Teresa D'Amario

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I can’t wait!  Things are moving really fast at my end, from funerals, weddings, births, and lots of trips, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about writing or even about the next big release.  First off, You all know Blood Moon Betrayed is out, which is very exciting!  If you haven’t gotten your copy, get one now!!  Second, Lone Wolf will be re-releasing in December!  With a new cover, and new edits!  Take a look at this beautiful cover:

Now isn’t that a sexy, and yet mysterious cover?  I love their position, as he steps up behind her and she exposes her throat to look at him.  A truly trusting pose for a couple, especially when the one behind her is a wolf shifter.  Yet, instead of watching the pulse in her throat, he looks deep into her eyes!  Oh yes, I do love that.  For those who haven’t had the opportunity to read Lone Wolf, Watch out – ask for your Christmas present, because you KNOW you’re going to want to read this one.  Lance’s sister steps to the forefront, angry because her brothers are hiding things.  Hiding things that can get her killed!  On top of that, she’s run into a man who sends her hormones into overdrive, but he doesn’t even know who he is!

And, to celebrate the releases of both Blood Moon Betrayed and Lone Wolf, I’m going on a blog tour!  I’ve got some awesome places lined up, so keep watching and you’ll be able to come visit, and see some great things happening!  The holidays are on their way and nothing is more fun than celebrating with a little “ME” time, so get out your kindles, get out your nooks, heck get out your tablet, and join the fun with Blood Moon Betrayed and Lone Wolf both!

Hi folks! So I’ve been rather quiet lately but it’s not because I’ve been sleeping. Ok, so it isn’t because I’ve ONLY been sleeping. My schedule at my “evil day job” have blessedly changed and I now have Saturday’s off, which means there’s a lot more of a chance for me to get out and visit some fun places. Today’s visit was to a local zoo which turns out to be less than ten miles from us. I remembered a sign popping up for the Aloha Zoo,but had never wandered down the road to see what it was.  Last week I did so and was shocked by the number of animals and size of the facility, so this weekend I went while they were OPEN (leave it to me to find them when closed). First, let me introduce you to our first very special and rare animal we found.

Isn’t he a cutie pie? And one of the few animals you can touch and snuggle with.  This rare beast posed prettily for his photo time, pleased to be the center of attention.  After his modeling, he allowed me to touch and scratch his chin, showing not only his sweet personality, but the nobility of this great beast, allowing me to touch him.  Later when I came by again, he’d disappeared, showing his true shy nature.  But I shall always remember the chance to touch and scritch this adorable, and truly rare cat.  (LOL, OK, I just had to have a little fun, but he was such a sweet kitty cat).

The next guy is one of the largest in the park.  He’s listed as the nation’s largest spotted Draft Horse.  And what a sweetie he was.  He loved getting his own scritchies as well. To show you his size, here’s a photo of my husband giving him a bit of attention.  Feel free to click on that photo to see how truly huge this horse really is.  And here is another, showing that beautiful face.  My problem with today’s post is I want to share every single photo I took, and of course that isn’t all that smart in a simple blog post.  But I hope you enjoy what I share.  This particular horse is listed as being 21 hands tall.  Isn’t he gorgeous?  I believe this particular zoo started out as some kind of miniature horse farm, as there are a large number of miniature horses.  This big guy, however, stands out as something very different.

So of course we moved on to the carnivores as soon as we could.  Or should I say as soon as I could drag my husband over there.  My photos of the wolves didn’t come out very well, so hoping the next time to get a better shot.  I’m afraid my camera, in bright sunlight, makes it hard for me to see the screen, so I have absolutely no idea what a photo will look like until I get it home.  But they only have two wolves, one full grown, and one who looks like he’s about six months. They were very alert once the goats and such were released into the walkway to catch the animal’s attention.  Luckily there’s no way for the carnivores to get to the animals between them and us, but they were definitely alert to their presence.

Today was pretty good timing.  Our visit coincided with the merging of the tiger/lion cage with the tiger cage.  I should say – today was not the first day – but you could see that the “rules” had not quite been straightened out yet  . The zoo opened with only one tiger.  A white Bengal named Spartacus.  Spartacus came to the zoo as a young cub, and is very affectionate.  He also gave us an awesome display of stalking when he took issue with a specific man with a camera.  The man actually got a great shot of Spartacus charging toward him when he decided he’d had enough of getting his picture taken by the man.  They stalked one another for a good five minutes – and had there not been fences, there’s no doubt Spartacus would have won that “game” with the use of sharp claws and teeth.

His new “Ladies in waiting” are a young Tigress and a young Lioness.  The two are probably no more than six months of age each.  First, introducing the lovely Lioness.

I don’t know Sura’s history, but it’s obvious she has had a very difficult start in life.  Not only can you see damage done to her coat near her eye, but it appears she has had her tail broken at some point, as it has a sharp, unnatural bend to it.  This lovely lady is very laid back, and very affectionate – something you will see more of later.  Her area mate/sister is not quite so gentle, nor quite so laid back.  She’s very vocal, constantly chuffing and talking.  Upon our introduction she was attempting to play with the lioness, pouncing on her, and grabbing her ankles.  Miss Sura  totally ignored her “friend”.  Later the two decided to join our dear Spartacus and then the fireworks began.

The new tigress (I didn’t see her name anywhere) was determined to rule the zoo.  Only thing is, Spartacus isn’t quite happy about that.  At first she laid in the entry way – refusing to allow him to enter his own domain.  They laid for a few minutes, neither looking at the other, in that truly cat-like passive aggressive way.  At one point she moved into his domain and when he stepped inside, there was a little hissing spat.  One which she appeared to win.  Eventually she went to the water tank to drink, and Spartacus took his chance.  It appears he’s not so much into battle, unlike the young lady, so he blocked her in the corner, and refused to move.  For a good five minutes she would talk and start to move, then back off.  Then move forward, then back off.  Eventually she got smart and went into the “house” and came out the other door, but it took her a while to take the initiative.  I plan to return a few times over the next several months to see how their relationship pans out.  I’m wondering if Spartacus will remain the king of the domain with this spunky little lady at his side, or if she will rule supreme.

Oh, and before you think that Spartacus is very upset over his new mates, check this photo out.  He’s got not a care in the world.  He sure looks quite confident here.  And in addition, he is slowly making friends with the lioness as well.  They are very sweet together, though he did smack her when she pushed things just a little too far.

And here’s just a little Lion Love for the big Spartacus.  :)  She’s already decided who she thinks is in charge, and she has not a single argument about it.  Here she is rubbing up against him right after his little hiss spat with the tigress.  Yes, her tail is bent really odd there.

Very near to our lovely tigers is a young Russian Grizzly bear.  He spent most of his time sleeping while we were there, but finally woke up and appeared disappointed when everyone left him to watch the tigers have their little “battle”.  We did see him start to play in his little pool, but mostly he was trying to get the gummy bear some child had thrown just out of his reach toward his cage.  My, but that bear has a very long, and skinny tongue, and he ALMOST got that candy.  Mostly though, he just wanted to sleep during the heat of the day.

And I shall leave you with two more photos.  See, this zoo doesn’t have a lot in the way of signs as of yet.  Some of the animals I knew what they were, others, not so much.  Here’s two photos for you to identify for me.  I just couldn’t resist the eyes in the first pair.  When we first passed them, one was up at the top of their little tree, while the other was half way up, seeming to lay back almost human like while staring down at us.  Eventually they dropped to the bottom where I got the picture of the two of them together.  The second looks like some sort of fox.  So very cute though!

Hello everyone!  I hope you’ll take a moment to welcome J. E. Taylor to the blog.  She’s got this really awesome cover, don’t you think?  But J.E wants to talk about something else going on in the writing world, and I think she did a better job of it than I had planned to do, so I’m going to let her take it away.

Blog Tour Rant…

Hi folks, welcome to another stop on my blog tour. Today I’m going to deviate from talking about Hunting Season or my writing process or my cover designs and discuss something that has been festering a bit since I heard about it.  

In central Pennsylvania, a high school teacher is being persecuted for being a writer. 

You see, she writes erotic romance under the pseudonym Judy Mays and someone in town found out and made a stink about it.  Like it is such a horrible thing to have a high school English teacher writing on her own time.  

My first reaction was WTF?  Why are people upset about this?  And why the hell is this on the news?

Her ability as a teacher is not compromised by the subject matter of her books.  If anything, being a published author brings more solid credentials to the teaching platform.

Then again, she writes about SEX.  Yeah, I said it.  SEX.   

Well people, so do I.  I’ve got some extremely juicy stories on the shelf too.  You don’t see my employer handing me walking papers because I choose to write steamy erotica on my own time.  Besides, writing is NOT a felony.   It is freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom – period.  

We live in a free country where our time away from the office, or in this case, school, is our own and as long as we operate within the confines of the law, our employers have no right to dictate what we can and cannot do on our own dime.  We live in America folks. 

As someone who’s roots came from the television news trenches, the thing that burns me is the biased, slanted report on the news station.  That is the worst violation of public trust and objective reporting.  It’s one of those cases where they decided to make news instead of just reporting the facts – which is one of the reasons I abhor the media.  I’m sure they will stand on the freedom of speech pulpit – but they may very well had a hand in destroying a distinguished career because of a couple prudish parents.   A witch-hunt is right and that television station is standing right beside those nutcases. 

If I were Judy Mays, I would file a defamation of character suit against the television station.  This was not an un-biased reporting of the news.  It was an attack designed to influence the town board of education to impose sanctions on Judy and her side career. 

While the parents in the town do have the right to their opinion, they need to think before they speak.  Pushing their own puritan agenda on the entire town is akin with the crusades pushing religion on the poor subjects that crossed their path – or the zealots that banned the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.  

Reminds me of the town that banned Water For Elephants from the High School Curriculum.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit here. 

On the topic of my Blog Tour – Hunting Season is out and available on Amazon and Smashwords and a few other places.  Here’s the book’s description as well as a couple blurbs for the book:

When Kyle Winslow escapes from custody and targets everyone Special Agent Steve Williams cares about, a turn of fate brings Steve face to face with Ty Aris – a criminal mastermind topping the FBI’s most wanted list. Torn between justice and vengeance, Steve must make a decision. Join alliances with Ty, or arrest him and lose his best chance to catch the bastard who destroyed his family.

“Unstoppable, breath stealing, and terrifying all at once.” – Cat Connor, author of killerbyte, terrorbyte, and exacerbyte.

“Hunting Season goes where few venture, mixing a compelling crime thriller with supernatural forces. The action and drama is thick and fast and I guarantee you will not be able to put this book down.” – Poppet, author of Seithe and Darkroom.

Don’t forget to comment and be eligible for my Hunting Season Tour Giveaway!  Details found here: http://jetaylor75.blogspot.com/2011/04/may-releases-and-blog-tour-giveaway.html

To find out more about me and my books, please visit me at www.JETaylor75.com.

Have a great day!

JET (J.E. Taylor)

Sorry to be late folks but Friday snuck up on me.  I went to bed almost 4 hrs early, being tired from “storm watching” all night the night before, and totally forgot to make sure this was ready to go.  But I hope you’ll enjoy today’s cover by Crista McHugh.

After winning the Civil War against the Confederate Wielders, the Union Machinists have outlawed magic to usher in a new age of steam-powered technology. Diah, an alchemist and the only non-wielder in his family, owes his brother for saving his life in the war; so when Cager is blackmailed into procuring the magical hide of the White Buffalo, Diah accompanies him to the Dakota territory.

Their guide is Oni, a half-Lakota woman with plenty of secrets to hide. She’s a magic wielder with an illegal wand concealed in her knife—and she’s a coyote shifter. To her people, killing the White Buffalo is not only sacrilege, it’s dangerous. Oni has no intention of helping them actually achieve their mission—until she falls in love with Diah…

Questions:
1. What was your first impression of your cover when it arrived in the email? Did you pet the screen for a while? Or did you rush to frame it?What does your book cover say about your book? What special feature does it point to that tells the reader to snatch this up right away to read?The Alchemy of Desire is a Steampunk Western. The cover captured the Western feel with the sunset and the cowboy, but the circle of runes lets the reader know this is not a Louis Lamour novel.

2. So tell me a little about your cover artist?  Do you know if he or she has a webpage? If so, do you have the link? I’m embarrassed to admit that I have no idea who the artist is, but s/he did a great job! Carina has an awesome staff of cover artists, and I can’t wait to get another contract with them so I can share another beautiful cover.

3. What feedback have you gotten back from readers?

So far, everyone who’s seen the cover has gushed about striking it is. I’ve actually had several people tell me that they wanted to buy the book just based on the cover. 
So what do you think, guys?  Crista is offering up one copy of the book to someone who leaves a great comment.  I have to add this to my list of “must reads” even though I don’t read alot of steampunk.  See, I’ve read some of Crista’s other works and LOVE her voice!You can buy The Alchemy of Desire from Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other ebook retailers. You can learn more about Crista at her website or follow her on Twitter.

I loved the cover! I especially liked how the artist incorporated the runes into the title. My only concern was that the man on the cover looks more like the hero’s brother than the hero. ;-)

So a book I’ve been waiting for came out yesterday so after work, I decided to read it. I didn’t start it till about 1:30 am, which for most people would be like oh… 8:30 or so for them (I work evenings, remember?) So anyway, I’m reading away, and about 5 am, when I’d hoped to be finished, hubby interrupted me and decided since the whole house was awake (and blaming it on me reading a book), he wanted his cinnamon rolls. Even though I was nearing the end of the book, and my heroine was just out of the hospital and danger still abounded, I laid the kindle aside and baked some admittedly pre-made cinnamon rolls for my cinnamon roll addicted hubby. After putting them in the oven, I scootched into the living room to finish this awesome book (For those who didn’t follow my wonderful rant on her page yesterday, it’s Alexis Morgan’s newest Palladin book). So I grab up the kindle and as I do, I notice the screen flashes a bit, but I think “That’s okay, I just caught it as it was considering sleep mode.”

I knew I had punched the page button, so punched back, and settled into read.

The new chapter started out talking about Chance. Well, Chance is the dog. But wait, Chance wasn’t a dog. He was an angel. What???? Yes, Chance was in heaven, worried about a woman who was pregnant. Right. That works for me. Ok, something is just wierd, Chance is pretty kewl in Alexis’s book, but something just feels wrong about this chapter.

I look up to the header of the page and nearly fainted.

Somehow, my kindle had changed books. I was now reading a book by Annette Blair, called Naked Dragon. Oh wait a second.  I’ve already read that book and there were no angels named Chance in that book either! Ahh but there was. It was the preview of her next book in the series.

So tell me – what’s the chances that two books will have Chance, who’s very angelic, and very worried about their charges, both female?  I gotta tell ya, I thought I was totally loosing my mind!   This is made even more funny to know I was just telling Alexis Morgan yesterday (Today for me) how important it was she get an e-reader and how kewl they are for reading.  But I gotta admit, I don’t think I ever picked up a paper back book to find out I was reading a totally different book with the same character name.  OH wait….. Before 5 am this morning, I’d never done that with my kindle either.  I’m tellin’ ya, it was just something out of the twilight zone!

So Bound by Darkness was an awesome read, by the way. And I hope I didn’t give too much away here, but for those of you who have read the book you know EXACTLY what I Mean!

So, it’s now time for bed, and yes, 6 am is about the equivalent of 2-3 am for me, so this is way late. Ta Ta, and hope you enjoyed my little funny!

Hey ladies and gents. I’ve been a tad quiet on twitter, and a few other places from time to time, and that’s because my “evil day job” hours have changed. I now work from 5 pm to 2 am. Basically when you and yours are online “playing”. But that’s okay, I’ve done that before so it’s no biggie.

But there were definitely things that happened this last few weeks and I wanted to share it with you. Some of you already know, some don’t.

On April 16th, just 10 days ago, I was sitting at my “evil day job”. I had the tv next to me with the local channel on, because weather was moving in. Now normally I ignore that, but something made me pay closer attention this time.

So shortly before 3:30 pm, I look and notice on the weather radar there is a very specific “Hook” shape on the weather radar. Now for those who don’t know me, I was once in the weather career field in the US Air Force, and my specialty was none other than “weather radar”. I even wrote a pamphlet for my unit on radar interpretation in North Carolina. Only this hook shape wasn’t anything you’d typically see in North Carolina. It was right out of the interpretation guides which use Oklahoma and such. I even made that statement. wow, this storm looks like it’s out of OK. 20 min later the weather guy on tv said the same thing. *Buffs and blows on nails*. I’ve still got what it takes, don’t I? LOL

Anyway, I watched the cell go straight over a city just north of me. When I say just north, I say that I have been in every building shown in the video you see here. Regularly. I shop there all the time (or shopped there).

As you can see, that was pretty scary. So I’m still sitting at my desk, unaware as of yet, how close to people I know and care about came to losing their lives. The tv comes on and says there’s a cell in Fayetteville. And they also said there was one north of spring lake. I looked. Crap, it was less than a mile from us. It didn’t look as big as the others, and before they went back to show it again, the power went out. I rushed outside, and the cell they’d shown either died, or slid just to our south. We were safe. But of course there was no power.

So we sat and listened to a battery operated radio to listen to the horrors of what had happened from the time the power blew until the time we got the radio on. The fast moving storms were already east of us, but that didn’t mean they did no damage. Here is another video – one just to our south, near Ft. Bragg. It looks like a warzone even a week later. This is a road I’m quite familiar with – I’ve been in more than half of the shops along this street. The ones that aren’t there anymore. In fact, I once almost died on that road when the accelerator got stuck in my car in busy lunch hour traffic. Now there’s no reason to visit, except to stare in horror at the damage, or to get out and volunteer to help clean up.

So the storms have past and our lives are back to normal. But only if we were one of the lucky ones. So many people lost their homes. It still amazes me how small the number was for the loss of life. Yes, 25 people in one state is alot, but the damage here makes it look like there should have been hundreds. Entire neighborhoods gone, with maybe one room left standing in a house. I can’t tell you how many times I heard people came right out of those totally demolished homes with barely a scratch. It’s a blessing that those people lived. But the pain isn’t over. They are still hurting. They are still cleaning.

So how can you help? Here’s a few links with information.

Cleaning up and seeking help after NC tornadoes and storms

Salvation Army – Clothing donations

So if you know of more ways to help, just add it to the comments in this post. I know other counties and areas were hit just as hard, so I know they need assistance as well.

So that’s it folks, that’s the home front.  Nothing is more sobering than some of those videos taken right here near me.  My heart goes out to all those injured or killed during these horrific storms, and also to any who lost their lives/homes in other states as well in this brutal spring season.

So there’s your update folks. If you can find a way to donate, please do. I know these people would appreciate it. When I was a kid, we lost our home and everything we owned to fire. I know what it’s like to be homeless and lost.

Yep, so sorry for taking so long on this contest. 

Vicki, you won a copy of Christine Ashworth’s Demon Soul!

Now I know I have your email address somewhere, but just to make sure, so there are no mistakes, please email me at desertpetiri@aol.com so I can get it to Christine!

Yep, we have a winner, and I can’t wait to hear what she has to say about her prize. First, for all those who were so kind as to post their favorites, it was so nice to see such a wonderful VARIETY of responses. It shows we all like different things in our reading, and there is no one type of paranormal for everyone. That’s so kewl.

The winner, by a length is:

Shannon J!  congratulations Shannon!  You can email me at desertpetiri@aol.com with your address and I’ll get the RTC’s out to you as well as your ecopy of SheWolf!  And Thank you everyone for participating!  Happy Easter to you all!

Today’s Cover Art is Piper’s Fury – now THIS is a fascinating cover.  First, I apologize for not getting the interview post to go with this beautiful cover, but Rachel and I kind of “missed” each other yesterday, but I’m still showing you this AWESOME cover.  Talk about dark and interesting!  Ash did an awesome job.

Passion of the Soul: Piper’s Fury
by Rachel Firasek

Purchase e-Book
Purchase Print
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 978-0-9828200-5-6
Length: Novel
Publication Date: March 2011
Cover art by Ash Arceneaux

It’s an empath thing…

Using your “powers” to help the Dark Hills Police Department hunt down serial killers doesn’t leave much time for dating. Not that Piper Anast is complaining. The last thing she needs is some guy brushing up against her and pumping his pornographic thoughts into her head.

When she meets Bennett Slade, a sexy, tormented vampire, Piper stumbles headlong into a telepathic connection with his missing daughter. She can’t leave the kid to the evil surrounding her unwanted visions, nor can she resist her draw to Slade. He’s the first guy she’s been able to touch vision-free in, well, forever.

As she and Slade close in on the evil creature holding his daughter, Piper’s powers morph into a deadly fury. To save Slade’s daughter-and herself-Piper must face down demons she never knew she had and trust the one thing she keeps from everyone.

Her heart.

I do, but be kind, yours truly made it. LOL

Rachel’s Website

Buy Piper’s Fury: 

• Crescent Moon Press
• Amazon for Kindle
• Barnes & Noble Nook

Excerpt

Copyright © Rachel Firasek
All rights reserved — a Crescent Moon Press publication

“How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Feed,” I said.

He grinned. “Your mind amazes me, Piper. It flits from one subject to the next. Do you ever find peace?”

I shrugged. He was avoiding my question with one of his own. “How?”

“If I tell you, do you promise not to run in horror?”

Good question. What if he showed me something repulsive like the fangs of a snake? I’d seen Gage’s fangs, but what if they were little because he was a baby vamp? What if they kept growing? Would I be able to look at him the same again? “Yes. I promise.”

“Give me your wrist.”

I tentatively stretched my arm out, wrist up. He kept hold of my hand and raised it to his face.

I wrenched it back to cradle against my chest, “I didn’t say you could feed on me.”

“Piper, I would not feed from you without your permission. Trust me.”

“No tasting either.”

He shook with suppressed laughter. “I promise.”

I stretched my arm back out to him and once again he raised it to his face. This time, he ran his nose along the vein running up my wrist, tickling me whenever he brushed my skin, but it was a tickle I wanted to continue forever.

“Open your eyes.”

I wasn’t even aware they’d drifted shut. My lids flickered open and my eyes met the blue flame flickering behind his.

“What?”

“Watch.” He opened his mouth. His canine teeth, slightly longer than before, subtly shifted in his gum line.

“Wow. That was cool. Can you make them go up and down?”

He snapped his teeth together. “I am not a freak for your entertainment. I do not ask you to touch everyone who passes to see what kind of life they have lived.”

Obviously, I’d struck a nerve. “I’m sorry. I guess I expected something bigger. Like the fangs of a cobra or something.”

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you.” He turned his face away from me to hide the pained expression my words had caused. I grasped his strong chin and turned his face back toward mine.

“I’m sorry. It was just a little startling, that’s all. I didn’t mean to poke fun at you.”

He leaned into my hand. His slight stubble scraped along my palm and I found myself exploring the hard angles of his face, firm muscle wrapped over steel. I let my hand slide along his neck to tease the hair curling gently at his collar. His eyes shut, allowing me the freedom to watch the emotions shift across his skin.

Dark and strong. Two simple words to describe the vulnerable strength in this anything-but-simple man. I craved the taste of him again. Leaning forward, I slid my parted lips across his. His intake of breath encouraged me to run the tip of my tongue along the seam of his mouth, teasing for entry. His eyes opened and I pulled back.

“You were kissing me with your eyes open.”

“Yes.”

He touched my cheek. “Why?”

“I wanted to watch your face.”

“Your honesty, Piper, is what I like most about you.” His hands braced my head and he pulled me back down for another kiss. This time, he took control and deepened the assault on my senses. His tongue plunged into my mouth, sliding along mine and withdrawing only to plunge in again, coating my taste buds with his minty flavor. He tilted my head for better access and drove his tongue even deeper. A moan escaped him, sounding almost like a growl.

I broke away. “Am I hurting you?”

“No. Less talk, more kissing.”

“But—”

Talk was overrated, anyway. He leaned deeper into me and explored my mouth the same way you nibble the cherry out of a cordial at Christmas. Delicious. When he moved to tease my jaw with his teeth, I asked, “Slade, will you show me the other way?”

He had worked down to my neck and a ragged breath escaped me when he worked the skin between his teeth. My stomach tightened and a dampness gathered in my panties. “What other way?”

“You said there were two ways to feed.”

His head rose from the crook of my neck and I completely forgot to breath. The heat in his eyes made my anger look like a holiday. Fire surged from his body and ate through my skin. Power. Pure energy. Little sparks darted between us like one of those static balls at the mall.

“You do not realize what you are asking.”

“You won’t hurt me, will you?” In my heart, I knew he wouldn’t. He was too gentle, too careful.

“Never.”

“Well, show me a little of this so-called addictive euphoria.” Curiosity usually never affected me, but with him, I wanted to know everything. Knowledge killed fear. “You give it to strangers—why not me?”

He kissed the pout from my lips and I grinned. Feminine wiles win again.

“Stand up.”

I stood and waited.

“Shut your eyes and turn around.”

“Why?”

“Trust me.”

“Fine.” I snapped my eyes closed and took a leap of faith by turning around. Several seconds passed before the rustling of fabric warned me Slade had removed his shirt. His voice rumbled close to my ear. “Raise your arms.”

My arms went into the air as if his voice be-spelled them somehow. “Why?”

“Would you quit asking that?”

“No.”

His soft chuckle made me grin. He tugged my t-shirt clear of my jeans and I spun around. “Whoa, what are you doing?”

“I want your skin against mine when I do this. It will be much better this way. I promise.”

“Do I look stupid to you?”

“No. You look gorgeous. Now take off your shirt.”

“Why?”

“You are most exasperating. You asked me to do this!”

“Why won’t you tell me what you’re going to do?”

He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Fine. I am removing your shirt because, if we get carried away, I do not want blood on your clothes.”

“Blood? I didn’t say you could feed.”

“Piper, this will be good and when it is, you may ask me to bite you. I will not be able to deny you. If you want to stop, you had better do it now. I will not be able to later. Not with you.”

“I don’t want to stop—I just don’t buy your reasoning.”

“Humor me and turn back around. I am trying to be a gentleman.” I gave him my back, feeling vulnerable and exposed as he drew my shirt over my head. The soft curls on his chest pressed against me. I leaned back and met the strong wall of steel.

He tensed and pulled my arms away from my body. “Who did this?”

I’d forgotten about the deep purple bruising on my upper arms. “Gage.”

“Gage?” He blinked. “He should not have had the strength to do this on his own. What has that monster done to him?”

I shrugged and would have turned around if Slade’s grip wasn’t so tight. His thumbs softly stroked the bruising. “Does it hurt?”

“Nah. Can we get back to what we were doing? What happens next?”

He chuckled. “Listen. Listen to air. Listen until you hear nothing but the air around you.”

What did he mean, listen to air? I stood still, listening to the soft sound of his breath teasing the top of my head. I was a good foot shorter than he was and felt miniscule against his mass.

After a few moments of relaxing and listening to nothing, a soft breeze floated along my skin. With it came the scent of vanilla. Warm. Inviting. I felt myself sway toward it. Slade’s hard hands caught my upper arms and pulled me tighter to him.

“Listen,” he whispered.

Then I heard it. A bell, soft chimes, ringing in my ear. “What is it?”

“That is the sound of the power. Now feel it.” He placed his arms around me and engulfed me in his strong embrace. Heat rushed in, and at first, it was almost painful. Then came the liquid fire coursing through my veins. Following the fire, a lust so sinful all rationality fled. I wilted against him, wanting to feel more of the hardness pressed against my back.

His breathing shifted. Soft, warm pants tickled my neck. “Piper, turn around and look at me.”

I did as he asked because there was nothing else I wanted to do. He was my everything at that moment.

“Your eyes…” He held my head tightly in his palms. “Piper, what are you?”

Don’t forget to also drop by The Easter Hop Blog post also from April 15th.