Jack is on the verge of silent film stardom, but Hollywood glory won’t heal his broken heart. But the seductive screen idol—Roman Pasquale—sweeps Jack away, and makes him his own. Will Roman’s obsessive love finally bring Jack true happiness?
Jack is devastated by the loss of Nick, his best friend and lover. His only other friend, new Hollywood star Trixie Fox, comes to his rescue. What he doesn’t know, is that she’s also helping Roman Pasquale in his carefully planned seduction of the shy and innocent Jack.
Suave film screen idol—Roman Pasquale—has been obsessed by Jack Stone from the moment he spotted him at a Global Studios party. He will stop at nothing until the golden-haired young man belongs to him. An expert at getting what he wants, Roman plans every wicked word, look and move to bring him closer to achieving his prize.
Jack is on the brink of stardom, and can’t believe that his movie star crush, Roman Pasquale, is taking an interest in him. But he resists the older, more sophisticated man’s attempts at seducing him. After all, he still loves Nick, and just isn’t ready to try again with anyone else. But when Roman turns on the charm, Jack is tempted. Can Roman replace Nick in Jack’s heart? Or is the magical world of the great Roman Pasquale all an illusion?
Reader Advisory: This book contains drug use, a reference to a prior rape not shown and a scene of M/M/M/M. This book is best read in sequence as part of a series.
General Release Date: 29th November 2013
Gone.
No matter how many times he chewed on that word in his head, it still spat out the same. Almost a week had passed since Jack had arrived back at the motel he and Nick had shared upon their arrival from New York—only to find that he was no longer there. Sure, they’d had an awful fight that evening, but they’d had some really horrible arguments before. There was no reason that this last one should have negated everything they’d been through together. Nick had always been his guide, his protector and finally, his lover. He was his best friend in the entire world, and Jack couldn’t envision his life continuing in any meaningful way without him.
Unless he comes back. Or I find him somehow—and bring him back.
The idea that he could make everything okay again had consumed Jack’s thoughts for days. He sat in their Hollywood motel room that lately felt more like a tomb, and conjured ways in which he could find him, and make Nick love him again. Because if Nick had really loved him, then it would have been impossible for him to leave. It was like the orphanage all over again. He’d been dumped there too because no one had loved him enough to keep him. Then, he’d been kicked out for loving the wrong gender—one of the boys there. Maybe it hadn’t been a real and true love—like what he had with Nick—but it had been something good.
Jack wiped his eyes. The lids were chapped and sore from all the crying he’d done in the past week, and he felt completely used up. He’d barely eaten, and might not have at all if Trixie hadn’t stopped by with a burger and some colas. He hadn’t been interested in her cajoling and prodding to try to cheer him up. Instead, he had begged her to get him some cigarettes—the only thing that sounded appealing. When she’d returned, she’d given him an envelope with a fancy seal. The paper was like parchment, and coloured with the faintest shade of lavender. An elegant handwritten script spelled his name—‘Jack Stone’.
He hadn’t opened it.
He didn’t care who it was from, even it was some fantastic news regarding his burgeoning career in moving pictures. If it wasn’t from Nick, then he wasn’t interested. His Nick had been a regular guy. He would never use fancy stationery with pretty colours. He was hard-working, loyal, protective and loving—in his own special way. Nick had made sure Jack had all that he needed, whether it was food, shelter, work and, in the past few months, unbelievably intense sex. He had belonged to Nick. His man had sacrificed everything to provide for Jack. Nick had tried to shield Jack from the seamier aspects of surviving in Hollywood. But once Jack had discovered that Nick had sold himself to get them work and a paycheck, everything had seemed to fall apart.
But it was really much earlier than that. The minute we got here. It was already on its way to being over.
Desperate to keep another bout of weeping at bay, Jack forced himself to his feet. He badly needed a shower. He also marvelled at the strength of the August heat, and wondered if it would ever end.
I need to pull myself together. I’ll never find Nick if I don’t.
The first few days after Nick had left, life hadn’t seemed real. Jack had patiently waited for Nick to reappear. He must’ve gone off to a gin joint. Maybe he had checked into another motel, and would come back after he’d cooled down. He had just been mad, so he had grabbed his things and left. Then, after he’d thought about it, he’d realise just how much he loved Jack, and return.
Didn’t he know how much I love him too? I told him over and over, even when he didn’t tell me.
That last thought was like an even deeper wound in his already damaged heart. Maybe that really was the reason. Nick had never told him he loved him—because he didn’t. It was that simple. But it still didn’t make any sense. How could Nick have sacrificed so very much, and taken care of Jack all those years, fucked him with such ferocity, brought him to California, left his fiancé behind…
Oh God. Please no.
The subject of Penelope hadn’t been brought up for the last couple of months. She had always been Jack’s greatest fear, but once they’d begun their new lives in California, she had just never been mentioned again. Was it like his musician friend back in New York had warned him about—that guys played around with other guys for a while—and when it was out of their system, they got a gal and settled down? If Nick had headed back to Philly, Jack would never be able to find him.
He doubled over, the pain building up in his chest again, threatening to break him in half. He threw himself on the motel bed and curled up into a ball. Fresh sobs wracked his body and he buried his face in the pillow to muffle them. The aroma of Nick that he had clung to was no longer there. Jack had simply cried it away.
He must have dozed off, because when he opened his eyes again, shadows were beginning to form, and the sunlight no longer streamed through the window. He leaned up on one elbow and tried to will the cobwebs in his brain to go away. His eyes were crusted over from the last spell of crying he’d done. An insistent tapping at the door made him turn over. Had it been stronger, and less feminine, hope would have built in his heart.
What now?
“Who is it?” he croaked out.
“Come on, Jack, it’s me, Trixie. I’m tired of ya lockin’ yourself in there. Open up! You’re breakin’ my heart, sugar.”
Trixie’s nasal voice sounded desperate, scared. He’d never heard her like that before. She was always filled with so much confidence and life.
“Okay, hold on.”
Keeping up with grooming and washing hadn’t been high on his list that week, so he went into the bathroom of the small room to at least rinse his mouth, and wipe his face with a cold cloth. He took a sniff of one armpit and wrinkled his nose. He didn’t even have a clean shirt he could quickly change into—he and Nick had always done all of the everyday chores together. But now there was no Nick…
“I’m gonna get the coppers up here if yas don’t open up!”
“All right, all right!”
He reached the door and yanked it open. His only remaining real friend—new movie star Trixie Fox—stood in the hall in a stunning red satin sheath that went just past her knees. Long fringe attached at the bottom tried to make up for the rest of the dress that should have covered her black shimmering stockings. A red velvet cloche hat featuring a large white silk flower adorned her short auburn hair. She also looked very worried.
“Oh, Jack!”
She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. She cried against his chest. Jack hesitantly reached up to embrace her back, but this was unusual for them. Despite being very close friends—and even working together doing sex-for-hire jobs—their physical contact had primarily been like brother and sister. Not to mention that Trixie wasn’t given to fits of emotion. She was a practical girl, and everything she ever did was a means to an end. She didn’t have time for regret. This was a new side to her.
Morticia Knight spends most of her nights writing about men loving men forever after.
If there happens to be some friendly bondage or floggings involved, she doesn’t begrudge her characters whatever their filthy little heart’s desire. Even though she’s been crafting her naughty tales for more years than she’d like to share – her adventures as a published author began in 2011.
Once upon a time she was the lead singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She currently resides on the northern Oregon coast and when she’s not fantasizing about hot men she takes walks along the ocean and annoys the local Karaoke bar patrons.
Morticia Knight - Interview for Razzle Dazzle
The books are set in 1920s so tell us about your research process into this time.
Oh my goodness. The first couple of books were so all-encompassing in making sure that every single detail was correct. I don’t know if I got everything right, but the feedback so far has been positive in that regards. Speech patterns, expressions, cost of items, locations, food, drink, clothing, transportation – I felt I had to stop every other sentence to verify a fact. And that was despite all of the pre-research I did before I ever even wrote the first word! Finally, I became so engrossed in the era, I was able to keep the writing flowing and only verify now and then.
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