Sunday Snippet: Steamed

November is starting off with a wild trajectory. The election in the US is taking up a lot of air and space in my life and I'm okay with that. It does make it harder to focus on anything but the election, which isn't optimal for my work projects.

That said, I'm weirdly calm and very hopeful. Which is not to say I'm complacent because that would be stupid and reckless. There's going to be a lot of work to do regardless of who wins the presidency, senate, and house.

My tricky manuscript turned extremely challenging, but I finally got it finished up late last night. Now I can focus on a couple of projects that were simmering on the back burner and start two new ones that need attention.

Had an okay week of viewing. Trick or treat night took up some time and an unexpected accident involving my oldest and his fiancé needed my attention. Thankfully, both are okay and weren't injured in the crash.

I started the week with an episode of Elementary and I also ended the week with one. Both were enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoy the vibe when Sherlock tries to coordinate outfits for Joan. So far, it looks like she ditches those in favor of choosing her own.

Caught an episode of The Batman and enjoyed it. Nice to see Batgirl back in action. I'll be finished with this show at the end of this season and I'm not sure what I'll be replacing it with.

Also watched an episode of Classic Rugrats. The three vignettes were new to me again. I think I'm going to shift back to the new Rugrats once I'm through this season.

Enjoyed another episode of Mr. and Mrs. Murder. I'd seen most of this one before and really enjoyed the snappy and snarky dialog between the characters.

Caught another episode of London Kills and, whew, I got spoiled for what would happen and it still freaked me out. Really like this series.

Finished up season nine of Death in Paradise. Looking forward to season ten even with some of my misgivings with DI Parker. I love this show enough to give him time to grow on me.

Enjoyed the second half of Silent Witness. The show managed to surprise me, and I love it when that happens. One thing to note … I'm always curious about where Jack and Nikki live. Jack had such a cool house during the last season and now he seems to be in a townhouse of some sort. This is after he bought the fixer-upper that his dad and brother (for a while) shared with him. Weird stuff makes me curious.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Steamed, a sexy short that puts a couple together on a long-range mission.

Here's the miniblurb:

Page Wagner and Gannon Bendis pull long range recon duty and Page decides they need to play truth or strip. After several days of sexy banter, Gannon has enough of Page's innuendo and confronts her … in the shower.

And a sneaky peek…

He might be a keeper.

Page liked him. Gannon had sucked her in with the ripped body, but he had a great personality too. The combination turned her on.

She stalled for a little time. "Gotta shuffle first." She split the deck and filed the cards together.

She'd been with guys whose looks were all they had. Pretty, beautiful men that couldn't do much more than see past their own reflections. And … she'd slept with men whose sense of humor, intelligence, and style drew her attention. Maybe she wouldn't put them in the handsomest or sexiest category, but they were appealing just the same. Her equal opportunity policy extended to sex, too.

But she rarely had the perfect-storm combination of brains and brawn.

Gannon had the highest test score in the squadron. Which she discovered when she snuck a peek at the roster for the mission. She'd rather know up front if she got paired with a dud that would suck any kind of joy out of the mission … or … if she got lucky and landed someone interesting like Gannon.

She wondered how far she could push things with him.

If the universe aligned the way she hoped, all the way to the brink and possibly over. If the stars weren't in her corner, she'd at least enjoy some lively conversation and discussion. Her gut said they'd find a perfect vibe.

Slapping the deck on the small table, she nudged the stack toward him. "By all means, please, go ahead."

He split the cards then leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest.

She put the two piles back together and nodded. "You first."

He turned the top card over revealing a seven of hearts.

Page smirked. "Ah, well, you've got a fifty-fifty chance of me drawing a lower card." But she doubted she would.

Her luck didn't run that way … with a deck of cards.

I love to write variations on a theme, and this is one of my favorite tropes.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye