Tuesday, February 16, 2010

No Fear in Love No Fear in Love by Jamie Craig


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first thing that came to mind after reading this was, "Wow! Beautifully told!".

Summary: Weston Scott is happy with his simple, quiet life in a small English village. Yet he is haunted by deeply closeted yearnings, a secret he has shared with only one person. His best friend, Mark. As a constant reminder to guard his own heart, Weston wears an emerald ring on his hand.

Mark Goudy has a secret of his own, one that drove him to live far away in London rather than betray his best friend’s trust: He’s always been in love with Weston. Now he’s back, but not for a friendly visit. Mark’s through denying his emotions.

And if he can manage to slip that ring off Weston’s finger for one night, he’s sure things will change. For both of them.


What I liked about this book: It's a simple, sweet story. Boy meets boy, boy befriends boy, boy falls in love with boy, boy knows the other can't possibly be gay, boys separate physically but keep their friendship in tact. Okay, so maybe it's not so simple because one boy is an ordained priest, the other is a free-spirit hell-bent on proving to himself and the world that he's the master of his destiny. Yes, this story totally hit on all my priest kinks! It was a delicious apéritif!

Jamie Craig is the sum of two parts: Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza but as you read this book, you don't see where one started with the story and the other picked up. It is seamless and grips you from the beginning. Though the story is quite short, it doesn't leave the reader wondering about what could be. There are no plot holes in this one and the sex between these two is just as amazing as I'd expect lovemaking between best friends to be.

Excerpt:Slowly, Mark drained the rest of his Guinness and set aside his empty glass. Reaching forward, he closed his cool, damp fingers over Weston’s where they curled into his pint, holding him for what felt like seconds soaked in molasses before prying his hand away from the glass.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how gorgeous you are,” Mark said, placing Weston’s Guinness out of the way with his own. His hands were mercifully gone then, leaving Wes to stare at him, dumbfounded. “Is it such a bad thing? I mean, everybody fantasizes. Wondered. Even you do, remember?”

“Yeah. But…” They shouldn’t even be having this conversation. His tongue was thick, his mind slow, and he knew that had nothing to do with the alcohol. He should be sending Mark on his way. Letting the conversation continue was so bad. It was very, very bad. Was Mark closer now, or was that just his imagination? Weston opened his mouth and you should leave became, “What do you wonder about?”

A warm weight settled on his thigh. Wes glanced down, and the same long fingers that had just held his were stroking his leg.

“All sorts of things.” Mark’s voice was huskier than normal, low enough to reverberate through skin and sink straight into muscle. “I wonder…if your cock still does that little bend to the right when you get hard. Didn’t know I noticed that, did you? And I wonder…what it would feel like to have all of you covering all of me so that I can’t move and I can barely breathe except to breathe in you. Sometimes, I just wonder what it would be like to finally kiss you.”

A cacophony of alarms and warnings sounded in Weston’s head. But he seemed powerless to do anything about it. He had thought of Mark in that way many times, before and after entering the priesthood. And he didn’t want Mark to stop touching him. It felt so good, and unlike anything he had ever experienced. Nobody had ever touched him with such deliberation.

“I’ve…wondered what it would be like if you did kiss me.” It might not have been wise to admit as much, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—lie to Mark.
Mark slowly tilted his head. His gaze dropped from where it had been locked with Weston’s, and it lingered on Weston’s mouth.

“Shame for both of us to be left in the dark, don’t you think?” He leaned closer, his hand moving along Weston’s thigh until his fingers grazed the edge of Weston’s growing erection and his lips hovered a breath away. “Can’t count how many times I’ve come, wishing I was with you.”

He should be praying. He should be praying to God for strength. He should be praying to God for forgiveness for going as far as they had. It wouldn’t be the first time he had sought forgiveness because of Mark, but it would be the first time his sinful thoughts had crossed into reality. Weston couldn’t think of the words. People had tried to pull him before—being a priest seemed to encourage as many people as it discouraged. Weston had always been able to neatly and politely sidestep their advances. None of them had Mark’s piercing eyes. None of them smelled as good as Mark did in that moment. None of them knew him, could see through him, like Mark.

When their lips finally touched, Weston sighed. Mark’s mouth was warm and soft, and at first, he didn’t seem to want anything more than to press his lips to Weston’s. His body flooded with warmth. He cradled the back of Mark’s head with one hand and gripped his shirt with the other. A groan escaped Mark. It wasn’t until the sound died away that he seemed to find the strength to part his lips, to let his tongue slip out and trace along Weston’s, to seek out one corner before sweeping again to the other side. His fingers continued to flex, blunt nails nudging against Weston’s cock, as he gently massaged the hard line of Weston’s hip.

He tried to withstand the coaxing of Mark’s tongue, but he couldn’t do it. He parted his lips, the simple gesture an invitation to deepen the caress. He couldn’t take that back, couldn’t just calmly deny it happened. As Mark deepened the kiss, Wes realized he didn’t want to deny that moment. Weston’s experience was limited, to say the least, but he knew enough to know that Mark’s mouth was amazing. Dizzying.

Even after they both had to finally part to pant for air.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for that,” Mark rasped.

“Mark…we can’t do that again.” The protest might have sounded stronger if Weston had pushed Mark’s hand away from his thigh, and if Mark’s mouth wasn’t so close to his.

Mark licked a path across Weston’s lower lip. “But you want me to.” He licked again, this time tracing along Weston’s trembling upper lip. “And I want to.” His teeth caught the wet corner of Weston’s mouth, just for a second, just long enough to send a jolt straight to Weston’s cock. “Don’t tell me this isn’t the best thing you’ve ever felt, mate. Because it is for me. I can only think of one thing that might feel better.”

It was the best thing he had ever felt, in every sense of the word. This simple contact was almost enough to make him delirious. “What?”

The hand that had been teasing along Weston’s arousal curled deliberately over his aching shaft. “Letting me suck you.”


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