 L. Thomas Cook:
"In Your Eyes: Santini & Jamison"
(Novel)
In Your Eyes is a romance/suspense thriller. Detectives Sonny Santini and Jay Jamison work undercover in some of the most dangerous areas of Oakland City, Florida during the 1980s. It's a time and a place when having a secret like they do and keeping that secret is crucial. Jay has loved Sonny for years but never shared that with him until one day he couldn't hide it any longer. For six months after that, both men lived a private life filled with love until a near fatal accident threatened to ruin it all. Now Jay must once again decide whether to keep the secret or risk everything by revealing it. In Your Eyes is just the beginning of the challenges, heartache, joy, and conflict Sonny and Jay face as they learn more about who they are and what matters most. Provocative and edgy, it is never black or white as many elements, dangerous men, and deadly situations test Sonny and Jay's commitment to one another.
EXCERPT:
(Chapter 2)
With warm sunlight streaming through the window, Jay woke wrapped in Sonny’s arms.
“Good morning,” Jay said.
“Is it? Morning already?” Sonny replied. He blinked soft dark lashes over sleepy blue eyes and squinted at the light.
“Morning already,” Jay said. “And by the looks of it, a nice one. Hey, you awake?”
Sonny’s eyes were closed. Jay grinned and placed his lips to Sonny’s mouth.
The kiss didn’t disappoint. A spark like a match set to a fuse sizzled through Jay's body, and by the way Sonny groped his hair, Jay knew Sonny felt it too.
“I am now,” Sonny said, breathless.
Jay wrapped his arm tighter around his partner and smiled sheepishly up to the ceiling. He loved what they shared from the intense heat of the city streets to the extreme heat under the sheets. Years of closeness, trust and friendship had brought them here. This new part of his relationship with Sonny felt more than right. It felt inevitable.
Jay didn’t want to move from his spot on the bed. A warm breeze through the open window caressed his naked body.
Combing his hand through Sonny’s thick, dark hair, he twirled a curl around his finger. “You took a big chance yesterday,” Jay said.
“Don’t say that.” Sonny rested his head on Jay’s bare shoulder. We agreed when we started this that nothing else would change. We’d do what we always did.”
“And I am. I always worry about the chances you take.”
Sonny chuckled deep in his throat. “Yeah? Well I didn’t hear you worry too much about the chance I took last night. That was one hell of a position, partner.”
“Dirty boy.” Jay smacked Sonny’s arm. “Get your mind out of the gutter for a minute. I’m serious. You rushed in with no backup ‒ ”
“Slows me down.”
“Dice Diller shot at you.”
“True. But I knew you’d be right behind me.”
“What if I hadn’t been?” Jay continued twirling Sonny’s hair, trying not to think of the consequences.
“Ah, but you were,” Sonny said. “A little slow though.”
“Slow?” Jay said. “You took off like a damn jackrabbit on fire.”
“You gotta get a little quicker, Jamison.”
“I do, huh? Well, you’re missing the point. The point is, you were on the ground, and Dice had your gun aimed at you.”
“Uh, no, Blondie, you’re missing the point,”Sonny said. “The point is, that wasn’t the first time a piece of scum tried that. Ain’t the last either.”
“I’ll say it again. He got your gun. He had it aimed right at you.”
“And I’ll say it again. Those are the risks.”
Jay stopped playing with Sonny’s curls. “That’s it? Those are the risks?”
“Listen, we’re cops,” Sonny said. “Damn good ones too. It’s all part of it. That’s what we do. That’s what we are.”
“Really? That’s what we are?”
Sonny sat up and faced Jay. “Do you think I’m good at what I do?”
“You’re the best….”
“But?”
Jay sighed. “But you’re cocky. You don’t take precautions.”
“Precautions? Are you serious? Precautions could get me killed, or worse…you killed. Nope, ain’t gonna as long as I know what I’m doing and how.”
“So we throw away the book? Forget about playing it safe?”
“We play it safe like always by backing each other up like always,” Sonny said. “But playing it too safe can get in the way sometimes.”
“And what about this?” Jay said. “Is playing this safe getting in the way too?”
“In the way? No. This is us after we leave the sewer. After we take off the guns. This is just for us. No one else.”
“No one else?” Jay smiled at his lover with the warmth of his body pressed close to Sonny’s flesh. “And here I was hoping for a threesome.”
“Now whose mind is in the gutter? You’re a bad influence on me, Kenneth Jamison.”
“Me? On you? No one would believe that. You strutting that bubble butt of yours around. Batting those blue eyes. Pouting those full lips. You should be some Calvin Klein model, for Christ's sake. How was I supposed to resist all that?”
“Somehow you managed for years.” Sonny began to move out of the bed.
Jay pulled him back and smiled into the most beautiful face he knew. “I barely managed. It was the hardest thing I ever did.” He pulled Sonny toward him and kissed him with a hungry longing. Sonny groaned. That throaty moan fueled Jay's desire for this tantalizing man even more, and he grew stiff between his legs
Jay loved this man. Michael Sonny Santini at the age of twenty-five with his Brooklyn accent, his thick, dark brown curly hair, and a body that made Michelangelo's David look wimpy, was the best thing that ever happened to him. Not a day in the past few months had gone by that Jay wasn’t thankful for the courage to have, what they called The Talk. |
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Gay Literature
