Today I am so pleased to welcome Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock to Joyfully Jay. Lisa and J.A. have come to share an excerpt from their latest release, Tempest. They have also brought along a great giveaway! Please join me in giving them a big welcome!

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Excerpt

Mac thought if he let Henry go, he’d lose his grip on everything. On this moment, on these past few weeks, and on his entire fucking life. That fucking asshole Jimmy Rasnick. He thought he’d hated the guy before, but that was nothing. Henry’s words settled like ice inside him.

He opened his eyes. “How old were you?”

“Does it matter?”

He thought about that for a moment. Maybe it didn’t. But maybe he wanted to melt the ice with the burst of hot fucking rage he knew Henry could provide. He wanted to be angry and disgusted and mad as hell. “How old?”

“Fifteen when it started.” Henry’s voice was wooden. “Sixteen when Vi tried to stop him.”

It wasn’t rage that flared up and consumed Mac though. It was something more like despair. It settled over him like dirty water, soaking into his pores. He held Henry tighter and pressed his mouth to the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“Long time ago.”

Maybe. But he bet Henry could still feel invisible scars every time he moved, tugging across his skin.

“If I thought it had anything to do with Lonny, with this OPR stuff, I would have told you sooner. But I don’t know anything much about Rasnick except that he was the guy who . . .” He paused. “We called him J.J.” Another pause.

“Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Henry’s laugh was nervous. “I’m just saying shit. I’d love it if you stopped me.” His voice cracked. “Please?”

“Can I look at you now?” Mac asked, keeping his voice soft. “And will you look at me?”

“I . . . don’t know.”

“Let’s give it a try.” He gently pulled Henry over to face him. Henry wouldn’t meet his gaze. He blinked rapidly as he stared at Mac’s throat.

“Wish I had some information you could actually use,” Henry murmured. “Remy helped him with a job, and J.J.—Rasnick—paid him in heroin. I didn’t know that until after I met Remy.” He tried to laugh. “Small fucking world.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Mac. It’s really fucking fine. I don’t know what this is—me, here, you know. I never used to break before you. Ever. Okay? I really fucking knew how to hold it together. And in the last few weeks, I just keep . . . I don’t know.”

He stroked Henry’s hair.

“I can’t be that kid anymore.” Henry raised his gaze, then dropped it quickly. “That kid crying in the dark.”

“Sebastian,” Mac said. “You mean you can’t be Sebastian.”

Henry didn’t answer. He closed his eyes again.

He put his hand on the side of Henry’s face. Swiped his thumb under his eye, collecting the moisture there. “You keep locking him away, he’s gonna break. And he’s gonna take Henry Page with him.”

“Where’d you get your degree in psychology? The back of a cereal box?”

“Freud Loops,” Mac suggested.

Henry snorted and opened his eyes again. “Idiot.”

“Yeah.” He slid his hand under Henry’s chin. Tilted it forward, glad Henry didn’t resist. He kissed him gently, savoring the light pressure. He slid his tongue along the seam of Henry’s lips, coaxing them open. Henry’s breath jerked.

“Wait.” Henry pulled back. “Don’t be that guy, Mac.”

“What guy?”

“Oh, the one who thinks he can save me.”

“Am I that guy?”

“You think you are.” Henry twisted his mouth into something like a smile. “Where were you when I was fifteen? Where the fuck were you when it was still possible?”

He stared into Henry’s eyes. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Nothing,” Henry whispered. “Don’t say anything. I’m ruining it, aren’t I?”

“No.” He wondered if the word was a denial or a plea. “Henry, I—”

Fuck. I love you?

The unsaid words hung starkly between them.

“Yeah,” Henry whispered. He closed his eyes. Tears gleamed on his lashes. “Doesn’t matter.”

A hundred things he could have said, should have said, but Mac couldn’t find the words. He wondered if it was even possible to ruin this indefinable thing between them. Because what was it really? If he didn’t know, then how could he fight for it?

They lay there in silence until Mac’s mom called them down for dinner.


Blurb

Tempest_400x600Something wicked this way comes.

FBI Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness and con man Henry Page are on the run again. This time they’re headed back to where it all began: Altona, Indiana. Population: some goats. Henry’s not happy about lying low at the McGuinness family farm, but they’ve got nowhere else to go.

While Mac fights to clear his name and Henry struggles with whose side he’s really on, a ghost from the past threatens to destroy everything. And those aren’t the only storms on the radar. Cut off from both sides of the law, Mac and Henry must rely on their tenuous partnership to survive.

If Henry can convince himself to let Mac see the man behind the disguises, they’ll stand a chance of beating the forces that conspire against them. The course of true love never did run smooth, but for the two of them, it might be their only hope.


Bio

Lisa Henry

Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.

Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.

She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.

She shares her house a log-suffering partner, too many cats, a dog, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.

Connect with Lisa:

J.A. Rock

J.A. Rock has worked as a dog groomer, knife seller, haunted house zombie, standardized patient, cashier, census taker, state fair quilt hanger, and, for one less-than-magical evening, a server—and would much rather be writing about those jobs than doing them. A lover of m/m BDSM romance, J.A. lives mostly in West Virginia, and always with a beloved dog, Professor Anne.


Giveaway

Thanks for following our tour! To celebrate our release, we’re giving away an awesome prize – an ebook copy of a novel of your choice from either of our back catalogs. We’re also giving away a $20 Riptide gift voucher, and some comfy items picked especially for you by Henry: a pillow shaped like a donut, and a pair of donut-themed socks. 

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a way for us to contact you, be it your email, your twitter, or a link to your facebook or goodreads account. Please put your email in the body of the comment, not just in email section of the comment form, because we won’t be able to see it otherwise! On March 20, 2015, we’ll draw a winner from all eligible comments! Be sure to follow the whole tour, because the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win the prize!

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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