Happy Birthday to me! Day 2.

I love celebrating birthdays even if they aren’t mine. LOL

I’ve decided to spotlight Quentin today! If you haven’t read this yet feel free to scamper off and get a copy!

https://books2read.com/u/4XZdpv

Now the reason I bring Quentin up is because I’m working on the second book. Here is an unedited blurb of the first chapter of book 2. I apologize in advance for the spacing. WP was being evil. Please remember it is unedited and could be prone to change 🙂
I hope to have this out December/Januaryish.

Chapter One

A teasing waft of warm air ghosted across Quentin’s bare shoulder. He blinked away the sleep from his eyes and turned his head to smile at Jakinson. “How do you have such hot breath? Vampires should be cold.”

He received a fang-tipped grin in response. “I’m always hot, lover.” Jaks kissed Quentin’s back. “As you should know by now.”

A groan tore from Quentin’s throat as Jaks grazed a sharp tooth across Quentin’s skin. “Bite me,” he whispered in a lust-filled voice. He rolled over to give easier access.

“You only get more beautiful.” Jaks growled. “I could spend a thousand nights and still crave you in my bed.”

He would never understand what Jaks saw in a skinny geek, but he wouldn’t say anything against it. “I can’t think of a better way to wake up.”

Jaks rubbed his erection against Quentin thigh. The carnal motion pushed everything but desire from his thoughts. He bit Jaks bottom lip and gave it a gentle tug before releasing it. Biting could go both ways. He flashed a feral smile that Jaks returned.

“I love it when you get bitey.” Jaks growled. “Do it again.”

Words were abandoned in favor of kissing, busy fingers and deep moans. The things Jaks could do with his tongue should be patented. Wars would be fought over who got to kiss Jaks next if word of his talent ever leaked out. Consumed by surging hormones and the sultry slide of flesh against flesh it took several minutes before Quentin realized that the ringing noise wasn’t caused by lust induced hallucinations. Was that even a thing? He pulled away from the lip lock.

His phone rang again.

“Ignore it.” Jaks eyes glowed and his voice held a low purring growl. A hungry predator focused on his prey.

“Okay.” Quentin didn’t even pretend to be interested in whomever had bad timing. They weren’t worthy of his attention if they didn’t realize the necessity of early morning sex.

Jaks cupped Quentin’s balls. He squirmed, nerves firing. Now would be a bad time for Jaks’s superhuman strength to kick in. He kissed Jaks, a slow intimate pressing of lips that ended with Jaks panting and Quentin giving a needy whimper he would later deny.

Quentin relaxed against the mattress ceding control to his dominating lover. The tide of desire threatened to drown him but he would happily let it sweep him away for the pleasure he knew awaited. He rubbed his erection against Jaks’s hard length searching for the perfect friction.

When Jaks hissed he grinned, proud of his success.

The insistent ring pulled him from lust-fogged focus.

“Ignore it.” Jaks cupped the back of Quentin’s head and pulled him into another passionate embrace. “They’ll stop calling eventually.”

“Mmhmm.” Quentin allowed another kiss, but a little doubt had winnowed into his mind. It was awfully late for a phone call. Only emergencies required the dead of night.

His phone’s ringer went off again. Quentin ripped himself away from Jaks. “I-I’ve just got to see who it is. If nothing else I can tell them to stop calling.” The mystery caller obviously knew at what point Quentin’s voice mail kicked on.

Jaks groaned but didn’t try to stop him. Quentin flailed his hand out and swept his phone from the side table. Any thought of ignoring the call vanished when he saw the name glowing on top.

“Grevin.”

“Why would he be calling first thing in the morning? I thought he was nocturnal..”

“He is. All necromancers are.” Grevin had never called him during the day before. As he contemplated returning the phone call a text appeared.
Help 666.

“Crap!”

Jaks leaned over Quentin’s shoulder to read the text. “Shouldn’t that be 911.”

“No. We have a series of codes. 666 means something went wrong with a demon summoning.” A chill sank into Quentin’s stomach. He pulled up Grevin’s name and pushed the call button.

It rang.

Then rang some more.

Quentin bit his lip as the phone continued to ring with no one picking up. Damn.

“He called you just a few minutes ago so he must still be alive.” Jaks rubbed Quentin’s shoulders.

The warmth from Jaks soothing hands eased a bit of Quentin’s panic. “Unless he phoned from his watch.” Grevin’s obsession with electronics was a source of much teasing.

“He still could’ve picked up with it.” Quentin pointed out. His gut churned as he thought over all the things that could go wrong with a necromancer ritual. Grevin didn’t have a good track record of being cautious.

“True.”

The call rang for several minutes without anyone answering until Grevin’s message kicked in..Quentin threw the phone onto the bed before he stood to dress. “I’m going over there to check on him. Something is obviously wrong.” His instincts screamed that he wouldn’t like what he found when he got to Grevin’s place.

“I’ll come with.” Jaks slid out of bed before Quentin could protest. Not that he was going to complain. The more help he had to deal with whatever Grevin had gotten himself into the better.
If something weird had happened at Grevin’s place he preferred to have a kickass vampire at his side, especially if there were any demons. Who knows what Grevin could’ve summoned. He hadn’t told Quentin his plans which usually meant it was dangerous and Quentin would disapprove. Asshole.

Quentin winced as his bare feet met the icy floor. Shivering, he dressed in his best demon battling outfit of worn jeans and a cozy long sleeved shirt. His chattering teeth wouldn’t impress a demon any more than his hole riddled sneakers. He really needed to get his shoes replaced. Unfortunately saving a friend took precedence over shopping.

If his current dangerous life patterns continued he might have to look into purchasing a badass outfit and a personal soundtrack to make his hero entrance complete. If nothing else it would make Jaks laugh, and maybe drool a little.

They dressed in a tense silence. Quentin grabbed a handful of spell balls hoping he wouldn’t need them. Better to be over prepared then overwhelmed.

“Are those the improved ones?” Jaks nodded at the balls.

“Yeah, the stronger cage ones and a new one I’ve developed.”

“What does it do?”

Quentin smiled, flattered that Jaks showed true interest in his work. “It sets things on fire once activated.”

“That could be dangerous.” Jaks frowned. “You don’t want to start a wildfire or set any friendly vamps aflame.”

“Don’t worry it’s a magical combustion. It will only burn things I tell it to. It’s linked to my magic once activated.”

“Why did you create those?” Jaks sounded more curious than condemning.

“I’m testing how to bind different elements. These are good for taking down zombies, but I don’t think they’ll do much damage to a demon. I’m only bringing them to see how they work in the field and to take care of anything unexpected we might find.”

“Next time you want to test something give them to me or one of the other vamps. I don’t want you close enough to dangerous creatures to test out your inventions. I’ll make sure whomever tests them writes out your notes.”

Instead of arguing, Quentin shoved the balls into his backpack along with a bottle of water he had pulled from the small fridge they kept in the bedroom. They didn’t have time for their usual fight over Quentin’s temporary employment. He also grabbed a few packs of blood for emergencies. He couldn’t let Jaks take his blood. He needed all of his energy. The drawbacks of dating a vampire. So far he had found very few other issues if he overlooked Jaks bossy personality as the quirk of a vampire leader.

“Good idea to bring provisions. Hopefully we won’t need them. I prefer tapping straight from the source.”

“I prefer you doing that too.” Vampire feeding always led to more pleasurable things.
They shared a quick kiss before Quentin pulled away again. Jaks was his personal magnet. There were probably entire dissertations over the effect vampires had on their bonded, but Quentin still struggled to understand how he had fallen in love with a vampire master, never mind conducting further research into the phenomenon. One day he would look into it. At heart Quentin was a researcher not a fighter. Both of them preferred it that way. Quentin might not back away from a battle but he rarely sought them out. Unfortunately they kept finding him.

Some days he still felt like the naive guy who walked into a vampire coven while reading his notes. It really was a miracle no one had killed him yet. He planned to continue the trend.

“Do you know how to damage a demon?” Jaks kept a good grip on Quentin while he asked his question as if worried Quentin would rush into Grevin’s home unprepared.

“No. I’m hoping I can capture the demon and have Grevin send it back. It isn’t the demon’s fault something went wrong.” What good was having a necromancer friend if he couldn’t banish whatever he had pulled out of hell?

“If Grevin could send him back don’t you think he would’ve by now?”

“We won’t know until we examine the situation.” He refused to give up on his dream of capture and release. If it turned out to be more complicated…well that was why he was bringing his vampire boyfriend.

“What do you know about demons?”
Quentin shrugged. “Not much. I specialize in spell design, not creatures.” Though if the current pattern continued he’d have to do a lot more research into non-human entities. First his fae father, then his vampire lover, and now demons. His contact with other species had been rapidly increasing for the past few months.

“And do you consider me a creature?” Jaks brushed his lips across Quentin’s, a bare whisper of flesh against flesh that sent shivers of pulsing need down his spine.

“Absolutely.” Quentin grinned before stepping back.

“Just remember I’m your creature.” Jaks kissed Quentin’s cheek. “Do you think we should bring backup?”

“Why don’t we talk to Grevin before we haul out the calvary?” He didn’t want dozens of vampires descending on Grevin’s home before he figured out exactly what had happened. Grevin was antisocial on a good day and blatantly violent on any other. “If it’s only one misbehaving demon we should be able to handle it. If not you can always call them and they can rush over with their freaky speed.”

“True.” Jaks didn’t bother hiding his amusement. He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”

Quentin threaded his fingers through Jaks’s then teleported them focusing on the outside of Grevin’s house. His paranoid friend would never allow anyone to appear directly inside.
A short spin of disorientation, then darkness coated the world around them. An unnatural shade of black blocked the bright moon that had been shining through their curtains at home.

Quentin’s smile vanished. He froze like a small mouse sensing a predator, afraid to attract the wrong attention. Frosted coated the ground around Grevin’s house a direct contrast to the warm, stifling air. He coughed at the stench of brimstone and rot.
That night he discovered that evil had a scent.