About Angel of 13th Street
by Eden Winters
132 pages / 59000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-981-1
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, Sony-optimized pdf, also
available in paperback
The Angel. That’s what the young hustlers call Noah Everett, the man
who’ll help them get off the streets. Once a hustler himself, Noah
doesn’t take his own good advice, which is, “Don’t let this ruin your
life.” Haunted by the past and those he couldn’t save, Noah carefully
keeps others at bay until his self-imposed loneliness is shattered by
determined, ambitious, but homeless eighteen-year-old Jeremy Kincaid.
A ruthless pimp has targeted Jeremy, but if Noah will fight to get
anonymous young men out of the life, he’ll fight harder to keep Jeremy
from getting in, even if it means a return to old stomping grounds to
make a deal with the devil. To save Jeremy, Noah risks more than just
his body. He risks his soul as well, because Willie Carnell, pimp, was
once Billy Cordell, Noah’s lover.
Review
Syd McGinley, author of the Dr. Fell novels, writes: My heart pounded with the suspense of Jeremy’s first scene. I was in his world right away, and concerned about his safety. And Noah’s decency and loneliness shone out. I read this straight through, and this wonderful story could have been designed to push all my buttons! A lost, lonely boy doing his best to survive. A wounded, honorable men atoning for his past. Good people in bad situations doing their best to get ahead without compromising their beliefs. It’s a perfect blend of sexy men and sexual tension, well-developed characters, strong setting, and above all a plot that keeps thrumming along and never made me doubt the characters’ motives. I highly recommend this story for any one who likes some grit in their smush or some romance in their reality!
Sample
If Willie noticed how riled Noah was on Jeremy’s
behalf, he prudently kept it to himself, for later use, no doubt. "Anyway,
that kid of yours, -- who’s eighteen, I checked -- is a knockout and a
wildcat in bed. He'd do great in the business. I can see why he got under
your skin; I wouldn't mind a piece of that action, myself. Still, for old
time's sake, I'll make you a deal. As long as he's yours and living under
your roof, he's off limits."
Jeremy was his, all right, even if not in the way Willie meant. This was too
easy, and Noah waited for the other shoe to fall, which it did. "In return,
I want something from you. Well, two things, actually." The lascivious grin
gleaming in the candlelight was anything but friendly.
Noah swallowed hard. "What's the first?"
"Something you'd do anyway," Willie responded with a dismissive wave of his
hand. "I've got this kid who, frankly, shouldn't be in the business. I want
you to put him on a bus to Idaho or wherever, like you've done for all the
other strays, and make him go away."
"What if he doesn't want to go?" Noah asked, carefully keeping his tone
neutral. Did Willie know something? Was this a setup?
"Oh, he wants to, all right. My other boys have been making life hard enough
that he's just waiting for ‘The Angel’ to come rescue him."
The implications of those words hit hard. "You've given me boys before,
haven't you?"
Willie smiled. "It's my way of culling the herd. If their hearts aren't in
it, they're bad for business. This one is careless, and I'd rather you foot
the bill to send him off than to keep paying bribes to have charges dropped.
"Naïve kids like that let johns push them out of windows." Willie’s dark
eyes were full of meaning.
"Or get run over and left for dead," was Noah's unflinching reply.
"Touché."
Pausing to sip the wine that probably cost more per bottle than an entire
case of the stuff he served at the bar, Noah took a deep, fortifying breath.
He had the feeling he was going to need it. "What's the other thing?"
Willie downed the remainder of his own wine in one gulp and rose gracefully
to his feet. He stretched out a hand to Noah. "One more time, for old time's
sake."
Well, there it was, the invitation Noah had hoped for as much as he'd
feared. He knew it was wrong to want the beautiful bastard, but God help
him, he did, unable to resist the charms that had brought many men to their
knees -- literally. His willingness should have been a clue that he wasn't
involved with anyone else. He may have sold his body at one time, but unless
it was business, he'd never cheated. Then again, this could be considered
business of a sort.
For some reason he couldn't quite fathom, it still felt vaguely like
infidelity when he placed his hand in Willie's and said, "I thought you'd
never ask."
Leaving the remains of dinner on the table, Willie led him through the
darkened apartment and into a candlelit bedroom. The bed covers were already
turned down, and a bottle of wine sat in an ice bucket on the dresser. Two
glasses sat beside it. It looked as though Willie had never doubted the
outcome of this meeting. Manipulative bastard.
Willie poured them each a glass and then sat on the edge of the bed,
crossing his legs. "Strip for me," he said, sipping his wine.
In front of bare windows, before an audience of a million twinkling lights,
Noah did something he hadn't done in years -- performed a strip tease. In
his mind, it was Billy on the bed, body young and unblemished by scars and
tattoos that peeked from the neck and sleeves of an expensive sweater. Those
were also Billy's dark eyes gazing at him in appreciation as he slowly drew
his shirt up and off, to drop it to the floor. Keeping time with the sultry
blues number now playing softly in the background, Noah recalled the last
time he'd performed this dance.