CREAM
*by*
*Zenobia
Renquist*
BLURB:
What do a four hundred-year-old vampire and a mid-level necromancer
have in common? Money. Jeliyah needs it to pay off the people who trained her
and Teaghan enjoys killing to get it. Together they hunt rogue
vampires—assuming Teaghan can focus on something other than getting her in bed
and Jeliyah doesn’t put a bullet in him first.
The uneasy partnership promises to be lucrative until Teaghan and
Jeliyah get on the wrong side of a feud. Jeliyah is forced to use forbidden
magic and finds herself bound to a man she should hate—but whom she can’t stop
fantasizing about.
Excerpt:
Teaghan kicked the room door shut behind him and then laid her on
the nearest bed. “At least this time you’re not glowing. Let’s not make a habit
of this.”
“I feel the same.”
“Then again…” His gaze wandered to her breasts.
Images of Teaghan running his hands over her breasts and teasing
her nipples entered her mind. She reared up and smacked him at the same time
she brought her other arm up to guard her chest.
Teaghan didn’t react except to grin at her. “You’re flushed,
necromancer. Your heart rate jumped too. My little idea get you all hot and
bothered?”
She glared at him.
“No? How about this one?”
A mental picture of Teaghan yanking off her panties so he could
run his tongue over her clit invaded her mind. The detail was so vivid Jeliyah
felt her pussy twitch in anticipation. Damn the man and this stupid mental
connection. It might be one way, but she had access to his thoughts and now he
wasn’t trying to hide them. “You can’t do that without an invitation.”
“So invite me.”
“Shouldn’t you be going to sleep? The sun is up.”
“Sun’s got nothing to do with me.” He moved closer, planting his
hands on either side of her legs and leaning into her. “Invite me.”
Jeliyah scooted back off the bed and away from him. Once on her
feet, she said, “Don’t get all cocky just because I took some of your blood,
vampire. I told you that was a one-time thing and not to get ideas.”
“Yeah, I heard you but,” he hopped the bed and crowded her against
the wall, “here’s the thing. You could have gotten the same results by asking
me to open a vein. A simple prick to the finger for a few drops of blood would
have sufficed. You kissed me, necromancer.”
“It was a split-second decision. Back off.” She clutched the
necrome at her throat and said, “Shield.”
Teaghan laughed as the shield expanded to include him. “Forget
something important, did you? Your necromes recognize me now. I’m not a threat.”
Shit. She’d forgotten one of the major side effects of Recognize.
Her necromes—and any others made from her blood—no longer worked against
Teaghan. There was no way to deactivate Recognize either, just like an
invitation once given.
She shoved at his chest but he kept leaning forward until his lips
were close to hers.
He said, “Let’s talk about that kiss.”
“It was spur of the moment. It meant nothing.”
“Care to test that theory?”
“You can’t. I haven’t invited you.”
“Kissing is the one thing I don’t need an invitation to do.” He
pushed his lips against hers as he forced her hands over her head and pressed
his body closer.
Jeliyah couldn’t turn from the kiss, though she
tried. This wasn’t fair. Vampires needed permission to enter a person’s body.
Why didn’t that extend to kissing? And why was she giving in to his kiss?
First chapter online
(link goes live 03 May):
GIVEAWAY!!
Zenobia will be awarding a $25 Starbucks GC to both a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a randomly drawn host.
FOLLOW the tour and comment; the more YOU comment, the better YOUR chances of winning. The tour dates can be found
here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Zenobia
Renquist lives in her imagination. When not traveling through her fantasy
worlds, she can be found in Hawaii living with her husband and two cats.
She is an Air
Force brat turned Air Force wife, which means she’s accustomed to travel and
does it whenever possible (so long as she doesn’t have to fly). Her favorite
pastime is torturing her characters on their way to happily-ever-after for the
enjoyment of her readers.
On the few
occasions her muse flees the scene of the crime, Zenobia likes to read (comics,
manga, and romance), go to the movies, play a few levels of whichever puzzle
game has hijacked her interest or experiment with a new chain maille weave.
Website - http://zenobiarenquist.com
Blog - http://blog.dreneebagby.com
FB - https://www.facebook.com/Author.DRBagby.ZRenquist
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/zenobiarenquist
Buy Links:
Ellora’s Cave - http://www.ellorascave.com/cream.html
