by Multiple
She leaned up and looked down at him. Her earnest expression gave him pause. “I want you to know that I will never tell another living soul about you or your cousins.”
“No one would believe you if you did.”
She shook her head. “I’m being serious. I would never betray your trust.”
“I know that, love.” He cupped her face and leaned up to kiss her. “I know that our secrets are safe with you. I love you, Phoebe.”
Her eyes misted.
“No, don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it. No one has ever said that to me before.”
“Well, how about I prove it to you,” he said, rolling them across the bed. With the soft light of morning peeking through the curtains, he did just that.
About Melissa Schroeder
From an early age, Melissa loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book.
Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling Harmless series. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with A Little Harmless Submission and the popular military spinoff, Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the best seller lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She made the USA Today list twice with The Santinis Collection and one week with the multiauthor bundle, Uniform Desires.
Since she spent her childhood as a military brat, Melissa swore never to marry military. But, as we all know, Fate has her way with mortals. She is married to an AF major and is raising her own brats, both human and canine. She spends her days giving in to her addiction to Twitter, counting down the days until her hubby retires, and cursing the military for always sticking them in a location that is filled with bugs big enough to eat her children.
You can connect with Mel all over the web:
WEBSITE
TWITTER
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE
HARMLESS ADDICTS
FACEBOOK CURSED CLAN PAGE
Or email her at: [email protected]
Other Books by Melissa Schroeder
Harmless
A Little Harmless Sex
A Little Harmless Pleasure
A Little Harmless Obsession
A Little Harmless Lie
A Little Harmless Addiction
A Little Harmless Submission
A Little Harmless Fascination
A Little Harmless Fantasy
A Little Harmless Ride
A Little Harmless Military Romance
Infatuation
Possession
Surrender
The Harmless Shorts
Prelude to a Fantasy
The Cursed Clan
Callum
By Blood
Desire by Blood
The Santinis
Leonardo
Marco
Gianni
Vicente
The Santinis Collection
A Santini Christmas
Semper Fi Marines
Tease Me
Once Upon An Accident
The Accidental Countess
Lessons in Seduction
The Spy Who Loved Me
Leather and Lace
The Seduction of Widow McEwan
Leather and Lace—Print anthology
Texas Temptations
Conquering India
Delilah’s Downfall
Hawaiian Holidays
Mele Kalikimaka, Baby
Sex on the Beach
Getting Lei’d
Bounty Hunters, Inc
For Love or Honor
Sinner’s Delight
The Sweet Shoppe
Tempting Prudence—free on website
Turning Paige
Connected Books
Seducing the Saint
Hunting Mila
Saints and Sinners—print of both books
The Hired Hand
Hands on Training
Cancer Anthology
Water—print
Stand Alone Books
Grace Under Pressure
The Last Detail
Her Mother’s Killer
A Calculated Seduction
Telepathic Cravings
Coming Soon
Angus
Tempt Me
Touch Me
Don’t miss out on the next exciting chapter of the Cursed Clan with Angus!
ANGUS
A man who only believes in fact.
Even after everything the Clan has endured, Angus has always held onto his scientific leanings. He isn’t a believer of instant attraction, so, he is surprised by the force of his attraction to Irishwoman Maggie O’Conner. He doesn’t trust her, but she soon become an obsession he can’t seem to shake.
A woman who defies every logic.
Single mother Maggie comes from a long line of magickal women, but she walked away from that part of her life. When Angus bursts into her life, she tries to ignore the handsome Scot, but soon finds that she needs his protection. She knows he’s not normal, but she never expected him to be the one man who could capture her heart.
A need they could not deny.
As they work together, their need for each other threatens to consume them both. But just as they close in on the next jewel, a new enemy emerges and puts everything they hold dear into jeopardy.
Excerpt
Maggie was lost in the taste of him, of the feel of that big body pressing up against her. The unique scent of him filled her senses. The same sandalwood cologne but beneath it was the man himself. Strong, masculine and sexy. Holy Goddess, he was so damned sexy. In all her life, she had never had a man overtake her with a kiss. Every inch of her body screamed for relief. She ached with need. His tongue stole inside her mouth.
God.
His hands slid down her back molding over her rear end and urged her closer. Even through their layers of clothing she could feel the heat of him. She shivered then moaned as he shifted his hips. The man was built in every respect. Visions of what she wanted to do, have done to her, swirled in her head. The moment she felt the hard length of his erection against her most intimate part of her, she shivered. This was not like the kisses he had stolen, not like anything she had ever felt before.
So, this is what being ravaged by a Highlander felt like.
It was the one thing that popped into her head. Then, it dissolved as pleasure washed over her, through her. Heat flared deep in her belly as she grew damp between her legs. The ache inside her intensified. As pleasure built, fear crept in. Her hunger for him overwhelmed her, crashing down on her like a tidal wave. Panic surged almost blacking out the passion she’d been enjoying. She pulled back. He tried to follow her.
He opened his eyes and she had to fight the gasp. His eyes were sharp green, darker than before and there was something in them that scared her. And drew her. Goddess help her she wanted this. Wanted him—to hades with everything else.
“Dinna say no. If you are, do it now and leave me alone. I can’t take this, Maggie. You’re killing me by small degrees.”
The words sounded as if they had been ripped from the very depths of his soul. Dark need dripped from every syllable. In that moment, she knew she could walk away. He left the decision up to her.
Maggi
e couldn’t deny him. She knew she should, that allowing him to take her in this way that she was putting his life in danger. Then reality crashed down on her. This was a man who couldn’t die.
She slipped her hands from his shoulders up so she could cup his face. Slowly, she kissed him, not closing her eyes. He shuddered as she brushed her mouth against his. It was barely a touch. It was apparently enough.
He groaned her name, and wrapped his arms tight around her. Maggie closed her eyes, then her world whirled as Angus picked her up. She broke the kiss.
“Angus…”
He stopped walking and looked at her. This was a man she had dreamed of, the one she had wanted to save her, love her, take care of her. It wasn’t going to be long term. Nothing lasted. But she needed him as if she had never needed a man before in her life. It scared her, but it made her feel…safe.
“You’ve accepted me. Now, accept that I love you. I can’t explain it any better than you can. Just…let me love you.”
Tears crowded her throat as she kept her eyes dry. It was difficult to answer, to even think, but she nodded. He smiled at her, but it wasn’t the boyish grin she was accustomed. It was straight up sexy man. He walked her over to the bed and tossed her onto the mattress. She bounced once on top of it before he covered her with his body. Heat poured off of him.
She waited for him to take her then, but he didn’t. He looked down at her and when he spoke, there was equal measure of desire and awe coloring his voice.
“So beautiful.” He breathed the words as he brushed tendrils of her hair from her face.
Maggie smiled and opened her mouth but he stopped her.
“You don’t see it, but you are beautiful. I see you with Jack, I see the way you handle being a mother, see the way you take care of others. You are a gorgeous woman, but you’re so much more.”
Coming April 15th to print and digital everywhere
HOW TO LOSE A FAMILIAR
IN 10 DAYS
SARANNA DEWYLDE
Copyright © 2013 by Saranna DeWylde
Published by Sea Goddess Books
A Sanibel Moon Imprint
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
PROLOGUE
A Familiar Hell
Raven Cherrywood’s brother-in-law was once a notorious bastard, the kind of notorious that young warlocks everywhere aspired to be. Especially Raven Cherrywood.
Raven was the youngest brother by only four minutes, but among the Trifecta of Doom, four minutes might as well have been four years. He was the one who was coddled, babied, and generally assumed to not have a clue as to what was going on. Or be capable of handling it if he did.
Even though among other warlocks outside of the Trifecta—outside of his group of triplet brothers—he was legendary. The Trifecta was legendary.
But he wasn’t notorious.
Raven wanted to be the kind of warlock that Valkyries, goddesses and witches whispered about in hushed tones.
So when Dred Shadowins, bastard extraordinaire, married Raven’s sister and gave up the bastard life, Dred’s Little Black Book had come into his possession.
This book was the stuffs from which a warlock’s every wet dream was spun.
It had names, numbers, and even a little key that showed what each woman preferred and enjoyed. The ABCs of sex from Anal to Zenvestic Fetishism, whatever the hell that was.
The point being, it should have been Raven’s ticket to adventure and notoriety. That final thing that would slingshot him out in front of Falcon and Hawk. Hawk was in a committed relationship, Falcon was Cupid and married to Lust for fuck’s sake, it was Raven’s turn. With the Trifecta dissolving and going their separate ways, Raven had limited time to make a name for himself in his own right.
He’d worked as a spy for the High Chancellor, but he couldn’t exactly tell anyone that. In fact, the whole Trifecta had. It was nothing special.
But back to the adventure and notoriety.
The Book should have been able to provide that for him.
Instead, when he dared to crack his prize open to reveal the treasure within, it activated a curse that had been meant for Dred.
“Since you’re always chasing pussy,” a voice sneered, “I’ll save you the trouble. You can be a pussy.”
And with that, Raven Cherrywood was no longer a warlock perched on the brink of notoriety.
He was a cat.
CHAPTER ONE
Damnit, Stop That
Hemlock Butterbean was a shy librarian who preferred the company of filing fairies and hellhounds to her contemporaries, took tea instead of coffee, and would much rather dig in her garden than worry about her nails.
She was mostly content with her life the way it was until due to a typographical error, she’d gotten a subscription to Weekly Warlock—an interactive centerfold magazine much like the mortal’s Playgirl. (Being a bibliophile, Hemi knew all about mortal publications. It was her duty, after all.)
The issue had been the one with Raven Cherrywood, a warlock known to be one of three identical troublemakers—the Trifecta of Doom.
Hemi had trouble believing the Powers That Be had crafted one warlock that sexy, let alone three. It was rumored that one of the triplets, Hawk, was a dating a mortal. And Falcon, he’d become Cupid and married Lust. Hemi thought that was sweet. It was always nice when Love and Lust were a matched set.
Only in this case, she wondered if Lust had it out for her. She’d never done the woman wrong, but it seemed she’d been shot with a lust arrow that had Raven Cherrywood’s name on it.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Or all the delightful things his centerfold was willing to do to her.
She’d never met a real warlock who wanted to do those things. Her experiences had been limited to the back of Devin Darindable’s broom, and one exceedingly bad date with Rayden Ducoy. The bad date ended in sex because Hemi had to know if the experience would be as wretched as it had been with Devin.
Rayden was worse—a warlock who was afraid of his own excretions. She half expected some sort of golem to arise out of the small milky white puddle of pleasure he left on the bed. But no. He was just neurotic.
Hemi had officially given up dating and sex, until that damned calendar.
Centerfold Raven didn’t balk at anything she wanted, it didn’t matter how long she demanded he stay between her thighs. He was content to lick her like she was ice cream. Bowl after bowl, and was always ready for more.
The real flesh and blood Raven couldn’t be like that.
Could he?
It gave Hemlock hope.
Not that she wanted hope. In fact, she thought life was much better without it. Then she could be content with her lot.
Her thighs twinged as she thought about that issue of Weekly Warlock currently in her purse. She could take it to the bathroom for a quickie…
A screeching sound like a train being derailed echoed into her office and interrupted her naughty thoughts.
Hemi knew it wasn’t a train… the hellhounds that guarded the cursed section of the library had cornered another cat.
She rushed to the little beast’s rescue. The hellhounds would devour the poor thing whole. Especially if it was cursed.
At least twice a week, some unlucky sot who’d been turned into a cat would break into the library hoping to get into the cursed section. Hemi had gotten adept at curse-breaking. Although, there were a few whose curses were so strong, nothing could help them until they met the terms of the curse.
Except, when she got there, it wasn’t the cat that needed saving. It was her precious hellhounds, Damnit and Stop That. They’d chewed through every nice pair of shoes she owned and she’d said
Damnit, and Stop That so many times, it was all they answered to.
The cat had harried them into a corner, claws out, and its yowl was more like the scream of a panther than a house cat. He was bigger than a house cat too, but even so, he was still only a third of the size of her beasts.
Damnit and Stop That had bloody swipes along their noses and one of Damnit’s teeth was on the floor. His spiked tail thumped the floor a couple of times when he saw her.
“Kitty, kitty,” she cooed to get its attention.
The cat swung his head around to look at her, bright green eyes pinned her in place. They glowed with magick and Hemi could see a human intelligence in its eyes.
“Well, who are you?” she asked kindly. “Come here and we’ll see if we can fix this thing, okay?”
It eyed her and Damnit growled.
“Stop that,” she admonished. And Stop That perked his head up. “Not you.”
Then she saw that the giant black cat had a swipe over his left eye. “Aww. Poor kitty. You’ve got to stop fighting with hellhounds. Although, you were getting the better of them. Come to Hemi.” She held out her arms.
A regular cat would’ve have ignored her, but the cursed always came when she called. They needed help to transform back to their regular witch or warlock state.
The hellhounds growled again and she stomped her foot. “Not kidding.” The dogs whimpered and lay their heads down on the floor by her feet. She cast a healing spell that fixed everything but Damnit’s tooth. That would have to grow back on its own. “There’s my good babies.” She turned her attention back to the cat. “Come on, kitty.”