Today I am so pleased to welcome M.L. Eaden to Joyfully Jay. M.L. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Prince’s Tide. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Exclusive Excerpt
From Chapter 4 – Communication – Troller POV
“What would you like to eat? We don’t have much to choose from right now since I haven’t restocked yet. The season’s ended, so the normal supplies won’t be in for a few months. But I can go to the store tomorrow and get what we need.”
I understood about half of what he said, so I focused on the question. “I eat fish. Crab. Seaweed. Snails. Lobster. Seagulls. It was the soup, yes?”
Royce sat me at the little table in the corner, then moved about the room again as I watched. He gave me a curious look and replied, “Ah, no, that was synthetic protein broth. It’s supposed to taste like chicken, not seagulls, but I guess they might be similar.”
“Oh, chicken. Land bird. I remember. It was good.”
“I’m glad you liked it,” Royce said with a smile. “How about we try a sandwich?”
“I know this word, but why would one eat sand? The picture was not sand.”
Royce laughed. “Well, it’s not made of sand, it’s made of bread. Have you had bread before?”
“No.” I was curious. I had seen a picture, but we had nothing like that where I came from.
Royce paused for a moment. “Well,” he started, then stopped and looked at me. “Maybe it would be better if I showed you.”
I watched as Royce spread thick substances on squares of sponge that didn’t look edible. He squished two pieces together and then two more. When he came to the table, he brought the sponges with the substances on a plate. He turned to the preparation area and retrieved two cups with a white substance he had poured into both.
I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Royce noticed and helpfully demonstrated. “Here, like this.” He took a bite, and I watched as he chewed. To say it fascinated me would be an understatement. I picked up my sandwich and mirrored Royce’s actions.
I’d never tasted anything like it. It was soft, sweet, and sticky. It was wonderful, and it stuck to the roof of my mouth. I spent a moment savoring the bite I’d taken before I swallowed. “What is this? Do all sandwiches taste like this?”
Royce’s smile made my skin flush with a pink color. He wasn’t cruel when he answered my questions. Our elders had told us humans were cruel. Royce continued to prove them wrong.
“No, there are different kinds. This is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” He opened his two pieces and showed me the substances. “This is peanut butter, and this is strawberry jam. You put them on bread,” he pointed to the things I had thought were an edible sponge, “and they make a sandwich.”
“Oh. It is good.” I took another bite as I watched Royce drink some of the white liquid substance from a cup. I stopped eating the sandwich enough to ask about the liquid. “What is this?”
“Milk.”
“Milk, Royce?”
“Do you want to try it?”
I nodded and picked up the cup in front of me. I took a sip and the sour sweetness didn’t agree with me, but it did make the sandwich pieces softer, easier to eat. I tried again, and it was easier to drink, but I preferred the protein soup.
“Do you like it?”
I shook my head and took another drink. Royce laughed. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it.”
We ate in silence for a while. When Royce was done, he wiped his face with a cloth. This action perplexed me. I took the cloth in front of me and did the same thing, which made Royce smile.
“Here, let me help. Like this,” he said as he leaned toward me. His hand went to the back of my neck and gently held it as he swiped the cloth at the corners of my mouth. I felt it pull slightly and realized that I had the sticky substances on my face. “There.”
I tried to smile, but didn’t feel it. With each thing he helped me with, I felt a sense of exhilaration, but there was also the shame of not understanding. This was the longest I’d spent out of the water, and I had so much to learn.
Blurb
A Mythical Desires Universe Novel
Royce’s childhood was anything but calm. As an adult with famous parents, he preferred to live away from the public eye. All he needed was a boat, a crew, and his best friend Pete. That changed when Royce made a mistake that dropped him into the Gulf. Struggling for survival, his rescue isn’t from above, instead it comes from the sea itself in the shape of a legend long thought extinct and relegated to stories.
Fascinated with life above the waterline, Troller happens upon a fishing boat with a lone person on deck. When the sailor falls overboard, he doesn’t stop to think about the consequences of rescuing the human. When he comes face to face with Royce, he’s instantly enamored, but his people haven’t shown themselves in centuries. Troller swims away, afraid he’s risked his people’s safety, unable to forget the man he saved.
A year later, Troller uncovers the secret keeping his people below the waves. That knowledge could cost him his life. He swims to the one place he might be safe and arrives on Royce’s boat, naked and exhausted. Their mutual attraction quickly becomes more as they build a life together. When their secrets threaten to separate them, will love and trust be enough to keep them together and alive?
Content Warnings: Explicit on-page sex. Capture, torture, imprisonment by antagonist.
Bio
M.L. Eaden works by day in the tech industry, but at night, she reads books, writes stories, throws axes, and is an avid gamer with a current addiction to Azul. Originally from the sunflower state, she migrated to one with a lone star—and more sun and tries desperately to keep up with two adorable cattle dogs that still act like they are five years old instead of the seniors their vet says they are.
Connect with M.L.:
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/mleaden
Giveaway
To celebrate the release of Prince’s Tide, M.L. is giving away 3 e-copies and 3 Print copies of the release! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
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