About Ruby Flame
Author: Sean Michael
Word Count: 30500
Page Count (pdf): 260
ISBN: 978-1-77423-135-7
Price: 4.99
Pairing: M/M
Series: Heartstone Dragons
Genre: Paranormal (contemporary)
Date Published: February 23, 2021
Publisher: Sean Michael
Heat Rating: 5
File Types available: epub, mobi, pdf
Summary:
Can a stolen night of fantasy turn into something real?
Up and coming fighter Seamus McAlistair is working as hard as he can to put his twin Liam through university and keep a roof over their heads. On their birthday, Liam drags him out to a club, but when they get there, Seamus balks. Prism is a gay bar and he’s deep in the closet because of his profession. When Liam hands him a lion mask and insists no one will know it’s him, Seamus agrees to go in for Liam’s sake.
Inside, the sexiest man in a dragon mask dances with him and it is slow and sensual, the hottest thing he’s ever done. Dancing eventually leads to more, the whole evening like a fantasy. When Seamus leaves, he knows he’s going to remember the stolen evening for a long time to come.
Then he runs into his dragon in real life and things will never be the same.
Excerpt:
“Dude. I can’t go in a gay club!” Seamus McAlister hissed to his best friend and not-at-all identical twin, Liam. They were sitting in the center of Ottawa, the rainbow neon of the nightclub flashing Prism over and over from the parking lot. He shook his head. “What if someone sees me, takes a picture?”
He wasn’t an artist like Liam. He was a fucking professional fighter. This could ruin him.
Seamus was as deep in the closet as a man could be. MMA fighting wasn’t a gay-friendly space.
At all.
“It’s masquerade night. All masks, all the time. I have you a lion mask, bud. Black T-shirt, jeans, boots. You’ll be a mystery. I’m going to be a raven. Same costume, different mask.”
“This is stupid.”
“It’s our birthday. I worked hard to get us invitations. Please.”
Liam’s green eyes were the only similarity they had. The green eyes and the matched tattoos on one shoulder blade—a triskele with spirals on the ends.
“A lion, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s fancy, but shouldn’t be too hot.” Liam handed him the mask, and it was wild—bright and fierce and sexy.
“This is a stupid idea. Really.”
“It’s our birthday, brother, please.”
He was going to give in. He knew he was. No question. But he was going to make his brother pay for this.
A mask. A gay bar. A gay nightclub.
He pulled on the skintight black T-shirt and the mask. “If anyone asks, my name is Joe.”
“Leo would be more appropriate and more fun,” Liam noted, all but batting those long eyelashes at him.
“Butthead. Okay. Leo. I can deal with that. You lead the way, Raven.”
Liam beamed at him, then put on his mask and exited the truck. He walked toward the nightclub, every inch of him slinking. Actually slinking.
Seamus tightened his abs and stalked his brother, grinning as Liam hurried up. Playing the game.
Liam paid the guy at the door, pointing back at Seamus, then slipped in. Seamus followed, all his senses assaulted as soon as he crossed the threshold. Music. People. Costumes. Lights. A bass beat so deep and loud he could feel it in his chest. Cologne mixed with food smells and alcohol.
He growled softly, suddenly turned on, the idea that he could dance a little, flirt, doing it for him.
Liam in his raven mask disappeared somewhere near the bar, and Seamus turned his attention to the dance floor, loaded with writhing bodies, undulating, rubbing. That was what he wanted—to work out some energy, some frustration, some need.
He glanced around, but god only knew where Liam had disappeared to, so he waded through the throng, intent on getting to the dance floor.
Everyone was masked and moving, the air flashing colors and so damn hot. He pushed his way in, melding with the crowd.
At one point, he found himself staring into green eyes through the black mask of a raven, and he gave Liam a wild grin and rubbed against him shamelessly. Someone ground up behind him, cock hard and solid against his ass.
Oh. Yummy.
He rocked back, not pulling away at all. Bring it on. He wanted to feel…something.
The music shifted, turning into something a little slower, a little dirtier, and the grinding against him followed suit. He could feel the breath of the man with the big hard cock behind him, warming his neck, full of fucking promise.
Liam was pushed, shoved up against his front, his eyes glittering with need and happiness. Then Liam kissed him, once, hard, and his twin shouted, “Happy birthday,” before melting away in the crowd.
“Happy birthday,” he sighed, then turned his focus to the heat behind him.
The mask was magnificent, a ruby dragon’s head with impressive horns. The blue eyes were only highlighted by the dark mask around them. Like his own mask, it started at nose and cheeks, leaving luscious lips bare for him to see. The man beneath the mask was also magnificent, broad shoulders, a solid, bare chest.