"My guys fear me." Tomor is visiting from Wild Hearted, by Lea Bronsen

"Put It In Your Mouth" blog hop is officially over. I'll be choosing a winner in the next few days, but wanted to drop in real quick to introduce a dear friend.  

So today, *clears throat* I have Tomor from Lea Bronsen’s new release, Wild Hearted visiting. The very beautiful, and highly talented Ms. Bronsen is a member of The Coffee Talk Writer’s Group, and a co-author in an upcoming release with myself.  *grins*

Alright—sits up and eyes the handsome man across the table—is there a nickname you’re known by? Do you prefer it?

When I was a kid, the orphanage people gave me the name of Thomas. But as I grew up and created my own gang, my guys started calling me Tomor—yeah, it sounds like tumor, doesn’t it? That’s because we’re this cancerous web of crime growing everywhere, in all directions. *grins*

*Gives a tremulous smile in return. Is this guy serious?* Do you have any scars, tattoos, piercings? What do they mean to you?

I have a huge, black tribal tattoo that covers the whole of my right arm like a sleeve, from the wrist to the shoulder. It’s really cool ’cause it suits me, the warrior, and it tends to intimidate people. Scars? I have lots of ’em, all over. Some are from fights and some… well, I’d rather not talk about them.

*Eyes the arm he pointed at. Maybe I can ask to see it later. Yeah …* Where do you currently live? Do you like it?

I live in Candara City in the northern US. My gang is occupying this old, seven-story hotel in the darkest part of town. It’s condemned by the authorities, but they can’t get us out without a major SWAT attack—which they’ll never have the balls to launch, ha ha. Yeah, I love it, it’s got all the facilities you can dream of. Plus I have my own suite on the top floor, reinforced like a bunker.

*eyes wide* Okay, how do you think your colleagues would describe you?

Haaa, cool question. My guys fear me. Sometimes I lose my temper, and believe me when I say this, no one dares stand in my way. How they would describe me? As a tough, cold-blooded guy who never gives up, never lets an opponent win.

*coughs and scoots back, just a tiny bit. His dark eyes catch the movement and he pins me with a hard stare* W-h-ho is your best friend?

I don’t have anyone I’d call a friend. I’ve always wanted to stand alone and strong. But there’s this kid the gang sort of adopted a while back, David, who likes to spend time with me. He’s okay. I’m tutoring him, so maybe I’ll give him the reins when the time is right.

Who is your biggest rival / enemy?

Well, with this fucking price on my head, I have countless enemies who can’t wait to take me down. But the worst threat is Jackal: he leads a rival gang the size of mine, and he’s sicker than me, a real psycho. Someday I’ll have to show him who the boss is around here—and, between you and me, eliminate the fucker.

*my eyes no longer are blinking and I nod my head*  Uh huh, what, if anything, do you do to keep fit and healthy?

I exercise a lot. You know, when your business operates on the shady side of the law, you need to stay in shape and prepare for every situation. I can use most weapons, but I want to be able to fight bare-knuckled, too.

How would you spend an unexpected day off?

I’d definitely take my bike—a two-wheeled monster from Hell, as I like to call it—for a ride out of town. I swear, it beats getting laid. *chuckles*

*Is it hot in here?* How deeply does your job / social role define you as a person?

That’s an easy one. I run a gang of killers and thieves, and as their leader and mentor I’m the worst of the worst. So what type of person would you say that makes me?

Um, a good one? *He nods and I let out a relieved breath. Good, he didn’t notice I phrased it as a question* How do you feel, generally, about the opposite sex?

Ah, girls. I don’t understand them. Not that I try very hard. But I like to spend quality time with them once in a while, if you know what I mean. *winks* Them and their assets.

*My brow arches* What do you dislike most about your life? What is missing?

Hmm, I guess loneliness weighs on me at times. My mother died when I was born, and I’ve always missed her. To be honest, I hope to meet someone who can fill her empty space, someday, but… I’m not the romantic kind of guy, and who’d want to be with trash like me anyway? Besides, I don’t know how much longer I’ll live. It wouldn’t be right to have a girlfriend and then suddenly a bullet hit me between the eyes.

A little about Wild Hearted:

Tomor—a gang leader accustomed to a hard life on the outskirts of society—is a shrewd, ruthless bastard with a price on his head. He lives a lonely life, and that suits him just fine...until the day a traitor in his ranks betrays him to the police. After a shoot-out that nearly kills him, Tomor is saved by a young woman who hides him from the cops. Though he should be more concerned with the traitor who set him up, he can't get the gorgeous girl out of his head—or shake the feeling she can fill the emptiness that has become a way of life.

Luz has survived her boring, lonely existence thanks to her two best friends: photography and alcohol. But her world shifts on the night a breathless man approaches her, asking for help. From his wild hair to his stony expression, he reeks of trouble. And he sends a shiver up her spine—one that makes her burn with excitement for the first time in her life.

After a lifetime of lonely hell, Tomor and Luz might just be able to save each other...if Tomor's past doesn't kill them first.

Sneak Peak:

“Listen.” Luz nodded her chin toward the forest. “I was going for a walk. Do you want to come? It would be good to wind down a bit.”

“Hmm. Just lemme have a smoke first.”

Exhausted from the day’s ordeals, Tomor stepped down from his bike with slow, heavy moves, locked it, pocketed the key and fished a pack of cigarettes from his leather jacket.

She came closer and nodded to the pack. “Can I have one?”

He stared into her eyes and could not believe their amazing intensity. The whole girl sparkled with life, and he had to shake himself to be able to say something coherent.

“Didn’t know you smoked.”

He handed her the pack and watched slender fingers, perfect nails, take a cigarette.

“I’m sort of quitting.” She put it to her mouth with a small, playful frown.

He leaned closer to light it for her, so near he could swim inside her beautiful, lively eyes, now blue-green like the most vivid glacier—when he noticed her staring at his own nails and froze.

Shit, the blood, he’d had trouble scrubbing it off.

She searched him for a few long seconds before making a mental shake of her head, and quipped, “What a gentleman. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Gentleman?”

“You lit it for me.”

A wide smile spread across her pretty features like sunshine, displaying white teeth behind those gorgeous lips of hers, and he loved it, wished he could make it last.

He grinned. “Say that word again, and I’m gonna start being nasty.”

“Aren’t you already?”

She intensified the playful smile and took a long drag. Closing her eyes, she held her breath before letting a long stream of smoke seep out from between her lips. Yep—once a smoker, always a smoker.

He was a sucker for that immediate effect too, and lit a cig for himself. He swallowed the harsh gas, let it torch his throat all the way to his lungs, held it down, imagined the poison roaming around in his inflated air sacks and joining the blood veins before speeding up to his brain and giving it the awaited kick. Ah! So good.

Exhaling a long chain of smoke, he grinned to himself.

“Seriously.” Luz stared at him. “Why did you follow me?”

His brain dancing from the nicotine, he couldn’t help widening the grin. “Isn’t it pretty obvious, Luz?”

In the same second he realized it was the first time he called her by her name. How weird. It sounded so definite, so final, as though sealing the idea that they were close and their relationship was a forever thing.

A fire lit her eyes and her cheeks colored. So she understood. “But, why me?”

He grinned again and could only admit the truth. “You’re the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

And now that I’ve laid my eyes on you, you're mine. You belong to me.

He took a step closer, so near their chests would touch if he leaned forward. He brought his free hand to her flushed face and caressed it.

“You’re so sweet and innocent. So unlike the other girls.”

“W-what other girls?” She choked.

“Ah, my friends back home,” he replied cheerfully, reading her strained eyes.

Making a small nod, she slipped her cheek out of his palm, but he moved his hand behind her head instead and let his fingers enjoy the softness of her fluffy hair.

“How can you be so naive?”

Her eyes widened with surprise. She’d apparently believed he had a harem of lusty women—well, he did, but she didn’t need to know that.

Satisfied, he turned his head aside to take a long drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke away from her.

When he looked back, her eyes had darkened as if a painful thought rushed through her mind, and again she slipped away from him, shaking her head and taking a step back. “Don’t.”

His hand hung between them without purpose while he tasted the girl’s rejection, finding it unusual and very bold.

“Easy, babe. Nobody refuses me.”

Clenching his fist, he dropped the hand down, then brought the other to his mouth for a new drag of smoke.

Luz glared. “Exactly.”

“What, exactly?”

“You think you own the world and can do what you want, and if they don’t agree, you’ll just take it from them. But not me. I have a choice. I can refuse.”

Oh fuck.

He chuckled. “You make it sound like you’re this special person I have to deserve or something!”

“Uh-huh.” Squinting, she dropped the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it.

He bit his lower lip. Mistake. Chest pounding, he wondered what to say to catch her back.

“Listen, I know you like me, Luz. I’ve seen it in your eyes.”

She shrugged and sent him a meaningful stare. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to be with you. I don’t know precisely what you do for a living, but I definitely don’t want to be a part of it. I work very hard for my money.”

His gut filled with something ugly and heavy. For the first time, he thought he would have to consider turning his life around. Maybe being with her would compensate.

“I can change,” he offered.

She eyed him. “It's not only you. It's everything around you. Where you live. Your men. What you do. I mean, the cops are after you, aren't they?”

Hating where she led him, he made a barely noticeable nod.

“Well, if they catch you, how many years do you get?”

“The needle.”

Her eyes flashed, a small contraction betraying how much she cared.

Pleased to have touched her, he smirked. “Or life. But I'd rather get the needle.”

About Lea: Lea lives in Europe with her husband and three children. She’s an avid reader of intense cop thrillers, the same way she loves intense sports, music and rides. She was the typical pupil who devoured books and begged the school librarian for more – and she wrote adventure, mystery and action-packed stories from an early age.

Web: www.leabronsen.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LeaBronsen

Twitter: @LeaBronsen

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/LeaBronsen

Link to Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B00BL09IGA/

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