One heart’s been broken. The other is secondhand.
Kory Vansant doesn’t deserve to be alive.
As time sucks him dry of energy, sapping the final ounces
of strength from his congenitally enlarged heart, he's forced to end his career
as Kory Kent, porn star. Staring down death, he questions his life choices and
prays for a miracle. For another chance at life, he vows to change who he is at
his core.
His prayers are answered. A perfect heart now beats in
his chest, but it comes at a heavy price. The donor is an innocent young man
cut down far too prematurely.
Kory's blemished history and his donor's spotless past
are far from ideal matches.
As his debts skyrocket, Kory can’t help but think his
resolve to walk the high road is being tested. After he meets the adorable Will
Squire at the gravesite they both visit, he’s doubly damned because there’s no
way he can keep up his end of the bargain. What happens when a man breaks a
deal with a higher power?
Will often prefers the company of the dead to that of the
living. Following a bad breakup, he pours himself into his two jobs—funeral
director at his uncle’s mortuary and part-time paramedic. He’s drawn ever
closer to Kory, as if fate sticks her fickle hand in and pushes them together
like two unlikely puzzle pieces. But sometimes history can’t be buried, and
maybe divine intervention isn’t always right. Will discovers everyone is
imperfect, no matter how pretty the outer package, and opening one’s heart is
never easy, but can be oh, so worth the pain.
Exclusive Excerpt for TTC from Crossed Hearts by K. Vale
He banged on the closed door harder than he should have and the lock snicked open. Kory stood
there looking seventies dapper in a brown suit with thin corduroy whaling. Will couldn’t help his amused expression.
“I know, it’s old school, but I kinda like it. Too warm for right now, but in the fall…hopefully.” He picked at the miniscule nail on his thumb. It looked raw and painful.
The resolve to demand that Kory label whatever they were doing fled, and Will slid a maroon and yellow silk tie from his clenched fist, shoulders drooping. “Yeah, it’ll be perfect. Try this one.”
Kory kept the changing room door open with his hip as he slipped the tie around his neck and
started to fiddle with it. He made an exasperated noise after about thirty seconds of wrapping the
thinner end over, and then switching it under, and then back again. “Dammit. I suck at tying ties.”
He gave Will a pleading look. “Do you mind?”
Will sighed. “Sure.”
Kory sidestepped to allow him into the snug space. It felt overwhelmingly small. And warm. Will
reached up to grab both ends of the silk. As he looped them together, he made the mistake of focusing on those dark brown eyes. He couldn’t look away this time. His hands slowed, then stilled.
One of Kory’s eyebrows twitched like it was asking a question. Will opened his mouth to suck in a breath of stifling air and Kory’s gaze dropped to his lips.
Their mouths crashed together with head-spinning speed. Will couldn’t tell if he’d pulled on the
tie and forced Kory down toward him, or if Kory did it on his own, but there was no doubt Will wasn’t making him do something he didn’t want to. Whoever had instigated, no one was stopping it.
Bristles scrubbed Will’s clean-shaven cheeks, rough and soft all at once, and Kory’s big body
pressed Will’s back against the unlatched door, holding it closed as his lips worked over Will’s. His tongue found Will’s for a hot, wet brush of tips that sent a maddening surge of heat to Will’s cock.
“Mmmm.” Kory groaned and then broke the contact to peck kisses across Will’s jaw. Will’s mouth
sagged open. His eyes closed. The tantalizing combination of scouring beard and tender lips worked down his neck, to his collar, and scuffed a path up toward Will’s earlobe where Kory took a restrained bite and hummed against his skin, his nose tickling the shell of Will’s ear.
“Shit.” Kory whispered the word on a hot breath. “How’d I ever think…?” He pulled away,
panting.
“Shit,” he repeated, and backed up a wide step. “Oh, man.” He looked up at the ceiling, rapping the back of his head against the mirrored wall behind him. “I’m so sorry. That was...I’m not…”
He stared at Will, leaving the rest unsaid while the heat in his eyes negated his rebuff.
___________________
Thank you so much for hosting me! :-)
He banged on the closed door harder than he should have and the lock snicked open. Kory stood
there looking seventies dapper in a brown suit with thin corduroy whaling. Will couldn’t help his amused expression.
“I know, it’s old school, but I kinda like it. Too warm for right now, but in the fall…hopefully.” He picked at the miniscule nail on his thumb. It looked raw and painful.
The resolve to demand that Kory label whatever they were doing fled, and Will slid a maroon and yellow silk tie from his clenched fist, shoulders drooping. “Yeah, it’ll be perfect. Try this one.”
Kory kept the changing room door open with his hip as he slipped the tie around his neck and
started to fiddle with it. He made an exasperated noise after about thirty seconds of wrapping the
thinner end over, and then switching it under, and then back again. “Dammit. I suck at tying ties.”
He gave Will a pleading look. “Do you mind?”
Will sighed. “Sure.”
Kory sidestepped to allow him into the snug space. It felt overwhelmingly small. And warm. Will
reached up to grab both ends of the silk. As he looped them together, he made the mistake of focusing on those dark brown eyes. He couldn’t look away this time. His hands slowed, then stilled.
One of Kory’s eyebrows twitched like it was asking a question. Will opened his mouth to suck in a breath of stifling air and Kory’s gaze dropped to his lips.
Their mouths crashed together with head-spinning speed. Will couldn’t tell if he’d pulled on the
tie and forced Kory down toward him, or if Kory did it on his own, but there was no doubt Will wasn’t making him do something he didn’t want to. Whoever had instigated, no one was stopping it.
Bristles scrubbed Will’s clean-shaven cheeks, rough and soft all at once, and Kory’s big body
pressed Will’s back against the unlatched door, holding it closed as his lips worked over Will’s. His tongue found Will’s for a hot, wet brush of tips that sent a maddening surge of heat to Will’s cock.
“Mmmm.” Kory groaned and then broke the contact to peck kisses across Will’s jaw. Will’s mouth
sagged open. His eyes closed. The tantalizing combination of scouring beard and tender lips worked down his neck, to his collar, and scuffed a path up toward Will’s earlobe where Kory took a restrained bite and hummed against his skin, his nose tickling the shell of Will’s ear.
“Shit.” Kory whispered the word on a hot breath. “How’d I ever think…?” He pulled away,
panting.
“Shit,” he repeated, and backed up a wide step. “Oh, man.” He looked up at the ceiling, rapping the back of his head against the mirrored wall behind him. “I’m so sorry. That was...I’m not…”
He stared at Will, leaving the rest unsaid while the heat in his eyes negated his rebuff.
___________________
Thank you so much for hosting me! :-)
K. Vale writes
erotic romance of all stripes, from hot hetero to mouthwatering manlove. Find
her MF work published under Kimber Vale. Come for the sex. Stay for the story.
Stalk Kimber on Facebook and Twitter @KimberVale, and check her site for
updates, new releases, and freebies at http://www.authorkimbervale.com.
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I enjoyed the excerpt thank you.
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