Pack Rules, up for Pre-Order!

Hi all,

My latest erotica work, an M/M titled Pack Rules is now available for pre-order on Siren Bookstrand! It's out on May 10th, if you're not a fan of pre-orders (I rarely am). :o)

"Ethan Stevenson, one-half upstanding bar owner, one-half wolf-shifter and pack leader, wants sex. A casual encounter to get his urges back under control and relieve the stress of new pack tensions. His heart has other ideas.

After an aborted hookup with newly un-closeted Conor Black, Ethan finds he can't get the man out of his head, and it's not long before they find themselves in each other's arms once again.

Unfortunately for both, a member of Ethan's pack is attempting a power play, and is not above dirty tricks to reach his goal.

Will Ethan and Conor come out unscathed, and will they still feel the same about each other after the dust settles?"

Excerpt - 

Ethan Stevenson flipped the cap from the cool bottle with the tip of his thumb and took a long, slow sip of the first beer of the night. Heaven. The bar was quiet tonight, but it was early. He was sure he could find someone to fuck before closing.

All right, so that sounded a little blunt, even for him. He smirked and glanced up as the head bartender, Avani, walked past on the other side of the bar. She stopped and cocked her head.

“What’s so funny, big guy?”

“Nothing.” He tapped the counter with a finger. “Line ’em up.”

She bent over, the generous contents of her tight top entirely lost on Ethan, and retrieved two more beers from a fridge. “I’ll put them on your tab, shall I? Or are you going to actually put money in the register for once?”

He raised an eyebrow as she flicked a stray black hair from her dusky-skinned face. “Tab will be fine, thanks.”

“Thought it might.”

The woman walked off to abuse another customer, leaving Ethan to his thoughts once more.

It had been too long since he was out, and even longer since he’d been out with another person. The relationship with Rory had ended on such a sour note that for the longest time, the idea of dating made him want to punch holes in a wall. Still, it had been long enough. He needed to get back into the game.

He spun on his barstool to take in the sights. There weren’t many yet.

A few overly camp twentysomethings were dancing on the small raised dance floor in the centre of the room, and one or two of the red leather booths were occupied by solo drinkers. Nobody caught Ethan’s eye, especially not the twink who kept winking at him. Who the hell winks these days?

Regardless, he didn’t go for that kind of guy. He wanted someone he could play pool with. Before he bent him over the table and showed him his own cue, anyway.

It was still early. Someone would show, ideally with a tight body, good hair, teeth...He shook his head. Damn full moon was on the rise. Tendrils of fog crept into his mind, dulling his thoughts and sharpening his already dagger-like senses.

“Damn it,” he muttered as he rubbed his thumb and forefinger against his eyes.

“You all right?”

He glanced up at Avani, who was polishing a glass. “I’m fine.”

Someone dropped onto the stool beside him and rapped their knuckles on the bar. Ethan winced at the too-sharp sound.

“Hey,” the new person said. “Can I get some service here?”

Avani gave him a cursory glance. “In a minute.”

The man muttered under his breath as she fussed with a few more glasses. Ethan restrained a smirk. He’d seen her do it a dozen times to a dozen different people, but it never got old. If she wasn’t feeling friendly, you waited your damn turn.

“You believe this?” the man said to Ethan.

Ethan turned his head just enough to acknowledge the man—typical trendy arsehole with too many beers in him—and grunted in reply.

“I’m a fucking customer,” the man continued. “I should get what I want, when I want.”

Ethan nodded, restraining the urge to rip the man’s goatee from his face. On the best of days, he had a short temper, but when the moon was high and he hadn’t shifted in a while, he was not a man to irritate.

The man slammed his fist on the counter. “Hey! Take my fucking order!”

If Avani was in the least bit fazed, she didn’t let it show. “No.”

The man looked like his head would explode. “What did you say?”

“I said no.” She put her glass on the counter, her hands either side of it. “You’ve had too much. Go home.”

“I’ll say when I’ve had enough.”

The pair argued back and forth as Ethan tried to stay out of it. The man was now standing and leaning over the bar, his face an inch from Avani’s.

“Get. Me. Your. Fucking. Manager!”

He screamed the last word, and Ethan could hear the sounds of murmured conversation behind him. Avani’s gaze flitted to Ethan’s for just a moment, and he raised an eyebrow. She smiled back at the drunk.

“Sure thing.” She turned to Ethan, tugging one of her many ear-piercings in amusement. “Boss? This gentleman wants a word.”

With a sigh, Ethan climbed from his stool and pulled himself up to his full six-and-a-half-feet height. To the drunk’s credit, he didn’t back down.

“What kind of place are you running here?” he shouted, his fists clenching at his sides. “Rude staff, shit music, and overpriced fucking beer!”

Ethan rubbed at the back of his neck. The hairs were thickening already, and he could feel the pressure in his fingers as his nails tried to lengthen.

“Leave.”

The man laughed. “Leave?” He glanced around the bar. “Who’s going to make me?”

Ethan opened his mouth to reply and the man tried to put a fist in it. The blow never got close. Ethan knocked the fist aside and slammed his own larger fist into the man’s gut. He crumpled to the floor, gasping for air, and Ethan dropped back into his stool.

“I’m surprised you held off so long, boss,” Avani said, the glass back in her hands.

Ethan scratched at his ear. “If we give in to our urges too easily, even on the full moons, we become nothing more than animals.”

She nodded in reply. “I tell ya, if I hadn’t had a run myself last night, I’d be a wreck right now.”

“You thought ahead, though, unlike me. Shows brains.” He smirked. “That’s why you’re my right-hand wolf.”

Avani grinned, allowing her canines to lengthen for just a moment before retracting. “Go home, boss. Throw your clothes on the floor, and go hunt.”

“Now that sounds like a plan.”