Showing posts with label Worcester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worcester. Show all posts

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sunday Snog 254: Necessary Madness (#MM #pnr #Worcester)



Happy Sunday! I’ve got a long, juicy excerpt for you today, from my M/M paranormal erotic romance Necessary Madness. Hope you enjoy it!

When you’re done with my snog, head back to Victoria’s place for more sexy Sunday kisses!

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. 

~~~ 

Where will you go when you’re released from here?”

Exhaustion settled on Kyle like a leaden blanket. He sank back into the pillows. “What does it matter?”

Murphy chuckled. “Well, I’d hate to have to come and round you up again the next time we do a sweep.” Then it seemed that he really saw Kyle, saw his complete lack of hope. He placed his hand on Kyle’s forearm, careful not to disrupt the IV drip. His eyes were like a summer sky. “Look, I can see you’re in pain, and I don’t just mean from the ulcer. I’d like to help, if I can.”

Delicious heat blossomed in the bare skin under the older man’s palm. Unshed tears made Kyle’s chest hurt. It has been so long since someone had touched him with any sort of tenderness or concern. “No one can help me,” he said. “Even the shrinks can’t make the pictures go away.”

How long have you been having these—hallucinations?”

Since I turned thirteen. The older I get, the worse they become.” Tears welled up, to his extreme embarrassment. He turned away, trying to hide them from his inquisitor. A gentle hand cupped his chin, bringing him back to meet Murphy’s sympathetic gaze. “I don’t know how much longer I can stand it.”

You’re schizophrenic?”

That’s the current diagnosis. But I don’t think so. The usual drugs don’t work. They deaden my emotions, but they don’t kill the visions. And when I’m not having a spell, I’m more or less sane.” He stopped, familiar guilt overwhelming him. Sane enough to search the papers, looking for, and eventually finding, accounts of the disasters his dreams prefigured. Disasters he could see but not prevent.

Kyle scanned Murphy’s face, trying to read his expression. Some struggle was going on inside the man. His lips were set in a grim line and his brows knotted into a scowl, but his eyes shone with excitement. He still clasped Kyle’s arm, his fingers tense now, digging into the flesh. Kyle placed his own pale hand on top of Murphy’s in a gesture of reassurance. The policeman started as if he’d been burnt.

Kyle felt the shock too, electricity sizzling between them. Murphy snatched his hand away, staring down at his shiny leather boots. When he looked back at Kyle, he seemed to have made a decision.

I might not be able to do anything to help with your hallucinations, but I can give you a safe place to stay, at least until you recover.”

I don’t know…” Kyle began. He didn’t want to get mixed up with this cop. The signals were too strong. The man’s sheer physicality unbalanced him. Already, he felt that queasy sensation that presaged his visions. Powerful emotion often triggered his crises.

No arguments. I live alone. I’ve got plenty of room in my apartment.” The quiet authority in Murphy’s voice sent a delicious thrill up Kyle’s spine. He shivered. Murphy’s tone softened. “Seriously, Kyle, I don’t want to see you back on the streets. Stay at my place for a few days, a week. Give yourself a chance to heal.”

Murphy’s hand rested on Kyle’s thigh, stroking it through the sheet. He seemed unaware of what he was doing, but with every moment, Kyle felt his own resistance melt further.

Well, I…” All at once, the vision hit, knocking the breath out of him like a punch to the gut.

Terrible doubt. Scalding desire. He was naked, kneeling on a wooden floor. He could feel it bruising his knees, but he didn’t care. A nude man towered over him, corded thighs spread wide, gripping his swollen cock with blunt-fingered hands. Offering Kyle the veined column of flesh. Pressing it against Kyle’s lips.

Kyle opened his mouth, eager to feel the steely hardness on his tongue. He swallowed as much as he could. The man growled and jerked his pelvis forward, sending his cock deep into Kyle’s throat. Kyle clutched the tree-like thighs, struggling to keep his balance. His own cock surged as the man fucked his mouth like a pile driver. Each stroke forced his nose in the man’s musky crotch. Fear lurked at the back of his mind, but the ramrod thrusts battered it into meaningless fragments. There was nothing but two cocks, his own and the one he was sucking, both throbbing, ready to burst, ripe with cum.

The powerful man looming over him roared. He ground his rod against Kyle’s palette. Bitter semen flooded Kyle’s mouth. He drank it down greedily. He felt his own erection pulse, tremble, then explode, painting his belly and thighs with white ropes of sticky cum.

The other man sank to his knees, face to face with Kyle. He reached out to draw Kyle into a kiss, his sapphire eyes gleaming…

Kyle? Kyle!” Murphy sat on the edge of the bed, shaking him. “What’s wrong? Wake up!” 

Kyle blinked, bewildered by the instant transition. The vision was gone, as abruptly as it had arrived. The policeman sat back and searched Kyle’s face.

You’re back,” he said, finally.

Yeah.” Kyle felt his cheeks grow hot, remembering the raunchy scene he’d just witnessed. No, participated in.

Your eyes rolled up. You started to convulse. Then you went deathly still. Did you see something?”

Kyle nodded. “But it was different from usual.”

Different, how?”

I don’t want to talk about it. If you don’t mind.” Kyle smiled to himself. “Could you please go ask the nurse when the doctor’s supposed to come by? I’d like to get out of here.”

Sure.” Murphy gave him a half grin then headed for the door, strength coiled in every movement. Kyle buzzed with secret excitement. He’d just seen a vision of the future, a true vision if his past experience was any judge. And for the first time, it wasn’t a disaster.

At least, he hoped it wasn’t.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Back in North America...

From my articles this week you might get the idea that all of my writing is set in exotic foreign locales. It's true that I'm currently editing a vampire story set in Jamaica, but I've written lots of tales set in the good old U.S.A.

My second novel INCOGNITO takes place in Boston's historic Beacon Hill district. My third novel RUBY'S RULES begins in London but soon moves to Los Angeles and the action in my fourth, EXPOSURE, happens in Pittsburgh. I've written stories set in San Francisco, New York City, New Orleans, Minneapolis and several cities in Nebraska. My recently-released M/M paranormal romance, NECESSARY MADNESS, is set in the decidedly unexotic city of Worcester, Massachusetts.

One property that sets my work apart, perhaps, is the fact that I almost always have some specific location in mind when I set out to write a story. I've talked to lots of other authors who say that don't spend a lot of time thinking about the setting, but for me it is an essential consideration. As I see it, people--characters--are shaped by their environments. Characters in San Francisco are going to have different experiences and world views than folks from Omaha. Even if I don't describe the setting, I'm always aware of it. It shapes my perceptions of the characters and their moods, desires and passions.

Over the past week I've taken you on a whirlwind tour of some of the places I've enjoyed. For a more in-depth experience, pick up one of my books. Enter one of the worlds I've visited and tried to bring to life for my readers.

It's a lot cheaper than a vacation!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Welcome to Worcester

Necessary Madness is mostly set in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. If you're not from New England, you may never have heard of the place, but it's the second largest city in the state, a grimy, hilly place that came into its own in the Industrial Revolution--a place with a sense of history and perhaps a bit of an air of the paranormal as well.

Why did I decide to use Worcester as a background for this tale? Initially, because it was the location of the state hospital where I had my personal introduction to the varieties of madness. The photo above shows the ominous clock tower of the Old Building. They still housed some patients there when I was an inmate, though my ward was in a sterile, modern brick edifice next to this Victorian-era hulk.

Once I got the notion, the setting seemed to fit. Worcester is a gritty working-class town, the sort of place that has its share of tenements and homeless bums huddled under the bridges. It's also a melting pot for various ethnic groups, with big Irish and Hispanic populations. My tough, hard-working police sergeant Rob Murphy would fit right in.

On the other hand, Worcester has its upscale neighborhoods, full of venerable mansions. At its heart nestles elegant Elm Park, designed by the legendary Frederick Law Olmsted. The crystal waters of Lake Quinsigamond separate the city from neighboring Shrewsbury. Historic Union Station ties the city back to its days as a major transportation hub for central New England.

Of course you might wonder why I felt the need to set the story in any particular place at all. For me, setting is a critical aspect of story-telling. It's rare that I write even a short piece where I don't have some sense of where the action is unfolding. The atmosphere and the history of a place influence my characters. A love affair in New York City is very different from one in Nebraska, and different again from one in the Netherlands. Each of the six novels that I've penned so far takes place in a different locale: Thailand (Raw Silk); Beacon Hill, Boston (Incognito); London and Los Angeles (Ruby's Rules); Pittsburgh (Exposure); Guatemala (Serpent's Kiss); and now, Worcester.

I do seem to have an attraction to urban environments. Some of Necessary Madness, though, is set in the country, in an equally distinctive place. I'll tell you more about that on Wednesday.