Category Archives: Contests

Contests, Nikki Duncan, This and That, Winners

The NDcent hunt is on! Are you game?

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Welcome to the NDcent Blogger Scavenger Hunt! Participating is E-A-S-Y and you can W-I-N!

Yes that’s right! You might WIN! Several bloggers have joined me in this hunt wher you’ll find them, comment on the post and be entered into drawings. Commenting on each blog enters you in a drawing for a $5 gift card to be given away on that blog. People who comment on EVERY blog (18 total) will be entered in a drawing for a $100 Amazon Gift Card.

Winners will all be announced on Saturday, August 22!

 

HerMiracleMan300Children’s hospital administrator Ryland Davids was attracted to event planner Jennalyn James the moment he saw her. He thought there would be plenty of time to get to know her—until her younger sister, Sabrina, was admitted with complications from traumatic brain injury.

Sabrina’s bright courage broke through Ryland’s wall of professional distance, but once she drew her last breath, Jennalyn left the hospital and never returned. Though he understands her need for distance, there’s a hole in his heart that won’t heal. And a last wish from Sabrina he’s honor-bound to deliver.

When Jennalyn comes face to face with Ryland at a charity event, the pain comes rushing back, threatening to shatter her everything’s-fine façade. It doesn’t help that the lump in her throat is mostly her heart, leaping in response to his touch.

Despite her reluctance to return to the scene of her grief, she fulfills Sabrina’s final request to plan a series of Christmas events for the kids. Over the course of A Month of Miracles, Ryland and Jennalyn discover there’s the light of hope at the end of grief’s dark tunnel. But it may not be enough to heal her broken heart.

Fill in the blank for one entry: It doesn’t help that the lump in her throat is mostly _______________, leaping in response to his touch.

Here’s a hint for the next book you’re looking for:  She has a wild streak.

ControlledBurn72web ScentofPersuasion72web TangledInTulle72web

 

 

 

 

Look for the NDcent Hunt button on participating blogs for more chances to enter, and don’t miss checking out Nikki’s website to see what else she has to offer.

The Revolving Bookcase
Book Sniffers Anonymous
Sapphyria’s Book Blog 
Book Liaison
Cassandra M’s Place
An NDcent Dame Gina
Smutty Kitty
Joyfully Reviewed 
Guilty Pleasures
Book Obsessed Chicks 
Geeky Blogger
Coffee Books Life 
Literary Escapism 
Delighted Reader 
Literature Lite House
Harlequin Junkie
Smexy Books 
After Midnight Authors

Contests, ebooks, New Releases, Nikki Duncan

The Taste in TASTE ME DEADLY

In TASTE ME DEADLY, the heroine has a passion for making chocolate, though she buried it years earlier. There is something sexy about melting chocolate and smoothing it out over a granite countertop, working it into mold, making shavings and drizzles. Its silken smoothness against your skin and the excitement of imagining your lover as the countertop while you work the chocolate over him.

Put simply, it’s joy.

In TASTE ME DEADLY, Liam helps his heroine, Grey, rediscover her passion while encouraging her to make a few new friends. And what better entertainment could there be for four women in a kitchen than chocolate and talking about men?

Of all the recipes I found while researching TASTE ME DEADLY, the one that I’m hoping to one day make are baby tortes. This one that I found on Pinterest looks sweet and romantic and perfect for a romantic dinner with a lover.

Are you a baker? What is your favorite thing to make? What would you make for a sexy dinner?

Commenters on today’s blog will be entered into a drawing for a digital copy of the first two Sensory Ops books.

Can be found on Pinterest

TASTE ME DEADLY releases tomorrow, so be sure to order your copy!

Under the knife, under the gun…and under no illusion he’ll sacrifice everything for her.

THE BLURB:

After five years in Witness Protection, Greycen Craig’s life of careful routine is upended when she learns her sister is the victim in a hit and run, hospitalized, unconscious, and needing a kidney only Grey can give.

Despite warnings that this “accident” is a ruse to draw her out into the open, Grey risks everything to race back to Miami—where she comes face to face with the one man she aches to trust.

FBI agent Liam Burgess thinks he’s prepared for the moment Grey walks into her sister’s hospital room. But the moment the woman who holds his heart appears, his tongue is almost too tied to remember to ask one burning question—why she disappeared in Las Vegas two years ago.

As Grey struggles with what to tell him—everything or nothing—the danger that drove her underground resurfaces, threatening everyone she loves. And the only safe place to run is the arms of the one man she can’t tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

PreOrder the eBook.
Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble – Nook

Be sure to sign up for Nikki’s newsletter and then go socialize with her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.

Contests, Covers, Nikki Duncan

It’s My Anniversary!

2 Comments

Four years ago today, on a day not unlike today, Nikki Duncan signed her first publishing contract with Samhain Publishing.

That story was kicked off by a one sentence story idea tossed out as a challenge. With its inception, the Sensory Ops series was born.

Since that story, Nikki was also challenged, by her first editor, to write contemporary novellas. Now, with 13 books available, she’s revealing the cover of what will be her 14th books. To celebrate the anniversary and the cover reveal, Nikki is also sponsoring a giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now, for the awesome cover…

The NDcent Dames’ Blogs:
Live. Laugh. Romance.
The Revolving Bookcase
BookLiaison
Book Sniffers Anonymous
Julie Barrett

Contests, Delilah Devlin, ebooks

Enter a Dark World…

11 Comments

Check the comments for the name of the winner! ~DD

* * *

Do you like a dash of scary with the your paranormal. How about heaping tablespoon of kink? Then here’s a series for you. Femme Noir. Even if you don’t think you’d like a strictly f/f book, these will surprise you, tempt you. And the stories are just too damn intriguing for you not to want more.

Post a comment, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a free download of the first book in this series, Bitten in the Big Easy. I’ll post the winner here on Friday!

Here’s a snippet from the just released, Charmed in the Big Easy…

From “The Mambo’s Door”, part 2 of Charmed:

Ingrid Kassel is a fledgling witch, uncertain and not in complete control of her powers, especially after drinking a double-shot of vampire blood. With the same instructions as MeLeah—retrieve an object buried with a daughter of the Voodoo Queen—she angers the spirit guarding the tomb and finds herself entering a shadowy limbo, where she meets beautiful Marie, living in fear of a demon who also desires the black magic candle infused with the powerful mambo’s blood. In desperation, Marie tricks Ingrid, capturing her and seducing her to charge the candle for her own bid for freedom.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Marie sat on the rickety wooden porch that stretched the length of the cabin on stilts, watching the path atop the narrow bern as she did most days. The bayou was quiet, something that calmed her mind and heart after a night of terrors. She wished she could sleep, to dream of another time, another place. To relive the past and pretend she still had time to change her destiny.

But those who lived in this realm never slept. And daydreams took on lives of their own. So she watched, her eyes unblinking, gazing down the narrow path leading deeper into the dark waters.

For a moment she thought maybe she had drifted into a dream, because the figure striding boldly down the path wasn’t familiar, didn’t belong. It wasn’t Baron Samedi with his top hat perched jauntily on his head, ready to deliver another warning with a smile and his dead eyes.

No, it was a woman, a pretty one, dressed like a man, wearing dark trousers and a shirt that hugged her small breasts. A hat covered her hair, but blonde strands hung beside her face—her very red, sweaty face.

The woman strode toward her porch, not stopping until she stood at the base of her steps. “You Marie?” she asked, tilting back her head.

Marie sat very still, clutching the arms of her rocking chair. A new voice. A new face. A pretty woman. Was this one of the baron’s many tests? She unglued her tongue from where it was stuck to the top of her dry mouth. “Oui. I am. Who asks?”

The woman’s crystal-blue eyes sparkled with life. Her furrowed brows bespoke impatience. “Ingrid Kassel,” she said, her voice brisk. “You have something I need.”

“As do you, chérie,” Marie said, a smile tugging at her mouth. Something she hadn’t done in a long time, but the look of irritation on the woman’s face told her this wasn’t some dead-eyed phantom sent by the loa of this limbo-land.

Ingrid, Marie repeated silently. Not a pretty name. It was as rigid as the woman’s militant posture. Still, the blonde was real, warm, breathing—and so attractive that long-dormant desires stirred inside Marie.

Who was she? What was she doing here? The woman’s pale face and wheat-colored hair betrayed Nordic origins. Why had she not been consigned to their realm, to frigid Hel? Had she somehow angered the baron on her journey to death? Or had she committed some great crime against him? Best to be careful.

“What do you seek?”

“A talisman. A candle your mother gave you.”

Marie startled. “Well, you can’t have it. The candle’s powerful magick. It’s best it stays with me.” The candle was her only weapon, her only hope. This woman would have to pry it from her cold, dead fingers.

Oh yes—she was already dead.

Marie’s interest in the woman was piqued. Her ennui lifted. She rarely had visitors. And to have someone asking about the candle… She wondered again if the baron was trying to get her prize. If so, he was destined to be disappointed. Again.

She grinned at pretty Ingrid’s reddening face.

“I’ve come a long way to find you.”

“Then you must be tired,” Marie drawled. “Why not rest on my porch?”

Ingrid blew an exasperated breath. “Marie Laveau. That’s you, right? The second one?”

What did the girl know? Did she know that “little Marie” had borrowed her mother’s fame, even impersonated her to increase her reputation and the heft of her purse? All without any true calling. Not like her mother had possessed.

“I’m the daughter,” she said with a nod.

The woman climbed three steps. “You performed good works, for the benefit of the people of New Orleans. You’d be doing that again—if you gave me the candle.”

Oh, Marie had performed all right. She’d given grand displays before thousands, using magicians’ tricks to fool the masses. She’d made impotent love potions, performed exorcisms on the mad. For money.

“What great calamity has sent you to this realm?”

“A vampire, Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess herself, is in New Orleans. And she’s using witches, turning them into her minions to increase her powers. We think she intends a bloodbath. To turn the city into her personal hunting ground.”

“I’ve never heard of her. And she’s only a vampire, not a god. She has weaknesses the livin’ can exploit.”

“She’s using magick. There’s no telling what she can do now. We must stop her.”

“We?” Marie said, raising a brow.

“My coven sisters and myself.”

“You seem to be forgettin’ somethin’, gal.”

Ingrid’s sudden exhale billowed her cheeks. “What’s that? Do you need tribute, too?”

Marie swept aside her question. “You’re dead. How can you hope to deliver any talisman to your sisters when you’re trapped here?”

“But I’m not dead. I entreated Ma’man Brigit to open your tomb so I could find the candle. This is where she led me.”

Marie held still while Ingrid’s words churned inside her mind. “You’re livin’? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“I swear it’s true.” Ingrid climbed another step and held out her hand. “You can touch me if you don’t believe it.”

Marie ignored the pale hand. “You can touch me, too. It tells me nothin’.”

Ingrid dropped her hand and rubbed it against the side of her trousers. “You have powers. Use them to discern whether I’m telling you the truth.”

It was on the tip of Marie’s tongue to tell her she didn’t possess any powers or supernatural talents. She wasn’t her mother.

However, the woman standing in front of her did. Perhaps this was her chance to charge the candle and use it for her own purpose.

“You’re a rude woman,” Marie said, hardening her face. “You demand somethin’ from me, somethin’ precious, and yet you offer me nothin’ in return.”

“I don’t have anything to give you.” Ingrid’s mouth clamped shut, then opened again with a quick, inward breath. “Oh, except a flashlight that doesn’t work,” she said, drawing something out of her back pocket.

Marie had no idea what a flashlight was. She gave a dismissive wave toward the cylindrical item the pale woman clutched. “I been alone in this small house for a long time. I have few guests.” Unless you counted the undead things that surrounded her tiny cabin in the darkness. “I can make you tea. You can rest.” She let her gaze slip down the lithe body of the young woman. “Perhaps we can negotiate a price.”

Ingrid’s eyebrows shot skyward. “I don’t have time for this.”

Marie snorted. “Time has no meanin’ here. You have all the time you need.”

The blonde’s head shook. “I don’t understand.”

Marie glanced across the clearing toward the darkening bayou. “Darkness comes. When the light fades, you must be inside this house or you’ll die of a certainty.”

Ingrid darted a nervous glance behind her. “What happens when it gets dark?”

“Do you know where you’ve come?” Marie asked softly, using the voice that had enticed thousands into believing she was magickal.

“Not really.”

“This be neither heaven nor hell.”

“Purgatory?”

“A place of atonement. A place where one learns lessons and where one is judged before movin’ on to her destination.”

Ingrid’s eyes softened in concern. “You’ve been here a long time.”

“There be no long or short time here. Did you not hear me, gal? Time here is measured by light and darkness, just as it is in the land of the livin’. But it has no meanin’. If I meet my maman in some far-off day, she won’t know I lived decades after her death. I died a much older woman than what you see now.”

The softness faded, replaced again with an impatient scowl. “I really don’t have time for this. If it’s going to be dark soon, I need that candle now.”

The sounds of insects—flies and crickets—began to rise. Rustling in the darkest parts of the forest changed to large crashes. Gentle, lapping waves became agitated splashes.

Ingrid looked behind her. “What was that?”

“Night has come. Come inside now!”

“The tomb I came through isn’t far.”

“You won’t make it. Come inside, gal.”

Night fell in an instant, like a curtain suddenly lowering. Marie shoved off her chair, waved a hand in front of her to find the woman, and gripped her arm to pull her up the stoop and through the doorway just as the first of the creatures screeched from the forest’s edge.

Contests

Weekend Contest (April 20-23)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contests, Shiloh Walker

Hunter's Fall…Help out Haiti…

Okay, so I want to do something to help raise money for Haiti.

Here’s the thing… I try to do auctions thru ebay sometimes, but that’s not going to work this time… I’ve only got one ARC in the house and it’s already got an owner-just haven’t mailed it out.

ARCs are the best way to generate money on ebay and it will be months before I have another one.

So how about this instead…

  • I can dedicate a book to anybody I want.

And if you’ll help out Haiti, you can get a chance to have your name mentioned in the book’s dedication.

How?

Like this…donate a minimum of $5 to your online disaster relief charity of choice.  Please note, this is for disaster relief… while I love the polar bear, the polar bear isn’t affected by the crisis in Haiti.   If you’re not sure where to start, you can check out the charities listed at Charity Navigator:

Helping the Victims of the Haiti Earthquake

I love Charity Navigator-I like seeing how much money is actually going to the programs and stuff-the site is awesome for that.

Go to my personal blog to find out more…

Shiloh Walker

Contests, Shiloh Walker

Widget Me

Are you a widgety-sort of person?

I want a widget.

But the problem is when I start messing with widgets, I spend way too much time on them.  Plus, I’m not particularly good at them.

So…. maybe somebody else can widget me.  I want a widget for my romantic suspense BROKEN, due out in March 2, 2010.

Would you like to make me a widget and get entered into a contest for an ARC of BROKEN?    If so… make me a widget.  If you want to design the widget using something like sprout (or similiar) that’s fine.  I just want something I can post to facebook, myspace… *G*  If you are graphically skilled and make a widget that would post to this wordpress blog, that would be even better.  Because I really want one I can post to the blog and a lot of widgets don’t post at wordpress blogs.

I would like the widget to have the cover, a link to the excerpt ( http://shilohwalker.com/excerpt_broken.htm ) and if possible, the release date (3.2.10) or a countdown.

Post a link on where I can find the widget.  Then you get entered for a chance to win an ARC of BROKEN, due out in March.

Blurb: (In case you might wanna use…)

Shattered
Quinn Rafferty is working as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman in St. Louis when a new neighbor catches his eye. He’s tempted by her beauty—but he knows from experience that anyone desperate enough to live in his building is damaged goods. Besides, he has his own soul to mend before he can worry about anyone else.

Desperate
Sarah McElya is on the run, but not for the usual reasons a woman goes on the lam. She’s not an abused wife, and she’s not a criminal. But she does have a plan for her future. And as much as she finds herself attracted to her gruff, tough neighbor, she can’t risk telling him the secrets she’s hiding. There’s just too much at stake.
Driven to desire…
But Quinn must get closer to Sarah when she turns out to be the target of his new missing persons case, and he discovers that there is something more complex and dangerous to her than he thought. Now, both Quinn and Sarah will have to expose their true feelings—as well as their fragile hearts—if they hope their love will survive…

Here’s a copy of the cover:

Broken


Here’s a link to a larger version of the cover...

As I’m wigdgetally-disadvantaged and this is actually helping me out, there aren’t too many rules with this one…you can make multiple widgets if you like.

I’ll choose the one I like best.  The only rule is that I do ask the winner keep the ARC is his/her possession until the book is released and that you agree to respect author copyright by not scanning/uploading a digitalized copy to a filesharing site, etc.

For those who aren’t widgety-inclined, I’ll try to do a more general contest closer to the release date. 🙂  Thank you!

Shiloh

http://shilohwalker.com

Appearances & Events, Contests, Shiloh Walker

Repackaged… or is it UN packaged…

2 Comments

One of my novellas, DJINN’S WISH, was originally written from an anthology, A WISH, A KISS, A DREAM with my friends, Lora Leigh and Mary Wine.

A Wish, A Kiss, A Dream

The anthology, released in both ebook and print, was the only way to get the story.

In a few weeks… DJINN’S WISH will be released from Ellora’s Cave as a standalone.  The stories written by Mary and Lora will also be released individually as well.

When a book is released in one form, and then released later on, (like novellas being placed with different novellas/a book given a new cover/etc), they tend to call it repackaging.

So would this be unpackaging…?

djinnswish_msr
Djinn's Wish

If you’d like to read an excerpt, you can do so here.

Also wanted to let you know about a contest I’m running through my personal blog through the end of the month.  We’re counting down to the release of Hunter’s Need, releasing in mass market paperback on 12/1.

30 Day Giveaway

Other rambling news…finished up the second book in the Grimm’s Circle series.  Grimm’s Circle is a little bit paranormal, a little bit urban fantasy, a little bit erotic romance, and a lot of fun, so far. The first book, CANDY HOUSES, released in October and the second book, NO PRINCE CHARMING, will be out in January from Samhain Publishing.

No Prince Charming

I’ll be out signing several places in December, so if you’re able to get to one of the signings, I’d love to meet you!

Waldenbooks

12/1/09

7-9pm(tentative)

Oxmoor Center

7900 Shelbyville Rd

Louisville, KY

* * * * *

Destinations

12/4/09

6:30-8:30pm

604 East Spring Street

New Albany, IN

* * * * *

Barnes & Noble

12/5/09

1-3pm

9455 Civic Centre Blvd

West Chester, OH

* * * * *

Barnes & Noble

12/12/09

2-4pm

9891 Waterstone Blvd

Cincinnati, OH

And I think I’ve covered everything…  O_O

Shi

http://shilohwalker.com

Contests, Excerpts, New Releases, Shayla Black, Uncategorized

POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT releases!

It’s FINALLY here!!! POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT should be available everywhere in both print and eBook format. I’m putting up one of my favorite excerpts below…along with prizes.

Possess Me at MidnightDoomsday Brethren Series, Book 3 — Ice’s story
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN-10: 1416578463
ISBN-13: 9781416578468
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance
Release Date: October 27, 2009
Scroll down to read the first chapter!
Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders
Books-A-Million | Simon & Schuster | Indie Bound
Overstock | Target
Download eBook: Kindle | Barnes & Noble
Fictionwise | Sony |Simon & Schuster

An apocalypse approaches in the new novel from bestselling author Shayla Black’s electrifying Doomsday Brethren series, as a magical warrior and a spirited witch ignite a smoldering passion that could destroy them both.

As a mysterious dark cloud drains the life of her beloved brother, Doomsday Brethren leader Bram, Sabelle Rion can think of little else. Still, every time she meets Ice Rykard’s intense green gaze, her body aches with need for the sexy warrior. Their attraction is explosive, incredible—and forbidden. As dangerous as he is unpredictable, Ice is her brother’s sworn enemy. But as Bram weakens, a more sinister force is gaining power. Evil Mathias and his ruthless Anarki army are on a bloodthirsty hunt for the Doomsday Diary. Sabelle must guard the potent book with her life—and Ice vows to protect the beautiful witch with his. Duty demands that Sabelle deny her lover’s fiery call of possession and mate with a man who can sway the magical Council against the impending rebellion. With the fate of magickind hanging in the balance, will she forsake the burning desires she can’t ignore or turn her back on her people for the courageous man she can’t resist?

Reviews
Rated HOT! “The volatile emotions in this tale are truly combustible!” ~ RT Bookclub

“Captivating… POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT [is] a book you won’t want to miss.” ~ Romance Reviews Today

Recommended Read! “Page-turning magical suspense… Wring[s] emotion from every pore… leaves readers clamoring for more.” ~ Fallen Angels Reviews

“I could not stop reading. POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT is absolutely perfect.” ParaNormal Romance Reviews

“I love the angst and passion between Sabelle and Ice; it’s tangible and often breathtaking. Possess Me At Midnight is another exciting chapter in the Doomsday Brethren’s fight…” Joyfully Reviewed

“Totally rewarding and particularly satisfying.” Single Titles

EXCERPT

“Better?” she asked.

Gingerly, he nodded. He looked white and exhausted and utterly depleted.

“Internal damage?”

“Healing.” He squeezed her hand. “I stopped the burn in time.”

A whole sentence. And now, he was breathing easier. His injuries were healing. “You’re certain?”

Again, he nodded. More a jerk of his stubbled chin than anything, but enough. “The damage stopped when you dragged me from the cellar. If you hadn’t come for me—”

“Of course I would.” Did he just assume she would leave him there to die?

“You could have run straight into danger, Sabelle.” He swallowed and fought for a breath, squeezed her hand again. “When I’m well, I’m putting you over my knee for that.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, her face flamed. “You’ll do no such thing.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t take away all my fun.”

A joke? He’d nearly died ten minutes ago, and now he was telling a joke. He didn’t wish her to know the extent of his injuries, clearly.

“Amusing, indeed.”

“Infuriating,” he corrected. “No more chances with your safety. On this point, Bram and I agree. You’re into magickind’s troubles too deeply.”

“I’ll tell you what I told Bram: I won’t sit about like some helpless princess while the rest of magickind fights. It’s my cause too.”

“Your funeral as well, if you’re not careful.”

“It could be anyone’s,” she argued. “Everyone’s. That’s Mathias’s doing. Not mine. Now, stop arguing and tell me how you feel. The internal damage has stopped?”

“Yes. I fought it off in the cellar, then you took me away. Between distance and your touch, I’ve improved.”

“Anything else?”

He hesitated. “My head. When the mine hit me, the force of it thrust me back. My head hit the wall. I heard a loud thump.”

Judiciously avoiding looking at the lower half of his very naked body, she gripped his large calloused hand in hers. Closing her eyes, she gathered up her power and summoned the siren in her. To Ice, she sent waves of healing, peace, sleep.

He growled. Suddenly, a wall shot up between them, blocking her well-meaning sentiments. Sabelle gasped. Where had that come from? Ice? Did he have the energy for that? Or was the mine still working its dark magic?

Then the barricade crumbled, and she felt Ice again. But this time, he sent her a blast of something else—desire that was thick, hot, screaming with lust and sex and need.

With a gasp, she pulled back.

A tired smile creased his face, and despite his exhaustion, his arrogance shone through. “Felt that, did you? I told you, I’ve no need for your happy sunshine and rainbows.”

“I sent you peaceful healing,” she argued. “You do need it.”

“Rubbish. I let you feel what I truly need.”

That overwhelming battering ram of desires and yearning? She placed a hand to her chest and forced herself to breathe evenly. Knowing he wanted her that badly staggered her. She blinked, looked at Ice, focusing on those green eyes of his that glowed with unquestionable want. Exhaustion still etched his face, and she knew that sending her any emotion had cost precious energy he didn’t have. Why bother?

“No one has ever bombarded me with their emotions like that.”

“You tell others what to feel and they abide?”

She frowned. “I try to be helpful and soothe the troubles or worries others have. I’m hardly forcing unwanted feelings upon them.”

“I didn’t want to sleep, princess.”

Sabelle felt her face flush again. “So I gathered.”

“Glad we’re clear.”

“Ice, you hardly have the energy to be wasting on such things. My touch has given you some, I suppose. But the sleep was to help you. I meant no insult. You must concede, your energy is dangerously low. Your magical signature is nearly transparent.”

He pressed his lips together and said nothing.

“Is—is that why you sent me the sexual vibrations?” She bit her lip and felt her cheeks flame up again. What was it about Ice that made her feel so feminine? “You need…energy?”

He stared, heavy, glowing, jaw clenched. “Sabelle…”

“You do.” She swallowed, studying his increasingly sheer magical signature. Normally a bold green laced with a fiery red. Black rimmed it, and she’d always worried that was a commentary on his sanity or his soul. But now, she could see straight through it all. And that frightened her. Without recharging, he would be unable to run, flee, help her evade Mathias. Yes, her touch, because he had Called to her, provided a bit of energy. But without a full dose of power, eventually he would die.

She eased off the bed and rose to her feet. With trembling hands, she pulled off her shirt. Instantly, she felt his gaze on the slopes of her shoulder, the curve of her neck, the lacy cups of her bra. His icy-hot eyes made her shiver. She locked stares with him, unable to look away.

Sabelle reached for the button of her jeans. Instead, he reached up and clamped his hands around her wrists. “Don’t.”

“But you need energy.”

“Yes, but—”

“You Called to me, so you can touch no other. And…I have no anger in me now to try to boost you that way. You want me and—”

“You know it. But I will be damned if I’ll let you make me into your next Lucan: a patient, a duty, a burden. What passes between us will never be an act you endure merely to heal me.” He squeezed on her wrists. “I would rather die.”

“Your pride is misplaced. My opinion is neither here nor there. Your life—”

“Will mean little if I have to swallow the bitter pill of being nothing to you. I hardly expect you to Bind to me, but I won’t have your pity.”

His passionate speech had used up more energy he could ill afford. The stubborn man! Frustration built inside her, a crescendo that trumpeted into fury. Ice could die, and he wanted to debate the meaning of an act intended to save his life? He sought to force her admission that she trembled for his touch before he allowed her into his bed. The energy exchange would be clean, simple, if he would merely accept her help. Did he not understand that crowding it with words and confessions would only make matters more difficult?

She tore her wrists from his grip, stepped away, and stripped off her pants and knickers. Her bra quickly followed. Ice’s eyes clamped onto her. His nostrils flared. His entire body tensed, and though she swore she would not look down, her gaze drifted across the harsh rise and fall of his chest, the undulation of his abdomen…and fixed on the hard stalk of his cock rising between his well-muscled thighs. A sudden gush of dampness slicked her intimately, where she now ached. She swallowed against the riot of sensations, a need unlike anything she’d ever felt.

If she admitted that to Ice, he would use this desire against her mercilessly.

Sabelle wanted to believe, more than anything, that Ice was motivated strictly by his desire to possess the witch he perceived as his mate. But niggling doubt made her wonder if revenge fueled him more.

“You have my help.” Her voice trembled as she sat on the edge of the bed next to him. “You need no more than that.”

Ice raised a dark brow. “You have no idea what I need.”

Before she could argue, he grabbed her around the waist and threw her under him, until her back hugged the sheets steeped in his warmth and earthy scent. He loomed over her, his shoulders blocking out most of the room’s light. She felt surrounded, enveloped. Overwhelmed.

“Did you come for him?”

His big, hot hands gripped her hips, and slid up her torso until his palms cradled her breasts. And his touch burned her. She bit her lip to hold in a gasp, but the aftershocks of their contact reverberated, crashing wave after wave of desire through her body. She softened. Her nipples peaked. She grew wetter.

He stopped. Sniffed. Smiled. “You want me.”

“My body is ready.” She dared not admit more.

His smile slipped, and he grunted. “Bloody answer me.”

Damn it all, she’d forgotten the question. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Lucan,” he growled. “Did you want him? Did he give you pleasure? Bring you to peak?”

Very direct questions. That shouldn’t surprise her. But she couldn’t answer him. No answer would satisfy him. In either event, he’d turn this into some sort of chest-beating competition. And the truth would only cause…issues.

“It’s hardly relevant. You need me, and I am offering. Nothing more or less.”

He flicked his thumbs across her nipples. Slowly. Back and forth. Until she gasped.

“I plan to make certain it is much, much more.”

#

To celebrate this release, I’m giving away a signed copy of TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS and SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW, plus free reads from some favorite authors including Maya Banks, Gena Showalter, Sabrina Jeffries and others. 10 books in all! To register to win, SPREAD the word about POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT. Mention the book, series and release day (blurb appreciated but optional) on your Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blog, message/bulletin boards, etc OR review the book on an online bookstore or personal blog. Comment on my blog with the link and you’re registered to win. The winner will be drawn on 11/3.

Hope everyone enjoys the release!