Welcome to March - Updates, Book Recs, and Caught--Chapter Three

Mar 05, 2021 8:22 am

Kia Ora...

If I'd sat down to write my newsletter yesterday, I would have talked about waiting to hear if New Zealand would be released from another lockdown and how close Not Invisible to Me was getting to a release date...

However, today was a bit more exciting than yesterday, what with being woken up at 2.30 am by a 7.4M earthquake centered just off the east coast of the North Island, one that was quickly followed by another 7.3M centered near the Kermadec Islands about 1400km to the north east. Of course, the earth wasn't satisfied with that, throwing another earthquake our way, but this time an 8.1M situated again at the Kermadec Islands and triggering a tsunami alert. I'm lucky, where I live is nowhere near the coast (though I do miss being by the beach), but it was still worrying to watch the news reports through the morning watching as the information relating to it changed.

Hopefully tomorrow won't be so eventful.

Now if you've been observant, you'll have noticed that the header image isn't for my books... and this ties into the book rec part of the email. Daniel May is a new author on the block and his book series A Taste of Ink is brilliant. I will warn you that it does involve cheating if that's not your thing, but otherwise it's highly entertaining series, deliciously hot and I can't wait to read what happens to Trinket next. You can grab the first book on Amazon or Everywhere else

Update

Not Invisible to Me is still on target to be released this month. Final word count should be around 50k if not closer to 60k
Deadly Gifts (Tokyo Nights 3) - I already have a few thousand words written on this and once Not Invisible to Me is finished I will be writing it in earnest with a tentative release date of late May.

Caught (Smoke and Shadows 1)

Chapter One: Chapter Two

(Unedited) (Copyrighted)

Content Warning: Obsessive/Manipulative behaviour, Past sexual fantasies toward a teenager, Age Gap, Dub-con...

Chapter Three

A sly grin toyed with Yoshitake’s lips as he stood next to the bed and stared down at the boy— No, he wasn’t a boy any longer, gone were the gangly features of Takeshi’s teenage years, the innocence that had clung to him despite being born into a world steeped in blood. Takeshi was in no way innocent; he’d killed his fair share of men between completing homework assignments and cramming for entrance exams all under Yoshitake’s watchful eye. Yet there had always been this air of naivety that had surrounded him, aided by Takeshi’s youthful features, the slight roundness of his face and worked well to lure his targets into a false sense of security. Drawn Yoshitake in too…

But a lot can change in four years.

A mind can become twisted by revenge.

A body can forget how to deal with the rigors of this world.

And yet not everything had changed… or at least not for the worst. Yoshitake brushed the strands of hair that had fallen over Takeshi’s face and tucked them behind his ear. Traced along Takeshi’s jaw, relishing the rasp of stubble beneath his fingers before lightly dragging them across the man’s lips. For so many years those lips had been forbidden to him; something he could look at and wonder what they’d taste like… and yet never touch. Secret desires that he’d worked hard to keep hidden, fearing that he’d lose the ability to see Takeshi everyday if the wrong people learned of them.

One slip up was all it had taken. One errant lust filled gaze thrown in Takeshi’s direction and the young heir had been hurried off to Tokyo. It didn’t matter that Takeshi was eighteen, almost nineteen at the time but only that Yoshitake was close to forty. And every time Takeshi returned to Osaka for holidays, Yoshitake was conveniently sent out of the city so their paths didn’t cross.

Yoshitake snorted, he might never have succumbed to the temptation of kissing these lips, however it didn’t mean nothing happened at all. He pressed two fingers against the seam of Takeshi’s lips hard, grinning as the young heir’s eyes flew open in panic; mouth opening to scream but the sound never came as Yoshitake thrust his fingers into the man’s mouth. And then the panic subsided as Takeshi recognised him. Choked screams replaced instead by the wanton moans that had remained in Yoshitake’s memories for the last four years and kept him warm at night. Desperate whimpers harmonising with the sound of Takeshi suckling on Yoshitake’s fingers.

Four years had changed so much, but it hadn’t stolen this.

“Welcome back, Keshi,” he said, caressing Takeshi’s face with his other hand and chuckling at the complaints falling from Takeshi’s lips as he withdrew his fingers.

“Take? Fuck, Take, you’re really here?”

Hands reached for him, shaking with need as Takeshi tried to touch him, but Yoshitake wasn’t ready for that. Too much time had passed, too many days, months, years and now that his Takeshi had returned, nothing would happen unless he decreed it. He grabbed Takeshi’s hands and with one hand pinned them above the young heir’s head wishing he’d had the forethought to bring rope. Not relaxing his grip, Yoshitake, clambered onto the bed and swung a leg over Takeshi’s chest, straddling him. With his free hand and keeping his gaze fixed on Takeshi, he slowly unfastened his pants and shoved them lower on his hips, chuckling at the desperation blazing in Takeshi’s eyes. He stroked his cock lazily a few times before canting his hips and brushing the tip across Takeshi’s lips, groaning at the flick of the man’s tongue across it.

“You want this, don’t you? Bet you spent the last four years wondering what it would be like to have my cock in your mouth… sliding between your lips and down your throat until you choke.”

“Take—" Takeshi whimpered.

But whatever else he’d intended to say was cut off, Yoshitake thrusting his hips forward and not stopping until hit the back of Takeshi’s throat. Grinned as he realised the young heir didn’t have a gag reflex, hoping like hell that is was natural and not one Takeshi had worked to get rid of. If there had been others who’d gotten a chance to get their hands, on Takeshi—others who’d been here before him, then Yoshitake would take great pleasure in hunting them down. He pulled back a bit to let Takeshi breathe and wiped away the moisture gathering beneath his eyes. But Yoshitake only allowed Takeshi a short reprieve. Hard and fast. Never once shifting his gaze from Takeshi’s. Four years of waiting, of pent up desire soon erupted, and the sound Takeshi made as he choked were amongst the most beautiful Yoshitake had heard.

And he wanted to hear more.

Wanted Takeshi to crave him… to need everything Yoshitake could offer him as though it was more important than life itself. He wanted to finish what he’d started before his Takeshi had been rudely stolen away from him.

Each breath he took was ragged and punctuated by the heavy beat of his heart and the desperate gasps of Takeshi. Yoshitake released his tight grip on Takeshi’s wrists and grinned at the red finger shaped bruises marking them. They wouldn’t be the last marks he left behind on Takeshi’s body, already planning to leave ones engraved in the man’s skin…maybe right down the centre of Takeshi’s chest where the tattoos that marked him as belonging to this world of smoke and shadows didn’t quite reach.

He moved off the bed and stared at Takeshi, itching to touch him; to explore the remainder of the young heir’s body until none of it was a stranger to him. But he was also curious to see what Takeshi did next. The young man who carried the weight of a crumbling organisation on his shoulders while still dealing with the grief of losing the only family he had. He’d never handled stress well in the past, especially when it blindsided him and not giving Takeshi time to plan for it. It wasn’t that the man was weak or flighty but instead became easily flustered when too many thoughts rushed about in his head.

Yoshitake was curious as to whether that was still true…

Curious as to whether a man of twenty-three still remembered the lessons he’d been taught.

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Oh fuck! Did that just happen? Shit, maybe I’m dreaming… some concussion induced fantasy… not really here, wherever the hell that might be… Takeshi’s mind whirled chaotically as it tried to make sense of what had happened… or if it had happened at all. Except it must have. A sore throat, the lingering taste of semen and the ache of his wrists from Yoshitake pinning them hard to the bed couldn’t be ignored. Inhaling sharply, Takeshi threw off the covers and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Naked, and no idea where his clothes were, Takeshi knew he should be panicking and yet, panic was the furthest thing from his mind as he stared at Yoshitake. His former bodyguard had longed starred in Takeshi’s fantasies… dark ones he’d never planned to utter aloud; never believed would happen.

Yoshitake had taught him many things from killing a man silently to dealing with the chaotic thoughts that raced through Takeshi’s when the unexpected happened—when he let the stress of being the heir to the Shirokawa-gumi and getting good grades grew too much. So many lessons and often with little or no explanation for them. And he’d never questioned a single one. Maybe he should’ve, but Takeshi had been desperate for the man’s attention and prepared to do anything to obtain it… and maybe some of those lessons should have sent Takeshi running or seen his desire for the man falter. But it hadn’t. If anything, the desperate need for Yoshitake that flowed in his veins only intensified…

Didn’t look like it had faltered much over the last four years either.

He drew in another deep breath, this one less steady than the last as he took in Yoshitake, noting everything that had changed since Takeshi had last seen him. Age had begun to make its mark on Yoshitake’s with lines etching the corner of his eyes; the odd glint of silver in his hair and a few more scars bisecting the lines of ink covering the man’s skin. Not that it should have surprised him, their world wasn’t a kind place and time it you harder when death lurked around every corner especially with every year that carried you past forty. And Yoshitake was forty now.

But the fire that burned in Yoshitake’s eyes hadn’t changed; threatened to consume Takeshi and drag him into the depths of hell just as much now as it had done back then. And it was hard to pull his gaze away, but Takeshi needed to confirm just where Yoshitake had brought him before deciding on what to do next.

His quick survey of the room only confirmed what Takeshi had already suspected—Yoshitake had brought him back to his bedroom in the house in Suita.

Nothing had changed.

Nothing but their ages.

And yet that wasn’t quite right either.

“Keshi, what are you going to do?” Takeshi snapped his attention back, shivering under the man’s intense gaze. “The Shirokawa-gumi has dissolved into chaos… everything that your father- your grandfather worked for is slowly being lost and if you hesitate too long, there will be nothing left for you to control.”

He wrung his hands together, head dropping forward as the chaotic voices once more clamoured in his brain. Takeshi knew what his responsibilities were and had no intention of shirking them. He’d been brought up to lead the organisation and continue its domination over Osaka, but it wasn’t that simple… who could he trust? Who amongst those who’d followed his grandfather loyally were prepared to do the same with him? Who were his enemies? And what about the Araki-gumi? Were they still a threat to his position within the Osaka region or had their desire for Matsumoto blood ended with the death of his grandfather?

Too many questions. Too many possible places to begin. Did he start with vengeance for the death of his father or focus on rebuilding the crumbling structure of the Shirokawa-gumi? Fuck… Takeshi didn’t know and Yoshitake’s expectant gaze wasn’t helping matters. He wasn’t supposed to slip into this position for at least another twenty-years… and yet Takeshi couldn’t turn back time stop the bullet that had killed his father from being fired.

And he needed to mourn his father.

“Keshi…” Yoshitake’s voice came again, commanded threaded through the soft utterance of the name only Yoshitake had ever used and this time Takeshi didn’t hesitate. He moved across the floor quickly and clambered into the man’s lap just as he’d done many times before. The tension stringing tight through him eased with the first brush of Yoshitake’s hand down this spine, and it never occurred to Takeshi that maybe he should have gotten dressed first. Why would it? This was how it had always been between them. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll help you get through this…secure your place at the head of the Shirokawa-gumi. I’ll never leave you…never let anyone take you from me again.”

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