I have less than three days before I leave Oregon and fly to New York. Yikes. I just realized how much more I have to do. Sigh. But the reason I’m going (other than to see my wonderful author and reader friends) is because I’ll be attending the Rainbow Book Fair at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Saturday, April 9th from 12 -6. The address is 524 W. 59th Street if you happen to be in the neighborhood. It’s only a few bucks to get in and it’s a non-profit event.
I really love attending this fair because there’s a wide range of LGBTQ books and publications available, it’s not strictly limited to romance. As a matter of fact, the romance authors don’t even make up half of the genres being represented. I’ll have some fun swag there for the taking, plus I’ll be giving away some limited print copies of my novella, Soaring Past Death, a sci-fi/dystopian BDSM romance. Darker than my usual fare, but I enjoyed writing the world it inhabits so much, that I’ll be expanding it into a full length novel at the end of the year.
I also won’t be attending as many cons as I’d hoped to in the coming year, and with the intensive writing schedule I have ahead of me, it’s probably better that way. After this, I hope to make it to GRNW in Seattle in September, then definitely GRL in October. I’m really excited about that because there’ll be a long road trip involved with fellow author, LE Franks. We’ll be vlogging it and I would officially consider yourself forewarned.
Now, how about a quick snippet from Soaring Past Death?
It had been a dick move on 44’s part and he knew it. But the hurt that still lodged inside him from 13’s rejection had risen sharply to the surface when 13 had entered the room. The Rebellion recruiter had informed him of the dispatch clause, idly mentioning that 44 would be the first Viper it would apply to— so 44 had been fairly certain 13 would be completely unaware of it. It had been tucked away in his small arsenal of motivators intended to make his ex-lover train him properly for the mission— to not go easy on him.
The Rebellion had determined that the knowledge The Vipers possessed in regards to the operation to murder The Scourge’s leader was too sensitive. If someone failed the training, they couldn’t be left running around with that secret knowledge. It was also a great inspiration for a Viper to suck it up.
Suck it up, Buttercup.
That was what 13 had said the first time he’d ever used the bullwhip on him. 44 had laughed so hard that the session had become completely derailed, 13 eventually joining in on the hilarity. After that, he’d only used it affectionately— primarily when they’d made love.
He moaned at the pain slicing through him at the memory.
A good memory. A fucking beautiful memory.
“I found them.”
There was no reason to lead up to it. To be coy. He knew 13 would know exactly what he meant.
Gazing over at 13 he noted the flat expression. God, he fucking knew the man so well. He knew exactly what 13 looked like when he masked himself against any genuine emotions.
“Where, how?”
“After you left me, I had nothing left. No one to live for.”
He’d waited to say that to 13 for a year, but surprisingly, it didn’t give him the satisfaction he’d always fantasized it would.
“So I decided the only thing left for me to do was to hunt for them. Even though I saw the building my mom and sister had been holed up in torched into obliteration by The Scourge, I returned to Bear Valley and the Sierra Nevadas to search for them, search for someone who might’ve known of them.”
He paused, remembering the day that 13 had found him. The man who would become his Dom had rescued him after the battle which he’d assumed had claimed his family. He’d been hiding in a cave and had fought like one of the local bobcats when 13 had discovered him and held him tenderly, eventually calming him down. 44 had barely been eighteen years old, born after the initial takeover. Raised on fear and distrust, it had surprised him that 13 had not only been able to reach him, but to initiate him into a submissive state of being.
All of his anxiety and dread had been channeled into the glorious pain that 13 had inflicted upon him. It had become his elixir against the abject terror that life had always held. He had taught 44 to trust for the first time, to let go of his worry. 13, and his unique brand of love, had become 44’s entire existence before 13 had abruptly torn it away from him after they’d only had a year together. Breaking the promise he’d made to always care for him.
****
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