Jennifer Bene's Blog, page 54

When assassin meets girl on #WIP Wednesday!

Look at this lovelies, we’re back with another snippet from my upcoming release ‘Tara’! This is book 2 in the Daughters of Eltera series, so if you haven’t read the first book it might be a good time to snag it! It’s available on Amazon here for $2.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited! You don’t have to read each book in the series, but it will help you pick up on things more quickly! Now, in this scene Alaric has sneaked into Gianni’s house (where Tara is) and he’s been killing his way through the house trying to find her.

—

“Armand?” A voice came from farther down the hall and Alaric moved towards it quickly. As soon as the figure turned the corner he fired twice and the man let out a stunned shout of pain. Bloody hell. Alaric rushed forward to cover the guy’s mouth as he groaned and he pushed him to the floor to wait for him to go silent.

Too much noise.

He needed to orient himself to figure out where the steps to the basement were before the bodies were discovered. A moment later the man went limp and he let go, wiping his hands on his pants.

Doubling back he turned right and could see the front door and then he knew where to go, the floor plan alight in his brain as if the computer screen were still in front of him. Crossing the foyer he turned down a short hall just as he heard shouts of alarm behind him. He stopped and pressed himself back against the wall, hiding inside the hallway. Smacking his head back against the wall Alaric gritted his teeth in frustration. Now that he was downstairs he was already on his back-up plan, and he hadn’t even found the fucking girl yet. He heard footsteps move past the hall he was in, and he started counting in his head to five.

One, two, three, fo-

A dark haired guy turned into the hall staring past him to the open doorway to the basement, but then he saw Alaric. His gun was up and firing instantly, but Alaric slammed his hand into the guy’s firing arm and the bullet buried itself in the wall. Bringing his elbow up into the side of the man’s head Alaric twisted the hand holding the gun until it dropped and then kicked him in the back of the knee to drop him. A single shot put an end to that and Alaric stepped over the guy to head to the stairs.

The shot was going to bring more of them. No more time, he had to get her out now.

****

When the bands had hummed against her wrists before suddenly disappearing minutes before, Tara had sat up on the bed and ripped the headphones out of her ears. She was free, but she was still locked in the damn cell. Gianni had to be dead, because there were no new bands on her wrists, no warning shocks of pain up her arms to tell her a new master controlled them. No new master at the bars waiting to take her. Nothing.

Above her there were shouts, and the sound of heavy feet running across the floor. More silence. Then a loud pop came from the top of the stairs, and she jumped.

Standing slowly Tara went to the bars and looked at the open doorway as panic took flight in her chest. Her heart fluttered like a wild bird until she took control and snagged it, clipping its wings and locking it away. She hated feeling trapped. Even a large cage was still a cage, but none of it really mattered. No matter what, she would have a new master soon and fear wasn’t going to help.

She didn’t even hear the footsteps of the man that appeared at the bottom of the stairs holding a long gun. No, not long, there was a silencer on it. His breathing was steady, the dark clothes he wore covered in clips and pockets – everything about him screamed ‘soldier’.

His mouth opened like he was about to talk, but then he just stared at her. He was handsome, and really young. Had he come for her, or was she a surprise? Was this about Gianni’s less than reputable business connections?

Releasing her fingers from the bars, Tara showed him her palms coaching her voice to be soft and calm despite the gun he had pointed at her. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

A flicker of shadow moved across his face before he spoke. “I won’t hurt you, but I need you to come with me.”

—

Ahh, I think you’ll love Alaric and Tara. They are both so damaged and guilt-ridden for their own reasons, but the way they heal each other as they develop feelings for the other is *swoon* romantic. The Daughters of Eltera books are dark paranormal romance, so not as hot and heavy as my other books, but the story is what drives them. It’s my favorite world-building series I write, and I hope you fall in love with it too. Don’t forget to check out these other authors on the blog hop below!

Music Monday

This week’s Music Monday is showing up a little late in the day because I was out all weekend with one of my best friends and didn’t have the chance to get this post prepped! Still, I’ve got a great song for you this week, ‘Know Your Exit’ by Vivian Darkbloom. I’m currently working away on edits to ‘Tara’, book 2 in my Daughters of Eltera series, and I’ve been excited to hear how many people have been hoping for me to continue the series after ‘Fae‘ came out last year. (PS – ‘Fae‘ got a new cover this past week, scroll back in the blog to check it out!).

Now, I love the lyrics in this song, so I wanted to share some:

Am I really happy?

or am I really freaking out?

I ask myself these questions

whenever I’m not myself,

whenever I’m not myself.

And there’s no one, no one,

to set me straight, when I’m uneven.

‘Know Your Exit’ by Vivian Darkbloom

Real girls don’t get sold on #SatSpanks

Hello again, lovelies! I’ve got a brand new book to start sharing snippets of… book 2 in my Daughters of Eltera series, ‘Tara’! The Daughters of Eltera series is full of gods, goddesses, and a cursed, enslaved race of female warriors known as the Faeoihn [Fay-OH-een]. Each book follows one of the Faeoihn as they find love – and perhaps freedom – after over two thousand years of slavery. Curious? Book 1 of the series ‘Fae’ was released last year, and you can find it on Amazon over here if you want to catch up! I’ve got a longer scene for you today to help you meet Tara, the heroine of this book. If you’d like to meet Alaric, check out the #WIP Wednesday post over here from the first chapter!

—

Lights, camera, action.

“Gianni!” Tara ran forward quickly and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling brightly as she leaned into him. “You’re back!” She cried cheerfully, tucking her face against his neck and hugging him to her, playing up the affection, cuddling against his chest like a girl would if she were in love.

His hands clenched her upper arms and forced her back, and for once the look of confusion on her face was honest – he had never pushed her away. Ever. “Don’t, Tara.”

“Gianni, what’s wrong? What happened in Venice?” She didn’t have to fake the concern in her voice. Gianni’s eyes were distant and removed when he stared into her face. All of the lust and excitement that usually filled them when he saw her was gone. She reached her hand up to his face, pouting a little. “I’ve missed you.”

His fingers dug into her arms, anger flashing across his face, and then he shoved her to the ground, those four-inch heels making it impossible to keep her balance as she landed hard on the marble floor. She winced as she caught her weight with her wrist. This was all wrong. He never acted like this, he never pushed her away.

Gianni stared down at her with a look of shame and disgust, and Tara could feel the panic rising inside her as it all settled into place. She had seen this before. She knew that look.

He was done with her.

“Don’t embarrass yourself, Tara.” Gianni muttered, his voice clearly irritated already. He avoided looking at her as his security detail brought in bags and shut the door tight. None of the men who had gone with him would look at her either.

Because they already know.

“What did I do?” Tara filled her voice with emotion, letting it crack as she spoke, tears tipping out of her eyes as she looked up at him from the floor.

Maybe if he saw her cry.

He’d caved before when he saw her cry.

Put on the full act, Tara.

“Gianni?” She sniffled.

“Nothing. You didn’t do anything different. You’re exactly what you are.” His face twisted as he made himself look at her, and Tara forced herself not to wince as he kept talking. “I just don’t want this. I don’t – I don’t want you anymore. I want someone real.”

Tara felt the comment as if he’d gutted her – because it just confirmed her as property, and it was a line she’d heard throughout her long life. Letting him see how much it hurt wouldn’t help the situation though, she had to choose a new tactic so she could stay in this house. She pushed herself up off the floor, standing gracefully as she focused on looking concerned, maintaining the pout he had once told her made him want to kiss her.

This had worked on him before, maybe it would work again.

“I understand, Gianni. You’ve found someone else – someone real?”

“Yes.” His eyes didn’t even flick towards her, and their security-detail audience was awkwardly shuffling.

“Well…” Time to gamble. Tara took a small step towards him again, her fingertips playing with a button on his coat. “She doesn’t have to know about us. We can be very discreet.” For a moment Tara imagined how much better it would be if she spent even less time with him. If she was safe and alone. He’d be distracted by this woman he thought he loved, and she could stay somewhere else. She could –

“STOP!” Gianni grabbed her wrist and gripped it hard enough to hurt, the bands activating with his command to send sparks of pain crackling up her arms.

“I don’t want to leave you!” Tara pleaded, and realized with too much regret that it was the truth. Gianni had been good to her in his own way. A new master could mean anything, a new master could mean fear and blood and pain. “Please, Gianni!”

He slapped her. Hard enough that she tasted the coppery tang of blood in her mouth and found herself crouched near the floor, the bands still vibrating against her skin with his anger. It had been almost a year since he’d hit her last, and the shock of it made her silent.

Guess the good years are over.

“Just stop it, Tara. It’s already done. I found someone else for you. They’re coming for you in the morning.” Gianni was speaking above her, but she didn’t trust her ability to control her expression, to keep the hate out of her face, so she stared at the floor.

He’d sold her.

It was already done.

She kind of wanted to throw up.

—

In case you can’t tell, this book is a dark paranormal romance, and it follows after Book 1 in the series. All of the Daughters of Eltera books are dark paranormal romance, and a different pace than Lethal Sin, but I think you’ll really enjoy it! You’ll have plenty of time to read ‘Fae’ before this book comes out if you’d like to, probably in May sometime (which happens to be my birthday month!). I hope you’ll stick around, and check this one out.  Until then, check out these other blog hops on the page below!

P.S. – Lethal Sin is live on Amazon now, so please swing by and leave a review! You’d make my day!

Thankful Thursday

Well, look at that, it’s Thankful Thursday again! And in honor of my good friend Lee Savino who has been doing writing sprints with me and other authors (Livia Grant , Sophie Kisker , and Addison Cain), I wanted to find a very special picture for us. She likes to write about hot, sexy cowboys and I think I may have found one.

Lovelies, what do you think? Do you think he’ll help us get through the day until Friday arrives? I think he just might.

Want to talk about the deliciousness of Thankful Thursday? Join the comments happening on my Facebook page!

 

Cover Reveal: A new cover for ‘Fae’!

Well, if you checked out the #WIP Wednesday blog post for today, you know I’m working on the sequel to the first book in the Daughters of Eltera series ‘Fae’. This book was a very special one to me, it was actually the first book I wrote back in 2013 after almost a decade of avoiding writing altogether. It was my breakthrough piece, and I was so terrified to share it that I let it sit on a shelf for two years while I wrote the Thalia series, and a few other novellas. Then, last year, I came back to it, revised the hell out of it, and released it. It’s currently on Amazon for $2.99, so snag it to catch up before Tara comes out next month!

The world of the Faeoihn is something near and dear to my heart, and so when I decided to get a new cover for it I knew I had to go to someone whose art I already adored: Eris Adderly. She’s amazingly skilled (as you can see below) and she captured Fae perfectly! She’s about to start work on the cover for ‘Tara’ (book 2) and I can’t wait to share that as well.

So, without further ado, here is the updated cover for ‘Fae’ Book 1 of the Daughters of Eltera series!

A reluctant assassin w/ a difficult contract on #WIP Wednesday!

Alright, lovelies! It’s WIP Wednesday and I’ve got a brand new book to start sharing snippets of… book 2 in my Daughters of Eltera series, ‘Tara’! The Daughter of Eltera series is full of gods and goddesses, and a cursed, enslaved race of female warriors known as the Faeoihn [Fay-OH-een]. Each book follows one of the Faeoihn as they find love – and perhaps freedom – after over two thousand years of slavery. Curious? Book 1 of the series ‘Fae’ was released last year, and you can find it on Amazon over here if you want to catch up! This snippet is from the first chapter of the new book, and it follows Alaric as he is given a job that will take him on one wild ride.

—

“What can I do for you?” Alaric felt the cold in the air penetrate farther than it should have with his coat, the chill settling all over to leave him in that mental state that kept him separate, and logical, and heading for the finish line. Just how Luca’s group had trained him.

“We have a quick turn-around request, and you’re the closest to the action. Sending you an e-mail, decrypt algorithm A46JZX.” Luca’s voice was all business now that the conversation had really started, and Alaric logged the string of letters and numbers in his short-term memory while he brought up the email server.

“A moment.” His touch opened up an email that looked like spam on the surface, an advert for a dating website offering a month of free membership. Ha ha, Luca. Hitting a few keys he brought up the decryption software and typed in the algorithm. In moments the real email appeared with three attachments. “What am I looking at?”

“I need you to hear me out before you make a decision, Alaric.” Luca’s voice was strained, and he saw why immediately. The first attachment was full of timetables and maps. But on the top of the second attachment was a series of photos shot at some fancy party and they were all of the same woman. Young, looking unreal in a long black dress. Honey blonde hair was pulled up off her neck in a messy bun, and she was dripping with jewels, a million-dollar smile lighting up her face as she was tracked through the party by whoever’s camera had been clicking. A forty-something man in a tux had his arm coiled around her in almost every picture, his chest puffed up with the pride of having her on his arm.

“You better tell me that this is about him.” Alaric’s voice was firm, but he could see from the angle of the photos, and how she was centered in each of them, that this call was about her.

No women. No kids.

That had been his rule since he’d started with Infinity Consulting, which, contradictory to its name, specialized in endings, and didn’t consult anyone about anything.

“It’s about both of them, actually, and don’t you dare hang up on me! Hear me out.” Luca snapped out the words as if he was racing the end button on Alaric’s phone.

“Talk.” Alaric was tempted to hang up, potentially hard enough to crush the cell.

Let Luca try and track him then.

“The client attempted to make a deal with the man in the picture, Gianni Formato. The deal was declined and the client wants Gianni eliminated.” The tension in Luca’s voice eased as he kept talking and the line was still open. Alaric didn’t have a problem with what he was saying so far. He could remove Gianni from the picture with ease. Tapping open the third document to cover up the pictures of that woman he saw the floor plans of a three story – plus basement – villa in Milan, Italy. Exterior pictures were below the floor plans. There was a heavy-duty gate in front of the driveway and the garage, but that gate came right up to the surface streets. All the windows had security bars, and to most people it looked like a fortress, but Alaric’s mind was already clicking away at an entrance strategy.

Then his mind screeched to a halt as he tuned back in to what Luca was saying.

“- just bring the girl back to the client, and all done.”

“What?” Alaric tilted the laptop towards his body as a man and a woman left the café and walked past him. Slipping into German he continued, “You know my rules, Luca.”

“Listen, the client doesn’t want a hair touched on her head. In fact, he’ll be pissed if she’s hurt. That leaves me with an extremely short list of people I can send in with a shred of moral fiber that are also within range to have this done tonight. In fact, that list is you. Just you.” Luca’s voice was deadly serious.

“I’m not a delivery boy.” Alaric gripped the strap of his messenger bag hard enough to make his knuckles go white. He couldn’t raise his voice, couldn’t draw attention to himself, but he didn’t want to be involved in anything with the elegant socialite in those pictures.

“Alaric, if you turn this down I’m just going to have to call someone else within range, and no one else within range has the same,” another pause, “values you have.”

Hello back, meet corner.

“I will not hurt her.” Alaric said it quietly enough that only the sensitive microphone angling down from his ear could pick it up, just in case someone around him spoke German.

“Is that a yes?”

“Tell me the rest.” Alaric sighed and leaned back against the cold chair. He reached for his tea out of habit, but the cold air had turned it into an unsatisfying waste of tea leaves. Over the next fifteen minutes Alaric finished reading through the documents, all of it the bare minimum he needed to know to do the job. Most of the information Luca transferred was about the when and the where. They usually had plenty of time to plan these things, but this had to happen tonight, between midnight and four am.

“He’s paying two million, and another half a million upon delivery. It’s a pretty nice pay day for a few days of work.” Luca was back to his happy self on the other end of the line, and Alaric could almost see the smile in his mind as Luca talked while his hands moved over the keyboard in his computer cave. All those screens flashing information at him while he handled the navigation of their invisible ship to keep them all afloat.

He’d spent his first years sitting in a chair next to Luca, watching in awe as the man pulled strings across the globe like some kind of genius puppet master. It had impressed him, made him awestruck by the man – but now? Now, he was just Luca, and this was just another job.

“The client is going to have to cover all my expenses. This kind of turnaround is going to cost money.” Alaric had already pulled up the internet to start looking at flights to Milan. It was going to take him at least five hours to pull out of Toulouse and fly to Milan, get a car, and gear up. That was all before he could even scout the place in the daylight.

“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with that.” Luca had already checked out of their conversation. The contract had been assigned, and he had others to call, other moves to make.

“Alright Luca, I’m on it.”

That is, as long as no one asked him to hurt the girl he would be.

“That’s my boy, Alaric. Call me when it’s done, and you have her, so I can update the client.”

—

This was a long snippet, but it’s the perfect setup to the story! Alaric is a bundle of complications, but that makes him a perfect counterpoint to Tara, who we’ll meet in the next blog hop Saturday Spanks! You’ll have plenty of time to read ‘Fae’ before this book comes out, probably in May sometime (which happens to be my birthday month!). I hope you’ll stick around, and check this one out. All of the Daughters of Eltera books are dark paranormal romance, and a different pace than Lethal Sin, but I think you’ll really enjoy it! Until then, check out these other blog hops on the page below!

P.S. – Lethal Sin is live on Amazon now, so please swing by and leave a review! You’d make my day!

Music Monday

 

This week’s Music Monday is a song that has been beautiful in almost every version I’ve heard since the original with Louis Armstrong. In Joseph William Morgan’s version (feat. Shadow Royale) the song has been slowed down, and there’s a different tone in his voice that is haunting. We all probably know the lyrics by heart, but when I heard this version it made me sit up and pay attention. Go ahead and scroll down and hit play, because I’ve got an exciting announcement I want to share too!

‘Lethal Sin’ is live on Amazon today! As I’ve said on many posts over the last month or so, this book is available FREE to anyone on my mailing list. If you’ve already grabbed a copy, I’d appreciate if you could take a few minutes this week to head on over to Amazon and leave a review! It would help in bringing attention to the book, and my other works… also, I just really want to hear what you think of the first book in my Dangerous Games series. ^_^

Let’s get back to this haunting remake, though.

A few of my favorite lyrics:

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

…

I hear babies cry, and I watched them grow

They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.

‘What a Wonderful World’ by Joseph William Morgan (feat. Shadow Royale)

Camille won’t break on #SatSpanks, so what will Mateo do?

It’s time for #SatSpanks again with another snippet from Lethal Sin, and just to update you Mateo has been using a crop on Camille for a while now trying to get her to tell him where her boss is. This is her second round of punishments, but she’s still not talking and Mateo may just be rethinking how he wants to handle Camille.

—

The girl was shaking, her muscles trembling on the spanking bench, and through the red haze in his head he was trying to evaluate whether it was a lingering reaction to the cold, or if the crop had sent her into some kind of shock.

People in shock were not particularly helpful, and part of him felt a strange pang of concern for her. She hadn’t cussed at him in at least ten minutes, and that was not a good sign.

Fuck it.

He threw the crop against the wall, and the snap of it made her jump against the straps holding her down. If he wanted, he could easily fuck her atop the bench. It would take almost no effort to tear the lace of her panties, yank her hips back, and drive himself deep inside her – and although it would slake the ever-growing lust he felt for her, it wouldn’t be worth it if she was too far gone to even react. If he couldn’t even feel her come underneath him.

Reaching forward he brushed a fingertip over a dark welt, already bruised from the force he’d used the crop. There were bright, red welts all over her ass and the tops of her thighs. Several spots already darkening with beautiful bruises that would create a kaleidoscope of colors over the next few days.

If you have her that long.

Mateo shoved that voice away and flattened his palm over her ass. It was the only place on her body that was warm at the moment, the rush of blood called to the surface by the toy making it an incredibly sharp contrast as he trailed his hand down her thighs until he reached the cooling sweat behind her knees, and the chilled skin of her calves.

She sniffled, and he immediately stepped around her and his cock became a steel bar in his pants as she looked up at him. Her nose was perfectly red, her cheeks flushed, her lips pouty from her chewing on them in her agony – and her eyes. Fuck. Those perfectly blue eyes looked even bluer with the sheen of tears still on them, framed by her mascara that had smeared in all the right ways.

Why did she have to be so beautiful? So strong? So defiant?

The girl was flipping every one of his internal switches, but with Scarpa already calling him repeatedly asking if he had the information, he didn’t have time to screw around.

—

Mateo has no idea just how deep he’s about to get into it with Camille! She’s like no one he’s encountered before, and that’s going to throw both their worlds upside down. Remember ‘Lethal Sin’ is available for pre-order on Amazon here, or you can get it for FREE for signing up for my mailing list here. It will go live on Amazon on Monday, April 25th!

Can’t wait to hear what you all think of the full book, as soon as it’s live you’ll start getting snippets of the 2nd book in my Daughters of Eltera series! In the mean time, check out these other hot snippets below…

 

Thankful Thursday

Oh, lovelies, it is Thankful Thursday again and I am so excited to bring you this delicious looking hottie to distract you until Friday arrives! This picture is courtesy of my author friend Christine Hart and as soon as she sent over the picture this week, I knew he had to be the man for Thursday!

I don’t know about your weeks, but my week at the day job has been miserable. The good news is that I’m nominated for the May book of the month in the Dark Erotica Goodreads group (check out my separate post on that to vote and help me win, votes end tomorrow!), I’ve got the pre-order for Lethal Sin going live on Monday, and I am ALMOST done with the first draft of ‘Tara’, book 2 in my Daughters of Eltera series! So much excitement, but I’m definitely looking forward to the weekend.

Hope all of you have a good one, and just stare into his abs if work starts to wear you down. I know it’s helping me!

Want to talk about the deliciousness of Thankful Thursday? Join the comments happening on my Facebook page!

Camille is cold and pissed off on #WIP Wednesday!

We’re back for another #WIP Wednesday and we are still in Mateo’s devious playroom with Camille tied down to his spanking bench after he used the strap trying to get her to tell him where her boss is. In this scene Mateo left her to think after she refused him and Camille thought that meant she’d get a reprieve, until he cranked down the temperature so that she was freezing… asshole. She’s spent the last hour or so having flashbacks of some not-so-pleasant memories, but don’t worry, lovelies, Mateo is on his way back.

—

She was too cold to freak out, to lose her shit. She needed all of her energy focused on keeping sensation in her fingertips so she could adequately strangle Mateo as soon as his happy ass showed back up. The joints in her knuckles creaked as she stretched her fingers and then pulled them back into a fist slowly.

The sound of the door popping open behind her made her laugh silently. Speak of the devil and he appears.

His heavy steps moved towards her casually, no rush to them, and she imagined his broad, muscled body making the suit work as he came forward. In preparation Camille pressed her sharp nails into her palms again, urging the skin to wake up despite the chill. Without a word he stroked his too-warm hand up her thigh, lingering as he rubbed across the numb welts on her ass, forcing her to recognize the heat in his skin.

Fuck.

“Alright. Let’s try this again.” Mateo pulled his hand from her and she instantly felt the absence of the warmth, a fresh chill raising bumps along her arms and legs. “Where is he?”

Camille gritted her teeth, hating herself for the answer she was about to give. “Fuck off.”

“Not ready to share yet?” His voice was light, unconcerned, but she imagined he had a lot more clothing on than she did, and based on the warmth of his hand it seemed like he’d just been camped out in front of a fire, under a fucking blanket, with a mug of cocoa. Bastard.

“I’m sorry, I must not have enunciated clearly. Fuck. Off.” She turned to look over her shoulder and once again begrudged him for being so handsome. With a quiet laugh he pushed his dark hair off his forehead.

“Okay, I’ll move on to the next stage then.” He wandered away from her back to his wall of deviant toys, and she tried her best to bite back the question, but her mouth ran away from her.

She blamed the cold.

“What do you mean by next stage?”

His eyebrows were raised when he turned to look at her. “Well…” he turned away for a moment and then grabbed a riding crop from a hook on the wall before moving towards her slowly. “Earlier you had pain, then pleasure, then deprivation of something important. In this case, warmth.”

“So?” She asked, watching carefully as he ran the leather of the crop over the palm of his hand.

“So, you still haven’t answered me. That means we’re back to pain.” Without another comment he brought his arm back with the crop and it landed with crippling accuracy right where her ass met her thighs.

—

Ohhhhh, Mateo and Camille make me so happy! I hope you’re having just as much fun as I am with them. Remember ‘Lethal Sin’ is available for pre-order on Amazon here, or you can get it for FREE for signing up for my mailing list here. It will go live on Amazon on April 25th!

Can’t wait to hear what you all think of the full book, as soon as it’s live you’ll start getting snippets of the 2nd book in my Daughters of Eltera series! In the mean time, check out these other hot snippets below…