Book Title: Captured (Cold Love, Book 1)
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Publisher: Scarlet Books
Cover Artist: B4Jay
Release Date: August 8, 2022
Genre: Contemporary small-town m/m romance, crime/thriller
Tropes: Enemies to lovers
Themes: Forced proximity, hurt/comfort, angst
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 46 000 words
It is book 1 in the Cold Love series, but does not end on a cliffhanger. (HEA)
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
“I’m not going anywhere until I’ve slept in your nice warm bed. If you haven’t got an electric blanket, I’ll expect you to warm me up personally.”
Blurb
Who is the man with the gun? Friend or foe? Enemy or lover?
Ethan
I saw my way out and took it. I never dreamed it would be complicated by someone as distracting as Gabriel.
Gabriel
I thought my cabin was safe in a snowstorm until he arrived. Shivering, blue with cold and armed with a gun. The hottest thing to ever happen to me.
Horror writer Gabriel’s worst nightmare is about to come true…
Alaska is home to Gabriel Black two months of the year when he retreats to his isolated cabin to write. But with his relationship on the rocks, life is treating him badly. He doesn’t think things can get any worse when a storm strikes, keeping him snowed in, but he’s wrong.
His solitude is invaded by armed intruder Ethan, his origin a mystery. Ethan is an enigma, a man surely on the run, maybe a dangerous criminal, but Gabriel is drawn to Ethan’s broken spirit and damaged soul. Ethan is so much more than he first appears and Gabriel wants to know what he hides.
Heat ignites between Gabriel and Ethan and the lines between captive and captor soon start to blur. What secrets is Ethan keeping and will Gabriel be prepared to risk all for him?
Trigger warnings: Scenes of violence and murder. Mentions of rape. Homophobic language. Strong language and sexual scenes.
“How many people know you’re here?”
“A few,” Gabriel muttered.
“Who?”
“Marcia, my agent. My friend, Jordan and my partner, Jack.” Speaking the name aloud gave Gabriel a pang of unwanted pain. He didn’t need to think about Jack at this moment.
The man lifted an eyebrow. “Jack,” he said as though trying out the name on his tongue. “You’re gay.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“You’re a mouthy bastard, aren’t you? It’s going to get you in trouble one day.”
“Take what you want and get the fuck out of my house.”
The unwanted guest gulped his coffee. He filled the mug again. “I already told you what I want. So I’m not going anywhere until I’ve slept in your nice warm bed. If you haven’t got an electric blanket, I’ll expect you to warm me up personally.” Once more his smile was tight-lipped, his teeth held prisoner behind his lips but his green eyes glinted with mischief and amusement.
His words ignited a fire inside Gabriel. He fought with himself and lost. He asked himself if he’d always had some sort of Stockholm Syndrome type fantasy. What other reason to explain his instant attraction to this man? He played bondage games with Jack occasionally, but never had he thought being chained to a radiator by an unhinged criminal would get him off.
Their gazes held for long seconds.
The guy looked down at Gabriel’s iPhone. “How often do these three people contact you?”
The sudden change from flirting to business made Gabriel’s head spin. Because the stranger had been flirting, right? What else could he interpret it as? How many home invaders made comments about their hostage warming them up?
“Marcia calls sporadically. She usually waits for me to call her. She knows I don’t like to be disturbed. Jordan will call maybe once a week and Jack calls every day.”
“Has he called you today?”
“No,” Gabriel said.
The stranger eyed him for a moment. Gabriel could almost see the cogs turning in his brain. Would Jack raise the alarm if Gabriel didn’t answer the phone? It was doubtful; he’d most probably be relieved. Once more the pain cleaved his chest.
“What do you have to eat?”
“There’s leftover casserole in the fridge.”
The guy turned and yanked open the fridge. He searched the three shelves before he located a green plastic bowl. “This?”
“Yeah.”
His captor took the food to the microwave. He opened the door, loosened the lid before he put the bowl in, then closed it again. He twisted the dial around to two minutes before leaning against the counter, eyeing Gabriel with his arms folded across his chest. Gabriel couldn’t help but notice again that his clothes looked way better on the intruder than they had ever looked on him. The lounge pants were molded snugly to his strong thighs and revealed an ample bulge in the cloth. Gabriel swallowed and looked away. His ass was beginning to ache from sitting on the kitchen floor and he shifted his position.
“Are you going to tell me your name seeing as you’re in no rush to leave?”
The man regarded him stonily for a moment. “Ethan,” he said.
“Is that your real name?”
“It’s the only name you’re getting.”
“It’s a nice name. I might use it in my next book. For the guy who gets decapitated on the first page.”
Ethan turned and searched the drawer behind him, retrieving a fork. “You’re a funny guy, do you know that? You should do stand-up.”
“Really? You’re too kind.”
The two of them glowered at each other across the divide of the kitchen. The verbal sparring turned Gabriel on nearly as much as the physical grappling of a minute ago. It was hopeless to kid himself any more about how much he was attracted to Ethan, but he needed to focus on the task in hand. Namely, how to escape this maniac. Neither of them would be going anywhere in this snowstorm, so the best he could hope to do was subdue the stranger and restrain him. His dick liked that idea. It twitched in his jeans and he gritted his teeth and tried to think rationally.
Scarlet writes mainly contemporary m/m love stories that usually deal with dark themes. Her trope is enemies-to-lovers and there’s often a hot cop thrown into the equation. She likes unusual settings and atypical, flawed heroes. Her work is X-rated and her themes are not for the faint-hearted, but a HEA is always assured.
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