Mari Carr's Blog, page 50

Saturday Snippet

Today’s Saturday Snippet is all about “In the still of the night.” So what better story to share a snippet from than Full Moon. After all, Josie, the heroine, is all about howling (sexually speaking) at the full moon! LOL

Snippet:

“What are you doing here, Josie?”

She hadn’t expected Jake’s question, but after he’d saved her from near-disaster, she felt as if she owed him the truth. “I was hoping to hook up with one of the men here tonight. An honest-to-God one-night stand with a stranger.”

Jake’s smile didn’t dim, but he shook his head. “I don’t know where the hell you came from, but I’m sure glad you came into my bar.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged good-naturedly. “Let’s just say you’re a lot more entertaining than the regulars. So you really want a one-night stand?”

She nodded.

“Why?”

She rolled her eyes. “Because I’m horny. What do you mean why?”

Jake leaned forward, resting his elbows on the high counter in front of her. “You’re pretty, funny and smart. Why would you settle for a one-night stand when any guy would probably give his left nut to go out with you?”

“I’ve always preferred the right nut.”

He grinned, but didn’t let her dodge the question. Instead, he waited patiently for her answer.

“I’m not looking for forever. Just one night. But—” she glanced over her shoulder and sighed, “—it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen tonight.”

“Why not?”

“I’m afraid I’ve lost my steam. And my head start. Most of the other promising candidates have been claimed.” The crowd was thinning out and she didn’t have the energy to try again. Plus she was terrified of picking up another married man like Greg. Apparently her bullshit meter only worked in regards to her ex-husband.

Jake didn’t bother looking around the bar to confirm her observation. “What about me?”

“You? Really?” Josie‘s heart began to race. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d questioned her success all evening. Now Jake was offering her exactly what she wanted.

He raised his eyebrow and she sensed she’d offended him. She raised her hand quickly. “I mean I just didn’t think you’d be interested.”

Meanwhile, lack of interest was certainly not her problem. She’d been attracted to him since the first moment she’d bellied up to the bar. Even so, could she really go through with this?

She licked her suddenly dry lips, studying his face. He had kind eyes. And full lips.

As her gaze descended, she added to her mental list of Oh my God, He’s Hot attributes. Jake had powerful hands and muscular arms. And he sure as hell knew how to fill out a pair of blue jeans.

Shit. She was seriously going to do this.

“A hot woman is sitting across from me looking for a hookup. There’s not a straight, single man on the planet who would turn that down.”

“Apparently it’s not just the single guys.”

“Good point.”

“And you qualify, do you? Single and straight?” She really needed to hear Jake say he wasn’t married. Though she was questioning her judgment after the Greg fiasco, something told her she could trust Jake’s word.

He nodded and once again she was taken in by his smile, his handsome face. Where Greg had been a pretty boy, Jake was all man. His jaw was covered with a five o’clock shadow that was pushing the borderline to full-blown beard. She spotted tattoos peeking out beneath his T-shirt on both arms. He was about a month overdue for a haircut, but the shaggy brown mess made her long to run her fingers through it.

“I qualify on all counts. I’d love to go home with you tonight. I’m not drunk, I don’t have any diseases, I’m relatively well-mannered and I don’t snore. Plus, none of my past girlfriends have blamed sex for our break-ups.”

“What do they blame?”

He laughed. “I’m trying to talk you into sleeping with me. Not out of it.”

Jake was the answer to a prayer. It would be no hardship having sex with him. None. At. All. “Fine. We’ll do it. Two conditions, though.”

“Lay ’em on me.”

“We go to your place. And I’m not going to stick around afterwards to find out if you’re lying about the snoring.”

“Deal. Should we leave now?”

She frowned. “Don’t you have to stay around until closing?”

He shook his head. “Nope. One of the perks of owning the place is you can come and go as you please.”

“You own the bar?”

“Yep.” He turned to talk to the other bartender. “Sam, this is Josie.”

Sam shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Josie.”

Jake took her empty glass and put it in the rack along with the other dirty dishes. “I’m going to take Josie home. You mind holding down the fort tonight?”

Sam shook his head. “No problem. I’ll lock up and take care of the deposit.”

“Thank, Sam.” Jake walked to the cash register for a moment, then handed Josie’s credit card back to her. “Here.”

“Don’t I need to sign a slip or something?”

“Drink is on me. Least I can do, considering.”

She slipped the card back in her purse as he grabbed some keys from a cabinet. He lifted the hinged part of the bar and walked over, grasping her hand. “Ready?”

She nodded. “So ready.”

When they got to the parking lot, Jake paused. “My apartment is a couple blocks that way, so I don’t drive to work. Your car will be fine here if you want to leave it.”

She nodded. “Any dark alleys between your place and here?”

He frowned. “You really don’t plan to spend the night?”

“I told you that.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I know. Dark alleys don’t matter. I’ll walk you back here afterwards. Come on.”

He led her home, neither of them speaking along the way. Josie noticed it wasn’t an awkward silence. In fact, she felt more at ease than she’d anticipated. She wasn’t suffering from the slightest bit of nervousness. If anything, she wished he’d walk faster.

“I haven’t had sex in three years.” Where the hell had that confession come from? She winced. “I mean—”

Jake squeezed her hand. “I think I understand that horniness now. Maybe we better hurry up.”

She laughed as he picked up the pace. Jake was funny and easygoing. As far as howling went, she couldn’t have chosen a better partner to help her check off the first item on her sex list.

Taking his keys out of his pocket, he opened the door to his second-floor apartment, flicking on the light switch as she entered.

Mercifully, Jake’s place wasn’t bachelor-pad gross. There were no soiled dishes piled up on every surface, no dirty-gym-sock odor in the air, and the furniture wasn’t stained, with stuffing coming out at the seams. Apart from some clothes and shoes scattered about, the place was actually quite clean.

“Nice,” she murmured as she looked around.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s okay. Rent’s cheap, the neighbors are quiet and I have my own washer and dryer. It’s not a bad place to lay my head at night.”

“Having your own washer and dryer is huge. I have to lug my laundry across the commons and drag it down into this humid basement laundry room my landlord set up for all the tenants. Costs a quarter a load, so I’m forever digging for change.”

She wasn’t sure where all that had come from. Now that she was in Jake’s apartment she couldn’t figure out how to move things to the next level. While she’d initiated the invitation, she was clueless when it came to seduction. She’d been with one man in her life—Tony—and he’d always been the instigator when it came to sex.

It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the act. It was just that Tony’s libido seemed to run on high all the time. She never had a chance to be the pursuer.

“So,” she said at last, “where’s your bedroom?”

Full Moon is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Samhain.

Rhythm of my Heart

Jess Dee has a fabulous new book, Rhythm of my Heart, out today! It’s the third in her Speed series. Hope y’all have found these books. They are definitely worth the read!

He rocks every woman’s world, but his heart beats only for her.

Speed, Book 3

Makeup artist Eve Andrews is an expert at blending into the background. Landing a job with the rock band Speed is the opportunity of a lifetime, and thankfully as close to the spotlight as she’ll ever get again—until the band’s sinfully sexy drummer turns his dazzling eyes on her.

After a scandal shook his world, Zachary Pace, a.k.a. “Jonah Speed”, has given up the one-night stands and easy lays. One look at Eve, and he senses his self-imposed abstinence is about to come to a screeching halt—but he’s confused. His grandmother foretold his destiny lies with a beautiful redhead, not a tiny, brown-haired pixie.

Under the heat of Zachary’s intense focus, Eve’s resistance melts away, but not the façade that hides her terrible secret. And when she accidentally catches a glimpse of his heart’s desire—his fated redhead—her instincts tell her to let him go…before he gets too close. Before he sees the real woman behind her mask, and her heart is left in the dust of his almost-certain retreat.

Product Warnings

This is a Speed book, so you know there’s gonna be a small element of fantasy to it. And a big element of romance. Oh, yeah, and whole lot of sex. Sex hot enough to make you throb to the rhythm of a very sensual beat…

Excerpt:

His gaze snagged on a particularly adorable smile. One made by cherry-red lips stretched wide across a lovely face.

Bam.

Lust hit him square in the chest.

His adrenaline rush hit an all-time high.

Okay, so maybe his gaze hadn’t been snagged by the smile. Maybe he’d subconsciously sought it out, just like he’d found himself doing since arriving in Sydney a week ago and meeting the Aussie crew.

Zachary didn’t know her name—yet. He’d made a conscious effort not to think about her, because thinking about her did those self-imposed restrictions no good whatsoever. What he did know was that each time he saw her he couldn’t look away. The sight of the tiny brunette packed a punch louder than the boom of a drum and more potent than the energy of the twenty thousand fans packed into the Rod Laver Arena.

If Zachary could have sat back down on his throne and hauled her with him, he would have. In a heartbeat. Would have stripped every last stitch of clothing from her lithe body, pulled her onto his lap and let her take them for the ride of their lives.

But that would hardly fit in with the revamped, sexually restrained Jonah Speed, now would it?

Something must have alerted her to his focused attention, because her gaze shifted, leaving Nathan and Sophie and landing firmly on him. Her lovely features reflected surprise, and after a couple of seconds, Zachary swore he saw a flicker of interest as well.

Satisfaction pooled deep in his stomach.

It had been a long while since he’d felt this level of attraction to anyone. A long time since he’d wanted a woman to consciously want him like he wanted her.

He’d grown altogether too used to the availability of a soft body whenever he desired one—or two. Groupies willing to offer whatever Zachary wanted. Sex with them had long since ceased to provide the satisfaction or the high it once had. Sex with them had long since stopped. Period. While he searched for something more meaningful, all they craved was a fix of the superstar, not the real man.

Zachary acted on impulse. “I’ll be right back.”

Luke answered, but Zachary didn’t register his words. He was too intent on his target.

Her cheeks pinked as he approached, and her chest rose and fell rapidly, but she watched every step, and her eyes filled with questions as he neared. Her scent filtered through his nose like a morning breeze, fresh and floral and arousing as hell.

She raised an eyebrow, highlighting blue eyes that resembled a spring sky—cloudless, with the promise of the heat to come.

Beautiful.

Her gaze held him rapt. Zachary couldn’t look away, didn’t want to look anywhere but at her.

The intensity of his stare must have made her uncomfortable, because after a moment she flinched uneasily. “Can I help you?”

Oh, yeah. She could help him…so long as she got them both naked in the next three seconds.

Restraint, Pace. Remember?

“Uh, are you okay?” she asked curiously.

Too busy devouring her stunning features with his gaze, Zachary didn’t answer.

She flinched again. “You’re looking at me as though…” The words stumbled and died. “Oh, shit.” Her mouth formed a perfect “O” and her eyes widened dramatically. “I have something on my face, don’t I?” She brushed at her cheeks. “Crumbs? Lipstick? Mascara on my chin?”

Bemused, Zachary shook his head. Her face was perfect. So was her Australian accent.

She frowned, then quickly clamped her mouth shut before opening it again, only this time her lips covered her teeth. “Somesing in my teef? A pieth of food?”

Again Zachary shook his head, incredulous that she could pull such a ridiculous face yet still look so pretty.

She breathed an audible sigh of relief.

“Okay. Then…what? Do you need makeup, maybe?” But she was already shaking her head as her gaze roved over his features. One look was enough to tell her makeup was not his thing.

“No.”

“Ah, he talks.”

Zachary grinned.

“Look, mate. You realize you’re freaking me out a bit here, just staring at me… Oh, Lord, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Not a ghost, no.” Although Zachary was struck by a strange sense of déjà vu. Something about her seemed so…familiar.

“Then what?” She held her hands up in question. “Are you going to explain why you’re looking at me like that?”

“You reminded me of my grandmother, for a minute there.” An image of Edna, his grandmother, flittered through his mind.

She frowned. “I’m twenty-five and I remind you of your grandmother? That cannot be a good thing.”

The chuckle he emitted was belly deep. “You reminded me about something she taught me,” he amended.

“Your nan taught you to stare at women until they squirm awkwardly on the spot?”

“No. She taught me to always appreciate the beauty in the world around me. And right now, I’m pretty damn sure I’m looking at the most beautiful part of Australia.”

Her jaw dropped. “P-pardon?”

Her accent made the word sound like puh-din.

“I’m looking at you, thinking you are, without a doubt, the most stunning part of Australia.” He hesitated just a second, then caught her delicate arm in his hand, aware of how large his fingers looked as they wrapped around her wrist.

He pressed the two roses into her palm. “For you. Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. Consider it my way of expressing my appreciation.”

Quote of the Day

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” - Confucius

Saturday Snippet

Today’s theme is Baby’s got a secret, which immediately brought to mind a scene from Fix You. I thought I’d share it with you today.

Snippet:

Rob unlocked the door to the townhouse he’d shared with Zoey for a decade and a half. His band mates gave him shit about living with a gorgeous woman and not sleeping with her, but he wasn’t about to screw things up with his best friend. Zoey was more than an opportunity for sex. She was…everything to him.

As soon as he entered the house, he took a deep breath and sighed. He was home. A grin crossed his lips as he tried to determine the scent. Zoey was a candle addict, burning them constantly. This month’s flavor smelled like cinnamon. She often paired her scents with the time of the year—pumpkin spice in the fall, balsam and cedar over the holidays, beachy smells in the summer. He grumbled whenever she lit one, claiming he felt like he was living in a chick’s place. Truth was he liked the candles. They were one more thing that made their house feel like a home.

He glanced at the clock in the hallway. It was three a.m. Rob hadn’t been able to concentrate during tonight’s show, Zoey’s unusual phone call tugging on his conscience. As soon as the band walked off the stage, Rob got a taxi straight to the airport and hopped on the first flight home. Luckily he’d only been a state away. The up-and-down flight got him here in good time.

Chip, Express Train’s drummer, had gone ballistic when he’d said he was leaving, but he couldn’t ignore the voice that told him something was seriously wrong. He assured the guys he only needed to make sure Zoey was okay and that he’d meet them at the next venue in two days.

Mercifully the tour was winding down. Rob was sick of buses, the road, takeout food and all the crazy after-parties. More than a few times he’d recalled the saying Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. He’d wanted to be a musician since the day he turned thirteen and got his first guitar, but now that Express Train was on the cusp of something big, he was second guessing that choice. Life on the road sucked.

There was a light on in the living room, so Rob passed the stairs and walked toward it. It was way too late for Zoey to still be awake, but it was unlike her to leave a light on. She was the queen of energy conservation.

He saw her the second he entered the room. She was fully dressed and sound asleep on the couch. She was surrounded by tissues. Fuck. He’d been right to come home. Zoey didn’t cry, but her puffy eyes betrayed she’d been doing quite a lot of that tonight.

His first thought was perhaps she’d suffered a broken heart, but she wasn’t dating anyone. Hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in over a year, ever since she finally made a clean break from Drake the Prick. Jesus, he hoped that abusive asshole hadn’t made his way back. Last time Zoey had seen her ex-boyfriend, Drake had given her a black eye. Rob had repaid the favor, only instead of one black eye, he’d left Drake with two, as well as a broken nose and four loose teeth. If Drake had come back—

Then Rob’s breath caught as he considered something even worse. Her parents weren’t exactly old—both of them only in their mid-sixties—but if something had happened to one of them, Zoey would be desolate, devastated. Her dad had been diagnosed with high blood pressure recently and Rob recalled Zoey worrying that her old man would die of a heart attack like her grandfather had. But why wouldn’t she have told him that on the phone?

He walked over and knelt in front of her. Her face was pale.

“Zoey,” he whispered, gently pushing her dark brown hair away from her eyes. He didn’t like seeing her so tired, so frail-looking. A surge of protectiveness rose up inside him. “Zoey. Wake up, baby. I’m home.” God. He must be tired. Where had that term of endearment come from?

Her eyelids lifted slowly. “Robbie?”

He grinned. She was the only person on the planet who still called him by his childhood nickname. The second he hit high school, he’d instructed his teachers and friends to call him Rob. Zoey was the only one who couldn’t make the switch. She’d told him he would always be Robbie to her. He liked the idea, so he didn’t pick a fight about it.

She sat up slowly. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, then claimed the warm spot next to her on the couch. “I was worried about you.” He gestured to the tissues scattered on the floor and coffee table. “What happened?”

Her response was worse than words. She quite simply fell apart.

Rob reached for her, pulling her into his arms as she cried. “Shhh. It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’ll be okay. We’ll fix it.”

His words, rather than comfort her, seemed to open the floodgate even more. She clung to his shirt, loud sobs wracking her small frame. He held her tighter, each cry slashing through him more sharply than a machete. Twenty-five years of friendship and he could count on one hand the number of times she’d cried in front of him. His heart raced as his mind whirled over what could have happened. Jesus. Whatever it was, it was bad. Really fucking bad.

He tightened his arms around her, desperate for a way to calm her. “You’re killing me, baby. Please. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

She shook her head against his chest.

He cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. “Say it, Zoey. Fast. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

“If I say it out loud, then it’s true.”

He wiped the tears away from her cheeks. “It’s true one way or the other. Tell me and we’ll take care of it together.”

“I have cancer.”

Fix You is available at Samhain, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ARe, and Kobo.

Go Pink Tour

Sami Lee and I—with the support of our publisher, Samhain—are running an event to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month. We have both published books that feature heroines dealing with breast cancer in some fashion. During a month-long blog tour, we are talking about those books and how we came to write them with the aim of spotlighting the issue.

Samhain Publishing has generously offered to join forces with us and will donate $1 of every copy of Erica’s Choice and Fix You sold on their site during the month of October. The money will be donated to Pelotonia, an Ohio based organization that directs 100% of funds raised toward cancer preventions research.

Below are the stops on our blog tour. Sami and I hope you will join us!

Oct. 1 – Samhain

Oct. 2 – Simply Ali

Oct. 3 – Joyfully Reviewed

Oct. 7 – Nice Ladies, Naughty Books

Oct. 10 – Smexy Books

Oct. 16 – Smutty Kitty and Samhain

Oct. 21 – Fiction Vixen

Oct. 24 – TRS Blue

Oct. 27 – Intl Heat

Nov. 4 – Samhain

Love and Let Die

I seriously love me some Lexi Blake. The woman is too much fun and one hell of a writer. Yesterday she joined IntlHeat and I couldn’t be more thrilled! Today, she has a super red hot release, Love and Let Die, coming out. If you haven’t read a Lexi book, correct that oversight today…with this book!

A Tragic Love Story

Charlotte Dennis’s mission was clear: distract and misdirect CIA operative Ian Taggart by any means necessary. If she failed, she would never see her sister again. With her training, it should have been simple, but after one night in Ian’s arms, she knew that saving her sister would mean losing the man of her dreams.

Ian was tracking a terrorist when he met the beautiful American daughter of a Russian mobster. His instincts told him Charlotte was trouble, but his body craved her like a drug and his heart would not be denied. She took his ring and his collar. For once he was truly happy. But as he closed in on his target, her betrayal cost him his mission while her sacrifice saved his life. As she died in his arms, Ian vowed he would never love again.

A Dangerous Reunion

For six years, Charlotte has thought of nothing but returning to her husband, her Master. Working in the shadows, she has devoted herself to earning a chance to reclaim her place in Ian’s life. But forgiveness isn’t a part of Ian’s vocabulary.

Nothing is more important to Ian Taggart than his new mission. But the information he needs is firmly in the hands of the woman who betrayed him. To catch his most dangerous prey, Ian will have to let Charlotte back into his life. As the hunt takes them to some of the world’s most exotic locations, the danger grows and their passion reignites.

Will Ian forgive his wayward submissive…or lose her again?

Quote of the Day

Last week for Overboard quotes and I saved the best for last. Sigh…so romantic.

“Every time with you is like the first time.”

Saturday Snippet

Today’s Saturday Snippet is Author’s Choice, so I thought I’d share an excerpt from Elemental Pleasure, the first book in the Trinity Masters series I’m co-writing with the amazing Lila Dubois. We’re putting the finishing touches on book three, Scorching Desire. Keep checking back for more details about when this book will release.

Snippet:

Chapter One

She’d made a deal with the Devil, and now the Devil had called to collect.

Carly Kenan pulled her scarf up around her neck. At home in California, it was a sunny seventy degrees, but in Boston, early March still meant winter. The wind whipped down Boylston Street as she stood outside the imposing Boston Public Library.

Carly rubbed her cheek against the baby soft cashmere of her scarf. It cost more than her parents had made in a month when she was growing up. Those days were long gone, thanks to a deal she’d made nearly ten years ago. With her dark hair pulled up in an elegant chignon, a black wool coat, cream scarf and knee-high black boots, she looked exactly like what she was: a beautiful, successful woman.

Had it been worth it? Her success had surpassed even her wildest dreams, but it had come at a price. Now it was time to pay up. She wouldn’t know if it had been worth it until she walked inside.

The city moved around her, everyone with somewhere to go, something to do. Another minute ticked by, but Carly couldn’t bring herself to mount the steps and face the consequences of her achievements. Someone bumped her, forcing her forward a step, and she hitched her designer bag higher. The man who bumped her, chatting away on his phone, turned to glare. When he caught sight of her, he stopped mid-word, managed a smile, then slunk away.

She mounted the steps. It was something she’d done a hundred times before while a student at Harvard. A computer science major, the public library had always been a chance for her to get away from her electronics, and to honor the lineage of the scholars and inventors who had been trailblazers to the world she knew.

And in her junior year, the library had started to play a new, secret role in her life.

The grand hallway with its arched, illustrated roof was bustling with people, though the noise was muted. It was the hush of a library. The heels of her boots clicked against the stone floor as she made her way to the elevator. She rode it to the top level where there were fewer people. By the time she reached the rare book room, she was alone in the quiet hallway that smelled of books and secrets. There was a keypad on the door. She paused, realizing the Grand Master’s instructions hadn’t included a code. Surely it wasn’t the same one the society had used when she was in college.

Pulling off her leather glove, she folded and tucked it into her pocket. As she reached out, she noticed her fingers were trembling. She curled her hand into a fist, willed herself to be calm, then pressed the numbers.

333

There was a click as the door unlocked. Carly turned the handle and let herself in, careful to close the door behind her. The code was the same. She wondered what else would be unchanged.

The rare book room was small, with each rack dedicated to a subject. There were a few tables, each with a box of cotton gloves placed precisely in the center, so the rare books could be handled without picking up corrosive oils. Behind a section containing maps and diaries said to belong to members of the semi-secret Masonic Temple was a section of wall with a triangle inscribed into the plaster. She touched her scarf, which hid the chain she wore with the same symbol hanging from it. Below the triangle were three words. “Mitimur in Vetitum.”

“We strive for the forbidden,” she whispered, tracing the words.

Her stomach clenched. She was terrified of what she’d find beyond that door, of what she’d discover in the temple of the Trinity Masters.

With their help, Carly’s company was now one of the fastest growing in the industry, and at only thirty-two, she was well on the way to becoming very, very wealthy.

Taking a deep breath, she placed both hands on the triangle relief and pushed. A section of wall popped in and then slid to the side, disappearing into a pocket. She passed through and waited in the darkness on the other side as it shut, sealing her inside.

Once the door was fully closed, the lights clicked on.

The small foyer was exactly as she remembered. The room was small enough to be mistaken for a closet if anyone who was not a member found their way in. The walls were paneled wood, the floor covered with the same carpet as the outer room. An empty book cart took up a third of the space. Turning to her right, she examined the panels. Numbers were etched into the wood, seemingly at random.

The Grand Master’s instructions said she was to open box thirty-one. Pressing her finger against the number, she felt a click. When she pulled her hand back, a small tray popped out of the wall. Reaching in, she retrieved a key and a piece of paper.

You’ll find garments in Room C. Right hand corridor.

Wait until you hear the bell.

-Grand Master

The note was written by hand. Carly shivered a little. The Grand Master was the head of the Trinity Masters and a man of unspeakable power and influence. No one knew who he was, though there were plenty of rumors. At the Trinity Masters annual gatherings, meetings hidden inside library benefit galas, Carly had done her share of gossiping about who he might be.

Now she wasn’t curious, she was afraid.

Note and key in hand, she moved the cart out of the way and—with another push—opened the door hidden in the back wall. It revealed a narrow elevator. When she pressed the button, the door opened and Carly stepped in. She took a moment to gather herself as the small elevator took her down to the sub-basement. When it stopped and the door slid to the side, she bit the inside of her cheek to center herself.

A long marble hallway stretched out in front of her. Columns supported the double-high arched ceiling, which was a smaller replica of the grand hallway above. Her footsteps rang as she made her way along the hall, the sound bouncing off the walls to echo down to the grand double doors at the far end. There were no books here to muffle the sound. At the midway point, there were openings in the walls, one to the right, another to the left. She’d been down the left hallway before. There were changing rooms there, elegant as the locker rooms in a fancy spa. For ceremonies, all members wore robes to protect their identities, and those with the most need for secrecy had private dressing rooms.

As she turned right, she wondered if that was where she was going—to a private dressing room. Now that she had been called to the altar by the Grand Master, she supposed she’d earned a private dressing room.

After all, she was about to meet her husbands.

Or maybe it would be husband and wife.

Her hands shook, and it took her a few tries to get the key into the lock on Room C. Once in, she found a small, but well-appointed room. A white robe waited on a hook. Normally they wore gray.

Setting her purse on the vanity, she touched the robe. “It’s like a wedding dress,” she whispered to herself.

It would be the only wedding dress she’d ever wear.

In exchange for the Trinity Masters’ help, she’d given up her future, specifically her choice of whom she would marry.

Throughout history, the world had been secretly controlled by relationships that defied societal standards. Some of those relationships had come to light, the most famous of which had been Vice-Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, who’d been in a relationship with Lady Emma Hamilton and Sir William Hamilton. The gossip papers of the nineteenth century had called it an affair between Lady Emma and Lord Nelson, but it had been so much more. The three-way union between them had helped end the Napoleonic Wars, and both Emma and William had mourned Lord Nelson after his death.

The Trinity Masters believed that when three people were united, it created a bond far stronger than the pedestrian two-person marriage, and that these triads—if made between those with power and intellect—had the capability to change the world.

Carly slid out of her clothes, leaving on the corset-bra, panties and garter set she’d bought especially for today. She closed her eyes, trying to still her nerves.

She’d joined the Trinity Masters at nineteen, when the idea of some crazy secret ménage marriage had seemed exciting, elicit. In her twenties, she’d enjoyed herself, knowing there was no need for her to worry about falling in love or getting married. By the time she was twenty-eight and her friends were married, some expecting children, she finally understood what she’d really given up in her quest for success.

However, the consequences of crossing the Trinity Masters were too dire to contemplate, and so here she was, waiting to meet the people she’d share the rest of her life with. That thought sent another shard of panic through her before she beat it down.

She checked her hair and makeup in the mirror, then raised the hood and tugged the chain out from under the robe so it lay on her chest in plain sight, the triangle glinting in the low light. Carly had never shirked from a challenge…or a commitment. She wouldn’t begin now.

Taking a seat on a velvet chair, she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.

A bell rang, the deep sound vibrating through her. She looked up as a door in the wall opposite where she sat opened.

Rising to her feet, Carly threw back her shoulders, lifted her head and walked through.

Elemental Pleasure is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.

Deadly Pleasure

My dearest friend, Lexxie Couper, has a new book out called Deadly Pleasure. This gal can tell the hell out of a story. If you’re in the mood to be entertained, I’m HIGHLY recommending Miss Lex!

No one on Spaceport Mercy knows who Corvan Jareth really is. Everything about Jareth, the head bouncer at the spaceport’s most popular bar, is shrouded in absolute mystery. All that’s known is this: Don’t piss him off if you want to stay in one piece. Don’t mess with Emylie, his equally mysterious companion, if you want to stay alive. No one knows who Corvan Jareth is, and that’s exactly the way he wants it to stay.

So who is the woman in skin-tight red leather called Falynn Mavek who suddenly appears on the spaceport? Who is the massive man with her, she calls Forty-Two? What is she doing on ’Port Mercy asking questions about the secretive head bouncer? And why do her eyes burn with hunger when she finally finds him?

Corvan Jareth’s dark chilling past is about to catch up with him. And it couldn’t be more dangerous. Or erotic.

Quote of the Day

Another great line from Overboard.

“Annie, I’m sorry. I got horny. Do you hate me?”