| Monday, February 13, 2006 |
| Naughty Cupid Book 1 Now on Sale! |
An UNEDITED excerpt and prologue from Naughty Cupid: CUPID’S ENCHANTMENT by MICHELLE M. PILLOW (book 1), Now from NCP! http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/cupidsenchantment.htm
Prologue
Cupid was livid. Nay, he was outraged. He was beyond furious.
Make fun of him, would he? Make the whole court at Lycaon think he was a joke—an incompetent clod that couldn’t make two pigs fall in love! Call him a fairy, would he? Call him a rosy-faced cherub? He accidentally hit a man instead of a goat with a love dart, causing one couple to fall in love four hundred years ago, and he got branded a matchmaker for life.
Bah!
It was time for the jests to end! Cupid would show them what this squat little cherub could do. He’d have the last laugh. He’d prove to them that not only could he make the whole Lycaon court fall in love—he’d make them fall in love with the same woman!
Oh, and this was his favorite part! He’d not get just any woman. He’d bring one from the mortal realm—the ugliest woman he could find! See how the wolves liked panting after a human—their ancient hunters, the whole reason the realms of mortal and magic were separated in the first place.
His short legs pumped along the dusty abandoned path coming from his cave home. He kicked angrily at little daisies that dared to grow along the side, ruining the look of his taller weeds. He hated flowers! He hated lycans! And he most definitely hated to watch people fall in love!
Cupid paused in his tirade to look at the vile of bright pink philter in his gnarled troll hand. A wide grin spread over his thick, long lips, dipping under his oversized nose. His small black eyes lighted with greedy pleasure. This potion was the old magic. No simple blow dart would do this time. Once he doused the mortal woman with this pheromone, the entire Lycan Guard would be brought howling to their knees.
He’d find a woman for them, all right. Then that overbearing Lord Ilar would never doubt his magic again!
~*****~
EXCERPT:
“Please, my lord,” she whispered, staring up at him, pleading with her troubled gaze. “Don’t do that."
Ilar frowned, not liking the affect her soft words had on his brain. The erotic scent of her curse eased its way into him, tantalizing his senses. His already taut body grew even more so to see her vulnerability.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” she rushed. She didn’t move to touch him and his hands grew almost tender as he kept hold. She didn’t pull away. His magnetic eyes trapped her. “Please, Lord Ilar, I just want to go home now. My father will be worried about me. I don’t know aught about this. I just woke up and I was here in your world. Won’t it be better for everyone if I just left? It’s not like anyone would believe me if I said where I had been.”
“You cannot be permitted to leave,” Ilar returned. He made his tone hard, final. A part of him did not wish to see her go. He was sure the feeling was the spell’s doing. Nevertheless, it felt very real. Softly, he added, “Not until we discover what and who brought you here and why.”
Until they knew the nature of her curse, they could not risk sending her back. If the spell was strong enough, the others might be tempted to follow her to the mortal realm. Such a thing would be disastrous. Such a thing would be their realm’s undoing. He would not see more blood shed. Three hundred years had not been enough to erase the memory of the carnage the last time their two races battled. He doubted humans would ever be ready to accept the lycan into their midst.
“Please, Ilar,” Rhiannon asserted, knowing before the words came out that he would not be swayed on this point. Her hand rose to lightly lie atop his chest. His heart beat firmly under her palm and she shivered as the soft length of his hair stirred near her fingers.
Drawing her hand back, she swallowed nervously. He was too close to her. His masculine smell started to affect her reasoning. She looked almost dreamily at his lips and her eyelids dipped slightly.
“Mayhap ‘twas a mistake that I came to be here, an accident,” she said. “Mayhap it doesn’t mean aught. I don’t have the power to do any harm to you, assuredly you must see that.”
Oh, but she was wrong. Ilar saw the way her eyes melted and dipped with a soft teasing light. It called to him, beckoned him, as did the scent of her body. He heard the howling in his head, not lessened by distance or time. Already she wreaked more havoc on his world than he’d ever seen before.
Communication was down between the lycans. The men were at odds, ready to kill each other off just to be rid of competition for her hand—brothers, best friends, old men, it didn’t matter. If she even tried to wield her power over his kind, she’d be successful. She could call the entire Lycan Guard to her control and they would not question her. She was more dangerous to his kind than she could begin to realize.
Naturally being a creature of strong sensuality, Ilar could not resist the pout on her lips nor the look in her lovely eyes. With a groan, he grabbed her up and instantly opened his mouth wide to force a hot kiss to her mouth.
Rhiannon gasped in surprise at the suddenness of his passion. She had not suspected it. Her body shook as his tongue tried to pry her lips apart. His teeth dug into her tender flesh when she did readily give him entrance, demanding and sure.
A sharp tooth nicked her lip. Ilar groaned in approval as he tasted the blood from the cut. It called his primal nature to the forefront. He sucked her lip between his, sipping the wine of her body. His kissed deepened, consuming, claiming, taking no prisoners his hot tongue conquered and massaged every last inch of her mouth.
Rhiannon was frightened. She tried to strike his arm, but it was as if he didn’t feel her. His mouth was having a dizzying effect on her head, weakening her will to resist him. He sucked ferociously at her tongue until it slipped into his hot mouth. Her fist hit lighter and lighter until it stopped altogether. Her fingers clutched at his draping tunic. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart thundered, calling out to him.
Ilar’s hands were on her back, holding her to his chest. Her hips burned, eager to discover what it was he’d been doing to them. His mouth stole her air until she thought she might pass out. Tentatively, she tried to return his kiss, but his mouth was too much in control to let her take the lead.
Just when she was sure her world would darken from lack of air, his lips let her go. His eyes filled with liquid gold, promising things she did not understand. Unfamiliar sensations swirled in her blood at the look. His nostrils flared. She tasted her blood on her lips, salty and strange.
Ilar growled, pressing her back until she hit against the wall. His hands dug at her gown, lifting it, baring her smooth legs to his touch. Drawn to feel her heat, his fingers slipped between her thighs, rubbing insistent and strong over her mound of hair. She was wet and oh so ready for him. His hands moved to lift the bottom of his draping tunic, his arousal ready to push inside her warm body as his mouth had her lips.
Rhiannon gasped at his forceful ways. Ilar’s head dipped to her neck and, as his lips parted, she saw fangs.
Copyright © 2004 Michelle M. Pillow. All Rights Reserved.
Also, there is still time to enter my Valentine's Day contest (must be 18)- http://www.michellepillow.com/contests.htm
Michelle M Pillow
www.michellepillow.com |
posted by Michelle Pillow @ 2:40 PM   |
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