February 7, 2018
**Updated 4/2/21 - the MidWeek blog hop has been discontinued.**
Welcome to the MidWeek Tease blog hop! This week I've got an excerpt from Beneath Dark Stars. Our heroes are a detective and his shapeshifter lover. And he's not your garden variety shapeshifter, either. He's a true shapeshifter, able to take on many forms.
Be sure to check out all the MidWeek Tease blogs using the list at the end of the post. I hope you enjoy the excerpt!
_*_*_*_*_
Beneath Dark Stars
Book 2 of the Sundown Saga
Gay romance with a paranormal shift
Have you met a shapeshifter? How would you know?
Fallon Roxbury, seasoned detective and special police
consultant, knows that appearances can be deceiving. Trained to gather the
clues and arrive at logical conclusions, he fits the puzzle pieces of a
situation together to find the truth. But there’s nothing reasonable in
Fallon’s attraction to the sexy, secretive shapeshifter called Sundown.
Sundown has studied people all his life. Having his very own
human male is all he ever wanted. In Fallon, he’s found a man he can trust with
his secrets and reveal his true nature. Keeping Fallon happy is a joyful
exercise into which Sundown puts his heart and soul—when he’s not teasing
Fallon’s police partner by leaving strange footprints at crime scenes, that is.
Fallon’s new case ties into an old one. At a dead end, he
knows it’s time to ask Sundown for a little help. With his special abilities,
Sundown can get into places Fallon can’t. All Fallon has to do is figure out a
way to prove what he already knows. But what’s a cop to do when the truth takes
a shift that’s stranger than fiction?
EXCERPT
With a groan, I collapsed onto him. He let out a loud umpf
and, with his surprising strength, flipped me over onto my back. I was too limp
to protest even had I wanted to. A satisfied purr vibrated out of him as he
snuggled tight against my side. I found his hand, laced my fingers through his,
and asked him a question he’d so far avoided answering.
“When are you going to tell me what it’s like for you,
Sundown?”
He sighed. “It’s what I wish it to be, Fallon.”
I’d heard that before. He was uncomfortable with my curiosity
about what was normal for his kind. It wasn’t like he didn’t trust me, but more
I needed to be patient with him for a little longer. I turned my head and
kissed his temple.
“I’ll do a little better by you this afternoon, babe. I
promise.”
“Now you’re trying to bribe me, are you not? Very well,
Fallon. The more pleasure receptors I align for sexual enjoyment, the more
intense the experience.”
I had asked, so I confirmed one of my suspicions. “So
sometimes you ‘align’ a lot of them, like this morning?”
“Yes. And sometimes, I wish for something different. This
afternoon may be one of those times.” His green eyes gleamed warmly above his
smile. “You’ll need to spend a lot of time touching me to find them all.”
“Not a problem, babe. Is coffee a problem? I mean, since I’m
awake now and all that. And I did stimulate your pleasure receptors for you.”
Without a word, Sundown rolled from the bed and padded off to
the bathroom, his footsteps silent on the carpet. The skin he wore for me was
quite attractive. Tall and slender, he moved with a controlled grace, each step
measured, no effort wasted. His shiny dark hair, green eyes, and full,
berry-colored lips were perfect—too perfect if someone looked closely at my
shapeshifter lover. I closed my eyes and listened to him move around the
apartment, finally reopening them to admire his form as he returned carrying
two cups of coffee.
I accepted both mugs until he rejoined me under the sheet,
then handed one back to him. I loved these lazy mornings when we the most
strenuous thing we had to do was nothing at all. Sundown rubbed his thigh
against mine.
“Tell me more about this girl whose killer you seek.”
If I didn’t tell him, he’d chatter at me until I did. It was
better to give him the short version and get it over with, even though I knew
it would upset his tender heart.
“Maria DeLong’s parents reported her missing ten years ago.
She turned up dead four years ago. Someone beat her to death and tossed her
body out along Route 17. They carved the letter W into her cheek.”
Sundown grew still and silent. Not for the first time I wondered
if his kind had racial memory and could remember those things done to their
brethren in the Chal ancient past he refused to discuss with me. His people had
been enslaved when they arrived on this world, and that’s all the Chal history
I’d gotten out of him.
He drew in a quick, short breath and then blew it out.
“The Chal can help. We are able to go into places where you
can not.”
For once, his people would be on my side. “The Elders will
sanction that? Right. Tell me another story.”
“I was with the Elders yesterday, apologizing for my actions
regarding Sergeant Mack. I have promised them—again—that I will cease to play
Sasquatch tricks on him.”
“But did you promise not to play any tricks on him, period, or
just the Bigfoot ones?”
He blinked at me, dismay written all over his face. Uh-huh. I
had him now. “Chupacabra, perhaps?”
His mouth dropped open. His eyes widened. “That is not me!
I’ve never been to Texas!”
Beneath Dark Stars
Gay romance with a paranormal shift available at:
Amazon
iTunes
Barnes and Noble/Nook
Kobo
KC Kendricks
