Welcome back #midweektease. First of all, if you're waiting for SCREWDRIVER, I'm sorry the book release is delayed due to personal matters. But I promise it'll be out ASAP. Thanks for your patience.
Moving on to today's teaser. As it is the last day of #pridemonth it is only fitting that the forced proximity teaser comes from BOUND TO LIBERTY.
I love James and Ethan and I think the teaser explains their situation. Enjoy it.
The soft hiss of the opening door triggered James into alertness. He shifted his bum on the sofa, and his grip on the remote control tightened briefly.
In his left peripheral vision, Ethan strode into the living area of the stylish hotel suite, their residence for the next ten days.
Aware of the strength of the heart pounding in his chest, he made a conscious decision not to stare at the man whose presence made his skin flush with heat. A reaction that was getting old fast since it started when they first met weeks ago.
“What’s your plan for the week?” Ethan’s voice was rich and mellow. He stopped beside the sofa.
“Why do you ask?” James swallowed, and he jabbed his thumb on the arrow button of the device in his hand. The widescreen TV mounted on the opposite wall flicked through channels rapidly.
Apprehensive, his skin grew cold, and he shifted again, unable to get comfortable.
How could he explain his real purpose to Ethan?
He was in London to forget the nightmare that was his life—his broken relationship with Kezie, the looming investigation into his paternity, and the nasty stalker he’d recently acquired.
He wanted to spend the week knee-deep in the glorious Soho nightlife—partying, getting wasted, and getting laid, in any order he could have them.
He wanted the freedom of walking into bars and clubs where other men like him existed, where he didn't have to worry about the consequences or be condemned for his actions.
Revealing any of his plans to Ethan would be outing himself as a gay man, and James wasn’t ready.
Ethan was a stranger, raised to acquaintance status because of his existing connection to Kamali. Henry had recruited him to investigate James’s stalker and to act as his security in the interim. James hated having a minder, but he went along with the arrangements to keep members of his family happy.
However, he had to think of a way to get rid of the bodyguard.
After all, he’d travelled previously without security and had come to no harm. The psycho who had sent him those horrible messages was in Nigeria and couldn’t harm him while he visited London.
“I want to make sure our plans are aligned.” Ethan came into view as he crossed the room.
He wore a long-sleeved grey T-shirt with three buttons upfront, black denim trousers and black Chelsea boots.
Big, buff, badass, and so goddamned sexy, Ethan had to be the hottest man alive, mainly because of his resemblance to Omari Hardwick.
James must be paying for sins committed in another life, now burdened with a doppelgänger of his guilty pleasure screen crush for the next two weeks, who hovered like a shadow.
Lips parted, hands moistened, James’s gaze hooked on the sex-on-legs. He tracked the man’s fluid catlike movements.
For a tall, muscled person, Ethan’s steps were light and his stride graceful. The sofa depressed as he settled on it.
Shit.
Hairs rose on James’s arms and nape. His breath quickened.
Why did the man sit beside James? There were other choices; a matching upholstered armchair, or one of the seats around the dining table.
Instead, Ethan had deposited his tight buns right next to him.
As if he hadn’t enough temptation when he had to deal with sharing the same air with the man, now said man was within touching distance.
James’s fingers tingled with the need to squeeze the bodyguard’s bulging biceps, and to stroke the trimmed hair along his chin and jawline. His mouth watered with the urge to taste the man’s skin.
Such a lousy idea.
More about BOUND TO LIBERTY (Bound series #5)
As if life isn’t tough enough for James Coker, rejected and nearly killed by family, he is also a closeted gay man in a country where being gay is outlawed. So when the first man he's ever loved gets engaged to a woman, James’s solution to heartbreak is to indulge in a holiday fling.
In contrast, Ethan Eze has had life relatively easy. Born in the 'Land of the Free' and nurtured within a family where he can be whoever he wants to be, he's a military veteran who is not afraid of going for what he wants. When he meets James, Ethan wants him.
Desire burns between them and soon blurs into devotion. But James is not ready to lose his heart again. Ethan has fought for his country. Now will he fight for love?
Bound to Liberty is a story about breaking free from mental chains and living a life of boundless love.
Content Warning: homophobia, threat of forced outing, depictions of anxiety