In this week's #midweektease I'm looking back at #MMromance
Heart in Chains
When Connor Douglas takes a tropical island holiday, he
hopes to leave heartbreak behind. Little does he know the extent of the danger
and sexual temptation that awaits him.
Long after Jay Levesque has closed down his operations on
the very same tropical island, the memory of Connor haunts him.
Warm nights and scorching sex has someone’s heart in chains.
Erotic MM romantic suspense
Read the #midweektease
Jason
Landry leaned back in his desk chair and folded his muscled arms across his
chest.
“This isn’t
my field now and you know it. Give it to Mark.”
The special
agent in charge of the department stood his ground and stared right back at
him.
Jason ran a
hand through his hair as he stood. “I mean it, Lucas.” He flicked the folder
with a fingertip, sending it skidding across the top of the desk. He grabbed
his jacket from the back of his chair and stalked off. As he ignored the
elevator and took the stairs, the memories he pushed away daily, flooded back.
He stopped running and grabbed the handrail, his head bowed. Jason let the pain
flow over him. He’d learned it was the only way. Surf the wash of guilt. Take
the hit from the pain of what he used to be and then move on. He still carried
his requisite Glock 23, but he sure didn’t want to use it. He’d seen enough and
done enough to last him ten lifetimes. No
more fucking killing, he told himself.
He started
down the stairs again. His thoughts churned. His stomach ached. He gripped his
jacket so hard his knuckles turned white. He stormed past reception and the
guys on the door without the usual acknowledgements. In the coffee shop, he
stood in the line-up seething, but he knew he’d have to take the assignment.
Jason
walked back to the office calmly carrying the paper cup of mocha. This is gonna be the last fucking time I
take this kind of job.
* * * *
Connor was
the last to board the boat heading for the Gili Islands.
He’d spent
too long over breakfast watching the parade of gorgeous muscular guys passing
close to the café on their way to the surf beach. Usually Connor was into intellectual
types, with dark hair that curled on their collar and PhDs, but these surfer guys
practically had him drooling. A marine biologist, Connor had lately taken an
interest in sea turtles, and, since he needed a vacation as far away from Brad
as possible, he’d flown to Indonesia where the array of islands promised to
provide the opportunity to study turtles, scuba dive, sail, and generally have
a great vacation.
Having run
along the wharf and dashed up the boarding stairs just in time, Connor dropped
his backpack onto the deck and hung over the rail to watch the amazing ocean change
color as the boat cut through it. Everything he’d seen so far had outstripped his
expectations.
He’d
visited beautiful pale green oceans before, but the crystal clear sea lapping
at the bleached white sandy beaches of Lombok was breathtaking. Every Indonesian
island was paradise. Warmth greeted him each day, a far cry from Massachusetts,
where he frequented Woods Hole, and where Brad, his former lover worked. The
breeze here was soft, kind, and even when it rained brought with it huge
saucer-sized warm drops. Connor shivered just thinking about the biting wind
off the ocean in winter where he lived, and the icy rain that always found its
way down his coat collar.
He gazed around
at the shimmering water. All shades of aqua and green sparkled as if an exotic,
jeweled, silk scarf spread out on the ocean. Ahead lay a lazy boat trip to Gili
Island. Connor had purposely chosen to join this special service in the
traditional wooden outrigger instead of a faster powerboat. He reveled in the
freedom and difference of his surroundings. He breathed in the air and soaked
up the beautiful scenery. His broken heart was slowly healing in the bright,
tropical environment.
It was six months
since he’d come home to the place he and Brad shared to find him in that old
clichéd act of fucking another guy. The pain when Brad admitted he no longer
loved Connor and that he’d been seeing this guy for months was excruciating.
Connor was torn apart by the betrayal because Brad had been making love to him,
and telling Connor how much he meant
to him the whole time. That’s what hurt
the most—the fucking lies. I never knew anything was wrong—I was completely
unaware—what a fool.
Connor
shook off the memories. He’d told himself countless times that he had to stop
beating himself up, if nothing else. Deep in thought, he wasn’t aware of the
man beside him until a low accented voice penetrated his mood.
“Beauty as
far as the eye can see, no?”
Connor
straightened from leaning on the rail and turned to face the speaker. The
impact from seeing the man beside him was so strong Connor couldn’t answer for
a moment. He faced probably the most attractive man he’d ever seen face to
face, because he couldn’t include the TV and movie stars he sighed over. They
were unattainable and designated to daydreams. This man gave him an instant
rapid heartbeat. An emotion close to fear slithered down Connor’s back. He’d
never felt such immediate consuming attraction to any man before. As he choked
out a few inane words, he soaked up the sight before him. Dark hair, cut in an
ultra-fashionable style with darts shaved into the sides by his ears, eyes the
color of turquoise, only they glistened with promise, his angular jaw rivaled
Connor’s favorite TV actor’s, and his body—well, that made Connor’s cock stir.
“Yes, it’s
all breathtaking,” and so are you,
Connor added in his mind.
“Jay
Levesque.” The hunk held out his hand to Connor as he spoke his name.
Copyright Elodie Parkes 2016 Encompass Ink
I can so easily picture Jay with that description. Great teaser.
ReplyDeleteGreat setup on the chance encounter!
ReplyDeleteI like the way he thinks. :) Great tease.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an idyllic location - and a hot guy! I'm in!
ReplyDelete