Print ISBNs:

ISBN-10: 1934531170
ISBN-13: 978-1934531174

© 2008 Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved

The apartment had that closed-up smell, a little dusty, a little damp, but nothing an open window wouldn’t fix. Jimmy must have smelled it too because he went directly to one of the windows. The glass rattled in the frame. The muscles in Jimmy’s shoulders and back rippled and flexed as he pushed up the sash.

Mmm, nice view.

The breeze brought the scent of rain and damp earth with it. The sweat dried on Adam’s face and he pulled in a deep lungful of cool night air, hoping it would help clear his head.

Tearing his gaze away from Jimmy’s ass, Adam glanced around the room. There was furniture though he couldn’t tell what it was like since everything was covered. At least he wouldn’t be sitting on the floor.

A faded rug added a splash of blues and greens in the center of the wood floor. There was a kitchen alcove to the right and another doorway to the left.

Jimmy swiped at a dusty spider web hanging from the light fixture. “Sorry it’s so dirty. I’ll get someone in to clean if you decide …”

Adam had to smile at that. Funny how it didn’t seem to occur to Jimmy that Adam should clean the place himself. But that was just Jimmy. The man had probably never had to clean for himself in his life.

Adam walked to the door on the left, opened it and felt for the light switch.

The bedroom was tiny, but there was a double bed with a white wrought-iron head and footboard, a dresser and a nightstand. Adam imagined himself stretched out naked on that bed, wrists and ankles bound to the iron while Jimmy fucked his ass.

“What do you think?”

Adam started a little. He hadn’t heard Jimmy come up behind him. He turned. Jimmy stood in the doorway.

“Nice bed.” Adam stroked a hand along the footboard, the metal cool under his fingers.

Jimmy’s gaze flicked to the bed then back to Adam’s face. “Yeah, it is.” There was a pause. Jimmy licked his lips. “The bathroom is through there.” He pointed to a door in the opposite wall. “It’s kind of small but …”

Because he couldn’t shake his little bondage fantasy and having it in his head made it hard to think, Adam walked to the bathroom and stepped inside. He went directly to the tiny window, lifted aside the yellowing lace curtain and looked out.

The rain had stopped and a thumbnail sliver of moon cast silvery light over the yard. From the rear of the garage the ground sloped down. About ten yards down the slope, the manicured grass gave way to a line of trees and wild growth where the shadows grew thick and heavy.

“That’s Fairmount Park,” Jimmy said from the bathroom doorway. “It backs up to this property so there aren’t any neighbors, not unless you count the deer.”

“How far does it go?”

“The park? Miles and miles. Fairmount is the largest municipal park in the country. When we were kids we weren’t allowed back there. My mother was sure we’d wander off and she’d never see us again.”

“But you went anyway.”

“Of course we did.” Jimmy laughed. “Tell a kid not to go somewhere and that’s the first place he wants to go. I remember when Laton was in high school, he used to take his girlfriends back there and make out.”

“How do you know?”

“I followed him a couple times. You know, the kind of stuff little brothers do.”

He didn’t because he didn’t have any brothers, but he liked listening to Jimmy talk. Knowing these little details made him feel closer to Jimmy, like they could actually be friends. “Did he ever find out that you followed him?”

Jimmy shook his head. “Are you kidding? He would have kicked my ass if he knew.”

They both laughed.

Adam let the curtain drop and stepped away from the window. “How about you. Who did you take back there when you were in high school?”

Jimmy’s cheeks flushed. “I went to boarding school in New Hampshire.”

“So you never snuck into the woods with anyone to make out?”

Jimmy’s hesitation was just enough to tell Adam there was something here. A little thrill raced through him.

“Who was he, Jim?”

Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t remember. That was a long time ago.”

Adam stepped up close. Jimmy could easily have moved away but he didn’t.

Adam slipped his hand inside Jimmy’s open collar and stroked the warm skin. Jimmy’s pulse jumped under his fingertips as Adam leaned in. “Tell me.”

There was a pause. Jimmy’s lips parted. He swallowed. “His name was Christopher,” Jimmy whispered. “Chris Daley. He was the first boy I ever kissed.”

Adam leaned closer, stopping with their lips no more than a breath apart. “You took him into the woods and kissed him?”

“He kissed me.” Jimmy’s lashes fluttered down.

“Show me how.” He didn’t know where this little game had come from or where it was going, but he liked it.

Jimmy’s hands slid around Adam’s waist. The man drew him close. He pressed against the hard length of Jimmy’s body. Jimmy’s mouth claimed his, the kiss starting slow, the contact soft and just a little tentative, the way a teenage boy might kiss.

Adam’s fingers caressed the back of Jimmy’s neck before sliding into the close-cropped hair. He sighed as his eyes drifted closed. But when his lips parted, Jimmy broke the kiss.

Adam opened his eyes. “What-”

“He asked me if I liked it,” Jimmy said, his words slow, his tone dreamy and far away. “And I said I did. Then he put his hand on my cock.”

Adam’s breath caught. He could imagine it, Jimmy so young and unsure, never even kissed let alone had another boy’s hand on his cock. God.

“How old were you?”

“Fifteen. We were both fifteen.”

Adam slipped his hand between their bodies. With a fingertip he traced the hard length of Jimmy’s cock through his pants.

“So hard,” Adam murmured. “Were you hard for him, Jim?”

“Yes,” Jimmy breathed, “so hard … from the kiss, you know? And it was nothing really, just a kiss. But, God …” Jimmy’s hips pressed forward, silently asking for more contact.

Adam squeezed Jimmy’s prick before sweeping his thumb over the head where a damp spot on the fabric of his pants let Adam know just how much Jimmy liked this game.

“Did he fuck you and make you come?”

“I came,” Jimmy said, hips rocking against the press of Adam’s hand. “He kissed me and I came in his hand.”

God, it was too much. Adam laid his head on Jimmy’s shoulder. They were supposed to be talking. He should be telling Jimmy why he couldn’t live here, why he couldn’t be Jimmy’s fuckboy.

Jimmy squeezed Adam’s ass, angling their bodies so their cocks bumped. “God, Adam, I want to fuck you so bad.”

Adam moaned. He wanted it too. “Let’s do it. I want your cock in my ass.”

“Can’t,” Jimmy said, “no condoms or lube out here.”

Adam didn’t have anything on him either. Shit. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

“We’ll just kiss and use our hands. Like you did with that boy all those years ago.” He rubbed against Jimmy, begging with his body, cock against cock.

“Adam, I don’t-”

“You going to make me beg?” Adam flicked his tongue inside Jimmy’s ear. “Please, Jim, I want to hold your cock in my hand, make you come.” He nipped at the pulse in Jimmy’s neck. “Please, let me kiss you and come for you.”

Available from MLR Press in both print and ebook

Print ISBNs:

• ISBN-10: 193453109X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934531099

©2008 Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved

“The classical cannon of Greek and Latin literature does not treat Eros with particular reverence.” Professor Anton MacDonnough stepped out from behind his podium. He paced across the front of the classroom, his eyes alighting first on one student, then another. “In fact, any sensible reader will come away from a careful reading of the ancient texts with the clear impression that rather than a god to be adored, we would do better to treat Eros as….” Here he paused for effect. “Frankly, a psychopath.”

Laughter rippled through the room. MacDonnough smiled. Val sighed.

Of course he’d heard this line before in others of Mac’s lectures over the last four years. Mac had been his faculty advisor since his freshman year and was now advising on the writing of Val’s senior thesis. Mac always delivered the psychopath line in that exact cadence, always paused at that exact place and always smiled when the students laughed.

Just like he was smiling now.

Val sketched a stickman in the margin of his notebook, a sleeping stickman.

What the hell was he doing here anyway? He should have taken a class where he might have actually learned something to make up the three literature credits he needed to graduate. Instead he’d let Mac talk him into this class, an intro course made up mostly of freshman and sophomores, on the role of gods and monsters in ancient literature.

A total snoozer, but three easy credits for his final semester.

Val slid his gaze to the left and eyed the little hottie sitting at the next desk over. Dark hair pulled back in a stubby tail, skin so smooth it looked like he couldn’t grow a beard, and a face prettier than three quarters of the girls in the class. Not that Val was into girls. He hadn’t even thought about girls that way since that day in junior high when Rickie Garcia had given him his very first blowjob behind the bleachers after gym class.

The little hottie slumped in his chair and yawned hugely without even covering his mouth.

Val smiled. He sketched a bed for his stickman, then he drew a yawning mouth as Mac droned on.

“Let’s talk about the Iliad for a moment, and the coming together of those legendary lovers, Helen and Paris.” He paused and lifted a hand to his ear. “Ah yes, I can hear the dreamy sighs even now.”

A few of the students laughed.

“But set aside, if you will, our modern view of a magical and romantic Eros. Instead try seeing him as a destructive force that feeds off the lust and weakness of the lovers.”

Val glanced up from his doodling, his gaze locking with the hottie in the next desk. The greenest eyes Val had ever seen watched him intently. A tongue slipped out to wet full lips.

Val’s prick stirred. He dropped his gaze back to his notebook. With a few strokes of his pen he gave his stickman a raging hard?on, then a hand to wrap around it.

Oh, he was so going to fuck, or be fucked by, Green Eyes before this semester, and maybe even this day, was over.

From the corner of his eye he saw a slender hand. It reached across the space between the desks, dropped something on Val’s notebook, then retreated. A scrap of paper. Val picked it up, unfolded it, and read.
What are you doing after class?

Hopefully getting your cock up my ass, or down my throat, Val thought. Whatever you want, baby.

He was supposed to be going to a wine and cheese reception in the classics department, had promised Mac he would go. But…

Picking up his pen, Val scribbled his reply.

Wait for me outside.

Refolding the paper, Val flipped it across the narrow space between the desks. It skidded across the surface and was caught just before drifting to the floor.

Val watched as the note was unfolded and read. Green eyes lifted to meet his and the kid gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Oh yeah!

The stickman began jacking as Val wove a little fantasy starring slim hands and big green eyes and a long, thick cock. Of course, by the look of him, the guy was probably a bottom. No big deal. Even though he would rather get fucked than do the fucking, he could be flexible.

To his cartoon he added a balloon coming out of Sticky’s mouth. In it he wrote, uh, uh, uh, aaaaaahhhh!

Oh yeah, for this he could be as flexible as need be.

“Kimberly Gardner has produced a story with all the elements of an emotional rollercoaster, the joy of being together and the heartache of separation. This is a most impressive tale that I enjoyed.”

Read the entire review at the following url:

http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2008/08/phoenix-rising.html 

“Young friendly gay guy, talented but poor, meets older closeted gay man, wealthy and gentle. Is another Cinderfella’s story? Not quite, since our two heroes will not leave happily ever after when the clock strikes the midnight, they need to suffer a bit before.”

You can read the entire review here:

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/358022.html 

The ebook anyway. *g* And you can buy it at All Romance Ebooks.

http://allromanceebooks.com/product-phoenixrising-10198-144.html

*throws confetti*

So, um, go buy a copy. Lol!

*gets the confetti ready*

I had an email from my editor yesterday telling me that PR has gone to the printer. So I’m a scant few days from my baby making its appearance in the world. Nothing left to do now but wait …

For another few days …

Oh yeah, and work on the next one. *g*

http://www.mlrpress.com/upcoming.php

How cool is that?

Last week I learned that my novel, Phoenix Rising, will be releasing from MLR Press later this summer rather than next year as I had originally expected. How cool is that?

In addition, my friend and crit partner, Anne Cain, is doing my cover. Anne is the goddess of cover art of all time so I’m just as excited about that as I am about the release. *happy dance*

I don’t have my cover yet, but as soon as I do I’ll post it here so everyone can share the yumminess. Likewise, when I know my exact release date I’ll post it here.

So I’m planning to return to the Shifting Sands Ranch, just outside San Antonio and revisit Cy and Bobby Lee, the heroes of my short novella, Snake Charmer which will appear in the anthology Shifting Sands due out from MLR … sometime. *g* The antho has yet to be assigned a slot in the publishing schedule, but it’s coming. I promise.

All the stories are set on a ranch in Texas. Daniel, the ranch owner, and the men who work for him have been cursed by a witch. Doomed to assume their “alternative forms” during the full moon, each must find love and acceptance in spite of the curse. Only when they have all done that can they hope to be free.

I turned in the partial for this story a couple of months ago, and the full manuscript isn’t due to the editor for another couple months. But now that I’m sort of between projects I want to get it finished so I can get started on another novel-length work.

So that’s the plan.