We’re about to enter the junior studio on the opposite side of the building when Mara catches up with me.
“Excuse me!” she pants, her cheeks flaming pink. “Could I speak to Mr. Blackwell for a moment?”
The other panel members turn to look at me, to see if I’ll comply.
Sonia is particularly curious. She knew something was up the moment I told her to offer Mara the studio. The discounted rate was a fabrication, invented by me on the spot. The same with this grant. It’s all leverage to get Mara right where I want her: completely at my mercy.
“Of course,” I say quietly. “The rest of you go on without me. I’ll join you momentarily.”
I lead Mara down the hall to an empty studio several doors down. I step into the clean, deserted space. She hesitates in the doorway, afraid to be alone with me.
“Are you coming?” I ask, eyebrow raised.
Pressing her lips together, she marches into the room, closing the door behind her.
I wait for her to speak, watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest, thrilling at the hectic spots of color on her cheeks.
She’s illuminated with fury, eyes blazing, cheeks flaming. Her dark hair swirls around her face, defying gravity from the pure electric tension between us. Her thin hands tremble, and she digs her nails into the thighs of her jeans.
“I know it was you,” she says, her voice low and hoarse.
I’m enjoying this so much I can hardly stand it. Her rage, her fear, and the delicious predicament I put her in, all mixed together in a potent cocktail. Her expression of shock when she saw my face, and the awful struggle as she had to discuss her work with the panel, while her brain must have been twisting and turning inside her skull . . . I’m so glad I have it all recorded. I can’t wait to watch it over again tonight.
“What was me?” I say mildly.
“You know,” she hisses. Her whole body is shaking. I’d like to hold her against me, to feel those tremors vibrating through my frame . . .
“Please explain.”
Her eyes glint with tears of fury, but she refuses to let them fall. Her lips are swollen and chapped, as if she’s been biting at them . . .
“Someone snatched me off the street. They tied me up, cut my wrists, and left me in the woods. You were there. I saw you. You stood over me, staring at me. You saw I needed help. And you walked right over me. You left me there to die.”
“What a bizarre accusation,” I say. “Do you have any proof?”
I know she doesn’t. I just want to see how she’ll respond.
“I saw you,” she hisses. “I’ll tell the cops.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” I tuck my hands in my pockets, tilting my head as I look at her. “That would cause a lot of problems for you. You’d lose the studio, of course. The grant, too.”
“Are you threatening me?” Her voice rises, the edge of hysteria sharp as razor wire. “Why are you doing this? Why did you do this to me?”
She holds up her arm so her loose bell sleeve drops away, revealing the long, jagged scar across the wrist. The scar is still healing, raised like a welt on the skin.
“I didn’t do that,” I scoff.
Mara falters, her upraised hand dropping an inch.
Interesting—she doesn’t actually know who cut her.
“You were there,” she insists.
“So what if I was?”
She startles, shocked that I admitted it.
“Then you did this!” she shrieks.
“No,” I growl. “I didn’t.”
In one swift step, I close the space between us. Mara tries to turn and run, but I’m much too fast for her. I seize her by the arm, yanking her toward me, holding up that accusing hand and branded wrist.
I look down into her terrified face, pinning her in place with my gaze as much as my fingers locked around her wrist.
“There’s no limit on predators in the world,” I hiss. “And no lack of damaged girls to attract them.”
Sophie Lark is an Amazon Bestselling author who writes intense, intelligent romance, with heroines who are strong and capable, and men who will do anything to capture their hearts. She lives with her husband, two boys, and baby girl in the Rocky Mountain West.
She has a slight obsession with hiking, bodybuilding, and live comedy shows. Her perfect day would be taking the kids to Harry Potter World, going dancing with Mr. Lark, then relaxing with a good book and a monster bag of salt and vinegar chips.
Title: El Diablo Author: Marteeka Karland Series: Black Reign MC #5 Genre: Contemporary MC Romance
I wasn’t expecting a man like El Diablo. Good thing I’m able shake his legendary control.
Jezebel – Life in a gilded cage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – especially if the whole purpose of the cage is to keep me a virgin till I’m ready to be sacrificed to the man of my father’s choosing. I want out, and don’t think I haven’t tried. It’s not that easy with daddy’s Brotherhood guards all over the place. But that doesn’t mean I want to trade one cage for another. And, let’s face it, I have no idea how to live on my own. I’ve never had the chance. Now I’m not sure I want to learn, because my new jailer – err, rescuer — is the sexiest man I’ve ever known. El Diablo’s not the monster everyone’s made him out to be. But can I tame the beast of a man without losing my heart? All I want for Christmas is a chance to find out…
El Diablo — I went hunting for a victim. Instead, I found a Christmas Angel. She’s the daughter of my enemy, used as a pawn in a deadly game of chess. All I really wanted was the Brotherhood out of Palm Beach. Instead I found an innocent who brings out a side of me I’d thought long buried and gone. But Jezebel’s younger than my own daughter, and just as much trouble. And I’m El Diablo — a title I earned heart and soul. I’m so not what she needs. And now she’s under my protection in the Black Reign compound. She should be completely off limits. I won’t let the Brotherhood take her back and force her to give up her dreams. But who’s going to protect her from me?
Esther glanced around her, then took my elbow and moved me toward one corner of the room where there weren’t many people. “What’s going on between you two?”
My guard went up instantly. I didn’t want the other women in the clubhouse thinking there was anything between Liam and me. “I have no idea what you mean,” I said evasively.
“Oh, come on, Jez. You’re living with him! The club girls say he’s not taken any of them to bed since you got here. Are the two of you a couple?”
“Not at all,” I said dismissively. “In fact, he made it perfectly clear to me he’s not interested in me, and that he’s not interested in a relationship with any woman.” I shrugged. “I guess he’s a free spirit.”
Esther’s laugh was merry and more than a little mischievous. “Then why does he come up behind you and wrap you up in his arms every time you’re in a room together?”
“Beats the fuck outta me.” I shrugged. “I’ve kissed him a couple of times, but he always stops, and he made it clear that sex with me is definitley not something he’s pursuing.” Kissed him a couple of times. Right. To say nothing of the mind-numbing orgasms he gave me two nights ago. No way I was spilling that, no matter how much I liked the other woman. As we talked, Celeste and Lyric approached with waves and friendly smiles.
Esther continued as the other two women joined us. “Did he say why?”
I waved her off. “It was all bullshit. I’m guessing it has something to do with our age and experience differences. I’ve lived in a gilded cage my whole life, and he’s been out living his. Any appeal I have to him would fade the second he takes my virginity, and I’m not too naive to admit it.”
“Who’re you guys talking about?” Lyric asked, her expression curious. “You got a man after you already, Jez?”
“El Diablo,” Esther said. “But I think Jez believes he’s just toying with her.”
Celeste frowned. “I’m sure it’s not like that. El Diablo is really a good man. I doubt he’d ever admit it, but he is.”
“Didn’t you tell me he offered to marry you when Wrath was being a douche?” I asked Celeste.
She grinned. “Yeah. I think that was more about Holly though. He wanted to make sure she was taken care of with her leukemia and all. He thought we needed a strong man to protect both of us and to make sure Holly got the care she needed.” She shook her head. “I believe he’d have gone through with it, but I also believe he did it more to make Wrath get his head out of his ass.”
“Maybe that’s what he’s doing with me. Though I have no idea who he’s trying to make jealous. The men in the compound barely talk to me. When they do, they make sure one of you girls or the children are with me.”
Lyric gave me a knowing smile. “That’s because El Diablo gives you ‘the look.’”
I frowned. “What look?”
“The one that lets every male with any modicum of sense know you’re his.” The girls burst into giggles, and I smiled.
“I doubt that’s the case,” I said. “Anyway, I’ve got guard duty tonight. I probably should get some sleep so I don’t fall asleep on the job.”
Liam chose that moment to appear in the doorway, scanning the room until his gaze landed on me. His grin was more than a little wicked. The woman giggled.
“Looks like you’re going to have to fight more than sleep,” Lyric said with a laugh. “In fact, I’d say you’d have better luck fighting sleep than keeping that man from seducing you tonight.”
“Trust me,” I said, “he’s not going to seduce me.”
“Uh huh.” Celeste grinned. “Keep telling yourself that.” They all three waved and sauntered off to help the kids decorate.
I frowned at Liam. “Are you trying to be cruel, or can you just not make up your mind?”
“It’s a process,” he answered with a smirk.
“Well you can just process the fact that I’m done with this. What the fuck?”
“That’s not what you were saying a couple of days ago.”
“Yeah? Well, that was before you left me high and dry for two days.” A stab of pain hit me, and I actually put my hand over my chest. “Have you been avoiding me? Because I already told you I wasn’t asking for permanent. I wasn’t even asking for anything after one that one time. I mean, surely you could have stood to be in my company one fucking night.”
“Trust me when I say I look forward to being in your company. I found it exceedingly enjoyable.” His smile was positively wicked. “But I hear you have a job?”
“I do,” I said, putting my shoulders back. “I’m making sure none of our decorations disappear.”
He gave me a knowing look. “I see. Well. If anyone can stop this Christmas Bandit that has the children so wound up, I’m certain it’s you.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss over my mouth. I shivered in reaction even as I pushed him away.
“Oh, no you don’t! Go away,” I said, making a shooing motion. “I’m done with all that!”
Romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of. Now, she breathes life into faeries, space hunters, werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, and a few just plane ole ordinary people. She loves to see the awkward, self-conscious band geek get the captain of the football team and make him beg for it.
Life lesson: Never get between a wolf and his mate. You won’t enjoy it.
Savannah’s clan wants her dead, and they’ve sent her fated mate to find her.
What began as a nightmare years ago has morphed into much more as her cursed powers have far surpassed what her sisters possess. She isn’t sure what that means for her future, but one thing is clear. She needs to RUN.
Until the scorching hot wolf hunter with major possessive vibes shows her the meaning of tempted…
King has a reputation as a cold, calculated hunter. He can always find those that can’t be found. When a lucrative job lands in his lap it may finally be his way out of the rogue Blackwood Pack.
Except…He doesn’t hunt women.
But he’s also still figuring out how to be a dad to his orphaned nephew and they need the money.
Because of that, he agrees to find her and turn her over to the clan, unharmed.
Only when he locates the missing woman, he discovers there’s a lot more to her than what they told him. Now, not even a city teeming with supernaturals can keep him from protecting what’s HIS.
I am so excited you have found my books! Be sure to click the orange follow button so you can be notified by Amazon about new releases. Want to know more, including behind the scenes? You can sign up for my VIP newsletter at: http://elizagayle.com/newsletter
Eliza Gayle is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of over 25 paranormal romance books. (She also writes contemporary romance under E.M. Gayle) She lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest and spends her days writing romance, wandering the beach, kayaking or trying to remodel something. (She blames the latter on Pinterest.)
Before her writing career began, she served in the Marine Corps and lived a crazy life of adventure. Then she read her first erotic romance novel and everything changed. So after years of thinking about writing she finally grabbed her laptop and wrote.
