The contest continues! Post a comment here today to qualify for one contest. See details in Thursday’s post about the prizes and how to win my newsletter contest too!

Can you stand it? The wait? Okay, so maybe you’re not as excited as I am. The last Dark Realm book, my last book for Avon. And I threw out all the stops. Which means, if you want a really wild, no-holds-barred erotic novel, this is the one. I promise. And it won’t be like anything you’ve ever read, because I swear only my deepest, darkest fantasies were written into this one story. Don’t worry about payday. You don’t want Starbucks today. Go order the book!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sand beyond the fortress undulated like a lover’s curving back, dunes lifting and falling, swept side to side by the sighing wind.

Marduk searched the ground beneath him, frantically seeking some sign of her passing, but the wind had obliterated her tracks.

Not until he saw the lillum circling like vultures, did he release a deep relieved sigh.

He flattened his wings, diving toward the ground beneath them, then pulled back to settle on the sound beside Gabriella.

Three female lillum landed opposite to Gabriella’s writhing body, folding back their black wings. Aya, the leader of their small flock, stepped forward, her toe touching Gabriella’s buttocks. “Is she precious to you, Master?”

As always, he was careful to hide his interest. If I treated her well, do you think she’d flee to the desert to escape me? he said, sending the message with his mind.

Her face, as shiny and dark as obsidian, was split by a smile. Long black fangs slid from beneath her upper and lower lips to interlock. “Can we taste?”

She’s weakened. Why not wait until later in Irkalla’s chambers?

“Our queen will likely drain her beyond use for us. It’s been so long since any of us tasted of the living.”

Aya, take your drink, but only a sip. She must appear tonight, and I have to make her presentable.

As the lillum surrounded her, bending their slender, dark forms over Gabriella, Marduk suppressed his revulsion. Lilith’s children were among the oldest demon hybrids in this realm. Their appetites and minds were primitive and rapacious.

Aya rolled Gabriella to her back. Gabriella’s eyes remained open, but unfocused, no doubt still in the thrall of her escalating nightmare. He’d warned her what would happen. Yet, if he touched her now, wakened her from her dream, she’d have another nightmare to add to the one currently gripping her mind.

So he left her in that other world while the three demons bent over her neck and both wrists, their black incisors sinking deeply as they supped. Wings stiffened as their voices joined in an eerie chorus that seemed to intertwine and become one, in a high ululating tone that pierced his ears.

Enough, he said softly.

Their disappointed sighs sounded deceptively soft and girlish, but their heads rose, blood drenching their lips. Then they spiraled straight into the air, laughing as they darted toward the fortress.

Marduk studied Gabriella, noting the quivering breaths, her widened eyes. When he pulled her from Hell, she’d have little relief once she caught sight of him. Still, this was all part of the lesson she must learn. She might have continued to think him as just another man—easily led by his desires.

Now, she’d think twice about defying him again. He reached out and touched one taloned claw against her hip.

Gabriella sucked in a deep breath, her eyes blinking as she returned. Her face turned toward him. Then her mouth opened around long, shrill scream.

She rolled from under his talon, then froze.

He knew she was sunk again in the dark time. He touched her again. Only when you are with me, when I touch you, are you free of Hell.

She remained rigid beneath him, her face turning to peer at him over her shoulder. “Marduk?”

I will take you back.

Her eyes filled slowly, and fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can’t stay here. With you. I want to go home.”

You accepted my invitation.

“You compelled me to touch that glass.”

If you hadn’t been ready to leave, ready to be seduced, you would never have succumbed to my lure. Come, you are tired and thirsty. Let me care for you.

She broke with his gaze and stared ahead of her. “I’m afraid of this place. Of the terrors it holds. I don’t know how to go about making a life for myself.”

So long as you obey me, you have nothing to fear. I will protect you. Provide for you.

“I’m afraid of needing you,” she said in a soft, broken voice.

Heady satisfaction filled him. If she feared it, then she was tempted to surrender. Climb onto my back, darling, but never let your touch leave my skin.

She scraped at her tears, leaving streaks of dirt staining her cheeks. Her lips curved downward, but her hand lifted to the top of his leathery claw while he pulled it up to help her rise. She came shakily to her feet, her eyes wide as her gaze swept his dragon form. “I saw your aura before, when I looked into the mirror. I knew what you must be in truth, but…you’re more beautiful than I could have imagined.”

Marduk’s mouth opened, stretching back. He was pleased she wasn’t frightened of him in this form. That she found him “beautiful.” Climb onto me. We must head back and prepare for Irkalla’s feast. Another day I will fly with you here if you like.

Her head lowered, not responding to his suggestion, but she smoothed her hands over his shoulders and stepped on the edge of his wing, which he held rigid until she was seated on his shoulders between the wings.

Then he lifted his wings and flapped downward, ignoring her gasp and the way her hands found purchase on the ridged scales at the back of his neck. He lifted into the air, soaring, and turning slowly back toward the fortress.

He felt her lean forward, scanning the ground they flew past and heard more gasps.

Beneath them lay bleached bones of creatures large and small, half-buried in the sand that hid then revealed them as the wind surged. The desert was a graveyard for demons, and she might have remained among them if he hadn’t found her in time.

As the setting sun burned brightly at the horizon, they rushed toward the fortress walls. He tilted his wings, aligning his body with the narrow street outside his tower door and set down.

She climbed down without encouragement. When she turned back, he was once again in his human form. As naked as she was. Her glance slid over his body, snagging on his growing erection.

Her body reacted to the sight, her posture easing into a feminine stance, with thighs clamped closed and breasts lifted.

Her nipples tightened, peaking instantly.

He hid a smile and held out his hand.

She slipped hers inside his and turned toward the door. But she stumbled and stared straight ahead at the people who’d climbed down from their stoops to catch a glimpse of the dragon and his woman.

Her gaze clung to two men in particular, who seemed equally frozen until one of them grabbed the arm of the taller individual and pushed him toward an alleyway.

Marduk wondered at Gabriella’s fascination, but she shook herself, turned to give him a tight smile, and entered his tower without saying a word.

The contest continues! Post a comment here today to qualify for one contest. See details in Thursday’s post about the prizes and how to win my newsletter contest!

Need more reasons to click on the cover and go order your copy? So you do know the sex is gonna be hot, right?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Note for Readers: You must be of legal age in your country of origin to read this excerpt.

For Gabriella, the passage of time was measured by the pounding of her heart as blood pumped through her body in a heavy, wanton beat. Her skin, tender still from the lashing she’d received by the vines, was hot and exquisitely sensitized to every caress of The Master’s hands and lips. Her reddened nipples never receded, remaining hard and distended. Her clit stayed engorged and throbbing. She restlessly scissored her legs, craving friction to heat her core.

He’d carried her to the bed, water streaming from their bodies, and laid her in the center before coming over her. Just as she’d envisioned, she’d watched him over his shoulder in the mirror as each flex of his shoulders and back animated the dragon tattooed on his back, making the wings raise up and down and the tail undulate with every rise and fall of his buttocks. He’d fucked her again on the bed, without preliminaries, thrusting straight, powering so hard her lungs expelled air in harsh gasps.

Feeling languid, boneless, and drifting toward sleep, she moaned when his large hands parted her again, and she gazed down between their bodies, watching as he smoothed over her skin, his burnished hand caressing pale, pink curves.

For the first time, she noted the ring he wore on one hand. A raised crest with a six-sided star, a large blood-red cabochon at the center and small multi-colored jewels studding each point of the star—all sitting atop a crudely made ring that looked forged from brass and iron. Light refracted off the center of the cabochon and the smooth stone seemed to glow for a moment until he moved his hand again and the illusion faded.

She quickly lost interest in the ring when his hand slid down her belly and cupped her pussy. Two fingers eased inside her, and she sucked in a breath that hissed through clenched teeth.

“Have I hurt you?” he asked, his raised brows showing no particular concern, only curiosity.

“No, but your fingers feel cold inside me.”

“That’s because your woman’s channel is hot.” Long, thick fingers swirled inside her. “And wet. I find I’m very, very thirsty.”
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The contest continues! Post a comment here today to qualify for one contest. See details in Thursday’s post about the prizes and how to win my newsletter contest!

I overslept today. Not a bad thing, I guess, since I’m trying to kick this cold. Anyway…back to the book. What’s not to love about a story where a woman is torn between two men—one the honorable werewolf warrior, Guntram, and her captor, the mysterious and compelling Marduk, the Master of the Demons. Haven’t met him yet? Read on!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gabriella pounded the demon’s back, her head still tucked close, until she grew weary. Her body shuddered with her strained, quivering gasps and soft sobs. The pummeling was only tiring her, while the monster that carried her didn’t flinch once or slow his steady pace. When sunlight warmed her upturned bottom, she turned her head to take a peek.

They’d left the dim hall and entered blazing sunshine. Beneath her was a walkway paved with golden sandstone and framed by crenellated rock. Beyond the notched wall to one side spread a sandy desert, to the other side stretched a fortress so enormous it took away her breath.

This was Hell?

The Master of the Demons ducked, and she grabbed for his waist to keep from swinging against doorframe. The stone-walled passage led to a stairwell that circled downward. At a wooden door, he kicked it open and strode inside, bending farther to deposit her in the middle of a nest of satin pillows.

She scrambled backwards on a large bed as soon as he released her, scraped away her tears with the backs of her hands, and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what you think is going to happen,” she said, her voice low and fierce, “but I’ll fight you.”

His strange dark eyes glittered, and he snorted. Then he turned away, and at last, she drew a deep breath, ready to gather her scattered wits and figure out just how bad her situation was.
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The contest continues! You have two more chances to win today! Post a comment here and at Everybody Needs A Little Romance. See details in yesterday’s post about the prizes and how to win my newsletter contest!

Want one really good reason for why you have to read Darkness Captured? One name. Guntram Brandt.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are they doing?” Udo whispered harshly. “They know we’re here, and that we tortured one of their own. Are they so cowardly that they won’t come out to fight us?”

Guntram peered through the spokes of the iron gate as the lights inside the mansion were extinguished one by one. “Tell the men to prepare themselves.”

“But I don’t see them.”

“You won’t. Not until it’s too late.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the breeze rustling the branches overhead built. He turned his gaze toward the canopy above him, and then heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
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From now until the end of September, you have several chances
to win as part of the release party to celebrate the last of the Dark Realm books, Darkness Captured.

Newsletter Member Contest

This contest is intended for my newsletter subscribers. If you aren’t already one, here’s the link! DD’s Newsletter

I love finding out more about your preferences, so come take a tour of my site and answer some questions. Email your answers with the subject line Newsletter Members Contest to: delilahdevlincontests@gmail.com.

There will be two lucky winners chosen by a random number generator from the answers to the questions below, plus one winner chosen from the comments on my blog from now until and including September 21, 2010 comments. Winners will be contacted privately by email and listed in the next newsletter. (Please note that your privacy is important, so only your first name will be used in the announcement.)

Prizes: 1) A tote bag signed by the authors attending Lora Leigh’s Readers Appreciation Weekend filled with: a one-of-a-kind beaded bookmark and necklace, an assortment of Delilah’s latest print releases, autographed of course. 2) A gift certificate from Amazon.com for $50.00. 3) AND…a separate blog commenter prize of a surprise gift pack from Lora Leigh’s Reader’s Appreciation Weekend

Questions…

1. What do you like best about my new website and/or newsletter design?

2. Which book or series of mine is your favorite? If you’re new to my books, which book or series is on your wish list?

3. Read an excerpt on my site and tell me what you liked best about it. If you became suddenly addicted to reading excerpts at my site, tell me how many you read in one sitting.

4. Have you read any of my free reads? Tell me your favorite. Not sure where they are? HINT – check out the extras section at my site, which includes more ‘free stuff’ for readers and booksellers. If you haven’t read any yet, tell me which one you just downloaded and hope to read soon.

5. What’s the title of my book that releases on September 21, 2010 and where can you buy it? What makes you want it most: the cover, the blurb, or the excerpt?

6. Please include your full name, mailing address, and a statement that you’re over 18 years old to speed up the delivery of your prize should you be chosen. Your mailing information will only be used if you win.

Email your answers with the subject line: Newsletter Members Contest to delilahdevlincontests@gmail.com. They must be sent to the special contest email address to be included. All entries must be received by September 30th, 2010. Thanks and good luck!

I’m running TWO contests.
1) One offering a $25 gift certificate from Amazon to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR. This contest ends today! See details here!
2) The second is my usual thing. You post a comment here today and you’re eligible for a free download of any of my backlisted books.

Yesterday’s winner is posted at the end of this entry.

I went to bed last night with sniffles, and today I have a full-blown cold (hacking cough, runny nose, general aches and pains, aching back from cough). It’s looking iffy for my trip to West Viriginia on Thursday. I hope this is a really fast-moving bug, but if I’m not better, I won’t inflict myself on two hundred other people.

So back to tomorrow’s release. You know the story’s going to be hot as hell. And the reason has to do with the Kinzie brothers, who don’t get the girl at the end of Four Sworn.

Keep in mind this book is unedited because I’m still writing it, but I thought you might like a sneak peek.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chrissi Page raised her cell phone in the air, staring at the screen. No bars. Not even a hint of one skinny, green nub. “Oh, come on,” she moaned as her radiator hissed behind her. “Damn, damn, damn.”

She’d been tempted to ignore the check engine light when it first appeared, wanting to take the chance she could limp back into Two Mule. However, the steam seeping from under the hood had pretty much killed that hope.

Today was not the day for her car to break down. Not so far from town. Not so close to their ranch. Any minute now one of the Kinzie brothers might happen by.

They’d stop because they’d never leave a woman stranded.

They might not let her go because of their shared past.

And she didn’t know if she had the strength anymore to fight fate or her own inexplicable needs.

Macy Pettigrew, her best friend and boss, had sent her to the Dunstan house to make sure the owners had followed her suggestions to increase the house’s curb appeal. Never mind that there wasn’t a curb. Not really even a road—more of a caliche-covered goat trail that meandered up a steep hillside, rutted from runoff during recent summer storms.

Something must have happened to her car on the run up that hill. She’d heard the rocks pinging against her undercarriage but had been too busy with her mind filled with Ms. Dunstan’s handsome neighbors. She’d been afraid she’d pass them or that they might stop in to see old Lettie Dunstan, the widow selling off her roughhewn home.

Chrissi had forced a smile on her face, looked at the potted plants the old woman had placed in pretty window boxes and admired the paint she’d used to spruce up the weathered door and window frames. The junk the old woman’s husband had accumulated, and that she hadn’t had the heart to part with after his passing, was gone from the front lawn. And lo and behold, grass was beginning to grow to fill in the brown patches where car engines and tires had lain.
Macy would be pleased. They had a potential buyer. One who’d relayed an offer via email, and which had checked out with the mortgage lender.

Chrissi heard a powerful engine rev behind her, and she slowly lowered her arms and glanced nervously over her shoulder. A sage metallic pick-up truck pulled off the road behind her, and her stomach dropped to her toes. She’d known the moment her engine light had shone that this was going to happen.

And good Lord, it had to be Ezra Kinzie. His dark gaze narrowed on her through the windshield, the intensity of it feeling like the hissing heat of a brand against her skin.
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I’m running TWO contests.
1) One offering a $25 gift certificate from Amazon to celebrate the release of PLEASING SIR. This contest ends tomorrow! See details here!
2) The second is my usual thing. You post a comment here today and you’re eligible for a free download of this story (or another if you’ve already read this one).

Yesterday’s winner is posted at the end of this entry.

I’ll admit it. Sometimes, when I sit down to write a book, I’m bored. That’s when I start asking myself what I can do to make a story different from anything I’ve written or read. I look for a flaw—something most people couldn’t overlook—then spend the story finding ways to get my characters to do just that.

That’s what happened with Unforgiven. How many books have you read where the hero or heroine cheated? I mean really cheated—not those mistaken identity things, or she walked in when the rival launched herself into his arms thing.

I wasn’t sure I could do it. And I knew it was a hot button item for a lot of people, but I seriously got a lot less flack about it than I thought I would. Face it. It happens more than we would like. Even to basically good people. Enjoy the excerpt. Tomorrow, I’ll be here with a sneak peek at the story that follows Four Sworn.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“…Delilah Devlin’s scorching and unforgettable story UNBRIDLED, has been followed up by the equally hot and mesmerizing UNFORGIVEN… As with any Devlin tale, the sex is so hot it should come with a burn notice. But more importantly, you get pages packed with so much emotion it chokes you…”
4.5 Cherries, Whipped Cream Reviews

“…Delilah Devlin gives a sneak peek into the head of a sexy cowboy whose old fashioned values conflict with his unrelenting desire for a woman who he feels has not lived up to his ideals. We also see a woman who is willing to bend her code for a man who does not necessarily have a big enough heart to deserve her love. Watching the two try to find a middle ground is what makes UNFORGIVEN such an entertaining read.”
5 Angels, Fallen Angels Reviews

How does a man get over a cheating woman? Sweet revenge…

For Cutter Standifer, the pretty little redhead who opened a café in Two Mule, Texas was “the one.” Until he caught her in a compromising position with the town’s worst womanizer. To further strain his rigid code, his little sister just married the same damn bastard who shattered his world and is living in sin with him and another man.

A year later, he still can’t forgive his ex-girlfriend. And forget? Forget, hell. He’s ready kick his code into the nearest manure pile and take what he never had from her—full satisfaction.

That fateful morning, all Katie Grissom meant to do was use the bad boy’s reputation to force Cutter to piss or get off the pot where their own relationship was concerned. But she went too far—deliciously too far—giving Cutter an eyeful she lived to regret.

When Cutter offers her a no-strings affair she jumps at the chance, hoping to either break through the rigid wall he’s built around his heart…or get him out of her system for good.

Warning: When a hard-as-nails cowboy finally lets loose on the only woman he’s ever loved expect the loving to get hot enough to melt a cold, cold, heart—toys, front and slammin’ backdoor sex are only the beginning…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cutter Standifer stuck his finger inside the collar of his dress shirt and tugged. Damn thing felt tight. And every time he glanced at the bride and grooms, it just got tighter.

His little sister had wanted to be married in the sunshine, so they’d chosen the lawn on the south side of the house in front of his mother’s rose garden. He’d had landscapers working around the clock to clean up the overgrown flower beds. No one would find fault with the yard, the house or with the celebration he’d paid for. However, if they didn’t finish up quick, everyone’s Sunday-best clothing would be drenched in perspiration.

June in West Texas was hot as hell even though they’d scheduled the ceremony for just before noon.

If his mother had been here, she’d have approved his preparations. He’d done his duty. Dani looked prettier than the pink and yellow roses blooming in the background. She wore their mother’s white wedding dress, which had only needed a few tucks around the waist to fit and left too much of her tanned shoulders and chest bare for his liking. She’d twisted her long blonde hair up into some kind of knot that made her neck and shoulders look feminine, fragile and innocent. No one looking at her now, with her green eyes soft and bright with unshed tears and her lips curved into a wide smile, would know she was anything but fragile. And she damned sure wasn’t innocent.

Cutter jerked when the people seated around him erupted in a loud cheer.

The official groom bent Dani over his arm and kissed her like he wasn’t going to stop until her stays popped and he had her naked and under him. The crowd enjoyed his enthusiasm.

Cutter’s stomach clenched and he looked away. Not until the bridal couple had trailed down the aisle toward the house and the reception did he stir.

And then he moved like an old man, taking his time following the wedding guests inside, listening as music poured out the door onto the wrap-around porch.

Reluctantly, he reminded himself his duty wasn’t done quite yet. He had a party to oversee. Just a couple more hours and he could close the doors on the last guest and settle down to getting stinking drunk.

He wondered if anyone else who’d been watching had caught on to the fact the best man had looked every bit as happy as the bastard who’d placed the ring on his kid sister’s finger. Rowe Ayers, the best man, had beamed every time he looked at Dani—and at Justin Cruz.

As Cutter stepped into the ballroom, he caught sight of the threesome again and his stomach churned with disgust. Rowe was with the bridal couple, still smiling. First at Dani, and then at Justin.

What the fuck did that mean? Cutter didn’t really want to know. The thought of his sister, sandwiched between those two bastards was bad enough. The thought that maybe there was something happening between the two men… Well, it just wasn’t something he could let himself think about and not lose his breakfast.
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