Heart of the Warrior - Sensual Paranormal and Dark Fantasy
What happens when you take an openly gay vampire who has a
secret past and combine him with a closeted vampire that didn't even know he
was gay to begin with, and whose parents and best friend are severely
homophobic? Answer: An explosion of emotion and discovery.
Blurb:
Severin was born to be
a warrior. Conceived as a mixed-blood when his vampire father raped his dreck
mother over two centuries ago, Severin retained the power of iron skin inherent
to newborn drecks. However, Sev keeps this secret closely guarded. If it's
discovered that inferior dreck blood flows in his vampire veins, it could
destroy his life. And to make matters worse, his father suddenly wants to make
amends for his transgressions. Sev wants nothing of his father's apology,
especially now, as he contends with both an assassin who has marked Sev for
blood vengeance and his obsessive attraction to his teammate, Arion.
Arion is the son of
King Bain's liaison, Gregos Savakis, who had Ari's course plotted before he was
even born. But what Ari's overbearing parents wanted for him wasn't what Arion
wanted for himself, and a lifetime spent fighting through one relationship
after another with females from all walks of life has left him weary in his
search for a mate. After a startling and erotic encounter with Sev, Ari has
begun to realize why. He's gay. And now he can't stop thinking about Sev. Arion
suddenly realizes he's been forcing himself to be with females because that's
what his parents expected. But what he wants is a male, and not just any male.
Arion wants Severin.
Can the two overcome
the secrets, prejudice, plotting, and the threat on Severin's life to find
happily ever after with each other?
Heart of the Warrior is book two of my All the King's Men
series, and based on fan feedback, you need a box of Kleenex sitting nearby if
you're going to tackle this one. I've already had readers tell me they cried
(bottom lip quivering and all) while reading this novel. I've also been told an
escape to a private shower was needed, as well, to…uuumm…take care of things.
You put two and two together on that one. LOL.
So, I guess that means this book is steamy enough to get
your undies in a bunch, and emotional enough to make your tear ducts work
overtime. And I will admit that I felt both while writing this novel. Severin
and Arion made me pant while tearing me up. These boys are such conflicted,
tortured, and complex individuals that I broke down in tears more than once
while getting their story on proverbial paper. And they are sinfully sexy and
delicious, making me swoon right along with them. And I'm the author, for
crying out loud. My characters shouldn't be able to affect me this much, being
that I should see what's coming. And yet…Sev and Ari constantly threw me curves
throughout the book, and Micah (from book one of the series, Rise of the
Fallen) didn't help, causing me to break down with emotion even more.
When I began writing the All the King's Men series, I knew
at least one story would be M/M (the series will have at least one more M/M
romance), but I didn't know right off which characters would be involved. As I
conversed with the characters, Severin immediately stepped up and made it clear
he was gay and had the hots big time for Arion. It took Ari a bit longer to
reveal to me that he was just as attracted to Severin, but that's not
surprising since he has hidden his homosexuality behind a heterosexual mask his
entire life.
When these two discovered each other at the end of book one,
sparks flew off the pages and made it clear their story would be book two. And
I must say that to date, Heart of the Warrior is my favorite story I've
written. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Excerpt from Heart of the Warrior:
Ari couldn't see Sev's face, but he
imagined if he could, he would find nothing but pain and heartache there. Sev's
voice sounded so far away and wretched. And sad. No, not sad. Miserable.
Dejected. In utter despair.
"Sev…?"
"I said fuck off." Sev stood
up, keeping his back turned on Ari, but he could just see Sev's face in the
mirror. He looked miserable, his head hung. "I'm such an idiot." He
was shaking his head, his voice forlorn. "You just used me. You toyed with
my emotions. You never had any intention of being with me."
Severin turned and walked to the locker
room in silence. Discussion over.
Arion could only watch him leave. What
the hell had just happened here? He looked down at the mat, at a smear of
moisture – Sev's sweat. He reached out and dabbed it with his fingertips and
lifted it to his nose.
Aaaahhhh. Severin. Pure and strong.
His gaze swept back to the locker room
and that dull, throbbing ache awakened in his chest again. He had hurt Sev. Sev
thought he had simply been using him, but that wasn't the case at all, was it?
Arion had wanted what happened six weeks ago. He had never intended to cause
Sev pain.
But he had, hadn't he?
Shit.
Arion felt about an inch tall. He needed
to get out of here.
Rubbing his thumb up and down his
sternum, trying to ease the ache, he gathered himself and stood up. With one
last look at the locker room door, he took a deep breath, blew it out, and
hurried for the exit.
Rushing down the deserted hall in a fit
of emotional upheaval, he reached the elevators and smacked the up button then
looked back in the direction of the training center. Sev was in there, likely
in as big a mess as he was. Probably wondering where it had all gone wrong.
Wondering why Ari had used him, even though that hadn't been Ari's intention.
Double shit.
He needed to explain. He needed to
apologize. He needed to somehow let Sev know that none of this was his fault.
It was Ari's fault. All of it.
His thumb continued rubbing rhythmically
up and down the center of his chest as the ache deepened. When the elevator
door opened he stood there for a second. Then he took a step forward. Then
stopped. Then closed his eyes and leaned forward on one outstretched arm
pressed against the wall.
He couldn't leave Sev.
Turning back, he let the elevator door
close as he began the hesitant walk back to the training center.
This was crazy. Ari stopped in the middle
of the hall. If he returned to the gym, he knew how things would end up. He
wouldn't be able to hold himself back from Sev. He wanted him. The scent of his
sweat still invaded his nose, and it was a better high than a snort of cocaine
or even cobalt could give him.
No, no. He could hold back. He would be
able to control himself. He owed Sev that much. And he owed him an explanation…and
an apology.
With purpose, Ari started walking again,
holding his head high and pushing his shoulders back. The ache in his chest
diminished as he neared the gym and opened the door. After stepping inside, he
halted abruptly, his lungs pumping hard. Was he nervous or just keyed up? Was
he afraid someone would see them and figure out what happened? Or was his
sudden, erratic breathing caused by something else? Desire perhaps? Or his
struggle not to give in to temptation and claim Sev's body as he had six weeks
ago.
Fucking hells, maybe he should just bolt
and do this shit later.
A sudden jolt of pain hit his chest. No. you need to do it now. You need to take
away Sev's pain, you chicken shit. Suck it up, grow some balls, go in there,
and apologize. Set things right.
Nodding to himself, he took a deep breath
and stalked the length of the gym to the locker room, pushed the door open, and
proceeded directly to the bay of lockers reserved for Tristan's team.
As he rounded the corner, he sucked in
his breath at the magnificent, beautiful male who greeted him. Sev was sitting
on the bench, his face already turned toward him, his guarded eyes red and full
of tears, his thumb poised against his sternum as if he had been rubbing it.
Sev slowly stood up. "Why are you
here?"
Suddenly, everything Ari had wanted to
say escaped him. Like a fleeing antelope, his words bounded away, leaving him
only with his breath, his body, and the vision of Severin in front of him. And
the scent of Sev's sweat. And the memory of Sev's mouth on his, their bodies
perfectly matched and pressed together. All he could do was stare and remember
how incredible Sev had felt against him and in his arms.
"Ari?"
Without a word, Ari charged forward,
grabbed Sev, and thrust him back against the metal lockers with a loud clang as
he came nose-to-nose with Sev, his senses spiking to DEFCON 1 as he panted with
arousal.
"I didn't want her." His voice
growled low in his throat.
It took a moment for Sev to react, but he
didn't fight him or try to pull away. On the contrary, his body seemed to light
up with as much heat as Ari was feeling.
"What? What do you mean?" Sev
blinked in confusion. Or maybe he was just dazed.
Arion’s grip on Sev's shoulders stayed
firm as his gaze danced over Sev's face. He was hungry for this male.
Physically and emotionally hungry for him. "I didn’t want her." He
spoke more softly this time. More reverently.
Sev licked his lips and it was all Ari
could do to not lean in and quickly snag that alluring tongue with his teeth.
"Who?" Sev said quietly.
Ari could tell Sev knew he was talking
about Chloe, but he seemed wary, as if he couldn't believe he was hearing him
right.
"Any of them. I didn't want any of
them." Ari couldn't have made a truer statement, because not only had he
not wanted Chloe, but he now knew that he had never wanted a single woman he
had ever been with. He had never been more certain of anything than he was
right now. He had never wanted any of those females.
Thanks again to Sara for having me here today. I hope you'll
all enjoyed hearing about Hear of the Warrior.
For those interested in taking a closer look or picking up a
copy, here are the links to the different sites selling it:
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