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Captain of His Heart by Michael Mandrake - Mario Dagosta has just broken up with his high school sweetheart and hasn’t dated since. Downtrodden and not able to cope, he spends many of his days at home. A very eclectic young man who prefers Tom Clancy to gay or m/m romances.
Cooper Delaney is a retired general who watched his forty something lover walks out on him. Always upbeat and confident, he knows he will find someone suitable to be his man.
Mario has it bad for the mature man and wants more but will he be deterred by the mocking from his best friends about his choice for a mate?
Small excerpt
Later on that evening, Mario made the
fish along with the side dishes. Cooper called while he set the table, letting
him know he was only minutes away from his flat and instead of driving he’d be
walking since they lived relatively close. Mario’s spot was in the South Loop, more
than a mile away but Cooper mentioned how nice it was outside and that he
didn’t mind. Mario laughed and accepted the decision. He admired the Captain’s
desire to walk in the menacing heat instead of taking a taxi.
This also gave him an idea to do
something he hadn’t done before. He knew it would be very forward but he was
already that type of individual. Still, he never attempted to do this. Ask
someone to stay at his place on the first date.
Mario and Jaz didn’t even stay together
on their first night and because he’d been in a committed relationship all this
time, he didn’t really have experience in this area. He wondered if Cooper
would agree to it and not take offense. There’s
only one way to find out.
Disturbing him from his thoughts, the
doorbell rang and Mario rushed to it. He looked through the peephole and
smiled; his gorgeous grey hunk standing there with flowers and a bottle of
wine.
“Hiya.” Mario opened the door wide.
“Hey.” Cooper handed them to him and
leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Ooh thank you, Cooper. They’re
gorgeous.” The half dozen roses were beautifully arranged in the simplest
bouquet with baby breaths attached. He took a whiff of them and grinned. “Hey,
I wanna ask you something and if you say no, I’ll be bummed but I’ll understand
if I’m too forward.”
Cooper’s blue eyes twinkled and he
walked closer to Mario. “What’s that?”
He could feel his stomach churn and the
goose pimples form on his skin. Mario bit his lip and chuckled nervously,
suddenly feeling very tense about asking the question. “Um, I wanted to know if
you’d like to stay with me tonight. I really like you a lot and, since you
walked over here and…”
Cooper took his hand, pulled Mario into
him and crushed their mouths together.
Mario gasped and clung onto Cooper’s
back through his fitted cotton shirt. He felt the Captain’s hardened muscle
poking him through his jeans, making his own stiffen from the embrace. Mario
continued to reciprocate and thrust his tongue inside. He tangled his with
Cooper’s and enjoyed the tastes of his mouthwash. “Mhmphmm…” he groaned into
the kiss and let his hands fall to his waist. “I…I suppose that’s a yes.”
“Yes.” Cooper smiled wide and leaned his
head against Mario’s. I really like you, Mario. We don’t even know each other’s
last names yet but…”
“Dagosta, Mario Dagosta and yours,” he
asked while his placed light kisses on the side of his jaw.
“Delaney. Cooper Delaney, wow, you feel
so good against me. Why were you scared?”
“I thought you wouldn’t take it the
right way. It’s not somethin’ I’ve ever done before but I figured, I’m pretty
straightforward with everything else so I might as well go for it.”
“I’m glad you did, um…can I say walking
over here was kind of the strategy I used? I, um, thought that if worst case
scenario you didn’t or said no, I’d take a cab.”
Mario held onto Cooper a little tighter.
“I wouldn’t say no to you, Cooper. You’re too gorgeous to turn down and our
first initial conversation was so stimulating, I feel like we could’ve talked
with each other for hours.”
Cooper nodded, “Well, I hope you want
more than just words, my friend.”
“Oh, I do, yes, I really do. I’ll leave
it up to you how far you wanna take it.”
“As far as you do!” Cooper encompassed
Mario’s lips once more. “Oh and…” he reached in his pocket. “I did bring my
toothbrush.”
He smiled and grasped onto Cooper much
tighter while returning that searing kiss. His new lover embraced him again and
pressed his hard body against Mario’s. “Damn,” he sighed into Cooper’s kiss not
wanting to pull away. “Dinner,” he breathed and wrapped his arms around his
neck.
“Yes, even though I’d much rather put my
lips on you, I’ll settle on eating now so I can taste your great cooking.”
“Pfft, I’m alright.” He pecked Cooper
again. “Not a gourmet chef but okay. It’s not burnt and it is edible.”
“Stop selling yourself short. It had to
be great coming from a man like you.” Cooper put the back of Mario’s hand to
his lips.
“You’re killin’ me with the compliments,
Cooper. Flattery will get you everywhere. C’mon.” He returned the affection and
pulled him into the dining room. I’ve got plenty so I hope you’re hungry.”
“Not as much as I am for you but I’ll
eat enough. Anything left we can have tomorrow, right?”
“Yep,” he agreed and reluctantly let go
of Cooper’s grasp. He stole another peck and sprinted into the kitchen,
clutching his own chest.
9 comments:
Great excerpt, Shar! Your muse would be Anderson Cooper, of course!
Best of luck with the antho!
*big hugs*
Julie
Anderson Cooper it is. Great choice.
debby236 at gmail dot com
Count me in...
Christopher
chrisrtopherinwonderland@yahoo.com
Thanks for the post! The anthology sounds great. And your Anderson Cooper pic is delicious! A great inspiration!
OceanAkers @ aol.com
Anderson Cooper is a lot of folks dream man! Thanks for the contest!
~Rush~
taina1959@yahoo.com
I am so in love with Anderson Cooper. Somebody should clone him! Sounds like a good story, please count me in, thank you!
brendurbanist at gmail dot com
Thanks for the excerpt! Anderson Cooper seems like a pretty good muse, for sure. This sounds like a great anthology. Please count me in! Thank you!
-Marie
awindandbooks at gmail dot com
Love the 'Anderson Cooper' type myself...Thank you!
chellebee66(at)gmail(dot)com
He looked so familiar... haha.. I got it before looking at these comments thankfully~~ lol... my sister helped me identify him; Your muse was Anderson Cooper!! \^o^/
Thank you for the contest! Ooh~ This anthology has so many of my fav. authors~ I hope I win. >__<
Judi
arella3173_loveless@yahoo(dot)com
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