Let's Romance This Blog.

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Caught up in hurricane weather? Me, too.
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FREE READ,
my Greek Myth Fantasy Romance Novella,

No Funny Stuff!
*A Mission for the Muse of Comedy.
(I hope you find it a-musing.)

Here's my contribution to Romancing the Hop, an amorous excerpt from probably my most romantic book, my Sci-Fi Romantic Adventure, Luminous Nights. Here's a nibble of that:

 a 2011 Golden Quill nominee for Best Sci-Fi

 

Cop or convict?

How many faces can one man own?

       An assassin wearing a holographic mask and a prison tattoo boards Rachel’s freighter during a prison riot, intent on collecting gadgets capable of changing a man’s identity from the black-market gang who'd stolen them. Rachel’s never sure of Jack's identity nor his goal, but he claims to be an Alliance I-Marshal. Cop or convict? The clues never stop contradicting. She's horrified to find the bright holographic mask conceals the gruesome face of a monster. And the badge doesn’t slow him from murdering people right before her eyes.

       When Rachel learns Jack will trade innocent lives for the digital miracles, she determines to make the mercenary grow a heart.  How could a stone-cold killer kiss her so hotly? How could she kiss such a dangerous deceiver?

       Jack has done years in prison to learn who’d stolen the remaining Gemini ticks, 3-D magic. Nothing will keep him from gaining extreme technology capable of unleashing galaxy-wide chaos. Forget feelings for Rachel. She can’t stop him from killing everyone involved.

 ***

 Watch an adventure.

 ***

Here's a big romantic bite.
[ This excerpt is rated PG-13, but Jack is rated Rrrrr. ]

Coaxing her with flashes of his potent bedroom eyes, Jack broke the trade seal attesting to confection’s origin and taxed status. His sky-blue vision still hadn’t left her. He peeled away the foil at a slow pace, revealing four squares of dark chocolate made from a recipe responsible for starting bloody wars in the past and trade wars presently. The smell of the cocoa brandy wafted into the air, loosening her grip on her will.

“I still have a few surprises left for you.”

His smile revealed his thrill of possessing something few women could resist. His flashy eyes told her he reveled in teasing her, and Rachel never knew such joy. He was a one-man miracle to make her feel what she felt right now. Goose bumps ravished her just sitting beside him. Or was it the cocoa?

“Tell me,” the too-handsome Imperial Marshal said, seduction lacing his words, and he leaned closer to her. “What would you give me for a square of chocolate?”

Rachel smiled.

“Chocolate.” Spoken slowly, even the word flowed thickly over his tongue. His eyes portrayed rapture. Alone, he was a cauldron of temptation. With chocolate, he was irresistible. He worked to cut a deal. She’d noticed Jack was always negotiating an advantage for himself.

Weakness overcame her, and she laid back on the rug, pretending to expire from just the pleasure of the cocoa aroma. There wasn’t enough oxygen in the air.

He stretched out on the ratty rug beside her, balanced on a bent arm, close enough for her to smell his sandalwood scent mixing with the aroma of cocoa brandy. Rachel’s desire for the confection became a synergetic force acting on her, sparked by just the smell. Or was it his proximity? She didn’t know and was robbed of the care. Chocolate and Jack mixed an intoxicating cocktail.

Fiendish, he waved the square just above her lips, letting its smell seize control of her.

“Mm…” she murmured low, barely spoken, her voice hoarse. “Chocolate.”

Her eyes closed, and the scent of the chocolate, its cream, its cocoa smoothness, its erotica induced a sudden addiction, triggered a craving.

“You sadist.” Her smile was indelible.

Lying on her back, she opened her eyes, unable to suppress the pleasure of his nearness nor desire for the confection and his velvet voice, which now she imagined entwined. She closed her eyes again to cut out all other stimuli but the aroma of the chocolate and Jack, to experience them fully. Tingles cascaded through her body, pleasure and hunger coursing through her veins and settling into the core of her. She’d never felt that before.

“Come on, Rachel, face the sweetness.”

He wagged a square of chocolate centimeters from her lips. The best in Draco, and it was her favorite treat in the galaxy, though she’d only tried it once before and probably not so high a grade, at that. It had turned her to mush then, but she’d not admit that to him.

She reached for the square waved before her, and Jack yanked it away. “Oh, no! There’s a price on this chocolate.”

The smile fell from her face.

“Of course there is. What do you want?”

“A kiss,” he declared, intently watching her reaction.

A kiss? What’s a kiss? He’d kissed her before on her ship, an offer of his bedroom talents in exchange for information. She flushed, remembering that kiss. It had preset her to respond to his every sensual move, notice his walk, want him to stand a step closer.

He’d kissed her again when she’d saved them from Desmonda’s security force. A hot kiss that had almost made her forget he’d blackmailed her, had nearly cost her her life on Desmonda. But each of those kisses had been surprises, and she hadn’t responded to them.

When the aroma of the cocoa brought her back to his offer, it softened her fear of the high-tech mask he wore. The smell of the confection was hypnotic. Relief tickled her, made her thankful he didn’t require her full sexual services for a small piece of chocolate. She wouldn’t have done that, but it was what she’d expected of Jack. She was mildly disappointed to have been wrong.

“It’s a deal.”

When she reached again for the chocolate square he used to taunt her, he again snatched the candy back.

“Not just any kiss. No copping out, commit to it. I want a hot, full-participation kiss of passion and want from you. And your offering is subject to my approval. All or nothing.”

Rachel pursed her lips, a little worried. What would happen to the holographic mask he wore to maintain his golden false identity if they shared another full-contact kiss? If she opened her eyes so close to him, would she see the hideous cracks, the drips of blood on his tattooed face below the nanocomp trick and never want him to touch her again? Testing the mask was a worthy excuse to kiss him, but she was reluctant to see the scarred and horrific face of the killer again. Wasn’t it a research thing?

“Okay, a full-contact kiss, no holds barred.”

“And I get to put my arms around you.”

“Okay. All right, already. A kiss! Don’t write a laundry list of conditions.”

He held the little square out to her. If she took the chocolate, she couldn’t wiggle out of the kiss, assuming she really wanted to get out of her end of the deal. She’d be crazy to wish to escape that fate. He was a fantastic kisser. What was a little kiss anyway after he’d given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to save her life at the hot springs?

If she allowed him this one deep kiss, would she be able to put a stop to him if he pressed further? What if the chocolate was drugged? Would he do that to her? He’d once said in plain language he wasn’t worth trusting, but she couldn’t believe he’d harm her.

She watched him mash the chocolate square between his finger and thumb. The chocolate clung to his fingertips, shiny and thick, wonderful and melty. The newly released scent of the cocoa brandy floated to her nose again, compromising her strength.

He mashed the chocolate a little more before he brought his thumb to his mouth, and he consumed the glob of alien chocolate on one finger, his little groan of pleasure hammering at her resolve to keep this an impersonal kiss.

She was acutely aware he didn’t want an impersonal kiss.

“You’re a vicious tease, Jack.”

His eyes sparkled in delight.

Slow torture, he sucked the almost black sweetness from his thumb. She wished she was his thumb. Then he broke off another square and dangled it just above her lips.

Rachel closed her eyes and took in the chocolate from his hand, felt it melt and spread in her mouth, seducing her taste buds with the most exquisite cocoa experience, giving her entire body the sensation that she soared through the air on a spiritual lightness. Every cell of her being quickened, hypersensitive and at attention. The sweet taste took over her senses and made her weak. She made the chocolate last as long as possible, enjoying it fully.

She opened her eyes to see Jack above her, the look in his sky vision longing, the flames of the hearth boiling in his eyes. And she wanted him.

Commanding the moment, he slipped a hand into her loosely bundled hair and lowered his lips to hers. The persuasion of dark chocolate on his breath stole her into his kiss. She lost herself in a rush of ecstasy, the fine taste of Eltanin’s best splendid on his tongue, and his delicious weight pressed against her. Her hands went to his bare chest, and she savored the hard feel of him beneath her palms, his hair tickling her.

The soft exploration of his tongue excited her, breaking down her defenses when she’d thought herself spineless already. He made the chocolate taste better. His hand caressed her tresses, and he moaned as though just touching her that way held some ecstatic fortification. She wanted nothing more than for him to keep pressing her to the dirt floor with his big, hard body, insisting on his price. No man had ever kissed her like this. He awakened something long asleep inside her.

Parting from her much too soon, he released her from the chocolate kiss, his hand warm against her neck. She was bewitched by the sizzle of fingers stroking her from below her ear to her collarbone. Her eyes fluttered open to his golden masculine beauty, and her heart sank, aching a bit from his kiss too short. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breath ran quick. She wanted him to kiss her again, an unignorable desire building inside her now. She’d forgotten to open her eyes during the kiss to see under the projected mask, but under his spell, she didn’t care. She just wanted him to kiss her again.

His fluid vision swept over her features, hinting he might be feverish seconds away from another arousing kiss when they both heard the faraway song of Davi’s whistle playing the show tune they’d taught him.

Jack had done it, she recognized in quiet defeat. She’d fallen victim to his predatory eyes without much of a fight, his enticing kiss without battle. She’d fallen for all his I-Marshal mind tricks and charisma, and she hated herself for it. And loved herself for it. And hated herself for it.

Now, the arrival of Davi’s people was the moment she needed to reverse all this, take the safety of the planet’s natives out of the cop’s dangerous hands. She needed to snatch a clear mind from the spell of Jack and the chocolate, mingled. Just when they’d taken control of her.

Now Rachel would arrest Jack. And she already knew controlling the I-Marshal was an illusion. She'd never met a slicker manipulator than the one behind the 3-D shape-shifter mask he wore. Despite the fact she'd put cuffs on his wrists, she shuddered in consideration of Jack's next move. He'd already proven, there was little he couldn't control. And his plan to recover dangerous technology would cause the deaths of millions. A few million unimportant natives to save the hundred billion citizens who write his paycheck.

She had to stand up to him. Here was that moment.

*** 

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Buy Link: http://www.BookStrand.com/luminous-nights

ISBN#: ebook 1-60601-884-1 * Print 1-60601-885-X

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Michele Hart

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