Sloan’s Favorites: My Fave M/M “Dad, meet my boyfriend” Scene

Posted on September 23, 2015 by SloanParker

Here’s another selection in my “Favorite Scenes” series. It’s from MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK.

Why I chose this excerpt: The relationship between Scott and his father was a special part of this story for me. I wanted to show that the most important man in Scott’s life had always been his dad. Until he met Mark. His dad and Mark could’ve ended up fighting over Scott’s attention, but that wasn’t the kind of man I wanted his father to be. When I was writing the scene below, I knew that a dad who so deeply loved and cared for his son could’ve attacked Mark as soon as he saw those bruises, before listening to Scott. But Scott’s dad was the kind of man who typically listened first, then reacted. I love how this scene showcases that. Of course his dad wants to immediately take Scott out of the situation, but he also stops to find out the truth, find out what his son wants and how he feels about it.

Please note: Amazon currently has this title listed as part of the MORE series. It is not. We’re working with Amazon to get that information corrected.

“Your roommates said you’d moved out. Owen at the coffee shop told me where to find this place.” He threw a heated look Mark’s way. “I’m guessing it was your idea that my son lie to me?”

“No,” Scott said. “Dad, I—”

“Not telling me you’re living with someone is lying. The kind of man who encourages you to lie to me is not good enough for you.”

It wasn’t hard to miss the clench of Mark’s jaw. He didn’t react, though. His voice was neutral when he said, “I should go put on some clothes.”

“Yeah, you do that.” Scott’s dad turned his back on Mark.

Mark gave Scott a look, part apology, part worry, part support, then headed for his bedroom.

After the bedroom door shut, his dad opened his mouth as if to say something else but gasped instead. He gripped Scott by the elbows and held his arms up, examining one wrist, then the other. The slight bruising was almost gone, but it was still obvious enough, even in the low light of the candles. And with the way the marks had faded, they looked like fingerprints wrapped around Scott’s arms.

“Did he do this to you?”

“It’s not—”

“Go get your things, Scott. You’re not staying here.”

A flash of lightning lit up the room, immediately followed by a crack of thunder that tore through the small apartment.

Scott stood frozen in place. He’d never heard his dad sound so pissed off.

“Dad, it’s nothing.”

“Nothing?” He reached for Scott’s arm again. “He’s hurting you.”

“No!” Scott kept his gaze locked on the floor. He so didn’t want to explain this. “Please don’t ask.” That was when the lights decided to turn back on. Perfect timing. Out of the corner of his eye, Scott could see his dad intensely watching him.

“Is he hurting you?”

Scott shook his head.

“Is someone else?”

“No.” He crossed the room and dropped onto the couch. His still-heated ass stung with the action. He held back the wince.

His dad came to sit next to him. “What happened?” He examined Scott’s wrists again, more closely this time. “This is from being tied up.”

“Please. Can we just drop it? You’re my dad.”

“That’s why I have to know.”

“But it’s embarrassing talking about this with you.”

“I’m sorry about that, but we are not going to drop it. Mark did this to you?”

Oh God. What was he supposed to say?

“He ties you up?”

Scott nodded.

His dad didn’t say anything more right away. Hopefully he’d decided to let the completely embarrassing conversation go.

Or not.

More softly he asked, “It’s something you want him to do?”

Yet again, Scott couldn’t find the words.

“I have to know, Scott. Is this from him doing something you wanted?”

“Yes.”

“It’s something you enjoy?”

There was no getting out of admitting the truth. He swallowed, then spoke again in a rush. “Yes.”

“Does he hit you?”

He could still feel the warm sting of Mark’s hand on him. He searched for the right words. “He doesn’t hurt me.” He dropped his head and buried his face in his hands. His next words were muffled. “Can we not talk about this?”

There was a long pause, and then his dad said, “It’s okay.” He ran a comforting hand over Scott’s back, then sank back farther on the couch. “In fact, your mother liked that sort of thing.”

“Dad!” Scott lifted his head but still couldn’t face him.

“Oh, I forgot. Parents don’t have sex.” He could tell his dad was smiling now. “She was a wonderful person. Having a lot in common with her is not a bad thing.”

“I know.” He always loved when his dad compared him to her. He wouldn’t let what they were talking about change that reaction.

“I should’ve guessed when I saw those marks. She bruised easily like you. It’s just… I worry about you.”

“Mark is a really good guy. He cares about me.”

“I can see that.”

Scott looked at his dad for the first time since moving to the couch. He was staring off toward the end of the hallway.

Mark stood there, now fully dressed, concern evident in the confused expression on his face. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Scott tried to keep his voice even, despite the awkwardness of the moment. “Everything’s fine.”

Mark nodded. “Okay. I’ll let you two talk.” He hesitated like it was taking all his effort to walk away. He gave Scott another nod and headed back down the hall for his room.

After the door closed, his dad said, “I trust you. I trust your judgment. But I need you to promise me one thing. That you’ll never let him or anyone else do something you don’t want. No matter what you feel for him. And if it becomes too much, if it’s changing into something you don’t want and you don’t know how to walk away, you’ll come talk to me.”

“I promise. Can we not talk about this anymore?”

The full story is available at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | iBooks | B&N | All Romance eBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Sloan’s Favorites: An excerpt from my friends-to-lovers story SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

Posted on September 11, 2015 by SloanParker

Here’s my third selection in my “Favorite Scenes” series.

Why I chose this excerpt: This moment illustrates for me just how special being in that hotel room is for Sean and Gavin. For the first time, Sean feels like he’s getting a look at the real Gavin in a way he never had before.

Gavin hit mute on the TV, tossed the remote aside. “Where’d you grow up?”

“Just a dinky little town. It’s nowhere special.”

He lowered to the bed on his side, his head propped in his hand. Something about that action and the quiet stillness of the room around us gave the moment a different feel from any other we’d spent together.

More private.

More real.

Which was odd. Sometimes I’d felt completely alone with him when we were surrounded by men at the shelter.

Or at least, I’d thought that’s how I’d felt. Maybe I’d never been alone with the real Gavin. The one who was watching me now.

He reached out and laid a hand on my right thigh. “You came from there, so yeah, it is special.” He paused as if he wanted to make sure I got his meaning.

I wasn’t sure I did.

“In Ohio, right?” he asked. He rubbed my thigh, his hand so warm I could feel it through my jeans. The only time he’d touched me even close to the same way had been about warming me up after I’d trudged through the snow to the warehouse from the park in a worse snowstorm nearly a year ago. That touching had been clinical. Or at least I’d tried to pretend it had so my heart wouldn’t be crushed when he rolled over to go to sleep.

I nodded, my next words catching in my throat. I swallowed and tried again. “Angola, Ohio. This time of year, every house and all the shops lining Main Street are decked out in Christmas lights. There are giant stars on the telephone poles and reindeer pulling a sleigh in the town square. Like someplace you’d see on a postcard.”

“Pretty?”

“I guess. More like it has this quiet, polite normalcy. But you have to look close to see the real place. I mean, the kinds of people who actually live there.” I pulled at a loose green thread on the bedspread beside me. The thread kept on unraveling. Maybe I could pull all those ugly weeds out and leave behind something plain but more beautiful. “The people—they’re not so pretty.”

His hand stopped moving. “Like your parents?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you ever tell them or your grandparents you were gay?”

I gave up on the weed whacking and crossed my arms over my chest. “Thought we were gonna catch a movie?”

“Right.” He removed his hand from my leg, and I immediately regretted my words as he returned to the end of the bed and reached for the remote. He pointed it at the TV but paused before clicking on the sound, his back to me. “You are, though, right?”

“What?”

“Gay.”

“Me?” I choked out a laugh. Was he serious?

Apparently so. He clutched the remote like it was a grenade, and if he let go, the room—and the two of us—would explode into a thousand pieces. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing.

“Oh, God yeah,” I said. “I’m gay. It’s why I left home.”

He sighed and eased up on the remote. He started changing channels again, stopping when he hit some action, one of those low-tech time-travel movies with the former governor from California.

Gavin kept the sound muted, and the time-traveling cyborg guy didn’t seem as threatening without the sounds of his guns going off. It’s amazing what silence will do to a moment.

“Gavin?”

Slowly, he looked back at me over his shoulder.

“Are you?” I asked.

His mouth turned up at the corners. “Yeah, I’m gay.”

The full story is available at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | iBooks | B&N | All Romance eBooks | Kobo | MLR Press

There’s also a free read featuring Sean and Gavin on my website: It Says Love.

Sloan’s Favorites: An excerpt from my friends-to-lovers story I SWEAR TO YOU

Posted on August 26, 2015 by SloanParker

Here’s my second selection in my new “Favorite Scenes” series.

Why I chose this excerpt: This scene features the first kiss between best friends Grady and Mateo, and it’s one of my favorite kiss scenes that I’ve written.

Mateo moved in closer. His mouth was turned up at the corners in a teasing smirk Grady had seen from him a lot over the years. “Is it locked? Knowing your family, they’d just barge right in.”

“What?”

He took another step, and his voice dropped lower. “Is the door locked?”

“Yeah.” Grady’s brain was having a hard time keeping up with him. Mateo was so close to him now, their bodies almost touching, Mateo’s mouth mere inches from Grady’s own. So close that when Mateo spoke, Grady could feel that warm breath on his lips again.

“Good.” Mateo shifted on his feet, bringing them even closer. Their jean-covered thighs brushed one against the other.

What the hell were they doing?

Mateo bit his bottom lip and slowly released it. Then in a quick move, he cupped the back of Grady’s neck and leaned in. Just like on the couch. Only this time he didn’t stop.

The first press of his mouth to Grady’s was a soft touch that grew more urgent, more desperate with every second. He turned them and backed Grady out of the kitchen area and up against the closed door of the guesthouse, bringing his full weight into him, rocking against him, holding Grady’s head in his strong hands.

A minute into that kiss, and Grady’s body was ready to explode with a release he never thought could come from just one kiss.

Then their tongues connected.

An electric current shot through him. He grabbed on to Mateo in return, holding him by the hips, forcing Mateo to move against him again, to brush that lean, hard body against his cock over and over. He couldn’t help but notice how very strong and masculine Mateo felt in his hands—and how fucking good that felt.

The door rattled behind them with their movements. There was nothing slow or easy about the kiss, about the way they rocked against each other.

A primal need had erupted inside Grady, leaving him unable—and unwilling—to stop the desire blazing through him.

“Teo,” he said around a moan as Mateo kissed a path down his neck. “What are we doing?”

“Christ, Grady. I don’t know, but I don’t want it to stop.”

Fucking hell, he didn’t want it to stop either.

He wanted more, everything he had pretended he wasn’t picturing during their past few jerk-off sessions.

Mateo pulled back. He stared at Grady’s lips again, licked his own. “Fuck.” He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. Or maybe not. He propped a hand against the door beside Grady and leaned in once more.

Their mouths met again, and that was it. Grady gave himself over to the moment—over to Mateo.

Mateo’s lips slid to his earlobe, and he whispered, “I wanna suck your dick.”

Grady whimpered. He couldn’t keep the reaction at bay if he’d wanted to.

Mateo ran those lips down along the sensitive skin of his neck again, nipping and licking as he went, sweeping his hands up under Grady’s T-shirt, over the flesh of his bare chest. “I wanna fuck you all goddamn night.”

Grady forced Mateo’s head up so they were face-to-face. “Shut up and kiss me again.”

Only he didn’t really want him to shut up. He wanted to hear every word. He wanted exactly what Mateo was describing.

He wanted it all. Every fucking thing.

The full story is available at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | iBooks | B&N | All Romance eBooks | Kobo | Google Play

An excerpt from SWEPT AWAY (free M/M fiction)

Posted on August 19, 2015 by SloanParker

I’ve made some awesome progress on my current projects lately, so I hope you don’t mind the recent lack of blog posts. (If you’re curious about what I’ve been working on, you can see the latest status updates on the Works-in-Progress page of my website.)

One of the things I’ve been wanting to do with the blog is get a few excerpts of my published works posted since a fair number of new readers find me through this site. So starting this week, I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite moments from each of my titles.

To start things off, here’s an excerpt from SWEPT AWAY with Eddie and Mike

Why I chose this excerpt: I’ve always loved the contrast of how Eddie was feeling in this moment (when he first enters the cool ocean water and sees how happy Mike is) with the way he was feeling earlier (both in the stifling courtroom and at the airport when he was hot and sticky and thought he was about to see Mike’s ex).

Setup: The biggest case of Eddie’s career and nothing’s going right. He’s stuck in a stifling courtroom with no air conditioning during the worst heat wave in years, and the judge has denied his latest motion. He just wants to spend a quiet night celebrating with his partner, Mike, on their fifteenth anniversary. But Mike has a surprise in mind this year. A surprise that may be more than Eddie imagined possible.

“Race you,” he said, then jumped off the deck and ran onto the beach stark naked, heading for the water’s edge.

“Asshole,” I called out as I kicked off my shorts and shoes. I chased after him, laughing all the way to the water. He’d already made it in waist-high by the time I got there. He splashed me as I ran in. I lunged at him, and he let out a huge-ass giggle as I wrapped my arms around his chest from behind. A fucking giggle.

Wait. That hadn’t come from him. It was from me. His laugh still sounded like a guy his size normally would. It sounded great. I sounded like a kid running to get to the dodgeball first at recess. Maybe it was the sound of pure joy.

I had every intention of dunking him under the water, but I gave up on that idea. I couldn’t bring myself to end his laughter. Better to cut off my own embarrassing sounds. I let go of him, dove under the surface, and basked in the cool water that surrounded my heated flesh from head to toe. The stickiness of the past twelve hours washed away, and every concern and worry went with it.

Maybe I had been under too long. His large hands grabbed my arms and yanked me up. “Come here.” He brought his lips to mine. The stubble on his face was wet, and the water dripped to my chest as we pressed closer together.

He grabbed the back of my head and parted his lips. So many times we’d done this, a caress of tongues, the intensity building, our cocks growing harder as our bodies surged together, as we shifted our hips and found the rhythm that drove us both to the edge. But we’d never done anything outside. We’d fucked year after year in front of forty guys, but not once had he given me a simple kiss on the lips outside of our place or a gay bar. Never outdoors where someone might see. Never standing naked in the ocean.

He backed up a few steps toward the cottage tugging me along with him, never stopping the touches or the kisses until we reached the water’s edge. He pulled me down to the sand until I was lying on top of him. I braced myself, hands in the wet sand on each side of his head, and lined up our bodies groin to groin. I stared down at him. The wet hair on his chest shone in the dim light of the moon. The muscles of his biceps flexed as he ran his palms down my arms. His eyes crinkled up again at the corners as he gave me a slow smile. God, he’d never looked better. The swell of the surf rolled in around us, the water shallow, barely an inch deep where he had decided to get horizontal. Such a smart man.

We moved together, creating friction that had my cock wet at the tip for reasons that had nothing to do with the ocean. I rocked faster, loving the groan he gave up as my shaft grazed the sensitive skin below the head of his dick. I didn’t want the moment to end. But I also wanted the wave of orgasm to crash into us both, like the surf washing over our tangled limbs. I wanted to watch his face in the moonlight as he came.

He must have had another idea. “Eddie, stop. Up. Inside.” Maybe those were all the words he could form right then.