Things don’t quite work out to plan. Finding the elevator out of service, Marc and Henry check the stairs, only to choose the wrong door and become locked in the basement. Close quarters once again make for close conversation, and as they explore every avenue of escape, they also explore the deepening attraction between them. For Marc, this isn’t an experiment. Will he still feel that way when he has to admit to someone other than Henry that he’s gay?
Buy links: Dreamspinner | Amazon
Tams gives this one 4 Stars...
This book picks up a week after Counting Fence Posts on New Years Eve. With this being a short story it's very hard to review and not give spoilers. Let me just say, these two are already quite familiar with Murphy's Law. Locked in a basement on NYE, Marcus and Henry continue to explore their feelings for one another. At the end of the night Henry wonders if he'll get that kiss. More worrisome is the fear that Marcus will never come out, never tell anyone he's dating Henry.
There is a good deal of content for so few pages, all between these two men. Conversation, confessions, I just can't wait for them to move past the awkward getting to know each other phase. I'm anxious for the next book in this fun little series.
Excerpt...
Marc’s pulse kicked up, sending his blood zinging throughout his veins. First the cab, now this. Every time he got close to Henry, he lost the ability to think and breathe and function like a rational being. Plans got changed.
He half turned, keeping the door open with his shoulder. “We could still get a cab back to your place. Mulligan’s would have been a public enough venue to announce us.”
“Me at Mulligan’s?” Henry had the crazy idea he needed a personal invitation to the weekly office outing at the nearby pub. Just one of his idiosyncrasies.
Marc smiled. “Your attendance is required from now on.”
“Required, huh?” Henry pushed him through the door and into a dark hall. “Maybe we should negotiate terms before going upstairs.”
The door shut behind them, plunging them into darkness. Pulse hammering, Marc allowed himself to be nudged back against a wall, already lifting his chin as Henry coasted along his jaw. A hand—presumably Henry’s—snuck around behind his neck, warm fingers angling his head forward as lips captured his. Marc fell into the kiss, the taste of another man’s mouth. Henry’s mouth again, and as exciting as the feel of Henry’s thigh beneath his palm.
A moan built up in his throat. He released it and shivered as he felt it returned, Henry trembling against him. Marc caught Henry’s lower lip and sucked. He tucked his hands inside Henry’s coat, seeking skin. Layers of clothing frustrated him. Marc rocked his hips forward, needing the pressure of something against his constrained erection. Another moan from Henry evidenced a similar need.
Then Henry was pulling back, his hands to either side of Marc’s face, palms cool against Marc’s cheeks. “Fuck.”
As a rule, Henry didn’t curse. Neither of them did. His use of that single word nudged Marc’s temperature a little higher. “You said it.”
Henry leaned in to kiss him again, quickly, almost chastely, before he backed away entirely. “We should go upstairs.”
“Yeah, we should.”
“To the party.”
“Right. The party.”
Snorting softly, Henry moved back another step and tipped his head toward the dimly lit end of the hall. “C’mon.”
There were stairs back there, but instead of leading up they dropped down into the basement and the only source of light. Frowning, Marc poked his head into the stairwell. “Do you think we have to go down before we go up?”
“Maybe?”
Henry withdrew, leaving a cool space beside Marc, and went back to the lobby door. A flat click echoed down the dark hall. “Um….” Another click and rattle. A thud, a mutter. “I think it’s locked.”
If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories of the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.
Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, co-written with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/czGhYz
Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, co-written with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/czGhYz
Website: http://kellyjensenwrites.com/
Twitter: @kmkjensen
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Coming out is never easy. But first they have to get out of the basement.
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