From the Ashes
Series: Smoke and Mirrors
Book: Two – should NOT be read as a
standalone
Release
date: May 5, 2015
We've got blurbage:
After a rough start
to their relationship, Deck and Naim are living together and living well—except
they’re not. The fire at the clinic and those behind it are still a specter in
the background of their lives, soon to come to the forefront. Someone is
stalking them, and as the acts grow increasingly violent and threatening, the
boys make an unsettling discovery that turns Naim’s world inside out.
They’re sorely tried
and tested, and even with the support of the neighborhood and Deck’s
firefighting crew, people get hurt. Deck has to decide how much hurt he’s
willing to take on for the sake of Naim, and Naim has to decide once and for
all what sort of man he wants to be—all while navigating a terrifying world of
crime, violence and depravity.
Pages: 381 pgs
Categories: Fiction, M/M Romance,
Gay Romance
Cover
Artist: Kalen O’Donnell
Publisher:
Loose ID
And a sneak peek:
“What…the unholy…”
“Fuck?” Naim
finished Jen’s statement for her as her voice trailed off. They stood wide-eyed
and slack-jawed, staring at Jen’s husband, who leaned, sullen and glowering,
against the ambulance while a young girl snapped photos and pleaded with him to
try to smile. Or at least emote. He was wearing a hazmat jumpsuit, unzipped
with the top half hanging down his shirtless back, and holding a gas mask, his hair
a wild mess as though he’d just taken the mask off.
Hearing Jen’s voice,
he looked up at them, cringed, and groaned. “Fuck. You called them, you
fucktarded bag of ass?” Keller shouted up toward the ladder truck while the
girl clicked away, hoping for some good, angry “passion” shots.
“Naim!” Deck called
down from the cherry picker, looking anxious but glad to see him.
“Oh God,” Keller
groaned, falling back against the ambulance and dropping the mask.
“Oh God.” Jen stared
at her husband.
“Oh God.” Naim looked
up to the cherry picker, eyes widening, where Deck was grinning awkwardly,
wearing nothing but bunker trousers with one suspender over his unscarred side,
and a helmet.
Naim shifted,
horrified at his sudden, Pavlovian state of arousal. He reached for Jen’s hand.
She squeezed.
“What…what…” Jen
stammered, tearing her eyes from her husband long enough to jump, startled by
the big black smiley face plastered across Peyton’s bright yellow butt as he
climbed off the hose bed.
“Thank God you guys
are here,” Deck called out, unlatching the cherry picker.
“No!” Naim panicked,
squeezing Jen’s hand tighter and pointing at Deck. “You stay there!” This was
bad. He was never coming back to the firehouse again. Ever.
Jen snorted.
“Fuck.” Fucking
cherry picker. “No. Get out of there.” Naim squeezed his eyes shut. “But
don’t…don’t come down here!” He turned and buried his face in Jen’s shoulder,
groaning. She cuddled him and whimpered quietly.
“Why are they doing
this to us?” she asked Naim.
He pulled his face
out of her shoulder. “What the fuck is going on?”
“They’re making a
fucking calendar. Well, more like a date book.” Freya wandered up to them,
fully clothed, a shit-eating grin on her face, and her braids a messy, rumpled
disaster. She was covered in green glitter, and there seemed to be some on her
teeth.
“Oh, but you’ve got
clothes on?” Naim growled.
“What… Why…” Jen
glanced at Freya, then back at Keller, who was glowering harder at the camera.
The photographer asked him to turn around, and he snarled. She snapped away.
“Why are… What happened to your hair?” Jen asked Freya, a little breathless.
“Are you kidding?”
Freya still had the shit-eating grin, and Spellacy popped up from where he’d
been relaxing on the hose bed; he wore a pair of bright green shorts printed
with pints of Guinness, and his turnout coat had green glitter all over it.
“Hey. What are you
two doing here?” he asked.
“Oh God.” Jen
sounded like she wanted to cry.
“Can I come down
now?” Deck yelled from the ladder.
Naim refused to look
at him. “No. Not until you…give…put…put something on.”
“He can’t. He’s
next,” Freya explained, grinning harder.
“Next?” Naim
whimpered again.
“Naim, please? I
really gotta talk to you!”
“Get a turnout
coat!”
“Hey, what are you
two doing here?” Liebgott saw them as he strolled out of the kitchen, munching
on a cupcake.
“Liebgott.” Jen
managed to glare and whine at the same time. “Why is my husband half-naked,
having his picture taken against an ambulance? Why is everyone half-naked?”
Liebgott rubbed his
neck and glanced with a guilty expression over to the ladder truck where Deck
was yelling at Spellacy to give him his turnout coat. Naim heard bells jingle
somewhere.
“Well. See—”
“It wasn’t my idea.
I didn’t even know about it!” Deck got a face full of green glitter as he
caught Spellacy’s coat.
“We, uh, we thought
it would help raise some money.” Liebgott looked to Naim sheepishly. “To help
rebuild the clinic.”
“Wh…” Naim blinked.
“Can I sit down? Is anyone else in the kitchen?”
“Peyton, but come
on. I’ll boot him out.”
Naim tugged on Jen’s
hand as he dragged her away from the sight of her husband. “Jen.”
“Shut up.” She
tripped a little. “You’re in this with me.” They heard Freya cackle.
Deck was right
behind them, trotting into the kitchen as Naim plunked down into a chair, still
refusing to look at him. This was insane, but he really had no business being
surprised.
“I swear to God, I
had no idea, love. This is not my fault,” Deck exclaimed.
“That’s true, Naim.
I’m not sure why he’s so bent out of shape about it, but we didn’t want to tell
you until the money came in, so we kept it from Deck until the last possible
minute.” Liebgott took a seat at the opposite end of the table while Deck
danced nervously next to Naim, and Jen peeked from the door.
“I… What…” Naim
squinted at the table, then reached for a cupcake, wondering if he was turning
into a stress eater.
Find From the Ashes here:
About Lily MacGowan:
You can usually find
Lily MacGowan reading, knitting herself into the sofa, or writing. Lily has
been a carpenter, a circus aerialist, a Sunset Strip club kid and a corporate
mogul, but she gave all that up to teach middle school on the east coast and is
happier than ever. Lily’s hobbies include food, household renovations and
avoiding laundry. She’s a huge fan of comfy jammies and happily ever after.
Find Lily MacGowan here:
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