Jupiter Blaze Branson aka JB

"Family will only love you for as long as they can use you."

I have to fall in love with at least one of my characters; in Heathens it's JB.

I didn't realize how emotionally attached I was/ am to JB until I did my first edit from the publisher.

He's not just a book boyfriend he's something different. The first edit was emotionally hard for me. For days after I felt emotionally off balance.

JB is a bad ass alpha male that is extremely broken in more ways than one. Everyone wants something from him that he's not capable of giving. The leader of the Branson Indiana branch of the family wants the perfect killing machine.

His twin brother Caesar wants him to be emotionally and physically there for him when he needs him. Never taking into account what JB wants and needs from him.

The only person that understood JB was his mother and she was taken from him which sends him down spiraling into darkness.

When JB spends time with Amina for the first time. He shows her his first tattoo which he did himself as a pre-teen. The lyrics are hinted at but not written. For those that are curious this is what JB has tattooed on his arm.

We'll know for the first time If we're evil or divine We're the last in line yeah This is : Dio - The Last In Line Lyrics

Why that song and those lyrics?

Music is very important to me. Each book I write I mentally make a sound track . I grew up listening to everything and I still do.

Dio and this song meant a lot to me. It's dark, it's tragic. Many speculate on the lyrics and their meaning but for JB he explains how he sees his life.

I could go on and on about JB but I won't. I'll say one last thing. Under the pen name Jordan Abbott I wrote the Hells Vipers novels. Readers fell in love with Nuke and Jasmine. Do not be mistaken JB is not Nuke!

Here's an excerpt from the book.

JB lays motionless on the sofa as he ignores another call from Amina. He needs to get his act together. No woman likes being ignored. He needs to snap out of this before he blows it with her. He just doesn’t want her to deal with him when he’s like this.

This is why he didn’t want to do the dirty deed. He knew he was going to get like this; he always does after a killing. He replays it over and over in his mind — and it’s not out of guilt, but pride. It takes him a while to get out of the mood of wanting to do it again.

He stares at the television, the images passing before his eyes are not registering in his brain. He keeps seeing Jasper and the back of his head exploding and the adrenalin starts pumping through his veins again. He feels overly aggressive and he needs to take it out on someone.

The buzzer at his security gate sounds off. He reluctantly gets up from the sofa and walks over to the security monitor. Amina, “Fuck!” He stands there for a moment. Her last call was obviously to tell him that she was coming to his house. Hesitantly, he presses the button and lets her in through the gate.

He lets off a line of curses as he heads towards the front door. He yanks the door open He needs to make sure that he is perfectly clear she needs to give him some fucking space before she sees a side of him she can’t handle.

The motion sensor lights on the road leading to his house flick on, tracking her advancement all the way down the road. He steps out onto the well-lit porch as she pulls to a rolling stop.

He becomes even more irritated when she gets out of her car. Does the woman never have a bad day? Why the fuck is she looking so good? She almost doesn’t look real. Her long dark hair is blowing in the night air. She’s wearing a sexy, flowing, red, summery dress. The straps on the dress crisscross her chest; putting dark bondage images in his head. No, she needs to get the fuck out of her before she ends up bound and gagged on his bed with or without her permission. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She stops dead in her tracks. Her open-toe wedge heels sinking into the deep gravel. She stares at him.

He doesn’t want her here. How foolish of her to just show up. For all she knows he could have a wife, a girlfriend or both. “Answer me! Why are you here?”

“I was worried about you!” She inches forward and he motions with his hand and she halts under his nonverbal command.

“Amina, I told you not to come out here!” Too bad he hasn’t been drinking. If he had, she could blame this behavior on the alcohol.

“You were acting weird and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“You’re going to make me violate my parole.” He said between gritted teeth.

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to flirt or threaten me.”

He scowls at her; her joke isn’t funny. She’s watching him as he stands on the porch; his massive, tattooed, bulging biceps straining against his long sleeve jersey. She’s looking at him like he’s a sexy movie villain and not giving a damn that she’s stressing the hell out of him right now and that’s pissing him off.

“It looks like you’re doing just fine, so I’ll go. I’m sorry I bothered you.” She awkwardly stands there for a moment, probably in hopes that he’ll stop acting like a jackass and ask her to stay. He doesn’t.

He’s tense from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. “Anything else? Why the fuck are you just standing there?” His tattooed arms cross in front of his chest.

“I…Never mind,” she replies quietly.

She looks delicious. All he wants to do is rip that dress off of her and take that pussy like he owns it. He takes a deep breath. “I’m fine. I don’t need you checking up on me.”

He needs for his words to hurt her feelings. If she feels stupid and embarrassed, she’ll leave and not see him like this. He’ll work on mending things with her when he feels halfway mentally healthy again.

She doesn’t move. He watches her just stand there, looking like a wounded angel. He fixes his eyes on her. Why in the hell can’t she just get in the car and drive away?

“Okay, I’m going to go,” she says.

He holds his breath of relief as she opens the car door; just as he thought she would, Amina hesitates again.

“Are you alone?”

“No, you’re here,” he says with an haughty snicker.

“JB, you know what I mean.”

“You’re an adult; do you think I’m alone?” His response is cold and leading. He needs her to leave right now.

Point of view : Third person present

Trigger warnings (i.e. domestic violence, suicide, graphic violence, etc. – these are also used for reviewers as some reviewers require it to filter certain books from their audience):