Teasers for ‘Leopard’s Leap’, pt 2

My M/M erotic romance space opera Moro’s Price will be one of the titles featured today over at Top2Bottom Reviews’ Thursday Promo section. (Adult content warning if you follow the link, yadda, yadda, you know the drill by now.)

What the heck kind of book is it? Think ‘Firefly’ meets ‘Rome’ in the Fiftieth Century, out in a galaxy where humans are not happy to realize They Are Not Alone. It has multiple plots, because I just don’t know when to stop letting side characters tell their stories. It has black moments and funny moments, and a love story that came out of left field for me. I never expected Price to be my debut novel. I’m grateful for all the people who’ve bought it over the last nine months. (And even – somewhat – for the folks who’ve been pirating it like crazy, because I think that means you’ve at least been reading it…)

To thank the readers who might check this blog first or follow T2B’s links back, here are some random bits from the latest chapters of my spin-off novella, Leopard’s Leap. As with the last excerpt, these lines may or may not end up in the final version.

(Author’s note: while Val and Moro show up in Leopard, they are not main characters, and there are no scenes specifically from their viewpoints. Their story begins shortly after the end of Leopard. Given that limitation, I’m still able to work in a lot of their back-stories and some foreshadowing, heh heh. Just in case anybody cares.)

1) He’s jealous of me, or of Dogleash. Maybe both, Jason thought, damning all resolve. He reached for Mateo’s chin, held it gently. “Hey. Do you have any idea how glad I am, that you watch?”

“Pervert.”

“We’ve established that. No.” Jason flailed for a glib way to say it, found none. “You watch over me. You care if I live or die. Most of us in the arena – we have to pay people to care about us.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss on Mateo’s forehead. “Thanks, cousin.”

2) A coded chime sounded at the door to his tiny apartment. Val’s signal. Mateo rolled his eyes. He punched a speaker panel and barked, “What?”

“Are you decent? Did you get it off yet?” came Val’s light tenor voice from the door com.

“About that –” Mateo began, reaching to engage a stronger locking array. Too late. A university apartment door was no match for Val. Mateo grabbed a throw pillow instead and held it over his lap. The door beeped off-key and slid open with a lurch.

3) He’d lost track of time when a soft bell announced the arrival of food. When he opened the door, Sera Bruitt herself stood behind a covered red plastic tray nearly as wide as the doorway. She winked up at him and said, “Young man, whatever you’re doing in here, you’re not doing it right if you’re still dressed.”

Thanks for stopping by.