Coal to Diamonds






This is one of Gus's contributions to the Dark Tarot series from Tease publishing.  She also wrote a novel to represent the Star Card.  Gus is very delighted to be a Dark Tarot author, and this novella is one of her personal favorites.

One wouldn’t expect to find magic and evil in a rural Pennsylvania town, but that’s just what Cole discovers in his attempt to find a nice, quiet place to write his novel. After years apart, Cole’s childhood friends, disciples, and first loves return to him from brilliant lives that each took sudden turns for the worse. Cole is torn between the joy of being reunited with his lovers and the frightening possibility that he may have inadvertently caused their misfortune. If the friends cannot escape the machinations of the sinister wizard dwelling at the center of it all, none of them may live to find out. Cole’s only hope is to sacrifice himself, or risk losing them once again.

 

Matthew at Rainbow Reviews says:

 

The milieu of this story is a good one. The three men are together in the woods being attacked by an ex-lover of all three who has frightening powers to destroy. As the men work to protect themselves and to neutralize this ex-lover, they learn more about each other and their relationship. The environment is used effectively to evoke fear and danger. When the action moves from the woods to a house, it is appropriately an old Victorian house that feels just as dangerous as the woods. I especially enjoyed the moment when one of the characters is experiencing horror and yet could sense outside the house where children were playing oblivious to what was happening. This was a delicious moment of juxtaposition ~ not surprising in a story that is told with a sure hand and a strong wit.

Also, the sex was really hot!

This is a well-written paranormal tale that will keep you turning pages to see what happens next.

Read the review here:

 

And Ivy at Manic Readers says:

Cole, Bobby and Cameron are close friends who have shared everything, literally. They've shared life, magic, and their bodies, and they are inseparable. That is until Darius Thorn comes along. Thorn tore their friendship apart, and now he has drawn them back together for a final confrontation.

Coal to Diamonds is beautifully written, with rich detail that doesn't detract from the story, a rare find. The characters are likeable yet flawed. They seem real. The magical elements are fascinating and the sex is hot. What more could you ask for?

Read her review here:

And here's and excerpt.  Please enjoy!

            As Cole worked stacking balled newspaper among pine twigs, Cam spoke behind him, lullaby-soft.  His voice raised gooseflesh up Cole’s spine, the same as a physical caress.  “Don’t worry Cole,” he said.  “It did work.  I can’t feel his presence at all.  We shut him out.  How long will it last?”

            “I don’t know,” Cole admitted, striking a match.  “Depends how hard he pushes, probably.”

            “He’ll push,” Cam whispered.

            “Yeah, I know.”

            “I’m scared.”

            “I know, Cam.  But we’re safe for now.”

            “I’m so cold, Cole.”

            Content his fire would burn, Cole stood and faced Cam.  He rested his hands on the back of the sofa, close to Cam’s ears, and leaned in until their noses touched.  “I know, baby,” he said.  “You want me to warm you up?”

            Cam nodded, and Cole closed the distance between them.  Cam’s lips, his tongue, and even the breath that spilled from his lungs and into Cole’s, froze like death.  His aura glimmered the color of mint ice-cream, but more crystalline and delicate.  Its spiky edges poked against Cole’s perception as he lowered his ass to the worn cushion beside his friend.  Cole hooked his knees over Cam’s thigh.  His hands traveled down Cam’s face and neck, over his shoulders to his wrists.  He summoned the fire as he had when they cast the circle, and directed the heat into his palms.  He pressed his left against Cam’s belly, just at his tawny triangle of hair, and his right against his heart.  From the two chakra points the warmth would spread easily.  Then he kissed him again, opening his mouth wide to fill his friend with the heat of his breath.  Cam’s lips parted to accept it.  His tongue pulsed against Cole’s, and his finger circled Cole’s nipple.

            Cole pressed closer to Cam, sliding up so his ass took the place of his knees on Cam’s thigh.  His slim legs dangled between Cam’s.  Without moving his hands, Cole let his body fall forward, squashing his arms between Cam’s chest and his own.  Cam still felt like a fish plucked from under the ice.  His fingers, traveling down the gully between Cole’s stomach muscles, stung.  When they grazed Cole’s cock, brushing from the base to the head, it retreated toward his pelvis instead of stretching toward Cam as it should.  He guided Cam’s hand away, letting it rest instead on his hip.

            The scent of fresh coffee filled the room, and the fire warmed Cole’s back.  But Cam’s chill felt like it could freeze Cole’s skin and tear it off if he pulled away.

            “Gods,” Cole panted, out of breath from infusing Cam with his heat, “you’re fucking freezing.”

            Cam looked broken.  “I told you.  Nothing takes away the chill.  Not even you.”

            Cole didn’t care to be told he couldn’t do something.  Cam’s innocent words hid a challenge.  Could he assert his influence over Cam’s body, and drive out the other?  He grasped Cam’s shoulders and pushed them hard against the back of the couch.  The blanket fell open.  He sidled further up on Cam’s lap, so his prominent hipbone jutted into Cam’s rib.  Then he kissed him hard, savagely, thrusting his tongue past Cam’s parted teeth and toward the back of his throat.  Their mouths filled with the tastes of phosphorous and charcoal.  Their teeth banged and scraped.  His right hand moved back over Cam’s chest, this time seizing a handful of the thin, blonde hair that grew there.  Cole felt fiercely possessive.  Cam and Bobby belonged to him.  He was tired of having his sacred things, his home, his forest, and his lovers, infiltrated and usurped one by one.  Defiled. 

            Cole yanked at the chest hair even as his mouth pushed in the opposite direction, so Cam’s supple torso arched into him.  His left hand wriggled between their flesh, his own sweat-glazed now and Cam’s still chilly.  Fingers pointed down, he rubbed with his palm until Cam’s stiffening cock jabbed between his fingers.  The swollen head of his own cock jutted into Cam’s navel.

            Cole pictured them both as empty vessels, himself full of embers and flame like the pot-bellied stove, Cam empty.   He channeled the heat up from its source, just above his cock but further in, into his hands and breath, and into Cam.  Slowly the pallid skin bloomed pink around his palms.  Cam moaned gratefully, the sound reverberating through both of their bodies.  Nipping and licking Cam’s lips and tongue, Cole exhaled more warm air into him.  Cam belonged to him.  If he wanted Cam warm, melted even, then warm he would be.  He rubbed horizontally from one of Cam’s shoulders to the other.  He hadn’t realized he’d started stroking Cam’s cock until he felt the first pearl of pre-come escape the tip.  He didn’t stop.  Most of Cole’s magic, the really effective spells, came to him spontaneously.  He was at his best when he spoke the words that formed in his mind instead of memorizing chants.  When he gave his instincts free rein and followed their lead, he could be overwhelming.

            This was the right thing to do, now, he sensed.  His hand sped up, smearing the warm liquid across Cam’s head.  Warm.  Good.  It was working.  Cole was nearly empty.  He had precious little more to give.  But he dug deeper, pulling more heat and energy from the base of his being.  Cam’s mouth opened wider, and his head fell backward to rest against the cushion.  His hips circled as he thrust into the tunnel of Cole’s hand.  Dizzy, Cole held on tighter to Cam’s chest hair, eliciting a tiny pained gasp from the other man that sucked his breath in with it.  He had to break the kiss, or he’d pass out.  Besides, Cam’s cock twitched in his hand and he wanted to watch Cam come.  Cole withdrew his lips with a little wet pop.

            “Come for me, Cam,” he panted, the effort brightening and multiplying the comets that shot across his vision.  “Just for me.”

            Cole spent a second glancing at Cam’s face before his attention turned downward.  His lips burned red from kissing, and his cheeks matched.  A few beads of sweat even glistened on his upper lip.  His gorgeous green eyes glazed, just as they did when he divined.  The bright irises rolled back, and he moaned Cole’s name.  A wisp of smoke escaped his parted lips.  Then he groaned as his seed shot out, spilling over Cole’s hand and dribbling down his knuckles.  Cole quickly lifted his hand and scraped his fingers along his lower lip, letting Cam’s fluids pool there.  Then he grabbed Cam’s hair and pulled their faces back together.  The come slid into Cam’s mouth along with Cole’s lip.  Their tongues twisted in concert, churning, mixing the semen with saliva.  Before they pulled away, each sucked some of the concoction into his mouth and swallowed.  Convergence like this held potent magic, Cole knew.  He held Cam’s jaw and licked his chin, cleaning away anything that had dripped out.  Then he wiped his own with the back of his hand.  A few drops of blood in the potion would boost the power tenfold.  He’d remember next time, and bite the inside of his cheek.  For now he could only sprawl across Cam’s chest, his forehead propped against Cam’s reed-like neck.  The walls of the cabin rotated around the couch in a blur of browns and plaid.

            “Better, baby?” he asked.  “Warmer?”

            Cam petted Cole’s straight, dark hair.  A few pieces of blood-red striped it, now that he’d left the insurance agency and its dress code.  Cam’s heartbeat shook both their bodies, and he said “Yes, thank you, Cole.”

            “Don’t thank me.”  He kissed the spot where Cam’s jawbone met his ear.  Then he moved his teeth to the silver ring in Cam’s lobe and tugged, making Cam’s fingers close in his hair, pulling.  The twinge of pain made Cole’s cock jump.  He thrust it against Cam’s belly, feeling the scrape of the sparse hair against his head.  Exertion had doused his erection partially, but done little to quell his desire.

            Cole felt a firm grip on his knee, and lifted his face from the screen of Cam’s hair.  Bobby’s even brown eyes met his.  Worry pointed his brows in toward the thick, straight bridge of his nose.  He sat as rigid as a fencepost beside the languid curve of Cam’s body.  “Is Cam all right?” he asked.