Welcome my high school friend, Shayla Kersten! ~DD

Hiya, all! I’m Shayla Kersten, author of gay romances filled with hot manlove! *cackle* I’ve known Delilah Devlin for more years than either of us will admit. I could tell you tales! Woo howdy! But then, so could she so we pledge to remain silent in mutual self-defense. I’m totally jealous of her vacation. I can imagine her sunning herself on the ship’s deck as I freeze my posterior off in frigid Arkansas!

FOR OLYMPUS’ SAKE is my first foray into time travel. Why I haven’t dabbled in science fiction before, I don’t know. I’ve been a scifi geek since I was a kid. So while I’ve written gay vampires and lots of gay cops, FOR OLYMPUS’ SAKE is the first—but not the last—scifi story! I have the first book in a new scifi series coming out after the first of the year. Enjoy this excerpt from FOR OLYMPUS’ SAKE and be on the look out for ANGEL MOON—space cowboys with fangs! (Special thanks to Brandy W for the ANGEL MOON prompt! *cackle*)

FOR OLYMPUS’ SAKE
By Shayla Kersten
Copyright © SHAYLA KERSTEN, 2009

Stephen Liatos’ career as an archeologist hit a brick wall a long time ago. His love life crashed and burned right behind it. When a young, golden intern claims to have the key to the illusive artifact known as Aphrodite’s Necklace, Stephen’s life takes a strange turn. Suddenly, he’s in the middle of the hottest wet dream he’s ever had. Until all hell breaks loose. Literally.

Alex’s mission was to retrieve his mistress’s necklace. He didn’t need a passenger along for the ride, although Stephen’s overactive libido makes for an interesting trip. Nor did he expect to end up in Hades instead of Olympus. Now he has to get the necklace and Stephen out of the Underworld before they both become permanent residents.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Stephen Liatos looked up when his office door opened. His body tightened as the new intern Alex stepped into the room. His brain reminded his cock of the trouble young interns and assistants could be. Stephen’s punishment for screwing one of his students led to exile at a completely excavated ruin. Nothing new had been discovered at Knossos in years.

Alex stood a couple of inches taller than Stephen and had a body that looked like he was a Greek god come down from Olympus. And he had a profound effect on Stephen’s libido in spite of the danger—or maybe because of it.

“Can I help you?” Stephen winced at the slight crack in his voice. Grabbing a bottle of water, he hid his embarrassment behind a long drink as the desk hid his physical reaction.

“I found the site of Aphrodite’s necklace!” Alex’s enthusiasm filled his tone and brightened his face.

“What do you mean?” Stephen scowled across the desk. A flush of heat crawled up his neck. Surely, he knew about Stephen’s history of tilting at windmills. “The necklace is a legend, not a real artifact.” He’d once believed a lot of things…

“No, it is real. And I know where to find it.” Alex was practically dancing with excitement. “Would you drive?”

Stephen ran his hand through his hair. To be young and so naïve again. He was tempted to tell Alex to get back to the job he was assigned, but the young man needed to learn from his own mistakes. “Okay. Let’s go.” Maybe getting away from worrying about the museum’s budget would make the world look less gray today.

Pushing away from his desk, Stephen stood then grabbed his jacket against the blustery winter day. Situated between the Mediterranean and the Aegean Seas, Crete didn’t get very cold weather but the damp wind could be chilling. “Lead the way.”

Stephen lagged behind Alex for the short walk down the corridor to the parking lot. A small trowel, a ruler and a couple of brushes in Alex’s right back pocket raised his wrinkled T-shirt enough to reveal the contours of his denim-covered ass.

The view from behind both raised and lowered Stephen’s mood. His body reminded him of how long it had been since he’d been up close and personal with something other than his hand. Too bad his personal rules now made the staff off-limits. Especially the young hardbodies also known as grad students and interns.

Alex scurried across the parking lot to Stephen’s truck. He swayed from one foot to the other, waiting on Stephen to catch up.

Lowering his head, Stephen hid the small smile forming. Once upon a time, he’d had been as enthusiastic as Alex about archaeology. Now at nearly forty, Stephen understood that the find of a lifetime was usually in someone else’s life. Instead of putting a damper on the young man’s mood, Stephen unlocked the car and climbed in.

“So where to?” Stephen asked as he started the car.

Alex stuffed his tall frame into the seat next to him. “The Minoan ruins.”

“But they—” Explaining how many times the palace of Knossos had been searched—by Stephen and others—wouldn’t do any good. Stephen started the car. “Knossos it is.”
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