Hot Jocks Blog Hop & Giveaway

When I signed up for this blog hop, I expected to be well into writing the continuation of Baby Dom Luke Denton's story (Nobody's Dream, #5) in the Rescue Me series, but, as you know, I'm still working on Nobody's Perfect (book #4). 


So, I don't have any new scenes about my one and only jock in the series. As fans of the series know, Luke played for the University of Texas Longhorns in college, but he went there primarily for the opportunity for higher education. While he wanted to study industrial arts, he had to change his thinking when he found out they didn't offer that major, so he became an art studio major instead. Now he makes awesome BDSM equipment for the Masters at Arms Club in Denver, as well as does carpentry. 


However, because everyone's awaiting Nobody's Perfect (due out in August), I thought I'd share a brief new scene from that book that involves Luke. This is a Christmas Day scene and we're in Damian's point of view. He thinks he can keep Savi and Marisol in the kitchen and private living quarters of the house on this day, so there shouldn't be a problem. 


Then he notices something that surprises him. 

(Unedited excerpt from Nobody's Perfect, copyright 2012)


Damián pulled in next to Luke's new gray Dodge pick-up truck in the driveway. Judging by the amount of mud on the fenders, he'd been off-road somewhere this morning because it hadn't looked like that last night when Luke had delivered the dollhouse. Marc's friend and SAR partner was becoming a regular at the club. Of course, they'd all worked together a few years ago trying to get the club ready. The man was a helluva carpenter, but his work creating the beautiful equipment in the club was his real gift. Lately, Damián  had been training the "baby Dom," as Marc liked to call him, to wield a bullwhip. The man had finesse with butterfly kisses and Damián doubted he'd want to go any harder on a sub or bottom—not for a while, at least. Lately, the newest Dom at the club seemed more interested in learning rope bondage from Dad.

Damián wondered how Adam and Karla were getting along on their honeymoon. It was hard to believe the wedding had only been a couple weeks ago, given all that had happened since then.

Savi and Marisol had happened. His life would never be the same again. He opened the back door of the Nissan and helped unbuckle Marisol while Savi eased out of the passenger side. She still moved stiffly, favoring her healing rib, but Marc assured him it was just going to take time. There was nothing much they could do. He hated feeling so fucking helpless.

He motioned for them to precede him onto the porch. He didn't expect anyone but Grant and Luke to show up today. He'd told them Savi had no idea the building was a kink club, but they were only going to be in the private residence today, so no sense mentioning it. This was still Dad's house, until he and Karla found a new place.

Normally Damián would be in California for Christmas, but he couldn't leave Savi and Marisol—and sure as hell wasn't going to take them back there. Good thing he'd been able to give his sister Rosa the presents he'd bought and made. They'd left a few days after Savi showed up. He would give them a call later today to see how their day went. He felt torn between two families now. But Rosa and Teresa were healing and Savi and Marisol needed him more now.

He braced himself before opening the screen door. Savi would probably roast his nuts if she knew what went on in parts of the house. But it was also Dad's home, at least until he and Karla found a more appropriate place to raise a kid.

Savi took the screen door as Damián pushed the inner door into the kitchen and was hit in the face with a number of smells.

Italian seasonings. Ham. Cinnamon.

Leather.

Whoa! Mierda. He didn't realize people could smell the club's leather all the way out here in the kitchen. Not to mention a little sweat. He'd never noticed it before, but was probably just used to it. He looked down at Savi and saw her cute little nose scrunching up as she appeared to sniff out the unexpected scent as well.

The confusion on her face was evident. "Adam and Karla's is someone's home?"

Either she hadn't noticed the leather, or was too polite to point it out. "Yeah. This is my adopted dad's place—Adam Montague. Do you remember meeting him and his new wife, Karla, at Rosa's house?"

"Yeah."

"They were married the day you…arrived. They're on their honeymoon right now. Angelina offered to prepare dinner for me and some of…Dad's friends so we wouldn't have to fend for ourselves this Christmas."

Damián looked down at Marisol and back at Savi. "Now you're included. I know he'll love seeing you again, Savi, when he gets back next week."

"Maman, why does it smell like horses here?"

"Shhh, Mari," she whispered, bending down to Marisol. "That's not polite." Still, Damián hadn't missed the question in Savi's eyes.

Okay. How to explain this?

"Hope I didn't smell the place up too badly." Luke came down the hall drying his hair with a towel. He wore a western-cut plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. "Been on a horse all morning and didn't have a chance to change at the SAR barn, so I just came over here and took advantage of the facilities."

Horse leather. Damián grinned, relaxing his guard a bit.

Marisol leaned a little closer to Damián's leg, reminding him that introductions were in order. "Savi and Marisol Baker, I'd like you to meet Luke Denton. He's a…friend of mine. He does search-and-rescue with Marc."

Luke shook Savi's hand, smiling, then hunkered down to Marisol's level and extended his hand to her, as well. "Hello, darlin'. You're cute as a button."

Marisol still wasn't sure about this strange man—good girl. Damián put a protective hand on his little doll's shoulder to reassure her that she was safe. She released her grip on his leg, not as scared, and drew herself up a little taller.

"Buttons aren't cute."

"Hmmm. Well, maybe that's true." He grinned. "But you sure are. Pleased to meet you, Marisol." 

Luke waited for her to become comfortable enough to make the next move. Damián's thumb stroked her shoulder and she stretched her tiny hand out to be swallowed up in Luke's much bigger one.

Now, it's giveaway time! Please comment below and tell me what is your favorite trait of a jock in a romance novel. Winner will receive a free e-book (current or future) in the Rescue Me series--and a set of swag (Master Adam hand fan, "Ahh, Kallypso...the stories you tell" purple ink pen, a bookmark, and a set of three Rescue Me Romance Trading Cards). Drawing will be on/after July 18. As with all my contests, this is open internationally. 

And don't miss the 68 other entries in this Hot Jocks in July Giveaway Blog Hop, sponsored by Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews and Under the Covers blogs! 

Six Sunday: No plans to rescue the ice princess

This week's Six is a continuation of a WIP Excerpt: "Do you like princesses?" I posted Friday from Chapter One of the unedited Nobody's Perfect, due out in May. (I'm still writing and only 14,063 words into it so far, so it's still rough.) 

As many of you know, I write realistic BDSM stories about a growing "family" of three men who bonded in war and started a BDSM club afterward. In this scene, Damian is just coming to the realization that little Marisol is his daughter from that perfect day at the beach with Savannah in 2003.

Friday's excerpt ended with Damian thinking: Shit. The calculating expression in the little girl's eyes told him he was being sized up to take on the role of her mama's rescuing prince.

No thanks. Her mother wasn't going to find her perfect prince inside this man's broken body and soul.

Besides, his days of scaling towers to rescue princesses, especially ice princesses, were long gone. Hadn't he tried to rescue Savannah once, only to be shown in no uncertain terms she'd wanted nothing more to do with him?

Damián's focus shifted beyond Marisol's head to the door leading back to the examination rooms. How the hell long did it take Marc and his doctor friend to figure out if Savi's rib was cracked or not?

Thanks for stopping by to read my Six this week! Each week, the new listing of Six Sentence Sunday (SSS) blogs go live at 9 a.m. EDT Sunday. This is a great way to find new authors to follow or read or to get exposure for your own writing! 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!

Three e-books have been published to date in the RESCUE ME series. 

For a list of all of the books and links to purchase sites, 

go to the book listing tab in this blog.  

 

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WIP Excerpt: "Do you like princesses?" (Nobody's Perfect)

The muse is back in town and I've been writing like crazy the past few days--well, more so than the last month anyway. Thanks to everyone who sent prayers, good wishes, and healing thoughts to my sister and my family last month as we were all in the grip of cancer surgery and recovery. We also loved the quilt and prayer shawl two Facebook friends sent. Just gorgeous. My sister is home now and gets stronger every day. Still will need chemo to eradicate the remaining cancer cells, but the major tumors have all been removed.

So, of course, now that my mind isn't sleep deprived and worried, I am working on Nobody's Perfect, book 4 in the Rescue Me series (due out in May 2012). I thought I would share an unedited excerpt from the first chapter. Those who have read the Epilogue of Nobody's Hero know where they are and why. Hopefully the rest of you can follow, as well.

I continued this scene with the next six sentences in my Feb. 5 Six Sunday blog. Oh, you're in Damian's point of view right now. And this is TOTALLY UNEDITED except by me, so bear with me on typos.

The inner door swung open and Marc stood there in scrubs. Damián did a double take. "I'm assisting tonight." 

His friend grinned, apparently loving the idea of being in corpsman mode again. He wondered why Marc hadn't pursued a career in medicine when he got back from Iraq, rather than going into an outdoor-adventure outfitter business. Of course, he did do search and rescue, which probably enabled him to make use of his medic skills a bit, too.

Marc looked from Damián to Marisol's face, then back at Damián. He quirked an eyebrow, then grinned. Damn. He knew his buddy was drawing conclusions Damián wasn't ready to acknowledge yet. Hell, he didn't even know for sure.

Yes, you do.

Yeah. He did. But he wasn't going to talk about it with Marc before he talked to Savi. He turned to find she had halted in the doorway and was looking warily at Marc. Damián adjusted his bundle, which wasn't nearly as heavy now that she was awake. Her tiny arms and hands held onto his neck as if she wouldn't let go.

He just wished her mama would trust him like that.

"Savi, this is the friend I told you about. Marc D'Alessio, meet Savi Baker. She's from my neighborhood in California." Marc walked toward Savi and held out his hand. She paused only a few seconds before reaching out to take his hand briefly, then pulled back.

"Pleased to meet you, Savi. Looks like you've been in a bit of a scuffle." Self-consciously, she raised her hand to her face to hide her cheek and winced, probably more from the pain in her rib than from her face.

Damián took a step forward. "I think her left side might be injured. She's been favoring it and showed signs of something going on when I examined her the way you told me to over the phone." Don't think about touching her right now, chico.

"Come, cara, let me get you into the exam room. Dr. McKenzie is setting things up for us now." Marc took her elbow and led her past the reception window to a door that had been propped open. Savi looked back at Damián.

"Don't worry. We're right behind you."

Savi halted. "No. I don't want Mari to see."

Damián didn't want to wait out here. He needed to know what Savi's bastard father had done to her. But he knew he couldn't just barge in the exam room if Savi didn't want him there. Besides, she probably was right. Marisol didn't need to see her mama's battered body. Bad enough she could see the bruises on her face.

Savi's gaze shifted to Marisol. "Mari, honey, the doctor is just going to check and make Maman all better. You stay here with Damián. I think I saw some toys in the corner over there you can play with while you're waiting. I shouldn't be too long."

Marisol looked from her mother to Marc. "Don't hurt my maman." The fierce tone in her high-pitched voice made Damián smile. Protective of her mommy. He liked that, although he was saddened that his little girl felt the need to protect her mother. Parents were supposed to protect their kids, not the other way around.

Marc smiled his understanding. "Don't worry, Mari. The doctor and I will take very good care of her and she'll be back with you in no time."

Marisol scrutinized Marc a moment, taking his measure, then nodded, seeming satisfied with his buddy's ability to care for her mother and return her safely. Heaven help Marc if he didn't follow through on that promise, though. This muñequita would be a force to be reckoned with.

Already the little doll had breached a wall in Damián's defenses.

"Come, bebé, let's go check out the toys over here."

"I'm not a baby. You can put me down now."

Yes, ma'am. He grinned as he put her down, feeling instant relief in his ankle. He hadn't even realized the strain his prosthesis had been under until now.

Marisol placed her hand in his and led him to the table laden with Legos and books. He hadn't played with the plastic interlocking blocks since he'd been in Eden Gardens for Teresa's birthday. Happier times with his nephew, José. They hadn't enjoyed fun like that during his last visit. 

He figured a little girl would be more interested in dolls, but she surprised him when she sat at the table and began playing with the colorful blocks. He soon discovered she was quite adept at building intricate structures. Like a construction foreman, she instructed him on what he could do to help and soon they had built four castle walls, complete with a drawbridge that could be lowered and raised. Next she began working on a tower. 

Marisol's fingers stopped working and she looked over at him. "Do you like princesses?"

Damián wasn't sure how to respond. "Well, I haven't met too many princesses, but the ones I know, like my niece and you, I like a lot."

"Not me, silly. I mean Maman. An evil knight from a kingdom far away put a spell on her and she doesn't know she's a princesa anymore. She needs to have a prince kiss her so she can remember."

Shit. The calculating expression in the little girl's eyes told him he was being sized up to take on the role of her mama's rescuing prince.

...for the next six lines (and to finish the scene), go to this Six Sunday blog!

For a list of all of the e-books in the Rescue Me series 

and links to purchase sites, go to the book listing tab in this blog.  

 

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