Photo courtesy of A Ridiculous Raw Youth Blog

As I’m sure you know, Vincent Diamond and I had a booth at NC Pride on Saturday. The celebration this year was bigger and better than ever. We had a blast watching the festivities and chatting with those who stopped by our booth. Plus, the weather was almost perfect, leaning a little toward the hot side at 95 degrees, but Duke University has beautiful grounds which are shaded by huge trees that blocked a good deal of the sun and kept up from melting like Popsicles languishing on asphalt in the middle of July.

I skipped away from the table long enough to buy a couple of T-shirts and snap some pictures of the parade. I took quite a few photos - more than I can upload here. However, the best of the lot can be found below. Just click on thumbnails for a bigger view.

Finding true love is only half the battle. For Mark and Sam, love and commitment came easily. Holding onto it won’t be as simple.

Mark Peterson is still deeply in love with Sam, his partner of 15 years. He’s perfectly happy with their relationship, even if their sex life has grown a little stale. When he begins to notice Sam’s gaze wandering toward other men, he fears that his younger lover may be losing interest in him.

When Sam suddenly suggests they broaden their sexual horizons by inviting a third man into their bedroom, Mark reluctantly agrees. Together, they answer an online ad for a man who seems to be just what they’re looking for - handsome, hung, and only interested in a little no strings attached fun. It isn’t until after the excitement begins that they find out they’ve made a terrible mistake.

GWM Wanted paperback - $9.99

ISBN: 9781453820896

Now available at the following retailers:

Also available as an ebook. Click HERE for more details.

Excerpt

Sam played devil’s advocate with himself all afternoon until he finally decided that Dev’s idea wasn’t such a terrible one. He wasn’t overly fond of the thought of sharing Mark with someone else but he would do it, if that’s what it took to satisfy his husband. He would do anything to make Mark happy.

After calling Dev to see which websites were the best to pick up men, Sam sat down at his computer and started typing. He browsed one site and then another, absorbing all the various ads from different people. The numerous ad details shocked him. He knew there were some strange kinks out there, but the manner of things people were willing to do in the name of pleasure was beyond his understanding. More than once, he found himself staring slack-jawed at the computer screen, baffled by one thing or another.

Before he realized what time it was, he heard the front door slam and Mark yell his name. Only then did he glance up from the monitor and notice how dark it was outside. The streetlamps were on, casting the only illumination to be found on a practically moonless night.

“I’m in here,” he called out to Mark and bookmarked another potential ad. He didn’t know how his husband was going to respond to his suggestion, but he’d saved the best of the lot to share with him just in case. He hated the thought of having to slough through all the creepy ones again. It was amazing how many people were looking for sex. Actually, now that he thought about it, most of them had been for sex. Maybe what they said about romance being dead was true, at least in the gay community. People had no qualms about requesting someone to suck their cock; it didn’t seem as if any of them were interested in an actual date or getting to know the person beforehand. Fortunately, that suited him just fine. He wasn’t interested in permanently sharing Mark with anyone — a one-time thing was going to be nerve-racking enough.

“Could we t –” Whatever Mark had been about to say was cut off as he walked into the room. “What are you looking at? Porn?”

“No,” Sam said, glancing from Mark to the flat screen monitor currently filled with the image of a half-naked man reclining on a four-poster bed. “Well, sort of, I guess, but there’s something I’d like to discuss with you before I explain.”

“Okay. There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about anyway.”

“Oh?” Sam turned in his seat and looked up at Mark. His heart seized at the severe look on Mark’s face. “What is it?”

“It’ll keep. You go ahead with whatever you wanted to say.”

“All right. Well, Dev and I were talking over lunch today. When I accidentally let it slip that our sex life had slacked off a little, he had a suggestion for how we could spice things up.”

Mark scowled. “Do you have to talk about our sex life with him? He may be your friend, but the man is an asshole. He hates me and would like nothing better than to see us split up.”

“Dev doesn’t hate you.” Sam tried not to roll his eyes and failed. “You just don’t know how to take him.”

“Whatever. So you were saying…?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, Dev said that a lot of other couples swing, to keep things exciting.”

“Dev said that, did he?”

“Uh huh.” Sam concentrated on Mark’s face and tried to read his lover’s expression. Since Mark’s thoughts were impossible to decipher, as usual, he forged on. “I thought the idea had some merit. After all, I can’t have you getting bored with me and running off with some little twink now, can I?” He smiled, trying to pass his words off as a joke, although what he’d said was actually one of his greatest fears — coming home to find a Dear John letter and his husband’s side of the closet empty.

Mark snorted. “As if you have to worry about that.”

“I don’t know. Stranger things have happened, I guess.” Sam couldn’t help but notice that Mark didn’t say no to his idea. Did that mean he wasn’t interested, or that he was waiting to admit interest until he was sure of Sam’s seriousness? “Playing with someone else could be fun,” Sam added with a shrug. “Or different, anyhow. What do you think?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Come closer so I can show you what I found while I was waiting for you to get home.” He turned back to the computer and pulled up a few of the personal ads he thought had potential. Mark stood behind him and rested his hand on Sam’s shoulder as he leaned in closer to get a better look at the monitor.

Sam studied Mark’s face as he looked through each of the three profiles and tried to gauge his response. All three of the men were handsome and in their low to mid thirties. Sam had decided early on that he didn’t want to involve anyone too young. He didn’t want any eager puppies hanging around after everything was said and done. Someone a little older was more apt to know what they wanted and be straightforward about it. The profiles he’d saved for Mark showed confident men with hard bodies, beguiling smiles, and an eagerness for casual sex. All three claimed a preference for multiple sexual partners, one of them even going so far as to say he preferred to join couples, rather than a single man.

When he didn’t get an immediate response from Mark, Sam faced the monitor and reexamined the pictures, wondering who Mark would choose. They were all attractive — otherwise he wouldn’t have saved the ads — but his favorite was probably the guy who called himself Dick. His ad began with a simple title: GWM Wanted.

The profile was short and direct, citing a desire to meet one or more men for no strings fun in the bedroom. His only requirements for prospective sexual partners were that they be height/weight proportionate and between the ages of twenty-five and fifty. There was also a line about not being players, or something like that, but Sam skimmed over it, not really considering it very important since he was going to be very careful to include what they were and were not interested in, if and when he replied.

The black-and-white photos were erotic, more artsy than pornographic. In all three photos, he was naked and lying next to a large bay window in various positions. Each was staged to showcase different focal points on his body — his chest, ass, and groin. His cock wasn’t hard in any of them, but even in repose it appeared long and thicker than average. His facial features were obscured, always facing away from the camera. Something about the tone of the pictures called out to Sam, though he wasn’t sure why. There was an air of mystery that intrigued him.

While Sam concentrated on trying to figure out why this man appealed to him, Mark massaged his shoulders, using a firm grip to loosen his tense muscles. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against Mark’s abs. “Feels good.”

“It’s supposed to,” Mark said, running his thumbs up the nape of Sam’s neck and into his hairline.

Sam shivered, the hair on his arms standing up as Mark’s magic touch wiped away everything else. He wanted a break from the stress and worry that had been plaguing him and to just…be.

At no time did that seem easier than when Mark’s hands were on him, touching him and driving him to the brink of madness. Making love with Mark didn’t require any guesswork or uncertainties. In the past, it had always just come naturally to them, which was why he’d been so bewildered at how things had changed. God, he couldn’t even remember the last time Mark had done him, instead of the other way around. He missed being able to hand over the reins and know his desires would be taken care of.

The spontaneity and combustible fervor they’d once shared was reduced to bare embers of its former glory. Most of the time it seemed to take an act of Congress to instigate any kind of intimacy, and Sam had all but stopped trying.

Mark wasn’t a big talker — he clammed up when it came to discussing his emotions — but he’d always been good about showing it in other ways: touching Sam, kissing him, giving him back rubs, as he was doing now. Those affectionate gestures had slowly drifted away, making Sam feel bewildered and lost. He needed those reminders of Mark’s love, since his husband had never been one to say the words.

The smell of Mark’s cologne — crisp and woodsy — imbued Sam’s senses as his lover pressed against him from behind and ran his hands down Sam’s chest. Mark caressed Sam’s pecs and upper abs, rubbing with just enough pressure through the thin T-shirt to make Sam yearn for more.

He arched his back and pushed up into the touch like a cat eager to be petted. “God, Mark.”

“I’m right here.”

“I know. Don’t stop.” Not when it felt so good to be touched, like he’d gone forever without the contact.

Mark leaned over him, his breath hot against the side of Sam’s face. “I won’t. Whatever you want, love, it’s yours.”

“You. Always you. Just don’t stop touching me.” Loving me, he silently added, turning his face to the side.

For the next 7 days you can buy Inestimable Blessings for $2.99 (40% off the cover price) at Smashwords using the coupon code MA46Y. The coupon expires on September 30th.

Visit the link below to make your purchase.

http://ow.ly/2J4UX

Taken from Savage Love this morning:

“If you’re gay or lesbian, or bi or trans, and you’ve ever read about a kid like Billy Lucas and thought, “Fuck, I wish I could’ve told him that it gets better,” this is your chance. We can’t help Billy, but there are lots of other Billys out there—other despairing LGBT kids who are being bullied and harassed, kids who don’t think they have a future—and we can help them….”

READ MORE about the It Gets Better Project, in Savage Love, here: http://bit.ly/bYtxBd

 Vincent Diamond and I will be in Durham, North Carolina, this Saturday — where we’ll be setting up a booth from 10am-5pm at this year’s Pride Fest. We’ll be selling copies of your favorite autographed books as well as handing out goody bags. For more information, please visit Durham’s Pride link below or contact me for details.

http://www.ncpride.org/

 Today was the annual Pride in the Park festival, which is held n Elmwood Park here in Roanoke, Virginia. I shared a booth with JM Snyder, Vincent Diamond, Beth Wylde, and Marguerite Labbe. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky and weather in the low-to-mid nineties. A ton of people came out for the celebration and a good time was had by all.

I met a bunch of very sweet people, sold some books, and handed out a ton of promo. Actually, I ran completely out of goody bags by noon. I’m going to have to make some more before Durham Pride this upcoming weekend or I won’t have anything to hand out to anyone else.

Pictures of the event are below, although I didn’t think to take very many. I’m missing pictures of myself and Vincent Diamond.

Click on the photo to see the full version.

Pride schedule

Vendor Row #1

Vendor Row #2

JM Snyder and Marguerite Labbe

Beth Wylde

Ebook Addict Reviews is celebrating two years of reviews and we want you to come and party with us!We are having a scavenger hunt for prizes!  There will be tons of Grand Prizes as well as daily giveaways for ebooks from lots of authors.

Prizes include:

An Amazon Kindle sponsored by the ladies of International Heat.

An Ebook Addict Reviews tote bag filled with print books from various authors and a collection of Bath & Body Works’ Sensual Black Currant Vanilla (for full details click HERE.)

A Small Gift Bag from Bath & Body Works and print books.

Prize package from MLR Press with 10 Print books and other goodies…

Those are just a few of the prizes to whet your appetite.  For full prize details and pictures of most prizes click HERE.

I’m giving away an autographed copy of my paperback, Hunger, to one lucky person through Goodreads.com. Follow the link below to enter!

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/5731-hunger

I’m thrilled to announce the following stories are now available through Rainbow eBooks:

• After Sunset
• Inestimable Blessings
• Pool Boy Seduction
• Screwed
• Tempestuous Revelation

You can purchase them all from the link below:

http://www.rainbowebooks.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2824