I have the pleasure of having with me today the wonderful Hope Tarr who is telling us a little about her re-release of A ROGUE’S PLEASURE and offering a copy of her novel VANQUISHED to one lucky person. Hope is the award-winning author of thirteen historical and contemporary romances as well as a co-founder of Lady Jane’s Salon, New York City’s first and so far only monthly reading series for romance fiction. “Tomorrow’s Destiny,” Hope’s first novella, will release November 10th in a single title Christmas anthology, A HARLEQUIN CHRISTMAS CAROL, with Betina Krahn and Jacquie D’Alessandro. Visit Hope online at www.HopeTarr.com and find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Some of you may know that Caridad means Charity in English (my nickname by the way), so we’ve got 2 of the 3 virtues here today! Are there any Faiths out there to make it all three?
Without further ado – my friend and fellow author, Hope Tarr.
*****
Second chances at love, don’t you just…love them?
A ROGUE’S PLEASURE, my romance debut novel originally published in print with Berkley/Jove, is getting its own second chance at love as an e-book release with Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first imprint and like any proud mama I couldn’t be more pleased. The reissue, which sports gorgeous new cover art and an editing facelift, went live on August 16th, two weeks short of what would be the book’s tenth anniversary. How cool is that!?!
A ROGUE’S PLEASURE is a Regency romp that I’m thrilled to be able to share with a new generation of romance readers. To get the soiree started, close your eyes—okay, don’t close them since you need them open to read this—or better yet open your mind to the clip-clop of horses hooves instead of sirens and honking cars.
It is Regency England, 1812. Napoleon is wreaking havoc in Europe, including Spain and Portugal where ousting the rightful royals and setting his sibling, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne has catalyzed a sweeping grassroots national resistance supported by Britain and its Allies. On the home front, private coaches traveling between the countryside and London are prime targets for the rogues of the road: highwaymen.
Put yourself in the shoes, or rather the Wellingtons, of my hero, Lord Anthony Grenville. Recently returned from the Peninsular War with a gamey leg and a bad case of combat stress masquerading as ennui, you are in your private coach en route to London with your fiancée, Lady Phoebe Tremont, and her shrew of a mother. To drown out the droning of your soon-to-be mother-in-law, you think not great thoughts but rather mundane ones. Will the inn’s beef be soured again? Sigh. Might there be a decent claret to bespeak in lieu of the usual ale? Must I really marry this pretty but deucedly dull girl? You are not only thinking such thoughts but lost to them when a shout of “Halt! Stand and deliver!” freezes the blood in your veins.
Chelsea Bellamy must raise the sum of 500 pounds to ransom her beloved brother. Having exhausted all other avenues, she has taken to the road disguised as the highwayman One-Eyed Jack, accompanied by her faithful manservant, the real One-Eyed Jack. Outnumbered though he is and hampered with womenfolk, still Anthony isn’t going down easily. He isn’t going down at all. Beneath his fancy frock coat, embroidered waistcoat, and frothy shirt, he has a soldier’s spine of steel—and a heart in need of saving.
*****
Thanks so much for joining me today at Caridad’s blog. Please post a comment by midnight EST Thursday August 26th and be entered to win an autographed copy of VANQUISHED, the launch for my Victorian-set “Men of Roxbury House” trilogy.
I’m on a jet plane on my way to Orlando for the RWA National Conference, so I have one of my friends and fellow Carina Press authors dropping by to help me out on this Wicked Wednesday! Give a big hand to Liz Fichera who is here to chat with us about her new release, CAPTIVE SPIRIT.
Without further ado, here’s Liz!
*****
I believe that we can thank Stephenie Meyer and the jaw-droppingly successful TWLIGHT SAGA franchise for the growing popularity of Native Americans in mainstream books and film. And unless you’ve been hiding underneath a rock, you’ve probably heard of the very talented and supremely hawt, Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob Black), who claims some Native American ancestry (specifically Ottawa and Potawatomi) through his mother. Definitely add me to the ranks of Team Jacob!
I adore books with Native American characters, legends, epic themes, rugged settings and, of course, a love story. These are also the type of books that I love to write.
CAPTIVE SPIRIT is my historical romance debut from Carina Press. It’s very much a modern-day love story set in the Sonoran Desert at the dawn of the sixteenth century among people known as the Hohokam Indians. I’m very pleased to be able to share a first chapter excerpt and a cool book trailer on Caridad’s blog today. I’d love to know what you think.
But first, here’s a tease:
Aiyana isn’t like the other girls of the White Ant Clan. Instead of keeping house, she longs to compete on the Ball Court with her best friend Honovi and the other boys. Instead of marriage, she daydreams of traveling beyond the mountains that surround her small village. Only Honovi knows and shares her forbidden wish, though Aiyana doesn’t realize her friend has a secret wish of his own…
When Aiyana’s father arranges her marriage to a man she hardly knows, she takes the advice of a tribal elder: Run! In fleeing, she falls into the hands of Spanish raiders and finds herself being taken over the mountains against her will. Now Aiyana’s on a quest to return to the very place she once dreamed of escaping. And she’ll do whatever it takes to survive and find her way back to the people she loves.
Do you think there are enough Native American characters in books and films? Too much, not enough? Do you have a fav Native American actor? P.S. I harbor a secret crush on Adam Beach of SMOKE SIGNALS fame. Feel free to comment for a chance to win a free digital copy of CAPTIVE SPIRIT.
*****
About Liz: Liz Fichera is an author from the American Southwest by way of Chicago. She likes to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things, oftentimes against the backdrop of Native American legends. When she’s not plotting her next novel, you can find her on Facebook or her blog, discussing writing, books, hunks du jour, LOST reruns or the best brands of chocolate. Please visit her web site because it can get real lonely in the desert: http://www.lizfichera.com/.
CAPTIVE SPIRIT is available through Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever digital books are sold.
For more information on Liz and her books, check out these links:
Take a moment to watch the book trailer down below or if you can’t see the video, please cut and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZBockaqWas
First of all, I want to thank all of you for your kind e-mails and comments about THE CALLING Vampire novels. Your support is so appreciated.
You’ve been asking when you can expect more books in the series and I’m hopeful that the answer is: Soon! I expect to find out about the publication dates in the near future.
There are at least two more books coming out in THE CALLING series: ARDOR CALLS featuring one of my favorite vampires – Stacia. You may remember Stacia from a number of books in THE CALLING as well as from the free read DESIRE CALLS (you can click here for that free story!) Hopefully you will also remember the hero – DEA Agent Alex Garcia – from DEATH CALLS.
After ARDOR CALLS, you can expect to see VENGEANCE CALLS which introduces two new characters to THE CALLING mythology! But let me not bore you with more so you can get to today’s Wicked Wednesday Free Read.
Lots of you have been asking about David Harris, Diana Reyes’s partner, and Maggie Gonzalez, Diana’s best friend and FBI Forensics specialist. You fell in love with them in DARKNESS CALLS and DEATH CALLS and have been wondering what’s up in their lives. Well, I’ve been meddling in their lives for quite some time and you’ll be happy to know I’ll be offering their story to you here as a free read!
So to get you started, here is the first chapter of THE CALLING: THE WOLF WITHIN. If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can click here or cut and paste this link into your browser:
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 free chapter — the last in this first book of the series – that I’m offering you.
In Chapter 27, Catalina, her father, sisters and council members retire to the council chambers to discuss their plan for war. In addition, Catalina’s father decides to call for the Gauntlet in order to pick a spouse for Catalina so that their Villalobos pack heirarchy will be in order should he fall during the battle to come.
In this chapter, Catalina returns to Ramon’s room, heavy of heart, because she knows that her time with him will be over soon for once one of the wolves wins the Gauntlet, she must honor her responsibility and take them as a mate for the good of the pack.
For those of you who may have missed the first chapters, you can read them here:
As I mentioned earlier, this ends the first book in the UNDEAD UPRISING series. UNDEAD UPRISING: REBELLION will be available on the website until October 1. After that, all the chapters will be rolled into one e-book and I’ve got a very special plan for that, but I’let you know on October 15th how you can obtain a copy of the complete version of UNDEAD UPRISING: REBELLION.
What’s going to be the next book in the UNDEAD UPRISING series? THE GAUNTLET. What follows for Catalina in the next book is a number of difficult choices as she is torn between honoring her duty to the pack and her love for Ramon. There will be lots of action, a traitor and a loss that will wrench your heart, but for now, I leave you with the conclusion to UNDEAD UPRISING: REBELLION.
This free read is intended for mature audiences only. NO ONE UNDER 17 should continue to read this excerpt.
Chapter 28
There was an ache in Catalina’s heart that had no cure. It hurt so much she staggered and had to reach for the wall to brace herself.
“Hermana, are you okay?” Helene asked, placing a comforting hand on Catalina’s shoulder.
She nodded curtly. Her throat was too thick with emotion for her to speak, but Helene understood.
Awkwardly Helene hugged her. Such sisterly actions were not common to them, but clearly Helene intended to grow the camaraderie that had sprung up between them. “Rest well, sister,” she whispered before heading to her quarters on the family floor.
Catalina forced herself to continue down the hall to Ramon’s area. She bypassed the infirmary where she had unfortunately spent too much time lately and went to his door. Her arm was leaden as she raised it and then knocked on the door.
Ramon tore the door open, as if had been waiting for her. With one look at her face, he understood.
She fell into his arms, more weary than ever before. The years of tears which she had dammed behind the warrior’s facade breaking past her restraint.
“Mi amor. We will work it out,” he pleaded, kicking the door closed and urging her in the direction of the bed.
She sat on the edge of the bed and he kneeled before her, examining her tear-streaked face. Reaching up and wiping away the wet trails on her cheeks lovingly as he repeated, “It will all work out.”
“How?” she asked on a heaving breath. “How can it when I will be forced to mate with another?”
“Trust me,” he pleaded, straightening a bit until he was eye level with her and the warmth of his breath bathed her lips.
She wanted to trust him. Wanted to believe and yet what possibility could there be for them? Her father had called for the Gauntlet to be run in one month’s time to allow for wolves from neighboring packs to compete for her hand.
“One month, Ramon. In one month we will hold the Gauntlet,” she lamented, digging her hands into his hair to keep him close.
“Then it will be a memorable month,” he said before bringing his lips to hers in a deep scorching kiss that rocked her senses.
There was no holding back any longer. No reason to worry about being discovered or its consequences. Time was too short for such fears.
Catalina gently pulled him upwards and then fell back against the bed, dragging him with her. The weight of his body pleasantly heavy along her length. His erection pressing into the softness of her belly.
“Love me, Ramon,” she said as she rained kisses across his face and ripped at his clothes, not wanting to waste a nano-second of the limited time they had left.
Fabric tore and buttons flew, punctuated by their moans and soft sighs as they explored each bit of flesh that was revealed in their frenzied undressing.
As Ramon yanked aside what remained of her bra and shirt, he bent and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking it deep into his mouth which ripped a strangled groan from her before he gentled his actions. Rolling his tongue around the stiff peak, he brought his hand to her other breast and caressed it, but she needed more.
She needed him buried deep inside her. Needed the length of him driving into her. The weight of him above her, his arms surrounding her.
She kicked off her pants and tugged at his, freeing him and with little finesse, shifted her hips so that he could enter.
He seemed to sense her urgency. He plunged into her, yanking sharp gasps of pleasure/pain from both of them before he stilled.
Ramon glanced down at her. The warrior was there, battling for these last stolen moments. Fierce in her determination that nothing ruin the short time they had left.
His warrior. His woman. An enigma like none he had ever encountered. Like no other woman he would ever know and he would not waste a second of that miracle.
Bending his head, he whispered against her lips, “I will love you forever.”
“Dios, Ramon. You are my forever,” she replied, tears thick in her voice again, but he did not want for this to be a time of sorrow.
He wanted to embrace the joy of their love.
He kissed her deeply once more, pouring his heart out to her as he slowly tempered the kiss and began to move his hips. He met her mouth again and again, then dipped his head to adore her breasts, wanting to bring her pleasure. Wanting for her to remember every caress, every second of their loving to fill the empty days when they could no longer be together.
As her passion grew, he answered it, stroking and caressing until they were both at the edge and still he somehow held on, letting her fall into her climax before he raised her up again. Higher. More intensely until they were wrapped around one another, so tightly it was almost impossible to know where he began and she ended.
Which was as it should be, he thought. It was what would be right, he thought as he finally lost control and tumbled down with her.
In the aftermath they lay entwined, silent. Both lost in their thoughts. Similar thoughts. She that she could not live without him. He that he would find a way to keep her.
Ramon knew that then without, as their heartbeats were almost as one and skin kissed skin in their tight embrace.
I am so excited to have my friend and fellow author Kaye Manro here to tell us a little about her latest release. Plus, we’ve got a contest for you since I’m also doing a guest blog over with my friend JoJo to help her celebrate her birthday! So, if you leave a comment at JoJo’s blog, you have a chance to win an ARC of STRONGER THAN SIN, my November release, a copy of SINS OF THE FLESH, the first book in the SINS series as well as a T-shirt! Double your chances to win by leaving a comment here and also, if you’re selected at JoJo’s site and leave a comment here, you will also win a copy of your choice of either FURY CALLS or SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS!
So without further ado, here’s my buddy Kaye!
*****
Thanks to the lovely Caridad Pineiro for inviting me, a new author, as a guest on her blog today! I’m so excited to be here, and to share my short ebook, FORBIDDEN LOVE, which is not a paranormal, but a science fiction romance!
Readers may not know exactly how sci-fi relates to the romance genre. So let me show you. In the subgenre of science fiction romance, authors use technology and not magic. Rather than fantasy characters such as shape shifters, the characters are alien or human. The settings are anywhere, but it is common to see stories taking place on alien worlds or on advanced spaceships. For an author, this genre, called SFR can be very exciting and fun to explore. I have to say it was for me.
Forbidden Love is a futuristic sci-fi romance. There is space travel at FTL (faster than light). But there is also lots of sensual exploring between the hero T’Kon and the heroine Maya, who hail from different galaxies and evolutionary paths. Rules on T’Kon’s planet forbid interspecies mating. Yet when he crashes his spacecraft on Maya’s world close to her desert home, what else is he to do but let this audacious alien tend his injuries?
For those who are new to this exciting genre, I have included a Science Fiction Lexicon on my Website. You can find phrases that may be unfamiliar to you there. The terms relate directly to those used in Forbidden Love.
For example, FTL is the ability a spacecraft has to travel in deep space far exceeding the speed of light. While in FTL, your ship could essentially reach billions of miles per second or more.
Now back to Forbidden Love, which is first and foremost a romance even though the subplot is science fiction. Here’s an excerpt so you can get a feel for the Forbidden Love romantic elements:
…She was upon him so near he could feel her breath, sense her warmth. She reached out and ran a hand through the air, searching the length of him.
“Maya,” he blew her name on a sigh.
“Take me with you,” she implored, as tears filled her astounding tawny eyes. “I want to be with you, T’Kon.” She melded her body against his invisible one.
“You know nothing of me or my world.”
“Teach me, show me everything.”
He felt her heat burning inside him, yet the absurdity of her request burned brighter. “What you ask is not possible.”
“Will you please become visible so I can look at you?” She asked. “We need to talk about this before you go flying off into the universe.”
He unshielded his body so she could see him. “I cannot take you.”
“Why not? You can’t say it was coincidence that you happened to crash land in my back yard.”
No, an unfortunate accident. The truthful certainty traced across his mind. Yet his arms enclosed her and he lifted her up. Her legs straddled his waist, and he held her close against his body. A fit so right he could not deny it.
“I wish it were not so, but it is,” he whispered, breathing in her pungent scent. “You would not survive on my world.” He dropped his head to taste her lips before she had a chance to counter his words. “Just one last kiss.” Her mouth opened to allow his tongue entry and he explored the soft moistness, losing himself in her tang.
The stars help him. He did not want to leave her.
Without warning, a sudden and dangerous noise yanked T’Kon from his enamored stupor. He sensed peril approaching. In a rapid-fire move, he raised his palm. A copper arch flashed and shimmered before them revealing the entryway to his concealed spacecraft. He dragged her inside. Tapping a pad the opening closed leaving them hidden behind an undetectable shield.
* * ***
I hope you enjoy reading Forbidden love as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Kaye’s Bio: As a romance author, I lean toward the adventuresome in my writing. I love science fiction and all the enticing quantum theories surrounding it. Where characters rush through outer space at FTL, or teleport into another time, and even slipstream into an alternate reality. I like creating sizzling love scenes too with sexy heroes, and captivating heroines. It just seemed natural to combine all these elements together in my stories.
First of all, congrats to PC Cast for winning the RT Best Nocturne of 2009! It was an honor to have FURY CALLS nominated with her novel and those of my other Nocturne buddies.
FURY CALLS is a book of my heart and on its way to being out-of-print. I wanted to share this excerpt with you from the novel, which was selected by CATAROMANCE as the Best Nocturne of 2009.
In this scene we meet the villain of the piece, a wicked vampire by the name of Sun-Tze Lee. For over a century he has been controlling Foley, the apparent owner of The Blood Bank, that dark and dangerous hangout in The Calling Vampire novels. I loved crafting such an awful villain and I mean truly truly awful. I know the violence was a little too much for some, but I thought it essential for the story since I wanted to show to readers how both Blake and Foley survive situations that would break lesser men (or should I say vamps?)
I hope you enjoy this excerpt from FURY CALLS! If you cannot see the excerpt below, you can also click on this link to read the excerpt and/or download the excerpt to your computer and/or Iphone, PDA, smartphone, etc.
Today’s Wickedness is from my upcoming release STRONGER THAN SIN which will be out from Grand Central Publishing in October 2010. For those of you who have read SINS OF THE FLESH, I hope you’ll enjoy seeing Dr. Liliana Carrera come back and get her own story. I somehow knew from the moment that Liliana came on the scene that she was special. Of course, that meant that she needed a really amazing hero and Jesse Bradford was born.
Jesse is a sexy football player who had to leave the game because of a bone disease that was discovered when Jesse is injured during a game. Faced with the loss of the one thing that he knows — playing football — Jesse submits himself to genetic engineering in the hopes of saving his career. Of course, he gets way more than he expected which leaves him something more than human, but less than the man he wants to be. Until Liliana comes into his life and the hero must emerge.
I hope you’ll enjoy this short excerpt. You can also read another excerpt from the beginning of the book and some behind the scenes photos of Ocean Grove, where the book is set, by following this link to the STRONGER THAN SIN page.
*****
Jesse wasn’t in his bed when she walked into the room.
Closing the door and locking it behind her, she glanced around the large suite and noticed that he was out on the balcony that faced the beachfront.
Striding toward him, she stopped to put down the bag of take-out she had brought on a low coffee table in a sitting area near the windows and French doors leading to the balcony. She had dropped by her parents’ place again, received another helping of her mother’s soup and other goodies intended to help Jesse feel better.
While she wasn’t sure that there was any medical basis for thinking the food might assist, she knew that mentally it did her a world of good. It reminded her of her roots and the love her family had for her. Something Jesse seemed to have lacked, which saddened her.
Jesse, she thought, staring at his back as he stood facing the ocean. A strong wind was blowing westward, ruffling the shorter strands of his hair.
She hadn’t had a chance to tell him that she liked the change – the shorter hair and clean shaven face.
She wondered if had done it for her which caused a skitter in her midsection along with warmth farther below that he had cared enough to do it.
She had come to discover that about him. Despite all the tabloid gossip and bad boy antics, he cared about others. His sister. Mother. Possibly even the father that denied his existence.
Maybe even her.
She laid her hand over her fluttering midsection and walked to the French door. He seemed distant, a solitary figure looking almost lost against the vastness of the ocean before him.
Not wanting to intrude without welcome, she rapped on the glass door and waited for his reception.
He turned, his face grim and set in sharply chiseled lines. They relaxed somewhat as he saw her, grabbed the handle of the door and slid it open.
She stepped out onto the balcony and he closed the door behind them.
The wind increased the chill of a day that was quickly fading to night. Intense reds and purples painted the sky and the ocean had darkened to slate grey with the arrival of night.
“Cold,” she said and wrapped her arms around herself. Even though she still had on her winter jacket, the wind seeped beneath the wool, which made her wonder how he stood there in nothing but fleece sweats braving the wind. Once again staring out at the ocean. The white of the bandage at his temple a glaring contrast to his skin in the dim dusk.
“Aren’t you cold?” she asked and patted her arms to try and generate some heat.
He hunched his shoulders, shot her a half glance. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back.”
“I said I would. I needed to see how you’re doing.”
He gave another shrug, seemingly indifferent except she sensed undercurrents beneath. Dangerous ones.
“I’m here. I’m alive. Consider your obligation fulfilled.”
A self-defense mechanism? she wondered. Push her away –push what he was feeling away – in order to keep from being hurt?
Only as she had discovered after pouring her heart out to Carmen, it was no easy thing to keep him at bay. Somehow he had touched her. Infiltrated those areas she had thought safe.
Trying to shore up her defenses, she beckoned toward the bag of food on the table within. “I brought food. I thought you might be hungry.”
Some emotion finally cracked the stern lines of his face. A hint of a smile and glitter in eyes that had gone to slate grey. He took a long stride toward her, until barely inches separated them. Laying a hand at her waist, he bracketed her side with it, sending her insides quivering.
Jesse glanced down at her, sensing the tremor in her body.
She was as aware of him as he was of her. At his touch, her gaze had gone wide, revealing eyes that were nearly black with desire. When she moistened her lips, the last of his restraint disappeared.
He bent his head, whispered against her lips. “I’m hungry, but not for food.”
Today I’m sharing with you a prequel for SINS OF THE FLESH, my November 2009 release from Grand Central Publishing. This snippet shows you a little bit more about the hero, Mick Carrera, who is quite a complex individual. It also introduces you to one of his sisters, Roberta – or Bobbie as she is known to friends and family. Bobbie is a Marine heading off to Iraq and here’s a secret for you – if all goes as planned, Bobbie will be the heroine in Book 3 of the SINS series.
My March 2009 release, FURY CALLS, has been nominated for an RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Nocturne. Wish me luck! The winners will be announced in April at the RT Convention. FURY CALLS has also already won a coveted Cataromance Reviewer’s Award fBest Nocturne 2009. I am so happy about this as this is truly one of the books of my heart from THE CALLING Vampire novels. So for today, I’m sharing a sexy moment from when Blake and Meghan first meet in FURY CALLS.
I hope you enjoy today’s wicked excerpt!
Excerpt is for 17 and over only please
She led the way, the sharp staccato sounds of her high-heeled boots setting a rhythm as they walked to the farthest room on the left and paused before the door. He detected her hesitation then in the slight hitch her breath gave and the waver of her hand in his.
“Nervous?” He cradled her cheek, his touch meant to soothe, but as his gaze met hers, he sensed her sudden reluctance.
Her eyes were an amazing emerald green and as her gaze swept over his face, she said, “I have a confession to make.”
“Kind of cliché at this moment, don’t you think?”
A hint of bravado flared to life in her eyes, bringing a plucky twinkle there. “Actually, the confession is that I’m kind of glad I accepted my friend’s dare.”
“A dare? Is that what I am, love?”
She shocked him by rising a bit on her tiptoes — they were almost of a like height — and kissing him. Her lips were warm and alive as she swept them across his mouth and then cradled his cheek with her hand. When she finally broke away, she trailed her thumb across the slick wetness her lips had left behind on his, strumming alive intense desire with that seductive touch.
It had been way too long since a woman had been able to reach that part of him.
“What do you think?” she said and with a wink, she opened the door, but stopped short at the sight of the far side of the room, where an assortment of whips, chains and cuffs were tacked to the wall.
He slipped in behind her and laid his hands at her waist. Bending, he whispered in her ear, “I don’t think we’ll have need of those.”
“At least not tonight,” she said, striving for a bravado that she wasn’t feeling at the sight of the wall. This definitely was not the kind of thing she had expected to encounter.
Nervously Meghan placed her hands over his as they rested at her waist. His hands were chilled. With the same reticence she was suddenly experiencing? she wondered.
“Having second thoughts?” she asked as she faced him, but he moved his hands to cradle her back. His movements were sure and yet surprisingly tender as he swept them up to beneath the shoulders of her jacket. With a deft touch, he slipped it off her and let it fall to the ground.
“That’s better,” he said.
He ran his hands across the skin of her bare arms and the exposed expanse of her shoulders. Stroking her softly, the palms of his hands slightly rough against her skin. The hands those of someone who physically worked for a living.
“You’re so warm. Smooth.”
His gentle touch roused emotion in her and drove away her earlier hesitation. She had expected from the rough look of him that he wouldn’t be much for preliminaries, but she had been wrong, she realized, as he took his time as he passed his hands over her skin before bending a bit.
The kiss started with a soft whisper of his lips against hers as he explored the shape of her mouth before he finally covered her mouth with his. The kiss was tentative at first, but then he deepened it by degrees until she was finally straining against him, her hands fisted in the soft leather of his jacket, pulling herself closer to him.
He took the next step then, easing his jacket off. It fell to the floor with a jangle of chains.
Beneath the jacket he wore a black t-shirt that hugged every hard line of his lean body and Meghan found that she was suddenly impatient to see more.
She grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head, exposing a body that looked to be sculpted from palest alabaster.
He wasn’t a tall man, barely inches over her own five-foot-seven height, but what there was of him was magnificently formed male. Broad shoulders, big enough to bear any burden, were thick with hard muscles that were smooth beneath the palms of her hands as she laid them there. She measured the strength in them before trailing her fingers down to his well-defined chest where she briefly skimmed them down the ridges of his abdomen and then back up. She ran her fingers through the pale whorls of hair on his chest which matched the arrogant color of his head.
“You really are a blond,” she teased and stroked her index finger over the hard nub of his nipple.
“Are you?” he asked and picked up his hand, trailed the rough pads of his fingers along the swell of her breasts exposed by the low neckline of the tank top and the push-up bra she had worn. His actions dragged an immediate response as her nipples tightened in anticipation of his touch.
She looked up at him and curved her lips in what she hoped was a seductive smile. “You may have to wait a bit to find out.”
Blake laughed, her bravado stirring something deep within him. Something that couldn’t wait a second longer to take their little interlude to the next step.
He reached for the neckline of her tank top and slipped his fingers beneath, pulling away both shirt and bra with a quick tug. He heard the snap of the bra strap and felt the give as her breast slipped free of all the fabric.
Her creamy skin was a sharp contrast to the black of her clothing. A flush worked over her flesh at his perusal, tempting him to feel the warmth of it against his palm.
He cupped her and the heat of the hard tip of her nipple seemed to bore a hole into the palm of his hand, but he somehow restrained himself. He moved his hand, cupping her breast so he could stroke her nipple with his thumb before taking it between his thumb and forefinger and applying gentle pressure.
It dragged a soft moan from her and she copied his actions, tweaking his hard male nipple with her fingers, jerking his erection to painful life.
Her gaze slipped there for but a moment before she leaned forward and closed her mouth over his nipple.
He shut his eyes against the sensation that rocketed through his body with her touch and focused on the feel of her breast in his hand, all warm and creamy. Her pulse beat was loud in his ears and vibrated against his hand as it rested inches away from her heart, reminding him of what he was not.
Alive. Alive. Alive, drummed loudly in his head like the beat of her pulse.
“You’re cold,” she said and in response, he called forth a bit of his demon, driving away the chill in his body to allay her concern.
“Blake?” she asked and he realized that he didn’t even know her name.
“That’s my name and you’re . . .”
“Meghan,” she said in a husky whisper as he bent his head and took her hard nipple into his mouth.
She cradled him close, her hand snaking through his hair to keep him near as she arched her back.
Not that he was going anywhere, he thought, as he sucked on her nipple and relished the soft mewl of pleasure that came from her.
He shifted his other hand upward, tugged down the rest of her shirt and bra so that he could caress her other breast as he continued to pleasure her with his mouth until it wasn’t enough.
“Touch me, Meghan,” he almost begged and when she ran her hands across the width of his shoulders, he surged upward, wrapping his arms around her waist and crushing her tight to his body.
“Blake, what — ”
He silenced her with a kiss as he walked with her to the edge of the bed, but then he slowly eased her down his body, the smooth hard tips of her breasts brushing along him, awakening fire wherever she touched. The sensation pulled a shiver from him, but Meghan’s hands were quickly running across his shoulders again, as if to gentle him.
“Has it been that long?” she asked, surprising him with her sensitivity.
He shocked himself by admitting, “Since I felt something like this? Too long, love.”
“Why?” she wondered aloud even as she tenderly ran her hands across his shoulders and then let them dip down to cover the muscles of his chest with one hand while she placed the other flat over his heart.
Her touch reached deep within him, to emotions he thought he had suppressed long ago. Covering her hand with his, he said, “Let’s not go there tonight.”
He didn’t think it was possible that the green of her eyes could get any darker, but with his words, her pupils deepened to almost black with emotion. Reaching up, she cradled his cheek, tracing the sharp line of it.
“Where would you like to go tonight?”
“To heaven,” he said as he bent his head and took her lips with his once again.
“Heaven it is, then,” Meghan murmured as she accepted the gentle pass of his lips over hers. His touch was tentative, almost pleading. The emotions it roused sank its hooks deep into her heart, scaring her with the intensity of the sensation.
She laid her hands on his shoulders, gentled him by running her hands across the solid width of them. He had one elbow propped on the lumpy mattress beneath them, keeping his body away from her, but with that urging, he relaxed and lay beside her fully. Their bodies barely brushed, but it was enough to make her want more.
Sweeping one hand down from where she had been caressing his shoulder, she cupped the swell of his pectoral muscle and ran her thumb across the hard nub. A small shudder racked his body, emboldening her.
“Ah, love. That feels good,” he said, breaking the contact of their lips. He looked down to her hand where she continued to strum his tight nipple.
She smiled, filled with a bravado she hadn’t known she possessed. With a playful tone she said, “Well if it feels good to you, I imagine that it might feel good for me, too.”
He chuckled and met her gaze, amusement glittering in his crystal blue eyes. With a cocky grin on his face, he passed the back of his hand across her breast, dragging a rough sigh from her at the pleasure that simple touch created in her core.
“Is that the sound of good, luv?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh and took his nipple between her fingers, rotated it gently. At their hips, where their bodies were closest, the jump of his erection as it hardened even further created a sympathetic pull between her legs. She twined her legs with his and he pushed his thigh upward, tight against the growing pulse at her center.
As she rode him, trying to assuage her need, he took her hard nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Pulled on it gently before a playful twist yanked a moan from her.
He immediately seized on that sound of desire.
“So was that the sound of . . . even better?” he teased, even as he was bending his head and she was arching her back, offering herself up to him.
His hard mobile lips closed over her nipple. He sucked the tip before circling the hard nub with his tongue and then teething the tip into an even tighter point. She cradled his head close and as he suckled her, she bumped her hips against his and shifted her center along the hard muscles of his thigh.
He responded by increasing the pull of his mouth and insinuating his thigh ever tighter against her.
She rode him with growing need, but recalling his earlier playfulness and wanting to join in it, she said, “And this is the sound of un-freakin’-believable,” and finally released the low long moan that had built within her at his actions.
Her words pulled a rough laugh from him and made his already full erection swell to painful proportions. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her . . . except possibly a taste of her humanity.
A bite of the life held tight against him. Her heart beat furiously against his ear as he once again brought his mouth to her breast and suckled. The warmth of her — her mortal warmth — bathed his upper body with heat. The smell of her — musky femininity — covered by the tight jeans that she wore brought sweet temptation.
The bit of vampire he had released earlier to warm her became a pool of heat at the center of him, growing ever stronger with each touch and taste of her. As she slipped her hand downward and covered his erection, a shudder ripped through him and the fire of the vampire flared across his body, breaking free and wanting dominion.
He fought the demon’s control, fearing the strength of the emotion she had called forth. Afraid of it even as he acknowledged that he had never experienced anything like it in either of his lives.
She must have sensed the difference in him since she urged him up from her breast and rubbed her lips against his. “I’m afraid too, Blake. I’m afraid of how much I like the way I feel with you.”
Her confession undid the last dregs of his human and released the demon.
“Forgive me, love,” he said as he gently eased her head to the side and bit down.
Pain seared through her neck, but immediately after came intense desire that made her entire body throb for fulfillment.
Meghan held him close, moaning and riding his thigh as desire gripped her hard, refusing to let go much like he seemed unable to release her. The pulse of her need beat through her body and seemed to echo from his, but little by little that beat grew weaker and erratic. Somehow she realized that the fading rhythm was that of her heart, failing slowly as Blake continued to suck at her neck until only a negligible thrum remained.
Cold enveloped her body. Weakness. Her extremities became nearly numb and useless.
As Blake finally pulled away, she caught a glimpse of his face. Long, blood-stained fangs extended well beyond his upper lip. The ice blue of his eyes burned with almost phosphorescent brightness and called to her as her eyesight dimmed.
“Sweet Jesus, Meghan. I’m sorry, love. So sorry,” he said, but his words were growing distant, as if she was fading away and maybe she was.
A part of her brain understood that she was dying and that part struggled to hold on. To not let go of what little life remained. That consciousness latched onto the feel of him cradling her. Of the wetness of tears on her face and then the saltiness of something warm against her lips.
“Drink, Meghan,” she heard and knew that he was offering her life. She didn’t know how she knew it, she just did, as if something deep in her subconscious had elemental knowledge of what he offered.
All that she knew at that moment was that she didn’t want to die.
She was only twenty-one and she wasn’t ready to die.
She opened her mouth and placed it against the flesh he offered. Drank of the warmth of his life’s blood. With each pull of her mouth and each sip, strength grew in her body. Unbelievable strength that touched each cell until she was able to force herself away from him.
With a brutal shove she drove him from her and as he rose from the floor beside the bed where he had fallen, he gazed down at her with eyes filled with tears, but they created no emotion in her other than hatred. Within her, fury rose with the realization that he had irrevocably changed her life.
She sat up and grabbed at her clothes and when he would have reached for her, she slapped away his hands.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t ever touch me again.”
“Ever is a long time now, luv,” he said sadly.
“It is forever now, isn’t it? You made me something other than human.”
At his nod, she said, “I’ll hate you forever.”
He morphed back to his human form then and despite her statement, emotion rose up in her at the sadness in his eyes and at the words he uttered next.
“No need to waste your emotion, Meghan. I’ll hate myself on your behalf.”
This Wicked Wednesday I wanted to share some more SINS OF THE FLESH! This scene is farily along in the book, after Mick and Caterina have had an initial encounter and the attraction between them has started to grow as they battle to find out what is happening with Caterina and if she truly is a murderer.
I hope you enjoy this Wicked Read!
Please do not proceed if you are not over 17
The right thing, Mick thought, closed the door and approached the bed where Caterina rested, her gaze locked on him as he neared.
Her skin had lost the flush of fever and returned to its creamy hue. Thick curly locks of her nearly black hair, heavy with moisture, rested against the side of her face.
As she turned the deep blue of her gaze up to meet his, she said, “No matter what happens at the end, you’ve done the right thing by me.”
At the end, he thought, unsure of anything other than the fact that this would all not end well for someone. Whether it was Edwards or Mad Dog or Caterina or even himself, someone would likely pay a high price at the conclusion of this assignment.
Mick sat on the edge of the recliner and cradled her cheek. Her skin bore a slight chill from the water and was smooth beneath the pad of his finger. So smooth and womanly.
Caterina covered his much larger hand with hers. His palm was rough. Clearly the hand of a man who worked hard with his hands. A strong hand, she thought as she moved her hand past his wrist and to his forearm. The hair on his arm soft beneath her palm. His body muscled and lean until she reached the edge of the bandage on his forearm covering the wound he had received battling for her. Another scar to add to the others on his body.
It had to be the fever that was making her remember just how that body had felt against hers when he had held her in the pool. How he had kissed her and she him, rousing passion that might be better left unexplored only . . .
“Would you hold me?” She needed the human contact. Needed the affirmation that she was still a woman. A desirable woman unless she was misreading the signals he was giving off.
“If holding is all you want, I may not be your man,” Mick replied and dipped his thumb down to trace the edges of her lips.
“I want more. I want to feel alive again,” Caterina said.
She was using him, but it wouldn’t be the first time or the last that a woman did that, Mick thought. Considering he found her damned attractive, weird genes and all, why not give into the temptation and get it out of his system.
“Move over,” he said.
Caterina shifted to the center of the bed and he joined her there, lying on his side and facing her. Their bodies less than a foot apart.
“Touch me,” she said and pulled away the sheet, exposing the fullness of her breasts with their soft tips.
He ran the pads of his fingers across the tip of one breast. Cupped the weight of it in his hand and rubbed his thumb across the tip until her nipples beaded into stiff nubs. He needed to taste, he thought and bent his head, licked the one tip while continuing to caress the other nipple with his hand.
She arched her back to give him easier access and cradled the back of his head. Moaned as he teethed the peak of one breast. He soothed that gentle nip with another lick and suckled at her breast while shifting one hand downward, across the flat expanse of her midsection. Past the delicate indent of her navel until the curls between her legs brushed the tips of his fingers.
She moved closer and threw her thigh up over his, inviting him to her most private core.
Tardily he accepted that invitation, skimming his fingers across her center until the sensitive nub swelled and his fingers dropped lower and experienced the wet of her femininity.
Caterina gasped as he explored that dampness, gripping his shoulders as he eased in first one finger and then another, stretching her in preparation for his possession.
“Mick,” she keened, shifting her hips against his hand. Holding his head to her, but wanting to feel the warmth of his body beside her.
He slipped inches away and she reached for the hem of his shirt. Pulled it over his head while he skimmed the sweat pants down his body, revealing the nakedness beneath the fleece.
She laid her hands on his shoulders once more and took a moment to enjoy all of him that was visible. The articulated and defined muscles of his body. The scars and bruises that spoke of a man familiar with danger and accustomed to violence.
But there was nothing violent about the way he touched her. About the gentleness of his mouth and hands as he resumed his loving.
She once again granted him access and he used it to full advantage, rousing her passion much as she urged him on, using her hands to stroke him. Playing him much as she might a sonata, each measured beat and pull of her hands giving him pleasure until he, too, was trembling and breathing roughly.
“I can’t wait anymore, Cat,” he said, rolling her beneath him. His arms braced on either side of her body as he slipped between her legs, but paused before entering her.
“I can’t either, Mick,” she replied and dropped one hand so she could encircle him and guide him into the center of her.
He sucked in a shaky breath as she gasped at his entry, held still as her body accommodated to the size of him. Thick in girth and perfect in length, he filled her completely.
She was the first to move, raising her knees to grasp his hips. The motion driving him even deeper within.
He met her gaze then, his eyes almost black with desire. A flush across the high cheekbones inherited from some long ago Aztec descendant. Full lips she wanted to savor.
She cradled the straight strong line of his jaw and brought her lips to his. Eased her tongue past the seam of his mouth to mimic the motion of their bodies. Her tongue darting against his much like he was drawing her ever closer to release with the pumping of his hips.
His movements grew more hurried and she urged him on with the soft cries of pleasure she whispered against his lips until something suddenly coalesced in the center of her.
The energy gathered into a ball and then exploded throughout her body, pulling him into her and caressing him as her climax overtook her body.
Mick exhaled roughly against her mouth as her soft cry of completion came against his lips and the muscles of her body milked him, pulling and tightening on him as his own release erupted in his body.
He managed to drive into her a few more times, prolonging her climax, but then he dropped down onto her, drained. His body heavy against hers, but she wrapped her arms around him and urged, “Don’t leave me yet.”
Yet, he realized, glad that she understood the limits of what they had just experienced, but saddened by that as well.
He allowed himself to bask in the pleasure of her soft skin beneath him, and the heat and wet of her center as her body caressed him while he slowly softened within her.
The temperature of her body remained warm, a little more than normal. Thankfully nothing like it had been earlier in the night.
Guilt rose up on so many levels, but he ruthlessly drove it back, justifying what had just happened with one simple truth.
They had both wanted it to happen.
The question was, now that it had, where did they go from here?
I have the pleasure of having with me today the wonderful Hope Tarr who is telling us a little about her re-release of A ROGUE’S PLEASURE and offering a copy of her novel VANQUISHED to one lucky person. Hope is the award-winning author of thirteen historical and contemporary romances as well as a co-founder of Lady Jane’s Salon, New York City’s first and so far only monthly reading series for romance fiction. “Tomorrow’s Destiny,” Hope’s first novella, will release November 10th in a single title Christmas anthology, A HARLEQUIN CHRISTMAS CAROL, with Betina Krahn and Jacquie D’Alessandro. Visit Hope online at www.HopeTarr.com and find her on Twitter and Facebook.
Second chances at love, don’t you just…love them?
I’m on a jet plane on my way to Orlando for the RWA National Conference, so I have one of my friends and fellow Carina Press authors dropping by to help me out on this Wicked Wednesday! Give a big hand to Liz Fichera who is here to chat with us about her new release, CAPTIVE SPIRIT.
About Liz: Liz Fichera is an author from the American Southwest by way of Chicago. She likes to write stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things, oftentimes against the backdrop of Native American legends. When she’s not plotting her next novel, you can find her on Facebook or her blog, discussing writing, books, hunks du jour, LOST reruns or the best brands of chocolate. Please visit her web site because it can get real lonely in the desert: http://www.lizfichera.com/. 
First of all, I want to thank all of you for your kind e-mails and comments about 
There are at least two more books coming out in THE CALLING series: ARDOR CALLS featuring one of my favorite vampires – Stacia. You may remember Stacia from a number of books in THE CALLING as well as from the free read DESIRE CALLS (
Thanks to the lovely Caridad Pineiro for inviting me, a new author, as a guest on her blog today! I’m so excited to be here, and to share my short ebook, FORBIDDEN LOVE, which is not a paranormal, but a science fiction romance! 
First of all, congrats to PC Cast for winning the RT Best Nocturne of 2009! It was an honor to have 
Today’s Wickedness is from my upcoming release 
This Wicked Wednesday I wanted to share some more 
