About Rockhounds
by CB Potts
94 pages / 31000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-896-8, 1-60370-896-0
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, and Sony Reader pdf
Matt and Parker start out on a yacht called Tuesday's Rubies, enjoying
the high life and each other. Nothing that good can last, though, as
they find out when an old business partner, Sean, shows back up on the
scene. Things go from bad to worse when Matt is kidnapped, especially
when Parker is faced with old demons.
When the dust settles, the boys hope they can try for a normal, quiet
life, but nothing works out like Matt and Parker plan it. Can they
survive their next adventure, or will the Rockhound boys have to throw
in the towel?
Compilation of the Chaser series Rockhounds.
Sample
Part One: The Rockhounds' Riddle
Chapter One
This was the best time of the day, probably my favorite ten minutes out of
the whole twenty-four hours. Morning tide was just starting to come in,
gently rocking the houseboat from side to side. The first rays of sunlight
were slanting through the porthole, lending just enough light for me to see
Parker's slumbering form.
I loved that, loved lying on my side, looking up at the curve of his
shoulder looming over me. The sunlight slid down his back, catching in a few
sandy-gold hairs here and there that were invisible at any other time.
Illuminated, they shimmered in the sunlight, faint edges of russet revealed
for a few taunting seconds. Nobody else knew about these faint golden hairs.
Nobody else saw the russet flashing in the morning light. I'm not sure
anyone would think to look for such beauty on the back of my big, burly
Marine.
That was fine with me. It was my secret. My beautiful little morning treat.
No one ever had to know.
Just like no one ever had to know that at long last, Parker was starting to
sleep easy in my bed. We'd been together three months now. In all that time,
I don't think he's slept more than twenty minutes at a go while we were in
port.
On the wide water, he's fine. He snores so loud that whales flee in terror
and Posideon himself plugs his ears.
Pull Tuesday's Rubies into a docking slip, and he's an instant insomniac.
But last night was the first night of Carnivale.
Parker'd never been to Rio before. It hadn't taken much to persuade him to
abandon Boston Harbor before cold weather set in, but I don't think he'd had
the first clue what February in Brazil really meant.
He caught on pretty quick.
Half a million people descend on Rio for Carnivale. They're all intent on
dancing, drinking, and having a hell of a time. Vibrant feathered costumes,
beautiful barely-dressed bodies, music that shakes through your soul. It
would make a dead man dance.
It certainly did wonders for my Marine. We'd had drink after drink, gotten
caught up in a mad conga line, and danced our way through the streets. One
bump and grind session easily included a dozen dancers, all writhing around
us: men, women, twisting and turning all around us. It was intoxicating, a
heady mix of flesh and flashing smiles, music and more.
I'd turned left only to find myself face to face with a towering black
woman. With her feathered headdress, she had to be seven feet tall.
"Come to Mama," she purred, arms spread wide. From behind, the crowd
propelled me into her arms, where I was greeted with an enthusiastic,
intimate embrace. And then she smiled, said, "Welcome to Carnivale, cutie,"
and sent me spinning back out into the throng again.
I landed squarely in Parker's arms, surprising him with a big, sloppy kiss.
"That okay here, Rockhound?" he murmured against my lips. "Brazil's pretty
Catholic..."
"Everything's okay, mon!" A booming voice came from behind me. "This is
Carnivale. Everyone wants feel good!"
I smiled backward at the stranger, a friendly grin, a greeting.
And, apparently, an invitation. The hands that were suddenly on me were
long, dark and thin, pulling at my clothes. I thought Parker was going to go
ballistic -- but I thought wrong.