Book Title: Heart of Stone (Juxtan 6)
Author: Tricia Owens
Cover Artist: Tricia Owens
Release Date: February 4, 2022
Genre: Fantasy M/M Romance
Tropes: Enemies to lovers
Themes: Redemption
Length: 60 000 words/285 pages
It is book 6 in the Juxtan series.
The story does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
Love can move mountains
Blurb
Hadrian and his friends may have survived the encounter with Theon, but they paid a heavy price in the end. They need time to heal, both physically and emotionally. Unexpectedly, while recuperating in a small mountain town, they encounter the most powerful man in the land, who offers them protection and much-needed medical aid. The timing is fortuitous, but what secrets does this mountain palace hold? Is it truly a refuge, or is it soon to become their stone prison?
Licking his lips nervously, Hadrian nodded. “I hope you’re right. I want to believe you. I’m so tired, Caled. I want to rest, and be with you.”
“Then rest. I’m your protector,” Caled said again, enjoying the sound of it on his lips and the empowerment it gave him. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
To his surprise, Hadrian gave a miserable little smile. “I was supposed to be your protector. Against Theon.”
The news thrilled Caled. “My protector? Is that so?”
Hadrian’s smile turned bashful. “That was my intention, at least.” His smile diminished. “Of course I failed miserably. I set it free. I think it went to Sy—”
But Caled groaned, unable to let Hadrian finish the sentence. “Don’t ever speak her name in our bedroom, Hades. Gods, but she’s been a hateful little bitch ever since we holed up in Innawey. The mere mention of that little harpy is enough to wrinkle up the staff of the most potent of men…Even me. ”
He received the laugh he was hoping for. In fact, Hadrian turned his head slightly, and glanced at Caled from the corner of his eye almost playfully.
“You are…most potent,” the sorcerer agreed, his voice carrying a measure of anticipation. Caled sucked in his breath when a gloved hand cupped him tentatively between the legs. “You don’t seem to be wrinkled up, however.”
A growl rolled up through Caled’s throat and before it had left his lips he had lifted Hadrian off the floor and carried the surprised man to the immense bed where he threw him atop it. Hadrian bounced once, eyes wide, before crawling backward toward the headboard, his expression a combination of excitement and hunger.
“Do you think manhandling me gives you any right to my body?“ Hadrian challenged, sounding breathless.
“Not the right to it, but the best chance with it,” Caled declared, yanking his own tunic off over his head. Bare-chested, he ripped open the ties of his breeches and shoved them down his thighs where they bunched at the tops of his boots. His shaft, red and rigid, throbbed between his legs as Hadrian stared at it almost nervously.
“No need to fear it,” Caled taunted. He reached down and give himself a slow stroke. “It likes you, Hades. It knows what you feel like inside.”
Color burst across Hadrian’s cheeks at the comment. He snapped his eyes up to Caled’s face. “And what about you? Do you like how I…” he trailed off, his color deepening.
Caled shivered. “Say it,” he rasped. “I want to hear you say the words, Hades.”
Tricia Owens has been writing m/m fiction since 2000, after stumbling onto the term ‘slash’ and thinking it referred to horror stories. She is the author of the Sin City, A Pirate’s Life for Me, and Juxtapose City series, among several others. She lives in Las Vegas.
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Thank you so much for sharing!