TJ Michaels

This week’s theme is near and dear to my heart in regard to something I don’t get to do nearly enough of – SHOP!

While they aren’t actually at a store or mall, here are two of my favorite characters talking about one of their favorite passtimes…and how much trouble they get into while doing it – shopping, that is ;D

Enjoy! And don’t forget to click through to the other Snippet Saturday authors listed at the bottom of this post.

EXCERPT from HATSEPT HEAT
Vampire Council of Ethics, Book 3
By TJ Michaels, Copyright 2008
Samhain Publishing, All Rights Reserved

“What the hell? Tam, you see that?”

Tameth’s head swiveled around and followed Carin’s line of sight. Exceptional vision revealed the slightest movement of a shadow along the tree-lined path near the fence across the way. That path led to a grotto that couldn’t quite be seen from here, and on the other side of the thick stand of trees was a locked gate that was supposed to be guarded twenty-four seven.

“What the hell is she doing? Kenoe’s gonna kill her.”

“Yeah? Well who does she remind you of, Tam?”

Tameth rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but answer honestly…sort of.

“She does not remind me of either of us.” Tameth replied blandly.

“Riiiight,” Carin drawled. “What about that little excursion to Sausalito after we got back from the London mission?”

“You can’t count that,” Tameth huffed. “We are both Serati females and can do as we please. I was not even on duty and had no need to report in. Besides, I was well prepared to look after both of us.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have permission to take Stealth One. Which you, uh, sort of failed to mention at the time.”

“Oh shut up. You got a nice pair of designer pumps out of that shopping spree, didn’t you?”

“Sure did. And Bix on my ass. Hell, I was almost looking forward to him getting sent off on a mission somewhere just so I could go take a pee by myself!”

“Drama queen.”

“Me! And who complained after Alaan actually gave her a spanking then revoked her pilot’s license for three months?”

“Nobody I know,” Tameth lied boldly. Carin laughed out loud, then clamped her lips shut. She didn’t want to bring any unnecessary attention to them right now. Considering they’d gotten into plenty of trouble together by wiggling out from under Seeker radar, the last thing they needed was anyone running off to find their husbands.

The shadow eased closer to the grotto entrance then darted out of sight into the trees.

“Come on, we’d better save her ass before Kenoe turns it another color, like blazing red.” Carin wrapped her fingers around Tameth’s upper arm and tugged, almost surprised when Tameth didn’t put up a fuss.

Tameth shrugged. “What can I say? I like her. She’s good for Kenoe.”

“Yeah, but I have a feeling she won’t be good for his nerves.”

*****

Shinju knew she was being followed. At first she didn’t really care, actually eager to engage someone, anyone, just to work off some steam. But when her mind recalled exactly who, or rather what, was embroiled in her current life’s situation, she could have strangled herself. Max had been playing both sides of the fence with the vampires—friends with Clan Li on one hand, and doing deals with a human, rogue-associated, vamp drug dealer on the other. And the odds that the person tailing her was a little old Japanese lady in need of directions to the nearest fish market were slim to none.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Why in the world hadn’t she stayed at the hospital where it was at least assured that the vamps walking the halls were good guys? But nooooo, she just had to go walk it off, had to get away from everyone so she could think about things. When would she learn that getting away from everyone was exactly what she needed to stop doing? She had Kenoe now, along with all of his family and friends who’d already accepted her into the fold.

Oh well. Nothing to be done for it.

What she really needed right now was a weapon. Again, her mind shot back to the medical facility. Why? Because she happened to have a six-foot, muscle-packed, white-haired, katana-toting, deadly weapon that loved everything about her. A weapon who would give and do anything for her—Kenoe Hatsept. And where was he? Waiting for her to return to her brother’s hospital suite ready to give the doctors a decision about the blood transfusion. Not to mention the fact that she was supposed to be getting herself sated on hot coffee and perhaps a baker’s dozen of brownies.

Shinju held back the urge to slap herself in the head, then without looking back she took off at a dead run and ducked around the next corner into an alley. Chest heaving more from the burst of adrenaline than the short sprint, Shinju was faced with the possibility of her own mortality. If these were rogue vampires stalking her, without a full bond with Kenoe and the advantage of sharing his blood, she would be no match for them. Stronger and faster, they’d gut her in no time.

God, she didn’t want to die. All she’d needed was some time to get used to the whole vampire boyfriend thing. After spending a bit of that with Kenoe and company, Shinju wanted nothing more than to bond with him and get on with their no-doubt exciting lives. But here she was all alone in an alley about to face God-knows-what. Was she too far for him to hear her if she called? Only one way to find out.

Her right foot lashed out at the first pursuer to speed around the corner as she yelled for Kenoe with all her psychically non-talented might.

I just got home from a business trip and I’m too loopy to take a stab at a blurb, so let’s just get right into it, shall we? :D Oh, and don’t forget to visit the other Snippet authors! All their links are at the bottom of this post. Enjoy ;D

Note for Readers: You must be over eighteen to read this excerpt.

Snippet from Shards of Ecstasy
Book 2 in the Hearts of Fire series

Well, lookee here. A water elemental.

Asmodeus almost laughed out loud at his good fortune. So, did the human male who’d sucked De’alla Isaacs to a blistering orgasm on her balcony have any idea who or what she was? Doubted it. There’d been no indication of anything more than a single bout of passing sex. And what a perfectly delicious sight De’alla had made, all flushed and trembling from the tongue-lashing she’d received. Asmodeus had been hard-pressed to remain at a distance and watch the Chosen, his Chosen, throw her head back and hold in a scream that surely would have sent the local gulls scrambling for flight.

Good thing his sexy little water worker had shooed the human out of her house shortly after, because if the male proved to be an obstacle Asmodeus would plow through him in a heartbeat. In fact, to get to De’alla, he would singe the Chosen’s pet male to a crisp without breaking stride.

Any elemental was a rare prize, but a water elemental was especially coveted. And this one carried a piece of the Hearts of Fire on top of all that? Hell, Asmodeus had hit the mother lode. Yee-fuckin’-haw!

And now, tonight, on a deserted stretch of beach tucked into a small bit of a cove, the Chosen worked out with her ability. She practiced pulling water from the very air around her, forming small marbles of water with ease. Then she erected a thin wall of water a short distance away and used the water marbles to punch holes in it. The energy and concentration it took to work with the elements was considerable. It also spoke of someone directly descended from the Ancients.

Most he’d run across were distantly related, had little to no skill with manipulating nature and were selected because of their destiny even if they’d had no Atlantean blood whatsoever. But this elemental was more than Chosen. She was an Atlantean, no matter how far removed. That would explain the entity he’d sensed around her, all Atlanteans had a protector, a guide that carried the essence of nature itself, so to speak.

And she was strong, this one. But Asmodeus sensed an inherent weakness, a weakness that could only be shored up by her joining with her true mate—that was something he’d learned in his last encounter with a Chosen. He wondered if De’alla had met him yet. And if so had she sprung the news of her destiny on the poor sap? Did he believe her or think she was crazy? Crazy would definitely serve Asmodeus’ purposes better.

Hmmm, could that singer guy who’d feasted between her legs be De’alla Isaacs’ mate? She hadn’t acted like it. And there’d certainly been no output of blistering crystal power when the man had gone down on her like there’d been when Dee’s sister had made love to her mate.

Asmodeus’ temper spiked. “Shit, why don’t I know more about this Chosen business?” He’d been alive for as long as time was time yet those fucking Atlanteans had managed to keep these damn sisters a secret for thousands of years. The Hearts of Fire, oh he knew about that all right. That’s what had set him on this journey in the first place. It was the one thing that contained enough life energy to give him a flesh and blood body that held the power of a demon. Yet the details of getting his hands on that little jewel had eluded him until a mere three hundred years ago. Unfortunately for an immortal time had no relevance…and that three centuries had been spent looking for eight human females who hadn’t been born until barely forty years ago, goddammit.

And Asmodeus didn’t even want to think about the fact that the eight women he thought he needed turned out to be four women and their destined mates.

His encounter with Dee’s sister, Memory, hadn’t gone the way he’d planned. Actually he hadn’t truly planned anything, just figured the woman was a human he could walk in and simply overpower. It had been more than a surprise to encounter such raw power when he’d attempted to relieve Memory of her crystal. Then her fucking mate came to help her and the two of them together had been more than he expected. He still didn’t consider any Chosen to be more powerful than himself, but this time he would at least do a bit of surveillance.

Just then, De’alla sat down in the sand and lifted her head to the sky. Suddenly all was entirely too quiet. It was already still due to the fact that it was three in the morning and nobody was around, but this was an uncommon still. Suddenly the sky opened directly over De’alla and her body was covered completely by a singular deluge. The roar of the water was as loud as crashing waves in the midst of a storm.

Her body should have been smashed, torn to pieces by the force of the water. Instead, De’alla opened a small “door” in the middle of her personal waterfall and walked out of it, leaving it to rip up the sand in her wake. Then she just left. Walked away.

With a twinkle in her eye that even Asmodeus could see in this light with this failing human body, De’alla gave a flick of her wrist and the waterfall plummeted to the sand and rolled back out into the Sound with the next retreating wave.

“Impressive.”

After that, all that was left was the faint crunch, crunch, crunch of her tennis shoes as she left the beach and headed toward home across the street.

Yes, he would have to move soon. Even with this display of power he’d be strong enough to take her in another night or two. Then the Piece of Eight would be his, along with De’alla Isaacs. After all, what kind of demon would he be if he didn’t have a bit of sport with her before he took her essence into himself?

A razor-sharp maw blinked into view then disappeared again beneath the illusion of sparkling white perfectly straight teeth as Asmodeus considered all the ways he would make this little water baby beg. Beg to be fucked. Beg to come. Then beg to die.

Oh yes.

Ashley Ladd
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Mari Carr
Lauren Dane
Shelley Munro

I think this subject is one we’ve all dealt with at one time or another – whether we were the dumper or the dumpee. Well, in this snippet nobody is sure who dumped who…

Enjoy this snippet from Primed to Pounce by…well, me ;D

Delaine took the long way to the restaurant then drove on
by. She just couldn’t face Justin today. She’d left a message asking him to
meet her here, but after that conversation with Pam there really wasn’t
anything else to say. He’d obviously moved on. If Justin wanted Pam, fine, he
could have her. But what started raggedy would end up raggedy. And those two
raggedy mogillas deserved each other.

Her heart was in a million pieces, but she refused to feel
the hurt anymore. Instead, she focused on her anger and let it consume her
until she shook with rage. Bastard! And Pam? She couldn’t believe Pam would
steal her man like that. She’d sat up in that girl’s chair at the salon and
told her all of her and Justin’s business, so it’s not like the woman didn’t
know Delaine was serious about him. For someone she’d known since their
children were in preschool to stab her in the back like this was beyond
painful. Oh lord, what was she going to do?

*Suta, you are not using wisdom. This man is not like the
puny Gary person.*

‘But he slept with my best friend, Sapa! Hell, at least Gary
slept with someone I didn’t know.’ She slammed her hand down on the steering
wheel then looked down, expecting to see blood on her shirt from her breaking
heart.

*Your reasoning abilities are unsurpassed. Use them now.
All is not as it appears, Suta. Trust me.*

‘I do trust you, Sapa. I just don’t trust anyone else,’ she
replied sadly as a lone tear made its way down her cheek.

Fifteen minutes after she was supposed to meet him, his cell
phone number popped up on the caller id. She pressed the ignore button, turned
the phone off and threw it in the passenger seat. Heartsick but determined not
to cry over a man ever again, she dashed the tears away and instead did
something she hadn’t done in all the years she’d worked with Aegis. She called
in sick.

She flew home, stuffed a weekend bag with clothes, books and
nothing related to work, jumped back in her Jag and headed for Nantahala Gorge.
A nice quiet cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains was just what she needed.

* * * * *

Justin hadn’t called Delaine since she’d gone mental on him
at finding out he was D.E.A. But it was only to give her time to cool off. He’d
been totally surprised to get her message asking him to meet her for breakfast.

He’d dialed her cell several times, but it just rang and
rang. Now it was going straight to voice mail. This didn’t make any sense. The
woman had called him and left a message saying she wanted to see him then
didn’t show up? He drove over to her house and rang the bell. At first he
thought she just wasn’t answering the door, but after walking all the way
around the house, noting the closed blinds on every window, he peeked through
the small glass on the door that led into the garage from the side of the
house. Her car was gone. Damn, she wasn’t home.

His shoulders tensed and he felt the beginnings of a nasty
headache creep up the back of his neck. Flipping open his cell, he dialed her
again. Where the hell was his damned woman? Had something happened that made it
impossible for her to meet him? What if she’d run into trouble related to her
case? What if she was casing Astin and got caught? And why the hell wasn’t she
answering her phone?!

He drove toward home, his chest tight with one part anger
for the way she’d arbitrarily dismissed him and one part worry at not knowing
if she was all right. It wasn’t unheard of for someone to die in their
particular line of work. Tired of leaving the stubborn woman messages, he
finally called Derrick.

“Hey, Derrick. What’s up?”

“The usual. Chasing bad guys and doing favors for you.”

“Then everything is normal, isn’t it?” Justin said glibly.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Jus?” Derrick asked with a
bit of a grin in his voice.

“I need to know where Delaine is. She’s not answering her
cell phone, she’s not at home and I haven’t seen her since we fell out a few
days ago. She called me in the middle of the night and asked me to meet her for
breakfast then she didn’t show up. She’s got the goods on Baker. I need to know
she’s safe.”

“And what if she’s safe but avoiding you?”

Justin took a deep breath and his head conjured an image of
Derrick, his mouth drawn tight with disapproval. The man had a way of making
him feel like the little brother right after the big brother said, “I’m gonna
tell dad on you”. He steeled himself and got ready for the I-told-you-so.
“Delaine found out I was D.E.A. And not from me.”

“Man, didn’t I tell you to talk to her? I told you sistahs
don’t play that junk,” Derrick said, managing to sound stern and sorry for
Justin at the same time.

But there wasn’t anything he could do about it now, except
try to patch things up with the woman he knew he had to be with at all costs.
Whatever it took. He wasn’t even shocked anymore at how strong his feelings
were for Delaine. He knew he had to find her.

“Look, Derrick, you were right, okay. But right now, I need
to know my woman is all right.”

“Let me work on it. I’ll call you back in half an hour.”

“Thanks, man.”

“No problem. By the way, Spencer spoke to her boss, which is
probably why she called last night. You two are supposed to close this case out
together. If you can get her to speak to you ever again, that is.”

Be sure and click through to the rest of our Snippet Saturday authors. It’ll be worth your while, I’m sure ;D

Lissa Matthews
Ashley Ladd
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Shelli Stevens
Eliza Gayle
Vivian Arend
Mari Carr
Lauren Dane
Shelley Munro

I’m excited to announce that on February 5, 2010, SHARDS OF ECSTASY, Book 2 in the Hearts of Fire series, is HERE! Woohoo! Hop on over to the Shards page for an excerpt.

Hearts of Fire

Eight individuals, Chosen by birth, gifted with unique abilities and united by fate.

They were told incredible tales of an ancient race, predestined mates and shards of a crystal octagon—the Heart of Fire. Innocuous apart, the crystals gain strength in pairs. Join all eight and unleash infinite power. Enough to defeat an immortal enemy, Asmodeus, a prince of hell. A tricky demon capable of twisting sexual desires into dark perversions.

Ridiculous…until it all started to come true.

The books in the series are:
Book One – Memory’s Eye by Ciana Stone
Book Two – Shards of Ecstasy by TJ Michaels
Book Three – Seeking Charlotte by NJ Walters
Book Four – Kenna’s Cowboy by Nicole Austin
Book Five – Entwined Hearts by all of us!