WIP Wednesday, a big sale and Talk Turkey's release!

Today there are two things to be excited about--Talk Turkey was released yesterday, and today for #WIPWednesday we finally get to see a little action between Crawford and his fake husband, Mateus. *g*

The five inches of snow we had melted last week, and while it's chilly, it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet. Which is why I'm so excited about the Dreamspinner Press Sleigh Ride Advent Calendar--a little bit of holiday goodness every day. Including Talk Turkey, my offering for the anthology. You've met Carson and Tom in #WIPWednesday posts, so I won't talk too much about them. This isn't a steamy holiday romp--it's a humorous, adorable lark.

Dreamspinner is having a site-wide holiday story sale through Dec. 5. You can pick Talk Turkey up on sale right now at Dreamspinner Press (along with my older holiday titles, The Magic of Weihnachten, Late Bloomer, Traditions from the Heart, and even Campfire Confessions, because Valentine's Day is a holiday, too!

I'm past the three-quarters mark with Tall, Dark and Deported, which is good because it's due to my publisher on Jan. 1. NaNoWriMo was a great motivator, but so was the electric attraction between Crawford and Mateus that kept my fingers on the keyboard. Today's #WIPWednesday is a scene from the book after Crawford and Mateus have been caught in a late summer thunderstorm out in the orchard and take shelter in an old barn. There's nothing like getting caught in the rain and the adrenalin rush of dodging lightning and hail to get the blood pumping and lower whatever inhibitions these two had left that was keeping them apart. Chock full of tropes, right? Delicious!

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Tall, Dark and Deported

Via Llima Orosa on Flick

Mateus took one look at him and started to laugh. He let the picnic basket drop to the ground at their feet and closed the distance between them, his hands coming up to pluck at Crawford's hair. Crawford started to laugh when he realized he'd had hail in his hair. Mateus did, too. 

It felt natural to return the favor, his fingers skating through Mateus's dark locks as he swept the melting ice out of it.

Crawford's heart was pounding from their run, and it felt unnaturally loud to him in the heavy silence of the deserted barn. He and Mateus were standing close enough that their breath mingled, and Crawford couldn't stop himself from stepping up, close enough he could count the drops of water in Mateus's eyelashes.

He hesitated, hovering close enough to kiss him, until Mateus's eyes closed and he leaned in the rest of the way, closing the small gap between them. He tasted like rain, wild and [another word]. Crawford pressed in, chasing the flavor across Mateus's lips and into his mouth when Mateus melted into the kiss and let him in.

Crawford's hands fisted in Mateus's wet sweater, pulling at it until Mateus backed away and took it off with one swift motion. He tossed it onto a bale of hay in the corner, and Crawford scrambled to take his own shirt off. The buttons were a challenge for his rain-chilled hands, but Mateus swooped in to help, and the two of the managed to wrest the stiff, wet fabric out of the way.

Crawford shivered once his skin was exposed, but when Mateus crowded in against him a moment later, the chill disappeared. Skin to skin, heat flared between them. Crawford ran his hands up and down Mateus's back, his fingers greedy for any part of him he could touch. He'd wanted to do this for weeks, and he wasn't about to waste any time now that he had Mateus bare in front of him.