Today I am so pleased to welcome Jodi Payne to Joyfully Jay. Jodi has come to share an exclusive excerpt from her latest release with B.A. Tortuga, The Soldier and the Angel. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Excerpt

“It’s good to see you again, man.” He wasn’t sure where he was going with that, but it was true, so he said it.

“It’s good to be seen. There were a few minutes there it was up in the air.”

He nodded. “Well, you O’Reillys are stubborn. You did a whole year of rehab, huh?” He’d heard a few stories from Sammy, but not many. Just that it had been a long road. Still, it was a road. He didn’t like to think about the number of soldiers his team had brought in that never got one. That was a slippery slope.

“It was. Give me another six months, and no one will ever know I was hit.” Bowie grinned at him, the look wicked and wonderful. “You know they said I’d never walk on it again?”

“I had heard that, yes.” He’d heard it from Sammy, who’d been just as sure it was bullshit as Bowie had been ready to prove it. “Sammy told me you’d prove them wrong. I fully expect you’ll do exactly what you intend to do. Where are you going to do your therapy?”

“Don’t know.” Bowie leaned in toward him. “I got to tell you, I don’t know shit right now. I know I can’t stay with the boys, but…I can’t bear the thought of going back to my folks.”

That was the closest anyone he was at all interested in had gotten to him in…well, since the last time Bowie had done it. He swallowed and focused. “Nobody wants to go home to their parents at thirty…whatever you are. Five? Six? You’ve been out and on your own too long. I don’t know if New York is your thing, but with your skills, I can help you find work here if you want it.”

That didn’t solve the issue of where Bowie could stay, but with a job the guy could probably put some cash away for first month and security in a couple of months.

“Thirty-four, and you get it, don’t you? I’ve been on my own since I was eighteen. Well, been with Uncle Sam since. I can work. Shit, I’ve been earning danger pay for years, man. I just need to find my people.”

“I get it. I enlisted at eighteen too. That was the summer of 2000.” The towers fell a year later. By twenty, he was in Afghanistan. “When I got out after two tours, I didn’t even know if I had people. This is as good a place to start as any.” He hadn’t started here, though. He’d tried to go somewhere quiet, away from noise and people where he could relax. That had been a bad idea. He didn’t handle the quiet well at all. Or downtime. He was better off keeping busy.

“I wanted to retire. I had another nine years in me. I did, but…Jesus, these last few months, I’ve been tempted to do stupid shit. I had to get the hell out of Dodge. So where did the boys end up?”

Yeah, they had a lot in common, which wasn’t so surprising. But he accepted the change of subject, they weren’t here for a therapy session. “They’re downstairs. Mike has a nice lounge for Doms and their subs to hang out. Darla is Mike’s. You’ll meet him at some point.”

“Good deal.” Bowie chuckled softly. “You know, what do you say about your little brother being in the scene? Both little brothers? Shit, both little brothers with the same man?”

“You say it must run in the family.” He gave Bowie a meaningful look. “I can’t say I’m not enjoying that image.”

“I guarantee you, my friend, Tommy is not my type.” Those light eyes looked him over, bold as brass.

Jesus Christ, he liked that look. “Good. Because I wasn’t referring to Tommy.” He didn’t even twitch.

“No?” Bowie’s lips curled into a smile. “I’m not much into playing games, which I think you remember.”

“I remember. Though I might know one you’ll like.” He tipped his beer glass up and drained it.

Bowie’s laugh this time was more husky than booming. “Are you coming on to me, Angel?”

That. That right there—the laugh, that tone? He could handle some more of that right now.

“What? Fuck, no.” He grinned, letting everything that husky laugh had done to him show in his eyes. “I came on to you five minutes ago, and you already accepted. I’m walking distance. Even for you.”

Oh, that was a good one. That oughtta strike a nerve.

“Don’t make me beat you. I’d say your place or mine, but I don’t have a mine.”

He pulled out his phone and texted Tommy so Sam didn’t worry. We’re leaving. Bowie is with me. He hit send and showed his phone to Bowie.

“Perfect. You ready? I don’t need another beer.”

“I’m ready.”

Was he ready, though? A stupid little voice in the back of his head was saying things like, That’s Sammy’s big brother, and What if he stays in New York? It wasn’t like last time. Bowie didn’t have to be on a plane in the morning.

He decided to go with the voice that said, He’ll probably be leaving in a couple of days. It wouldn’t get prickly. He wasn’t messing around with his best friend’s family, it was just a one-night thing.

Like the one-night thing they had nearly two years ago.

A one-night thing memorable enough that it had kept him company more than a handful of nights since.

So what? Bowie wasn’t looking for a thing—he was looking for a good time. The man needed out of his own fucking head, and Gabe knew how to give Bowie what he wanted.

Bowie pegged him with a sharp, quick knowing look. “Hey, man. I’m not looking for stress. I’m looking for mutual orgasms. I’ll grab me a hotel room if you want. Make it easy.”

Well, fuck. He grinned. “That obvious, huh? I just have this asshole voice in my head that likes to tell me shit I don’t need to listen to. It’s not you, it happens with everything. Work, play, even grocery shopping. I’m totally on board. Come on.” Fucking voice tried to make him doubt himself constantly.

“Tell it to shut the fuck up, right?” Bowie grabbed his cap from his back pocket. “Lead on, MacDuff.”

Blurb

In this stand-alone companion story to The Cowboy and the Dom Series, Sam’s only remaining brother, Army Ranger and EOD Specialist, Jim Bowie O’Reilly, suffers an injury in the line of duty, and is sent home to the family ranch in Texas to recuperate.

But sometimes you can’t go home again.

Thomas and Sam welcome Bowie for a visit in New York, but their D/s lifestyle doesn’t easily lend itself to long-term house guests. Enter Thomas’s trusted friend, EMT and former combat medic Gabriel “Angel” Rogers. The two men met once before when Bowie visited Sam for his birthday, and it doesn’t take the men long to admit they had an instant attraction. They soon discover their desires overlap as well and they set each other on fire.

But two big men need space and, as neither is in love with the city, Bowie invites Angel back to Texas to vacation in one of the run-down beach houses he’s flipped. On the eve of their departure though, Angel’s coworker and friend is gravely injured in an accident leaving his ambulance crew shorthanded, and Angel stays behind to help his team get back on their feet.

The distance might be more than either man can handle. With a whole country between them, they manage to derail something that had been going so well and it takes a risky intervention to stop them from ruining the best thing they’ve ever had.

Bio

JODI spent too many years in New York and San Francisco stage managing classical plays, edgy fringe work, and the occasional musical. She, therefore, is overdramatic, takes herself way too seriously, and has been known to randomly break out in song. Her men are imperfect but genuine, stubborn but likable, often kinky, and frequently their own worst enemies. They are characters you can’t help but fall in love with while they stumble along the path to their happily ever after.

For those looking to get on her good side, Jodi’s addictions include nonfat lattes, Malbec, and tequila any way you pour it. She’s also obsessed with Shakespeare and Broadway musicals. She can be found wearing sock monkey gloves while typing when it’s cold, and on the beach enjoying the sun and the ocean when it’s hot. When she’s not writing and/or vacuuming sand out of her laptop, Jodi mentors queer youth and will drop everything for live music. Jodi lives near New York City with her beautiful wife, and together they are mothers of dragons (cleverly disguised as children) and slaves to an enormous polydactyl cat.

Giveaway

Jodi has brought a $5 Amazon gift card to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Saturday, July 4th at 11:59 pm ET.

• By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
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