Hi guys, we have R.K. Staunton popping in today with her debut MM release Gabriel, we have a brilliant guest post and a great excerpt so check out the post and enjoy! <3 ~Pixie~

Gabriel

R.K. Staunton

Gabriel Ingram is running from his past. It’s common knowledge at the college where he teaches that he’s a former CIA technical analyst, but no one knows the things he really did—or about the rage and bloodlust that are his constant companions. He’s holding on to his normal life with both hands, but he knows someday he’ll lose his grip.

Lucas Craig is a social worker studying to become a family therapist. For reasons Lucas can’t understand, the normally reclusive Professor Ingram takes an interest in him, and Lucas secretly hopes their friendship might become more.

Then Eric, Lucas’s roommate, disappears. Lucas is frantic. The police are no help. With nowhere else to turn, Lucas begs Gabriel for his expertise.

What starts as a simple errand to help a friend becomes a journey into a violent world of gangs and human trafficking—one that will bring Gabriel face-to-face with the forces intent on stealing his soul. But Lucas might be the one who can save him—if Gabriel can get them out alive.

Order of the Black Knights

Every century has seen its knights. But there are those who are never seen. They do what must be done, what has to be done—when nobody wants to get their hands dirty. They are called the Black Knights. First created in the 1100s by the wizard Moriel, these men seem cold and hard, and it is said that some have no soul. But for each knight, there is one who can bring out the man who waits inside. The question is whether or not he will kill the individual before he figures it out.

Through the ages, they’ve conquered and ruled and taken what they wanted. And they have adapted to modern times. Instead of being bullies for hire, they have taken their skills further—the Internet, the CIA, government infiltration, hacking, special ops, assassination, but each one of them has a need they don’t understand—to squash, kill, or destroy.

If the Knight pardons an enemy, he will no longer be cursed. If not, he will continue to live the same life again and again, and each life will make him harder and more unyielding. And each life will make it is less likely that he can be saved.

Order of the Black Knights series

R.K. Staunton!

Have you ever wished you could live a different life? Maybe you’d like to live somewhere different, or have a different job, or just be someone else. Gabriel knows that longing all too well. As an orphan raised by the monks in a village in the 1100s, he has no value, no status and wishes he could be someone people would respect. When a mysterious man claiming to be a wizard comes to his village and offers him a chance at wealth and power, he jumps at the chance, not realizing making this bargain curses his soul and seals his fate. From the moment he signs on, he is filled with bloodlust and rage and a desire to kill that even death can’t stop. He lives many lifetimes — from working for Capone in 1920 Chicago to his modern incarnation as a former CIA agent turned college professor –  and with each rebirth, the need just becomes stronger. If he can forgive and choose love over the desire to kill, the curse will end. There’s only one problem: he forgets that detail with each rebirth.

I was intrigued by this series from the first time it was mentioned to me. In many ways, it’s a retelling of a myth that’s been told many times in many ways – making a deal with the devil only to discover horrible consequences, but this one has a romantic twist. That was fun. Taking a driven, aloof man and watching him fall in love despite himself.

Though I’ve been an avid reader of M/M romance for years, Gabriel is my first novel in the genre. It’s my first attempt at romantic suspense as well. That required more factual research than I’m accustomed to doing for the spanking romance I write under my other pen name, Ruth Staunton, but I’m a natural information sponge so I enjoyed that as well.  In a way, that, for me, is the most fun part of reading and writing. I get to escape my own life for a while and step into another world. I don’t think I would like to live in Gabriel and Lucas’s world, but it sure was fun to visit.

Question:

If you could change something about your life, what would it be?

Excerpt!

Gabriel couldn’t deny he was attracted to him. There had always been a mysterious pull drawing him toward Lucas like a tractor beam in the sci-fi shows he liked to watch as a kid. Being in close quarters with Lucas for the last several hours was seriously overwhelming. He was hyperaware of Lucas’s every move and heard every tiny movement, every indrawn breath. And his scent—Lucas’s unique scent permeated everything. Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like in more intimate circumstances. Would he carry Lucas’s scent on him for hours and even days afterward?

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was rock hard and had been for quite some time. What was it about Lucas? Why was being around him so consuming?

He realized abruptly that Lucas’s presence had even eclipsed the ever-present hum of his need to kill. He hadn’t noticed it at all since Lucas walked into his office, and he only thought of it because it returned with a vengeance once he was alone in the car. Nothing short of successfully taking down a target had ever quieted that need. But he hadn’t even had time to go to the gun range to take the edge off in weeks. By rights he should be so preoccupied he couldn’t think straight, not so distracted that he didn’t even notice it. What the fuck was that about?

The whole situation gnawed at him. He hated puzzles he couldn’t solve. Lucas was one variable he couldn’t figure out.

He could, however, do his best to figure out what happened to Lucas’s friend, and the sooner he did that, the sooner he and Lucas could go back to normal. They could resume their casual chats in the co-op, and Gabriel could go back to maintaining a safe distance.

With that in mind, Gabriel put the car in gear and headed back toward town. As soon as someone at the bar identified the guy, he could retrieve Eric, and it would all be over.

About R.K.

RK Staunton rebelled against having a Christmas birthday in favor of making an unexpected debut in early fall, and she’s been doing the unexpected ever since. This tendency has resulted in many adventures, including a ten-year stint as a guide in that strange urban jungle called middle school. While entertaining, that expedition ultimately proved too harrowing. After finally making her escape, she turned to a quieter life masquerading as a crazy cat lady living in a small town in the southeastern US.

RK has lived with a menagerie of characters inside her head for as long as she can remember. In a desperate bid to preserve her sanity, she has begun to transcribe the tales they tell her. This endeavor has proven to be fun, occasionally profitable, and cheaper than therapy. It has also fueled raging addictions to caffeine and chocolate on top of her lifelong addiction to books, but everyone is entitled to a vice or three, right?

RK also writes spanking and domestic discipline romances as Ruth Staunton. Right now, these are M/F, but several M/M stories are coming later this year. You can find out more about those books and get a free story here.

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