Two years ago, my husband and I took a trip to Norway. At one of the museums outside of Oslo on an island called Bygdøy, three Viking longboats sat mostly preserved, excavated from burial mounds nearly a hundred years ago. This fired my imagination, envisioning muscle-bound, blond or red-haired warriors marauding their way across the lands of Scotland and the islands of the North Sea.  Ten men rowing across the swells of the open ocean, braving harsh weather to conquer, and finding themselves scaling cliffs of a foreign shore. The story of Harald Sigurdsen and Eivind Halvorsen was born.

As we continued our vacation and exploration of Norway, we drove along the rugged coastline of the east and south of the country. Rounding the southern tip, the rugged cliffs and long fjords became flatter and more fertile with farms as far as the eye could see. After the warriors conquered, settlers arrived from Norway and integrated with the locals, setting up commerce and trade between the new colonies and the Viking homeland.

The Orkney Landing incorporates both the warriors and the eventual settlements of the Vikings on the Ornkey Islands. Halvor and Eivind, along with their raiding party, pillage their way across the islands, taking no prisoners until they find a Pict servant cowering behind a tapestry. Halvor makes Talorc his slave, and allows him to live and serve. Talorc is a willing and enthusiastic servant, coming to Halvor’s aid in the midst of battle. Things heat up between the two warriors and their slave as the Vikings continue their conquest of the Orkney Islands.

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You can pre-order Harald, Eivind, and Talorc’s story The Orkney Landing here, part of the Warlords and Warriors anthology.

Excerpt:

In the morning, after a breakfast of rations, Harald directed Talorc in the efficient packing of the tent and its contents as Eivind looked on.

“Be quick. It’s time to move forward.” Harald stepped from the tent into the crisp morning air.

Talorc finished the packing and carried a large bag of supplies as the other Vikings disassembled the camp. “Ready, Lord Viking.”

Two of the closest warriors glanced at Talorc, and then to Harald with a smirk.

“You men have something to say?”

Both of their faces reddened. “No, Harald. We’re only admiring your new slave.”

Harald bristled for a moment, and Eivind placed a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed and grinned. “He’s a quick learner.” He watched Talorc lift the bag of supplies, his slender muscles straining. Why did that bother me? He’s a slave. A willing slave, but a slave nonetheless.

Shaking off his confusion, he focused on the march at hand. The raiding party covered several leagues over the hilly countryside, burning farmhouses as they went. At each dwelling, Harald paused to look inside.

After they plundered their fourteenth farm, he shook his head as he lit a torch. Each house deserted. This doesn’t bode well for the stealth of our assault.

Before he could light the thatched roof, a cheer arose from a far off hill. He dropped the torch and turned to his company. The men crowded behind him, facing the oncoming attack.

Grey clouds descended as Harald counted the naked Pict men painted blue, yielding swords and clubs and surging across the moor. Twenty seven. These look more like warriors. The farm woman or the children survived and sounded the alarm. He turned to his men. “Torvald, Andreas, and Halvor, take the savages on the right. Erik, Tallak and Sigurd, take the left. The rest of you with me and Eivind down the center.”

Turning, he brought his attention to Talorc. “Hide amongst the supplies. If the battle goes ill, run. If you’re needed, you will hear two blasts of my horn.”

“Yes, my lord.” Talorc scurried to the pile of wood for the tents and ducked out of sight.

Harald raised his sword as the rain fell and a peel of thunder rolled over the moor. “Forward, and take no prisoners!”

He roared as they ran toward the approaching savages. Excitement surged through his veins, and he slashed his sword at the lead Pict, slicing the life from him. Another swung a club at him, but he missed. He dispatched the fiery-haired man with a single stroke.

Harald looked on with satisfaction as more of the Picts fell to the Vikings’ swords. He stabbed another man in the shoulder, and the savage fell. Turning toward another, he thrust the blade through the attacker.

“Harald, look out!”

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Brent Archer began writing in 2011 at the nudging of his cousins. His first story sold, and he was hooked! The second story in his Golden Scepter Series, Pennington’s Conquest, will release in the Summer of 2016 with MuseItHOT Publishing. Stay tuned!

Visit his website to keep up on upcoming releases, and follow him on Twitter: @brentarcherwrit.

UPDATE: The winner of the free download is…Linda!

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I can’t wait for August 11th to come! Know why? Okay, you can probably guess by the title of this post and the great big, in-your-face cover below.

Hotter with A Pole releases on August 11th!

So I have releases all the time. Why am I so excited by this one? It’s my first strictly male-male romance. And it’s smokin’ hot and strangely sweet, and I can’t wait for you to read it!

I love my Memphis set books. The five Delta Heat stories were filled with kink and fun. But then I decided to add a little touch of dangerous doings and real-life action into the Firehouse 69 sequel series. The added conflict certainly upped the angst for Hoyt and Noah in HWAP. And again, I can’t wait for you to read it!

I’ve provided an excerpt below and the links where you can pre-order the book. I do have the feeling you’re going to love it.

For a chance to win one of the prequel books from Delta Heat or Burnin’ Up Memphis, Book 1 in this series, answer the following question…

What’s your favorite piece of a firefighter’s equipment? Have fun!

Hotter With A Pole

When your heart is stuck in the wrong gear, a quick fix isn’t going to cut it.

When Noah buys a classic ’68 Camaro from a fellow firefighter’s widow, he hopes it will ease some of the grief crushing his heart. But the grinding noise under the car’s hood sends him straight to a mechanic. Something about the burly, imposing Hoyt sparks Noah’s interest, and it’s not just Hoyt’s ice-blue eyes and bad-boy biker looks. It’s the mutual interest they have—Club LaForge.

After losing his partner to cancer a year ago, Hoyt never thought he’d feel the same kind of rush with another man. But his reaction to Noah throbs deep in his body like the rumble of his Harley.

LaForge seems like the perfect place to meet and work off some sorrow, to feel alive again. But the flood of desire quickly gets hot enough to melt their emotional barriers into unexpected connections.

Connections Hoyt isn’t sure he’s ready for…especially since history has a scary way of repeating itself.
Product Warnings

Warning: Get your motor running for a Harley-riding hunk of muscle who doesn’t give a damn about the rules of being a Dom, and a firefighter who can take the heat. Buy a case of your favorite coolant. You’re gonna need it.

Samhain Publishing | Kindle | Kobo | iBooks

“My bike’s parked outside the back exit. Do you need to tell anyone goodbye?”

Noah shook his head, his stomach filling with those odd fluttery feelings again.

Hoyt walked to Noah’s clothing and handed him his pants. As Noah dressed, Hoyt’s gaze slid over his body, more intimately than it had before, lingering on his cock, his chest, then rising to meet his gaze.

Noah knew where this was going. Knew they might skip a ton of preliminaries, but he didn’t need them. His body was already tightening again. The sooner he was alone with Hoyt, really alone, he knew things would happen quickly, and he didn’t really want time to consider what any of this meant—this wild attraction, this need that centered in his chest, because he thought maybe Hoyt was every bit as lonely as he was. That there was something painful in his past. The hints of bleakness he’d seen in his eyes the day before had seemed to mirror his own pain.

For Hoyt to be this transparently intense, this eager to climb right over everything he was—a man, a Dom—to get straight to the intimacy of being with him, pointed at something.

And Noah was more than just curious now. He wanted to know who Hoyt was, what drove him, what secrets lay behind his hooded gaze. He tucked his cock inside his pants and reached for the shirt Hoyt handed him, only Hoyt didn’t let it go. Instead, the other man tugged on it, pulling Noah closer.

Noah drew a shaky breath and let himself be reeled in until they stood so close one deep breath would cause their bared chests to meet. His nipples tightened. When Hoyt leaned toward him, he closed his eyes.

A firm mouth glided over his. Noah opened. Hoyt thrust his tongue inside and then licked along Noah’s tongue, coaxing Noah’s to come into his mouth where he then sucked on it.

Noah groaned, closed the gap between their chests and went with his instincts, lifting a hand to grip the other man’s hips and aligning his clothed cock with Hoyt’s.

Hoyt clutched Noah’s ass and the back of his head and growled deep in his throat as he rubbed up and down Noah’s shaft.

Noah was in good shape, knew what a hard body felt like, but Hoyt’s muscle was more than hard, it was bulky, hot—and trembling against him.

When Hoyt broke the kiss, Noah fought the urge to follow him. Instead, he stood close, their cocks still aligned, and he knew with an unwavering certainty, he was ready for this. For Hoyt. “Let’s go,” he said.