Not when they’re having such a great time and not when

Oliver will be gone in a week. Given the circumstances, what’s the harm in a little white lie?

But plans change when secrets are revealed, and both men’s deepest desires become their greatest thrills.

T

Copyright 2011 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Excerpt

“I’ll have another one of those,” Oliver said. He angled his head toward the empty margarita glass on the table in front of him.

“Rocks and salt?” The waitress had to yell to be heard over the music.

Oliver nodded, and she scooped up his empty before hurrying away.

He let his gaze wander the crowded club. All the nearby tables were full. Couples, many of them male, leaned in toward each other, laughing and talking, as they yelled directly into each other’s ears to be heard over the music blaring from giant speakers on either side of the stage.

As Oliver watched, a blond kid who didn’t look old enough to order a beer legally leaned in and laid a smacking kiss on the lips of his silver-haired companion. It was no little peck either, but an extended lip-lock that brought heat to Oliver’s cheeks and a rush of envy so strong he had to turn away.

That should be Jonathan and him, sitting together all cozied up at one of the round tables, exchanging stolen kisses and covert gropes. If Jonathan hadn’t turned out to be such a lying, cheating bastard.

The waitress appeared with his fresh margarita. She slid the glass in front of him and leaned in. “You want to run a tab?”

Did he? Was he going to be here long enough for that?

What the hell?

“Sure,” Oliver shouted over the techno-dancified version of “Venus” currently blasting through the club. But as the waitress turned, he waved to get her attention. She lifted one dark brow. “What time is the show?”

She pointed to her watch. “Soon.”

Oliver’s attention was drawn back to the couple at the next table. The angle was just right for him to see the older guy’s hand slip into Blondie’s lap. And the smile curving the younger man’s lips told him precisely what that hand must be doing.

The older guy looked sort of like Jonathan, or the way Jonathan might look in twenty years. But in Oliver’s opinion, the twink didn’t resemble himself at all. Actually, he looked kind of like Jonathan’s twink, the kid Jon had supposedly been tutoring.

Yeah, tutoring, sure. And what was worse, he had believed that lame-ass lie.

Oliver picked up his glass and glugged down a huge swallow. He was not going to think about that asshole anymore. He was in beautiful Key West, the Mecca of gay spring breakers everywhere, and damn it, he was going to enjoy himself. And if he was lucky and his interviews went well, he would be leaving at the end of the week with the promise of a job after graduation.

“Here’s to me,” Oliver said and raised his glass in a solitary toast just as the lights came up on the stage and the music changed.

The woman…man…drag queen who slinked onto the stage was tall and slender with a mass of wildly curling hair spilling down her back. Her dress was made of some red shimmery stuff and clung to her lithe body. She sashayed to the microphone, picked it up, and purred in a sexy contralto, “How y’all doing tonight?”

The audience went crazy. Whistles, catcalls, and applause grew in volume until they nearly drowned out the music.

What the heck was he doing here, in a drag bar watching this gender-bending beauty — because she was a beauty — flirt and flash long bare leg and seduce the crowd of primarily gay men? He wasn’t into drag queens or cross-dressers. He should go to the strip club across the street and watch the boys dance while he got trashed.

Except Dante, the guy who worked at the guesthouse where he was staying, had said Mango Mango was the hottest club in town, the place to go for good drinks, a good show, and maybe even a hook-up.

And there was something about that sequin-clad figure up on stage that drew his eye, something that made it hard to look away.

The drag queen, Faith Cummings — Oliver let out a snort of laughter at that — had begun to dance to an ancient Cher song that sounded like Cher and not like Cher, since it wasn’t actually Cher doing the singing, only a Cher sound-alike. But Faith wasn’t singing either, only lip-synching the words as she slithered and pranced around the stage. Hell, she probably couldn’t sing at all. She probably had a voice like a bullfrog despite the beautiful face and killer body.

Still, Oliver didn’t get up and leave. Still his attention remained riveted on the sexy queen as she swirled her skirt and flashed leg through the thigh-high slits.

He remained that way, essentially mesmerized, through her entire routine. As she moved from one song to the next, Oliver found himself leaning forward, his drink forgotten on the table as he hung on her every gesture.

She was so glamorous, so sexy, so…fascinating.

“Now don’t y’all forget to tip your waiters and waitresses,” Faith sang out. She strutted to the stage steps that would bring her down into the audience right beside Oliver’s table. “And your gratuities are always appreciated by the entertainers. That would be me.”

As she floated down the steps on her high skinny heels, Oliver grabbed a dollar from the scattering of change left on the table from his first drink. He picked up the pen lying next to the e-mail sign-up card, and without stopping to think too hard about what he was doing or what it might mean, he scribbled his number on the back of the dollar and held it up where she would be sure to see.

She did and danced over to him. But rather than lean in so he could slide the bill into her fake cleavage as she’d done with other patrons, Faith swung one long, gorgeous leg across Oliver’s lap and straddled him.

The people at the tables around them hooted and whistled and cheered as the drag queen rocked forward, bringing the two of them crotch to crotch.

Oliver inhaled. Under her perfume, her scent was a little hot, a little sweaty, and more than a little male.

Mmm.

Oliver’s face flushed hot, his heart began to pound, and his dick twitched and began to fill.

Faith leaned forward, wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her scarlet mouth to his. As she parted his lips with her tongue, she rocked against him, letting him feel the hard length of what was most definitely a nice-sized cock. She ground their hips together, creating the most delicious friction of cock against cock.

Oliver groaned into her — no, his — mouth and tried to pull that amazing body closer and keep the contact going.

But the fantasy in his arms drew back and smiled at him with red-smeared lips before sliding off his lap and fading into the crowd, leaving him there with an aching hard-on and a dollar with his own phone number clutched in his hand.

Sometimes attraction is stronger than the best kept secret, even when it’s Too Soon For Love.

Michael Stricker is still reeling from his partner’s sudden and untimely death when he meets someone new, someone he could really care about. But first he needs time, time to get his life back in order and time to get over is lost love. But learning to live alone again is nearly impossible with his well-meaning relatives treating him like a poor helpless blind guy.

When Alan Stuart befriends Phillip DiMartino’s grieving partner, the last thing he expects is to discover hidden lies and infidelity. Guilty over his attraction to the still-grieving man, Alan resolves to stay silent. But the truth has a way of coming out, and soon a dead man’s secrets bring about more heartbreak than Alan could have imagined.

Although both men vow to keep their distance, staying away is easier said than done, even when it’s Too Soon For Love.

<<<<<<<< Excerpt >>>>>>>>>>>>

© Copyright 2011 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust …”

The voice of the priest–Father Malone, was it?–droned on, the words of the Catholic burial ceremony little more than a buzzing in Michael’s ears.

The February sun, brilliant and bright after the snow storm, felt warm on his face. But the wind was all teeth and claws as it whipped across the open cemetery grounds. Inside his boots Michael could no longer feel his toes. Thanks to the valium Dr. Z. had prescribed, some of that numbness had seeped inside him. He hated the numbness, hated feeling like his emotions were wrapped in cotton, but even that feeling of chemical detachment was better than the wrenching pain that was his constant companion ever since Phillip’s death nearly a week ago.

Yes, Phillip was really gone. For the first time in nearly twelve years, Michael was alone, the pain his only companion despite the people who’d surrounded him ever since he’d made that first phone call.

“Michael, here’s a flower.” Phil’s sister Jane pushed a stem into Michael’s gloved hand. His fingers closed around it. He’d raised it halfway to his face before stopping himself, suppressing the nearly irresistible urge to stroke the petals along his cheek, either that or crush them between his fingers just as his lover’s death was crushing him now. Slowly he lowered his hand.

“C’mon,” Jane whispered, “we’re going to put it on the … you know.” She took his free hand and tugged him forward.

Why couldn’t she say the word coffin?

Jane took the flower from him then gently turned him away and guided him back to his place. He heard her sniffle, but whether she was crying again or it was from the cold he couldn’t say.

For his part he had yet to shed a tear. All his tears were frozen inside him, a huge icy lump where his heart used to be.

At last the service ended. The voice of the funeral director cut through the icy air as he invited the mourners to the luncheon. Boots crunched on the frozen ground, people making their way back to their cars.

Jane clutched Michael’s hand in a death grip. “Let’s go.”

“Just a minute.” Michael hung back. He wanted to stay, to have just a few more minutes with Phillip before they put him in the ground in this cold, desolate place. He recalled a scene from a book, he couldn’t remember which one, where a grieving mother had literally thrown herself in the hole in the ground atop her dead child’s coffin. Totally unrealistic since they didn’t put the coffin in the ground until after everyone had left. They wouldn’t put Phillip in the ground until he and others were safely tucked away in their cars on their way to the post-funeral party. If he stayed right here, if he refused to leave, maybe Phillip wouldn’t have to go into the ground at all. What would they do if he simply refused to go?

Jane tugged at his hand. “Michael, c’mon, I’m freezing, and they’re waiting. Let’s get in the car.”

Fuck them. Let them wait. He wasn’t ready to go, wasn’t ready to leave Phillip here in this frozen place of death, in the hands of strangers.

And he almost said so, almost told Jane to just go without him, to leave him here with Phillip. But he didn’t, and she wouldn’t, even if he had. Because of course the blind guy couldn’t be left alone in the cemetery. How would that look? What would people say? What would happen to him?

He knew he was being unfair to Jane and the others. They were just trying to look out for him, to help him through this difficult time. Difficult time. What a bizarre euphemism that was. As if having your heart and soul ripped out could be classified as merely a ‘difficult time’, something you would, with the passage of days and weeks, months and years, get over.

But he would never get over this, and didn’t want to.

“Michael?” Another tug on his hand, more insistent this time. “I’m frozen. Can we get in the car?”

He nodded, let Jane lead him away from the graveside. He would come back, maybe tomorrow and bring flowers. He’d talk to Phillip, just stand there and talk to him. Stand there until the icy emptiness in his chest spread to every part of his body and he froze.

But of course that wasn’t going to happen because, not being able to drive, he couldn’t get to the cemetery on his own. Why had he let them bully him into putting Phillip here?

Phillip had wanted to be cremated, to have his ashes scattered on the beach. Or that was what he said on the few occasions when they had actually talked about such things. Talked about them in that rather detached way people do when they believe, however falsely, that death is a distant specter, something they’ll have to face someday, but not any time soon, certainly not today.

They were almost back to the limo. He could hear the engine idling.

Suddenly it was all too much. He simply couldn’t take it anymore and he stopped walking. “I’m not going to the luncheon. Where’s the driver? I have to tell him I want to go back to the house. And I need my cane. I have to get it from the car.”

“What do you mean, you’re not going to the luncheon?” Jane asked.

The door to the limo was open. Michael felt the blast of heat from inside. “I just can’t. I want to go home.”

“Problem?” Ross, Janey’s husband stood on the other side of the open car door.

“Michael wants to be dropped off at home,” Jane said. “Would you tell the driver, honey?”

“That’s ridiculous.” Ross’s voice was too loud in the stillness of the cemetery. “We’re all going to the luncheon.” He laid a meaty hand on Michael’s shoulder, gave it a squeeze then a brief pat. “Everyone’s expecting you, Michael. Besides, the house is in the opposite direction.” Another pat. “We’ll go, have some lunch, then Janey and I will take you home afterward.”

“I said, I’m not going, Ross.” Michael flinched from the touch. He hated being touched unexpectedly, having his personal space invaded, and Jane’s husband was big on that sort of thing. Ross was big on a lot of things Michael wasn’t.

“Michael, look–” Ross’s tone changed, his words losing the sympathetic but no-nonsense let’s-just-get-through-this tone and taking on that of a parent talking to an unreasonable child.

“Ross, honey, please?” Jane took a step toward the open door. “Michael, I know this is hard on you, but can we just–”

“I’ll give Michael a ride home.” A new voice, one Michael recognized immediately, broke in.

“Alan, I didn’t know you were here.” Michael tugged his hand free of Jane’s and held it out. Alan took it and they shook. “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course I’m here. I wouldn’t have not come.” Alan released Michael’s hand and spoke to Jane and Ross. “I’d be glad to give Michael a ride home.”

Though the offer was made quietly, it had the effect of cutting off the argument before it could really get going. And for that Michael was grateful. After three days with Phillip’s family hovering and tending and lovingly bossing him around, he needed space and silence. If Alan Stuart could get that for him, then he was all about that.

“Thank you, Alan, I appreciate that. ” More than you can ever know, Michael added silently. He turned back to Ross. “Can I, please have my cane from the car, Ross?”

Alan Stuart had been one of Phillip’s nurses while he was in the acute care wing of the nursing home. Not really a nurse though, more of a minder, a certified nursing assistant hired by the family–not that the decision had been unanimous, not by any measure–to supplement the care he got from the facility staff. Seeing him now, here at Phillip’s funeral, was somehow comforting, like Alan had not entirely finished caring for Phillip, not until Phillip’s grieving partner was safely home.

It was a strange thought, but today was a day for strange thoughts.

“Michael, are you sure you won’t come to the luncheon?” Jane’s voice rose, high and thin, like she might start crying again any second. If she did, he would stand no chance of escape.

“I’m sure, Janey.” He turned to her, hugged her. “I just can’t. Okay?”

She hugged him back, clinging for a long moment. “Okay.”

“Here’s your cane, Michael.” Ross shoved the folded up cane into Michael’s hand. “I wish you’d reconsider. You’re putting us in a hell of an awkward position, you know, having to explain why you aren’t at the luncheon.”

Michael opened his mouth to tell Ross what he could do with his awkward position. But before he could make a bad situation even worse, Alan spoke up.

“Shall we go then?”

Michael nodded. He turned resolutely away from Phillip’s sister and her bully of a husband and braced for the awkward few moments of explaining to Alan the best way to guide a blind person. But rather than grab Michael by the hand, the way you would a five-year-old, the way most people did, or seize his arm, or worst of all, try to tow him along by his coat sleeve, Alan offered his elbow just the way you were supposed to.

Michael took it and they walked across the frozen ground and away from Phillip’s well-meaning relatives.

Alan didn’t try to make small talk as they walked, another thing for which Michael was grateful. The only sounds came from their feet on the snow, the crunch of tires, the thunk of closing car doors and the purr of departing engines.

“Here’s my car,” Alan came to a stop. Keys jingled and a lock clicked. Opening the door, he stepped back. He didn’t try to ‘help’, only waited as Michael placed his hand on the door and slid into the passenger seat. The door was closed after him and for a moment he was blessedly alone.

Michael took a breath. He hoped Alan wouldn’t try to make conversation. He wasn’t up for that.

The driver’s door opened and Alan got behind the wheel. He started the engine and when the radio came on, he turned it off. “The heat will take a few minutes, but eventually it’ll warm up in here.”

“I’m fine. It’s just good to be out of the wind.”

And it was. The heater whirred and blew cold air on Michael’s legs. He shivered.

In the close confines of the car, he could smell the other man, not cologne, but something clean and a little piney. Soap maybe. It was nice.

“I know what you mean. I sometimes think cemeteries are the coldest places on earth.”

Something twisted in Michael’s chest as he thought of Phillip again. How long would they wait before they put him in the ground?

He turned in his seat and faced Alan. “Would you do me a favor?”

“Sure, if I can.”

“Would you just drive around until everyone’s gone, then bring me back here? Just for a minute?” He took a breath, suddenly desperate and terribly afraid Alan would say no. Or laugh at his request, the way Ross would have. “I wasn’t really ready, you know, when it was time …”

“I can do that,” Alan said very quietly.

For perhaps five, maybe ten minutes, they drove around before Alan stopped and turned off the engine.

“They’re all gone, if you’re ready.”

Michael nodded. He ran his hand over the door panel, found the handle and opened the door. The wind slapped at him, blowing snowflakes into his face.

They walked back to Phillip’s grave in silence. Just as they reached it and stopped, a man’s voice asked, “Problem?”

One of the grave diggers, Michael supposed, one of the men who would put Phillip in the ground and throw shovels full of dirt on top of him. Michael started to answer, but Alan replied for him.

“We just wanted another minute, if that’s all right.”

“Sure, sure. Take your time.”

Wordlessly taking Michael’s hand, Alan placed it on the coffin.

Michael pulled off his glove and pressed his palm to the wood. But it wasn’t enough. Leaning in he pressed his cheek to the side of the coffin. Despite the freezing temperatures and the relentless wind, the wood felt warm from where the sun struck it.

“I miss you,” Michael whispered. He closed his eyes against the first prick of tears. He wouldn’t cry, not here. But if not here, then where? Blinking hard, he drew a deep breath of frigid air and choked back the ball of grief clogging his throat.

God, Phillip. God.

Moments passed, he couldn’t have said how many, and he might have stayed there, bent over just that way, except for the hand that settled lightly on his back. Funny, but he didn’t flinch or pull away, didn’t even want to. Because that hand, that touch, didn’t require him to respond in any way. It wasn’t there to rush him along. or break into his last moments with Phillip, it was simply there, offering support and a connection.

But it wasn’t long before he began to get cold.

“I have to go,” he told Phillip. “I love you.” He pressed his lips to the sun-warmed wood, not caring what Alan or the other men thought of his actions, then he straightened and turned. “I think I’m ready to go now.”

Back behind the wheel, Alan slid a glance at his passenger as he started the engine and turned on the heater.

Michael sat quietly with his hands in his lap. One hand was still bare, his glove clutched in the other. His cane lay on the floor at his feet. Strain and grief showed in his expression, the set of his jaw, the tightness around his mouth. That beautiful mouth.

Stop it.

The man was grieving, and here he was admiring his mouth, and, not for the first time, he’d let himself imagine what it would be like to kiss that mouth, to feel those full lips part under his own. Oh, but he’d like a taste of that mouth.

“Turn left in point two miles.” The synthesized female voice of his GPS broke into his inappropriate musings. Shit, he had no idea where he was going.

He jerked his attention back to the road. “What’s your address, Michael?”

Michael started and turned his head, his eyes concealed behind dark lenses. “Oh, I guess that would help, wouldn’t it?”

“Unless you want to come to my house.” He made it sound like a joke, even if he was only half kidding.

One corner of Michael’s mouth lifted briefly, just the ghost of a smile. It gave a tantalizing hint at what Michael’s smile really looked like.

God.

As Phillip DiMartino’s attendant, Alan had seen quite a bit of Michael Stricker, the longtime partner of his patient. During the days that stretched into weeks following Phillip’s stroke, Michael had sat by the bedside, his hand stuck through the side-rails, holding his lover’s hand and talking to him about anything and nothing, his quiet voice a constant refrain against the other, softer sounds of the hospital. Day after day, night after night, Alan had watched as Phillip’s condition remained the same and Michael’s grew steadily worse. He lost weight, his skin taking on a grayish pallor until Alan had become more concerned with the partner than the patient.

Then, five days ago, Phillip’s body had at last given up the fight and he had died.

Alan sought out the announcement of the death, watching the paper each day until he found the obit. He had marked the time and place of the services, so he could pay his respects, and not, he told himself, so he could see Michael Stricker again.

Buy the book from MLR.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/Bookstore.php?bookid=KGTOSOON

My new novella, Almost Heaven, went live yesterday! Yay!

It’s my first publication with Loose-ID and I’m totally pumped about it. I feel like I won the lottery. But I always feel like that on release day. Lol!

Anyway, here’s the 411 on the book and an excerpt to give you a little taste.

Almost Heaven

By Kimberly Gardner

ISBN:     978-1-60737-873-0

Genre:     LGBT Contemporary

Length:     Novella

Celebrating “Coming Out Day” 2010

When Chris meets Kevin at his brother’s school, he instantly gets hot for teacher. He can only hope that the sexy guy is gay. Later, when Kevin shows up at the gym where Chris works, Chris is sure he’s got him hooked. A shared kiss is absolutely electric but then Kevin turns tail and runs. What the hell? Maybe he’s in the closet.

Yes, in fact, Kevin is in the closet, Deep in the closet. He has to be. He’s going to be a priest. While he’s very attracted to Chris, he simply can’t pursue it. Giving in to that attraction would ruin his life. Still, he can’t deny what he feels so instead he vows to stay away from Chris.

But steering clear is not so easy when what you’ve found is Almost Heaven.

Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Excerpt

He should definitely not be here.

Kevin crossed the parking lot at Live Well Fitness as the lights flickered on and beat back the encroaching darkness. The chilly evening breeze ruffled his hair. He shivered and quickened his pace.

He should leave now, go running over at the college or do some strength training, anything but this.

Hand raised to open the door, Kevin stopped. Once he opened that door and walked in and asked for Christian Talleo, it would be too late. But he could still leave, walk away, go back to his room, and pretend he’d never come here. Yes, he could still do that, and everything would be fine; no one would know, and his life would go on just as it was.

The door opened, and a woman in a pink sweat suit and carrying a matching workout bag emerged. She held the door and smiled at him.

When Kevin reached for the door, she motioned with her head. “Go ahead. I’ve got it.”

Chivalry really was on life support, if not entirely dead.

He nodded his thanks and stepped inside.

The smell greeted him first. New carpet, fresh paint, and an underlying essence of sweat. The perky brunette at the front desk greeted him next.

“Hi. Your name, please?” Long, glitter-polished nails tapped keys on her computer.

“I’m not a member.” He paused, took a breath. “Is Chris Talleo working tonight?”

“Yes, he is.” More tapping of keys. “Let me just make sure he’s not with a client, and I’ll page him for you.”

Maybe Chris would be with a client. Please, let him be with a client.

“Nope, he’s free.” She picked up the phone.

Kevin opened his mouth to tell her forget it, never mind, don’t call him.

“Chris Talleo to the front. Chris?” She hung up the phone. “He’ll be right with you.” She pointed to a clutch of chairs in an alcove across from the desk. “You can have a seat over there, if you want.”

Kevin crossed to the alcove and sat down. A pile of glossy fitness magazines lay on a small table. He picked up the top one and flipped it open. On the page, a blonde in a minuscule orange-polka-dot bikini drank from a bottle, her eyes half-closed in apparent ecstasy. What the heck were they selling, anyway?

Kevin stared at the picture without really seeing it. He should be back in the library working on his paper that was due Monday or preparing his presentation for Friday’s public-speaking class. He should not be sitting in a health club waiting for a gorgeous, green-eyed Adonis to come and whisk him away.

And why not? He could have friends. Everyone had friends. It had been a long time since he’d met anyone he liked right off the bat. Someone he just wanted to hang out with. Just because Chris had looked at him like he wanted to eat him up with a spoon didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. Just because you could light a lamp with the electricity that arced between them…

Kevin sighed. He’d been wrong to come here. Wrong to let himself linger over how Chris’s gaze had skimmed down his body or how Chris’s fingertips had trailed over his palm. He would tell Chris everything tonight and set the relationship on the proper track. Assuming there was even a relationship or a track or anything.

And what if Chris hadn’t been flirting at all? What if he was just making an overture of friendship? Kevin had never been very adept at picking up signals or sending them out. Suppose he was completely wrong.

“Hey, Kevin! Good to see you.”

Kevin’s gaze lifted. Chris stood little more than an arm’s reach away. He wore black shorts and a black-and-white shirt that bore the club insignia over one of his well-developed pectorals. His skin was flushed, gleaming with a light sheen of sweat, a few tendrils of damp black hair curling around his face.

Kevin inhaled. Was it his imagination, or could he actually smell him?

Dropping the magazine on the table, he got to his feet. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all. I was showing one of the members a new machine that just came in, and I worked up kind of a sweat.” Chris caught Kevin’s hand and held it for a moment. Not a handshake exactly, more like a… Kevin didn’t know what. But there were those sparks again, jumping from Chris’s fingers to his.

Kevin pulled his hand back, maybe too abruptly. “Okay. Well. Good. That’s good.”

Chris’s smile dimmed a couple of degrees. He slid his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “So, anything in particular you’d like to start with? Weights? Cardio? The pool?”

Kevin pictured Chris’s perfect body slicing through clear, blue-tinted water. “I didn’t bring my suit.”

“We have a sauna and a steam room too. I could get you a towel. It’s all you’d need in there.” He winked.

“Oh. Uh…”

Kevin imagined the two of them in the steam room. Alone…and sweaty…and naked.

“So, what’ll it be?”

Kevin was sure his face was going to burst into flames at any moment. He swallowed. “Wherever you want to start is fine with me.”

Chris studied him for a long moment, the hint of a smile playing around his full lips — lips that Kevin had thought far too much about over the past two days.

Chris shrugged and glanced away. “Okay, well, c’mon, then. I’ll just show you around. You can try out some of the equipment if you want, and we can talk about your needs.” Over his shoulder, he said, “Lori, I’m doing a new-member tour.”

“Gotcha,” The girl at the desk gave them a little finger wave, her nail polish flashing.

“I don’t know if I’m actually going to join.” Kevin fell into step beside Chris.

“Don’t worry about it. That’ll just keep them from calling me. As long as they think I’m giving you the pitch, then I’m all yours.”

Chris was all his. And they were going to talk about his needs. Great. Kevin’s stomach jittered with an intoxicating mix of nerves and excitement.

Stop it! He’s talking about your fitness needs.

He followed Chris down a flight of steps and through a doorway. In the weight room, the sweaty smell was sharper, more pronounced. Kevin’s nostrils flared, and something tightened low in his belly. All around them, skin glistened with sweat as muscles bunched and flexed, perfect male bodies pumped and pressed.

Chris led the way to a bench. “Do you lift?”

“Some.”

“Want to do some reps? I’ll spot you.” Without waiting for an answer, Chris hefted a barbell and set it on the stand.

Hopefully the weight he’d chosen wouldn’t be too heavy. The last thing Kevin wanted was to humiliate himself in front of this shining example of male fitness.

Kevin lay back on the bench. Chris positioned himself above Kevin’s head. Kevin set his hands on the bar, and Chris’s hands ghosted just above it.

“Try two sets of ten reps. If the weight’s too much, let me know, and I’ll grab a lighter one.”

Kevin shut his eyes. Lying there with Chris so close, he could definitely smell him, sweat and something sharper, more elemental. Kevin’s cock twitched.

Taking a breath, he pressed the bar up and raised it from the stand. It was a bit heavier than he was used to, but not bad. Chris counted. Kevin worked.

The first set went okay. But by the third rep, second set, Kevin was drenched in sweat. By the fifth rep, his muscles were trembling, and he was having trouble keeping his breaths even.

“Five more… Four… Three. C’mon, baby, two more. You can do it. I’ll help you.”

Kevin pushed. The bar lifted, far more easily than before. Clearly, Chris was taking a lot of the weight off Kevin’s straining arms.

“Ten! Yeah! Awesome!” The bar clanked, metal against metal, as they lowered it to the stand. Chris took something from his pocket.

Kevin sat up and wiped sweat from his eyes. “What’s that?”

“It’s my PDA. I’m just making a note to myself. When I set up your routine, I need to remember what weights we used.” He entered something, then stuffed the PDA back in his pocket. “I think this one was a little too much.”

“Don’t go to a lot of trouble. I’m not even –”

“It’s no trouble. It’s what I do.” He leaned in and spoke confidentially. “Don’t feel like you have to join. Of course you didn’t hear that from me.” He winked. “I can give you the info, so even if you go somewhere else…”

“Where else would I want to go?” Good Lord, had he just said that? Out loud and everything?

Chris studied him. His eyes held a speculative look; one dark brow lifted.

“You look hot, Kevin.”

Kevin’s jaw dropped. No one had ever come right out and said that to him before. And besides, Chris was the hottie, not him.

“Want to go get something to drink?” Chris gave Kevin’s shoulder a squeeze. “You look like you could use something cold.”

“Oh,” Kevin said, his ego a tad deflated.

Hot. Sweaty. Dying. Yeah.

Kevin stood unsteadily, but not, he thought, entirely from the exertion, and followed Chris. Instead of going to the juice bar, which they’d passed on the way to the weight room, Chris led him through a maze of hallways and stopped before a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.

He pushed it open and gestured for Kevin to go ahead. “This is the trainers’ break room. But nobody ever uses it.”

He should not be alone with this man. No. Uh-uh. Bad idea.

Kevin went in.

The room was medium large with plain cinder-block walls. On the far wall hung a bulletin board next to a door marked EMERGENCY EXIT. Someone had propped it open with a book, which belied the assertion no one ever used this room, didn’t it?

A cool breeze blew through the gap in the door and dried the sweat on Kevin’s face.

The furniture consisted of two small couches, a table and four chairs, a small fridge, a TV, and a coffeepot.

Chris went to the fridge, opened it, and took out two bottles of water. He tossed one to Kevin, then opened the other and drank deeply.

Kevin watched the muscles work in Chris’s throat as he swallowed. As if on its own, Kevin’s gaze slid down the other man’s body, the snug-fitting uniform showing off everything in excruciating detail. Broad shoulders, muscular chest, flat, impeccably toned abs with a perfect six-pack.

Kevin’s gaze continued down. Oh God. He could see, well…everything. His cock twitched and began to fill.

Oh. Crap.

Kevin tore his gaze away, cracked open his own water, and took a long swallow. What he should do was pour the icy liquid over his head or down his pants.

Chris lowered his water bottle, wiped his lips with the back of one hand, and grinned at Kevin. “Man, all that watching you sweat made me thirsty.”

Kevin laughed, and the water went down the wrong pipe. He choked. Water ran down his chin and soaked the front of his T-shirt.

Chris rushed to him and pounded him between the shoulder blades hard enough to crack a vertebra. “Easy, Kevin. Man, I’m sorry.”

Two more thumps landed on Kevin’s back before he was able to drag in a wheezy breath. “Okay. Stop. Please, Chris, you’re killing me.”

“Oh shit, sorry, man.” Chris rubbed a slow circle in the same spot he’d pounded on just a moment before.

Kevin felt the heat of Chris’s palm through his sweat-soaked T-shirt, and suddenly he was very aware of just how close Chris was, close enough Kevin could feel the heat of his body. And now he could very definitely smell him. A little hot, a little sweaty, and a lot male.

Help me, Kevin prayed, because I am so over my head here. He sure hoped God was listening right about now.

Up this close, Kevin could see the tiny flecks of amber and gold in Chris’s eyes. His long, sooty lashes looked as soft as angel’s wings. He was sure they would tickle if –

No. Just…no.

Chris took Kevin’s water bottle and set it on the table beside his own.

Move, Kevin’s brain screamed. Step back! Push him away. Do something!

But Kevin did nothing, only stood perfectly still, as if mesmerized by Chris’s eyes and the shape of his lips and the heat of the hand against his back, each long finger clear and distinct through his shirt.

Chris leaned forward.

Kevin leaned forward.

Their lips touched. Chris teased the closed seam of Kevin’s lips. Let me in, the touch said. Kevin sighed, his lips parting enough to allow Chris’s tongue inside.

Strong fingers tangled in Kevin’s hair and angled his head so the kiss could go deeper. Chris slid his other arm around Kevin’s waist and pulled him close against that lean, hard body.

Chris broke the kiss. “Hold on to me, Kevin. Kiss me back. I know you want to.”

He did want to, with every fiber of his being. God help him.

Kevin wrapped his arms around Chris and held on. It was that or crumple to the floor and die. He could count on one hand the number of people he’d kissed. And never, in all his twenty-four years of life, had anyone kissed him like this, like he was being tasted, sampled before the big banquet, the one for which he was the main course.

Blood rushed in his head. It pounded in his ears and in his loins. His skin felt hot all over, burning where his body pressed against Chris’s.

“Why so tense, baby?” Chris rubbed his lips over Kevin’s. “Haven’t you ever kissed a guy before?”

“Not like this,” Kevin whispered.

“Well, just relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” His hands slid down Kevin’s back to his ass. Cupped and squeezed, angling their bodies for more intimate contact.

Chris’s erection brushed against Kevin’s. He gasped.

“God, you feel so good.” Chris trailed kisses along Kevin’s jaw, then nipped at his earlobe. “I want you so bad, Kevin.” Another nip. “You know it, don’t you? You feel it — how hard you make me?”

“Yes.” Kevin shut his eyes.

God. God. God. With the heat of Chris’s arousal rubbing against his, it was all the thought he could manage, and under the circumstances, even that much prayer was probably blasphemous.

“Come home with me, baby.” Chris slid his hand between their bodies and wrapped his fingers around Kevin’s erection, as far as he could through the sweatpants he still wore. “I’ll make you feel so good.”

Kevin opened his mouth, but no words came out. He swallowed, licked his lips, and tried again. “I can’t.” He gripped Chris’s wrist but couldn’t muster the will to push that hand away. Oh, but he was so weak.

“Why not?” Chris stroked him. “We’ll go slow. I won’t do anything you don’t want, I promise.” He swiped his thumb over the head of Kevin’s hardness.

Kevin whimpered.

How could he explain that was the problem? He wanted, at least with his flesh, whatever this man wanted to do to him.

Buy the book!

http://www.loose-id.com/Almost-Heaven.aspx

On the 28th of this month I have a new release called Almost Heaven. It’s my first book with Loose-ID and I’m very excited. Because release day is just around the corner, I wanted to share an excerpt with you. Enjoy!

* The following is an unedited excerpt. As such all errors are entirely the responsibility of the author.

Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Excerpt

Christian Talleo turned his Mustang into the driveway of St. Anselm’s Preparatory Academy. The purr of the V8 made him smile. With all the windows down, he could smell the first scents of autumn and feel the nip in the air.

Steering with one hand, Chris flipped open his phone and dialed Mark’s cell. It was nearly twenty after three, past the time when school let out, and there was a chance his younger brother hadn’t waited for him. Not much of a chance since conning a driving lesson out of his big brother had been the sole purpose of Mark’s life ever since he’d turned sixteen two weeks earlier.

Instead of his brother’s standard greeting of “yo,” the call went directly to voice mail. Hmm, weird. Even if Mark hadn’t waited for him, he still should’ve answered his phone. Chris cut off the call without leaving a message.

He texted Mark instead.

Where r u?

Chris pulled the car into the circular turnaround that fronted the school building. All the buses were gone, but a few kids still milled around.

His phone chimed. He had a text.

Got cuffed.

Chris grinned. Mark was in detention. He glanced once more at the time. Since he knew from his own student days that detention at the prep lasted one hour, most likely Mark would be there until four o’clock.

Chris texted back.

Ill try 2 spring u.

After flipping his phone closed, Chris hooked it on his belt, then climbed out of the car. He grinned as he mounted the steps. His car had already attracted the attention of the few boys hanging around out front.

“That your car?” a kid with blue spiky hair and an eyebrow piercing asked.

Chris nodded.

“Sweet,” the kid said.

“Thanks.” Chris opened the door and stepped into the school’s quiet lobby. The second set of doors required a key card for access. Of course he didn’t have one. If it had been earlier, like around three o’clock, he could have waited for someone to come out and maybe let him through, a thing the kids were never supposed to do, yet did anyway. Chris paused just inside the door and reviewed his options.

No matter how charming he tried to be, the secretary probably would not just buzz him in. Mark was out of the question since springing him from detention was the reason he wanted in, in the first place. He could go outside and see if one of the kids would use his access card to open the door. Yeah, that’s what he would do.

The inside door opened, and a man came out.

Chris stopped, his hand already on the push bar that opened the outside door. Casually as he could, he let the hand drop back to his side.

“Hold that door?” Chris tried to sound like he had every right to go inside. The guy let the door swing shut.

Damn.

“Can I help you?”

Chris took in the man’s six-feet-something height, broad shoulders, wavy dark hair, and big brown eyes at a glance.

Oh, baby, you sure can.

Clearly, this guy was no student. He was too old, maybe twenty-four or -five. Probably a teacher. Chris gave the guy his most dazzling smile, the one that was most effective at getting him laid when he used it in the bars.

“I’m here to pick up my brother, Mark Talleo. I think he’s got detention. I was going to just go down to the cafeteria balcony and tell him I’m here. Do you think you could let me in so I can do that?” Chris held his breath.

The man of the gorgeous hair and eyes glanced at his watch. “Detention won’t be over for another thirty-five minutes or so.”

“I know.” Chris assumed his sheepish face. “I was hoping I could maybe get him sprung a little early. Unless Father Jennings is detention proctor this month. He never let anybody go early.”

The man laughed, a warm, rich chuckle that made Chris’s belly flutter pleasantly.

“I take it you were a student here.

Chris nodded. “I graduated eight years ago.” He held out his hand. “Christian Talleo.”

“Kevin O’Neill.”

Chris’s hand was taken. Kevin had nice hands, big with wide palms and long fingers. For a moment Chris let himself imagine how those hands would feel on his — He cut the thought off. He didn’t even know if the guy was gay. Though there was no time like the present to find out.

They shook. When Kevin let go, Chris trailed his fingers over Kevin’s palm on the release. He held Kevin’s gaze as he did, sending a clear signal.

Please, let him be gay. Gay and not dating anyone.

“So, do you teach here?”

“Yes. I teach juniors and seniors. What did you say your brother’s name was?”

“Mark Talleo. He’s a sophomore.” Chris shifted. He could smell Kevin, and his dick was starting to take notice.

“I know Mark. I haven’t had him in class yet, though. Nice kid.” Kevin studied Chris’s face. “He looks like you, doesn’t he?” His gaze slid down Chris’s body, then snapped back to his face.

Chris suppressed a shiver of excitement. Oh, this guy was so totally gay and so totally interested.

“Yeah, well, we are brothers.” Chris paused and sent Kevin another smile. He wanted Kevin O’Neill’s number, wanted to keep him talking, wanted to kiss him, wanted to strip him out of that conservative shirt and tie and make him moan.

Kevin licked his lips. “I can’t just let you in. It’s against school policy. But I can walk you down to the caf, if you want.”

“That would be great.”

Kevin keyed them in, and Chris fell into step beside him. As they walked, he let his arm brush against Kevin’s. The man did not move away. Definitely a good sign.

From the corner of his eye, Chris watched Kevin walk. He moved like an athlete, smooth and graceful. His long legs ate up the hallway. Damn, at this rate, they would reach the caf way too soon.

“You play sports, Kevin?”

“Not anymore.” Kevin turned the corner into another hallway, the one that led to the cafeteria. “I do some yoga, but that’s about it.”

“What did you play? Before I mean.”

“Basketball. I still play now and then, just for fun. But I was never really that good, not tall enough and not coordinated enough.” There was that chuckle again. “How did you know I used to play ball?”

“It’s how you move.”

“Yeah?” They arrived at the cafeteria, and Kevin reached for the door. But he didn’t open it, only stood there with his hand on the handle, looking at Chris.

“Yeah. I’m a personal trainer, so I notice stuff like that.” Suddenly, inspiration struck. “I work over at Live Well Fitness. Have you ever been?”

Kevin shook his head.

Chris dug in the pocket of his jeans, produced a slightly battered business card, and held it out. “It’s a nice club. If you want a tour, stop by and I’ll show you around.”

Kevin reached for the card, then hesitated. His eyes met Chris’s. “That’s really nice of you, but I wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“It’s no trouble. In fact, it would be my pleasure.” Chris slid the card into the breast pocket of Kevin’s shirt.

Something flashed in Kevin’s chocolate brown eyes, and Chris felt a little thrill of triumph. Oh yeah, Kevin would be stopping by; he just knew it.

Kevin turned away. It could be wishful thinking, probably was, but Chris thought the move seemed just a bit reluctant.

“Okay, well, let me go see if I can get your brother paroled. It was nice meeting you, Christian.”

“Thanks. And it’s Chris.”

As Kevin disappeared inside the cafeteria, Chris only just resisted a fist pump.

Oh yeah, Kevin was so going to be his.

A while back I wrote a story for an anthology of cowboy shifters. It was quite a switch for me, being both western and paranormal. But because of one thing and another, the project got side-tracked to the point that I had more or less written it off.

Then the other day I heard that the antho will be going to formatting by the end of the week. Which means it will be releasing soon. Yay!

The anthology is called Shifting Sands and contains stories by Jet Mykles, Ally Blue, Willa Okati, J.L. Langley, Brenda Bryce and me.

When I have an exact release date you guys will be the first to know.

EXCERPT

“Hey, is Jason here?” Rain, now wearing a pair of jeans so low-slung they showed those little divots just beside his hipbones, sashayed into the room and over to the desk. He leaned across the paper-strewn surface and smiled. “It’s Benny, right?”

“Right.” Like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Benny tried to close the page so the man wouldn’t see what he was doing. But the damn mouse chose that moment to stop working. He clicked and clicked and nothing happened.

Fuck.

“I’m Rain. But you probably knew that already. You got a problem there?”

Before Benny could answer, Rain slipped around to his side of the desk. He reached for the mouse and stopped, staring at the computer screen.

Oh fucking shit!

Now he was going to look like a pervy little dweebe in front of Rain. Ah well, screw it. He didn’t give a crap what he thought anyway.

There was a moment of silence then Rain laughed. “You Googled me.”

Benny opened his mouth but nothing came out. And what the hell was he supposed to say anyway? No? Because obviously he had.

“Uh, I was just–”

“That site’s no good.” Rain grabbed the mouse, jiggled it a couple times then reached for the keyboard. “They don’t let you see anything there unless you give them your credit card, and you don’t need to do that. Here, let me show you where the good stuff is.”

Pulling the keyboard over in front of him, Rain’s fingers flew over the keys. After a brief pause, a warning filled the screen. Rain clicked it away. “You’re over eighteen, right? Have to be or you wouldn’t be working here.”

A video clip filled the screen. It showed a naked Rain, suspended in some kind of leather harness with all his goods on display. Two huge and very hairy guys, also naked, were taking turns fucking him up the ass. And the man himself appeared totally blissed out. Eyes half closed, lips parted and head thrown back, he swayed in his harness, rocking back and forth between the two men and looking for all the world like there was nowhere he’d rather be.

“Geez,” Benny breathed. Not that it was all that edgy as porn went, but to see it right up there on the screen like that with the man himself right next to him.

“You like it?” A warm hand settled on Benny’s shoulder and squeezed.

“What site is this?” Benny tore his gaze away and turned to Rain. He had one hip propped on the arm of Benny’s chair and he was watching him closely.

“This is my personal web site. It’s the members area. This is a scene from an old movie I did.”

Benny looked back at the screen. “How old were you?”

Rain chuckled. “I was totally legal.”

“Doesn’t look it.”

“I know. That’s why they liked me so much, because I looked liked jailbait but wasn’t.”

He studied Benny. “You’ve got that same look. How old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-four. Almost twenty-five.”

“You look like you could be about nineteen, maybe even younger.”

“Yeah, well– Holy shit! Look at him.”

The video on the screen had changed. It was now showing a naked guy with the biggest dick Benny had ever seen.

Rain laughed. “You don’t watch much porn, do you?”

“Some, but I never saw him before.” He glanced at Rain. “You know him?”

“You could say that. We did a film together. I think it’s called Back Door Slam or something like that. I forget. I don’t get any input into the titles. I can get you a copy, if you want.”

“So you really are a pornstar.” Benny glanced back at the screen.

“Who told you that?”

“Adam.”

I’m not really a star, just an actor. Just like most everybody else. And I haven’t done much lately.”

“Why not?”

Rain shrugged. “How many years can you spend taking it up the ass for money? I just had enough is all.”

The unguarded frankness surprised him. “I never really thought about it before.”

“Most people don’t. But it’s the money that keeps guys in the business. It’s not like–” He cut himself off. “Anyway, as soon as I find a regular gig I’m so out of there.”

“I thought you were a model.”

Rain snorted. “Not hardly. I just sort of fell into the modeling thing for some extra cash.”

Like a magnet, the action on the screen drew Benny’s gaze. “So you and that guy with the monster dick …”

“He fucked me, yeah.”

“Was it– I mean, did it, you know … hurt?”

Rain nodded. “Yeah, but that was sort of part of the plot. I was supposed to be this virgin and it was my first time.” He shrugged. “But the guy’s a real asshole too. He doesn’t give a shit if he really hurts you. It’s just all about him.”

“I don’t see how he could help but hurt you. They should require him to have a permit to carry that thing around.”

There was a pause then Rain burst out laughing, a full rich chuckle, very sexy. It sent an unexpected shiver down Benny’s spine.

He ducked his head, feeling the grin break across his face.

“Require a permit. Oh man, that’s good. Mind if I steal it?”

“No, go right ahead.”

“You have a great smile.” Warm fingers trailed along Benny’s jaw. “And dimples too.” His chin was tipped up, his head turned from side to side.

Suddenly he was very aware of how close Rain was, perched there on the arm, leaning way into his personal space. He could smell the slight sweat and something else. Tobacco maybe?

“You’re a good looking guy, Benny. You know it? Very sexy.” Rain leaned in even further, his breath wafting across Benny’s lips. His eyes were huge and heavily fringed with dark lashes, the color caught somewhere between gray and blue.

Benny tried to lean back out of Rain’s magnetism, but only succeeded in tilting his head further back as if he were deliberately presenting his lips. Which he wasn’t. He did not want Rain to kiss him.

“You know it, don’t you?” Slipping off the arm of the chair, Rain straddled Benny’s lap, one leg on either side of his hips. Slim hands framed his face. Benny’s lips parted as if of their own accord just a heartbeat before Rain’s mouth claimed his.

Rain’s lips slid over his, firm and soft at once, controlling the kiss, taking what he wanted. It was hot and wet, the tongue that thrust into Benny’s mouth insistent and aggressive.

Benny shut his eyes. These lips that were on his had been wrapped around Jason’s cock not so long ago. Though he knew it was impossible, he imagined he could taste just a hint of Jason’s spunk in Rain’s mouth. That thought, combined with the skill and intensity of the kiss, made him hard. He shifted in a vain attempt to relieve the pressure of his zipper against his cock.

He reached for Rain, wrapping his arms around that slim torso and plunged his hands into all that glorious hair as his tongue dueled with the other man’s.

Rain hummed into his mouth. He rocked forward on Benny’s lap and ground their pricks together. “Mmm, you’re so hard. You hard for me, Benny baby? You like the thought of that big cock up my ass? You thinking about what it would be like, you and me?”

Rain’s hand slipped between their bodies and squeezed Benny’s shaft through his pants, his thumb grazing the head.

Benny whimpered and thrust up into Rain’s grip.

“You saw us, didn’t you?” Rain nipped at Benny’s lower lip. “Tell me, Benny. Tell me how you watched us.”

“Wha–?” Benny’s eyes fluttered open. “Watched who?” He tried to press into Rain’s hand, but the hand slid away, teasing.

“Uh-uh, baby. Answer me first. Did you watch us, me and Jason? Did you watch me suck his cock? Did you see him jam it down my throat and make me swallow his load? Did you?”

Benny hesitated. It was a natural response to deny everything. Not that Rain would care. He didn’t think so anyway.

“I watched,” Benny whispered. “I came to find Jason because Mario was here. The door was open just a little and–”

“I don’t care, baby.” Rain kissed the corner of Benny’s mouth. “Did it make you hard, watching like that? Did it make you jealous?”

Benny stiffened and turned his face away. “No. Why would I be jealous?”

He felt Rain’s shrug more than saw it. “I don’t know. No reason. I was just teasing you. Hey, don’t be like that.”

Strong fingers gripped Benny’s chin. He consciously relaxed and let Rain turn his head.

“C’mon, I was just fooling around, baby. You know, just talking shit.” Rain leaned forward and caught Benny’s lower lip between his teeth. Tugged then released. “Got a smile for me?”

Benny took a long quiet breath and forced a smile. “It’s okay.”

“Yeah, it is.” He slid his arms around Benny’s neck and pressed their cheeks together. His skin felt so soft, almost like a girl’s.

Benny rubbed his cheek against Rain’s, nuzzling the other man’s jaw. He couldn’t seem to help himself. There was just something so appealing about him.

“That’s better,” Rain purred. His lips brushed Benny’s ear, his tongued flicking briefly inside and sending a shiver of sensation down his spine, renewing his erection. He thrust up against Rain’s crotch.

Rain laughed and leaned back. “I like you. We should go out sometime, me and you. What do you say?”

Before Benny had time to answer, he heard a sound at the office door and it opened. He jumped, spilling Rain off his lap and onto the floor.

“Whoa! Christ, Benny! Easy man.”

Jason stood in the doorway, his gaze taking in the scene, his expression betraying nothing. He stepped inside, instantly filling the space, his presence, at least for Benny, seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the room.

“Benny, did you find the membership papers I asked for?”

“They’re on your desk.” Benny’s heart thudded so hard and so loud he was sure everyone in the room must be able to hear it.

Jason turned to Rain who looked incredibly nonplused for someone who had just been dumped on his ass. A grin tugged at his lips. “Am I interrupting something, boys?”

“I was just showing Benny how to sign on to my web site so he could see the good stuff.” Rain sent Jason a blinding smile, complete with dimples that took five years off his already youthful appearance.

“Oh yeah?” Jason glanced at Benny who felt the blush starting at his neck. “And you look like you just got caught kissing the preacher’s son.” He chuckled. “This isn’t high school, you know? You’re allowed to watch porn.” He laid a hand on Rain’s shoulder. “There’s somebody I want you to meet, if you’re finished here.”

“Yeah?” Rain’s tongue slipped out and wet his lips. He glanced at Benny. “Let me just–”

“No, it’s fine.” Benny straightened, stepping behind the corner of the desk to hide his hard-on. “I think I got it.”

“You sure?” But Rain was already walking with Jason toward the door.

Jason glanced over his shoulder just before they left the office. “Benny, when you’re done there, go take over for Dante at the front desk. I have something else for him to do.”

“Will do, boss.”

The door closed and Benny was left alone in the office. His head spun and his cock throbbed.

Did Rain really mean it about the two of them going out? And did he really want to go out with Rain? Rain who would almost certainly be getting fucked by Jason tonight. Rain who had probably had more sexual partners than Benny could count on all his fingers and toes.

He licked his lips. He thought he could still taste the man’s kiss, still feel the press of that lean body, the heat of that hard cock.

Yeah, he did want that.

Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Vinn went over to the box and lifted the lid. “Look, are they weird looking, or what?”

Julien looked and felt the stirring of a nearly forgotten pleasure. He picked up one of the small globes. It was cool in his palm. He held it up. “They’re called Moros.”

“Moros? You’ve seen these before?”

“Indeed. They’re blood oranges and I’ve eaten them.”

“I thought–”

“Not in a very long time, Vincent. But I have tasted their flesh.” With his thumbnail, Julien split the skin of the fruit and pulled the halves apart. The air was immediately filled with the rich tangy scent of citrus, so sweet it was nearly painful to breathe, or maybe that was the memory.

Vinn’s stared down at the fruit. “It looks almost black, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Julien separated a slice of the orange. Held it out. Juice ran through his fingers and over the back of his hand. The urge to lick it away, to taste that sparkling sweetness was almost irresistible. But instead he held it to Vinn’s lips. “Taste.”

Vinn hesitated only a moment then he opened his mouth and took the fruit from Julien’s fingers. He bit down, his eyes drifting closed on a moan of the purest appreciation.

“Mmm. Oh man.”

“You like?”

“Oh man. That freakin rocks.” He swallowed. “Can I have some more?”

Julien chuckled. “As much as you want, my love.”

But when he offered the rest of the fruit, Vinn shook his head. “Will you peel it for me and … you know.” His cheeks flushed. “It’s sort of sexy, you feeding it to me like that. That’s how I want to eat it, from your hand. Can we do that?”

Julien felt something inside him shift as Vinn’s gaze met his. “We can do that. But first, take off your clothes. I want you naked.”

Vinn let out a long, slow breath. “Okay.”

As he began to undress, his gaze stayed on Julien’s face, never wavering.

He’s watching me watch him, Julien thought and felt that funny shift inside him again. Vinn had from the first showed no fear of him. Even after he knew what Julien was, he had never hesitated to look him in the eye, never shown the least revulsion at the coolness of his touch. In short, had never shown him anything less than the desire and affection of a lover. And perhaps that had made the difference.

Vinn kicked free of his jeans and stood before Julien, naked and aroused, his cock jutting long and thick and dark with blood from its nest of pale curls. The scent of healthy, young male mixed with the tang of citrus. It filled Julien’s head and made him quite nearly giddy.

“How do you want me?” Vinn whispered.

“On the bed,” Julien replied. “Lie back and I’ll feed you.”

Vinn lay back on the futon, his upper body propped on pillows.

Julien reclined beside him. He separated another section of orange and held it out. Vinn opened his mouth and Julien slipped the fruit between his lover’s lips. But rather than take it, Vinn bit in. Juice spilled over his lips and over Julien’s fingers. It dripped down Vinn’s chin and onto his bare chest.

Gods be damned, Julien thought and lowered his head. With his tongue he followed the trail of juice down Vinn’s chest until it was lost in the trail of pale hairs that bisected his flat belly. The taste was as sweet as he remembered and Julien had to close his eyes, so strong was the memory of the last time he’d tasted such sweetness.

He trailed kisses back up Vinn’s torso, over his collarbone, up the long line of his throat to his lips, where he lingered and savored.

Vinn moaned into Julien’s mouth. Arms and legs wrapped around him and the young man clung, his erection pushing against Julien’s abdomen. Vinn humped against him, needy little whimpers bleeding from his lips. His fingers plunged into Julien’s hair and fisted there.

It was Julien who broke the kiss. Leaning back, he put space between them. “Easy now. You’ll be coming before I ever get inside you.”

“I can’t help it.” Vinn’s breath came in little pants. “It’s just so fucking hot.”

“What is?”

“Me and you. Being naked when you’re still fully dressed. It feels like … I don’t know, like you could do whatever you want to me and I’d let you.”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say to me, Vincent.”

“I don’t care. I’m not afraid of you.” Vinn wrapped himself around Julien once more. “You get me so hot, so horny, I can’t think. It’s never been like that before, not with anybody else.”

Julien closed his eyes.

Damn it. Just damn it.

“What? What did I say?”

“Nothing. It’s all right. Just … it’s nothing.”

Vinn was looking at him, studying him with those pale blue eyes that seemed to gaze right through Julien. They would have pierced his soul if he’d had one.

“You fed tonight,” Vinn said.

“I did, at the mall before I came to you.”

“So you can fuck me, right?”

“Yes.” Julien wrapped his fingers around Vinn’s cock. The flesh was hot to the touch, the pulse beating against  his fingertips clawed at Julien’s control. He gave the hot hard length a stroke. “Or if you’d rather I could–”

“No.” Vinn covered Julien’s hand with his. “I want your cock up my ass. I want you to fuck me hard and deep. I want you to use your teeth and make me come.”

At long last my second novel, Bound To Please is available from MLR Press.

Check it out.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=BOUNDPL1

I’m thrilled that this book is finally releasing. It’s been a long time coming. And to celebrate its arrival, here’s a little excerpt. Enjoy!

Blurb

Brought together for pleasure, bound together by love.

Jason doesn’t do monogamy, and as a much sought-after Dom he doesn’t have to. But when he gets the chance to play with Benny, his sweet young assistant who wants only to please him, Jason holds back.  

Benny’s no sub, but for a chance to be with the sexy Dom he’s sure he can change. Except he’s only fooling himself, and deep down he knows it.  

Enter Rain, a sexy badboy who’s got a taste for the lash and pretty young things, like Benny.  What’s a man to do when the two men he lusts after are determined that even a hook-up is not in the cards? Why, orchestrate one single night of pleasure, of course. 

But when the whip comes down, and one night isn’t enough, it’s love, not leather, that’s bound to please.

Excerpt

Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Returning to the basement, Benny hesitated just outside the dungeon room. The door was cracked open maybe two or three inches. Had he left it like that?

Then he heard it, a few murmured words ending on a groan. His pulse accelerated and he leaned in and peered through the opening.

Sprawled in the director’s chair he himself had only recently vacated, was Jason, head thrown back and eyes closed, his hair spilling over the canvas back. His long legs were spread and between them a figure knelt, like a supplicant with his head bent, though definitely not in prayer, not unless he was paying homage to the patron saint of blow‑jobs.

One of Jason’s big hands cupped the back of Rain’s head, the fingers twined in the long blue strands. “Ah Christ, baby. Just like that. God, your mouth.”

Rain’s head bobbed. Up and down, up and down, up and down, the wet slurping sounds very loud, the only competition coming from Jason’s breathing and his murmurs of encouragement and praise for Rain’s skill.

Benny scanned the room beyond. Where the hell was Adam? Nowhere that he could see.

He should leave. Just back away, go back upstairs and let that blue-haired slut do his thing.

But something kept him rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to look away.

Jason groaned. His fingers fisted in Rain’s hair. Rain’s head was forced down, Jason’s hips bucked up.

Inside his jeans, Benny’s cock jerked. So much for getting rid of his hard-on.

He reached down and palmed his dick through the worn denim. Gripping his shaft he stroked, matching his pace to the movement of Rain’s head and the thrusting of Jason’s hips. From where he stood, he could just see Jason’s dick as it pistoned in and out of Rain’s mouth, the length gleaming with spit every time he pulled back. Rain’s cheekbones stood out as he sucked. His eyes were closed, the lashes long and dark against his pale cheeks.

“Open your eyes, baby.” Jason’s words came out a little breathless, the command ending on a moan as he raised his head and focused on the face of the man sucking his dick. “I want to see you when I shoot my load down your throat.”

Rain pulled back and opened his eyes, his gaze locking with Jason’s.

Shit, could Rain see him from where he knelt?

No, He was just being paranoid. There was no way, not with the way the chair was turned and his mouth full of Jason’s cock.

Rain took Jason deep, making him moan. His fingers flexed in Rain’s hair.

Benny squeezed his prick and bit back a moan of his own. He jacked himself right through his jeans. God, he was going to come in his pants, but who gave a fuck. This was just too hot and he was just too fucking horny to care.

“Coming,” Jason gasped. His hips jerked and he thrust once, twice then the third time he shoved into Rain’s mouth and held himself there.

With a strangled gasp, Benny came, his dick throbbing and pulsing as he shot, wet heat soaking his underwear.

Rain pulled off of Jason’s cock with a soft pop. He smiled and licked his lips. “Mmm. Thank you, Master.”

Jason laughed. Leaning forward, he reached for the man on the floor.

Benny stumbled back from the door. If Jason was going to kiss Rain, he didn’t want to know about it. There were just some things he didn’t need to see. And that was definitely one of them.

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Excerpt

The outside door banged open, admitting a rush of frigid air.

David and Bethany both turned to look, and David’s breath caught. Coming toward them down the center aisle was the beautiful young man from the Macy’s fragrance counter. Their gazes met and he smiled. “Am I too late?”

David opened his mouth but found he had forgotten how to form words.

“Too late for what?” Bethany stepped forward.

“To audition.” The young man glanced at Bethany then his gaze turned back toward David. He bit his lip. “Do you remember me? From Macy’s—”

David nodded and found his voice. “Of course I remember you. No, you’re not too late, but how did you know—”

“You said you were a director. And you told me the name of your theatre company. So I Googled it and,” he made a little voila gesture, “here I am.”

Bethany cleared her throat.

Blue eyes looked from David to his sister and back. “The website said the auditions were open, but if—”

“They are.” Suddenly remembering his manners, David tore his gaze from the vision and turned to his sister. “Beth, this is… God, I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Kieran. Kieran Reilly.” He held out his hand.

David took it. The hand was warm. The grip strong and sure. He imagined that hand on more intimate parts of his body and a frisson of lust shivered through him. “I’m David Sullivan.”

He couldn’t believe it. This angel had taken the trouble not only to look him up but to come here in search of him. Stuff like this just didn’t happen to him.

There was another throat clearing from Bethany.

Self-consciously David released Kieran’s hand. “This is Bethany Anderson. She’s the set designer and she also does the costumes.”

“I’m also David’s sister and when I’m not pregnant I hang the lights and work the sound board and do whatever else needs doing.”

“Yeah, Beth is my Girl-Friday for most of our productions.”

Bethany shook Kieran’s hand. “We were just about finished for the night.” She eyed David. “But I’m sure we could hear you read.”

“I don’t want to keep you.”

“It’s no trouble.” Bethany turned to David. “You’re not in any rush, are you?”

David shook his head. “Me? No, no rush.” He set his bag down on a nearby chair and dug inside for a script. He held it out. “We’re doing Twelfth Night.”

Kieran nodded. “You told me.” He flipped pages. “This is my favorite Shakespeare play.”

“Have you acted before, Kieran?” Bethany slipped out of her coat and tossed it over the back of a chair.

“I got my bachelors in acting last year from Arcadia University.”

“Wow, a real actor. We’re not going to know how to act.”

“No pun intended,” David said. He opened his script. “Which part were you interested in?”

Kieran’s cheeks flushed and David felt his heart do a funny little back flip in his chest. God, he so needed to get a grip. He was acting like he’d never auditioned, maybe never even seen, a good looking guy before.

“I’d like to read for Viola, if that’s all right.”

“That would be great,” Bethany said. “It’ll be just like in Shakespeare’s time with a male actor playing a female role.” She nudged David. “Won’t that be great, director man?”

“I hadn’t really thought of having a man play Viola.” But his brain had begun to spin through the possibilities. Kieran was slight, probably no more than five-six or so, and he was certainly as pretty as any girl David had ever seen. And wasn’t the whole premise built around the switching of gender roles? So wouldn’t it be perfect to have a man play a woman playing a man?

And suddenly David knew he’d found his Viola. Now if only, by some miracle, Kieran could actually act.

He offered a script to Bethany. “Feel like being an Illyrian count for a few minutes?”

“I can do that.” She took the script. “Same scene the others read?”

David nodded.

Kieran and Bethany began to read the same lines Julie and Fred had crashed through only moments before.

David took a seat in the front row. He fought to keep his mind on the audition where it belonged rather than on how hot Kieran Reilly looked in his ripped and faded jeans and his white button-down shirt with the tails hanging to mid-thigh. He could almost see himself on his knees at Kieran’s feet, those long fingers fisted in his hair, and how the unbuttoned shirt would frame that slim torso as he mouthed Kieran’s prick through his jeans. David loved sucking cock, and he was good at it too. He would have Kieran trembling with need in no time.

Shutting his eyes, David inhaled. He imagined he could practically smell the other man’s desire as he pictured himself nuzzling the hard, hot length through the snug denim.

“…My state is desperate for my master’s love. As I am woman—now alas the day!—what thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe! O time! Thou must untangle this, not I, it is too hard a knot for me to untie!”

There was a moment of silence.

“Kieran, do you already know this play?” Bethany was studying Kieran, who flushed and bit his lip.

“Sort of. I played Viola when I was in school. It was a long time ago but I guess the lines stuck with me.”

“It can’t have been that long ago.”

He shrugged. “Three or four years.”

“Wow, that’s great. Isn’t that great, David?”

David jumped. His copy of the script slid to the floor in a flurry of pages.

Shit. He’d completely lost track of the action on stage, he was so taken with the action in his head.

“What? Yeah, terrific.” David caught the look his sister sent him and felt his cheeks grow hot.

“Well, that’s one less person we have to worry about getting off book.” Bethany descended the steps from the stage, her hand once more pressed to her lower back. “He’s so cute,” she mouthed then grinned at her brother as she passed him her script. “I’m out of here, if you don’t need me for anything else.” She looked back to where Kieran stood at the top of the stairs. “It was nice meeting you, Kieran.”

She sent David another meaningful look as she put on her coat.

He turned away from his sister’s too-perceptive gaze. Even at twenty-five, she still had the uncanny knack for making him feel like an awkward adolescent.

Of course no one knew him better than she did. It was just the two of them and they had always been close. He adored her and the feeling was totally mutual. So given all that, it was no stretch to think that she could see his attraction for Kieran.

And not more than two minutes later, David found himself alone in the theater with the object of his little fantasy.

Oh yeah, no doubt about it. His sister saw how much he wanted Kieran Reilly, and not just to play Viola either.