Morning, y’all!

As you can see, I have given up completely on the daily blog post thing.  I am just NOT that interesting, and I tend to ramble.  Plus, if I save up my insanity, it means I get longer, better-thought-out posts.

Like this one, for example, in which I tell the world that I picked up another contract yesterday. I spent most of yesterday doing weird little happy dances around the office-slash-hellhole, and even Rooster thought I was a little on the crazy side.  Of course, he lives with me, so he knows just how crazy I really am.  Now, on with the details…

The story:  Something in the Air

The genre: Contemporary Romance (with a side of the erotic)

The publisher:  Rebel Ink Press

The blurb: 

Kelly Ray Patrick is a sweet, southern girl who has never been lucky, either in finances or in love.  But as the recent co-recipient of a lottery jackpot, she and her friends have set out on a Valentines-themed singles cruise in the hope of relaxing and meeting Mr. Right.  Only, to Kelly Ray’s surprise, Mr. Right appears to be her best friend, Dominic James.  Nic also appears to be feeling the effects of the trip, and has discovered an interest in Kelly Ray as well.  The only thing stopping them:  their friend, Trevor, who has been carrying a torch for Kelly Ray since they were all kids.  Will respect for that friendship be enough to stem the budding relationship, or will they throw caution to the wind and indulge in their desires?

Now, knowing me, do you really think that little problem is going to stop these two?  OF COURSE NOT!  While the story won’t be out until next year (because it is part of the Valentine’s releases), I figure I can start messing with people now.  For your entertainment, below is an excerpt (pre-edits, of course) of a scene I had so much fun writing.  It isn’t the most… exciting part of the story, but I’d best save that for closer to release.  Until then, enjoy!

~+~

The excerpt:

“Will you tell me what was wrong?”

Kelly Ray sighed.  “Its…embarrassing.”

“It can’t possibly be more embarrassing than the day you ripped your dress completely off in front of half the neighborhood when you jumped out Grandma’s apple tree.”   Kelly Ray groaned and hid her face against his chest.  Twelve years later, he still hadn’t let that one go, and he still found it funny.  Proving her unstated point, a laugh rumbled through his body and his arms went all the way around her, the feeling somewhere between comforting and possessive.  His spicy, male scent filled her lungs, and her belly somersaulted.  “You survived utter mortification and you can still look me in the face.  This can’t possibly compare.”

“Wanna bet?” she muttered against his shoulder.

“What?”

“Nothing.”  Kelly Ray shook her head and looked up at him.  In all the ways she’d dreamed this would happen, she never thought she’d have to look him in the face and tell him that he was the thing that had her all tied up in knots.  She sighed, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, the singer let out a loud whoop, and everyone in the room cheered.

“Alright!” he cried out, “Since you liked that one so much, here’s another slow one…just for the lovers.”  He winked at Kelly Ray when she scowled up at him, and the music started again.  She moved like she would pull away from Nic, but with his hands on her hips, she could only get as far away as his arms’ reach.

“Come on, Kee… tell me what’s up.”

“You,” she said before she could think her way out of it.  Nic blinked.

“Me?” he asked.  “What did I do?”  She sighed, and covered her face with her hands.  Nic stepped up to her and hugged her tightly, his lips right against her ear while he swayed her out into the middle of the dance floor again.  “Tell me what I did so I can fix it.”

“Nothing,” she sighed, glad to have her hands to hide behind.  Not so glad that she was crammed against his strong, sexy, wonderful-smelling chest.  “You didn’t do anything at all…that’s the problem.”

“Was I supposed to?” he asked, voice husky, his bottom lip brushing her earlobe in what she could have sworn was a taunt.  Kelly Ray shivered, her brain spinning into overdrive as it flashed images of all of the other places she wanted his lips.

“No,” she squeaked, fighting back the hot sting of tears that threatened to flow down her cheeks.  “You weren’t supposed to do anything…you didn’t do anything.” She was babbling, but she couldn’t help it.  “It’s all me… I think I’ve just lost my mind is all.”  Nic pulled back, holding her by the shoulders.

“Kelly Ray, look at me,” he ordered.  She hesitated, and slowly lowered her hands.  The burning look had returned to his eyes.  Every muscle in his body was tense and quivering – she could feel his hands shaking as they so gently held her arms. “You can’t possibly know what you’re doing to me,” Nic almost whispered.  She blinked.

“What are you talking about?”  Kelly Ray questioned.

“Forgive me?”

“For what, Nic?”

Nic pulled her close and, in front of the hundred or so witnesses in the club, he kissed her.

***

Her gasp of surprise was exactly what Nic needed to show her just what she was doing to him.  His tongue swept across her bottom lip then inside, along the line of her teeth, across the roof of her mouth, and finally around her tongue.  She tasted sweet and fresh, like fruit juice and alcohol and woman.

Finally, he was kissing Kelly Ray.  And she was kissing him back.  Hungrily.

She was intoxicating.  He pulled her body flush against him, one hand between her shoulders and the other against her lower back, just where her spine curved out toward her behind.  Nic groaned as her body made contact with his from top to bottom.  He rocked is hips forward against her belly, wanting her to feel how much he wanted her.

Kelly Ray’s fingers tightened in the front of his shirt and she hauled herself up against him, stretching up on her toes to kiss him back, her own lips urgent and insistent against his as he pulled her closer still.  He could kiss her forever, but this was not the place.

Slowly Nic pulled away, his heart pounding against his ribcage, his breathing hard and ragged.  Her lips moved along his jaw and down his throat, lightly nipping at his skin, and for a moment he forgot they were still in public.  All he could think about was ripping away her clothes, burying himself deep inside her, and never, ever leaving.

“Nic…” she panted against his shoulder, hands trembling as they still clung to his shirt.  He held her tightly, unsure his legs would support him if he let her go.

“We need to leave,” he answered, surprised by the roughness of his own voice.  “Now.”  She nodded against him and twined her fingers through his.  Nic wanted to groan again when he looked down at her, her lips swollen and red from their kiss, her face flushed with desire, and her eyes… so clearly telling him that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

She took an unsteady step, then another, then jerked on his hand to make him follow.  Nic didn’t need to be told twice.