Diana DeRicci

 Centuries after the destruction of earth, several species of altered humans still survive. These shape-shifters are exciting and exotic creatures, and their human forms do little to mask their most primitive and passionate instincts…

IN HEAT Mahlia is a snow tigress in heat and now that her tiger king has returned to rule the planet Vesperi, she can no longer deny her desperate need to mate. She greets him as a woman, but their desire for sex is uncontrollable as they come together with a primal passion.

IN SMOKE When Lady Katryn is called back to her home world to join Lord Nadir’s harim, she is curious to learn more about her weredragon nature. What she discovers is a scorching eroticism that consumes her all over.

IN MIST Dr. Sera Gibbons is one of only two human survivors after a five hundred year cryogenic freeze. Save by the merman Bretton Hahn, she savors the way her caresses her and makes her live out her wildest fantasies. And if you want to get it online rather than going to a brick-and-mortar store, here are the links:

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

Chapters.ca

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I just sold a novella for an anthology! I’ll be joining the lovely ladies of Tease in this multi-author effort.

Cover art by Stella.

Look for its release in early ‘09.

The story? The moon goddess Selene.

When Selene is brought to earth by a mortal man, the passion she finds is one she cannot leave, yet she only has three nights of the Flower Moon to experience this wonder. When confronted by Zeus, she risks everything to stay with the man who has stolen her heart.

This is a twisted retelling of the Selene and Endymion retelling.

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Author name : Selena Illyria

Publisher name: Changling Press

http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=991

www.selenaillyria.com

Blurb

She left him…

Renato’s world shattered when his fiancée Magda disappeared. He buried himself in family, work and meaningless flings. Nothing filled the void in his life, and he could never forget the only woman he’s ever loved.

She’s back…

Magda was given a choice: her brother or her love. In order to find her lost brother, she had to give up Renato. She made a choice, one she has always regretted. She could never forget the man she left behind.

Now she’s been ordered to kill him. Their lives are about to collide, secrets are about to be exposed, and danger waits in the shadows.

Will they survive when the dust settles?

Excerpt:

Renato’s Dragon
Selena Illyria
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2008 Selena Illyria

This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

“Stay here, I have to get something.”

“Champagne?” Magda asked, grinning. “It is New Year’s after all.”

“Better.”

He padded barefoot to his dropped jacket and found the small velvet box he’d left in his pocket. Box in hand, he crawled onto the bed, grinning.

“That better be something that will make me forget about champagne.”

“It is, trust me.” He handed her the box, which she took hesitantly.

“This isn’t one of your practical jokes, is it?”

He laughed. “No, it’s not. Open it, go on. I promise you, you’ll like it.”

“Renato!” she gasped, her eyes wide. “What…”

Smiling, he took her hands into his, squeezing them gently. “I am asking for your hand in marriage. I want you to be my wife.”

She looked from the ring to him and back. “You want to marry me? Why?”

“Why? Because I love you. I can’t picture my life without you. Did I mention the loving you part?”

She nodded her head, and tendrils of dark brown hair bounced around her face. “Oh my God, you want to marry me? Me?” She stared at the ring.

“Let me put it on you so you can see how it looks.” He took the box and slipped the ring on her finger, admiring the way the gold and the creamy green stone contrasted with her tawny skin. “It was made for you.”

“Do you need to hear the words?”

Renato opened his mouth, wanting to tell her yes, but she cut him off.

“Yes, I want to marry you and be your wife.”

There were no words he could think to say, so Renato did the only thing he could think of. He took her in his arms and just held her.

“Do you want to go back to the party?” Magda asked.

“No. I just want to be here with you.” Leaning back against the pillows, Renato closed his eyes. Magda pulled the covers over them. Renato’s energy was now gone. Breathing slow and deep, he held her as a feeling of contentment took hold of him. Sleep soon followed.

* * *

Magda awoke with a start. Sitting up, she gently pushed away Renato’s arms. Her body stilled as she waited for any sign that Renato had awakened. Relief flooded her when she felt him roll over, inhale deeply and then let out a snore. Shoving the covers away, she crawled down the bed. Not bothering to retrieve her shoes, she padded barefoot over the carpeted floor.

Strains of the party still in full swing could be heard through the floorboards. A glance at a wall clock told her it was four in the morning. There was very little time to waste. Picking up her skirt and what was left of the corset, she glanced back toward the bed, saying a silent good-bye to Renato. Magda wished she could tell him her reasons for leaving him but knew he would just want her to stay. The problem was no one could help her. Not even him.

Her parents were dead. All the family that remained was Paxton, her brother, and he had vanished after their father had died. Renato, despite his family’s connections, didn’t have the ties that the Guild had. They had offered her a once in a lifetime opportunity. In exchange for doing odd jobs for the members of the Guild, they would help her find Paxton. Her thoughts turned to the morning she had woken up to find him and all of his meager possessions gone. Her heart constricted. She had to find him. They were the only two now. The last of the Komodo Dragon shifters.

Magda didn’t want to think of the possibility that she was the last of her kind. To have no one else who would understand what it meant to be a Komodo shifter? To be alone was unthinkable. Taking one more glance at the bed, her shoulders sagged. “Kali, why?” she whispered. “Why do I have to leave him when I just found him?”

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Please join us at Romance Divas THIS WEEKEND!

Friday October 10th and Saturday October 11th, we will be joined by some huge names in fantasy and fantasy-romance for a workshop on what the difference really is between the two genres.

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When: October 4thth (Saturday)
Where: Hastings San Marcos
Hwy 80
Time:  2pm until the cows come home.

Diana Castilleja will be signing and discussing my first print release THE ETERNAL KISS.

If you’re in the Austin/San Antonio area, we hope you’ll come out and see me. There will be several authors of romance for this debut print book event!

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The Soft Edge of Midnight, by Stella and Audra Price are up on NOR for an Award! Nominated!!! Woohoooo!!!

And there’s some awesome company on that poll. So go vote!

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/NORAwards/fall2008norawardseroticebooks.asp

Best Erotic Paranormal

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This is an important one.

The Breast Cancer site is running short for September. They supply a mammogram every month for a woman who needs it and can’t afford it. For September, their goal is 100 free Mammograms, but they are short of their click goal.

Could you go and click? And share the link??

There’s no cost, no registration. And there’s only two days left to collect. Please go and give your click for Breast Cancer Awareness and treatment.

Thank you

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

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Liar. Fake. Fraud. Deceiver.

The accusations buzzed through Shar’s mind like the largest swarm of locusts, the intense drone driving all sane thought far away. Drunken shouts and swearing made aching pain rise and fall in an obnoxious rhythm while the clang of steel doors being thrown into their locks reverberated in her ears. Up and down the cells the crude noise echoed. Being a woman, she had her own private chamber of hell. Lucky her.

Her hangover pounded on as the morning darkness crawled past her. Disgust warred with nausea when she counted just how many hours she’d been trying to erase those flung curses, especially considering who’d said them. The man who’d deceived her in flying colors. One by one they marched like a line of tromping ants across her thoughts. Shar was forced to listen to their mocking sound.

Liar.

She swallowed hearing its guttural sound over and over in the silence of her accommodations-for-one tomb. She’d never lied about her ability, never let the words of denial slip past her lips. Omission though, that she knew she was guilty of. It was paramount. Humans, people in general, had never warmed to her kind.

Fake.

Ah, yes, another flung taunt. She was so far from fake. She was better than lab-created reality. She was the real thing. Not that it mattered now. None of it would help her in her current situation. Which led her to not being a fraud obviously, at least not the kind Lawson had accused her of being. She so easily could use her magic to get out of jail, and be on the nine o’clock news in the morning as the latest sensation. She snickered in silence.

But that last–deceiver. Yeah, that one hurt. That one burned.

She’d intended to tell him the truth about what she was–today in fact. She knew she was running out of time. She thought he trusted her. She thought he loved her. He had asked her rather impetuously to marry once already. What a load of bull. Derision iced her thoughts. It didn’t feel any better than the bitter headache.

He’d proposed in style this time with the ring and like an idiot she’d accepted it first. The cruel truth slapping her like that had been the only small blessing she’d received because the rest of her day and her night had promptly fallen into a hellish wormhole of misfortune.

The musty, sour stench of previous inhabitants reeked back at her from the grim furnishings of the jail cell she was at the moment calling home. She prayed it was for only a very short stay. Abused brick walls looked like they’d been repeatedly painted by the numerous signs of peeling. The two-inch thick steel door with nothing but viewing bars sandwiched between polyurethane plastic sheets preempted any attempt to try to escape. The guard on the other side would shoot before she got three toes on the other side.

After a humiliating strip search–for God only knew what–the police had left her alone for most of the evening. She knew exactly who she was going to waste her one phone call on. And the bastard better answer his phone if he knew what was good for him. She had no choice but to wait for dawn, the best chance of reaching him at home. It also gave her more than ample time to replay the night before, the reason behind her forced stay in county hospitality to begin with.

* * * *

“Shar!”

She whirled at the shout of her name, and spotted her best friend twisting through the crowd outside the front of the club. Far from angelic beneath midnight dark hair and eyes models craved, Maddie emerged from the throng. Mystic was the only place to be on a Saturday night. The large blue neon letters blazed over the dark entrance; an entrance into another world, at least if you were Kin. Either way, inside or out, it was always busy on the weekends.

“Hey Maddie.” She looped an arm through her friend’s and together they walked into the fog and neon haven. She forced a smile, not wanting to talk about why she was there alone when just six hours ago, she had been nearly engaged. In fact, for a brief few minutes, she had been engaged. Until her eyes had been opened to the man she’d believed loved her.

“Boxer, give me something flaming, will you?” she ordered from the tattooed guy behind the bar in a near shout. Bass beats vibrated the air, booming loud and rocking the house like a frat boy’s wet dream. Scantily dressed women danced all over. She drew a deep breath, soaking it all in. It’d been a while since she’d been to the hot spot. She’d been doing more normal things with Lawson. She realized she’d missed being with her own kind.

“One Flaming Star, coming up,” he said, not missing a stride, as if it wasn’t an unusual order for her. She turned and propped her butt against a barstool. Her gaze sliced one way then the other across the undulating bodies packed on the dance floor. She tugged on the leather corset she wore, more out of irritation than for modesty. It fit her like a glove, and matched her attitude. Black, lethal and screaming ‘I’m one hot single babe’, because as of three that afternoon, there was no doubt she was not getting married.

“Flaming Star?” Maddie asked, her eyes wide against her porcelain skin. Deep blue, they reflected the neon glow and scattered fragments of the disco balls on the dance floor like fireworks in their depths. “Shar? What’s wrong?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “What could possibly be wrong?” she said with a snide undertone. She hadn’t anticipated running into Maddie, but she wasn’t going to turn down the shoulders of one of her best friends. Memories of her afternoon still burned. It was the biggest reason she was in the mood for leather tonight. And Flaming Stars.

“Um, you don’t drink for one, and you ordered a Flaming Star. Two sips and you’ll be on your ass.”

Maddie was right, but she refused to admit it. Instead, she focused her attention on the sea of bodies in front of her.

“Here you go,” Boxer said, sliding the drink toward her on the hardwood bar. She turned to watch the show. A pool of something dark green and sweet-smelling was layered over the base crème liqueurs of the drink. He snapped his fingers and the pool ignited with a cerulean flame. “Make your wish before you blow it out. It’s the only way to drink a Flaming Star.” He winked then turned to get more drink orders filled.

She grimaced. Her wishes would likely get her into more trouble because they involved the maiming and torturing of a particular male. Thankfully no one would think of reading her mind because even without actually making the wish, it was really hard not to think about making that wish.

Maddie spoke up. “What happened Shar? You didn’t answer me.”

Shar frowned, envisioning her now ex’s face melting in the glowing flame. He silently screamed as his face solidified in the arc of light, melting like hot wax. “I found out Lawson’s been using me.” Oh, fuck it. She made her wish and blew out the flame. Maddie’s jaw fell open. Carefully cradling the tumbler she blew on it, waiting for the glass and liquid to cool enough to sip at the heat-candied liquor layer on top.

She looked across the dance floor to the few tables and spotted Braden and his friends at one. The table next to them was just being vacated. “Let’s go grab it,” she said.

Once they were situated, Maddie tilted her chin to talk privately, but there was no mistaking the shock in her voice. “But you two are engaged!”

“Nearly engaged. We were nearly engaged,” she corrected. Sans one ring, it was pending. She refused to call herself engaged to that jerk.

A choking sound came from Maddie. Shar’s gaze stayed locked on the liquid in her drink. Looking up might have disastrous results. The people on the dance floor should be thankful she’d learned control at an early age. The urge to let it out was incredible. A small explosion. Just a small one. She would feel so much better, expelling the pent up rage she was silently wallowing in. She forced restraint on her temper instead.

“He popped the question over a month ago. I thought all that was left was the ring. Did he buy the ring?”

A lip lifted in a snarl. “He bought a ring all right.” She’d even had a few minutes to enjoy it and the way it looked on her finger before the truth hit her with the force of megaton comet. The painful expulsion of air she’d suffered wearing the glittering diamond had knocked her down. Waves of anger and humiliation made the air shimmer around her. She forced calm back down her throat, along with the first sip of the concoction in her hand. One sip to go and oblivion would be hers. At least for tonight. “Did you know he could block his mind?”

Maddie shook her head, her eyes bulging with what that meant. Lawson knew she was a witch. “How would he know?” she demanded. Her eyes glowed brightly from the inside with indignation, sparking from more than the lights from the strobes hanging from the ceiling. Shar didn’t know how Lawson had figured it out, or if he’d known all along. She never got the chance to find out.

It had been a hell of a shock for Shar, that was for damn sure. After a year, she’d had no idea. Talk about being a fool, and he’d accused her of being a deceiver. The irony still made her want to scream. She’d been silent for her own protection. That had been the least of his reasons.

“Neither did I. The ring was charged with his aura and I slipped right in behind his protections before I even knew what had happened. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I think he didn’t believe I’d find him out, definitely not so easily. He’s had training to protect himself. He’s probably known all along that I have powers. He was after something.”

“Oh, Shar,” Maddie said with sympathy.

“I’m not, or wasn’t, his only girlfriend either.” She controlled the shudder when she was forced to acknowledge just how unfaithful he’d been. He’d been playing with her, pretending to care. She’d thought the proposal had been real. He just didn’t have the ring when he’d asked her, his blushing face giving away that it had been spur of the moment. The ring hadn’t been that important to her. He’d asked her to marry him! She had been ecstatic. Amazing how well he could act. Derision burned at the memory. She thought the emotion had been real too. It hadn’t meant dick to Lawson. The proof was all the women he’d shared his bed with since she’d known him. Let Maddie think it was just one. She could live with that, rather than the reality.

This time the squeak of outrage was much louder. “You’re kidding, right? He couldn’t have been that stupid.”

“Apparently he is.”

“Shar, honey. I’m so sorry.” Still dumbfounded, she murmured, “I can’t believe he’d lie like that. He fooled all of us, then.” The note of support coming from Maddie eased the pain knifing through her. “I had no idea. None of us knew him before he came to Granier Falls. He always seemed so damn honest.” It was against the Kin laws to probe minds. Just once she should have done it. She’d have saved herself a year of humiliation.

She shrugged again, more than ready to put the whole relationship behind her. “I don’t think anyone did.” She took another sip, savoring it slowly. She didn’t blame anyone but herself for following along, believing in his handsome faced lies.

“He’s a scumbag,” Maddie said staunchly. Shar had to agree, emphatically.

Getting over the deceitfulness of the man she’d almost married though, that might take her a while. She couldn’t believe it. She’d been preparing herself since the original proposal to tell him about herself, to explain her ability and what being a member of the local clans meant, but it hadn’t been necessary. He’d guarded himself especially well to keep her from sensing his intentions. He’d slipped somehow with the ring.

Partly he’d been after her father’s money, of which yes, she had a little, but she still worked, still earned her own. Her shop in downtown Granier Falls suited some of the sexier feminine wishes. She personally loved the butter-soft leathers she special-ordered for some of her biker friends and their wives. The specialty shop had grown into a full lingerie clothing line and women’s leather accoutrement store. With that going on, there wasn’t any need to take over her father’s finances until it was physically a necessity, and the way her old man was going, she had a long while to wait. Locals knew her lineage. She didn’t hide it, but she didn’t flaunt it either. Only Kin knew she was a witch, following the family tree for several generations. She’d never suspected Lawson had such a hunger for what she had waiting for her when her parents finally needed her to take over the accounts. Scumbag was actually too kind for him.

The multiple lovers thing… The air shimmered again, a little brighter, a little hotter. Her hair sparked and fluttered as the energy gathered. She’d almost managed to not think about that.

“Easy, Shar,” Maddie whispered, her shoulder to her own in solidarity. “Be mad, but not in here.”

She nodded at her friend’s advice. Maddie had some incredible energy strengths herself, but nothing that she’d earned the reputation like Shar had over the years. Family spells helped her a lot. She was also one of the best scryers in Granier Falls. Lose your diamond ring? Call Maddie. Shar’s lips twitched at that. She’d seen her do it. Wench, even though it was thought with deep affection. Her sonic-level energy ranged from having the lightest touch of power up to being able to topple a temple with one finger. Shar envied her that. Maddie’s apartment was never dusty. Shar on the other hand…

She was well known for her flare-ups, but had learned over the years to keep them under wraps. She wasn’t lacking for control most of the time, but this was one of those circumstances where letting loose–even just a little–would feel so good. It was like having a good cry, or a hot bath or even both. She’d been so wired since this afternoon, she hadn’t thought of doing anything about it. Until now. And this just wasn’t the right place for it.

She took another drink. A full one. To hell with sips. The warmth from the candied liquid on top along with the raw burn of the alcohol sliding down her throat made her eyes water. Sweetness and something peppery blended on her tongue, coated her all the way down to her stomach. One more swallow and the lowball glass was empty. Damn but those went down easy after the first shock.

Braden turned and spotted them. Probably because she’d tossed sparks, and anyone who knew Shar knew when she was throwing a temper.

“Hello ladies!” Braden grinned, leaning over the leather of the bench seat, a couple of pals and their dates hovering. “What’s going on? Haven’t seen you in a while Shar.” He said it with a taunting grin. “Set anything on fire lately?” His mouth held a wicked smirk. The gleam in his dark brown eyes seemed to catch the lights and glow with his amusement. It was those same eyes and the sexy taunt of his mouth—and his knowledge of how to use them—that kept his datebook filled with other orderlies and nurses from the hospital where he worked.

She glared at him, then put on a face of sultry decadence. “Just your dreams, lover,” she replied in a throaty tease.

A round of howls ensued. Maddie gave her a worried glance, but Shar was feeling pretty impervious. She pushed the empty glass toward Maddie. “I want another one.”

“Shar…” She eyed the glass and Shar knew she was studying the moment, searching for the right balance. Really looking for a way to stop the inevitable.

Braden picked it up. Actually, he called it to him, levitating it off the table to hand it to one of the others sitting with him. “Bring the lady a Flaming Star,” he ordered. “Tell Boxer not to light it. I want that privilege.”

Maddie groaned, but Shar didn’t care. Braden had always pushed Shar’s buttons. Summer seasons spent training together for their education in the magical arts had proven one thing. There was no one better than Braden.

Except Shar. And it ate at him like a vicious dog, swallowing his common sense in one bite. Even drunk Shar knew she was better, better skilled, with more control.

She stood from the table. She swung her hair back and absorbed the sound of the night, the heat of the bodies in the club. It was its own high. She licked her lips. Leather gleamed in the dance floor lights and arching an eyebrow at him she told him, “Bring it on.”

Chapter Two

Trajan rolled over to the shriek of his phone, carefully disengaging the slim arm hanging over his chest. A glance at the clock told him it was seven in the morning. He dragged a hand down his face, silently cursing the idiot on the other end when he answered.

“This better be important.” His voice was rough and deep from sleep. He’d had a long night, a male grin forming to why and how delicious of a night it had been, but the voice on the other end made his mouth turn down immediately.

“Trajan, I need you to come to the station. I’ve been arrested.”

“Shar?”

“No, the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man. Yes, it’s Shar, and I only have two minutes, so get your ass down here.”

He snapped awake at her scratchy, tired and undeniably pissed tone. “What are doing in jail?”

“Just come down here. And stop by my place and grab a credit card. I might need bail.”

“Shit,” he muttered. “Which station?”

“Eighth street.”

“Fine. You better be ready to explain this one.”

“Sounds fair, just … do it Trajan.”

He heard the soft plea in her voice. He knew she’d never actually beg him for his help, so asking for it to begin with had to make this a big deal. She was a tough lady, and smart. Then why did she call Trajan instead of Lawson? Not her parents, and not her fiancé. He shook his head.

He let the air out of his lungs, sliding from the bed. A soft whimpering murmur reminded him he wasn’t alone. “Sissy, could you lock up when you leave? I have to go help a friend.”

She blinked large emerald eyes at him, lifting a little on one hand. The sheet drifted further down her back to uncover the curved side of her breast as she rose from her stomach. Memory filled in what he’d done with those breasts just a few hours before. She wasn’t one of his kind, and he preferred it that way for these kinds of relationships. No entanglements. Dating one of the Kin lead to presupposed outcomes. He knew he wasn’t looking to marry and ruin a perfectly good bachelorhood existence. Intermingling was allowed and many did marry outside of the Kin, but this was his own rule and he lived by it. Saved himself from a mile long list of questions and matchmaking that would go nowhere.

His skin stretched as he stood, working muscles into wakefulness with reaching movements. He detoured for a quick shower, leaving his warm bed and an even hotter blonde in it. He dropped a kiss to her pouty mouth, confirming she would be gone by the time he got home, albeit regrettably, because he’d been looking forward to a morning goodbye. He shook his head. Shar better have a damn good reason for this one.

Arrested? Shar Brenna wasn’t the type to get arrested. So what had she done to be arrested and need bail?

He rode his Black Nightmare, an aptly named black and chrome chopper, toward her apartment. He didn’t need a key to get in, which helped, the metal in the lock obeying his commands. He found her purse on the kitchen counter and after a minute of digging through her wallet, spotted a Visa. Her apartment was like many others, simple in color, furnished with only a few things; an entertainment center and TV system, a couch, side chair and coffee table. He grinned when he thought of all the times he’d teased her about her bedroom back at her home, loaded with unicorns and fairies. She’d been quite the girlie girl growing up. She was definitely all woman now. He frowned, wondering why the thought of her grown up now should even matter. It was too early in the morning for shit from Shar, that was the problem.

With the card in his pocket and her door locked beneath his fingers, he drove downtown, pushing away the thoughts of her grown-up self.

The station was morosely quiet for a Sunday morning. He looked at the guy in blue behind the glass; a normal guy, tired and probably at the end of his shift. Trajan caught his stare and held it. Something about his behavior told him all was not well in Oz. Must have been a long night. “Is she under suspicion for something?” he asked, requesting information about her and if there was bail.

The teller rolled a shoulder. An officer nearby shook his head when the teller looked to another in a blue uniform. Trajan didn’t know this officer. He was older, had probably been on the force for his whole life, just not around there. Trajan recognized a lot of them. He knew a few of the Kin were on the force, but this wasn’t the right time to try to find one.

The cop motioned to Trajan to bring him over. He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t offer a handshake. “No bail. She hasn’t been charged. Yet.”

The teller pulled the clipboard Trajan had signed toward himself and started the release work ignoring the lowered conversation going on nearby.

“Then why is she being held?” A lick of anger flared through his gut, but he held it back. She’d spent the night in jail for nothing?

“She’s a witness to last night’s fire.” The officer rocked back on his heels. “She could be a suspect depending on what’s found, if she remembers anything,” he said with meaning.

Dark eyebrows rose. “Fire?” Ah, hell, Shar. What did you do? There was more, he was sure of it. Information Trajan wasn’t going to find out without a lawyer. He just wanted her out of that slime hole. That was the priority.

“Yeah, the Mystic. Went up hard and fast. Several units are down there this morning searching the rubble. Looks like one hell of an accident.”

He swallowed. Shar? Responsible for arson? That was the definite vibe this cop was giving off. Trajan’s lips thinned into a grim line. That did not sound right. How did Shar get picked out of a crowd for starting a fire? He could only imagine. “I’m a friend of the family. She’s not going anywhere.” He’d only find out by talking to her.

The steel in his voice must have been very convincing. The officer didn’t blink an eye, just nodded and walked away. The teller moved to the thick door leading to the rear cell hallway. He pushed an intercom. “You can bring out the redhead. Her ride’s here.”

Trajan’s gaze locked on that door. Just what the hell did she get into? This was not like Shar. For as long as he’d known her, she’d been safe and sane. Arson? She had a temper and had been known to have little blow ups, but to torch the nightclub? That couldn’t be right.

The sight of her red hair when the door opened made his eyes narrow. The golden-red thickness lay in disarray, attesting to the long hours she’d been running her hands through the fine silk reaching down her back. The black leather bustier she wore held her breasts like loving hands, pushing the ivory mounds upward, stretched like a second skin around her ribs and waist. The bottom hem stopped just shy of the waistband of her pants, delivering teases of a flat stomach and her navel as she walked forward. It wasn’t just the bustier she wore either. The pants were leather too, painted on with a hedonistic brush, hugging every inch of her long legs and sweetly curved hips, ending in a wicked pair of black-heeled boots. Damn, but she must have been in a mood yesterday. He rarely saw her dressed like this.

It was a good thing, too. He had a hard time keeping that younger sister label on her when she did. They weren’t related, not even close. They’d grown up together, had the same summer instructors, and several Kin functions where they’d always paired up to hang out and he’d never thought of her as anything but his own sister except on rare occasions. This was one of them. That black leather had his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth, wanting to run it from the arch of her boot all the way up to the juncture that he knew would be hot. Shar didn’t know how to be any other way.

He sucked in a breath finally rising up the length of her body to meet her eyes when he felt he could. Tired but defiant. The officer opened the panel in the hip high wood barrier and she walked trustingly into his arms.

“Thanks for coming, Trajan,” she whispered into his chest. His arms encircled her automatically.

Taking a deep breath, he brushed her hair away from the silk of her skin. She was pale with exhaustion but she looked unharmed.

“You owe me an explanation,” he reminded her, his voice filled with his annoyance. Not only with her situation, but they’d held her overnight for no reason. Not any reason they’d given him. Maybe she had a better one.

She nodded. His fingers tingled where they brushed against the bare skin of her back.

“Miss Brenna, here’s your ID.”

She slid it into the rear pocket of her pants without giving the teller a look. “Is that everything?” Trajan asked her.

“Everything but my dignity,” she replied for his ears only. A shiver rolled across her shoulders. He noticed all the men had stopped to watch her leave. Not that he could blame them in that skintight leather man-trap outfit she was wearing. The corner of his mouth lifted in a silent snarl and one by one they blinked or turned away from her. “They searched me,” she whispered, the sound wavering with her own disgust and humiliation. “I didn’t do anything.”

He shook his head, the clip of his boots sharp in the morning stillness surrounding them. She’d never been arrested. Another shred of innocence destroyed. Although he doubted she was all that innocent anymore, but it kept his thoughts from going down roads he didn’t even need to consider when it came to Shar. And all that damn soft leather.

Instead of pulling her close again, he told her, “Come on,” swallowing when his voice was still gruff. The want to curl her into his body, to protect her not only from the leering stares but from the memory of the night he was sure she’d spent cooped up behind bars was unbelievably overpowering. It kept him moving them both out through the front doors of the station. It was the brother reflex. He knew it. Except she didn’t look like anyone’s sister this morning.

She looked like heaven wrapped in sin.

She slid onto his bike and waited. He shook his head dismissing the arousing thoughts, hitting the starter and leaving the station for her apartment.

He’d had a woman sitting behind him just the night before, but the heat of her lean leather clad thighs pressed against him made his heart race. He clenched his jaw. What the hell was going on? Shar was taken damn it! She was his little sister. It was the safest column to put her in. Getting yanked out of a warm bed, and out of warmer arms fed the frustration she was causing. He growled at her to get off, barely able to control the irritation of what he’d had to leave back at home by the time they reached her complex.

She glared at him, then tossed her head, throwing her long red wave of hair behind her as she marched to her front door. It opened two paces before she reached it, making his eyes narrow. Damn but she was pissed. She never threw around careless magic. He pocketed the key to his ride and followed her into the apartment, closing the door the usual way. With his hand.

“Shar?”

His voice sank into the numb quiet. Rustles came from her bedroom. He strode to the doorway where he found her. She sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing her scalp with stiff fingers. “I didn’t do anything,” she said, her voice low, her eyes closed.

“What happened?”

It wasn’t until he heard her sniff that he realized why she wouldn’t look at him. Her body shuddered as she took a deep breath. “Maddie is dead.”

Trajan blinked. “Maddie?” Dead?

She nodded and her fingers continued. Another deep breath lifted her shoulders, filled her body. Her voice was hoarse, fighting tears. “She was there with me. She was on the dance floor when the first explosion happened.” Her words wavered. “I was drunk, but I didn’t cause the fire.” She swallowed, her voice saying she just wanted someone to believe her. “I swear I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Misery coated every syllable. He understood her concerns. Shar’s talents were born from the natural elements. Wind, water … fire. She was a walking fireball most days, but had learned how to control it. There hadn’t been an incident of any magnitude since she was seven. But the Mystic was their hangout, others–non-magic users–weren’t typically in the know to find it, much less get in. They only got in if they were with someone and were known. It was a precaution, and it was necessary. There weren’t many clubs in Granier Hills that were Kin-only, but the Mystic had been.

“A lot of people knew I was mad,” she said, a forlorn admittance to a guilt he knew she didn’t want, praying that even drunk, she wasn’t to blame.

He knew what she was saying, but knew better than to charge in and demand answers. He’d leave with singed body parts if he did, and it wouldn’t be the first time. “Did it have something to do with you getting drunk?”

A firm blush rose on her skin and she tilted, using her hair to cover her cheeks. “It had everything to do with getting drunk.”

“Shar,” he groaned.

She whipped up, and her light blue eyes impaled him. “I did not cause the fire.” She stood to her feet and his mouth went dry.

Okay, he had to admit it, even if only silently. Shar was hot. Wild, thick red hair, eyes that reminded him of cloudless spring skies sparked with her anger like whips of lightning, and soft lips that deserved kisses for hours parted. He didn’t dare look at that leather again. His mind seemed to desert him thinking of what was under it, of how it looked hugging her body and the sweet curve of her breasts. Usually she was in jeans and something not screaming sex. Thank God she was engaged and wasn’t in any way his problem.

She stalked up to him and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Don’t ‘Shar’ me,” she snapped. “People saw me.”

His hands shot out and gripped her shoulders. “Others?” A fresh flash of anger had him digging his fingertips into the pale white skin beneath his touch. She was a sex kitten dressed the way she was. It was making it hard for him, in more than one way, to stay focused on the problem at hand. It had to be because he’d had to leave Sissy back in his own bed. Shar had ruined his morning plans. It wasn’t all that surprising, he guessed. She also had the knack for riling him into a hot anger. She winced as his thoughts tumbled faster and his fingers tightened. He relaxed the instant he realized the marks he saw on her skin were from him.

A sigh, one full of regret slipped past her lips. “No. I don’t think there was anyone but Kin in the club.” But he could tell by the evasive glances she slid passed him, she couldn’t guarantee him that either.

“Damn it, Shar. You know better. You’re twenty-eight. And I know you have better control than that. Hell, you don’t even drink.”

She smacked his hands away and glared up at him, the heat in her gaze damning him for bringing up the obvious. Even in those sexy as sin black boots, she only came to his chin. He couldn’t resist and slid his palms up her arms onto her shoulders again. Her skin felt warm and silken against him. Fire raced up his arms. It was a sure sign she was furious again.

“And why did you call me? Why didn’t you call Lawson? Where was he?”

Pale blue eyes rounded then closed, a sharp pain slicing through her expression before she hid them entirely from him.

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The Rapture
Missy Lyons
Price $2
September, 2008
ISBN 978-1-60659-030-0

The lure of a demon lover is difficult to resist, and impossible to leave, because sex is highly addictive. Sex with a demon is known as the rapture, since it brings absolute pleasure so intense that it is almost painful. But is the price worth gambling your life and your freedom?

Now available exclusively at Phaze Books

http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=The…act_match=exact

You can read more at Missy Lyon’s webiste www.missylyons.com

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Click below to see the brand new video for Shar!

After The Fire

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