Fire Balls

by Tara Lain

  Hunter’s voice was clear and probably audible to many of the people in the room. “Because, ma’am, this portrait, like me, is the property of the artist.”

  Exclusive Excerpt

  Beach Balls

  A Balls to the Wall Romance

  By Tara Lain

  Adam James is so far in the closet he could find Narnia. As an attorney for the homophobic WMA Development, he can’t come out without risking the million-dollar paycheck waiting for him once they push their big land development deal through the city council—money that will finally allow Adam to live according to his own terms. Then, on an early-morning scuba dive, Adam meets a tall, lean rebreather diver named Sky who makes him want to hug a tree.

  Sky Sea Mickeljohn stands for the environment, world peace, and being openly gay. He won’t compromise his principals for anyone—even the damned lying developer lawyer he can’t help lusting after. True, the WMA land development deal could put thousands of people at risk, but Sky still wants to risk his heart. In the fight between freedom and integrity, is there a place for love?

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  Chapter One

  “WOULD YOU like anything else, Mr. James?”

  Adam looked up at two big blue eyes and two good-sized boobs. He’d like sex, scotch, sunshine, and the hell out of this meeting, but he’d keep that to himself. “No thanks, Tiffany. I’m good.”

  “You sure I can’t get you anything?” She leaned over, presenting the cleavage, carefully arranged in a low-cut peasant blouse, for his appreciation. This girl didn’t know her customer. Of course in his case, no one else knew him either. “I’m sure, thanks.”

  She smiled at the three other men at the table without quite the same level of gushing enthusiasm. “Can I get you anything?”

  Bill Woolsey gave her a huge, slightly bleary smile. “Sure, sweetie, I’ll take another scotch and water. Light on the water.”

  Ed Arturo looked up from his omnipresent smart phone. “Yeah, one more.”

  Keith Milton shook his head.

  The waitress blasted Adam with another smile and then scooted between the crowded cocktail tables toward the big center bar.

  Bill burst out laughing. “It sure pays to be young and beautiful, Adam. I thought she was going to stretch out on the table and give you a piece.”

  Adam smiled. “Really? I didn’t notice. I guess I’m distracted. Damn city council meeting, taking my mind off the important things in life.” He grinned, and the guys laughed. Yeah, he might be distracted, but not by business. The council meeting could mean a million bucks to him, but right now he just wanted to get settled in at his buddy Carly’s place by the sea and let his cock do the work for a change. He’d had it with these guys, his business, and life in general.

  Keith leaned forward. “Y-you still d-d-ating Miss N-November?” His stammer got worse when he drank.

  Adam sighed. He hated to flat-out lie. “You know it’s hard to sustain relationships on our schedules.” Keith always asked about the gorgeous woman Adam had brought to a WMA Development retreat last year. Adam neglected to say he’d paid her to come.

  Bill nudged him. “Hell, Adam, I keep telling you. Get married. Then you can have pussy at home waiting for you when you need it.”

  “Not sure it’s worth the price.”

  Bill barked out a laugh. “You got that right.” Bill was forking over big bucks to two previous Mrs. Woolseys. Mrs. Woolsey the third had a huge shoe habit.

  Adam looked down at his tablet on the table. “Okay, have you got questions about any of the city council members? We know we have one sure vote.”

  Bill nodded. “Good old Earl. Never can resist the wining and dining.”

  Arturo looked up. “Or the bribing.”

  Adam pushed on. “Lilly March is the biggest worry. She’s a tree hugger and could prick the consciences of some of the others. The council has to believe we have the skill and money to handle the toxic cleanup, or we’re toast. We have to score points before the Newport Nature Preserve gets organized. They might command a lot of opposition, and the council could cave in.”

  Arturo shook his head. “Those pussies.”

  Adam nodded and scooted his chair in as an older man from the next table pushed through. “Yeah. Well, let’s not get overconfident. You know how much money this represents.” He put the tablet in his briefcase beside his chair.

  Someone next to him moved, and he found himself eye to eye with a smiling twink at the next table. Small, with longish brown hair and big eyes, the kid couldn’t be much more than twenty-one. Pretty in a flamboyant sort of way. The guy who left must have been his sugar daddy. The kid smiled and fluttered his lashes. Adam’s cock fluttered back.

  Shit. That just showed how damned desperate he was. He straightened.

  Keith had leaned in toward Bill, all hush-hush. “H-how did that w-work on the land go?”

  Bill glanced at Adam and shook his head. “Oh, fine. No problems.”

  Adam frowned. “What?”

  “Nothing, buddy. Can’t compromise your legal ethics now, can we?”

  Pretty Tiffany delivered the drinks, and Bill took a big slug as soon as the glass hit the table. The waitress flashed another smile at Adam and left.

  Adam touched Bill’s arm. “C’mon, Bill. You shouldn’t be doing anything that will put us in a difficult position legally. They have to check the parcel for environmentally sensitive habitat. It can’t look like we’re trying to hide anything.”

  Bill waved a hand at him. “No worries.”

  These guys loved to skirt the rules. Adam was no Boy Scout, but sometimes the WMA partners made him cringe. Fucking with the land before the city council ruled could bring down a flood of hot water.

  Ed raised his lip. “Do you see that fag at the next table with some old dude? Man, that turns my stomach. I’m gonna see that picture all night in my nightmares.”

  Adam held his breath. These guys hated anything gay. They just didn’t know who that included.

  Keith grinned. “S-speaking of gay, did you hear about the two g-gay judges?”

  Arturo shook his head. “No. Tell me.”

  “They t-tried each other.”

  Arturo split a gut. “What do you call fifty lesbians and fifty government employees in one room?”

  Adam’s hands clenched. Shit, he’d heard this joke so many times. Today he wasn’t in the mood.

  “A h-hundred people that d-don’t do d-dick. You told me before.”

  Arturo shrugged. “Still true.” He went back to his cell phone.

  Woolsey nudged Adam. The guy had a shit-eating grin. “Know why so many gay guys have mustaches?”

  Adam did not want to hear it. He shook his head.

  “To hide the stretch marks.”

  Arturo and Milton laughed. Adam showed some teeth, but his face hurt doing it. “You’re funny, Woolsey.”

  The guy was on a roll. “Yeah, and it’s a good thing they won’t find any fairy shrimp on our property. Get it?”

  Enough. Adam pushed the chair back. “Excuse me, gotta go to the head.”

  He walked down the hall and into the large men’s bathroom. Some days the huge paycheck wasn’t worth it. He took a deep breath and blew it out. Most days it was. This project was the one. His piece of the action would set him free, but he couldn’t blow it just because he was horny. So horny he could fuck a duck if it had good tail feathers.

  He went to a urinal, reached in his fly, and hauled it out. God, just holding the thing made him want to shove it in a hole. The door to the bathroom opened. He glanced up in the mirror. The twink from the table came in.

  Crap.

  The guy affected a graceful sway as he sauntered to a urinal and unzipped. Adam stared at himself in the mirror. This was the wrong time for a bashful bladder. He breathed out and finally got a good stream going.

  The kid glanced at him and smiled.

  He smiled back.

  T
hat produced a bigger smile from the twink. “You waiting for someone?”

  “No, just peeing.”

  The kid pushed out his lower lip. “Oh, I thought you might be waiting for someone.”

  Adam didn’t answer.

  The kid produced a small stream and then jiggled his cock mightily. Adam tried not to check it out but… damn. The boy had a nice penis, although Adam didn’t want to show appreciation. He squeezed out the last few drops.

  The kid smiled real big. “You sure you wouldn’t want to be waiting for someone?”

  Exactly what the hell did the twink plan to do with his sugar daddy? Ask Adam to fight for him? Nevertheless, his cock stiffened. “Sorry, kid, I think you got the wrong impression.”

  The lip again. “Oh, did I?” He sneaked a peek at Mr. Half Mast. Then he smiled. A world of hard-won wisdom shone from those pearly whites. “Really sorry, handsome.”

  Yeah, so am I.

  Adam tucked, zipped, washed in record time, and pushed open the bathroom door into the growing crush of Friday night happy hour. Shit, he was hard as stone. He had to get out of this fucking meeting and get to Carly’s.

  Deep breathing the whole way, he walked slowly back to the table until his erection finally gave up. The guys had switched from gay jokes to a discussion of the various waitresses. Just great.

  He pulled out his chair.

  Arturo pointed. “Hey, Adam, whaddaya think of the redhead with the gazongas? She’s new, isn’t she?” This was Bill and Ed’s favorite restaurant and bar, where they catalogued everything female.

  Adam laughed. “Only the gazongas are new. I think she just bought them. I seem to remember seeing her before with a much less impressive rack.”

  Arturo fell back against his chair, clutching his chest. “Nooo. I want to believe they’re one hundred percent gen-u-ine. Don’t burst my bubble.”

  Milton glanced up from the phone. “M-make sure you don’t b-burst hers.”

  They should all go home to their wives. “Okay, gentlemen… and I use the term loosely.” He grinned. “We meet with the architect again on Monday to run through the presentation.”

  Woolsey nodded. He had a lot of extracurricular activities, but underneath he was all business. “Yeah. I’m playing golf with Earl Hamston on Sunday. Want to come?”

  Hell, no. “Sorry. Have some family duties this weekend. Call me if you need me and leave a message. I’ll be checking in.”

  Woolsey cocked his head. “Thought your family was back East somewhere.”

  “Yeah, uh, extended family.”

  Arturo laughed. “A weekend with family. Thrill a minute.”

  If they only knew. It wasn’t their fault he was so deep in the closet he could find fucking Narnia.

  More from Tara Lain

  A Balls to the Wall Romance

  A “pumped up” version of the Volley Balls story, twice as long as the original.

  A double dose of alpha male might be better than one.

  Despite just getting out of an abusive relationship with an asshole alpha, David Underwood’s wandering glance lands on two hot members of the Australian volleyball team on Laguna Beach and gets him harassed again. Still, when the delicious Gareth Marshall proves his interest by coming out to his team, David succumbs to his attraction. But Gareth’s volleyball partner, Edge, who’s equally hot, makes the lovers’ lives miserable.

  For Gareth, a lifetime of hiding his orientation—and his attraction—from his best friend, Edge, as well as everyone else around him, adds up to hurt and frustration. David’s the first man to ever compete with Edge for Gareth’s passion. But Edge has secrets of his own, and David’s ex-lover will never be happy without David under his fist. With everything stacked against him, can a gay Laguna man find happiness with an alpha male–or two?

  Rand McIntyre settles for good enough. He loves his small California ranch, raising horses, and teaching riding to the kids he adores—but having kids of his own and someone to love means coming out, and that would jeopardize everything he’s built. Then, despite his terror of flying, he goes on a holiday to Hana, Hawaii, with his parents and meets the dark and mysterious Kai Kealoha, a genuine Hawaiian cowboy. Rand takes to Kai’s kid brother and sister as much as he drools over Kai, but the guy sports more prickles than a horned toad and more secrets than the exotic land he comes from.

  Kai’s earned his privacy and lives to protect his “kids.” He ought to stay away from the big, handsome cowboy for everyone’s sake—but since the guy’s just a haole on a short vacation, how much damage can he do? When all of Kai’s worst fears and Rand’s darkest nightmares come true at once, there’s not much chance for two cowboys who can’t—or won’t—come out.

  An Aloysius Tale

  When Killian Barth, history professor, meets Blaine Genneau, quantum physicist, they ignite their own big bang. But Killian can’t pursue a physics professor—or a human. As the most powerful male witch in ten generations, Killian must bolster his dying race by reproducing—despite the fact that he’s gay.

  Even a fling with Blaine is out of the question, because Killian has been told sex with humans drains his power. But if that’s true, why can young human Jimmy Janx dissolve spoons with the power of his mind? If Killian can sort through the lies he’s been fed, he’ll still face his biggest obstacle—convincing rational scientist Blaine to believe in magic.

  With his ancient and powerful cat familiar, Aloysius, on his shoulder, Killian brings the lightning against deceit and greed to save Blaine from danger and prove love is the greatest power of them all.

  He'll marry the maid to get $50 million but a secret could queer the deal.

  Taylor Fitzgerald needs a last-minute bride.

  On the eve of his twenty-fifth birthday, the billionaire’s son discovers that despite being gay, he must marry a woman before midnight or lose a fifty-million-dollar inheritance. So he hightails it to Las Vegas… where he meets the beautiful maid Ally May.

  There’s just one rather significant problem: Ally is actually Alessandro Macias, son of a tough Brazilian hotel magnate. But if Ally keeps pretending to be a girl for a little while longer, is there a chance they might discover this marriage is tailor-made?

  A Pennymaker Duet

  Sinders and Ash

  In an upscale resort, housekeeper Mark “Sinders” Sintorella works hard to save money for fashion school, but one look at Ashton Armitage, son of one of the wealthiest men in America, turns his world upside down. Ash is at the hotel to find a wife or lose his inheritance. Though he’s secretly gay, he’s wildly attracted to a beautiful, mysterious girl—not realizing she’s actually Mark wearing his own designs to impress investors of Mr. Pennymaker. When the clock strikes twelve, two beautiful princesses line up for the wedding, but whom will the slipper fit?

  Beauty, Inc.

  Chemist Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre dedicates himself to developing a new product to help put his father’s small cosmetics company on the map. Sadly his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father loses Belle in a poker game to Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc.—a man infamous for his scarred ugliness. Belle is uprooted from his home, living in a crazy apartment owned by Mr. Pennymaker, and completely unprepared for his attraction to Strong. Belle fights his passion, but Strong’s scars hide goodness and humility. When Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again, the odds turn against happiness for beautiful Belle and his beloved beast.

  TARA LAIN writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Erotic Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, and Best Gay Characters, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. Readers often call her books “sweet,” even with all that hawt sex, because Tara believes in love and her books deliver on happily-ever-after. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm. Her love of creating book titles comes from years of m
anifesting ad headlines for everything from analytical instruments to semiconductors. She does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. She lives with her soulmate husband and her soulmate dog (who’s a little jealous of all those cat pictures Tara posts on FB) in Laguna Niguel, California, near the seaside towns where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says that on her tombstone, it will say “Yes!”

  E-mail: tara@taralain.com

  Website: www.taralain.com

  Blog: www.taralain.com/blog

  Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain

  Pinterest: pinterest.com/taralain

  Twitter: @taralain

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/taralain

  By Tara Lain

  Cowboys Don’t Come Out

  Spell Cat

  BALLS TO THE WALL

  Volley Balls

  Fire Balls

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  #5 – Taylor Maid

  LONG PASS CHRONICLES

  Outing the Quarterback

  Canning the Center

  Tackling the Tight End

  LOVE IN LAGUNA

  Knight of Ocean Avenue

  Knave of Broken Hearts

  Prince of the Playhouse

  Lord of a Thousand Steps

  PENNYMAKER TALES

  Sinders and Ash

  Driven Snow

  Beauty, Inc.

  Sinders and Ash and Beauty, Inc. (Print Only Anthology)

  TALES OF THE HARKER PACK

  The Pack or the Panther

  Wolf in Gucci Loafers