My second book in The Furies Series comes out today, Furious Temptation, you can snatch a copy over at Secret Cravings Publishing or you can wait until next Monday when it will be out on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles as well as other third parties. Either way, my book is out in the world. The book that nearly didn't get completed because it took me so long to figure out where the plot was going so I could feel confident following it. I'm both proud and kind of wanting to hide in case no one likes the second book...so, I'll be over in the corner, blowing a noise maker and hiding under a blanket at the same time.
Blurb:
For millennia
Megaera, a Fury, has functioned as Hades right hand by passing judgment on
demons who break the sacred laws. Stalwart in her moral compass, but
harboring a curse triggered by rage, she walks a thin line between perfection
and destruction. But when she digs into a case uncovering a string of
demon rapes, she incites a war with Mount Olympus that could ripple chaos
throughout the ages.
Omen
Cole was demon made during the Civil War after repeated torture at the hands of
his enemies. Sentenced to an eternity as watchdog over his
emotionally frail, once human ex-wife, he’s haunted that he couldn’t save her
from a brutal assault.
Now it’s
happened again. And Megaera needs his testimony. Omen will sell his body—and
anything else—to avenge his fragile ex-wife. If that means an alliance
with Megaera, he’ll make it the most memorable of their eternity.
Excerpt:
“Give me a chance, you won’t regret it. You
want out of this situation as much as we do. It would be more than worth your
trouble, I would guarantee that for you.” His fingers skipped across my
collarbone until my fingers shook at my sides and I shoved them onto the edge
of the bookcase behind me. I held onto the antique wood and pain twisted up my
wrists. But he didn’t move back. His lips remained poised against my ear, our
hair mingled, and his fingers danced on the only expanse of naked flesh on my
body.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you know by now?”
I couldn’t see his eyes, but
judging from his tone they were twinkling and bright with mischief. All the
anger he’d been carrying, every stubborn action had been wiped away and
replaced with misleading flirtation. And as much as I wanted to doubt him—he
was good. Embarrassingly so. Omen’s every attention spanned into a gapping
chasm of sex I’d all but put under lock and key. And then I swallowed that key.
Yet his teasing voice, small bursts of air from his conversation, still licked
across my skin in invisible caresses down my neck.
“Why don’t you tell me.”
If he was truly insinuating
what I thought he was whispering in my ear under lock and key as my prisoner I
wanted him to say the words. Because I couldn’t imagine he was desperate enough
to make the proposition outright. While my fingers scrambled, I navigated the
murkiness of my thoughts. If only he’d draw away. As if he meant to break me
down bodily before making me take leave of my senses. With the knowledge of his
manipulation came the tendrils of my anger that I’d been tamping down all day,
trying to bank the embers. Suppression was a nasty business.
As sexy as he wanted this
little meeting to be, I had a lovely secret weapon tucked in my pocketless
skirt suit. My rage had never been my friend before, but if she would keep me
from making a reckless mistake, right this second she was my BFF. Omen shifted
as if he knew something between us had changed. Surely the atmosphere between
us crackled with a different energy, one far more deadly than the reason I had
wanted my hands wound around his neck.
“I’ll do anything you want, be
anyone you want, if you give me this chance. Taking you into my bed would be
far from a hardship. In fact, I’ll go farther. I can’t stop thinking about you
beneath me. How well I’d love to treat your repressed little body so that my
name echoes in your mind because you’ve been crying it out for so many hours.
I’ll make this risk in the investigation merely a bump to get my attention, for
as long as you’ll have me. And for both our sakes, I hope you keep me for a
while. I don’t get bored easily.”
As his lies slid across my neck
I did the first thing that came to mind. While he was lost in his seductive
ploy, I lunged, wrapped my hand around his throat, and threw us both back onto
the bed so I was straddling him, pinning both his hands above his head. For a
beat I couldn’t recall whether or not my move was intentionally sexual or
not—but here we were—and judging by his obnoxious smirk he had a fine idea.
But I only needed one hand to
pin down his wrists, so I shifted in a blink and clasped my other hand around
his throat, erasing his cocky expression, as if I’d drained the light from the
room. His neutral expression held all the calculation of someone very, very
careful. And though I’m sure he wished to, he didn’t move a muscle beneath me.
Well, expect for the betrayal of his cock, which hardened between my thighs as
my skirt rode up higher on my outer thighs and I tried my best to act as if I
wasn’t enjoying our little moment together. I’d lose my high ground if I let
the smallest moan slip. No matter how hard it was to ignore his pleasant
pressure between my legs as his hard cock rubbed against my pussy.
I tried to remind myself I held
all the cards when his gaze locked with mine. Neither of us spoke a word,
waiting for my answer to his ludicrous proposition. He couldn’t be serious. Not
when his charm and good looks got him in with my secretary as much as any other
woman he’d seduced in his lifetime. I was one of many, of that I was certain.
Even if he did look at me as if I was something special. And I’m sure he would
have fought my silent accusations—if I’d given him room to speak.
“Even if for a second I didn’t
see past your charade, Omen, I wouldn’t entertain the thought because it very clearly
breaks several codes of ethics. But thanks, for the offer. I really, really appreciate it.”
With a look of smug wickedness
I put emphasis into my words with every slow tilt of my hips against him as I
held him immobile against his bed. His eyes flashed. Whether with anger or
arousal I couldn’t care. Instead I slowly untangled us, tugged my skirt, and
smoothed it with my hands. Omen lay on the bed as if I hadn’t gotten off of
him. When he rubbed his neck with a few low noises in the back of his throat, I
didn’t hold an ounce of guilt for my actions. Even if I still sensed him flush
against my pussy.
“You still haven’t rejected my
prior offer. Does that mean it’s off the table even without the incentive?”
“No. If it means making my job
any easier I’ll allow you to see Claudette and follow your plan, but if it
doesn’t work expect me to be beyond displeased. And you won’t enjoy me when I’m
angry.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think I
can find many different ways to enjoy you.”
He half sat, leaning on his
hands on the bed so I got a peek at his bare chest through the straining
buttons of his button down which was rolled up at the sleeves. I crossed my
arms and raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t so gullible to fall for his act. No man
had wooed me before now and none would unless a group orgy was involved.
Granted, what Omen was offering was very one on one—but he only offered his
body as a substitute for manipulation. By taking him to my bed I’d be belaying
a weakness in my character.
And I had many flaws, but
weakness wasn’t one of them.
I silently reminded myself of
that as Omen straightened up entirely before wincing at the tent of his pants.
I wish I could have felt sorry for him, but my mind was otherwise occupied with
our more pressing problem. His erection would go away eventually and I would
continue dodging his roguish comments so long as the investigation lasted. If
he didn’t get sentenced for Claudette’s crime then the possibility of
entertaining him in a less formal capacity in my bedroom slunk around in the back
of my mind—but the likelihood of that was slim.
As if Omen read my mind he
smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“How do we proceed?”
