Kia Ora....

As I'm writing this my part of New Zealand is in lockdown Level 3 - basically Level 4 but with takeaways - but hopefully we'll drop down to Level 2 soon which means the kids can go back to school... and by kids I mean one high school age, and the other post grad uni who are both desperate to get back to a classroom.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who grabbed a copy of Tiger at the Gate. Yes, it is a story I want to expand into a full length novel, but when I get the chance to do it... well, that's hard to say. Too many ideas and not enough time.

To those of you who've just joined us... WELCOME. Newsletters will go out fortnightly with the latest chapter of my newsletter serial Caught (Smoke and Shadows 1) along with updates on my wips for my different pen names (Naomi Aoki and Mandy Greenwood) and anything else I might be working on. If a new release falls in a week between newsletters I will send out a quick one to notify you of it.

Updates

• Deception (Nagoya Crimes 1): A new yakuza story being set in the city of Nagoya. It will be an MMF story, starting with an established MM pairing of a Yakuza Boss and a detective (formerly undercover) who then bring the detectives new female partner into the relationship (a detective who has a dark past of her own). This will either be a duology or a trilogy, with a slow burn romance and lots dark romance. Currently sitting at 15k.
• Tailored Heart (House of Bolton 1): Currently sitting at 31k. Need to do a bit more admin before this book can be launched into the world... hoping to get it out this month.

You can also keep up to date with wips, and read excerpts in my group GREENWOOD's GROUPIES

New Release

A Knight for Two (The Moutrams 3)

Blurb:

Xanth longed for a family of his own…

Longed to be the one who fell pregnant…

Except what Xanth wanted was nothing more than a fanciful dream which had no chance of coming true… because Rhaetian knights fathered children, they didn’t give birth to them

Or at least that’s what Xanth thought, but a chance encounter with Ronan Moutram while at a tournament in the Kingdom of Suevia soon turns the Rhaetian knight’s world on its head. A glimpse of a life he’d never thought possible. But after chasing Ronan all the way back to Fort Behtan, Xanth quickly learns the path to his dreams is littered with complications and soon finds himself caught between two men… two men who are as much one person as they are separate people.

He wanted to spend two weeks with them, exploring their bodies, and their growing attraction, but Xanth was only given three days before the world outside of Fort Behtan crashed back in… and three days might be all ever has with them unless Xanth can untangle himself from familial obligation and then convince the two men the child he carries is theirs.

Author Note: Book contains taboo themes... Twins.

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Promotions

20+ authors teaming up to bring you Love in the Big City... so many books, and many of them are on sale!

Rj Scott Rebecca Cohen, Jay Northcote, Roan Parrish, @Jamie Lynn Miller, Lissa Kasey Con Riley, Ali Ryecart, Sue Brown, Stella Shaw, Clare London, Vicki Locey, Rhys Everly-Lawless, Annabelle Jacobs, Garrett Leigh Liv Rancourt, Beth Bolden, Lane Hayes, TL Travis

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Caught (Smoke and Shadows 1)

New to the serial? You can checkout the previous chapters here: 1-9 10-15

Chapter Sixteen

He was going to kill Yomu.

String the bastard up right alongside his men and set a goddamn explosion off under their arses.

Their little stunt at Torinagi Bar had almost ruined everything. Yoshitake had wanted to scare Takeshi, not kill him. But as he rushed toward the bar in central Osaka, the earth rocking beneath his feet while a loud boom that evoked memories of the last time an explosion rocked the city, dead was exactly what Yoshitaki had expected to find. Relief flooded through with an intensity that had threatened to send him to his knees as he skidded into the service alley that ran alongside the bar and spotted a lone figure stumbling out of the rear entrance, smoke billowing around them.

Even now as they winged their way across the city to the main house, Yoshitake still struggled to believe Takeshi had escaped with his life. Driving past the chaotic scene, his jaw had dropped at the gaping hole that now existed in the building. The entire front of half of the building had been sheared off, smoke billowed from it in thick black clouds and the flames not yet doused by the fireman, flickered teasingly from within the depths of the bar. It drove home how close he’d come to losing Takeshi when Yoshitake had only just gotten the younger man back.

And he wanted to touch Takeshi. He wanted to strip the layers of clothing off the younger man’s body until he stood in front of Yoshitake, naked and open ofr inspection. He wanted to run his hands over Takeshi, carefully assessing him for any signs of injury, whether that be smallest of scratches or large bruises that marred his skin, and then return it to Yomu with interest. He wanted to reassure himself that Takeshi truly had escaped…

But what Yoshitake wanted, and what he could do right now weren’t the same. The nature of his relationship with Takeshi wasn’t known to the rest of the Shirokawa-gumi and Yoshitake couldn’t risk anything more than a subtle linking of fingers on the seat between them. Yet once they stepped into the privacy of Takeshi’s bedroom all bets were off.

“Do you really believe Kennosuke was responsible for the explosion?” Takeshi asked, his voice echoing with a strange melancholy.

“I do.” He turned to stare at the younger man wincing internally at the devastation that marred his face. “But whether he acted out of his own volition or at the behest of his Uncle, I can’t say… I think it’s more worrying that Kitayama has someone following you or has paid someone within the group to disclose your movements.”

“Except the bombs had to have been rigged days ago…”

Yoshitake shrugged. “When they were planted is irrelevant. They didn’t need to be set on a timer and could have been triggered to explode once Kitayama knew you’d be present at the bar… that’s why it’s important to uncover who told him you’d be there tonight.”

“I told him.”

“You told who, what?”

“I told Kennosuke I’d be there tonight… I’d asked him to help track down those who are threatening me. He’s my friend, an obvious choice to ask for help… at least, I thought he was.”

“Instead, all you’ve done is hand yourself to him on a silver platter!” Yoshitake snapped.

He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to dispel the frustration and anger roiling through him. Under normal circumstances, Yoshitake might have applauded Takeshi for the decision to use Kitayama to track down the rebellious element hidden within the Shirokawa.

But these weren’t normal circumstances.

None of the men employed by Yomu were smart. It would never occur to them that someone might follow them from the scene… and it left Yoshitake in a dangerous predicament. He couldn’t afford to be linked back to Yomu, or to any of the attacks his friend had led against Takeshi at Yoshitake’s behest. But neither could he afford to eliminate Kitayama and his husband before he reported his findings back to Takeshi. Yoshitake’s desire to take over the Shirokawa-gumi did not include engaging in another war with the Araki-gumi. And especially not when the Shirokawa-gumi were in no position to fend off whatever attacks Gou Kitayama fired their way for the killing of his nephew and heir… attacks Yoshitake knew would be brutal, devastating, and would change Osaka’s landscape forever.

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s no proof he or his Uncle are responsible for it.”

“But you also can’t prove that he isn’t either,” he bit back. “And he was seen skulking nearby after all.” His eyes narrowing as he noticed the tension in Takeshi’s jaw. “You knew, didn’t you? You already knew Kitayama, and his husband were nearby.”

“I told you… I asked him to track down whoever is behind all these attacks.”

“I’m starting wonder what your father intended you to learn in Tokyo… because it sure as hell wasn’t commonsense.”

“I learnt about cooperation… learnt that sometimes an ally isn’t the one you’d expect, while your enemy might lie amongst those who surround you.”

“And what do you mean by that, Keshi? Are you suggesting that the person you should fear the most… is me?” he pitched his voice high and filled it with as much incredulity as he could muster. Takeshi’s assumption was correct of course, but it wasn’t in Yoshitake’s best interest for the younger man to realise that… not yet of course. “Has someone suggested I can’t be trusted? But no… I can’t believe you’d fall for such lies, such vicious allegations when I’ve always been the one to stand by your side… supported you when others were ready to challenge you for the role that is rightful yours… and I’ve always done my damnedest to keep you safe since the moment your father entrusted me with your safety on your sixteenth birthday.” Their fingers had become unlinked, as Yoshitake’s hand drifted up Takeshi’s arm and squeezed his shoulder. “And besides Keshi… would you let anyone else fuck you like I do?”

“And maybe that’s a problem too, Take,” Takeshi spat, not hesitating to clamber out of the vehicle as they arrived at the main house. “I haven’t let anyone fuck me but you… haven’t fucked anyone either.” The words thrown over his shoulder before Takeshi slammed the door shut and stormed into the house, leaving Yoshitake in a state of confusion.

Yoshitake groaned, rubbed at the bridge of his nose, and tried to work out what Takeshi had meant by his statement. He’d already known that no one else had Takeshi’s arse… that no other man had tempted him while he’d been in Tokyo, but it was the way Takeshi had spit out the word with such vehemence that concerned Yoshitake. Did Takeshi wish to sleep with others? Did he have someone in mind? And if that was the case… who the fuck did he need to kill?

Shaking his head, Yoshitake hurried out of the vehicle and stalked after Takeshi intent on reminding the younger man just who the fuck he belonged too. Hands clenched at his sides he strode down the hallway ready to enforce the rules he’d established so many years ago. By force if necessary. Yoshitake wasn’t above tying Takeshi to the bed and doing whatever he pleased with the younger man’s body.

He paused outside the door of Takeshi’s bedroom, hand hovering over the door handle and breathed deep before stepping inside the room expecting to discover a recalcitrant Takeshi on the other side of it.

But that wasn’t what Yoshitake found when he entered the room.

Honestly, he wasn’t sure what to make of the scene in front of him. He’d expected an act of defiance... not one of compliance. And yet it wasn’t that either, more like some mangled combination of them both, leaving Yoshitake uncertain as to how he should precede.

Takeshi had stripped off his clothes and tossed them over the back of a nearby chair—compliance.

But he lay on the bed beneath several layers of bedding and depriving Yoshitake of the sight of his naked body—defiance.

Yoshitake groaned and shook his head while wondering why he was surprised by the man’s actions at all. It wasn’t as though Takeshi hadn’t spent the years before being shipped off to Tokyo trying to find ways to circumvent the rules Yoshitake had instituted…manipulating them until Takeshi achieved the desired outcome. Yoshitake had quickly learned Takeshi’s actions weren’t always about rebelling against the rules, the restrictions placed upon his life, or out of a desire to live a life more ordinary. Sometimes Takeshi deliberately broke the rules and defied Yoshitake for the sole purpose of being punished. But even knowing that didn’t help Yoshitake understand what Takeshi hoped to achieve currently.

He locked the door, strode across the room, and stripped off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair. Loosened his tie and slid it from around his neck before it too joined his jacket. Turning to face Takeshi, a guarded expression on his face, he undid the top two buttons of his shirt, removed his cufflinks, placing them on a nearby shelf and rolled his shirtsleeves to his elbow. No words passed between them, Takeshi not even hazarding a glance at Yoshitake since he’d entered the room. He didn’t know if it was arrogance or fear that drove the man to ignore his presence, but Yoshitake had no intention of remaining unforgotten.

“So, are you going to explain your little tantrum out there?” he asked, voice dangerously low. “Or why you sought to place yourself in danger by telling a rival where you’d be?” Yoshitake slipped his hands into his pants pockets and stepped toward the bed carefully watching Takeshi’s reactions.

Still no words came. No explanations forthcoming beyond a dismissive shrug of the shoulders which angered Yoshitake.

A dangerous grin settled on his face, one that echoed the long list of punishments he now had planned for Takeshi. A list he’d quite happily add to so long as they younger man’s churlish attitude continued. Standing next to the bed, Yoshitake reached for the edge of the blanket Takeshi had tucked up around his chest and yanked it free. Blankets and sheets tossed to the floor at the end of the bed leaving naked flesh open to his perusal.

But as he swept his gaze over Takeshi, Yoshitake winced and his desire to kill Yomu intensified. He’d wanted to scare the younger man with a hail of bullets that flew over the heads of those packed into the popular bar. Ramp up his insecurities and make him suspicious of everyone around him who wasn’t Yoshitake… He’d not wanted Takeshi injured this time. Not physically at least. Bruises dark enough to be seen beneath the colours etched into his skin should not have happened.

“I thought you weren’t injured.” Brows furrowing as he traced the pattern of darkened colour as it stretched from Takeshi’s rib cage to the top of his left hip.

Takeshi shrugged. “It’s nothing. An expected consequence of living in this world.”

“You’ve probably got broken ribs. I should get the doctor.”

“No doctor. I’m fine.”

“Keshi… don’t argue with me about this.”

“No doctor, Yoshitake. I’m alive and that’s all that matters… others weren’t so lucky.” Takeshi turned to stare at him, a cold anger flickering through them that almost dared Yoshitake suggest that luck had nothing to do with it. Luck had everything to do with it, because the damn explosions weren’t supposed to happen.

“Fine. No doctor.” He sighed heavily, pushing a hand through his hair. “I’ll go get some food, water, and hunt down some heavy-duty painkillers,” he said, fingers curling around the hard case of his phone.

He really wanted to kill Yomu…

************************************

The Moutrams

Will the love they once held for each other be rekindled?

And will the kingdom accept an heir born of a knight?

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Obey the orders of his King or stay true to his love for Jarret.

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