Leigh Ellwood

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Sunday, October 16, 2005

Jack of Hearts Excerpt

Per request from The Romance Studio chat, Jack of Hearts will be published October 24:

The soothsayer said nothing as she pocketed the cash, then turned the heart-shaped quartz in her palm. He had given it to Lila nearly two hundred years ago as a promise to marry; she had been wearing it the day Lars was changed, the day his creator slashed past the ribbon around her throat as she blocked the vampire from Lars in a weak attempt to protect him. The memory of that terror - Lila's shrieks of pain, his creator's cold indifference - bubbled in his memory as he watched card after card slide through the dark woman's fingers. Lars swallowed back the pain and tried to focus on the deck. This was not a time to mourn; he would not let his anger overshadow what could potentially be the rediscovery of his joy.

He let the whisper of each turned card absorb the echoes in his head, until there was nothing but steady breathing and rapid shuffling, quiet yet tense. The woman's voice was a honeyed purr that tickled the back of his neck and slithered up his skull.

"Something very important was taken from you."

"Don't tell me what I already know," he countered tersely. Her retort was a frown that pinched her lovely face. Lars watched her rifle through the remainder of the deck until nothing remained facing upward but three cards, all hearts. She bit her lip. Dark eyes widened. Lars edged forward in his seat.

"Lila came back?" His head throbbed. The blood consumed from a recent kill coursed fresh through his veins, warming his body and enhancing the anticipation that hardened his cock. He had waited so long…the thought that he would once again hold his beloved, and finally make love to her, nearly caused him to erupt with an orgasmic cry right there in the woman's parlor.

Had not his desires been reserved for Lila, he might have taken the woman right there, and tore through her blouse to take a thick, dark nipple between his teeth while he palmed her healthy, round ass.

The woman appeared unmoved by Lars' growing arousal. "Your Lila lives," she said plainly, her face still bent over the three cards. Slowly her eyes rolled upward to peer at him through her lashes. "She is here...she is not the same."

everything by leigh
click a cover for info

Truth or Dare Dare Me
Daring Young Man Double Dare
Dulce A Winter's Dare
Jack of Hearts Jack of Diamonds
Voyeur Muse
Love's DoMINion Taste This
Under Covers Spellfire Special
Sinful Sundaes sinful sundaes 2
Dragons, Elves, and Myths Jaded Beasts