Last Minute Santa – Rainbow Advent Calendar Story

Here’s a little Christmas story, my contribution to the amazing Rainbow Advent Calendar, where a bunch of authors teamed up to bring readers some holiday cheer!

Last Minute Santa features Daniel and Noa from Married before Christmas, but it should stand on its own. All you need to know is that Daniel and Noa are best friends since college who had to marry for *waves hands* reasons and then they fell in love. Oh, and Daniel and his uncle work in a pediatric hospital.

And if you did read it, this happens a couple days after the epilogue.

I hope you enjoy!

LAST MINUTE SANTA

Daniel woke up entirely too early on a Monday morning, especially since it was also Christmas Eve. Then again, he was warm, pressed against Noa’s body, and he still had half an hour until his alarm, so maybe it wasn’t so bad that he got to enjoy himself a little bit before getting up.

After all, sleeping in the same bed with Noa like this was still new. Still exciting.

If someone would tell Daniel a few months ago that he would end up here, married to his best friend and ridiculously in love, he wouldn’t have believed it. Yet, here they were.

He hid his grin in his pillow when Noa nuzzled against his nape.

“Good morning,” Daniel murmured, pressing back into the embrace and tilting his head so that Noa could have an easier access to his neck.

“Good morning,” Noa whispered between soft, barely-there kisses he left on Daniel’s sensitive skin. “Someone’s up early.”

Daniel, half-asleep but still unable to resist a bad pun, pushed his hips against the hardness he could feel against his ass. “Looks like you’re up, too.”

Noa snorted, but lowered his hand from where it rested over Daniel’s stomach to his groin, cupping Daniel’s morning erection through his boxers and squeezing lightly.

“How long do we—”

Daniel’s phone cut him off, and the familiar melody of his uncle’s ringtone threw Daniel out of the moment instantly.

Nothing good came from an early morning call, and with the drama they’d been dealing with lately, it could be about any of the doom scenarios he’d envisioned a while ago.

He pulled away from Noa and reached for his phone.

“Hey, what is it? What’s wrong?” he asked as a way of greeting, turning onto his back and preparing for the worst as he stared at the ceiling.

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” his uncle, bless him, returned right away. “No family drama, no lawsuits, nothing like that.”

Daniel sagged against the mattress. “Good. Okay.” He glanced towards Noa who was looking right at him, hands tucked under the pillow as he lay on his stomach. “But it has to be something, if you’re calling so early.”

“Yeah, well, we’re not lucky enough to skip all the minor emergencies as well.” His uncle sighed. “Larry’s sick, which means we don’t have Santa for the afternoon rounds. I don’t want to call anyone in on Christmas Eve, so I thought maybe Noa would be willing to agree to one more favor for you? Since the last one turned out so well.”

“Ha, ha,” Daniel grumbled, but then raised his eyebrows at Noa, who raised his in an answer. “I’ll check and call you back.”

When his uncle gave his okay and disconnected, Daniel rolled onto his side and lifted himself onto his elbow, looking down at Noa.

“So, here’s the thing…” he started, then bit the corner of his mouth, trying to stop himself from smiling. There was no way Noa would say no to this, and Daniel was already looking forward to seeing him in a costume. “We’re out of Santa and we need him today for the afternoon round we do each year, where Santa visits all the kids stuck in the hospital over the holidays. And you’ve been nominated as a replacement.”

“What have I ever done to your uncle to make me do this?” Noa complained, but he rolled onto his side as well and mirrored Daniel’s position. “Long beard is definitely not my look.”

Daniel chuckled. “First of all, you always look good and you know it. And second, the kids won’t care.”

“Shouldn’t it be someone older? Like Richard?”

“Yeah, well, my uncle and I usually go with Santa, so it can’t be one of us.”

“Clever,” Noa offered dryly, then shrugged. “Sure, okay, I’ll do it.”

Daniel grinned and leaned in to kiss him.

“Thank you,” he murmured against Noa’s lips. “I owe you, again.”

Noa put his arm around Daniel’s waist and rolled them until Daniel was on his back, with Noa towering over him.

“And can I collect now?” Noa slipped his thigh between Daniel’s legs. “A little present for Santa?”

“Sure.” Daniel pulled him closer. “Whatever you want.”

It was Christmas Eve, after all. He could be a little bit late today.

***

Noa appeared in the doorway to Daniel’s office twenty minutes past two.

“I’m sorry, the traffic was awful.” He walked in hurriedly and took his coat off as he went. Then he paused at the desk. “What is it? You have a face.”

Daniel shook his head, getting back to the here and now as he chuckled. “Everyone has a face, you know.”

“This was your worrying face. Am I too late?”

“No, you’re fine, we still have time.” Daniel got up and rounded his desk to circle his arms around Noa, who mostly smelled like cold winter air but there were hints of his cologne in there as well. “It’s good news, actually. I think.”

“Oh?” Noa put his hands over Daniel’s chest. “What is it?”

“Remember how I told you on Friday that one of our doctors is in trouble because of his expired visa? Turns out he’s getting married, to no other but one of our doctors. We didn’t even know they were dating!”

“And they’re getting married for the green card?”

“Looks like it, yeah. I can’t fault anybody for a quick wedding, though, can I?”

Noa kissed him softly. “Well, we were quick if you count since the proposal, but terribly slow if you count from our freshman year.”

“Let’s agree we were right on time, how about that? And I’m happy for Tommy, especially after our lawyers weren’t much help, but it has taken me by surprise. We’ve been invited, by the way. It’s the day after tomorrow, at Fort Greene Park. A small gathering, just for the ceremony, so I thought we could go, since we don’t have any plans.”

“Sure,” Noa agreed easily. “Now that I’m a married man—”

“Oh, you’re here!” Daniel’s uncle announced from the doorway, interrupting them for a second time today. “Good, good, we should get going.”

“Hello, Richard,” Noa said, sending Daniel a wink as he took a step back. “You’re in a hurry today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, you know how it is, trying to do as much as possible before the holidays.” Daniel’s uncle waved at them to follow him out, so Daniel pocketed his phone and they all left his office. “At least this part is always the best. The kids love it.”

Noa nodded along as he listened to the explanation of how the Santa’s visit usually went, and he had that air of getting-things-done attitude now, focused on the task at hand and ready to excel at it.

Daniel couldn’t look away, itching to tackle Noa in a hug, because he was suddenly ready to burst with all the emotions. Romantic love was so new between them that it was sometimes overwhelming with its intensity. They’d known each other since they were still boys, really, and yet, there were so many things that they were only now discovering.

And Daniel was looking forward to it all. He couldn’t imagine anything better, actually.

But now, they had a bunch of sick kids to entertain.

Which turned out to be better than any other year they had done it, although he would readily admit he wasn’t unbiased about that at all.

Because seeing Noa with the little ones… Damn.

Daniel had long decided that he didn’t want to have kids of his own, but working in a pediatric hospital meant his heart strings were pulled hard from time to time. As a part of the hospital’s administration, he didn’t have a lot of contact with their little patients, but every once in a while, he would witness something or hear something that would make a lasting impression—for good or bad.

This, right now, was one of those good times.

Noa’s face was hardly visible under the impressive beard and mustache, but his eyes, crinkling in the corners as he smiled at something the boy in puppy pajamas was telling him, were shining brightly.

“Tell you what,” Noa told him in a low voice. “You take care of yourself and do what your parents and doctors tell you to do and who knows, maybe you’ll tell me all about that trip next year.”

The boy frowned. “I don’t want to be here next year!”

“Of course not! But who says Santa only visits hospitals, huh? I visit homes as well.”

“How come I’ve never seen you before?”

Noa put his hands on his hips. “Well, I’m quite busy on Christmas, aren’t I? When I’m dropping by people’s homes, I have to be quick to manage them all. That’s why I’m here early, visiting all of you now, so that I can make sure I’ll still be on time everywhere else. Because being punctual is important, you know?”

Daniel hid his smile behind his hand. Trust Noa to offer a life lesson even in the most bizarre circumstances.

“Okay, that appears to be it,” Noa turned to address all the kids, who were staring at him with wide eyes from their beds. He flipped over the bag to show everyone it was empty. “Yep, no more presents. I have to go, then. Other kids are waiting for me. Bye, everyone!”

The shouts of “Bye, Santa!” followed them out, but Noa paused at the doorway and addressed Daniel and his uncle loud enough for the children to hear.

“Please point me to the elevator that would take me to my reindeers. They are probably getting impatient up on the roof.”

Daniel, swallowing down the laugh, took a step forward. “Of course, of course. Right this way, Santa.”

It wasn’t until the two of them were alone in the elevator that Noa sagged against the wall and pulled his hat off.

“Wow. That was…”

“Amazing,” Daniel told him when it appeared Noa wasn’t going to finish the sentence. “You were absolutely amazing. The kids loved it.”

“Well, sign me up for the next year, too.” Noa took Daniel’s hand in his and tangled their fingers together. “You’re taking me on new adventures all the time, aren’t you?”

Daniel grinned, leaning in to kiss Noa, the beard and mustache be damned.

“There’s no one else I’d want with me,” he whispered as he pulled back. “Now or ever.”

Noa smiled at that and lifted their hands to kiss Daniel’s knuckles.

“Now or ever, indeed.”

***

If you want to check out Married before Christmas, you can find it HERE.

And for other stories from the Rainbow Advent Calendar, check out the masterlist HERE or the Facebook group HERE. Happy reading!

The First Book in a Fantasy Trilogy!

I’ve been working on a dragon trilogy for quite some time now (years, literal years), but I’m finally almost ready to send it out into the world!

I plan to publish all three books close together between August and September of this year, and right now the first book is already up for a pre-order.

A NAÏVE PRINCE AND A LONELY WARRIOR ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER BY DESTINY TO BE COMPANIONS. BUT THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

Naveen was the younger son of the king and had never lived outside of the royal castle. Until now.

The time had come for him to go to the Academy, the prestigious school where young men met their companions—the dragons fated to bond with them for life. It was an honor and a privilege, but Naveen mostly saw it as a chance. A chance for him to become more, to challenge himself, as well as to never again walk through life alone. If his long-hidden desires spoke about something more, something deeper… Well. Maybe he was hoping for too much.

Soryan had been in the Academy for well over a year and hadn’t found his match yet. He was starting to feel like maybe he never would, but he wasn’t ready to give up yet. His companion was out there. He just needed to be patient.

Once they met at the searching ceremony, their connection was undeniable and more than either of them imagined it could be. But with the political machinations working around them, they were facing more than the challenges of a true bond.

The first book in a new fantasy trilogy features dragons, chosen mates, all kinds of bonding, and different ways to grow up fast when you have to fight for yourself and your love. Oh, and also: a brewing revolution.

Click here to pre-order so you don’t miss it!

Turning Points is OUT now and it’s FREE!

Click HERE to go to Amazon

Walking into the Marine Corps recruitment office.
Experiencing an earthquake in Alaska.
Meeting a TV crush in the elevator.
Going to the Winter Olympics.

These were the turning points for the men in this collection as they were trying to figure out their lives and stumbled into love instead.


*

Every story in this collection is a stand-alone and there are no cliffhangers.
Three of the four stories were previously published separately by MLR Press. Impossible to Resist has never been published before.

*

STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION:



OPEN ENDINGS

A man walks into a recruitment office… and nothing goes according to plan.


Matt Holston, a soon-to-be college graduate, is trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One of his ideas is enlisting to the US Marine Corps, but when he goes to the recruitment office to check out his options, he meets a guy who is a complete opposite of what Matt imagined a recruitment officer to be.

Cole Perry had suffered from PTSD after his second tour overseas and now he just wants to get to the end of his contract. Transferred from his old unit, he may be a glorified office clerk, but what he’s definitely not is a guy who would help anybody make the same mistake he did.

So what makes Matt come back to see Cole again if not the spiel about serving his country?

___

TREMORS OF THE PAST

When two men with complicated past meet at the conference in Alaska, things are already on shaky ground.


Derek Warden is certain his boss sent him to cover the conference in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, to punish him for something. He is ready for the whole thing to be over before it even begins.

Hayden Shaw has been looking forward to this conference for months. The problem of fracking is very dear to his heart and he can’t wait to spend the long weekend with like-minded people.

Neither of them expected the big earthquake, but most importantly—they didn’t expect each other. Meeting again after over a decade may result in something even more surprising that the ground trembling under their feet.

___

IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST

Meeting your TV crush in the elevator simply doesn’t happen.
…Right?


Tim Parker is a fan blogger and he’s in Miami for the Comic-Con, so it’s already an amazing trip. But then he bumps into his TV crush (Josh. Freaking. Witchell.) and the whole weekend turns into a wish-fulfillment dream.

Who is Tim to say no to that?

___

RUNNING OFF THE EDGE

After the knee injury, Liam O’Connor, the former gold medalist, is no longer able to compete at the Olympics. He’s in Sochi as an assistant coach for another male figure skater and hopes to avoid Eric Lanney as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Eric is here to compete for gold in pair skating, but is that the only thing that will be important to him? Or will it fade in comparison to the spark that never died?

When the former lovers meet again in Russia, they will have a chance to learn that a gold medal isn’t the greatest prize you can win at the Winter Olympics.

This book is FREE December 27-31st, so grab it now!

The Final Book in the Harrington Hills Series

It’s almost here! Finding Home comes out in just a few days and then the series will be done.

I have to admit, a part of me loves the comfort of this town and its people so much that I could probably write in this series forever. But the writer in me knew it was the best place to end it and so I did. I have no doubt there are many possible love stories in this community worthy of being told, but now I will leave it to your imagination.

While some of the stories in the series came to me later on, I knew Charlie’s story from the start. But even then I thought of it as the final one, waiting for its turn. And now, here we are. I hope you like it.

Leo Tomilson has come back to Harrington Hills after a fire that changed his life forever, and all he wants is to be left alone. No longer being a firefighter is hard enough, but there are days when he doesn’t even feel like a proper werewolf anymore, and that cuts deeper than anything else.

Charlie Dewitt is as reliable as they come in Harrington Hills. Ever since he put down roots in this town, he knew he wanted to stay here forever. His brother is here, his pack is here… He has everything he needs. Not everything he wants, perhaps, but that’s fine.

Their first meeting is a mess as they clash over a series of misunderstandings. But Charlie is a patient man, Leo sees in him what most people miss, and neither of them is good at taking the easy way out, so maybe there could be something between them, after all.

Available on Pride Publishing website

or Amazon

Give & Take (DC Files #5) is OUT!

The latest book in the DC Files series (and the first one that has never been published before) is out on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited today.

Ethan Krasinsky is a Supreme Court Justice candidate–the first judge president Galloway could put on the bench. Everyone expected resistance, but no one expected death threats.

Cue Diego Martinez, bodyguard extraordinaire. He may like easy and quick in his private life, but is very serious about his work, whether his clients like it or not.

When the two of them meet, it looks like the sparks will fly–just not necessarily the good kind. With time, they realize they may actually fit together well, but everything seems to be stacked against them–the professional boundaries, the age difference, cranky family members…

And that’s not counting those death threats.

***

Discover earlier books in DC Files series:

SEEK & FIND – Sam & Blake’s story *FREE today*

CHERISH & GIVE – Sam & Blake’s Christmas story, only available for my newsletter subscribers

TRUST & CONFIDENCE – Adam & Michael’s story

PRESS & HOLD – Stevie and Will’s story

TRUE & FALSE – Pascal and Jeremy’s story

What’s Coming Up Next

I took a longer-than-expected break from things, but I’m back and ready to share more stories with you!

Next Harrington Hills book, tentatively titled Searching For Home, is already with the editor, so fingers crossed it’s coming out soon! I’ll update you as soon as I know the details.

You might have noticed that D.C. Files books are currently unavailable. I plan to republish them all in the near future, starting in (let’s hope!) November. There’s also a new book in that series coming up – look for that somewhere around Spring or Summer 2019.

I’m also working on a trilogy I hope you will like. It has a completely new fantasy setting, dragon shifters, alliances with humans, and, of course, love stories at the core of it all!

As always, if you want to be updated on any news, sign up for my newsletter. I’m hopeless when it comes to social media, so the newsletter is the easiest way to stay in contact.

Next Harrington Hills Book Coming This Fall!

As I’m editing the first draft of the next D.C. Files book, I’ve got some news to share:

Redefining Home, the fourth book in Harrington Hills series, is coming this Fall! And this time, it’s more than two people finding each other…

For years, Roy Cocker and Bill Soreno have been together, but they’d never become mates. Roy had never been able to fully commit to forever when a part of his heart belonged to a man he’d once left behind in San Francisco.

Now Adrian Marlow shows up in Harrington Hills unexpectedly, and their world gets thrown out of whack. Roy can’t go through losing Adrian the second time, Bill’s instincts are sending him mixed signals, and Adrian… Adrian doesn’t want to get his heart broken again.

But can he really leave Harrington Hills behind after only one day? Or is there a way for the three of them to right the old wrongs, heal each other’s wounds, and become something more?

 

If you don’t want to miss the book coming out, sign up for my newsletter HERE.

Coming Back Home – It’s Here!

The newest book in the Harrington Hills series is here! Connor and Jack get to tell their story and you can find out what happened in the past and what’s happening now that Connor’s back in town he hadn’t thought he would ever step foot in again.

Pride Publishing
AmazonKoboNook

Jack Harrington told everyone who asked that he got over Connor long time ago. And while he still hasn’t managed to convince himself, he moves on with his life. He doesn’t have a choice. Connor is gone for good.

Or is he?

Connor Warden didn’t plan to ever come back to Harrington Hills, but with an infant in tow, that is exactly what he does. His daughter needs a pack and he is going to give it to her.

When Jack and Connor’s lives literally collide again, will they be able to go back to what have been and find their connection once more? Or is the divide between them too deep to ever fully get over?

April Autism Awareness Blog Hop – Being Human

Autism Awareness Graphic

I’m participating in April Autism Blog Hop run by RJ Scott for the second time in a row and I still think it’s something special. Thanks, RJ, once again, for organizing it.
For those of you who are so inclined, please visit THE MASTERPOST of this blog hop to read what others are saying.


Did You Know?
There is no medical detection or cure for autism
BUT autism prevalence figures are growing.

People are different. People are amazing, and strange, and sometimes they hurt us, sometimes they inspire us. There’s no one way to be human and maybe that’s the beauty of it. We discover ourselves constantly, we discover other people over and over again. There’s no end, no finish line.

I hope you’re curious about yourself and about others. I wish you all to keep discovering things in people you haven’t thought possible. I wish you all to let yourself be discovered by others, too. To open yourself and show somebody what ‘human’ means to you. To see what it means to them.

I didn’t know what I was going to write about when I started this post and this is what came out. This is my ‘human’ tonight.

***

GIVEAWAY

Comment and tell me what you discovered about yourself lately. It can be the simplest thing or the biggest one, you chose.
You can win a copy of “Running Off the Edge” e-book.
The giveaway ends April 19th.
Edit: the winner is Shirley Ann!

RunningOfftheEdge_200
After the knee injury, Liam O’Connor, the former gold medalist, is no longer able to compete at the Olympics. He’s in Sochi as an assistant coach for another male figure skater and hopes to avoid Eric Lanney as much as possible.
Meanwhile Eric is back to compete for gold in pair skating, but is that the only thing that will be important to him? Maybe when the former lovers meet again in Russia, they will both learn that a gold medal isn’t the greatest prize you can win at the Winter Olympics.

MLR Books|Amazon|AllRomance

Here’s To Another Amazing Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope 2014 was good for you. For me, it was amazing.

My first book was published. Running Off the Edge came out in February, got to show up at the All Romance bestseller list, and seem to be well-received. 🙂 It was an incredible experience to see something I wrote get out into the world. My dream had come true.

Open Endings, my second book, came out in July, and I got to relive that incredible rush of joy at seeing my book at the publisher’s and retailer’s sites.

I received an immense level of support from the community of M/M writers and I continue to be extremely grateful for that. I’m equally grateful to all the readers who took a chance on a new author. I hope you liked my stories and I hope I will see you around.

I’d written a lot in 2014. The count went slightly over 200k words which as an absolute record for me. It’s mostly the stories that for now are only sitting on my desk computer and the computer of my beta reader, but I hope they will see the light of day in 2015. One story may even be coming out pretty soon… 🙂 I will keep you posted!

Once again, thank you and all the best for you in 2015! May it be the best one yet!