This week’s Wicked Wednesday brings you another installment of my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you.
In Chapter 23, Catalina and Ramon finally make love, putting aside all the prohibitions against a human becoming involved with a member of the pack, especially one who is slated to be the next leader.
In this chapter we see the morning after and what happens to shatter the peace of Caterina and Ramon’s time together.
For those of you who may have missed the first chapters, you can read them here:
Chapter 24
***If you are not over 17, please read no further***
Catalina woke to the feel of him spooning against her, the heat of his body bathing her back. As she stirred, pressing into him, he woke as well.
“G’morning,” Ramon said against the side of her face, a tired grumble in his voice.
She understood the reason for his fatigue. They had spent the night, short as it was, making love. Glorious, satisfying love, she thought and turned in his arms, dropped a playful kiss on the side of his mouth.
“Again?” he said, barely opening one eye, but a smile played along the corners of his lips.
“You dare to complain?” she teased, unused to beginning the morning with levity. Actually, unused to beginning the morning wrapped in the arms of a lover.
With a swiftness she had not anticipated, he rolled and trapped her beneath him, fully alert, his dark eyes gleaming with purpose. “Since last night, I dare many things, mi amor,” he said, bent his head and kissed the tip of her breast before suckling it.
“Ay, Ramon, what a nice way to wake,” she almost purred, holding his head to her as he switched from breast to breast, awakening desire. His erection growing as it rested against the softness of her belly.
A knock came at her door. Insistent.
Ramon picked up his head and glanced at her bedroom door and the knock came again, more determined. Followed by her sister’s command.
“Catalina. Open up. Father has called for us,” Helena said, clear distress in her tones.
Catalina shot a quick look at her alarm clock. Barely four in the morning. Her father would not be dragging from her bed at this hour unless it was urgent, especially knowing that she had been on patrol the night before.
“I must go,” she said, but Ramon was already in action, rolling off her and onto his feet.
The knock came again and Catalina bolted from the bed, grabbing a robe and jerking it on as she walked to the door. She only half-opened it, not wanting Helena to see that she’d had company for the night.
Her sister darted her gaze past Catalina and toward the bed, and Catalina stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
“What is it, sister?” Catalina questioned.
“Father called up from the morgue. He says it’s urgent and we need to convene the council.” As her sister spoke, she narrowed her gaze, as if examining Catalina for signs that something was amiss.
“In the morgue? One of the pack has been killed?” Catalina asked, tying the robe more tightly around her as if that would somehow guard her secrets from her sharp-eyed half-sister.
“Two wolves. Ambushed from the looks of it. By vampires.” After she finished her report, Helena leaned close and drew in a deep inhale.
“You should scrub, hermana, before you come down. His human scent clings to you,” Helena warned.
Catalina rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she considered all that Helena had said. The vampires had been growing bolder every day, but an ambush . . .
“This is so not good,” she said.
Helena nodded and seemed about to say something else, but hesitated.
“Is there more I should know?” Catalina pressed.
“Hemmerich was with Selina when I went to her room. He was rather smug, as if he knew more than he should,” Helena advised.
So not good, Catalina thought. She trusted Hemmerich as much as she trusted the vampires.
“Tell father I’ll be down shortly,” she advised and then ducked back into the room.
Ramon was dressed and pacing beside the edge of the bed, clearly aware that something serious had occurred. He stopped as she approached and faced her, tension evident in all the lines of his body.
“It’s something bad, isn’t it?” he said and opened his arms, always ready to offer comfort.
She stepped into his arms and embraced him, his comfort surrounding her. Peace suffusing her in a way that did not come with any other person. But even as she held him, she knew that her peace would be shortlived.
If the vampires were on the offense, it could mean only one thing. . .
We’re having a spontaneous contest today! Leave your mixed up version of an old adage here by midnight EST on Saturday, November 14, for a chance to win a copy of FURY CALLS and a SINS OF THE FLESH T-shirt!
So how does this mix-it-up Friday contest work – here’s a sample:
Old adage: A good man is hard to find.
Mix-it-up Version: A hard man is good to find.
Also, don’t forget there are only two more weeks to the SINFUL THINGS contest. For a chance to win, or increase your chances of winning, please do the following by midnight EST November 30:
On Twitter please Tweet/Retweet (please be sure to include the bit.ly link):
Celebrate the Release of Caridad Pineiro’s SINS OF THE FLESH! RT for a chance 2 win a $50 Gift Certificate. http://bit.ly/2AZWlC
On Facebook please post to your profile (please be sure to include the bit.ly link):
Celebrate the Release of Caridad Pineiro’s SINS OF THE FLESH! Post this link to your profile for a chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate. http://bit.ly/2AZWlC
Sorry to have missed the blog yesterday, but family matters called to me.
I hope you all had a nice day yesterday and also hope you will enjoy this combo day’s offering – a prequel story to SINS OF THE FLESH. The prequel features Mick Carrera and offers some enlightenment on what he does and the kind of man he is beneath his dark and dangerous exterior.
I have only one tip for you this Tuesday – VOTE! Get out there and use a very important right that you have to decide what happens in this Nation. In fact, it’s not just a right, but an obligation that you have as a citizen so that this process keeps on running properly.
So please go and Vote today!
On another note, I’ve got some fun places for you to visit! Drop by Night Owl Romance to see some Behind the Scenes info on SINS OF THE FLESH and leave a comment there for a chance to win a T-shirt and copy of FURY CALLS.
Today we’ve got some really awesome things going on for the launch party! You can download the first chapter of SINS OF THE FLESH for free, catch my guest blog with my friend and fellow author Amanda McIntyre and drop by and listen to my Blog Talk Radio Interview later today!
To download the free excerpt, just click here! (You’ll need Adobe Acrobat to read the excerpt).
Welcome to day 2 of the SINS OF THE FLESH Book Launch Party! Today we have something really special – the premiere of the SINS OF THE FLESH video.
So grab a bag of popcorn, make sure you’ve gone to the bathroom because you won’t want to miss a second of this and sit back and enjoy this awesome video! Many thanks to all involved in the creation for doing an amazing job in translating my vision for the book into this trailer.
Don’t forget to leave a comment by midnight EST on Friday, October 30 for a chance to be one of 5 lucky winners of a SINS t-shirt and autographed copy of the book.
And don’t forget to either tweet or post the following for a chance to be the lucky winner of a $50 gift certificate! The SINFUL THINGS Contest ends on November 30, so keep on retweeting/posting!
On Twitter please Tweet/Retweet (please be sure to include the bit.ly link):
Celebrate the Release of Caridad Pineiro’s SINS OF THE FLESH! RT for a chance 2 win a $50 Gift Certificate. http://bit.ly/2AZWlC
On Facebook please post to your profile (please be sure to include the bit.ly link):
Celebrate the Release of Caridad Pineiro’s SINS OF THE FLESH! Post this link to your profile for a chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate. http://bit.ly/2AZWlC
This week’s Wicked Wednesday brings you another installment of my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you.
In the prior chapter, Catalina has battled two vampires, including a vampire elder. She has killed them both and survived the battle, but not without injury. As she stares at the bodies of the two dead vampires, she pauses to consider how it is that her family came to bear the burden of hunting the undead. This chapter provides you a glimpse of the actions that will lead to the birth of the Villalobos werewolf clan.
For those of you who may have missed the first chapters, you can read them here:
Even a vampire could only stomach so much death and decay.
Pedro de Aragon had hoped that the verdant hills in the north of Spain and the nearby villages would provide him more fertile feeding grounds than the crowded cities filled with pestilence.
As he stood at the edge of the woods, waiting until full night before entering the village below, the sights in his native city and the others through which he had passed in his quest for sustenance haunted him. Bodies piled high outside city walls. Sick stragglers dead in their tracks along the roads leading from one town to the next.
In one city they had tossed dozens of bodies into the river when the graveyards and fields could no longer hold more. Grimly the bodies bobbed along, carried downward by the current to the next unfortunate town.
Pedro wished that here, far away from the crowded and rat-infested cities, it might be different. The air was certainly an improvement, he thought, breathing in deeply of the forest — pine with the refreshing touch of eucalyptus.
Sí, definitely better, he thought and padded down the hillside toward the modest seaside village, eager for a meal. A few hungry weeks had passed since he had last fed. It showed. His body was gaunt with bird-like bones visible; skin pale as milk. Every day he grew weaker. If he couldn’t dine soon . . .
To one nearly immortal, the prospect of death was even scarier.
A nice plump villager, he thought and smacked his lips. One of the healthy ones to sustain him.
The closer he got to the village, the fresh scent of the forest disappeared to be replaced by the tang of the ocean as a breeze blew inward from the shore. But occasionally, there came the smell of something else — death.
Pedro had barely gotten to the edge of the town when he passed his first body. That of a shepherd in a meadow between the forest and a row of buildings marking the furthest edge of the town. Beside the grizzled old shepherd lay his small herd of lifeless sheep, their bodies bloated and stiff.
He had seen it before, faithful animals dead alongside their masters. It didn’t bode well for what awaited him in the village below.
At the first lane of buildings — strong stone warehouses constructed by the Romans who had conquered this small Galician aldea — were piles of corpses, rotting beneath the revealing light of a full moon.
Pedro held his breath against the putrid smell and moved onward quickly, rushing through the town’s streets to confirm what he already knew — the pestilence had reached here as well. Those not infected were barricaded tightly in their homes, out of his reach.
As he rounded one corner, a man staggered into him and grabbed hold. “Ayudame,” the man pleaded in a weak voice, his eyes glazed with fever. A bright flush marked the sick man’s cheeks.
Pedro wanted to weep with frustration and tossed the plague-ravaged human away.
He would not feed here anytime soon. He couldn’t risk slaking his thirst on one of the dying. He’d already seen some of his kind, their armpits and groins swollen, oozing blood and pus as the disease ravaged them slowly. Vampires were difficult to kill, but the plague seemed to delight in wreaking vengeance on his fellow undead before finally taking them.
Eyes wild as he searched for a meal, he realized there would be none tonight in this village. He ran as fast as he could, eager to return to the forest with its fresh air and clean scents.
At the edge of the woods, he paused to look down at the city once more and ponder what to do. He leaned his hand on a tree as he sought to catch his breath from his sprint up the hillside. Taking a deep inhale, the scent of something else teased his nostrils. Fur, wet with a mist that had started on his rush back to the woods.
From nearby came a growl, low and menacing. Movements cautious, Pedro peered toward the sound. Bright red eyes met his. A wolf. Fur the color of chestnuts glistened in the bright light of a full moon from the drops of moisture clinging to it. A warm regular breath marked the night air. A chill had swept down the hillside with the coming of night.
This was no sick animal, he thought. Allowing himself to transform, the strong steady beat of the wolf’s heart sang with life. He knew then what he had to do.
Long fangs erupted from his mouth. He issued his own growling challenge to the wolf before he flew at it.
Sensing danger, the wolf turned and raced into the forest, but even weak from his lack of feeding, he was able to keep up and the thrill of the hunt energized him.
He dodged low-lying branches. Jumped over the underbrush in the forest. Slowly he gained ground on the fast moving animal. The wolf’s haunches bunched and moved with strength as it tried to escape, but Pedro was too desperate to allow that to happen.
With one final lunge, he had the beast within his grasp. The lush fur soft in his hands as he wrestled the wolf to the ground. The wolf fought him, pawing at his undead flesh with its sharp nails. Tearing through the fine cloth of his pants, raking deep into his leg.
He managed to avoid the wolf’s powerful jaws as it snapped at him, trying to break free, but Pedro’s hold was too strong. With a quick twist, he bared the wolf’s neck. A sound, almost like a pleading whimper, escaped the animal, but his hunger was too strong for compassion. He needed fulfillment after weeks without sustenance.
Pedro bent his head, sank his teeth into the wolf’s neck and fed. Wolf’s blood, richly luxuriant, filled his mouth and ran over onto his lips as some of it escaped his fangs. He sucked greedily, a reckless glutton, forgetting a wolf was unlike a human and would not give up the fight so easily.
As he gorged on its blood, the wolf renewed its struggles and reared up. It sank its teeth deep into Pedro’s thigh. Just one final futile attempt to free itself before he drained the last of its life and the wolf’s jaws gave up their hold.
He lay down beside his prey, giddy with the strength flowing through his veins from the kill and took a long moment to enjoy the rush. Smiling, fangs and lips crimson from the blood of his prey, he realized he’d discovered how he could survive the pestilence decimating the cities and towns of Spain. The forests were full of wolves. He had seen them roaming the edges of many a city on his journey to escape the sickness. More than once he’d wondered why they had seemed unaffected by the death sweeping across the country and killing almost everything else in sight.
Whatever the reason, he didn’t care. He had found a way to survive.
Rising, still in his demon state, he used those heightened senses to search the night air for yet another source of food. A howl pierced the night, as if to challenge him. He raced off, emboldened with the wolf’s blood in his veins. Eager for another meal.
He didn’t stop to look back at the body of the wolf he had ravaged. Didn’t notice, as he raced away, the slight hint of breath that came from the wolf’s muzzle or the quiver of muscles reanimating.
Pedro’s blood lust was unstoppable.
As the wolf slowly awakened and lumbered to its feet, its body heated as it changed, the moisture clinging to the wolf’s fur steaming in the night air. The wolf’s eyes glowed, but with an unnatural light. With a low growl, razor-edged fangs erupted from its upper lip. The wolf shook its head, as if fighting the transformation, but it was inevitable.
Altered strength energized the wolf’s body as it headed down toward the village. A new carnal lust as the vampire’s blood now running through its veins drove it onward, eager for slaughter. Needing to feed to drive the heat of the ongoing vampire transformation consuming its body.
Its first hunting ground — the unsuspecting town below.
We’ve had interest from a couple of production companies for SINS OF THE FLESH and so for today’s Wicked Wednesday I’m having a casting call to see who you think would make a better Caterina Shaw, the heroine in the novel. To help you make a decision, here’s a little info about Caterina and a teaser – the inside cover copy!
Caterina Shaw is half-Irish/half-Mexican and a celebrated cellist. She’s been diagnosed with a brain tumor that has suddenly become more aggressive, making her lose her sight and be in constant pain. She goes to Wardwell Laboratories, a company renowned for gene research and engineering, for a radical gene therapy to slow the growth of the tumor. Unfortunately, the scientists use Caterina for a guinea pig, making her something more, and less, than human. Tall and lean, but womanly, Caterina has cerulean blue eyes and long wavy brown hair.
So check out this teaser and then let me know who you think would make the best Caterina.
*****
Her Touch — Innocent and Honest — Ripped Through His Body
… tightening Mick’s gut and creating an unexpected and unwanted reaction. She had brushed the tips of her fingers across his bruise. And from the tremble of her fingers, Caterina clearly had experienced something intense as well.
He rose from the chair and the motion brought him close to her. Too close. Her eyes were that intense dark blue once more, the pupils wide. The blush was even stronger across the high slashes of her cheekbones. She licked her lips.
Very human lips.
Very luscious womanly lips.
He dipped his head down, hesitating when he was about an inch away. Warning himself that if he took a
taste …
*****
Ready to decide? Is it Kate Beckinsale on the left, Evangeline Lilly on the right or the gorgeous cover model from the back cover of SINS OF THE FLESH? Or do you have someone else in mind for Caterina Shaw?
When I was researching SINS OF THE FLESH, I wanted to make sure that I gave readers a taste of the characters in a variety of ways, including in the foods that they would eat. Since my research revealed a large Mexican population down the shore as well as in towns like Freehold, it seemed that my mercenary and ex-Army Ranger hero, Mick Carrera, would be Mexican.
And since I love books with foods/chefs (THE PERFECT MIX, SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS and MORE THAN A MISSION), it only seemed right that after Mick’s family had legally immigrated to the United States, they would succeed in their American Dream by opening a Mexican restaurant in one of the shore towns.
But Mexican food is more than tacos and burritos or the Tex-Mex dip recipe I gave you so long ago. I’ve been lucky to visit Mexico City, Tequila and Guadalajara on various occasions and sample the amazing dishes available in those cities (as well as the margaritas!).
But today’s Tuesday Tip comes courtesy of a visit that my daughter paid to a local Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia. She made the dish for us and it was delicious. Plus, it’s simple and incredibly tasty. What could be better? So here is today’s Tuesday Tip Recipe:
Ingredients:
ripe plantains (2) or 2 packages of Goya Frozen Ripe Plantains
sour cream
queso fresco
chopped chives
Directions:
1. Most stores carry plantains, but they must be ripe for this recipe. That means they should have a deep yellow/spotted black outer skin so they will be sweet. Getting them perfectly ripe can be hard, which is why I cheat and rely on the Goya Frozen Ripe Plantains. Always ripe, no peeling and lots of sweet.
2. If you’re using fresh plantains, peel them. Cut diagonally into ovalish slices. Alternative – open the Goya box.
3. Fry up the plantains, either in vegetable oil or butter. This is one time not to use virgin olive oil because it will overpower the sweetness factor. Cook until golden and caramelized.
4. Place the fried plantains on a slightly greased serving dish (They are so sugary, they will stick!).
5. Garnish with sour cream, some crumbled queso fresco (available in the dairy section) and the chopped chives.
6. Serve. This recipe will comfortably provide a side dish or appetizer for 4 to 5 people.
Hope you enjoyed today’s Behind the Scenes look and Tuesday Tip recipe!
This week’s Wicked Wednesday brings you another installment of my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you.
In the prior chapter, Catalina is out on the hunt and has encountered a vampire elder. She battles the elder and triumphs, but suddenly senses the fight is not yet over. The battle continues in this chapter.
For those of you who may have missed the first chapters, you can read them here:
She rose slowly, not wanting to give away the element of surprise.
Immediately behind her came the sound of a footfall, but only one. She whirled to avoid him, but the vamp flying through the air still managed to get a jab into her side with the silver-tipped pike he held in one hand. The leather and then the chain mail kept the pike from breaking through her skin, but the blow was strong enough that a rib cracked with a sickening snap.
Shit. She tucked her left arm tight against her to blunt the pain and immobilize her injured side. The last thing she needed was for the broken bone to puncture her lung.
The vampire landed before her. Older than the newly turned vamp, but not an elder. Infinitely bigger than the first two, with the build of a WWE wrestler. All big overblown hard as rock muscle. Plus, a cocky air wafted about him that said he planned on doing some damage before he killed her. That was clear as well — he had no doubt he would defeat her.
He held the pike like a gladiator, jabbing at her and keeping her too far away to use her sword. As for the crossbow, it rested in the middle of her back, useless for now. To reach it, she risked puncturing her lung and if that happened . . .
They circled around each other, the vampire prodding and jabbing at her. Catalina blocked the thrusts with her sword. Their little dance took her closer and closer to the body of the dead younger vampire. The one with the quarterstaff.
When she was almost upon the young vamp, she switched the sword to her left hand and bending, picked up the shaft of the staff in her right. Pain lanced through her side with the motion, but she bit it back and concentrated on the fight.
They were equals now distance-wise. With the staff she thrust out as well as deflected the pike. She landed a few blows to his body, which angered him. That was good. Anger clouded judgment.
She continued her attack, prodding at his midsection, even managing to catch him between the legs, but he had prepared for that with some kind of padding. The blow to his groin did little to slow him. If anything, attacking his manhood only enraged him more. He finally did what she wanted.
He came at her, the pike close to his body and seemingly forgotten in his rage to get his hands on her and make the fight more personal.
She seized the opportunity, bringing the quarterstaff up under his chin and delivering a punishing blow to his trachea. He dropped the pike and fell back, grabbing at his throat. A weak wheezing sound erupted from him. He frantically clawed at his neck, fighting for air. Vampires didn’t need much, but he obviously wasn’t getting enough.
Dropping the staff and kicking the pike out of his reach, she stood before him, cradling her injured side. His death would be the slow one he had envisioned for her. Already his eyes were bulging from the lack of air. His milk pale skin gained a bluish tinge as he continued working at his throat. Given that he was a vamp, he might linger that way for awhile. Might even recover if he could free his passageway and heal.
Catalina freed his throat for him, thrusting her sword forward, clear through his neck and spine.
He looked up at her, still alive since her blow had not totally decapitated him. It couldn’t since she lacked the mobility to make it a clean move thanks to the injury to her rib. He had sealed the mode of his death with his one blow.
She ripped out her sword, plunged forward again and again until the head finally dropped off his shoulders to land at her feet.
A sloppy kill, only she didn’t have time to think about it. Her body had begun to heal, but with the rib bone out of place. If it did that, she would have to have it rebroken into its proper position.
Slipping her sword into its scabbard, she stepped over the vamp’s body and headed to edge of the building where she leaned against the ledge and slid down. She couldn’t lift the jerkin over her head, so she settled for slipping her one hand up beneath it. Also not as easy due to the tighter fit of the garment thanks to the chain mail beneath. But if it hadn’t been for that protection . . .
She hadn’t been as lucky in these past two outings as she had in the past. How much longer would it be before her luck totally ran out? Before some vampire had a better night than she did, exacting their own brand of vampire vengeance for centuries of being hunted?
When would it ever end? she wondered and ran her hand over her ribs. She located the broken one and the tip of it, bending inward dangerously toward her lung. She managed to shift the broken tip back, toward its mate.
A chill sweat broke out over her body as she did so and waves of pain nauseated her. She pressed on, a warmth inside her body warning that the wolf’s powers of healing were already at work. Knitting bone back together with bone.
Stars and blackness swirled before her eyes as she maintained her hold. Just a little bit longer, she thought and as she waited for the healing to finish, recollected why she was caught in this war.
This week’s Wicked Wednesday brings you another installment of my urban fantasy involving a twist to the werewolf mythology, battles with vampires and a struggle for control in a werewolf pack. I hope you like this next free chapter that I’m offering you.
We’re having a spontaneous contest today! Leave your mixed up version of an old adage here by midnight EST on Saturday, November 14, for a chance to win a copy of 
I have only one tip for you this Tuesday – VOTE! Get out there and use a very important right that you have to decide what happens in this Nation. In fact, it’s not just a right, but an obligation that you have as a citizen so that this process keeps on running properly.
When I was researching 
