by
With lives forged in Hades' Underworld, a hellhound's pack bonds are never broken. They might have separate territories on earth, but when the pack need each other, they are only ever a mind tug away.
Java didn't understand why his packmate Raoul was the first to find his mate. In the hellhound pack, they were all equal, and it didn't help that Raoul was so smug about it, snuggling and hugging on the friendly Jason every chance he had. But, Java was determined to find out what Raoul did - there had to be something - and Java was just as capable of doing anything Raoul could've done. It was time. Java had a collar box, just like Raoul had, and his hound was keen to be wearing the contents. They just had to find their mate to get the box open first.
Cyril was finding his feet, enjoying his new life in Plaka, as a local shop owner. His sweets were finding favor among locals and tourists alike, and he was busy enough that he didn't notice a lack of a mate too often. He had a crush - the sexy hotel owner from down the road, who strode past his store almost every day, and that was enough to fuel Cyril's dreams, even if it meant he spent his nights alone. He never dreamed that same crush would be the one to save him from a mugging.
Hexes and hellhounds from different packs, a collar, a fae, and a naked man falling out of a hotel window. Nothing in their first few days of mating was like Cyril had dreamed of, and even Java wondered how much work it was going to be, keeping his mage mate safe. Especially when the one hunting him had the same sized fangs Java did.
Better Than Sweets is the official book one of a new series, The Hellhound Collar series. It is 41,300 words long and includes an HEA. The prequel to this story, Collar and Scruff, is currently part of the Prolific Works Your Book Boyfriend's Boyfriend giveaway (2022). A link for that giveaway can be found in this book.
#MMparanormalromance #MMhellhounds #Gayparanormalromance
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Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 4
Romantic Content: 5
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: Ageless/Immortal
Protagonist 2 Age: Ageless/Immortal
Tropes: Fated Mates / Soul Mates
Series Type: Same Universe / Various Characters
His hound snarled deep in his head, and Java immediately took stock of his surroundings. They weren’t far from his hotel – in fact, he was across the road from the sweet shop Jason had been taken with when they were walking earlier that day. But the lights of the shop were off… as were the lights of the surrounding craft shops. Straining his ears, Java heard a muffled yell and the sound of a scuffle, then a gloating laugh that didn’t bode well for anyone on the other end of it. It was coming from the alleyway beside the sweet shop.
READ MOREIt’s none of my business, but Java’s feet were already moving, pounding across the street, his eyes sharpening as he ran into the dimly lit alley. They flashed red when he saw what had attracted his beast’s attention. Three men, young men, locals if their dress was anything to go by, had a fourth man slung between them – his head bowed, and from the looks of things, he was unconscious. There were packages strewn across the alley floor, and the air smelled strangely of spices.
Tilting his head slightly to one side, Java fixed his gaze on the clear ringleader of the group. “Is there a problem here?” he growled.
“No, no problem at all.” The ringleader backed up, holding his hands up, leaving his two friends to support the unconscious victim. “We found him like this, honest.”
Java made sure the man was watching him as he slowly looked at the scattered packages. “He dropped his parcels?”
“Yeah, yeah. Must’ve been tired or something. Packages just fell all over the place.”
“And that’s how they got ripped apart, I imagine, from when your friend dropped them.”
“Oh, er…” the young man scratched the back of his head. “He’s not our friend. Never seen him out of his shop before. But Tegu,” he pointed to a blond who was standing with his mouth open as if he didn’t know what was going on, “Tegu knows him from the sweet shop. This guy owns it, I think, so we were just doing a community service, you know, helping out a local.”
“Helping him by fighting him for his parcels, knocking him out, and then ripping those packages apart.” Java’s nostrils flared as he stalked closer. “Is that how we treat our locals?”
“He ain’t local,” the one named Tegu said suddenly. “He’s only been here nine months. He bought the shop from locals. That doesn’t make him a local.”
“Ah,” Java nodded. “So that explains why you think it’s okay to beat him up and steal from him. What did you think? That the parcels were full of money or something valuable?”
It was quite funny, seeing the dawning realization on the men’s faces that they might be in trouble – the idea that Java was clearly bigger than the three of them put together, and with his red eyes that they were going to struggle to explain to anyone else, he wasn’t someone to be messed with. As if choreographed, Tegu and his silent friend let go of the unconscious shop owner, and all three men scattered. It was only Java’s quick reflexes that enabled him to catch the unconscious man before he fell face first onto the cobblestones.
Rearranging him in his arms, Java brushed a mop of dark hair from the man’s face. At first glance, the man wasn’t pretty. His nose was slightly too big, his lips were full and lush – looking too big for the elfin face. The man’s eyes were closed, so Java couldn’t tell how they might contribute to the man’s look, and there were slight dents on his nose as if the man regularly wore glasses.
Human? Java hefted him in his arms until he could touch the sweet shop owner’s hand. His eyes widened as he felt the tingle of magic tickle his palm as if saying hello. Not fully human. A magic user. And someone Java suddenly had a strong urge to get to know – which made no sense whatsoever.
I should put him down. I should get him some human help. Java’s beast growled deep inside his chest. Or I could take him back to the hotel and get him checked out there… Java waited – his beast seemed happy with that idea. With no other options, Java turned around and headed out of the alley and towards his hotel. If anyone gave him any funny looks for carrying an unconscious man in his arms, Java didn’t notice. He was too busy wondering why his beast seemed so attached to someone they didn’t even know. Raoul said he knew who Jason was to him when their eyes met. This one’s got his eyes closed.
COLLAPSE
