Hi! I’m Flora, the roman goddess of flowers and springtime. I am also connected with fertility as I specialize in plants that bear fruit, and many of them do! April signifies a time of rebirth. A Saxon sister-goddess, Eastre, has also evolved, over time. As the Christian religion absorbed deities and skewed their meanings to retain converts discourage continued worship of what they considered to be “out-dated deities”, the Easter Bunny and subsequent celebrations evolved. While her name, Eastre, was skewed, her meanings were not lost. She too represented fertility, springtime and offspring. This ideal is represented by the Easter Bunny’s connection to eggs. Eggs are a direct correlation to fertility and offspring, as all animals – human and animal – begin in some way as an egg.
We are celebrating the birth and renewal of plants, people and offspring – all births are important!
Before we begin, I must remind everyone of the Moonlight Mistresses boring rule to please try and keep your responses to a PG13 atmosphere – *eye roll*. However, they haven’t seemed to care about double entendres, so let them fly!
My guests today are, Cody Redsun and Gage Neary from Westburg, Texas. Their tale can be found in Undercover Nights a novel creation by Patricia Logan.
Flora: Thank you Cody and Gage for joining us today! Please, Cody, tell our readers how you two first met. Was it by your design, or Mine? I was sent to investigate a deadly neurotoxin poisoning of an elderly patient at Mercy General Hospital. Oh, I should probably preface that by saying that I am actually called Special Agent Cody Redsun of the FBI, out of the Houston office. Gage Neary was the dear dead lady’s physical therapist and had given her the topical cream which caused her death. He immediately became my prime suspect in her murder.
Gage: When Cody first approached me there in the hospital, I wasn’t having an easy time of it. He was very professional with me however. He put me at ease right away.
Flora: Cody, would you say it was love at first sight or did you find Gage repulsive? *laughs* Repulsive? The farthest thing from repulsive! The man is magnificent from the top of his long black haired head to the bottom of his six and a half foot frame. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was love at first sight, but most definitely lust.
Gage: Repulsive? Hardly! The man is sex on a stick! Well over six foot tall and all muscled Native American Warrior. Hair to his butt… wow!
Flora: Oh, how interesting. Since chaotic happenstance tends to put characters like yourselves in situations where they must work together or live together for one reason or another, tell us what chaotic happenstance “forced” the two of you to work or live together. How did you both feel about this?
Cody: Well, I wanted to clear him of the hideous murder. I could hear the honesty in his answers and the man had no motive whatsoever.
Gage: I on the other hand was angry that the gorgeous Native American Special Agent was sent to pin me down as the primary suspect in the murder of one of my patients. Being thought of as a suspect for such a heinous crime, was unthinkable.
Flora: Oh, of course that would create a great deal of angst right from the start. Gage, would you say that your relationship developed easily or would you say there was some reluctance? What kind of obstacles were there?
Gage: *chuckling* I think it would be an overstatement to say that the relationship developed easily. There was a murder charge hanging over my head and Texas is a death penalty state. But Cody is kind and a skilled agent and he seemed anxious to clear me right from the very beginning.
Flora: How long did it take you to know your true feelings for the other? At what point did you know, “this is the one”?
Cody: I think I knew how much I desperately loved Gage the moment he turned that violet gaze on me. My heart swelled in my chest and I found it difficult even to breathe.
Gage: The moment I realized just how much he’d suffered at the hands of another, alone, abandoned, bleeding, and bereft of human compassion; I wanted to heal all those wounds, put his life back together and care for him for the rest of his life.
Flora: This is for either of you. Would you like to thank anyone – other than me, of course – for getting you two together?
Gage: I’d like to thank my lucky stars that God brought Cody into my life. He’s the most special and caring human being I’ve ever known. I couldn’t have made it through the past few months without him.
Cody: I have no one to thank but Gage himself. He put his trust in me, not only by putting his life in my hands, but by holding my heart, a heart I was convinced had shriveled into nothing all those years ago in the desert.
Flora: As we are celebrating fertility and offspring this month, tell us, Cody and Gage do you plan on having children in the future NOTE: If a m/m or f/f storyline, this could relate to adoption or you can ditch the question completely. Whatever you’re comfortable with? Why or why not? How many do you think you’ll want? Do you prefer sons or daughters, or does it not matter?
Cody: Well, as you can imagine, I have a very dangerous job and because of it, we’ve talked a lot about this. I wouldn’t want to leave Gage to raise a child alone if something were to happen. I would however love to raise a child in a happy home, something I never had. I wouldn’t care whether we had boys or girls, just a child to love.
Gage: Paige Neary, my mom, is very excited about us adopting a child in the future. She so desperately loves us and would make a great grandmother. As far as Cody’s job goes, we are here for the time that God gives us on this earth and I would cherish our child if something were to happen to him.
Flora: Do either of you garden? Why or why not?
Cody: Oh no! I kill house plants much less subject outdoor plants to my black thumb.
Gage: *chuckling* He’s not as bad as all that. We have just purchased our first home and have a long commute to work. He works in Houston and I work in Westburg, an Austin suburb. We live in between but the drive really doesn’t give us a whole lot of time to putter around the garden. I’ve always lived in an apartment before and I’m just learning to appreciate my outdoor living space. I planted some roses last week.
Flora: Good heavens! House plant murderer!. What are your favorite flowers or plants? What significance do they hold for you?
Gage: Well like I said, I just planted roses, red ones. I hope they signify love.
Cody: I grew up in the desert on our rez. I can remember the spring when the cactus would bloom. That was beautiful. Wow, I haven’t even thought about that for fifteen years. I guess, I like flowers but I couldn’t tell you what kind.
Flora: Thanks so much to Cody Redsun and Gage Neary for joining us today! Now, I’d like to take some time to speak with their author, Patricia Logan. Thanks for joining us today, Patricia Logan! First, I’d like to start with some of the questions I asked Cody and Gage. Do you garden? Why or why not?
Patricia Logan: Yes, I’m an avid gardener.
Flora: Do you prefer vegetables and fruits, flowers, or both? Which ones are your favorites?
Patricia Logan: I grow a combination of fruit trees, vines and bushes as well as flowers and trees. I also grow my own herbs and vegetables.
Flora: If you had the chance to do so, would you participate in a community garden? Why or why not? (If you have done this before, please share your experience!)
Patricia Logan: I wish I had the time to do that. My schedule is completely insane. If I had the time, I’d do it. That’s a good thing to do when I’m ready for retirement.
Flora: Flowers, trees and plants offer a variety of aromas. What would you say is your favorite aroma and why?
Patricia Logan: I like citrus, lemon especially because it’s so fresh and clean. I also grow rosemary for cooking and I have a jasmine trellis in my back yard. Of course, I also have over 60 rose bushes, so you could say that’s another favorite.
Flora: A growing trend these days is to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, beans and peppers upside down while growing other smaller plants like lettuce, radishes, cress or herbs on top. Is this something you’ll try or have done? Why or why not?
Patricia Logan: I have not tried them because I have no overhanging balconies from which to hang them. If I did, I think it would be a wonderful way to grow veggies. I am forever taking insects and worms away from my veggies. To grow off the ground would be great.
Flora: Considering your favorite flower, plant, and/or aroma, have these tastes shown up in your writing? If so, how – If not, why not?
Patricia Logan: Yes as a matter of fact citrus scented candles are used in one of the scenes in an upcoming book, “Warrior Nights”. A few of my guys are great cooks and use lemon in cooking.
Flora: If you’ve used plants/flowers other than your favorite ones in your stories, what were they, what story were they in, and why did you choose them?
Patricia Logan: Well my current work in progress is called “A Very Good Year” and one of the main characters is a vintner in a small town winery in Westburg, Texas. We do a lot with grapes, vines and other ingredients to wine making, spices, cedar and wood aromas.
Flora: Patricia Logan, is there anything you’d like readers to know about you that I didn’t ask?
Patricia Logan: Well yes indeed. “Undercover Nights”, the book in which Cody and Gage appear is the second book in the Armadillo Series. The first book is called “Leather Nights” and is also available now. The third and final book in that series is called “Warrior Nights” and be released on June 8, 2011. I have another stand alone novel by the name of “Gypsy Knight” which comes out Oct. 12, 2011 and have several other series underway. Please look for a bunch of books soon.
Flora: I’m sorry folks, but that’s all the time we have for today. Thanks to Cody Redsun, Gage Neary and their author, Patricia Logan, for joining us today and giving us some great answers. We hope you’ll check out their story, Undercover Nights.
To learn more about their author, Patricia Logan, visit: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002285431948
BLURB: Gentle Gage Neary has been accused of the most horrific of crimes, murder. The victims are not just anyone; they’re the physical therapist’s innocent patients. Gage doesn’t need more complications in his life. He’s already in the midst of ending a miserable relationship when he finds himself the prime suspect in an FBI investigation. Cody Redsun, the smokin hot FBI agent assigned to investigate the crimes, decides that it’s Gage he’d rather probe for answers.
When they find their own lives threatened, Cody gives himself a new assignment; keep Gage alive until he can find the actual killer. While the true menace to the two men seems to be clear, Cody hides a tortured past that is just as threatening to their deepening bond. As the danger heats up, so do the two men, burning only for each other and the fiery passion that promises to consume them.
EXCERPT: Gage woke sometime in the night covered in sweat. Cody lay on the bed beside him, the muscles in his arms bunched as he raised his hands against some invisible attacker.
“Stop!” Cody shrieked. “I can’t take it Uncle! Okay! I’ll do it!” Cody was panting, flailing arms, covering his face from unseen blows. “Again, yes again! I will do anything! Please just stop…” he whimpered, a little boy’s voice coming from him. “Please just stop,” he sighed and Gage noticed the blood running from Cody’s lips.
Gage watched the man as his teeth clamped down, cutting into the ragged lips again and again as he tried to bite through them. Gage had to stop this somehow; he realized that Cody was still asleep, though deeply locked in a primal fight for his survival. He reached for him, wrapping his long arms around Cody as he crooned into his ear. “It’s okay baby, I’m here… Gage is here Cody… shh.”
Cody struggled for a moment, his whimpering cries echoing around the walls of the apartment, before going limp in Gage’s arms. Gage continued to rock Cody, absorbing his tears as they fell. Cody wound his arms around Gage, pulling Gage in tight as the silent tears turned to sobs which wracked his body. Gage smoothed his hands over Cody’s back, pushing aside his hair and laying his warm palms directly on the ravaged scars so that Cody would feel the tenderness in his touch. “No more pain Cody, no more. Only love baby. All you feel now is love.”
Cody was sobbing, clinging to Gage as if he’d never breathe again, never be able to escape the beast that filled his memories, his nightmares, the dark places in his soul. Gage could only hope that little by little, he was replacing the beast, filling the empty spaces that the monster had left all those years ago.
Gage moved his palms to another area of Cody’s back, pressing softly against the ravaged skin as Cody’s sobs quieted to silent tears. “Gage?” Cody choked out.
“Yes baby, it’s Gage. I’m here, love. Shh, I’m not leaving.” He moved his warm hands to another place that hadn’t been touched yet, pressing down as he soothed the tortured soul that was Cody.
Cody seemed to relax with Gage’s soft voice at his ear. “I’m sorry Gage. I’m sorry. I never wanted you to know. I wanted to protect you from me.”
Gage couldn’t wrap his mind around the phrase. Was it possible that Cody thought he had anything to do with his own brutalization and was now worried about protecting Gage from himself? “Sorry Cody? Sorry for what?”
***
Cody pulled out of Gage’s hug, lifting his head as he stared down into Gage’s tear filled eyes. His eyes traced over Gage’s beautiful face looking for the pity that he’d expected to see. He knew he’d leave if he saw it. He could live with his own shame but not if he shamed Gage. There was no pity in the violet depths, no condemnation. Gage’s eyes reflected back love. Cody blinked. He’d never seen love in anyone’s eyes before. He couldn’t ever remember seeing that in his mother’s eyes before her death. He rarely looked into her eyes, unable to bear her pain.
“What could you possibly have to be sorry for sweetheart?” Gage lifted his head and kissed Cody’s lips softly.
Cody laid his head back down on Gage’s muscular shoulder; pursing his lips, he found his mark on Gage’s neck as he brushed his mouth lightly against it. He closed his eyes as Gage’s warm hands moved again on his back, pressing softly as Gage healed him even more with a loving touch.
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