My thoughts...

and prayers go out to the soldiers and their families at Fort Hood, Texas. So terrible and unfortunate.

I hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Bastet

Bastet copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Six-

The last burst of sunshine bathed the campus square and Kellan fidgeted with his watch. God, he was a dork. It was fifteen minutes before six. He’d been sitting near the bus stop since five-thirty. Did that make him desperate? He shook his head and settled back against the tree he stood under.

He missed the day when they handed out all the charming moves for getting guys to like him. Either too eager or too shy. There never seemed to be a happy medium for Kellan. Hopefully, Baz wouldn’t figure it out until after dinner. That would give Kellan some fond memories to keep him busy on the lonely winter nights.

“Kellan?”

Looking up, he saw Marissa approaching. Damn. He’d hoped she would be working late, so he and Baz could be gone before she arrived at the stop.

“Hey Marissa.” He smiled weakly at her.

She looked around, excitement making her tremble slightly. “He’s not here yet?”

“No, but he still has twelve minutes.” He checked his watch. “I’m early.”

“Probably a good thing. Don’t want you to get caught up on some dusty old book and miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t exaggerate, Marissa. I hardly think it’s a chance of a life time.”

“I’m wounded. You don’t think our date could be a life changing experience for you?”

Baz’s teasing comment made both of them jump. Kellan whirled, heart racing. Baz stood on the other side of the tree, one hand behind his back.

“Oh my,” Marissa whispered as Baz stepped out into the pool of light cast by the nearest street light.

Kellan echoed her sentiment silently. Somehow Baz looked even more gorgeous with his hair tied back and dressed in a tailored suit. Had he been wearing it that morning when he ran into Kellan?

“Who is your friend?” Baz smiled at Marissa.

“Uh…this is Marissa. Marissa, this is Baz Bakari.”

Baz took Marissa’s hand in his and lifted it to his lips, kissing it before letting go and stepping closer to Kellan.

Marissa blushed and giggled. Kellan grinned because he knew how Marissa felt. There was something very elegant and old-world charm about Baz. The bus hissed to a stop next to them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Marissa.” Kellan nudged her gently, figuring she’d probably stay there staring at Baz forever.

“What?” She shot a look at the bus. “Oh right. Have to go. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Bakari.”

“Please call me Baz. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.” Baz bowed slightly, his dark eyes gleaming.

She giggled again before rushing onto the bus. Kellan watched her flop into a window seat and wave to them. He waved back, trying not to jump when Baz rested his hand at the base of his spine.

“You’ve made a conquest,” he joked as they strolled in the direction of the visitor’s parking lot closest to the square.

“Good. She is your friend and I want your friends to like me.” Baz leaned down and nuzzled Kellan’s ear. “But I do believe there is another conquest I wish to make that is far more important than Marissa.”

Shivers trailed over Kellan’s body from the warm breath washing over his ear, and it landed in his groin. Inhaling didn’t do anything to calm Kellan’s nerves. Baz’s marvelous scent filled his nose and Kellan whimpered.

“Mmm…” Baz practically purred his appreciation. “Do you make that noise when someone is loving you?”

Holy shit! Kellan’s flesh was going to burn to a crisp if he blushed any harder. He tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and Baz caught him up in his arms to keep him from falling. Kellan clutched at Baz’s biceps, staring up at the man whose body cradled him close. Their eyes met and Baz groaned when Kellan licked his lips.

“I meant to wait until after dinner, but you are a temptation I can’t seem to resist.”

Before Kellan could ask what Baz meant, the man bent and took Kellan’s lips like Kellan was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and Baz was a gold-crazed leprechaun.

At the first sweep of Baz’s tongue into his mouth, Kellan’s brain short-circuited. He didn’t care that they were in the middle of the university’s campus with hundreds of people strolling by at any given time. He slid his hands up over Baz’s broad shoulders to tangle his fingers in the man’s hair.

Baz moaned as he slid one hand down to grasp Kellan’s ass and tug him closer. Kellan’s eyes rolled back in his head when their erections introduced themselves. Jesus! Baz was big everywhere or else lust was blowing everything out of proportion.

“Get a room, you two,” someone called.

Kellan broke away from Baz with a gasp, stepping back and pressing his fingers to his swollen lips. Baz’s chest heaved once and Kellan watched as the older man brought himself back under control.

“I’m sorry,” Baz apologized, bowing slightly and, with a flourish, revealing a single red rose that he held in his hand.

Taking the rose in a trembling hand, Kellan frowned. “Sorry for what?”

“For wanting to taste you so badly, that I forgot where we were.” Baz gestured to the people streaming around them.

“Oh, okay.” Kellan tried not to sound relieved.

Baz smiled softly. “I’m not sorry for kissing you. I’ve wanted to do that since we first met. But I had planned on taking you to a romantic dinner and showing you my sophisticated side, instead I jumped your bones like any college kid.”

Chuckling, Kellan picked up his backpack from where he’d dropped it while they kissed. Baz took it from him and slung it over his own shoulder before offering Kellan his arm.

“You don’t have to wine and dine me, you know. I’m a pretty simple guy.” Kellan slipped his hand in the crook of Baz’s arm.

“There will be times when we go for a picnic and have hot dogs in the park, but for our first date, I want to impress you, so that you’ll look favorable on a second date.”

“I don’t think that’ll be an issue.” Kellan looked down at his jeans and T-shirt. “Am I dressed all right for dinner?”

“Where we are going, they won’t say anything because you’re with me.”

The confidence in Baz’s voice made Kellan’s heart skip a beat. He’d always been a sucker for arrogant men, but Baz’s arrogance didn’t seem to come from self-centeredness. Baz knew what he wanted and knew that he had the ability to get it. Kellan couldn’t help, but feel thrilled to know he was something Baz was willing to expend energy on.

“Okay.” He relaxed, accepting Baz’s lead for now. Then he couldn’t help asking, “You want to go out with me again?”

Baz pulled him to a stop, and cupped his cheek with one long fingered elegant hand. His dark gaze caressed Kellan’s face. “Yes, I’ve had the feeling since we met that I would want to spend all my time with you once I got to know you.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint you,” he admitted, twirling the rose in his hands.

“You could never disappoint me, Kellan.”

The certainty in Baz’s voice settled Kellan’s worries for the moment and he decided to let Baz pamper him, even if in the end, it didn’t work out. He deserved to be treated like a precious treasure once in his life.

Done

His Heart's Home is done, for the most part. Just have to go back over for a quick edit and write up the synopsis. Then it's off to Liquid Silver. Woo-hoo!

Now I'm working on Not Seeing is Believing. It's a 'friends-to-lovers' story about a blind vampire and the shifter he falls in love with. After that, I'll be working on a few different ones, just to keep my interest...lol.

Oh everyone might be glad to know that I've done some work on Mars' Assassin. It's the story of Mars and Lord from Death or Life. The other night I didn't get much sleep because for some reason I couldn't get those two out of my head. So I've been writing down what they seem to want to tell me at the moment. We'll see how long that lasts. :)

I hope everyone has a good Wednesday.

Bastet

Bastet copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Five-

Kellan wrinkled his nose and shifted. Sharp needle-like pricks continued to abuse his scalp. Rolling on his back, he opened his eyes to see the black stray he’d welcomed into his apartment curled up on the pillow next to him. The cat’s paws were extended and his claws peeked out like he’d been interrupted.

“What are you doing?” He muttered as he climbed out of bed, rubbing his head and glaring at the cat.

“Mreow.” The cat stood and stretched.

He swore the feline glanced at the clock, which drew Kellan’s attention to it.

“Fuck.”

Overslept again. He snatched up some relatively clean jeans, a T-shirt, and some underwear before racing into the bathroom for a quick shower. After dressing, he packed his laptop and papers into his backpack and headed toward the door.

The cat watched the whole thing with rather intense interest, but Kellan figured it was just waiting for him to open the door since it dashed out in front of him like the apartment was on fire.

“You’re welcome and you can always come back,” Kellan called as the cat’s tail twitched once and the feline disappeared into the alley.

“Silly thing.”

The hiss of brakes shot through Kellan and he rocketed down the street to where the bus had just come to a stop. He climbed on board and dropped into a seat with a huge sigh.

“Oversleep again, Kellan?” Bob, one of the regulars, grinned at him.

“Yeah. I was up late last night working on my paper.” He stifled a yawn, and rubbed his eyes while setting his backpack on the floor between his feet.

“You know you should really get out more.”

He turned to look at Marissa, a skinny twenty-something who worked at the university in one of the admin offices. She handed him a Styrofoam cup with steaming coffee in it. He inhaled the aromatic scents of freshly brewed coffee with just a hint of honey.

“Thanks. How would getting out more help me with oversleeping? I would think it’d encourage the problem.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t mean during the week, Kellan, though meeting friends for dinner instead of doing research at the library until all hours of the night might be fun. I mean going out on the weekends, like on a date.”

Blushing, he ducked his head and Bob laughed.

“You got someone in mind for him, Marissa?” Bob winked at Kellan.

“Yes, actually I do. He’s really sweet and good-looking as well.” She leaned over to rest her hand on his arm. “I think you would get along great with him.”

Terror widened Kellan’s eyes and he shook his head. Blind dates never worked out for him. His inability to make small talk created uncomfortable situations and his date never called for a second one.

Hell, it had taken almost six months before he talked to Bob and Marissa on the bus. Both of them had to initiate the conversation as well. He’d spent most of the bus ride with his head buried in a book. Now, through their persistence, they would chat about their evenings and work instead of sitting quietly, existing in their own worlds.

“I’m not interested in dating anyone right now, Marissa. My doctorate is taking up so much of my time.” He tried to think of reasons why he couldn’t go out with her friend. Maybe he should make up a boyfriend.

Disappointment seeded Marissa’s sigh. “All right. I’ll let you off the hook at the moment, but don’t think I won’t try to get you to at least go to a club with us some weekend.”

He could do a club. With the huge crowd of people, if he got uncomfortable, he could leave without Marissa knowing and explain that he’d gotten sick or something later.

“All right. I can do that.”

Compromise was a beautiful thing.

The bus jerked to a halt at their stop. Marissa waved good-bye to Bob and Kellan nodded toward the man as he climbed off behind her.

“You have time for lunch today?” Kellan asked before Marissa could get too far away.

“Yes. Usual spot. Usual time.” She gestured vaguely in his direction as she strolled away.

“Great.” Turning, he ran face first into someone’s chest. “Ompf.”

“I’m sorry.”

He staggered back, and probably would have fallen if two large hands hadn’t grabbed his arms to hold him up until he caught his balance. Something in the deep voice made him frown as he looked up.

Holy shit! It was the man from the bus stop the night before. His brain ran away with his tongue.

“Are you stalking me?” he blurted. Horrified, he clapped his hand over his mouth and stepped back from the man.

The stranger tilted his head, and an image of his cat popped into Kellan’s head. The cat had made the same gesture while listening to Kellan.

“No. I have an appointment with Professor Balla in the history department.” The man smiled. “It’s just my luck to run into you again.”

The bright white smile did something to Kellan’s insides and turned his knees to mush. He pressed his hand to his stomach, breathing deep to settle his nerves. Damn, the man smelled good. Christmas. The stranger smelled like Christmas which happened to be Kellan’s favorite time of the year.

“Ummm…the history department offices are in this direction.” He nodded across the square.
“You wouldn’t happen to be going that way, would you?”

Kellan hesitated. As attractive as the man was, he didn’t know anything about him. Now Kellan knew he didn’t inspire men to stalk him, but still the impossible could happen.

“I’m sorry. My name is Baz Bakari.” Baz held his hand out to Kellan.

“Kellan Largant. Baz?”

“It’s a family name.” Baz settled his hand at the small of Kellan’s back, urging him to lead the way.

“Are you Egyptian? Both your names sound Egyptian.” He hitched his backpack over his right shoulder, hoping it wouldn’t dislodge Baz’s hand.

“I was originally born in Egypt, but have not been back to my mother country in decades.”

The hint of loss in Baz’s voice caused Kellan to lean against the bigger man for a moment, offering comfort the best he could. Baz eased closer and Kellan had the craziest sense of safety wash over him.

“Would you join me for lunch, Kellan?”

Disappointment shot through Kellan. “I’m sorry. I already have plans for lunch.”

Baz frowned for a moment, than a small smile crossed his face. “How about dinner? My business will keep me on campus all day.”

Kellan shivered slightly while nodding. “Dinner sounds great.”

“I will meet you at the bus stop at six tonight?”

“Sure.” Kellan pulled out his cell phone and set an alarm to remind him. He looked up to see Baz studying him. “It’s so I don’t forget. Sometimes I get caught up in an interesting piece of research and lose track of time.”

“Then I would come and hunt you down.” Baz leaned down and brushed a kiss over Kellan’s cheek. “Until tonight, Kellan.”

Kellan pressed his fingers to his cheek where the heat from Baz’s lips seemed to linger.

“Tonight,” he whispered, watching the other man stalked off, his black hair gleaming in the morning sun.

New Cover

Hey, here's the cover for With This Ring. I forgot to share it last week when it showed up on Samhain's coming soon page. :) Isn't it awesome? The marvelous Tuesday Dube did it.

Here's the blurb:

The end of the year is the start of a whole new beginning…

A Tabloid Star story.

Josh Bauer and Ryan Kellar sweated through a turbulent start to their relationship. Now that they’ve embarked on a life together, filled with family friends—and each other—Ryan’s suffering sweaty palms again. For an entirely different reason.

It’s not the heat they generate every time they’re alone together. It’s not even the crush of people at Josh’s jam-packed birthday party. It’s the birthday present Ryan’s carrying in his jeans pocket. The one that could make him the happiest man in the world, come New Year’s Eve.

If Josh says “yes”…

Warning: Hot guy on guy sex. A happily married couple and a rocking New Year’s Eve party guaranteed to keep you up all night.

Also, I worked on His Heart's Home yesterday, so I'm getting closer to finishing that one. After HHH is finished, I'll be writing a short Vampire story and working on JT's story (Tyler's brother from Bound by Love) So two cowboys in a row...woo-hoo!

I hope everyone has a great Monday. :)

Rainy Days and Fridays.....

don't always get me down...lol. I'm looking forward to this Friday, simply because I'm leaving work early. Woo-hoo! Only working until 1:30, then I have errands to run. After which, I'll be coming home, and if it's still raining, I'll probably take a nap. Nothing like having your day planned out, huh?

Well, Fighting Dragons was finished and sent in. I have the second round of edits on With This Ring to do and return.After that, it's working on other stories. :) I'm hoping to have a productive weekend.

Have a great Friday, everyone, and a safe and fun Halloween.

Bastet

Bastet copyright c. 2009 T.A. Chase

Part Four-

The darkest hour of night hung like a dark velvet curtain over Cambridge and Bastet stood in the doorway of Kellan’s bedroom, studying the younger man. Kellan curled on his side, embracing a pillow tight to his chest. A frown marred Kellan’s forehead and Bastet wondered if he was dreaming. What dreams could a man like Kellan have? They couldn’t be as bad as Bastet’s were when he allowed himself to sleep.

Turning away from the tempting sight, Bastet strolled to the dining room where Kellan had left his laptop up and running. He sat and stared at the screen for a screen. Technology had changed so much during Bastet’s time. He remembered how magical electricity seemed when it arrived to light streets and parlors. Then the telephone and television. Now people didn’t even have to leave their houses if they didn’t want to. A computer brought the world to them without them having to lift a finger.

He shook his head. He was hesitating, simply because he didn’t want to invade Kellan’s privacy. He spent the evening prowling Kellan’s apartment and investigated every nook and cranny.

Nothing showed up to make him think Sterling had found Kellan yet, but it was only a matter of time before the man would come looking for Kellan, especially if Kellan really did find something about the Earth Warriors.

After letting him in, Kellan spent most of the night typing and mumbling to himself while shuffling through some papers. Bastet left him alone, knowing he’d be able to go through Kellan’s stuff after he’d gone to bed.

Jiggling the mouse, Bastet ‘woke’ the computer and brought the files for Kellan’s dissertation. He scanned through most of them. It was an interesting topic, but he didn’t have time to read it. There was one specific item he looked for.

“Ah-ha. Got it.”

He read the short paragraph. Kellan had noted that he’d been searching for more information on a different Egyptian cult when he came across a one sentence mention to an even more mysterious cult called the Earth Warriors.

“I have read vague references to a cult of immortal warriors charged by the Egyptian gods to protect the earth from destruction. Having those references supported by another source makes me believe it might be more than rumor. I’ll set up an appointment with Professor Balla to discuss this new direction in my research,” Bastet read aloud.

Shit. He and his brothers thought they had gotten all the books that might have mentioned them, even in passing, but it looks like there might be more out there. Well, there were scrolls and tablets hidden deep in the archives in Egypt and in Rome, but no one, not even Sterling, had discovered those yet.

Anubis’s suggestion that they burn everything ran through Bastet’s mind. It had been good advice, except Isis and Amun couldn’t bring themselves to destroy precious knowledge, even if they didn’t want anyone else to have it.

After clicking on Kellan’s internet connection, Bastet waited for the browser to load. He drummed his fingers on the table, eyes narrowed as he gazed out the window into the night. What to do about Kellan? The bright young man might be persistent enough to dig up more information and lead Sterling to the spell. That couldn’t happen, no matter how attached Bastet had become to Kellan over the months he’d watched him.

The browser opened and he checked the history along with Kellan’s bookmarks. There was an Egyptian history forum listed, so Bastet clicked on that. When the page appeared, his heart sank. Kellan had posted a question, asking anyone on the forum if they’d heard about the Earth Warriors.

The forum was one of many Sterling had set up to keep abreast of current Egyptian finds and news. Sterling had to know by now that Kellan was asking questions. The man might think Kellan knew more than he was saying.

“Not good,” he whispered, fighting the urge to bundle Kellan up and cart him off to someplace safe.

He snorted. There wasn’t anywhere safe from Sterling or the man’s money. If he wanted Kellan found, he would find him, no matter where Bastet and his brothers hid him. All that could be done now was to protect Kellan as best they could. Maybe they could use Kellan’s research as bait, luring Sterling out of his shadow world and they could end his threat once and for all.

Using Kellan as bait wasn’t to Bastet’s liking, but over the centuries, he’d learned to do what needed to be done without worrying about the consequences. His mission was the most important thing, and the continued secrecy of the Warriors. His inner cat agreed with that sentiment, but Bastet’s human side balked at causing Kellan any harm.

Bastet shut the laptop off and wandered back to Kellan’s bedroom. He shifted, jumped up on the bed, and curled up next to Kellan’s head on the pillow. He rubbed his chin along Kellan’s jaw before resting his head on his paws and closing his eyes. The morning would come soon enough. He would talk to his brothers and their decision could change the course of Kellan’s life.

* * * * *

“Sir, there was a development in that matter you told me to keep an eye on.”

Sterling glanced up from the inventory sheets he’d been going over. “Which matter?”

One of his assistants shifted from foot to foot. “The Egyptian one, sir.”

He held out two sheets of paper and Sterling gestured for him to leave them on his desk.

“Thank you.”

Dismissed, the assistant practically ran from the room. None of the people who worked for Sterling relished having to deal with him and Sterling wanted it to stay that way. They meant nothing to him and he would get rid of them soon enough.

He picked up the papers and read them, a cruel smile curling his lips. Shooting to his feet, he dropped the papers and moved to the windows.

The Paris skyline shone like Christmas lights, bright and twinkling. Finally, someone might have found what Sterling was looking for. His hands shook with excitement, but he didn’t let himself hope too much. Too many failures lent a jaded air to his emotions.

The cell phone in his pocket rang.

“Sterling,” he barked.

“Sir, you needed me?”

How did the man know when Sterling had a job for him? Sterling had just thought about the man two seconds before the phone rang.

“Yes. I want you to go to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and find out all you can about a Kellan Largant. He’s a graduate student at Harvard.”

“Yes, sir, and when I do, what do you want me to do?”

The cold voice skated over Sterling’s spine and if he had understood what fear felt like, he would have been drowning in it. The man on the other end of the line was a monster, Sterling had no doubt of that.

“At the moment, just gather the information for me. I’ll make a decision after I’m better informed.”

“Certainly, sir. I’ll call you when I have what you want.”

The phone went dead and Sterling shook his head, tossing it on the desk. A power surge darkened the city for a moment and Sterling grinned. Was that a sign of things to come?