Cocked & Loaded, Shootin' Stars & Blasting Giveaway Hop

Blog Hop hosted by:

Queentutt's World of Escapism (Ronda)

&

Close Encounters of the Night Kind (Nikki)

As those of you who have been reading my RESCUE ME series of BDSM erotic romances, you know that the first four books in the series are about some very honorable, heroic Marines, all of whom are wounded warriors. And many of you also know that the Wounded Warrior Project is my favorite charity. I just joined the Advance Guard there with a monthly donation and the fleece blanket they'll be sending me in 4-6 weeks (along with some RESCUE ME swag and an e-book) is going to go to the winning commenter below. 


In a bit, I'm going to share a bit of a scene from my upcoming release about one of the wounded warriors in my series, but first I want to honor some wounded warriors who have touched my heart. 


First, Dane Christopher Sattler, who served in the Army in Iraq and lost his battle with PTSD in January 2011. His mother, Sue, is one of my loyal readers and misses her son so much. This family really brings home to me the sacrifices our military personnel and their families make every day to preserve our freedom. Their service and sacrifice doesn't end with discharge papers.


Another is an anonymous Master Sergeant, US Marine Corps (Retired) who served in active service 22 years and continues to serve as a military contractor now. After reading the first three books in my series, he became a fan and contacted me and has been a big help to me in getting the Marine mindset right in my books--and just before Masters at Arms was released as a free book, he went through the entire book and added even more realism to it, as well as helping me improve the firefight scene at the Second Battle of Fallujah (Iraq) in 2004, the incident that bonds Marc, Adam, and Damian as "family" in this series. 


Last, but not least, is my dad, Joe. He served in the Navy in World War II (lied about his age to get in early) and in the Army in the Korean War. He came home from Korea with PTSD before it had become known as that--and, of course, went without treatment. At family reunions to this day, his brothers and their wives still talk about how bad it was when he first came home. I remember my uncle telling me that his mother and he would roll my dad in a bedroll and sit on him to try and keep him from hurting himself or anyone else. And my mother said one night they were sleeping; she was very pregnant at the time. He suddenly rose up, jumped over her and landed on the floor in the midst of a night terror, but didn't even touch her belly. The memories plagued him for the rest of his life--and he never talked about it, so we don't know what he went through to this day. He died in 1985, but will never be forgotten. When I visited Washington, D.C., a dozen years ago, I went to the Korean War memorial and still remember those haunted faces in the statues there, plus the words "Freedom is not free."


Now, the scene. This is my upcoming (due to be released later this summer) Nobody's Perfect (Rescue Me #4), which continues the story of Damian Orlando, an amputee from Iraq, and Savannah/Savi, the woman he dreamt about for eight long years, who suddenly showed up on his doorstep in need of his help. In this scene, he prepares to reveal his amputation to Savi. 

She held her breath. He seemed so serious, his jaw and body held rigid, guarded.

"Sit down."

Savi looked around. The only place to sit was on the bed. That didn't seem like a good idea.

"Sit. Down." He pointed at the bed, clearly upset with her. She wasn't sure why that bothered her so much. "Savi, I'm not going to…touch you. We're just going to talk."

Savi crossed the room and sat on the same side of the bed, keeping a safe distance away. She wasn't sure what she was afraid of. Damián wouldn't hurt her. He'd been nothing but gentle and supportive since she and Marisol had arrived here.

But he was still a man.

So, what was it he needed to tell her that made him so uncomfortable? She didn't want to know anything bad about him.

"When I got out of Iraq, I was fucked up."

"Damián, that's not unusual. You saw horrific things. War is…"

He held his hand up and halted her string of supportive words. She supposed they sounded trite, but she hadn't meant them to be.

"Don't go into therapist mode on me, Savi." He grinned, so maybe he wasn't upset with her for naturally trying to put him at ease. He was such a gentle soul. Last night, when Marisol had surprised him with the cake, he'd had unshed tears in his eyes. Processing the horrors of war would be difficult for someone who was much better at making love than war.

Don't think about making love with him. That would never happen again.

His grin faded and he ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it back from his face. She wondered why he didn't have it tied back. She didn't see it loose like this except when he got up in the morning.

"I fucked up a mission."

Savi's heart went out to him. She knew how hard it was for Marine to fail on a mission.

"We lost our sergeant because I couldn't act fast enough…"

"Damián, you can't blame yourself for…"

He glared at her. "Hear me out. This is hard enough to admit as it is."

"I'm sorry. Go on."

"I still have nightmares about it, especially around my Alive Day."

"Alive Day?"

He looked down at his feet. "That's the day I should have died, too. But I surv…I didn't die."

Savi knew not to interrupt anymore. He needed to talk and she needed to just listen. His body was held so stiffly, he barely breathed. She waited. After several moments, he continued.

"A grenade came over onto the roof where we'd held our position all day. I saw the damned thing, but I froze until it was too late to get away. When it went off, Sergeant Miller was killed. He…" Damián's breathing became rapid and she scooted closer to him on the bed, laying her hand on his thigh. She squeezed, hoping to help him focus on the present and not get lost in the memories. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed her back as if she were a lifeline.

"He died on top of me."

"Oh, God, Damián. I'm so sorry!" Savi shuddered as she thought about how that must have felt for him. Thoughts of having a weight like that on her caused beads of sweat to break out on her upper lip. But that was different. What Damián had been through was even more horrific.

"I'll never block out that image as long as I live. I could have saved him, but I…froze."

Hearing him take the blame for something beyond his control broke her heart. Not unusual for those in combat situations, though. They were trained to watch out for each other. Nothing she could say would help assuage his guilt that a member of his unit was killed, even if she could come up with the words to say. She just squeezed his thigh again, knowing there probably was more to come. She braced herself mentally.

"I came to in a military hospital in Germany. When I realized what I'd lost, I didn't want to go on."

"Lost?" Instantly, she knew he wasn't talking about his sergeant now.

He avoided making eye contact with her, but nodded, his gaze remaining on his feet. Oh, God, no! It became clear to her why she'd seen him limping so many times. She looked down at his feet. For the first time, she realized she'd never seen him without his shoes or boots on. Odd, considering they'd lived in such close quarters for two months.

Dread washed over her as she slid off the bed onto the floor. With shaking hands, she sat in front of his feet and reached out to touch his legs. Starting at his knees, which were flesh on solid muscle, she ran each of her hands down the backs of his legs until her left hand bumped into straps on his right leg. On the other leg she felt sinew and muscle. Unharmed.

She reached down to the hem of his jeans leg and folded up the right one. Damián reached out and stayed her hand, but she brushed him away.

"Please, Damián. I need to see what they did to you."

His hand went to her chin and he lifted her face to his. The pain—no, the torment—there told her how hard this was for him. She needed to back off and give him time to prepare himself. This wasn't about what she needed. She had to do what Damián needed.

Two Giveaways
Contest Information

There are two types of contests as part of this blog hop. The first (see #1) is provided by the hosts of this blog hop--Queentutt's World of Escapism blog and Close Encounters of the Night Kind blog. The second (see #2) is a chance to win a prize package I'm providing. 


1) To enter into the Cocked and Loaded Grand Prize drawing for one of two Kindle Fires and lots of other cool prizes, you must go HERE and sign up using the Rafflecopter form provided. 

2) To enter to win your choice of e-book from my Rescue Me series, some swag (bookmark, Master Adam hand fan, Rescue Me trading cards, and a pen), plus the Wounded warrior Project fleece blanket, please sign up for my newsletter HERE (if you haven't already done so) and comment below WITH your email address. (Please allow up to 8 weeks to receive the blanket, because I won't get it from the WWP for 4-6 weeks from today.)

This hop ends midnight on July 11 and winners will be chosen and emailed by the 13th. Thanks for stopping by--and please keep our wounded warriors in your thoughts and prayers! If you are able, consider a donation to help the good people at the Wounded Warrior Project continue to provide services and support to those who have given so much to us. 

Teresa Reasor visits with an Interview and Excerpt

Today I would like to welcome Teresa Reasor to my blog. Teresa and I are in two writers groups together. In March, we roomed together at a workshop and she told me about her fascinating series with Navy SEALS. Like me, she puts readers through a roller coaster of emotion as she digs into the nitty-gritty of love. She also likes to break some of the "rules" of the Romance genre (as set by New York publishers), which is why we are both self-publishing probably. 

K: Teresa, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

T: I grew up on Naval and Marine Corps bases all over the country. But home base was the hills of Southeastern Kentucky. I married a Kentucky boy in 1975 and raised a family, now scattered to the four winds.

I am a Teacher, Writer, and Artist. I teach part-time for Eastern Kentucky University and am the author of four romantic suspense novels, Highland Moonlight, Captive Hearts, Timeless, and Breaking Free (SEAL Team Heartbreakers #1).

I am a prolific artist. My artwork focuses on my roots in Kentucky, because no matter where my family is stationed, Kentucky was and is home.

K: How did you come up with the title?

I needed a word or phrase that I’d be able to be used in each book’s title, since I’m writing a series. And the first book Breaking Free was about my characters, First Lieutenant Adam “Hawk” Yazzie and  Zoe Weaver, breaking free of the major physical and emotional issues that made it difficult for them to find love and happiness.

Blurb:

When LIEUTENANT ADAM “HAWK” YAZZIE rescues ENSIGN BRETT “CUTTER” WEAVER during a mission in Iraq, his faith in his team’s loyalty is shaken. Someone in the team attacked Cutter and left him for dead. But who?

ZOE WEAVER races to her brother Brett’s bedside. He stood by her while she fought her way back from a devastating injury, and she’s determined to do the same for him. Though drawn to Hawk’s good looks and steady strength, she’s reluctant to get involved with a man in uniform. But with Brett lying in a coma, Hawk may prove the key to what happened to her brother.

Hawk is torn between loyalty to his men and his need to see justice done. When he tries to save a troubled teammate’s career, he unwittingly puts Zoe’s life in danger. Can he lead the rest of the team in a rescue operation to save her? Or will one of Hawk's brothers in arms destroy the woman he loves?

The second book in the series, my current Work in Progress (coming out this summer), is titled Breaking Through. Brett, my hero, is breaking through the barriers of his memory loss and his PTSD to find the truth about his injury so he can heal, while Tess, the woman he loves, is breaking through her issues caused by her need for her absentee, journalist father’s love and approval.

Blurb for Breaking Through (Book 2) 

Ensign Brett Weaver wakes up from a month-long coma to discover that he and his SEAL team swim buddy are being investigated for murder. And that his friend and comrade may have tried to kill him.


Reporter Tess Kelly is working hard to live up to her journalist father's expectations, so when Brett offers her some information in exchange for an introduction to her father she jumps at the chance. The explosive international situation Brett lobs into her father's lap is a major scoop.  But the secret she's discovered about Brett Weaver could be just as controversial.


Will her feelings for this wounded warrior win out, or will she choose to follow her father's path and release a story that will destroy Brett's SEAL career?

The rest of the books in the series will be:

Breaking Away–2^nd Lieutenant Harold Carney Flash’s book: He’s Hawk’s executive officer and the team’s sniper.

Breaking Out–Ensign Zack O’Connor: Doc’s Book, the Medic of the team.

Breaking Hearts–Ensign Dan Rivera: Bowie’s Book. He’s the Team ladies' man and Communications officer. I thought that was especially appropriate.

Breaking Chains–Ensign Derrick Armstrong: Strong Man’s Book. Derrick’s book will be the last book of the series and possibly the most difficult to write. He has to overcome some really tough anger issues and face some hard things about what has made him into the man he is. And he has to redeem himself. A tough thing to do because he’s abused the woman he loves and betrayed the men of his team. And he’s gone to prison because of it. He has to own what he’s done and try and look for forgiveness from the people he’s wrong in order to heal.

Somewhere in there I wanted to write a short story or novella about Ensign Oliver Shaker the only married man in the team and the team member who guarded the team’s back door during the mission that kicked off the whole series. I’ll title it Breaking Over.

K: Describe your hero and tell us a little about him.

T: Ensign Brett Weaver is from Lexington Kentucky. He’s soon to turn 29. His mother is a retired teacher and his father was a 1st Sergeant in the Marine Corps who was killed by friendly fire during Desert Storm. 

Brett is a SEAL. It’s all he’s ever wanted to be.  But he’s spent a month in a coma due to an injury he sustained during the last mission they went on in Iraq. Now that he’s home and finally awake and back physically, he’s hitting some roadblocks to getting back to his team. He’s been diagnosed with PTSD because he has a speech glitch that comes out when he’s under stress. His Commanding Officer is throwing challenges in his path to try and force him to resign because he views Brett’s brain injury as a permanent stumbling block to his coming back to his team. And the worse thing Brett faces is that he’s under suspicion of murdering an Iraqi citizen.

K: Describe your heroine and tell us a little about her.

 T: Tess Kelly is a reporter. She’s originally from New York, but her father was an award-winning journalist who’s traveled the globe so she’s lived in several places as a child, but now San Diego, California, is her home.

Tess has a difficult relationship with her father, Ian Kelly, and it has left her with unresolved issues. He and Tess’s mother divorced when she was six, and he’s been an absentee father who’s moved on with his life and left his daughter behind.

Despite that, Tess has followed in her father’s footsteps and become a reporter, but she knows she’s not cut out to cover the high-risk stories her father writes about. 

Tess is attempting to carve out her own niche in the writing world. All she wants is for her father to acknowledge her and be proud of her. But Ian is too wrapped up in his own need for international recognition to view her as his daughter. To him she’s young, motivated, and competition to the aging reporter.

Because of her father’s abandonment and his constant confrontational challenges of how and what she’s doing with her writing, Tess has self-esteem issues and it’s made her fearful of being abandoned. Thus she puts up barriers that hold men at a distance.

K: If you’re writing a series, have you kept the same characters throughout?

T: Yes, I will keep the same characters in this series, but with the focus on a different hero and heroine in each. But each book is tied to the others by the inciting incident in the first book, the team’s last mission in Iraq before they were transported home, and Brett Weaver’s injury. But each book has it’s own standalone plot line that spins off of that. Each hero has to work through his own demons caused by what happened during that last mission. And their romantic interests, the ladies, all have issues to work through, as well. There is always a suspense angle in the books, too.

K: And what through line or theme have you used to tie your series together?

T: Of course there’s a Navy SEAL theme throughout. But the through line that ties the series together and that will not be ended until the last book is written is the incident in Iraq that kicked off the series. Brett Weaver’s injury and what Derrick Armstrong did or didn’t have to do with it.

K: Where can readers reach you and find out about your books?

T: My website address is Teresa Reasor.com
My blog is My Muse’s Musings

My books are available at Amazon    

Barnes and Noble

The Wild Rose Press (Highland Moonlight & Captive     
Hearts)

Smashwords

Books are also available at Apple, Kobo, etc.

I love to hear from readers! My email address is teresareasor@msn.com

Excerpt from Breaking Through (Book 2)

Sunlight lanced off the scar on his temple. The reason behind the hesitation in his speech suddenly struck her like a blow. An ache settled in her chest, and quick tears burned her eyes.

He’d stood up there on stage in front of two hundred women. Knowing his speech might freeze up. Knowing he’d feel humiliated if it did. The courage it must have taken.

And how hard had he worked in the past two months to get this far? Probably harder than she’d ever worked at anything in her life.

“Doc Stewart thought being back with my team might smooth things out for me. I convinced him of it. And now I’m just stuck.” He thrust his hands out, palms up.

“Whose idea was it for you to do the public relations thing, Brett?” she asked.

Confusion flickered across his face. “My CO’s.”

That asshole. Outrage tumbled through her.

The need to touch Brett, to offer him comfort rose like a tide. She raised a hand to his cheek. The warmth of his skin seeped into her fingertips. His pale blue gaze focused on her.

“You’re going to get through this, just as you have everything else.” If it was humanly possible, he would. But what if he didn’t?

His muscular bulk, the strength of his personality and the focus he projected made her more aware of his vulnerability than she’d ever been anyone’s. She rose on tiptoe to slide her arms around his neck and hold him.

His arms went around her and he stepped into the embrace, bringing their bodies close. His heart beat against her hard and fast. Too hard. Too fast. And his skin felt feverish.

She caressed the back of his neck soothing him. “We’re going to find the kid. I know we will.” She rested her cheek against his and breathed in the clean scent of soap and man.

The longer she held him, the more she relived those moments when they’d danced, but the memory was a sad substitute. Her breasts ached with the need to be touched. The row of bars and medals on his uniform pressed into her, stiff, unyielding. She shifted, and his arms tightened. The thrust of his erection lay like a tormenting promise against her belly. Oh God, if she raised herself on tiptoe, it would be so close.

“Brett—” her voice came out breathy and weak. She drew back to look up at him and his mouth was there covering hers, his arm tightening around her even while his hand ran down over her buttocks to mold her against him. At the open hunger he exhibited, her heart thundered against her ribs. Her mouth parted offering him access and his tongue thrust forward to find hers.

I have to stop this. I have to. The kiss went on and on. Oh God, had she ever been kissed like this? He cupped her breast and ran his thumb over the erect nipple pushing against the fabric of her blouse. Her will wavered, and she pushed against his touch, encouraging him. And when his mouth left hers to follow the line of her cheek and jaw to her throat, all she could do was drag in enough air for a sigh instead of the words she needed to say.

The stiff ribbons on his shirt snagged the neckline of her blouse. Brett hastened to unbutton his shirt one handed and dragged it free of his pants and shook free of it and pealed his t-shirt over his head.

Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? Yes.

Her breathing grew choppy at all the golden-hued skin laid open to her view, her touch. And as his lips took hers again, she stroked her palms over the patch of light brown hair on his chest, then over his wide shoulders layered with muscle.

She wanted—more. She wanted him inside her, moving.

His hand trailed upward beneath her shirt and found her bare breast. He seemed to know just how to touch her, how much pressure to exert as he kneaded and caressed her.

“I want your legs around me, Tess.” His voice sounded deeper, huskier.

She wanted them there too, but—Her father’s accusation, ‘Are you sleeping with this guy?’ rose up to slap her out of her sensual haze. If she did this, he’d know. He already thought so little of her as a journalist— “We can’t— I can’t—”

Brett nibbled at the sensitive area between her shoulder and neck. She shivered and caught her breath. His heart was thundering again, but so was hers.

Tears stung her eyes. “I can’t, Brett.”

He froze, and for a moment continued just to cradle her breast in his hand. The warmth of his touch seeped into her flesh, and it took all her self-control not to move against it in response. His breath was hot against her shoulder, and her nerves seemed to quiver beneath that, too. She’d never been so aroused in her life.

He withdrew his touch, but continued to hold her. When he drew back his cheeks were flushed and his pale eyes looked dark. The open expression of desire in his gaze triggered a rush of heat to her cheeks.

“I need to cool down a minute,” he said. He scooped up his shirts and disappeared down the only hallway in the apartment. A few seconds later she heard water running in the bathroom.

Tess clenched her hands and pressed them hard against her cheeks. “Damnit.” This couldn’t happen again. And why the hell did she feel like crying? This is what she wanted.

She’d apologize to him. She stepped toward the hallway and her foot kicked something soft ahead of her. Was that a ponytail scrunchie? She bent and picked it up. The soft fabric spread out as she hooked her fingers in the elastic. A pair of black thongs spread damningly between her hands. What the — Shock hammered her heart. Color once again surged into her face hot on the heels of the anger that sang in her ears.

The whole time he’d been kissing her, he’d had a trophy from some other woman, where? In his pocket? A sound half screech, half growl thrust up into her throat, but she choked it back.

Apologize hell.

She was going to kill him.

Get started on this series right away by purchasing Breaking Free

Check out these other books by Teresa Reasor

Kally here. Thanks so much, Teresa, for visiting my blog! 


Be sure to visit me over at Teresa's Blog today (June 20) for the kick off to my Perfect Blog Tour. Lots of chances to win every day –with more than $300 in gift-card prizes!

A Holiday Message from Master Adam

I told Kally to turn her blog over to me today, because I have something to say and, well, she's busy catching up on baking and getting ready to go to be with her mother and family for a few days to celebrate Christmas. I'm afraid I was a harsh taskmaster the last two months as she worked on Nobody's Hero, which now has been released to my great satisfaction. Karla and I are well pleased with how Kally has shared our story, even if Kally--and Karla--did put me through emotional hell to get to that ending all you romance readers expect, albeit with some unexpected surprises, I'm sure. There sure were lots of surprises for me, at least. I will say Kally has me under strict orders--NO SPOILERS, whatever that means. She said to just say it and her readers would know.

But yesterday I was reading Facebook postings over Kally's shoulder (old habits are hard to break and I've been reading over her shoulder a couple months now, but I'll try to be less intimidating to her for a while--soon). Anyway, I know not everyone experiences joy during the holidays, especially those missing loved ones through physical separation both temporary and permanent. I learned during my decades serving in the Marine Corps how hard it is to be separated from family during the holidays. Joni and I missed so many Christmases while I was deployed to Kosovo, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. 

I want to say to those who are deployed this year, thank you for your service. There is nothing more satisfying to know you have served your country. Sometimes it seems as if the mission is impossible, but just keep fighting on. And to family members of those deployed, waiting for them at home is even harder on you than it is them. Military personnel stay so busy, it's hard to sit and dwell on those they're missing, but you have to deal with keeping the family strong and the household running day in and day out. Sometimes Joni would get depressed this time of year. If you're feeling down, lonely, or overwhelmed, don't hesitate to ask others in your family or community to help. Keep the faith until you are reunited with your loved ones. 

But I learned in 2002 that sometimes we don't get to reunite again in this life. When I lost Joni to cancer in early November that year, if it wasn't for a neon-pink haired teenager who rescued me from a very lonely Thanksgiving, I'm not sure I'd have survived my next deployment. But for many years to come, especially after I retired from the Corps, the light went out for me and the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year's became torture.  I tended to just let the co-owners at my club pick up the slack for me and wallowed in regrets about all I hadn't been or done for my loved one while she was here.

It didn't help that Joni always made Christmas special and that this was her favorite holiday of all. She'd even postpone it for when I was home sometimes, just to be able to share it with me. I, of course, was more interested in being with her than in trimming the tree, but one memory I'll always have is of her placing her special angel tree topper on our tree. I usually had to hold her steady--okay, that part of tree decorating I enjoyed (as well as what usually came after).  Recently, I found that angel again--and with Karla also rediscovered the light and joy of the Christmas season. I am more blessed than one man deserves to be.

 

This year, I hope you will find special Christmas magic, too. No, it may not be that you'll be with the ones you love, or that you will have even found that special person yet. But the magic and miracles are there if you look for them--or do something to create them. As those of you who read her posts on Facebook know, Kally and her family will be celebrating their Christmas miracle, which happened earlier this week when they got their first good news since April--knowing there's hope and that the surgeons have a plan to eradicate the cancer riddling her sister's body with the expectation the radical surgery will cure her and give her many more years of health. 

I know others are struggling with similar losses and struggles this year. But try to look for hope and joy around you. One of Kally's beta readers shared on Facebook yesterday that she was on an EMT run with a woman who had no hands and no legs, but was the happiest most joyous person she'd met in a long while. It's all about attitude--and mine stunk for the last few years, as I'm sure Marc and Damian would tell you (if I'd let them on here).

What I'm trying to say is that it's not the circumstances of the situation that make you happy or sad--it's your attitude and how you look at it. I was quite a bear to those around me during the holidays after Joni died, because I missed her so much it hurt. I tried to fill the void by reaching out to the families of a couple of the men I lost in Afghanistan and Iraq to try to make their holidays better.

This year, I hope you will find your joy in the holidays (whichever holidays you celebrate), no matter your circumstances. Help someone in need, call a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a long while, visit someone who might be feeling lonely and forgotten, and always hold close to your heart those you love, whether they're still in this world or waiting for you in the next. Just never take the ones who are here for granted or forget to tell them you love them. If they aren't physically here with you any longer, they are still with you, in your heart and memories.

That is all. No, wait...

Merry Christmas and a 

happy, healthy New Year from

the Masters at Arms Club family! 

Master Sergeant Adam Montague, USMC Retired

The original cover:

The current cover (as of May 2014):

I love them both!

Nobody's Hero (Rescue Me Saga #2) is available as an individual book at Amazon, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and All Romance eBooks. It's also part of the 3-book box set (a savings of $4.99 or equivalent). And Master Adam says you MUST read in order, starting with the combined volume Book One: Masters at Arms & Nobody's Angel (which comes before Hero), or you will be lost and confused (not unlike him through most of Nobody's Hero). He and Karla began their journey toward a "happily ever after" ending in that book nine years ago Thanksgiving, then they reunited in July and continued the journey when Karla arrived from New York reeling from a tragic loss and wound up in the arms of Master Adam. Since then, there have been lots of highs and lows ahead, and they continue in Nobody's Hero, but love will prevail if Karla and Kally have anything to say about it! You can find a listing of all my books, the reading order, a printable list, and all the buy links at http://kallypsomasters.com/books. 

Karla and Adam, Thanksgiving 2002 (Masters at Arms)

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! Here's a treat for everyone--a couple of the Thanksgiving Day scenes from Masters at Arms (from Section One--the prequel to Nobody's Hero, which will be coming out "around" Christmas). Warning: Some adult language. But this is "sweet" by my standards. :)

If you don't have your copy yet, use Coupon Code ZE68V at Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80282) for a free download of the book. (Coupon good through Black Friday, Nov. 25.)

Scene Setup: Marine master sergeant Adam's rescued 16-year-old runaway Karla from a pimp at the bus station and brought her home in the wee hours of Thanksgiving 2002. Her parents, missing their recently deployed son, invited him to join them until he can catch the next bus. Adam is grieving his wife, who died two weeks earlier, and has escaped the chaos at Karla's house to take a walk. He said goodbye to Joni (his wife) at the shore of Lake Michigan then turned to find Karla shivering from the cold, as if standing guard for him. (You'll find out why she followed him in Nobody's Hero.) 

Of course, Adam is extremely honorable and hasn't led Karla on in any way--but she has a hero-worship crush on him and is about to lay something on him he really does not want to hear.We begin when Adam turns to find her at the lake. (Oh, boy! I didn't think I'd get to use this picture of "Karla" again, now that she's all grown up in the story and no longer has "godawful" makeup and neon-pink hair, as Adam described it back then.)

 ...(H)e became aware of the icy pellets pounding his face as a lake-effect squall whipped up. He turned around to make his way back to Karla’s house.

Standing a few feet away from him, as if on guard duty, shivering inside her coat, stood Karla.

“What the f…heck are you doing out here?”

Her teeth chattered as she tried to answer. He took off his jacket and put it on her to give her another layer of warmth, then wrapped his arm around her, hoping to infuse some heat into her thin body. “Let’s get you back home.”

“N-n-no, Adam. I have to tell you something.”

Adam just pulled her along toward the house. “We’ll talk when we get you out of this squall.” She tried to dig in her heels, but he’d have none of it. Damned fool kid needed a caretaker.

He’d been dreading going back into the chaos at her house, but now he just wanted to get her inside as quickly as possible. She’d catch pneumonia out here. They got as far as her front door when Karla wedged her toe against the door and turned to look up at him.

“Wait! Adam, there’s something you need to know, and I can’t say this inside the house.”

Adam tried to block as much of the wind from hitting her shivering frame as he could, but her black-and-pink hair lashed across her face. He reached out and tucked the wild strands behind her left ear because they distracted him from the conversation that seemed so important to her. What in the hell could she possibly have to say that couldn’t be said inside?

Karla splayed her gloved hand on his chest, over his wounded heart, and looked up at him with those big sparkling blue eyes surrounded by that god-awful makeup and pink hair. She searched his eyes for a long moment, he didn’t know for what.

Then he felt a niggling at the scar on the back of his neck—always a sign he wasn’t going to want to deal with whatever was incoming. Fuck. He hoped she wasn’t about to say what he thought she was getting ready to lay on him.

“Adam, I n-n-n-know you have a wife and y-y-y-you think I’m just a kid, but I want to t-t-tell you that…I l-l-love you.”

Double fucking damn. He’d need a minesweeper to navigate these waters. Joni, where are you when I need you? She’d know how to deal with a sixteen-year-old’s crush. She’d been surrounded by teenage girls at the Catholic school where she’d taught until last spring. Help me out here, baby.

“Hon, I love you, too.” Crap. That didn’t come out sounding right, but surely she’d know what he meant.

When her eyes lit up and she pursed her lips as if expecting him to kiss her, he turned his rudder hard to starboard. She’d definitely taken his words the wrong way.

“Like a father, Karla. Hell, I’m old enough to be your father.”

When tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, his gut turned to mush. He always came undone when a woman cried. But, hell, Karla was just a kid. Why did her tears rip him apart even more? How in the hell had he let this happen?

Now, wait a minute there. He’d never given her any indication he wanted to be anything other than a guardian to keep her out of trouble. Fuck, he didn’t know anything about teenage girls.

“Look, hon…” Quit calling her hon, you frigging asshole. “Look, Karla, I’m an old man. Your life is just starting. I’m sure there are lots of boys who’d—”

“But they’re so immature. All they talk about is sports. I don’t have anything in common with them.”

What the hell did she have in common with an old worn-out Marine? God, he wished they made tactical maps for situations like these. He was fucking clueless how to fend off this attack.

“Nothing wrong with sports.” Oh, that’s profound, jarhead. Damn. He liked this kid a lot. Didn’t want to hurt her for anything. But he wasn’t a perv.

Just tell it like it is, man. You’ve never had any problem doing that before. What’s different this time?

She’s a kid! And a girl! I don’t want to hurt her.

“Look, Karla. I like you a lot, but I don’t feel that way about you.” When the light left her eyes, he felt like a fucking heel. While he knew the words needed to be said, if it were physically possible, he’d have given himself a good roundhouse kick in the ass for whatever the hell he’d done to make her think he’d welcome this heartfelt declaration. How could he make it not seem like a rejection because there was something wrong with her? She’d make a fine girlfriend and wife for some guy someday. Just not him.

“I still love my wife.” Yeah, that’s good. Let Joni pull your prick out of the fire. He didn’t have to tell her his wife was dead. Besides, he did still love Joni. “You have some growing up to do. I’m sure you’ll meet someone one day who can love and respect you the way you should be loved.”

Karla tore herself away, opened the door, and ran inside.

He laid his forehead against the cold doorframe. What a fucking mess he’d made of that. Maybe it was a good thing he and Joni hadn’t had kids. He’d make a lousy father.

That fucking bus couldn’t get here soon enough.

* * *

Karla tried to eat all the food on her plate, but the lump in her throat, and Adam sitting across the table from her, made that impossible.

“Good news, Adam,” Daddy said, beaming. “I’ve managed to get you a ticket on a red-eye flight out tomorrow night. Direct to San Diego. You’ll be back on base in hours rather than days.”

Karla saw the stricken look on Adam’s face. He must be horrified to think of being stuck with her another whole day. Her eyes brimmed with tears and she hung her head down, hoping they’d fall right into her burgundy cloth napkin without leaving an embarrassing trail.

“That’s really not necessary, sir. I don’t mind—”

“It’s done. The least we can do after all you’ve done for us.”

Luckily, Daddy didn’t add to her embarrassment by spelling out to everyone at the table why they felt they owed this Marine something. But she and her parents knew. All her fault. A few hours ago, she’d have been thrilled to know Adam would be with her another day. Now she didn’t even know what to say or do with him.

Karla had teetered on the verge of crying since she’d been rejected by Adam on the front porch. Of course, she didn’t want to break up his happy marriage or anything. But he could have at least given her a little kiss to remember him by. She’d never find anyone like him to love ever again.

Adam continued to avoid looking at her. He didn’t eat much either, not even the casserole she’d made for him. Another rejection. More tears.

Grandma began sharing stories about her latest cruise and Karla zoned out until she heard Adam’s name.

“Adam, have you ever been to Mexico?” Grandma asked.

“Yes, ma’am. My wife and I went to Cabo San Lucas on a second honeymoon about ten years ago.” He cleared his throat. “Beautiful place.”

Well, even if he wasn’t happily married, he wouldn’t wait for you to grow up, Kitty. No, he was so handsome, he could have any woman he wanted. Besides, he didn’t even know she existed. Karla felt the lump growing in her throat and put her useless fork down. She hoped this nightmare dinner would end soon so she could escape to her room and have a good cry.

Why had she so embarrassed herself on the porch? She needed to make conversation before her Mom hauled her into the kitchen for having such bad manners. Karla looked up at Adam. “I’ll bet you miss her a lot.”

His eyes got sad again and he looked down at his plate. “More than you’ll ever know.”

Yeah, he loved her. She was a very lucky lady. As if to keep from having to say more, he took a small bite of her casserole. She smiled.

Mom said, “Karla, your broccoli casserole gets better every year.”

Adam looked up at her as he chewed, smiling across the table. “Best I’ve ever had.”

Karla’s tummy squeezed tight and she smiled back.

After the dinner plates had been cleared, mom pulled out the Quiddler cards and dictionaries and everyone at the table played. Adam was pretty good at it, but Karla beat him in the last round with the word “domination.” That was the best word she’d ever gotten in the stupid game!

...And this was only the beginning. Read more about them later in Masters at Arms (almost nine years after this scene), in several scenes in Nobody's Angel (order info below), and in Nobody's Hero (available in late December). Of course, Adam and Karla are the glue that holds the rag-tag family of characters together in the Rescue Me series, so they'll figure prominently in every novel in the series.

Please cast a vote for the Masters at Arms cover in the Cover of the Month contest at http://yougottareadcovers.blogspot.com (#14 on the list). My artist (Linda Lynn--a new cover artist) and I would greatly appreciate it!

My writing style is more of a SERIAL than a series--complete with cliffhangers and characters who continue to work on their relationship issues in subsequent novels. (Yes, the heroes and heroines from earlier romances will have recurring roles as they progress toward their ultimate Happily Ever Afters). So skipping any of the novel-length installments will make the subsequent romance subplots in the "serial" less enjoyable. But the good thing is that there are ONLY two novels out so far, so it will be easy to catch up! See below for ordering details!

You won't enjoy Nobody's Hero as much if you haven't read Masters at Arms and Nobody's Angel first, because Adam and Karla's relationship actually began nine years early in sections one and five of Masters—and continued to grow in Angel. 

The 115,000-word novel, second in the Rescue Me series,

Nobody's Angel is available for $2.99 NOW at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords,
BookStrand, and All Romance eBooks.

 

MASTERS AT ARMS (only 99 cents!--or use coupon code 

above at Smashwords thru Nov. 25), the

introduction and first novel in the RESCUE ME series,

is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, 

All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand,

and at Smashwords. 

Kally loves to add new friends

on Facebook and Goodreads. 
Or follow her on Twitter.

 

Six Sunday: Master Marc Tells About Going OFP

This is an excerpt from my recent release, Nobody's Angel, where Master Adam has finally gotten Master Marc where he wants him and is trying to get some answers from the emotionally blocked Master Marc.

The Grant mentioned is a fellow Marine and now Mistress Grant, a Domme at the Masters at Arms Club. (Her book will be Nobody's Home, number six in the Rescue Me series, and due out by September/October of next year. That'll be my first FemDom book--and her alpha malesub is going to be the perfect match for her. They served together in a Black Ops organization of some type for several years after Grant's and his regular stints in the service ended.)

In this scene, Master Adam is reading Master Marc the riot act for lying to Angelina (a no-no for good Doms). Adam's also grilling Marc on why he's been so messed up lately and Marc's unloading all kinds of things, including a time in his past when he went OFP with a woman in a BDSM scene. (OFP is a Marine term meaning Own Fucking Plan, where you don't follow the set plan or mission but do what you want. In this context, it's the result of not renegotiating a scene, even though he hadn't been with the woman for a couple of years. He's remembering the scene in Masters at Arms where the gold digger Melissa shows up on his doormat and the resulting orgasm torture scene I shared in this blog a couple months ago.)

We're in Marc's point-of-view, but Adam is speaking first.

 

"Doesn't sound as harsh as the punishment I'd have given her for that stunt at Gino's funeral, but I find most subs aren't traumatized by a good paddling or a little orgasm torture—once it's over anyway."

Marc remembered a demonstration in the club's medical room where Adam and Grant had shown the technique to a younger Dom who wanted to try orgasm torture on his sub. Grant, who had served with Marc's Marine recon unit, wouldn't bottom for anyone but her former top sergeant, Adam. But if she hadn't been restrained so securely on that table, Adam could have kissed goodbye the ability to ever obtain an erection again, because she'd have delivered a well-placed kick to his cock and balls—somewhere after about the fifth orgasm in ten or fifteen minutes.

He realized Adam was waiting for him to continue. "I went OFP that night." 

Each week, the new listing of Six Sentence Sunday (SSS) blogs goes live at about 9 a.m. EDT Sunday. This is a great way to find new authors to follow or read! For a list of this week's participants in the SSS blog tour, go to http://www.sixsunday.com/. Search #sixsunday on Twitter, as well!

The 115,000-word novel, second in the Rescue Me series, Nobody's Angel is available for $2.99 NOW at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, BookStrand, and All Romance eBooks.

 

MASTERS AT ARMS (only 99 cents!), the

introduction and first novel in the RESCUE ME series, 

is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, 

All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand,

and at Smashwords. 

Kally loves to add new friends 

on Facebook and Goodreads. 
Or follow her on Twitter.

 

Six Sentence Sunday: Answer to Last Week's Question: Karla's First ???

Nobody's Angel, book two in the 

Rescue Me series and the romance for 

Marc D'Alessio from Masters at Arms, 

was released Sept. 30. 

See below for ordering links.

In this week's Six Sentence Sunday, I am giving you the NEXT six that followed last week's, because you all were guessing all over the place about what Master Adam was the first at with Karla. Well, only the one who had read it on my Facebook wall was right. (Now, he will be her first in many things to come in their book, Nobody's Hero, due out in December.)

Master Adam is a "master" at Shibari (an ancient Japanese martial art, now used mostly for erotic rope bondage--see videos below). He didn't want to have to touch her at all, but got "roped" into doing this demonstration. But he realizes he's being rather mean after he does her hair corset, so he is apologetic and a good Dom when he prepares her for the "gun."  

To refresh your memory, last week, we left off with Master Adam (a 22-year veteran of the Marine corps and co-owner of the Masters at Arms BDSM/kink/fetish club) saying: 

“Thank you for allowing me to be your first...."

 

New Six

"...I promise I’ll do better binding your arms than I did your hair.”

When she smiled, the vise that had constricted his heart for nearly a decade began to loosen a bit. His groin only grew tighter, but he had enough control over his body not to let his dick rule his other head.

He knew he was supposed to be demonstrating for the others, but his focus shifted to Karla. Only Karla. Her big blue eyes looked at him with so much trust.

Videos

Video 1: He bound her hair in this "hair corset" to get it out of the way (but really didn't want to be doing this demonstration on Karla, who he's tried to steer clear of):

Video 2: Then he bound her arms using this Teppou (gun) technique (only she is standing up and Master Adam had much more sensuous moves!):

Each week, the new listing of Six Sentence Sunday (SSS) blogs goes live at about 9 a.m. EDT Sunday. This is a great way to find new authors to follow or read! For a list of this week's participants in the SSS blog tour, go to http://www.sixsunday.com/. Search #sixsunday on Twitter, as well!

The 115,000-word novel, second in the Rescue Me series, 

Nobody's Angel is available for $2.99 NOW at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. 

 

You should read Masters at Arms

(the introduction to the series) before reading 

any of the romances. For a free download of  

Masters at Arms, use coupon code QV99H at 

Smashwords (good through Oct. 10)

Kally loves to add new friends on Facebook. 
Or follow her on Twitter.