Title: Midnight Twist
Author: Rian Durant
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: April 2, 2018
Heat Level: 1 - No Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 19700
Genre: Paranormal, LGBT, fantasy, humor, demons
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Synopsis
Jaydon can’t afford to lose a bet he’s made, so when the sweet as sin Eluin offers him The Contract, it may be exactly what he needs. Or is it? Things get a little twisted with the cheeky demon being around.The number of demons in Jaydon’s apartment grows, with Eluin’s big brother Eluel and his wayward lover Sam showing up. The couple is at a breaking point in their own on/off relationship and this time getting back together seems as probable as hell freezing over.
Excerpt
Midnight Twist
Rian Durant © 2018
All Rights Reserved
It all started with an espresso machine,
even though I’d seen him drinking espresso only once in all the time we knew
each other. Then he complained for three days that he hadn’t tasted such swill
in his whole life. The fact that I’d made it for him with all my love didn’t
cause him to show an ounce of tact.
I felt in my gut it was a tremendous
mistake to enter the mall, but even if I’d tried to avoid it, I doubt he
would’ve taken my opinion into account. He would’ve thrown a temper tantrum of
magnificent proportions, which wasn’t a pretty sight. I’d been a witness and a
victim of such antics once, only it was in front of a restaurant, which I
hadn’t dared come close to ever since.
The glowing look in his eyes while we
passed by the shop windows made my heart sink, because I couldn’t afford most
of the things he stared at, especially with the plans we had for the rest of
the week. My lovely boyfriend possessed a seductive appearance and a good
heart, but his perceptions were terribly distorted due to eighteen years of
systematic spoiling at the hands of his parents. He used to reassure me this
wasn’t going to come between us since he was madly in love with me, but he
couldn’t be further from the truth. After the ironic remarks I had been
subjected to in the past few weeks, I knew I wasn’t going to get away with it.
I didn’t want to lose him, but it was
clear that if I didn’t overcome my financial issues, his love for me would
vanish into thin air together with his rebellious spirit, and he’d settle with
any of the “appropriate partners” his parents tried to match him with. Once,
one of his father’s business tycoon friends with his three hot lovers landed in
front of my door and pounced on me, obviously not familiar with the appearance
of his intended chosen one. I led a fierce battle using all means possible,
which ended up being the shoehorn lying next to the shoes at the front door, in
order to preserve my honor. Things deteriorated when Lyte came out of the bathroom
in his short, sexy bathrobe to check why I was wreaking such havoc. We had to
barricade the door and listen to a serenade for more than an hour before the
police came to take them away.
I turned to Lyte with a smile, intending
to remind him of that time the tycoon came calling, but when I caught his hand,
he didn’t react at all. He had already seen it. He gazed at the window with an
oblivious smile, and then raised his finger and pointed at it. A second later
he issued a brief statement with a determination I’d rarely heard in the voice
of another human being.
“I want it!”
At first, I couldn’t understand what the
item in question was, wavering between a weird CD player, a hat rack, or Darth
Vader’s helmet. But when the price tag next to it caught my attention, I
shivered.
“You want an espresso machine? What do
you need it for, sweetheart?”
“It will look great in the kitchen,
don’t you think? The color scheme is the same, and besides, it’s so fancy with
all these buttons!” He clapped. “You are going to buy it for me, love, won’t
you?”
“But you don’t even drink coffee,
sweetie.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can make tea in
it. I mean, I’m sure it has such a function.”
I was positive it had a TV-watching
function at least, judging by the price, which caused me severe trauma. I tried
to sound as gentle and as reasonable as I could.
“We can’t buy it now, dear.”
His amazing blue eyes shot a quick
malicious look at me, and he pouted. “So it wasn’t enough for you to turn me
into a housewife, was it? Now you refuse to buy me this little sweet espresso
machine. Did I understand you correctly?”
I didn’t know why he was always harping
on it, given that there wasn’t an ounce of truth in his accusation, unless
lying on the sofa with the remote control all day long was termed housekeeping
these days. If it wasn’t for me, we would’ve both been dead by now because of
the weird things he tried to cook a few times right after he’d moved in with
me. I hardly let him do anything around the house, as I preferred to leave him
enough free time to study. Week in, week out, he’d go to class to sit for some
exams. There was a time when I suspected he was taking them in another way, not
fit for a mixed audience, but he finally succeeded in persuading me in the
opposite by quoting the declaration of human rights by heart.
I looked at him with regret and repeated
to myself he wasn’t guilty in the least. His parents had driven him to this
state of mind. I tried to hug him, which, naturally, I was denied.
“Are you really going to be mad at me
over some stupid espresso machine?”
“It is not stupid!” he snapped. “You are
stupid.”
I laughed, hoping he was joking like he
sometimes did, but this time it was different. I suppose this was the
proverbial last drop, so when we got home, he locked himself in his room
without giving any explanation. After about an hour, he came out dragging his
big red suitcase behind him.
“Eh? Sweetie pie…”
He hissed in my face like a kitten
deprived of its food, with an expression showing me that if I breathed a word,
anything I said would be used against me as he stomped past me, out the front
door, slamming it behind him. Apparently, he’d realized there were two alternatives
to obtaining his beloved espresso machine. One was to go back to his family,
and after an enlightening reprimand on how he shouldn’t choose penniless
partners like me, they would give it to him as a present. The other was to use
his infinite charm and extort some other idiot with enough money into buying it
for him.
I could get a credit card and buy the
accursed gadget, but his leaving was a mixed blessing. I might’ve gotten him
back, but next week he could decide he couldn’t live without some other splendid
invention of modern science, and I couldn’t count on giving in and buying him
every single thing he set his heart on.
Part of me wanted him back, but another
part insisted that walking away was the best thing he’d ever done for me. We’d
had great moments together, especially in the beginning, but to be honest, I’d
wondered whether it wasn’t better we called it a day. Exhausted by all the
thoughts swarming inside my head, I went to bed. The most difficult part was
sleeping alone under the cold sheets after having someone to cuddle with for
such a long time.
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Meet the Author
Rian is one of those who are both
blessed and cursed by the insatiable desire to write. Short stories, sometimes
longer stories and yeah, primarily M/M (you can insert more Ms if you like)
romance stories.
Always having a plot in mind sometimes
proves being hard when having a day time job but Rian manages them both for the
time being, assisted by the priceless support of her soul mate,
large amounts of coffee and pure obstinacy.
What makes Rian smile is a sunny day, a
beautiful flower, a piece of chocolate, a nice song, a good book and anything
that could be the reason for that spark in the eyes, accompanied by the
exclamation: “Oh my, I just saw something!”
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