Easter Blog Hop

Welcome to the Easter Egg Blog Hop. If you just stumbled on this post, head over to Christa Page's blog, where the fun began. You'll find a lot of eye candy on the tour, as well as a basket full of ebooks. Enjoy browsing my site, where I'm featuring my PRINT release of Bait.  You should have come from Paige Tyler's blog, and once you find the Easter egg on my site, it will take you to the next one in line. The entry form to win the Easter Basket of goodies is at the end of the tour.

Hot Excerpt:
He leaned back in his own tub across from mine. “See? A few questions and already we begin to know each other. Nothing to worry about--I don't bite--not unless you want me to.”



Thick lashes made dark half moons under his closed eyes. He feigned disinterest. The steam beaded on his pale smooth skin. Some of those beads slipped down his face, tracing a line from his jaw, to his neck, then along his well defined chest.


I wanted to do bad things with him. I wanted to reach over and lick the beads off his chin then work my way down. I wanted to stroke my hands along...


“Rabbit?”


“Yeah?” My gaze rose from tracing the streams into his blazing stare.


He enjoyed my admiration. “Would you like me to ... bite you?”


“Not yet. What? I mean, no. Thank you.” Thinking was hard enough with Rurik fully clothed. Now it was impossible. I could tell I entertained him to no end. “Are you hungry?”


“Yes, but not for your blood.” The edges of his eyes crinkled with his grin as he showed fang.


I was tired of him taking the lead in our rapport. My job dealt in seduction, yet since I’d met him, I’d lost control. He teased me with his flirtation and his body but two could play this game.


Self-confidence stirred back up, I turned away from Rurik and reached to get a sponge from the table. My movements exposed the length of my spine and a little more, just enough to make him think he got a peek.


His eyes burned along the curves of my hips and shoulders. They left my skin scalded with his desires. It’s been a long time since I dared play this game with such stakes on the table. Did I dare collect the pot if I won?


I knelt in the water, still facing away from him, and shook my hair free of its ponytail. The sponge spilled water as I squeezed it over my head. Warm and delicious it ran down my heated skin. I repeated this over and over until my hair was soaked. The tangle of my frizzed out poof tamed to soft curls once more.


“Why do you insist on calling me Rabbit?” My question floated on the steam in the room across to him.


“Rabbits are soft, quick, sweet creatures. You bring to mind a favorite poem.” The hunger in his voice made it deeper, almost sensual.


“Run, rabbit, run


Try to get away.


Run, rabbit, run


I've come out to play.


Run, rabbit, run


For it's the end of the day.”

The poem sent shivers down my spine. 'Run, rabbit, run' was what he shouted as he shoved me out the window. Another shiver followed. Soft, quick, and sweet. He described me as prey. This was not a man but a vampire. If he liked me, did that make me safer or more tempting?

The splash of water landing on the floor caused me to look over my bare shoulder. Rurik retrieved a bottle of shampoo and paced back towards me. Bodies like Rurik's were made for fantasies. Lean, long muscles moved under his skin, his actions graceful and strong. His heavy lidded glare made me feel like his thoughts could travel places his hands hadn't touched.

“Let me wash your hair.”


I looked at him, cynical of his offer.


“So wary.”

“Can you blame me?” I didn't know if I was ready for this, I wanted to be. It had been a long time since I was intimate with anyone. The need in my body encouraged me along this path of seduction. Rurik represented most women's wet dream but a heaviness in my heart held me back, twisting me up inside like a knot. Sex could never be just a physical thing, my heart always got dragged into it, and in the end, it was broken.

“It's good to be wary. I am a predator after all.” He knelt by my tub. “Indulge me. I like to do this.” For a fleeting moment, a touch of vulnerability peaked through the veil of intense, blue eyes. A yearning for my acceptance. It flashed so quickly, I doubted if it was real.


“Lean your head back and put your hair over the edge.”

“The water will spill onto the floor.”


“That's what the drain is for. Take it easy, I won't mislead you ... again.” A soft smile touched those full kissable lips.

My hair did need a wash. Who was I kidding? I wanted to feel his touch. It had ignited an inferno when he held me last night. I gave in to my dark side and did as he asked.

He took the sponge and squeezed more hot water over my hair, making sure it was saturated. He then worked the shampoo through the tangles of curls. His strong fingers massaged my scalp, my forehead, and down behind my ears. They made firm, confident circular motions.

The tension in my neck melted away where he applied pressure, kneading those sore tight knots. Tingles ran along my nerves wherever our skin pressed together. The spark of desire grew more intense.

The strength of his hands caressed the tender muscles of my shoulders. My moan echoed in the room as the pleasure bordering pain pulled from my injuries.

The floor ran slick with steaming water and soap as he began to rinse my head. He abandoned the sponge to use his hands to scoop water from my tub over my hair. His fingers ran through the curls, gently tugging them. It felt wonderful. This was the first time I allowed a man to do this. The pull on the strands increased with each pass of his hand, pulling me up out of the water, arching my back in response to the delicate pain.

He gathered a handful of my hair and pulled forcefully trapping me with my back arched against the edge.

He whispered in my ear. “Run, rabbit, run, try to get away.” He slowly moved to the other ear. “Run, rabbit, run, I've come out to play.” He pulled harder on my hair making the pain a little sharper. I cried out in surprise. “Run, rabbit, run, for it's the end of the day.”

He sipped at the water running down my neck making his way to my shoulder. The pulling eased but he didn't release me. “Sweet, sweet, Connie.” His cool breath flowed down my skin raising goose flesh, making my exposed nipples harden. Only then did I realize how shockingly far out of the water I'd raised myself. I tried to cover up with my hands but the tension on my hair increased.

He released it but I felt his hands run under mine to cup my breasts as he continued to rain kisses down to the hollow of my neck. His teeth dragged along my skin as if to test my skin for tenderness. I had almost forgotten how it felt to have someone touch me. A fire built inside of my chest where his hands kneaded me. I took all my loneliness and grief then shoved them into this inferno. It burned.

Lifting me from the tub, he pressed my back to his solid chest. He was hard against me. His hands explored my skin and his mouth consumed mine.

My body screamed 'yes' but my soul wasn't ready. The passion dissolved into guilt, as similar memories were dragged from the corners of my mind. An old familiar hurt twisted my heart as a vision of my dead husband returned.

Oh and... something for you Joann.

We'll be running the hop all weekend, so if you have to take a break from all of these hotties, just bookmark the page, and return to the tour at your convenience.  Happy hunting, and good luck! Click HERE for the next link.

I have finished the first draft of Catch Book Two of The Angler series and hope to have it submitted by April 1st. While I edit this manuscript my thoughts are already turning to my next project. I've been wanting to write this story since last June and am anxious to get started.

I'm not going to give out any details about the story but I am searching for a hero. He's shy and won't tell me much about himself. What I've gleened so far is that he's a good man. My characters tend to develope as I write them but I usually have more than that to work with. LOL

His sense of humor, what little that he has, will be dry. I think I want to make him not very likable at first. Serious, withdrawn, and focused he'll lack charm and personablity.

Here's the problem, I can't picture what he'll look like. I've been searching the net for a picture of him to work with but can't decide. Here are my choices. Which one do you like?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Before you vote remember that they are not playing the characters they portrayed in movies. My hero will not be James Bond or Wolverine. So, who would you pick?

What the Heck is Wrong with the Weather

It’s forty degrees in Florida and fifty in Vermont. All my snow has melted and I’m thinking about gardening but it’s March. I’ve never gardened in March.


I find myself worrying about the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. They are predicting a third one in the North West hemisphere due to those shifts. That means Alaska, California, or Hawaii. The Chile one may have shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day according to NASA by 3 seconds. Earthquakes can involve shifting hundreds of kilometers of rock by several meters, changing the distribution of mass on the planet. This affects the Earth’s rotation much like an ice skater spinning and holding out there arms. The further from their bodies the slower the spin, the same thing applies to our planet.

I understand these new changes are not affecting the weather today but how will it change in the long run?

Global temperatures increased for twenty years from the late 1970s to the late 1990s but have been cooling the last eleven years. The global warming and subsequent cooling were predictable due to hundreds of years of trends and observation of the impact of variations in solar activity on global temperature.

Did you know that the Roman Period and Medieval Period were both several degrees warmer than today's temperature. The world then cooled at least four degrees from 1450 to 1850. This period was called the Little Ice Age (a period of glacial advance, the same glaciers that are in retreat today). These temperature variations were not caused by man. They were caused entirely by natural forces.

Nothing is within our control and we can adapt. I’ve spent hours researching weather patterns, trends, and earthquakes. What did I learn?

Shit happens. Deal.

The things I worry about today, people worried about them twenty years ago. I read articles about odd weather in France where the amount of rain that down poured on them poisoned the Seine and the river got clogged by three tons of dead fish. *gasp* I checked the date. It happened over a decade ago. *sigh* Weird things happen. I wish they didn’t but I’ll stop obsessing about it now and go plan my garden.

This Sums Up My Week.

Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed:

'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.'



Poof! . . . God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.



After witnessing that, the second man prayed: 'God, please give me

Strength and the tools to cross the river'



Poof! . . . God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.



Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed:

'God, Please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the River'



Poof! . . . He was turned into a woman.

She checked the map, hiked one Hundred yards up the stream and walked across the bridge.

*high fives* Any woman who understands what I mean.

Got a Great Review today

What a way to start a day. It's always good to begin with a positive attitude but sometimes life gets in the way and it's easy to forget the silver lining.  This is a big positive so it's easy for me remember but it doesn't need to such grand gestures.

My day would have started great anyway because my five year old asked me snuggle him for a few minutes before he went off to school. That small gift gave pleasure.

Remember the small things each morning, they add up.

Now for the review by HEART:

"By the time I was a couple of pages into the story, I couldn't put it down. I mean I was really enjoying this story. The whole plot and all. Truly wonderful. I'm a real root-for-the-underdog kind of gal and this story spoke to me. I liked the world in which vampires and shifters were free to roam without fear of being found out and humans trying to kill them."

I give this story 5 hearts. Reviewed by  Jasmine

For the complete review click HERE.

My Writer’s Olympics

The finish line is in my sights. I’m in the stretch, only one more conflict to write then the HEA! Nothing feels better than finishing a book. I have this week off and plan on writing every single day until it’s done.

A fresh spanking new first draft, I can’t wait to start edits.

I wish I could knock out a novel every three months but unlike the best sellers I have a day job. LOL My mantra for this year is quality vs quantity. I’m really proud of this MS. It’s the second book in the Angler series and Connie is swept once more into vampire politics, scheming, and action.

How have you been?

Be My Valentine Blog Tour

Welcome to the tour! This is the link you need click if you've lost your way or happen to stumble onto this post. http://booknibbles.com/blogtour/list.html Leave a post on each blog on the list and you'll be entered into the contest to win some fabulous prizes. One of which will be my book Red Dawn. You have all weekend to do this and Sunday evening we'll announce the winners!

Lupercalia

A pagan holiday or the beginning of Valentine’s Day?

In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was celebrated on the 13, 14, and 15 of February. A celebration of fertility more than love, where the young men would strip naked and use dog or goat skin whips to spank the backsides of young women in order to improve their fertility.

Why did we let this tradition go? Sorry, I allowed my imagination to wander. The Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the middle of February to Christianize this pagan holiday. Things are tamer now but no one can tell what happens behind closed doors.

What kinks you're into.

Or how you'll spend your night or whole day.

I know how I'd like to be spending mine.

If your looking to add some heat to your reading and like the paranormal check out my book The Omegas. If adventure, vampires, and main stream heat is more to your taste then BAIT should interest you. If hawt, sexy aliens are more to your liking then Red Dawn just released!

How are you spending your weekend?