He turned to face Phineas and gently took his glass from his hand, setting it on the coffee table. Then he got down on one knee and took Phinney’s hands in his. Phineas’s face grew pink with shock as he stared down at Cody.
“Phineas MacDonald. I love you completely. You’ve turned my life inside out and upside down, and made me into the man I’ve always wanted to be. I can’t imagine my life without you at my side. Will you marry me?”
“Cody, my God! You never fail to surprise me. You’re my miracle. You saved my life. I love you, sweet boy. Of course I’ll marry you. I’d be honored.”
Cody’s face opened up, and he looked like a teenager, besotted and happy. He scrabbled in his pocket, then pulled out a ring. “For you.”
Phineas had tears in his eyes as he held out his hand and allowed Cody to slip the ring on his finger.
A light flashed, and Sandy was happy someone—Blaine, of course— had had the presence of mind to get a picture of this surreal occasion. Gemma was crying too hard, and Jade… oh, for Pete’s sake. Jade was crying as hard as Gemma. Jack laughed and went for his suitcase, saying something about whiskey.
“Come here, you.” Sandy drew Jade’s shaking body into the shelter of his arms. He had no plans to ever let him go. “I love you, miracle.”
By this time, Cody had gotten to his feet. He and Phineas were enclosed in a tight embrace, kissing like they would never stop.
“I love you too.” Jade lifted his tearstained face to Sandy for a kiss, then watched Cody and Phineas’s endless smooch with a tremulous smile.
“How’d life get so good?”
“Son, never question the grace of our Holy Father.” Jack pulled the whiskey bottle from his bag and saluted them with it. “Just enjoy it while you can.”
“Amen,” Sandy said.
And as they hugged and celebrated and lifted their glasses yet again, Sandy sent up a silent thanks to God. Not the punitive God of his parents’ deluded imaginings, but the loving and eternal presence that had buoyed him in his darkest moments, gotten him through the storm, and landed him gently home with his true family around him.
Wild and Precious: Book One
Aspiring writer Brent Granger has good friends and a great job at an arts magazine in DC, but he’s batting zero in the arena of love. Brent begins to get a clue why things aren’t working with women from his strong attraction to his gorgeous, gay, and already attached boss, Graham Stoneford. When he sees a personal ad from a man that quotes his favorite poet, Brent decides to do something wild and answer.
Enter Cody Bellstrom, easygoing bisexual musician, who is happy to initiate Brent in the ways of gay sex. Brent now has a new problem: he realizes he’s gay and no one in his life knows it. Cody tires of hiding their relationship, but Brent finds it challenging to come out to family, friends, and especially to Graham. In the end, Brent must confront the truth of where—and with whom—his heart lies.
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Wild and Precious: Book Two
Bisexual musician Cody Bellstrom is a free spirit, easygoing and unattached. On a cross-country trip, Cody befriends young Sandy Nixon and gets him safely to Portland and his uncle, Phineas MacDonald.
Beautiful Phineas turns Cody’s life upside down, and Cody learns he’s not as unattached as he aspires to be. With the hard-won knowledge of what lies underneath his need to be free, Cody wins a chance at real freedom and true love.
Ever since his longtime lover Allen died, Phineas MacDonald has lived a circumscribed life. He stopped performing as fierce drag queen Phanny Hill and works part-time in a bookstore. Phineas never expected to find love again. But when sexy and caring Cody Bellstrom turns up, Phineas feels his orderly life slipping out of his control. Cody brings him alive again, but now Phineas must find the courage to let go of his grief over Allen and give love a second chance.
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Cameron Wheeler’s life is all mapped out: he’ll finish business school, return home to Vermont, get a job, and marry his high-school girlfriend.
He’s packed away what he really wants—a career as a musician—because he knows it’s never going to happen. But Cameron’s well-planned life is turned upside down when he walks into a musty jewelry shop in LA and meets the mysterious Apollo, who tells him to “follow his soul, not his past.” Apollo’s magical presence spurs Cameron to discover and follow his true path, in life and in love.
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A Serpentine Series Book
Reeling from the news that his parents are divorcing, Pete Morgan starts his junior year at college cynical about love and commitment. Although his new openness to one-night stands does wonders for his sex life, fighting his romantic nature proves harder than he’d anticipated. He soon finds himself pining for a glamorous senior, Aidan, who doesn’t mind taking Pete to bed but shows no interest in commitment—at least not with Pete. And Pete’s attempt at a “friends-with-benefits” relationship with sophomore Jed leaves Pete feeling empty.
One bright spot in Pete’s year is Matthew, an easygoing graduate student who assists Pete in making his first film. Matthew has some baggage too, and has sworn off relationships and sex altogether, so Pete feels safe to enjoy their friendship. But he falls for Matthew anyway, not able to fight his growing conviction that Matthew is the perfect guy for him. Even if Pete can accept that he made a mistake when he turned his back on relationships, that doesn’t mean Matthew will feel the same. With a few life lessons under his belt, Pete’s ready to take a chance on love. As he finds the courage to bare his heart to Matthew, he can only hope that Matthew will take a chance with him.
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A Serpentine Series Book
Shy guy Jed Carter has always felt invisible next to his charismatic older brother, Kent. Kent’s master plan for Jed is simple: University of Virginia, fraternity, business, sports, and ladies’ man. None of it is Jed, except for playing on the rugby team, which he joins in defiance of soccer- loving Kent. Jed comes out in his sophomore year and starts seeing Pete, an attractive junior, who uses him for sex and videogames. Jed wants more—in life and in love—and starts making his own plans. First on the list: getting to know Charlie, the handsome guy working at the local videogame arcade.
Charlie Ambrose has always felt like an oddball, and not just for his tendency to stutter. Being gay sets him apart from his African-American community, and as a “townie,” he doesn’t fit in with the college crowd.
Charlie’s inspiration is his cousin, Morocco, who’s transgender and doesn’t give a fig about fitting in. Art is Charlie’s passion, and when a local videogame designer discovers him, Charlie’s living a dream. The only thing he’s missing is love. But the last person Charlie expects to find it with is a cute, white U.Va. rugby player named Jed.
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After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane enjoys writing sexy, passionate stories that also explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.
CJane is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality and is particularly fond of coming out stories.
In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing, listening to music, or watching old movies. Her husband and son support her writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring intensely at her laptop.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.cjaneelliott.com
Twitter: @CJaneElliott
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cjane.elliott
By CJane Elliott
Mercury in Retrograde
Stay Right Here
Stepping Through
SERPENTINE SERIES
Serpentine Walls
Aidan’s Journey
Sex, Love, and Videogames
WILD AND PRECIOUS
Wild and Precious
There You Are
Sand-Man’s Family
Published by Dreamspinner Press
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
Dreamspinner Press
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Sand-Man’s Family
© 2016 CJane Elliott.
Cover Art
© 2016 AngstyG.
www.angstyg.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-225-9
Published May 2016
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
Sand-Man's Family Page 13