NEW RELEASE!!!

MAY 9th is THE DAY. My latest book and the second in the Enigma series is to be released.

I am VERY excited about this. This book contains my favourite character EVER. I am completely and ridiculously in love with Silver and I have every faith that if you give him a chance you will soon be, too. He has this ability to MAKE people love him, without even trying.

SILVER BY MARIA

My Beautiful Silver by my Beautiful Friend Maria

Spread the news guys.


I'll be giving away free copies of both Enigma Books as a prize during the Blog Against Homophobia, so watch this space.

ALSO I will be appear at the LOVE ROMANCE CAFE on 10th may for a chat and further information about the books.

See you all there.

Head over to the Enigma II page for blub, synopsis and excerpts to whet your appetite

Wednesday Briefs - Waiting

So here we are again. ANOTHER Wednesday 

Here are today's prompts

 

  "I can see clearly now..."  

or use these alternate prompts:

canvas, moustache, pond 

or

"I'd follow you anywhere"

or

"Take your clothes off or I'll...."

or

chicken, pantomime, stock market

or

"His/her eyes were as green as..."

 

 

Luke didn’t believe in hell but if it existed he was in it. Rio kept pacing, ranting, praying. It annoyed Luke intensely, but he didn’t have the energy to tell him to shut up and sit down.

He dragged himself into a chair and slumped against the wall. Although he watched Rio, he didn’t see him.

“What are they doing? What the hell are they doing to him? Why won’t they tell me what’s going on?”

Luke didn’t answer. He knew Rio didn’t expect him to.

“What did they say they were going to do?”

“More tests. They… they’ve checked there’s no bleeding or clots or anything like that. Now they’re checking how high the pressure is and exactly what’s causing it and whether they need… if they need to…”

“To what?”

“Surgery,” he croaked. “If they need to drill into his head and—“

“Okay,” Luke stopped him. “I get the message.” He’d asked but he didn’t want to hear. His stomach was roiling and, if he opened his mouth again, he was going to be sick.

“I wish I knew what happening. Why won’t someone come? Why won’t someone--?”

He was cut off by the opening of the door. It was a different nurse. She was dressed all in blue, and Luke’s stomach very nearly got the upper hand when he thought ‘scrubs’, but it wasn’t, it was just an uniform.

Rio, too had frozen, looking decidedly green. “What…? What…?” he stammered.

The nurse smiled. “Why don’t you sit down?” she asked and Rio sat, as if his legs had given way.

“Is he…?” Rio gasped, choking.

“Calm down,” she said gently. “Try not to work yourself up so much. It’s isn’t going to help Rune if you fall apart, is it? It isn’t as bad as we thought it might be. He’s responding to medication and the pressure’s already beginning to come down.”

“Oh God. Oh God,” Rio moaned and let his head fell forward, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Luke swallowed hard. His errant stomach, not satisfied, was still threatening to rebel. If anything, it was closer to exploding, rising into his throat. He couldn’t speak. “ He’s going to be alright?”

“It’s a little early to tell for sure.  Head injuries are unpredictable. The pressure in his head is coming down and he’s stable. That’s all we can say for now.”

Rio looked up. “But… but he’s going to be… He’s not going to… He’s going to be alright?”

“The signs are good,” she repeated firmly. “Let’s just wait and see.”

“Can I…?” He flashed a glance at Luke. “Can we see him?”

“In a little while. You should be prepared… Where there is any injury to the brain, especially where there is increased cranial pressure, it’s very important to do everything we can to help the brain heal. So we take over as many of his bodily functions as we can. He’s deeply sedated to give him as much rest as possible.”

“What…? What does that mean?” Rio asked, dazed.

“He’s in a coma,” Luke said, in a dull, dead voice. “They’ve put him in a medical coma, on life support.”

Rio’s eyes flew open and, unconsciously, he grabbed the nurse’s arm, his eyes flicking over her face. She smiled and patted his hand.

“That’s one way of saying it. Just think of it as… taking him offline for a while. Not long. Maybe only a day.”

“Just a day? Just one day?”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

When the nurse left, Rio started to pace again. “What does it mean? It means he’s going to be okay, right? When they let him wake up, he’ll be okay? He doesn’t need surgery. He’s responding to the medication. That means… that means he’s going to be okay, right? Tomorrow…”

Luke didn’t answer. He hugged himself, staring at the wall.

After more waiting, the male nurse arrived. He looked surprised to see them both. “You can come see Rune, now. Um… It’s supposed to be only family but…”

Rio shook his head. “I’m not a complete bastard,” he said, glancing at Luke. “Besides, Rune would want him more than me.”

Luke could barely believe what he was hearing. Feeling stunned, he looked from Rio to the nurse.

“Oh, don’t look so shocked,” Rio snapped. “I’m not a monster. Just don’t piss me off.”

The nurse winked at Luke, who scrambled to his feet and followed them.

Nothing can prepare you for seeing someone you care about lying in a hospital bed, lost in a maze of medical equipment and looking fragile and vulnerable. Rune’s face was so pale it made his hair look less silver and more gold. His small frame looked tiny, like a faery creature, wings torn off, laid out on a dissecting table. Luke’s heart lurched and it did nothing to help get his stomach under control.

Rio was frozen, rigid and unmoving, so Luke dodged around him and drifted to the other side of the bed.

“It’s not as bad as it seems,” the nurse said, encouragingly. “He’s just sleeping and, when we reduce the medication, he’ll wake up.” Neither failed to notice the slight hesitation, the unspoken ‘maybe’.

Luke looked up and gave him a quick, mirthless smile, before giving all his attention up to Rune. The room faded, the nurse and Rio disappeared, their voices blending with the bleeps and hisses of the medical equipment, nothing more than background noise. The only thing that existed for him, was Rune.

Gently, Luke reached out and brushed the hair from Rune’s face. Long strands were criss-crossing the pale skin and, for a moment, Luke was angry no one had bothered to do it before. Why had no one been so caught in his beauty they had to smooth his cheek, stroke his hair, touch his lips, hold his hand?

Bending close he whispered. “Don’t leave me. I’d follow you anywhere, but I can’t follow you there Stay with me.”

Now, don't forget to go read and comment on everyone else's

Nephylim     m/m

AJ Jarrett    m/m

Sara York     m/m

Tali      m/m

MA Church     m/m

Ashlynn Monroe    m/f

Elyzabeth VaLey     m/f

MC Houle     m/m

Julie Lynn Hayes m/m

 

Wednesday Briefs - Please Don't Take Him Away From Me

 Here it is again. Am I the only one who thinks Wednesdays are coming round faster these days??

I'm flashing again and these were the prompts for this week

At any rate, here we go!  The next prompt is: "Hit me with your best shot"  or use these alternate prompts:

unicorn, mandolin, some sort of plant 

or

"hit or miss"

or

"sex on the beach" 

or

"I thought I knew (fill in the blank), until he/she...."

or

bartender, math, elephant

Luke had never felt so hopeless in his life. Rio had, of course, been right. From the moment the ambulance arrived, no one had wanted to know him. He stood in the background, feeling sick, while the paramedics did what they had to do. It all looked so serious. And there was Rio, pretending to be the worried husband, pushing Luke out of the way and travelling with Rune in the ambulance, leaving him alone.

He stood in his living room for a full five minutes, un moving. Finally snapping out of it, he grabbed his things and ran to the car.

At the hospital it was a repeat of the scenes at the house. By the time he got there, Rune and Rio had both disappeared and enquiries at the desk got him nowhere. As soon as they asked if he was a relative and he said no, no one wanted to know.

Who knows what would have happened if Luke hadn’t been recognised by the nurse who’d spoken to them earlier. She was off going off duty and called to him, as he wandered up and down outside, trying to decide what to do.

When she heard what had happened, she took him by the arm and dragged him back inside, towing him through the waiting room, through some doors and into a different waiting room.

“Wait here,” she commanded. Stunned, Luke sat down on a chair which was slightly more comfortable than the ones in the main waiting room. At least there were no bananas in here. He sat, with his hands hanging between his knees and his head down, as time ticked by.

Eventually, the nurse returned with another one, a male nurse. She said goodbye and left. The man sat down, and looked at Luke for a while.

“You know I can’t overtly go against his husband’s wishes. If I let you in, there’s going to be a scene and I can’t allow that.”

Luke nodded. “I know,” he whispered.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you,” the nurse said, tightly, “but I don’t like that guy. I don’t like his attitude and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t give a damn about your friend. It’s all for show.”

Luke looked up, anxiously.  “Yes. That’s it. He doesn’t care; not at all. All he does is hurt him. He just doesn’t want me…” Luke paused, grinding his teeth. “He treats Rune like a possession. He doesn’t want him but doesn’t want anyone else to have him.”

The nurse nodded, seriously. “I understand, but I still can’t let you in when he’s there, not as long as he behaves himself and I’ve no reason to throw him out.”

“I know,” Luke said, sadly.

“But if you wait here, I’ll keep you informed.”

“Thank you,” Luke said, his voice barely making it out. The nurse squeezed is arm and disappeared. Luke realised he hadn’t told him anything. He figured no news was good news. At least Rune was… He was still…

Time dragged. There was nothing to do, nothing to mark time. Luke cursed he’d forgotten his phone, not only because he could have told the time but because he was cut off from the outside world. There was a television in the corner, but he couldn’t change channels. He quickly got tired of the children’s programmes, with their over bright images and forced humour. He turned it off when a unicorn started playing a mandolin, watched by a giant teddy, dressed as a clown and a talking pot plant in a floppy hat.

When the door opened, Luke looked up, expecting it to be the nurse. It wasn’t. It was Rio, but a Rio he’d never seen before. His purple hair was standing on end, as if he’d run his hands through it, time after time. His eyes were shadowed and his face pale. However, the one thing that really threw Luke was the look on his face. For once, he didn’t seem to be thinking about himself, about how he could get the advantage.

Rio stopped when he saw Luke. For a moment, he stared at him, then nodded and sat down.

“What’s happening?” Luke asked, scared by Rio’s broken appearance. Rio looked up, his eyes haunted.

“I’m sorry, Luke, I really am. I didn’t mean… I never meant to hurt him, not like this.”

“What do you mean?” The dull, lifelessness in Rio’s voice scared him even more.

“They’ve been doing all kinds of tests. I kept thinking they’d come back and tell me he’s fine. I was expecting to… to just… I don’t know… walk into a room and he’d be there and I’d see that look in his eyes.”

“What look? Fear?”

It said a lot that Rio ignored him, failing to take up the fight.

“When they told me, I… I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it. I… I’m still thinking… hoping it’s a dream and…”

“Rio,” Luke ground out, clutching his hands tightly between his knees to stop him putting them around Rio’s throat. “Please. Just tell me what happened. Please, just tell me.”

Rio looked up, as if he’d forgotten he was there. “I’m not exactly sure what… I don’t really understand. They’re still saying it’s a concussion but… but worse than…than they thought and… and it’s made pressure inside his head.”He faltered to a stop, biting his lip. Then his eyes snapped up and he glared at Luke, his eyes pleading. “They said he might have brain damage, that he might die. He can’t die. He can’t. I… I don’t know what I’d do if… I don’t…”

Luke didn’t hear him. His world had slowed down to a stop. ‘He might die’. “No,” he whispered, sliding off the chair onto his knees. He wasn’t a Christian and he didn’t pray, but he raised his eyes to the window and sent a plea out into the universe. “Please don’t take him away from me.”

Now, go visit the other flashers, read their wonderful stories and COMMENT so they know how wonderful they are (not as wonderful as me of course but this is my blog and I can say what I want)

Ashlynn Monroe     m/f

MA Church   m/m 

Michael Mandrake   m/m

Tali    m/m 

Nephylim     m/m

MC Houle     m/m

Victoria Blisse    m/f

Sara York     m/m

Elyzabeth VaLey     m/f

Julie Lynn Hayes  m/m

More Maria

Some recent works by my total favourite amateur artist Maria Korte, with the most excellent muse Andrej Peijic. (apologies for any miss spelling there may be, I'm generally crap at it)

 

Wednesday Briefs - Did You Ever Love Him

This week the prompts were

"It was a dark and stormy night"  (so it's Bulmer-Lytton, sue me lol)

or the alternative prompts are:

candy, crow, a length of rope

or

"When I saw his/her eyes, I just knew that..."

or

French kiss, French fry, third French object of your choice

or

penguin, ventriloquist, rapier

or

"Are you glad to see me or is that a (fill in the blank) in  your pocket?"

“Fucking HELL,” Luke yelled, leaping off Rio, who also scrambled to his feet, this time not running but standing, cowering.

Luke knelt beside Rune, afraid to touch him. This time, there were no fluttering eyelashes. There was nothing at all. Terrified, Luke pressed his fingers to Rune’s wrist. He had no idea how to take a pulse and could find nothing.

Desperate, he pressed his ear to Rune’s chest. He almost passed out when he heard the thump of his heart. To him, it seemed faint and far away, but he didn’t know if that was normal or not.

“Rune,” he called, softly, brushing the pale hair out of his face. “Rune, please, you’re scaring the fuck out of me. Please just have fainted. Please wake up now. For fuck sake, Rune – please,” he moaned in anguish, but he may as well have been talking to the chair. “Don’t just stand there,” he screamed at Rio. “DO something.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Phone an ambulance, or something.”

“Look, there’s no need for that. He’ll be alright. The little bitch is probably faking anyway – he’s like that.”

Luke gaped. “Are you real? Look at him. He’s right out of it. If you think you can wake him, by all means give it your best shot.” Rio shrank back, eyeing Rune as if he expected him to spit poison. “Just ring for the fucking ambulance, Rio. I swear to God, if he— if anything happens to him, I’ll rip your heart out.”

“Yeah, right,” Rio sneered.

“Just fucking do it.” Luke was blazing mad and itching to lay hands on Rio, but he had more important things to think about. He was afraid to move Rune, so he knelt on the floor, talking to him, begging him, holding his hand, which seemed to be getting colder and colder. Or maybe that was Luke’s.

“You’re off your rocker,” Rio sneered, “talking to him. As if he’d know.”

“Five minutes ago you were saying he’s faking it.”

“Yeah… well.”

They lapsed into silence. Rio lounged against the sideboard and watched in silence, while Luke remained kneeling on the floor

“Make the most of it,” Rio said after a time, “because you won’t be doing it for long.”

“What?” Luke was startled. He’d been stroking Rune’s hair, still talking to him softly.

“You won’t be getting anywhere near him once we’re at the hospital.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Think about it,” Rio said, with a smirk. “I’m his husband and what are you? Nothing. Not even a friend. You’ve only known him for a couple of days. Who do you think is going to be getting all the news and sitting at the bedside?” He narrowed his eyes, a nasty little smile on his face. “And who do you think-- won’t be?”

“You wouldn’t,” Luke gasped, his eyes wide, incredulous.

Rio’s smiled widened, happy that he’d nettled Luke. “Watch me. My face is the first think poor little Rune is going to see when he wakes up and he’s going to be so sad that his new best friend couldn’t be bothered to stick around.”

Luke stared at him for a few minutes, anger flooding him – then he sighed and shook his head. “Tell me… Do you care about him at all? Did you ever?”

“What?” Now it was Rio’s turn to look confused.

“Did you ever care for him, or was it all about possession and control?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rio said defensively, shuffling his feet. “I married him, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did. You also broke his ankle. You though it would mean he wouldn’t be able to dance anymore. When you found out that, despite your best efforts he’d pulled himself up and was making a new life and a new career, you just couldn’t leave him alone. You had to spoil it for him. You took away his friends, his career, his dancing, everything that meant anything to him… and you hurt him. You made him believe no one else would want him, and you abused him.”

“That fucking bitch!” Rio spat, looking as if he was about to kick Rune. “I don’t know what the fuck he’s been telling you, but…”

“He hasn’t been telling me anything, at least not about that. He’s so bloody naïve, it never crossed his mind you were doing any of it. I think he still loves you in some kind of twisted way – at least he wants to. And he wants to believe you love him. But I don’t think you do. I don’t think you ever did. You just wanted to possess him, to spoil everything for him.”

Rio glared for a moment, then turned his eyes away, looking uncomfortably. “That’s not true. I did love him. I do.”

“Then why are you trying so hard to hurt him?”

“I’m not.”

“Oh come on. I know you’re not naïve and I’m sure as hell not. I saw you do it and I’m not blind and I’m not stupid. I know he’s scared of you. Is that what you really want? Someone who stays with you because they’re scared of you? Someone you love?”

“He’s not…” Rio said, fading to a halt. He actually looked shocked, a sad expression creeping into his eyes, as he looked at Rune. It was the first honest expression Luke had seen on his face.

As the sound of sirens sliced the air outside, however, Rio sneered. “So what? It doesn’t change a thing.”

“Rio, please don’t hurt him anymore. You know it’s me he wants. You know…”

“I know one thing.”

“What?”

“He’s mine. When I first saw his eyes I just knew I had to have him, and I do; I do have him. He’s always been mine and he always will be mine and it’ll take more than a snivelling fool, who’s only known him for five minutes, to take him away from me.”

Now, don't forget to go check out the rest of our flashers. You've got a great choice this week

Ashlynn Monroe    m/f Michael Mandrake    m/m Nephylim     m/m Lily Sawyer      m/m  Sara York     m/m MA Church   m/m  Victoria Blisse    m/f AJ Jarrett    m/m Elyzabeth VaLey     m/f Julie Lynn Hayes  m/m

MC Houle     m/m