Today’s theme is reunions and I have chosen a snippet from one of my latest releases, Kane. Kane is the 2nd book in my black cougar trilogy. This is not a family reunion or a long lost lovers reunion. Instead its a reunion of two people who have only been apart for a few weeks and who are struggling with the hatred for each other as well as the annoying desire they seem to have.

Excerpt:

One black-booted foot entered a few seconds before he peered around the door. When he didn’t see her he pushed inside a little bit more and took the final step into the room she needed. Without hesitation she started
the chant. Quietly at first.

When in the circle that is mine
Safety’ gone and evil roams
Hold this being from within
So heed this call.

She whispered the words again and again, stronger each time until her voice was loud and clear and Kane stood in the doorway staring at her.

“What have you done?”

She glanced down at his feet and stared. He followed her gaze and a stream of curses flew from his mouth as he realized he’d stepped right into her circle and she’d just bound him to it.

“You bitch.”

Her lips spread into a grin she hoped was as wicked as she felt. “Don’t try foreplay with me, you’ll find yourself neutered faster than you can say that word again.”

“You can’t hold me here.”

His arrogance wiped the smile from her face as her brow arched in his direction. “Hmm, let’s see. You’re stuck there and I’m roaming free. In my book that means I do whatever the hell I want and you can’t do a thing about it.”

A low snarl sounded from his throat as sharp canines peeked from beneath a curled lip. “What do you want then? A chance to beg for your life?”

It would be a cold day in hell before she begged for anything from him, but she thought about his other question. What did she want?  Just him dead, right?  She looked at him, really looked at him.  It had been weeks since she’d seen him last, and unfortunately he looked even better than she remembered. His spiked, short hair had grown out since then and it was messier and in need of a comb, or maybe her fingers running through it.

His eyes, glaring at her, were dark, like coal in anger. She stood too far away to make out the flecks of gold she’d seen before. The grim line of his lips against the square, firm jaw made her want to laugh out loud. He was damned irresistible right now. It wasn’t right for him to look so—so sinful. He made her think of sex. Sex on the floor, sex on the wall, sex damn near any which way she could get it.

She let out a slow, unsteady breath. She had to stop thinking about him like that; the time for fun was long gone.

“I’m tired of playing with you, cat. It’s time to end this.”

“What exactly is this?” His hands gestured around them. “You’re a criminal, Lara. One who now has a death sentence against her.”

“I’m not the one who deserves to die.” Her anger fired hot and she practically spat at him. “You and yours are the only criminals as far as I’m concerned. You’re just afraid for someone to finally expose you for what you really are.” She turned away from him. What she felt when she looked at him and what she knew were at odds, and it drove her crazy. Nerve endings sizzled as desire warred with the facts her brain wouldn’t let her forget.

“You aren’t making any sense. Make me understand what this is all about.”

She whirled back around and stalked across the room, careful not to get too close to the circle, which could weaken. “Tell me something, Kane. Before you kill, do you even take the time to learn something about your victim?”

“What the hell kind of question is that? I don’t take lives because I enjoy it. I do it because it has to be done, it’s a duty—a job. Without order and rules our secrets can’t be maintained. And then people like you start hunting us, wanting to kill all of us because of fear of the unknown. We aren’t evil, you know. Hell, I’m standing in a spell you created with black magic, talk about evil. You of all people should understand different. So what exactly is your damage?”

“My damage?” She wanted to reach through the barrier holding him and slap the crap out of him, maybe knock some sense into that pretty boy head of his. What had she been thinking? “How can you be sure you aren’t killing the innocent? Do you ever question the validity and integrity of your precious council?”

“Why should I? Every case is presented and voted on by unbiased members of our clan. It’s their duty to ensure everyone a fair trial and our system has worked well for a very long time.”

“Like with me?” His blind faith burned in her gut worse than a wicked case of indigestion that wouldn’t go away no matter how many antacids you popped.

“I witnessed your treachery with my own eyes. The evidence is cut and dry.” His voice had lowered, and if she didn’t know better she could have sworn she detected a thread of sadness. In fact, now that she thought about it, he didn’t seem all that angry about being trapped. Did he not believe she would really kill him? Would she?

“You’re nothing but a liar. An animal that wouldn’t see the truth if it bit him on the ass.” Power flared through her as the edge of her control frayed.

“That’s right, honey. I’m an animal and right now I can smell just how full of shit you are. You think you can hide your wet little pussy from me? That I can’t sense arousal?”

Lara ground her teeth at his gall. He was baiting her, messing with her head while he came up with a plan, or until she made a mistake and did something stupid. Neither of which would happen.  She’d lived for years making these plans with not a shred of doubt, until she’d run into Kane. She met his gaze, searching for a sign of what she didn’t know. Tension filled the room as they both realized this discussion had nowhere to go. Neither believed in the other. Problem for her was she’d suffered doubts and did her best to overcome them. Now,
with him here, her need to kill him had eroded and been replaced with something else. Something softer.

She broke the showdown, unable to stay focused when he looked at her with equal parts—I’m going to kill you, I’m going to fuck you.  Instead she watched the serene slash of his lips. He didn’t smile at her, but he quit frowning. Always the level-headed brother, able to take things in stride and move on, or so she’d heard repeatedly.

She imagined those full lips of his would be soft and patient when they pressed up against her skin. That image made her nipples tighten against her t-shirt, and she prayed he wouldn’t notice. He already knew too much. When her thoughts strayed to his neck and chest, the spots she wanted to lick the most, she thought she heard a noise not unlike a purr. A low rumble, so quiet she wondered if she was mistaken.

She had to be. He had hunted her. He wanted—

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not safe.”

“Like—like what?” Something had gone all wrong.  Now that he was here, she felt her control slipping fast.

Another rattling sound came from his chest, louder than before. Damn, he really is purring. Goosebumps rose along her flesh and a shiver trembled down the length of her body before she could stop it.

“Like you want to eat me more than kill me.” He whispered the words so low she leaned in closer to hear them.

Want to read more about Kane? You can read another excerpt on the book page as well as see a brief behind the scenes tidbit from me here.

Don’t forget to follow the trail to all the other snippety goodness.

Jody Wallace
Mari Carr
HelenKay Dimon
Lauren Dane
TJ Michaels
Eliza Gayle
Ashley Ladd

For today’s black moment theme I am posting a small excerpt from my latest release, Lucas. This is the beginning of when things really start to fall apart for him and is between he and his brother, Kane. (Kane’s book will be out at the end of April)

Lucas Excerpt:

Sensing Kira’s distress, Lucas picked up speed. He’d been trying for hours to talk to her and she refused to answer. His frustration had long ago turned into anger and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. It was time they had a serious talk. He was her mate, and she couldn’t jerk him around like this. They needed to come to an understanding, no matter how temporary. He didn’t know many details about how the mating call affected her kind, but the felines of his clan were restless and desperate to fuck until it was over. Kira seemed far more irrational and his instincts told him he was missing something.
Bursting into the clearing, he came to a sudden halt at what he saw. His brother standing there in the open with his pants down around his ankles and his wet, swollen cock jutting out.
Growling, Lucas warned Kane of his presence. “What the hell is going on here? Where is Kira? You said you’d found her.” Lucas turned around, searching the area for Kira. Her scent was everywhere, including… Slowly turning back to Kane, he realized just what had been happening here. A murderous red haze flowed through his brain. His heart pumped faster as the anger spread throughout his entire body, leaving him edgy and ready to spring. He could kill Kane for this.
“No, brother, it’s not what you think.” Lucas stalked closer as Kane grabbed his jeans and fastened them back into place. “Something is wrong with Kira. She thinks Lara is alive and that you and her are planning to control Kira’s powers.”
“What?” His body stilled. “That’s ridiculous. Where would she get a crazy idea like that?” He raised his eyebrows in question, pointedly looking at Kane. “And what the hell does that have to do with you standing here with your pants down and a stiff dick hanging out?”
Kane stood speechless as the precious seconds ticked by.
Of course he was. What could he possibly say that would explain his actions around Lucas’ mate just moments ago? Hell, Lucas would never understand no matter what happened. One minute his brother had been helping him find a frightened and skittish Kira and the next…this. Even worse, for a split second when he’d spotted him, Kane had bore the familiar look of pleasure Lucas had seen many times before when they’d shared women. He’d been fucking enjoying whatever she did. Lucas wondered if he’d even bothered to try and stop it.
With the undiluted rage rushing through his body, Lucas peeled his lips back in a snarl, revealing razor sharp fangs to his brother. Fucking with another shifter’s mate under any circumstance could get a man killed. And rightly so. Even if he was family.
“Something is seriously wrong, Lucas. She wasn’t acting like herself. I’ve never seen a woman so frantic in my whole life.”
“And what about you, brother? Were you acting?” Lucas’ voice vibrated with anger as he took another step closer.
“I’m sorry, she took me by surprise but I should have handled the situation better. I think she needs our help.”
Taking a few steps closer, Lucas struck out, punching him straight in the face and sending Kane sprawling across the clearing.
“Stay the fuck away from my mate.” Lucas turned back in the direction he’d come and stormed away. He couldn’t look at his brother right now, not unless he wanted to live with the guilt of murder for the rest of his life. The beast in him clawed and fought against his will to do the right thing. He had to leave before he did something he would never be able to take back.

Don’t forget to follow the trail for more snippety goodness.

Emma Petersen
TJ Michaels
Ashley Ladd
Lissa Matthews
McKenna Jeffries
Eliza Gayle
Mari Carr
Elisabeth Naughton
Juliana Stone
Lauren Dane
Shelley Munro
Taige Crenshaw

I’m back with Saturday Snippet and today’s theme is Dumped. Going through the stories I have I found that I haven’t written a lot about characters being dumped. Some in their past have had relationship issues though, so that’s what I am going to draw on today.

Submissive Secrets was about love lost and then refound many years later. You don’t get dumped much worse than when you’re getting married and that’s exactly what happened between these two. So here is a short snippet into their future after being dumped.

Snippet:

He’d known Carli finding him naked in her bed would likely unnerve her, but he didn’t expect this much reaction.

God, she felt good.

He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to tear her clothes from her athletic body and force his throbbing dick up her juicy pussy. Releasing Carli’s mouth he trailed his lips along her jaw and neck nipping at her sensitive skin as he went. When he reached her breasts he rubbed his cheek against the cool silk of her shirt feeling her distended nipple. Carli arched her back into his touch begging for more.

Maintaining his grip on her wrists with one hand, Aidan reached underneath her shirt pulling the fabric out of his way exposing her bright rosy nipple. Instead of laving her gently with his tongue as she anticipated, he bit her nipple with a quick sharp bite. She didn’t protest his roughness, but instead surged against him, pleading for more.

Unfortunately, looking back up at her face, flushed with her arousal brought Aidan’s memories crashing back down. He remembered the last time he’d seen her and the pain of his heart splitting in two when she told him, just before their wedding, that she needed something more. Needed to travel. Needed to get away from him for a while. In the end the anger of her betrayal had won out and he’d opted to leave town.

Rifling through her personal belongings when he entered her home had brought out a need in him he thought long buried. As much as he wanted to fuck her mindless, he couldn’t do this. Couldn’t screw Carli now without thinking of the girl back then. The girl who crushed his heart, leaving him behind as she went to explore the world. As his lust subsided, cold anger took its place. He released her arms and stood. He had a job to do and reliving old times with Carli would only fuck that up.

He turned his back on her as he reached to the floor for his discarded jeans. Quickly pulling them up not even bothering to button them before turning back around to face her. The expression on her face remained blank but her eyes sparked with repressed emotion.

“I can’t do this, Carli.” His gut tightened at the pain he saw flicker across her face.

She looked up at the ceiling and tunneled her fingers through her long chestnut locks, probably trying to get control of her body just as he did.

With a pronounced sigh she nailed him with a steely stare. “Why are you here, Aidan? What brings you back to my bed after all these years?” she bit out, her voiced laced with cold sarcasm.

Boldly lying back against the pillows, she crossed her arms behind her head, further baring her breast to him and waited for his answer.

“I’m here on assignment. I need your cooperation.” He paused waiting for her reaction that never materialized.

Oh, she’s good. Very good at keeping her cool when it counted.

Aidan knew Carli had tried several times over the last couple of years to find him as his organization kept tabs on that kind of information. But, he didn’t want to be found. If not for this mission, he would never have returned to this old town. Aidan didn’t need the physical reminder of where he came from or the circumstances in which he had left. The sooner Aidan got the information he needed from Carli the sooner he would be out of here. In the meantime he had no intention of letting her get to him. No one got to him anymore. Her leaving him taught him how to build barriers to shield his heart. At least he could thank her for that.

Now don’t forget to follow the trail for more snippetty goodness.

TJ Michaels
Ashley Ladd
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Lissa Matthews
Shelli Stevens
Vivian Arend
Mari Carr
Lauren Dane
Shelley Munro