Winter Passion – #MFRWHooks #MMRomance #PNR

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year, and welcome back to the MFRW Book Hooks blog hop, 2025 edition.

Given that it’s January, I wanted to post a snippet that captured the chilly beauty of winter along with the intense heat of mutual passion. Then I remembered this scene from my MM paranormal erotic romance At the Margins of Madness. I have a particular fondness for this book because it’s set in western Massachusetts, where I lived for many years. The route described in this excerpt is one I’ve driven many times.

Blurb

Both power and love can lead to madness

Nineteen year old Kyle sees visions of disasters, visions that tear his world apart. Everyone assumes that he is schizophrenic, but Rob, the cop who picks him up off the street, knows better.

Rob's own experience has taught him that psychic powers are real, and potentially devastating. Since his telepathic sister's brutal murder, Rob wants nothing to do with "gifted" individuals like Kyle. Yet he can't deny his attraction to the beautiful, tortured young man – an attraction that appears to be mutual.

When a brilliant, sadistic practitioner of the black arts lures Kyle into his clutches, Rob faces the possibility that once again he may lose the person he loves most to the forces of darkness.

The Hook

Rob struggled to stay focused on his driving. Route 2 had been plowed, but the country highway was full of curves and the bridges might well by icy. He guided the car through a glittering winter wonderland. The trees lining the road were edged in pearl. The sky was a turquoise bowl overhead. The morning sun was a disk of hammered gold, making everything sparkle.

Kyle sat beside him, bundled up and buckled in, but as far as Rob was concerned, the guy might as well have been naked. Every time he glanced over at Kyle, the lump in his jeans got bigger. He’d split the seams of his pants if this continued.

He breathed in, a heady nose-full of Kyle’s distinctive scent. Despite the numbing cold, despite the layers of clothing the young man wore, the car seemed drenched in the boy’s musk. It was driving Rob absolutely crazy.

Kyle watched the scenery, probably sensing Rob’s distress and not wanting to provoke him. The boy seemed a bit shy, even embarrassed. Well, the intensity of their first kiss had startled them both. When he kissed Kyle, the world literally went away. He was aware of nothing but Kyle’s touch, Kyle’s taste, Kyle’s love that surrounded and supported him. He completely forgot the presence of Elspeth and the blond stranger. Kyle was his only reality. When they had finally released each other, they were both shaking. Rob had never experienced anything like it, and he suspected the same was true of Kyle. No wonder they felt awkward.

They’d left in a rush, barely polite. In their eagerness to get back to Rob’s apartment, they’d refused offers of coffee and breakfast. The one-hour trip from Petersham to Worcester seemed endless, especially since the state of the roads demanded extra caution.

His erection throbbed, painful and demanding. He guessed that Kyle was hard too, though with the bulky jacket and scarf, he couldn’t tell for sure. Kyle felt Rob’s gaze. He raised his eyebrows in an unspoken question and his full lips curled into a smile, but he didn’t speak.

Rob couldn’t stand it any longer. They were coming down the hill into Gardner. There was a rest area near the city line. He yanked the steering wheel and the car swerved into the exit lane, cutting off a truck easing up from behind.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kyle yelled. The rest area hadn’t been plowed yet. The Toyota skidded for several yards before it came to rest in a parking spot. Rob scrambled out, then came around to open the passenger-side door. “Come on. I just can’t wait anymore.”

The lot was deserted. Wind rustled the tall pines sheltering the building that housed the toilets, knocking clumps of snow onto the windshield. Rob grabbed Kyle’s hand and practically dragged him out of the car.

“Rob, it’s probably locked.”

“I’ll break down the door if I have to.” He was desperate. But the men’s room was open, although the electricity appeared to be off. Wan light entered via a dirty window near the ceiling. He pulled Kyle through the door and pressed him against the tiled wall, devouring his mouth.

Find buy links on my website: https://www.lisabetsarai.com/marginsofmadnessbook.html

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!

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