Storywitch's "Book of Shadows"

And the winner of this month’s book of your choice contest is Selina! Yay, Selina!! Congratulations, girl, and I’ve sent you a direct email to find out which book you’d like.

Hope you all are doing well. I will be either heading to DragonCon this weekend or battening down for Hurricane Earl – we’re waiting to see which way he’ll turn. And of course next weekend, I’ll be at Lora Leigh’s RAW in West Virginia. Theeennnn, the weekend after that, I’ll be at Authors After Dark up in New Jersey. Hope to see some of you at these events!

Also, for those of you particularly interested in Knights of the Board Room, Jon’s story, Afterlife, was turned in today. I’ll keep you posted on a release date, and hope to put an excerpt on the site once I get the thumbs up from my editor. :>

Okay, now I’m really going. Have a great September!

Egads, I forgot to include this in this month’s newsletter! You could win an advance copy of Vampire Trinity! Just logon to the fan forum, look under Mina’s Coral Sanctuary where the contests are held, and choose Vampire Trinity Contest thread. http://fansofjoeywhill.forumotion.com/. Good luck! Also, don’t overlook that area of the thread – they’re constantly running excellent contests – for books, gift certificates, pretty baubles, etc… The mod ladies rock!

Oh, PS on that – the winner will be announced this Thursday, so don’t delay!

Hope you enjoy our conclusion (at least for now!) of Mason and Jess’s vignette. This will be it for vignettes for a little while, at least until I get past the Sep-Oct conferences and my November 30 deadline, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have delightful things coming up. See the first comment at the end of this vignette!

* * * * *

Jessica put her hands on his knees, sliding over the bone to the firm joining point of the muscles that layered his thighs. All her senses were open to the nth degree, such that the nerve endings in her fingers registered each element of the terrain. Smooth, slim bands from the knees, tributaries that ran down to those wide muscles leading up his inner thighs. She hooked the opening in the towel, tugged enough to have it loosen at his waist, then slid her hand under, enjoying the pleasure of first finding him by touch, whispering over his testicles, then to the heat and life of his cock. Her hand closed over the thick base root, resting the side of her hand on the heavy sac beneath it. With the other hand she pushed the towel back, revealing the impressive length and breadth of him. She felt a surge of quaking delight at the viscous fluid collected at the top, waiting for her parted lips.

Can you imagine it, habiba? They are all watching, the most powerful vampires in the world. Their servants stand still behind their chairs, yet every eye is on you, on whether you will serve me well.

(more…)

I’d forgotten today was July 31, so I wanted to pop back in to let you know who the July newsletter contest winner is. The winner is Gary! Congratulations, Gary, and I’ve sent you a direct email to find out what your book choice is.

Remember, we’ll have another drawing in the August newsletter, so keep a lookout for it! Thanks everyone who entered, and as always, thank you for the kind comments that many of you include about my characters and their stories.

Counting down to Vampire Trinity on September 7… Just a tiny bit more than a month to go!

Here we go, guys! There will probably be one more segment after this one, unless the muse surprises me (grin). All good things must end, though we know Mason and Jessica have many more adventures ahead of them (and possibly more future vignettes!). As always, hope you enjoy this…

* * * * *

Perhaps it was because of how vulnerable she felt right now, how stripped down to the soul, but if he brought himself to completion, gave his essence to the waves and the sand, rather than to her body, it would be as sharp and devastating a rebuke to her heart as anything else he could do. She equated it with his choosing to leave her behind, not letting her share every part of his life. He was her Master, her life and will his to command, yet it wasn’t that simple. She loved him; she had demands of her own, so many of them having to do with her deep-seated need to serve him.

Those tears touched her lips, suppressed sobs fair choking her. He’d proven his point. He could break her down to this, to pure need and pain, no rational or sensible thoughts in her mind, only emotion. Please don’t…

(more…)

Hope everyone’s having a wonderful week! Here’s the next segment. Sorry I’m about a day late. The week became far busier than I expected. But I wrote 22,000 words on Afterlife (Jon’s story from Knights of the Board Room series) this week, so that story is just barreling along at full blast!

* * * * *

I only fear losing you, my lord.

For wasn’t that truly the fear that crept through her mind, spread out until it seemed the terror of it was coursing through her very blood? The fear that whenever he left this estate, she would never see him again? She’d lost so very much in her life, and he’d given her back passion, happiness, laughter…love. She wouldn’t survive losing that again, and she wondered how he’d borne it for three hundred years, when he lost the first woman who had brought that to him.

“You brought it back to me, habiba. And the third mark binds us. You will never lose me. Wherever I go…”

“I follow.” She stared up at him. But fate could play terrible tricks, couldn’t it?

“Ssssh.” He leaned in then, pressed a kiss to her forehead, to her cheeks, then across her lips, teasing her when she tried to strain for him, for a deeper connection. Instead he played his tongue over hers, traced her mouth, gave her a tiny nip on the corner before drawing back and picking up another bloom.

(more…)

Here we go – Part Six! Thanks again for your patience, and we should be on an every two week schedule going forward for awhile. Hope you enjoy this next installment!

* * * * *

On that thrilling and terrifying note, he released her, stepped back and took a seat in that oak chair on which she’d earlier imagined herself, riding his cock before voyeuristic eyes. “Come here.”

Rising to her knees, she closed that distance naked, leaving the robe behind. On impulse, right before she would have been between his knees, she bent, her eyes on where the frayed cuff of his jeans brushed the ankle of that long, finely shaped male foot. She stopped above it, her hair falling down along the insole. It was an amazingly subservient desire, to kiss his foot, yet his words, the hint of total Mastery he might finally decide to exert over her, summoned it from that pool inside of her that seemed full of such surprising cravings.

As her mouth closed that distance, pressed against his flesh, he shifted, his hand touching her head. “Jessica.” His voice, the rich timbre, had a hoarse note to it.

“I’ve missed you so much, my lord,” she said softly. “I understand what you are saying, and I didn’t mean to try and force your hand. But, if you love me, please stop leaving me behind. I can’t bear it.”

(more…)

The June newsletter contest winner was Jackie W!  Congratulations, Jackie, and I’ve sent you a direct email. Thanks everyone as always for participating, and for the many lovely comments/compliments you include in your entries.

I’m happy to report that A Vampire’s Keeper, Elisa and Mal’s story, was turned in to my editor today – woot, woot, woot! Today I’ll celebrate with a shower, a trip up the road to have lunch with my husband, and a movie tonight (Whip It, with Ellen Page. Never seen it, looks quirky and fun). Tomorrow I’ll jump feet first into Afterlife (Jon’s story, next in the Knights of the Board Room series), and Fairy research for Jacob and Lyssa Part III.

Counting down the days until Vampire Trinity’s early September release? I know I am! Looking forward to giving you all Part II of Gideon, Daegan and Anwyn’s journey together. In the meantime, I’ll have another segment of the ongoing Mason and Jessica vignette posted at the blog and fan forum by no later than Friday or Saturday, if all goes well. Hope that helps with the wait!

For those of you in the U.S., I wish you a happy Fourth of July weekend. Long live the red, white and blue, and all the ideals it represents! :>

How’s that for a long title? I wanted to be sure and catch your attention (wink). First, before I give you a snapshot of the Lori Foster Reader-Author Get Together (RAGT), let me mention two things happening this week that may interest you.

Monday, June 14, 12noon Central to 12 midnight, I’ll be blogging at bittenbybooks.com about vampires. Come answer one of my questions and win a $50 Amazon gift certificate + one book title! Or, if you don’t want the certificate for some reason, you could win your choice of FOUR of my titles! The questions are fun, and Bitten by Books is a great site to find more books for your To Be Read list, so come on over. And, additional note, if you RSVP to this link, http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=25733, you get 25 additional entries in the contest!

And, if you can’t make that, and/or you’re not tired of me yet, on Thursday, Jun 17, I’ll be over at Over the Edge Book Reviews. They’ll post an interview with me that day, but 7-9pm EST that night, I’ll be on a live chat. And of course I’ll be giving away Vampire Mistress, or the book of the winner’s choice, if that winner would prefer something else. Bring your questions or whatever else you’d like to talk to me about, and we’ll have a great time.

Hope to see you at one or both. All right, on to the Lori Foster write up!

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Thanks for your patience, everyone! Here’s Part V. Elisa and Mal’s story is due June 30, so I’m not sure if I’ll have another segment before I complete that, what with the Lori Foster conference this month as well. The summer months always seem to be my busiest time, and despite my best intentions to write a new segment every two weeks, I may have to stretch it out a little bit to be sure I get your books to you on time (smile). I want to finish Afterlife in July (I’d hoped to have it done in June), but I’m pretty sure I can get you Mason and Jessica Part 6 no later than early July. Hope you enjoy this in the meantime!

* * * * *

Though he’d said his plane would land soon, she knew his definition of soon and hers were different in this instance. It was a good thing the third mark gave a servant’s body even more stamina, not just for exertion, but for stillness, because it took him several hours to get home. She’d actually expected it to take longer, so she’d gone into a near trance, keeping her eyes down, focused on her naked body as he commanded. But she wasn’t idle in that trance.

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