Just One Look (H&H see each other for first time)

Here is a snippet from Paranormal Payload (Project Exorcism 1) by Mandy M. Roth

Captain Sevan Vasil glanced over at his brother and second in command, Jordan. “What?”

“Nothing,” Jordan said, his lips pursed and his arms crossed.

It didn’t take a genius to tell him his brother was pissed. “Spill it.”

“I’m not so sure we should dock here. The planet is not marked on the map and you yourself heard that they are not in the business of giving leave to Commission vessels. And what was that about assuming full responsibility for docking and—”

“And…” Sevan interrupted, “we don’t really have much of a choice here. Our fuel tank cracked somewhere back near Margaidia and unless you want to chance piloting a vessel with no fuel and limited life supports all the way home, I’d suggest you get real comfy with the idea of docking here. We’ll never make it back to Earth unless we do and you know it.”

“Captain, I did not mean to question your authority.”

“Cut the shit, Jordan. Don’t go all military on me. You and I go back too far for you to try to be stuffy now. I can still remember you in diapers.”

“You’re three minutes older than me. Of course you remember. You were there too, moron. If you want to start flexing your three-minute-older muscles, let’s go…”

The main screen flickered and interrupted Jordan’s little rant. Static covered it for a split second before a vision appeared that was so beautiful Sevan had to fight to breathe. Angelic didn’t even begin to cover her. Instantly, his heart hammered.

It couldn’t be. No. It wasn’t possible. She wasn’t real, was she?

Sevan couldn’t think, couldn’t move as he stared at her. The woman was identical to Lorelei. Overwhelmed by emotion, he sat there, breathing heavy and trying to stop the obvious hallucination before him.

The goddess on the screen looked up at him, her royal blue eyes wide, and then glanced down at the control panel before her. “Bugger! How the hell do you turn it on again? If I don’t figure it out soon they’ll end up stuck in orbit and I am not in the mood to fetch them. The last thing I want to do today is go and tow an arrogant, cocky, too-sure-of-himself man who thinks the universe should bend at his very command…errr… Commission officer’s vessel in. I would rather wallow through pikineius dung than retrieve them.”

Nice to know where we rank, Sevan thought, chuckling silently.

The hint of an old Earth British accent came through, reminding Sevan of home. They didn’t spend nearly as much time among the Free World people on Earth as they’d like. No. Now their days were spent in the Commission, going where they demanded.

The woman before him narrowed her gaze on the control board before her. She was obviously oblivious to the fact the visual communicator was already working. The thought of telling her he could both see and hear her crossed his mind for a millisecond before he decided just to take in the show until she figured it out. Besides, his cock had joined in the spectacle now and its rather hard state demanded he remain still or risk ejaculating in his pants.

Not an option he wanted to take. Though it was hard to keep from yelling out the name Lorelei. The very idea that it wasn’t her terrified him. If she were real and if she, too, shared the dreams, then she could be his mate.

Neither man said a word as the vixen before them leaned forward. Her long black hair fell into her face, looking so silky and smooth that Sevan could almost feel it. Bringing a toned arm up, she lifted it away. Her luscious lips pouted outward, as if she were in deep thought.

You’re fucking killing me here. You’re a hallucination, that’s it.

Scolding his mind for placing the vision of his dream lover in place of the actual woman didn’t seem to stop the hallucination. Watching the woman only served to make it worse. Sevan had always been a sucker for women who were animated, especially when it came to their lips. Just thinking about how full and lush hers looked made him picture his cock buried in her mouth as he held tightly to her silky hair. Flashes of the erotic dreams he’d been having for months flooded back to him. It was her face he’d seen beneath him as he sank into the paradise of her warm depths. But how could that be? Had their ship blown up after the fuel tank cracked? Was he dead now and left to dream of Lorelei forever?

If you’ve got to go, ending up envisioning her for the rest of eternity isn’t so bad.

The gorgeous woman punched the controls a few more times before rising slightly from her seat. Wearing a tiny black top that came to just above her navel, she was a vision of beauty. His eyes widened as it pulled up to just under her ample breasts. His cock dug painfully into the top of his pants. It would tunnel through the material soon and demand attention from her. Having her with him in bed was the only way he was used to dreaming of her and while this little tit for tat was amusing, he wanted her pussy milking him as he came in her.

Sevan heard Jordan draw in a deep breath and knew that the vision of beauty on the screen was having the same effect on him. A surge of jealousy went through him. Glaring over at his brother, he dared him to have a sexual thought about his woman.

My woman? Great, now I’ve laid claim to a fantasy woman—again. Next I’ll be pulling up various versions of my own harem.

As horny as he was, he’d most likely pop anything inflatable, and the holograms, while stimulating, couldn’t take the place of a real woman, so he pushed the thought from his mind. Shifting in his seat, Sevan tried his best to distribute the mass between his legs. If he continued to stare at her, his cock would be hard for a week. No amount of jerking off would ease the pain she would no doubt bring him. As if it wasn’t bad enough that he already woke each morning to find his dick so hard he could hammer a steel panel into a wall without further aid, now he would be forced to live out his death staring at her from afar.

She looked so real. Never before had anyone been in his dreams other than the woman on the screen before him. Always ready for him, she appeared to him out of nowhere and with one look each knew what the other wanted. He’d fucked her so many ways that he felt himself blush. He wasn’t shy but he wasn’t prone to dropping to his knees and licking the sweet pussy of a gorgeous woman who suddenly appeared to him either. He’d done things with Lorelei that he’d never dreamed of doing in real life and she sparked things in him that no one else did. The worst part of it all was that he’d actually fallen in love with her—a dream, a figment of his overactive imagination, a vision that now appeared before him in what he hoped was waking hours. And he hoped beyond hope that she truly was the mate he sought.

“Blasted thing doesn’t work. If that li’l Bagardo demon that claimed he fixed this pulled a fast one on me, I’ll pull his purple head off and shove it up his lime green…” Jerking her hand away from the control panel in front of her, she winced as a blue spark shot out at her catching her upper arm and burning it instantly.

No, baby, don’t ever cross those wires.

Sevan went eerily still. He’d never worried over a woman before. Well, no woman who wasn’t related to him or a member of his crew. His cousin had accompanied them on their journey and he worried like hell every time she left the ship.

It shocked him how real and how human the woman on the screen appeared to be. One, if she was real then some deep shit was going on. Dreaming of a woman galaxies away had to have some sort of cosmic ramifications. Mating with her only intensified that. For two, all planets with human or human-like life forms had been mapped out by the Commission ages ago, at least in this quadrant. His luck, she was projecting an image that they’d feel comfortable with long enough to lure them in and then he’d find out that she was really an alien with six heads. That had to be it. She was picking his brain and came up with Lorelei’s likeness.

Ah, I hope not.

She tried again to fix the panel. Another blue spark shot out and caught her creamy cheek. Hissing, she grabbed hold of it and winced. Sevan stood fast, reaching for her as if he could really touch her through the viewing screen.

Glancing down, he found Jordan staring at him with an odd expression on his face. Wisely, his brother didn’t comment on his concern for the beautiful creature before them. She reached out to try to touch the panel again but pulled away at the last second, allowing Sevan to exhale.

“Christian, can you get this thing to work? I can’t seem to get it to respond to any of my commands. I swear it bit me twice already and if it does it again I will shoot it and then recycle its parts into a waste receptacle. The damn thing has a mind of its own and I’m frankly tired of dealing with it. I hate technology and it hates me. It’s a rather mutual agreement that is best not tampered with.”

“Promise you won’t bite me if I get close enough to fix it. Though there are certain places you could nibble if the urge should strike,” a very male voice said from off screen.

Sevan’s blood ran cold as the beast within threatened to surface. It would control his temper or rather, leave him uncontrollable. He had no right to feel the pang of jealously that now rode him, but he did. He watched as a large arm appeared first, followed closely by a handsome man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. Tattoos covered the man’s arms. And upon closer inspection, Sevan saw that the woman had similar markings on her arms as well, although hers were a degree lighter than the male’s. In his dreams, Lorelei didn’t have any sort of markings on her.

Maybe she just looks a lot like Lorelei—a hell of a lot like her.

The man near her looked as though he’d won the Strong Man of the Galaxy contest several years running. Sevan was not a small man by any standard, but he wasn’t quite the barbarian who stood by the tiny woman now.

Christian moved his body around the woman’s and let his eyes linger over her cleavage longer than Sevan could stand. His jaw tightened and he felt Jordan’s hand on his shoulder.

“Easy now, brother. We’ve only come to fix the ship.”

“Here you go. Just push this button here.” The man put his mouth to the woman’s ear, whispering something only she could hear. Her cheeks flushed and her body tensed. “Follow that procedure and you’ll be up and running in no time. Not that you need any help in the getting things up category.”

“Thank you, Christian,” she said, shifting in her seat. She glanced up at the screen and apparently was able to see them now as well because she froze. “No.” Her tongue darted out and over her bottom lip. That simple act sent chills of pleasure throughout Sevan’s body.

“By gods, she’s even more beautiful in person.”

Her brow creased as her cheeks flushed. Jordan cleared his throat and Sevan realized that he’d not only said that out loud, but she’d heard every word of it. It was his turn to blush.

“Control tower, this is Alpha Brig Three, requesting permission to dock,” Jordan said, laughing slightly.

“Perm…permission granted.” Her blue gaze locked on his. She seemed to study him, tipping her head slightly and narrowing her eyes. Something clicked and she shook her head as she hit another button and backed away from her seat. “Navigation will now be controlled by our tower. Please refrain from attempting to override this or irreparable damage to your vessel will occur. We will meet you in the loading area momentarily.”

Stunned by her rather cold tone, Sevan stared mindlessly at her. She went to cut transmission and Sevan leaned forward fast, not wanting lose sight of her. “Wait. What policy do you have on outsiders?” It was best to know if they regarded them as hostile or not right off the bat. Not that it mattered what she thought, his dick already thought of her as the only place it wanted to reside, and there was no overriding that.

She gave a tiny smile that tugged at his heartstrings before answering. “I think you will find that we’re friendly enough. We’ll see to it that you’re taken care of during your time here today. Come suns set we will not tolerate any excuse causing you to stay on our planet. I take it from the lack of my need for a translator that you speak Earth-English, as do we. That’s always comforting. It’s rare that any passersby speak our language. Our atmosphere is rich in oxygen so respirators will not be necessary. Our digestive systems are identical to yours so you will find our food adequate to sustain you. All of this leads me to believe that your visit will be most enjoyable.” A sad look passed over her beautiful features and Sevan wanted to kiss it away. “Be sure to remain armed though. We are willing to allow you to do so in good trust. We shall not harm you and we expect the same in return.”

She cut transmission before he had a chance to ask why he and his men should remain armed. That was an odd request. Most planets they stopped at required them to check their weapons and deactivate any of the Brig’s defenses.

“That’s interesting,” Jordan said, reading Sevan’s mind.

“You heard the lady.” Sevan pushed the button for the intercom that ran throughout the ship and looked at Jordan. “This is the Captain. We’re docking now. Be sure to leave your weapons on and maintain a state of readiness. Travel in groups of two and do not engage without my permission. Anyone who disobeys this command will not have to worry about a court-martial. They won’t be alive to stand before the committee.”

BUY LINKS and MORE INFO

Be sure to check out the following authors who are also participating in Saturday Snippets!

Megan Hart:Read in bed!
Rhian Cahill
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Lissa Matthews
Mandy M Roth
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Taige Crenshaw
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Zoë Archer

Tags: excerpts, mandy's books, Saturday Snippet

Saturday Snippet-Loup Garou

Excerpt from Loup Garou by Mandy M Roth

Gina stared at me with wide eyes as she artfully juggled several bags of Italian food. “You took Exavier Kedmen to the Neonatal Unit?”

“Yes.” I kept walking, carrying two pizzas. We’d decided to go for dinner together at the center since it was closed and we didn’t really feel like sitting in a stuffy restaurant or going home quite yet. Besides, I was still a little worried about Exavier. He and Jay had left for a beer mid-afternoon and I hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

Jay had called Gina to let her know that he still had “the rock star” and they were fine but wouldn’t be back until late. Since I didn’t own Exavier I had little say, but I was concerned about he and Jay getting into a physical fight. Jay was a were-wolf. Exavier was just a human. Serious damage could be inflicted.

Myra had spent the greater part of the evening trying to convince me that Jay would never hurt Exavier, especially since Gina told him who he was. I didn’t put much stock in that theory. Jay was the type of man who could give a shit about someone’s status.

“Myra, can you ever remember our girl dragging anyone other than Harly with her to the hospital?”

“Nope and I for one am happy. I hope Lindsay gives him a chance. She’s never going to settle down and find Mr. Right if she’s surrounding herself with Mr. Can’t Remember Their Names.”

I laughed. “Watch it, babes, or I’ll be knocking one of those bottles of wine you’ve got there over your head.”

Myra leaned forward, as if she was going to hand me a bottle. “I dare you.”

“It’s no fun threatening you. You aren’t scared of anything.”

“Yes, I am. I’m scared of bad hair days, leaving you in charge of your own schedule, finding out my mother will be visiting, watching movies of the week…”

Rolling my eyes, I snickered. My friends were so far from what people considered normal that I wasn’t exactly sure what the baseline for it was anymore. Not that it mattered. I loved them for them. For some freakish reason, they seemed to love me for me.

Misfits. There’s no other term for us.

“Oh, news on the Gina love front,” Myra said, lifting a well-defined brow. “I think she has someone serious in her life.”

There was no way I could hide my surprise, so I didn’t bother. “No way.”

Gina huffed. “Hey, don’t act so shocked. I’m lovable too.”

Myra and I exchanged looks and burst into laughter. “Oh, yes, extremely lovable. Snuggly even.”

“Mmmhmm, like a rabid teddy bear.” Myra snorted and we all began to laugh. She was always so proper. To see her letting herself go was a treat. It wasn’t that she was opposed to having a good time. No. Myra was just driven and businesslike in almost all aspects of her life.

We turned the corner towards the center and I bumped Gina with my hip. “Spill it. I want to hear all about him.”

“You’re joking, right?” She lifted a handful of bags and used them to point at me. It was cute. I didn’t bring that to her attention though or I’d end up wearing the contents of the bags. “I’m not letting you two anywhere near Paco.”

She froze.

I gave her a big grin. “Oh, we’ve got a name. Paco. Mmm, is he hot?”

“The better question would be,” Myra licked her lower lip, “is he hung?”

“Yeah because we’ve got a strict ‘no guppies allowed’ policy,” I added, doing my best to keep a straight face.

Gina shook her head. “Huh?”

Myra began wheezing and I knew she got my reference to her ex-boyfriend, “The Shark”. The memory of her walking around a party shouting “guppy” would be stuck in my head forever. It was a classic Myra response to an issue—attack with claws erect. I think it had something to do with the cat shifter in her. She was born to be a bitch.

“Hey, since when did the boys who hang here start leaving their stereo and stuff laying around the parking lot?” Gina asked, slowing her pace. “Aren’t they afraid that it’ll get stolen?”

I stared at the portable stereo sitting on the ground and glanced around the parking lot. It was covered in a blanket of darkness and hard for me to see too far out. It didn’t matter that my night vision was nowhere near as sharp as Myra’s. There was no way the boys would leave their things lying around unless something happened.

“I don’t smell blood,” Myra whispered, moving in close to me. “You head into the center. We’ll check it out.”

The idea of any of my kids being hurt ignited my already short fuse. “No. I’ll help.”

“Lindsay.” Gina shook her head. “This isn’t up for debate. Take the food in and we’ll be in as soon as we know they’re safe. Call Jay’s cell phone. Let him know what we found. He knows these kids as well as any of us.”

My protests would only waste time. Nodding, I turned, allowing Gina to pile her bags of food onto the boxes of pizza I held. She did and I made my way towards the front entrance. I was just about to call upon my power to assist with opening the door when I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Unsure if it was supernatural or not, I didn’t want to risk exposure so I made sure to turn my body enough that they couldn’t see if my hand actually touched the door before using my magik.

I made my way in and headed straight for Myra’s office. Setting the food on the counter, just outside of her door, I freed my arms and lunged for the phone. The last thing I wanted to do was call a no doubt drunk Jay and drag him away from whatever he was doing, unless he was beating up Exavier, but I didn’t have a choice. The kids in the neighborhood meant too much to me to risk them.

When Jay’s voice mail picked up, I sighed. “Jay, Gina wanted me to call. Something’s up at the center. Could be nothing though.”

The second I hung the phone up, music began to play. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the rec center, near one of my dance rooms. It was dark, haunting and nothing I could remember using in any of my routines.

“What the…?”

Confused as to why anyone would be back there, I headed in that direction. I didn’t sense evil so I wasn’t concerned about that. I was more worried the kids might have made their way into the center and gotten into things they shouldn’t have. The last thing I wanted was for one of them to get hurt.

Pushing open the door to the room I used for pole dancing classes, I froze as the music seemed to surround me. “Hello?”

No one answered.

Uneasy, but unwilling to lose my mind over the fact that music was playing, I kept a careful watch on my surroundings as I walked to the stereo. A man began singing and I instantly recognized the voice. It was the one that always seemed to call to me on some bizarre level. It didn’t disappoint. No. His deep voice seemed to enter my body, carefully caressing me from the inside out. Before I knew it, I was swaying to the music.

“I thought you’d like this, my love.”

My blood ran cold as a hand fell upon my shoulder. “S-Stan?”

He pressed his mouth to my ear and his body to mine. “You missed me, didn’t you? I knew he was lying. I knew he wasn’t your boyfriend. You were too scared of him to speak out, weren’t you?”

“Stan?” My mind seemed be having issues wrapping around the idea that he’d not only gotten into a locked building but was directly behind me. “You’re wrong. He is who he said he was.”

Stan seized hold of my hair and tipped my head back. “Lies. I’ve been watching you. He just entered your life today. He means nothing to you. Nothing!”

“You’re hurting me.”

He wasn’t but he seemed to be all about making me want him. Maybe he’d actually be concerned if he hurt me or not.

“You’ve left me no choice.” A cold steely blade pressed against my throat.

So much for my theory that he wouldn’t want to hurt me.

“Why are you lying to me, Lindsay? Don’t you want me too? Can’t you feel our connection? How we’re destined to be together?”

Think.

“Yes. I feel it and it scares me, Stan. The feelings are too intense,” I said, almost gagging on my own words.

He eased his grip on me and pulled the knife away from my throat. “I knew it.”

I turned to face him. He stood there, dressed in black from head to toe. His light brown hair was barely there. For some reason, he thought going the way of the buzz cut worked for him. It didn’t.

I let my gaze casually flicker over the twelve-inch bowie knife in his hand. The only vibe I got from Stan was that he wasn’t stable. At this point, I didn’t really care. The man had pushed me too far.

“I can get rid of him, Lindsay.” Stan’s eyes were glossy and his face paler than I remembered it being. “I can make it so that he never scares you again.”

As his words sank in, my hands clenched. He would not harm one hair on Exavier’s head. My power crackled around me, not giving a damn if I wanted to let it out or not. Good thing I didn’t care.

Stan looked around. “What’s that?”

“Don’t you know? You seem to know everything else about me.” I let more power out, mentally directing it to coat him. It did and he gasped.

“Lindsay?” The fear in his eyes spurred me on. I released more magik and let it move in on him, suffocating him slowly. Stan went to his knees and the strangest thing happened—I laughed.

I’m not a monster.

The thought jerked me out of the moment, giving Stan a reprieve from my magik. He lunged at me, knife in hand. I let instincts take over. I pivoted my entire body and jerked my arm out of the way while twisting. Time seemed to still as I watched his knife hand move in slow motion. I caught hold of his wrist with my right hand and brought my left arm up quickly, elbowing Stan in the face.

I felt it then. Evil moving in on us.

Stan’s entire body convulsed. The minute I realized that the evil had centered on him, it all made sense—the pale face, glossy eyes, erratic behavior. Demonic possession. I took control of the knife, and Stan, or whatever was in charge of him, rushed out the door.

I ran after him, knife still in hand.

Suddenly, it sounded like the music was coming from every direction. It should have scared me. It didn’t. It was oddly comforting. It made me feel safe.

I caught sight of Stan turning at the end of the hallway, into the lobby. Picking up my pace, I kept going. As I came around the corner, Myra and Gina were walking in. “Get down!” I shouted, sensing the highly charged buzz of demonic power in the air.

They did, just in time. A blast of negative power flared over their heads and bounced off the wall. It came hurdling back towards me. Jay picked that moment to come rushing through the door, followed close by Exavier. I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed. It worked. They both stopped and the power just missed hitting them. Instead, it kept coming at me.

The last thing I wanted to do was take a direct hit from the dark evil thing zipping at me so I dropped into the splits and pressed my upper body to the floor. It came so close to hitting me it moved my hair.

“Lindsay?” Jay asked, staring down at me with a questioning look on his face. “Uhh, what are you doing? And why did you scream? Why the hell do you have a knife like that?”

Talking bad. Fighting good.

Looking at Myra and Gina for assistance, I drew a blank. Jay was a were-wolf. He understood creepy things. Exavier didn’t. Telling Jay would mean telling Exavier. Not good.

Gina got to her feet. “Uhh, didn’t you see that huge rat?”

“A rat?”

I wasn’t sure I heard that right but since something had just tried to kill me I wasn’t really all that focused at the moment.

She glared at me. “Yeah, a rat.”

My lips pursed as I realized she was doing her best to keep Exavier from knowing the truth. Forcing a smile to my face, I did my best to ignore the presence of evil all around us and appear normal. “Oh, right. It was big. Huge. Mongo. Uh, you should go with Myra and Gina to find it. Now!”

Jay’s brow furrowed. “Why in the hell would you get down closer to it? Were you hoping to stab it with your Rambo knife?”

As much as I wanted to invent some creative reason for being on the floor, I came up blank. It didn’t matter. The buzz of negative energy increased again. I locked gazes with Myra. “Return of the rat.”

Her gaze darted around as she shook her head. “I don’t sense anything.”

Gina nudged her. “You know that she senses shit way before we do.”

“You’re sensing rats now?” Jay asked, putting his hand out to me.

I gave him a droll look and made a mental note to slap him for being too stupid to figure out I wouldn’t just drop into the splits for no reason in the middle of the lobby. He’d probably like the abuse and start begging me to spank him. It would be a very “Jay” thing to do.

Exavier moved up next to him and swallowed hard as his gaze raked over me. “You’re very limber.”

“What’s with the music? Loud enough for you?” Jay grabbed my hand and lifted me to my feet with ease, still oblivious to the fact bad things wanted us dead. Some detective. Geesh. I kept the knife close to me. “Hey did you know that this song is one of—”

The power went straight at Jay’s head. He didn’t seem to notice it. The urge to smack him myself was great. Somehow, I managed to hold back, opting instead to go with a more subtle approach for keeping his head attached to his shoulders. “It’s one of those songs that makes you want to bang your head.” I grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled hard. “Great, lesson one on having rhythm.” The power whizzed past him and he stiffened.

Sniffing the air, he jerked to the side a bit and went on full alert. “What the fuck was that? It smelled like sulfur and evil.”

Hallelujah, the man may not be quite the moron I thought him to be.

“That was her saving your ass from—” Gina stopped in mid-sentence as she stared at Exavier. “Why lesson one in rhythm of course.”

Myra took me by the arm. She pressed her mouth to my ear and whispered, “We can’t sense it until it’s almost on us. How do we fight it?”

I stared around, waiting for any sign of its whereabouts. “I don’t know but I do know that Stan is still in the building. He held a knife to my throat.”

“Stan is here!” she shouted. “And he held a friggin’ knife to your throat? That knife? Christ, Lindsay!”

Smooth. Way to keep a low profile.

Jay went for his off-duty weapon. “That’s it. I’m going to kill that little fuck.”

“Stan, the guy from earlier?” Exavier asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m with him. I vote we kill him.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “Would you believe me if I swore to you that Stan is, for the most part, harmless?”

“No,” they said in unison. I wasn’t sure if I was happy they seemed to be getting along or not. Having them gang up on me wasn’t all that great.

Chuckling, I locked gazes with Jay so he’d know I was serious. “Would you believe that he’s been possessed by a demon and isn’t responsible for his actions?”

Gina snorted. “The devil made him do it.”

I saw the protest start and then instantly stop as Jay registered what I was telling him. “Oh, gotcha. Explains the sulfur smell. Never thought the defense would hold water.”

I sighed. “Well, I should really help Gina and Myra look for the rat. I’m sure Stan is long gone. In fact, I think I saw him running out the back door. But, if we run into Stan, we’ll give a shout out. Why don’t you and Exavier start eating? Everything’s on the counter.”

Jay shook his head. “Hell fucking no. You are going to take your entirely too cute ass over there and sit down. Exavier and I will go find Stan and escort him to the station or the nearest church.”

I snorted. “You want to take Xavs?”

I couldn’t hold my laughter in. Gina followed suit. Exavier arched a brow. “Something funny with the idea of me lending a hand in the extermination process?” The way he said it made me wonder if he was on to us. Considering that would mean he completely understood demonic forces were at work and doing their best to kill us, I highly doubted it.

Jay scratched the back of his head and appeared to be in pain. “Lindsay, Exavier and I might have gotten into a tiny scuffle. Umm, I can vouch for him. He’ll be fine.”

I slapped Jay upside his head and glared as I pointed the knife at him. I wouldn’t use it on him but it did make me feel special in a scary kind of way. “You picked a fight with him, didn’t you?”

“Ouch. No. Not exactly.” He cast me an apologetic look. “Okay, maybe I did. But I’m telling you that—”

I smacked him again, suddenly more concerned with Exavier being attacked by Jay while I wasn’t there to protect him than the evil that wanted me dead now. “You will go over there and get things ready for everyone to eat. I am going rat hunting. I can’t have them running loose in the center. It’s a safety and health hazard.”

“Lindsay.”

I glared at him. “I will deal with you later.” Glancing at Exavier, my expression softened. “Did he hurt you?”

A tick developed in his jaw. “No. He did not hurt me. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

The last thing I wanted to do was placate a famous guy during a fight with evil but he looked like he needed it. “You’re a singer, honey, I lowered my expectations significantly already.”

Gina laughed so hard she squealed. I would have joined her but I sensed the evil again. Spinning, I watched both halls, unsure which it would come from. “Rat’s back!”

“Shit, so are the kids!” Myra shouted. “Gina, I thought you told them they couldn’t hang out here after dark.”

“I did.”

The evil picked up on our panic. I sensed the instant it decided to go after the group of teenagers who frequently spent an hour or so at night doing various forms of street dancing in our parking lot. With the flux of paranormal activity we had as of late, they’d have been better off taking their chances partying at the mouth of hell. Though, the center was fast becoming a candidate for a back door entrance to the land of eternal damnation.

The mass of evil appeared out of nowhere and ended up heading straight at Exavier. I let my power up, knowing it would want the lure of pure energy. It took the bait.

Myra gasped. “Lindsay, no!”

Shrugging, I grinned and took off running towards the other hallway. I didn’t make it out of the lobby before Myra was on my heels. I sensed another wave of evil coming straight at me, while the one behind me remained constant I knew I was in trouble. I came to a grinding halt. “Oh, bad idea! Really bad idea!”

Seizing hold of Myra, I knocked her to the side, put the knife in my mouth and launched into a back handspring. The power went under me just as the other crossed above me. I slashed at it, catching it and making it break apart for a moment. Coming to my feet, I sensed it headed at my head and ducked, grabbing Gina around the waist as I went. The knife fell from my grasp, and scattered across the floor.

Gina screamed as it crashed near her head. “I can’t see it, Lindsay! Where is it?”

“What do you mean you can’t see them?” I asked, watching as the power formed two dark shadows. “They’re huge! Like Exavier and Jay kind of huge!”

Myra grabbed Exavier and pulled him down. “Try to play along, Mr. Right. I can’t marry you off to her if you’re dead.”

I kicked her ankle. “Rats aren’t deadly.”

She grinned. “Good to know you were more concerned with rats than me trying to marry you off.”

Gasping, I watched as the power went for Jay. “Jay, two o’clock.”

He dropped just in time. “Any idea how to stop it?”

“Mirrors?” Gina asked. “Can we trap its essence there?”

“No,” I said, unsure why. “We have to find something that can absorb it without letting it consume them.”

Myra rubbed the bridge of her nose. “How is it you know these things?”

“I don’t know. Lucky, I guess. Why?” I glanced at Exavier and smiled. “Umm, rats. Hate ‘em.”

“Seriously, Lindsay, you always know things you shouldn’t.”

I shrugged. “I paid attention to the stories a little boy used to tell me about bad things and what did and did not work to stop them. He used to tell me the stories to make me feel better about monsters in the dark. Instead, he made me scared to sleep without a light on.”

Gina snorted. “Only you would play with kids who would creep you out.”

“Exavier never creeped me out,” I said defensively.

“Exavier?” She glanced at Exavier and bit her lower lip. “Didn’t realize you knew him that well.”

“What? Not him. A different one. The one I knew was smaller. Much smaller and well, smaller.”

She laughed and I sensed the evil trying to lock in on the kids again. I jumped to my feet. “Hey, asshole, you aren’t touching my kids. You don’t really want them when you could have what you came for.”

“Don’t you dare unmask yourself—” Myra’s words were cut off when I kissed her forehead and let my power out again. “Dammit, Lindsay!”

“I won’t let it hurt my kids. End of discussion. I’ll find a way to at least trap it. We can call my dad and ask what to do if we have to. He’ll lock me in a tower somewhere to keep me safe when all is said and done but this stuff won’t be able to hurt anyone. Well, I’d love to stay and talk but,” I glanced at the other hallway and sensed it coming, “it’s really pissed right now. Umm, if I can’t figure out how to contain it, you might want to call the voodoo guy.”

Jay grabbed my wrist and shook his head. “You’re leaving. Now.”

“Let go of my wrist. I have a rat to contain.”

“Lindsay, I’m not fucking joking. Exavier will back me on this.”

Glancing at Jay, I let a pouty face come over me and blinked as if I was going to cry. Jay sighed and let go of my wrist. I grinned. “Damn, all these years and I really could have just gone with crying to get my way.”

“Get back here. You’re going to get yourself killed.” He reached for me and I dodged his grasp, moving to the beat of the song still thumping through the center.

“It, like you, will have to catch me first.” Stripping my outer shirt off, I wagged my brows as I threw it at Jay’s face. “Duck!”

He did. The evil raced past his head before heading straight at me. Jay shook his head. “Goddammit, Lindsay, none of us are sensitive to it like you are. We can’t help if we can’t see it.”

The evil sent things flying around me. Papers scattered about the lobby and one of the computer monitors tipped over. I’d have fun trying to explain it all to Exavier later. If he had too many questions, I’d call my dad and have him wipe his memory. Really, though, something as serious as that was a last resort.

The knife came hurdling at me. Gina tackled me just in time to prevent something ugly from happening and the knife stuck into the wall. I glanced at her and then the knife. “Can we file that under me showing up for self defense class today? I think it counts.”

Something struck my stomach and sent my body into Gina’s. The force sent us both sliding across the floor. Gina screamed. “Jay do something! I felt the force it hit Lindsay with. It’s not playing games.”

Exavier was suddenly next to me, touching my shoulder. Myra grabbed for him but he avoided her. “Linds?”

I smiled. “Sorry, slippery spot on the…umm…floor.” I rubbed my stomach and glanced around the room, trying to sense the evil.

It loomed up behind Exavier and I did the only thing I could think of, I grabbed hold of his leg and yanked him to the ground. “Get down!”

The evil swept past, narrowly missing him. Panting, I stared down at him. Every ounce of me wanted to shout the truth about supernaturals but I liked the guy too much to lose him. If I could even keep him as a friend, I’d be happy, so I went with a lie. It certainly looked as though I’d need to call my father later. “Umm, hi. There was a big spider by your head. Sorry about knocking you over.”

I rolled off him quickly and got to my feet. Myra helped him up and stared around the room. “Lindsay, why am I getting the feeling this thing was just toying with us?”

No sooner did she say it then the shadows merged into one and took shape. For a moment it looked like thousands of bugs crawling in and out of each other and then it took on the look of hundreds of snakes. Its outer form was of a man but it was grossly unnatural to see it composed of bugs and snakes. My stomach churned as my pulse sped.

I took a step backwards and bumped into Myra. “Do me a favor.”

“What?”

“If that thing gets in me, behead me. Set my body on fire and whatever else is standard protocol. I don’t want to be brought back after that thing…” I did the “creepy crawly” dance and shuddered. “I hate bugs and snakes. Eww. Myra. Eww. Ohmygod, maggots. I’m going to throw up.”

“Maggots? Lindsay, what is it? Where is it?”

The demon smiled and I cringed. “Call the prince to you now,” it hissed.

A stray snake leapt free of it and landed on me. Screaming, I spun in a circle to get it off me. It slithered up my arm, around my back and I couldn’t stop the heebie-jeebie quiver that tore through me.

The demon laughed as Myra tried to calm me down. “Honey, what’s going on? Where is it?”

I threw the snake free of me and shook. “S-snakes. It threw one on me.”

“Baby, you freak at the sight of a spider,” Jay said, sliding up behind me.

I stared at the demon before me with wide eyes. “Jay, tell me you can see it. Please. Tell me I’m not crazy. Right?”

Jay reached for me. “Tell us where you see it, Lindsay. Exavier can help. We just need to understand. It’s attacking under our radar. You’re about ten times more sensitive than all of us put together and it knows it.”

The demon smiled. “Yes, he speaks the truth. It is how it must be for the mate of the prince.”

“What? Why do I have to be so sensitive? I’d be perfectly happy not having to stare at your ugly ass.”

“Lindsay, what did it say?” Myra asked.

I forgot about attempting to hide what was going on in front of Exavier and simply spoke. “Something about me having to be this sensitive because of the prince guy.” I let out a nervous laugh. “What? Am I supposed to just know when the prince of darkness is pissed off and head it off with a good joke? A nice massage? Sex?”

“Yes,” it said, making me take a huge step back. “That is exactly what you were made to do, Lindsay.” The way it said my name was pure evil.

I shook my head. “Fuck that. I’m no man’s mood ring. And I’m not scared of you.” I swallowed hard. “Okay, not that scared of you.”

“Lindsay, tell us where it is. We can stop it,” Jay said.

The demon tossed snakes at Jay and I lunged forward, using my body to block his. Several of them bit down on my arms and I screamed out. Gina’s breath caught. “Holy shit! You’re bleeding.”

The demon laughed. “Take me to the prince.”

Knocking the snakes free of me, I stomped on each one. I should have been screaming hysterically. How I wasn’t, was a mystery to me. “I don’t know where he is.”

“What?” Myra asked. “What are you talking about?”

“T-the prince. It wants the prince.”

“Lindsay.” Exavier tried to move in front of me but I wouldn’t let him. It was bad enough I’d have to beg my father to wipe his memory. Letting a creepy crawly demon kill him would never do.

“No, I’m good. It’s just a really big rat who seems to be looking for, umm, royal cheese? I’m an animal sensitive in addition to being a witch. Did I forget to mention that?”

Why I even bothered to keep up the charade was beyond me, but I did.

The demon centered its gaze on me and smiled. Maggots crawled through its mouth. “You lie. Take me to the prince or I will destroy your friends.”

It was my turn to glare at it. “Listen, you maggot infested, snake tossin’, bug crawling piece of demonic defecation—I’ll,” I took a step towards it, letting my power flare, “give him to you. Come on.”

“Lindsay?” Gina asked.

Another snake came at me. I pointed at it. “If that thing touches me, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” it asked, not seeming impressed with my threat.

“I’ll open the gates to heaven, like a good little wife of a dark husband would do to calm things down.”

It took a tiny step back, enough for me to know it feared good.

“Can you open the gates?” Gina asked before covering her mouth.

Myra snorted. “Yeah, well, always good to try to bluff.”

“Who is bluffing?” I asked, glancing at the demon. “Now, do you want me to take you to him?”

“Yes.”

I glanced at Gina. “It’s getting hot in here. I really hope a fire doesn’t break out.”

“Huh?”

Myra’s gaze went to the fire extinguisher. “Oh, right. Fire. Bad to have with rats. For sure. I think we have some added protection in the back.”

“Funny you should say that because I just happen to have the address this particular rat needs in the back as well. It’s in my day planner. In my locker. Near the showers.”

I didn’t really have it but the demon didn’t know and I wasn’t about to point out the fact I was lying.

Gina snorted. “You? Organized?”

Myra shot her a nasty look. Gina shut up.

“Lindsay, where is this rat you’re talking about?” Exavier asked, picking me up and setting me behind him before I could get a word out.

The demon moved forward and just missed touching Exavier. It hissed as it stared at him. “Interesting. This one reeks of—”

I let my power flare. “No! You will not touch him.”

The overhead light sizzled and a bolt of energy shot out of it, hitting the demon. It screeched and I smiled. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Still, I smiled.

Gina gasped. “Holy shit, I told you. See, Jay! I said she can make lightning bolts. You didn’t want to believe me.”

“Don’t,” I let another bolt of energy fly at it, “be silly, Gina. No one can create lightning bolts. I bet the rat chewed through something vital and now we’ll need to call someone to fix it as soon as our little problem is taken care of.”

“Lindsay, you’re doing the scary voice thing we talked about,” Jay said, glancing over at me. “The one you used when you locked me out in my underwear and it just happened to pour down rain with lightning that night. Tell us where it’s standing and we’ll take care of it. No more. You were sick for weeks after the last stunt. It drains you too much. Just tell us where to aim.”

The demon moved again, apparently wising up that it shouldn’t stand in one place too long. It watched Exavier with hate in its eyes. In an instant, it was tossing snakes and bugs at him. Spinning, I kicked them away and stood before Exavier protectively. “I said that you were not to touch him. I am positive I didn’t stutter. I can and will bring the wrath of some heavy shit down upon your head if you continue to push me on this. He is not to be touched. None of them are.”

“You lie,” the demon hissed. “You do not have the power to call upon—”

“I don’t? Really? Hmm, news to me.”

I used my power to change the music. The sound of monks chanting filled the air, as did the sound of thunder. The demon looked around, hissing and snarling, clearly taken aback by the newest revelation. It threw a handful of snakes at Exavier. I shot another bolt of electricity out, unsure how I was controlling it as well as I was but not really caring.

Myra looked up. “Gina, isn’t this the same chanting music that kept playing while Lindsay was healing from the accident?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Exavier put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s an ancient chant used to call upon the protectors of good, of life. It asks them to protect the ones you love and to keep them safe from the evil that surrounds them.”

We all glanced at him. He shrugged. “Music lover.”

I laughed. “It’s gibberish. Something that a little boy I once knew taught me. It’s not Latin it’s…” I stopped just short of saying ancient Fae.

Myra stood tall. “Same guy I sent a guitar to? Same guy who taught you about creepy shit? Same guy who is named Exavier too?”

“Yes, why?”

She snorted. “What do you mean why? You wrote a note with this on it for him. I stuck it in the package with the guitar.”

“Note?” My eyes widened. “No, Myra. That wasn’t my card to him. That was something I dreamt about. Something I couldn’t stop thinking about. Not…Oh, shit, you sent him that?”

The demon tried to go to black mist again. I thrust another bolt of energy at it. “I’m trying to talk to someone here, asshole. I get that you have no respect for anything but you will stand there and allow me to finish. Understood?”

“Who are you talking to?” Jay asked, holding his off-duty weapon. “Just point in the general area. The last thing I want to do is carry your limp body out of here tonight, Lindsay. I can guarantee Exavier doesn’t want that either. We spent the afternoon getting to really know each other, Lindsay. Trust that he can handle whatever comes our way—mentally and physically. Please, just glance at the damn rat. All I need is a hint.”

Ignoring Jay, I stared at Myra. “Tell me you didn’t send that with it.”

“Why? It’s nice. Kind of pretty.”

“In an embarrassing sort of way. Sure. You’re right.”

“Lindsay Willows, how is this more important than the other thing?” Jay asked, clearly annoyed with me.

The demon hissed. “The prince now, bitch.”

“Bitch? Me?” I rolled my eyes. “Oh please, Gina calls me worse by the time I’m through my first cup of coffee in the morning. Be a bit more original.” I could feel my power waning. Drawing in a deep breath, I readied myself for what I needed to do. “Myra?”

MORE INFO and BUY LINKS

Alison Kent
Anne Rainey
Eliza Gayle
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Selena Blake
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Beth-Ann Mason
HelenKay Dimon
Lacey Savage
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane

Saturday Snippet-Paranormal Payload

Excerpt (Villain POV) from Paranormal Payload by Mandy M Roth

“What do you mean she simply vanished?” Stegian asked, his jaw tight and his gaze hard. The urge to kill something was great. All that stood before him was one of the hags and Samson.

Samson shook his head, still appearing shocked by the entire affair. “Master, she simply closed her eyes and vanished.”

“She came into her full powers,” the hag said, looking back at him with milky-white eyes.

To his knowledge, the hags were all blind but somehow, they managed to see. The one before him smiled, revealing a mouth full of missing teeth. “It is the third eye, Master.”

“And did this third eye prove useful when the prisoner was escaping?”

Her already pale, light green skin seemed to lighten even more. Stegian couldn’t help but pride himself on the fear he could instill in others. “I await an answer.”

“N-no,” she said, shakily.

“I see.” Stegian took a step forward. “Would you please enlighten me as to why I should keep you around? Samson fights on the front lines, killing Shamenians and Tegmen. What is it you and your sisters provide?”

The hag tossed her head back and shrieked as Stegian thrust his power out and through her ragged body. Her skin began to sink in on itself as he drained her body of its power.

The cell door blew open and the other two hags appeared. Stegian smiled, licking a fang as he did. They stopped instantly. “Master, we have located the Janelle woman. She lies near the lagoons. An energy force is with her. We believe it to be both natural and unnatural.”

“Meaning?” He released his hold on the hag for a moment to hear the others out.

“It means the woman is somehow emitting extremely high levels of energy and that something else, we do not understand what, is aiding her.”

“The prophecy,” Samson whispered. “It’s coming true.”

There was a time when Stegian dismissed theories containing ancient prophecies. That was until he held the scrolls in which they were written and had a vision so clear that it did the unthinkable—it terrified him.

“I shall go to the lagoons, Master,” Samson said.

“Take several others with you.” Stegian stared at the converted Shamenian. “Do not think yourself better than an off-worlder.”

MORE INFO and BUY LINKS

Selena Robins
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Selena Blake
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Beth-Ann Mason
HelenKay Dimon
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane
Selena Blake
Delilah Devlin

Saturday Snippet-Executive Decision

Excerpt from Executive Decision by Mandy M Roth

Pushing the glass doors of my office open, I looked around for Dale, one of my team members and close friend. In fact, I’d even go as far as calling him one of my best friends. His remarkable ability to drop off the radar at a moment’s notice always surprised me. He was a creative wonder who seldom remembered what time of the day it was—unless he had a date to get to. Even with his faults, Dale and I were close—very close, beyond best friend kind of close.

Dale close.

“Hey Liz, how’d the meeting go? Did we land the account?” Dale Corbin asked as he did a slight jab towards me. His floppy light brown hair with the slightest bits of blond running through it and emerald green eyes made the thirty-three-year-old look barely legal at times. Every other woman in the office seemed to think he looked like fresh meat and he ate it up. Often I’d find him cuffing his sleeves and doing semi-flex routines near the coffee pot. He denied it, of course. My goal was to capture one of the moments on film so I could show him the pictures later. That or run them in the paper with a witty caption for his next birthday. Either way, I’d accomplish my goal of proving the flexing incidents did occur.

Having just turned twenty-nine, you’d have thought I’d be a bit more attracted to Dale even if he looked young. I wasn’t. Well, not that much. Sure he was incredibly handsome, had one of the best smiles I’d ever seen and skin that looked permanently sun kissed but he was just too—Dale. I knew him too well. The guy had a way of making women believe in white knights and happily ever after endings. As a little girl, I would have loved that. As a cynical and at times, sarcastic woman pushing thirty, it was just annoying. Not to mention he practically lived with me, so I got a dose of him twenty-four hours a day.

Twice in the last three months alone, I’d had to hide him in the men’s restroom due to some woman basically stalking him. They had no qualms about showing up at the workplace, demanding to know why he hadn’t returned their calls. Two things had come of that. One, I was actually a bit jealous at how nice the men’s lavatory was in comparison to the women’s. And two, Dale had assumed I was now his relationship girl Friday. The last thing I liked hearing about was who he was screwing and when. Every time the topic came up, I’d do my best to change it. But it was hard to keep it away for long. Especially when we were so close and the women he chose to fuck were so determined.

I’d known Dale for eight years. He slept on my sofa bed or in my bed if I didn’t beat him to it, then he’d just wait until I was out cold and climb in with me anyway. Over half of his wardrobe was at my house. I did his laundry. He helped me with anything I needed. We shared a cab to and from work. Hell, we walked half naked around each other. We acted like a married couple that never had sex. And that was more than fine by me.

He seemed to be permanently attached to my hip. Luckily for him, he was at least a hot attachment. Sadly, Dale didn’t quite go with all my shoes.

“So, did we nail the Becker account?” he asked again.

“Oh, she nailed something but it wasn’t the Becker account.”

The sound of fingernails screeching down a chalkboard would have been better than the sound of Vincent Walters’ voice. It was one of those drab, monotone ones that made me think of old high school professors.

I didn’t bother to turn around and that must have annoyed him. He grabbed my shoulder and attempted to turn me towards him. Dale clenched his fist and looked at me for the okay to hit Vince. Knowing Dale actually would, I shook my head.

The tension in my neck and arms increased, only this time it wasn’t from stress–it was from the unexplainable urge to ram my fist through Vince’s overly tanned face. The man needed to, at the very least, roll over in the tanning bed. He had permanent white spots from where the light didn’t reach, edging his ear and jaw line. Gritting my teeth, I exhaled slowly, hoping it would calm me. It didn’t. “Kindly remove your hand from me, Vince.”

“I prefer Vincent.”

“And I prefer you not touching me. One of us may get her wish while the other may get to wear a cast on his wrist for several weeks. Guess which one you will be?”

“So temperamental, must come from your small town upbringing.” He lifted his hand off me and I turned slowly to face him. Vince was one of those men that appeared to have gotten their head stuck in a pencil sharpener at some point prior to birth. Couple that with his seriously outdated helmet style hair, short sleeve white polyester shirt and a tie that was a good three inches above his belt buckle and you had your garden variety loser with a good job.

His grey eyes raked over me. As he leered I couldn’t tear my eyes off his yellowed teeth. His pack a day habit had done quite a number on his pearly whites. A few months ago “someone” had left an article about teeth whitening on his desk. Too bad he didn’t take the advice. Maybe he’d have a girlfriend by now. Doubtful though.

Dale moved in close to me. He was six-two and together we must have looked intimidating to the five-seven Mr. Walters because he took a nice big step backwards.

Ah, some days it’s good to be a giant.

“Did you have something for us, Vincent, or are you wasting valuable company time, again.”

“I do not waste company time, Ms. Rogers.”

Dale snorted. “Right. Here at Baum Marketing we often find searching for online purchase brides from Russian websites helpful in our day-to-day activities. Not only does it increase our profitability, it increases your chance at finally getting some.”

My eyes bulged. If anyone knew what someone did on their computer, it was Dale. His work place buddy, Wesley, was our company computer tech. The shocked look on Vince’s face was all the confirmation I needed. Patting Dale’s shoulder, I offered him a huge grin. I’d have said “that a boy” but that may have been overkill.

As if on cue, me and my shadow, Dale, spun around and headed into my office. Neither one of us looked back at Vince, though I’m thinking we both wanted to, if for no other reason than to see him run off to his computer to clear its history and cookies.

“Oh, that was good.”

Dale chuckled. “Not nearly as good as you threatening to break his wrist if he didn’t get his hand off you. You should have let me hit him. Baum seems to worship the ground you walk on. He’d have thanked me personally.”

If you only knew.

I went straight for my desk to check email before we headed out for the night. Dale went straight for the corner of my desk and planted his tight backside on it. Charles’ taste in office décor was far different from mine. That didn’t mean I was fine with Dale’s tight ass plopped upon it. Biting my lower lip, I glanced down at the brown stained veneer and back to Dale. He didn’t get the subtle hint. Pushing him off occurred to me but then I’d have to touch that firm backside of his and that could lead to nothing but trouble. As nice as he was, he was also still a man and at the moment I was a bit worked up from Charles.

“You’re killing me here, Liz. Did we get Becker or not?”

“Not.”

Dale twisted so fast that I grabbed my laptop for fear he’d send it tumbling to the floor. His wide green eyes locked on me.

Trying to break eye contact with him, I concentrated on straightening the day’s files. Dale caught my wrist and held it gently in his large hand.

“Elizabeth, talk to me. Why didn’t we get it? We’ve busted our asses all these months for something like this.”

I pointed at his shirt, hoping it would distract him. “You know that shade of dark green really brings out your eyes. Is that new? I don’t remember seeing it before. I really like it on you.”

“Elizabeth, you’re hiding. Weren’t you the one who lectured me on standing up, owning my actions?”

Don’t you just hate it when your own advice comes back to bite you in the ass?

“Yeah, I did tell you that, Dale. But you were the one who told me to tone down my harshness. That was my attempt for the day. If you want to know the truth, fine. I’m overworked, in need of a break and can’t concentrate worth a damn. At various points throughout the day I want to claw at the walls and run through the main room screaming my fool head off. I’m twenty-nine and feel a hell of a lot older than that. There, in all its ugly glory, is the truth.”

For a moment, Dale was silent. I took that as a sign he was upset. He had worked just as hard as I had all these months. My entire team did. And we all needed a break.

“So, what does this mean?”

“It means we don’t have the Becker account,” I said sardonically.

Dale laughed slightly. “That much I got. What I want to know is what happens with our team projection? Will we meet it?”

“I don’t see why not. We’ve done twice the work the other teams have and we’re ahead of the game because of it. Now, if Walters pulls a whammy out of his rump then we’ll have some catching up to do.”

“Liz, we’re so close to meeting it. If we do, you’ll be the next choice for the Vice President’s position that they still haven’t filled. Do you realize you’d be the youngest V.P. the company has ever had? Not to mention the only one who listens to eighties’ music still and dances along with it while she thinks no one is looking.” He winked and bit his lower lip, drawing my attention and holding it.

Shaking myself back from the brink of finding Dale sexy, I tried to focus on what we were talking about. “I do not dance to eighties’….”

He wagged his brows. “It’s okay, Ariel. I won’t tell your daddy. The Reverend doesn’t need to know anything about it.”

“Really, Ren,” I batted my eyes, “but Daddy says music is the gospel of easy sexuality.”

Dale raked his gaze over me slowly, causing my body to heat. “Ah, Liz, I love how on the spot you are with your movie references.”

“Well, when we’re talking about cutting footloose, it’s hard to jump back.”

He groaned. “That was a bad one.”

“I tried.”

“Yes, and I win.”

Did I win something involving you being naked?

A dreamy sigh escaped me and I jerked back to reality—one where I did not lust after Dale.

“You’ve got that lost look again, Liz. I was complimenting you on your amazing achievement. Hell, men twice your age are vying for the same position. That’s why Walters acts the way he does. He’s threatened by you. You’re not even thirty yet and you’ve accomplished an amazing amount. To be honest, it used to bother me that a woman three years younger than me was my boss.”

“You’ve been offered a position as a team leader at least six times since I’ve been here. If you wanted to be one, why do you keep turning it down?”

He pushed his chin forward and shrugged. “It used to appeal to me but after I saw how many hours you have to put in I decided to pass.”

“You work just as many hours as I do, Dale.”

His traced his finger absently over the top of my desk, pushing a pen and a paperclip as he went. It was a very Dale thing to do. Especially when he was avoiding talking about something he didn’t want to discuss. “Not true, you worked over three times last week.”

My stomach tightened. I hadn’t worked over. I’d stayed over, had sex with Charles and then gone out to dinner with him. I’d successfully managed to keep my arrangement with Charles a secret from Dale. It was hell juggling the two men. Charles knew I was close to Dale but didn’t know Dale sort of lived with me. And I’d gone out of my way inventing ridiculous reasons for being away from the house when I wanted to see Charles. I hated lying to Dale most of all. Why I cared what Dale thought, I’m not sure. But I did.

“So are you still upset that I’m technically your boss even though you do everything I do?”

“No. I’m fine with it now. Of course, getting to see you run around in your underwear when we’re at home does help. Setting the V.P. spot aside, the Becker account will mean exposure.”

He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I hated guilt and Dale was an expert at making me feel it. “Do you want me to go back to Baum and tell him we want it? He offered it to us.”

“Charles offered you Becker and you didn’t take it?” Dale caught my chin and lifted my face to him. Any other person I’d have punched between the eyes, even at the risk I’d break a nail. Dale had a way of calming me down. In a way he was a walking situation diffuser for me.

Hmm, maybe having him actually strapped to my hip wouldn’t be so bad after all. He’d work wonders for my pms.

“Yep, I turned him down.”

“You must really need a break then.” He hopped off my desk and adjusted his olive tie. The tiniest of white lines ran diagonally on it. “Let’s go, we promised Paige we’d meet her for dinner and maybe some clubbing.”

“Tell me again why you know more about my social life than me.”

Dimples appeared on both sides of his handsome face. “Probably because I am your social life and when you’re not with me, you’re with my sister. That and once you check out of this place, you can’t remember anything. Lauren is still complaining about you forgetting her cell phone number all the time. Oh, she’s number two on there now. I added everyone for you. You only had one person programmed in the thing.”

I only had one person in my phone? No. That didn’t sound like me. “Who did I have programmed in?”

“Me.”

“Oh, right.” I tossed the last file into the stainless steel wire unit next to my desk and shut my computer down. “That’s rather funny since I know your number by heart anyways.”

He smiled. “Let’s go. Paige is waiting.”

“Have I thanked you lately for introducing me to her? I mean, it’s only been seven years. But look at it this way, at least I finally remembered.”

“Hey, all I did was help you find a new place to live which just so happens to be next door to hers. That little dump you were living in wasn’t fit for humans.”

I growled playfully at him. “Cut me some slack. I came to New York straight out of college and snatched up the first thing I could afford and get moved into right away.”

Dale shuddered. “I can’t even think about you there now without wanting a shower. You actually had to share a bathroom with the entire floor.”

“Now you’re just being dramatic. Besides, I share a shower with you.”

Dale grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “Not literally but I’m open to the idea.”

“I’m going to push you off the corner of my desk if you keep it up. Better yet, I’ll shove you out of the window. Falling twenty-six floors and smacking Madison Avenue head first might teach you a lesson or two.”

“You came out of the womb in a bad mood, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps, but it beats being born with a silver spoon, sweetie. Some of us had straw instead of a spoon.”

He smiled and shrugged. “I would love to see you on a farm. I can’t picture it. The only thing about you that makes me believe you ever even lived on one is when you are extremely excited or pissed you get the slightest of accents.”

I huffed. “I do not.”

Dale flashed me his boyish “get out of anything” smile. “Liz, it’s kind of cute. Don’t get upset when I point it out.”

Glancing towards the wall, I focused on one of the many pieces of non-art Charles had hanging around the place. In my opinion the artist had wasted a perfectly good canvas, having only put a red triangle in the bottom right corner with a slash of grey brushed through it.

Dale lifted my chin towards him. “Aww, did I upset poor Elizabeth?”

I let my gaze harden and tried not to laugh as I grabbed my pen and jabbed him in the backside. He yelped and lifted off the desk a bit. “Aww, did I accidentally hurt poor Dale?”

“You’re kissing that if it’s still sore later,” he said, rubbing his bottom.

“You deserved it for bringing my non-existent accent into this.”

His bottom lip quivered and I knew he was trying not to laugh at me. “Right then, no accent. Got it. What about your affinity for baseball caps, sneakers and eating? How do you explain those? They’re very ‘not from around here’ if you know what I mean.”

I readied my pen and he grabbed hold of my wrist. “I happen to like to pull my hair up into a cap when I clean, do your laundry and  … well, I just like to wear one. As for wearing sneakers, why would I want to run around in three-inch heels all the time? My legs are long enough already. If a man is turned off by the sight of tennis shoes then he isn’t the man for me. And if you’re planning on poking fun at me for actually eating then I’ll make sure this pen goes all the way through next time.”

Dale twisted my wrist slightly and de-penned me. Grinning, he leaned over me and patted my head gently. “Such a cute lil’ defensive thing.”

I didn’t laugh.

“Fine. Sorry. I love that you eat. I don’t think I’d ever really seen a woman eat before I met you. Not sure where you put it though.”

It was sweet that he was trying to backtalk his way out of a pickle with me. But it wasn’t working. “Dale, you have a mother and a sister. Do you mean to tell me they didn’t eat the entire time you were growing up?”

“Rosy, my nanny raised me, not my mother. I was sent to boarding school at age six and Paige is six years younger than me. I didn’t even see my baby sister until she was almost one and then it was only briefly.”

Running my hand over the side of my desk nervously, I tried to think of something to say to him. No part of me could imagine growing up that way. Whenever he let something slide about his childhood, it seemed very cold and very sterile. I have two brothers. We all lived at home until we went away to college. We fought like cats and dogs but wouldn’t dare let another person between us. I couldn’t fathom not seeing them. And I certainly couldn’t see my mother handing us over to someone else to raise us while she lived in the same house and was perfectly capable of doing it herself. She did have a babysitter come two times a week but that was because she worked those two days.

Hearing Dale tell me that he didn’t grow up with Paige did explain why they didn’t ever share childhood stories with me or have any of those special jokes that I shared with my siblings.

Dale leaned back on my desk and propped himself on his elbow. If it had still been during business hours I would have pushed him off but no one but Charles was still around. It wasn’t like he’d dare say a word to me about it.

“Don’t you go growing a conscience and getting all sentimental on me, Liz, or I’ll be forced to go get my rubber band gun and handle it.”

My mouth dropped. “You told me you threw that away!”

He grinned from ear to ear. “I lied.”

“I had a welt on my butt for a week after you got me with that!”

He twisted a bit and laughed. The deep sound wrapped around me and I instinctively wanted to bat it away right after I let it circle me once more. “I know. It was cute and it must have hurt. Sorry about that. But in my own defense–I thought your pants were thicker and I also had no idea you didn’t have underwear on.”

I pushed him hard but it barely budged him. “I did too have on underwear.”

“Sweetie, a thong doesn’t cover much cheek now does it?”

“Go file something, Mr. Silver Spoon Man, and let me sulk.”

“Sulk?”

“I found out today that my date for my reunion isn’t going to be able to make it. In one respect it’s good because I had no idea what in the hell I was going to do with him during Daddy’s sixtieth birthday party. Daddy hates all men that have anything to with me, except you.”

He shook his head a bit. “Kind of late in the game to bail on you considering you’re flying out this weekend.”

“Tell me about it. Next time I’ll be sure to pick a more reliable guy.”

He smiled wide. “Want me to come? You were already planning on someone being there and I can finally meet your family. I feel like I know them, yet I’ve never really met them. Plus, I think I found the perfect gift for your father.”

“Pierce Dale Corbin, you do not need to buy my father a birthday present.”

“Liz, every time I answer the phone at your house and it’s him, he grills me on when we’re going to begin dating so he can get planning on grandchildren. Never in a million years did I expect a girl’s father to beg me to hurry up and start doing his daughter.”

Nodding my head, I did my best to block the knowledge out. I failed. “I’m sorry he does that to you. Has my mother cornered you yet? She thinks we’re lying to them and ‘living in sin’ but she promises not to tell my father. I think she’s itching to get to plan a wedding and has put all her hopes in you being the man on the cake topper.”

Dale laughed so hard he shook the desk. “Want me to videotape a message to her telling her how much I’m not getting from you?”

I jabbed him with my pen, lighter this time and in the arm. “No.”

“I’ll tell her in person then. When I meet her in person. This will be great. I’ll get to see where you grew up, meet your family and some of your old friends.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind going? I thought you were going out with Ashley.” I asked, still surprised that Dale seemed genuinely excited about going.

“Liz, I haven’t gone out with Ashley in two years. And, no. I don’t have a date planned. I’d love to go. I’ve got as much vacation as you built up and since we aren’t taking on the Becker account I’m not busy here. We’ve got two weeks. We could spend as much time as you want with your family and maybe do something together.”

I thought about it a minute. Dale was right. He could get the time off, and he wouldn’t think twice about coming with me. “I’m flying. I hate to fly and you fly everywhere you go. You’re going to have to sit by me while I clutch the seat and sweat.”

Dale chuckled. “I think I’m up for that. Though, if you leave claw marks on my arms, I’m telling your mom she was right about us and I’ll use that as proof. She’ll know you’re a wild one then.”

I snorted. That was something Dale would do. “Are you sure you don’t mind? Ohio isn’t anything like New York.”

“I just told you that I’d love to see you on a farm. I’m game.”

I tried to hide my excitement. Dale had just single-handedly saved me from being the one woman who wouldn’t be showing up with a man on her arm. The best part of it all was that I could take him to my father’s birthday party. Charles was not going to go to that. I don’t think my father would be pleased to learn I’d been seeing an older man. I beamed. “Thank you, Dale.”

“It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, fun to watch the boy born with a silver spoon in his mouth on a farm. I will be taking a camera.”

“I may have been born with it in my mouth, but I don’t carry it around with me as an adult. Now, Paige on the other….”

Tossing my hand in the air, I snickered. “Say no more. It’ll only get you in knee deep with her.”

“I often fear my five foot five baby sister.”

“You’re trouble you know.” I stood, grabbed my Isabelle Fiore handbag and took a deep breath in.

Charles appeared outside my office door and I waved him in. He glanced at Dale, still half lying on my desk and then back at me. His eyebrow went up in question. I shook my head and Charles relaxed. This time when he looked at me, it was filled with lust rather than suspicion.

“Elizabeth, do you have a few minutes? I’d like to talk with you in my office.”

He had to be kidding me. I’d already told him I was going out with my friends tonight, yet he still wanted a quickie.

“Mr. Baum, I’m actually getting ready to head out. Can this wait?”

Or, translated—no sex now.

Charles glanced at Dale and smiled. “Dale, I’m surprised you’re still here. I hear the ladies talking when they don’t think I’m listening. They all seem to be fighting for a chance to take you out.”

Dale chuckled. “I don’t think it’s quite like that, but thank you. I’m waiting for Liz to finish up.”

Instantly, Charles had his light blue eyes locked on me. His face tightened and I could only imagine the things running through his head. “My apologies on my comment, Elizabeth. I wasn’t aware you were one of the women as well.”

That made Dale sit up. He tapped his fingers on my desk. “As nice as that would be, Mr. Baum, Liz is not one of those women. I actually feel bad for any man who dates her. She’s always working. He’d have to apply for a job here if he ever wanted to spend any time with her.” He sent a large paperclip spinning in my direction upon his last comment and cast Charles a questioning look.

“Yes, our Ms. Rogers is quite dedicated to her job. Since you’re on your way out I will meet with you Monday … ahh … no I won’t. You’re on vacation starting next week, aren’t you?”

Way to point out that you won’t be getting any from me for two whole weeks.

Dale stood and I heard his keys jingling, or rather my keys. He carried my house keys for me. I didn’t bother. “That reminds me, Mr. Baum. Liz, told me we didn’t take the Becker account and that she could use some rest and relaxation. Our team will be dead in the water for a few weeks since we finished the last of our month’s projects already, I’d like to take a couple of weeks off myself.”

Charles looked as though he’d tip over from shock. “Really? I’m almost upset the rest of the office is gone. No one will believe me when I tell them you actually took some time off. You are just as bad as Elizabeth. At the rate the two of you are going, you’ll have enough vacation time built up to take four years off before you retire.”

I laughed softly because he was right.

“Is that a yes?” Dale asked.

“Of course, Dale. Enjoy your time. Any idea what you’ll use the time for?”

I sucked a sharp breath in and crossed my fingers for there to be no fireworks.

“I think I’ll take some time, see the countryside and just relax with friends,” Dale said, looking directly at me as if he knew better than to tell Charles he was coming with me. How he knew was beyond me but the look in his eyes said he did.

“Wonderful, enjoy yourself.” Charles caught my gaze and just held it for the longest time. My neck and upper chest warmed rapidly as if his stare did have the ability to scorch me. “Dale. Elizabeth.”

I watched as Charles walked down the hall. A tiny piece of me thought about running after him. I didn’t.

“Yoohoo, Liz.” Dale waved his hand before my face and I jerked. “You okay there? You were here then gone.”

Did horny qualify as fine?

“I’m good.”

“Hey, do you mind if we stop by my house quick?”

“Nope, you want to grab a cab?”

“Sounds good to me.”

BUY LINKS

Selena Robins
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Selena Blake
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Beth-Ann Mason
HelenKay Dimon
Lacey Savage
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane
Alison Kent

Saturday Snippet-Blaze of Glory

Excerpt from Blaze of Glory by Mandy M Roth & Rory Michaels

Chapter One

New West Frontier, Prospect Springs, New Earth, 2807

“Jon, what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t go riding into town, kicking up a row and laying claim to another man’s property.”

Jonathan MacSweeny glared at his best friend and cousin, Eli MacSweeny. Jonathan’s temperament had been bad to start with. It only worsened since he’d gotten up and this wasn’t helping it along any. At the current rate of progression, he’d be likely to shoot fire from his eyes and tear a man limb from limb before the night was out. The first was out of reach even for someone like Jonathan, but the second was a distinct possibility.

“Just because the man had a hand in fatherin’ her doesn’t mean he owns her,” Jonathan stressed. “And if I feel like making a scene, I will.” He fisted the reins of his horse—the need to be on their way was great for Jonathan. Every second they delayed was a second he could have had with the woman who turned him inside out with nothing more than a glance.

“According to the law, her daddy does own her. Least ‘til she’s married off, then her husband does.” Eli tipped his head slightly, sending dark strands of hair over his shoulders. The jet-black hair was a MacSweeny trait, one the ladies seemed to adore and the church-going elderly women seemed to take as a sign of the devil. Probably didn’t help much that the boys had inhuman eyes. They weren’t exactly human so it sort of went hand-in-hand.

Thankfully, over the years, the religious people in Prospect Springs had come to understand that although by all outward appearances the MacSweeny family was touched by the devil, they meant no harm and were honest boys. Who and what they were wasn’t a total secret because the rumors floated. The boys did nothing to stop the scuttlebutt.

Almost all of them had remained in the area. None had started families yet. It was probably a good thing since there were so many of them. Hell, there were four in his immediate family alone. Eli had two brothers. That had them up to seven already and Jonathan hadn’t even begun to think about his other two uncles and their boys.

All boys.

All rowdy.

All different.

All special.

“The law is wrong, Eli,” Jonathan said. “Plain and simple, the man has no right to force his daughter to wed a lecherous bastard just because it’ll get his parish bigger donations. Gerald Wilson is a snake who has raped more women than not and I’m not about to let him get his hands on Molly.”

Again.

He didn’t voice his last concern but it was evident from the tension that filled the area. Jonathan would rot in the pits of hell before he ever allowed Gerald Wilson near Molly again. He’d spent a decade regretting having been foolish enough to leave her accessible to Gerald to begin with. He should have claimed her as his mate the minute he’d realized that’s what she was to him.

It was an absurd thought and he knew it. They’d been too young for him to go with his gut. Gerald hadn’t cared a bit about Molly’s innocence. For that alone Jonathan had watched the bastard from a distance, waiting for him to step out of line so he’d be justified in killing him.

“Yap, yap, yap,” Parker, Jonathan’s older brother, said, as he rode up next to him. He steadied his horse and nodded out toward the night. “I hear ya talkin’, little brother, but I don’t hear you saying what it is you’re going to do to rectify the situation.”

“Rectify?” Eli grinned. It didn’t take much to figure out he was in the mood for mischief. “Trust the doctor to swoop in and start up with fancy words. We might need to stop by a Frontier Stall and look that there one up.”

Parker put his middle finger in the air and offered a cocky smile. “Doctor that, asshole. And seems to me the lawyer in the family would have some pull in regards to changing the laws but it’d appear you are as worthless as your last girlfriend claimed you to be.”  He let his middle finger droop slowly as his gaze slid to Eli’s groin.

Eli shrugged. “Seein’ as how I had her screaming my name out in ecstasy behind the General Store I can’t see how I’d be labeled worthless. A bit randy maybe, but worthless? No.” He rubbed his chin, doing his best to conceal a wicked grin. They got entirely too much joy out of poking fun at one another. “As far as laws go, I don’t get to change ‘em. I only get to twist the already existing ones to my advantage.”

Jonathan’s ears perked as he fingered his sidearm and then his badge. The silver burned slightly as he touched it but still, his hand remained. It was a reminder of not only who he was but what he was. He was the sheriff but was also more than a man. The beast, who suffered a sensitivity to silver, swore an oath to protect Molly and the man supported the decision wholeheartedly. The two had come to a conclusion long ago—she was not to be harmed and, one day, she would be his. “Got any law-twisting planned, cousin?”

“A whole lot of begging, Jon. That’s ‘bout it.” Eli chuckled. “Well, that and I told Parker to bring along some aspirin. You might need it after you go and get yourself hung over a woman. Be thankful a hangin’ won’t kill ya. Just make your head and neck hurt for a few days. Now, if they decide to run silver spikes through your heart or chop your head off, well, that’s another matter.”

“Wonderful.” He didn’t bother to hide his sarcasm. “And thanks for the show of support. It warms me to know my kin are positive I’ll get my neck snapped before the day’s out.”

The tiny snort that came from Eli wasn’t lost on him, neither was the piercing gaze the man gave him. Those lavender eyes always seemed to know the truth.

Eli stated the obvious anyway. “Jon, this is an awful lot of trouble to go through for a girl you ain’t even seen since she was but knee-high. What’s it been? Ten years now?”

It was the truth. Jonathan hadn’t seen Molly Cogan since she was sixteen but that didn’t matter any. When word of her father’s plans reached him, he’d been blinded by rage. Molly had been a free spirit, a female renegade. So much so, her father had sent her away, shamed by her even though there was nothing to be ashamed about. Molly was a rare treasure, or at least she had been.

And damn well always will be, MacSweeny.

He smiled as his inner voice chastised him as quickly and as sharply as Molly would. He held tighter to the reins of his horse. It would’ve been faster to take his steel steed. They were built to look like real horses except for the legs. Steel steeds had none. They hovered just off the ground, six to eight inches. Jonathan had mounted handlebars on the neck of his. They helped to steer better and allowed him to lean forward more, cutting wind resistance. All the MacSweeny boys had steel steeds but the damn mechanical beasts tended to be unpredictable and since they ran on both fuel and solar power, one needed to be sure one had plenty of both. Fuel wasn’t an issue, it was sunlight. There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of it left for the day and there was no way in hell Jonathan was gonna chance anything ruining him getting to Molly. No, he’d take what was tried and true, his mare.

“Let’s ride.”

Extra Buy links

Selena Robins
Anne Rainey
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Myla Jackson
Selena Blake
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Beth-Ann Mason
HelenKay Dimon
Lacey Savage
Shelli Stevens
Shiloh Walker
TJ Michaels
Lauren Dane
Selena Blake
Alison Kent

Saturday Snippet- Screw You!

Snippet from Executive Decision by Mandy M Roth

Dale nodded but held me to him. He pressed his mouth to my ear. “We didn’t get a chance to finish our conversation.”

“Huh?”

“Do you, Liz?”

I tilted my head so I could see his face better. “Do I what?”

“Do you honestly think what we did doesn’t count as sex?”

Sorry I asked. again.

Opening my mouth, I tried to answer him but ended up closing it again. “I … err … I don’t know. I didn’t think you wanted Charles to know about your sex life and I’m fairly sure you’d rather Paige not hear it either.”

“Yeah, maybe filing that incident in the bathroom away and keeping it between us is for the best. It would just make things awkward around everyone else and girls I date might get jealous because I’m still friends with you. Kind of messes with my image.”

Girls he dates? Messes with his image?

I gripped his hands as I soaked in the words. It wasn’t like I expected anything from him. We agreed to not let it change our friendship and I’d made sure to stay detached. Knowing all of this didn’t make the thought of Dale being with someone else hurt any less. It was none of my business that he wanted to see other people.

“You know, come to think of it, it would be nice to find someone to take care of things for me the right way.”

The right way?

The wicked bitch of the west branch just had the house drop on her. I stopped moving with him and he had to force me to go at all. There were so many things I should have said. I said nothing.

“It’s a good thing that the one time we lose our minds was substandard to say the least. Can you even imagine if it actually ranked up there in our best of category? It’d be really hard to get over that.” He pressed his mouth to my ear and whispered, “I can assure you that nothing will change between us because I’m over it. Thanks for the roll about though. It was amusing to say the least.”

Substandard? Roll about? Amusing?

He let go of my hands and I stood still. I didn’t let the anger in me surface. It was odd to feel so calm when I was so angry and so hurt. Turning, I looked at Dale. I carefully kept my face void of emotion. “Dale.”

“What, do you disagree? Am I wrong, Liz? Let me know, I’d hate to piss you off.” There was something in his tone I couldn’t put my finger on. I didn’t care to evaluate it. He wanted to pick a fight, and I wasn’t in the mood to take the bait.

I locked eyes with him. “Dale, I’m not upset with you. I’m disappointed in you. Resorting to this isn’t something I ever thought you would do. I am truly sorry that I was a ‘lame lay’ for you. And I’m sorry that I told you I wouldn’t let it change things between us.”

Dale moved to touch me, but I shook my head no. He stopped, but he wasn’t happy about it. “You’re disappointed in me? Huh, that’s rich considering what you’ve been up to for a year.”

“I’m not going to take the bait and argue with you. You’re hurt and angry so you’re lashing out at me. If you’re having issues dealing with what happened and you regret me wasting your time that’s fine. I don’t share your opinion on it being substandard, but I’m biased, I’m the woman in question. You didn’t hurt me tonight, you hurt us. I will move your things to Paige’s tomorrow morning.” I put my hand out to him. “I’d like my key back now.”

His face fell. “Liz, are you throwing me out?”

“I’m simply helping you to eliminate all the substandard aspects of your life. Good luck with all you do.”

Dale tried to pull me to him, but I backed away and put my hand out again. “My key, please.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled his keys out. I watched with a stone face as he slid his key to my apartment off his ring. Looking down at my outstretched hand, I noticed the Gucci watch he’d given me. I brought my hand back and Dale looked relieved right up until I unclasped the watch and removed it from my wrist.

“Liz, that was a gift.”

“I know and I loved it, but every time I look at it I’ll be reminded of the ugly things you said to me. I trusted you and let you close to me. That was my own mistake. I should have learned my lesson the first time around.”

“First time around?” Dale asked, slowly handing my key to me.

I ignored his question. He didn’t deserve an answer. I took it and placed the watch in his hand. “I think it’s safe to assume that I’m going home to Ohio alone. I do thank you for having offered. You didn’t have to do that.” I took a deep breath before I delivered the killing blow. “I’ll speak with Charles about moving you off my team while I’m on vacation. I’m sure with the right persuasion he’ll do as I ask and not think it substandard.” I turned to walk away. Dale caught hold of my arm and held me in place.

“Liz, I didn’t mean any of that. I was hurt. I don’t think—”

Putting my hand up, I stopped him and peeked over my shoulder. “You said what you meant. I just find it funny that your anger for Charles started this between us and now he’ll be the one to clean it up. And, Dale, he’s never been anything but kind to me. Can you say the same?”

Yanking my arm free of his grasp, I walked back towards the entrance. I not only needed air now, I needed to apologize to Charles and be sure Dale’s job was secure. I made my way out of the front door and stepped to the side. Unzipping my handbag, I grabbed my phone out and turned it back on. It took a minute for it to sync up with the satellite. Scrolling through missed calls, I found Charles’ number and hit the enter button.

“I was wondering if you’d call back,” Charles said as he answered. “I thought you might.”

“You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” I asked in a playful tone.

“I’d like to think I do. Now, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Charles, we both know you don’t care … hey, how did you know something is wrong?”

He chuckled and I could just imagine him laying back on his bed, half out of his suit as he talked to me. “I know you better then you like to believe, Elizabeth.”

“I guess so.” I laughed and twisted away from the door more to be able to hear Charles better. “I’m sorry I had to cut you off earlier. It was a little hard to hear.”

“I had no idea Corbin could be that loud.”

“Ignore him, we all do.” I did a silent prayer that Charles would let the Dale situation go.

“We? So, you’re out in a group?”

“Yep, I have three of my girlfriends and one of them, Paige, is Corbin’s sister.” I could almost hear his relief over the phone. “I told you that before. You just don’t listen to me.”

“I’ll admit I was a bit concerned you and he were an item.”

I picked at the brick next to me and thought carefully about everything I was saying. When I realized I was ruining my French manicure, I stopped. “Ah, no, Corbin, as you like to call him, and I have never been an item–we were close friends at one time but a difference of opinions ended that. I’ll be honest, I thought for a brief period there that there was something more but he made it abundantly clear I’m not his type. Everything happens for a reason. The only reason I’m telling you this is so you don’t dare fire him or take out your anger on him. He can be an ass at times, but he doesn’t deserve you gunning for him for no reason.”

Charles laughed from the gut. “I can’t believe you’re not his type. I’ve just gone from being jealous to feeling bad for him.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did it upset you that you weren’t his type?”

I stood there thinking about Charles’ question. “Promise you won’t use anything I say against him and then I’ll give you an honest answer.”

“I promise.”

“Yes, I think I did wish I would have been his type. But you can’t force what isn’t there. Well, I should get back into Fever and find my friends before they get paranoid and have the DJ page me.”

“Elizabeth, come over tonight. Stay with me. You’ve never spent more than a few hours here.”

“Charles, not tonight. Thanks for asking though. I think I’d like to just spend the evening with the girls. We could meet for coffee in the morning if you want. I’m going shopping with the girls to find a dress for my reunion and I’m having dinner with everyone later.” I leaned against the wall and clicked my heel nervously on the ground. Someone laid on their horn and I flinched. Gotta love New York.

“Coffee sounds perfect.”

“Hey, before I hang up. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“See you in the morning.” I hung up and looked out into the night. It’s true what they say. The city never does sleep. There were as many people out and about as there was during the middle of the day.

As I turned to go back into the club, I ran smack into Dale. I looked to find his face blank. Wonderful, I loved emotional crapshoots. “I had a feeling you were coming out to call him.”

I tried to side step him and failed. I thought about stomping on his foot but liked his black leather boots too much to cause them harm. “Excuse me please, I have nothing further to say to you.”

“But you have plenty to say to him.”

Was it wrong that I no longer wanted to hit him, now I wanted to kick him?

I resisted the urge to injure him. Instead, I did something neither of us expected. I ran my thumb or his lip and cupped his cheek as I looked up at him. “Just because you think I’m barely worth a quick roll in the bathroom, doesn’t mean I think that of you. I called Charles to ensure you had a job Monday morning, Dale.”

“You didn’t ask him to move me off your team. Why?”

“Because when I meet him for coffee in the morning I’m going to put in my resignation and recommend you for my position.” I tried to move again, only to find myself being pulled into his arms.

“Dammit, Liz, I know I screwed up and you’re mad but don’t destroy your career over it.”

Pushing on his chest, I put distance between us. “How is finding a new position ruining my career? I should have never gotten involved with my boss. Regardless of how hard I work people believe he plays favorites. I’ll start over. Wipe the slate clean. Hopefully it will be somewhere close but honestly, I’ll go wherever the wind takes me. Now move.”

~*******~

BUY LINK

I hope you enjoyed this snippet. Be sure to stop past the following authors sites to see theirs.

TJ Michaels
Lissa Matthews
Lauren Dane
Ashley Ladd
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
McKenna Jeffries
Mandy M Roth
Mari Carr
HelenKay Dimon

Saturday Snippet-World Building

Here is a snippet from one of my Project Exorcism books, Paranormal Payload.

Lorelei Janelle plopped behind the control panel in the central observation deck to see what vessel had sparked the warning probe’s alert system. She didn’t like the idea of intruders in their vicinity, but it only happened every now and then, so she couldn’t complain. As much as she disliked worrying about outsiders, she did enjoy the company. Her nights had been filled with erotic dreams of a man too good to be true and her days were a rude awakening to the harshness of her world. Her nocturnal lover hadn’t come to her in two weeks and her fear that her mind had finally given up generating him was great. It would, of course, wait until she’d mated mentally with him to pull the plug.

“Unit One, this is Captain Vasil of the Alpha Brig Three requesting permission to enter atmosphere and dock. Emergency commission code three-two-seven has been initiated,” a deep, familiar voice said in her earpiece.

Her inner thighs damped and for one brief moment, her breath caught in her throat. Who was this man who sounded so very much like her secret lover? How had he elicited that shocking response from her body with nothing more than his words? Fearing he was another Dsendiyun, she sighed. Lorelei was beginning to think the sex-starved planet they came from encouraged them to get lost as close to her people as possible. They had a nasty habit of accidently breaking down and requiring assistance. They also had a habit of trying to grab the women of her planet’s arses. It wasn’t like they got any sort of sexual stimulation while they were here. Not unless they considered being chained together good fun.

Some men did.

Lorelei glanced up at the glass ceiling. Seeing no sign of a vessel nearby, she double-checked her radar to be sure she hadn’t imagined the entire thing. There was no way she could have received a hail signal yet have the radar detect nothing. The electromagnetic waves that a vessel put out in an uncloaked state would have shown up before. None did.

Having many unauthorized vessels attempt to dock in her lifetime, Lorelei knew exactly how to handle them. She tweaked the computer’s controls and demanded a more precise reading. Varying the frequency of the waves sent off, she hoped to initiate a reflection of some sort, allowing the radar system to accurately pinpoint the vessel’s location.

It didn’t work.

She tweaked the calibrations even more. She set the control tower’s sensors to ultra in hopes of catching a pattern of bounce-backs consisting of the direct opposite waves than they were sending out. If the outsiders thought they were going to get away with active cancellation, they were wrong. Dead wrong.

Much to her surprise, nothing showed up on radar. To date, none had eluded her. Lorelei tried another approach. She shifted to the Commission-based recognition systems they’d installed after a sanctified vessel crashed into their red sea. Instantly, a blip appeared on the screen. Zeroing in on it, she brought it up closer and began to run a remote diagnostic on it. The main fuel tank had a crack so large that she knew the ship had lost the majority of its liquid fuel as soon as it happened. The life support system was dangerously close to giving out and the alternate source of power seemed to be having issues as well.

Who would be stupid enough to enter our atmosphere with that amount of damage?

As soon as the question formed in her head, Lorelei knew the answer. The Dsendiyuns. Once located on radar, they were easy to spot with their flashy crafts and telltale too-strong pick up lines. But they would certainly have announced themselves to her by now. The tiny bit of thrill they got from trying to make her work at pinpointing their point of entry would have long worn off and she’d have gotten it right within seconds. Not to mention their ability to stay cloaked for long intervals within the planet’s atmosphere was almost non-existent. No. Who or whatever approached them couldn’t be the notorious romancers from Dsendiyun.

Disappointment shot through Lorelei, catching her by surprise. The idea of being touched by one of them should have repulsed her. It was a testament to just how sexually depraved she was. It had been a long time since she’d been touched by a man her mind did not create. The two weeks that she’d gone without dreaming of Sevan felt like an eternity. She missed the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, the feel of him buried deep within her and the knowledge that even though she’d invented him, he loved her. Her body was reaching the point where the desire to reproduce was almost on her. The problem being, it had transcended her normal boundaries and infected her mind with a make-believe man whom she had mated with in a dream.

It was as absurd as it sounded and although she truly did love the idea of Sevan, she couldn’t live her life married to a fantasy. Waking up and crying every morning would get her nowhere and she knew it.

Irritated, Lorelei stared at the radar, watching the blip approach. “No way would a Commission vessel venture into uncharted territory. The ship’s probably stolen and I bet it was those damn traders again. Probably want to nab off with more of our artifacts or to attempt to sell us more household cleaning equipment. I will not have my people’s legacy sold to the highest bidder, nor do I need the latest and greatest debris remover. Do I look like a domestic goddess? No. I swear I will shoot them on sight if they attempt to take one thing.” She wagged her brows and smiled. “If they’ve come to take me to bed, I’ll reconsider. Mmm, bloody hell I’m horny.”

Lorelei groaned as her nipples hardened. As much as she wanted to sneak away and handle her current problem, she didn’t. Thinking about sex was the worst thing she could do. It only seemed to intensify her craving for it—for Sevan. And there truly were only so many times she could masturbate before her fingers pruned and her wrist hurt. Sadly enough, she’d hit that state long ago.

“Excuse me, miss, but I am no trader, nor am I a thief. Not to sound shallow here but I tend not to agree to fuck someone until I’ve had a look at them. As shocking as it sounds, not all men stick their dick in whatever moves. Plus, as overly romantic as this sounds, I’m the last guy you want. I’m holding out for a dream, honey, and to date, no woman can stack up to her.” He cleared his throat and the sound wreaked havoc on Lorelei’s body.

Lorelei cursed herself for forgetting, yet again, that her voice transmitter was on. She had a bad habit of failing to remember to deactivate it after leaving the main tower. She wanted desperately to come back with a witty comment but the tingling in her pussy fogged her mind enough that she didn’t know or care how to respond to his comments. All she knew was that his voice was divine and so familiar that she was positive she knew him somehow.

“My ship’s run into a bit of a snag and I need to work on it. If you’d be so kind as to tell your people to open the loading doors I will be out of your hair in no time flat. I’ll require some fuel along with the use of some of your tools. I can assure you that each one will be returned in pristine condition. Though I have wanted a new set of torch acceleration adjustors.”

It was easy to tell she’d offended him, even though his tone was lighthearted. Why that mattered to her, she didn’t know. But it did.

“Need I remind you that I have just initiated a code three-two-seven?” The frustration was evident in the heavy sigh that followed his comment.

Not one to fall for a sexy voice or succumb to guilt, Lorelei readied her inborn defense mechanisms. “Need I remind you that we are not part of the Commission and we do not recognize their laws? If you’re seeking Commission-friendly territory, you will not find it here. We are not a repair station nor are we prone to allowing arrogant arses to dock for giggles. And for future reference, you will not take that condescending tone with me again or you will sit there until your ship gives out. I am not one of your disciples, nor will I ever be. And I’ll have you know that basing the choice of having intercourse with someone off appearances places you below a lechranki worm in my book.”

“Less than a blood-sucking worm that eats its own vomit?”

“Mmmhmm.” Lorelei grinned from ear to ear as though she were just a child again. Goading this man had to be the highlight of her month. Why? She wasn’t sure, but it felt good all the same.

There was some mumbling and then she heard another male laughing. “Shut up, Jordan,” the sexy man said, his voice reminding her again of Sevan’s.

“Always good to know that you are an arse with everyone, not just people you are trying to sweet talk into allowing you to dock. And in case you should need repairs this deep into space again, might I suggest you pretend to be mute and allow someone to speak for you. Perhaps sending a holographic image would even work. Just be sure not to model it after yourself or it too will find a rather cold reception.”

“Listen, lady, you better check that—Ouch! Hit me again and I will toss your ass out into space, brother or not.”

Feigning glee, Lorelei clapped her hands together. “Oh goodie, Mummy, they come in pairs. Do you think I could have a set of slime lechranki worms to go with the arrogant, ill-mannered boys who wish to dock here? Oh, please, Mummy. I’ve been such a good little girl this year.”

Captain Vasil laughed and the seductive sound of it rolled over her, caressing her in places she’d never dreamed a voice could. Places she hoped he really would touch her. Shocked and a bit embarrassed by her sudden state of need, Lorelei lashed out at him. “Oh my, my, he has a sense of humor. Be still, my bored-out-of-its-mind heart.”

He was quiet for a moment and Lorelei was almost sad that he had no comeback for her. Suddenly a bit panicked that she may have been too harsh, Lorelei took a deep breath and prepared to apologize to the stranger. That in itself should have tipped her off that something was amuck. Before she could get a word out, Vasil beat her to it.

“My apologies. My crew and I have had a rough go of it. We would like to clean up and get our ship fixed before heading onward.” Captain Vasil was sincere. Her powers picked up on that immediately. It was a bit disheartening that he’d decided to end their back and forth, but understandable due to the serious condition his ship was in. Still, giving in to him could cost him his life.

Knowing the risk he and his crew would be in if they docked here this late in the day and were unable to leave before the suns set didn’t sit well with her. The man may possess the sexiest voice she’d ever heard, but it would get him nowhere in life if he didn’t have his head attached to his body. “Sorry, Alpha Brig Three, permission to dock denied. Seek assistance in the next quadrant over. I’ll monitor your ship until it reaches the new destination. Two units will be sent up to refuel and escort you. Control tower out.”

Lorelei went to cut transmission when she heard the mysterious man on the other end sigh—again. Her gut twisted and her stomach flipped at the very sound of his breath exhaling in her earpiece. She hated giving in, but disliked the thought of never hearing that voice again.

Am I confident enough that I can keep him safe?

Hating herself for her instant inner yes, she rolled her eyes and tossed her hands in the air. “Can you be in and out by suns set?”

There was a moment of silence followed by a low whistle. “Yes, we only need a couple of hours to get everything operational again.”

It was Lorelei’s turn to sigh. “If you promise to not cause any trouble, take full responsibility for whatever may come from docking here and be out by suns set then you may dock. No exceptions.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal, little lady.”

“Refer to me as little lady again and you will rot in space. Are we clear?” Lorelei bit back a tiny smirk as she envisioned the look on the man’s face.

“Yes, ma’am.”

~******~

BUY LINK

I hope you enjoyed this snippet. Be sure to stop past the following authors’ blogs to see what fun snippets they’re sharing this week.

TJ Michaels
Shelli Stevens
Lissa Matthews
Lauren Dane
Ashley Ladd
Vivian Arend
Taige Crenshaw
Shelley Munro
McKenna Jeffries
Mandy M Roth
Jody Wallace

Saturday Snippet– Horror !

 

Snippet from Daughter of Darkness

“No!” Pallo screamed from the staircase. He had trouble keeping up with me because he hadn’t fed yet.

I glanced back at him coming downstairs. His eyes flashed wildly at me. I stepped out the door, and felt the ground give way under my feet. My stomach rose to my throat. The ground came upon me with such force it knocked the wind out of me. My hair spilled over my face like a curtain. Something crashed onto the floor next to me. My breathing went ragged, and I felt like a caged animal.

“Are you all right?”

I pulled my hair back and looked wildly at Pallo crouched on the floor next to me. He looked sick. He was bent over, holding his abdomen. He was ghastly white, so much so that I thought he might glow in the dark.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I need to.…” He looked to me and could not bring himself to say the word feed.

“We need to get you back to the park. Come on.” I stood, and it hit me that we were not sitting in front of a house, but rather what looked to be a dungeon. All the joking I had done about his lifestyle, and he really did have one.

“This is not mine.”

I was getting pretty damn sick and tired of his little mind reading tricks but didn’t have the energy to fight with him. When I looked at him and saw his body hunched over like a tiger about to strike, I put my hand on his back. His skin was no longer warm. It was cold and clammy. “You’re dying.” I bent and wrapped my body around his. In my mind, I thought that my body heat would warm his, but it didn’t work.

“No. I am already dead.” No trace of the strong and sure Pallo remained in his voice.

“Well, great, since you’ve already been there and done that we can skip it and go home.”

“Home?” He turned his face to me. All of the glory had faded from his brown eyes, only gray ones remained.

“Yes, home. We can fight more after we get there.” I helped him to his feet. When I was sure he wasn’t going to pass out, I turned to examine the room.

“So, where are we? And don’t state the obvious again.”

“Hell.”

“Figuratively or literally?”

“Does it matter?”

He had a point. I wanted to ask him how to get out of here, but he put a finger to his lips to shush me. I listened, hearing only silence.

Pallo gestured to a metal door at the end of the room. He whispered in an unfamiliar language. I had no idea what he was saying, but if I had to take a crack at it, I’d have guessed he spoke in Latin.

“What are you doing?”

“Praying,” he said softly.

“Vampires do that?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice.

Howling pierced the silence like a knife. Pallo pulled me behind him in a protective manner and stood tall.

The door burst open. Two hellhounds leapt inside. They stopped at Pallo’s feet, growling. Red eyes blazed at us, almost glowing. They were at least the size of full grown Great Danes. Pallo pushed me back slowly.

“I see you’ve met the boys,” a woman’s voice said.

I looked to see her standing in the open doorway. She was about my height, average. Okay, short, and had long red hair and yellow eyes. She looked like she had been dunked in leather. A leather top squeezed her large breasts together, and her pants fit her body so tightly I was positive she couldn’t sit down.

She was familiar to me, but I couldn’t place her. Yeah, you would think that a pair of beady yellow eyes and a chick dressed like a biker-whore-from-hell would be easy to recall.

She spared me a glance then concentrated on Pallo.

“Pallo, Pallo. I didn’t expect a visit from you today.” She pulled a sheathed knife from her back pocket. “You should have called. I could have prepared the room, just the way you like it.”

“Talia, it has been a long time.”

“You know her?” I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer.

She took a step closer and caressed the neck of one hound.

“Who is your little friend? Do not tell me you’ve taken to bedding virgins again? I thought you were done with that. They break so easily, don’t they?” She smiled and fangs showed. I was happy at least one vamp I’d met was holding true to a Hollywood image. Now, if I only had some holy water, a crucifix, and or a stake, I’d be in good shape.

“He’s not bedding me, and I’m not a virgin.”

“Oh, I see why you like her. You always did have a thing for opinionated girls. Is she good with her mouth in other places as well?”

“Talia, to what do we owe the honor of this visit?” Pallo asked. The muscles in his arms flexed.

“I was running an errand for the Queen, but since I found you, let us just say it is for old time’s sake.” She pulled her knife free and licked the blade. I could feel Pallo’s fear. He was opening himself up to me, and feared this tiny little redhead.

“I do not recognize these two,” he said, looking at the hellhounds.

“They are new. They just completed the initiation process a few days ago. They no longer have ties to the human world. They ‘severed’ them. I have had to make so many new little ones as of late. I have lost many of my children. The humans hunt us like we are animals.”

“That’s a shocker.” I bit my lip, but it was too late the words were already out.

Talia gave me wry a look. “Show her you are not animals, boys.”

The two hounds’ backs curved abnormally backwards as they howled. I lifted my hands to cover my ears. The decibel level was almost deafening in the chamber.

Bones crunched and blood spilled from them as their features became human. A muzzle receded into one’s face. I thought I was going to be sick or possibly wet myself. At that stage of the game neither one would have bothered me in the least.

Two naked men stood before us when the transformation was finally over. They were identical in almost every way. One had a little bit longer coal black hair than the other. They looked to be only five foot seven or so in human form, a sharp contrast to their beast body. I couldn’t help but notice how gifted they both were in certain areas. They could have made a fortune in a twin strip show, but their eyes gave them away. Fiery red eyes still stared out from their well-crafted bodies. The night by the river ran through my head. Those were the same type of eyes that had come rushing towards me.

“Jacob and Jonathan Wilson, say hello.”

“Hello,” they said in unison. This was too much. I almost burst out laughing. I stopped and thought about what she had just said. Wilson? Jacob and Jonathan—those were Rick’s boys’ names. A horrible thought came to my head. They had murdered their own father. That is what Talia had meant by them “severing” their ties to the human world. Oh my God! The room felt suddenly hot, making me sick to my stomach.

Talia stepped between them and ran her hand along Jacob’s body. She turned and did the same to Jonathan. Both their cocks stood at attention.

“As much as we would love to stay and play with you, we really must be going,” Pallo said. I was amazed at how calm he kept his voice, even though I could feel his fear as if it was my own.

“You never used to run off before the festivities began. Are you softening with old age?”

She was really starting to get to me. I wanted to walk up to her and slap her right across the face. Pallo sensed my urge to hit her and shook his head.

“Don’t tell me you do not miss the days of old.” She held her knife out threateningly.

He stiffened. “No, Talia. I have left the days of torturing others behind me now, you know this.”

She looked pleased. “Yes, I had heard that you gave up your naughty ways. Why is that?”

“I had no reason to hate anymore.”

“You harbored much hate for two hundred years, what would change you so? Did you finally get over your little loss?” She talked with her hands, the knife skimming past Pallo’s chest. “I found your circumstances very unique. Tell me—how long after you were made did you have your heart broken? Less than half a year, if I’m not mistaken. To be made immortal and to lose your love… tell me, was she worth it? Did she fuck good enough to warrant leading you to the Devil himself?”

“I do not wish to discuss this with you,” he said, restrained violence in his voice.

“Answer me, Pallo. I asked you a question.” She lashed out and cut his chest. Blood pooled onto the floor, nearing my feet. Jason and Jonathan began to look restless. I could tell the smell of blood was exciting them, and it made me sick.

Talia struck Pallo again, catching his face.

“Stop!” I yelled, taking a step out from behind him.

“No!” he shouted, trying to pull me back.

Talia glared at me, her yellow eyes flaring. “The virgin speaks.”

BUY LINK

Please check out these other spook-tacular authors and their Saturday snippets

Anya Bast
Eliza Gayle
Juliana Stone
Michelle Pillow
Lauren Dane
Moira Rogers
TJ Michaels
Jody Wallace
Ashley Ladd
Kelly Maher
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro
Mandy Roth
Mark Henry

Saturday Snippet from Wicked Lucidity

 

 

Saturday Snippet from Wicked Lucidity– a bit about friendship because sometimes I think we could all use a pick me up friendship piece

I stared at the large Victorian home in front of me. What was I thinking? The place was huge. Too big for just one person and certainly too much work for me. Calling it a fixer-upper was a far cry from the truth. My need to start a new life and protect the lives of others had outweighed my better judgment. I was hardly a master craftsman and I’d just taken on the project of a lifetime.

Pulling a box out of the trunk of my car, I glanced around at the rest of the neighborhood. It was even better than Amber had described. My house was one of three on the cul-de-sac. The one to my left had caught my eye the moment I’d arrived. The white home with green shutters looked as though it had been meticulously tended. Of course it would be my luck to move next door to someone who was picky. I could already see the feuds over my unkempt lawn. Maybe, if I were lucky, the neighbors would get mad enough to clean my yard because they were sick of looking at it.

“Karri, get your butt up here. You have got to see this!” Amber, my best friend, shouted from the fourth-story window.

I headed in, carrying the box of cleaning supplies as far as the front porch before I ran up the stairs. Walking into the large, full attic, I found Amber digging through two large chests I had specifically told the “movers” to put in the far back corner of the basement.

Yeah, they listened well.

The movers, also known as “my men,” were currently out to lunch. They’d spent the morning setting up my home office. Since they worked for me in the fight against evil, it was in their best interests to get me up and running as soon as possible. Livelihoods and actual lives depended on me. They’d already banished me from the room because I was hovering too much. They told Amber that she could stay, but from the way they were all staring at her breasts, I was scared to leave her without a chaperone.

Amber dug through the contents of the chest, her long auburn hair falling in and over it. She looked like a curious nymph all tucked in on a secret she couldn’t wait to reveal. She held up an object with a long silver handle and a pickaxe-like top. Her blue eyes grew with fascination. “What is all this stuff?”

“Weapons. They’re all from my father’s collection. I finally took them out of storage.”

“Wow,” she whispered.

I went to her quickly, removing the war pick from her hand, convinced she’d put an eye out if she wasn’t careful. “Let’s leave it be. Our luck we’ll chop our fingers off or something.”

“Pfft, you’re like Karri Lee, fighting queen. Hey, did you see the thing in there that looks like brass knuckles but it has claws on it instead? That’s wicked cool.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, it is wicked all right.”

Amber had a flare for dramatics. Not that it came even close to meeting mine, but still. The coffee shop she owned was set up more like a psychic reader’s home base but the locals seemed to flock there for the coffee all the same. In truth, she was very sensitive to most people and places so it made sense that she’d naturally lean towards the Psychics R Us look. Had she not been battling sickness, her skills and gifts could have developed more and she would’ve made one hell of a psychic.

As far as I knew, or rather, as far as Amber let on, she’d been doing well for the greater part of a year now. I hoped that was true. The idea of losing my closest friend terrified me. The idea of losing her to a cancer-like illness that human doctors didn’t understand and continually mislabeled sickened me. Amber’s sickness came from not using her powers. It was that simple. Since she was unaware she even had powers it wasn’t an easy fix and telling her to use what she’d been burying since birth wasn’t as cut-and-dry as it sounded.

One had to come into one’s powers on one’s own. It was just the way things were. Trust me, if I could have fixed her by shouting “use your magik” I, of all people, would have. It would have saved me a lot of pain and several deals with the devil.

Amber laughed. “Have you looked in the mirror?”

“No. I don’t have one hung up yet, so unless I can find a really reflective puddle then I’m not getting to see myself anytime soon. Why?”

Amber shook her head. “You look like an erotic cowgirl housekeeper.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” She pulled her long hair back at the base and fastened it with the tie she kept on her wrist. “I can’t ever remember seeing you with a do-rag on your head. Don’t get me wrong, the whole big brown eyes, white-blonde hair hanging in loose strands from that rather sad bun thing is hot. But the red handkerchief, barely there, tiny top you’ve got tied over those borderline obscene breasts might be a bit too much. That looks like a bikini top gone horribly wrong.”

I snickered. So did Amber.

“Sort of like a cowgirl’s version of a day at the beach, Karri. Oh, I do love the dirt on your nose and cheek though. And the jean cut-offs thing you’ve got going is all the rage. The topper is the brown work boots. Nice.”

Glancing down, I bit my lip as I checked myself over. “I wasn’t aware I was being judged in the housecleaning portion of the pageant. If I say that I want to end world hunger for my question and answer time with the panel judges, will I still have a sporting chance of winning? I really want to be Ms. Bitch of the Universe.”

Amber shook her head and started down the wooden steps. “You are such a smartass.”

“Thanks. Can I get some points on that as well? Have they wised up and added that category yet?” I answered, following behind her. She went towards the front door and I went for the fridge. “Pick your poison,” I called out.

“Beer.”

“Beer it is. I should have known. You’re all cute and dainty looking, right up until I see you chugging on a cold one. Sorry I was a bad influence on you.” Grabbing two, I headed out and found Amber sitting on the front porch steps with her head down. Immediately, I worried that she was lying about being in remission. I’d seen her at her worst with it and had no desire to see her go through it again. If I could head it off, I would. “Hey, you feeling okay? We can take a break. In fact, we can call it quits for the day. I don’t win a turkey or turn into a pumpkin if I don’t finish unpacking by midnight. And since I have no prince, I’m in no hurry. Should I leave behind a work boot for any possibilities to find me later?”

Laughing, she shook her head. “I’m fine. Don’t start worrying for no reason.”

I sat down next to her and handed her a beer. “I earned my worry badge, honey. Take it or leave it.”

She nudged me and giggled. “I’m glad you finally moved out here. I hated knowing you were alone in New York.”

“I wasn’t alone, Amber. I had Chester.” I grinned from ear to ear as she moaned.

“Karri, a parakeet, which has since died, doesn’t count.”

Taking a sip of my beer, I winked as I aimlessly fiddled with the triple knot, silver charm necklace I wore all the time. “Now you’re discriminating against non-humans. What happened to you? We didn’t graduate that long ago.”

Amber snorted. “You know it’s bad when I start thinking seven years is a lifetime.”

To Amber, seven years was a long time. As sick as she’d been, it was a miracle that she was here at all. I wrapped my arm around her and gave her a good squeeze. “This is a music moment if I ever felt one coming on.”

“Oh no, you aren’t going to get me dancing around in public again. My days for that are long gone.”

Ignoring her, I hopped to my feet and rushed to find my portable CD player. I’d last seen it in the dining room but that didn’t mean much in the middle of a move. With the endless heaps of boxes scattered about my house, it could be buried anywhere. “Tony, Tony, look around.” I smiled as I did my slight homage chant to the patron, Saint Anthony, who was supposed to help me find lost things. Or, at least that’s what I think he was good at helping with. My luck he was the one you asked for help when you wanted to lose something.

I let my power up just enough to find what I was looking for. The second I zeroed in on the CD player, I dropped the power.

As I picked the player up, I found a box marked dresses and costumes. Setting the CD player on it, I picked it up and took it out with me, happy that I’d propped the screen door open with a brick. Trying to carry it all would have been impossible otherwise.

I set it down next to Amber and wagged my brows. Opening the box, I couldn’t hide my excitement as I saw all the things I still had. I grabbed the long white wedding dress and its sister, a floor-length emerald green maid of honor dress. “Look what I found.” I held the dresses up. The green one had been tailor made for Amber with the idea she’d be my maid of honor. Yeah, that’s right. I was supposed to be the bride. I bit back a laugh. Too bad it didn’t work out that way.

Amber shook her head. “No way.”

“Hey, we might as well get our use out of them.” Tossing the green dress to Amber, I laughed as she caught it and pulled it over her head quickly.

I stepped into the sleeveless wedding dress and pulled it up my body. Its large, bell-like bottom flared out all around me. I zipped it as best I could and bent down to the CD player. “I thought one of these moments might come about so I made a CD for the occasion.”

Amber covered her eyes and peeked out from between her fingertips. “Please tell me that you didn’t do what I think you did.”

I pushed play and stood before her. One of the seventies disco songs that I’d played to death when we lived together came on and Amber squealed. “No, you still have this? You were too young to like it in college. I’ll dig a hole so you can bury it. Dump the wedding stuff in it too. I’m sure I can even find you a sparkling silver shovel to bury it with.”

Putting my hand out, I waited for her to take it. She refused it. I didn’t give up. I swayed my hips back and forth, reenacted every seventies dance I could think of and was on the verge of singing. Amber stared out from under her hands, laughing hysterically.

“Hey, are you suggesting I dance like a court jester?”

“Yeah, if court jesters should be in a thong on a pole, then you sure do. Only you could pull it off in that get-up.” She dropped her head down and snorted. “Heaven help the children of the neighborhood.

“Come on, Strawberry Field. Get out here.”

“Don’t go calling me that again, Karri.”

I kept dancing. Seeing Amber happy made me not care who thought what of me. Not that I’d ever cared much in that department anyway. “I’ll keep hitting repeat on the playing of the funky music if you don’t join me.”

Amber stood slowly and sighed. “Know that I do this only to spare your neighbors any further torture.”

“Mmmhmm.” I put my hand out to her and pulled her gently to me. We did a fake bump of hips. I concentrated hard on paying attention to my strength with her. It wouldn’t take much power on my part to inflict damage to her and that wasn’t something I’d allow to happen.

The second Amber began moving her head to the beat, I couldn’t help but smile wide. “I knew you still had it in you. And I would like to point out that even considering all of his flaws, he, note that I’m not naming names, did a wonderful job of selecting a dress that looks hot on you.” Every piece of me wanted to shout exactly who had had the dresses made. Somehow, the very whisper of Jean-Paul’s name could bring him and I wasn’t really up to seeing him. Not that he’d venture out in broad daylight, but still. I held my tongue.

“Gee, I’ll have to send him a thank you.”

I laughed. “Umm, please don’t.” We moved to the beat, just like old times. “Whoohoo, it’s still there. I was afraid you might have either lost your love for our private disco revival moments or did your best to forget them.”

The faint sound of a screen door opening filled the air. It made the idea of being in a real neighborhood all that much more exciting. There wasn’t, as yet, any demon shouting out how I was the Dark Angel sent to destroy them all. No. There was the sound of a screen door. As mundane as that may be to anyone else, to me, it was heaven.

The feeling of being watched came over me then passed quickly. I didn’t obsess about it. In fact, having an audience for my theatrics was always kind of fun. At the moment, Amber laughing and smiling was the most important thing to me.

“How could I ever forget those revivals?” she asked, spinning into my arms and then back out again. “You worked your magik over me and left me a closet fan of music that people run from. Sorry, but that includes the ‘80’s.”

“Hey, I say we start a petition to get leg warmers, ripped up sweatshirts and spandex back on the market. Think jumpsuits and front men of bands. Though, unless they’re a lycan or shifter of some sort, they aren’t allowed to have chest hair.”

“Oh, we’re making exceptions now?” Amber mused, as we danced in close to one another shaking our upper bodies and laughing. “Are you now dating blonds too?”

I gasped. “Bite your tongue. That’s blasphemy! Blonds—ugg. My hair is blonde enough. I don’t want to be staring at another head of it. Besides, doesn’t every little girl dream of growing up to find that tall, dark and deadly man of her fantasies?”

“You mean tall, dark and handsome.”

 BUY LINK

 

Please check out these other great authors and their Saturday Snippets

Jaci Burton

Eliza Gayle

Michelle Pillow

Mandy Roth

Juliana Stone

Lacey Savage

McKenna Jeffries

Moira Rogers

Taige Crenshaw

Vivian Arend

Sasha White

Ashley Ladd

Victoria Janssen

Shelli Stevens

Shelley Munro

TJ Michaels

Lauren Dane

Beth Kery

Leah Braemel

Saturday Snippet– Holiday

Holiday–get away… Holiday… (yeah, I’ll shut up about the Madonna song now. I swear.) Its that time of the week again when I give you a snippet of something themed to the Saturday. So, here you go. Its some of the FREE story I did with a bunch of authors for a 12 Days of Christmas Antho.

 King, King, Goose by Mandy M. Roth

 

     King Najarni stood outside the thick wooden door, his palm

pressed to it and his head bent. He pushed his shoulder length dark hair

back from his face. “Tara, allow me to enter.”

     “No,” she said, her temper still evident.

He sighed. When he’d taken a human as his mate—his wife—he

knew the road of marriage would not always be a smooth one. Tara was

so different from the females of his realm. They were mild, meek even,

always ready and willing to serve their husbands. Tara was strong willed,

often setting him in his place, regardless of who was around. He would

have her no other way.

     “I have already said I was sorry,” he pushed. “I only wanted to

give you what you speak of so often—a real Christmas.” The holiday was

not one celebrated by his people so he knew little of it. He’d sent two of

his advisors along with six of his finest warriors to the human realm to

gather what would be needed. They’d returned with several wagons full

of materials and other items.

     His servants had spent the greater part of two days preparing the

hall for the event and Najarni spent equally as long keeping his wife

occupied in their bedchamber so as not to spoil the surprise.

     When he led her to the hall and the music began to play, he

thought his wife would perhaps grant him a look at her beautiful smile.

One he never tired of. She had done so right up to the point she spotted

the strange creature his advisors had returned with. It was caged and

spent most of its time hissing and flapping its large wings. When Najarni

informed her it was to be part of the feast, the only reward he was given

was a look of horror before she stomped on his foot, deemed him to be a

giant, mean, oaf and then ran to their chambers, where she still remained.

     “Tara,” he whispered.

     “I’m not coming out,” she spoke with brutal deliberation. “You’re

a tyrant.”

     “Because I wished to give you a feast to celebrate a time of the year

you hold dear?” He saw not how he could viewed in such a manner when

he only wished to please her.

     Opening the door, she made an odd noise before peeking out at

him. Her green eyes danced with fury. “Because you ordered Roger’s

death.”

     Roger?

     His brows met. “I know no Roger and ordered no such death.”

     “The goose,” she snapped.

     “I know no goose and again, ordered no such death.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “The creature in the cage. The

one you want to serve me for dinner.”

     Understanding came to him and he knew he was in trouble with

his wife. An insipid grin slid over his face. “Ah,” he paused, “you wish no

harm to come to The Roger?”

     She blinked and stared up at him through hooded lashes. Her red

hair framed her heart shaped face, making the blue of her eyes stand out

more. “You mean the goose?”

     “Yes, that is what I said. The Roger. Are they not the one in the

same?”

     Tara’s lips trembled and he was unsure if she was on the verge of

tears or laughing. When customs from the human realm came up in

discussion, she often found humor in his questions or responses. He

wasn’t sure why.

     “Promise me you won’t hurt Roger,” she said, tugging at her lower

lip.

     He watched the action intensely, wanting to steal a kiss but

knowing better than to try when she was in her current mood. “You have

my word.” He put his arm out to her. “Come, we shall enjoy this

Christmas gathering.”

     She slid her arm through his and put her head to his upper arm.

They made their way through the castle, to the great hall and the moment

they entered, all persons present stopped what they were doing and bent

their heads, honoring the arrival of the king and queen. Najarni glanced

over the crowd. “I hereby decree that no harm shall befall The Roger.”

     His guards shared confused looks.

     He pointed to the creature in the cage. “That is a Roger. It is not to

be harmed. You are to protect it with your lives.”

     Tara hid her laugh behind a cough and held tight to her husband’s

arm. There was no point in explaining again that Roger was a goose. Not a

Roger. Once Najarni made his mind up about something, it was incredibly

difficult to change it.

     His men nodded in understanding and he waved a hand in a

dismissive fashion in the air. The festivities continued, though this time, a guard

took a position near the cage, standing in a protective manner.

 

TO READ THE REST OF THIS FREE STORY YOU CAN DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Be sure to check out these other fantastic authors and their Saturday Snippets

Michelle Pillow
Anya Bast
Lacey Savage
Jaci Burton
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
TJ Michaels
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Jody Wallace
Ashley Ladd
Shelli Stevens
Shelley Munro