Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Tuesday Teaser - It Takes Two to Tango

 

Today's teaser is from It Takes Two to Tango. This is Remi and Marshell's story.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WQ32G5J





Heller unlocked his cell. “Hey babe, I—what? Lawson, stop yelling. I can’t….” Every drop of blood drained out of Heller’s face. “Oh goddess, are you okay? How bad? Where are you? Fuck. Are you sure…. What? Yes. Okay, yes, he’s right here with me. I… oh, fuck me, are you sure?” Heller glanced at me, his breathing spiking. “Okay, we’re on our way. Just… just hang on.”

No. No, no, no. No! My chest hurt so bad I couldn’t breathe. My head spun, and my stomach roiled nastily. I wanted to puke. Little flashing lights swam before my eyes. I grabbed the side of the truck to keep myself standing upright, even though my knees threatened to give out.

“Remi? Remi!”

Far off I heard someone yelling my name. My head hurt. My chest blazed with pain.

“Remi!”

I heard Lawson plain as day say hunters had attacked them… and Marshell was stabbed in the chest with a knife.

I lost you before I ever had a chance to know you. My vision went gray, and everything faded away.

 

 

“ARE YOU sure we should’ve brought him?”

“Yes. This isn’t going to be easy for him, but trying to keep him away would have been useless. At least this way I’m here. If I have to, I can control him.”

Voices teased my consciousness. Something nagged at me, some sense of urgency that demanded I wake and deal with it. I didn’t want to, though. I knew, I just knew something horrible waited for me. I was tempted to turn away, to let go… to sink back into the darkness where I was numb.

But I wasn’t one to run.

I opened my eyes. My Alpha’s scent, so warm and soothing, wrapped around me, although there was nothing sexual about it. His arm was around my shoulders and my head rested against his chest. His heart frantically pounded in my ear. Why was he holding me? I glanced around and finally figured out I was in a truck cab, and we were moving.

What was I doing here? It was dark out, but I could see Heller was driving, so…. We were in his truck? Maybe? The whine of the tires echoed in my ears. So silent. They were so silent, but something, some scent—it smelled like rotten eggs—saturated the cab of the truck.

“Remi?” My Alpha’s voice rumbled against my ear, comforting me.

Suddenly my cat screamed in my mind, a wailing stab of misery. My body locked up. Pain. Oh, the pain. Sharp and nasty, it spread through me as I remembered my mate was gone. The wail went on and on, whipping against my skin, my heart. All I could do was suffer, the sound hammering at me—filling me up until there was nothing but hot, searing agony.

The scent was grief.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I croaked. My throat hurt. Had I been screaming? The scent of their grief increased, all but choking me.

“We don’t know anything for sure.” Heller clutched the wheel. “Lawson was nearly hysterical. He was yelling about hunters and knives and blood and…. Gods, someone tape my mouth shut, please. Fuck, I’m sorry, man. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I’m also freaked the fuck out.”

Hearing that said out loud stabbed me in the heart. “I overheard Lawson telling you Marshell had been stabbed in the chest… in the heart. He’s dead, Heller. You can’t stab someone in the heart and have them not be dead.” Agony screeched across my nerves as my cat demanded out. “What happened?”

Look at me using complete sentences and everything.

“I didn’t talk to Lawson long because I needed to get help, and you passed out.” Heller’s voice was eerily devoid of emotions. “Lawson said they were run off the road by two hunters who then attacked them.”

That’s right, I remembered Lawson saying that now. Run off the road. That meant the hunters had staked Marshell out. How did they find him? Why were they doing this? I didn’t remember any hunters ever coming after our kind. “Is… is Lawson okay?”

“He’s… yeah, pretty much. He took a few hits, but nothing too bad.”

It pained me to hear how Heller’s voice shook. I was so lost in my misery, I hadn’t stopped to think about how Heller was doing. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Lawson gave as good as he got. He’s stronger and heals faster now, thank fuck. One hunter went after him, but he said she seemed more concerned with keeping him busy. He got her pretty good too, he said. The other hunter went after Marshell.”

“And stabbed him,” I said dully. My skin rippled with the need to shift.

“No. Don’t shift,” Alpha Armonty demanded, his voice taking on that powerful, unnatural tone that was impossible to ignore—his Alpha voice. “Not here in the truck. It isn’t safe.” I couldn’t refuse an outright order from my Alpha.

My cat settled down, but the anger and pain still swirled in my mind. There was no escaping it. How was I going to live with this anguish? I wanted to scream, yell, rip into something until I tasted blood—just claw it all to pieces.

I was afraid once I did shift, I wouldn’t change back to human anytime soon. Maybe that was better. My cat didn’t care for the things that occupied my human mind—his needs were more basic.

“Why are…. Where are we going? Where are they?” I asked. I needed to distract myself from the pressing need to shift.

“The attack happened not far from Marshell’s home. The hunters ran off after…. Um, Lawson’s truck won’t start,” Heller said. “They’re sitting out there on the side of the road, and one of them has a large… ah, that is to say—”

“What Heller means is Lawson got Marshell in the truck, so they have some privacy, but yes, we do need to get there before someone stops to help or calls the cops. We don’t need that,” Alpha Armonty said.

I was drowning. My mate was on the side of the road with a fucking knife buried in his chest. Yeah, having humans see that could present a problem for our kind, but it really didn’t matter to me. Fuck the humans. It was humans who killed my mate. Call me crazy, but that took precedence in my mind over any human.

“Dolf and the rest of the betas are on the way there too. We’ll take care of everything. You just… just—”

“Not lose my shit?”

“Yes,” Alpha Armonty said. “I’m so sorry. We’re here for you. We’ll help you—whatever you need.”

Nothing could help me, but I didn’t say that. What I needed was gone. At least we hadn’t mated. If that tie had existed between us, I wasn’t sure I could’ve survived Marshell’s death. The way I felt right now, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it anyway.

“Someone needs to call his sister,” I said.

“Oh, I’m willing to bet that was the second phone call Lawson made.” A grimace crossed Heller’s face. “If he did, then we need to be prepared for Janelle.”

“What do you mean?” Alpha Armonty asked. “Prepared how?”

“We don’t really know that much about the Vetala, but from what I’ve heard Lawson say, their females are the more… violent ones. I don’t think she’d hurt any of us since she’s part of our clowder, but she’s going to be wild with grief. I wouldn’t…. Don’t try to protect the little woman, is what I’m saying.”

“I don’t think she should be there, but I understand,” Alpha Armonty said.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag her away.” Heller sighed. “Lawson’s going to need her, and frankly…. What the hell?”

“What?” Alpha Armonty asked.

Heller stared up at the rearview mirror. “There’s a car coming up fast.”

It zoomed past us, not even slowing down. The taillights disappeared in the night.

“Oh, fuck me running, that was Janelle. Damn woman drives like a bat out of hell,” Heller snarled. “She better not wrap herself around a telephone pole. I’ll kill her if she does. That’s the last thing Lawson needs right now.”

It was the last thing any of us needed, but I didn’t say that. Not long after she passed us, we saw Lawson’s truck sitting off the side of the road. Janelle’s car was in front of them. I wasn’t ready for this. What if I… what if I completely freaked out? What if I lost it right there?

Heller pulled in behind Lawson’s truck. The vehicle used to attack Lawson and Marshell was nowhere in sight. My Alpha barely got out of the truck before I too was out. I ran toward the other truck. The passenger door was open. Janelle and Lawson were crowded around the door. I heard Heller yell Lawson’s name. His fear barely penetrated the fog of despair around me.

“I’m fine… oomph! Heller, really, I’m okay. Come on, hellcat. Easy there.”

I heard them, but all I could see was Marshell’s long braids through the back window. My mate. The scent of blood and violence still hung in the air. Just as I drew even with the back of the truck, I heard an impressive string of creative cuss words from Janelle. Well, guess that’s better than what Heller hinted at. Somehow I thought she’d be more…. I didn’t know more what, just more.

Janelle swung around and grabbed both my arms. “He’s not dead!”




Monday, August 30, 2021

Pucker Up Monday

 Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all.





Monday, August 23, 2021

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all.





Thursday, August 19, 2021

Thursday Book Recommendation

 

These are books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Most of what I talk about will probably be paranormal/scifi but not always. Although it’s rare, I do read some contemporary.


 

This week is: Cold Hard Cash: A Dark Mafia Romance (Cold Hard Cash Series Book 1) by K.L. Hiers

 

Blurb:

When you owe money to a powerful mafia kingpin, you find a way to pay it back or you get hurt, and the only thing twenty-six-year-old Jimmy Poe has to offer a man like Boss Cold is himself. Cold agrees to give Jimmy a chance to have his debt cancelled, but it will mean surrendering his body to Cold's rough, ruthless demands every night until the very last penny has been repaid.

 

Over the coming days, Jimmy learns what it means to be truly mastered, and Cold's stern dominance arouses him far more intensely than he would have thought possible. But as their business arrangement grows into a romance, can Cold keep Jimmy safe in his dangerous world?

 


Publisher's Note: Cold Hard Cash includes spankings and rough, intense sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WDVPC47

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Tuesday Teaser - Behind the Eight Ball

 


This teaser is from Behind the Eight Ball (Fur, Fangs, and Felines Book 2)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WFKPTCY

(This is Heller's POV)

 

 

Humans didn’t smell like shifters. They didn’t necessarily smell bad, just different. Thankfully the kids out front were almost done with my truck so I could get out of here. Standing at the register, I waited my turn, when suddenly that same scent from earlier came out of nowhere.

It slammed into me, but this time it was stronger. Much stronger. Fresher. It saturated every cell in my body, took me by the throat, and sank its fangs into me. The scent whispered dark, needy things in my ear. My cock sprang up, my balls high and tight to my body.

Mate, mate, mate.

The words echoed in my head. How in the world had I ever thought that scent came from a candle? I was an absolute idiot. I’d waited to find this scent for half my life. I’d finally found it, and I thought the scent came from wax in a bottle? Goddess! I breathed deeply. That scent. I had to find the owner of that scent. Excitement tore through my body. After all this time, I’d found the one for me.

“Sir?”

My gaze snapped up.

“Sir? Are you okay?”

My overjoyed excitement turned to ball-numbing horror. There at the register stood a gum smacking, ponytail wearing, more-makeup-than-you-could-shake-a-stick-at bubbly female. A female.

Not only that, she looked like she might be eighteen on a good day. What was my goddess thinking? I had no fucking clue what to do with a, with a… barely legal vagina. I liked men. I liked dick. Oh, I really liked dick.

“Sir?” 

Smack. Smack. Smack.

“I-I-I….” My eyes threatened to cross.

I was sure that gum-smacking sound would haunt me for the rest of my life. I needed help. No, no, what I needed was for the day to start over. Better yet, what I really needed was to have never stepped foot in here in the first place.

A female. What was I going to go with a female?

“Y-You don’t look so good.” She gasped. “Lawson? I need some help here!”

So do I. I cringed at the high-pitched sound that came from the girl’s mouth. Kill me now. Then a sudden thought hit me. Was she human too? Oh no. She couldn’t be human. I sniffed, and there below the scent currently driving me nuts was the scent of a paranormal.

It wasn’t a shifter scent, though. I was sure of that. Was it her? Or was that someone else? No, no, it wasn’t the gum-smacking girl. But there was something in that shop. Thanks to the other smells—especially that ocean scent—I couldn’t tell what type of paranormal was close by.

That scared the piss out of me. My cat paced in my mind, then let loose a growling yowl that left me gasping and twitching. Oh shit, I was on the verge of either fainting or shifting. My gaze wavered and there was a rush of movement around me. I found myself sitting down. That lovely, salty scent of the ocean wrapped around me, and I tried to concentrate on it. Tried to rein myself in.

“Sir? Can you look at me? Come on now.”

The masculine voice snagged my attention and calmness enveloped me. I looked up into the prettiest gunmetal-gray eyes I’d ever seen. My gaze traveled over the person in front of me. Oh, look at all that lovely tanned skin. Nice-shaped nose, five o’clock shadow, firm jaw. Kissable lips. Hair cut short on the sides, but take a look at those curls on top. I just want to run my fingers through them. My gaze dropped. Broad shoulders with a nice shape under those clothes. Like to see him without the clothes.

I returned to those exquisite eyes. As I stared I noticed hints of blue in them, and blue reminded me of the ocean and—and there was that scent. I inhaled. Oh yeah, there it was, and it was coming from the drop-dead sexy man kneeling in front of me, looking so worried.

Reaching out, I cupped the stranger’s jaw. Electricity shot up my arm. “Mine.”

Monday, August 16, 2021

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all.




Thursday, August 12, 2021

Thursday Book Recommendation


These are books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Most of what I talk about will probably be paranormal/scifi but not always. Although it’s rare, I do read some contemporary. 



This week is: Logan: Chosen Champions Book One by Macy Blake

 

Blurb: 

Logan Moore is a leader without a pack... 

And after the rejection he faced from his last pack, he’s not sure he wants one. But when a mysterious benefactor he nicknames The Oracle offers Logan the chance to use his military expertise to lead a group of misfit shifters to protect the creatures of the magical realm, Logan’s wolf won’t allow him to say no.

 Bailey Cairn is a man without a protector... 

And for the entirety of his very human life, he hasn’t needed one. But when his friend is attacked at a bar, sweet, caretaker Bailey is drawn into a world he hadn’t known existed. A world full of secrets, and magic. A world full of danger… and gorgeous, protective Logan.

 But if Bailey and Logan want to break the chains of the past, they'll have to learn to trust each other and themselves, and start to believe in things that are bigger than they are...

 That magic exists. 

That packs are about more than blood ties. 

That sometimes true love is a matter of fate. 

And that heroes aren’t made…they’re Chosen.

 

Reading Order-I highly recc you read in order:

Sweet Nothings (The Chosen One)

The Chosen One (5 book series)

Hellhound Champions (4 book series)

Magical Mates (2 book series)

Chosen Champions (2 book series)

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095DDZKFZ


Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Tuesday Teaser- Trouble Comes in Threes (Fur, Fangs, and Felines Book 1)



(Yes, this book is already out, but since I'm dealing with health stuff and having problems writing, I don't have anything current on a WIP. Yet!)




“We’re in for a battle, aren’t we? All because the guy is human.”
“Oh yes.”
Tal bit his bottom lip. “Oh boy.”
Dolf stared out the window. For once, he dreaded seeing his dad. “Yes, oh boy.”
If a human had a mating scent, it identified them as carrying the recessive gene. While a shifter could mate with a human who didn’t have the gene, that human wouldn’t receive shifter abilities. They would only live an average human lifespan. Of course, most shifters weren’t interested in having a human mate.
There was a knock at the back door. Tal answered it, and soon Dolf heard the quiet, easy greeting between the two men. His Alpha and his mate—the two most important men in his life. Soon, there would be another. A human.
Tal led their Alpha to the den. Alpha Armonty appeared to be a middle-aged human male with short black hair touched with white highlights around the temples. His bright blue eyes were sharp and didn’t miss much. Laugh lines edged his mouth and eyes. Standing a couple of inches over six feet, his body carried ropey muscle on a lean frame. Power radiated off the Alpha, a feeling that blanketed the room, proclaiming who was the boss. Most had the urge to roll over and show their belly. That’s how Tal explained it.
Dolf, on the other hand, gritted his teeth. “Dad? Can you dial it back a little? My hair’s standing on end.”
“Sure, Dolf. Didn’t mean to overwhelm you in your own home. I’m just a little concerned with what you told me on the phone.”
Dolf hugged his dad, then motioned to a chair. “Have a seat. Do you want anything to drink?”
“No, thanks.”
Dolf nodded, sitting down on the couch next to Tal. “Well, then, let’s get to it.” Dolf explained, in graphic detail, what had happened at the hardware store, including both his and Tal’s reactions. Dolf ended by saying they’d followed the human home. They had a last name and an address.
Several minutes passed as the Alpha stared off into space. Finally, he grunted. “From your reactions, there’s no doubt what you smelled was a mate scent. I suppose you want to claim this human?”
“Of course we do. Do you really have to ask us that?” Dolf answered.
“Tal? I need to hear your thoughts on this too. It involves not only Dolf, but you.”
“Of course, Monty.” Tal had permission to address Alpha Armonty by his nickname, Monty, when it was just family. “I want the human. I can’t—won’t—walk away from him. The goddess gave him to us for a reason. We just don’t know what the reason is. Turning away from him would be… it would be…. Dolf?” Tal reached for Dolf.
“Easy, sweetheart.”
Tal stared at his Alpha. “I need him. We need him.”
Dolf held Tal’s hand, but his gaze was on his dad. “Yes, we need him. I won’t walk away from my mate either.”
Monty held Dolf’s gaze. Finally, he sighed. “What a mess.”
Dolf raised an eyebrow, irked. “Finding a mate is a… mess? Really? I thought it was a gift to be cherished.”
“Don’t start, Dolf. A fated mate is indeed a gift.” The Alpha rubbed his hands over his face. “We all know that. But this…. Do you have any idea what you’re setting up here? He’s human, Dolf.”
“Tal and I are aware.”
“Watch the tone, son,” Monty growled. “Then you’re also aware that taking a human as a mate is problematic.”
“I know humans aren’t liked by shifters. They’re the biggest threat to our society, and with good reason. I understand that. Some humans tend to act before they think.”
Monty snorted. “Tend to act before they think? Oh, I believe they know exactly what they’re doing when they commit their atrocities. Dolf, look what humans have done to each other through the centuries. Human are narrow-minded, destructive creatures who can’t be trusted. If they can harm each other to such an extent, what do you think they’d do to us?”
“Not all humans are like that. You know as well as I do you can’t tar and feather a race based on the actions of a few.”
“A few? The entire race is more like it.”
“That’s crap and you know it. Goddess help me, I swear shifters are just as speciesist as the humans. There are good humans out there… just like there are narrow-minded, destructive paranormals. Do you realize how you sound? You talk about what humans would do to us, but have you listened to yourself? We’re talking about a mate, Dad.”
“True, but the mate is a human. We have much more to lose if we’re exposed. It’s a risk, Dolf. A huge risk you’re asking this clowder to take over one human.”
“Wait, what are you saying?” Tal jumped up. “Are you saying you won’t give us permission to claim the human? But, but… please! You can’t do that.”
“I can’t?” Power rolled across the room, and Tal whimpered, dropping back down in his seat.
Dolf flowed to his feet, releasing his own power. Energy sizzled, crackling on the air currents as it crashed together. Tal whimpered again. “He wasn’t challenging you, Dad. He misspoke. Tal doesn’t have what it takes to challenge you, and you know that. But I do.”
Monty also stood. “Are you challenging me? When you know you’re the next Alpha? I fully intend to hand over the reins when the time is right for me to step down, so why challenge me?”
“I’m not. What I said was Tal doesn’t have what it takes to challenge you, but I do. I didn’t say I was. I don’t think either of us wants to see how that would go down, so stop with the power display. You’re going to force Tal into a shift, and if you do, I won’t be happy.”





Monday, August 9, 2021

Pucker Up Monday

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all.




Thursday, August 5, 2021

Thursday Book Recommendation

 

These are books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Most of what I talk about will probably be paranormal/scifi but not always. Although it’s rare, I do read some contemporary.

 

This week is: Code Red by N.R. Walker


 

Blurb: Maddox Kershaw is the main vocalist of the world’s biggest boy band. He’s at the top of every music chart, every award show, every social media platform, and every sexiest-man-alive list. He’s the bad boy, the enigma, the man everyone on the planet wants a piece of.

 

He’s also burned out and exhausted, isolated and lonely. Not in a good headspace at the start of a tour.

 

Roscoe Hall is Maddox’s personal manager. His job is high-flying, high-demand, high-profile, and he loves it. Maddox has consumed his entire life for the past four years. Roscoe knows him. He sees the real Maddox no one else gets to see.

He’s also in love with him.

 

When the tour and stress become too much, when the world begins to close in, Roscoe becomes Maddox’s lifeline. But as Maddox knows already, and as Roscoe is about to learn, the brighter the spotlight, the darker the shadow.

 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096Q78B7D

 

Monday, August 2, 2021

Pucker Up Monday

 Welcome to Pucker Up Monday. It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all.