http://www.smutketeers.com/
And don't forget, in order to be eligible for the big, grand prize, you'll need to comment on each of the twelve posts.
In the meantime, here's a Christmas-themed excerpt from The Spirit of the Place.
“So...what are you doing tomorrow?” [Jasmine] asked as they pulled up in
front of her house.
Brandon cut the engine and turned off the lights. “Tomorrow?
Not too much, why?”
“Well, because it’s Christmas, that’s why.”
“Yeah? So?” Christmas.
Right. And wasn’t that
special? Come to think of it, that
probably went a long way toward explaining his lousy mood tonight, didn’t
it? He walked around to her side,
intending to simply hand her the keys and leave, and then decided to walk her
to the door. After all, there was no
place he had to be and, with no one expecting him, he was in no hurry to get
there.
“Don’t you have any plans at all?” she persisted, as they headed
toward the house. “What about dinner?”
“I haven’t
really thought about it. Your aunt’s
going out somewhere, so I guess I’ll be on my own. Maybe I’ll go into town for dinner, or
something.” Or maybe he wouldn’t even
bother. How long could one day be, after
all?
“You could always come to dinner with us,” she offered climbing
the steps to the front porch. “We’re going
to my Aunt Lucy’s house, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you joined us.”
Another aunt? Not on your life, sugar. “Thanks,” he said, trying
hard to hide his lack of enthusiasm.
“But I’m kind of looking forward to the time alone.”
Jasmine bit her lip. “You
can’t want to be alone, Brandon. It’s Christmas.”
Once again,
Brandon found himself staring at her mouth.
She was right. He didn’t want to
be alone, he wanted to be with her. No,
he wanted to be inside her. He felt the
beast’s claws rake his insides again and all but snarled at her. “I told you.
It’s not a big deal. Besides, if
I don’t want to spend Christmas with my family, what makes you think I’d want
to spend it with yours?”
The words registered in his brain several seconds after they’d come
out of his mouth. Oh, shit. He hadn’t meant it
to come out that way, but the sight of her teeth worrying her lip made him
crazy as always.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
it like that,” he said, sighing a little at the hurt she tried to hide. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared
into her eyes, hoping to look and sound sincere. “Really, I didn’t.”
She shrugged, still looking like she didn’t believe him. “I just thought...it might be nice for you
not to be alone,” she said, quietly.
“That’s all.”
Nice? He couldn’t keep from
smiling. “You really want to help me
have a nice Christmas, Jasmine?”
She nodded, looking surprised and slightly confused. Brandon knew another brief moment of guilt,
remembering Paco’s words. Could she
really be as innocent as she looked right now?
Oh, impossible. She has to know exactly where this
conversation is heading.
“Then why don’t you give me something nice to think about, while
I’m all alone tomorrow,” he murmured as he crowded her against the wall of the
house and lifted her chin.
He thought, at first, she was going to resist, but, apparently she
was sincere about wanting him to have a nice Christmas. She raised her face willingly. Her lips opened under his and, when he felt
her arms slip hesitantly around his neck, he moved his hands to her waist. They closed around bare skin and he was all
at once wrestling with himself to maintain control. He wasn’t going to make the mistake of
rushing her again, but it was definitely time to take this thing to the next
level.
He deepened the kiss deliberately.
Taking his time. Gauging her
mood. Waiting for the moment when he
could finally begin sliding his hands slowly up her sides, under her
sweater. Ahh, yes...
She was
breathing hard by the time his hands came to a stop just beneath her
breasts. He shifted his hands slightly,
felt her shudder as his thumbs brushed across her nipples. He did it again. And again.
And then...he shifted his hands once more to cup her breasts in his
palms. She moaned deep in her throat as
she pressed herself against him.
Oh, yeah, that’s what
I call nice, all right, he thought, all but
growling in satisfaction. But still he
wanted more. He pulled back a bit and,
as he’d hoped, she followed after him, pushing herself even closer. He slid his arms around her. His hands skimmed down her back to her
butt. He held her against him and let
one hand move lower still, lifting her leg and wrapping it around him, and then
trailing his hand back up along her bare thigh.
She was clinging to him now, trembling slightly, almost
whimpering, barely seeming to breathe.
And then— with a muffled shriek she pushed away from him. He stared at her in surprise.
“Something bit me,” she exclaimed, looking down at the floor.
He followed her gaze. Her
mother’s cat sat at her feet, ears laid back, an angry look on its furry little
face. He moved his gaze to Jasmine’s
ankle and, sure enough, blood was oozing from several small wounds.
“Why would she
do such a thing?”
Oh, who the fuck
knows? Brandon sighed, tiredly. The whole world seemed joined in a conspiracy
to interrupt them every time things got even slightly interesting. But, just like always, it was probably for
the best. “You’d better get inside,” he
said.
She turned startled eyes to him again. “What?”
“It’s late,” he told her.
“It’s probably already Christmas by now.
And you’ve got a big dinner to go to, remember?”
“Brandon,” she paused, frowning uncertainly. “Please come with us?”
He smiled and
shook his head. “No. But, thanks for asking.” He leaned in to brush one last kiss against
her lips. “Have a merry Christmas,
Jasmine. I’ll see you in a couple of
days.”
* * *
Jasmine
watched as he walked away. She hadn’t
meant to let things go so far tonight, but Brandon had a way of getting to
her. A way of short circuiting her
intelligence, derailing her good intentions, screwing up her judgment and
making her act all crazy. He was bad
news. No doubt about it.
She leaned against the door frame as she stared into the night;
gazing down the empty road long after his car had disappeared from sight. Shadow meowed plaintively and rubbed against
her ankles, her earlier hostility obviously forgotten. Finally, Jasmine stirred, opened the door and
let them both inside.
The house was dark and quiet.
Obviously her mother was already asleep.
Jasmine didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed about
that. Could she talk to her mother about
something like this? She needed to talk
to someone—but who? The dog stood
motionless in the shadows like a sentinel, but for once Jasmine felt a stray
surge of sympathy for the mutt. It must
be hard, after having been raised in one environment, trained for a certain
purpose, to find yourself thrust suddenly into another life altogether. The poor
dog must feel as out of her element here as Jasmine knew herself to be.
And she couldn’t even be certain anymore that it was all Sam’s
fault she felt this way. What if she
succeeded in making him leave, only to find that her problems remained? What then?
She fed the cat and headed for bed, although she doubted she’d get
much sleep tonight. Her body hummed with
an unfamiliar energy. Her head was
spinning. And if Brandon were to show up
again, unexpectedly, if he were to throw rocks at her window, like they always
did in movies, would she sneak out to meet him?
She didn’t even have to think about that one. She’d go in a heartbeat. It was foolish, and she was no doubt dooming
herself to heartbreak by even thinking like that, but for the chance to explore
more of this feeling, she’d take the risk.
Welcome back to bewitching Oberon, California! This small,
coastal town is an enchanting place. Anything can happen here—and all too often
it does! Clinging to corrugated cliffs above a windswept beach, and
isolated amid a tangled network of canyons and creeks, Oberon can be a hard
place to get to. But, as all too many
visitors have learned over the years, it can be an even harder place to leave
behind.
In Return to Oberon
the series continues with books four through six. Once again, these are full-length
novels. Although many of the same characters appear in each one, all the books
in this collection can be read as stand-alone stories.
Book Four: A Taste of Honey
As far as Lucy Greco Cavanaugh is
concerned, her life is a dream come true.
She has it all, the perfect family, the perfect husband, the perfect
marriage. What more could she wish
for—other than the chance to do it all again, to experience once more the agony
and ecstasy of falling in love with the man of her dreams, to recapture the joy
and uncertainty that comes with starting over.
For her husband, Shakespeare-quoting
Dan Cavanaugh, however, that dream has just become a nightmare. His storybook marriage is on the line thanks
in part to Deirdre Shelton-Cooper, the runaway daughter of a former girlfriend.
Deirdre’s intent on proving Dan is her father. When she accidentally hooks up
with Dan and Lucy’s son, Seth, the Cavanaughs are left to wonder: how did their
fairy-tale romance turn into a classic Greek tragedy?
It’s going to take an entire band
of angels to bring the Cavanaughs’ story to a sweet conclusion. Lucky for them,
that’s exactly what’s coming to town.
Book Five: Touch of a Vanished Hand
Sinead Quinn has always been something of a drifter. But now, with her ex-husband trying to
blackmail her, and her ex-boyfriend's widow trying to put her in jail, she has
no choice but to go to ground. What
better place to hide than with your family?
After all, what are sisters for—especially when you're a twin? But the first rule of hiding out, is to keep a
low profile. That does not mean kissing your sister's boyfriend
(even if he can't tell the two of you apart); rescuing a troubled teen; or
taking a highly visible job as hostess of Oberon's most celebrated new inn.
Adam Sasso has always
dreamed big. But big dreams beget big
complications. First, his goal to turn
the vineyard he inherited from his grandfather into a world-class winery is
threatened by a mysterious saboteur.
Next, his plan to run the finest bed & breakfast Oberon has ever
seen, is broadsided by a hostess who seems to want to run him instead! Finally, his
fondest wish, that of finding love-everlasting with the soul mate of his
dreams, is about to go up in smoke when he can't convince the lady in question
that they're destined to be together.
Things are really heating up in Oberon this summer—and it’s
not just the arson! It's going to take all
the wizardry the town can summon up
in order to craft a happy ending for the drifter and the dreamer.
Book Six: The Spirit of the
Place
It’s a week before Christmas and
Marsha Quinn has a lot on her mind, like the fact that her entire family is
about to arrive—including her daughter, Jasmine, who’s far from happy about
Marsha’s upcoming wedding. In fact, there’s only one thing about her future
stepfather that Jasmine can't help but admire, and that’s the graduate student
he’s recently hired as an intern.
Brandon Ablemarle was already having a hard
time finding the holiday spirit, and that was before the fiery redhead he can’t
manage to keep his hands off hit town. If his new boss’s radical book is published,
it could sink both their careers. Can he
and Jasmine ignore the attraction between them long enough to stop the wedding and the book, or will the psychic energy
they unwittingly raise put a stop to them,
instead?
With so much chaos going on, is it
any wonder Marsha finds herself wishing on a star? But it’s not just any star
she chooses; it’s Venus, the Star of Love. Now Marsha’s about to be visited by
three very special ghosts.
No comments:
Post a Comment