Here’s a sneak peek at one of my March releases, Obsessed, which is being published by Simon and Schuster’s Strebor Books line. Keep in mind it’s unedited, so all errors are my own.

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On an uncharacteristic whim, an obsessive, uptight woman vacations at an island resort where she learns to surrender to her disorderly, capricious, and wanton inner self.

Briana’s pristine life has recently gone downhill after she realized her perfect marriage was a sham. Weighed down by the burdens of her impending divorce, this “starter wife” calls the number printed on a postcard for a limited-time offer at an exotic island retreat. Upon arriving at the fantasy sex resort, Briana is confronted with all of her old hang-ups. Desperately wanting to change, she throws herself into the wildly erotic pleasures presented to her—freeing herself from her heartbreaking past and the inhibitions that have always held her back in life.

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

Briana felt as though a vise tightened around her ribcage. She couldn’t breathe. She stood frozen, staring into his impassive face.

Malaki held out the package, and she lifted her arms automatically to receive it.

“Tell me what frightens you most,” he said quietly, his arms falling to his sides. “Being virtually naked in front of this crowd?”

Numb with shock, she was surprised she could manage to speak. “That prospect is certainly unnerving.” Gawd, what a dumb thing to say. And a huge fricking understatement!

“But it’s not the scariest part, is it?”

Her vision blurred as tears began to fill her eyes. Now he’d get an even bigger dose of the weirdness that was her. “Touching them…I’m afraid to touch them.”

“You touched me,” he said, firmness underlying his gentle tone.

That caught her attention. “Yes, I did.”

“I’m as much a stranger to you as any of them. Why do you think you could take my hand and accept my caress?”

“Because I wanted it so damn much,” she whispered, humiliated to admit it.

“Then want this.”
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Here’s a sneak peak at the second story in Texas Men, due out in March 2009. Keep in mind this excerpt is very, very naughty and involves a spanking bench, two sexy cops, a plug…well, you’ll see.

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“No use fighting. You’ll injure yourself, baby.”

“I’m not your baby.”

“Not yet, but you’ll be my playmate for the rest of tonight anyway. You agreed. You stepped across that threshold.”

“I’ve changed my mind. I want it out now. And I’m gonna shove that goddamn plug up your ass, bastard.”

“You’re just a little scared, aren’t you kitten?” Logan said.

Sarah lifted her head, and then held it erect as she watched Logan strip off his tee. His chest was massive, muscled slabs arranged in layers like sedimentary stone. Dark hair, thick and slightly wavy furred his tanned chest nipple to nipple, then arrowed downward to disappear into his jeans.

“You want to see the rest?” Read the rest of this entry »

This book’s been out a for a few months, but I don’t remember ever sharing an excerpt from my story in the anthology. So, I thought I’d correct that oversight today. The story is called “Viper’s Bite” and features a character from the My Immortal Knight series. Viper appeared in All Hallows Heartbreaker as a very bad dude, and then we saw an inkling of what was really going on with him in Navarro. I hope you enjoy! ~DD

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“You know, they have a dress code here,” she murmured, eyeing his black leather jacket and T-shirt, and then letting her glance slide quickly down his legs before rising again. A faint blush tinged her pale cheeks.

Viper’s eyelids dipped. “I’m not planning on going inside. I was waiting…for someone.”

“Lucky girl,” she said softly, then shook her head again. “It’s not like I have reservations or anything, and I’m not dressed for it either. I’m not really sure why I stopped…”

His glance panned the line of people waiting patiently for their numbers to be called by the restaurant hostess who roamed outside, taking names on a clipboard. “Would you like to go somewhere else?” he said, quickly, not wanting to let her go just yet, needing to work the moment in order to build her trust.

Time stretched between them. Her gaze flitted down the row of well-lit shops, still open with people walking leisurely along the covered walkway. A soft evening mist muted the glare of the streetlamps and the sounds of the people passing them by as they stood at the bottom of the steps leading into the trendy restaurant.

“I promise I don’t bite,” he said, fighting the urgency building in his body to keep his words light and casual. “We can just take a walk. Find a cup of coffee, if you like.”

He wanted her to say yes, without any extra “persuasion” from him. Wanted her to choose him of her own free will.

A long indrawn breath lifted her chest, and she gave him a small, tentative smile. “There’s a Starbucks at the end of the strip.”

Warmth seeped into his chest. And although he knew tomorrow he’d pay a heavy price, he needed to spend tonight…with her.
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Just so y’all don’t think I’ve been resting on my laurels, here’s a peek at the book I finished last week for Ellora’s Cave. Lockdown is the sequel to my dark paranormal, Sin’s Gift.

What happens when demons take over a cellblock?

Around nine o’clock when prisoners were beginning to settle in front of the television or into little groups to chat quietly, Gillian’s mike squawked. “Priest, got a new ten-fifteen. Needs an escort.”

She hadn’t been briefed about their procedures for bringing in new prisoners, but she had read the manual. Didn’t seem any different from Bentonville’s SOP. She headed out of the housing unit to West Gate’s “Sally Port.” A white van was pulled up close to the port. A sheriff’s deputy was outside the vehicle chatting to with the officer manning the gate when she walked up to them.

“Got fresh meat,” the officer said.

Gillian wasn’t entirely sure whether he was talking about the prisoner being led up in leg irons toward the gate or her. And a glance at his twisted lips told her the ambiguity had been deliberate. She lifted her chin and held out her hand for the clipboard with the papers describing their requisition of a new prisoner, named Gabriel Vlahos.

Inmate number 140849 now. Chains rattled, feet shuffled as the prisoner rounded the end of the van.

Gillian’s eyes widened a fraction and she quickly looked at the clipboard again to gather her scattered wits. She’d only lost them a second.

It didn’t matter how beautiful the man was. The papers said he’d killed. But no matter the crime or the length of his sentence, the white jumpsuit rendered him forever off limits to her.
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Thought you’d enjoy a snippet of something else that’s coming sometime in the near future from Ellora’s Cave. This is unedited, so be kind about the typos!

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Jane Emerson parted the blinds to sneak a peek into the yard next door. The lawn mower had finally fallen silent, which meant Bruno Martir had finished with that chore. Soon, he’d be moving along the fence as he turned to the next job.

She’d gotten accustomed to his afternoon habits. Knew he preferred yard work while Cord washed cars in the drive. Cord hadn’t finished working on his SUV, so there was still plenty of time to put her plan into action.

Her gaze slid covetously over Bruno’s lean body. His T-shirt had long ago been stripped away. Grass shavings clung to his broad shoulders and ripped abdomen. Sweat darkened the brown hairs that lightly furred his chest and thick thighs.

She licked her lips, already tasting the salt of his sweat and cum. This was it. One last shot at putting the topping on her vacation. Through with playing coy and dropping increasingly un-subtle hints, she was going for broke. If he didn’t take the bait this time, she’d have to assume she didn’t have the equipment to attract a stud like the fireman next door. Maybe his roommate Cord was more than just his best buddy, which would be a crying damn shame—at least for Jane’s plans.

Grabbing up her boom box and sunscreen, she tightened the belt on her robe and headed down the stairs, not even trying to stem the flow of excitement dampening her short curls. She’d promised herself an elicit adventure. Something to wear like a badge of courage when she finally returned home. She might have been dumped for a fitness instructor, but she was still attractive, still sexy. To prove it to herself today, she’d be shameless.
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Yesterday, I promised an excerpt from my upcoming Ellora’s Cave release. If you need another fix of the hottie on the cover, he’s right below! ~DD

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“Either he’s the dumbest terrorist I’ve ever seen, or he wants to get caught.”

Casey McTaggert blinked at the burly Military Intelligence officer beside her and pushed her glasses back up her nose. She wasn’t accustomed to sitting thigh-to-thigh with a man—and definitely not one of such awesome proportions. She wasn’t sure whether she liked it or not, but the skittering nervousness that gripped her each time she addressed him was…interesting.

“Khalid’s not a terrorist, and he isn’t stupid,” she shouted over the roar of the turbine engine and the whomp-whomp of the helicopter’s blades.

Captain Sorensen snorted and turned his attention back to his small handheld satellite link-up. “I’ll take your word on the first,” he said, in his thick Texas accent, “but the bastard’s headin’ straight toward the southern wall. You’d think he’d zag at least once.”

Scooting as close as her harness allowed, Casey peered down at the small screen showing the infrared feed. Khalid Razeh’s pale-colored SUV traveled in the dark down a rugged, gravel road at a fast clip.

“Does he think he can outrun the border patrol’s Incident Response Team?”

She shrugged, unwilling to share at the moment what she thought about the Afghani national’s most recent activities.

The square-jawed soldier didn’t appear to want her opinion anyway and continued to scowl at the screen. “It’s like he’s telegraphin’ his destination—hasn’t veered off his course once. If he knows we’ve spotted him, I have to wonder whether he’s just tryin’ to draw us out.” He pounded his fist against his thigh. “Shit!”

Sorensen unsnapped his tactical radio mike from the shoulder strap of his web gear. “Oscar-three-one, this is tango-four-niner, over.”

“This is oscar-three-one.”

“Scramble the anti-artillery. We may be headin’ into an ambush.”

Casey tugged at his sleeve. “Captain, I really don’t think that’s something we have to worry about. I believe he intends to turn himself over to us.”

“He’s a wily fucker—pardon my French, ma’am. I’m not takin’ any chances with my team. And get that damn helmet back on!”
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Hot Blooded is in the can!

The draft is done. I’ll give it one more read-through before I ship, but if you’d like to see what I’ve been up to, here’s where we first see the hero and heroine together. Now, back to Texas Men.

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Hot Blooded

Sunlight broke through the clouds by mid-afternoon. Although the rain had stopped an hour before, chaos still reigned in the park. All the low water crossings were impassible. Climbers and hikers all along the trails had been stranded. When the Canyon Volunteer Fire Department called the ranch, Adam Youngblood bit back a curse.

The last place he wanted to be today was anywhere near the park and one particular little park ranger. But he headed straight for the headquarters building near the entrance of the park where the rangers had organized search parties to rescue stranded campers and hikers.

Mavis Benson who manned the information desk sidled close to him with a clipboard in her hands. “Adam,” she said hesitantly.

“What do you need, Mavis?”

“We have a situation.”

He glanced at the organized chaos around him and nodded his head. “We certainly do.”

She pulled at his shirtsleeve and tilted her clipboard toward him. “Cass–Fortress Cliff–0800,” was scribbled in purple ink. “She hasn’t checked back in.”

Adam didn’t want to care. In fact, he hated the way his belly knotted at that piece of news. “Have you sent anyone to check it out?”

“They’re still assigning teams to sections of the park. Thought you might like to take this one yourself,” she whispered, her eyebrows rising.

Adam grimaced, tempted to tell her flat out she had the wrong man for the job. She didn’t know his interest in Cass McIntyre had been obliterated the night before.

However, he didn’t want to tarnish the trust and respect shining in Mavis’s eyes whenever he entered the building. Mavis was a lifelong resident of the nearby town of Canyon and attended the same church his mother had.

Adam blew out a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll take a look around the cliff.” Read the rest of this entry »