the skinny on the new background cover

So I've got a new cover up as the background of the blog. This is for the next Briar Rose book -- Blended Family. It's coming out July 15, but I imagine it'll be up for pre-order before then.

The Briar Rose: Blended Family

Matt and Adam are back and this time they’re welcoming two established Master/Sub pairs who want to play together. Without ruining their friendship.

Subs Peter and Max have been best friends forever, since before they met their masters. They were lovers once, but both men needed the influence of a Dom to stay on an even keel. Happily in love with their masters Devon and Swan, the boys nonetheless want more.

Devon and Swan care deeply for each other and are willing to give becoming something more a try and the Briar Rose seems like the perfect place to give it a go. As neutral ground, if things go wrong, they should be able to put the whole thing behind them and go back to their lives as simply friends.

Can Devon, Peter, Swan and Max become the blended family they yearn to be?

Look for it July 15!

excerpt:

Matt filled out all the paperwork and double-checked his e-mail, making sure that he was on top of everything. The truth was that he was thinking about everything but the guests they were expecting today.

They'd had couples’ stays overlap before, and once there had been three couples all wanting to learn rope bondage. That had been fun -- day after day of demonstrations and checking the Doms' work.

This was different, though.

Today they had two couples coming in who were friends and had decided they wanted to try playing together, perhaps becoming a foursome. Without ruining their friendship. That was the trick.

They were coming for over a week to work with him and Adam.

Matt wasn't sure what to say to them. This didn't seem like a BDSM situation, but a marriage counseling one. Adam had been sure they could help them, though, and he trusted his sub completely. That didn't mean it was going to be easy.

Adam was out in the roses, whistling merrily like a bird. Matt closed his office and went to watch, to find some peace with his lovely man before their guests arrived. There was a deep satisfaction in Adam's face, a total peace that made Matt feel like a million bucks. He'd helped make that happen.

He went out into the garden, speaking quietly. "Adam..."

Adam smiled up at him. "Master."

"Your roses look almost as good as you do."

"They look lovely, don't they? They are loving the new fertilizer."

"I think the thing they love the most is the attention." Adam certainly thrived from Matt’s focus. It was easy to believe the roses were the same.

"Probably. Getting rid of all the aphids didn't hurt." Adam stood, brushed his hands off. "Did you need me?"

"I always need you."

His sub chuckled, reached for him. "Do you?"

"I do. You're my heart." Matt wrapped his arms around Adam and took a kiss.

Adam smelled of earth and green growth. It suited his beauty, to the ground.

"Are you ready for our guests?" Matt hadn't meant to ask, but it was still weighing on his mind.

"I think so. I imagine my job will be easier than yours, Master."

"I was thinking the same. But we don't want the subs doing this just because it's what their masters want." A good Dom and sub pairing didn't work like that, but there were plenty of subs who felt they had to go along just because they were the sub.

"No. No, and we can get jealous, snippy."

"I think it would be helpful, too, if you talked to the Doms while I talked to the subs. So we can feel out everyone from both sides." Matt always counted on Adam's insight and help with their guests.

"Of course, Master." One hand rubbed along his arm. "Come inside; let me give you a massage, hmm? You're tense."

"I would like that. A lot." He hadn't known it was exactly what he needed until Adam had suggested it.

Sean

smut fixes everything