PROLOGUE 

The crescendo of his heartbeat rose in his ears. It began as a low, deep sound of a bass drum accelerating to the medium tone of the tom-tom. It drowned out all other sounds of that glorious day, like the cheerful song of the spring robin. His ears turned deaf to every audible vibration, including the wind rustling through the branches of the willow tree.

Why couldn’t he hear the wind? He could feel each gust tussling his hair. How a few dark strands caught on his stubbled jaw. He would brush it away if he could move. Right now, he didn’t want to move. Nothing mattered. Not the wind or his hair. Not even the birds or the tree. All that mattered stood before him. God help him. Nothing could deter him from his fascination…with her.

His eyes coursed over her delicate features. Chestnut curls. High cheekbones. Full, voluptuous lips…

Calling her beautiful would be unjust. A sin even. Lust came natural to anyone. But with her, it went deeper. She radiated like an angel. Soft. Sweet. Heavenly. It drew him in. Yet her presence, the way it made him shake inside, kept him wanting more.

The breeze blew her ringlets from the nape of her neck. Each swaying lock carried a hint of sandalwood. The same scent rushing through his nose. One more breath and he’d be intoxicated.

Her skin, a soft shade of peaches-and-cream, glistened every time gilded sunrays broke through the swaying branches of the weeping willow.

When he gazed down into her eyes, his breath caught. He tried swallowing the lump in his throat, but his constricted chest held it in place. Her warm, inviting eyes were a rich shade of gold woven with flecks of olive green. She was looking past him to the broken, shale wall surrounding the estate.

Something about the lush green grass and the smell of roses tugged at him. Wasn’t I about to… God, she’s beautiful.

He ignored his duties. Why shouldn’t he? Nothing could be more important than this moment under the willow tree with her, his golden-eyed angel.

His eyes searched hers for proof that she sensed the same magnetic force drawing them together. A force so powerful it was irrefutable as it called to his soul.

He waited for her to meet his gaze, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. The motion captured her attention. Her mesmerizing eyes focused back on his face. He released his breath, exhaling a slow sigh as he watched a smile spread across her lips.

Those lips…

He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent. It made his heart hasten when he imagined them pressed to his, allowing him to taste their sweetness.

She stepped in, closing the distance between them. Her eyes descended from his, lingering on his shoulders. He watched in silent awe as her arm stretched toward him. When gentle fingers touched his arm, a line of fire coursed through every nerve, wrapping him in a cloud of desire. He fought against the groan creeping up from his lungs as her fingertips stroked his skin.

Her eyes wandered further down his body, causing his muscles to flinch.

In the passing breaths, his eyes fell to her tiny waist and well-curved hips.

Every single inch—a masterpiece.

He could no longer withhold his desire to touch perfection. Reaching out to her, he hesitated for a heartbeat, but pushed his fears aside. His hand caressed her neck, sweeping slowly up skin as soft as rose petals. Then he cupped her cheek. She closed her eyes, her breath releasing a gentle sigh.

Her subtle reactions affected his soul. He knew women, but not like this. They’d never found the secret chamber that held his heart. Had never come close to touching it. But this beautiful angel in front of him—she knew. She’d not only found his heart, she’d brought it to life, made it race like a river rushing through a canyon. He wanted her more than a rose wanted sunlight. Needed her more than the air he breathed.

A smile played at the corner of her lips. She leaned her cheek against the warmth of his hand, her breath tickling his palm. “Can you feel it?”

Her voice was like a whisper from heaven. He reveled in it. Wanted to bottle it up and keep the sweet sound with him wherever he went.

“Yes,” he breathed out.

She opened her eyes and ran her hands up his arms as he enveloped her in an embrace. Her fingers continued until they met at the back of his neck, interlacing at the nape. The look in her eyes tugged his heartstrings. His hands met at the small of her back, where they stopped and gathered her dress.

Say it. Tell me what your heart wants. I need to hear you say it.

Her lips parted, the words playing there as she stared into his eyes. He braced himself, waiting for those words he wanted to hear. His heart no longer raced. It pounded so fiercely, he thought it would beat out of his chest.

But she didn’t speak.

Let me know those lips.

She leaned closer.

Yes.

His beautiful angel stood on her toes, her lips brushing his in a soft, sweeping motion.

God, yes!

To his dismay, the ecstasy that enveloped them ended. Their sweet moment stolen like a priceless jewel. The heat of her body, of their passion, tore from his soul as she pulled away.

His disappointment consumed him.

Not again.

The tears forming in her eyes glistened as a sunray filtered through the dangling branches. Her bottom lip quivered.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice cracking between words as he brushed a tear from her cheek. He feared that he already knew the answer, yet was still desperate for her to prove him wrong.

“You have to wake up, my sweet,” she said, her voice urgent, desperate.

“I’m not asleep. How can I wake up if I’m not sleeping?” He reached for her, wanting to pull her against him, to bask in the warmth of her touch.

She took a step back, tears sliding down her face, lips turning down in a frown. “You must.”

“No,” he begged. “Don’t go. Stay here with me.” Moisture stung his eyes as he pleaded with her to remain.

His voice betrayed him when nothing more than a whisper passed over his lips. “Stay.”

He reached out to her. This time, when he touched her skin, or what should have been her skin, the warmth was gone. There was nothing.

No!

His heart squeezed. He tried again, reaching for her, but his fingers caressed nothing but air. His eyes widened.

God, no…

Her image weakened. She reached her hand toward his face, as though to stroke it. He couldn’t feel the warmth, just a gentle breeze blowing through his hair.

Though her silhouette faded, her voice carried once more to his ears. “Wake up. Please, wake up…”

His heart grew strained with disappointment as the scenery slowly blurred and vanished. He kicked his legs, trying to ground himself as he tumbled into an abyss of darkness. He searched for something to catch him, to stop his descent into black. Nothing was there.

Suddenly, his body jerked into a sitting position as he gasped. His eyes burned. Bright light reflected off the walls surrounding him.

My angel.

He gazed around the room with desperate eyes.

Where is she?

His heart pounded fiercely as he searched the room.

She has to be here.

He wanted to scream her name, wanted to beg her to return, but couldn’t. He didn’t know her name.

The room spun, or at least he thought it did. Maybe it was his mind. Squeezing his eyes shut, he grabbed his head, holding it with both hands as he tried focusing again. A deep inhale brought the sweet scent of sandalwood to his nose.

Where the hell…

He opened his eyes, again, taking in beige-colored walls, an oak chest of drawers, clothes strewn across the floor. When his eyes settled on a pair of black, snakeskin boots, his heart panged.

Of course. I’m here. But that means—

He was home, in his bedroom, alone.

Falling back into the bed, realization burned his stomach. Another dream…it was just another dream.

There was no golden-eyed angel.

The only thing that remained from the dream was the wicked headache. As much as he wanted to cover his head and never leave the bed, the aspirin in the bathroom called to him.

As he stood, his foot crunched a can that lay on the carpet. His eyes passed over a shimmering blue and white beer can. An empty liquor bottle lay on its side, just two feet away.

No wonder my head is pounding. A hangover. I have a damn hangover.

He laughed, thinking about why he began drinking in the first place. To forget her.

What a joke. Not all the liquor in the world could erase her image from his mind.

Staring aimlessly, his heart grew weary, knowing he would never truly feel skin as soft as satin, never look into eyes as rich as marmalade. His soul grew restless.

She would never be his salvation. Only his tormentor.

Available on:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/kmWTHW

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/WtHwBn

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/WtHWSW

Kobo: http://bit.ly/WtHwKo

iBooks: http://bit.ly/WtHwiT

What a pleasure it has been to interview and get to know Lisa Marie Redfern, author of the Haylee e-trilogy and Haylee and the Traveler’s Stone (print book soon to be released). Not only is she a wonderful writer, but her talent doesn’t stop there. As an accomplished artist, photographer, and business woman, Lisa stretches the boundaries of her art and her way with words/imagery, enticing followers to dip their toes into the rippling waters of imagination.

Q: Books, movies and even television shows these days are delivering a steady stream of plots that involve the undead, the unreal, and the wickedly supernatural. In your opinion, what accounts for society’s longstanding fascination with characters that are not completely human?

A: A cultural theme occurs when lots of people have similar ideas and begin exploring it in depth. We take our collective temperature with questions such as; What are we afraid of? What defines us as human? How far can we stretch our imagination? What does it mean to be ‘different? and How would it feel to be powerful and untouchable? I think the dark nefarious vampires, zombies, and wickedly supernatural characters that are popular today are reflections of our attitudes and worries about the cultural and economic conditions that we live in.

Q: Tell us how you came up with your title.

A: Hyale is a daughter of the Greek gods Oceanus and Tethys. The character Haylee, and the book title, is roughly based on this name…with a modern twist.

Q: Alfred Hitchcock was a master at making cameo appearances in all of his movies. Does Lisa Redfern employ any signature tricks or insider jokes that we should know about?

A: Absolutely! Although I won’t reveal them all—I will say that many of the animal names were family pets. The Rattler/Lovey storyline was based on a rescue dog named Bandit. He lived up to his name. Once it was changed to Happy, he was much easier to live with. Lovey was one of our pet cats.

Q: Tell us about your female protagonist, and the passions that drive her thoughts and actions.

A: Haylee has spent most of her childhood living with a wounded parent—she takes on responsibilities beyond most children her age. She attempts to stay out-of-sight and out-of-mind as much as possible, has an affinity for animals, and possesses a quick mind; she aspires to become a veterinarian. But things don’t go according to plan. When it becomes clear that her strange condition poses a threat to her loved ones, she drops everything to figure out how to stop it. Along her adventurous journey, we see a maturing inner resolve, self-direction, and a belief that something good can be born from facing a problem head-on.

Q: In Haylee and the Traveler’s Stone, Haylee is transported to the turbulent backdrop of the San Francisco Gold Rush in 1849. During this time in California history, the population was dominated by young male adventurers who came from all over the world. Why did this specific era personally resonate with you?

A: I feel connected to this time period because it is woven into the historical fabric of where I live—in the heart of Gold Country. I wanted to develop a deeper understanding about what life was really like by bringing alive the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of that time. In my research, I discovered fun and quirky facts that may not have made their way into commonly read history books.

Q: What do you hope this book will accomplish?

A: My goal is to suck the reader into a vortex of altered time where his/her own life fades out for a while as Haylee’s story takes center stage. Isn’t that the ultimate definition of a good book—to entertain? Along with entertainment, I included those quirky facts (mentioned in the question above), because I want the readers to have something memorable to keep. If Haylee readers (who visit San Francisco) are able to see the city in a new way, I will be thrilled!

Q: Have your characters ever done anything that surprised you?

A: I usually arrive at my keyboard with an outline and longish, handwritten essays that fill in sections of the outline. Days of thought and nights of dreams have gone by as I’ve worked out the complexities of what I plan to write. It is a surprise when I’m typing away and a character goes in another direction…or says something unexpected. They are usually right, but we have to argue about it for a little while before I relent. When I describe it that way, it sounds psychotic doesn’t it?

Q: The publishing industry continues to reinvent itself. The combined effects of downsizing at traditional publishers and the desire by authors to have more control over their intellectual property and pricing structure has led to an escalation in self-publishing endeavors. What are your thoughts on this issue, particularly the debate as to whether a self-published title is as “real” as one produced through traditional channels?

A: Every work published is real. It is meaningful to the person who wrote it, so it can’t be anything else. Prior to 2010, when iPads and e-readers hit the market en mass, publishing houses set the quality standards for reading material before it was released to the public. The flood of independent authors who are self-publishing has changed those standards.

As a consumer, I appreciate knowing that the book I am about to read has a reasonable chance of being good—in subject matter, clean page design, and very little grammatical or spelling errors. When you buy something that has been self-published, quality levels can be hit or miss.

As an artist and independent author, I love having the ability to self-publish. For the very first time in my work life I’m unencumbered and free to create my vision from start to finish. The creation process itself is highly satisfying. I place a great value on producing work that is ‘as good as’ anything that a publishing house would turn out. Fortunately, I have developed the skills to do most of it myself, but I also invest in areas where I need help—editing and some design assistance. There is something ironic about putting so much effort into a product that sells for .99¢, $3.00, or even $5.00. Like those adventuring pioneers who braved the treacherous seas and overland treks with the hope of finding gold, we authors are gambling that more than a few readers will push that shiny, rounded-rectangle button marked ‘buy.’

Q: In addition to being an author, you are also an artist and photographer with a busy home life. How do you find time to write?

A: Good organization is a must. I use a Google calendar synced with my smart phone. Sometimes other jobs have to go to the top of the ‘to do’ list. I get as much done as I can when my son is in school. I enter into my most efficient writing zone after everyone has gone to sleep and the phone isn’t ringing. I try very hard to remind myself to go to bed before it gets too late…

Q: Lisa, you are incredibly multi-talented, and your website, book trailer are amazing. What advice would you give to new writers/artists regarding building a social media or networking platform?

A: 1. Realize that platform building and gaining followers is something that takes time. It starts small and slowly increases over time.

2. Once you start participating in social media, know that you’ve created a ‘living’ thing that needs to be fed on a regular basis.

3. Start slow. Choose one or two sites that you think that you might enjoy. Stick with them until you are comfortable before moving on to more.

My social media ‘ah ha’ moment came with Pinterest. Because I am visual by nature and I enjoy organizing data, this was a perfect social site to start with.

Q: As an artist and writer, you are clearly an inspiration to others, but who inspires you? Have you benefited from the wisdom and/or counsel of a mentor? If so, who and why?

A: Inspiration comes from everywhere. To quote Christina Hamlet’s book Screenwriting for Teens, “Log into life. No password required.” Also, my artist friends inspire me when we spend time together setting up art shows, getting our hands dirty, or just sharing and talking about our work.

For authors, I follow the big guys—Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Barbara Kingsolver, and Jean Auel for starters. I also follow some of the rising independent author stars—Hugh Howey, Guy Kawasaki, Rysa Walker, and Chuck Wendig. I like studying how they present themselves online, how they interact with their fans, what kinds of stories they are writing next, and what rights they are selling.

My son has a big imagination; he and I have many humorous, “What if …” conversations. Being out in nature, photographing interesting animals, random conversations, seeing something online that grabs my attention, or even just being alone and quiet, are all areas of inspiration.

Q: You’re obviously drawn to the metaphysical and otherworldly in many aspects of your creativity and writing, sometimes blurring the lines between the real and fantastical. What is it that draws you in, or inspires you?

A: Underlying everything is the hope and faith that we are much more than just our physical existence. I think all life is connected, and should be respected and honoured as the incredible gift it is. The real magic in this world is love and our relationships with the people, animals and living things around us. That is what I always attempt to express in both my art and in my words.

Q: A lot of new writers think all they have to do is write a good story and their job is done, but today’s writers are expected to do so much more, whether self or traditionally published. What advice would you give to new writers just starting out on this very long journey?

A: I think that is an urban myth. How did that one ever get started? When I worked as a book publicist, I dreaded the inevitable moment when the author bubble would burst. Once it popped, fairy dust and glitter never spewed out and sprinkled to the ground.

My advice to authors just starting out is similar to the advice you gave in your interview for In the Spirit of Love. Always conduct yourself professionally online. Stick to it - give writing a permanent place at your table - live your life - do what you need to do…and then go back and write some more. Once you have a few books out there for sale, add to your regular routine time to feed the marketing machine.

Q: Many writers and artists struggle with following their creative path vs making a (normal) living, and being accepted in a world that often can’t understand what drives the creative mind. Have you struggled with this, and if so, how do you attempt to overcome it?

A: Oh yes! More than a few times, I’ve wondered if I was adopted. Most everyone in my family is an engineer, accountant, scientist, lawyer, or a business person. Conventional social norms hold the greatest respect for professions with the highest pay scales. If pay scales were based on job satisfaction, artists and writers would be where the venture capitalists and technology moguls are now. I don’t worry about people accepting me. I am who I am, I do what I do, and I am very happy about that.

Q: Where can readers discover more about you and your books online?

Author reads sample chapter
Audible.com
Lisa’s art portfolio & online store
Art and Words Blog
Google+
Goodreads
Twitter
reddit
Redfern Writing Facebook Page
Join Lisa’s author e-mail list

Lisa: Thank you for the opportunity to participate in a You Read It Here First interview. I enjoyed responding to your thoughtful questions. Additionally, it was a pleasure to become acquainted with you and Christina and your work

*Not for the faint of heart*

Merle Temple's novel, A Ghostly Shade of Pale, Stirs Interest in Hollywood 

Tupelo, Mississippi, native Merle Temple has written his first novel, A Ghostly Shade of Pale. It has garnered warm reviews from readers and Southern Writer's Magazine calls it "suspense-driven and you will not want to put it down..., his personal experiences make it a compelling read from cover to cover..., memories have their way with him so those raw emotions would surface and be laid bare on page after page of remembrances, in order for his readers to feel what he felt." 

Criminal Minds' Jim Clemente says "Ghostly is a crime story as literature. Merle Temple is a great storyteller, writing to all of your senses. He weaves a story so detailed and complex, yet beautifully sinister, that the reader is immersed in the feeling of absolute reality." 

Producers are looking at Merle's novel for a possible movie or TV series, and Merle signed books for the casts of Criminal Minds and Major Crimes while in Hollywood to meet with producers. He also appeared on Media Mayhem in Beverly Hills. Host Allison Hope Weiner said, "Captures the South, the period in the 1960s...evocative of some of the great Southern writers...a taste and feeling for where you are...intriguing, a lot of layers in this fascinating book..." 

Signings from Tupelo's Gum Tree Bookstore to LifeWay in Hollywood, and Barnes and Noble in Las Vegas to Marlowe's in Memphis have been greeted with long lines of book lovers. The crime-mystery thriller is written as fiction but based on Merle's experiences as a narcotics agent in the first declared "War on Drugs" in the early 1970s.

History files on a bygone era are ripped open and rewritten in games of murder, betrayal, the macabre, and the supernatural in A Ghostly Shade of Pale. 

Michael Parker comes of age as the tranquility of the old South is shattered in the 1970s by civil unrest, the Vietnam War, and a wave of drug abuse that brings the war on drugs to his front door. Fresh out of Ole Miss, he joins the newly formed Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and enters a world he is not prepared for. A chain of events unfolds that lead him to become an unlikely player in a game of international intrigue and a clandestine struggle for the soul of America.

The remote crop-duster airfields of Mississippi become launching pads for soldiers of fortune hired by intelligence agencies to smuggle guns into Central America. They return with drugs to fund black operations and shape what their employers call the "Real America." These intelligence rogues employ Fredrick, a murderous psychopath, to manipulate protests against the war and as a contract assassin who has no remorse. They realize too late that his loyalties are not to them or to the communists he also manipulates as a double agent but to the voices in his head that speak to him incessantly.

An uneasy and complex alliance between these shadowy figures, organized crime bosses, and corrupt politicians form a matrix where Fredrick indulges his madness, slimy Mississippi politicians nurture their deviancy, and snipers ambush Michael and his agents on frozen fields of regret. A deadly game of cat and mouse threatens the life of the woman Michael loses and finds again as she washes down black beauties with champagne in the seamy Memphis nightclubs of the Dixie Mafia.

As he searches for an elusive peace and tries to resist the charms of his troubled lover, the Dixie Mafia tries to kill him, mob lawyers try to bribe him, and the Bureau of Narcotics is infiltrated and compromised. Parker, a modern paladin in search of just causes and dragons to slay, is a cop-philosopher commenting on the world in which he travels as he awakens at twenty-six to find that the whole of his life-his notion of right and wrong and good and evil-was all a lie.

The plan to alter America filters down to and corrupts government at all levels and claims the lives of those who could never know or imagine the origin of their demise. It all comes unraveled in the madness of Fredrick and the conflicted state police agent who unwittingly becomes the fly in the ointment to machinations he cannot begin to grasp until he is forced to fight for his life and the lives of those he loves against enemies seen and unseen. 

A Ghostly Shade of Pale, the first in a trilogy, is available in hardback and eBook (Nook, Kindle, and iTunes) at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble at bn.com, Gum Tree Bookstore in Tupelo, MS., Square Books in Oxford, MS., TurnRow Books in Greenwood, MS., Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, MS., Barnes and Noble in Tupelo, MS and Henderson, Nevada, and LifeWay Books in Tupelo, MS. and Brea, CA.

This article was also submitted (by Judd Miller) and published on all of the sites listed below on the same day (11/14/2013) to generate more views for the book and the author.

http://learnsomethinguseful.com/Merle_Temple%27s_novel,_A_Ghostly_Shade_of_Pale,_Stirs_Interest_in_Hollywood

http://66.228.32.62/wiki/index.php?

http://articles.miclad.com/article.php?id=36083title=Merle_Temple%27s_novel%2C_A_Ghostly_Shade_of_Pale%2C_Stirs_Interest_in_Hollywood

http://articles.toolz.co.in/article.php?id=23797

Want to be the next to take advantage of our news blogging service to 55+ websites to generate more online views? Go to http://bit.ly/18cxRgK to learn more

Want to be in the list of our next 'Book-of-the-Day' authors? Go to http://bit.ly/18UT7lD to learn more.

Hi, all! I'm A. Katie Rose and I'd like to introduce both me and my debut novel, "In a Wolf's Eyes". I'm new to this book club, so please comment or send me a message. I'd love to get to know people here!

Right now my novel on sale for $.99! get it while its hot and the second book of the series will be released in May. It's called "Catch a Wolf" and will be published by Untreed Reads Publishing. Check out the hot reviews its getting!

 http://www.amazon.com/Wolfs-Eyes-Saga-Black-ebook/dp/B007XXQWZ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337602946&sr=8-1

Assigned to rescue a vampire kidnapped by humans determined to exterminate them, a weredragon Enforcer falls in love. Will betrayal keep them apart?

Can the pursuit of true love overcome the fear of society’s rejection and exile? Vampire Jaden Beayer thinks so. When she is kidnapped and tortured by humans, her government sends weredragon Enforcer Kiellen Henley to find her. After her recovery, Jaden convinces Kiellen to help her track down the humans responsible for her torture and exact revenge on them. The problem is, Jaden feels Kiellen is the missing ingredient for her complete recovery. Kiellen believes she has mistaken gratitude for attraction, and despite his overpowering need, he rejects her attempts at seduction.

As they face violence and betrayal from unexpected sources, Jaden’s quest for revenge becomes one for justice. Kiellen’s resistance evolves into acceptance and love. Jaden wants forever with Kiellen, but he’s realistic. They simply can’t be together because they are enemies. Weredragons and vampires have always been at war, and a relationship between Kiellen and Jaden could even endanger the fragile centuries-long truce.

When Jaden is finally safe and Kiellen’s name has been cleared, Kiellen says goodbye, leaving Jaden devastated and himself dangerously heart broken. Will Jaden ever be able to help Kiellen overcome his fears of prejudice and exile, and fulfill their love, making her his forever? Or will their love spark open warfare and send them both to the death penalty?

The Background:

Today's weredragons are the modern descendants of an alien species that arrived on Earth during the infancy of humankind. These highly intelligent reptiles, with their technological advances, considered themselves THE Apex predator. Humans weren't their preferred prey, being considered unpalatable and too much trouble for too little reward, even if they were the most intelligent, adaptable prey on the planet.

When dragons discovered vampires preying on humans, they couldn't allow the challenge to their superiority go unmet. A long and bloody war erupted between the two predator species, but the war only served to keep both populations under control.

Dragons adapted their chameleon-like ability to take the shapes of other life forms and learned to shape shift into human bodies. The skill allowed dragons to live secretly among humans like the vampires did, but didn't give them a real advantage in the war.

As human populations increased and became organized, they started to hunt dragons and vampires. Most dragons lived the majority of their lives in human form and eventually lost the ability to take on other forms. Around the same time, they began calling themselves 'weredragons' in an attempt to alleviate the brutal, predatory image humans held of them.

Today, vampires and weredragons are still enemies, but a long-term truce is in effect, enforced by the Inter Racial Council. Both continue to live secretly among humans, and only rarely cross paths.

Here's a little taste of SAFE HEART to whet your appetite:

* Warning: Adult language and sexual situation*

Kiellen waited until she turned away, then closed the door softly and turned the locks. Jaden’s heart caught in her throat as he turned toward her and leaned his shoulders against the doors. The low lighting set off his rugged handsomeness. His sensual lips tipped into a small smile and now-familiar heat pooled in her belly.

“You were jealous.” His eyes glinted as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

Jaden’s throat went dry as the firm skin of his chest came into view slowly, tantalizingly. “I was.” Then his shirt was open all the way, exposing hard pecs and abs. The little line of hair below his navel disappeared into the waistband of his pants. She swallowed hard. “I don’t share.” The words were out before she could stop them, revealing a possessiveness she hadn’t been aware of before. Something had changed.

He slipped the shirt off his shoulders and let it drop to the floor. “Why won’t you share me?” His voice was gravelly, thicker than usual.

Her heart pounded. She licked her lips. Stared at his chest. “You’re mine.” Her voice stayed so low she could barely hear it, the words involuntary, dragged from her being by some unseen force.

He moved and her eyes flicked back up to meet his. He crossed the room in three long steps and stopped before her. He just stood there, looking at her, his breath harsh. He raised his hands slowly and grasped her shoulders with a crushing grip.

Jaden stared at his mouth, his lips parted temptingly. Her body ached to be crushed to his. She strained toward him.

“Do you mean that?” His voice was a low growl, raising gooseflesh on her skin.

She couldn’t tell if he wanted her to mean it or not, or even if she did mean it. Thoughts raced frantically through her mind as she tried to decide how to answer. Then that moment in the car where he’d told her she was someone special came back to her.

“Yes.” Her heart lodged in her throat for a different reason. What if he didn’t want to be hers? She licked her lips again, staring at him, trying to read him.

His mouth softened and his grip on her shoulders eased. Gently, he drew her closer as he lowered his head. “Mine,” he breathed when his lips met hers. Jaden melted into him as his mouth played across hers, teasing. He buried his hand in her hair and tilted her head just so to give him better access to her mouth. His tongue teased at her lips, seeking entrance.

Jaden felt him smile against her mouth as she parted her lips. She had her answer. He wanted to be hers, at least for a time. His other hand smoothed down her back, over her butt, guiding her even closer to him. The closer contact brought the ridge of his erection against her. She moved slightly, rubbing against it.

He growled into her mouth, then pulled her shirt free of her waistband. She dropped her hands to his, stilling them from working at her buttons. “This is a good shirt. I don’t want it torn, and the buttons are decorative.” She didn’t give a damn about the shirt. What she wanted was to tease him a little.

He drew back, watching as she lifted the hem with shaking hands. When the shirt slid to the floor he drew his breath in a rush. Meeting his eyes, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra and let it fall. It wasn’t like he’d never seen her naked, never made love to her, never licked every inch of her skin. That didn’t stop her from trembling from nervous anticipation. Everything felt new and special, like a momentous occasion.

Kiellen reached for her, settling his hands on her waist. His fingers burned against her skin. His hands weren’t perfectly steady as he unbuttoned her pants and shoved them down over her hips. He stepped back to look at her, his gaze devouring her body.

Jaden grasped his belt and pulled him closer. Her hands still trembled as she looked up, meeting his gaze, and unbuckled the belt, then unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Dragging a breath in, she pushed pants and underwear down. She stepped forward the six inches necessary to bring her into the slightest contact with his body. Her breasts swelled at the sensation of his hot skin brushing them.

Another breath and his arms crushed her to him. The volcanic intensity of his arousal scorched her belly. Jaden let her arms creep upward and around his shoulders. His scent, always more intense and tantalizing with arousal, was different, in some unexplainable way. Jaden was absolutely certain that new quality was addictive, that having taken it into her lungs, she would be unable to live without it.

Kiellen bent and scooped her into his arms. He took a step and promptly tumbled over with her. They crashed to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Kiellen straightened himself and began running his hands over her, searching for injuries. “Are you okay?”

Jaden fought to control her breathing and found it impossible. Tears streamed from her eyes as she struggled to keep from laughing aloud.

“Damn it! Where are you hurt, baby?” Desperation tinged his voice.

She gave in and shrieked with laughter. “I can’t believe you dropped me!”

Relief settled over Kiellen’s features and he collapsed beside her. His shoulders shook with laughter. “I forgot I still had my boots on. Got tangled in my jeans.” He pulled the offending boots and jeans off and discarded them to the side.

As she watched him relax and laugh at himself, Jaden’s own laughter subsided. Seeing him comfortable and at ease with the world cranked her desire for him up another notch.

He caught her staring and abruptly stopped laughing. He rose onto his knees and leaned toward her, bearing her gently to the floor. His mouth descended on hers, powerful, devouring, consuming. He stretched out atop her and she shifted so that her body cradled his.

Watch KenraDaniels.com for excerpts and updates on BLOOD DRAGON 2: Heart Of Stone, slated for release at the end of March, 2013!