Felicity Heaton's Blog, page 71

Manday Hotties – Get your sexy Monday mancandy treat!

 

It’s time for the Manday Hotties Hop again!

It’s getting colder here in the UK, so I’ve put together some hot mancandy this week to warm both me and you all up.

As promised, I’m sharing more pictures of my new man crush…

 

 

 

 

Cheeky!

Which picture gave you the perfect start to the week? I’ve been learning guitar this week, trying to pick up where I left off many moons ago now, so number 1 is my favourite mancandy… I wish he was my tutor!

 

Visit the other blogs in the hop:

 

Bewitch – New Teaser and Progress on the First Draft

 

Progress on Bewitch has been coming along nicely. I meant to finish it this week but some other things came up and delayed me. I have the final two chapters to write and I’ll get those done on Monday. So far in the book, we haven’t seen any of the previous characters from the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series as Payne hasn’t been at the theatre. Don’t worry though, we’ll definitely catch up with them in this story and I have been talking about them and how they’re doing, so you’ll all know how things have been at Vampirerotique since the end of Enslave. I’ll be setting up some stuff for Snow’s book towards the end of Bewitch, so the big guy will be making an appearance together with other heroes and heroines from the series.

Part of the reason I’ve been slow finishing Bewitch is because my RSI is playing up. I guess writing 10-12,000 words in one day is not a good idea after all, at least not if you want to be able to keep writing the next day and the day after that. I’m going to have to cap myself or at least incorporate more breaks and moving around when I’m writing. It’s very difficult though. Once I get into a scene, I don’t want to stop to go for a lap around the cafe or stretch! I just want to keep writing like a fiend. I did manage to write 8000 words of Bewitch on Thursday with plenty of breaks and moving around, so it can be done.

I’ve also been busy with a new series idea that I’ve mentioned on Facebook and Twitter already. It’s another vampire idea and I will be working on it with my agent, Jenn, and hopefully we’ll be able to submit it to publishers next year when I have the first book completed and the series arc mapped out. Exciting times. I think it will be like a blend of Vampires Realm in terms of the sort of romances / action plots but with the heat cranked up to something more like Vampire Erotic Theatre.

I’ll tease you all today with a little snippet in Elissa’s POV and we’ll catch up with them again next week when I’ve finished their book.

Bewitch – Teaser

He growled again, this one born of frustration, and Elissa realised that he didn’t like it when she acted as though he wasn’t a threat to her. It annoyed him. She tested her theory by neatening the glass beakers, ordering them by size on the shelves above the desk, from big to small.

He snarled this time, impatient and snappish.

He moved, coming to stand behind her. Elissa didn’t look at him. It was hard to ignore her desire to turn and face him. She could feel him close behind her, her body tingling with awareness of his, veins filling with hunger to turn and step into his embrace, tiptoeing to bring her lips to his. Would he kiss her or push her away? She continued to tidy, picking up all her tongs, tweezers, spoons and stirrers and putting them into the desk drawer. She frowned, pausing with her hand on the front of the open drawer.

“Why did you choose the name Payne?” She knew fae kept their real names secret and with good reason. A fae’s real name could be used against them. If someone with power used it, the fae would be unable to resist their commands. She focused on the man behind her. He didn’t know much about fae or incubi, but she bet he knew about the name thing.

He didn’t answer.

Elissa turned to face him. “Don’t be shy. You can tell me since we’ll be working together.”

He glared at her. She smiled. His expression only darkened. Her smile only broadened. She liked the undercurrent of tension that rippled through him whenever his eyes met hers. Every time they did, the struggle returned, causing lines to bracket his sexy mouth and his eyes to narrow. Oh, he could fight it all he wanted, could fight her all he wanted, but in the end she would win and get her way.

He stepped back and folded his arms across his chest, revealing his fae markings as they tracked up the underside of his forearms. They curved upwards before disappearing under his shirtsleeves. Where did they go? She wanted to know. Did they snake over his biceps? Did they extend beyond his shoulders? Would he push her away if she traced them with her tongue or moan in pleasure and hold her closer?

That last one shocked her and she forced her eyes away from them.

“Come on, Payne. It’s just a silly simple question. I’m sure you can answer it. You’re not a dumb blond are you?”

He growled at her, flashing fangs. Elissa barely contained her smile. It was fun to tease him but she was growing tired of this standoff. She walked towards him and he rounded her, going to her desk. He planted his backside against it, crossed his long legs at the ankle and stared at the door. Oh. A man who knew how to employ the power of the silent treatment. She moved into his line of sight.

He shifted it to above her head.

Freaking curse him. She was tempted but it probably wouldn’t get her anywhere. Incubi were thick-skinned and he would probably punish her by leaving.

Elissa adjusted her plum halter-top to flash a little more cleavage in his direction and then toyed with her long hair.

No reaction. The blue and gold in his eyes didn’t even change. His fae markings remained placid cool grey.

It irked her.

Wasn’t she pretty enough to get his attention?

She paused.

Did she want him to think she was pretty?

No. She was just bored and annoyed, and he was stubborn. He was a challenge and she liked that. The fact that he was damned hot was just a cherry on top of a very delicious sundae.

Enjoyed the tease? I’ll have more news on this book once I’ve finished the first draft.

 

Guest Author – Gabrielle Bisset

I have Gabrielle Bisset on my blog for a swift post about her new book.

 

 

Thanks so much, Felicity, for having me here today for my celebration of the release of Blood Spirit, the third book in my Sons of Navarus series. This book tells the story of Terek and Ilona’s romance, in addition to continuing the series’ plot of the civil war between the Sons of Navarus and the Archons. If you love erotic romance, vampire power struggles, incredible Alpha heroes, and strong heroines, then check out the Sons of Navarus! You won’t be sorry.

Blood Spirit is set in Spain and Morocco, and one look and listen to the book trailer will give you a sense of the seductive tone of Terek and Ilona’s story. Enjoy and after you’ve watched, be sure to read on about the huge giveaway I’m having for the Blood Spirit/Sons of Navarus Paranormal Fall Fling.

 

 

Stop over at my blog and enter to win weekly prizes along with three big prizes at the end of the fling!  Visit http://gbisset.blogspot.com/p/paranormal-fall-fling.html for chances at great prizes of gift cards, swag, and ebooks!

Manday Hotties – Sexy new Monday mancandy treat!

 

It’s time for the Manday Hotties Hop again!

I’ve been busy with my writing so I think we deserve some fabulous Monday mancandy today to prepare me for the week ahead, as well as you all.

I have a new hottie this week, and I’ve got plenty of pictures of him to share over the coming weeks too!

 

 

Which picture gave you the perfect start to the week? I’m going to have to drool the hardest over number 2 today…

Visit the other blogs in the hop:

 

Bewitch – Talking about progress and taking the bull (aka Payne) by the horns!

I’ve been working hard in my writer’s den this week working on the first draft of Bewitch. Okay, I’ve actually been in a cafe for two out of three of my writing days. I did spend today in my writer’s den and I officially claim my two regular cafes as an extension of my den. It’s been great delving back into the world of the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. I haven’t been able to write any wicked debauchery on the stage of Vampirerotique yet because Payne is out on business, dragging his backside deep into the fae underworld to uphold his promise to help Andreu and his saucy succubus with their little problem.

Payne and his witchy heroine, Elissa, have been very enthusiastic about their story being written and extremely helpful. They haven’t given me any problems and the writing has been flowing smoothly. I tapped out at 12500 words yesterday and 7500 words today, bringing the total written so far to 30500 words. Not bad for three days work. I am loving the dynamic between these two. They’re scorching, really burning up the pages. Elissa keeps pushing Payne to his limit and Payne keeps trying to hold back. He can’t help it. It’s in his nature to reject the part of him that Elissa is trying to make him embrace. If he can’t embrace it, their chances of getting what they both want are zero. Of course, Payne is convinced she just wants to get into his pants.

It’s refreshing to write a hero who is a little off the rails, has a past as black as midnight, and is determined to keep his distance from everyone, but who doesn’t give me hell while he’s at it. He’s incredibly compliant and hasn’t given me any trouble so far. I normally have problems when I’m writing a hero who is desperate to keep his distance or deny himself. Payne has been a breeze. *pets him* As much as he hates attention, he seems to be enjoying all the attention he’s getting from his heroine.

I’m also really enjoying writing Elissa. I’ve always liked writing witches. She’s fun and very determined to get what she wants, and that’s Payne helping her take back something that was stolen from her (as well as getting in his pants). It’s been great writing the push and pull between them. Elissa pushes and Payne does his damnedest to pull away. No shock there since Payne doesn’t like it when anyone pokes their nose into his private life.

I’ll tease you all today with a little snippet in Elissa’s POV and we’ll catch up with them again next week when I’ve made more progress on their book.

 

Bewitch – Teaser

He gazed off to her left and Elissa took the opportunity to close the purple wooden door, shutting out the noise from the street. She used her magic to lock it. Not that it would stop him from leaving. He could easily teleport away. She did it to drive her point home. She didn’t want him to leave. They needed each other.

She ran her gaze over him, starting at his black boots and dark blue jeans, and then drifting upwards to his hands. Strong hands. Long fingers. Made for squeezing, palming, stroking and caressing. She blushed and averted her gaze. It lingered on his bare right forearm and the scars that littered his skin. He must have badly injured himself or perhaps his not quite one hundred percent vampire genes meant that he didn’t possess the same level of healing that pure vampires had.

Her eyes roamed up his torso. His dark grey shirt fitted snugly to his lithe body, revealing just enough about his physique to arouse her curiosity. The top few buttons were undone, giving a hint of muscled chest and sexy collarbones. No bite marks on his throat. Not into that sort of thing? Maybe he didn’t take vampire lovers.

She reached his face and slowed her visual exploration of the six-feet-plus of sex god in front of her. Every feature was sinful, from his profanely sensual lips, with slightly fuller bottom one, to the strong cut of his jaw, to his straight nose and fine eyebrows that flared above his striking grey eyes. They shifted back to her and her breath hitched in her chest. The dark edge to his eyes sent a thrill through her. Mother earth, he was gorgeous.

Forbidden.

She knew the rules. Incubi were demons. Demons were a big no-no for a witch.

She wouldn’t break the rules with him. Cross her heart. She just wanted to peel away the layers of this enigmatic male and learn about him. All witches were naturally curious, but Elissa was honest enough with herself to admit that what she felt for Payne went beyond natural.

It was dangerous.

Enjoyed the tease? Do you think Elissa is going to give Payne hell, and maybe give in to that crushing forbidden need for him too?

 

Bewitch – First draft underway and here’s a sneak peek!

 

I finished writing the outline of Bewitch, the fifth book in my Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series, this morning and started writing it this afternoon. I managed to clock up 10500 words of the book and have figured out that this one will be longer than I had originally intended. Rather than being around the same length as Covet, Crave or Enslave, it wants to be more like Seduce. It looks as though it will reach 60000 words. Payne has quite the adventure on his hands as he travels into the fae underworld in search of a way to help Varya aka Chica with breaking her bond to the theatre.

Because I’m going good guns on the first draft of the story and because that has me on cloud nine, I thought I would share a sneak peek of the book with you all.

To set the scene, Payne is following up the leads he’s found and the last one has led him to an underground town packed with fae and other creatures, and he’s trying to find a witch.

Bewitch – Sneak Peek

One of Payne’s leads had led him here, to a whole fae town hidden beneath the grounds of an elegant palatial mansion in the English countryside. Fae lived in the mansion too, the elite of that world. Everyone down here were merchants, plying their wares to make ends meet. Payne had thought witches had higher standards but there were probably hundreds if not thousands of them here, trading with other creatures, selling spells, ointments and god only knew what else.

A group of young females passed him, dressed in the traditional garb of witches, long black featureless dresses that swamped their bodies and concealed their curves. They tittered amongst themselves, their eyes on him, blushes heating their cheeks. His incubus side rose to the fore and he shot them a smile, earning giggles and a few sultry smiles in return. The incubus in him loved every second, lapping up their desire, draining it from the air around him.

Payne tamped it down and his vampire side took control again. The witches’ looks turned dark and he knew they had seen the red in his eyes. Strange how they would toy with an incubus, one who wanted them purely for sexual gratification, but they would scowl at a vampire. His incubus nature was more likely to kill them.

He took the steps on the left down to the cavern floor, his eyes on the town, studying it. There were larger buildings near the edges of the town. Banners hung on their walls. He recognised a few. Not just covens. There was a shapeshifter pride. A wolf pack. Ogres too. There was even a succubus clan. He didn’t need to recognise the banner on that particular building to know what type of creature lived within its walls. There was a steady stream of men coming and going, and some succubi were hanging out of the open windows, calling to them and teasing them with flashes of flesh. The fae equivalent of a bordello.

He shook his head and focused back on the witches’ district. He was shit out of luck if the street signs were in fae. The fae language was extensive and his knowledge of it was limited. He knew the basics but names were often written in a special way. He had never learned those characters. He looked down at the markings that tracked up the underside of his forearms and disappeared beneath the charcoal grey rolled up sleeves of his shirt. They were shifting in hues of dark blue and burnished gold. Not a sign of his incubus side. His markings shone bright gold and cerulean when that was in control. No, this was apprehension.

Understandable considering he was about to enter a world that prided itself on bloodlines and purity.

An abomination like him was liable to end up deep in shit. He wasn’t sure which role to play. The vampire or the incubus? They were more likely to accept his demonic lineage and most of the creatures in the area he needed to head into were unlikely to be able to sense the vampire in him.

Incubus it was.

He hated that.

He reached the bottom of the stone steps and the crowd immediately swallowed him. Women dressed in very little tossed provocative looks his way and his incubus side purred from their attention. He wanted to tamp it down but his vampire side had a tendency to show when he forced it to the fore to obliterate his incubus hungers. He couldn’t risk them seeing he had a dual personality.

Payne preened his long fingers through the dirty blond spikes of his hair and the women hissed at him and disappeared. Fairly standard behaviour for a succubus when it saw an incubus. He grinned to himself, remembering how Chica had reacted to him in such a way when she had first come to the theatre. Succubi were weaker than incubi, and it had led to the incubi taking advantage of them more than once, and trying to kill them too.

He found his first street sign at a junction between four shops all selling herbs that stung his nose. Each plump female owner stood outside, trying to outshout the others. Payne covered his sensitive ears and glared at the wooden post in the middle of the busy crossroads.

Just as he had expected. He was shit out of luck.

He didn’t recognise any of the symbols on the wooden boards. He jammed his hands in his jeans pockets and not just because he was frustrated. He had been bumped more than once and he was damned if he was going to have his wallet nicked. That would be the turd icing on a crap cake.

A woman with milk white skin and hair the colour of snow approached him, the crowd parting to allow her through. Her starlight coloured robes flowed ethereally around her, revealing more than they were concealing. She looked like a ghost. Payne stood his ground, his vampire senses sparking high alert, and steadied himself. Every instinct said to roar and scare her away.

Phantom.

He had never seen one before but he had heard that a phantom’s touch could make a man incorporeal. A phantom too. It was the only way for one such as her to mate. She needed to make her male as intangible as she was. When he had first heard that, it had sounded as though it might be fun. Then he had learned that once a phantom, always a phantom. The male never got his corporeal status back and was destined to roam the world as a hollow husk when the phantom cast him aside.

Her palest silver eyes slid to him and she held her hands out.

Payne reacted on instinct, his eyes darkening to crimson and his pupils turning elliptical. He bore his lengthening fangs at her and growled. She halted and even moved back, but she didn’t leave. She stared at him and her white lips moved. No sound left them but he heard in his head what she had said.

Unfortunately, he didn’t understand most of it. He caught fae words for ‘fated’, ‘bond’, ‘blood’ and ‘death’.

Before he could ask her in English what she had said to him and what it meant, she swirled into a smoke and disappeared. He looked around at the people now staring at him, his skin crawling from their attention and the way they were looking at him as though the phantom had just announced his death sentence. He let his fangs recede and his eyes change back to dark grey, and then singled out one of the witches who had stopped to stare.

“What did she say?”

The woman frowned at him. Just great. It seemed their looks of horror were because he had flashed his vampire nature. No one else had heard what the phantom had told him and he was damned if he could remember what she had said to repeat it to them.

He didn’t need this shit on top of everything else.

Payne stared at the street sign and decided to go left. He was feeling in a sinister mood after all.

He reached another crossroads and was in the process of deciding which route to take next when a huge could of sparkling grey dust exploded off to his right. People ran from that direction, pushing past him. He braced himself and frowned over their heads. There was a shape in the dust, small and curvy, and she wasn’t alone. Four larger shapes surrounded her.

That didn’t seem like a fair fight to Payne.

He ran towards the fray and broke through the dust. Storeowners were screaming at the fighters, some of them ferrying their wares inside where it was safe and others standing in front of them, physically protecting them.

The female he had seen through the cloud of dust stood her ground before him, feet spread shoulder width apart beneath the hem of her drab black dress, the long chestnut waves of her hair tangled in the pieces of straw sticking out of it. Grey dust sparkled across her backside. She must have hit whatever had exploded and sent the dust into the air.

Four large males stood opposite her, each of them hunkered low, assessing her.

They were witches too. What did they want with the female?

Her heartbeat was frantic. Frightened.

One of the males lunged at her and she turned on the spot, throwing herself forwards and rolling towards Payne. She found her feet just a few metres in front of him and her eyes widened as they met his. Smudges of black ash dotted her pale face but Payne didn’t notice them.

She was beautiful.

Entrancing.

Her silvery eyes sparkled like stars.

The male grabbed her from behind and she landed a series of devastating blows on him. Her foot slammed into the man’s left knee, hobbling him, and then she jammed her elbow into his face, right into his eye. Payne winced when the man howled and dropped the petite firecracker and she turned and landed a hard kick to his balls. The man hit the deck, clutching himself and groaning.

The sight of her so easily dispatching their comrade didn’t stop the other three. They attacked as one with magic, catching her right in the chest and sending her flying. She tumbled through the air, the skirt of her dress hiking up to reveal sinfully red knickers. Payne had intended to catch her but the sight of them froze him right to his boots. His incubus purred. The vampire in him purred too.

The female landed hard in the baskets outside one of the stores to his left, scattering their contents. Snakes slithered over the cobbles and frogs hopped, making a break for freedom. The elderly witch who owned the store added insult to injury and beat the poor female with a broom. The beauty got to her feet by rolling unceremoniously into the cobbled street, her dress still tangled around her middle, flashing her knickers and a lot of smooth creamy leg.

He wasn’t the only one the sight of her had frozen. The three males were all dumbstruck too, staring at her exposed skin.

She got to her feet, grabbed a length of thin silver rope that had fallen from one of the baskets, and brandished it like a whip.

She lashed out at the males, cracking the end of the rope across their chests and legs. The males reacted then, each making vain attempts to close the distance between them. Even teleportation spells didn’t help them. She struck them before they could fully disappear, stopping them.

Payne stared. The sight of her with the makeshift whip, dominating the more powerful males with it, was arousing to say the least. He knew his eyes were glowing blue and gold, and he knew he should get his hungers under control before they took him over and made him do something he might regret, but by god almighty he wanted the little witch.

What did you all think of it? Are you looking forward to Payne’s book?

 

Dangerous Alpha Heroes Giveaway Hop

It’s time for the Dangerous Alpha Heroes Giveaway Hop hosted by Full Moon Bites. The hop runs from September 17th until September 24th, and my giveaway is international.

We’re talking all about alpha heroes for this hop, so I thought I would offer a book from my Vampires Realm series, which is full of sexy vampire and werewolf alphas, and a book featuring a sexy demon alpha! Here is more information on the two books that you might win.

 

Masquerade

F E Heaton

Ten years have passed since Sophis and Vivek, two vampires of the Venia bloodline, came close to death at the hands of twin hunters Aleksis and Izabella Romanov. The events of that night turned Sophis and Vivek against each other, shattering their close friendship and driving them apart.

Now, on the eve of a centenary Creator Day masquerade and at a time when things between them are dangerously close to separating them forever, they uncover a small army of vampire hunters in Saint Petersburg, led by their nemeses, Aleksis and Izabella.

With the safety of the rulers of the seven pure vampire bloodlines in their hands and their chance for vengeance hanging in the balance, can Sophis and Vivek face their past and overcome their differences? Will they realise their true feelings for each other before it’s too late or will the hunters finally claim their lives as their deadly plot to destroy the bloodlines unfolds?

Read a sample of Masquerade

 

Ascension

Felicity Heaton

A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.

With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig’s blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.

Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he’s not a monster but the man that she loves?

Read a sample of Ascension

 

Now, on to the giveaway! Here’s what you can win:

PRIZES

1 x Signed paperback copy of Masquerade by F E Heaton, plus book goodies including signed cover postcards, bookmarks, romance trading cards.
1 x Signed paperback copy of Ascension by Felicity Heaton, plus book goodies including signed cover postcards, bookmarks, romance trading cards.

 

HOW TO ENTER

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Manday Hotties – Grab your Monday Mancandy Treat!

 

It’s time for the Manday Hotties Hop again! It’s been a quiet week this week so it might be just me hopping and sharing the hot mancandy… and I’ll try to make it special.

I’m featuring some new sexy mancandy hotties this week, just to keep you drooling and panting for more!

 

 

Which picture gave you the perfect start to the week? I’m going to have to drool the hardest over number 2 today…

Visit the other blogs in the hop:

 

Her Demonic Angel – Win a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card in my fantastic giveaway!

Her Demonic Angel, the fifth book in my popular Her Angel paranormal romance series, is now available in ebook and paperback, and to celebrate I’m hosting a fantastic giveaway at the book’s page on my website.

You can win a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card and all you have to do to enter is help me spread the word about the book and the series. There are loads of ways to enter using Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, as well as your blog if you run one. The giveaway is open internationally and ends on September 23rd, so enter now before it’s too late!

Check out all the ways and enter the amazing giveaway at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/hda

Don’t forget, that you can get Her Dark Angel for free right now too. Her Dark Angel is the first book in the Her Angel romance series and you can download it for FREE at selected Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books and Apple iBookstore sites. Find all the links and an except at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/herdarkangel/

Now, to get you all salivating about the book and eager to help spread the word about it, here’s the third chapter of Her Demonic Angel, where Veiron and Erin meet for the first time.

If you’d like to read more of the book, you can download an 8 chapter sample of the book at my website. I have PDF, mobi (Kindle), and epub (Nook, Kobo, Sony, Apple) formats available.

Enjoy!

 

Her Demonic Angel

Felicity Heaton

A demonic angel with a heart of ice, Veiron walks a dark path with vengeance on his mind. Nothing will sway him from his mission to destroy his master… until he risks his life to enter Hell once more to save a mortal female. The fiery beauty makes him burn with hungers he must battle and needs he cannot deny, tempting him to surrender body and soul to her.

Erin is convinced her refusal to do the Devil’s bidding will see her die in a terrifying realm straight out of her nightmares. The last thing she expects is the lethally sensual warrior who breaks into her cell and awakens the darkest desires of her heart and a fierce longing to know the heat of his caress.

Pulled into an incredible world where war is set to ignite and darkness is on the rise, Erin races with Veiron to escape the Devil’s legions in a journey fraught with danger and filled with passion that flares white-hot.

When Erin is faced with a life-shattering realisation and an extraordinary destiny, will their love give them the strength to battle both Heaven and Hell or will they be parted forever?

Her Demonic Angel – Chapter Three

Erin sat with her back against the wall opposite the open side of her black rocky cell and stared into the hazy fiery distance, watching volcanic vents spewing lava high into the air and listening to the constant screams. She couldn’t remember if it was five days or twenty since the Devil had visited her, but it had been a long time since she had seen anyone.

The other two who had been with the Devil during his visit hadn’t come back to check on her. Someone slid a meal through a grate in the bottom of her door from time to time. She ate only the vegetables, unable to stomach the thought of eating more of the final unicorn in existence let alone the meat itself.

She could have been somewhere more comfortable if she had complied with the Devil’s desires.

He had told her that before storming out of the cell and slamming the door behind him, leaving her alone with the dismembered wings of the last creature who had dared to defy him.

She had felt sick, reliving the Devil ripping them from the demon’s back, whenever she saw them so she had gingerly dragged them to the open side of her cell and tossed them down into the fiery river far below.

She could have escaped this place if she had gone with him. Not the Devil, but the other one who had visited her. At first, she had thought it was the Devil. The man had flown up from the abyss on huge black feathered wings, his wild hair as dark as midnight and his eyes as golden as a hawk’s. The only items of clothing he had worn were a black loincloth covered by tattered age-worn strips of armour and boots that reached his knees and had gold-edged black moulded plates that completely covered his shins.

His sudden appearance had startled her and he had looked so much like the Devil that she had fled to the back of her cell and had done a double take. Only on closer inspection had she realised that this man was different. If it hadn’t been for the black wings, she would have thought him an angel. He had been handsome, but darkness had clung to him, a sense of evil in the twist of his lips as he smiled at her and told her that she could have her freedom if she came with him.

It had tempted her more than the Devil’s offer and she had almost considered placing her hand into the man’s and letting him take her away. Only that lingering sense that he was evil beyond words, as likely to murder her as he was save her, had kept her at the back of her cell. He had hovered near the open wall of her prison, beating his wings and using the rising heat to keep him close to stationary. When she had refused, Erin had expected him to enter her cell and force her to leave with him, but he had snorted, a feral sound that had made her jump, and then swooped out of sight.

She had been too scared to race forwards and see if he really was gone. She had sunk to her backside close to the door of her cell and stared out at the world beyond her prison, wondering what would have happened if she had gone with the stranger. Would he have freed her or would he have taken her to the Devil, or would he have killed her?

His reluctance to enter her cell and the wary glances he had given it had left her with the impression that he hadn’t been willing to breach it for some reason. He had wanted her to extend her hand to him, beyond the boundaries of her prison. That had led her to settle on the idea that if he had entered the cell, something would have happened. What, she didn’t know, and she didn’t care.

She would have her freedom somehow, but it wouldn’t be with the help of a man who had looked like some sort of demonic angel.

Erin rubbed her knees, idly trying to get rid of some of the layers of dirt from her bare skin. At least it was warm in Hell so her scant clothing wasn’t a problem. She laughed at herself, the sound loud and echoing around her cell, jarring with the endless screams that rose up from the abyss.

Was that where the Devil was right now? Too busy tormenting his victims to come and visit her and try to convince her to do as he had asked.

He had told her that she could have her freedom if she would cast aside her sentimentality and kill her sister. Her stomach rolled in response to that memory and she slammed her mind shut against it, unwilling to contemplate such a thing.

Erin buried her face in her knees and hugged them, tired right down to her bones and starving. The few morsels she ate whenever food came through the door weren’t enough to keep her going. Without eating the unicorn meat, she was slowly growing weaker, the effects of the few mouthfuls she’d had wearing off a little more each day. Her throat felt like sandpaper too. The Devil clearly didn’t understand that the constant heat of his hellish realm was dehydrating her.

Then again, did he really care if she died?

She was bait. Whether she was alive or not didn’t matter. Or did it? He had been genuinely angry that she had been held captive for days on end without him knowing and without food or comfort. She could have had that comfort and all the food she could eat if she had only complied with him one way or the other. Play bait or do his work and kill her sister for him.

Erin wanted to do neither. She didn’t understand why the Devil wanted her sister but she didn’t want Amelia to come to Hell and try to save her. She would rather die here and rot in this cell than see her sister come to harm.

She shifted onto her knees, the rough basalt floor cutting into her dirty flesh, and pushed herself onto her feet. Her steps were unstable but she made it to the side wall of her prison and held onto it as she moved forwards, towards the edge.

Hot air blasted upwards from the inferno hundreds of feet below and almost knocked her backwards. It curled around her, blowing the fringe of her straight black hair upwards and stinging her eyes. She squinted and stared out at the unforgiving bleak landscape that stretched around her, all black rocky crags and flaming rivers. Huge black-skinned beasts roamed the land, their dragon-like wings furled against their backs and weapons in their hands. They tormented any smaller creature they passed, bullying it until it either escaped or gave up and cowered at their feet.

She had grown strangely used to the existence of this place and the creatures that dwelled within it, as though she had always known it was real and not the stuff of legend and myths.

Her gaze tracked the demons far below. Erin had watched the comings and goings of the creatures who guarded the prison, trying to figure them out and see if they had any weak spots. They didn’t. Nothing could stand up to them.

Nothing except the Devil at least.

She couldn’t see him amongst the creatures below her.

Erin leaned further forwards and assessed the ragged cliff face. She might have been able to make it down that way if she had been a champion rock-climber. She wasn’t. She was a weak, exhausted and sometimes scared woman who had never climbed anything bigger than a hill, let alone scaled a sheer rock face several hundred feet high.

The door opened behind her and Erin didn’t make the mistake of whirling to face the visitor this time.

She turned slowly, expecting to find either the Devil or one of his cronies come to torment her.

It was neither.

A bloodstained and beaten man wearing tight black jeans that emphasised the thickness of his thighs and a black t-shirt that stretched across the impressive hard cut breadth of his chest stood in the doorway.

He was holding a very big sword.

Erin swallowed.

Had he come to kill her?

She glanced back at the abyss below her feet. What would be a better and less painful death? Falling to this scarlet-haired man’s sword or plummeting into the volcanic river?

“Erin, I presume?” His deep voice wrapped around her and Erin couldn’t miss the concern that laced the weariness and irritation in it.

Erin looked back at him.

He slid the broadsword down his back and scrubbed his hand across several days’ worth of dark growth on his handsome face.

One good-looking man had fooled her already and it wasn’t going to happen again. This man was every bit as lethal, brutal and vicious as the Devil. It was there in his eyes and the way he held himself, legs spread in a warrior’s stance, ready for a fight.

He looked as though he had already been through several battles recently. Now that she looked closer, she spotted tears in his t-shirt that revealed startlingly enticing glimpses of hard packed muscles.

Erin dragged her gaze down to her own feet.

She must have lost it in the past few days. She had finally plunged into crazy, her mind frazzled by her captivity and being in Hell. She had to be insane to be ogling the man who had clearly come to kill her.

“Why don’t you just do it and get this over with?” she said, feeling a spark of defiance ignite in her chest. If she was going to die, she might as well go down fighting.

“Excuse me?” He frowned at her, a quizzical look filling his dark eyes. “Get what over with?”

“Killing me.”

His dark red eyebrows pinched together. “If you’re not Erin, I might.”

It was her turn to frown. “You don’t want to kill me?”

“Are you Erin?”

She nodded.

“Then I don’t want to kill you.” He stepped into her cell and she noted that he didn’t bother to stay close to the door. If she were entering a cell on a mission to save someone, she would certainly keep one foot in the door in case a bad guy came along and shut them both in. Did he have another means of escape if that happened? He raked dark eyes over her and she shivered under the heat of his gaze. “You are not what I was expecting.”

“Ditto,” she said and shrugged when he looked into her eyes, confusion lighting his again. “I was expecting the Devil to come back.”

“The snide little fucker actually paid you a visit in person?”

Erin frowned at how casually he badmouthed the Devil, as though he wasn’t afraid of him. She stared at the man, taking in his impressive height and build. He was taller than the Devil and much broader too, thick sinewy muscles visible beneath his tight clothing. His biceps were huge, so large she would struggle to wrap both of her hands around one arm. Her fingertips and thumbs wouldn’t touch if she tried. Matching black and red tribal tattoos curled around those biceps, a tantalising peek of a larger design that disappeared under the sleeves of his t-shirt.

Erin found herself wanting to strip his top off to see the rest of it.

She really had lost her mind.

“Are you alright?” He frowned again.

“Just a little brain damage,” she said, trying to make light of everything.

He crossed the black floor and stopped before her, towering close to a foot over her, his immense body overshadowing hers and making her feel tiny. He slid one large hand along the line of her jaw, tilted her head back, and stared down into her eyes.

Erin swallowed. It should be illegal for a man to be so handsome yet so lethal-looking. He screamed danger but she wasn’t quaking under his touch because of it. It was a whole other feeling that had her trembling.

“You don’t look crazy,” he whispered and she added his sultry low voice to the list of reasons someone should stamp him with the words ‘dangerous’ and ‘forbidden’. “Now… all opposed to being rescued, raise your hands, otherwise, I’d like to get the fuck out of here.”

Erin didn’t argue, not even when he clamped one strong large hand around her slender wrist and drew the broadsword strapped to his back with the other. She stared at the open door, battling a flood of emotions that threatened to sweep her under. Freedom. This man was here to save her. It was too sweet and glorious to believe. It had to be a cruel trick, another form of torture to break her.

She didn’t have much time to take in what was really happening when he pulled her over the threshold and into a long black corridor that ran between the cells. Before she could even glance back at the cell that had been her home for God only knew how many days, he was dragging her along the hallway.

“Can you run?” He glanced over his broad shoulders at her and didn’t give her a chance to respond before he started at a pace.

Erin tried to keep up. The prospect of actually surviving and escaping Hell flooded her with adrenaline that had her bare feet moving but she couldn’t match his long strides. A bright flash blinded her but it didn’t slow her companion. He kept running. They passed a large open room and she turned her head in time to see several dead bodies strewn across a floor slick with blood. More flashes lit the darkness and with each one, a body disappeared.

They looked like humans. Had the man killed them to reach her? What was that light and why were they disappearing?

She started to ask but her gaze settled on the hard angles of his profile and the stern set of his jaw and she thought better of it. This man was her ticket out of Hell and she wasn’t about to piss him off, not when she had the impression that he was quite content with killing.

Erin pounded along the black-walled corridor beside him, her legs beginning to tire and each step jarring her bones and sending pain shooting across the soles of her feet. She lost her footing on one of the sets of steps that led downwards and almost fell. The man’s hand on her wrist stopped her. He pulled her up by her arm as though she was nothing but a ragdoll in his hands, suspending her off the ground for a second before setting her down again.

“You are weak,” he said and she bristled at the double meaning in his words. He wasn’t just saying she was weak from her captivity, but that he thought she was weak period.

Erin snatched her wrist free of his grasp and rubbed it. She turned her nose up and stormed ahead of him, feeling crazy for taking the lead when she didn’t know where she was going and she didn’t have a weapon, or the knowledge of how to wield one. She couldn’t let him think she was weak though.

He followed behind her, a dark shadow barely a few feet from her, his footsteps almost silent.

They reached a split in the corridor and Erin paused. Neither of the avenues she could take looked inviting. Both were pitch-black and voices came from one. Or was it the other? Everything echoed in the corridors and it was hard to distinguish which would lead her to a grisly death and which would lead her to freedom.

She chose the right.

The man grabbed her around the waist from behind, twisted her in his arm, and slung her over his shoulder.

Erin struggled and his arm tightened against her back, causing his thick shoulder to press into her stomach. Her organs protested, sharp pain lancing each one.

“You’ll fall off. I need to move fast and you’re slowing me down.”

Well, that was just rude. Erin punched his backside. God, it was like a rock. She almost purred. Could this man get any smexier?

“You can’t carry me and fight your way out of here.”

He laughed, the warm timbre of it echoing around the dark walls. “Believe me, Sweetheart, I can fight with both hands tied behind my back. You’re no hindrance at all.”

He jogged down the left corridor with her, each step jolting her on his shoulder until she felt close to losing what little remained of the last thing she ate. Erin grabbed his leather belt, hooked her thumbs into the waist of his jeans and pushed herself up enough that it didn’t hurt as much as he ran.

This was just embarrassing now.

It was bad enough having her rescuer belittle her.

Having him carry her fireman-style to freedom was making her wish he had left her in her cell.

Warm fresh air assaulted her, as fresh as Hell got anyway, and she looked up to see the huge black walls of the prison fortress bouncing away from her.

“You can put me down now,” she said but he didn’t hear her. Either that or he was ignoring her. She was tempted to punch him on the backside again but gave up and let him have his way.

The jagged towers of the prison slowly wobbled into the distance and were lost from view behind the spires of black rock that lined the path her hero had chosen. Vents in their sides and tops belched hot acrid smoke that stole her breath. She pulled his black t-shirt up, exposing a lean delicious back, and covered her mouth with it. How the hell could he run in this?

Erin wanted to be sick.

She counted the bounces in his step to keep her focus off the horrendous smell of rotten eggs invading her lungs and the increasing number of bleached bones that lined the path as though someone had kicked the bodies out of the way and just let them rot there. Or perhaps some smaller creature had picked the bones clean. There were grooves in some of them, as though sharp teeth and claws had scraped them. Erin hoped it had happened after death and that the screams still ringing in her ears weren’t the death cries of people being eaten alive.

The man managed over three hundred steps before he finally stopped and set her down with surprising care in a wide clearing.

“Are you alright?” He held her at arm’s length, looking her over.

Her blood heated when his dark eyes lingered on her breasts and then the tiny shorts she wore.

“Do you always dress like this?” He raised an eyebrow.

Erin folded her arms across her chest, covering her breasts. The black pebbles of the path cut into the bare soles of her feet. “I was in bed when they took me.”

He ran his gaze over her again and a touch of crimson ringed his dark irises.

Erin took a step backwards.

That had to be a reflection of their fiery surroundings. It had to be.

Mr Tall, Dark and Deadly couldn’t be something straight out of Hell.

He frowned at her feet. Erin gasped as his large hands settled on her waist and he lifted her onto a relatively smoother rock on the side of the path.

“I didn’t anticipate this.” He rubbed his stubbly jaw and crouched before her. His hands were gentle as he lifted one of her feet and inspected the sole, his thumbs pressing in and sending a warm jolt up to the apex of her thighs.

She placed one hand on top of his head to steady herself and tried to resist the sudden desire to comb her fingers through the long crimson lengths of his hair.

She had dated a few men with long hair in the past but none of them had dyed it the colour this man had chosen. It was like blood.

“I like your do,” she said with a smile. “It’s pretty cool.”

He frowned up at her. “Do?”

“Your hair.”

His frown intensified. “We are trapped in Hell and you are discussing my hair?”

“I have to do something to take my mind off the fact that I’m trapped in Hell. What dye do you use?”

The man straightened and even when she was standing on a rock, she was still shorter than he was. “It is not dyed.”

“That’s natural?”

“If you would like, I can prove it to you.” His smile was nothing short of salacious and he reached for his belt. “The carpet matches the curtains.”

Erin blushed and grabbed his hands to stop him from going ahead and flashing her. He looked as though he really would go through with it and while the thought of seeing every inch of this man nude was appealing, it couldn’t stand up to her greater desire to escape.

The man shrugged and then did something that really challenged her ability to think straight and focus on escaping.

He removed the leather contraption that held his sword to his back, reached over his head and tugged his black t-shirt off, revealing a body so perfect that it would make angels weep. Every inch of lightly bronzed skin stretched taut over granite hard muscles. They shifted in a sensual symphony as he easily tore his t-shirt into two pieces. Her gaze ambled over him, ignoring her commands to focus on anything other than his godly form, then he upped the stakes and it was game over.

He crouched again and bent over her feet, giving her a glorious view of his strong back and the detailed red and black tribal tattoos that swept up his thick arms and down his shoulder blades. They curled there, skirting identical ridges of scar tissue.

Erin leaned forwards as he finished wrapping one of her feet in half of his ruined t-shirt and started on her other. She swept her fingers along the wide dark scar that slashed up his left shoulder in line with his spine.

The man was gone in a flash, standing several feet away from her and breathing hard.

“What the fuck?” he snarled and Erin flinched, her hand still poised where his back had been. “Don’t touch me. Understand?”

“I’m sorry… I just saw the scars and wondered what had happened to you.” She hated that she couldn’t get her voice above a whisper and that she couldn’t look at him. Shame burned her cheeks. So much for her insane thoughts about paying back her glowering saviour with some naughty time when they made it out of Hell.

Erin stared at her feet. He had done a nice job of covering them with his t-shirt. She supposed she should thank him for coming to save her and for not doing the whole thing with her slung over his shoulder, leaving her feeling weak and pathetic. Maybe she should just ask him to point her in the right direction and she would find the way out on her own. Her gaze shifted to his sword where it lay on the ground. On second thought, he was armed and if she ran across some of those demons, he might be able to fend them off or even kill them.

“Thank you for coming for me. I owe you my life,” she said and finally managed to find the courage to look him in the eye again.

He casually shrugged his wide bare shoulders. “You own me nothing. I’m only here because Amelia would have come if I hadn’t, and if she dies then that’s my life over.”

“Oh.” Erin’s gaze ate basalt again and her cheeks scalded, her burning heart heating them. He was with Amelia. That made sense in a strange way, although it only left her with more questions about why Amelia knew about Hell, what the Devil wanted with her and how she had met this man.

A man who had taken her place, risking his life to save Erin so she didn’t have to.

Erin stepped down from the rock, feeling as though someone had just popped her favourite balloon. She knew she should feel happy that her sister finally had a man in her life that had a noble and good bone in his body but she couldn’t muster the emotion when jealousy was riding her.

Her amber eyes met his dark ones but she couldn’t hold his gaze. It fell to the ground again. She didn’t want to look at him anymore. The blood staining his face and the harsh cuts across his bearded jaw and neck did nothing to dampen his feral handsome looks.

Erin envied Amelia for having him in her life.

“I want to keep moving.” She started off without him, following the winding path that was surrounded by black jagged rocks and bleached bones and stretched into an equally dark and bleak distance.

Erin was beginning to hate black.

The man easily caught up with her in a few long-legged strides and fell into step beside her, his broadsword strapped to his back again. He cut an imposing figure as he strolled along beside her, his air casual yet throwing off a lethal don’t-even-try-it vibe.

She wanted to give him the silent treatment but it had been days since she had spoken to someone and he was currently her mind and heart’s favourite subject. She wanted the goods on this man, every juicy bit of them.

“So… were you a captive here once too and that’s why you know your way around?” That question hung in the air between them.

His lip curled, revealing a flash of straight white teeth, and he frowned.

Clearly, he was still pissed at her for touching him. Well, sorry. She couldn’t have stopped herself if she had tried. She still wouldn’t be able to if she so much as glanced at the scars that he had evidently tattooed around, as though they were central to the design.

He was silent a few seconds longer and then looked down at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled.

Erin walked on a few paces, towards a long sloping drop into a valley below. She glanced down, seeing that the path she was on turned a corner ahead and continued close to a hundred feet below her.

He finally spoke. “You could say that I’m local.”

That unnerved her, especially when coupled with the bright crimson that flared in his dark irises, a corona surrounding his narrowed pupils.

Erin stepped away from him, backing towards the edge where it was rocky and the stones were loose underfoot. Her gaze darted down to the path far below her. Her footing was poor where she was but she didn’t want to be near him until she was sure it was safe. She would sooner risk falling than being within his reach.

He frowned at her and then at her feet, and held his hand out to her. “Come away from the edge.”

Erin shook her head.

If he was something terrible, then she was going to hit the slope, slide down to the path below and make a break for it. She would probably cut her bare legs up but it was better than being tortured by a demon. Had he only rescued her so he could toy with her and hurt her? Was this just another trick after all?

Her sister would never associate with something demonic and evil.

“Do you work for the Devil?” Erin shuffled backwards. His dark eyes flicked to her feet and then back to her eyes, and he stretched his hand closer to her, an impatient and concerned expression on his face. The Devil could change his appearance. This man had a voice that could melt her and so had the Devil. They were one and the same. “Are you the Devil?”

He laughed. “Hell, no. I’m not that evil. Do I look like I go around getting manicures between torture sessions?” He sighed and smiled at her. “I swear to you, Erin. I’m not here to hurt you… and I will keep you safe. Trust me?”

“No, I don’t trust you. I don’t even know you… you say you’re local but you don’t work for the bastard who held me captive, and you expect me to believe that shit?” She edged further away from him and he frowned, his eyes narrowing and expression switching to one of irritation. Anger flared in his eyes.

He growled, low and vicious, and the flecks of red in his eyes brightened. “I expect you to believe it because it’s the truth. I hate the bastard who kidnapped you, and would like nothing more than a chance at separating his head from his body. I’m risking my neck to save you and you dare accuse me of being the one loathsome creature I despise above all others?”

Erin backed off another step as he advanced one, until the balls of her feet hit the slope. Her heart thumped out a hard rhythm against her breastbone and blood rushed through her ears. His gaze locked on hers, challenging her to accuse him again, to voice any belief she still had that he was unworthy of her trust. She trembled and stared up into his eyes, searching them for a sign that he was lying to her.

His anger seemed genuine, born of hatred for a man that she too despised and disgust at being compared with him. He couldn’t blame her for being cautious though, surely? After everything she had been through, it was only natural for her to think everyone in this horrible place was out to get her, and he had admitted that he was a local.

The man backed off at last, the anger in his eyes melting away together with the red, leaving his irises dark. He sighed, his shoulders heaving with it, grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face.

“What am I supposed to say to make you believe me?” he whispered and met her gaze again. “Tell me that, Erin. I’ve trekked through Hell to find you, have fought and killed to reach you, have carried you and tended to you. I’ve risked my life to save you. Doesn’t that make me worthy of a little trust? You think I want to be here?”

No, she didn’t. He had mentioned more than once that he was risking everything by being in Hell, by saving her, and she felt terrible for doubting him.

He held his hand out to her again. “I swear to you, Erin, that I mean you no harm and I am here purely to rescue you and reunite you with your sister. Will you trust me to do that? Can you trust me?”

Erin’s better judgement said not to but she slipped her trembling right hand into his and stepped away from the edge. She looked up into his eyes. They glowed red around the edges again and in the centre too, highlighting his wide pupils. His gaze locked with hers and rocked her with a jolt that reached her soul.

“What’s your name?” she whispered, captivated by his eyes and lost in them. They had more power over her than the Devil’s had. She wanted to stare into their flaming depths for all eternity.

“Veiron,” he husked, his warm breath caressing her face, and Erin’s senses came alive, lighting up like an electrical storm. His masculine scent of dirt, aftershave and fresh sweat filled her nostrils. The warmth of his hand clasping hers heated her right down to her bones. The sound of his voice made her blood burn to hear him speak again. Her gaze delighted in discovering every tiny fleck of fire in his dark irises. The only sense left was one that cried out for a taste of him.

She might be losing her mind, but she knew without a doubt that she wanted this man regardless of what he was.

He was the most dangerous man she had ever met and he belonged to her sister, but there was something about him, something sensual and powerful, deadly and alluring, that she couldn’t resist. He had the smile of a demon, the body of a god, and the tenderness of an angel when he let his guard down.

Her captivity had been a nightmare.

But travelling through Hell with this man at her side was going to be a worse form of torture.

Her Demonic Angel is out now at ebook and paperback retailers:

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I hope you all enjoyed the excerpt!

 

What am I working on next? Vampire Erotic Theatre series and Vampires Realm series

Now that I’ve completed the first draft of the first book in my Guardians of Hades series, I will be shifting my focus back to my vampires and in particular my two series: Vampires Realm and Vampire Erotic Theatre.

I’m sure many of you are pleased to see those two series mentioned here under the heading of what I’ll be working on next. I have three books to write for these two series. Two of the books are in the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series, and the third book is the next novel in my Vampires Realm romance series that I write as F E Heaton.

I don’t think I really need to say whose books I will be writing for my Vampire Erotic Theatre series. First up will be Payne’s book, Bewitch. I’m focusing on convincing him to talk to me at the moment and tell me about his life, his love, and his romance story. The more I talk to Payne about his story and listen to what he has to say, and also listen to his heroine and what she has to say on the matter, the darker this book becomes. I hope you like a little edge to your romance. I’ll try to rein Payne in a little, but the guy has a lot of trauma in his past and he’s seriously screwed up beneath that cool exterior. I’ll reveal all in his book, but right now I will admit that he’s going to challenge both Antoine and Snow when it comes to who has the most traumatic life. Expect fireworks from Payne’s book. We’re heading into the fae underworld and Payne is going to have to face his demons if he wants to return to Vampirerotique with the item he set out to find. The witch he meets is going to drive a hard bargain, and it’s one that might just break Payne and destroy them both if they’re not careful. I don’t think his little witch realises just how hot the fire she’s playing with is… but she’s going to find out!

I’ve also been listening to Snow a little over the past few weeks. Snow likes to bend my ear whenever I have a moment to spare. Snow’s heroine is also quite quick to take advantage of any down time that I have. It’s unusual for a heroine to be so communicative. I always find that it’s the heroes who talk the most and the loudest, and the heroines tend to be the quieter, calmer character. I think it’s because I often write romances focused on the hero rather than the heroine. It’s often the heroes story and the heroine is almost the secondary character. I’m fairly certain that there are some readers among you who are excited to hear that Snow has been quite communicative about his story and we’re already working on the outline for his novel. I think Snow’s heroine is so chatty about him and herself because she’s known him for a long time.

The other vampire romance book I’ve been writing down ideas and scenes for, and talking to the hero and heroine, is in my Vampires Realm series. I’ve been chatting to Tor and Eve, who will become the hero and heroine in Hunger, which is the next Vampires Realm novel. Tor doesn’t really say much so I have to bleed him dry whenever he risks talking about himself. He’s very closed off and distant, but I’ve managed to get some interesting information out of him regarding his past and his future too. Eve is another talkative heroine. Readers familiar with the Vampires Realm series may already know that she’s: a) Lilith’s twin sister, and a vampire now; b) Has been found by their vampire father; c) Was mentioned as being with Tor in Masquerade. Addicted readers of the series will probably have already read the short scene I wrote as a flash fiction (a scene under 1000 words) with Lincoln and Tor. I really think that readers are going to love Tor. He’s damaged goods, a lone hunter for his bloodline, has serious darkness in his past, and is treated worse than a dog (or a werewolf) by most vampires in his bloodline. He’s loyal, strong, lethal, and as likely to kill you as he is look at you. I can easily see him stealing some hearts during his book.

I will hopefully start writing Bewitch next week once I have the outline completed. When I’m done with the first draft of that book, I will probably start writing Snow’s book, Unleash, or will at least plan it before I edit another book.

Are we all excited about the books I’ll be working on next?