by BA Tortuga
Nothing could give him back the years this whole clusterfuck had taken away from him, but the next few years sure looked rosy. Dakota loved his life, full stop.
His lawyer grabbed his hand and shook it, chatter breaking out in the courtroom, so it must be over. Right?
“You ready to go celebrate, babe?” Jayden asked. “Amaya’s knows we’re coming, the lot of us.”
“I am. I’m ready.” He met Jayden’s eyes, suddenly sure he was fixin’ to burst into hysterical tears, which would earn him no end of shit. “Let’s get out of here.”
Jayden glanced at his mom and dad. “We’ll meet y’all there. I gave you the address for GPS, right, Pop?”
“We’ll meet there.”
As soon as they answered, Jayden grabbed his arm and led him out, taking him to one of the weird little conference rooms that dotted the corridors of the old courthouse.
“You gonna make it?” Jayden asked once the door clicked shut. Jayden drew him in for a tight hug, offering support. Care.
He began to shake, the constant tension of more than a dozen years dissolving and leaving him boneless. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? It’s been a hell of a day.” Jayden just held him, strong arms never loosening.
“I didn’t do it.”
“No. No, you didn’t, and no one can say you did, ever again.”
He nodded, his eyes dry, thank the good Lord, but everything all empty and weird inside him where all of those lies used to live. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Jayden kissed him, just hard enough to prove that, if he was lucky and the in-laws stayed in a hotel tonight, he was going to get sent to the moon when they got home. “You did it, you know. You trusted me when I asked you to, and you took charge of your life.” Jayden’s grin helped ease the last of Dakota’s shakes.
“I figured out who the fuck I wanted to be.” And it wasn’t what he’d imagined, but it was right.
“My cowboy.”
Dakota laughed, because there was even more room in him for joy than there ever had been before. “Who would have thought it, huh? Is this where we ride off into the sunset?”
“Nah. This is where we find a piece of land for your horses and invest the rest of your money and then go on vacation.” Jayden kissed him again, just a quick, hard buss.
“I want to start with Colorado. I want to see the mountains.”
“Then we’ll head up there as soon as we can swing it with work, huh?” Jayden stepped back just enough to twine fingers with his. “I got something else in mind right now, though.”
“This is a bad place for a blowjob, Jayden.”
Jayden’s eyes crossed. “Uhn. You’re right. In Texas there’s probably a law that a bailiff can shoot you for having gay sex in a courthouse. That’s not it, though.”
“No?” Damn. He couldn’t help his laugh. “What’s the plan, Stan?”
Jayden winked, then pulled him back out toward the hall. “I’m taking you to supper, cowboy, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy you a beer.”
More from BA Tortuga
The Release Series: Book One
They say a man can always come home. So after doing hard time, Sage Redding heads to his family’s northeast Texas ranch to help his ailing daddy with the cutting horses.
Adam (Win) Winchester is a county deputy and the cousin of one of the men killed in the incident that sent Sage to prison for almost a decade. While Win’s uncles, Jim and Teddy, are determined to make Sage and the entire Redding family pay for their loss, Win just figures Sage has paid his dues and maybe needs a friend. Maybe he needs more than a friend. In fact, Win’s counting on it.
No one’s denying Sage is an ex-con who went to prison for manslaughter. Regardless of the love he has for his father, he’s returned knowing things will likely go badly for him. Maybe a man can always come home, but he may not be able to stay.
The Release Series: Book Two
Just released from the military, wounded warrior Eric Tremaine is trying to put his life back together like the doctors reassembled his shattered leg. He’s a man with no home, since his Louisiana family rejected him, so Eric winds up in Texas with his old Army buddy, Adam Winchester, and his lover, Sage.
When Eric decides to stop sitting on his ass feeling sorry for himself, he is introduced to trainer Troy Daniels, who lost both his legs in a teenage accident. Troy knows what it’s like to feel as if your body is your enemy. While Eric and Troy have a bumpy start, they soon find enough common ground to make a friendship, if not more. But taking it to the next level means finding out what they have to offer each other, and the world, before they can trust that the love they find together won’t cause more pain than pleasure.
Leaning N
A fist fight, a snowstorm, a stolen kiss in the barn… and a second chance at love.
Ford Nixel has two law offices, two fancy condominiums, and all the right connections. In short, he has everything he wants.
The last thing he needs is his Uncle Ty’s stake in the Leaning N, a ranch that’s been in the family for generations. Ford hasn’t even been to the ranch in over a decade, not since he left his boyfriend Stoney behind and headed back to college alone.
Ford arrives at the Leaning N to find Stoney, now a single father, right where he left him. A fist fight, a snowstorm, and a stolen kiss in the barn later—Ford knows none of the heat between them has dissipated.
Dale is working his way through college as an exotic dancer. While he prefers to keep his performances public, it’s tough to say no to the private dances, even though they’re risky. Three songs, just dancing, no touching—Dale can do this and be handsomely compensated.
For Italian businessman Adriano “Gen” Genovese, the handsome cowboy tempts him into wanting more than one dance. Gen convinces Dale to indulge in another dance and a night in his decadent hotel room. He introduces Dale to a glittering world of wealth on a scale Dale has never even imagined.
As the romance between the down-home Texas student and the millionaire playboy heats up, they come to realize the only risk they face is losing their hearts.
Stormy Weather: Book One
Galen Frost buys a house and a bait shop in a small Florida town to get away from his life as a semipro football player. When he meets good-time bartender Shane Barton, the heat between them is instant and intense—like the burn of good whiskey.
Galen and Shane don’t have much in common beyond their healthy libidos and their love of a good time, but the intoxicating heat brings them together like rain on the ocean, whipping up a frenzy of weather… good and bad. When trouble blows ashore, they will have to ride out the storm that breaks between them as Galen’s past rears its ugly head.
Readers love The Release series by BA Tortuga
The Terms of Release
“It will catch your attention from the first paragraph and will keep it to the very end.”
—MM Good Book Reviews
“The Terms of Release left me crying and unable to put the book down.”
—Sensual Reads
The Articles of Release
“This is a very sweet book, full of endearments and easy, smooth lovin’… It was amazing.”
—The Blogger Girls
“…this was an enjoyable read, and I’m looking forward to going back to read Sage and Adam’s story!”
—Just Love
BA TORTUGA, Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy’s Girl, spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she’s not doing that, she’s writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting, and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA’s personal saviors include her wife, Julia Talbot, her best friend, Sean Michael, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Really good coffee.
Having written everything from fist fighting rednecks to hard-core cowboys to werewolves, BA does her damnedest to tell the stories of her heart, which was raised in Northeast Texas, but has he
ard the call of the high desert and lives in the Sandias. With books ranging from hard-hitting GLBT romance, to fiery ménages, to the most traditional of love stories, BA refuses to be pigeon-holed by anyone but the voices in her head.
Website: www.batortuga.com
Blog: batortuga.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/batortuga
Twitter: @batortuga
By BA Tortuga
Bombs and Guacamole
Boys in the Band (Author Anthology)
Mud, Movies, Bullets, and Bulls (Author Anthology)
Old Town New
Private Dances
Rain and Whiskey
Refired
Say Something
Trial by Fire
LOVE IS BLIND
Ever the Same
Real World
THE RELEASE SERIES
The Terms of Release
The Articles of Release
Catch and Release
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Catch and Release
© 2016 BA Tortuga.
Cover Art
© 2016 Bree Archer.
http://www.breearcher.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63477-885-5
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-886-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016913579
Published December 2016
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America
