I don’t know about you, but I love biker romances. One of the things I love about bikers is their hot, sexy tattoos! I love researching them to get ideas for my characters’ tattoos. I’ve included a number of the pictures that inspired some of the tattoos for my Ready To Ride bikers.
I think my favourite is the thorn tattoo that looks like it’s piercing the skin. This inspired the tattoo for Magic, one of my biker heroes, who has a thorny tattoo around his right wrist, where the thorns seemed to pierce his skin and bleed. Words in script spiral up his arm within a thorny vine, then the vine coils over his shoulder and around his heart. The thorns seem to pierce his skin and the artwork makes it look like there is a tear across his chest, revealing his heart beneath.
During FB parties, I sometimes ask my readers if they have tattoos and, if so, why they get them. Often, a tattoo holds great meaning to the person and I love hearing why they do it. Here are the top 5 reasons I’ve heard from fans and friends about why they’ve gotten a tattoo.
As a commemoration.
Often these are to commemorate a loved one who has been lost. A dear friend of mine recently lost her mother and she and her sisters were thinking of getting a matching tattoo in remembrance of their beloved mother. Many readers have told me about tattoos for lost children, which is especially heartbreaking. I can see where having a tattoo, which keeps the memory of a loved one close, could bring some comfort.
To show a belief or goal.
Whether to show a spiritual or religious belief, or something inspirational for other reasons, these tattoos serve as reminders of something important to us. Sometimes it’s a symbol, a few words from a poem, or even just a single word like Hope, Courage, or Imagination. My son was inspired by a story that has shaped many of his beliefs and has given him a direction in life, encouraging him to explore a higher realm of consciousness. He has a tattoo on his wrist of a special symbol from the story that represents many facets of this belief.
To celebrate a special goal achieved.
When we finally achieve a dream we have been striving for, sometimes we crave a way to bring it close to us and be reminded every day that dreams can come true. A friend of mine who hit the New York Times bestsellers list at the same time as me, decided she wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate the event. Believe me, if I was brave enough to get a tattoo, I would do it for that in a flash!
Aesthetics
Sometimes we just want something beautiful on our body. (Haha! Besides the fun stuff!) I love a beautiful fairy tattoo, or a delicate curlicue, or a beautiful flower. And stylized hearts! And Celtic designs!
To show uniqueness or rebellion.
Sometimes we want something that shows our own unique style, and makes us stand out from the crowd in some way. I like to do this by dying my hair bright pink, or purple, or crimson. (That’s not uncommon these days, but I was doing it twenty years ago.)
What about you? What kind of tattoos do you like? Everyone who comments will be put in a draw to win a copy of Hot Ride!
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Riding Steele (Ready To Ride series)
Opal’s latest book, Riding Steele, was released yesterday (March 17th). It’s on sale right now for $3.99 (down from $9.99).
In the arms of an outlaw, she found the freedom to live out her wildest fantasies.
When Laurie is kidnapped by bikers, she has no idea her life is about to change forever. From the moment she meets Steele–their sinfully sexy leader–she can’t deny their fierce attraction. Even though she’s completely at his mercy, his eyes soften when he looks at her, and the others in his gang know she’s strictly hands off. But the more time she spends with Steele, the more her body insists she wants his powerful hands all over her.
Now she’s about to discover a new life on the open road…and what it means to be part of a gang that shares everything. At first their wanton lifestyle shocks her senses–but once she’s had a taste of life on the edge, will she ever want to leave?
Excerpt:
A sound jarred Laurie from the light, fitful sleep she’d fallen into and she clutched the big fluffy comforter closer around her with her unbound hand. She was covered from head to toe, peering out from inside the cocoon.
Was the biker coming back to take her?
The door opened and the light flicked on. In the doorway stood an even bigger, tougher looking biker. He didn’t even glance her way, just closed the door behind him and stripped off his black leather jacket. He pulled something out of the pocket and tossed the garment on the dresser, then opened the doors of the armoire at the end of the bed to reveal a big TV. He turned it on, then put a disc in the player below it.
Images of naked people appeared on the screen. It was obviously lead-in credits for a porn film. He watched for a few moments, then pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing bulging muscles and a snake tattoo coiling around his bicep then across his chest. Her heart raced as he unzipped his jeans and dropped them to the floor, then stepped out of them.
She held her breath when she saw him hook his thumbs in the elastic of his boxers, then push them down. Oh, God, he was going to get into bed with her and . . . He was going to force her to—
Her breath caught when he stood up.
God, she’d never seen a cock that big. She’d never even imagined a cock that big. Even though it was just starting to swell with need, it was gigantic. And frightening. Impressive. And intimidating.
He turned toward the bed and she sucked in a breath.
His eyes narrowed as his gaze jerked to her.
“What the hell?” He grabbed the covers and tossed them back, ripping away her only protection.
* * *
Steele stared at the woman lying in his bed. The sight of her long, shapely legs and slim, but curvy body sent blood straight to his groin. She shifted back and a chain clinked. That’s when he realized one of her wrists was handcuffed to the headboard.
Fuck, this was why Shock had suggested he turn in. Not to watch porn, but to enjoy the birthday present awaiting him in his bed!
He smiled. “Well, hello there.”
Should he slide his cock in her sweet, luscious mouth first, or glide into her hot, melting pussy?
What the fuck? She was here for the night. He could fuck her right now, relieving his ache, then have her revive him with a blow job and start all over again.
He chuckled and climbed into bed beside her, then shifted closer. He reached for her hand to pull it to his cock, wanting to feel her soft feminine fingers wrapped around him, but as soon as he touched her, she jerked away.
“No, please . . .” Panic flashed in her wide, blue eyes and she was practically panting in fear.
“What the fuck?”
Then he saw the sparkle of diamonds around her neck. It was the choker Craig’s sister had received as a gift from her boyfriend at the bar earlier tonight.
What the hell was going on here? Steele rolled away from her and sat up, placing his feet on the floor. He stared at the frightened woman, who was sucking in air, panic showing in her widened eyes.
He raked his hand through his hair. “How the hell did you get here?”
Someone started pounding on his door.
“Steele, it’s Wild Card.”
Then the door swung open and Wild Card burst inside. “I fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t mean to . . .”
His gaze fell on Steele’s naked form, then darted to the woman in the bed. Then he shook his head, holding up his hands, palms toward Steele, in a defensive gesture. “Steele, you gotta listen to me.”
Anger surged through Steele and he lurched to his feet. “Wild Card, what the fuck did you do?”
“I didn’t mean to—”
Steele strode toward him. “How the hell did you miss the fact that the plan was not to kidnap the woman?”
UPDATE: The winner of this contest is Samantha Minter!
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I’m late posting this blog, but time slipped away. I got Sm{B}itten back from my wonderful editor, and I’m reading through it, looking for any last nits I need to fix. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this story. Hence, the passage of time…
I wrote the first version of this book back in 2003, and All Hallows Heartbreaker was quite a hit. But twelve years is a long time, and it needed a little sprucing up. So I revised it, expanding it by a few thousand words, and now I’m getting ready to republish it, complete with a new title and new series name. More of the refurbed books are coming. When I’m done repubbing these stories, I’ll be writing brand new adventures in my Night Fall world. So, are you ready to take a wild ride?
Emmy’s a mess. My absolute favorite heroine, because guess what? She’s a reflection of my young, twenty-something self. I know her. Still think like her.
Was I wrong?” she asked. The uncertainty in her voice produced a slight quaver. “I thought you wanted me, too. It’s like I conjured you. You’re everything I ever wanted, and there you were. Just for me. Just in time.”
He liked the way she talked, the cadence of her voice, her airless sentences strung one after the other. Trying to follow them made him dizzy. “What a coincidence. I thought you’d been made for me.” Dylan’s hand fisted in her hair. “I may hurt you.”
A sweet, seductive smile tilted the corners of her mouth. “I’m counting on that fact. Seriously, if what’s pushing against my belly is any indication, I think you’re going to ruin me for any other man.”
She enters the vamp world, completely clueless, but adapts. Her curiosity about things that go bump in the night, and her voracious appetite for sex with Dylan always make me smile. It’s why she makes an appearance in every book that follows. I can’t let go of her.
If you never read All Hallows Heartbreaker, or if you’d like to reacquaint yourself with the series, now’s the time. I have it up for pre-order now for only $0.99. That price won’t last long. It’s a longer story than my usual. Not quite full-novel length, but the what’s called category length. You won’t be disappointed. And more stories are following. You won’t have to wait long to continue the ride.
And don’t you love the title? I had fun with it, I’ll admit it.
And I pronounce it, Smuh-bitten.
Release date: March 30th!
Emmy Harris knows she’s not perfect. She has a little extra padding and isn’t the brightest bulb, but you’d think she was a sexy rock star the way everyone at a certain night club treats her from the moment she walks through the door. In fact, the two sexiest men there can’t seem to keep their hands off her, until one of them sweeps her away to his private domain. A girl like her isn’t going to waste a chance like that! So he’s a little rough and likes to take a nibble or two while he pleasures her. For a girl who didn’t know she’d never experienced a full-blown orgasm before, Dylan’s eccentricities are delicious!
Dylan O’Hara only wants a night of passion to slake his lusts, but finds Emmy is a full-bodied, red-blooded siren whose innocence and humor draw this Master vampire like a moth to a red-hot flame. When Emmy attracts the attention of a serial-killing vampire, Dylan vows to protect her, but he fears he’ll lose Emmy once she discovers he’s not human.
For a chance to win a free copy of another Night Fall story, Silent is the Knight (or if you already own that, one of my latest shorty releases), let me know if Night Fall sounds like a series you can sink your teeth into!
When I moved to Vienna, Austria almost four years ago, the voices became eerily quiet. For those of you who aren’t writers, the voices we hear are frequently those of our characters or in some cases the narrator of our books. I figured it was time for me to have a break as I’d been hearing them for many, many years. Matter of fact, since I was twelve and I can’t tell you the number of times when they would be chattering in my head and I’d be answering them right back. I’d get the strange looks and blush furiously when I was younger. Then as I got older, I would either explain what was happening or I’d just smile and shrug, leaving people to figure it out themselves.
It’s a wonder that I was never told to shut up or talked to by a therapist or psychiatrist for those voices. Yes, those voices have told me they wanted to kill someone. I even had a villain do it once in my head while I was in public and I can only imagine what the expressions were on my face as I talked and wrote that one down in the local library. And it wasn’t until they stopped talking to me that I really understood the term writer’s block. But in my opinion, it wasn’t that I was blocked, it was they had stopped talking.
For the past three years, I would come into my office and sit down like I’d done every day for the past fifteen years. If I was lucky, I would clunk out five hundred to a thousand words and be happy with that even though I normally had written about five thousand words a day before my move. Those words felt forced and many were written without the characters yapping away at me. Yet, I had stories to write and worlds to build. I could not wait until I was in the mood.
Writing is what I do for a living. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I’d learned more about the publishing business in the last twenty years so there wouldn’t be any surprises. I couldn’t nor wouldn’t give it up because they weren’t talking to me. I couldn’t afford to and this is a fallacy that many writers fall into, but it’s one that we all need to get over.
There are things that can be done where the characters don’t need to talk to you. Things like research, world building and blogs. Planning also falls under these auspices and so, I did those things when there was nothing else. I did things like start a group for sharing the promotions burden that every author has since I really feel each of us needs to care and nurture each other.
I listened to music, created play lists and blogs and series and did more research to the point I was almost getting hopeless. But the fact is writers write. They write when the weather is good, when it’s bad, when they feel good, when they feel bad and real writers come in and do it even when they think they can’t. Yes, it may seem forced and it may seem like you’re just going through the motions but those are the motions of being a writer.
However wrong this may seem, if you are plugging away every day, your confidence will start to build and will continue to do so. Sometimes, all that is needed for you to hear those voices is to regain your confidence. Sometimes it may just be the stress from every day living. Sometimes, it can be the stress from things you can’t control. For me, it was a little bit of everything.
I was living far away from my family. Things could go wrong. They did go wrong. And I had to realize that sometimes I couldn’t shape the world to be exactly how I wanted it to be. Sometimes, I had to accept it as it was. So, until that day, I decided I would do what I always loved to do, whether I had to force it or have an amazing moment where I would write. I needed to go through the motions and know that my time would come again.
Then one day came a drab and I wrote a little more about my characters. Then it was just a little tinkle, then it was flowing. And I knew I had a gusher the night I told my husband to go back to sleep because I was going to the office. The next morning he asked me why and I had to honestly say that they wouldn’t shut up. He gave a chuckle, knowing I was finally back and writing as much as my fingers would type daily. It had been a long time coming.
Now, I’m carrying a notebook in my purse again so I don’t overwhelm my poor little Note3 phone with all the written words for stories. I’m waking up early, falling asleep in my chair and talking with my characters in such a way that I’m sure people are going to ask if need help since I’m talking to myself a lot in public recently. I guess the trouble really comes about when I answer myself. And yes, I do have a story about that one for another time.
Until then, I’d love to hear from you about what you’d say if you saw one of your favorite authors talking to themselves.Would you ask what they were talking about? Or would you sit quietly and observe them to see if you could glean something about a new story? I can’t wait to hear from you! And to show you all some love, I’m doing a give-away today and picking one person randomly to give them a book from my back list or my upcoming April release, Night of the Blue Moon. Hope to talk to you all soon!
Night of the Blue Moon April 1st Pre-order at Amazon, Smashwords and more.
April 15th Release at all eBook vendors.
This is book 4 in the Blue Moon Magic series.
Blue Moon Magic
One father.
Two mothers.
Four siblings.
One incredible story about that special night which changes them all. Forever.
All his life he felt he hadn’t belonged but it wasn’t until Clarity Langford appeared did he know the truth of it. Once that truth was revealed there was no going back for Connor Angus, only forward. He discovers he is the long thought dead son of pack Elite leader, Charles Langford. And with that knowledge comes a family full of sisters, mystery and longing for things he’s not sure he has any right to obtain and one of those things is Cordelia Sinclair.
NOTE: This is a NOVELLA with adult situations and language. It is not intended for those under 18 years of age.
Excerpt:
Who are you?
The voice was loud and clear. There was no mistaking that he had a telepathic link to this woman. More confused than ever, he shook his head. My name is Connor Logan Angus.
But you can’t be one of them.
I am a member of the Beta clan. I am the third son.
That can’t be.
And why not?
Can you link with them like you are with me?
I don’t know. I’ve never tried.
Whether you know it or not, I do.
How?
Only those of the same clan or family members can link. I’m an Elite. So what does that make you?
Connor sank back into the shadows even more. That sick feeling he had been having recently floated to the top again. That’s impossible. There’s no way I can be part of your clan. I don’t understand any of this.
That makes two of us.
Bio: Award winning author Lynn Crain has done it all in her life. From nursing to geology, her life experiences have added to her detail rich stories. She loves writing full time as she weaves contemporary, fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales, tame to erotic, for various publishers. Her home is in the desert southwest though her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband of many years as he works his dream job. You can find her on the web at www.lynncrain.blogspot.com. She loves hearing from her readers at lynncrain@cox.net.
I know f/f isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ll tell you, sometimes the sexual orientation of a story doesn’t really matter. It’s the story. Straight up. Even if it’s short. Catnip is a lesbian paranormal that I wrote originally for the anthology, She Shifters. I like to joke that it’s one part Practical Magic and one part Josie and the Pussycats. The story’s just plain fun and naughty. And isn’t that what you want from one of my stories?
I’m nearing the end of my Friday spree of short stories. Just three more to go. I’m thinking I might want to continue with a monthly release after that, but I’ll need to write new stories. And I’m thinking, I should write some naughty taboo stories. You know the kind… The young heroine has been dying to do her stepfather, and now that her mom and daddy are divorced, well… Or he’s my cousin, and if it ain’t illegal it ought to be because it’s so damn hot we’re gonna burn the barn down…
Okay, so I’m just thinkin’ about tawdry ideas. And they’d be all about the sex, which is something I love to write. Man, I could write the hell out of those! But in the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying my series of shorts. It’s been fun revising/revisiting the stories. I wanted them all to be at least 5000 words so no one would feel cheated by the word count. Next Friday, it’s a sexy prison short, Pitch Black.
Catnip
A cat-woman doll found at a garage sale reveals a lonely woman’s magical destiny…
Note: This 5000-word short story was previously published as part of the SHE SHIFTERS anthology. It may be short in length, but it’s not short in passion!
*~*~*~*~*
Excerpt:
Mallory set “Miss Kitty” on the bookshelf beside her computer. She’d brushed away as much dust as she could before sponging away the grime. She’d reattached the tail with tiny stitches.
While she’d worked, she’d admired the craftsmanship of the strange little doll. The fur suit was seamless and molded to the figure. The small face wasn’t hard plastic, but something softer, with the texture of real skin. The lips, with their cat’s cleft at the center, were parted with a row of individually attached teeth beneath them. She’d stroked her thumbnail over the soft lashes surrounding those shining eyes–each lash appeared to be embedded in the lids.Perhaps there was more to the doll than what she’d originally believed. Promising herself to do a little Internet search in the morning, she turned off the bedroom light and climbed into bed.Her head no sooner hit the pillow than she heard something drop to the floor. The sound was soft, but solid.
She sighed and reached to turn on the bedside lamp. Glancing in the direction of the sound, she scanned the floor, but found nothing out of place. Only mildly perturbed, Mallory reached for the light then paused. Her gaze flicked to the bookcase. Her new doll wasn’t on the shelf where she’d placed it.
Dammit. She’d never sleep until it was back where it belonged. She crawled from the bed and searched the floor beneath the shelf. Nothing. She pulled out her desk chair to see if it had somehow tumbled beneath her desk. “Weird,” she said under her breath as she pushed the chair back into place.
A skittering sounded in the closet beside the shelf, and her heart rate accelerated. “What the hell?” The sound was too small to be a hidden intruder. Wary, she approached the closet. The door was open only a crack. Did she have a mouse? The mystery over the doll was forgotten as she worried how she’d trap it. Inching the door open, she reached inside for the string attached to the lamp on the ceiling.
A loud thump came from the back of the closet, and Mallory jumped back. Too freaking big to be a mouse. Fuck! She backed up two steps, and then ran for the bedroom door.
Before she’d gone three steps, something pounced on her back, taking her to the carpet. Hands wrapped around her wrists, pinning them to the floor. Mallory bucked, panic making her breaths come in short, shallow sobs.
“Don’t be afraid,” purred a feminine voice from right beside her ear.
The raspy quality of the voice caressed nerves Mallory chose to ignore. “Get off me,” she ground out.
“I think I’ll stay here for a moment. I don’t want you bolting again, because I wouldn’t like to hurt you. You smell good.”
“What the fuck were you doing in my closet? What do you want?”
The body covering her back resettled, curves molding to Mallory’s. “I’m not sure why I’m here. Are you a witch?” The woman’s hips undulated, grinding against Mallory’s ass.
Which made it very hard to think. “Am I a wha–”
A snarl sounded. “Just shut up a second. I can’t think.” A rumbling purr vibrated against her, growing louder as the woman on her back nuzzled her neck.
“What are you doing?” Mallory asked in a very small voice, wondering if she was going to be raped by the woman and why that thought didn’t terrify her more.
“Mmm… I’m doing what I couldn’t when you groomed me.”
*~*~*~*~*
The Contest
Hope you enjoyed! Leave an answer to the following question in the comments and you’ll be entered to win a copy of any of the shorties in the Amazon carousel below EXCEPT Catnip. That one, I hope you’ll purchase on your own!
So if I decide to write some really naughty, taboo stories, what themes would you love to read? I’m taking orders! 🙂
Hey all, I’m Sasha white, and I write White Hot Fiction in a variety of genres. Mostly, contemporary, and all with an edge of kink. That said, I’m not going to talk so much about MY books today, but instead, about what puts a book on your keeper shelf!
For me it’s all about the characters. I think that’s why I read so many different genres. The books filling my shelves are from contemporary, paranormal, science fiction, suspense, thriller, romance, erotica, and even some non-fiction biographies and travel stories. To me, it doesn’t matter what word or universe the story takes place in, as long as I can connect with the characters. And I seem to be drawn to anti-hero’s. Like Gin Blanco in Jennifer Estep’s Elemental Assassin series. Or Kate Daniels in Ilona Andrews Magic books. I love to read a series with secondary characters connecting them, and groups, like Delilah’s Dark Realm books, and Pamela Clare’s iTeam series. I’m not a super huge fan of Nora Roberts, (she tends to be hit or miss for me) but I’m a rabid J.D. Robb fan. (Yes, I know they’re the same woman.) Eve, Roarke, Peabody, Mavis, Feeney, Sommerset, and McNabb, they’re all like friends to me.
Each of those series that I mentioned have characters who are real to me. Yes, I know vampires and werewolves and shape shifters don’t exist, but these characters are real because of the job did the author has done by bringing me into their minds and into their world. Once I’m drawn in I’m hooked. It’s not the cars they drive, the swords they swing, or the cities they live in that hook me. It’s them, the characters. Because this is the way I feel as a reader, as an author I strive to make sure my characters come alive on the pages, and, hopefully, in readers minds as well. Only you can tell me if I succeed or not, but I can tell you that when I’m writing they’re very alive to me. Each with their own voice and personality.
However, when I’m writing, sometimes I have a hard time finding something that isn’t already on my keeper shelf to read. And it seems that when I’m in the middle of writing an intense story, I crave new-to me- stories. I have no idea why, I just do. But because I’m writing intensely, I seem to have less patience with the hit and miss of new-to-me-authors, even when I crave them. So, I’m asking you for YOUR recommended reads. What characters stick in your mind, and have earned a spot on your keep er shelf? Tell me in the comments, and be entered to win a $15 Amazon GC.
BDSM club owner Adam Kessler is no one’s hero. He joined the army to get away from the gang-life that had taken his brother, only to come home to heartache. He doesn’t hide his dominant side, and he doesn’t hesitate in his need to protect or enforce his particular brand of retribution on those who’ve earned it. There’s no way in hell he could walk past a man hassling a woman in an empty parking lot and do nothing. Only when the confrontation is over and the voluptuous blonde turns eyes filled with desire to him, does Adam realize he’s in trouble.
Psychologist Olivia Hamilton grew up with the proverbial silver spoon, and has never regretted spending more time on her career than on romance, until she meets Adam Kessler. He’s dark, he’s dangerous, he’s deliciously dirty…and she wants him.
Passion burns quick and hot between them and soon they’re caught up in an intensely carnal relationship that neither can deny. But when Olivia’s life is threatened and Adam shows her just how dangerous he can be, will it be too much for the civilized psychologist to handle, or will she truly accept the man and win her hero’s heart?
Laila’s Lies, the latest taste of the Members Only Series, is now available for your reading pleasure!!
This is actually the ninth story in this series so if you haven’t read it yet you can have a book hangover as quickly as tomorrow!!! Don’t miss out!!
Being sent to dig up proof The Library was actually a private BDSM club was her ticket to a promotion. Simple. Easy. But it wasn’t.
Not when she would have to betray the three men who captured her heart from the very first heated stare. Not when she would have to turn her back on the women who saw who she’d kept hidden from everyone. A submissive.
Choosing between her past and future will rock the foundation of everything she holds true. Until she understands the power she holds when she’s on her knees.
A Romantica® ménage erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Would you like to win a copy of Laila’s Lies to binge read of your very own? Or any one of my Members Only series?!?
Super!! I’d hoped you would!
All you have to do is go sign up for an amazingly awesome blog I’m on with several other authors!
Just click on the I understand and wish to continue button that says you’re an adult (and your heart can stand epic levels of decadence)! Then on the right under followers click on follow this site and just follow the instructions. Super easy. Then come back here and tell me what you think is Decadent in romance books!Especially in kink, cause I LOVE kink!
Happy posting! And please include your email address in the post so I can contact you with the shiny new copy of something wonderful to read!
Decadently Yours,
Jennifer Kacey
Need a bit more on the kinky and naughty side before you can get your fill of Laila and her 3 (yes I said 3) sexy men? I’ve gotcha covered!!
The books in the Members Only Series can be found here…
Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.
UPDATE: The winner of one a free shorty from among those stories spinning in my carousel is…Carey Sabala!
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It’s Saturday, but I’m up early today. I’m going to a Gelli class at 9 AM with my dd and my mom. What is Gelli you might ask? It’s a printing plate made of this wiggly gel that you brayer on paint, texturize the paint with stencils or your own scribbles, then you place paper over the painted/scribbled-on plate and “pull off” a colorful printed image that you can use in mixed media art. Whew. Taking a breath after that really long sentence! And for most you, what I said didn’t mean a thing. But that’s okay. We’re going to have fun.
What can you do while I’m off playing with Gellis and paint? How about read a naughty story or two. There’s time if the story’s short! And you know what I’m going to talk about now…
I started at the end of January publishing a short story a week in the Kindle store. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, they are free. For everyone else, they are $0.99. I have all these shorts I’ve written over, and other than grouping them in collections, and publishing them that way, I had no way for you to enjoy them. Until KU made it possible for me to get a little compensation for my effort and a nifty way for readers to “sample my wares.” It’s been fun getting each of these short stories ready for publication. I hope you’ve tried a few. Or if you have a really dead weekend, you could sample them all!
If you’d like to savor the pretty covers, I have a web page devoted to my “shorties.”
Here’s yesterday’s new addition:
The Pleasure in Surrender
After the lady of the keep bars her gates to the barbarian the king commands she wed, the half-Viking knight scales the walls of her heart…
Excerpt:
A draft brushed her face. She’d closed the door and latched the pigskin curtain over her narrow window. A scuff of a foot had her stiffening, but she heard no more above the pounding of her heart. She wasn’t alone. “Who’s there?” she whispered.
“I think you know,” came a deep, rumbling drawl.
She drew a deep breath and came up slowly, scooting to the far side of her bed. Her knife was on her chatelaine’s belt hanging from a peg beside the door. She was weaponless. “My people?”
“Your man Geade surrendered as soon as he realized the keep was overrun. No one was harmed.”
“How?”
“Does it matter? I’ve taken this castle. The only question now is one I want answered: Why did you bar the gates?”
Edwina shivered at his graveled voice. “I was promised time to grieve before I accepted another husband.”
“Alred suspected you would grieve until you were old. Did you really think he would defy the king’s order for you?”
She lifted her chin although she knew the gesture couldn’t be seen—not unless Vikings had eyes like cats. “I expected him to honor his promise. I paid for the privilege.”
“About that—he returned the gold. To me.” His footsteps drew nearer her bed. “But that doesn’t answer the question. Why, Edwina?”
Her mouth grew dry at the rasping texture of his deep voice. She swallowed and set her back against the wall. “I wed once for political expediency. This time, I wanted a choice.”
He remained silent for a long moment. “And yet you have turned away every suitor who approached you.”
“None were worthy.”
“You hold yourself in such high esteem?”
“I worried for my people. Warriors don’t make the best farmers.”
His footsteps scraped closer.
She pressed harder against cold stone.
“I will admit, I’ve little experience with farming. But I understood you were competent. That I could rely on you to teach me.”
He said the words slowly, and she tried to read his intentions in the inflections of his voice. Could he be telling her the truth? Would he allow her to continue as steward of her land? “Are we…negotiating?”
After a long moment, he cleared his throat. “You wed young.”
“I had no choice, but Malcolm was malleable and a drunk. We came to an arrangement that suited us both. I managed the estate. He drank and caroused, spending from a generous budget. We were both satisfied.”
“You managed him and the estate.”
“Yes.”
After a pause, he said, “I’m not malleable. Nor will I be managed.”
She heard the steel in his tone. She forced a derisive note into her own. “I was afraid of that. It’s why I closed the gates and prepared for a siege.”
He strode closer. His large shadow was inky black, ominous. “You do realize this is our wedding night? You are already my wife by the king’s decree. Only consummation awaits.”
Alarm rattled through her. “But there must be a wedding. The banns should be read.”
“No, Edwina. Your resistance ends tonight.”
*~*~*~*~*
The Contest
Hope you enjoyed! Leave an answer to the following question in the comments and you’ll be entered to win a copy of any of the shorties in the Amazon carousel below EXCEPT The Pleasure in Surrender. That one, I hope you’ll purchase on your own!
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Bio: Award winning author Lynn Crain has done it all in her life. From nursing to geology, her life experiences have added to her detail rich stories. She loves writing full time as she weaves contemporary, fantasy, futuristic and paranormal tales, tame to erotic, for various publishers. Her home is in the desert southwest though her latest adventure has taken her to Vienna, Austria with her husband of many years as he works his dream job. You can find her on the web at 
Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her family in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less.
