Excerpts
1st excerpt from One Night With You
“Do you feel safe with me, Alicia?”
She licked her lips. “Yes.” And when she said it, she realized how true it was. She smiled.
“Why?”
She drew in a deep breath, then looked out her window. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to hide from me. You don’t have to be afraid that you’re not sexy enough, not woman enough, with me. Alicia, look at me.”
She stopped pretending to be interested in the view and looked at him.
“You know I want you. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve met in a long time.”
“I…this is so strange.”
“You make me so hot I can’t think.”
“I do?”
He laughed, a sound that rolled off his tongue and caressed her ears. “Yeah. And you know what else?”
“What?”
He leaned over and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “You like it.”
2cd Excerpt from One Night With You
Upstairs, she followed him into the master bedroom. And when she walked in, the last of her reservations melted away. She was doing this.
He took the wine from her and set it on the nightstand. “What music do you like?”
“Whatever you choose is fine.”
“Polka?”
“Ha ha.”
Then something soft and sultry was playing, and he walked back toward her, his eyes dark and dangerous. Her breath caught. Oh, shit. She was really doing this.
“I’m not really a total stranger, Alicia.” He captured her in a gentle, swaying dance.
“No?”
He shook his head, and she turned her face, just barely, just enough to put her lips close to the wide column of his throat. So soft, so good. Without thinking, her tongue darted out and tasted his skin, and she felt the sudden stillness in his body.
He cleared his throat. “No. I was here during the summers when I was a kid. I stayed right here with my grandparents. Every time I saw you, you had your nose in a book. Didn’t matter where you were. At a picnic, in the grocery store…”
She looked up at him, amazed. “Really!” Then she gave a wry smile. “But you’re right. I was always reading. Reading or dreaming. I never paid much attention to my surroundings.” God, he smelled so good. “I do think I would have paid attention to you, though.”
He smiled down at her, his eyes crinkling. “No. I was an awkward, ugly kid who collected bugs and wore coke bottle glasses.”
Her laugh was open, genuine. “Oh, somehow I doubt that. I bet you’ve been beautiful your entire life. I’m sure you charmed the nurses the moment you were born.”
“Hmmm,” he said, but nothing more.
She felt tenderly amazed, that he had known her. That he had seen her and remembered her. She didn’t know if it was bad or good that she hadn’t changed enough for him not to recognize her.
The song ended, and he sat her on the bed. “I’m going to feed you, but first, I’m going to take your clothes off.”
She blushed at the thought. “I don’t think—”
“Shhhhh.” He pushed her back on the pile of pillows, gently but firmly, and his fingers moved to the first button on her top.
Lisa Legend is a 'shimmer-witch' who lives in a little place called Spiritgrove. A Tracker for the Spiritgrove Law Enforcement agency, she is sent after a man named Blackwood. Blackwood has the power of mind control and was supposed to have committed some terrible crimes; he swears he was framed. The following scene takes place in Lisa's car after she has tracked and caught him and is taking him to the city to turn him over to the humans.
Legend of Spiritgrove
...Back in the car, I balanced coffee and sticky buns and released Blackwood from the restraints. I couldn't help but notice that his hands were hard and masculine, his fingers beautifully shaped, long…
I blinked and shook my head.
"Damn you, Blackwood."
He had the nerve to look injured. "What?"
His face was darkly stubbled, and his dark hair hung limply, half covering his face. I wanted to push it back and look into his amazing, dramatic blue eyes. Damn, but he was a good looking man. I had to remind myself that he might very well be a murderer and a rapist, as well.
I needed to get away from him. The longer I was with him, the more he affected me. He had to be using power, and even if he wasn't using it deliberately, some of it must be…leaking. Yeah, leaking.
I cleared my throat and handed him the coffee. "Say a person accuses you of using your powers on her. Or him. How do you prove to them that you aren't?"
He raised an eyebrow and took a sip of hot coffee. Then he grinned.
Oh, fuck, but he had a devastating smile.
I had to get hold of myself. This wasn't me.
I frowned at him, as menacingly as I'd ever frowned. I didn't like this, and things were going to change, right now.
I burned my tongue gulping down the coffee, and started the car.
"I'm taking you into the city," I told him.
He put a hand on my arm, and I jerked violently, spilling coffee on my bare leg.
"Son of a bitch!" I was furious, and embarrassed. This man was turning me into a groupie; a jumpy, nervous groupie, and I was sick of it. Sick of myself.
"Ms. Legend, I—"
"Shut up!" I knew it was melodramatic, but I pulled my gun and stuck it under his chin, pushing. He grunted and held his hands up.
"Don't talk to me," I ground out. "Don't look at me, don't fuck with me. And most of all, don't touch me."
"I apologize. It won't happen again."
I pushed a little harder and his eyes flinched, just the tiniest bit, but I saw. I took the gun away.
For ten minutes, I drove in silence. Then-
"Ms. Legend. I simply wished to answer your question about my powers and how I could prove to you that I wasn't using them to influence you."
"Not me, Blackwood. Anyone."
"Right. How I would prove to anyone that I wasn't using my powers is simple." From the corner of my eye I saw him reach into the neck of his shirt. He pulled out a leather thong.
I glanced over. On the end of the leather was attached a jewel of some sort, a beautiful purple jewel, and even as I looked at it, I remembered.
Ah, hell.
"Take it," he said.
I wrapped the leather string around my hand and drove on. I waited. The effects of the amethyst would have been immediate, had I been under his spell, but there was nothing. I still felt exactly the same way.
I nearly laughed. He wasn't using his powers on me; I was just attracted to him. And in all fairness, who wouldn't be? The guy was drop dead gorgeous.
I put on my turn signal and pulled of the road. I wanted to try something. He knew what I was doing.
"Ms. Legend."
"Do it."
"I really—"
"Damn it, do it!"
I put the jewel between us on the seat, so I wasn't touching it, and looked into his eyes. His power flared, and I felt it, but I felt it as a rippling along my skin. My mind was still my own. His eyes shone bright purple, so beautiful that I gave a gasp just to see them. But—I could resist.
I felt my hair stir with the strength of his power, and then the air became thick. It was an odd thickness, and I felt as though I could open my mouth and pull that thickness into me, and it would be delicious.
Had I been susceptible to his powers, I would have been naked right now. I would have been ripping his clothes off, screaming in ecstasy as he pushed himself into me…
"Ms. Legend."
I smiled. It was a nice fantasy, but one I could quite resist.
I was immune to him. I was immune.
He was staring at me, his power slowly dying down. He didn't look disappointed, and no wonder; now he knew with no uncertainty that I wanted him.
But I could live with that.
I took a deep, cleansing breath, and concentrated on once again becoming the professional Runner that I was. I was a Hunter, a Shimmer-witch who caught bad guys for a living. I didn't crush on them.
I started the car and automatically snapped my seatbelt into place. I looked in the rearview mirror before pulling back onto the road.
We'd be in the city in less than an hour, and I'd be rid of Mr. Blackwood for good.
"Now that that's out of the way," he said, "perhaps you'll listen to my story. I don't know for sure who came after me tonight, but I have a good idea. And I have a good idea who is behind this whole thing. I think you know, Ms. Legend, that I didn't kill or rape anyone."
I'd let him talk. I wanted to know what he knew, and I'd feed that information to Jeremy. Just because Blackwood would no longer be my problem didn't mean I couldn't help out with the investigation. It was my people who had been killed, after all. Cory wasn't a Supernatural, but he had been my friend.
"Okay," I told him. "Start talking."
And he did.
Disclaimer: Excerpt is my own original content. Unauthorized reproduction, without prior written permission, is in direct violation of applicable copyright laws.
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