A Kiss for Judas

Violence, lust and passion, all served with a dollop of British comedy, A Kiss For Judas is another beautifully illustrated, gripping, prose novel from bestselling Yaoi creators, Katsura and Yuramei. Based on the Big Deal series, this story follows the exploits of bisexual, sex addict, Judas and the men who grow to love and hate him.

Judas MacGregor, a small town boy with little going for him but his looks, receives a further kick in the teeth from fate when his mother, the woman who lumbered him with the handle from hell, dies. With no one in the world to guide or goad him, he throws himself into the pursuit of satisfaction—and straight into the clutches of petty crime.

A hopeless future is an apparent certainty, then a chance encounter in prison presents him with an opportunity to change his life forever…

Recruited as a dogsbody for the notoriously violent Campbell gang, the young delinquent has never had it so good. He forms an unlikely friendship with Fergus Campbell, the privileged son of the boss, and everything seems to be looking up…until a robbery goes disastrously wrong.
Was Judas's mother prophetic in her choice of name for him, after all?

Through the gritty world of organised crime, in the forgotten backwaters of Scotland, we chart Judas's progress from a poverty stricken nobody, to a fully-fledged hood and hitman.



Excerpt:

“You coming then?” Clearly uninterested in the stranger’s departure, Sandy headed for the stairs again.

Judas followed him, tugging at the tie he wore. These fucking things were so uncomfortable. Who would choose to wear one for any reason other than the big sham that was a funeral?
Once they were both inside the bedroom, Sandy closed the door. He faced Judas, the two of them standing close to foot of the bed. “Well?” He seemed to be studying Judas’s face closely, taking in his appearance with obvious scrutiny, but Judas’s lips appeared to attract his attention most. “Do I get my suit back?”

Being blessed in the looks department, Judas was used to being stared at, but certainly no guy had ever eyeballed his mouth for such a prolonged period of time. He’d the sudden urge to crouch and say, “Hey, I’m up here.” Like a girl had once said to him while he goggled at her breasts. The lack of eye contact, however, made him feel that anything he was about to say was irrelevant.

“I can’t go home in wet clothes.” He attempted his obvious response, not surprised when Sandy appeared to ignore it. Mere inches now separated them. Finally, Sandy’s stare did leave Judas’s mouth, only to fixate on his eyes instead.

“You’re a good looking guy, Judas. That’s your real name, isn’t it? I always thought people called you that for a joke.” He smiled and Judas immediately smelled the alcohol on his breath. So he hadn’t been unique in finding the booze the only decent thing about the commiseration spread.

“Jude.” Judas nodded. “Like the song, you know?” The lyrics of The Beatles classic had become something like a comfort to Judas. Someone out there actually gave a toss about this Jude, whoever he was, and the unloved loner embraced the chorus, stole the name, and made it all personal to him.

“Hey, Jude…” There was no tune to the way Sandy spoke, so thankfully, he wasn’t about to give a rendition. Instead, he reached out and gently stroked Judas’s cheek. “Can’t be easy for you, losing your ma like that, yeah? Being left alone?”

Aside from Sandy’s mother, no one had ever shown Judas any real care before, so he wasn’t used to the etiquette of it all. He shrugged in response to the touch and leaned his head back a fraction. “I’ll get by. We weren’t that close.”

Again, it seemed that Sandy hadn’t listened at all to the reply and had once more become fascinated by Judas’s mouth. He leaned a closer and whispered in such a way that Judas felt the words land on his own lips. “Hey, Jude…” Sandy slid the hand that had once caressed Judas’s cheek and tangled it through the waves of his hair instead. “Can I kiss you?”

“Kiss me?” Judas almost spluttered. “W-what would you want to do that for?”