Keep going and I’ll bite your finger off #mfrwhooks
I’m continuing today with another snippet from my upcoming book (available now for presale!), The Seven-Foot Cupid — book one in the Passion Island trilogy.
Both Ember and Tyler are Encroachment Officers, or encros, though for different settlements on this colony world. They’re the tough people who handle the hard jobs like exploring, dealing with wild animals, and blazing trails through the wilderness.
Last week, Ember told him about the accident that damaged her face. Five plastic surgeries later, she no long looked quite like herself, but there are no scars . . . .on the outside.
“Yeah.” He touched the bridge of her nose. She was brave enough to let him without flinching. “Yeah.”
“You know how it is,” she said, acknowledging that somewhere in his past were emotions similar to hers. Emotions another encro could empathize with. Back on Earth, this kind of silent communication might’ve passed between battle-scarred soldiers. On Addoray, the soldiers were encros.
Keeping his caress as light as a chatterbeak’s tail feather, he moved his fingertip slowly down, toward her lips.
“Keep going,” she said, “and I’ll bite your finger off.”
He withdrew his hand. She just might do it.
But despite the threat, what she’d just allowed had been almost as intimate as sex. More intimate. By touching her trauma, he felt as though he’d touched her soul. He turned his gaze toward the blank grey wall on the far side of the room. Her sleeve brushed his as she also looked away.
He shouldn’t have been embarrassed by such a moment, but he was. Neither of them spoke for several minutes. The silence weighed on his chest, forcing him to breathe faster, deeper.
Tyler gathered his courage to speak. He’d just talk. Maybe apologize. Maybe even get around to telling her of the lingering guilt from his accident. He wasn’t sure what he’d say, but he had to say something.
He turned to her.
I’ll be getting book two (starring Ember’s sister Pandora Dayle) ready for presale within the next week or two, because I want to include a buy link at the end of the manuscript.
Book three . . . I don’t know about book three. It’s the problem child of this family. I guess that’s appropriate, seeing that its heroine, Teegan Dayle, is estranged from her sisters.
Be sure to visit the hooks by other fine writers in the Book Hooks blog hop.
Book One in the Passion Island Trilogy
Ember Dayle is a tough lady who prides herself on handling anything her newly colonized planet can throw at her, so after an injury, she’s determined to prove herself again. She gets her chance when ordered to explore a mysterious cave on a wilderness mountain. Until that’s done, the last thing she needs is the distraction of a man.
Tyler, an explorer from her town’s fierce rival, is sent to explore the same cave. Like Ember, he’s been in an accident . . . but he was the only survivor. When he meets her, he’s drawn not only to her beauty and toughness, but by her ability to deal openly with her accident.
Booker is a naïve Apprentice Cupid for a secret group that hopes to make the colonists stronger, healthier, and smarter by matching people with compatible genes. His first assignment — Ember and Tyler. His strategy — lock them in an abandoned cabin together.
He doesn’t realize he’s locked them in with the fiercest, most intelligent native beast ever discovered. Can love help them survive?
The Seven-Foot Cupid is now available for pre-order!Amazon | Canada | UK | Australia Apple iBooks Kobo Books Nook (B&N) Smashwords
