Wow! What an awesome release weekend for my debut novel with Dreamspinner Press! I’ve got a few events left this week including a Twitter Takeover and a few guest blog posts, which I will link to when they are posted.
I’ve finally been verified as myself on Goodreads and I’ll admit there was a time there when I didn’t think that was going to happen! If you’d like to see me over there, head to my author page and learn just how much I cannot fill out a bio seriously.
As a special treat, I’ve decided to release a deleted scene from one of the first drafts of Playing Hard To Forget. This was so early, in fact, that it didn’t make it in the version I submitted to Dreamspinner Press.
I didn’t hate this scene, I just ended up writing a very different scene for the final draft that I liked a lot better because it drove the plot forward better. Some of the dialogue from this scene ended up in the final version, though, but, like a movie, sometimes things end up on the cutting room floor, to be salvaged only for the deleted scenes featurette (that would be this post!).
This scene is unedited by the professionals at Dreamspinner Press, by the way. And let me just take a moment to absolutely GUSH over the staff at Dreamspinner. Absolute darlings. Love them.
If you have read Playing Hard to Forget, this takes place right after the scene leading up to the chemistry test. If you haven’t read yet (ahem. See links to buy at the end of this post), there’s really nothing spoilery going on down there.
It is, however, a slightly graphic scene of a sexual nature, so be warned if you are in a public place where that might not be cool.
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Ethan fell into bed, barely undressed, thankful for the chance to sleep in on Tuesdays. He was in a deep, dreamless sleep before he could entertain any of his now usual thoughts of Liam.
He awoke some time later and it was still dark outside. It couldn’t have been too long after he had fallen asleep. He felt the side of the bed sink in and a hand on his stomach, up under his work shirt he just hadn’t had the energy to take off. The hand rubbed light circles in the soft hair there and the fingers were burning hot on his skin. Ethan snapped his eyes open only to be met with another hand quickly covering his mouth. The mystery man leaned in and Ethan could see his features in shadow. Liam.
“Shhhhhhhh. You don’t want to wake up anyone, do you? I’d have to leave and I just got here.”
Ethan laid his head back down on his pillow but Liam’s hand remained firmly clamped over his mouth. Liam moved his other hand down to the top of Ethan’s boxers. Ethan didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He didn’t know the etiquette for when a man sneaked into your house and threatened to take care of your raging boner, but kissing the hand covering his mouth seemed like a good start. He let his lips slide across Liam’s palm as much as they could in Liam’s tight grip. Ethan could almost nip and lick a little, too. He stared at Liam over his fingers and Liam, to his credit, let a tiny moan escape.
Liam seemed satisfied that Ethan wouldn’t scream or freak out from being awakened and experimented with Ethan’s mouth, pushing a finger between Ethan’s lips. Ethan sucked on it, working his tongue around it.
“…So good. Just like that,” Liam whispered.
Ethan’s eyes had involuntarily closed again at some point, so all he could do was feel Liam gently thrusting in and out of his mouth and his other hand slide down at the most tortuously slow pace Ethan could imagine.
“I could hear your heartbeat when you saw me this morning. Do you know how hot it is for me to see how much I’m affecting you? I wanted to fuck you up against the building right then. Might have done it, too, if it weren’t for your friend.”
Liam slid another finger in next to the first one and Ethan gave it the same attention, even biting a little. For all the playing cool Liam had done since they met, Ethan could tell he was close to cracking Liam’s tough exterior. The thought made Ethan smile around Liam’s fingers.
Liam lingered at the soft curls below Ethan’s boxers for a moment and Ethan arched to force Liam’s hand where he wanted it to go.
Ethan wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of verbally begging for relief, but he could feel his body respond to Liam. He knew Liam was picking up on every reaction, too.
Ethan needed to kiss him. He pulled at the collar of Liam’s leather jacket to bring him closer. Liam took the hint and adjusted himself to lay beside him, cradling Ethan’s head.
Searing kiss after searing kiss followed and Liam finally circled Ethan’s cock in his fist. Ethan hissed and arched up. He grasped wildly to find something of Liam’s to touch. He found Liam’s neck, all hot skin and sweat, and pulled him even closer.
Liam slid his hand up and down Ethan’s shaft. “Isn’t this the way you like it, Ethan?” He punctuated it with a twist and the confirmation that Liam was watching that night from outside his window made Ethan cry out softly.
“God, so hot, Ethan. I came so hard watching you do this to yourself the other night. Was that show just for me?”
Ethan didn’t answer, but pushed at Liam’s jacket and he finally shrugged it off with some maneuvering, leaving him down to just a thin shirt. Ethan rolled on his side to face him. He ran his fingers over the shirt, finding a hard nipple he couldn’t resist rubbing until Liam’s breath hitched. He then made short work of Liam’s zipper and button and was delighted to find that Liam was as hard as Ethan was.
He could barely hear the soft, “fuck” when he finally took hold of Liam’s cock.
“Like you do on yourself. I want to know how it feels when you think of me.” Even flustered, Liam was still direct and confident and unapologetic.
Ethan complied and the reaction he got from Liam nearly made him lose it right then.
They lay facing each other for a long time, stroking each other and listening to the soft moans and breathy exclamations. Ethan came first, biting back the noise that wanted to accompany it. Liam kissed him through the end of it and moaned into Ethan’s mouth a minute later when he followed. They kissed through the aftershocks and Ethan released him only when the heat between them became uncomfortable.
Ethan rolled onto his back. Lying next to a werewolf he’d just given a hand job to, with his father down the hall and a strong feeling he was losing his mind, did not deter Ethan from feeling relaxed enough to fall asleep almost immediately.
He awoke with the sun the next morning and Liam was gone, of course. The only indication of the encounter was the obvious remains of their orgasms staining his sheet.
“Jesus. What the hell am I doing?” It was not in anger or frustration or disappointment. Just a general observation of his life at the moment.
He discreetly made his way to the washer with his sheets and went downstairs for some breakfast.
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Whoa. Hot, right?
To find out what scene went in its place (in my opinion, the scene that got published is even hotter and it’s definitely more graphic), and to read the story of Ethan Robertson and Liam Kinnaird, pick up a copy of Playing Hard To Forget on Dreamspinner Press in ebook or paperback or on Amazon.