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Excerpts From: STOP
DRAGON MY HEART AROUND
An Excerpt From:
ROMANCING THE RECLUSE
Copyright ©
MICHELLE M. PILLOW, 2006.
All Rights Reserved,
Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Along
one of the stone ledges a man rested on his back, his leg draped over the
side. His dark-brown, chin-length hair was pushed back from his face.
Samantha felt her breath catch. He had great features—strong, chiseled, rugged. She glanced around the area, almost expecting to
see a camera crew. The man could easily have been a model. A partial growth
of facial hair darkened his chin, framing the most incredible lips she’d
ever seen on a man. A feeling of peace washed over her as she watched him, as if this was what her legs had led her to
see—this man, at this moment, at this special place.
He was
well dressed in black slacks and a tight crimson shirt, but not
pretentiously so. She let her eyes roam over his tight form, lingering on
the outline of his muscular thigh and delectably sculpted hip. Samantha
took a deep breath, feeling a tingle in her stomach that soon sprouted into
full on arousal. Her nipples became hard, sensitive peaks, reminding her
that it had been awhile since she’d been laid.
Who
are you?
Eyeing
his firm chest, she paused in her perusal. He didn’t appear to be
breathing. Maybe it was the fact that she’d just left the CPR class, but
she stared at his chest for a moment to make sure he was all right. A knot
formed in her stomach, replacing the sudden wash of desire that had come
over her. His chest wasn’t moving.
Samantha
glanced around. There were only a few people on the platform and no one
stopped to help the poor man. She looked, but didn’t see any police
officers that she could call for help. Almost panicked, she hurried
forward. Shaking, she reached for his chest, letting her fingers hover over
where his heart was without touching him. The platform, was quiet—suddenly
too quiet. Everyone had disappeared and she was alone with him. She had
little time to wonder where everyone had gone as she lightly touched his
arm.
“Sir?”
He
didn’t move.
“Ah,
sir?” She pushed harder. At her shove, his arm fell to the side, lifeless.
“Oh, gawd! You’re not breathing, are you?”
He’s
not going to answer you, Samantha.
Samantha
licked her lips, whimpering as she laid her hand on his chest. Her fingers
shook as warmth seeped into her hand and she felt a faint heartbeat. His
temperature was high for someone out in the cold weather without a sweater.
That was something. It appeared like he hadn’t been unconscious long.
“Okay,
sir, just relax. I can do this,” she said, knowing the man probably
couldn’t hear her, but feeling the need to reassure him nonetheless.
Oh gawd, Samantha, are you crazy?! Are you really going to
do this? Didn’t the book say to use a protective shield between mouths?
Well,
her conscience
argued, he doesn’t look like the type of guy to have a weird disease.
That’s
stupid! You
can’t tell that by just looking at a person.
Shut
up and save him already!
Fine.
Fine!
“Great,
now I’m arguing with myself. I really am insane.”
Despite
the stupidity of it, she couldn’t let the man die. Not when it was within
her power to try and save him. Besides, things like AIDS couldn’t be passed
through saliva. Then, looking at his still face, so handsome and strong,
all thoughts of self preservation fled her. A desperate need to save his
life washed over her and she couldn’t resist it.
Samantha
took a deep breath, pinched the stranger’s nostrils shut and delicately
pressed her lips to his to blow air into his lungs. Shaking, she pulled
back. She’d forgotten to pull down his chin. Opening his mouth wide, she
tried again.
Don’t
die on me, sir. This day has already been bad enough.
His
lips were warm, almost too warm as she breathed air into his lungs. She
felt his chest rise beneath her hand. A soft, low moan sounded as she blew
a second time. Samantha froze. She didn’t make that noise.
The
man’s eyes popped open. They were a magnificent, soulful dark brown tinged
with threads of gold. The color matched his gorgeous hair. Her mouth was
pressed tightly against him, open and poised to give him a breath, and her
hand was still on his whisker-stubbled jaw.
Samantha
gasped, feeling as if she breathed in his warmth and life. He moaned a
second time. The strange sensation of it curled within her and she tried to
pull back, but the feel of a hand sliding over her hip just as his tongue
reached forward to swipe between her lips stopped her. His palm flexed
against her as he curled his fingers along her waist beneath her sweater.
Heat shot through her from his light touch and she was too stunned to move.
An Excerpt From: TIPPING
THE SCALES
Copyright © MANDY M. ROTH, 2006.
All Rights Reserved,
Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
The second Gennie disappeared
someone slid their arms around Keren’s waist. Her
gut reaction was to rip the unwanted added appendages off both herself and
the person. Holding back, she took a deep breath in. She fought the urge to
vomit as the man’s smell assailed her.
“Mmm, you must be a model,” he
said. “A woman as tall as you with an ass like that can’t be anything but.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Keren’s breath caught in her
throat as the man slid his hands over her hips. Nothing about him excited
her. His hot breath was laced with the smell of liquor and the liberties he
was taking weren’t acceptable. Twisting around, she glared at the man. His
hair was slicked back from his pale face with so much gel that she wasn’t
sure if it was sandy blond or just caked full of stuff. It looked as though
it would provide ample protection from head injury in the event of a bike
or in-line skating accident. It had to be hard enough to bounce anything
off of. If he didn’t stop touching her, she’d see if his helmet hair would
reflect her foot.
He gave her a lecherous smile. She narrowed her gaze,
doing her best not to strike out at him and knock it away. It was hard.
“I’d really rather not dance right now. Thanks though.”
“Tu as un beau nez.” His horrible pronunciation of the French
language only added to his creep factor rating. His choice of phrases
enhanced that tenfold. The man was a lounge lizard extraordinaire and was
on her last nerve. Never a good place to be.
Deciding that she’d placated him enough, Keren smiled, still resisting the urge to ram her fist
down his throat. If he dared to leer at her like that again, she wouldn’t
hold anything back. “Does that normally work for you?”
“What?” he asked, caressing her arm with the back of his
hand and making her feel as if something was crawling on her. She
shuddered. His touch sickened her. Often demons had that effect on her. Keren wasn’t sensing any present but that didn’t mean
they weren’t there. Every now and then, a demon would slip past her
natural, inborn alarm system.
“Does what work?” he asked.
“Telling a woman she has a beautiful nose with a piss
poor accent.”
His mouth opened but nothing came out. Thinking she’d
bested him, Keren turned her back to him to head
to a table. He seized hold of her ass, digging his fingers into her cheek
hard enough to leave a bruise. All too late, she realized that he was certainly
no ordinary human male.
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