Worlds Collide, Sanctuary 7, out today

Worlds Collide, Sanctuary 7, out today


It is the day after New Years and Dale is en route back to Albany in a private jet with Emily Bullen. She is coming back home after turning states evidence on her husband Senator Thomas Bullen.

What no one factored in, not Sanctuary or the FBI, was the lengths Griffin Ryland would go to in the effort to protect himself.

Joseph finds out Dale is in trouble and it is only with the help of his team of SEALs that he can make sure Dale is safe and that Griffin Ryland can't cause any more trouble.

A snowy New Years, a deserted airport and a hostage situation with people already dead and suddenly the worlds of Sanctuary and the SEALs collide, with terrifying consequences.

Then, two weeks alone at a resort, falling deeper in love leave the two men with decisions to make and suddenly there is the chance to make forever a possibility.

Available on the Love Lane Books Website

Friday Interview - Morticia Knight

Friday Interview - Morticia Knight

Thank you for letting me stop by your blog today RJ! ;-) And I have a few fun answers to share…

*****

Where do you get your ideas for sex scenes? Porn? LGBT friends? Personal experience?I’ll never tell. *snicker* Oh alright, I will. Pretty much all of the above. My best friend is gay, and he’s lived with me for the last seven years. There’s nothing we don’t know about each other!

Character development is important to me when I read. I am always curious whether characters are based on people the author knows and research, or if they are based on pure fiction.
I love to people watch, and I’ve met a lot of different ones in my life. I mean, these people were real characters! But seriously, it really is a combination of both. I’m not going to completely take someone’s private life and put it on paper (or e-reader), but I like to add some real life quirks and nuances to make my characters more interesting and engaging.

Monday News Round up - Sanctuary 7, Montana 1, UK Meet & More

Monday News Round up - Sanctuary 7, Montana 1, UK Meet & More

Book Releases

The Doctor And The Bad Boy (Ellery 4)...

... has been described as classic RJ Scott.

I like that phrase, not sure what classic RJ Scott is but never mind...typically crap, typically .... i'll leave that to your imagination!

Out to buy and read from Total E-Bound only - http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2198

Shattered Secrets (In The Shadow Of The Wolf #1) with Diane Adams

Re-released through Love Lane Books and is available on www.lovelanebooks.co.uk, Amazon, ARe.

Writing with Amber Kell & Stephani Hecht

The three of us are each taking one book in a trilogy about wolf shifters in Vermont... I am writing book 1, The New Wolf, which will be with you 1 August... Book 2 is Stephani's and is out 15 August and Book 3 is Ambers, out 1 September. All three will be available seperately on those dates but pulled together as one paperback and all being well it will be ready for Gay Rom Lit for us all to sign!

Insert English Dry humour: Of course mine will the best book so Steph and Amber will have a hard time following it... BWHAHAHAHAHA

Sanctuary 7 marketing and buy date

As you may all be aware S7 - Worlds Collide, is out this friday and I am trying this new countdown marketing thing. It was inspired by Diane Adams who used to do this for her Making Of A Man books, and also by the new work TEB is doing for their author's new books.

Let me know what you think?

New weekly competition

I have these wonderful printed postcard type thingies that all arrived this week. OMG they are gorgeous - I am blessed with the most amazing artwork from Meredith Russell and BitterGrace Art. While hubby and I wrestle with a cost effective way to get these to people I decided to run a weekly competition for every single person that signs up, or is signed up already, to my website for email updates. The winner each week can select three cards and I will sign them and send them to the winner...

Pre-order books for the UK Meet

If you're attending the UK Meet I have a list of books available in paperback that you can pre-order for me to sign. This was following on from a couple of emails I received about print books that really made me smile.

You can find the post about this here: Book Order for UK Meet

Website

I have a newly updated WIP page which I am trying to keep up to date as I change anything... I need to work on my print books page... so no one go look at that, okay! 

I'm in trouble again... ROFL

I'm in trouble again... ROFL

Removed from Pinterest for being too sexually revealing... oops my bad...

You can see it it's full yummy glory HERE... I should warn you its NSFW... and Pinterest didn't like it... :(

Although I dont think it's any worse than a pair of boobs.... never mind...

ROFL...

Happy Monday!!!

Normal Monday round-up of news to follow...

Friday Interview - L.J. LaBarthe

Friday Interview - L.J. LaBarthe

Hi RJ, thanks so much for having me on your blog! It's wonderful to be here. So first up, are three questions and my answers to them. These were rather thought-provoking, I have to say.

*****

How do you manage to come up with such detailed backgrounds, not just the characters, but the worlds too?

The short answer: research. I write predominantly historicals and paranormals, so particularly for the former, there's a lot of research that goes on before I even open Word. I love research anyway, so I don't mind that part of the process at all. Sometimes, as I'm writing, I'll realize I need to check something and pause a moment to hit up Google and see if what I think is right is actually correct. With paranormals, particularly the "Archangel Chronicles," because those books are set all over the world, I need to look at photos of location A or B to get a good idea of how to write the setting properly.

Tetley's or PG Tips?

Tea! I love tea. Because I'm Australian, I had no idea what PG Tips were, so I Googled. And I don't think we have those here. I don't drink Tetley's, either. What I do like are Madura Green Tea bags which are an Australian brand of tea, and Dilmah's Moroccan Mint Green Tea, which is SO good. I also use loose leaf tea and get my teas from the wonderful http://t2tea.com/ store, who have more teas than I ever knew existed. I'm very partial to green teas.

Competition Winner

Competition Winner

And the winner of the first competition is...lo___y40@gmail.com... I'm emailing them now!

They win $15 of Amazon vouchers and three signed cards.


I will be running regular competitions to win signed postcards of cover art... watch this space!

I am also looking into *selling* my signature and covering postage so that I can send cards out to all the people that asked... so the cards would be FREE and there would be a small charge to cover signing and postage... how does that sound? Any comments welcome... :)


In The Writing Closet

In The Writing Closet

Today I read a very interesting article by author Leta Blake. Entitled *Am I an ally if I'm in the closet about my writing* I read it and felt for every word she said.

You can read it *** HERE ***, and I would love if you went over and read it and commented. 

I think I am one of the lucky ones in this business we call MM writing. The first positive thing is that I live in a place where I guess, it is odder if you do attend church that if you don't. I don't know the statistics of belief in England but I am sure as a part of the UK we are probably the least church-going out of us, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

If I look at myself and my *real life* friend circle I have four non believers, one on the fence, one who attends church on special occasions and has a quiet faith, and one who is a Christadelphian and who attends church at least twice a week and has a life guided entirely by those beliefs. None of my friends judge me but they all say they are looking forward to when I write normal stuff they can read. (Although my two closest friends have both read a couple of my books).

I have a small extended family, but my mum and sister are very proud and loud supporters of what I do. Although I know they both skip the sex scenes, they enjoy the *stories* and the HEAs.

I am also very lucky that my daughter is older. My daughter writes and reads MM, she is at a school that is gay friendly, and her boyfriend's best friend is gay. She doesn't care what people say to her about what I do and she is proud of what I write. Although she has been asked WHY I write MM and how do I know how to write male/male sex. Hello, it's called research... bwahahahaha.

Competition to celebrate the release of The Doctor And The Bad Boy

Competition to celebrate the release of The Doctor And The Bad Boy

What is on this website?

News on book releases
Updates on works in progress
Cover Art releases
Reviews for my books
"Focus on a series" pages
Buy links to E-books and paperbacks
Contact Details for RJ Scott
Interviews with other authors
Posts about autism (something close to my heart!)
Shared inspirational photos
Reviews on books and films
Competitions
Special Offers

COMPETITION

To celebrate the release of The Doctor And The Bad Boy on Friday 21st, I am offering the chance for you to win three signed cover art postcards (6"x4") as shown in the picture and a $15 voucher for Amazon.

All you have to do is sign up for email notifications of new content on the site - the link is in the top left hand corner.

And don't worry... if you're already signed up then you are already included in the draw!

Competition closes Saturday 9pm, GMT (London)

Mitchell Ryan, the recovering alcoholic bad boy, meets Doctor Liam Wolfe, the man who shows him it’s okay to love…

No one has ever understood Mitchell Askett. The bad boy. The alcoholic. The loser. Buying into the Ellery Mountain resort and placing down roots in the community for himself, his sister and his niece puts him on the radar of the Fridays and Doctor Liam Wolfe.

He soon realises he has friends in his new home who don’t judge him for what happened before and finally begins to escape his past. When he falls hard and fast for the doctor, he even sees a future for him in Ellery.

But when his new happiness is first threatened by family interference then by disaster, he begins to lose faith, until Liam shows him it’s okay to ask for help.

BUY LINK - http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=2198

Fire, books 1, 2 & 3

Fire, books 1, 2 & 3

Kian

Darach

Eoin

Kian has crossed over from his world to ours to seek revenge. His plan is to kill the monster who murdered his Uncle. The same monster who used magic to escape to our world and is hiding here and growing in strength.

Regan Campbell is a hunter of Demons. The first son, of a first son, he is the one who protects this world from the monsters that no one else knows are here.

When Kian reaches this world, he knows Regan is the perfect man to fight alongside him, but Regan trusts no one.

It isn’t until they are facing death and a terrible evil that will be let loose, that Regan finally realises he can trust another...his fated partner, Kian.
Darach Gravenor is a keeper of blue Fire. He is alone in his world and he wants to rescue his friend Kian from the horrors of the Other World.

Ceithin Morgan is Cariad. Strong with Ancient magic he teaches Darach that not all children's fairy stories should be believed. Ceithin has his own reasons for helping Darach and shows Darach that there is magic that he never even knew existed.

They are living on borrowed time. Guardian knows what they are doing and he is coming for Ceithin. Darach and Ceithin have two choices -- do they run, or do they make their stand together?

Eoin is faced with the end of times. 

With his friends at his side, can he rescue the prisoner that might hold the secrets to winning the battle between Cariad and City as well as the key to his heart?

His bond brothers, Kian and Darach, probably hate him for his necessary lie, two-thirds of the Council wants him dead, and the prisoner’s amber Fire is killing them both.

The third book in the Fire Trilogy discovers more old Guardians, ancient Cariad magik, and not least of all the other half of Eoin: Trystyn.


My first foray into promotional stuff

My first foray into promotional stuff

So Photobox delivered my first successfull foray into getting my covers printed... rofl...

These are 6x4 postcard size photos for The UK Meet and GRL... I am thinking of getting some printed larger to sign. What do you think?


The Warlock's Secret

The Warlock's Secret



The Book

In a world where magic is rare, Joseph Jamieson is one of the most powerful holders of power. Orophin Tiwele, or Phin to his friends, is the son of the Elf King and has magic of his own. The rules say two supernatural beings with magic cannot be together and Joseph and Phin have lived by that rule despite their attraction to each other.

The resistance is growing larger each day, but traitors threaten everything Joseph has built. He wants peace, but soon comes to realize the way to peace, is through war.

When the only thing that will save lives is Joseph and Phin working together, it becomes impossible to see where magic and passion end and where love could begin.

"....From the opening paragraph, the action is thrilling and nearly continuous, with torture, grand rescues, hidden secrets, and secret loves being revealed as well as the beginnings of prophecy fulfillment. R.J. Scott's writing is exciting and her characters are three-dimensional with pasts and presents that are interesting ... The series is fun and I look forward to reading the next book. Recommended for fantasy fans!...."

Supernatural Bounty Hunters Series

Book 1 - The Vampire Contract
Book 2 - The Guilty Werewolf
Book 3 - The Warlock's Secret
Book 4 - The Demon's Blood
Book 5 - The Incubus Agenda
Book 6 - The Third Kingdom

Buy Links 

Volume 1 incorporating Books 1, 2 & 3 - Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | KOBO | iTunes

Reviews

Long and Short Reviews - 4/5 - "....The many twists and turns in this story kept me glued to the pages until the very end and left me wanting more. This well crafted series is a must for any fantasy fan...."

Literary Nymph Reviews - 4.5/5 - "....RJ Scott has created another amazing installment to this incredibly enjoyable series, which is best read in sequence....."

Mrs. Condit Reads Books - 5/5 - "....I adore this series and eagerly await each new book and highly recommend it for anyone who loves epic fantasy novels filled with heroes and villains and an intensely woven plot...."

The To Be Read Pile - 4/5 - "....From the opening paragraph, the action is thrilling and nearly continuous, with torture, grand rescues, hidden secrets, and secret loves being revealed as well as the beginnings of prophecy fulfillment. R.J. Scott's writing is exciting and her characters are three-dimensional with pasts and presents that are interesting ... The series is fun and I look forward to reading the next book. Recommended for fantasy fans!..."

Manic Readers Review - 4/5 - "....The Warlock’s Secret is for anyone with a love of the paranormal and magic. Ms. Scott wove a wonderful story of heartbreak and determination. The Warlock’s Secret was a real page turner in that you could not wait to find out what happened next..."

Sensual Reads - "....A variety of secrets come to life in The Warlock’s Secret.  R.J. Scott continues to weave a story filled with treachery and deceit, danger and suspense.  Each story gradually unfolds pieces of the plot and we are left wanting more.   The Supernatural Bounty Hunters series is becoming more and more captivating and intriguing.  It is hard to wait to see what happens next.  And that is the true mark of a gifted storyteller – one who knows how to keep the audience enthralled...."

Excerpt

Phin watched Micah and Connor from the cover of the trees for some time. That was, until Connor sniffed the air and turned his way, then he knew he had to step out.

“What do you want?” he snapped irritably. “I’ve had Declan and Levi tracking me to the west and you two here. I’m not going back to listen to Joseph’s crap anymore.” He exhaled heavily. Why he was being so careful not to use his magic to evade this childish hunting game escaped him. He should just port out of here and find a place where the resistance, the hunters, and most of all Joseph, didn’t get up in his face. It was bad enough he’d had to explain himself to his father after he’d sent Asher home near death.

“It’s Joseph,” Micah said. “He’s missing.”

“He’s probably up a mountain communing with nature,” Phin dismissed. Despite hearing something off in Micah’s voice, he wasn’t getting involved. Joseph had this way of finding trouble, then evading it at the last minute. He’d be fine.

“Tell him,” Connor said firmly.

Phin crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t like Connor’s tone. It suggested Micah was reluctant to tell him something.

“Tell me what?” he asked suspiciously.

Micah sighed. “We need your help. Joseph used magic to create a portal to get inside Glitnir.”

Phin dropped his stance of stubbornness and allowed his shock to come to the forefront. He stepped closer to Micah who, to his credit, didn’t move. “What the hell?” Phin shouted. “You know he shouldn’t…we shouldn’t…” He was lost for words. There was a reason they didn’t use their powers near anything to do with Glitnir. Supernaturals with magic were sought after and placed in hiding for their own protection. No one with the kind of skills inside them that he and Joseph had, would be allowed to be free of Glitnir interference.

“We were in the old library,” Micah said, “and he stayed behind and closed the portal.”

“Why would he do that?” Phin demanded. “Did he want to be trapped? Is he suicidal? Hell Micah. Why didn’t you stop him?” Very real fear built inside him. Joseph was inside Glitnir—and he’d used magic? He wouldn’t wish that combination on anyone if anyone had found out. Why hadn’t Joseph just got out? Where was he? None of this could be good.

“I couldn’t stop him,” Micah snapped. “We were discovered. We barricaded the door, he opened the portal, I went through with Levi, and he shut the connection down so no one could follow us.”

“Why did you even let him go there in the first place?” Phin stood right up in front of Micah and, despite having to look up at the vampire, he had Micah backing a step away.

“No one lets Joseph do anything,” Connor defended. He moved to stand between Phin and Micah and his tone and body language stopped Phin’s growing anger in its tracks.

Micah shook his head. “What’s done is done,” he said. “We need to get him out.”

Phin shook his head. “We can’t. He’s on his own.” Phin watched as Micah and Connor exchanged glances. What now? He knew he should have spent more time wandering the forest and less time leaving trails for Connor and Declan to follow. He’d been having fun playing with the two wolf shifters, but evidently Micah wanted him to get serious.

“We found something,” Micah started.

“A journal,” Connor interrupted.

Micah nodded. “A vampire journal. The one mentioned in the prophesies that say it will come to the twins from the royal line of the Sinclairs—”

Connor interrupted. “The prophesy about how one of them will have magic and that twin will lead an army for change.”

Phin felt like he was watching Micah and Joseph when they were together. Connor and Micah were evidently in synch given they kept finishing each other’s sentences. He held up a hand to stop them doing that back and forth in the explanation.

“Connor, you’d best go and find Declan. I left him circling a chalk pit last I saw him. Bring him and Levi here.”

Connor opened his mouth to protest, but a gentle touch from Micah’s hand on his arm had him stripping, shifting, and running the direction Phin indicated. Suddenly tired and needing to sit, Phin walked to the nearest fallen tree and perched himself on one end. He crossed his legs, then with a wave of his hand, indicated Micah should sit opposite.

Micah didn’t argue and the vampire began to talk as soon as he sat down. “The Journal Of Days was what Joseph was looking for at the Vampire Clan’s Council house. It wasn’t there, but he tracked it to Glitnir.”

“Why do you think this journal is so important?” Phin knew a little about vampire society, and he’d heard the prophesies, otherwise he wouldn’t be here alongside Joseph and Micah in this Underground they’d set up. He just hadn’t thought the journal mentioned in the prophesy would ever be found. Just the mention of Joseph again had fear curling inside him. What the hell made the idiot think going into Glitnir was a good thing.

Micah sighed heavily. “When Glitnir was first created and the vamps, werewolves, and the fae all held council, no one wanted the vampires to be part of it.”

“I recall reading that somewhere.”

“What most supernaturals don’t know is that this journal was a way of the vampires placating the others. The wolves and fae were concerned about the vampires creating a whole race of blood demons tied to them as donors, and about the fact they killed indiscriminately. The Vampire Clans Council agreed to have a book that contained, in detail, the workings of the council. It would automatically mark every action by a vampire and be proof in case the fae and the wolves suspected the vamps were planning to overthrow them and take Glitnir as theirs.”

“Every vampire action?”

Micah sighed. “Anything deemed important. The journal was spelled and locked and it was never to be removed from the vault. In fact it could only be opened by these mythical twins from the prophesies and only at the time of real need. Together.”



News Round Up, Texas 4, Sanctuary 7, and a WIP idea

News Round Up, Texas 4, Sanctuary 7, and a WIP idea

Morning all!

The UK Meet

I have volunteered to sit on a panel about blogging... what kind of things do you like authors to blog about? WIPs, coming soon, politics, religion, sex? Let me know...

Also if you are attending the UK Meet I have a list of books available in paperback that you can pre-order for me to sign. This was following on from a couple of emails I received about print books that really made me smile.

You can find the post about this here: Book Order for UK Meet

Replacement Books

Don't forget, if you have bought an RJ Scott book that has been re-released then please email me with a receipt and I will happily replace for free (not including Back Home and Moments which are with TEB). Let me know what format you need. :)

More information and a full list of books can be found here: Information on re-issued books

Total E-Bound

Friday 21st June sees The Doctor And The Bad Boy available to buy and read direct from them... I am so excited for you to read Liam and Mitchell's story! Watch my facebook and this
blog for news.

Next up in Ellery is me writing the final book *The Barman and the SEAL*... sniffs... but YAY... An Ellery Christmas is on the horizon... which I am penciled in to write in JULY... yep, Christmas in July.

I wonder if I should get hubby to put the tree up in my office so I can get in the spirit. As it is I will need to make a Christmas playlist and stuff myself full of chocolates (it's a hard life!)

eXtasy

The Warlock's Secret is now available on third party sales sites... I am so pleased with some of the awesome reviews this series is getting.

Book 4 cover art is as stunning as book 3 and Simeon and Asher's story is one I can not wait to write.

Texas 4

Coming to you November 15th... promise

Sanctuary 7

Took a twist I wasnt expecting and is now firmly split 50/50 between action in the first half and Dale/Joseph re-connecting in the second half... I hope you love reading it as much as I love writing it. All still on schedule to be with you end June...

The Fire Trilogy

Meredith is re-doing the art for these books and I can not wait to show you... the art is STUNNING!

Kian will be re-released in July, Darach in August, Eoin in September. Each book will be re-written in places and edited.

Harry Jones and the Zombie Apocolypse
I renewed my Evernote subscription and was rifling through looking to delete bits and pieces, like research for Still Waters (yes it's been a while!). I came across this idea that will not leave me alone...

It was inspired by an article on this company that build *safe houses* which literally shut down to become nothing more than a huge cube of iron and concrete. SO clever.

What I may do is try and write maybe 1000 words on this a week and see if I can come up with a book that is kind of fun.

Would be a challenge and may be nothing more than a short story but... we'll see...

What do you think of this idea? The blurb is something like this:

Blurb for Harry Jones and the Zombie Apocolypse

Harry Jones is a mild mannered salesman, redundant from his job selling white goods because firm is closing. He applies for a sales job to sell safe houses and is promised five hundred thousand dollars for every one sold. Easy.

Except for when he meets Doctor Amery Pike who is utterly convinced the Zombie Apocolypse isn't very far away. When the doctor insists on seeing the prototype and turns up with a van of food, water and toilet rolls, Harry knows this isn't going to be a good day at the office.

The Art Of Words - with Meredith Russell

The Art Of Words has been re-released through Love Lane Books and is also available in paperback.

After years of following his activist parents, artist Blu Taylor finally found somewhere to call home. He sees art in the world around him yet is never truly part of it. There's a line that keeps him just on the outside of everything and everyone except his best friend.

Thomas Harrington has everything--the money, the car, and the designer suits. But something is missing from a seemingly perfect life, lost when his mother fell ill. After attending a local art show, Blu is contacted by Tom and offered his dream--a chance to show at a gallery.

Though there is a growing attraction between the men, their worlds couldn't be more apart. Blu speaks through paint and brushes, and Tom's life is filled with words and paperwork.

Though opposites attract, these differences might push them apart.


In The Shadow Of The Wolf - with Diane Adams

Written with Diane Adams, I am so pleased to also announce that like The Art Of Words, these will be appearing at Love Lane Books and remain co-authored books. They are currently being edited by the awesome Erika and we have three wonderful new covers, all created by Meredith *She's fabulous* Russell. A print version with all three books will be available later in the year.

Book 1 in e-book will be available Friday 21 June.

Awesome new review for The Case of the Wicked Wolf... X

This is a gritty detective novel that is blended smoothly with a sexy M/M romance story with delicious magic adding just a touch of whimsy to the story.


The Case Of The Dragon's Dilemma - End Street Detective Agency Book 3

The Case Of The Dragon's Dilemma - End Street Detective Agency Book 3

Currently not available - re-release November 2015
The Book 

Dragons, battles, a deal Sam may come to regret, and a Siren attack, leave Sam and Bob in danger, and Mikhail finding a mate. 

Bob and Sam take their kind-of-adopted-now vampire daughter, Mal to look round new schools.

Mikhail is left to babysit the last remaining rescued child whilst they are away. When Sirens appear to steal her away he is left facing the attack alone until a mysterious hero comes to his aid.

Ryujin, or Jin to his friends, is a dragon shifter and his role as Captain of the Dragon Guard puts him in direct conflict with Mikhail.

The minute he sees Mikhail he knows what he wants. Now if he can only get Mikhail to see the same.


"....Talk about fun. And it had dragons too. What more could I ask for? Well, that would be a well written plot, good characters with nicely developed personalities and a smooth flow. Well, guess what? I got it...."






End Street Detective Agency Series

Book 1 - The Case of the Cupid Curse
Book 2 - The Case of the Wicked Wolf
Book 3 - The Case of the Dragon's Dilemma
Book 4 - The Case of the Sinful Santa


Buy Links - eBook

Amazon (US)  |  Amazon (UK)  |  All Romance  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo

Buy Links - Print Book

Volume 2 incorporating Books 3 and 4 - Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)

Reviews

MM Good Book Reviews - 4/5 - "....This story is a wonderful addition to the End Street Detective Agency continuing the kidnapped children/ siren storyline while weaving slightly darker elements into it to give us an exciting dangerous story...."

"....I recommend this to those who love brilliant paranormal investigations, danger and mad dragons, new storyline directions, great characters, incredible hot sex and a brilliant ending that leads us to the next book...."

Mrs Condit & Friends Read Books - 5/5 - "....Ms. Scott and Ms. Kell make a great team on this book. You’re never overwhelmed with too much information and are generally left salivating and wanting to know what’s waiting for our intrepid heroes in the next book...."

Literary Nymphs Reviews - 4/5 - "....Talk about fun. And it had dragons too. What more could I ask for? Well, that would be a well written plot, good characters with nicely developed personalities and a smooth flow. Well, guess what? I got it. There are even some dark and dangerous elements to add some excitement. And I can’t forget the steamy sex between mates Jin and Mikhail...."

Excerpt

"And you’re sure you are going to be okay looking after our little guest?" Bob didn’t look convinced even as he asked.

"I’ll be absolutely fine," Mikhail said firmly. "It’s not like she does or says anything. She just sits there." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked squarely at the small blonde-haired girl curled up on a temporary bed with her thumb in her mouth. He knew absolutely nothing about children, other than that they were shouting, squealing bundles of confusion that he couldn’t quite get his head around. But at least this one was quiet. She hadn’t said a single word since being rescued from the docks and the cage she had been held in. The fact that she had been one of the children in the cages was another contradiction. He could understand Mal being in a cage—the small vampire was a spitfire and constantly back-chatting and by all accounts had made life difficult for her captors. This child, though—why would any human think she was threat enough to cage her?

"We don’t know what her species is," Bob reminded him. "I could stay here and back you up." There was no trace of sarcasm in Bob’s voice, but there was an element of slyness there that Sam picked up instantly.

"You’re not staying here," Sam said firmly. "We have two schools to check out with Mal and she needs both her guardians with her."

Bob muttered something under his breath but didn’t argue his position with any conviction.

Mikhail chuckled. Bob was handling having a surrogate daughter in about the same easy way as Mikhail was handling having children around him at all.

"I don’t have anywhere to be," Mikhail confirmed. "I don’t mind sitting and watching."

"See if you can get her to talk," Sam suggested. "We can’t return her to her people if we don’t even know what she is."

Mal ran into the room and slid to a stop next to Sam. She grabbed at his jacket to stop from falling on the wooden floor.

"Sam," she said quickly. "It’s time to go."

Mikhail waved them away and shut the front door after they left. He wandered through the house and spent a short while in the file room, but Teddy was lurking and the disapproving looks from the ghost had him leaving to go and check on the girl. For a while he hovered at the door. Sam had tried talking to her. Bob had attempted cajoling her. Smudge had even spent an inordinate amount of time winding in and out of her legs every time she stood up.

Still nothing.

Maybe he should give it a try. He did have one advantage over Bob in that his friend was a pure vampire. And over Sam, who was a human. Maybe she would react differently if she knew more about Mikhail? That he wasn’t pure vampire. Maybe she was a mixed species and had learned not to share that fact with others. A lot of paranormals shunned mixed race beings because they weren’t all one or the other.

It was worth a try at least. What did he have to lose?

He dragged a chair from the side of the room, then straddled it backwards before resting his chin on his hands. Where to start?

"So, I’m Mikhail," he began. She stared right at him and even stopped twirling her hair to listen. "I found out that I wasn’t who I thought I was. It was hard to come to terms with finding out my entire life had been a lie. People didn’t accept me. Even friends I’d known for a long time became enemies." Great. If anything, the confused expression on the little girl showed exactly how little of what he was saying made sense. "Let me start again."

She shuffled a little on the bed but still said nothing.

"I was about your age…well, ten anyway—hell, if you are even ten that is—when I found out my dad wasn’t my dad. Turns out I wasn’t the full-blooded siren, or prince, I was expected to be. In fact, I’m half vampire. Before I was ten you couldn’t have told I was different from other children my age." Mikhail shook his head. He recalled the teasing and bullying when he couldn’t master breathing underwater for long periods of time without using magic, and how he’d learned to pretend everything was okay. As the middle son to the siren king, Mikhail hadn’t been allowed to fail. Did this child in front of him have the same problems?

Mikhail sighed. "As I grew up, my vampire nature became dominant and my siren side became quieter and in the background. I know what it’s like to be different and to have to keep secrets."

Was that enough to communicate what he wanted? Would she see that he understood if she was a half-breed or unusual species type?

She uncurled and sat up.

"Eliza," she said softly. "My name is Eliza."

"Hey, Eliza," Mikhail said. He kept his voice low and friendly. "Can you tell me how to get hold of someone who might be missing you? Parents? Family?"

Becoming mute again, she shook her head, then clambered down off the bed. She walked past Mikhail and into the hallway before going into the bathroom. Well, at least he’d got her name. That was a start. She shut the door behind her and Mikhail contemplated what he was going to ask her next. Maybe a location, or a surname, or anything that meant she could get home. 



The Fitzwarren Inheritance - new covers, series re-released

The Fitzwarren Inheritance - new covers, series re-released

"I curse you and your children's children, that you shall all live out your allotted years, and that those years shall be filled with grief and loss and betrayal, even as you have betrayed and bereaved me."
The Psychic's Tale
Book 1
The Soldier's Tale
Book 2
The Lord's Tale
Book 3
Four hundred years ago in rural England, a mob burned two men to death, but not before one of them, Jonathan Curtess, hurled a dreadful curse at the mob's leader,

Sir Belvedere Fitzwarren.

The curse has followed the family through the centuries, bringing grief and loss to each generation.

Mark Renfrew is a closeted psychic and openly gay. When his grandmother discovers a family link to a 17th century feud and a still-potent curse, she insists he investigates and do his best to end it.

When he travels to the village of Steeple Westford, he meets and falls for Jack Faulkner, an archaeologist.

He also meets the Fitzwarrens, who are facing yet another tragedy.

Then Mark learns that the man who cursed them had twisted the knife by leaving three cryptic conditions that would lift the curse, and he knows he has to try to break the curse his ancestor had set.
Corporal Daniel Francis has returned to his childhood home in England to heal; the only one of his unit that survived a roadside bomb.

He skips medication, based on a stubborn refusal to become an addict, and he is overwhelmed with survivor's guilt.

Doctor Sean Lester has joined his father's surgery and when he is held at knife point by a patient high on drugs it is a soldier, Daniel, that leaps to his rescue-much to Sean's horror.

When Sean nearly runs Daniel down in the dark he finds a man who needs help, and resolves to be the person to show Daniel that it is possible to live through guilt and find happiness.

Set against the backdrop of the Fitzwarren family curse, The Soldiers Tale is a story of one man's fight to find his place in a new world outside of the Army.

Will Daniel and Sean fill the second of three cryptic conditions that can lift the curse?
Phil Fitzwarren is surrounded by death and tragedy as a result of the curse imposed on his family by Jonathan Curtess. The estate is riddled with debt, his parents and brother killed and his young nephew and much-wanted heir to what is left of the Fitzwarren estate fights for his life after being born prematurely.

Since the arrival of Mark Renfrew, a psychic descendent of Curtess, and Daniel, a soldier suffering from PTSD, breaking two of the cryptic conditions of the curse, Phil feels his life is being overtaken by events out of his control.

Phil also has to admit that as his friends and family pair off and marry, he is lonely, and maybe a little jealous. He takes his anger and frustration out on the climbing wall, only to be picked up by a gorgeous guy when he freezes twenty feet up.

Lee Curtis is a force of nature, inserting himself into Phil’s life before Phil has time to breathe. But there is the third part of the curse to break, “when the one who seeks in danger is sworn to the landless lord”. Phil realises that Lee is the final piece of the puzzle and the curse which has plagued his family for centuries may finally be broken.
Amazon | ARe

Friday Interview - Lillian Francis

Friday Interview - Lillian Francis

Hi everybody, Lillian Francis here. I’d just like to thank RJ for hosting me here today. Now on with the questions.

*****

Where do you get your ideas for sex scenes? Porn? LGBT friends? Personal experience?
I let the characters write the sex scenes. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but it is true. I only write these types of scenes where they have an impact on the story. Forwarding the plot or somehow giving the reader an insight into the character, or the character an insight into himself. Consequently I tend to let the scene play out around what I want to be revealed, and let the guys fill in the gaps as the scene develops. This could explain why sex scenes take me three times as long to write as a regular scene. Luckily I tend to only have one or two such moments in each book.

Tetley's or PG Tips?
Neither. I haven’t willingly had milk in tea for several years and neither of those taste particularly palatable black. I drink Lady Grey. A black tea with hints of orange and lemon.

Do you take a notepad with you wherever you go? 
Absolutely, show me an author who doesn’t. I always have a notepad and a pen, because you never know when an idea will strike or that perfect sentence you’ve been struggling with will suddenly pop into your head. Normally when you are in the middle of the drive to work and can’t get to a piece of paper. Then I have to keep repeating it over and over, and just hope nobody speaks to me before I have a chance to scribble those elusive lines down. Once they’re gone, they’re gone and you never get them back in quite the same way again. I have tried a voice recorder but I find speaking my words aloud unnatural and they hit a wall somewhere between brain and voice in a way that doesn’t happen between brain and fingers.

The Texas Series

The Texas Series

Book 4 in the Texas series, 'Texas Family' is coming 15th November....
The Heart Of Texas
Texas 1
Texas Winter
Texas 2
Texas Heat
Texas 3
This is a story of murder, deceit, the struggle for power, lust and love, the sprawling life of a rancher and the whirlwind existence of a playboy. But under and through it all, as Riley learns over the months, this is a tale about family and everything that that word means. Riley's dead brother left more than just bitter memories for Riley to deal with. The FBI get involved and suddenly it is more than his good name that is on the line. Jack is always there for him but how much more can Riley’s husband reasonably be able to understand? Against the backdrop of twenty half naked models on DD land, and in the midst of fighting the oil establishment that just won't give Riley a chance, Texas Heat is the story of one hot summer in Texas with a Gay Rodeo, a bar fight at the Rusty Nail, humor, angst and a love between two men that just grows stronger every day.
Amazon | ARe | Love Lane Books


Print: Texas Winter

Print: Texas Heat

News Round up, Texas 4 and why I chickened out...

News Round up, Texas 4 and why I chickened out...

Why I chickened out

I posted this photo to my FB and immediately hid it...

I've been deleted from FB before so I am generally careful with the photos I post now...I don't want to lose everything, or everyone...

It's probably too suggestive... right?

I love it though... what is your opinion...?

Books now with Love Lane

As you've probably all seen I now have the rights back on my books. The following books are now republished with Love Lane Books

Oracle 2 - Book of Secrets

Oracle 2 - Book of Secrets

Cover Art by Meredith Russell

The Book

Alex is making good on his promise to put things right. Along with Griff and Chris, he retrieves items he had stolen with Edward, and replacing them. It's dangerous work, especially since he lost his most useful Oracle-given powers. 

When a replacement goes wrong and Alex 'disappears' he realizes that something has left a mark he can never rid himself of.

Meanwhile Luke is kidnapped to work on a manuscript that could hold the key to the secrets of alchemy and offer the reader eternal life. The Voynich manuscript is missing its cypher and it's up to Alex to steal it for the Serbian ex-art thief whom he calls friend.

Only — it's held in the private library at Windsor Castle.

"....I got the HEA ending with just enough mischief to make this story a highly entertaining read.  I recommend it highly to any paranormal fan.  If you missed Oracle, now is the time to pick up both books and lose yourself for a weekend...."

Buy Links - eBook


Buy Links - Print Book


Reviews

Hearts on Fire Reviews - 5/5 - "....I got the HEA ending with just enough mischief to make this story a highly entertaining read.  I recommend it highly to any paranormal fan.  If you missed Oracle, now is the time to pick up both books and lose yourself for a weekend...."

MM Good Book Reviews - 4/5 - "....This is a very interesting storyline that has many mystical puzzles for you to question. I know I haven’t been able to find the answers so I will leave it for the Gods to decide if R.J. Scott will bless us with the answers (and if not she’s a big meanie) or if we should just accept that the mystical doesn’t always have an answer. Having Alex’s powers come back gradually was a well thought out plot and to have it woven into an impossible theft was exciting and very interesting. Linking Luke into the mystery was brilliant and adding a figure from Alex’s past was an added bonus. I was left with questions as to why and how some things happened, but some of it was just so incredible that to question it is impossible....
Click cover to enlarge

....I have to recommend this to those who love the mystical and the magical, some great action, a touch of angst and a very happy ending in unusual circumstances....."

Rainbow Book Reviews - "....As a sequel, this is a great book because it picked up on the characters and their stories, and answered many of the questions I had at the end of the first book. But I think it would work even as a standalone story, with enough riddles, quirky characters, and grand mysteries to keep me entertained....."

Literary Nymphs Reviews - 4/5 - "....Then there’s the theft at Windsor Castle. It’s pretty obvious Ms. Scott did a great deal of research about its history and layout and the same goes for DaVinci’s works. It’s all nicely integrated into the plot and adds a nice sense of realism. With this manuscript theft comes new characters, some ultimately good and others bad. As you might guess, Alex’s powers don’t stay gone forever but come back gradually and without explanation. It’s handled well but there are still questions about his powers that have been left unanswered. I can only hope that at some point in the future Ms. Scott will work those into a plot.

So, if you enjoy an action packed, danger filled story with a smooth plot and a great paranormal component then I suggest that you give this new release a try...."

Dark Diva Reviews - 4.5/5 - "....As a fan of Ms. Scott, I eagerly await anything that she writes as I know that I will not be dissatisfied. Book of Secrets is a different style of writing as compared to her other popular series, but none the less, just as well written. At times I found my heart beating wildly as we were led on a racing adventure and then smiling pages later. Mystery and suspense meld with ancient history and mythology, a combination that would intrigue any reader; especially this reviewer. I can only hope that Alex and Luke will speak through Ms. Scott in the near future as a book three is definitely in order. If you are a fan of Ms. Scott and have yet to read this series, do not let it pass you by. You will not be disappointed...."

Excerpt

Chapter 1

"The best way to remain in the museum after it closes to the public is to be inside before it closes," Alex Sheridan said. He paused for a moment to allow Chris to have his say but the other man said nothing. Alex was relieved Chris didn't immediately argue but he also wasn't entirely sure how he was going to manage the feat he had just stated as fact. He just had the feeling that if he said the words convincingly enough then he would be able to find a way to make this happen. Chris Samuels, his friend, ex-US Army lieutenant, and now mastermind of their little team, probably imagined every worst-case scenario possible. That was just what he did.

Chris sat back in his chair and crossed his legs at the ankles. Tapping a rhythm on the table in the restaurant, he narrowed his gaze.

"I've done the Ashmolean before, you know," Alex added helpfully. Griff snorted a laugh and Alex turned to look at the man sitting next to him, wondering if he should issue a snappy comeback. How else was he supposed to say it?

Griff shook his head and looked away at the waiters walking quietly between tables with plates of cakes and sandwiches and pots of hot water for tea.

"You've done it?" Chris said. His tone was derisive and his voice carried a note of laughter. "Is that what you call stealing from one of the oldest museums in England? And was that before or after you fell in a pit of fire and lost all your freaky powers?" Chris asked the questions casually but there was a hint of warning underlying them.

"Chris has a point," Griff added. "You may well have 'done the Ashmolean before' but we keep coming back to the fact that if you go for this today you will be going in blind."

Alex turned back to look across the street from their table in the Randolph Hotel. The Ashmolean Museum was a gorgeous building, almost as pretty as the British Museum in London, with columns inspired by ancient Greece. Tourists of all nationalities grouped around the museum, the hotel, spilling onto the busy road and posing for photos while chatting excitedly. Alex couldn't hear them, merely see their wild gesticulations and the smiles on their faces. Here inside the hotel everything was subdued and quietly respectful with a rarefied air. Around twenty people sat scattered in informal groups around the high-ceilinged room. There were no more than one hundred steps between here and the museum, and Alex could picture each footfall in his mind. The carved marble in his jacket was a heavy enough weight to remind him of what was at stake to make his observations of distance and obstacles acutely relevant.

"Can't you, just this time, walk in and simply place the thing where someone in authority can find it?" This came from Griff who, based on the tone of his voice, still couldn't comprehend what drove Alex to do what he did.

"I took it in stealth, I want to replace it the same way," Alex said. He was completely aware of how stubborn he sounded. Not even Luke completely understood why Alex pushed himself into situations like this. How could he explain that he felt alive when he danced with danger and the risk of discovery? Or that, at the moment of replacing the item he had originally stolen, the flood of memories of how he used to be was like the high from some drug.

"So what do you plan to do?" Chris interrupted his thoughts. He and Alex had talked about everything at length. Quite possibly he was the only other one who really got the rush of adrenaline. As a black ops soldier he'd been in war zones where even breathing was damned dangerous. He knew.

"Play it by ear. Visit and decide where it goes, then hide." Saying the words made everything appear so matter-of-fact.

"You make it sound so simple. You're six foot two and it's not like you blend with the crowd. They have extra security on Guy Fawkes Night and probably some kind of watch list."

"I've never been on any watch lists. Whatever I stole no one ever knew it was me," Alex defended. That was true. Still, before the fire and the loss of all his 'powers', for want of a better word, he could have walked into any museum and moved cameras, played with people's heads, even disappeared into what Edward had called 'other space'. Now he was stuck just being normal and no one outside of his head could understand the frustration.

Griff stood in a flurry of motion and with a barely hidden sigh of exasperation. "Let's just get on with it," he said.

At a more leisurely pace Alex stood and stretched tall. The restaurant was set up for afternoon tea and it was quiet enough for their small corner to be private but it was a different matter outside the old building. Stepping out into St Giles, dodging buggies and camera-wielding tourists, they finally managed to get across the road when the lights changed and ended up at the bottom of the steps. Even though some daylight remained, there was the hint of smoke in the air and the autumnal wind carried with it the expectation of the firework displays that would be widespread tonight.

The last time there had been a great theft from the Ashmolean had been New Year's Eve night over ten years ago. Alex couldn't claim responsibility for that, but he knew who had carried out the audacious theft of the Cézanne. Even to this day Alex agreed that using the noise of fireworks to drown out the sounds of the theft was ingenious. He'd never had to employ tools like that before. The very fact thefts existed, executed by people without the abilities he used to have, meant he had a template he could work from if he needed. The security would probably be tighter tonight; the museum would have learned from their loss. On the flip side they would not be expecting anyone to try the same thing again, let alone someone replacing a missing artifact.

Alex glanced across at Chris, who nodded in return. There was a way of doing this. Chris and Griff visited, Alex staying a little behind, and they simply walked the museum, enjoying great artifacts of the past. They touched what they were allowed to, and stood and admired what they couldn't. Chris and Griff gathered intel, but mostly they were just there to case for escape points if Alex were to need a way out. Alex wandered around by himself, deliberately avoiding the Greece display where the tablets were held until very close to the end of his tour. He was adept at making it appear he was part of a group, always tagging along with others and even initiating conversation. All the while he watched and learned.

A new display of Roman pieces found in a field just outside Bicester made him curious, and he leaned in to check out the arrangement of it all. Coins, a helmet, and several knives without hilts were shown to their best advantage in glass presentation cases and his fondness for all things Roman made it easy to linger a while until the next group swept by and took him with them. He considered the taller glass cabinets under the bridge that connected the art displays with the atrium and the marble statues, and imagined the way down from that height in the staggered cases. They formed a natural staircase that dropped three feet at a time. He was a fit, agile man, and even without his powers he would be able to make very short work of getting down to floor level. Much better than the security teams he had scouted the previous night, all of whom appeared to be fit and healthy but maybe a little complacent with the routine of it all.

Alex made his way through the middle area until finally he arrived in the area labeled Ancient Greece and stood directly in front of a beautiful display of various Grecian artifacts. The glass of the surrounding cabinets was lit in a muted glow and the tablet itself hung suspended by near-invisible clear plastic hooks that encased it from top to bottom. What was left was stunningly beautiful and intrigued the greatest minds. The part in Alex's jacket had been the fifth piece of five that was a special order. He had never understood why the man who bought his and Edward's skills only wanted one part of the five-part puzzle but his was not to reason why. They had stolen it six years before and no one had anything linking it to them. Nor had the museum publicized the theft, not after the loss of the Cézanne a few years before.

The plaque explained the history of the piece and he was engrossed when he caught movement reflected in the glass; someone stood behind him. He imagined from the invasion of his personal space that it was Chris or Griff. There had to be a reason why they had broken protocol and connected with him, and with a wash of concern he turned to face the person to his side.

"Alex Sheridan," the man acknowledged. Alex didn't immediately react. He couldn't. Shorter than Alex by five or so inches, the man was dressed casually in jeans and a jacket with a backpack slung over his shoulder and his eyes hidden behind shades. To all intents and purposes he appeared nothing more than a tourist strolling the corridors of history. Just like Alex.

"Dragan," Alex replied softly. For a second they simply stared at each other then Dragan pushed his glasses up into his scruffy hair. Piercing amber eyes looked at him and a flood of memories pushed Alex back a step. The last time he and Dragan Jovanovic had met it had been Alex with the upper hand. Alex who left with the artifact. Alex who made the money. Dragan had been the one left with nothing but the bitterness of being defeated by a man he had nicknamed 'Ghost'.

"Ghost." He inclined his head. "It's been a long time." His voice was that curious mix of Serbian and American that was a product of a European birth and an education at Harvard. An ex-member of the Serbian art theft team known as The Pink Panthers, he was, to Alex's knowledge, one of the only ones who'd outlived their mafia supporters. He'd been gone a long time. Five, maybe six years. Alex had thought him dead.

"Why are you here?" Alex asked quickly. The group he had attached himself to was exclaiming in loud voices over the perfect physique of a carved marble statue of Apollo and was steadily moving away. Too soon Alex would be standing on his own in the middle of the room talking to someone Interpol had on their art theft list. Not good. Really not good. A sharp pain travelled from one temple to another and he tensed at the familiar sensation. Now was not a good time for one of his regular migraines to make an appearance.

"Same as you I imagine," Dragan said with a smirk.

"Dragan—"

"Firework night. Quite a precipitous night. Don't you agree?"

The chatting from Alex's retreating cover group was lessening and Alex had to move if he wanted to stay firmly under the radar. Rooted to the spot he couldn't move nor take his eyes off Dragan.

"I'm replacing everything I stole," Alex said quickly.

"So I heard. You and your Lord and your soldier and the man who knows languages. Luke MacKinnon? Some kind of anti-thieving team I think? And he is your partner, this Luke?"

"He has nothing to do with what I am undertaking here."

"I am sure he doesn't, but I think he soon will." With this cryptic statement and a civil nod of his head, Dragan walked away as if he had all the time in the world and as if he wasn't carrying a pistol under his jacket.

Shit. How do I know he was carrying a gun? Why can I visualize the gun? Why can I sense the shape of it when it's hidden? Why does he have a gun? Why does my head hurt?

Hell, why didn't the Ashmolean have some kind of anti-terror security scanner? Dragan wasn't the kind of man who had a gun without the intention of using it. Didn't the Brits take anything seriously? Calming his breathing, Alex considered his options. Dragan being here, in the vicinity, with a gun, and some kind of intention to carry out a theft, was a very large spanner in the works. The attention of the police could be raining down on them, especially if Dragan used the damned gun.

What do I do? Stand here? Carry on with what I was planning? Do I call the whole thing off?

Thoughts ran and twisted in his head and the pain knifed again. This time it hurt enough for Alex to move the hell away from standing there like an idiot. He consciously followed the direction that Dragan had taken but when he rounded the corner the man had disappeared from view. Instead he caught a glimpse of Chris and Griff walking toward the exit and glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes to closing and the place was still busy enough to hide whatever he was doing. If he stayed and did this thing tonight then he needed to pull himself the fuck together and stop worrying about what ifs and maybes. His plan consisted of a quick 'in and out' and pushing thoughts aside that could rock his equilibrium, he focused.

Striding confidently past exhibits, he took a left then a right out to a door marked Staff that Chris had cleared as the best entrance, and pushed it open. He already had the words at hand if he was spotted but the luck of the gods remained on his side and he ended up heading down the back stairs to the basement and the dry storage area. Down here everything was covered in protective packaging and was storage for a mix of items rotated into display and new exhibit contents.

After standing still for a second he then turned on his heel and headed to the back of the large labyrinthine area. Dodging behind a pile of large gray crates to avoid two chattering staff members, he finally found himself in an area full of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Happy that he was safely out of sight and earshot, he settled with his back against the wall and his ass pressed on the cold floor. He was prepared for the cold. The cold was nothing, nor was there fear of where he sat or why. No. This time his head was full of Dragan. What the hell was the man doing in broad daylight in Oxford, jeez, in England at all? How had he stayed alive after the great mafia showdowns of 2008? So many families turned on each other and the hired help often went first. The Pink Panthers, named for the diamond in the eponymous series of movies, was not only disbanded but ruthlessly hunted down by rival families and authorities alike. Dragan was, to all intents and purposes, the last of his kind.

Alex flicked through what Dragan had said then he remembered the almost throwaway line about Luke. Something about Luke soon being part of this? This what? The retrieval and replacement scheme he worked on? What?

His headache subsided as he calmed his thoughts and lost himself in memories and finally he arrived in a place in his head where he could relax and wait until the dark and the fireworks. Luke was in another University town, Cambridge, delivering a lecture on translation and Alex had been the willing audience as Luke practiced his speech.

God. He wished Luke was here. Now.



* * * *



Luke wrapped up his speech with a flourish of his hands and a summary that he had practiced over and over for many long hours. The applause was deafening in the acoustics of the medieval university hall and for the first time since he had agreed to talk fourteenth century translation he was pleased he had said so.

He wasn't the best at standing in front of people and talking. It didn't matter that he was an expert in what he was talking about or that he had experience in ancient languages that a lot of the professors and students alike would sell their own grandmothers to own. Of course he couldn't talk about what had happened with Alex, or the crazy connection the two of them had, or even the fact Luke's name was carved into Alex's skin as part of some gods against man battle. Keeping Alex a secret was as vital to him as keeping hold of Alex's heart.

"Thank you so much," Professor Jameison said. He pumped Luke's hand so hard that Luke had to rub his fingers when he finished. The short, balding, bespectacled man was a master of ancient Greece and was one of those that, if only they knew what Luke had seen, would be pinning Luke down for information. To know the Oracle. To have slept with the Oracle. That was some pretty intense and heavy stuff.

"You're welcome," Luke replied. He gathered together his papers and the notes he had prepared but not actually read from, and pushed them all into his case.

"We would be honored if you could join us in the refectory for a drink?"

"I'm so sorry. I promised I would be back home for later tonight, so I really need to think about battling through the traffic." Nothing anyone said could get Luke to stay away from Six Pillars tonight. Alex was coming home and after one of his jobs he always needed Luke as his center.

"A pity. But I must say I would appreciate the chance to discuss the scripts in more detail at a later point. Should I have my assistant contact yours for a time?"

Luke smiled. An assistant? Wouldn't that be nice. He may know a few languages, he may well have an instinctive need for learning, but he was still a low-paid researcher working on his own papers. Taking on jobs like this one in Cambridge where he was paid a pretty decent fee made it at least feel like he contributed something financial to his and Alex's life. Of course, Alex being left a large part of Thanos's billions did make life a little easier, added to the fact that they now shared an apartment in Griff's family home for half of the year.

"Please get her to email me and I will be very pleased to come back."

Making his excuses and accepting both congratulations and questions on his way out, he realized that the November sky, redolent with the scent of bonfires, was so dark he couldn't immediately find his car. Evidently medieval buildings didn't have outside lighting as a given. Finally in the car, he checked his cell. There were no messages from Alex although Luke had an insistent nagging at the base of his skull that he really needed to get home soon.

Nothing will go wrong. Alex knows what he is doing.

"It's okay, Luke." Alex's voice echoed in his head and Luke smiled. It was just wishful thinking that it was actually Alex's voice and not just a thought that manifested as if it were planted there. He missed that connection they had experienced in Greece. The connection hadn't lasted long but he had just gotten used to it when Athan had left Alex. He'd only noticed how much he had grown used to it when it had completely gone.

Just short of three hours driving and he headed up the winding road to Six Pillars and parked on the wide drive. After grabbing his papers and bags he hurried into the house and without hellos was intent on finding either Griff or Chris and hearing how Alex was getting on.

"And?" he asked. Griff looked over at him from stirring something that smelled vaguely Italian and tomato-y on the gleaming stainless steel stove.

Griff knew exactly what to say. "Everything's fine. He went in. He hasn't contacted us. Security was light and the crowds were heavy."

Luke deflated a little as the worry left him then he winced as a band of pain squeezed his temples. Rubbing at the offending areas he cursed. The pain had been on and off all afternoon.

"Okay?" Griff asked, looking concerned.

"Fighting a headache; the motorways were hell. I just need some pain meds and a shower."

"He'll be back by two," Griff offered. Luke managed a smile. However much he smiled though, Griff could see straight through him. "Someone phoned and left a message for you." Griff turned back to the pot. "Chris wrote it on the pad."

Lord and Lady Morgan had left the house mostly empty when they spent their usual six months in Monaco, and just the four of them lived here. Him and Alex in the west side of the building, Griff and Christopher in the east part. The fact that four men lived here was easy to spot to an untrained eye by the piles of notes and takeaway menus that littered the side counter. It never failed to amaze him that pizza was still delivered to a house as grand as Six Pillars or to a man as titled as Griff.

"I cooked pasta," Griff said. "It's this bake thing if you're interested."

"You cooked?" Luke said. "Are you feeling okay?" He rummaged through the notes until he discovered one in Chris's handwriting in among the clutter. A single name: Smith, and a contact number.

"Ha bloody ha," Griff deadpanned. The very British swearword sounded so damn dry.

"This was it? Just a name and a number?"

"You need to ask Chris, he took the message. Dinner's in twenty."

"I'll be down. Where's Chris?"

"The usual."

Luke wandered out of the kitchen and down the long hallway to the room off the study where he knew he would find Chris. When Alex was out doing his thing, Chris could be found in the empty room doing his. The ex-soldier worried just as much as Luke did. Luke knocked and entered just as Chris finished a roundhouse kick to the punching bag hanging from the ceiling. He was sweating and concentrating and Luke hesitated to interrupt his friend for a moment. He took a step back to leave but words stopped him.

"You need to talk to him, Luke." Chris held on to the bag to stop its swaying and pushed his other hand through his short, sweat-damp hair.

"To Griff?"

"No. To your idiot boyfriend. He's gone into that place with no fucking plan, no backup, and a wish for his crazy-assed powers back again."

"I'll talk to him," Luke said. He meant it. He would talk to Alex for all the good that would do. Recently Alex had become more and more reckless in the way he approached his retrievals and replacements and Luke fought very hard to keep his worry on the down low.

"I'm just…" Chris stopped and stepped away from the bag. He used a shrug to punctuate the unfinished sentence and Luke knew exactly what he was trying to say. He was worried. Luke was worried. And now he had a freaking full-blown headache.



* * * *



Alex opened his eyes and then checked his watch. He hadn't slept but he had relaxed and the plan for what he was doing was very set in his head. The headache was getting worse and he felt a sick dizziness as he clambered to stand. Settling his breathing, he let his newly opened eyes become accustomed to the dark and debated using the small flashlight in his pocket. He had a pretty clear idea where he needed to go and he visualized a path. The security cameras only started outside of this storage room and he knew enough to avoid every single one on the route he needed to take. Opening the storeroom door led him to a darkened corridor and, pausing for a moment, he took the way he had come in back out to the museum. The guards patrolled every so often, there were the cameras, the Ashmolean wasn't stupid—they had enough to protect everything that could be taken. They just hadn't planned on someone putting something back.

The museum was silent, no one near him. For a second an overwhelming feeling of want washed over him. He hankered for the ability to play with the cameras—to turn them to another source. Pointedly he stared up at the nearest camera, one focused away from him, and flinched when it shook slightly. It didn't move completely but Alex frowned. He was losing it, thinking anything about moving cameras.

Quietly he made his convoluted way in the direction of the exhibit and in a few minutes the missing piece of stone had returned to its place. For a second he watched it, back where it should be, and some emotion flooded through him. Luke. Alex was proud of what he was doing because it was what Luke wanted. Did that make him a pushover? Was that why he stood in the museum in the gently lit hall staring like a calf-eyed idiot with a feeling of pure peace inside him? Closing his eyes briefly he shook his head to clear the thoughts. Luke would listen to what Alex said and would just give that damn enigmatic smile. This particular piece of marble had been hidden from the public eye for quite a few years now and Luke wanted people to be able to see and touch these links to the ancient world.

Nodding at the marble, silently admiring its placement, he turned and made his way to the only egress that Chris had identified as a safe and easy way to leave. Attuned to the silence of the museum, it was easy to hear approaching footsteps, and quickly Alex slid behind the nearest sculpture big enough to hide him. When the footsteps passed he moved across the glass bridge and with agile grace that belied his size he used the tops of cabinets to reach the ground floor in seconds. Clearly one guard prowled the first floor and that left two other guards somewhere in the building. Waiting for a second, he listened carefully and frowned when he heard voices.

"It came from here," one guard said.

"It's probably some damn computer glitch," the other replied. He sounded way past annoyed and straight on to pissed.

"We can't always blame this stuff on computers." Guard one laughed as he said this.

Alex watched as the two walked the very corridor he needed to use to get to the skylight in the Civil War hall. Anxiety knotted in his chest and he breathed through the issues.

"Jesus Christ!"

Alex couldn't work out which guard was exclaiming but he hugged closer to the sculpture. Something didn't sound right.

"There's glass everywhere. Look. Up. The skylight. It's been smashed."

"There's a bag. A red one. Wait. Sound the alarm."

Alex's stomach sank. A red bag? Dragan had been holding a red rucksack. He wouldn't have made this mess though. He was an expert. The alarm was a shrieking cacophony of discordant notes and the museum lights came on full and bright. Alex winced. Fuck. Two guards blocked his only exit, thinking was difficult with the noise in his head, the light burned, and Dragan was somewhere in the freaking building. What the hell was he going to do now?

"Police are on their way. Five out." This was a third voice. Probably the guard Alex had evaded coming across the bridge.

"I'm going to check north."

"I'll take south."

"They could be armed. Stan, stay here at the skylight."

"You said they could be armed. Should we be splitting up?"

If Alex weren't in shit up to his neck he might even think the whining was funny. Not many art thieves actually went around with heat. Except, it seemed, Dragan. In that freaking red bag. Think. Think.

Scrolling through possibilities to get the hell out was messing with his head. There were several potential exits but most of them left him exposed once he left the building. The roof wasn't an option. Fuck. Pain banded his head and he winced again. Then the burn started. As fear edged into his normally calm thoughts, heat began to build inside him. He held up a hand and the sleeve of his black polo neck fell back to expose his wrist. Blue. Sparking just under his skin, a cerulean blue that squirmed and formed into shapes. In disbelief he watched as it coalesced into recognizable letters. The same letters that had been carved into his skin. The same that had disappeared in the fire. Concentrating the burn until it sat in the center of his chest, he inhaled and exhaled deeply. The burn cascaded through his body and he welcomed the hurt it spread along its path.

This was Alex with the power of the gods under his skin, and closing his eyes tightly he concentrated on his Self. Athan wasn't inside him. There was no trace of the boy who had been so much a part of him for so long. This was all Alex and it was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. When the gray hues of images burned inside his eyelids he opened his eyes. Everything around him was blurred and faded as if he were looking through dirty, cracked glass.

Could he have sidestepped into his other space?

Taking an experimental step away from the carvings, he inhaled and then moved directly into the line of sight of a very nervous Stan. The guard was jumpy and looking between the room around him and down at his watch.

"Come on… come on…" he muttered.

Alex stopped right in front of him but the guard looked right through him. Fuck. This was real. This was happening. Not wanting to waste a single moment, he moved behind the guard and lifted the red bag. It would vanish into the other space with him—something he'd never been able to explain to Luke, or even understand himself. In a smooth movement he climbed two cases until finally he reached the last display and stood under the broken skylight. Seconds later and he was out on the small side-extension roof. One minute more, with sirens sounding right outside the museum, and he was running at a fast pace back to where he had left the car. Halfway between the Ashmolean and his car he shifted back to the now. Not consciously. It just happened. He hoped to hell no one spotted that freaky-ass trick.

Dropping the red bag on the passenger seat he belted himself into the car, started the engine, and drove away as sedately as he could. The buzzing in his head sounded familiar. Something was happening inside him.

How the hell was he going to explain this to Luke? They'd only just settled into a routine of being normal. Well, as normal as it got between an ex-thief like him and an academic like Luke.

How the hell he was going to explain to Luke what had just happened?




Chapter 2



Alex swung the VW Golf in a smooth arc to end up the far side of the stone fountain. He needed time to get around how he was feeling.

"Fuck," he muttered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Killing the engine he rested his forehead on crossed arms against the steering wheel. The scent of leather teased his nostrils and he inhaled deeply. After spending the last few hours in the basement of a museum, surrounded by the remnants of some Egyptian display of sarcophagi and wall paintings, it was good to breathe in something fresh. His heart rate slowed as he concentrated on calming the hell down. He didn't think he had ever made it from the city to here in such a short time. Yes, it was nearly two am and blacker than pitch, meaning it was unlikely he would meet much traffic. Yes, he had the sense to stick to speed limits as and when he could but that didn't mean he hadn't pressed his foot harder to the floor on more than one stretch of road. But he didn't even remember some of the journey. At least getting here in forty minutes meant he had some time now just to calm the hell down. He had texted Luke when he left the museum so Luke would assume he wouldn't make it home for another ten minutes.

Lifting his head a little he then banged it down on his arms. And again. Luke was going to freak the hell out when he found out what had happened. There was no sense in expecting any other result. After everything in Greece they had thought it was over, that despite some kind of residual energy sparks Alex was essentially normal. He wanted to be normal for Luke. He didn't want to scare him away.

A sharp flash of turquoise sparked behind his eyes and he lifted his head again, this time to slump back in the bucket seat and exhale noisily. This was happening more and more often, the sparks of blue tracing a path under his skin that he could almost see if he watched carefully. The paths didn't follow veins but the marks he had once had on his skin. That was the one thing that really scared him. Pulling back his sleeve, he held up his forearm and peered close. The tail of the phoenix used to run there, down the length of his arm, wrapping his bicep and ending with Greek symbols just at his wrist. There was nothing there now. Frustrated, he clenched his fist and relaxed back—he was certain if he could just get a handle on this then Luke would never have to know. His cell chimed a text and he grabbed the offending item to read the screen. Luke.

'You staying out there all night?'

Casually Alex looked up and to the left to the room at the end of the east wing where he knew Luke would be looking down at him. Thank God his lover wouldn't have seen inside the car at the dramatic crap he was putting himself through. He took his cell, exited the car, and allowed himself a few seconds of standing in the glow of the interior light. Luke told him that he loved those moments when Alex was home safe after a job and he first glimpsed him climbing from the car. Sketching a casual wave up at where he knew Luke would be standing, he closed the door and locked the car. Patting her roof he sent a prayer heavenward, thankful that Griff's collection held this beauty. Solid and sturdy, she didn't look like a supercar, not like the small sports car he had owned with Edward, but she sure stuck to the country roads leading up to Six Pillars like shit to a blanket—even when the driver at the wheel had entered some kind of catatonic state.

He took the stone steps to the main door two at a time and let himself in the front door. Checking his sweatshirt was zipped to the throat and up under the chin, he then took another set of stairs and near jogged to the last room. He threw open their bedroom door and wasn't surprised that Luke sat at the desk in the window. What surprised him was that the only light in the room came from the glow of Luke's laptop and the small bedside lamp. What the hell was Luke doing sitting in the semi dark?

They were in each other's arms in seconds. When Alex maneuvered them until Luke was pressed against the wall, he set about proving to Luke just how much he had missed him.

Retrievals, a euphemism for what he and Edward had used to do, had always given Alex a natural high. Sex had been hottest just after they had lifted whatever object they were targeting. Tonight was no different, except it was Luke, the man he loved, in his arms, and to top it all, Alex hadn't retrieved an item but replaced one.

The kissing grew more heated, punctuated only with a command from Alex for Luke to strip. Together they pulled at Luke's clothes until he stood naked. Still fully dressed, Alex hugged Luke close. The touch of skin on skin was the one thing that Alex needed but the one thing he knew he should limit. Especially after tonight. He hugged Luke so close it was inevitable that the man would want to know why. Normally there was sex, or in their case, hot, sweaty, balls-deep lovemaking. Luke pulled at Alex's shirt but Alex simply placed a hand over his.

"No, Luke."

This was as far from normal as was possible. Luke knew Alex, could read him, and he pulled away even as Alex tried to stop him.

"What do you mean no? What happened?" Luke asked. "Alex? Talk to me? Could you not replace the artifact?"

"It was good. It went well."

"So what's wrong then? You look like hell."

"It's been three days, I'm tired," Alex defended.

"Don't lie to me." Luke crossed his arms over his chest and showed that pissed look he had perfected so well over the past two years. The stance was his not-taking-any-shit posture. Didn't matter that he was naked and so hard and ready he probably hurt.

"Something happened." Alex finally offered the simple words when it became clear Luke wasn't backing down. Maybe it was the simple way Alex said it. Or the defeat in his voice but the expression on Luke's face changed from mutinous and demanding to compassionate and questioning in an instant.

"Talk to me."

Alex knew he had to tell Luke what was going on, whatever consequences it had for them or for their love. Luke might take this happening in stride. Hell, he may well take one look at Alex's body and just lose it completely. Fuck. Who knew and why was Alex all of sudden doubting Luke's love and compassion?

Flicking the main light on and crossing to close the drapes Alex finally stilled with his back to Luke. With a sharp breath, in and then out, he unzipped his sweatshirt and pulled it and his T-shirt off over his head in one smooth move.

"Interesting," Luke muttered. He was a master of understatement and Alex knew his boyfriend well enough to know that the simple word held his own version of 'holy shit' and 'what the fuck'.

There was no touching. Luke didn't immediately cross to Alex and trace and press and demand answers. There was no need.

"Jesus, Alex," Luke murmured.

"How bad is it?" Alex asked. Tension ramped up in the room. He had seen the pale blue in the mirror—this was why he wore the damn sweatshirt up to his throat, but the burning had intensified tonight. He knew it would be worse.

"Every-everything…" Luke's voice was low and awed. "It's all there…"

"I thought so," Alex said softly. No sense in swearing and cursing the gods or whoever forced this crazy shit onto him.

"You thought so?"

"There's been times—you know—when we made love that the burning was there under my skin. I just… tonight." He stopped and bowed his head. "There was a security guard and he was coming around the corner and before I knew it…"

"What? Did you have to deal with it? What did you do, Alex?"

"Nothing." Alex looked back at Luke over his shoulder. "I swear nothing needed to happen. He didn't see me is all."

"Fuck, Alex."

Alex heard rather than saw Luke sit down on the bed. For the first time since he had found out about the thing that was inside him, he wished it were easy for Luke to just hug him and reassure him everything was going to be okay. He felt the hopelessness that emanated from his lover and, despondent, he pulled on the zipped sweatshirt so it covered his back. Luke knew not to touch Alex that was all. He wasn't pulling away he was just being considerate to Alex's empathic side. Over and over Alex repeated those thoughts until he was almost convinced they were true.

"I'll understand if you don't want this…" Alex's voice trailed away.

"This what exactly? What is it you think is happening?" Luke had a layer of irritation in his voice. Alex knew it wasn't directed at him, more at the impossibility of what was happening to Alex's body.

"I don't know. I don't feel the scar tissue, so that hasn't come back."

Horrifically scarred by priests in an ancient Grecian temple as the child that Alex had been so many centuries before, the patterns carved into his skin had been covered by thick dark tattoos. When Athanasios had left him to ascend to wherever he went, every single mark on his skin had vanished. He had been reborn from an intense fire simply as Alex.

When Athanasios had gone, the young boy's consciousness had taken with it the physical scarring—all scarring except Luke's name in raised markings on Alex's inner thigh.

"I know, I mean, there's no scarring I can see," Luke said softly. "The markings are faint but under the skin—like a tracing or something."

"And no tattoos." Alex lifted a handful of material and twisted to check what part of his back he could see in the large wall mirror. Nothing.

Luke paused and when Alex met his gaze he was thoughtful and considering. "We always said the tattoos were something that you created, the Alex who was a man, not Athan the boy. When the scarring was cleared the tattoos went as well."

"Tell me what you can see then," Alex pleaded. He crossed to sit next to Luke on the bed, close enough to feel his body heat but far enough away so that there was no touching.

"Tracings under the skin, like you see blood rushing through veins under a microscope. Brilliant sapphire blue with sparking and… I don't know how to describe it? Does it hurt?"

"It always hurts," Alex replied. He could have been diplomatic and said it didn't, but two years ago, he had promised to never lie to Luke again. "The pain is something I can put in a box in my head. Sometimes it is tight and I feel like my lungs are going to burst with the constriction. Other times it's just this rush of warmth. I don't think it is in my blood though—not in my veins. But you can see, right? See that it is following the patterns of what used to be there. The phoenix? The sun and the words inside the shapes?"

"I would need to check against my master notes—I could get the ones that I took in Greece when I sketched the carvings and tattoos…" Luke began the sentence then bowed his head.

Alex felt the overwhelming sense of despair that shot through Luke. That was another thing he needed to talk to his lover about. The fact that he sensed Luke's emotions was something he didn't even want to contemplate. It was way beyond just knowing the various emotions that made up the man he loved. This was actually sensing the feelings inside Luke. Not only that, but he was 'seeing' other people as well. Not entirely—more like a radio just off-station where every so often the talking and music were sharp and clear and other times they were more like discordant white noise.

Walking down the street and knowing what people were considering—anger, fear, despair—and then touching any one person by accident and having their base emotions flood into him was worse than hell. Not only that but he was having those damn flashes of color behind his eyes, case in point when the guard turned the corner. He had slipped into his 'other space' in an instant and was hidden from anyone's sight. The feeling was so familiar yet it frightened the shit out of him. He'd only just gotten used to not having the skills he used to have and for them to all of a sudden smack back into him…? Too much.

An empath with his abilities, including the freaky way he looked at the world as flashes of color and sound and raw emotion, was never going to last long in the general population. He had spent most of his early twenties staying away from everyone except Edward. His lover had been the only one he could sleep with, or touch. Then there had been Luke. Luke grounded him.

"Luke? Does any of it look the same to you?" He hated the defeat in his voice. Empathy was a double-edged sword but he had come to terms with it once—he could do it again.

"I don't need to look at my notes." Luke lifted a hand out in front of them and traced imaginary patterns in the air, each movement accompanied by his soft voice explaining what he had seen. "The sun with the flames and the phoenix that sits to one side, with the wings that cover the expanse of your back." Luke shifted on the bed slightly and for a moment their thighs touched. Alex was rusty at putting up barriers and before he could put anything in place, he realized with despair that worry had given way to a strange fear inside Luke. "Then there is the writing," Luke continued, "sun, life and air." He shook his head and dropped his hand to his lap resting it there in a loose fist. "I am guessing your chest is as patterned?"

Alex lifted a hand and placed it where his heart was. "Yes. That is what I first saw, and then the burning."

"And your arms?"

"Both of them. I don't understand."

"So you said you felt this happening when we're making love?" Luke asked. "When else does it happen?"

"Before, when we were together, there wasn't the intensity I felt tonight. I know it's getting worse. The last find and replace and then this one." Alex used the shorthand term he and Chris had come up with when they started Sheridan Investigations. Find and replace was a more official term for Alex finding what he and Edward had stolen and putting it back where it came from.

"Heightened emotion," Luke summarized. Alex could only nod at this very close to the mark fact. Luke placed his hand flat on Alex's thigh and Alex started at the touch. "Can you do the other thing? Knowing what I think?"

Alex didn't want to answer. Who in normal civilian life wanted a freak who could read every emotion or thought they had? He didn't have the thought connection to anyone other than Luke. The only time he had managed to connect with someone else was with Chris when Luke and Alex had been prisoners of Lord Arriseth. What was Luke going to say if Alex told the truth? Two years they had been together, and Luke was the other half of his soul. If he lost him now because of this curse…?

"I can see every thought written on your face, Alex," Luke said. His words were so damn gentle. "I don't have to be an empath to see you worry about what I am thinking."

"It's just… look… I'm sorry you're scared," Alex whispered and then turned to face Luke. "I understand whatever you decide to do is best for both of us."

Luke nodded and something inside of Alex began to relax when Luke wasn't rejecting him. Half of him had expected unconditional acceptance, and that Luke's love for him would get them through anything. But the other half, where his head still couldn't get around what had happened to him, feared rejection. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe creepy ancient power coursing through his body was too damn much for Luke to handle, maybe it wasn't.

Luke sighed, shook his head, then he did something wholly unexpected. In a smooth move, Alex was lying on his back, with his feet still flat on the floor, Luke straddling him. Impatiently Luke pulled the material of the top up until Alex lifted his arms and allowed the whole thing to be removed.

"I'm not scared of you," Luke murmured. He leaned down and kissed a short path between one nipple and the other then concentrated on worrying the left with his teeth before suckling. Alex arched his back to get closer while at the same time fighting desperately not to let too many of Luke's emotions through his barrier. Raw passion was a sensation that speared through him and cut deeply. Making love to Luke when he healed after losing the ability to connect had been intense and perfect. There was no need for barriers and he could just give everything of himself. Making love now, with the absolute purity of need that he had to have, would probably kill him.

"What are you scared of then? Don't say you—you're—jeez Luke—don't say that you're not scared," he stuttered as Luke's fingers followed the path of lips and tongue and traced unseen patterns on his skin. "I can feel it inside you."

"For you," Luke whispered against his skin. "'M scared for you." His direction changed and gently he moved until he lay chest to chest and his hands cradled Alex's face. "We don't know why this is happening. It could be residual energy, or maybe what happened to Athan left a scar inside you… or… hell, I don't know." They lay there together for a while and then Luke asked the one question Alex had hoped to avoid until he had gotten his head around this whole thing. "How strong are your barriers at the moment?"

"I've lost practice… I'm trying." Flexing his thighs he attempted to lever Luke off of him but Luke was going nowhere.

"Don't push me away," Luke said. His words were a demand.

"You know how much it hurts…" Alex pushed again but Luke was not giving way. Luke must remember the rawness inside Alex when he connected to too much emotion—when it flooded him with pain. What if he lashed out? Hurt Luke? Why would Luke force him into this position? He must have said it out loud because Luke answered.

"Because you could never hurt me and I sure as hell couldn't hurt you."

He released one of Alex's hands and Alex didn't think to immediately use it to push Luke away. Something in the hypnotic tone of Luke's words stayed the movement.

"Touch me, Alex."

Alex lifted his hand and gently placed his palm on Luke's chest. He could hear the gentle thump-thump of Luke's heart and feel the emotions that went along with it. Compassion. Need. Lust. Love. None of it hurt. Not one iota of it was anything less than intense. For a second he closed his eyes and imagined the emotions coursing through them both. Like threads they weaved around each other and he consciously allowed some of his own need to reach and touch Luke.

Luke hissed at the connection and Alex's eyelids opened immediately. It wasn't pain that he found in Luke's expression but glazed passion.

"Do that again," Luke said. "You can't hurt me. I couldn't hurt you even if I tried." Luke leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Alex's lips at the exact moment Alex began to tentatively lower his barriers. Allowing more and more to connect, he felt a lust so intense rise in him that he wanted Luke inside him now. Luke would take care of him. Luke would hold him steady in this sea of conflicting needs. All Alex had to do was trust.

Luke slid his tongue along the seam of Alex's mouth and Alex parted his lips to taste his lover. A tingle began at the base of his skull, the blue behind his eyes increasing in intensity. This is what had happened before—this was how the lovemaking went each time. The spark inside Alex grew and grew until he was certain even Luke could feel the heat. The kiss deepened and Luke pressed down groin to groin. He moaned deep in his throat. Luke was naked but Alex still wore his pants and shorts. He needed them off… now.

Luke got with the program. Slipping to one side, he helped Alex push off the offending items but he didn't immediately climb back on. Instead he lay back and pulled Alex to cover him. Then they kissed. The kisses were lazy and then fast and desperate and then nothing more than an exchange of breath as they stared into each other's eyes. Alex saw the flecks of amber in the center of Luke's soft brown eyes then saw past that to the need inside the man. Unconsciously they had been moving against each other as they kissed and Alex was so close to coming he couldn't stop the rising feeling. An answering lust radiated from Luke and, gazes locked, they rocked in a rhythm as old as time. There was no pain, no electric shocks paralyzed him, only devastating and overpowering love.

The orgasm that stole his breath, answered with Luke arching up against him in the throes of his own completion, was nothing compared to the sapphire light that surrounded them both in a cocoon of awareness and heat. Every cell of him sparked and shifted and Luke was writhing under him as the sensation of ecstasy went on and on.

"I love you," Alex said at the peak of it all.

"Love. You," Luke said below him.

Consciously pulling the connection away gently and a step at a time, Alex finally rolled off Luke and lay to one side. Luke had gripped his hand as he moved and held tightly until the two men lay quiet and unmoving. The air around them held a static charge and the room was in utter blackness. The lamp was off, the computer quiet.

"Did we just blow the electricity?" Luke whispered. He glanced over at the clock on the bedside table that flashed 12:00.

"I think we did," Alex answered. He turned his head to face Luke. "That was…"

"Intense? Hot?" Luke smiled.

"Perfect." Alex wasn't going to question why having Luke's feelings cascade into him was the opposite of pain. Luke hadn't thrown him out, he didn't think Alex was a freak, and he loved him. Yes.

Perfect.