Jamie Craig: Unveiled

Unveiled by Jamie Craig
From: Amber Quill Press

“What happened?” Emma asked. She wouldn’t believe him if he told her nothing happened; Jess was sure she probably felt his tumultuous emotions from outside the building. He finished off the bottle and tossed it into the trash with a little too much force.

“Xavier wasn’t at the party, so Gideon, in his infinite wisdom, agreed to a second party. Without bothering to ask
the display if that was going to be a problem. But that’s okay, I have nothing to be afraid of except a room full of vamps, and humans, and their bloodlust.”

Her eyes darted around the room, her head finally turning to fix on the bedroom door. Emma stared at it for long seconds before shifting back to Jesse. “Did you get hurt tonight?”

“No.” He rotated his head, stretching the muscles in his neck. “No more than what was planned, at any rate.”

“So why…” She stopped, her frown deepening as she looked behind her. In the next second, she was stepping out of
the way as Gideon came barreling into the kitchen.

“What the fuck did you expect me to do?” He ignored Emma to march forward and shove Jess into the refrigerator.
He was oblivious to Jesse’s wince as fresh pain bloomed in his back, though Emma’s sharp gasp meant she was more than aware. “You can’t think I actually like this, can you?”

Jesse pushed both hands against Gideon’s chest, allowing himself just enough room to get past Gideon. He wasn’t going to be cornered and shouted at, or cower beneath Gideon’s hard eyes, like he had done something wrong. Like he was being the unreasonable one.

“I’m sorry, I’m having a bit of a hard time putting myself in your shoes, Gideon. I didn’t realize it was so fucking hard on you to be the one free to walk, and talk, and fight, and leave, and not be locked alone in the dark.”

Emma blocked his exit. Twin spots of color had risen in her cheeks, and her breathing had quickened, but she remained firm when he attempted to navigate past her.

“Tell him you’re scared.” Her dark eyes were beseeching. “Tell him anything, Jess.”

“I did.” Jesse didn’t bother to disguise the fact that he was hurt. “But that doesn’t seem to matter right now.”

“No, what matters is that you trust me to make this right,” Gideon barked.

Emma’s head snapped around to stare at him. “You’re not helping.”

“Gee, and you figured that out all on your lonesome, did you?” His mouth curled into a sneer. “If you’d let us go after your bitch of a sister with guns blazing, we wouldn’t even be in this mess.”

Jesse spun to face Gideon, appalled. It was one thing for Gideon to lash out at him—Jess knew eventually they would put all of this behind them—but he didn’t expect him to be so vicious to Emma. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t talk to her like that.”

“It’s okay, Jess.” Her voice was surprisingly calm. “He’s just trying to bait me so we don’t end up talking about what’s really wrong here.”

Gideon jabbed an angry finger in their direction. “Being able to tell Jess is pissed does not give you permission to interfere in this.”

“No, the fact that you two insisted on me sticking around when I wanted to go is. And Jess isn’t the only one I can read right now.”

Gideon’s eyes flashed. “Vampire, remember? You can’t read me.”

“I can’t read you easily. But the more I get to know you, the easier it gets.” Emma took an even step back in his
direction. “And I’m not going to touch on the fact that you both are so wired right now, I’d have to be deaf and blind not to know how hurt both of you are.”

Jesse’s head was pounding. His inherent need for everybody to get along was starting to pull at his anger, and a
part of him wanted to abandon his own frustrations and work on smoothing things over between Gideon and Emma. It was an almost ridiculous impulse, but it was strong. But beyond that, he wanted to scoff at Emma’s words. What had hurt Gideon? That Jesse didn’t want to quietly submit to something so fucking dangerous and painful? “It doesn’t matter,” Jesse muttered, making another attempt to get past Emma.

This time, she grabbed his arm. “It does,” she said. “Don’t run away, please.”

Warmth radiated from her palm and spread up his arm. He recognized immediately what she was trying to do—replace
the frustrated pain with something more peaceful. At first, he resented the attempt. These were his emotions, and he came by them honestly, and he had every right to suffer through every hellish second of them. But at the same time, the spark of heat was a welcome relief. But it was only a spark.

“We need to talk about this,” Gideon said.

The tips of Emma’s fingers began to stroke the underside of his arm. “I know how scared you are.” Her voice was as soft as her touch. “But you were there for me when I was so terrified at Sangre and the next morning. Let me be here for you now. Please, Jess.”

Jesse relaxed slightly, no longer poised for flight. He turned his attention to Gideon. “Do you want to talk about
this? Or do you just want me to agree with you?” The question was more curious than confrontational. Even if Emma wasn’t fighting each wave of anger with her touch, Jesse was too exhausted to sustain the argument for much longer.

“I would’ve talked to you about this at the party if I’d had the chance,” Gideon said.

Jesse knew that was probably true, but despite his protests, that wasn’t the only thing bothering him. Gideon seemed to have complete disregard for what Jesse was feeling, and that was more confusing than anything else. He had never been so caught up in the greater good he was willing to sacrifice Jesse’s life for it, and now Jess didn’t know how to reconcile this apparent contradiction. He felt like they were in a stalemate. “Emma, can you….can you show him? What I’m feeling?”

Her eyes flew to Gideon, but before he could put up a protest, she slid her hand down to Jesse’s and entwined their fingers, dragging him back to face his lover. She kept Jesse at her back, pulling his hand around to rest it on her stomach. It effectively put them into a half-embrace, but in spite of the added warmth being pressed to her spread through his body, it was the way Gideon’s eyes locked on his that kept him still.

Man, have I been slacking lately?!? Between work and such I just have been lapsing into a world of blah. Maybe I need a vacation but that will have to wait for now I guess.

Anyway, back to the book…

Jamie Craig are back with another chapter of the continuing saga of Gideon, the vampire, and Jesse, his faithful human sidekick. Fighting crime and finding new and interesting ways to use dungeon equipment on each other. As you can tell from the cover wax comes into play in this story and I really liked the idea that a Top would use a dungeon scene to “wax creative” so to speak. Yes, I will not give up my day job promise. Wax on, wax off!

So um… What did I think about it though? Hmmmmmm, this is one of those books I generally re-read several times to focus my thoughts on it, because it is not poorly written at all. The character arc is logical, the motivations are reasonable and the continuity from the other story is wonderfully interwoven. No real indicators can be pointed to as to why I felt cheated.

Well, maybe there is a way I can show you what I mean with some compare and contrast. Let’s switch back to the last book for a moment and review the scene where Jesse was looking through those old pictures of Gideon getting it on and then obviously killing the other men he is shown having sex with. Jesse then confronts Gideon..

“The difference is knowing when to stop and then caring enough to actually do it.” When Gideon snaked his tongue around the shell of Jesse’s ear, a shiver ran down Jess’ spine. “Even when I know how badly you want it.”

Jesse clutched Gideon’s shirt with one hand, his other hand sneaking between their bodies to cup Gideon’s erection. “I’m glad one of us knows when to stop,” he murmured. “Because sometimes I do want it.”

Gideon snorted. “I’m beginning to wonder if your definition of sometimes is the same as Webster’s.”

It was passages like this in the last book that caught my attention and made me enjoy the interplay between the two men. I liked the idea of love and fear being combined to create this hot passionate relationship between a vampire and a human. That control is a battle fought minute by minute.

The crime they investigate reflects the relationship they begin, the deaths caused by the Obsidian drug, a drug that allows vampires to let go and do whatever they have carefully inhibited themselves from doing.

This idea was then reflected in the sudden feelings that spring up between Gideon and Jesse. The idea that Gideon could eventually let go and harm or kill Jesse and that Jesse finds that power over him by Gideon sexually HAWT.

This dynamic is also reflected in the BDSM dynamics they then explore.

All these mirrors within mirrors and dang clever writing made the whole package a must read for me. I got it, a vampire romance with teeth, and I loved it.

Now back to our current story here in Unveiled. Where is the danger to Jesse from Gideon? It seems they have worked it all out and they seem very comfortable with each other now. *sigh* Comfortable enough to explore their feelings about having Emma join them.

But that’s not all, Emma is an empath so their emotions must be carefully explored and mapped. Oh no, that was the uncertainty that I liked about Jesse and Gideon. The power Gideon has over life and death, the unknown depths he must possess, the dance of danger they both participate in based on the fact that one could easily kill the other. The romance between the savage animal and his prey.

I saw the pulling of the vampires teeth reflected even in the crime they investigated in Unveiled. I swear, I never once felt Jesse was in any real danger and the excerpt above came across to me more like Jesse was bitching about the taking of necessary risks and not about going above and beyond the risks he took in the last book. Maybe in thinking about it showing Jesse’s POV during the events may have helped make it more real… I don’t know maybe it is just me.

This is not a black and white deal though. The story is well written and the characters growing to find some comfort level around each other makes perfect sense. I guess I just wanted the danger of the unknown, the dark hint of threat in every bite, to remain a little longer which is my own bias. I also like dark chocolate so…

I will be reading the next book in the series that just came out Mosaic Moon.

I am giving this book a B because honestly I think the problems I have are with my own expectations and not with what you wrote.

Tags: Amber Quill Press, BDSM, Gay, Grade B, Jamie Craig, Vampire Romance