Thursday Taster - Welcoming in the New Year

Courtesy of DeviantArt user Shades of Lethe

“Arabella?” Silas’ voice jolted her back to the present. “You faded out on me for a minute.”

“Sorry, Silas. I was just remembering times in this house. I didn’t realise how much I missed it, but now that I’m back, I couldn’t dream of leaving ever again.” She sat at the table and poured a mug of tea for herself and her dearest friend, grateful when he joined her.

“I wonder how long the rest of the coven will keep celebrating,” he grinned over his mug as he took a sip.

Arabella chuckled, almost choking on her tea. “Unless Harland has anything to say about it, which you know he will, and which you know they’ll probably ignore at first, they could go on for days.” Placing the mug down, she sat back with a satisfied but tired sigh. She looked around the room, eyes coming to rest on the pillows and blanket on the floor. A look back at Silas sent a chill down her spine.

“I’m not like him.”

Keeping her breath in check, she merely dipped her head, acknowledging his statement.

“I won’t seduce my way into your heart and on to the throne. I don’t want the throne, I only want you. But I will not force the matter.”

“Sharing my bed for tonight to rest will not be forcing the matter,” she carefully spoke. “It would be more comfort from a friend, rather than the proposal of a lover.” She stared him down, making it clear that she was fully aware he was not like Baylock, nor would she back down. “I refuse to let you sleep on the floor.”

They continued to stare each other down, but Silas finally looked away with a smirk reminiscent of their teen years. “I see you’re going to be just as firm a Queen as your grandmother.” Staring into her eyes again, he continued boldly. “I look forward to pushing the boundaries with you. Not just as subject and Queen, but as a man might, to establish what type of relationship he is in with the woman he loves.”

Arabella’s heart leapt, but she managed to keep a cool head. “Make no mistake, the boundaries you push as subject will be vastly different to those you push as a man in love. And they will be met with vastly different reactions.” 

As this year draws to a close, and the next rushes to greet us, I decided to share this snippet from The Coven, as it is also about saying goodbye to the past and embracing the future. Please enjoy. And check out this link for other participants for this week. 

Promo Mondays with TW Gallier's Black Heart!

I'd like to welcome TW Gallier to The Naughty Pages today, with a guestpost and giveaway of the latest release, BLACK HEART! I've heard wonderful things from Vampirique Dezire, so I'm very interested to read what this is about!

Thanks, Phoenix. I'm thrilled to be here and meet all of you. My name is TW Gallier and I write
about vampires. Well, I like to write about witches and werewolves, too, but in my latest release
it's pretty much all about the vamps.

Oooh, Phoenix does so LOVE vampires! *Settles in to listen intently*

It's interesting how something sparks an idea. I spent a summer reading tons of mysteries and fantasies, all in first person. I wanted to write my first ever 1st Person POV novel, and I thought it would be a detective story set in a medieval fantasy world. Boy did I get that wrong.
While watching the second installment of Underworld, I was struck by a bolt out of the blue, complete with main character and title. Somehow my fertile mind absorbed the visual delights of Underworld, stirred in some Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then flipped it over and spanked it. Vamps who are all sex and attitude, and with a very vicious streak, took over my world.
My latest release, BLACK HEART, is about a vampire slayer in Dallas who thinks her late night wild, wild west lifestyle gunning for vamps is a wonderful way to earn a living. Vampires are a fun bunch, what with their alpha attitudes and wickedly sexy over-the-top libidos, and Sable Hart likes to dance around them, toying with them, reeling them in, and then drive a stake through their vicious little hearts. All is well and good, until she makes that one mistake. And that's all it takes.

Captured by Yuri and his family of ancient Euro-vamps, Sable discovers they are in town for a
reason. Dallas has been chosen to be the next safe haven for the undead, and they were well into
achieving their goal. Vampires already control city hall, the police, and the media. Sable has
to turn up the heat and play the vampires' dangerous games of blood and seduction. Using her
cunning and body, she shows the vamps what this Texas girl can do with silver bullets, swords,
and a whole lot of attitude.

Here is a short excerpt (PG-13):

The a/c units were on the flat, tar and gravel roof. The service hatch wasn't locked. I opened it,
glanced down to ensure there was nothing on the floor to trip me up, and jumped in feet first.
Took less than five seconds. No hesitation. There was a steel ladder up the wall. I didn’t need it.
"Shit!" Gabe cried. He fell out of his chair in the corner and turned to gape at me from the
floor. I caught him on the computer. Porn site. I could see a video playing of a pair of black-
haired beauties in nothing but garter belts and heels making out. I gave him a disapproving
look. "Sabe!"

"In the flesh." I indicated the computer. "Hope I didn't interrupt anything constructive."
Gabe scrambled to his feet and headed for the closest rack of weapons. I took off after him. He
wasn't fast enough. Almost, but not quite. Gabe pulled a sawed-off shotgun down and swung it
around to shoot me. I caught the barrel in my left hand, and thrust-kicked him in the chest. I held
onto the barrel as he flew backwards a good five feet.

Setting the sawed-off shotgun down, I watched him gasping for breath. Once he could breathe
reasonably well, I watched Gabe's eyes do a slow climb up my body, from my feet to my face.
The stench of raging desire filled the air, drenching my senses. I could feel his burning need and
desire on a deeper, psychic level. Gabe was one horny man, and I couldn't help but wonder if that
was his usual reaction to seeing pre-vampire me.

I slanted a frown at the computer, with its porn video still running. He was horny long before I
got there, so it wasn’t really me getting him all excited.

"I need your help."

He looked me straight in the eye. Alpha werewolves couldn’t be mesmerized.

*****

One lucky commenter will receive a free e-book copy of Black Heart. All you have to do is
leave a comment, and a winner will be picked tomorrow.

Well that sounds intriguing! I myself have a current work in progress with an Underworld flavour. There's something icredibly inspiring about vampires in the style of Film Noir.
Well, now it's the reader's turn. Leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of Black Heart! Do be quick though as time will be out before you know it!
Thank you again for coming to The Naughty Pages, TW!