More Hot Ice from Lily Harlem
HIGH-STICKED
LILY HARLEM
Available from:
Ellora’s Cave
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Hey Lucy, thank you so much for inviting me over today to chat about my new Hot Ice novel, High-Sticked. For anyone not familiar with this series I should point out that all books are stand-alone reads and can enjoyed without having read any others in the series. This is particularly true of High-Sticked if you are a fan of male/male erotic romance -though if you have read the previous book, Teamwork, you will have met one of the heroes, Todd ‘Pretty’ Carty already.
When I finished writing Teamwork I had a sense of having left Todd dangling a little, he was more than a secondary character, he was one of the players lucky Fiona gets to bed simultaneously. But there was a great deal more on the cards for him, his character demanded more of me which is why I gave him his own book.
High-Sticked is my first male/male novel, though I have dabbled with m/m sex scenes in the past (The Glass Knot being one of them) so I wasn’t daunted by the challenge. What I did have to work on was thinking like a man, talking, acting, being a man in my head as I wrote. The last thing I wanted was for the protagonist, Matthew, to come across as girly. He’s anything but with his super-short hair, wide shoulders and resistance to showing his emotions. He’s also not one to be pushed around, having had to face gay slurs growing up he’s learnt how to handle himself.
The other thing I had to take into account was what a hot topic gay athletes are at the moment in the US. Here are just a few links to recent articles
The Onion
http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-nhl-actually-has-had-hundreds-of-openly-gay,32639/
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/30/us-nba-gay-nhl-idUSBRE93T18220130430
The New York Times
The N.H.L. has also recently formed a partnership with the You Can Play Project http://www.youcanplayproject.org – an advocacy group pledged to fighting homophobia in sports – to plan training and counseling on gay issues for its teams and players. Not only that G-Force is a hockey team where every players is gay http://www.gforcesports.org/home.html . By writing High-Sticked I really wanted to show my support of gay athletes and how much I believed a player’s ability to show skill and substance on the ice has nothing to do with who he loved off it. In High-Sticked, the same as real life, being gay is of no consequence to my heroes ability to score points and be the best of the best. I wasn’t writing a polemic, not by a long-shot, but I do hope High-Sticked is romantic, entertaining, sexy and real.
Thank you for reading. You can find out more about all my Hot Ice books here http://www.lilyharlem.com/hot-ice.html and if you want some eye-candy, check out my High-Sticked Pinterest board – http://pinterest.com/lilyharlem/high-sticked/
Lily x
High-Sticked is Book #5 in Lily Harlem’s popular HOT ICE series – http://www.lilyharlem.com/hot-ice.html. All of these sexy hockey books can be enjoyed as stand-alone stories though if you read them in the order you’ll meet the hero of each next book as you go along. High-Sticked is the only M/M in the set and follows the story of Rangers player Todd Carty and professional photographer Matthew Foster. It’s hot, it’s spicy and is sure to hit the spot!
Blurb
Dating Todd “Pretty” Carty was a trailblazing, headline-grabbing ride that shocked and divided a team, a sport and a nation. While controversy ruled, our feelings exploded and we couldn’t deny the desire that sizzled between us. Nothing, however, was easy outside the bedroom. Not when my world-class, fearless athlete wanted to shout from Everest that he was in love with another man.
But laying my heart on the line and having my picture dominating the papers was worth it. Everything about Todd turned me on. His bold hockey skills, his courageous attitude and the way he melted in my arms when I kissed him. I melted too, because he knew how to press my buttons, remind me of the man I used to be and take me to those places where ecstasy ruled.
The world might have trouble accepting us, but we’d committed to each other, mind, body and soul, and nothing could change that.
*****
He looked so damn sexy standing next to the bed. Tall and broad but with a certain vulnerability about him that made me want to get all alpha and protect him. Though I knew that with those fine muscles of his and that sharp speed he needed no physical protection. But I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to make things right for him—more than right, perfect.
I stepped up to him, my cock already swollen well past a semi. “Lift,” I said, gripping the base of his jersey.
He raised his arms and allowed me to peel it over his head. I dropped it to the floor where it landed silently.
His chest was beautiful. I’d seen it many times on the shoots, but now I didn’t need to disguise the lust or admiration in my eyes. Now I could feast on the sight of his dark little nipples that were small and permanently erect. Stroking my hand over his sternum, I circled each one in turn. Felt him tremble beneath my touch and heard his sigh when I brushed over the slightly pliant stalks.
“You’re bloody gorgeous,” I breathed.
He didn’t answer. I guess he’d heard it enough times before.
My cock was full-on hard now. But I was under control. I had to be, for both our sakes.
Todd wore jeans and a brown leather belt with a silver buckle. Luckily my hands were steadier than the tripping of my heart as I released the clasp and popped open the buttons on his pants.
He was hard too. I could see his cock straining forward. The outline of it was visible beneath the material and the swollen head butted the tip of the waistband.
My mouth watered and my hands tingled at the thought of holding, tasting, worshipping his cock for the first time.
But that wasn’t what I had planned. Not yet, anyway.
After loosening his pants, I pushed them down his legs. It took all my willpower to leave his white briefs in place and not expose his cock, but I did it. I couldn’t trust myself. If I saw him all hot and hard then I would devour him. In one go.
He stepped out of the jeans and slipped off his socks.
I tugged back the thick navy duvet. “Get in bed,” I said, my voice husky even to my own ears.
Without a word, he slid in and lay on his back, his arms bent behind his head, his cock tenting his briefs.
He watched me as I began to strip. When I wore only my boxers, I scooted in next to him.
A small shiver moved over his body.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Cold?”
“A little.”
I pulled the duvet so it covered both our shoulders then pressed the length of my body to the side of his. He wasn’t cold, he felt warm and solid and his leg hairs meshed with mine. “Turn this way,” I whispered. “Face me.”
He did as instructed, sliding one hand over my waist and tucking the other beneath his cheek. We were nose-to-nose.
“Remember when we first kissed on the sofa?” I asked against his lips.
“You know damn well I do.”
“Well, that’s what we’re going to do again. Only this time there’ll be no ordering me to leave.”
“If you left I’d die.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, you’re a sportsman not an actor.”
He laughed and as he opened his mouth I kissed him. Probed my tongue in and tangled it with his.
Instantly he kissed me back, a small moan filtering up from his throat and swirling out from between our lips. I ran my hand down his arm, onto his waist and stopped on his brief-covered hip. “Like this,” I murmured, “but closer.”
I tugged him toward me and he helped the movement by shuffling.
Our cocks came into alignment, only the barrier of our underwear separating them. “Matthew,” he gasped, gripping my hip the way I was his. “Fuck, you’re so hard.”
“Hard for you.” Damn, he felt good. His cock was as long as I’d suspected it would be from our brief introduction through jeans. It felt thick and wide too, a steel bar of burning rigidity.
“Feeling you against me makes my nuts so tight,” he groaned, shifting his hips so his shaft rubbed up mine on a long, concrete stroke.
I sucked in a breath of warm air. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” My balls were getting the familiar achy pressure that meant they’d be building to an explosion soon. “Lose these,” I said, plucking at the elastic waistband of his briefs.
He didn’t need asking twice.
As he pushed his down, I shoved at mine. My cock sprang free and a modicum of pressure lifted from the turgid shaft.
He gripped my hip again, tight.
I groaned and allowed the wondrous fist of desire to claim me, clamped my hand on his ass and squeezed our cocks firmly against each other.
“Matthew,” he gasped.
“That’s it. Fuck, it’s good.”
“Yes, oh god, yes. More. I want us to come together.”
“We will.” I began to shift my hips, a rhythmic grind that rubbed our cocks together, up and down. The shafts generated a scalding friction that heated with each and every movement.
He copied me, met me roll for roll, thrust for thrust. His fingers were pincerlike on my butt and his mouth covered mine.
We kissed, rubbed, slid into each other until our breaths were erratic and my heart pounded. My brain was sparking, firing from a hundred points all focused on Todd.
I wanted to reach down, fist our cocks in a clamping grip, but I didn’t. When I touched Todd’s cock for the first time I wanted to be calm and savor every moment. Right now I was on the brink of climax.
“Ah, I’m coming,” I gasped into his mouth.
“Yes, come, fuck, come now.”
Blistering pressure raced up the center of my cock, the intensity almost dragging my balls with it. I couldn’t breathe, my stomach pinched into a tight knot and suddenly it was there. A beautiful moment of fulfillment. Warm heat burst from me, another shot followed, fizzing and popping onto my stomach in a gooey slap.
A sharp cry escaped Todd and I let the sound swirl within me. He too was coming. The sound of his orgasm was gloriously uninhibited, unlike earlier when he’d tried to suppress it.
I tightened my fingers on his butt, holding him as he shook and shuddered and moaned through his release. More cum landed between us, sticky and hot, basting our abdomens.
He ran his hand to the back of my neck, supporting my nape as his tongue delved into my mouth. His breaths were erratic and noisy against my cheek. The smell of sex and cum and fresh sweat circulated upward, the stuffy air of the duvet intensifying the scent.
Suddenly hot, I flicked the covers off. A cool waft of air caressed my sticky body and I sucked in much-needed oxygen.
“That was fucking amazing,” Todd gasped.
“That was just foreplay.”
“Fuck!” He grinned and a wild, happy flash seared across his eyes.
I laughed and flopped onto my back, staring at the shadow-strung ceiling. “Yeah, fuck! Foreplay to fucking.”
*****
Lily Harlem Bio
Lily Harlem lives in the UK and is an award-winning author of contemporary erotic romance. She writes for publishers on both sides of the Atlantic including Ellora’s Cave, HarperCollins, Total-E-Bound, Xcite and Sweetmeat Press. Her HOT ICE series regularly receives high praise and industry nominations.
Before turning her hand to writing Lily Harlem worked as a trauma nurse and her latest HarperCollins release, Confessions of a Naughty Night Nurse, draws on her many experiences while nursing in London. Lily also self-publishes and The Glass Knot and Scored have been blessed with many 5* reviews since their release in 2012.
Her latest m/f novel, Breathe You In, is a super-sexy romance with a twist that will not only heat you up but stay with you for years to come.
One thing you can be sure of, whatever book you pick up by Ms Harlem, is it will be wildly romantic and down-and-dirty sexy. Enjoy!
Lily Harlem Links
Website http://www.lilyharlem.com/
Blog http://www.lilyharlem.blogspot.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/lily_harlem
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The steamy standalone sequel to Dangerously Mine.
Blurb:
Book Blurb:
The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department is no place for airy-fairy wimps, and Ben McCullough is the toughest of the tough. He tells himself he’s bedding the luscious Elena Lautari only because she’s a babe, not because she’s a card-carrying member of the Northern California Church of Wicca. Ben thinks she’s a feather away from an arrest for fraud, since she makes a living telling fortunes and making charms for the lovelorn. He can’t see her as a lifelong mate even though she’s more than a match for him in the sack, and losing her is unthinkable.
Author Bio:
